Hamas kills Palestinians

Hamas rocket firing from Gaza residential area

As I write this, Israel has finished withdrawing all its troops from Gaza and Hamas has at last agreed to a 72-hour ceasefire, which everyone hopes can be transformed into a long-term ceasefire. (No one expects Hamas to actually make peace.)

This same ceasefire was on the table three weeks ago, but Hamas rejected it. That rejection led to the deaths of another 1,600 people, maybe half of them civilians, and to the levelling of several Gaza neighbourhoods.

Israel has bombed the buildings used as rocket factories, weapons depots, and sniper posts. They’ve levelled buildings used to conceal entrances to Hamas’s many military tunnels and bulldozed other buildings looking for more tunnels.

And what Israel left standing, Hamas itself destroyed. Hamas booby-trapped houses wherever they operated, wiring much of Gaza to self-destruct. On one street alone, the Israeli army found 19 of the 28 houses rigged with improvised explosive devices. (See here.)

Given that Hamas operates exclusively in residential areas and has turned homes, mosques, schools and hospitals into military posts, it’s a wonder many more Palestinian civilians haven't been killed. Only Israel’s extraordinary efforts has kept the death toll down.

Israelis run for bomb shelter. Residents in the south have only 15 seconds from when a siren sounds until a rocket hits. For mortar shells, they have even less time to seek shelter. Fortunately mortars can't fire deeply into Israel. But on Aug 22, Hamas did succeed in murdering a 4-year-old Jewish child with a mortar strike on his community near the Gaza border.

Israel tries to hit only military targets and encourages civilians to leave areas it operates in, leafleting from the air, providing maps and directions to safe zones, even telephoning and texting individuals to urge them to leave target areas.

Hamas of course takes no such precautions. To date, it's fired more than 3,300 missiles toward Israel, attempting to murder innocent civilians.

Fortunately, Israel has invested billions in defensive measures. Throughout the country, sirens warn of incoming attacks, and almost every household and building has a bomb shelter nearby. Moreover, Israel now has the Iron Dome system that shoots down rockets headed for inhabited areas.

It's all worked. Hamas hoped to murder thousands of innocents. Instead all their rockets have killed just three civilians on the Israeli side: one Bedouin, one foreign worker, and one Jew. {As of Aug 22, one more: a 4-year-old Jewish boy.}

Hamas rockets have killed many more Palestinians.

Map showing first 280 Hamas rocket strikes within Gaza

These rockets are purely terror weapons. They can’t be aimed at anything smaller than a town. In fact to date, 450 of Hamas’s projectiles missed Israel entirely and fell within Gaza.

How many Palestinians have these misfired missiles killed?

Like Israel, Hamas has invested huge resources in making itself immune to attack from the air. They’ve built elaborate underground bunkers and many tunnels – miles and miles of tunnels built by child labour. Their “nimble bodies” makes children ideal for this work. But children are also fragile. According to Hamas officials, by 2012 at least one hundred and sixty children had died digging tunnels for Hamas.

Note that civilians are barred from sheltering in these tunnels. The underground bunkers keep Hamas commanders and fighters safe. The tunnels were built to store weapons and to enable terrorist attacks into Israel.

As 450 Hamas missiles rained down on Gaza, the civilian population was defenceless. Hamas did not leaflet the areas where they were operating to warn civilians to clear out. On the contrary, Hamas directed them to stay. And there were no warning sirens and no shelters that civilians were allowed to hide in.

Finnish journalist reporting Hamas rocket being fired from the parking lot of Al Shifa Hospital in Gaza

We happen to know that in one barrage Palestinian terrorists hit both Al-Shifa Hospital and a playground in Al-Shati refugee camp, apparently with Fajir-5 missiles, which carry a 100-kilogram warhead. The strike on the playground killed ten Palestinians, nine of them children and injured 46.

