perhaps sheds light on why everything is so difficult here. Most Westerners have no clue.
"The Palestinian leadership is once again shooting itself in the foot. It is throwing away a real opportunity for a state; it is sabotaging its relationship with Western patrons.
"And when it comes to choosing between being a bit more moderate and gaining Western support, or being demagogically radical and appealing to the most radical forces, the Palestinian leadership chooses the latter. The Fatah-dominated PA doesn't want peace with Israel; it prefers peace with Hamas, its rival that not only murders and tortures Fatah people but - one more irony - is the main beneficiary of the Goldstone Report."
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1255204772568&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull
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And your Senators:
http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm
Contact President Barack Obama:
Fax: 202-456-2461 White House Comment line: 202-456-1111
E-mail form via: http://www.whitehouse.gov/contact/
As well as Secretary of State Hillary Clinton:
Fax: 202-261-8577 or 202-647-65434
Main State Department switchboard: 202-647-4000
State Dept. Public Communication Division
(accepts opinions from the public -- best to connect here):
Fax: 202-647-2283 Phone: 202-647-6575
E-mail: secretary@state.gov
Problems with the report include the following:
[] The mandate by the Human Rights Council -- itself overtly and blatantly anti-Israel -- to the Goldstone Commission, which did the investigation, was biased from the beginning: Only Israel that was to be investigated.
[] Hamas, with its use of human shields, was given a free ride. When a Hamas leader who testified actually referred to human shields, the report concluded that "it did not consider [the statement] to constitute evidence." Said Goldstone, in open correspondence: "We did not deal with the problems of conducting military operations in civilian areas [which is what Hamas did]. We avoided having to do so in the incidents we decided to investigate."
[] The commission was nothing more than a kangaroo court, as there were judges sitting on it who stated before the investigation even started that they knew Israel was guilty.
[] Israel's right to self-defense is not mentioned once in the report.
[] "Evidence" presented by Palestinians was accepted without corroboration.
[] The report was based in the main on statements by anti-Israel NGOs (e.g., Palestinian Center for Human Rights). NGO Monitor -- which called the report "575 pages of NGO 'cut and paste'" -- found numerous false and unsubstantiated allegations that were included.
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Dr. Elihu Richter, of the Hadassah School of Public Health, charged, in the Post:
"I personally submitted a nine-page, annotated and referenced brief to the Goldstone Commission last July showing that the high male-female ratio of fatalities among Palestinians in Gaza argues for the combatant status of many whom human rights organizations classified as non-combatants. However, the Commission was not driven by the evidence, but by its preset agenda."
Noam Bedein, Director of the Sderot Media Center, who went to testify to the Commission as a private individual who could attest to the suffering of the people of Sderot caused by Hamas rockets, has said that Goldstone actually slept through part of his testimony.
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For further background on the issues and the bias of the charges, see here (especially "Article and Reports"):
http://www.eyeontheun.org/view.asp?l=47&p=982
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Today was opening day of the winter session of the Knesset, and it was this same topic that PM Netanyahu focused:
"The right to have a Jewish state and the right to self defense are two of the basic principles of our people. These two elements are interwoven: Without a state of our own we cannot defend ourselves and without the right to self defense, we cannot run our own country..
"These basic rights are under continuous assault, gaining momentum since the Second Lebanon War and Operation Cast Lead [in Gaza]. We must repel this onslaught.
"Israel will not allow its leaders to be prosecuted at The Hague. We reject this absurd state of affairs."
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Netanyahu has made other points on this subject that merit a mention. This can stymie the peace process, he says, for Israel will not take risks if our right to self-defense is being denied us. Never mind that we shouldn't take those "risks" in any event, for other reasons -- the point is valid. I have no doubt that he intends to give particular parties pause.
And he has cautioned that nations such as the UK, if they support the report, might find themselves similarly vulnerable in the future -- for example, with regard to military action in Afghanistan.
