Israel Matzav: Zahar: Hamas will accept state on '67 borders... for now

Zahar: Hamas will accept state on '67 borders... for now

Hamas foreign minister Mahmoud Zahar says his organization will accept a 'Palestinian state' based on the 1967 borders... for now (Hat Tip: Stephen D).

Hamas would accept a Palestinian state "on any part of Palestine," he said in an interview with Palestinian news agency Ma'an. Hamas has previously said it is willing to temporarily accept a Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza. The ultimate goal, however, would be a state of "Palestine in its entirety," Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal told Charlie Rose last year.

At the same time, Zahar said that Hamas would not recognize Israel, because doing so would "cancel the right of the next generation to liberate the land." He added that recognition of Israel could lead to Palestinian refugees losing their right of return.

"What will be the fate of the five million Palestinians in the diaspora?" Zahar asked.

The Hamas leader told the Palestinian news agency that his faction's unity deal with Fatah, which included maintaining a ceasefire with Israel is "part of the resistance, not a cancellation." He added that "a truce is not peace."

And they actually believe that we would agree to this?

But what may be the best part is Zahar's explanation for why Abu Bluff isn't going to be visiting Gaza anytime soon.

Zahar also said that Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas will not visit Gaza soon. One of the reasons, he said, is that he can not guarantee that "Israel will not send its infiltrators to shoot Abbas" or that some Palestinians may "come out and throw rocks at him."

What could go wrong?

Israel Matzav: Zahar: Hamas will accept state on '67 borders... for now

Israel Matzav: Freedom of speech for me but not for thee

Freedom of speech for me but not for thee

Now that the PC thought police have ensured that Tony Kushner will get his honorary degree from the City University of New York, they're going after the other side of the equation and trying to shut down Jeffrey Wiesenfeld by kicking him off CUNY's Board of Trustees (Hat Tip: Dan F). The CUNY faculty union renewed its calls for the trustee, Jeffrey S. Wiesenfeld, to step down, while CUNY officials said they had received dozens of e-mails — including some form letters — demanding his removal.

Barbara Bowen, president of the union, the Professional Staff Congress, which represents 22,000 faculty and staff members, said the honorary degree was the latest episode in which Mr. Wiesenfeld had inserted himself inappropriately in university activities.

In 2001, he called participation in an October “teach-in” sponsored by the union about the 9/11 attacks “seditious.” In 2006, he blasted a book that Baruch College had chosen for its freshman reading, “War Is a Force That Gives Us Meaning,” by Chris Hedges, calling it “deeply offensive” and “anti-Semitic.”

“That’s overstepping one’s role as a trustee,” Dr. Bowen said. “There’s a consistent pattern of vilifying students and particularly faculty whose political views he objects to. He is entitled to his political views, but to use those views to interfere with academic freedom is not acceptable.” Jeffrey Goldberg suggests that the people at CUNY need to learn to get along.

Perhaps everyone in the CUNY universe should simply learn to live with objectionable views. And perhaps the CUNY board should consider whether it wants to turn Jeffrey Wiesenfeld into a free-speech martyr, just as Wiesenfeld tried to turn Tony Kushner into same.

That drew this response from one James Fallows:

The obnoxious guy at CUNY is not having his "freedom of speech" threatened.

He's having his presence on the board called into question. Freedom of speech is a right; membership on the board is a privilege. FWIW.

Silly me. I thought that getting an honorary degree was a privilege and not a right too.

Israel Matzav: Freedom of speech for me but not for thee

Israel Matzav: IDF investigation: 'PA police' including 'former' terrorist shot 44 bullets at unarmed Israelis

IDF investigation: 'PA police' including 'former' terrorist shot 44 bullets at unarmed Israelis

An IDF investigation has concluded that 'Palestinian police' shot 44 bullets at mostly unarmed Israeli civilians in the April 24 incident in which Ben Yosef Livnat was murdered. The investigation has also concluded that at least one of the 'Palestinian police' was a terrorist who had been released from an Israeli jail.

