Tuesday 19 January 2010
Israel Matzav: The un-Obama
The un-Obama
Andrew Sullivan refers to former President George W. Bush as the 'un-Cheney' for these comments about President Obama.GREGORY: In some circles, the President’s been criticized for politicizing this disaster. Do you think that’s fair?
BUSH: I don’t know what they’re talking about. I’ve been briefed by the President about the response. And as I said in my opening comment, I appreciate the President’s quick response to this disaster.
It would have been more appropriate to refer to Bush as the un-Obama. No President in American history has ever been as divisive as Obama has been, and no President in American history has ever blamed his predecessor for all his woes as incessantly as Obama has. Bush has been the definition of class (as shown by the quote above) and has never attacked Obama. Obama should learn from Bush's example.
Somehow that seems to have escaped Mr. Sullivan's attention.
Somehow that seems to have escaped Mr. Sullivan's attention.
Israel Matzav: The un-Obama
Love of the Land: Humility Isn’t in the Obami Repertoire
Humility Isn’t in the Obami Repertoire
Jennifer Rubin
The Weekly Standard
18 January '10
Elliott Abrams sums up the mess that is the result of a year of the Obami’s “smart” Mideast policy:
So the Obama administration’s Middle East adventures in 2009 came to a close with Netanyahu, whom the administration has never much liked or treated well, stronger politically; and Abbas, whom the administration wished to strengthen, weaker and talking of retirement. In Arab capitals the failure of the United States to stop Iran’s nuclear program is understood as American weakness in the struggle for dominance in the Middle East, making additional cooperation from Arab leaders on Israeli-Palestinian issues even less likely. A strongly pro-American former Israeli official shook his head as he evaluated the Obama record in 2009: “This is what happens when -arrogance and clumsiness come together.”
While George Mitchell prattles on about a time limit on peace negotiations that have no starting point, no attendees, and no hope of success, Abrams suggests there is another way: forget the “peace process,” the endless churning of diplomats in European capitals with the same impediments to meaningful progress (not the least of which is a viable Palestinian negotiating partner for Israel), and instead create “a Palestinian state from the bottom up, institution by institution, and ending with Israeli withdrawal and negotiation of a state only when Palestinian political life is truly able to sustain self-government, maintain law and order, and prevent terrorism against Israel.” Despite the inescapable logic of the idea and the presence of Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Salam Fayyad, who is devoted to such an approach, the Obami seem insistent on trotting out Mitchell to rehash what has been tried not for only a year but for a couple decades.
(Read full post)
Love of the Land: Humility Isn’t in the Obami Repertoire
Israel Matzav: 'This is what happens when arrogance and clumsiness come together'
'This is what happens when arrogance and clumsiness come together'
Former Bush adviser on the Middle East Elliott Abrams does a great job of summing up the Obama administration failures in the Middle East over the past year. So the Obama administration’s Middle East adventures in 2009 came to a close with Netanyahu, whom the administration has never much liked or treated well, stronger politically; and Abbas, whom the administration wished to strengthen, weaker and talking of retirement. In Arab capitals the failure of the United States to stop Iran’s nuclear program is understood as American weakness in the struggle for dominance in the Middle East, making additional cooperation from Arab leaders on Israeli-Palestinian issues even less likely. A strongly pro-American former Israeli official shook his head as he evaluated the Obama record in 2009: “This is what happens when -arrogance and clumsiness come together.”
But who will tell the president that his judgments have been wrong and his policy is failing? Does he recognize how much bad advice he was given last year? Who among the senior figures is likely to say to this president that George Mitchell is now associated with a policy disaster or that Rahm Emanuel’s read on Israeli politics proved 180 degrees off course? Presumably no one who wishes to continue to work in the White House after that.
What will Year Two bring? The evidence suggests that the administration, now in a hole, will keep digging: All our diplomatic activity remains dedicated to getting “peace negotiations” started. “We’re going to be even more committed this year, and we’re starting this new year with that level of commitment, and we’re going to follow through and hopefully we can see this as a positive year in this long process,” Secretary Clinton said in early January. George Mitchell, building on his dubious achievements of the past year, told Charlie Rose, “We think that the negotiation should last no more than two years. . . . Personally I think it can be done in a shorter period of time.” The media, here and in the Middle East, tell of “letters of guarantee” that President Obama may send Abbas and Netanyahu, promising the Palestinians an agreement on borders in nine months and a full peace treaty in two years if only they will sit down and negotiate.
Thus far the Palestinians are adamantly refusing to start negotiations and abandon their demand for a construction freeze including in Jerusalem, in exchange for such promises. But if they do, they will find the promised time limits to be illusory—as all previous ones have been. And no matter who sits at what table, there will be no serious negotiations: The Israelis and Palestinians are too far apart on the core issues to reach a deal now, and the Fatah and PLO leadership (having lost the last elections to Hamas and having lost Gaza to a Hamas coup) is too weak now to negotiate compromises and sell them to the Palestinian people. If there is any form of reconciliation between Fatah and Hamas, moreover, as Saudi Arabia and other Arab states continue to promote, Israel will end the talks instantly.
Abrams goes on to urge the White House to adopt what is essentially Salam Fayyad's idea: To build the 'Palestinian state' from the bottom up until it is ready to negotiate with Israel over real peace.
That makes more sense than trying to force negotiations, but ultimately it's not going to work any more than trying to negotiate a settlement. Here are some reasons why:
1. The only reason Fayyad has been able to sell this plan to any of the 'Palestinians' is that he has placed a two-year deadline on it. A two-year deadline - or any other deadline - is unrealistic. What the 'Palestinians' need is what Germany and Japan needed at the end of World War II - denazification. And that's not something that can be subject to a deadline. I don't believe that the 'Palestinians' - including Fayyad himself - have the patience to build solid institutions. They want that deadline. They don't have the political maturity. They want it now. Any deadline at all that they accept is one of time and not one of readiness.
2. Ultimately, the issues are intractable. Even assuming that the 'Palestinians' build the institutions of a state, Israel is not going to wake up the next morning and allow itself to be flooded with 'refugees,' to have its borders become indefensible, to give up its claim and access to Judaism's Holiest place on earth. Ultimately, the two sides have to reach a compromise at a negotiating table (or one side has to defeat the other in war and dictate surrender terms). That's unlikely to happen. Preparing the 'Palestinian people' for compromise is as important as building institutions. The 'Palestinians' have never done that and never will. As Abu Mazen proudly told his legislative counsel on Sunday, the 'Palestinians' have not made a concession in 20 years. Surely one cannot expect that because the 'Palestinians' have garbage collection, cell phone services and public libraries they will suddenly be able to reach difficult compromises on the Temple Mount and the 'right of return.'
3. There are too many people who have a stake in the conflict continuing. Those people are mostly Arab governments who need Israel as a scapegoat to distract attention from their own shortcomings. In 2000, the Saudis and the Egyptians refused to go to bat so that Arafat could reach a compromise on the Temple Mount. Why should they behave differently the next time? Without support from the Arab governments, Abu Mazen, Fayyad and any other 'Palestinian' leader will not move ahead. They won't risk their lives to reach peace with the Jews. Anwar Sadat happens only once in a generation (and he paid the price).
