WHAT'S ALL THE FUSS?
Are we fighting a war on terror or aren't we? Was it or was it not started by Islamic people who brought it to our shores on September 11, 2001? Were people from all over the world, mostly Americans, not brutally murdered that day, in downtown Manhattan, as well as across the Potomac from our nation's capitol and in addition a field in Pennsylvania? Did nearly three thousand men, women and children die a horrible, burning or crushing death that day, or didn't they?
And I'm supposed to care that a copy of the Koran was "desecrated" when an overworked American soldier kicked it or got it wet? Well, I don't.
I don't care at all!
I'll start caring when Osama bin Laden turns himself in and repents for incinerating all those innocent people on 9/11.
I'll care about the Koran when the fanatics in the Middle East start caring about the Holy Bible, the mere possession of which is a crime in Saudi Arabia.
I'll care when Abu Musab al-Zarqawi tells the world he is sorry for hacking off Nick Berg's head while Berg screamed through his gurgling, slashed throat.
I'll care when the cowardly so-called "insurgents" in Iraq come out and fight like men instead of disrespecting their own religion by hiding in mosques.
I'll care when the mindless zealots who blow themselves up in search of nirvana (or Allah's Paradise) care about the innocent children within range of their suicide bombs.
I'll care when the American media stops pretending that their First Amendment liberties are somehow derived from international law instead of the United States Constitution's Bill of Rights.
I'll care when judges stop ordering my government to release photos of the abuses at Abu Ghraib, which are sure to set off the Islamic extremists just as Newsweek's lies did a few weeks ago.
In the meantime, when I hear a story about a brave marine roughing up an Iraqi terrorist to obtain information, know this: I don't care.
When I see a fuzzy photo of a pile of naked Iraqi prisoners who have been humiliated in what amounts to a college hazing incident, rest assured that I don't care.
When I see a wounded terrorist get shot in the head when he is told not to move because he might be booby-trapped, you can take it to the bank that I don't care.
When I hear that a prisoner, who was issued a Koran and a prayer mat, and fed "special" food that is paid for by my tax dollars, is complaining that his holy book is being "mishandled," you can absolutely believe in your heart of hearts that I don't care.
And oh, by the way, I've noticed that sometimes it's spelled "Koran" and other times "Quran." Well, Jimmy Crack Corn and -- you guessed it -- I don't care!"
Written by Pam Foster and sent by Robert L. Evans
(Come to think of it I don't care either. If you do not care, send this on to others, and it's refreshing to see someone take a patriotic stance instead of a politically correct one.)
Tuesday, August 30, 2005
Islamists, Get Out !
Jewish World Review August 30, 2005 / 25 Menachem-Av, 5765
Islamists, get out
By Daniel Pipes
http://www.JewishWorldReview.com | As the full implications of the London's terrorism by domestic jihadis sink in, Westerners speak out about the problem of radical Islam with new clarity and boldness.
The most profound development is the sudden need of the British and others to assert what it means to be British, Australian, or some other nationality. In the face of the Islamist challenge, historic identities taken for granted must now be explained and codified.
This can be seen on a diurnal level, where Islamist assertion has provoked a new European willingness in recent months to stand up for historic customs — as seen by the banning of burqas in Italy, requiring a German school boy to attend co-ed swimming classes, and making male applicants for Irish citizenship renounce polygamy. When a ranking Belgian politician cancelled lunch with an Iranian group after it demanded that alcohol not be present, his spokesman helpfully explained that "You can't force the authorities of Belgium to drink water."
As shown by two statements on the same day last week (Aug. 24), leading Western politicians are going beyond these minor specifics to address the civilizational heart of the matter.
David Cameron, the British shadow education secretary and one of the Conservative party's bright prospects, defined Britishness as "freedom under the rule of law," adding that this expression "explains almost everything you need to know about our country, our institutions, our history, our culture — even our economy." Peter Costello, the treasurer of Australia and regarded as heir apparent to Prime Minister John Howard, asserts that "Australia expects its citizens to abide by core beliefs - democracy, the rule of law, the independent judiciary, independent liberty."
Cameron also spoke with a bluntness unique in four years of politicians' discourse since 9/11: "The driving force behind today's terrorist threat is Islamist fundamentalism. The struggle we are engaged in is, at root, ideological. During the last century a strain of Islamist thinking has developed which, like other totalitarianisms, such as Nazi-ism and Communism, offers its followers a form of redemption through violence."
Most striking are the growing calls to extrude Islamists. Two politicians have advised foreign Islamists to stay away. Monique Gagnon-Tremblay, Quebec's international relations minister, retracted the welcome mat from those "who want to come to Quebec and who do not respect women's rights or who do not respect whatever rights may be in our Civil Code." Bob Carr, premier of New South Wales, Australia (which includes Sydney), wants would-be immigrants to be denied visas if they refuse to integrate: "I don't think they should be let in."
Costello goes further, observing that Australia "is founded on a democracy. According to our Constitution, we have a secular state. Our laws are made by the Australian Parliament. If those are not your values, if you want a country which has Shari'a law or a theocratic state, then Australia is not for you." Islamists with dual citizenship, he suggests, could be asked "to exercise that other citizenship," i.e., leave Australia.
Likewise, Brendan Nelson, Australia's education minister, also on Aug. 24 urged immigrants to "commit to the Australian constitution, Australian rule of law." If not, "they can basically clear off." Geert Wilders, head of his own small party in the Dutch parliament, similarly called for the expulsion of non-citizen immigrants who refuse to integrate.
But it was the British shadow defence minister, Gerald Howarth, who went the furthest, suggesting in early August that all British Islamists must go. "If they don't like our way of life, there is a simple remedy: go to another country, get out." He directed this principle even to Islamists born in Britain (such as three of the four London bombers): "If you don't give allegiance to this country, then leave."
These statements, all dating from the past half year, prompt several observations. First, where are the Americans? No major U.S. politician has spoken of making American-based Islamists unwelcome. Who will be the first?
Second, note the consistent focus on the law and legal issues. This correctly picks up on the fact that ultimately, the Islamist project concerns the application of Islamic law, the Shari'a.
And finally, these comments are likely to be leading indicators of a broader campaign to restrict and remove Islamists — a move that comes none too soon.
Islamists, get out
By Daniel Pipes
http://www.JewishWorldReview.com | As the full implications of the London's terrorism by domestic jihadis sink in, Westerners speak out about the problem of radical Islam with new clarity and boldness.
The most profound development is the sudden need of the British and others to assert what it means to be British, Australian, or some other nationality. In the face of the Islamist challenge, historic identities taken for granted must now be explained and codified.
This can be seen on a diurnal level, where Islamist assertion has provoked a new European willingness in recent months to stand up for historic customs — as seen by the banning of burqas in Italy, requiring a German school boy to attend co-ed swimming classes, and making male applicants for Irish citizenship renounce polygamy. When a ranking Belgian politician cancelled lunch with an Iranian group after it demanded that alcohol not be present, his spokesman helpfully explained that "You can't force the authorities of Belgium to drink water."
As shown by two statements on the same day last week (Aug. 24), leading Western politicians are going beyond these minor specifics to address the civilizational heart of the matter.
David Cameron, the British shadow education secretary and one of the Conservative party's bright prospects, defined Britishness as "freedom under the rule of law," adding that this expression "explains almost everything you need to know about our country, our institutions, our history, our culture — even our economy." Peter Costello, the treasurer of Australia and regarded as heir apparent to Prime Minister John Howard, asserts that "Australia expects its citizens to abide by core beliefs - democracy, the rule of law, the independent judiciary, independent liberty."
Cameron also spoke with a bluntness unique in four years of politicians' discourse since 9/11: "The driving force behind today's terrorist threat is Islamist fundamentalism. The struggle we are engaged in is, at root, ideological. During the last century a strain of Islamist thinking has developed which, like other totalitarianisms, such as Nazi-ism and Communism, offers its followers a form of redemption through violence."
Most striking are the growing calls to extrude Islamists. Two politicians have advised foreign Islamists to stay away. Monique Gagnon-Tremblay, Quebec's international relations minister, retracted the welcome mat from those "who want to come to Quebec and who do not respect women's rights or who do not respect whatever rights may be in our Civil Code." Bob Carr, premier of New South Wales, Australia (which includes Sydney), wants would-be immigrants to be denied visas if they refuse to integrate: "I don't think they should be let in."
Costello goes further, observing that Australia "is founded on a democracy. According to our Constitution, we have a secular state. Our laws are made by the Australian Parliament. If those are not your values, if you want a country which has Shari'a law or a theocratic state, then Australia is not for you." Islamists with dual citizenship, he suggests, could be asked "to exercise that other citizenship," i.e., leave Australia.
Likewise, Brendan Nelson, Australia's education minister, also on Aug. 24 urged immigrants to "commit to the Australian constitution, Australian rule of law." If not, "they can basically clear off." Geert Wilders, head of his own small party in the Dutch parliament, similarly called for the expulsion of non-citizen immigrants who refuse to integrate.
But it was the British shadow defence minister, Gerald Howarth, who went the furthest, suggesting in early August that all British Islamists must go. "If they don't like our way of life, there is a simple remedy: go to another country, get out." He directed this principle even to Islamists born in Britain (such as three of the four London bombers): "If you don't give allegiance to this country, then leave."
These statements, all dating from the past half year, prompt several observations. First, where are the Americans? No major U.S. politician has spoken of making American-based Islamists unwelcome. Who will be the first?
Second, note the consistent focus on the law and legal issues. This correctly picks up on the fact that ultimately, the Islamist project concerns the application of Islamic law, the Shari'a.
And finally, these comments are likely to be leading indicators of a broader campaign to restrict and remove Islamists — a move that comes none too soon.
Monday, August 29, 2005
How C.A.I.R. Works
http://powerlineblog.com/archives/011472.php
August 26, 2005
How CAIR works
Steven Stalinsky is the director of the invaluable Middle East Media Research Institute. We missed his August 10 New York Sun column on the bogus terrorism fatwa issued by CAIR and friends. Stalinsky's column was "CAIR & Co.'s Fatwa" (subscribers only). The column remains timely for its exposure of CAIR's modus operandi (in the added italics), most recently deployed in connection with Michael Graham:
A much-heralded Fatwa or Islamic religious ruling "against terrorism" was issued on July 28 by Muslim academics in America and Canada. The edict was signed by 18 scholars from the Fiqh Council of North America and was endorsed by more than 120 Muslim groups. The Islamist organization Council on American-Islamic Relations was given the honor of officially releasing the statement.
"Bogus" is how Steve Emerson of the Investigative Project described the Fatwa on "The Counterterrorism Blog": "Nowhere does it condemn the Islamic extremism ideology that has spawned Islamic terrorism. It does not renounce nor even acknowledge the existence of an Islamic Jihadist culture that has permeated mosques and young Muslims around the world. It does not renounce Jihad ... In short, it is a fake fatwa designed merely to deceive the American public into believing that these groups are moderate. In fact, officials of both organizations have been directly linked to and associated with Islamic terrorist groups."
The Fatwa was heralded by major news outlets, which have grown accustomed to using CAIR's press releases without any scrutiny. In an interview with the Saudi weekly Ukaz in 1999, CAIR leaders discussed the organization's manipulation of the press under the headline "A Muslim America - Only a Matter of Time." One leader stated openly, "We control the media instead of the media controlling us." CAIR's founder, Nihad Awadh, described techniques utilized by the group's spokesman, Ibrahim Hooper, to infiltrate the press: "You will be surprised to hear that all his articles do not go through censorship and correction in the big papers," Mr. Awadh said.
A CAIR leader added, "CAIR [exerts] today an organized and educated effort, using American media techniques and exploiting American legal loopholes...For example: One of the editors of the American monthlies attacked the Muslims...Answering these allegations, CAIR convened a press conference and recruited all Muslims to call the monthly in every communication method, and we paralyzed the paper's interests, and the man [the editor] was forced to apologize...We exploit this position whenever someone else rises up to attack Muslims, and present to him what happened to those before him, and then he retracts...This method has gained us great achievements and stops serious attempts to attack Islam."
A New York Times story about the Fatwa quoted CAIR, as well as Jamal Badawi, who was identified as chairman of the Islamic Foundation in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Mr. Badawi is influential not only in Canada but also in America. He has been a guest lecturer at Michigan's "The American Learning Institute for Muslims"; directs the Islamic Information Foundation, which seeks to promote better understanding of Islam by both Muslims and non-Muslims and is a federally registered charity in Canada and America; serves as a faculty member at St. Mary University in Maryland, and used to be a lecturer at Stanford University in California.
In an interview with the Saudi Gazette on June 24, 2005, while visiting the kingdom, Mr. Badawi said: "9/11 was un-Islamic," and "I strongly condemn the September 11 attacks ... whoever did it," adding, "It is not confirmed yet who is actually behind the attacks." In the Saudi Gazette story, Mr. Badawi discussed the difficulty in drawing up an "agreement on how terrorism should be defined" and said exploding cars in Iraq's markets and killing civilians should be included.
Mr. Badawi went on to make an outrageous claim - that America could be behind these attacks: "This has to be investigated as to who is actually behind this ... There have been allegations that I cannot confirm that people going to the market to buy vegetables are stopped in the name of inspecting their cars by [American] forces, their hands are tied and they are blindfolded. There have been cases and I want a clarification from American officials to these allegations. After inspecting their cars they are allowed to go and when the car reaches [the] checkpoint it explodes and they call them suicide bombers, perhaps the occupants of the car were not even aware that they are carrying a bomb in their car. Such incidents should be thoroughly probed."
Mr. Badawi was number seven of 18 to sign the Fatwa. Other signers have reported connections to terrorist organizations. If this is the best response leading American Muslim leaders can do to fight terror, then we have a problem in America.
This information is provided by PURE PURSUIT as a service to members of the Military and Air Defense Community with the purpose of offering relevant and timely information on (open source) defense, aviation, emergency, law enforcement and terrorism issues. Posts may be forwarded to other individuals, organizations and lists for non-commercial purposes. For new subscriptions please go to http://www.purepursuitintelnetwork.com
August 26, 2005
How CAIR works
Steven Stalinsky is the director of the invaluable Middle East Media Research Institute. We missed his August 10 New York Sun column on the bogus terrorism fatwa issued by CAIR and friends. Stalinsky's column was "CAIR & Co.'s Fatwa" (subscribers only). The column remains timely for its exposure of CAIR's modus operandi (in the added italics), most recently deployed in connection with Michael Graham:
A much-heralded Fatwa or Islamic religious ruling "against terrorism" was issued on July 28 by Muslim academics in America and Canada. The edict was signed by 18 scholars from the Fiqh Council of North America and was endorsed by more than 120 Muslim groups. The Islamist organization Council on American-Islamic Relations was given the honor of officially releasing the statement.
"Bogus" is how Steve Emerson of the Investigative Project described the Fatwa on "The Counterterrorism Blog": "Nowhere does it condemn the Islamic extremism ideology that has spawned Islamic terrorism. It does not renounce nor even acknowledge the existence of an Islamic Jihadist culture that has permeated mosques and young Muslims around the world. It does not renounce Jihad ... In short, it is a fake fatwa designed merely to deceive the American public into believing that these groups are moderate. In fact, officials of both organizations have been directly linked to and associated with Islamic terrorist groups."
The Fatwa was heralded by major news outlets, which have grown accustomed to using CAIR's press releases without any scrutiny. In an interview with the Saudi weekly Ukaz in 1999, CAIR leaders discussed the organization's manipulation of the press under the headline "A Muslim America - Only a Matter of Time." One leader stated openly, "We control the media instead of the media controlling us." CAIR's founder, Nihad Awadh, described techniques utilized by the group's spokesman, Ibrahim Hooper, to infiltrate the press: "You will be surprised to hear that all his articles do not go through censorship and correction in the big papers," Mr. Awadh said.
A CAIR leader added, "CAIR [exerts] today an organized and educated effort, using American media techniques and exploiting American legal loopholes...For example: One of the editors of the American monthlies attacked the Muslims...Answering these allegations, CAIR convened a press conference and recruited all Muslims to call the monthly in every communication method, and we paralyzed the paper's interests, and the man [the editor] was forced to apologize...We exploit this position whenever someone else rises up to attack Muslims, and present to him what happened to those before him, and then he retracts...This method has gained us great achievements and stops serious attempts to attack Islam."
A New York Times story about the Fatwa quoted CAIR, as well as Jamal Badawi, who was identified as chairman of the Islamic Foundation in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Mr. Badawi is influential not only in Canada but also in America. He has been a guest lecturer at Michigan's "The American Learning Institute for Muslims"; directs the Islamic Information Foundation, which seeks to promote better understanding of Islam by both Muslims and non-Muslims and is a federally registered charity in Canada and America; serves as a faculty member at St. Mary University in Maryland, and used to be a lecturer at Stanford University in California.
In an interview with the Saudi Gazette on June 24, 2005, while visiting the kingdom, Mr. Badawi said: "9/11 was un-Islamic," and "I strongly condemn the September 11 attacks ... whoever did it," adding, "It is not confirmed yet who is actually behind the attacks." In the Saudi Gazette story, Mr. Badawi discussed the difficulty in drawing up an "agreement on how terrorism should be defined" and said exploding cars in Iraq's markets and killing civilians should be included.
Mr. Badawi went on to make an outrageous claim - that America could be behind these attacks: "This has to be investigated as to who is actually behind this ... There have been allegations that I cannot confirm that people going to the market to buy vegetables are stopped in the name of inspecting their cars by [American] forces, their hands are tied and they are blindfolded. There have been cases and I want a clarification from American officials to these allegations. After inspecting their cars they are allowed to go and when the car reaches [the] checkpoint it explodes and they call them suicide bombers, perhaps the occupants of the car were not even aware that they are carrying a bomb in their car. Such incidents should be thoroughly probed."
Mr. Badawi was number seven of 18 to sign the Fatwa. Other signers have reported connections to terrorist organizations. If this is the best response leading American Muslim leaders can do to fight terror, then we have a problem in America.
This information is provided by PURE PURSUIT as a service to members of the Military and Air Defense Community with the purpose of offering relevant and timely information on (open source) defense, aviation, emergency, law enforcement and terrorism issues. Posts may be forwarded to other individuals, organizations and lists for non-commercial purposes. For new subscriptions please go to http://www.purepursuitintelnetwork.com
Friday, August 26, 2005
This Too is Israel
This Too Is Israel
from Judy Lash Balint, Jeruslaem:
Sunday, 6:45 a.m outside Jerusalem's Central Bus Station. I'm with a
bleary-eyed friend as we try to elbow our way past dozens of soldiers
hauling gigantic backpacks as they hurry to make their way back to
base after a weekend of momma's cooking and caring. I run into an
anxious neighbor kissing her 18 year-old soldier daughter goodbye.
The beautiful, slim, blond soldier nonchalantly picks up her backpack,
adjusts her hipster khaki pants and is off into the crowd. "She's
stationed at Kissufim," her mother tells me. This week it'll be a
breeze--monitoring the moving trucks trundling out of Gush Katif with
the possessions of 1500 families on board, bound for storage in
Beersheva. No more pesky protestors or pushy journalists to monitor.
We finally squeeze ourselves in past the security guard, haul our bags
onto the X-Ray machine and finally make our way up toward the bus to
Eilat.
My friend is a veteran tour guide and we have a gig updating the
Fodor's Guidebook to Israel--our luck, we get to do Eilat in the
middle of August. Why not the Golan, or Jerusalem?? Still, it's work,
and there are evicted families being housed in Eilat too that I plan
on visiting.
This Sunday morning there are four full buses making the 4 hour
journey past the Dead Sea, through the Negev and on into Eilat. The
Eilat Jazz Festival is happening this week, plus it's the last gasp of
the summer vacation before school starts on September 1.
Still, we are unprepared for the teenage hoodlums that made the
journey with us. Their behavior is reminiscent of Animal House with a
Middle Eastern accent. Suffice it to say that we're very glad to see
the Gulf of Eilat come into view.
My last visit to Eilat was a VERY long time ago--when the only place
to stay was the Youth Hostel or the beach. Today, the resort that's
just yards away from the Jordanian and Egyptian borders, is exactly
that--a real resort filled with luxury hotels and fancy restaurants
and upscale tourists.
French and Hebrew are the predominant languages heard in Eilat today.
Almost all the charter flights that used to arrive from Europe and
Scandinavia in the good old pre--2000 war days stopped coming long
ago. Today there are just six charter flights per week from overseas.
We go about our business checking on all the hotels and as many
restaurants and tourist sites as we could take in in two days--it IS
work, believe me, when it's 97 degrees outside. Neither of us even
bother to bring swimsuits, since we know we will never have the time
to use them..
Anyway--we check out the minimal damage caused by the Katyusha rocket
sent over by some Al Quaida maniac last Friday that landed on the road
just next to the Eilat airport, and peer over into Aqaba a few hundred
yards away in Jordan.
On the promenade by the beach we spot several of the pained refugee
families, looking quite incongruous amongst the holiday revelers.
Traveling back to Jerusalem, the bus stops at a rest stop at Ein
Hazeva slap bang in the middle of nowhere in the far eastern part of
the Negev desert. Along with the 7-11 style store, a new Cafe
belonging to the Aroma chain has just opened. Never one to miss a
latte opportunity, I make a bee-line for the counter. I'm stunned to
see the barrista from my neighborhood Aroma cafe in Jerusalem standing
behind the counter.
She laughs when I greet her--several of her Jeruslaem customers have
done a double take when they see her there out of context, she says.
The company sent her down to the desert for three months to train the
staff of the new branch and make sure things are running smoothly
before she gets to go home. "Work and sleep," she tells me--that's
all there is to do here, she adds.
Back in Jerusalem, the craziness continues. I stop in for another
visit with Moshe and Rachel Saperstein, formerly of Neve Dekalim, now
of the Jerusalem Gold hotel. We share a laugh as I point out that the
hokey picture on their cramped hotel room of waves crashing is just
like the view of the Mediterranean from their former home.
The latenight TV news update announces that two 21 year old yeshiva
students have been stabbed near Jaffa Gate in the Old City. An hour
later, Shmuel Matt, a British citizen and student at the Mir Yeshiva
who was to be married 11 days from now has died of his wounds.
The next morning a Katyusha landed in a community in the Galilee
causing little damage and no injuries and a Kassam rocket slammed into
the southern town of Sderot. Today, a Jewish worshiper was attacked at
the Tomb of the Patriarchs in Hebron.
Welcome to the post-disengagement country of Israel.
--------------------------------------------------------
EDITOR'S NOTE:
As promised, here's a list of three reputable established
organizations that are channeling funds to the Gush Katif families:
-------------------------------
The families evicted from Gush Katif need your
help . They have been uprooted from their homes and many left their
communities with only the clothes they were wearing. Many of these
families have been temporarily placed in hotels throughout Israel for
the past 10 days. We all know that a hotel is not a home and is only a
temporary solution. Children have been separated from their toys, pets
and familiar surroundings. This situation is a human tragedy which
also effects every Jewish family.
Volunteers from "Paamonin" are directly
helping these displaced families. They are collecting and
purchasing needed clothing, toys, toiletries,and other items for basic
humane living. This organization is in urgent need of addition funds to
supply these needed items.The refugees from Gush Katif are particularly
in need of new underwear, sweaters and other warm clothing.
U.S. Tax Deductible contributions may be sent to either
of the following funds:
(1) Please make check payable to
"Young Israel Charity Fund"
with a memo on the check saying the contribution is for "Paamonim Gush
Katif"
Please mail to:
National Council of Young Israel
3 West 16th Street
New York, N.Y 10011
Attention: Rabbi Pesach Lerner
or send checks to:
(2) The Central Fund For Israel
c/o Marcus Brothers Textiles
980 Ave. of the Americas
New York, N.Y. 10018
Attention: Arthur Marcus
Make check payable to The Central Fund For
Israel , with a memo on the check that it is
for "Paamonim Gush Katif." (Central Fund is Approved by Rabbi
Shlomo Riskin of Efrat)
In Israel send donations to: Paamonim
22 Rabbi Akiva ST.
Bnei Brak 51272
Checks payable to Paamonim/Gush Katif
Credit card donations in Israel only at 1-800-35-10-12
1-800-772-2921
-----------------------------------------
Additionally, the ten year old One Israel Fund is serving as a conduit
of funds to the displaced families:
www.oneisraelfund.org
366 Pearsall Ave.
Suite One
Cedarhurst NY 11516
Tel: 516-239-9292
from Judy Lash Balint, Jeruslaem:
Sunday, 6:45 a.m outside Jerusalem's Central Bus Station. I'm with a
bleary-eyed friend as we try to elbow our way past dozens of soldiers
hauling gigantic backpacks as they hurry to make their way back to
base after a weekend of momma's cooking and caring. I run into an
anxious neighbor kissing her 18 year-old soldier daughter goodbye.
The beautiful, slim, blond soldier nonchalantly picks up her backpack,
adjusts her hipster khaki pants and is off into the crowd. "She's
stationed at Kissufim," her mother tells me. This week it'll be a
breeze--monitoring the moving trucks trundling out of Gush Katif with
the possessions of 1500 families on board, bound for storage in
Beersheva. No more pesky protestors or pushy journalists to monitor.
We finally squeeze ourselves in past the security guard, haul our bags
onto the X-Ray machine and finally make our way up toward the bus to
Eilat.
My friend is a veteran tour guide and we have a gig updating the
Fodor's Guidebook to Israel--our luck, we get to do Eilat in the
middle of August. Why not the Golan, or Jerusalem?? Still, it's work,
and there are evicted families being housed in Eilat too that I plan
on visiting.
This Sunday morning there are four full buses making the 4 hour
journey past the Dead Sea, through the Negev and on into Eilat. The
Eilat Jazz Festival is happening this week, plus it's the last gasp of
the summer vacation before school starts on September 1.
Still, we are unprepared for the teenage hoodlums that made the
journey with us. Their behavior is reminiscent of Animal House with a
Middle Eastern accent. Suffice it to say that we're very glad to see
the Gulf of Eilat come into view.
My last visit to Eilat was a VERY long time ago--when the only place
to stay was the Youth Hostel or the beach. Today, the resort that's
just yards away from the Jordanian and Egyptian borders, is exactly
that--a real resort filled with luxury hotels and fancy restaurants
and upscale tourists.
French and Hebrew are the predominant languages heard in Eilat today.
Almost all the charter flights that used to arrive from Europe and
Scandinavia in the good old pre--2000 war days stopped coming long
ago. Today there are just six charter flights per week from overseas.
We go about our business checking on all the hotels and as many
restaurants and tourist sites as we could take in in two days--it IS
work, believe me, when it's 97 degrees outside. Neither of us even
bother to bring swimsuits, since we know we will never have the time
to use them..
Anyway--we check out the minimal damage caused by the Katyusha rocket
sent over by some Al Quaida maniac last Friday that landed on the road
just next to the Eilat airport, and peer over into Aqaba a few hundred
yards away in Jordan.
On the promenade by the beach we spot several of the pained refugee
families, looking quite incongruous amongst the holiday revelers.
Traveling back to Jerusalem, the bus stops at a rest stop at Ein
Hazeva slap bang in the middle of nowhere in the far eastern part of
the Negev desert. Along with the 7-11 style store, a new Cafe
belonging to the Aroma chain has just opened. Never one to miss a
latte opportunity, I make a bee-line for the counter. I'm stunned to
see the barrista from my neighborhood Aroma cafe in Jerusalem standing
behind the counter.
She laughs when I greet her--several of her Jeruslaem customers have
done a double take when they see her there out of context, she says.
The company sent her down to the desert for three months to train the
staff of the new branch and make sure things are running smoothly
before she gets to go home. "Work and sleep," she tells me--that's
all there is to do here, she adds.
Back in Jerusalem, the craziness continues. I stop in for another
visit with Moshe and Rachel Saperstein, formerly of Neve Dekalim, now
of the Jerusalem Gold hotel. We share a laugh as I point out that the
hokey picture on their cramped hotel room of waves crashing is just
like the view of the Mediterranean from their former home.
The latenight TV news update announces that two 21 year old yeshiva
students have been stabbed near Jaffa Gate in the Old City. An hour
later, Shmuel Matt, a British citizen and student at the Mir Yeshiva
who was to be married 11 days from now has died of his wounds.
The next morning a Katyusha landed in a community in the Galilee
causing little damage and no injuries and a Kassam rocket slammed into
the southern town of Sderot. Today, a Jewish worshiper was attacked at
the Tomb of the Patriarchs in Hebron.
Welcome to the post-disengagement country of Israel.
--------------------------------------------------------
EDITOR'S NOTE:
As promised, here's a list of three reputable established
organizations that are channeling funds to the Gush Katif families:
-------------------------------
The families evicted from Gush Katif need your
help . They have been uprooted from their homes and many left their
communities with only the clothes they were wearing. Many of these
families have been temporarily placed in hotels throughout Israel for
the past 10 days. We all know that a hotel is not a home and is only a
temporary solution. Children have been separated from their toys, pets
and familiar surroundings. This situation is a human tragedy which
also effects every Jewish family.
Volunteers from "Paamonin" are directly
helping these displaced families. They are collecting and
purchasing needed clothing, toys, toiletries,and other items for basic
humane living. This organization is in urgent need of addition funds to
supply these needed items.The refugees from Gush Katif are particularly
in need of new underwear, sweaters and other warm clothing.
U.S. Tax Deductible contributions may be sent to either
of the following funds:
(1) Please make check payable to
"Young Israel Charity Fund"
with a memo on the check saying the contribution is for "Paamonim Gush
Katif"
Please mail to:
National Council of Young Israel
3 West 16th Street
New York, N.Y 10011
Attention: Rabbi Pesach Lerner
or send checks to:
(2) The Central Fund For Israel
c/o Marcus Brothers Textiles
980 Ave. of the Americas
New York, N.Y. 10018
Attention: Arthur Marcus
Make check payable to The Central Fund For
Israel , with a memo on the check that it is
for "Paamonim Gush Katif." (Central Fund is Approved by Rabbi
Shlomo Riskin of Efrat)
In Israel send donations to: Paamonim
22 Rabbi Akiva ST.
Bnei Brak 51272
Checks payable to Paamonim/Gush Katif
Credit card donations in Israel only at 1-800-35-10-12
1-800-772-2921
-----------------------------------------
Additionally, the ten year old One Israel Fund is serving as a conduit
of funds to the displaced families:
www.oneisraelfund.org
366 Pearsall Ave.
Suite One
Cedarhurst NY 11516
Tel: 516-239-9292
Thursday, August 25, 2005
Gush Katif Viewpoint
Gush Katif Viewpoint #64 August 24, 2005
THE "STAR WARS" EVICTION
Three Days In August
By Rachel Saperstein
Jerusalem Gold Hotel Rm. 526
There was a `Star War' quality to the operation. Not one shot was
fired, not one rifle was in view but the terror tactic used in this
eviction from Gush Katif was a brilliant tribute to the `warrior.'
They did not need to use force, they simply manipulated our minds, so
that we gave up willingly, almost with relief to be out of the horror
scene created by the IDF and the Israeli police.
Psychological warfare apparently gets more efficient results than
brutality. The removal of all Jews from Gush Katif was done with
Hollywood style, proficiency and panache.
Tuesday Night, August 16, 2005
The night before the eviction, hundreds of troops marched into Neve
Dekalim with robot-like precision. They started straight ahead.
Hundreds more sat on the sand dunes, their backs toward each house. I
went out to speak with them.
"Turn around," I cried. "Look at my house. Look at my husband. He
has no hands. We are the people who fought for the land. We are the
people you are going to throw out. Look at me! Look at me.!"
There was no reaction. Some fiddled with their cell phones as they
sat in the darkness. The streetlights were turned off. Only the glow
of our garden lights made the soldiers visible. Their commander, his
head shaved, stared into the darkness. No reaction.
Moshe sat on our porch quietly smoking a cigar as I screamed and screamed.
"Why bother," he said. "They look drugged to me. A high-ranking
officer came to speak with him.
"I am sorry for what is happening to you," he said. "We will not pull
you out in the middle of the night and tomorrow your guests can leave
with you."
We were so grateful to know that our eviction would be `kindly.' We
went to sleep in our clothes, just in case. We believe no one,
especially the IDF.
Wednesday morning, August 17, 2005
The morning air was filled with the smell of burning tires and
garbage. There were fifteen of us in the house for breakfast. The
men had prayed the Shacharit-morning service on the lawn, and now we
all sat down to eat.
As a last gesture to my new family, I pulled out packages of frozen
chicken parts, added a few teaspoons of soy sauce, a sprinkling of
brown sugar, a few cherry tomatoes and small potatoes into our one
remaining frying pan. At 10:30 a.m. we sat down for lunch—our
farewell meal. It was a grandmother's way of saying, "We're going to
be evicted, let's leave on a full stomach and with dignity." We lived
up to our standards.
Moshe called us together.
"We're leaving with our heads held up high. We will not resist but go
quietly to the waiting bus." He did this for me. He was fearful that
I would be beaten if I resisted. I had to promise I wouldn't fight.
I walked over to the synagogue complex to meet a BBC presenter for a
live broadcast. We watched the rabbis bringing a Torah scroll into
the building with love amidst singing and dancing.
BBC announcer: "What's going on?"
Me: " A Torah scroll is being brought into the synagogue."
BBC live on air: "A holy Koran is now being brought into the synagogue!"
Me: Screaming: "A Torah, a Holy Torah!"
BBC:"Oh, sorry—A Torah…"
I met Emma Hurd of Sky TV News. She interviewed me. The turmoil
continued. Play acting mostly. Enter the "mean guys." Tough looking
guys with black uniforms and dark reflective glasses. Their job was
to run in formations or large groups looking tough and scary: They
ran, stopped, muddled about, regrouped and ran in another direction.
I shouted, :Hey, you guys look real tough, I'm soooo scared of you!"
I started laughing, slightly hysterical, but laughing nevertheless.
Enter, stage right groups of young, good-looking soldiers—the "good
guys," in baseball caps and charming blue mesh vests over their khaki
uniforms, emblazoned with the Israeli flag and the symbol of the
Knesset, the seven branch candelabra sown on the vests and caps. One
could see the team of fashion designers who surely created these costumes.
I felt as if I had fallen into a real live computer game—one my
four-year-old grandson is so fond of.
"Maidele, little girl," I said to one sweet, blue-eyed soldier. "Does
your mother know what you're doing here? When you have a sweet
daughter of your own, what will you tell her when she asks," Where
were you mommy, and what did you do when the soldiers came to expel
the Jews of Gush Katif?"
Masses of these lovely Jewish soldiers fanned out and stood near each
home.. Their backs to the house so they wouldn't have to physically
see the homeowners of the beautiful Jewish homes that they were to
help destroy.
The bus pulled up to our house. The bus to remove Moshe, me and our
guests from our home in Neve Dekalim forever. Four soldiers came in to
talk to us and obviously repeated the words they had been programmed
to say to a Jewish homeowner.
In an emotional voice I said," Look at my face, and look at my
husband's face. Remember them well. These are the Jews you agreed to
make homeless. This is your shame that you will remember forever." I
turned to leave.
We brought our baggage to the front of our entrance, a bright orange
ribbon attached to each piece. Together we sang,"Ani Maamin," I
believe with perfect faith in the coming of the Messiah.' Rabbi Eisen,
holding the orange flag of Gush Katif recited Kaddish, the Mourner's
Prayer. We each kissed the mezuza goodbye and slowly walked to the
bus and pulled away from our home.
At the next house a family of Bnei menashe residents came out. Tired,
worn out, no fight, no ceremonies. A bunch of teenage girls was
briskly hauled onto the bus, still full of spit and fire.
The bus slowly made its way out of Neve Dekalim, passing the ulpana
where I had taught English for eight years. The bus wound down the
main road leading inexorably to the gate. It halted. Dozens of
teenage girls had jumped in front of the bus.
"A Jew doe not expel Jews," they screamed as they sat in front of the
bus using their bodies to stop our expulsion. The police dragged them
away. The young girls attacked the police. The government had turned
young adolescents into frenzied fighters. They threw orange paint
onto the windshield. We hung our flag out the window.
The police had fouled up the entrance to our beautiful never Dekalim.
Piles of empty water bottles and half eaten food were strewn about
the once carefully tended lawns of our community.
I closed my eyes to the ugly scene of Jewish destruction. I forced
myself to remember the beauty we once had here—not this, not this.
We drove to Jerusalem. We talked, we cried. The accompanying police
and soldiers offered us large bottles of water and packaged
sandwiches. Most refused to accept them.
Jerusalem Gold—the name of our hotel. Our home—room 526.
The people of Jerusalem welcomed us with loving signs and plates of
fruit, drinks and cake. The policemen helped bring our pieces of
luggage into the hotel. Our son, Moshe's mother, brother and wife met
us with hugs and kisses, happy that we were out of the battle. We
wished we were still there. We said goodbye to Rabbi Eisen and Reva
and their three sons. Our friend Jochim had gotten off in Ashkelon.
The folks spoke to us. We couldn't communicate. People from
different planets with no mutual language. I saw my friend Iris from
neve Dekalim. We fell into each other's arms and cried and cried. We
didn't need to exchange any words at all.
Thursday, August 18, 2005
My ankle has a hairline fracture. I had broken it three weeks ago but
had not time to get an X Ray. Despite the pain, I ran to each
interview and cooked for ten. My foot is swollen. My son came and
between my bouts of hysterical crying he convinced me to go for
medical help. Sari, a nurse we know, came with her medical help and
brought a pad so I could write these words.
Now I've begun `Operation Band Aid.' Volunteers from Jerusalem show
up at my room and ask, "What can I do?" I tell them. On Friday night
boxes of brand new white shirts arrived. Our men and boys went to
pray looking like princes instead of bedraggled refugees.
Hairdressers and barbers arrived. We take a reprieve from our intense
sorrow. We are cold. Jerusalem evenings are chilly. I asked for and
received warm clothing from Jerusalem shopkeepers. My one request.
Every item must be brand new or in perfect condition. Treat us with
dignity.
And the folks of this wonderful city keep on bringing and bringing.
