IDF Blocks 'Free Gaza' Boat From Reaching the Hamas Terror Organization

The activities of these so-called "humanitarians" from the "Free Gaza" movement are probably illegal. In late August 2008 the same group sailed toward Gaza with the intention of breaking "the siege of the Israeli government." In August 2008 members of the movement also met with leaders of the Palestinian group Hamas — an Islamist terrorist organization.

Here is an excerpt from Arutz 7 about the organization's attempts to sail through Israeli waters on Monday night in order to reach the Hamas regime:

The Free Gaza ship, The Spirit of Humanity, left Cyprus early Monday and reached the edge of Israeli maritime jurisdiction on Monday night, after crossing from Lebanese waters. Israeli naval vessels apparently contacted the ship and blocked its progress south to Gaza in the middle of the night. Activists on board claimed they were threatened and had their navigational equipment electronically jammed by the IDF.

Shortly afterwards, the Spirit headed West in order to be sure to remain in international waters. Later in the morning on Tuesday, the ship was still off Israel's coast, "continuing to Gaza," according to the Free Gaza organization.

Israeli naval vessels repeated a warning message to the would-be infiltrators that they "will not be allowed to proceed to Gaza."

Foreign Ministry sources confirmed that "because of the history of this organization, we informed them that they would not be permitted to [go to Gaza]." Officially, the Spirit of Humanity is registered as on its way to Port Said, Egypt.

Reports differ even from within the Free Gaza organization as to what the ship, ostensibly sent to provide moral support for the Hamas regime in Gaza, is carrying. Ramzi Kysia, a Free Gaza organizer, said that each of 21 passengers was carrying a kilogram of cement, an olive tree sapling, a water purifier, school materials and construction tools. Other Free Gaza sources say that there are 20 saplings on board and one "symbolic" bag of cement. Foreign media reports leading up to the attempted maritime infiltration claimed the 21 activists were bringing three tons of medicine and other humanitarian aid. Among the passengers are former US congresswoman Cynthia McKinney and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Mairead Corrigan-Maguire, famed for dramatic, but failed, attempts to end confessional violence in Northern Ireland.

Last year, the Free Gaza organization made five successful voyages to Gaza, dropping supplies into the hands of the Hamas regime and smuggling out several Palestinian Authority residents whose movements were restricted due to Israeli security concerns. A fourth and fifth ship sent by the anti-Israel group were prevented from reaching Gaza by technical difficulties and by the Israeli Navy.

I have written about the activities of the Free Gaza movement here. This organization's members met with Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in 2008 and broke through blockades (also probably illegal) in order to meet with the genocidal Islamist group leader.

In addition to possibly violating U.S. laws which explicitly forbid contact with terrorist organizations — Hamas being among the world’s most notorious — "Free Gaza" members may have violated the U.S. Neutrality Act by illegally raising money in California to bankroll two boats which they sailed into Gaza in 2008.

The U.S. Neutrality Act that is codified in Section 960 of Title 18 of the U.S. Code states:

Whoever, within the United States, knowingly begins or sets on foot or provides or prepares a means for or furnishes the money for, or takes part in, any military or naval expedition or enterprise to be carried on from thence against the territory or dominion of any foreign prince or state, or of any colony, district, or people with whom the United States is at peace, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than three years, or both.

It appears that this far-left organization composed of useful idiots doesn't have any plans to stop supporting terrorists and theocratic goons anytime soon.




Also See:
- Northern California’s Friends of Hamas

Ofra Haza: Kol Aneshama, Elo Hi

Every once in a while there is a particular song by an Israeli artist that I like to share. The following is a beautiful Hebrew version of a song from the French film "La reine Margot" (trans: Queen Margot). The film is based on the novel by Alexandre Dumas.



Ofra Haza's voice is amazingly beautiful.

Related Posts:
- Ofra Haza: Galbi
- Ofra Haza: Ya Hilwi Ya Hali
- Ofra Haza: Ayelet Chen
- Ofra Haza: Eynaim
- Ofra Haza: Ma Omrot Einaich
- Ofra Haza: Tfila/תפילה
- Ofra Haza: Sof Ha'Kaitz (End of Summer)

Naomi Watts & Liev Schreiber Give An Exclusive Tour JNF's Secure Indoor Recreation Center in Sderot

Actress Naomi Watts & Actor Liev Schreiber give you a behind the scenes tour of Jewish National Fund's secure indoor recreation center that was built in the sourthern community of Sderot. Sderot has endured continual Kassam rocket attacks from the Gaza Strip over the past eight years and with the completion of this facility, residents will finally have a place to enjoy life without having to worry about the imminent danger they face on a daily basis. [1]

It is very good of Naomi Watts and Liev Schreiber to dedicate so much of their time in Israel to these positive efforts. The JNF has also done a wonderful thing by creating a playground in which Israeli children are safe. Nonetheless, Israel should not have to go to such extreme measures, such as creating an indoor playground, to keep children safe from neighboring societies. The fact that Israelis have to create such a facility suggests that Israel should not negotiate with those same Palestinian terrorists who are responsible for the perpetual rocket fire on Israeli civilians.

