Arutz Sheva, 8 June 2005, reports on a new Washington-based study entitled: "Arab Population in the West Bank & Gaza - THE MILLION-AND-A-HALF PERSON GAP "
The report claims in its summary that:
The assumption that Arabs in the West Bank and Gaza pose a demographic threat to Israel has to be radically revised. The 2004 Palestinian-Arab population was closer to 2.4 million than to the 3.8 million reported by Palestinian Authority (PA) officials. These findings should have a significant impact on politicians, policy makers and international aid agencies.....
....The resident population in January 2004 was 2.4 million: 1.35 million in the West Bank and 1.07 million in Gaza ....
.......Since 1967, Jews have maintained their 60% majority in Israel, West Bank and Gaza and since 1990, the Jewish population has grown by 2.5% a year, only a slight fraction below the growth rate in the West Bank.
For the full report including summary pie-charts go to http://www.pademographics.com/
Thursday, June 09, 2005
Wednesday, June 08, 2005
Dershowitz vs Chomsky
Alan Dershowitz.....................Noam Chomsky
Israel defender.......................Israel basher
(Thanks to Ben for pointing out a previous error)
On 10th May we posted an article entitled "The Hazards of Making the case for Israel". The attached photo was erroneosly captioned, confusing Chomsky for Dershowitz. (The caption has now been retrospectively corrected.) For the removal of any doubt we post the above photos (thanks to Google Images)...
Roots of Anti-Semitism in the Arab World
The latest of the Updates from AIJAC (06/05 #02) includes an article called "National Socialism and Anti-Semitism in the Arab World", by Matthias Küntzel. It's a detailed and scholarly study that demonstrates why the anti-Semitism we see today is so reminiscent of the scourge our parents and grandparents faced - not so long ago - and which we face today. We post just a very brief extract ...
Anti-Semitism based on the notion of a Jewish world conspiracy is not rooted in Islamic tradition but, rather, in European ideological models. The decisive transfer of this ideology to the Muslim world took place between 1937 and 1945 under the impact of Nazi propaganda. Important to this process were the Arabic-language service broadcast by the German shortwave transmitter in Zeesen between 1939 and 1945, and the role of Haj Amin el-Husseini, the Mufti of Jerusalem, who was the first to translate European anti-Semitism into an Islamic context. Although Islamism is an independent, anti-Semitic, antimodern mass movement, its main early promoters - the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt and the Mufti and the Qassamites in Palestine - were supported financially and ideologically by agencies of the German National Socialist government.
...(in 2003)... the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung (FES), a think tank with close ties to the German Social Democratic Party (SPD), and the Hizbollah's "research department" organized a joint conference in Beirut titled "The Islamic World and Europe: From Dialogue to Agreement." Just as remarkable as the cooperation between an institution of a German party of government and an Islamist terror organization was the conference agenda, which included an item on "occupation and resistance" but nothing on Al-Manar's anti-Semitic agitation.
.....The Al-Manar satellite channel ....has the greatest reach in the Arab-Islamic world after al-Jazeera. Ten million people a day tune in to the round-the-clock broadcasts from Beirut. Al-Manar ("the Beacon") is the first and to date only satellite channel that, not even pretending to objectivity, sees itself as the global voice of Islamism. Its popularity is due to its countless video clips, which use inspiring graphics and uplifting music to promote suicide bombing. Al-Manar not only pushes for terrorist acts against Israel but inspires, justifies, and acclaims them.
...In Europe this channel, whose costs are covered by, among other things, advertising the German chocolate Milka, the Finnish Smeds cheese, the Austrian Red Bull drink, and the French Gauloises cigarettes, is broadcast by the Eutelsat satellite firm via its Hotbird 4 satellite. The French newspaper Libération estimates that 2.6 million households in France alone can receive the channel, which since 9/11 has also gained growing popularity in Germany's Arab neighborhoods.
....From Zeesen (the WW2 radi station) to Beirut (the Al manar satellite station) : why did the anti-Semitic holy warriors in 2002 decide to approach Germany in particular with their conference proposal? The answer is no secret. Udo Steinbach, head of the Deutsche Orient-Institut in Hamburg, quite openly enthused about the "lingering effects of the sympathy traditionally evinced for Germany in the whole region."
... The ideological basis for this sympathy was decisively strengthened by Radio Zeesen and the Mufti's pro-German orientation. Is German foreign policy today picking up the threads of this "sympathy"? Foreign Office officials evade giving a clear answer to this question. Instead, the virulent pro-Nazi sentiment is purposefully ignored and the continuation of a Nazi-like anti-Semitism has met with inexcusable nonchalance.
