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Tag: Settlement Freeze

A Case of D.C. Dyslexia

A video by the Associated Press showed left-wingers heckling Bibi down in New Orleans. Heck, they’d jibe him even if he cooked the whole lot potato pancakes. The Jewish left-wing believes more in Palestinian Nationalism than Jewish Nationalism. Even ol’ Yassar Arafat knew that, bless his soul.

If I went down to New Orleans, though, with a flag in my hand – I might throw it at Bibi and say, “Achi, ma koray? Are we building and sustaining a Jewish State in the Middle East or are we looking at your stock portfolio on Wall Street?”

Pulling a slick one on ol’ Obama and renewing the freeze is pulling a slick one on the Jewish Country. The U.S./Israel alliance is unconditional. Zionism is unbuyable; not when it is authentic. Kill Israeli vision, hunger, pride, ingenuity. It won’t dull the sword of extreme Islamism; nor, as a result of a renewed moratorium will any left-wing, American, Jewish protestor’s dad raise their allowance.

When a written agreement with Obama’s signature comes through, (and for the sake of entertainment, these politicians will make sure it does) Netanyahu will accept 20 F35 fighter jets from the Americans in exchange for a 3 month (90 day) partial moratorium on settlement construction in Samaria – with, of course, the superficial promise that it will not be renewed. A little quid pro quo to favor America’s politically-challenged (learning-disabled?) friends in Palestine. If I were Bibi, I’d offer Ms. Clinton a bona fide “no “. I’d laugh in her face and THEN check my Wall Street portfolio (and proudly grin because my Tel Aviv portfolio is growing THAT much faster).

The Palestinians, a.k.a P-funk All-stars, want a contiguous state with Jerusalem as its capital; a return of their refugees; and the release of their prisoners. This is why there is no point extending the freeze. Who the hell are we trying to please? Oh, I don’t think Obama cares whether Jenin and Ramallah break out in a case of the Bubonic Plague. The Americans must have total control over what goes on. Always. That is what Obama politics is saying. Let the Baby Have Its Bottle and throw Zionism down the well. That is what Bibi is doing. This is what Likud politics are becoming.

Mad Lebs:

Before the D.C. Dyonisia went down, and before we start talking seriously about conceding land to Hamas, we will concede land to Hezbollah. Bibi told UN Secretary-General Ban Ki Moon that he will convene a meeting of his inner security cabinet to approve a pullout from the divided village of Ghajar. That is land which lies on the Lebanon border – babysat by the IDF since 2006.

Said Milos Strugar, the top political adviser in the UN peacekeeping force based in south Lebanon, (UNIFIL):

“We have been discussing with both parties the specifics of the withdrawal because of the specifics of the situation where the village is divided in two…UNIFIL within its mandate is there and ready to provide all the support required by all the parties.”

Two Cases of King Lear

According to the Palestinian Authority, the main obstruction to building a real Arab state, I mean one with large outdoor festivals, power-house industries, world-class universities and hotdog stands are the Jewish Settlements.

The PA is serious this time: jettison the moratorium – no state.

Which really means no end to terror on Israeli and world citizens, or just an end to the peace discussions?

The Palestinian Authority, as part of its boycott after Netanyahu cried, “game on!” on West Bank construction, is telling Palestinians to quit their jobs in the settlements by the end of the year.

But Mr. Abbas, where else will your people find work?

Some 25,000 Palestinians are employed in Jewish settlements in East Jerusalem and the West Bank.

When the freeze ended on Monday, less than a dozen builders and surveyors went to work in Geva Binyamin, a settlement of 1,300 families eight miles north of Jerusalem. Tragic.

In the village of Hussan near Bethlehem, one Palestinian builder named Ali spoke of the employment benefits he finds in the end of the ban on Jewish building in Samaria,

“What difference does it make?” he said, “We have lived with Israelis and we will have to live together in the future. I’m pleased that I will be able to make a living…”

Meanwhile, the Hashemite kingdom of Jordan has written a letter to the head of the UNRWA and to Arab donor nations cautioning about the shortfall in the UNRWA budget, and the danger posed to Lebanon and Syria.

While the fact remains that the majority of so-called “Palestinian refugees” in Jordan are in fact Jordanian citizens, the Hashemite kingdom insists on:

“Keeping the Palestinian Arabs crammed into these miserable camps under UNRWA control rather than integrate these citizens into Jordanian society.”

The meaning behind the danger of reducing the UNRWA budget is that, as the letter expressed “these UNRWA camps are meant to keep the issue of Palestinian refugees alive.”

On the other hand, in 1950 Israel provided Israeli citizenship to the members of UNRWA refugee camps in the new state and within a couple of years the camps perished, as the refugees became self-supporting members of Israeli society!

