Doc's Talk: Iran Early Bird-Wednesday

Wednesday, October 29, 2008

Iran Early Bird-Wednesday

Commenting on the recent U.S. military assault in Syria, Majlis Speaker Ali Larijani said that terror attacks of that kind could not be met with warnings and diplomatic complaints, adding that the only way to prevent further such assaults was by means of a crushing and unexpected response. According to Larijani, the United States must be made to understand that its "treacherous actions" against Islamic countries are not mere "mischief" that will go unpunished. "The United States must take care not to throw itself onto the mine of the holy fighters who are willing to sacrifice their lives," Larijani commented. 2. According to the commander of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps' ground forces, General Asadi, "The world will soon witness the melting of the American snow monster." Asadi charged that the United States had invaded the Middle East not only to get its hands on the oil resources but also to prevent the promulgation of the Islamic Revolution.

3. The Roozna daily is reporting that advisors to U.S. presidential candidate Barack Obama, including Zbigniew Brzezinski and Dennis Ross, are planning to hold talks with Iran following Obama's election.

4. The International Wheelchair Basketball Federation has decided to suspend Iran's National Organization for Wheelchair Basketball until January 2013 in light of Iran's refusal to compete against the United States in the quarterfinals of the recent Beijing Paralympics.

5. In his meeting with Supreme National Security Council Secretary Saeid Jalili, former Lebanese president Emile Lahoud stressed Lebanon's intense need for a resistance to stand up to the "treacherous attacks," as he put it, of the Zionist regime.

6. Quoting informed Lebanese sources, the semi-official Mehrnews website is carrying a report on the possibility that Walid Junblat (one of the Druze leaders in Lebanon) will visit Iran in the near future. Also according to the site, Majlis Speaker Ali Larijani will travel to Beirut shortly.

7. In a meeting with the spokesman of the Majlis' Conservative faction, Interior Minister Ali Kordan said his resignation would not serve the interests of the regime and thus he had would not take that step. Meanwhile, President Ahmadi-Nejad's media advisor has harshly slammed the decision to hold a no-confidence vote in the interior minister, charging that the move is an illegal one for which its initiators should be held accountable in a court of law.

1. The Tabnak website is reporting that U.S. forces have recently transferred sophisticated military equipment, including satellite systems, to Kuwait for the purpose of setting up a spy base. According to the Tabnak report, the base will serve to boost U.S. surveillance of Iran.

2. The Iranian Defense Ministry's Aviation Industries Organization has signed a contract with Russian company Kamov for the design and production of 50 civilian Kamov helicopters in Iran.

3. Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has stressed the ongoing military cooperation between his country and Iran. Commenting on the matter during a television address, Medvedev said that the U.S. sanctions on Russian arms exporter Rosobonexport would have no effect on the sale of the company's products to Iran.

4. IRGC appointments: Ali-Akbar Pour-Jmshidian has been named commander of the Ashura Division; Bayat will serve from now as commander of the Imam Mahdi 2nd Brigade; and Jafari will take up the post of commander of the 60th Artillery Battalion in the Ashura Division.

5. The secretary-general of Iran's Anti-Drug Headquarters has announced that over the past two years, some $600 million have been invested in closing off the country's borders to drug smugglers. Among the measures implemented were the digging of trenches, the erection of concrete walls and the installation of barbed-wire fences along the borders, the secretary-general said.

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1. Iran's deputy economics minister has outlined the steps Tehran has taken to minimize the effects of the global financial crisis on the Iranian economy; he also spoke at the same time of the objectives of the conference on the matter that will take place this Sunday in the capital. The deputy minister said eight taskforces on the subject had been set up in various government ministries, and added that despite the global crisis, Iranian banks were reporting significant increases in deposits.

2. The Majlis has given its go-ahead for Iran to join the gas exporters' cartel that will also include Russia and Qatar. The cartel, known as OPEC Gas, held its first meeting a few days ago, with representatives of all three countries in attendance. Meanwhile, a senior Russian government official has announced the postponement of the cartel's next meeting, which had been scheduled for November, in Moscow.

3. The National Iranian Oil Products Distribution Company has signed a deal with a Malaysian company for the construction of fuel filling stations in Tehran. The initial stage of the deal will involve the construction 22 stations, with 18 mobile stations to be completed in the second stage of the project.

4. The Thai government has expressed interest in immediately striking a "rice for oil" trade deal with Iran. Iran is one of Thailand's biggest rice customers, importing between 600,000 and 1,000,000 million tons of Thai rice annually.

