Earl Krugel Chai!

Copts Protest Over Egyptian Killings

2012-01-31T12:51:00.001-08:00

Copts Denounce Egyptian Government Over Killings

The New York Times

Coptic Christians demonstrated in Cairo on Monday in reaction to the deaths the night before of at least 24 people in clashes between Copts and the army. More Photos »

By DAVID D. KIRKPATRICK

CAIRO — An angry crowd of thousands gathered at the largest cathedral here on Monday to mourn the death of two dozen Coptic Christian demonstrators killed the night before in clashes with security forces, as liberal activists lamented the military’s increasingly tight hold on power.

Multimedia

A Coptic Christian mourned a relative in Cairo on Monday, the day after Egyptian troops killed at least 24 protesters.

The New York Times

Bodies on the floor of a morgue in Cairo. The Health Ministry said more than 300 people were wounded in the violent crackdown on protests. More Photos »

The bloodshed appeared to mark a turning point in the revolution, many here said. It comes just eight months after Egyptians celebrated their military as a savior for its refusal to use force against civilians demanding the ouster of President Hosni Mubarak. Confidence in the military had already been eroded by its repeated deferrals of a handover of power to civilian rule, now set to take place perhaps as much as two years after parliamentary elections, set to begin next month.

Now political liberals as well as Copts said the brutal crackdown had finally extinguished the public’s faith in the ruling military council as the guardian of a peaceful transition to democracy.
“The credit that the military received from the people in Tahrir Square just ran out yesterday,” the party leader Ayman Nour said at a news conference of prominent parties and political leaders denouncing the military. “There is no partnership between us and the council now that the blood of our brothers stands between us.”
Others took an even darker view, saying that the violence suggested that the military may now hold an even tighter grip on power than Mr. Mubarak did.
“Cairo yesterday was a part of Syria,” said Shady el-Ghazaly Harb, a liberal activist who helped set off the revolution, invoking the violent crackdown against that country’s uprising. “This is a threat not just to the Copts, but to all of the people. We saw what would happen if we rose up against the army.”
Witnesses, victims and doctors said Monday that demonstrators were killed when military-led security forces drove armored vehicles over as many as six people and fired live ammunition into the crowds. Doctors at a Coptic hospital showed journalists 17 bodies, including one with a crushed skull and others with mangled limbs.
Doctors and Interior Ministry officials said bullet wounds accounted for most of the deaths, including that of Mina Daniel, a young political activist a doctor said had been shot in the shoulder and leg. More than 300 others were wounded in four hours of street fights, the Health Ministry said.
The military council did not explain Monday why shots were fired or why military vehicles ran over demonstrators.
In a statement on state television, it appeared to distance its officers from any responsibility for the deadly clashes. The statement referred only to unspecified “unfortunate events” that “transformed peaceful protests to bloody ones.” Expressing “deepest condolences to the families of the victims,” the military reiterated its determination to refuse “attempts to cause a rift between the armed forces and the Egyptian people.”
The military also sought to appease the Coptic Christians, about 10 percent of the population here. Although the Copts had embraced the revolution’s promise of a tolerant and pluralistic democracy, many have been uneasy as the removal of Mr. Mubarak’s iron fist has unleashed suppressed rivalries, as in the recent dispute over the construction of a church near the southern city of Aswan that inspired the march in Cairo on Sunday.
The military said it had asked its civilian prime minister to begin an investigation into the violence, and Egyptian news organizations reported that at least 15 suspects were being prosecuted in military courts for instigating the riots.
The civilian cabinet, meanwhile, announced a series of long-promised measures to deter discrimination. The measures would impose jail time and large fines on anyone found guilty of discrimination on the basis of religion, with heavier penalties for government employees. And to address the legacy of cumbersome rules on permits to build churches, the cabinet said it would implement a law to standardize procedures for all houses of worship.
The minister of information also backed away from state television coverage of the protests on Sunday that urged “honorable Egyptians” to defend soldiers from a mob of armed Christians. The announcers who made those statements were “under emotional stress,” the minister, Osama Heikal, said, according to the Web site of the state-run newspaper Al Ahram.
While the liberal parties denounced the military’s handling of the protest, the Muslim Brotherhood, the Islamist group considered the principal opposition under Mr. Mubarak, adopted a tone notably more sympathetic to the government.
Mahmoud Ghozlan, a spokesman for the group, said in a statement that while both Muslims and Christians faced problems during the “critical phase” of the transition, “there was no need for the peaceful protests to metamorphose into violent clashes.” He added: “Under no circumstances should violence and aggression be a solution.”
Coptic leaders issued an unusually pointed statement charging that the demonstrators were set up to take the blame for a crackdown. “Strangers got in the middle of our sons and committed mistakes to be blamed on our sons,” the statement said, claiming that acts of discrimination or aggression against Copts repeatedly “go unpunished.”
In a measure of their growing distrust of the military-led government, the families of the Copts killed in the violence decided they did not trust government-run facilities to perform autopsies, fearing the results might hide evidence of the violence by security forces. After hours of deliberation with priests, activists and human rights groups, they arranged to bring forensic teams to a Coptic hospital, causing the funeral to be called off.
Inside the hospital, Mariam Telmiz, 40, sat at the bedside of a brother-in-law who had been wounded by a bullet at the demonstration. Another brother-in-law had been killed by a bullet.
The military was ready to protect Egyptian Muslims who carried a Saudi flag or even pulled the Israeli flag off its embassy, she said, “but the one who holds his cross high gets humiliated.”

Heba Afify contributed reporting from Cairo.

A version of this article appeared in print on October 11, 2011, on page A4 of the New York edition with the headline: Copts Denounce Egyptian Government

Muslim Reformers vs Extremists

2012-01-26T10:46:00.000-08:00

Thursday, January 26, 2012

Muslim Reformers vs Extremists

Statement - “We will not leave”: Muslim reformers to extremists

- On 7 December 2011, twenty radical Muslims hijacked an event featuring Muslim reformists, Irshad Manji and Tofik Dibi, in Amsterdam.

The extremists repeatedly declared “Takfir!”, thereby ordering the execution of Manji and Dibi. After threatening to break Manji’s neck, they demanded that the event, sponsored by the European Foundation for Democracy, be stopped.

The speakers refused to leave the stage. Their discussion on the modernisation of Islam resumed after the police arrested a number of the extremists. Stated Manji, “I never felt afraid. Not once. Neither did Tofik. In fact, all of us refused to leave, even when police asked. We wouldn’t play on Jihadi terms. Some things are simply more important than fear.”
Emphasized Dutch MP, Tofik Dibi, “the disruption shows that even in the Netherlands it is necessary to continue the debate on reforming Islam.”
Roberta Bonazzi, Executive Director of the European Foundation for Democracy, added “the voice of democratic Islam will not be silenced by extremism. We are united and will continue to support inspirational Muslim reformers across Europe.” By bringing together two such reformers at the Amsterdam event, the European Foundation for Democracy is pursuing its mission of empowering liberal Muslims who advocate the values of open societies.
Irshad Manji is in Europe to promote her latest book, Allah, Liberty and Love. Manji, a practicing Muslim, is also the author of The Trouble With Islam Today. As part of her tour she is meeting fellow Muslim reformists, youth activists and parliamentarians in the Netherlands, Belgium and Germany.
The radicals are believed to be members of Sharia4Belgium, one of several Islamist groups seeking to enact Sharia law throughout Europe.
*****
IRSHAD MANJI: Senior Fellow with the European Foundation for Democracy, Irshad Manji also directs the Moral Courage Project at New York University (http://www.moralcourage.com/). In those countries that have banned her books, Prof. Manji is reaching readers by posting free-of-charge translations on her website, irshadmanji.com. To date, the Arabic, Urdu and Farsi translations have been downloaded more than 2 million times.

ALLAH, LIBERTY AND LOVE: Written by the dissenting yet faithful Muslim Irshad Manji, Allah, Liberty and Love advances a 21^st-century reformation within Islam. As a Muslim who bridges East and West, Prof. Manji addresses people of all faiths – and none. What she teaches is “moral courage,” the willingness to speak up when everyone else wants to shut you up. Calling out both the fatwa-flingers and the mute moderates, Allah, Liberty and Love is the ultimate guide to becoming a gutsy global citizen.
EUROPEAN FOUNDATION FOR DEMOCRACY: Based in Brussels, EFD (http://www.europeandemocracy.org/) is a non-profit organisation which promotes universal human rights, individual liberty, freedom of conscience and pluralism of peaceful ideas. Its accomplishments include the support of Muslims in several European countries who advocate democratic values within their communities.

Hamas leaders evacuating families from Syria

2012-01-17T13:39:00.001-08:00

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip—Hamas officials say senior members of their exiled leadership will evacuate their families from the group's headquarters in Syria.

Hamas, a militant Islamist Palestinian group, rules the Gaza Strip.

The officials, speaking from Damascus, said Tuesday that the evacuations are in response to the deteriorating security situation in Syria, where President Bashar Assad has been resisting a 10-month uprising.

The officials say the families of three top officials -- Moussa Abu Marzouk, Mohammed Naser and Izzat Risheq -- are set to leave at the end of the month, while the three men will remain in Damascus.

In recent months, Hamas has pulled lower level officials and their families out of Syria.

The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were discussing the inner workings of the secretive group.

Shalit welcome to run

2012-01-13T11:58:00.001-08:00

Shalit welcome to run

Op-ed: Just like any other citizen, Noam Shalit has full right to run for Israel’s parliament

Anyone who is not tainted by corruption, who does not boast a history of wrongdoing and who is not a habitual criminal can join the political race and run for the Knesset.

This is one of democracy’s cornerstones: The right to elect and be elected is open to everyone, and it is not conditioned upon the motives that push the candidates to the front of the stage. This is true for Noam Shalit, and of course for Karnit Goldwasser.

However, the above statement says nothing about the abilities of these two figures, their suitability for the post, or even their electoral appeal. Shalit and Goldwasser have not produced a cure for cancer, have not resolved the mystery behind the world’s creation, and did not use their political stature thus far in order to establish, lead or manage projects in favor of Israel’s poor and unprivileged.

Goldwasser attempted to join the media world, Shalit apparently returned to the pursuits he undertook before his son’s abduction, and now they are again making headlines: Goldwasser by apparently joining Yair Lapid’s party and Shalit as a future contender in the Labor Party primaries.

That’s how system works

They have the full right to do so, just like the voters have the right to decide on their own criteria before placing their ballots in the box. Indeed, the voters will decide whether the familiar face from television, or the impression created by the struggle to return their loved ones home are enough to vote for Shalit and Goldwasser.

As Shalit already officially declared his intention to run, we shall say again that he has the full right to do so. What will determine whether he wins a Knesset seat is his conduct in the public sphere in the coming months, the positions he’ll present, and the answers he’ll provide to questions that come up. There is no other way and no path that can circumvent the need to become closely familiar with the candidates.

The current Israeli Knesset, for better and for worse, is full of people who two years ago we knew very little about; these are people who were granted the opportunity to gain experience at the expense of Israel’s citizens because of our political model. Indeed, each and every citizen will eventually be able to reward these Knesset members, or send them packing – because that’s how it works.

Ariela Ringel-Hoffman

Published:

01.12.12, 00:16 / Israel Opinion

Ron Paul..Jew Hater in Chief?

2011-12-31T13:52:00.001-08:00

Via a comment on Shadow Democracy
Ron Paul, my former boss, is not an explicit Anti-Semite, but he is most certainly anti-Israel and one could make a strong case - outright anti-Jewish.
During my 6-year stint with him, I served as his only Jewish staffer. He regularly touted me as proof against allegations that he wasn’t an Anti-Semite, even one time ordering me to wear Jewish clothing and attend a press conference of his Democrat opponent who was exposing his links to Anti-Semitic groups. I felt used.
(For the record, Ron did not know I was Jewish until I had already been hired.)
Ron and I finally departed ways, partly because I was ashamed to work for such an explicitly anti-Israel advocate.
If you still doubt his anti-Jewish/anti-Israel views, ask yourself this question:
Why is it that when Ron Paul talks about the evils of taxpayer dollars going overseas for foreign aid, he only singles out Israel as a recipient? Why does he never mention the billions we send each year to Egypt for foreign aide? Turkey, the Palestinians, other Nations? Never a peep out of Paul about those dollars. It’s just always the “Jews.”
Eric Dondero, Fmr. Senior Aide
US Congressman Ron Paul (R-TX)
1997-2003
Dondero also reveals that the infamous 95 percent of black men are criminals quote was actually authored by Lew Rockwell, Ron Paul's congressional chief of staff.
In fairness, the comments about Blacks being “fleet-footed” were written for Ron, though published under his name in his Ron Paul Newsletter, by his Top behind the scenes aide Lew Rockwell.
But the other comments about Israel being the most powerful lobby, were definitely Ron Paul’s words. In fact, I’ve heard him say similar comments on numerous occasions, some far more explicit, to private quasi-Anti-Semitic groups.
Taking into account my previous post, I have to wonder if a certain gay pagan quaker minister named Jim Christian Perry with a possible Jewish grandparent wasn't bullied into putting on "Jewish clothing" and going out to represent the Ron Paul campaign to defend Ron Paul against accusations of bigotry.
Eric commented further on this post describing the news conference
Thanks for asking about the press conference. It was quite an amusing incident actually. It was not only Ron who urged me to do it, but practically the whole campaign staff at the time, including Ron's longtime Campaign Manager and staunch Christian Right Conservative Mark Elam.
I went down to Victoria for the conference. Lefty Morris was waving some papers in the air accusing Ron Paul of being a closet NeoNazi. (This followed, btw, a huge protest weeks ealier in front of the Victoria Holiday Inn of activists waving signs, "Ron Paul is a Nazi...").
Well, I showed up with a yalmurka on my head, and carrying some Jewish insignias. It threw Morris off-kilter. He was watching me the whole time. Towards the end, the Victoria media turned to me and did an interview. It all hit the papers and the local TV station the next day.
Looking back it was quite brillant political theatre for a campaign. It worked.
But now I just feel like I was used.
It's funny that the Austin and Houston media were so viciously against "extremist far-out fringe Anti-Semite" Ron Paul in that 1996 Campaign. Now they are virtually supporting him, or at least completely silent on their former criticisms of him.
Now that Paul has switched to being a liberal, opposing the War, and bashing Bush, he's their best friend.
But back in 1996, they were 100% behind Lefty Morris.
*See more from Eric in the comments section to this post. Eric himself blogs at Libertarian Republican*

