Doc's Talk: Jewish Protesters Ejected from Amb. Susan Rice Event at Boca Raton Synagogue

Thursday, May 17, 2012

Jewish Protesters Ejected from Amb. Susan Rice Event at Boca Raton Synagogue

US UN Amb. Susan E. Rice
B'nai Torah Synagogue
Boca Raton 5-10-12
Source: Reuters
Last Thursday, May 10^th, US UN Ambassador Susan E. Rice spoke before an audience of 500 at B’nai Torah synagogue in Boca Raton. The event was sponsored by the ADL, the American Jewish Committee and the Jewish Community Relations Council of South Palm Beach County. Dr. Rice’s speech at Bnai Torah was disrupted by a few dozen Jewish activists who rose en masse waving Israeli flags and were escorted from the auditorium and ejected from the synagogue property. They were protesting the Obama Administration policies towards Israel, especially demands for Israel to rein in its settlement development program in Judea and Samaria. Dr. Rice resonated those demands in remarks at the UN in opposition to anti-Israel resolution at General Assembly and UN Security Council sessions at Turtle bay in Manhattan.

Dr. Rice, a member of the Obama cabinet was introduced by the Conservative Synagogue’s senior rabbi, David Steinhardt, an enthusiastic booster of President Obama and his policies towards Israel, as well as, outreach to Florida’s Muslim Brotherhood front groups.

Dr. Rice has been identified by Joshua Hersh in a Huffington Post article as the” pro-Israel courter in chief” of the American Jewish community for the Obama Administration given her appearances at the March 2012 AIPAC Washington policy conference and this recent South Florida event. Should President Obama be re-elected for a second term, Dr. Rice is rumored to be a candidate to replace Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. Rice, no relation to Bush Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, is an honors History graduate of Stanford University. She is a member of Phi Beta Kappa who attended Oxford University as a Rhodes Scholar where she earned an M.Phil and Doctorate in International Relations. She received a Commenwealth Prize for her dissertation on the transition from White- dominated Rhodesia to the Zimbabwe under long term dictator Mugabe. Dr. Rice served as Assistant Secretary for African Affairs during the Clinton Administration and was a witness to the genocide in Rwanda which made her a convert to “humanitarian intervention”.

Clinton, Rice and NSC staffer Samantha Powers have been tagged by Foreign Policy Magazine as “the three valkyries” of the Obama Administration for their aggressive stance on “humanitarian intervention”. That was a reference to the disastrous 2011 Libyan intervention strategy. A strategy during which initial US air support segued to NATO involvement resulting in the rise of an ungovernable Islamist regime in post-Gaddafi Libya. Rice’s National Security Council ally Samantha Powers was an advocate of possible multilateral intervention enforcing a possible Palestinian state on Israel while on the staff at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Givernment.

Dr. Rice while vetoing anti-US and unilateral Palestinian state declaration resolutions at the UN in 2011 made it abundantly clear that Israel’s settlement policies in the disputed territories and peace negotiations with the truculent Palestinian Authority have hobbled the failed peace process. This pales by comparison with the Obama Administration’s support of Muslim Brotherhood regimes in Egypt and other Arab Muslim countries roiled by the Arab Spring. Moreover, ‘humanitarian intervention” in bloody Syria has been fraught with problems preventing a repetition of the Libyan experience by the Obama Administration. Moreover, the Obama Administration has also been largely silent about the renewal of Jihad war by the Islamist regime of President Gen. al-Bashir in Northern Sudan against the disputed border areas of the Nuba hills and Heglig oil fields in the South Kordofan state adjacent to the Christian /Animist Republic of South Sudan.

Rabbi David Steinhardt of B’nai Torah synagogue is an ally of Abe Foxman and his coterie at the ADL including the ADL Florida director, Andrew Rosenkranz and the Southern Regional Counsel David Barkey. Steinhardt funded lobbying for the ADL complicit in supporting CAIR and United Voices for America and former Tampa CAIR director Ahmed Bedier in opposition to the American Law for American Courts anti-Shariah legislation in Tallahassee during the 2012 session. See NER April article: American Jews Who Support Shariah Imperil Us All.

South Florida NBC affiliate Channel Five WPTV reported on the event and Amb. Rice’s comments during Q+A that followed the ejection of the silent protesters:

During a question-and-answer session, Rabbi David Steinhardt praised the "extraordinary and even unprecedented level of United States-Israel strategic cooperation, not to mention the administration's efforts on behalf of Israel at the UN."

But, Steinhardt added, "there are still some and sometimes many in the American Jewish community who remain very much at ill ease with the relationship."

Rice responded that "There can be no mistake about (Obama's) personal commitment and the commitment of the United States On security, never has there ever been a stronger security relationship between the United States and Israel."

On Iran's nuclear ambitions, Rice said Obama "has been very clear that he will take no option off the table," but prefers diplomacy.

"The fact is Iran is not about, tomorrow or the next month or six months from now, to have a nuclear weapon. There is still time and space for diplomacy and that is our strong preference," Rice said. "If we can resolve this through diplomacy and pressure, it will be resolved permanently. Any other recourse will be temporary."

Watch the WPTV report on the protest at B’nai Torah synagogue:

In contrast, BizPac Review reported on the contretemps that arose from the Jewish protesters ejection at the B’nai Torah event for Amb. Rice:

Rabbi David Steinhardt, head of the B'nai Torah Congregation, had the highest of praise for the ambassador and commended her and the president for the administration’s relationship and cooperation with Israel. But not all the members of the Jewish community agree.

The protesters came to quietly express their opposition to Rice’s message and left the auditorium without incident. But they were then asked to leave the entire congregation premises on the grounds that it was private property and they were not welcome.

While the removal of the demonstrators was generally peaceful and uneventful, the situation became a little tense when a police officer asked protester Dmitry Levin for his identification. He was not inclined to provide it without an argument. Levin, a Russian native, accused the Obama administration of having communist and Marxist tendencies and said he sees the country going down the path of Russia.

Missing from the group was the protest’s organizer, Alan Bergstein, a strong pro-Israel, anti-Obama activist, lecturer and writer. Bergstein said he arrived early and was greeted by event organizers, who locked the door and would not allow him access. Bergstein said he was told to leave and was then escorted out by law enforcement officers.

“I was treated like a terrorist,” Bergstein said. “When I got to the doors, I heard someone say, ’That’s him,’ and another say, ‘Is that him?’”

Bergstein said he is concerned that he and other Jewish activists who stand up to the administration will see more censorship like Thursday’s removal if Obama stays in office. The former New Yorker said is certain that he is on a watch list and is outraged at how he was treated for conducting a peaceful protest

Yesterday, a You Tube film was released about the handling of the protests at the B’nai Torah event for Amb. Rice. It chronicles how the synagogue had developed a black list for denial of entry of key Jewish activist protesters and laid on additional law enforcement to eject them from the premises. It also highlights the close association of Rabbi Steinhardt with the Obama Administration going back to the 2008 election campaign and Amb. Rice’s stands against Israel’s settlement policies at the UN.
Watch the film, “Shame”:

According to BizPac Review Bergstein was scheduled to debate Palm Beach County Democratic Chairman Mark Alan Siegel on the status of America’s relationship with Israel under the Obama administration last night at L’Dor Va-Dor in Lake Worth. Was that to substitute for the treatment of Bergstein, Levin and the few dozen Jewish protesters at the Amb. Rice event at B’nai Torah synagogue in Boca Raton? Stay tuned for developments.

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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