Another errant terrorist missile apparently hit a UN School in Beit Hanoun which was being used as a shelter for Palestinian civilians. Fifteen were killed and as many as 200 wounded.

In addition to the rockets, Hamas regularly fires small arms in the residential areas where it operates. Hamas’s weapon of choice is the RPG29, a shoulder-fired anti-tank missile that can penetrate thick reinforced-concrete walls. I wouldn’t want gunmen running around firing those off in my neighbourhood.

How many Palestinians has Hamas killed? We’ll never know. It’s not the sort of information Hamas shares with the world.

But there’s nothing new about this. On June 24, during the run-up to the current war, a rocket Hamas fired at Israel fell within Gaza, killing a three-year-old girl and injuring three other Palestinians (here).  And throughout the previous nine years, Hamas rockets have killed and injured as many Palestinians as Israelis.

Flyer showing Israelis how much time they have to find a shelter after a warning siren

There’s a widespread notion that Israel can’t win in wars like this, because when Israel defends itself against terrorist attacks, it only creates more terrorists. I don’t buy it.

Polls of Palestinians have shown Hamas losing popular support ever since they beat Fatah in the 2007 election. The most recent poll, taken in June, showed that Hamas is deeply unpopular: 88% of Gazans want the Palestinian Authority to take over from Hamas; 70% thought Hamas should maintain its ceasefire with Israel and 57% supported PA president Abbas's position that the Palestinian government should renounce violence against Israel. 

Obviously Gazans didn't get what they wanted.

There have been reports of deep anger at Hamas and of a Hamas spokesman being beaten by a crowd (here). This should surprise no one. Hamas’s policy of endless war against Israel has brought nothing but poverty, destruction and death.

If I were living in Gaza, I’d want to pull the Hamas commanders out of their nice safe bunkers and string them up on the nearest lamp pole. 

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Postscript: Hamas broke the ceasefire two hours it was set to expire on Friday morning and began once again firing rockets toward Israel. These continue to fall indiscriminately on Israel and Gaza alike.

Diplomatic efforts continue in Egypt, and there still appears to be a good chance that a longer term truce will emerge. However, it’s also clear that Israelis have had enough. This is the third small war Hamas has provoked in seven years.

If Hamas and the other terrorists groups won’t stop firing rockets, Israelis favour taking Hamas out completely, even knowing this may cost the lives of hundreds of their young men.

Note: A slightly shorter version of this article appeared in the Jewish Tribune.

Caught between the nationalists and the Russians - a tricky time for Ukraine's Jews

Antisemitism isn't new in Ukraine, this photo of antisemitic graffiti in Kiev is from 2009

Antisemitism has been a feature of Ukraine since the Middle Ages, and in recent weeks, Jew-haters have been taking advantage of the unrest to attack synagogues and beat up and stab Jews. Moreover, the nationalist / anti-Russian forces include open antisemites, and two antisemitic parties have been included in the new nationalist government.

On the other hand, many Jews took part in the protests that helped install the new government, and most observers believe Russians (and their far-left supporters in the West) are trying to label the nationalists – all the nationalists – as Nazis when clearly most are not. Indeed, the Ukrainian chief rabbi, has accused the Russians of staging antisemitic attacks to justify their invasion (here).

From Canada, it’s hard to tell exactly what’s going on, but I think the notion that Jews should support Russia’s invasion of Crimea is nuts. I mean apart from not wanting the Russians to re-establish their nasty empire, since when has Russia ever been good for the Jews?

Besides, in the longer term, I’ll put my money on a nationalist Ukrainian government that wants to turn toward the democratic West, not a Ukrainian government that wants to cozy up to authoritarian Russia. And if neither of these options work out, well as Abraham Cooper points out, Israel is only a plane ride away, and so is Canada, for that matter…

Supporters of Ukraine's antisemitic Svoboda party with t-shirts reading "Beat the zhids {kikes}"

Tough Times Again for Ukraine’s Jewish Population

Abraham Cooper, the algemeiner (U.S.)