Jews for Ron Paul Exposed as a Fraud!
[The Jim C. Perry / Yaakov Perry Report]
http://sultanknish.blogspot.com/2007/11/jews-for-ron-paul-exposed-as-fraud-jim.html
Ron Paul, the Anti-Republican candidate for President and a favorite of White Supremacists like David Duke, has unveiled a new defense strategy to counter charges of Anti-semitism. The campaign of the candidate who claims to disdain ethnic collectivism now boasts an organization called "Jews for Ron Paul."
If Jews for Ron Paul puts you in mind of Jews for Jesus, you're not far wrong. Because Jews for Ron Paul is a scam.
Jim C. Perry (James Christian Perry, the C is short for Christian), the Executive Director of Jews for Ron Paul and heavily featured as the spokesman for the front group. Like many Jews for Jesus figures, Jim C. Perry claims to be an Orthodox Jew. The JTA article featured many of Perry's grandiose claims.
For Perry, an Orthodox Jew, there is a connection between his own religious beliefs about personal responsibility and the Libertarian philosophy underpinning Paul's candidacy.
"It's the idea that people are meant to be equal and free in a just society. Those are the same things that draw me to be an observant Orthodox Jew," said Perry. "I believe Judaism puts strong emphasis on individual meaning, personal responsibility," he said, adding that God "calls us to take responsibility for our own actions.".
Here I am a kipah-wearing, fringes-hanging Orthodox Jew...
The real Jim C. Perry though is not an Orthodox Jew, though he makes a point of dressing up like one until he's virtually a cartoon. He's gay and is currently married to a gay man and a self-identified Churchgoing Unitarian Universalist. Here he identifies himself as a Seminarian. He has another account where he calls himself Reverend Jim C. Perry H.P., M.D.A. (he also claimed to have a doctorate in English which he apparently modestly left off here all at the tender age of 22) and a Pagan Minister. Briefly he appears to have gone Ward Churchill and began calling himself Jim Flying Eagle. (He may have also used James L. Rush and posted at Cherokee Pride as James L. Rushing River pretending to be Cherokee)
Now Jim C. Perry, Gay Pagan Unitarian Minister (possibly also Cherokee and Mormon), thanks to a few photos in costume, is being passed off as an Orthodox Jew. A clear and unambiguous lie. Like everything else in the Ron Paul campaign, Jim C. Perry and Jews for Ron Paul is a lie.
Under the user name XSOIDEI, Jim C. Perry has posted at pagan sites as "Pagan GOP"
GOP NOT KKK
by Pagan GOP (Concord, NH)
I am quite offended by the person who the comment that the KKK and GOP are one and the same. I am a PROUD Republican and Pagan. I was hurt by your comments.
No, I do not support the War in Iraq, no Republican in his right mind would! Bob Barr, Ron Paul and Orrin Hatch, all GOPer in Congress were OPPOSED to the War!
I am very Liberty Minded.
Xsoidei
Since universal unitarians are actually compatible with paganism this may not be a contradiction or it may be another case of Ron Paul supporters pretending to be members of various groups to rally support for him. There are signs of this with Jim C. Perry because he also appears to have been joining Mormon groups. Jim C. Perry or "Yaakov Perry" as he calls himself on the phony Yahoo Jews for Ron Paul group has penned announcements on behalf of "Jews for Paul" shilling for Ron Paul on Digg under YaakovPerry. There he has claimed to be Chabad, but here he claimed to be gay and a quaker.
Perry, who is gay, said he wants to help Democratic lawmakers protect and extend civil liberties in New Hampshire. Perry's marriage is recognized by his Quaker faith but not New Hampshire law.
He appears to run New England Flags and to be married to a man named Armen. If you're getting bored of this the sum total is that Jim C. Perry is a lot of things, including compulsive liar. He is not an Orthodox Jew. Jews for Ron Paul which he runs is a scam.
When I first wrote about Ron Paul, I noticed a burst of comments from people claiming to be Jewish and Ron Paul supporters. I suspected that most of them were fake, probably at least one of them was really Jim C. Perry who moonlights as a Jewish Ron Paul supporter, when he's not being a Pagan Ron Paul supporter, a Cherokee or a Unitarian Universalist. The JTA story on the Ron Paul campaign and Jim C. Perry or Yakov Perry needs to be changed to reflect the fact that he is not an Orthodox Jew.
The Jews for Ron Paul advisory board also features Burt or Burton Blumert, better known as the publisher of LewRockwell.com, a site named after Ron Paul's former Congressional Chief of Staff, that might be considered slightly to the left of Stormfront. Burton Blumert is not exactly the poster boy for those who would argue that Israel would be better off with Ron Paul.
Consider tidbits like this from his "essays" such as "My Palestinians."
It is obvious that Palestine under the British Mandate – an island of freedom and free enterprise as compared to rule by Istambul or Tel Aviv – led its citizens to a love affair with the gold sovereign that becomes more entrenched with time... My Palestinians haven't been calling much lately asking the price of the COIN. Their future doesn't look too bright, but they have survived horrible oppression in and around Israel, and, maybe, just maybe they will persevere."
The bulk of the "Jews for Ron Paul" board are associated with LewRockwell.com and with Mises and the Austrian School of Economics. Then there's Ilana Mercer, a WND columnist (a site which hosts pro-israel commentary but also the anti-semitic and anti-israel ravings of Pat Buchanan and Vox Day among others) who penned such articles as "Al Jazeera: Fair, Balanced & Banned"
"The only fair shake Israel ever gets in this country’s media is from Al-Jazeera. The women anchors are also beautiful and refined,”
Lovely.
The simple reality is that the Ron Paul campaign is Anti-Jewish and Anti-Israel but it is also extremely manipulative and deceptive. On the Jews for Ron Paul group, mainly non-Jewish figures hash out ways to sell Ron Paul to Jews utilizing political and religious arguments. The key one that has hit home with some is to claim that Ron Paul will "leave Israel alone."
I have no doubt that Ron Paul would eliminate foreign aid to Israel, but anyone who thinks that a bigot whom the David Duke website proclaims as their King and whose promoters include White Supremacist figures is just going to "leave Israel alone" really has not done a good job of learning from history. People like that don't leave Israel or Jews alone, whether they're libertarians, anarchists, conservatives or liberals.
The Ron Paul campaign is fantastically deceptive and the latest twists involve botnets and stolen credit cards. I have no doubt that Jim C. Perry, who's played a mormon, a pagan, a unitarian universalist and now an orthodox jew on the internet will quickly come back with excuses. No matter how red handed you catch them, Ron Paul supporters always have their excuses. What they completely lack is any honesty or integrity or trace of decency. As far as they're concerned any lie you tell to promote Ron Paul is justified and operating on its usual principle of plausible deniability in regard to the Neo-Nazis, Racists, 911 Deniers and other extremists and haters promoting Ron Paul, the Ron Paul campaign will shrug and claim this has nothing to do with them. Yeah, right.
And while Ron Paul supporters are targeting Jews one way, they're targeting Muslims in a whole other way that reveals the real slant. See here.
Ron Paul may be crazy but he's also dangerous. His supporters are pathologically deceptive and manipulative and behave in ways that are downright psychotic. Jews for Ron Paul has been exposed as a fraud, but don't expect it to go away. The Ron Paul campaign responded to revelations that Ron Paul has received a donation from a leading Neo-Nazi figures, not by returning the money, but by unveiling a Jews for Ron Paul group. Even if Jim C. Perry is dumped after this (which I suspect he won't be) the lies from Ron Paul supporters and the Ron Paul campaign will go on.
That's why it's important to go on exposing them.
Update 1: Jim C. Perry as a Democrat, the fallout and his failure to return campaign contributions despite promising to do so.
Update 2: Jim C. Perry's disastrous Libertarian party time Via Andrew Walden
Update 3: Linked to by Little Green Footballs, HotAir, Anti-Racist blog, American Thinker, Israel Matzav and Free Republic, Bookworm Room , Space Ramblings , Pillage Idiot,Ioterran, Maverick News Network among others.
Update 4: "Birth Name: James Christian Perry. I was named after my uncle James Perry, one of my father’s five brothers. My middle name was given to me in honor of a late friend of my parents." - In other words, Jews for Paul is run by James Christian Perry. Sigh.
Update 5: Ron Paul's Lone Jewish Staffer Speaks Out
Update 6: Jim C. Perry signed a thank you petition for army deserter Ehren Watada for his desertion.
Update 7: Jim C. Perry was originally the outreach liason for the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender community for the Free State Project. The wording of his messages is instructive.
Hey Skip, welcome! No, I am have been racking my brains trying to come up with ideas for how to pitch the FSP to the BGLT Community.
My boyfriend Micah (also on this list) already lives in NH and I am in the process of moving to NH.
I am trying to figure out a way to turn the whole gay marriage issue into a reason to join the ranks of the FSP. If it isn't hard for us to get the gay/les/bi wing of the poly crowd interested (as seen from the size of the poly yahoo group, if you have ever seen their numbers) then I don't see why we cant attract bglt people who arent poly into joining as well.
On that note thought, most polyamorus people learn of this group marriage option through books like Stranger in a Strange Land by Robert Heinlein... a LIBERTARIAN author, so I must say they are usually already Libertarian leaning as it is.
And then a few years later Jim traded in Micah for Armen, began calling himself Yaakov and got assigned as the liason to the Jewish community and began racking his brains on how to pitch Ron Paul to the Jewish community. Lest anyone doubts that this is the same person, he lists the original website he used before he had to take it down after he got exposed at Free Republic.
Jim C. Perry was originally also the GLBT Outreach Director for the George Phillies campaign

President Obama says happy Hanukkah to Jews around the world

2011-12-23T14:09:00.000-08:00

President Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama have a message for Jews around the world: chag sameach.
That’s Hebrew for wishing someone a festive holiday, akin to a "happy holidays" greeting. The Obamas issued the following statement today in honor of Hanukkah, or the Festival of Lights, which begins tonight at sundown:

Michelle and I send our warmest wishes to all those celebrating Hanukkah around the world.
This Hanukkah season we remember the powerful story of a band of believers who rose up and freed their people, only to discover that the oil left in their desecrated temple –- which should have been enough for only one night –- ended up lasting for eight.
It’s a timeless story of right over might and faith over doubt –- one that has given hope to Jewish people everywhere for over 2,000 years. And tonight, as families and friends come together to light the menorah, it is a story that reminds us to count our blessings, to honor the sacrifices of our ancestors, and to believe that through faith and determination, we can work together to build a brighter, better world for generations to come.
From our family to the Jewish Community around the world, chag sameach.

Chag sameach and happy Hanukkah to all!

President Obama "My Commitment to Israel is Unshakeable"

2011-12-16T14:41:00.001-08:00

December 16, 2011, 4:49 pm

In Obama Speech on Israel, No Mention of Palestinians

By HELENE COOPER

Doug Mills/The New York TimesPresident Obama spoke at the 71st General Assembly of the Union for Reform Judaism.

Less than a year before the presidential election, a pattern is emerging. The Republicans will outdo themselves to say the most provocative things they can to demonstrate they love Israel more than anyone else. And President Obama will counter by saying as little as he can about the Palestinians.
In a speech Friday to the convention of the Union for Reform Judaism, Mr. Obama sought to counter Republican criticism that he had been more supportive of the Palestinian cause than Israel by outlining how he had fought for Israeli interests over the last three years, providing unprecedented military and security aid and defending Israel on the world stage. He said that the United States hadn’t eliminated any options to combat Iran’s quest for nuclear weapons, and promised to keep international pressure meant to rein in Tehran’s nuclear ambitions.
“We will keep standing with our Israeli friends and allies,” Mr. Obama said. “Don’t let anyone tell you a different story. We have been there, and we will continue to be there.”
What Mr. Obama did not get into much was any real discussion of the Palestinian issue, which has been stuck in neutral since his speech at the United Nations General Assembly in September, when he said he would not back Palestinian statehood in the Security Council.
That has not, however, stopped Republican presidential candidates from sniping that Mr. Obama hasn’t shown enough support of Israel, and trying to contrast how different they would be if they were president. Newt Gingrich recently called the Palestinians an “invented” people whose leadership seeks the destruction of Israel, while both Mr. Gingrich and Mitt Romney said that they would be fine with moving the American Embassy to Jerusalem from Tel Aviv despite decades of American foreign policy based on the widely held belief that such a move would be inflammatory absent a peace agreement between Israelis and Palestinians.
Whether any of the machinations do much to move the overwhelmingly Democratic Jewish vote remains to be seen. Mr. Obama on Friday was doing his best to remind his audience — the largest convention of reformist Jews in North America — that its values were Democratic values. He talked about the health overhaul law, the repeal of the military’s “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy, and his work to make college education more affordable.
And, of course: “America’s commitment and my commitment to Israel and Israel’s security is unshakable,” Mr. Obama said. He added: “It is unshakable.”

In Memory Of a Mensch, Earl Leslie Krugel

2011-11-23T10:31:00.001-08:00

Tommorow we commemorate the birthday of Earl Krugel....At a time when Eretz Israel is under physical attack on a daily basis by the criminals of Hamas, the cowardly terrorist group, the murderers of babies and children, we pause to honor a man who gave his life for the Jewish people.

Murdered by a Nazi in prison, a shameful coward who sneaked up on the older man and slew him from behind.

This is the way of the anti-Jew.

The fear the Jew, they castigate him, because the light that shines from a Jewish soul casts it's brightest light on such evil little men, such as the vermin in Hamas, and the failures of men that populate hate groups such as Aryan resistance.

Earl was a grandfather, beloved by his family, and all who knew him.

Unlike the timid ambushers of Hamas and Hezbollah, who slay babies in their cribs , Earl was a man who boldly defended his people, aware of the possible consequences.

On Thanksgiving, it's a time for zikrown, for remembrance of a great man who paid the ultimate price for his courage and humanity.

We at Earl Krugel Chai say a special prayer for you, Earl and Lola, and your family.

Baruch Hashem

I've included a letter we received about Earl from a few years ago which I feel captures some of his essence..

Earl Krugel (A letter From a Friend)

I met Earl at the Men's Federal Correction Center.
I was a Corrections Officer at the jail when Earl first arrived.

The first thing you noticed about him was he had some kind of inner strength, he didn't seem aloof, exactly, but it was like he had, I don't know how to describe it, (I'm not much of a writer) a power that he drew on out of himself.
The first day, during report, one of the other "C.O."s" told me, "That's Earl Krugel, a high profile case, David, he's the West coast Chairman of the Jewish Defense League."

I'd read about the case, of course, and the nickname, "Captain Krugel" popped into my head, so I always called him "Captain."
I found myself drawn to him immediately,
I was having some problems at home, I was separated from my wife, and Earl had a way of reaching out to people.
With all the legal problems he had himself, he spent his time counseling everyone around him, and he reached out to me, as well.

