July 2011

Gazans say they don't need the flotilla

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4089709,00.html

Read what the businessmen of Gaza say.

Most Palestinians Live Under Palestinian Governments / DR.Rivka Shpak Lissak

Most Palestinians live under Hamas government in Gaza and under the Palestinian Authority government – not under Israeli occupation – on the Western Bank.

The Oslo Agreement in 1993 between Israel and the PLO changed the situation in Gaza and the Western Bank.

Even the B'tselem organization who is a Pro- Palestinian organization, admits that the vast majority of the Palestinian population lives since 1993 in areas under direct Palestinian control .

The PA has full civil control of the Palestinian towns, the rural area between the towns and about 26% of the rest of the rural area.

Israel's Strategic Standpoint: Mid - 2011 and Mid - "Arab Spring" / Prof.B.Rubin

30 Jun 2011
There are two main strategic perspectives in Israel today. They aren’t contradictory but they have different priorities. These can be called the “northern” and the “southern” views.

The “northern” approach is the more traditional one, focusing on the situation in that direction. The key longer-term concern is over Iran and its drive for nuclear weapons. More closely, there are both concerns and hopes regarding Lebanon and Syria.

The Epicenter of Anti - Semitism / Alan Caruba

Anti-Semitism has a very long history.
In June, Dr. Rivka Shpak Lissak, a Jewish historian, posted a section of her forthcoming book, noting that “The Roman Empire committed a genocide of the Jewish people under its occupation (63 BCE – 324 CE) of the land of Israel. From about 3,000,000 Jews in the first century CE (Common Era), about 200,000 survived until the 7th century, most of them killed or enslaved.”

How does this differ from the Arab agenda that has existed since the day that the modern state of Israel was resurrected and was immediately attacked by five Arab nations in 1948?

Problem in Gaza is Arms Buildup - Not Humanitarian Crisis

http://www.jpost.com/DiplomacyAndPolitics/Article.aspx?ID=226761&R=R1

read the enclosed

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Palestinian Statehood?Headed for Disaster / DR.Guy Bechor

07.01.11
Abbas headed for disaster
Unilateral declaration of independence will likely lead to Palestinian Authority’s collapse

It’s hard to understand, but Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas is heading full force into his own collapse, and that of his Authority, in September.

Israel, The Good Enemy / Mudar Zaharan, Palestinian Journalist

Israel’s relationship to the Palestinians has always been globally approached with standardized heavy criticism made to Israel. The main charges waved in Israel’s face have always been “the Disapropriate use of force” and “discrimination”.

Israel’s critics, either willingly or out of ignorance, choose to overlook the way many Arab countries mistreat Palestinians. Some Arab countries are almost never blamed for what they have been doing to the Palestinians for decades. Such selective recognition of facts by Israel’s critics is bizarre when weighed by truth instead of myths.

UN Indictment of Hizbullah / Jacques Neriah

A UN-backed court issued a long-awaited indictment and arrest warrants for four Lebanese Hizbullah members responsible for the 2005 murder of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.

Continuing to Distort the Holocaust / DR.Manfred Gerstenfeld

1 June 2011
In recent decades, the Holocaust has become the major contemporary symbol of absolute evil. As such, it has acquired a central place in the collective memory of Western societies. This development has been accompanied by an ongoing intentional distortion of its meaning. At the origins of this abuse are a multitude of motivations, such as anti-Semitism, including anti-Israelism; politics; desire for absolution of guilt; peer pressure; wanting to draw attention or provoke, and so on.[1]

Egypt's Religious Establishment takes on the Musilm Brotherhood / Prof.B.Rubin

July 3, 2011
In a major new development, an Islamic force has arisen to challenge the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood and support a more moderate regime in that country. This is a surprising opponent but the only one that could be of significance: al-Azhar University. Why is Egypt’s Islamic establishment taking on Egypt’s Islamists? Simple: survival and self-interest.

Sayyid Qutb and the Origins of Radical Islam / Review by Richard Phelps

Sayyid Qutb and the Origins of Radical Islamism by John Calvert
Reviewed by Richard Phelps
Quilliam Foundation, London
Middle East Quarterly
Spring 2011

Comments CONTAIN ADVERTISMENT WILL BE ELIMINATED.

WAISTING YOUR ENERGY.

