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These essays are about the Jews of Gaza and Ariel Sharon's plan to expel them from their homes, making Biblical Israel Judenrein. Leaving Gaza will also make it easier for the Arabs to attack the rest of Israel. HAVE YOU READ THE SHARON PLAN? PLO EMPOWERMENT, NOT DISENGAGEMENT by David Bedein Aryeh Zelasko said of this article, "David Bedein makes clear that the Sharon plan make no sense as a disengagement plan. After the extermination of the Jewish presence in Gaza, Israel will still be responsible for all aspects of life there and will continue to provide all vital services. Also, there will be no change in the economic relationship between the Arab workers of Gaza and their Jewish bosses in Israel. In short, the only thing Sharon's plan does is expel the Jews of Gaza and steal their property." READ MORE I AM A SETTLER by Ashley Perry The settlers of Gaza, Samaria and Judea have been so demonized, trivialized and neutered, it almost comes as a shock to read what a settler is really like. Get the scoop from Ashley Perry, who writes, "So yes I am a settler! I make no apology for it. I never hurt anyone, I never stole anyone's land." "I'm just like most people on this planet ... a regular person. A regular person doesn't hate any particular people." READ MORE REPENTANCE OR DISSECTING SHARON by Boris Shusteff The past is very often an excellent guide to understanding what's happening now and what to expect in the future. Boris Shusteff calmly and skillfully relates the details of Sharon's political history. As he points out, Sharon has seesawed between contradictory positions not out of conviction or ideological principles but out of personal interest and the desire to remain in power. READ MORE WHAT IS A SECURE AND SOVEREIGN JEWISH STATE OF ISRAEL? by Emanuel A. Winston Emanuel Winston discusses how Israel's security requirements have been whittled away by the failed Oslo peace accords. "Now, we have Arik Sharon retreating from Gaza at the behest of friends and enemies - even as the terrorists have introduced longer range Kassem rockets that are already being fired into what Sharon calls 'Israel proper.'" READ MORE 'WITHER' ISRAEL? by Frank J. Gaffney, Jr. Frank Gaffney, Jr. assesses Israel's current condition as grim. Its "leaders who promised to protect [Israel] against Arab neighbors bent on the destruction of the Jewish State" have not and do not. The Arabs, the Europeans and the U.N. apply coercive pressure. And Sharon "is unilaterally withdrawing from the Gaza Strip, a superficially appealing and politically popular cut-your-losses move that will, unfortunately, give rise to a new safehaven for terrorists..." READ MORE No one really believes that the Gaza disengagement will stop terrorism or bring peace, not even those who, for all sorts of sleazy reasons, sing its praises. These next essays suggest some new approaches for Israel to try. Unlike the Disengagement Plan, they are worth exploring. DISMANTLE REFUGEE CAMPS, NOT SETTLEMENTS by Israel Zwick Expelling the Jews of Gaza in the expectation that Gaza will be the start of a peaceful, democratic Palestinian state is unrealistic. As Israel Zwick observes, "There isn't a single, democratic Islamic state in the whole world, why would this be different?" He suggests an autonomous representative government that might serve as a model for the Middle East. READ MORE THE ARAB DEMOGRAPHIC PROBLEM: A NEW APPROACH by Professor Paul Eidelberg Professor Paul Eidelberg proposes an innovative way to deal with the Arab demographic problem: the explosive Arab birthrate threatens to destroy the character of the Jewish state. Professor Eidelberg's solution is to "make the State of Israel increasingly Jewish and proud on the one hand, and authentically democratic on the other!" This article discusses implementation. READ MORE THE JEWISH STRUGGLE AGAINST ARABS IN ISRAEL by Ariel Natan Pasko It is ironic that while the Arabs strive to make land they control Jew-free, in the name of democracy an activist leftwing judiciary and a timid government have encouraged Arab takeover of Jewish communities in Israel. In contract, as Ariel Natan Pasko points out, 63.7% [of Israeli Jews] "believes that the government should encourage Israeli Arabs to emigrate from Israel," while "71% [of Israeli Arabs] specified one or more material factors that would induce them to emigrate permanently..." READ MORE REDEFINING THE (ARAB) PALESTINIAN PROBLEM by Martin Sherman We have abundant evidence that "the goal of the Palestinians is not to establish a state for themselves but to dismantle a state for others -- the Jews." But setting their political aspirations aside, a beneficial change in their environment can be addressed. Martin Sherman points out that "[t]he sums required for the humanitarian resettlement of the entire Palestinian population in countries with a similar/familiar socio-religious environment would be significantly less than those already spent by the U.S. on the Iraq War." READ MORE Muslims have traits - fostered by Islam - that create problems for everyone, perhaps even for themselves. They view any land that becomes Muslim as being Muslim forever after. Their harsh environment has conditioned them to perpetual battle, not negotiation. Their religion degrades women and denigrates other religions. For these reasons, Western optimism and the search by the West for the moderate Muslim is the wrong approach. TIME TO GET CRACKING AT THE VATICAN by Hugh Fitzgerald The Vatican explains Muslim "Christianphobia" as a response to the war on terror. Hugh Fitzgerald presents cogent arguments that contradict that simplistic and erroneous explanation. READ MORE HOPE OR ILLUSION? by Len Estrin Much of the Middle East is desert, barely capable of supporting life and it has formed the Arab character. Len Estrin points out that "[s]urvival in a desert land requires its own set of rules; and ... these rules are not truly understood by Western society, including a Westernized Israel." The bottom line: peace will come to the region "through victory or defeat." "Negotiation, conciliation or compromise" will continue to fail. READ MORE STOP THEM! by Koorosh Afshar The author, an Iranian student who writes under a pseudonym, observes that "[t]he infamousness of the Shiite clerics of Iran is not a new story ... as they are already known to the world as the 'bad guys'." He talks in this article about the appalling behavior of judges appointed by the mullahs and how destructive their immorality is to the younger generation. READ MORE CAIR'S "ANTI-MUSLIM" HYSTERIA by Steven Stalinsky A poll by the Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR) concluded that many Americans have a negative image of Muslims. Steven Stalinsky notes that "CAIR doesn't address why Americans might have legitimate concerns about some aspects of the Muslim world ... Instead, it placed the onus on Americans to learn about Islam - which is a code word for the Islamic concept of da'wa, converting non-Muslims." READ MORE MUSLIM "MODERATES" by Professor Paul Eidelberg In another essay, Professor Eidelberg quotes De Tocqueville, "... by and large there have been few religions in the world as deadly to men as that of Muhammad. So far as I can see, it is the principal cause of the decadence so visible today in the Muslim world and, though less absurd than the polytheism of old, its social and political tendencies are in my opinion more to be feared, and I therefore regard it as a form of decadence rather than a form of progress in relation to paganism itself." Professor Eidelberg argues in this essay that the optimism voiced by some scholars about Islam may be politically correct but is delusional. READ MORE The previous set of essays examined the aspects of the Muslim character that make it unlikely that we can obtain a lasting peace by peaceful means. Yet, despite all the evidence, many - even many in power - still believe the road to peace is through appeasement. This set of essays discuss various aspects of the general War on Terrorism we are reluctantly fighting. LESSONS FROM NORTHERN IRELAND FOR THE ARAB-ISRAELI CONFLICT by Dean Godson In this insightful essay on the British mindset, Dean Godson writes that "Many British officials [Tony Blair included] see a strong resemblance between the Israelis and the [Protestant] Unionists"; both are viewed as having "driven out indigenous peoples with a greater right to the land." Both are urged to make a "massive number of political concessions" to the IRA and the Palestinian Arabs, who, whatever they do, are not seen as really terrorists because, after all, they are in the right. READ MORE A SYMPOSIUM: THE TERROR WAR: HOW WE CAN WIN by Jamie Glazov Jamie Glazov of Front Page Magazine was moderator of a symposium on the nature of Islamism, "a totalitarian ideology" and how to fight the war the Islamists are waging against us. The participants - Walter Laqueur, Ion Mihai Pacepa, Robert Leiken and Ralph Peters - proposed, besides killing terrorists for however long it takes to subdue them, such countermeasures as better intelligence, education, PR, preemption, civilizing Iraq and recognizing that a small group of terrorists might acquire weapons of mass distruction. The core of the problem, as Mr. Peters put it is, "This isn't really a battle of ideas, but a contest of souls." The struggle "began in the seventh century A.D. As Islamic conquerors burst out of Arabia, a war began that has never ceased." READ MORE OF COURAGE AND COWARDICE by Caroline Glick Caroline Glick writes about the courage of Theo van Gogh and Pim Fortuyn, two Dutchmen both murdered by Muslims, concluding that "... if at the end of the day Holland is able to protect itself from the gathering threat of Islamic terrorism, their sacrifice will have saved countless lives of their countrymen." In contrast, In Israel "... our leaders seem hell-bent on relinquishing the battleground to our enemies and to those who see their advancement resulting from our diminishment." READ MORE ISRAEL HAS THE RIGHT by Patrick D. O'Brien When I finished reading this article, I thought it could have been titled 'Why's a nice Jewish country like Israel so stupid and so benevolent towards its enemies?' Patrick D. O'Brien points out "that Israel works extremely hard to strike the difficult balance between defending its citizens and respecting the rights and lives of its enemies." And yet, "[t]he world erupts in outrage when Israel hunts down the Islamic terrorists who hide and operate among a civilian Arab population." but keeps silent when Jews are slaughtered. READ MORE FRAUD! UNRWA EXPOSED by Moshe Dann Unlike all other groups who have become refugees temporarily, the refugee status of the Palestinian arab is artificially maintained by the United Nations Relief and Welfare Agency (UNRWA). The problem is not just political. As Moshe Dann writes, "... UNRWA receives funding from terrorist organizations (including al Qaida connected) and [UNRWA's] 'refugee camps' are major centers of terrorism." READ MORE GETTING BEYOND HYPOCRISY by Hillel Halkin Hillel Halkin carefully dissects the ideas associated with the word terrorism and how it differs from insurrection, from guerilla warfare, from ordinary murder. He concludes with what most of us not in the media always knew: "the Palestinians who for decades killed Israelis ... in order to promote the goals of the Palestinian Liberation Organization were terrorists ..." READ MORE CYCLE OF VIOLENCE? by Dr. Steve Berger Dr. Steve Berger debunks the notion that there is an escalating cycle of violence in the Arab-Israeli conflict. Instead, there is a marked asymmetry between the indiscriminate barbarity - bombings, decapitations, stonings, dismemberings - of the Arabs and the pinpoint Israeli response. READ MORE GIVING TERROR A BOOST by Daniel Mandel Daniel Mandel points out that while the media profess to be objective, in reality they too often sanitize the Arab terrorist, while using "highly judgmental language" about Israeli counterterrorism. He suggests the media act out of pro-Palestinian bias and fear that publishing the truth would leave their reporters open to Arab anger. In the end, "... they become obliging accomplices of terrorists." READ MORE TERROR'S FINANCIERS by Neal M. Sher It has become clear, as Neal M. Sher tells us, that Saudi Arabia "has for years been engaged in a criminal conspiracy to give aid, comfort, and material support to mass murderers [Hamas]." "Not some rogue Saudis, not a fringe element seeking to destabilize the nation. No, the Saudi government itself." To counter the Saudi threat, Sher suggests that "[t]he passage of a strengthened Saudi Arabia Accountability Act - which makes it difficult to waive its provisions - would be a good beginning." READ MORE Arafat is dead. The question now is: after Arafat, what? LONG LIVE ARAFAT! by Yashiko Sagamori Now that he's dead, some of the horrible details of Arafat's life have finally received wide exposure. Yashiko Sagamori takes the opposite tack and tells us about Arafat's straight-faced sense of humor - how he generously donated his AIDS-infected blood to the 9/11 terror victims - and how he was idolized by the very people whose future he ruined. Does Arafat's death usher in a new era? Sagamori reminds us that Lenin was followed by Stalin, Kim Il Sung by Kim Jong Il and Hafez Assad by Bashar Assad. READ MORE THE MAUDLIN MEDIA MANIA FOR THE MURDERER by Steven Plaut Steven Plaut summarizes the extreme adulation given Arafat by the media, politicians, "statesmen" and some on the Israeli left. It probably says as much about Arafat's admirers as it does about Arafat. READ MORE UNDERSTANDING PALESTINIAN POLITICS by Barry Rubin While most of the press, ever optimistic, expect that now, with Arafat's death, negotiation with his successor should be possible. Professor Barry Rubin is less sanguine. He names the major players - the people and factions - that will try to assume power. He believes that "[i]f there is a collective leadership, it will include leaders of very different viewpoints who will be unlikely to agree to any new or different direction. With no single leader or chain of command, it is going to be hard for anyone to make policy or take actions such as ending the violence or engaging in serious negotiations. The most likely outcome "... is a quiet anarchy in which different groups operate on their own and ignore instructions from the top." READ MORE WILL A GAZA "HAMAS-STAN" BECOME A FUTURE AL-QAEDA SANCTUARY? by Maj-Gen. (res) Yaakov Amidror and David Keyes Major General Yaakov Amidror and David Keyes lay out likely consequences of Sharon's Disengagement plan coupled with Yasser Arafat's death. A likely scenario is that Hamas - one of the resident terrorist groups - will take over and offer Al-Qaeda a working base and a safe haven. The authors point out that, "Ironically, by seeking to neutralize Israeli military power, Western states would help create the very sort of security vacuum in Gaza that al-Qaeda requires in order to establish a new sanctuary. READ MORE The next essays discuss anti-Semitism from anti=Semitic acts through the centuries up to a major modern-day offender, the United Nations. Professor Beres asserts it is a religious duty for American Christians to prevent a second Holocaust, and the final essay makes the subtle point that depriving Israeli Jews of their ordinary human rights and "usurpation of Jewish national assets and sacrilege of Jewish spiritual heritage" is the start of the slippery slope to what was once called the 'Final Solution'. ANTI-SEMITISM - WHAT IS IT? by Laureen Moe Laureen Moe, a Canadian, provides a brief but excellent historical summary of anti-Semitism from Roman times to the present, where she concentrates on the start of Modern Zionism, the Holocaust and Canada's rejectionist response to the pleas to save Jews. She notes, however, that things are changing and "Christians throughout the world are awakening to a call to stand by the side of the Jewish people." READ MORE THE U.N. DISCOVERS THE CAUSE OF ANTI-SEMITISM: JEWS by Anne Bayefsky Swathed in the trappings of a serious report, the draft report of the UN conference in Barcelona on anti-Semitism has produced a ludicrous explanation of the causes of anti-Semitism - it's the Jews. As Anne Bayefsky writes of the report's conclusions, "Simply put, Jews are responsible for anti-Semitism. Or, if it weren't for Israel's annoying insistence on defending itself, on the same terms as would be applied to any other state faced with five decades of wars and terrorism aimed at its obliteration, Jews would be better off." READ MORE HOW AND WHY AMERICA'S CHRISTIANS MUST CARE FOR ISRAEL by Professor Louis Rene Beres "Arab terror in Israel ... is openly genocidal." Professor Beres makes the case that the responsibility of Christians to help prevent a second Holocaust goes beyond what is expected from ordinary human decency. It is a religious obligation. As he says, "At the heart of G-d's covenant with Israel is the promise to the Jewish people - His People - to the land of Israel. For Christians, this promise is the only 'Road Map' of value." READ MORE PEACE CANNOT REST ON INJUSTICE by Judah (Yehuda) Tzoref We are so used to hearing "human rights" associated with the Arab encroachment of the Land belonging by every legitimate measuring stick to Israel that it comes almost as a shock to read Judah Tzoref's valid argument that Arab aspirations can not be fulfilled by depriving the Jews of their right "to human and national equality." READ MORE This section is about some of the pernicious Left. It is about the Israeli academics who defend the Arabs, no matter what they do, and work against Israel, no matter what it does. It has even coopted some concepts intrinsic to Judaism to work against Judaism. In the United States, we have the earnest liberal, who have taken up the cause of the 'poor Palestinian' underdog, without bothering to fortify his prejudices with facts. EXPOSED: ISRAEL'S TENURED RADICALS by Robert Kornfeld Robert Kornfeld writes about entrenched Marxist Israeli academics who teach the young "that Israel is a criminal 'colonial' entity responsible for the Arab violence against it, that the Arabs are the victims, and that Israel can end the violence by satisfying Arab demands... It was such ideas that led to the disastrous Oslo accords, which glorified Yasser Arafat as a peacemaker and brought a rain of death and destruction on Israel that continues to this day." He writes, too, of a new group, Israel Academic Monitor, devoted to exposing and monitoring abuse of academic freedom. READ MORE AT JEOPARDY - Part II by Patricia Berlyn In Part I, Patricia Berlyn discussed how dangerous Sharon's ill-considered disengagement plan is for Israel. In Part II, she looks at the "obstinate intiguers" within the State, the " ... several, often overlapping, cliques bent on obliterating the meaning and purpose of Israel." This includes media people, artists, the Marxist Left and the fervently irreligious politicians. They have mounted an assault on the right of free speech for anyone except themselves. READ MORE BETWEEN THE UNIVERSAL AND THE GLOBAL by Dr. Judah Tzoref In this insightful essay, Dr. Judah Tzoref contrasts the Jewish concept of universality - which views other cultures "as a manifestation of the natural order of creation" - and the notion of globalization, which strives "to press nations into the confines of a global village, where all national distinctions are eventually obliterated. Unfortunately, the ingrained Jewish belief in universality has been distorted by Israel's political Left to support its "ideological endeavor to dismantle social textures intrinsically related to human nature, such as family and nation." READ MORE THE ASSOCIATES OF HERR ZUNDEL by Steven Plaut Steven Plaut chronicles the history of Ernst Zundel, a German-born Canadian, whose website, Zundelsite, became a major node in the distribution of Holocaust-denying Hitler-venerating propaganda. The author of this article has more than an academic interest in Zundel and his buddies. A contributor to the Zundelsite, Neve Gordon, lecturer in political science at Ben-Gurion University, has sued Plaut for criticizing him. READ MORE INTERPRETERS OF PEACE: PLO Flag Waving In Dupont Circle by Carrie Devorah How far away is the Arab-Israel conflict? It's as far away as your local university and wherever pro-Palestinian folks can set up a table, raise a poster, woo a passerby. Carrie Devorah writes of her encounter with members of one such group in Washington, D.C. Their passion was almost as strong as their ignorance. READ MORE The next essays are about historical events. The first two tell about Jerusalem and Israel in the first part of the 20th Century, well before the Arab League created a 'people' from ordinary Arabs who lived locally and/or were migrating into what the British called Palestine. What hasn't changed is Arab instability and violence. The third essay could serve as a parable for what happens when academics seem to be the last to wake up to reality. THE LAND OF ISRAEL AND JERUSALEM IN 1900 by Elliott A. Green Elliot Green writes of a time - all of a hundred years ago - when there was no such entity as Palestine, let alone a Palestinian people. There was not even such a thing as Arab nationalism. As they had from Biblical times, Jews lived in the Land - then an undifferentiated part of the Ottoman Empire - and were not called occupiers. Arabs lived there and were not called owners. READ MORE THE HEBRON MARKET by Elyakim HaEtzni Hebron is where Abraham and Sarah are buried. Hebron is where David was crowned king of Israel. The Jews lived in Hebron continously from Biblical times until 1929, when, after the Hebron massacre, the British expelled them. Hebron is where determined Jews have come back to live, despite having to fight hostile Arab neighbors and a hostile, secular government. Elyakim HaEtzni gives us a glimpse into Hebron's history. READ MORE THE NAZI WHO RETURNED TO HARVARD by Jeff Jacoby Jeff Jacoby recounts the story of Ernst Hanfstaengl, a Harvard graduate and a Nazi, who, when he