Ed. note: This is part 2 and 3 of the series. Click here to read part 1.
Continuing his tour into the heart of the Muslim Quarter of the Old City, Mr. Luria guided the AFSI contingent in to Beit Wittenberg, now owned by Ateret Cohanim. Originally purchased by Moshe Wittenberg in the 1880s in a deal brokered by Eliezer Ben Yehuda (the father of the modern Hebrew language), it was discovered that the building was once the famous Mediterranean Hotel where Mark Twain stayed in Jerusalem when he visited in 1867. “One hundred years after this property was purchased by the Wittenberg family, former Prime Minister Ariel Sharon bought it in the 1980s. Because he thought it was important for Jews to be able to live anywhere in Jerusalem, he made his residence here,” said Mr. Luria.
Ed. note: This is part 1 of the series. Click here to read part 2 and 3.
As the semi-annual Americans For a Safe Israel (AFSI) Chizuk Mission to Israel drew to a conclusion on May 1st, the tour participants told the media that, “Our beloved brethren living on settlements slated to be dismantled by the Israeli government are not alone. We stand with them and our mission will never cease until every Jew has the right to live in any part of Eretz Yisroel.” Having distinguished itself from other tours of Israel that focus exclusively on sights of historic interest, AFSI conducts a thorough exploration of the entire settlement movement; providing emotional and material support to these beleaguered communities.
There is every reason to believe that the Islamic Republic’s days are numbered. The current government, lorded over by the religious supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamene’i, and his Guardian Council of aging mullahs, who can overrule any policy change by the pseudo-elected president, seem wildly out of touch with the general populace. Not only are the youth of Iran—some 70 percent of whom are under the age of thirty—chaffing under the “guardianship of the Islamic jurists” (velayet-e-faqih)—but so is the economy, due to sanctions imposed by the West in response to the regime’s insistence on pursuing its nuclear program.[1] Inflation has long been out of control and trade and tourism a tiny fraction of what it could be, and yet the establishment has on the whole shown little interest in sacrificing militant, revolutionary principles for economic, and indeed, political expediency. Can this approach be sustained in view of the tightening economic noose around Tehran, and at what cost?
Michael Rubin, a former editor of the Middle East Quarterly, is a resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute and a senior lecturer at the Naval Postgraduate School. He formerly served as a political adviser to the Coalition Provisional Authority in Iraq and has written extensively about Iranian history and politics. He is the author of Into the Shadows: Radical Vigilantes in Khatami’s Iran (2001) and the co-author of Eternal Iran (2005). On March 19, Rubin addressed the Middle East Forum in Philadelphia about the efficacy of sanctions on Iran as well as the prospect and logistics of an Israeli strike.
Can sanctions against the Iranian regime be effective? Michael Rubin addressed this question by citing Tehran’s former nuclear negotiator, who revealed that previous suspensions of Iranian nuclear enrichment had merely been temporary ploys aimed at ameliorating international pressure and preventing a UN consensus on sanctions. Rubin argued that Iran’s bleak current economic outlook is due not to sanctions but to the regime’s mismanagement of the economy.
Responsible airlines like Air France, Easyjet, Jet2.com, and Lufthansa have cooperated with Israel to keep “pro-Palestinian” rabble-rousers (hypocrites) from flying into Ben-Gurion airport to cause who-knows-what kind of mayhem in the Jewish state:
More than 60 percent of the 1,500 pro-Palestinian activists due to arrive in Israel on Sunday to take part in a fly-in protest have received notifications from airlines that their flights were canceled, the spokesman for the “Welcome to Palestine” protest told Haaretz on Saturday. …
For the bigoted trash that do make it into Israel, the Jewish state’s government has prepared a reality check to be presented to them upon arrival — a the-truth-hurts message that the haters probably won’t even understand:
… one boycotts totalitarian regimes, not democracies. One can boycott Sudan, guilty of the extermination of part of the population of Darfur. One can boycott China, guilty of massive violations of human rights in Tibet and elsewhere. One can and should boycott the Iran of Sakineh and Jafar Panahi, whose leaders have become deaf to the language of common sense and compromise. One can even imagine, as we once did with regard to the fascist generals’ Argentina or Brezhnev’s USSR, boycotting those Arab regimes whose citizens’ freedom of expression is forbidden and punished, if necessary, in blood. One does not boycott the only society in the Middle East where Arabs read a free press, demonstrate when they wish to do so, send freely elected representatives to parliament, and enjoy their rights as citizens. …
Iraq is in a mess. Violence continues. Factionalism leads to endless bickering. Corruption is at high levels. Christians live in fear or flee altogether. Islamism is constantly creeping forward. Yet I would suggest that with all these shortcomings the “Iraqi model” is the best that can be expected for the Middle East.
What’s the worst-case scenario? Iran, Afghanistan, Gaza, Sudan, or the permanent civil war situation in Syria, Yemen, and probably Libya.
It isn’t that democracy is theoretically impossible or incompatible in principle with Islam or Arab society. The problem is that it just isn’t going to happen at this particular point in history. What you or I or small groups of moderate democratic Arabs, or naïve Western journalists want isn’t relevant here.
On Thursday evening, March 22nd, tension filled the air at the Student Activities Center at Rutgers University in New Brunswick, New Jersey as two Israeli reservists addressed an audience of both pro-Israel supporters and ardent Israeli detractors. The evening called “StandWithUs’ Israeli Soldiers Stories: Real Israelis - Real Stories” was co-sponsored by StandWithUs, (a pro-Israel student advocacy organization), Rutgers Hillel and the Israel Center. Amid the din of conversation, audience members filed in to the center lounge and, according to one member of Rutgers Hillel who chose to remain anonymous, “Judging by the large number of Muslim students here, we can expect some kind of protest or walk out.”
Thanks to HonestReporting, you can easily speak your mind to the UN and sign the “We demand the dismissal of Khulood Badawi” petition (click on this link):
Dear Head of UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA),
We, the undersigned, demand that the UN immediately terminate its association with Khulood Badawi, an employee at the OCHA.
Badawi has proven unreliable as a source of information by using her Twitter account to spread false and harmful information about Israel. She has refused to acknowledge any wrongdoing or apologize for spreading propaganda. It is inappropriate for a UN employee to engage in political activism and the UN must disassociate itself from her immediately.
TAKE ACTION NOW: Write to the UN and urge it to summarily dismiss Badawi. You can use this sample text: “Ms. Khulood Badawi must be immediately dismissed from employment at the UN. She has acted in an unethical manner, possibly inciting violence, and committed libel against the nation of Israel. She falsely tweeted an image of a 2006 Reuters photo of a Palestinian girl who died in a playground or car accident, not as a result of anything done by Israel. This type of conduct violates all professional and civilized standards. The UN, claiming to represent all world nations, must be held to the highest of standards.” But I urge you to use your own words and keep it civil. Click on this link to send your message:
Two photos tweeted in the past 24 hours, both allegedly depicting the results of Israeli air strikes in Gaza in recent days, have been proven false.
1. The photo first tweeted by Khulood Badawi (@KhuloodBadawi) and later by Diana Alzeer (@ManaraRam), allegedly depicting a Palestinian girl killed by an Israeli air strike yesterday, was proven to have originated in 2006 and to have had nothing at all to do with Israeli action. This photo is now the top tweet for #Gaza, with over 300 retweets. It is completely false. …
Further research revealed that the photo was taken in 2006 by Reuters, and that the girl, initially thought to have been killed in an Israeli air strike, was injured by falling off a swing. When confronted with this information, Alzeer stated that the photo was taken last night and forwarded to the press that day. …
In fact, the photo was taken by Reuters on August 9, 2006. It was originally released with an incorrect caption, and then corrected a day later…
… Call on the UN to take the appropriate action by contacting the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs through its Contact page - http://www.unocha.org/contact …
The Israeli Apartheid Week (IAW) event last night at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario was the worst hate crime and incitement to violence I have witnessed in my years of observing IAW events. This episode was nothing more than pandering to a crowd of 200 loyal “sponsors” and “supporters,” including Independent Jewish Voices, whom mocked civilized values by bringing in a Jewish speaker urging for the elimination of the Jewish State. I am pleased to report that The Never Again Group (NAG) has the evidence on digital audio (click here and here for more). Miko Peled, who spoke at the IAW event, is an anti-Israeli hatemonger who ripped history asunder and provided his own version with Israel the worst villain on the face of the earth. He openly advocated hate against those he terms “Zionists.” Peled said that supporters of Israel would in the end be begging for forgiveness on their knees in front of a “tribunal,” evoking the memory of the Nuremberg trials. He used the platform to slander Israel.
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