Once upon a time, when I would browse hate sites for easy blog material, I came across someone named Curtis Maynard.
I feel sorry for the wife and step-daughter as well as the other kids who were in the house. |
Even though there are regular stories in the Palestinian Arabic press that Hamas and Fatah are close to reconciliation, they are all a sham, according to Palestine Today. |
From The JC:
I briefly followed a blog war between Peter Eyre of the Palestine Telegraph who is convinced that Israeli soldiers steal organs from Palestinian Arab children and the Harry's Place blog, which appears to have been the first to notice the David Duke video. I posted a link to the TongeLashing website in the comments to explain to Mr. Eyre why the blood-libel accusations are absurd, but for some reason they never posted my comment. |
I am not as enamored of the "Palestinian Zionist Organization" as others seem to be. From what I can tell, it is one guy with a website, and hardly the harbinger of major change. |
Sheikh Ahmed Kubaisi, whose Friday sermons out of Dubai are watched by tens of millions of people, has stated that some of the more recent rulings of other sheikhs show that they have mental disorders. |
Forbes' Claudia Rosett asks a good question:
UPDATE: Commenter Sshender asked whether this hotel was not that expensive in comparison with other Dubai hotels. I just did a quick check and the al-Bustan Rotana is relatively inexpensive for a five-star hotel - mid week rates are about $180 a night. On the other hand, other 5-star hotels range from $100 a night to well over $1000. And Dubai does have budget hotels at around $50 a night. |
Wow.
There sure have been a lot of changes in this country over the past couple of years. We have nationalized banks, nationalized car companies, nationalized health insurance and pretty soon it looks like nationalized stock trading as well. We have an administration that has significantly altered the USA's approach to the Middle East...in a way that they now regularly make demands of sovereign, democratic allies while giving hostile, terrorist entities a free pass. The America we live in today is a vastly different place than it was just two years ago.
And now we have entered the realm of speech as well.
If the freedom of speech is taken away then dumb and silent we may be led, like sheep to the slaughter.
--George Washington
One week ago, the creators of South Park aired their 200th episode. In the episode they attempted to poke fun at the ridiculous idea that you can make fun of every topic, every human being, every leader, every celebrity, every religious figure...everyone except for the Prophet Muhammad.
South Park's relationship with the Prophet goes back a while...he actually appeared in an episode from nine years ago that involved many major religious figures or gods (think Jesus, Moses, Krishna) teaming up in as Power Rangers-style super heroes and fighting crime. Then, in a rather brilliant statement on censorship and Muhammad, the created a storyline where al Qaeda threatens to attack the United States if an image of Muhammad is aired on Family Guy. In the end, the terrorist "retaliation" turns out to be one of the most insane segments of television ever aired, as Jesus, George W. Bush and several stereotypical Americans are shown performing some pretty disgusting acts.
Though we just celebrated 62 years since the establishment of the sate of Israel which is definitely a momentous occasion to celebrate, we can’t forget that we are still in a time of mourning. Thousands of years later we are mourning the 24,000 students of Rabbi Akiva that died in a plague. It is customary during this time not to listen to music and have weddings as a symbol of our mourning. Through the ages during this time many other terrible decrees have been made against the Jewish people. It has always amazed me how in Judaism we are constantly trying to keep the balance between times of sadness and mourning and times of joy and celebration. As we see between the mourning of Rabbi Akiva’s students and celebrating the state of Israel. Though thousands of years separate these two events, I think that there is a strong connection between them.
Though Rabbi Akiva tragically lost many of his students, he was still able to rebuild his yeshiva from his five students that were left. His students were not just ordinary students but they were some of the greatest Torah scholars in Jewish history. They were Rabbi Meir, Rabbi Yehudah, Rabbi Shimon, Rabbi Yose and Rabbi Nechemia. It was to their credit that we have the Talmud today. How was Rabbi Akiva able to get over this great loss and rebuild his yeshiva and what can we learn from him? I read an interesting answer to this question. Rabbi Akiva got his strength to continue on teaching Torah to his five remaining students from the same thing that brought him to Torah observance, a single drop of water. The way Rabbi Akiva first began to embrace Torah was when he was 40 years old and one day while he was tending to his sheep, he saw a rock and he noticed a cavity in it. He wondered what was so powerful that could cause this cavity. Then he looked up and saw a drop of water falling from the mountain and he realized that overtime this drop of water had affected the rock. He then reasoned that if a drop of water could make an impression on a hard rock, then so to can Torah penetrate his mind. It was after that incident that Rabbi Akiva began his journey towards living a Torah lifestyle and he eventually became one of the Torah leaders of his generation.
