Richard Melson

Bereaved Beduin father: 'Everyone should join IDF' (JP, Dec 13, 2004): "My son loved the army and loved what he did in the army," said Yosef Jaja, the father of Sgt. Sayid Jaja, 19, who was killed Sunday evening in the deadly attack on an IDF position near the Rafah crossing.

Four other soldiers, all from the Beduin Desert Battalion, were killed in the attack.

"Sayid believed that if we live in this country we should both give to it and receive from it. That's what all of my children believe in," Jaja told Israel Radio Monday morning, adding that he has one other son serving in the Beduin Desert Battalion and a third son serving as a border policeman.

Jaja, from the northern town of Arara, said that his sons were of the first from their hometown to join the army. "It is an unprecedented step," he said. "There is opposition from the local community, especially from the religious people. There were also threats, and letters.

"But this is our country; all youngsters should go join the army," he said.

Jaja said he heard of the attack on the news. "I knew my son was situated in that position. I knew [what happened to him] before anyone came and told me.

Life is from Allah [God]," the bereaved father concluded.
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Kuwait gets apology from Arab Palestinians (Washington Times, Dec 12, 2004): "Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas apologized to Kuwaitis on Sunday for Palestinian support of Saddam Hussein during the 1990-91 Gulf War, his latest gesture to mend fences with Arab nations offended by the late Yasser Arafat over the years."
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What if it's not Israel they loathe? (Paris-based Iranian journalist Amir Taheri, JP, Dec 2, 2004): "There are no free elections or reliable opinion polls in the Arab world. So no one knows what the silent majority really thinks. The best one can do is relying on anecdotal evidence. On that basis, I came to believe that the Palestine-Israel issue was low down on the list of priorities for the man in the street but something approaching an obsession for the political, business, and intellectual elites.

When it came to ordinary people, almost no one ever mentioned the Palestine issue, even on days when Yasser Arafat's death dominated the headlines. When I asked them about issues that most preoccupied them, farmers, shopkeepers, taxi drivers and office workers never mentioned Palestine.
But when I talked to princes and princesses, business tycoons, high officials, and the glitterati of Arab academia, Palestine was the ur-issue.
The reason why the elites fake passion about this issue is that it is the only one on which they agree. In many cases, it is also the only political issue that people can discuss without running into trouble with the secret services."
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Who Stole the Holy Land? (Steven Plaut, FrontPageMagazine, Dec 9, 2004): "So why exactly do the anti-Zionists claim that a thousand-year old claim by Arabs who were never ruled by Palestinian Arabs has legitimacy, while a 1900-year claim by Jews to the land should be rejected as absurd, even though the United Nations granted Israel sovereignty in 1947? The anti-Zionists say it is because the thousand-year-old Arab claim is more recent than the older Jewish claim. But if national claims to lands become more legitimate when they are more recent, then surely the most legitimate of all is that of the Jews of Israel to the lands of Israel, because it is the most recent!"
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SUPPORT DEMOCRACY OVER TYRANNY
99.5% of U.S. Congress Commends Israeli Democracy (Feb 11, 2003):
The House of Representatives voted overwhelmingly to "commend the people of Israel for reaffirming their dedication to democratic ideals". The resolution, which passed 411-2, also reaffirms the "close bonds of friendship" that have "bound the people of the United States and the people of Israel together through turbulent times for more than half a century," and urges the Palestinian leadership to act on President Bush’s June 24, 2002, call to elect new leaders, dismantle the terrorist infrastructure, end incitement and embrace democracy.
Source: http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c108:H.RES.61
Why should you care about regimes in the Middle East?

The scourge of international terrorism and suicide bombings has reached far beyond the United States and Israel, the Middle East’s sole democracy. The Middle East includes 7 out of 19 of the most repressive regimes in the world and their weapons of mass destruction. It is also the hotbed of Jihad (Holy War), an ideology of world domination. 5 out of the world's 7 state sponsors of terrorism and about half of the world’s major terror groups are Arab and Iranian. The combination of these factors makes it more important than ever to be acquainted with the reality of the Middle East.
What you need to know about Arab and Iranian dictator's propaganda

Arab and Iranian dictators' propaganda is insidious: sponsors of terrorism establish "independent" human rights organizations, victims are turned into aggressors and savages, barbarians are painted as victims, imperialists and warmongers are declared moderates, defense is aggression, offense is defense, democrats are denounced as imperialists, dictators are lauded as democrats, and there are no problems that could not be resolved through the destruction of Israel, the Middle East’s sole democracy.

Why should you care about the freedom of 360 million Arabs and Iranians?

Because the same Arab and Iranian dictators oppress their fellow subjects, sponsor about half of the world’s major terror groups and imperil the Middle East’s sole democracy. Democratically governed nations are more likely to secure the peace, deter aggression, expand open markets, promote economic development, protect Western citizens, combat international terrorism and crime, uphold human and worker rights, avoid humanitarian crises and refugee flows, improve the global environment, and protect human health.

What you need to know about Arabs and Muslims living in freedom in Israel

Israel is a democracy which recognizes the individual rights of its citizens (such as their right to liberty and freedom of speech). The Israeli government is the only regime in the Middle East that is elected by free citizens -- including 1.2 million Arabs and Muslims.

The enemies of Israel, by contrast, are dictatorships and state sponsored terrorist organizations. They do not recognize the individual rights of their own subjects, much less those of the citizens of Israel. They initiate force indiscriminately in order to retain and expand their power.

In Lebanon, don’t try speaking out against the Syrian occupation. You won’t live long.

In Saudi Arabia, don’t try converting from Islam. You won't live long.

In Iraq, don’t try saying the regime has got WMD. You won’t live long.
In Somalia, don’t try refusing sexual mutilation of your sister. She and you won't live long.
In Tunisia, don’t try saying the government is corrupt. You won't live long.
In Egypt, don’t try being a homosexual. You won't live long.
In Sudan, don’t try being a separatist. You won’t live long.
In Iran, don’t try having an affair. You won’t live long.
In Algeria, don’t try fomenting revolutionary jihadism. You won't live long.
In Libya, don’t try asking about her role in international terrorism. You won’t live long.
In Mauritania, don’t try helping a slave run away. He and you won’t live long.
In Syria, don’t try throwing stones at police. You won't live long.
In Oman, don’t try demonstrating for women rights. You won’t live long.
In Morocco, don’t try saying Arab Saharawis have been displaced. You won’t live long.
In Yemen, don’t try apostasy. You won’t live long.
In the Palestinian Authority, don’t try supporting democratic Israel. You won’t live long.

Ten Tips on How to Be an Arafat Apologist (Jamie Glazov, Frontpage Magazin, Apr 11, 2002)

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