Thanks to Elder of Ziyon for WHO SAYS ABBAS CAN'T COMPROMISE?
The Elder points out the while Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has reiterated his rejection of Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu’s stipulations for a two-state solution, "no one will call him a 'hardliner' or a 'rejectionist' or a 'hawk' or any of the other pejorative terms that the media loves to give Likud leaders."
Furthermore, Abbas is going to great lengths to point out in Arabic that he's willing to do anything possible for peace - with Hamas terrorists.
The media will apply the cone of silence to that one as well.
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
Monday, June 29, 2009
DUMB AS ...
CONNEX IS DUMPED
4 months of campaigning and 100,000 pamphlets distributedMelbourne’s Herald-Sun used our campaign word “DUMP” to headline the end of Connex operating Melbourne’s train system.
"In a major shock, both Connex and Yarra Trams were stripped of their contracts" in favour of the French group Keolis to run Melbourne’s trams and Hong Kong’s MTR to run the trains.
Thank you to all who believed it could happen and boycotted
FREE PALESTINEWomen for Palestine is one the organisations that have been pestering rail commuters with their stupid pamphlets calling for a boycott of Connex because of some sort of association that company had with Israel.
Above is a form of their press release entitled "Connex is dumped" in which the message they're trying to get across to the media is that they had something to do with the dumping.
The truth is that Connex was "dumped" because it failed to comply with the agreement it had with our state government in Victoria and had nothing whatsoever to do with Free Palestine unless these people are suggesting that their pamphleteers pestered the commuting public to such an extent that they caused the trains to constantly run late (they're stupid enough to believe this?). In any event, I suspect Connex is happy that the relationship is over and couldn't give a damn about a few unwashed clowns parading outside the underground sections connecting the railway to the streets of Melbourne.
It can however, be said without a shadow of doubt that most of the hundred thousand pamphlets got dumped - in bins around the Flinders Street railway station which is where they belonged. Sadly, the Greens aren't taking issue at the wanton destruction of trees by these idiots!Like thousands of commuters who ignored their propaganda I did boycott Free Palestine (which really stands for "Free Palestine from the River to the Sea" as enunciated by their supporters at a recent rally).
I therefore accept their thanks.
Sunday, June 28, 2009
Iranian dissidents ask for Israeli help
From the internet:-
A heartfelt cry from the Iranian dissident movement, asking for help. Sure no Israeli forgets the friendly people of Iran from the old days, though that is hard to reconcile with the crowds screaming death to Israel. If there was a way to help, surely Israel would do so. But if the jamming is being done by Nokia and Siemens, then the remedy is to address Nokia and Siemens and to start pressure for an international boycott of firms that interfere with communications in service of tyrannical regimes, whether it is Internet or Radio, whether it is Iran or China.
Good communications would not, of course, be enough to topple the government. Still, the courage of Iranian dissidents has amazed the world. Arabs ask why there are no such revolutions in their countries. The answer is simple: It takes a lot of guts for masses of people to stand up to armed thugs.
Iranian Dissident: Dear Israeli Brothers and Sisters - Help Us!
"Dear Israeli Brothers and Sisters," writes Iranian dissident Arash Irandoost, "Iran needs your help more than ever now. And we will be eternally grateful. Please help opposition television and radio stations which are blocked and being jammed by the Islamic Republic (Nokia and Siemens) resume broadcast to Iran. There is a total media blackout and Iranians inside Iran for the most part are not aware of their brave brothers and sisters fighting and losing their lives daily. And the unjust treatment and brutal massacre of the brave Iranians in the hands of the mullah's paid terrorist Hamas and Hizbullah gangs are not seen by the majority of the Iranians. Please help in any way you can to allow these stations resume broadcasting to Iran.
"And, please remember that we will remember, as you have remembered Cyrus the Great's treatment of you in your time of need," Irandoost concludes, signing his blogged call for help "Your Iranian Brothers and Sisters!"
In an interview with Israel National News, Iranian expatriate pro-democracy activist Amil Imani said that Irandoost's message represents the sentiments of much of the youth in the streets in Iran. They have a strong belief in the technological know-how of the Israelis to overcome the Iranian regime's attempts to block communications.
"This is going to be the most massive, impressive revolution of the 21st century," Imani said, "and we're seeing it live." However, he added, it is now too dependent on Internet communications, so the protesters are very much in need of outside assistance to fight the technological and information war.
More generally, Imani said, the Iranian people are lionizing any leader of any nation who comes out strongly against the Islamic Republic at this time.
According to Imani, at least 500 people have been killed by Iranian government forces, with another 5,000 injured. But the hospitals are no longer safe, he added, as the gunmen from the basiji militia enter the emergency wards looking for
We will remember, as you have remembered Cyrus the Great's treatment of you in your time of need.
Wounded Protesters.
Therefore, Imani said, sympathetic doctors have taken to treating the wounded wherever they can, including in private homes.
Even outside Iran, tens of thousands of protesters are out in the streets every day, especially in the United States and Europe. Imani said he thinks the phenomenon represents unprecedented unity in the Iranian expatriate community.
As for the basijis themselves, Imani reported, many of them are Lebanese and Palestinian Authority Arabs hired by the regime to do its bidding. Iranians reportedly captured seven basijis who spoke no Persian, only Arabic. According to Imani, 10,000 more Arab hired guns arrived in Tehran to serve the mullah-led regime.
But they are not the only ones thinking about guns at this point. Some Iranian protesters, Imani reported, have taken to threatening their oppressors, "God have mercy on you if we decide to [take up] arms!"
"There is no turning back," Imani concluded.
Saturday, June 27, 2009
PARANOID IN IRAN AND ELSEWHERE
Christopher Hitchins makes the point in Slate.com that the ayatollahs hold the British in just as much contempt as they do the Americans and the Jews - Persian Paranoia Iranian leaders will always believe Anglo-Saxons are plotting against them.
I have twice had the privilege of sitting, poorly shaved, on the floor and attending the Friday prayers that the Iranian theocracy sponsors each week on the campus of Tehran University. As everybody knows, this dreary, nasty ceremony is occasionally enlivened when the scrofulous preacher leads the crowd in a robotic chant of Marg Bar Amrika!—"Death to America!" As nobody will be surprised to learn, this is generally followed by a cry of Marg Bar Israel! And it's by no means unknown for the three-beat bleat of this two-minute hate to have yet a third version: Marg Bar Ingilis!
I reckon he's worng about their hatred of Jews. It transcends that of the Americans and the British. That's why the caffe latte set is yawning at the bloodshed on the streets of Tehran and brain dead letter writers from Brunswick continue to try in vain to beat up on Israel for defending its people against thugs financed, trained and armed by the very same ayatollahs.
I have twice had the privilege of sitting, poorly shaved, on the floor and attending the Friday prayers that the Iranian theocracy sponsors each week on the campus of Tehran University. As everybody knows, this dreary, nasty ceremony is occasionally enlivened when the scrofulous preacher leads the crowd in a robotic chant of Marg Bar Amrika!—"Death to America!" As nobody will be surprised to learn, this is generally followed by a cry of Marg Bar Israel! And it's by no means unknown for the three-beat bleat of this two-minute hate to have yet a third version: Marg Bar Ingilis!
I reckon he's worng about their hatred of Jews. It transcends that of the Americans and the British. That's why the caffe latte set is yawning at the bloodshed on the streets of Tehran and brain dead letter writers from Brunswick continue to try in vain to beat up on Israel for defending its people against thugs financed, trained and armed by the very same ayatollahs.
Friday, June 26, 2009
Thursday, June 25, 2009
GONE MISSING
Ben Caspit and Ben-Dror Yemini ask the question in this Op Ed column from the Hebrew language Ma'ariv newspaperof 22 June where are the protesters who routinely protest at every action taken by Israel to defend its people.
Here's an English translation [hat tip: Yaacov Lozowick's Ruminations]
Tell us, where is everyone?
Where did all the people who demonstrated against Israel's brutality in Operation Cast Lead, in the Second Lebanon War, in Operation Defensive Shield, or even in The Hague, when we were dragged there unwillingly after daring to build a separation barrier between us and the suicide bombers, disappear to? We see demonstrations here and there, but these are mainly Iranian exiles. Europe, in principle, is peaceful and calm. So is the United States. Here and there a few dozens, here and there a few hundreds. Have they evaporated because it is Tehran and not here?
All the peace-loving and justice-loving Europeans, British professors in search of freedom and equality, the friends filling the newspapers, magazines and various academic journals with various demands for boycotting Israel, defaming Zionism and blaming us and it for all the ills and woes of the world—could it be that they have taken a long summer vacation? Now of all times, when the Basij hooligans have begun to slaughter innocent civilians in the city squares of Tehran? Aren't they connected to the Internet? Don't they have YouTube? Has a terrible virus struck down their computer? Have their justice glands been removed in a complicated surgical procedure (to be re-implanted successfully for the next confrontation in Gaza)? How can it be that when a Jew kills a Muslim, the entire world boils, and when extremist Islam slaughters its citizens, whose sole sin is the aspiration to freedom, the world is silent?
Imagine that this were not happening now in Tehran, but rather here. Let's say in Nablus. Spontaneous demonstrations of Palestinians turning into an ongoing bloodbath. Border Policemen armed with knives, on motorcycles, butchering demonstrators. A young woman downed by a sniper in midday, dying before the cameras. Actually, why imagine? We can just recall what happened with the child Mohammed a-Dura. How the affair (which was very harsh, admittedly) swept the world from one end to another. The fact that a later independent investigative report raised tough questions as to the identity of the weapon from which a-Dura was shot, did not make a difference to anyone. The Zionists were to blame, and that was that.