So we can ask why did this incident cause Rabbi Akiva to change his whole life around ?
What was so special about that single drop of water and how did Rabbi Akiva identify with it? When Rabbi Akiva saw what a difference one drop of water made to the rock, he understood how much power and potential each individual has. He realized that what he did and how he reacted to life mattered and how his decisions could affect the world. So when his 24,000 students died he thought back to that day that first gave him strength to take something that before seemed unreachable and impossible and it strengthened him once again to move forward.
Now, fast forwarding thousands of years later lets try to find the connection between Rabbi Akiva and modern times. I believe that just like Hashem gave Rabbi Akiva with the strength to spread his Torah wisdom to his five remaining students, Hashem also provided the Holocaust survivors with the strength and will power to rise above the nightmares they experienced and helped them rebuild their lives in Israel. It was because of each one of the pioneer’s individual will power and perseverance, that we can now celebrate 62 years of the state of Israel. As we celebrate this milestone with joy we can’t forget how Hashem has always and will always help us rise above our persecution and will eventually fully redeem us with the coming of the redemption. May we see it speedily in our days. Amen!
Nick Clegg (pictured) is the leader of the Liberal Democratic party, and is currently leading both Gordon Brown (Labour) and David Cameron (Conservatives) in the polls.5. Clegg harbors strong anti-Israeli views.
To describe Clegg as a vociferous opponent of Israel would be an understatement — I’ve written in greater detail on this issue here. Clegg has penned a number of articles condemning Israel’s handling of Gaza, and has been the most prominent British critic of Israel’s response to Hamas attacks. He has alleged that the Israeli government “continues to imprison 1.5 million Palestinians and prevent the rebuilding of its shattered infrastructure,” and supports the U.N.’s use of the highly offensive term “collective punishment.” Clegg has drawn parallels between Israel’s defensive actions and the terrorist campaigns of groups such as Hamas, and has urged the European Union in the past to isolate and even sanction Israel.
As most of you know already, I'm a fan of American team sports. The one thing your coach always tells you is not to talk trash before a game because all you do is get the other team mad and riled up to play. Trash talk before a game is usually a sign of overconfidence.Iranian Minister Ahmad Vahidi said that because of Israel's diplomatic isolation, it is unable to attack Iran.
Vahidi said Wednesday evening that, "Given the political isolation of the Zionist regime, they do not have the courage to attack, and they are unable to open war with our armed forces."
The following is a guest post from Michael Fenenbock. In Los Angeles recently Daphne and I had an opportunity to breakfast with Martin Sherman.
Professor Sherman has proposed a compelling, workable, pragmatic alternative to 2-State. And his proposal has an eye-catching curtain raiser – get rid of UNRWA.
My view is we must forcefully project an alternative vision of the future, a pragmatic option to 2-state. And now more than ever.
The current state-of-play is alarming. The situation is dire. The threat to the Zionist enterprise from the imposition of 2-State is immediate. The unceasing pressure from the Obama Administration on the Jewish State is myopic. The need to respond is urgent.
Very soon the Obama Administration plans to submit a “peace plan” centered on 2-state and calling for a partition of Jerusalem. They have already sent former President Bill Clinton out front to clear the way. Publicizing Senator Kerry’s negotiation with Damascus to halt a missle allocation to Hezbollah is part of the game plan. Spin designed to neutralize Jewish American resistance to the Obama plan. And President Obama’s smarmy letter to Alan Solow, an Obama supporter and chairman of the Conference of Presidents, of is more of the same.
Believe it. The train to 2-state is roaring down the track and its due date is before the November American election. 2-state is the sin qua non of their foreign policy.
Unless we propose – and seriously market to the world - alternatives to 2-state we will continue be labeled by world opinion as obstructionist.
The stakes could not be higher. If we fail to stop the rush to 2-state we will certainly forfeit the central touchstone of our history our culture and our religion – we will lose Jerusalem.
