October 2012

Turkey's Treacherous Show Trials by Jeffrey Wade Gibbs

October 1, 2012
As well-funded public relations work and a healthy economy have helped steer attention away from the ruling party's increasingly autocratic policies, the AKP continues to choke all critical voices in the press and elsewhere with trials, threats and intimidation.

Sweden: Mosque to Blast Prayer Calls from Minaret by Soeren Kern

October 1, 2012
When told that Sweden is historically a Christian country, Okur responded, "So perhaps it was before, in the 1930s and 1940s. Now it is a new era."

A mosque in Stockholm has received initial approval to begin sounding public prayer calls from its minaret, the first time such permission has ever been granted in Sweden.

Ethnic Cleansing of Christians in the Sinai by Khaled Abu Toameh

October 1, 2012
The ethnic cleansing of Christians in the Sinai is being ignored not only by the Egyptian authorities, but also by the mainstream media and human rights groups in the West.

In events being ignored not only by the Egyptian authorities, but also by the mainstream media and human rights organizations in the West, Muslim terrorists have in recent weeks attacked Christian families and forced them out of their homes and businesses in the Sinai town of Rafah. The terrorists have threatened to pursue their jihad against Christians until all of them leave the Sinai.

Western Courts Bend to Islamic Practices by David J. Rusin

September 28, 2012
Judges' consideration of Shari'a when deciding cases may be the most alarming avenue by which Islam influences Western legal systems, but it is not the only one. With increasing regularity, Islamic practices sway the administration of courtrooms, affecting when sessions are held, who must rise, and what attire is permissible. This trend should not be overlooked. Courts that yield to Islamic norms, even in mundane matters, encourage Islamists and cast doubt on the future of equal rights and responsibilities under the law.

A failure in media reporting fuels Jewish conspiracy theories / Sharyn Mittelman

Sep 28 2012
Al Watan, September 15, Saudi Arabia
When news first broke about violent Muslim protests in response to the film ‘The Innocence of Muslims', significant media outlets failed any test of reliability by reporting that the film's producer was Sam Bacile an Israeli/Jew who funded the film with help of ‘100 Jewish donors'. It was first reported by the AP and Wall Street Journal but was then picked up by other newspapers - the New York Times, the Washington Post, USA Today and went viral around the world.

Palestinian Authorty: Nazi-like experiments on prisoners

Editor's note:The Red Cross supervises Israel's prisons on a regular basis.No Such evidence was ever brought by the Red Cross.The PA IS PUBLISHING LIES ON iSRAEL.

After Abbas The End of the PLO's Old-Guard Monopoly by Khaled Abu Toameh

October 2, 2012 at 4:00 am
"[Abbas's] resignation would actually be the most positive thing he has ever done for the Palestinians." — PLO representative.

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas apparently believes that the Palestinians would not be able to survive for one day without him.

That must be why whenever he faces criticism from Palestinians, Abbas resorts to his old-new threat to resign.

The Afghanistanization of the Middle East by Daniel Greenfield

October 2, 2012
After the Arab Spring, we can pick and choose from new Afghanistans popping up all over. The Salafist militias are providing order for a price while carving their own little private Afghanistans out of formerly stable countries.

Eleven years after September 11, Afghanistan is nowhere near being stable; instead it is the Middle East that is becoming Afghanistanized. Forget about having only one Afghanistan, after the Arab Spring we can pick and choose from new Afghanistans popping up all over.

Hamas reduces trade with Israel; Israel gives Gazan children free medical treatment / Ray Cook

02 Oct 2012 08:37 AM PDT
News this week that Hamas has halved the import of Israeli fruit, because to buy from Israel is to buy from the enemy. This move is part of the ‘resistance’. Only apples and bananas are now allowed in by Hamas. They want to cultivate their own fruit industry.

This is fine. It’s a great idea to be self-sufficient. But they are not so yet. In the meantime their own people will suffer price hikes and, presumably, as a result, many will go without this essential and important part of their diet.

Muslim Riots Reach Europe: Part II by Soeren Kern

October 3, 2012
Abu Assad al-Almani asks Muslims in Germany to attack any German citizen who supports the film by "cutting their heads from their bodies and capturing it on film so that it is accessible to the public, so that the whole of Germany, and even the whole of Europe, knows that their criminal games will be thwarted by the sword of Islam."

