Friday, January 14, 2005

  • Friday, January 14, 2005
  • Elder of Ziyon
Why does it seem like Christians love Israel more than Jews do? This is truly amazing and I have no doubt that Mr. Cox will find many other Christians willing to join his prayer vigil - but can you imagine a Conservative or Reform Jew (or most Orthodox Jews) willing to do this sort of thing? - EoZ

There was no fanfare surrounding Earl Cox as he set out to launch his year-long prayer mission in front of the Western Wall on Sunday. Alone and hunched over a book of psalms, the evangelical Christian from South Carolina sat, undisturbed, praying for the peace and security of the State of Israel. It was to be the first prayer session in his effort to ensure an American Christian presence at the Western Wall every day, for at least eight hours a day, for the entire year of 2005.
'We want to make sure that true, pure Christians will pray that God will look over the people of Israel,' he said during a rare break from prayer on Sunday morning.

Cox, who moved to Jerusalem last week to oversee the year long program and is the founder of the pro-Israel American Christian Reserve (ACR), led a group of evangelical Christians on the inaugural prayer mission this week. A former Republican strategist and an active figure in the campaign to draft Elizabeth Dole for the U.S. presidency in 2000, he became an active pro-Israel voice three years ago during what he calls his religious 'metamorphosis.'

'I'd be happy to give someone a prize if they could tell me why I love you people so much,' Cox, who is also the host of the Christian Zionist radio show Front Page Jerusalem, said of his new pro-Israel persona. 'I know this sounds fanatical, but I am not a fanatic. In the past, I thought evangelicals were crazy, and to be frank, many of them have been crazy with the things they've done. But what we're bringing is absolute, pure, true love without an agenda.'

Cox, a real estate tycoon who has spent a great deal of his personal fortune funding pro-Israel efforts, founded and funds both ACR and Front Page Jerusalem. Back in his home base in Charleston, he sat in the town square nearly every Thursday with a bottle of water, an umbrella and a sign that read `pray for the people of Israel.' The vigil in the Old City, his partners in prayer explain, seemed like a natural way to give his prayer added power, significance, and attention.

Cox is hoping to enlist hundreds of Christians from abroad to participate in the effort and reported this week that a number of interested worshipers have already signed up for time slots on his Web site, www.supportforisraelstartswithme.com. Still, he's not worried about a shortage of volunteers, because as far as Cox is concerned, he can come out to the Western Wall everyday.

"I believe that prayer to the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob is an important part of our lives," he says. "I could talk to you for six months straight and still not explain my love of the Jewish people. God just called on me to take a stand with Israel."
  • Friday, January 14, 2005
  • Elder of Ziyon
Has there ever been a bigger waste of newsprint and electrons than stories like this?

Not only because it is usually followed by atrocities like this. But the pattern is so predictable, the words so empty, the lies so egregious, that how can any self-respecting media outlet report it straight? Wouldn't it be better to say "Once again, a so-called moderate Hamas leader is hinting to the press that he might possibly consider being a little less murderous for a short period of time if Israel would completely and utterly surrender immediately"? Even a "Hamas has made such statements before, but its charter still calls for the destruction of Israel."

But every time a Hamas member makes such a ridiculous statement, thousands of media outlets trumpet it as a sign for peace, without the least bit of skepticism.

Thursday, January 13, 2005

  • Thursday, January 13, 2005
  • Elder of Ziyon
Can you imagine if it is a close race and the Israelis end up deciding the elections? -EoZ

Anyone who is or once was an Iraqi citizen, even if he was deprived of the citizenship, is eligible to vote, Sarah Tosh, spokesperson for Iraq's out-of-country-voting (OCV) central headquarters, said yesterday.

"There are no restrictions on Iraqis on the basis of religion, race or sex," said Tosh. "This definitely includes those who are Israeli citizens today."

Anyone who has an original Iraqi birth certificate may take part in the vote. Other required certificates are an Iraqi passport, an identity card, or a form from the Iraqi population registrar testifying that the holder is or was an Iraqi citizen.

...
"I call on everyone who lives in the free states to come and vote, to provide a counter balance to the voters from other countries," said Mithal al-Alousi, the Iraqi politician who visited Israel last year and is today the secretary general of the Democratic Party of the Iraqi nation. He was referring to hundreds of thousands of votes that will come from ballots posted in Iran.

Some 130,000 Jews emigrated from Iraq to Israel after it's establishment, decimating one of the oldest Jewish communities in the Arab world. The Jews left considerable property behind, as the Iraqi government forbade them to take it out of the country or sell it.
  • Thursday, January 13, 2005
  • Elder of Ziyon
The ironic thing about this pro-terror conference is that it is sponsored by the Institute for Women’s Studies and Gender Studies.

Yes, UT activist women seem to support societies that condone honor killings and second-class status for women, not to mention a culture that encourages women to blow themselves up and kill Jews when they are caught having affairs.

Equality!
  • Thursday, January 13, 2005
  • Elder of Ziyon
The Western world has been falling all over itself, breathlessly praising the Palestinian elections as an example of "democracy" and saying that it shows that Palestinians are now mature members of the exclusive club of democratic nations. The Palestinian spokespeople like the exerable Ashrawi are also jumping on the bandwagon of "See? We proved we are democratic!"

Even the more skeptical pundits, those who point out that the election was a foregone conclusion, and that the PA threatened those who wouldn't vote for Abbas, and the fact that many ballots were cast multiple times, seem to think that if the election was truly fair, it would herald the start of a new era in the Arab world.

But almost everyone is missing the point. Elections aren't a magic panacea that turns terrorists into upstanding public citizens. There were sham elections in the old Soviet Union and Iraq as well, and Hitler was "democratically" elected.

People are mixing up elections and freedom. Freedom is the prerequisite for true democracy.

Only in a society that has true freedoms, of press and religion and freedom to demonstrate, where the marketplace of ideas is available to all, where there is no fear of publicly stating unpopular opinions - only there can one hope to see truly fair elections, true democracy where each person can freely make up his or her mind.

It is a reasonable assumption that people want to be free. It is reasonable to assume that people who enjoy freedom will not be as interested in starting wars with other nations without good reason. But it is by no means guaranteed - it is entirely possible that Egyptians would vote for a state based on Islamic law (and then they would voluntarily take away their own freedoms.)

But if we want to promote democracy, we need to first promote freedom, we need to promote equal rights for women, we need to set the groundwork where true democratic leaders can emerge.

A society where there is no functioning justice system, where the rulers can act with impunity, where the media is controlled tightly and reporters threatened, where the schools are told to teach hate - this is not a free society, and this is not a democratic society.

It is disheartening to see so many people get so excited over something that doesn't exist.
  • Thursday, January 13, 2005
  • Elder of Ziyon
By Yair Ettinger (Ha'aretz)

An extra-academic document that debunks one of the foundations of the disengagement plan, 'the demographic bomb,' will be presented in Washington today to a prestigious academic institution with substantial influence on the Bush administration. The document, which Haaretz has obtained, (since I obtained it too at their website, I guess I'm a journalist just like Ha'aretz! -EoZ) argues that 2.4 million Palestinians live in the West Bank and Gaza Strip today, and not the 3.8 million claimed by the Palestinian Authority.
In sharp contrast to population studies conducted in Israel by professors Arnon Sofer and Sergio della Pergola, the document argues that Jews continue to maintain a solid 60 percent majority between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea.

An Israeli-American group whose members are clearly identified with the right authored the ABC Demographic Project. The group undercuts a prevailing assumption in Israel's public debate - that Jews have ceased, or will soon cease to be, a majority in that territory. The demographic danger is not 'all it's made out to be,' the writers state.

Della Pergola called the document 'groundless,' politically slanted and baseless from a research perspective. None of the signatories to the document is a professional in demographic research. Among its authors are former Israeli consul in Texas Yoram Ettinger (no relation to this reporter), former West Bank Civil Administration head Brigadier General (res.) David Shahaf and former Israeli health official Professor Ezra Zohar.

The research was initiated and funded by Los Angeles Jewish businessman Ben Zimmerman and U.S.-based partners, historian Dr. Roberta Seid of the University of South Carolina and businessman Michael Wise.

A great deal of the interest in the document stems from the seal of approval it received from U.S. demographers which paved the way for the invitation to its authors to present their findings to influential conservative think tank American Enterprise Institute in Washington.

Later this week, the document will be presented in New York to the Conference of Presidents of Major Jewish Organizations.

I have no idea of the scientific methods used in the document, but I strongly suspect that there is a lot of truth in it. - EoZ

Wednesday, January 12, 2005

  • Wednesday, January 12, 2005
  • Elder of Ziyon
When I give political opinions in cyberspace, I usually stay away from arguments that would be regarded as "religious" such as "Israel was a nation 2000 years ago and therefore is a legitimate place for Jews to live today." I would stick with what I consider the quite justifiable arguments relying on modern Zionist history; after all, modern Israel has at least as legitimate claim on her land as any nation created in the past 500 years. (How many other nations were voted into existence by other nations of the world?)

Nevertheless, the argument from ancient Israel has merit as well, even to a secular audience. You do not find Italians praying for the re-establishment of ancient Rome or anyone longing for Assyria, Canaan, Babylonia or any other ancient kingdom.

But Jews have NEVER reliquished their claim to Israel. Daily prayers ask for the rebuilding of Jerusalem. Jews have almost continuously been trying to move to Israel, an area with almost no natural resources, since the Roman conquest. Jewish immigration to the area pre-dates modern Zionism by many centuries (look at the history of Safed/Tzfat, for example.)