5. Iran's deputy economics minister has announced that six banks and government insurance companies are ready to undergo privatization. The deputy minister named the Tejarat, Melat and Saderat banks, and the Alborz, Dana and Asia insurance firms.

6. President Ahmadi-Nejad's first deputy has conveyed a directive to the Communications and Economics ministries with respect to the privatization of the Postal Company and the establishment of an organization for governmental postal services.

7. Iranian economists are urging the government not to abandon and forget about the law to increase VAT. According to some of the economists, while the law may have threatened the interests of certain groups in society that consequently opposed it, it does serve the interests of the public in general.

8. Some 40 percent of the tires on cars in Iran are imported from China.

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1. According to Ayatollah Garami, one of the sources of emulation in Qom, in keeping with Islam, supporters of religions that are not monotheistic have no civil rights. Garami said the Baha'i were considered heretics and affording them full rights would be an offense to God. The Baha'i, he added, should be pressed into "returning to the straight and narrow; and as long as they refrain from converting Islam, they cannot enjoy civil rights."

2. Expediency Discernment Council Chairman Hashemi Rafsanjani: Islam believes in recruiting hearts by means of rational arguments, and "no one has the right to raise the banner of belligerency in the name of Islam."

3. Amir-Reza Ardalan, an international relations student at Esfahan University, has been sentenced to six months in prison for disseminating anti-regime propaganda.

4. In the framework of its program to boost public security, Iran has slapped a ban on the carrying of cold weapons.

5. According to a survey conducted among Iranian conscripts, smoking cigarettes is their primary leisure activity. The survey shows that more than 50 percent of conscripts smoke in excess of 10 cigarettes a day. Just 11 percent of the soldiers dedicate their leisure time to reading books and newspapers.

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The IDF’s Minorities in Numbers and Pictures

In honor of IDF Diversity Week, we present diversity through numbers and pictures. Each year, more and more Muslims, Christians, Druze, Bedouin and immigrants from around the world take on the responsibility of defending Israel.

MUSLIMS:

Muslim Arab Israelis are not required to draft in the IDF, but there are many who volunteer. In 2013, there were over 200 Muslims serving in the IDF and over 300 in the reserves.

Bedouins:

Bedouins are nomadic Muslims who were in Israel when modern borders were set in place and are now considered Israeli citizens. They are not required to draft but a growing number choose to enlist. In 2012, there were over 1,400 Bedouin Muslim soldiers doing regular IDF service and almost 1,500 in the reserves.

Read more:http://www.idfblog.com/2014/02/27/truth-idf-numbers-pictures/#more-34027

Are you aware that in 2013, Middle class taxes go up-significantly?

In January of next year, the federal income tax rate for middle-class taxpayers is scheduled to rise from 25 percent to 28 percent, and the payroll tax is scheduled to rise from 13.3 percent to 15.3 percent… This drives the marginal tax rate based on the aforementioned three taxes to 48.12 percent. Add in state and local property, corporate, excise, and other state and local taxes, and the percentage of each additional dollar that is taxed hovers around 50 percent… When half of each additional dollar earned is taxed away, taxpayers experience a disincentive to start businesses or expand existing ones. This leads to fewer jobs being created.

Why is HAMAS Inside Tampa Schools?

Clare Lopez

Kelly Miliziano, who teaches history classes at Steinbrenner High School in the Tampa, Florida area apparently thinks it’s perfectly OK to invite a senior official of a HAMAS-affiliated organization into her classroom to discuss Islam with her students. According to local media reports, not only has this been going on for years, but in spite of the civil and criminal proceedings that could result from such reckless negligence, the Hillsborough County school superintendent, Mary Ellen Elia, and the chairman of the school board, Candy Olson, also expressed approval for students under their responsibility to be exposed repeatedly to guest speaker, Hassan Shibly, who is the Executive Director for the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) in the Tampa area.
More...

Did You Know... Ignoring the Call to Islam will Bring Jihad

‘Conquest through Da’wa [proselytizing] that is what we hope for. We will conquer Europe, we will conquer America! Not through sword but through Da’wa.’
-- Yousef al-Qaradawi , Muslim Brotherhood spiritual leader The Arabic word ‘Da’wa’ means the “call to Islam.” But do not think that Da’wa is the same thing as an invitation to an optional holiday event. The classical Islamic doctrine of jihad mandates that enemies must be given the opportunity to convert to Islam or pay the jizya tax before it is permissible to attack them.
Clare M. Lopez

Who is being discriminated-facts tell the truth

Religious bias

Hate crimes motivated by religious bias accounted for 1,409 offenses reported by law enforcement. A breakdown of the bias motivation of religious-bias offenses showed:

65.4 percent were anti-Jewish.
13.2 percent were anti-Islamic.
9.5 percent were anti-other religion, i.e., those not specified.
4.3 percent were anti-Catholic.
3.8 percent were anti-multiple religions, group.
3.3 percent were anti-Protestant.
0.5 percent were anti-Atheism/Agnosticism/etc.

http://www.fbi.gov/about-us/cjis/ucr/hate-crime/2010/narratives/hate-crime-2010-incidents-and-offenses.

