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CONTINUING TERRORISM IN ISRAEL

            One of  my fascinating memories of Jerusalem is strolling through the Mount of Olives. Because some of the trees literally date back to the first century, there’s an aura of the mystical about the area. Unfortunately, the epiphanic went up in smoke on Sunday night in that section of Jerusalem.

Seven firebombs were hurled into Jewish homes. The masked terrorist carried ten firebombs and managed to throw seven at ground floor apartments in a compound. Security guards fired in the air and sent the man running. Controversy followed as to whether the guards should have shot to kill. While not a large enough incident to attract Western journalists, the incident was indicative of continuing Jewish struggles.

A larger issue is the emergence of the International Solidarity Movement (ISM). The group’s existence became more widely known after one of their activist’s confrontation with an Israeli Defense Force (IDF) office. We will probably hear more about them.

Coming from Denmark, the ISM is a pacifist group promoting the “Palestinian cause.” Wikipedia describes them as a nonviolent protest group standing on the Palestinian side in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. However, the group includes anarchists who openly support terrorism. In their own website, they state their intention is to resist Israeli occupation. Their mission statement supports armed struggle as a right of the Palestinian Authority Arabs. One of the articles states, “Non-violent resistance is no less noble than carrying out a suicide operation.”

In other words, smile at the soldiers if it helps the cause; kill ‘em if you have to. Can a group really have it both ways? Sounds like they’ll accept whoever wants to join regardless of their motives (An weapons). A tad contradictory?

ISM activists also promote the cause of Iran, including Iran’s geopolitical goals against the United States. Those objectives may well become the “crunch” if the group goes far enough so that it is no longer ignored.

Journalist Lee Kaplan reports, “The ISM has built a network across our nation’s (America) colleges.” Campus club-type organizations with names like Muslim Students Union and Students for Justice in Palestine are on major campuses where support is given to terrorists groups like Hamas.

Possibly, the ISM movement will dissolve like fog and disappear in the light of day, but I wouldn’t count on it. Such student groups come and go, depending on the climate. Like the Black Panthers, most have a loud growl in the beginning and then their energy wanes as the political climate changes. It’s been awhile since students reacted violently in the college setting. Maybe, the time isn’t right –then again!

Should the ISM attempt to create more disturbances in Israel, you will have heard of them and have some idea of what’s going on. Knowing who activists are and what their ultimate objectives will be helps making sense out of what we hear from the media. Stay aware should the ISM try to make a grab for the headlines.

Question: Have you previously recognized the appearance of similar groups claiming one objective while pursuing another? Could the ISM cause real difficulty in Israel?

            You wake up in the morning when you land in Israel and quickly discover how many important events have slipped through the cracks back in the USA. Regardless of Al Jazeera, CNN, and you name it, Americans tend to lived in an insular world. We know nothing of the wars in Africa or the  escalating tensions in the Middle East unless they directly affect us. The result is that the average citizen is caught short when the earth blows open. Don’t we need to remedy that situation?

Let’s start by noting an unreported but important situations in Israel.

Last fall, the PLO petitioned the United Nations for recognition as a state. The appeal has gone nowhere with the result that PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas just wrote to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu claiming Israeli actions have stripped the Palestinian Authority  of its raison d’etre, its reason for existence.

Abbas stated, “As a result of actions taken by successive Israeli governments, the Palestinian National Authority no longer has any authority, and no meaningful jurisdiction in the political, economic territorial and security spheres. … In other words, the PA lost its raison d’etere which, if it continues, will make it unable to honor its commitments.” Abbas refers to the 1993 Olso Accords which brought about the creation of the PA.

What’s going on here?

If memory serves me right, during the Clinton Administration generous offers were made to the Palestinians that would have even given East Jerusalem to them but Yasser Arafat walked out. Privately, he held the view that the Palestinians would never agree until they could reclaim all of  the land the state of Israel sits on. Or, to put it in the words of Abba Ebon, “the Arabs never miss an opportunity to miss an opportunity. They repeatedly sabotaged their own right to existence.

So, what’s really happening here?

Possibly, the Palestinians are creating a rationale for backing out of their previous agreements. We know Hamas and Hezbollah have become the real power brokers in the West Bank. Gaza has turned into a world unto itself. In his letter, Abbas truthfully asserts Israel keeps planting new settlements on disputed land. However, Israel is making the point that time (contrary to Arafat’s view) is not on their side. The longer they wait, the less there is to bargain for.

In reality, Abbas may be reacting to the fact that much of the world has lost interest in the Palestinian cause. The recent Arab Spring has pointed to the real problems in the Middle East and world leaders are no longer paying much attention to Abbas.

