Tuesday 23 February 2010

Love of the Land: Thoughts on the Situation, Part 3 -- J Street Defends the Letter of 54

Thoughts on the Situation, Part 3 -- J Street Defends the Letter of 54


Lenny Ben-David
I*Consult
22 February '10

Today’s Jerusalem Post carries an Op-Ed column by officials from J Street and Americans for Peace Now.

They defend the recent letter they sponsored with 54 Members of Congress to President Barack Obama which “express[ed] concern for Israel's security, for the humanitarian conditions in the Gaza Strip, and for the urgency of reaching a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.”

But that was not the reason for the letter. Read the letter here. The Members themselves state, “We write to you [Obama] with great concern about the ongoing crisis in Gaza.”

Note that for the Jerusalem Post, J Street and APN argue that first they were concerned for “Israel’s security,” but the text of the letter indicates that Israel’s security is of little concern.


Love of the Land: Thoughts on the Situation, Part 3 -- J Street Defends the Letter of 54

Love of the Land: Defending the Gaza 54

Defending the Gaza 54


Jennifer Rubin
Contentions/Commentary
22 February '10

J Street and Peace Now rush to the pages of the Jerusalem Post to defend the letter sent by 54 Democratic congressmen (one subsequently fell off the Israel-bashing bandwagon) calling on the lifting of the Gaza blockade. It’s what we have come to expect from those who find Israel’s reasoned self-defense measures to be gross violations of human rights. It is also deeply misleading. As others have noted:

Note that for the Jerusalem Post, J Street and APN argue that first they were concerned for “Israel’s security,” but the text of the letter indicates that Israel’s security is of little concern. More than 90 percent of the letter deals with the “collective punishment of the Palestinian residents” of Gaza and easing their plight. This accusation of Israel’s “collection punishment” helps explain why J Street failed to condemn the Goldstone Report. This is not a letter from “pro-Israel” sources, but from “pro-Gaza” sources. And in the case of Hamas-occupied Gaza, the two are mutually exclusive.


There always seem to be those — the Gaza-letter brigade and their boosters at J Street, most prominently — who offer themselves as true friends of Israel, knowing better than the Israelis what sacrifices are to be taken. Lift the blockade, they say from the cozy confines of New York, waving off the notion that more Israeli children will die from the bombs smuggled among the “construction supplies” they seek to allow into Gaza.

(Read full post)


Love of the Land: Defending the Gaza 54

Love of the Land: Document: Palestinian NGO's objection to Israeli "Heritage" ties to biblical sites illustrates absence of pluralism

Document: Palestinian NGO's objection to Israeli "Heritage" ties to biblical sites illustrates absence of pluralism


Dr. Aaron Lerner
IMRA
22 February '10

Here is where we are:

1. There are numerous places in the "Holy Land" beyond the "Green Line" that are intimately linked to Jewish history and thus to Jewish identity and heritage. Recognizing these historical links in now way rules out a priori that some of these places may not be under Israeli control in a final status arrangement.

2. There are numerous places in "Historical Palestine" within the "Green Line" that are intimately linked to the history of Arab Palestinians and thus to the identity and heritage of Palestinian Arabs. Recognizing these historical links in now way rules out these places (Jaffo, for example) will remain under Israeli control in a final status arrangement.

3. In the instance that a place that is holy to both Islam and other religions is under Moslem control, non-Moslem prayer is prohibited at the site.

4. As demonstrated in the "Tomb of the Patriarchs" (a place that is holy to both Judaism and other religions is under Israeli control), non-Jewish prayer is also accommodated at the site.

5. As for the Hague and Geneva Conventions cited, inasmuch as Israel has preserved and improved rather than destroyed,.are we to understand that the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights believes that international law somehow supports discrimination against Jews in places holy to Jews and Moslems?

====================

PCHR
Palestinian Centre for Human Rights
Press Release

Ref: 10/2010
Date: 22 February 2010
Time: 11:30 GMT

PCHR Condemns Israel's Decision to Include the Ibrahimi Mosque and Bilal Ben Rabah Mosque on the List of Israeli Archaeological Sites

The Palestinian Center for Human Rights (PCHR) condemns a decisions taken by the Israeli government on Sunday, 21 February 2010, to include the "Tomb of the Patriarch" (the Ibrahimi Mosque) in Hebron and "Rachel Tomb" (Bilal Ben Rabah Mosque) in Bethlehem on the list of Israeli archaeological sites.