returned to the University for his 25th reunion in 1934, was greeted warmly by many. Instead of taking a stand against Nazi ideology, many of the faculty immediately raised the banner of free speech. Eventually, they became anti-Nazi, but they weren't in the vanguard, when, as Jacoby says, "it would have done the most good." READ MORE READERS' BLOG-EDS This is where our readers get a chance to write opinions and editorials and share articles they find informative. Why Blog-Ed and not Op-Ed? Because we have retained the typical blog style of a stream of text organized chronologically. Blog-Eds is updated every few days. IMPORTANT UPDATE: A Blog-Ed page now has a quick list of the articles from which you can access any of the articles immediately. Click the "Blog-Eds List" box in the Blue Strip on the top of the Blog-Ed page. November 2004 Blog-Eds READ MORE December 2004 Blog-Eds READ MORE =======================end of issue========================== September-October, 2004 A major focus in this issue is on Arab strategy - jihad and terror - and how "friendly" Arab countries are contributing to the campaign to eradicate Israel from the Middle East. Recent articles by PLO spokemen have made it clear that, no matter what Israel does - even withdrawing from Gaza and consenting to a Palestinian state - the PLO will not be deviated from its goal of destroying Israel. JIHAD, APOCALYPSE, AND ANTI-SEMITISM: An Interview with Richard Landes by Manfred Gerstenfeld Richard Landes makes the case that "in monotheistic and modern times, apocalyptic thinking has often involved exterminationist anti-Semitism. Jihadism is the main contemporary example." The "religious Hamas and the secular PLO" both use apocalyptic rhetoric "characterized by "global conspiracy theory, total war, virulent anti-Semitism, contempt for human life, and child sacrifice." READ MORE ROCKET SCIENCE 101 by Dr. Mitchell Finkel Michell Finkel explains the menace of the rockets now being manufactured and used by the Gazan Arabs. To leave Gaza in Arab hands makes attacks on the rest of Israel more certain and more accurate. READ MORE THE NEW ANTI-SEMITISM by Clifford D. May Clifford D. May describes the one of the latest forms of anti-Semitism. The intifada has not brought Israel to its knees. So now Arabs are proposing a Chomskyian one-state solution with a majority Arab population, to be achieved by opening Israel to anyone and everyone who claims to be a dispossessed Palestinian. The end goal, a Judenrein Israel, is sanctioned in the pages of the New York Times, where it is seen as a fight against bigotry. READ MORE A GIANT PALESTINIAN STEP BACKWARD by Barry Rubin Speaking of recent articles by PLO spokesmen, Barry Rubin writes that the PLO has come into the open about its plans for Israel. "The PLO's position is now publicly and officially back to where it was in the 1960s and 1970s. Its open goal is Israel's elimination." This puts the lie to the wishful supposition that all the local Arabs really want is a 'Palestinian' homeland. READ MORE "TERROR HELPED US ACHIEVE GOALS" by Jerusalem Newswire Editorial Staff The Western media has by and large preached that the Palestinian Arabs oppose violence against the Jews and would prefer negotiations. But a recent poll "found that the vast majority of Palestinian Arabs continue to support the terrorist murder of Jewish men, women and children." Prime Minister's Sharon plan to disengage from Gaza is seen as a victory for terrorism. READ MORE HAMAS - THE ISLAMIC RESISTANCE MOVEMENT by Reuven Erlich The papers are full of the equitable divving up of Gaza by Arafat's Al Fatah and Hamas, in anticipation of Israel's expulsion the Gazan Jews. Dr. Erlich of the Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center provides us with a factual description of the Hamas organization. For more information, read Lappen, "Hamas and the Palestinian Authority Are One" (http://www.think-israel.org/lappenRM.html); and Kaufman "A Night of Hamas 'Heroes'" (http://www.think-israel.org/kaufman.hamas.html). READ MORE A CLOSER LOOK AT EGYPT by Rachel Neuwirth Egypt launched an attack on Israel on Yom Kippur, 1973, and was defeated. As reward for signing a peace treaty in 1978, she got back a value-added Sinai, courtesy of Israel, and she also received huge monitary and equipment rewards, courtesy of the United States. Rachel Neuwirth writes that in return, she allows weapons smuggling into Gaza via tunnels from Egypt, encourages her imaginative media workers in their hate-Israel campaign, and targets Israel with her overblown military armament. READ MORE SAUDI ARABIA'S RELIGIOUS HATRED by Jeff Jacoby The U.S. Department has finally put Wahhabi-dominated Saudi Arabia on "its list of the world's most religiously intolerant nations. It was a step long overdue." But Colin Powell and other U.S. officials continue to reassure the Sauds we're not serious about the charge. Jeff Jacoby points out that "Saudi oil fuels the world, but the enemy we are fighting is fueled by the feverish religious bigotry that is Saudi Arabia's other leading export." READ MORE Compared to the attacks on Israel itself, the infiltration of Muslims into Europe and their impact on European society is muted. But both are designed to make Islam predominent globally. The new Muslim immigrants have also produced anti-Semitic rhetoric and actions and revitalized a Jew-hatred that was suppressed after the Holocaust. And much of Europe has bought into the Arab rhetoric. It has affected their legal decisions and their policy in the Middle East. THE NEW NEO-COLONIALISM: The Arab-Moslem Invasion Of France by Lewis Lipkin Lewis Lipkin examines the French conflict with its Arab immigrants, where "[t]he Arab immigrants' refractoriness to nationalism is confronting centuries-old French social theory." He writes that "the alien influx has reached a level where it is not simply the economy that is strained, but the very nature of the national character is being put to the test." France's attempt at integration has benefitted the Muslims and at the same time has conflicted with the Muslim desire for retaining their own ways - and making others conform to them. READ MORE EUROPE WILL BE ISLAMIC BY THE END OF THE CENTURY by Robert Spencer Robert Spencer describes the rapid growth of a Muslim population in several European countries. Typically, they have tried to impose their own way of doing things on the host country. There are signs, however, that the current catering to the Muslims in the name of political correctness may be changing. READ MORE AN AMERICAN IN LONDON by Carol Gould Carol Gould recounts her experiences in London, receiving verbal abuse from strangers because she was American, because she was a Jew. She writes, "... my hunch is that the daily dose of relentless America-bashing in the European media, combined with the abundance of criticism of Israel has created an atmosphere of anger and hostility that for the first time in my lifetime makes me fearful for my safety in my beloved adopted country, Great Britain." READ MORE UNITED NATIONS VOTE PRESAGES STATE SPONSORED GLOBAL ANTI-SEMITISM by David Singer Recently, the International Court of Justice [ICJ] demanded "the immediate demolition of Israel's security barrier in the West Bank and declared "Israeli settlements in the West Bank (including East Jerusalem) to be in breach of international law." This decision - which is fundamentally flawed and based on incomplete information - is likely to be used in a campaign of vilification that will affect not only Israel, but "Jews living in many of those 150 member States endorsing the ICJ opinion, such as France, United Kingdom, Argentina, Italy, Russia, Germany, Switzerland, Belgium and Holland..." Thus the importance of Article 80 of the UN Charter. READ MORE EUROPE'S FAILED MIDDLE EAST POLICIES by Gerald M. Steinberg Gerald Steinberg suggests that "Europe's substantive policy is based on a belief that stability in the Middle East will come from a formal agreement to create a Palestinian state. This theology was formed in the aftermath of the 1973 war and the oil boycott, and has remained unquestioned. Since than, in explaining the absence of peace, Europe has consistently blamed Israel, while ignoring signs that the Palestinian leadership is not interested in a 'two state solution', and seeks to roll back the 1947 UN partition resolution." READ MORE Israel owns Israel - and that includes Samaria, Judea and Gaza - biblically, historically, by living there for centuries into the modern era and by right of conquest. But the ultimate foundation is the League of Nations mandate that was transferred intact to the United Nations. If it no longer applies, then the Arab countries it created are also illegal. For obscure reasons, Israeli hasbara downplays and often distorts its own best arguments. IS ISRAEL'S LEGAL SYSTEM ACTING ILLEGALLY? by Yoram Shifftan Dr. Yoram Shifftan continues his brilliant explication of the legal bases for Israel's possession of Samaria, Judea and Gaza. Citing Julius Stone, Professor of International Law, Shifftan carefully extracts the applicable and appropriate legal interpretations from the inaccuracies that have wantonly been heaped over the truth. READ MORE WHO IS ENTITLED TO GIFT AWAY JEWISH NATIONAL RIGHTS? by Yoram Shifftan This is a companion piece to the previous article, which focusses on the lack of awareness of the legal foundation of the right of the Jews to what was Mandated Palestine. This essay makes the point that the Land of Israel can not be gifted to another group until its citizenry is fully aware of the legalities and the consequences of such an action. READ MORE Israel is at jeopardy. The legal system and Israel's hasbara work against Israel's integrity. Its Prime Minister, who was elected to go boldly after the terrorists, has adopted the policy of the party he defeated. Its government proposes to do what the Arabs haven't been able to do in 50 years of warfare - expel Jews from their homes. The extreme Left has joined the Arabs in promoting the welfare of the local Arabs above the future of the Jews. These essays analyze the sickness and propose remedies. AT JEOPARDY - Part I by Patricia Berlyn In this thoughtful article, Patricia Berlyn writes that Israel is at jeopardy, both in the word's ordinary meaning because Sharon's disengagement plan is dangerous and divisive and in the sense that at the moment "the outcome is not yet decided, and can go right or wrong." READ MORE LAND FOR PEACE (L-F-P) IGNORES REALITY: A Politically Incorrect Examination by Yoram Ettinger Yoram Ettinger lists some very sensible reasons why Israel should not cede real land for hopes-of-peace, whether the deal is by way of a piece of paper or by a unilateral withdrawal. With regard to biblical Israel - Samaria, Judea and Gaza - he points out that "[r]arely would nations agree to cede land to aggressors; never would nations contemplate a giveaway of their cradle of history, lest they lose their future." READ MORE GETTING GAZA WRONG by Evelyn Gordon It isn't just Sharon that has things wrong about Gaza. Evelyn Gordon notes that "[l]ike Dali's limp watches, all the normal rules of human behavior appear to have been bent out of shape." Told that Kassam rockets were hitting the town of Sderot, Minister Tommy Lapid said, "Let them reinforce their roofs." And the 'civilized' world cares about the death of an Arab killer but not for the Jewish child he killed. READ MORE ARAB TIME BOMB: The Demographic Argument by Moshe Dann Given the Arab growth rate, an argument made for withdrawing from Gaza - and some as yet unspecified territory - is that it will preserve the Jewish character of the state. Moshe Dann points out fallacies in the demographic argument. READ MORE THE PEOPLE, THE PEOPLE'S ARMY, THE STATE AND THE REGIME by Yossi Blum Halevi Recalling the history of Israel's last 60 years and projecting from developing trends, Yossi Blum Halevi describes possible scenerios that could easily become real, should Sharon continue his plan to expel the Jews who live in Gaza and Samaria. Amazingly, the tone is not strident; it is poetic and thoughtful, perhaps thus making Halevi's arguments all the more convincing. READ MORE ON CONCEPTUALIZATION, LOW-INTENSITY CONFLICTS AND OTHER BASIC CONCEPTS FOR UNDERSTANDING THE IDF'S SENIOR COMMAND by Yossi Blum Halevi In a companion piece to the previous article, Yossi Blum Halevi takes on a very practical topic: Why has the IDF done so poorly fighting the current unconventional war waged so ruthlessly and effectively by the Arabs? His answer - one we in America should take to heart about our fight in Iraq - is: it's not the IDF, it's the senior command politicians who have hobbled the army. READ MORE JEWISH ANTI-SEMITISM AND THE RISE OF THE LEFTIST ASCENDANCY IN ISRAEL by Steven Plaut In this thoughtful essay, Steven Plaut traces the modern roots of what seems an anomaly - blatant anti-Semitism in the Jewish state. It grew rapidly during the Oslo years, powered by the Israeli Left which - although relatively small in numbers - controls much of Israeli education, journalism, the justice system and national policy making. The hostile rhetoric of the Left has cost Israel its self-confidence and has served both as model and provider of credibility to world anti-Semitism. READ MORE A HOLY PEOPLE by Moshe Saperstein Moshe Saperstein, lives in Neve Dekalim in Gush Katif in Gaza, which is constantly under bombardment by its Arab neighbors. In this essay, written during the High Holidays, he observes, "That so many [mortars] hit in the area of the shul indicates that our enemies have a clear view of what this conflict is about. Unlike our leaders and ideologues who, so removed from faith in anything other than their own cleverness, can't conceive that religion is a cause anyone would die for." READ MORE HOW TO PREVENT ISRAEL'S DEMISE by Professor Paul Eidelberg The previous articles in this section dealt with specific problems now afflicting Israel. This essay suggests that the reason Israel deals poorly with external threats and is unresponsive to its citizenry is the Israeli governmental system itself. Long a strong advocate of convening a constitutional assembly, Professor Eidelberg suggests the formation of a non-partisan group that will act as 'shadow government' to lay out and develop implementation for the reforms Israel needs to its system of government. READ MORE These essays examine some basic facts about Israel and the Palestinian Arabs. And some little-known facts about religion in Saudi Arabia. IS SAUDI ARABIA HOLY SOIL? by Stephen Schwartz Many media people - Pat Buchanan inter alia - have claimed that Saudi Arabia - the country that curtails religious rights for all non-Muslims and all Muslims except the Wahhabis - is sacred soil. Stephen Schwartz corrects the record. Mecca and Medina are considered sacred by all Muslims, but only Wahhabis believe the rest of Saudi Arabia is holy. But then again, "the Wahhabis do not consider other Islamic believers, including but not limited to Shias, as Muslims." READ MORE HOW STRONG IS THE ARAB CLAIM TO PALESTINE? by Lawrence Auster Lawrence Auster examines the Arab claim to Palestine. He points out that the Arabs - and that includes the 'Palestinians' - are not native to Palestine and their control of Palestine has long since been over. He also demolishes other beliefs dear to the hearts of pro-Arab propagandists. READ MORE We look at the media, both in the United States and in Israel. Both show a preponderance of Left liberal writers. Ideology should not result in unprofessional conduct - distorting the facts and often creating them - but, regrettably, it often does. *THE CHICAGO TRIBUNE'S ISLAMIC SPIN* by Emanuel A. Winston Emanuel Winston takes the Chicago Tribune to task for portraying yet another suicidal bomber as a sympathetic hero and not as what he was - a "religious pathological killer submerged in a religion that produces Islamic killers." To read the Tribune, one would never suspect that the misery of the Gazan Arab was caused by the Arab leadership, who exploited the poor fool for all the usual reasons: money, publicity and sympathy. Instead, there's psychobabble - "he experienced alienation and humiliation..." - a wound Israel inflicted just by surviving attack after attack by her hostile Arab neighbors. READ MORE THE LA TIMES' SPYTFUL TALE by Bernice Lipkin The recent article on the lastest spy scare in the Los Angeles Times is but one of many. It shares with most of them a marked weakness of fact and a strong - unusual in a Left liberal newspaper - respect for statements by Government officials. In addition, the writing is so poor, it underscores the weakness of the arguments. READ MORE FROM RATHER TO BARNEA by Yisrael Medad and Eli Pollak In America, Dan Rather has recently provided us with a sharp-edged example of "the liberal-conservative political-cultural divide." In Israel, Yisrael Medad and Eli Pollak write, "[t]here is a media elite. It's usually liberal and often behaves unprofessionally." They provide some unappetizing examples of unprofessionalism. READ MORE READERS' BLOG-EDS This is where our readers get a chance to write opinions and editorials and share articles they find informative. Why Blog-Ed and not Op-Ed? Because we have retained the typical blog style of a stream of text organized chronologically. Blog-Eds is updated every few days. IMPORTANT UPDATE: A Blog-Ed page now has a quick list of the articles from which you can access any of the articles immediately. Click the "Blog-Eds List" box in the Blue Strip on the top of the Blog-Ed page. September 2004 Blog-Eds READ MORE October 2004 Blog-Eds READ MORE ============================================== July-August, 2004 We continue our exploration of what is still unfamiliar to Westerners - the mindset and value system of Islam, particularly when Islamic values lead to terrorism and violence. WHY AMERICAN MUSLIM CONVERTS TURN TO TERRORISM by Robert Spencer Robert Spencer examines a puzzling happening - why Western converts to Islam become terrorists. Using Adam Yahiye Gadahn as example, Robert Spencer points out that these converts are not alienated; they are simply following the Koran as taught them by the imams who instruct them. They have become "warriors of jihad" for Islam. READ MORE WHY DO THEY HATE US? AND WHY DO WE CARE? by Patrick D. O'Brien Islamic terrorists hate us. But, as Patrick O'Brien points out, that doesn't mean we have given them cause. It is their religion and culture that fuel their hate - both of America and Israel. It is NOT despair; it is NOT poverty; it is NOT that we are free and they are not. READ MORE RELIGION OF HATE by Jackie Mason and Raoul Feder Jackie Mason and Raoul Feder examine the implications of the belief ingrained in Islam from Mohammed's time to the present day - that Muslims are entitled to rule over everyone else. "Muslims, married to a failed past, offer little hope for integration into modern society. Israel giving them land to which they are not entitled, or the United States not punishing them for criminal acts, will not assuage their rage." READ MORE WORD GAMES DON'T CHANGE THE FACTS; THIS IS A WAR ON RADICAL ISLAM by Nolan Finley Nolan Finley emphasizes the importance of religion in the war radical Islam initiated against us. He makes the point that "[t]he enemy today is radical Islam, an ultra-conservative and extremely intolerant religious movement that has taken root in the Middle East and is fast becoming a beacon for dispossessed and disenchanted Muslims worldwide." READ MORE More and more, Iran has become a particularly worrisome part of the Muslim world, even though it shares little with its Arab neighbors besides religion and rage. These essays discuss Iran's growing threat to the region and to the world. IRAN'S GROWING THREAT by Rachel Ehrenfeld Rachel Ehrenfeld lays out the reasons why Iran should be taken seriously as a threat. Iran provides money and materials to international terrorists such as al-Qaeda; she is pushing to acquire nuclear weapons; she riles up neighboring Iraq; and America and Israel are her target of hate propaganda. READ MORE AXIS OF EVIL, PART TWO by Charles Krauthammer Charles Krauthammer notes that some of the countries composing the axis of evil have been neutralized but Iran is daily getting closer to its goal of acquiring weapons of mass destruction. And it must be stopped. He provides the strategic 'how'. READ MORE These essays discuss some recent screwups such as the ruling of the International Court of Justice that the terrorist-hampering fence Israel is building is illegal. They have a common theme: the international laws that support Israel's claim to Palestine are ignored. INTERNATIONAL IGNORANCE IGNITES INJUSTICE by David Singer The general public is unaware that Israel has a unassailable "right in international law to facilitate the settlement of Jews in the West Bank." Apparently, this ignorance extends to the judges of the International Court of Justice, who decided that Israel hasn't the right to build a security fence to protect against Arab terrorism. By failing to provide the Court with the relevent documents, Kofi Annan was at fault. David Singer concludes that "the decision will give credence to the perception of a biased and anti-Israel United Nations and a Court that cannot be trusted ..." READ MORE JUDGES' RULING REWRITES UN CHARTER ON SELF-DEFENCE by Leanne Piggott The International Court of Justice has recently decreed - in an action that could serve as the story line of a Gilbert and Sullivan comedy - that Israel is not entitled to build the fence she believes protects her citizens from Arab terrorists. Leanne Piggott points out the implications not just for Israel but for all the nations of the world - the Court's ruling could "radically rewrite the rules of international law governing the inherent right of states to defend themselves and their citizens." READ MORE OCCUPIED PALESTINIAN TERRITORIES? by Salomon Benzimra Salomon Benzimra points out a logical inconsistency. When the Arabs waged war against Israel in 1948, the UN was bound to defend Israel because of Resolution 181. As Salomon