Canary In The Coal Mine

Why Obama Is Not Good For Israel

by Charles Gruenspan, Special to the CJN  |  ClevelandJewishNews.com  |  July 1, 2011

 

Last week’s opinion piece in the CJN by Dr. Martin J. Plax (Pictured), “Why Obama may not be Israel’s enemy,” generated reaction from those who think the U.S. president and U.S. policy may not be serving Israel’s best interests. See column and letters below and on next page. To read Plax’s column, visit http://tinyurl.com/cjnplax.

Dr. Martin Plax implores us not to ignore history but then proceeds to distort the historical record beyond recognition. It saddens me that in his opinion piece “Why Obama may not be Israel’s enemy” (CJN, June 24), my good friend would attempt to defend the record of the most anti-Israel president since George H. Bush.

Plax claims Obama is merely warning Israel to reconsider its “intransigent policies regarding Palestinians” in light of the radical changes in Arab leadership. However, uncritically accepting Obama’s theme of treating Israel as the intransigent party turns history on its head.

Israel reached out to negotiate with Arafat while he was safely in exile in Tunisia. Israel withdrew from the major Arab population centers of the West Bank under the Oslo Accords and then unilaterally withdrew from all of Gaza. (Israel did not “return” Gaza, as Plax formulates, as it was previously under Egyptian control.) The resulting George W. Bush letters to Israel, which formally promised that Israel would not have to abandon its large settlement blocs, were rendered not binding by Obama.

Israel previously offered the Palestinians essentially everything Obama is now parroting as if it were his own initiative, at Camp David and again at Taba and yet again by Prime Minister Olmert, only to be summarily rejected by the Palestinians. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, under Obama’s coercion, explicitly called for a two-state solution and froze settlement construction for 10 months. Yet, despite its relentless pursuit of peace, Israel has never received anything of tangible worth in return for any of its concessions and initiatives. To label Israel as “intransigent“ is blatantly false and defamatory.

Obama’s intifada against Israel started well before the so-called Arab Spring. Plax’s linking of Obama’s Israel policy to the Arab uprisings is chronologically incorrect.

Plax’s comparison of Hamas to Irgun is even more disturbing. Ben-Gurion turned his guns on Irgun to get them to submit their arms to one government rule, something the Palestinian Authority has not done with Hamas. Menachem Begin was democratically elected to the Knesset for more than a quarter century before being elected prime minister. Hamas was elected once and immediately began throwing its political opponents off buildings.

To contrive expectations about Hamas based on Irgun is beyond delusional. Is it impossible for Hamas to reform? No. Is it rational for Israel to take existential risks based on that unrealistic hope? Only Obama and his apologists apparently believe so.

Israel was created by the United Nations and recognized, de jure, by all of Europe, the Americas, the Soviet Union and many others. It did not need de facto recognition. The only significance of the Madrid Conference, which otherwise accomplished absolutely nothing of substance despite forceful pressure from the first President Bush, was that it bestowed de facto recognition on the Palestinians, not on Israel, as Plax states.

Obama’s setting of the 1967 (actually 1949 armistice) lines as the basis for negotiations can hardly be called “neutral,” unless, of course, he had also called for the Palestinians to commit to a demilitarized state and to give up their demand for a “right of return,” which he did not do. Neutrality better describes President Clinton, who, in contradiction to Plax’s depiction, played no role in negotiating the Oslo Accords other than to provide a venue for photo ops. The ensuing treaties with Jordan, India and others were not the result of any pressure or intervention by the president of the United States.

Israel gave up the Sinai in 1956, which led to war in 1967. Israel entered into pacts with Gemayel of Lebanon, Sadat of Egypt, and the shah of Iran, who were all either assassinated or deposed shortly thereafter. Withdrawal from Lebanon resulted in 8,000 rockets and war. Withdrawal from Gaza resulted in 6,000 rockets, which were smuggled in from Egypt, to whom Israel had twice ceded the vast and mineral-rich Sinai peninsula in the pursuit of peace, and then war. And finally, the election of President Obama resulted in the abrogation of U.S. commitments regarding Israeli settlements.

