Doc's Talk: Don't Single out Israel

Tuesday, July 06, 2010

Don't Single out Israel

Stephen P. Heller

Numerous legal experts claim naval blockades are legal. Enforcement in international waters is legal when the vessel attempts to violate the blockade. Lethal force is legal for self-defense. The IHH acknowledged its intention to break the blockade, and Hamas refused entry of the goods into Gaza. No one disputes that life in Gaza is miserable (but not as bad as in many Arab/Muslim countries or life of Tamil refugees in Sri Lanka). Neither can it be disputed that Hamas has fired thousands of rockets into Israeli population centers without regard for civilian casualties. Egypt joined with Israel in blockading Gaza after Hamas gained control. The second largest amount of U.S. financial aid goes to Egypt. No one seeks withdrawal of U.S. aid to Egypt for its enforcement of the blockade (or treatment of Coptic Christians). No one argues for a boycott of goods from China for its repression of Tibet (or selling organs of executed prisoners). No one demonstrates against Iran for its brutal suppression of the opposition or its threats to use nuclear weapons (and brutal treatment of religious and ethnic minorities).

No one marches against Saudi Arabia for punishing homosexuality and adultery with amputations (and lack of religious freedom). Yet Israel is routinely vilified for every mistake (if self-defense is mistake) it makes. How about giving Israel a break and focusing attention on the truly villainous governments of the world in Sudan , Iran, Somalia, China, Brazil, Uganda, North Korea, Kenya and so on?

Netanyahu is Glutten for Punishment! Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu will head to the U.S. on Monday for his meeting with U.S. President Barak Obama on Tuesday. The two will meet for two hours after which a half hour press conference will be held and then the two will dine together. (After last visit humiliation of Netanyahu shouldn't Obama come to Israel ?)

Undemocratic and Inept Government. The Israeli Ministerial Committee on Legislation on Sunday voted down a proposal that would have given the Knesset the power to veto an extension of a government-imposed freeze on the building of Jewish settlements in the West Bank. If passed, the legislation would have severely limited Netanyahu's power to extend current building restrictions in the West Bank, due to expire in September.

Food for Thought. by Steven Shamrak

Jew-haters blindly and franticly hate Israel to the point that they are happily helping Muslims, who hate Christians even more than Jews, to progress toward global Islamization of the world. After Israel , those idiots are next on the Islamic terror hit-list. Al-Qaida has already started the process. This is the highest level of stupidity!

Israel is Destroying Vital Industry in Gaza. Since Israel eases its blockade of the territory: Some of the hundreds of tunnels under the border with Egypt have suspended work. Others now only bring in the most sought-after items, such as cement, steel, fuel and cigarettes. Some Gaza shopowners and traders have frozen orders of smuggled goods until they find out whether merchandise coming in legally from Israel will be cheaper.

Israel Plans Huge New Desalination Plant. After Turkey has canceled a planned water sale that was to provide Israel with water for 20 years the cabinet has approved construction of a desalination plant south of Tel Aviv that is to supply 300 million cubic meters of water per year.

No Plans for Peace - Just Annihilation of Israel. 1) Another clue as to the Palestinian Authority's true stance on how a future Palestinian state would coexist with Israel came in a PA TV program broadcast recently. On the program, called "The Stars", in which PA university students compete to answer questions, one student demonstrated what he had learned about Israel in the PA school system: that it does not exist altogether. 2) Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu (Likud) accused the American-backed PA on Wednesday of being unwilling to enter into peace talks with Israel. "Why are there only proximity talks? There is no willingness on the part of the Palestinian Authority to enter direct talks. I say to Abu Mazen: 'There is no way to solve the conflict without direct discussion.'"

No Jewish Money for Islamist Enemy. At least $400 million was lost to the Turkish economy due to reservation cancellations from Israeli tourists, according to Turkish tourism agencies. The Israeli Travel Agents Association announced that it recently cancelled 100,000 Turkish reservations out of a total of 150,000. The poll found that 74% are against Netanyahu giving in to American pressure on the issue.

Quote of the Week: " The Russians have crushed the struggle for independence of the Chechens by carpet-bombing their capital. And what about a Kurdish state? The Turks and Iraqis (and Iran) have inflicted unspeakable horrors on the Kurds (and other ethnic and religious minorities). And yet, there are no Free Kurdistan flotillas sailing toward Turkey, and Russian officials don't have to fear to be arrested in European capitals for war crimes." - Leon de Winter - Both, Chechens and Kurds, like most of residents of Gaza, are Muslims but there was no real condemnations by the UN or EU, and other bigots. There is only one difference - Israel is the Jewish state!