Benzimra notes, they did no such thing. Winning that war, Israel's conquest of some of the land allocated by the UN to the Arabs was (properly) deemed valid. So why was Israel's conquest - when the Arabs again attacked Israel in 1967 - declared an occupation? He traces the problem back to the preamble of UN Resolution 242. READ MORE ISRAEL'S STRANGEST SELF-DEFEATING PARADOX: Forgetting To Teach Itself And The World Jewish National Rights In Palestine by Dr. Yoram Shifftan Yoram Shifftan expands on earlier articles that discussed the centrality of international law to support Israel's right to mandated Palestine - land the Arabs claim as theirs. He suggests that Israeli leaders have been delinquent in not teaching the facts to their own citizens as well as proclaiming them to the world. READ MORE These next articles focus on recent disasterous Israeli decisions and one-sided concessions. They have gained Israel nothing - not more security, not cessation of terror attacks. Not even a pat on the back from the world for Israel's forbearance. HOW TO RECRUIT A JEW TO KILL HIMSELF by Emanuel A. Winston In this essay, Emanuel Winston speculates on the components that led to the disasterous decisions that Israeli leaders have been making for some time now. Aside from external pressure, a significant element has been a significant internal weakness - the naivité of Israeli leaders and their inability to play serious global politics. READ MORE PRESSURING ISRAEL by Rachel Neuwirth Like Winston's essay, Rachel Neuwirth acknowledges that a major reason for the "many disasterous unilateral concessions" made by Israel the past 10 years has been the weakness of Israeli leaders. But she makes the case that the major factor in the current disaster has been the external pressure applied by Israel's friend, the U.S.A. READ MORE The Human Chain from Gush Katif to Jerusalem on July 25, 2004 may be the trigger for awaking Israel from its Oslo Coma. These next essays comment on the event. THE HUMAN CHAIN FROM GUSH KATIF TO JERUSALEM by Hillel Fendel and Ezra HaLevi Hillel Fendel and Ezra HaLevi paint a vivid picture of the Human Chain, which extended not just from Jerusalem to Gush Katif, but, by speakerphone, from Jerusalem to communities across America. The chain stretched, literally as well as symbolically, from the Shamirs, who lived in the pre-State K'far Darom in Gaza until it was destroyed by Egyptian forces during the 1948 war, to their grand daughter, who lives in Gush Katif. READ MORE CHAINS OF FREEDOM OR CHAINS OF SLAVERY by David Wilder Between 150,000 to 200,000 people from all over Israel and outside of Israel joined hands from Jerusalem to Gush Katif in Gaza to sing HaTikva - Hope - while Arab terrorists used the occasion to fire missiles that injured children in Gush Katif. David Wilder writes, "Ariel Sharon still does not understand that Israel is at war. The war for independence did not end in 1949." READ MORE The human chain was cause for jubilation. But expelling Jews from Gaza is still on the table. These essays look at the issue from different perspectives. THE CASE AGAINST DISENGAGEMENT by Yuri Shtern This is an incisive article clearly stating the damage Sharon's plan will do to Israel's morale, its democratic procedures and its security. READ MORE THERE'S NO DIFFERENCE BETWEEN UMM AL-FAHM AND KEDUMIM by Yosef Ben Shlomo Yosef Ben Shlomo discusses the logical fallacy practiced by the Left of regarding a theoretical transfer of Arabs as a matter of deep moral concern while disregarding the imminent transfer of Jews. He raises logical and linguistic questions. READ MORE A REFUGEE IN MY OWN COUNTRY by Nadav Shragai The Jewish citizens of Israel who live in the territories are a remarkably law-abiding group. But now the Israeli government wants to turn them into refugees in their own country - an act both immoral and illegal. Nadav Shragai examines their state of mind. READ MORE DAUD by Boris Zubry This is a story about the interweaving of lives: an Arab boy, an Israeli man; an Arab bomber, an Israeli soldier; a boy who loses his father, a father who loses his son. Boris Zubry has written a fascinating modern fable. READ MORE ISRAEL'S MOTIVATION GAP by Larry Derfner Larry Derfner believes the majority of Israelis agree with Sharon's disengagement plan. Nevertheless, he believes the Jewish communities of Gaza will not be ousted - because they are highly motivated and are waging an effective campaign to save their homes and save a part of biblical Israel. READ MORE WHAT TO DO WITH THE GAZA SETTLEMENTS by Calev Ben-David Tongue in cheek, Calev Ben-David lists some ideas for utilizing the property that the Jews will be forced to leave behind - from creating a museum to relocating the UN. READ MORE Are there better solutions to the Arab-Israeli conflict than for Israel to commit suicide? Here are two proposals. CHECKMATE by Ross C. Leiber This is a an incisive and well-reasoned essay with a bold suggestion designed to 'defrost' the Israelis and jumpstart them into playing from strength, not weakness, in their fight for survival. We invite readers' comments on the general idea and on the specifics. READ MORE A WIN-WIN SOLUTION TO THE ARAB-ISRAELI CONFLICT by Rachel Neuwirth Scraping away false facts that serve as base for unworkable peace proposals to resolve the Arab-Israeli conflict, Rachel Neuwirth uses significant factual data on land availability to propose a resolution that would benefit the Palestinian Arabs as well as the Israelis; namely, transfer the Palestinian Arabs to their own place in a sparsely inhabited part of an Arab country such as Saudi Arabia. READ MORE Sometimes facts, no matter how significant, just aren't enough. These essays are inspirational. And necessary. TZAHAL - THE MIGHTY MEN OF VALOR by Patricia Berlyn Patricia Berlyn writes a lyric appreciation of the men and women of the IDF, who have battled since before Israel's birth to preserve her against a mass of murderous Arabs. Today, they need also to contend with "organs of their own government and society" who act out of poor judgment or intent. Through it all, they keep high moral standards and compassion. READ MORE IN DEFENSE OF THE HOLYLAND by Rabbi Menachem M. Schneerson This essay is comprised of discourses of Rabbi Menachem M. Schneerson The heart of the essay - no one has the right to give away what does not belong to him - is perhaps more pertinent today than it was when it was published in 1976. READ MORE ONCE UPON A TIME by Dov Kahn Dov Kahn has written a modern parable. How do we describe it? - a work of faith for secularists? A poem in paragraphs? A history without dates? Just read it. READ MORE We present some recent Middle East history: an excellent review of the history of Palestine and an unusual perspective on the Arab's view of the founding of modern Israel. THE HISTORY AND MEANING OF "PALESTINE" AND "PALESTINIAN" by Patricia Berlyn This is a tightly woven excellent review of the badly-misused terms: Palestine and Palestinians. READ MORE NAQBAH: THE SELF-INFLICTED CATASTROPHE by Dr. Asher Eder Dr. Asher Eder writes of the beginnings of Arab rejectionism of the return of the Jews to their land. The essay includes additional information by Shaykh Professor Abdul Hadi Palazzi. Drs. Eder and Palazzi are co-chairmen of the Islam-Israel Fellowship. READ MORE These essays continue our exploration of the spread of anti-Semitism by people in the media, at universities and in libraries. We include an eyewitness account of the growing antisemitism in London, England. THE NEW YORKER ON ISRAEL by Richard H. Shulman In May, The New Yorker published an article by Jeffrey Goldberg demonizing the Jews who live in the territories. It slanders the Jews and absolves the Arabs by its choice of value words and selective details - details that give us a distorted picture instead of an understanding of what's going on in Israel's heartland. Richard H. Shulman analyzes Goldberg's article in detail. READ MORE THE CASE OF REUTERS: A news agency that will not call a terrorist a terrorist by Tom Gross Tom Gross points out how "Reuters's coverage of the Middle East is deeply flawed." It repeats obviously unreliable information; its basic sources are often stringers linked to Arafat's Palestinian Authority; it buries pro-Israel crucial information; it shows semantic bias. As a news agency with a reputation for fairness, its false information is uncritically accepted by much of the media. READ MORE WHAT THE UNITED ARAB EMIRITES (UAE) BOUGHT a New York Sun Editorial Columbia University accepted a large donation from UAE to fund a chair in Arab studies that will be held by Professor Rashid Khalidi. Based on Khalidi's writings, we can expect sloppy scholarship and a "lack of basic knowledge about the Middle East." The editorial asks, "Why is Rashid Khalidi holding a tenured professorship at Columbia? Does his latest work enhance the university's reputation for solid, careful scholarship, or does it stain it? Would he be there were not the United Arab Emirates paying the bill?" READ MORE THE CULT OF SEYMOUR HERSH by Rael Jean Isaac Seymour Hersh has made a career of character assassination, conspiracy theories based on unsupported suppositions and just plain lies. Rael Jean Isaac documents his less than illustrious career. READ MORE FAIRNESS OVERDUE by Andrea Levin Libraries decide their book purchases in part on book reviews in reputable journals. Unfortunately, reviews on books on the Middle East in Libary Journal show "a striking pattern of laudatory, uncritical endorsement of patently one-sided books written by extreme critics of Israel." As Andrea Levin concludes, "Whether such bias in Library Journal reviews is inadvertent or a conscious policy, the publication is obviously not providing the 'expertise' and 'intellectual integrity' it claims to offer." READ MORE TALES FROM A CANADIAN JEWESS FORMERLY LIVING IN BRITAIN by Carrie Devorah Carrie Devorah, a photojournalist, paints us a word picture of life in present-day London, as it has accomodated to its influx of muslims: stores selling Middle Eastern clothing, anti-Israel posters, anti-Israel and anti-American protest meetings punctuated by Muslim men stopping their messages of hate to pray, and the growing anti-Semitism of ordinary Englishmen. READ MORE READERS' BLOG-EDS This is where our readers get a chance to write opinions and editorials and share articles they find informative. Why Blog-Ed and not Op-Ed? Because we have retained the typical blog style of a stream of text organized chronologically. Blog-Eds is updated every few days. IMPORTANT UPDATE: A Blog-Ed page now has a quick list of the articles from which you can access any of the articles immediately. Click the "Blog-Eds List" box in the Blue Strip on the top of the Blog-Ed page. July 2004 Blog-Eds READ MORE August 2004 Blog-Eds READ MORE ============================================== May-June, 2004 It strikes us that almost 3 years after 911, 1 year after the beheading of Daniel Pearl, and weeks after Arabs in Gaza played with Jewish body parts, too many of us still don't have a handle on some crucial differences between the Arabs and Western civilization. To rethink Pogo, "We have met the enemy and they ain't us." FICTION VERSUS FACTS by Hampton Stevens Hampton Stevens gives us an excellent precis of the actual facts versus the fictions that have been slickly painted over the facts to obscure reality. The essay serves both to orient us properly and to exemplify, yet again, that the Arab culture sees nothing wrong in substituting invention for truth. READ MORE DE PROFUNDIS by Yashiko Sagamori Yashiko Sagamori makes the simple but profund observation that the more humans believe they resemble each other, the less do they understand their cultural differences. Take us and the Muslims. READ MORE WHY ISRAEL MATTERS by Barbara Ann Zweifler The author reminds us that wars are "fought first with ideas" and reminds us of two such ideas: (1) "Traditional American and Western society is based on the Judeo-Christian ethic;" and (2) "Islam is infinitely more compatible with totalitarian ideas than it is with Judeo-Christian ideals, and so the two naturally form an ideological alliance." To say it another way: "If Israel falls we will not be far behind her." READ MORE "ARAB" MEANS NEVER HAVING TO SAY YOU'RE SORRY by Nonie Darwish Nonie Darwish explains why we can't expect Muslim Arabs to show remorse for barbaric acts. "Those who admit guilt, even if it is accidental, are given no mercy and may end up taking all the blame and being brutally punished." Bush's apologies for Western abuses are not seen as civilized; they are perceived as weakness. READ MORE THE PSYCHOANALYTIC ROOTS OF ISLAMIC TERRORISM by Phyllis Chesler Phyllis Chesler asks, "... from a psychological and anthropological point of view, what kind of culture produces human bombs, glorifies mass murderers, and supports humiliation-based revenge?" Given the prevalence of homosexuality and pedophilia, she suggests, "it is a culture in which shame and honor play decisive roles and in which the debasement of women is paramount." READ MORE WOMEN'S NON-EXISTENCE IN THE ARAB WORLD by Ariell Choy We can read this poignant account of a young girl's encounter with Arab culture as an instantiation of Phyllis Chesler's analysis. Ariell Choy writes of her own experience. She concludes, "In Canada, Sharia law has been secretly passed and infringes on the rights of Muslim-Canadian women whose civil liberties in a supposedly free Western country will be walked upon even with the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms." READ MORE UNDERSTANDING THE UNIQUE BARBARISM OF PALESTINIAN TERRORISM by Louis Rene Beres Professor Beres has been exploring the unique nature of Palestinian Arab terrorism for several years. He has observed that unlike other "freedom fighters," the Palestinian Arab will use violence even where it is clearly unsuitable for political gain. He demolishes several myths: that terrorism is not endemic in the Palestinian community; and that they are forced by their military weakness to excesses. READ MORE A CAMPAIGN OF DENIAL TO DISINHERIT THE JEWS by Nadav Shragai After 1967, Israel foolishly put the Arab Waqf in charge of the Temple Mount. The Arabs saw this as another occasion in which to practice identity theft - to try to take over Jewish history as well as Jewish geography, to be the new lovers of Jerusalem. What is really amazing is that the Jews haven't put a stop to their predations. READ MORE WRONG-HEADED VISION by David Basch David Basch points out America and Israel "[b]oth see the Arab as they imagine him, not as he is." Unfortunately, "[b]oth Israel and the U.S. are failing to understand the nature of Arab societies, characterized by a passive majority that is used as a screen behind which controlling, determined, active minorities attain their purposes." READ MORE HOW DO I KNOW? by Dr. Babu Suseelan The notion that without "experience with Islamic life, you are unable to discuss the meaning of Jihad and Islamic history," is intended to silence critics. Dr. Suseelan reassures us that "[o]ne can gain knowledge and insight about Islamic theocracy without believing in Koranic concepts or practicing Islamic dictates." He uses the concept of "coherence theory" to explore some Muslim fundamentalist beliefs. READ MORE WHY THEY HATE US by Robert Spencer The differences between cultures is not in which commits crimes - members of each may - but how the culture responds. Robert Spencer's thoughtful essay reminds us that "... one civilization will condemn and punish those who commit such crimes; the other will not." The disparity is too great for palliatives such as negotiations, peaceful coexistence, or mutual understanding. READ MORE ISLAM VERSUS JUDAISM AND CHRISTIANITY: SOME OBSERVATIONS by Ariel Natan Pasko Ariel Natan Pasko puts the values of Islam in context by contrasting them with the values of the Jews and Christians. The sacrifices of Abraham and Jesus - at the core of Judaism and Christianity - are alien to the initialization stories of Islam. READ MORE TWENTY-YEAR PLAN FOR USA: ISLAM TARGETS AMERICA by Dr. Anis Shorrosh It is commonly believed that at the moment, Islamists are focused on ridding the Middle East of Jews and other 'foreigners'. The battle for America is to come later. Dr Anis Shorrosh disagrees. He believes Islamists have already begun an intensive attack on America. This is his checklist of what they have already begun to do. READ MORE How has Israel reacted to the sustained Arab agression? What should she do? These next essays address the what is and the what should be. BLOWIN' HOT AIR... by Gerald A. Honigman Israel keeps threatening to combat her enemies effectively. But she doesn't. Gerald Honigman emphasizes she has more to lose from a war of attrition that do the Arabs, who lose relatively few Arabs during their suicide-murders and during the minimalist Israel response. And with a population of 60 Arabs to every 1 Jew, they can afford it. As Honigman says, "it's time to stop blowin' hot air." READ MORE THE NEXT EVACUATION: "HATE THE SETTLERS" CAMPAIGN by Emanuel A. Winston Sharon and the Israeli Leftists who favor the 'Gaza Retreat' and its concomitant 'Expel The Jews' campaign have emphasized that leaving Gaza will make it easier to defend the rest of Israel (!). Of course, they plan to also leave Samaria and Judea - and then create the terrorist state of Palestine. It is not surprising that sane people find the whole idea of vacating Biblical Israel daft. Emanuel Winston tells us how Sharon spends his energy - demonizing the Jews who live and have developed Biblical Israel. READ MORE SHARON AS JUDAS GOAT: Leading The Jews Out Of The Promised Land by Yoram Shifftan and Bernice Lipkin Sharon was elected to stop the passive response to Arab terrorism made by the previous Israeli administrations: increasing land concessions and ignoring the Arab teaching of hate and violence. Instead, Sharon has accelerated the process of cutting away Biblical Israel. To do so, he has let stand the debilitating but incorrect assertion by the Arabs and the pro-Arab media that the Jewish settlements are illegal. This article points out that, on the contrary, the settlements are legal by international law and it would be illegal for Sharon to give up the land. READ MORE STRAIGHT ANSWERS FOR TOUGH QUESTIONS by Bernard J. Shapiro Bernard Shapiro discusses the disasterous consequences we can expect should Israel retreat from Gaza. He predicts what we can expect from the Palestinian Arabs, from the Egyptians and from America. READ MORE WHY THE STAKES ARE HIGH IN GAZA by Rabbi Baruch Binyamin Hakohen Melman Rabbi Melman emphasizes that withdrawal from Gaza will lead to further withdrawals as a demoralized Israel pursues "a chimera of false hopes. Each withdrawal pours greater fuel on the problem, leading to ever escalating conflagration." READ MORE THE CASE AGAINST DISENGAGEMENT FROM GAZA AND NORTHERN SAMARIA by Yoram 'Tex' Ettinger In concise fashion, Yoram Ettinger lays out the many reasons Israel should not leave Gaza. On the contrary, she should work more aggressively to win the war on terrorism in the territories. READ MORE ARMING THE ARAB MUSLIM PALESTINIANS IN GAZA by Emanuel A. Winston Emanuel Winston first examines Egypt's role in arming the Arabs in Gaza and Sharon's role in concealing Mubarak's collaboration with the terrorists. (Taken together with the American-supplied long-range sophisticated weaponry in Egypt - see Rand Fishbein, "Denial on the Nile", http://www.think-israel.org/fishbein.egyptarsenal.html, November 2003 - this is ominous.) Winston then focusses on Sharon, who has made himself an internal enemy of Israel. READ MORE FACE REALITY OR FACE ANNIHILATION by Beth Goodtree Beth Goodtree suggests it is more than time that the "policy makers and shakers" who control the Middle East start facing reality. George Bush waffles, the European Union ignores that "Europe is under invasion from the Moslem hordes and seems to think appeasement will work" and Ariel Sharon "does more about-faces than a military academy on parade day." The "civilized world in general" has "bought the line that the enemy is terror. In truth, terror is merely a tactic of the real enemy, Islamism." Meantimes, the Islamic world continues to supply us with proof of how much they hate us and want us dead. READ MORE Clearly the war on Iraq was better-formulated and carried out than the aftermath, when we tried to bestow democracy on a people, while ignoring their national character. If we are to make a dent in the war on terror, we are going to have to deal with Iran. Perhaps these essays will encourage a serious examination of Iran's history and values before we proceed. SHI'ITE IRAN: THE KEY TO THE MIDDLE EAST: Part II. From World War I To The Present by Lewis Lipkin The end of World War I saw the emergence of the Pahlavis; the predominance of oil; and the playing out of the Shi'ite subversion. The 1979 revolution produced a Khomeni-defined theocratic regime that is now the major factor in the Middle East. Lewis Lipkin urges that American policy toward Iran be based on real knowledge of Iran and Iranians. "...a flexibility in the face of temporary reverses seems the best hope to turn the key of the Middle East." READ MORE IRAN'S A GROWING DANGER IN IRAQ by Richard Z. Chesnoff Richard Chesnoff discusses how Iran's rulers have provided moral support, training and weapons to various terrorist groups throughout the Middle East. READ MORE IRAN'S NUCLEAR ADVENTURISM: A Review of Sweet's IEEE Article by Lewis Lipkin Lewis Lipkin reviews a recent important article by William Sweet assessing Iran's nuclear potential. READ MORE Anti-Semitism has many faces. Here are two: one worn by an academic; the other, cruder, by ordinary Russians. TOM PAULIN: Poetaster of Murder by Edward Alexander Edward Alexander chronicles the recent free-verse rantings of Tom Paulin, who openly advocates the killing of Jews in (at a minimum) Samaria and Judea. His verses may be stupid and ugly but everyone understands they are anti-Jewish - everyone, that is, but some other academics, who in supercilious