Plax is correct that Israel must learn its history lessons well. Its very existence depends on it.

Charles Gruenspan is an attorney with Charles Gruenspan Co., LPA, and a member of the Republican Jewish Coalition.

 

Source:  http://www.clevelandjewishnews.com/articles/2011/07/01/opinion/commentary/doc4e0cebc66b21e310868737.txt

Mosque Construction Near Begin's Tomb Goes On Despite Order

by David ben Yacov  |  IsraelNationalNews.com  |  June 30, 2011

 

 

Construction of a mosque near the grave of late prime minister Menachem Begin and Rabbi Tzvi Yehuda Kook has been under way since October despite court orders to stop. Attendees at the recent President's Conference in Jerusalem were shown pictures of the construction.

David Hadari. Arutz Sheva 
On Thursday, the Deputy Mayor of Jerusalem (National Unity-NRP), David Hadari, arrived at the illegal building site in person to serve a court order to cease and desist, accompanied by Council Member Elisha Peleg.

The action, undertaken to publicize the lax enforcement of the law against massive Arab illegal construction in East Jerusalem, was an object lesson that proved just how unequal enforcement of the law is against those building without permits in the city.

According to Hadari, “The last straw was this massive illegal construction on the extension of the Mount of Olives, with a mosque located only a few meters from the gravesites of Eliezer ben Yehuda, the reviver of the Hebrew language, Rav Tzvi Yehuda Kook, head of Merkaz HaRav Yeshiva and of Prime Minister Menachem Begin.”

Hadari arrived holding the administrative cease and desist order which he handed to the construction workers.

The workers ignored the order. Councilmen who arrived at the mosque said that the police and the government are responsible for not enforcing the order, and that the police are afraid to enforce the law in eastern Jerusalem, particularly against the contruction of a mosque.

Elisha Peleg said that the government and law enforcement system should act against Imams and illegal mosques, as they seem to have the courage to do against rabbis.

Hadari said that unless work is stopped immediately, there are measures the municipality could employ, including the confiscation of equipment such as tractors and trucks.

Hadari ruefully expressed hopes that the government will instruct the police to enforce the law against the illegal mosque as it does elsewhere in Jerusalem.

The High Court recently decided to seal the synagogue which was being built by a private donor during the period of the building freeze at the El Matan North Samaria community, ignoring another illegal mosque being built nearby.

 

Source:  http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/145320

Jewish Enablers of the War Against Israel

by Steven Plaut  |  FrontPageMag.com  |  July 1, 2011

 

The assault against Israel involves a war of words and concepts which are just as deadly as the vicious  episodes of terrorist violence that punctuate daily life in the Jewish State.  A propaganda narrative casting Israelis as “Nazis” who are perpetrating a Jewish version of the Final Solution against hapless Palestinians has spread from the Middle East into the capitals of Europe, and is echoed in the “boycott and divestment” movement and “Anti-Israel Apartheid Weeks” on prestigious American college campuses.

One of the most wrenching facts of this war against the Jews is the central role played by Jewish enablers of anti-Semitism.  These individuals, mostly in the universities (American and Israeli alike), have given protective cover to the revival of Jew-hatred, which gains momentum with each passing day.  The fact that these enablers are Jewish gives legitimacy to the hateful rhetoric about Jews and the Jewish State, and allows such ideology to flourish with utter impunity.

“Jewish Enablers of the War Against the Jews” by University of Haifa Professor Stephen Plaut exposes these Jewish Jew-haters—this is the only label for them—for what they really are.  Plaut has written 20 searing portraits based on the words and deeds of these enablers, including figures such as the notorious Noam Chomsky and Norman Finkelstein; the pseudo-rabbi Michael Lerner; and Harvard’s Sara Roy, an apologist for the terror group Hamas. This collection is comprised of Israelis as well, including Oren Yiftachel, who composes tracts purporting to show that his own country is a racist, apartheid state.