[1] YouTube

Related Video:
- Actress Naomi Watts & Actor Liev Schreiber Plant A Tree In Israel With Jewish National Fund

Also See:
- Weapons Cache Discovered by IDF Forces in Nablus
- TV station in Gaza serves as rocket launching facility
- Iran Renews Efforts to Re-Supply Hamas
- Hamas: Exploitation of Civilians as Human Shields
- Sderot Victim to U.N.: Are Human Rights for Some, But Not Others?
- Sderot Mother Addresses United Nations: "Doesn't My Baby Have Right to Life?"
- 15 Seconds in Sderot, Israel

Ethiopian Jews assisting victims of Rwandan genocide

About a dozen Ethiopian Israeli volunteers are participating in a program to help victims in Rwamagana, Rwanda.

Ethiopian Jews will travel to Rwanda to promote educational programs and assist orphans. Some housing facilities have already been built.

Here are more details from the Jerusalem Post:

Nearly a dozen Ethiopian Israeli volunteers will participate in training the Rwandans as resident teachers and staff at the Agahozo Shalom Youth Village (ASYV) in Rwamagana, Rwanda.

The youth village aims to be "a place of hope, where traumatized youth can 'dry their tears' (Agahozo) and 'live in peace' (Shalom)," according to the ASYV Web site.

The project is modeled after the Youth Aliya Village of Yemin Orde, which was originally established to help orphans of the Holocaust, and which eventually assisted Ethiopian orphans as well, many of whom had lost their parents in the Sudanese refugee camps.

During the course of just 100 days in 1994, over 800,000 people were killed in the Rwandan genocide, which left even more people displaced, a country in ruins, and nearly 1.2 million children orphaned.

"These children were not only robbed of their families, of their homes, and of their communities, but also of their hope for a viable future," according to the Web site.

The organization is not simply a charity effort, though. David Aviv, an Israeli who has worked with the project, stresses the importance of remaining humble.

"We have an educational method. It's not us rescuing the 'poor Africans.' We know how to do it, but we need to be very sensitive to the local culture. It's not us training them superficially, it's a dialogue."

In keeping with the Jewish value of Tikkun Olam, which translates as "repairing the world," the ASYV strives to instill a strong sense of self-respect and ambition in the orphans.

Ideally, those who live and work at the youth village are now working to educate themselves, and learn necessary skills to care for themselves and others. The village stresses that the youth are responsible to give back to society.

As of January, 18 housing units have been built in the village, each of which will be home for 16 Rwandan orphans.

Also See:
- The Jews of Ethiopia

Ahmadinejad Condemns Obama; Snipers Continue Murdering Protesters

President Barack Obama finally broke his silence earlier this week, saying that he was "appalled" and "outraged" about the continuing violence in Iran against protesters. Initially, the U.S. president said he did not want to appear to be "meddling" in Iranian affairs (interesting that the Obama administration has no problem "meddling" in plenty of Middle Eastern countries– but we'll save that for another time). Nonetheless, there is no denying that Obama clearly and forcefully expressed his concern about the oppression of Iranians who are being killed by the theocratic regime.

As if on cue both Hugo Chavez and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad responded by asserting that the United States' CIA controls the protests. This latest bit of wisdom from these despotic leaders is amusing considering they are cut from the same cloth. Both Iran and Venezuela deny fundamental human rights to individuals.

Here is an excerpt from the Times Online for the latest about the situation in Iran:

The latest arrests suggest that the suppression of dissent in Iran is not slackening off as street protests over the election dwindle, but is if anything intensifying. The academics arrested outside Mr Mousavi's house join more than 100 reformist journalists, academics and politicians already being held incommunicado in Tehran's Evin prison. They were rounded up at their homes and offices, some within hours of polling ending on June 12. Yesterday evening there were violent scenes in Baherestan Square, when a few hundred protesters were repulsed with gunfire, teargas and beatings by thousands of riot police and the hardline Basij volunteer militia who have played a key role in repressing unrest.

There has been condemnation in the West of the treatment handed out to protesters, and on Tuesday Mr Obama made his strongest comments yet, saying he was appalled by the scenes. Today Mr Ahmadinejad struck back and accused the US President of following his predecessor's lead.

"Mr Obama made a mistake to say those things. Our question is why he fell into this trap, and said things that previously (former President) Bush used to say," Mr Ahmadinejad said, according to the semi-official Fars news agency.

Hugo Chavez, the President of Venezuela who is an ally of Mr Ahmadinejad, added: "People are in the streets, some are dead, they have snipers, and behind this is the CIA, the imperial hand of European countries and the United States."

Mehdi Karroubi, a reformist cleric who was also a defeated candidate, was forced to cancel a religious ceremony today to mark the start of the three days of mourning for the 17 protesters officially acknowledged to have died during the crackdown. Reformists say that the true death toll is probably higher.

