An article in Jordan's Assawsana is upset over reported secret ties between Israel and some Arab countries.
It starts off with "I would not be surprised in the coming days to see Israelis wearing the Arab turban and robe, sitting in the palaces of the oil sheikhs without fear or shame as if they were the owners of the land, and not trespassers of sacred Islamic and Arab land who displaced and killed our family and still wreak havoc by bombing Gaza and arresting people in the West Bank and filling their prisons with detainees.
How can the Arab countries deal with an occupier of Islamic lands, while at the same time, these countries claim to support the right of the Palestinian people to return home and live in peace? Quite simply these countries cooperate with representatives of Israel the aggressor Palestinians as the victim are a supporting actor. How can the mind to accept such a contradiction??????
Facts confirm this contradiction even with those countries which do not have a treaty with Israel....Several months ago the defense minister of Israel went on a visit to Dubai for military industries; the Zionist minister with a high-level delegation participated in the exhibition to coincide with the time when his Zionist military Zionism was killing the sons of the West Bank under the direct orders of the same minister. Which contributed to create the impression of the West and the world of the legitimacy of the death and destruction that Israel is doing to the Palestinians without condemnation from the Arab host.
It is a fact that is no longer hidden of the presence of Israeli security companies offering their services in most countries of the Arabian Gulf and who find a viable market in those countries.An announcement by some Israeli newspapers recently notes that one of the indicators adopted internationally to signify the strength and durability of the relations between states is the presence of security coordination between them and that is exactly what we have seen in some Arab countries, relations with the Israeli entity.
Then came the Dubai Film Festival, where the Israeli film was about the the non-eligibility of the people of Palestine to return to their land and their towns and villages. To display such poisonous cultural material is to blow up the march of struggle and resistance for more than sixty years that has killed martyrs that fell from all Arab and Islamic nationalities. How could any Arab view this film in an Arab country, claiming his support for the Palestinian cause.????
These relations recently culminated with an official visit carried out by Silvan Shalom, the Israeli minister at the head of an economic delegation of businessmen Israelis at the official invitation of the government of the UAE, to participate in an economic conference held in Abu Dhabi. It is natural to find Zionists using the opportunity to market their investments and exploit opportunities to increase the strength of their economy, which in turn strengthens their hold on state territories. Linking economic agreements with Arab countries is no less dangerous to Arab security that from non-traditional weapons.
...Israeli politicians roam about in the Gulf states and investigate their goals without the need to announce their relationship with the embassies and consulates as is the case in international relations; they and consider it politically foolish to declare their presence in these countries and reveal their relationship in public so they can implement what they want from behind the curtain.
Israel's policy in the next phase its exercising hegemony is to extend its policy on the Arabs continuing the current fragmentation and weakness with the infighting and rivalry for power going on currently in the Arab countries, without a doubt Israel had the biggest role in the creation and adoption and sponsorship of this infighting to enable them to achieve the dream of Greater Israel and the realization of their verse, "your land, O Israel, from the Euphrates to the Nile."
But Jewish Zionist ambition at this stage has grown to change the motto to "Your Land, O Israel, from the Atlantic to the Gulf."
The conspiracy theory that Israel is behind the Arab spring and infighting has become accepted fact in Arab media over the past couple of years. The idea that Israel is planning the dissolution of Arab states into smaller parts has been around for a while but is getting lots of play lately.
It is notable that the idea of peace between Israel and Arab states is so heinous to so many Arabs, while it is what Jews dream of. You would think that the Western nations might have noticed this little pattern after 65 years.
ELI, West Bank — Among the most ardent advocates of labeling products made in Israeli settlements are Gedaliah and Elisheva Blum, American-born religious Jews raising four children high on a hilltop here, in the heart of what most of the world envisions as the future Palestinian state.
The Blums have since 2009 run a website promoting small businesses — mechanics, real estate brokers, caterers, etc. — in the settlements generally viewed as illegal under international law, and last fall they unveiled an online boutique selling settler art. Their approach is an attempted antidote to the “Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions” movement that has been gaining ground lately — buy local, invest, celebrate.
“We wanted to use that same tool everybody else is using against us, for us,” said Mr. Blum, 35.
...Their operation is admittedly small bore and symbolic. The “Orange Pages” — the color is taken from the campaign opposing the 2005 evacuation of Gaza Strip settlements — gets 1,000 hits a day. It lists 2,000 businesses, 700 of which pay about $14 a month for more prominent play. Mrs. Blum, who is 30, said some settler leaders told her “don’t promote us, just keep quiet,” but that only a handful of companies had ever declined to be listed.
The new art boutique has sold a dozen prints and one original, totaling $4,500. Profits are put into the Orange Pages — as Mr. Blum put it, “a man from Alabama buys a painting from Hebron and enables a plumber from Shilo to get more exposure.”
Like many settlers, the Blums think Israel should annex the West Bank.
“If you created a time machine and you went back 2,000 years, the center of Jewish life was here, it was Judea and Samaria, it wasn’t Tel Aviv,” Mr. Blum said, using the biblical names for the territory. “If we don’t want to fight for this land — I mean fight as in living and building — we’re erasing our history.”
Mrs. Blum moved at age 5 to Efrat, a settlement south of Jerusalem. Mr. Blum grew up secular in New Jersey, and came to Israel in 2000 on the first free trip for young diaspora Jews run by Birthright. When he came back with Birthright in 2003, she was one of two Israeli volunteers greeting the plane with rugelach from the famed Marzipan bakery. He decided that day they should marry.
They run the websites from their modest home, where Mrs. Blum’s paintings — of an archway in Safed and a Kabbalistic interpretation of creation — adorn the walls and the children, ages 2, 4, 6 and 8, wander in and out.
“The message for our children is, you see something wrong, you fix it,” she said. “We saw a boycott, we see injustice, then you do something about it. Even if it’s just one little baby step.”
OK, so now I feel guilty.
Because I interviewed the Blums nearly a year ago and I had never edited the video for the blog! (Although I did mention them last October when the English version of their website went online.)
Now that they are newsmakers, it is only right for me to try to make up for it.
Here they are in a house in Eli that they were renting at the time, talking about what life is like as Jews living in Judea and Samaria.
British Jews who care about this sort of thing have had the disturbing experience of observing not one but three examples of public, home-grown anti-Jewish bigotry over the past few days.
First off the block was the former Labour Foreign Secretary Jack Straw, who in an article in the Independent repeated not only his inexplicable belief that his idol, Iran’s President Rouhani, was ushering in a new world order of peace and harmony, but also that the benighted Israelis were buying up Washington in order to frustrate this nirvana (I paraphrase, but you get the general idea).
