By Ted Belman I attended a large gathering tonight to hear what Min Dan Meridor had to say. He may not have told all but he told enough for me. He answered my first question without the need for me to ask it. Why is Bibi begging for negotiations if he doesn’t intend to make concessions. Meridor: Negotiations are intended to be on two tracks, top down and the other, bottom up. Israel has no expectations that the first will succeed but they expect to build on the work done already in building the Palestinian economy and lifting restrictions and security cooperation. I asked what’s to happen with the freeze agreement that Israel negotiated with the US at the end of the 10 months? Can we build with a vengeance or are we constrained by agreement? Meanwhile, Israel wants to continue building from the bottom up. I think Obama agrees with that and will be happy to see it continue. Remember Obama agreed that there would be no preconditions to the talks. The change in policy has been very successful, as the apparent increase of immigration shows: In 2001, only 221,000 people immigrated to the UK, by 2007 it was already 333,000. All of this happened in spite of the knowledge that mass immigration leads to increased crime. The reason for this dissolution of their own country was the Left’s pursuit of the possession of political power: They had hoped for additional votes by Commonwealth citizens and immigrants, and planned to free themselves of the Right once and for all, using the club of racism at the slightest hint of opposition when necessary. As a result of the Left’s power struggle, Great Britain is now home to a dangerously high number of extremists. The spirits are now haunting Great Britain, Labour proclaimed. Only decisive action can stop Tehran from acquiring nukes. That raises the question of why being isolated would bother Iran. The regime’s leaders believe they are implementing God’s will, so why should they fear being isolated from mere mortals—even Barack Obama? Mr. Obama also said “the door is still open” for Iran to negotiate, and a State Department spokesman added “If Iran didn’t trust the proposal we put on the table last fall . . . we’re willing to explore . . . alternatives.” Mr. Obama’s open-handed, open-doored, two-track approach just won’t die, despite Secretary of State Hillary... By William Kristol, Washington Post Vice President Biden — who was for the Iraq war before he was against it, and who then argued that the surge could never work before he decided (in retrospect) that it did — said this to Larry King on Wednesday night: “I am very optimistic about — about Iraq. I mean, this could be one of the great achievements of this administration. You’re going to see 90,000 American troops come marching home by the end of the summer. You’re going to see a stable government in Iraq that is actually moving toward a representative government. . . . I’ve been impressed how they have been deciding to use the political process rather than guns to settle their differences.” Biden acknowledged that, yes, Iran is “a concern. A real concern, not an immediate concern in the sense that something could happen tomorrow or in the very near term. But what I worry most about with regard to Iran, if they continue on the path of nuclear weapons and were able to gain even a modicum of the capability, then I worry what that does — Larry, and you know the Middle East, what that — what pressure that puts on Saudi Arabia, on Egypt, on Turkey, etc. To acquire nuclear weapons . . . .That’s very destabilizing.” Leave aside whether it make sense to worry more about other countries getting nuclear weapons in response to Iran than about the... Islamism is Machiavellianism in its purest form. Its goal is to strengthen the Umma (the Muslim people) and expand Dar al-Islam (the Muslims world) above all else. It must embrace all “true” Muslims, even if oppressive or violent, and yet must disavow all infidels (non-believers), irrespective of their friendship or kindness. Most of he early reports I read suggested that the pro government supporters vastly outnumbered the protestors. This account says otherwise. Family SecurityMatters Exclusive: Iran: Eyewitnesses to a Revolution By Barak Ravid, Jack Khoury and Jonathan Lis, Haaretz Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon on Saturday spoke out on the peace process, saying that a deal between Israel and the Palestinians could include a swap comprising both land and populations, according to an interview published in the London-based Arabic daily A-Sharq Al-Awsat. Ayalon suggested that Israel would trade the concentration of Israeli Arab towns and villages in the north known as “the triangle” in exchange for Israeli settlement blocs in the West Bank. He added, however, that the swap would not include cities such as Nazareth. Ayalon denied that this was an attempt to rid Israel of the country’s Arabs. “I am not saying that Israel wants to get rid of Israeli