by Steven J. Rosen*

Having sidelined Barack Obama’s peace initiative by refusing to return to the negotiations table without apriori Israeli concessions, the Palestinian leadership seeks to secure an international declaration of statehood at the next U.N. General Assembly session in September 2011. This “date certain” strategy, whereby its entitlement to a state will be fulfilled by the world powers, has long been preferred by the Palestinian leadership to any arduous, bilateral negotiation with Israel, which would require painful concessions. The Palestinians enjoy wide support in many European capitals, and they know that the Obama administration is close to their positions on many of the core issues. So forcing the statehood demand into a multilateral forum can entice governments into satisfying the Palestinian aspirations by a fixed date.

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by Raymond Ibrahim*

Days ago in Egypt, throngs of Muslims (henceforth, “Islamists”), estimated at 3,000, fired guns and rifles and hurled Molotov cocktails at Coptic churches, homes, and businesses in the Imbaba region near Cairo: twelve Christians were killed — some shot by snipers atop rooftops — 232 injured; three churches were set aflame to cries of “Allahu Akbar,” while Coptic homes were looted and torched.

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By Gary Gerofsky

If one did not go looking for truth regarding history and geography in the shifting sands of Middle Eastern borders, one would think that nation states such as Syria, Lebanon, Iraq, Afghanistan, Jordan and the Gulf States had ancient histories. Not so — the modern history and the ancient history of these Middle Eastern countries must be viewed in context and independently because certain states were carved out by colonialists and so their ancient tribal history does not equitably conform to modern nation-states with fixed borders. Some of those borders are still a matter of dispute.

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by Phyllis Chesler

The propaganda, anti-Israeli and anti-American filth, coming out of Gaza and the West Bank daily, hourly, year after year, is beyond belief both in quantity but also in quality.

For example, the very gifted Palestinian cartoonist, Omayya Joha, the widow of one Hamas bomb engineer and of another Hamas operative, has remained continually obsessed with the Palestinian “right of return.” The symbol for this obsession is a key (to the house left behind). Five generations later, the descendants of those whose grandparents and great-grandparents fled to Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, or Syria, because the Arab League boasted that five great Arab armies were massed against the infidel Jewish state and would shortly vanquish it. However, thereafter, no Arab state (with the exception of Jordan, which has since revoked the citizenship of many “Palestinians”) was ever willing to allow “Palestinians,” i.e. Arabs who fled the land that Israel conquered in a war of self-defense, to become citizens in their Arab, Muslim countries.

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by Steven Shamrak

Editor’s note: This article is in response to a PBS interview with CIA Director Leon Panetta regarding the targeted assassination of Osama bin Laden.

1. That targeted killing of terrorists is an effective and acceptable way to deal with terrorists and state enemies. (Despite the fact that Israel was constantly vilified by international bigots, even for the assassination of Sheik Yasin, founder of Hamas.)
   

   “The authority here was to kill bin Laden” - CIA Director Leon Panetta

2. That covert military operations in a sovereign country can produce desired results and be met with overwhelming international support and cheers. (As long as it is not Israel targeting the Iraqi nuclear reactor.)

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By Barry Rubin

In the wake of bloody Muslim attacks on Egyptian Christians the New York Times informs us:

“By lifting the heavy hand of the Mubarak police state, the revolution unleashed long-suppressed sectarian animosities that have burst out with increasing ferocity. …”

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by Phyllis Chesler

An hour ago, a letter was emailed to CUNY’s Board of Trustees. The letter, below, defends trustee Jeffrey S. Wiesenfeld and his point of view. This letter will be hand-delivered to every trustee later today. The initiators of this letter have chosen not to release the names of the signatories to the public; the likelihood of hate mail and death threats are too great to risk at this time.

As I knew, the heroic Jeffrey S. Wiesenfeld is now being defamed and attacked while the playwright Tony Kushner is being defended and supported.

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By Fern Sidman

Now that the hoopla over the successful United States “hit” on arch terrorist Osama bin Laden has begun to fade into the annals of history, the stark realization that the US and the free world are still bereft of a concrete plan of action to stem the tide of al-Qaeda terrorism is beginning to set in. Having spent close to 10 years assiduously tracking down the elusive 9/11 mastermind, we hasten to remind the CIA, along with the various and sundry intelligence networks, that the task of eradicating Islamic radicals bent on global domination demands replication of the kind of “muscle” that bagged bin Laden.