A probe by the Judea and Samaria division of the IDF stated the attack at Joseph's Tomb was unwarranted, and the report did not rule out the possibility that it may have been a terrorist attack, Voice of Israel government radio reported. The soldiers shot with the intention to kill, according to the IDF.

The Israel Security Agency (Shin Bet) and police are conducting a further investigation to determine whether the shooting and murder were pre-meditated.

Israel National News reported last week that an internal Palestinian Authority probe contradicted initial claims that the PA soldiers shot at the worshippers because they allegedly broke through a PA checkpoint on their way home from the holy site.

The IDF report confirmed that the PA troops shot 44 bullets without any provocation and that there was no danger to their lives. Most, if not all, of the Jews were unarmed, contrary to claims disseminated by Palestinian Authority media.

At least two of the PA soldiers, commonly called “police” by mainstream media, were trained by American officers at an American-funded training base in Jordan.

The IDF report concluded the attack is a ”warning” of what may await Jews this summer and also serves as a caution sign concerning further cooperation with the PA security forces.

What could go wrong?

Israel Matzav: IDF investigation: 'PA police' including 'former' terrorist shot 44 bullets at unarmed Israelis

Israel Matzav: US to call for end to Assad regime?

US to call for end to Assad regime?

It allegedly took Barack Obama 16 hours to decide to let the Navy SEALS go get Osama Bin Laden once they knew they had him. How long will it take for Obama to call for an end to Bashar al-Assad's regime? That's anyone's guess. But 'administration officials' said on Tuesday that Obama is 'edging closer' to making that call.

The tougher U.S. line almost certainly would echo demands for "democratic transition" that the administration used in Egypt and is now espousing in Libya, the officials said. But directly challenging Assad's leadership is a decision fraught with problems: Arab countries are divided, Europe is still trying to gauge its response, and there are major doubts over how far the United States could go to back up its words with action.

If the Syrian government should persist with its harsh crackdown on political opponents, the United States could be forced into choosing between an undesired military operation to protect civilians, as in Libya, or an embarrassing U-turn that makes it look weak before an Arab world that is on the tipping point between greater democracy or greater repression.

That's what happens when you spend two and a half years bowing and apologizing to foreign leaders, dissing your friends and coddling enemies like Assad. No one believes you'll back up your word anymore.

Two administration officials said the U.S. worries about a prevailing perception that its response to Assad's repression has been too soft, especially after helping usher longtime ally Hosni Mubarak out of power in Egypt and joining the international military coalition to shield civilians from attacks by Moammar Gadhafi's forces in Libya.

Gee, ya think so? You mean, no one is buying Hillary Clinton's repeated declarations that Assad is a 'reformer'?

Israeli concerns loom large as well. The officials said Israel, Washington's closest Mideast ally, is worried about a possible collapse of Assad's leadership and a fracturing of the country's stability. Although Syria and Israel remain technically at war, Israel's border with Syria has been relatively calm for years.

No one here is talking about it. No one official anyway. And every pundit I have seen here has argued that Assad ought to go.

The officials say there is a lack of any organized opposition in Syria, and little understanding of what the alternatives are to four decades of rule under Assad and his father, Hafez Assad, and whether a chaotic power void would lead to even greater bloodshed.

Funny that didn't bother anyone when they were deciding what to do about Egypt or Libya.

AP sources: US closer to declaring Assad's rule in Syria illegitimate

By Bradley Klapper,Matthew Lee, The Associated Press – 22 hours ago

WASHINGTON — The Obama administration is edging closer to calling for an end to the long rule of the Assad family in Syria.

Administration officials said Tuesday that the first step would be to say for the first time that President Bashar Assad has forfeited his legitimacy to rule, a major policy shift that would amount to a call for regime change that has questionable support in the world community.

The tougher U.S. line almost certainly would echo demands for "democratic transition" that the administration used in Egypt and is now espousing in Libya, the officials said. But directly challenging Assad's leadership is a decision fraught with problems: Arab countries are divided, Europe is still trying to gauge its response, and there are major doubts over how far the United States could go to back up its words with action.

