November 2009

Speech before UN Human Rights Council 4th Session / Hillel Neuer

Mr. President,

Six decades ago, in the aftermath of the Nazi horrors, Eleanor Roosevelt, Réné Cassin and other eminent figures gathered here, on the banks of Lake Geneva, to reaffirm the principle of human dignity. They created the Commission on Human Rights. Today, we ask: What has become of their noble dream?

In this session we see the answer. Faced with compelling reports from around the world of torture, persecution, and violence against women, what has the Council pronounced, and what has it decided?

The Myth that Feuls Mideast Conflict / Bob Feferman

Ever since Israel declared its independence in 1948, there has been a pervasive and dangerous myth in the Middle East that undermines any hope for peace. Israel's enemies claim that the Jewish state was created at the expense of the Arabs of Palestine in order to ease the conscience of the world over the tragedy of the Nazi Holocaust.

Eilaboun was Jewish Eylabu until the 12th century / DR.R.S,Lissak

Eilaboun is an Arabic village in the Lower Galilee, east of the valley of Netofa. The village has a population of about 4,600, mostly Christian with a Muslim minority. The Muslims are Bedouins who settled in the village in the 1980's.

Second Temple Period (538 BCE – 70 CE)

Eylabu (the Hebrew name of Eilaboun) was founded some time during the Second Temple period. Its name originates from Ein (spring) Lavon.

The Roman & Byznatine Periods (70 CE – 640 CE)

War Crimes Committed by Hamas / Israel's Formal response to Goldstone's Report

Introduction

After the Goldstone Report was published, Israel Foreign Ministry published Israel's respond to the report. Enclosed the chapter on Hamas's war crimes.
(other chapters will follow)

Writing Jews Out of Jerusalem History / Jeremy Sharon

Writing Jews out of Jerusalem's history The whipping up of unrest around the Temple Mount is part of an insidious campaign to cast Jewish people as modern interlopers

The Temple Mount, or al-Haram al-Sharif to Muslims, must rank as one of the most sensitive religious sites in the world. The sporadic riots of the past month at the site are therefore particularly alarming, as such incidents have the potential to ignite much wider unrest.

Hilary Clinton Announces:Palestinians ara the Obstacles to Peace /Prop.B.Rubin

Yesterday I discussed the significance of Secretary of State Hilary Clinton’s praise for Israel’s policy during her trip to Jerusalem, saying Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had offered unprecedented concessions to get peace talks started again.

The Use of Munitions Containing White Phosphorous / Israel's Formal Investigation

(a) The Use of Munitions Containing White Phosphorous and Flechettes

Antisemitism Embedded in British Culture/ Robert S.Wistrich

Interview with Robert Solomon Wistrich
Antisemitism has been present in Great Britain for almost a thousand years of recorded history. In the twelfth century, Catholic medieval Britain was a persecutory society, particularly when it came to Jews. It pioneered the blood libel and the church was a leader in instituting cruel legislation and discriminatory conduct toward Jews.

What 's Behind Western Condemnation of Israel's War against Hamas / Efraim Karsh

With a unanimity that has become all too familiar, politicians, the media, NGOs, and church leaders across the globe took their cue to denounce Israel's legitimate act of self-defense against one of the world's most extreme terror organizations. This chorus of disapproval is in stark contrast to the utter indifference to far bloodier conflicts that have been going on around the world.

Palestine's Missimg Critics / Wall Street Journal, Editor

Israel's harshest critics claim to champion the rights of Palestinians. So we're curious about the fallout, or lack thereof, from revelations that the Palestinian Authority regularly brutalizes its own in the West Bank while enjoying a steady flow of dollars and euros.

Israel at 60 : Asymmetry,Vulnerability, and the Search for Security / Gerald M.Steinberg

Sixty years ago few observers gave Israel much chance of survival. The small Jewish society faced a huge asymmetry in power, demography, and other factors. This asymmetry has not changed, but Israel has survived through the combination of intense motivation to restore national sovereignty - an equal place among the nations - and finding the necessary strategies and tactics, adapted in each period to changing threats.

The Jewish Village Ma'ariya has become the Mostly Druze Village Marar / DR.R.S.Lissak

The village Ma'ariya was established, according to archaeologists during the 4th century BCE, and has been continually populated ever since.

The village Marar is situated in the Lower Galilee, about 4 KM south of the Hananya junction. The village is home to about 19,000 residents: 58% are Druze, who are the village’s oldest inhabitants. 22% are Christians and 20% are Muslims. The village population includes also Bedouins who have pitched their tents near Marar, and have recently, since the year 2000, begun building large houses on the outskirts of the village.