As Plaut’s work shows, these are not “self-hating” Jews; they hate both Israel and America.

To read the pamphlet, click here. 

To purchase the pamphlet, click here.

The pamphlet is also available on Kindle.

 

 

Source:  http://frontpagemag.com/2011/07/01/jewish-enablers-of-the-war-against-israel-2/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+fpm+%28FrontPage+Magazine+%C2%BB+All%29

Arabs Attack Students and Rabbi During a Day of Fun

by Elad Benari  |  IsraelNationalNews.com  |  July 1, 2011 

 

Students of the Yeshivat Bnei Tzvi in Beit El and their rabbi were attacked on Thursday by Arab workers in the Jordan River Rafting site.

Arutz Sheva’s Hebrew website has learned that as the students made their way on foot to their bus after a day of fun activities on the site, a Bedouin driving a truck showed up and drove toward them at high speed, endangering their lives. When the surprised students shouted at the driver, he got off the truck and threatened them.

Students attacked. Israel News photo: Ezra Yaakov

Meanwhile, some of the driver’s friends arrived on the scene and one of them hit one of the students in the face, causing the shocked student to spray tear gas in the attacker’s face.

The incident escalated and at its climax, one of the Bedouin workers chased the students’ rabbi while holding a stone and then grabbed him and knocked him to the ground. The attacker only agreed to put the stone down and leave the rabbi alone because the students caused a commotion.

The students and their rabbi were able to video tape the entire incident and have filed a complaint with the police.

Jordan River Rafting at first denied that the incident had taken place, but later presented a different version of what had happened.

“120 students tried to kill the Bedouin workers on site, with one of them spraying tear gas at one of the staff members and the other students throwing stones,” a spokesperson for the site told Arutz Sheva. “A confrontation ensued and the group of students eventually left the place.”

Thursday’s incident follows two other incidents earlier this week involving Arabs attacking Jews.

On Monday, an Arab assailant beat a 40-year-old man with a hammer and sprayed tear gas at a cab driver in Be'er Sheva. One of the victims was moderately injured and the other was lightly injured. Both were hospitalized at Soroka Medical Center.

On Sunday, a 27-year-old Jewish man was yanked out of his car and beaten by an Arab mob in a Jerusalem neighborhood, after making a wrong turn and entering the eastern Jerusalem neighborhood of Issawiya.

Other Arabs who live in the same neighborhood rescued the Jew, police said, and protected him until an Israel Police patrol car and Border Police officers arrived.

 

Source:  http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/145340

Jews, Not Resting in Peace

 

 

by Giulio Meotti  |  IsraelNationalNews.com  |  July 1, 2011

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Desecration of Jewish cemeteries is a ubiquitous expression of anti-Semitism.

A few days ago more than a dozen graves at the Mount of Olives cemetery in Jerusalem were vandalized, the latest in a series of attacks on the Judaism's oldest cemetery. The recent damage is in addition to vandalism sustained at the cemetery on 'Nakba Day'.

During riots, Palestinians hurled large rocks and boulders toward the graves, chipping and breaking at least 15.

The attacks on the Jewish tombs are emblematic of the Islamist's obsession about the very Jewish presence in the land, because a nation without a past can never anticipate a future. This concept is built into the very fabric of the Hebrew language, since the Hebrew word "kever" means both grave and womb.

In the Middle Ages, pogroms and desecrations of Jewish cemeteries used to occur together. During the Kristallnacht of 1938 in Germany, Jewish cemeteries became a particular object of desecration in many regions. In the Soviet Union the Jewish graves were often destroyed during the many waves of anti-Semitism.