Arabs, but we know from experience that countries are divided based on demographic lines, and a good example of that is the former Soviet Union,” Ayalon told the newspaper. “Israel’s Arabs who are moved to Palestine will also help the Palestinian state economically.” He added that if the Palestinians want Israel to accept their self-determination, they must accept Israel’s right to define itself as a Jewish state. Israeli Arab MK Ahmed Tibi (United Arab List-Ta’al chairman) responded to Ayalon’s remarks, saying they reflect a “complete defect in the understanding of the basic values of democracy and civil rights.” “We are not chess pieces,” said Tibi. “We... There presence of two elephants in their living room apparently escaped the notice of American’s top civilian and military leaders. Islamic radicalism does not receive any mention whatsoever in the American Defence Review and the threat posed by a nuclear Iran is mentioned in only one general sentence at the end of a document (page 101). Obama’s plan is to spend, spend, and spend on domestic entitlement and welfare programmes. His next budget contains a deficit of $1.6 trillion – almost as much as Bill Clinton’s whole government budget of 2000. But Obama is under pressure to make some budget cuts somewhere. Clearly the massive domestic budget with really necessary items like a $35 billion General Motors bailout can’t be touched without offending essential groups such as the United Auto Workers Union. …they have deliberately minimised the current security threats to please the Obama administration and support the President’s desire to cut defence spending. ****** The Washington Times chimes in Terror reviews avoid word ‘Islamist’ by Gil Ronen, INN The Minister for Public Security, Yitzchak Aharonovich, met his Kenyan counterpart Prof. George Saitoti in Jerusalem Thursday, and the two discussed their countries’ security and criminal problems. Minister Saitoti told Aharonovich that Kenya is under threat from extremist Muslims. “The jihad is taking over Somalia and threatening to take over Kenya and all of Africa,” he said. “No one is more experienced than you in fighting internal terror. I request that you help us in this matter. In knowledge, in training.” Aharonovich and Saitoti also discussed Iran. “Not far from here, Ahmedinejad sits and threatens with extinction a nation that has already suffered a Holocaust in its lifetime. We must not bear such a situation and indeed we won’t,” the Israeli said. “As a nation friendly to you, I tell you that we shall not put up with the Iranian declarations about destroying Israel,” Saitoti replied. Kenya’s population is mostly Christian and generally very friendly toward Israelis, whom they often refer to by the Biblical term “Israelites.” Unlike the western world, Kenya has no history of anti-Semitism, and the history of the Jewish people is known mostly from the stories of their greatness in the Bible, and from modern-day exploits such as the Six Day War in 1967 and the Entebbe raid in 1976, which was assisted by Kenya. The Muslim part of Kenya’s population... I was googling to come up with a discussion of the meaning or limits of “turn the other cheek” in the Gospels and came up with this interesting article. Eric Hoffer asked in the sixties, “Why must the Jews be the only Christians”‘ I think he was referring to this quote when noting the demands put on Jews just before the ‘67 war. He may as well have been referring to our practices in taking care of the weak. But this invocation started in the Torah, not the Gospels. Sarah Palin believes that private charity is a substitute for government largess. Perhaps not.
Min. Meridor tells all
All over, the left supports immigration for votes
Tony Blair’s Labour government consciously promoted mass immigration in Great Britain in order to back the Right up against the wall. Since 2000, Labour has planned in its political goal to have a beautiful new Britain with 50% of the population being foreign. This was disclosed in recently uncovered secret documents. The Case For Striking Iran Grows
Iranian regime change: An Obama achievement we could believe in
The Machiavelli-Islamism Connection
Exclusive: Iran: Eyewitnesses to a Revolution
Ayalon touts population swap in peace deal
Defence Review ignores Iran and Islam
Kenya Wants Israel’s Help Against Jihadists
The Christian paradox: How a faithful nation gets Jesus wrong
Jerusalem
Sunday 14 February 2010
Meridor: First of all there was no agreement. (This took me by surprise. Either there are mutual covenants or consideration of there are not. If not, we are not bound.) As to what happens after, we will have to decide whether to amend the freeze or cancel it.
Thus it would appear that where we build becomes a matter of negotiations. If the PA want’s the freeze to continue or demands a better one, what will Israel do. If Israel insists on cancelling the freeze then the PA will have to demand a lesser freeze.
