Tag Archives: Palestinian people

The Rocky Road To An Impossible Peace

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As Secretary of State John Kerry prepares to bring peace to the Middle East, he would do well to look at some of the history of the people and countries involved.

In 1979, under the leadership of Anwar el-Sadat, Egypt signed a peace treaty with Israel. In 1981, Sadat was assassinated by the Muslim Brotherhood, who felt that he had betrayed them by signing that treaty. In 2000, Yassar Arafat rejected a peace offer by Ehud Barak (with the encouragement of President Clinton) at Camp David that would have given the Palestinians parts of the Old City of Jerusalem and 91 percent of the West Bank. Arafat rejected that offer because he knew that if he accepted it he would be assassinated. Being the leader of a terrorist group is not unlike being a Mafia Don–it is a powerful, dangerous job with a lot of unwritten rules that must be followed very carefully.

So where are we now? Last week Breitbart.com reported that in preliminary negotiations for a peace treaty between Israel and her Palestinian neighbors, Secretary of State John Kerry has successfully negotiated the release of 82 Palestinian terrorists, all of whom have been serving life sentences since 1993. Sounds like a great step forward for peace–release people who kill people they don’t like.

The article reports:

Additionally, the Palestinian delegation in the disputed West Bank has rejected the notion that the release of terrorists is enough to get them to the negotiating table. They would like to see Israel unilaterally withdraw from its present sovereign borders and return to where the state’s territorial boundaries were before 1967. 

The fact that Israel’s territorial gains post-1967 ultimately came from defending its nation from its genocidal neighbors seems to have, time and time again with both the Obama Administration and the Palestinian leadership, fallen upon deaf ears.

Peace in the Middle East is a wonderful idea. Peace everywhere is a wonderful idea, but at some point you have to face reality. The fact that Israel exists is a fantastic recruiting tool for every Arab extremist on the planet. Peace is NOT a goal of Islam–a world-wide caliphate is.

The Hamas Charter states:

Article Thirteen: Peaceful Solutions, [Peace] Initiatives and International Conferences

[Peace] initiatives, the so-called peaceful solutions, and the international conferences to resolve the Palestinian problem, are all contrary to the beliefs of the Islamic Resistance Movement. For renouncing any part of Palestine means renouncing part of the religion; the nationalism of the Islamic Resistance Movement is part of its faith, the movement educates its members to adhere to its principles and to raise the banner of Allah over their homeland as they fight their Jihad: “Allah is the all-powerful, but most people are not aware.” From time to time a clamoring is voiced, to hold an International Conference in search for a solution to the problem. Some accept the idea, others reject it, for one reason or another, demanding the implementation of this or that condition, as a prerequisite for agreeing to convene the Conference or for participating in it. But the Islamic Resistance Movement, which is aware of the [prospective] parties to this conference, and of their past and present positions towards the problems of the Muslims, does not believe that those conferences are capable of responding to demands, or of restoring rights or doing justice to the oppressed. Those conferences are no more than a means to appoint the nonbelievers as arbitrators in the lands of Islam. Since when did the Unbelievers do justice to the Believers? “And the Jews will not be pleased with thee, nor will the Christians, till thou follow their creed. Say: Lo! the guidance of Allah [himself] is the Guidance. And if you should follow their desires after the knowledge which has come unto thee, then you would have from Allah no protecting friend nor helper.” Sura 2 (the Cow), verse 120 There is no solution to the Palestinian problem except by Jihad. The initiatives, proposals and International Conferences are but a waste of time, an exercise in futility. The Palestinian people are too noble to have their future, their right and their destiny submitted to a vain game. As the hadith has it: “The people of Syria are Allah’s whip on this land; He takes revenge by their intermediary from whoever he wished among his worshipers. The Hypocrites among them are forbidden from vanquishing the true believers, and they will die in anxiety and sorrow.” (Told by Tabarani, who is traceable in ascending order of traditionaries to Muhammad, and by Ahmed whose chain of transmission is incomplete. But it is bound to be a true hadith, for both story tellers are reliable. Allah knows best.)

The goal of the ‘peace process’ for the Palestinians is to drive Israel into the sea and destroy the country forever.

For those of us who believe in the Bible, we would do well to remember Genesis 12 :3 (Good News Translation):

3 I will bless those who bless you, But I will curse those who curse you. And through you I will bless all the nations.

America needs to be very careful about undermining the existence of Israel.

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Separating The Facts From The Propaganda

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Scott Johnson posted an article at Power Line today about the death of Omar al-Masharawi, the 11-month-old son of BBC stringer Jihad al-Masharawi. The baby was killed in Gaza City during fighting in the Hamas-ruled territory last November. Admittedly, it is tragic when an innocent child is killed in a war, but it is also tragic when the death of that child is exploited with little regard to the facts.