There are an estimated 150,000 graves on the Mount of Olives, where Jews have been buried since biblical times. This cemetery has always been the primary target of anti-Semitic hatred. Notable individuals buried there include the prophets Zechariah, Malachi and Hagai; famous modern rabbis; Henrietta Szold, founder of Hadassah; Hazzan (Cantor) Yossele Rosenblatt; and British Parliament member Robert Maxwell.

Studded with thousands of tombstones, the Mount of Olives is the resting place of thousands of Jews ranging from unknown mediaeval beggars to former prime minister Menachem Begin. The first graves discovered in excavations date back some 2,600 years before the Muslim conquest of Jerusalem.

According to the Midrash, the famed olive branch carried by the dove back to Noah's ark after the flood was plucked from the Mount of Olives. References in Torah, Talmud, and the Midrash cite other holy events and rituals that took place there, including the ritual preparation of the red heifer ashes.

Most widely known, Jewish tradition holds that resurrection of the dead on the Day of Judgment will happen on the Mount of Olives.

During its control of the area between 1948 and 1967, Jordan built a hotel and a road through the cemetery on Mount of Olives, desecrating a large number of graves. The Jordanians also used the broken headstones and pillaged others to build the latrines in the construction of the Intercontinental Hotel (since renamed the Seven Arches).The hotel likely rests on burial grounds. In 1968, a year after Jerusalem was reunited under Israeli rule, a collection of plundered graves was hewn into a mass grave on the Mount of Olives. A second mass grave holds the civilians who fell during the siege of Jerusalem's Old City in 1948.

In recent years, efforts have resulted in the restoration of 2,000 of an estimated 40,000 graves on Mount of Olives that were destroyed prior to 1967 under Jordanian rule.

Cemetery vandalism against Mount of Olives became more frequent during and after the first Palestinian uprising in 1988. The youths who were arrested echoed a popular Palestinian argument when they told the police that the cemetery is Arab property. In 1997, vandals painted Menachem Begin's grave with a swastika and the graffiti: "Take out the bones of Menachem Begin and replace them with the bones of our fathers".

During the Second Intifada, the cemetery was more deserted than ever. Fewer families buried their loved ones there, fewer families visited it, and tourists were few.

In 2001, Jewish volunteers found remains of nearly two dozen 400- year-old tombstones under a garbage heap in the neighborhood of Silwan, next to the cemetery.

Many Jewish "settlers" have been slaughtered while they were defending and praying on the Biblical graves in Judea and Samaria (the last was a Breslav hassid killed near Joseph's tomb).

In 1929, after a pogrom that wiped out the entire Jewish community of Hevron, the Arabs destroyed the local Jewish cemetery. In 1948, the Jordanians razed the Jewish quarter of Hevron, desecrated the cemetery and built an animal pen on the ruins of the Avraham Avinu Synagogue.

In addition to the famous Tomb of the Patriarchs, Hebron also contains the tomb of Otniel Ben Kenaz, the first judge; the tomb of Avner Ben Ner, general and confidant to Saul and David; and the tombs of Ruth and Jesse, David's great-grandmother and father.

In 2000, an Arab mob assaulted the tomb of Joseph in Nablus/Shechem, painting the dome of the compound green (the color of Islam) and burning the Jewish books. Joseph's Tomb, under IDF control in the Oslo Accords,  was attacked by hundreds of Palestinians throwing bricks, stones, firebombs and bottles and by Palestinian policemen who opened fire on IDF troops. Six Israeli soldiers were killed in 1996.

Several attacks and shootings took place also at Rachel's Tomb, a tiny stone building at the entrance to Bethlehem that is revered as the burial site of one of the Bible's great women, the wife of Jacob. With the outbreak of the second intifada in 2000, Palestinians again attacked Rachel's Tomb, and for 41 days Jews were prevented from visiting the site due to shooting incidents.

The war on the Jewish tomb has also been fought by Western forums: on October 21, 2010, Unesco, the UN organization for science and culture, declared that Rachel's Tomb is the Bilal ibn Rabah mosque - endorsing a Palestinian lie.

