Doc's Talk: "Buried Agendas"

Tuesday, March 23, 2010

"Buried Agendas"

Arlene Kushner

As we move along, exposed to the surface of various events, I would like to simply look a bit deeper. There is, of course, much that is buried with sufficient depth that it's impossible to see it all. Yet, nonetheless...

Yesterday, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton addressed the AIPAC conference. She began by providing all of the pro-Israel, touchy feely sound bites that make her seem very positively disposed to Israel.

She said things like:

"...our commitment to Israel's security and Israel's future is rock solid, unwavering, enduring, and forever."

"Guaranteeing Israel's security is more than a policy position for me. It is a personal commitment that will never waiver." (Does your heart do a pitter patter at all of this? Or does your stomach turn upside down?)

Unfortunately, some news sources picked up exclusively on this seemingly pro-Israel stance-- especially in headlines -- and so, depending on what you've read, you just might have a distorted picture, skewed to the positive.

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The reality is that when you read or hear her entire speech, it's possible to see that it's a horror.

Construction in "East" Jerusalem and "the West Bank," she told listeners, "endangers the proximity talks" and exposes daylight between Israel and the United States that others in the region hope to exploit. It undermines America's unique ability to play a role - an essential role - in the peace process..."

Just as the children of Israel were afraid when leaving Egypt, she said, but had to be brave enough to move forward, so must Israel be brave enough to move forward now.

See: http://www.aipac.org/PC2010/webPlayer/mon_clinton10.asp

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The message is simple: the onus is on us. The US wants certain things and expects us to not get in the way.

All of this, of course, is in Israel's best interests, as the US knows what's good for us. America, she made clear, does not accept the legitimacy of continued "settlements," but that's a positive stance for the future of this region.

As JPost editor David Horovitz put it:

"...there was no escaping the sense that she was trying to deliver a wake-up call to an Israel perceived by this administration, to some extent at least, as blundering intransigently toward disaster." Clinton, he says, underlined profound US doubts about Netanyahu’s commitment to peace.

See Horovitz's piece at: http://www.jpost.com/Israel/Article.aspx?id=171590

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On the flip side, while Clinton mentioned incitement, she dealt with it insufficiently. First, of all, she did not adequately link it to the PA -- in fact she avoided making that association.

She declared that "... when instigators deliberately mischaracterize the rededication of a synagogue in the Jewish quarter of Jerusalem's old city and call upon their brethren to "defend" nearby Muslim holy sites... it is purely and simply an act of incitement."

Ah, it is incitement, of course, but left unsaid by her was that the PA was a major one of those "instigators."

Similarly, she said, "When a Hamas-controlled municipality glorifies violence and renames a square after a terrorist who murdered innocent Israelis, it insults the families on both sides who have lost loves ones over the years in this conflict.

It's true that the square was in a municipality where Hamas had won local elections, but the square dedication was under the auspices of Fatah, which is the PA. This she neatly elided. By mentioning Hamas, she implies that it's those "other" bad Palestinians doing this, not our good "partners for peace."

Besides which, I resent her deliberate evenhandedness. It's the families on our side, who have been injured by terrorists, who are insulted.

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There should have been some US acknowledgement of PA stances (see below) that make peace impossible, in the face of all of Israel's sincere efforts. But to expect that would be silly.

The bottom line is that Hillary Clinton -- functioning as a flunky for Obama-- is very bad news for Israel.

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Following this unsettling talk, came our prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu, who gave a rousing and highly appropriate statement of dignity with regard to Israel's rights and intentions. A portion of what he said:

"Ladies and Gentlemen,

"The connection between the Jewish people and the Land of Israel cannot be denied.

"The connection between the Jewish people and Jerusalem cannot be denied.

"The Jewish people were building Jerusalem 3,000 year ago and the Jewish people are building Jerusalem today.

"Jerusalem is not a settlement. It is our capital. (emphasis added)

"In Jerusalem, my government has maintained the policies of all Israeli governments since 1967, including those led by Golda Meir, Menachem Begin and Yitzhak Rabin.

"Today, nearly a quarter of a million Jews, almost half the city's Jewish population, live in neighborhoods that are just beyond the 1949 armistice lines.

"All these neighborhoods are within a five-minute drive from the Knesset.

"They are an integral and inextricable part of modern Jerusalem.

"Everyone knows that these neighborhoods will be part of Israel in any peace settlement.

"Therefore, building in them in no way precludes the possibility of a two-state solution.

"Nothing is rarer in the Middle East than tolerance for the beliefs of others.

"It's only under Israeli sovereignty in Jerusalem that religious freedom for all faiths has been guaranteed."
It's worth reading his entire statement, which includes references to Jewish links to Jerusalem going back 3,000 years:

http://imra.org.il/story.php3?id=47568

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So, if I am proud of these words, and very pleased that Netanyahu spoke them, why am I unsettled still?

Because he met already with Clinton, and will today be meeting with Obama -- and it was said upfront that none of this would happen unless he conceded certain things. Precisely what was conceded still floats vaguely in the air, in a cloud of rumors.

Clearly, Netanyahu cannot publicly concede that there will be a freeze on construction in Jerusalem. Not only is the government opposed to this, polls show that a majority of Israelis are. I will breath easier when I know that what he said at AIPAC is solidly meant, without undercurrents of unspoken understandings (such as unofficially delaying permits that would allow the construction to continue).

Perhaps this IS the case.

Knowing becomes very important.

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However, just as there are rumors regarding what Netanyahu might have conceded, are there rumors concerning what Obama has threatened. And "knowing," if it were to be meaningful, would have to include an understanding of precisely why Netanyahu -- whose position is not to be envied -- may have given Obama something. This is not likely to happen.

One of the rumors floating has to do with Obama's refusal to let us have additional bunker busters, which would be critically important in taking on Iran. Were it the case, Netanyahu might see this (rightly or wrongly), as reason enough to quietly concede something. Then there is the threat Fayyad has made to bring the reality of a Palestinian state to the Security Council, and Netanyahu's possible perception (rightly or wrongly) that mollifying Obama at some level might be exceedingly important in this regard if US veto of the state is needed.

This is, please realize, speculation, which I hope shines some light on precisely how complex this situation is. It may also be that Netanyahu simply gets nervous when the Americans are seriously angry with us. My gut continues to say that standing strong is the correct response.

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Normally I might wait until news of the Obama-Netanyahu meeting before writing, but it has already been announced that there will be unusual secrecy. (Secrecy, again.) And it unclear that anything definitive will be made public in any event.

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I close here with the latest on the PA.

Yesterday, PA president Mahmoud Abbas, after meeting with Mitchell in Amman, said that the PA would participate in "proximity talks" only if Netanyahu abided by a recent Quartet demand to totally freeze all construction.

If such talks actually do commence, it will, it seems to me, tell us a great deal about the degree to which Netanyahu has quietly caved.

Given this threat, there should be no talks. And the Obama administration should be pointing a finger at the obstinate and uncooperative Palestinian Arabs. Ha!

Lastly, in a response to a question by a journalist about recent violence, Abbas said that the Palestinian people had a national right to resistance against Israeli occupation. He then added, according to Haaretz, that his government "would not acquiesce to any Israeli demands with which it disagreed."

So, he endorses violence and eschews compromise. Makes him a perfect candidate for peace negotiations, no? So Hillary, placing a spin on this, would undoubtedly say.

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I am in that hectic pre-Pesach period. Know that postings may be slowed down.

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See my website: www.arlenefromisrael.info
see my website www.ArlenefromIsrael.info.

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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