One small cell phone in my room brings us whatever immediate aid we
need. Only a band-aid box given with love.
But I cry and sob. Ariel Sharon won this battle. I couldn't stop the
expulsion.
THE "STAR WARS" EVICTION
Three Days In August
By Rachel Saperstein
Jerusalem Gold Hotel Rm. 526
There was a `Star War' quality to the operation. Not one shot was
fired, not one rifle was in view but the terror tactic used in this
eviction from Gush Katif was a brilliant tribute to the `warrior.'
They did not need to use force, they simply manipulated our minds, so
that we gave up willingly, almost with relief to be out of the horror
scene created by the IDF and the Israeli police.
Psychological warfare apparently gets more efficient results than
brutality. The removal of all Jews from Gush Katif was done with
Hollywood style, proficiency and panache.
Tuesday Night, August 16, 2005
The night before the eviction, hundreds of troops marched into Neve
Dekalim with robot-like precision. They started straight ahead.
Hundreds more sat on the sand dunes, their backs toward each house. I
went out to speak with them.
"Turn around," I cried. "Look at my house. Look at my husband. He
has no hands. We are the people who fought for the land. We are the
people you are going to throw out. Look at me! Look at me.!"
There was no reaction. Some fiddled with their cell phones as they
sat in the darkness. The streetlights were turned off. Only the glow
of our garden lights made the soldiers visible. Their commander, his
head shaved, stared into the darkness. No reaction.
Moshe sat on our porch quietly smoking a cigar as I screamed and screamed.
"Why bother," he said. "They look drugged to me. A high-ranking
officer came to speak with him.
"I am sorry for what is happening to you," he said. "We will not pull
you out in the middle of the night and tomorrow your guests can leave
with you."
We were so grateful to know that our eviction would be `kindly.' We
went to sleep in our clothes, just in case. We believe no one,
especially the IDF.
Wednesday morning, August 17, 2005
The morning air was filled with the smell of burning tires and
garbage. There were fifteen of us in the house for breakfast. The
men had prayed the Shacharit-morning service on the lawn, and now we
all sat down to eat.
As a last gesture to my new family, I pulled out packages of frozen
chicken parts, added a few teaspoons of soy sauce, a sprinkling of
brown sugar, a few cherry tomatoes and small potatoes into our one
remaining frying pan. At 10:30 a.m. we sat down for lunch—our
farewell meal. It was a grandmother's way of saying, "We're going to
be evicted, let's leave on a full stomach and with dignity." We lived
up to our standards.
Moshe called us together.
"We're leaving with our heads held up high. We will not resist but go
quietly to the waiting bus." He did this for me. He was fearful that
I would be beaten if I resisted. I had to promise I wouldn't fight.
I walked over to the synagogue complex to meet a BBC presenter for a
live broadcast. We watched the rabbis bringing a Torah scroll into
the building with love amidst singing and dancing.
BBC announcer: "What's going on?"
Me: " A Torah scroll is being brought into the synagogue."
BBC live on air: "A holy Koran is now being brought into the synagogue!"
Me: Screaming: "A Torah, a Holy Torah!"
BBC:"Oh, sorry—A Torah…"
I met Emma Hurd of Sky TV News. She interviewed me. The turmoil
continued. Play acting mostly. Enter the "mean guys." Tough looking
guys with black uniforms and dark reflective glasses. Their job was
to run in formations or large groups looking tough and scary: They
ran, stopped, muddled about, regrouped and ran in another direction.
I shouted, :Hey, you guys look real tough, I'm soooo scared of you!"
I started laughing, slightly hysterical, but laughing nevertheless.
Enter, stage right groups of young, good-looking soldiers—the "good
guys," in baseball caps and charming blue mesh vests over their khaki
uniforms, emblazoned with the Israeli flag and the symbol of the
Knesset, the seven branch candelabra sown on the vests and caps. One
could see the team of fashion designers who surely created these costumes.
I felt as if I had fallen into a real live computer game—one my
four-year-old grandson is so fond of.
"Maidele, little girl," I said to one sweet, blue-eyed soldier. "Does
your mother know what you're doing here? When you have a sweet
daughter of your own, what will you tell her when she asks," Where
were you mommy, and what did you do when the soldiers came to expel
the Jews of Gush Katif?"
Masses of these lovely Jewish soldiers fanned out and stood near each
home.. Their backs to the house so they wouldn't have to physically
see the homeowners of the beautiful Jewish homes that they were to
help destroy.
The bus pulled up to our house. The bus to remove Moshe, me and our
guests from our home in Neve Dekalim forever. Four soldiers came in to
talk to us and obviously repeated the words they had been programmed
to say to a Jewish homeowner.
In an emotional voice I said," Look at my face, and look at my
husband's face. Remember them well. These are the Jews you agreed to
make homeless. This is your shame that you will remember forever." I
turned to leave.
We brought our baggage to the front of our entrance, a bright orange
ribbon attached to each piece. Together we sang,"Ani Maamin," I
believe with perfect faith in the coming of the Messiah.' Rabbi Eisen,
holding the orange flag of Gush Katif recited Kaddish, the Mourner's
Prayer. We each kissed the mezuza goodbye and slowly walked to the
bus and pulled away from our home.
At the next house a family of Bnei menashe residents came out. Tired,
worn out, no fight, no ceremonies. A bunch of teenage girls was
briskly hauled onto the bus, still full of spit and fire.
The bus slowly made its way out of Neve Dekalim, passing the ulpana
where I had taught English for eight years. The bus wound down the
main road leading inexorably to the gate. It halted. Dozens of
teenage girls had jumped in front of the bus.
"A Jew doe not expel Jews," they screamed as they sat in front of the
bus using their bodies to stop our expulsion. The police dragged them
away. The young girls attacked the police. The government had turned
young adolescents into frenzied fighters. They threw orange paint
onto the windshield. We hung our flag out the window.
The police had fouled up the entrance to our beautiful never Dekalim.
Piles of empty water bottles and half eaten food were strewn about
the once carefully tended lawns of our community.
I closed my eyes to the ugly scene of Jewish destruction. I forced
myself to remember the beauty we once had here—not this, not this.
We drove to Jerusalem. We talked, we cried. The accompanying police
and soldiers offered us large bottles of water and packaged
sandwiches. Most refused to accept them.
Jerusalem Gold—the name of our hotel. Our home—room 526.
The people of Jerusalem welcomed us with loving signs and plates of
fruit, drinks and cake. The policemen helped bring our pieces of
luggage into the hotel. Our son, Moshe's mother, brother and wife met
us with hugs and kisses, happy that we were out of the battle. We
wished we were still there. We said goodbye to Rabbi Eisen and Reva
and their three sons. Our friend Jochim had gotten off in Ashkelon.
The folks spoke to us. We couldn't communicate. People from
different planets with no mutual language. I saw my friend Iris from
neve Dekalim. We fell into each other's arms and cried and cried. We
didn't need to exchange any words at all.
Thursday, August 18, 2005
My ankle has a hairline fracture. I had broken it three weeks ago but
had not time to get an X Ray. Despite the pain, I ran to each
interview and cooked for ten. My foot is swollen. My son came and
between my bouts of hysterical crying he convinced me to go for
medical help. Sari, a nurse we know, came with her medical help and
brought a pad so I could write these words.
Now I've begun `Operation Band Aid.' Volunteers from Jerusalem show
up at my room and ask, "What can I do?" I tell them. On Friday night
boxes of brand new white shirts arrived. Our men and boys went to
pray looking like princes instead of bedraggled refugees.
Hairdressers and barbers arrived. We take a reprieve from our intense
sorrow. We are cold. Jerusalem evenings are chilly. I asked for and
received warm clothing from Jerusalem shopkeepers. My one request.
Every item must be brand new or in perfect condition. Treat us with
dignity.
And the folks of this wonderful city keep on bringing and bringing.
One small cell phone in my room brings us whatever immediate aid we
need. Only a band-aid box given with love.
But I cry and sob. Ariel Sharon won this battle. I couldn't stop the
expulsion.
Wednesday, August 24, 2005
Hamas Gloats at end of 'Zionist Dream'
Afghanistan was once the fertile training ground of terrorists. Through the efforts of the American lead coalition, control by the Taliban was sufficiently reduced and those terrorist training bases were moved to Pakistan. The recent bombings in London were conducted by terrorists trained in Pakistan. If Gaza becomes the next terrorist training area, all of Europe will be far more vulnerable than they are presently. Terrorists are streaming back into Gaza. It is not only Israel who suffers. The larger target of the terrorists is the West.
Please forward this to the press everywhere. No longer are we confronting liberal v. conservative views but we are quickly being forced to confront the main issue – Islamic domination of the world. Only by understanding the larger goal of the terrorists can we hope to develop support among ‘liberal’ politicians, press and their supporters. Historically, majority rule is a myth. The real rule is, the motivated minority dominates the apathetic majority.
Hamas Gloats at 'End of Zionist Dream'
Arutz-7 - Aug 21, 2005
http://www.israelunitycoalition.org/home/link.php?file=../html/article.html?id=6075
Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal declared on Wednesday that the current Israeli withdrawal from the Gaza Strip marks "the beginning of the end of the Zionist dream in Palestine."
Not far from the chaotic scenes of disengagement in Gush Katif, Hamas leader in Gaza Mahmoud Zahar concurred that the Israeli withdrawal signifies the collapse of the Zionist movement and is "a sign of the final battle that will decide the conflict."
"It is a defeat for Israel, which did not find an answer to the Kassam rockets or the war of the tunnels or to suicide attacks," insisted Zahar, adding that the disengagement will lift the morale of the Arab and Islamic world and affect the battle for Afghanistan and Iraq.
"We are part of the great world plan whose name is the world Islamic movement," Zahar stated. "We do not recognize the State of Israel or its right to control any of the land of Palestine."
The boasts came as Israeli Ambassador to Washington Daniel Ayalon warned that Hamas is engaged in a massive buildup of manpower and weapons and must be dismantled by the Palestinian Authority.
"They have taken a tactical decision to keep terror on a low flame but not stop it entirely," Ayalon said. "But we observe a very massive buildup with recruitment and training of new terrorists, of mobilizing more financial support and explosive munitions, and having the cells ready and the chain of command ready."
Noting the perils in disengagement, Los Angeles Times columnist Max Boot cautioned yesterday that: "The real danger from Gaza may not be to Israel but to the rest of the West... If, following the Israeli pullout, Gaza becomes another training ground for Islamo-fascist fanatics - a successor to Afghanistan under the Taliban - the resulting terrorists will find the US and Europe much easier targets than Israel, which is the world's most heavily defended state."
"Irony of ironies, perhaps in a few years enlightened Westerners will rue the day when Israel gave up control of Gaza."
JanetLehr
janetlehr@mindspring.com
Please forward this to the press everywhere. No longer are we confronting liberal v. conservative views but we are quickly being forced to confront the main issue – Islamic domination of the world. Only by understanding the larger goal of the terrorists can we hope to develop support among ‘liberal’ politicians, press and their supporters. Historically, majority rule is a myth. The real rule is, the motivated minority dominates the apathetic majority.
Hamas Gloats at 'End of Zionist Dream'
Arutz-7 - Aug 21, 2005
http://www.israelunitycoalition.org/home/link.php?file=../html/article.html?id=6075
Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal declared on Wednesday that the current Israeli withdrawal from the Gaza Strip marks "the beginning of the end of the Zionist dream in Palestine."
Not far from the chaotic scenes of disengagement in Gush Katif, Hamas leader in Gaza Mahmoud Zahar concurred that the Israeli withdrawal signifies the collapse of the Zionist movement and is "a sign of the final battle that will decide the conflict."
"It is a defeat for Israel, which did not find an answer to the Kassam rockets or the war of the tunnels or to suicide attacks," insisted Zahar, adding that the disengagement will lift the morale of the Arab and Islamic world and affect the battle for Afghanistan and Iraq.
"We are part of the great world plan whose name is the world Islamic movement," Zahar stated. "We do not recognize the State of Israel or its right to control any of the land of Palestine."
The boasts came as Israeli Ambassador to Washington Daniel Ayalon warned that Hamas is engaged in a massive buildup of manpower and weapons and must be dismantled by the Palestinian Authority.
"They have taken a tactical decision to keep terror on a low flame but not stop it entirely," Ayalon said. "But we observe a very massive buildup with recruitment and training of new terrorists, of mobilizing more financial support and explosive munitions, and having the cells ready and the chain of command ready."
Noting the perils in disengagement, Los Angeles Times columnist Max Boot cautioned yesterday that: "The real danger from Gaza may not be to Israel but to the rest of the West... If, following the Israeli pullout, Gaza becomes another training ground for Islamo-fascist fanatics - a successor to Afghanistan under the Taliban - the resulting terrorists will find the US and Europe much easier targets than Israel, which is the world's most heavily defended state."
"Irony of ironies, perhaps in a few years enlightened Westerners will rue the day when Israel gave up control of Gaza."
JanetLehr
janetlehr@mindspring.com
Sunday, August 21, 2005
Big Surprise: Bush is a Failure.
August 21 : Josh Powell
Bush has achieved his personal goals and is taking a break from it all. But, he has left our country far worse off than when he first appeared as President.
His approval rating is now a mere 31%, which means that if he ran against Daffy Duck today, he would lose.
But, he has achieved his personal goal of attacking and capturing Saddam Hussein. Saddam 'tried to kill my daddy', so that was top priority. Mission Accomplished.
Goal number 2 was that as an 'oil man' he has managed to more than double the price of petroleum products nationwide. By the end of his appointment it will have escalated by more than 300%. A friend of mine offers that he is so far under the sheets with the Saudis that he cannot find his way out with a flash light.
He declared that rising fuel prices would not affect the economy, and his minion Alan Greenspan is doing a great job of making it appear there is no inflation. But beware as the near future is fraught with doubt. If the price of bread and milk increase by 50% or more in 2 or 3 years, we know we have inflation at our doorstep. Once the incline begins we will not be able to stop it for 10 years or more. It is driven by the most powerful force on earth, greed.
Another indicator is the spot price of precious metals, the traditional hedge against inflation. Gold has risen more than 50% since Bush took over. We have inflation even though the official stance is that we do not. Read the numbers at Kitco.Com.
The business as usual with the Bush Whitehouse is still the 'Bait and switch' brand of getting what he wants. How many times have you heard him plead for something, deceive the population, and more importantly for him, the congress, only to find it is a far reaching program that ultimately screws taxpayers to the wall.
His 3rd big goal is to enrich Big Business. He opines that what is good for Big Business is good for the country. We have all witnessed the scandalous war machine contracts and oil and energy price gouging.
But, he makes it seem like a great idea when he explains that the effect will be to enrich all Americans. But Not So ... just as the Reagan 'Trickle Down Theory' or, 'Voodoo Economics' could not work, neither does Bush's 'outsource and gouge' plan.
The real goal is rather than to try the trickle down trick again, he will 'Vacuum Up' to the top and hold it there. No new jobs are being created with the increased revenues. Rather, jobs are being outsourced to other countries. But, to be fair, some jobs are being created for illegal aliens. This will increase corporate profits too, just as slave labor increased tobacco profits in the 18th and 19th century.
In the last election, over 76 Million Registered Voters did not vote.
What the Hell is wrong with you people !
Bush has achieved his personal goals and is taking a break from it all. But, he has left our country far worse off than when he first appeared as President.
His approval rating is now a mere 31%, which means that if he ran against Daffy Duck today, he would lose.
But, he has achieved his personal goal of attacking and capturing Saddam Hussein. Saddam 'tried to kill my daddy', so that was top priority. Mission Accomplished.
Goal number 2 was that as an 'oil man' he has managed to more than double the price of petroleum products nationwide. By the end of his appointment it will have escalated by more than 300%. A friend of mine offers that he is so far under the sheets with the Saudis that he cannot find his way out with a flash light.
He declared that rising fuel prices would not affect the economy, and his minion Alan Greenspan is doing a great job of making it appear there is no inflation. But beware as the near future is fraught with doubt. If the price of bread and milk increase by 50% or more in 2 or 3 years, we know we have inflation at our doorstep. Once the incline begins we will not be able to stop it for 10 years or more. It is driven by the most powerful force on earth, greed.
Another indicator is the spot price of precious metals, the traditional hedge against inflation. Gold has risen more than 50% since Bush took over. We have inflation even though the official stance is that we do not. Read the numbers at Kitco.Com.
The business as usual with the Bush Whitehouse is still the 'Bait and switch' brand of getting what he wants. How many times have you heard him plead for something, deceive the population, and more importantly for him, the congress, only to find it is a far reaching program that ultimately screws taxpayers to the wall.
His 3rd big goal is to enrich Big Business. He opines that what is good for Big Business is good for the country. We have all witnessed the scandalous war machine contracts and oil and energy price gouging.
But, he makes it seem like a great idea when he explains that the effect will be to enrich all Americans. But Not So ... just as the Reagan 'Trickle Down Theory' or, 'Voodoo Economics' could not work, neither does Bush's 'outsource and gouge' plan.
The real goal is rather than to try the trickle down trick again, he will 'Vacuum Up' to the top and hold it there. No new jobs are being created with the increased revenues. Rather, jobs are being outsourced to other countries. But, to be fair, some jobs are being created for illegal aliens. This will increase corporate profits too, just as slave labor increased tobacco profits in the 18th and 19th century.
In the last election, over 76 Million Registered Voters did not vote.
What the Hell is wrong with you people !
Friday, August 19, 2005
Condoleeza Rice: Warmonger
Posted by jewishindy on Friday, August 19 @ 14:21:11 EDT
"...Condoleeza Rice: I, Beth Goodtree, formally declare war on you.
I want your home, your land and all of the possessions contained therein. And, following in the Arab/Muslim footsteps of whom you so heartily approve, I do not need a reason for this declaration of war except that I despise your very existence. I also demand US money for improvements to said home, land and possessions."
By Beth Goodtree
August 19, 2005
Even the best professionals occasionally slip and let their true feelings come through. Condoleeza Rice did it today and we now know her for what she truly is: A genocidal warmonger.
"In an interview with The New York Times published Thursday, she said, 'Everyone empathizes with what the Israelis are facing' and said that in the interest of advancing peace, "It cannot be Gaza only." (1)
Already, with the firing of rockets at not just Israel, but a US military base and a US ship, it is obvious that Ms. Rice's statement is shockingly naive, at best, for the US Secretary of State. But let's look at that statement more closely, specifically, this portion of it: "...in the interest of advancing peace, it cannot be Gaza only." (1)
Since Ms. Rice is so concerned with "advancing peace," we must then ask 'why is there war?'
The answer to this is simple. The Arabs/Muslims have never accepted the reestablishment of the Jewish state as the aboriginal and historic homeland of the Jews. Within hours of Israel's founding, she was mercilessly attacked from all sides by the Arabs.
And why?
Certainly not because Jews 'stole the land.' All the land was purchased legally from the original owners -- whether they were from "Palestine" itself or elsewhere. Furthermore, top dollar was paid for this land which, in many cases, was uninhabited, undeveloped and, in many cases and hardly more than swamps and rocks.
