Showing posts with label Israel. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Israel. Show all posts

Monday, March 23, 2009

More Conspiratorial Ramblings from the Muslim World

The conspiracy theories cooked up in the Arab and Muslim world are often quite preposterous but this one really takes the cake.

http://www.aawsat.com/english/news.asp?section=1&id=16151

Anyhow this Yemeni man was sentenced to death for "making illegal contact with the Zionist Jewish Israeli entity". Quite a mouthful. The Yemeni prosecutor claims that this man email Ehud Olmert and then got a response from the Israeli Prime Minister. Here is the supposed exchange:

The prosecution charged Haidari with corresponding with Olmert through emails, one of which said: "We are the Organisation of Islamic Jihad and you are Jews, but you are honest, and we are ready to do anything."

The charge sheet said Olmert responded to Haidari, also known as Abu al-Ghaith, welcoming his offer to collaborate.

"We are ready to support you to become an obstacle in the Middle East. We will support you as an agent," Olmert was quoted as writing.

Ridiculous doesn't quite cover this. I really couldn't stop laughing. Apparently people in Yemen will believe in anything. As if Olmert searches his email daily looking for outreach from places like Yemen so he can recruit agents. Do the Yemenis think this is how spies make contact... by email the prime minister of an enemy state?

Simply too funny.



Wednesday, March 18, 2009

Islamist Hatred of Jews... it Is Not Even About Israel

Following on my earlier post:

http://alrawandi.blogspot.com/2009/03/what-911-terrorists-say-about-islam.html

Where the 9/11 defendants detail that they hate and fight America because it is their Islamic duty to fight the infidels, I would like to present the views expressed below by Egyptian cleric Muhammad Hussein Ya'qoub:

If the Jews left Palestine to us, would we start loving them? Of course not. We will never love them. Absolutely not. The Jews are infidels – not because I say so, and not because they are killing Muslims, but because Allah said: 'The Jews say that Uzair is the son of Allah, and the Christians say that Christ is the son of Allah. These are the words from their mouths. They imitate the sayings of the disbelievers before. May Allah fight them. How deluded they are.’ It is Allah who said that they are infidels.
Your belief regarding the Jews should be, first, that they are infidels, and second, that they are enemies. They are enemies not because they occupied Palestine. They would have been enemies even if they did not occupy a thing. Allah said: 'You shall find the strongest men in enmity to the disbelievers [sic] to be the Jews and the polytheists.' Third, you must believe that the Jews will never stop fighting and killing us. They [fight] not for the sake of land and security, as they claim, but for the sake of their religion: 'And they will not cease fighting you until they turn you back you’re your religion, if they can.'
This is it. We must believe that our fighting with the Jews is eternal, and it will not end until the final battle – and this is the fourth point. You must believe that we will fight, defeat, and annihilate them, until not a single Jew remains on the face of the Earth.


That's right, even if Israel went away, they would still have to try to exterminate the Jews. So how are those peace negotiations coming along?




Friday, March 6, 2009

Aid to the Palestinians

I try to keep things reasonably original around here, but Peggy Shapiro over at "The American Thinker" has written such a wonderful article that I must reword some of that article here and quote some excerpts.

One of the arrows in the quiver of the anti Israel crowd is the amount of aid sent to Israel, on a yearly basis, from the United States. And this isn't untrue, the US sends about $5 billion per year to the state of Israel in the form of loans and other gifts. But what about the money sent to the Palestinians? Well in 2009 the Palestinians are projected to receive $4.5 billion. And considering the Palestinians are about one third the number of Israelis, this works out to a high per capita receipt. In 2008 the Palestinians received $3.5 billion. The 2009 projection would mean over $4,000 per Palestinian household. And if you consider that the Palestinians have stayed "refugees" for 60 years, well the dollars seem to pile up (Palestinian refugee status is inherited generation after generation).

So where did the money go? How did the Palestinians (and their relief agency UNRWA) squander this money? Well first and foremost, the United Nations in its exceptionally finite wisdom staffs the UNRWA with Palestinians, which is a bit curious as it doesn't conduct outside audits of this organization. But the destructive power of an Islamic society is the ultimate cause, and I think it is summed up in this paragraph from Shapiro describing the almost entirely Muslim Gaza Strip:

Even if there is a miraculous shift in the Palestinian government and UNRWA opens its books to pubic scrutiny, money won't address the problems of a people who are so indoctrinated against Israel that hate trumps survival. When Ariel Sharon forced Gaza's Jewish inhabitants to move out, they left behind state-of-the-art greenhouses which produced high-end flowers, fruits, and vegetables to large international markets. Expecting the greenhouses to be an economic boon for Palestinian Gazans and thus a step towards peace, American Jewish donors contributed $14 million to buy the greenhouses from their owners and transfer them to the Palestinian Authority. Former World Bank president James Wolfensohn, who acted as the broker, threw in half a million dollars of his own money to make the deal happen. Within hours after the disengagement, Palestinians looted and destroyed the greenhouses even though they were destroying their own chances for an economic revival.

That is about it right there. Self sabotage. Rampant barbarism, lawlessness, and tribal thuggery are the orders of the day. After 1949 there were roughly 800,000 Jews in Israel and 700,000 Palestinian refugees (some say 800,000). Now let's look at the trajectory of those two peoples who inhabited the same land. It is quite telling indeed.

I would blame the Jews for all my problems if I were a Palestinian. How else would I cover up such gross incompetence, theft, and stupidity.

********

The original article on The American Thinker:

http://www.americanthinker.com/2009/03/dollars_for_hate_1.html

Thursday, February 19, 2009

Lieberman, Yisrael Beitenu...the Future of Israel.... and Europe.

