UN ignores real oppression because it is obsessed with the “poor” Palestinians
[These are the words of Simon Deng, once a Sudanese slave. He is addressing the Durban Conference in NY in 2011.]
I want to thank the organizers of this conference, The Perils of Global Intolerance. It is a great honor for me and it is a privilege really to be among today’s distinguished speakers.
I came here as a friend of the State of Israel and the Jewish people. I came to protest this Durban conference which is based on a set of lies. It is organized by nations who are themselves are guilty of the worst kind of oppression.
It will not help the victims of racism. It will only isolate and target the Jewish state. It is a tool of the enemies of Israel.
(Read more…)
(Read more…)
Into the Fray: Can the people trust the government?
The people of Israel are confronting a crisis of credibility. Can they trust the people elected to lead them?
Palestinian boys carrying Hamas flags in the Gaza Strip walk past graffiti showing Muhammad al-Dura. Photo: REUTERS
- As soon as we abandon our own reason, and are content to rely upon authority, there is no end to our troubles.
– Bertrand Russell, 1950
This week, almost a decade and a half after the Muhammad al-Dura incident at the Netzarim junction in the Gaza Strip, the government of Israel has taken a stand, rebuting responsibility for the death of the then-12 year old Palestinian child.
Hardly a ‘silver bullet’
(Read more…)
(Read more…)
Swedish Multiculturalism Goes Awry
- “Sweden is the best Islamic State.” — Adly Abu Hajar, Imam based in Malmö
Hundreds of Muslim immigrants have rampaged through parts of the Swedish capital of Stockholm, torching cars and buses, setting fires, and hurling rocks at police.
The unrest — a predictable consequence of Sweden’s failed model of multiculturalism, which does not encourage Muslim immigrants to assimilate or integrate into Swedish society — is an ominous sign of things to come.
The trouble began after police fatally shot an elderly man brandishing a machete in a Muslim-majority neighborhood. Although the exact circumstances of the May 13 incident remain unclear, police say they shot the 69-year-old man (his nationality has not been disclosed) in self-defense after he allegedly threatened them with the weapon.
(Read more…)
(Read more…)
The New, Improved Axis of Jihad
Two years into the seismic shift that brought the forces of Islamic jihad and Sharia law to power in country after country in the Middle East and North Africa — with the astonishing and extensive assistance from the U.S. — Iran, Hizballah and al-Qa’eda apparently judge that the U.S. and its Western allies still need another nudge to ensure their complete retreat from “Muslim” lands. That nudge, according to independent, reliable and mutually-corroborating sources, has now been prepared by this Axis.
Indicators and warnings continue to grow concerning the resurgence of an “Axis of Jihad” comprised of Iran, Hizballah, and al-Qa’eda. This axis is not new: its three actors, both national and sub-national, have been working together in an operational terror alliance for over two decades. Still, so many seem unaware not just of this alliance, but of the ideological bonds that brought them together in Khartoum, Sudan, in the early 1990s and have kept them together to the current day. The bond is as old as Islam, and includes the commitment to jihad and Islamic Shariah law; the threat is to all free and democratic societies which stand in the way of global Islamic government and the forcible application of Islamic Shariah Law.
Kerry: “Israel’s Prosperity a Problem”
I don’t think Bryen’s take is the right one. Kerry’s lamenting that Israel likes the present situation and doesn’t wish to commit suicide. What Kerry must have been thinking was that when Shamir desperately needed money to resettle Russian Jews, the US demanded in return that Israel compromise on the peace process and Shamir caved.. Kerry on the other hand is trying unsuccessful to get Israel to compromise. Kerry also said “peace was up to Israel and the Palestinians, not the US” He is right about that. He left today empty handed. Ted Belman
At first blush, it might have sounded like praise, but it wasn’t. Before meeting with Israeli President Shimon Peres, Secretary of State John Kerry pronounced Israel’s prosperity an impediment to “peace” with the Palestinians.
- “I think there is an opportunity , but for many reasons it’s not on the tips of everyone’s tongue. People in Israel aren’t waking up every day and wondering if tomorrow there will be peace because there is a sense of security and a sense of accomplishment and of prosperity.”
So, Secretary Kerry thinks it would be better for Israel to approach negotiations from a position of precarious poverty? Does he think Israel’s quest for legitimacy and security in an unstable, over-armed and hostile region would be better received if Israel were a needy, insecure supplicant to Palestinian and Arab interests? Or that the Palestinians would have pity on an unnerved and anxious Israel struggling with a bankrupt, aid-dependent economy?
(Read more…)
(Read more…)
‘Occupation’ is the Solution, Not the Problem
First Published: Sunday, March 12, 2006
By Ted Belman
Proponents of withdrawal, both before the Gaza-Samaria Disengagement and now, argue that it will save money. They also argued beforehand that Israel will be more secure, but that’s another story.
Ehud Olmert has gone so far as to say that Kadima will no longer spend money on the settlements east of the fence. In so doing, he is reinforcing the message that the settlements and the ‘occupation’ are a financial burden, a waste of money that could be better spent on ‘real Israelis’ rather than on ‘settlers’. Fair enough, but where is the proof? What are the facts?
On an issue as important as this, I would expect to see a study that compared the future expenditures if Israel did not withdraw and if it did. Not only is there no such study, but as far as I know, nobody is talking about it in a detailed way other than to simply declare that money would be saved.
(Read more…)
(Read more…)
Thank you Hafez al-Assad
The threats emanating from Syria have become downright frightening. For the past several days, Home Front Defense Minister Gilad Erdan has been warning repeatedly that it is certain that Israeli population centers will be hit by Syrian ballistic missiles and that we have to be prepared for the worst-case scenarios, including Scud missile-launched chemical weapons attacks on Israel’s metropolitan centers.
On Wednesday, Air Force commander Maj.- Gen. Amir Eshel spelled out Israel’s concerns from a military perspective. The chance of war breaking out at any time is extremely high. Syria has a massive arsenal that includes advanced anti-aircraft missiles, anti-ship missiles and surface- to-surface missiles. Syria also has large stockpiles of chemical and biological weapons, advanced artillery as well as the other components of a large conventional military force.
(Read more…)
(Read more…)
Obama is Pivoting From a War Footing
WASHINGTON — Nearly a dozen years after the hijackings that transformed
America, President Obama said Thursday that it was time to narrow the scope of the grinding battle against terrorists and begin the transition to a day when the country will no longer be on a war footing.
America, President Obama said Thursday that it was time to narrow the scope of the grinding battle against terrorists and begin the transition to a day when the country will no longer be on a war footing.
Declaring that “America is at a crossroads,” the president called for redefining what has been a global war into a more targeted assault on terrorist groups threatening the United States. As part of a realignment of counterterrorism policy, he said he would curtail the use of drones, recommit to closing the prison at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, and seek new limits on his own war power.
(Read more…)
(Read more…)
Ted Belman
Jerusalem, Israel
Posts
