Archive for the ‘Israel’ Category

Obama blocks Bunker Buster Bombs to Israel

by Rodan ( 145 Comments › )
Filed under Barack Obama, Elections 2010, Hezballah, IDF, Islamic Supremacism, Israel, Kosovo, Lebanon, Leftist-Islamic Alliance, Progressives, Republican Party, Serbia, Tranzis at March 19th, 2010 - 11:00 am

Our radical Tranzi Totalitarian Progressive leader, Barack Hussein Obama, is back stabbing another ally once again. He has blocked the delivery to Israel of Bunker Buster munitions the IDF needs to fight Hizballah and Syria. This is malicious and cowardly on the part of the radical Progressives. In reality, they would love to get the US/NATO to bomb Israel like they criminally attacked the Serbs. Israel, luckily, has a decent air force and nukes, so they will not go that route. But they will assist the Islamic Imperialists by preventing Israel from getting the weapons it needs to defend against Arabic Imperialist aggression.

WASHINGTON — The United States has diverted a shipment of bunker-busters designated for Israel

Officials said the U.S. military was ordered to divert a shipment of smart bunker-buster bombs from Israel to a military base in Diego Garcia. They said the shipment of 387 smart munitions had been slated to join pre-positioned U.S. military equipment in Israel Air Force bases.  “This was a political decision,” an official said.

Read the rest: Obama blocks delivery of bunker-busters to Israel.                                                                                                                                                  
(more…)

Change! Obama’s Policy of Distancing Israel & Rehabilitating Islam’s Global Image

by WrathofG-d ( 82 Comments › )
Filed under Barack Obama, Democratic Party, Gaza, Iran, Islamic Terrorism, Islamists, Israel, Leftist-Islamic Alliance, Middle East, Palestinians, Politics, Progressives, Religion at March 18th, 2010 - 4:00 pm

Much ado has been made about the Obama Administration’s most recent manufactured spat and over-reaction to Israel’s announcement that it was going to go forward with a zoning decision in the Israeli neighborhood of Ramat Shlomo.

President Biden accused [Israel] of “endangering US lives in Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan.” Despite Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s abject apology, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton accused him of “insulting” the US. Obama’s chief political adviser David Axelrod even claimed that the Israeli government was deliberately undermining peace talks.

All of this, despite the fact that this announcement (not actual building mind you)  involved no breach of undertaking between the two countries.

…the Obama administration had previously publicly praised the Israeli government for making a “major concession” by imposing a settlement freeze which explicitly excluded Jerusalem.

So what gives? Despite the American public’s reaction of shock to this most recent kerfuffle, this treatment of America’s most reliable, and steadfast ally by the Obama Administration is not unique.

These hostile outbursts must be viewed in the context of the fact that despite strong ongoing support for Israel by the American people, the US-Israel relationship has been on a downward spiral since the election of the new administration. Former Mossad head Ephraim Halevy attributes this to Obama’s determination to rehabilitate Islam’s global tarnished image.

Yet his strategy of “engaging” Islamic rogue states has been disastrous. The effort to prevent the nuclearization of Iran by appeasing the Iranian tyrants backfired with the ayatollahs literally mocking the US. The response of Syrian President Bashar Assad to US groveling and the appointment of an ambassador to Damascus, was to host a summit with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Hizbullah terrorist leader Hassan Nasrallah and ridicule the US demand that he curtail his relationship with Iran. President Obama did not consider this “insulting,” prompting the editor of the Lebanese The Daily Star to say that “the Obama administration these days provokes little confidence in its allies and even less fear in its adversaries.”

The Arab League refuses to modify its hard-line against Israel. It insists that Israel unconditionally accept the Saudi peace plan, a full retreat to the ‘67 borders and the implementation of the Arab right of return which would signal an end to Jewish sovereignty in the region.

THERE ARE now ominous signals that to obviate their failures, White House strategists are cynically distancing themselves from us in order to curry popularity by capitalizing on the anti-Israeli hatred which has engulfed the world.

Despite continuously incanting the mantra that it remains committed to the alliance with Israel, the White House is not behaving in an even-handed manner. Obama does not disguise his animosity and repeatedly humiliates [Israel's] prime minister.
The administration “condemns” us for building homes, not in densely Arab populated areas of Jerusalem but in Jewish suburbs like Gilo and most recently Ramat Shlomo which most of us regard as Israel no less than Tel Aviv.

Instead of condemning the brutal Palestinian murderer of an Israeli civilian in December, the US requested “clarification” after Israel apprehended the killers who the PA extolled as heroes.  They failed to block a UN Security Council resolution criticizing Israeli police for protecting worshippers at the Temple Mount from Arabs hurling stones at them.  They even condemned [Israel] for authorizing repairs on Jewish heritage sites over the Green Line.

In stark contrast, the US has not publicly reprimanded the PA on a single issue over the past twelve months. It is unconscionable that neither the White House nor the State Department conveyed a word of protest concerning the ongoing incitement and spate of ceremonies sanctifying the memory of the most degenerate suicide killers and mass murderers. Not even when our peace partners President Mahmoud Abbas and Prime Minister Salam Fayyad personally partook in these ghoulish ceremonies. In fact, during Biden’s visit, the PA announced that they would postpone a ceremony to name a public square in Ramallah to honor Dalal Mughrabi, the female monster responsible for the abominable 1978 massacre in which 37 Israelis including 13 children were butchered. Nevertheless the ceremony took place and the PA TV interviewed Mughrabi’s sister who stated: “This is a day of glory and pride for the Palestinian people. We must unite, and our rifles must unite, against the enemy who steals our land.” The US failed to register a protest.

