Since When Does Being Made a Fool of Constitute Rape?/other news
(Please remember that if you click on an individual article's link and get my personal AOL email page, to click on the main link for that website or else copy and paste it, in order to read entire article and see videos, and remember, it is the rich oil cartels that control the world, NOT the Zionists. If a specific article stands out for you, I ENCOURAGE you to copy and paste it in its entirety and send it to the groups. Permission is granted to fwd and share any posts that I send. MBS)
(Sorry, no table of contents but these 2 sites have the same kind of articles, that I send; US News, International News, Israel News. MBS)
http://grendelreport. posterous.com/
http://tundratabloid.blogspot.com/
sheikyermami.com
NEWSREALBLOG.COM
http://atlasshrugs2000.typepad.com/atlas_shrugs/
http://www.israeltoday.co.il/
| Israeli FM: Don't let Obama impose 'peace'  Lieberman says Obama planning to force deal on Israel, request for building freeze extension is a decoy that Netanyahu must reject
Read More >> |
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| Jerusalem Arabs don't want to live in 'Palestine' (The headline says it all. MBS)
 The world is again eyeing the division of Jerusalem, but one Arab journalist says no one is asking Jerusalem's Arabs about it
Read More >> |
Gay Palestinian seeks residency in Israel on humanitarian grounds
(I have been talking about the relative freedom that gays have in Israel, yet that doesn't stop many gays from demonizing Israel, nonetheless. MBS)
Majed Koka has lived with his Israeli partner for last eight years and filed for residency in 2009, but is still waiting for the Interior Ministry's answer.
http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/news/gay-palestinian-seeks-residency-in-israel-on-humanitarian-grounds-1.316274
http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=210101
DAY OF INFAMY 2001
Religious leaders line up behind Ground Zero mosque
'We have the right to the free exercise of our faith
By Michael Carl © 2010 WorldNetDaily
The Anti-Defamation League,
responding to the public rejection of the idea of an
Islamic mosque near Ground Zero in New York, has assembled an
"Interfaith Coalition on Mosques" to offer support for the right to build religious
facilities.
Land said the purpose for the coalition is clear.
"To help support the First Amendment for all Americans â€" we have the right to the free exercise of our faith without the interference of the government. For over a hundred years, the Supreme Court has ruled that's not just the federal government, it's all government," Land stated.
"We agree with that as Baptists. We believe that people have the freedom to worship and to express their faith and to have houses of worship in the places where they live," Land added.
ow)
"This is the latest liberal outrage of the month. The ADL's mission, what it raises money for, is the protection of the Jewish people from Jew hatred and there's been an enormous rise in anti-Semitism around the globe, even in America," Jacobs explained.
"One has to conclude that the ADL is disconnected from the Jewish people," Jacobs said.
He said if the actual numbers of attacks against either Muslims or Jews are considered, Jews are still the most frequent target.
"There are ten times more attacks on Jews in America than there are against Muslims. Even with that figure, Jews don't go around claiming there's a great 'Jew-o-phobia in America," Jacobs added.
Jacobs use of the phrase, "Jew-o-phobia" is a word play on the term Islamophobia, a word that appears at the top of the website for the Council on American and Islamic Relations. The site features a video on Islamophobia produced by CAIR and the national and Washington units of the ACLU.
Listen to an interview with Jacobs:
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According to ADL, other members of the coalition are Saud Anwar of the American Muslim Peace Initiative, Elliott Cosgrove of Park Avenue Synagogue, C. Welton Gaddy of the Interfaith Alliance, Katharine Henderson of Auburn Theological Seminary, Paul Peter Jesup of the Ukrainian Orthodox Autocephalus Church, Guy Massie of the Diocese of Brooklyn and others.
An Islamic monitoring group, Islam Watch, pointed out that CAIR and other Muslim groups successfully have portrayed themselves as victims. Islam Watch writer Amil Imani says most Muslims are paranoid.
"As a group, Muslims are paranoid and suffer chronically from the disease of victimization. That is, they either victimize the helpless whenever and wherever they can, or scream murder against the strong. This mentality is one of the many bequests that Muhammad left for his Ummah," Imani said.
Land said he joined the coalition because he believes the religious liberty of Muslims is under attack.
"At this present moment, it's Muslims who are victims. We have a case right here in Murfreesboro, Tenn., for instance, where there's been vandalism and arson in an attempt to stop a mosque from being built," Land continued.