We are now witnessing the latest round of violence and tragedy in the Ukraine. And not for the first time, hundreds of thousands of Jews in that embattled country, perhaps as many as 400,000, find themselves between a rock and a hard place.

Historically, Jews in Ukraine have suffered disastrous losses during times of upheaval. During the Cossack uprising of 1648-57, led by Hetman Bohdan Khmelnytsky, 15-30,000 Ukrainian Jews out of a total population of 51,000 were murdered or taken captive.

The organized violence against the helpless and impoverished Jews in the Ukraine in the 19th and early 20th century spawned a new word in the lexicon of hate - pogrom. Many of our grandparents fled the Ukraine, arriving on American shores penniless with little more than a dream of a safe haven.

During the Russian Revolution and ensuing Civil War, another estimated 30,000-100,000 Jews were killed.

The total civilian losses during the Nazi occupation of Ukraine is estimated at 7 million, with more than 1 million Jews shot by Einsatzgruppen killing squads and Ukrainian collaborators in Western Ukraine.

To be sure, the Jewish community has not been center stage in the current epic struggle for Ukraine’s future. The just-deposed Prime Minister represents the still powerful pull of Vladimir Putin’s Russia. Putin has always made it clear he will not accept a Ukraine that is tied to NATO or the European Union. So far he’s used the economic carrot of cheap oil and other incentives, but possible military intervention in Eastern Ukraine, with its significant Russian population — cannot be dismissed.

On the other side are Ukrainian activists who rallied around a Euro-centric vision of the future. Anyone and anything that insists on a link to Moscow and the memories of 70 years of tyrannical Soviet rule is out of the question. Unfortunately, among the masses of people who braved beatings, bullets, and death, were members of the nationalist Svoboda party, some of whose leaders have openly expressed anti-Semitic views.

Against this unsettling backdrop, after last month’s beating of two Jews, Kiev’s Chief rabbi has called on the city’s Jews to leave. Now comes word that unknown perpetrators hurled firebombs at the Giymat Rosa Synagogue in Zaporizhia, located 250 miles southeast of Kiev. That house of prayer opened in 2012 – a sign of Jewish renewal in the Ukraine – was built on the spot where the Jews of that community were ordered to gather before being deported by the Nazis to their deaths.

It goes without saying that Jewish institutions are bolstering security and it has been reported that some public events have been canceled. One can only wonder what kind of Purim and Passover await our Jewish brothers and sisters in the Ukraine.

What will members of Europe’s third largest Jewish community do? Will they stay or go? The late Simon Wiesenthal imparted sage advice when he said, “Where democracy is strong it is good for Jews and where it is weak it is bad for the Jews.”

We can only hope and pray and that the forces of true democratic values and inclusion win the day in the Ukraine. That would be a blessing for all its people. In the meantime, today’s Ukrainian Jews are free to ponder an option their forefathers could only dream about. Israel is but a non-stop flight from Kiev. Look for those flights to be extra crowded in the days ahead.

Member of Ukraine's antisemitic Svoboda party form a human chain

Ukrainian nationalists strive to shake off allegations of anti-Semitism

Anti-government protesters say Nazi name-calling is propaganda designed to undermine their movement.

From HaAretz, Israel

Ukraine’s struggle for independence is plagued by memories of fascism. Nationalists fought more than once against the Soviets in the last century, even when it meant aligning with Nazi Germany.

This is a country that both idolizes and condemns a former leader who collaborated with the Nazis – Stepan Bandera. He is denounced by many Ukrainians and Jewish groups for mass killings, but he is also beloved for refusing to rescind the proclamation of an independent Ukrainian state in 1941.

In the past, Ukrainian Jews suffered pogroms and government-sanctioned persecution, and anti-Semitism is still a threat. For instance, the opposition coalition, which includes the Svoboda party, has been criticized for far-right extremism. Complaints have been filed against Svoboda’s leader, Oleh Tyahnybok, for alleged incitement and racist remarks, such as saying Ukraine was headed by a “Muscovite-Jewish mafia.”