While differing in detail with alternatives to 2-state advanced by Arieh Eldad and Benny Elon, the important fact is Martin Sherman has placed on the table a rational alternative.
Much of this looming tragedy is of our own making. Leaders in Israel and the Diaspora continue to publicly position themselves as in support of a 2-state solution. The Prime Minister finds himself locked in this in this dead-end trap.
And while I applaud Ron Lauder’s recent statement it repeated the party line on 2-state.
This course of action, saying we are for 2-state, must be reversed.
Those of us who oppose 2-state must make our voices heard and if we do friends will join our fight.
Promoting rational, pragmatic alternatives to 2-state arms us with a powerful political weapon in this battle. It allows us to seize the initiative in the debate. It provides an opportunity to reclaim lost momentum. It means we can go on the offensive.
If we call for an alternative view we will have friends who will stand with us in opposition to the imposition of 2-state. Powerful friends.
I recommend Martin Sherman and his work personally. And I strongly associate myself with the need to present to the world a rational 2-state alternative.
Those of us who are of a disposition to fight 2-state and to do our best to see the culmination of the Zionist dream have a responsibility to our history and a duty to future Jewish generations. We can only benefit by uniting our efforts and pooling our resources.
Standing together it is possible to make our voices heard.
Michael Fenenbock
New York
April 22, 2010
Dennis Prager cites a reason that many Americans support Israel which many Israelis will find hard to believe: The Bible. There is a fifth reason tens of millions of Americans, including many conservative commentators, support Israel and worry about America as American support for Israel wanes. To the Left in America and around the world, this reason is dangerous nonsense. But for a vast number of America’s Christians, for many Jews, and even many non-religious conservatives, it is deeper than any military or political reason. The reason is based on a verse in Genesis in which God, referring to the Jewish people, says to Abraham: “I will bless those who bless you and curse those who curse you.”
One need not be a Jew or Christian or even believe in God to appreciate that this verse is as accurate a prediction as humanity has ever been given by the ancient world. The Jewish people have suffered longer and more horribly than any other living people. But they are still around. Its historic enemies are all gone. Those that cursed the Jews were indeed cursed.
And those who blessed the Jews were indeed blessed. The most blessed country for over 200 years has been the United States. It has also been the most blessed place Jews have ever lived in. Is this a coincidence? Many of us think not.
Those who curse the Jews still seem to be cursed. The most benighted civilization today is the Arab world. One could make a plausible case that the Arab world’s preoccupation with Jew-hatred and destroying Israel is a decisive factor in its failure to progress. The day the Arab world makes peace with the existence of the tiny Jewish state in its midst, the Arab world will begin its ascent.
The converse is what worries tens of millions of Americans — the day America abandons Israel, America will begin its descent.
A Russian website is reporting that Israel and Russia are planning a joint venture to produce unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), otherwise known as drones (Hat Tip: Will). State Technology Corporation Rostekhnologii plans to establish a joint venture with Israel Airspace Industry for the production of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), the Russian corporation's head said on Wednesday.
"We have already bought 15 drones for testing and we do not rule out a joint production of UAVs with Israel," Sergei Chemezov told RIA Novosti.
Russian Deputy Defense Minister Vladimir Popovkin said earlier that Russia had spent about 5 billion rubles ($172 million) on the development of drones, which eventually failed their tests.
Russian Air Force commander Col.Gen. Alexander Zelin said last November that Russian UAVs do not satisfy the requirements in speed, altitude or their specifications.
The Russian military has stressed the need to provide the Armed Forces with advanced reconnaissance systems in the wake of a brief military conflict with Georgia in August 2008, when the effectiveness of Russian military operations was severely hampered by the lack of reliable intelligence.
According to various estimates, the Russian military needs up to 100 UAVs and at least 10 guidance systems to ensure effective battlefield reconnaissance.
President Obama has written a letter to Alan Solow, the President of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, in which he promises that he will not impose 'peace' on Israel from the outside (Hat Tip: Ben Smith via Memeorandum). "Since we have known each other for a long time," Obama wrote, "I am sure you can distinguish between the noise and distortion about my views that have appeared recently, and the actual approach of my administration toward the Middle East."