Land continued by speaking in favor of the Muslim group trying to build the mosque.
"They've crossed all the 'T's' and dotted all the 'I's'. They've gotten through all of the zoning requests and people have resorted to violence to keep them from having a place of worship where they live. And we believe that's un-American," Land argued.
However, Jacobs says that the Murfreesboro mosque is not simply an innocent object of anti-Muslim prejudice.
"The ADL just filed a brief in support of the Islamic Center in Murfreesboro, Tenn., and they have a board member named Mosad Rawash, who is a supporter of Hamas," Jacobs explained.
"He's asked the mosque members to sign a pledge supporting violent jihad and martyrdom of Palestinian fighters against the Israelis. It is beyond bizarre how the ADL could support such mosque leadership," Jacobs added.
"Americans are amazingly tolerant and the claim that Muslims are victims of Islamophobia is just bogus," Jacobs observed.
Land's support of the Murfreesboro mosque in light of its connection to Hamas is a major reason Crosstalk show host and religious liberty analyst Ingrid Schlueter expressed concern over Land's position.
"If Richard Land showed one tenth as much zeal in defending sound biblical doctrine as he has in promoting the expansion of Islam through mosques, we might have a Reformation in the Southern Baptist Convention," Schlueter remarked.
"As it stands, Land is aiding and abetting the relentless march of Islam in the West. Ironically, he does it in Jesus name," Schlueter said.
Jacobs says the "relentless march of Islam in the West" is largely the product of the media and complicit liberal intellectuals.
"What is this all about? It's an attempt to force the liberal vision on the rest of the (Jewish) community. They're going to be dividing the Jewish community over this and they're playing right into the hands of the enemies of the Jewish community," Jacobs observed.
"So what the liberal Jews have done is turned Jewish teaching around. It looks like the ADL's mission is no longer the defense of the Jewish people in these dangerous times, it's the defense of the liberal dream," Jacobs added.
The ADL Coalition website says, "Working under the sponsorship of the Anti-Defamation League, which initiated the concept, ICOM will carefully monitor incidents of mosque discrimination around the country, gather facts and analyze the information, and speak out when appropriate to help Muslim communities who are encountering prejudice."
The open-ended statement of support is an issue for those concerned about the expansion of Islam in the United States.
A conservative rabbi who spoke on condition of anonymity said the issue isn't interfaith relations.
"Interfaith dialogue is not the issue. The issue is who's funding the mosques, who's supporting the mosques and who's paying for the educational materials in the mosques."
Land says that he's not sure of that percentage, and equated Saudi mosque funding to Christian missions.
"There are lots of Christian churches in other countries where more than 80 percent of them are funded by American Christian missionary money. And we would say that founding those mosques, or giving money to start those mosques â€" you're free to do that.
"We're not going to say you can't do that because it's a particular form of faith," Land stated.
Land says that Saudi money for mosques should be allowed even though the Saudis also pay for jihad-promoting religious materials for those mosques.
"We have to deal with how each mosque and how each imam interprets jihad. We know that there are many different interpretations of jihad just as there are different interpretations of 'crusade.'" Land emphasized.
Regardless of the difference of American opinion on the meaning of jihad, Islamic law is clear.
In his exposition of Islamic Law, Reliance of the Traveller, Ahmad Ibn Naqib al Misri, translated by Nuh Ha Mim Keller, writes in Section 09.0 that "Jihad means war against non-Muslims."
Land is firm in his support for the ADL's coalition mission even though it requires him to stand up for the rights of Muslims.
"The one thing we should never do is to allow any government ... to decide which religions are kosher and which ones are not," Land stated. "Whenever we allow other's religious freedom to be diminished, we set the stage for our religious freedoms to be diminished as well."
Jacobs reflects on the whole issue and concludes that at its heart, the issue isn't religious freedom. It's the ADL and misplaced priorities.
"The biggest threat to Jewish life is Islamic anti-Semitism. Number two: They've run away from that path because it's not politically correct or because they're afraid. And number three, they're being played like a violin by this whole political strategy of saying there's a wave of Islamophobia," Jacobs stated.