On November 23, Patrick Pexton, the ombudsman for the Washington Post, posted an article about the death of Masharawi.

The article at the Washington Post states:

That the man is Palestinian — not a terrorist but a journalist — and that the bomb was dropped by Israelis, to my mind, is almost beside the point. This photo depicted loss and pain, the horrific cost to innocents on both sides of the violence in the Middle East.

Yes, the photo does show the horrific cost to innocents on both sides of the Middle East. However, the ombudsman seems to have jumped to a conclusion that has since been proven false.

On March 11, the Washington Post reported:

A U.N. report indicates an errant Palestinian rocket, not an Israeli airstrike, likely killed the baby of a BBC reporter during fighting in the Hamas-ruled territory last November.

The death of Omar al-Masharawi, the 11-month-old son of BBC stringer Jihad al-Masharawi, became a symbol of what Palestinians see as Israeli aggression during eight days of fighting that killed more than 160 Palestinians and six Israelis. A woman was killed alongside the baby.

In a way it really doesn’t matter to the child’s family which side is responsible for the death of the child–they have still lost a child, but it is disturbing that the initial reports along with the heart-wrenching picture blamed Israel before the facts were known. It is also unfortunate that the Washington Post ombudsman immediately assumed that the reports blaming Israel were accurate.

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Altering The Facts To Get The Conclusion You Want

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In June 2012, I posted a story about a kindergarten graduation in in Gaza (rightwinggranny.com). The article included a picture of sweet little kindergarten children dressed in camouflage outfits carrying rifles. This is the picture:

Below is a sample of Palestinian media taken from YouTube:

.

Meanwhile, CBN News reported today that a research study funded by the United States State Department has said that that Palestinians do not teach their children to hate Israel at school and through the media.

The article at CBN states:

American, Israeli, and Palestinian researchers spent three years examining hundreds of textbooks to determine how the two sides portrayed themselves and each other. They called their report, “Victims of Our Own Narratives? Portrayal of the ‘Other’ in Israeli and Palestinian School Books.”

“As you know in the Oslo agreements, this was highlighted as a key issue, education for peace,” Dr. Bruce Wexler, professor emeritus and senior research scientist in psychiatry at Yale School of Medicine, told CBN News.

Wexler, Adwan, along with Daniel Bar-Tal, professor of research in child development and education at Tel Aviv University, presented their findings in Jerusalem on Monday.

Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Salaam Fayyad welcomed the research, saying the “conclusions are not in line with its standing pre-conceived positions.”

One interesting aspect of this study is that it charges that putting the 1972 Olympic Massacre in Israeli history books casts Palestinians in a negative light because the terrorists who killed the 11 Israeli athletes were Palestinian.

Israeli Strategic Affairs Ministry Director General Yossi Kuperwasser is quoted in the article at CBN:

“I’m afraid that this report is going to be used in order to whitewash the Palestinians from the need to really tackle the major problem that prevents us from promoting peace here,” Kuperwasser said.

“And this is the ongoing Palestinian incitement for hatred, incitement for violence, for terror and the ongoing denial of the Palestinians of the rights of the other and the existence of the other, which is the Israelis and the Jews in this piece of land,” he added.

Until someone is willing to tell the truth about what is going on, there will not be peace.

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It Has Taken A While For The Truth To Come Out

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Yesterday the Daily Caller reported that Suha Arafat, the wife of the late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, stated last month in a TV interview that the Palestinian terror campaign against Israel launched in 2000 was a premeditated act orchestrated by her husband, not a spontaneous “intifada,” or uprising, as many have claimed.

The intifada was supposedly triggered by the visit to the Temple Mount by then-leading Israeli opposition leader Ariel Sharon. What actually occurred was that Yasser Arafat felt that he was being pressured to betray the Palestinian cause and was not willing to do that. He told his wife in Paris after the failure of the Camp David negotiations, ‘You should remain in Paris because I am going to start an intifada. They want me to betray the Palestinian cause. They want me to give up on our principles, and I will not do so.’” It would be interesting to know exactly what those principles were.

The article reminds us:

In a summit convened by President Bill Clinton at Camp David in July 2000, Arafat rejected an offer by then-Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barack to create a Palestinian state in the equivalent of roughly 97 percent of the West Bank, including land swaps, and all of the Gaza Strip, according to an account by America’s chief Middle East negotiator at the time, Dennis Ross. East Jerusalem was to be the Palestinian capital.

It should be noted here that had Arafat agreed to that offer, he would have been signing his death warrant. Anwar Sadat was murdered by the Muslim Brotherhood for making peace with Israel, and it is quite possible that Arafat would have suffered the same fact. His body is currently being exhumed to determine the actual physical cause of his death, but I am not sure that if evidence reveals that he was murdered, there will be an obvious choice of motive.

