Canary In The Coal Mine

Argentina's Cozy Relations with Iran

by Anna Mahjar-Barducci  | Hudson-NY.org  |  December 16, 2011

 

Hector Timerman (Pictured) recently rebutted an article, "Argentina Flirts with Iran as the West Watches Nervously," published by Reuters in which Reuters underlines Buenos Aires' "quietly reaching out to Iran, worrying key Western powers and Israel as they try to tighten Tehran's international isolation over its nuclear program."Reuters also quoted unnamed diplomats as saying that Argentina's motives for warming up to Iran are unclear: "In addition to boosting trade with Iran, some envoys said Argentina was pursuing a Brazilian-style foreign policy emphasizing ties with nonaligned developing nations,"

Timerman's reply was immediate. In Telam, the national news agency of Argentina, the Minister, while accusing Reuters of having refused to publish his reply to the article, strongly defended Argentina's relations with Iran. Timerman said that the growth of the bilateral trade with Iran was not the result of the political will of the government, but rather of private agents. He added that he felt irritated by the allegation that he had offered the Iranians to abandon the investigation into the 1994 terrorist attack in Buenos Aires against the Argentine Israelite Mutual Association (AMIA): "Our commitment is to the victims of AMIA and to the desire of justice shared by all the Argentines. Iran's cooperation [to solve the AMIA case] is relevant to advance this cause, and that explains as a necessary gesture of good will the fact that our U.N. delegate did not abandon his seat while the Iranian President was making his presentation before the General Assembly."

Timerman's letter, however, appears contradictory and full of meaningless explanations. He affirms that Argentina is not isolating Iran because a constructive dialogue with Teheran is "relevant" for the progress of the AMIA investigation. Hence, he claims people should regard, as a "gesture of goodwill," Argentina's ambassador to the UN, Jorge Arguello's having remained deferentially seated to listen to the usual rigmarole of the Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad against Israel and the promises to destroy it -- thus breaking with the tradition observed by other Western states to leave the hall when Ahmadinejad delivered his hate-filled speeches.

So, let us get this straight: To have Iran "help out" in the investigation of the bombing of the Jewish center in Buenos Aires, ?Argentina is ready to give a goodwill gesture in support of Iran's ambition to erase the whole of Israel off the map?

Timerman then said he felt irritated by the allegation that he offered the Iranian government Argentina's abandoning the investigation on the AMIA attack. In April 2010, however, the Argentinean paper Perfil stated it had received verifiable information that in a meeting in January with Iran's ally, Syrian President Bashar Assad, Timerman had offered to drop investigation relating to Iran's 1994 bombings in Buenos Aires in return, it seems, for deepening economic relations between Argentina and Iran.. According to Perfil, Syria then passed Timerman's offer to Iran. In a leaked cable quoted by the newspaper, Iran's Foreign Minister, Ali Akbar Salehi, allegedly told the Iranian President that "Argentina is no longer interested in solving those two attacks, but in exchange prefers improving its economic relations with Iran."

The Iranian government, perhaps secure in the knowledge that Argentina was not oing to pursue serious investigations, said that it now wanted to "uncover the truth" behind the AMIA bombing. Iran's Foreign Ministry wrote a statement declaring that, "the ministry denounces the fact that the truth about the criminal action has become the target of plots and political games and that Argentine officials at the time, whose illegal actions have been disclosed and convicted by the court in this regard, misled judicial investigation and set the stage for the escape of the real culprits behind the atrocity from the hands of justice through pointing a finger of blame at a number of nationals of the Islamic Republic of Iran."

Despite these contradictory remarks, Timerman said that Iran's offer was "an unprecedented and very positive step" [sic]. The Islamic Republic, however, denies that Iranian citizens were involved in the Buenos Aires bombing, and said that it is preparing its own report on the bombing to bring forth the truth. Given that in the past the Iranian government has accused the "Zionists" of perpetrating the 1994 bombing, what the report will most likely bring forth are loopy allegations that the "Jews" committed the attack against the Jewish center in Buenos Aires. Timerman apparently qualifies Iran's allegations as a "positive step" towards solving the AMIA's case.

For more than a decade, Argentina had done little to investigate the attacks. When Nestor Kirchner became president of Argentina in 2003, however, he vowed to reopen the case, and called the neglect of it "a national disgrace." Several years later, former Iranian President Ali Rafsanjani was among those indicted by Argentine prosecutors and sought by Interpol.

Relations between Iran and Argentina have been virtually frozen for years, but apparently the frost was only superficial; underneath, business was as good as ever, and getting better and better. Last year, Argentina's exports to Iran rose by 70%. reaching a hefty $ 1.5 billion. Iran has also become the most important buyer of Argentina's corn. It looks now as though even that superficial layer of frost has thawed.