Late one morning I was doing rounds, I made a check next to his name and remarked, in "comments", "studying Bible, no apparent problems, adjusting well."
"How you doing, captain?" I asked.
"I am well," he said, lowering his leather bound Jewish Bible. "And you, David, how are you?"
Although, like I said, I found myself liking Earl immediately, as a trained professional I always did my best to appear impassive while conversing with inmates.
"I'm fine, Captain, just dandy."
He smiled a little and said, "Your words say one thing but your eyes say another."
I looked at him, "You're guessing. But you're right. It's my wife. Last night I went by to see her and there was a man there. I almost lost it. I could have killed the dude."
Earl got up and walked towards me. "There is a strength." he said, a slight smile on his lips.
"What are you talking about, Captain?" I asked.
His right hand shot out through the bars and grasped mine in a gentle yet vise-like grip.
I'd never seen a move that quick, yet I didn't feel threatened.
Something was flowing from him to me.
"Pull your hand away." He said.
I couldn't move.
"It's the strength of our people, our faith and our G-d." He said, and let my hand go.
"Our G-d?" I shot back. "You mean the one who let most of my family be tortured and murdered by the Germans in Europe?"
Earl's eyes were hooded but burning with intensity.

"You seek to know why.

You don't understand, so you turn your back on your faith, your people, your wife, and your

G-d." I started to walk towards the next cell. "Don't preach to me, Convict." I snapped.

Earl had a composure that was unreal.

"You don't understand the birth of a sapling in a Redwood forest. You don't understand the crash of waves on every beach in the world, one after the other. You don't understand the tears in the eyes of a hungry child. You don't understand the explosion of a supernova which pulls solar systems into the void and returns a million verdant planets, so do you now turn your back on the universe?"

I just looked at him.

"Your wife is coming back to you, David. Take her to synagogue, return to our people. Make babies. Be a light to the nations."

I spoke over my shoulder, cynically, "What are you now, Captain, a prophet?"

He grasped his bible from the bed and and gracefully lowered himself onto the floor of the cell, crossing his legs, the Book on his lap. "I am a man, David. A child of G-d, like you."

The next day there was a small riot in the day room. Two black convicts were beating Hell out of some poor white kid.

A phalanx of C.O.s headed towards the scene to break it up.

Earl emerged from a crowd of screaming inmates, grabbed the two black guys, one with each hand, and pulled them off of the kid.

"Enough!" he shouted.

A strange stillness descended over the inmates. The disturbance was over that quick.

Later, during rounds, I stopped by Earl's cell.

"Captain." I nodded, holding my clipboard.

"David." he responded, still sitting in what he later told me was the "Lotus position" on the cement floor.

I looked towards him. "Don't get involved in inmate situations, Captain, that's our job."

He smiled, "As you wish."

Earl stood up and stretched, doing some slow ballet looking martial arts movements.

I went on, "My wife called last night, Captain, she wants to try again."

He detected the joy in my voice.

" A man and a woman. Two people, one flesh. Treasure her, my young friend."

Earl and I grew closer over the years. I was relieved, though saddened, when he was sentenced and assigned to what was considered a "nice" prison, as prisons go.

I went to wish him well as they called his name to roll up, but was called to another wing for an issue over there.

I almost missed him.
I trotted back to Earl's cellblock and saw him for what was to be the last time.

"Captain, Captain!" I yelled as Earl headed down the stairway, a saint like expression on his handsome face.

I broke and ran as he looked back vaguely in my direction.

In a minute he'd be gone and I'd never see him again.

I caught him as he stepped off of the metal stairway and put my hand on his arm.

He turned around and looked at me.

Tears welled up in my eyes.

"What?" he asked, softly.

"Good luck." I said, and hugged him fiercely.

They took him away and I never got to see him again, but I will never forget that remarkable man.

Israel to continue hold on PA tax funds

2011-11-21T16:04:00.001-08:00

JERUSALEM (JTA) -- Israel will maintain its freeze on transferring taxes collected for the Palestinian Authority.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his inner Cabinet of eight ministers in a meeting Sunday decided to continue the suspension that began early this month, shortly after the Palestinians were admitted as a full member of UNESCO, the U.N.'s scientific and cultural agency. The suspension will continue, according to Haaretz, due to new movement between Hamas and Fatah to form a unity government.
Israel transfers to the Palestinian Authority about $100 million in tax payments collected on the Palestinians' behalf each month.
The defense establishment, including Minister of Defense Ehud Barak, has called for the payments to be reinstated. Israeli security services reportedly have argued that withholding the funds, which go in part to pay Palestinian police officers, could hamper security arrangements in the West Bank.
Finance Minister Yuval Steinitz and Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman are strongly in favor of withholding the funds.

Dershowitz Defends Israeli Prisoner Exchange

2011-11-04T00:35:00.000-07:00

Harvard Law School Professor Alan M. Dershowitz defended onThursday Israel’s decision to secure the return of captured soldier GiladShalit in exchange for the release of around 1,000 Palestinian prisoners aspart and parcel of Israeli democracy, something that he said Western observersdo not take sufficient care to understand.

Dershowitz made the remarks at a talk alongside RabbiJonathan H. Sacks, the chief religious leader of British Jews, and said thatIsrael’s decision to agree to a swap represents a vital democracy insofar asthe movement to secure Shalit’s freedom was a popular one that was led by hisfamily and carried out in the court of public opinion.
“No matter what we may think in the halls of academia ...ultimately, the decision has to be made by Israelis,” Dershowitz said.
Many observers have criticized Israel’s choice to release alarge number of prisoners in exchange for Shalit’s return, a decision that manysay will lead to further kidnappings of Israeli soldiers to be used asbargaining chips. Dershowitz pushed back against American criticism of Israelipolicy by saying that American critics of Israel do not adequately take intoconsideration Israel’s status as a democracy, which he said entitles it to agreater degree of independence than some of its critics grant.
In the wake of the exchange, Dershowitz and Sacks both saidit was important for Israel to retain its Jewish identity even in the hailstormof conflict, adding that the long-standing tension between Israelis andPalestinians should, in principle, be able to lead to a sense of understandingbetween the two peoples.
Harvard Law School Professor Alan M. Dershowitz defended on Thursday Israel’s decision to secure the return of captured soldier Gilad Shalit in exchange for the release of around 1,000 Palestinian prisoners as part and parcel of Israeli democracy, something that he said Western observers do not take sufficient care to understand.
“If

“No matter what we may think in the halls of academia ... ultimately, the decision has to be made by Israelis,” Dershowitz said.

Many observers have criticized Israel’s choice to release a large number of prisoners in exchange for Shalit’s return, a decision that many say will lead to further kidnappings of Israeli soldiers to be used as bargaining chips. Dershowitz pushed back against American criticism of Israeli policy by saying that American critics of Israel do not adequately take into consideration Israel’s status as a democracy, which he said entitles it to a greater degree of independence than some of its critics grant.

In the wake of the exchange, Dershowitz and Sacks both said it was important for Israel to retain its Jewish identity even in the hailstorm of conflict, adding that the long-standing tension between Israelis and Palestinians should, in principle, be able to lead to a sense of understanding between the two peoples.

“If there is anyone on earth who should be able to understand Jewish struggles, it’s Palestinians,” Sacks said. “And if there is anyone on earth who should be able to understand Palestinian struggles, it’s Jews.”

Dershowitz said that while the conflict is headed in the wrong direction politically, it is moving in the right direction intellectually.

“It can’t be based on ‘it’s our home’ or ‘it’s your home,’” Dershowitz said. “It’s the home of both people and both people have to live in peace with each other.”

Both Sacks and Dershowitz, two highly vocal advocates for a Jewish state, recognized the difficulty of the conflict. For all their expertise on the matter, neither Sacks nor Dershowitz had a clear view of whether the effort to achieve peace is progressing in the right direction.

Both men said that there was an inevitability to the tie between the Jewish people’s history and today’s Israel. Because Jews are unique in their perpetual homelessness, Israel remains a product of Jews’ history of trauma and expulsion, Sacks said.

“Jews discovered that there was not one inch on the face of the planet that they could call home,” Sacks said.

“It’s hard to see how, in a world in which there are 56 Islamic states and at least 82 Christian states, there isn’t room for one Jewish state,” Sacks added. “Whatever criterion you use, Jews have a right to this very small space.”

The Narrows

2011-10-27T18:07:00.000-07:00

Ben-Gurion repeatedly faced down crises by fearlessly rejecting retreat and useless compromise. Obama would do well to follow his model.

By Edward N. Luttwak|October 27, 2011 7:00 AM|9comments

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(Daniel Hertzberg)

Now an international airport and a university, as well as any number of boulevards in Israeli cities and towns, David Ben-Gurion—the man—was born in Płońsk, the Russian-ruled part of Poland in 1886. When he read Israel’s declaration of Independence on May 14, 1948, thereby inaugurating the first government of the first Jewish state in two millennia, he was already 62. In the years since, some 150 new states have been established. Most of these were the gift of colonial powers that handed them over to their new rulers as complete packages with everything ready from internationally recognized borders to a ministry of finance and a prison service. That was true of the post-Soviet states as well, except for the democratic bits, which their rulers mostly ignore anyway.

It was entirely different for Ben-Gurion. The state he led from its birth until 1963, with a fateful gap in 1954 and 1955, had to be created from the ground up, and he had to do much of the creating. The British left abruptly without any organized handover, evacuating their camps and abandoning their offices after taking away all removable equipment. To find clerks and office furniture was nowhere near as hard as finding weapons for an army, air force, and navy—and double-quick because Arab armies were already advancing. Stringent British and U.S. embargoes in the name of peace (with the already equipped Arab armies, including the British-officered Arab Legion left unmentioned) were meant to ensure the expected outcome. But even that near-insurmountable challenge was overcome under Ben-Gurion’s leadership by a variegated cast of unlikely characters that briefly included Josef Stalin (to hurt the British), the irrepressible Hank Greenspun of Las Vegas, the frighteningly smart secret agent Ehud Avriel, a British gentile RAF pilot who could fly any transport any distance, and others worthy of full-scale biographies.

Yet the greatest obstacle to the creation of the Jewish state were the Jews, or rather the Zionist leaders themselves. For all their talents, many were so conditioned by deeply rooted mental habits of dependence that they simply did not understand the absolute imperative of possessing state power. Some, including the religious, could not bring themselves to accept its inevitable military aspect. Guns were for Cossacks, not Jews—an attitude, or mere pose, that long lingered and indeed lingers still in benighted recesses, such as the editorial office of theNew York Review of Books.

As late as the Zionist Congress of 1946, held in Basel in the immediate aftermath of the most terrible demonstration of the ultimate survival risk of statelessness, Ben-Gurion met strong resistance when he pressed for a maximum effort to secure an independent state in Palestine. He was the leading Labor party politician, head of the World Zionist Organization, and chairman of the Jewish Agency for Palestine, which actually built settlements and funded most Jewish institutions, including the Haganah militia. But in Basel, where everything had to be done democratically, the immensely prestigious Chaim Weizmann, who valued his easy access to the halls of the mighty in Britain as elsewhere, preferred continued British control, even as the British continued to block Jewish immigration into Palestine (nobody was impeding the many Arab migrants). As for the very strong Marxist contingent, newly reinforced by the reflected glory of the victorious Red Army, with its powerful kibbutz movement, and the coolest youth movement, Hashomer Hatzair, ennobled by leading the Warsaw Ghetto uprising, it wanted an indefinite U.N. mandate over the whole of Palestine to pursue the binationalism that some still long for. Then there were the non-socialist Zionists, many of whom much preferred caution to action. Outside the Congress, Menachem Begin’s Revisionists were very eager for a state, but only over the whole of Palestine, a non-starter.

Shimon Peres’ new Nextbook Press biography of Ben-Gurion earns its price in its very first pages by describing what happened next in Basel. Though there are much fuller accounts, Peres was actually there as head of the Labor party’s youth wing and as Ben-Gurion’s aide, and he saw it all at closest range. For Ben-Gurion, there was but one way of reconciling his utter certainty that the Jews needed a state with the widespread opposition he was encountering at the Congress.

Peres recounts that Ben-Gurion’s formidable wife Paula suddenly rushed down into the basement where the Labor caucus was meeting to tell a startled delegate that her husband had gone mad (“meshugge gevoren”). Instead of settling for a weasel-worded resolution, Ben-Gurion announced he was packing his bags and leaving Basel to start forming a new Zionist organization that would pursue independent statehood unhesitatingly. Faced with that, his many opponents among the Basel delegates dropped their objections and started working to make it happen.

***

For a true leader in a great crisis, the whole world is but a very narrow bridge, and the only important thing is not to be afraid, to reject ignominious retreat and useless face-saving compromises alike. When Ben-Gurion came to the narrow bridge at Basel, it was only his supremely courageous resolve to abandon the Congress and start all over again that won the day.

Ronald Reagan came to his narrow bridge at the very outset of his presidency. European leaders, his own secretary of State, academia, and the quality press were all telling him that in the nuclear age there was no alternative to coexistence with the USSR, hence it was imperative to resume talks leading to a summit meeting with Brezhnev. Having campaigned against détente, Reagan was being told to resume it—and quickly. Ignoring the establishment, Reagan flatly refused, embarking instead on a tenacious campaign to delegitimize the Soviet Union. His “evil empire” speech that must now be judged prophetic was universally ridiculed at the time.

Bill Clinton was famously deft at avoiding narrow bridges, but when he could not he showed the mettle of true leadership, notably by out-staring House Speaker Newt Gingrich and accepting a federal government shutdown in December 1995 rather than unwanted budget cuts. That was the very clear precedent that President Barack Obama chose not to follow this year. He had weighty justification in our time of global fiscal insecurity. But by allowing the Republicans to dictate the outcome of the budget fight, Obama crippled his own leadership, and even a string of foreign policy successes may not repair the damage.

The newly inaugurated Clinton was also forced to choose between the youthful activists on the left of the Democratic party—many backed by lavishly funded environmentalist lobbies, both of which had done much to elect him—and the dour voices on the right of the party. After 12 years of Republicans in the White House, they wanted more of the same: fiscal prudence and regulatory restraint. Clinton chose the right, broke the tender hearts of the more innocent of his supporters, and paved the way for eight years of economic growth and high employment.

Obama once again did not follow Clinton. Having been elected with enthusiastic Wall Street support and funding from top financiers, he could not bring himself to break their tender hearts, or rather their wallets, when their firms were bailed out. With a tough Secretary of the Treasury—the opposite of his ever-emollient Timothy Geithner, who whines when he attempts to upbraid the Chinese—Obama would not have needed any new laws to force Wall Street firms out of dangerous practices and to stop them from paying spectacularly outrageous bonuses to their failed executives, which rankle still. Instead, at a time when most firms were on federal life support, Geithner feebly said that there was nothing he could do, and Obama allowed himself to be rolled with him.