The article concludes:

As a result of the four-year terror campaign, more than 1,000 Israelis were killed by Palestinian terror groups, while more than 3,000 Palestinians, including terrorists, died as result of Israel’s efforts to stop the violence.

The world’s media accepted the fact that the visit to the Temple Mount was the cause of the intifada. The world’s media has accepted many false stories about tensions and violence in the Middle East. It is refreshing to see that (even years later) someone told the truth.

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Why The Two-State Solution Will Not Work

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Arutz Sheva posted an article regarding a speech PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas gave today when he returned to Ramallah after the United Nations granted Palestine status as a nonmember observer state.

The article quoted the speech:

“We were threatened with punishment and sanctions from various sides,” Abbas continued, in a reference to attempts by the United States and Israel to dissuade him from proceeding with the application.

“And if we had listened to those threats we wouldn’t have gone to the U.N.

“One day, a young Palestinian will raise the Palestinian flag over Jerusalem,” he vowed, “the eternal capital of the state of Palestine!”

There was a time when some people believed in a two-state solution. There are some people that still do. The problem is that the Palestinians believe in a one-state solution–they want Israel destroyed. You cannot make peace with people who want to destroy you.

This is the equivalent of living next to a neighbor who keeps threatening to kill your family and take over your house. The appropriate behavior would be to notify the authorities, get a restraining order, and arrest the man if he sets foot on your property. Unfortunately, Israel is the only country taking the neighbor’s threats seriously.

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What Have They Done ?

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Yesterday the United Nations posted an announcement:

The General Assembly today voted to grant Palestine non-member observer State status at the United Nations, while expressing the urgent need for the resumption of negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians leading to a permanent two-State solution.

The resolution on the status of Palestine in the UN was adopted by a vote of 138 in favour to nine against with 41 abstentions by the 193-member Assembly.

“We did not come here seeking to delegitimize a State established years ago, and that is Israel; rather we came to affirm the legitimacy of the State that must now achieve its independence, and that is Palestine,” the President of the Palestinian Authority, Mahmoud Abbas, told the Assembly before the vote.

Mr. Abbas noted that the world was being asked today to undertake a significant step in the process of rectifying the “unprecedented historical injustice” inflicted on the Palestinian people since 1948.

This statement works only if you don’t know your history.  In 1919 a formal agreement was signed in London regarding the Jewish homeland. The agreement was signed by His Royal Highness the Emir Feisal ibn-Hussein, representing and acting on behalf of the Arab Kingdom of Hedjaz, and Chaim Weitzman, representing and acting on behalf of the Zionist Organization. A Jewish state was to be established as soon as Jewish immigration and development was sufficient in the wilderness known as Palestine. The boundaries of the nation were codified and approved unanimously by the League of Nations. The land included in this agreement included what is now Jordan and much of the land won back by Israel in the 1967 war.  In 1921, 75 percent of the land given to Israel was taken away from her by the British and given to Abdullah, the brother of Feisal ibn-Hussein. Abdulah was a Hashemite. The Hashemite tribe had just been driven out of Mecca and Medina by the Wahabi Muslims, so the Hasemites took over what was to be the Palestinian homeland (Jordan). So as you can see, the historical injustice against the Palestinians took place in 1921 and was perpetrated by the Wahabi Muslims–not the Jews. But facts are so inconvenient.

Israel responded to the vote:

Israel’s Ambassador to the UN, Ron Prosor, said his delegation could not accept today’s resolution. “Because this resolution is so one-sided, it doesn’t advance peace, it pushes it backwards,” he stated, adding that peace could only be achieved through negotiations.

“There’s only one route to Palestinian statehood and that route does not run through this chamber in New York. That route runs through direct negotiations between Jerusalem and Ramallah that will lead to a secure and lasting peace between Israelis and Palestinians,” he added. “There are no shortcuts. No quick fixes. No instant solutions.”

As I have said before, until the Palestinians begin to build the infrastructure of an ordered society and stop teaching their children to hate, they should not be given a state. Creating a Palestinian state in its current form would simply be creating a base for terrorism against Israel.

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The Concept Of Hudna

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According to Wikipedia, hudna is an Arabic term meaning a temporary “truce” or “armistice” as well as “calm” or “quiet”, coming from a verbal root meaning “calm”. It is sometimes translated as “cease-fire“. Historically, a hudna has been used by Islamists as a time to re-arm for the next battle. I am afraid that the cease fire that happened between Israel and Hamas last night may fall into the category of a pause for the purpose of re-arming.

Jennifer Griffin posted an article at Fox News last night about the cease fire.

