Watch Obama live at AIPAC

Posted on 05/22/2011 by Meryl Yourish

Here’s the link.

Posted in Israel, The One | Comments Off on Watch Obama live at AIPAC

Rabbi Kaufman on Pres. Obama’s Mideast Policy Speech

Posted on 05/21/2011 by Rabbi Kaufman

I have been reading through the various analyses of the President’s speech on Thursday and have found most to miss quite a bit while picking out one or two things either to highlight as wonderful or to criticize as awful. My own analysis which is published here tends to agree with Barry Rubin’s. Rubin believes, as do I, that the President did not mean to “bash” Israel at all. In fact, he said a number of things that were quite pro-Israel and should be appreciated by supporters of Israel. That does not mean that there were not a number of things in the speech that could cause concern and has, in most cases, because they could easily be interpreted to imply that the President is taking an anti-Israel stance on issues.

In the meantime, by tomorrow morning, we’ll be talking about the President’s speech at the AIPAC Policy Conference in Washington, D.C. and a whole new set of issues. I foresee that the President’s AIPAC speech will be strongly pro-Israel and very supportive of the US-Israel relationship.

Posted in Israel | 9 Comments

The obligatory end of the world post

Posted on 05/21/2011 by Meryl Yourish

As I am quite sure I won’t be going anywhere during the Rapture, what with my being Jewish and all that, here’s a post where those of us who will not be going anywhere can discuss the mayhem and chaos that will be going on today.

Posted in Juvenile Scorn | 2 Comments

The missing words in Obama’s speech

Posted on 05/20/2011 by Meryl Yourish

The words missing from Obama’s speech yesterday: Defensible borders. He said “secure and recognized borders,” which is quite a different concept from “defensible borders.”

Omri has a roundup of experts who noticed the major shift in U.S. policy. And the entire JBlogosphere is awash with posts and commentary.

The thing that bothers me the most about the Obama speech is that I’m quite sure he thinks he did right by Israel. So does Hillary Clinton whom, you may remember, sat by and said nothing while Suha Arafat accused Israel of poisoning Palestinian children.

The 1967 lines, as they are properly called, were never borders. A border is an internationally recognized line delineating the end of one nation and the beginning of another. The 1967 lines are the 1949 armistice lines that were the areas where Jews and Arabs separated at the end of Israel’s War of Independence. They were never internationally-recognized borders. UN Resolution 242, in fact, specifically left out language that might mistake them for borders. The UN always intended for Israel to negotiate with the Arabs (who were not Palestinians in 1949) for the borders of the states of Israel and Palestine. However, the Arabs never accepted the loss of the fictional land of Palestine (the real Palestine was the British Mandate of Palestine, an area including Israel, Gaza, the West Bank, and Jordan); “Transjordan” was the area east of the Jordan river. The West Bank was annexed by Jordan in 1949 and then lost in the Six-Day war in 1967. The “22% of Palestine” line is a lie that has been set in stone by the anti-Israel forces. They don’t count Transjordan, because that would show that Israel is on the tinier percentage of Mandatory Palestine.

Now Obama is telling his aides that Netanyahu will never “do what it takes” to make peace with the Palestinians—words that are going to make for an awesome meeting between the two men today. And Obama’s speech Sunday at AIPAC—if he doesn’t cancel it out of cowardice, that is—should be another great moment in uncomfortable meetings. After all, Obama has just told Israel that they can’t keep the Temple Mount, because it was on the wrong side of the armistice line in 1949. Or, as Assemblyman Rory Lancman said:

“Let me get this straight: President Obama believes Jews should should have to return the Western Wall — the holiest site in Judaism — which they couldn’t even visit before 1967?”

The Temple Mount, Rory. The Temple Mount. If Israel goes back to the 1967 lines, then Jews will no longer be able to pray at our holiest site. But hey, the Palestinians will have their own state, and there will be no more strife in the Middle East. None at all.

Right.

Posted in Israel, The One | 4 Comments

Fluffy kitty post

Posted on 05/19/2011 by Meryl Yourish

Because the news sucks, but Tigger is always awesome.

Tigger on his shelf

Tig is a happy cat, on his sunny shelf.