***

It was just as well that Ben-Gurion had more than his share of courage because he had to face more than his share of narrow bridges. In June 1948 the first Arab onslaught was being precariously held, with Egyptian tanks some 25 miles from Tel Aviv, when a brief U.N. ceasefire came into effect. It was then that the Altalena, a ship outfitted by Menachem Begin’s Etzel militia, arrived with desperately needed weapons and some 800 volunteers. Ben-Gurion was concerned by the violation of the U.N. cease-fire, but very much more by the challenge to the new state’s monopoly of force. He wanted the Etzel dissolved into the newly established Israel Defense Forces, not reinforced with weapons and volunteers that threatened to make Israel into another Lebanon of rival militias. When urgent talks failed, it came to force at Ben-Gurion’s orders, with the 26-year-old Yitzhak Rabin already a brigade commander in charge of the firing that burned the Altalena directly in front of the Tel Aviv beach, a mere 100 meters offshore in full view of the horrified population.

It was outrageous cruelty to fire on Jewish volunteers, but once again Ben-Gurion persuaded all around him that there was no valid alternative to the hardest option, as indeed there was not. Peres was there as an aide, not a soldier, but he had to get hold of a rifle in case the Etzel would attack Ben-Gurion himself. (Begin did not lack courage either: He boarded the ship and was almost the last to jump off with the ammunition already exploding. Then he went on to his radio station to denounce Ben-Gurion, but also to accept the Etzel’s dissolution to avoid civil war.)

Ben-Gurion was active in foreign affairs for decades in one capacity or another (he dealt with Ottoman officials before 1914), but it was only in 1956 that he came to two narrow bridges in a row in foreign policy. The first was the secret negotiation with the British and the French over their concerted 1956 attack on Egypt that preceded Israel’s Sinai campaign. Its swift success in conquering the peninsula eventually led to the second: President Dwight Eisenhower’s ultimatum, demanding Israel’s total withdrawal, but with irreversible gains. Ben-Gurion had met Eisenhower in 1945 when as head of the Jewish Agency he visited Germany’s displaced persons’ camps, and preceding revisionist historians by decades, he saw great wisdom in the man. Once again in the room when it happened, Peres gives a uniquely intimate account of what ensued in both cases. Of the first bridge, suffice it to say that when Ben-Gurion was asked to open the negotiations, as if he were the one asking for help, he asked only one question of French Prime Minister Guy Mollet: “When did the French stop writing in Latin to switch to French?” (To find out how that made all the difference, one really must read the book.)

Given Obama’s more than adequate record in the hard business of fighting terrorists, and his sound preference for doing less rather than too much in refractory Muslim lands after the huge error of the Afghan troop surge, it is in economic policy that he must stop backing out from narrow bridges. As Israel’s prime minister during the heroic first years of the Israeli economy, when some 800,000 inhabitants fed, housed, and assimilated more than a million destitute immigrants with little outside help, Ben-Gurion would have failed totally had he failed economically. His successful calls for austerity—there was very strict food rationing—and solidarity from all, showed classic leadership.

But there was also Ben-Gurion’s willingness to reject conventional wisdom and embrace whatever worked. Instead of expensively educated Geithners who fit their government passages into their personal career plans, he had the likes of Pinchas Sapir, a minister of industry who created out of nothing many of the industries he supervised, and who died almost penniless in a modest apartment in a then very modest Kfar Saba after years of courting the wealthy to invest in Israel, because he was greedy only for the honor of public service. It was by every innovative expedient under the sun, through many a wrong turn, that Sapir, and Israel more broadly, succeeded economically. With many millions of Americans in acute economic distress, Obama should not leave the search for innovative expedients to his Republican opponents, nor should he allow himself to be held back by his advisers who confuse the entire economic system with a handful of the very largest firms that offer the best positions to former U.S. government officials.

Edward N. Luttwak, a military strategist and senior associate at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, is the author of The Grand Strategy of the Byzantine Empire.

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Israel Matzav: Concern in Israel over #OWS (Occupy Wall Street) anti-Semitism

2011-10-17T19:27:00.000-07:00

Israel Matzav: Concern in Israel over #OWS (Occupy Wall Street) anti-Semitism

Concern in Israel over #OWS (Occupy Wall Street) anti-Semitism

There's increasing concern in Israel over the anti-Semitismat Occupy Wall Street (Hat Tip: Memeorandum).

Israel's Yediot Ahronot newspaper called the anti-Semitic outbursts "hard to watch," and an Israeli commenter said, "It's just like pre-World War II Nazi Germany. You think blood libels can't happen in America?"

It has been pointed out by many media commentators that the openly anti-Semitic remain but a small portion of those participating in the Occupy Wall St. movement. However, others have noted that Nazi anti-Semitism started out as a fringe phenomenon in Germany before eventually defining that nation's domestic agenda in the 1940s.

More than the few Occupy Wall St. anti-Semites themselves, it is the lack of a clear and firm repudiation of their hateful rhetoric by the mainstream American media and political leaders that has a growing number of Israelis and Jews on edge.

Every time I report on this story, I get some nasty anti-Semitic tweets back. Ironically, some of them come from Arabs whose silence on Bashar Assad's Syria is deafening.

Labels: anti-Semitic stereotypes, anti-Semitism,Occupy Wall Street

Israel does not stand alone

2011-10-16T20:11:00.000-07:00

By MICHAEL OREN

Posted: 6:48 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 16, 2011

The claim of Israel's isolation, echoed by Democratic and Republican leaders alike, is gaining status as fact.

"Israel finds itself increasingly isolated, beleaguered, and besieged," John Heilemann wrote in New York magazine. The Economist reported that "Israel's isolation has been underlined by the deterioration of its relations with Turkey and Egypt." New York Times columnist Nicholas D. Kristof accused Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of "isolating his country," while Thomas Friedman described Israel as "adrift at sea alone."

But is Israel really more isolated now than in the past?

Isolation, of course, is not automatically symptomatic of bad policies. Britain was isolated fighting the Nazis at the start of World War II. Union forces were isolated early in the Civil War, as was the Continental Army at Valley Forge. "It is better to be alone than in bad company," wrote the young George Washington. That maxim is especially apt for the Middle East today, where one of the least-isolated states, backed by both Iran and Iraq and effectively immune to United Nations sanctions, is Syria.

Israel, in fact, is much less isolated than at many times in its history. Before the 1967 Six-Day War, Israel faced a belligerent Egypt and Jordan and a hostile Soviet bloc, Greece, India and China - all without strategic ties with the U.S. Today, Israel has peace treaties with Egypt and Jordan; excellent relations with the nations of Eastern Europe as well as Greece, India and China; and an unbreakable alliance with America. Many democracies, including Canada, Italy and the Czech Republic, stand with us. Egypt and Germany mediated the release of Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit, who had been held hostage by Hamas for five years.

Israel is not responsible for the upheavals in the Arab world or for the lack of freedom that triggered them. Israelis did not elect Turkey's Islamic-minded government or urge Syria's army to fire on its citizens. Conversely, no change in Israeli policies can alter the historic processes transforming the region. Still, some commentators claim that, by refusing to freeze settlement construction on the West Bank and insisting on defensible borders and security guarantees, Israel isolates itself.

The settlements are not the core of the conflict. Arabs attacked Israel for 50 years before the first settlements were built. Mr. Netanyahu froze new construction in the settlements for an unprecedented 10 months, and still the Palestinians refused to negotiate. Settlements are not the reason that Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas signed a unity pact with Hamas in May, or why, in his address to the U.N. General Assembly last month, Mr. Abbas denied the Jews' 4,000-year connection to our homeland.

As for borders and security, Israel's position reflects the 2005 withdrawal from Gaza. After uprooting all our settlements, we received not peace but thousands of Hamas rockets fired at our civilians. In Lebanon, a U.N. peace force watched while Hezbollah amassed an arsenal of 50,000 missiles. Israel's need for defensible borders and for a long-term Israeli army presence to prevent arms smuggling into any Palestinian state is, for us, a life-and-death issue.

Moreover, in a rapidly changing Middle East, we need assurances of our ability to defend ourselves if the Palestinians who support peace are overthrown by those who oppose it.

Despite repeated Palestinian efforts to isolate us, Israel is not alone. And we have a great many friends, especially in the United States, who we know would not want to imply that Israel stands alone in a dangerous region. Prime Minister Netanyahu remains committed to resuming peace talks with the Palestinians anywhere, any time, without preconditions, while insisting on the security arrangements vital to Israel's survival. Meanwhile, we will continue to stretch out our hand for peace to all Middle Eastern peoples. To paraphrase one of George Washington's contemporaries - if that be isolation, make the most of it.

Michael Oren is Israel's ambassador to the United States. He wrote this for The Washington Post.

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Anwar al-Awlaki, American-Born Qaeda Leader, Is Killed in Yemen

2011-09-30T04:02:00.000-07:00

SITE Intelligence Group, via Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

Anwar al-Awlaki is seen in 2010 in a still from video.

By LAURA KASINOF and ALAN COWELL

Published: September 30, 2011

REPRINTS

SANA, Yemen — In a significant and dramatic strike in the campaign against Al Qaeda, the Defense Ministry here said American-born preacher Anwar al-Awlaki, a leading figure in the group’s outpost in Yemen, was killed on Friday morning.

Drone Strike in Yemen Was Aimed at Awlaki (May 7, 2011)
Radical Cleric Still Speaks on YouTube (March 5, 2011)
Rights Groups Sue U.S. on Effort to Kill Cleric (August 31, 2010)
Imam’s Path From Condemning Terror to Preaching Jihad (May 9, 2010)
Times Topic: Anwar al-Awlaki

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Follow@nytimesworldfor international breaking news and headlines.

In Washington a senior Obama administration official confirmed that Mr. Awlaki was dead. But the circumstances surrounding the killing remained unclear.

It was not immediately known whether Yemeni forces carried out the attack or if American intelligence forces, which have been pursuing Mr. Awlaki for months, were involved in the operation.

A Defense Ministry statement said that a number of Mr. Awlaki’s bodyguards also were killed.

A high-ranking Yemeni security official who spoke on condition of anonymity said that Mr. Awlaki was killed while traveling between Marib and al-Jawf provinces in northern Yemen — areas known for having an Al Qaeda presence, where there is very little central government control. The official did not say how he was killed.

Mr. Awlaki’s name has been associated with many plots in the United States and elsewhere after individuals planning violence were drawn to his engaging lectures broadcast over the Internet.

Those individuals included Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan, the Army psychiatrist charged in the 2009 shootings at Fort Hood, Texas in which 13 people were killed; the young men who planned to attack Fort Dix, N.J.; and a 21-year-old British student who told the police she stabbed a member of Parliament after watching 100 hours of Awlaki videos.

Mr. Awlaki’s death could well be used by beleaguered President Ali Abdullah Saleh to reinforce his refusal to leave office in face of months of protests against his 30-year rule, arguing in part that he is a critical American ally in the war against Al Qaeda.

Earlier this year, the American military renewed its campaign of airstrikes in Yemen, using drone aircraft and fighter jets to attack Qaeda militants. One of the attacks was aimed at Mr. Awlaki, one of the most prominent members of the affiliate group, Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula. Mr. Awlaki’s death seemed likely to be welcomed in the United States, where Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta said in July that two of his top goals were to remove Ayman al-Zawahri, Al Qaeda’s new leader after the death of Osama Bin Laden in May, and Mr. Awlaki.

Word of the killing came after months of sustained American efforts to seriously weaken the terrorist group.

In August an American official said a drone strike killed Atiyah Abd al-Rahman, a Libyan who in the last year had taken over as Al Qaeda’s top operational planner after Bin Laden was killed.

In July, Mr. Panetta said during a visit to Kabul, Afghanistan that the United States was “within reach of strategically defeating Al Qaeda” and that the American focus had narrowed to capturing or killing 10 to 20 crucial leaders of the terrorist group in Pakistan, Somalia and Yemen.

A month earlier, an American official said the Central Intelligence Agency was building a secret air base in the Middle East to serve as a launching pad for strikes in Yemen using armed drones.

The construction of the base was seen at the time a sign that the Obama administration was planning an extended war in Yemen against an affiliate of Al Qaeda, called Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, which has repeatedly tried to carry out terrorist plots against the United States.

The American official would not disclose the country where the C.I.A. base was being built, but the official said that it would most likely be completed by the end of the year.

Last year, the leader of Al Qaeda’s affiliate in Yemen sought to install Mr. Awlaki as the leader of the group in Yemen, which apparently thought Mr. Awlaki’s knowledge of the United States and his status as an Internet celebrity might help the group’s operations and fund-raising efforts.

Mr. Awlaki was accused of having connections to the Nigerian Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, a former engineering student at University College London, who is awaiting trial in the United States for his attempt to detonate explosives sewn into his underwear aboard Northwest Airlines Flight 253 as it landed in Detroit on Dec. 25, 2009. The bomb did not explode.

Mr. Awlaki has been linked to numerous plots against the United States, including the botched underwear bombing. He has taken to the Internet with stirring battle cries directed at young American Muslims. “Many of your scholars,” Mr. Awlaki warned last year, are “standing between you and your duty of jihad.”

Major Hasan, the American Army psychiatrist charged with killing 13 people at Fort Hood had exchanged e-mails with Mr. Awlaki beforehand. Mr. Awlaki’s lectures and sermons have been linked to more than a dozen terrorist investigations in the United States, Britain and Canada. Faisal Shahzad, who tried to set off a car bomb in Times Square in May, 2010, cited Mr. Awlaki as an inspiration.

Laura Kasinof reported from Sana, Yemen, and Alan Cowell from London. Eric Schmitt contributed reporting from Washington.

This article has been revised to reflect the following correction:

Correction: September 30, 2011

An earlier version of this article said that Yemeni forces had carried out the attack. The circumstances of the operation remain unclear.

Darrell Issa caught with pants down over green energy scandalmongering

2011-09-22T17:26:00.000-07:00

WED SEP 21, 2011 AT 09:31 AM PDT

byJed Lewison

202 31

PERMALINK	39 COMMENTS

Darrell Issa endorses Arnold Schwarzenegger,
who pushed for approval of the Solyndra loan that
Issa now condemns (Robert Galbraith / Reuters)

If you listen to what he says in public, Darrell Issa believes President Obama's "Green Energy Agenda" is a job killer:

Tomorrow, Issa is conducting a Congressional oversight hearing called: ”How Obama’s Green Energy Agenda is Killing Jobs.”

And it's not just a job killer, he says. It's a backdoor to corruption:

“There’s been this attitude that somehow the government can weigh-in with loan guarantees and money and pick specific company winners and losers,” Issa said yesterday on C-SPAN’s “Washington Journal” program. “We see that as a backdoor, easy way to end up with corruption in government.”

As a result, Issa says, he'll lead a Congressional investigation into Solyndra, a green energy firm that filed for bankruptcy despite receiving federal loan guarantees.