So why did they attack? Zahir Muhsein, Executive Committee member of the terrorist PLO said it best:
"... Only for political and tactical reasons do we speak today about the existence of a Palestinian people, since Arab national interests demand that we posit the existence of a distinct "Palestinian people" to oppose Zionism.
For tactical reasons, Jordan, which is a sovereign state with defined borders, cannot raise claims to Haifa and Jaffa, while as a Palestinian, I can undoubtedly demand Haifa, Jaffa, Beer-Sheva and Jerusalem.
However, the moment we reclaim our right to all of Palestine, we will not wait even a minute to unite Palestine and Jordan." (1)
The Arabs/Muslims attacked because they reject any Jewish presence in the Middle East. In fact, they have made a Trojan horse of the entire fiction of an Arab “Palestinian” people with which to steal rightful Jewish and Christian holy lands that now comprise Israel. And if they can’t steal it by lying, they will steal it through war and terror.
For nearly 60 years, the Arabs have waged war on Israel for merely existing. And Condoleeza Rice, instead of saying “This war of aggression must stop or suffer the consequences,” is telling Israel to capitulate to those waging war upon her peaceful citizenry.
According to Condi’s logic, for the advancement of peace, we (the US) should not be in Iraq or Afghanistan; we should have given Osama a chunk of the US.
According to Condi’s logic, for the advancement of peace, London should be given to al Qaeda.
According to Condi’s logic, for the advancement of peace, the US should now give the people who fired those rockets at a US Naval ship and a US military base that ship and that base.
According to Condi’s logic, for the advancement of peace, we should not have fought WWII; we should have given Hirohito, Mussolini and Hitler the keys to the White House.
According to Condi’s logic, war and terror are legitimate ways to acquire territory and merit the victim capitulating or face her (and America’s) condemnation, punishment and wrath.
Therefore, Condoleeza Rice is a warmonger, encouraging terror and war by rewarding it with gifts of land, property and money (read that ‘welfare’). You see, she also intends to bestow upon this Arab/Muslim terrorist rabble who erroneously call themselves ‘Palestinian’ a king’s ransom of pelf from the American taxpayers’ pockets.
However, Condoleeza Rice’s transgressions do not end here. She is not merely a warmonger, but a genocidal one. She is actively advocating rewarding the war and terror waged by a people who are doing so because their victims are Jewish and Israeli. The Geneva Conventions clearly state that genocide is defined as murderous aggression against an individual or group based upon, among other things, religion, nationality and/or ethnic origin.
Given Condoleeza Rice’s attitude that war and terror will get you what you want with the happy assistance of the US administration, I will follow in the footsteps of certain recent, freedom-loving activists. They are those admirable Americans who are now pursuing the acquisition of Chief Justice Souter’s home, under the law of Eminent Domain which he voted for and which endangers every single American home.
Therefore;
Condoleeza Rice: I, Beth Goodtree, formally declare war on you.
I want your home, your land and all of the possessions contained therein. And, following in the Arab/Muslim footsteps of whom you so heartily approve, I do not need a reason for this declaration of war except that I despise your very existence. I also demand US money for improvements to said home, land and possessions.
The only thing you may take with you is your cross. You may need it to further crucify Jewish victims of Arab/Muslim war and terror.
"...Condoleeza Rice: I, Beth Goodtree, formally declare war on you.
I want your home, your land and all of the possessions contained therein. And, following in the Arab/Muslim footsteps of whom you so heartily approve, I do not need a reason for this declaration of war except that I despise your very existence. I also demand US money for improvements to said home, land and possessions."
By Beth Goodtree
August 19, 2005
Even the best professionals occasionally slip and let their true feelings come through. Condoleeza Rice did it today and we now know her for what she truly is: A genocidal warmonger.
"In an interview with The New York Times published Thursday, she said, 'Everyone empathizes with what the Israelis are facing' and said that in the interest of advancing peace, "It cannot be Gaza only." (1)
Already, with the firing of rockets at not just Israel, but a US military base and a US ship, it is obvious that Ms. Rice's statement is shockingly naive, at best, for the US Secretary of State. But let's look at that statement more closely, specifically, this portion of it: "...in the interest of advancing peace, it cannot be Gaza only." (1)
Since Ms. Rice is so concerned with "advancing peace," we must then ask 'why is there war?'
The answer to this is simple. The Arabs/Muslims have never accepted the reestablishment of the Jewish state as the aboriginal and historic homeland of the Jews. Within hours of Israel's founding, she was mercilessly attacked from all sides by the Arabs.
And why?
Certainly not because Jews 'stole the land.' All the land was purchased legally from the original owners -- whether they were from "Palestine" itself or elsewhere. Furthermore, top dollar was paid for this land which, in many cases, was uninhabited, undeveloped and, in many cases and hardly more than swamps and rocks.
So why did they attack? Zahir Muhsein, Executive Committee member of the terrorist PLO said it best:
"... Only for political and tactical reasons do we speak today about the existence of a Palestinian people, since Arab national interests demand that we posit the existence of a distinct "Palestinian people" to oppose Zionism.
For tactical reasons, Jordan, which is a sovereign state with defined borders, cannot raise claims to Haifa and Jaffa, while as a Palestinian, I can undoubtedly demand Haifa, Jaffa, Beer-Sheva and Jerusalem.
However, the moment we reclaim our right to all of Palestine, we will not wait even a minute to unite Palestine and Jordan." (1)
The Arabs/Muslims attacked because they reject any Jewish presence in the Middle East. In fact, they have made a Trojan horse of the entire fiction of an Arab “Palestinian” people with which to steal rightful Jewish and Christian holy lands that now comprise Israel. And if they can’t steal it by lying, they will steal it through war and terror.
For nearly 60 years, the Arabs have waged war on Israel for merely existing. And Condoleeza Rice, instead of saying “This war of aggression must stop or suffer the consequences,” is telling Israel to capitulate to those waging war upon her peaceful citizenry.
According to Condi’s logic, for the advancement of peace, we (the US) should not be in Iraq or Afghanistan; we should have given Osama a chunk of the US.
According to Condi’s logic, for the advancement of peace, London should be given to al Qaeda.
According to Condi’s logic, for the advancement of peace, the US should now give the people who fired those rockets at a US Naval ship and a US military base that ship and that base.
According to Condi’s logic, for the advancement of peace, we should not have fought WWII; we should have given Hirohito, Mussolini and Hitler the keys to the White House.
According to Condi’s logic, war and terror are legitimate ways to acquire territory and merit the victim capitulating or face her (and America’s) condemnation, punishment and wrath.
Therefore, Condoleeza Rice is a warmonger, encouraging terror and war by rewarding it with gifts of land, property and money (read that ‘welfare’). You see, she also intends to bestow upon this Arab/Muslim terrorist rabble who erroneously call themselves ‘Palestinian’ a king’s ransom of pelf from the American taxpayers’ pockets.
However, Condoleeza Rice’s transgressions do not end here. She is not merely a warmonger, but a genocidal one. She is actively advocating rewarding the war and terror waged by a people who are doing so because their victims are Jewish and Israeli. The Geneva Conventions clearly state that genocide is defined as murderous aggression against an individual or group based upon, among other things, religion, nationality and/or ethnic origin.
Given Condoleeza Rice’s attitude that war and terror will get you what you want with the happy assistance of the US administration, I will follow in the footsteps of certain recent, freedom-loving activists. They are those admirable Americans who are now pursuing the acquisition of Chief Justice Souter’s home, under the law of Eminent Domain which he voted for and which endangers every single American home.
Therefore;
Condoleeza Rice: I, Beth Goodtree, formally declare war on you.
I want your home, your land and all of the possessions contained therein. And, following in the Arab/Muslim footsteps of whom you so heartily approve, I do not need a reason for this declaration of war except that I despise your very existence. I also demand US money for improvements to said home, land and possessions.
The only thing you may take with you is your cross. You may need it to further crucify Jewish victims of Arab/Muslim war and terror.
Uplifting Update
Friday, August 19, 2005 8:32 AM Subject: [jerusalemdiaries] Uplifting Update
This morning I went to a hotel near me where many of the settlers of
Neve Dekalim are being housed in the meantime, to see if I could help
with anything.
I walked in and I saw tons of people who were there to help. There was
a room full of stuff that people just kept bringing - diapers, food,
medecine, clothes...anything and everything. Many of the residents of
Neve Dekalim left with a large backpack at most. There were people
there to babysit and help with the kids, there were people helping
others to settle in, etc...It was an unbelievable site.
Just as I got there a family arrived and I helped them with their bags
to their hotel rooms. I asked them if they needed anything as I was on
my way to the shuk. They couldn't think of anything off hand - they
needed time to settle.
I spoke to the people in charge and one thing they said they might
need was chumashim for Shabbat. I called my Rabbi and asked if I could
lend them our chumashim from the yeshiva. He said - without a doubt.
I went to the shuk and bought some nuts and other stuff like that and
a friend came with his car and we brought the chumashim to the hotel.
When I entered for the second time today, the place was ten times as
full. What had started basically in one room, now filled the lobby.
There was a huge pile of diapers as I walked in. There was a whole
section of brand new children's books and games in another corner. In
another side there were piles of clothing so they would have clothes
for Shabbat! And people just kept pouring in. There was a whole group
of people outside arranging flowers with little notes of support for
each family. It was simply an overwhelming site. I found the family
that I had helped move in. The wife and 2 of her kids. And I sat down
and I pulled out some nuts, some rugelach, some balloons for her
kids...she said to me, she never thought it would be like this. She
too, was overwhelmed by the outpouring of chesed.
Our Rabbis teach us that once the Temple was destroyed, all of the
gates of prayer are closed. Except one. The gate of tears. In the past
week, and especially in the past couple of days, I have cried at least
a small river. And I know that oceans of tears have been shed. If that
gate is still open, and these tears are going through that gate, I can
only imagine that Moshiach is around the corner.
Today's tears were mixed with tears of joy to be part of such an
unbelievable nation.
MI K'AMCHA YISRAEL.
WHO IS LIKE YOUR NATION ISRAEL!
Shabbat Shalom!
Yitz Motzen, Jerusalem: E mail: Yitzm2@aol.com
This morning I went to a hotel near me where many of the settlers of
Neve Dekalim are being housed in the meantime, to see if I could help
with anything.
I walked in and I saw tons of people who were there to help. There was
a room full of stuff that people just kept bringing - diapers, food,
medecine, clothes...anything and everything. Many of the residents of
Neve Dekalim left with a large backpack at most. There were people
there to babysit and help with the kids, there were people helping
others to settle in, etc...It was an unbelievable site.
Just as I got there a family arrived and I helped them with their bags
to their hotel rooms. I asked them if they needed anything as I was on
my way to the shuk. They couldn't think of anything off hand - they
needed time to settle.
I spoke to the people in charge and one thing they said they might
need was chumashim for Shabbat. I called my Rabbi and asked if I could
lend them our chumashim from the yeshiva. He said - without a doubt.
I went to the shuk and bought some nuts and other stuff like that and
a friend came with his car and we brought the chumashim to the hotel.
When I entered for the second time today, the place was ten times as
full. What had started basically in one room, now filled the lobby.
There was a huge pile of diapers as I walked in. There was a whole
section of brand new children's books and games in another corner. In
another side there were piles of clothing so they would have clothes
for Shabbat! And people just kept pouring in. There was a whole group
of people outside arranging flowers with little notes of support for
each family. It was simply an overwhelming site. I found the family
that I had helped move in. The wife and 2 of her kids. And I sat down
and I pulled out some nuts, some rugelach, some balloons for her
kids...she said to me, she never thought it would be like this. She
too, was overwhelmed by the outpouring of chesed.
Our Rabbis teach us that once the Temple was destroyed, all of the
gates of prayer are closed. Except one. The gate of tears. In the past
week, and especially in the past couple of days, I have cried at least
a small river. And I know that oceans of tears have been shed. If that
gate is still open, and these tears are going through that gate, I can
only imagine that Moshiach is around the corner.
Today's tears were mixed with tears of joy to be part of such an
unbelievable nation.
MI K'AMCHA YISRAEL.
WHO IS LIKE YOUR NATION ISRAEL!
Shabbat Shalom!
Yitz Motzen, Jerusalem: E mail: Yitzm2@aol.com
Thursday, August 18, 2005
And Now ... What?
From: Judy Lash Balint, JerusalemJerusalem--
Rachel Saperstein is lying on a bed in a cramped hotel roomin Jerusalem. It's a far cry from the beautiful and immaculate homein Neve Dekalim she was thrown out from yesterday. As her husbandMoshe goes out for a smoke (to escape all the female company, nodoubt) the words tumble out of Rachel."I didn't do enough," she sighs.
The constant media interviews andexplaining the importance of Gush Katif ultimately didn't succeed in preventing the expulsions, she says. With great emotion, Rachel recounts the events of the past few days leading up to the eviction.With Moshe out of the room, she tells us how he finally broke down as he came to the realization that he had to pack up his beloved CD collection.
Instead of spending another day watching the destruction of even more thriving Jewish communities, I decided to visit some of the evictees who have been unceremoniusly dumped in my own city. The Sapersteins and their neighbors, the entire community of Neve Dekalim in fact, is now being housed in two and three star hotels scattered all over the city. At three hotels near the central bus station shell-shocked evacuees sit in hotel lobbies, recounting their stories to anyone willing to listen.
Lists of activities for children and teenagers and prayer times are posted on the walls, as those who have lost their homes ponder their next move.The government is footing the bill for 10 days of hotel stays for the displaced Gush Katif residents, and efforts are underway to dole out the first portion of the compensation checks so that people will have money to rent apartments--but how will they know where to rent if they don't where or if they'll be working?
There's tremendous bitterness among the Gush Katif evictees over the way they are being treated. Rachel promises to explain in a letter she's writing tomorrow. Finally today, the first day after losing her home, Rachel has had time to go to the doctor to find out why her foot is swollen. A hairline fracture is responsible for her discomfort--she just didn't have time to deal with it before the evictions. Rachel explains that since they arrived last night, several Neve Dekalim people have been treated for any manner of ailments--clearly stress-related, acording to doctors.
Rachel relates how she prepared a complete chicken lunch that was eaten just half an hour before they were forced to leave their home. It was the Saperstein way of taking their leave with dignity in their own time.
A few well meaning visitors tried making small talk with Rachel--one of them made a comment about how everyone in her building sympathized with the plight of the Gush Katif residents. "All I could think of,"says Rachel, "is that she has a building and I don't have a home..."As I leave the hotel and wait at the bus stop, a young man walks by alone with a megaphone. He's walking up and down the street at 11p.m. telling the world: "I'm a resident of Neve Dekalim. I was thrown out of my home today in the name of democracy.."
All evening we'd been waiting for details about the arrival in Jerusalem of the entire community of Netzer Hazani. Phone calls to people in the community kept us up to date about their projected arrival time at the Western Wall where they've chosen to spend the first night after eviction.
At 12:30 a.m I drive to the Kotel thinking I'll be one of a few people there to greet the buses...I end up in a massive traffic jam as all the roads into the Old City are packed with cars and buses.
Finally at around 12:50a.m. the first exhausted Netzer Hazani people emerge off the dirty buses. They're greeted by lines of singing men--almost everyone is either in tears or has red-rimmed eyes from a day of tears.
A Torah scroll from Netzer Hazani is lovingly carried to the Kotel plaza by a dozen young men and teenagers with tears running down their faces. It's 2 a.m. and no one is moving from the Kotel--the women's section is filled with a huge circle of orange-clad women and girls who hold on to each other for support. Mournful songs rise up from the men's section as the shofar is sounded. Several thousand people cling toeach other for moral and physical support. As far as I can tell,there's no media present..People are plainly shell-shocked and traumatized by the events of the past few days.
The realization is sinking in that months of intense campaigning, dedication and commitment have failed to achieve the desired result of holding on to Gush Katif and that twenty two thriving, productive communities have simply vanished overnight.
How appropriate that this coming Shabbat is Shabbat Nachamu--the shabbat of comfort that follows the mourning of Tisha B'Av. But it will take more than one Shabbat to comfort many Israelis in the aftermath of this week's upheaval.
See pictures from the Kotel tonight athttp://flickr.com/photos/jerusalemdiaries/
From: Judy Lash Balint
Rachel Saperstein is lying on a bed in a cramped hotel roomin Jerusalem. It's a far cry from the beautiful and immaculate homein Neve Dekalim she was thrown out from yesterday. As her husbandMoshe goes out for a smoke (to escape all the female company, nodoubt) the words tumble out of Rachel."I didn't do enough," she sighs.
The constant media interviews andexplaining the importance of Gush Katif ultimately didn't succeed in preventing the expulsions, she says. With great emotion, Rachel recounts the events of the past few days leading up to the eviction.With Moshe out of the room, she tells us how he finally broke down as he came to the realization that he had to pack up his beloved CD collection.
Instead of spending another day watching the destruction of even more thriving Jewish communities, I decided to visit some of the evictees who have been unceremoniusly dumped in my own city. The Sapersteins and their neighbors, the entire community of Neve Dekalim in fact, is now being housed in two and three star hotels scattered all over the city. At three hotels near the central bus station shell-shocked evacuees sit in hotel lobbies, recounting their stories to anyone willing to listen.
Lists of activities for children and teenagers and prayer times are posted on the walls, as those who have lost their homes ponder their next move.The government is footing the bill for 10 days of hotel stays for the displaced Gush Katif residents, and efforts are underway to dole out the first portion of the compensation checks so that people will have money to rent apartments--but how will they know where to rent if they don't where or if they'll be working?
There's tremendous bitterness among the Gush Katif evictees over the way they are being treated. Rachel promises to explain in a letter she's writing tomorrow. Finally today, the first day after losing her home, Rachel has had time to go to the doctor to find out why her foot is swollen. A hairline fracture is responsible for her discomfort--she just didn't have time to deal with it before the evictions. Rachel explains that since they arrived last night, several Neve Dekalim people have been treated for any manner of ailments--clearly stress-related, acording to doctors.
Rachel relates how she prepared a complete chicken lunch that was eaten just half an hour before they were forced to leave their home. It was the Saperstein way of taking their leave with dignity in their own time.
A few well meaning visitors tried making small talk with Rachel--one of them made a comment about how everyone in her building sympathized with the plight of the Gush Katif residents. "All I could think of,"says Rachel, "is that she has a building and I don't have a home..."As I leave the hotel and wait at the bus stop, a young man walks by alone with a megaphone. He's walking up and down the street at 11p.m. telling the world: "I'm a resident of Neve Dekalim. I was thrown out of my home today in the name of democracy.."
All evening we'd been waiting for details about the arrival in Jerusalem of the entire community of Netzer Hazani. Phone calls to people in the community kept us up to date about their projected arrival time at the Western Wall where they've chosen to spend the first night after eviction.
At 12:30 a.m I drive to the Kotel thinking I'll be one of a few people there to greet the buses...I end up in a massive traffic jam as all the roads into the Old City are packed with cars and buses.
Finally at around 12:50a.m. the first exhausted Netzer Hazani people emerge off the dirty buses. They're greeted by lines of singing men--almost everyone is either in tears or has red-rimmed eyes from a day of tears.
