Erdogan’s U.S. Visit
In 2009 Obama anointed Erdogan as the leader of the Middle East. It hasn’t turned out that way.
Turkish Prime Minister Erdogan with President Obama, March, 2012.
Turkish prime minister Tayyip Erdogan will visit President Obama in Washington tomorrow. A lot has changed since Obama and Erdogan met in the heady days of Obama’s April 2009 trip to Ankara (preceding his more-often-cited visit to Cairo). Back then, Obama praised his “personal friend” Erdogan as the key to solving problems in the Middle East. Erdogan eagerly wrapped that mantle about himself, while Obama sounded a rising theme of renewed American popularity and resilience in the Middle East as the natural consequence of his presidency. Today, Erdogan’s mantle is in tatters, and Obama’s deference has proven of little value to Turkey, the Middle East as a whole, or the United States. (Read more…)
Hamas Enforces Quiet Border With Israel
By Alon Ben David for Al-Monitor Israel Pulse Posted on May 3.
It’s well worth noting the change underway in Hamas. It has barely restocked its supply of rockets since Operation “Pillar of Defense,” it is arresting activists involved in shootings against Israeli targets, and it has shifted its efforts from building up its military force to maintaining peace and quiet.
This site has seen more than a few articles about the ideological turnabout underway in Hamas. It has transformed itself from a movement that adhered to terrorism and armed resistance into a movement striving to attain international legitimacy and which aims at coming to power throughout the entire Palestinian Authority in the upcoming elections.(Read more…)
Saluting Pamela Geller: a Champion of Liberty
Tragically, during these times of great peril, truth is sacrificed by the politically correct, the myopic self-serving in the liberally dominated media, and the ruling class. Against this backdrop, a women of great courage and integrity labors tirelessly in speaking the truth and in the defense of liberty.
Pamela Geller’s work in objectively revealing the true nature of Islam makes her a valued champion and defender of human dignity with liberty for all, and in particular for women as longstanding victims of Islamic misogyny.
Geller methodically sheds light on the dark nature of Islamic beliefs and the barbaric practices involving the abuse of women in all ways, such as honor-killing, female genital mutilation, child sex-trafficking, forced child brides, severe abuse of homosexuals, and much more under stone-age sharia law. Her work upholds and defends the ideals of human rights.
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No future for France – bonjour tristesse
An atmosphere of insurgency hangs over France. Month after month, demonstrations against the legalization of gay marriage bring together hundreds of thousands of people, and mobilization is not weakening. Members of the government are harassed by disgruntled crowds during each trip they make. Bankrupt factories are stormed by angry workers who sometimes occupy the streets to erect barricades made of burning tires. Leftist groups hold rallies and accuse the government of not being radical enough. Rightist groups hold other rallies and suggest that French civilization is threatened and must fight back. Rabid feminists attack Catholics by stripping naked in public and shouting obscene slogans in churches and cathedrals.
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Erdogan’s Great Gamble
Something quite extraordinary — perhaps even historic — is afoot in Turkey. The country’s prime minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, is engaged in a colossal roll of the political dice, an act of statesmanship, ambition, and hubris largely without parallel on the current world stage. At one and the same time, Erdogan appears set on a course that could result not only in redefining the very nature of the modern Turkish nation-state, but in a radical revision of the Turkish Republic’s core national security tenets as well. How the gambit plays out could have momentous implications for the future of Turkey, for sure, but also for the broader Middle East region and even the United States.
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Yaalon Freezes Plans for New PA City Near Jericho
A new PA city being planned would have taken away 500 acres of Israeli land.
Defense Minister Moshe Yaalon has frozen a plan to build a new Palestinian Authority Arab city which would have taken away 2,000 dunams of Israeli land, the Ma’ariv daily reported on Tuesday.
Yaalon’s decision came a day after the same newspaper reported that the Civil Administration for Judea and Samaria is working diligently on advanced plans for establishing a new PA city near Jericho.
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JPOST has good interview of Naftali Bennett
The man with the knitted kippa – and many hats
By GIL HOFFMAN, LAHAV HARKOV
By GIL HOFFMAN, LAHAV HARKOV
Naftali Bennett is determined to lower the cost of living, encourage haredi employment and fight assimilation around the world.
There have been reports of fights between you and Lapid on key issues. Has your bond disappointed you in any way?
Yair and I disagree on a lot: The Land of Israel, negotiations with the Palestinians, religion and state, etc. But there is trust between us. Our word is our bond. There will be disappointment. Neither of us will get all of what we want, but meanwhile we are changing Israeli society. We are making people realize we have to compromise to get along here. The country is not all about fighting anymore.
There have been reports of fights between you and Lapid on key issues. Has your bond disappointed you in any way?
Yair and I disagree on a lot: The Land of Israel, negotiations with the Palestinians, religion and state, etc. But there is trust between us. Our word is our bond. There will be disappointment. Neither of us will get all of what we want, but meanwhile we are changing Israeli society. We are making people realize we have to compromise to get along here. The country is not all about fighting anymore.
Excellent letter of rebuke, from one who knows, sent to each rabbi
I received this letter from Lt Col Howard who used to be a frequent contributor to Israpundit and subsequently kept in touch with me.
He arranged for this letter to be sent to each rabbi by Dr Laitin. He also wrote, “Ted your contributions are very important for the survival of Israel. I am glad to be able to play a small roll in your efforts.
Rabbis
I have been deeply involved in the Islamic world for more than 30 years. I have taught, advised and mentored more than 1,000 Muslim graduate students in public health, engineering, and economics. I have advised the militaries of Egypt, Jordan, and Saudi Arabia. I was vice chief of the Lebanon desk. My specialty was Beirut. Several of my former students run the largest newsgathering/news reporting organization in the Islamic world.
One of my close associates, very anti-Israel, was just appointed by Pres. Obama as his special representative and chief advisor for Afghanistan and Pakistan and to advise him on negotiations with Iran. From the inside of the administration I observed the very anti-Israel orientation of the president’s principal advisors. My Palestinian authority prime security contact just publicly called for the nuclear annihilation of Israel. One of my senior associates (a retired U.S. Army Maj. Gen.) is also a Holocaust survivor from Lithuania. He emphasizes that when they say they’re going to kill you…. believe them. And I believe that my Palestinian associate who has a position of power within the Fatah government and is well-connected with Hamas believes fully in the annihilation of every Jew on earth.
I support Pamela Geller. I agree with the letter written to you
Dr. Howard Laitin Torrance : California : United States
Pamela Geller and the Rabbis
I received this email from Rochelle Michaels, a tireless Zionist activist, who I know from Toronto.
CHAG SAMEACH TED !!Hope you know you and your Blog were mentioned last night and there was a huge round of applause !!!The Blogs are posting losts-o-stuff…BlazinJewish TribuneEnd of Your ArmEye on a Crazy PlanetBlogWrath
Ted Belman
Jerusalem, Israel
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