Republicans like Issa have tried to turn the Solyndra failure into a political scandal, but the reality is that sometimes private companies fail—even ones that have taken federal loans. And despite his scandalmongering, Issa himself has privately embraced the exact same programs he is now publicly criticizing. For example, check out this 2010 letter posted by Greg Sargent in which Issa asks the Department of Energy to provide a federal loan to a private firm in his district:

Dear Mr. Secretary:
I write to express my support of Aptera Motors’ application for a loan under the Department of Energy’s 136 Advanced Technology Vehicles Manufacturing Incentive Program (ATVMIP). Funding will allow Aptera to establish U.S. manufacturing facilities for the commercial production of its plug-in and hybrid electric cars. Aptera Motors plans to purchase and equip manufacturing facilities to begin commercial scale production of its energy efficient electric vehicles. Awarding this opportunity to Aptera Motors will greatly assist a leading developer of electric vehicles in my district.
Electric vehicle initiatives like Aptera’s will aid U.S long-term energy goals by shifting away from fossil fuels and using viable renewable energy sources like plug-in electric energy. Additionally, Aptera’s vehicles will reduce dependence on foreign oil and enhance energy security. Aptera’s project will also promote domestic job creationthroughout California as well as in other states.
Unlike many other electric vehicles, Aptera’s energy efficient electric vehicles have a range of over 100 miles per charge and the possibility to become one of the most energy efficient vehicles in the world. A loan to Aptera will help accelerate the move from gasoline-powered vehicles to cleaner electric vehicles.
I urge you to give Aptera Motors’ Advanced Technology Vehicles Manufacturing Incentive Program funding application full consideration. If I can be of further assistance, please do not hesitate to contact me or my Press Assistant, XXXXX.
Respectfully,
Darrell Issa
Member of Congress.

So in public, Issa talks about the "Green Energy Agenda" as if it were a menace to society and a pathway to corruption ... but in private, he not only says green energy programs create jobs, he also specifically advocates for private companies.

Frederick Hill, a spokesman for Issa, said Aptera has been awaiting an Energy Department decision for three years.
“In the entire time that Aptera’s application has been pending, Solyndra was able to obtain taxpayer backing and go bankrupt leaving taxpayers on the hook,” Hill said in an e- mail. “Most applicants for federal programs don’t, in fact, receive the VIP treatment Solyndra did.”

In other words, Darell Issa isn't really against "picking winners and losers." He just wants to make sure that he's the one doing the picking.

ORIGINALLY POSTED TO THE JED REPORT ON WED SEP 21, 2011 AT 09:31 AM PDT.

ALSO REPUBLISHED BY CALIFORNIA POLITICS, CLASS WARFARE NEWSLETTER: THE PLUTOCRACY VS THE WORKING CLASS, Earl Krugel Chai! and DAILY KOS.

From The National Post: A majority of Canadians believes conflict between Western nations and the Muslim world is “irreconcilable,”

2011-09-14T19:28:00.000-07:00

From The National Post:

Geoff Robins/AFP/Getty Images

56% of respondents in a new Leger Marketing poll see Western and Muslim societies locked in an unending ideological struggle.

Postmedia News Sep 11, 2011 – 3:45 PM ET

By Randy Boswell

A majority of Canadians believes conflict between Western nations and the Muslim world is “irreconcilable,” according to a new national survey that revealed a strong strain of pessimism in the country leading up to Sunday’s 10th anniversary commemorations of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on the U.S.

The survey of 1,500 Canadians, conducted over three days last week for the Montreal-based Association for Canadian Studies, showed 56% of respondents see Western and Muslim societies locked in an unending ideological struggle, while about 33% — just one-third of the population — held out hope that the conflict will eventually be overcome.

Another 11% of those polled didn’t answer the question.

ACS executive director Jack Jedwab said the finding has “serious ramifications” for Canadian policies aimed at bridging divides between cultures, which are based on the premise that citizens believe significant progress in mending such religious and cultural conflicts is achievable.

The dark view expressed in the survey “contradicts a fundamental idea in multicultural democracies like ours, that conflicts between societies can be resolved through dialogue and negotiation,” said Jedwab. “This is also a key element in multiculturalism, where Canada is often seen elsewhere in the world as a model in conflict resolution.”

He adds: “If a majority of Canadians feel it is irreconcilable, what does this imply for the various projects and programs in place that aim to bridge gaps?”

The online survey, carried out Sept. 6 to 8 by the firm Leger Marketing, is considered accurate to within 2.9 percentage points 19 times out of 20.

The results also confirm the findings of other recent surveys highlighting Canadians’ ongoing anxiety about the state of security in the post-9/11 world and their deep doubts about whether the long and bloody war in Afghanistan has done much to thwart the threat of terrorism.

In fact, 65% of respondents in the ACS survey said they don’t believe the world is safer from terrorists today than it was 10 years ago. And 70% of those surveyed said they don’t believe the war in Afghanistan has reduced the chances of terrorist attacks.

Jedwab said the “pessimistic feeling” about what the war has accomplished is likely linked to the “widespread hopelessness” about the prospects for ever resolving the deep-rooted, “ideological” conflict between Muslim and Western societies.

Many Canadians have come to believe “nothing will work” to end that conflict, said Jedwab, adding that this grim state of mind will require more scrutiny to fully understand and more carefully crafted public policies to rebuild a sense of optimism about the future of global relations.

The survey did offer one notable “ray of hope,” Jedwab suggested, pointing to a result showing that a slight majority of Canadians (52%) believe it would be wrong for airport security officials to do “extra checks” of “passengers who appear to be of Muslim background.”

While 39% of respondents were open to that kind of profiling, Jedwab interpreted the majority’s rejection of the practice as a sign that most Canadians realize such infringements “would make the purportedly irreconcilable conflict even deeper if the enshrined principles of our rights charters are to be disregarded.”

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Israel's supporters came out in Trafalgar Square

2011-08-28T17:45:00.000-07:00

http://richardmillett.wordpress.com/author/richardmillett/

Israel's supporters came out in Trafalgar Square today to show sympathy with Israel as rockets continue to rain down from Gaza and to wish a happy 25th birthday to Gilad Schalit who is in his sixth year in isolation in Gaza having been kidnapped by Hamas from Israeli soil when he was 19.
There were some tremendous speeches.
Hasan Afzal, of British Muslims for Israel, said he supports Israel because it is "the only country in the Middle East where Muslims have freedom and democracy".
Jonathan Sacerdoti spoke movingly about Gilad Schalit spending his 25th birthday "in prison, in Gaza with no contact with the outside world, his family or even the International Red Cross to ensure that his health is adequate".
Joy Wolfe urged the crowd to ignore media lies about Israel and described Israel as a home for people of all religions.
She went on to call for an end to the double standards of the United Nations and some British MPs and said that Gilad Schalit probably doesn't even know that today is his birthday and probably feels as if he has been forgotten. But she said that no one will rest until the Red Cross gets access to him and every government in the world is calling for his release.
It was an excellent afternoon arranged at very short notice by the British Israel Coalition and supported by Stand With Us.
It made a change from the previous Sunday's terror rally at Trafalgar Square where the rhetoric called for war with Israel and signs called for Death to Israel. It's a shame there wasn't a similar pro-Israel rally at that time.
But with that in mind the Zionist Federation is arranging a counter-demonstration this coming Thursday from 6pm till 8pm outside the Royal Albert Hall where the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra is playing at the BBC proms.
It is in response to a Palestine Solidarity Campaign anti-Israel protest. Some sort of disruption is also expected to take place inside the Hall while the orchestra is playing.
Nearest tube stations are South Kensington (District, Circle, Piccadily lines) and High Street Kensington (District and Circle lines).
It will be an opportunity to defiantly wave Israeli flags in the faces of all those whose sole desire in life is to see the Jewish state destroyed.
Clips and photos from today's pro-Israel rally:

Middle East Terrorist Scams and the Western Naivete that Empowers Them

2011-08-27T04:41:00.000-07:00

August 26, 2011 - 10:24 am - by Barry Rubin

By Barry Rubin

Rockets from the Gaza Strip continue to pound Israel. And much of the Western media blames: Israel. I want to explain again how this system works.

What follows is a seven-point pattern that goes something like this: Someone shoots at your spouse, you punch the attacker, he yells, “Ceasefire!” then kicks you in the groin and takes some more shots at your spouse. You try to defend yourself. The police stand by doing nothing and then declare you to be the aggressor for breaking the ceasefire.

If this sounds like an exaggeration, I sincerely wish that it was! (Scholarly disclaimer: Of course many politicians and media outlets do see through this but the pattern discussed below is a very widespread one.)

1. Terrorist group attacks Israeli civilians.

2. As Israel seeks to retaliate, the group declares a ceasefire.

3. Western media announce ceasefire.

4. But rockets continue to be fired into Israel against civilian targets. Responsibility is usually taken by smaller groups allied with Hamas, like Islamic Jihad. This allows Hamas–and Western media–to deny that Hamas has any responsibility and thus there is no need to take actions against it. Nobody notes that Hamas is now allied with the Palestinian Authority (PA) and the latter does not condemn the attacks but only condemns Israel.

(Note: Western media only report it when the PA condemns a terrorist attack and that at times gets more coverage than the attack and the Israeli victims.)

(Additional note: In late 2008, Hamas launched a war of rockets, missiles, mortars, and attempted cross-border attacks on Israel, breaking an existing ceasefire. When Israel retaliated, many accused Israel of aggression.)

(Another additional note: It is generally forgotten that because of Israel’s self-defense against the Hamas attacks the PA broke off negotiations with Israel and three years later, despite constant missreporting that the lack of talks is Israel’s fault, that policy continues.)

5. Israel retaliates against rocket-firing teams, weapons’ workshops, arms-smuggling tunnels, rocket storage places, and leaders of groups firing rockets. Some civilians are killed and this becomes the main point of Western media stories. Since the numbers and identities come from Hamas, they maximize numbers and civilians, concealing terrorists’ being killed and at times reclassifying terrorists as civilians. Note that when civilians are killed by Western airstrikes, as in Afghanistan or Libya, it is emphasized that these are regrettable accidents. With Israel it is implied that such action is purposeful or at least careless.

6. Western media report that Israel “broke” the “ceasefire.”

7. Continued attacks on Israel are thus blamed on Israeli action.

Think that’s an exaggeration? Here’s the Washington Post:

“A tenuous cease-fire between Israel and Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip was punctured Wednesday by a deadly Israeli airstrike that triggered rocket and mortar fire at Israel.”

Political result:

Anti-Israel politicians, media, and experts blame Israel for being aggressive and using “disproportionate force,” a phrase
that only seems to be applied to Israel in the world.

More moderate politicians, media, and experts decry the cycle of violence for which both sides are responsible.

Coming soon to a UN Near You: The September UN Scam! Here’s a wonderful indication of what’s going on:

A pro-Palestinian Oxford University law professor has warned the Palestinian leadership that it must do the unilateral independence declaration at the UN properly so it can claim all of Israel later.

Another example of Arab child abuse

2011-08-21T04:16:00.001-07:00

PA kindergarten teaches children to die fighting Israel in the name of Islam. Class play involves soldiers, death.

by Maayana Miskin

Published: 16/08/11, 7:54 PM

Child Martyr

Screen Captrue

A Palestinian Authority kindergarten showed off what its young students had learned over the past year by having the five-year-olds act out scenes of terror and death for their families. The parents were moved to tears upon seeing their children pretend to die as “martyrs, ”Palestinian Media Watch reported reported.

During the graduation ceremony two plays were performed – one based on “Little Red Riding Hood,” the second, “The Martyr's Wedding,” a story glorifying death in battle with Israel for the sake of Islam.

“Another performance named 'The Martyr's Wedding' delighted the audience due to the role-play of the children, whose acting depicted the reality of roadblocks, children, occupation, soldiers, and the children's death as Martyrs,” wrote the PA daily Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, in a report picked up and translated by Palestinian Media Watch.

The performance was accompanied by “nationalistic” songs, Al-Hayat Al-Jadida reported. Many such songs encourage “martyrdom” and bloodshed for the sake of “freeing the land of Palestine” - a land which, according to the PA, includes all of Israel.

2011-08-15T21:12:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone.
I hope to have more personal articles up, about Earl Krugel, soon.
I have lost touch with Earl's wonderful wife, the love of his live, lola Krugel.
If she should come here, or email me at Michael Blackburn At Gmail
it would be a blessing and helpful to this site, which exists to contribute to knowledge of one our truly selfless heroes, Earl Leslie Krugel.

Laughter, Hamlet’s Ghost, and the Insanity of Our Present Age

2011-08-02T18:45:00.001-07:00

Ghost: “Pity me not, but lend thy serious hearing
To what I shall unfold.”
–Hamlet, Act 1, Scene 1

By Barry Rubin

This is a test. Does this story make you laugh or cry?

A friend of mine wrote an article that, while it did make fun of a left-wing group, was a pretty sober and factual presentation on a simple point. My concern here is NOT the specific story involved but the ending.

Some people pointed out that Herman Cain, a presidential candidate, in apologizing to Muslims for something he said, just happened to do the apologizing to a specific group that’s a front for the Muslim Brotherhood in America. A site that’s part of President Obama’s favorite thinktank and is well funded by a certain billionaire (no extra credit for guessing) ridiculed this claim.

So what did this author do? Research! In the finest scholarly tradition, he found some U.S. court judgments that concluded, based on documentary evidence, that the group in question is indeed a front for the Muslim Brotherhood.

So he proved his argument to be correct. The result? Retraction? Apology? Hey, it’s 2011!

How, then, did a non-profit group–not the one he was responding to but one of similar ilk–respond to the article? See below:

Response 1: “Take your head out of your ass….You live in America, even though you don’t deserve to.”

Response 2: “Hey…how’s your application to the Nazi Party going?”

Now you have to laugh, right? Here’s an author who irrefutably proves his case and that’s the response he gets. This is the level of sophistication of our adversaries. They cannot come up with good arguments so they either have to name-call or distort. A lot of them sound more sophisticated than the above two quotes but what they say basically amounts to the same thing.

What’s especially ironic is that the author of the article comes from a family persecuted by the Nazis (response 2), and arrived in America–legally–as penniless refugees from Communism (response 1).

Remember that those responses did not come from some deranged individual hiding behind an alias but a non-profit organization whose name isn’t concealed and that is given exemption from paying taxes because it serves an “educational” purpose. Fortunately, since the Federal budget is balanced, America doesn’t need its tax money!

So please be civil when you respond to people you disagree with; provide facts and good arguments; try to avoid insults. If you have facts and good arguments on your side that should be enough in a democratic country that’s ultimately a free marketplace of ideas (even if considerable sections of that marketplace have been hijacked and turned into propaganda organs). You won’t convince the haters and extremists but you will convince the openminded majority even if it takes a while.

Going back to the exchange above, you either have to laugh or cry. I suggest laughter. It’s more fun and he who laughs last laughs best. Become a historian; live long; and write about this era in 30 or 40 years. Sure, many people won’t believe these things happened but show them the quotes and documents.

Ghost: “Do not forget: this visitation
Is but to whet thy almost blunted purpose.”
–Hamlet, too.