The Matthias Küntzel Web site is a treasure trove of material for defenders of truth and justice. We have added it to our permanent links.
Anti-Semitism based on the notion of a Jewish world conspiracy is not rooted in Islamic tradition but, rather, in European ideological models. The decisive transfer of this ideology to the Muslim world took place between 1937 and 1945 under the impact of Nazi propaganda. Important to this process were the Arabic-language service broadcast by the German shortwave transmitter in Zeesen between 1939 and 1945, and the role of Haj Amin el-Husseini, the Mufti of Jerusalem, who was the first to translate European anti-Semitism into an Islamic context. Although Islamism is an independent, anti-Semitic, antimodern mass movement, its main early promoters - the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt and the Mufti and the Qassamites in Palestine - were supported financially and ideologically by agencies of the German National Socialist government.
...(in 2003)... the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung (FES), a think tank with close ties to the German Social Democratic Party (SPD), and the Hizbollah's "research department" organized a joint conference in Beirut titled "The Islamic World and Europe: From Dialogue to Agreement." Just as remarkable as the cooperation between an institution of a German party of government and an Islamist terror organization was the conference agenda, which included an item on "occupation and resistance" but nothing on Al-Manar's anti-Semitic agitation.
.....The Al-Manar satellite channel ....has the greatest reach in the Arab-Islamic world after al-Jazeera. Ten million people a day tune in to the round-the-clock broadcasts from Beirut. Al-Manar ("the Beacon") is the first and to date only satellite channel that, not even pretending to objectivity, sees itself as the global voice of Islamism. Its popularity is due to its countless video clips, which use inspiring graphics and uplifting music to promote suicide bombing. Al-Manar not only pushes for terrorist acts against Israel but inspires, justifies, and acclaims them.
...In Europe this channel, whose costs are covered by, among other things, advertising the German chocolate Milka, the Finnish Smeds cheese, the Austrian Red Bull drink, and the French Gauloises cigarettes, is broadcast by the Eutelsat satellite firm via its Hotbird 4 satellite. The French newspaper Libération estimates that 2.6 million households in France alone can receive the channel, which since 9/11 has also gained growing popularity in Germany's Arab neighborhoods.
....From Zeesen (the WW2 radi station) to Beirut (the Al manar satellite station) : why did the anti-Semitic holy warriors in 2002 decide to approach Germany in particular with their conference proposal? The answer is no secret. Udo Steinbach, head of the Deutsche Orient-Institut in Hamburg, quite openly enthused about the "lingering effects of the sympathy traditionally evinced for Germany in the whole region."
... The ideological basis for this sympathy was decisively strengthened by Radio Zeesen and the Mufti's pro-German orientation. Is German foreign policy today picking up the threads of this "sympathy"? Foreign Office officials evade giving a clear answer to this question. Instead, the virulent pro-Nazi sentiment is purposefully ignored and the continuation of a Nazi-like anti-Semitism has met with inexcusable nonchalance.
The Matthias Küntzel Web site is a treasure trove of material for defenders of truth and justice. We have added it to our permanent links.
Le Monde editor 'defamed Jews'
by Jon Henley in Paris Saturday June 4, 2005
(thanks Paul for alerting us to this one)
A French appeal court has found the editor-in-chief of Le Monde and the authors of an opinion piece in the paper guilty of 'racial defamation' against Israel and the Jewish people.
In a ruling greeted with applause by Jewish groups and some alarm by media lawyers, the court ordered Jean-Marie Colombani and the three writers to pay a symbolic one euro in damages to the France-Israel Association and to Lawyers Without Borders....
Monday, June 06, 2005
Israel pressures PA to stay execution of alleged collaborators
From an article by Yuval Yoaz, Haaretz Correspondent, 06/06/2005 ...
The Israeli government has been exerting strong diplomatic pressure to prevent the Palestinian Authority from executing some 50 Palestinians who were convicted of collaborating with Israel and sentenced by a military court to execution.
....Israel has also clarified to the PA that the continuation of the process of freeing Palestinian prisoners held in Israel is contingent on the decision to refrain from carrying out the executions. Some 400 Palestinian prisoners were released last week only after the PA assured Israel that there was no intention of putting the sentences into effect.
...Israel Justice Minister Tzipi Livni and the prime minister's adviser, Dov Weissglas...said that Israel would not tolerate the executions, whether the people involved had actually collaborated or not.