NETANYAHU HAS extended more concessions than any other Israeli leader. His government immediately agreed to negotiations with the Palestinians. In contrast, Abbas told The Washington Post that being confident that the US would ensure that the Palestinians obtained whatever they sought, he saw no benefit in negotiating with the Israelis. This scenario is now being realized.

{The Article. A Must Read}

Palestinians: Jews Are Bacteria, Should Be Annihilated

by WrathofG-d ( 177 Comments › )
Filed under Anti-semitism, Gaza, Hamas, Holocaust, Islamic Supremacism, Islamic Terrorism, Islamic hypocrisy, Islamists, Israel, Jihad, Judaism, Middle East, Palestinians, Racism, Religion, Terrorism, World at March 18th, 2010 - 9:30 am

While discussing the teachings of the (unholy) Koran, Hamas Deputy Minister of Religious Endowments calls for Jews to be annihilated, adding that they are nothing but bacteria and not even human beings.

MEMRI TV Clip preaching about Jews as bacteria from Vlad Tepes on Vimeo.

Abdallah Jarbu’: “[The Jews] suffer from a mental disorder, because they are thieves and aggressors. A thief or an aggressor, who took property or land, develops a psychological disorder and pangs of conscience, because he took something that wasn’t his.

“They want to present themselves to the world as if they have rights, but, in fact, they are foreign bacteria – a microbe unparalleled in the worldIt’s not me who says this. The Koran itself says that they have no parallel: ‘You shall find the strongest men in enmity to the believers to be the Jews.’

“May He annihilate this filthy people who have neither religion nor conscience.  I condemn whoever believes in normalizing relations with them, whoever supports sitting down with them, and whoever believes that they are human beings.  They are not human beings.  They are not people. They have no religion, no conscience, and no moral.

{The Article from MEMRI}

This is not the first time that someone has described the Jewish people as subhuman bacteria, or called for their annihilation.  The claims being made today by this modern day Muslim Nazi, are nearly identical to those made decades ago by the German Nazis.  Unfortunately, this is not the first time that the World leaders have decided to ignore it either, relying instead on hope and appeasement to dissuade their generation’s genocidal maniacs.

Does anyone still really believe that this vicious Jew hatred based on the Koran will magically end if Israel were to create a “Palestinian” State in Judea & Samaria?  An emboldened Hamas, and these comments are the result of attempting to create a “State” in Gaza!  Don’t be fooled!  The so-called “Palestinians” are nothing short of Muslim Nazis who openly admit they share Hitler’s ultimate goal!

111sfaasfsf

Wake up World!  This is not about land disputes, it is about Jewish survival!

Thanks To:  Et Norsk Troll

*PS:  Please forward this post and help it go viral.  The word MUST get out.

Terrorists of Fatah Incite Arab/Muslims To Storm & Blockade Temple Mount

by WrathofG-d ( 133 Comments › )
Filed under Barack Obama, Democratic Party, Fatah, Islamic Invasion, Islamic Supremacism, Islamic Terrorism, Islamic hypocrisy, Islamists, Israel, Judaism, Leftist-Islamic Alliance, Palestinians, Progressives, Religion, Terrorism, World at March 15th, 2010 - 5:00 pm

While the United States Administration gets its panties in a bunch whining about how Israel dare mention that it is going to build homes for it’s citizens in its Capitol, Jerusalem, (following last weeks tempest-in-a-teapot over Israel deciding to spend money to refurbish Jewish holy sites) the “moderate” terrorists of Fatah have joined with the disloyal Israel-Arab/Muslims, inciting all Muslims to storm, occupy, and blockade themselves within Judaism’s Holiest site; The Temple Mount.

(IsraelNN.com) Abu Mazen’s Fatah group has joined the Israeli Islamic Movement’s call to Arabs to converge on Jerusalem tomorrow (Monday) and barricade themselves in the al-Aqsa mosque on the Temple Mount.

In a related story, the police department has announced that it has denied a request made by Jews to hold a cornerstone laying ceremony for the third Temple.

{The Article}

Of course, Joe Biden and Hillary Clinton can’t find enough outrage to comment on these actual threats to peace in the region. Nor were they able to concern themselves with the most recent Phakestinian attack on a father and his nine-month-old baby with a Molotov cocktail while traveling on highway 443, that Israel opened up to Phakestinian travel as a “peace gesture”.

Sign this petition to Obama telling him that houses in Jerusalem are not the problem; the Arab/Muslim terrorism, and Anti-Semitic rejectionism is.

Hillary Clinton: “HEY! Listen to me! I’m the damn Secretary of State, ya know!”

by Eliana ( 103 Comments › )
Filed under Israel, World at March 14th, 2010 - 4:30 pm

NEW YORK CITY, March 14 (Eliana News) – Psychiatrists in New York were on alert Friday after Hillary Clinton took advantage of a weekend release from the violent ward of the NY State Hospital for the Criminally Insane to start her own international incident.

“Technically speaking,” said one psychiatrist who preferred to remain anonymous, “Hillary is out of her gourd. She’s a toy short of a Happy Meal.”

Looking as if she hadn’t combed her hair in weeks, Hillary stormed in to the NBC studios to restart a resolved incident that had occurred in Israel days earlier.

“That damn Obama – he leaves me out of the loop on everything,” Hillary could be heard muttering as she wrestled NBC make-up artists and hair stylists to the floor.

“Leave me the hell alone! I have an international incident to restart,” she growled.

NBC’s Nightly News program could barely get to the Hillary interview quickly enough for the disgruntled diplomat. Anchor Brian Williams reshuffled his stories and the program directors skipped commercials completely until after Hillary’s segment. They feared she would level the building.