The Anti-Defamation League did not respond to multiple requests for comment.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3962484,00.html
Mofaz: Army crushed suicide terrorism in 2nd intifada
In special Ynet interview marking decade since outbreak of al-Aqsa Intifada, then-IDF chief says targeted killings aimed at quelling suicide terror were morally justified. 'We targeted ticking bombs,' he says; admits 'serious mistakes' were made during incident in which soldier bled to death in battle at Joseph's Tomb Attila Somfalvi
| Knesset Member Shaul Mofaz (Kadima), who served as the Israel Defense Forces chief of staff during the outbreak of the second intifada a decade ago, said the army was aware at the time it was facing a "new pattern of terror." "Thousands of terrorists were arrested, but even if you got your hands on 90% of them, the remaining 10% managed to explode on buses," he tells Ynet in a special interview, published Friday.
"We won in the end. Terror still exists at varying levels, but it is related to the diplomatic negotiations," says Mofaz, who is also a former defense minister.
"I am proud of that era, although it was difficult. I took part in five wars, but (the second intifada) was the most difficult time I had ever experienced. If there is one thing I regret, it's that we were not able to save more lives. More than 1,000 people were killed, and I regret not having ended (the uprising) sooner," he says.
Mofaz says that according to information obtained by the IDF, in February 2001 then-Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat asked the heads of the Palestinian security apparatuses why there were many more Palestinian versus Jewish fatalities. "Arafat told them, 'You know what to do,' and that is when the whole suicide bombers issue began. Not that there weren't suicide bombers before, but during this period there were two a day, four a week," the Kadima MK recalls.
Mofaz claims that a year before the second intifada erupted, IDF intelligence said it expects an outbreak of Palestinian riots that will include live fire, terror and bombs. "No one had spoken of suicide bombings yet," he says.
According to the former chief of staff, Ehud Barak, who served then as defense minister, denied his request for a NIS 600 million ($165 million) budget increase to prepare the army. "They told me, 'We are going to Camp David, to an agreement; what outbreaks are you talking about?' We managed to garner the money from the IDF's budget; we trained the soldiers and drafted operational plans," says Mofaz.
Palestinians at Joseph's Tomb following the battle (archive photo: AP) More than a year after Arafat convened his security chiefs, a suicide bomber detonated himself on Passover Eve in Netanya's Park Hotel, killing 29 people and injuring some 140 more. Mofaz recalls a conversation with then-Prime Minister Ariel Sharon after the attack. "He told me, 'It's a difficult day,' and I replied, 'It can't go on like this.' He asked me what I meant, and I said we must do something different, on a different scale to stop the suicide terrorism. We must enter all the Palestinian cities and refugee camps and crush the terror infrastructures, create a new reality.
"I told (Sharon) that we must call up the reserves because the regular forces don’t know how to do it. We had to operate in residential and rural areas while continuing to protect our borders. We called up some 40,000 reserve soldiers," says Mofaz.
According to Mofaz, Operation Defensive Shield, launched by the IDF in 2002, "broke suicide terrorism. It made them stop wanting to send out suicide bombers."
The effort to quash suicide terrorism led to targeted killings. "During the operation we reached the conclusion that in addition to arresting and killing terrorists, we needed to reach the terror leaders. All of them. We did our best to minimize civilian casualties," he says.
Asked about the moral aspect of the targeted killings, Mofaz says, "Do we have the legitimacy to harm murderers, people who we know are going to send terrorists or blow themselves up in an hour and leave dozens of casualties? The question is whether or not you stop a ticking bomb.
'Most difficult time.' Mofaz during second intifada (archive photo: IDF Spokesperson's Unit) "Eventually we found the targeted killing to be legitimate. On numerous occasions we called off operations because the chances of civilian casualties were high. The terrorists chose to use civilians as a shield. We had no choice," he adds.
Mofaz says the decision to kill Hamas spiritual leader Sheikh Ahmed Yassin was also justified. "We decided to take him out because he decided to use all the means at his disposal to kill Israelis. In the West Bank, the targeted killings were successful, and by the end of 2002 the suicide attacks were reduced to a minimum. Then the attacks from Gaza began. At some point, Yassin allowed women to go on suicide bombing missions as well.
"There was a debate surrounding the decision to kill him. He was a symbol, and we wondered whether killing him would escalate or subdue the confrontation. Eventually, it helped diminish the violence," according to the MK.