A Torah scroll from Netzer Hazani is lovingly carried to the Kotel plaza by a dozen young men and teenagers with tears running down their faces. It's 2 a.m. and no one is moving from the Kotel--the women's section is filled with a huge circle of orange-clad women and girls who hold on to each other for support. Mournful songs rise up from the men's section as the shofar is sounded. Several thousand people cling toeach other for moral and physical support. As far as I can tell,there's no media present..People are plainly shell-shocked and traumatized by the events of the past few days.
The realization is sinking in that months of intense campaigning, dedication and commitment have failed to achieve the desired result of holding on to Gush Katif and that twenty two thriving, productive communities have simply vanished overnight.
How appropriate that this coming Shabbat is Shabbat Nachamu--the shabbat of comfort that follows the mourning of Tisha B'Av. But it will take more than one Shabbat to comfort many Israelis in the aftermath of this week's upheaval.
See pictures from the Kotel tonight athttp://flickr.com/photos/jerusalemdiaries/
From: Judy Lash Balint
Wednesday, August 17, 2005
The Saudi Curse
THE SAUDI CURSE
Behind The LinesBy Dr. Jack Wheeler
Thursday, August 4, 2005
Saudi Arabia is a pre-eminent example of how God’s sense of humor is unfathomable to mere human beings. A tribe of primitive desert nomads who believe in an atavistic religion seize control of a vast sandy wasteland under which, completely unknown to them, contains more of the critical substance upon which modern civilization depends than anywhere else on earth.
This makes the nomads impossibly rich without doing anything to earn their wealth, which they proceed to spend billions of disseminating around the world their religion which is dedicated to destroying the civilization that gave them their wealth.
So now God is patiently waiting for us to get the joke and figure a way out of it. To even begin to try, we need to understand how Saudi Arabia was created through the Saud tribe conquering and subjugating its neighbors – as described in The Soviet Saudi Union.
Just like the Soviet Union was a Russian imperial empire with Soviet Communism as the ideological justification for ruling conquered peoples (Latvians, Ukrainians, Georgians, Kazakhs, etc.), so Saudi Arabia is a Saudi imperial empire with Wahhabi Islam as the ideological justification for ruling conquered peoples in the Arabian Peninsula.
So just as the Cold War ended with the disintegration of the Soviet Union and political independence coming to its conquered parts (Latvia, Ukraine, 15 in all), so the War on Moslem Terrorism cannot end until Saudi Arabia is disassembled, and its conquered parts like the Hejaz liberated from Saudi-Wahhabi rule.
This has to come someday, with or without The Ultimate Solution that I told you about almost two years ago, over which the folks who were contemplating it have since gotten frozen feet. In fact, the feet of the entire Washington Establishment, not just the Bush Administration, are freezing cold over the Saudis. No one in any position of actual power seems to know what to do. Everyone knows that the line of “Saudi Brezhnevs” has to come to an end.
The founder of Saudi Arabia, Ibn Saud, ordered that monarchical succession after him should be passed not from father-to-son, but brother-to-brother among his sons, one after the other. That’s why with the death last week of Ibn Saud’s octogenarian son Fahd (who followed his brothers Saud, Faisal, and Khaled), the kingship passed to Fahd’s octogenarian brother Abdullah – and when he dies (which can’t be too far off as he’s 82), yet another octogenarian son of Ibn Saud, Sultan (he’s 81) will succeed him.
The brother next in line has yet to be named, but it’s likely to be Nayef, now 71, and head of the Saudi secret police. He’s the guy who denied that 15 of the 19 September 11 hijacker-terrorists were Saudi citizens and claimed it was an Israeli Jewish plot. He’s the worst of the lot. (Note to Saudi optimists: Forget about Sultan’s son, former ambassador to the US Prince Bandar, succeeding his father instead of Nayef. Bandar’s mother was a Yemeni housemaid, so his blood isn’t pure enough to be king.)
The explosion of oil prices since I wrote the Soviet Saudi Union back in January 2004 has given the Saudi Royals the money to literally buy time. The Kingdom is not going to come apart tomorrow. It may not for several years. But with 60% of their population under 18 and 75% under 30, the place is going to fracture sooner or later. The catalyst the Saudi Royals are most afraid of is a successful democracy next door in Iraq.
Saudi kids, Shia and Sunni, will demand the same. The Royals know it, and that is why they are cooperating with Syria and Iran in sponsoring terrorism in Iraq in the hope a Democratic Iraq will never come into being.
The Bushistas are not only not doing anything to counteract this, they seem oblivious to the problem. I wish I had a happy ending here, and maybe there will be one some years away. For now, however, the Saudi “situation report” is bleak: more of the same.
We will not force the Saudis to shut down their financing of radical Wahhabi mosques and imams all over the world (80% of mosques in America and perhaps 90% in Europe are Wahhabi).
We will not force the Saudis to stop their support of terrorism in Iraq. Fahd, Abdullah, Nayef – all the same for years and several more years to come.
We will not soon be free of the Saudi Curse.
Behind The LinesBy Dr. Jack Wheeler
Thursday, August 4, 2005
Saudi Arabia is a pre-eminent example of how God’s sense of humor is unfathomable to mere human beings. A tribe of primitive desert nomads who believe in an atavistic religion seize control of a vast sandy wasteland under which, completely unknown to them, contains more of the critical substance upon which modern civilization depends than anywhere else on earth.
This makes the nomads impossibly rich without doing anything to earn their wealth, which they proceed to spend billions of disseminating around the world their religion which is dedicated to destroying the civilization that gave them their wealth.
So now God is patiently waiting for us to get the joke and figure a way out of it. To even begin to try, we need to understand how Saudi Arabia was created through the Saud tribe conquering and subjugating its neighbors – as described in The Soviet Saudi Union.
Just like the Soviet Union was a Russian imperial empire with Soviet Communism as the ideological justification for ruling conquered peoples (Latvians, Ukrainians, Georgians, Kazakhs, etc.), so Saudi Arabia is a Saudi imperial empire with Wahhabi Islam as the ideological justification for ruling conquered peoples in the Arabian Peninsula.
So just as the Cold War ended with the disintegration of the Soviet Union and political independence coming to its conquered parts (Latvia, Ukraine, 15 in all), so the War on Moslem Terrorism cannot end until Saudi Arabia is disassembled, and its conquered parts like the Hejaz liberated from Saudi-Wahhabi rule.
This has to come someday, with or without The Ultimate Solution that I told you about almost two years ago, over which the folks who were contemplating it have since gotten frozen feet. In fact, the feet of the entire Washington Establishment, not just the Bush Administration, are freezing cold over the Saudis. No one in any position of actual power seems to know what to do. Everyone knows that the line of “Saudi Brezhnevs” has to come to an end.
The founder of Saudi Arabia, Ibn Saud, ordered that monarchical succession after him should be passed not from father-to-son, but brother-to-brother among his sons, one after the other. That’s why with the death last week of Ibn Saud’s octogenarian son Fahd (who followed his brothers Saud, Faisal, and Khaled), the kingship passed to Fahd’s octogenarian brother Abdullah – and when he dies (which can’t be too far off as he’s 82), yet another octogenarian son of Ibn Saud, Sultan (he’s 81) will succeed him.
The brother next in line has yet to be named, but it’s likely to be Nayef, now 71, and head of the Saudi secret police. He’s the guy who denied that 15 of the 19 September 11 hijacker-terrorists were Saudi citizens and claimed it was an Israeli Jewish plot. He’s the worst of the lot. (Note to Saudi optimists: Forget about Sultan’s son, former ambassador to the US Prince Bandar, succeeding his father instead of Nayef. Bandar’s mother was a Yemeni housemaid, so his blood isn’t pure enough to be king.)
The explosion of oil prices since I wrote the Soviet Saudi Union back in January 2004 has given the Saudi Royals the money to literally buy time. The Kingdom is not going to come apart tomorrow. It may not for several years. But with 60% of their population under 18 and 75% under 30, the place is going to fracture sooner or later. The catalyst the Saudi Royals are most afraid of is a successful democracy next door in Iraq.
Saudi kids, Shia and Sunni, will demand the same. The Royals know it, and that is why they are cooperating with Syria and Iran in sponsoring terrorism in Iraq in the hope a Democratic Iraq will never come into being.
The Bushistas are not only not doing anything to counteract this, they seem oblivious to the problem. I wish I had a happy ending here, and maybe there will be one some years away. For now, however, the Saudi “situation report” is bleak: more of the same.
We will not force the Saudis to shut down their financing of radical Wahhabi mosques and imams all over the world (80% of mosques in America and perhaps 90% in Europe are Wahhabi).
We will not force the Saudis to stop their support of terrorism in Iraq. Fahd, Abdullah, Nayef – all the same for years and several more years to come.
We will not soon be free of the Saudi Curse.
Doctorow on Bush
DOCTOROW ON BUSH
Edgar Lawrence Doctorow occupies a central position in the history ofAmerican literature. He is generally considered to be among the mosttalented, ambitious, and admired novelists of the second half of thetwentieth century.
Doctorow has received the National Book Award, twoNational Book Critics Circle Awards, the PEN/Faulkner Award, the EdithWharton Citation for Fiction, the William Dean Howell Medal of theAmerican Academy of Arts and Letters, and the residentially conferred NationalHumanities Medal.
Doctorow was born in New York City on January 6, 1931. After graduating withhonors from Kenyon College in 1952, he did graduate work at ColumbiaUniversity and served in the U.S. Army. Doctorow was senior editor for NewAmerican Library from 1959 to 1964 and then served as editor in chief atDial Press until 1969. Since then, he has devoted his time to writing andteaching. He holds the Glucksman Chair in American Letters at New YorkUniversity and over the years has taught at several institutions, includingYale University Drama School, Princeton University, Sarah Lawrence College,and the University of California, Irvine. ================================================
I fault this president (George W. Bush) for not knowing what death is. He does not suffer the death of our twenty-one year olds who wanted to be what they could be. On the eve of D-day in 1944 General Eisenhower prayed to God for the lives of the young soldiers he knew were going to die. He knew what death was.
Even in a justifiable war, a war not of choice but of necessity, a war of survival, the cost was almost more than Eisenhower could bear.But this president does not know what death is. He hasn't the mind for it.You see him joking with the press, peering under the table for the WMDs he can't seem to find, you see him at rallies strutting up to the stage in shirt sleeves to the roar of the carefully screened crowd, smiling and waving, triumphal, a he-man. He does not mourn. He doesn't understand why he should mourn. He is satisfied during the course of a speech written for him to look solemn for a moment and speak of the brave young Americans who made the ultimate sacrifice for their country.
But you study him, you look into his eyes and know he dissembles an emotion which he does not feel in the depths of his being because he has no capacity for it. He does not feel a personal responsibility for the thousand dead young men and women who wanted to be what they could be. They come to his desk not as youngsters with mothers and fathers or wives and children who will suffer to the end of their days a terribly torn fabric of familial relationships and the inconsolable remembrance of abortedlife.... They come to his desk as a political liability which is why the press is not permitted to photograph the arrival of their coffins from Iraq.
How then can he mourn? To mourn is to express regret and he regrets nothing.He does not regret that his reason for going to war was, as he knew,unsubstantiated by the facts. He does not regret that his bungled plan for the war's aftermath has made of his mission-accomplished a disaster. He does not regret that rather than controlling terrorism his war in Iraq has licensed it. So he never mourns for the dead and crippled youngsters who have fought this war of his choice.
He wanted to go to war and he did. He had not the mind to perceive the costs of war, or to listen to those who knew those costs. He did not understand that you do not go to war when it is one of the options, but when it is the only option; you go not because you want to but because you have to.
This president knew it would be difficult for Americans not to cheer the overthrow of a foreign dictator. He knew that much. This president and his supporters would seem to have a mind for only one thing --- to take power,to remain in power, and to use that power for the sake of themselves and their friends. A war will do that as well as anything. You become a wartime leader. The country gets behind you. Dissent becomes inappropriate.
And so he does not drop to his knees, he is not contrite, he does not sit in the church with the grieving parents and wives and children. He is the President who does not feel. He does not feel for the families of the dead; he does not feel for the thirty five million of us who live inpoverty; he does not feel for the forty percent who cannot afford health insurance; he does not feel for the miners whose lungs are turning black or for the working people he has deprived of the chance to work overtime at time-and-a-half to pay their bills --- it is amazing for how many people in this country this President does not feel.
But he will dissemble feeling. He will say in all sincerity he is relieving the wealthiest one percent of the population of their tax burden for the sake of the rest of us, and that he is polluting the air we breathe for the sake of our economy, and that he is decreasing the safety regulations for coal mines to save the coal miners' jobs, and that he is depriving workers of their time-and-a- half benefits for overtime because this is actually away to honor them by raising them into the professional class.
And this litany of lies he will versify with reverences for God and the flag and democracy, when just what he and his party are doing to our democracy is choking the life out of it.
But there is one more terribly sad thing about all of this. I remember the millions of people here and around the world who marched against the war. It was extraordinary, that spontaneously aroused oversoul of alarm and protest that transcended national borders. Why did it happen? After all, this was not the only war anyone had ever seen coming. There are little wars all over the world most of the time.But the cry of protest was the appalled understanding of millions of people that America was ceding its role as the last best hope of mankind. It was their perception that the classic archetype of democracy was morphing into a rogue nation. The greatest democratic republic in history was turning its back on the future, using its extraordinary power and standing not to advance the ideal of a concordance of civilizations but to endorse the kind of tribal combat that originated with the Neanderthals, a people, now extinct, who could imagine ensuring their survival by no other means than pre-emptive war.
The president we get is the country we get. With each president the nation is conformed spiritually. He is the artificer of our malleable national soul. He proposes not only the laws but the kinds of lawlessness that govern our lives and invoke our responses. The people he appoints are cast in his image. The trouble they get into and get us into, is his characteristic trouble.
Finally the media amplify his character into our moral weather report. He becomes the face of our sky, the conditions that prevail: How can we sustain ourselves as the United States of America given the stupid and ineffective warmaking, the constitutionally insensitive lawgiving, and the monarchal economics of this president? He cannot mourn but is a figure of such moral vacancy as to make us mourn for ourselves.
E.L. Doctorow
If you're standing on the edge of an abyss, the only progressive step is backward.
William Sloan Coffin
Edgar Lawrence Doctorow occupies a central position in the history ofAmerican literature. He is generally considered to be among the mosttalented, ambitious, and admired novelists of the second half of thetwentieth century.
Doctorow has received the National Book Award, twoNational Book Critics Circle Awards, the PEN/Faulkner Award, the EdithWharton Citation for Fiction, the William Dean Howell Medal of theAmerican Academy of Arts and Letters, and the residentially conferred NationalHumanities Medal.
Doctorow was born in New York City on January 6, 1931. After graduating withhonors from Kenyon College in 1952, he did graduate work at ColumbiaUniversity and served in the U.S. Army. Doctorow was senior editor for NewAmerican Library from 1959 to 1964 and then served as editor in chief atDial Press until 1969. Since then, he has devoted his time to writing andteaching. He holds the Glucksman Chair in American Letters at New YorkUniversity and over the years has taught at several institutions, includingYale University Drama School, Princeton University, Sarah Lawrence College,and the University of California, Irvine. ================================================
I fault this president (George W. Bush) for not knowing what death is. He does not suffer the death of our twenty-one year olds who wanted to be what they could be. On the eve of D-day in 1944 General Eisenhower prayed to God for the lives of the young soldiers he knew were going to die. He knew what death was.
Even in a justifiable war, a war not of choice but of necessity, a war of survival, the cost was almost more than Eisenhower could bear.But this president does not know what death is. He hasn't the mind for it.You see him joking with the press, peering under the table for the WMDs he can't seem to find, you see him at rallies strutting up to the stage in shirt sleeves to the roar of the carefully screened crowd, smiling and waving, triumphal, a he-man. He does not mourn. He doesn't understand why he should mourn. He is satisfied during the course of a speech written for him to look solemn for a moment and speak of the brave young Americans who made the ultimate sacrifice for their country.
But you study him, you look into his eyes and know he dissembles an emotion which he does not feel in the depths of his being because he has no capacity for it. He does not feel a personal responsibility for the thousand dead young men and women who wanted to be what they could be. They come to his desk not as youngsters with mothers and fathers or wives and children who will suffer to the end of their days a terribly torn fabric of familial relationships and the inconsolable remembrance of abortedlife.... They come to his desk as a political liability which is why the press is not permitted to photograph the arrival of their coffins from Iraq.
How then can he mourn? To mourn is to express regret and he regrets nothing.He does not regret that his reason for going to war was, as he knew,unsubstantiated by the facts. He does not regret that his bungled plan for the war's aftermath has made of his mission-accomplished a disaster. He does not regret that rather than controlling terrorism his war in Iraq has licensed it. So he never mourns for the dead and crippled youngsters who have fought this war of his choice.
He wanted to go to war and he did. He had not the mind to perceive the costs of war, or to listen to those who knew those costs. He did not understand that you do not go to war when it is one of the options, but when it is the only option; you go not because you want to but because you have to.
This president knew it would be difficult for Americans not to cheer the overthrow of a foreign dictator. He knew that much. This president and his supporters would seem to have a mind for only one thing --- to take power,to remain in power, and to use that power for the sake of themselves and their friends. A war will do that as well as anything. You become a wartime leader. The country gets behind you. Dissent becomes inappropriate.
And so he does not drop to his knees, he is not contrite, he does not sit in the church with the grieving parents and wives and children. He is the President who does not feel. He does not feel for the families of the dead; he does not feel for the thirty five million of us who live inpoverty; he does not feel for the forty percent who cannot afford health insurance; he does not feel for the miners whose lungs are turning black or for the working people he has deprived of the chance to work overtime at time-and-a-half to pay their bills --- it is amazing for how many people in this country this President does not feel.
But he will dissemble feeling. He will say in all sincerity he is relieving the wealthiest one percent of the population of their tax burden for the sake of the rest of us, and that he is polluting the air we breathe for the sake of our economy, and that he is decreasing the safety regulations for coal mines to save the coal miners' jobs, and that he is depriving workers of their time-and-a- half benefits for overtime because this is actually away to honor them by raising them into the professional class.
And this litany of lies he will versify with reverences for God and the flag and democracy, when just what he and his party are doing to our democracy is choking the life out of it.
But there is one more terribly sad thing about all of this. I remember the millions of people here and around the world who marched against the war. It was extraordinary, that spontaneously aroused oversoul of alarm and protest that transcended national borders. Why did it happen? After all, this was not the only war anyone had ever seen coming. There are little wars all over the world most of the time.But the cry of protest was the appalled understanding of millions of people that America was ceding its role as the last best hope of mankind. It was their perception that the classic archetype of democracy was morphing into a rogue nation. The greatest democratic republic in history was turning its back on the future, using its extraordinary power and standing not to advance the ideal of a concordance of civilizations but to endorse the kind of tribal combat that originated with the Neanderthals, a people, now extinct, who could imagine ensuring their survival by no other means than pre-emptive war.
The president we get is the country we get. With each president the nation is conformed spiritually. He is the artificer of our malleable national soul. He proposes not only the laws but the kinds of lawlessness that govern our lives and invoke our responses. The people he appoints are cast in his image. The trouble they get into and get us into, is his characteristic trouble.
