Tuesday, November 27, 2012

Protester Dies: When Is a Dictator Not a Dictator? Never

The day after the U.S. administration cast Morsi in the role of new peacekeeper, he recast himself as something more like a new pharoah. And, despite what the New York Times and the Washington Post wrote, he is not giving back any of the real power he's granted himself.

By: Lori Lowenthal Marcus

Published: November 27th, 2012

Egyptian President Mahmoud Morsi
Photo Credit: YY

The recent Hamas-Israel confrontation ended abruptly when U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton announced last Wednesday, November 21, a ceasefire that essentially put the relatively new, largely unknown Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi in the role of peacekeeper for Israel and Gaza.

“Egypt’s new government is assuming the responsibility and leadership that has long made this country a cornerstone of regional stability and peace,” exclaimed US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

Well, Egypt had been a source of stability in the area, but Egypt’s new leader was not exactly in the mold of a Mubarak. At least not in the positive ways.
The day after the U.S. administration cast Morsi in the role of new peacekeeper, he recast himself as something more like a new pharoah. And, despite what the New York Times and the Washington Post wrote, he is not giving back any of the real power he’s granted himself.

AP Exclusive: Graph suggests Iran working on bomb

GEORGE JAHN — Nov. 27

The undated diargam that was given to the AP by officials of a country critical of Iran's atomic program allegedly calculating the explosive force of a nuclear weapon _ a key step in developing such arms. The diagram shows a bell curve and has variables of time in micro-seconds and power and energy, both in kilotons _ the traditional measurement of the energy output, and hence the destructive power of nuclear weapons. The curve peaks at just above 50 kilotons at around 2 microseconds, reflecting the full force of the weapon being modeled. The Farsi writing at the bottom translates "changes in output and in energy released as a function of time through power pulse" (AP Photo)

4 Reasons Warren Buffett Is Wrong on Tax Hikes

Amy Payne and Alison Acosta Fraser

November 27, 2012

Let’s talk taxes. In a New York Times op-ed yesterday, famed investor and Berkshire Hathaway CEO Warren Buffett once again argued that the wealthy should be taxed more.
This isn’t the first time Buffett has made the case for higher taxes, and it’s not the first time he’s been wrong. Here are four reasons he is wrong to push for tax hikes.

1. Buffett says tax hikes won’t hurt jobs.
Fact: Tax hikes, especially those he espouses, hurt jobs.
Buffett cites periods when tax rates were high and says that “Under those burdensome rates,” employment “increased at a rapid clip.”
This country has an employment problem right now, and tax rates aren’t even as high as Buffett wants. The tax increases President Obama champions would hit small businesses that create jobs. According to Treasury figures, 1.2 million Americans who employ people are paying their taxes through the individual income tax, and they would be hit head-on. The amount that their taxes would go up could be roughly equivalent to one employee’s salary, meaning that’s one person they can’t hire in the new year. A study by Ernst and Young estimates that these tax hikes would kill 710,000 jobs.

What I Saw During Operation Pillar of Defense

Nira Lee

Four years ago, watching the coverage of Operation Cast Lead from the comfort of my dorm, I was a conflicted college student. As supportive as I was of Israel, I still found it painful any time I heard about civilian casualties in Gaza. What I saw portrayed in the media didn't add up: on the one hand I knew that the IDF was engaged in careful efforts to prevent civilian casualties, despite Hamas's strategy of fighting from amongst its own civilian population. Yet the media made it seem like the IDF was actively targeting civilians.

Back then, I understood Israel's efforts at protecting civilians as a something akin to a talking point -- I had no personal involvement in the conflict. Yet I had no idea how true it is until I myself participated in last week's Operation "Pillar of Defense" as an officer in the IDF.

When I moved to Israel and enlisted, I joined a unit called the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT), which is devoted to civilian and humanitarian issues.