When Ukrainian nationalists and far-right groups began protesting against Viktor Yanukovych’s government on Kiev’s Maidan Square, many Western and Russian media outlets called the demonstrations fascist with anti-Semitic undertones. Armed and masked protesters brandished nationalist symbols linked with the fascism of yesteryear.

This included the Celtic cross, which has replaced the swastika for many modern white-power groups, and the wolf-hook SS insignia. There was also the symbol 14/88. The 14 represents a 14-word slogan used by white nationalists, and the 88 stands for “Heil Hitler” – H is the eighth letter of the alphabet. Finally, there was the Black Sun occult symbol, with which the Third Reich adorned a castle hall.

Some researchers and protest groups say the allegations of fascism and anti-Semitism are propaganda to undermine the protests.

The right-wing and nationalist umbrella group, Pravy Sektor, grabbed center stage after January 16, when Yanukovych approved laws that criminalized participation in anti-government protests. The movement’s press secretary, Artem Skoropadsky, called the fascism accusations “forms of official Russian propaganda that successfully change the meaning of ‘nationalism’ to ‘Nazism.’”

Anton Shekhovtsov, a Ukrainian researcher of European far-right groups and a fellow at the Radicalism and New Media Research Group in Britain, has said neo-Nazi groups are only a very small part of the protest.

“The movement is tolerant of other organizations’ extremist views but does not necessarily support them,” Shekhovtsov said. “They don’t exclude people and want to unite protesters for a stronger opposition.”

Some Pravy Sektor protesters on the Maidan sported yellow armbands with the wolf hook symbol revealing their specific political party affiliation—that of the Social National Assembly (SNA), a largely Kiev-based neo-Nazi organization. Other more openly anti-Semitic parties are White Hammer and C14, the neo-Nazi youth wing of the Svoboda party.

According to Pravy Sektor’s press secretary, the movement consists of many different groups and individuals. “This is not just a long-term rally, but a national, liberation movement,” he said in early February.

Timothy Snyder, a history professor at Yale, summarized the name-calling in an article for The New York Review of Books. He called it an “attempt to reduce the social tensions in a complex country to a battle of symbols about the past.”

Heroic picture of the past

Protesters have marched carrying photos of Bandera and under red-and-black flags of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army, the nationalist paramilitary and later partisan army that fought both the Nazis and the Soviets. On Maidan Square, these images represent the history of war and struggle for Ukraine’s sovereignty, not Nazism, said Vyacheslav Likhachev, a researcher at the Euro-Asian Jewish Congress.

According to Likhachev, “the provocative symbols have to be understood in the context of a Ukrainian, heroic picture of the past. In a contemporary context, it is not correct to associate Bandera with neo-Nazis.”

Two attacks on Kiev Jews took place in one week in January and added fuel to the name calling. Also, last Saturday, a Ukrainian rabbi called on Kiev’s Jews to leave the city, fearing that the small community could fall victim to the increasing violence. At least four Jewish protesters were killed during demonstrations in the days leading up to Yanukovych’s ouster by parliament. Overall, more than 70 Ukrainians were killed.

Many media outlets began equating the attacks and the rabbi’s comments with the protests in general, which suggested that the protesters were anti-Semites and that the Jewish community was a target.

Likhachev says the four Jews killed were victims of police brutality and sniper shots; they weren’t targeted as Jews. “Jews are in danger because of the bigger problem of violence, which affects all Ukrainians,” he said.

Josef Zisels, a vice president of the World Jewish Congress, said that “the Jews of Ukraine participate in protests, though not as a community but as citizens of Ukraine who are tired of the cynical actions of the government.”

Pravy Sektor and other protesters have dubbed themselves the defense forces of the protests; they’ve actually provided some stability. For example, the protest leaders have proposed that Kiev synagogues be guarded, along with streets in Jewish areas.

