OxFam’s Opposition To SodaStream At Least Partially Motivated By Relationship With Coca Cola?

Aussie Dave in Aussie Dave  
January 31, 2014

Buried in the middle of this Commentary piece on the Johansson-Oxfam story is this interesting point:

It is possible that Oxfam’s decision wasn’t entirely based on the anti-Israel bias of its London-based leadership. One of the leading corporate donors to Oxfam just happens to be the Coca Cola Company that has given millions to the group. That tie between a company that can be linked to obesity and bad nutrition and a charity that promotes feeding the hungry is seen as a contradiction by some and only explained by the cash that flows from Coke to Oxfam. But the fact that SodaStream is a competitor that is already eating into Coke’s market share could account, at least in part, for Oxfam’s speed in denouncing Johansson.

Sure enough, after some digging, I found that in 2011, Coca Cola contributed $400,000 to a research project “analyzing the poverty footprint of beverage giant Coca-Cola and multinational bottling company SABMiller in Zambia and El Salvador” and, in addition,  $2.5 million in 2008-2010 for humanitarian work. This has raised some concerns regarding Oxfam’s impartiality towards Coca Cola.

The Oxfam Poverty Footprint Report describes the work Coca-Cola and SAB Miller are doing in Zambia and El Salvador to empower and promote sustainability.  It highlights Coca-Cola’s sustainability initiatives.
It does include some telling recommendations for follow-up.  For example:

The Kerry plan -- can Israel say no?

Yoram Ettinger

The assumption that Israel must accept the Kerry plan as a basis for negotiations with the Palestinian Authority -- lest it risk a rift with the U.S. -- should be assessed in light of the full context of U.S.-Israel strategic cooperation, the imploding Arab street, the unique foundations and nature of U.S.-Israel ties, the U.S. political system, the ineffectiveness of prior U.S. plans and Israel's own security requirements.

U.S.-Israel strategic cooperation transcends the Palestinian issue. Despite the 66-year-old disagreement between the two governments about the ways and means to resolve the Palestinian issue, strategic cooperation has catapulted to unprecedented heights.

Notwithstanding Arab talk-- but based on the Arab walk -- the Palestinian issue does not preoccupy the attention of Arab policy-makers, does not significantly impact vital U.S. interests and does not play a key role in destabilizing the Middle East, as reaffirmed by the tectonic Arab tsunami that is unrelated to Israel or the Palestinian issue.

No Time to Spare: Talking about Israel’s Legal Grounds

Arlene Kushner
If the Israeli building in Judea and Samaria destroys the peace process, then, Lars Faaborg-Andersen, the EU ambassador to Israel, declared just days ago, “Naturally, the blame will be put squarely on Israel’s doorstep.”

Naturally: We wouldn’t expect anything else of the EU.  The issue here is not that this is a surprise, but rather that Israel is being forewarned: The government must consider its official stance now, before that blame has been levied:
It is time for Israel to enunciate a policy that directly addresses her rights.

Tribalism is Alive and Killing in the Middle East

So says Dr. Mordechai Kedar
Nurit Greenger |

This month, in Southern California, people had the opportunity to hear Dr. Kedar when he spoke to audience of T.E.A.M (Training and Educating about the Middle East) (http://www.sandiegoteam.net/), a non-profit organization located in San Diego and headed by Jean-Jacques Surbeck, and at the Whizin Center for Continuing Education. (http://wcce.aju.edu/default.aspx), at American Jewish University in Los Angeles.

There are people living among us who repeat telling us what way too many simply do not want to hear, or want to know, especially politicians.

One such person is Dr. Kedar who tirelessly to instill in us the knowledge of what is right and what is wrong about the Middle East.

 Dr. Kedar, at American Jewish University, photo Nurit Greenger

 

The Bible tells us about Prophets who told the Jews wrong from right and they chose not to listen.

Trying to scare us

Caroline Glick

Friday, January 31st, 2014

Photo by Chen Galili Jerusalem Post

Finance Minister Yair Lapid delivered a scary speech on Wednesday. At the Institute of National Security Studies conference, Lapid warned that if we don’t accept US Secretary of State John Kerry’s framework for negotiations, the Europeans are going to take away our money.

Lapid claimed that Israel’s economic future is dependent on surrendering Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria to the PLO. If we don’t, he said, the EU will abrogate its economic association agreement with us. And such a move on Europe’s part will cause serious harm to our economy.

According to Lapid, “If negotiations with the Palestinians stall or blow up and we enter the reality of a European boycott, even a very partial one, the Israeli economy will retreat, the cost of living will rise, budgets for education, health, welfare and security will be cut [and] many international markets will be closed to us.”

On the other hand, if we give up Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria, Lapid promises that we will all get rich.

Progressives Without Progress

 Sultan Knish

There isn't very much progress in the progressive movement. Progress is the expansion of possibilities. Progressives however have a Malthusian obsession with the scarcity of all things. They believe that we are about to run out of everything from energy to water to wealth and education and that like starving survivors on a lifeboat we have to redistribute everything.

The progressive outlook predates the notion of progress. Its ideal is a static society, sustainable in its material practices and so utterly moral in its social attributes that it becomes immune to change. It is founded on the intertwining of the material and the moral through the insistence that the scarcity of material things makes their redistribution mandatory by an activist moral elite.

There is nothing as reactionary as utopia and no group as reactionary as utopians. A perfect society is a place that is immune to change. The search for such a society is the quest for an absolute way of living. Both the quest and the way of living become as unchallengeable as any theological utopia founded not on bad economics and political parochialism, but on a deeply spiritual faith.

COP: Immigration Plan: Trust Obama?

Amy Payne 

House Republicans say they are ready to move forward with an immigration reform plan—and it sounds remarkably like amnesty for illegal immigrants.
While avoiding key phrases like “path to citizenship,” the ideas put forth by congressional leaders this week would give legal status to people who are here illegally. It would just have more steps, including a probationary period, a work permit—and the government upholding a lopsided part of the bargain.
The plan assumes that border security would be ramped up and immigration laws would be strictly enforced in America. Representative Paul Ryan (R-WI) said Members of Congress are prepared to make this deal. The Wall Street Journal reported:

Mr. Ryan said it would make sure that the Obama administration went ahead with the enforcement provisions. “We want to make sure that we write a law that he can’t avoid,” Mr. Ryan said.