And they called it Pappe love; Randa does the rounds / Allon Lee

Sep 27 2012
Anti-Zionist historian Ilan Pappe told Geraldine Doogue on ABC Radio National's "Breakfast" program (17/9) that the "mainstream Zionist leadership from the very beginning understood that... they could not have a Jewish state as long as the Palestinians remained in Palestine".

The fact is that the mainstream Zionist leadership accepted and still accepts partitioning the disputed territory into Jewish and Arab states - in 1922 (when Jordan was created), 1937, 1947, 2000, and 2008.

UNRWA Resists Resettlement by Alexander H. Joffe

Middle East Quarterly
Fall 2012, pp. 11-25 (view PDF)
The Palestinian refugee problem lies at the heart of the Arab-Israeli conflict. But since the 1960s, the international institution charged with aiding the refugees, the U.N. Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), has resisted their resettlement in the Arab host countries.

Palestinian Authority Rigging Courts Canada, UN Complicit by Khaled Abu Toameh

October 5, 2012
The Canadian Development Agency, with the help of the UN Development Program, has been funding new courthouses in the West Bank "to improve the Palestinians' access to justice." But justice can be achieved even if the judges, lawyers, prosecutors and defendants sit in a tent. Instead of investing in new buildings, it would be more helpful if the Canadians and the UN agency demanded that Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and his aides stop obstructing the work of the judges.

In southern Italy, long-lost Jews return to the fold A burgeoning community rediscovers the religion its ancestors were forced to abandon centuries ago By Ruth Ellen Gruber

October 3, 2012
Used for centuries as a church, the former synagogue in Trani, Italy, has returned to its original role as a Jewish house of worship. (Ruth Ellen Gruber/JTA)
Used for centuries as a church, the former synagogue in Trani, Italy, has returned to its original role as a Jewish house of worship. (Ruth Ellen Gruber/JTA)

SAN NICANDRO GARGANICO, Italy (JTA) – In the Christian cemetery of this sleepy farming town on the spur of Italy’s boot, Lucia Leone looks up at a row of tombs marked incongruously by Stars of David.

World Jewish Congress co-hosts event with Christian lawmakers from 17 countries who support Israel

04 October 2012
The World Jewish Congress has co-hosted an event in Jerusalem in which 25 Christian parliamentarians and Congressmen from 17 different countries took part. The lawmakers endorsed Israel’s right to defend itself against existential threats such as those posed by the Iranian regime and its nuclear program.

What a Lebanese Woman says on Islam

Read What a Lebanese Woman says on Islam

http://link.brightcove.com/services/player/bcpid949801312001?bckey=AQ~~,...

Profs on Mideast Turmoil: Blame America, Israel, and Free Speech by Cinnamon Stillwell

October 5, 2012
In the wake of the al-Qaeda attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi, Libya on Sept. 11, 2012, the seizure of the American embassy in Cairo, Egypt, and the ensuing anti-American protests and riots throughout the Middle East—the latter ostensibly over an anti-Islam YouTube film trailer that originated in the U.S. months earlier—what do Middle East scholars have to say about the turmoil in the region?

Muslim Persecution of Christians: August, 2012 "We do not want infidels in this area" by Raymond Ibrahim

October 4, 2012
Egypt: The nation's jihad organizations dropped leaflets calling on Muslims to kill Christians wherever they found them. Islamists in the Constituent Assembly demanded that the Coptic Church's funds be placed under state financial control.

France targets foreign-trained extremists with new law

October 04, 2012
PARIS: A new anti-terrorism bill unveiled by France’s government Wednesday would expand already tough laws and seek to deter people from traveling abroad to train at terror camps, and is designed to prevent a repeat of an attack during which a French Islamist killed seven people.

In March, a young French radical Mohammad Merah killed three Jewish children, a rabbi and three paratroopers over eight days before he died in a standoff with police. Merah claimed links to Al-Qaeda and said he had received training at an Islamist paramilitary camp in Pakistan.

Moral Reform for the Muslim World by Daniel Greenfield

October 5, 2012
Without moral reform, political reform empowers the people to be at their worst while they take refuge in the magical thinking that justice will come from an Islamic order rather than from accountable government and common ethics. Mitt Romney has proposed economic reform instead of political reform, but it is not likely that reforming Muslim economies will work any better than reforming their governments did.