Another Case of "Too little, too late". A list of every known French collaborator with the Nazis during World War II is set to be revealed and published online. The plan followed last year's ruling by France 's highest court that French collaborators were not forced to help the Nazis.

Jail for Selling Land to Jews. A PA court sentenced on Tuesday a 44 year-old man from Kalkilya to 10 years in prison for selling land to Israelis. In the PA, selling land to Israelis is considered collaboration with an enemy state. (In Europe most states disallowed Jewish ownership of land. It is time for Israel to introduce a law that non-Jews, including the Vatican , have no right to own G-d-given-to-Jews land!)

Hypocrisy of the UN and World Press. On May 6, Russian marines executed the daring raid of freeing the tanker, called the Moscow University, after it was seized by pirates. One Somali pirate was killed and 10 were captured. The operation was initially hailed as a huge success, but Russia was later embarrassed by reports that it had let the pirates go and they drowned after being set afloat at sea in a small boat! (Have you heard the media frenzy or the UN calls for investigation of this highly barbaric and probably illegal act of state killing?)

Iran Can Build Two Nuclear Bombs. CIA director Leon Panetta admits Iran has enough low-enriched uranium for two nuclear bombs. He virtually admitted that every effort to halt Iran 's drive for a nuclear bomb had failed.

Pack of Mad Dogs is still Silent. A US based Human Rights Watch charged that Hamas militants are violating the rules of war by prohibiting a captive Israeli soldier from having contact with his family and the Red Cross (name is Red Crystal now). The treatment of the 23-year-old soldier is "cruel and inhuman" and matches a U.N. definition of torture because he is denied any outside contact. (For four years neither the press nor various Human Rights groups, the UN or the IRC cared about fate of Gilad Shalit. But recently, they have jumped like a pack of mad dogs at Israel in defense of the 'rights' of Hamas terrorists and flotilla of anti-Semitic and Islamic provocateurs!)

Blockade is a Common Tool of War.

Make no mistake, Islamic world in war with Israel , using so-called Palestinians as a proxy!

A blockade is an effort to cut off food, supplies, war material or communications from a particular area by force, either in part or totally. (Hamas made no secret that it is at war with Israel and its intentions to destroy the Jewish state are clear!) &Blockades were first defined in international law at the Congress of Paris in 1856. One of the agreed rules was that a blockade had to be effective in order to be lawful. (Easing the blockade of Gaza by Israel may make it ineffective - therefore some, with the long record of international anti-Israel bias attitude, will try to proclaim it as unlawful!)

* British blockade of France and its allies during the French Revolutionary War and Napoleonic War.

* British blockade of the United States east coast during the War of 1812.

* Danish blockade of Germany during the First Schleswig War, starting in 1848.

* The Union blockaded the coasts of the Confederacy during the American Civil War.

* In 1898, the United States blockaded San Juan, Puerto Rico as part of the Spanish American War.

* British naval blockade of Germany during World War I.

* 1915-1918 Ottoman blockade of Lebanon .

* United States blockade of Japan during the Pacific War of World War II.

* Soviet land blockade of West Berlin, 1948-1949, known as the Berlin Blockade.

* Egyptian blockades of the Straits of Tiran prior to the 1956 Suez War and the 1967 Arab-Israeli War.

* United States quarantine of Cuba during the October 1962 missile crisis, a partial blockade.

* Indian blockade of East Pakistan during the 1971 Bangladesh War

* Egyptian blockade of Israel during Operation Badr, part of the Yom Kippur War.

* NATO blockade of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia 1993-1996 during Operation Sharp Guard.

* Israeli sea and land blockade of the Gaza Strip since the outbreak of the Second Intifada (2000) up to the present.

* Israeli blockades of some or all the shores of Lebanon at various times during wars and conflicts.

* Israeli and Egyptian blockade of the Gaza Strip, beginning in June 2007. (Because Hamas is a branch of the Egyptian Muslim brotherhood, Egypt probably fears Hamas even more than Israel!)

* Turkey and Azerbaijan blockades on Armenia during the Nagorno-Karabakh War.

Thanks Steven Shamrak

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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.

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