Yosef Hartuv http://www.jta.org/user/profile/69298 en-us zsilberman@washingtonjewishweek.com Copyright 2012 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 Turkey Says Good Bye to Israel and the West by Prof. Efraim Inbar =================================================== By endorsing the “Gaza Flotilla” Turkey escalates tensions with Israel. This is just another reflection of the change in Turkish foreign policy, which acquires a greater Islamic coloration and is distancing itself from the West. Only a change of government in Ankara can bring Turkey back into the Western fold and restore the partnership between Ankara and Jerusalem. The next elections in July 2011 provide the Turkish citizens an opportunity to remain democratic and part of the West. Read full perspective: http://calevbenyefuneh.blogspot.com/2010/06/turkey-says-good-bye-to-israel-and-west.html 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 http://calevbenyefuneh.blogspot.com/2010/03/white-house-ignores-irans-help-to-al.html (B. Rubin) The United States is at war with al-Qaida. Al-Qaida carried out the attack on the World Trade Center that killed 3,000 Americans. Al-Qaida is killing Americans in Iraq and elsewhere. So one would think the fact that al-Qaida has found a powerful ally would be a big story in the American media and by a big priority for setting off U.S. government anger. And this would be especially so if that was explained by one of the most respected men in the country, a man who has access to the highest-level intelligence. Not at all. In the same testimony which created lots of discussion regarding remarks on the Israel-Palestinian issue, General David Petraeus, head of the U.S. Central Command, revealed a bombshell story that has been ignored: Iran is helping al-Qaida attack Americans. Iran, he said in military-speak, provides "a key facilitation hub, where facilitators connect al Qaida's senior leadership to regional affiliates." Translation: Tehran is letting al-Qaida leaders travel freely back and forth to Pakistan and Afghanistan, using its territory as a safe haven, while permitting them to hold meetings to plan terrorist attacks for attacking U.S. targets and killing Americans. While nominally Iran sometimes takes these people into custody, that seems, Petraeus says, a fiction to fool foreigners. 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 Obama Officials: Relax, We’re Just Trying to Break up Bibi’s Coalition (Pollak) Jeffrey Goldberg spoke with White House officials today and posted this report. So what is the goal? The goal is force a rupture in the governing coalition that will make it necessary for Netanyahu to take into his government Livni’s centrist Kadima Party (he has already tried to do this, but too much on his terms) and form a broad, 68-seat majority in Knesset… Obama knows that this sort of stable, centrist coalition is the key to success. He would rather, I understand, not have to deal with Netanyahu at all — people near the President say that, for one thing, Obama doesn’t think that Netanyahu is very bright, and there is no chemistry at all between the two men — but he’d rather have a Netanyahu who is being pressured from his left than a Netanyahu who is being pressured from the right. http://calevbenyefuneh.blogspot.com/2010/03/obama-officials-relax-were-just-trying.html#links So here we have on record the Obama administration saying 1) that it is trying to topple the government of a democratic ally (if only we could try this in Tehran!) 2) that it believes it has such mastery of Israeli politics that publicly bludgeoning Bibi will result in such a shakeup, and that 3) even if the hoped-for new government is formed, the White House thinks it’s a good idea to go on record stating that the Prime Minister they will have to deal with is stupid. 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 Obama Officials: Relax, We’re Just Trying to Break up Bibi’s Coalition (Pollak) Jeffrey Goldberg spoke with White House officials today and posted this report. So what is the goal? The goal is force a rupture in the governing coalition that will make it necessary for Netanyahu to take into his government Livni’s centrist Kadima Party (he has already tried to do this, but too much on his terms) and form a broad, 68-seat majority in Knesset… http://calevbenyefuneh.blogspot.com/2010/03/obama-officials-relax-were-just-trying.html#links Obama knows that this sort of stable, centrist coalition is the key to success. He would rather, I understand, not have to deal with Netanyahu at all — people near the President say that, for one thing, Obama doesn’t think that Netanyahu is very bright, and there is no chemistry at all between the two men — but he’d rather have a Netanyahu who is being pressured from his left than a Netanyahu who is being pressured from the right. 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 How Many Lives Is Biden’s Pride Worth? (Tobin) What prompted this morning’s violence in Jerusalem’s Old City? Though the stone-throwing and disruptions resulted in only eight Israeli security personnel being wounded and a similar number of Palestinian casualties, the context of the American diplomatic offensive against the Jewish state must be seen as an incentive for the Palestinians to do their own part to ratchet up the pressure. While the Obama administration is using its hurt feelings about the announcement of building homes in a Jewish neighborhood of Jerusalem to put the screws to the Netanyahu government, the Palestinians have their own game to play here. http://calevbenyefuneh.blogspot.com/2010/03/how-many-lives-is-bidens-pride-worth.html#links And since Washington has decided to go all out to falsely portray the Israelis as the primary obstacle to peace, it should be expected that the supposed victims of the new housing — Palestinians who are in no way harmed by the building of new apartments — will seek to keep events churning. 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 On the other hand Jeffrey Goldberg has another item from his White House connections, posted and addressed by Noah Pollak. http://calevbenyefuneh.blogspot.com/2010/03/obama-officials-relax-were-just-trying.html Obama Officials: Relax, We’re Just Trying to Break up Bibi’s Coalition --Jeffrey Goldberg spoke with White House officials today and posted this report. So what is the goal? The goal is force a rupture in the governing coalition that will make it necessary for Netanyahu to take into his government Livni’s centrist Kadima Party (he has already tried to do this, but too much on his terms) and form a broad, 68-seat majority in Knesset… Obama knows that this sort of stable, centrist coalition is the key to success. He would rather, I understand, not have to deal with Netanyahu at all — people near the President say that, for one thing, Obama doesn’t think that Netanyahu is very bright, and there is no chemistry at all between the two men — but he’d rather have a Netanyahu who is being pressured from his left than a Netanyahu who is being pressured from the right. 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 Anne Bayefsky http://calevbenyefuneh.blogspot.com/2010/03/behind-obamas-dangerous-overreaction-on.html Bayefsky is a Professor at Touro College and a senior fellow with the Hudson Institute. The Obama administration's hysterical response to Israel's announcement that it will continue to build new homes for its expanding population in disputed territory ought to evoke one response: Methinks thou doth protest too much. Given that the United States is supposed to be committed to the parties determining ultimate legal ownership of the land in final status negotiations, what is going on? The Palestinian Authority is the only side refusing to sit across the table from its interlocutor without preconditions. Recent reports indicate that Mamhoud Abbas and company are still inculcating the next generation of budding terrorists in the abc's of antisemitism, refusing to put Israel on the map in their authorized school books and fanning the flames of Islamic extremists at the Temple Mount in Jerusalem - all of which is incitement and a gross violation of the Roadmap. As for Hamas, the other Palestinian authority running Gaza, it is just openly dedicated to Israel's annihilation. Use link for full article. 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 (BarryRubin)http://calevbenyefuneh.blogspot.com/2010/03/explaining-us-israel-crisis.html It is important to understand that the current controversy over construction in east Jerusalem is neither a public relations’ problem nor a bilateral policy dispute. It arises because of things having nothing directly to do with this specific point. What are the real issues involved: 1. The U.S. and most European governments are determined not to criticize the Palestinian Authority’s (PA) sabotage of the peace process. The facts are clear: The PA rejects negotiations for fourteen months. No reaction. The PA makes President Barack Obama look foolish by destroying his September 2009 initiative saying there would be talks within two months. The PA broke its promise to Obama not to sponsor the Goldstone report. In the end, the PA still won’t talk directly. Yet during fourteen months in office the Obama administration has not criticized the PA once. The point is clear: The U.S. government will never criticize the PA no matter what it does. (We’ll talk about why this is so in a moment.) 2. Same thing regarding Syria. Dictator Bashar al-Assad supports terrorists who kill the United States in Iraq; kills Lebanese politicians; openly laughs at U.S. policy; and invites Iran’s president immediately after a major U.S. concession. Yet the Obama Administration makes no criticism and in fact offers more concessions. 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 The Wall Street Journal’s editors share many observers’ consternation over the Obami’s latest war of words with Israel. The editors note that engagement is all the rage when it comes to Syria but not when it comes to the Jewish state. On the flap over building in Jerusalem, they write: In a speech at Tel Aviv University two days after the Israeli announcement, Mr. Biden publicly thanked Mr. Netanyahu for “putting in place a process to prevent the recurrence” of similar incidents. The subsequent escalation by Mrs. Clinton was clearly intended as a highly public rebuke to the Israelis, but its political and strategic logic is puzzling. The U.S. needs Israel’s acquiescence in the Obama Administration’s increasingly drawn-out efforts to halt Iran’s nuclear bid through diplomacy or sanctions. But Israel’s restraint is measured in direct proportion to its sense that U.S. security guarantees are good. If Israel senses that the Administration is looking for any pretext to blow up relations, it will care much less how the U.S. might react to a military strike on Iran. http://calevbenyefuneh.blogspot.com/2010/03/no-way-to-run-foreign-policy.html 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 US anger at Israel is misplaced, insulting: The American reaction to the announcement that Israel would continue to build in Jewish East Jerusalem puts several things in sharp focus. What does it tell us that Joe Biden ‘condemned’ it, Hillary Clinton found it ‘insulting’ and White House political advisor David Axelrod called it both an ‘affront’ and an ‘insult’? Let’s look at both the substance and the tone of these remarks. The substance: as many commentators have pointed out, Israel has been building in East Jerusalem since 1967, and negotiated with the Palestinian Authority for 15 years while building there. When Israel agreed to the Obama Administration’s demand for a settlement freeze in Judea and Samaria, it pointedly did not agree to include Jerusalem, which Israel has never considered a ’settlement’. At that time, the US praised Israel for taking a positive step to resolve the conflict. Israel has indicated that it would cede some Arab neighborhoods in East Jerusalem as part of a peace agreement, but has never accepted any prior limitation of its sovereignty over all of Jerusalem. Continue ......http://calevbenyefuneh.blogspot.com/2010/03/us-anger-at-israel-is-misplaced.html 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 Last week, I wrote that American, European, and Arab success in pressuring the Palestinians to resume negotiations could prove a turnabout in the peace process, if the world learned the lesson and began pressing the Palestinians for necessary concessions on substantive issues. But based on its response to last week’s announcement of new construction in Jerusalem’s Ramat Shlomo neighborhood, the world clearly hasn’t learned the lesson. (Read more) http://calevbenyefuneh.blogspot.com/2010/03/they-havent-learned-lesson.html#links 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 It is hard to imagine that U.S.-Israeli relations could have reached this point. But they have. The Washington Post aptly described where we stand: “Ties Plunge To A New Low.” In short, “relations with Israel have been strained almost since the start of the Obama administration. Now they have plunged to their lowest ebb since the administration of George H.W. Bush.” And there is no improvement in sight. After the public and private scolding by the vice president over the building of housing units in Jerusalem, Hillary Clinton continued the hollering, this time in a conversation with Bibi Netanyahu that was eagerly relayed to the media: (Read more) http://calevbenyefuneh.blogspot.com/2010/03/new-low.html 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 So said Vice President Biden as he arrived in Israel. Why? What about this moment-when Palestinians are once again throwing rocks down on Jewish worshippers at the Western Wall; when the Palestinian Authority (PA) negates Jewish historic and religious attachment to the Cave of Machpela and Rachel's Tomb; when Salaam Fayyad and Abu Mazen travel around Europe demanding that countries recognize an independent Palestine when they decide unilaterally to declare one (the Kosovo option); when PA officials are trying to keep Palestinians from working in West Bank industrial zones; when the United States has been asked to demand that Israel scale back its "hot pursuit" of terrorists-what exactly about this moment makes it one of "opportunity"? (Read more) http://calevbenyefuneh.blogspot.com/2010/03/moment-of-real-opportunity.html 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 Anti-Israeli student 'activists' don't take risks – they just give smug interviews to Iranian TV -Stephanie Gutmann “Stand with the Irvine 11!” blared the email in my inbox this morning. “OK,” I thought groggily, “but which one of the dozens of activists sending me email are you and why are you appropriating the jargon of Sixties activism?” As I read the bold type and caps-filled missive it turned out that the Irvine 11 are some of the students, the ones who were actually arrested, a few weeks ago at the University of California, Irvine campus when they refused to let an audience of nearly 500 hear Israeli ambassador Michael Oren deliver a speech. (Read more) http://calevbenyefuneh.blogspot.com/2010/03/anti-israeli-student-activists-dont.html 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 Israel blamed for US Armenian genocide resolution: You may remember that back in 2007 a similar resolution escaped the Foreign Relations Committee, although it did not survive to become law due to pressure from the Bush Administration. At that time, Turkey threatened to cool relations with Israel, and even hinted that it might not be able to protect Turkish Jews against antisemitic reactions if the resolution passed. (Read more) http://calevbenyefuneh.blogspot.com/2010/03/israel-blamed-for-us-armenian-genocide.html 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 Dowd goes around the bend: Goodness knows whether Maureen Dowd’s latest column — a noxious propaganda brew on behalf of the Kingdom of Saud and its foreign minister’s ludicrous moral relativism – was born of abject ignorance or whether she was sent trolling for Saudi money to help her employer’s bottom line. Or maybe she’s trying to out-Friedman her colleague when it comes to ingratiating herself with despotic abusers of human rights. Doesn’t really matter. (Read more) http://calevbenyefuneh.blogspot.com/2010/03/dowd-goes-around-bend.html 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 A long simmering dispute about the level of anti-Israel and anti-Semitic incitement going on at the University of California at Irvine has prompted a debate between Jewish groups about the propriety of academic boycotts. After the latest incident in which heckler disrupted a speech being given by Michael Oren — Israel’s ambassador to the United States — at the school’s campus, the Zionist Organization of America has called for donors to cease making contributions to the institution and for students to stop applying to the school. But the Anti-Defamation League says this is a mistake, since such boycotts are a “double-edged sword that legitimizes a tactic so often used against Jews and Israel.” (Read more) http://calevbenyefuneh.blogspot.com/2010/02/adl-is-wrong-boycotts-can-be-kosher.html#links 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 Rights of the speaker versus "rights" of disruptors: Recently Michael Oren, Israel’s Ambassador to the United States, who is an academic historian and a political moderate, was invited to speak at the University of California at Irvine. I know Michael well and have heard him speak many times. He is one of Israel’s most effective advocates, particularly on university campuses. He speaks about peace, about the two-state solution and he brings a historical perspective to his analysis. Because he is so effective, anti-Israel zealots try to prevent him from speaking and his audience from hearing his views. That’s exactly what happened at the University of California at Irvine when Oren began to speak. This tactic of censorship will be tried at other universities as well, if it is permitted to succeed. (Read more) http://calevbenyefuneh.blogspot.com/2010/02/rights-of-speaker-versus-rights-of.html#links 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 Ha'aretz's J Street Promotions, Continued: ....While the paper which has paid the matter substantial coverage until now, it nevertheless ignores the fact, that as reported in the Jerusalem Post today, the Foreign Ministry claims that J Street has lied about the whole affair. (Read more) http://calevbenyefuneh.blogspot.com/2010/02/haaretzs-j-street-promotions-continued.html 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 As this is the tidits section, great video post. (Wow! What a speaker!) At an event commemorating the first full year of weekly rallies in support of Israel held at Broward Boulevard and Northeast Third Avenue in Fort Lauderdale Florida keynote speaker Joyce Kaufman a WFTL 850 talk show host details "The 7 Reasons to Support Israel." http://calevbenyefuneh.blogspot.com/2010/02/joyce-kaufman-7-reasons-to-support.html 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 Promoting Israel’s Image Means Answering the Libels: New York Times Jerusalem Bureau Chief Ethan Bronner writes today about the effort by Israel’s Information and Diaspora Affairs Ministry to get Israelis to promote a positive image of their country. The idea is to coach those traveling abroad on how to improve their nation’s faltering international image. The effort gets mixed reviews.(Read more) http://calevbenyefuneh.blogspot.com/2010/02/promoting-israels-image-means-answering.html 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 The assassination of Hamas leader Mahmoud al-Mabhouh has touched off a great deal of outrage by the same media organizations and countries that typically ignore the murders committed by Islamic terrorists. Mahmoud al-Mabhouh was a Muslim Brotherhood member and a co-founder of the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, the "armed wing" of Hamas. Essentially Mahmoud was a co-founder of the terrorist sub-group responsible for more than half of the murders of Israelis that have taken place over the last decade alone. (Read more) http://calevbenyefuneh.blogspot.com/2010/02/mahmoud-al-mabhouh-to-kill-terrorist.html 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 Recently Michael Oren, Israel’s Ambassador to the United States, who is an academic historian and a political moderate, was invited to speak at the University of California at Irvine. I know Michael well and have heard him speak many times. He is one of Israel’s most effective advocates, particularly on university campuses. He speaks about peace, about the two-state solution and he brings a historical perspective to his analysis. Because he is so effective, anti-Israel zealots try to prevent him from speaking and his audience from hearing his views. That’s exactly what happened at the University of California at Irvine when Oren began to speak. This tactic of censorship will be tried at other universities as well, if it is permitted to succeed. (Alan Dershowitz-read more) http://calevbenyefuneh.blogspot.com/2010/02/rights-of-speaker-versus-rights-of.html 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 Also: Israel's deputy foreign minister, Danny Ayalon, lowers the boom on J Street: "The thing that troubles me is that they don't present themselves as to what they really are. They should not call themselves pro-Israeli," Danny Ayalon, the deputy to hard-line foreign minister Avigdor Lieberman, told Jewish leaders today. It's funny because that's what troubles me, too. Of course, Ayalon can be less than diplomatic at times. (Read more) http://calevbenyefuneh.blogspot.com/2010/02/israel-to-j-street-we-know-youre-not.html 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 As readers of this blog know, Roger Cohen is not a wise man. His latest column in the New York Times gives further evidence of this. Domestic U.S. politics constrain innovative thought - even open debate - on the process without end that is the peace search. Roger Cohen And Wishful Thinking, Part 974: Open debate constrained, eh? Come on Roger, don’t be a tease. You mean the evil and oh so long tentacles of the Israel lobby are reaching into campuses, news rooms and the very halls of Congress to prevent people saying what they really think, and you know, you’re really sure, that what they’d say if the evil Zionist manipulators would only let them, bears a striking resemblance to what you think yourself. (Read more) http://calevbenyefuneh.blogspot.com/2010/02/roger-cohen-and-wishful-thinking-part.html 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 And this could be the reason why. "J Street’s Agenda Remains Irrelevant to Middle East Realities": ......First is the complete irrelevance of J Street’s main idea: that there is a need for a Jewish lobby whose purpose is to push Washington to push Israel to make peace. As the events of the last year continue to prove, the obstacle to peace remains the Palestinians and their political culture of violence and hatred for Israel. (read more) http://calevbenyefuneh.blogspot.com/2010/02/j-streets-agenda-remains-irrelevant-to.html 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 Mossad? Well, I Certainly Hope So: Here's a story I heard long ago, as a graduate student. A famous historian approaches the archivist at the Public Record Office (that's what they used to call the British National Archives) and asks to see some files about MI5 or was it MI6?. The scandalized archivist glares at him, and says that MI5 is a fictitious agency, it doesn't really exist and certainly has no documents in the PRO. Ah, says the professor, That's interesting. (Read more plus Dubai news video 3:27) http://calevbenyefuneh.blogspot.com/2010/02/mossad-well-i-certainly-hope-so.html 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 Second Thoughts on Israel-Bashing- Gaza 53? It seems as though at least one of the 54 signatories on the “lift the Gaza blockade” letter is having second thoughts. This report explains that U.S. Representative Yvette Clarke (D-NY) is pulling her support after a meeting with Jewish activists: http://calevbenyefuneh.blogspot.com/2010/02/second-thoughts-on-israel-bashing.html 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 The most frightening thing about this mind-numbingly wrongheaded op-ed in the NY Times (“Iran’s Two-Edged Bomb“) is the line at the end that describes the author: Adam B. Lowther