“HEY! Listen to me! I’m the damn Secretary of State, ya know!” echoed all over the adjoining studios and offices. Keith Olbermann was kept in lock-down in his padded dressing room while Mrs. Clinton was on the premises.

“We couldn’t risk finding those two in the same room together,” said one security official.

When Brian Williams finally made it to the Hillary interview, he did everything he could to help the disturbed diplomat by over-arching his always-arched eyebrows and announcing in seething tones that “Israel waited until Joe Biden’s visit to announce new settlement construction. Hissss!!”

NBC’s Andrea Mitchell cowered while interviewing Hillary and begged with her eyes, “Please don’t hurt me.”

Then, as they say in the TV news business, Hillary went off like a $2 firecracker. Andrea Mitchell’s hair was as rumpled as Hillary’s by the end of the interview.

A van from the Hospital for the Criminally Insane pulled up to the NBC studios to pick up the disheveled and dispirited diplomat after her NBC Nightly News rant.

“We’re sorry. Bill is always warning us that she’s too wacky to be released, but we wanted to give the staff a break for the weekend. She’s the most dangerous psychiatric patient in our hospital.”

The Obama Administration is putting new safeguards in place to ensure that they will be notified if Hillary is released again. “They put us on speed dial above Bill’s number.”

NBC has requested an entry on the psychiatric hospital’s speed dial list, too.

On Saturday, Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called other western leaders to explain that the incident had been settled days earlier. Mr. Netanyahu said that he had apologized to U.S. Vice President Joe Biden for the timing of the procedural announcement of Jerusalem construction that had been approved three years earlier and that he had coordinated his apology with Mr. Biden.

Mr. Netanyahu went on to say that all the peace initiatives proposed by Israel and America have stipulated that eastern Jerusalem neighborhoods such as Ramot, Ramat Shlomo and Gilo will remain under Israeli sovereignty in any final agreement.

The western leaders were left to ponder for themselves who is in charge of America such that international incidents are ended and then restarted without anyone in the Obama administration realizing that the neighborhood in question has always been expected to remain in Israeli hands in the event of a peace deal.

This Jerusalem Demographic Map shows the location of Ramat Shlomo in northern Jerusalem where 40,000 Jews are currently living. The announced construction would add 1600 small apartments, a park, and a road to this community that is surrounded by empty land.

– Eliana News

This story was inspired by a video clip on MSNBC.com on Saturday night showing Brian Williams on Friday’s NBC Nightly News introducing the Hillary Clinton interview and directly accusing Israel of having “waited” to announce new construction in Jerusalem until after Joe Biden had arrived. Andrea Mitchell suggested in the interview that Benjamin Netanyahu didn’t know about the announcement, but Hillary coldly blamed him anyway since he’s the Prime Minister.

This NBC Nightly News video clip has since been edited to leave out most of the hostility against Israel from Brian Williams and Hillary Clinton after complaints about it to NBC Nightly News, including from yours truly.

The march of the Red-Green brigades

by Speranza ( 166 Comments › )
Filed under Gaza, Islamic Supremacism, Islamic hypocrisy, Islamists, Israel, Progressives at March 12th, 2010 - 2:00 pm

We have seen this before – the Brown-Red alliance from 1939 -41  which was engendered by the Molotov-Ribbentrop pact, put the left squarely on Hitler’s side at the beginning of World War II. Even Leon Trotsky (hiding from Stalin’s assassins in Mexico) supported the Soviet invasion and dismemberment of Poland 16 days after the Nazi attack. Communists in Britain and the United States denounced the war as a “plutocratic, imperialist war” (Britain being the one who was denounced) and made common cause with the isolationists and anti Semites on the Right such as Charles Lindbergh.  All this ended on June 22, 1941 the start of the greatest, most barbaric war ever fought – Operation Barbarossa. That alliance, based on cynicism and a mutual hatred of democracy lasted just two years, the Leftist alliance with Jihad has lasted longer but eventually will collapse when Islam starts  attacking their “useful idiots”. These days the paleocon right and the moonbat left are both anti Semitic and want to see America humbled.

by Caroline Glick

The Red-Green alliance is on the march.

On Wednesday, the leftist-controlled European Parliament in Strasbourg passed a resolution endorsing the Goldstone Report. That report, it will be recalled, denies Israel’s right to self-defense by alleging that Israel’s actions to defend itself from illegal Palestinian aggression during the course of Operation Cast Lead were war crimes.

The resolution did more than accept the Goldstone report’s baseless claims. It sought to silence those who are trying to make the Red portion of the Red-Green alliance pay a price for its abetment of jihad. The resolution, “expresses its concern about pressure placed on NGOs involved in the preparation of the Goldstone report and in follow-up investigations, and calls on authorities on all sides to refrain from any measures restricting the activities of these organizations.”

This statement was inserted to defend the EU-supported Israeli organizations — overwhelmingly associated with the far-Left New Israel Fund — that took a lead role in providing Richard Goldstone and his associates with false allegations of illegal actions by IDF forces. Those organizations — and the New Israel Fund — have rightly been the subject of scrutiny in Israel after their role in compiling the Goldstone Report was revealed in January by the Israeli student organization Im Tirzu.

Israel is not the only target of the Red-Green alliance. Its operations span the globe. Sometimes, as in the case of the Goldstone report, the Left leads the charge. Sometimes, as with the case of the Hamas-led missile offensive against Israel that preceded Cast Lead, the jihadists move first. In general, jihadists are motivated to attack non-Muslims by their religious belief that Islam must dominate the world. And in general, the Left’s justification of jihadist aggression stems from its neo-Marxist faith that the liberal nation-state is the root of all evil. Whether the Left recognizes that if successful, its collusion with jihadists will lead to the destruction of human freedom is subject to debate. But whether or not the Left understands the consequences of its actions, they have played a key role in abetting this goal.