The article points out:

In fact, Hamas spokesmen had leaked to the press that the cease-fire would begin at 9 p.m. local time on Tuesday, but that was before Clinton had landed in Jerusalem. It would take another 24 hours for the deal to be finalized. In the meantime, just hours before the cease-fire was formally announced, a Palestinian placed a bomb on a Tel Aviv bus, injuring more than 24 Israelis. It was the first terror attack in Tel Aviv since 2006. Hamas praised the bombing, but did not take responsibility. Israel did not respond, a break from its usual belief that a strong response to terrorism provides deterrence.

 How do you make peace with people who celebrate a terrorist attack on innocent people?

The article points out two important points:

“The President said that he was committed to seeking additional funding for Iron Dome and other U.S.-Israel missile defense programs,” according to Prime Minister Netanyahu.

Finally, when she shuttled to Ramallah, Clinton did not receive assurances from President Mahmoud Abbas that the Palestinians would no longer go to the U.N. General Assembly and request observer status on November 29 — one way that the Palestinians would get their aspiration to statehood recognized. After all, this issue of Palestinian recognition is the issue that serves as the backdrop to the current escalation of violence.

I suspect we will be hearing much more from the Middle East in the coming days.

Look! A Shiny Object!

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I was listening to the news this morning and heard the criticism of Governor Romney’s speech in Israel. I wondered what he had said that had caused the problem. The press reported that the Palestinians were upset because the Governor commented that the culture of Israel provides a fertile ground for economic prosperity. That statement really doesn’t seem all that offensive. I knew that the Governor had stated that Jerusalem was the capital of Israel, and wondered if that were the real source of the problem. Anyway, I went to Governor Romney’s campaign website to read the speech. The attacks on the speech are another example of the mainstream press’s “Look–a shiny object over here! Don’t look there!” campaign for President Obama.

Governor Romney’s speech outlined some of the political and cultural ideas that have allowed both America and Israel to prosper. Those ideas included democracy, the rule of law, God-given rights, and free enterprise. I can understand how the Palestinians would be upset at these concepts–generally speaking, these are foreign ideas to all of the Arab countries in the region.

One of the things that under-girds national prosperity is the rule of law as it applies to property rights. A man is less likely to improve his property if he does not own it. Also, property rights give the average citizen a means to acquire an asset that will increase in value (generally real estate increases in value) and gain some measure of wealth that he can pass on to his family.

Another thing not mentioned in the Governor’s speech that plays a very important role in a nation’s prosperity is the use of all human resources. When a country excludes women from participating in the work force and excludes the voices of women from government, it decreases by half the flow of ideas and innovation into the economy and into the government. I am not saying that every woman should work or be involved in government, but I am saying that every woman who has something to contribute should be allowed to contribute it.

The corrupt governments of the nations that surround Israel do not encourage prosperity for the average man. The well-connected steal the wealth of the country and the average citizen lives in poverty. The culture of respecting your fellow man and helping him become prosperous is not part of that society. That may be the biggest reason that the culture of Israel creates prosperity and the culture of the Arab nations surrounding Israel does not.

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Which Way Did The Money Go ?

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The Washington Free Beacon posted a story today about the lifestyle of Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas. Mr. Abbas has allegedly deposited nearly $13 million in U.S. taxpayer aid into a secret bank account.

The article reports:

The Obama administration is not providing proper oversight for the $600 million in U.S. foreign aid to the P.A., Schanzer ( Jonathan Schanzer, vice president for research at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies) noted.

“Washington should simply acknowledge that there is a problem,” he said. “The staff at the U.S. Consulate General in East Jerusalem reportedly knows that Palestinians believe their ruling elites are corrupt. But for reasons that are not entirely clear, the State Department has yet to issue a clear statement to address the issue, or what it intends to do about it.”

Elliott Abrams, a former national security adviser for George W. Bush, recounted the behind-the-scenes talks he had with Arab leaders who refused to support the P.A.’s corrupt institutions.

“I can tell you from my own experience, as an American official seeking financial assistance for the P.A. from Gulf Arab governments, that I was often told, ‘Why should we give them money when their officials will just steal it?” said Abrams, who noted that 82 percent of Palestinians believe their government is unethical. “Corruption is an insidious destroyer not only of Palestinian public finances but of faith in the entire political system.”

It seems to me that cutting aid to the Palestinians might be a very easy way to cut some government spending. If Mr. Abbas chooses to take part in ‘lifestyles of the rich and famous,’ the least he can do is do it on his own dime–not the backs of American taxpayers.

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Teach Your Children Well…

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John HInderaker at Power Line posted a story yesterday about a kindergarten graduation ceremony in Gaza. The article includes a number of photos from the graduation. Below are two of the photos:

kindergartengraduation

kindergartengraduation2

The photos include children depicting a Palestinian being tortured by an Israeli soldier. Also included in the graduation are coffins. The United Nations should condemn this as child abuse. I’m not holding my breath waiting for that to happen.