4. The 'Palestinians' have been so indoctrinated on a culture of blood that it will take a generation or two to undo it - if they ever start trying. But the 'Palestinians' are continuing to promote that culture of blood and shahids (martyrs). Just last week, they named a town square in Ramallah after the woman who led the most deadly terror attack in Israel's history. The message to their children is clear and it is not a message of peace.
In sum, under the Fayyad plan, the 'Palestinians' are preparing to have a state, but they are not preparing for that state to live in peace with Israel. They are in essence preparing a state to replace Israel - which is no different than what they have been doing for the last 60 years or more. Until the 'Palestinians' move in the direction of living in peace with Israel, no Israeli government can allow a 'Palestinian state' to happen. There is no indication that the 'Palestinians' plan to move in the direction of peace anytime soon.
Jennifer Rubin adds:
That makes more sense than trying to force negotiations, but ultimately it's not going to work any more than trying to negotiate a settlement. Here are some reasons why:
1. The only reason Fayyad has been able to sell this plan to any of the 'Palestinians' is that he has placed a two-year deadline on it. A two-year deadline - or any other deadline - is unrealistic. What the 'Palestinians' need is what Germany and Japan needed at the end of World War II - denazification. And that's not something that can be subject to a deadline. I don't believe that the 'Palestinians' - including Fayyad himself - have the patience to build solid institutions. They want that deadline. They don't have the political maturity. They want it now. Any deadline at all that they accept is one of time and not one of readiness.
2. Ultimately, the issues are intractable. Even assuming that the 'Palestinians' build the institutions of a state, Israel is not going to wake up the next morning and allow itself to be flooded with 'refugees,' to have its borders become indefensible, to give up its claim and access to Judaism's Holiest place on earth. Ultimately, the two sides have to reach a compromise at a negotiating table (or one side has to defeat the other in war and dictate surrender terms). That's unlikely to happen. Preparing the 'Palestinian people' for compromise is as important as building institutions. The 'Palestinians' have never done that and never will. As Abu Mazen proudly told his legislative counsel on Sunday, the 'Palestinians' have not made a concession in 20 years. Surely one cannot expect that because the 'Palestinians' have garbage collection, cell phone services and public libraries they will suddenly be able to reach difficult compromises on the Temple Mount and the 'right of return.'
3. There are too many people who have a stake in the conflict continuing. Those people are mostly Arab governments who need Israel as a scapegoat to distract attention from their own shortcomings. In 2000, the Saudis and the Egyptians refused to go to bat so that Arafat could reach a compromise on the Temple Mount. Why should they behave differently the next time? Without support from the Arab governments, Abu Mazen, Fayyad and any other 'Palestinian' leader will not move ahead. They won't risk their lives to reach peace with the Jews. Anwar Sadat happens only once in a generation (and he paid the price).
4. The 'Palestinians' have been so indoctrinated on a culture of blood that it will take a generation or two to undo it - if they ever start trying. But the 'Palestinians' are continuing to promote that culture of blood and shahids (martyrs). Just last week, they named a town square in Ramallah after the woman who led the most deadly terror attack in Israel's history. The message to their children is clear and it is not a message of peace.
In sum, under the Fayyad plan, the 'Palestinians' are preparing to have a state, but they are not preparing for that state to live in peace with Israel. They are in essence preparing a state to replace Israel - which is no different than what they have been doing for the last 60 years or more. Until the 'Palestinians' move in the direction of living in peace with Israel, no Israeli government can allow a 'Palestinian state' to happen. There is no indication that the 'Palestinians' plan to move in the direction of peace anytime soon.
Jennifer Rubin adds:
It’s worth asking why the Obama team has yet to see the light, and why Mitchell digs in, ever insistent on spinning a fantasy world in which he imagines that, in just the right setting (what, Vienna instead of Oslo or Annapolis?), and with just the right mumbo-jumbo rhetoric, and with enough sanctimonious condescension about past administrations’ failed efforts, there will be a breakthrough. We have to ask: doesn’t he realize how ridiculous he sounds?
Actually, I think the Obama team does see it. The Obama administration sees that the 'Palestinians' have no interest of living in peace, side by side in a 'two-state solution.' Their interest is in a state that would replace Israel. The Obama team cannot admit that without a most unlikely sea-change in the psychological makeup of the 'Palestinian people,' no Israeli government can ever agree to another independent entity being established alongside it. Admitting that the 'Palestinians' are no closer to being ready for statehood today than they were in 1993 (and in fact, if anything, they are further away now than they were in 1993) would be admitting that all the negotiations for the last 20 years have been a waste of time. But since a 'Palestinian state' is a mantra of the Left (unfortunately including Israel's Left), the Obama administration cannot give up on it, so they continue to act as if the peaceful 'Palestinian state' is just around the corner by trying to force the parties to the table and to dictate terms. It won't work.
Israel Matzav: 'This is what happens when arrogance and clumsiness come together'
Israel Matzav: Overnight music video
Overnight music video
As those of you who have been keeping track know, our grandson's brith mila (circumcision) will take place on Tuesday morning, God willing.
One of the things that's different here in Israel than in the Old Country is that here in Israel we say the blessing of Shehecheyanu at the brith, thanking God for having brought us to this happy occasion (abroad it is not said out of deference to the child's pain).
I wish I had the full song but unfortunately, this is just a short excerpt from the end. It's sung by Yaakov Shwekey and comes from a concert in Paris in 2007.
Let's go to the videotape.
One of the things that's different here in Israel than in the Old Country is that here in Israel we say the blessing of Shehecheyanu at the brith, thanking God for having brought us to this happy occasion (abroad it is not said out of deference to the child's pain).
I wish I had the full song but unfortunately, this is just a short excerpt from the end. It's sung by Yaakov Shwekey and comes from a concert in Paris in 2007.
Let's go to the videotape.
Israel Matzav: Overnight music video
Israel Matzav: 'Palestinian' 'human rights' groups call for Hamas investigation
'Palestinian' 'human rights' groups call for Hamas investigation
Eleven 'Palestinian' 'human rights' groups have called on Hamas to conduct a 'credible internal investigation' into whether the group committed war crimes during Operation Cast Lead. Goldstone said Israel used excessive force and Hamas terrorized Israeli civilians with indiscriminate rocket attacks.
The UN General Assembly adopted Goldstone's findings and gave both sides until Febuary 5 to investigate. Neither has done so. Israel and Hamas deny the allegations.
Shahwan Jabareen of the Palestinian group al-Haq said that Hamas told him it would investigate, but that he has not seen serious steps.
The JPost article from which that excerpt was taken shows a damaged house in Sderot that had been hit by a Kassam rocket. It appears more likely that the 'Palestinian' 'human rights' groups are concerned with Hamas liquidations of Fatah supporters during Operation Cast Lead, and not with indiscriminate rocket attacks against Israeli civilians.