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See this piece by Professor Richard Landes. It is being suggested by Goldstone, he says, that Israel must do a serious investigation of our misdeeds. But "to paraphrase Ecclesiastes: 'there's a time for receiving rebuke and a time for rebuking...' and the time for rebuke has come."
And so Landes would recommend another sort of investigation. Israel should investigate the Goldstone Commission that did the original inquiry: the ways in which legal procedure was ignored.
"Israel must examine the role of intimidation, of advocacy, and of access in distorting and falsifying evidence, the role of political correctness in making us incapable of discussing the problem and the astonishing lack of critical thinking in assessing witnesses."
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1255204764414&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull
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Switching topics, let me also recommend a piece from last Friday by the Jerusalem Post editor, David Horovitz, "Watching and Waiting."
"Israel had concluded long before the Obama administration took office that it would ultimately need to rely on itself in grappling with Iran. Everything that has unfolded in the last few months has only reinforced the conviction...
"Israel and the US are maintaining close and constructive coordination on the Iranian nuclear crisis. Concerns and assessments are shared effectively. Nothing that was raised by the US in Geneva came as a surprise in Jerusalem...
"But...Jerusalem's confidence in this administration and its judgment - on Iran and anything else - seems also to have been shaken because of what are considered here to have been costly rookie errors where the Palestinians are concerned...
"In this [Netanyahu's] government's thinking, efforts at negotiation with the Palestinians have been set back because of the exaggerated US demands on settlement, and the reality on the ground has grown more tense in the interim.
"That's bad enough for Israel. But miscalculation by Washington over Iran would have far more profound consequences here.
"Which is why, for all the genuinely excellent coordination between the US and Israel, and the truly wide exchange of information, Jerusalem's silence over the goings-on in Geneva speaks loudest of all.
"America and the other key world players are doing what they see fit with regard to Iran. As will Israel."
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The vision of tough talking, non-politically correct Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman rather appeals to me. Last week it was revealed that in a secret memo recently he called for less dependence on the US, with closer ties to developing nations.
Today he is in Kazakhstan, eager to show what is possible in terms of our relationships with genuinely moderate Muslim states.
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The political stance of Turkey: Something else troubling to be watched closely.
A multinational military exercise known as the "Anatolian Eagle" maneuvers -- scheduled to take place between today and September 24 in Turkey -- has been called off because Turkey demanded that Israel not participate. Why? Some of the planes we would have sent might have been used in bombing runs in Gaza against Hamas. Once Israel was excluded, the US and Italy refused to participate.
Since a treaty between Jerusalem and Ankara was ratified in 1996, the two nations have held joint maneuvers 15 times. And so this represents a serious divergence in Turkish policy. Concern is that the Turkish government, which has been pivotal in certain ways, is shifting from a moderate perspective to one that is more staunchly Muslim.
In light of this, Israeli officials are rethinking military sales and diplomatic support for Turkey, but there are those cautioning that while tensions are now high it is possible that the situation can be redeemed.
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Rumors have been flying regarding the fact that Ahmadinejad has Jewish roots. Here's a piece in the Guardian by a journalist who grew up in Teheran and says it is not so:
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"The Good News Corner"
A room from the Second Temple period was discovered decades ago, buried deep in the ground under the Old City. But no excavation was done because the ancient stones were not stable enough. But now a new technique has been developed that allows the walls to be supported while rubble within the room is removed. A concrete roof has been erected at the site, which goes six meters deep, and an iron support structure put in place.
Artifacts from both the First and Second Temple periods have been discovered in the course of the excavation.
The large room, known as the "Hall of Eras," will be opened to the public in due course.
(Because of the recent riots on the Temple Mount, authorities have stressed that this room is not under the Mount and that no excavation was done under it. The charge being made is that we are digging under the Mount in an effort to destroy the Al Aksa Mosque.)
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see my website www.ArlenefromIsrael.info
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