[...]

Read the rest here: The march of the Red-Green brigades

Is Israel a Colonial State? The Political Psychology of Palestinian Nomenclature

by Eliana ( 164 Comments › )
Filed under Israel, Middle East at March 12th, 2010 - 8:30 am

by Irwin J. Mansdorf
Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs
International Law
March 10, 2010

* Israel’s creation, far from being a foreign colonial transplant, can actually be seen as the vanguard of and impetus for decolonialization of the entire Middle East, including a significant part of the Arab world, following the fall of the Ottoman Empire.

* What is not popularly recognized is how the Arab world benefited from the Balfour Declaration and how it served the Arab world in their nationalist goals and helped advance their own independence from the colonial powers of England and France.

* Despite the essentially parallel processes of independence from colonial and protectorate influence over the first half of the twentieth century, only one of the national movements at the time and only one of the resulting states, namely Israel, is accused of being “colonial,” with the term “settler-colonialist” applied to the Zionist enterprise

* This term, however, can assume validity only if it is assumed that the “setters” have no indigenous roots and rights in the area. As such, this is yet another example of psychological manipulation for political purposes. The notion of “settler” dismisses any historical or biblical connection of Jews to the area. Hence, the importance of denial of Jewish rights, history, and claims to the area.

* Lest there be any confusion about what a “settler” is, those who use the terminology “settler-colonialist” against Israel clearly mean the entire Zionist enterprise, including the original territory of the State of Israel in 1948. The “colonial Israel” charge is thus rooted in an ideological denial of any Jewish connection to the ancient Land of Israel.

Psychological factors often play a role in the development of political views. In the Israel-Arab conflict, one of the ways in which psychological factors operate is in the formation of “mantras” that do not necessarily reflect either the historical record or applicable international law. Examples include the use of descriptions of occupation as “illegal” and the determination that there is a “right” of resistance or a “right” of return. When used over and over again, these descriptions, despite their questionable legitimacy, can alter perceptions. Once perceptions change, attitudes and behavior change as well, leading to partial and ultimately biased views of historical and political reality.

Language thus becomes an important psychological tool both in correctly describing events and in perpetuating beliefs based on narratives that do not accurately reflect history. Columbia University Professor Joseph Massad is among those that have portrayed Israel as a colonial entity based on an illegitimate and racist movement, namely Zionism. In the eyes of many, it is a foreign element implanted into the Middle East where organizations such as the United Nations and political activists such as Chomsky describe Arabs as “indigenous” and Jews as “immigrants.” The charge of colonialism has become a major theme in criticizing Israel throughout the academic world and is part of the language of the discourse. The language of “colonialism” and its related terms (e.g., ethnic cleansing) have been incorporated into academic coursework even in Israel.

An examination of the actual history and events related to the Middle East, in general, and Palestine, in particular, however, fails to confirm the reality behind the “colonial Israel” moniker. Israel’s creation, far from being a foreign colonial transplant, can actually be seen as the vanguard of and impetus for decolonialization of the entire area, including a significant part of the Arab world, following the fall of the Ottoman Empire.

Read the rest: Is Israel a Colonial State?
The Political Psychology of Palestinian Nomenclature

******* Israel has a very powerful legal argument for ownership of the land under international law and these arguments for Israel’s rights and legitimacy must be publicized at every available opportunity. *******

Also on The Blogmocracy:
Israel’s Title to “Palestine” under International Law

Crossing The Line: The Intifada Comes To Campus

by Bob in Breckenridge ( 110 Comments › )
Filed under Al Qaeda, Anti-semitism, Dhimmitude, Fatah, Hamas, Hate Speech, Hezballah, Islamic Invasion, Islamic Terrorism, Islamists, Israel, Jihad, Leftist-Islamic Alliance, Palestinians, Progressives, Sharia (Islamic Law), Terrorism at March 4th, 2010 - 4:00 pm

As most of us here already know, the true bigots and anti-Semites are on the left. You know, those understanding, tolerant and all-caring liberals/progressives. Yeah right. Piss on those scumbags. Most college campuses are nothing but places of intolerance, ignorance and anti-Semitism, where it’s not only okay to attack Israel and call for its destruction, but downright “chic”.

But just don’t protest the worldwide jihad the muslims are committing on a daily basis against Christians and Jews, and followers of other religions or no religion at all. Here’s a 6 minute video from some of our institutions of higher “learning”, along with a viewing guide-

VIEWING GUIDE

Shaping the World

College is a time for social action, student protest and the formulation of ideas and worldviews; a time to broaden one’s mind and for students to begin to shape the world they live in. In North America, college students have been instrumental in some of the biggest protest movements of the 20th Century, including the fight to end the Vietnam War, Women’s Rights and the Civil Rights Movement. Today, the activism continues with students fighting against the genocides in Tibet and Darfur and the war in Iraq.

Anti-Israel or Anti-Semitic?

There is one issue that seems to evoke more hostility then any other – Israel. Israel’s Operation Cast Lead at the close of 2008 evoked feelings of resentment and hatred from people throughout the world. There was something “different” about the protests that this war sparked as the line between anti-Israel policy and anti-Semitism became blurred. These protests weren’t just against Israel but also against the Jewish People. Around the world, synagogues and Jewish graves were desecrated and anti-Semitic chants were shouted at protests – even on the streets of America.