In any event, the only one who would give any credibility to an investigation by Hamas is Goldstone himself. You may recall that last fall, Goldstone told CNN's Christiane Amanpour that Hamas has a credible court system in which 'some people are sentenced to be executed.'
I'm sure Hamas would be happy to conduct an investigation and execute a few more Fatah supporters. But don't expect them to conduct a real investigation of their own war crimes anytime soon.
In any event, the only one who would give any credibility to an investigation by Hamas is Goldstone himself. You may recall that last fall, Goldstone told CNN's Christiane Amanpour that Hamas has a credible court system in which 'some people are sentenced to be executed.'
I'm sure Hamas would be happy to conduct an investigation and execute a few more Fatah supporters. But don't expect them to conduct a real investigation of their own war crimes anytime soon.
Israel Matzav: 'Palestinian' 'human rights' groups call for Hamas investigation
Israel Matzav: The end of sanctions against Iran?
The end of sanctions against Iran?
J.E. Dyer says that after this past weekend's failed P5+1 meeting, we can just about 'put a fork' in the possibility of sanctions against Iran. Whether it’s France’s Total SA bidding with China to develop Iranian gas fields or German port operator HPC contracting to manage the container port in Iran’s Bandar Abbas complex, our P5+1 partners are engaging themselves to make a lot of money from precisely the commercial activities we would have to sanction to affect Iran’s nuclear aspirations.
Recent summaries like the ones here and here recount the many ways in which commerce is outrunning the political sentiment for sanctions. That sentiment is by no means strong or unified to begin with: Russia has been extraordinarily consistent in its position that there’s no evidence Iran is even pursuing nuclear weapons. Vladimir Putin reiterated that position on Jan. 7 after two previous Russian assertions to the same effect in December (here and here). Indeed, Putin said it in 2008, 2007, and 2005, a record we have heroically disregarded in our eagerness to negotiate alongside Moscow.
Obama’s effort, launched in September with the dramatic revelation about the nuclear site near Qom, is done. On assuming the rotating presidency of the UN Security Council on Jan. 5, China announced that sanctions against Iran will not be on the council’s agenda for January — a promise more credible than Obama’s December deadline. Either we change the pace of our diplomacy right now, or the nations concerned will conclude that U.S. diplomacy is irrelevant. Procrastination at this point means certain failure.
What could go wrong?
Israel Matzav: The end of sanctions against Iran?
Israel Matzav: Tracking aid to Haiti
Tracking aid to Haiti
For those who are interested in tracking aid to Haiti, there's a Google Spreadsheet here. Note how little there is from Arab and Muslim countries.
Israel Matzav: Tracking aid to Haiti
Israel Matzav: Abu Bluff: 'The only difference between Fatah and Hamas is....'
Abu Bluff: 'The only difference between Fatah and Hamas is....'
'Moderate' 'Palestinian' President Palestinian Authority PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas said in a speech Sunday that his party’s being in power is the only difference between it and the rival Hamas terrorist faction. “The Palestinian Authority is the legitimate authority and that is the difference,” he told a party conference.
In a particularly hard-line speech, he boasted that the Arab leaders in Judea, Samaria and Gaza “has not offered any concessions from May 1988 until today.” In a further eradication of the American roadmap, he claimed that Israel and not the PA proposed temporary borders for a future PA state.
...
In his speech to the Fatah Revolutionary Council, Abbas maintained that he will continue to hunt down and persecute Arabs who violate the PA law against selling property to Jews. Several Arabs have been executed without trial for land deals with Jews.
He also reiterated that he will not agree to resume talks with Israel for a new PA state until Jerusalem halts all building for Jews in eastern Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria.
For once in his life, Abu Bluff has actually spoken the truth. I doubt anyone in the White House or State Department will notice or care.
What could go wrong?
What could go wrong?
Israel Matzav: Abu Bluff: 'The only difference between Fatah and Hamas is....'
Israel Matzav: Martin Luther King on Israel
Martin Luther King on Israel
Today (Monday) is Martin Luther King Day in the United States. Robert Spencer has some authenticated quotes from Dr. King on Israel and Jews generally. Here are some of them. "Israel's right to exist as a state in security is uncontestable."
"Peace for Israel means security, and we must stand with all our might to protect its right to exist, its territorial integrity. I see Israel as one of the great outposts of democracy in the world, and a marvelous example of what can be done, how desert land can be transformed into an oasis of brotherhood and democracy. Peace for Israel means security and that security must be a reality."
...
"When people criticize Zionists they mean Jews, you are talking anti-Semitism."
Read the whole thing. I wonder what Dr. King would have thought of the way President Obama is treating Israel. I don't think he would have been pleased.
Israel Matzav: Martin Luther King on Israel
Israel Matzav: Why the Jordan Valley still matters
Why the Jordan Valley still matters
From the aftermath of the Six Day War, every Israeli Prime Minister has taken the position that Israel cannot go back to the indefensible borders that it had before that war. And with the exception of Ehud Barak in 2000-01 and Ehud Olmert during his entire term, no Israel Prime Minister was willing to cede the Jordan Valley (see map at left).Over the last ten years, we hear less and less about the Jordan Valley remaining part of Israel in any eventual settlement with the 'Palestinians.' According to former Israeli ambassador to the United Nations Dore Gold, this is the case for three reasons. First, Israel is now at peace with Jordan and Iraq after Saddam Hussein is badly weakened. Second, in the aftermath of the wrenching expulsion of Gaza's Jews, the emphasis has been on uprooing as few Israelis as possible in the context of ceding parts of Judea and Samaria. Third, once one starts talking about the percentages of Judea and Samaria that were offered by Ehud Barak and Ehud Olmert to the 'Palestinians,' it is impossible to keep the Jordan Valley.
But, argues Dore Gold, keeping the Jordan Valley is vital to Israel's security. Here's why.
IT IS now well-understood by the Israeli public that the most crucial error of disengagement was abandoning the Philadelphi Corridor between the Gaza Strip and Egyptian Sinai, which allowed Hamas to build a vast tunnel network, with minimal Israeli countermeasures, and smuggle a huge arsenal into the Gaza Strip. From 2005, when Israel left Gaza, to 2006, the rate of rocket fire increased by 500%. New weapons, like Grad missiles, were fired for the first time at Ashkelon after the pullout. It does not require much imagination to understand what would happen in Judea and Samaria if Israel left the Jordan Valley - which should be seen as the Philadelphi Corridor of the West Bank.
For example, up until now, Israel has not had to deal with SA-7 shoulder-fired rockets that could be aimed at aircraft over Ben-Gurion Airport, because it is difficult to smuggle them into the West Bank as long as the area is blocked by the IDF in the Jordan Valley. Nor has Israel had to face Islamist volunteers who reinforce Hamas and could prolong a future war, like those who joined the jihad in Iraq, Afghanistan, Yemen or Somalia, because Israel can deny them access to the West Bank.