The American president stressed in his letter that, "for over 60 years, American presidents have believed that pursuing peace between Arabs and Israelis is in the national security interests of the United States." He added that he has made the pursuit of this peace a top priority since his first day in the White House.
He wrote, "I am deeply committed to fulfilling the important role the United States must play for peace to be realized, but I also recognize that in order for any agreement to endure, peace cannot be imposed from the outside; it must be negotiated directly by the leaders who are required to make the hard choices and compromises that take on history.
"We are determined to help them, particularly because the status quo does not serve the interests of Israel, the Palestinians, or the United States."
...
"Let me be very clear," he said, "We have a special relationship with Israel and that will not change.
"Our countries are bonded together by shared values, deep and interwoven connections, and mutual interests. Many of the same forces that threaten Israel also threaten the United States and our efforts to secure peace and stability in the Middle East. Our alliance with Israel serves our national security interests."
In conclusion, Obama wrote, "As we continue to strive for lasting peace agreement between Israel, the Palestinians, and Israel's neighbors, all sides should understand that our commitment to Israel's security is unshakable and that no wedge will be driven between us. We will have our difference, but when we do, we will work to resolve them as close allies."
Israel Radio just reported that Joe Biden said that Israel will not attack Iran without consulting with the US first.
A newly-released Quinnipiac poll shows that only one third of Americans approve of how President Obama is handling Israel and the 'Palestinians.' Two thirds of Jews disapprove (Hat Tip: Lenny B). A Quinnipiac University survey released Thursday morning indicates that 35 percent of the public gives the president a thumbs up on how he's dealing with the situation between Israel and the Palestinians, with 44 percent saying they disapprove, and just over one in five unsure.
This stands in contrast with how Americans feel about Obama's overall handling of foreign policy, with 48 percent approving and 42 percent saying they disapprove.
According to the poll, two-thirds of Jewish voters disapprove of how the president's handling Israeli-Palestinian relations, with 28 percent saying they approve. Jewish voters were big backers of Obama in the 2008 presidential election, with exit polls indicating that nearly eight of ten backed the Democratic candidate.
Two-thirds of people questioned in the survey say that the president should be a strong supporter of Israel but, by a 42 percent to 34 percent margin, voters say Obama's not a strong supporter of Israel.
...
The Quinnipiac University poll was conducted April 14-19, with 1,930 registered voters questioned by telephone. The survey's overall sampling error is plus or minus 2.2 percentage points.
Just yesterday, he told Binyamin Netanyahu that he has to offer up the Golan as a sacrifice so that the United States will take care of Iran. Today, he says that the United States and Israel have to prevent war, but that the United States has to limit itself to 'reasonable' demands on Israel. What is with Ari Shavit? The conclusion is clear: The essential task now in the Middle East is the prevention of war. That's not the same as pursuing peace. Sometimes it's precisely the attempt to achieve an unattainable peace that ignites a war. In the current sensitive situation, there must be no illusions and no mistakes. Political correctness must not be allowed to cause a historic disaster. And when the glasses of political correctness are taken off, a clear picture emerges. To prevent war in the Middle East, the United States and Israel must show strength and generosity, deterrence and moderation. Together they must promote a cautious and gradual diplomatic process that will weaken the region's extremists, strengthen its moderates and curb Iran. They must maintain the democratic alliance that has stabilized western Asia for two generations.
The main responsibility now rests with the United States. The Netanyahu government has made many mistakes over the past year, but so has the Obama administration. The latter has wasted 15 precious months in dialogue with Iran without imposing any sanctions and maintaining the illusion of an immediate Israeli-Palestinian peace. The open, unilateral pressure Washington has exerted on Jerusalem has both distanced peace and brought war closer. Therefore, if the Obama administration does not want the next war to be named after it, it must urgently change its policies. It must demand the possible from Israel, not the imaginary. It must demand what is essential from Iran. It must show determined and sober leadership that will prevent war now and lead to peace tomorrow.
The volcano that erupted last week in Iceland will be nothing compared to the volcano that could erupt in the near future in the Middle East. But the volcano here is a human one. People are stoking it and people can also cool it down. The lives of hundreds of millions now depend on the wisdom and careful consideration of one man: Barack Obama.