Further evidence comes from what happened since the establishment of the state. A significant percentage of world Jewry now lives in Israel, even though they can easily choose to move to other places. The only reason for this is because for Jews, Israel does have an emotional pull that no other place has.

The Jewish claim to Israel is not modern; it truly is ancient and continuous. And this claim is nothing to be embarrassed about. An emotional tie to the land is just as strong, if not much stronger, than a political or nationalistic claim.

Right now the second and third holiest Jewish sites in the world (the Cave of the Patriarchs in Hebron and Rachel's Tomb in Bethlehem) are in trouble. The only argument for keeping them in Jewish hands is purely emotional. But that is a strong argument! Not everything is logical, and the love that the Jewish people have for Israel is not logical as well. But it is there, and it is what will ultimately win the battle for Israel.

Don't think that the Palestinians don't use their fictional emotional argument to score points as well. They made up an entire history of their people (as well as delegitimizing the Jewish historical ties to the land) with that exact reason in mind. On demand they can produce throngs of wailing women; perfect for the 6:00 News. How can a lawyer argue with crying women?

The reluctance to use the emotional argument hurts Israel's PR efforts. When Israel makes its arguments rationally of her rights, that implies that a better counter-argument would destroy Israel's right to exist. But emotional arguments cannot be argued against.

We all know about the double standard that Israel is subjected to, that Israel is expected to act in ways that no other nation is expected to. A major unspoken assumption in the double-standard is that Jews are rational and therefore can be expected to act rationally. Of course there has to be some sort of territorial compromise, this thinking goes; so the Jews should understand that and do the right thing. But the Arabs cannot be reasoned with - they are emotional, they might engage in terror, they might incite the "Arab street", they might raise the prices of oil if we anger them - so keep them happy. Israel won't act irrationally, Israel wouldn't hurt the someone because of a perceived insult, so only Israel can be expected to make concessions.

There is great tactical advantage in sometimes going crazy. I have a friend who would, about once a year at work, just start shouting at some departmental meeting for no good reason. He did this to make the boss tiptoe around him a little, to treat him a little more deferentially, because who knows what will make him go off? It was a rational decision to be irrational.

When Israel uses the emotional argument, no one can tell her to think clearly. The Tomb of the Patriarchs will never be in non-Jewish hands again, ever - this is a red-line statement that should be made. Jews have the absolute right to live anywhere they want in the Middle East, especially in Biblical Israel - another non-negotiable statement, not open to compromise or reason. We can argue it is important for security until we are blue, but security can be mitigated in theory - people's feelings cannot be. Transferring Jews out of their ancient homeland is more of a crime than transferring Arabs out - why is saying such a statement forbidden in diplomatic circles today? Only because we try so hard to be rational, to be intellectual, to use our brains and not our hearts.

Even without resorting to biblical arguments, the emotional argument is not being used. Imagine the pain of having to move out of your home where you lived for decades, where your schools are, where your cemeteries are - how come these arguments are so muted? Isn't that argument at least as compelling as any that is for the transfer of Jews?

But the winner in a battlefield in the end is usually the one with the most heart. If Palestinian Arabs are being taught from birth that their homeland is in that narrow strip of land, every Israeli kid should be taught the same - with the added benefit of its being true! And this is why you cannot discount the chances for the tiny number of Gaza Jewish residents to win: they have more heart.


  • Wednesday, January 12, 2005
  • Elder of Ziyon
Iran could become capable of enriching uranium in six months and develop atomic weapons in two years if it is not stopped by the West, Military Intelligence head Maj. Gen. Aharon Ze'evi said yesterday.
Tehran, which has said it will suspend uranium enrichment, insists its atomic program is aimed solely at the peaceful generation of electricity, but Washington believes Iran's nuclear energy program is a front to build a bomb.

'According to estimates, Iran is not currently capable of enriching uranium to build a nuclear bomb, but it is only half a year away from achieving such independent capability, if it is not stopped by the West,' Ze'evi said in a lecture at Haifa University's National Security Studies Center.

Ze'evi said if Tehran did not stop its uranium enrichment activities, Iran would develop its first atomic weapon between 2007 and 2009.

'The Iranians can reach Portugal with nuclear weapons,' Ze'evi said. 'This doesn't worry the Europeans; they tell me that during the Soviet regime as well they were under a nuclear threat, and I try to explain to them that Iran is a different story.'"
  • Wednesday, January 12, 2005
  • Elder of Ziyon
Forty-six communities in the western Negev will be exposed to Qassam rocket fire after the disengagement plan is implemented, a Home Front Command official told lawmakers yesterday.
Colonel Uzi Buchbinder, head of the civil defense department at the Home Front Command, told the Knesset Interior and Environment Committee that all of the threatened communities are within seven kilometers of the the Gaza Strip and are vulnerable to both rocket fire and infiltration.

The communities include Yad Mordechai, Or Ha'ner, Erez, Gevim, Kfar Aza, Miflasim, Nahal Oz, Nir Am, Ein Habesor, Ein Hashlosha, Talmei Yosef, Gvar-Am, Netiv Ha'asara, Be'eri, Holot, Dekel and Yovel.

Buchbinder briefed the committee on a Home Front Command plan designed to provide solutions for the threatened communities, including an early-warning system to alerting residents of incoming Qassam rockets, installing safety glass at schools and kindergartens throughout the region, and upgrading the physical protection for the population. Windows in school buildings have already been reinforced. Buchbinder said that NIS 340 million is needed to implement the plan, but that the funding has not been approved.

Colonel (res.) Mordechai Yogev of the National Security Forum presented the committee with a report that said that "the withdrawal of the Israel Defense Forces from the Gaza Strip and northern Samaria will bring numerous large population centers and communities within the range of Qassam rockets and mortar shells, including Ashkelon in the south and the cities of Beit She'an, Afula, Pardes Hannah and Hadera in the north."

Yogev said the greatest danger is anticipated to be in the Ashkelon region, home to many strategic facilities, including three power stations - the Rotenberg power station and two others, facilities related to the Eilat-Ashkelon oil pipeline, and the massive gas tanks moved from Pi Gelilot near Tel Aviv to Ashkelon, as well as the large gas terminal to be built south of Ashkelon for the natural gas Israel will buy from Egypt. Up north, Qassam rockets will threaten the "Rabin Lights" power station in Hadera.

In the course of a committee session devoted to post-disengagement measures in the border communities, the deputy head of the National Security Council, Itamar Yaar, said that "as of today, the NSC does not have a sure-proof solution to Qassam rockets fired from short range."

According to Yaar, all of the territory to be evacuated under the plan are currently under IDF control, including areas in which there are Jewish settlements. By contrast, the Qassam rockets targeting Sderot are being fired from territories which are not under IDF control. He said that it is very important that the IDF provide solutions to security threats originating from areas with no Israeli presence.

The committee's chairman, MK Yuri Stern (National Union), said that "the disengagement plan is one of the most irresponsible decisions a government of Israel has ever taken. Any rational person who lends a hand to this will be called upon to give a reckoning some day."

Tuesday, January 11, 2005

  • Tuesday, January 11, 2005
  • Elder of Ziyon
This is a long article by Yaakov Amidror analyzing the security ramifications of a unilateral Gaza withdrawal. Here is the conclusion:

The proposed unilateral withdrawal contains a strategic, diplomatic, and military risk that has been described concisely by senior defense officials as 'backing for terror.' This expression has not merely a literal meaning, i.e., rockets being fired against Ashkelon, but also a broader, deeper one, of historic surrender to the wave of Islamic terror and words of encouragement to the terrorists in the vein of 'continue on your successful path.' Spain fled from Iraq because of terror in Madrid, and the Israelis will be regarded as fleeing from Gaza for the same reason.

That which we found easy to analyze and condemn regarding Spain, we prefer not to understand in the Palestinian context. Flight from terror, even if it is called 'unilateral withdrawal,' remains flight, and its results will be disastrous. Israel must remain where it is and make difficult, courageous decisions regarding regaining control of additional areas in the Gaza Strip in order to remove the capability of firing at Sderot. This is part of the IDF mandate.

If and when there will be someone to talk to on the other side, removal of settlements and the IDF presence can form bargaining chips in negotiations. The Israeli government, however, has played its cards without receiving anything in return, and therefore can only expect to experience more terror. This was explained better than anyone else by Prime Minister Sharon years ago when as an ordinary Knesset member he appeared at the Likud Central Committee and said, 'Labor wants to hand over the Gaza Strip, and even among us there are people who voice similar opinions . . . The Jews have apparently forgotten why we liberated it twice, in 1956 and 1967, from the Egyptian occupier (which followed a previous attempt to do so at the end of the War of Independence that nearly succeeded). Why did we pay the price three times? Because the Gaza Strip threatened us when it was not in our hands. What is proposed is to abandon the security of Ashkelon, Kiryat Gat, Sderot, Netivot, and dozens of kibbutzim and cooperative communities."

At the time Sharon made an excellent analysis of the tactical danger resulting from the disengagement. The current strategic danger is even greater.
  • Tuesday, January 11, 2005
  • Elder of Ziyon


In the Gulf War in the early 1990s, US soldiers fighting on the Middle Eastern battlefield sometimes found themselves using dressings dated from World War II to patch up their wounds. In the present Iraqi conflict, however, American forces are now using an advanced new bandage, developed in Israel, that can save lives by stopping traumatic hemorrhaging wounds, and can also be used as a tourniquet, or a sling.