Yet, this deep dislike of Israel stems not only from Israel’s alliance with America and the West, but also from the fact that it is a Jewish state. For the decidedly post-nationalist British left, Zionism is an anathema–the idea that a people as cosmopolitan as the Jews would have set themselves on the wrong side of history by establishing a nation of their own. The Jews were once favored by the left, when they were poor and widely discriminated against. But as Britain’s Minister for Education Michael Gove has explained of the left’s mentality, “when Jews are successful, assertive, self-confident or, worst of all, conservative, then they move, metaphorically, beyond the pale.”
Given the way in which those such as MP Grahame Morris would so casually associate the Israeli flag with Nazis, it would appear that there is a sense of growing confidence among the anti-Israel and anti-Jewish fringe in Britain’s parliament. But with such views flying around among lawmakers, there must be concerns about the future diplomatic relations between the two countries. And more than that, the questions about the future of the British Jewish community become ever more troubling.
The Labour Party’s public position is that it has no truck with Hamas, or with those who seek the destruction of the State of Israel. As Ed The reality is somewhat different. Prominent Labour MPs continue to support high profile Hamas activists in the United Kingdom, and are happy to speak at the same rallies as Jenny Tonge. This weekend, you could have attended a demonstration in support of Gaza which was addressed by Jenny Tonge and Labour’s shadow Justice Minister, Andy Slaughter MP.
A professor in the College of Pharmacy at Al-Quds, who asked to remain anonymous because of the sensitivity of the issue, said more than 50 Palestinian professors were engaged in joint research projects with Israeli universities, funded by international agencies like the U.S. Agency for International Development. He said that, without those grants, Palestinian academic research would collapse because “not a single dollar” was available from other places. He rejected the call for a boycott as having no practical value.
As for travel restrictions on foreign academics seeking to enter the Palestinian territories, which include the West Bank and Gaza, Mr. Palmor acknowledged that access to and from “Hamas-controlled Gaza” is now rarely possible via Israel, but he said Israel had played no part in the tight control of Gaza’s other border crossing, via Egypt.
For the West Bank, he said, academics are not routinely denied entry. “There is no ban on the entry to the West Bank of any lecturer, professor, or researcher. There never was.”
Back in 2005, when Mahmoud Ahmadinejad first entered office, I wrote a post that explained Iran's goal and strategy.
In short, Iran intended for many years to become a world superpower, and it wanted to use a combination of scientific expertise, military strength, and fearmongering to reach that goal. But above all - Iran intended to become the undisputed leader of the Islamic world, to move the center of the world's power from the US to Islamic lands.
While I made some mistakes - not realizing at the time how limited the powers of Iran's president were, and how Ayatollah Khamanei was really pulling all the strings, as well as underestimating the hatred that Sunnis and Shias have for each other - the analysis holds up pretty well for an 8-year old editorial.
Reading the tweets from Iran's Supreme Leader today one can see that this strategy has not changed at all.
But he has also been spending a lot of time lately trying to heal the Sunni-Shia rift by emphasizing what they have in common and berating those who try to keep their conflict going. He even attended a recdnt pan-Islamic conference.
Of course, the evil US and UK are the ones behind the 1300-year old rift to begin with:
You can see that Iran only wants unity under its leadership, because unity is not meant to heal Islam, but to entrench Iran as the undisputed leader of Islam.
Given that the Shiite-Sunni divisions have only grown over the past couple of years, it seems unlikely that Khamenei will make any headway. But an Iranian nuclear weapon - or clear demonstration that it could build one at will - would change the calculus of the region tremendously, especially since Sunni Gulf states are no longer feeling like the US is protecting them.
Note also how Khamanei creates a cult of personality around himself, with every single graphic featuring - him.
Assawsana (Jordan) reports that Jordan's trade unions are worried that John Kerry's frequent visits indicate that he intends to "liquidate the Palestinian cause at the expense of the people of Jordan and other Arab countries."
The trade unions rejected "any solutions which threaten the security of the homeland and do not give Palestinians the right to return to their homeland in addition to compensation, " stressing that the "right of return" is a sacred, legitimate right and may not be bargained or waived.
Is this because they love the Palestinians so much?
Oh, please. They say Kerry's supposed plan is "not a conspiracy against Palestine and its cause, but a conspiracy against Jordan."
Now, most Palestinians in Jordan are already Jordanian citizens, so what is the problem?
There are apparently two problems. One is that they don't want even the Palestinian Jordanians to stay in Jordan - they want an excuse to send them over the river!
The other one they hint at: "Resettlement and naturalization could empty the West Bank of the population and this is part of the liquidation of the Palestinian issue."
They are worried that if Arab countries tear up their existing bigoted laws discriminating against Palestinians and allowing them to become citizens, then the Palestinian Arabs in the West Bank might just decide they don't want to live in Palestine anymore, and move across the river or to other Arab countries.
If "Palestine" fails as a state, which is extremely likely given how incompetent and corrupt the PA is, then Arab countries will not only have to worry about their existing Palestinian "guests" - but they will face the prospect of five million more Arabs leaving Palestine to move their families to somewhere more stable.
To the Arab countries, the "right of return" really means "the right to keep our nations free of Palestinians." But they will swear up and down that they only mean to save the "Palestinian cause."
This is a new pamphlet being given out by the Muslim Waqf to visitors on the Temple Mount. I added two pages from the Waqf pamphlet of 1925 which shows how much they are lying nowadays. (Their 1950 pamphlet largely agreed with the earlier one; they changed history afterwards.)
There are a number of disturbing elements in the story of the "anti-normalization" advocates.
First, the protesters are acting against Israelis who openly support the Palestinian issue and are completely opposed to the policies of the current Israeli government. In other words, the Palestinians are "spitting in the face" of those Israelis who support their demands and are prepared to put their lives at risk by entering Ramallah to talk peace. Second, most of the activists who are protesting against such meetings are affiliated, in way or another, with the same Palestinian Authority, which is conducting official peace talks with Israel under the auspices of U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry. So why don't the "anti-normalization" folks also turn out against the Palestinian leadership in Ramallah? Most probably because they are scared of being arrested or harassed by Palestinian security forces. Moreover, many of the activists are on the payroll of the PA and are afraid of losing their salaries.
“I’m not going to hide the frustration in my voice when I say that this decision is a blow to peace, and a slap in the face of every Jew,” said Rabbi Avraham Cooper, associate dean of the SWC and project director of the exhibition.
Cooper said the press conference was “a plea to Arab nations” that think that portraying Jews’ historical ties to the land of Israel would be a barrier to peace negotiations in the Middle East, calling such thoughts “sheer nonsense.”
Professor Robert Wistrich had bought a ticket to Paris to attend the opening of an exhibition he wrote about the Jewish people’s connection to the Land of Israel, which was supposed to take place Monday at the headquarters of UNESCO. But after the exhibition was indefinitely postponed, without prior warning, due to Arab pressure, he canceled and decided to stay in Jerusalem. “This is such a betrayal. To do it in this way is so disgraceful,” fumed Wistrich, who directs the Hebrew University’s Vidal Sassoon International Center for the Study of Antisemitism and is one of the world’s leading authorities in the field. An “appalling act,” the cancellation “completely destroyed any claim that UNESCO could possibly have to be representing the universal values of toleration, mutual understanding, respect for the other and narratives that are different, engaging with civil society organizations and the importance of education. Because there’s one standard for Jews, and there’s another standard for non-Jews, especially if they’re Arabs, but not only.”