Analysis:
- Hope and Change -- but Not for Iran

Related Posts:
- Neda Agha-Soltan: The Face of Iranian Protests
- Special Report: Iran Election Chaos...Future of The Islamic Republic of Iran in Question?
- Continued Iranian Uprising Against the Oppressive Regime
- Iranian Election Dispute

16 Yemenite Jews Arrive in Israel, Flee Persecution

Sixteen Yemenite Jews arrived in Israel late Sunday. The group reportedly left their country behind due to the increased persecution against their dwindling community of about 300.

The Jewish Agency has not divulged the identities of the new immigrants because of fear of attacks against the family members they left behind.

Over the weekend, in Yemen, a Muslim extremist was sentenced to death for murdering a Jewish community leader.

A Yemeni court gave the death penalty on Sunday to Abdul-Aziz al-Abdi, the Arab who murdered a Yemenite Jewish man, Moshe Nahari, last December.

The court initially ruled that al-Abdi was psychiatrically unable of standing trial and ordered him to pay the victim’s family, but the victim’s father successfully appealed the decision leading to a retrial.

Related Posts:
- Welcoming New Jewish Immigrants Home from Yemen to Israel
- Yemeni Jews Fearful
- Yemen: Man killed in religious hate crime
- Yemen begins transfer of Jews to Sana'a
- Yemenite Jewish Community Under Attack (Again)
- The Yemenite Jews

Also See:
- The Silent Exodus of Jewish Refugees
- 1,000,000 Middle Eastern Jews
- The Persecution of Jews in Syria
- The Persecution of Jews in Iraq
- Nazism and Radical Islam
- The Forgotten Refugees
- Don't Forget the Jewish Refugees from Arab Lands
- Intro to the Farhud
- The Silent Exodus of Jewish Refugees
- Islamic brutality againsts Jews under the so-called "Golden Age"
- The Persecution of Christians Under Islamo-Fascist Rule

Neda Agha-Soltan: The Face of Iranian Protests

The beautiful young woman pictured on the left was an Iranian national whose death by gunfire was captured on video by bystanders. Neda Agha-Soltan has become a symbol of Iranian protests against the recent re-election of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Neda was murdered for merely exercising her fundamental human rights.

An excerpt from the New York Daily News explains more about Neda's background, a woman who did not support either Mousavi or Ahmadinejad:

Neda Agha-Soltan, a beautiful 26-year-old philosophy student whose murder has made her a martyr to the Iranian opposition, was determined to support the protesters, friend and music teacher Hamid Panahi said.

Panahi is the frantic man seen in the graphic 40-second YouTube video that made Soltan an international icon.

"Don't be afraid, don't be afraid, Neda dear," Panahi told her repeatedly. "Don't be afraid."

Neda's fiancé, Kaspin Makan, said she didn't support either side in Iran's recent disputed election, saying she simply "wanted freedom for all."

The following is a video on YouTube documenting Neda's murder. It's extremely difficult to watch this beautiful young woman's life being so abruptly ended by Basij militia thugs. Viewer discretion is advised.

Also See:
- Special Report: Iran Election Chaos...Future of The Islamic Republic of Iran in Question?
- Continued Iranian Uprising Against the Oppressive Regime
- Iranian Election Dispute

Special Report: Iran Election Chaos...Future of The Islamic Republic of Iran in Question?

Today I interviewed Dr. John David Lewis, a visiting professor at Duke University and a regular contributor to Capitalism Magazine.

Dr. Lewis argued that any positive impact from Iranian protests of recent elections must not be about Mousavi, who served as prime minister under Khomeini in the 1980s. For Iranian protests to be successful, Lewis argues, they must undermine the Khomeinist regime rather than replace one oppressive ruler with another. In other words, the Iranian government has to change for there to be peace.

You can watch the full interview here.

Here is an excerpt from an article by John Lewis published in Capitalism Magazine last year criticizing inaction on the part of the Bush administration:

Wars are fought when people make the decision and commitment to fight. Military capability is a function of this commitment, which, for a major conflict, is always moral in nature. Iran is particularly dangerous because it claims the moral force of a religion with over a billion believers. Iran also links that moral force to Persian nationalism, which can bring support for the regime from those who might otherwise oppose it.

Ineffective strikes--meaning, again, strikes that allow the regime to continue to exist--will in the minds of those believers demonstrate the power of the regime and the failure of the US.

An historical parallel is the Tet Offensive in Vietnam. The North Vietnamese forces were utterly destroyed. They had nothing left-- except the claim that they had attacked American forces and survived. But this military defeat was a propaganda victory, which demoralized the US and elevated the stature accorded to the North across the world. The US did not destroy the enemy government , and in time lost the war.

In 1975 an American colonel said to a North Vietnamese colonel: "You know you never defeated us on the battlefield." The NV colonel replied "That may be so, but it is also irrelevant." (Harry Summers, "On Strategy" p. 1) Tactical victories in *battle* were irrelevant to the outcome of *the war*.

Without a forthright statement of our moral right to defend ourselves, followed by a policy of enforcing this right, the US will be unwilling to do what is necessary to destroy the Iranian regime.

All we will be able to do, as I wrote earlier, is hope that the Iranians overthrow the mullahs themselves. We waited for this under Carter as well.

Read it all here.