The new bandage, called the Emergency Bandage, was developed by First Care Products, a tiny four-man Jerusalem start-up. The bandage marks the first major alteration to field dressings since the 1940s, and has already established its worth.

One of the major causes of death for soldiers at war is not the injury itself, but loss of blood on the battlefield. In the Vietnam war, for example, one in four soldiers died from hemorrhage bleeding or injuries to their extremities. In the current Iraqi war, only one in 10 deaths are attributable to this. One of the main reasons for this is that the US military has changed tactics. In the past, soldiers were taken off the battlefield and then treated for their injuries. Today, they are treated on the spot, which improves a victim's chances of survival. Often it is the soldier himself who takes responsibility for dealing with his wounds.

The Emergency Bandage fits well into the new philosophy of military medicine. In the past, soldiers or medics treating wounds would have to use three or four different dressings to bandage a wound. It was time consuming and often it was difficult to achieve the right pressure on a wound to stop the bleeding.

Ofer Molad, First Care's VP of marketing in the US, remembers how he and fellow soldiers serving in the Israel Defense Force (IDF), would wrap a rock into the bandage to maintain the right pressure.

The Emergency Bandage, however, is an elasticized bandage with a non-adhesive bandage pad sewn in. The bandage has a built-in pressure bar, which allows the soldier to twist the bandage around the wound once, and then change the direction of the bandage, wrapping it around the limb or body part, to create pressure on the wound. Aside from this, the pressure bar also makes bandaging easier. A closure bar at the end of the bandage means that it clips neatly into place and will not slip.

The pressure bar also enables a soldier to use the bandage on complicated injuries like the groin and head, which require wrapping in different directions.

The bandage can be put on with one hand, as Molad deftly demonstrates. "It's a very versatile bandage," he says. "It can be applied quickly and easily by an injured soldier or non-medical personnel for immediate hemorrhage control. It saves time in an emergency situation where every second is crucial."

Certainly the US military thinks so. Last year, the US Army purchased nearly 200,000 bandages for its troops. This year, the US Army purchased 800,000.



  • Tuesday, January 11, 2005
  • Elder of Ziyon
GAZA, Jan 11, 2005 (United Press International via COMTEX) -- Newly elected Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas has informed Washington that he will not seek to disarm Palestinian militant groups.

Abbas relayed the message to the U.S. administration through former U.S. Consul in Jerusalem Edward Epington, the Saudi daily al-Watan reported Tuesday, quoting diplomatic sources in Washington.

Abbas argued that Palestinian armed groups did not pose the main problem in the Palestinian territories at this point.

He said clearly that 'he will not seek to disarm the militant groups, not now nor tomorrow' and that the first step should be working out a cease-fire 'after Israel agrees in writing to stop pre-emptive assassinations of Palestinian leaders.'

Abbas also stressed that his first priority will be reforming Palestinian institutions, combating corruption and restructuring the 14 security agencies.
  • Tuesday, January 11, 2005
  • Elder of Ziyon
I'm sure that the press and Bush and Sharon have much to be optimistic about. All you have to do it close your eyes and click your heels three times, and say "Peace is around the corner. Peace is around the corner..." - EoZ

As the Palestinian Central Election Committee was holding a press conference in Ramallah on Monday to announce the final results of the election for the chairmanship of the Palestinian Authority, hundreds of students attended a rally organized by Hamas at Bir Zeit University, where they called for more suicide attacks against Israel.

'Oh suicide bomber, wrap yourself with an explosive belt and fill the scene with blood,' chanted a chorus of five male students at the rally, held by the Hamas-affiliated Islamic List to mark the ninth anniversary of the killing of Hamas bomb-maker Yehya Ayyash, better known as 'The Engineer.'

Green Hamas flags and large portraits of slain Hamas leaders Ahmed Yassin and Abdel Aziz Rantisi decorated the campus and the hall where some 500 activists gathered to honor the former university student responsible for a string of suicide bombings that killed at least 100 Israelis in the mid-90s.

Organizers said the timing of the parley was not linked to the election of Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen) as Yasser Arafat's successor. Speakers refrained from making any reference to the election, pointing out the event, approved by the university administration, had been planned long before the vote. They also refused to comment on the results of the vote.

'Ayyash is alive and don't say that he's dead,' a speaker told the crowd, who responded by shouting 'Allahu Akbar! (God is great).' Another speaker described the Hamas bomb-maker as 'the engineer of death for those who deserved to die.'

The students also paid tribute to anther colleague, Izzaddin al-Masri, who carried out the suicide attack in Jerusalem's Sbarro restaurant in 2001, killing 15 people and wounding more than 100.
  • Tuesday, January 11, 2005
  • Elder of Ziyon

Monday, January 10, 2005

  • Monday, January 10, 2005
  • Elder of Ziyon
The results of a new demographic study of the Palestinians shows that:

1. Today, the Palestinian-Arab population of the West Bank (1.4MN) and Gaza (1MN)
totals 2.4 million, rather than the 3.8 million reported by the Palestinian Central
Bureau of Statistics
(PCBS).

2. A solid Jewish majority of 60% has been sustained – between the Jordan River
and the Mediterranean – since 1967.
A solid 80% Jewish majority has been maintained
within the "Green Line".

3. Long-Term demographic trends re-entrench the Jewish majority.

In other words, the "demographic time bomb" that is taken as a fact and as a reason why Israel has no choice but to give up territory is false.

There may or may not be other reasons, but demography is not one of them. The report shows that the assumption that Palestinians reproduce at one of the highest rates in the world is simply false. (Comments by EoZ)
  • Monday, January 10, 2005
  • Elder of Ziyon
(IsraelNN.com) Interestingly, 80 per cent of visitors from Britain described their visit as “excellent” or “very good” according to a new survey conducted by the firm Geocartographia during the first half of 2004.

This following a recent survey by the UK Daily Telegraph showing Britons have a largely negative opinion of Israel. Statistics were compiled from a sample of 1,769 British visitors. Thirty-six per cent of British respondents stated their visit was “excellent”, 44 per cent said it was “very good”, 17 per cent described their experience as “good” and three per cent called it “reasonable” or “poor”. In 2004, 140,000 tourists arrived from the United Kingdom, a 44 per cent rise over 2003. In 2005, Israel’s Ministry of Tourism expects an additional 20 per cent more British tourists.

In total, 14,000 tourists from around the world were participated in the survey. Eighty per cent of all tourists also described their visit to Israel as either “excellent” or “very good,” and, on average, assigned their satisfaction a value of 4.2 out of 5.

The survey reveals that 73 per cent of all tourists were not concerned about traveling to Israel and 95 per cent of them would encourage their friends to visit the country as well.
  • Monday, January 10, 2005
  • Elder of Ziyon
As Fatah supporters shot their rifles in the air in celebration of the outcome of the seven-candidate race, Mr. Abbas gave his first victory speech last night. Calling the election results 'a victory for Yasser Arafat and the entire Palestinian people,' Mr. Abbas proclaimed: 'The small jihad is over and the big jihad has begun. We are facing tough missions - how to build a state of security where people live a dignified life.'"

Remember how the pundits said that when Abbas make pro-terror statements during the campaign that it was only "rhetoric" to get elected? Well, he hasn't seemed to get the memo. - EoZ
  • Monday, January 10, 2005
  • Elder of Ziyon
Anyone who knows anything about Judaism knows that the Madonna-flavored version of Kabbalah is a joke. -EoZ

A senior figure in the controversial Kabbalah Centre - the sect championed by stars including Madonna and Demi Moore - seems likely to spark a storm of protest by saying Jews killed in the Holocaust brought their downfall upon themselves.

Eliyahu Yardeni, of the London Kabbalah Centre, made the astonishing claim to an undercover reporter investigating high-pressure sales techniques employed by the group, which promotes its own brand of beliefs, part ancient Jewish mysticism and part pseudo-science.

The probe also revealed how Kabbalah Centre representatives claimed bottles of 'healing' spring water sold by the group could help cure cancer - and how they sold a batch to a sufferer for hundreds of pounds.

Talking about the wartime massacre of the Jews, Mr Yardeni said: 'Just to tell you another thing about the six million Jews that were killed in the Holocaust: the question was that the Light was blocked. They didn't use Kabbalah.'

The claim provoked outrage from Kabbalah scholar Rabbi Imannual Schocket, from Ontario, Canada. He said: 'To me this is one of the most obscene statements anybody could possibly make.'

Genuine scholars of Kabbalah, which is a respected branch of ancient Jewish mysticism, reject the Kabbalah Centre as an opportunist offshoot of the faith with charismatic leaders who try to attract the rich and the vulnerable with the promise of health, wealth and happiness.

The Holocaust claim comes in a secretly-filmed BBC documentary. One undercover reporter, who has suffered from cancer, went to the London Kabbalah Centre - a �3.7million building off Oxford Street - seeking help, and was offered a package of remedies for the disease for �860.

The cost included nearly �400 for 10 cases of Kabbalah water, �150 for 'extra-strength' water and �289 for Zohar books - the Kabbalah 'bible'.

The Zohar is also said to have special powers which followers can benefit from by running a finger over the text as if reading Braille.

A second investigator, who worked undercover as a Kabbalah Centre volunteer for four months, was told how the Kabbalah water worked, with a devotee explaining: 'We start with the purest artesian water and then we do the various meditations, injecting energy into it.'

The Kabbalah Centre website explained that a process called Quantum Resonance Technology 'restructures the intermolecular binding of spring water'.