 

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I Realize That This Is A Politically Incorrect Idea–But It Is True

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Yesterday the Jerusalem Post posted an article with the headline, “There is no such thing as a two-state solution.” Unfortunately, based on the history of the past 60+ years, that is true. The article was written by Congressman Joe Walsh of Illinois.

The article states:

It is time to let go of the two-state solution insanity and adopt the only solution that will bring true peace to the Middle East – a single Israeli state from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea. Israel is the only country in the region dedicated to peace and the only power capable of stable, just and democratic government in the region.

This solution is the best one for everyone, especially the Palestinians. They will trade their two corrupt and inept governments and societies for a stable, free and prosperous one. Those Palestinians that wish to may leave their Fatah and Hamas-created slums and move to the original Palestinian state – Jordan. The British Mandate for Palestine created Jordan as the country for the Palestinians. It was the only justification for its creation. Even now, 75 percent of its population is of Palestinian descent. Those Palestinians that remain behind in Israel will maintain limited voting power, but will be awarded all the economic and civil rights of Israeli citizens. They will be free to raise a family, start a business and live in peace, all of which are impossible under Arab rule.

It is telling that Israel, despite being a ‘Jewish state,’ is the only country in the Middle East that allows Christians, Jews, and Muslims to live together without being discriminated against by the government.

If the goal is peace, Israel has to have the right to exist. The countries whose sole purpose is to destroy Israel need to be denied access to American foreign aid money and allowed to go bankrupt. The people in those countries need to have the opportunity to prosper–either in Israel or Jordan–not in a terrorist state with no purpose other than terrorism.

 

 

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More Shenanigans At The United Nations

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Interior of the Church of the Nativity

Image via Wikipedia

Yesterday Fox News reported that the United States will not be contributing to The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) because the organization has accepted the Palestinian mission as a full member.

CBN News reported:

The 107 to 14 vote, with 52 abstentions, easily fulfilled the 81-vote requirement granting full membership status to the P.A. The U.S., Canada and Germany were among the countries voting against the bid, while Russia, China, France, India, South Africa and Brazil were among those voting in favor.

The article at Fox News reports:

Washington is required by law to cut off funding to any U.N. agency if the Palestinian Liberation Organization is granted membership in any group at the international body.

There is more to this story. The Palestinians are seeking to use the United Nations as a vehicle to obtaining a state without making peace with Israel. CBN News reported in February:

The Palestinian Authority has asked the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, or UNESCO, to designate the Church of the Nativity, the Bethlehem church built on the traditional site of Jesus Christ’s birth, as a world heritage site.

“One of the most significant sites of universal importance to humanity is the Old Town of Bethlehem and the birthplace of Jesus,” chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erakat said Tuesday in an e-mailed statement. “Palestinians long to share our patrimony with the world.”

No sites under Palestinian Authority control are on the U.N.’s list because Palestinians do not have a state recognized by the U.N. 

At this point I would like to remind everyone about the way Palestinian militants treated the Church of the Nativity when they took it over in 2002. There was a Reuters article on this posted on May 10, 2002, but somehow the link is currently not working. I would also like to remind everyone that when the Arabs controlled the Old City of Jerusalem, Christians and Jews did not have access to their religious sites.

Until the Palestinians recognize the right of Israel to exists, and treat all historical sites in their lands with respect, I see no reason to give them statehood.

 CBN News reported on October 10, 2011:

Taha said UNESCO membership would “allow Palestine to actively participate in protecting cultural heritage in the Palestinian territories,” Reuters reported.

That has not been the case with Joseph’s Tomb, another Jewish holy site, near Shechem, which has been desecrated repeatedly over the years.

Over the weekend, Israeli soldiers preparing the site for Israelis planning to visit during Yom Kippur found swastikas painted on the walls.

In April, a Palestinian policemen opened fire on Israeli passengers driving away from the site, killing Ben Yosef Chai, 24, nephew of Likud Minister Limor Livnat, and wounding four others.

I don’t think the United Nations is ignorant of the history and ideals of the Palestinian Authority–I just think that the United Nations has been taken over by the Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC), which seeks to set up a world-wide caliphate. The countries that truly support freedom and freedom of religion need to leave the United Nations as soon as possible and begin an organization of democracies that support freedom–the United Nations does not currently support freedom.
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Some Insight On The Israeli Prisoner Swap

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Gilad Shalit Salutes Israel Prime Minister Ben...

Image by Israel Defense Forces via Flickr

Andrew McCarthy posted an article at National Review Online yesterday commenting on the recent prisoner swap in Israel. Please follow the link to read the entire article, Mr. McCarthy is a man who truly understands the Arab culture and what this prisoner exchange will mean for the future. However, I am more interested in posting some of the quotes from the Arabic media he cites in the article:

From Fatah–considered ‘moderate’ (as opposed to Hamas):

This soldier was a waif born in a shelter as a result of the deterioration and disintegration of Israeli society. A Zionist soldier, he became seeped with Zionism to the bone… This monster joined the army of Zionist gangs, to carry on the legacy of his fathers, the apes and pigs of the Haganah, Irgun, Stern, and Palmach organizations, in order to carry out the orders of his fascist masters. That was the Zionist soldier Gilad Shalit, 19 years-old when he was captured by the Palestinian resistance.