On March 31, 1977, the Dutch newspaper Trouw published an interview

with PLO executive committee member Zahir Muhsein. Here's what he said:

"The Palestinian people does not exist. The creation of a Palestinian state is only a means for continuing our struggle against the state of Israel for our Arab unity. In reality today there is no difference between Jordanians, Palestinians, Syrians and Lebanese. Only for political and tactical reasons do we speak today about the existence of a Palestinian people, since Arab national interests demand that we posit the existence of a distinct "Palestinian people" to oppose Zionism.

For tactical reasons, Jordan, which is a sovereign state with defined borders, cannot raise claims to Haifa and Jaffa, while as a Palestinian, I can undoubtedly demand Haifa, Jaffa, Beer-Sheva and Jerusalem. However, the moment we reclaim our right to all of Palestine, we will not wait even a minute to unite Palestine and Jordan."

In March 1977, Zahir Muhsein, a PLO executive, said:

"The Palestinian people does not exist. The creation of a Palestinian state is only a means for continuing our struggle against the state of Israel for our Arab unity. In reality today there is no difference between Jordanians, Palestinians, Syrians and Lebanese. Only for political and tactical reasons do we speak today about the existence of a Palestinian people, since Arab national interests demand that we posit the existence of a distinct Palestinian people to oppose Zionism."

"For tactical reasons, Jordan, which is a sovereign state with defined borders, cannot raise claims to Haifa and Jaffa, while as a Palestinian, I can undoubtedly demand Haifa, Jaffa, Beer-Sheva and Jerusalem. However, the moment we reclaim our right to all of Palestine, we will not wait even a minute to unite Palestine and Jordan."

The Arab Apartheid

Ben-Dror Yemini
In 1948, the Arab countries refused to accept the UN partition proposal and they launched a war of annihilation against the State of Israel which had barely been established. All precedents in this matter showed that the party that starts the war - and with a declaration of annihilation, yet - pays a price for it. Between 550,000 and 710,000 Arabs fled because of the war and a larger number of 850,000 Jews were expelled or fled from Arab countries (the "Jewish nakba").
Population exchanges and expulsions were the norm at that time, occurring in dozens of other conflict points and affecting about 52 million people. In all the population exchange precedents that occurred during or at the end of an armed conflict, there was no return of refugees to the previous region, which had turned into a new national state.
Only the Arab states acted completely differently from the rest of the world. Instead of assimilating the refugees, they crushed them despite the fact that they were their coreligionists and members of the Arab nation - instituting a regime of apartheid. So the "nakba" was not caused by the actual dispossession, which had also been experienced by tens of millions of others. The "nakba" is the story of the apartheid, oppression, abuse and denial of rights suffered by the Arab refugees at the hands of the Arab countries. (Maariv)

International Law and Military Operations in Practice - Col. Richard Kemp

"Islamist fighting groups study the international laws of armed conflict carefully and they understand it well. They know that a British or Israeli commander and his men are bound by international law and the rules of engagement that flow from it. They then do their utmost to exploit what they view as one of their enemy's main weaknesses. Their very modus operandi is built on the correct assumption that Western armies will normally abide by the rules, while these insurgents employ a deliberate policy of operating consistently outside international law. "

Lost Historical Moments

What Rabin’s last Knesset speech really said:repudiation of a Palestinian state

Rabin ruled out a fully sovereign Palestinian state :

“We view the permanent solution in the framework of State of Israel which will include most of the area of the Land of Israel as it was under the rule of the British Mandate, and alongside it a Palestinian entity which will be a home to most of the Palestinian residents living in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank. We would like this to be an entity which is less than a state, and which will independently run the lives of the Palestinians under its authority.”

Rabin ruled out a total withdrawal from Judea and Samaria and thus a return to the pre-June 1967 borders :

“The borders of the State of Israel, during the permanent solution, will be beyond the lines which existed before the Six Day War. We will not return to the 4 June 1967 lines.”