[…}

Please read the whole viewing guide here: crossing the line, intifada comes to campus

The UN’s “Palestine”: The Real Apartheid State

by WrathofG-d ( 127 Comments › )
Filed under Anti-semitism, Fatah, Gaza, Hamas, Hezballah, Islamists, Israel, Judaism, Middle East, Palestinians, Religion, Terrorism, United Nations, World at March 2nd, 2010 - 8:30 am

It is long overdue that those who support Israel begin to go on the offensive against the enemies of Israel, here and abroad, and make them spend all their time and money defending their existence.

Luckily for the Pro-Israel crowd this can be done with simple facts and the truth.  What better time to start this campaign then now?

The “Palestine” envisaged by the UN is an apartheid state in the making…

And since its inception in 1994, the newly constituted Palestinian Authority, created by the PLO, has prepared the rudiments of a Palestinian State, modeled  on the rules of Apartheid and institutionalized discrimination:

1. The right of Palestinian Arab refugees and their descendents to return to Arab villages lost in 1948 will be protected by the new Palestinian state.

2. While 20% of Israel’s citizens are Arabs, not one Jew will be allowed to live in a Palestinian State

3. Anyone who sells land to a Jew will be liable to the death penalty in the Palestinian State

4. Those who murder Jews are honored on all official Palestinian media outlets.

5. Palestinian Authority maps prepared for the Palestinian State depict all of Palestine under Palestinian rule

6. PA maps of Jerusalem for the Palestinian State once again delete the Jewish Quarter of Jerusalem

7. Recent PA documents claim all of Jerusalem for the future Palestinian State.

8. The right of Jewish access to Jewish holy places is to be denied in the new Palestinian State.

9. The Draft Palestinian State Constitution denies juridical status to any religion except for Islam.

10. No system which protects  human rights or civil liberties will exist in a Palestinian State

{READ THE REST}

Print; distribute; copy, paste & mass e-mail; wheat-paste, post to Anti-Israel websites, mention everywhere the topic comes up or is appropriate….

When rhetoric rules the roost

by Speranza ( 87 Comments › )
Filed under Europe, Hamas, Israel, Terrorism at February 26th, 2010 - 10:00 am

Yes the Euro-dhimmis default instinct is to always blame israel. The assassination of that Hamas fellow in Dubai seems to me to be a joint collaboration of several intelligence agencies, including Israel. Two of the alleged assassins seem to have fled to Iran of all places, and the use of over 30 assassins to knock off one guy seems to be a bit “over kill” and not the usual Mossad standard operating procedure. I highly recommend a book by Robin Shepard (a Briton) called “A State beyond the Pale: Europe’s Problems with Israel”

by Caroline Glick

There is something pathetic about what passes as European foreign policy these days. Quite simply, more often than not, the concerted positions of the EU member nations have nothing to do with any of their national interests.

Take the EU’s initial response to the killing of Hamas terror-master Mahmoud al-Mabhouh in Dubai on January 20. A senior terrorist engaging in the illegal purchase of illicit arms from Iran for Hamas-controlled Gaza is killed in his hotel room. The same Dubai authorities who had no problem with hosting a wanted international terrorist worked themselves into a frenzy condemning his killing. And of course, despite the fact that any number of governments, (Egypt and Jordan come to mind), and rival terrorist organizations, (Fatah, anyone?) had ample reason to wish to see Mabhouh dead, Dubai’s police chief Lt. Gen. Dahi Khalfan Tamim blamed Israel.

Not only did he blame Israel, to substantiate his claims, Tamim released what he said was video footage of alleged Mossad operatives who entered Dubai with European and Australian passports.

Relying only on Tamim’s allegations – EU leaders went into high dudgeon. Ignoring the nature of the operation, the basic lack of credibility of the source of information, and the very interests of Europe in defeating jihadist terrorism in the Middle East and worldwide, the chanceries of Europe squawked indignantly and threatened to cut off intelligence cooperation with Israel.

[...]

Contemporary European statecraft stands this traditional foreign policy model on its head. Today rhetoric rules the roost. If actions are taken at all, they are adopted in the service of rhetoric. As to national interests, well, the Lisbon Treaty which effectively bars EU member states from adopting independent foreign policies took care of those.

With national interests subordinated to the whims of bureaucrats in Brussels, Europe does little of value in the international arena. As for its rhetoric, as the EU’s rush to threaten Israel for allegedly killing a terrorist shows, it is cowardly, ineffectual and self-defeating.

If the Mossad did in fact kill Mabhouh then the operation was an instance in which Israel distinguished itself from its European detractors by acting, rather than preening.

Read the rest here: When rhetoric rules the roost

~Open Thread: Purim 5770 Edition~

by WrathofG-d ( 188 Comments › )
Filed under Humor, Iran, Israel, Judaism, Middle East, Music, Open thread, Religion, World at February 25th, 2010 - 12:30 pm

Netizens, for the Jewish people Purim begins this weekend on Saturday night.  Thus from me to you and your families, I wish you all a very joyous month of Adar, and a blessed and happy Purim sama’ach!…even if you don’t celebrate it!

Here is the general Purim story (in which the hero is a Woman), in Lego form:

Purim is Judaism’s most dramatic, fun-filled holiday. When else can you dress up like a bunny rabbit and eat doughy triangles filled with prunes and poppy seeds?

Purim occurs on the 14th of Adar. (In certain walled cities like Jerusalem, “Shushan Purim” is celebrated on the 15th of Adar.)

The main event is reading the Book of Esther.  Set in Persia 2,300 years ago, the “Megillah” (as it is commonly called) recounts how a seemingly unrelated series of events spun together to save the Jewish people from annihilation. The quickie version is as follows:

When King Achashverosh throws a huge six-month party and the queen refuses to follow orders, she is replaced by a new queen – Esther the Jewess. Esther’s uncle Mordechai, the leader of the Jews, uncovers a plot to assassinate the king — putting him also in a favorable position with the king. All this comes in handy when Haman, the king’s top advisor, obtains a decree to have all the Jews destroyed.