Top Islamic Leader Calls on U.S. to Wage 'Jihad for Allah'

Raymond Ibrahim
FrontPageMagazine.com
January 31, 2014

http://www.meforum.org/3734/qaradawi-us-jihad

A video of Dr. Yusuf al-Qaradawi calling on the U.S. government to wage jihad for Allah in Syria, is currently making the rounds on Arabic media and Facebook, to mockery and dismay.
In the recorded speech, Qaradawi—one of the most influential Islamic clerics in the world, spiritual leader of the Muslim Brotherhood, author of over 100 books on Muslim doctrine, and head of the International Union of Muslim Scholars—sarcastically thanks the U.S. for supporting the "freedom fighters" in Syria, adding that "Allah willing, your [U.S.] aid will increase."

Yusuf al-Qaradawi (c) draped in a "Free Syria" flag. (Image source: Wikimedia Commons)

Then, while working himself up because the U.S is only providing weapons to the jihadis in Syria, as opposed to directly intervening, Qaradawi declares in frustration: "We want America to take a manly stand—a stand for Allah!"

Scarlett Johansson Left Oxfam

Yori Yanover

Scarlett Johansson is ending her relationship with the humanitarian group Oxfam International, for their criticism of her endorsement of SodaStream, an Israeli company that operates a factory in Judea and Samaria, AP reported.
A statement released by Johansson’s spokesman said the actress has “a fundamental difference of opinion” with Oxfam International because the group opposes all trade from Israeli settlements, saying they are illegal and deny Palestinian rights.
“Scarlett Johansson has respectfully decided to end her ambassador role with Oxfam after eight years,” the statement said.
This represents an annual income loss of about $100,000 for the humanitarian folks. In a sense, as one of the JewishPress.com readers has suggested, Scarlett BDSed Oxfam.
“She and Oxfam have a fundamental difference of opinion in regards to the boycott, divestment and sanctions movement. She is very proud of her accomplishments and fundraising efforts during her tenure with Oxfam,” the statement continued.
The actress, the first global brand ambassador of SodaStream International Ltd., will appear in a commercial for the do-it-yourself soda maker during the Super Bowl half time, February 2.

A TUNDRA TABLOIDS EXCLUSIVE: RISE OF ANTI-SEMITISM CAUSES FORMERLY SECULAR-JEWISH DOCTOR TO LEAVE FRANCE FOR GOOD…….

KGS

The Tundra Tabloids first heard of Dr.Cammarella through a friend who spoke of “a French doctor contemplating a move from France due to the rise in anti-Semitism and violent attacks over the recent years”. The TT was of course interested in discovering more about the man’s situation, and contacted him to see whether or not he would be willing to be interviewed and have his story published here at the Tundra Tabloids. Dr.Cammarella kindly agreed.

During the interview Dr.Ami Cammarella discusses his childhood, growing up in a secular home, as well as his university years studying to be a doctor, the friendships he made with Arab colleagues as well as the rediscovering to his Jewish roots and the anti-Semitism that went along with it. Dr.Cammarella is planning on leaving France within the next few months.
TT: Welcome Dr.Cammarella to the Tundra Tabloids, thank you for agreeing to do this interview.
Dr.Cammarella: Thank you for offering, great to be here, your blog is GREAT indeed.
TT: Dr.Cammarella, Ami,..please tell my readers about yourself. I hear that you had relatives lost in the Holocaust (Shoah) during WWII, could you enlighten us a bit about that, and who these people were and how you, as a born Israeli, came to live in France etc.?
Dr.Cammarella: Indeed, in particular, the most important thing for me about the story of the Shoah, was that my grandmother was killed, she was taken in September of 1942 by some French policemen. These French policemen gave her to the Nazis, and she perished like other 76 000 Jews (out of 270 000 Jews who lived in France at this time) . So this is my family story with France, a very difficult story.
TT: Tell us a bit more about the French police .

Dr.Cammarella: It wasn’t the Nazis that came during WWII to capture the Jews, it was the French policemen. France was a very anti-Semitic country . No one had to push them, really, they were very happy to collaborate with the Nazis, and they were very friendly with them . That’s the reality.

But many Jews after the War immigrated to France and could forgive France. “Ok, it was a different era and now we’re friends and France is no longer anti-Semitic . At the end France is a good country to live in as Jews”.

Bennett clarifies: I did not apologize to Netanyahu

As Hilary Clinton once said “What difference does it make now?”. Bennett didn’t attack Bibi, just his policy. And his attack was a mortal blow to such policy. That’s what matters. As for an apology, who cares? Ted Belman

By Barak Ravid, HAARETZ
Economy Minister Naftali Bennett clarified on Wednesday that he did not apologize to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for his criticism of the prime minister’s peace plans.

Earlier Wednesday, Netanyahu issued an ultimatum to Bennett, ordering him to apologize for his statements by Sunday at 10 A.M., or he will be fired. Bennett then said that he did not mean to hurt the prime minister, but that he stands by his statements. Later on Wednesday, senior officials in the Likud party said that Bennett had backed down and apologized quicker than they had expected.

The row began on Sunday when Bennett launched an unprecedented attack against Netanyahu’s suggestion that Israelis could live under Palestinian rule.

Bennett was responding to remarks made by Netanyahu at the World Economic Forum in Davos, where he said he has no intention of uprooting a single settlement and suggested settlers could remain outside Israel’s borders under a peace agreement with the Palestinians.

Shortly after Netanyahu’s ultimatum was reported, Bennett spoke at a conference at the Dead Sea and commented on the issue.

Egypt's El-Sisi Boldly Calls For Islamic Reformation

Islam, said El-Sisi needs a modern understanding and should not rely on a discourse that has not changed for 800 years. 