The Globe and Mail publishes an article by Nabil Sha'ath, Fatah foreign relations commissioner, member of the PLO Political Committee and former foreign minister.
Prime Minister Stephen Harper has visited Palestine.
He has met with President Mahmoud Abbas, and he would have been received with the grace and generosity of spirit that is characteristic of Abu Mazen and his people. Mr. Harper will be able to say that he visited Mr. Abbas.
But other than this official meeting, nobody else is asking to meet Mr. Harper. This would not have been the case with a Canadian leader only a few years ago, and it is a shame that it has become the case today.
Unlike previous governments, the current Canadian government has done everything possible in order to undermine Palestine's international status and stand in the way of our right to self-determination, acting in disrespect for international law.
The past few years have witnessed a shocking voting record in the UN, which has left Canada almost alone in many instances. Canada has declined to vote even on basic, near-universally accepted resolutions, such as the illegality of Israeli settlements or the right of the Palestinian people to self-determination.
Meanwhile, actions such as Foreign Minister John Baird’s meeting with Tzipi Livni in occupied East Jerusalem in June, 2013, and Canada's lobby against Palestine's UN bid have taken Canada outside of international consensus, making Canada part of the problem rather than part of the solution.
How many people reading this realize that Fatah still supports terrorism, today, and even insists that killing Jewish women and children is one of their rights under international law?
How many Globe and Mail readers realize that Sha'ath is on the record, multiple times, as saying that a Palestinian Arab state would be a springboard to taking over Israel?
Sha'ath and the entire PLO and Fatah leadership looks at "Palestine " as a Trojan horse, which, together with the "right of return" will destroy the Jewish state. They really don't try to hide this. Too bad the Globe and Mail passed up their opportunity to expose him as a hypocrite.
Meanwhile, I imagine that the PLO isn't too happy with Norway either.
The new Norwegian government, which so far was considered one of the most hostile administrations facing Israel, is working towards bracing the ties between the two countries and enhancing mutual cooperation in an array of fields.
The conservative-progressive minority government, which was established some three months ago, included an article in its elections platform that states that the government will change its Middle East policy and implement a more balanced course of action. This is in stark opposition to previous leftist administrations, whose policy was clearly pro-Arab.
As part of the new policy, Norway's Prime Minister and Conservative Party Leader Erna Solberg is expected to make a visit to Israel later this year. It will be the first visit of a Norwegian prime minister in over a decade. Solberg was also among the first world leaders to issue a letter of condolences following the passing of former prime minister Ariel Sharon.
A couple of people have written to me about an insane story in Middle East Monitor. I briefly addressed the story last week when Ma'an published it but here is a more comprehensive answer.
MEMO wrote last week:
Israeli settlers have stormed repeatedly Al-Aqsa Mosque compound over the last two days, and on Thursday even climbed the Dome of the Rock Mosque. The settlers were led by the radical Rabbi Yehuda Glick, who is the former head of the Temple Institute. He was accompanied by a journalist on Thursday who carried a camera to document the attack, while settlers reportedly engaged in verbal altercations with angry Muslim worshipers defending the mosque. Witnesses reported that Rabbi Glick returned to storm the Al-Aqsa Mosque twice on Friday, joined by groups of Jewish settlers whom he lectured to about the alleged Temple.
The settlers have now become accustomed to storming the mosque regularly, usually touring around the yards starting from the Mughrabi Gate and then going to Al-Marwani Mosque, Rahma Gate, Al-Asbat Gate and King Faisal Gate until the Alqtanin Gate, exiting from Al-Selselah Gate. However, this is the first incident where the settlers have climbed the Dome of the Rock Mosque.
The General Director of Muslim Endowments and Al-Aqsa Mosque Affairs, Sheikh Azzam Al-Khatib, has condemned the incident and described it as a provocative and dangerous step. Meanwhile, the Islamic-Christian Committee to support Jerusalem and its holy sites issued a press statement affirming that the incident represents "a flagrant violation against places of worship" and pointing out that the Israeli occupation authorities have almost completed their efforts to Judaise Al-Aqsa Mosque and its surroundings and are preparing to announce it as a Jewish synagogue.
This never happened. It is pure fiction. It is absurd. The "eyewitnesses" are lying.
As Yisrael Medad mentioned, when large groups of Jews visit the Temple Mount, they are accompanied by Waqf guards. They would not let anything like that happen.
They are also accompanied by Israeli security guards who strictly limit what they can do (you know, sometimes those Jews actually try to pray!)
Yehuda Glick, who is now the number one bogeyman in every "Jews storming Temple Mount" story, would never go near the Dome of the Rock because it is near or on top of the "Holy of Holies" and off limits to religious Jews (although, as Medad points out, last year Israeli MK Moshe Feiglin anomalously found justification to go there, it hasn't happened before or since.)
Arab websites like iaqsa.com take dozens of photos every time a Jewish group visits the holy site. No photos or videos have surfaced of this alleged event - not even from the supposed journalist who took photos.
And, seriously - how would anyone climb up there? Did the Jews bring a ladder through Mughrabi Gate?
The story says Glick returned twice on Friday. Jews aren't allowed on the Temple Mount on Fridays at all.
It is just another Arab lie, even though it was commented on by Muslim and PLO officials.
MEMO is notoriously unreliable, it is a UK-based Islamist website.
The MEMO story has over 16,000 Facebook "Likes." So apparently this story has gone viral.
To get an idea of the restrictions on Jews in the Temple Mount today, see this article.
A former Canadian minister who visited the Temple Mount on Sunday was shocked to learn of the discrimination shown by Israeli police officers towards Jews.
Stockwell Day, who served as Canada’s Minister of Public Safety between 2006 and 2008, visited the Temple Mount following a coincidental meeting with a resident of Jerusalem, Yosef Rabin, who regularly visits the Temple Mount compound.
Israel's UN Ambassador Ron Prosor addressing the UN Security Council on the situation in the Middle East, Monday:
The Middle East is known as the cradle of civilization – the birthplace of history’s greatest empires and three world religions. The region was once admired for its stirring art, striking architecture and significant innovations.
Today, the world looks at the Middle East and sees a region shaken by violence. From the Arabian Sea to the Mediterranean Sea, not a day goes by when we do not read about brutality and bloodshed or new threats looming on the horizon.
Amidst this sea of hostility, Israel is an island of stability and democracy. It is a nation in which the majority governs, but the minority enjoys equal rights; a nation that embraces diversity and welcomes diverse opinions; and, a nation that leads the world in human rights and encourages women to be leaders.