....The Israeli position was reiterated at a meeting of the joint committee on prisoner affairs that took place on May 8. The PA representatives then informed their Israeli counterparts that Abu Mazen had no intention of carrying out the executions.
The Israeli government has been exerting strong diplomatic pressure to prevent the Palestinian Authority from executing some 50 Palestinians who were convicted of collaborating with Israel and sentenced by a military court to execution.
....Israel has also clarified to the PA that the continuation of the process of freeing Palestinian prisoners held in Israel is contingent on the decision to refrain from carrying out the executions. Some 400 Palestinian prisoners were released last week only after the PA assured Israel that there was no intention of putting the sentences into effect.
...Israel Justice Minister Tzipi Livni and the prime minister's adviser, Dov Weissglas...said that Israel would not tolerate the executions, whether the people involved had actually collaborated or not.
....The Israeli position was reiterated at a meeting of the joint committee on prisoner affairs that took place on May 8. The PA representatives then informed their Israeli counterparts that Abu Mazen had no intention of carrying out the executions.
Tuesday, May 31, 2005
Long wait for restitution for Eastern Europe's Jews
From an article in The Australian by Jay Bushinsky, Jerusalem, May 30, 2005.
THE former "captive nations" of Eastern Europe re-emerged as independent states more than a decade ago, but the Jewish communal property left behind by their citizens who perished in the Nazi Holocaust remains beyond the reach of the victims' authorised representatives to retrieve.
It was confiscated by Hitler's SS immediately after the German Wehrmacht's conquests and was nationalised by the local communists after the Red Army's takeover. Since 1992, when the recovery process began, the former synagogues, hospitals, orphanages, cemeteries and ritual baths have been the subject of snail's pace negotiations and impenetrable bureaucracies.
...the private property left behind in these countries by the Holocaust's 6 million Jewish victims is valued in the billions of dollars.
. . .Poland, which had Eastern Europe's largest Jewish population – more than 3 million – has been responding to the WJRO's entreaties, but the restitution process has been agonisingly slow. At the current rate, it will take at least 60 years for the Jewish communal claims to be processed.
...the response of the 10 other former Soviet satellites also has been bureaucratic and legalistic. In short, they, like Poland, have been "stalling"...
THE former "captive nations" of Eastern Europe re-emerged as independent states more than a decade ago, but the Jewish communal property left behind by their citizens who perished in the Nazi Holocaust remains beyond the reach of the victims' authorised representatives to retrieve.
It was confiscated by Hitler's SS immediately after the German Wehrmacht's conquests and was nationalised by the local communists after the Red Army's takeover. Since 1992, when the recovery process began, the former synagogues, hospitals, orphanages, cemeteries and ritual baths have been the subject of snail's pace negotiations and impenetrable bureaucracies.
...the private property left behind in these countries by the Holocaust's 6 million Jewish victims is valued in the billions of dollars.
. . .Poland, which had Eastern Europe's largest Jewish population – more than 3 million – has been responding to the WJRO's entreaties, but the restitution process has been agonisingly slow. At the current rate, it will take at least 60 years for the Jewish communal claims to be processed.
...the response of the 10 other former Soviet satellites also has been bureaucratic and legalistic. In short, they, like Poland, have been "stalling"...
Abbas: Terrorism may be over --- maybe not
From the Jerusalem Post
May. 30, 2005 1:33 Updated May. 30, 2005 13:11
By TOVAH LAZAROFF
Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas
Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas said in an interview aired on Sunday that the era of suicide bombings may be over.
....But he warned that if progress toward a peace agreement was not achieved in meetings with Sharon next month, "despair and loss of hope will come back and a return to the old ideas" of armed resistance.
...earlier Sunday Prime Minister Ariel Sharon expressed skepticism over Abbas's ability to quell terror even as he bolstered the Palestinian leader by pushing the cabinet to approve the release of 400 Palestinian prisoners.
Sharon defended the need to support Abbas now in spite of warnings by his security experts that he could be doing more to stop terror.
Finance Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, Health Minister Dan Naveh and Agriculture Minister Yisrael Katz voted against the prisoner release.
...Also at the cabinet meeting, Sharon warned his ministers to be cautious when meeting with PA ministers and not to think that it bolsters the cause of peace of to do so.
"Not everyone has to run to catch the coattails of a Palestinian minister," he said. "If you knew what they are saying about you, you would refrain from doing it."