A decade later, Mofaz does not detect a desire for violent struggle among the current Palestinian leadership, but does not rule out the possibility of "deterioration." "I don’t think (any confrontation) will be similar to the suicide bombings (of the second intifada), because Palestinian society, as well as its leadership, understands that the path of violence and terror won't work. Israeli society and its army are strong. They don’t have a chance. I think Hamas and Islamic Jihad realize this as well," he says.
There have been changes in Israeli society as well. People want peace and quiet. Perhaps we've grown weary?
"Society understands the price of war and confrontation, and realizes that the time has come for negotiations. Most Palestinians do not want a confrontation. They understand that an agreement would benefit them just as much. They can get a Palestinian state. On the Israeli side, beside the desire for peace, we do not want to be occupiers."
Addressing the October 1, 2000 death of Druze soldier Madhat Yousef, who was shot by a Palestinian sniper during a battle at Joseph's Tomb in Nablus and was not evacuated for hours until he died of his wounds, Mofaz says, "Some serious mistakes were made during this incident. The army was prepared to launch a rescue mission; soldiers were positioned only a few kilometers away. The political echelon asked the army to wait because the Palestinians said they would evacuate him from the site. By the time I arrived at the scene, it was already too late." |
World's Top Arab Scientist Believes in Ghouls, Genies...
Says his faith in the Quran cements his belief
| |
Dr Farouq al-Baz has worked for NASA for the past 43 years (File) |
PARIS (Kamal Qubeissi)
Arab world’s most prominent space scientist working in NASA believes in supernatural creatures, but admits he has no evidence to prove otherwise except for his faith in the Quran.
Dr Farouq al-Baz, who worked 43 years in NASA, told
Alarabiya.net that he was sure that the ghouls, Jinns and demons live among us and said that he came to the conclusion through his scientific predisposition meshed with his complete believe in Quran verses signifying their existence.
Quran denotes to Jinn as creatures created from fire, while humans are created from mud.
Dr al-Baz said that Quran is his best inspiration, adding that the Quran compels Muslims to think beyond and contemplate.
 |
| When asked about the new planet, Gliese 581G, as it is a potentially an Earth-like planet; Dr al-Baz said that the discovery of any substance of life on that planet will keep the door wide-open for extensive and unprecedented philosophical, scientific and religious debates, and will help to end the perplexity that plagued humanity for million years accentuated with the perennial question whether if “we live by ourselves in this vast universe or are there other creatures that share out existence.â€
Gliese 581G generated great interest in the scientific circles as it has temperature right for liquid water on its surface, and potentially capable of supporting extremophile or microbes forms of Earth-like life.
Dr al-Baz also compared his belief in the Jinn, whom he never saw, with space scientist believing in lives existing in other planets outside our solar system, whom they never saw or met either.
“Whatever eluded those (space scientists) to the other planet is only computer calculations for the revolving star around 581G.â€
“Who knows maybe the “Gliesians†also are curiously trying to find lives on other planets as we are,†he added.
In astronomical terms, the Gliese 581G system is relatively close to Earth, at a distance of 20.3 light years (192 trillion km or 119 trillion miles) in the direction of the constellation of Libra.
(Translated from Arabic by Dina al-Sh ibeeb) |
A former terrorist speaks out
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O2wvqDfitLY
The latest weapon employed by Israel bashers is the boycott. It is a device being considered by a host of groups and organizations to selectively end all investmentsin companies doing business with Israel and to boycott stores and retail outlets selling Israeli products. It is known as the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions campaign (BDS). Their inspiration comes from the decade’s old failed boycott of Israel by the Arab League.
Within the last week, I was asked to prepare a one page flyer to be used in Port Townsend, Washington State, to combat an anti-Israel boycott resolution initiated by two leftist and radical members of a Food Co-Operative. The flyer was derived from an earlier article I had published defending Israel against the usual false charges and libels heaped upon the embattled Jewish state.
Several hundred copies of the flyer were distributed among the four hundred or so members who attended the board meeting. Fortunately the message in the flyer succeeded in beating back the anti-Israel resolution: A small victory in an ongoing war, yet the same miscreants who proposed the boycott in Port Townsend threaten to attempt the same boycott in the Spokane, Washington, Co-Op.
Several years earlier, a resolution to divest investments in Israeli companies was submitted by the leadership of the Presbyterian Church at its 216th General Assembly. Among the reasons the Presbyterian leadership gave for boycotting the Jewish State at that time was Israel’s security fence, which it compared to the Berlin Wall.