Lauder and Darshovitz Admonish Netanyahu

July 02, 2011
Ron Lauder: 'Bibi Should Sit Down With Palestinians & Put Everything On the Table - Time Is Not On Israel's Side'
Alan Dershowitz: 'It's High Time That Israel's Political Parties Stop Skirmishing & Form United Front To Defend State During Critical Months Ahead'

Dershowitz: 'Israel's Naval Blockade Of Gaza Is Legal Under International Law - Anyone Who Tries to Break It Can Be Arrested & Prosecuted In Court Of Law'

Bibi Netanyahu

Middle East Studies in Upheaval / Prof. Daniel Pipes

National Review Online
July 5, 2011
The troubled academic study of the Middle East and Islam by Americans is changing in fundamental ways. I offer some thoughts based on 42 years of personal observation:

What Are the Palestinians Planning After September/ Pinhas Inbari

4 July 2011
What the Palestinians really envisage after September is to exploit a UN endorsement of statehood to legitimize an escalation of the conflict. After having the 1967 lines recognized so as to negate the results of the Six-Day War, they plan to seek recognition of the 1947 partition lines.

Iran: A New Defense Doctrine? Let. Col. (ret.) Michael Segall

Does Iran’s Latest Military Exercise Signal a New Defense Doctrine?
July 6, 2011
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) is in the midst of a large-scale missile exercise called “Great Prophet 6.” During the exercise, underground missile silos were disclosed, large numbers of surface-to-surface missiles (SSMs) of different ranges were fired, and a new radar system was revealed.

Syria and Obama Administration Favorite Murderous Dictatorship / Prof. B.Rubin

July 5th, 2011
The Syrian regime has been killing and repressing its people every day for many weeks now. There has been more brutality in Syria in the last two months than in Egypt during decades. Yet the Obama Administration continues to protect the Syrian dictator and do the minimum to criticize him.

Ritual denounciations from the U.S. government sound good but, as one close observer put it, furnish more of a license for Syria’s regime to kill than any serious barrier to America’s biggest enemy among Arab governments staying in power.

The Flotilla Boat People no.2 / DR.Emmanuel Navon

Is it a coincidence that the last flotilla desperately trying to reach Gaza is setting sail from Greece? While the Greek economy is imploding, Gaza’s is booming. Those angry Hellenes trying to break the blockade (and to fix their ships) look more like boat people than like freedom fighters.

Israel: Technology and Science

http://new.ba-bamail.co.il:80/View.aspx?emailid=9549&memberid=799923

Egypt: Desire for Money - Jizya - Prompts Attacks on Christians / Raymond Ibrahim

July 6, 2011
If growing numbers of Muslims in Egypt have an intrinsic hatred for all things Christian— demonstrated days ago by the torching of eight Christian homes on the rumor that a church was being built—let us not forget that this hate has instrumental, that is, economic benefits: the extortion of money from the non-believer—tribute from the conquered infidels to their Islamic overlords—otherwise known as jizya.

European Universities and the New Anti- Semitism / Aryeh Green

Primary Issues Concerning Jews and Israel
Anti-Semitism in European Universities
The situation at many universities in Europe is extremely challenging for Israel and for Jewish students. Anti-Semitism and anti-Semitic acts are proliferating there-and not only among the Muslim minority population.[1] Virtually throughout Europe, including Russia and the rest of the former Soviet Union (FSU), anti-Israel attitudes are accepted as unassailable among a large number of academics and political pundits alike, across disciplines.[2]

To All the So Called "Human Rights Activists" / DR.Rivka Shpak Lissak

Did You Solve All the Problems At Home That You Have Started Telling Us How to Solve Ours?

People from France, Britain, Sweeden, Norway, USA and other Western Countries have formed organizations with the intention to join the Palestinians in their campaign against Israel, blaming Israel for the situation in Gaza and the Western Bank.

If these people are so eager to help solving the Israeli- Palestinian conflict, they should hear both sides before making up their minds.

Did they come to Israel to learn about its society, to meet people of different views about the conflict?

UN WATCH: UN Official Admits Posting "Strong Anti - Semitic" Cartoon

July 7, 2011
UN Official Admits Posting “Strongly Anti-Semitic” Cartoon
UN Watch Calling for Richard Falk to be Fired
GENEVA, July 7 -- After the UN Human Rights Council’s special rapporteur on the Palestinian territories finally admitted to posting a “strongly anti-Semitic” cartoon on his blog, in which Jews and Americans were depicted as bloodthirsty dogs, UN Watch today called on UN rights chief Navi Pillay to lead efforts to fire him. Click here for Falk statement and timeline.

The Flytilla Farce and the International Campaign for Repressive Dictatorship and Against Israel / Prof.B.Rubin

July 8, 2011
After the failure of the Gaza flotilla, Western leftists and their Arab, often Islamist, allies took up a new way to harass Israel, dubbed the “flytilla.” Hundreds of protestors sought to fly were to fly into Israel’s sole international airport and demonstrate along with radical Israeli supporters.