If the Syrian government should persist with its harsh crackdown on political opponents, the United States could be forced into choosing between an undesired military operation to protect civilians, as in Libya, or an embarrassing U-turn that makes it look weak before an Arab world that is on the tipping point between greater democracy or greater repression.

The internal administration debate over a tougher approach to Assad's regime is occurring amid a backdrop of brutality in Syria. More than 750 civilians have been killed since the uprising began nearly two months ago and some 9,000 people remain in custody, according to a leading Syrian human rights group.

"We urge the Syrian government to stop shooting protesters, to allow for peaceful marches and to stop these campaigns of arbitrary arrests and to start a meaningful dialogue," State Department spokesman Mark Toner said Tuesday. He said Assad still had a chance to make amends, but acknowledged "the window is narrowing."

Two administration officials said the U.S. worries about a prevailing perception that its response to Assad's repression has been too soft, especially after helping usher longtime ally Hosni Mubarak out of power in Egypt and joining the international military coalition to shield civilians from attacks by Moammar Gadhafi's forces in Libya.

Speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive internal planning, the officials said Assad has dispelled nearly any lingering hope that he can or will deliver on grandiose pledges of reform he has made since coming to power 11 years ago. After ending decades of martial law last month, his regime renewed its crackdown on peaceful protesters even more aggressively, using live ammunition and arbitrarily arrestoing thousands of people.

"We're getting close," one official said on the question of challenging Assad's legitimacy, adding that such a step would oblige the U.S. and, if other countries agree, the international community, to act.

The U.S. has demanded that Gadhafi leave power after four decades of dictatorship in Libya but has struggled to make that happen, the official noted. "So we need to make sure that what we say matches what we can and will do. It's not just a matter of putting out a statement and giving the magic words that people want to hear. It's a significant decision."

President Barack Obama welcomed the European Union's decision Monday to impose sanctions on 13 Syrian officials, prohibiting them from travelling anywhere in the 27-nation organization. U.S. sanctions target the assets of two Assad relatives and another top Syrian official. But neither EU nor U.S. sanctions affect Assad himself, at least not yet.

The officials said the administration may decide to target Assad, although American sanctions against him likely would mean little as the United States has long had unrelated restrictions on Syria because of its designation as a "state sponsor of terrorism."

Obama has tried to engage Syria, seeing it as critical to comprehensive Arab-Israeli peace, but the U.S. remains disturbed by the government's ties to Iran, support for Hezbollah in Lebanon and the Palestinian militant group Hamas, and suspicions that it has sought to develop weapons of mass destruction.

Israeli concerns loom large as well. The officials said Israel, Washington's closest Mideast ally, is worried about a possible collapse of Assad's leadership and a fracturing of the country's stability. Although Syria and Israel remain technically at war, Israel's border with Syria has been relatively calm for years.

The reality is that the United States has very little sway in Syria. Unlike Egypt, where the United States spent billions of dollars and decades cultivating strong military, government and civil society ties, the isolation of Syria has left the administration with few ways of coaxing better behaviour out of Assad's government.

Toner, the State Department spokesman, said Tuesday the Syrian government was stirring up violence with its repression in towns such as Daraa and Banias. He called the government's claims of reforms "false," and demanded that the regime stop shooting protesters even as security forces entered new cities in southern Syria that have been peaceful up to now. Yet it does not appear the regime is listening to the U.S. case and that he may be trying to see how much force he can get away with.

Assad's minority ruling Alawite sect wants to placate enough middle-class members of Syria's Sunni majority to limit the domestic anger, and keep the violence just under the threshold that would prompt serious calls for concerted international action against his government.

The U.S. would like to sharpen the choice for Assad, so that he moves toward a more conciliatory approach. But one of the things holding the administration back is a classic "better-the-devil-you-know" scenario.

The officials say there is a lack of any organized opposition in Syria, and little understanding of what the alternatives are to four decades of rule under Assad and his father, Hafez Assad, and whether a chaotic power void would lead to even greater bloodshed.