In the end, through a complex twist of events, Esther gets the decree reversed, Haman is hanged on the gallows, and Mordechai becomes prime minister.

The name Megillat Esther (Scroll of Esther) actually mean “revealing the hidden.” Unlike every other book in the Bible, Megillat Esther never mentions God’s name even once. The hidden hand of God is revealed through the maze of events. There are no coincidences.

Megillat Esther teaches us that life challenges work out for the best, because what appears as obstacles are really opportunities to develop ourselves for the better. And it all comes from God’s invisible hand that guides our fate, every step of the way.

-More information can be found here, and videos here.  Last year’s post can be found here.

{The Article}

One major aspect of the month of Adar, and of Purim specifically is the idea of JOY!  So, whether you are Jewish or not, enjoy this open thread and be happy!

-Oh, did I mention that one of the commandments of Purim is to drink heavily?

“The Green Prince”

by Eliana ( 55 Comments › )
Filed under Hamas, Israel, Terrorism at February 24th, 2010 - 7:30 pm

The son of a Hamas founder whose conversion to Christianity was so shocking that Al Qaeda commented on it and blamed Hamas for letting it happen is releasing more about his story…

Hamas founder’s son worked for Shin Bet for years
Ha’aretz

By Avi Issacharoff

The son of a leading Hamas figure, who famously converted to Christianity, served for over a decade as the Shin Bet security service’s most valuable source in the militant organization’s leadership, Haaretz has learned.

Mosab Hassan Yousef is the son of Sheikh Hassan Yousef, a Hamas founder and one of its leaders in the West Bank. The intelligence he supplied Israel led to the exposure of a number of terrorist cells, and to the prevention of dozens of suicide bombings and assassination attempts on Israeli figures.

The exclusive story will appear in this Friday’s Haaretz Magazine, and Yousef’s memoir, “Son of Hamas” (written with Ron Brackin) will be released next week in the United States. Yousef, 32, became a devout Christian 10 years ago and now lives in California after fleeing the West Bank in 2007 and going public with his conversion.

Yousef was considered the Shin Bet’s most reliable source in the Hamas leadership, earning himself the nickname “the Green Prince” – using the color of the Islamist group’s flag, and “prince” because of his pedigree as the son of one of the movement’s founders.

During the second intifada, intelligence Yousef supplied led to the arrests of a number of high-ranking Palestinian figures responsible for planning deadly suicide bombings. These included Ibrahim Hamid (a Hamas military commander in the West Bank, Marwan Barghouti (founder of the Fatah-linked Tanzim militia) and Abdullah Barghouti (a Hamas bomb-maker with no close relation to the Fatah figure). Yousef was also responsible for thwarting Israel’s plan to assassinate his father.

“I wish I were in Gaza now,” Yousef said by phone from California, “I would put on an army uniform and join Israel’s special forces in order to liberate Gilad Shalit. If I were there, I could help. We wasted so many years with investigations and arrests to capture the very terrorists that they now want to release in return for Shalit. That must not be done.”

I wish he could help bring Gilad Shalit home, too!

The story of Yousef’s spiritual transformation appeared in Haaretz Magazine in August 2008. Only now, however, is Yousef exposing the secret he kept since 1996, when he was first held by Shin Bet agents seeking to enlist him in infiltrating the upper echelon of Hamas.

Their efforts proved successful, and Yousef was released from prison in 1997. His former handler, who no longer serves with the security service, says Yousef collaborated with Israel because he wanted to save lives.

“So many people owe him their life and don’t even know it,” said the handler, named in Yousef’s book as Captain Loai. “People who did a lot less were awarded the Israel Security Prize. He certainly deserves it.”

“The Green Prince” has a message for Israel:

With his memoir, Yousef hopes to send a message of peace to Israelis. Still, he admits he is pessimistic over the prospect of Israel signing a peace agreement with the Fatah-led Palestinian Authority, let alone Hamas.

“Hamas cannot make peace with the Israelis. That is against what their God tells them. It is impossible to make peace with infidels, only a cease-fire, and no one knows that better than I. The Hamas leadership is responsible for the killing of Palestinians, not Israelis,” he said. “Palestinians! They do not hesitate to massacre people in a mosque or to throw people from the 15th or 17th floor of a building, as they did during the coup in Gaza. The Israelis would never do such things. I tell you with certainty that the Israelis care about the Palestinians far more than the Hamas or Fatah leadership does.”

Haaretz exclusive: Hamas founder’s son worked for Shin Bet for years

“The Green Prince” should meet with every leader in the western world including Obama. They need to hear what he knows as an insider about Israel’s worst enemies!

Radical Islam: Israel and the West

by m ( 84 Comments › )
Filed under Anti-semitism, Islamic Terrorism, Islamic hypocrisy, Islamists, Israel, Terrorism at February 24th, 2010 - 3:30 pm

The following is reproduced in full- with permission:

Radical Islam: Israel and the West

On February 16, 2010, The Vidal Sassoon International Center for the Study of Antisemitism (SICSA) at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem hosted a seminar featuring Prof. Bernard Lewis, a world expert in the field of Middle Eastern studies and Islam entitled “Radical Islam: Israel and the West.”

The exclusive seminar was moderated by Prof. Robert S. Wistrich, the Center’s director and a world expert on anti-Semitism.

Muslims and the West

Prof. Lewis began by explaining that “this is the first time in 1,000 years that the Muslim world is in charge of their own affairs.” In this post-Communist era, “the Russians can’t play a role, and the Americans don’t want to play a role.” This change has created a painful new awareness in the Muslim world and has raised questions regarding why Muslim countries have fallen behind the West. There seems to be two very different answers to this question.