Of course, the Communist regime in East Germany erected their wall to trap its citizens and suppress their freedom of movement. Sadly what those who formed a relatively small but influential committee within the Church omitted to explain to the general membership was that the purpose of Israel’s security fence was, and is, to protect its citizens from attacks by Palestinian Muslim terrorists. Nor did they choose to echo Israel’s stated aim, which is that the security fence would go once Palestinian terror permanently ended. Sadly, a vain hope.
The Church’s divestment campaign, aimed solely against Israel (not against states that routinely persecute Christians and disseminate crude anti-Jewish propaganda, such as Sudan, Saudi Arabia, Iran, or the Palestinian Authority itself) had consequences damaging to Jewish-Christian relations, to the integrity of the Presbyterian Church, and upon the influence it had. It emboldened the Episcopal Church and the World Council of Churches to also plan divestment from Israel. Fortunately wiser heads prevailed and the clique within the Presbyterian Church was eventually voted down. Yet the danger still remains.
If members of the liberal churches decide to fall in line with the boycott against Israel - joining the leftist constellation of so-called “peace†and “justice†groups that proliferate among the universities and colleges - they should at least have the courage of their convictions and begin by throwing away their computers. Why?
Well most of Window’s operating systems were developed by Microsoft-Israel. The Pentium NMX Chip technology was designed at Intel in Israel. The Pentium 4 microprocessor, the Centrium, and Core processors were entirely or in part designed and developed in Israel.
Those boycotting Israeli products had better take note that Microsoft and Cisco built their only R & D facilities outside of the U.S. in Israel. Voice mail technology was developed in Israel; so was the technology for the AOL Instant Messenger (ICQ). And horror upon horror, the cell phone was an Israeli invention.
But these are only technologies. Perhaps divestment and boycott supporters should check their personal medications. They should refuse any products made by Teva or Abic. They will have to suffer from colds and flu this coming winter and purchase more expensive cholesterol lowering drugs; but that’s a small price to pay for their campaign against Israel.
Trouble is, those wretched Israelis have also developed a simple blood test that distinguishes between mild and more severe cases of Multiple Sclerosis and Parkinson’s disease.
So if all who embrace divestment from Israel and boycott Israeli products in the stores know of any family or friends suffering from MS or Parkinson’s, tell them to ignore the Israeli patents that may more accurately diagnose their symptoms and bring relief.
If they have, or know of, young children with breathing problems, tell them that the anti-Israel boycott will not allow them to accept another medical breakthrough - the Child Hood. Although it replaces the inhalation mask with an improved drug delivery system that provides relief for child and parent, it must remain unacceptable because the Israelis invented it.
If a boycotter has a family member who is a stroke victim and who is severely disabled and unable to move their bodies or communicate, do not tell the patient that an Israeli device provides the ability to write an e-mail, to communicate and steer a wheelchair by sniffing.
The revolutionary device identifies changes in air pressure inside the nostrils and translates these into electrical signals, which can then be used either to write messages or to move a wheelchair. But dear boycotter, please don’t tell a soul, especially a suffering soul.
Oh, and if the divestment freak knows someone who has paralyzed hands, he or she better not mention yet another Israeli made device, which electronically stimulates hand muscles and provides hope to millions of stroke sufferers and victims of spinal injuries.
Those wicked Israelis have also tried to help women who undergo hysterectomies each year for the treatment of uterine fibroids. Israel’s ExAblate 2000 System is a welcome breakthrough, but keep it quite â€" better to divest and boycott, isn’t it?
In fact, Parkinson’s disease patients can also benefit from deep brain stimulationtechniques, developed through the Movement Disorder Surgery program at Israel’s Hadassah Medical Center, which eliminates the physical manifestations of the disease.
But, again, keep that quite too as it would be hypocritical for liberal church members and loony leftists to benefit at the same time they are divesting from Israel or boycotting its products.
So due to their divestment campaign and boycotts, they will have poor health, no computers or cell phones. After all, those technologies were developed in Israel of all places.
Of course, the boycotters could suggest to retailers, hospitals, and pharmacies that they replace on their shelves the nasty Israeli products with those manufactured in Gaza and the Palestinian Authority. A few such Arab products come to mind: Qassam missiles, exploding suicide belts, and racist, anti-Semitic ‘literature’ that will bring joy to the hearts and minds of every neo-Nazi.