Love of the Land: Talking Point Combat: The Seven Percent

Talking Point Combat: The Seven Percent

Matt
Huffington Post Monitor
11 May '11

http://hpmonitor.blogspot.com/2011/05/talking-point-combat-seven-percent.html

I'd like to address an anti-Zionist talking point that was used a lot recently on multiple threads and talk about how to combat it. Here's a post that exhibits it, we're interested mostly in the first sentence:

Anti-Zionists love to talk about how the Jews "only" owned 7% of the land in Palestine and then talk about how ridiculous it is that they ended up with so much after the dust settled. Any time one of them posts this talking point, just ask them the following: How much of the land did the Arabs own? The answer is about 10% of the land. 80% of Palestinian Arabs did not own any land at all. The rest of the land was government mandated, and therefore up for grabs when the British departed and the war the Palestinian Arabs started began.

So don't let the anti-Zionist revisionist history get away unchallenged. The Jewish and Arab populations in Palestine were approximately equal in terms of legal land ownership, and if the Palestinians didn't want to lose the land they were getting for the first time, they shouldn't have tried to take land from the Jews.

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Love of the Land: Talking Point Combat: The Seven Percent

Love of the Land: Israel is an Asset to the USA and the Western World - Israel Straight Talk

Israel is an Asset to the USA and the Western World - Israel Straight Talk

Avi Abelow
Israel Straight Talk
IST #62
11 May '11

People must understand that America and the Western World need Israel just as much as Israel needs them. Israel is the one democratic and stable ally in the Middle East. In addition, the intelligence it provides the US and the Western World is priceless for their own defense and diplomatic needs. People should understand that Israel is an asset that the US wouldn't be able to pay to create, if Israel wouldn't exist.




Please share this video and it's very important message. For any questions or comments you have, join us on http://www.facebook.com/israelstraighttalk

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Love of the Land: Israel is an Asset to the USA and the Western World - Israel Straight Talk

Love of the Land: 5771 edition - Proud to be a Zionist

5771 edition - Proud to be a Zionist

Elder of Ziyon
10 May '11




http://elderofziyon.blogspot.com/2011/05/proud-to-be-zionist-5771-edition.html

I wrote the original essay around 2002 and I have been modifying it since then. Here is this year's edition:

Every year, the State of Israel seems to be up against yet another unsolvable crisis. Whether it is war against terrible odds, a wave of terror attacks, a new feeling of isolation as friends seem to turn hostile, the threat of nuclear-armed enemies, or political threats from the international community, there are always new challenges that she faces - sometimes simultaneously.

Yet, here she is, 63 years old and more beautiful than she was at birth.

In prayers every morning Jews recite a phrase praising G-d, describing Him as המחדש בכל יום תמיד מעשה בראשית - He who continually renews the act of Creation. In other words, the Jewish concept of G-d has him in an active role keeping the universe running, and as such it is appropriate to praise Him.

It is a little hard to conceptualize this idea, that the very laws of physics, that the world rotating and revolving around the sun is not automatic, but only occurs due to the constant will of G-d. But perhaps it is easier to understand this phrase if we apply it to the modern state of Israel.

Every single day that the Jewish state continues to exist cannot be explained adequately with historical or social or military reasons. Which means that we are witnessing a miracle every day.

The most recent years have been very hard for Zionists. Yet when we step back and look at the big picture, Israel is something to be very proud of.

Yes, I am a Zionist and I am proud of it.

I know that Israel has the absolute right to exist in peace and security, just like - and possibly more than - any other country.

I am proud of how the IDF conducts itself during the war on Palestinian terror. There is no other country on the planet, save the US, that would try to minimize civilian casualties in such a situation where innocent Israelis are being threatened, shot at, mortared, rocketed, and murdered in cold blood. At times there are discussions whether the IDF's moral standards end up being counterproductive - and what other army could one even have that conversation about?



I am also proud that Israel investigates any mistakes that happen on the battlefield and keeps trying to improve its methods to maximize damage to the terrorists while minimizing damage to the people that the enemy is hiding behind. This is not done because of pressure from "human rights" organizations - it is done because it is the right thing to do. Even when everyone knows that the world will accuse it of "war crimes," the IDF retains incredibly high moral standards.