Egypt's status quo

2011-08-02T18:01:00.000-07:00

Hosni Mubarak's departure from power did little to address the fundamental issues that brought protesters to Cairo's Tahrir Square two months ago.
In fact, the protests were never about Mubarak but about a sclerotic political system and an economic system that was full of cronyism and corruption.

Mubarak sustained that system, but its backbone was always the Egyptian military.
Mubarak nurtured the military, from which he came, and the military preserved him. Although the officers behind Egypt's 1952 revolution abandoned their uniforms long ago, Egypt's rulers have been generals in suits for decades.
The return of the uniforms to power does not inspire great optimism about Egypt's trajectory. In superficial ways, it represents a victory for the protesters and a demonstration of people power in the heart of the Arab world. After all, it was unthinkable even two weeks ago that Mubarak would relinquish the presidency, and those calling for his ouster - as some Egyptian activists had been doing for years - seemed quixotic dreamers.
Against all odds, this thinking goes, the government has moved to fulfill the protesters' demands.
But in a more important way, the army's return suggests a huge step backward. Military rule does not allow for bargaining between interest groups, nor does it presage a constitutional convention between an array of actors in Egyptian political life. Rather, it suggests even heavier management of the political process, on the one hand, and the removal of any timeline for change on the other.
For those thinking strategically about the protest movement, the rise of a military rule is a double defeat, simultaneously narrowing the bounds of allowed public behavior and depriving the protest movement of its urgency.
If the Egyptian public has cause for greater concern, the military's rise provides some solace to the rulers of neighboring countries. Their worst-case scenario was a democratic uprising in Egypt that was both fundamental and telegenic, thereby serving as an inspiration to publics from Morocco to Oman. The rise of Egypt's military is a victory for the forces of order, a steadying of the status quo.
For Western governments, events in Egypt are a decidedly mixed blessing. For the United States in particular, which has long had close ties to the most senior Egyptian leadership, the military's heightened role means that familiar faces will be making the important decisions. Yet the White House has made clear publicly and privately that it viewed changes in Egypt as harbingers of an inescapable change sweeping the Middle East. Whereas some predicted as recently as Thursday that Egypt was moving forward, with the rise of the Military Command Council, Egypt seems to have reverted to 1952.
Mubarak was always a cautious leader. He cherished stability so much that conditions in Egypt often veered toward stasis. The events since Jan. 25, especially the widespread protests in recent days, were precisely the environment he was seeking to prevent.
The way to see his departure, then, is not as a victory for the demonstrators calling for his removal.
Instead, it was a defeat for the Egypt Hosni Mubarak was trying to maintain.
Mubarak moved deliberately to improve the lot of his compatriots, carefully avoiding risk.
He rarely wore his military uniform, seeking to project an image of normality to Egypt's public and the world. He saw and portrayed himself as a great statesman of the region, counseling presidents and kings half his age.
And yet, Egypt never quite reached normality. Mubarak never felt sufficient comfort to lift the emergency law in force in Egypt almost continually for four decades, and he never was able to establish a civilian leadership that could take the place of the army. Long accused of being an unimaginative bureaucrat, he turned over the country to like-minded septuagenarians who mirror his caution.
Mubarak has not handed over the reins of a confident country, but instead a country where the military had to step in to prevent a slide into chaos. Egypt is a distressed asset. That is not a glorious legacy after decades of rule.
The writer is director of the Middle East program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

Amy Winehouse, May Her Memory Be For a Blessing

2011-07-25T03:43:00.000-07:00

Thanks to Israel National news for this article. MBeed

The tragic headline story is all over the Internet. Here’s a sample:

Amy Winehouse, the British pop singer whose hard-partying ways often overshadowed her soulful singing, has died at just 27, police confirmed. The tortured songstress, who had a history of substance abuse and shot to fame with the song "Rehab," was found dead Saturday in her London flat, according to police. Winehouse, with her trademark beehive hairdo and sailor-style tattoos, went global when her 2006 album "Back to Black" won five Grammy's. The album featured the song "Rehab," which includes the chorus: "They tried to make me go to rehab, I said, 'No, no, no.'"
Similarly, I have tried to make our brothers and sisters in the Diaspora go to rehab, but they say, “No, no, no,” just like Amy Winehouse.
Up until yesterday, I never heard of Amy Winehouse. Nor am I familiar with her songs. But my heart goes out to this sad Jewish lady who is just one of the millions of Jewish tragedies in the Diaspora. This never would have happened had she grown up in Israel. Yes, there are drugs in Israel too. And I suppose that some people have died of overdoses. But the larger-than-life grotesqueness of Amy’s life and death is a product of the terrible distortion of the Diaspora and how its addiction poisons all those who live there.
Amy is a symbol of this perversion. Of growing up in a place you don’t belong. Of trying to be someone you’re not. Her sensitive soul felt is so strongly, it killed her. Too bad I never had the chance to meet her and explain to her who she really was, and how she wasn’t to blame for her tormented craziness, that she was simply a beautiful Jewish soul who didn’t belong in the crazy world of London. She killed herself trying to fit in with the sickness and craziness around her, trying to be what she wasn’t.
If her death helps people understand just how pernicious the Diaspora is, then I don’t think she’ll mind that we have used her as a symbol.
May her memory be for a blessing.

Tvzi Fishman

The Arabian Lobby

2011-07-20T16:07:00.000-07:00

The Arab lobby in America

While the media and politicians engage in frenzied debate about the virtues and vices of building—or preventing the building of—a Muslim community center (cum mosque) near the "sacred ground" of 9/11, Iran continues to build a nuclear weapon, as the Israelis and Palestinians take a tentative step toward building a peaceful resolution to their age-old conflict. Inevitably, whenever Middle East issues take center stage, the question of the role of lobbies, particularly those that advocate for foreign countries, becomes a hot topic. This book by longtime Middle East authority, Mitchell Bard, is a must read for anyone who cares—and who doesn't?—about the role of lobbies in influencing American policy in the Middle East. Its thesis, which is sure to be controversial, is easily summarized:

Yes Virginia, there is a big bad lobby that distorts US foreign policy in the Middle East way out of proportion to its actual support by the American public. Professors Stephen Walt and John Mearsheimer, author of the screed, The Israel Lobby, are right about that. But the offending lobby is not AIPAC, which supports Israel, but rather the Arab lobby, which opposes the Jewish state.

Both the pro-Israel and pro-Arab lobby (really lobbies because there are several for each) are indeed powerful but there is a big difference — a difference that goes to the heart of the role of lobbying in a democracy. Bard puts it this way:

With almost unlimited resources, they try to buy what they usually cannot win on the merits of their arguments.

"One of the most important distinguishing characteristics of the Arab lobby is that it has no popular support. While the Israeli lobby has hundreds of thousands of grass root members and public opinion polls consistently reveal a huge gap between support for Israel and the Arab nations/Palestinians, the Arab lobby has almost no foot soldiers or public sympathy. It's most powerful elements tend to be bureaucrats who represent only their personal views or what they believe are their institutional interests, and foreign governments that care only about their national interests, not those of the United States. What they lack in human capital in terms of American advocates, they make up for with almost unlimited resources to try to buy what they usually cannot win on the merits of their arguments."

The Arab Lobby: The Invisible Alliance That Undermines America’s Interests in the Middle East. By Mitchell Bard. 432 pages. Harper. $27.99. This is a critical distinction for a democracy. The case for Israel (though not for all of its policies) is an easy sell for pro-Israel lobbyists, especially elected representatives. Voting in favor of Israel is popular not only in areas with large concentration of Jewish voters, but throughout the country, because Israel is popular with Evangelical Christians in particular and with much, though certainly not all, of the public in general. Lobbies that reflect the will of the people are an important part of the democratic process. Thus, the American Association of Retired People (AARP), the principal lobbying group for the elderly, is extremely powerful because there are so many elderly people in this country who want to protect social security, Medicaid, and other benefits. The National Rifle Association (NRA) is a powerful lobby precisely because so many Americans, for better or worse, love their guns. And The American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) is a powerful lobby because Americans, in general, support the Middle East's only democracy and reliable American ally.

But why is the Arab lobby, and most particularly the Saudi lobby, also powerful? Saudi Arabia has virtually no support among Americans. Indeed, it is widely reviled for its export of terrorists such as Osama Bin Laden, its manipulation of oil prices, its anti-Christian and anti-Semitic policies, its total deprivation of any semblance of freedom of speech or dissent, and its primitive forms of punishment that include stoning and amputation. Yet, as Bard demonstrates, the Saudi lobby has beaten the pro-Israel lobby over and over again in head to head conflicts, such as the sale of sophisticated weapons to a regime that doesn't even have the technical skills to use them, and the conflict over whether to move the United States' Embassy to Jerusalem. Even now, Saudi Arabia is lobbying to obtain a multi-billion dollar arms deal , and it is likely to succeed over the objections of Israel.

How then does a lobby with no popular support manage to exert influence in a democratic country? The secret is very simple. The Arab lobby in general and the Saudis in particular make little effort to influence popularly elected public officials, particularly legislators. Again, listen to Bard:

"The Saudis have taken a different tact from the Israeli lobby, focusing a top-down rather than bottom-up approach to lobbying. As hired gun, J. Crawford Cook, wrote in laying out his proposed strategy for the kingdom, 'Saudi Arabia has a need to influence the few that influence the many, rather than the need to influence the many to whom the few must respond.'"

The Saudis spend enormous amounts of lucre to buy (or rent) former state department officials, diplomats, White House aides, and legislative leaders.

The primary means by which the Saudis exercise this influence is money. They spend enormous amounts of lucre to buy (or rent) former state department officials, diplomats, White House aides, and legislative leaders who become their elite lobbying corps. Far more insidiously, the Saudis let it be known that if current government officials want to be hired following their retirement from government service, they had better hue to the Saudi line while they are serving in our government. The former Saudi ambassador to the United States, Prince Bandar, who was so close to the President George H.W. Bush that he referred to himself as "Bandar Bush," acknowledged the relationship between how a government official behaves while in office and how well he will be rewarded when he leaves office. "If the reputation then builds that the Saudis take care of friends when they leave office, you'd be surprised how much better friends you have when they are just coming into office."

Bard concludes from this well known quid pro quo that: "given the potential of these post-retirement opportunities, it would not be surprising if officials adopted positions while in government to make themselves marketable to the Arab lobby."

The methodology employed by the Arab lobby is thus totally inconsistent with democratic governance, because it does not reflect the will of the people but rather the corruption of the elite, while the Israeli lobby seems to operate within the parameters of democratic processes. Yet so much has been written about the allegedly corrosive nature of the Israeli lobby, while the powerful Arab lobby has widely escaped scrutiny and criticism. This important book thus contributes to the open marketplace of ideas by illuminating the dark side of the massive and largely undemocratic Arab lobbying efforts to influence American policy with regard to the Middle East.

This article originally appeared on The Daily Beast.

World Opinion: Israel's Right to Exist on Trial

2011-07-09T17:13:00.000-07:00

By Chris Mitchell

CBN News Middle East Bureau Chief

Sunday, March 28, 2010

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JERUSALEM, Israel -- Next month, Israel celebrates its 62nd anniversary as a nation. With the approach of this milestone, many believe Israel faces two of the greatest threats to its survival.

The first is a potential nuclear Iran. The second could be just as dangerous: The spreading notion that the world would be a better place without Israel.

Growing Anti-Zionism?

- At the University of California's Irvine campus, Muslim students shouted down Israeli Ambassador to the United States Michael Oren 11 times.

- On Turkey's national television, a prime-time special portrayed Israeli soldiers executing Palestinian women and children in cold blood.

- Former Israel Defense Forces Chief Moshe Y'allon cancelled his trip to Spain fearing he'd be arrested on charges of war crimes.

- In March, dozens of cities held "Israel Apartheid Week," comparing the Jewish nation to the former apartheid state of South Africa.

So what's happening from the U.S. West Coast to the West Bank and around the world?

'Delegitimizing' Israel

When Israel was founded in 1948, its enemies outnumbered and out-gunned tiny Israel on the battlefield. But more than 60 years later, Israel boasts the strongest military in the Middle East.

No longer able to defeat Israel militarily, some say Israel's enemies have shifted to another battlefield -- the worldwide court of public opinion.

It's spreading the notion that Israel is so bad, so racist, and so evil, it no longer has a right to exist. It's an attempt to wipe Israel off the map, not with a nuclear bomb, but with slander and to promulgate the idea of a world without Israel.

Supporters of Israel see a very real and growing threat, a campaign - often coordinated - to delegitimize Israel, to undermine the very existence of the Jewish state.

"No more money for Israel's crimes," shouted one Anti-Israel demonstrator.

"You have an alliance of what many have called the Red/Green Alliance where you have on the one hand the leftists -- political movements both in the United States and in Europe and throughout the western world joining forces very openly with Islamists -- with radical Muslims and even moderate Muslims for that matter, saying that Israel has not a right to exist," Caroline Glick, managing editor of The Jerusalem Post told CBN News.

"My concern is that other people -- liberals, people of good will, people who don't know much about this area -- will fall into this trap and accept and slowly accept the notion that Israel is the new pariah," said Shmuel Ben-Shmuel, director of the World Jewish Affairs in Israel's foreign ministry.

Goldstone Report

Many of Israel's supporters point to latest attempt to delegitimize Israel -- the United Nations-commissioned Goldstone Report. The report accuses Israel of war crimes against civilians during Operation Cast Lead, Israel's campaign to stop Hamas from firing rockets into Israel's southern communities.

Ret. U.S. Army Lt. Gen. Jerry Boykin said he found such charges to be groundless.

"The Israelis were very careful not to target civilian targets - and if they did target a civilian target - to let the occupants there know that they were going to strike," he said. "The Goldstone Report tells just the opposite."

"The Goldstone Report is the son of Muhammed al-Dura," said French citizen Philippe Karsenty.

Al-Dura is the young Palestinian boy who was allegedly killed in 2000 by Israeli soldiers at the start of the Palestinian intifada. For the past decade, he's become the symbol of Israeli brutality.

Yet Karsenty took France 2 Television to court and claimed the footage videotaped by the France 2 photographer was staged. In May 2008, a French court ruled in Karsenty's favor.

Yet, he says the impact of this hoax and the Goldstone Report has been devastating, especially in Europe.

"Even the best friends of Israel, the people who want to support Israel, "Game over." We cannot defend you after we've seen the war crimes. We're even losing Jews in Europe," Karsenty said.

"We've had people who were Jews and now they're so afraid to be associated with this kind of state, which is for them like a Nazi-like state is what they're seeing in the media," he said.

Harbinger of Things to Come?

Former Israeli Ambassador to the United Nations Dore Gold says groups like Hamas have a goal in delegitimizing Israel.

"The purpose is to tie the hands of Israel, so that Hamas retains the right of resistance of fighting Israel -- but at the same time Israel has no right of self-defense to respond," he explained.