The first approach claims that Western Imperialism is to blame. The supporters of this view place the blame squarely on the United States and Israel (“the ‘illegitimate offspring’ of the United States”), who they see as the face of Western Imperialism today. They believe that modernization is a betrayal of their Islamic heritage and the only solution is to return to authentic Islam, no matter the sacrifice. This is what radical Islam is claiming to be doing.

The second approach claims that the Muslim world has no one to blame but themselves for their current state of affairs. In other words, the Muslim countries haven’t fallen behind the West as a result of Western Imperialism but as a result of their own actions – it is a “self-inflicted condition.” Supporters of this view agree that the solution lies in the modernization of Muslim countries – no finger pointing, just hard work to make it happen.

Prof. Lewis summed it up as follows: “It is important to realize that the greatest tragedy of the Middle East is a result of reforms introduced in the Middle East by Arab and Muslim rulers, not Europeans in the 19th and 20th Centuries.”

Europe and Islam

Prof. Lewis also discussed the concern that Muslims may take over Europe. He pointed out that it is hard to address this issue because there aren’t any reliable statistics regarding the number of Muslims in Europe. However, one indication that this concern may be well-founded is a rise in the number of Muslim names being given to children, and in some European countries these names are now the most popular.

Historically, it is important to remember that the Muslims made two previous attempts to conquer Europe – the first was in the 7th Century and the second in the 19th Century. The third attempt, which we are witnessing today, seems to have a much better chance at success. This current conquest is being waged in the form of peaceful migration rather than military aggression. As such, it is that much harder for Europe to defend itself.

What (the Muslims) are saying in Europe is that they want the same rights that the Muslims granted Christians and Jews in the classic Muslim state. These seem to be very legitimate claims and they imply that Muslims in Europe aren’t looking to take over Europe, they just want to ensure their basic rights as citizens. “The only question remaining for us to answer regarding the future of Europe,” quipped Prof. Lewis, “is will it be an Islamized Europe or a European Islam?”

Iran

When asked about the current situation in Iran, Prof. Lewis was very optimistic. “The regime is extremely unpopular, there is a great desire for change and the prospect in Iran is encouraging.”

He explained that “the revolution has reached the Napoleon stage” and as such “we shouldn’t give Iran the gift of Patriotism.” We must be very careful not to slip into the trap of strengthening the resolve of the Iranian radicals by questioning their rights to Nuclear weapons, giving them a reason to unite their people from within.

Radical & Moderate Islam

One development that does concern Prof. Lewis is the growth of radical Islam in several Muslim countries. Saudi Arabia is the most extreme example (“Wahhabism is the official religion of Saudi Arabia at the present time.”) and Turkey is also showing signs of a change in ideology (“What is happening in Turkey is alarming as it appears to be the first successful attempt to undo the Kemalist Revolution.”).

The good news, however, is that not all Muslims or Arabs are extremists or Jihadists, and we must support and strengthen these moderates. Prof. Lewis pointed out that authentic Islam is not about violence (“Sharia law states not to harm non-combatants and that suicide in all forms is forbidden”.) and that moderates (i.e. “those who don’t make the headlines”) are more than willing to accept the modern world and the West.

This article was compiled by the staff of The Vidal Sassoon International Center for the Study of Antisemitism (SICSA) at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. The Center (www.sicsa.huji.ac.il) is dedicated to an independent, non-political approach to the accumulation and dissemination of knowledge necessary for understanding the multi-faceted phenomenon of anti-Semitism.

Mahmoud Abbas (Fatah), Hamas and Islamic Jihad Threaten New Religious War against Israel

by Eliana ( 160 Comments › )
Filed under Fatah, Hamas, Israel, Jihad, Judaism, Terrorism at February 24th, 2010 - 9:30 am

The same ole terrorists are going nuts over Israel again due to Israel’s decision to spend NIS 400 million ($106 million) to preserve 150 heritage sites across Israel, including the Cave of the Patriarchs in Hebron and Rachel’s Tomb in Bethlehem.

Mahmoud Abbas — Chief Cook and Holocaust Denier of the confused people who call themselves by a name they can’t pronounce (“The Balestinian Beeble”) — is threatening a new religious war against Israel. Ismail Haniyeh (Hamas) is calling for another intifada. Abu Ahmed (Islamic Jihad) is being slightly more explicit in his description of the “new rules” of their same old terrorist games:

…in the next six months, the rules of the games are expected to change and the attacks will not only be against the settlers in the West Bank, but also within the entity, as we are aware of the fact that the soft underbelly and the biggest pain are when the attacks take place deep inside the enemy’s territory.

Palestinian group threatens attacks over heritage sites

First of all, nearly all of the suicide bombings and most of the 10,000 rockets fired since the Oslo Accords have been aimed at Jewish civilians inside the green line. The Arab world has been threatening to either push the Jews into the sea or to turn Israel’s streets red with Jewish blood for decades and decades. There’s nothing new here — no change in the rules of the games.

These terror groups never stopped the suicide bombings as a matter of choice. Israel stopped them with nightly IDF raids against terrorists and the security fence.

Mahmoud Abbas is calling on his “inner Arafat” in directing his threats at Israel in the context of demanding help from the international community for peace talks he’s refusing to hold:

“We expect the European Union to play an active role, which will complement the American role. Any delay will lead to a termination of the peace options and will send the region into a new swirl of violence.

Abbas, Haniyeh: Heritage sites will ignite a war

Israel’s response to Mahmoud Abbas and the other terror leaders:

The Prime Minister’s Office responded Tuesday to the Palestinians’ war and intifada threats following the decision to include Rachel’s Tomb and the Cave of the Patriarchs in the list of Israel’s heritage sites slated to be renovated and preserved.

