Elliott Abrams: The “State of Palestine” and the PLO Office in Washington
"In addition to the PLO’s historic baggage and its offensive Charter, a third reason to stop dealing with the PLO is that it is a non-democratic body. The PNA is theoretically a democratic one whose leadership is chosen through popular elections. Of course that’s highly theoretical, because the last national elections were held in 2006 and the terms of the entire parliament and of President Abbas expired long ago. Still, isn’t accepting the hypocrisy of the PNA about democracy preferable to honoring the unreformed, hopelessly compromised PLO, in whose Charter the word “democracy” does not even appear?"[It is a good article about the contradictions between the functions of the PLO and the PA, but he doesn't mention that the PA answers to the nondemocratic PLO.- EoZ]
Will Jordan Be the First Arab Monarchy to Fall?
"...the monarchy red line will not last forever, and Washington will face a series of new strategic challenges when and if this threshold is crossed. The end of the monarchy in Jordan would constitute a particularly serious blow to U.S. interests. Should the regime fall, Washington would lose its best remaining Arab ally, and Israel would lose its last reliable peace partner."
As Fatah, Hamas meet, PM vows not to cede land
Netanyahu slams Abbas for meeting "terrorists trying to annihilate Israel," asserts Hamas would seize any territory Israel evacuates.
"We see the dangers clearly," Netanyahu said. "Today Abu Mazen (Abbas) is in Cairo together with the head of Hamas. They are looking into a possible unity deal between Fatah and the terrorists who have been trying to annihilate the state of Israel, and who have fired rockets at our cities."
Poll: Half of Israelis Say Ignore US Pressure, 67% Expect Peace Process Deadlock
"Additionally, according to the Israel Democracy Institute and Tel Aviv University December 2012 Peace Index poll, two-thirds (67 percent) of Jewish Israelis agree that, no matter which parties prevail, the peace process with the Palestinians will remain at a standstill for reasons not connected to Israel."
Soldiers Nab Terrorists who Nearly Murdered Woman
"Security forces have arrested five young Palestinian Authority Arab men responsible for multiple terrorist attacks, including an attack on a female driver that left a 60-year-old woman fighting for her life.
The arrests were carried out in November, but were revealed only Wednesday with the removal of a gag order."
Douglas Murray: The Ralph Miliband lectures remind us how stupid ‘clever’ people can be
"But best of all is to recall the 2010 lecture given by LSE alumnus Saif Gaddafi. People really should watch Professor David Held’s introduction. I had forgotten how funny it is.
Whilst Ghaddafi Junior grins and waves away at lackeys in the audience, Professor Held says by way of introduction:
‘Saif is committed to resolving contentious international and domestic issues through dialogue, debate and peaceful negotiations.’ ‘Saif is committed to resolving contentious international and domestic issues through dialogue, debate and peaceful negotiations.’Obviously this was the year before Saif began massacring everybody and promised to ‘fight until the last man, the last woman, the last bullet’."
CIF Watch: Guardian’s anti-Zionist propagandist, Chris McGreal, responds to CiF Watch.
"In short, McGreal pieced together a few unrelated incidents of Palestinians killed or injured during a myriad of different circumstances over several years, omitted any evidence contradicting his desired narrative, and completely erased the context of Palestinian terrorism to impute unimaginable malevolence to Israeli soldiers.
As we wrote in our earlier post, what Chris McGreal engages in is not journalism. McGreal is an ideologue drawn to extreme left agitprop who trades in crude anti-Zionist propaganda."
UN group urges Cuba to release Alan Gross
Imprisonment watchdog calls jailed American’s 15-year sentence ‘arbitrary’
"The Human Rights Council’s Working Group on Arbitrary Detention said in an opinion released Tuesday to Gross’ lawyer that Cuba’s lack of an independent judiciary, the imprecise nature of the alleged crime and the failure to grant bail to Gross rendered his 15-year sentence “arbitrary.”
Egyptian minister said sacked for opposing Iranian influence
Ahmed Gamal El-Din’s reportedly criticized meeting between Morsi adviser and top Revolutionary Guard official
"The ouster of Egypt’s interior minister earlier this week was due to his opposition to a secret meeting between an adviser to President Mohammed Morsi and a high-ranking commander in Iran’s Revolutionary Guard, the Egyptian daily Al-Masry Al-Youm reported Wednesday."
No penalties for hate crimes in Malmo, despite record attacks
Rising anti-Semitism in widely criticized Swedish city leads to zero indictments
"The local daily Sydsvenskan on Jan. 7 reported that in 2010 and 2011, the Swedish court system did not convict anyone of hate crimes despite a record-number of 480 complaints about such incidents reported in those years."
Vatican rejects sect leader’s calling Jews ‘enemies of the church’
Such a description is ‘impossible,’ says representative of Pope Benedict XVI
"Lombardi called Bishop Bernard Fellay’s remarks “meaningless” and “unacceptable.”
Lombardi was responding to comments made by Fellay, superior of the traditionalist Society of St. Pius X, during a Dec. 28 address at Our Lady of Mount Carmel Academy in New Hamburg, Ontario."
Maserati, Lamborghini Withdraw Business From Iran
"Both Maserati and Lamborghini will no longer do business in Iran The Algemeiner has learned. The announcement comes following a campaign by United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI) aimed at pressuring the two car makers into halting their activities in the country."
-- A Reminder of Snows in Jerusalem almost 100 Years Ago
We present here old pictures of snow in Jerusalem from the Library of Congress collection.
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"Beethoven was a Zionist": A Memoir From Israel on the Eve of its Creation
“Today I saw The Land for the first time, and it was beautiful.”
With those simple but moving words, veteran American Zionist activist Harold Manson began his remarkable diary of the visit he made to the Holy Land 65 years ago this month, shortly before the establishment of the State of Israel. It was a journey filled with surprises for Manson—but much of what he found could have been taken from our own headlines today.
“It seems that the sons of Allah are using the minaret of a mosque for sniping purposes,” he wrote. “They seldom hit anybody, but it’s damned irritating to know that Haganah retaliation would be denounced as an attack on a holy place and could precipitate ‘holy warfare’ [jihad].”