is a defense analyst at the Air Force Research Institute. Let’s hope that he wrote this as a result of a bar-room bet on the gullibility of the Times, because we really don’t want anyone basing policy on this. In that spirit, let’s look at the five reasons that Dr. Lowther thinks the Iranian nuclear bomb has an upside: (Read more) http://calevbenyefuneh.blogspot.com/2010/02/how-adam-lowther-learned-to-stop.html 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 Hours earlier, UCI’s Muslim Student Union said in an email today that its members “condemn and oppose the presence of Michael Oren, the ambassador of Israel to the United States, on our campus today. We resent that the Law School and the Political Science Department on our campus have agreed to cosponsor a public figure who represents a state that continues to break international and humanitarian law and is condemned by more UN Human Rights Council resolutions than all other countries in the world combined.” (This video is dedicated to them) http://calevbenyefuneh.blogspot.com/2009/10/obsessive-and-compulsive.html#links 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 As opposed to Debra DeLee's misrepresentation of the Dershowitz case against Goldstone, one can invest some time to decide for oneself with the following: A week and a half ago, (Nov. '09)Alan Dershowitz took the stage in a packed auditorium at Fordham Law School in Manhattan. He was supposed to debate Richard Goldstone, the author of the Goldstone Report. But the august international jurist refused, telling the organizers that Dershowitz had “demeaned” him. So Dershowitz stood a copy of the Goldstone Report on the table in the author’s place. The video listed as 93 minutes long, but a great deal of that is Q&A;at the end. The presentation itself takes only 45 minutes. http://calevbenyefuneh.blogspot.com/2009/11/dershowitz-for-opposition.html#links 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 In truth, Prof. Dershowitz has written dozens of factual refutations of the Goldstone slanders, with a consistent refusal by Goldstone to address the actual topic at hand. It's Goldstone himself who has raised his being Jewish as a defense against his perverse aid to those whose goal is to put Israel's population in dangers way, without means of response. "Even before the Goldstone Report was released, Richard Goldstone was arguing for its credibility by invoking his Jewishness, his Zionism, his daughter’s residence in Israel and his connection to Hebrew University. It was the mirror image of the classic fallacy known as the argument ad hominem, which is defined as follows: A substantive argument should not be rejected solely because of who has offered it." http://calevbenyefuneh.blogspot.com/2010/02/arguments-ad-hominem-and-by-ethnic.html#links 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 And more.... The flap over Im Tirtzu’s exposé of the New Israel Fund’s (NIF) support of left-wing Israeli organizations that contributed to the slanderous Goldstone report gets bigger every day- Fresnozionism http://calevbenyefuneh.blogspot.com/2010/02/assault-of-illogic.html 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 Hey, NIF! Criticism is a democratic right. It’s strange that groups claiming to be well-versed in human rights seem so unfamiliar with the concept of free speech. Anne Herzberg http://calevbenyefuneh.blogspot.com/2010/02/hey-nif-criticism-is-democratic-right.html#links Even though New Israel Fund continues to fund numerous organizations who conduct lawfare against Israel, it's elected officials, it's soldiers and citizens, this week it failed in it's efforts to intimidate at least, one newspaper.) The Jerusalem Post has canceled Naomi Chazan’s biweekly column, after she and the New Israel Fund of which she is president threatened legal action against the paper over a recent advertisement. http://calevbenyefuneh.blogspot.com/2010/02/post-stops-chazan-column-after-threat.html#links 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 The New Israel Fund finds itself embroiled in controversy, and rightfully so. The philanthropic group has given a great deal of moral support to the Goldstone Report, and even more financial support to the many NGO’s whose job is to manufacture the kind of allegations contained in the Report. Recently a Zionist group called Im Tirtzu released a report documenting the extent of NIF’s funding for what can only be called objectively anti-Israel groups.( Read more) http://calevbenyefuneh.blogspot.com/2010/02/exposing-new-israel-fund.html 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 J Street is “gravely concerned about escalating threats to the character of Israel’s democracy” and is worried about “a perfect storm brewing that threatens the core of Israel’s democratic character.” The e-mail that contains these warnings is titled “Swiftboating Israel’s democracy.” Time to stockpile bottled water everyone, something serious is happening! It is this: an obscure Zionist youth group has criticized the leftist New Israel Fund for giving money to leftist NGOs. This youth group is, of course, doing something fully consistent with democratic values — participating, albeit harshly, in a political debate. (Read full post) http://calevbenyefuneh.blogspot.com/2010/02/comedy-from-j-street.html 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 A report set to be released in the coming days by the centrist-Zionist student group Im Tirtzu, has accused the New Israel Fund, a group that works toward religious pluralism and democratic change, of direct responsibility for the United Nations’ Goldstone Report on the IDF’s Operation Cast Lead in the Gaza Strip just over a year ago. According to the report, 92 percent of the negative citations used in the Goldstone Report to criticize the IDF’s conduct in Gaza last year came from 16 Israeli NGOs, which Im Tirtzu has alleged received some $7.8 million in financial support from the NIF in 2008-2009 alone. Among the NGOs listed in the report are Adalah, Breaking the Silence, B’Tselem, the Association for Civil Rights in Israel, the Center for the Defense of the Individual, the Public Committee Against Torture in Israel, Yesh Din, Doctors for Human Rights, Gisha, Bimkom, Rabbis for Human Rights, Itach, Other Voice, New Profile, Machsom Watch and Who Profits from the Occupation. http://calevbenyefuneh.blogspot.com/2010/02/im-tirzu-nif-ngos-made-up-bulk-of.html#links 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 J Street is “gravely concerned about escalating threats to the character of Israel’s democracy” and is worried about “a perfect storm brewing that threatens the core of Israel’s democratic character.” The e-mail that contains these warnings is titled “Swiftboating Israel’s democracy.” Time to stockpile bottled water everyone, something serious is happening! It is this: an obscure Zionist youth group has criticized the leftist New Israel Fund for giving money to leftist NGOs. This youth group is, of course, doing something fully consistent with democratic values — participating, albeit harshly, in a political debate. There is a group, however, that indeed doesn’t have much regard for Israel’s democracy. Leading figures in this organization have frequently expressed their wish that the United States would do more to reverse the democratic choices of the Israeli electorate. It is named J Street -Noah Pollak (Read more) http://calevbenyefuneh.blogspot.com/2010/02/comedy-from-j-street.html#links 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 Blame Israel First - Hornik: From Van Jones to Valerie Jarrett, the Obama has made a series of politically extreme personnel appointments that it has since come to regret. Its latest hire bids fair to continue the pattern. President Obama has appointed an “anti-Semitism czar,” Hannah Rosenthal, who appears singularly unqualified for the job. Her first target of criticism has not been an anti-Semitic exponent or event. Rather, it is Israel’s Jewish ambassador to the U.S., Michael Oren, who has drawn her ire for the offense of disparaging a liberal group with which Rosenthal has been affiliated. http://calevbenyefuneh.blogspot.com/2009/12/blaming-israel-first.html#links Hannah Rosenthal's new problem-Rosner's domain Hannah Rosenthal ("officially a burden") tells Tablet that A. she's still going to Washington, B. that the headline "exaggerated what she actually said" and C. that “I don’t think a reporter asking me about J Street is out of bounds, and I don’t think my answer was out of bounds.” http://calevbenyefuneh.blogspot.com/2009/12/hannah-rosenthals-new-problem_30.html#links 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 In an interview televised on C-SPAN on January 4, former CIA bin Laden Unit Chief Michael Scheuer advocated that the United States should "dissuade" terrorists from focusing their anger on the U.S. by "persuad(ing) them to focus their anger on what they themselves perceive as their enemy: the governments that ... oppress them and Israel". Following this modest proposal to throw Israel to the wolves, Scheuer received the following grossly anti-Semitic question from a caller called John from Franklin, NY who identified himself as a political independent Question and answer are presented in their entirety. Scheuer's response is instructive. (Adam Holland) Includes links to clips. http://calevbenyefuneh.blogspot.com/2010/01/michael-scheuer-terrorists-should-focus.html#links 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 What Marya Could Teach Goldstone - Evelyn Gordon Israel has spent the past year producing voluminous rebuttals of the Goldstone report, which accused it of deliberately targeting civilians during last year’s war in Gaza. But nothing better illustrates the inanity of this accusation than a single report in last week’s New York Times. http://calevbenyefuneh.blogspot.com/2010/01/what-marya-could-teach-goldstone.html 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 British MP, Iranian Press TV presenter and media personality George Galloway, currently leading a "humanitarian convoy" to Gaza, has a history of anti-Israel activity. But even his latest diatribe in a column for Scotland's Daily Record plumbs new depths. http://calevbenyefuneh.blogspot.com/2009/12/israelis-playing-mini-mengele.html 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 A couple of quick notes on Carter's apology to Jews (on which I also wrote a more lengthy Hebrew piece for this coming weekend): 1. Jewish organizations have to congratulate him and pretend to believe him. Jewish writers don't. 2. Jewish politicians and Israeli politicians have to act as if he means what he says. Jews with no political aspirations don't. 3. For him to deny that it's all about the grandson's race - namely, to deny the obvious reason for his mea-culpa - is just Carter being Carter. (Rosner) http://calevbenyefuneh.blogspot.com/2009/12/some-people-might-have-to-believe-jimmy.html 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 A senior Jewish official in Washington who asked to remain anonymous called the Rosenthal interview, published in Haaretz on Thursday, "a very troubling occurrence. I can't recall a circumstance in which an American diplomat criticized an ambassador of any country in such a significant way." (More) http://calevbenyefuneh.blogspot.com/2009/12/us-diplomat-slammed-for-criticizing.html 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 For those used to worry about big-mouth Israeli officials - especially those Americans who constantly complain (and rightly so) about the inability of official Israel to just shut the hell up - here's a refreshingly rare opportunity for some pay-back. Apparently, Obama's head of the anti-anti-Semitism office, Hannah Rosenthal, has decided that her real battle should be against Israel's ambassador to Washington, Michael Oren. Here's what she had to say: http://calevbenyefuneh.blogspot.com/2009/12/hannah-rosenthal-is-officially-burden.html#links 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 In recent days, an open and unambiguous medieval-style blood libel has been regurgitated in the mainstream British media. This has been full of the sensational report that Israeli doctors had been ’harvesting’ the organs of Palestinians. The implication was that a) this was only being done to Palestinians and b) the Palestinians had been alive when it was done. Neither calumny was remotely true. http://calevbenyefuneh.blogspot.com/2009/12/tragic-coma-of-english-reason.html#links 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 How Carter Can Get Forgiveness: According to the Jewish concept of repentance, words are not enough. A change in behavior is also essential in order to receive forgiveness. And he has not done this. http://calevbenyefuneh.blogspot.com/2009/12/how-carter-can-get-forgiveness.html#links 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 In addition Jerusalem is on the table and so is the refugee problem. So much for no preconditions. When Rosen tells why no one can resist the peace jaugernaught, what he fails to mention is that it is only peace on Arab terms that it is concerned with. (Israpundit) http://calevbenyefuneh.blogspot.com/2009/12/mideast-peace-deal-you-havent-heard.html 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 How Carter Can Get Forgiveness: According to the Jewish concept of repentance, words are not enough. A change in behavior is also essential in order to receive forgiveness. And he has not done this. http://calevbenyefuneh.blogspot.com/2009/12/how-carter-can-get-forgiveness.html#links 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 Secretary of State Hillary Clinton gave an interview to al-Jazira television, December 10, which reminds us of something exceptionally important for any discussion of the Israel-Palestinian conflict: what her husband offered the Palestinians—the last time a comprehensive deal was proffered—and was turned down almost exactly nine years ago. (B. Rubin) http://calevbenyefuneh.blogspot.com/2009/12/why-cant-h-clinton-bring-israel.html 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 A month ago, Alan Dershowitz took the stage in a packed auditorium at Fordham Law School in Manhattan. He was supposed to debate Richard Goldstone, the author of the Goldstone Report. But the august international jurist refused, telling the organizers that Dershowitz had “demeaned” him. So Dershowitz stood a copy of the Goldstone Report on the table in the author’s place. And then he demolished the report and eviscerated its author with remarkable clarity, passion, and brilliance. A truly memorable performance. And finally, the video is up. It’s listed as 93 minutes long, but a great deal of that is Q&A;at the end. The presentation itself takes only 45 minutes. http://calevbenyefuneh.blogspot.com/2009/11/dershowitz-for-opposition.html#links 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 It may well be that Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has given the signal for the new phase of U.S. policy toward Iran. On December 14, she said that the engagement policy with Tehran hadn’t worked and now it needs to press for additional sanctions. Either this is her attempt to lobby for a tougher line against other administration officials or it's the long-awaited start of the sanctions made necessary by the looming of the administration’s own end-of-the-year deadline to get a deal with Iran or impose more sanctions. (B. Rubin) http://calevbenyefuneh.blogspot.com/2009/12/two-big-developments-hillary-announces.html#links 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 Who loses the Iran game - David Ignatius (Simulation games have a distinct advantage that mistakes do not carry real life consequences. However, they can give insight to where the parties stand.) How will the confrontation over Iran's nuclear program evolve during the next year? If a simulation game played at Harvard last week is any guide, the situation won't look pretty: Iran will be closer to having the bomb, and America will fail to obtain tough U.N. sanctions; diplomatic relations with Russia, China and Europe will be strained; and Israel will be threatening unilateral military action.http://calevbenyefuneh.blogspot.com/2009/12/who-loses-iran-game.html 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 What J Street is backing is somewhat questionable as usual but what's at stake is not. The Iran Timetable: President Obama’s response to Iranian President Ahmadinejad’s announcement that he plans to go full steam ahead on the nuclear front is revealing. It does not matter how many times Iran says no to the offers presented. It does not matter how many Iranian citizens perish in the effort to change the regime’s cataclysmic direction. From America comes empty sloganeering about the president’s patience running out. http://calevbenyefuneh.blogspot.com/2009/12/iran-timeline.html#links 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 Iran's Nuclear Anti-Zionism is Genocidal, Not Political: Charles Asher Small, director of Yale's Interdisciplinary Initiative for the Study of Anti-Semitism, tells the story of the reception he received from Rwandan activists at this year's Durban II Conference. As Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad rose to the Geneva stage, the Rwandans asked Small why the Jewish community is not doing more to prevent the obvious consummation of Ahmadinejad's fiery rhetoric. The Rwandans had heard similar propaganda before. http://calevbenyefuneh.blogspot.com/2009/12/irans-nuclear-anti-zionism-is-genocidal.html 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 Obama picks deaf person to tune piano - FresnoZionism.org Hannah Rosenthal, Obama's Antisemitism Poobah Barack Obama’s appointment of Hannah Rosenthal — no relation to this writer, thank goodness — to be “Special Envoy for Global Anti-Semitism” (definitely not “Antisemitism Czar”) is emblematic of the way this administration has consistently tried to use Jews to justify its anti-Israel policy. (continue) http://calevbenyefuneh.blogspot.com/2009/12/obama-picks-deaf-person-to-tune-piano.html 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 As opposed to the El Mundo piece, here's something positive about Honduras that Israel can learn from. The Canary in Israel's Coal Mine - JINSA Report For those who have asked why JINSA has kept Honduras in the spotlight since June, this is why: small democratic countries trying mightily to exercise legitimate governance and self-determination deserve our vocal support even - or especially - when they do things the U.S. would prefer they didn't. Honduras is one of these countries, as is Israel. http://calevbenyefuneh.blogspot.com/2009/12/canary-in-israels-coal-mine.html#links 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 The Obama Administration now has a huge problem in its Israel-Palestinian policy about which no one is yet speaking. Since the White House lacks the stomach to deal with it the problem won't be evident for some time, except perhaps to the readers of these words. Here’s the issue. It’s simple. It should be obvious: How is the Obama Administration going to get the Palestinians to the table now that Israel has proved itself flexible, ready for negotiations, and willing to make peace. Because, despite President Obama's claim in his Cairo speech that the Palestinian situation is "intolerable" and they are ready to do a deal, that just isn't true.http://calevbenyefuneh.blogspot.com/2009/11/obama-administrations-giant-problem-how.html#links 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 Frolicking in the Quicksand: How the Obama Administration Keeps Making Huge Mistakes in the MIddle East - The Rubin Report Of course, the Obama Administration has its defenders. They either ignore criticism of the Administration’s foreign policy or claim it is all partisan and ideological. And yet the truth is that if you watch the government's policy on a daily basis it is truly remarkable how many dumb, avoidable mistakes are made. (Continue) http://calevbenyefuneh.blogspot.com/2009/11/frolicking-in-quicksand-how-obama.html 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 A classic Big Lie - FresnoZionism How many times have you heard something like this: Israeli settlements on occupied Palestinian land are illegal and an obstacle to peace. The statement is misleading or false in at least three ways: First, there is no such thing as ‘Palestinian land’ unless you mean land owned by individual Palestinians, and most Israeli ’settlements’ in Judea and Samaria are built on state land or land purchased by Jews. (Continue) http://calevbenyefuneh.blogspot.com/2009/11/classic-big-lie.html#links 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 500,000 Iranian Centrifuges: Tehran ups the ante again as diplomacy goes nowhere. - Wall Street Journal Mohamed ElBaradei caps his contentious and ultimately failed 12-year stint as head of the International Atomic Energy Agency today, having spent many years enabling Iran's nuclear bids only to condemn them in his final days in office. http://calevbenyefuneh.blogspot.com/2009/11/500000-iranian-centrifuges.html#links 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 And after Mitchell's statement came .....Hillary's Bombshell: Obama Administration Subtly Launches Dramatic Policy Change on Peace Process: In a one-paragraph statement welcoming Israel’s ten-month-long freeze on building apartments in existing West Bank settlements, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton made a major statement. The dramatic new U.S. stance on Israel-Palestinian Authority peace agreement is camouflaged by brevity and subtle wording. But make no mistake: this is one of the most important foreign policy steps the Obama Administration has taken. http://calevbenyefuneh.blogspot.com/2009/11/hillarys-bombshell-obama-administration.html 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 Bad ideas and where they come from - FresnoZionism Israel’s Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu declared a 10-month settlement freeze in Judea and Samaria Wednesday, in order to “encourage resumption of peace talks with our Palestinian neighbors.” Predictably, the Palestinian Authority (PA) rejected it, because it allows Israel to finish buildings under construction and does not include Jerusalem, which PM Netanyahu correctly said “is not a settlement”. Right-wing parties then attacked Netanyahu for “spitting in the face of those who were promised only a year ago that he would lead a change from the expulsion policies of [former Prime Minister Ariel] Sharon.” (MK Yakov Katz of the National Union party). Certainly Netanyahu could have predicted both of these outcomes. So why did he do it? And why did his cabinet approve it? http://calevbenyefuneh.blogspot.com/2009/11/bad-ideas-and-where-they-come-from.html#links 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 "Feeling the financial burn, the Jewish federation in St. Louis initiates a leave-no-donor-behind policy." Hopefully they won't follow in the footsteps of certain other institutions. (-: NY Post: Iranian Regime Front Group Funds Columbia, Rutgers http://calevbenyefuneh.blogspot.com/2009/11/ny-post-iranian-regime-front-group.html#links 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 Outrage over 'rape' poster that demonises Israel-Robyn Rosen (Maybe I'm missing something, but why the choice of allegedly in the first sentence?) The New Israel Fund (NIF) has defended a conference sponsored by three Palestinian groups it funds, which allegedly “demonised” Israel. The poster publicising the conference, held in Haifa on Monday, shows the hand of an IDF soldier grasping the breast of a woman wearing a traditional Palestinian dress. The poster reads: “Her husband needs a permit to touch her. The occupation penetrates her life everyday.” (Continue) http://calevbenyefuneh.blogspot.com/2009/11/outrage-over-rape-poster-that-demonises.html 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 At least for the time being the video is blocked on Youtube by country, i.e. Israel, but the segment concerning Honest Reporting can be viewed at http://calevbenyefuneh.blogspot.com/2009/11/under-attack-hr-accused-by-uk-tv.html#links 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 Save the scarecrow - Sarah Honig Some scarecrows are charmers. They cannot maintain their upright position without outside support, but there's a wide engaging smile scrawled on their faces and their