I am going to try to tie these two seemingly disjointed topics into one, because I feel they are relevant to one another.

The elections in Israel have just been concluded, with a right wing surge in the Knesset. It looks as if Benjamin Netanyahu will be the the next prime minister (as Yisrael Beitenu has thrown its weight behind him). This has been a time of political turmoil in Israel as Prime Minister Ehud Olmert (of the centrist party Kadima) has resigned after charges of corruption (which have affected Ariel Sharon the former Likud Prime Minister, and a number of other Israeli politicians) were forwarded. There has also been the Gaza conflict, that for whatever reason, became a sudden issue (rockets have been falling for years). This operation was launched under the leadership of a centrist prime minister (Olmert) and Labor defense minister (former Prime Ministe Ehud Barak). No doubt this was an attempt to show their "toughness" (and revive their relevancy) on the Arabs prior to the election to fend off the right wing, which is perceived as tougher on Arabs and more concerned with security.

In the elections for Knesset seats, Kadima (centrist) came in first with 28 seats, Likud (conservative) with 27 seats, Yisrael Beitenu (very right wing) with 15 seats, Labor (liberal) with 13 seats, and Shas (Haredi Sephardi and Mizrachi Judaism) with 11. Following this there were minor parties with a few seats. The important thing to note here is the popularity enjoyed by Yisrael Beitenu (meaning "Israel is our home").

Yisrael Beitenu is headed by a man named Avigdor Lieberman. Lieberman is a Jew of Russian origin who resides in the West Bank settlement of Nokdim (near Bethlehem). Lieberman, although having been involved in governments and cabinets before, has made a resurgence (he had resigned from some posts and been sacked from another), particularly after the Gaza conflict. Lieberman provides an interesting and controversial solution to Israel's Palestinian problem. He has suggested that Israel cede territory that is primarily inhabited by Arabs which lies adjacent to the West Bank, to PA control, and annex areas of the West Bank that contain large concentrations of Israeli settlers (notably areas around E. Jerusalem). He has also said that any Arabs who choose to remain in Israel should take a loyalty oath or lose their right to vote (but could remain as 'permanent residents' if they didn't). He has also said the same oath should be required of certain Haredi groups... one can only assume he is referring to the Neturei Karta, a group of Orthodox Jews that reject Zionism as blasphemous (only God can return the Jews to Israel). It is worth noting that the Neturei Karta sent representatives to the Holocaust "Review" Conference in Tehran (please don't confuse them with decent people).

This is a highly controversial solution because it requires ethnic gerrymandering and the illegal annexation of illegal settlements. It has drawn criticism from right and left. The left claim it is racist and anti-democratic, and the right claiming it is giving up parts of the land of Israel and any such action is wrong from a Zionist perspective. Lieberman has had run ins with MK's from Arab parties (Balad, etc...) who have accused him of racism. Not only have Arabs made this claim so has Ophir Pines-Paz who called him a racist after threatening to "take care of" Arab ministers (saying they would be tried for treason and executed for meetings with any hostile government or entity). Lieberman had also suggested that sweeping military actions be conducted in the face of any Palestinian aggression, saying that the IDF should bomb commercial centers in Ramallah and other West Bank towns. This drew a stern rebuke from President Shimon Peres.

I think that in the end, Israel will have to make unilateral decisions regarding its borders and citizens. I also think Lieberman has made an insightful statement , saying that peace negotiations are based on three false premises:

1) The Israel-Palestinian conflict is the root of instability in the Middle East.
2) The conflict is territorial and not ideological.
3) The establishment of a Palestinian state based on the 1967 borders will end the conflict.

I think that Lieberman is substantively correct here. And because of this I made the first statement, Israel will have to make unilateral decisions. The Palestinian territories are disjointed and filled with a people that have no desire to see commitments entered into by their leaders (Oslo etc...) fulfilled. Hamas is too powerful and too destructive. Israel will have to define its final border on its own. Unfortunately, due to the building of the security barrier, this won't be on the international recognized 1967 border. The Israelis will end up annexing areas with large settler presence so as not to uproot them. This will draw international condemnation and further hurt the image of Israel. But based on past experience it may be the only possible solution. Palestinians still hold the view (by and large) that Palestine is from the "River to the Sea. "From the River to the Sea, Palestine will be free" is a ubiquitous chant at rallies, and obviously leaves no room for Israel. Negotiations are a waste so long as the partner holds dear Israel's destruction.

The surge in popularity of both Lieberman and Yisrael Beitenu (made up of secular as well as religious Russian Jews) is important because it is evidence of what happens when dealing with a Muslim population (in this instance, but any implacable group in theory) becomes impossible. The Israelis left Gaza and Hamas was elected, it took over violently and carried on in its policy of indiscriminate violence (rocket fire). Negotiations with the PA have failed. The PA has not followed through on even its most basic commitments from Oslo (the Israelis have also failed to dismantle settlements, or even stop their growth ). The situation is not progressing, solutions must be reached, and now unilaterally.

This relates to Europe because similar situations could occur. If the Muslim population in, say, Britain is not helped (or forced) to integrate, and it remains a separate, secluded, group then the rise of right wing politicians is inevitable. In fact this is already happening as the BNP has seen an increase in popularity. Muslims have created enclaves which are "no go" for infidels. The constant push down the one way street of compromise with Islam (Islam takes and never gives) is going to frustrate citizens who don't want Shariah courts, bans on alcohol, and violent mob behavior every time a Muslim sensitivity is offended. Europe take heed, end the appeasement or get a Euro version of Yisrael Beitenu.