Posted in Cats | 1 Comment

Obama’s big Mideast speech

Posted on 05/19/2011 by Meryl Yourish

By his headlines he shall be judged:

Obama tells Israel: Go back to 1967 borders

Netanyahu Rejects Obama Call for Palestinian State Based on 1967 Borders

Netanyahu: 1967 borders can’t be defended

Obama Backs Deal Based on 1967 Lines

Netanyahu says ‘No’ to 1967 borders

Hamas: Obama speech a complete failure

And some analysis by Jackson Diehl: The steel in Obama’s Mideast speech

The full text.

Posted in Israel, Middle East, palestinian politics | 4 Comments

The new Palestinian strategy: The same old war

Posted on 05/19/2011 by Meryl Yourish

They’ve put it in a new set of clothing, but Mahmoud Abbas’ strategy for the state of “Palestine” is the same as Yasser Arafat’s when the PLO was formed three years before Israel took over the West Bank and Gaza: War on Israel until it is destroyed. Jackson Diehl writes about it in the Washington Post, even as Tom Friedman and his ilk at the New York Times consistently blame Benjamin Netanyahu for the problem.

Meanwhile, short shrift is given, as usual, to Netanyahu’s putative partner. Yet the leader of the Palestinian “moderate” branch, Mahmoud Abbas, is not only refusing to make any concessions of his own but is also turning his back on American diplomacy — and methodically setting the stage for another Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Two weeks ago, Abbas blew up four years of U.S.-sponsored institution building, relative peace and growing prosperity in the West Bank by signing a “reconciliation” agreement with the Hamas movement — a deal that probably will obligate him to fire his progressive prime minister, release scores of jailed Hamas militants and bond his security forces with Hamas’s Iranian-equipped army. On Tuesday, he published an op-ed in the New York Times in which he committed himself to seeking a U.N. General Assembly vote on Palestinian statehood in September.

It was, as the Times put it in a separate news story, “a declaration of war on the status quo.” Abbas’s new strategy is radically different: The U.N. vote, he wrote, will “pave the way for us to pursue claims against Israel at the United Nations, human rights bodies and the International Court of Justice” — in other words, sanctions.

Meanwhile, there will be a change in Palestinian doctrine. The new goal will be one on which Abbas and Hamas can agree: not a peace treaty leading to statehood but statehood followed by negotiations, “a key focus” of which “will be reaching a just solution for Palestinian refugees” — whose return to Israel would mean its demise. “Palestine would be negotiating from the position of one United Nations member whose territory is militarily occupied by another,” Abbas declared. This is a formula for war — or “the third intifada,” as Palestinians are already calling it.

The Obama administration and its allies appear suitably alarmed by all this. But their principal reaction so far might be summed up as, “Now we really have to put the screws to Netanyahu.”

Barry Rubin explains why Israel won’t go along with Abbas. He lists the many reasons Tom Friedman and his friends are so very, very wrong. And he points out that Muslims are raising their children to hate Jews—in spite of their protestations that they’re only anti-Zionist.

It doesn’t seem like Obama’s going to concentrate overmuch on Israel in his speech tonight. But he is rewarding Egypt without demanding proof of democratic reforms, or keeping the peace with Israel—which all of the candidates for president have called for eliminating. Our administration’s foreign policy is as feckless as Jimmy Carter’s, and many countries are going to pay for it—including Israel.

Posted in Israel, Media Bias, palestinian politics | 1 Comment

Wednesday afternoon briefs

Posted on 05/18/2011 by Meryl Yourish

The Iranian power struggle, cont’d: Pass the popcorn. Khameini and Mad Mahmoud are still at it. Whichever one wins, it’s a win for Iran’s enemies. Woot!

Your daily dose of anti-Israel bias: Yeah, yeah, yeah. Blah, blah, blah. Netanyahu, bad, Abbas, good. We get it, AP.

And yet, they the World Bank dumped Wolfowitz for giving his girlfriend a raise on the books: The IMF can’t figure out if they should ask the man accused of raping a hotel maid to step down. Oh, those enlightened Europeans! So much more intelligent, worldly, and cultivated than us crude Yanks. Say, you know what’s the funniest thing about this whole bit? The Socialist Party candidate for president of France was staying in a $3,000 a night hotel suite. Yeah, that’s showing those bourgeoise capitalists. (Kewl. I just spelled that correctly myself, without the autocorrect feature. I’m ready for my closeup, Mr. DeMille.)