In fact, in its annual survey for 2009, the Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) noted that while there has been a decrease in the terrorist threat to Israel, the only exception to this positive trend is the increasing involvement of global jihadi groups, who at present are building up a presence in the Gaza Strip. Clearly they would be in the West Bank if they could get there.
WHAT ABOUT the Jordanians? Why does Israel have to stay in the Jordan Valley if the Jordanian army intercepts units of al-Qaida coming from Iraq or Syria?
The fact of the matter is that if Israel withdrew from the Jordan Valley and it became known among the global jihadi groups that the doors to the West Bank were open, the scale of the threat would change and the Jordanians would find it difficult to effectively halt the stream of manpower and weaponry into their territory.
Read the whole thing.
Most Israeli Jews are well aware that it is highly unlikely that any deal can be reached with the 'Palestinians' that would leave the Jordan Valley under our control. The results of the last election show that most Israeli Jews are more concerned with their own survival than with the creation of a 'Palestinian state' or pleasing Washington in the Age of Obama. So long as that continues to be the case, unless the 'Palestinians' decide to compromise on their demands, the status quo will remain in effect. Most Israelis are willing to live with that.
Most Israeli Jews are well aware that it is highly unlikely that any deal can be reached with the 'Palestinians' that would leave the Jordan Valley under our control. The results of the last election show that most Israeli Jews are more concerned with their own survival than with the creation of a 'Palestinian state' or pleasing Washington in the Age of Obama. So long as that continues to be the case, unless the 'Palestinians' decide to compromise on their demands, the status quo will remain in effect. Most Israelis are willing to live with that.
Israel Matzav: Why the Jordan Valley still matters
Israel Matzav: Londonistan: Go to university, blow up a bar... or a plane
Londonistan: Go to university, blow up a bar... or a plane
The man in the picture at the top left of this post is named Reza Pankhurst. He is pictured with his wife after being released from jail in Egypt in 2006 for belonging to an organization called Hizb ut Tahrir, which is a radical Islamist organization. I've discussed Hizb ut Tahrir several times on this blog. They're real nut cases.As it turns out, Mr. Pankhurst is a post-graduate student at the London School of Economics. He was also apparently a strong influence in the life of Omar Sharif, the British suicide bomber whose bomb did not detonate at Mike's Place on the Tel Aviv beach in April 2003. Sharif and his companion were also sheltered by our friends from the International Solidarity Movement the night before they attacked the popular Tel Aviv bar. Mr. Pankhurst has been recruiting for Hizb ut Tahrir on the LSE campus. LSE sees no evil, hears no evil and speaks no evil.
Hizb ut-Tahrir is banned in many countries but not in Britain, although the Government keeps the group “under continuous review”.
The group's stated aims are “the re-establishment of the Islamic caliphate as an independent state” but it rejects forcing reform “by means of violence and terror”.
The group is banned from recruiting and speaking in British universities under the National Union of Students' rules against promoting racism.
But a student at LSE claimed that Mr Pankhurst was one of the regular speakers at prayers organised by the students' union Islamic Society.
A society member told The Times: “He preaches every other week and is constantly bringing the subject around to politics, talking about Afghanistan and the need to establish the caliphate.
Last year he recommended we should attend a conference which I later discovered was organised by Hizb ut-Tahrir.”
...
A spokeswoman for LSE said: “No concerns about his conduct have been raised and we are not aware that he is a member of any proscribed organisation or has broken any laws.”
Mr Pankhurst was not available for comment at his home.
The Times of London, which broke the story, adds:
An Islamist radical whose teaching role at a leading university was exposed yesterday by The Times led a secretive “Brothers’ Circle” at which he espoused his hardline views.
Reza Pankhurst, a senior figure in the hardline group Hizb ut-Tahrir, gathered a group of male members of the London School of Economics (LSE) Islamic Society for private talks.
...
He is due to teach undergraduate classes this term in three topics covering nationalism and revolution in the Arab world.
Mr Pankhurst retained his position in the Islamic Society and the college despite a number of students raising concerns last year about the overt political content of his sermons at Friday prayers.
The Students’ Union confirmed that it had reported those concerns to the Islamic Society and raised them “informally” with academics.
Hizb ut-Tahrir is banned in Germany for anti-Semitism and covered by the National Union of Students’ policy of “no platform” for racist and fascist views.
Britain has suddenly awoken to the menace that the Islamists pose because Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, the Nigerian who tried to blow up Northwest/Delta flight 253 outside of Detroit on Christmas Day, was the head of the Islamic Society at University College in London. But its universities still have not awoken to reality.
Shortly after he tried to bring down flight 253 to Detroit on Christmas Day, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab became the fourth former head of a British university Islamic Society (ISOC) to have been charged with a serious terrorism offense. This is only the tip of the problem. Shaming as it is, during his time studying at University College London (UCL), Abdulmutallab was in the most conducive environment an Islamic extremist could inhabit outside Waziristan.
It is a situation that has come about despite repeated warnings. And I should know, because I've been one of the people trying to do the warning.
The results are often surreal. Just before Christmas, the al Qaeda preacher Anwar al-Awlaki was the subject of an airstrike on his Yemen home that killed many al Qaeda operatives. Only last April my organization was trying to explain to London's City University why he was not a suitable person to address, by video-link, their Islamic Society. Despite already having been known to be spiritual mentor to two of the 9/11 hijackers, he has been advertised as the "distinguished guest" speaker at the U.K.'s Federation of Student Islamic Societies' (FOSIS) annual dinner in 2003, and at Westminster University in 2006. Awlaki is now thought to be the connection between Abdumutallab and the people who gave him the bomb with which he intended to bring down the Detroit flight.
A year and a half ago the think tank I head in London released "Islam on Campus." The reasons for commissioning the report struck me as obvious: The list of Muslim students from the U.K. who had become active in Islamist terrorism was substantial and growing.
It was a graduate of the London School of Economics who kidnapped and beheaded Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl in 2002. It was two undergraduates from Kings College London who carried out a suicide bombing in a bar in Tel Aviv the following year.
But as the list of British students turning to terrorism grew, so did the denial that there was anything wrong.
Our report, published in the summer of 2008, uncovered routine extremist preaching on U.K. campuses as well as the propagation of extremist texts. In conjunction with the polling company YouGov, we also carried out and published what remains the only major survey to date of Muslim student opinions in the U.K. The results were deeply disturbing.
The poll showed that one in three Muslim students believed that killing in the name of their religion could be justified. That figure almost doubled to 60% among respondents who were active members of their universities' ISOCs. Other results included the discovery that 40% of Muslim students polled supported the introduction of sharia law into British law, and that 58% of students active in their ISOC supported the idea of the introduction of a worldwide Caliphate.
These horrifying opinions rightly shocked the newspaper-reading public. But the response from government and the university authorities was not to tackle the problem, but rather to attack the messengers.