Israel is proud of its democracy and yearns for peace with its neighbors and security in its borders. The people of Israel are still mourning the loss of their legendary statesman and soldier, Ariel Sharon. He was a fearless leader who knew the heavy price of war and was willing to take bold steps for peace.
The State of Israel is still willing to take courageous steps for peace and is committed to serious and meaningful negotiations with the Palestinians. I would like to take this opportunity to thank the United States and Secretary Kerry, in particular, for his tireless devotion to promoting peace in our region.
Mr. President,
Twenty years ago, I recall watching King Hussein and Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin meet in the Arava desert to sign the historic peace treaty between our two countries. At the signing, King Hussein said (and I quote), “This is peace with commitment. This is our gift to our peoples and the generations to come."
Fifteen years after his death, King Hussein’s legacy of peace lives on. Israelis from across the political and religious spectrum still admire King Hussein’s towering morality and his profound belief in the sanctity of life and the dignity of every human being.
I and most Israelis will never forget the sight of King Hussein consoling the Israeli families whose children had been killed in a terrorist attack. After learning that a Jordanian soldier had murdered seven Israeli schoolgirls, King Hussein traveled to Israel to visit the homes of the bereaved families. One by one, he sat with the grieving parents, held their hands, offered words of condolence and hugged and kissed them.
King Hussein told them (and I quote), “I feel that if there is anything left in life, it will be to ensure that all the children enjoy the kind of peace and security that we never had in our times.” This is the legacy that his son, King Abdullah, proudly continues today.
Contrast this picture, with a picture from just a few weeks ago. In December, Israel once again made the heartbreaking decision to release convicted Palestinian terrorists in an effort to advance the peace process.
The released terrorists were given a heroes’ welcome by the Palestinians and embraced by President Abbas. Murderers were met with fireworks and festivities and showered with candies and congratulations. The Palestinian Authority is rewarding terrorists with tens of thousands of dollars. The motto of the PA’s pension plan seems to be ‘the more you slay, the more we pay.’
This is coexistence? This is tolerance? This is mutual respect? Grieving Israelis watched as Palestinians celebrated men like Abu Harbish who threw a firebomb at a bus, murdering 26-year-old Rachel Weiss and her three young children.
To everyone in this room I ask - how would you feel if you had to watch your family’s murderers being celebrated? Would you call into question the so-called 'peaceful' intentions of your neighbors? President Abbas could learn a great deal from King Hussein of Jordan about demonstrating his commitment to making peace.
Since peace talks began in July, there have been hundreds of examples of Palestinian incitement against Israelis and Jews. From cradles to kindergartens and from schools to soccer stadiums, Palestinian children are besieged by messages of hate.
They are born in hospitals named after violent Palestinian groups, attend schools named after terrorists, and are taught from textbooks that describe Zionism as racism. In their free time, Palestinian children play on sports teams named after murderers and watch television programs that teach that Jews are “our enemies and should be killed.”
Rather than condemning this incitement, the Palestinian Authority is amplifying the messages of intolerance. President Abbas’s Fatah party regularly displays maps that erase Israel. In one map, for example, the Palestinian flag flies over the entire geographic area of the State of Israel. This map extends from the Mediterranean Sea to the Jordan River and is entitled “Palestine.”
In a speech on Christmas Day, President Abbas declared that Jesus was a (quote) “Palestinian messenger” and suggested Israel was to blame for the exodus of Christians from the Holy Land. This is a blatant attempt to rewrite history and erase any connection between the Jewish people and the land of Israel. Today we are witnessing a mass exodus of Christians from the Palestinian territories and the Arab world because of the constant persecution and discrimination that they face by the Arab states.
Abbas’s made-up maps and mythical accounts could join the fables of One Thousand and One Nights.
We have already lost an entire generation to incitement. How many more children will grow up being taught hate instead of peace; violence instead of tolerance; and martyrdom instead of mutual understanding? The international community must finally confront Palestinian leaders and publically demand an end to the incitement.
The glorification of terrorists combined with unrelenting messages of hate are having deadly consequences. In 2013, there were 1,500 attacks against Israelis, 700 of which occurred after peace negotiations began in July. In recent months there has been a sharp increase in terrorist attacks including the murder of five Israelis.
Just last month, a Palestinian sniper murdered 22-year-old Saleh Abu Latif, an Israeli Bedouin civilian. Two day earlier, a bomb exploded on a civilian bus in a suburb just outside Tel Aviv. Had it not been for the quick thinking of the bus driver and an alert passenger, dozens of people could have been killed. A successful attack could have had disastrous consequences for the peace talks.
In the face of this violence and bloodshed we have yet to hear President Abbas and the Palestinian Authority, utter a single word denouncing these attacks. They even remained silent when it was revealed that one of the bus bombers was a member of the Palestinian police force. While most police forces have officers that uproot terrorism, this police officer was busy planting bombs.
The Palestinian leadership has yet to learn that real peace requires real commitment. You cannot condemn terrorism to international media and congratulate terrorists on Palestinian media. You cannot victimize others and then insist you are the victim. And you cannot use this forum to spread destructive messages and expect constructive results.
How many times have you heard that the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is the major conflict in the Middle East? ‘You solve this conflict, you solve all the conflicts in the Middle East.’ Some in this Chamber have even repeated this fiction.
Really? The Israeli-Palestinian conflict is the major conflict in the Middle East? Wow. People who say this need an eye doctor to help them see clearly – beginning maybe with the ophthalmologist from Damascus, Bashar al-Assad, who is butchering his people every day. I’m sure that’s connected to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Shiites fighting Sunnis fighting Alawites; extremist groups battling one another in Libya, Yemen and Tunisia; Al-Qaeda forces overrunning major cities in Iraq - all of this is caused by the Israeli-Palestinian conflict? That’s a revelation.
The truth is that Israel is an island of stability in a sea of tyranny. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., whose legacy is being celebrated today, once described Israel as (quote): “one of the great outposts of democracy in the world and a marvelous example of what can be done - how desert land can be transformed into an oasis of brotherhood and democracy. Peace for Israel means security, and that security must be a reality."
I think it should be obvious that the violence and instability afflicting the Middle East has nothing to do with Israel. We must solve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict on its own merits because it’s important for us. Solving this conflict isn’t a prescription to cure the epidemic of violence plaguing the Middle East.
Despite what you constantly hear, the core of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict has never been about borders or settlements. The major obstacle to peace remains the refusal of Palestinian leaders to accept the Jewish State in any border. You will never hear President Abbas or any Palestinian leader utter the phrase “two states for two peoples.”
Let me understand this – the Palestinians call for an independent Palestinian state, but want millions of their people to flood the Jewish state? It will never happen. It is a complete nonstarter. Many in this Chamber are vocal about telling Israel what to do, but begin to stutter, mumble and fall silent when it comes to telling the Palestinians what they must do.