and/or just plain silly fashion put "free speech" uber alles. While his defenders - Jewish and non-Jewish - continue to argue about the precise definition of anti-Semitism, thanks to Paulin's ground-breaking efforts, it becomes ever more acceptable in academia to openly hate Jews and accuse them of any and all the ills the world is subject to. READ MORE MY FIRST POLITICAL EXPERIENCE by Boris Zubry Boris Zubry reminisces about his first encounter at age five with anti-Semitism. This being real life and not academia, he confronted hate that was more physical than verbal. And even the words of hate were crudely phrased. Perhaps that made it easy to understand immediately how to respond. READ MORE Pro-Palestinian propaganda comes in many flavors. Too many groups who claim to promote human rights, peace and justice are nothing but fronts for Palestinian Arab terrorists. And even Arafat is presented as a 'peace-loving' leader of a peace-loving people. A favorite trick is to minimize the number of likely terrorists. And Muslim student in America are busy, busy, busy. PRO-'PALESTINIAN' EQUALS ANTI-ISRAELI by Dafna Yee Many anti-Israel organizations call themselves peace groups and pretend neutrality. Dafna Yee examined "over 300 websites put up by groups, organizations and individuals who claimed that all they wanted was 'peace', 'justice', 'human rights', etc., for the 'Palestinians'. With only FOUR exceptions, every one of the sites which claimed to be promoting those ideals on behalf of the 'Palestinians' was flagrantly anti-Israel." READ MORE REVAMPING ARAFAT'S SPEECHES: How His "Terrorize Your Enemy" Speech Was Reported by Bernice Lipkin On the anniversary of the day Israel became a state, Arafat delivered a speech encouraging the Arabs to destroy Israel. Magically, before the words reached the ears of the West, they were transmogrified into a message of willingness to make peace with Israel. How dey do dat? READ MORE 270 MILLION SUICIDE BOMBERS by Puddle Pirate When all else fails, pro-Arab propagandists point out that radicalized Muslims are a small percent of the Muslim world. Using published data from polls and demographic statistics, this essay estimates the number of potential terrorists this small number comes to. READ MORE ISLAMISM'S CAMPUS CLUB: THE MUSLIM STUDENTS' ASSOCIATION (MSA) by Jonathan Dowd-Gailey MSA promotes itself "as a benevolent, non-political entity... its constitution declares the MSA's mission as serving 'the best interest of Islam and Muslims in the United States and Canada. ...'" Jonathan Dowd-Gailey describes some of their recent activities and concludes that "[t]here is overwhelming evidence that the MSA, far from being a benign student society, is an overtly political organization seeking to create a single Muslim voice on U.S. campuses - a voice espousing Wahhabism, anti-Americanism, and anti-Semitism, agitating aggressively against U.S." READ MORE These essays discuss two articles on Gaza. In the first, the facts are wrong; in the second, the facts are right, but they don't support the conclusions. RESPONSE TO HALKIN: "DOES SHARON HAVE A PLAN?" by Jerome S. Kaufman The title suggests that what will follow will be a reasoned discussion of the proposed plan for Israel to evacuate Gaza, transferring out the Jews who live there. Halkin's essay is a justification of Sharon's plan to evacuate Gaza but his base facts are incorrect and thus do not back up his view of Sharon's plan. READ MORE ALAN DERSHOWITZ MAKES THE CASE FOR ISRAEL by Salomon Benzimra Alan Dershowitz is a deservedly well-respected defender of Israel's right to exist. And many hold the belief, as does Dershowitz, that expelling the Jews from Gaza is good policy for Israel. What Salomon Benzimra does in this essay is to point out the disparity between Mr. Dershowitz's accurate facts and "the conclusions he draws from his own observations." READ MORE READERS' BLOG-EDS This is where our readers get a chance to write opinions and editorials and share articles they find informative. Why Blog-Ed and not Op-Ed? Because we have retained the typical blog style of a stream of text organized chronologically. Blog-Eds is updated every few days. IMPORTANT UPDATE: A Blog-Ed page now has a quick list of the articles from which you can access any of the articles immediately. Click the "Blog-Eds List" box in the Blue Strip on the top of the Blog-Ed page. May 2004 Blog-Eds READ MORE June 2004 Blog-Eds READ MORE ============================================== March-April, 2004 As if Israel didn't have enough on its plate, its Prime Minister has suddenly decided to expel the Jews of Gaza, as prelude - if the news leaks are accurate - to transferring a half million Jews out of Samaria, Judea and the eastern part of Jerusalem. Some of these articles analyze different aspects of the proposed expulsion of Jews from land that belongs to them biblically, historically, by international Mandate and by legitimate conquest when repelling Arab invaders. Others talk about disrupting pioneering communities, which house Jews who are among Israel's most dedicated and loyal citizens. SHARON'S DISENGAGEMENT PLAN by Emanuel A. Winston Emanuel Winston points out defects in Sharon's plan to evacuate Gaza. He explains why nice-sounding advantages to Israel are unlikely and why negative consequences are almost certain both for Israel and for America. READ MORE I'M MAD AS HELL: Don't Ask Me To Be A Nice Jewish Boy by Bernard J. Shapiro Bernard Shapiro presents a likely scenario of the disasters that will be visited upon Israel, should she withdraw (retreat) from Gaza, Samaria and Judea, leaving a vacancy for the indigenous terrorists and the swarming hordes of Arabs from neighboring lands and to occupy. This is a powerful article we should all take to heart. READ MORE BEWARE OF THE GAZA TRAP by Dr. Rand H. Fishbein Withdrawing from Gaza is likely to prove a disaster not only for Israel but it will create problems for America. "President Bush may find it difficult to explain to a skeptical public why it was important to destroy the terrorist infrastructure in Afghanistan and Iraq while at the same time he is permitting it to flourish in Gaza." Moreover, "President Bush's cooperation in this plan may put him in jeopardy of violating the very anti-terrorism statutes he is sworn to uphold. As a consequence, U.S. national security could be significantly undermined." READ MORE THE GENERALS' CONFUSION by Caroline Glick "... the entire rationale of moving ahead with Sharon's plan [to evacuate Gaza] is that Sharon has claimed that the US has given Israel something in exchange for implementing it. And yet, over the past week, the US has made quite clear that it will give Israel nothing." Caroline Glick helps us understand the behavior of Israeli "generals turned prime ministers." She concludes "... that, in electing 'security hawks' to the prime minister's office, Israel has gotten neither the security it sought nor the political acumen and diplomatic savvy it needed." READ MORE BREACHES OF FAITH by Patricia Berlyn Why is withdrawal from Gaza, Samaria and Judea the wrong thing to do? Patricia Berlyn spells it out: it would be a breach of faith with 4,000 years of history and heritage, with all who defended and redeemed the heritage, with the most fundamental principles of democracy, and with Israel's staunch friends. To do so will put Israel's "future in desperate jeopardy, morally as well as physically." READ MORE NEVE DEKALIM, GUSH KATIF, GAZA, ISRAEL by Moshe Saperstein These are the latest entries from the diary of Moshe Saperstein, who lives in Neve Dekalim, a Jewish community in Gaza, a town which has bravely withstood the sustained violence of its Arab neighbors. It is now faced with an almost inconceivable threat - the Jews of Gaza are to be ethnically cleansed by their own Government, a Government elected because it promised to get tough with Arab violence. READ MORE OUR HALACHA, OUR HISTORY, OUR SECURITY ARE TIED TO GUSH KATIF, GAZA by Menachem Kovacs Gush Katif is a group of some 20 Jewish farming communities in Gaza. Now, Ariel Sharon intends to do what no Arab has been able to do: expel the inhabitants of Gush Katif. The Jews there, who have legally reclaimed the area from the desolation it has been mired in since the Middle Ages, are to be transferred out. Rabbi Kovacs makes the case for keeping Gaza Jewish: (1) biblically and historically, Gaza belongs to the Jews and (2) controlling Gaza is important to Israel's security. He asks for your help in keeping Gaza under Israeli control. READ MORE I STRIVE TO BE POLITICALLY INCORRECT! by Arlene Peck More and more, being politically incorrect means speaking the truth, not just phrasing the truth in a less kind, less gentle way. More and more, the politically correct seem determined not to confront simple facts. Arlene Peck, writing about Arabs such as those in Gaza, says, "Look into the faces of these barbarians who strive to kill... anybody, everybody! They have a cause? What is that? Death? We are dealing with elements of insanity and nobody seems to grasp that simple fact." READ MORE THE MASK SLIPS IN GAZA by Hugh Fitzgerald Should Israel abandon Gaza, Hugh Fitzgerald points out that the future caretakers are terrorists - "Hamas or Hezbollah or Al-Aksa Martyr's Brigade, Arafat or Shukairy..." Whatever the name, they are all dedicated to Jihad - to forcing infidels to submit to Islam. The confederacy of dedicated muslim terror groups is not, of course, confined to Gaza. "... Al Qaeda is only the most prominent and mediagenic of the many groups intent on destroying Infidels if they oppose Muslim aims, including the world-wide spread of dar al-Islam: Laskar Jihad, Jaish-e-Toiba, Abu Sayyaf, Lashkar Jihad, Gemaaa Islamiyya, Jemaa Islamiah, Jaish-e-Mohammad, and so many others." READ MORE ISRAEL'S GAZA GAMBLE by P. David Hornik P. David Hornik reminds us of the reassurances that encouraged Israel to embark on the Oslo disaster. He reminds us that the optimistic predictions when Israel left Southern Lebanon and the Sinai peninsula were proven wrong as soon as Arab terrorists filled the space vacated. Why now does Sharon want to create another vacuum for Arab terrorists to fill? READ MORE ISRAEL'S REAL CHOICE IS EITHER TO FIGHT AND SURVIVE, OR TO CAPITULATE AND BE DESTROYED by Steven Plaut Steven Plaut cuts through the nonsensical explanations of why Palestinian Arabs behave barbarically and resort to terrorism. The current violence isn't due to Israeli occupation; on the contrary, it happened, thanks to Oslo, because the Israeli 'occupation' was removed. Professor Plaut argues that "[t]he only way to suppress the carnage is for Israel to re-occupy the West Bank and Gaza in full, implement open-ended military control there and a long-term program of Denazification..., and to expel the terrorists and destroy their infrastructure. Everything else is wishful thinking and delusion." READ MORE It is a curious fact that those who know the history of Israel have no problem understanding that Jews, the Land of Israel and the Torah are a singularity. These essays are pragmatic but do not ignore the abiding linkage of Jews and their Land, Israel. All of it. PALESTINIAN FALLACY by Judah Tzoref Judah Tzoref contrasts 'Palestinian peoplehood', a term that "has been used only for a few decades as a political instrument in the Arab strategy to annihilate Israel" with the undeniability of the historical attachment and "the spiritual bond between the Jews and the Land of Israel." READ MORE ISRAEL AND JERUSALEM: Historical Background And Perspective by Hanna Honein In narrative style and from a personal point of view, Hanna Honein talks about the Jewish and Christian origins of Islam and contrasts the difference between the Jews building up 'Palestine' and the Arabs living on pipe dreams and held down by a corrupt leadership. He emphasizes that the Land of Israel belongs only to the Jews. The Bible testifies to the Jews' ownership; they are the ones who developed it and defended it. READ MORE ZIONISTS AND THE LAND by Hilda Terry Drawing on family stories and letters, Hilda Terry writes about the early Zionists and their battle with the mosquito in bringing the Land of Israel back to life. Their coming raised the standard of living of the ordinary Arab, but that has never been the goal of the Arab leadership. READ MORE OCCUPATION AND GENOCIDE by Pat Gilsan Pat Gilsan answers the Arab claim that Israel is occupying land belonging to the 'Palestinian people' and counters with facts that show that the only genocide has been by the Arabs and perpetrated against the Jews. The solution to the Arab-Israeli conflict? "The answer is not to give up land. The answer is to transfer the Arabs." READ MORE These next essays combine history and analysis. Iran, the international legitimacy of Israel, the Arab failed promises and the status of Jerusalem are subjects both Americans and Israelis need to be clear about, if they are to make intelligent decisions in the future. SHI'ITE IRAN: THE KEY TO THE MIDDLE EAST: Part I. To The End Of World War I by Lewis Lipkin Khomeini's Iran is a logical Islamic evolution of the Shi'ia mindset over the last half millenium. Lewis Lipkin chronicles some of the major players and events that have shaped the xenophobia that characterizes today's Iran. READ MORE INTERNATIONAL LAW REGARDING THE LAND OF ISRAEL AND JERUSALEM by Elliott A. Green The mindless media have so often repeated the Arab mantra that "Israel is occupying our land," that most people believe it to be true. And unfortunately, Israel has done poorly presenting the facts: Israel and the territories, by international law, belong to the Jews and not to the Arabs. This essay by Elliott Green can serve as an excellent reference and as background material. READ MORE HOW DID JERUSALEM COME TO BE SO HOLY: Why and when was the myth of al-Aqsa created? by Mordechai Kedar Mordechai Keder reviews the history of how and why the Muslims attempted to islamize Jerusalem. It has little to do with religion and much to do with politics. "Another aim of the Islamization of Jerusalem was to undermine the legitimacy of the older religions, Judaism and Christianity, which consider Jerusalem to be a holy city. Islam is presented as the only legitimate religion, destined to replace the other two, because they had changed and distorted the Word of God, each in its turn." READ MORE The notion that the Arab-Israeli conflict is responsible for all the ills of the Arab world has been echoed by willing fellow-travelors. The next articles analyze why this is not a credible argument and describes for us yet another purveyor of the lie: the Christian churches in Palestinian-dominated areas. DEATH OF A MYTH by Jonathan Rosenblum The Arab countries have for too long protested they can't clean house until their Palestinian brothers (sob, sob) have settled their claims with Israel - an assertion echoed by their western apologists, such as Jimmy Carter and Zbigniew Brzezinski. This falsification is certainly beginning to crumble and may even, as Jonathan Rosenblum asserts, be dead. READ MORE THE RAVAGES OF THE JIHAD-OCCUPIED MIND by Alyssa A. Lappen Walid Shoebat was born a Muslim in Bethlehem, Israel and was infected with Israel-hate at an early age. He has found his way to Christian Zionism. As we read about his life journey, we also learn that even Christians under Palestinian control are "indoctrinated in jihad ideology" and that "Michael Sabbah, the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, taught Islamology and Arab philology for decades. According to Shoebat, he hews to Islamic jihad dogma as well." READ MORE The "T" word. Transfer was considered racist when Rabbi Kahane used it. But many of Israel's enemies are delighted when Sharon talks of transferring Jews from Gaza. Now that he's made it respectable, why not strike out a new path - one that may actually lead to peace; namely, Israel keeps its homeland and the 'Palestinian' Arabs are moved to some part of the vast area that is Arabland. Let's talk about a sensible and effective Transfer. TRANSFER VERSUS SEPARATION: Kahanism In Reverse by Ariel Natan Pasko Ariel Pasko makes the important point that the Israeli Left has finally acknowledged "the 'demographic threat' that Rabbi Meir Kahane warned about, when he encouraged transferring the Arabs out of Israel." But the "current separationists... want to 'Transfer' Jews out of parts of the Land of Israel and 'Transfer' parts of the Land to Arab control." READ MORE DO NOT CONDEMN THEM: Why the "Palestinian state" is bad for the Arabs by Boris Shusteff Boris Shusteff explains why, even with the best of intentions, a third state in Mandated Palestine will not be viable. Its culture has blocked the building of necessary infrastructure. The Palestinian Arab has incorporated a culture of hate into his soul, which will lead to "the inevitable moral demise of Palestinian society and the total economic non-viability of this artificial entity." Given the failure of a 'show them kindness and shower them with material goodies' in Iraq, it is unlikely America will repeat this experiment in a Palestinian Arab state. Nor will Israel be obligated. Shusteff's suggestion: separate them from their soul-destroying leaders and relocated them in Jordan. READ MORE TRANSFER IS NOT A DIRTY WORD by Ben Shapiro Ben Shapiro reviews measures that have been suggested for stopping Arab terrorism. He points out that these are half measures and "..merely postpone our realization that the Arabs dream of Israel's destruction." He proposes transferring the Arabs out of Israel as the only effective solution to imbedded Arab violence. READ MORE LEVERAGING ARAB FEAR by Beth Goodtree Arab leaders have have used the pseudo-people, the 'Palestinians', "as the frontline army in the destruction of the Jewish aboriginal homeland," but they don't want them disrupting Arab countries. Beth Goodtree suggest that, '[i]n return for not [precipitously] disengaging with Arafat's Arabs, and not evacuating Gaza, Israel should demand that Egypt, Jordan, and the other Arab countries [slowly] repatriate their former Arab citizens and their descendents". Else Egypt and Jordan will need to deal with the consequences. READ MORE Israeli Jews are not the only people who suffer from Muslim brutality. The Kurds and the Sudanese Christians have also been under persistent and brutal attack. STATE DEPARTMENT MATH by Gerald A. Honigman Gerald Honigman argues that an authentic people like the Kurds, who live marginally in several Arab countries, clearly deserves its own country. Instead, the world spends its resources attempting to establish a homeland for an inauthentic people - the Palestinians. READ MORE AN UNTONED-DOWN COMMENTARY ON SUDAN by Kola Boof Kola Boof has written an untoned-down tone poem about the enslavement and degradation of the black African under Arab Islam rule. She asks: "how can I support the colorstruck machinations of the Palestinians?" READ MORE Anti-Semitism - the Gentile's disease. It is flaring up again, mostly carried by Islamists, but there's a persistent undercurrent of old fashioned Marxist anti-Semitism that helps keep it alive - all over Europe, among the Muslims in America and on American campuses. MEMORIES ARE SHORT, HATRED IS FOREVER by Omer Bartov Professor Bartov writes of resurgent European anti-Semitism and contrasts the latest manifestation of anti-Semitism with its World War II predecessor. He notes that Hitlerian anti-Semitism has found "..its most lethal incarnation in the Muslim world, where it has become a prevalent subculture, a focus of identity, a rallying cry for the masses, a tool to divert attention from the real reasons for poverty and despair, and a cause for militant mobilization and destructive urges." READ MORE MAKING THE CASE FOR JEW HATRED: Martin Jay Explains How Jews Cause Antisemitism by Professor Edward Alexander Professor Alexander examines Martin Jay's recent essay, "Ariel Sharon and the Rise of the New Anti-Semitism", which blames Jews for the recent insurgence of Anti-Semitism. Jay, a professor of history at UCLA, Berkeley, has sympathetic understanding for any and all practicing anti-semites while he demonizes Jews. Alexander writes that Jay is "... a representative example of the academic fellow-traveller in the ongoing campaign to depict Israel as the devil's own experiment station and make it ideologically vulnerable to terror." READ MORE WHY DO THEY HATE US? by Boris Zubry Boris Zubry's account of his experiences working in Saudi Arabia appeared in the November-December issue of Think-Israel. In this issue, he writes about when he first came to the United States and learned from a child not just to cope with anti-Semitism but to try and understand it. READ MORE These articles discuss how we'd perceive Islam if our vision wasn't fogged by propaganda fantasies that Islam is a peaceful religion and that Arab 'freedom fighters' want only to regain their land in Israel. In consequence, we're ignoring infiltration of Islamists into Western democracies, fifth columns that do not wish us well. APPLYING COMMON SENSE TO MADNESS by Dov Kahn Dov Kahn does just that - he applies some simple if-then logic to some current experiences we've had with Islam; and he explores the puzzling differences in how we treat our 'good friend', Saudi Arabia, and our real friend, Israel. READ MORE ISLAMIST FIFTH COLUMNS by Arnaud de Borchgrave Fifth Column is a term from World War II, describing "secret sympathizers, sleeper cells, or supporters of an enemy that engage in espionage or sabotage, or simply disinform about the attacker's intentions." Arnaud de Borchgrave lists recent examples of Islamist penetration into Western democracies and the lack of support "moderate" Arab organizations such as CAIR give to supporting America's fight against terrorism. READ MORE A NIGHT OF HAMAS "HEROES" by Joe Kaufman From the angry way many of that merry band of self-appointed moralists - the media, UN, EU - reacted to Israel's killing Shekh Ahmad Yassin, you might think Hamas and Hizbollah only cared about killing Israelis. So - if the other countries of the world don't stir up the mud, they will