Netanyahu: Be Fearless

The article placed Motzei Shabbat on Yahoo, by Associated Press writer, Karoun Demirjian, should not have too many readers gasping in shock. She voices the plausible chance that the United States could cut funding to Israel in order to “squeeze” them – get Netanyahu, who declared the settlement freeze in the first place, to fall in line and stop housing all of those Jews to the east of Jerusalem.

Obama speaking at AIPACIsrael gets an annual sum of $3 billion from the Americans, the largest recipient of US aid, with Afghanistan coming in second (the Taliban devastated country). All of which is earmarked for the IDF, and spent on F-15s and F-16s, jet fuel, high-end munitions and missile defense systems. The deal is that the money filters back into the US economy because Israel agrees to spend it on such weapon manufacturing companies as, Lockheed Martin, Raytheon, Boeing and others. Good for America.

Israel and America have been on a collision course since before Obama actually took office, and of course the flash point is West Bank Housing. If the United States decides to “squeeze” Israel, we will lose 20% of our annual defense budget, but the sum amounts to just 2% of Israel’s gross domestic product. Be fearless.

Before we demonize the American president, that is before he gives us a reason, recall that it was the Bush Administration who pressured Sharon’s Kadima government to cut out the Gaza Strip, devastating millions of Jews and spelling decades of future war with Hamas. The dandyism of the self-interested United States is a dangerous influence. Be fearless.

If we have learned anything from America, let’s recall Benjamin Franklin who in the face of adversity only worked harder, becoming less dependant on others and less fearful of his enemies. On greed and the weapon of currency he said: “He that is of the opinion money will do everything may well be suspected of doing everything for money.” If Obama would trade military intelligence and economic income to appease the Palestinians who stomp on their flag, that’s their business. If it’s to appease someone else, I want to know who! Be fearless.

Even Theodore Herzl would have admitted: a Jewish State has meaning beyond industry and international trade. It is indeed, a Jewish state, not part of an American empire, no matter how you slice the cake. Be fearless.

Fear and Loathing in Yasuf

Before sunrise on Friday, on the heels of a Shabbat and Hanukkah sandwich, vandals snuck into a Palestinian village in the West Bank and vandalized a mosque. Holy books and furniture were burnt, and graffiti writing sent messages of intimidation.

yasufThe recent attacks on West Bank Palestinians and their property is a response to Israel’s recent halt on settlement construction; the civilian attacks have been dubbed the “price tag” policy.

Prime Minister
Binyamin Netanyahu
has vowed to catch the “criminals” behind the attack. Israeli President Shimon Peres said:

“The government, the security forces and the law enforcement institutions must take every measure, with the utmost urgency, to find the perpetrators and put them on trial in accordance with the gravity of the acts…It can’t be that an extremist group endangers the status of Israel as a state that abides laws and respects religions.”

Defense Minister Ehud Barak said:

“This is an extremist act geared toward harming the government’s efforts to advance the political process for the sake of Israel’s future…”

Calling the act a violation of religious freedom, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas claimed:

“The torching of the mosque in Yasuf is a despicable crime, and the settlers are behaving with brutality…”

In addition, the U.S. State Department released a statement saying that:

“We condemn this attack in the strongest terms and call for the perpetrators to be brought to justice.”

Whether or not the settlement freeze is justified, or a cowardly crumbling under pressure from the west, is a good question.

Getting Ready for the Winter Freeze

On Wednesday Bibi, expecting that he will get cabinet approval, will announce a 10-month settlement construction freeze for the West Bank. A statement this week from the Prime Minister’s office said:

As part of our efforts to give impetus to peace talks with the Palestinian Authority and promote Israel’s comprehensive national interests, the prime minister will ask the security cabinet to approve a temporary suspension on construction permits for new residences and the [actual] start of new residential construction for a period of ten months.

Binyamin NetanyahuJewish settlement Construction in the West Bank, as most know, began in 1967 after defeating a Jordanian attack during the Six-Day War. Today there are more than a quarter of a million Israelis who live in these West Bank settlements.

The freeze will not include East Jerusalem – which is a thorny issue. Jews do not consider the area part of the West Bank settlements, whereas Palestinians say that it is exactly that. The freeze will also not apply to construction that has already been authorized, or to do work on public buildings which is deemed to conducive to normal life.

The Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad told reporters in response to the statement by the Israeli camp, that a settlement freeze without halt in construction in Jerusalem is unacceptable. The Palestinians dream of having Jerusalem as the capital of their state.

Fayyad told reporters:

“What has changed to make something that what was not acceptable a week or 10 days ago [acceptable now]? The exclusion of Jerusalem is a very serious problem for us.”

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