Each and everyone here must tell the Palestinians that there will never be peace as long as they refuse to recognize Israel as the nation state of the Jewish people and insist on a so-called right of return.
Despite what many may believe, Israel dedicates a great deal of its energy and resources to assisting the Palestinian people. Today, more than 100,000 Palestinians earn their living in Israel and their income constitutes more than 10% of the Palestinian GDP.
Israel helps generate solutions to energize the Palestinian economy. We transfer millions of dollars in electricity, water and natural gas to power Palestinian homes, schools and hospitals. When a giant storm struck last month, Israel delivered humanitarian aid and water pumps and facilitated the passage of fuel and cooking gas to Palestinians in need.
Yet for every truckload in the name of coexistence, we seem to be feeding a Palestinian opposition that challenges our very existence. It is time for Palestinians leaders to lead. It is time for them to set a course towards coexistence. And it is time for them to build the Palestinian people up rather than tear Israel down.
The Middle East is plagued by a reign of tyrants and a drought in leadership. Millions of people have taken to the streets demanding better lives, better economies and greater opportunities. The first peaceful protests in the region were in the streets of Tehran, where the government brutalizes it citizens and throws innocent people into jail.
Many in the international community believed that the new Iranian president would set a new precedent. It has been almost six months since President Rouhani took office and Iran is still persecuting minorities, imprisoning journalists, and targeting political adversaries. The Iranian government has executed more of its citizens per capita than any other government. Last year alone, the regime executed almost 600 people, including 367 since President Rouhani took office in August.
Iran does not confine its violence and extremism to its own borders. From Buenos Aires to Burgas, Iran is the world’s primary sponsor of terror. Just this month, Iranian Foreign Minister Zarif paid tribute on behalf of the Islamic Republic at the grave of one of Hezbollah’s most notorious murderers.
Rather than cleaning house, the new president believes he can sweep Iran’s atrocities under the Persian rug by introducing UN resolutions that condemn violence and extremism. Iran’s WAVE resolution may have made a splash at the UN, but messages of intolerance and violence continue to trickle down from the top.
Behind Iran’s smiling façade, President Rouhani and Ayatollah Khamenei continue to preach hatred and provoke hostility. Ayatollah Khamenei recently appeared on state television and delegitimized Israel using disgusting profanity that doesn’t bear repeating.
The ink is barely dry on the interim nuclear agreement and Iran is already showing its true colors. This is a regime that crosses red lines, produces yellow cake, and beats its citizens black and blue. Meanwhile, some in the international community are willing to serve Iran its yellow cake on a silver platter. Permitting Iran to keep its enrichment capabilities today means that Iran will retain the ability to breakout and build a nuclear bomb tomorrow.
Violence is encoded in the Iranian regime’s DNA. It doesn’t take a crime scene investigator to see Iran’s fingerprints on the violence erupting in parts of the Middle East.
In the Gaza Strip, Iran backs the Hamas terrorist organization that uses Palestinian schools, hospitals and mosques to launch rockets at Israeli citizens. We are barely three weeks into the new year and Hamas has already launched 17 rockets at Israel – attacks that have closed schools and kept tens of thousands of children in Southern Israel at home.
The international community has yet to find the time to utter even a single condemnation of these attacks – attacks that could derail the peace process. It has also yet to condemn Hamas for deliberately exploiting children. Schools in Gaza have become the training ground for the next generation of terrorists. Last week, Hamas graduated 13,000 students from paramilitary camps geared at training children to fight Israel.
In Lebanon, Iran has helped Hezbollah hijack the Lebanese state and transform it into an outpost for terror. For years, Hezbollah insisted it needed a private army to defend Lebanon against Israel. Today, that army has sent 2,000 fighters to butcher the Syrian people and shoot rockets into Israel.
Hezbollah has positioned 60,000 missiles and rockets in the heart of Southern Lebanon’s civilian population. General Hajizadeh, a senior commander in Iran's Revolutionary Guards recently boasted that Hezbollah has improved its missile capabilities and can now “hit and destroy any target” in Israel.
Hezbollah intentionally hides these missiles in the basements of homes, in the playgrounds of schools, and in the back rooms of hospitals. In doing so, Hezbollah is committing a double war crime - first by using Lebanese civilians as human shields and second by targeting Israeli citizens.
The Government of Lebanon cannot continue to ignore what is happening in Southern Lebanon and it can no longer ignore its international obligations under resolution 1701. Throughout December, armed terrorists fired shots across the Blue Line into northern Israel. In one incident, a member of the Lebanese Armed Forces shot Israeli, Shlomi Cohen, in a ruthless and unprovoked attack.
It is time for this Council to hold accountable all those that arm, train and harbor terrorists. It is time to speak out against those who callously disregard human life. As we have seen in Syria, the failure to do so has disastrous consequences.
The war in Syria is approaching its fourth year and the death toll continues to climb. The Syrian government has resorted to new depths of brutality by dropping “barrel bombs” packed with explosives, nails and other shrapnel on markets and hospitals. In just a few days, more than 700 people were killed and over 3,000 were injured.
The State of Israel and the Jewish people are deeply troubled by the suffering of the Syrian people and are reaching out to help them. While some in the region are aiding the murderous Assad regime, Israel is providing medical aid.
Sunnis, Alawites and Shiites are running to Israel – the so-called “enemy” because they know that Israel will treat anyone without prejudice and regardless of ethnicity, religion or gender. And we will continue to lend humanitarian assistance to the victims with open arms and an open heart.
Today, the Middle East stands at a critical juncture. There are two roads before us. The first is the future offered by Iran and Syria - a future of more extremism and greater violence. And the second is the road towards equality, reform and stability.
Study after study has shown the clear connection between advancing peace and advancing equal rights. When a woman receives an education, her children are healthier and more likely to get an education. And when a woman generates her own income she reinvests 90% in her family and community. But women can only help drive a nation’s economy if they are allowed into the driver’s seat.
As we begin this new year, the international community must call upon Arab leaders to choose the path of progress and abandon the road of repression. Tell them that tyranny will fail; tell them peace is built on tolerance; and tell them that every man and every woman is entitled to equal rights and equal opportunities.
As Winston Churchill said: “All the great things are simple, and many can be expressed in a single word: freedom... honor...hope.” The international community must stand on the side of human rights and human dignity. You must speak up and speak out so that the people of the Middle East can finally enjoy freedom, honor and hope.
16 killed by twin car bombs on Turkey-Syrian border Monday 28 killed in Iraq bombings Monday 4 killed in Egyptian violence Friday 5 killed by snipers in Tripoli, Lebanon since Saturday 1 killed in Algerian town where sectarian violence erupts
Evidence that Syria systematically killed 11,000 16 killed by suicide bomber at restaurant in Afghanistan on Friday
Pakistani Taliban killed 20 soldiers in Peshawar on Sunday
Why can't Israel be more flexible for to achieve Middle East peace?