Rabin ruled out withdrawing form the Jordan Valley:

“The security border of the State of Israel will be located in the Jordan Valley, in the broadest meaning of that term.”

Rabin ruled out uprooting settlement blocs, like the Gush Katif bloc in Gaza (which was subsequently uprooted by former Prime Minister Ariel Sharon):

“The establishment of blocs of settlements in Judea and Samaria, like the one in Gush Katif.

AND

Rabin ruled out removing any settlement before coming to a full peace agreement with the Palestinians:

“I want to remind you: we committed ourselves, that is, we came to an agreement, and committed ourselves before the Knesset, not to uproot a single settlement in the framework of the interim agreement, and not to hinder building for natural growth.”

Rabin insisted on Israel retaining full security control of the borders with Egypt and Jordan, contrary to Israel’s relinquishment of the Philadelphia Corridor on the border with Egypt:

“The responsibility for external security along the borders with Egypt and Jordan, as well as control over the airspace above all of the territories and Gaza Strip maritime zone, remains in our hands.”

Correcting Oslo Myths-Part 2

3) Kuttab laments that the post-1993 Oslo process resulted in a Palestinian Authority "whose ministers and legislators are not guaranteed passage between Gaza and the West Bank ...."

Before free passage or other perquisites, PA leaders were obligated, among other things, to eliminate the terrorist infrastructure in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, end anti-Israeli, antisemitic incitement in schools, mosques, and communications media, and resolve all outstanding issues through peaceful negotiations. They met none of these commitments, sometimes bolstering terrorism and greatly increasing incitement.

4) Kuttab complains that under Oslo the PA got "lightly armed police ---- but no real sovereignty over the land or contiguity between our communities in Gaza and the West Bank."

Oslo agreements repeatedly were revised, regardless of Palestinian non-compliance, until the authorized number of police grew from 8,000 to 40,000. Though they were to be the only armed forces in the territories, Israeli estimates early in the second intifada put the number of gunmen - police, "security services," terrorists, and armed gangs - at 85,000. Their armament reportedly included not only heavy machine guns and rocket-propelled grenades, but also anti-tank and anti-aircraft missiles.

Sovereignty was to be negotiated in the envisioned 1998 "final status" talks - after a five-year period of confidence-building. Palestinian leadership chronically undermined the process. Palestinian terrorism made the 1993 - 1998 Oslo period more deadly for Israelis than the 15 years preceding it.

The United States doesn't have contiguity between the lower 48 states and Alaska and Hawaii; territorial contiguity between the West Bank and Gaza Strip - that is, through the 20 miles of Israeli territory between them - was never promised and would destroy Israeli contiguity.

5) "Palestinians have been made to endure hundreds of checkpoints in the West Bank, an eight-foot wall deep in our territories, and tight Israeli control over borders."

The security barrier is not "deep in Palestinian territories," but rather encompasses less than 8 percent of Judea and Samaria, and is mostly a fence, rarely a wall; the land in question is not "our [Palestinian] territories" but disputed territory to which, according to the authors of U.N. Security Council Resolution 242, Jews as well as Arabs have claims; and there are no international borders, only the 1949 armistice lines with Jordan. Under 242, borders remain to be negotiated. As for checkpoints - like the security barrier and "tight Israeli control" - Palestinian Arabs precipitated these measures themselves. No terrorism and there would be no fence or tight Israeli control and few checkpoints - like before the first intifada.

Correcting Some Oslo Myths

1) In Oslo "Israeli, Palestinian and other world leaders promised that ... Palestinian sovereignty would be solidified."

No, they didn't. The 1993 Declaration of Principles and subsequent Oslo agreements outlined a process by which final status negotiations about the West Bank and Gaza Strip would be reached. The process required an end to anti-Israel terrorism and incitement and a commitment to peaceful negotiations. The PA, Fatah, Hamas, Islamic Jihad, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, and other terrorist groups, sabotaged the process from the start.

2) "The reality is that, in defiance of U.N. Security Council Resolution 242, which states that it is inadmissible to occupy land by force, Palestinian territories are still under foreign military occupation."
Wrong again. Resolution 242 (1967) does note "the inadmissibility of the acquisition of territory by war." It also affirms the right of every state in the area "to live in peace with secure and recognized boundaries free from threats or acts of force." There were no "Palestinian territories." Jordan occupied the West Bank, Egypt controlled Gaza. Israel did not have "secure and recognized boundaries," so retention of some of those territories was possible under 242. Israel is not a "foreign" military occupier in the West Bank but, pending final negotiations, the lawful military administrator as a result of a successful war of self-defense.

Doc's Talk