May. 30, 2005 1:33 Updated May. 30, 2005 13:11
By TOVAH LAZAROFF
Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas
Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas said in an interview aired on Sunday that the era of suicide bombings may be over.
....But he warned that if progress toward a peace agreement was not achieved in meetings with Sharon next month, "despair and loss of hope will come back and a return to the old ideas" of armed resistance.
...earlier Sunday Prime Minister Ariel Sharon expressed skepticism over Abbas's ability to quell terror even as he bolstered the Palestinian leader by pushing the cabinet to approve the release of 400 Palestinian prisoners.
Sharon defended the need to support Abbas now in spite of warnings by his security experts that he could be doing more to stop terror.
Finance Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, Health Minister Dan Naveh and Agriculture Minister Yisrael Katz voted against the prisoner release.
...Also at the cabinet meeting, Sharon warned his ministers to be cautious when meeting with PA ministers and not to think that it bolsters the cause of peace of to do so.
"Not everyone has to run to catch the coattails of a Palestinian minister," he said. "If you knew what they are saying about you, you would refrain from doing it."
Dahlan denies that Abbas promised not to execute collaborators
From a Jerusalem Post article By KHALED ABU TOAMEH
May. 30, 2005 23:09 Updated May. 30, 2005 23:36
Palestinian Authority Civil Affairs Minister Muhammad Dahlan on Monday called for firm action against Palestinians suspected of "collaboration" with Israel. He also denied that PA chairman Mahmoud Abbas had promised Israel that he would not authorize the execution of convicted "collaborators."
Last week the government announced – in response to a petition to the High Court by the Israel Law Center, Shurat Hadin – that it had received assurances from the PA that collaborators would not be executed. The petition was filed in the wake of reports that Abbas was about to approve the execution of dozens of Palestinians who were found guilty of assisting Israel in the killing of wanted gunmen.
Dahlan, who served as commander of the PA's Preventive Security Service in the Gaza Strip between 1994 and 2003, was responsible for the arrest of many suspected "collaborators," who were later sentenced to death by PA courts.
. . .PA Foreign Minister Nasser al-Kidwa said on Monday that the withdrawal from the Gaza Strip did not mean that the occupation had ended, noting that Israel would continue to control the water and airspace of the area. "The Gaza Strip is only part of the territories that were occupied in 1967," he said.
May. 30, 2005 23:09 Updated May. 30, 2005 23:36
Palestinian Authority Civil Affairs Minister Muhammad Dahlan on Monday called for firm action against Palestinians suspected of "collaboration" with Israel. He also denied that PA chairman Mahmoud Abbas had promised Israel that he would not authorize the execution of convicted "collaborators."
Last week the government announced – in response to a petition to the High Court by the Israel Law Center, Shurat Hadin – that it had received assurances from the PA that collaborators would not be executed. The petition was filed in the wake of reports that Abbas was about to approve the execution of dozens of Palestinians who were found guilty of assisting Israel in the killing of wanted gunmen.
Dahlan, who served as commander of the PA's Preventive Security Service in the Gaza Strip between 1994 and 2003, was responsible for the arrest of many suspected "collaborators," who were later sentenced to death by PA courts.
. . .PA Foreign Minister Nasser al-Kidwa said on Monday that the withdrawal from the Gaza Strip did not mean that the occupation had ended, noting that Israel would continue to control the water and airspace of the area. "The Gaza Strip is only part of the territories that were occupied in 1967," he said.
IAF foils Jabaliya mortar attack
From a report in Jerusalem Post, by ASSOCIATED PRESS
May. 30, 2005 1:21 Updated May. 30, 2005 9:46
The Israel air force fired missiles at the Jabaliya refugee camp early Monday, where terrorists were preparing a mortar attack, Israeli military officials said, seriously wounding two Palestinians.
...Islamic Jihad issued a statement saying that a few minutes before the Israeli air strike, its cells launched three rockets from northern Gaza at an Israeli village just outside the territory. The Islamic Jihad said its cell was the target of the Israeli attack.
....the military notes that mortar and rocket attacks have been increasing in Gaza in recent days, and Israel charges that the Palestinian Authority is not doing enough to stop the militants.
According to Israeli figures, more than 60 mortars and 10 homemade Kassam rockets have been fired in Gaza in the last two weeks.
A second blast heard later in the Jebaliya camp, where about 100,000 Palestinians live in poverty, turned out to be an accidental explosion of a gas canister.