And where are the world's leaders? Where is the wondrous rhetorical ability of Barack Obama? Where has his sublime vocabulary gone? Where is the desire, that is supposed to be built into all American presidents, to defend and act on behalf of freedom seekers around the globe? What is this stammering?
A source who is connected to the Iranian and security situation, said yesterday that if Obama had shown on the Iranian matter a quarter of the determination with which he assaulted the settlements in the territories, everything would have looked different. "The demonstrators in Iran are desperate for help," said the man, who served in very senior positions for many years, "they need to know that they have backing, that there is an entire world that supports them, but instead they see indifference. And this is happening at such a critical stage of this battle for the soul of Iran and the freedom of the Iranian people. It's sad."
Or the European Union, for example. The organization that speaks of justice and peace all year round. Why should its leaders not declare clearly that the world wants to see a democratic and free Iran, and support it unreservedly? Could it be that the tongue of too many Europeans is still connected to dark places? The pathetic excuse that such support would give Khamenei and Ahmadinejad an excuse to call the demonstrators "Western agents," does not hold water. They call them "Western agents" in any case, so what difference does it make?
To think that just six months ago, when Europe was flooded with demonstrations against Israel, leftists and Islamists raised pictures of Nasrallah, the protégé of the ayatollah regime. The fact that this was a benighted regime did not trouble them. This is madness, but it is sinking in and influencing the weary West. If there is a truly free world here, let it appear immediately! And impose sanctions, for example, on those who slaughter the members of their own people. Just as it imposed them on North Korea, or on the military regime in Burma. It is only a question of will, not of ability.
Apparently, something happens to the global adherence to justice and equality, when it comes to Iran. The oppression is overt and known. The Internet erabroadcasts everything live, and it is all for the better. Hooligans acting on behalf of the regime shoot and stab masses of demonstrators, who cry out for freedom.Is anything more needed? Apparently it is. Because it is to no avail. The West remains indifferent. Obama is polite. Why shouldn't he be, after all, he aspires to a dialogue with the ayatollahs. And that is very fine and good, the problem is that at this stage there is no dialogue, but there is death and murder on the streets.
At this stage, one must forget the rules of etiquette for a moment. The voices being heard from Obama elicit concern that we are actually dealing with a new version of Chamberlain. Being conciliatory is a positive trait, particularly when it follows the clumsy bellicosity of George Bush, but when conciliation becomes blindness, we have a problem.
The courageous voice of Angela Merkel, who issued yesterday a firm statement of support for the Iranian people and its right to freedom, is in the meantime a lone voice in the Western wilderness. It is only a shame that she has not announced an economic boycott, in light of the fact that this is the European country that is most invested in building infrastructure in Iran. She was joined by British Foreign Secretary Miliband. It is little, it is late, it is not enough. Millions of freedom seekers have taken to the streets in Iran, and the West is straddling the fence, one leg here, the other leg there.
There is a different Islam. This is already clear today. Even in Iran. There are millions of Muslims who support freedom, human rights, equality for women. These millions loathe Khamenei, Chavez and Nasrallah too. But part of the global left wing prefers the ayatollah regime over them. The main thing is for them to raise flags against Israel and America. The question is why the democrats, the liberals, and Obama, Blair and Sarkozy, are continuing to sit on the fence. This is not a fence of separation, it is a fence of shame.
Here's an English translation [hat tip: Yaacov Lozowick's Ruminations]
Tell us, where is everyone?
Where did all the people who demonstrated against Israel's brutality in Operation Cast Lead, in the Second Lebanon War, in Operation Defensive Shield, or even in The Hague, when we were dragged there unwillingly after daring to build a separation barrier between us and the suicide bombers, disappear to? We see demonstrations here and there, but these are mainly Iranian exiles. Europe, in principle, is peaceful and calm. So is the United States. Here and there a few dozens, here and there a few hundreds. Have they evaporated because it is Tehran and not here?
All the peace-loving and justice-loving Europeans, British professors in search of freedom and equality, the friends filling the newspapers, magazines and various academic journals with various demands for boycotting Israel, defaming Zionism and blaming us and it for all the ills and woes of the world—could it be that they have taken a long summer vacation? Now of all times, when the Basij hooligans have begun to slaughter innocent civilians in the city squares of Tehran? Aren't they connected to the Internet? Don't they have YouTube? Has a terrible virus struck down their computer? Have their justice glands been removed in a complicated surgical procedure (to be re-implanted successfully for the next confrontation in Gaza)? How can it be that when a Jew kills a Muslim, the entire world boils, and when extremist Islam slaughters its citizens, whose sole sin is the aspiration to freedom, the world is silent?
Imagine that this were not happening now in Tehran, but rather here. Let's say in Nablus. Spontaneous demonstrations of Palestinians turning into an ongoing bloodbath. Border Policemen armed with knives, on motorcycles, butchering demonstrators. A young woman downed by a sniper in midday, dying before the cameras. Actually, why imagine? We can just recall what happened with the child Mohammed a-Dura. How the affair (which was very harsh, admittedly) swept the world from one end to another. The fact that a later independent investigative report raised tough questions as to the identity of the weapon from which a-Dura was shot, did not make a difference to anyone. The Zionists were to blame, and that was that.
And where are the world's leaders? Where is the wondrous rhetorical ability of Barack Obama? Where has his sublime vocabulary gone? Where is the desire, that is supposed to be built into all American presidents, to defend and act on behalf of freedom seekers around the globe? What is this stammering?
A source who is connected to the Iranian and security situation, said yesterday that if Obama had shown on the Iranian matter a quarter of the determination with which he assaulted the settlements in the territories, everything would have looked different. "The demonstrators in Iran are desperate for help," said the man, who served in very senior positions for many years, "they need to know that they have backing, that there is an entire world that supports them, but instead they see indifference. And this is happening at such a critical stage of this battle for the soul of Iran and the freedom of the Iranian people. It's sad."
Or the European Union, for example. The organization that speaks of justice and peace all year round. Why should its leaders not declare clearly that the world wants to see a democratic and free Iran, and support it unreservedly? Could it be that the tongue of too many Europeans is still connected to dark places? The pathetic excuse that such support would give Khamenei and Ahmadinejad an excuse to call the demonstrators "Western agents," does not hold water. They call them "Western agents" in any case, so what difference does it make?
To think that just six months ago, when Europe was flooded with demonstrations against Israel, leftists and Islamists raised pictures of Nasrallah, the protégé of the ayatollah regime. The fact that this was a benighted regime did not trouble them. This is madness, but it is sinking in and influencing the weary West. If there is a truly free world here, let it appear immediately! And impose sanctions, for example, on those who slaughter the members of their own people. Just as it imposed them on North Korea, or on the military regime in Burma. It is only a question of will, not of ability.
Apparently, something happens to the global adherence to justice and equality, when it comes to Iran. The oppression is overt and known. The Internet erabroadcasts everything live, and it is all for the better. Hooligans acting on behalf of the regime shoot and stab masses of demonstrators, who cry out for freedom.Is anything more needed? Apparently it is. Because it is to no avail. The West remains indifferent. Obama is polite. Why shouldn't he be, after all, he aspires to a dialogue with the ayatollahs. And that is very fine and good, the problem is that at this stage there is no dialogue, but there is death and murder on the streets.
At this stage, one must forget the rules of etiquette for a moment. The voices being heard from Obama elicit concern that we are actually dealing with a new version of Chamberlain. Being conciliatory is a positive trait, particularly when it follows the clumsy bellicosity of George Bush, but when conciliation becomes blindness, we have a problem.
The courageous voice of Angela Merkel, who issued yesterday a firm statement of support for the Iranian people and its right to freedom, is in the meantime a lone voice in the Western wilderness. It is only a shame that she has not announced an economic boycott, in light of the fact that this is the European country that is most invested in building infrastructure in Iran. She was joined by British Foreign Secretary Miliband. It is little, it is late, it is not enough. Millions of freedom seekers have taken to the streets in Iran, and the West is straddling the fence, one leg here, the other leg there.
There is a different Islam. This is already clear today. Even in Iran. There are millions of Muslims who support freedom, human rights, equality for women. These millions loathe Khamenei, Chavez and Nasrallah too. But part of the global left wing prefers the ayatollah regime over them. The main thing is for them to raise flags against Israel and America. The question is why the democrats, the liberals, and Obama, Blair and Sarkozy, are continuing to sit on the fence. This is not a fence of separation, it is a fence of shame.
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
JULIA GILLARD'S TRIUMPH
It's rare that one can praise the Melbourne Age but its reporting of the accolades given by Israel to Julia Gillard on her arrival in that country has been exemplary. The front page article by Jason Koutsoukis - Israel to Gillard: thanks for standing by us is something of a rarity for this newspaper. It highlights the Australian government's commitment to eradicating terrorism while, at the same time seeking to further the cause of peace and reconciliation between the Israeli and Palestinian people who have for so long been the victims of terrorism and extremism in the region.