Russia invades Ukraine; the Canadian Peace Congress blames Canada

Russian troops in Ukraine

As Russia invades Ukraine, the Canadian Peace Congress has issued a statement condemning the US, the EU, NATO and especially Canada for our "imperialist ambitions" in Ukraine. Not a word about Russian troops crossing Ukraine's border and taking control of strategic sites in Crimea.

Why? Because the Canadian Peace Congress has no interest whatsoever in peace. It's purely a far-left, anti-Western group. And more's the pity, far too much of our supposed peace groups are much the same.

I've pasted in the lunatic statement from Canadian Peace Congress below this lovely old clip from South Park:

The deteriorating crisis in Ukraine is extremely dangerous. There is an immediate threat of a regional or world war. Interference by foreign powers in complex internal affairs has widened divisions and deepened the crisis, and has even helped strengthen openly fascist forces within the country.

The Canadian Peace Congress is particularly concerned that the US, EU and NATO – the most powerful forces of imperialism – have been manipulating and encouraging the conflict, in an effort to provoke “regime change” in Ukraine and bring about a realignment of Europe in the process.

In particular, we are concerned that the situation in Ukraine is a key element in NATO’s ongoing strategy of expansion in Europe, and encirclement of Russia. It is notable that, as the crisis in Ukraine developed, NATO has become increasingly aggressive both in its efforts to draw Georgia into the military alliance, and its drive to install missile defence weaponry in Poland.

Canada, a member of NATO, has sent Foreign Minister John Baird to Ukraine with the clear purpose of encouraging the pro-EU and pro-NATO faction that has taken over the present government in Kiev. This follows on a unanimous motion in the Canadian Parliament in January, that voiced support for anti-government protests and encouraged sanctions.

Canadian Peace Congress asserts that it is the sole right of the peoples of each country to determine the path of their social, economic and political development, free from foreign interference. The Canadian government’s efforts to meddle in Ukraine’s internal affairs, and to use the crisis to pursue imperialist ambitions, is shameful and should be denounced.

Please contact Members of Parliament now, and call upon the government to immediately stop its interference, and prevent war in Ukraine. Click here for a list of email addresses for all Members of Parliament.

P.S. Over in Britain, the Stop the War Coalition has adopted much the same stance as our own Canadian nutters. The Economist Magazine has gone through the bother of analyzing Stop the War's anti-Western response toward the crisis in Ukraine here.

Abbas doesn’t want to flood Israel with Palestinians; many Palestinians beg to differ

Arab wars against Israel turned 100s of thousands of Palestinians into refugees.

In the West Bank, Gaza, Jordan and Lebanon the children, grandchildren and 

great-grandchildren of these refugees have been declared hereditary refugees,

sustained by the United Nations Refugee and Works Agency, a special UN 

Agency created to keep the Palestinian as refugees, rather than actually settle 

them and improve their lives. Read more here.

Here’s a good news, bad news story. President Abbas of the Palestinian Authority has publicly declared he doesn’t want to flood Israel with Palestinians and thus turn it into a Palestinian state. 

This is enormously important, as every Palestinian political group – without exception – has always said that every one of the millions of great grandchildren of the Palestinians made into refugees by Arab against Israel have an inalienable “right of return” to Israel. And of course this would change Israel from a Jewish state to one more Arab state – full of people with a deep and abiding hatred for Jews.

Obviously, Israel is never going to agree to commit national suicide, so the end of the conflict has always depended on Palestinians giving up on this fantasy of flooding Israel and turning it into a Palestinian state.

Now Abbas has actually had the courage of saying he doesn’t want to do this. That’s very good news. But here’s the bad news. Abbas didn’t say this to a Palestinian audience, he said it to Jewish Israeli students, members of the One Voice peace group. And he didn’t go so far as to outright renounce the “right of return” or admit there is no such thing.