Is Muslim Brotherhood Getting Weaker/ Prof.B.Rubin

There’s Lots of Wishful Thinking Involved
July 7, 2011
The main U.S. newspapers are running articles on how internal splits are weakening the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood (here’s an example). Some of this is real but there is also a strong element of wishful thinking involved that exaggerates some real problems. Yet after all the important issue is not just whether Brotherhood people win but whether radical Islamists win. Afterward they will be able to work together.

Flotilla Founders, Flytilla Foiled, Fantastic Fail in Foolish Fiasco / Ray Cook

08 Jul 2011
… what the F… is going on!?
The much vaunted Flotilla 2 failed to get beyond Greek waters. The Mavi Marmara, star of Flotilla 1 was withdrawn under pressure from the Turkish government and the original 1500 became only a few hundred which rapidly dwindled to nothing.

Israel actually succeeded in bringing Greece and Turkey together in preventing a confrontation at sea!

The "Free Palestine Movement" Conceals its Real Mission / DR.Rivka Shpak Lissak

The "Free Palestine Movement" Real Mission: to Eliminate the Jewish State
The FPM's web site tells us about the movement's objective:
"The FPM is a California – based 501(c )(3) nonprofit organization. We are a human rights organization, have several working groups inside and outside the U.S, are not affiliated with any other organization(s), and comply with U.S, and international law.

Our mission is to challenge Israeli policies and actions that deny Palestinians their human rights, and in particular the right of unfettered access to all of Palestine.

New York Times Bites Israel by Lying about the "Flytilla" / Prof.Barry Rubin

July 10, 2011
Saying that the New York Times misreported on the Middle East in a way deliberately intended to be biased against Israel is like writing an article with the headline, “Dog Bites Man!” Still, since this behavior is so often unintentionally humorous, I can’t resist quoting the lead of the newspaper’s main story on the “flytilla” attempt to disrupt Israel’s airport and air travel:

Israel's Human Chameleon Strikes Again / Prof. Efraim Karsh

July 10, 2011
In the opening scene of Woody Allen's 1983 film Zelig, F. Scott Fitzgerald is seen to observe a curious little man as he chats with socialites at a sumptuous bash, speaking adoringly of President Coolidge and the Republican Party -- all in an upper class Boston accent. Then, an hour later, the renowned novelist is stunned to see the same man speaking to the kitchen help. Only now he claims to be a Democrat, and his accent has become coarse as if he were one of the crowd.

North Sudan:What Next? Ayman Jawad Al - Tamimi

July 11, 2011
The recent declaration of independence by South Sudan from its northern neighbor is certainly a welcome event. After two civil wars (1955-1972 and 1983-2005) that took the lives of more than 2.5 million Christians and animists, secession was the only reasonable option. Of course, there are immediate challenges for South Sudan, as it seems unlikely that 7,000 UN peacekeeping troops can protect a new nation that has vast oil reserves and a population living largely in abject poverty.

Floating Some Ideas for the Flotilla Folk / David Harris

July 10, 2011
Now that the world has been treated once again to the sight of such selfless, humanistic, courageous, modern-day Martin Luther Kings and Rosa Parks, whose single-minded goal is to feed the hungry, unshackle the enslaved, and lift the downtrodden, allow me some additional suggestions beyond the lure of Gaza.

Majorcan Descendants of Converted Spanish Jews Are Recognized as Jews / Doreen Carvajal

Majorcan Descendants of Spanish Jews Who Converted Are cognized as Jews
July 10, 2011
PARIS — Centuries after the Spanish Inquisition led to the forced conversion of Jews to Catholicism, an ultra-orthodox rabbinical court in Israel has issued a religious ruling that recognizes descendants from the insular island of Majorca as Jews.

Is Jordan's King Losing Control Over the Bedouins / Mudar Zaharan

June 20, 2011
The Bedouin minority in Jordan has been critical of the king for some time, with some people calling for a constitutional monarchy and others calling for toppling the Hashemite regime.

The Bedouin control the Jordanian army and the security agencies; will we see the regime in Jordan falling at the hands of its formerly-loyal Bedouin?

Is Simple Attention the Islamic Greatest Enemy? Raymond Ibrahim

July 8, 2011
In a world paralyzed by political correctness and warped philosophies, attention is proving to be one of the greatest enemies of Islamist encroachment.