The Arab obsession to tear down the Jewish tombs recalls the Nazi's nihilism to destroy the Jewish cemeteries in the occupied Europe. After the living, the Holocaust machine incinerated the dead's memory.

In Warsaw, the Germans even burned the old cemetery's records, so no one would really know how many Jews have lived in the city. The tombs remain an indelible link in the golden chain of Jewish being and in what Edmund Burke once called, the invisible "contract of those who are living, dead and unborn".

Source:  http://www.israelnationalnews.com/Articles/Article.aspx/10366

Why Is The Sacramento Bee Carrying CAIR Press Releases?

From:  PipeLineNews.org  |  June 29, 2011

 

San Francisco, CA - After a brief lapse, the Sacramento Bee has again resumed carrying press releases from the Council on American Islamic Relations [CAIR]. For example please refer to - New CAIR, UC Berkeley Report Documents Growing Islamophobia in U.S., http://www.sacbee.com/2011/06/23/3722767/new-cair-uc-berkeley-report-documents.html and CAIR Video Highlights Bias in Rep. King's Anti-Muslim Hearings, http://www.sacbee.com/2011/06/17/3708611/cair-video-highlights-bias-in.html.

Excerpt from, CAIR Video Highlights Bias in Rep. King's Anti-Muslim Hearings, "The video, "The Good, the Bad, and the King," highlights the Congressman's false allegations against American Muslims and the manufacturing of the "sharia threat" by some to stoke fear of Muslims and their faith."

The above is a clear attempt to sow the seeds of disinformation, the allegation that the U.S. is an Islamophobic country. The untruth of this is not only obvious to the many Americans who interface with Muslims on a daily basis, but it is borne out in FBI hate crime statistics which conclusively show that crimes committed against Muslim Americans, simply because of their religion, are almost nonexistent.

What is CAIR?

CAIR is a highly controversial radical Muslim pressure group whose associations are so noxious that it was named as an unindicted co-conspirator [see, U.S. Dist. Court Document U.S. vs. Holy Land Foundation For Relief and Development, http://www.pipelinenews.org/images/2007-05-29-US%20v%20HLF-ListCoConspirators.pdf] in the nation's most extensive prosecution of domestic funding of the terrorist group Hamas, U.S. vs. Holy Land Foundation. In that proceeding, all of the defendants were found guilty on a total of 108 charges.

Among those convicted was Ghassan Elashi, one of the co-founders of the Texas chapter of CAIR. Elashi was already serving a long sentence due to his conviction in U.S. vs. InfoCom, also a terror related case.

In post prosecution court proceedings CAIR was specifically linked to Hamas.

"The government has produced ample evidence to establish the associations of CAIR, ISNA, NAIT, with NAIT, the Islamic Association for Palestine, and with Hamas," U.S. District Court Judge Jorge Solis said in the July 1, 2009, ruling" [souce, The Investigative Project, Federal Dist. Court filing, http://www.investigativeproject.org/2340/federal-judge-agrees-cair-tied-to-hamas]

This month both CAIR as well as its CAIR Foundation lost their tax exempt status for reasons among which were repeated failure to file IRS form 990, a requirement of all tax exempt entities. [see, IRS document located at, http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-tege/dc.pdf]

In another damning revelation [a story broken by the Investigative Project, see, http://www.investigativeproject.org/2709/cair-officials-sought-gaddafi-money] regarding the nature of CAIR, Fox News reported that the group's Executive Director, Nihad Awad, had solicited funding from Libyan dictator Muammar al-Qaddafi, against whom the U.S. is currently militarily engaged. 