One major forward step was made by Argentina's president Cristina Fernandez when, last September, she told the UN General Assembly that her country was ready to seek mediation with Iran. The timing of the announcement could not have come at a better time for Iran, then struggling against sanctions imposed by the West and looking for friends, old and new, who could help the Ayatollahs overcome their current difficulties. Her announcement could not have come in a worse time for Western chancelleries, which are aware that their current chance of success in the tug of war against Iran depends on the compactness of the Western front to impose harsh sanctions.

Reuters also reported that a Western diplomat had declared that "Iran and Argentina have recently been taking a number of overt steps - in some cases in response to pressure brought to bear by Iran - to open a clean slate in the countries' political relations."

Apart from obvious trading advantages, Argentina seems to be pursuing the path of other Latin American countries in a revival of non-aligned countries, which are anything but non-aligned. Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez has created a pro-Iranian, anti-Western school of thought in Latin America; Argentina's government is evidently among his disciples.

 

Source: http://www.hudson-ny.org/2675/argentina-iran-relations

Video: The Muslim Brotherhood’s Progress in the Middle East and What it Means for the World

by Erick Stakelbeck, CBNNews Terrorism Analyst  |  CBN.com  |  December 13, 2011

 

 

 

 

 

 

On this week's edition of the Stakelbeck on Terror show, CBN News analyzes the Muslim Brotherhood's recent success across the Middle East and North Africa, as well as the group's plans for global domination.

See how the Brotherhood is making major inroads across Europe and even in the United States government.

CBN News also sits down with Israeli Defense Forces spokeswoman Lt. Col. Avital Leibovich to discuss the rising threats toward Israel and the rest of the Middle East.

Also, a leading Iran expert explains why the country wouldn't hesitate to use a nuclear weapon.

 

 

 

Source: http://www.cbn.com/media/player/index.aspx?s=/Archive/News/Stakelbeck_Terror_121311_WS&search=stakelbeckepisodes&p=1&parent=0&subnav=false

No Way to Please the American Government, Media, Experts

by Barry Rubin  |  JPost.com  |  December 18, 2011

 

In a world that has moved so far to the political Left, it is hard to know anymore just what a ‘centrist’ Israeli view would be.

There is a constant effort – especially by the anti-Israel Left (and also by its anti- Semitic portions) to portray those who express mainstream public and professional Israeli views as “right-wing” or “Likudnik.”

This leads me to wonder what one would have to say to please these people. What would be centrist? What would be the equivalent of “liberal?” I presume one would have to say that US President Barack Obama is the best American president for Israel ever (even he says so!), and that there are no problems in the US-Israel relationship. Furthermore, even if there were to be problems, they would be entirely due to the Israeli government’s selfish, short-sighted and unreasonable intransigence.

To them, the only acceptable liberal view would state that peace with the Palestinians could be achieved within a few months if only Israel would make a few more concessions and stop being so belligerent and stubborn. The Palestinian Authority wouldn’t even have to change any of its policies, wouldn’t have to stop anti-Israel and anti-Semitic incitement or admit openly, clearly and in Arabic that the Jews have a right to an independent country in the historic land of Israel, nor would the Palestinians be required to negotiate or compromise. Israelis should never talk about these things.

I suppose the only acceptable liberal view is that the PA sincerely wants peace, and if given the West Bank plus a corridor to the Gaza Strip and all of east Jerusalem it would be a reliable partner and keep all of its commitments. In exchange for a peace agreement, Israel should withdraw to the 1967 borders with minor modifications and dismantle all settlements. But to ask for recognition by the PA of Israel as a Jewish state, prior agreement to resettle all Palestinian refugees in Palestine (or where they are living now), and demilitarization are unreasonable demands and should be dropped because these demands only block peace.

IF ALL the above were to happen, the liberal view must be that the Middle East would become quiet and peaceful. Islamists would either become moderate or lose support. Terrorism against the West would cease and America would be very popular, nor is the PA-Hamas partnership really a problem, because once there is a peace agreement, Hamas will give up its goal of wiping Israel off the map and there will be no more rocket, mortar, or cross-border attacks. But if Hamas does attack Israel from the Gaza Strip then Israel shouldn’t retaliate since to do so would inevitably involve disproportionate force and hurt Palestinian civilians.

The failure of Western countries to keep their commitments to Israel in 2006 to keep Hezbollah out of southern Lebanon and stop arms smuggling is unimportant, and Israel should not mention it.

That fact is unimportant and should not influence Israel’s thinking or actions, and neither should the experiences of the 1990s peace process and 2000 Camp David meeting.

As for Islamist takeovers in Egypt, Tunisia and Libya, Israel really has nothing to fear. The Muslim Brotherhood is really moderate, and Israel should stop talking about a supposed threat from these groups. It is up to Israel to patch up relations with Egypt and it should not be concerned about cross-border terrorist attacks, repeated assaults on the natural gas pipeline or the government permitted mob takeover of the Israeli Embassy in Cairo. Perhaps Israel should agree to renegotiate the Egypt-Israel peace treaty.

Same with regard to Turkey.

Israel should apologize to Ankara for letting IDF soldiers defend themselves after being attacked by jihadi terrorists on the Mavi Marmara.