Finally the media amplify his character into our moral weather report. He becomes the face of our sky, the conditions that prevail: How can we sustain ourselves as the United States of America given the stupid and ineffective warmaking, the constitutionally insensitive lawgiving, and the monarchal economics of this president? He cannot mourn but is a figure of such moral vacancy as to make us mourn for ourselves.
E.L. Doctorow
If you're standing on the edge of an abyss, the only progressive step is backward.
William Sloan Coffin
Saperstein Update
Jerusalem Diaries:
In Tense Times by Judy Lash Balint (Gefen) is available for purchase from www.israelbooks.com
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My Groups jerusalemdiaries Main Page
Moshe and Rachel Saperstein, longtime contributors to the Jerusalem Diaries newslist, were evicted from their home in Neve Dekalim today.Together with dozens of other Neve Dekalim families, the Sapersteins were bused to a Jerusalem hotel.To date, the Disengagement Authority has not been able to arrange permanent alternative housing for the Neve Dekalim evictees. Jerusalem Mayor Uri Lupolianski sent out a letter today welcoming the new residents and pledging to put all the city's social welfare resources at their disposal. He writes that kindergartens will be setup in the hotels--indicating a lengthy temporary residence for those who have been uprooted from their homes and community.
In Tense Times by Judy Lash Balint (Gefen) is available for purchase from www.israelbooks.com
Have friends who would enjoy receiving these messages? To subscribe to this group, send an email to:jerusalemdiaries-subscribe@yahoogroups.comDISCLAIMER - Advertisements in this newsletter are placed there by Yahoo. We neither support nor endorse advertisers.
My Groups jerusalemdiaries Main Page
Moshe and Rachel Saperstein, longtime contributors to the Jerusalem Diaries newslist, were evicted from their home in Neve Dekalim today.Together with dozens of other Neve Dekalim families, the Sapersteins were bused to a Jerusalem hotel.To date, the Disengagement Authority has not been able to arrange permanent alternative housing for the Neve Dekalim evictees. Jerusalem Mayor Uri Lupolianski sent out a letter today welcoming the new residents and pledging to put all the city's social welfare resources at their disposal. He writes that kindergartens will be setup in the hotels--indicating a lengthy temporary residence for those who have been uprooted from their homes and community.
Anti-Israel Propaganda: By the UN
Anti-Israel Propaganda: Brought to You by the U.N.
Posted by Jacob Laksin @ Wednesday 17 August 2005, 11:28 am
It does not exactly strain credulity to believe that the United Nations would underwrite anti-Israel propaganda. Comes now tangible evidence to corroborate the fact. Quoting a U.N. official, The New York Sun reports that the “United Nations bankrolled the production of thousands of banners, bumper stickers, mugs, and T-shirts bearing the slogan ‘Today Gaza and Tomorrow the West Bank and Jerusalem,’ which have been widely distributed to Palestinian Arabs in the Gaza Strip…”
The Sun further notes that “[i]n addition to the slogan ‘Today Gaza and Tomorrow the West Bank and Jerusalem,’ many of the materials displayed the logo of the United Nations Development Program.” A spokesman for the U.N. Development program, meanwhile, tenders this risible defense: “We are emphatically neutral …We do not lend ourselves to political messaging in favor of any particular faction or ideology.” This from an affiliate of the organization that once pronounced Zionism tantamount to racism.
Note, too, that slogan: “Today Gaza and Tomorrow the West Bank and Jerusalem.” It is, as readers will assuredly recognize, the classic rallying cry of Israel’s enemies, signifying as it does the intention to bring all of Israel under the yoke of Arab rule. And while it would be unfair to say that the U.N. as a whole shares that vision, it is no secret that the organization has never approved of the territories conquered by Israel in 1967; indeed, much of the U.N.’s time is taken up with issuing resolutions condemning the “illegal” “occupation.” Still, it is shocking and disheartening to see U.N. funds used for such malign purposes at a time when Israel, in accordance with the U.N.’s longtime position, is expelling its own citizens from Gaza.
Of course, the Gaza disengagement was not implemented for the benefit of U.N. plenipotentiaries. But Israeli officials have expressed their hope that the Israeli pullout would usher in an end to the U.N.’s “Israel-bashing,” as Israel’s ambassador to the U.N., Dan Gillerman, recently put it. Memo to the ambassador: Don’t count on it.
This entry was posted on Wednesday, August 17th, 2005 at 11:28 am and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
7 Responses to “Anti-Israel Propaganda: Brought to You by the U.N.”
Mark Says: August 17th, 2005 at 11:56 am
The U.N.(useless nuisance) is completly broken, completly inefective, and the USA needs to get out of the U.N., and get the U.N. out of the USA.
President Bush absloutly stifled all liberal supporters of the U.N., by appointing John Bolton, who is an outstanding man for the job, to the failed, and completly broken U.N.
Where is Amnesty International, when you really need them?
Oh, that’s right, Amnesty International doesn’t count Israel in it’s “countries to protect the rights of the people” catagory.
The U.N. is broken, and has been for quite some time, and we need to get out of it, and we need to get it out of our country!
dark900 Says: August 17th, 2005 at 12:55 pm
The U.N. wants Israel to be destroyed, this is expected by the folks over at the U.N. I believe since WWII, the model of the U.N. was really suppose to be in the hands of the U.S. But thanks to all the Soviet spies and their Arab allies, they have hijacked the U.N. for their own global Communist-Socialist agenda. Why do you think Cuba or some other Third World dictatorship is on the Human Rights Commission? It’s because their pals in Russia and China control the politics of the U.N.
The U.S. does its best to side with Israel, but Israel is outnumbered by the Arab League and other influences. The U.N. isn’t just anti-Israel, it’s also anti-Taiwan and wants a One-China Policy. Taiwan has been kept out of the U.N. thanks to Chinese influence, but the only nation that has supported Taiwan to get a set of the U.N. is the U.S. So the U.N. doesn’t just want Israel to be destroyed by the Arab League and its parternership with Russia, China and the PLO, but also wants to keep out Taiwan and forward a One-China Policy.
J. Bargholz Says: August 17th, 2005 at 1:47 pm
Why doesn’t the UN get it over with and start manufacturing bombs for the “Palestinians?” I’m surprised the T-shirts didn’t read: “My son blew himself up and all I got was this lousy T-shirt.”
Contrary to its stated mission, the UN has been a destabilizing force in the world for decades now. The US should withdraw and take back the clubhouse we built for them. It would make a nice convention center.
A new organization should be formed comprising the free nations of the world. No dictatorships, kleptocracies or theocracies allowed. Any country that denies its citizens human rights should likewise be excluded. And most importantly, only countries of consequence should be allowed to run the show. All countries are not equal and do not deserve an equal vote. Any Security Council or similar panel that could authorize military action should consist of countries such as: America, Britain, Japan, Israel, Australia, Russia and India. A big “non!” to France.
Presently, a great deal of time, money and effort are being wasted on an organization that is damaged BEYOND REPAIR.
Madzionist Says: August 17th, 2005 at 2:07 pm
Actually, JB, the UNRWA has actually been caught red handed illegaly using their vehicles to smuggle weapons to islamic terrorists in Gaza and Judea. Also, they have openly admitted to staffing members of HAMAS on their payroll. The UN is absolutely determined to see the destruction of Israel, and should be considered a terrorist organization that needs to be permanently dismantled.
-MZ
dgene Says: August 17th, 2005 at 2:23 pm
- largely a collage of tin pot dictatorships and theocracies given a soapbox on the world stage, currently managed by a loose collection of grafters.- Sell the public tickets as to a freak show.
dark900 Says: August 17th, 2005 at 3:05 pm
I say we pull out of the U.N. because of this. I think it would be impossible for old Bolton to do anything in the U.N. It’s too corrupt to be reformed. If China, France or any other anti-American nations wishes to host the U.N., be my guest. Because I don’t want an anti-Jewish/anti-Israel organization that’s being funded by tax payer money.
Madzionist Says: August 17th, 2005 at 4:20 pm
Madzionist: An Expulsion Essay
It’s happening as I type. Jews throughout Gaza are one by one being forcibly pulled from their homes while they are crying and screaming with grief, anger and despair. “Why is this happening?” I keep asking myself. What could possibly be the reason to take 9,000 innocent people from their homes by force, round them up, and deport them into tent cities against their will?
Read the rest and comment at: Madzionist Blogoff
Posted by Jacob Laksin @ Wednesday 17 August 2005, 11:28 am
It does not exactly strain credulity to believe that the United Nations would underwrite anti-Israel propaganda. Comes now tangible evidence to corroborate the fact. Quoting a U.N. official, The New York Sun reports that the “United Nations bankrolled the production of thousands of banners, bumper stickers, mugs, and T-shirts bearing the slogan ‘Today Gaza and Tomorrow the West Bank and Jerusalem,’ which have been widely distributed to Palestinian Arabs in the Gaza Strip…”
The Sun further notes that “[i]n addition to the slogan ‘Today Gaza and Tomorrow the West Bank and Jerusalem,’ many of the materials displayed the logo of the United Nations Development Program.” A spokesman for the U.N. Development program, meanwhile, tenders this risible defense: “We are emphatically neutral …We do not lend ourselves to political messaging in favor of any particular faction or ideology.” This from an affiliate of the organization that once pronounced Zionism tantamount to racism.
Note, too, that slogan: “Today Gaza and Tomorrow the West Bank and Jerusalem.” It is, as readers will assuredly recognize, the classic rallying cry of Israel’s enemies, signifying as it does the intention to bring all of Israel under the yoke of Arab rule. And while it would be unfair to say that the U.N. as a whole shares that vision, it is no secret that the organization has never approved of the territories conquered by Israel in 1967; indeed, much of the U.N.’s time is taken up with issuing resolutions condemning the “illegal” “occupation.” Still, it is shocking and disheartening to see U.N. funds used for such malign purposes at a time when Israel, in accordance with the U.N.’s longtime position, is expelling its own citizens from Gaza.
Of course, the Gaza disengagement was not implemented for the benefit of U.N. plenipotentiaries. But Israeli officials have expressed their hope that the Israeli pullout would usher in an end to the U.N.’s “Israel-bashing,” as Israel’s ambassador to the U.N., Dan Gillerman, recently put it. Memo to the ambassador: Don’t count on it.
This entry was posted on Wednesday, August 17th, 2005 at 11:28 am and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
7 Responses to “Anti-Israel Propaganda: Brought to You by the U.N.”
Mark Says: August 17th, 2005 at 11:56 am
The U.N.(useless nuisance) is completly broken, completly inefective, and the USA needs to get out of the U.N., and get the U.N. out of the USA.
President Bush absloutly stifled all liberal supporters of the U.N., by appointing John Bolton, who is an outstanding man for the job, to the failed, and completly broken U.N.
Where is Amnesty International, when you really need them?
Oh, that’s right, Amnesty International doesn’t count Israel in it’s “countries to protect the rights of the people” catagory.
The U.N. is broken, and has been for quite some time, and we need to get out of it, and we need to get it out of our country!
dark900 Says: August 17th, 2005 at 12:55 pm
The U.N. wants Israel to be destroyed, this is expected by the folks over at the U.N. I believe since WWII, the model of the U.N. was really suppose to be in the hands of the U.S. But thanks to all the Soviet spies and their Arab allies, they have hijacked the U.N. for their own global Communist-Socialist agenda. Why do you think Cuba or some other Third World dictatorship is on the Human Rights Commission? It’s because their pals in Russia and China control the politics of the U.N.
The U.S. does its best to side with Israel, but Israel is outnumbered by the Arab League and other influences. The U.N. isn’t just anti-Israel, it’s also anti-Taiwan and wants a One-China Policy. Taiwan has been kept out of the U.N. thanks to Chinese influence, but the only nation that has supported Taiwan to get a set of the U.N. is the U.S. So the U.N. doesn’t just want Israel to be destroyed by the Arab League and its parternership with Russia, China and the PLO, but also wants to keep out Taiwan and forward a One-China Policy.
J. Bargholz Says: August 17th, 2005 at 1:47 pm
Why doesn’t the UN get it over with and start manufacturing bombs for the “Palestinians?” I’m surprised the T-shirts didn’t read: “My son blew himself up and all I got was this lousy T-shirt.”
Contrary to its stated mission, the UN has been a destabilizing force in the world for decades now. The US should withdraw and take back the clubhouse we built for them. It would make a nice convention center.
A new organization should be formed comprising the free nations of the world. No dictatorships, kleptocracies or theocracies allowed. Any country that denies its citizens human rights should likewise be excluded. And most importantly, only countries of consequence should be allowed to run the show. All countries are not equal and do not deserve an equal vote. Any Security Council or similar panel that could authorize military action should consist of countries such as: America, Britain, Japan, Israel, Australia, Russia and India. A big “non!” to France.
Presently, a great deal of time, money and effort are being wasted on an organization that is damaged BEYOND REPAIR.
Madzionist Says: August 17th, 2005 at 2:07 pm
Actually, JB, the UNRWA has actually been caught red handed illegaly using their vehicles to smuggle weapons to islamic terrorists in Gaza and Judea. Also, they have openly admitted to staffing members of HAMAS on their payroll. The UN is absolutely determined to see the destruction of Israel, and should be considered a terrorist organization that needs to be permanently dismantled.
-MZ
dgene Says: August 17th, 2005 at 2:23 pm
- largely a collage of tin pot dictatorships and theocracies given a soapbox on the world stage, currently managed by a loose collection of grafters.- Sell the public tickets as to a freak show.
dark900 Says: August 17th, 2005 at 3:05 pm
I say we pull out of the U.N. because of this. I think it would be impossible for old Bolton to do anything in the U.N. It’s too corrupt to be reformed. If China, France or any other anti-American nations wishes to host the U.N., be my guest. Because I don’t want an anti-Jewish/anti-Israel organization that’s being funded by tax payer money.
Madzionist Says: August 17th, 2005 at 4:20 pm
Madzionist: An Expulsion Essay
It’s happening as I type. Jews throughout Gaza are one by one being forcibly pulled from their homes while they are crying and screaming with grief, anger and despair. “Why is this happening?” I keep asking myself. What could possibly be the reason to take 9,000 innocent people from their homes by force, round them up, and deport them into tent cities against their will?
Read the rest and comment at: Madzionist Blogoff
Tuesday, August 16, 2005
The Fireproof Penis
Posted by jewishindy on Monday, August 15 @ 19:25:01 EDT
By Beth GoodtreeAugust 15, 2005
Having listened to the pundits and experts on Islamic suicide bombings, these narrowly-focused authorities all seem to miss one glaring point: a desire for debauchery. Take unrelenting hatred, a lust for the depraved and a religion that promises utterly unspiritual orgies of alcohol and sex and you often get a genocidal suicide bomber.
In a symposium held by FrontPage magazine, Dr. Hans-Peter Raddatz, a scholar of Islamic Studies and author of a number of books, including Von Allah zum Terror? Der Djihad und die Deformierung des Westens (From Allah to Terror? Jihad and the Western Deformation), made the following revelation regarding these bombers:
“Some of the Palestinian suicide bombers wrap their penises into fire-proof aluminum foil to save them for the pleasures to come.’’(1)
Naturally, this begs us to question the Muslim contention that we worship the same one G-d.
Jews and Christians all say “There is no God but God.“ We’ll even say it in any other language you’d prefer: Il n'y a aucun Dieu mais un Dieu, não há nenhum Deus mas Deus, er zijn geen God maar God. Be it French, Portuguese, Dutch or any language of your choosing, we will say it in the exact words of that language.
But not the Muslims.
Ask most Muslims (Sufis are one exception to this) and they’ll profess that they believe in the one God we do, but will absolutely refuse to say it. Instead, they say “There is no God but ALLAH.”
Although they insist that ALLAH merely means ‘God’ in Arabic, one must ask then why won’t they then say ‘God’ in another language?
The reason is that, in true Muslim form, they are using the holy ploy of lying, known as al-Taqiyya, to confuse one’s enemies -- in this case anyone who is a non-Muslim is considered an enemy. They tell us that ALLAH means ‘God;’ they do not tell us that their version of God is the diametric opposite from ours. Their ALLAH-god celebrates what we consider to be evil incarnate.
Our God does not have a Heaven filled with every carnal vice. Our spirits are beyond fleshly perversions. In fact, according to Judeo-Christian philosophy (as well as other religions), it is only in the realms known to be inhabited by demons and the ultimate evil that sexual orgies, fornication, drunkenness and every other twisting of moral laws is said to take place.
But not according to most Muslims, who hand out candy every time a Jew is blown up, or some ‘Crusader’ site is rocked by explosions and carnage.
However, not only are their religious beliefs directly opposed to ours, their philosophy surrounding it is totally without logic. The whole concept of a fireproof penis proves this.
Logically, how can one fornicate unless one has arms, legs, a torso and even a head? Are they to be disembodied penises, ripping through 72 poor virgins again and again for all eternity? And if their ALLAH will supposedly restore their bodies once dead, why not the penis? Show me where in the Koran or Hadiths it says this.
So now we come to all those fireproof penises that supposedly forced Israel to turn her own citizens into refugees by stealing their homes, lands and businesses and turning them over, with no quid pro quo, to the very people who have been mercilessly and unrelentingly attacking them.
There are the children of Noga Cohen, who luckily escaped one fireproof penis suicide/genocide murderer only to succumb to his hate-filled compatriots.(2) Three of her children had their legs blown off while on their way to school from the town of Kfar Darom. Their school bus was sprayed by shrapnel from a mortar shell fired by Arab Palestinian terrorists bent upon killing off Jewish children as a way to commit genocide on the Jewish people by murdering their future generation.
In the end, Ariel Sharon, ever safe from fireproof penis genocidal murderers, has decided to give in to them. We may expect to see more fireproof penis murders, but this time in Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, Ashdod and the like. After all, just this past week, the leaders of the Arabs occupying Jewish Palestine just said that Gaza is merely the beginning.
Meanwhile Ariel Sharon and his buddies, who plan to establish a private casino on the ashes of the Jewish towns he singlehandedly destroyed, will probably sell these fireproof penis bombers the aluminum foil.
End Notes
(1) http://www.frontpagemag.com/Articles/ReadArticle.asp?ID=19110
(2) http://www.guardian.co.uk/israel/Story/0,2763,400724,00.html
Beth Goodtree is a popular writer covering Middle East politics, national interests and also writes the occasional science and humor pieces. Her website is Ms. Goodtree is a regular valued contributor to JewishIndy. Beth is also the inventor of the Mazel Tov Cocktail: Start with some nice Kosher wine, add a bissele Cel-Ray tonic, serve with a cherry in a fancy-shmancy clean glass, and say this toast: "May my enemies be wealthy beyond dreams, may they have houses with 50 bedrooms, and may they not get a single good night's sleep in any one of them!"
She may be reached at Bgoodtree@AOL.com.Website: Click here: Beth Goodtree
By Beth GoodtreeAugust 15, 2005
Having listened to the pundits and experts on Islamic suicide bombings, these narrowly-focused authorities all seem to miss one glaring point: a desire for debauchery. Take unrelenting hatred, a lust for the depraved and a religion that promises utterly unspiritual orgies of alcohol and sex and you often get a genocidal suicide bomber.