But still he was hammered by Palestinian groups. What’s the bottom line here: It’s possible Abbas is a partner for peace; but he’s opposed by the Palestinian people …

Palestinian President Abbas takes question from Israeli student

Palestinians: Eight Million Refugees Must "Return" to Israel

by Khaled Abu Toameh
February 21, 2014 at 5:00 am

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas is facing criticism from Palestinian refugees for saying that he does not want to "flood" Israel with millions of refugees.

Abbas made his statement during a meeting in his Ramallah office earlier this week with dozens of Israeli students – the first direct encounter of its kind between the Palestinian Authority president and Israeli youths.

Abbas has also come under criticism for breaking a ban by Palestinian activists on meetings with Israelis. The ban has been imposed over the past few years by "anti-normalization" activists who oppose such meetings between Israelis and Palestinians.

Abbas's controversial remarks about the "right of return" highlight the difficulties facing U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry in his efforts to achieve a peace agreement between Israel and the Palestinians. The Palestinian reactions to Abbas's remarks show that the issue of the refugees remains a sensitive and explosive one that could torpedo any agreement between the Israelis and Palestinians.

Abbas told the Israeli students that the claim that he was seeking to "flood" Israel with five million refugees was nonsense.

"There is propaganda saying that Abu Mazen [Abbas] wants the return of five million refugees to destroy the state of Israel," he said. "This is not true at all. All what we said was: Let's place the issue of the refugees on the table because it's a sensitive case which needs to be solved in order to end the conflict and so that the refugees would be satisfied with a peace agreement. But we are not seeking to drown Israel with millions in order to change its demography. This is nonsense."

Representatives of Palestinian refugees rushed to issue condemnations of Abbas, accusing him of relinquishing the "right of return" of millions of Palestinians to their former villages and towns inside Israel.

In Lebanon, where some 450,000 Palestinians live in several refugee camps and are exposed to Apartheid Laws that deny them access to many jobs and economic, health and educations services, Abbas's comments were received with deep resentment. During an emergency meeting in one of the refugee camps in Lebanon, Abbas was accused of "abandoning the right of return and harming Palestinian rights."

The refugees said they were particularly enraged over the fact that protest letters they sent to the Palestinian Authority embassy in Beirut were totally ignored.

Dr. Esam Udwan, an expert on refugee affairs, was quoted as saying that "Abbas's statements have caused damage to Palestinian rights." Accusing Abbas of providing Israel with concessions in return for nothing, Udwan said, "These remarks reflect Abbas's conviction that the issue of the refugees is ineffective and they have no right to return because this would mean drowning Israel. 

This is completely unacceptable. Who said that there are only five million refugees? The real number is eight million. Abbas mentioned the five million who are registered with UNRWA and benefit from its services. But there are millions of others who do not receive services from UNRWA and are not registered with it. This does not mean that they should be denied the right of return."

Ali Huwaidi, another expert on refugee affairs, also lashed out at Abbas: "Regardless of Abbas's statements, the right of return is guaranteed, individually and collectively, through UN resolutions. The refugees will not give up their right no matter where they are living today. Abbas is worried about flooding Israel with five million refugees while Israel has brought one million people from the former Soviet Union and no one complained about this. Our refugees will not accept any alternative to their right to return to their homeland and we do not care what Abbas's position is."

Many Palestinians said that Abbas was not authorized to make any concessions or speak on behalf of the refugees.

This was not the first time that Abbas had come under attack on the issue of the refugees. Last year, Abbas told an Israeli TV station that he personally does not want to return to his former hometown of Safed in northern Israel. That comment too was seen by his critics as a sign that he was willing to "surrender" the "right of return" for millions of refugees.