Prime Minister Netanyahu notified President Obama over the weekend once again that Israel will not freeze construction in Jerusalem. But it's a lie. Netanyahu has made the Ramat Shlomo neighborhood into the sacrificial lamb for the 'freeze' (Hat Tip: Memeorandum). Talks between the Obama administration and Mr. Netanyahu's government had largely been frozen since the White House meeting. But over the weekend, Mr. Netanyahu's government conveyed to White House officials its most substantive response to Mr. Obama's request, including the refusal to end construction in East Jerusalem. East Jerusalem includes some of the holiest places in Islam, Judaism and Christianity. Israel captured the area from Jordan in 1967's Six-Day War. It has been in dispute ever since, and the Palestinians covet it as the capital of their future state.
...
U.S. officials involved in the diplomacy said they don't see Mr. Netanyahu's position as the end to negotiations. They noted that the Israeli prime minister did agree to take nearly a dozen measures that could underpin new peace talks.
Among those steps: The release of some Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails; the easing of the flow of goods into the Gaza strip, and the removal of more roadblocks in the West Bank.
Israel's government also said it would commit to expanding the area of responsibility for Palestinian security forces operating in the West Bank, as well as to discuss detailed issues of borders and the status of Jerusalem in any new round of negotiations with the Palestinians, which take place either directly or through a U.S. mediator.
One specific measure that could also aid the peace process, U.S. officials said, was Israel's stated willingness to end construction in the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Ramat Shlomo for two years.
...
U.S. officials said the refusal to freeze construction in all of East Jerusalem could still serve as a barrier to new negotiations with the Palestinians. They also said that some of the new concessions made by Israel were nearly identical to a list Israel has already provided twice to the White House in recent months but has yet to follow through on.
U.S. officials said Mr. Netanyahu's government has been communicating much of its position through the White House's senior Middle East adviser Dennis Ross, at times bypassing the Obama administration's special Mideast peace envoy George Mitchell.
That decision has been interpreted by some in the administration as an attempt to sideline Mr. Mitchell in favor of Mr. Ross, who has advocated U.S. cooperation with Mr. Netanyahu, rather than confrontation. Mr. Ross has publicly taken positions in line with Mr. Netanyahu's government, particularly the centrality of stopping Iran's nuclear program as a means to underpin Mideast peace efforts.
Now there are Jericho III missiles but they are still under development and no one who knows their range is willing to say what it is.
I'm sure many of you recall the McLaughlin and Associates survey that I discussed here. On Wednesday, there was a bloggers call with John McLaughlin, in which I participated but did not speak up. Jennifer Rubin, who asked one of the questions I wanted to ask (Anne Lieberman of Boker Tov Boulder asked the other), summarizes some of what we learned. He stressed that although exit polls showed 78 percent of Jews voted for Obama, it is significant that 46 percent would now consider voting for someone else. That number is dramatically higher among Orthodox voters (69 percent) and somewhat higher among denominationally Conservative Jews (50 percent) as well as those with family in Israel (48 percent) or those who had been to Israel (49 percent). This pattern – linking criticism of Obama with religious observance and affiliation with Israel — held on virtually all questions, including Obama’s job approval, the imposition of a peace plan, and the division of Jerusalem. On Obama’s job performance, for example, 80 percent of Orthodox Jews disapprove, and 50 of Conservatives disapprove, but only 26 percent of Reform Jews.
I asked McLaughlin if Reform Jews were also more liberal. He answered, “They are definitely more Democratic, more liberal and more concerned about domestic issues.” I also asked about the correlation between support for Obama and age. His poll screened for likely voters in the coming November and suggested there will be a drop-off in general among younger voters from 2008, which brought many new voters to the poll. Within American Jewry, older voters are more loyal to Obama and to the party. Among voters over 55 years old, only 42 percent would consider voting for someone other than Obama, while 52 percent under 55 would. In the sample, among voters over 55 years old, 64 percent were Democrats, while “only” 53 percent under 55 identified as Democrats. As a group, however, Jews remain far more liberal (40 percent identified as such in the poll, only 21 percent as conservative) than voters in general.
Thousands of Americans are preparing to protest in New York this Sunday against the Obama administration's increasing hostility towards Israel. The event is scheduled to take place outside the Israel Consulate on Sunday, April 25 at 1:00 p.m. EDT. A partial list of organizations who endorsed the demonstration is below.