Nazis and racists used to spearhead Jewish hatred, based on ancient crackpot defamations that date back to the Jewish Diaspora into Europe after the Roman destruction of Judea.
But lately, anti-Semitism has become more a left-wing pathology. It is driven by the cheap multicultural trashing of the West. Jewish people here and abroad have become convenient targets for those angry with supposedly undeserved Western success and privilege.
Aside from the old envy, and racial and religious hatred, I think cowardice explains the new selective anti-Semitism. Mr. West would not dare slander radical Muslims, given the violence and threats against European cartoonists and filmmakers who have dared to create work perceived as insulting to Islam. The American Studies Association would not call for a boycott of Russia despite its endemic persecution of homosexuals. After all, Russian President Vladimir Putin is as unpredictable as Israeli politicians are forbearing. (h/t Bob Knot)
Peter Schrank’s cartoon, which accompanies an article on negotiations with Iran in this week’s Economist, depicts President Obama with his ankle shackled to the Judaised seal of the US Congress, thereby prevented from shaking hands with Iran’s President Rouhani, who is being restrained by his nefarious-looking, US-flag-burning compatriots. The message is that either American Jews or Israel (and it is unclear which, because the Star of David is both a Jewish and Israeli symbol) are holding the United States back from making peace with Iran – and moreover, that they are doing so through their control of the machinery of the American government, since the Star of David is incorporated into the official insignia of the US, alongside the stars and stripes. The Israel Lobby, as the cartoon rather nefariously hints, is not a separate influence on the US government – it is a constituent part of it. (h/t Bob Knot)
This is not 1939. The Jewish People Live. No amount of preaching of anti-Semitic propaganda on college campuses will ever be effective, so long as we in the Zionist community fight back. No amount of lies and hatred spewed out of the mouths of cowards and traitors to their own people will ever keep us silent. We, my friends and I, we protested last week. We held up signs that said “False” and “Inaccurate” every time the lecturers said something incorrect. We shouted out, we booed, we asked questions, we were defiant. And we will keep being defiant and you should too. If you ever find out anything like this is happening in your community, speak up, take action, fight back; we must never be made to go down the dark road of pogroms and anti-Jewish laws again, not here, not elsewhere, not ever. But it can start with a pamphlet. It can start with a book. It can start with an anti-Israel organization or a lecture on a college campus in New Orleans, Louisiana. So stand up and be counted. Zion, rise up.
Two Grad rockets were fired at the Red Sea resort town of Eilat Monday evening, striking an open area close to the city.
Initial reports had indicated the blasts were centered near the Le-Meridian hotel in the city’s crowded waterfront area.
The cause of the explosions was not immediately known, and Israel Defense Forces troops were dispatched to the area to search for the source of the blasts.
The explosions came just as Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper was finishing a speech at Israel’s Knesset.
It is unclear how the newspaper knows they are Grad rockets if the remains weren't found.
At least one rocket struck the outskirts of Israel's southern Red Sea resort of Eilat on Monday, a security source told AFP.
"At least one rocket was fired at Eilat and they found the remains on the outskirts of the city," he said, speaking on condition of anonymity, adding the searches were continuing.
Neither the police nor the army could confirm rocket fire on the city, although residents had reported hearing several explosions earlier in the evening, a police statement said.
It was not clear if the missiles were launched from the Sinai or central Gaza, but in either case, Hamas, Islamic Jihad or their brethren probably were involved.
However, the idea that rockets reached from Gaza to Eilat is far-fetched. If it was true, then the range of Gaza rockets is much longer than previously shown and there is no way the terrorists would waste a "surprise" like that without a good reason. A rocket from Gaza that goes over 100 miles/160 km would invite an immediate and devastating IDF response, with or without damage.
Which means that the rockets likely came from Egypt and overshot, or from Jordan and fell short. Egypt is the far more obvious candidate.
I doubt Hamas would want to be involved in such an enterprise, but Islamic Jihad very possibly might. However, the Sinai Salafists don't need much of a reason to shoot at Israel and they know that Israel isn't likely to shoot back. So my guess is that, assuming that these were rockets, they were from one of the many Islamist groups in the Sinai.
UPDATE: I was right; the Salafist group "Ansar al-Bayt al-Maqdis" took credit for the rockets.
Their message was that this was to punish the Jews for desecrating holy places.
Monsieur le Premier Ministre, Monsieur le Président de la Knesset, Monsieur le Président de la Cour Suprême, Monsieur le Chef de l’Opposition, Mesdames et Messieurs les Ministres, Et les Députes, Distingués Invités, Mesdames et Messieurs,
Shalom. And thank you for inviting me to visit this remarkable country, and especially for this opportunity to address the Knesset. It is truly a great honour.
And if I may, Mr. Speaker, on behalf of my wife Laureen and the entire Canadian delegation, let me begin by thanking the Government and people of Israel for the warmth of your hospitality. You have made us feel extremely welcome. We have felt immediately at home.
Ladies and Gentlemen, Canada and Israel are the greatest of friends, and the most natural of allies. And, with your indulgence, I would like to offer a reflection upon what makes the relationship between Canada and Israel special and important. Because the relationship between us is very strong.
L’amitié entre le Canada et Israël prend ses racines dans l’histoire, se nourrit de valeurs communes et se renforce volontairement aux plus hauts échelons du commerce et du gouvernement ce qui est l’expression de fermes convictions.
The friendship between us is rooted in history, nourished by shared values, and it is intentionally reinforced at the highest levels of commerce and government as an outward expression of strongly held inner convictions.
There has, for example, been a free trade agreement in place between Canada and Israel for many years, an agreement that has already proved its worth. The elimination of tariffs on industrial products, and some foodstuffs, has led to a doubling in the value of trade between our countries. But this only scratches the surface of the economic potential of this relationship. And I look forward to soon deepening and broadening our mutual trade and investment goals.
As well, our military establishments share information and technology. This has also been to our mutual benefit. For example, during Canada’s mission to Afghanistan, our use of Israeli-built reconnaissance equipment saved the lives of Canadian soldiers.
All such connections are important, and build strong bridges between us.
Pour bien comprendre la relation particulière entre Israël et le Canada, il faut regarder, au-delà du commerce et des institutions, les liens personnels tissés par l’amitié et la parenté.
However, to truly understand the special relationship between Israel and Canada, one must look beyond trade and institutions to the personal ties of friendship and kinship. Jews have been present in Canada for more than 250 years. In generation after generation, by hard work and perseverance, Jewish immigrants, often starting with nothing, have prospered greatly. Today, there are nearly 350,000 Canadians who share with you their heritage and their faith. They are proud Canadians. But having met literally thousands of members of this community, I can tell you this: They are also immensely proud of what the people of Israel have accomplished here, of your courage in war, of your generosity in peace, and of the bloom that the desert has yielded, under your stewardship.
Laureen and I share that pride, the pride and the understanding that what has been achieved here has occurred in the shadow of the horrors of the Holocaust.