I am proud that Israel remains a true democracy, with a free press and vigorous opposition parties, while in a constant war situation. Any other nation, again besides the US, would have imposed martial law to maintain peace.

I am proud of how the IDF responded to the terror attacks of the early days of the intifada, managing to bring deadly suicide attacks from 60 in 2002 down to practically none. The enemy has not stopped trying, and if Israel hadn't acted decisively things would look like Iraq or Afghanistan today. For every "successful" attack (if you can use such a term) there have been many failed attempts, and these are truly miraculous.

There is a right and a wrong in this conflict, and I am proud that Israel is in the right.

Of course, I am equally proud of Israel's many accomplishments in building up a desert wasteland into a thriving and vibrant modern country, with its many scientific achievements, leadership in environmental issues, world class universities and culture. A tiny nation, under constant siege, with almost no natural resources besides breathtaking beauty, has used its brains - and strength - to build a modern success story. In a short period of time Israel made itself into a strong yet open nation that its neighbors can only dream of becoming.

And they are indeed starting to dream. The so-called "Arab Spring" is, in many ways, a subconscious cry from Israel's Arab neighbors to be more like Israel. Despite the constant incitement against Israel in their media, ordinary Arabs know that Israel treats its minorities with more respect, and gives them more civil rights, than Arab nations give their own Arab citizens.

At a time that groups are trying to hurt Israel economically, the nation has thrived. Every boycott attempt since the 1940s has failed to dent Israel's amazing growth. Israel is in the lead in lifesaving medical breakthroughs and clean energy technologies. Even more amazing, practically every computer and mobile phone being built today includes technology and innovations from a single, tiny, Middle Eastern country.

I am proud that the vast majority of Americans support Israel as I do, and that the rabid terror-lovers we see on the Internet are the aberration.

The word "Zionist" is not an epithet - it is a compliment.

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Love of the Land: 5771 edition - Proud to be a Zionist

Love of the Land: More Details From Hamas About Their Two-Phase Solution

More Details From Hamas About Their Two-Phase Solution

Jonathan S. Tobin
Commentary/Contentions
11 May '11

http://www.commentarymagazine.com/2011/05/11/more-details-from-hamas-about-their-two-phase-solution/

Over the weekend, Hamas leader Khaled Meshal danced around the question over what the Islamist terrorist group meant by its newly declared acceptance of a two-state solution. As Rick wrote on Monday, he told the New York Times that this mean a Palestinian state in every inch of the territories that were occupied by Jordan and Egypt from 1949 to 1967 including Jerusalem with no swaps of territories with Israel. When asked whether this would mean an end to the conflict, he replied, “I don’t want to talk about that.”

Yesterday, Mahmoud Zahar, another senior Hamas official, filled in a few more details about the Hamas “peace” plan. According to the Jerusalem Post, though the group now says it will accept the idea of two states, the Palestinians will not recognize Israel, because doing so would “cancel the right of the next generations to liberate the lands.” He also noted that recognition of Israel could lead to Palestinian refugees losing their right of return.

He also clarified that Hamas’s unity pact with Fatah does not mean an end to “resistance” against Israel though the Islamists are interested in maintaining the current cease-fire along the border with Gaza (that is only intermittently broken by terrorist missiles aimed at Israeli civilians), they want it understood that “a truce is not peace.”

Interestingly, Zahar also warned that Palestinian Authority leader Mahmoud Abbas would not be allowed to visit Hamas-ruled Gaza anytime soon.

There are those who are interpreting these comments as progress towards peace because this is the first time that Hamas has not insisted that there will only be an Arab state between the Mediterranean and the Jordan River. That may be so. But it is also being made clear that Hamas views the current cease fire or even the proclamation of a Palestinian state which they will rule in coalition with Fatah as just an interim move that would merely be a prelude to future aggression against Israel. There is no logical reason why Israel should agree to making more tangible concessions to the Palestinians as a result of these statements since the only result will be a continuation of the conflict on more unfavorable terms in the future. If even the cease-fire with the Palestinians is not to be permanent, what possible reason would there be for Israel to accept such terms, as many in the United States and Europe are urging, as a basis for negotiations?