Australians will be reading this article and noting its concluding paragraph - that "tomorrow Ms Gillard is scheduled to meet Palestinian Authority President Salam Fayyad. She will also visit a refugee camp in the West Bank." They will note that the visit organised by Australian Jewish groups is not hiding Ms. Gillard from anything and has organised her meeting with a major Palestinian leader and a visit to a refugee camp. Hopefully, she will also visit the new Hirbawi Home Center, a new shopping mall opened outside of Jenin which is a sign of the economic progress and normality that can happen if the fighting ends as has occurred in areas under PA control rather the warfare existing in Gaza under the control of the Hamas thogocracy.
This should please all except those who wanted Ms. Gillard to cancel her visit and prevent her from observing what was happening in the region. The fring coffee house set preferred her to visit only Gaza where the Hamas thugs, as with their patrons in Tehran, are in firm control of the population and constantly seek to undermine prospects for peace.
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
Death a Symbol of Iranian Protests
Nazila Fathi's moving account of a death in Iran.
In a Death Seen Around the World, a Symbol of Iranian Protests
A similar story even made the pages of today's Age which not long ago was in a tizz about the visit of former Iranian president Mohammad Khatami in March and about Mohammad Ahmadinejad's embarrassing appearance at Durban 2 in April.
Of course, this is not the first death caused by this murderous and tyrannical regime of Mullahs whose tentacles spread to Lebanon and Hizbullah and to Gaza and Hamas long before the streets of Tehran erupted in flames.
Strange how the streets of the west were full of crazies demonstrating in favour of the murderous proxies of the mullahs when Hamas rockets were killing Israeli men, women and children. It's a different story now that the mullahs are murdering their own people. Not a letter in the Age from one of the learned ones accusing the Tehran regime of acting like Nazis.
The streets of the west are now silent and the letter writers have run out of ink.
In a Death Seen Around the World, a Symbol of Iranian Protests
A similar story even made the pages of today's Age which not long ago was in a tizz about the visit of former Iranian president Mohammad Khatami in March and about Mohammad Ahmadinejad's embarrassing appearance at Durban 2 in April.
Of course, this is not the first death caused by this murderous and tyrannical regime of Mullahs whose tentacles spread to Lebanon and Hizbullah and to Gaza and Hamas long before the streets of Tehran erupted in flames.
Strange how the streets of the west were full of crazies demonstrating in favour of the murderous proxies of the mullahs when Hamas rockets were killing Israeli men, women and children. It's a different story now that the mullahs are murdering their own people. Not a letter in the Age from one of the learned ones accusing the Tehran regime of acting like Nazis.
The streets of the west are now silent and the letter writers have run out of ink.
Monday, June 22, 2009
Dialogue a better way than slogans
This excellent article by Manny Waks - Dialogue a better way than slogans originally appeared in, of all places, the Canberra Times.
Sunday, June 21, 2009
LETTER OF THE WEEK
I don't think anything could surpass the two letters from yesterday but the following letter from a Mr. Bill Anderson published in today's Sunday Age comes a close third.
I don't know if this one's been censored and the Australian doesn't have a Sunday issue so I'll assume this is the full letter and then sit back and, as surely as night follows day, wait for the inevitable responses from the usual crowd which will no doubt include many lies* about the Jewish State.
Why single out Israel?
ANTONY Lowenstein subjects us to his usual wild and vicious diatribe against Israel and adds a call for a "campaign to boycott Israel" (Letters, 14/6). Sadly, one is no longer shocked by such anti-Israel statements. Anti-Zionism has become so widespread and "politically correct" and it is so extreme and so divorced from political and historic reality that one suspects that it masks even more dangerous and more ancient hatreds.
The call for a boycott of Israel is an indictment not only of Lowenstein's political judgement — Israel is, after all, the only true democracy in the Middle East — but also of his commitment to democracy. Whatever happened to the idea that open and free debate, argument and counter-argument, are central and crucial to democratic discourse? Why would anyone call for a boycott of Israel when examples of regimes that really are awful abound? Does Lowenstein favour a boycott of China, Burma, Zimbabwe, Somalia, Iran, Sudan, Russia, North Korea?
Lowenstein would claim to be a progressive and clearly sees himself as the voice of progress. If his views do indeed represent progress and thus the future, I fear that there are dark days ahead for us all.
BILL ANDERSON, Surrey Hills
Meanwhile, I would appreciate some answers to the question I posed yesterday. This one is not going to go away.
* an example of the lies you're going to read in the response will be the ethnic cleansing lie, the apartheid lie, the settlement lie and of course the human rights abuses. Nothing in the letter will suggest that the Jewish State has a right to defend its citizens from attack by terrorist thugs bent on wiping the country off the face of the earth.
I don't know if this one's been censored and the Australian doesn't have a Sunday issue so I'll assume this is the full letter and then sit back and, as surely as night follows day, wait for the inevitable responses from the usual crowd which will no doubt include many lies* about the Jewish State.
Why single out Israel?
ANTONY Lowenstein subjects us to his usual wild and vicious diatribe against Israel and adds a call for a "campaign to boycott Israel" (Letters, 14/6). Sadly, one is no longer shocked by such anti-Israel statements. Anti-Zionism has become so widespread and "politically correct" and it is so extreme and so divorced from political and historic reality that one suspects that it masks even more dangerous and more ancient hatreds.
The call for a boycott of Israel is an indictment not only of Lowenstein's political judgement — Israel is, after all, the only true democracy in the Middle East — but also of his commitment to democracy. Whatever happened to the idea that open and free debate, argument and counter-argument, are central and crucial to democratic discourse? Why would anyone call for a boycott of Israel when examples of regimes that really are awful abound? Does Lowenstein favour a boycott of China, Burma, Zimbabwe, Somalia, Iran, Sudan, Russia, North Korea?
Lowenstein would claim to be a progressive and clearly sees himself as the voice of progress. If his views do indeed represent progress and thus the future, I fear that there are dark days ahead for us all.
BILL ANDERSON, Surrey Hills
Meanwhile, I would appreciate some answers to the question I posed yesterday. This one is not going to go away.
* an example of the lies you're going to read in the response will be the ethnic cleansing lie, the apartheid lie, the settlement lie and of course the human rights abuses. Nothing in the letter will suggest that the Jewish State has a right to defend its citizens from attack by terrorist thugs bent on wiping the country off the face of the earth.
Saturday, June 20, 2009
CHECK OUT THE DIFFERENCE
Pictured: Three members of the Age editorial board contemplating the vice like grip of rotten, corrupt and murderous terrorist groups like Hamas, Fatah and Islamic Jihad on Palestinian society. On the subject of Iran and media censorship it's worth noting that the following letters appeared in both The Weekend Australian and the Age. Now, I'm only guessing here but I have a strong suspcion that the Age letters editor has (as is his/her right) censored the letter. Read on and I'll come back in the next day or so with my take on what's been happening at the Age and why the words coloured in sky blue were removed by the Age:
FROM THE AGE LETTERS TO THE EDITOR 20 JUNE 2009
Is he a moderate?
THE protests we are witnessing on the streets of Tehran are the outpouring of anger and frustration, especially by the educated urbanised youth, after 30 years of theocratic repression.
They also represent an internal power struggle among the ruling clerics that may eventually weaken the tight grip of the Islamist regime.
President Ahmadinejad's opponent Mousavi is more of a reformist on some local and women's issues, but as one of only four candidates selected from thousands by the regime he is unlikely to be a real international moderate. Furthermore, he was one of the instigators of the early work on Iran's nuclear weapons program, which is by far the most pressing issue that the West should be focusing on in the Middle East.
The current turmoil also questions the wisdom of President Obama's conciliatory approach to the hardline Iranian regime.
Mary Werther, Camberwell
FROM THE WEEKEND AUSTRALIAN LETTERS TO THE EDITOR 20 JUNE 2009
Iran’s power struggle
THE amazing protests we are witnessing now on the streets of Tehran are the outpouring of real anger and frustration, especially by educated urbanised youth, after 30 years of theocratic repression.
They also represent an internal power struggle among the ruling clerics that may eventually weaken the tight grip of the Islamist regime.
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s main opponent, Mir Hossein Mousavi, is certainly more of a reformist on some local and women’s issues, but as one of only four candidates selected from thousands by the regime, he is unlikely to be a real moderate in foreign policy. Furthermore, he was one of the instigators of the early work on Iran’s nuclear weapons program, which is by far the most pressing issue that the West should be focusing on in the Middle East today.
The current turmoil questions the wisdom of President Obama’s conciliatory approach to the hard-line Iranian regime and also his attempts to artificially link rapprochement with Iran to progress on the Israel-Palestine conflict. In fact, there seems to be little sympathy for the Palestinians on the streets of Tehran, and the reported attacks on protesters by imported Hamas and Hezbollah thugs have caused additional anger.
Mary Werther Camberwell, Vic
The words "and also his attempts to artificially link rapprochement with Iran to progress on the Israel-Palestine conflict. In fact, there seems to be little sympathy for the Palestinians on the streets of Tehran, and the reported attacks on protesters by imported Hamas and Hezbollah thugs have caused additional anger" have been consigned to the blank pages.
Why?
Friday, June 19, 2009
CENSORSHIP - IRAN AND ELSEWHERE
The news from Iran is that the mullahs are doing their level best to censor the news of demonstrations against the recent elections which appear to have been nicely rigged. The mullahs are getting plenty of support from their friends at Hamas and it seems that the same censorship principles apply to that particular item of news in some areas. I wonder what the foreign news editors are doing about it?
Thursday, June 18, 2009
WHY IS IRAN USING PROXIES IN IRAN TO SUPPRESS ITS DISSIDENTS?