La compréhension du fait qu’il est juste d’appuyer Israël parce qu’après avoir connu la persécution durant plusieurs générations, le peuple juif
mérite d’avoir son propre pays et mérite de vivre en sécurité et en paix dans ce pays.
The understanding that it is right to support Israel because, after generations of persecution, the Jewish people deserve their own homeland and deserve to live safely and peacefully in that homeland. Now let me repeat that: Canada supports Israel because it is right to do so.
This is a very Canadian trait, to do something for no reason other than it is right, even when no immediate reward for, or threat to, ourselves
is evident.
On many occasions, Canadians have even gone so far as to bleed and die to defend the freedom of others in far-off lands. To be clear, we have also periodically made terrible mistakes as in the refusal of our government in the 1930s to ease the plight of Jewish refugees. But, as a country, at the turning points of history, Canada has consistently chosen, often to our great cost, to stand with others who oppose injustice, and to confront the dark forces of the world.
Il est donc dans la tradition canadienne de défendre ce qui est juste et fondé sur des principes, que ce soit ou non commode ou populaire.
It is, thus, a Canadian tradition to stand for what is principled and just, regardless of whether it is convenient or popular.
But, I would argue, support today for the Jewish State of Israel is more than a moral imperative. It is also of strategic importance, also a matter of our own long-term interests.
Ladies and gentlemen, I said a moment ago that the special friendship between Canada and Israel is rooted in shared values.
En effet, Israël est le seul pays du Moyen‑Orient à s’être ancré depuis longtemps dans les idéaux de liberté, de démocratie et de primauté du droit.
Indeed, Israel is the only country in the Middle East Which has long anchored itself in the ideals of freedom, democracy and the rule of law. These are not mere notions. They are the things that, over time and against all odds, have proven to be the only ground in which human rights, political stability, and economic prosperity, may flourish. These values are not proprietary; they do not belong to one nation or one people. Nor are they a finite resource; on the contrary, the wider they are spread, the stronger they grow.
Likewise, when they are threatened anywhere, they are threatened everywhere. And what threatens them, or more precisely, what today threatens the societies that embrace such values and the progress they nurture? Those who scorn modernity, who loathe the liberty of others, and who hold the differences of peoples and cultures in contempt. Those who often begin by hating the Jews, but, history shows us, end up hating anyone who is not them. Those forces which have threatened the State of Israel every single day of its existence, and which, today, as 9-11 graphically showed us, threaten us all.
Ou bien, nous défendons nos valeurs et nos intérêts, ici, en Israël, nous défendons l’existence d’un État libre, démocratique et distinctement juif ou bien nous amorçons un recul, sur le plan de nos valeurs et de nos intérêts dans le monde.
And so, either we stand up for our values and our interests, here, in Israel, stand up for the existence of a free, democratic and distinctively Jewish state, or the retreat of our values and our interests in the world will begin.
Ladies and gentlemen, Just as we refuse to retreat from our values, so we must also uphold the duty to advance them. And our commitment as Canadians to what is right, fair and just is a universal one. It applies no less to the Palestinian people than it does to the people of Israel.
Autant le Canada soutient sans réserve le droit d’Israël à la légitime défense, autant il préconise depuis longtemps un avenir juste et sûr pour le peuple palestinien.
Just as we unequivocally support Israel’s right of self-defence so too Canada has long-supported a just and secure future for the Palestinian people.
And, I believe, we share with Israel a sincere hope that the Palestinian people and their leaders will choose a viable, democratic, Palestinian state, committed to living peacefully alongside the Jewish State of Israel. As you, Prime Minister, have said, when Palestinians make peace with Israel, Israel will not be the last country to welcome a Palestinian state as a new member of the United Nations. It will be the first.
Sadly, we have yet to reach that point. But, when that day comes, and come it must, I can tell you that Israel may be the first to welcome a sovereign Palestinian state, but Canada will be right behind you.
Ladies and Gentlemen, support – even firm support – doesn’t mean that allies and friends will agree on all issues all of the time. No state is beyond legitimate questioning or criticism. But our support does mean at least three things.
First, Canada finds it deplorable that some in the international community still question the legitimacy of the existence of the State of Israel.
Notre point de vue sur le droit à l’existence d’Israël en tant qu’État juif est absolu et non négociable.
Our view on Israel’s right to exist as a Jewish state is absolute and non-negotiable.
Deuxièmement, le Canada est convaincu qu’Israël devrait pouvoir exercer ses pleins droits d’État membre de l’ONU et profiter de sa souveraineté dans toute sa mesure.
Second, Canada believes that Israel should be able to exercise its full rights as a UN member-state, and to enjoy the full measure of its sovereignty. For this reason, Canada has spoken on numerous occasions in support of Israel’s engagement and equal treatment in multilateral fora. And, in this regard, I should mention that we welcome Israel’s induction this month into the western, democratic group of states at the United Nations.
Troisièmement, Nous nous refusons à critiquer Israël de façon isolée sur la scène internationale.
Third, we refuse to single out Israel for criticism on the international stage. Now I understand, in the world of diplomacy, with one, solitary, Jewish state and scores of others, it is all too easy “to go along to get along” and single out Israel. But such “going along to get along,” is not a “balanced” approach, nor a “sophisticated” one; it is, quite simply, weak and wrong. Unfortunately, ladies and gentlemen, we live in a world where that kind of moral relativism runs rampant. And in the garden of such moral relativism, the seeds of much more sinister notions can be easily planted.
And so we have witnessed, in recent years, the mutation of the old disease of anti-Semitism and the emergence of a new strain. We all know about the old anti-Semitism. It was crude and ignorant, and it led to the horrors of the death camps. Of course, in many dark corners, it is still with us. But, in much of the western world, the old hatred has been translated into more sophisticated language for use in polite society. People who would never say they hate and blame the Jews for their own failings or the problems of the world, instead declare their hatred of Israel and blame the only Jewish state for the problems of the Middle East.
As once Jewish businesses were boycotted, some civil-society leaders today call for a boycott of Israel. On some campuses, intellectualized arguments against Israeli policies thinly mask the underlying realities, such as the shunning of Israeli academics and the harassment of Jewish students. Most disgracefully of all, some openly call Israel an apartheid state. Think about that. Think about the twisted logic and outright malice behind that: A state, based on freedom, democracy and the rule of law, that was founded so Jews can flourish, as Jews, and seek shelter from the shadow of the worst racist experiment in history, that is condemned, and that condemnation is masked in the language of anti-racism. It is nothing short of sickening.
(At this point in Harper’s address, several Arab Knesset members, some of whom had earlier heckled him, got up and left the Knesset chamber. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other Knesset stood to applaud Harper.)
Mais, il s’agit du nouveau visage de l’antisémitisme. Un antisémitisme qui vise le peuple juif en prétendant viser Israël.