Now reflect on the massive contribution Israel is making to all the peoples of the world â€" including the Palestinian Arabs â€" in medicine, science, agriculture, security and communications.
Not bad for an embattled people living in a tiny country no larger than Wales or New Jersey.
FamilySecurityMatters.org Contributing Editor Victor Sharpe is a freelance writer, contributing editor, and author of Volumes One and Two of “Politicide: The attempted murder of the Jewish state.â€
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In-Depth Issues: The Latest Al-Qaeda Alarms - Bruce Riedel (Daily Beast)
Al-Qaeda planned a Mumbai-style, mass-casualty suicide attack in Denmark last year, the brainchild of Muhammad Ilyas Kashmiri, one of al-Qaeda's most dangerous operators.
His accomplice in the Copenhagen plot was an American of Pakistani descent, David Headley, who did the reconnaissance for the Mumbai attack.
He had done the same in Denmark in 2009, visiting the target - the office of the newspaper that published the famous cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad - and photographed it and its surroundings, then delivering the videos to Kashmiri in Pakistan, who told Headley "the elders of al-Qaeda" were overseeing his mission.
Kashmiri also said al-Qaeda already had its hit team in Europe, and Headley met with them. They planned to storm the offices, execute all the Danes inside, and then fight to the death with the police.
We can derive from the Danish plot that al-Qaeda is indeed determined to replicate the Mumbai horror somewhere in Europe.
The writer, a former CIA officer, is a senior fellow in the Saban Center at the Brookings Institution.
Iran, Egypt to Resume Direct Flights after 30-Year Break - Borzou Daragahi and Amro Hassan (Los Angeles Times)
Iran and Egypt made a surprise agreement Sunday to resume direct flights for the first time since 1979.
The pronouncement baffled observers. The two countries back opposing political camps in Iraq, Lebanon and the Palestinian territories, lack full diplomatic ties, and continually snipe at each other.
Iran's pro-government Fars news agency described the deal and a visit by an Iranian trade delegation to Cairo as "a prelude to the resumption of ties between the two countries."
Persian "Blogfather" Sentenced to 19 Years - Meris Lutz (Los Angeles Times)
Hossein Derakhshan, who started one of the first Persian-language blogs, has been sentenced to 19 1/2 years in prison on charges related to his writing and his visit to Israel, according to the Iranian website Mashreq News.
Derakhshan was arrested two years ago when he returned to Iran after receiving assurances from the High Council of Iranian Affairs Abroad that he would not face any penalties apart from questioning.
In 2006, Derakhshan blogged about traveling to Israel using his Canadian passport.
Israeli "Aid Ship" Sends Zoo Animals to Turkey - Melanie Lidman (Jerusalem Post)
Israel is sending a ship to Turkey on Monday with three elephants, zebras, a hippo and a handful of lemurs, courtesy of the Biblical Zoo in Jerusalem and the Ramat Gan Safari.
The destination: the Gaziantep Zoo in southeastern Anatolia, Turkey's largest zoo, which has no elephants.
Two IDF Soldiers Convicted of Overstepping Authority (Jerusalem Post)
Two IDF sergeants on Sunday were convicted of overstepping authority and inappropriate behavior during the Gaza operation in 2009 when they ordered a Palestinian boy to open bags suspected of being booby-trapped.