There's no mention of them in this Age article - Reformists march as Iran steps up crackdown - but the mullah regime in Tehran is using Palestinian Hamas thugs to crush street protests - 'Hamas helping Iran crush dissent'.
All this is happening while uselful idiot Jimmy Carter is traipsing around Gaza with Hamas boss Mohammed Haniyeh and telling the world that his hosts want peace.
Meanwhile, the Age will keep news of the handiwork of the Palestinian thugs in the streets of Tehran hidden deep in the blank pages.
Why?
Why?
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
SILENCE
There has been criticism in some areas in recent weeks about the position of Israel PM Benjamin Netanyahu's position on Barack Obama's call for a two state solution to the Israel/Arab conflict - an independent Palestinian state next to a Jewish state.
Now that Netanyahu's speech at the weekend confirmed he was willing to negotiate on this basis, what has been the reaction from the "moderate" Palestinian leadership. According to PA spokesperson Nabil Abu Rdainah, Netanyahu’s speech "torpedoes all peace initiatives in the region." Salam Fayyad, prime minister in the Western-backed government of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, said Netanyahu's speech "dealt a new blow to efforts to salvage the peace process, and has undermined the possibility of resuming negotiations based on its terms of reference." In other words, the Palestinian leadership is not interested in a peaceful resolution that involves Israel.
The reaction of the Israel bashing crowd in the media to this development - silence.
Now that Netanyahu's speech at the weekend confirmed he was willing to negotiate on this basis, what has been the reaction from the "moderate" Palestinian leadership. According to PA spokesperson Nabil Abu Rdainah, Netanyahu’s speech "torpedoes all peace initiatives in the region." Salam Fayyad, prime minister in the Western-backed government of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, said Netanyahu's speech "dealt a new blow to efforts to salvage the peace process, and has undermined the possibility of resuming negotiations based on its terms of reference." In other words, the Palestinian leadership is not interested in a peaceful resolution that involves Israel.
The reaction of the Israel bashing crowd in the media to this development - silence.
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
GIVE PEACE A CHANCE
Denying Israel's right to exist is no basis for a settlement
So begins today's Australian editorial - GIVE PEACE A CHANCE. The Australian gets it but unfortunately for Israelis and Palestinians, any do not.
NOT everybody got the message in Barack Obama's Cairo speech, that Middle East peace requires compromise. The Israelis did, demonstrated by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's speech on Sunday proposing a new peace process. In return for accepting Israel as a Jewish nation he offered the Palestinians a two-state solution. But Israel's opponents are not having any of it. The Palestinian Authority says Mr Netanyahu's speech "torpedoed"peace initiatives. This was a pointless, posturing response which reflects the mentality of those members of the Palestinian political elite who prefer nihilism to negotiation and are happier denouncing Israel than dealing with it. And it reflects the mindset of those who want Israel treated as a pariah and who attempt to intimidate any individual or organisation that accepts the Jewish state's right to exist. It is a mindset that shapes the belief that Israel is an enemy to be destroyed, held in the Hezbollah terrorist training camps in the south of Lebanon, the Fatah government offices on the West Bank and in the Hamas arsenals of the Gaza Strip. And it is a mindset which permeates perceptions of Israel adhered to by people all over theworld who want the Jewish state gone.
Monday, June 15, 2009
THE JULIA GILLARD VISIT TO ISRAEL
The Weekend Australian produced an excellent editorial about Julia Gillard's trip to Israel and the Palestine Authority which the anti-Zionist lobby is seeking to prevent: A trip worth taking.
Here are today's letters to the Australian Newspaper covering the debate about the trip:
MOST TALKED ABOUT: LEADERSHIP FORUM
THE anti-Israel bigotry to which you refer in the editorial defending Julia Gillard’s visit to Israel ("A trip worth taking”, 13-14/6) is vividly illustrated in Amnesty International’s recently released annual global report.
The survey devotes the same amount of space to criticising Israel as it does to China and Iran, and more than it allocates to Saudi Arabia, Syria, North Korea, Myanmar, Pakistan, Vietnam, Cuba and Zimbabwe.
Israel is far from perfect, but the degree of liberalism and democracy which it maintains, while living with constant threats of liquidation from its neighbours in the region, is little short of miraculous.
Bill James Bayswater, Vic
MY heart sank to its lowest level in years when I read your report of Deputy Prime Minister Julia Gillard’s plan to lead a delegation to Israel ("Gillard defiant on Israel”, 13-14/6). Then I became afflicted with all the symptoms of swine flu and nausea on reading your editorial “A trip worth taking”.
Gillard leading an an Australian Israel Leadership Forum is a betrayal of President Obama’s peace process and the ALP’s anti-racism policies.
It will further confirm to the people of Asia and Africa and Muslims all around the world that racism is found not only among some of the thugs in the streets of Melbourne and Sydney who beat up Indian students to steal their meagre wages, but also among some parliamentarians who rule this country.
Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, since winning the election 18 months ago, has not uttered a single word to promote peace in the Israel-Palestine conflict. In fact, Gillard supported Israel’s invasion of Gaza last January and failed to censure its use of war planes, cluster bombs and white phosphorus bombs.
These are not the signs of a peace-loving Labor government.
Bill Mathew Parkville, Vic
YOUR editorial avoided the most critical issue—how will Australia’s international relations benefit from such a demonstration of support for Israel? There are obvious advantages for Israel, but, I suggest, none for Australia. Our closest neighbours to the north, Indonesia and Malaysia, will be most unimpressed. Prime Minister Rudd’s efforts to win Australia a seat on the UN Security Council will hardly be enhanced by the trip.
The Netanyahu government is facing major challenges following worldwide reaction to Israel’s military action against Gaza in late December and early January. UN agencies have accused Israel of war crimes and abuse of human rights in its Gaza offensive.
Why the Australian Deputy Prime Minister with portfolio responsibilities for industrial relations and education should get involved in Middle East politics at this sensitive time needs to be explained.
Our trade with Israel is relatively minor. Seven other countries in the Middle East have more important trade relations with Australia than does Israel. Concern about this visit extends far beyond what your editorial describes as fanatics.
Vincent Matthews Forestville, NSW
MOST Australians would never have heard of the “eminent Australians” protesting about Julia Gillard leading a delegation to Israel. Of course we will hear no such protests when the Deputy Prime Minister meets the Iran-supported Palestinian Authority that calls for the destruction of Israel.
Mick Whybrow Birkdale, Qld
ONE is no longer shocked by anti-Israel statements and actions or demands, such as those of “170 eminent Australians”. Anti-Zionism has become so widespread and politically correct, and is often so extreme and so divorced from political and historic reality, that one suspects it masks even more dangerous and more ancient hatreds—calls to boycott Jews have a long, ignominious and deadly, indeed genocidal, history.
Full marks to Deputy Prime Minister Julia Gillard on her principled stance on this issue.
Israel has always welcomed visitors. It is confident that it has nothing to hide and believes that when people visit Israel and see for themselves the country and vibrant democracy that Israel is, the problems that it faces and the way that it addresses these problems, they will become supporters of Israel—or at least more balanced and fair in any criticisms.
The Jewish people are by far the oldest indigenous people of the land of Israel, their historic, religious and cultural links to Israel are—or at least should be—beyond question. It is also a fact that Israel is the only true democracy in the Middle East.
If these “eminent” Australians (I can think of other descriptions) wish to sheet home blame for the recent conflict in Gaza they would be better to direct their ire toward Hamas, which has made no secret of its commitment to destroy Israel and which, by its unrelenting rocket attacks on Israel, caused the conflict in Gaza.
To understand the recent Israeli defensive campaign in Gaza we have to recognise that Hamas are not Palestinian nationalists, the Hamas charter calls not only for the complete destruction of Israel, but the creation of a pan-Arab sharia law caliphate throughout the Middle East.
So should we boycott Israel, a legitimate democratic state, in favour of a Taliban style terrorist organisation? One would hope that the answer is obvious.
Bill Anderson Surrey Hills, Vic
Here are today's letters to the Australian Newspaper covering the debate about the trip:
MOST TALKED ABOUT: LEADERSHIP FORUM
THE anti-Israel bigotry to which you refer in the editorial defending Julia Gillard’s visit to Israel ("A trip worth taking”, 13-14/6) is vividly illustrated in Amnesty International’s recently released annual global report.
The survey devotes the same amount of space to criticising Israel as it does to China and Iran, and more than it allocates to Saudi Arabia, Syria, North Korea, Myanmar, Pakistan, Vietnam, Cuba and Zimbabwe.
Israel is far from perfect, but the degree of liberalism and democracy which it maintains, while living with constant threats of liquidation from its neighbours in the region, is little short of miraculous.
Bill James Bayswater, Vic
MY heart sank to its lowest level in years when I read your report of Deputy Prime Minister Julia Gillard’s plan to lead a delegation to Israel ("Gillard defiant on Israel”, 13-14/6). Then I became afflicted with all the symptoms of swine flu and nausea on reading your editorial “A trip worth taking”.
Gillard leading an an Australian Israel Leadership Forum is a betrayal of President Obama’s peace process and the ALP’s anti-racism policies.
It will further confirm to the people of Asia and Africa and Muslims all around the world that racism is found not only among some of the thugs in the streets of Melbourne and Sydney who beat up Indian students to steal their meagre wages, but also among some parliamentarians who rule this country.
Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, since winning the election 18 months ago, has not uttered a single word to promote peace in the Israel-Palestine conflict. In fact, Gillard supported Israel’s invasion of Gaza last January and failed to censure its use of war planes, cluster bombs and white phosphorus bombs.
These are not the signs of a peace-loving Labor government.
Bill Mathew Parkville, Vic
YOUR editorial avoided the most critical issue—how will Australia’s international relations benefit from such a demonstration of support for Israel? There are obvious advantages for Israel, but, I suggest, none for Australia. Our closest neighbours to the north, Indonesia and Malaysia, will be most unimpressed. Prime Minister Rudd’s efforts to win Australia a seat on the UN Security Council will hardly be enhanced by the trip.
The Netanyahu government is facing major challenges following worldwide reaction to Israel’s military action against Gaza in late December and early January. UN agencies have accused Israel of war crimes and abuse of human rights in its Gaza offensive.
Why the Australian Deputy Prime Minister with portfolio responsibilities for industrial relations and education should get involved in Middle East politics at this sensitive time needs to be explained.
Our trade with Israel is relatively minor. Seven other countries in the Middle East have more important trade relations with Australia than does Israel. Concern about this visit extends far beyond what your editorial describes as fanatics.
Vincent Matthews Forestville, NSW
MOST Australians would never have heard of the “eminent Australians” protesting about Julia Gillard leading a delegation to Israel. Of course we will hear no such protests when the Deputy Prime Minister meets the Iran-supported Palestinian Authority that calls for the destruction of Israel.
Mick Whybrow Birkdale, Qld
ONE is no longer shocked by anti-Israel statements and actions or demands, such as those of “170 eminent Australians”. Anti-Zionism has become so widespread and politically correct, and is often so extreme and so divorced from political and historic reality, that one suspects it masks even more dangerous and more ancient hatreds—calls to boycott Jews have a long, ignominious and deadly, indeed genocidal, history.
Full marks to Deputy Prime Minister Julia Gillard on her principled stance on this issue.
Israel has always welcomed visitors. It is confident that it has nothing to hide and believes that when people visit Israel and see for themselves the country and vibrant democracy that Israel is, the problems that it faces and the way that it addresses these problems, they will become supporters of Israel—or at least more balanced and fair in any criticisms.
The Jewish people are by far the oldest indigenous people of the land of Israel, their historic, religious and cultural links to Israel are—or at least should be—beyond question. It is also a fact that Israel is the only true democracy in the Middle East.
If these “eminent” Australians (I can think of other descriptions) wish to sheet home blame for the recent conflict in Gaza they would be better to direct their ire toward Hamas, which has made no secret of its commitment to destroy Israel and which, by its unrelenting rocket attacks on Israel, caused the conflict in Gaza.
To understand the recent Israeli defensive campaign in Gaza we have to recognise that Hamas are not Palestinian nationalists, the Hamas charter calls not only for the complete destruction of Israel, but the creation of a pan-Arab sharia law caliphate throughout the Middle East.
So should we boycott Israel, a legitimate democratic state, in favour of a Taliban style terrorist organisation? One would hope that the answer is obvious.
Bill Anderson Surrey Hills, Vic
Sunday, June 14, 2009
CROOKS, DESPOTS AND HUMAN RIGHTS ABUSERS
Yesterday, I referred to the fraudulent "human rights petition" circulating among the anti Zionist lobby which is seeking to prevent Deputy Prime Minister Julia Gillard from asserting her democratic human right to visit Israel and the Palestine Authority to see for herself what is taking place in the troubled region. I question whether this lobby gives a damn about the real human rights abusers and murderers who are held in such high esteem in the world that they even have the imprimatur of the United Nations.
To get an idea of the types of crooks these human rights petitioners routinely ignore, here's a piece from an EYEontheUN email, June 10, 2009, by Anne Bayefsky:
To get an idea of the types of crooks these human rights petitioners routinely ignore, here's a piece from an EYEontheUN email, June 10, 2009, by Anne Bayefsky:
LIBYA - PRESIDENT OF THE UN GENERAL ASSEMBLY[June 10],
Libya was elected President of the UN General Assembly. Ali Abdussalam Treky of
Libya, Libyan Minister for African Affairs, will assume the role of President in September. The General Assembly is supposed to assist "in the realization of human rights and fundamental freedoms for all without distinction as to race, sex, language, or religion." Here is how Libya has "fulfilled" the General Assembly's mandate:US State Department's Country Report on Human Rights Practices 2008, Libya:
"Citizens did not have the right to change their government. Remaining problems included reported disappearances; torture; arbitrary arrest; lengthy pretrial and sometimes incommunicado detention; official impunity and poor prison conditions...denial of a fair public trial by an independent judiciary, political prisoners and detainees, and the lack of judicial recourse for alleged...
LIBYA - PRESIDENT OF THE UN GENERAL ASSEMBLY [June 10],Libya was elected President of the UN General Assembly. Ali Abdussalam Treky of
Libya, Libyan Minister for African Affairs, will assume the role of President in September. The General Assembly is supposed to assist "in the realization of human rights and fundamental freedoms for all without distinction as to race, sex, language, or religion." Here is how Libya has "fulfilled" the General Assembly's mandate:
US State Department's Country Report on Human Rights Practices 2008, Libya: "Citizens did not have the right to change their government. Remaining problems included reported disappearances; torture; arbitrary arrest; lengthy pretrial and sometimes incommunicado detention; official impunity and poor prison conditions...denial of a fair public trial by an independent judiciary, political prisoners and detainees, and the lack of judicial recourse for alleged human rights violations...The government restricted civil liberties and freedoms of speech, press...assembly, and association...freedom of religion; corruption and lack of transparency; societal discrimination against women, ethnic minorities, and foreign workers; trafficking in persons; and restriction of labor rights."
Libya already holds a non-permanent seat on the Security Council - with the job of promoting "peace and security" - until the end of 2009. From this seat, Libya promotes the murder of Israelis or anyone it claims should be "resisted": "My delegation stresses the right of the Palestinian people to resist occupation. That right is recognized under all international norms and laws. My country completely rejects any linkage between resistance to occupation and terrorism." (July 22, 2008)
SUDAN - A VICE-PRESIDENT OF THE UN GENERAL ASSEMBLY [June 10], Sudan was elected a Vice-President of the UN General Assembly. Here is how Sudan has "fulfilled" the General Assembly mandate. Its President is currently evading an international arrest warrant on war crimes and crimes against humanity.And:
US State Department's Country Report on Human Rights Practices 2008, Sudan: "Civilians in Darfur continued to suffer from the effects of genocide. Government forces bombed villages, killed civilians including internally displaced persons (IDPs), and collaborated with janjaweed militias and tribal factions to raze villages and perpetrate violence against women...
The government's human rights record...abridgement of citizens' right to change their government; extrajudicial and other unlawful killings by government forces and other government-aligned groups throughout the country; disappearances...torture, beatings, rape, and other cruel, inhumane treatment or punishment by security forces; harsh prison conditions; arbitrary arrest and detention, incommunicado detention of suspected government opponents, and prolonged pretrial detention; executive interference with the judiciary and denial of due process; obstruction of the delivery of humanitarian assistance; restrictions on privacy; restrictions on freedom of speech...on the press...on freedoms of assembly, association, religion, and movement...violence and discrimination against women, including female genital mutilation (FGM); child abuse, including sexual violence and recruitment of child soldiers..."
ALGERIA - CHAIR OF THE UN GENERAL ASSEMBLY'S LEGAL (SIXTH) COMMITTEE [June 10]Algeria was elected Chairperson of the UN's Legal Committee, known as the Sixth Committee. This body, composed of representatives of all 192 states, is the General Assembly's "primary forum for the consideration of legal questions." Here is how Algeria "fulfills" the Sixth Committee mandate:
US State Department's Country Report on Human Rights Practices 2008, Algeria: "[T]he president exercises supreme judicial authority, and executive branch decrees and influence limited judicial independence...[A]uthorities did not completely respect legal provisions regarding defendants' rights and denied due process. The High Judicial Council is responsible for judicial discipline and the appointment of all judges.
President Bouteflika serves as the president of the council...Legal decisions regarding family matters are based on Shari'a (Islamic law) as well as civil law...The judiciary...lacked independence in human rights cases. Family connections and status of the parties involved reportedly influenced decisions."
IRAN - A VICE-CHAIR OF THE UN GENERAL ASSEMBLY'S LEGAL (SIXTH) COMMITTEE [June 10]Iran was elected a Vice-Chair of the of the UN's Legal Committee, known as the Sixth Committee. This body, composed of representatives of all 192 states, is the General Assembly's "primary forum for the consideration of legal questions." Here is how Iran "fulfills" the Sixth Committee mandate:
US State Department's Country Report on Human Rights Practices 2008, Iran: "[T]he court system was corrupt and subject to government and religious influence...[T]he head of the judiciary shall be a cleric chosen by the supreme leader. The head of the Supreme Court and prosecutor general also must be clerics. Women continued to be barred from serving as certain types of judges...Defendants did not have the right to confront their accusers, and were not granted access to government-held evidence...Revolutionary court judges were chosen in part due to their ideological commitment to the system. Authorities often charged individuals with undefined crimes, such as "antirevolutionary behavior," "moral corruption," and "siding with global arrogance."...Secret or summary trials of only five minutes' duration occurred frequently. Other trials were deliberately designed to
publicize a coerced confession..."THE UN'S IDEA OF AUTHORITY FIGURES: CROOKS, DESPOTS AND HUMAN RIGHTS ABUSERS ...