But this is the face of the new anti-Semitism. It targets the Jewish people by targeting Israel and attempts to make the old bigotry acceptable for a new generation. Of course, criticism of Israeli government policy is not in and of itself necessarily anti-Semitic. But what else can we call criticism that selectively condemns only the Jewish state and effectively denies its right to defend itself while systematically ignoring – or excusing – the violence and oppression all around it? What else can we call it when Israel is routinely targeted at the United Nations, and when Israel remains the only country to be the subject of a permanent agenda item at the regular sessions of its Human Rights Council?
Ladies and gentlemen, any assessment – any judgment – of Israel’s actions must start with this understanding: Depuis soixante-cinq ans qu’existe comme nation l’État moderne d’Israël, les israéliens ont enduré d’innombrables attaques et calomnies et n’ont pas eu une seule journée de véritable paix.
In the sixty-five years that modern Israel has been a nation, Israelis have endured attacks and slanders beyond counting and have never known a day of true peace. And we understand that Israelis live with this impossible calculus: If you act to defend yourselves, you will suffer widespread condemnation, over and over again. But should you fail to act you alone will suffer the consequence of your inaction, and that consequence will be final, your destruction.
La vérité, que le Canada comprend, est que beaucoup des forces hostiles dirigées contre Israël s’exercent aussi sur tous les pays occidentaux. Et Israël y fait face pour beaucoup des mêmes raisons que nous. Mais Israël y est confronté de beaucoup plus près.
The truth, that Canada understands, is that many of the hostile forces Israel faces are faced by all western nations. And Israel faces them for many of the same reasons we face them. You just happen to be a lot closer to them. Of course, no nation is perfect. But neither Israel’s existence nor its policies are responsible for the instability in the Middle East today.
One must look beyond Israel’s borders to find the causes of the relentless oppression, poverty and violence in much of the region, of the heartbreaking suffering of Syrian refugees, of sectarian violence and the fears of religious minorities, especially Christians, and of the current domestic turmoil in so many states.
So what are we to do? Most importantly, we must deal with the world as we find it. The threats in this region are real, deeply rooted, and deadly and the forces of progress, often anaemically weak. For too many nations, it is still easier to scapegoat Israel than to emulate your success. It is easier to foster resentment and hatred of Israel’s democracy than it is to provide the same rights and freedoms to their own people.
Je suis convaincu qu’un État palestinien viendra, et l’une des conditions qui va lui permettre de venir c’est lorsque les régimes qui financent le terrorisme se rendront compte que le chemin de la paix est celui de la conciliation, pas celui de la violence.
I believe that a Palestinian state will come, and one thing that will make it come is when the regimes that bankroll terrorism realise that the path to peace is accommodation, not violence.
Which brings me to the government of Iran. Late last year, the world announced a new approach to diplomacy with the government in Tehran. Canada has long held the view that every diplomatic measure should be taken to ensure that regime never obtains a nuclear weapon. We therefore appreciate the earnest efforts of the five permanent members of the Security Council and Germany. Canada will evaluate the success of this approach not on the merits of its words, but on the implementation and verification of its promised actions.
Nous espérons vraiment qu’il soit possible d’obtenir que le gouvernement iranien renonce à s’engager, sur la voie sans retour, de la fabrication des armes nucléaires. Mais, pour le moment, le Canada maintient intégralement en vigueur les sanctions que nous avons imposées.
We truly hope that it is possible to walk the Iranian government back from taking the irreversible step of manufacturing nuclear weapons. But, for now, Canada’s own sanctions will remain fully in place. And should our hopes not be realized, should the present agreement prove ephemeral, Canada will be a strong voice for renewed sanctions.
Ladies and gentlemen, Let me conclude with this thought.
Je crois que l’histoire d’Israël est un très bel exemple pour le monde entier.
I believe the story of Israel is a great example to the world. It is a story, essentially, of a people whose response to suffering has been to move
beyond resentment and build a most extraordinary society, a vibrant democracy, a freedom-loving country with an independent and rights-affirming judiciary. An innovative, world-leading “start-up” nation. You have taken the collective memory of death and persecution to build an optimistic, forward-looking land, one that so values life, you will sometimes release a thousand criminals and terrorists, to save one of your own.
In the democratic family of nations, Israel represents values which our Government takes as articles of faith, and principles to drive our national life.
And therefore, through fire and water, Canada will stand with you.
(MKs and hundreds in the Knesset gallery rise to give Harper a standing ovation.)
My friends, you have been generous with your time and attention. Once more, Laureen and I and our entire delegation thank you for your generous hospitality, and look forward to continuing our visit to your country.
Merci beaucoup.
Thank you for having us, and may peace be upon Israel.
This blog may be a labor of love for me, but it takes a lot of effort, time and money. For 20 years and 40,000 articles I have been providing accurate, original news that would have remained unnoticed. I've written hundreds of scoops and sometimes my reporting ends up making a real difference. I appreciate any donations you can give to keep this blog going.
Hating Thanksgiving
-
It wouldn't be Thanksgiving without turkey, long lines, and people browsing
their phones for Black Friday deals in which the products had their prices
r...
Italian senate marks exodus of Jewish refugees
-
The Italian senate in Rome held a commemoration of the exodus of 850,000
Jews from Arab countries on 25 November. See video here. The moving force
behind...
Turkey Day
-
[image: Dry Bones cartoon, Thanksgiving, Ham, Turkey, America, Holiday,
Jews, Pork, Holiday,]
An American Favorite
* * * Celebrate Thanksgiving by Supporti...
Hamas/Gaza War Musings #36- Dangerous Surrender!
-
As a student of the Bible/Tanach, most recently Prophets/Navi, that's the
message. Gd will save us if we do the right thing. That's how we won the
1967...
Introducing Rashid Rida on Zionism
-
Anyone who follows pro-'Palestine' Islamic propaganda will recognzie in the
excerpts below the source material for the virulent antisemitism,
exaggeratio...
An open letter to the police and CPS
-
To the police and CPS. With reference to complaints made by Gabriel
Kanter-Webber about Rupert Nathan. I understand that the matter has now
been referred...
7 Biggest Dungeons In Elder Scrolls Games
-
Please verify your email address. Labyrinthian in Skyrim is a maze of
Nordic ruins with fiends to battle and treasures to find. Sundercliff Watch
in Oblivi...
One Choice: Fight to Win
-
Yesterday Israel preempted a potentially disastrous attack by Hezbollah on
the center of the country. Thirty minutes before launch time, our aircraft
destr...
Closing Jews Down Under Website
-
With a heavyish heart I am closing down the website after ten years.
It is and it isn’t an easy decision after 10 years of constant work. The
past...
‘Test & Trace’ is a mirage
-
Lockdown II thoughts: Day 1 Opposition politicians have been banging on
about the need for a ‘working’ Test & Trace system even more loudly than
the govern...
Wednesday, January 22, 2014
Elder of Ziyon
