By William P. Narvey

All too often the world’s Jewish community tends to consider Jews in academia and other higher stations in life who allow themselves to be used to speak out in favor of Palestinians and against Israel as kooks that the Jewish community need not be too concerned about.

It is not only foolish, but dangerous for the Jewish communities and pro-Israel advocates to ignore these Jews who, by being Jews, lend instant credibility to pro-Palestinian propaganda. A great many of the public in Western nations will not look behind what these pro-Palestinian Jews are saying. Rather, they will be swayed to believe that if Jews are saying the same thing as the Palestinians’ say in their propaganda, that propaganda must be true.

Those mendacious Jews for Palestinians must be vigorously challenged, shown up for the dishonest Palestinian lackeys they really are, made fools of, marginalized and isolated.

Such a Jew is Dr. Uri Davis, a Jewish academic and a citizen of Israel and Britain. A quick check on the internet under his name brings up a number of sites regarding Dr. Davis where he advocates pro-Palestinian and anti-Israel views including his position that Israel is an apartheid state. These sites include an interview on October 17th, 2004 by a Jon Elmer where Dr. Davis describes himself as an anti-Zionist Palestinian Jew.

(more…)

By Andrew L. Jaffee

The destruction of Iraq’s golden dome of the al-Askari shrine in Samarra was just plain disgusting, but not a surprise. This act of ultra-violence was most certainly perpetrated by Sunni terrorists — probably al-Qaeda. And blowing up the Shrine has increased sectarian tensions, just as was intended by the terrorists.

The question is, will Iraq’s Shiites restrain themselves as they have largely done to date? Will they see this as the purely cynical act that it was? Will this be a turning point to galvanize civilized Iraqis to finally destroy the terrorists? Or will the bombing of this Shiite shrine end all hopes for democratic reconciliation?

I’ve tried to remain positive since Iraq’s liberation, but it has not been easy. Sometimes I feel that many Iraqis are just standing on the sidelines, waiting for “someone” to make the big decisions. Are they waiting for a new dictator, or can they finish the hopeful job they started by participating in the democratic process, and defying al-Qaeda threats?

Remember that upwards of 80% of Sunni voters turned out in December, which is a sign not to be belittled.

Keeping my fingers crossed…

by Daniel Pipes
New York Sun*
February 21, 2006
http://www.danielpipes.org/article/3405
* Cross-posted with permission

Did you know that I had a hand in the Danish cartoons of Muhammad?

No? Well, neither did I until I found this out in early February on a conspiracist Web site. To clear the record, I’ll start with the facts, then outline the conspiracy theory.

What actually happened: Flemming Rose, cultural editor of a Danish newspaper, Jyllands-Posten, sent me an e-mail on September 29, 2004, introducing himself and requesting an in-person interview during his American trip. I agreed and Mr. Rose came to my Philadelphia office on October 25, when he spent about half an hour asking me questions. His article on me, “Truslen fra islamismen” (or “The Threat of Islamism),” appeared on October 29. It is a standard journalistic piece in which Mr. Rose provided some biographical information about me and had me explain my views on radical Islam.

(more…)

Donnel Jones

A terror enabling country has put in its bid to run key American sea-ports, all with the blessing of the Bush administration:

Two of the 19 9/11 hijackers were citizens of Dubai, the Arab emirate whose bid to run ports in New York, New Jersey and four other cities was okayed by the White House even though investigators have found signs that money used to finance terrorism flowed through Dubai banks.

I’m with Chuck Schumer on this one.

(more…)

By Andrew L. Jaffee

Pope Benedict XVI has joined the chorus appeasing the Muslim cartoon protestors:

“…it is both vital and urgent that religions and their symbols are respected and that believers are not the object of provocations.”

“Vital and urgent” that the West silence free expression? Shouldn’t people be able to look at the cartoons so they can know for themselves what the fuss is all about? This is how it works in civilized societies.

At face value, the Pope is blaming those who have published the cartoons — the provocateurs. Where is his condemnation of the uncivilized savagery of the Muslim terrorists — those truly responsible for the murder and mayhem; those whose faith goes no deeper than the ink on paper?

The Muslim rampaging, killing, and burning is working — on the Pope, at least. He and many others have been successfully intimidated into submission. That is what defines terrorism: terrifying others into surrender.

Some Muslim cleric in Pakistan has offered to pay $1 million to “anyone who kills one of the cartoonists.” This is religious faith? No Papal declarations against Muslim fatwahs?

Does Benedict realize his own religion is under seige? One would think he would be a little smarter. But he is just terrified.

Special Report: Danish Cartoons

(more…)

By Andrew L. Jaffee

Lawrence Solomon of Canada’s Financial Post predicts, “Muslim immigrants will be expelled from Europe unless they reverse the growing perception of them as a social threat,” in a must-read article (hat-tip to Ted at Israpundit):

In the clash of cultures between secular Europeans and extremist Muslims, there can ultimately be no compatibility or compromise, only loss by one side or the other of the absolute values it holds dear. European capitulation on European soil, where they remain the dominant majority, is unlikely: Europeans revel in their liberty to mock religion, to poke fun at sacred cows, to be outrageous, even to offend.

European leaders have reacted to the Muslim upset over the cartoons two ways. Publically [sic] and to buy time, they seek to calm the protesters by deploring the abuse of freedom of speech. More significantly, they seek to preserve their societies by legislating Western norms, by tightening or ending immigration from Muslim countries, by enabling the expulsion of radical imans and other Muslim activists, and by raising the spectre of mass deportations.

Solomon lists a number of steps being taken by European authorities — Danes, Dutch, French, Germans — to, for example, buttress free speech or deport Islamists:

The Netherlands, which has cut immigration in half since 2001, is deporting 26,000 rejected asylum seekers and keeping new arrivals in detention camps.

Let us hope Solomon is right, and Europeans will preserve their own cultures before it is too late. Stay tuned…

Special Report: Danish Cartoons

(more…)

SMCCDI (Information Service)
February 19, 2006

The theocratic regime has increased the wave of repression and executions in order to boost the existing fear among Iranians.

Two more Iranians have been executed by the Islamic republic regime in the southern City of Dezfool. These two new victims, named Ali B. and Eidi A., were accused of “kidnapping” and “rape”.

Two others, named Ayat Kh. and Mehdi A., were also executed on Friday in the City of Shiraz for “Murder”.

Also, various reports are stating about the execution, earlier this week, of another political figure named Hojat Zamani. The latter, whom his body has not been restituted to his family, was arrested five years ago on charge of “armed attack”, “bombing” and “murder”.

In reality many of these victims are exasperated young Iranians who had stood up against the Islamic regime’s use of brutality and had resorted to violence as the last option to end the collective misery.

The Islamic republic regime is known for using false labels, such as, “kidnapping”, “armed robbery”, “murder”, “drug trafficking”, “rape”, “spying” or “banditism” in order to qualify some of its exasperated opponents. Such policy helps its European, Asian and S. American partners justify the continuation of their economic relations with a repressive regime vis-à-vis their public opinion.

(more…)

Donnel Jones

Fleming Rose publishes an editorial in the Washington Post, explaining why he published the cartoons that satirized Muhammed in the Jyllands-Posten.

This is exactly why Karl Popper, in his seminal work “The Open Society and Its Enemies,” insisted that one should not be tolerant with the intolerant. Nowhere do so many religions coexist peacefully as in a democracy where freedom of expression is a fundamental right. In Saudi Arabia, you can get arrested for wearing a cross or having a Bible in your suitcase, while Muslims in secular Denmark can have their own mosques, cemeteries, schools, TV and radio stations.

Rose also addresses lessons from the recent past:

As a former correspondent in the Soviet Union, I am sensitive about calls for censorship on the grounds of insult. This is a popular trick of totalitarian movements: Label any critique or call for debate as an insult and punish the offenders. That is what happened to human rights activists and writers such as Andrei Sakharov, Vladimir Bukovsky, Alexander Solzhenitsyn, Natan Sharansky, Boris Pasternak. The regime accused them of anti-Soviet propaganda, just as some Muslims are labeling 12 cartoons in a Danish newspaper anti-Islamic.

The lesson from the Cold War is: If you give in to totalitarian impulses once, new demands follow. The West prevailed in the Cold War because we stood by our fundamental values and did not appease totalitarian tyrants.

Special Report: Danish Cartoons

(more…)

By Andrew L. Jaffee

Is killing Christians and burning their churches a form of Muslim “empowerment,” as the Washington Post puts it? The “religion of peace” has gone on another rampage, this time against Nigeria’s Christians, supposedly due to the Mohammed cartoons. From the BBC:

Crowds of protesters carried machetes, sticks and iron rods through the city centre, the Associated Press news agency reported.

One group threw a tyre around one man, poured gas on him and set him ablaze, it said.

“At least 10 churches, some hotels, more than 20 shops and over 10 vehicles were burned by the protesters,” one resident told Reuters news agency by telephone.

Christian leader Joseph Hayab told the agency most of those who died were Christians.

“The Muslim group came out to protest and the security forces tried to ensure it was peaceful, but there were some hoodlums in the crowd and somehow the security forces shot one or two of them,” said Mr Hayab.

“They went on the rampage, burning shops and churches of the Christians. The protesters killed the others. Some were even killed in the churches.”

Special Report: Danish Cartoons

(more…)

SMCCDI (Information Service)
February 18, 2006

A fire of an unknown origin destroyed parts of the capital’s oil refinery, on Saturday morning, despite the existing security measures.

Officials are attributing the fire to a leak in one of the master cylinders of the facility. But suspicion exists on the sabotage of part of the installation due to the increasing deterioration of the conditions in Iran.

Tens of fire trucks and hundreds of fire workers and security forces’ members rushed to the area in order to block the accesses and to extinguish the fire.

The today’s incident follows another strange one which happened, on Thursday, due to the ‘accident’ of an oil tanker on the “Karaj-Ghazvin” highway. It resulted in road blocks and a heavy traffic jam following the intervention of hundreds of security force’s members and fire workers.

Official sources are confessing that a ‘tragedy’ was avoided due to the rapid intervention of emergency forces as the tanker was carrying thousands of liters of fuel.

(more…)

A History of Modern Palestine: One Land, Two Peoples
by Ilan Pappé
Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2004. 333 pp. $60 ($28, paper).

Reviewed by Efraim Karsh
Middle East Quarterly*
Winter 2006
http://www.meforum.org/article/897
* Cross-posted with permission

Pure Pappé

Pappé is the odd man out among the so-called New Historians. Unlike his colleagues, who pretend to base their anti-Israel writings on recently declassified documents from the British Mandate period and the first years of Israeli independence, Pappé is an unabashed “relativist” for whom historical research is a backward-looking projection of political attitudes and agendas regardless of actual facts. Aside from his doctoral dissertation, subsequently published as Britain and the Arab-Israeli Conflict, 1948-51,[1] Pappé’s books are not based on archival documentation, preferring secondary (and deeply prejudiced) sources that aim at vindicating the Palestinian “narrative” of the conflict. He himself explains this in the introduction to A History of Modern Palestine:

My bias is apparent despite the desire of my peers that I stick to facts and the “truth” when reconstructing past realities. I view any such construction as vain and presumptuous. This book is written by one who admits compassion for the colonized not the colonizer; who sympathizes with the occupied not the occupiers.

(more…)

By Canadian Coalition for Democracies

Toronto, Canada - Friday, February 17, 2006 - In his first interview following the election, Prime Minister Stephen Harper said his government will not accept Hamas as long as it promotes terrorism. He went on to say, “For a nation to be truly democratic, that nation must renounce terrorism.” Furthermore, the Prime Minister stated on 14 Feb 2006, “Future assistance to any new Palestinian government will be reviewed against that government’s commitment to the principles of non-violence, recognition of Israel, and acceptance of previous agreements and obligations, including the Roadmap.”

(more…)

By Andrew L. Jaffee

In the big picture, the most frightening aspect of the Muslim furor over a few cartoons is not so much the mob violence, but the way Western leaders initially responded to it. Early on, American and EU spokespersons seemed to blame free speech, and made promises about reigning in the right to expression. But this knee-jerk appeasement may be fading — hopefully.

Here’s our State Department’s initial attempt at (not) coming to the rescue:

“These cartoons are indeed offensive to the belief of Muslims,” State Department spokesman Kurtis Cooper said in answer to a question.

“We all fully recognize and respect freedom of the press and expression but it must be coupled with press responsibility. Inciting religious or ethnic hatreds in this manner is not acceptable.”

And here’s the EU’s completely frightening kowtowing:

In an interview with Britain’s Daily Telegraph, EU Justice and Security Commissioner Franco Frattini said the charter [code of conduct] would encourage the media to show “prudence” when covering religion.

“The press will give the Muslim world the message: We are aware of the consequences of exercising the right of free expression,” he told the newspaper. “We can and we are ready to self-regulate that right.”

It is unnerving to see democratic institutions so eager to throw the right to free speech out the porthole in the interest of appeasement. But a few days of introspection have shored up democracy’s bulkheads.

“We reject violence as a way to express discontent with what may be printed in a free press,” Bush said.

Bush and Rice, making their first public remarks on the growing worldwide controversy, highlighted a shift in White House strategy to focusing on the killings and destruction during Muslim protests in several nations — in contrast to earlier statements that included criticism of the provocative drawings. Administration officials said Bush does not want a debate over free speech to diminish or deflect attention from the U.S. condemnation of the violence.

Here’s the EU’s turnaround:

Members of the European Parliament have condemned the violent protests in Europe following the publication of cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad.

They expressed solidarity with Denmark, saying an attack on one EU country was an attack on all. …

Hans-Gert Poettering, the leader of the main centre-right group in the parliament, said it was not enough to invoke a dialogue of civilisations - the EU had to take more concrete steps.

He condemned the violent protests in Islamic countries, saying they were not spontaneous but had been stirred up by regimes which did not believe in freedom of expression.

European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso said a boycott of Danish goods was by definition a boycott of European goods, and he called for the best of values to win against the worst of prejudices.

We seem to have righted our rudder, but just barely. And to continue with the sea-faring analogy, we are swimming in a dangerous pond, filled with piranhas ready to strike at the first sign of weakness. The Arab/Muslim piranha quickly notices weakness, and only respects strength.

Special Report: Danish Cartoons

(more…)

By Andrew L. Jaffee

Rome paid tribute to the barbarians clamoring at her gates. It didn’t do any good. Paying ransom only postponed the inevitable sacking, burning, and looting of the empire’s capital. The UK’s Neville Chamberlain sought to pacify Hitler, only to see Brits hiding in basements from the blitzkrieg a few years later. Instead of remembering history’s lessons, the Washington Post today indulges in feel-good, intellectual rationalization of Muslim intolerance and hatred.

(more…)

By Ted Belman, Israpundit

What is going on? You certainly wouldn’t know from the partisan debates in Washington.

It is generally conceded that the US is not quelling the insurgency and the chances for a stable Iraq are non existent. For the last few months the conversation focused on an exit strategy. Now it is focused on preventing Iran from getting the Bomb and on the PA dominated by Hamas.

So what is the US doing about it? What is the grand strategy?

In US shifts Iraq Loyalties we learn that the US is now negotiating with the Sunnis at all levels to strengthen them in order to avoid a Shiite dominated Iraq influenced by Iran.

“US concern about the pro-Iranian leanings of the militant Shi’ite parties that will dominate the next government has grown as the Bush administration presses a campaign to take Iran’s nuclear program to the United Nations Security Council, with the military option “on the table”. A Western diplomat told Associated Press that the United States needed to find “some other allies who will not turn against them if things heat up with Iran”.

”Even the possibility of a separate peace between the United States and the Sunni insurgency, which is inherent in these negotiations, signals to the Shi’ites that the US is no longer wedded to the option of supporting Shi’ite military and police.”

In this regard,

“the United States is only part of a much bigger coalition of interests opposing Shi’ite political power in Iraq, which includes Britain, the Iraqi Sunnis and the Arab League.”

Obviously this policy will result in a Shiite blowback.

MORE