Referring to Abbas's stance on the refugees, the Palestinian online newspaper Rai al Youm wrote, "President Abbas has given up his personal right to return to his hometown of Safed. He said he does not want to return to his home and will live in Ramallah. This concession, in our view, is a big sin because President Abbas should set an example for his people and not make concessions on their rights. We call upon President Abbas to stop speaking about the issue of the refugees because they haven't authorized him to make any concessions on their right of return."

The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) also joined the chorus of Abbas critics. The group said in a statement that Abbas's comment about the refugees was a "dangerous concession" which reflected only his personal position. "The Palestinians are not bound by these statements," the PFLP said.

Hamas, Islamic Jihad and other Palestinian groups have also strongly condemned Abbas's statements as "dangerous," adding that he does not have the authority to speak on behalf of all refugees. The groups also attacked Abbas for holding "warm" meetings with the Israeli "enemy."

The reactions to Abbas's statements concerning the issue of the refugees show that any agreement that Abbas reaches with Israel under U.S. pressure will not signal the end of the conflict with Israel. They also show that millions of Palestinians continue to believe that one day they will be allowed to move to Israel, regardless of whether a Palestinian state is established in the West Bank, Gaza Strip and east Jerusalem or not.

The end of the peace process

President Abbas of the Palestinian Authority accepts framed map that
shows Palestine extending from the Jordan River to
the Mediterranean Sea, with Israel erased. More here.

A recent poll by a Palestinian research firm found that 88% of Palestinians favour violence as the way forward in their conflict with Israel (see here). This should surprise no one. The Palestinians can win make believe victories at the UN, but on the ground, the diplomatic route is futile, since Israel cannot give what the Palestinians want.

The last time anything happened in the peace process was in 2008 when then Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert offered the Palestinians a comprehensive peace settlement. The offer included a Palestinian capital in Jerusalem and international control over the holy sites.

Territorially, Olmert offered the equivalent of 100% of the West Bank and Gaza, with a corridor connecting them in exchange for the slivers of land occupied by Israeli settlements.

Abbas said no thanks and he made no counter offer.

Why? Because the Palestinians aren’t willing to concede the Jewish claim to their own homeland in Israel. Hamas makes no secret of its desire to wipe Israel off the map. More “moderate” Palestinians insist on the “right of return.” That is, they claim that the four million grandchildren of refugees originally created by Arab wars against Israel should be allowed to move into Israel and thereby turn it into a Palestinian state.

Obviously peace requires the Palestinians to give up on this idea of eliminating Israel, and in 2008, peaceniks all threw up our hands in frustration at Abbas’s stubbornness.

In retrospect, we should breathe a sigh of relief. For it’s evident the Palestinians wouldn’t have kept the peace, and since the UN voted to give the Palestinians standing as a non-member state, it’s now clear that when the Palestinians break a treaty, the world supports them.

Indeed is there any part of their interim treaty with Israel that the Palestinians have kept?

The Oslo Accords state that neither side can unilaterally try to change the status quo, that the Palestinians cannot, for example, apply to the UN to be recognized as a state. But the Palestinian did just that, and the UN overwhelmingly supported them.

The Oslo Accords require the Palestinians to forego violence, yet since they were signed, the Palestinians have conducted thousands of terrorist attacks against Israel that have resulted in three wars: the Second Intifadah and the Hamas wars of Dec 2008 / Jan 2009 and of November 2012.

The Oslo Accords forbid incitement. But terrorists are the great heroes of Palestinian society. Schools, summer camps, soccer teams and public squares get named in honour of terrorists.

Two days after winning their historic vote for statehood at the UN, the official Palestinian Authority radio station, broadcast songs glorifying suicide bombings against Israel. They included these lyrics: 

We are bombs... the enemies were beheaded... Grieve not, Mother, shed no tears over my torn flesh... heroic men who mock death... We praised the Lord, and set out for Martyrdom. We strapped ourselves with explosives, and trusted in Allah... Onward men, on the roads to glory.

Is there any wonder Palestinians are so enamoured of violence? It’s actively promoted from the top down and from the bottom up.

