By Steven A. Camarota, CIS.org

WASHINGTON (December 21, 2010) — Most of the media coverage of the 2010 Census will likely focus on the country’s changing racial composition and the redistribution of seats in Congress. But neither of these is the most important finding. Rather, it is the dramatic increase in the size of the U.S. population itself that has profound implications for our nation’s quality of life and environment. Most of the increase has been, and will continue to be, a result of one federal policy: immigration. Projections into the future from the Census Bureau show we are on track to add 130 million more people to the U.S. population in the just the next 40 years, primarily due to future immigration.

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By Barry Rubin

George Mitchell, the U.S. envoy to the Middle East, has given the first hint about the Obama Administration’s future strategy. He said that he will now take six weeks to talk to Israel and the Palestinian Authority to find out what they want. One idea he will present is that the two sides carry out indirect talks through the United States–essentially what has been going on for the last two years with no progress.

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by Raymond Ibrahim*

Back in 2004, in one of his most recognized messages to America, Osama bin Laden, responding to then President George Bush Jr.’s claims that Al Qaeda hates freedom, rhetorically asked, “If so [if Al Qaeda hates freedom], let him [Bush] explain to us why we have not attacked Sweden, for example.”

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I had just published an article yesterday entitled, “Google Bans Palestinian Media Watch (PMW) From YouTube: Net Neutrality?” Many other bloggers and passionate supporters of Israel also took action. This morning, I received an email from PMW stating:

PMW wants to personally thank our subscribers and supporters. In response to your many actions - your emails to You Tube, your blogs, tweets, op-eds, and calls to Google - as of this morning the YouTube “Palwatch” account is once again functional.

Just why did Google close PMW’s account? I’m sure the answer is obvious to most of you, but the Jerusalem Post already highlighted the explanation yesterday:

… [PMW director Itamar] Marcus said that he suspected that the complaints [against PMW's videos] came from Palestinian or Arab activists who didn’t like the fact that the hateful messages were being exposed.

“These types of videos are usually only viewed in Arab society, since they are aired on Arab-language channels. They want to hide the things they only allow themselves to say amongst themselves in Arabic, but we watch it, translate it and send it around the world to decision-makers and the general public,” said Marcus. …

Note that Google claims it doesn’t have time to pre-screen video uploads, so it lets its user community do it for them. Blah, blah, blah… The truth hurts, especially when people (portions of the Arab/Muslim world) want to lie — in a society where lying (”Taqiyya”) is blessed by its predominant religion. But ya’ can’t hide from the truth in the Internet age.

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by Phyllis Chesler

Pornography has invaded the world’s imagination. It is everywhere: On the Internet, in films, in movies, in rap music videos. Five-year-old girls dress and are taught to behave like pornography stars in order to win beauty contests. Ten- to twelve-year-old girls both dress and behave like the pornographic images that surround them — and they provide sexual services to young boys. Opera — high culture — has also been increasingly “sexed up.” I have seen productions of “Carmen” and “Lulu” in which the lead diva was half-naked and in which she, too, sang the role as if she was a contemporary pornography star and prostitute.

No, I do not like any of this.

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I just received an urgent email from Palestinian Media Watch (PMW) entitled, “YouTube closes down PMW account.” YouTube is owned by media giant Google, which has once again taken the side of censorship, even though the company espouses the term “Net Neutrality.” Remember that Google eagerly helps Chinese dictators censor their citizens’ web access — all for money and not missing out on a very large market. Watch for announcements from netwmd.com on starting a campaign of opposition to Google’s censorship. For now, please contact Google to express your concerns about its banning of PMW. Here’s the PMW email I received:

YouTube closes down PMW account

PMW needs your help. YouTube has closed down PMW’s main video account - PALWATCH - for “violating YouTube terms of use”, by supposedly propagating hate speech. Of course PMW does not promote hate speech, but exposes the hate speech of the PA and the Hamas, in order to bring about its elimination.

YouTube stated that the account was henceforth terminated “due to repeated or severe violations of our Terms of Use” and they specified the following PMW videos from Palestinian sources, promoting the killing of Jews:

1. “Hamas TV teaches kids to kill Jews” formerly at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jwN2M6ZIIRU
   Removed for violating our Terms of Use on 10/02/2009.
2. “Jews are a virus like Aids” formerly at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QYaGl3KjPUw
   Removed for violating our Terms of Use on 01/18/2010.
3. “Farewell video before suicide attack of Hamas suicide bomber Adham Ahmad Hujyla Abu Jandal” formerly at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZYdTudQhWM4
   Removed for violating our Terms of Use on 06/10/2010.
4. “Hamas suicide farewell video: Jews monkeys and pigs; Maidens reward for killing Jews” formerly at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ryc7RqXlVdE
   Removed for violating our Terms of Use on 08/14/2010.
5. “PA cleric: Kill Jews, Allah will make Muslims masters over Jews” formerly at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zjuDTO8fgqM
   Removed for violating our Terms of Use on 12/12/2010.
6. “Hamas suicide terrorist farewell video: Palestinians drink the blood of Jews” formerly at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dSftYIGH6-w
   Removed for violating our Terms of Use on 12/15/2010.

PMW urgently seeks to have this account reopened, since some of these videos have accumulated hundreds of thousands of viewings and the exposure is critical to our ongoing work.

If any of our subscribers could help, it would be much appreciated.

Thank you,
Itamar Marcus

The fact is that PMW’s videos were doing too good of a job exposing Palestinian hatred of Israel. Google is part of the problem, not the solution to Internet censorship. It has chosen the path of political correctness over dissemination of truth — true “Net Neutrality.”