"A letter from the executive director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, or CAIR, and president of an offshoot group, Muslim Peace Foundation to Libyan leader Muammar al-Qaddafi has added fuel to criticisms of the controversial group and what its critics say are some dubious fundraising tactics. In the letter, obtained by Fox News and dated Sept. 23, 2009, CAIR executive director Nihad Awad asks Qaddafi for funding for his new project called the Muslim Peace Foundation. Qaddafi was in New York attending the United Nations General Assembly."[source, http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2011/04/06/lawmaker-criticizes-controversial-muslim-group-200-fundraising-letter-qaddafi/#ixzz1QbUvycFA]

PipeLineNews contacted SacBee management in late March to ask for an explanation as to why it was carrying CAIR's propaganda, which was never really forthcoming despite repeated attempts at clarification. Management's bottom line was that the paper's website carried the entire news feed from PR Newswire - a legitimate company which distributes, for a fee, press releases of all types - and that CAIR's releases were part of that feed.

Despite the fact that there had been no admission by management that anything was amiss, the practice seemed to cease on or about March 27, which neatly coincided with our bringing this matter to the Bee's attention.

However in mid June, the Bee once again started carrying the CAIR portion of the PR Newswire feed.

On June 27 we contacted the Bee's Managing Editor Tom Negrete to find out why this practice has resumed and he reverted to the papers's previous defense, that it was simply part of a news feed which they could not selectively edit and hence, no big deal.

Asked for a statement, Negrete said in part, "the Sacramento Bee has a relationship with PR Newswire...and we take a look at what they do...it's meant to be a service for companies in this region...are there some press releases in there that I disagree with? Sure...I'm not in the position right now to say what we are going to take out of this...if we take out one, why not take all of them out. I haven't decided that...we don't have the ability to stop individual press releases..."

Upon further discussion Mr. Negrete seemed to grasp the possible gravity of having the Bee carry water for a Hamas linked organization and gave me his personal telephone number, instructing this writer to contact him on 6/28. Unfortunately Mr. Negrete was not available for comment on that day and did not return our repeated calls.

So what do we have here; is this another simple oversight?

We will leave that to the judgment of our readers. It seems that the Sac Bee's publishing of CAIR press releases demonstrates negligence at best, since the practice had already been called to their attention which led to the stoppage [however brief] of the CAIR component of the PR Newswire feed.

Allowing unfettered access of an unedited press feed into the information stream of a major newspaper has the look of journalistic malfeasance and the explanation we have so far received borders on the childish. Can one imagine frequenting a restaurant upon the assurance of its chef who claims that his food is rotten only part of the time?

Left wholly unaddressed is the issue of how CAIR might use the [extensive] presence of its press releases in a newspaper. Given the group's track record it would be logical to assume that it would use it to feign a legitimacy which is thoroughly undeserved, "See, the Sacramento Bee prints our opinions...we must be legit..." This is the same MO that it once employed, using its partnership with the FBI as a calling card, that is before the FBI cut the group loose because of the damning information produced during the Holy Land Foundation prosecution.

The Bee must understand that this is a serious matter, that there is a vast difference between carrying a press release announcing a new product by XYZ Inc., and doing the same for a group as tainted as CAIR. We call on the Sac Bee to immediately cease this practice and get back to the type of journalism upon which it made its reputation.

Source:  http://www.pipelinenews.org/index.cfm?page=sbee6292011101.htm

Simon Wiesenthal Center Criticizes White House for Deciding to Formally Open Talks with Muslim Brotherhood

From: Simon Wiesenthal Center  |  Wiesenthal.com  |  June 30, 2011 

 

Los Angeles, CA — The Simon Wiesenthal Center criticized the White House today for opening talks with the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt. The Center referred to a news  wire story quoting a unidentified senior U.S. official and confirmed today by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, citing, “The Brotherhood’s rise in political prominence” as the reason for the change in the White House position. “The political landscape in Egypt may have changed since the end of the Mubarak regime,” said Rabbi Marvin Hier, founder and dean of the Simon Wiesenthal Center. “But the Brotherhood’s hatred of Jews and Israel has not changed at all. This seems like a sell out to the European position and I hope it is not a signal that the United States will acquiesce to Europe and begin talking to Hamas as well.” 

A few weeks ago, the leader of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt, Mohamed Badie (pictured left) said, “Allah has warned us the tricks of the Jews, and their role in igniting the fire of wars… and they labor hard to spread corruption on earth: and Allah does not love the spreaders of corruption.” 

Rabbi Hier continued, “We should not be talking to an organization that can lay claim to being the world's leading purveyor of anti-Semitism and hatred of Jews. Legitimizing the Muslim Brotherhood sends the wrong message that you can hate Jews, and still sit and talk with world leaders.” 

The Simon Wiesenthal Center is one of the largest international Jewish human rights organizations with over 400,000 member families in the United States. It is an NGO at international agencies including the United Nations, UNESCO, the OSCE, the OAS, the Council of Europe and the Latin American Parliament (Parlatino).

For more information, please contact the Center's Public Relations Department, 310-553-9036, join the Center on Facebook, www.facebook.com/simonwiesenthalcenter, or follow @simonwiesenthal for news updates sent direct to your Twitter page or mobile device.

 

Source:  http://www.wiesenthal.com/site/apps/nlnet/content2.aspx?c=lsKWLbPJLnF&b=4441467&ct=10891189

ZOA Asks Delta To Back Out Of Deal With Saudis

by JPost.com Staff  |  JPost.com  |  June 30, 2011

 

Jewish Zionist group asks airline CEO to reconsider business deal with Saudi Arabian carrier over questionable policies.

Photo: Courtesy
The Zionist Organization of America (ZOA) sent a letter on Wednesday to Delta Air Lines CEO Richard H. Anderson voicing concerns that the airliner's new alliance with Saudi Arabian Airlines would lead to discriminatory practices against Jewish travelers.  

"We write on behalf of the Zionist Organization of America (ZOA), the oldest and one of the largest pro-Israel organizations in the US, regarding Delta Air Lines’ decision to add Saudi Arabian Airlines to its SkyTeam in 2012..., began the letter. It then proceeded to outline Delta's and Saudi Arabian Airlines' policies before requesting the cancellation of the business cooperation between the two. 

Delta Air Lines came under fire recently by Jewish and rights groups for adding Saudi Arabian Airlines to its SkyTeam because Saudi Arabian carriers are known to enact their country's discriminatory policies against Jews, Christians, other non-Muslims, and women. 

In the letter, the ZOA quoted the official website of the Saudi Supreme Commission for Tourism, "[The website] reflected that it was the policy of the Saudi Arabian government to deny visas to, among others, (1) anyone holding an Israeli passport or holding a passport with an Israeli arrival or departure stamp; and (2) 'Jewish People.'"

A US State Department report on Saudi Arabia was also referenced in the letter. "According to the State Department, women visitors must be met by an authorized sponsor upon arriving in Saudi Arabia.  A married woman must have her husband’s permission to leave Saudi Arabia – even if she is a US citizen and even if her husband does not have Saudi nationality.  In addition, homosexuals are not welcome in Saudi Arabia. They have been imprisoned and even executed in Saudi Arabia," the ZOA wrote.

Delta issued an official statement on Wednesday assuring that it does not support discriminatory policies based on race, religion, gender, nationality, or age. The airline also explained the terms of its agreement with the Saudi carrier, which do not include flying to Saudi Arabia or code sharing with Saudi Arabian Airlines, but rather "simply allow passengers to book tickets on multiple carriers," in the statement.

While acknowledging Delta's explanation of the terms, the Zionist Organization of America, in its letter, "urge(s) Delta to retract its decision to add Saudi Arabian Airlines to its SkyTeam because, quite simply, it is the moral, ethical and right thing to do."

 

Source:  http://www.jpost.com/JewishWorld/JewishNews/Article.aspx?id=227282

PM: Israel Fully Entitled To Stop 'Arms-Smuggling Flotilla'

by JPost.com Staff  |  JPost.com  |  June 30, 2011

 

At IAF pilot's graduation, Netanyahu praises int'l leaders for working against Gaza-bound "provocation flotilla."

Photo: IDF Spokesperson
Israel is fully entitled to work against attempts by the upcoming Gaza-bound "provocation flotilla" to smuggle arms into the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu said in a speech to graduating cadets of the IAF Pilot's Course at the Hatzerim Air Base near Beersheba on Thursday.

"Israel has the full right to operate against efforts to smuggle missiles, rockets and other weapons to Hamas's terror enclave. Hamas is a ruthless enemy, who maliciously harms our cities and children," Netanyahu said at the graduation ceremony.

"I would like to praise the many leaders throughout the world who worked against the 'provocation flotilla,' led by US and European leaders, UN Secretary-General [Ban Ki-moon], and my friend the Greek prime minister [George Papandreou]."

Netanyahu also addressed kidnapped IDF soldier Gilad Schalit, saying "Hamas is holding Gilad Schalit in criminal captivity, against all treaties and international standards."

"The international community is united in its request to release Gilad and to allow the Red Cross to visit him. The State of Israel is committed to the release of Gilad and to his return home in peace, and to the return of Ron Arad and other MIAs to Israel,"Netanyahu said.

President Shimon Peres also spoke at the ceremony, saying Iran's military capabilities are over-exaggerated and Israel is aware of the risks which it faces.

"Iran has been publicly exaggerating its military capabilities , but Israel is not a gullible country and is aware of the dangers posed against it," Peres said.

"I suggest the Iranians do not err in Israel's capabilities, some of which are not made public. Iran does not have freedom or stability and I wish the country a future free of hate and tyranny. We will know how to contend with the Iranian threat, without sacrificing our aspiration for peace," Peres added.

Defense Minister Ehud Barak, Chief of General Staff Lt.-Gen. Benny Gantz and IAF commander Maj.-Gen. Ido Nehushtan also addressed the IAF ceremony.

Source:  http://www.jpost.com/DiplomacyAndPolitics/Article.aspx?id=227367

IDF Pardons Dissenting Troops

by Hanan Greenberg  |  Ynetnews.com  |  June 30, 2011

 

GOC Northern Command's pardon of five Golani soldiers, sentenced to prison for wearing shirts that say 'Golani doesn't expel Jews', hints at acceptance of parents' claim that boys were taken advantage of in PR ploy.                

The commander of the IDF's Northern Command, Gadi Eizenkot (Pictured Left), has pardoned five Golani soldiers who were sentenced to jail time after photographing themselves with shirts that said: "Golani fights enemies, it doesn't expel Jews".

The pardon was granted after the troops wrote letters of apology for their actions, clarifying that they understand the significance of their disobedience.

The soldiers are to be released from detainment on either Thursday or Friday, and return to their battalion to continue serving in the army. Three other soldiers have not filed appeals for pardons.

Eizenkot says it has become clear to him that the soldiers did not intend a political protest, and that he accepts their claims that they were not fully aware of the violation they were committing by wearing the shirts.

Troops with shirts (Photo: Miri Tzachi, Samaria Settlers' Council)

The commander's decision hints that he understands the soldiers' moves had been manipulated for political gain. However an IDF official familiar with the case stressed that "in the end every soldier must examine his actions and behave as is expected of IDF troops".

The soldiers' parents had been the first to claim that their sons had been taken advantage of in a public relations stunt. They said that the shirts, which had the Golani logo printed on the front, were given to the soldiers by anonymous donors at a military ceremony.

"In retrospect, it turns out that their goal was to use (the soldiers) as posters," the parents wrote to Defense Minister Ehud Barak and IDF Chief of Staff Benny Gantz. "The backs of the shirts were printed with sayings that have no connection to their world views, their ways of life or their upbringing."

Source:  http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4089250,00.html