So, how much do they pay Tom Friedman to write this crap? Seriously, if this were a high school essay I’d flunk it on these lines alone:

Israel is in a dangerous situation. For the first time in its history, it has bad relations with all three regional superpowers — Turkey, Iran and Egypt — plus rapidly eroding support in Europe. America is Israel’s only friend today. These strains are not all Israel’s fault by any means, especially with Iran, but Israel will never improve ties with Egypt, Turkey and Europe without a more serious effort to safely get out of the West Bank.

So, what, Israel had good relations with the Middle Eastern superpowers in 1948, 1956, 1967, 1973, and, well, pretty much every year since its modern inception? Really? Israel never had good relations with Egypt. Israel had a decent relationship with the Shah of Iran, but that changed in 1979. But seriously, does Friedman not read anything that clashes with his worldview? Thousands of Egyptians protesting Israel’s existence, not the flimsy excuse of the “occupation,” only last week? Does that ring a bell?

Moron.

Posted in Israel Derangement Syndrome, Media Bias, Middle East, World | 3 Comments

Briefly, explosive watermelon version

Posted on 05/17/2011 by Meryl Yourish

Yes, watermelons are really exploding: Watermelons are exploding in China because farmers gave them growth chemicals—and then it rained a lot. Watermelons as land mines—what a concept.

Oh, look. The Palestinian elections have been postponed. Not that this will stop the EU and UN from plowing ahead with their attempt to create yet another failed Arab state, but hey, stranger things have happened. (No, I don’t really believe that.) The AP spin? Whatever the Palestinians tell them to say. The elections are postponed until they can be held in both Gaza and the West Bank. The peace talks are not happening because Netanyahu won’t freeze settlements. Same-old, same-old.

New spin by AP: Israeli is targeting Hamas. Seriously. Check out this headline:

Israel’s Netanyahu Takes Aim at Hamas

And check out the AP explanations of why there is no peace. Note the transposition—now Israel is making “demands” of the Palestinians. Also note that the Palestinians spokesliars are doing their usual thing of trying to appropriate the phrases Israel uses about them and turn them around on Israel. The AP is only too happy to oblige.

In his speech Monday, Netanyahu reiterated a long-standing list of demands from the Palestinians. Among them: recognition of Israel as the Jewish homeland, retaining major Jewish settlements in the West Bank and keeping all of Jerusalem under Israel control.

Saeb Erekat, the chief Palestinian negotiator, retorted that the Palestinians don’t have a partner on the Israeli side. “Netanyahu has chosen settlements over peace,” Erekat said.

The Palestinians claim all of the West Bank and east Jerusalem, areas captured by Israel in the 1967 Mideast war from Jordan, as parts of an independent state. They decline to recognize Israel as a Jewish state, fearing it would undermine their backing of the “right of return” of Palestinian refugees, a concept Israel rejects.

And here’s the boilerplate which, as Barry Rubin points out, is false:

Sunday’s unrest occurred as the Palestinians marked the “nakba,” or “catastrophe” — the term they use to describe their defeat and displacement in the war that followed Israel’s founding on May 15, 1948 when Israel overcame the armies of surrounding Arab states as well as local Arabs who attacked after the Jewish state was declared.

Arabs were battling Jews in British Mandate Palestine before the state was recognized, thanks to the Nazis aiding the Arabs in trying to kill all the Jews in the world. But as the media don’t acknowledge the pre-1967 narrative, they also don’t acknowledge the Jewish history on the land of Israel, so why would they acknowledge that Arabs were murdering Jews in 1947 (or 1946, 1945, etc., etc.).

They also ignore utterly the Jews who were displaced from Arab lands, and whose property was stolen by the Arabs. But hey, we can’t mess with the narrative. The Jews? Victims? Not anymore. They’re the racist, brutal oppressors of the valiant, put-upon and put-down Palestinians, whose land they stole. Jewish history on the land? Doesn’t matter. They left. The Palestinians are the real “indigents.” Just ask them.

These are difficult times. I am not optimistic.