FOSIS, which had been heavily criticized in the report, "rejected the conclusions utterly." The National Union of Students followed suit.
Then Higher Education minister, Bill Rammell, entered the debate—and studiously stepped onto the wrong side. Mr. Rammell congratulated FOSIS and the National Union of Students, expressing himself "pleased at the speed with which [they] have dismissed the findings." I hope those words don't come back to haunt him.
Mr. Rammell's reaction epitomizes the problem. University authorities and the government would rather ignore the embarrassment than tackle it. And when they do address it, it is almost always to attack those shouting "fire" rather than those working to start one. Last year during Israel's operation in Gaza, I was due to chair a debate at the London School of Economics on Islam and democracy. Radical students already holding an "occupation" on campus apparently threatened violence if I—known to be a critic of radical Islam and a friend of Israel—was to appear. The result was that the university authorities asked me to stay away from campus, saying they could not ensure my security or that of the audience.
Read the whole thing. For those of you who live in England, I can only say, be scared. Be very scared. And think about moving elsewhere.
Israel Matzav: Londonistan: Go to university, blow up a bar... or a plane
Israel Matzav: Summing up Obama
Summing up Obama
This seems like a fair assessment of the current occupant of the White House. One is reminded once again of how the core of Obama’s popularity was an appeal not to policy or to a governing agenda; instead it was an appeal to thematics and narrative. “Obama cast himself as a figure uncorrupted and unco-opted by evil Washington,” the authors write. He was the candidate who “promised to be a unifier and not a polarizer; someone nondogmatic and uncontaminated by the special-interest cesspool that Washington had become.” Obama’s appeal was romantic and aesthetic, built on the rhetoric of hope and change, on his “freshness and sense of promise.” A cult of personality built up around Obama — not because of what he had achieved but because of what he seemed to embody. (”Maybe one day he’ll do something to merit all this attention,” Michelle Obama dryly told a reporter.)
“We have something very special here,” Obama’s top political aide Axelrod is quoted as saying. “I feel like I’ve been handed a porcelain baby.” Axelrod tells Obama — dubbed by his aides as the “Black Jesus” — that voters were looking for “a president who can bring the country together, who can reach beyond partisanship, and who’ll be tough on special interests.”
That was what we were promised. What we got instead is a president who increased the divisions in our nation, the most partisan and polarizing figure in the history of polling, one who is dogmatic and has been as generous to special interests as any we have seen. The efforts to buy votes in pursuit of the Obama agenda has added sewage to the cesspool.
This would hurt any president under any circumstances; for Barack Obama, whose allure was based almost entirely on his ability to convince the public that he embodied a “new politics,” it has been doubly damaging. It was Hillary Clinton of all people who understood Obama best when she said during the campaign, “We have to make people understand that he’s not real.”
He's not real except to those of us who have had construction on our homes frozen because of him and who can only hope and pray that he will at least stand aside and let the IDF take care of business in Iran. To us, he is very real and very, very dangerous.
Read the whole thing.
Read the whole thing.
Israel Matzav: Summing up Obama
Israel Matzav: Video: Israel's missile and rocket intercepters in action
Video: Israel's missile and rocket intercepters in action
Here are Israel's missile and rocket interceptors:
Trophy
Iron Fist
Iron Dome
Stunner
Arrow-2
in action.
Let's go to the videotape.
Trophy
Iron Fist
Iron Dome
Stunner
Arrow-2
in action.
Let's go to the videotape.
Israel Matzav: Video: Israel's missile and rocket intercepters in action
Israel Matzav: Video: The Egyptian Minister of Conspiracies
Video: The Egyptian Minister of Conspiracies
Thirty years after Camp David, the Egyptians still think we're out to get them.
Let's go to the videotape.
Heh.
Let's go to the videotape.
Heh.
Israel Matzav: Video: The Egyptian Minister of Conspiracies
Israel Matzav: Jewish Chronicle web site attacked by pro-'Palestinian' hackers
Jewish Chronicle web site attacked by pro-'Palestinian' hackers
The website of London's Jewish Chronicle was attacked on Sunday by pro-'Palestinian' hackers operating from Turkey. The JC’s website was the subject of an online attack yesterday. Hackers managed to place a message on the home page in support of "Palestinian Mujahaeeds".
The site was immediately suspended while technicians investigated if the site's security had been breached.
Fortunately, they quickly established that no serious breach had taken place and no damage was done. Early indications are that the perpetrator was operating from a computer in Turkey.
Only thejc.com site was affected. None of our numerous sister servers handling our archives, e-paper, social and personal, debating and MSFL sport were infiltrated.
Someone needs their online security updated.
Israel Matzav: Jewish Chronicle web site attacked by pro-'Palestinian' hackers
Israel Matzav: It's wrong for Israel to compensate UNRWA
It's wrong for Israel to compensate UNRWA
I follow David Hazony on Twitter and usually find myself agreeing with him. But not this time.David has written an article in London's Jewish Chronicle which takes the position that Israel's agreement to pay UNRWA $10.5 million for damages inflicted on the agency's buildings in Gaza during Operation Cast Lead is the right thing to do. I disagree.
In everything but name, then, UNRWA is a part of the Palestinian struggle against Israel. So what is one to make of the fact that its buildings in Gaza suffered damage during the war?
According to the IDF inquiry, both the HQ and the UNRWA school that were damaged were turned into battle zones by the Palestinians. At the HQ, the IDF held their fire until an IDF bulldozer took a hit from an anti-tank missile, and the building was damaged in the ensuing exchange. At the school, Hamas rocket launchers were operating within 80 metres of the school grounds — a distance calculated to maximise the public relations benefit of any Israeli response.
By any reasonable standard, it is the Hamas government in Gaza who should pay for the damage. They chose to fire from within civilian centres, using Palestinians and the UN as human shields.
Yet despite all this, the buildings are part of the UN. Symbolically, that flag means something — even to Israelis. In this sense, Israel may be wise, if not morally obliged, to cover some of the damage. Ten million dollars is chump change. The real question is: What is the UN actually doing in Gaza?
We all know what the UN is doing in Gaza: Maintaining the 'refugee status' of hundreds of thousands of 'Palestinians' across four generations. And employing terrorists to do it. That would be enough in my mind not to compensate the UN for its damages. But there's a better reason for Israel not to compensate UNRWA.
If Israel pays for damages to UNRWA's buildings that resulted from terrorists using them as a battleground, what do you think will happen in the next war (and there will be a next war)? What are the odds that UNRWA won't give shelter to the terrorists? I would say somewhere between slim and none.
Just last week, Canada cut off funding for UNRWA. Is David suggesting that Israel has a 'moral obligation' to fund UNRWA instead?
Read the whole thing.
If Israel pays for damages to UNRWA's buildings that resulted from terrorists using them as a battleground, what do you think will happen in the next war (and there will be a next war)? What are the odds that UNRWA won't give shelter to the terrorists? I would say somewhere between slim and none.
Just last week, Canada cut off funding for UNRWA. Is David suggesting that Israel has a 'moral obligation' to fund UNRWA instead?