Saturday, June 13, 2009
Lies from the Anti Zionist Lobby
The Anti Zionist lobby is desperate to prevent Julia Gillard from exercising her right to visit Israel and the Palestine Authority and is prepared to tell lies in a petition which has been fraudulently dressed up as a "human rights petition" - Rudd's nephew signs human rights petition.
What is it that these petitioners don't want Ms. Gillard to see?
Israeli democracy at work?
Corruption within the Palestine Authority?
Hamas and its policies of gencocide towards the Jewish people and destruction of the Jewish State?
The petitioners laughingly deny that Israel is a democracy but what better way for Ms. Gillard to discover the truth than for her to visit the area and view the scene from all sides?
What is it that these petitioners don't want Ms. Gillard to see?
Israeli democracy at work?
Corruption within the Palestine Authority?
Hamas and its policies of gencocide towards the Jewish people and destruction of the Jewish State?
The petitioners laughingly deny that Israel is a democracy but what better way for Ms. Gillard to discover the truth than for her to visit the area and view the scene from all sides?
Friday, June 12, 2009
OH SHIT!
Elder of Ziyon always seems to have a knack for digging up these stories and 10,000-YEAR OLD CITY BLAMES ISRAEL FOR SEWAGE PROBLEMS is an absolute gem, albeit a little on the nose.
In keeping with the Palestinian tradition of blaming Israel and the Jews for their ills, the Mayor of the West Bank city of Jericho which falls under Palestinian Authority jurisdiction is claiming that it's Israel's fault that this 10,000 year old city doesn't have a working sewerage system.
"It is funny in 2009 that a historic city like Jericho lacks a sewage network. Israeli occupation played a major role in depriving Jericho along with several other Palestinian cities of many basic needs of modern life," says Ahmad Salih.
However, the good Elder has discovered that way back in 1995 an international aid effort saw millions pledged to establish sewerage systems in several cities under PA control and, while the United States came good with its contribution, several European and Persian Gulf nations are among the donors that did not make their payments. Hence, the citizens of Jericho still need to relieve themselves in holes in the ground, in cans or, if they're really wealthy, in a portaloo.
This has nothing whatever to do with Israel or the "occupation" but it suits the mayor to heap excrement on Israel in this instance, as one does in the Palestinian territories. Which proves true the old Arabic adage that if there's shit in the can, the whole room stinks.
As far as the $12 million pledge paid over by the U.S.A I would suggest that the Americans ask Mrs. Arafat for reimbursement. She has all the modern conveniences including bidet that she needs in her little villa in France.
In keeping with the Palestinian tradition of blaming Israel and the Jews for their ills, the Mayor of the West Bank city of Jericho which falls under Palestinian Authority jurisdiction is claiming that it's Israel's fault that this 10,000 year old city doesn't have a working sewerage system.
"It is funny in 2009 that a historic city like Jericho lacks a sewage network. Israeli occupation played a major role in depriving Jericho along with several other Palestinian cities of many basic needs of modern life," says Ahmad Salih.
However, the good Elder has discovered that way back in 1995 an international aid effort saw millions pledged to establish sewerage systems in several cities under PA control and, while the United States came good with its contribution, several European and Persian Gulf nations are among the donors that did not make their payments. Hence, the citizens of Jericho still need to relieve themselves in holes in the ground, in cans or, if they're really wealthy, in a portaloo.
This has nothing whatever to do with Israel or the "occupation" but it suits the mayor to heap excrement on Israel in this instance, as one does in the Palestinian territories. Which proves true the old Arabic adage that if there's shit in the can, the whole room stinks.
As far as the $12 million pledge paid over by the U.S.A I would suggest that the Americans ask Mrs. Arafat for reimbursement. She has all the modern conveniences including bidet that she needs in her little villa in France.
Thursday, June 11, 2009
ROOM FOR MANOEUVRING TOWARDS UNDERSTANDINGS
An excellent interview on our ABC by Mark Colvin with Ehud Ya'ari, senior commentator for Israel's Channel 2 Television about the Obama speech - Obama's Cairo speech under scrutiny.
MARK COLVIN: But do you think it's only symbolic? Because we know from his reading for instance, he said in the past that one of the books that really influenced him was "The Yellow Wind" by David Grossman - a book which is all about the experience of Palestinians under Israeli rule.
EHUD YA'ARI: Yes and he spoke about that and he has no problem with Israelis about it. Israelis would love to get rid of the occupation.
MARK COLVIN: You say that but the settlers would not.
EHUD YA'ARI: Well the settlers would not but the settlers are not a majority in Israel. You have a solid consensus in Israel of 70, 80 per cent for a two-state solution, including the removal of almost all the settlements. That's a given, it's repeated in all the polls...
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
CLINTON TIME?
Marty Peretz comments on Tom Friedman's Sunday New York Times column:
I suppose that many people assumed that "after Cairo" meant he was
assigning our secretary of state to shuttling back and forth between Jerusalem
and Ramallah. No, he has pity on Mrs. Clinton. Yes, he wants her to concentrate
"on the peace process."
But "not that peace process." "That one is probably beyond diplomacy,"
and the fact is that Tom knows this area better than most and certainly better
than poor Hillary and her assigned runner George Mitchell who thinks that the
Palestine problem is like the Irish problem.
Tuesday, June 09, 2009
THE OTHER REFUGEES
Media Backspin's Spotlight On The Jewish Refugees plight of Jewish refugees from Arab countries makes interesting reading.
The item makes the point that with peace talks "being placed on the front burner, Jewish refugees may finally come to the fore, bringing to the table issues of compensation, de-facto population exchange and a narrative of their own suffering and resettlement to counter international sympathy for Palestinian refugees."
It also raises a commentary by Andre Aciman in the NY Times by Andre about Obama's recent Cairo speech:
The item makes the point that with peace talks "being placed on the front burner, Jewish refugees may finally come to the fore, bringing to the table issues of compensation, de-facto population exchange and a narrative of their own suffering and resettlement to counter international sympathy for Palestinian refugees."
It also raises a commentary by Andre Aciman in the NY Times by Andre about Obama's recent Cairo speech:
With all his references to the history of Islam and to its (questionable) "prou0d" tradition of tolerance” of other faiths, Mr. Obama never said anything about those Jews whose ancestors had been living in Arab lands long before the advent of Islam but were its first victims once rampant nationalism swept over the Arab world.
Nor did he bother to mention that with this flight and expulsion, Jewish assets were — let’s call it by its proper name — looted. Mr. Obama never mentioned the belongings I still own in Egypt and will never recover. My mother’s house, my father’s factory, our life in Egypt, our friends, our books, our cars, my bicycle . . . .
But for him to speak in Cairo of a shared effort “to find common ground ... and to respect the dignity of all human beings” without mentioning people in my position would be like his speaking to the residents of Berlin about the future of Germany and forgetting to mention a small detail called World War II.
Monday, June 08, 2009
HYPOCRITE
The following is from the Age Online edition. As far as I'm aware, it's not contained in the print edition - Israel petition to Gillard
The same Margoyles who whined and moaned like a stuck pig when a Jewish charity cancelled her appearance in front of elderly Holocaust survivors because of her involvement in the reading of a play that is nothing more than an exercise in Holocaust denial (comparing the Holocaust where millions died with the war in Gaza which was a three week conflict between Israel and a Hamas dedicated to genocide against Jews is without doubt, Holocaust denial in my view).
BRITISH actor Miriam Margolyes, OBE, is among prominent Jewish people, eminent Australians, leading academics and Green MPs who have signed a petition calling on deputy MP Julia Gillard to call off her planned trip to Israel.That's right!
The petition, which has more than 150 signatures, was initiated by Canberra-based academic Ned Curthoys, a research fellow in literature, history and Jewish studies at Australian National University.
Dr Curthoys, who is Jewish, said there had been "a seismic shift in public opinion in Australia about Israel constantly flying in the face of international opinion and breaching United Nations resolutions".
The same Margoyles who whined and moaned like a stuck pig when a Jewish charity cancelled her appearance in front of elderly Holocaust survivors because of her involvement in the reading of a play that is nothing more than an exercise in Holocaust denial (comparing the Holocaust where millions died with the war in Gaza which was a three week conflict between Israel and a Hamas dedicated to genocide against Jews is without doubt, Holocaust denial in my view).
This sick lot must be think Julia Gillard is as much of a dummy as they are and they (especially Margoyles who claims to love the place) must also be very, very frightened about what she is going to see on her trip to Israel.
After all, those on the trip will get to see the real Israel and the real West Bank. Curthoys is obviously worried that when they get there, they will not find the fairytale land described in the Churchill play whih is a place that doesn't really exist except in the minds of those who love to hate and who want to see this particular conflict fester.
Those on the trip will also visit Sderot and see something else that was hidden in the Churchill play - the trauma caused to Jewish and Arab children by the indiscriminate Hamas rocket fire which started the last war in the first place and about which Churchill, Margoyles, Curthoys and friends might consider the following line as an appropriate piece of reality that was missed in the play.
Don't tell her they want to kill Jews.
Sunday, June 07, 2009
Good Question
Yaacov Kirschen of Drybonesblog asks the question:
If a two-state solution means a Palestine with no Jewish towns or cities in it, does that mean that all Palestinian towns and cities inside Israel will also have to be uprooted and expelled?
He's just asking but it's a good one!