(Read full PCHR press release)

Love of the Land: Document: Palestinian NGO's objection to Israeli "Heritage" ties to biblical sites illustrates absence of pluralism

Subtlety at CiF

Subtlety at CiF

Much of the antisemtism at the Guardian isn't very subtle. Yesterday, however, one of the CiFWatch team called my attention to this example: all the moderator did was to remove the link to MEMRI (which, by the way, is www.memri.org, and an important website it is). One little snip, one reduced chance that anyone will stumble across a resource the Guardian doesn't want people looking at.

www.memri.org. Visit them often. www.guardian.co.uk. Visit them less.
Originally posted by Yaacov Lozowick's Ruminations

Can ALS be Stopped?

Can ALS be Stopped?

ALS, also known as Lou Gehrig's disease, is a horrible way to die, as Tony Judt has been describing with harrowing detail in the New York Review of Books. Were someone to find a way to stop it, or possibly even to cure it, the world would be a better place.

Some Israeli scientists, entrepreneurs and doctors are trying. Here's hoping.
Originally posted by Yaacov Lozowick's Ruminations

A Dynasty that Still Lives

A Dynasty that Still Lives

The Davidian dynasty can be traced, generation by generation, for about 1,500 years, from Boaz and Ruth in the 11 century BCE all the way to the leaders of the Jewish community in Babylon in the fourth century CE.

How much of it can be scientifically demonstrated, I do not know. The existence of King David himself was proven by an archeological finding at Tel Dan just a few years ago. Here's a new story, in which Eilat Mazar, an archeologist digging in Jerusalem, says she has found a wall of the city that was constructed by Solomon.

The item notes that not all archeologists will welcome this interpretation of the finding, since some of them regard the Biblical stories of the Davidian kingdom as unreliable. It's an argument which has been raging in the academic journals for the past 20 years, perhaps more. My impression is that the conservatives, the ones who credit the Bible with greater reliability, are slowly gaining ground (no pun intended), but then again, that's also where my preferences would naturally lie, and I'm not reading all the academic stuff, so who knows.

Disagreeing about the House of David is not a new pastime. Just this morning I passed a section in the Sanhedrin tractate in which rabbis from the second and fourth centuries CE tired to agree on how it could have been that David wedded both Meirav and Michal, two daughters of Saul: wedding sisters is forbidden. (Yes, I've heard of Leah and Rachel, but that's a different story). One possibility is that Meirav died before Michal was wedded, another possibility is that there was a legal screw up in which Meirav ended up never wedding David, and the Gemarah hacks away at it for about a page. The axiom of the discussion is that these ancient Biblical figures were organizing their lives according to the very detailed rules being formulated in the Mishnaic era - an improbable assumption. Yet the attempt to look back 1,400 years and fit old events into a contemporary legal framework is ultimately no more silly than peering back 3,000 years so as to fit them into a contemporary political one, is it?

(Sanhedrin 19b)
Originally posted by Yaacov Lozowick's Ruminations

RubinReports: A Strong Dose of Reality on the Iran Nuclear Weapons Crisis

A Strong Dose of Reality on the Iran Nuclear Weapons Crisis

By Barry Rubin

Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Admiral Mike Mullen, has made a great speech which shows, as I wrote recently, that the U.S. military seems to have a better understanding of the threat than its political masters.`

Mullen was right when he pointed out that military action against Iran’s nuclear capabilities could have "unintended consequences." He told a press conference: "No strike, however effective, will be in and of itself decisive," The US. military would, however, develop plans for such an action if it was ever ordered. But diplomacy and sanctions should be tried first.

It is presumably no accident that he’d just returned from a trip to Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. Apparently he listened. Here’s the most important sentence:

"It isn't just a nuclear capable Iranian military our friends worry about; it's an Iran with hegemonic ambitions and a desire to dominate its neighbors."

Yes, that’s the primary threat and this is the first time anyone working for the Obama Administration has said so.

Meanwhile, announces the building of new uranium enrichment plants. Here’s the paradox. On one hand, it is far too early for any military operation for two reasons. First, precisely because Iran isn’t far enough along in the weapons-building process to do damage enough to set it back really far. Second, the fact that diplomacy and sanctions have not been fully tried indicates there would not be enough Western support—or at least toleration—of such a strike.

Israel is certainly not going to attack Iran soon.

On the other hand, the dispersion and hardening of Iranian facilities will make it much harder to have a successful attack when the time would be ripe.