Posted in Gaza, Hamas, Israel, Media Bias, palestinian politics | 2 Comments

Lunchtime briefs

Posted on 05/16/2011 by Meryl Yourish

Why do one-in-five American voters now believe Osama bin Laden is still alive? Because they’re effing stupid. Seriously? Okay. Because they have shit-for-brains. (P.S.: It’s a Zogby poll, so don’t believe the figures are that high.)

Claire Berlinski discovers Israeli Double Standard Time: See title.

Funny, few headlines for Egypt firing on protesters, either: Yep. Israeli Double Standard Time is in full swing today. Hundreds arrested and wounded, and the headlines are not nearly as easy to find as the stories about yesterday’s invasions of Israel by Syrian and Lebanese Palestinians and friends.

The only puzzle in this article is the question mark at the end of the headline: Of course Iranians are helping Syrians put down the protests. They need Syria more than ever, now that they have Egypt heading their way. This is not a good time for Israel. Here’s hoping the Islamists are biting off more than they can chew, and that people get used to democracy. Not that I’m optimistic. Just hoping.

Posted in Israeli Double Standard Time, Media Bias, Middle East, palestinian politics, Turkey | 3 Comments

Monday news briefing

Posted on 05/16/2011 by Meryl Yourish

About damn time he got it right: Word is Obama won’t focus heavily on Palestinian-Israeli peace talks as an issue for his big Middle East policy speech this week. Perhaps someone finally noticed that even though the media narrative pushes it, the biggest thing happening in the Middle East right now is not the problems between Israel and Arab Palestinians. It’s the problems between Arabs and their rulers (and Persians and their rulers).

Things you’ll never read in the mainstream press: A Druze resident of the town flooded by Syrian “protesters” yesterday praised the IDF’s actions.

“Though the soldiers were pelted by stones from both sides at once, and despite there being a number of injuries among them, I heard a commander ordering them to refrain from firing at protesters at all costs,” Ali, a Majdal Shams resident, told Ynet after witnessing the events.

He added that the soldiers fired into the air at first and then, only when the rioters began closing in on all sides, did they begin to fire at their feet. “The restraint shown by the IDF today brought peace this evening. It could have ended very differently,” he said.

So, who thinks the UNHRC will be slamming Israel for the IDF reaction to yesterday’s border invasions? Israel will be filing a complaint with the UN against Syria and Lebanon for the border incursions, but when has the UN cared for the Israeli side of the story? 1948 was it, baby. As for who was behind the border breach? Let’s face it. No way Bashar Assad didn’t allow it. What amazes me is that the Lebanese army apparently fired heavily at the “protestors” from the Lebanese border.

The beginning of the end for Mad Mahmoud? A leading cleric has said that Ahmadinejad is “bewitched.” Oh, that can’t be good. But wait! Mad Mahmoud has fired the Oil Minister and taken over his duties himself! Stay tuned for more excitement in The Adventures Of Mad Mahmoud!

Posted in Iran, Israel, Media Bias, palestinian politics, Syria | 1 Comment

I’m back in the PC saddle again

Posted on 05/15/2011 by Meryl Yourish

And by PC I mean personal computer.

My old HP laptop, after six years, decided that it had enough and the video card on the motherboard (or chip, or whatever) gave up the ghost a few weeks back. So I moved forward with getting my old work laptop turned into my personal property, as it’s only three years old and has way more RAM and a faster processor and bigger hard drive, and it will cost me far, far less than a new laptop or desktop (that’s next year’s project).

I have transferred my email and Firefox files, which are the most important parts of my computer. Now I can blog properly again. Apparently, the HP is using software for video instead of hardware, making the load on RAM even bigger and causing the computer to heat up faster and, oh, yeah, scrolling sucks. Video sucks, too. It is not conducive to blogging, as you might have noticed by a lightening of the load lately.

The hardest part—the transfer of information—remains, but I already have that PC backed up on my Maxtor external drive, so it shouldn’t be too painful. I think the next-hardest thing will be transferring my games from Popcap and BigFishGames. (What? Live without Plants vs. Zombies? The deuce you say!)

Still getting used to seeing my personal stuff on the used-to-be work monitor (I got the docking station, too). I feel like I’m doing something wrong. But since my new work laptop is inches away, I’m sure I’ll get over it. Now to move the printer upstairs, and the old HP into the guest room until I give it to Jake so he can take it for parts and build a laser—after I take a drill to the hard drive, that is.