Friday, June 05, 2009
OBAMA IN CAIRO
From the Israel Project:
Cairo Speech: President Obama Stands with Israel, but Disappoints on Iran
Cairo Speech: President Obama Stands with Israel, but Disappoints on Iran
Israeli President Shimon Peres on Ending the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict (The Times of London)
President Obama's Cairo speech (read transcript, watch video)
Experts available for comment
TIP's Press Kit for President Obama's trip to Cairo
TIP's Press Kit for President Obama's trip to Germany
Obama to Visit Buchenwald Concentration Camp Friday As Iranian President Says Holocaust a "Big Deception"
Twelve Ways to Prevent Iran from Acquiring Weapons without War
TIP's Conference Call with German Scholar Matthias Küntzel
In his speech to the Muslim world Thursday (June 4) from Cairo, President Barack Obama called on Palestinians to renounce violence, stop firing rockets at Israelis and said Palestinians – as well as the Arab world – must recognize Israel's right to exist.[1]
"Palestinians must abandon violence. Resistance through violence and killing is wrong and does not succeed…violence is a dead end. It is a sign of neither courage nor power to shoot rockets at sleeping children, or to blow up old women on a bus. That is not how moral authority is claimed; that is how it is surrendered,
Obama's address comes at a time when Americans have clearly stated that they stand with Israel by a seven-to-one margin.
In a new national poll among registered voters conducted by Public Opinion Strategies for The Israel Project, fully 50 percent of all respondents said they supported Israel over Palestinians in the ongoing conflict.
When asked, "Thinking about the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinians in the Middle East, please tell me whether, in general, you consider yourself to be a supporter of Israel…Palestinians,
Since Obama's inauguration Jan. 20, terrorists in Gaza have fired more than 200 [2] rockets, mortars and missiles at Israel – and a total of more than 6,700 [3] since Israel handed all of Gaza over to the Palestinians four years ago in hopes of paving the way for an independent Palestinian state living side by side in peace next to Israel. Since the start of 2009, Israel has been hit by at least 685 rockets and mortars. [4]
Obama also said, "Now is the time for Palestinians to focus on what they can build. The Palestinian Authority must develop its capacity to govern, with institutions that serve the needs of its people. Hamas does have support among some Palestinians, but they also have responsibilities. To play a role in fulfilling Palestinian aspirations, and to unify the Palestinian people, Hamas must put an end to violence, recognize past agreements, and recognize Israel's right to exist."
A day before his visit to Buchenwald, one of Nazi Germany's largest concentration camps, Obama emphasized the importance of recognizing and remembering the Holocaust and condemned those who refuse to recognize that: "Six million Jews were killed – more than the entire Jewish population of Israel today. Denying that fact is baseless, ignorant, and hateful. Threatening Israel with destruction – or repeating vile stereotypes about Jews – is deeply wrong, and only serves to evoke in the minds of Israelis this most painful of memories while preventing the peace that the people of this region deserve."
Obama, reiterating the importance of U.S.-Israel relations, also said: "America's strong bonds with Israel are well known. This bond is unbreakable. It is based upon cultural and historical ties, and the recognition that the aspiration for a Jewish homeland is rooted in a tragic history that cannot be denied."
On Wednesday, however, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad once again repeated his denial of the Holocaust, calling it a "big deception." [5]
"The identity of the liberal democracy has been exposed to the world by its protection of the most criminal regime in the history of humanity, the Zionist regime, by using the big deception of the Holocaust," Ahmadinejad told a gathering of 600 international scholars in Tehran June 3.
The Israel Project Founder and President Jennifer Laszlo Mizrahi commented on President Obama's Cairo address: "President Obama's speech was historic in its bold outreach to Muslims and in its dramatic move for peace. There is a lot in the speech for Americans and Muslims to celebrate."
A number of points, however, caused concern about Israel's security. Said Mizrahi, "While we knew Israelis would feel pressured about implementing a two-state solution and stopping settlements, I am very concerned about President Obama's comments that Iran has a right to nuclear materials for energy given the dangerous fact that some of those materials could get into the hands of terrorists including Iran's proxies, Hezbollah, Hamas and Islamic Jihad."
Mizrahi added, "President Obama's speech did not convey a sense of urgency on stopping Iran from getting nuclear weapons – although it is clear he does share the goal of preventing a weaponized nuclear Iran. We can't forget that North Korea's program started as an energy program and now they are actively testing nuclear weapons in defiance of the United States. We cannot afford for this to happen with Iran, the world's largest state sponsor of terror."
Mizrahi said President Obama's speech also denied basic facts about key security issues and omitted important aspects of today's realities, including, she said:
• "The fact that until peace is real, President Obama's goal of a completely nuclear-free world is not consistent with Israel's need to at least have the impression that it might have nuclear weapons for defensive purposes. We know that deterrence saves a lot of lives.
• "The fact that President Obama did not mention that Israel has said that they don't want to govern Palestinians and do want to create a better life for the Palestinian people within the context of their own security needs.
• "The fact that President Obama spoke rightly of the suffering of Palestinian refugees without, however, remembering that approximately the same number of Jewish refugees were pushed out of Arab countries.
• "The fact that President Obama didn't point out that Jewish refugees have gone, and should continue to go, to Israel whereas Palestinians refugees should find their homes in a Palestinian homeland."
Mizrahi said President Obama should have mentioned that not only does Iran-backed Hamas control all of Gaza, Hamas's own charter calls for killing Jews: "The time will not come until Muslims will fight the Jews (and kill them); until the Jews hide behind rocks and trees, which will cry: O Muslim! There is a Jew hiding behind me, come on and kill him!" [6] It also states: "The indoctrination campaign must involve ulama, educators, teachers and information and media experts, as well as all intellectuals, especially the young people and the sheikhs of Islamic movements. It is [also] necessary to introduce essential changes in the curricula, in order to eliminate the influences of the intellectual invasion which were inflicted upon them by the Orientalists and the missionaries.
Obama's trip to the Middle East comes a week after his meeting with Palestinian Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas at the White House, where Obama urged the Palestinian leader to end the culture of hate that permeates Palestinian educational and religious institutions. Said Obama, "…It was very important to continue to make progress in reducing the incitement and anti-Israel sentiments that are sometimes expressed in schools and mosques and in the public square, because all those things are impediments to peace." [8] Recent examples of the culture of hate that permeates Palestinian society
In May, Abbas rejected the idea of a Jewish State and met with Palestinian youth leaders in Ramallah where he held up a framed map of Palestine – clearly labeled in English - that covered all of Israel. "I say this clearly: I do not accept the Jewish State, call it what you will," Abbas said during the meeting. A photo of Abbas holding the map appeared on the front pages of both Palestinian Authority daily newspapers. [9]
Obama's speech at Cairo University was part of a five-day trip that started in Riyadh Wednesday (June 3) for meetings with Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah before continuing Thursday to Egypt, where Obama also met with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak. In Germany Friday, Obama will visit Buchenwald along with Nobel laureate and Holocaust survivor Elie Wiesel [10] and German Chancellor Angela Merkel. [11] Before the Buchenwald stop, Obama will hold talks Friday in Dresden with Merkel. Obama's final stop in Germany, before continuing to Normandy, France, is Landstuhl medical facility, where Obama will visit U.S. soldiers injured in Iraq and Afghanistan. [12]
Just a few weeks ago, during talks with Obama at the White House, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu made clear he too looked forward to advancing the peace process and wanted the Palestinians to govern themselves.
"I share with you very much the desire to move the peace process forward," Netanyahu said at the White House following a meeting with Obama On Monday (May 18). "And I want to start peace negotiations with the Palestinians immediately. I would like to broaden the circle of peace to include others in the Arab world…I want to make it clear that we don't want to govern the Palestinians. We want to live in peace with them." [13]
In 2003, Israel agreed to implement the Roadmap to Peace, [14] a performance-
The U.S., Israel and other Western countries actively support Abbas's more moderate Fatah movement against Iran-backed Hamas. [17] In the meantime, Netanyahu has also pledged to work with Abbas's government in the West Bank, and has
Experts available for comment
U.S.-based
Jennifer Laszlo Mizrahi, Founder and President, The Israel Project
Tel.: 202-857-6644 (office); 202-365-0787 (cell)
E-mail: jenniferm@theisrael
Web site: www.theisraelprojec
Jennifer Laszlo Mizrahi, an American peace and security activist, is the founder and president of The Israel Project, an international non-profit organization devoted to educating the press and the public about the Middle East. Mizrahi meets regularly with top Israeli leaders such as President Shimon Peres, Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu and Ambassador Sallai Meridor. Mizrahi previously served as a foreign affairs legislative assistant to the U.S. Congress. Mizrahi has worked on projects with the White House, President Clinton, Vice President Gore and dozens of U.S. senators. Mizrahi has been interviewed on "One on One with John McLaughlin," CNN, CNBC, FOX, MSNBC and C-SPAN. The Forward newspaper has twice listed Mizrahi in its "Forward 50" most influential Jews in America.
Ambassador Jeremy Issacharoff, Chargé d'affaires, Embassy of Israel
Tel: 202-364-5578 (office)
E-mail: dcm@israelemb.
Nonie Darwish, Arab peace activist and author of "Now They Call Me Infidel: Why I Renounced Jihad for America, Israel, and the War on Terror"
Tel: 818-366-2452
E-mail: nonie@arabsforisrae
Web site: www.arabsforisrael.