be safe. Joe Kaufman sketches the Hamas connections of American Muslim organizations that are labeled 'moderate' by focusing on the recent history of Nihad Awad, currently the executive director of CAIR (the Council on American Islamic Relations). READ MORE HIZBULLAH TV by Richard H. Shulman A problem with ignoring terrorism and hoping it will go away is that terrorists make house calls. The Hizbullah's TV station has incited Arabs to despise Jews for years. Now it has come to the United States. Richard Shulman describes its programming for us. READ MORE This is another episode of Marion Dreyfus' life teaching at a Chinese university. CHINA DIARY: CELEBRATING PURIM AND PASSOVER by Marion D.S. Dreyfus Marion Dreyfus is teaching at the University in Wuchan, China. Spring comes to Wuhan and Purim means gifting shaluch manus goodies to faculty members, even if they don't know what it means. At Passover, she travels to Beijing, to celebrate, where "the unchanging melodies and remembered accents of Hebrew liturgy bring me flying back without a time machine. Or rather, the prayers to me are time machines." READ MORE READERS' BLOG-EDS This is where our readers get a chance to write opinions and editorials and share articles they find informative. Why Blog-Ed and not Op-Ed? Because we have retained the typical blog style of a stream of text organized chronologically. Blog-Eds is updated every few days. IMPORTANT UPDATE: A Blog-Ed page now has a quick list of the articles from which you can access any of the articles immediately. Click the "Blog-Eds List" box in the Blue Strip on the top of the Blog-Ed page. March 2004 Blog-Eds READ MORE April 2004 Blog-Eds READ MORE =========================================== January-February, 2004 We begin with readings on the current crop of Islam's intellectuals and theologians who justify and offer absolution for killing infidels. What they say is intrinsic to Islam, and has been from the time the Koran was written. Guilt-free terrorism together with the unabashed use of demographics make a formidable weapon against the West, one which many in the West refuse to acknowledge. AL-QAEDA'S INTELLECTUAL LEGACY: New Radical Islamic Thinking Justifying The Genocide of Infidels by Jonathan D. Halevi Jonathan Halevi's essay gives the lie to the idea that Islam, as it is currently practiced, is a peaceful religion. He argues convincingly, using the writings of influential Muslim clerics and intellectuals as source material, that Islam's ferocious appetite for killing infidels - Christians and Jews - singly and en masse is cleric-driven and mullah-justified. READ MORE TARIQ RAMADAN'S TWO-FACED ISLAM: The West Is The Land Of Conquest by Sandro Magister Some people believe that the Americans and Israelis who worry about Islam's appetite for gobbling up Western civilization are unnecessarily alarmist. On the other hand, those of us who see Islam as a danger - we alarmists - may feel that only America and Israel understand the danger, while Europe is oblivious. Both sides may be wrong. Sandro Magister analyzes this newest danger to our civilization by examining the philosophy of Tariq Ramadan, who has his own roadmap for islamicizing the West. READ MORE STOP FEELING GUILTY. FEEL GOOD. WE'RE WINNING by Al Skudsi bin Hookah Mr. bin Hookah, foreign correspondent and roving reporter for The Gaza Gajeera, is back. He explains to his readers why they should not feel guilty about killing infidels. It is an enterprise of great importance and it has the whole-hearted approval of Islam's theologians. READ MORE THE PEACETIME WAR by Judah Tzoref Arab propaganda has cleverly sold the idea that the conflict in the Middle East is between the Jews and the Palestinians. Dr. Tzoref makes the case that this notion masks the real problem: it is the Arab states that work to destroy Jewish Israel. Since Oslo, the major weapons have been terrorist snipers, homicidal suicide bombers and an uncontrolled high birthrate. Arab strategists - intellectuals and clerics - tell us that future plans are to augment these tactics with increased legal and illegal immigration of Arabs into Israel and the utilization of friction foci where ever this expanded Arab presence is thwarted. READ MORE THE AGENDA OF ISLAM - A WAR BETWEEN CIVILIZATIONS by Professor Moshe Sharon Professor Sharon asserts that the war between two civilizations - "between the civilization based on the Bible and between the civilization based on the Koran" - started a long time ago. READ MORE TWINKLE, TWINKLE, LITTLE STAR by Yashiko Sagamori There is a strange intertwining between the actions of Muslim terrorists and the responses of Western leaders. The Arabs continue to kill Jews, and, more and more, they kill Americans. If Europe continues to ignore reality, Yashiko Sagamori suggests, soon, they too will be victims of the ongoing Muslim jihad. Yet American and European continue to pretend that the Muslim drive toward world domination - bolstered as it is by a belief system inculcated by their religion - can be changed by loving kindness and off-target propaganda. READ MORE The demoralization of Israel isn't all due to attack by its Arab enemies. These next essays deal with the state of the State of Israel in general, with Ariel Sharon specifically and with the present structure of Israel's government, which contributes to Israel's inability to successfully withstand "friendly" external pressures. A JEW IN GAZA by Moshe Saperstein Under cover of humor, Moshe Saperstein gives us a pithy, accurate and brilliant analysis of the state of the State of Israel. Indirectly, he also gives us insight into the character of those remarkable people, the settlers of Biblical Israel. The residents of his town, Neve Dekalim in the Gaza Strip, under constant bombardment by the local Arabs, now face removal from their homes by their own government. He concludes his trenchant remarks with this comment to someone contemplating aliyah: "Whatever we have given to Israel, Israel has given us infinitely more. Israel has given us pride. Israel has given us self-respect. Israel has given us purpose and meaning far beyond mere existence. Israel has allowed us to lead extraordinary rather than ordinary lives." READ MORE THE FOLLIES OF SHARON by Arlene Peck Arlene Peck summarizes Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's spectacular follies: letting a flock of terrorists out of jail, starting to ethnically cleanse Jews from their historic lands, OKing the creation of a terrorist state in Biblical Israel. "Why," she asks "have their [Israel's] leaders lost the ability to lead? Or, behave as it seems that they have lost the will to win. Appeasement isn't the answer. What has recently been done by opening the jailhouse doors will, I'm afraid, come back to haunt them." READ MORE THE ROOT CAUSE by Boris Celser Israel does not have a Constitution. Writing one is commonly treated as a nice but not very urgent activity. Israel is a democracy, but it doesn't have direct representation on the local level. This means that Israeli citizens have few ways to influence a government that willfully negates what it was elected to do and does what the electorate voted against. Boris Celser provides compelling reasons why writing a Constitution and restructuring the government are urgent requirements for Israel's survival. READ MORE So what should Israel do? And what should she not do? WHAT ISRAEL SHOULD DO NOW: A Time For Moral Clarity by Yosef Y. Jacobson Rabbi Jacobson responds "to some of the painful questions people of goodwill are asking today." His answers are succinct and clear and explain why basic concepts many accept as true - that there is a Palestinian people and that Israel is occupying Palestinian land - are not true. Given the facts, he suggests that "[t]he best way to bring about genuine peace in the Arab-Israeli war is by Israel putting an end to any future negotiations on the land. Israel must assume full security and military control over all of the territories under the united banner of a single country, Eretz Israel." READ MORE ISRAEL'S SECURITY: The Hard-Learned Lessons by Yaakov Amidror Oslo failed. The Palestinian Arabs took to war, calling it a popular uprising. Yaakov Amidror writes that "[a]ll observers were stunned by the rapid collapse of the security arrangements that were at the heart of the Oslo concept." He asks what went wrong and what lessons Israel must take from the Oslo experience in planning future defenses. READ MORE TIME FOR A CHANGE: A Review of "A Concubine in the Middle East: American-Israeli Relations" by Lewis Lipkin Ezra Sohar, author of a "Concubine in the Middle East," uses the metaphor of a relationship where one of the participants "is not accorded the respectful status of a legitimate wife" to describe American-Israeli relations. The book, written in 1999, is not outdated - if anything, recent events underscore his wise words. READ MORE WHY WE SUPPORT ISRAELI SETTLEMENTS by Daniel Kaganovich and Michael Butler When all the arab-promulgated arguments are shot down, the nuisance-value one remains: "Yeah, so they're not legally or historically entitled to it, so maybe some of them came in illegally just yesterday, but if you give the territories to these 'Palestinians' there will be peace." This presupposes that removing Jewish settlements will reduce friction. Daniel Kaganovich and Michael Butler argue that removing the source of the "friction" (Jews) will not make a dent in the ideology that causes it. It will only encourage its spread." READ MORE WHAT WOULD AMERICA DO? by Beth Goodtree Israel has released a mass of prisoners and eased restrictions that make it easier for its enemies to wage war. Beth Goodtree points out that "[t]he result of all these concessions and appeasements has been more war." She suggests that Israel stop what she's doing and start emulating the USA: "The United States protects her own and does whatever it must to keep herself safe." READ MORE We continue our examination of how anti-Israel bias is spread in America by the media and the 'peace and humanity' foundations. Several of the essays deal with the sick-making phenomenon of Israel-hate as manifested by Marxist Jews, both here and in Israel, and by far-left Jewish newspapers in Israel. VIOLENCE AND LEFT-WING POLITICS: What's Going On At UCLA'S Hillel? by Sharon Hes The surface event was an angry and inappropriate physical assault on a pro-Zionist journalist by a left-wing pro-Palestinian director of a youth group. Its significance for American Jews is that the director is the leader of Hillel at UCLA, and this was an acting out of his political passions, which also determine how he runs Hillel - its activities and events encourage Jewish students to develop an anti-Israel mindset. It is a chilling reminder of what goes on less blatantly in too many Jewish groups on too many American campuses: they are debating societies stressing fair-minded discussions of different points of view regarding Israel. They offer little resistance to the pro-Muslim groups preaching anti-Semitism and actively propagandizing the student body. READ MORE THE PRICE OF ARROGANCE by Ellen W. Horowitz Commenting on the attraction of Jewish Americans such as Ian Lustick and Tom Friedman to the radical-left Israeli daily Ha'aretz, Ellen Horowitz explains why "we have to question the motives behind the Jewish intellectuals in America and elsewhere in the Diaspora who base their venerated views on what may amount to nothing more than cheap, yellow journalistic tactics used to sell a bankrupt political line (and a newspaper)." READ MORE IS IT ANTISEMITIC TO CRITICIZE ISRAEL? IS ISRAEL AN APARTHEID STATE? Part 1. by Jared Israel Israel is commonly described as an apartheid state by her enemies - many of which actually do practice apartheid. Jared Israel examines a major "fact" supporting this assertion: Arabs are not allowed to purchase land in Israel. This is true - as far as it goes. The author demonstrates that it is lying by omission: a fact is overextended, while contextual facts are suppressed, encouraging the audience to come to a false conclusion. READ MORE ALL THE NEWS THAT'S FIT TO PRINT? The New York Times and Israel by Tom Gross Way back when, the New York Times earned a reputation for accurate reporting of ongoing events. When it comes to Israel, however, the Times lies by omission, exaggeration, distortion, context-stripping, underplaying Arab terrorism and just plain lying. Tom Gross provides us with a restrained but piercing analysis of how the Times (mal)treats Israel. READ MORE FORD FUNDS THE PALESTINIAN LEFT by Lee Kaplan Lee Kaplan presents us with a detailed summary of how the Ford Foundation funds non-governmental Palestinian organizations and groups in Israel that support the Palestinian Arab cause. These are not social welfare groups; they are political and aggressively anti-Israel. The Ford Foundation's claim that its mission is to promote peace and social justice is macabre. Operationally, it funds unscrupulous groups who use propaganda and the legal system to undermine the State of Israel and who give direct and indirect aid to the terrorists who kill Israel's citizens. READ MORE FORD HAS A BETTER IDEA: One Nation Under Allah by Alyssa A. Lappen Several months ago, Edwin Black's series in the Jewish Telegraphic Agency detailed how the Ford Foundation funded Arab and pro-Arab groups, some of them with ties to terrorist groups, whose activities were aimed at demonizing Jews and delegitimizing Israel. Alyssa Lappen concentrates on another objective Ford indirectly supports when it funds the Constitutional Rights Foundation: the promotion of Sharia (Muslim law) in this country and the curtailing of activities and speech that Muslims regard as blasphemy - even if this means non-Muslim groups are deprived of their Constitutional rights. READ MORE These essays discuss specific historical events: Palestine around time of World War II and the birth of Israel, the Damascus Affair of 1840 and the history of Samaria and Judea. THE UNITED NATIONS AND THE PALESTINIAN REFUGEES by Hilda Terry Hilda Terry is a cartoonist, who has 'been there, done that' in cartoons from the Golden Age of cartoons through the graphics of the internet. She writes from her experiences, her notes and her recollections of events in Palestine around World War II. In this article, she examines why and how the figures for the number of Arab refugees of 1947 became so bloated. READ MORE FROM DAMASCUS TO JENIN by Elliott A. Green Elliott Green tells the story of the Damascus Affair, when in 1840 the Jewish community was accused of murdering a monk and his servant for their blood - it was a widely-held though erroneous belief among Europeans and Muslims that blood was a necessary ingredient of the Passover Matsot. The author associates the Damascus Affair with the latest egregious case of a false accusation, when Arab eye witnesses swore they'd seen the IDF massacred Arabs in the hundreds (or thousands) in Jenin. In both cases, it was a vicious lie. In both cases, there was an obsession to find the bodies. The accusations were lies, so no evidence could be found. Yet, the conviction that the Jews had done some terrible deed remained. READ MORE JUDENREIN PALESTINE? by Rachel Neuwirth Rachel Neuwirth traces the history of Judea and Samaria over the centuries. She points out that "[t]he Jewish presence there has been continuous, except for 19 years from 1948 to 1967 when the area became judenrein" under Jordan's rule. "After the 1967 war, the Jewish people have simply been returning to the land from which they were forcibly expelled during the first Arab-Israeli war of 1948-49." READ MORE This is another episode of Marion Dreyfus' life teaching at a Chinese university. CHINA DIARY: On Vacation by Marion D.S. Dreyfus Marion Dreyfus records her impressions when on vacation from teaching at Wuchan, China. On holiday in Shanghai, she visits the synagogue Ohel Moishe, used by the Jews who escaped from Europe to China in World War II, and Sun Yat-sen's house. Her cousin, 2-Gun Cohen, had been a Sun Yat-sen bodyguard. In January she has some unusual experiences: she visits an 800-year old city at the foothills of the Himalayas and a lamassery; she sees the remarkable clay soldier statuary from the Chin dynasty and visits the Muslim quarter in Xi'an. She also has some more typical tourist experiences - trying to get food she can eat and dealing with having her camera, knapsack and money stolen. READ MORE READERS' BLOG-EDS This is where our readers get a chance to write opinions and editorials. Why Blog-Ed and not Op-Ed? Because we have retained the typical blog style of a stream of text organized chronologically. These are (for the most part) serious, thoughtful and from the heart. They should be shared with other readers. Blog-Eds is updated every few days. January Blog-Eds READ MORE February Blog-Eds READ MORE =========================================== November-December, 2003 We begin with Saudi Arabia, which funds today's terrorists and builds schools in America, the Middle East and Asia that inculcate extreme Islamic attitudes in the next generation. These articles present some necessary background. THE SAUDIS: The Middle East Mafia by Lewis Lipkin It has been said that Saudi Arabia is the only family-owned business in the United Nations. The gifted dons of the Saud family shaped the modern state by melding the desert Bedouin's ruthlessness and guile with the religious force of Wahhabism, a harsh version of Islam. Lewis Lipkin chronicles the historical and cultural roots of the Sauds. READ MORE THE PRINCE by Elsa Walsh This is the story of how the Saudi Ambassador, Prince Bandar bin Sultan, became a Washington operator, chumming it up with the rich and famous, promoting the interests of Arafat and the Palestinians, and acting as go-between between Prince Abdullah, who runs the kingdom, and other heads of state. He is a son of Prince Sultan bin Abdul Aziz, second in line to the Crown, and a grandson of Abdul Aziz, who created present-day Saudi Arabia. He is a long-time family friend of George Bush senior. The question is, after 9/11, how warmly does President Bush feel towards him? READ MORE LAND OF SINBAD THE SAILOR by Boris Zubry Boris Zubry has worked as a mechanical engineer in several countries. He recorded his experiences living and working in Saudi Arabia in this essay, which forms a chapter in his book, Miles Of Experience. READ MORE MIDDLE ISRAEL: WHAT BURIED ARABIA? by Amotz Asa-El Amotz Asa-El argues that "the root of the Saudi malaise isn't in its politics, but in its sociology: a high illiteracy rate, an anti-meritocratic social order, and the impossibility of its foreign workers - who hold 70% of the jobs - to become citizens. The result is social stagnation. READ MORE THE SAUDI ARABIAN EMBASSY ON ISLAM AND MUSLIMS by Steven Stalinsky The Saudi Embassy has a website explaining Islam and Muslims to Americans. Steven Stalinsky reports on how several topics are presented: Jihad and Martyrdom, Teaching Islam's Superiority over Christianity and Judaism, Rights in Islam of Dhimmis (non-Muslims under Muslim rule), the Punishment of Non-Believers, the Superiority of Polygamy in Islam to Western Monogamy, and the Rights of Women. READ MORE A TROUBLING INFLUENCE by Frank J. Gaffney, Jr. Ever since 9/11, it has become harder for Saudi Arabia to suppress information about its subversion of academic departments and U.S. State Department diplomats, its indoctrination of Arab schoolchildren and Muslims in the military in anti-Western Wahhabism, its funding of Middle Eastern terrorists and its outpouring of anti-Semitic hate literature. Articles on the extent of Saudi's anti-Western activities continue to surface. Frank Gaffney's essay is unique in tracing the damage done by a single individual - Grover Norquist - who, in David Horowitz's words, has been working in the higher levels of Washington's political circles "... on behalf of the Islamist Fifth Column." READ MORE These article discuss the increase in Egypt's war arsenal and the deterioration of the Peace Treaty between Egypt and Israel. DENIAL ON THE NILE by Rand H. Fishbein This is a reprint of an article Dr. Fishbein wrote soon after 9/11 on the dangers of Egypt acquiring ever more sophisticated weaponry from the United States and North Korea, especially when Egypt in its rhetoric and in its actions was showing increased hostility to the United States and Israel. It could not, the author wrote, "be discounted as an adversary in any future regional conflict." In view of the developments in the past two years (see Dan Eldar's article below), the article was most prescient. READ MORE EGYPT AND ISRAEL: A Reversible Peace by Dan Eldar The peace treaty of 1977 between Israel and Egypt was, in Dan Eldar's words, "between a society of Western political culture and norms and an Arab-Muslim society with different attitudes regarding the character of peace, the parameters of truth, and the meaning of justice." Since then, while claiming to be a peace broker, Egypt has been "making sure that peace never spreads," encouraging the intifada, while blaming it all on Israel and spewing out Nazi-quality anti-Semitic hate literature. As Egypt becomes poorer, less stable and more radicalized by Islamists, both Israel and America need to reassess how durable this peace is. READ MORE It is often asserted Islam is a religion of peace. These articles explore the question of just how peaceful a religion Islam is, the relationship between Islam and terrorism and some thoughts on avoiding both terrorism and Islam. ISLAM: A RELIGION OF PEACE? by Larry Elder This is an interview Larry Elder conducted with Robert Spencer, about his new book, "Onward Muslim Soldiers: How Jihad Still Threatens America and the West." It is possible that President Bush may actually believe that Islam is a "religion of peace," But Spencer asserts that what we call "'Islamic extremism' stems from a straightforward reading of the Koran and interpretative Islamic texts." READ MORE ONLY U.S. STRENGTH CAN DEFEAT ISLAM by David Gutmann Dr. David Gutmann, a clinical psychologist, asserts that "Terrorist organizations