Despite Predictions, Jewish Homeland in Siberia Retains Its Appeal/ James Hill

October 3 2012
Andrey Zasorin leads a congregation at the old synagogue in Birobidzhan, the capital of Russia’s Jewish Autonomous Region.
By DAVID M. HERSZENHORN
Published: October 3, 2012

BIROBIDZHAN, Russia — Andrey Zasorin, the spiritual leader of the old synagogue here in the capital of Russia’s Jewish Autonomous Region, is a born-again Jew who found God after 23 years in prison for robbery. Even then, he returned to Judaism only after flirting with the Russian Orthodox and Pentecostal churches.
Related

The Fedayeen:The PALESTINE - ISRAEL CONFLICT / SHAUL BARTAL

ON THE BOOK
9/21/2012
Israeli Scholar, Veteran Pens Study of Palestinian Incursions
Tel-Aviv, Israel - Shaul Bartal's nonfiction The Fedayeen Emerge: The Palestine-Israel Conflict, 1949-1956 (published by AuthorHouse) describes each community's struggle in the 1950's as another stage in the conflict between Jews and Muslims from the British Mandate to the present. It shows how the Palestinians recovered from the Naqba - the catastrophe - of Israel's creation in 1948 and continued the struggle.

Muslim Brotherhood Targeting United Arab Emirates? by Mudar Zahran

October 4, 2012
If the US has tolerated the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt, why not in the UAE?

The Cine File: The Camera Does Lie / Or Avi - Guy

Sep 27 2012
There is no doubt that "5 Broken Cameras" is a moving, emotional and powerful film. It tries to deal with the Israeli-Palestinian conflict by telling the story of one Palestinian town, Bil'in, which became a symbol of what the film describes as the non-violent resistance against the security fence.

Is the Response to Totalitarianism More Totalitarianism? by Douglas Murray

October 8, 2012
The man's career was spent was spent whitewashing, minimizing, excusing and stooging for some of the worst crimes in human history. The system he supported [Communism] prevented many people from reaching even a quarter of the age he was fortunate enough to live to. Today the crimes of Nazism are reviled; can the same be said of its twin ideology?

Israel intelligence: Jihadi Attacks from Crumbling Syria by Yaakov Lappin

October 8, 2012
Al-Qaeda-inspired terror organizations cannot be deterred. Once Assad falls, the radical elements can raid Syrian military bases, arm themselves with a range of devastating weapons, and turn their sights to the Israeli border.

As Israel's military watches Syrian sovereignty crumble and scores of militant groups form in the resulting vacuum, it is on alert for jihadi terrorist attacks from Syria.

The working assumption in Israeli defense circles is that sooner or later, Assad will fall, and Israel will have to deal with whatever will replace him.

Romney Channels George W. Bush's Middle East Policy by Daniel Pipes

October 8, 2012
Mitt Romney gave a generally fine speech today on the Middle East. Sensibly, he criticized the Obama administration for its Benghazi shenanigans, for the "daylight" with Israel, fecklessness vis-à-vis Tehran, and the cuts in military spending. Very justifiably, he called it "time to change course in the Middle East."

But I worry about three specifics.

Mitt Romney, Republican candidate for president, speaks at the Virginia Military Institute on Oct. 8, 2012.

Why They Love Usama, Hate Obama, and How Obama Uses the Same Tactic at Home/ Barry Rubin

Oct.4 2012
Why are tens of thousands of Middle Eastern Muslims chanting about how much they love Usama bin Ladin and how much they hate Barack (Hussein) Obama?

Simple. Because bin Ladin was a Muslim and an Arab (for the Arab demonstrators) and thus he was one of their people, someone from their side, whatever tactical disagreements they might have had with him. And Obama isn’t. No amount of groveling, apology, or money will change that fact. Isn’t that clear?

Germany: Co-ed Swimming in Court by Soeren Kern

October 9, 2012
The court also noted that the family had chosen to live in Germany, where mixed swimming classes are the norm. "Besides, we live in a Western society in which we do not live by the rules of the Koran. And as on the street, the youngster can can close his eyes to the girls... or wear long swimming trunks." — Chief Judge Uwe Sievers

A German court has refused to allow a Muslim student to skip co-ed swimming lessons based on her religious beliefs.

Romney's Middle East Speech: I'll be Tougher By Barry Rubin

09 Oct 2012
Mitt Romney gave a speech at the Virginia Military Institute today which focuses on U.S. Middle East policy. There are some good points in this speech that are definite steps forward. Romney sounded like a president should, someone who grasps power politics, deterrence, credibility, supporting allies and opposing enemies, and all the basic principles that have been largely vanished by the Obama Administration in exchange for unworkable and dangerous concepts.