The investigation discovered the water actually comes from CJC Bottling, a bottling plant in Ontario, Canada, which was the subject of a public health investigation in 2002 into how its water was tested.

CJC was ordered to improve manufacturing techniques, though there was no suggestion that they ever sold polluted water.

The film also investigates the background of the sect's founder, 'Dr' Philip Berg, who is known to followers as the Rav. He enjoys a millionaire's lifestyle in Los Angeles.

The source of Mr Berg's 'doctorate' is not clear, but it is known that he was born Feivel Gruberger in New York, trained as a rabbi and worked as an insurance agent before deserting his first wife and seven children for second wife, Karen.

The couple then set up their first Kabbalah Centre in Tel Aviv. The lucrative marketing operation for the water, Zohar books, face-creams, candles, videos, and red string bracelets worn by followers came later.

The organisation claims to have Kabbalah Centres in 40 cities worldwide and to be a non-profit-making organisation.

The centre has launched a US$1m campaign asking followers to donate money so it can send its own brand of Zohar books and water to the victims of the Asian tsunami.

In Israel, the authorities have refused to give the charity a certificate of proper management for three years running because of accounting inadequacies, and in Britain the Charity Commissioners have criticised the centre's accounts for 'significant shortcomings in transparency'.
  • Monday, January 10, 2005
  • Elder of Ziyon
(Hebrew article in Maariv)
The London-based daily Al-Quds al-Arabi reported that Abu Mazen funneled at least $100,000 to wanted terrorists during the PA election campaign.
The paper revealed that Zakariya Zubeidi, the fugitive leader of the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades in Jenin, and other Fatah leaders gave Abu Mazen a letter expressing their interest in joining the PA security services.
Such a step would mean the disbanding of the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades.
Meanwhile, the London-based daily Al-Sharq al-Awsat reported that the American government is concerned about Abu Mazen's close relationship with armed elements and is refusing to invite him to Washington until it receives clarifications.

I'm sure he only gave the money to moderate terrorists. -EoZ

Sunday, January 09, 2005

  • Sunday, January 09, 2005
  • Elder of Ziyon
I've been chuckling over how readers suddenly found this blog, not for the 427 articles on Israel and terrorism but for the one of me answering questions about Judaism. I still have no idea how this happened.

At any rate, I want to emphasize that while I love answering questions and I love giving advice (I happen to love the religion as well!), I ain't no rabbi and serious questions that need accurate and sensitive answers should go to an Ask the Rabbi site, such as

Aish.com Ask the Rabbi
(requires registration)
Ohr Somayach Ask the Rabbi
Arutz Sheva Ask the Rabbi

But I will be happy to do what I can, for what it is worth.

Thanks!
-EoZ
  • Sunday, January 09, 2005
  • Elder of Ziyon
Just for fun I decided to Google "Abbas moderate" in news.google.com. I came back with 3760 articles, most of which sounded like:

"Early results showed the moderate candidate Mahmoud Abbas overwhelmingly..."
"
The ones who emerged with relatively moderate views, like Abbas, gravitated toward the mainstream Fatah..."
"
Abbas, a moderate Palestinian leader advocating non-violent struggle for an independent state..."
"
Moderate Fatah faction candidate Mahmoud Abbas is the front-runner to succeed him in the first Palestinian election since...."
"
Abbas has staked out a moderate, pragmatic approach to dealings with Israel, saying he wants to open negotiations with Sharon..."
"
Mr. Abbas, a moderate who has raised hopes of a renewed peace process by calling for a "demilitarization" of the intifada..."
"
In the last week, Abbas, a moderate opposed to armed struggle with Israel, has sought to woo younger, more militant Palestinians by toughening his rhetoric..."
"
Saadi believes the likely election of moderate businessman Mahmoud Abbas..."
"
Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas is a moderate who deserves to succeed the late Yasser Arafat in Sunday's presidential election."

I am especially tickled at the many articles that say, as a fact, that the Holocaust denying Abbas, who referred to Israel as "the Zionist enemy" and said he will defend terrorists from Israel, who has shown not the slightest deviation from the maximal Palestinian positions on the "right of return" or the borders of an eventual Palestinian state - is a "moderate."

Now, how many articles can be found that refer to Ariel Sharon, who is making plans to give up parts of biblical Israel unilaterally, who has in many speeches (never reported by the press) reached out to Palestinians who want peace, whose army has sustained incredible casualties to avoid hurting Palestinian civilians, who has accepted a two-state solution - all very far from the right-wing Israeli positions - how many can be found to call him a "moderate"?

Words matter. When people read for years that Sharon is a "right-wing hawk" and that Abbas (and even Arafat) is a "moderate pragmatist", is it any wonder that the world hates Israel?


  • Sunday, January 09, 2005
  • Elder of Ziyon
This seems to be the most popular commercial in Israel nowadays, spoofing a famous scene from "Pulp Fiction":

Vincent: Do you know what they call a Quarter Pounder in Israel?

Jules: No.

Vincent: A Mc-Ro-yal

Jules: A Mc-Roy-yal?

Vincent: That's right. And guess what they call the pita bread with the turkey meat?

Jules: No

Vincent: A McShah-wah-rma

Jules: So a guy just walks into McDonald's and says, "I'll have a McShwarma, please."

Vincent: Yeah....but they don't say "please" in Israel.

Jules: Ha Ha Ha

You can see the commercial

- Here to watch it
- Here to download



  • Sunday, January 09, 2005
  • Elder of Ziyon

05.01.06.ZionistEnemy-X.gif

  • Sunday, January 09, 2005
  • Elder of Ziyon

MEMRI hits another home run - EoZ

Following practically all international events of importance, conspiracy theories are raised in the Arab and Muslim worlds. This occurred most recently following the Asian tsunami. Some of these conspiracy theories focused, as they often do, on allegations that it was a plot by the U.S. and Israel. Others speculated that the tsunami was a divine punishment for sins, including that of celebrating Christmas. The following are speeches and articles which appeared in the Arab media raising conspiracy theories about the cause of the tsunami; more will be posted on the MEMRI TV Project website (www.memritv.org) in the coming days:

Palestinian Friday Sermon by Sheik Mudeiris: The Tsunami is Allah's Revenge at Bangkok Corruption

The following are excerpts from a Friday mosque sermon aired on Palestinian Authority TV by Sheik Ibrahim Mudeiris, which was recorded and translated by the MEMRI TV Monitor Project:

" What happened there, in South-East Asia … we ask God to have mercy upon all the martyrs - for he who dies by drowning is a martyr. We ask God to have mercy upon all the Muslims who died there. Allah willing, they are martyrs. But, don't you think that the wrath of the earth and the wrath of the sea should make us reflect? Tens of thousands dead, and many predict that the number will be in the hundreds of thousands. We ask God for forgiveness. When oppression and corruption increase, the law of equilibrium applies. I can see in your eyes that you are wondering what the 'universal law of equilibrium' is. This law is a divine law. If people are remiss in implementing God's law and in being zealous and vengeful for His sake, Allah sets his soldiers in action to take revenge.

"The oppression and corruption caused by America and the Jews have increased. Have you heard of these beaches that are called 'tourists' paradise?' You have all probably heard of Bangkok. We read about it, and knew it as the center of corruption on the face of this earth. Over there, there are Zionist and American investments. Over there they bring Muslims and others to prostitution. Over there, there are beaches, which they dubbed 'tourists' paradise,' while only a few meters away, the locals live in hell on earth. They cannot make ends meet, while a few meters away there is a paradise, 'tourists' paradise.'

"Do you want the earth to turn a blind eye to the corrupt oppressors? Do you want the sea… Do you want the sea to lower its waves in the face of corruption that it sees with its own eyes?! No, the zero hour has come." [1]

Advisor to Saudi Arabia's Justice Minister: The Nations were Destroyed for Lying, Sinning, and being Infidels

Ibrahim Al-Bashar, an advisor to Saudi Arabia's Justice Minister, argued on the Saudi Arabian/UAE Al-Majd TV channel that the sins of the affected countries caused the tsunami:

"Whoever reads the Koran, given by the Maker of the World, can see how these nations were destroyed. There is one reason: they lied, they sinned, and [they] were infidels. Whoever studies the Koran can see this is the result…

"Some intellectuals, philosophers, and journalists - may Allah show them the straight path – say this is the wrath of nature. Whoever is angry must have a soul and a brain in order to act out his anger. Does the earth have a brain and a body with a soul? They talk about the wrath of nature, or else they claim that what happened was due to a fissure in the depths of the earth, which the earth's crust could not bear. They connect cosmic matters.

"But who is the one that cracked it, split it, and commanded it to quake?! Why don't we ask that question? Who is the one that sent the wind? Who sent the floods? But they tell you that it was due to the ebb and tide, and that the barometric depressions are to blame. Who commanded them to do so?

"These countries, in which these things occurred – don't they refrain from adopting Allah's law, which is a form of heresy? Man-made laws have been chosen over Allah's law, which has been deemed unsuitable to judge people?! Whoever does not act according to Allah's law is a heretic, that's what Allah said in the Koran. Don't these countries have witchcraft, sorcery, deceitfulness, and abomination?" [2]

Saudi Professor Sheikh Fawzan Al-Fawzan: Allah Punishes for Homosexuality and Fornication at Christmas

The following are excerpts from an interview on Saudi/UAE's Al-Majd TV with Sheikh Fawzan Al-Fawzan, a professor at the Al-Imam University, which was recorded and translated by the MEMRI TV Monitor Project:

"These great tragedies and collective punishments that are wiping out villages, towns, cities, and even entire countries, are Allah's punishments of the people of these countries, even if they are Muslims.