|
| News Resources - North America, Europe, and Asia: U.S. Issues Travel Alert for Americans in Europe as Al-Qaeda Terrorism Threat Grows - Glenn Kessler and Edward Cody
The State Department issued a "travel alert" Sunday, cautioning American travelers of potential dangers in Europe after what U.S. officials said was an assessment of information that al-Qaeda appeared to be plotting attacks on cities there. Britain raised its threat level for Germany and France to "high." The threat level for England had been raised earlier to "severe." In addition, thousands of U.S. troops based in Germany were placed under a curfew Friday night and were told not to wear their uniforms off base. (Washington Post)
See also Text of U.S. Warning
The State Department alerts U.S. citizens to the potential for terrorist attacks in Europe. Current information suggests that al-Qaeda and affiliated organizations continue to plan terrorist attacks. U.S. citizens are reminded of the potential for terrorists to attack public transportation systems and other tourist infrastructure. (AP-Washington Post)
See also Dozens of Europeans in Terror Training in Pakistan - Kathy Gannon
Dozens of Muslim militants with European citizenship are believed to be hiding out in the lawless tribal area of northwestern Pakistan, Pakistani and Western intelligence officials say, training for missions that could include terror attacks in European capitals. Al-Qaeda would likely turn to such extremists for a European plot because they can move freely in and out of Western cities. (AP-Washington Post) Ahmadinejad Calls for U.S. Leaders to Be "Buried" - Ali Akbar Dareini
(Ironically, this doesn't bother the left as they are more interested in demonizing and maligning Israel. MBS) In response to U.S. statements that the military option against Iran is still on the table, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Sunday: "May the undertaker bury you, your table and your body, which has soiled the world," using language in Iran reserved for hated enemies. Ahmadinejad also questioned once more who was behind the Sept. 11 attacks in the U.S. and said they gave Washington a pretext for seeking to dominate the region and plunder its oil wealth. (AP) Syria's Assad Rebuffs Washington by Courting Iran - Robin Pomeroy
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad assured his Iranian counterpart Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Saturday during a visit to Tehran that their ties were solid - a view unlikely to please Washington which is working to isolate the Islamic state. Ahmadinejad awarded Assad Iran's highest medal of honor in recognition of his resistance to "global arrogance" - a term which usually refers to the U.S. and its allies. (Reuters) News Resources - Israel and the Mideast: Israel Weighs Response to U.S. Offer - Gil Hoffman
Prime Minister Netanyahu began efforts to persuade cabinet members to support a deal with the U.S. in which Israel would limit construction in settlements for 60 days in return for American promises, including upgrading the IDF, letting the army remain in the Jordan Valley following an Israeli withdrawal from the West Bank, and a promise not to ask Israel for a further moratorium. However, after a number of ministers publicly expressed opposition to restarting the construction freeze, Netanyahu has little to no chance of passing such a proposal in the cabinet.
A strong majority of Israelis support continuing West Bank construction, a Dahaf Institute poll broadcast on Channel 2 on Sunday found. 54% said the government should be building in the West Bank and only 39% support a further moratorium. (Jerusalem Post)
See also Poll: Half of Israel Cabinet Opposes Settlement Curbs
Half of Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu's government opposes the extension of a settlement moratorium, a poll in Yediot Ahronot showed on Monday. According to the poll, 15 of the 30 ministers in the cabinet are opposed to any extension of the partial freeze. 8 said they would back such a move, with the remaining 7 undecided. The survey also showed that 8 of the 15 members of the security cabinet were against any move to halt West Bank construction, with 4 in favor and 3 undecided. And among members of the inner cabinet, the Forum of Seven, 4 were against and 3 in favor. (AFP) Mitchell: Neither Side Wants to Stop Direct Talks - Herb Keinon
One Israeli government source said Netanyahu is not actively lobbying ministers yet to support a two-month extension of the settlement freeze in exchange for various U.S. security and diplomatic commitments because there is no concrete proposal yet on the table.
U.S. envoy George Mitchell said that both Israel and the PA "have asked us to continue these discussions in an effort to establish the conditions under which they can continue direct negotiations....They both want to continue these negotiations, they do not want to stop the talks." (Jerusalem Post)
See also Too Early to Discuss New Freeze - Jonathan Lis
"The pressure is directed at Israel at the moment, and it's heavy pressure," a senior political source said Sunday. "The Americans keep talking to Netanyahu, trying to persuade him to adopt a compromise that would allow for a return to negotiations with the Palestinians. But it's clear to us the pressure will shift to the Arab states by the weekend, to have the Arab League order the Palestinian Authority to resume negotiations with Israel." (Ha'aretz) Netanyahu Calls on Palestinians to Continue Peace Talks - Attila Somfalvi
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Saturday: "The way to achieve an historic peace agreement between our two peoples is to sit around the negotiating table, seriously and continuously, and not to leave it, because it is the place to resolve the disputes between us. Just one month ago, the Palestinians entered into direct peace talks, without preconditions, after my government carried out a series of unilateral gestures in order to advance these talks. In the previous 17-year period, the Palestinians held direct talks with Israeli governments while construction was being carried out in Judea and Samaria, including in the last year of the previous government. I hope that they will not now turn their backs on peace, and will continue the talks in order to reach a framework agreement within one year." (Prime Minister's Office) Global Commentary and Think-Tank Analysis (Best of U.S., UK, and Israel): Myths about Middle East Peace - Aaron David Miller
Even if the settlement issue were resolved today, Israeli-Palestinian negotiations would still confront another galactic challenge: a crisis within the Palestinian national movement, with two authorities governing two discreet areas with two different security services, two different patrons and two different visions of the Palestinian future. The upshot of the battle between Hamas and the Palestinian Authority is that without a monopoly over the forces of violence in Palestinian society - without one authority to silence the guns and rockets - no agreement can be implemented.