This incompetent soldier became the most prized soldier in all the armies of the world. He entered the annals of history through the widest gate, and his name went down in the Guinness Book of World Records…. The world was in turmoil as the Arab leaders, the West, and the monstrous mini-state [Israel] waged a five-year publicity and marketing campaign throughout the world in an attempt to liberate the Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit…. He was a focus of interest for journalists and political and military analysts in all the electronic and printed media, while the conscience of those flaccid leaders remained unmoved by the [plight of] our courageous heroes and glorious prisoners hidden away in the dungeons of the enemy’s strongholds.

Might I suggest that peace between Israel and its neighbors might be difficult to obtain while the neighbors of Israel refer to the Jews as apes and pigs.

From Jordan, the words of the Muslim Brotherhood:

The Hamas movement must secure a new prisoner in order to free additional [Palestinian] prisoners from the jails of the occupation, because those who will not be released as part of the Shalit deal now feel and understand that their salvation depends on [the capture of] a new prisoner. This great national duty must be fulfilled, if not by Hamas then by any other organization….

The latest exchange deal was great and magnificent … a victory for the Hamas movement and the entire Palestinian people. It confirms that continuing the resistance is the [right] path and option [to take] until the Palestinian rights are restored in full, without exception…. The freed prisoners will be birds of freedom and torches to light the fire of resistance, and they are the incontrovertible proof that the Palestinian right[s] will only be restored through resistance….

Great–we got all those guys back for one prisoner–let’s go get another one!

From Hamas:

As we say goodbye to Shalit, we hope to welcome a new guest, to capture a new soldier, to hurt the enemy in a way that will humiliate and distress him, to pull his soldiers from their tanks and even shoot down their planes, to destroy their vehicles and to lead them, handcuffed, to our jails. This, in order to … liberate those whom the enemy is [still] holding in his prisons and whom he refuses to free because they have shed his blood, humiliated him, killed the best of his soldiers, rubbed the noses of his crack units in the dirt, and forced his leaders to surrender and accept their terms. Goodbye, Shalit, and hello to the new prisoner who will replace you and by means of whom we will humiliate your army and your leadership. We will not surrender, give up or disdain [our duty] until we get back the last of our prisoners and destroy the last of the detention facilities that the enemy has constructed on our own soil…

Same as previous quote.

From Benjamin Netanyahu in 1995:

Prisoner releases only embolden terrorists by giving them the feeling that even if they are caught, their punishment will be brief. Worse, by leading terrorists to think such demands are likely to be met, they encourage precisely the terrorist blackmail they are supposed to defuse.

It is wonderful that Gilad Shalit is home again. I just wonder what the true long-term cost of this agreement will be.

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One Perspective On Bringing Peace To The Middle East

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One definition of appeasement is letting the alligator eat everyone else first. It really doesn’t solve the problem–it just delays the inevitable conflict. At some point, if you choose to live, you will have to fight the alligator. Do you want to do it after he has eaten all of your potential allies and is strong or do you want to do it while he is weak and hungry? That is where we are in the discussions of a Palestinian state.

Yesterday Haaretz reported on a statement made by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad explaining how he would bring peace to the Middle East.

The article reports:

Speaking at the sidelines of the the International Conference on Palestine in Tehran, the Iranian president was quoted by AFP as saying that if “the backers of the Zionist regime want to solve the issue… the solution is simple … everyone should go home.” 

“Some poor people were brought to Palestine on the promise of security and jobs while they made Palestinian people into refugees… So now Palestinians should go home and those brought here should go to theirs,” Ahmadinejad was quoted by AFP as saying. 

He doesn’t want to drive the Jewish people into the sea, he just wants to kick them out of Israel and take their land. How peaceful. Does anyone really believe that he will stop at Israel? Does anyone doubt that Iran is smuggling weapons into Gaza and bringing weapons into Lebanon to prepare for an attack on Israel? Iran has territorial ambitions. A video smuggled out of the country details the international goals of Iran (see rightwinggranny March 28). We need to listen to what Ahmadinejad is saying. He is telling us what to expect.

 

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Problems With Supporting A Palestinian State

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Yesterday the Jerusalem Post posted an article detailing some recent comments about support for the proposed state of Palestine from Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

According to the article:

Earlier on Saturday, Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei rejected the Palestinians’ UN statehood bid, saying any deal that accepted the existence of Israel would leave a “cancerous tumor” forever threatening the security of the Middle East.