Nonie Darwish is the daughter of a former member of the Egyptian intelligence service who directed terrorist attacks against Israelis in the 1950s. When she was eight years old, her father was killed by a special Israeli assassination team. Today, Ms. Darwish is a noted author and advocate for peace with unwavering support for Israel.
Mitchell Bard, Executive Director, American-Israeli Cooperative Enterprise
Tel: 301-565-3918
E-mail: mgbard@aol.com
Mitchell G. Bard is the author of 19 books including "Myths and Facts: A Concise Record of the Arab-Israeli Conflict" and "Will Israel Survive?" Mr. Bard is a well-known expert on foreign policy and the Middle East and has appeared on local and national television and radio outlets.
Jonathan Peled, Spokesman, Israeli Embassy
Cell: (202) 276-2800
E-mail: sp@washington.
David Makovsky, Director of the Project on the Middle East Peace Process, Washington Institute for Near East Policy
Tel: 202-452-0650 (office)
E-mail: davidm@washingtonin
Robert Satloff, Executive Director, Washington Institute for Near East Policy
Tel: 202-452-0650
E-mail: robs@washingtoninst
Prof. Yoram Peri, Dollye and Woldrod Berman Visiting Professor, Center for Israel Studies at American University
Tel: 202-885-3682
E-mail: yperi@american.
(Peri is the author of "Telepopulism,
Ambassador Martin Indyk, Former U.S. Ambassador to Israel, Director of the Saban Center for Middle East Policy
Office: 202-797-6462
E-mail:
Iran experts
Ilan Berman, Vice President for Policy, American Foreign Policy Council; author, "Tehran Rising: Iran's Challenge to the United States" (2005)
Tel: 202-543-1006 (office)
E-mail: berman@afpc.
Patrick Clawson, Ph.D., Deputy Director for Research,
The Washington Institute for Near East Policy;
Tel: 202-452-0650 ext. 220 (office), 202-302-1722 (cell);
E-mail: pclawson@washington
Jeremy Issacharoff, Deputy Chief of Mission, Embassy of Israel
Tel: 202-364-5578 (office)
E-mail: dcm@israelemb.
Orde Kittrie, Professor of Law, Arizona State University; Senior Fellow, Foundation for Defense of Democracies
E-mail: ordefk@yahoo.
Michael Ledeen, Freedom Scholar, Foundation for Defense of Democracies
Tel: 202-207-0190; Cell: 301-370-1443
E-mail: mledeen@defenddemoc
Gary Milhollin, Executive Director, Wisconsin Project on Nuclear Arms Control
Tel: 202-223-8299 (office)
E-mail: info@wisconsinproje
Peter Zimmerman, nuclear physicist, Professor Emeritus, King's College, London
Tel: 703-966-6680
E-mail: peter.zimmerman@
U.S. Rep. Shelley Berkley, D-Nev., Member, Committee on Foreign Affairs, Subcommittee on Europe, Subcommittee on the Middle East and South Asia
Tel: 202-225-5965 (office)
U.S. Rep. Ben Cardin, D-Md., Member, Senate Committee on Foreign Relations
Tel: 202-224-4524
U.S. Rep. Eliot Engel, D-NY, Member, Foreign Affairs Committee, Chairman, Subcommittee on the Western Hemisphere
Tel: 202-225-2464
U.S. Rep. Mark Kirk, R-Ill., Member, House Appropriations Committee
Tel: 202-225-4835 (office)
U.S. Rep. Brad Sherman, D-Calif., Member, Committee on International Relations; Ranking Member, Subcommittee on International Terrorism, Nonproliferation and Human Rights;
Tel: 202-225-5911 (office)
Israel-based
Marcus Sheff, Director, The Israel Project's Jerusalem Office
Tel.: 972-2-623-6427 (office); 972-54-807-9177 (cell)
E-mail: marcuss@theisraelpr
Web site: www.theisraelprojec
H.E. Danny Gillerman, Israel's former ambassador to the UN
Tel: 011-972-50-688-
Mark Regev, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's Spokesman for International Media
E-mail via: Gali.Cohen@it.
Avi Pazner, Israeli Government Spokesman
Member of Advisory Team to Prime Minister Netanyahu, available for comment only after 13:00 EST and 20:00 Israel time
Tel.: Assistant, Jaqueleine: 011-972-2-670-
Zalman Shoval, Former Israeli Ambassador to the U.S.
Member of Advisory Team to Prime Minister Netanyahu, available for comment only after 13:00 EST and 20:00 Israel time
Tel.: Assistant, Tammi: 011-972-3-517-
Cell: 011-972-54-453-
Dan Meridor, Israel Minister of Intelligence and Atomic Energy and Deputy Prime Minister
Tel.: Assistant, Irit - 011-972-2-670-
David Baker, Senior Foreign Press Coordinator, Israeli Prime Minister's Office
Tel: 972-2-677-3649; cell: 972-506-205061; e-mail: david.baker@
Web site:
Danny Ayalon, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs
Via Ashley Perry. International Media Advisor +972 (0)50 620 3197
E-mail: ashley.perry@
David Baker, Senior Foreign Press Coordinator, Israeli Prime Minister's Office
Tel: 972-2-677-3649; cell: 972-506-205061; e-mail: david.baker@
Web site:
Ambassador Dore Gold, President of the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs
Contact via Adam Shay, JCPA Project Coordinator
Tel.: 972-2-561-9281; 972-2-563-2947
E-mail: jcpa@netvision.
(Amb. Gold was the 11th Permanent Representative of Israel to the United Nations (1997-1999) and served as foreign policy advisor to Netanyahu.)
Daniel Diker, Director of Institute for Contemporary Affairs at the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs (JCPA); serves as Knesset Affairs correspondent for Israel Broadcasting Authority's English news.
Contact via Adam Shay, JCPA Project Coordinator
Tel.: 972-2-561-9281; 972-2-563-2947
Yehuda Ben-Meir, Institute for National Security Studies, Tel Aviv University; former Member of Knesset
Field: Israeli domestic politics; civil-military relations in Israel; Israeli public opinion; author of "National Security Decision making: The Israeli Case"
Tel.: 972-3-640-0400 ext. 469
Tel.: 972-50-380-8849
E-mail: benmeir@inss.
Reuven Chazan, Associate Professor in Political Science Department of Hebrew University
Field: Comparative politics; political parties and party systems; electoral laws; legislative studies; Israeli politics.
Tel: 972-54-057-0104 (cell)
E-mail: mshazan@mscc.
Avraham Diskin, Associate Professor of Political Science, Hebrew University
Field: Government and politics of Israel; electoral and constitutional reform
Tel.: 972-2-588-3060; 972-2-566-1323; 972-52-362-9990 (cell)
E-mail: mshanna@mscc.
Reuven Erlich, Director, The Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center
Cell: 011-972-50-629-
E-mail:
Shmuel Rosner, Columnist, The Jerusalem Post and Slate (Formerly of Ha'aretz)
Cell: 972-52-801-5220
E-mail: rshmuel@gmail.
Gil Hoffman, Chief Political Correspondent and Analyst, The Jerusalem Post
Cell: 011-972-50-205-
E-mail:
Footnotes:
[1] "Text: Obama's Speech in Cairo," The New York Times, June 4, 2009, http://www.nytimes.
[2] "Israel air raid on Gaza tunnels after mortar fire," AFP, May 6, 2009, http://www.google.
[3] IDF Spokesperson'
[4] "Rocket hits home in Sderot, IAF targets Gaza terrorist sites," Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs, May 19, 2009,
/Rocket_hits_
[5] "Ahmadinejad says Holocaust a `big deception," AFP, June 3, 2009, http://www.google.
[6] "Hamas Charter (1988)," The Jerusalem Fund, accessed May 13, 2009, http://www.thejerus
[7] "The Covenant of the Islamic Resistance Movement – Hamas," MEMRI.org, Special Dispatch - No. 1092, Feb. 14. 2006, http://www.memri.
[8] Jones, Frank, "Obama Wades Deeper Into Mideast Morass," NPR, May 28, 2009, http://www.npr.
[9] Marcus, Itamar and Crook, Barbara, "Mahmoud Abbas: `I do not accept
the Jewish State, call it what you will'," Palestinian Media Watch, April 28, 2009, http://www.pmw.
[10] "Once war-torn Dresden gears up for Obama visit," DPA via Khaleej Times Online, June 3, 2009, http://www.khaleejt
[11] "Merkel to accompany Obama on visit to concentration camp in Germany," DPA via Haaretz, May 31, 2009, http://www.haaretz.
[12] Shear, Michael D., "Obama's Middle East Trip a Balancing Act," The Washington Post, June 2, 2009, http://voices.
[13] "Remarks by Presdient Obama and Prime Minister Netanyahu of Israel," The White House – Office of the Press Secretary, May 18, 2009, http://www.whitehou
[14] "Government meeting about the Prime Minister's statement on the Roadmap," Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs, May 25, 2003, http://www.mfa.
[15] "A Performance-
[16] Keinon, Herb, "FM Lieberman off to Europe," The Jerusalem Post, May 3, 2009, http://www.jpost.
[17] Marcus, Itamar and Crook, Barbara, "Will the US follow its laws and suspend funding to Abbas?," The Jerusalem Post, May 25, 2009, http://www.jpost.
[18] "PM Netanyahu convenes meeting of Ministerial Committee on Improving the Situation of the Palestinian Residents of Judea and Samaria," MFA Newsletter, May 27, 2009
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