 

By Ryan Mauro 

 

Egyptian women express their support for General El-Sisi after voting for the new non-Islamist constitution. (Photo: © Reuters)

General El-Sisi, the commander of the Egyptian Armed Forces and current head of state, is essentially calling for a reformation in Islam. His bold declaration comes as the Egyptian people approved a constitution in a vote that the Muslim Brotherhood boycotted.

The speech, which went unnoticed in the Western media, took place at the Armed Forces’ Department of Moral Affairs. In the speech, El-Sisi said:

“Religious discourse is the greatest battle and challenge facing the Egyptian people, pointing to the need for a new vision and a modern, comprehensive understanding of the religion of Islam—rather than relying on a discourse that has not changed for 800 years.”

Notice what El-Sisi did not say. He did not say Zionism or Western oppression is the greatest threat to Egypt, nor did he point to a specific group like Al-Qaeda or the Muslim Brotherhood. He accurately framed the struggle as an ideological one within Islam.

The Importance of the Jordan Valley Corridor

REUVEN BERKO 

The Israeli demand for a security presence along the Jordan River was again raised last month in the Kerry-brokered peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians. Its objective would be to stop Palestinian and global jihad terrorists from infiltrating into Israeli territory and to prevent the smuggling of rockets, explosives and other weapons which would be used by the Palestinians to attack Israel along its eastern border.
The Jordan River border east of Israel becomes especially important, as the Arab Spring fades into a Winter of Chaos, creating uncertainty about future in neighboring Arab states to the east of Israel. These Arab states likely will be destabilized and their identities will change, influencing their objectives and leading to an increase in hostility and preparations for future aggression against Israel.

Kerry, this isn't the road to peace

 Prof. Ron Breiman

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry is about to present his plan, the purpose of which is to force Israel to hand the country's heartland over to the enemy, to divide Jerusalem including the Old City, to ethnically cleanse hundreds of thousands of Jews and to undermine "little" Israel's security, in exchange for a few utterances which the enemy still refuses to make, and a few dubious European payouts, which could be withheld at any point.

And that's what they call peace?

The Kerry plan cannot bring about peace. It is based on pretenses, as if the conflict is territorial when it is actually religious. It not only denies the Jewish people's historical roots in this tiny corner of the world, but also international law, British Mandatory documents concerning Israel (the greater Israel, across both banks of the river Jordan), the basic principles of the San Remo Conference -- which were adopted by international institutions -- and disregards the majority of the Senate. The plan rests on heart's desires, not on verified risk assessment.

'Kerry's peace plan -- 1967 borders, no right of return'

New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman reveals the details he believes will be included in U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry's lsraeli-Palestinian peace proposal • Friedman: "Kerry's mission is the last train to a negotiated two-state solution."

Yoni Hirsch, Shlomo Cesana and Israel Hayom Staff

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry | Photo credit: AP

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry will be presenting a framework Israeli-Palestinian peace proposal shortly, according to New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman, who in a Tuesday column titled "Why Kerry Is Scary" revealed details of what he believes will be included in the proposal.

According to Friedman, Kerry's plan "is expected to call for an end to the conflict and all claims, following a phased Israeli withdrawal from the West Bank (based on the 1967 lines), with unprecedented security arrangements in the strategic Jordan Valley.

Michael Oren misunderstands the obstacle to peace

Efraim Karsh
The Jerusalem Post
January 30, 2014

http://www.meforum.org/3733/michael-oren-peace

For an accomplished historian, Michael Oren seems to have an extraordinarily short memory.
In a recent article on CNN's website, the former Israeli ambassador to the United States argued that in the absence of a two-state solution, "One solution could be a unilateral Israeli withdrawal from Palestinian population centers in the West Bank." This, he reasoned, would allow Israel to "end the occupation of the Palestinians, preserve its security, and perhaps lay new foundations for peace."

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry chats with Michael Oren at Israel's Ben Gurion International Airport, on April 9, 2013. (Image source: U.S. State Department)

But this precisely what Israel did some 20 years ago.

Obama Blames U.S. for ‘Extremism’

Ryan Mauro 

President Obama’s State of the Union gave us a look at the premises driving his foreign policy. It showed that he believes Islamic terrorists to be driven by frustration over perceived injustices at the hands of the West, rather than an ideology. It is because of this frame of mind that he can defend the faulty nuclear deal with Iran and depict the regime as a less threatening version of the Soviet Union.

Three key lines in the speech illustrated the fundamentals underlying the Obama Administration’s foreign policy.
First, Obama indicated that he sees terrorism-sponsoring Islamist regimes as comparable to the communists of the Cold War. Both are primarily motivated by power and wealth and are open to mutually-beneficial deals. He said:
“If John F. Kennedy and Ronald Reagan could negotiate with the Soviet Union, then surely a strong and confident America can negotiate with less powerful adversaries today.”

The Daily TIP: Analysts: Syria retains 95% of chemical arsenal, can likely produce bio-weapons, and has restored missile production to pre-war levels‏

Analysts: Syria retains 95% of chemical arsenal, can likely produce bio-weapons, and has restored missile production to pre-war levels Fears of Iran "gold rush" deepen as Tehran moves to bolster European and Asian financial ties, Switzerland drops range of restrictions Top Israeli military officials: Hezbollah has installed "thousands" of military bases in civilian buildings, set to use vast network of human shields in future conflict Palestinian Fatah official declares hope for boost in Iran ties Syria retains the vast majority of its chemical arsenal, can likely weaponize biological agents, and has restored the pace of its missile production to pre-war levels, according to a stream of analysis and reporting published on Tuesday and Wednesday.

Iranian warships take southerly route, head for South Africa

  theoptimisticconservative 

The Iranian navy is doing this one the hard way.  The two ships in the “29th Flotilla” task group heading for the Atlantic Ocean will make their transit by the Cape of Good Hope, rather than going through the Mediterranean Sea.

According to Iranian authorities, the ships will stop in South Africa for a port visit on the way to the Atlantic.

They’re “doing it the hard way” because the Iranians don’t have a capability to do underway refueling.   On the African route, the frigate Sabalan will be constrained by her fuel limitations on longer, less efficient port hops than she would be on the Mediterranean route.  By going through the Med, the ships could hew more closely to a “great circle” route, which is always the most time-distance efficient way to move in maritime space around our globe.  The Iranians’ in-port fueling options would be obvious going through the Med as well.

