ALERT

Hezbollah Has Tripled Its Missile Arsenal

“UNITED NATIONS - Israel’s defense minister, Ehud Barak, will tell Secretary General Ban today that the violations of a U.N. Security Council resolution that ended the Lebanon War, which strengthen Iran’s allies in Lebanon, present “real and serious danger” for Israel, according to an aide.” Read more

Undermining Efforts to Define Enemy Ideology

“In fighting Jihad, America’s greatest challenge remains understanding and confronting the ideology that provides the basis for Jihadist terrorism. Efforts to clearly define this enemy ideology recently have been undermined by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), the National Counterterrorism Center (NCTC), and the State Department in promoting a terror lexicon that recommends federal government employees avoid terms such as “jihad,” “jihadist,” “Islamist,” “mujahideen,” and “caliphate” when addressing issues involving terrorism. The argument made by the DHS, NCTC, and others is that the use of such terms will aid in the recruitment of Muslims to join terrorist organizations, or will alternatively provide “legitimacy” to religious aspects of terrorist efforts.

“However, this tactical approach to create a “terror lexicon” to ban such terms used in federal government terrorism reports and the 9/11 Commission report undermines the strategic efforts to identify, understand, and confront the ideology that is the root challenge in a war of ideas against Jihad. And, as Bill West points out, it can also open the door to some unintended consequences for law enforcement.” Read more

Obama & Linkage Myth

Obama’s recent remarks on the Middle East are viewed through the prism of “the myth of linkage in which the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is the sword that must be pulled from the stone before peace, goodwill, and American suasion are possible in the Middle East…

“By making Palestinian statehood - something that has no chance of happening soon, and something that America has profoundly little ability to influence - one of the major departure points for his Middle East policy, Obama is placing America’s fortunes in the region in the hands of…the Palestinians. Yikes.” Read more

Can Jewish Self-Humor Take Sting Out of Anti-Semitism?

“American Jewry is past the point where it needs to worry about jokes fueling anti-Semitic sentiments, asserts a scholar of Jewish humor from the U.S. visiting Israel this week. Jack Kugelmass, however, cautions that it’s important to bear in mind that the very same jokes can be told by anti-Semites and by philo-Semites. The meaning of the joke is very much dependent on who’s telling it.” Read more

Prosecutor of Islamist Groups Called “Relentless”

“A federal prosecutor who has led a series of investigations into Islamic militants and Muslim groups based in Virginia Gordon Kromberg, may soon be facing a trial of sorts himself, if defense lawyers get their way.” Read more

Two Views of Obama’s European Trip

John Bolton in the L.A. Times maintains that, “Although well received in the Tiergarten, the Obama speech actually reveals an even more naive view of the world than we had previously been treated to in the United States. In addition, although most of the speech was substantively as content-free as his other campaign pronouncements, when substance did slip in, it was truly radical, from an American perspective.” Read more

Roger Cohen in the New York Times reflects that “Barack was bad in Berlin and pitch-perfect in Paris. Is it just that he’s a Rive Gauche kind of guy? Or is something deeper at work? Obama looks like America reinvented; he summons from Europeans that imagined land of opportunity, foreign to their tired shores and confined spaces, that F. Scott Fitzgerald rendered at the end of The Great Gatsby.” Read more

Chavez’s Jewish Obsession

“…there is something else, aside from simple anti-Americanism, at work in Mr. Chávez’s foreign policy. He and his supporters are in the grip of another age-old obsession, albeit one with a few indigenous twists: an obsession, that is, with the supposedly excessive power of world Jewry, and in particular of Venezuela’s few, prosperous and increasingly imperiled Jews.” Read more

Glick Sees Little Foreign Policy Difference between Bush & Obama

“Obama presents his foreign policy plans as a way to fix the damage that he claims has been caused by the Bush administration’s foreign policy mistakes. But the plain truth is that there is little difference between the policies he espouses and those of the Bush administration.” Read more

Iran Convoy Taking Arms to Hezollah Reportedly Attacked

“An Iranian military convoy attacked in a mysterious explosion last week was delivering a load of military equipment to the Hezbollah militant group at the time of the blast, western officials told the London Daily Telegraph in a report published on Friday.” Read more

Former Mossad Chief Cautions about Israeli Strike on Iran

“Former Mossad Director Halevy tells Time Magazine that Israel should only strike Iran as a last resort in light of immense implications of such attack; Iranian strike on Israel won’t cause much damage as dozens of missiles will be shot down, he says” Read more

Haaretz reminds its readers that Obama’s words in Israel are for Jewish-American voters.

Haaretz comments on amazing timing of bulldozer attack with Obama’s visit

NY Sun notes challenge to Challenge Israeli visit poses to Obama

Jerusalem Post publishes opinion piece contending that Israel has no reason to fear Obama

Once and Future Child Murderer
“With the specter of another Ron Arad-type tragedy looming, the return of kidnapped soldier Gilad Schalit has taken center stage. Yet the impending prisoner release could spell a hero’s welcome for my daughter’s murderer, one even more chilling than that for Samir Kuntar.”

This quote is from an opinion piece in the Jerusalem Post by Frimet Roth, whose daughter was the victim of a suicide bomber at the Jerusalem Sbarro restaurant in 2001. A year ago this blog published a message from Mrs. Roth and her husband.

Distinguishing between Types of anti-Semitism

“It’s complicated stuff and it goes to the heart of the degree of confidence we have in our identity and security as Americans with a hyphenated identity. What’s important is to distinguish between insidious but unconscious anti-Semitic expressions that make their way, sometimes surprisingly or unwittingly, into day-to-day speech, as I found in Massachusetts, and anti-Semitism with an agenda and a conscious power to discriminate and create hatred.” (italics ours) Read more

Jasser Agenda for anti-Islamic Muslims

Zhudi Jasser spoke at the Aspen Institute last week. The following is his agenda for anti-Islamic Muslims:

1. The rejection of Islamism as a political ideology.

2. A rejection of the concept of the “Islamic state”.

3. Identification of radical Islamist organizations by name as enemies of the United States.

4. The acceptance that the root cause of terrorism is political Islam.

5. To articulate the toxic role that Wahhabism (a radical Saudi Arabian Interpretation of Islam) has had upon the radicalization of some members of the Muslim community.

6. To unequivocally recognize the state of Israel and its right to exist.

7. Separate faith (spiritually) and nationalism.

8. To advocate for individual freedom and liberty.

9. To articulate the same ideas in English and Arabic: both within and outside the Muslim community.

10. To advocate for the rights of dissidents and liberty-minded Muslims in Muslim majority nations against dictatorships and monarchies which oppress them.

11. To acknowledge that much of current Islamic jurisprudence (shar’ia) is in dire need of reform and being brought into the 21st Century with a focus on universal liberty.

12. AIFD (American Islamic Foundation for Democracy) and other anti-Islamic Muslims refuse to accept victimization as the focus of Muslim activism in the U.S. We accept the fact that Muslims should be leading counterterrorism strategy against militant Islamists in the U.S. and around the world.

Haaretz Correspondent Shmuel Rosner Writes on Why Israel Trades Live Terrorists for Dead Bodies.

“Israel is a society in which everyone knows everyone, in which every soldier’s fate matters to every citizen. It is a society that demands that every young man and woman perform military service, a society in which a state of war is a 60-year habit, in which national solidarity is always an existential question. For such a society, looking into the eyes of the father or wife of a kidnapped soldier and telling them that the price is just too high is something no leader is able to do. So, in the case of Israel - a country with a never-ending need for public trust in the military - the “emotional” can be the most “calculated” approach of them all.” Read in its entirety the Rosner column on Slate.com

Naomi Ragen Voices Her Adamant Opposition to the Prisoner Exchange

“If we cared about our soldiers, we would not be showing our enemies that kidnapping and terrorism pay. We would not be setting the stage for the next murderous terrorist raid and hostage standoff. We would be passing laws with a mandatory death penalty for convicted terrorists with blood on their hands, as well as their accomplices. We would be making these laws retroactive. Then, we would be cutting off all water and electricity to Gaza until Gilad Shalit is released. If that didn’t work, we’d begin executions within one week, increasing the number convicted terrorists facing firing squads with each passing day until Gilad is returned to us safe and sound. And if that didn’t work, we would begin daily bombings of Gaza, with the same number and frequency of attacks that our own city Sderot has suffered over the past three years from the Gazans. Not civilized? Perhaps. But moral. Extremely moral.” Read in its entirety why Ragen refers to last week’s prisoner exchange as Infamy.

“Deals with Devils” by Steven Emerson

“By continuing this charade, Israel is doing more than merely letting Hamas regroup and get away with murder. It’s affording Hamas legitimacy that’s likely to lead European governments to soften their already porous sanctions against the terror group, paving the way for public meetings with Hamas officials.” Read more

Imperative for Urgent Action to Free Gilad Shalit

“Time is of the essence. Quick and focused talks, even if the cost is high, can at least ensure that kidnapped soldiers, or some of them, come home alive.” Read more

Honest Reporting on NY Times Middle East Coverage

Watch a video on the New York Times by HonestReporting

Teaching Zionism as Answer to Materialism

“The growing materialism and meaninglessness in much of American Jewry could be fought with teaching Zionism by creating savings accounts for children and teenagers to be used for eventual trips to Israel, suggested McGill University history Prof. Gil Troy.” Read more

“Descent from Entebbe”

“Liberated after six years of jungle captivity, Franco-Colombian politician Ingrid Betancourt exclaimed: I think only the Israelis can possibly pull off something like this. If only…tomorrow, the Israeli government is scheduled to release five Lebanese prisoners, including a man named Samir Kuntar - more on him in a moment - in exchange for two of its kidnapped soldiers, Eldad Regev and Ehud Goldwasser, and information concerning the fate of airman Ron Arad, missing since 1986. The exchange might seem semiequitable, if only the three Israelis weren’t all presumed dead.” Read more

“Iran, Israel & the Bomb” by John Bolton

“…instead of debating how much longer to continue five years of failed diplomacy, we should be intensively considering what cooperation the U.S. will extend to Israel before, during and after a strike on Iran. We will be blamed for the strike anyway, and certainly feel whatever negative consequences result, so there is compelling logic to make it as successful as possible. At a minimum, we should place no obstacles in Israel’s path, and facilitate its efforts where we can.” Read more

Israelis Convinced World Is Preparing to Live with a Nuclear Iran

“Today, Israelis are convinced that the world is preparing to live with a nuclear Iran. Everyone, from the prime minister on down, agrees that Iran has not been made to feel the bite of real sanctions–at least not to an extent that would change its behavior. The U.S. National Intelligence Estimate published late last year–which argued that Iran had suspended its nuclear program–was widely dismissed in Israel as evidence that the U.S. defense establishment was now inclined to turn the other way as Iran pursued its nuclear ambitions.” Read more

Taleban Claims to Have Set Up Islamic Courts in North-Western Pakistan

“Taleban militants in Pakistan’s north-western Mohmand tribal area have set up permanent Islamic courts, they say…The districts have been divided into four judicial zones, each having two judges and a permanent court address…The Taleban have up until now used mobile courts - with no permanent offices or judges - to settle criminal and financial disputes…They say the permanent courts show the diminishing authority of the central and local governments.” Read more

Bush Gives Israel “Amber Light” on Iran

“U.S. President George W. Bush has given Israel an amber light to begin preparations for a military attack on Iran, a Pentagon official told The Sunday Times this week…Amber means get on with your preparations, stand by for immediate attack and tell us when you’re ready, the official said…The official told the Times that Bush informed the Israeli government he would back an Israeli plan to strike Iran’s main nuclear sites with long-range aerial weapons if diplomatic talks over Tehran’s contentious atomic program broke down…Bush’s voice of support comes despite U.S. military officials’ opposition to the risks of an aerial strike on Iran, the official told The Times. However, the U.S. would not deploy American forces for such a strike nor would Israel be able to depend on U.S. military bases in Iraq for logistical support, the official said.” Read more

McCain More Popular with Religious than Secular Jews

“Just 39 percent of U.S. Jews report that religion is important in their daily lives, well below the overall national average. Among this smaller group of religious Jews, however, Obama and McCain break even, 45 percent to 45 percent. This compares to Obama’s 68 percent to 26 percent lead among the majority of Jews for whom religion is not important.” Read more

U.S. Opposes Move to Clear Two Groups

“DALLAS - Federal prosecutors opposed a move to clear two groups named as unindicted co-conspirators in a terrorism-financing case Thursday, contending in a court filing that evidence presented at trial showed the organizations’ ties to the defendants and Middle Eastern terrorists.

“The Islamic Society of North America and the North American Islamic Trust were among some 250 Muslim individuals and groups named by the government in its case against the Richardson-based Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development.” Read more

Shackled Warrior: Israel and Global Jihad by Caroline Glick

Frontpage Interviewed Caroline B. Glick, the senior Middle East Fellow at the Center for Security Policy in Washington, DC and the deputy managing editor of The Jerusalem Post, whose new book is titled Shackled Warrior: Israel and the Global Jihad.

“I think that were it not for the massive wealth accruing to the likes of the Saudi Arabians, the attraction of totalitarian Islam would be much smaller. Certainly the ability of Islamic totalitarians from Iran to Pakistan to London to Saudi Arabia to threaten Western civilization and Israel would be vastly decreased if they were forced to support themselves. But in the absence of Western willingness to embrace imperfect alternatives like methanol, coal, nuclear energy and domestic drilling, it seems that in the foreseeable future, the physical threat to the West and to Israel presented by Islamic totalitarianism will likely grow.” Read more

The Jews of Europe Are…Still the Jews by Melanie Phillips

“To equate the situation of British Muslims today with Jews in Nazi Europe is despicable… Muslims today are not the Jews of Europe. The Jews today are the Jews of Europe. It is not Muslim schools which are routinely forced to put up razor wire; it is not Muslims who are advised not to wear distinctive religious apparel in the street because of the risk of being beaten up; it is not Mosque services or Muslim communal meetings that have to be guarded, every single one of them, against attack. According to the police, attacks on Jews are running at a far higher rate than upon Muslims. It is British Jews who have to be thus protected against the ever-present threat of violence by both Muslims and neo-fascists.” Read more

Iran’s Missile Tests Divide Obama and McCain

Reuters reports that:

“Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama said Wednesday that Iran’s missile tests highlight the need for direct diplomacy as well as tougher threats of economic sanctions and strong incentives to persuade Tehran to change its behavior.

“John McCain, the Republican seeking the presidency, said the tests demonstrate a need for effective missile defense, including missile defense in Europe and the defense system the U.S. plans with the Czech Republic and Poland.

“Ballistic missile testing coupled with Iran’s continued refusal to cease its nuclear activities should unite the international community in efforts to counter Iran’s dangerous ambitions,” McCain said.

“Obama, while calling Iran a threat, criticized the Bush administration for using bellicose language against the Iranian government while increasing exports to the country.” Read more

U.S. Fears Israeli Dearth of Knowledge on Location of Iranian Nuclear Facilities

“Senior United States defense officials fear that a much-anticipated Israeli strike against Iran’s nuclear facilities would fail to destroy them due to lack of intelligence about their location, the Sunday Telegraph reported…The British newspaper stated that evidence of the CIA and Mossad espionage agency’s dearth of knowledge on the matter emerged during recent Israel-U.S. talks.” Read more