Rouhani and Iranian Deceit
by Mordechai Kedar
To understand the election of Rouhani as president of Iran, several points must be clarified:
The first is the Shi’ite practice of taqiyya. Ever since the birth of Shi’a in the middle of the seventh century CE, its adherents have been so persecuted by the Sunni majority that their lives were in constant danger and when they were caught, in many cases, they were brutally murdered. Over the years, in order to survive, Shi’ites developed the practice of taqiyya or “the need to survive”, which enabled them to endure in a hostile environment despite their faith and their political leanings. A basic component of taqiyya is khoda’a, which means deception, or pretense. During the 1350 years of the conflict with the Sunnis, the Shi’ites have developed the practice of taqiyya and khoda’a into an art. They have become so adept at it, that polygraph tests cannot detect the physiological phenomena that usually occur when a person lies, (involving changes in perspiration, production of saliva, heart rate, blood pressure, etc.) when the subject being investigated is a Shi’ite. And Western police departments are aware of this.
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Jewish civil rights and privatization
OC Central Command Maj.-Gen. Nitzan Alon has done it again. You may recall that Alon was the “senior military official,” who as commander of the Judea and Samaria Division blamed the massacre of the Fogel family in March 2011 on undefined acts of vandalism in Arab villages allegedly carried out by Israelis.
He also told The New York Times that he disagreed with Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s view that Hamas’s takeover of Gaza following Israel’s withdrawal demonstrated that a unilateral withdrawal from Judea and Samaria would be reckless in the extreme.
Over the past four months Alon has been criticized for his refusal to take actions to end the massive proliferation of terror attacks against Jews in Judea and Samaria. For months Alon ordered IDF soldiers to stand down as Palestinians hurled rocks and firebombs at them and at civilians. He set rules of engagement that are so restrictive that soldiers are better off running away from Palestinian mobs than defending themselves and Israeli civilians.
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The limousine theory (cont): Irrefutable illustrations; egregious examples
Into the fray: Through their unelected positions of influence and authority, civil society elites shape the political discourse and hence the perceived constraints on decision-makers.
Nissim Mishal: To what extent… did the police investigations, the fear of the investigations, Edna Arbel in the background, and his [Ariel Sharon’s] fear of being indicted, influence this historic decision regarding the disengagement?
Ofer Shelah: Decisive influence! The people closest to Sharon told us absolutely that if not for the police interrogations, the decision would not have been made.
– an exchange on a prime time TV talk-show, Channel 2, June 15, 2005.
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– an exchange on a prime time TV talk-show, Channel 2, June 15, 2005.
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Bennett urges ‘coexistence’ with Palestinians, Lapid calls for ‘honest divorce’
Finance Minister Yair Lapid (Yesh Atid) came out in support of a two-state solution, while his coalition partner Economy and Trade Minister Naftali Bennett (Bayit Yehudi) rejected it completely and urged for “coexistence” between Israelis and Palestinians, in interviews they gave separately to the Washington Post this week. (Bennett interview)(Lapid interview)
“For me, there’s no other game in town but the two-state solution. The Palestinians must have their own country, and the Israelis must understand that the Palestinians should have their own country,” Lapid told the Post.
Dubbing the two-state solution an “honest divorce” between Israel and the Palestinians, Lapid vowed to “push for this as hard as can.”
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Tayyip Erdogan’s U-turn on Syria
US troop buildup in Jordan after Turkey shuts US-NATO arms corridor to Syrian rebels
DEBKAfile Special Report June 22, 2013,
The US decision to upgrade Syrian rebel weaponry has run into a major setback: DEBKAfile reveals that Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan phoned President Barack Obama in Berlin Wednesday, June 19, to report his sudden decision to shut down the Turkish corridor for the transfer of US and NATO arms to the Syrian rebels.
Against this background, the US President informed Congress Friday, June 22, that 700 combat-equipped American military personnel would remain in Jordan at the end of a joint US-Jordanian training exercise. They would include crews of two Patriot anti-aircraft missile batteries and the logistics, command and communications personnel needed to support those units. The United States is also leaving behind from the war maneuver a squadron of 12 to 24 F-16 fighter jets at Jordan’s request. Some 300 US troops have been in Jordan since last year.
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Kissinger was not Israel’s friend
Since former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger served at the highest levels of government in the 1970s, he has portrayed himself as one with the Jewish community, accepting awards from the Anti-Defamation League and bestowing awards on behalf of Jewish organizations like the United Jewish Appeal.
However, what has been coming out over the years in dribs and drabs paints a different picture, one of a man who, and this is putting it charitably, has a conflicted attitude about Israel and his fellow Jews.
Two years ago, declassified White House transcripts revealed former U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger blaming Israel for exacerbating problems in the Middle East. His remarks no doubt shook those American Jews who admired Kissinger as a ‘native son’ who made good, rising to startling prominence in America’s halls of power.
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US Energy Independence and Israel
Ambassador (ret.) Yoram Ettinger, “Second Thought: a US-Israel Initiative”
“Israel Hayom”, June 22, 2013, bit.ly/12gm5rq
The most critical, clear and present dangers to US’ national security, homeland security and economy, are Iran’s nuclearization, Islamic terrorism, the explosive impact of the seismic Arab Street, the potential disruption of the supply and price of imported-oil and the declining US posture of deterrence.
“Israel Hayom”, June 22, 2013, bit.ly/12gm5rq
The most critical, clear and present dangers to US’ national security, homeland security and economy, are Iran’s nuclearization, Islamic terrorism, the explosive impact of the seismic Arab Street, the potential disruption of the supply and price of imported-oil and the declining US posture of deterrence.
The most clear and present policy to alleviate these threats would be US energy independence, ending dependence on unpredictable Arab oil producers, bolstering the US posture of deterrence, accelerating economic growth, improving the trade balance, reducing the budget deficit, lowering energy cost, expanding employment and availing more funds toward infrastructures, education, the elderly, Medicare and human services in general .
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Ted Belman
Jerusalem, Israel
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