May. 30, 2005 1:21 Updated May. 30, 2005 9:46
The Israel air force fired missiles at the Jabaliya refugee camp early Monday, where terrorists were preparing a mortar attack, Israeli military officials said, seriously wounding two Palestinians.
...Islamic Jihad issued a statement saying that a few minutes before the Israeli air strike, its cells launched three rockets from northern Gaza at an Israeli village just outside the territory. The Islamic Jihad said its cell was the target of the Israeli attack.
....the military notes that mortar and rocket attacks have been increasing in Gaza in recent days, and Israel charges that the Palestinian Authority is not doing enough to stop the militants.
According to Israeli figures, more than 60 mortars and 10 homemade Kassam rockets have been fired in Gaza in the last two weeks.
A second blast heard later in the Jebaliya camp, where about 100,000 Palestinians live in poverty, turned out to be an accidental explosion of a gas canister.
Telstra could boost imports from Israel
From the Jerusalem Post May. 30, 2005 7:14 by YIGAL GRAYEFF
Australian telecommunications operator Telstra could increase its annual spending on Israeli hi-tech products to $90 million-$100m. a year, Ted Pretty, the group managing director of technology, innovation and products, told The Jerusalem Post on Sunday.
Pretty...has been in Israel since Tuesday as part of an Australian trade delegation...
The companies from which Telstra buys products include billing software provider Amdocs and communications software maker Comverse Technology. In addition to deepening existing relationships, Pretty is also looking to create new ones.
One company that could benefit is Ra'anana-based IXI Mobile...He also praised Check Point Software Technologies Ltd...
In addition to buying products from Israeli companies, Telstra is helping them to sell themselves and to adapt their products to the needs of their clients. Telstra sits on the customer and user group forums of Amdocs, Click Software and others, and Pretty will write a report for Israeli companies suggesting what they should focus on when making their presentations.
Despite being impressed by the technology in Israel, Pretty said Telstra had no plans for major investments in the country. "We are not a direct seed investor. Our core business is running networks and you can get distracted by technical developments," he said.
Australian telecommunications operator Telstra could increase its annual spending on Israeli hi-tech products to $90 million-$100m. a year, Ted Pretty, the group managing director of technology, innovation and products, told The Jerusalem Post on Sunday.
Pretty...has been in Israel since Tuesday as part of an Australian trade delegation...
The companies from which Telstra buys products include billing software provider Amdocs and communications software maker Comverse Technology. In addition to deepening existing relationships, Pretty is also looking to create new ones.
One company that could benefit is Ra'anana-based IXI Mobile...He also praised Check Point Software Technologies Ltd...
In addition to buying products from Israeli companies, Telstra is helping them to sell themselves and to adapt their products to the needs of their clients. Telstra sits on the customer and user group forums of Amdocs, Click Software and others, and Pretty will write a report for Israeli companies suggesting what they should focus on when making their presentations.
Despite being impressed by the technology in Israel, Pretty said Telstra had no plans for major investments in the country. "We are not a direct seed investor. Our core business is running networks and you can get distracted by technical developments," he said.
Monday, May 30, 2005
Relay Race...
(from the Gamla website
Oleg's cartoon, first published in January, doesn't look like such a joke now....
The Hazards of Making "The Case for Israel"
Noam Chomsky - literary "McCarthyist" and Israel basher
Many thanks to several JIW readers who alerted us to this one....
On Gamla (http://gamla.org.il/english/article/2005/may/g5.htm), May 26, 2005, Alan Dershowitz, author of "The Case for Israel," makes a case against Noam Chomsky and co-horts who have engaged in "literary McCarthyism" for decades. The following is extracted from the detailed and well-referenced article.
...A systematic effort to discredit the book, and me, has been undertaken by a well-organized group of Israel bashers led by Noam Chomsky, Norman Finkelstein, and Alexander Cockburn. ...They had a model for their attack going back 20 years.
The mode of attack is consistent. Chomsky selects the target and directs Finkelstein to probe the writings in minute detail and conclude that the writer didn’t actually write the work, that it is plagiarized, that it is a hoax and a fraud. Cockburn publicizes these "findings," and then a cadre of fellow travelers bombard the Internet with so many attacks on the target that these attacks jump to the top of Google....when the pattern is examined ...the entire enterprise becomes clear for what it is: ... a form of literary McCarthyism.
Noam Chomsky('s)...record—includ(es) supporting, praising, and working with neo-Nazi Holocaust deniers...(including) Robert Faurisson, who called the Holocaust a "hoax," denied the existence of Hitler’s gas chambers, claimed that the diary of Anne Frank was a "forgery," and described the Jewish claims for Holocaust reparations as a "fraud."