My personal opinion of what’s going to happen: Nobody is going to attack Iran to destroy its program. The military option will be kept in reserve for any occasion when Iran seems about to use its capability to attack Israel.

This leaves the problem of doing everything in the mean time to slow or stop Iran’s program and a serious effort to contain Iran for when it does get weapons and missiles to deliver them on target.

But let’s be clear: the probability of failure is no excuse for not doing everything possible right now. And the administration’s efforts have been slow, inadequate, and misdirected.

In addition, “containment” isn’t going to mean just verbal assertions of support for Iran’s potential victims. This is the message that Israel and relatively moderate Arab states keep frantically sending to Washington.

And now, guess what? It isn’t just China and Russia opposing tougher sanctions. Since the Obama Administration wants to win over all of Europe it means that countries like Luxemburg and Sweden are now sabotaging them, too!

The United States is currently pursuing the idea of wooing Syria away from Iran. This is ridiculous as Tony Badran brilliantly explains in Now Lebanon. At the same time, Iran is intimidating and subverting just about every other country away from the United States with more success.

In Mullen’s words, Iran’s “desire to dominate its neighbors" is advancing every day while Washington is still diddling around, wasting its time wooing enemies, apologizing for past toughness, and focusing on smug but useless mini-sanctions.

RubinReports: A Strong Dose of Reality on the Iran Nuclear Weapons Crisis

RubinReports: The U.S. Military Looks at the Middle East: Bows to the White House But Knows Its Mission, Too

The U.S. Military Looks at the Middle East: Bows to the White House But Knows Its Mission, Too

Please subscribe and be subscriber number 9,102!

By Barry Rubin

The Department of Defense has just released its new Quadrennial Defense Review Report for 2010. What does it say about the Middle East? Far less than you’d expect in terms of space but still some extremely important points about what might involve the United States in future wars there.

Aside from some scattered references on the need for more civilian nation-building experts, funding the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, and energy conservation efforts (that's an area, no doubt, where money could be saved), that region takes up less than two pages, about two percent, of the 97-page report.

In comparison, about one-quarter of the four-page note from the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Admiral Mike Mullen, attached to the report, spends 25 percent on the region and sounds far more sensible.

I read this gap as suggesting that the uniformed military (which prepared the admiral's note) is concerned about Iran and terrorist groups but that the text’s main body, by the secretary of defense and designed to please the White House, puts more emphasis on climate change, green energy, and the use of the military as a community-organizing type force to make civilians in places like Afghanistan more friendly to the United States.

But there are significant points of interests in both sections. Let’s start with the report itself which basically makes three points.

First, while an Iranian nuclear capability and terrorism are basically not mentioned at all, there is significant concern over two aspects of Iran’s military build-up. Iranian missile systems are becoming more accurate and longer-range, meaning U.S. air bases, command centers, and other military targets could come under attack. This concern presumably originated in the U.S. Army.

The other Iranian military threat comes from “large numbers of small, fast attack craft designed to support `swarming’ tactics that seek to overwhelm the layers of defenses deployed by U.S. and other nations’ naval vessels.” Though the report doesn’t say so, this refers to the Persian Gulf, and especially the narrow Straits of Hormuz, where petroleum and natural gas shipping could be blocked. This assessment no doubt came from the U.S. Navy.

The report also mentions that “non-state actors such as Hezbollah have acquired unmanned aerial vehicles and man-portable air defense systems from Iran.” And this was clearly the contribution of the U.S. Air Force. ("Man-portable," that means someone can carry it. I love military-speak.)

Taken as a whole, these concerns point to a possible scenario often forgotten in current discussions. The United States is not going to attack Iranian nuclear facilities. It is possible, however, that a future military clash could originate by an Iranian act of aggression—perhaps coming from lower-ranking personnel or some miscalculation—that could result in an armed conflict. While not highly likely, such an outcome is more possible when Iran has nuclear weapons and has gained in confidence (arrogance to put it bluntly). Again, this is a low-likelihood scenario but one the U.S. military has to be prepared to meet.

Since the U.S. government seems determined not to take notice Iranian involvement in attacks on U.S. military personnel in Iraq, Afghanistan, or in terrorist attacks elsewhere--for example the Khaibar Towers attack in Saudi Arabia--this doesn't seem a likely cause of conflict. Of course, the United States doesn't want--and should not want--to get into a war with Iran. The problem, however, is the failure to use of tough talk, sanctions, organizing an anti-Tehran alliance, or other stronger diplomatic means to discourage such behavior by the Iranian regime.