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By Barry Rubin

I’m always a bit wary of using public opinion polls in the Middle East because much depends on the day the poll is done; the way questions are worded; and the fact that in authoritarian societies ruled by dictatorial regimes people don’t necessarily speak their mind.

In this poll, by Near East Consulting, there are some peculiar results that make it appear skewed toward Fatah and against Hamas. This may have to do with the fears of those polled. It is revealing that-I don’t think I’ve ever seen this before-the official Fatah-controlled Palestinian press agency, Wafa, distributed a story on the poll because it fits with their political line.

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By Fern Sidman

The decision to bestow an honorary degree to Pulitzer Prize winning playwright Tony Kushner by the City University of New York’s John Jay College of Criminal Justice has erupted into a epochal firestorm of polemics with pundits of all stripes weighing in.

Originally nominated by Karen Kaplowitz, the head of the faculty committee at John Jay, Kushner was to receive the honorary degree for “his extraordinary talent and contributions to the American theater”. Kushner is best known for his two-part play cycle “Angels in America: A Gay Fantasia on National Themes” for which he won a host of major awards and international recognition. His screenplay for the 2005 film “Munich” which earned him several Academy Award nominations was widely condemned by numerous critics as being grossly inaccurate in ways that were hostile to Israel and inappropriately sympathetic to Palestinian terrorists. Kushner’s latest play, “The Intelligent Homosexual’s Guide to Capitalism and Socialism with a Key to the Scriptures,” opened Thursday at the Public Theater in New York City.

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by Daniel Pipes*

Although the execution of Osama bin Laden was mainly a symbolic and psychological act of counterterrorism, its most immediate consequence, ironically, affects U.S.-Pakistan relations.

• In response to Pakistani upset about their national sovereignty being trespassed, the Zardari government severely condemned what it called “an unauthorized unilateral action.”
• Members of U.S. congress, already disappointed in the use of American aid to Pakistan, are so upset about apparent Pakistani government protection for bin Laden, they talk of cutting back on the annual assistance, which came to almost $4.5 billion in 2010.

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By Gary Gerofsky

When I got involved in activism (around the time of the events of 9/11), my efforts included a bit of writing and some reading on topics I had previously only a cursory knowledge. At the time, I had never anticipated to be confronted and tripped up by people who I assumed to be on “our” side. My assumptions were soon burst when I began to observe and understand that the “new” left-wing of mainstream Jewish groups were: a) more interested in suppressing anyone who was slightly to their right (especially on the question of Israel) than in dealing with hate from jihadists, defending Israel or working against the campus threats; b) focused like a laser on control over the agenda and keeping certain people in power forever as primary objectives; and c) craving recognition and praise from the general community for a dialogue advertising inclusivity but in actuality excluding a whole lot of people and appealing to those with a proven record of hated towards the Jewish community.

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by Phyllis Chesler

Bin Laden may be dead but, as many have noted, his ideology is still very much alive. Indeed, it  landed on our shores long ago. It is now most definitely here.

Women in burqas and in severe hijab are increasingly commonplace as are other more barbaric gender apartheid practices. This includes heartless honor killings.

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by Harsh V. Pant*

As the Afghan war enters its final and most decisive phase, India’s strategic position in the country has turned a full circle. Having maintained a close relationship with the post-Taliban government for years, New Delhi suffered a humiliating setback last January when its warning against the folly of making a distinction “between good Taliban and bad Taliban” was summarily ignored by the Afghanistan Conference in London.[1]

At a stroke, Pakistan squeezed its nemesis from the evolving security architecture by persuading the West that the time had come to incorporate the “moderate” faction of the Taliban into Afghanistan’s future state structure and to give Islamabad a key role in mediating this process.[2] Meanwhile, despite its best attempts to keep a low profile, India and its nationals have been increasingly targeted by extremist forces in Afghanistan. The Indian embassy in Kabul was struck twice over the past two years, and guest houses frequented by Indians were attacked with nine Indian nationals killed.[3]

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By Barry Rubin

It is amazing what nonsense appears in the mass media. Consider the following paragraph from a Washington Post story:

“A decade ago, the Middle East might have responded to the killing of Osama bin Laden with fury at the United States. But with the region convulsed by mostly peaceful popular revolutions, the response to his death has been muted, another signal that the old Arab order is being swept away.”

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