Iran’s Islamic Revolution had a busy week preceding its 31st birthday yesterday. President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad announced on Sunday that Iran would enrich uranium to 19.75% purity for Tehran’s research reactor. Yesterday he claimed to have done just that, making Iran “a nuclear state.”
Earlier, Tehran boasted of making advances in radar-evading drone aircraft. Its ambassador to Moscow said that Russia promised imminent delivery of S-300 air-defense systems that could preclude Israel from attacking Iran’s nuclear program. And to intimidate protesters, the regime disrupted communications networks, made widespread arrests, and executed dissidents. Antiregime demonstrations yesterday were met with force.
Unfortunately, President Obama is not affording these provocations the seriousness they deserve. On Feb. 9, he struck pre-emptively in the White House pressroom by saying that the Iran nuclear issue was well in hand despite what National Security Adviser James Jones earlier this week called Iran’s “puzzling defiance.” Advocating a “regime of sanctions” against Iran, Mr. Obama stressed that his purpose was to “indicate to them how isolated they are from the international community as a whole.”
Iraq is “one of the great achievements of this administration”? Well, any port in a political storm — even if it means taking credit for the success of policies of the previous administration, policies you opposed. In politics, after all, success acquires many fathers. And that’s fine, if it means the Obama administration is careful over the next couple of years not to toss away American troops’ achievements in Iraq.
King (in his inimitable way) then asked Biden about Iran: “Iran, nuclear — worry?”
Raymond Ibrahim*, a specialist in Islamic theology, practice, and politics, has penned a fascinating response to Nidal Hasan and Fort Hood (click here for Part One of the article and click here for Part Two). He points out that many Westerners have great difficulty assuming that radical Islamic beliefs (Islamism) are central to much of contemporary Islamic practice, rather than just limited to isolated fringe groups and of no import or effect beyond terrorism. This reluctance exists despite the fact that many of these beliefs, like jihad, are widely acknowledged – Islam’s more “undercover” radicalism is another matter altogether.
Ayalon said such an exchange would maintain territorial integrity and demographics in both Israel and a Palestinian state.
“I am talking about land that has territorial contiguity,” said Ayalon. “We don’t want to get into surgical operations at this stage, but what is important is that the acceptance of this idea will give Jews a message of goodwill toward peace, since a majority of Jews will live in Israel and a majority of Palestinians will live in Palestine.”
Under American law, every four years the US Defence Department must present to Congress a comprehensive review of the security threats and challenges to America. The Quadrennial Defense Review (QDR) is supposed to be a non-partisan and objective strategic document – free of partisan politics. After all, the duty to protect the nation and its citizens is supposed to take a higher priority than subsidies to labour unions, or hand-outs to party loyalists.
Aharonovich told Saitoti about the influx of unwanted immigrants from Africa, and said that the Israeli government will vote Sunday on the construction of a fence on the southern border. “We realize that this is not an ideal solution but we have to do something about the matter. You know this from the Somali border,” he told his guest.
The Kenyan minister replied: “I promise that we will help you as regards the infiltrators. We have a lot of knowledge and we are successful in dealing with the phenomenon relatively well on the Somali border.”
Ours is among the most spiritually homogenous rich nations on earth. Depending on which poll you look at and how the question is asked, somewhere around 85 percent of us call ourselves Christian. Israel, by way of comparison, is 77 percent Jewish. It is true that a smaller number of Americans—about 75 percent—claim they actually pray to God on a daily basis, and only 33 percent say they manage to get to church every week. Still, even if that 85 percent overstates actual practice, it clearly represents aspiration. In fact, there is nothing else that unites more than four fifths of America. Every other statistic one can cite about American behavior is essentially also a measure of the behavior of professed Christians. That’s what America is: a place saturated in Christian identity.
But is it Christian? This is not a matter of angels dancing on the heads of pins. Christ was pretty specific about what he had in mind for his followers. What if we chose some simple criterion—say, giving aid to the poorest people—as a reasonable proxy for Christian behavior? After all, in the days before his crucifixion, when Jesus summed up his message for his disciples, he said the way you could tell the righteous from the damned was by whether they’d fed the hungry, slaked the thirsty, clothed the naked, welcomed the stranger, and visited...
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