"Some of our forefathers said that if there is usury and fornication in a certain village, Allah permits its destruction. We know that at these resorts, which unfortunately exist in Islamic and other countries in South Asia, and especially at Christmas, fornication and sexual perversion of all kinds are rampant. The fact that it happened at this particular time is a sign from Allah. It happened at Christmas, when fornicators and corrupt people from all over the world come to commit fornication and sexual perversion. That's when this tragedy took place, striking them all and destroyed everything. It turned the land into wasteland, where only the cries of the ravens are heard. I say this is a great sign and punishment on which Muslims should reflect.

"All that's left for us to do is to ask for forgiveness. We must atone for our sins, and for the acts of the stupid people among us and improve our condition. We must fight fornication, homosexuality, usury, fight the corruption on the face of the earth, and the disregard of the lives of protected people." [3]

Saudi Cleric Muhammad Al-Munajjid: Allah Finished Off the Richter Scale in Revenge of Infidel Criminals

The following are excerpts from an interview on Saudi/UAE's Al-Majd TV with Saudi cleric Muhammad Al-Munajjid, which was recorded and translated by the MEMRI TV Monitor Project:

"The problem is that the [Christian] holidays are accompanied by forbidden things, by immorality, abomination, adultery, alcohol, drunken dancing, and … and revelry. A belly dancer costs 2500 pounds per minute and a singer costs 50,000 pounds per hour, and they hop from one hotel to another from night to dawn. Then he spends the entire night defying Allah.

"Haven't they learned the lesson from what Allah wreaked upon the coast of Asia, during the celebration of these forbidden? At the height of immorality, Allah took vengeance on these criminals.

"Those celebrating spent what they call 'New Year's Eve' in vacation resorts, pubs, and hotels. Allah struck them with an earthquake. He finished off the Richter scale. All nine levels gone. Tens of thousands dead.

"It was said that they were tourists on New Year's vacation who went to the crowded coral islands for the holiday period, and then they were struck by this earthquake, caused by the Almighty Lord of the worlds. He showed them His wrath and His strength. He showed them His vengeance. Is there anyone learning the lesson? Is it impossible that we will be struck like them? Why do we go their way? Why do we want to be like them, with their holidays, their forbidden things, and their heresy?" [4]

Egyptian Nationalist Weekly: U.S.-Israel-India Nuclear Testing May have Caused Asian Tsunami; The Goal: Testing how to Liquidate Humanity

The Egyptian nationalist weekly Al-Usbu' has published an investigation by correspondent Mahmoud Bakri, titled "Humanity in Danger," claiming that the earthquake and tsunami in Asia may have resulted from joint nuclear testing by the U.S., Israel, and India. The following are excerpts from the article:

"Was [the earthquake] caused by American, Israeli, and Indian nuclear testing on 'the day of horror?' Why did the 'Ring of Fire' explode?

"… According to researchers' estimates, there are two possible [explanations] for what happened. The first is a natural, divine move, because the region is in the 'Ring of Fire,' a region subject to this destructive type of earthquakes.

" The second possibility is that it was some kind of human intervention that destabilized the tectonic plates, an intervention that is caused only in nuclear experiments and explosions. What strengthens this direction [of thought] are the tectonic plates [under] Indian soil [ sic ], since in the recent few months, India conducted over seven nuclear tests to strengthen its nuclear program against the Pakistani [nuclear program].

"[Various] reports have proven that the tectonic plates in India and Australia collided with the tectonic plates of Europe and Asia. [It has also been proven] that India recently obtained high[-level] nuclear technology, and a number of Israeli nuclear experts and several American research centers were [involved in preparing this].

"The three most recent tests appeared to be genuine American and Israeli preparations to act together with India to test a way to liquidate humanity. In the[ir] most recent test, they began destroying entire cities over extensive areas. Although the nuclear explosions were carried out in desert lands, tens of thousands of kilometers away from populated areas, they had a direct effect on these areas.

"Since 1992, many research [institutes] monitoring earthquakes across the world, such as the International Center for the [Study] of Earthquakes [sic] in Britain and in Turkey and other countries, [indicated] the importance of no nuclear testing in the 'Ring of Fire,' where the most recent earthquake struck, because this region is thought to be one of the most geologically active regions over millions of years. Thus, the international centers have always classified it as one of the most dangerous regions [and] likely to shift at any given moment, even without human interference.

"But the scientific reports stated that there had been nuclear activity in this region – particularly after America's recent decision to rely largely on the Australian desert – part of which is inside the 'Ring of Fire' – for its secret nuclear testing.

"Similarly, many international reports spoke of joint Indian-Israeli nuclear activity. Moreover, only this year Arab and Islamic countries intervened more than three times in the U.S. to stop this joint nuclear activity.

"Nevertheless, although so far it has not been proven that secret Indian-Israeli nuclear testing is what caused the destructive earthquake, there is evidence that the recent nuclear tests, the exchange of nuclear experts between India and Israel, and the American pressure on Pakistan regarding its nuclear cooperation with Asian and Islamic countries [by providing India with advanced nuclear technology in an attempt to stop Pakistani activity] – all these pose a big question mark regarding the causes of the severe earthquake in Asia.

"Scientific studies prove that there is increasing nuclear activity under the waters of the oceans and seas … and that America is the first country in the world responsible for this activity. This raises an enormous question mark… What is puzzling is that all the previous earthquakes did not cause such great destruction [as this one], particularly [in light of the fact that] the earthquake's center was some 40 kilometers under the seabed of the Indian Ocean.

"One of the American researchers, Merrills Kinsey, [5] pointed out an important fact in the scientific report that he prepared after the last disaster, which is that the center of an earthquake that took place some 40 kilometers under the ocean floor could not have caused such destruction unless nuclear testing had been conducted close to the tectonic plates in these countries, or unless several days previously there had been [nuclear] activity that caused these plates to shift and collide – which constitutes a danger to all humanity, not only to the inhabitants of these countries…" [6]


[1] Palestinian Authority TV, December 31, 2005. To view the clip, visit http://memritv.org/Search.asp?ACT=S9&P1=451.

[2] Al-Majd TV (Saudi Arabia/UAE), January 5, 2005. To view the clip, visit http://memritv.org/Search.asp?ACT=S9&P1=462.

[3] Al-Majd TV (Saudi Arabia/UAE), December 31, 2004. To view the clip, visit http://memritv.org/Search.asp?ACT=S9&P1=459.

[4] Al-Majd TV (Saudi Arabia/UAE), January 1, 2005. To view the clip, visit http://memritv.org/Search.asp?ACT=S9&P1=452.

[5] The name was not identified by MEMRI.

[6] Al-Usbu' (Egypt), January 1, 2005.

Saturday, January 08, 2005

  • Saturday, January 08, 2005
  • Elder of Ziyon
Former American President Jimmy Carter, right, and former Republican Governor of New Jersey Christine Todd Whitman pay their respects at the grave of  late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat at his former headquarters in the West Bank town of Ramallah , Saturday Jan. 8, 2005. Carter and Christine Todd Whitman arrived on behalf of the National Democratic Institute and the Carter Center as an observer for the upcoming Palestinian presidential elections. Palestinians are going to the polls on Jan. 9 to elect the successor for the late Yasser Arafat. (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko)




Former American President Jimmy Carter, right, and former Republican Governor of New Jersey Christine Todd Whitman (news - web sites) pay their respects at the grave of late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat (news - web sites) at his former headquarters in the West Bank town of Ramallah , Saturday Jan. 8, 2005. Carter and Christine Todd Whitman arrived on behalf of the National Democratic Institute and the Carter Center as an observer for the upcoming Palestinian presidential elections.

Friday, January 07, 2005

  • Friday, January 07, 2005
  • Elder of Ziyon
When the three doctors, Gabi Idan, Jacob Vortman and Shuki Vitek, developed the Popeye - a precision guided air-to-surface missile - for the Israel Defense Forces, they never dreamed that the technologies used to develop it would be integrated 25 years later into the medical field and form the basis of two of the world's leading innovations in 2004.
The Wall Street Journal recently announced the winners of its 2004 Technology Innovation awards, and two Israeli companies, in which Idan, Vortman and Vitek were involved, ranked among the top three winners out of 120 entries. Given Imaging of Yokneam, which developed a capsule containing the PillCam, a video camera that photographs the digestive tract, took second. And InSightec of Tirat Carmel, which developed ExAblate 2000, a focused ultrasound system combined with MRI guidance for removing malignant growths in a noninvasive procedure, took third.

Both products went on the market during the past two years, and have been met with success: PillCam sales are expected to reach $60-80 million this year, while ExAblate 2000, which received U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval just two months ago, reached sales of $10 million in 2004, its first year on the market. According to InSightec forecasts, sales in 2007 will exceed $100 million.

Vortman attributes the commercial success of his and his colleagues' inventions to the years the three of them spent at the Arms Development Authority (now known as Rafael). Idan developed the homing seekers for the Popeye missile and the Gil anti-tank missile. Vortman, who has a Ph.D. in electrooptics, is considered a pioneer in the development of night-vision systems for the defense establishment. Vitek developed at a later stage the Black Anchor, the target missile used in the trials of the Arrow missile.
  • Friday, January 07, 2005
  • Elder of Ziyon
What goes on 'over there'
By Natan Sharansky

Albert Einstein once said that insanity is doing the same thing over and over again expecting to achieve a different result. We may want to keep this observation in mind when thinking about whether the upcoming Palestinian elections present a new hope for peace.
First, about those elections. While Israel should certainly do everything possible to enable Palestinians to vote, we must not delude ourselves into thinking that these elections will be democratic. Free elections can only occur in a society where people are free to express their opinions without fear of being punished for them. When there is no protection of the right to dissent, when a regime controls the press, when voters and potential opponents are intimidated, what happens in the voting booth matters little. That monitors will probably declare these elections free of fraud should also not earn them a democratic imprimatur. Soviet elections were also free of fraud. There was simply only one party on the ballot.