Second, and perhaps most interesting of all, is the Department of Defense's concept of strategy for the region:

“It is time to renew focus on a strategic architecture that better serves U.S., allied, and partner interests….Long-term relationships and shared interests with allies and partners will clarify our extended commitment to the region’s security, enhance the resiliency of our defense posture, and improve our collective ability to carry out current operations while preparing for contingency requests.”

To translate this into normal English: The United States has to build up its alliances and cooperation with local states. But what does this mean? Most obviously, it requires working with the Gulf Arab states (and especially Saudi Arabia), Jordan, Israel, Iraq, and Egypt against Iran’s ambitions. “Shared interests” is a code word for that factor. Two other states which should be on that list—Lebanon and Turkey—have basically gone over to the other side though the U.S. government may not realize that situation.

But what does it mean in practice to build up such arrangements? The term “strategic architecture” is a fancy way of saying some kind of alliance system. But for several reasons—inter-Arab quarrels, the Arab-Israeli conflict, radical posturing by moderate Arab states, and Arab appeasement of Iran—this isn’t going to happen the way it should if only national interests were the motivations. (This is why “Realist” analysts don’t understand the Middle East but that’s for another article.)

Note also the phrase “extended commitment” which means U.S. power is in the area to stay, that Washington won’t bug out on allies, or in short, American credibility. That factor has been fast declining during the first year of the Obama administration.

Finally, there is Iraq, where the language strikes me as a little strange and potentially explosive:

“The United States will therefore manage a responsible force drawdown in Iraq and support an orderly transition to a more normal diplomatic and civilian presence.” The word “drawdown” means fewer troops, not complete withdrawal. Remember that one for the future—the Defense Department wants to keep open the option of keeping soldiers in Iraq and that might not just include trainers.

What does the chairman of the Joint Chiefs say? Well, he’s far blunter about it: “I remain concerned about the nuclear ambitions and confrontational postures of Iran and North Korea.” These are real threats and the word “confrontational” means that they might go to war on U.S. allies or forces. By the way, if you want to know what the United States really should be worried about regarding Iran's nuclear weapons read this.

He quickly adds, paying obeisance to the White House, how the report “emphasizes the President’s focus on engagement and reinforces our efforts to work with allies and partners to prevent global nuclear proliferation, regardless of origin.”

If you understand how these things work, that sentence has the bureaucratic brilliance of a masterpiece painting and the humor of a great comedian. It hits all the Obama themes: yes, engagement is great, we prefer a deal, of course we should never act unilaterally, and we would like to get rid of all nuclear weapons.

But the chairman goes on with a couple of great “at the same time” points regarding countering weapons of mass destruction, finding where such weapons are, and destroying them if necessary.

Translation: We know we are probably on our own. All this politics stuff is great but in the final analysis—when engagement fails and others look after their own interests rather than help us--the U.S. military must be ready to squish anyone threatening us. Yep, that’s what it’s there for.


RubinReports: The U.S. Military Looks at the Middle East: Bows to the White House But Knows Its Mission, Too

Elder of Ziyon: The myth of the Bilal Bin Rabah Mosque continues

Elder of Ziyon: The myth of the Bilal Bin Rabah Mosque continues

Elder of Ziyon: Syrian human rights activist to be tried for "insulting" Assad

Elder of Ziyon: Syrian human rights activist to be tried for "insulting" Assad

Elder of Ziyon: Political intrigue in Libya between Fatah and Hamas

Elder of Ziyon: Political intrigue in Libya between Fatah and Hamas

Elder of Ziyon: Now, here is a target for the Mossad

Elder of Ziyon: Now, here is a target for the Mossad

Elder of Ziyon: A new "Persian Gulf" diplomatic crisis

Elder of Ziyon: A new "Persian Gulf" diplomatic crisis

Elder of Ziyon: Friend of Jimmy Carter visits Hamas in Gaza

Elder of Ziyon: Friend of Jimmy Carter visits Hamas in Gaza

DoubleTapper: Apparently Size Doesn't Matter

DoubleTapper: Apparently Size Doesn't Matter

Left-Wing US Jews Call Law of Return Racist - A7 Exclusive Features - Israel News - Israel National News

Left-Wing US Jews Call Law of Return Racist - A7 Exclusive Features - Israel News - Israel National News

US Plans Sharp Hike in Passport Fees - Politics & Gov't - Israel News - Israel National News

US Plans Sharp Hike in Passport Fees - Politics & Gov't - Israel News - Israel National News