Gazans fire three rockets following IAF air strikes

10/10/2012 08:51
IAF strikes terror tunnels in the Strip overnight, three rockets fall on Sderot, Eshkol region; no injuries reported.
Kassam rockets being fired from the Gaza Strip Photo: Nikola Solic / Reuters

Rockets fired from Gaza exploded in the western Negev on Wednesday morning, with two rockets landing in Sderot and one in Netivot.

One rocket landed in an open area near Netivot's cemetery. Another exploded in an open field near an adjacent settlement.
Related:

IDF hits Gaza targets in response to rocket barrage

No one was injured and no damage was reported.

The Qatari Takeover of France by Peter Martino

October 10, 2012
French politicians such as President François Hollande hope that Qatari funds will help fight poverty in disadvantaged Muslim neighborhoods, They assume that poverty is the cause of France's social problems. They should, however, know better. The problems in the suburbs of Seine-Saint-Denis and elsewhere are not caused by poverty, but by the unwillingness of many Muslims to integrate into French society.

Analyzing Aleppo by Aymenn Jawad Al-Tamimi

October 8, 2012
Dubbed the "mother of all battles" as regime forces launched a counter-offensive against the rebels in Aleppo at the end of July, the Battle of Aleppo has proven to be a much more protracted affair. Here are the main observations to be drawn from the situation thus far:

Abbas's Plan to Steal Local Elections by Khaled Abu Toameh

October 10, 2012
According to Hamas officials, there can be no free and fair elections in the West Bank while Abbas is cracking down on anyone who dares to challenge him. Also, Fatah's decision to hold local elections only in the West Bank is an admission that the Palestinians have two separate entities: the West Bank and Gaza. UN members next month should ask Abbas when he applies to upgrade the status of a Palestinian state to "non-member," which state he is talking about -- the one in the West Bank or the one in the Gaza Strip?

UNRWA Betrays Its Mission by Nitza Nachmias

Oct.10 2012
The twentieth century experienced some of the worst instances of population displacement in history: the 15 million ethnic Germans forced out of their homes in Eastern Europe after World War II; the millions of Muslims and Hindus fleeing the newly established states of India and Pakistan during the partition of the Indian subcontinent in 1948; the millions of Armenians, Greeks, Turks, Finns, Bulgarians, Jews, and Kurds, among others, driven from their lands and resettled elsewhere.

Netanyahu's speech and the Ostrich Syndrome by Efraim Inbar

The Jerusalem Post
October 11, 2012
The speech by Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu at the UN General Assembly where he delineated a red line to the Iranian nuclear program attracted huge international attention. Yet, its impact will dissipate soon because the international community suffers from Ostrich Syndrome.

Obama on His Own Middle East Record: Zero Percent Success by B.Rubin

10 Oct 2012 06:20 AM PDT
“You’re not listening to what the people who are fighting you say about this fight. In your arrogance, you think you write the script.” Lara Logan, CBS News, on Obama's Middle East policy

A few days before taking office, on January 15, 2009, Barack Obama gave an interview to CBS News and explained his Middle East policy:

The Alawites and the Future of Syria by Harold Rhode

October 12, 2012
Assad and the Alawites cannot give in. They are fighting for their very existence. The only way to end this civil war is to let them have control over their destiny -- ether as an autonomous region in Syria or as an independent entity.

The Alawites are a small, historically oppressed people, whose political future will determine whether Syria remains united in some form or disintegrates into even smaller ethnic and religious entities.

The Islamic Republic of Catalonia by Soeren Kern

October 12, 2012
"We will all vote for the Islamic parties because we do not believe in left and right. This will make us win local councils, and as we begin to accumulate power in the Catalan autonomous region, Islam will begin to be implemented." — Abdelwahab Houzi, Salafist preacher, Lleida.

A successful push for independence in the Spanish autonomous region of Catalonia would lead to the establishment of a country with the third-largest percentage of Muslims in Western Europe, just behind France and Belgium, and far ahead of Britain and Germany.

The UN's forgotten policy of resettling Palestinian Refugees by Daniel Meyerowitz - Katz

Oct 12 2012
The issue of Palestinian refugees is arguably the single largest impediment to peace between Israelis and Palestinians. None of the other 'final status issues' -- borders, security, and sovereignty over Jerusalem -- seem to leave such a gulf between the positions of the two parties that a compromise is difficult to imagine. Yet, as new research demonstrates, the refugee situation could have been solved very early on.