Fortunately, President Bush is viewing these elections with the proper perspective, asserting that they are "not the sign that democracy has arrived." Rather, he said, they are "the beginning of a process."

Whether this process will be a successful one will depend in large measure on whether we have learned from the mistakes of the past. Oslo failed because its architects and the democratic world that supported Oslo cared little about how Arafat ruled. The fact that Arafat was constructing a society built on fear was not seen as an impediment to peace. On the contrary, Arafat's iron-fisted rule was considered an asset. As Yitzhak Rabin put it, Arafat would fight terror "without a Supreme Court, without B'Tselem, and without bleeding heart liberals."

But this view is fundamentally mistaken. What goes on "over there" is very much our business. Regimes based on fear rather than popular consent need external enemies to sustain their illegitimate rule and therefore turn the societies they control into breeding grounds for terror and hatred. If we return to the Oslo mindset of not caring about what happens within Palestinian society, no peace process will succeed.

While the new Palestinian Authority leader's coronation at the ballot box does not give him the right to speak on behalf of the Palestinians, he can prove himself worthy of his new title by governing on behalf of the Palestinians. That means protecting dissent rather than crushing it, providing a good education for Palestinian youth rather than using schools and the media for incitement, building decent housing for those living in refugee camps rather than using them as pawns in a political struggle against Israel, and enabling an independent middle class to emerge rather than seeking to control all aspects of Palestinian economic life.

Will this new leader govern on behalf of the Palestinians? Much depends on whether the free world, including Israel, insists that he does. Unfortunately, the pervasive assumption among policymakers and diplomats is that what is needed now is not to press the new PA leader to implement democratic reforms but rather to strengthen this "moderate" so that he can fight extremists and make peace with Israel.

Arafat used this lack of concern for how he ruled to consolidate his power by strengthening hatred toward Israel and at the same time avoiding making concessions that he argued might "weaken" him and bring Hamas to power. If the free world adopts the same approach toward Abu Mazen or any other Palestinian leader, the results will be equally disastrous.

Abu Mazen's promise not to confront terror groups, his demand for a so-called right of return for Palestinians to pre-1967 Israel and his railing against the "Zionist enemy" have been dismissed as empty campaign rhetoric. But it may reflect a belief that, just as was true in the past, a free world afraid of "weakening" him will not force him to change course.

But there are also reasons to be optimistic. Foremost among them is Bush's recognition that the key to peace lies in the expansion of freedom and opportunity within Palestinian society. As the leader of the free world, Bush can play a critical role in advancing peace by linking American support for the PA to the regime's willingness to build such a society. With an American president willing to hold Abu Mazen accountable, the chances of inducing real change within Palestinian society are very real.

I am less confident, however, that Israel's government, whatever its eventual composition, will take advantage of this unique opportunity to begin a real peace process based on helping the Palestinians build a free society. Instead, we are divided among those who are determined to return to Oslo, those who endorse unilateralism and those who refuse any concessions under any circumstances.

But none of these approaches will advance peace because none of them will help change what is going on "over there." By stopping the insane policy of supporting dictatorship and instead focusing on helping the Palestinians build a free society, I am confident that we can forge a peace that will stand the test of time.
  • Friday, January 07, 2005
  • Elder of Ziyon
More than 500 election observers have poured into east Jerusalem and the Palestinian Authority over the last few days to watch the Palestinians cast their ballots, take the ballots to counting centers, and then count the votes.

The observers are divided into three categories. The largest contingent, 260 members, comes from the European Union. A second contingent is sponsored by the US National Democratic Institute and is bringing some 80 people from 15 countries; and the rest are part of a third group from a wide variety of countries – including Egypt, which is sending 20 observers – gathered under the UN's umbrella.

And where exactly were these "observers" when the campaigning was going on, when only Abbas managed to travel freely, when the PA press and "security forces" are all run by the same party that supports the Holocaust-denier Abbas, where all the millions that pour into Fatah go to only one candidate? Who needs to cheat in such an election? -EoZ
  • Friday, January 07, 2005
  • Elder of Ziyon
Abbas later visited the nearby Balata refugee camp, where he was greeted by scores of Fatah gunmen belonging to the Aksa Martyrs Brigades.

Two of them, Ala Sanakreh and Ahmed Abu Salateh, appeared next to Abbas as he addressed thousands of supporters. The two are wanted by Israel for their role in a suicide bombing at Jerusalem's French Hill junction four months ago and other attacks. Abbas later held a closed door meeting with the gunmen and promised to help them after the election.

'I will do everything to protect these men,' Abbas vowed. 'The issue of the wanted men will be at the top of my priorities, in addition to the case of the prisoners.'

On the eve of Ababs's visit, Fatah members in the city murdered a 44-year-old man suspected of 'collaboration' with Israel.

The Aksa Martyrs Brigades have thrown their weight behind Abbas, calling on their supporters to vote for him. The group has also backed his call for an end to rocket attacks, and many of its gunmen say they won't oppose his efforts to reach a truce with Israel.

Thursday, January 06, 2005

  • Thursday, January 06, 2005
  • Elder of Ziyon
It is too hard to answer Fool Callie's questions in the tagboard, so I'll try here:

  • Why have the MO community started kicking up the Bat Mitsvah thing if girls still don't read from the Torah?
I'm not sure what one has to do with the other. Halacha would not allow a girl to read from the Torah so it isn't going to happen (except in women-only prayer groups), but I imagine that it has more to do woth "keeping up with the Cohens" than anything else, as far as their parties go.
  • Is Botox Kosher?
Are you planning to eat some?

Plastic surgery for cosmetic-only purposes is frowned upon, and I don't see why Botox would be any different. But I never read a t'shuva on the topic. My guess would be that if it has a small danger involved (like the reports that people contracted botulism) then it would be definitely no good; if not then it may be acceptable for special cases. Perhaps you can ask this woman who appears to be an Orthodox dermatologist who has given talks on this topic.
  • Do Orthodox Jews have the tooth fairy?
We had the Tooth Mal'ach (the Tooth Angel) but I forgot where I got that idea from. I have no idea what the general frum community does. But it is a fantastic question.

  • Thursday, January 06, 2005
  • Elder of Ziyon
Saudi Arabia's pledge to help tsunami victims: $30 million
Saudi Arabia's money sent to Palestinian suicide bombers: $109 million
  • Thursday, January 06, 2005
  • Elder of Ziyon
Members of the Fatah youth movement chant slogans during a rally for Palestinian presidential candidate Mahmoud Abbas at a hotel in the Jerusalem suburb of Beit Hanina, January 5, 2005. Palestinian fighters wounded 12 soldiers in a rocket attack on Israel Wednesday, defying calls for a cease-fire from Mahmoud Abbas, the frontrunner to succeed Yasser Arafat in an election Sunday. REUTERS/Ammar Awad
Members of the Fatah youth movement chant slogans during a rally for Palestinian presidential candidate Mahmoud Abbas at a hotel in the Jerusalem suburb of Beit Hanina, January 5, 2005.

Remember that these are not Hamas - these are the terrorists from Mahmoud Abbas' own party. Look how moderate these kids are with their cute Nazi salutes! - EoZ
  • Thursday, January 06, 2005
  • Elder of Ziyon
It is utterly depressing to see wishful thinking replace common sense in the current Israeli government.

Is there any actual indication that Abbas will be any more "peaceful" than Arafat? For every "pragmatic" statement that gets trumpeted in the Western press, he makes three statements completely consistent with the desire for the destruction of Israel. Since when is someone who denies the Holocaust, insists on all of Jerusalem, and praises suicide bombers a "moderate?"

Is there any actual indication that abandoning Gaza will make things more peaceful? Hamas isn't saying anything of the sort. Israel will have to de facto occupy all the areas that they plan to abandon to keep rockets out of southern kibbutzim. And for this we are uprooting Jews, dismantling synagogues and moving cemeteries?

Historically, Israel has gained respect most when she looked after her own interests. Sure she was criticized in 1967, when she bombed the Iraqi nuclear reactor, even after Entebbe. But has the criticism lessened any since Sharon started his appeasement policy? On the contrary - Israel is more reviled than ever. And now she no longer has the moral authority of protecting her own citizens, weakening her further and placing her at the mercy of the EU and UN who are so anxious to impose a solution. If Israel is losing her own desire to defend herself and ignore the world, G-d help us all.

And it all seems to be based on the same sort of wishful thinking that produced the fruits of Oslo, of over a thousand innocents killed.