Related Posts:
- Continued Iranian Uprising Against the Oppressive Regime
- Iranian Election Dispute

News:
- 'Hamas helping Iran crush dissent'
- Families, women in chadors join Iran's opposition

Also See:
- Italian MP Fights Fatwa and Human Traffic King in Muslim World
- Murdered Tourists in Yemen, Non-Muslims Targeted in Pakistan, and Reactions to Netanyahu
- Iranian Election Dispute: What it Means for U.S.

Continued Iranian Uprising Against the Oppressive Regime

I interviewed Dr. James Carafano of the Heritage Foundation about the role the internet is playing in Iranian protests against the oppressive government.

You can watch the important segment here.

Persians who are fed up with the fascistic actions of the illegitimate government of their great nation certainly have captured our attention here in the United States. Dissidents are wisely utilizing tools like camera phones and social networking sites to get information across to people here in the United States.

Recent "crackdowns" on students have been appalling. Here is an excerpt from a Wall Street Journal article by Farnaz Fassihi about some of the latest violence against protesters:

... Iran's Interior Ministry ordered a probe into an attack late Sunday night on Tehran University students in a dormitory reported to have left several students dead and many more injured or arrested. Students say it was carried out by Islamic militia and police. Iran's English-language Press TV said the ministry urged Tehran's governor's office to identify those involved. Iran's influential speaker of parliament, Ali Larijani, condemned the attack.

Students' Web sites reported mass resignations by Tehran University professors outraged over the incident. One medical student said he and his roommate blocked their door with furniture and hid in the closet when they heard the militia's motorcycles approaching. He heard the militia breaking down doors, and then screams of anguish as students were dragged from their beds and beaten violently.

When he came out after the militia had left, friends and classmates lay unconscious in dorm rooms and hallways, many with chest wounds from being stabbed or bloody faces from blows to their heads, he said. The staff of the hospital where the wounded students were taken, Hazrat Rasoul Hospital, was so shocked that they went on strike for two hours, standing silently outside the gate in their white medical uniforms.

The wave of detentions of dissidents began soon after President Ahmadinejad was declared re-elected by a wide margin in Friday's vote. Among the long list of the hundreds of people detained this week have been former lawmakers, cabinet members, journalists, bloggers, political analysts and advisers, student activists and lawyers.

Video:
- Student Dies After Police Shooting in Isfahan Student Dorm (Warning: Viewer Discretion Advised)

News:
- 'Hamas helping Iran crush dissent'
- Families, women in chadors join Iran's opposition

Also See:
- Iranian Election Dispute
- Murdered Tourists in Yemen, Non-Muslims Targeted in Pakistan, and Reactions to Netanyahu

Iranian Election Dispute

On today's "Sharia and Jihad Review" there is a discussion about the ramifications of the re-election of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. I interviewed Iranian human rights activist Banafsheh Zand-Bonazzi who writes for iranpressnews.com. I also interviewed James Phillips, a senior research fellow, from the Heritage Foundation.

You can view the show from today here.

The oppressive Khomeinist regime remains unpopular in Iran, particularly among young people.

Reports also indicate Iran is heading for economic meltdown, with a daily loss of 1,000 jobs and inflation at over 20%. In light of economic troubles and problems with Iran’s relationship with the West, many Iranians hoped Ahmadinejad would be defeated in elections this month.

Unfortunately, Ahmadinejad was declared the winner of Iranian re-elections this weekend.

Iranian state-run media say their voter turnout was 85%, which is the highest in the country’s history. Iranian newspapers also write that Ahmadinejad won by a landslide, with a 63% majority.

However, many youth have expressed a belief that the re-election of Ahmadinejad was rigged and unjust. Many journalists and diplomats echo this sentiment.

Hundreds of thousands of Iranians protested on Monday in Tehran. The protesters decried the re-election of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. One man was killed and several others were wounded in the resulting violence when state police began attacking protesters.

Also See:
- At least 346 people executed in Iran in 2008
- Dissident Iranian Blogger Dies in Notorious Evin Prison
- Life in Iran

Guard killed in Washington Holocaust museum attack by Neo Nazi

A Neo-Nazi gunman walked into the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum this afternoon in downtown Washington and opened fire. He is being treated for his gunshot wound and is expected to survive.

He killed a guard, according to authorities.

The victim was 39-year-old Stephen Tyrone Johns (pictured, left).

In honor of of the guard the museum will be closed tomorrow and flags will be flown at half mast in his memory.

The gunman apparently had a criminal history.


Here is an excerpt from the AFP regarding this horrible incident:

Panicked tourists scattered, ducked and took cover as the shots rang out in the museum entrance shortly after noon in the heart of the US capital, not far from the White House.

The gunman was identified as 88-year-old James von Brunn, a Maryland resident who has served time in prison for taking a gun into the Federal Reserve, in an apparently botched anti-Semitic attack, a federal law enforcement official told AFP.

"It appears to be a lone gunman who entered into the museum and opened fire with what appears to be a rifle at this point," Police Chief Cathy Lanier said.

Police said the security guard, named as Stephen Tyrone Johns of nearby Maryland, was pronounced dead after being rushed to a nearby hospital.

