Israel, an Oasis of virtues in a sea of tyranny

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Israel is the target of terrorist organizations and despotic regimes precisely because of its virtues:

Oasis of freedom in a desert of Arab and Iranian tyranny
Oasis of independent judiciary in a desert of Arab and Iranian arbitrariness
Oasis of women rights in a desert of Arab and Iranian women discrimination

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Answer: Anti-semitism is the most radical and violent expression of racism. It has existed for thousands of years. It is not limited to geographical boundaries and down through history has caused the death of millions of Jews and cruel persecutions of the Jewish minority wherever it exists. Anti-semitism peaked in the holocaust in which six million Jews, about a third of the Jewish people at that time, were destroyed by the Nazis in a planned and organized manner. In other words, anti-semitism is in a class by itself in time and place, in its severity and its results.

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Answer: The persecution of ethnic and religious minorities in the world is not rare (the gypsies in Europe, the Christians in the Arab world – in Egypt, Sudan, the pa and in other Arab countries – the Tutsis in Rwanda, the Kurds in Iraq, the Baha’is in Iran and many other examples). However, all these are geographically and historically bound and most derive from ethnic and religious tensions between two population groups. This differs from anti-semitism which, as described above, knows no geographical boundaries, finds expression among various ethnic and religious groups throughout the world and has persisted for about 2,500 years

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Zionism is Beautiful

The Talmud says, "When good will exists amongst brethren, both can
dwell together even on the razor thin edge of a sword, but when good
will does not exist amongst them, even the full expanse of the earth
lacks sufficient space to contain them."

Israel", "Jew" and "Zionism" are beautiful words. Yet repetitive
racial slurs concerning these words make them sound ugly and
pejorative.

Zionism means scorched desert wastelands transformed into magnificent
gardens and green farm lands. Zionism means oppressed downtrodden
Jews becoming uplifted and able to affirm their continuity from
Biblical times. Zionism means Jews living proudly once again in their
ancient homeland. Zionism means the collective creativity of Jews of
every ethnicity coming together to build a free civilization.

Zionism means the opportunity to enact an ancient dream that will not
die. Zionism means establishing a modern civilization that shares a
messianic vision of making earth a little more like Heaven. Zionism
means sharing Israeli's blessings with the world.

Zionism is not Racism. Jews come in every race and ethnicity.
Zionism is not an apartheid State: While Jews are the Majority in
Israel, Arabs vote and are represented in the Israeli government.
Zionism is not Colonialism: Jews won the war of Independence against
the British colonists and lay claim to only Israel.

Furthermore, Israel is no more a racist state for creating a haven
for Jews then Saudi Arabia is a racist state for creating a haven for
Arabs. Whosoever points an accusing finger toward Israel in this
regard will find four fingers pointing back at them, because Israel
is a democratic state where freedom of religion is enjoyed by a
multitude of ethnic groups. Charges of racism are empty and
inflammatory.

Jews are willing to share their land with the Palestinians. But
peace also depends upon the willingness of Palestinians to share
their land with the Jews. Please ask yourself a basic question: If
Israel laid down her weapons and retired her army, navy and air
force, how long do you think it would take for Israel to be conquered
by Muslims? Days? Weeks? Or Months?

Now, ask yourself the question in reverse. If all of Israel's
neighbors laid down their weapons in the same manner, is it likely
Israel would attempt to conquer Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Syria, Lebanon
and Saudi Arabia? I believe honest answers to these questions clarify
the essence of the conflict. Namely that only one party seeks the
destruction of the other.

Israel has suffered many horrible terrorist attacks in restaurants,
hotels, city buses, trains, beaches, streets, universities, school
buses, highways, banks, grocery stores, private homes, kibbutzim,
parks, caves and fields. And if, God forbid, these same attacks
occurred in the United States, our military would respond with
decisive force and alacrity. Losing such a war on terrorism would be
tantamount to losing one's country and losing one's very
civilization; it is not an option.

For half a century, Palestinians have professed an interest in
acquiring a state of their own. Several attempts to grant
Palestinians their wish were made, starting with the 1948 U.N.
Partition Plan and concluding with the offer made by former Israeli
Prime Minister Barak in 2001 at Taba, 98% of the requested land -
including east Jerusalem, as per Yassir Arafat's request - was
offered. But, even that offer was answered with war. For many, it
would seem that Barak called Arafat's bluff; revealing the peace
process to be a process of war.

Due to these harsh realities, the Sharon administration has pursued
the building of a security fence and has just completed the
disengagement of all the Jewish communities from Gaza. Yet, a million
Arabs live in Israel and enjoy democratic rights and freedoms. Is
this fair? Why can't Jews live under the Palestinian flag just as
Arabs live under the Israeli flag? The Sharon administration say it's
a practical matter; Israel no longer wishes to deploy its Army to
defend a small number of Gaza Jews. But wait! Stop! Think! Is there
a need for a Palestinian Army to protect Israeli Arabs? No! Israeli
Arabs need no protection; they are safe as citizens of Israel.