As leader of a country under a long-standing threat of military action from Israel and the United States, Khamenei warned the Jewish state and its allies to expect “paralyzing blows” that a NATO missile shield could not prevent.

“Any plan that seeks to divide Palestine is totally rejected,” Khamenei told a conference commemorating the Palestinian Intifada.

The conference was commemorating the Palestinian Intifada as if it were a good thing. Do we really need another terrorist state?

The article further reports:

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu on Saturday responded to anti-Israel comments made by Iran’s supreme leader, saying the Ayatollahs’ declarations of “their intentions to annihilate Israel, give credence to the government’s insistence on Israel’s security needs and our demand that Israel be recognized as a Jewish state.”

The Jews (and Israel) are the canary in the coalmine of the world. When bad things happen to the Jews, something happens to the fabric of society that causes the basics of civilization to break down. To allow the current entity that calls itself Palestine to become officially a state is to kill the canary in the coal mine. Until Palestine can demonstrate that it wants a two-state solution (not a one-state solution with it as the only state) to the question of Israel and Palestine, it cannot be allowed to become a state. Until Palestine recognizes Israel’s right to exist, it should not be allowed statehood.

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More Information On The Peace Process

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Flag of Israel with the Mediterranean sea in t...

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Since I am technologically challenged, I have no idea how to embed a video into this website. I apologize. However, I will provide a link to a YouTube video that clearly and concisely explains the history of the State of Israel. This video helps understand how we got to the place we are today in regard to peace in the Middle East. Enjoy.

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The Logo For the Permanent Observer Mission Of Palestine To The United Nations

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This is the logo for the Permanent Observer Mission of Palestine to the United Nations. The Weekly Standard posted this picture yesterday.

Please notice that there is no Israel on this map of the area where Israel currently exists. That should tell us everything we need to know about the intentions of the Palestinians in regard to Israel. Do we really want to create another terrorist state in the Middle East? Aren’t there enough already?

Also, my favorite quote regarding Palestinian statehood is from Walid Shoebat:

“Why is it that on June 4th 1967 I was a Jordanian and overnight I became a Palestinian?”

If the United Nations ever wants to be a force for peace in the Middle East, they will vote down the Palestinian request for statehood, stop sending Palestine money, and tell the Palestinians to create a peaceful nation with infrastructure (rather than spending all their money on weapons) and then come back again. We need to remember that when Israel turned over the Gaza Strip to the Arabs, it was an economically viable area with a worldwide business of exporting flowers. The Arabs promptly destroyed the greenhouses and turned it into a poverty-stricken ghetto. Unless the Arabs in Gaza and the West Bank show a desire and effort to create a functional, peaceful society, they should be shunned by the rest of the world. We don’t reward children when they behave badly and destroy things, we shouldn’t reward grown-ups who do that either.

 

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Israel And Palestine Made Simple

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A Field of Flowers and Mount Tabor

Image by Oregon State University Archives via Flickr

The struggle of the Jewish people to live in peace has gone on since the days of Ester. AntiSemitism seems to be something that shows up in the world periodically, and it is generally followed by bad things. Sometimes when we look at the events of the moment, we forget the history of these events.

Yesterday, Scott Johnson at Power Line posted a cartoon-style video detailing the history of the State of Israel and its negotiations with the local Arabs. The video is about ll minutes long, but it is worth watching to the end. There are a lot of facts in it that are currently not mentioned in the discussion at the United Nations.

 

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Be Careful Who You Believe When You Look For Fact-Checkers

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"The Honorable Rick Perry (front right), ...

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Yesterday John Hinderaker at Power Line posted an article about Glenn Kessler of the Washington Post, a liberal reporter who now claims to be The Fact-Checker, and his fact checking of a recent Rick Perry speech. When asked whether there should be a Palestinian state, Rick Perry called for Palestine to denounce terrorism and to require that any Palestinian state be required to acknowledge Israel’s right to exist. Sounds pretty basic to me.

The Fact-Checker replied:

As part of the 1993 Oslo accords, in an exchange of letters between then Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat and Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, the Palestine Liberation Organization met all of these conditions nearly 20 years ago. The letters are posted on the Web site of the Israeli Foreign Ministry.

Really? Is Mr. Kessler familiar with the term ‘Intifada?’ Mr. Hinderaker points out that Palestinian children are taught that Jews have no right to be in Palestine and the maps shown to these children show Palestine as including all of present-day Israel.

The article at Power Line concludes:

One last thing: Kessler thinks that Israel has nothing to fear because of a twenty-year-old letter from a dead terrorist. What is the PA’s real intention, as of today? Look no farther than this: as Scott reported earlier today, “Palestine” is represented in the United Nations by the heroine Latifa Abu Hmeid. What is her claim to fame? She is the mother of no fewer than four terrorist murderers, who together are serving a total of 18 life sentences. Is Rick Perry’s concern about whether the Palestinians and their leaders are really reconciled to the existence of Israel unfounded? Let’s be blunt: Glenn Kessler either is woefully ignorant of Middle Eastern history, or he is deliberately misleading his readers.