According to Nir Hefetz, head of the National Information Directorate, “This is a false and hypocritical campaign. The State of Israel is committed to the freedom of worship of all religions in all holy sites, and this is what is it doing in practice.”

According to Hefetz, “Rachel’s Tomb and the Cave of the Patriarchs are burial sites of Israel’s forefathers dating back more than 3,500 years. Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and the nation’s foremothers – Sarah, Rebecca, Leah and Rachel – and are definitely worthy of preservation and renovation.”

Hefetz added that “these days, the re-maintenance of the entrance plaza and the way leading to the Muslim’s prayer hall in the Cave of the Patriarchs is being completed. Israel will work in a similar way to maintain the site used by Jews arriving at the Cave of the Patriarchs.”

PM’s Office: Abbas’ war threats hypocritical

Mahmoud Abbas has a better tailor than Yassir Arafat, but he’s still Arafat’s second in command. He’s still a terrorist with a PhD in Holocaust Denial.

What Israel really needs to do is to add Joseph’s Tomb to the list of heritage sites and restore it:

In the early days of the al-Aqsa Intifada, on the morning of October 7, 2000, Israel withdrew the small contingent of IDF border policemen who had been guarding the site of the Tomb of the Patriarch Joseph and its Yeshiva. The holy site was located in Shechem in Samaria, the town the Arabs call “Nablus”. Over the preceeding days, the Tomb had been attacked with gunfire, stones, and firebombs. The IDF defenders in the compound withstood the attacks and stopped several attempts by armed Palestinians to break in. An IDF border policemen was wounded, and the heavy rioting prevented his evacuation for treatment in time to save his life.

In order to prevent further loss of life and to lower tensions in the area, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak authorized the temporary evacuation of the site, based on the agreement of the Palestinian Authority (PA) to safeguard the location, in accordance with their obligations under the Oslo Accords to protect holy sites, Jewish and Christian, and ensure access by all. The PA also pledged to prevent any vandalism and to return the Tomb to its original state after the violence settled down.

The PA pledge was brazenly violated about two hours after the Israeli evacuation, when a Palestinian Arab mob entered the Tomb compound and began to systematically destroy everything in sight, including all remnants of the Yeshiva. The furniture and books that were left behind were burned by the mob. The Palestinian police stood by, failing to prevent any of these violent activities, despite their committment to guard the Tomb. Within hours, Joseph’s Tomb was reduced to a smoldering heap of rubble. Within two days, as an Associated Press dispatch reported, “the dome of the tomb was painted green and bulldozers were seen clearing the surrounding area,” as the Palestinian Arabs sought to transform the biblical Joseph’s resting place into a Moslem holy site.

What happened at Joseph’s Tomb in October 2000?

Israel’s Cabinet Decision to include the Cave of the Patriarchs and Rachel’s Tomb in the list of heritage sites across Israel won in a unanimous vote. They’re saying that it won’t be overturned.

Good!

Please make plans to build the Third Temple while you’re at it!

Meir Dagan: the mastermind behind Mossad’s secret war

by Speranza ( 129 Comments › )
Filed under Hamas, Islamic Terrorism, Israel, UK at February 21st, 2010 - 5:00 pm

First off – a warning! Uzi Mahnaimi is a notoriously inaccurate journalist when it comes to Israel. He once wrote in 1998 that Israel was planning an ethnic bomb which could distinguish between Jews and Arabs.
Nevertheless this Meir Dagan is a fascinating person and the British should have had their own Meir Dagan when the IRA was terrorizing Britian, to sow mayhem amongst the U.K.’s enemies.

by Uzi Mahnaimi

IN early January two black Audi A6 limousines drove up to the main gate of a building on a small hill in the northern suburbs of Tel Aviv: the headquarters of Mossad, the Israeli secret intelligence agency, known as the “midrasha”.

Binyamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, stepped out of his car and was greeted by Meir Dagan, the 64-year-old head of the agency. Dagan, who has walked with a stick since he was injured in action as a young man, led Netanyahu and a general to a briefing room.

According to sources with knowledge of Mossad, inside the briefing room were some members of a hit squad. As the man who gives final authorisation for such operations, Netanyahu was briefed on plans to kill Mahmoud al-Mabhouh, a member of Hamas, the militant Islamic group that controls Gaza.

Mossad had received intelligence that Mabhouh was planning a trip to Dubai and they were preparing an operation to assassinate him there, off-guard in a luxury hotel. The team had already rehearsed, using a hotel in Tel Aviv as a training ground without alerting its owners.

The mission was not regarded as unduly complicated or risky, and Netanyahu gave his authorisation, in effect signing Mabhouh’s death warrant.

Typically on such occasions, the prime minister intones: “The people of Israel trust you. Good luck.”

[..]

The new chief soon began to restore Mossad’s reputation for lethal operations. The tone of his directorship is set by a photograph on the wall of his modest office in the Tel Aviv headquarters. It shows an old Jew standing on the edge of a trench. An SS officer is aiming his rifle at the old man’s head.

“This old Jew was my grandfather,” Dagan tells visitors. The picture reflects in a nutshell his philosophy of Jewish self-defence for survival. “We should be strong, use our brain, and defend ourselves so that the Holocaust will never be repeated,” he once said.

One hit he masterminded was in Damascus two years ago against Imad Mughniyeh, a founder of Hezbollah and one of the world’s most wanted terrorists. Mughniyeh was decapitated when the headrest of his car seat exploded — close to the headquarters of Syrian intelligence.

Read the rest:
Meir Dagan: the mastermind behind Mossad’s secret war