Israelis simply want peace and would much prefer spending their time,
tending their gardens, doing art, finding a cure for cancer,
composing and performing world class music, and inventing more
incredible bio-pharmaceuticals and computer technology. Real time
internet applications, cellular telephones, color printing are just a
few examples of the technology developed in Israel. There is so much
brainpower and creative energy emanating from Israelís diverse ethnic
population that benefits every person on the planet. Yet even at a
time that Israel pursues territorial concessions for the sake of
peace, many people lack the ability to say even a few kind words.
I will say to them then, "Zionism is Beautiful!"

Rabbi Shaul Praver
Congregation Adath Israel, Newtown, CT

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Dealing With Iran

The Wall Street Journal
BY JAMES TARANTO


NEW YORK--Benjamin Netanyahu runs a few minutes late for our Monday afternoon meeting. When he arrives in his midtown Manhattan hotel suite, he explains that he has just received word from home of the latest Palestinian war crime. "Hamas fired 15 rockets into Israel today. One of them hit a car, killed a woman," says Mr. Netanyahu, the former Israeli prime minister and now leader of the opposition. The victim, 32-year-old Shirel Friedman, was on her way to see her mother.
For the 57-year-old Mr. Netanyahu, there is a sort of grim vindication in such attacks. He quit the government of then-Prime Minister Ariel Sharon in August 2005, objecting to Mr. Sharon's plan for unilateral withdrawal from Gaza. "I had a very big argument with him on this," Mr. Netanyahu recalls. "He thought that we would have the right of free action--that we would garner international support for any reaction. I thought that is a very thin sheet of ice--the international community can turn against you as quickly as it turns for you--but the overwhelming fact is that the Muslim militants and Iran will find a new base, a few miles from Tel Aviv, with the ability to cover the south of the country and the center of the country with rockets."
Five years earlier, Ehud Barak, Mr. Netanyahu's successor as prime minister, had similarly withdrawn from southern Lebanon, creating a safe haven for Hezbollah, which has periodically rocketed cities in Israel's north. In both cases, Mr. Netanyahu says, Israel's leaders were "captivated by a concept, and the concept was that we purchase security from retreat, from withdrawals--that is, that the way to stop the attacks on us is to placate our enemies by unilaterally withdrawing from territory under our control, thereby robbing them of the pretext to attack us. In fact, this was interpreted exactly in the opposite manner. . . . It was interpreted not as a sign of strength but as a show of weakness." "There is not much difference" between Hezbollah and Hamas, Mr. Netanyahu says. "They are both supported by Iran, supplied by Iran, inspired by Iran." They share a common goal, "to get us to withdraw from more territory--of course this time not so-called occupied territory, but Israel proper. For them, any inch of Israel is occupied territory, and the 'liberation' will be culminated when Israel ceases to exist."

continues here http://www.opinionjournal.com/extra/?id=110010128

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Thursday, May 24, 2007


Multinational Forces Iraq announced that it had found a ‘how-to’ torture manual during a raid on an al Qaeda safe house in Iraq several weeks ago. The manual contains "drawings [that] show how to drill hands, sever limbs, drag victims behind cars, remove eyes, put a blowtorch or iron to someone’s skin, suspend a person from a ceiling and electrocute them, break limbs and restrict breath and put someone’s head in a vice."

WARNING: This material contains graphic and disturbing images.


Click here to view the contents of the handbook, distributed by the Department of Defense.
or here:
http://www.foxnews.com/photoessay/0,4644,1783,00.html

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Their crews fired their upgraded weapons out of Gaza’s Palestinian refugee camps Friday night, May 25, using their inmates as human shields against the Israeli Air Force, instead of exposing their operatives to Israeli air attack in the north. Using standard explosives, the upgraded weapons pack an extra punch and reach deeper into Israel.
One of these upgraded missiles, which exploded Friday night in Sderot’s Neve Eshkol neighborhood, blasted every flat in a four-story residential building, spreading fragments over a wide area with the effect of a cluster bomb. Every window was smashed, doors and windows wrenched out and ceilings collapsed. Many of the occupants were away else the casualties would have been greater than 4 injured and 10 in shock.
Israel air strikes have therefore focused on catching the vehicles of Hamas operatives on the move, “links in the operational missile chain.” Overnight Friday and early Saturday, six terrorist targets were struck in Israeli air raids, described as “links in the operational missile chain.” They included a position of Fatah leader, Mahmoud Abbas’ Presidential Guard, supposedly fighting Hamas and committed to stopping its missile offensive against Israel. Instead these Fatah operatives are collaborating with Hamas in its anti-Israel missile campaign, which is why Egypt’ mediation efforts, which continue Saturday, May 26, for a halt in the campaign are getting nowhere. Egyptian intelligence minister Omar Suleiman has invited the various Palestinian organizations’ political chiefs for separate talks in Cairo Saturday, instead of a round table. He knows they have no control over the Hamas military challenge to the Fatah-led Palestinian Authority and the missile campaign against Israel. It is led by the maverick Hamas Executive Force chief, Ahmed Jabari and is orchestrated from Tehran. For Cairo, it is an urgent priorirty to restore its waning influence in the radicalized, embattled Gaza Strip.
http://www.debka.com/headline.php?hid=4234