-EoZ

Wednesday, January 05, 2005

  • Wednesday, January 05, 2005
  • Elder of Ziyon
A new historical series airing on Iran's Sahar TV, recorded and translated by MEMRI's TV Monitor Project, depicts the early Christian era from an Islamic perspective. The seventh episode, which aired on December 30, 2004, shows the crucifixion of some of Jesus' followers by the Romans. In a scene reminiscent of the crucifixion of Jesus, the series shows Jews who are passing by the crucifixion site stopping to abuse the crucified Christian preacher Adonya, by gleefully and maliciously throwing stones at him as he is nailed to the cross. A Roman soldier tries to stop them, but the Jews bribe him and continue to abuse Adonya. In portraying them as Jews, the actors talk like cartoons, and wear as their clothing traditional 'Jewish' religious garb (a tallis, which in fact is used only during prayer).
  • Wednesday, January 05, 2005
  • Elder of Ziyon
THE FENCE [Cliff May]
The new fences will be chain-link and six feet tall, topped with small spikes to “deter” those who might consider scaling them. Well, we’ll see what the International Court of Justice in The Hague has to say about this!

Oh, wait a minute, sorry. These fences are not being erected along the West Bank to protect Israeli communities from Hamas terrorists, these fences are being erected between the District of Columbia and Prince Georges County in Maryland, and they are meant to stop “criminals” from crossing from the city into the suburbs. The route the fences will block has been used as a “corridor for drug dealing.”

And, off course, drug dealers are committing crimes. Whereas suicide bombers are …how shall I put this …expressing their anger and outrage over grievances? The front page Washington Post story is here.
  • Wednesday, January 05, 2005
  • Elder of Ziyon
I spent way too much of today looking at some of the blogs that are mentioned in the Israellycool blog that are up for nominations in one of the many annual awards given throughout the blogosphere. It is worth looking through the nominees and browsing - some are political, some are personal, but all are either Israeli or Jewish (or both.)

I was astonished at how many are out there now, and my tiny, little-read news blog seems a bit redundant with all of the other ones in the 'sphere.

A good place to start is the nominations for "best post". I also liked the personal Israeli blogs which describe Israeli society in ways you could never get from newspapers.

And, no, I'm not trolling for a nomination!

-EoZ
  • Wednesday, January 05, 2005
  • Elder of Ziyon
Jerusalem (CNSNews.com) - The Sri Lankan government reportedly refused to accept a large Israeli rescue and medical mission to aid tsunami victims. But even so, an Israeli group says it has contributed more civilian aid to Sri Lanka than any other country.

The Israeli humanitarian aid organization Latet (Hebrew for "to give") has already shipped 70 tons of supplies to the area, said Latet spokesperson Evia Simon. "It is the biggest amount of equipment [sent by] a civilian aid organization to Sri Lanka," said Simon.

The group has sent about $300,000 worth of supplies, including water, water-purification tablets and medicine. Latet has its own six-man team, including a doctor, on the ground in Sri Lanka to help distribute the supplies.

Latet, the first humanitarian aid agency to be established in Israel, has previously provided aid to Kosovo war victims, Ethiopian famine victims, victims of the two Turkish earthquakes and survivors of the earthquakes in El Salvador and India.

Israelis were surprised last week to hear that Sri Lanka had turned down Israel's offer to send a 150-person medical and rescue team to the country. Unofficial Israeli sources said that the Sri Lankan government refused the team's help because the unit falls under the umbrella of the Israeli army.

But the Sri Lankan ambassador to Israel, Tissa Wijeratne, denied that his government had refused the Israeli assistance and said Sri Lanka had "no objection" to the military composition of the team.

"The Sri Lankan government didn't refuse," Wijeratne said in a radio interview on Tuesday. "They wanted the Israeli government to delay the arrival of the 150-member Israeli rescue and relief team."

Wijeratne is due to meet with the Israeli Health Minister Danny Naveh later on Tuesday.

Tuesday, January 04, 2005

Palestinian Word Games
By Daniel Pipes, January 4, 2005

New York Sun*
January 4, 2005

We read that "Prime Minister" Mahmoud Abbas is running in the elections on Sunday to succeed Yasser Arafat as "president" of "Palestine."

Excuse me, but prime minister, according to the Encyclopedia Britannica, means the "head of the executive branch of government in states with a parliamentary system." Despite tens of thousands of references to Mr. Abbas as prime minister, he in not a single way fits this description.

Oh, and there is also the matter of there being no country called Palestine. Arab maps show it in place of Israel. The U.N. recognizes its existence. So too do certain telephone companies – for example, France's Bouygues Telecom and Bell Canada. Nonetheless, no such place exists.

One can dismiss use of these terms as symptoms of the same unrealism that has undermined Palestinian Arab war efforts since 1948. But they also promote the Palestinian cause (a polite way of saying, "the destruction of Israel") in a vital way.

In an era when the battle for public opinion has an importance that rivals the clash of soldiers, the Palestinian Arabs' success in framing the issues has won them critical support among politicians, editorial writers, academics, street demonstrators, and NGO activists. In the aggregate, these many auxiliaries keep the Palestinian effort alive.

Especially in a long-standing dispute with a static situation on the ground, public opinion has great significance. That's because words reflect ideas – and ideas motivate people. Weapons in themselves are inert; today, ideas inspire people to pick up arms or sacrifice their lives. Software drives hardware.

Israel is winning on the basic geographic nomenclature. The state is known in English as Israel, not the Zionist entity. Its capital is called Jerusalem, not Al-Quds. Likewise, Temple Mount and Western Wall enjoy far more currency than Al-Haram ash-Sharif or Al-Buraq. The separation barrier is more often called a security fence (keeping out Palestinian suicide bombers) than a separation wall (bringing to mind divided Berlin).

In other ways, however, the Palestinian Arabs' wording dominates English-language usage, helping them win the war for public opinion.

*

Collaborator means someone who "cooperates treasonably" and brings to mind the French and Norwegian collaborators who betrayed their countries to the Nazis. Yet this term (rather than informant, mole, or agent) universally describes those Palestinian Arabs providing Israel with information.
*

Refugee status normally applies to someone who, "owing to a well-founded fear of being persecuted . . . is outside the country of his nationality," but not to that person's descendants. In the Palestinian case, however, children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren of refugees also merit refugee status. One demographer estimates that more than 95% of so-called Palestinian Arab refugees never fled from anywhere. Nonetheless, the term continues to be used, implying that millions of Palestinian Arabs have a right to move to Israel.
*

A settlement is defined as a small community or an establishment in a new region. Although some Jewish towns on the West Bank and in Gaza have tens of thousands of residents and have existed for nearly four decades, settlement, with its overtones of colonialism, is their nearly universal name.
*

Occupied territories implies that a Palestinian state existed in 1967, when Israel captured the West Bank and Gaza. That was not the case, making these areas legally disputed territories, not occupied ones.
*

Cycle of violence, a term President George W. Bush has adopted ("the cycle of violence has got to end in order for the peace process … to begin"), implies a moral equivalence between the killing of Israeli civilians and Palestinian Arab terrorists. It confuses the arsonist with the fire department.
*

The peace camp in Israel – a term that derives from Lenin's usage – refers to those on the left who believe that appeasing mortal enemies is the only way to end Palestinian aggression. Those in favor of other approaches (such a deterrence) by implication constitute the "war camp." In fact, all Israelis are in the "peace camp" in the sense that all want to be rid of the conflict; none of them aspires to kill Palestinian Arabs, occupy Cairo, or destroy Syria.

Arabs may have fallen behind Israel in per capita income and advanced weaponry, but they lead by far on the semantic battlefield. Who, a century back, would have imagined Jews making the better soldiers and Arabs the better publicists?

Monday, January 03, 2005

  • Monday, January 03, 2005
  • Elder of Ziyon
The year 2003 saw conspiracy theories from the Middle East surrounding most major events, ranging from the destruction of the Space Shuttle Columbia to the capture of Saddam Hussein. 2004 saw a continuation of this trend. Previous conspiracy theories this year included blaming the U.S. and Zionists for worldwide calamities, Egyptian conspiracies about 9/11, and accusations about activities of the U.S. and Jews in Iraq. The following top ten list represents conspiracies which were published in the Arab and Iranian media during the last months of 2004.


10) U.S. and Zionist Control of Al-Jazeera: Muslim critics of Al-Jazeera frequently charge that it is run by the U.S. and Israel. In the Tehran Times on December 2, Hassan Hanizadeh wrote that "rumors arose suggesting that the network was established by U.S. and Israeli agents in order to present a bad image of Islam to the world… The actions of the network gradually revealed the fact that Al-Jazeera officials, on the orders of Zionist agents, are trying to … tarnish the image of Islam…"


9) Zionists Spreading Diseases Amongst Arabs: Hizbullah's Al-Manar TV broadcast a program in November about "Zionist attempts to transmit dangerous diseases like AIDS through exports to Arab countries." Iran's Mehr News Agency ran a story titled "Israel Exporting Carcinogenic Foodstuff to Arab States" on November 24, writing, "The trend has led to an increase in leukemia and liver and stomach cancer in the Arab countries which have imported Israeli foodstuff."


8) Iran Accuses Al-Zarqawi of Working for Jordan: The Iranian Mehr News Agency alleged on December 26 that "Jordan sent Abu Musab al-Zarqawi to Iraq to carry out destabilization activities," and that Iraqi President Iyad Allawi is controlled by Jordanian officials. The report also accused Jordan of planning to re-settle five million Palestinians in Iraq.


7) Jews Were Behind the September 1st-3rd Chechen Beslan School Attack: Dozens of religious, political, and media personalities from the Middle East have blamed the Beslan attack on Jews and Israelis. Ali Abdullah, a conservative Bahraini religious scholar, claimed on September 5, 2004 that Israelis - not Muslims - were behind the attack, as part of an effort to "tarnish the image of Muslims."