Jordan Says Israel Threatens Christian Sites in Jerusalem - Inside Israel - Israel News - Israel National News

Jordan Says Israel Threatens Christian Sites in Jerusalem - Inside Israel - Israel News - Israel National News

IDF Leaves Two Hevron-Area Towns without Security - Defense/Middle East - Israel News - Israel National News

IDF Leaves Two Hevron-Area Towns without Security - Defense/Middle East - Israel News - Israel National News

Saudi Courts Open Doors to Women Lawyers - Defense/Middle East - Israel News - Israel National News

Saudi Courts Open Doors to Women Lawyers - Defense/Middle East - Israel News - Israel National News

Lieberman: Why Blame Israel for Assassination? - Defense/Middle East - Israel News - Israel National News

Lieberman: Why Blame Israel for Assassination? - Defense/Middle East - Israel News - Israel National News

Israelis Help Haiti Quake Victim %u2018Back on Her Feet%u2019 - Good News - Israel News - Israel National News

Israelis Help Haiti Quake Victim Back on Her Feet - Good News - Israel News - Israel National News

Israel Matzav: Hamas wants Israel put on EU terror watch list

Hamas wants Israel put on EU terror watch list

Hamas is demanding that the European Union place Israel on its terror-watch list.

Hamas has petitioned the European Union to include Israel in its watch list of terror-supporting countries, citing it was "a threat to international peace."

The petition follows the organization's allegations against Israel, which it believes assassinated it officer Mahmoud al-Mabhouh in Dubai, in mid-January. Both the EU and the US include Hamas in their Terror watch lists.

The Europeans might actually be dumb enough to do this. Well, at least it would make it easier for Israeli politicians to get into the UK without being arrested, wouldn't it?

Heh.


Israel Matzav: Hamas wants Israel put on EU terror watch list

Love of the Land: Whose Jerusalem? Latest Discovery Makes Plain Ancient Jewish Ties

Whose Jerusalem? Latest Discovery Makes Plain Ancient Jewish Ties


Jonathan Tobin
Contentions/Commentary
22 February '10

The greatest threat to the hopes of those who think parts of Jerusalem should be off-limits to Jews comes not when Jewish-owned buildings go up in the city, but rather when Jews start digging into the ground of East Jerusalem. Because the more the history of the city is uncovered, the less credible becomes the charge that Jews are alien colonists in what the media sometimes wrongly refer to as “traditionally Palestinian” or “Arab” Jerusalem.

That’s the upshot from the release of an amazing archeological dig conducted just outside Jerusalem’s Old City. The excavations conducted by archeologist Eilat Mazar in the Ophel area revealed a section of an ancient city wall of Jerusalem. According to the press release from the Hebrew University, under whose auspices the project was carried out, the dig uncovered the wall as well as an inner gatehouse for entry into the royal quarter of the ancient city and an additional royal structure adjacent to the gatehouse as well as a corner tower. While ancient buildings are not uncommon in the city, the significance of this discovery is the fact that these edifices can be dated to the 10th century before the Common Era — the time of King Solomon, credited by the Bible for the construction of the ancient Temple in Jerusalem. Pottery found at the lowest levels of the dig is dated to this era.

Even more telling is the fact that bullae — seal impressions — with Hebrew names were found, as well as seal impressions on jar handles inscribed with the words “to the king,” which means they were employed by the Israelite state in that time. Inscriptions on the jars, which Mazar says are the largest ever found in Jerusalem, showed them to be the property of a royal official.

(Read full post)

Love of the Land: Whose Jerusalem? Latest Discovery Makes Plain Ancient Jewish Ties

Israel Matzav: EU leaves Israel out

EU leaves Israel out

This time it's good they left us out.

The European Union condemned the use of foreign passports to liquidate Hamas terrorist and arms dealer Mahmoud al-Mabhouh. The good news is that Israel's name is not mentioned in the condemnation.

Israel was not mentioned Monday, when European Union foreign ministers strongly condemned the use of forged European passports in the assassination of senior Hamas terrorist Mahmoud al-Mabhouh in Dubai last month.

The resolution read, "The EU strongly condemns the fact that those involved in this action (assassination) used fraudulent EU member states' passports and credit cards acquired through the theft of EU citizens' identities."

And if they had used American passports and credit cards, would that have been okay with the Europeans?

Heh.

Israel Matzav: EU leaves Israel out

Israel Matzav: Overnight music video

Overnight music video

Here's a video from the 2008 Los Angeles Purim concert featuring Mordechai Ben David and Avraham Fried.