The gunman was in critical condition, Mayor Adrian Fenty said.

President Barack Obama expressed his shock and sadness after the attack, saying the killing underscored the need to counter prejudice.

"I am shocked and saddened by today's shooting at the US Holocaust Memorial Museum. This outrageous act reminds us that we must remain vigilant against anti-Semitism and prejudice in all its forms," Obama said in a statement.

Von Brunn has written books on the Holocaust, Adolph Hitler, and his views on white superiority including "Tob Shebbe Goyim Harog," or "Kill the Best Gentiles," which his website calls "the culmination of his life's work."

In a recent posting on his blog, he railed that "America is a Third-World racial garbage-dump -- stupid, ignorant, dead-broke, and terminal."

Police and the FBI said they had no warning of the attack, which erupted at 12:50 pm just inside the packed museum, which is often visited by school groups, when the man walked into the entry foyer with what appeared to be a rifle.

Click here to read the entire AFP report.

Also See:
- Fox 11: Holocaust Memorial Museum Shooter

Op-Ed: The Exodus Obama Forgot to Mention

Hat Tip: A'dam F.

The following editorial by Andre Aciman was interesting to read. Very few are aware (or care) about the Mizrahi Jews who outnumbered Arabs from Jordan and Egypt who became refugees after Israel's neighbors launched a succession of wars against the Jewish state. The following is an excerpt of a thoughtful article from a gentleman who supports President Barack Obama, but wonders why the issue of Eastern Jews wasn't addressed in Cairo last week:

And yet, for all the president’s talk of “a new beginning between the United States and Muslims around the world” and shared “principles of justice and progress,” neither he nor anyone around him, and certainly no one in the audience, bothered to notice one small detail missing from the speech: he forgot me.

The president never said a word about me. Or, for that matter, about any of the other 800,000 or so Jews born in the Middle East who fled the Arab and Muslim world or who were summarily expelled for being Jewish in the 20th century. With all his references to the history of Islam and to its (questionable) “proud tradition of tolerance” of other faiths, Mr. Obama never said anything about those Jews whose ancestors had been living in Arab lands long before the advent of Islam but were its first victims once rampant nationalism swept over the Arab world.

Nor did he bother to mention that with this flight and expulsion, Jewish assets were — let’s call it by its proper name — looted. Mr. Obama never mentioned the belongings I still own in Egypt and will never recover. My mother’s house, my father’s factory, our life in Egypt, our friends, our books, our cars, my bicycle. We are, each one of us, not just defined by the arrangement of protein molecules in our cells, but also by the things we call our own. Take away our things and something in us dies. Losing his wealth, his home, the life he had built, killed my father. He didn’t die right away; it took four decades of exile to finish him off.

Click here to read the full editorial at the New York Times.

Suggested Reading:
- Dammond, Liliane. The Lost World of the Egyptian Jews. United States: iUniverse, Inc, 2007.
- Aciman, Andre. Out of Egypt. New York: Picador/Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2007.

Related Posts:
- Caroline Glick on Obama's Speech in Cairo
- Obama's Visit in Cairo Misjudges the Cause of Israel-Arab Conflict

Also See:
- 1,000,000 Middle Eastern Jews
- The Persecution of Jews in Syria
- The Persecution of Jews in Iraq
- Nazism and Radical Islam
- The Forgotten Refugees

Why the Islamic Terrorist Movement Hates Us

The following is a CNN clip dating back to late September 2001. It was thoughtfully posted in the YouTube community.

Benjamin Netanyahu, the current prime minister of Israel, testifies before a House Committee. Netanyahu correctly points out that Islamic Totalitarianism rejects individual choice and freedom.

Caroline Glick on Obama's Speech in Cairo

Caroline Glick has an outstanding commentary over at the Jerusalem Post. Glick points out that during his speech on Thursday, President Obama failed to get specific about the persecution of women and ethnic minorities.

Here is an excerpt from Glick's piece:

Obama's so-called hard truths for the Islamic world included statements about the need to fight so-called extremists; give equal rights to women; provide freedom of religion; and foster democracy. Unfortunately, all of his statements on these issues were nothing more than abstract, theoretical declarations devoid of policy prescriptions.

He spoke of the need to fight Islamic terrorists without mentioning that their intellectual, political and monetary foundations and support come from the very mosques, politicians and regimes in Saudi Arabia and Egypt that Obama extols as moderate and responsible.

He spoke of the need to grant equality to women without making mention of common Islamic practices like so-called honor killings, and female genital mutilation. He ignored the fact that throughout the lands of Islam women are denied basic legal and human rights. And then he qualified his statement by mendaciously claiming that women in the US similarly suffer from an equality deficit. In so discussing this issue, Obama sent the message that he couldn't care less about the plight of women in the Islamic world.

So, too, Obama spoke about the need for religious freedom but ignored Saudi Arabian religious apartheid. He talked about the blessings of democracy but ignored the problems of tyranny.

In short, Obama's "straight talk" to the Arab world, which began with his disingenuous claim that like America, Islam is committed to "justice and progress, tolerance and the dignity of all human beings," was consciously and fundamentally fraudulent. And this fraud was advanced to facilitate his goal of placing the Islamic world on equal moral footing with the free world.