incontrovertible cute-factor makes everyone adore them. Just hear all that pretentious poppycock spouted at us by world opinion (as ever, resonated shrilly by our own left wing). According to trendy conventional wisdom, the Palestinian Authority's scarecrow - Mahmoud Abbas - can do no wrong. At the same time, the Israelis who keep him from keeling over can do no right. Simple isn't it? (Continue) http://calevbenyefuneh.blogspot.com/2009/11/another-tack-save-scarecrow.html 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 Gilo and Diplomatic Dismay: White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs’s statement that the administration is “dismayed” at the construction of more housing in the Gilo neighborhood of Jerusalem — because “neither party should unilaterally preempt negotiations” – is a non-sequitur. Last May, Benjamin Netanyahu arrived at the White House for his first meeting as prime minister with President Obama and announced he wanted to commence negotiations “immediately,” without preconditions, which has been his position ever since. (Continue) http://calevbenyefuneh.blogspot.com/2009/11/gilo-and-diplomatic-dismay.html 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 Another Vast Jewish Conspiracy: British media and society are gripped by lies about a "secret" Israel lobby controlling foreign policy. -Robin Shepherd Here is a small selection of events that have taken place in Britain since the end of Israel's Operation Cast Lead in Gaza earlier this year. The government has imposed a partial arms embargo on Israel and failed to vote against the Goldstone report in the U.N . The charities War on Want and Amnesty International U.K. have both promoted a book by the anti-Israeli firebrand Ben White, tellingly called "Israeli Apartheid: A Beginner's Guide." The Trades Union Congress at its annual conference has called for boycotts of Israeli products as well as a total arms embargo. (Continue...) http://calevbenyefuneh.blogspot.com/2009/11/another-vast-jewish-conspiracy.html#links 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 Apartments in Jerusalem, Now More Scandalizing than Ever: The latest expression of displeasure from the Obama administration over Israeli construction in Jerusalem should not be taken as a comment on the construction itself. It is actually a clumsy attempt at damage control. (Read more) http://calevbenyefuneh.blogspot.com/2009/11/apartments-in-jerusalem-now-more.html#links 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 Battle Over The Identity Of Eretz Yisrael It is still difficult to imagine that even though his passion remains within these words, he is no longer with us. By Tsafrir Ronen z"l Written Thursday, May 22, 2008 The historic significance of the rise of settlements since the beginning of Zionism has been not just to restore the Jewish people to Eretz Yisrael, but chiefly to reinstate the Hebrew identify of Eretz Yisrael.....The desire to destroy settlements is the desire to destroy the identity of Eretz Yisrael – the land of the people of Israel. http://calevbenyefuneh.blogspot.com/2009/11/battle-over-identity-of-eretz-yisrael.html#links 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 In a Tizzy Again: The Jerusalem Post reports: Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu is willing to show “restraint” in constructionin the West Bank, but will not accept any restriction on building in Jerusalem, senior government sources said Tuesday night. Their comments followed the Jerusalem Municipal Planning Committee’s approval of a plan to build some 900 new units in the southeastern Jerusalem neighborhood of Gilo and the ensuing international objections. The administration is unhinged again (isn’t it always?) over Jerusalem settlements: “We are dismayed at the Jerusalem Planning Committee’s decision to move forward on the approval process for the expansion of Gilo in Jerusalem,” [Robert] Gibbs said in a statement. (Continue) http://calevbenyefuneh.blogspot.com/2009/11/in-tizzy-again.html#links 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 Turkey: An Ally No More The foreign ministers of Turkey and Syria met in Aleppo in October 2009. "There is no doubt he is our friend," Turkey's prime minister, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, says of Iran's president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, even as he accuses Israel's foreign minister Avigdor Lieberman of threatening to use nuclear weapons against Gaza. These outrageous assertions point to the profound change of orientation by Turkey's government, for six decades the West's closest Muslim ally, since Erdoğan's AK party came to power in 2002. http://calevbenyefuneh.blogspot.com/2009/10/turkey-ally-no-more.html#links 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 More NIAC Ben Smith, following on Eli Lake’s blockbuster story, has a must-read post on the emerging scandal concerning the mullahs’ favorite front group, the National Iranian American Council (NIAC). The issues go far beyond whether NIAC has been illegally operating without registering as a foreign agent, and have ensnared NIAC’s close ally, none other than J Street. http://calevbenyefuneh.blogspot.com/2009/11/more-niac.html 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 Thunder and Lightning, or in Hebrew – Rahm and Barak, can either bring rains of blessing or a damaging storm. Rahm Emanuel spoke to the General Assembly of Jewish leaders regarding Israel and US involvement in achieving peace between Israel and the Arab occupants of Judea and Samaria. He spoke of his family’s connection to Israel, President Obama’s dedication to peace in the region and how what started in 1967, must end. http://calevbenyefuneh.blogspot.com/2009/11/thunder-and-lightning.html#links 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 Obama and Netanyahu: Not Pals Aluf Benn, a serious journalist at Haaretz, has some cool words to say about Netanyahu's rising sense of confidence about facing down Obama: Netanyahu may be an experienced diplomat and politician, and Obama may be a novice, but Obama is the president of a superpower, and Netanyahu represents a small country that depends greatly on the United States. http://calevbenyefuneh.blogspot.com/2009/11/obama-and-netanyahu-not-pals.html 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 Benign Neglect for the Peace Process -Noah Pollak Thomas Friedman’s column today is utterly sensible and completely realistic. "The only thing driving the peace process today is inertia and diplomatic habit. …" http://calevbenyefuneh.blogspot.com/2009/11/benign-neglect-for-peace-process.html#links 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 Shipped In Plain Sight - J.E. Dyer As the tale of the “New Karine A” develops, one alarm bell it sets off concerns the ease with which the arms transshipment was brought off in plain sight. The ship the Israelis caught with the arms was M/V Francop, a freighter operated by Cyprus-based United Feeder Services. The crew onboard didn’t know what they were carrying, and didn’t carry it from Iran anyway: they picked their cargo up in Damietta, Egypt. The Israelis had tracked Francop from Beirut to Damietta and knew the cargo was loaded there. That means the arms themselves were shipped from Iran to Egypt by other means. Sounds like a story we’ve heard before about Port Sudan and overland convoys to Gaza, right? http://calevbenyefuneh.blogspot.com/2009/11/shipped-in-plain-sight.html 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 Clinton's Mideast Pretzel - Ben Smith Hillary Clinton's voice has not been heard all that often in the Mideast peace process, but she has provoked crises with almost every word. http://calevbenyefuneh.blogspot.com/2009/11/clintons-mideast-pretzel.html 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 Why Are Arabs Unhappy with Hillary? Blame Obama- J. Tobin If Hillary Clinton is unhappy about the abuse she is taking from the Arab world over her equivocal attitude toward Israel, then she should blame President Obama and those of his foreign-policy advisers who urged him to make picking a fight with the Jewish state over settlements one of their top priorities once they took office. http://calevbenyefuneh.blogspot.com/2009/11/why-are-arabs-unhappy-with-hillary.html 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 “To say that you have to love Israel or be pro-Israel to be part of J Street is a terrible mistake.” Thus Judith Baker of the fringe-left Brit Tzedek v’Shalom (its English moniker is Jewish Alliance for Justice and Peace), recently incorporated into J Street, told a reporter at the J Street conference on Tuesday. Indeed, “peace or Israel” seems to be the question. It’s also reported that “J Street’s university arm has dropped the ‘pro-Israel’ part of the left-wing US lobby’s ‘pro-Israel, pro-peace’ slogan to avoid alienating students.” http://calevbenyefuneh.blogspot.com/2009/11/j-street-dreams-israeli-reality.html 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 As last August is already an eternity away, a quick reminder of what took place is in order. Analysis: New Faces of an Unreformed, Hard-line Fatah - Khaled Abu Toameh Many of the newly-elected members of Fatah's Central Committee may be younger than their ousted predecessors, but that does not necessarily mean that they are more reform-minded or less corrupt. Nor does the election of the young guard representatives signal a shift toward moderation. http://calevbenyefuneh.blogspot.com/2009/08/analysis-new-faces-of-unreformed-hard.html 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 Why Are Arabs Unhappy with Hillary? Blame Obama -Jonathan Tobin If Hillary Clinton is unhappy about the abuse she is taking from the Arab world over her equivocal attitude toward Israel, then she should blame President Obama and those of his foreign-policy advisers who urged him to make picking a fight with the Jewish state over settlements one of their top priorities once they took office. Clinton is taking flack for her comment that Israel’s offer to “restrain” the building of housing in Jewish settlements in the West Bank was “unprecedented.” http://calevbenyefuneh.blogspot.com/2009/11/why-are-arabs-unhappy-with-hillary.html#links 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 The United Nations Is Outraged Again, Or: Department of Mideast Static: It won't do, at least not in polite society, to propose wiping a country off the map. That mantra has been left to Iran's raving leader. Instead, this year's tactic at the always-busy United Nations is to deny Israel the right to defend itself. Which would lead to its destruction soon enough. And that would be the practical effect of bringing its generals and ministers to trial for their "war crimes" in Gaza. That's where the Israelis, after absorbing years of rocket attacks across their southern border, went in and attacked the source of the attacks. Their border with Hamas-controlled Gaza has been quieter since. (Continue) http://calevbenyefuneh.blogspot.com/2009/10/united-nations-is-outraged-again-or.html 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 Good wrap up observation- 'Pro-Israel, Pro-peace': Matthew Yglesias, who is deeply sympathetic to the liberal Jewish group J Street's aims, has an interesting point on the gap between its leadership's stated policy positions and those of many attendees at its conference: http://calevbenyefuneh.blogspot.com/2009/10/pro-israel-pro-peace.html#links 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 Blumenthal Lets It Slip: Jeffrey Goldberg catches Max Blumenthal telling a nugget of truth at J Street about the authors of the Israel Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy. http://calevbenyefuneh.blogspot.com/2009/10/blumenthal-lets-it-slip.html#links Dear Ray, "Discourse and discussion are Democratic principles if applied properly in the Middle East -- in israel and the Arab World -- would have encouraged peace long ago." Unlike and unlikely in the "Arab World" where discourse does not exist, Israel has a press that in it's lack of national responsibility, exceeds all standards. The J Street conference in it's physically removing those it disagrees with or shouting them down, could certainly feel welcome in any non-democratic forum. 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 Maybe it's something in the air. Elie Wiesel Mocked at J Street Conference: The "independent" blogger panel at J Street's conference can only be described as clownish. The panel consisted mostly of crackpots and self-described anti-Zionists and "one-staters" (J Street director Jeremy Ben-Ami calls the one-state solution a "nightmare," but it seems to be the dream of many of the organization's supporters). Though J Street tried to distance itself from the panel by describing it as an "unofficial" and "independent" event, the bloggers used one of the rooms otherwise reserved for conference events, a podium in the front had a J Street placard on it, and a J Street banner hung on the back wall of the room. Ben-Ami came in to "check up" on the panel, and a J Street flack ejected someone from the room at the behest of one of the panelists. If this wasn't an official event, I don't know what official means. (Full article) http://calevbenyefuneh.blogspot.com/2009/10/elie-wiesel-mocked-at-j-street.html#links 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 Meanwhile, back in the world of reality....... Iran: Enriching Uranium or its Regime? Tariq Alhomayed Asharq Al-Awsat 25 October 09 The prevailing roundabout has returned i.e. [that of] saying yes and no, between the Iranian regime and the G5 + 1 countries in the Vienna negotiations that are discussing the Iranian nuclear file after Tehran surprised the West by asking for a new deadline next week in order to give its response to whether it will accept the proposal put forward with regards to uranium being enriched by a third party outside of Iran. (Full article) http://calevbenyefuneh.blogspot.com/2009/10/iran-enriching-uranium-or-its-regime.html#links 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 "The establishment by force, violence, and terrorism of a Jewish state in Palestine in 1948 as well as the expansion of that state in succeeding years involved the unjust and illegal usurpation [sic] of Muslim and Christian lands and rights. "- Salam Al Marayati (December 17, 1993) Salam Al Marayati arrived in America from his native Baghdad in 1964. In the 1980's he positioned himself as an influential player in the California Democratic Party. He served as a Clinton delegate at the 1996 Democratic National Convention. His wife, Laila, featured prominently in Democratic Party politics. This civic minded person is even co-chairman of the Los Angeles Police Department's Muslim Forum. In a nutshell, that's why he was offered the role of keynote speaker at the upcoming J Street conference. Full article-http://calevbenyefuneh.blogspot.com/2009/10/meet-pro-israel-keynoters-salam-al.html 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 Peace vs. the 'peace process' "WHOM THE GODS WOULD DESTROY," the late Irving Kristol once observed, "they first tempt to resolve the Arab-Israeli conflict." Maybe "destroy" was putting it a bit strongly, but there is no denying that American presidents seem irresistibly drawn to the belief that they can succeed where others have failed and conjure a lasting peace between Israel and its Arab enemies. This diplomacy has gone by various names -- Oslo, the Roadmap, Camp David, and so on -- but time and again it has led not to the end of the conflict but to its intensification. http://calevbenyefuneh.blogspot.com/2009/10/peace-vs-peace-process.html 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 What Will Jones Say: When last we left the J Street Conference story, the lawmaker-hosts were dropping like flies. Sens. Schumer, Gillibrand, Cochran, and Lincoln had departed, as had a growing list of congressmen. It isn’t hard to see why they might not want to appear at the confab, as this details in reviewing some of the slated speakers and background on the J Street crowd: http://calevbenyefuneh.blogspot.com/2009/10/what-will-jones-say.html 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 J Street’s Threat to Israel: As if Richard Goldstone wasn’t enough, the community of loyal Jews also has to cope—increasingly—with J Street. J Street is holding a conference in Washington later this month, and it’s trying to get the Israeli ambassador to the U.S., Michael Oren, to come to it. Oren has yet to accept. http://calevbenyefuneh.blogspot.com/2009/10/j-streets-threat-to-israel.html 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 Iranian supreme leader mocks America, hails Geneva talks as “great victory” for Iran, vows Israel will be destroyed: In another one of those stories that doesn’t quite fit the prevailing narratives in much of the West these days and thus went largely unreported, it has emerged that Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Khatami used his speech at Friday prayers last week to mock the United States and its allies over Iran’s nuclear programme while repeating old mantras about the destruction of Israel. http://calevbenyefuneh.blogspot.com/2009/10/iranian-supreme-leader-mocks-america.html 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 The Contempt of Iran for America-Melanie Phillips This is what Ayatollah Ahmad Khatami said at last Friday’s prayer meeting in Tehran about the Geneva talks between Iran and the UN Security council big five plus Germany: ‘The meeting was a great victory for the Islamic Republic of Iran to such an extent that even the Western and Zionist media had to admit defeat....Prior to the talks, they (Westerners) used to speak of suspension and sanctions against Iran, but after the talks, there has not been any word of suspension or sanctions, rather, Iran's package of proposals was the axis.’ http://calevbenyefuneh.blogspot.com/2009/10/contempt-of-iran-for-america.html 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 Goldstone Backs Away from Report: The Two Faces of an International Poseur With so much (though not all) of the civilized world justly condemning (or ignoring) the Goldstone report for its distortion of the facts and its one-sided condemnation of Israel, Richard Goldstone himself now seems to be backing away from the report’s conclusions—at least when he speaks to his Jewish audiences. http://calevbenyefuneh.blogspot.com/2009/10/goldstone-backs-away-from-report-two.html 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 Obama Wins Nobel Peace Prize--What More Do You Need to Know to Understand Today's World? The news that President Barack Obama has won the Nobel Peace Prize seems like a prize bit of satire, like Chicago getting the Olympics. “Are you laughing or crying,” wrote a reader to me. “Neither. I’m thinking about what this tells us about the world today,” I responded. (Barry Rubin) http://calevbenyefuneh.blogspot.com/2009/10/obama-wins-nobel-peace-prize-what-more.html#links 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 It is appropriate that at the end of October, right before Halloween, a large gathering of anti-Israel organizations dressed up in costumes labeled "pro-Israel" and "pro-peace" will convene in Washington. The disguises are new and from a distance they look so good that a shockingly large contingent of our national representatives have been fooled -- and then lent their names to endorse the central public component of this deception, otherwise known as "J Street's First Annual Gala Dinner." http://calevbenyefuneh.blogspot.com/2009/10/j-street-is-selling-snake-oil.html#links 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 The Peace With Egypt: 30 Years Old and Still a Terrifying Precedent for Israel - The Camp David Accords were signed 31 years ago this mid-month. The actual Israel-Egypt Peace Treaty was sealed 30 years ago this coming March. This was negotiated between Menahem Begin and Anwar Sadat. (The immediate reward for Cairo was annual emoluments of $3 billion, just about what Israel has received for military aid.) No soldiers have taken up arms against each other ever since. No airplanes have flown hostilely over each other's air space, no tanks, no missiles, no nothing. Nonetheless, the normalization of relations that many people anticipated would emerge between the two nations (Egypt being the only historic nation in the entire Arab orbit) has never materialized. A poll taken of 1000 Egyptians in 2006 (true, in the shadow of the second Lebanon war) found that 92% considered Israeli an enemy nation. http://calevbenyefuneh.blogspot.com/2009/09/peace-with-egypt-30-years-old-and-still.html#links 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 The U.N. Blood Libel - This is a must-watch video by Eye on the UN’s Anne Bayefsky of responses to the Goldstone Report by Human Rights Council members Iran, Libya, Yemen, Venezuela, and Sudan. Do not miss her j’accuse moment at the end, nor the disgusting pusillanimity of the Council’s president, Alex Van Meeuwen. http://calevbenyefuneh.blogspot.com/2009/10/un-blood-libel.html#links 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 Freedman in the Guardian: Pro-Temple Mount Also for the Jews This from a avowed sympathizer of the other side: Meting out violence against worshippers planning to pray at Judaism's holiest site, as occurred several times during the last week, is a disgraceful way to demonstrate against the Israeli authorities, and the sooner Palestinian leaders condemn the aggression, the better for all parties concerned. Letting off steam in such a fashion might soothe the sense of injured pride felt by many on the Palestinian street, as well as score cheap political points among their more incendiary leaders, but it does not mitigate the negative effects of such a base response by the rioters. http://calevbenyefuneh.blogspot.com/2009/10/freedman-in-guardian-pro-temple-mount.html#links Also: http://calevbenyefuneh.blogspot.com/2009/10/who-is-really-to-blame-for-tensions-on.html#links 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 Why this man is laughing fit to explode - Melanie Phillips There are clearly no lengths to which the world will not go to facilitate Iran’s pursuit of nuclear weapons. Consider. A couple of weeks ago, the world was stunned to discover that Iran had a second uranium processing plant at Qom, thus proving beyond doubt that its pursuit of nuclear technology was to make not nuclear energy but a bomb. Actually it wasn’t stunned at all, since this information was known to Barack Obama before he was even elected President. But anyway. This coup de théâtre was revealed, it seemed, to strengthen the world’s hand in dealing with Iran. After all, this autumn is the deadline set by the Obama administration for Iran to halt its nuclear weapons programme, after which the US said it was finally going to get really tough with Iran and do ... oooh, really tough things like sanctions http://calevbenyefuneh.blogspot.com/2009/10/why-this-man-is-laughing-fit-to-explode.html#links 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 Michael Oren on Holocaust Denial and the Goldstone Report Jennifer Rubin-Contentions/Commentary Michael Oren’s must-read column is both a defense of his prime minister’s UN speech (as a necessary rebuttal to Holocaust denial) and an insightful explanation as to why the Goldstone report is so insidious. And, yes, the two are very much related. http://calevbenyefuneh.blogspot.com/2009/10/michael-oren-on-holocaust-denial-and.html#links 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 There is no street in Washington named for the letter “J,” but that hasn’t stopped a group of critics of Israel from forming the “J Street” lobby. It’s like J. K. Rowling’s invisible Platform 9 ¾ at the King’s Cross Station. Befitting a Harry Potter character, J Street performs acts of illusion and deception such as cooking its polling data and presenting it as scientific truth. The “pro-Israel” J Street PAC has cloaked dozens of PAC contributors as plain citizens, when they are actually Arab-American, Palestinian, Islamic, and pro-Iranian activists. All the while, J Street hides the names of its directors and has never explained who makes its controversial decisions. http://calevbenyefuneh.blogspot.com/2009/09/peeling-off-j-streets-invisibility.html#links Also: http://calevbenyefuneh.blogspot.com/2009/09/soros-axelrod-axis-j-street-gang.html#links 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 