It should pay compensation to the families of the attackers and allow the whole-scale import of advanced weaponry to the Gaza Strip. The collapse of the Israel- Turkey relationship was completely Israel’s fault.

Israel should give up any option of attacking Iran’s nuclear weapons’ facilities at any time, not only now to prevent Tehran from getting such weapons but presumably in the future as well if there is a perceived threat from Iran. Instead, Israel should depend on US protection. If Iran hits Israel with nuclear weapons, the United States will then (probably?) retaliate.

I HONESTLY don’t think I’ve exaggerated the attitudes of American and European leftists (including many Jews) about “proper” Israeli policy.

Strangely, I don’t see the Kadima or Labor parties adopting such a program. It would be amusing to survey random Israeli pedestrians on the street in Tel Aviv or Jerusalem about what they think of the “liberal” plan for Israel.

As always, since the mainstream Western media generally does not allow a real response to the ridiculousness of the program for Israel it so often advocates you won’t be reading any of the points made above there. People will just be left to believe that the current government is just unreasonably reactionary; that most Israelis support Obama (or that they deserve what they get if they don’t); and that the region would be just fine if only Israel would let the American far- Left choose its government.

Indeed, if any left-wing blog mentions this article it will only be to brand it “right-wing.”

The writer is director of the Global Research in International Affairs (GLORIA) Center and a featured columnist at Pajamas Media. His new book, Israel: An Introduction, will be published by Yale University Press in January.

 

Source: http://www.jpost.com/Opinion/Op-EdContributors/Article.aspx?id=249971

Coming War Threat: Terrorists Developing a Safe Haven in Egypt to Attack Israel

by Barry Rubin  |  PJMedia.com  |  December 18, 2011

 

 

 

 

What's Hecuba to him, or he to Hecuba,

That he should weep for her? What would he do,

Had he the motive and the cue for passion

That I have? He would drown the stage with tears

And cleave the general ear with horrid speech…. 

–William Shakespeare, “Hamlet”

Or, in other words, do these writers, policymakers, and “experts” care  what happens in the Middle East? War? Bloodshed? Repression? Christians fleeing; women being turned into chattel? Just a possible boost to their careers and a test for their theories. A good luncheon topic. But this is real, all too real.

First, a word on contingencies. Governments and political analysts are supposed to examine likely problems in order that they can be evaded or minimized. The time to be alarmed is not when problems become visible but when governments refuse to recognize their existence. Western regimes and analysts are generally taking a best-possible-case view on Egypt and other developing issues in the region. I’m tempted to say they are taking a fantasy view. They dismiss not just worst-case but highly likely case scenarios. Now that’s what’s alarming.

In the Sinai Peninsula, Hamas is building support bases and arms-manufacturing facilities including those for building rockets. Over time, these rockets will no doubt be upgraded.  In other words, Egypt is becoming a safe haven for anti-Israel terrorism. We know that these attacks will come from the Gaza Strip. The only question is whether at some point they will come directly across the Egypt-Israel border.

Israel had a long experience with three comparable situations. In the  1950-56 era, Egypt was a safe haven for terror attacks into Israel; in the 1967-1970 period, Jordan played this role. During the 1970s and 1980s, even down to today, Lebanon did so, with the safe haven in Syria. The difference was that Israel did attack into Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, and even occasionally into Syria in reponse to this situation.

Such an attack into Egypt in response to Egyptian involvement in attacks through the Gaza Strip is unthinkable given what an Egypt-Israel war would look like. And that doesn’t mean there won’t be sporadic attacks across the Egypt-Israel border also that would present similar problems.

There is a pattern here.

Israel, of course, is quickly building a border fence, paid for by a 2 percent cut in the budgets of government agencies, and thus the salaries of government employees.

Meanwhile, too, Libyan weapons, including Russian-made anti-plane rockets that can be fired by one man, are also making their way into the Gaza Strip. From there, or from Egyptian territory, one of them could be fired at an Israeli passenger plane on the Tel Aviv-Eilat route.

Israel has permitted more Egyptian military units to enter Sinai even though this was restricted by their peace treaty. But that doesn’t mean those forces will do anything, or at least do much, against these activities. After all, would Egypt’s army dare suppress Hamas though it is seen by most Egyptians — and soon by a majority in Egypt’s parliament — as heroic? What! Will they act as bodyguards for the evil Zionist entity that is allegedly committing genocide right next door? (That last sentence was a paraphrase of what a leading Egyptian “moderate” claimed in speaking to an American university audience.)

And let’s not forget that there are corrupt officers and also officers who sympathize with Hamas. What if they just don’t follow orders from Cairo?

So Israel’s first step is to go to the Egyptian army and ask that it do something. If it says “yes,” well and good. But what if it doesn’t do much or anything? Have you noticed that even now, the army keeps backing down to the Brotherhood? For example, the military junta claimed a share in writing the new Constitution and when the Brotherhood rejected this, the generals then pulled back. The parliament dominated by the Brotherhood and Salafists will write the Constitution without outside interference.

What does this tell us about the army’s future willingness or ability to stop the Islamists from running wild, attacking Israel, etc.?

There will also be the large Salafist contingent in parliament to keep happy. The Salafists will build networks to protect and help Hamas and small groups that might want to attack Israel from Egypt. Indeed, large parts of the Sinai are already developing toward anarchy and becoming a safe haven zone for international terrorists.

Next, what happens when there is an Islamist parliament, a president who is either Islamist or dependent on Brotherhood support, and an Islamist constitution? Who is going to order Egypt’s army to crack down on Hamas and to close its facilities?  Nobody.

And finally, what happens when Israel goes to the United States and asks President Obama to put pressure on Egypt to close down Hamas operations? Just guess.

Here’s a wonderful example of how this system works in another country. In Lebanon, Hizballah is creating its own secure strategic communications network without any government sanction. In one place, local people attacked workers building Hizballah facilities in their village. The Lebanese communications minister refused to interfere, supporting Hizballah’s actions. He explained that the Lebanese government accepted the project since almost anything was justified since Hizballah was fighting Israel. The opposition publication, Now Lebanon, responded that this is “a phone network that will be used by Iran and Syria (let’s not mince words) to carry out its regional ambitions.”

But Lebanon’s government has no interest in restricting any war-making activities on Israel. So what can we expect in Egypt?

What counter-forces are going to make the problems go away? The army does not have to close Hamas facilities to maintain its own interests. Nor does it have to do so to keep U.S. aid. There is nothing that is going to block this from happening unless Hamas makes the huge mistake of interfering in Egyptian politics and becoming involved with those staging armed struggle within Egypt. Hizballah made that mistake a few years ago.

Want to know how Middle East politics really work? A couple of years ago Israel noted that the Egypt-Gaza smuggling level had gone way down. Western media praised Egypt for acting. In fact, what had happened was that Egyptian officers on the border had demanded a higher price in bribes; the smugglers had refused, so the officers had cracked  down until they got more money at which point they opened the gates again.

I repeat: to point out the likelihood of such contingencies is of vital importance. The Israeli government is aware of these things and working to deal with them. What kind of planning and thinking for such dangerous situations is going on in the West? Little or none, because they don’t take these things seriously.

Source: http://pjmedia.com/barryrubin/2011/12/18/a-coming-war-threat-terrorists-are-developing-a-safe-haven-in-egypt-to-attack-israel/?singlepage=true

CSUN Accused of Promoting Anti Semitism on Taxpayer’s Dime

by Katharine Russ  |  CityWatchLA.com  |  December 15, 2011

 

Russ Report 

Photo from: http://www.csun.edu/~vcmth00m/

Controversy over a California State University- Northridge (CSUN) website hosted by Mathematics professor, David Klein (Pictured) has raised the ire of some Los Angeles tax payers and caught the attention of the AMCHA Initiative, an organization that “protects Jewish Students.” 
 

Rabbi Ahud Sela reached out to Congressional Candidate Mark Reed because several Officials, including Assemblymen, Congressmen, the Governor and the Mayor failed to respond to dozens of letters written by community members and organizations expressing grave concerns for the safety of Jewish students on campus. 

Reed said he was outraged that CSUN would defend such behavior and appalled that Government Officials condone these actions at taxpayer expense.

Klein, a Founding member of the Academic Boycott of Israel Campaign, wrote and posted a letter on the CSUN server to CSU Chancellor Charles Reed signed by several CSU Faculty, Staff, and Administrators. The letter strongly urged Chancellor Reed not to reinstate the CSU Israel Study Abroad Program to what he calls “apartheid” Israel. 

Klein’s website on the server of the CSUN Mathematics Department, also spouts such claims as, “The result of Israeli state policies has been a 60 year program of ethnic cleansing, including expulsion of the Palestinian population, military occupation, and mass murder” and “Israel avoids peace because peace interferes with territorial expansion and ethnic cleaning." 

Several pictures of dead and bleeding babies were posted to the CSUN site by Klein to support his agenda and his claim of Israel’s alleged atrocities.

A November 22 letter co-authored by Tammi Rossman-Benjamin, Lecturer, University of California at Santa Cruz (UCSC) and Co-founder the AMCHA Initiative, advised CSUN President, Dr. Jolene Koester that, “Professor Klein’s “Boycott Israel” page contains a litany of false and inflammatory statements and photographs intended to incite hatred and promote political activism against the Jewish State. 

“We believe it is important for the CSU leadership to know that members of the Jewish community are outraged that a publicly funded university is hosting an anti Semitic website.” 

Jack Kessler, Cal Alumnus- Class of 1968, was just one of those deeply offended by Klein’s site and said, “There is a vast difference between private speech and speech appearing on a website paid for with mandatory taxes.  It is the same difference between a crucifix on the wall of a church and one on the wall of city hall.  It is as false and misleading to claim freedom of speech in the former case, as it would be to claim freedom of religion in the latter. 

“Professor Klein is free to spout whatever racist calumnies he likes, but not on a server operated by the state.” 

Koester’s reply to Benjamin did not address AMCHA’s concerns and excused Klein’s hateful content. 

According to Benjamin, after an exchange of written arguments between Benjamin and Koester, Koester callously replied, “Too bad.”

The First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution protects statements expressing hatred of an ethnic, racial or religious nature including the mention of individuals and the distress those statements can cause. 

But as some have pointed out, - The Public Health and Welfare SUBCHAPTER V (42 U.S.C §§ 2000d - 2000d-7 TITLE 42 ) notes that FEDERALLY ASSISTED PROGRAMS must halt funding of any institution of public education that allows such “hate.” Those public institutions can be subject to federally sanctioned lawsuits and indictment as well.

And the California Education Code (Section 89005.5) provides that the name "California State University, and the names of all of the CSU campuses, nicknames and abbreviations belong to the State of California and that it is inappropriate to use the CSU name without the written permission of the institution for any purpose, including: Advertising any meeting or activity that has the purpose of supporting or opposing any political or religious activity. Every person violating this section is guilty of a misdemeanor.” 

Education Code also provides for the safety of all students. 

In addition, it would appear that CSUN has also violated some of its own established policies in its disregard to Klein’s use of a publicly funded website.

Klein’s website completely defies the Mission Statement of the California State University by failing to “promote an understanding and appreciation of the people’s cultures and diversity of the world.” 

Nor does his website “provide and sustain an environment conducive to sharing, extending, and critically examining knowledge and values, and to furthering the search for wisdom.”

In her June 2009 complaint to the San Francisco Office for Civil Rights (OCR)- U.S. Department of Education (link), Benjamin alleges “a long-standing and pervasive pattern of discrimination against Jewish students” that continues on UCSC campuses today.

Benjamin complained, “The harassing and intimidating environment for Jewish students has been worsened by the fact that NO other racial or national origin group on campus has been subjected by faculty or administrators to such hostile and demonizing criticism.”

Benjamin noted one student’s letter that said, “I am what you would call "pro-Israel", but this does not make me ‘anti-Palestinian.’ These dualistic terms only perpetuate the conflict. I support the existence of Israel, but I also have utmost sympathy for the Palestinian struggle, and I am critical of Israel's actions that disturb the lives of Palestinian civilians.

“That said, where is the discussion about Hamas? Why does the blame go directly to Israel without any disdain for Hamas? Or for the various other terrorist groups that invest in violence and hatred rather than the welfare of the Palestinians?

“I am so perplexed and distressed when intelligent academics fail to recognize Israel's legitimate right to exist as a Jewish state in the Middle East. This anti-Zionism is tossed around without any compassion to the Jewish people. As a Jew, Israel is central to my identity--to my culture, to my religion, to my ethnicity. To claim so misguidedly that Israel is illegitimate, and furthermore, should be revoked--is so hurtful and so offensive beyond words.” 

The Office of Civil Rights of the U.S. Department of Education is now investigating Benjamin’s complaint, the first of its kind. 

Leila Beckwith, Professor Emeritus in Pediatrics at University of California Los Angeles, founded the AMCHA Initiative along with Benjamin. In an August 28, 2005 LA Times article, Beckwith wrote, “From 1934 to 2003, UC regulations defined academic freedom this way: The function of the university is to seek and transmit knowledge and to train students in the processes whereby truth is to be made known. 

“To convert, or make converts, is alien and hostile to this dispassionate duty. Where it becomes necessary, in performing this function of a university, to consider political, social or sectarian movements, they are dissected and examined, not taught, and the conclusion left, with no tipping of the scales, to the logic of the facts. 

“Though the school rewrote that description, then-President Richard Atkinson also began the process of gutting its academic freedom rules, and, by 2003, the university had eliminated the statements quoted above from its regulations and removed any obligation for professors and instructors to aspire to maintain political neutrality in their courses or even inform students that other viewpoints exist.”

CSUN is not alone in its support and approval of Klein. Several California State Universities support the demonization of Israel, encourage anti Semitic rhetoric and often refuse to present speakers who bring a positive perspective to Israel. 

Benjamin mentioned in her complaint to OCR, “We contacted the heads of ten academic units and Colleges, explained our desire to bring balance to campus discussions about Israel and the Middle East, and invited them, in the name of academic integrity and the pursuit of a diversity of ideas, to join in sponsoring these speakers. Not one academic unit or College agreed to do so.” 

Randy Reynaldo, Koester’s Executive Assistant, wrote that CSU legal counsel found no violations on Klein’s website. And emphasized, “We encourage our professors—as well as students and all members of the campus community—to express their points of view, even when many others may disagree with them or even find them offensive.” 

In its 2010 Audit of Anti-Semitic Incidents, The Anti Defamation League (ADL) cites California with the highest number of Anti Semitic incidents across the nation and notes:  “Jews continue to be the most frequently targeted religious group, now accounting for 84% of religious-based hate crimes.”

Dr. Jolene Koester did not respond to requests for comment.

(Katharine Russ is an investigative reporter. She is a regular contributor to CityWatch and to the North Valley Reporter. Katharine Russ can be reached at:   Katharine.russ@charter.net ) –cw

 

Source: http://citywatchla.com/lead-stories/2595-csun-accused-of-promoting-anti-semitism-on-taxpayers-dime?utm_source=General+CityWatch+List&utm_campaign=b5ad0828dc-CW910012_15_2011&utm_medium=email

U.S. Lawmakers Call on Cuba to Release Imprisoned Jewish U.S. Contractor Alan Gross

From: JTA  |  JTA.org  |  December 4, 2011

 

U.S. aid contractor Alan Gross and his wife Judy pose for a picture in Jerusalem in the spring of 2005. Photo by Reuters/Family Photograph/Handout/Files

 

Nearly 100 U.S. lawmakers called on the government of Cuba to release imprisoned Jewish U.S. contractor Alan Gross.

Nineteen senators and 72 members of the House of Representatives sent letters to the government of Cuba at the urging of the Jewish Federations of North America and its members. Also, eight congressmen sent a letter to Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton urging the State Department to demand the immediate release of Gross, who marked his second year in prison on Saturday.

“The release of Alan Gross is a humanitarian issue for all Americans,” said Michael Gelman, chair of the Executive Committee of the board of The Jewish Federations of North America. “Cuba should not hold captive this individual who belongs at home with his family in Maryland.”

The White House on Friday had called for the release of Gross, 62, who is serving a 15-year prison sentence in Cuba for “crimes against the state” for distributing laptop computers and connecting Cuban Jews to the Internet. He was arrested in 2009 as he was leaving Cuba. 

In a statement released the same day, the Cuban Interests Section in Washington said that the Cuban government would be willing to find a humanitarian solution on a “reciprocal basis,” likely referring to several Cuban nationals held in U.S. prisons, the Associated Press reported.

The statement said that all Cuban synagogues had Internet access before Gross arrived and that he was arrested “while implementing a covert program financed by the U.S. government and aimed at disrupting the constitutional order in Cuba.” It said the activities Gross conducted would “constitute crimes in many countries of the world, including in the United States."

Gross' family and U.S. State Department officials say that Gross was in the country on a U.S. Agency for International Development contract to help the country's 1,500 Jews communicate with other Jewish communities using the Internet. The main Jewish groups in Cuba have denied any contact with or knowledge of Gross or the program.

Gross’ wife, Judy, spoke last month at a protest on her husband's behalf outside the Cuban Interests Section in Washington. Judy Gross said that when she last spoke with her husband, he sounded “hopeless and depressed.” 

Alan Gross reportedly has lost 100 pounds while in prison and suffers from several ailments. His mother and his daughter are both currently battling cancer.

Source: http://www.jta.org/news/article/2011/12/04/3090561/congressmen-call-on-cuba-to-release-gross

 

Video: Obama – The Anti-Israel President

From: FrontPageMag.com  |  December 2, 2011

Below is the David Horowitz Freedom Center’s new video: 

Obama – The Anti-Israel President:

 

 

To help support the Center’s dedication to defend America and Israel, click here.

 

Source: http://frontpagemag.com/2011/12/02/obama-the-anti-israel-president/

Holocaust Survivor Jungreis: 'It's Happening Again'

by Baruch Gordon and Chana Ya'ar  |  IsraelNationalNews.com  |  December 1, 2011

 

Renowned international speaker Rebbetzin Esther Jungreis warns that once again, "the dark days" are returning and Jews are surrounded by those who want to destroy us -- "and they don't hide it."

Speaking at the recent Long Island New York Friends of the Israel Defense Forces (FIDF) Dinner, the Holocaust survivor and renowned educator and speaker said it’s very easy to forget what it was like when the Jews were singled out for torture, murder, and slaughter.

Fred, Ronny and Gary - guests at FIDF Long Island Dinner. Israel news photo: courtesy LIFIDF

"The whole world was ready to consume us, and today… once again, we are surrounded on every side by those who want to destroy us - and they don't hide it,  she noted.

Jungreis bemoaned the fact that Iranian President Ahmadinejad was invited to Columbia University campus by students: “Do you understand this? We are seeing it even with our own eyes. The world has become dark again.”

Holocaust survivor Rebetzin Esther Jungreis

 

Ahmadinejad has been quoted numerous times as threatening to “wipe Israel off the map.” 

The Long Island FIDF this year honored Holocaust survivors “to do something different – to hear what happened in Europe in the Holocaust and juxtapose that to why it’s important to have a strong IDF, so that the Holocaust will never happen again,“ explained Dinner Committee Executive Fred Endzweig, himself from Germany.

The event, held at the Great Neck Country Club, attracted Jews of all stripes and types. "Black hat" religious Jews and those with knit yarmulkas joined the mostly traditional crowd which itself was an even mix of Ashkenazi and Sephardic Jews.

Nily Falic, National Chairman of the FIDF and the driving force behind it, explained in simple words what the magic of the organization is in attracting such a variety of Jews: “For us, FIDF is actually synonymous with the State of Israel. There is no State of Israel without the IDF, and there is no IDF without the State of Israel. This is of primary importance in all of our lives.”

The funds raised by FIDF go towards several projects to help soldiers. “When a combat soldier finishes his military service, he may turn to the FIDF to qualify for an ‘ImpactScholarship,’ which pays his way through college studies,” says Abbey Nickinson, Projects Manager for the organization’s Tri-State region. “The Long Island chapter of FIDF underwrites 55 such soldiers,” she added.

 

 

National FIDF Chairman Nily Falic (right) standing with FIDF National Director Major General (Res.) Yitzhak Gershon and Lt. Col. Chezy Deutsch] 

 

FIDF also equips bases with fitness and recreation equipment. In addition, “Lone soldiers” -- those who immigrate and serve without family in Israel -- are eligible for assistance in renting and furnishing an apartment.

Despite threats to exterminate Israel, Rebbetzin Jungreis closed her remarks saying that in these days, things are different: “Thank G-d, now we have an Israeli army, and we have a Father in the heavens above.”

Eleven-year-old Natalie Ben Josef, beaming a huge smile at the opportunity to speak into a journalist’s microphone, summed up the evening explaining why she attended the event: “To support the soldiers of Israel.”

 

Source: http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/150294#.TthKLnMqv90

Administration Weakening U.S. Defense, Military Tells Congress

by Jim Kouri, CPP  |  FamilySecurityMatters.org  |  November 9, 2011

 

As the nation prepares to honor its warfighters on Veterans Day, the top military commanders from the four service branches of the U.S. Armed Forces spoke openly to a congressional panel about the dangerous road being traveled by the Commander in Chief, Barack Obama.

 

Avoiding the term budget cuts, Obama and his underlings labeled the military reduction process Sequestration, a euphemism for "removal or separation." Ironically, Sequestration is the word used in Scotland for bankruptcy.

 

The top officers told members of the House Armed Services Committee this week that further defense cuts will dramatically weaken U.S. national security and reduce warriors' capabilities to effectively wage war.

 

Highlighting potentially devastating fiscal consequences of defense reductions, the Joint Chiefs "echoed unanimous sentiment that further defense control efforts out of the military budget would compromise our national and economic security," according to the congressional committee' report.

 

Navy Faces Dim Future

 

During his testimony, Admiral Jonathan Greenert, Chief of Naval Operations, warned that “some of the actions we would need to take under sequestration could have a severe and irreversible impact on the Navy’s future."

 

"For instance, We may need to end procurement programs and begin laying off civilian personnel in fiscal year 2012 to ensure we are within control levels for January of 2012," said the nation’s top sailor.

 

“As a capital-intensive force, we depend on consistent and reliable production from the shipbuilding and aviation industries to sustain our fleet capacity. If we end programs abruptly and some of these companies shutdown, [we] will be hard pressed to reconstitute them. And each ship we don’t build impacts the fleet for 20-50 years,” said Greenert.

 

A Crippled Marine Corps

 

"One effect of sequestration might be to put a Marine Corps below the end strength level that’s necessary to support even one major contingency,” said Marine Commandant James Amos.  

 

“At the potential end strength level resulting from the sequestration, we’re going to have to make some tough decisions and assume significantly more risk. We will not be able to do the things the Nation needs us to do to mitigate risk, or to meet the requirements of the Combatant Commanders."

 

“We won’t be there to reassure our potential friends, or to assure our allies. And we certainly won’t be there to contain small crises before they become major conflagrations," Commandant Amos added.

 

Army Faces Catastrophe

 

General Raymond Odierno, the Army Chief of Staff, cautioned that further defense cuts under sequestration would be “catastrophic to the military and –- in the case of the Army -- would significantly reduce our capability and capacity to assure our partners abroad, respond to crises, and deter our potential adversaries, while threatening the readiness of our all volunteer force.”

 

“Dire Consequences” for the Air Force

 

Air Force Chief of Staff Norton Schwartz appeared to be on the same page as his colleagues when he noted  that "even the most thoroughly deliberated strategy may not be able to overcome dire consequences if cuts go far beyond the $450 billion-plus in anticipated national security budget reductions over the next 10 years."

 

“From the ongoing budget review, the Department is confident that further spending reductions beyond the more than $450 billion that are needed to comply with the Budget Control Act’s first round of cuts cannot be done without damagingour core military capabilities and therefore our national s security,” said General Schwartz.

 

1990's Redux?

 

During the administration of President Bill Clinton, in the name of a "peacedividend," the U.S. military underwent drastic reductions in staff and equipment. For example, the Army went from 18 divisions to just 10. In addition, there were reductions in Navy ships, Air Force planes and other warfighting materials.

 

FamilySecurityMatters.org Contributing Editor Jim Kouri, CPP is currently fifth vice-president of the National Association of Chiefs of Police and is a columnist for The Examiner (examiner.com) and New Media Alliance (thenma.org).  In addition, he's a blogger for the Cheyenne, Wyoming Fox News KGAB (www.kgab.com). Jim Kouri also serves as political advisor for Emmy and Golden Globe actor Michael Moriarty.

 

Source: http://www.familysecuritymatters.org/publications/id.10777/pub_detail.asp

Muslim Arab Anti-Semitism

by: Facts and Logic About the Middle East  |  FactsAndLogic.org  |  No date given

 

Facts and Logic About the Middle East
P.O. Box 590359
San Francisco, CA 94159

Anti-Semitism has often and rightfully been called the longest hatred, the oldest prejudice. It has plagued Europe for a very long time and has, over the centuries, brought untold suffering to the Jewish people. Its most deadly expression was the Nazi Holocaust, which caused the death of 6 million Jews and extinguished ancient civilizations in much of Europe. So terrible, so evil were those events that anti-Semitism was shunned and repudiated by the civilized world.

What are the facts?

Anti-Semitism is integral to Muslim culture. But while anti-Semitism has indeed been shunned by the civilized world, things are quite different in the Muslim/Arab world because anti-Semitism is an integral part of their religion and culture. The Muslim countries are the only places in the world in which anti-Semitism is publicly endorsed and where it flourishes. The Koran abounds in anti-Semitic statements. An expression of that hatred toward Jews is imbued in Muslim children from an early age. It is the fate of Jews in Muslim lands. For centuries they were tolerated, but only in the submissive capacity of "dhimmis" – second class citizens. They were subjected to countless humiliations, bizarre rules of conduct and clothing and in many cases to assaults and pogroms. When the state of Israel was founded in 1948, hundreds of thousands of Jews in Muslim lands had to flee for their lives or were driven from their homes, where they had lived, in most cases, for centuries. When Israel emerged victorious from the 1967 Six-Day War, virtually all of the remaining Jews were expelled – from Iraq, Yemen, Syria, Egypt, Libya, Algeria and Morocco. In those countries, virtually no Jews remain today. The vast majority of them wound up in Israel where they and their descendants form a large part of the population and are fully integrated, of course. Compare that to the Palestinian refugees, who, mostly at the urging of their leaders, fled the nascent Jewish state in 1948. Their descendants, who have now miraculously increased to 5 million, still live today in miserable refugee camps, at the dole of the world – mostly of the United States, of course.

Adolf Hitler's book Mein Kampf, which is prohibited in Germany, is, in Arab and Farsi translations, a perennial best seller in Muslim countries. So is the fraudulent invention The Protocols of the Elders of Zion. The Muslim world is the only place in which those scurrilous books are readily available. A recent Egyptian television series of 41 installments, based on the "Protocols," was a huge success in the Muslim world.

Holocaust denial. Holocaust denial is a favorite topic in the Muslim world. The president of the Palestinian Authority, Mahmoud Abbas (a reputed "moderate") wrote his doctoral thesis with this title: "The Other Side: The Secret Relationship Between Nazism and the Zionist Movement." In some regards, Arab Jew-haters are even worse than their infamous predecessors. For all their terrible deeds, the Nazis never lionized their killers, named streets or buildings after them or encouraged their children to emulate them. That is, however, standard practice in the Muslim world. To kill Jews, to become a martyr, is the highest goal and promises immediate access to a paradise of unbelievable pleasures.

Many people believe that the existence of the state of Israel is the cause of this hatred and that Muslim anti-Semitism would disappear if the Jewish state would disappear. But that is not true. As former "refusenik" and Jewish Agency Chairman, Natan Sharansky, has said: "The Jewish state is no more the cause of anti-Semitism today than the absence of the Jewish state was a century ago."

Hatred of Jews is an integral part of Arab/Muslim culture and did not come about with the creation of the Jewish state. The Grand Mufti of Jerusalem, Haj Amin al-Husseini, at that time the highest Islamic authority in that part of the world, was a staunch and steadfast ally of the Nazis, a trusted accomplice of Hitler. He personally raised SS Waffen troops among the Bosnian Muslims and promised the Nazis that he would fully cooperate with them in the extermination of the Jews in the Middle East. That was in the 1930's – 20 years before the creation of Israel. One shudders to imagine what the Arabs would have done to the Jewish residents of the area if the Nazis had come out victorious in World War II.

Israel has tried for over 60 years to come to terms with its Arab-Muslim neighbors. But it is difficult to make peace with those who think of them as sons of pigs and apes. In the words of Hezbollah's secretary general, Hasan Nasrallah, who declared: "If we searched the entire world for a person more cowardly, despicable, weak or feeble… we would not find anyone like the Jew." How can one make peace with such people, with hatred like that?

Gerardo Joffe, President

 

Source:  http://www.factsandlogic.org/ad_129.html