Abbas' advisor who praised murderer now calls shooting terrorist "heroic Martyr" who "challenged the Zionist enemy"

http://palwatch.org/main.aspx?fi=157&doc_id=10596

by Itamar Marcus and Nan Jacques Zilberdik

Abbas' advisor who once praised a murderer as "heroic fighter" now praises another as "heroic Martyr" "who ascended to Heaven... in the battlefield while challenging the Zionist enemy."

Today, a Palestinian named Muhammad Mubarak shot at an Israeli checkpoint north-east of Ramallah. He was consequently killed in the ensuing exchange of fire with Israeli forces.

Shortly after the shooting, Abbas' advisor Sultan Abu Al-Einein praised the terrorist on his Facebook page, calling him "our heroic Martyr":

"In the name of the merciful and compassionate Allah,

'Of the believers are men who are true to that which they covenanted with Allah. Some of them have paid their vow by death (in battle), and some of them still are waiting; and they have not altered in the least.' [Quran, Sura 33:23, Pickthall translation]

With the most exalted expressions of honor and pride and with symbols of Jihad and resistance, we part with piety from our heroic Martyr (Shahid) Muhammad Mahmoud Mubarak from the resolute Jalazone refugee camp, who ascended to Heaven as a Martyr in the battlefield while challenging the Zionist enemy. We ask Allah to grant mercy on our Martyr and give forbearance and solace to his family and relatives.

To the eternal Paradise, oh our heroic Martyr."

[Facebook page of Advisor to PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas on NGOs

and member of the Fatah Central Committee, Sultan Abu Al-Einein,
Jan. 29, 2014]

Israeli Defense Official Offers Dark Security Assessment

IPT News  
http://www.investigativeproject.org/4279/israeli-defense-official-offers-dark-security

Israel is entering an "Era of Fire" in which it is threatened by 170,000 rockets and missiles and in which the Syrian civil war has placed "30,000 global jihad terrorists" at its doorstep, Israel's defense intelligence chief said in a speech Wednesday.
"Israel is surrounded by 360 degrees of actual enemies," said Major General Aviv Kohavi at the Institute for National Security Studies (INSS).
Most of those foes have enough internal strife to make any imminent attack unlikely, he said. But if circumstances change, they have the means to threaten Israel more dramatically than ever, and both terrorist groups and governments continue to diversify their arsenals. "The line between a terror organization and a military organization continues to blur."

Obama Blames U.S. for ‘Extremism’

Ryan Mauro 

President Obama’s State of the Union gave us a look at the premises driving his foreign policy. It showed that he believes Islamic terrorists to be driven by frustration over perceived injustices at the hands of the West, rather than an ideology. It is because of this frame of mind that he can defend the faulty nuclear deal with Iran and depict the regime as a less threatening version of the Soviet Union.
Three key lines in the speech illustrated the fundamentals underlying the Obama Administration’s foreign policy.

First, Obama indicated that he sees terrorism-sponsoring Islamist regimes as comparable to the communists of the Cold War. Both are primarily motivated by power and wealth and are open to mutually-beneficial deals. He said:
“If John F. Kennedy and Ronald Reagan could negotiate with the Soviet Union, then surely a strong and confident America can negotiate with less powerful adversaries today.”
This comparison overlooks the ideological differences between the two. If the Iranian regime had purely selfish interests, it would not engage in its self-injuring radical behavior. The preamble to its constitution would not state that its founding objective is “the establishment of a universal holy government and the downfall of all others.”
The second noteworthy line implies that anti-Americanism and Islamic radicalism is a reaction to Western domination and military actions. He said:

“Palestinians”: No Jews will be allowed to stay in “Palestinian” state

Robert Spencer 

When Pamela Geller devised the ad above and we tried to run it in Seattle (in response to bogus “Palestinian” ads claiming that “Palestinians” don’t have equal rights in Israel), Seattle transit balked, saying that the statement wasn’t true. We then provided proof from statements by Mahmoud Abbas and other “Palestinians,” and the ads ran — whereupon local news reports prominently featured a “Palestinian” activist saying that the claim was false. But since then Abbas has said it again, and as has Sheikh Hammam Saeed, leader of the Muslim Brotherhood in Jordan. And now it has been affirmed yet again by someone in the prime minister’s office
“Palestinians: No Settlers Allowed to Stay in Our State,” from the Washington Free Beacon, January 27, 2014 10:54 am

Ya'alon: 'US is no longer the world's policeman'

Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon says Russia has taken advantage of waning U.S. influence to "buy a better footing" in the Middle East • Polls show that 67% of Israelis and 70% of Palestinians do not believe a permanent peace accord can be reached.

Shlomo Cesana, Reuters and Israel Hayom Staff

Defense Minister Moshe (Bogey) Ya'alon speaks at the INSS forum on Tuesday | Photo credit: Ariel Harmoni / Defense Ministry

"Some people fear Tehran more than Washington now," Defense Minister Moshe (Bogie) Ya'alon said on Tuesday, in apparent criticism of U.S. policy in the Middle East.

Speaking at an annual conference held by the Institute for National Security Studies in Tel Aviv, Ya'alon spoke about what he believes to be the waning U.S. influence in the region. "The U.S. has decided to lower its profile, to be less active and less involved in the region, and now some fear Tehran more than Washington," he said. 

Ya'alon said Russia had taken advantage of the U.S. absence to "buy itself a better footing and show everyone they do not abandon their allies, and in doing so they have been allowed to lead [diplomatic] negotiations."

"The U.S. has decided to be less involved, to stop being the world's policeman and distance itself from areas of conflict. Look at what is happening in Iraq, Afghanistan and Syria," he said.

Ya'alon said there was no chance of a real peace accord with the Palestinians and suggested going for "an arrangement, but not a permanent agreement."