Read the whole thing.
Israel Matzav: It's wrong for Israel to compensate UNRWA
Israel Matzav: Who will praise Israel for its help in Haiti? You won't believe it
Who will praise Israel for its help in Haiti? You won't believe it
On his Fox News program on Sunday night, former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee praised US aid for Haiti and lashed out at those who claim that the United States is doing nothing to help. Speaking on his FoxNews television program, Huckabee noted that “once again, in the face of a horrible human tragedy, it’s Americans who show up first, do the most, and expect the least in return.”
“When it comes to a time of human tragedy,” Huckabee continued, “it’s the United States that will export its most precious commodity – its generosity. Within hours of the horrific earthquake that hit Haiti, Americans were pouring record donations into the relief efforts… The U.S. military dispatched ships, planes and thousands of personnel… American relief workers lined up to go to Haiti and risked death and disease to help people they don’t even know.”
“I realize that other countries are helping and providing resources – but the next time some pipsqueak punk politician like [Venezuelan dictator] Hugo Chavez or Iran’s nutjob of a president Ahmoud Medinajad [sic] whines about how evil we are, we ought to tell them to put up or shut up.”
“… When the earthquake struck, American went to Haiti. As for our critics, they can go to hell.”
Indeed. On Sunday, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez accused the United States of 'occupying' Haiti under the guise of aid. But the US has provided far more than Venezuela has provided.
Here are what some other countries have done for Haiti:
Here are what some other countries have done for Haiti:
Saudi Arabia, on the other hand, one of the richest countries in the world, has sent a message of condolence to Haitian President René Préval. Some Arab countries have “pledged” help, such as $1 million pledged from both Kuwait and Morocco, and the United Arab Emirates says it will “shortly” send a plane with humanitarian assistance. Qatar, with the third largest gas reserves and the second highest GDP per capita in the world, has dispatched 50 metric tons of aid to the hundreds of thousands of homeless and injured Haitians.
Arutz Sheva (the link above) asks who will praise Israel for its aid to Haiti (which the article lists). Well, someone has.
Let's go to the videotape (Hat Tip: Lance K). What you're looking for is in the last minute.
Watch CBS News Videos Online
At least the Americans know that we're there.
Let's go to the videotape (Hat Tip: Lance K). What you're looking for is in the last minute.
Watch CBS News Videos Online
At least the Americans know that we're there.
Israel Matzav: Who will praise Israel for its help in Haiti? You won't believe it
Israel Matzav: JPost correspondent assaulted in Tehran
JPost correspondent assaulted in Tehran
The JPost's Sabina Amidi is back in Tehran for the first time since June. Here's a small part of her report. Among the regime's opponents - activists and those less prominent alike - it is stressed that they are not campaigning for defeated reformist candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi but, rather, against the regime for its ostensible betrayal of Islam.
"The regime's violence against Islamic institutions is an affront, a betrayal of the very essence of our country," said a young soldier stationed in the capital.
"I don't believe in Mousavi because I have heard he is working for America, Israel and the British. My problem is that this country is losing its self-respect and its respect for correct Islamic values."
He added: "The son of [Ayatollah Vaez-Tabasi] the religious leader of the Imam Reza mosque in Mashad," a central site of pilgrimage, "has left Iran for America with his pregnant wife. Even Mr. Ahmadinejad's supporters like Tabasi don't trust our country enough to allow their kids to stay here."
...
While it is impossible to predict how the widespread bitterness, and the regime's often brutal response to protest will play out, it is hard to imagine that the ongoing use of force to stifle opposition will prove effective in the long term.
I was myself assaulted violently by a plainclothes security officer during this visit, falsely accused of spreading opposition propaganda. To my relief, a police officer intervened. If it was not for him, I don't know where I would be today.
"I can't just stand back and watch the violence," my rescuer said to me afterwards. "At times it is too much."
It doesn't sound like much has changed in Iran at all since last summer, nor like anything will change even if the opposition wins.
You will recall that the Iranian Minister of Culture and Islamic Guidance complained in November about Sabina's presence in the country. Stay safe Sabina.
You will recall that the Iranian Minister of Culture and Islamic Guidance complained in November about Sabina's presence in the country. Stay safe Sabina.
Israel Matzav: JPost correspondent assaulted in Tehran
Israel Matzav: Jerusalem District Court allows Israelis to sue 'Palestinian' terrorists
Jerusalem District Court allows Israelis to sue 'Palestinian' terrorists
The Jerusalem District Court has issued a ruling that makes it easier for Israelis to sue 'Palestinian' terrorists in Israel. The Jerusalem District Court, in an unprecedented decision, has ruled that legal papers can be served against individuals representing terrorist groups without having to deliver the suit personally to the terrorist group. Previous suits filed against the Palestinian Authority in the United States and in Israel have amounted to hundreds of millions of dollars, and the new open door for more lawsuits could help cripple the terrorist organizations politically and financially.
The decision overrules a lower court ruling and opens the door for individual lawsuits by victims of terror groups such as Islamic Jihad and Hamas, according to the Israel Law Center (Shurat HaDin).
“One cannot very well travel into the Gaza Strip to hand Hamas the papers,” explained the Law Center. “It is far too dangerous to enter Jenin, where Fatah's bomb factories are located, and try to catch them at work. Moreover, there are not many process servers willing to deliver a complaint to Hizbullah for us in southern Lebanon."
The District Court reasoned that a terrorist organization is similar to a business corporation, allowing its de facto representatives to be served legal papers.
Unfortunately, it's much more likely that it will drive the 'de facto representatives' who are actually located in Israel into hiding. We'll probably see a lot more press conferences like the Hamas one at the top of this post. Or we'll see the IDF driving up to terror headquarters to serve summonses.
Israel Matzav: Jerusalem District Court allows Israelis to sue 'Palestinian' terrorists
Israel Matzav: Good news: Israeli company sells computer system to Iran
Good news: Israeli company sells computer system to Iran
An Israeli information technology company is selling an online business management system to the Tehran Chamber of Commerce despite restrictions in both countries against doing business with each other. Yehoshua Meiri, a spokesman for the Ramat Gan-based company DaroNet, said his company had sold Teheran's Chamber of Commerce more than 70 licenses providing for the use of DaroNet's signature business Web site management software.
The $1 million deal, signed last month at DaroNet's European headquarters in Belgium, involved a down payment of $200,000, to be followed by 10 payments throughout the year.
"The deal is signed and delivered," Meiri said. "They can't go back on it now."
And how did they get around the fact that Israeli companies aren't allowed to sell to Iran?
Meiri said his company only realized it was selling the system to an Iranian entity when it was asked to translate the system into Farsi. The contract was signed with a European businessman from the Netherlands representing the Teheran Chamber of Commerce.