must be smashed, and their sponsoring nations made to pay the price. If we withdraw in feebleness, triumphant Islamic terrorism will increase catastrophically." Arguing from historical experience and the national character of the Muslims, he show why this is so. READ MORE THE GREAT WALL OF ISRAEL by Yashiko Sagamori Israel is building a security fence. Among Israel's friends, the focus is on whether it is or isn't effective in protecting Israelis from local terrorists. Israel's enemies, fearing it just might be effective, complain it inconveniences the local Arabs. The author asks whether something as drastic as the wall is for Israel might save Europe from "succumbing to Islam" - or is it too late? READ MORE The recent flurry over the latest Peace Miracle Pill is almost spent. These articles provide further evidence why trying to negotiate with the Palestinians is futile. The sooner the futility is accepted, the sooner people can start thinking about workable solutions to the conflict. THE TWO BIG MISTAKES THAT KEEP THE CONFLICT GOING by Professor Barry Rubin All the diplomatic peace plans proposed by Israel to solve the Palestinian-Israeli conflict have in common the notions that (1) if Israel makes sufficient concessions, she will gain peace; and (2) making concessions will win her brownie points in the world community. Professor Rubin discusses why this strategy is doomed to failure. READ MORE THE SANCTITY OF THE UNSACRED by Guy Bechor Speaking of the Arab attitude towards formal agreements, the author writes, "... the Western concept of the "sanctity of contractual agreements does not exist in this part of the world, and... an agreement is always relative and not total, and it changes according to considerations of security, religion, history, and military power." In bringing this article to our attention, Aryeh Zelasko put it this way, "As long as the parties involved maintain their respective power levels, the agreement is in force. However, as soon as the balance of power changes, goodbye agreement." READ MORE PART OF THE PROBLEM? THIS IS THE PROBLEM Separate essays by Mike Hendrix and Stephen Green After the Arafat-Barak fiasco, it seemed that Dennis Ross, the US point man involved, swore he was no longer a peace junky and renounced Arafat's machinations. But it looks like he's fallen off the wagon - the Geneva Accord were announced and he smells action all over again. Mike Hendrix of the Cold Fury website and Stephen Green of VodkaPundit try to sober him up with cold facts why the peace process can't work. READ MORE The history and culture of the Arabs, their religion, their nonchalant attitude to contractual agreements, the way they teach their children hate for non-Muslims and their consuming desire to be again top dog lording it over a chastened Western world suggest that any peace treaty, no matter how specifically or ambiguously worded, will have the lasting power of a paper bag in a rainstorm. These essays explore an alternative: separating the Jews and Arabs by transferring the Arabs to some part of the vast Arab land area. ON MIDEAST'S MENU by Lou Marano Lou Marano focuses on the Arab strategy to destroy Israel as embedded in the 10-point program adopted by the Palestinian National Council in 1974. And never repudiated. This means that giving the Palestinian Arabs a state will inevitably be followed by their renewed demands for more concessions backed up by renewed acts of terror. He discusses the Elon plan, which makes Jordan the only legitimate representative of the Palestinians." READ MORE TRANSFER MEANS PEACE by Boris Shusteff Mr Shusteff emphasizes that in the near future, even if it is stigmatized as ethnic cleansing, we will have population transfer. The question is: will it be the Jews who are transferred out of Biblical Israel, including a part of Jerusalem, or will it be the Arabs who are moved back to Arab countries. He points out that Jordan is already a Palestinian state, some twenty times larger than Samaria, Judea and Gaza, and the majority of its citizens consider themselves Palestinians. READ MORE A JEWISH ROAD by Ruth King Ruth King makes the case for Israeli annexation of Samaria, Judea and Gaza. "It is time," she says, "for Israel to face reality. No concessions will make the United Nations ... accept them nor will it placate the Arabs and their Muslim sympathizer Peace will come only through determination and strength and unity and the total destruction and disarming of the Palestinian Authority." READ MORE Freedom of speech is becoming increasingly selective, both in America and in Israel. In both cases, it is becoming politically correct to denigrate Israel and attribute the worst motives and behavior to her, but criticism of Arab behavior is considered inpolite at best and telling lies at worst. THE BROWNSHIRTS OF OUR TIME by Phyllis Chesler Phyllis Chesler, long identified with the Woman's Movement, recounts her pain when she was confronted by members of the movement with ingrained Jew-hate. These Brownshirts see "Palestine" as a "symbol for every downtrodden group of color 'resisting' the racist-imperialist American and Zionist Empires." They can't be reached by facts on the actual treatment of women in Arab society or by an appeal to their own anti-racist principles. Anti-Semitism is becoming politically correct among those who define political correctness. READ MORE EXPULSION, NOT TRANSFER by Gil Ronen Tamar Rush of Herzliya has observed, "Passing out hundreds of copies of the wiretap transcripts of our Prime Minister's private conversations is perceived as 'harmless fun' - but writing a half-satirical letter to a website could get you some serious time in the klinker." Gil Ronin wrote just that sort of letter to Arutz-7, and MK Gal-On has been demanding his arrest on charges of 'incitement' ever since." This is Ronen's letter, translated into English. Read it, and decide if Gil Ronin deserves to be jailed for his views - especially when more and more Israelis are debating how, not whether, to transfer the seditious and violence-prone Arabs out of Israel. READ MORE INCREASINGLY SELECTIVE DEMOCRACY by Steven Plaut Gil Ronen's article in Arutz-7 (see above) was deemed a violation of the law against incitement and an investigation was launched against the managers of the Arutz-7 website. Steve Plaut uses actual examples to highlight how Israeli Leftists are twisting the Law to punish pro-Israel free speech, while allowing any and all pro-Arab speeches, including some that really are seditious and an incitement to riot. READ MORE The right of Jews to a Jewish homeland is again under attack. These articles present historical information that refute the arguments of the Arabs and their allies. Dr. Shifftan reminds us that if Israelis weren't afraid of an Arab voting majority, they'd give more weight to the reasons for keeping Biblical Israel. THE JEWISH RIGHT TO THE LAND OF ISRAEL by Alex Rose Alex Rose writes of the time of the Balfour Declaration, when the resolve of the lEnglish to create a Jewish state was strongly asserted by influential members of the British Cabinet. He examines the Arab case against the creation of the Jewish State, showing that their arguments were and are invalid. Jews have claims to their land biblically, by their unbroken ties to the land historically, and by their reclamation of the READ MORE AN ANSWER TO THE NEW ANTI-ZIONISTS: The Rights Of The Jewish People To A Sovereign State In Their Historic Homeland by Dore Gold and Jeff Helmreich "Jewish nationhood preceded the emergence of most modern nation-states by thousands of years" - well before the first Arab came into the region - and, as the authors point out, in modern times, "[t]he links of the Jewish people to their historic land were well-known and accepted..." Yet, of all the 190 States that are members of the U.N. - many of whom lack "national identity" or are monolithic in religion or culture or have governments that govern inadequately or repressively, only Israel's legitimacy is questioned. READ MORE IF THE ARABS DON'T SERVE IN THE ARMY, THEY SHOULDN'T VOTE by Yoram Shifftan The major practical reason for giving away Biblical Israel is demographic: if Israel is to remain a Jewish state, it needs to retain a Jewish voting majority. Dr. Shifftan proposes another solution. Those communities that don't serve in the army will not be allowed to vote in national elections. This would apply to Israeli Arabs and the Arabs in the terrorities, because Arabs do not serve in the army. READ MORE We continue our examination of how anti-Israel bias is spread in America by the media and through other gateways of the public's access to information. COMMEMORATING KRISTALLNACHT AT THE SEATTLE TIMES by Stefan Sharkansky On the day we remember Kristallnacht, the Seattle Times reprinted a Avraham Burg piece, which included this gem: " They [suicide terrorists] spill their own blood in our restaurants in order to ruin our appetites because they have children and parents at home who are hungry and humiliated." Burg was a proponent of the original Oslo Agreement and is now involved in the Geneva Accord. Stefan Sharkansky rebuts two recent Times pieces on Israel: one by Burg, the other by a Times columnist on the Geneva Accord. READ MORE IDENTIFYING ISLAMISTS ON CAMPUS by Emanuel A. Winston The author points out one silver lining to the storm of anti-Jewish activities by Islamists on campus: the FBI and CIA can more easily track these radical Muslim students. He also examines the responses of college administrators to anti-Jewish activities on campus and lists organizations that monitor anti-Semitic activities. READ MORE PLO HASBARA: A VERY PROFESSIONAL PIECE OF WORK by Miki Daners This is an extremely informative article about the slick techniques of PLO propaganda and their paid publicists who manipulate the foreign media. She discusses some of their networking, training and funding resources as well as their excellent Washington lobbyist, Edward Abington, who earns his keep whitewashing Arafat. While the PLO lies about Israel by attributing to them untrue misdeeds, the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Service lies about the PLO by playing down their false propaganda and ignoring their atrocities. READ MORE These next two articles were written by Jews who live in exotic places. Moshe Saperstein lives in Gaza near Israel's 'Peaceful Peace Partners' and Marion D.S. Dreyfus teaches at the University in Wuchan, China and does a radio talk show. MOSHE AMONG THE MORTARS by Moshe Saperstein In this letter, Moshe talks of uneventful happenings: being shelled by Arab mortars, traveling to Jerusalem to do errands and rescuing an injured bird. READ MORE FRIENDS AND STUDENTS by Marion D.S. Dreyfus It's winter and the pressing problem in Wuchan is keeping warm. Marion lectures, does a radio show and fends off the Administration. This takes up much too much time, leavng little time to travel and see the countryside. READ MORE READERS' BLOG-EDS This is where our readers get a chance to write opinions and editorials. Why Blog-Ed and not Op-Ed? Because we have retained the typical blog style of a stream of text organized chronologically. These are (for the most part) serious, thoughtful and from the heart. They should be shared with other readers. Blog-Eds is updated every few days. November Blog-Eds READ MORE December Blog-Eds READ MORE =========================================== September-October, 2003 The latest reincarnation of the Peace Process died August 19th as surely as did the passengers on Egged bus #2. Both the Road Map and the people were blown up by the Arabs. This first group of essays suggest that the way we have pursued peace for the last 36 years must fail because we have made the wrong assumptions and have ignored important facts. WHY THE PEACE PROCESS CAN'T WORK AND SHOULD BE ABANDONNED by Robert Locke In simple language that even a politician should understand, Robert Locke demolishes the notion that there can be a negotiated peace process when the two sides have incompatible objectives. As the author says, "The Palestinians want to drive the Israelis into the sea, and the Israelis want to not be driven into the sea." READ MORE THERE IS ONLY A MILITARY SOLUTION by Ariel Natan Pasko The major reason Israel can't negotiate with the Arabs in that they want to destroy Israel, not reason with her or negotiate with her. Ariel Pasko reinforces that conclusion with an impressive set of statistics that indicate the Palestinian Arabs feel strongly that: "The rights and needs of the Palestinian people cannot be taken care of as long as the State of Israel exists." He concludes that the only way to peace is by military means. READ MORE TWELVE BAD ARGUMENTS FOR A STATE OF PALESTINE by Patricia J. Berlyn Patricia Berlyn critically examines the current reasonable-sounding arguments that are put forth by the well-meaning and not so well-meaning as reasons to establish a PLO state for the Palestinian Arabs. And she reminds us how quickly the U.S. went from a position of not negotiating with the PLO - which was and is and will be a terrorist organization committed to destroying Israel - to its current promotion of such a state. READ MORE INDIA AND PAKISTAN - A Cautionary Tale for Israel and Palestine by Jeffrey Weiss In a clear and logical fashion, Jeffrey Weiss lays out a powerful and detailed case against creating a Palestinian Arab state, using the history of the partition of India and Pakistan as example. He points out that "Oslo's advocates argue that two states are needed for there to be peace and self-determination for Arab and Jew alike...[yet] the Palestinian Authority has demanded the right of Palestinians to 'return' to live in Israel." READ MORE ALL IS NOT LOST by Frank Gaffney, Jr. We present this article on September 11th. America resolved to fight a war on terror on September 11, 2001. Frank Gaffney says wisely that "...terror is a technique, an instrument of warfare...And, to be effective, military and other responses to that threat have to be aimed not at the technique but at those who employ it to advance their political or other goals...In the War on Terror, our principal foes are Islamists and those who assist their murderous, jihadist agenda." READ MORE WHERE ARE THE MODERATE ARABS? by Michael Anbar, Ph.D. Michael Anbar demonstrates that the theological and cultural differences between "moderate muslims" and "fundamentalist muslims" are on a par with the differences between "Arab militants" and "Arab terrorists." There are none. READ MORE VIEWING ISLAM CLEAR. VIEWING ISLAM MUDDY by Emanuel A. Winston Emanual A. Winston cuts through the propaganda that portrays Islam as a kind and gentle religion. Perhaps it is. But it fosters terrorism and terrorism is a world-wide threat. Much of the world has responded by playing 'let's pretend.' READ MORE THE "RIGHT OF RETURN" DEBATE REVISITED by Max Abrahms The Arabs continue to pursue their goal of destroying Israel. They have pursuaded many that all they want is a state for the Palestinian Arabs. But they have also demanded the return to Israel of the Arab refugees, whose numbers have remarkably multiplied some 700 to 1000 percent (depending on whose numbers you use) in 55 years. This huge size made it hard to sell the "right of return" until a recent poll seemed to show that only a few refugees would insist on returning. Max Abrahms shows that these results are downright misleading. READ MORE HOLOCAUST IN PROGRESS by Yashiko Sagamori In the wake of the August 19th bus bombing in Jerusalem, Yashiko Sagamori's lucid essay points out that "[w]hat the world euphemistically dubbed a peace process is actually a Holocaust in progress." The author notes that "Bush...promised to never negotiate with terrorists. Unfortunately, he failed to specify which terrorists he was not going to negotiate with, what exactly he was not going to negotiate with them, and how often." READ MORE These next essays talk about reform in Israel. Israel has been thrown off track by Arab terrorism and its own inhibited response to this ongoing terrorism. It needs to (re)establish its unique identity. JEWISH NATIONAL STRATEGY by Paul Eidelberg Professor Eidelberg reviews the components necessary for a Jewish state. The strategy for achieving a Jewish state must start with a "...[p]ublic affirmation that a Jewish State must be based on Jewish principles and values." and the corollary "...that the primary source of Jewish principles and values is the Torah." READ MORE THE G.O.D. MANDATE by Beth Goodtree Beth Goodtree usually writes political commentary and humorous articles. She is just as effective when she writes seriously about the fundamental need for Israel to set forth a written declaration of its own identity and goals. READ MORE *TO CREATE A JEWISH* STATE OF ISRAEL by Moshe Feiglin Manhigut Yehudit (Jewish Leadership) is a movement inside the Likud Party that is working to create a strong Jewish identity in Israel. It has protested Oslo and held street demonstrations against attempts to uproot settlements. At the same time, it is formulating an ideology based on authentic biblical and historic Judaism for the governance of the Jewish state. READ MORE HOW MUCH IS ENOUGH? by Arlene Peck In her refreshingly candid style, Arlene Peck asks when will the Israelis accept that they are at war? When will they take charge of their own destiny and start dealing intelligently with the Muslim-Arab-Palestinian terrorists whose goal is to destroy the Jewish state. READ MORE THE UN AND THE ASSAULT ON ISRAEL'S LEGITIMACY: Implications Of The Roadmap by Anne Bayefsky Anne Bayefsky writes, "Human rights may be the most highly-rated political currency in modern times. This is exactly why the criminal state or political actor has sought to appropriate it. The United Nations, as the pre-eminent guardian of human rights, has been the staging ground for this subversion. The body erected upon the rejection of anti-Semitism now perversely serves as a major international vehicle for anti-Semitism." Clearly, Israel needs to assert its sovereign rights; it must take "concrete steps to protect" itself. READ MORE ACADEMIC FREEDOM AND FREEDOM OF SPEECH IN ISRAEL'S UNIVERSITIES DURING THE OSLO DECADE: 1993-2003 by Arieh Zaritsky Professor Zaritsky talks about the one-sided freedom of academic expression fostered in Israeli universities during the Oslo decade. Views critical of the Oslo Accords and the Peace Process were subtly and not so subtly discouraged. This essay would be just a nice reminiscence, except for one problem: these peace-process academic Marxists continue to control academic departments and continue to promote a failed policy that continues to bring extreme harm to Israel. READ MORE VIEW FROM THE ASYLUM by Elyakim HaEtzni So what is life like right now in Israel, now that Oslo is dead, but lots of the politicians don't seem to know it? In this essay that is likely to become a classic, Elyakim HaEtzni draws a stark analogy to the madness seen in a closed ward of an insane asylum. He concludes, "I know of only one way to restore national sanity: to take to the streets and raise a public outcry, until the Closed Ward Government falls." READ MORE We need to reexamine the entire question of how to achieve peace in the Middle East. These next articles discuss Population Exchange - transferring the Palestinian Arabs out of Israel, an exchange that began when the Jews were forced out of Arab countries in the 1940s. Population Exchange is a plan that has a better chance at promoting peace in the Middle East than the Road Map, because it is based on reality, not fantasy. PARTITION VERSUS POPULATION EXCHANGE by Richard H. Shulman Richard Shulman examines Chaim Kaufmann's study on Population Exchange, which developed rules predicting when partition will work and when population exchange is necessary. He points out some mistakes in Kaufmann's arguments for partitioning Israel, because "[Kaufmann] did not understand enough about the Arab-Israel conflict to apply his own theory properly." READ MORE TRANSFER: A MORAL DISCOURSE by Boris Shusteff Using Ruth Gavison's essay on the Jewish right to statehood as springboard, Boris Shusteff demolishes the notion that, from the point of view of universal human rights, transferring the Arabs out of Israel - including Yesha - would be an immoral act. There is also the practical problem that Arab activity over the years has focussed on demolishing Israel, not "establishing institutions of Arab government." READ MORE THE THIRD RAIL OF MIDDLE EAST POLICY by Ruth King Ruth King makes clear that no peace that depends on Arab goodwill has a chance to succeed. We need to consider a more practical solution: transferring Palestinian Arabs to the current Palestinian state, Jordan. READ MORE These next essays are on Middle East terrorist groups. The first two discuss Hizballah, an international terrorist network with direct linkages to other terrorist organizations and to terrorist activities globally. Using Hamas as example, the third essay makes clear than "[f]rom the standpoint of international law, one man's terrorist can never be another man's freedom-fighter." HIZBALLAH'S WEST BANK FOOTHOLD by Matthew Levitt There is a direct linkage of Hizballah and the Palestinian Arabs in Samaria, Judea and in Gaza. Matthew Levitt discusses how, beginning in 2000 with Iran's use of "the social-welfare hook to recruit Palestinians into Hizballah," Palestinian Arabs were trained in Lebanon and then sent back. The author writes, "Among the activities Hizballah's Palestinian squads have conducted are arms smuggling, recruitment, attempted suicide bombings, sniper and roadside shooting attacks, preoperational surveillance of Israeli communities and army bases, and planned kidnapping of Israelis." READ MORE HIZBOLLAH INTERNATIONAL by Lewis Lipkin Lewis Lipkin focusses on the extent of Hizbollah activity outside the Middle East. They are alive and well in Europe, South America and in the United States. READ MORE ON HAMAS "FREEDOM FIGHTERS": The View From International Law by Louis Rene Beres** Professor Louis Rene Beres points out that "even if Hamas claims of an Israeli 'occupation' were correct rather than concocted, their corresponding claim of entitlement to oppose Israel 'by any means necessary' would remain unsupportable." He educates us on the "precise standards that must be applied in judgment of all insurgent resorts to violence," and defines just cause and just means. READ MORE *We continue our examination of how anti-Israel bias is spread in America by the media and through other gateways of the public's access to information.