...Ever since his close association with neo-Nazi Holocaust deniers compromised his credibility on "matters pertaining to Jews," Chomsky has tended to leave it to surrogates to continue his campaign of vilification against the Jewish community.
His primary surrogate is Norman Finkelstein....one of his "very close friends"[....a man who boasts of "publicly honoring" and showing "solidarity with Hezbollah...." Finkelstein has ...asserted that Israel’s human rights record is "interchangeable with Iraq’s" when it was ruled by Saddam Hussein..." He has said that most alleged Holocaust survivors—including Elie Wiesel—have fabricated their past, are "bogus," and that those seeking reparations are "cheats" and "greedy." ...He is a popular speaker among German neo-Nazis...Finkelstein has reportedly praised the Holocaust-denying Irving as "a good historian"[15] and as having "made an indispensable" contribution to our knowledge of World War II."[16] .....His books do not sell in America, but they are best-sellers among the growing number of neo-Nazis in Germany.
The third member of this smear team is Alexander Cockburn...(who) is virulently anti-Israel. In 1984 he was fired from the Village Voice for hiding a $10,000 "grant" he received from an anti-Israel organization.[20] ...Columnist Jon Margolis, after exposing several false charges made by Cockburn, asserted that "Cockburn has been abusing reality for decades" and that "as an accuser, Joe McCarthy was more responsible."[22]
The story of this unholy alliance among Chomsky, Finkelstein, and Cockburn begins nearly 20 years ago with the publication of a book entitled From Time Immemorial, by ...Joan Peters. The book...was largely a demographic study of the population of the area that eventually became Israel. Peters’ conclusion was that the Arab political claim that the Palestinians who left or were expelled from Israel during the war of Independence (1947-1948) had lived in the area from time immemorial was exaggerated.
When Noam Chomsky learned of the Peters book, he became outraged because its thesis undercut his ideological opposition to Israel. ...Chomsky telephoned Finkelstein, then a graduate student already notorious for the virulence of his anti-Zionism, and directed him to expose Peters’ book as "a fraud." ...Finkelstein...responded: "Well, you know, I’m a person of the left, and when you get a call from Professor Chomsky, his wish is your command."[29]
...The third member of this nasty attack team, Alexander Cockburn, made similar claims. Cockburn wrote articles publicizing Finkelstein’s unfair attack against Peters. He characterized her conclusions as "fraudulent," "mad,"[33] and immoral.
The Chomsky-Finkelstein-Cockburn mode of ad hominem attack proved particularly successful against Peters because the words "hoax," "fraud," "fake," and "plagiarism" are so dramatic and unforgettable....
To date, Finkelstein has targeted at least the following writers who support Israel and seek justice for Holocaust survivors: Elie Wiesel, Stuart Eizenstat, Martin Gilbert, Daniel Goldhagen, Burt Neuborne, Yehuda Bauer, Gerald Feldman, Richard Overy, Abba Eban – calling these distinguished Jews "hucksters," "hoaxters," "thieves," "extortionists," and worse. The pattern of attack is always similar.
Thus, it was only natural that the anti-Israel triumvirate would target me in a similar manner after the publication of "The Case for Israel". ..(they) employed exactly the same words they had employed so successfully against Peters (and others) ...The only new element in this tired tactic is the creative use of the Internet.
The members of the McCarthyite triumvirate are invited to campuses far more frequently than centrist, moderate pro-Israel speakers. There is something very wrong with this picture, but now that the pattern of literary McCarthyism has been exposed, perhaps the picture will change.
For the full article, with references. . . link to the Gamla site
Saturday, May 28, 2005
Mideast fantasies
Extracts from Jerusalem Post
May. 23, 2005 20:14 Updated May. 23, 2005 20:37
By BARRY RUBIN
The Middle East poses the biggest threat to world peace and stability. One element that makes matters worse is the inability of so many politicians, diplomats, academics and journalists to understand the region...
Ideology
....In my view, the Middle East today is simply repeating patterns seen elsewhere in the world. For centuries, Europe was beset by wars in which one ideology or leader thought it possible to gain power over the whole continent. For hundreds of years there were bloody ethnic and religious conflicts. Pragmatism was rejected, superstition overwhelmed science, and so on. Better types of thinking won out only after the high costs of reactionary notions were proven time after time. The same was true with the historical experience regarding the impossibility that the total victory of any state, ideology or ethnic group would lead to peace.