In a symposium held by FrontPage magazine, Dr. Hans-Peter Raddatz, a scholar of Islamic Studies and author of a number of books, including Von Allah zum Terror? Der Djihad und die Deformierung des Westens (From Allah to Terror? Jihad and the Western Deformation), made the following revelation regarding these bombers:
“Some of the Palestinian suicide bombers wrap their penises into fire-proof aluminum foil to save them for the pleasures to come.’’(1)
Naturally, this begs us to question the Muslim contention that we worship the same one G-d.
Jews and Christians all say “There is no God but God.“ We’ll even say it in any other language you’d prefer: Il n'y a aucun Dieu mais un Dieu, não há nenhum Deus mas Deus, er zijn geen God maar God. Be it French, Portuguese, Dutch or any language of your choosing, we will say it in the exact words of that language.
But not the Muslims.
Ask most Muslims (Sufis are one exception to this) and they’ll profess that they believe in the one God we do, but will absolutely refuse to say it. Instead, they say “There is no God but ALLAH.”
Although they insist that ALLAH merely means ‘God’ in Arabic, one must ask then why won’t they then say ‘God’ in another language?
The reason is that, in true Muslim form, they are using the holy ploy of lying, known as al-Taqiyya, to confuse one’s enemies -- in this case anyone who is a non-Muslim is considered an enemy. They tell us that ALLAH means ‘God;’ they do not tell us that their version of God is the diametric opposite from ours. Their ALLAH-god celebrates what we consider to be evil incarnate.
Our God does not have a Heaven filled with every carnal vice. Our spirits are beyond fleshly perversions. In fact, according to Judeo-Christian philosophy (as well as other religions), it is only in the realms known to be inhabited by demons and the ultimate evil that sexual orgies, fornication, drunkenness and every other twisting of moral laws is said to take place.
But not according to most Muslims, who hand out candy every time a Jew is blown up, or some ‘Crusader’ site is rocked by explosions and carnage.
However, not only are their religious beliefs directly opposed to ours, their philosophy surrounding it is totally without logic. The whole concept of a fireproof penis proves this.
Logically, how can one fornicate unless one has arms, legs, a torso and even a head? Are they to be disembodied penises, ripping through 72 poor virgins again and again for all eternity? And if their ALLAH will supposedly restore their bodies once dead, why not the penis? Show me where in the Koran or Hadiths it says this.
So now we come to all those fireproof penises that supposedly forced Israel to turn her own citizens into refugees by stealing their homes, lands and businesses and turning them over, with no quid pro quo, to the very people who have been mercilessly and unrelentingly attacking them.
There are the children of Noga Cohen, who luckily escaped one fireproof penis suicide/genocide murderer only to succumb to his hate-filled compatriots.(2) Three of her children had their legs blown off while on their way to school from the town of Kfar Darom. Their school bus was sprayed by shrapnel from a mortar shell fired by Arab Palestinian terrorists bent upon killing off Jewish children as a way to commit genocide on the Jewish people by murdering their future generation.
In the end, Ariel Sharon, ever safe from fireproof penis genocidal murderers, has decided to give in to them. We may expect to see more fireproof penis murders, but this time in Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, Ashdod and the like. After all, just this past week, the leaders of the Arabs occupying Jewish Palestine just said that Gaza is merely the beginning.
Meanwhile Ariel Sharon and his buddies, who plan to establish a private casino on the ashes of the Jewish towns he singlehandedly destroyed, will probably sell these fireproof penis bombers the aluminum foil.
End Notes
(1) http://www.frontpagemag.com/Articles/ReadArticle.asp?ID=19110
(2) http://www.guardian.co.uk/israel/Story/0,2763,400724,00.html
Beth Goodtree is a popular writer covering Middle East politics, national interests and also writes the occasional science and humor pieces. Her website is Ms. Goodtree is a regular valued contributor to JewishIndy. Beth is also the inventor of the Mazel Tov Cocktail: Start with some nice Kosher wine, add a bissele Cel-Ray tonic, serve with a cherry in a fancy-shmancy clean glass, and say this toast: "May my enemies be wealthy beyond dreams, may they have houses with 50 bedrooms, and may they not get a single good night's sleep in any one of them!"
She may be reached at Bgoodtree@AOL.com.Website: Click here: Beth Goodtree
Gush Katif Will Rise Again
GUSH KATIF WILL RISE AGAIN
My Last Letter From Gush Katif
From: Rachel Saperstein, Neve Dekalim
I am crying. Tears stream down as I write this letter to you.
We are packing. Tonight we will receive our eviction letter. The soldiers will knock at our door and we will answer the door… Tomorrow we will be put on to buses and brought… who knows where.
Our friends who have been living with us are packing up my home. I amso grateful they are here and doing this awful work. I don't care if my things are clean or folded carefully. They are just thrown into cardboard boxes provided by the army, each marked with our name and ablue sticker. An ugly red shipping container will probably be put on our front lawn today, the visible sign that we are leaving.
Residents were called to the town hall for an emergency meeting thismorning. Our mayor, Lior Kalfa, gave us our instructions. Rabbi YigalKaminetzky praised the large crowd of people who did not leave. Eighty percent of Neve Dekalim residents are here today. We are the people who have held out to the end under the most difficult conditions. War weary after five years of bombardment and a year of extreme psychological pressure, we are still here.
Ariel Sharon has won the battle but he lost the war. He has lost the people of Israel. He has crushed the soul of our soldiers.
Gush Katif will rise again, at another time and in another place. We were a source of inspiration, of greatness, a fight well fought, a fight for the right to be a Jew in a Jewish land.
Gush Katif will rise and the Sharon government will be remembered with contempt by the people.
And so this chapter is over.
From: Rachel Saperstein, Neve Dekalim, Gush Katif
My Last Letter From Gush Katif
From: Rachel Saperstein, Neve Dekalim
I am crying. Tears stream down as I write this letter to you.
We are packing. Tonight we will receive our eviction letter. The soldiers will knock at our door and we will answer the door… Tomorrow we will be put on to buses and brought… who knows where.
Our friends who have been living with us are packing up my home. I amso grateful they are here and doing this awful work. I don't care if my things are clean or folded carefully. They are just thrown into cardboard boxes provided by the army, each marked with our name and ablue sticker. An ugly red shipping container will probably be put on our front lawn today, the visible sign that we are leaving.
Residents were called to the town hall for an emergency meeting thismorning. Our mayor, Lior Kalfa, gave us our instructions. Rabbi YigalKaminetzky praised the large crowd of people who did not leave. Eighty percent of Neve Dekalim residents are here today. We are the people who have held out to the end under the most difficult conditions. War weary after five years of bombardment and a year of extreme psychological pressure, we are still here.
Ariel Sharon has won the battle but he lost the war. He has lost the people of Israel. He has crushed the soul of our soldiers.
Gush Katif will rise again, at another time and in another place. We were a source of inspiration, of greatness, a fight well fought, a fight for the right to be a Jew in a Jewish land.
Gush Katif will rise and the Sharon government will be remembered with contempt by the people.
And so this chapter is over.
From: Rachel Saperstein, Neve Dekalim, Gush Katif
The View From Here
Editor's Note: Today we present the views of two ordinary Israelis living in different parts of the country outside Gush Katif as they watch the dismantling of part of Israel.
In these extraordinary days we'll be sending more mail than usual totry to give you perspectives that might not be covered in themainstream media. I hope you'll find it worthwhile to take a few extra minutes out of your day to share the pain and sense of foreboding that's swamping us here in Israel.
----------------------------------------------------------
FROM: Dale Weiss, Herzliya: E-mail: daleb812@netvision.net.il
We are living through a sad and painful time. No matter where you livein the country, you feel a heaviness that just does not leave. Walking through the streets of Herzliya today, people are going about their routines, food shopping, buying the newspaper, picking up their dry cleaning, going to work and doing the other ordinary things that we do on most days in this country. But there is a big difference today. You see a look of sadness on the faces of the people in the streets. It does not matter what their personal politics are...we cannot get away from this shame that our government is physically forcing thousands of Jewish men, women and children from the homes and businesses that most of their families have had for 30+ years.
Even more pressing is what will happen after this nightmare is over and the evil decree is carried out. We hear that Al Kaida, Hamas and the other terror organizations are coming from Lebanon, Jordan andother places to fill the void in Gaza. We will have this collection ofworld terror crazies on our border...........no doubt, shooting rockets into our port cities of Ashdod and Askelon. Life will not beworth a nickel in these heavily populated Israeli cities. The terrorists don't even need an airplane to send us their deadly messages. These missiles are launched from trucks.
An attorney in my prior life in NY, I now teach business andprofessional English in major companies throughout Israel. One rule Ihave is that political opinions and events are never discussed in myclasses. Today, a group of my students begged me for permission todiscuss what was happening. These students are all young professionals under the age of 35. They all live in the Tel Aviv area. None dress in a manner indicating that they are religious. Quite the contrary, they dress in midriff shirts and often in pants. They expressed feelings of devastation that the Israeli government does not protect its Jewish citizens. They are completely bewildered and frustrated at a government which does not care what its citizens think and feel. My sentiments exactly.
We feel like this is the beginning of the end. The second step in theinfamous "Oslo" process.........the message is clear. The more terror the arabs send us, the more they will be rewarded. After Oslo, they got Jenin, Ramallah, and other parts of Judea and Samaria. These areas now serve as guerilla bases and safe havens for them to plan their murder against us..........they steal our cars and run back to their"territories..........our police have no jurisdiction to retrieve our property...........they send homocide bombers to blow up innocent people on buses and in cafes and no one investigates...........little by little they get another slice of the cake..............until it is all gone! Those of us who say "enough".......are told that we cannot retaliate because maybe women and children will be hurt and then the US and the UN will be angry with us..............are we totally nuts??
It is getting to be "too late". If the world doesn't wake up, thebeast will be upon all of us..........Israel is the appetizer. Wake up folks..........the free world is the main course. Dale Weiss, Herzliya. E-mail: daleb812@netvision.net.il
--------------------------------
EXCERPTED FROM AN ARTICLE by David Willner, Efrat: E-Mail:dwillner@isdn.net.il
Many would like to accept that the Arab and Muslim world today could not really be as bad, as corrupt, as enamored of blood, violence, death, and murderous martyrdom as the media would have you believe.That people are basically the same everywhere you go. They would be wrong. That mistaken belief has allowed for the destruction of the World Trade Center and other atrocities that are simply staggering intheir scope.
We now accept a world of security checks - because that is easier thanadmitting that there are a heckuva lot of Arabs and Muslims in this> world that simply do not value human life. These are people - well> funded beyond imagining - that spend their days dreaming up ways to kill innocent people. Innocents in NY, Rome, Madrid, Istanbul, London,and especially Israel.
The list is far longer, but the bottom line is that> Israel is the front line for these maniacs willing to plunge the world back into darkness. If Israel were to cease to exist tomorrow,the war would be empowered beyond imagining. No Christian, Buddhist,or non-believer in the world would be safe. If you think I'm kidding then you need to see a psychiatrist. I'm not saying it. It says it in the Koran, and there are a lot of Muslims on this planet who are not willing to adjust there weltanschauung to a pluralistic democratic norm.
And their number is growing. Just wander into any local mosque andlisten to what's being preached. Think about it - 25 years ago we'd all be hard pressed to identify a local mosque pretty much anywhere in the western world. If you live in London, Hamburg, Paris, Detroit, NewJersey, New York city you can't help but notice that Islam is now the fastest growing religion on the planet.>
So what are good people who just want to live quiet lives supposed to do. People who want to simply put food on the table, help their children to grow into good adults, maybe watch the evening news at the end of a tiring day, and take a vacation to Disneyland every decade or so?
I know it's been said, but it bears repeating. We have to wake up andit has to be now. The killing of one person is too much. The Arab and> Muslim world needs to be held to the same standards of morality,> decency, and justice as every other citizen of this planet. If yougo to bed at night thinking that the beheading of a journalist in Iraqor the lynching of a reservist in Ramallah is sad, but - what can oneexpect from an Arab or Moslem - you are a racist. You've justifiedmurder because the perpetrators are less than human because their religion or culture has produced this behavior and is doing its best to encourage more of the same.
Every security expert here in Israel is saying we should expect a newround of violence. Every Arab terrorist leader is saying that the front will move closer and that Jerusalem will soon be in their hands.
What madness drives the leaders of Israel and the western world toignore these purveyors of death and treat them as anything more than the mass murderers that they are? Have they reformed, have they apologized for their demonic deeds? Have they paid reparations to theorphaned children, the maimed and the crippled for life?
From where I sit, we cancontinue to put up barriers, impose security checks in airports, shopping malls, hotels, banks, amusement parks,sporting events, and places of worship. We can hope that our security forces can try and find the suicidal maniac just waiting for an opportunity to plunge a public bus off a cliff, to send a bomb in aletter, to get his or her hands on an atomic or nuclear device.>
Or we can say, loudly, clearly, and without shame, "We know the> difference between good and bad." We know the face of evil and we are prepared to rip it out of existence. To terminate this cancer -before it terminates us. For that to happen we need better leadership.We need leaders in the free world that are willing to fight thisbattle relentlessly, day and night, 24/7, everywhere that thesemonsters hide.>
It can't be done by attacking people that care about life, careabout freedom, and are eager to build a better world - like the people in Gush Katif. The Jewish people should know the difference between anenemy and a scapegoat, and the good people of Gush Katif should not have to pay the price for this governments folly. In the history ofthe world, no democratic country has ever forced its citizens out oftheir homes, destroyed their places of worship, and unearthed its deadfrom their cemeteries. It is a dark day for the Jewish people. If wedon't do everything we can to destroy terrorism, make no mistake itwill destroy us.
From: David Willner, Efrat
In these extraordinary days we'll be sending more mail than usual totry to give you perspectives that might not be covered in themainstream media. I hope you'll find it worthwhile to take a few extra minutes out of your day to share the pain and sense of foreboding that's swamping us here in Israel.
----------------------------------------------------------
FROM: Dale Weiss, Herzliya: E-mail: daleb812@netvision.net.il
We are living through a sad and painful time. No matter where you livein the country, you feel a heaviness that just does not leave. Walking through the streets of Herzliya today, people are going about their routines, food shopping, buying the newspaper, picking up their dry cleaning, going to work and doing the other ordinary things that we do on most days in this country. But there is a big difference today. You see a look of sadness on the faces of the people in the streets. It does not matter what their personal politics are...we cannot get away from this shame that our government is physically forcing thousands of Jewish men, women and children from the homes and businesses that most of their families have had for 30+ years.
Even more pressing is what will happen after this nightmare is over and the evil decree is carried out. We hear that Al Kaida, Hamas and the other terror organizations are coming from Lebanon, Jordan andother places to fill the void in Gaza. We will have this collection ofworld terror crazies on our border...........no doubt, shooting rockets into our port cities of Ashdod and Askelon. Life will not beworth a nickel in these heavily populated Israeli cities. The terrorists don't even need an airplane to send us their deadly messages. These missiles are launched from trucks.
An attorney in my prior life in NY, I now teach business andprofessional English in major companies throughout Israel. One rule Ihave is that political opinions and events are never discussed in myclasses. Today, a group of my students begged me for permission todiscuss what was happening. These students are all young professionals under the age of 35. They all live in the Tel Aviv area. None dress in a manner indicating that they are religious. Quite the contrary, they dress in midriff shirts and often in pants. They expressed feelings of devastation that the Israeli government does not protect its Jewish citizens. They are completely bewildered and frustrated at a government which does not care what its citizens think and feel. My sentiments exactly.
We feel like this is the beginning of the end. The second step in theinfamous "Oslo" process.........the message is clear. The more terror the arabs send us, the more they will be rewarded. After Oslo, they got Jenin, Ramallah, and other parts of Judea and Samaria. These areas now serve as guerilla bases and safe havens for them to plan their murder against us..........they steal our cars and run back to their"territories..........our police have no jurisdiction to retrieve our property...........they send homocide bombers to blow up innocent people on buses and in cafes and no one investigates...........little by little they get another slice of the cake..............until it is all gone! Those of us who say "enough".......are told that we cannot retaliate because maybe women and children will be hurt and then the US and the UN will be angry with us..............are we totally nuts??
It is getting to be "too late". If the world doesn't wake up, thebeast will be upon all of us..........Israel is the appetizer. Wake up folks..........the free world is the main course. Dale Weiss, Herzliya. E-mail: daleb812@netvision.net.il
--------------------------------
EXCERPTED FROM AN ARTICLE by David Willner, Efrat: E-Mail:dwillner@isdn.net.il
Many would like to accept that the Arab and Muslim world today could not really be as bad, as corrupt, as enamored of blood, violence, death, and murderous martyrdom as the media would have you believe.That people are basically the same everywhere you go. They would be wrong. That mistaken belief has allowed for the destruction of the World Trade Center and other atrocities that are simply staggering intheir scope.
We now accept a world of security checks - because that is easier thanadmitting that there are a heckuva lot of Arabs and Muslims in this> world that simply do not value human life. These are people - well> funded beyond imagining - that spend their days dreaming up ways to kill innocent people. Innocents in NY, Rome, Madrid, Istanbul, London,and especially Israel.
The list is far longer, but the bottom line is that> Israel is the front line for these maniacs willing to plunge the world back into darkness. If Israel were to cease to exist tomorrow,the war would be empowered beyond imagining. No Christian, Buddhist,or non-believer in the world would be safe. If you think I'm kidding then you need to see a psychiatrist. I'm not saying it. It says it in the Koran, and there are a lot of Muslims on this planet who are not willing to adjust there weltanschauung to a pluralistic democratic norm.
And their number is growing. Just wander into any local mosque andlisten to what's being preached. Think about it - 25 years ago we'd all be hard pressed to identify a local mosque pretty much anywhere in the western world. If you live in London, Hamburg, Paris, Detroit, NewJersey, New York city you can't help but notice that Islam is now the fastest growing religion on the planet.>
So what are good people who just want to live quiet lives supposed to do. People who want to simply put food on the table, help their children to grow into good adults, maybe watch the evening news at the end of a tiring day, and take a vacation to Disneyland every decade or so?
I know it's been said, but it bears repeating. We have to wake up andit has to be now. The killing of one person is too much. The Arab and> Muslim world needs to be held to the same standards of morality,> decency, and justice as every other citizen of this planet. If yougo to bed at night thinking that the beheading of a journalist in Iraqor the lynching of a reservist in Ramallah is sad, but - what can oneexpect from an Arab or Moslem - you are a racist. You've justifiedmurder because the perpetrators are less than human because their religion or culture has produced this behavior and is doing its best to encourage more of the same.
Every security expert here in Israel is saying we should expect a newround of violence. Every Arab terrorist leader is saying that the front will move closer and that Jerusalem will soon be in their hands.
What madness drives the leaders of Israel and the western world toignore these purveyors of death and treat them as anything more than the mass murderers that they are? Have they reformed, have they apologized for their demonic deeds? Have they paid reparations to theorphaned children, the maimed and the crippled for life?