I hate transferring data. And I still don’t understand why we aren’t yet able to simply transfer everything, including our programs, to the new computer. When they get that perfected, I’ll be happy, because there’s no effing way I will ever entrust my personal data to a cloud service. If people want my stuff, they’re going to have to do it the old-fashioned way and try to trick me into loading a virus onto my system. Or physically stealing my laptop.

Posted in Life | 2 Comments

“Nakba Day” roundup, with extra added media bias

Posted on 05/15/2011 by Meryl Yourish

On the anniversary of Israel’s creation by the United Nations 63 years ago, the Arabs are still unwilling to accept the Jewish ties to the land of their origin.

Mahmoud Abbas says he will never back down on the “right of return” for Palestinian refugees—to their original homes in Israel. This, of course, contradicts all peace efforts to date. If Israel were flooded with Palestinian refugees and their descendants, the Jewish state would become a Palestinian state—from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean sea.

Ismail Haniyeh called yet again for the destruction of Israel, which even the AP suspected he might be doing. Note the spin, though. Hamas calling for Israel’s destruction? Why, it’s an embarrassment to the PA.

Palestinians mark the occasion this year “with great hope of bringing to an end the Zionist project in Palestine,” Ismail Haniyeh, the prime minister of the Hamas government in Gaza, told about 10,000 people at a Gaza City mosque.

Haniyeh’s apparent reference to Israel’s destruction could prove embarrassing for Western-backed Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. He recently reconciled with Hamas after a four-year split and is trying to market the Islamic militants to the international community as an acceptable political partner.

An Israeli Arab truck driver killed one, wounded 17, and says it was an accident. Not according to this eyewitness:

“We heard terrible slamming behind us in the car — boom, and another boom and another boom — until it reached us, and we simply flew up in the air,” a witness, identified only as Yossi, said on Army Radio.

“He went on and crashed into a bus. He got out and began to go crazy, throwing things at people. There was this poor innocent girl — he struck her on the head. She just fell down, and now people are treating her. What can I tell you? A terrorist attack.”

The media spin on all of these stories is the same: Israel is firing on “protesters.” Reuters is taking their reports straight from Syrian TV, including the false report that the “protesters” were killed on the Syria side of the border. Syrian TV, I would point out, is the same news outlet that is saying unarmed civilian protesters in Syria have killed Syrian soldiers. Way to dig into the story, Reuters!

You know, when thousands of people try to storm your borders, that makes them invaders, not protesters. But of course, the media can’t be bothered to change the narrative. This was a concerted effort by Iran, Syria, Hizballah, and Hamas to get Israel as much negative publicity as possible. They wanted civilian deaths. They knew the IDF would be there to turn back an invading army of civilians. And I’m sure they were taking notes. The next war won’t be just missiles, especially if Israel gets the chance to strengthen its Iron Dome defense and the missile attacks don’t do the job their launchers expect them to do. Don’t be surprised if the next war doesn’t involve waves of civilians. Israel’s enemies have seen what the Goldstone Report has done. They are crafty, and they learn quickly. And they have the willing hands of the anti-Israel media to aid them.

Posted in Gaza, Iran, Israel, Lebanon, Media Bias, palestinian politics | 3 Comments

Arab “civilians” invade Israel on three borders

Posted on 05/15/2011 by Meryl Yourish

In celebration of “nakba” day, Syria, Lebanon, and Gaza all sent thousands of people to storm Israel’s borders. Several were killed and many were injured. This shows how utterly hopeless Obama’s peace efforts have become. The Palestinians are not interested in peace with Israel. They want all of Israel to become the Palestinian state.

Syria:

Israeli TV channels broadcast scenes, taken from Arab stations, of what appeared to be thousands of people gathering along the Syrian border with the Golan, with large crowds throwing objects at the fence. Dozens of people could be seen cutting through the fence and storming across to the Israeli side.

In a statement, the military said “thousands of Syrian civilians” breached the border.

“IDF forces opened fire in order to prevent the violent rioters from illegally infiltrating Israeli territory, a number of rioters have infiltrated and are violently rioting in the village. From initial reports there are dozens of injured that are receiving medical care in a nearby hospital,” the statement said.