In a like manner, Obama's tough "truths" about Israel were marked by factual and moral dishonesty in the service of political ends.

On the surface, Obama seemed to scold the Muslim world for its all-pervasive Holocaust denial and craven Jew hatred. By asserting that Holocaust denial and anti-Semitism are wrong, he seemed to be upholding his earlier claim that America's ties to Israel are "unbreakable."

Unfortunately, a careful study of his statements shows that Obama was actually accepting the Arab view that Israel is a foreign - and therefore unjustifiable - intruder in the Arab world. Indeed, far from attacking their rejection of Israel, Obama legitimized it.

The basic Arab argument against Israel is that the only reason Israel was established was to sooth the guilty consciences of Europeans who were embarrassed about the Holocaust. By their telling, the Jews have no legal, historic or moral rights to the Land of Israel.

This argument is completely false. The international community recognized the legal, historic and moral rights of the Jewish people to the Land of Israel long before anyone had ever heard of Adolf Hitler. In 1922, the League of Nations mandated the "reconstitution" - not the creation - of the Jewish commonwealth in the Land of Israel in its historic borders on both sides of the Jordan River.

Read the entire article here.

Also See:
- Obama's Visit in Cairo Misjudges the Cause of Israel-Arab Conflict

Obama's Visit in Cairo Misjudges the Cause of Israel-Arab Conflict

On Thursday morning President Barack Obama spoke in Cairo. During his speech the president expressed his reverence for the Islamic faith and desire to further relations with Islamic leaders while glossing over the mistreatment of ethnic minorities in the Middle East. Obama failed to specifically mention or condemn the oppression of the Christian Coptic community when he spoke in Cairo, even though the continuous persecution of this community is well documented.

During his speech the president decried Palestinian violence, but also had harsh words for Israel when he suggested that Israeli settlements are illegitimate and obstacles to peace. Settlements are not an obstacle to peace. Even before 1967 when there were no settlements to complain about, there was also terrorism and no peace.

You can watch my special commentary about Obama's speech in Cairo here. The commentary, on the "Sharia and Jihad Review," is from today (5 June 2009).

Interestingly enough, polls suggest that 60% of Israelis are mistrustful of Obama's intentions toward Israel. Here is an excerpt from ANSAmed about these latest surveys:

The prevailing reaction of Israelis to US President Barack Obama is one of mistrust, feeling that he is biased in favour of the Palestinian cause, shows a survey conducted before the president's open speech to the Muslim world, delivered in Cairo today. According to the survey, conducted by two institutes in the University of Tel Aviv and published today by online press agency Ynet, 60% of the Israeli population do not trust that Obama is able to guarantee the security of the state of Israel.

Related Posts:
- Egyptian Copts to Obama: Reconciliation is a Two-Way Street
- UAE "confident" and "supportive" of Iran's nuclear work

Also See:
- Escape from Modern Babylon
- The Persecution of Jews in Iraq
- 1,000,000 Middle Eastern Jews
- The Persecution of Jews in Syria

UAE "confident" and "supportive" of Iran's nuclear work

On Wednesday the prime minister of the United Arab Emirates said he is confident and supportive of Iran’s nuclear work. Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum, the Prime Minister of the country, called Iran’s nuclear enrichment peaceful (despite Iran's repeated calls to annihilate Israel).

Last month U.S. President Barack Obama gave official backing to an agreement allowing the U.S. to share nuclear technology with the United Arab Emirates. Obama officials have said that the UAE renounced nuclear enrichment to produce plutonium and that the deal helps to reduce the threat of creating nuclear weapons.

However, some lawmakers argue that the UAE doesn’t have legal safeguards against the leakage of nuclear technology.

The deal between the U.S. and UAE came following a video showing a UAE prince brutally beating an Afghan national which sparked outrage on behalf of some lawmakers in Washington.

Apparently the video, which clearly showed gruesome abuse at the hands of a country's official, didn't spark enough outrage. Parts of the tape can be viewed here. Viewer discretion is advised.

Also See:
- U.S. Govt. Tells Terrorists Where to Find Nukes, The American Public Doesn't Want to Close Gitmo
- Islamization of the West w/ Carol Gould, Radical Cleric Behind Mumbai Attacks Freed
- Islam Convert Kills One Soldier, Injures Another in Arkansas Shooting, Taliban Kidnap 500 in Swat

Related Posts:
- Israel downs Sweden against a backdrop of anti-Israel protests
- No Sportsmanship in Malmo, UAE

Weapons Cache Discovered by IDF Forces in Nablus on June 3, 2009

IDF Paratroopers and a special engineering unit uncovered a large weapons cache in the city of Nablus in Judea and Samaria during a nighttime operation on 3 June 2009. Among the weaponry discovered were seven rifles, five pipe bombs, ammunition and additional military equipment including vest and helmets.