* FRIEDMAN'S UNREALITY PRINCIPLE by David Sobel David Sobel takes on Thomas Friedman and suggests Friedman is a has-been, recycling tired shallow observations and flipflopping from one viewpoint to another, again and again. Using a Friedman's article called "Reality Principle" as subject matter, he critiques Friedman's outdated opinions and contrary-to-fact statements about the Arab-Israeli conflict. READ MORE SUCKERED BY THE ARABS: Are Jewish and Christian Pro-Israel Groups Being Suckered By The Arabs? by Lee Kaplan Lee Kaplan writes about Saudi-financed activities in America that are detrimental to us and to Israel. He reasons that activist Zionist groups are "wasting our time in our own country constantly putting out forest fires instead of going after the arsonist." READ MORE RUTGERS' SUKKOT HATEFEST by Merav Zarifa Is Jew-Hate becoming a part of Political Correctness? Is a Fest designed to encourage the killing of Jews and the dismemberment of Israel a manifestation of free speech? The New Jersey Solidarity group seems to think so. Until very recently, Rutgers went along with hosting them on campus. At the last moment, the event was cancelled. READ MORE THE AMERICAN LIBRARY ASSOCIATION, The P.A.'s Pal by N. Leonard Tolkan Most people would say their public libraries are apolitical and desire only to educate the public by encouraging the purchase of books of varying points of view, providing they are not hate literature and providing they have their facts straight. So isn't it surprising to find that the American Library Association (ALA) - the oldest and largest and probably the most influential society of librarians in the world - apparently considers it has a duty to bash Israel and support the 'Palestinian' cause. N. Leonard Tolkan, the author of this article, is a veteran librarian who, for obvious reasons, chooses to remain anonymous. READ MORE *An unusual and fascinating way to spend the High Holidays.* CHINA DIARY: Settling Down In Wuchan. L'Shana Tova From Beijing. by Marion D. S. Dreyfus Marion D. S. Dreyfus is a freelance journalist, a film critic and an intrepid traveler. I met her on a bullet-proof bus on an Americans For A Safe Israel (AFSI) trip to Samaria, Judea and Gaza. When she announced she was off to China and asked what Think-Israel was interested in, I had a long list for her to investigate: (1) Chinese Jews - is there a Jewish community? Are there converts? Are there any left over from the WW2 escape from Europe? Are there any from an older immigration?; (2) Businessmen from Israel and Canada that do business in Shanghai - do they influence the Chinese in any way to be pro-Israel? I have heard there's at least one kosher restaurant; (3) China's Islam problem - are they handling it by being politically correct? Or what; (4) Does Israel have any PR or hasbara in China? READ MORE And finally, our newest feature: the Blog-Ed page. READERS' BLOG-EDS This is where our readers get a chance to write opinions and editorials. Why Blog-Ed and not Op-Ed? Because we have retained the typical blog style of a stream of text organized chronologically. These are (for the most part) serious, thoughtful and from the heart. They should be shared with other readers. Blog-Eds is updated every few days. September Blog-Eds October Blog-Eds READ MORE =========================================== July-August, 2003 *This first group of essays center around a regional peace plan articulated by Israeli Minister Binyamin (Benny) Elon.* THE RIGHT ROAD TO PEACE: A Regional Solution To The Arab-Israeli Conflict posted by Benny Elon, May, 2003. Israeli Cabinet Minister Binyamin Elon proposes a regional peace plan: give the Arabs on the West Bank full citizenship in Jordan, resettle the Arab refugees in Arab countries and annex the West Bank and Gaza to Israel. This would make for two stable and viable Palestinian States, one Arab, one Jewish, in what was Mandated Palestine. His plan takes into account critical factors the Road Map ignores: a role for the Arab countries that neighbor Israel, the solution to the Arab refugee problem, Israel's security, a natural border and Israel's historic and biblical claim to the Land. READ MORE SHARON'S ACCIDENTAL TOURIST by Caroline B. Glick, July 10, 2003. This is a copy of an interview with Minister Elon conducted by Caroline Glick. It adds details to the Elon plan, which is described in "The Right Road to Peace" (see above). READ MORE ARE THE SETTLEMENTS LEGAL? by Eugene V. Rostow, April 23, 1990 and October 21, 1991. Eugene V. Rostow wrote two articles on the Jewish settlements for the New Republic during the presidency of George H.W. Bush. The first was written a few months before Saddam Hussain of Iraq invaded Kuwait and precipitated the first Gulf War. Bush excluded Israel from fighting during the War and then, after the USA had forced Iraq to withdraw from Kuwait, he pressured the then Prime Minister, Yitzhak Shamir, to attend the Madrid Conference, a Middle East peace initiative that led to Oslo 1. The second article was published just days before the Madrid Conference. Mr. Rostow helped draft the UN Security Council Resolution #242, which called on Israel and the Arab States (not the Palestinians) to make peace, and allows Israel to administer the territories until there is a just and lasting peace. READ MORE ISRAELI HASBARA: A Nation Working Against Itself posted by Yoram Shifftan, Ph.D., July 2, 2003. Much of the fault-finding with Israeli Hasbara (education/PR/persuasion) suggests it just hasn't come up with the right way to reach the public. Dr Shifftan suggests it isn't even trying. READ MORE ONLY THE ARABS CAN MAKE PEACE posted by Alex Rose, July 10, 2003. Reviewing modern Arab history in the Middle East, Alex Rose argues that " [t]he time has come for the Arab World to invest their resources in democracy and freedom instead of financing an international 'kill the infidel' culture." This will mean acknowledging that the same politics that gave them such an enormous chunk of the Ottoman Empire gave the Jews a right to Israel, Samaria, Judea and Gaza. READ MORE DON'T CONDEMN ISRAEL TO INDIA'S FATE by M.D. Nalapat, June 22, 2003. In a letter to the Jerusalem Post, June 22, 2003, Larry Hall pointed out that "Israel and India have many things in common - broken British promises, convenient isolation by greedy nations, disparate populations living in progressive societies. And all the while, Islam besets them, sets its populations to suffer in the hope that it might destroy them." Professor Nalapat discusses this from the Indian perspective. READ MORE Hudna is an Arabic concept. It is a very temporary suspension of violence, usually during an all-out war. It is not a cease-fire. As Yuval Zaliouf reminds us, "Normally, a Hudnah would be declared between the warring parties. However, the Palestinian terror organizations agreed to a Hudnah not with Israel, but as a flimsy internal arrangement between them and Abu Mazen. The survival of this Hudnah depends entirely on the success of a blackmail scheme aimed at forcing Israel to release Palestinian prisoners outside the frame of the already agreed Road Map." How well is the Road Map working in this period of Hudna? A TYPICAL DAY IN SHARON'S ISRAEL Arutz-7 news items, July 20, 2003. This is a snapshot of the events in a typical day in an Israel under Sharon's guidance: the Palestinian Arabs have been enboldened to ask for more and more Israeli concessions while doing nothing to eliminate terrorism; Sharon denies he is releasing terrorists, but of course he is; the Israeli Security Services have found someone they can bully: the father of Shalhavet Pas, the 10-month old child who was assassinated by an Arab sniper; and Arab bombings and sniping continue. READ MORE PALESTINIAN WORDS SINCE AQABA: More Telling Than Deeds posted by Itamar Marcus, June 22, 2003. Speaking in English, abu Mazen has promised to act vigorously against incitement to violence and hatred. But educating the Palestinian Arab children in Jew-hatred hasn't ceased. Not for a moment. READ MORE PRISONER RELEASE: VEERING OFF THE ROADMAP posted by Eli Kazhdan, July 14, 2003. The Palestinian Arabs were supposed to perform the very first task on the Road Map: an immediate and complete cessation of violence. Instead, they have pulled the old one-two. First they declared 'prisoner release' the primary and immediate issue. Then they threatened to cancel Hudna, if the prisoners aren't released. And they have done nothing about stopping Arab terrorism. READ MORE HAMAS AND THE PALESTINIAN AUTHORITY ARE ONE: An Open Letter To President Bush posted by Alyssa A. Lappen, June 19, 2003. Alyssa Lappen writes that, despite the PR show, Hamas and the Palestine Authority have worked together for many years towards the same goal: the destruction of Israel. Nothing has changed. READ MORE OUR FEARLESS LEADERS posted by Al Skudsi bin Hookah, The Gaza Gajeera, July 5, 2003. Mr bin Hookah is foreign correspondent and roving reporter for the Gaza Gajeera. This is his assessment of how the Palestinian leaders are doing in the latest round of diplomacy and negotiations. READ MORE A CULTURE WEDDED TO WAR posted by Emanuel A. Winston, May 9, 2003. In this essay, Emanuel A. Winston analyzes the national character of Muslim Arabs. He makes clear why appealing to their reason or bribing them with Israeli concessions will have the same effect as stopping a sand storm by waving a wet noodle at it. READ MORE BASEBALL, HOT DOGS, APPLE PIE AND HUDNA posted by Ellen Horowitz, July 3, 2003. Ellen Horowitz talks about the flaws in the the national character of the Americans, the Arabs and the Israelis that allowed the Road Map and Hudna. READ MORE These next essays deal with history: the resurgence of Anti-Semitism in France and the ongoing anti-Semitism of Israel's neighbors. FRENCH ANTISEMITISM: From the Middle Ages to the Dreyfus Affair posted by Lewis Lipkin, July 5, 2003. This essay traces some major sources of French anti-Semitism, from the teachings of the Catholic Church and the decrees of the Monarchy on the Right to the Humanists and the Enlightenment philosophes on the Left. Of particular interest is the development of the Blood Libel, which has become a staple of Arab anti-Semitism. READ MORE JEWS AND ANTI-JEWS by Ruth Wisse, July 16, 2003. Ruth Wisse puts the Arab war against the Jews in the broader context of some major reasons for habitual anti-Semitism: deflecting anger from a ruler's ineptitude and poor governance and as an excuse for a ruler to shackle his country. READ MORE A TALE OF TWO NAKBAS posted by Gerald A. Honigman, July 10, 2003. Arabs consider the rebirth of Israel the major if not the only catastrophe - a nakba - to have happened in the recent history of the Middle East. This ignores the catastrophies inflicted by the Arabs on the non-Arab populations ever since the Arabs came into the Middle East, including the nabka of the Jews, who had to flee from Arab countries when Israel was reborn. READ MORE THE REAL PALESTINIAN REFUGEES posted by David Silon, July 17, 2003. The success of the Zionist enterprise ignores that Jews never left the Holy Land throughout the centuries. This essay points out that in recent history Arab savagery made refugees of the indigenous Jewish population in Palestine between 1920 and 1949. READ MORE *Anti-Israel propaganda is spread all over the media. Here are two examples: one from a newspaper, the other from TV.* AN EXPERIMENT IN PREDICTING THE LOS ANGELES TIMES' SPIN posted by Michael Levy, July 20, 2003. Michael Levy has made himself the subject of an ongoing experiment. Can he predict how the Los Angeles Times (LAT) will slant a story on the Arab/Israeli conflict? He started with 9 rules, on which he bases his predictions. These are his rules with some of his commentary. Read his site, http://lat-early.blogspot.com, for the latest results. Better still, apply the rules yourself to the Washington Post or the New York Times or Ha'aretz. READ MORE UNHOLY, INDEED posted by Bill Hobbs, July 7, 2003. Anti-Israel propaganda pops up in the oddest places. Ask people to name TV shows hostile to Israel and NPR, Nightline and Peter Jennings are obvious choices. But with just a single episode, The Agency, a CBS drama, put itself in the running. READ MORE And finally, we introduce a new feature to Think-Israel: the Blog-Ed page. READERS' BLOG-EDS This is where our readers get a chance to write opinions and editorials. Why Blog-Ed and not Op-Ed? Because we have retained the typical blog style of a stream of text organized chronologically. These are (for the most part) serious, thoughtful and from the heart. They should be shared with other readers. Blog-Eds is updated every few days. July Blog-Eds August Blog-Eds =========================================== May-June, 2003 ANATOMY OF AN ILLUSION: THE ISRAELI-PALESTINIAN TWO-STATE SOLUTION posted by Eric L. Rozenman, June 10, 2003. This is a masterful presentation of the history of attempts at creating a two-state solution for Israel and the Palestinian Arabs. Mr. Rozenman makes clear why such a solution can't work. READ MORE A ROADMAP TO PEACE: WITH WHOM? by Michael Anbar, May 6, 2003. The Road Map makes the wrong assumption that peace between the Palestinian Arabs and Israel can bring peace to the Middle East. But as Michael Anbar points out, the Palestinian Arabs are only "a minute part of a large nation, which [has been] in a continual state of war with the Jewish nation from the day Israel was established." Palestinian Arabs are not politically independent. They train in Lebanon; their military supplies come in from Egypt. "As long as Arab Islamism maintains its grip on the Middle East," Israel has no peace partner. READ MORE ROADMAP TO HELL posted by Elyakim Haetzni, April 27, 2003. Mr. Haetzni has written elsewhere that the Road Map is even worse that the Oslo Accords. Unlike Oslo, the Road Map (1) mandates a Palestinian State; (2) restricts settlement development; and (3) encourages foreign interference with Israeli sovereignty. In this article, he examines the Road Map stipulations on issues important to Israel. READ MORE BY WHAT RIGHT, MR. PRESIDENT? An Arutz-7 Editorial, June 11, 2003. The implementation of the Road Map is just beginning and already it has encouraged a marked increase in deadly bombings by Hamas and the other Arab terrorist groups. This open letter to President Bush is indicative of the disappointment in Israel in President Bush, who has made a 180 degree turn from his intelligent assessment of what was required for Middle East peace just a year ago. READ MORE THE CONFLICT AS SEEN BY ORDINARY PEOPLE posted by Bernice Lipkin, June 11, 2003. crossposted on IsraPundit. So many of the media experts have started talking up Oslo 2 as the way to peace, as if we've had no experience with Oslo 1. So many ordinary people are analyzing the Road Map and pointing out its defects. This is a sampling of the concerns they raise by Letters and Comments and emails to eachother. READ MORE How did we get from the clarity of the analysis of Middle East issues in June 2002 to a retread of unsuccessful plans in June 2003? The next few articles provide some analyses. MISREADING THE MAP by Herb Keinon, May 30, 2003. During the period between when the Road Map was announced and when it was presented as unchangeable, the Israeli Government underplayed the Road Map's unsavory demands. As Herb Keinon writes, "...the country was presented with one picture of Washington's position, and woke up to another." He examines some of the elements in the Government's disasterous miscalculations. READ MORE JUST THE FACTS by Caroline B. Glick, May 21, 2003. Caroline B. Glick's recent article "Washington's Betrayal" in the Jerusalem Post is a cogent summary of how the Bush Administration made the creation of a Palestinian State its main goal in the Middle East, without the Arabs having to renounce their goal of destroying the Jewish State. This article focusses on one of the reasons the Bush Administration could do so with so little backlash: the current mindset and conventional wisdom in the world, which is fed by a lazy and pro-Arab media and a bunch of politicians and diplomats who don't want to be confused by the facts. READ MORE PEACE IN OUR TIME? posted by David Vance, June 1, 2003. After 9/11, America went after Arab terrorists militarily. Why is it now regressing to 'peace processes' and diplomatic negotiations? David Vance explains how the concept of conflict resolution dominates political thinking to the detriment of a real solution to the Arab-Israeli conflict. READ MORE LIKE FATHER, LIKE SON by Yedida Atlas, June 10, 2003. Mr Atlas talks about some probable reasons why George W. Bush let his vision become fogged in the Arab-Israeli conflict. READ MORE AMERICA LEADS THE WAY posted by Karen Cheesman, May 29, 2003. Mz Cheesman is a straightforward tell-it-as-I-see-it letter writer, who proposes a way for President Bush to provide a good example on how to implement his current view of what will bring peace to the Middle East. READ MORE LETTING THE UNITED NATIONS STEER by Anne Bayefsky, June 10, 2003. The article deals with the future role of the UN, which will monitor Israel and redefine Arab terrorism (out of existence). As Anne Bayefsky writes, "For all those at the United Nations fretting over the loss of a terrorist state in Iraq, a Palestinian replacement is shortly at hand. Israeli self-defense will soon mean violating international borders. It is not surprising that Arab states are happy to tell Mr. Bush they are all for the road map. What is surprising is that the president is, too." READ MORE DOES THE INTERNATIONAL NEWS MEDIA OVERLOOK ISRAEL'S LEGAL RIGHTS IN THE PALESTINIAN-ISRAELI CONFLICT? by Dan Diker, June 10, 2003. This is a meticulous examination of how the media, by using sloppy language, intentionally or unintentionally further Arab land claims. The media promote the wrong idea that the Arabs have international law on their side, even though, as an example, the drafters of Resolution 242 did not plan on an Arab state, except Jordan, west of the Jordan River. As Dan Diker writes, "The emotionally charged Palestinian liberation story is, for many reporters, more compelling than the dry, factual context of history, especially existing international laws and resolutions that support Israel's narrative." READ MORE To extricate ourselves from the swamp the Bush Administration has now endorsed requires a very necessary change: reorganizing the State Department so that it works for America. The next three articles discuss the details. THE NEXT CHALLENGE FOR BUSH by Newt Gingrich, April 22, 2003. The State Department was "ineffective and incoherent" at the U.N. in the days before we went into Iraq. Newt Gingrich urges the President to reorganize the State Department because "America cannot lead the world with a broken instrument of diplomacy." He points out that after our military victory, "...the State Department is back at work pursuing policies that will clearly throw away all the fruits of hard-won victory." READ MORE WINNING THE WAR, LOSING THE PEACE by Tony Blankley, April 23, 2003. Tony Blankley contributes insightful glosses to Newt Gingrich's call for re-forming the State Department. He highlights some of the major points; this is is all to the good. He concludes that, "[i]t will be a brawl, but one the country desperately needs. Winning the wars and losing the peace has got to stop." READ MORE MIDEAST ROAD TRAP by Frank J. Gaffney, Jr., May 6, 2003. Frank Gaffney focusses on one of the reasons the State Department needs to be transformed: the State Department has nullified President Bush's policy statements of June 2002 on the Arab-Israeli conflict. The Arabs are excused from making real reforms in their leadership. The Quartet - "a State Department invention" - will be able to dictate terms to Israel. And stopping terrorism dead is no longer the first order of business. READ MORE And finally, some history, past and future. SOME ORAL HISTORY letters between Mary Jensen and Bernice Lipkin, June 10, 2003. crossposted on IsraPundit. Everyone knows how Arab terrorists hide themselves and their bombs and guns among groups of woman and children. This talks about how the Arabs used woman and children as suicide bombers during World War II. READ MORE SOMEDAY WE'LL KNOW posted by Bernice Lipkin, June 10, 2003. crossposted on IsraPundit. The Road Map is so bizarre and inappropriate a solution to the conflict between the Arabs and the Jews that many people didn't take it seriously until it burst out, full-grown. This article asks some of the questions whose answers await analyses by future historians. READ MORE =========================================== Road Map Issue, April 2003 All the articles in this special Edition are about the road map, the latest threat to Israel's sovereignty and security. WHEN BUSH COMES TO SHOVE posted by Bernice Lipkin, April 14, 2003. crossposted on IsraPundit. The latest international threat to Israel's sovereignty and security comes from the road map issued by the Quartet. It is Oslo all over again, but more virulent - instead of negotiations, it would impose dangerous restrictions on Israel. The UN, the EU and Russia didn't fight Iraq. Apparently, Israel is more their size. READ MORE HELP CONGRESS PROTECT ISRAEL FROM THE ROADMAP received from J.A.T. and others, April 14, 2003. At the moment, the most effective rebuttal of the Quartet plan is coming from Congress. Bipartisan letters supporting Israel are circulating in both the House and the Senate. Here is some practical information on contacting your congressman and senators to let them know you reject the Quartet's plan and appreciate their