Let's go to the videotape.



Israel Matzav: Overnight music video

Israel Matzav: EU to recognize 'Palestinian state' before it exists

EU to recognize 'Palestinian state' before it exists

French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner (pictured) and Spanish Foreign Minister Miguel Morantinos are promoting an initiative that would recognize a 'Palestinian state' regardless of the results of 'negotiations' between Israel and the 'Palestinians.' In fact, the initiative would recognize such a state reichlet before 'negotiations' are concluded (since, despite the 'Palestinians' unwillingness to accept a 'state' until now, we all know that's the 'only solution'). They have not said whether they would advocate recognizing such a 'state' before 'negotiations' have started, but I believe that the answer to that too is "yes."

Israeli sources say the two foreign ministers are preparing an article they intend to publish together in some of the main European dailies. The main message of the article is that the European Union should recognize a Palestinian state before the completion of negotiations, under the assumption that such a declaration will be made by Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas.

The initiative is based on a plan by Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad to establish a Palestinian state in two years, which is the time he estimates is needed for the development of state institutions, economic reforms and a completion of the necessary training of Palestinian security forces that would bring law and order to the West Bank.

The Fayyad plan was developed more than six months ago and the Franco-Spanish initiative is meant to bolster it, promising recognition by the European block.

Israel has responded to Kouchner and Moratinos by expressing clear opposition to the initiative, noting it was contrary to the principles of the peace process. "An imposed solution will not achieve the goals," Israel stressed in its message.

"If the European Union will determine the results of the negotiations in advance and promises the Palestinians recognition of a state, they will have no motivation to resume negotiations," the Israeli message states.

What could go wrong?

Read the whole thing.

Israel Matzav: EU to recognize 'Palestinian state' before it exists

Love of the Land: Israel Derangement Syndrome in the British Press

Israel Derangement Syndrome in the British Press


Noah Pollak
Contentions/Commentary
22 February '10

At this point, the most interesting thing about the Dubai assassination isn’t what happened in that hotel room; it is a hysteria about the story in the British press that is bordering on mob lunacy.

Few new details are emerging, so the press is engaged in an increasingly unconvincing attempt at propelling the story along by self-generated outrage. Here is a perfect example from the UK Times. It begins ominously:

David Miliband will press his Israeli counterpart today to explain what his Government knows about the use of stolen British identities in the Mahmoud al-Mabhouh killing.

Avigdor Lieberman, the Israeli Foreign Minister, will meet separately with his British, French and Irish counterparts in Brussels, in a diplomatic showdown over Mossad’s use of fraudulent European passports.


The Israelis are in big trouble! Well, maybe not. Down at the very bottom we read:

Mr Lieberman’s meetings in Brussels with the British, French and Irish foreign ministers have been long planned.


(Read full post)


Love of the Land: Israel Derangement Syndrome in the British Press

Love of the Land: What the IAEA Knew: The U.N. agency charged with stopping nuclear proliferation enabled it.

What the IAEA Knew: The U.N. agency charged with stopping nuclear proliferation enabled it.


Anne Bayefsky
Eye On the U.N.
22 February '10

This article, by Anne Bayefsky, originally appeared in Forbes.com.

The most important thing gleaned from the report by the U.N.'s International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) circulated on Feb. 18, which states that Iran may indeed be bent on developing a nuclear bomb, is not new information about Iran. It is that for years the United Nations apparatus lied about what they knew and actively stood in the way of efforts to prevent the world's most dangerous regime from acquiring the world's most dangerous weapon.

The "confidential" report leaked to every news agency on the planet, is quoted as stating that on the basis of "extensive" and "credible" information the IAEA now has "concerns about the possible existence in Iran of ... current undisclosed activities related to the development of a nuclear payload for a missile," and "concerns about possible military dimensions to Iran's nuclear program."

While Obama administration officials have attempted to spin the first report of IAEA chief Yukiya Amano, who took over last December, as a U.N. achievement, the implications of the evident U.N. deceit cannot be overstated. After all, the organization has a choke hold on global imaginations. In 2005 the Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to the IAEA and its then Director General Mohammed ElBaradei "for their efforts to prevent nuclear energy from being used for military purposes." It is now clear that this occurred at the very same time that ElBaradei was engaged in what may well prove to be the most lethal cover-up in human history.