6) Israel Stealing Body Parts of Palestinian Children: Iran's Sahar 1 TV is currently airing a weekly series that premiered on December 13 called "Zahra's Blue Eyes." The show includes graphic scenes of Palestinian children whose eyes have been surgically removed and stolen by Israel.


5) Jews Tamper with The Koran: The Kuwaiti English daily Arab Times published an article on September 21 titled "New Education Plan 'Enforced'; Jews tamper with Holy Quran." The article reported on the Dean of the College of Sharia and Islamic Studies of Kuwait University, Dr. Mohammad Abdul Razak Al-Tabtabaei, who had "warned citizens and residents of some versions [of the Koran] which have been manipulated by Jews…" Al-Tabtabaei explained, "For long Jews have been plotting against Muslims using various means… They have been damaging the Holy book by the changing and deleting verses with the aim of hiding the truth."


4) U.S. To Invade Pakistan and Annihilate Muslims: Maqdoom Mohiuddin favorably reviewed a book in the Saudi Gazette on October 19, which advances the theory that "there have been rumors about a possible invasion of Pakistan… The U.S. has started implementing its program… The book also reveals that the other possible targets of the U.S. will be Sudan, Indonesia, Nigeria, and Turkey…" Mohiuddin claims that President Bush's true goal is the "total annihilation of the Muslims."


3) U.S./Jews Behind the October 7th Taba Attacks in Egypt: Adli Barsum of the Egyptian government daily Al-Gumhuriya is one of dozens of Arab columnists who propagated conspiracy theories about the Taba attacks. He asked in Al-Gumhuriya on October 12: "Who planned the bombings in Taba? … Is it the Mossad? …Is it the CIA?" The London Arabic-language daily Al-Quds Al-Arabi reported that a headline in Egypt's weekly Al-Mustaqbal Al-Jadid, the official organ of the National Party's Policies Committee under the leadership of Gamal Mubarak, read "Proof of Mossad Involvement in the Explosions in Taba."


2) Israel Killed Yasser Arafat: Writing in the Egyptian weekly Al-Ahram, Ghada Karmi claimed on November 11, "… A close confidant of Ariel Sharon has stated that the latter had 'eliminated' Yasser Arafat 'through his cooks'…" On November 11, Khaled al-Batesh, leader of Palestinian Islamic Jihad, told UPI that "during Sharon's last visit to Washington, he told U.S. President George W. Bush, 'We will help G-d to get rid of him.'" An article in the Tehran Times on November 17 stated that "a special Zionist commando group" was responsible.


1) U.S. Soldiers Stealing Organs from Iraqis: In the Saudi daily Al-Watan on December 22, an article by Fakhriya Ahmad alleges that, based on European secret military reports, U.S. personnel in Iraq are stealing human organs: "The reports confirm the finding of tens of thousands of mutilated cadavers missing parts… These teams offer $40 for every usable kidney and $25 for an eye…" The report also appeared in the Syrian daily Teshreen and in Iran's Jomhour-ye Islami.
  • Monday, January 03, 2005
  • Elder of Ziyon
On December 23, 2004, the Dutch Ministry of the Interior published a 60-page report entitled From Dawa to Jihad. Prepared by the Dutch general intelligence service (AIVD), it describes radical Islam and examines how to meet its threat to Dutch society.
#

Among the close to one million Dutch Muslims, about 95 percent are moderates. This implies that there are up to 50,000 potential radicals.
#

Since September 11, 2001, phenomena such as the growth of radical Islamic groups, polarization between Muslims and the surrounding society, limitations in the process of integration, and Islamist terrorism have increased in The Netherlands.
#

The capability of Dutch society to resist the threat of radical Islam is considered low, though recently a greater desire has become apparent among the Dutch population to become more resistant. Also within the Dutch Muslim community resistance against radical forces is low. The moderate organizations and individuals are not able to counterbalance the radical forces.
#

An earlier AIVD report dealt with Saudi influences in The Netherlands, mentioning a number of mosque organizations that originated from Saudi missions and financing. The Amsterdam Tawheed mosque, which in the past has put extreme anti-Semitic statements on its website, is linked financially, organizationally, and personally with the Saudi Al Haramain Foundation. Several other mosques are supported financially by Saudi charities.
#

The Dutch report places the blame for the origins of the problem squarely on the deeply-rooted ideology of fierce opposition to the Western way of life among certain Muslim groups. It does not claim that the problem of radical Muslims would disappear if there were peace between Israelis and Palestinians. Israel and Jews are not mentioned in the report.
  • Monday, January 03, 2005
  • Elder of Ziyon
#1 The truth: Palestinian girl killed in Gaza explosion
www.spa.gov.sa/newsprint.php?extend.229069

Gaza city, Gaza Strip, Jan 1, SPA[Saudi Press Agency] -- A ten-year-old
Palestinian girl was killed Saturday when an explosion ripped through her
home in the Jebaliya refugee camp in the northern Gaza Strip, hospital
officials said.

Residents said Ibtihal Abu Daher was killed when a Palestinian rocket
inadvertently hit her house. Her 11-year old brother Ihab was also wounded
in the explosion.
--SPA

1359 Local Time
1059 GMT

#2 The Lie: A Palestinian Girl and a Man Killed by Israeli Troops
www.ipc.gov.ps/ipc_new/english/details.asp?name=1807

JABALYA, Palestine, January 1, 2005 (IPC Agencies)[Official PA website]--
Ibtihal Abu Daher, 10 years-old girl, from the Gaza Strip refugee camp of
Jablya, was killed early this morning by the Israeli troops and her
11-year-old sister was injured after an Israeli tank fired a shell on the
Palestinian-owned houses opposite to the Abu Safiya neighborhood.

A senior hospital official at the Gaza-based Alshifa hospital, said that
Ibtihal arrived in a very critical condition at the Kamal Edwan hospital in
the northern Gaza Strip, and that her sister was in a moderate condition.
  • Monday, January 03, 2005
  • Elder of Ziyon
By John Farmer
The tsunami that struck South Asia last week has cast an unflattering light on the Muslim world and the mindless hatred it fosters towards the West.

Indonesia, the most populous Muslim nation on the globe, was also by far the greatest victim of the earthquake and tsunami that convulsed the Indian Ocean basin. Of the tens of thousands of fatalities, Indonesia suffered at least 90,000 deaths. It, in a sense, was truly an Islamic tragedy.

So where in its hour of need did the Islamic world turn for relief? To the hated West, of course.

While America was ponying up some $350 million and the nations of Western Europe pledged sums approaching $200 million by the last count, what were the oil-rich Muslim nations of the Middle East doing for their religious brethren? Not a whole hell of a lot. Kuwait, which owes its very existence to Western help when Saddam Hussein tried to swallow it whole and today is fat with $45-a-barrel oil profits, dug down deep but could initially find only a paltry $2 million in aid money.

Kuwait is typical. Qatar, which reportedly has offered some $35 million, is the exception. The super-rich Saudis could come up with only $10 million, and the rest of the Arab world has been slow to react, and niggardly with what help they have found it in their hearts to offer, if any.

It's all part of a piece in the Muslim world. From Egypt to Pakistan and in all Muslim nations in between, it has been politically easier to finger the West, and especially the United States, for the Muslim plight than to look inward at their own faults and failings. Their treatment of the Palestinians offers but one example.

The plight of the Palestinians cries out for help. But most of the help they get comes not from their wealthy Arab neighbors, but from the West and from international agencies. What the Palestinians primarily get from their Arab neighbors are subsidies to the families of suicide bombers and a lot of hot-air hatred for Israelis and Americans. The Saudis, for example, have for decades poured millions of dollars into the funding of Wahhabi mosques and schools and clerics who preach jihad against infidels, a k a Westerners in general and Americans in particular.

Will that change now with the huge Western and, more particularly, American participation in the tsunami rescue effort? Not likely. It's not in the Muslim mind-set to acknowledge Western good will or good intentions. The Serbian slaughter of Muslims in Bosnia and Kosovo, for example, was halted only by Western intervention, led by the American military; the Muslim Middle East was impotent to stop the genocide. But did that get the West or Washington any applause? We're still waiting.

So deep are the feelings of inferiority that afflict the Muslim societies of the Middle East (especially in the face of Israeli success) that they cannot accept responsibility for their own failings. Better to blame America and the West than to question the backwardness they endure in the name of Islamic or religious rigidity. One would hope that their helplessness in the face of the tsunami suffering of their co-religionists in South Asia would open the eyes of Middle East Muslims to their own inadequacy. But don't bet on it. It's easier to blame the rich Americans for being too slow with help.

George W. Bush has taken few hits even here at home for his tardy reaction to the crisis. It's true that Bush wasn't quick off the mark (he never is, really), but on this score he's taking a bum rap. Everyone was slow to react, largely because first estimates of the casualty rate were low, as few as 20,000. Only after a day or two did the world begin to grasp the dimensions of the tragedy.

And the scale of American aid is hardly measured by the $350 million Bush has offered. Two Navy battle groups, whose operations cost American taxpayers millions of dollars per day, have been dispatched to the stricken regions with supplies and thousands of personnel. Equally important is the fleet of American helicopters made available to ferry water and food to remote areas of Sri Lanka and especially the isolated islands of Indonesia. As the days go by and the rescue mission mounts, the role of the American military in aiding the Muslims of South Asia will only grow in size and scope.

This, as even the most radical of Middle East Muslims must realize privately, is a job only the American Superpower can handle. Whether they'll credit American generosity, however, or continue to see us as the "Great Satan," is another matter.

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