Nablus has long been known as the "terror capital" of the West Bank. Numerous terrorist attacks were launched from the city and active terror cells are known to operate there. [1]

[1] IDF Spokesperson's Unit


Related Posts:
- IAF bombs 2 smuggling tunnels in Gaza
- Hamas militants using a mosque to store weapons, abusing civilians in Gaza
- TV station in Gaza serves as rocket launching facility, Gaza journalist finds this funny
- Iran Renews Efforts to Re-Supply Hamas
- Hamas: Exploitation of Civilians as Human Shields
- Sderot Victim to U.N.: Are Human Rights for Some, But Not Others?
- Sderot Mother Addresses United Nations: "Doesn't My Baby Have Right to Life?"
- 15 Seconds in Sderot, Israel

Hamas still using civilians as human shields

Khaled Abu Toameh of the Jerusalem Post reports that a Palestinian woman was used by Hamas as a human shield. This latest is another example of the contempt for humanity we often see from Hamas, a group that has no qualms about launching missiles at Israeli civilians from schools and hospitals in Gaza. Here is an excerpt from Toameh's article:

The two Hamas militiamen killed earlier this week by Palestinian Authority policemen in Kalkilya initially used a local woman as a human shield during the seven-hour gun battle before she herself threw a grenade at the policemen, PA security sources said on Wednesday.

The woman, Amal, is the wife of Abdel Nasser al-Basha, the owner of the house where the two Hamas men, Muhammad Samman and Muhammad Yassin, had been hiding.

The sources claimed that an investigation by the PA security forces into Sunday's bloody standoff showed that the three PA security officers who died were killed by a hand grenade that the woman lobbed at them as they tried to enter the house.

"The Hamas gunmen were hiding behind the woman, who surprised the police officers by throwing a hand grenade at them," the sources told The Jerusalem Post. "This is not the first time that Hamas has used women or children as human shields."

The three officers were killed in the initial stages of the raid that was carried out by PA security forces on the house, the inquiry revealed. Their bodies lay inside the house until the operation ended seven hours later.

Amal's husband was also killed during the shootout. She is reported to have been seriously wounded, with doctors forced to amputate her right arm.

Amal has been placed under arrest at the Kalkilya hospital where she is being treated, eyewitnesses said.

A PA security official said that the woman would be charged with killing the three police officers. "She will be put on trial," he said. "She could face the death sentence if convicted."

Click here to read the full report.

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Ofra Haza: Sof Ha'Kaitz (End of Summer)

Ofra Haza's song "Sof Ha'Kaitz" is another one of my personal favorites by the lovely Mizrahi singer. Ofra Haza was capable of singling beautifully not just in Hebrew, but in Arabic, French and English as well.

Also See:
- Ofra Haza: Galbi
- Ofra Haza: Ya Hilwi Ya Hali
- Ofra Haza: Ayelet Chen
- Ofra Haza: Eynaim
- Ofra Haza: Ma Omrot Einaich
- Ofra Haza: Tfila/תפילה

Escape from Modern Babylon

The Farhud was a pogrom in 1941 against Baghdad's indigenous Jews, an event viewed by Mizrahi Jews as comparable to the Nazis' "Kristallnacht." Haj Amin al-Husseini, the Mufti of Jerusalem, became a Nazi agent after meeting Adolf Eichmann who was an architect of the Holocaust. With Nazi funds al-Husseini organized the Arab Revolt of 1936-39. The Mufti obtained Hitler's assurance in 1941 that after dealing with the Jews of Europe, the Nazis would treat the Jews of the Middle East similarly. The pogrom of 1941 was the culmination of a campaign to destroy an ancient Jewish population. Yet very little attention was ever given to the campaign against the Jews of modern Iraq.

A new historical text was released documenting the Jewish escape from modern Babylon. The text, "Iraq's Last Jews- Stories of Daily Life, Upheaval and Escape," also points to the persecution of other groups, such as the Kurds. From the Jerusalem Post, by Zvi Gabay:

How does one explain the reason why a prosperous community of 140,000 people, with a history and heritage of 2,600 years, uproots itself en masse, and leaves Iraq, the country which it helped modernize in all areas - government and politics, economy, medicine, education, literature, poetry and music? An explanation for this extraordinary historical phenomenon is found in Iraq's Last Jews.

This book includes testimonies of 19 Jews (men and women) as well as of an Iraqi Shi'ite, who personally experienced the events that occurred in Iraq during the last century.

The main reasons that brought about the escape of the Jews from Iraq may be summarized as follows:

• the xenophobia of the nationalistic Sunni leadership, which did not tolerate minorities, including Shi'ites, Christians and Kurds, especially if they had substantial financial means and social standing;

• anti-Semitism, which existed in newly independent Iraq (and in other Arab countries), which was sponsored by Nazi Germany and led by the German ambassador, Dr. Fritz Grobba, who was supported by fanatical religious leaders, such as Haj Amin el-Husseni (who escaped from Palestine under British Mandate and continued his anti-Jewish activities in Iraq).

The climax of the anti-Jewish activities in Iraq, was the Farhud - the uprising against the Jews on Shavuot of 1941 - during which 135 men, women and children were murdered, hundreds were injured and much property was looted. This uprising ultimately brought about the escape and the mass emigration of the Jews from Iraq. The longing for Zion among Iraqi Jews directed many of them to Mandate Palestine and later on to Israel, while a minority opted to immigrate to other countries such as the United States, Canada, England and Australia. Today, the number of Iraqi Jews residing in Israel is 244,000, while 40,000 are distributed elsewhere in the world.