As the Abbas letter arrived, Netanyahu sought a face-to-face meeting with Abbas and his office expressing hope for raising the level of talks.  Exchanges have been frozen since Jordan hosted a series of exploratory meetings between the two sides.

Having watched these empty negotiations on both sides for some time, I must conclude that Arafat (who took 3 billion dollars to the grave with him) is the real culprit. His behavior exposed the fact that the Palestinians will accept nothing less that the abolishment of Israel. Sorry boys. Ain’t gonna happen! (536 words)

Question: Is there any way the world can help the Palestinians wake up to the impossible position they have put themselves in? Should Israel reverse itself in some way to jump start negotiations?

Blog 22

 THE ARAB FUHRER

            As a child, I thought calling someone “the grand mufti” was joking around. Turns out, it’s a bad joke! If you haven’t heard of Mufti Haj Amin al-Husseini, you will want to know about his role in the early days of the formation of the state of Israel. This Palestinian became an instigator of the Holocaust.

Why should you know about him? In November 2008, a set of blueprints for the Auschwitz extermination camp signed by SS Reichsfuhrer Heinrich Himmler turned up in a Berlin apartment being renovated. In an affluent quarter of Berlin during the Third Reich, the building originally belonged to Haj Amin al-Hussein. We know for a certainty that during the war years of 1941-1945, the Haj was living in Berlin. An Auschwitz survivor testified that he saw the grand mufti visit the death camp along with Himmler in 1943.

On my first trip to Israel in 1968, the world I found in the country was closer to the one the mufti came from than what exists today. Much of the Old City remained under piles of dirt and the streets looked like 1945. Today, Jerusalem and Tel Aviv have caught up with the 21^st century. If Haj Husseini had his way, these changes would never have occurred.

With a wealthy family holding land in Southern Palestine, Husseini’s family  produced mayors for Jerusalem in the early 20^th century. Husseini emerged as the Grand Mufti (a scholar with authority to issue legal opinions or fataawas in Islam) and controlled the Islamic Court in Palestine. In the ‘20s and ‘30s, he opposed the immigration of Jews to Palestine.

Husseini’s goal? The Palestinian sought a declaration from the Nazis creating the future independence of an Arab state in which he would be the Fuhrer of the Arabs.

The racial pseudo-science of the Nazi placed the Arabs in the same boat with the Jews because both were “Semites.” Aware of the snub, Husseini asked the Germans to use “anti-Judaism” instead of  “anti-Semitism.” He didn’t get far.

The mufti’s hands were in every attempt to annihilate the Jewish community. With his extensive intelligence network, he had to be privy to top-secret Final solution arrangements. As the Nazi’s began losing the war, Husseini stepped up his efforts to no avail. However, his intervention ensured all migrating Jew were sent to Poland rather than allowed to enter Palestine. During the post-war period, Husseini dodged criminal justice and barely escaped prosecution at the Nuremberg war crimes trial.

In Klaus Gensicke’s The Mufti of Jerusalem and the Nazis, blame for the Palestinian flight in l948 is placed squarely on Husseini’s shoulders. The Palestinian exodus discredited Husseini’s leadership which ended up being replaced by the PLO. In l974, he died in Beirut, Lebanon. His schemes to elevate himself and his family only clouded the true political situation in Palestine and actually paved the way for Israel to arise out of the ashes of what had been Palestine.

While unworthy of positive commemoration, Haj Amin al-Husseini remains an appropriate symbol of the hate Israel has endured.

Question:

Do you any resemblance between Husseini, Yashar Arafat, and any current Palestinian leaders?

FIGURING WHY RELIGIOUS PARTICIPANTS

LIKE TO KILL

Part One

            I want to be candid. What I’m sharing is not about Muslim bashing. I have Muslims in my family, and I have known high-minded Muslims of devout faith. I earnestly try not to interject theological or political persuasions in these blogs. My point is to bring clarity and understanding.

I am reminded that Anwar Sadat was a devout Muslim. What I am writing about are the type of Muslims who killed him.

Sudat brought peace with Israel and received the Nobel Peace Prize. Shouldn’t that have been applauded? Muslim fundamentalists radicals thought not. Soldiers who were also part of the Egyptian Islamic Jihad killed Sudat. In the roundup of terrorists, Sheik Omar Abdel Radman was jailed. Radman also conspired to blowup New York City landmarks.

How could a religious group specialize in killing? Let’s take a hard look at where the extreme fundamentalist Muslim world came from.

Before he became a prophet, Muhammad had been a warrior and a raider. Beheading had been common in those days. He believed those who reject Islam are “the vilest of creatures,” and anyone who insults or opposes Muhammad deserves a humiliating death. (Qur’an 98:6, 47:4) The idea of jihad came from the Koran. Muslims believe they must fight until man-made laws are replaced by Sharia (Muslim’s idea of God’s law). We’re talking about your hometown.

Christians and Muslims stand at very different places. Jesus said, “love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.”(Matthew 5:44) Though often forgotten, for the first three centuries of the Christian era, believers were pacifists. In contrast, Muhammad said, “Against them make ready your strength to the utmost of your power, …, to strike terror into the hearts of your enemies. (Qur’an 8:60) Does sound a little different, doesn’t it?

Today the war between Shi’ites and Sunnis accounts for much of the on-going killing in Iraq. Because the Al-Assad rulers are from the Alawite sect, an offshoot of Shite Islam, their faith is  part of what heats up the war in Syria. If the Alawites fall, the Sunni attack will be vicious.

Shi’ites and Sunnis continue to fight with each other. Shi’ite hostilities reach back to 661 B.C.E. when Ali was killed. His son Husayn were martyred later. The battle between these two groups started here and has never stopped. Today, Saudi Arabi is a bastion of Sunni orthodoxy; Iran is the leading Shi’ite country. The struggle continues!

Enter the Christians. From 2003 to 2010, Muslim terrorist attacks on Christians in Africa, the Middle East, and Asia increased 309%. On March 8, 2011 during a large Christian demonstration in Cairo, 13 were killed and 140 injured by Muslims from surrounding neighborhoods.  No one claims that the violence was planned. Rather, it appears to be a spontaneous outburst against Christians. In Saudi Arabia, police regularly raid the homes of Christians. When brought to court, Christian testimony means less than Muslims statements. This is simply the way it is in the Muslim world.

In the midst of the uprisings across the Muslim Middle East, these tensions fuel the fire. Nothing suggests the battle will be lessened. The extreme Fundamentalists groups are at war and the battle rages on.

Doesn’t sound promising.

Please remember, I’m not talking about all Muslims. Just fundamentalist radicals.

HEZBOLLAH SWIMMING THE RIO GRANDE?

            When I encountered chilling information on Hezbollah agents working in Mexico, I nearly fell out of my chair. I had met Palestinians in Israel who claimed to work in Hezbollah. They seemed like ordinary locals who made their living selling tourist trinkets. While I had no idea what these guys were capable of, they didn’t seem frightening. Of course, the lady who sat next to Ted Bundy found him to be charming before she discovered he was one of America’s most infamous serial killers. Regardless of what the Palestinians boys actually did at night, I would never have dreamed that one day they might be swimming across the Rio Grande to attack America.

The Arizonia Department of Public Safety reported to the contrary. Just a few months earlier, Al-Sevassah, a Kuwait newspaper, published a story claiming Lebanese Hezbollah terrorist groups were using Mexican nationals for their operation in Latin America. Surprise! Surprise! Whose name should show up in this escapade but Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez. And of course, at the bottom of the barrel we find Columbian drug cartels trafficking for weapons. The picture got full exposure when Jameel Nasr was arrested in Tijuana a year ago. He was attempting to conduct a business deal selling thousands of U.S. arms stolen from American forces in Iraq to agents in Mexico for storage there.

Is the picture getting a little dark and gloomy for you? It is for me.

Here’s what the Tuscon Police department concluded: Islamic terrorist groups are working to create a base in Mexico by using connections with drug cartels. A terrorist network now exists in Mexico and Central America. The arsenal contains assault rifles, hand grenades, explosives, and anti-tank weapons. The Vito Carleone family is back big time, but they’re not speaking Sicilian anymore.

A year ago, Representative Sue Myrick wrote Homeland Security that intelligence gathering was needed on Hezbollah’s work on the U.S. and Mexican border. She suggested that Hezbollah operated like a Mafia family using protection threats on boarder residents.

Did you hear that reported by the press? I certainly didn’t.

Part of the problems seems to be that the U.S. State Department doesn’t want to report publically on this situation. Perhaps, they are attempting to position America to better encourage negotiations with Israel. Certainly, there is a value in that idea. However, we are now on the threshold of Israel attacking Iran and Syria is currently exploding in civil war. Iran claims they have the ability to strike the United States. Could they be talking about Hezbollah agents waiting in Mexico or now crossing the border?

The time to keep citizens in the dark to make them feel more secure would seem to be over. If people haven’t figured it out yet, Hezbollah enjoys setting off bombs on crowded buses in Jerusalem and killing children, women, anyone else in sight. They don’t make good neighbors (to put it mildly). We need to be watching the neighborhood!

I believe the hour is at hand to make people aware of the possibilities of what’s cooking on the border. We’re talking enchildades loaded with dynamite. Time to turn the oven off!