I want to make something clear up front: In general, the Israeli government is more than happy to have Israeli companies sell to countries that are our enemies. I once represented a company that was selling to Malaysia and had set up a separate entity to do that. Over the years, I have been involved in business (or attempts to do business) in that country as well as in many countries across the Arab world (Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Iraq, Nigeria and the Emirates all come to mind). But not Iran and not Syria. How can Israel expect other countries not to sell high tech (especially high tech!) equipment to Iran when we ourselves are doing so?
I hope Daronet is prosecuted. It's obvious that they knew darned well to whom they were selling.
Read the whole thing. And for those who don't read Hebrew, the first number at the top is their phone number (substitute +972-3 for 03 outside of Israel) and the second number is their fax number.
I hope Daronet is prosecuted. It's obvious that they knew darned well to whom they were selling.
Read the whole thing. And for those who don't read Hebrew, the first number at the top is their phone number (substitute +972-3 for 03 outside of Israel) and the second number is their fax number.
Israel Matzav: Good news: Israeli company sells computer system to Iran
Israel Matzav: How long will it take to count the vote in Massachusetts?
How long will it take to count the vote in Massachusetts?
Even though I'm in Israel, I've been following the Massachusetts special election for the Senate quite closely. I have noted previously that I support Republican candidate Scott Brown (pictured). I found this article in the New York Daily News quite disturbing. “The tell us that it takes 10 days to count the vote in Massachusetts, so I’m sure they’ll be doing a very slow count,” Engel said, only half joking.
And I thought that it was only the Middle East where political parties cheat. Silly me.
Israel Matzav: How long will it take to count the vote in Massachusetts?
Israel Matzav: What's wrong with this picture?
What's wrong with this picture?
Blogger Scaramouche reports on how she was frisked at Toronto's Pearson International Airport (Hat Tip: Jihad Watch). The you-must-be-freakin'-kidding-me aspect of my first frisking, in Toronto (apart from the fact that men and women were divided into two lines so that everyone could get up close and personal with a same-sex frisker) was the garb of the "security" official directing those of us in the chick line to the chick-frisker who would do the deed: she was wearing a heavy duty hijab.
Yes, that's right. Yours truly, anti-jihad warrior, was ordered to hop to it (apparently, I wasn't moving quickly enough for her taste) by a "security" official who displays her devotion to the sharia worldview for all to see; someone who, though she may not agree with Abdulmattalab's exploding gotchies modus operandi is in synch with its religio-ideological underpinnings. Hijab gal is supposed to keep us infidels safe from the likes of BombPants.
What's wrong with this picture?
You obviously haven't flown through London lately. At Heathrow, it seems like most of the security is made up of what they so sweetly call 'South Asians.'
Israel Matzav: What's wrong with this picture?
Israel Matzav: Three Fatah terrorists arrested, planned 'significant attack'
Three Fatah terrorists arrested, planned 'significant attack'
Well, at least that's what this two-sentence report says.But it's the second sentence that's most interesting.
The IDF estimates that Fatah also initiates attacks to thwart the Shalit deal.
In other words, Fatah hates Hamas more than they hate us Jooos, but they don't dare attack Hamas, so they attack us Jooos instead.
What could go wrong?
What could go wrong?
Israel Matzav: Three Fatah terrorists arrested, planned 'significant attack'
Israel Matzav: 'Gestures' to 'Palestinians' over?
'Gestures' to 'Palestinians' over?
I'd have a little more faith in this if it were coming from someone who was demanding 'concessions' in the first place, like Ehud Barak. Barak and company seem to be dominating this government so far. But for what it's worth, Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman says that Israel is done making 'concessions' to the 'Palestinians.' "From our position we are finished with the arsenal of gestures," he said. "There will not be any other gestures."
Lieberman rejected two ideas that have recently been broached to lure the Palestinian Authority back to the negotiation table - the reopening of Orient House and the halt of Jewish construction in east Jerusalem.
"Right now we are waiting for gestures from the Palestinians," he said.
Well, good luck with that.
Lieberman made the statement during a press conference with Norwegian Foreign Minister Jonas Gahr Store. That press conference also yielded this exchange.
Lieberman made the statement during a press conference with Norwegian Foreign Minister Jonas Gahr Store. That press conference also yielded this exchange.
One of the issues that came up in the September meeting, but not on Sunday, had to do with the Norwegian Culture Ministry's marking the 150th anniversary of the birth of Nazi-sympathizing Norwegian author Knut Hamsun (1859-1952), who in 1945 wrote an obituary for Adolf Hitler in the Norwegian daily Aftenposten and called him a "warrior for mankind."
Nevertheless, at the press conference Store was asked about the issue and said that Norway made a distinction between Hamsun's writing and his political views.
"We had a year marking his literature, but also used the year to put into the right perspective the hopelessness of his political views," Store said.
Lieberman, however, took issue with this, saying that he could not accept the fact that someone who sent the medal for his Nobel Prize for literature to Nazi propagandist Joseph Goebbels as a sign of admiration, and eulogized Hitler, could be legitimized in any sort of way, "not as a man, and not as a writer. Any attempt to distinguish between his personality and his literature, I think, is artificial," he said.
In a morally bankrupt world that continues to insist on calling Nazi supporters great writers and heroes, can we really expect that there will not be continued pressure on Israel for more 'concessions' to a terror organization? This is why Israel needs a strong government that is willing to stand up to the pressure and say no. So far, I haven't seen that from this government.
Israel Matzav: 'Gestures' to 'Palestinians' over?
Israel Matzav: But of course: 'Moderate' Fatah to murder land sellers
But of course: 'Moderate' Fatah to murder land sellers
But of course. President Obumbler and the Euroweenies favorite terrorist, 'moderate' 'Palestinian' President In a speech to the Revolutionary Council, Machmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen) said that Palestinians have not moved from their basic positions since 1988, while Israel has began to talk about a state with temporary borders.
He also said the PA would pursue Arabs who sell land to Jews.
Is anyone in the Knesset listening? What could go wrong?
Israel Matzav: But of course: 'Moderate' Fatah to murder land sellers
Israel Matzav: US doesn't want a wimp for an ally
US doesn't want a wimp for an ally
Former Israeli consul general for Houston, Texas, Yoram Ettinger, says Israel has to be defiant once in a while because the United States doesn't want a wimp for an ally.
Let's go to the videotape. The interview with Ettinger starts at 4:36.
Let's go to the videotape. The interview with Ettinger starts at 4:36.
He spoke with Arutz Sheva TV following reports that Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu asked permission from the Obama government to build 700 housing units in Jerusalem. In the above video, Ettinger states that “respect to Israel is upgraded as a result of defiance,” as has been demonstrated in previous disputes between Jerusalem and Washington.
He also reiterated what he calls "the demographic lie” that claims that the demographic forecast of an Arab majority in Israel is a justified reason for the establishment of a Palestinian state.
Ettinger is not exaggerating. Consider this. In late 2006, the United States cut off all technology transfers to Israel. The reason? The US was disappointed that Israel did not attack Syria during the Second Lebanon War and was disappointed with Israel's performance in that war generally.