"The state of Israel can win all the wars in the world, but if they have all the nations against them, the way it's becoming, it's very difficult. It's going to be very, very difficult for the state of Israel to survive and to defend its borders and just to defend its right to exist," Gold added.

While Israel may be the main target of this effort, some warn it may be just the first domino in a long line.

"It should be very worrying, because we have seen that when Israel is delegitimized and assaulted both diplomatically, politically as well as militarily, it is only a precursor of the rest of the free world," said Dan Diker of the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs.

This could mean American military officers battling Al Qaeda in Iraq, or the Taliban in Afghanistan might find themselves accused of war crimes if they're responsible for unintended civilian casualties.

As Israel Goes...

So, how can Israel fight such an effort?

"First of all, we have to point out that these delegitimization efforts against Israel are in fact a strategic threat to our existence," Glick said.

"To call all people of good will to take action," Ben-Shmuel added.

How well Israel fights on this battlefield may well determine its own survival and may also be a bellweather for democracies around the world.

Obama’s position “hurt the peace process gravely,”

2011-05-24T18:13:00.000-07:00

The plan for a negotiated peace between Israel and the Palestinians based on the 1967 Israeli border was dealt a serious blow and damaged the global image of the United States, Israeli advocate and Harvard law professor Alan Dershowitz told Newsmax.TV.

Dershowitz was commenting on Obama’s Thursday address at the State Department in which he pressed Israel to reach a peace agreement with the Palestinians and set the 1967 border as it existed before the Six-Day War as a starting point. Obama’s position “hurt the peace process gravely,” he said, adding that the president’s declaring such a marker repeated a negotiating error that led to an earlier breakdown in talks when he insisted on a freeze of Israeli settlements in occupied territories.

“He made the same mistake again in this speech,” Dershowitz said. “He put himself ahead of the Palestinians. That is he insisted Israel go back to ’67 borders with land swaps, but he did not demand that the Palestinians give up the right of return.”

The former Supreme Court law clerk and noted defense lawyer believes the speech will have a “terrible impact” on U.S. Israeli relations and increased the level of distrust dramatically, although “polite discourse” will continue.

“The tragedy is during the Obama administration the prospect of peace has gone further away than it’s ever been in recent years since Israel offered to give the Palestinians a state . . . He’s been ham-handed in how he has dealt with the issue of negotiations and the result is we’re further away than ever before from negotiated peace and that’s in large part the fault of President Obama and I think that’s the terrible tragedy of how he’s handled this process.”

Dershowitz also maintained the speech will damage the country’s image.

“I think also the speech was not particularly good for the United States,” he said. “It set us out in a way that showed naiveté and created a situation where neither side will be encouraged to move toward peace by what the president said. So I think on balance it was a net loss rather than a net gain. And I am disappointed because I favor a two-state solution, I voted for Obama and I was hoping he would have a more sophisticated and realistic approach to negotiations which he doesn’t seem to have. He has twice now set back the prospects for negations and a two state solution.”

Dershowitz also criticized how little time Obama spent on the question of Iran and its nuclear weapons program. Obama devoted few words to the issue in his speech, noting at one point that the United States’ “opposition to Iran’s intolerance and Iran’s repressive measures, as well as its illicit nuclear program and its support of terror, is well known.”

“The thousand-pound elephant in the room that threatens Israel’s security more than the Palestinians, or the Syrians or the Egyptians is the prospect that Iran will develop nuclear weapons,” Dershowitz said. “Although he threw a little bone against Iranian development of nuclear weapons he did not guarantee Israel that Iran would not be permitted to develop nuclear weapons. In fact he had a big statement saying Israel will have to be prepared to defend itself alone.”

Such language increases the “distress most Israeli’s have in Obama,” Dershowitz said.

“It would have been far better had he not make that speech than that he included the few paragraphs he did about Israel which were ill conceived and I think not helpful to the peace process,” he said.

http://www.newsmax.com/InsideCover/Dershowitz-Obama-Mideast-Israel/2011/05/20/id/397146

Thoughts on Palestinian Unity

2011-05-16T16:17:00.000-07:00

I don't agree with all of the things Noa says here, Earl probably wouldn't either, but he would have felt it was important to hear what this loyal Israeli had to say about the Fatah plan to declare themselves a country, and what that entails.
Achinoam Nini is an Israeli, from Yemen.
She is quite beautiful, and is Israel's most popular vocalist.

Thoughts on Palestinian Unity

Here’s my take on the Hamas-Fatach unity deal.

My opinion of Hamas is well known: putting it lightly, I’m not a fan.

On the other hand, they were elected democratically (for all I know) by the majority of Gazans. Sadly, in my opinion, but that’s the way it is.

My major problem (amongst many) with Hamas is that they deny Israel’s right to exist. In fact their formal decree is that every Jew should be hunted out and killed wherever they may hide. Nice guys.

Israel has often stated that it cannot deal with Abu Mazen because he is “too weak” and “does not really represent the majority of the Palestinian people”.

Well, now he has entered into a coalition with Hamas. And he is the one doing the talking. No matter how you look at it, these are not the doings of a weak man. I personally admire Abu Mazen and wish Netanyahu would exhibit half the wisdom and leadership.

We all know that as September approaches, Israel will have to deal with The Palestinian move towards recognition of their Independence by the UN. I have stated in the past that I see it as totally pathetic that Israel, rather than initiating talks and signing an agreement, is forcing the Palestinians to do it on their own and “drag” us onto reluctantly agreeing: How ignoble that is, how embarrassing, how indicative of our present governments total impotence and lack of navigational skills.

I believe the fledgling Palestinian state will not receive the recognition it desires so long as members of its government (Hamas) continue to deny Israel’s right to exist. So if they are adamant about proceeding, they will have to amend that, which is a good thing. If they refuse to, it is difficult to believe they will be embraced by the international community as they strive to be.

Further, whatever agreement is reached does not depend on radical voices within each government, as long as the agreement is signed. Israel’s government also includes parties who deny the existence of a Palestinian people or the need for/legitimacy of an independent Palestinian state. That will not stop any given government from making an agreement, IF it can. We believe the Israeli people, government and future governments will respect that agreement…and we would like to believe the same goes for the Palestinians, however mixed their opinions could be.

If Hamas, as part of the Palestinian government, continue to be set on destroying Israel, and carrying out their sinister plans after the peace agreement is signed (the greatest fear of many Israelis), then we will go to war with them. But this time, the rules of the game will be different: it will not be Israel attacking so-called “innocent civilians” who are under her “cruel occupation”, but fighting against equals: a country with an army (Palestine) that has chosen to obliterate another country with an army (Israel).

Needless to say that is a horrible scenario. But how much more horrible than what is already happening, or what could potentially happen if we do not proceed?

So: I say lets wait and see, throw our omnipresent Paranoia down the drain and go bravely into what has the potential of being a new and better future for our region.

I Wish You Were Here, Earl

2011-05-09T17:37:00.000-07:00

I wish you were here, Earl, of course I always wish that, every day, but particularly I wished you'd been here to see the end of Bin Laden, the mass-killer.
As the rest of those criminal miscreants, OBL was a dedicated Jew-killer, an enemy of Israel, and basically all cvivilization.
The world is so much better off without this evil criminal,
Your spirit and your life gives us strength against those who would harm us..
There is a huge empty space that you filled, that is sadly empty, except to the extent that your powerful spirit over powered death,
We miss you, Earl Krugel.

Our blessing to your entire family, and especially your grandsons and your dear wife, Lola.

Earl Krugel is Alive In My Heart

2011-04-18T19:50:00.000-07:00

I gained so much from Earl Krugel.

I considered myself moderately brave.

I had done things in my life that were scary, boxing in the toughest gyms in L.A., fighting on the streets against bigger kids, often outnumbered.

As a firefighter I walked into burning buildings and cheated death, a time or two.

However, I knew that Earl Krugel faced death and uncertainty and real barbarity, every day, and he faced it fearlessly, he truly was not afraid.

He was deeply in love with Lola, his charming wife, she was the center of his life.

He doted on his grandchildren.

Yet, he risked it all for the Jewish people.

He risked it all fearlessly.

He faced violent criminals twice his size, in a small concrete cell, no one to help him, no tools but his belief in morality and G-d and doing the right thing.

Earl and I wrote to each other a lot in the last year of his life.

My wife wrote to him as well, and he always wrote back.

She was fascinated and charmed by this larger than life hero.

She wanted his blessing to name our child Earl Ben Krugel

if it was a boy.

As I interviewed Earl for the website IsraelAmerica I was impressed with his insightful, analytical way of seeing things. He wasn’t a man ruled by baser emotions.

When I first contacted Earl he was in solitary confinement in the Men’s Federal Detention Center, a justifiably feared building, even by hardened criminals, which of course, Earl most certainly was not.

I was also in contact with Irv Rubin, OBM, the Chairman of the Jewish Defense League, the heir of Rabbi Meir Kahane, OBM.

Irv said, “This confinement is the most mind numbing punishment ever devised by man.”

It was meant to be.

The techniques being used on Earl and Irv were designed to break down professional killers, usually Arabs.

These two men, these Jews, Irv and Earl had never even contemplated injuring anyone, this according to the FBI.

The next two years were the government’s version of Hell,

However, Earl Krugel smiled every day, and performed acts of loving kindness, and faced an environment totally alien to him, with courage, calmness and compassion.

Not Politically Correct

2011-04-18T14:56:00.000-07:00

It is ironic how prescient Earl Krugel's views about the enemies of the Jewish people and Israel were.
Today Arab Muslims are murdering women and children around the world.
Recently Israel announced they had captured the killers of the Fogel family, whose brutal crimes included the slashing of the baby's throats.
The killers were proud.
They are unrepentant criminals.
Arabs are murdering innocent babies in Africa, Darfur, as well,
because they want the land, and the blacks aren't Arabs.
Arabs are usually intent on killing their enemies, that is, anyone who is unfortunate to be outnumbered by them and bordering an Arab fiefdom.
Earl was ahead of the curve on the problem, he clearly saw evil, and he opposed it.
All decent people should oppose the insanity of the Arab Muslim criminals jetting around the globe.
Earl Krugel did.

Behind the Itamar Murders

2011-04-11T08:34:00.000-07:00

BY DAVID SUISSA
It is fashionable when talking about the “peace process” to focus on hope—to try to nurture the moderate elements among our “peace partners” and constantly inject good faith and good will to keep the process moving “forward.”
Because I crave peace by nature, I’ve always had some sympathy for this approach, which is why I have many friends on the left and why I occasionally take a break from my hard-nosed realism to indulge in more dreamlike and wishful prose.
This is not one of those times.
When I saw the horrifying pictures of the Jewish family members in Itamar who were stabbed to death in their own home— Udi and Ruth Fogel (36 and 35 years old), their children Yoav (11), Elad (4) and Hadas, their 3-month-old daughter— I thought of recent reports on the glorification of terrorism in Palestinian society.
It was impossible not to connect the dots.
In the reports, from Palestinian Media Watch, I learned that Dalal Mughrabi, the terrorist who, in 1978, was responsible for the most lethal attack against Israel, is now immortalized by having the following named for her: two elementary schools, a kindergarten, a computer center, summer camps, football tournaments, a community center, a sports team, a public square, a street, an election course, an adult education course, a university club, a dance troupe, a military unit, a dormitory in a youth center, a TV quiz team and a graduation ceremony.
I also learned that today, a Palestinian child can walk to school along a street named after the terrorist Abu Jihad, who planned a bus hijacking that killed 37, spend the day in a school named after Ahmad Yassin, the man who founded Hamas, play soccer in the afternoon in a tournament honoring terrorist Abd Al-Basset Odeh, who killed 31, and end his day at a youth center named after Abu Iyad, who was responsible for killing 11 Israeli Olympic athletes in Munich.
These are the heroes of Palestinian society—not Abraham Lincolns and Albert Einsteins and Martin Luther Kings, but murderers who crave the spilling of Jewish blood.
Before you rush to defend our “new and improved” Palestinian “peace partners,” note that it was Palestinian Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas who funded a computer center named after Dalal Mughrabi in 2009, and who supported the naming of the square in her honor in 2010.
“Of course, we want to name a square after her,” he said to Al-Hayat Al-Jadida on Jan.17, 2010.
And who sponsored a sporting event named after one of the most prominent terrorist of all, Abu Jihad, in May 2010? None other than PA Prime Minister Salam Fayyad, the man who is building the “new” Palestine.
Just last year, Mahmoud Al-Aloui, a member of the Fatah Central Committee, said in an interview in Al-Hayat Al Jadida: “It is our right and our duty to take pride in all of the Shahids (martyrs), and it is our duty to convey this message in the most direct manner to the generations to come.”
He wasn’t kidding. Only a month ago, PA President Abbas awarded $2,000 to the family of a terrorist who attacked two Israeli soldiers in December.
And the very day before the Itamar murders, PA presidential advisor Sabri Saidam delivered a speech reported in Al Ayyam, in which he emphasized that “the weapons must be turned towards the main enemy [Israel] and internal differences of opinion must be set aside.”
This glorification of Jew-hatred and murder in the name of martyrdom—which marinates all strata of Palestinian society—is happening under the watchful eyes of our Palestinian “peace partners,” who have convinced most of the world, and many Israel supporters, that the real obstacle to peace is not Palestinian incitement to murder but Jewish building of apartments in East Jerusalem.
Even if you’re a passionate peacenik, you have to admit that this is a joke. What does Jewish construction have to do with a Jew-hatred that has been burned into Arab hearts since before the first settlement or even Israel ever existed?
What else but Jew-hatred can explain the consistent refusal by Palestinian leaders to recognize a Jewish state and prepare their people for the inevitable compromises that peace with Jews will require?
As Sari Nusseibeh once said, “How can we Palestinians expect Israel to think we want co-existence when our position on the refugee issue has been tantamount to a call for Israel’s destruction?”
So, here’s my message to my friends in the peace camp. You’ve done an amazing job of telling the world that a peace agreement with the Palestinians is really, really important, and that Israel is primarily responsible for the absence of this agreement.
In fact, you’ve done such an amazing job of blaming Israel that my friend Gary Rosenblatt, editor of the Jewish Week in New York, wrote last week that Israel has become a “source of embarrassment” for many American Jews. Imagine that.
Well, now you have a chance to make amends and bring some balance to your message.
In honor of the children who were stabbed to death in Itamar, you can release this statement to the world: “It is really, really important, for the sake of peace, that Palestinian leaders eliminate the glorification of terrorism and Jew-hatred that permeates their society, and begin immediately to teach the benefits and compromises of peaceful co-existence with a Jewish state.”
Who’s brave enough in the peace camp to sign their name to that statement?

Obama, Let My Pollard Go!

2011-03-14T17:12:00.000-07:00

In a letter to the US leader, Kissinger said "I believe justice would be served by commuting the remainder of Pollard's sentence of life imprisonment."