From where I sit, we cancontinue to put up barriers, impose security checks in airports, shopping malls, hotels, banks, amusement parks,sporting events, and places of worship. We can hope that our security forces can try and find the suicidal maniac just waiting for an opportunity to plunge a public bus off a cliff, to send a bomb in aletter, to get his or her hands on an atomic or nuclear device.>
Or we can say, loudly, clearly, and without shame, "We know the> difference between good and bad." We know the face of evil and we are prepared to rip it out of existence. To terminate this cancer -before it terminates us. For that to happen we need better leadership.We need leaders in the free world that are willing to fight thisbattle relentlessly, day and night, 24/7, everywhere that thesemonsters hide.>
It can't be done by attacking people that care about life, careabout freedom, and are eager to build a better world - like the people in Gush Katif. The Jewish people should know the difference between anenemy and a scapegoat, and the good people of Gush Katif should not have to pay the price for this governments folly. In the history ofthe world, no democratic country has ever forced its citizens out oftheir homes, destroyed their places of worship, and unearthed its deadfrom their cemeteries. It is a dark day for the Jewish people. If wedon't do everything we can to destroy terrorism, make no mistake itwill destroy us.
From: David Willner, Efrat
Monday, August 15, 2005
The Tragedy of Islam
Jewish World Review
July 28, 2005 / 21 Tamuz, 5765
THE TRAGEDY OF ISLAM
By Michael Graham
http://www.JewishWorldReview.com
I take no pleasure in saying it. It
pains me to think it. I could very well lose my job in talk radio over
admitting it. But it is the plain truth:
Islam is a terror organization.
For years, I've been trying to give the world's Muslim community the
benefit of the doubt, along with the benefit of my typical-American's
complete disinterest in their faith. Before 9/11, I knew nothing about
Islam except the greeting "asalaam alaikum," taught to me by a
Pakistani friend in Chicago.
Immediately after 9/11, I nodded in ignorant agreement as President
Bush assured me that "Islam is a religion of peace."
But nearly four years later, nobody can defend that statement. And I
mean "nobody."
Certainly not the group of "moderate" Muslim clerics and imams who
gathered in London last week to issue a statement on terrorism and
their faith. When asked the question "Are suicide bombings always a
violation of Islam," they could not answer "Yes. Always." Instead,
these "moderate British Muslims" had to answer "It depends."
Precisely what it depends on, news reports did not say. Sadly, given
our new knowledge of Islam from the past four years, it probably
depends on whether or not you're killing Jews.
That is part of the state of modern Islam.
Another fact about the state of Islam is that a majority of Muslims in
countries like Jordan continue to believe that suicide bombings are
legitimate. Still another is the poll reported by a left-leaning
British paper than only 73 percent of British Muslims would tell
police if they knew about a planned terrorist attack.
The other 27 percent? They are a part of modern Islam, too.
The Council on American-Islamic Relations is outraged that I would
dare to connect the worldwide epidemic of terrorism with Islam. They
put it down to bigotry, asserting that a lifetime of disinterest in
Islam has suddenly become blind hatred. They couldn't be more wrong.
Not to be mean to the folks at CAIR, but I don't: Care, that is. I
simply don't care about Islam, its theology, its history — I have no
interest in it at all. All I care about is not getting blown to
smithereens when I board a bus or ride a plane. I care about living in
a world where terrorism and murder/suicide bombings are rejected by
all.
And the reason Islam has itself become a terrorist organization is
that it cannot address its own role in this violence. It cannot cast
out the murderers from its members. I know it can't, because
"moderate" Muslim imams keep telling me they can't. "We have no
control over these radical young men," one London imam moaned to the
local papers.
Can't kick 'em out of your faith? Can't excommunicate them? Apparently
Islam does not allow it.
Islam cannot say that terrorism is forbidden to Muslims. I know this
because when the world's Muslim nations gathered after 9/11 to state
their position on terrorism, they couldn't even agree on what it was.
How could they, when the world's largest terror sponsors at the time
were Iran and Saudi Arabia — both governed by Islamic law.
If the Boy Scouts of America had 1,000 scout troops, and 10 of them
practiced suicide bombings, then the BSA would be considered a
terrorist organization. If the BSA refused to kick out those 10
troops, that would make the case even stronger. If people defending
terror repeatedly turned to the Boy Scout handbook and found language
that justified and defended murder — and the scoutmasters in charge
simply said "Could be" — the Boy Scouts would have driven out of
America long ago.
Today, Islam has entire sects and grand mosques that preach terror.
Its theology is used as a source of inspiration by terrorist
murderers. Millions of Islam's members give these killers support and
comfort.
The question isn't how dare I call Islam a terrorist organization, but
rather why more people do not.
As I've said many times, I have great sympathy for those Muslims of
good will who want their faith to be a true "religion of peace." I
believe that terrorism and murder do violate the sensibilities and
inherent decency of the vast majority of the world's Muslims. I
believe they want peace.
Sadly, the organization and fundamental theology of Islam as it is
constituted today allows for hatreds most Muslims do not share to
thrive, and for criminals they oppose to operate in the name of their
faith.
Many Muslims, I believe, know this to be true and some are acting on
it. Not the members of CAIR, unfortunately: As Middle East analyst and
expert Daniel Pipes has reported, "two of CAIR's associates (Ghassan
Elashi, Randall Royer) have been convicted on terrorism-related
charges, one (Bassem Khafegi) convicted on fraud charges, two (Rabih
Haddad, Bassem Khafegi) have been deported, and one (Siraj Wahhaj)
remains at large."
But Pakistan's President Pervez Musharraf admits what CAIR will not.
He's called for a jihad against the jihadists. He's putting his life
on the line (Islamists have tried to assassinate him three times) in
the battle to reclaim Islam and its fundamental decency.
He remembers, I'm sure, that at a time when Western, Christian
civilization was on the verge of collapse, the Muslim world was a
bastion of rationalism and tolerance. That was a great moment in the
history of Islam, a moment that helped save the West.
Let's hope Islam can now find the strength to save itself.
Start your day with Yahoo! - make it your home page
July 28, 2005 / 21 Tamuz, 5765
THE TRAGEDY OF ISLAM
By Michael Graham
http://www.JewishWorldReview.com
I take no pleasure in saying it. It
pains me to think it. I could very well lose my job in talk radio over
admitting it. But it is the plain truth:
Islam is a terror organization.
For years, I've been trying to give the world's Muslim community the
benefit of the doubt, along with the benefit of my typical-American's
complete disinterest in their faith. Before 9/11, I knew nothing about
Islam except the greeting "asalaam alaikum," taught to me by a
Pakistani friend in Chicago.
Immediately after 9/11, I nodded in ignorant agreement as President
Bush assured me that "Islam is a religion of peace."
But nearly four years later, nobody can defend that statement. And I
mean "nobody."
Certainly not the group of "moderate" Muslim clerics and imams who
gathered in London last week to issue a statement on terrorism and
their faith. When asked the question "Are suicide bombings always a
violation of Islam," they could not answer "Yes. Always." Instead,
these "moderate British Muslims" had to answer "It depends."
Precisely what it depends on, news reports did not say. Sadly, given
our new knowledge of Islam from the past four years, it probably
depends on whether or not you're killing Jews.
That is part of the state of modern Islam.
Another fact about the state of Islam is that a majority of Muslims in
countries like Jordan continue to believe that suicide bombings are
legitimate. Still another is the poll reported by a left-leaning
British paper than only 73 percent of British Muslims would tell
police if they knew about a planned terrorist attack.
The other 27 percent? They are a part of modern Islam, too.
The Council on American-Islamic Relations is outraged that I would
dare to connect the worldwide epidemic of terrorism with Islam. They
put it down to bigotry, asserting that a lifetime of disinterest in
Islam has suddenly become blind hatred. They couldn't be more wrong.
Not to be mean to the folks at CAIR, but I don't: Care, that is. I
simply don't care about Islam, its theology, its history — I have no
interest in it at all. All I care about is not getting blown to
smithereens when I board a bus or ride a plane. I care about living in
a world where terrorism and murder/suicide bombings are rejected by
all.
And the reason Islam has itself become a terrorist organization is
that it cannot address its own role in this violence. It cannot cast
out the murderers from its members. I know it can't, because
"moderate" Muslim imams keep telling me they can't. "We have no
control over these radical young men," one London imam moaned to the
local papers.
Can't kick 'em out of your faith? Can't excommunicate them? Apparently
Islam does not allow it.
Islam cannot say that terrorism is forbidden to Muslims. I know this
because when the world's Muslim nations gathered after 9/11 to state
their position on terrorism, they couldn't even agree on what it was.
How could they, when the world's largest terror sponsors at the time
were Iran and Saudi Arabia — both governed by Islamic law.
If the Boy Scouts of America had 1,000 scout troops, and 10 of them
practiced suicide bombings, then the BSA would be considered a
terrorist organization. If the BSA refused to kick out those 10
troops, that would make the case even stronger. If people defending
terror repeatedly turned to the Boy Scout handbook and found language
that justified and defended murder — and the scoutmasters in charge
simply said "Could be" — the Boy Scouts would have driven out of
America long ago.
Today, Islam has entire sects and grand mosques that preach terror.
Its theology is used as a source of inspiration by terrorist
murderers. Millions of Islam's members give these killers support and
comfort.
The question isn't how dare I call Islam a terrorist organization, but
rather why more people do not.
As I've said many times, I have great sympathy for those Muslims of
good will who want their faith to be a true "religion of peace." I
believe that terrorism and murder do violate the sensibilities and
inherent decency of the vast majority of the world's Muslims. I
believe they want peace.
Sadly, the organization and fundamental theology of Islam as it is
constituted today allows for hatreds most Muslims do not share to
thrive, and for criminals they oppose to operate in the name of their
faith.
Many Muslims, I believe, know this to be true and some are acting on
it. Not the members of CAIR, unfortunately: As Middle East analyst and
expert Daniel Pipes has reported, "two of CAIR's associates (Ghassan
Elashi, Randall Royer) have been convicted on terrorism-related
charges, one (Bassem Khafegi) convicted on fraud charges, two (Rabih
Haddad, Bassem Khafegi) have been deported, and one (Siraj Wahhaj)
remains at large."
But Pakistan's President Pervez Musharraf admits what CAIR will not.
He's called for a jihad against the jihadists. He's putting his life
on the line (Islamists have tried to assassinate him three times) in
the battle to reclaim Islam and its fundamental decency.
He remembers, I'm sure, that at a time when Western, Christian
civilization was on the verge of collapse, the Muslim world was a
bastion of rationalism and tolerance. That was a great moment in the
history of Islam, a moment that helped save the West.
Let's hope Islam can now find the strength to save itself.
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Open Letter
8/13/05
Open letter to the President of the United States, the Senate, and the House of Representatives:
I am a nobody. I have no voice except through faxed letters to my representatives, the President, Condoleeza Rice, Donald Rumsfeld et al. I am a nobody, a woman, a business owner, a nurse, a mother. I have no political ambition. I am but one of millions of faceless, voiceless humans that live in the United States of America.
Today, I feel that this is no longer the greatest country on God’s green planet. I feel humiliated, and betrayed by my own government. I feel like throwing my citizenship away, and would, if that were possible. I’m angry at this betrayal, and here, in this letter, I’m going to tell you why.
Back in the 1970’s when the first oil embargo happened, it was clear to me, and no doubt many others, that our dependence on foreign oil was a danger. Yet, those that tried to come up with alternatives were silenced, thwarted, ignored. Our government knew at that time that placing all of our apples in one basket was a bad idea, yet no one bothered to find any reasonable alternatives, much less fund them. This was the first betrayal, and as we can see today, has led to a host of betrayals.
But that’s not the worst of it. I don’t need to spell out the “missed” opportunities to find alternate energy sources, nor do I need to spell out the “missed” opportunities to liquidate our hateful Islamic enemies, nor do I need to spell out the horrendous stupidity of political correctness and it’s consequences that have so endangered our very lives. Actually, this isn’t the reason for this letter. This letter is the tale of two countries, and the ultimate betrayal of our current government policy.
This policy, which has everything to do with the Middle East, is the betrayal of all times.
You see, with the President’s “road map to peace” and his emissary of Condoleeza Rice to Israel to strong arm the Israeli government into compliance, the “settlements” will be disengaged come hell or high water in the next week.
Mr. President, you made a deal with the devil. You swore to this country that we would 1) Never deal with terrorists (which you reneged on by keeping an “open door” policy with the Palestinians, although not with Arafat directly.
2) To hunt terrorists down and bring them to justice. Again you reneged on this. Abbas is known for his support of jihad jihadjihad.
3) By negotiating with the Palestinians and supporting Abbas, you, sir, have created what will be the greatest, cruelest genocide this world has seen since WWII.
4) By not learning about the true nature of Islam, you have placed every American in harms way, and every Israeli at the sword’s edge. You have put innocent Jews to the Islamic sword.
What our country and our legislature didn’t learn, is the basic tenent of Islam. To rule the world. Further, what our government has failed repeatedly, lately, to understand is that any concession, any kindness, any act of humanity is seen by these barbarians as weakness. The road map will never work simply because, as we see in today’s headlines, lies, upon lies, upon lies, are all that these terrorist groups can espouse. They can not tell the truth, they revise history to suit their deadly aims. They can not be dealt with at all, they can only be destroyed, and destroy them we must. We must call a spade a spade and not a tulip. The Islamic religion is NOT a religion of peace. Anyone who has ever read the Quran can easily cite numerous instances in which the annilation of anyone not muslim is demanded. Unfortunately, hundreds of thousands of muslims today believe this.
Today, not only Hamas, but Abbas himself claimed what they’ve been claiming for years and years, today Gaza, tomorrow the West Bank and Jerusalem. You, Mr. President, have put these innocent, peace loving people, the Israelis, directly in the path of death. And by default; you have also done this to Americans.
Remember us?
The people you swore to protect? Now that the Palestinians will be waging relentless terror on Israel, they will have plenty of assistance from neighboring countries to wage jihad not only on Israelis, but to train, arm, and send forth their murdering bands of brothers.
So now we have a government official named Abbas, who openly supports the ruination of Israel. And we have Hamas and other groups that openly swear to take all the “occupied lands” and drive the Jews out. Great. Just great. Of course they won’t stop there, because Mr. President, you have now created a perfect place for terrorists to learn, to assemble weapons, to import weapons via the sea, and of course, to export both terrorists and their weapons to distant lands, like, the USA. Please do not feign shock at this, this was the intended outcome. No doubt the money men behind all of this, for example the Saudi’s, had a great deal of influence in the “road map.”
Today, I am ashamed to be an American. I am deeply ashamed of my government. My heart is in shreds for what could have been. Instead of what could have been, our very own country will be taken over just as Israel will be taken over. Just as France, Germany, England, Holland, et al. will be taken over. We don’t have much time left to enjoy what once was a great country. We don’t have much time left to savor the sweetness of America, for it is fouled by the stench of betrayal.
Chris Landrum
Open letter to the President of the United States, the Senate, and the House of Representatives:
I am a nobody. I have no voice except through faxed letters to my representatives, the President, Condoleeza Rice, Donald Rumsfeld et al. I am a nobody, a woman, a business owner, a nurse, a mother. I have no political ambition. I am but one of millions of faceless, voiceless humans that live in the United States of America.
Today, I feel that this is no longer the greatest country on God’s green planet. I feel humiliated, and betrayed by my own government. I feel like throwing my citizenship away, and would, if that were possible. I’m angry at this betrayal, and here, in this letter, I’m going to tell you why.
Back in the 1970’s when the first oil embargo happened, it was clear to me, and no doubt many others, that our dependence on foreign oil was a danger. Yet, those that tried to come up with alternatives were silenced, thwarted, ignored. Our government knew at that time that placing all of our apples in one basket was a bad idea, yet no one bothered to find any reasonable alternatives, much less fund them. This was the first betrayal, and as we can see today, has led to a host of betrayals.
But that’s not the worst of it. I don’t need to spell out the “missed” opportunities to find alternate energy sources, nor do I need to spell out the “missed” opportunities to liquidate our hateful Islamic enemies, nor do I need to spell out the horrendous stupidity of political correctness and it’s consequences that have so endangered our very lives. Actually, this isn’t the reason for this letter. This letter is the tale of two countries, and the ultimate betrayal of our current government policy.
This policy, which has everything to do with the Middle East, is the betrayal of all times.
You see, with the President’s “road map to peace” and his emissary of Condoleeza Rice to Israel to strong arm the Israeli government into compliance, the “settlements” will be disengaged come hell or high water in the next week.
Mr. President, you made a deal with the devil. You swore to this country that we would 1) Never deal with terrorists (which you reneged on by keeping an “open door” policy with the Palestinians, although not with Arafat directly.
2) To hunt terrorists down and bring them to justice. Again you reneged on this. Abbas is known for his support of jihad jihadjihad.
3) By negotiating with the Palestinians and supporting Abbas, you, sir, have created what will be the greatest, cruelest genocide this world has seen since WWII.
4) By not learning about the true nature of Islam, you have placed every American in harms way, and every Israeli at the sword’s edge. You have put innocent Jews to the Islamic sword.
What our country and our legislature didn’t learn, is the basic tenent of Islam. To rule the world. Further, what our government has failed repeatedly, lately, to understand is that any concession, any kindness, any act of humanity is seen by these barbarians as weakness. The road map will never work simply because, as we see in today’s headlines, lies, upon lies, upon lies, are all that these terrorist groups can espouse. They can not tell the truth, they revise history to suit their deadly aims. They can not be dealt with at all, they can only be destroyed, and destroy them we must. We must call a spade a spade and not a tulip. The Islamic religion is NOT a religion of peace. Anyone who has ever read the Quran can easily cite numerous instances in which the annilation of anyone not muslim is demanded. Unfortunately, hundreds of thousands of muslims today believe this.
Today, not only Hamas, but Abbas himself claimed what they’ve been claiming for years and years, today Gaza, tomorrow the West Bank and Jerusalem. You, Mr. President, have put these innocent, peace loving people, the Israelis, directly in the path of death. And by default; you have also done this to Americans.
Remember us?
The people you swore to protect? Now that the Palestinians will be waging relentless terror on Israel, they will have plenty of assistance from neighboring countries to wage jihad not only on Israelis, but to train, arm, and send forth their murdering bands of brothers.
So now we have a government official named Abbas, who openly supports the ruination of Israel. And we have Hamas and other groups that openly swear to take all the “occupied lands” and drive the Jews out. Great. Just great. Of course they won’t stop there, because Mr. President, you have now created a perfect place for terrorists to learn, to assemble weapons, to import weapons via the sea, and of course, to export both terrorists and their weapons to distant lands, like, the USA. Please do not feign shock at this, this was the intended outcome. No doubt the money men behind all of this, for example the Saudi’s, had a great deal of influence in the “road map.”
Today, I am ashamed to be an American. I am deeply ashamed of my government. My heart is in shreds for what could have been. Instead of what could have been, our very own country will be taken over just as Israel will be taken over. Just as France, Germany, England, Holland, et al. will be taken over. We don’t have much time left to enjoy what once was a great country. We don’t have much time left to savor the sweetness of America, for it is fouled by the stench of betrayal.
Chris Landrum
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