Propoganda as Truth
A second element here is a tendency to acceptance of regional ideology as truth...that if an Arab dictatorship, terrorist group, extremist movement or ideologically committed Arab intellectuals say something, it is either the truth or reflects their real beliefs. And if public opinion polls in the Arab world or Iran show the effects of decades of propaganda, this, too, reflects the masses' real sentiments.
Wishful Thinking
Finally, the culture-denying mind-set includes a strong streak of utopian and wishful thinking.
...people want peace or democracy, or prosperity or international fraternity ...The desirable is not necessarily possible. Underestimating difficulties is a way of ensuring failure. What is needed instead is the most objective analysis ...Goals or preferences ....should not be allowed to make us misread reality. What is especially dangerous here is that once people get starry-eyed .... evidence to the contrary is rejected.
The unsurprising outcome of these three fundamental mistakes can go beyond appeasement of the villain to reversing the roles of hero and villain entirely.
For example:
May. 23, 2005 20:14 Updated May. 23, 2005 20:37
By BARRY RUBIN
The Middle East poses the biggest threat to world peace and stability. One element that makes matters worse is the inability of so many politicians, diplomats, academics and journalists to understand the region...
Ideology
....In my view, the Middle East today is simply repeating patterns seen elsewhere in the world. For centuries, Europe was beset by wars in which one ideology or leader thought it possible to gain power over the whole continent. For hundreds of years there were bloody ethnic and religious conflicts. Pragmatism was rejected, superstition overwhelmed science, and so on. Better types of thinking won out only after the high costs of reactionary notions were proven time after time. The same was true with the historical experience regarding the impossibility that the total victory of any state, ideology or ethnic group would lead to peace.
Propoganda as Truth
A second element here is a tendency to acceptance of regional ideology as truth...that if an Arab dictatorship, terrorist group, extremist movement or ideologically committed Arab intellectuals say something, it is either the truth or reflects their real beliefs. And if public opinion polls in the Arab world or Iran show the effects of decades of propaganda, this, too, reflects the masses' real sentiments.
Wishful Thinking
Finally, the culture-denying mind-set includes a strong streak of utopian and wishful thinking.
...people want peace or democracy, or prosperity or international fraternity ...The desirable is not necessarily possible. Underestimating difficulties is a way of ensuring failure. What is needed instead is the most objective analysis ...Goals or preferences ....should not be allowed to make us misread reality. What is especially dangerous here is that once people get starry-eyed .... evidence to the contrary is rejected.
The unsurprising outcome of these three fundamental mistakes can go beyond appeasement of the villain to reversing the roles of hero and villain entirely.
For example:
- believing the Palestinian movement is moderate, pragmatic and ready to make peace....ignoring the movement's daily rhetoric, failure to keep commitments and continued incitement...
- considering Iran to be a responsible regime...Despite its overall record and consistent breaking of commitments on nuclear matters...
- thinking that radical Islamist movements do not really mean what they say about revolutionizing their own societies and destroying the West, and proposing they be given rewards to induce moderation....
- assuming that ideological dictatorships, those who benefit from serving them, and those shaped by decades of their propaganda speak freely and honestly...
These are the real difficulties .... Unless they are confronted and addressed, the common pattern of recent years, in which misunderstandings produce disasters and crises, will continue.
The writer is editor of the journals Middle East Review of International Affairs (MERIA) and Turkish Studies
Friday, May 27, 2005
Wanted and Imprisoned Terrorists to Run in PA Elections
Extracted from Arutz Sheva - Israel National News
17:14 May 26, '05 / 17 Iyar 5765
Several alarming candidates, including Marwan Barghouti and a terror chief known as 'Hitler,' have announced their candidacy for the upcoming PA elections.
Many terrorists currently serving time in Israeli prisons will be permitted by the Palestinian Authority to run in its upcoming parliamentary elections...(including)...convicted Fatah terrorist Marwan Barghouti...(and) wanted Al-Aqsa Brigade chief Jamal Abu Roub, who goes by the nickname "Hitler". Roub said, "I got this name because of my personality. I am a guy that has a strong personality and uses violence, if needed, to respond."
The London-based Al Quds al-Arabi newspaper reports that Abu Mazen has persuaded the Hamas terror group to agree to a postponement of the PA elections, originally scheduled for mid-July. Hamas had previously demanded that the elections be held on time. However, Hamas spokesman Mohammed Ghazal said the terror group has been promised that an amendment to the electoral system will be made that would favor the election of its members.