UN Resolution 194 and the "Right of Return" / Eli E. Hertz

October 10, 2012

Jewish Refugees from Arab Countries and Palestinian Arab Refugees
Resolution 194, adopted by the UN General Assembly on December 11, 1948, addressed a host of issues, but only one paragraph out of 15 dealt with refugees created by the conflict. Resolution 194 attempted to create the tools required to reach a truce in the region.

The Vice-Presidential Debate: Fact-Checking the Fact-Checkers on Foreign Policy Issues / PROF.B.Rubin

12 Oct 2012
While most of the vice-presidential debate was on domestic issues, there was some discussion about Iran that provoked controversy.

Republican vice-presidential candidate Paul Ryan said:

"We cannot allow Iran to gain a nuclear weapons capability. Now, let's take a look at where we've gone — come from. When Barack Obama was elected, they had enough fissile material — nuclear material — to make one bomb. Now they have enough for five. They're racing toward a nuclear weapon. They're four years closer toward a nuclear weapons capability."

Impressions of the Veep Debate by Daniel Pipes

October 12, 2012
Three reactions to the Joe Biden-Paul Ryan debate last night:
Middle East dominance: The foreign policy aspects of the debate focused almost exclusively on Libya, Israel, Syria, Iraq, Iran, and Afghanistan. Binyamin Netanyahu's name was invoked eight times, far more often than any other person other than Barack Obama and Mitt Romney.

Islam's Insanities: All Just a 'Hoax'? by Raymond Ibrahim

October 11, 2012
You read something immensely disturbing concerning the Muslim world—say, that some Muslims seek to legalize sex-slavery or destroy Egypt's Pyramids or approve of sodomy-suicide-missions or crucify infidels. Your mind—exclaiming "tell me this is a joke!"—finds it difficult to accept such news. Then, somewhere from the bowels of the Internet, relief arrives.

The much welcomed word "Hoax!" appears, reconfirming your worldview. All is well again.

Egypt's changing landscape

Oct 5 2012
Egypt is back in the spotlight in this Update, which covers some important new developments in Cairo, the Sinai, and beyond that deserve closer attention. In Egypt after his US visit and speech at the United Nations last month, President Mohamed Morsi held his first interview with state-run media - a soft-hitting, pandering piece which many Egyptians said reminded them eerily of the way Egyptian media once presented Hosni Mubarak. Yet all is not well in Cairo, as the Muslim Brotherhood continues to reshape the country in its image.

The Web had almost 39,000 readers in Septenber 2012

Dear reders,
Thanks for reading my web

I hope it helps you get the true picture of the Middle East and the Israeli - Palestinian conflict.

In the conflict there are no bad guys vs. good guys. IT IS A MUCH MORE COMPLICATED ISSUE

Rivka

Can we force Iran to abandon its nuclear plans?Ahron Shapiro

Oct 2 2012
Iran has enough uranium to create five nuclear bombs
Where must we draw the line on Iran's dangerous and illegal nuclear weapons program? At what point should the strongest measures, including military strikes, be implemented in order to derail it?

This is the question at the heart of a subtle yet significant disparity in diplomatic language regarding the Iranian nuclear threat, as the possibility increases that ongoing economic sanctions may be insufficient to cause Iran to abandon its goal of nuclear arms capability.

Through the lens: the Middle East seen from China By Pinhas Inbari

15 October 2012
China’s recent conflict with Japan over the Diaoyu Islands near Taiwan gives a rare glimpse of the rising power’s strategic concerns and provides an insight into its Middle Eastern policies.

A possible clash between two giants like China and Japan is far more alarming to Israel’s ally, the United States, than the ongoing sectorial infighting in the Middle East. While America remains concerned about the Palestinian problem and the bloodshed in Syria, events in the Far East may shift American focus away from the Middle East toward China and its neighbors.

The Canada Factor: Policies for a Stronger Continent by Christine Williams

October 15, 2012
A strong, united continent, governed by policies that work in the face of economic woes, rising Islamism, and the threat of terror against Israel and the West, is both our best defense and our best offense.

Northeastern University's Islamists by Stephen Schwartz

October 14, 2012
Northeastern University in Boston has big ambitions. As a private and popular institution, with more than 20,000 students, it rose from a night school to a commuter college to a leading research facility in health, homeland security, and other public policy issues. But in the academic environment, size and influence often attract unexpected or undesirable elements.