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Love of the Land: More Details From Hamas About Their Two-Phase Solution

RubinReports: U.S. Middle East Policy Becomes Clinically Insane

U.S. Middle East Policy Becomes Clinically Insane

This article is published on PajamasMedia.

By Barry Rubin

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's latest pronouncements are just plain horrifying. Consider what she said in this interview:

On Egypt:

"QUESTION: Should we fear the Muslim Brotherhood?

SECRETARY CLINTON: Well, I think we don’t know enough yet to understand exactly what they’re morphing into. And I’m – I mean, for me, the jury is out. There are some Islamist elements that are coming to the surface to Egypt that I think on just the face of it are --

QUESTION: Coming out of jails, in fact.

SECRETARY CLINTON: Coming out in jails, coming out of the shadows that are inimical to a democracy, to the kind of freedom of expression, freedom of assembly, freedom of conscience that was the aspiration in Tahrir Square."

"We don't know enough...."

Really? Read any speech or interview by the leader and deputy leader of the Brotherhood, full of Jihadist rhetoric, genocidal rage against Jews, insistence on making Egypt an Islamist state, and loathing of America. What's morphing? It's just an illusion based on clever efforts to fool the dim-witted dhimmis.

Those people "coming out of jails"

They are openly holding joint meetings and demonstrations with the Muslim Brotherhood. The two are allied now. Even probable next president of Egypt Amr Moussa knows that. I know it, why doesn't she know it?

"The jury is out"

And when will the U.S. government see the danger of the Brotherhood, after it takes power and starts down the road to war with Israel and open enmity to the United States?

The jury is as much out on the Muslim Brotherhood as it is on Usama bin Laden.

2. Syria

And here's another equally horrifying interview:

"Q: At this point, [Syria] is a country where they have killed most people in the street.

"CLINTON: Well, I don't have that comparison, but what I do know is that they have an opportunity still to bring about a reform agenda. Nobody believed [Libyan leader Muammar] Qadhafi would do that. People do believe there is a possible path forward with Syria."

So the U.S. government still hopes that President Bashar al-Assad will be a reformer? I won't bother to list once again all the evidence to the contrary both in his past performance and in understanding his interests.

But here is something remarkable. Clinton mentions Qadhafi. Yet Qadhafi did "reform" his foreign policy after he was scared, following the 2003 U.S. invasion of Iraq, that he'd be next on the list. So pressure showed successful results in Libya while the Obama Administration's appeasement of Syria failed totally--and will continue to fail totally. Pay attention and learn the lesson please.

3. Hamas

But apparently the "jury is still out" on Hamas, too. What, we don't have enough information to evaluate that group? Perhaps it is "morphing?" The Obama Administration strongly criticized Israel for withholding the transfer of tax revenue tothe Palestinian Authority. Of course, that money is only due to be handed over according to the Oslo agreement, which the PA no longer observes and Hamas opposes completely.

American officials said the administration, is, “Waiting to see what this reconciliation agreement looks like in practical terms, before we make any decisions about future assistance.”

Memo to Obama Administration: A country doesn't just watch and wait as others trash its interests. It does something. When one of your clients, who you are ceaselessly helping and to which you are giving large amounts of money, joins forces with an openly genocidal terrorist organization allied with your worst enemies, how long do you have to wait to see what's going to happen?

From Clinton's first interview:

"We are losing the war of ideas because we are not in the arena the way we were in the Cold War."

Well, if you cannot define the Muslim Brotherhood, Hamas, and Syria as hostile you certainly are not in the arena. Imagine the Cold War in these terms! How long would the United States have been saying the "jury is out" on the nature of the Soviet Union? Thank goodness President Harry Truman understood the situation in 1947. By Obama Administration standards it would have taken until the mid-1960s.

But Clinton isn't that stupid. She's stuttering so much in these interviews because she has to follow the president's political line, and that is very stupid indeed. And much worse, it is very dangerous.

