A briefing by Michael J. Totten Mr. Totten began his talk by pointing out that even though Lebanon and Iraq have been the most unstable countries in the Middle East in recent years, there has been a conspicuous lack of protests and unrest in both nations during the “Arab Spring.” Since the 1970s, Lebanon has been the place where the Middle East fights its wars, with a population split of around a third Shi’i, a third Sunni, and another third Christian. He provided context and described the situation in Lebanon as follows: The civil war that began in the mid 1970s was sparked by the presence of the PLO, which set up a base in south Lebanon with the approval of the Sunnis to use as a launching pad against Israel. Seeing no government response to rein in the PLO, the Christians formed their own militias to fight the Palestinian militants. According to the article Netanyahu: Abbas must say he accepts ‘the Jewish state’ it appears that Bibi is demanding that Abbas announce “I will accept a Jewish State” His comments came amid Israeli efforts to get a clear Palestinian statement about Israel as a Jewish state front-loaded into any formula on restarting negotiations that might mention the baseline for talks as the 1967 lines, with mutual agreed swaps. G-d Forbid he makes this deal. Referring to frequent Palestinian comments that Israel can “call itself whatever it wants,” Netanyahu stressed that the issue was not over what it calls itself, but rather over what it is. “They can call their state Palestine or Arafatland,” Netanyahu said. “I’m not talking about what they call it; but what it is. For them, it is the nation state of the Palestinian people. Israel is the nation state of the Jewish people. This means that the Palestinians go there, and Jews come here.” Minister Ya’alon met Turkish foreign ministry officials last week as part of attempts to solve crisis with Ankara; stressed Israel won’t apologize for actions but will compensate victims’ families Believe me, paying compensation is a greater acknowledgement of wrong doing than apologizing. By Ted Belman The US and other countries are trying to curtail the flotillas Clinton: Flotilla a bid to provoke Israel The high price opf diplomacy. The fact that they think they can both negotiate and declare a state is troubling. Bibi has said such a unilertal move would violate Oslo leaving it open for us to annex land. But will he end negotiations because of it. I doubt it. But contemplate this. They get recognition by most countries of the world after the UN passes the resolution. Then Israel annexes Area C and B. Israel will be soverign over these areas and the Arabs will be soverein over “A” only. They will also have a claim of sorts to B and C but Israel will consider itself sovereign. I like it. Ted Belman WASHINGTON – The Palestinians will seek United Nations recognition as an independent state in September even if peace negotiations with Israel are under way, a Palestinian diplomat said Thursday night. Riyad Mansour, the Palestinian envoy to the United Nations, said the Palestinians were working on three independent tracks: restarting negotiations, building institutions for an... Just yesterday, had some dental work being done and the dentist’s assistant looked beautiful and exotic.. I was curious and asked her where she was from and she said she made aliyah from India. The she said she was from the Bnei Menashe. Welcome to Israel. Ted Belman More than 7,000 members of the Bnei Menashe will soon arrive in Israel, CBN reported on Thursday. The Bnei Menashe claim descent from one of the Ten Lost Tribes of Israel, which were exiled by the Assyrian Empire more than 27 centuries ago. They reside primarily in the two Indian states of Mizoram and Manipur, along the border with Burma and Bangladesh. Throughout their exile, and even after their one copy of the written Torah was lost, the Bnei Menashe have continued to observe Jewish traditions, including the Sabbath, keeping kosher, celebrating the festivals, following family purity laws, and remembering the Exodus from Egypt. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced Thursday that he plans on toughening the conditions of Palestinian security prisoners in Israel’s prisons. “I have decided to change Israel’s treatment of terrorists sitting in prison,” Netanyahu said during the closing statements at the Presidential Conference in Jerusalem. “We will give them all that they deserve according to international law but nothing beyond that.” “We will stop, among other things, the absurd practice in which terrorists who murdered innocent people enroll in academic studies. There will be no more ‘doctors of terror’ – the celebration is over.” Noam Shalit responded to Netanyahu’s comments on...
Why Lebanon Matters
Following the Israeli invasion of Lebanon in 1982 to remove the PLO and support the Christian militias, Iran helped create...No accepting negotiations based on ’67 lines with swaps, period
No apology and no compensation
Ya’alon: Israel won’t apologize for flotilla raid
What has Israel promised to warrant this support?
US secretary of state criticizes planned Gaza-bound aid sail, urges US citizens against taking part in it; new Israeli ambassador to UN warns flotilla ‘only spells trouble’PA to pursue UN bid regardless of talks
Israel Allows 7,000 Bnei Menashe to Make Aliyah
Shavei Israel, a Jerusalem-based group which assists “lost...Netanyahu: Israel to toughen conditions of Palestinian prisoners
Netanyahu’s comments come after Hamas refused Thursday to answer the International Red Cross’ request that the Gaza rulers provide proof that abducted Israel Defense Forces soldier Gilad Shalit is still alive.More Recent Articles
Saturday, 25 June 2011
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