Israeli officials confirmed two of those who crossed the Syrian border were dead on the Israeli side, and as many as four were reported dead in Syrian territory.

Lebanon:

The shooting erupted at the tense border village of Maroun el-Rass, which saw some of the fiercest fighting in 2006. Thousands of Palestinian refugees had traveled to the village in buses adorned with posters that said: “We are returning.” Many came from the 12 crowded refugee camps in Lebanon where some 400,000 Palestinian refugees live.

“Israel may be 63 years old today but its days are numbered,” said Abbas Jomaa, 50, who was carrying his 4-year-old son on his shoulders and holding a Palestinian flag. “Sooner or later we will return.”

Hundreds of Lebanese soldiers, U.N. peacekeepers and riot police deployed heavily in the area, taking up positions along the electric border fence and patrolling the area in military vehicles. Young Hezbollah supporters wearing yellow hats and carrying walkie-talkies organized the entry to the village and handed out Palestinian flags.

Gaza:

IDF forces opened fire at a Palestinian man who was apparently trying to place an explosive device in the northern Gaza Strip near Kibbutz Nahal Oz, military sources said.

The suspected terrorist was hurt by the fire.

In another incident soldiers spotted several Palestinians who approached the border fence near the Erez crossing and fired at their legs, the army said.

Notice what all of these incidents have in common? Terrorists using civilians as cover. And the Arab refusal to acknowledge the Jewish state that exists in their midst. There will be no peace in the Middle East until Arabs accept the fact that Israel was there before the fictional construct of Filistina, and that Israel will remain where it is, and there will be no “Palestine” from the river to the sea.

Happy Nakba Day, Palestinians. Get over it and get used to Gaza and the West Bank as Filistina, or just stick with the status quo forever.

Posted in Gaza, Israel, palestinian politics | 1 Comment

Who’s Going Under The Bus?

Posted on 05/13/2011 by Rabbi Kaufman

President Obama is going to lay out his new Middle East policy this week including a new attempt to force a start to Israeli-Palestinian negotiations. We can discuss later a fact which we have discussed many times before, namely the fact that there is virtually no chance of substantial progress is any such negotiations any time soon for a whole variety of reasons. Meanwhile, the Palestinian Authority seems to be in need of being helped out of the corner into which it painted itself (threatening to abandon all previous agreements and trusting in a combination of violent uprising and the UN General Assembly). Unless it is helped out, the Palestinian Authority could end up sending the conflict back to the way it was pre-1979 with Egypt and Jordan undoing peace agreements as a demonstration of support for the Palestinians. The leaders of the United States and European Union don’t want that, so here comes the new Middle East policy.

The reality is that in any new policy, the President has three options:

  1. Throw Israel under the bus and force it to make concessions in order to appease the Arab street while enabling the Palestinian side to avoid making even minor concessions and enabling the Palestinians to strengthen their demands for unreasonable future concessions.
  2. Throw the Palestinians under the bus and demand that either Fatah reject working with Hamas or that Hamas publicly renounce armed struggle against Israel and actively combat it. The US would threaten to cut off aid to the PA.
  3. Throw both sides under the bus, proposing a solution that is impossible for either side to support publicly for certain, but possibly in private as well, and which will have no impact on the ground (because neither side will be able to accommodate it). This will allow the President to appear to be boldly offering a new solution.

There is no “Win-Win” solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. There are “lose-lose” scenarios and some of them are pretty drastic. More than likely, the President will offer a “lose-lose” scenario, throwing both sides under the bus, that will upset Israel more than the Palestinians in the hope that Israel will opt to take it rather than facing a “lose-win” scenario. A problem arises however in that the Palestinians may believe that if they hold out, they will eventually get their own “win-lose” option anyway.

For any solution proposed by the United States to have any impact, it has to be made abundantly clear by the administration that it will support an Israeli biased solution if whatever is proposed is not accepted by the Palestinians. There must be a credible threat that the Palestinian side could get worse than what is offered and little hope that it could get better if that option is not chosen. Meanwhile, no one should be holding their breath that whatever is proposed will lead to a final peace agreement anytime soon.

Posted in Israel | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment