Khaled Abu Toameh
The (so-called) Palestinians are divided today into two camps - one that is radical and another that is less radical - or "moderate" in the words of the West.
The radical camp is headed by Hamas and other extremist groups such as the Islamic Jihad organization. This camp's message is: We want 100% of everything and we will not make any concessions to Israel. We want all the land, from the Mediterranean to the Jordan River. We want to replace Israel with an Islamic state where Jews who wish to could live as a minority. There is no point in talking about the possibility of negotiating with this radical camp about peace, especially as its declared goal is to eliminate Israel - not make peace with it. The only thing Israel could talk to the radicals about is how and when to dismantle the Jewish state...
The less radical camp, headed by the PLO and a minority of secular Palestinians, is also saying that it wants 100%, but only of the pre-1967 lines - meaning the entire West Bank, Gaza Strip and east Jerusalem. Like the radicals, the "moderate" camp is also saying that it will not and cannot make any concessions to Israel on its territorial demands.
With such positions, it is hard to see how the peace process could lead to anything positive. The radicals do not want to negotiate with Israel because they do not recognise its right to exist and believe it should be wiped off the face of the earth. The so-called moderates say they are ready to return to the negotiating table, but only if Israel agrees in advance to give them 100% of their demands.
Yet the central problem is that even if Israel does accept all their demands, neither camp is willing to commit to ending the conflict. This is basically why the 2000 Camp David summit failed - because Yasser Arafat was not prepared to sign any document that called for end of conflict even after a peace deal were reached between Israel and the Palestinians.
Further, no "moderate" Palestinian leader would dare to sign such a document out of fear of being denounced by his people - and the rest of the Arab and Islamic countries - for having "sold out" to Israel by giving up the claim to all of the land.
Because the less-radical camp knows that Israel will not and cannot accept all their demands, they have decided to stay away from the peace talks. They have instead chosen to negotiate with the international community about the establishment of a Palestinian state...
Food for Thought by Steven Shamrak
UNSCO has never been interested in supporting the preservation of Jewish cultural and historic heritage, or Israel's scientific advance. But 107 state members have voted to except a culture of hate, murder and science of terror of a fake nation and its non-existent state. The organisation does not care about the cultural heritage of Tibetan, Basque and Kurdish people. They are real people under actual occupations, who are suffering cultural genocide and ethnic cleansing!
Friend of the US Ups IDF Kidnap Ante to $1 Million
Prince Khaled bin Talal, a brother of a Saudi billionaire prince, told a private Saudi television station he is raising to $1million a cleric's paltry $100,000 offer to kidnap and IDF soldier. "Dr. Awad al-Qarni said he was offering $100,000 to only take a prisoner. I tell Dr. Awad al-Qarni, 'I will be in solidarity with you and pay the remaining $900,000 to take an Israeli soldier prisoner so that other prisoners can be freed.'"
IDF Given Green Light in Gaza
IDF commanders were given the green light by officials in Jerusalem to take all necessary steps to stop rocket fire from Gaza on Tuesday, including undertaking ground operations as need be.
Obama Wants 'Silent Freeze'
The Obama administration reportedly wants Israel to implement a "silent freeze" of Jewish homebuilding in eastern Jerusalem and the mountains of Samaria and Judea to coax the Palestinian Authority (PA) into agreeing to negotiate with Israel.
Snakes Israel Negotiates With
PA chairman Mahmoud Abbas went on record in Arabic saying he will never recognise a "Jewish state." He also said the kidnapping and five year ordeal of IDF soldier Gilad Shalit was "a good thing." (Israel has never had an honest peace partner. This charade of peace process must end. Israel needs to start the process of reunification of Jewish land.)
Israel Freezes Funds to PA
Israeli officials decided on an initial round of sanctions against the Palestinian Authority following its ascension as a 'full-member state' to UNESCO. A meeting of Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and his eight senior ministers determined Israel would halt the transfer of funds under extant agreements to the PA, and accelerate housing construction in Jerusalem, Gush Etzion, and Maale Adumin.
A Syrian Uranium Enrichment Plant 'Discovered'
The disclosure Tuesday, Nov. 1, by the International Atomic Energy Agency - that a spinning factor built in the northeastern Syrian town of Hasaka in 2003 was in fact designed for developing nuclear weapons from enriched uranium. The IAEA inspectors who visited the site two years ago found no traces of nuclear activity there.
No Need to Show Respect to Israel?
Former President George W. Bush waited until his eighth year in office to touch down in Israel . His father, George H.W. Bush, didn't go at all. Neither did Ronald Reagan. If Obama doesn't go next year, he would break with the precedent set by his two most recent Democratic predecessors, Bill Clinton and Jimmy Carter, both of whom made the trip during their first term. The White House gave "serious consideration" to a summer trip to Israel, said former Rep. Robert Wexler (D-Fla.), a lead liaison for the Obama campaign with the Jewish community. (Obama was very eager to visit Israel during his election campaign, when he needed Jewish votes and money!)
Islamists do not Care for Jokes
The offices of a French newspaper were destroyed by a firebomb early Wednesday over its satirical invitation to the Islamic Prophet Muhammed. The newspaper, Charlie Hebdo, is a satirical weekly. A firebomb, or "Molotov cocktail" was lobbed into the offices of the paper at about 1:00 a.m., igniting a blaze. The attack came a day after the paper had announced it was naming Islam's founder, Prophet Muhammed, as its "editor-in-chief" for this week's issue. The back page of the paper was to feature a picture of Muhammed wearing a red nose, with the caption, "Yes, Islam is compatible with humour." The front page, renamed "Sharia Hebdo," was to likewise feature a picture of the Muslim prophet, captioned, "100 lashes if you don't die of laughter!"
Kadima Party is still not Grasping Reality
Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu ordered on Thursday that Israel's $2 million-per-annum participation fee in the budget of UNESCO be frozen. The opposition Kadima party stated: "Netanyahu is forcibly isolating Israel in the international community. (Israel is always isolated and must rely on herself. UNESCO's decision to accept PA as a state member is just further proof of it!)
Quote of the Week:
"My 11 year old does this, but he is a child. He is so worried about having friends, he has yet to learn that it is better to have no friends than to sacrifice one's dignity by bowing and stooping to people who are obviously using and scamming him. When Israel goes back to their policy of ignoring criticisms and just doing what is right, they will recover their dignity from those who they let steal it." - Remedy Hawke, subscriber of this editorial letter
PA Map Swallows Up Israel
by Maayana Miskin
When addressing the United Nations, Palestinian Authority (PA) representatives speak of the 1967 "borders" - a reference not to borders recognised internationally in 1967, but to their hope to build an Arab state on all land east of the indefensible 1949 armistice line between Israel and Jordan.
However, maps used within the PA tell a different story, one in which Israel does not exist at all, within any borders.
The PA's official state tourism map, revealed this week by journalist David Bedein, labels all of Israel, Judea, Samaria and Gaza as "Palestine." The 1949 armistice line is marked and labeled the "armistice line," but there is no mention of the country established to its west more than 62 years ago.
In addition, the names of several Israeli cities have been "Arabized," with Be'er Sheva labeled "Bir Assaba" and Tel Aviv also referred to as "Tell Ar-Rabee." Arab towns such as Tamra and Shfaram are marked on the map, while far larger majority-Jewish cities are not.
The Jewish connection to sites such as the Old City of Jerusalem, the Temple Mount, and the Tomb of the Patriarchs is not mentioned.
Earlier in the year a PA television program declared that the entire Land of Israel is "Palestine," while a children's program played songs referring to Israeli cities such as Tzfat, Haifa and Beit Shean as "Palestine."
"Palestine" was the name given the land designated by the British for the Jewish homeland. However, once part of that area became the state of Israel, local Arabs, who began calling themselves "Palestinians", designated the state they wish to establish as "Palestine".
The term was first used by the ancient Romans when they attempted to erase memory of Jewish connection to the land, after they destroyed the Second Jewish Temple over 1900 years ago.
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