RubinReports: U.S. Middle East Policy Becomes Clinically Insane

Lieberman Asks Why World Ignores Syria and Interferes in Israel - Inside Israel - Israel News - Israel National News

Why does the world ignore dictators in Iran and Syria but interferes with democracy in Israel, Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman wondered out loud in his Independence Day remarks to members of the diplomatic corps Tuesday. President Shimon Peres was present during his speech.

The Foreign Minister said, “The repression that has met the demonstrations in Syria, Yemen, Libya and elsewhere in the region can not possibly be justified. However, it remains confusing why the international community intervenes in Libya, but not in Syria or Iran. What conclusions are we to draw from this seeming inconsistency?”

He added that Israel is an “island of stability in a chaotic region,” noting that while Israeli “institutions have stood the test of time, especially in this dangerous neighborhood, the bloody reaction to those who seek change in our region has not surprised us.”

Lieberman also delivered salvos at the Palestinian Authority for its insincerity concerning peace with Israel and its incitement of terror. He criticized Hamas for mourning the elimination of Al-Qaeda terror leader Osama Bin Laden and for not changing its charter that calls for the destruction of Israel.

Lieberman also questioned the sincerity of the Palestinian Authority's seeking a mutual agreement with Israel in order to establish the PA as an independent country.

“That an organization with a charter that calls for the destruction of the State of Israel through violent Jihad – and aspires to a world without Jews, not just Zionists and Israelis, but Jews – should be thought of as partners to Fatah tells us more about Fatah than it does about Hamas.

"The fact that Hamas mourned Bin Laden’s death, as much as they celebrated 9/11, condemned America and called him 'a Muslim and Arabic warrior' and prays that bin Laden's "soul rest in peace", further demonstrates the kind of people Fatah is now calling its partners and equals in government".

Lieberman emphasized that the Fatah party, headed by PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas, as well as his administration, “continues to glorify terrorists, including the naming of the Palestinian presidential offices in Ramallah after arch-terrorist Yihye Ayyash, a square in the government compound after Dalal Mughrabi, who participated in the Coastal Road massacre and rewarded the family of the mastermind of the terrorist attack which resulted in the death of dozens of Israelis enjoying a Passover Seder in Netanya.”

Turning to the “diplomatic process," the Foreign Minister pointed out that Abbas’ recent offer to talk with Israel in return for a three-month freeze on building for Jews in Judea and Samaria and much of Jerusalem is “very strange,”

He explained, “When the Israeli government decided on a moratorium as a unilateral gesture a year ago, Abbas and the Palestinians rejected it completely. However, now they are exerting pressure for a moratorium that they previously rejected…. It is clear that they are only looking for excuses to avoid meaningful talks that will lead to a comprehensive solution.”

Lieberman offered Abbas “immediate talks without preconditions [and] no new moratorium in Jerusalem or Judea and Samaria. Not for three months, not for three days and not even for three hours.”

He advised Israel’s enemies that they have more to gain by looking “at Israel's achievements in finance, hi-tech, science and industry” and cooperating with Israel than they can gain by “engaging in conflicts.”

He concluded with a message to Israel's enemies: “The ball is in your hands.”

(IsraelNationalNews.com)

Lieberman Asks Why World Ignores Syria and Interferes in Israel - Inside Israel - Israel News - Israel National News

_It Don't Make Sense_: We'll Meet Again

Great, this movie is one of the 100 I 'd choose to bring with me to a desert island (joke). So when I saw this post I could'nt resist and reposted it.

My thanks to Nickie Goomba of the blog "It don't make sense"

We'll Meet Again

One of my favorite satirical movies is "Dr. Strangelove" starring Peter Sellers, George C. Scott and a host of other great actors. The movie ends with an all out nuclear war - fantastic atomic explosions, billowing mushroom clouds - and a haunting refrain.

"We'll Meet Again" played at the end of the movie was sung by Dame Vera Lynn who was accompanied by a few hundred men of the RAF. I ran across this video of the song. This lovely, sentimental tune is from a different age, almost a different world.

Sometimes I feel that I was born twenty years too late. I miss my father's generation, the innocence, the music, the trust...

_It Don't Make Sense_: We'll Meet Again