For almost a decade, the IAEA and its director general stalled for time on behalf of Iran, with reports feigning ignorance of Iranian designs while leaving an escape hatch should the IAEA's disguise as a non-proliferation agency be blown. In February 2006 ElBaradei reported: "Although the Agency has not seen any diversion of nuclear material to nuclear weapons or other nuclear explosive devices, the Agency is not at this point in time in a position to conclude that there are no undeclared nuclear materials or activities in Iran. The process of drawing such a conclusion ... is a time consuming process."

(Read full article)

Love of the Land: What the IAEA Knew: The U.N. agency charged with stopping nuclear proliferation enabled it.

Israel Matzav: Only in Israel: Mail service suspended

Only in Israel: Mail service suspended

Mail service in Israel has been suspended after a woman in Migdal Ha'Emek received a package with wires sticking out of it. The package turned out to be a bomb.

A police spokesperson told The Jerusalem Post Monday that a 35-year-old woman received a package from a Migdal Ha’emek post office and when she opened it saw something that raised her suspicions.

The area was shut off to traffic and passersby and police sappers came and neutralized the package. The spokesman said the issue of whether or not the package, which was sent from inside Israel, contained a legitimate explosive device is still under the gag order. [I've seen elsewhere - and heard - that it was a bomb. CiJ]

The spokesman said police are still trying to determine whether or not the package was sent for criminal purposes or constitutes an act of terrorism.~

Please don't open suspicious packages.


Israel Matzav: Only in Israel: Mail service suspended

Israel Matzav: So you want to be an analyst?

So you want to be an analyst?

Judea Pearl rips the insufferable Roger Cohen (pictured) some new body parts.

Cohen is the Times columnist who spent months, perhaps years, on a tireless campaign to convince the West that the Iranian regime does not deserve our suspicion, that it can be reasoned with like any other regime and that it does not suffer from an irrational form of fanaticism. Cohen’s campaign was shattered last June by the reality of the Iranian election, its brutal aftermath and the deceptive progress of Iran’s nuclear capability.

One would think that an analyst who fails so miserably in reading the minds of the ayatollah would acquire some measure of humility or introspection before reclaiming an authoritative posture as a mind reader. A prudent analyst would take a year or two to examine one’s premises, scrutinize one’s inference-making processes or reboot one’s ideology and logical machinery.

Not Cohen. The ink is still wet on his “I erred in underestimating the brutality and cynicism of a regime that understands the uses of ruthlessness” (New York Times, June 14, 2009), and Cohen is back with the same style of logic, same underestimating premises, same conclusion-driven inferences, to offer a brilliant solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

His solution is predictable: “It does not make sense for America to bankroll Israeli policies that undermine U.S. strategic objectives,” therefore, the United States should punish Israel into action on all fronts; settlements, negotiation with Hammas, security compromises and more. But Cohen’s motive has a new twist: It is all for Israel’s own good, otherwise, “what then will become of the Zionist dream?” Israelis are too dumb, so the message reads, to understand that they need peace to survive in a long run, and only New York analysts understand the urgency of this need, and only they can come up with original and innovative solutions to Israel’s future. Israelis, with all their experts, historians, statesmen, peace activists, visionaries, philosophers and, yes, analysts are incapable of thinking out of the box; Cohen can, as he did on Iran.

I lament the day I chose to become a scientist. If any of my theories ever turn out to be wrong, God forbid, no journal would dare print my articles again, and all my theories would forever be suspect of dubious intentions. Not Cohen. He can twist reality at will, and readers continue to swallow his logic, axiom after an axiom, lemma after lemma, as long as the conclusion harmonizes with what they wish to hear: We can fix everything — just push whatever moves.



Israel Matzav: So you want to be an analyst?

DoubleTapper: Israel Facts

Israel Facts

Israel is engaged in regular wars with an implacable enemy that seeks its destruction, and an economy continuously under strain by having to spend more per capita on its own protection than any other county on earth.

Israel, the 100th smallest country, with less than 1/1000th of the world’s population, can lay claim to the following:


The cell phone was developed in Israel by Israelis working in the Israeli branch of Motorola, which has its largest development center in Israel .

Most of the Windows NT and XP operating systems were developed by Microsoft-Israel.

The Pentium MMX Chip technology was designed in Israel at Intel.

Both the Pentium-4 microprocessor and the Centrino processor were entirely designed, developed and produced in Israel .

The Pentium microprocessor in your computer was most likely made in Israel .

Voice mail technology was developed in Israel .

Both Microsoft and Cisco built their only R&D facilities outside the US in Israel.