Beth Gilinsky, head of the Jewish Action Alliance that is sponsoring the event, said, "We are outraged that President [Barack] Obama is scapegoating Israel and wants to expel Jews from their homes in Jerusalem. President Obama and Secretary Hillary Clinton show more anger about a Jewish family building a home in Jerusalem than Iran building a nuclear bomb," she added.
...
“Vast segments of the Jewish community will not tolerate the president's continuing attacks on Israel. Grassroots Jewry will not be silent,” Gilinsky vowed. A long list of Jewish organizations as well as a number of Christian and other non-Jewish groups have signed on to the event as well.
The demonstration will also feature a taped statement by former New York City mayor Ed Koch, a strong supporter of Obama's presidential campaign. Koch recently expressed his shock and disappointment with the increasing anti-Israel views expressed by the president and the increasing hostility of his administration towards the Jewish State.
Among the organizations who have officially endorsed the upcoming rally are:
AISH Center
Americans for a Safe Israel
Artists 4 Israel
Children of Jewish Holocaust Survivors
Christians and Jews United for Israel
Coalition for Israel
Crown Heights Women for the Security and Integrity of Israel
Dr. Joseph Frager, Jerusalem Reclamation Project
NY Assemblyman Dov Hikind
IsraelAlive
Israel Day Concert in the Park
Jewish Political Education Foundation
Dr. Michael Ledeen, Center for Defense of Democracies
Unity Coalition for Israel
Dr. Herbert London, The Hudson Institute
AMCHA, Coalition for Jewish Concerns
Stand With Us
Endowment for Middle East Truth
World Committee for the Land of Israel
Zionist Organization of America
Z Street
More information is available by contacting Ronn Torossian in New York at 212-999-5585.
Shmuel Rosner asks five questions with no good answers; number 3 ought to be forwarded to those in the Obama administration who are seeking 'regime change' in Israel. 3. Is Netanyahu's coalition in danger?
I don't think so. But all those wanting Netanyahu to dump the "right wing" and move to a more centrist coalition forget that Netanyahu isn't 80 years old and doesn't want this term to be his last. He can't - and will not - endanger the long-time relations with the right. Only a fool will trust Livni's and Barak's long term support.
The recent transfer of long-range scud missiles to Hezbullah by Syria was only the latest in a series of transfers of advanced weaponry to Hezbullah over the Syrian - Lebanese border since the Second Lebanon War ended in 2006. Those transfers are watched and noted by Israel, but ignored by everyone else, including the supposed guardians of UN Security Council Resolution 1701. The weaponry supplied to Hizbullah include M-600 surface-to-surface missiles, the man-portable Igla-S surface-to-air missile system, which would threaten Israeli fighter aircraft monitoring the skies of Lebanon, and now the Scud-D ballistic missile system.
If the reports regarding such weaponry are correct, they would make Hizbullah by far the best-armed non-state paramilitary group in the world.
These reports do not mean that war is necessarily imminent.
Israel appears in no hurry to punish Hizbullah and Syria for the flouting of red lines. Unlike its enemies, the Israeli government is publicly accountable, and would find it difficult to justify a preemptive strike – which might well result in renewed war – to the Israeli public.
Hizbullah and Syria also seem in no rush to initiate hostilities. They have merely internalized the fact that nothing serious appears to stand in the way of their activities across the eastern border of Lebanon, and are hence proceeding apace.
The clearest lesson of the latest events is the fictional status of international guarantees and resolutions if these are not backed by a real willingness to enforce them.
The Western failure to underwrite the elected government of Lebanon has led to the effective Hizbullah takeover of that country. The failure to insist on the implementation of Resolution 1701 has allowed the apparent strategic transformation of Hizbullah over the last three and a half years.
While the “resistance bloc” does not necessarily seek imminent conflict, there is also no sign whatsoever that its appetite has been satiated by its recent gains. Laws, elections and agreements do not stand in its way. It operates, rather, according to the dictum of a certain 20th-century German leader, who said, “You stand there with your law, and I’ll stand here with my bayonets, and we’ll see which one prevails.”
A senior administration official in Crawford, Tex., where Mr. Bush is on vacation, said that it increasingly seemed that Israel would not be able to achieve a military victory, a realization that led the Americans to get behind a cease-fire.