Sisi calls for “modern, comprehensive understanding of the religion of Islam”

Robert Spencer 

The latest Muslim Martin Luther, taking up the tattered crown from the cynical, deceptive Tariq Ramadan, is Egypt’s General Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, who has called for a reformation within Islam. Such a reformation is certainly urgently needed, and even in calling for it, Sisi has gone much farther than the Muslim Brotherhood scion Ramadan ever did.

Sisi, however, is a general, not a member of the Egyptian ulama; his words are unlikely to spark a mass movement for general reformation of the elements of Islam that give impetus to violence and supremacism. And the existence of those elements, and people who believe in them, is likely to menace Sisi for simply making this call — as others have been menaced for calling for reform in Islam in the past. Just last year, the Moroccan cleric Ahmed Assid condemned violence in Islam’s name, and was promptly declared an apostate and an enemy of Allah by other clerics, and threatened with death. The Iraqi Shi’ite scholar Sayyed Ahmad Al-Qabbanji called for reason in Islamic discourse and jurisprudence, and was immediately arrested.

COP: The President Won't Be Needing You

Amy Payne 

President Obama says this is a “year of action”—and last night he made it very clear whose action he was talking about.
After noting recently that he has a pen and a phone and can use those to make changes without the help of Congress, Obama charged forward with promises of taking executive action wherever lawmakers fail to meet his demands.

“This President has acted like the playground bully who when he can’t have everything he wants, he decides to take his ball and go home,” Heritage President Jim DeMint said yesterday. “This is not the way our government is supposed to work.”
Indeed—Heritage’s legal experts have long questioned the legality of the President’s lone ranger style. And early analysis of this year’s State of the Union proposals indicates the executive branch will continue to run amok.

The Universalist Holocaust

Sultan Knish

There are two basic human responses to an assault. I will protect myself or I will make the world a better place. The first deals with the risk of an attack. The second with your insecure feelings about the world. The first leaves you better able to cope with an attack. The second makes you feel better about the world that you live in.

The Jewish response to the Holocaust fell into these two categories; Never Again and Teach Tolerance. Never Again became the credo of Israel and Teach Tolerance became the credo of the Western Diaspora.

There were Israelis who believed in teaching tolerance and Western Jews who believed in self-defense, but the responses were structural because the divide between Nationalists and Universalists predated the Holocaust.

The Holocaust was a transformative event, but the responses to it came from old debates. The pogroms had led to the same fork in the road between a collective struggle for a better world and national self-defense, between the Universalists and the Nationalists, between the left and the right. The current debates about Israel by Jews and non-Jews revisit those old arguments.

Pollard, American Jewish Leaders and Anti-Semitism

si Leibler
January 29, 2014
http://wordfromjerusalem.com/?p=4960

American Jews are experiencing a nightmare. They are finally accepting the reality that the draconian treatment of Jonathan Pollard emanates from anti-Semitic strains in the US Intelligence hierarchy. Some had believed this to be the case for some time, but with additional convincing evidence, the realization is rapidly gaining ground.

American former naval intelligence analyst Jonathan Pollard is no hero. He is a convicted spy. He may have provided valuable intelligence to Israel relevant to the Gulf War, but was remunerated for his actions.

One can appreciate the outrage of American intelligence authorities against an American Jew spying for Israel. However, Pollard’s punishment grossly exceeds his crime.

To the West, not all occupied territories are equal (UPDATE)

Elder of Ziyon

An interesting thing happened last week:

In today's meeting of EU Ambassadors, a majority of EU Member States indicated to favour the newly proposed EU-Morocco fisheries protocol, which opens for EU fishing in the waters of occupied Western Sahara.

Though many Member States voiced their concerns on the protocol, a majority could be reached in today’s COREPER meeting. The decision to sign the EU’s most criticised fisheries protocol will be formalised at a Council meeting in the coming weeks.

Throwing its massive voting weight in the scale, Germany ended up supporting the controversial protocol that the Spanish government has lobbied so hard for. As far as WSRW understands, the German government will issue a statement that their endorsement should not be viewed as uncritical support.

Zawahiri's Servant in Gaza Orchestrated Plots for Mega Terror Attacks

Yaakov Lappin
Special to IPT News

http://www.investigativeproject.org/4277/zawahiri-servant-in-gaza-orchestrated-plots-for

The following exchange is a re-creation based on an investigation launched in recent months by the Israel Security Agency (Shin Bet) and announced last week, which uncovered an al-Qaida plot to bomb multiple targets in Israel, including the American Embassy in Tel Aviv.
In late 2013, two Palestinian men, one in Gaza and one in east Jerusalem, allegedly conducted Internet conversations for the purpose of planning a series of mega terror attacks.
On one end of the chat, in the Gaza Strip, sat a man named Ariv Al-Sham. According to the Shin Bet investigation, Al-Sham took his orders directly from the head of al-Qaida central, Ayman Al-Zawahiri. On the other end was a 23-year-old resident of east Jerusalem, Khalil Abu-Sara, who could barely hold back his enthusiasm for massacring civilians in the name of jihad.
"What targets do you know of?" Al-Sham asked his new recruit.

COP: Amnesty Ends the American Dream

Daniel Greenfield 

Immigration is becoming unpopular everywhere else. In the UK, immigration has become so toxic that it may lead to a split from the European Union. In Australia, it helped elect a conservative government willing to tackle its migrant boat problem. Meanwhile in the United States, Republicans keep flirting with a Super-Amnesty that would be four times as big as the last disastrous amnesty.

Accepting amnesty as inevitable would be a mistake even if the economy were on track, but it’s an even worse idea when unemployment is so bad that a sizable percentage of the population has dropped out of the economy, national and local social services are overstrained and the country is deep in debt.

Politicians on both sides of the aisle promise that legalizing illegal aliens will jumpstart the economy, but the illegal alien population is already a floating economic disaster.

The states with the highest illegal alien populations also tend to have the highest unemployment rates and the highest poverty rates. That welfare triangle is dragging down formerly booming states into the economic gutter. Legalizing illegal aliens won’t change that. Instead it will push those states even closer to the drain as legalized illegal aliens lose their illegal jobs and are replaced with new illegal aliens.

Corporate lobbies insist that America lacks workers even as the country’s immigration rate and unemployment rate remain extremely high.

Holder To Ban Religion In Terror Probes

INVESTOR'S BUSINESS DAILY 

 According to NBC News, the Justice Department will soon prohibit religious profiling in terror cases. The move, if true, would completely blind federal law enforcement to the threat from Islamic extremism.
Already, the department has forced the FBI to bleach references to "Islam" and "jihad" from its counterterrorism training materials. It's also made it harder for agents to infiltrate radical mosques.
But Attorney General Eric Holder reportedly now wants to make it illegal for agents to even consider religion in their investigations.
Democrats on the Hill are cheering the changes, along with the ACLU and radical Muslim Brotherhood front groups, who have all lobbied the administration for them. The Council on American-Islamic Relations, which has seen several of its officials jailed on terror-related charges, calls it "a step in the right direction."

Why Europe blames Israel for the Holocaust: Post-1945 anti-Semitism

BENJAMIN WEINTHAL

Analysis: The Austrian writer and Auschwitz survivor Amery recognized that “anti-Zionism contains anti-Semitism like a cloud contains a storm.”

Child survivors of Auschwitz Photo: Reuters

The acclaimed British novelist Howard Jacobson opened his speech at the B’nai B’rith World Center in Jerusalem last October with piercing sarcasm: “The question is rhetorical. When will Jews be forgiven the Holocaust? Never.”

However, there has been a shift in the underpinnings of anti-Semitism. Israel has become the collective Jew among the nations, as the late French historian Léon Poliakov said about the new metamorphosis of Jew-hatred.

Jacobson was piggy-backing on the eye-popping insight of the Israel psychoanalyst Zvi Rex, who reportedly said: “The Germans will never forgive the Jews for Auschwitz.”

'Bennett will pay a price for his conduct'

Tensions high after Bennett criticizes Netanyahu for a quote attributed to a PMO official on the future of settlers in a Palestinian state • Netanyahu associates: As a minister, Bennett has not notched even one achievement.

Mati Tuchfeld and Shlomo Cesana

Tensions are running high between Economy and Trade Minister Naftali Bennett and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu | Photo credit: Dudi Vaaknin

Tensions between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Economy and Trade Minister Naftali Bennett ratcheted up a notch on Monday, after Bennett harshly criticized Netanyahu for a quote attributed to a Prime Minister's Office official saying that Netanyahu believes settlers should have the right to remain in their homes in a future Palestinian state.

After Bennett said the idea reflected "an irrationality of values," Netanyahu associates responded with anger on Monday, saying that the Habayit Hayehudi chairman would "pay a price for his conduct."

"Instead of Abu Mazen [Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas] falling into a pit, with his rejectionism [of peace] exposed for all to see, it was in fact a senior minister [Bennett] who fell into the pit," Prime Minister's Office officials said.

Netanyahu associates did not say how the prime minister intended to deal with Bennett or whether he would summon Bennett for a rebuke. But a Likud source said Bennett would indeed be called in by the prime minister for a rebuke.

Netanyahu associates slammed Bennett on Monday, saying Netanyahu "will not ignore Bennett's scathing and rude style" of behavior toward him.

Hollywood's Muslim Lies

Sultan Knish

In real life, terrorists are almost always Muslim. In the movie theater, they are anything but. America's fictional secret agents, covert operatives and rogue cops who play by their own rules have spent more time battling Serbian terrorists than Muslim terrorists.

Before September 11 broke up the party, 24's Jack Bauer was fighting the international menace of Serbian terrorism. Serbian terrorists also showed up in 1999's Diplomatic Siege when their "Serbian Liberation Front" took over a US embassy and in 1997's The Peacemaker with George Clooney rushing to stop a Serb from detonating a nuke in New York City.

The United States has remained unscathed by Serbian terrorism, though the same can't be said for Peter Weller, the star of Diplomatic Siege, and Mimi Leder, the director of The Peacemaker, but not by Muslim terrorist attacks. Despite September 11, the Fort Hood Massacre and the Boston Marathon bombings, Hollywood has however resolutely kept its eye on the real threat.

Serbian terrorism.

Israel: "A Matter of Our Own Long-Term Interests"

Christine Williams

While Canada continues to crack down on terrorist-supporting entities, the current U.S. Administration has been busy tightening its relations with the "unindicted co-conspirator," the Islamic Society of North America [ISNA], praising it as a "pillar of the American Muslim community," and entering into collaborative consultations with it before U.S. President Barack Obama left for Israel last March.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper, the first Canadian leader ever to address Knesset , stated some key points in his passionate support for Israel. He stressed values shared by Israel and Canada -- those of freedom, democracy and an intolerance for terrorism and terrorist links -- values which Canada, since its outspoken refusal to attend the patently racist United Nations' Durban Conferences (purportedly against racism) of 2011 and 2013, has overwhelmingly, and singly, demonstrated world leadership in advancing.
Harper said:

"Canada finds it deplorable that some in the international community still question the legitimacy of the existence of the State of Israel. Our view that Israel's right to exist as a Jewish state is absolute and non-negotiable."

And:

"Criticism of Israeli government policy is not in and of itself necessarily anti-Semitic. But what else can we call criticism that selectively condemns only the Jewish state and effectively denies its right to exist, to defend itself while systematically ignoring or excusing the violence and oppression all around it?"

Palestinians' New Enemy: Tzipi Livni

Khaled Abu Toameh

The Palestinians were first unhappy with Kerry, whom they accused of being biased in favor of Israel. Now they are angry with Livni for daring to criticize Abbas. In the end, Israel and the U.S. will be blamed for the failure of the peace process. This is exactly what happened after the botched Camp David summit in 2000. A few weeks later, the Second Intifada erupted.

The Palestinians have now turned against Israeli Justice Minister Tzipi Livni, who also heads the Israeli team to the peace talks with the Palestinian Authority [PA].
Livni is probably the most dovish member of the Israeli cabinet. Yet her moderate views and support for the two-state solution have not made her immune to a new campaign against her by the Palestinians.
The Palestinian Authority leadership is now saying that Livni is no longer fit to negotiate with the Palestinians and must be replaced. In other words, any Israeli negotiator who does not accept all Palestinian demands should be excluded from the US-sponsored peace talks.

About that new Navy readiness policy

theoptimisticconservative

Make your bullet count…

A piece by David Axe at War is Boring has been flying around the web.  Axe has done a nice job of translating the gobbledygook from this Navy slide presentation into English.  That said, we can add a little focus and precision to his commentary, and a couple of points about the implications of this move.
Although I address just the aircraft carrier fleet here, the new readiness policy will apply to the surface combatant force (cruisers, destroyers, and frigates) and the amphibious fleet as well, with some adjustments and lead time built in.  Where relevant below, I reference the slide number from the Navy presentation on which you can find the information.
The bottom line for the new Optimized Fleet Response Plan is that the Navy will maintain fewer aircraft carriers ready to “surge” in response to national security requirements.  Instead of trying to maintain 3-4 carriers in that status of operational availability (slide 10), the Navy will maintain two (slide 13).
The operationally available carriers will not be in addition to the deployed carrier in the Persian Gulf region; they will include the deployed carrier.  In other words, there will be a carrier in the Gulf region, and one additional carrier that is operationally available.

Infiltrators are Existential Problem for Israel

Noah Klieger

There is no need to stress that the infiltrators from Africa pose a critical and extremely complicated problem, for which it's hard to find any rational and acceptable solution. Nonetheless, Israel must find such a solution because it's clear to everyone that the current situation cannot go on. The problem is only increasing every day.

Since its foundation, Israel has been struggling for its survival against hundreds of millions of its neighbors-enemies and their supporters around the world, and it cannot take in tens of thousands - and in the future even hundreds of thousands - of (non-Jewish) infiltrators. Every sensible person understands that this is not a problem of racism, but of existence (of the only Jewish democratic state).

JNF, For Ever Revitalizing Israel

Nurit Greenger

A few weeks ago 1200 people rolled out of their beds early in the morning to attend a breakfast event at the Beverly Hills Hilton Hotel. Why? Because the organizer, JNF-KKL has that kind of power and magnitude. (http://www.jnf.org/)

The guests

The breakfast event featured Ron Prosor (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ron_Prosor), the keynote speaker, who is currently serving as Israel's permanent representative to the United Nations. With his great sense of humor, blended into speaking about the most serious issues, Ambassador Prosor had much to explain to us about the UN, an organization that stands for nothing and does nothing, which so many wish its doors be shut forever. To say that Mr. Prosor is doing a terrific job on behalf of the State of Israel is an understatement. He does not cave to the atmospheric pressure of this dysfunctional family of nations, under which he works. He claims that under the radar there is huge respect for Israel in this anti-Israel body.

The Threat of the “Salafi Crescent”

Col. (res.) Dr. Shaul Shay
 

BESA Center Perspectives Paper No. 235
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: While Israel and the West are focused on the Iranian threat, another dangerous entity is emerging in the Middle East. Attempts by al-Qaeda and other radical Sunni Islamist groups to challenge the Shia Crescent (Iraq, Syria, and Lebanon) must be viewed as a serious security threat.
There is a notion that a hegemonic Iran is attempting to dominate the crescent-shaped part of the Middle East where the majority population is Shiite or contains a strong Shiite minority, through an array of Shiite proxies: Iraq, Alawite-dominated Syria, and the powerful Shiite militia Hizballah in Lebanon.
Yet, the growing involvement of Sunni Salafi jihadis in Iraq (since 2003), among the rebels in Syria (since 2011), and in Lebanon has created a “Salafi Crescent.” This reflects a Sunni ambition to establish a caliphate controlling much of the Middle East and form the Islamic State “from Diyala [in eastern Iraq] to Beirut.” Al-Qaeda’s hatred of the Shiites was expressed by its founder Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, who called them “the insurmountable obstacle, the prowling serpent…the enemy lying in wait” and ordered his followers to “fight them.”

Appeals Court Upholds Saudi Student's Life Sentence

Abha Shankar 
http://www.investigativeproject.org/4274/appeals-court-upholds-saudi-student-life-sentence

A federal appeals court has upheld the conviction and life sentence for a Saudi Arabian student who plotted a series of attacks in 2011, including on targeting the Dallas home of former President George W. Bush.

The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals rejected claims by Khalid Ali-M Aldawsari that his sentence is excessive and that his trial was unfair due to the use of information gathered under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act.

Aldawsari, who came to the United States on a student visa in 2008, was charged in 2011 in connection with plots to attack President Bush's home, hydroelectric dams and nuclear plants. The nine-page opinion rejected all of the issues Aldawsari raised.

Now It Makes a Difference: Clinton Says Benghazi "Biggest Regret"

Katie Pavlich

One year ago last week, former Secretary of State and potential 2016 Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton said this under oath in front of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee:

Now after lying about a YouTube video and falsely promising families answers, Clinton is saying her biggest regret as Secretary of State is Benghazi. She made the declaration during an interview at the National Automobile Association convention in New Orleans.

The Importance of the Jordan Valley Corridor

Reuven Berko
Special to IPT News

http://www.investigativeproject.org/4276/the-importance-of-the-jordan-valley-corridor

The Israeli demand for a security presence along the Jordan River was again raised last month in the Kerry-brokered peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians. Its objective would be to stop Palestinian and global jihad terrorists from infiltrating into Israeli territory and to prevent the smuggling of rockets, explosives and other weapons which would be used by the Palestinians to attack Israel along its eastern border.
The Jordan River border east of Israel becomes especially important, as the Arab Spring fades into a Winter of Chaos, creating uncertainty about future in neighboring Arab states to the east of Israel. These Arab states likely will be destabilized and their identities will change, influencing their objectives and leading to an increase in hostility and preparations for future aggression against Israel.
The threat is worsened by the rise in power of radical Sunnis in the Arab countries seeking to take over regimes whose hostility toward Israel is legendary, but still less than that of the Sunni extremists trying to overthrow them. The regimes (among them the monarchies like Jordan and the Gulf States that survived the Arab Spring) are uncertain and worried by dissent and the threats to their stability, and are currently preparing for the worst case scenario, that is, a putsch.

Obama cooked an illegal deal with Morsi

http://www.egyptdailynews.com/news%20selling%20Sinai.htm 
SHOCKER: Secret $8 billion deal between Obama and the Muslim Brotherhood
Below is a summary of the video in Arabic that reveals an agreement made between Barack Obama and Mohamed Morsi’s Muslim Brotherhood, to give 40% of Sinai to Hamas in exchange for $8 billion has already been paid to Morsi by Obama.
No wonder Obama is asking the Egyptian Army to release Morsi: Obama has asked for the release mohamed-morsi

• SECRET agreement between the Obama administration and the Muslim Brotherhood (not the Egyptian government) to give 40% of the Sinai and the annexation of that part of Egyptian territory in Gaza. The objective is to facilitate the conclusion of a comprehensive peace agreement between Israel and the Palestinians
• This agreement was signed by Khairat el Shater (number 2 of the Brotherhood) by Morsi and the Supreme Guide of the Mulsim Brotherhood.
• A sum of U.S. $ 8 billion was paid in exchange for the land.
• An investigation is ongoing Morsi and El Shater. An arrest warrant was filed against the Guide to MB and other members of his office.

Coddling the Muslim Brotherhood

by Rachel Ehrenfeld

The TSA public review that was released last week reports a 16.5% (257) increase in guns discovered in 2013 over the previous year. Checkpoints across the countrydiscovered 1,813 firearms in carry-on bags. Of those, 1,477 (81%) were loaded, averaging nearly fivefirearms that could have been fired at a U.S. airport on any given day. Firearms were intercepted in 205 airports. How many guns got by the TSA?
 
The report details some of the weapons that were discovered and the methods used to try to conceal them. However, there is nothing about the passengers who intentionally packed them. Were they American citizens? White? Hispanics? Blacks? What was their average age? What was their gender? How many had criminal records? What triggered the search? And, were any of these passengers "home-grown" jihadis?

The Arab Spring Killed the Left’s Foreign Policy

 Daniel Greenfield 

Three years later, no one talks about the Arab Spring. Its anniversaries pass in rioting and terror; clubs, bombs and juntas mixing together in a bloody cocktail. Protesters die, police die and the liberals who once claimed that the Age of Aquarius had come to the Land of the Nile have turned their faces away.

In the bleak grey skyscraper towering precariously over Eight Avenue, the filing cabinets bulge with back issues of the New York Times full of optimistic speculations about the future. But now the Old Grey Lady hardly mentions the Arab Spring except when she’s talking about insurgencies and riot casualty counts.

Only a few years ago, she fell head over heels for the bad boys of the Muslim Brotherhood. Now, despite the best efforts of her procurers of Islamism like David Kilpatrick and Robert Mackey, she has stopped taking their phone calls and has settled down to placidly chronicling the daily urban disorders of Egypt.

Top Iranian Military Official Warns Kerry against Attacking Iran's Nuclear Facilities

REZA KAHLILI 

The chief commander of Iran's Revolutionary Guards warned the United States yesterday that if it attacked the Islamic Republic's nuclear facilities, it would blow back in America's face.

Maj. Gen. Mohammad Ali Jafari was responding to a statement by Secretary of State John Kerry made on Thursday to Al Arabiya that if Iran does not abide by the interim Geneva agreement with the 5+1 world powers reached in Geneva, "the military option of the United States is ready and prepared to do what it would have to do."

"Mr. Kerry!" Jafari replied. "Know that a direct conflict with America is the strongest dream of the faithful and revolutionary men around the world. Your threats to revolutionary Islam are the best opportunity. Muslim leaders for years have been preparing us for a decisive battle. I think it's unlikely that your wise men would allow America to be placed on one side of this decisive battle and take the ridiculous military option from the table into action."

Claiming that America's days of superiority are over because of budget deficits and broken policies, Jafari warned Kerry of a massive retaliation from its proxies if Iran is attacked.

The Relentless Hillary Clinton

ALAN CARUBA 

Who said:
"We're going to take things from you on behalf of the common good"
"It's time for a new beginning, for an end to government of the few, by the few, and for the few...and to replace it with shared responsibility, for shared prosperity"
"(We) ...can just let business as usual go on and that means something has to be taken away from some people."
"We have to build a political consensus and that requires people to give up a little bit of their own...in order to create this common ground."
"I think it's time to send a clear message to what has become the most profitable sector in the entire economy that they are being watched."
"I certainly think the free market has failed."

COP: New Study: Unemployment Benefits Weaken Economy

LACHLAN MARKAY January 27, 2014

New academic research released last week showing that extending unemployment benefits is a net economic drag could strengthen the conservative case against extending those benefits at the federal level.
Congress allowed benefits for the long-term unemployed to expire at the end of 2013 as part of a larger budget deal. Democrats have offered proposals to extend the benefits.
The latest legislation, a 10-month extension with budget offsets, was held up in the Senate on Thursday after Majority Leader Harry Reid (D., Nev.) blocked Republicans from offering amendments.
The liberal case for an extension of benefits for the long-term unemployed rests on the supposed simulative effect of greater disposable income for the unemployed.

Palestinians: No settlers will be allowed to stay in our state

fter Prime Minister's Office official is quoted as saying that Netanyahu thinks settlers should have right to remain in their homes in a Palestinian state, political firestorm erupts • PMO blasts Bennett for "irresponsible" response.

Shlomo Cesana, Mati Tuchfeld, The Associated Press and Israel Hayom Staff

Should Israeli settlers have the right to remain in their homes in a future Palestinian state? | Photo credit: AFP

It may just have been a trial balloon, rather than a statement of intent, but Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's suggestion that Judea and Samaria settlers should have the right to remain in their homes even if they fall within the territory of a future Palestinian state after a peace deal is signed sparked a political firestorm on Sunday. Rightists expressed anger over the idea, leftists said it was unfeasible, and the Palestinians also dismissed it.

On Sunday, a Prime Minister's Office official was quoted as saying that Netanyahu believes all settlers should have the right to remain in their homes in a future Palestinian state.