Where Obama sees tentative success, reality suggests failure. Faced with irrefutable evidence, Tehran acknowledged that it had built a second, covert nuclear-enrichment plant, squirreled away in an Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps base near Qom. Neither Obama nor the director of national intelligence, Dennis C. Blair, acknowledged that Iranian confirmation of its second enrichment plant belied the veracity of the 2007 National Intelligence Estimate. Regardless, Tehran's decision to confess when confronted with proof of cheating should not be considered the same as Iranian transparency and goodwill. Many scientists within the International Atomic Energy Agency believe that the Iranian regime now has "sufficient information to be able to design and produce a workable" nuclear bomb. http://calevbenyefuneh.blogspot.com/2009/10/bad-options-on-iran.html#links 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 Who is really to blame for the tensions on the Temple Mount? "Sunday, however, it seemed as if the appropriate conclusions had been drawn: After learning that dozens of Muslims planned to await the arrival of "extremist Jews" at the Temple Mount, the police decided that the entire area would remain closed to non-Muslim visitors." http://calevbenyefuneh.blogspot.com/2009/10/who-is-really-to-blame-for-tensions-on.html#links 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 Where Obama sees tentative success, reality suggests failure. Faced with irrefutable evidence, Tehran acknowledged that it had built a second, covert nuclear-enrichment plant, squirreled away in an Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps base near Qom. Neither Obama nor the director of national intelligence, Dennis C. Blair, acknowledged that Iranian confirmation of its second enrichment plant belied the veracity of the 2007 National Intelligence Estimate. Regardless, Tehran's decision to confess when confronted with proof of cheating should not be considered the same as Iranian transparency and goodwill. http://calevbenyefuneh.blogspot.com/2009/10/bad-options-on-iran.html#links 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 Following the release of the Gilad Shalit video in exchange for 20 Palestinian female terrorists who were involved in attempted murder, Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal has repeated the organization's threats to kidnap more soldiers. Hamas sees the release as vindication of its kidnapping-for-hostage policy. http://calevbenyefuneh.blogspot.com/2009/10/pmw-bulletin-hamas-repeats-threat-to.html 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 Following the release of the Gilad Shalit video in exchange for 20 Palestinian female terrorists who were involved in attempted murder, Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal has repeated the organization's threats to kidnap more soldiers. Hamas sees the release as vindication of its kidnapping-for-hostage policy. Mashaal said: "The resistance, which has succeeded in capturing Gilad Shalit, keeping him alive and well for more than three years, giving him proper treatment, and excelling in conducting indirect negotiations, is capable of capturing [another] Shalit and [another] Shalit and [another] Shalit, until not a single prisoner will remain in the enemy's jails." http://calevbenyefuneh.blogspot.com/2009/10/pmw-bulletin-hamas-repeats-threat-to.html 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 Intelligence Gamesmanship -Jennifer Rubin Rich Lowry observes that the discovery of the secret Iranian nuclear facility puts a stake through the 2007 National Intelligence Estimate, which was vilified at the time by conservatives. (Thomas Joscelyn: “As many noted at the time, the language and logic of the NIE were nonsensical. There were transparent flaws in its analysis, including the arbitrary decision to set aside concerns over Iran’s overt uranium enrichment and ballistic missile development efforts — both of which continued apace.”) That would be the same NIE report that was heralded by Obama and his fellow liberals. http://calevbenyefuneh.blogspot.com/2009/09/intelligence-gamesmanship.html#links 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 It takes much more than talk to stop Iran's stonewalling by Michael Rubin Tomorrow, U.S. diplomats and their Russian, Chinese and European counterparts will join Iranian officials to discuss the Islamic Republic's nuclear program. The meeting follows new Iranian missile tests and exposure of a second covert Iranian nuclear enrichment facility. Iran enters the negotiations defiant. "The announcement of the enrichment facilities will be Iran's winning card," Kayhan newspaper, the mouthpiece of the Supreme Leader, editorialized last Sunday. http://calevbenyefuneh.blogspot.com/2009/09/it-takes-much-more-than-talk-to-stop.html#links 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 Targeting Israelis via International Law: Israel and Its Enemies by Barak M. Seener Middle East Quarterly Fall 2009, pp. 43-54 Based on principles derived from the Hague and Geneva conventions, individuals have been brought to trial for war crimes, crimes against peace, and crimes against humanity. The outstanding examples of such trials were those held at Nuremberg after World War II where numbers of leading Nazis were brought to court for some of the many crimes committed by Germany under the Third Reich. The shadow of those trials is still visible today. http://calevbenyefuneh.blogspot.com/2009/09/targeting-israelis-via-international.html#links 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 Intelligence Gamesmanship - Rich Lowry observes that the discovery of the secret Iranian nuclear facility puts a stake through the 2007 National Intelligence Estimate, which was vilified at the time by conservatives. (Thomas Joscelyn: “As many noted at the time, the language and logic of the NIE were nonsensical. There were transparent flaws in its analysis, including the arbitrary decision to set aside concerns over Iran’s overt uranium enrichment and ballistic missile development efforts — both of which continued apace.”) http://calevbenyefuneh.blogspot.com/2009/09/intelligence-gamesmanship.html#links 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 Camp David Syndrome Readers who are familiar with the Stockholm Syndrome will recall that it refers to a hostage-taking 1973 incident in that Swedish capital city. Over time, the hostages began to look to their captors as friends and protectors rather than the murderous kidnapers that they truly were http://calevbenyefuneh.blogspot.com/2009/09/camp-david-syndrome.html#links 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 Temple Mount Intolerance Last week, our synagogue in Beit Shemesh made its annual High Holy Day week visit to the Temple Mount. We began the tradition six years ago when the site was reopened to non-Muslims. During the first three years following the start of the September 2000 war launched against Israel by the Palestinian Authority, Hamas and Hizbullah, the government decided to reward Arab terror by barring all non-Muslims from even setting foot on the Temple Mount. http://calevbenyefuneh.blogspot.com/2009/09/intolerance-on-temple-mount.html#links 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 The Goldstone report can’t even get a stamp of approval from Mary Robinson. (I bet it’ll make the Osama bin Laden reading list, however.) We noted last week the rather tepid response from Ambassador Susan Rice. Then it appeared that the U.S. was actually going to step in to block further action on the report—almost like it was defending an ally who had been unjustly accused by ideologically craven opponents. But that, it turns out, was a mistake, a misstatement, a gaffe. The Obama administration wouldn’t dream of such a thing. http://calevbenyefuneh.blogspot.com/2009/09/in-case-you-thought-it-couldnt-get-any.html#links 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 If the president’s speech was one of the more embarrassing and shameful displays by a U.S. President before the UN, then today brought a reminder of the power of moral clarity. Bibi Netanyahu delivered a scathing condemnation of those who sat and listened to Holocaust denier Ahmadinejad. And he brought some visual aids: http://calevbenyefuneh.blogspot.com/2009/09/speech-for-ages.html#links 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 What are “the legitimate rights of the Palestinians”? - Ted Belman Yesterday Pres Obama addressed the UNGA on the subject of the conflict between Arabs and Jews conflict and had this to say; …I will also continue to seek a just and lasting peace between Israel, Palestine, and the Arab world. What is noteworthy here, is that he referred to “Palestine” like it was a state already. Is that not pre-judging the outcome? He also wants there to be peace with the “Arab world” which means more pressure on Israel to cave to the demands of Syria. http://calevbenyefuneh.blogspot.com/2009/09/what-are-legitimate-rights-of.html#links 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 France throws a Pie in Obama's Face: The Increasingly Obvious Failure of Obama's Middle East Policy - The Rubin Report It’s a development of such shocking proportions that it would cause an earthquake if properly noticed and evaluated. President Barack Obama’s entire Arab-Israeli and Iranian policies are miserably failing, though partly concealed by theatrical events and media protection. Consider the latest development. French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner arriving at the UN General Assembly session, stated that he doesn’t favor blocking the export of refined oil products to Iran, the keystone of the new sanctions proposed by Obama. http://calevbenyefuneh.blogspot.com/2009/09/france-throws-pie-in-obamas-face.html#links 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 Peeling Off J Street’s Invisibility Cloak: What the NY Times Magazine Won’t Tell You - Lenny Ben-David There is no street in Washington named for the letter “J,” but that hasn’t stopped a group of critics of Israel from forming the “J Street” lobby. It’s like J. K. Rowling’s invisible Platform 9 ¾ at the King’s Cross Station. Befitting a Harry Potter character, J Street performs acts of illusion and deception such as cooking its polling data and presenting it as scientific truth. The “pro-Israel” J Street PAC has cloaked dozens of PAC contributors as plain citizens, when they are actually Arab-American, Palestinian, Islamic, and pro-Iranian activists. All the while, J Street hides the names of its directors and has never explained who makes its controversial decisions. http://calevbenyefuneh.blogspot.com/2009/09/peeling-off-j-streets-invisibility.html 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 Obama to Israel and Palestinians: Make Peace Right Now Cause I Said So! - Barry Rubin It is difficult to overstate the absurdity in context of President Barack Obama’s performance at the Israeli-Palestinian photo opportunity at the UN. The outstanding theme is his commandist style. http://calevbenyefuneh.blogspot.com/2009/09/israel-and-trouble-with-international.html#links 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 David Landau’s Criticism of Goldstone: Even the Self-Absorbed See a Problem - Richard Landes Even hyper-self-critic David Landau, whose astonishingly self-destructiive advice to Condaleeza Rice, I’ve discussed before, finds Goldstone unpalatable. And yet, he remains firmly inside his moral narcissism, obsessing over the four-dimensional Israeli soul, implicitly treating Gentiles as three-dimensional bit players, and the Palestinians as two dimensional cardboard figures whose moral angency does not even exist.Even for Goldstone, getting criticized by someone like Landau has to hurt. From fashlah to fadihah. http://calevbenyefuneh.blogspot.com/2009/09/david-landaus-criticism-of-goldstone.html#links 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 Re: Re: What Price Photo Op? - Jennifer Rubin Obama’s silly stunt to force a complete settlement freeze is essentially kaput. To avoid a huge humiliation, he dragged both Abbas and Netanyahu to a meeting to decide they are going to talk some more—without preconditions (i.e., no freeze)—and get back to him in a month: There was general agreement, including on the part of the Palestinians, that the peace process has to be resumed as soon as possible with no preconditions,” the premier told reporters in New York City. http://calevbenyefuneh.blogspot.com/2009/09/re-re-what-price-photo-op.html#links 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 Re: Re: What Price Photo Op? - Jennifer Rubin Obama’s silly stunt to force a complete settlement freeze is essentially kaput. To avoid a huge humiliation, he dragged both Abbas and Netanyahu to a meeting to decide they are going to talk some more—without preconditions (i.e., no freeze)—and get back to him in a month: There was general agreement, including on the part of the Palestinians, that the peace process has to be resumed as soon as possible with no preconditions,” the premier told reporters in New York City. http://calevbenyefuneh.blogspot.com/2009/09/re-re-what-price-photo-op.html#links 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 What Price Photo Op? - Jonathan Tobin Barack Obama got to play peacemaker today during his staged meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian Authority leader Mahmoud Abbas. In a throwback to Bill Clinton’s famous photo op on the White House Lawn with Yasir Arafat and Yitzhak Rabin, Obama stood between the men, holding their arms as the two shook hands. http://calevbenyefuneh.blogspot.com/2009/09/what-price-photo-op.html#links 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 Spain boycotts Ariel University Center for being on 'occupied territory' Spanish government, sponsor of Solar Decathalon, disqualifies architecture department of Ariel University Center of Samaria from finals. '10,000 students hurt by fight that is against international law,' claims college http://calevbenyefuneh.blogspot.com/2009/09/spain-boycotts-ariel-college-for-being.html#links 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 The Biggest Jewish Settlement - Jonathan Tobin At the center of the recent controversy about the participation of Israeli artists at the Toronto Film Festival was the fact that the event highlighted the city of Tel Aviv’s centennial. To the signatories of a letter of protest, a group that included Danny Glover, Wallace Shawn, and Jane Fonda, it was the notion of celebrating Tel Aviv that was the real problem. It was, they said, founded on violence and the “suffering of thousands of former residents and descendants.” http://calevbenyefuneh.blogspot.com/2009/09/biggest-jewish-settlement.html#links 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 David Landau’s Criticism of Goldstone: Even the Self-Absorbed See a Problem - Richard Landes Even hyper-self-critic David Landau, whose astonishingly self-destructiive advice to Condaleeza Rice, I’ve discussed before, finds Goldstone unpalatable. And yet, he remains firmly inside his moral narcissism, obsessing over the four-dimensional Israeli soul, implicitly treating Gentiles as three-dimensional bit players, and the Palestinians as two dimensional cardboard figures whose moral angency does not even exist.Even for Goldstone, getting criticized by someone like Landau has to hurt. From fashlah to fadihah. http://calevbenyefuneh.blogspot.com/2009/09/david-landaus-criticism-of-goldstone.html 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 Neville Chamberlain Was A Far-Sighted Hero Compared To This - Melanie Phillips Barry Rubin says this is the big one and I agree. Obama’s decision to accept Iran’s, er, offer of talks is a mistake of simply staggering proportions. It was inevitable – and yet even so it is hard to believe that an American President can be quite this reckless. http://calevbenyefuneh.blogspot.com/2009/09/neville-chamberlain-was-far-sighted.html#links 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 David Landau’s Criticism of Goldstone: Even the Self-Absorbed See a Problem - Richard Landes Even hyper-self-critic David Landau, whose astonishingly self-destructiive advice to Condaleeza Rice, I’ve discussed before, finds Goldstone unpalatable. And yet, he remains firmly inside his moral narcissism, obsessing over the four-dimensional Israeli soul, implicitly treating Gentiles as three-dimensional bit players, and the Palestinians as two dimensional cardboard figures whose moral angency does not even exist.Even for Goldstone, getting criticized by someone like Landau has to hurt. From fashlah to fadihah. http://calevbenyefuneh.blogspot.com/2009/09/david-landaus-criticism-of-goldstone.html#links 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 A study in contrasts: President Obama's Rosh Hashana message compared to message for EID-UL-FITR and Ramadan http://www.imra.org.il/story.php3?id=45816 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 Shameful Rachel Abrams March 20, 2009. Obama, obsequious, greets the leaders of “the Islamic Republic of Iran,” who have the blood of Americans on their hands, on the eve of the Iranian New Year: So in this season of new beginnings I would like to speak clearly to Iran’s leaders. We have serious differences that have grown over time. My administration is now committed to diplomacy that addresses the full range of issues before us, and to pursuing constructive ties among the United States, Iran and the international community. This process will not be advanced by threats. We seek instead engagement that is honest and grounded in mutual respect. http://calevbenyefuneh.blogspot.com/2009/09/shameful.html#links 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 Anti-Semitic Contagion…from Sweden to Algeria - Robin Shepherd - Well that’s not the kind of headline you’d have seen a few years ago. But the times they are a changing. Contemporary Europe is not merely competing with anti-Semitic bigotry in the countries of the Muslim world, it is now exporting it to them. In the wake of the story in Sweden’s Aftonbladet newspaper last month which suggested that Israeli soldiers were involved in an international conspiracy to harvest the bodily organs of Palestinian children, it now appears that stories are rife across the Middle East that Jews and Israelis are harvesting the organs of Algerian children too. http://calevbenyefuneh.blogspot.com/2009/09/anti-semitic-contagionfrom-sweden-to.html 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 Good sense, intelligent analysis, reason, balance and principled perspective are rare commodities indeed when European newspapers engage with Israel and its predicament in the Middle East these days. So, when a candle is lit in the darkness we should applaud. Hats off, therefore, to the Times of London. Today’s editorial pegs off the ugly spectacle at the Trades Union Congress this week of some of Britain’s biggest unions banding together to call for a consumer boycott of Israel in the wake of Operation Cast Lead in Gaza, and amid a more general hostility to the Jewish state which often seems all pervasive. At the time of writing, no decision on the boycott calls had been made. The Times, however, has put the whole sordid situation into some useful perspective. http://calevbenyefuneh.blogspot.com/2009/09/times-of-london-offers-breath-of-fresh.html#links 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 The Goldstone Show-Trial - Melanie Phillips In the wake of Israel’s Operation Cast Lead in Gaza at the turn of this year, the UN’s satirically named ‘Human Rights Council’ set up what purported to be an objective, fact-finding commission of inquiry under Richard Goldstone, former chief prosecutor for the International Criminal Tribunals for the former Yugoslavia and Rwanda and a judge of the South African Constitutional Court. The degree of objectivity on this Commission can be gauged from the mandate it was given by the , UNHRC, which announced it was dispatching an urgent, independent international fact-finding mission, to be appointed by the President of the Council, to investigate all violations of international human rights law and international humanitarian law by the occupying Power, Israel, against the Palestinian people throughout the Occupied Palestinian Territory, particularly in the occupied Gaza Strip, due to the current aggression, and calls upon Israel not to obstruct the process of investigation and to fully cooperate with the mission. http://calevbenyefuneh.blogspot.com/2009/09/goldstone-show-trial.html In a first quick review, the 575-page report of the Goldstone mission seems as bad or worse than had been expected – the critics who warned of a “kangaroo court” created in order to find Israel guilty will claim that they were correct. Goldstone’s press conference in New York and the report’s recommendations constitute another step in the Durban strategy in which the language of human rights and international law are misused as weapons in the political war to isolate and demonize Israel. http://calevbenyefuneh.blogspot.com/2009/09/goldstones-report-fundamentally-flawed.html 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 Elements Ignored by the Report: · The Report all but ignores the deliberate terrorist strategy of operating in the heart of densely populated civilian areas which dictated the arena of battle. Even when the Hamas terrorists mixed among civilians, the Report rejects the notion that there was an intention to put the civilian population at risk. · Astonishingly, despite the many widely reported instances in the international press of the abuse of civilian facilities by terrorist groups, and the statements of Hamas own leaders praising women and children who acted as human shields, the Report repeatedly stated that it could find no evidence of such activities. This, even despite its admission that those interviewed were "reluctant to speak about the presence or conduct of hostilities by the Palestinian armed groups". · The Report also ignores Israel's extensive efforts, even in the midst of fighting, to maintain humanitarian standards. While it does, reluctantly, acknowledge Israel's "significant efforts" to issue warnings before attacks, it does not find any of these efforts to be effective · While the Report passes judgment against Israel in respect of almost any allegation, it seeks to absolve the Hamas of almost any wrongdoing. The word "terrorist" is almost entirely absent. Soldier Gilad Shalit, now held incommunicado in captivity for over three years, was "captured during an enemy incursion" and the Hamas members that the Mission met with in Gaza are thanked as the "Gaza authorities" for extending their full cooperation and support to the Mission. · Even the thousands of rocket attacks against Israelis which necessitated the Gaza Operation are given the most cursory treatment, and indeed the Report indirectly blames Israel even for these by terming them "'reprisals". http://calevbenyefuneh.blogspot.com/2009/09/israels-analysis-and-comments-on-gaza.html 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 The Moral Inversion of Richard Goldstone - Melanie Phillips So now we can see how Richard Goldstone thinks he has preserved his judicial reputation while perpetrating a blood libel against Israel. He has produced a report which, as anticipated, finds that Israel committed all the ‘war crimes’ during Operation Cast Lead of which his Mission members had decided it was guilty before even starting their deliberations, along with the NGOs whose unremitting hostility and malice towards Israel and history of peddling Palestinian propaganda as fact did not deter the Mission from uncritically accepting their evidence as the truth, thus finding Hamas guilty of no crimes at all -- except one. http://calevbenyefuneh.blogspot.com/2009/09/moral-inversion-of-richard-goldstone.html#links Alan Dershowitz, the eminent professor of law at Harvard University, has frequently compared Israel’s predicament when faced with the institutions of international law to all white courts in the American south of the 1930s. In cases involving two white people they could be trusted to make a decent fist of a fair trial. In cases involving two black people their insoucience and arrogance would introduce doubt, though a fair trial might still be possible. But pit a white man against a black man and the latter never stood a chance. The result had been pre-ordained