Palestine does not want a two-state solution–they want a one-state solution with Palestine as the state. Creating a Palestinian state at this time under the current Palestinian culture would be a recipe for war–not peace. Until the schools stop teaching hate and the state stops honoring terrorists and terrorism, we need to make sure Israel is armed to the teeth. That is the path to peace in the Middle East. A weak Israel is an easy target.

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Legitimizing AntiSemitism

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Street in Jerusalem Old City

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I expect that sometime in the next few days, the United Nations will vote on whether or not to recognize a Palestinian State. There has never been a state of Palestine, although Jordan was originally established as a home for Palestinians, but the United Nations will be voting on one shortly. What would that state look like?

Haaretz reported on September 14th that:

Answering a question about the legal status of a Jewish minority in the future state, Areikat apprently rejected the issue, saying: “I believe, I still believe that as a first step we need to be totally separated,” adding “I think we can contemplate these issues in the future.”

“After the experience of the last 44 years, of military occupation and all the conflict and friction, I think it will be in the best interest that the two peoples should be separated,” Areikat added. 

USA Today reported on September 15th:

Habbash’s comments come after the ambassador for the Palestine Liberation Organization to the United States, Maen Areikat, said when asked Tuesday whether he could foresee a Jew being elected mayor of Ramallah, the capital of the West Bank: “I personally still believe that as a first step we need to be totally separated, and we can contemplate these issues in the future.”

Areikat, speaking at a breakfast for reporters hosted by the Christian Science Monitor, continued: “After the experience of the last 44 years of military occupation and all the conflict and friction, I think it would be in the best interest of the two people to be separated first.”

These statements have been walked back slightly, but I believe the original statements are probably the truth. I would like to remind anyone too young to remember that prior to 1967, when the Arabs controlled the Old City of Jerusalem that Christians and Jews did not have access to their holy sites. In recent years, the Jews have controlled the Old City, and the area is open to people of all faiths. It seems to me that history tells us what a Palestinian state would be like.

There seems to be an effort on the part of some Palestinians to claim that Palestine would be a peaceful, equal-opportunity state. USA Today reports:

Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas have called for a secular, pluralistic Palestinian state, says Hussein Ibish of the American Task Force on Palestine, which advocates a non-militarized Palestinian state alongside Israel.

The article in USA Today further reports:

Michael Oren, the Israeli ambassador to Washington, said he read Areikat’s comments to mean a ban on Jews.

“That’s the state that the Palestinians want to declare unilaterally, without negotiations, and have recognized by the U.N.,” Oren said

I think I agree with Michael Oren. I have a hard time believing that the large number of weapons currently being smuggled into the West Bank are for peaceful purposes.

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The Law Of Unintended Consequences At Work

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CNS News reported today on some of the unintended consequences of the Palestinian Authority’s decision to go to the United Nations next month and ask to be recognized as a state. The article points out that since 1975 the United Nations has recognized the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) as the “sole legitimate representative of the Palestinian people.” If the United Nations recognizes the Palestinian Authority as a state, the Palestinians’ representation will change from the PLO to a “state of Palestine.” All Palestinians living outside the boundaries of the “state of Palestine” will no longer be represented at the United Nations.

The article further points out:

Goodwin-Gill  (Oxford University professor of public international law Guy Goodwin-Gill, an expert on refugee issues) also cited problems relating to the ability of the P.A. to assume greater powers. (Established under the Oslo Accords as an interim body to administer the self-rule areas, the P.A. is not empowered to conduct foreign affairs, a role that was left to the PLO.)

The academic said in the brief that the P.A. is a subsidiary entity set up by the PLO with “limited legislative and executive competence, limited territorial jurisdiction, and limited personal jurisdiction over Palestinians not present in the areas for which it has been accorded responsibility.”

There is another issue–Palestinian representation in Washington, D.C. The article points out:

The PLO has been permitted to maintain an office in Washington since 1994. Because of the PLO’s long history of involvement in terrorism, presidential waivers have been required by law every six months to allow its continued operation.

“Would that waiver henceforth be permitted, or be exercised?” Abrams wondered. “But if the PLO office is closed, would the United States accredit an embassy for the State of Palestine? Obviously not, as it would be the American position that there is no State of Palestine, not yet anyway.”

I don’t support a Palestinian state until the Palestinians agree to the existence of Israel. I also don’t believe that the Palestinians are entitled to any part of Jerusalem–Jerusalem has been the capital of Israel since King David–it should not be given away. The difficulties in creating a Palestinian state show that the idea has not been well thought out and might have results that are not good for anyone.

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