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by Simcha Katsnelson*

In April 2007, Anwar al-Bunni, a top Syrian human rights activist and attorney, was sentenced to five years imprisonment for “disseminating false information likely to undermine the morale of the nation … slandering and insulting state institutions,” and “joining an international group without the government’s authorization.” Though his first sentencing, it followed years of constant harassment from the Syrian authorities, including threats against family members, smear campaigns aimed at dissuading potential clients from seeking his services, and around-the-clock surveillance.[1] Instead of taking any action on Bunni’s behalf, the bar association in Damascus suspended him from numerous cases he litigated and threatened him with disbarment.[2]

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By Barry Rubin

Here’s an old joke that applies to the contemporary Middle East. The Lone Ranger was a Western lawman who chased bad guys with his friend, a Native American named Tonto. One day, they were surrounded by dozens of Native American warriors.

The Lone Ranger turned to Tonto and said, “Don’t worry! We can fight them off.”

Tonto replied, “What do you mean ‘we,’ Paleface?”

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by Dennis Mitzner and Ariel Solomon*

As recent decades have been plagued by Islamic terrorism and wars in the Middle East, Islam has moved to the center of Western political discourse. And Daniel Pipes has been at the center of this debate, providing tens of millions with his insightful analysis. This analysis has made Dr. Pipes an authority on matters related to Islam and Middle Eastern affairs. In addition to providing analysis through his personal website and the Middle East Forum, which he founded, Pipes travels around the world, speaking at universities, think tanks, and other venues. His appearances often provoke disruptions and angry protests, while simultaneously arousing fervent support.

We sat down with him to talk about Israel, Iran, Barack Obama’s presidency, and other timely issues. He also reminisced about a debate — which he calls a highlight of his career — in London in 2007 in which he and a British neo-conservative, Douglas Murray, defeated their opponents, London Mayor Ken Livingstone and Salma Yaqoob, a local Respect-Party politician from Birmingham.

Pipes has tough words for the Israeli political leadership. According to him, Israel is simply trying to cope as crises occur; its leadership lacks a strategic vision or a plan to deal with basic security issues. In Pipes’ view, Israel has become a dramatic opposite of what the young country was in the 1950s and after, when it was led by a talented leadership with a vision of Israel’s long term interests.

The interview took place in Herzliya, Israel on September 16, 2010.

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By Fern Sidman

On Tuesday evening December 14th, Helen Freedman, executive director of Americans For A Safe Israel (AFSI) addressed a most special gathering of pro-Israel supporters at an event sponsored by “ACT! For America” in Delray Beach, Florida. ACT! For America is a nationwide non-profit issues advocacy organization that dedicates itself to educating Americans on the existential threat that the burgeoning radical Islamist movement represents to their liberties and freedoms.

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by Phyllis Chesler

The Beautiful People have just weighed in on the matter of She-Who-Would-Be-Stoned. More than eighty actors, models, singers, musicians, comedians, authors, philosophers, artists, and parliamentarians (mainly based in Europe), have just signed a letter on behalf of Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani. The letter is addressed to Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran’s Supreme Leader, and President Ahmadinejad.

The signatories include V.S. Naipaul, Wole Soyinka, Carla Bruni, (the first lady of France), Sting, Lady Antonia Fraser, Damien Hirst, Howard Jacobson, Isabelle Huppert, Bernard Kouchner, Bernard-Henri Levy — and American actors Mia Farrow, Robert De Niro, and Robert Redford.

A month ago, I had a surprising conversation with a prominent Israeli expert on Iran. He said:

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by Audrey Kurth Cronin
Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2009. 330 pp. $29.95

Reviewed by Max Abrahms*

A battle is raging in terrorism studies. Proponents of the “strategic model” claim that rational people participate in terrorist groups mainly for the political return. Proponents of the “natural systems model” claim that rational people participate in terrorist groups mainly for some form of social gain. The first model argues that terrorists attack civilians for the collective benefit of coercing political concessions, whereas the natural systems model claims that individuals engage in terrorism for the personal, selective benefit of participating in an exciting, tight-knit, social group. Although this debate is spearheaded by academics, it is hardly academic: The question of terrorist motives is fundamental to counterterrorism because one cannot expect to cure a malady without understanding its underlying cause.[1]

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Does anyone have any doubt that Hugo Chavez is a dictator who will never voluntarily relinquish control over Venezuela? The AP reported today that:

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez asked congress Tuesday to grant him special powers to enact laws by decree for one year, just before a new legislature takes office with a larger contingent of opposition lawmakers.

The measure would give the president the authority to bypass the National Assembly for the fourth time since he was first elected almost 12 years ago. …

Translation: Chavez will use this “one year” to again rewrite his nation’s constitution to grant him more power than he already has grabbed. He almost has absolute control now. He wants completely absolute power and to remain in office for eternity. Here’s his cover story:

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by Daniel Pipes*

Of all the WikiLeaks revelations, the most captivating may be learning that several Arab leaders have urged the U.S. government to attack Iranian nuclear facilities. Most notoriously, King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia called on Washington to “cut off the head of the snake.” According to nearly universal consensus, these statements unmask the real policies of Saudi and other politicians.

But is that necessarily so? There are two reasons for doubts.

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By Mark Krikorian, CIS.org

Progress on immigration policy is difficult because it’s a bipartisan issue. It doesn’t split neatly between right and left, between Republican and Democrat. On the side of amnesty, loose enforcement and higher immigration numbers are both organized labor and the Chamber of Commerce, both the liberal Center for American Progress and the libertarian Cato Institute, and both President Obama and former President Bush.

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