by the weight of the prejudices against him. http://calevbenyefuneh.blogspot.com/2009/09/bbc-exposes-itself-to-ridicule-in.html 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 Israel's Analysis and Comments on the GAZA FACT FINDING MISSION REPORT · Israel is appalled and disappointed by the Report published on 15 September 2009 by the Gaza Fact Finding Mission. The Report effectively ignores Israel's right of self defense, makes unsubstantiated claims about its intent and challenges Israel's democratic values and rule of law. · At the same time the Report all but ignores the deliberate strategy of Hamas of operating within and behind the civilian population and turning densely populated areas into an arena of battle. By turning a blind eye to such tactics it effectively rewards them. · The Report barely disguises its goal of instigating a political campaign against Israel, and in its recommendations seeks to involve the Security Council, the General Assembly the International Criminal Court, the Human Rights Council, and the entire international community in such a campaign. The Mandate of the Mission: · The one-sided mandate of the Gaza Fact Finding Mission, and the resolution established it, gave serious reasons for concern both to Israel and to the many states on the Council which refused to support it - including the member states of the European Union, Switzerland, Canada, Korea and Japan. · It also troubled many distinguished individuals, including former High Commissioner for Human Rights Mary Robinson, who refused invitations to head the Mission and admitted that it was "guided not by human rights but by politics". http://calevbenyefuneh.blogspot.com/2009/09/israels-analysis-and-comments-on-gaza.html#links 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 What Happened to the U.S. Deadline on Iran? - Dore Gold Iran’s new proposal to the West did not provide any opening for serious negotiations on the nuclear issue, but rather vague formulations for the agenda of any future talks. Back in July, when the G-8 announced that the opening of the UN General Assembly “would be an occasion for taking stock of the situation in Iran,” most international observers understood that there was a hard September deadline that Iran had to meet to begin serious nuclear negotiations. Unfortunately, at this stage, there is little evidence that the Obama administration is about to adopt effective action in a timely manner in light of Iran’s policy of rejectionism, setting aside diplomatic engagement and moving to a policy of severe sanctions. http://calevbenyefuneh.blogspot.com/2009/09/what-happened-to-us-deadline-on-iran.html#links 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 What Happened to the U.S. Deadline on Iran? - Dore Gold Iran's new proposal to the West did not provide any opening for serious negotiations on the nuclear issue, but rather vague formulations for the agenda of any future talks. Back in July, when the G-8 announced that the opening of the UN General Assembly "would be an occasion for taking stock of the situation in Iran," most international observers understood that there was a hard September deadline that Iran had to meet to begin serious nuclear negotiations. Unfortunately, at this stage, there is little evidence that the Obama administration is about to adopt effective action in a timely manner in light of Iran's policy of rejectionism, setting aside diplomatic engagement and moving to a policy of severe sanctions. http://calevbenyefuneh.blogspot.com/2009/09/what-happened-to-us-deadline-on-iran.html#links 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 Israel's Analysis and Comments on the GAZA FACT FINDING MISSION REPORT Israel is appalled and disappointed by the Report published on 15 September 2009 by the Gaza Fact Finding Mission. The Report effectively ignores Israel's right of self defense, makes unsubstantiated claims about its intent and challenges Israel's democratic values and rule of law. · At the same time the Report all but ignores the deliberate strategy of Hamas of operating within and behind the civilian population and turning densely populated areas into an arena of battle. By turning a blind eye to such tactics it effectively rewards them. · The Report barely disguises its goal of instigating a political campaign against Israel, and in its recommendations seeks to involve the Security Council, the General Assembly the International Criminal Court, the Human Rights Council, and the entire international community in such a campaign. http://calevbenyefuneh.blogspot.com/2009/09/israels-analysis-and-comments-on-gaza.html#links 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 New Israel Fund, Paving The Road To Hell With "Good Intentions?" Batya Medad 12 August 09 In another week, it'll be the Month of Ellul, the month we prepare ourselves for G-d's judgement on Rosh Hashannah and Yom Kippur. For that reason, I want to be as careful as I can when discussing the NIF, New Israel Fund. Judaism has a principle of "Hakarat HaTov," recognizing and point out the good. For that reason, I must say that a number of years ago I first became acquainted with the New Israel Fund's Shatil Department. I was then working with a small, struggling apolitical NPO, non-profit organization, and was sent to Shatil for training in fund-raising. They conducted workshops for a variety of organizations, mostly Left-wing or "alternative life-style," but there were a couple of groups like mine. One reason was to be able to say that they help "everyone," and the other was that, even today years later, there is no comparable service from the Right nor the religious. I was extremely impressed by their knowledge and professionalism. http://calevbenyefuneh.blogspot.com/2009/08/new-israel-fund-paving-road-to-hell.html#links 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 Israel’s Analysis and Comments on the GAZA FACT FINDING MISSION REPORT Israel is appalled and disappointed by the Report published on 15 September 2009 by the Gaza Fact Finding Mission. The Report effectively ignores Israel’s right of self defense, makes unsubstantiated claims about its intent and challenges Israel’s democratic values and rule of law. (+related links) http://calevbenyefuneh.blogspot.com/2009/09/israels-analysis-and-comments-on-gaza.html#links 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 Israel's Analysis and Comments on the GAZA FACT FINDING MISSION REPORT Israel is appalled and disappointed by the Report published on 15 September 2009 by the Gaza Fact Finding Mission. The Report effectively ignores Israel's right of self defense, makes unsubstantiated claims about its intent and challenges Israel's democratic values and rule of law. (+related links) http://calevbenyefuneh.blogspot.com/2009/09/israels-analysis-and-comments-on-gaza.html#links 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 Neville Chamberlain Was A Far-Sighted Hero Compared To This - Melanie Phillips Barry Rubin says this is the big one and I agree. Obama’s decision to accept Iran’s, er, offer of talks is a mistake of simply staggering proportions. It was inevitable – and yet even so it is hard to believe that an American President can be quite this reckless. As we all know, Obama offered Iran a hand of friendship in the hope that this would finally encourage the regime to open up its clenched fist. Months passed; Obama’s hand remained open, the Iranian fist remained clenched and Iran made good use of the precious gift of time Obama had given it to advance its nuclear programme to the point where it is now variously estimated as soon able /already able to manufacture a nuclear weapon. http://calevbenyefuneh.blogspot.com/2009/09/neville-chamberlain-was-far-sighted.html#links 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 The Goldstone Show-Trial - Melanie Phillips In the wake of Israel’s Operation Cast Lead in Gaza at the turn of this year, the UN’s satirically named ‘Human Rights Council’ set up what purported to be an objective, fact-finding commission of inquiry under Richard Goldstone, former chief prosecutor for the International Criminal Tribunals for the former Yugoslavia and Rwanda and a judge of the South African Constitutional Court. The degree of objectivity on this Commission can be gauged from the mandate it was given by the , UNHRC, which announced it was dispatching an urgent, independent international fact-finding mission, to be appointed by the President of the Council, to investigate all violations of international human rights law and international humanitarian law by the occupying Power, Israel, against the Palestinian people throughout the Occupied Palestinian Territory, particularly in the occupied Gaza Strip, due to the current aggression, and calls upon Israel not to obstruct the process of investigation and to fully cooperate with the mission. http://calevbenyefuneh.blogspot.com/2009/09/goldstone-show-trial.html 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 The Right of Jews to Live in the Land of Israel, .... If We Stand Up For Our Rights - Moshe Arens Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his advisors are exerting their best efforts in the search for ways to avoid a confrontation with the president of the United States, who has publicly called for a cessation of construction in West Bank settlements and East Jerusalem. But there should be no doubt about it: The government of Israel and the U.S. president are on a collision course. That became clear when Barack Obama declared in his speech in Cairo that "this must stop," referring to Israeli settlement activity in the West Bank. http://calevbenyefuneh.blogspot.com/2009/09/right-of-jews-to-live-in-land-of-israel.html#links 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 All of the Jewish state is “contested ground” FresnoZionism.org JTA reports: In an open letter in response to a protest by dozens of celebrities protesting the Toronto International Film Festival’s decision to showcase the city of Tel Aviv, festival co-director Cameron Bailey wrote that spotlighting Tel Aviv was “not a simple choice and that the city remains contested ground. We continue to learn more about the Palestinian-led Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement.” http://calevbenyefuneh.blogspot.com/2009/09/all-of-jewish-state-is-contested-ground.html#links 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 How have we arrived at this point? Read this excellent article from The Rubin Report- An Introductory Guide To A Very Big Mistake: Analyzing the U.S. Decision to Negotiate with Iran’s Regime http://calevbenyefuneh.blogspot.com/2009/09/introductory-guide-to-very-big-mistake.html#links 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 Protecting the QB in the White House J Street seems to pop up in all the right places lately, buoyed and immunized by indulgent, adoring and uncritical journalists. The upstart lobby was invited to join other Jewish organizations in a July meeting with US President Barack Obama; a month later it attended a meeting with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak. http://calevbenyefuneh.blogspot.com/2009/09/protecting-quarterback-in-white-house.html#links 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 Protecting the Quarterback in the White House Lenny Ben-David J Street seems to pop up in all the right places lately, buoyed and immunized by indulgent, adoring and uncritical journalists. The upstart lobby was invited to join other Jewish organizations in a July meeting with US President Barack Obama; a month later it attended a meeting with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak. http://calevbenyefuneh.blogspot.com/2009/09/protecting-quarterback-in-white-house.html#links 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 Obama's Impossible Ambition - Benny Morris President Obama's efforts to revive the Middle East peace process are bound to fail because of the unbridgeable divide separating Israel's and Palestine's political goals. The minor problems are Israeli prime ministerBinyamin Netanyahu's unwillingness to partition Jerusalem and enable the Palestinians to constitute the eastern half of the city as their capital, and his reluctance to freeze the settlement enterprise in the West Bank. The major problem is that the two-headed Palestinian national movement is averse to sharing Palestine with the Jews and endorsing a solution based on two states for two peoples. http://calevbenyefuneh.blogspot.com/2009/09/obamas-impossible-ambition.html#links 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 Hatred of Israel is a European Patholgy "Antisemitism is part of it, to be sure. But the deepest and most convincing explanation of what is going on centres on the nature of contemporary Europe itself: its civilisational weaknesses and pathologies; its post-imperial, post-Holocaust guilt complexes; its inability to see totalitarian ideologies for what they are; its propensity towards pacifism and appeasement; its relativism; its lack of self-belief." http://calevbenyefuneh.blogspot.com/2009/09/hatred-of-israel-is-european-pathology.html#links 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 Myths? - Jennifer Rubin J Street has apparently gotten so much flack about its perpetual criticism of Israel and cheerleading for every Palestinian propaganda point that the J Street team has been forced to come up with a “Myths and Facts About J Street” crib sheet. Let me just say that if a Jewish organization has to put out a statement denying that it is anti-Israel, pro–Mary Robinson, is funded mostly by Arabs, and has defended a nuclear-armed Iran, then they might as well pack it in. Suffice it to say, you don’t see the ADL or AIPAC or any other genuinely pro-Israel group in such a defensive crouch. http://calevbenyefuneh.blogspot.com/2009/09/myths.html#links 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 Iran Outmaneuvers U.S. Government: Obama Scores Three “Own Goals” - The Rubin Report President Barack Obama didn’t understand how quickly and easily his diplomatic “generosity” and readiness to make concessions becomes a trap or also how his self-professed reluctance to do anything tough turns into a terrible vulnerability. Now he faces being outmaneuvered by Iran. The Tehran regime took three of Obama’s policies—engagement with enemies, global nuclear disarmament, and partnership over leadership—and has turned them against the U.S. government. The score today is Iran: 3, United States; 0. And all three of Iran’s scores were actually U.S. “own goals.” For non-football—or if you wish soccer--fans, that’s when you kick the ball into your own goal scoring a point for the other team. http://calevbenyefuneh.blogspot.com/2009/09/iran-outmaneuvers-us-government-obama.html#links 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 Iran Outmaneuvers U.S. Government: Obama Scores Three "Own Goals" - The Rubin Report President Barack Obama didn’t understand how quickly and easily his diplomatic “generosity” and readiness to make concessions becomes a trap or also how his self-professed reluctance to do anything tough turns into a terrible vulnerability. Now he faces being outmaneuvered by Iran. The Tehran regime took three of Obama’s policies—engagement with enemies, global nuclear disarmament, and partnership over leadership—and has turned them against the U.S. government. The score today is Iran: 3, United States; 0. And all three of Iran’s scores were actually U.S. “own goals.” For non-football—or if you wish soccer--fans, that’s when you kick the ball into your own goal scoring a point for the other team. http://calevbenyefuneh.blogspot.com/2009/09/iran-outmaneuvers-us-government-obama.html#links 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 A Nazi-memorabilia hobby sure is a strange one for a professional human-rights activist to have. Are there any senior staffers at PETA who moonlight as collectors of fur coats and leg-hold traps? Garlasco must know how odd this looks because he maintains aphotography website that contains pictures of many diverse things—but no tip-off that one of his favorite photography subjects is . . . Nazi medals. http://calevbenyefuneh.blogspot.com/2009/09/latest-human-rights-watch-bombshell.html#links 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 Myths? Jennifer Rubin Contentions/Commentary J Street has apparently gotten so much flack about its perpetual criticism of Israel and cheerleading for every Palestinian propaganda point that the J Street team has been forced to come up with a “Myths and Facts About J Street” crib sheet. Let me just say that if a Jewish organization has to put out a statement denying that it is anti-Israel, pro–Mary Robinson, is funded mostly by Arabs, and has defended a nuclear-armed Iran, then they might as well pack it in. Suffice it to say, you don’t see the ADL or AIPAC or any other genuinely pro-Israel group in such a defensive crouch. http://calevbenyefuneh.blogspot.com/2009/09/myths.html 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 Dialogue of the Deaf: Obama Sanctions' on Iran Fall Flat on their Face The Rubin Report The big, highly advertised meeting of six great powers—China, France, Germany, Russia, the United Kingdom, and the United States--to raise sanctions against Iran seems to have ended without any major breakthrough. According to available sources, China and Russia took such a strong stance against sanctions as to make it clear that unity on this issue--which means effective sanctions--is impossible. This is a huge failure for a main--perhaps the main--U.S. policy in the Middle East. It was thus with little credibility that the meeting warned Iran that it must resume talks about its nuclear program by the end of September. http://calevbenyefuneh.blogspot.com/2009/09/dialogue-of-deaf-obama-sanctions-on.html 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 Dialogue of the Deaf: Obama Sanctions' on Iran Fall Flat on their Face The Rubin Report The big, highly advertised meeting of six great powers—China, France, Germany, Russia, the United Kingdom, and the United States--to raise sanctions against Iran seems to have ended without any major breakthrough. According to available sources, China and Russia took such a strong stance against sanctions as to make it clear that unity on this issue--which means effective sanctions--is impossible. This is a huge failure for a main--perhaps the main--U.S. policy in the Middle East. It was thus with little credibility that the meeting warned Iran that it must resume talks about its nuclear program by the end of September. http://calevbenyefuneh.blogspot.com/2009/09/dialogue-of-deaf-obama-sanctions-on.html 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 What Carter Missed in the Middle East - Elliot Abrams Washington Post 08 September 09 In an op-ed on Sunday ["The Elders' View of the Middle East"], former president Jimmy Carter, speaking on behalf of a self-appointed group of "Elders," described a rapacious Israel facing long-suffering, blameless Palestinians, who are contemplating a "nonviolent civil rights struggle" in which "their examples would be Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther King Jr. and Nelson Mandela." http://calevbenyefuneh.blogspot.com/2009/09/what-carter-missed-in-middle-east.html#links also: http://calevbenyefuneh.blogspot.com/2009/09/despair-indeed.html#links 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 Another Tack: It's not the settlements, stupid Sarah Honig Without historical context there can be no real understanding of existential issues, certainly not of essential continuities. That's why those who seek to obfuscate and skew do their utmost to erase telltale fundamental perspectives and present whatever they focus upon as cogent isolated concerns. Case in point: US President Barack Obama's fixation on settlements, whether they be a collection of squatters' makeshift lean-tos on a stony hill in the middle of a barren nowhere or entire populous urban quarters of Jerusalem. The real issue is a layer deep beneath surface palaver. It's a layer which Arabs implicitly understand, which Jews pretend (or prefer) not to understand, and which Obama righteously denies. To paraphrase what Bill Clinton hectored during his first presidential campaign: "It's not the settlements, stupid." http://calevbenyefuneh.blogspot.com/2009/09/another-tack-its-not-settlements-stupid.html#links 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 Column One: Time's up on Iran Caroline Glick Over the past few weeks evidence has piled up that Iran is not years away from being capable of building nuclear bombs at will. It is months away. As the latest report by the International Atomic Energy Agency on Teheran's nuclear program makes clear, at its present rate of uranium enrichment, Iran will have sufficient quantities of enriched uranium to build two atomic bombs by February. http://calevbenyefuneh.blogspot.com/2009/09/column-one-times-up-on-iran.html#links 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 Column One: Time's up on Iran Caroline Glick Over the past few weeks evidence has piled up that Iran is not years away from being capable of building nuclear bombs at will. It is months away. As the latest report by the International Atomic Energy Agency on Teheran's nuclear program makes clear, at its present rate of uranium enrichment, Iran will have sufficient quantities of enriched uranium to build two atomic bombs by February. http://calevbenyefuneh.blogspot.com/2009/09/column-one-times-up-on-iran.html#links 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 Since Israel Betrayed Pollard, not One Israeli Captive has Come Home Alive It is commendable that the State Comptroller has decided to probe the Pollard situation. But those who are willing to face the truth do not need his investigation. The State of Israel has consistenly betrayed its agent; it has never officially requested his release from prison. Israel's message to the US is clear. "We would prefer that Pollard die in your prison." http://calevbenyefuneh.blogspot.com/2009/09/since-israel-betrayed-pollard-not-one.html#links 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 The Limits of Polite Discourse: Exposing People to Evil Ideas or Exposing Evil Ideas as…Evil? The Rubin Report After publishing an op-ed by a radical Israeli professor urging a boycott of Israel, Los Angeles Times editorial page editor, Jim Newton, said, “Had Hitler submitted an excerpt from Mein Kampf in the late 1930's [I would have published it] because the world would have benefitted from exposure to evil ideas." http://calevbenyefuneh.blogspot.com/2009/09/limits-of-polite-discourse-exposing.html#links 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 Deconstructing Jimmy Carter: Former president visits Israel with the “Elders”, and gets a drubbing Robin Shepherd “Could it be,” asks columnist and writer Michael D. Evans in today’s Jerusalem Post, “that Jimmy Carter’s ideals are formulated by the number of zeros before the decimal on the contributions to the Carter Center by oil-rich Gulf States?” http://calevbenyefuneh.blogspot.com/2009/08/deconstructing-jimmy-carter-former.html#links 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 The AP reporter’s voice shows she’s very young and her choice of words show she’s very inexperienced. “What do you think,” she asks me, “about the crisis between Europe and Israel.” Rubin Report http://calevbenyefuneh.blogspot.com/2009/09/crisis-in-israel-europe-relations.html#links 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 Weekly Commentary: Strengthening Netanyahu by not blindly supporting him Dr. Aaron Lerner "In today's complex situation, our prime minister whom we chose, Binyamin Netanyahu, must maintain all our national interests - the settlements that are the apple of our eye, Jerusalem, and also our relations with the United States and avoiding international isolation, because we will not be able to do the things that are close to our hearts if we are isolated...I am hearing a lot of talk, and I ask of the faction members: Support the prime minister. He believes in what we believe in, with only one difference - he sees the entire picture with regards to security and diplomacy,"Education Minister Gideon Sa'ar addressing Likud party gathering in Tel Aviv today. http://calevbenyefuneh.blogspot.com/2009/09/weekly-commentary-strengthening.html#links 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 Charles Lewis: Boycotting the Israel boycotters I picked up the National Post this morning to see the highly glossed faces of a group of actors, musicians and writers who have decided to protest the showing of a 10-film program to be highlighted at the Toronto International Film Festival. It is no surprise that they are targeting a series of 10 films about Tel Aviv. Every protest today by intellectuals or artists who think they are intellectuals has to be about Israel. It is the worst country in the world, is it not? http://calevbenyefuneh.blogspot.com/2009/09/charles-lewis-boycotting-israel.html#links 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 The real issue is a layer deep beneath surface palaver. It's a layer which Arabs implicitly understand, which Jews pretend (or prefer) not to understand, and which Obama righteously denies. To paraphrase what Bill Clinton hectored during his first presidential campaign: "It's not the settlements, stupid." Settlements are mere transitory pretexts, alleged irritants which in fact conceal a far darker but basic truth. http://calevbenyefuneh.blogspot.com/2009/09/another-tack-its-not-settlements-stupid.html#links 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 Column One: Time’s up on Iran Caroline Glick Over the past few weeks evidence has piled up that Iran is not years away from being capable of building nuclear bombs at will. It is months away. As the latest report by the International Atomic Energy Agency on Teheran’s nuclear program makes clear, at its present rate of uranium enrichment, Iran will have sufficient quantities of enriched uranium to build two atomic bombs by February. http://calevbenyefuneh.blogspot.com/2009/09/column-one-times-up-on-iran.html#links 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 Column One: Time's up on Iran Caroline Glick Over the past few weeks evidence has piled up that Iran is not years away from being capable of building nuclear bombs at will. It is months away. As the latest report by the International Atomic Energy Agency on Teheran's nuclear program makes clear, at its present rate of uranium enrichment, Iran will have sufficient quantities of enriched uranium to build two atomic bombs by February. http://calevbenyefuneh.blogspot.com/2009/09/column-one-times-up-on-iran.html#links 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 If the city, which was founded on sand dunes by Jews in 1909, is “contested ground” then everything is. And in truth the existence of every last Jew in Israel is “contested”. This is not a big surprise to anyone who pays attention to what Palestinian Arab leaders of any faction say whenever they are not speaking specifically for Western consumption. I am sure that Bailey, who does not appear to be particularly political, is “learn[ing] more” about the morally inverted ‘movement’ to isolate Israel. http://calevbenyefuneh.blogspot.com/2009/09/all-of-jewish-state-is-contested-ground.html#links 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 You can tell the man by the company he keeps. “No war without Egypt, no peace without Syria.” — Henry Kissinger European Union Foreign Policy Chief Javier Solana flew to Damascus this weekend to cajole Syria into reentering peace talks with Israel. He’s going to go home disappointed, if not now, then later, just as every other Western diplomat before him has failed to put an end to the perpetual Arab-Israeli conflict. Bashar Assad couldn’t sign a peace treaty with Israel even if he wanted to — and he doesn’t want to. http://calevbenyefuneh.blogspot.com/2009/08/no-peace-without-syria.html#links 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 Human Rights Watch: Human Rights Charlatans Center for Islamic Pluralism -August 2009 Human Rights Watch (HRW), since its foundation in 1978, has become one of the worst violators of principle in the bizarre system of non-governmental organizations (NGOs). Created to denounce abuses of human rights in the Communist-ruled countries, it soon made a 180-degree turn, devoting its main attention to the Western Hemisphere and alleged misdeeds by the U.S. and its local allies. Its offshoot, Americas Watch, was synonymous, beginning in the 1980s, with ferocious criticism of any attempt to block the spread of Cuban-style Communism in Central America. http://calevbenyefuneh.blogspot.com/2009/08/human-rights-watch-human-rights.html#links 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 The Wrath of Ken Roth: Human Rights Watch, Goldstone and Israel At a conference in Europe, Sa’ad Eddin Ibrahim, the respected Egyptian human rights activist, stopped abruptly in the middle of his presentation to embrace Prof. Irwin Cotler, who had just arrived. Prof. Cotler had been active in the fight to secure Ibrahim’s freedom from jail on trumped-up charges -- one of many such battles that the former Canadian Justice Minister has led, including in behalf of Natan Sharansky, Nelson Mandela, and Ethiopian Jews. For this and many other reasons, readers should add more than the usual grain of salt in reading Kenneth Roth’s diatribe. As head of Human Rights Watch (HRW) since 1993, Roth’s accomplishments do not come close to Prof. Cotler’s. Instead, Roth has led the politicization and erosion of universal human rights as a moral force. http://calevbenyefuneh.blogspot.com/2009/09/wrath-of-ken-roth-human-rights-watch.html#links 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 Court: Why won't state combat illegal Palestinian construction? (Great question!) The High Court asked state prosecutors why the state discriminates between illegal Jewish and Palestinian building in the West Bank, citing the lack of enforcement of demolition warrants against illegally-built Palestinian buildings in the area. http://calevbenyefuneh.blogspot.com/2009/09/court-why-wont-state-combat-illegal.html#links 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 And how else does Syria keep itself busy on the International front? Barry Rubin paints a dismal picture of Syria's less than constructive role in the neighborhood and the lack of protest from those who should know better. http://calevbenyefuneh.blogspot.com/2009/09/neutrality-on-iraq-syria-obama.html#links 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 And what will be the likely U.S. response to this? Not clear, but an excellent article today by Barry Rubin on some of the current Syrian moves and U.S. reaction may give pause. http://calevbenyefuneh.blogspot.com/2009/09/neutrality-on-iraq-syria-obama.html#links 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 WSJ Israel also looks warily on the Obama Administration's policy of diplomatic pleading with Iran, which comes after six years of failed diplomatic overtures by the European Union and Bush Administration. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's suggestion in July that the U.S. would extend a "defense umbrella" over its allies in the Middle East "once [Iranians] have a nuclear weapon" may have been a slip of the lip. But Israelis can be forgiven for wondering if the U.S. would sooner accept a nuclear Iran as a fait accompli than do whatever is necessary to stop it. http://calevbenyefuneh.blogspot.com/2009/08/israel-iran-and-obama.html#links 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 If men like Abu Ala and Dahlan had their way--one might add PA Prime Minister Salam Fayyad here--at least the status quo could be maintained and improved on. But there is real evidence that the movement might be swinging in an even more radical direction. Abu Ala and Dahlan will go along with this and even feed the fire in order to promote their careers. As a result, the Israel-Palestinian conflict will continue for decades. And if you don’t look at how Palestinian politics work and who leads them you will never ever understand why. http://calevbenyefuneh.blogspot.com/2009/08/explaining-palestinian-politics-when.html#links 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 Iran’s Revolution Enters Its Stalinist Era By Barry Rubin The post-election trials of opposition activists in Tehran resemble the Soviet purge trials of the 1930s. They are one more sign that Iran is entering a new era, but one that is the exact opposite of the idea that the conflict over stolen elections will weaken the regime or lead to more active dissent. Up to now, the regime has generally operated—or at least pretended to do so--on what in Iran is called the “Islamic Republican” philosophy which allowed a real margin of freedom. This is a combination of popular sovereignty and Islamism. The people were allowed to vote for candidates deemed to support the revolution. At times, the balloting was more honest; at times less. http://rubinreports.blogspot.com/2009/08/irans-revolution-enters-its-stalinist.html 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 A Day in the Life of the Middle East Barry Rubin I’ve never been so discouraged, a courageous Arab intellectual writes to me. Understandably so. There are three fronts really in the battle of the Middle East, and none of them are going so well. What are these three fronts? First and most important are the actions of the countries, leaders, and forces in the region themselves. Second, is the understanding of these actions and developments as conveyed to the minds of participants and observers both in the region and internationally. Here, the role of the media, academia, and other conveyer belts of information are critical in shaping policymaker and public opinion. Third, there is the response of governments outside the region, which means primarily in the West. http://calevbenyefuneh.blogspot.com/2009/09/day-in-life-of-middle-east.html#links 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 A Day in the Life of the Middle East - Barry Rubin I’ve never been so discouraged, a courageous Arab intellectual writes to me. Understandably so. There are three fronts really in the battle of the Middle East, and none of them are going so well. What are these three fronts? First and most important are the actions of the countries, leaders, and forces in the region themselves. Second, is the understanding of these actions and developments as conveyed to the minds of participants and observers both in the region and internationally. Here, the role of the media, academia, and other conveyer belts of information are critical in shaping policymaker and public opinion. Third, there is the response of governments outside the region, which means primarily in the West. http://calevbenyefuneh.blogspot.com/2009/09/day-in-life-of-middle-east.html#links 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 Into the twilight zone: Swedish editor says “I’m not a Nazi” as he publishes second round of allegations that IDF harvests Palestinian organs Robin Shepherd Hats off to Benny Dagan, Israel’s ambassador to Sweden. In response to a question from a Swedish journalist yesterday as to why Israel will not investigate claims made in the Aftonbladet newspaper that the Israeli military kills Palestinian children to harvest their bodily organs, he nailed the beast at the heart of this story in style: http://calevbenyefuneh.blogspot.com/2009/08/into-twilight-zone-swedish-editor-says.html#links 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 Test case looms for Europe’s stance on anti-Semitism as EU foreign ministers are pushed into statement on Swedish bigotry scandal http://calevbenyefuneh.blogspot.com/2009/08/test-case-looms-for-europes-stance-on.html#links 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 The International Atomic Energy Agency has produced another alarming report on Iran's nuclear programs, though it hasn't released it publicly, only to governments that would also rather not disclose more details of Iran's progress toward becoming a nuclear theocracy. http://calevbenyefuneh.blogspot.com/2009/08/israel-iran-and-obama.html#links 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 Israel, Iran and Obama-Conflict is inevitable unless the West moves quickly to stop a nuclear Tehran. http://calevbenyefuneh.blogspot.com/2009/08/israel-iran-and-obama.html#links 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 Israel, Iran and Obama: Conflict is inevitable unless the West moves quickly to stop a nuclear Tehran. WSJ http://calevbenyefuneh.blogspot.com/2009/08/israel-iran-and-obama.html#links 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 Israeli Left: Don’t Confuse Us With Logic: Someone had to do it. Hats off to FresnoZionism.org on his venture to understand the fantastical world of Yariv Oppenheimer and Co. (Peace Now) When I first read the following story, I thought it might be satire. But who could make this up? The Israeli Left reacted with dismay over the weekend to the results of a Jerusalem Post-sponsored Smith Research poll published on Friday that found only 4 percent of Jewish Israelis believe that US President Barack Obama’s policies are more pro-Israel than pro-Palestinian. http://calevbenyefuneh.blogspot.com/2009/08/israeli-left-dont-confuse-us-with-logic.html#links 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 Everyone Seems to Agree That Israel Must Solve the "Iranian Problem" JINSA Report #: 919 They say nothing happens in Washington in August - the President is away, Congress is out, even traffic is easy. But it isn't true. In Washington in August, everyone is getting ready for September. Word is out that the Obama Administration is working on a grand strategy to present at the UN when the General Assembly opens. The rumored outlines: http://calevbenyefuneh.blogspot.com/2009/08/everyone-seems-to-agree-that-israel.html#links 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 The Obama Administration is slowly adjusting its policy on Arab-Israeli issues but doing so in a way that ensures it still won't work. They understand they were doing it wrong, they still don’t understand what they were doing wrong. Briefly, in phase one the administration demanded Israel unilaterally stop construction on settlements in the West Bank, activity which not only all previous U.S. presidents in practice accepted but so did the Palestinians. By accepted, I don’t mean the Palestinians didn’t complain about it but that fact never stopped the negotiations’ process for 15 years. Obama has now achieved a full stop to the bilateral talks. http://calevbenyefuneh.blogspot.com/2009/08/obama-administrations-arab-israeli.html#links 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 Archbishop Desmond Tutu and Virgin boss Richard Branson play on the Holocaust to advance case against Israel Archbishop Desmond Tutu and Virgin boss Richard Branson play on the Holocaust to advance case against IsraelIt is a sign of the corrosiveness of the anti-Zionist agenda that even some of the most admirable and well-regarded of international luminaries feel no compunction these days about using the greatest crime against the Jewish people as a convenient weapon against the Jewish state. Holocaust inversion has now entered the mainstream. No-one, it seems, is immune from its temptations. http://calevbenyefuneh.blogspot.com/2009/08/archbishop-desmond-tutu-and-virgin-boss.html 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 Crowley also said: "We put forward our ideas, publicly and privately, about what it will take for negotiations to be restarted, but ultimately it'll be up to the parties themselves, with our help, to determine whether that threshold has been met." Ah, so the administration is leaving it in Palestinian hands to decide if they’ve gotten enough to talk? That’s an open invitation to get all sorts of demands from them. The problem that Obama hasn’t understood yet is that when you basically renounce force and threats, apologize, and say that the United States is just another partner in the world, you’ve given away the power you need to get things done. http://calevbenyefuneh.blogspot.com/2009/08/obama-administrations-arab-israeli.html#links 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 Organ Trade Scandal-Youtube debate "No one told me, not even Palestinian families, that the Israel army took organs from their sons. The army just returned sewed up bodies after autopsy and that raises questions", says Swedish journalist Donald Bostrom. His opponent Dr. Mordachai Kedar, who spent 25 years serving in Israeli military intelligence and is now a lecturer at Bar-Ilan University, says that Donald Bostrom has fallen into a deep trap set for him by Palestinians, because he never checked whether the story is true. http://calevbenyefuneh.blogspot.com/2009/08/no-one-told-me-not-even-palestinian.html#links 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 The Trouble with Washington: The Middle East Doesn’t Exist Solely in Their Minds Washington, DC It is hard to convey the enormous gap between Middle East reality and Washington thinking. To try to explain here what things are actually like in the region is to invite ridicule. People in the Nation's Capital—even if they don’t read regional languages or follow events really closely—are convinced they know everything. This is an old Washington phenomenon which has over the years been applied to many issues and often ended in failure or even disaster. The Rubin Report http://calevbenyefuneh.blogspot.com/2009/08/trouble-with-washington-middle-east.html#links 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 Actually achieving Middle East peace is of no importance. The only thing that is important is saying that progress is being made and that peace will come soon. (Barry Rubin) I don’t mean that as a statement of cynicism but as an accurate analysis of what goes on in international affairs at present. What’s achieved by pretending there is progress and there will be success? Some very real and—in their way—important things: http://calevbenyefuneh.blogspot.com/2009/08/lets-pretend-were-making-arab-israeli.html#links 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 Actually achieving Middle East peace is of no importance. The only thing that is important is saying that progress is being made and that peace will come soon. (Barry Rubin) I don’t mean that as a statement of cynicism but as an accurate analysis of what goes on in international affairs at present. What’s achieved by pretending there is progress and there will be success? Some very real and—in their way—important things: http://calevbenyefuneh.blogspot.com/2009/08/lets-pretend-were-making-arab-israeli.html#links 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 Spare Us Your Pieties "The British government may have been making a calculated financial bet. The United States clearly is making a calculated political bet. In both cases, members of the small club of democracies are betting that already bloody, already violent and repressive revolutionary governments will now behave in a civilized way because we want them to see their future the same way we see their future." http://calevbenyefuneh.blogspot.com/2009/08/spare-us-pieties.html 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 Caroline Glick: Iran & Obama 'Bringing Israel to Heel' Center for Security Policy Sr. Middle East Fellow Caroline Glick gives an update on the situation in the Middle East. http://calevbenyefuneh.blogspot.com/2009/08/caroline-glick-iran-obama-bringing.html#links 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 " A ministry spokesman, Anders Jorle, said that the Swedish government had “no position on the allegations” and quoted from the blog of foreign minister Carl Bildt where he said that “freedom of expression and press freedom are very strong in our constitution by tradition.” The Swedish government has not in fact defended free speech with the vigour that is now claimed. On February 10, 2006 the BBC reported that the website of a far-Right political party’s newspaper had been closed down in relation to the Danish cartoon controversy during which cartoons of the Prophet Mohammad caused mass protests by Muslim groups in Europe and around the world. http://www.robinshepherdonline.com/sweden-runs-for-cover-as-foreign-ministry-refuses-to-condemn-anti-semitic-outrage/#more-936 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 Palestinian Prime Minister: We'll Build State Institutions in Two Years. What Have You Been Doing for the last 15?- Barry Rubin This will never lead anywhere, but that’s the point isn’t it? Palestinian Authority (PA) Prime Minister Salam Fayyad has a new peace plan: he’s just going to create a state without reaching a peace agreement with Israel. The goal, in his words, is “to establish a de facto state apparatus within the next two years." Coverage of this just sort of took his word for it: http://calevbenyefuneh.blogspot.com/2009/08/palestinian-prime-minister-well-build.html#links 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 When Israelis Denounce Israel: Legitimate Criticism of Israel or Arrogant Self-Delusion? Dr. Alex Grobman Critics of Israel abound. Some are antisemites who seek the demise of the Jewish state. Others have legitimate concerns about particular Israeli policies. Among the most vocal are a number of Israeli intellectuals who challenge the country’s raison d’être. http://calevbenyefuneh.blogspot.com/2009/08/israelis-denouncing-israel-legitimate.html 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 Into the twilight zone: Swedish editor says “I’m not a Nazi” as he publishes second round of allegations that IDF harvests Palestinian organs - Robin Shepherd Hats off to Benny Dagan, Israel’s ambassador to Sweden. In response to a question from a Swedish journalist yesterday as to why Israel will not investigate claims made in the Aftonbladet newspaper that the Israeli military kills Palestinian children to harvest their bodily organs, he nailed the beast at the heart of this story in style: http://calevbenyefuneh.blogspot.com/2009/08/into-twilight-zone-swedish-editor-says.html#links 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 Report from Washington: U.S. Middle East's Policy's Next Step -Barry Rubin Washington, It’s always a pleasure to arrive in a place, scrutinize the situation carefully, and conclude that your analysis has been right. And it’s also a good time to be taking a close-up look at U.S. Middle East policy. Before talking about the next stage, let’s briefly review our story to date, since Barack Obama became U.S. president on January 20. http://calevbenyefuneh.blogspot.com/2009/08/report-from-washington-us-middle-easts.html#links 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 Barry Rubin-Washington It’s always a pleasure to arrive in a place, scrutinize the situation carefully, and conclude that your analysis has been right. And it’s also a good time to be taking a close-up look at U.S. Middle East policy. Before talking about the next stage, let’s briefly review our story to date, since Barack Obama became U.S. president on January 20. http://calevbenyefuneh.blogspot.com/2009/08/report-from-washington-us-middle-easts.html#links 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 Into the twilight zone: Swedish editor says “I’m not a Nazi” as he publishes second round of allegations that IDF harvests Palestinian organs -Robin Shepherd Hats off to Benny Dagan, Israel’s ambassador to Sweden. In response to a question from a Swedish journalist yesterday as to why Israel will not investigate claims made in the Aftonbladet newspaper that the Israeli military kills Palestinian children to harvest their bodily organs, he nailed the beast at the heart of this story in style: http://calevbenyefuneh.blogspot.com/2009/08/into-twilight-zone-swedish-editor-says.html#links 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 Caroline Glick: "Today Netanyahu is reportedly working in earnest to reach a deal with the Obama administration that would formalize the government's effective construction ban through 2010. Netanyahu is set to finalize such a deal at his meeting with Obama's Middle East envoy George Mitchell in London on Wednesday. Unfortunately, far from treating Israel better as a result of Netanyahu's willingness to capitulate on the fundamental right of Jews to live and build homes in the land of Israel, the Obama administration is planning to pocket Israel's concession and then up the ante. Administration officials have stated that their next move will be to set a date for a new international Middle East peace conference that Obama will chair. There, Israel will be isolated and relentlessly attacked as the US, the Arabs, the Europeans, the UN and the Russians all gang up on our representatives and demand that Israel accept the so-called "Arab peace plan." http://calevbenyefuneh.blogspot.com/2009/08/netanyahus-perilous-statecraft.html#links 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 Freeing of Lockerbie bomber to hero’s welcome in Libya highlights Europe’s ignorance of Middle Eastern realities Robin Shepherd I have frequently argued that it is not really possible to reach a proper understanding of Europe’s problem with Israel (and its appeasement strategies in the Middle East) without addressing the civilisational weakness which underpins it. The freeing of Lockerbie bomber Abdel Basset al-Megrahi on “compassionate” grounds by the Scottish Justice Secretary highlights the problem in bold relief. http://calevbenyefuneh.blogspot.com/2009/08/freeing-of-lockerbie-bomber-to-heros.html#links 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 Swedish Blood Libel Author: 'I Have No Clue': Donald Bostrom, who wrote the Aftonbladet story accusing Israel of harvesting Palestinian organs, now says he has no idea if the story is true. http://calevbenyefuneh.blogspot.com/2009/08/swedish-blood-libel-author-i-have-no.html#links 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 This Sunday, Vice Premier Moshe Bogey Ya'alon spoke to a wall to wall audience of Manhigut Yehudit supporters in Jerusalem. The importance of the meeting was first and foremost the very fact that it took place. The meeting replaced the walls of suspicion and distrust on both sides with first person insight into the policies advocated by both Moshe Feiglin and Minister Ya'alon. On Wednesday evening, Israel's Channel 2 news aired a clip of the meeting, recorded with a cell phone. In the clip, Ya'alon refers to Peace Now as a "virus." His words have triggered furious responses and are currently making the top headlines in Israel. http://calevbenyefuneh.blogspot.com/2009/08/manhigut-yehudit-hosts-vice-premier.html#links 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 http://calevbenyefuneh.blogspot.com/2009/08/anti-israel-smears-get-new-boost-all.html#links Anti-Israel smears get new boost all across Europe as Pink Floyd star sprays preposterous remarks on security barrier by Robin Shepherd So what happens when you put together an ageing British rock star, a Finnish director, and a spokesman for the United Nations to launch a short film about Israel’s security barrier, sorry, “Apartheid Wall”? 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 Honest Reporting: Charging a mainstream media outlet with anti-Semitism is not something that we do lightly. Sometimes, however, an article appears that is so outrageous that we have to question the motivation or agenda behind the writer and the media that chooses to publish it. http://calevbenyefuneh.blogspot.com/2009/08/outrage-idf-accused-of-harvesting.html 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 Outposts And The Law : Moshe Dann Conventional wisdom says that “Israel promised (the US) to destroy all ‘unauthorized outposts,’ and, therefore, must fulfill its obligations.” If the government is looking for an excuse, this is a poor one. The "promise" is based on a letter in April, 2004 from Dov Weissglass, Chief of the Prime Minister's Bureau to National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice. Although submitted "on behalf of Prime Minister Ariel Sharon," the letter was not signed by Sharon, nor was it affirmed by the cabinet. It was, simply, "diplomatic correspondence." http://calevbenyefuneh.blogspot.com/2009/08/outposts-and-law.html#links 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 ["One source"] Agreement reached between PM, defense and housing ministers to freeze building starts in settlements blocs and east Jerusalem until early 2010 Dr. Aaron Lerner - IMRA: A word of warning: When "one source" reports something there are a number of possibilities: #1. The "one source" is someone either serving in or somehow associated with the Netanyahu administration lobbying for his position by going to the press and claiming that it is already policy. #2. The "one source" is floating a trial balloon: ......... http://calevbenyefuneh.blogspot.com/2009/08/one-source-agreement-reached-between-pm.html#links 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 Rahm Emanuel and the Israel Policy-John Podhoretz - A revealing article in yesterday’s New York Times about White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel offers a highly problematic view of the Illinois politician—and one, moreover, that he should be concerned about. It’s one of those breathless pieces so besotted with its subject and his power that it makes Emanuel sound less like the chief staffer in the White House and more like the president than the president himself. “The most powerful chief of staff in a quarter century,” the article calls Emanuel, insisting that he is the architect of the administration’s do-everything-all-at-once policy and that he is not only in charge in the West Wing but basically running the House of Representatives as well. http://blogs.jta.org/politics/article/2009/08/15/1007273/all-rahm-all-the-time 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 Dr. Aaron Lerner - IMRA: In a live interview broadcast on Israel Radio's noon news magazine, Strategic Affairs Minister Moshe Ya'alon explained that the "unapproved" outposts are not "illegal" outposts but instead mostly communities that received many approvals from the Israeli authorities (and were even hooked up to utilities, mortgages provided, etc.) and Israel should explain to the Americans that they are "legal" and that any missing paperwork be completed. http://calevbenyefuneh.blogspot.com/2009/08/yishai-and-yaalon-outposts-are-legal.html 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 The Campus War Against Israel and the Jews: Amir Abdel Malik-Ali By: John Perazzo When we scan the American academic landscape in search of venomous, rancorous purveyors of unconcealed Jew-hatred on university campuses, we will find nary a figure more striking than Amir-Abdel Malik-Ali. A frequent guest lecturer at Muslim Students Association and Muslim Student Union events, Malik-Ali is an Oakland, California-based Imam who cut his ideological teeth as a member of the Nation of Islam, the organization whose infamous leader, Louis Farrakhan, is well known for his fiery denunciations of “white devils” and Jewish “bloodsuckers.” Malik-Ali is a passionate supporter of Hamas and Hezbollah, a pair of Islamic terror groups resolutely committed to the obliteration of Israel and the mass murder of Jews. So fervently does Malik-Ali approve of those twin objectives, that he candidly endorses suicide bombings as a legitimate “resistance” tactic to be employed against Israel: “Palestinian mothers are supporting their children who are suicide bombers, saying, ‘Go honey, go!’ That ain’t suicide; that’s martyrdom.” http://www.frontpagemag.com/readArticle.aspx?ARTID=35936 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 "President Barack Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton seem to think the idea of Palestinian statehood is the most wonderful idea to come along since the Thirteenth Amendment. And almost all world politicians, along with the Israeli Left, insist that all Israeli settlements must be removed from the West Bank because they serve as the main obstacle to peace. The reality is that the Middle East conflict has very little to do with debate over Palestinian statehood and even less to do with Israeli “settlements.” In factIsrael has agreed in principle, somewhat foolishly, to the erection of such a Palestinian state, at least subject to some security conditions and other concessions from the Palestinians -- like recognizing Israel’s right to exist. As it turns out, even so-called “moderate” Palestinians reject any such idea. Meanwhile debate about the Middle East conflict is based on an incredible absence of historic information and on a series of stylish misconceptions about Middle East history. The anti-Israel Lobby, which grows by the day in its maliciousness and anti-Semitism, counts on the ignorance of much of the public concerning how the Middle East got to where it is." http://calevbenyefuneh.blogspot.com/2009/08/14-lies-blocking-peace-in-middle-east.html#links 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 (One thing about Peace Now. They're very clear about their objectives which is to see Jerusalem divided and to be the capital of a Palestinian state.) A Monday reception featuring former US presidential hopeful and leading Republican politician Mike Huckabee at the Shepherd Hotel in east Jerusalem has turned into a hotly contested venue for protests both for and against Israeli policy in the area. http://calevbenyefuneh.blogspot.com/2009/08/huckabee-e-jlem-trip-sparks-showdown.html#links 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 Obama's Apartheid Plan For Jerusalem by Steven Plaut When Barack Obama was elected president, many around the world saw it as the culmination of decades of successful efforts by the American civil rights movement. How ironic, then, that the Obama administration has been conducting a campaign against Jews who wish to live in certain Jerusalem neighborhoods. http://calevbenyefuneh.blogspot.com/2009/08/obamas-apartheid-plan-for-jerusalem.html#links 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 The 14 Lies Blocking Peace in the Middle East by Steven Plaut If a Martian were suddenly to land on earth and start listening to and reading the mainstream media, he would form the impression that the entire Middle East conflict were due to Israel building some settlements in land that much of the world thinks should become a Palestinian state. http://calevbenyefuneh.blogspot.com/2009/08/14-lies-blocking-peace-in-middle-east.html#links 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 He told The Jerusalem Post that his purpose in the tour was not to expose visiting archeologists to a balanced perspective of the park's archeology, but to expose them to his point of view. "I am not interested in giving them [tour members] a full picture," Greenberg said. "They are grown-up people, and they can get their information wherever they can find it. I am not a newspaper. I have my own beliefs about archeological ethics, about what has been going on here." http://calevbenyefuneh.blogspot.com/2009/08/israel-protests-exclusion-from-intl.html#links 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 Candidly Speaking: Sack Consul General Nadav Tamir "Boston Consul General Nadav Tamir may be the most talented diplomat in the foreign ministry. He should nevertheless be dismissed forthwith, or at the very least carpeted and downgraded. Even if the policy of Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu was flawed, Tamir's outburst was inexcusable. A diplomat is appointed to serve the government elected by the people. If he feels that the policies he is obliged to present are so diametrically counter to his beliefs that he must publicly express his opposition, he has the choice of resigning and launching a political campaign against the government. Unfortunately Tamir acted as though he could have his cake and eat it too." http://calevbenyefuneh.blogspot.com/2009/08/candidly-speaking-sack-consul-general.html#links 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 As with many personalities like John Pilger, there is a consistency of approach throughout their work, thus this critique of the man and his approach. http://www.spectator.co.uk/stephenpollard/407771/pilger-exposed.thtml MONDAY, 17TH DECEMBER 2007 "John Pilger is a standing affront to decent journalism, espousing some pretty vile causes under the guise of exposing the truth. Marko Attila Hoare, an expert on the Balkans, has a compelling account of how he exposed Pilger's lies at a meeting at Kingston University, which you can read here." 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 he sober Financial Times speaks of the “agony” of Fatah. Khalid Abu Toameh of the Jerusalem Post, the best reporter covering Palestinian politics, compares it to the Iraqi Ba’th party. The Fatah Congress has been a dismal failure, even a disaster. You’d never—or only very partially—know this based on much of the mainstream media coverage. http://calevbenyefuneh.blogspot.com/2009/08/fatah-congress-fails-miserably-and.html#links 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 Malley Stumbles Upon the Truth: Peace Isn’t Possible -Jonathan Tobin Former Clinton administration staffer Robert Malley’s chief claim to fame is being the sole non-Palestinian observer of the fateful July 2000 Camp David Summit who did not put the blame for that conclave’s disastrous failure squarely on the shoulders of Yasser Arafat. At Camp David, Arafat turned down an astounding offer for a Palestinian state in nearly all the West Bank, Gaza, and part of Jerusalem that was put forward by then Israeli prime minister Ehud Barak with the encouragement of President Clinton. Malley pioneered the practice of dismissing this offer as insignificant and rationalizing Arafat’s refusal to take yes for an answer, as well as his decision to answer that peace deal with a terrorist war of attrition, known as the second intifada. http://calevbenyefuneh.blogspot.com/2009/08/malley-stumbles-upon-truth-peace-isnt.html#links 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 "While Tamir’s conduct is unusual (he is widely suspected to have leaked the document himself), it is not without precedent. At the start of Netanyahu’s first term in office in the 1990s, Colette Avital, a follower of Shimon Peres, who had just been defeated by Netanyahu, led Israel’s crucial New York consulate. Until she was finally replaced, Avital made it clear to anyone who had contact with her that her office was not there to defend her country’s government, a stance that clearly differed with her conduct when someone whom she liked better than Bibi led it." http://calevbenyefuneh.blogspot.com/2009/08/obamas-israeli-friend-in-boston.html 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 Malley Stumbles Upon the Truth: Peace Isn’t Possible Former Clinton administration staffer Robert Malley’s chief claim to fame is being the sole non-Palestinian observer of the fateful July 2000 Camp David Summit who did not put the blame for that conclave’s disastrous failure squarely on the shoulders of Yasser Arafat. http://calevbenyefuneh.blogspot.com/2009/08/malley-stumbles-upon-truth-peace-isnt.html#links 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 Obama’s Israeli Friend in Boston Jonathan Tobin-Contentions A controversy over the conduct of Nadav Tamir, Israel’s consul general for New England, is roiling the Israeli Foreign Ministry as well as Boston Jewry. Tamir, a career diplomat, is apparently not fond of Israel’s current government led by Benjamin Netanyahu and its policies. He seems to have something of a crush on the Obama administration despite its propensity to pick fights with Israel and to curry favor with its Arab foes. But rather than merely gripe privately about his bosses, the consul wrote a memo detailing his disagreements with his country’s policies on settlements and defending Obama’s stands. The memo was leaked to an Israeli TV station last week, and not surprisingly, Tamir was recalled to Jerusalem for an explanation of his conduct. http://calevbenyefuneh.blogspot.com/2009/08/obamas-israeli-friend-in-boston.html#links 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 Mary Robinson’s Medal of Freedom: Anti-Americanism and anti-Israel activism win Obama’s approbation. Barack Obama’s decision to award the Presidential Medal of Freedom to Mary Robinson has generated unexpected but emotionally charged opposition. Appointed by then-U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan as high commissioner for human rights in 1997-2002, Ms. Robinson had a controversial but ineffective tenure. (Previously, she was president of Ireland, a ceremonial position.) http://calevbenyefuneh.blogspot.com/2009/08/mary-robinsons-medal-of-freedom.html#links 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 Fatah's sixth General Assembly has shown that the 44-year-old faction is still not ready to transform itself from a revolutionary movement into a governing body - one that cares about establishing institutions and infrastructure for the future Palestinian state. http://calevbenyefuneh.blogspot.com/2009/08/analysis-how-fatah-has-evolved-into.html#links 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 "An important postscript to the misreported evictions in Sheikh Jarrah, which I commented on below. On the Guardian’s Comment is Free,Rafael Broch points out another detail that was, ahem, overlooked by all those screaming ‘ethnic cleansing’: the Arabs who were evicted had not paid the rent; those who had paid the rent were not evicted. Makes a bit of a difference, doesn’t it, in addition to all the background detail that was omitted about the Jewish ownership of these properties dating back to the last century. " http://calevbenyefuneh.blogspot.com/2009/08/truth-is-told-to-power-in-sheikh-jarrah.html#links 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 "This success was achieved mainly thanks to the Israeli peace camp's veteran dialogue partners. A week before the convention, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen) - who is received with the honor reserved for heads of state not only at the King David Hotel, but also at the White House, the Elysee and Buckingham Palace - declared that the Palestinians reserve the right to engage in armed resistance. " http://calevbenyefuneh.blogspot.com/2009/08/stratagem-behind-convention.html#links 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 A French-Israeli man from Sderot is demanding that the European Union shoulder the cost of making his home rocket-proof, in a precedent-setting lawsuit against the EU which the man intends to file tomorrow in Brussels. In the lawsuit, which will be filed to the European Commission, petitioner Eyal Katorza cites Article 3.5 of the European Treaty, which states the Union will "contribute to the protection of its citizens" regardless of their whereabouts. http://calevbenyefuneh.blogspot.com/2009/08/french-israeli-demands-eu-make-his.html#links 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 Gush Katif: Picking Up The Pieces Four years after the disengagement, many families are still without work. Last week marked the four year anniversary of the Gush Katif disengagement in which 1700 families, 9000 people, were uprooted from their homes. Some of these families had spent 30 years building their homes, farms and businesses and were forced to leave them to the awaiting bulldozers. They were shepherded into hotels where there innumerable needs had been unforeseen. http://calevbenyefuneh.blogspot.com/2009/08/gush-katif-picking-up-pieces.html 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 Column One: Israel And The 'Realists': .....Second, he argues that after September 11, the US was wrong to believe that it shares common interests with Israel. Whereas Israel's interests would be served by preventing Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons, in Kaplan's view, the US can afford to look on a nuclear-armed Iran with indifference. On the other hand, an Israeli attack on Iran's nuclear installations can place US forces in Iraq at risk. Hence, as far as Kaplan is concerned, American interests are best served by allowing Iran to become a nuclear power and preventing Israel from doing anything to stop Iran from becoming a nuclear power...... http://calevbenyefuneh.blogspot.com/2009/08/column-one-israel-and-realists.html#links 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 AP Coverage of Fatah Congress: Fatah As Peaceniks Just for the record, consider the AP’s coverage of the Fatah Congress. http://calevbenyefuneh.blogspot.com/2009/08/ap-coverage-of-fatah-congress-fatah-as.html#links 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 Fatah Congress: No Sign of Moderation or Reform Three additional facts have come out regarding the Fatah Congress that makes it look even worse. http://calevbenyefuneh.blogspot.com/2009/08/fatah-congress-no-sign-of-moderation-or.html 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 Absolutely Wrong: Analysis of HRW Report: “Precisely Wrong: Gaza Civilians Killed by Israeli Drone-Launched Missiles In this report, and accompanying press releases and conference, interviews, etc., HRW accuses the IDF of using drones to launch precise weapons during the Gaza operation, leading to wrongful civilian deaths. The entire publication is based on allegations from only 6 ambiguous incidents. http://calevbenyefuneh.blogspot.com/2009/08/absolutely-wrong-analysis-of-hrw-report.html#links 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 Many in Washington and some European capitals are hoping that the Fatah faction, which controls the Western-backed Palestinian Authority, is headed toward moderation and reforms as it holds its sixth general assembly in Bethlehem this week. But on the eve of the conference, which is being held for the first time in two decades, there are growing indications that Fatah is actually headed in the opposite direction. Perhaps one of the most disturbing signs of the growing radicalization of Fatah can be seen in calls by top representatives for a "strategic alliance" with Iran's dictatorial and fundamental regime. http://calevbenyefuneh.blogspot.com/2009/08/radicalization-of-fatah.html 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 This was written before the legislation passed but remains right on the mark concerning the Jewsih viewpoint on private property. Property Rights and Jewish Economics Pt. 2 : Property rights are a basic value in the Torah. Our Forefathers were all wealthy men. Jacob even endangers himself and re-crosses the Yabok stream to retrieve some small belongings. Our Sages teach us that righteous people hold their money as dear as their bodies. An entire Talmudic tractate deals with the minute details of a "strange" law that does not exist in any other legal system; the laws of returning lost property. While non-Jews may turn in items they have found to their local police station, they do it out of a healthy sense of ethicality - not because it is the law. For Jews, though, the connection between a person and his property is holy. Returning lost items rectifies the world and is a Torah obligation. http://calevbenyefuneh.blogspot.com/2009/07/property-rights-and-jewish-economics-pt.html#links 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 Obama Middle East Policy: Clueless is an Understatement The best thing to read about Western Middle East policy is Richard Dowden writing about some of the anti-AIDS campaigns in Africa, in his book Africa: Altered States, Ordinary Miracles. The difference is that in Africa there are also some good anti-AIDS campaigns. He explains: “It is these vital cultural perceptions that outsiders miss when they rush to save Africa from the HIV/AIDS pandemic. They bring with them quick, slick jingles and images thought up in…New York, London or Paris and try to impose them on…rural and shanty-town Africa. Often they do not even know they are imposing anything. They have no idea that they are in a different cultural world. When the results don’t work, they become frustrated and angry and start muttering about stupid Africans.” Well, there are some differences. The problems with the Middle East are not just cultural but also ideological, historical, and political, too. And when the results don’t work, they start muttering about stupid Israelis. http://calevbenyefuneh.blogspot.com/2009/08/obama-middle-east-policy-clueless-is.html#links 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 As graduation was only a couple of weeks ago, this gives an effective picture of where the Fatah movement is and where they would like to be going. Sorry to disillusion the blind. This Year's Valedictorians: Palestinian school books and educational television routinely teach children to envision a world without Israel. One of the results can be seen in this graduation ceremony sponsored by Fatah in which high school graduates in a speech identify the Israeli cities Haifa, Acre, Jaffa and Jerusalem as part of "Palestine." http://calevbenyefuneh.blogspot.com/2009/08/this-years-valedictorians.html#links 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 24 Years Later, AIPAC & American Jewish Leaders Still