17:14 May 26, '05 / 17 Iyar 5765
Several alarming candidates, including Marwan Barghouti and a terror chief known as 'Hitler,' have announced their candidacy for the upcoming PA elections.
Many terrorists currently serving time in Israeli prisons will be permitted by the Palestinian Authority to run in its upcoming parliamentary elections...(including)...convicted Fatah terrorist Marwan Barghouti...(and) wanted Al-Aqsa Brigade chief Jamal Abu Roub, who goes by the nickname "Hitler". Roub said, "I got this name because of my personality. I am a guy that has a strong personality and uses violence, if needed, to respond."
The London-based Al Quds al-Arabi newspaper reports that Abu Mazen has persuaded the Hamas terror group to agree to a postponement of the PA elections, originally scheduled for mid-July. Hamas had previously demanded that the elections be held on time. However, Hamas spokesman Mohammed Ghazal said the terror group has been promised that an amendment to the electoral system will be made that would favor the election of its members.
Jewish leaders back Sharon
Extract from Ynetnews ...
Prime minister addresses 1,200 Jewish group leaders in New York; says a million Jews must be brought to Israel in next 15 years; earlier, Sharon's speech disrupted by anti-disengagement protesters.
By Yitzhak Benhorin and Efrat Weiss
Prime Minister Ariel Sharon delivered a speech before about 1,200 American Jewish leaders in New York's Baruch College, receiving a strong show of support over the upcoming pullout plan.
Those in attendance included major donors and Reform, Conservative, and Orthodox leaders, who praised Sharon and stressed their support for his policies.
The six speakers who addressed the audience before the prime minister were senior Jewish education figures, who said the American Jewish community stands united behind the Israeli government.
In his speech, Sharon addressed the disengagement plan, spoke of the danger of assimilation, and stressed the need to bring another million Jews to Israel in the next 15 years. The future of the Jewish people also depends on Israel’s character as a Jewish, democratic state, the prime minister said, and added this was the spirit behind the disengagement plan.
The upcoming Gaza Strip and northern West Bank pullout would boost Israel’s security and serve as an opportunity to initiate talks with the Palestinians, he said. The withdrawal would also serve to ensure a Jewish majority in Israel and allow Israelis to keep important Jews sites forever, he said.
Prime Minister Ariel Sharon was met Sunday evening with curses from anti-disengagement protesters, many of them of Lubavitch Hasidim, while speaking to New York Jewish leaders in Baruch College. ...part of the audience stood up, cursed the prime minister and chanted anti-disengagement slogans.
Rabbi Shalom Dov Wolpe, a member of Land of Israel Forum maintaining contact with Chabad Hasidim in New York, told Ynet, “Every Jew can help in the struggle against the uprooting and expulsion plan.”
Prime minister addresses 1,200 Jewish group leaders in New York; says a million Jews must be brought to Israel in next 15 years; earlier, Sharon's speech disrupted by anti-disengagement protesters.
By Yitzhak Benhorin and Efrat Weiss
Prime Minister Ariel Sharon delivered a speech before about 1,200 American Jewish leaders in New York's Baruch College, receiving a strong show of support over the upcoming pullout plan.
Those in attendance included major donors and Reform, Conservative, and Orthodox leaders, who praised Sharon and stressed their support for his policies.
The six speakers who addressed the audience before the prime minister were senior Jewish education figures, who said the American Jewish community stands united behind the Israeli government.
In his speech, Sharon addressed the disengagement plan, spoke of the danger of assimilation, and stressed the need to bring another million Jews to Israel in the next 15 years. The future of the Jewish people also depends on Israel’s character as a Jewish, democratic state, the prime minister said, and added this was the spirit behind the disengagement plan.
The upcoming Gaza Strip and northern West Bank pullout would boost Israel’s security and serve as an opportunity to initiate talks with the Palestinians, he said. The withdrawal would also serve to ensure a Jewish majority in Israel and allow Israelis to keep important Jews sites forever, he said.
Prime Minister Ariel Sharon was met Sunday evening with curses from anti-disengagement protesters, many of them of Lubavitch Hasidim, while speaking to New York Jewish leaders in Baruch College. ...part of the audience stood up, cursed the prime minister and chanted anti-disengagement slogans.
Rabbi Shalom Dov Wolpe, a member of Land of Israel Forum maintaining contact with Chabad Hasidim in New York, told Ynet, “Every Jew can help in the struggle against the uprooting and expulsion plan.”
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)