The idea that the U.S. can pummel a close ally, Israel, into accepting a deal that undermines its security or political interests is flat-out wrong. The Middle East is littered with the failed schemes of great powers that tried to impose their will on small tribes. The writer has advised several U.S. secretaries of state on the Middle East peace process. (Washington Post)
See also Obama Administration Faces Steep Price to Save Talks - Lachlan Carmichael
The Obama administration may have to pay a steep price to rescue the fledgling Israeli-Palestinian peace negotiations. Aaron David Miller, a former Middle East peace negotiator, said the administration "hyped, I think probably unnecessarily, the relaunch of the negotiation in Washington. They now need to pay or are considering paying both parties for simply sitting down at the table....If the price is this steep this early on, you can only imagine what will be required when they truly run into an impasse on the substance." (AFP) As the Worm Turns - David Kay
A computer worm may be bringing Iran's nuclear program to an at-least-temporary standstill, something that repeated "red line" declarations from Washington, four sanction resolutions from the UN Security Council, and IAEA inspections and safeguards have failed to do. As one digs into the likely origins and motivations behind the "Stuxnet" computer worm, at the top of the list of obvious suspects would be the U.S. and Israel. But they are not the only suspects.
The Russians have shown increasing unease at the prospects of an Iran that would really have nuclear weapons. The Chinese have well north of $100 billion invested in Iranian oil and gas, and an attack by the U.S. and/or Israel on Iran and the chaos likely to ensue could well render these investments worthless and be a serious brake on the Chinese economy.
For the first time Iran must confront the logic of asymmetrical warfare against itself. If the Stuxnet worm can be inserted by stealth into the prized jewels of Iran's nuclear program, who can assure the Iranian leadership that the son of Stuxnet is not quietly sitting in the guidance- and flight-control systems of Iran's missile-delivery capability? The good news is that someone has shown a way other than sending in the bombers to give pause and buy time in confronting Iran's nuclear challenge. (National Interest)
See also Iran Arrests "Nuclear Spies" Accused of Cyber Attacks (BBC News) Observations: - Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu couldn't continue the freeze because there isn't enough support in his coalition for doing so. Minor U.S. offers won't change that fact. Moreover, the main underlying problem is lack of confidence that the Palestinian Authority wants peace, is willing to compromise or will implement future commitments.
- Consider: Why ask for a two-month extension on the freeze? Why not three or four? What is happening within two months? The U.S. election.
- According to the draft letter, the U.S. agrees to support measures to prevent the smuggling of weapons and terrorists into Israel after a Palestinian state is established. This is interpreted as allowing Israeli forces to stay in the Jordan Valley for several years. But Israel knows that the PA would never agree. Moreover, this would set up a situation in which an isolated Israeli force would be subject to attack by terrorists, and international condemnation when it had to intercept or kill them.
- The letter promises the U.S. government would veto any UN Security Council resolution against Israel for the next year. This is insulting and signals to Israeli leaders that the current administration isn't exactly reliable. It suggests that after the year is over Washington will not veto such resolutions.
- Finally, the U.S. pledges to sell more weapons to Israel after a peace agreement and the creation of a Palestinian state. Suggesting that this would happen if construction is frozen for two months simultaneously suggests that it won't happen otherwise, withdrawing something Israel was previously expecting.
- According to the media, Netanyahu politely pointed out that when the U.S. originally demanded the freeze, it promised that it would secure concessions from Arab states. This didn't happen. It also promised that the Palestinians would be responsive and fulfill their commitments. That didn't happen either.
The writer is director of the Global Research in International Affairs Center and editor of Middle East Review of International Affairs and Turkish Studies.
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A positive attitude may not solve all your problems, but it will annoy enough people to make it worth the effort. ~Herm Albright~
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