Don't Get It!: AIPAC and American Jewish leaders recently witnessed and/or experienced first-hand the "virulent anti-Semitism" that exists within the American Justice, Intelligence and Defense communities, but they still don't get it. http://calevbenyefuneh.blogspot.com/2009/08/24-years-later-aipac-american-jewish.html#links 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 Comment: Transparency, not ban, is the way to handle foreign NGO funding: Herb Keinon's article "Israel targets foreign gov't NGO funds" (July 31) quotes an unnamed Israeli official as advocating a law to ban foreign government funding for numerous radical organizations. http://calevbenyefuneh.blogspot.com/2009/08/comment-transparency-not-ban-is-way-to.html 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 Barack Obama hasn’t gotten very far with his efforts to promote peace in the Middle East. But let it not be said that the White House is satisfied with what it has achieved so far. The administration has evaluated the situation and is prepared to correct the course, not with any concrete action, but with what our chief executive does best: more talk. http://calevbenyefuneh.blogspot.com/2009/08/more-obama-pr-will-not-mideast-policy.html#links 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 This Year's Valedictorians: Palestinian school books and educational television routinely teach children to envision a world without Israel. One of the results can be seen in this graduation ceremony sponsored by Fatah in which high school graduates in a speech identify the Israeli cities Haifa, Acre, Jaffa and Jerusalem as part of "Palestine." http://calevbenyefuneh.blogspot.com/2009/08/this-years-valedictorians.html#links 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 Human Rights or Human Life "But let it be clear that choosing Palestinian rights over Israeli lives endangers not only individual Israelis but the physical existence of the Jewish state. Those Jews who display their ignorance or deceit by misrepresenting the Talmud play into the hands of those who care about neither human life nor human rights." http://calevbenyefuneh.blogspot.com/2009/08/human-rights-or-human-life.html#links 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 More Obama PR Will Not a Mideast Policy Make: Barack Obama hasn’t gotten very far with his efforts to promote peace in the Middle East. But let it not be said that the White House is satisfied with what it has achieved so far. The administration has evaluated the situation and is prepared to correct the course, not with any concrete action, but with what our chief executive does best: more talk. http://calevbenyefuneh.blogspot.com/2009/08/more-obama-pr-will-not-mideast-policy.html#links 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 Obama Middle East Policy: Clueless is an Understatement “It is these vital cultural perceptions that outsiders miss when they rush to save Africa from the HIV/AIDS pandemic. They bring with them quick, slick jingles and images thought up in…New York, London or Paris and try to impose them on…rural and shanty-town Africa. Often they do not even know they are imposing anything. They have no idea that they are in a different cultural world. When the results don’t work, they become frustrated and angry and start muttering about stupid Africans.” Well, there are some differences. The problems with the Middle East are not just cultural but also ideological, historical, and political, too. And when the results don’t work, they start muttering about stupid Israelis. http://calevbenyefuneh.blogspot.com/2009/08/obama-middle-east-policy-clueless-is.html#links 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 Saudi Arabia’s Three No’s: Friday afternoon, Saudi Arabia’s foreign minister, Prince Saud Al-Faisal, held a joint news conference with Secretary of State Clinton, describing the discussion they had just had as “frank, honest, and open” — diplomatic code words for disagreement. Then he delivered in public his frank and honest message: no confidence-building steps for Israel, no endorsement of any step-by-step peace process, and no compromise on the uncompromising Saudi plan. http://calevbenyefuneh.blogspot.com/2009/08/saudi-arabias-three-nos.html#links 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 Survey conducted by Israel Democracy Institute focuses on integration of immigrants from former Soviet Union into Israeli society after 20 years of aliyah. 2009 Democracy Index finds immigrants tend to be more hawkish, believe less in Israeli democracy, and are much more pessimistic. Israel News 08.03.09 (Other than the title there are a number of interesting points in this poll. As usual one needs to bear in mind what the question is and how it was asked. As the article itself points out, a high percentage of the olim live in the rocket zone of the South. Bet you can guess how they related to security questions, as opposed to non-olim living in the Gush-Dan region.) http://calevbenyefuneh.blogspot.com/2009/08/poll-77-of-soviet-olim-support-arab.html#links 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 Squatters and evicted by the same courts that looked the other way when 9000 Jewish residents had their homes destroyed as well as their livelihoods. Got a big round of support from the world for that act of self-destruction. BTW, they weren't squatters. (These were homes and communities that were built from the ground up and destroyed to make bases to launch rockets against cities within range.) This week marks the four year anniversary of the Gush Katif disengagement in which 1700 families, 9000 people, were uprooted from their homes. Some of these families had spent 30 years building their homes, farms and businesses and were forced to leave them to the awaiting bulldozers. They were shepherded into hotels where there innumerable needs had been unforeseen. http://calevbenyefuneh.blogspot.com/2009/08/gush-katif-picking-up-pieces.html 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 Routine, Expulsion, and Eretz Israel: Four years after the destruction of Gush Katif and northern Samaria. What are the lessons? What must we learn from the expulsion, so that in another four years we will not have to write, Heaven forbid, of the lessons to be learned from the expulsion from Judea and Samaria? http://calevbenyefuneh.blogspot.com/2009/08/routine-expulsion-and-eretz-israel.html#links 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 Comment: Transparency, not ban, is the way to handle foreign NGO funding (My only question on this approach is if it's effective. If yes, great.) Herb Keinon's article "Israel targets foreign gov't NGO funds" (July 31) quotes an unnamed Israeli official as advocating a law to ban foreign government funding for numerous radical organizations. If this, in fact, is the thinking among some Israeli government officials, it should be dropped. http://calevbenyefuneh.blogspot.com/2009/08/comment-transparency-not-ban-is-way-to.html#links 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 Human Rights or Human Life: Two summers ago, Camp Koby, the camp for children bereaved by Palestinian terror named after my 13-year-old son Koby Mandell, hosted then-foreign minister Tzipi Livni and the UN Special Rapporteur On The Situation of Human Rights in the Palestinian Territories Occupied Since 1967. The Special Reporteur had just returned from Sederot, where he had been introduced to the trauma of living under the reign of rocket terror perpetrated at that time and until Operation Cast Lead by the Hamas "government" in the Gaza Strip. The Foreign Ministry thought it would be appropriate to use Camp Koby as a backdrop for the meeting. In return, Livni and the UN representative addressed Camp Koby teens. At dinner I was surprised to see Tzipi reading from a script when addressing the Reporteur. I was less surprised to hear the Special Reporteur, who worked for the notoriously anti-Israel "UN Commission on Human Rights" talk about the alleged violation of human rights perpetrated by the Israelis. "But sir," I said, "The restrictions on the Palestinian population are a result of actions by the Palestinian terrorists who are trying to murder innocent Israelis like my 13-year-old son Koby. Sometimes it comes down to a choice between human rights and human life." Tzipi looked at me, a bit surprised. "Yes," she said "human rights or human life, that is the question." http://calevbenyefuneh.blogspot.com/2009/08/human-rights-or-human-life.html#links 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 Recent revelations about foreign government funding for local NGOs involved in political activity have triggered discussions by senior Israeli officials about the possibility of making such aid illegal, The Jerusalem Post has learned. The senior officials are looking into whether it might be possible to ban donations from foreign governments to political NGOs, just as it is forbidden for foreign residents, let alone governments, to contribute to Israeli political parties. http://calevbenyefuneh.blogspot.com/2009/07/israel-aims-to-outlaw-foreign-govt.html#links 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 Activists Protest Anti-IDF 'Blood Libel': A group of activists from the student organization Im Tirtzu held a demonstration outside a Rabbis for Human Rights conference at the Van Leer Institute in Jerusalem on Wednesday. The conference is focusing on the conduct of IDF combat soldiers during last January's Operation Cast Lead in the Gaza Strip. http://calevbenyefuneh.blogspot.com/2009/07/activists-protest-anti-idf-blood-libel.html#links 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 Almost two thirds of Israelis, including half of seculars would like to see Temple rebuilt, believe it is important to commemorate Tisha B'Av . For full article: http://calevbenyefuneh.blogspot.com/2009/07/survey-64-want-temple-rebuilt.html#links 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 In The Line of Verbal Fire: I knew this was not going to be an easy tour. I recently had my second opportunity in Sderot to host a group from the Ecumenical Accompaniment Programme in Palestine and Israel (EAPPI). EAPPI is a program supported and funded by the Geneva-based World Council of Churches, a major supporter of the anti-Israel divestment campaign. http://calevbenyefuneh.blogspot.com/2009/07/in-line-of-verbal-fire.html 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 The Jewish population is currently centered in three places: around the tomb of Shimon HaTzadik (a fourth century BCE high priest), the Israeli government compound in Sheikh Jarrah, and Hadassah Hospital-Hebrew University on Mt. Scopus. http://calevbenyefuneh.blogspot.com/2009/07/us-israeli-dispute-over-building-in.html#links 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 The Case for Anti-Freeze: Regarding Israeli Construction on Settlements By Barry Rubin 25 July 09 Let me begin by saying that in exchange for full peace and an end to the conflict, I not only support the dismantling of all Jewish settlements on the territory of Palestine, I enthusiastically endorse it. Why then am I against freezing construction on existing Jewish settlements? (This is a point I do not agree with but will pass by to get to his main points) I'm focusing now on the freeze question. Since we are so far away from a peace settlement, I will save the other, hypothetical issue for some future time. http://calevbenyefuneh.blogspot.com/2009/07/case-for-anti-freeze-regarding-israeli.html 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 The Case for Anti-Freeze: Regarding Israeli Construction on Settlements By Barry Rubin 25 July 09 Let me begin by saying that in exchange for full peace and an end to the conflict, I not only support the dismantling of all Jewish settlements on the territory of Palestine, I enthusiastically endorse it. Why then am I against freezing construction on existing Jewish settlements? (This is a point I do not agree with but will pass by to get to his main points) I'm focusing now on the freeze question. Since we are so far away from a peace settlement, I will save the other, hypothetical issue for some future time. http://calevbenyefuneh.blogspot.com/2009/07/case-for-anti-freeze-regarding-israeli.html 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 AN ISRAELI VIEW: A Jewish Obligation to Live in Jerusalem by Mordechai Kedar Published 27/7/2009 Recently, pressure has been applied by US President Barack Obama to prevent the construction of a Jewish neighborhood in Jerusalem, the capital of Israel. If Israel deserves the title "state" it has to stand united in an effort to rebuff this pressure resolutely. http://calevbenyefuneh.blogspot.com/2009/07/israeli-view.html#links 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 On the other hand: Jul. 27, 2009 Hamas is digging tunnels next to United Nations facilities under the assumption that the IDF will not target them during a future conflict, defense officials warned on Sunday. The officials said a tunnel Hamas had been digging adjacent to a UN school in Beit Hanun had collapsed earlier this month. http://calevbenyefuneh.blogspot.com/2009/07/hamas-tunneling-near-un-facilities.html#links 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 Breaking the Silence, whose latest report -- nothing more than unsubstantiated rumors -- was embraced by the British press, has received a cool response from Kuwaiti Abdallah al–Hadlaq. Al-Hadlaq wrote in the Kuwaiti paper Al-Watan July 19: http://calevbenyefuneh.blogspot.com/2009/07/kuwaiti-raises-voice-against-breaking_24.html 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 Rachel Corrie's Dreams or ....."The (Self-)Deceit of Rachel Corrie" As was the case with Muhamad Al-Dura the industry of deception continues to produce one fiction after another hoping that truth will drown beneath the tsunami. This week the latest was screened in San Francisco. It seemed appropriate to review once again Roberta Seid's excellent article from last year of what in truth actually occurred. http://calevbenyefuneh.blogspot.com/2009/07/rachel-corries-dreams-or.html#links 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 Paradigm shift in the offing as Britain moves step closer to recognising Hamas: As the anti-Israeli atmosphere in Britain intensifies by the day, Britain’s Foreign Affairs Select Committee has now called on the British government to end its policy of not talking to the extreme anti-Semitic terror group Hamas while simultaneously urging the European Union to make its relationship with Israel conditional on good behaviour, the BBC is reporting today. The report was also carried in French and English by France’s top news agency, Agence France Presse. The cross party group headed by Labour MP Michael Gapes — a self-declared friend of Israel — said that the policy of non-engagement with Hamas was ineffective. While criticising Hamas rocket attacks, it condemned Israel’s Operation Cast Lead in Gaza as “disproportionate”, criticised the blockade of Gaza, condemned settlement growth and urged the British Foreign Office to declare openly whether it believed Israel had committed war crimes in Gaza. The committee had recommended reaching out to “moderates” in Hamas in 2007 but said such calls now had new impetus since Britain had begun engaging with the political wing of Hezbollah earlier this year. Moves in this direction have been widely predicted and it may only be a matter of time before recognition of Hamas by the British government becomes a reality. The ground was laid in May when British Foreign Secretary David Miliband gave a speech in Oxford in which he sought to downplay the distinction between “moderates” and “extremists”. At the time, the Foreign Office denied that this was directed at Hamas. But, in the context of last week’s announcement of a partial arms embargo by Britain against Israel and this latest parliamentary report, it seems clear that a paradigm shift is taking place in Britain’s attitudes to the Middle East. Though famously unenthusiastic about European integration, Britain is perhaps the heaviest hitter in the EU in terms of foreign policy. Moves in Britain to recognise Hamas would undoubtedly strengthen the hand of constituencies across Europe which advocate a harder line on Israel and a softer line on groups such as Hamas. Also by Robin Shepherd: http://calevbenyefuneh.blogspot.com/2009/07/new-era-as-british-hostility-reaches.html 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 Reassessing Our Ties With U.S.: by Yarden Gazit Barack Obama's demand that Israel freeze all settlement activity in Judea and Samaria, including east Jerusalem, created a rift between Washington and Jerusalem. Similar rifts existed in the past. Such temporary rifts do not undermine the close relationship between the two countries. They do, however, raise questions about its nature. Given that both countries' interests are not always aligned, Israel should reevaluate its policy of depending so heavily on American support. http://calevbenyefuneh.blogspot.com/2009/07/reassessing-our-ties-with-us.html#links 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 Azzam Tamimi, often paraded by the BBC and other British news outlets as a moderate Muslim calls for the eradication of Israel and declares his support for Hezbollah, Islamic Jihad and Hamas. http://calevbenyefuneh.blogspot.com/2009/07/jewish-group-urges-monitoring-of-hamas.html#links 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 The President Takes a Hard Line on Israel: Yet he doesn’t want to be seen as ‘meddling’ in Iran. http://calevbenyefuneh.blogspot.com/2009/07/president-takes-hard-line-on-israel.html#links 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 Breaking the Silence, whose latest report -- nothing more than unsubstantiated rumors -- was embraced by the British press, has received a cool response from Kuwaiti Abdallah al–Hadlaq. Al-Hadlaq wrote in the Kuwaiti paper Al-Watan July 19: http://calevbenyefuneh.blogspot.com/2009/07/kuwaiti-raises-voice-against-breaking_24.html#links 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 New Era as British hostility Reaches Crescendo: http://calevbenyefuneh.blogspot.com/2009/07/new-era-as-british-hostility-reaches.html#links 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 The Case for Anti-Freeze: Regarding Israeli Construction on Settlements: http://calevbenyefuneh.blogspot.com/2009/07/case-for-anti-freeze-regarding-israeli.html 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 "Moderate" Senior Fatah Official: We Won't Recognize Israel - maintain option to carry out terror attacks ("resistance") against Israel (Is there anything here that requires clarification?) As the Fatah movement prepares for its upcoming leadership convention, a senior group member says the event will be used to display Fatah's commitment to the armed struggle against Israel. http://calevbenyefuneh.blogspot.com/2009/07/moderate-senior-fatah-official-we-wont.html#links 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 Breaking the Rules: The organization's efforts to defame Israel in the international arena are successful. Despite the precedent of previous claims made against the IDF being disproved, and without waiting for an investigation into the allegations, supposedly reputable media organizations such as the BBC choose to report them as fact. Defamation of Israel is the order of the day http://calevbenyefuneh.blogspot.com/2009/07/breaking-rules.html 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 The Significance of 20 Units by RICK RICHMAN 07.20.2009 After refusing 21 times to stand by the U.S. commitment in the 2004 letter to Israel; after reneging on six years of understandings about the meaning of a “settlement freeze”; after responding to complaints that public disputes with Israel are not conducive to peace by saying that distance from Israel is necessary; and after saying Israel needs some “serious self-reflection” because there has supposedly been “no progress” in eight years, Barack Obama chose last week — in the midst of negotiations about re-defining Israel’s freeze obligation — to enter into still another dispute with Israel: this time by defining half of Jerusalem as a “settlement” in which not even 20 new housing units can be built. http://calevbenyefuneh.blogspot.com/2009/07/significance-of-20-units.html 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 Jerusalem Heartburn DAVID HAZONY 07.20.2009 We knew it would come to this. Over the weekend, the Obama administration showed just how radical the shift in U.S. policy toward Israel has been. It has demanded that the Israeli government withdraw the municipal approval of a building project in the Eastern Jerusalem neighborhood of Sheikh Jarrah. The land that houses the old, run-down Shepherd Hotel, which is to be replaced by an apartment building, was lawfully purchased by Jews. No matter: That part of town is seen by Washington as a “settlement.” http://calevbenyefuneh.blogspot.com/2009/07/jerusalem-heartburn.html#links 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 Jordanian authorities have started revoking the citizenship of thousands of Palestinians living in Jordan to avoid a situation in which they would be "resettled" permanently in the kingdom, Jordanian and Palestinian officials revealed on Monday. The new measure has increased tensions between Jordanians and Palestinians, who make up around 70 percent of the kingdom's population. The tensions reached their peak over the weekend when tens of thousands of fans of Jordan's Al-Faisali soccer team chanted slogans condemning Palestinians as traitors and collaborators with Israel. Al-Faisali was playing the rival Wihdat soccer team, made up of Jordanian-Palestinians, in the Jordanian town of Zarqa. http://calevbenyefuneh.blogspot.com/2009/07/amman-begins-stripping-states.html#links 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 Following are excerpts from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's remarks at the start of the weekly Cabinet meeting today (Sunday), 19.7.09: "I read the newspaper headlines today about the construction of a neighborhood in Jerusalem and I would like to re-emphasize that the united Jerusalem is the capital of the Jewish people and of the State of Israel. Our sovereignty over it is cannot be challenged; this means - inter alia - that residents of Jerusalem may purchase apartments in all parts of the city. http://calevbenyefuneh.blogspot.com/2009/07/pm-netanyahus-remarks-at-start-of.html#links 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 For those who thought otherwise, when you talk about Kiryat Arba you are also talking about Gilo and French Hill. A secret: When you talk about French Hill you are also talking about Tel Aviv. http://calevbenyefuneh.blogspot.com/2009/07/maaleh-adumim-gilo-are-no-different.html#links 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 "the United States is pressing ahead with plans to reopen negotiations on both the Israeli-Palestinian and Israeli-Syrian tracks." Why? On what basis? A Pause for Serious Self-reflection: Jonathan Tobin When US President Barack Obama met with 15 representatives of American Jewish organizations on July 13, Haaretz reported that he told them that he wanted to help Israel achieve peace but that if they were to benefit from his well-intentioned counsel, Israelis must "engage in serious self-reflection." The breathtaking condescension toward the Jewish state that this remark betrays, as well as the implicit dismissal of the last 16 years of Middle East history, says a lot about Obama and the direction in which American foreign policy is heading. http://calevbenyefuneh.blogspot.com/2009/07/pause-for-serious-self-reflection.html#links 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 Reaction to "Breaking the Silence" human rights report 15 Jul 2009 The IDF Spokesperson Unit regrets the fact that yet another human rights organization is presenting to Israel and the world a report based on anonymous and general testimonies, without investigating their details or credibility. Furthermore, this organization denied the IDF the minimal decency of presenting the report to the IDF and allowing it to investigate the testimonies prior to the report's publication. This was done while defaming and slandering the IDF and its commanders. (more) http://calevbenyefuneh.blogspot.com/2009/07/reaction-to-breaking-silence-human.html 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00