The catastrophe of the Jews of Iraq occurred for no obvious reason. The anti-Jewish policy of its governments left them with one option - to escape and leave behind all their personal and communal property. Unlike the Palestinians, the Jews of Iraq did not wage a war against Iraq nor did the Jews in other Arab countries. They were the scapegoats of political conflict in their own countries. Israeli governments throughout the years, for reasons which are not clear, did not include this catastrophe of the Jews of Arab countries as part of their political agenda nor was it included in the educational program, as in the case of the Nakba of the Palestinians. This enabled Arab propagandists to portray the Palestinians as the only victims of the Arab-Israeli conflict.

The testimonies are personal and include a broad description of Jewish life in Iraq spanning the comfortable day-to-day life, mainly during British rule, the sufferings and persecutions once Iraq became independent and finally the escape to Eretz Yisrael, through the assistance of the Zionist underground movement, which was established after the Farhud.

Click here to read the full Jerusalem Post article.

Also See:
- The Persecution of Jews in Iraq
- 1,000,000 Middle Eastern Jews
- The Persecution of Jews in Syria

Egyptian Copts to Obama: Reconciliation is a Two-Way Street

Arutz 7 is reporting that members of the Egyptian Coptic community are appealing to President Obama to re-examine our country's relationship with Islamic governments. Here is an excerpt of the report:

Members of the Egyptian Coptic diaspora urged American President Barack Obama to remember the Middle East's oppressed non-Muslim minorities during his upcoming trip to Cairo. Several members of the U.S. Congress echoed the Copts' concerns.

President Obama is slated to deliver what has been billed as a groundbreaking speech of reconciliation between the West and the Muslim world at Cairo University on June 4, 2009. Christian Copts of California (CCC), an organization representing expatriate Egyptians of the ancient Coptic minority, has written an urgent letter to the American leader reminding him that "reconciliation cannot be separated from reciprocation. The Islamic World must not demand from us that which they are unwilling to retune to us and to extend to their own citizens of other religious. I hope you help them understand reconciliation is a two-way street."

In their letter, dated May 27, CCC acknowledged that the "Muslim World has been voicing feelings of grievances against the USA." While "it is crucial for the USA to listen to the Islamic World's point of view," writes Mounir Bishay, on behalf of the organization, "I hope somebody tells them it is equally crucial for them to listen to America's point of view. Historically the USA has done sufficient favors for the Muslim World to earn respect rather than such vehement hatred. Somebody needs to remind them the USA has been good to them. A large part of U.S. foreign aid has been going to Islamic countries."

Even the vast oil reserves enjoyed by the Arab Gulf States, the CCC letter notes, were only developed thanks to "American technologies and ingenuity" and that "the oil fields of the Gulf Islamic States would go unprotected from outside aggressors" without America. "Ironically, some of such are neighboring Muslim nations. Somebody needs to remind the Muslim World that polite reciprocity for generous kindnesses shown is supposedly an Islamic custom."

Muslims in America, CCC continues, live with "no restrictions on their religious practices and they are free to expend efforts to convert as many Americans as they can to Islam. Mosques, Islamic centers and schools are freely built allover the country. Such freedoms are most definitely not offered to those of other faiths within the boundaries of the Islamic World."

In Egypt "the capital of the Islamic World, where Mr. Obama has chosen to deliver his speech," CCC states, "Muslims seeking to convert to Christianity or to any other faith are not permitted to do so. Christians need presidential decrees to build new churches and governor's approval to repair existing ones. There have been instances where Christians were arrested for praying in their homes without a permit." Furthermore, the Coptic organization claims that there are quotas limiting the hiring of Christians in some professions in Egypt.

As of this writing, Bishay told Israel National News, there has been no official response from the White House. Previously, American Copts also sent a letter to the Egyptian Ambassador to Washington, Sameh Shukri, demanding fair treatment for the Egyptian Coptic community.

According to Jim Jacobson, president of Christian Freedom International, "When it comes to human rights and the treatment of minority Christians, Egypt has an extremely poor track record. The President should have a lot to talk about with Egyptian President Muhammad Hosni Mubarak, one of the longest-serving leaders in the Arab world. We hope he uses this as an opportunity to speak out for persecuted, minority Christians in Egypt."

In Egypt, Islam is the official state religion the primary authority for legislation. Estimates of the number of Christians range from 10 to 15 million, out of a total of 79 million. Most Christian Egyptians are members of the Coptic Orthodox Church, which predates the Islamic conquest of the region by hundreds of years.

Most Christian Egyptians are members of the Coptic Orthodox Church, which predates the Islamic conquest of the region by hundreds of years.

Read it all here.

Persecution against Egypt's ancient Christian community is well-documented and a cause for concern.

Also See:
- The Persecution of Jews in Syria
- The Persecution of Jews in Iraq
- 1,000,000 Middle Eastern Jews