Consider the difference between pre- and post-September 11: A decade after the 9/11 jihad got the West's attention, many people — perhaps not unlike yourself — have become aware of Islam and its doctrines, especially the "anti-infidel" ones, certainly many more people than before Sept. 11, 2001.

The New Flare - Up between Israel and Lebanon over Gaz / DR.Jacques Neriah

12 July 2011
The potential oil and gas fields off the Lebanese and Israeli coasts look set not only to become a long-term source of heavenly bounty - but also a source of conflict in the years ahead. Behind the tensions over the potential gas discoveries is the fact that the maritime border between Israel and Lebanon has never been delineated because the two states are still formally at war.

U.S Policy on Syria Changes for the Better, Sort of / Prof. B.Rubin

July 12, 2011
It took 2.5 years, months of massive revolutionary upheaval, and a violent attack on the embassy in Damascus, but U.S. policy toward Syria is finally changing. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton remarked:“President [Bashar al-] Assad is not indispensable and we have absolutely nothing invested in him remaining in power….Our goal is to see that the will of the Syrian people for a democratic transformation occurs.”

Incredibly Significant Missing Element in Egypt's Revolution / Prof.B.Rubin

July 13, 2011
As I always say, the most important stories about the Middle East–that really explain the region–are right there on the surface but are nonetheless neglected. Here’s one: there has not been a single, not a single, demonstration in Egypt against political Islamism.

Hassan Nasrallah Exposed / Jonathan Spyer

July 13, 2011
Despite its unrivaled ability to impose its will on the country, Hezbollah’s legitimacy in the eyes of non-Shi’ite Arabs in Lebanon and beyond has significantly diminished in recent years. The issuing of indictments against four Hezbollah members for the murder of former Lebanese prime minister Rafik Hariri will only serve to accelerate and compound this process.

Once, Hezbollah presented itself and was seen as an Arab force concerned above all with making war against Israel. The movement’s ability to avoid humiliating defeat by the Jewish state thrilled Arab publics.

Iraq : That Familiar Feeling / Jonathan Spyer

July 13, 2011
Amid the recent upheavals in the Arab world, one country has largely escaped attention.

That country is Iraq. However, the absence of anything attributable to the Arab Spring within its borders should not lead to the conclusion that all is tranquil in the land of the two rivers.

Delegation Highlights Support for Israel

July 14, 2011
JERUSALEM (JTA) -- A group of dignitaries including a former prime minister and a Nobel Peace Prize winner came to Israel to pledge to fight the Palestinian bid for statehood recognition at the United Nations.

The group came as part of the Friends of Israel Initiative, which seeks to rally international support for Israel.

The Situation in Gaza Strip is Better Than in Most Countries in the World / DR.Rivka Shpak Lissak

Michael Rubin published an article in the 26.6.2011 Commetary magazin, under the title:
Save Gaza? No, Save Turkey, Egypt, Bulgaria and Brazil.

Michael Rubin brings the facts on Gaza vs. information on other countries from the CIA'S WORLD FACTBOOK:

Life Expectancy – 74 years in Gaza "well above the world average of 67."

Infant Mortality – Gaza is "well below the world average of 41.6 deaths per 1,000 live births," lower than in Ymen, Iraq, Iran, Tunisia, Algeria and more.

The Obama Administration's "Mission Accomplished" Fallacy in the War on Terrorism / Prof.B.Rubin

July 14, 2011
Leon Panetta, leaving the CIA directorship post to become secretary of defense, and General David Petraeus, leaving the job of commander of U.S. forces in Afghanistan to become CIA chief, have just come close to declaring victory in the war against terrorism, though that’s a phrase the Obama Administration refuses to use.

A Victory for the Iran Coalition / Jonathan Spyer

July 13, 2011
Beleaguered Syrian dictator Bashar Assad gave a speech in which he referred to protesters as “vandals” and re-issued a tired promise of reforms. The speech did nothing to lessen the anger of his opponents, and the uprising against the regime is continuing apace.

Yet in neighboring Lebanon in the same week, the Assad regime and its allies scored a signal achievement.
After 140 days of wrangling, Syria, Hezbollah and its allies held the first meeting of the new, pro-Syrian government in Beirut.

Iran Building an Undergrpound Nuclear Facility

15 July 2011
News on Iran's nuclear ambitions has been dominating major media outlets this week, as The Telegraph reports that Iran is moving its nuclear production to an underground bunker. As foreign affairs correspondent Damien McElroy reports:

Installation of centrifuge and other manufacturing equipment was at a preparatory stage at Fowrdow, a facility deep inside a mountain near Qom, the country’s holiest city, intelligence reports said.