When was Israel's star the brightest in American eyes? After the Six Day War, when Israel had pummeled all the Arab armies. It has been going downhill ever since because we have been weak and indecisive and therefore a less deserving ally.
No, the US does not want a wimp for an ally. When will we wake up and start behaving like a valuable ally?
When was Israel's star the brightest in American eyes? After the Six Day War, when Israel had pummeled all the Arab armies. It has been going downhill ever since because we have been weak and indecisive and therefore a less deserving ally.
No, the US does not want a wimp for an ally. When will we wake up and start behaving like a valuable ally?
Israel Matzav: US doesn't want a wimp for an ally
Israel Matzav: Shin Bet: 2009 was a very good year
Shin Bet: 2009 was a very good year
According to the Shin Bet General Security Service (equivalent to the FBI and the Secret Service rolled into one), 2009 was a very good year for Israel. According to the Shin Bet's 2009 annual summary, this was the first year in which no suicide attacks were executed in Israel.
The number of casualties in battles and rocket attacks also declined, according to the summary. Most occurred during Israel's Cast Lead military operation in the Gaza Strip in December 2008 and January 2009.
Israel registered 15 casualties in 2009 - 9 of them during the Gaza operation - as opposed to 36 in 2008. The Shin Bet said 234 injuries occurred, of which 185 were during Cast Lead, as opposed to 679 in 2008.
Rockets launched against Israel declined to 566 in 2009 from 2,048 in 2008. Of these, 406 were launched during the military operation.
The number of suicide attacks has been low in recent years compared to the 53 committed in 2002 and 35 in 2001.
Why was 2009 such a good year? On the Gaza front, it was because of Operation Cast Lead, which left Hamas reeling.
And in Judea and Samaria it was because of yet another year of the IDF arresting terrorists and getting in the way of their plans. And yes, because of the 'security fence.'
But the Obama administration wants to change all that. What could go wrong?
And in Judea and Samaria it was because of yet another year of the IDF arresting terrorists and getting in the way of their plans. And yes, because of the 'security fence.'
But the Obama administration wants to change all that. What could go wrong?
Israel Matzav: Shin Bet: 2009 was a very good year
DoubleTapper: IDF in Haiti Receives Paise From International Press
IDF in Haiti Receives Paise From International Press
CNN has done a story praising Israel and the IDF for the medical aid they are providing in Haiti following the devastating earthquake.
The medical teams, all members of the Israel Defence Force, flew in all the equipment needed for conducting surgery and they were the only medical team to do so. The other field hospitals contain no more than stretcher beds and medical teams who administer first aid, and they are not prepared for complex surgery. As a result, all of the other medical aid units from other countries that arrived to help are sending patients with life-threatening injuries in need of operation to the Israeli field hospital. Israel's dedicated young men and women are working around the clock to save lives.
ABC praised the Israeli mission which had assisted a birth using a complicated procedure. The network’s reporter, himself a trained doctor, came across a woman on the point of giving birth. First he tried to assist, but when he discovered the baby was turned sideways, he knew there was trouble. This baby had to be born via C-section and even then there were risks. He consulted experts in the U.S. but they wrote back things like “this baby will be IMPOSSIBLE to deliver alive in Haiti.” Then he remembered the Israeli field hospital, called the Israeli consulate in New York and was directed to the IDF camp. The mother’s life, it turns out, was also in extreme danger as she was suffering from pre-eclampsia, the biggest killer of pregnant women in Haiti.
“I understood that they were looking for the Israeli mission,” said Joel Lion, Israeli consulate spokesman. “I called the military attaché in Washington to get the address of the mission… then, via Blackberry, I managed to get the coordinates and direct them there.”
When they arrived at the hospital, the young woman was taken in and eight hours later a healthy baby girl was born.
ABC reported extensively on the story and even sent a letter of thanks to the Israeli representative in New York. “They were very moving moments. It was amazing to be party to saving life and bringing a baby into the world. And most amazing was that it was all directed via a cell phone,” said Lion. “We will pass on the expressions of thanks to the doctors and the wonderful staff at the Israeli field hospital in Haiti.”
There are more than 100 patients awaiting surgery by the skilled hands of IDF doctors and nurses.
Another baby was born in the IDF Field hospital under life-threatening conditions –the mother named him Israel.
From CNN: “At a U.S. medical facility in Port-au-Prince, families were “with their loved ones who they were so excited to see alive, only now to watch them die a slow, painful death from their rotting flesh because the infections are out of control and they need surgery,” Furin said.
“I’ve been here since Thursday. No one except the Israeli hospital has taken any of our patients,” she told CNN’s Elizabeth Cohen.
Cohen visited the Israeli hospital and said it was “like another world,” with imaging equipment and other machinery. “They have actual operating rooms, and it’s just amazing.”
DoubleTapper: IDF in Haiti Receives Paise From International Press
Love of the Land: It won’t just go away
It won’t just go away
Now Lebanon
New Opinion
18 January '10
When asked about the Irish question, Oliver Cromwell was alleged to have said, “If we forget about it, it will go away.” That was in 17th century England; over 300 years later the English are still trying to answer the Irish “question”. If the great parliamentarian were alive today, he might have a word or two to say to the Lebanese, many of whom appear to have forgotten about quite a lot.
For a while many of our politicians have kissed and made up with their so-called former rivals, and while senior diplomats have echoed their respective nations’ approval of the reconciliations, there is still the little “question” of Hezbollah, its weapons and its martial posture, which, if the rhetoric of the last few days is anything to go by, is becoming increasingly belligerent. In fact such is the level of saber rattling that we have to ask ourselves who is running the show in Lebanon.
Sunday saw the wrapping up of a three-day Arab and international forum in Beirut on supporting the Resistance. In the final statement, the delegates called for Arab states to announce the failure of the Middle East peace process and adopt a “confrontational” approach with Israel. Nothing new there you might say, but it was the call for the “strengthening of resistance culture in educational curriculums, literature and arts” that will send a shiver down the spines of Lebanese who have witnessed firsthand what the Resistance has achieved in recent years.
(Read full article)
Love of the Land: It won’t just go away
Love of the Land: Good news: Israeli company sells computer system to Iran
Good news: Israeli company sells computer system to Iran
Carl
Israel Matzav
18 January '10
An Israeli information technology company is selling an online business management system to the Tehran Chamber of Commerce despite restrictions in both countries against doing business with each other.
Yehoshua Meiri, a spokesman for the Ramat Gan-based company DaroNet, said his company had sold Teheran's Chamber of Commerce more than 70 licenses providing for the use of DaroNet's signature business Web site management software.
The $1 million deal, signed last month at DaroNet's European headquarters in Belgium, involved a down payment of $200,000, to be followed by 10 payments throughout the year.
"The deal is signed and delivered," Meiri said. "They can't go back on it now."
And how did they get around the fact that Israeli companies aren't allowed to sell to Iran?
(Read full post)
(Read full post)
Love of the Land: Good news: Israeli company sells computer system to Iran