The Gaza War and the New Outburst of Anti-Semiism / DR.M.Gerstenfeld and Tamas Berzi

Anti-Semitic and anti-Israeli manifestations reached post-Second World War highs during Israel's recent Gaza campaign. Attacks came from many directions. They included strong condemnations of Israeli actions by several governments as well as partly violent demonstrations in a number of countries. Furthermore, there were physical attacks on Jewish individuals as well as institutions. There was also much hate speech.

First Gaza,Then the World / Ben Dror Yemini

The confrontation in the Gaza Strip is not between Hamas and Israel, but rather between Al Qaeda, Iran and radical Islam, and the free world

The Great "Abbas is Quitting" Farce: Media Deletes Palestinian Intransigence / Prof.B.Rubin

It’s really funny how the story about Palestinian Authority (PA) leader Mahmoud Abbas supposedly-going-to-call-elections-and-resign story was covered. Everyone in the Middle East knew he wouldn’t resign and he wouldn’t call elections. It was a blatant bid to get something from the Americans and pretend that he was tough. But the Western media reported the story as if it were true.

The Village Sha'ab was Jewish Sha'av until the 11th Century / DR.R.S.Lissak

The village Sha’ab is situated in the Lower Galilee, near the Segev region, and is now an Arabic settlement whose 6,000 residents are mostly Muslim. There are two churches and a mosque in Sha’ab. The village is located where a Jewish town, called Sha-av, existed until the 11th century.

The site has been continuously occupied since an undated stage during the Bronze Age (3000BCE – 1200 BCE). Since Sha-av is not mentioned in Egyptian sources nor in the Old Testament, it is plausible that it was established towards the late Bronze Age (1550BCE – 1200BCE), although its population changed

A Paradox of Peacemaking:How Fayyad's Plan Undermines the Legal Foundation of Israeli- Palestinian Diplomacy / Alan Baker

Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad published a plan in August 2009 to unilaterally declare statehood after a two-year state-building process. The Fayyad plan involves numerous governance components that already exist within the various frameworks composing the Oslo Accords, which already enable the Palestinians to develop their state-building capabilities within the peace process, and not necessarily as a unilateral initiative outside the process.

Al Jazeera and Qatar:The Muslim Brothers' Dark Empire?/ Zvi Mazel

There has been a significant presence of the Muslim Brothers (also known as the Muslim Brotherhood) in Qatar since the second half of the twentieth century. The first wave came from Egypt in 1954 after Nasser had smashed their organization. The next wave came from Syria in 1982 after Hafez el-Assad bombed their stronghold in Hama. The last group arrived after September 11, 2001 - from Saudi Arabia.

Hamas Declares New Ceasefire:Launching Bid for Massive Aid for Gaza / Prof.B.Rubin

Israel’s operation into the Gaza Strip last January and the embargo on aid has had an effect. Hamas is now announcing that it will stop attacks on Israel. This, in effect, ends Hamas’s renewal of the fighting a year ago. Here’s the problem: Is Hamas just stopping long enough to get the aid money?

Safed's Jewish Population: From the First Temple to Modern Times / DR.R.S.Lissak

Safed was a Jewish city until the Crusaders period when Christians settled in Safed. Muslims began to settle in the 13th century by invitation of the Mamelukes who conquered the country from the Crusaders around 1260 CE. Jews lived in Safed most of the time between around 1000 BCE and today.

Today Safed is a Jewish city numbering about 28,600 residents. Since the establishment of the State of Israel Safed’s Jewish community has been enlarged by Jewish immigrants from various countries.

Why Do Western Liberals Support Eastern Illiberals / Prof. B.Rubin

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Without realizing it, Westerners constantly empower Islamism and other reactionary forces in the Muslim-majority countries. Here’s a good example, thanks to a Turkish reader, Okan Altiparmak. Speaking at the Bosphorus Conference in Istanbul, November 2, 2009, former President Bill Clinton thinks he’s being a nice, genial, non-arrogant, sympathetic American while blithely handing out ammunition to an anti-American regime.

The Myth of the Palestinian Refugee Crisis / Prof. Efraim Karsh

Efraim Karsh is head of Mediterranean Studies at King’s College, University of London, and the author most recently of Islamic Imperialism: A History (Yale). Mr. Karsh gratefully acknowledges the generosity of Roger and Susan Hertog in supporting the research on which the present article is based.

Obama Administration Subtly Launches Dramatic Policy Change on Peace Process / Prof.B.Rubin

In a one-paragraph statement welcoming Israel’s ten-month-long freeze on building apartments in existing West Bank settlements, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton made a major statement. The dramatic new U.S. stance on Israel-Palestinian Authority peace agreement is camouflaged by brevity and subtle wording. But make no mistake: this is one of the most important foreign policy steps the Obama Administration has taken.

Here is the statement in full: