8/13 Links Part 1: Winning the Peace, What Crisis in Gaza?, A Syrian Father's Tears of Gratitude.

From Ian:

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Winning the Peace

Israel has been engaged in a long drawn out struggle for the moral high ground. The moral high ground is to the modern Israel what the land of Israel was to their pioneer ancestors who drained swamps, built roads and shot bandits; some of whom were later discovered to be the oppressed peoples of the region, fresh from Syria or Jordan, and protesting the settlements built on that stretch of swamp that had been set aside in their revisionist history as belonging to their great-grandparents, complete with oversized house keys to some of the choicer logs in the swamp.
Sadly the only way to win the moral high ground is by losing. Just look at the massive Arab armies who repeatedly invaded Israel, did their best to overwhelm it with the best Soviet iron that the frozen factories of the Ural could turn out, and lost the bid to drive the Jews into the sea, but won the moral high ground. Then their terrorist catspaws spent decades winning the moral high ground by hijacking airplanes full of civilians, murdering Olympic athletes and pushing old men in wheelchairs from the decks of cruise ships.

Israel’s Neighbors Don’t Want Peace

The 2013 Middle East — which is increasingly dominated by the 14-century intra-Muslim chaos, uncertainty, shifty policies and horrific intolerance — is incompatible with a 9- to 15-mile width of Israel, as espoused by the well-intentioned U.S. administration.
The 2013 Middle East highlights the tenuous nature of Arab regimes, policies and agreements and the absence of intra-Arab comprehensive peace. However, Israel is pressured to ignore the nature of its Middle East neighborhood and retreat from the tangible mountain ridges of Judea and Samaria — which constitute its cradle of history and tower over Jerusalem, Tel Aviv and 80 percent of Israel’s infrastructures — in return for an intangible and tenuous Arab agreement.
Acquaintance with the Middle East environment, and its implications for vital U.S. economic and national security interests, while the U.S. withdraws and cuts its defense budget, warrants a stronger Israel, which is incompatible with the proposed Palestinian state and an Israeli retreat from the Judea and Samaria high ground.

Building blocs

Palestinians cannot expect Israel to turn back the clock over 40 years to a time when Jordan, not Israel, controlled the West Bank and there was little, if any, talk about establishing a Palestinian state there.
The settlements that were built on the West Bank are just as much a product of years of rejectionism during which Arab nations and Palestinians opposed the very existence of, not to mention negotiations with, the State of Israel – not just after 1967 but from its very inception.
It might be convenient for Ashrawi, Barghouti and Shtayyeh to accuse Israel of “sabotaging” talks by building in established settlements and neighborhoods.
But the reality on the ground is not so simple.

HuffPo: The Soft Bigotry of Low Palestinian Expectations

At bare minimum, Palestinian discourse should strive to allow for constructive criticism in the hopes that it will improve existing living conditions and ripen the prospects for peace with its neighbour. It should not be far-fetched to expect Palestinians to openly condemn continued terror waged against Israeli civilians, such as a rocket fired from Gaza recently that the PA did not denounce, along with the need to disarm and dismantle terror organizations, like Fatah's Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades.
Hamas, the terror organization that controls Gaza, should be encouraged to recognize Israel, renounce violence and respect previously negotiated agreements. A debate must ensue about Israel's requirement that it be recognized as a Jewish state.
When PA and Hamas news organs and educators incite and indoctrinate Palestinian youth towards martyrdom, Palestinian supporters should rebuke this practice front and centre. That would mean ending the glorification of Palestinian terrorists as "freedom fighters and holy warriors."

Israeli Deputy Defense Minister Danon: Convict Release ‘Encouraging Next Generation of Terrorists’

In an interview with The Algemeiner, Deputy Defense Minister Danny Danon said he was opposed to the demand for any pre-conditions to returning to the negotiating table, and was especially against the release of convicted terrorists.
“Leave aside the security issues, because that’s something debatable, whether those people will be a threat or not, even though we saw in the past that many people released went back to be active in terror, I think it is a moral issue and a wrong decision morally. By releasing them we’re encouraging the next generation of terrorists to become involved in terror activities,” the deputy minister said.
“The fact that they are going to go back to their villages and be heroes is wrong,” Danon said, adding, “Today the Israeli public is asking why?”

Ministers Ignored Shin Bet, Added Terrorists to List

The Shin Bet had provided a list of 40 terrorists from which the ministers were to choose the terrorists they wished to release. The list was compiled with the goal of avoiding freeing terrorists who would pose a particularly high threat to Israelis.
However, the committee led by Defense Minister Moshe Yaalon reportedly decided to replace some names on the list it was given by the Shin Bet with other terrorists’ names, due to “Israel’s wish to strengthen the status of Abu Mazen.”

Poll shows Palestinians evenly split on support for talks

More than half of those asked (52%) said they oppose a two-state solution that includes East Jerusalem, with 45% saying they are in favor of such a deal.
When asked what approach they preferred to bring about the “end of the occupation,” 62% of respondents chose peaceful methods and 31 chose armed conflict. A further breakdown of the numbers revealed that of those who supported a peaceful end to the conflict, 25% chose direct negotiations, 20% chose a nonviolent popular uprising and 17% chose an international conference imposing a solution on both parties.

No human being is illegal: The Guardian’s vilification of settlers is immoral & illogical

Ultimately, the disposition of settlements is a matter for final status negotiations. While one may legitimately support or challenge Israeli settlements in the disputed territories, they are not illegal, and demonizing Jews who live in communities across the green line is certainly not moral and does not help the peace process.
Harriet Sherwood’s ‘obstacles to peace’ have neither the size, population, nor placement to have a serious impact on sincere efforts to reach a comprehensive agreement on all issues related to the disputed territories.

BBC coverage of building tenders reaches hysterical highs

That same notion was promoted on BBC television news in a filmed report by Kevin Connolly – also titled “New Israeli settlement homes anger Palestinians” and also featuring Saeb Erekat.
Significantly, at no point in any of these reports does the BBC bother to inform its audiences that the announcement of tenders for these new apartments in no way contradicts the agreements so far reached with regard to the renewal of talks. Instead, it both parrots and amplifies to the point of near hysteria the tactical narrative promoted by PA officials and in doing so, creates a smoke-screen which conceals from BBC audiences issues far more detrimental to the success of the upcoming talks than tenders for houses which will not see the light of day for many months to come.

Russia’s Anti-Gay Mentality? What about Palestine's?

The past few days have seen a well-circulated public address from television quizmaster and tea connoisseur Stephen Fry, directed at Prime Minister David Cameron, Lord Coe and the Members of the International Olympic Committee, to boycott the upcoming Russian Winter Olympics in 2014. I myself shared Mr Fry’s address, and I also think that there is some merit to this kind of consciousness-raising political statement.
But if we criticize a nation like Russia for its laws and threaten to boycott one of the largest events on the international stage as a result of them, it is only fair that we focus the same level of scrutiny and condemnation upon others, like Palestine, which are guilty of not similar but much worse acts against homosexuals.

IDF Blog: What Happened to the Humanitarian Crisis in Gaza?

Despite what you may hear from the media, Gaza is not an “open-air prison.” This summer, Gazans are out in force, enjoying themselves in sparkling new malls, beautiful beaches and hotels, and doing their shopping in pristine grocery stores and markets heaving with fresh produce. Gaza even boasts an Olympic-size swimming pool.
Here are some of the places you can visit in Gaza on an ordinary summer’s day:

Turkey: Erdogan's Ergenekon "Victory"

There is no longer room for doubt: through a pseudo-legal witch-hunt at home and deceitful propaganda abroad, Erdogan and the AKP are committed to totalitarian suppression of their political critics and opponents, both in Turkey and elsewhere. They feed an apparently insatiable Turkish appetite for conspiracy theories and, as may be observed online, assiduously spread disinformation about "threats to Turkey." Turkish commentators worry that the West ignores Erdogan's violations of civil rights out of the need for him as an ally in confronting the bloodthirsty Assad regime in Syria. But looking the other way while Turkey is transformed into an authoritarian Islamist state will in no way help the suffering Syrian people.

Syrian opposition plans for life after Assad

Prominent Syrian opposition figures are presenting a plan for a political transition should President Bashar Assad’s government fall.
The report by about 300 activists, including military leaders and members of the main opposition group, calls for disarmament of militias and remaking security services. Under the plan, a new national assembly would draft a constitution based on an earlier one written in 1950. The final document would then go to a referendum.
The activists envision a government with both a president and a parliament to offer checks and balances, and recommend creating an independent judiciary.

Galilee: A Syrian Father's Tears of Gratitude
X-ray technician at Western Galilee Hospital tells story of 12 year old Syrian patient at ICU, Shin Bet and more.

“The guard (a Druze who spoke Arabic) brought him to the side so I could do my job. Believe it or not, I have a very good bedside manner, especially with kids. After I was done, the guard came and told me that when he brought the guy to the side that he asked what I was with the getup and all. When he explained that I'm a very religious Jew and that's how we look, the dad got nervous. However, when he saw how nicely and kindly I treated his kid, he started crying and said that he can't believe that none of Syria's Arab neighbors like Lebanon or Jordan will take them in, but the religious Jew from Israel treats his kid like his own daughter.
“If only he would pass on his revelation to the rest of his country,” concludes Halevi.