It has come to the point where Israel’s Prime Minister will formally approach the American president and request him to free Pollard.

With great anticipation, we await the moment that Prime Minister Natanyahu says to President Obama, “Let My Pollard Go!” How strange that this event is slated to happen at the same time that synagogues around the world are reading from the opening chapters of the Book of Exodus.

After 25 years of prolonged imprisonment and 1,000’s of articles written about the Pollard case and the miscarriage of justice, it has come to a point where Israel’s Prime Minister will approach the American president and request to free Pollard.

For years, the anti-Pollard voices claimed that Pollard committed an unspeakable crime but no one seemed to know the significant details and no one had access to supposedly a locked secret allegation document. Yet, significant witnesses as well as Casper Weinberger who for years had enforced Pollard’s life sentence confessed that the substance for penalizing Pollard was trite. Plus, now we know that the most serious charges were bogus.

It has been stated untold times that Pollard apologized for his actions of supplying information to the nation of Israel which has always been a friend to America. Further confusing, the information which Pollard brought to Israel was information which America was to legally provide Israel. Anti-Pollard people have claimed that Pollard’s information went to a third party and resulted in the death of American agents in Russia. This claim was determined to be the basis of his life long sentence. When this claim was discovered to be a false, nothing was done to rectify punishing Pollard for the misdeeds of others.

It is despicable that Pollard has been imprisoned on false charges that have been known to be false for many years. The continued imprisonment of Pollard has been a crime upon the hands of all who keep him imprisoned.

President Obama is currently the only person with the power to end the Pollard injustice and to take an action which will at least bring an end to the wrongs of the past.

Once Natanyahu makes his formal request, we will wait to see if President Obama will respond with correct action or will there be a "hardening of the heart"?

Some political advisors state that Obama should wait and leverage the Pollard release when he can gain renewed Jewish support for the 2012 election. Others say Obama should only release Pollard if he can get Israel to make major political concessions with the Palestinian leaders including an extended building freeze in Jerusalem.

What happened to doing the right thing because it is the right thing? Why is it that the right thing has to be linked to a wrong thing or to another thing?

Pollard must be released because it is a flagrant injustice to give a life sentence for an uncommited crime. Pollard has gone far beyond the duty of paying his debt to society. Society now has a much larger debt to pay Pollard.

The human race shares a value of justice and the responsibility to build a fair and just society. When justice is abused, the entire human race suffers and bares the responsibility to rectify the wrong.

It is time that every American not be silent till Pollard is pardoned and released.

We look forward to see the American Congress and the American people stand together to support the right decision of President Obama for the immediate pardon and release of Jonathan Pollard

by Dr. Daryl Temkin

Follow Israel opinion on and .

Tevet 23, 5771 / 30 December 10

Darrell Issa: Terrorism’s Manchurian Candidate

2011-02-09T17:09:00.005-08:00

By Debbie Schlussel

Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Vista)might be the contemporary, real-life version of Frank Sinatra’s “Manchurian Candidate.” Instead of communists, Issa’s allies are radical Islamists and supporters of terrorism against Americans, Israelis, Christians and Jews.

In a short political career, Issa’s statements and actions consistently defend terrorists, terrorist groups and terrorist sponsor states.

Saudi Arabia’s longtime lobbyist, James Gallagher, contributed to Issa’s campaign in November 2002, and Issa tried to overturn key classified evidence portions of President Bill Clinton’s 1995 counterterrorism bill. Issa is also credited with “declawing” the Patriot Act.

Then, there’s Issa’s dance with Hezbollah, an organization that is on the State Department’s terrorist list and one of the largest components of Al Qaeda. In the 1980s, Hezbollah–which means “Party of Allah”–murdered more than 260 U.S. Marines while they slept in Beirut and tortured to death Col. Richard Higgins (in 1990) and CIA attache William Buckley.

Hezbollah endorses “the use of hostages,” “suicide in jihad operations” and “the duty of all Muslims to engage in Islamic jihad if it ensures the ultimate goal [of] inflicting losses on the enemy.”

Less than a month after Sept. 11, Issa visited Syrian President Bashar Assad, praising Hezbollah and lauding Assad’s policies (Syria is on the State Department’s terrorist list).

The Tehran Times and IRNA (Islamic Republic News Agency, the official Iranian news agency) quoted Issa’s statements to Assad in Damascus: “Hezbollah acts legitimately and has never been involved in terrorist activities…. Hezbollah and any other Lebanese group has the right to resist the occupation of its territory…. Hezbollah’s humanitarian and governmental actions were legal…. Such behavior would be customary in any country.”

Issa denies the statements, but as a recent Los Angeles Times cover story demonstrates he has a record of stretching the truth–about his military record, his criminal history, his business affairs and his political positions.

In November 2001, for instance, Issa told syndicated columnist Debra Saunders he was vehemently against Arabs suing the airlines and government over profiling. At the same time, he told the rest of the press of his plans to introduce legislation to make it easier for Arabs to collect monetary damages for airline and government profiling.

And Issa’s other statements and actions corroborate their veracity:

Less than a month after Sept. 11, in an Oct. 9, 2001, interview with the Beirut Daily Star’s Ibrahim, during a trip to Lebanon, Issa said, “It is Lebanon which will determine whether the party’s [Hezbollah's] activities constitute terrorism or resistance … If [Hezbollah] wants the world to understand that its activities are legitimate, they should say it…. Resistance is a legitimate right recognized [by the U.N.]…. I have a great deal of sympathy for the work that Hezbollah tries to do.” He expressed hope that Hezbollah would “reform” and become a “government” like the P.L.O.

Assad’s state-run SANA (official Syrian news agency) covered Issa’s November 2001 meeting with Assad, quoting Issa as saying: “Hezbollah or any other party has the right to resist occupation.”
Occupation? Israel withdrew from Southern Lebanon at least a year before, and the U.S. withdrew over a decade earlier.

Issa’s January 2003 actions regarding Israelis captured by Hezbollah asserted the terrorist group’s moral equivalence with Israel. According to The Guardian of London, per Hezbollah’s demand, Issa asked Israel to allow the Red Cross to see captured Hezbollah terrorists in exchange for interceding with Hezbollah to allow the Red Cross to see four Israeli prisoners held by the group.

On Oct. 31, 2001, the London Arabic newspaper, Al-Hayat, reported, “U.S. Congressman of Lebanese origin Darrell Issa, during his recent visit to Beirut in the mid of October,” conveyed a proposal to Hezbollah leadership to remove Hezbollah from the State Department’s terrorist list and “normalize U.S. relations with” the group. Hezbollah refused the offer.

On May 31, 2003, Issa publicly made a similar proposal to legitimize Hezbollah by giving Lebanon $500 million of taxpayer money to disarm the group and turn it into a political party.

On May 9, 2001, during a House subcommittee discussion of the Iran-Libya Sanctions Extension Act of 2001, Issa praised Hezbollah, “in all candor, for the good things they do, too, the humanitarian, the hospitals, the schools they pay.”

On April 14, 2002, Issa told Fox News Channel’s Rita Cosby that Hezbollah has done “some good things” (and he also praised Yasser Arafat).

In November 2001, Issa told the Financial Times of London, “Hezbollah does in fact have a limited scope. You must differentiate … from other organizations that might have a global reach.”
Global? Hezbollah murdered 86 Jews and wounded hundreds of people in Buenos Aires in July 1994, in addition to murdering Israelis and U.S. Marines and civilians in Lebanon and Iran.
In a Sacramento radio interview, Issa said, “They do supply little old ladies with heating oil in the winter and all kinds of other activities,” characterizing terrorist Hezbollah as a mere “political party” and “farmers,” and adding, “I’d like to see a lot of them just go back to their farms, go back to some honest living.”
Then there’s Issa’s strange respect for Arafat and Palestinian terrorists.
Days after Sept. 11, Issa, during his House International Relations Committee’s discussion of fighting terrorism, tried to draw a distinction between “Palestinian groups that are resisting Israeli occupation” and Al Qaeda and Osama bin Laden.
During his November 2001 trip to the Middle East, Issa told his hometown newspaper, the North County Times, that he was “particularly impressed with Arafat.”
“He is quite a charismatic individual, despite being a very small man and very old,” the congressman said. “He has a wry sense of humor. He gives you food off his plate if you sit next to him.”
Arafat’s personal food taster as your next governor?
In April 2003, Issa spoke of Arafat’s “charm” (also in the North County Times).
Issa’s softness on Syrian-sponsored terrorism is legendary, too. Syria is home to several fugitives, including Nazi war criminal Alois Brunner, Hamas political director Moussa Abu Marzook, Islamic Jihad chief Ramadan Abdullah Shallah and Jamil Al-Gashey, the only surviving perpetrator of the 1972 Munich Olympic massacre–all wanted and/or indicted in the United States. However, Assad refuses their extradition.
Issa vehemently opposes the Syrian Accountability Act, which imposes sanctions on Syria until it stops sponsoring Hezbollah and other terrorists. Issa said Syria is “cooperative.”
The Reform Party of Syria said Issa “helps Syria with [its] propaganda campaign” and “objects to Mr. Issa’s presence in Syria. The Baath Party of Syria is duping Rep. Issa and using him as a propaganda tool.”
In June 2003, Issa attended the Beirut signing of a major oil deal between Syria and two U.S. firms. The contract states the companies will spend $29 million in Syria and train the state-run Syrian oil company.
Issa hosted a pro-Syrian Capitol Hill event with a pro-Syrian Arab business group. The event was organized by former staffers to Reps. David Bonior and John Dingell, who now lobby for a “change” to U.S. Middle East policy.
After the Iraq War, during one of several frequent Syrian trips, Issa praised Assad, saying, “His word seems to be good.”
Darrell Issa wants to be governor of California and ultimately president. With a record like this, do you want to help him?

Earl Krugel Chai!

Copts Protest Over Egyptian Killings

By DAVID D. KIRKPATRICK

CAIRO — An angry crowd of thousands gathered at the largest cathedral here on Monday to mourn the death of two dozen Coptic Christian demonstrators killed the night before in clashes with security forces, as liberal activists lamented the military’s increasingly tight hold on power.

Multimedia

The New York Times

A version of this article appeared in print on October 11, 2011, on page A4 of the New York edition with the headline: Copts Denounce Egyptian Government

Muslim Reformers vs Extremists

Thursday, January 26, 2012

Muslim Reformers vs Extremists

Hamas leaders evacuating families from Syria

Shalit welcome to run

That’s how system works

Ron Paul..Jew Hater in Chief?

President Obama says happy Hanukkah to Jews around the world

President Obama "My Commitment to Israel is Unshakeable"

In Obama Speech on Israel, No Mention of Palestinians

In Memory Of a Mensch, Earl Leslie Krugel

Tommorow we commemorate the birthday of Earl Krugel....At a time when Eretz Israel is under physical attack on a daily basis by the criminals of Hamas, the cowardly terrorist group, the murderers of babies and children, we pause to honor a man who gave his life for the Jewish people.

Israel to continue hold on PA tax funds

Dershowitz Defends Israeli Prisoner Exchange

The Narrows

Ben-Gurion repeatedly faced down crises by fearlessly rejecting retreat and useless compromise. Obama would do well to follow his model.

Q&A: Edward Luttwak

Uncivil

Israel Matzav: Concern in Israel over #OWS (Occupy Wall Street) anti-Semitism

Concern in Israel over #OWS (Occupy Wall Street) anti-Semitism

Israel does not stand alone

Anwar al-Awlaki, American-Born Qaeda Leader, Is Killed in Yemen

By LAURA KASINOF and ALAN COWELL

Published: September 30, 2011

Related

Drone Strike in Yemen Was Aimed at Awlaki (May 7, 2011)

Radical Cleric Still Speaks on YouTube (March 5, 2011)

Rights Groups Sue U.S. on Effort to Kill Cleric (August 31, 2010)

Imam’s Path From Condemning Terror to Preaching Jihad (May 9, 2010)

Times Topic: Anwar al-Awlaki

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Darrell Issa caught with pants down over green energy scandalmongering

ORIGINALLY POSTED TO THE JED REPORT ON WED SEP 21, 2011 AT 09:31 AM PDT.

ALSO REPUBLISHED BY CALIFORNIA POLITICS, CLASS WARFARE NEWSLETTER: THE PLUTOCRACY VS THE WORKING CLASS, Earl Krugel Chai! and DAILY KOS.

TAGS

Tip Jar by Jed Lewison, Wed Sep 21, 2011 at 09:31:13 AM PDT (50+ / 0-)

it's harder to steal cars with your pants down by annieli, Wed Sep 21, 2011 at 09:35:37 AM PDT(16+ / 0-)

The hearing opens Repubs up to attack. by Sacto Joe, Wed Sep 21, 2011 at 10:27:59 AM PDT(3+ / 0-)

Please Ask Issa This by rgembry, Wed Sep 21, 2011 at 11:33:51 AM PDT (4+ / 0-)

Darryl Issa knows corruption when he sees it by pat of butter in a sea of grits, Wed Sep 21, 2011 at 09:36:28 AM PDT (22+ / 0-)

I would like to know by yet another liberal, Wed Sep 21, 2011 at 09:36:51 AM PDT (11+ / 0-)

The Solyndra issue by yet another liberal, Wed Sep 21, 2011 at 09:38:42 AM PDT (21+ / 0-)

Yep by Tx LIberal, Wed Sep 21, 2011 at 10:17:18 AM PDT (4+ / 0-)

Darrell Issa is a smug little cretin by Logical1, Wed Sep 21, 2011 at 09:40:14 AM PDT (14+ / 0-)

He is absolutely disgusting by Blicero, Wed Sep 21, 2011 at 10:08:58 AM PDT (4+ / 0-)

From The National Post: A majority of Canadians believes conflict between Western nations and the Muslim world is “irreconcilable,”

From The National Post:

From The National Post:

About Eeyore

Israel's supporters came out in Trafalgar Square

Middle East Terrorist Scams and the Western Naivete that Empowers Them

Another example of Arab child abuse

Laughter, Hamlet’s Ghost, and the Insanity of Our Present Age

Egypt's status quo

Amy Winehouse, May Her Memory Be For a Blessing

The Arabian Lobby

The Arab lobby in America

World Opinion: Israel's Right to Exist on Trial

Obama’s position “hurt the peace process gravely,”

Thoughts on Palestinian Unity

Thoughts on Palestinian Unity

I Wish You Were Here, Earl

Earl Krugel is Alive In My Heart

Not Politically Correct

Behind the Itamar Murders

Obama, Let My Pollard Go!

In a letter to the US leader, Kissinger said "I believe justice would be served by commuting the remainder of Pollard's sentence of life imprisonment."

It has come to the point where Israel’s Prime Minister will formally approach the American president and request him to free Pollard.

Darrell Issa: Terrorism’s Manchurian Candidate