The technology for the AOL Instant Messenger ICQ was developed in 1996 by four young Israelis.

Israel has the fourth largest air force in the world (after the U.S. , Russia and China ). In addition to a large variety of other aircraft, Israel’s air force has an aerial arsenal of over 250 F-16’s. This is The largest fleet of F-16 aircraft outside of the U. S.

Israel ’s $100 billion economy is larger than all of its immediate neighbors combined.

Israel has the highest percentage in the world of home computers per capita.

According to industry officials, Israel designed the airline industry’s most impenetrable flight security.

Israel has the highest ratio of university degrees to the population in the world.

Israel produces more scientific papers per capita than any other nation by a large margin – 109 per10,000 people -as well as one of the highest per capita rates of patents filed.

In proportion to its population, Israel has the largest number of startup companies in the world. In absolute terms, Israel has the largest number of startup companies than any other country in the world, except the U.S. (3,500 companies mostly in hi-tech).

With more than 3,000 high-tech companies and startups, Israel has the highest concentration of hi-tech companies in the world — apart from the Silicon Valley , U. S.

Israel is ranked ..2 in the world for venture capital funds right behind the U. S.

Outside the United States and Canada , Israel has the largest number of NASDAQ listed companies.

Israel has the highest average living standards in the Middle East .

The per capita income in Israel exceeds that of the UK .

On a per capita basis, Israel has the largest number of biotech startups.

Twenty-four per cent of Israel ’s workforce holds university degrees, ranking third in the industrialized world, after the United States and Holland , and 12 per cent hold advanced degrees.

Israel is the only liberal democracy in the Middle East .

In 1984 and 1991, Israel airlifted a total of 22,000 Ethiopian Jews (Operation Solomon) at Risk in Ethiopia , to safety in Israel .

When Golda Meir was elected Prime Minister of Israel in 1969, she became the world’s second elected female leader in modern times.

When the U. S. Embassy in Nairobi , Kenya was bombed in 1998, Israeli rescue teams were on the scene within a day – and saved three victims from the rubble.

Israel has the third highest rate of entrepreneurship — and the highest rate among women and among people over 55 – in the world.

Relative to its population, Israel is the largest immigrant-absorbing nation on earth. Immigrants come in search of democracy, religious freedom, and economic opportunity. (Hundreds of thousands from the former Soviet Union )

Israel was the first nation in the world to adopt the Kimberly process, an international standard that certifies diamonds as “conflict free.”

Israel has the world’s second highest per capita of new books.

Israel is the only country in the world that entered the 21st century with a net gain in its number of trees, made more remarkable because this was achieved in an area considered mainly desert.

Israel has more museums per capita than any other country.

Medicine… Israeli scientists developed the first fully computerized, no-radiation, diagnostic instrumentation for breast cancer.

An Israeli company developed a computerized system for ensuring proper administration of medications, thus removing human error from medical treatment.

Israel ’s Given Imaging developed the first ingestible video camera, so small it fits inside a pill. Used to view the small intestine from the inside, cancer and digestive disorders.

Petra Nemcova Researchers in Israel developed a new device that directly helps the heart pump blood, an innovation with the potential to save lives among those with heart failure. The new device is synchronized with the camera helps doctors diagnose heart’s mechanical operations through a sophisticated system of sensors.

Israel leads the world in the number of scientists and technicians in the workforce, with 145 per 10,000, as opposed to 85 in the U. S., over 70 in Japan , and less than 60 in Germany . With over 25% of its work force employed in technical professions. Israel places first in this category as well.

A new acne treatment developed in Israel , the Clear Light device, produces a high-intensity, ultraviolet-light-free, narrow-band blue light that causes acne bacteria to self-destruct -all without damaging surrounding skin or tissue.

An Israeli company was the first to develop and install a large-scale solar-powered and fully functional electricity generating plant, in southern California ’s Mojave desert .


DoubleTapper: Israel Facts

RubinReports: Life in an American Fourth Grade: George Washington Sighting!

Life in an American Fourth Grade: George Washington Sighting!

By Barry Rubin

For those following my blogging on a fourth-grade class, this morning during the opening "warm-up" period, the students read one page on George Washington's childhood. No discussion. This is apparently the total official county program to deal with the founder of the United States. One day after Abraham Lincoln's birthday, however, he still hasn't been mentioned at all. For an earlier "accidental" brief mention of Washington, see here.

RubinReports: Life in an American Fourth Grade: George Washington Sighting!
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