List of Nigerian Muslim suicide jihad attacks in 2012

creeping

After Sunday’s jihad attack on another church killing 11 and wounding 30, Bill Roggio at Long War Journal compiled this list of Boko Haram suicide attacks in 2012:

Boko Haram has intentionally attacked churches on Sundays during services in order to kill as many Christians as possible. Earlier this year, Boko Haram stated that it seeks “to eradicate Christians” from areas in Nigeria. The group has repeatedly targeted Christians at churches, especially on religious holidays.

…

Nov. 25, 2012 – A suicide bomber drove an explosives-packed bus into a church at a military base in Kaduna, followed by a suicide bomber in a car outside the church; the blasts killed 11 people and wounded over 30.
Oct. 28, 2012 – A Boko Haram suicide bomber drove an explosives-packed jeep into a Catholic church in Kadun, killing at least eight people and wounding over 100.
Sept. 23, 2012 – A suicide bomber killed a woman and a child in an attack at a Catholic church in Bauchi.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States reversed policy on Wednesday and said it would back launching talks on a treaty to regulate arms sales as long as the talks operated by consensus, a stance critics said gave every nation a veto. The decision, announced in a statement released by theU.S. State Department, overturns the position of former President George W. Bush's administration, which had opposed such a treaty on the grounds that national controls were better. On Wednesday Obama Took the First Major Step in a Plan to Ban All Firearms in the United States.

BBC’s Jon Donnison Summoned Home

Brian of London | Nov 27, 2012

BBC Watch is confirming BBC man in Gaza, Jon Donnison, has been recalled to answer a Government Press Office hearing.

He and the BBC Jerusalem Bureau chief Paul Danahar have been recalled over his passing on an image of a dead child from Syria as if it was recent and from Gaza. He passed this on not just uncritically as a “re-tweet” but with the addition of his own comment: “Heartbreaking”.

The ‘Untold’ False History That the Left Tells All the Time

Daniel Greenfield

Oliver Stone’s “The Untold History of the United States” is one of those untold histories that are told over and over again by the left. But no matter how often the left retells the same stories, it makes sure to add an “untold” in there, not because their revisionism of history was previously untold, but because the idea that a secret history is being uncovered carries with it a whiff of daring and rebellion that appeals to the students of a college campus looking for fresh answers and reversals of everything that they thought was true while growing up.

There are truly untold histories. The history of Communist terror in the Soviet Union and around the world is one of them. As is the history of John F. Kennedy’s assassination, not by some combination of the Mafia, CIA, Cuban exiles and space aliens, but by a fanatical leftist who had defected to the Soviet Union. And finally there is the untold history of American Communists who fought to overthrow the United States and replace it with a totalitarian state through a campaign of terror, treason and lies. A campaign that they waged with as much fanaticism as Lee Harvey Oswald waged his.

Islamists Exploiting the Interfaith Racket

Hillel Zaremba

While it is all well and good to encourage the commonalities that unite Americans of all faiths, it is equally important to inquire into the bona fides of organizations that only claim to promote tolerance. Philadelphia presents a sorry but enlightening example of how groups whose agendas directly challenge American values get a free pass from the interfaith establishment due largely to the firmly held belief that “diverse” (and disquieting) viewpoints must be respected — as long as they are Muslim.

To Be As Strong As An Ox

November 27, 2012

By Nurit Greenger

Now that the rockets stopped flying and their horrific sound ended, the dust, kind of settled, and the barrage of postulations and analysis articles have subsided, I would like to voice an opinion that has a different angle.

What has Israel done should have done and why.

This goes back to the wisdom of the book of books, the Bible and its interpretations.

The Midrash is a way of interpreting biblical stories that goes beyond simple distillation of religious, legal, or moral teachings. It fills in many gaps left in the biblical narrative regarding events and personalities that are only hinted at. The original purpose of Midrash was to resolve problems in the interpretation of difficult passages of the text of the Bible, using Rabbinic principles of hermeneutics and philology to align them with the religious and ethical values of religious teachers. This method of interpretation was eventually expanded "to provide scriptural pretexts to justify oral tradition."

Hamas: Killing Jews is worship of Allah

"Repeat in the name of your Jihad:

Death to Israel!"

http://palwatch.org/main.aspx?fi=157&doc_id=8091

by Itamar Marcus and Nan Jacques Zilberdik

During the eight-day military conflict between Hamas and Israel, Hamas broadcast various ideological messages on its official Al-Aqsa TV station. One recurring message called for the killing of Jews, which Hamas defined as a religious Islamic act in worship of Allah. During one music video, these words were shown on the screen:

"Killing Jews is worship
that draws us close to Allah"

The following are additional lyrics from the video which boasted of "terrifying the Jews" and glorified Hamas' military wing, the Al-Qassam Brigades:

"[Oh] lovers of the trigger:

Killing the occupiers [Israelis] is worship that Allah made into law...

Arabic text on sign: 'Killing Jews is worship that draws us close to Allah'

Arise, oh determined men. The color of [the Martyr's] blood protects the land.

Oh masked one wearing a keffiyeh (i.e., Arab head scarf), terrifying the Jews... call out in Zionism's face: 'Muhammad's army has begun to return.'"

Click to view

What is the Truth about American Muslims, Part 2/3

The First Amendment Center, the Muslim Brotherhood and assorted leftists at the Interfaith Alliance have produced a polished piece of apologist propaganda for Islam. It has been getting a lot media play, because it says all the things the public would like to believe about Islam. It is a textbook summary of arguments made by Islam’s apologists and serves as a teaching example of how to refute this propaganda using the scientific method. Here is the truth about Muslims. They will not tell you the whole truth, but only a half truth. Islam is inherently dualistic and holds two opposing truths at the same time. There are two Korans, an early Koran written in Mecca and a later Koran written in Medina. There is no jihad in the early Meccan Koran, but the later Medinan Koran is filled with jihad. So which is the real Islam? Both peace and war are true Islam. A Muslim will only talk about the half he needs. But, there is one Muslim who will tell you the complete truth—Mohammed. Needless to say, this propaganda does not consult him.
Here is the second part of the analysis:
9. How do American Muslims participate in American public life?
American Muslims have created institutions of their own in the United States, just like other religious communities. There are many long-established groups such as the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA), an umbrella organization of some 300 mosques and Islamic centers based in Indiana, and newer organizations like the Council for the Advancement of Muslim Professionals.
“Islamic Society of North America (ISNA)”

Thousands of Rockets Rain on Israel, but not in the NY Times

Leo Rennert

While in Gaza, New York Times Jerusalem bureau chief Jodi Rudoren took some time to interview Jawdat Khoudary, one of the wealthiest men in the coastal enclave, who presides over a major construction company. Khoudary, 52, is a well-traveled lover of antiquities whose family has lived in Gaza for more than two hundred years. And Rudoren also tells readers that he cultivates thousands of cactuses in his 100,000-square-foot compound ("As Bombs Fell in Gaza, a Rich Cactus Lover Could Cultivate Only Patience" page A10).

This idyllic picture is interrupted by eight days of Israeli bombardments, which left Khoudary a bit shaken but otherwise OK.

As they defend the Jewish homeland, they defend us, Jews, Americans, free people everywhere...pray for them...love them...be proud of them...THEY ARE ALL OUR CHILDREN.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

á×ÔÏÒ ÆÏÔÏÇÒÁÆÉÊšMeir Azulay

2

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COP: How About Putting the Muslim World and China in Charge of the Internet?

Daniel Greenfield

The World Conference on International Telecommunications is headed to Dubai, the land of sun, fun and human slavery to try and rush through a proposal to give the International Telecommunication Union regulatory control over the internet.

The list of parties currently worried about an ITU power grab include obscure right-wing organizations such as the European Parliament and Google.

What is the International Telecommunication Union? It’s a UN organization, which already makes it useless, and it’s also one of those outdated international organizations that the First World doesn’t pay much attention to and that the Third World fills up.

The Secretary General of the ITU is Hamadan Toure of Muslim Mali and he’s promising “a light-touch regulatory approach” to the ITU’s proposed powers over the internet. His Deputy Secretary General Houlin Zhao represents the fun-loving open source hippies of the People’s Republic of China who believe that information should be free and tanks should run over people.

No Ceasefire on Campus‏

The conflict in Gaza and Israel swept over American campuses in the past two weeks like a tidal wave. From the beginning of Operation Pillar of Defense until now—including last week’s Thanksgiving holiday, during most of which American campuses were closed—my organization, the Israel on Campus Coalition, tracked 55 anti-Israel protests and rallies that sprang up on campuses across the US; in the same period, at least 44 pro-Israel events took place (although our tracking of both types of events is still incomplete and many additional events, particularly pro-Israel events, may not yet be reflected). This wave of activity represents a dramatic increase in a very short period.

Events on Campus During Pillar of Defense

The Israel on Campus Coalition tracked events on campuses during Operation Pillar of Defense

In most cases, anti-Israel events occurred in places and took forms that largely followed the precedents of recent conflicts such as Operation Cast Lead in 2009 and the second Lebanon conflict in 2006. In a few cases, some events were more comparable to the fiery protests of the second intifada of a decade ago. In one extreme example, anti-Israel protestors at the University of California, Davis—a campus with a history of inflammatory protests—occupied a campus building and harassed pro-Israel students.

The Noose Around Israel's Neck

Sultan Knish
Israel is being hanged on a public gallows erected on the grounds of the United Nations with yards of rope gleefully supplied by the Muslim world. But the hangmen are mostly Westerners who still think that the Muslim lynch mob at their doorstep can be pacified with the death of a single victim.

There are three things you can do when you are about to be hanged. You can walk proudly, recite a glorious line or two to embed your martyrdom in historical memory, and then allow yourself to be hanged. Jews have an extensive body of experience with that brand of martyrdom.

Alternatively you can plead your case all the way to the gallows, arguing that a mistake has been made, that your case has been improperly reviewed, begging for someone to listen and do something. This way also ends in a hanging. But it's the hanging of a slave without even a shred of dignity attached to it. A man that dies pleading with his murderers, and puts his fate in the honesty of the liars and hypocrites whose own crimes makes the worst of his look like virtues, is a craven fool.

'Israel falling behind Western living standards'

DANIELLE ZIRI

11/27/2012

Taub Center's 2011-2012 State of Nation Report paints “troubling picture" of government's response to socioeconomic problems.

Photo: Reuters

The Taub Center released its annual State of the Nation Report for 2011-2012 on Tuesday morning, which according to the organization, paints “a troubling picture of the way Israeli governments have thus far dealt with Israel’s primary socioeconomic problems.”
The document is divided into various chapters, examining public policy in five research fields: economics, labor, welfare, education and health. The data collected showed that Israel is falling behind Western living standards.

Education blamed for low male haredi employment

First, the country’s labor productivity in 2011, which was measured by looking at its GDP, was found to be in the lower echelon of the OECD countries, just behind Greece.
This result is surprising when one considers the local universities and hi-tech industry for which Israel is known, which have long been described as being at the forefront of human knowledge.

Sa'ar, Erdan win Likud top slots 2nd year in a row

GIL HOFFMAN

Party primary ends with Moshe Feiglin, Danny Danon making list, while Meridor, Begin, Eitan are out, signaling rightward shift.

Photo: Marc Israel Sellem

The Likud shifted rightward Monday when it elected a Knesset list made up of fierce opponents of the two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu will be followed on the list by the same upand- coming young politicians who were second and third on the Likud list last time – Education Minister Gideon Sa’ar and Environmental Protection Minister Gilad Erdan. Ministers Silvan Shalom and Israel Katz round out the party’s top five.

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Impress your Zionist friends, colleagues, co-conspirators, and family members with this proof of being an Intergalactic Zionist Conspiracy Charter Member. It's time to come out of the closet and show the world who's really in charge!

Shirts, buttons, coffee mugs, hats, bags, key chains, and other products are available to Intergalactic Zionist Conspiracy Charter Members only. You can customize colors, styles, and sizes.

We have them in two online stores for different sets of products. Scroll down to see them all.
~
Spreadshirt.com

Zazzle.com

Special thanks to Andy Benjamin for the idea.

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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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