support of Israel. READ MORE OBFUSCATION OF TRUTH: Reading Mitchell's Report by Boris Shusteff, May 20, 2001 On February 7, 2003, President Bush and Prime Minister Sharon had a heart to heart in the Oval Office. Afterwards, Bush said, "...we had a good discussion about how best to work together to get the Mitchell process started, to get into Tenet and then in Mitchell." For those of us who have forgotten, this is an excellent article on the Mitchell Plan, a flawed, pro-Arab document, filled with inaccuracies. READ MORE KEVORKIAN-ASSISTED SUICIDE IN THE MIDDLE EAST by David Wilder, February 10, 2003. Mr. Wilder lays out the major points of the road map as they were known in February. The emphasis is on the impact on Israel, its settlement communities and eastern Jerusalem. Mr. Wilder lives in Hebron, the second holiest city in Israel and home of the Tomb of the Patriarchs. READ MORE DANGERS OF THE ROADMAP posted by Yuval Zaliouk, April 6, 2003. Mr Zaliouk points out that the Road Map talks of disbanding the settlements as a precondition. For the first time, the word "occupation" is used. This is language that has serious consequences for Israel's borders. READ MORE COMMENTS ON THE ROAD MAP posted by Ric Shulman, April 14, 2003. Mr Shulman comments on the role of the CIA, the peace process in general, Arabs calling Jews nazis, and road map amendments. READ MORE REJECT THE ROAD MAP posted by Ted Belman, April 14, 2003. crossposted on IsraPundit. Mr. Belman makes clear why the road map is an unmitigated disaster for Israel and wonders why we are rushing into it. This is a companion piece to Mr. Belman's "A Unifying Theory: Palestine for Iraq" and "Perfecting the Unifying Theory ", which can be read on the IsraPundit website. READ MORE ROAD MAP, ROAD KILL by Jonathan S. Tobin, April 3, 2003. Mr. Tobin projects a frightening but - based on previous experience - realistic forecast of where the Quartet's "diplomatic strong-arm tactics" will lead. READ MORE THE DANGER, ISRAEL, IS TO THE WEST by Stan Goodenough, March 23, 2003. Mr. Goodenough points out weaknesses in Prime Minister Sharon's response to the Road Map. He writes of Prime Minister Blair's push to "remove the ancient land of Israel from Jewish control." READ MORE THE SWASTIKA AT THE END OF THE ROAD MAP posted by Steven Plaut, March 15, 2003. This is the letter Arial Sharon should send to President Bush, rejecting the Road Map in toto, because it would put a genocidal nazi-like state in the middle of Israel. READ MORE A MAP TO NATIONAL DISASTER by Uzi Landau, April 11, 2003. Mr Landau, a Minister in the Israeli Government, cogently lays out objections to the roadmap: the Palestinian Arabs do not have to relinquish terror as a precondition or educate their children for peace. Israel, on the other hand, will need to freeze settlements, divide Jerusalem, and have an international supervisory body exerting sovereignity over implementation of the plan. Aside from jeopardizing Israel's security, it will teach the Arab world that terror pays. READ MORE AFTER IRAQ: A PALESTINIAN STATE AND REGIONAL NUCLEAR WAR by Louis Rene Beres, March 27, 2003. Professor Beres postulates some plausible scenarios, given a Middle East with Iraq unable to acquire nuclear weapons but an Arab state of Palestine, which would serve as a launching-point for unconventional terrorism by the different terrorist groups in the area. "President Bush should now consider carefully that an exchange of Iraq for 'Palestine' would be foolishly shortsighted and very dangerous." READ MORE =========================================== March-April 2003
	Saddam Hussein's regime is finished. This will make a big hole in the resources of some of the Islamic terrorists who prey on Americans and Israelis. But it will do little to destroy the confederacy of Arab terrorists in Israel. We, who love Israel, have a vital job to do in the coming weeks. If this Administration acts like the senior Bush Administration did in the Gulf War, it will pressure Israel to return to the peace table, using the Roadmap for Peace, a refurbished Oslo Peace Plan that again subjects Israel to terrorism and destruction. To believe that peace is possible without decades of training the Arabs to develop a brand-new mindset is more than naive. It ignores a crucial fact that wasn't as blatantly obvious during the Gulf War: the Arabs will not be satisfied with another Arab State. Their objective is to destroy Israel as the start of a renewed world-wide conquest by Islam. Israel, after all, gave the West the basis of its ethics. And eliminating the State of Israel would make the Middle East completely Muslim. The Arabs have not hidden their plans. Yet so many well-meaning Americans continue to believe that if Israel just tries a little harder, all will be well. For peace in the Middle East, the Arabs need to reinvent themselves. They need to change how they educate their children - they need to focus on math, not murder. They must stop treating their wifes and daughters as chattel. They must stop regarding Christians and Jews as inferiors. They need to leap forward some six centuries into the modern world. Israel must also change. It needs to regain its self-respect. It needs to forthrightly put forth its claim to its historic land. It needs to put the lives of its citizens above petty local politics and above the desire to please other countries. It needs to root out terrorism forceably; it needs to be proactive, not reactive. Pressuring Israel to make concessions will not lead to peace but to a resurgence in terrorism that will again spread around the world. Pressuring Israel is not the way to promote democracy in the world. It is up to us to see that Israel is not a casualty of the Iraq war.
ISLAM AND VIOLENT TRENDS Don Feder, February 16, 2003. This is a direct, incisive essay on the violence practiced by so much of Islam. It contrasts the actuality with the pretense that Islam is a peaceful religion. As the author says: "avoiding reality doesn't change reality." READ MORE THE LOSS OF EAST PALESTINE: British Perfidy, Jewish Infirmity of Purpose and Arab Intransigence. Part II. posted by Lewis Lipkin, March 10, 2003. Part I (see below) dealt with events leading to the Balfour Declaration. Part II deals with the continued efforts of the British to meet their conflicting commitments, retain control of both the Arab and Jewish populace, and maintain their Middle Eastern empire. This essay chronicles the early years when the nibbling away at what was slated to become Israel had already begun: Israel was reduced in size from all of Palestine to a vaguely defined area in the Western part of the Mandate. READ MORE MY GRANDFATHER INVENTED IRAQ: And He Has Lessons for Us Today Winston S. Churchill, March 16, 2003. The article above, The Loss of East Palestine, made plain the circumstances at the time of World War I that would lead to the drastic redrawing of the map of the Middle East. We all know that Israel was created. Fewer people realize that many of the Arab countries were also created after England took over what had belonged to the Ottoman Empire. Churchill's grandson focusses on Iraq and Jordan and draws parallels to what currently confronts us. READ MORE AN AMERICAN DIES IN GAZA posted by Bernice Lipkin, March 20, 2003. A few days ago, an American girl, Rachel Corrie, a pro-Arab activist, was killed by an Israeli bulldozer in Gaza. Unlike the response to the daily attacks by Arabs on Israeli civilians, this aroused world-wide outrage. She may yet become the second Mohammad al-Dura. For several reasons. READ MORE ON MUSIC, FOOD AND FAMILY VISITS Written by Moshe Saperstein; posted by Judy Balint. March 1, 2003. Moshe Saperstein lives with his wife Rachel in Neve Dekalim in the Gaza Strip. He is an essayist, and a member of the Jerusalem Diarist group, which is doing a great job capturing the immediacy of living in Israel today. This essay, written during a spell of cold fierce weather in Israel, is about aesthetics - or his lack of appreciation thereof. We read of a musicale at Gush Katif, a cantorial performance at the synagogue and how much he prefers his food served unadorned. Moshe bravely faces going to the dentist and having the family visit. READ MORE HISTORY AND CHRISTIANITY posted by Dutch W. Griffin, March 10, 2003. This is a brief history of the changing attitudes of Christians towards Jews. Mr. Griffin differentiates between Christian sects that have no particular injunctions to recognize Israel's importance to Christianity and those that do. Among the latter, he separates those whose support is only theologically based from those who, in addition, have a genuine love of Israel. READ MORE PEACE IN THE MIDDLE EAST: A Pragmatic Road Map from Truth to Peace posted by Salomon Benzimra, P.Eng., January, 2003. This is a thoughtful essay about the Road Map, the latest version of the Oslo Peace Plan. It makes an important point: peace must be constructed on a base of facts and truth. Diplomatic 'constructive ambivalence' is doomed to fail. This paper lays out the facts that need to be factored into any plan that will bring peace to the Middle East. READ MORE THE ARABS IN THE HOLY LAND - NATIVES OR ALIENS? posted by Dr. Harry Mandelbaum, March 10, 2003. Using information from various sources, many of them Arab, this essay makes clear that the Palestinians are not native to Palestine. They are not an ancient people. They are not a people. READ MORE HOW TO INVITE CONTEMPT AND ENCOURAGE TERRORISM posted by Yohanan Ramati, March 5, 2003. The Director of the Jerusalem Institute for Western Defense points out that the Muslim mindset despises weakness. Concessions by non-Muslims are considered a sign of weakness. Consequently, concessions by the West and Israel are doomed to fail. READ MORE =========================================== January-February 2003 THE LOSS OF EAST PALESTINE: British Perfidy, Jewish Infirmity of Purpose and Arab Intransigence. Part I. posted by Lewis Lipkin, February 14, 2003. The current problems in defining the boundaries of the Jewish state began in the critical years before World War I, when the map of the entire Middle East was about to be redrawn. The Arabs were encouraged to ask for everything, the Jews asked for very little, and the British screwed them both. READ MORE WHY DON'T THE ISRAELIS GET MAD? posted by Bernice Lipkin, February 20, 2003. Why aren't the Israelis reacting violently to the inadequate response of their Government to Arab terrorism? Why are they not demanding that the Government do more to end the slaughter? Different answers have been offered by different people. Whatever the reason, the people's passivity has consequences for the future of Israel. READ MORE ASSISTED SUICIDE, ISRAELI ACADEMIC STYLE posted by Bernice Lipkin, January 20, 2003. In The Unenviable Fate of Israeli Academic Leftists (July-August, see below) I described the efforts of some Israeli leftist academics to aid the Arabs, even to the point of petitioning that Israeli scientists and academics be shunned by the world's academic institutions. I speculated that the more their efforts were successful, the worse it would be for them personally. The tale of Oren Yiftachel, a geographer at Tel Aviv University, shows this has already begun to happen. READ MORE WHO ARE THE PALESTINIANS? by Yashiko Sagamori, November 2002. All the Arab states, much of Europe and many in America, including President Bush, act as if a Palestinian State is inevitable. But the future leaders of such a State, the Palestine Authority and its fellow terrorists, have turned the Oslo Peace into the Oslo War, and continue to proclaim that destroying Israel is their real goal. So maybe we ought to rethink the idea of a separate and sovereign state for the Palestinians. Christian Action For Israel has compiled a remarkable page of articles devoted to examining the idea of a Palestinian state (http://christianactionforisrael.org/palstate.html). Last November, they featured an essay by Yashiko Sagamori, who asks the right questions about the obscure birth of the Palestinian people. READ MORE SHARON, SPEAK TO US posted by Ramy Dishy, December 26, 2002. This is a companion piece to the previous article, which suggested a serious examination of the origin of the Palestinian people. This letter lists some questions that need serious and detailed discussion before Israel can agree to the creation of a State for these people. READ MORE WHERE DO WANNABE TERRORISTS BELONG, STATISTICALLY SPEAKING posted by Bernice Lipkin, January 15, 2003. Have you ever considered how hard it is to assign a would-be terrorist who blows himself up prematurely to the right group to ensure accurate statistics. How should he be counted? What about his lost wages? These are some of the considerations. READ MORE ON TANGERINES, ARAB CRUELTY AND GAS MASKS written by Moshe Saperstein; posted by Judy Balint. 5 January, 2003. Moshe Saperstein lives with his wife Rachel in Neve Dekalim in the Gaza Strip. He is an essayist, and a member of the Jerusalem Diarist group, which is doing a great job capturing the immediacy of living in Israel today. This week he discovers he has tangerines growing in his garden, ruminates on gratuitous Arab cruelty, is disheartened by the killing of the yeshiva students in Otniel, upgrades his gas mask and thinks about election time scandals. READ MORE MAINTAINING FAMILY HONOR posted by Al Skudsi bin Hookah, The Gaza Gajeera. Jan 20,2003. Mr bin Hookah, foreign correspondent and roving reporter for The Gaza Gejeera is back. He explains to his readers how important honor killings are in maintaining family honor. READ MORE =========================================== November-December 2002 THE SETTLEMENTS REVISITED posted by Bernice Lipkin, November 21, 2002. A few weeks ago, Americans For A Safe Israel (AFSI) conducted a tour of settlements in Samaria, Judea, Gaza and East Jerusalem. We spoke to the settlers; we saw what they have accomplished. They have character, fortitude, self-respect, civility and dedication to Israel. They are worthy successors to the earlier Zionist settlers in Israel. READ MORE A TALE OF TWO REALITIES Posted by Caroline B. Glick, The Jerusalem Post. October 25, 2002. Caroline Glick writes about the evacuation of Gilad Pass within the larger context of Israeli politics and the Oslo War. In a brilliant analysis, she contrasts the reality of the Israeli Left, which regards the Israeli Right and the settlers as the enemies of peace and the reality of the Israeli Right, which understands that Israel is fighting for its survival as the Arabs continue to wage war. READ MORE EVERYDAY LIFE IN ISRAEL Posted by Judy Balint, author of Jerusalem Diaries. November 14, 2002. Moshe Saperstein writes with humor and warmth of his everyday life in Neve Dekalim in the Gaza Strip. This week, he goes to two weddings, visits his grandchildren, listens to shelling while watching a thunderstorm in the night, spends the Shabbat of Chaye Sarah at Hebron, hears of another terror murder and lives through a couple more attacks by neighboring Arabs. Just an ordinary week. READ MORE THE WEST BANK/GAZA SETTLEMENTS: The Fake Issue of the Current Middle East Crisis posted by Sarah Bedein, Israel Resource News Agency, Jerusalem. Sarah Bedein asks whether ceding the Jewish settlements in Samaria, Judea and Gaza would really satisfy the demands of the Palestinian Arabs. What about their right of return to the 531 villages inside the Green Line that they lost in 1948? READ MORE THE RISE AND FALL OF THE THEORY THAT JEWS ARE DESCENDENTS OF THE KHAZARS posted by Lewis Lipkin, November 21, 2002. In The 13th Tribe, Arthur Koestler asserted that Ashkenazic Jews are not of the seed of Jacob; they are the descendants of the Khazars, a semi-nomadic tribe that lived in the Caucasian Mountains and converted to Judaism in the 8th century C.E. Modern genetics proves him wrong. READ MORE DYING FOR REVENGE: Controlling Allies In Wartime posted by Rand H. Fishbein, Ph.D., November 15, 2002. Suppose a local paramilitary group loosely associated with an outside country engaged in warfare in the region. Suppose this local group independently carries out an act of vengeance against its ancient enemy? Examples are: (1) the killing of captive al-Qaeda members by the USA-backed Northern Alliance in Afghanistan; and (2) the killing of Muslim Lebanese in the Shatila and Sabra refugee camps by Christian Lebanese, who were allied with Israel. Is the major partner responsible? READ MORE =========================================== September-October 2002 THE CASE FOR POPULATION EXCHANGE posted by Lewis Lipkin, October 15, 2002. Population exchange is not a new idea. Sometimes a complete separation is the only way that two groups unable to live together can get on with their lives. It might be time to complete the separation of the Jews and the Arabs. The Jews were evacuated from Arab countries when Israel was born. Maybe it's time to do the second half of the transfer: move the Palestinian Arabs to Arab countries. READ MORE ARAB INTRIGUE KEEPS PALESTINIAN ISSUE ALIVE posted by Mark Alan. October 2, 2002. This is an incisive essay on resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in a way that helps the Palestinian Arabs without destroying Israel. This solution would also be helpful to the United States in that it would cut out an argument the Arab states use to prevent the invasion of Iraq. READ MORE AT THE BIRTH OF A MYTH Posted by Bernice Lipkin. September 26, 2002. It isn't often that one gets to see and hear an Arab myth in the making. This might be one. Time will tell if it will grow and get hair on its chest. Or maybe not. READ MORE A FRAUDULENT HISTORY OF PALESTINE Posted by Bernice Lipkin. September 29, 2002. This is an examination of a history text disseminated on many Arab websites and some neutral sites that provide historical documents on the Middle East. It is said to have been produced by a group of Jewish scholars, an anonymous group that calls itself Jews for Justice in the Middle East. We think it's a fraud. READ MORE IT'S BEEN A GOOD YEAR Posted by Al Skudsi bin Hookah of the Gaza Gajeera. September 11, 2002. Mr bin Hookah is foreign correspondent and roving reporter for the Gaza Gajeera. He looks back on the year since September 11, 2001. READ MORE EVERYDAY LIFE IN ISRAEL Posted by Judy Balint, author of Jerusalem Diaries. September 24, 2002. A new immigrant from North America celebrates Sukkot at Kibbutz Sde Eliyahu in Israel. Sukkot should be a time of happiness. This Sukkot is a time of sadness: her roommate was friends with a boy recently killed by an Arab terrorist. Miriam Edelman writes of her conflicted feelings as her group celebrates Sukkot and redefines happiness. READ MORE =========================================== July-August 2002 ISRAEL CAN'T PROTECT THEM EVERY TIME Report #270, Jinsa, July 25, 2002. This is a thoughtful examination of Israel's killing of Salah Shehadeh, founder of Izzadine el-Qassam, the Hamas terrorist army. READ MORE DO WE NEED A THIRD PALESTINIAN STATE? Posted by: Bernice Lipkin, July 11, 2002 For decades, it was the American and Israeli position that a Palestinian State was a deterrent to peace in the region. When they were hosted in Jordan and Lebanon, the Palestinians had shown themselves to be unrepentant trouble makers. After Oslo, a Palestinian State on the West Bank was automatically accepted. In the wake of the second intifada, the issue is again being reexamined. We present some major nodes on the spectrum of ideas about creating a Palestinian State. READ MORE SHOOTOUT AT THE LOS ANGELES AIRPORT: The Effrontery of the Jews. Posted by: Al Skudsi bin Hookah of the Gaza Gajeera, July 11, 2002. Mr bin Hookah is foreign correspondent and roving reporter for the Gaza Gajeera. This is his report on the recent incident at the Los Angeles airport. READ MORE THE STEPFORD ARAB SPOKESMEN Posted by: Bernice Lipkin. July 11, 2002. Remember the book, The Stepford Wives? The wives were robots that replaced humans. Spooky. READ MORE TWO ACADEMICS AND A RABBI Posted July 11, 2002. When virulent denunciations of Israel come from a Jew, it's called Jewish self-hatred. We aren't convinced all such manifestations come from the same source and motivation. Today, we bring you sketches of two Academics and a Rabbi, all of whom are prominent Haters of Israel: Steven Rose, Noam Chomsky and Rabbi Michael Lerner. Blogs, short for Web Logs, are websites that contain personal, informal musings and thoughts about almost any subject under the sun. We borrowed material from several of these sites. READ MORE THE UNENVIABLE FATE OF ISRAELI ACADEMIC LEFTISTS Posted by Bernice Lipkin, July 14, 2002. Several international scientific and scholarly groups are attempting to deprive Israeli academics of the company and intellectual stimulation of their international colleagues. There's a small group of Israeli academics that is actively helping them. READ MORE EVERYDAY LIFE IN ISRAEL Posted by Judy Balint, author of Jerusalem Diaries. July 14, 2002. In the midst of the turmoil, a group of North American immigrants has just arrived in Israel. They come with a love of Israel and, as citizens of the USA and Canada, a repetoire of skills on what to expect in a democracy and how to make their voices heard. This account comes from Ezra Halevy, who made aliya all of a month or so ago. If this is any indication, these newbies are definitely going to make a difference. READ MORE FUTURE ISSUES Future Issues depend on you. Please write and suggest an essay or article or comment or letter you'd like to write up for Think-Israel. Focus on integrating data that are out there. Focus on bringing a new way of looking at what's out there. Think of this site as a blog site for all of you who love Israel and think she hasn't exactly put her best foot forward, image-wise. Submit Letters, Comments and Articles. Send an email to: comments@think-israel.org

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THINK-ISRAEL features essays and commentaries that provide context for current events in Israel. We aim to make sense of what's going on.
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