The Oslo Accords state that parties who pursue their aims through unlawful means (such as terrorism) or that are racist cannot run in Palestinian elections. The clause was included specifically to exclude Hamas, which has launched thousands of terrorist attacks against Israel and openly proclaims its desire to kill Jews.

Canada, Japan, the U.S., Israel, and the European Union have all declared Hamas a terrorist group. Even the UN has declared it a racist organization. (More here.) Yet the international community didn’t object when Hamas ran in the 2006 Palestinian elections.

Strangely, it didn’t occur to people that democracy can’t thrive where political parties have private armies. In retrospect it should have surprised no one that the Palestinian elections were followed by a short, sharp civil war that left the West Bank ruled by the Palestinian Authority dominated by Fatah and Gaza ruled by Hamas.

Because the Oslo Accords were ignored, Israel now has a terrorist enclave sitting on its eastern border. Moreover, even supposing it wanted to, since the Palestinian Authority no longer controls Gaza, it cannot end the conflict with Israel.

As the Palestinians cannot implement a peace treaty, don’t keep their treaties, and receive the world’s support when they break a treaty, we need to recognize that the peace process is dead and that it’s time for the peace movement to change direction.

The obstacle to peace is the Palestinian “narrative.” Israel has long recognized the Palestinian right to a state of their own, but no Palestinian political party recognizes the right of the Jews to their own state.

Instead, the Palestinians – including supposed moderates – claim all of Israel as rightfully theirs, deny any Jewish connection to the land, and paint Israel as an evil entity that ought to be wiped off the map.

In addressing the UN on the historic occasion of the vote for Palestinian non-member status, President Abbas accused Israel of racism, apartheid, colonialism, aggression, murder and ethnic cleansing.

So long as this remains the Palestinian narrative, peace will remain a fantasy, no matter what pieces of paper might be signed.

This piece also appeared on Harry's Place blog in Britain, and because the comments at Harry's Place get deleted after a week, I've preserved them here:

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  Beakerkin • 2 days ago

  
  

  The elimination of Israel has been the goal since the start of the wars and remained the goal.

  
  

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  Reborn • 2 days ago

  
  

  A poll in the UK would probably show that 90% of the supporters of the "Palestinian cause" believe in violence against Israel.
  A substantial minority would advocate violence against Jews anywhere..
  It is only terrorism against Western interests that keep this wretched issue alive. The atrocities committed by islamists from Mali to the Caucasus are ignored because, thus far, the terrorists do not have sympathetic advocates from our pointless & value free "left".

  
  

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    Dcook  Reborn • 2 days ago

    
    

    As an aside, keep a watch on Morsi going to see Obama. He's still insisting that he wants the Blind Sheikh (responsible for the WTC bombing) released, or as a minimum to have special privelieges. Watch how swiftly (or not) Obama flips him the bird.

    
    

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      Reborn  Dcook • 2 days ago

      
      

      Good point.
      This is a highly symbolic case.

      
      

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        Makabit  Reborn • 2 days ago

        
        

        Well, let's keep an eye on it then. (Please note, Dcook is not concerned lest the terrorist in question be released, just whether Obama reacts with terrible swiftness to Morsi's irrelevant impertinence.)

        
        

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          stephen rothbart  Makabit • 2 days ago

          
          

          And you made that assumption how exactly?

          
          

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            vildechaye  stephen rothbart • 2 days ago

            
            

            Probably by reading this post by DCook:
            "As an aside, keep a watch on Morsi going to see Obama. He's still insisting that he wants the Blind Sheikh (responsible for the WTC bombing) released, or as a minimum to have special privelieges. Watch how swiftly (or not) Obama flips him the bird."

            
            

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              stephen rothbart  vildechaye • 2 days ago

              
              

              So where is the bit that Dcook is not concerned if the terrorist is released? I mean that was the point Makabit was making.

              
              

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                Makabit  stephen rothbart • 2 days ago

                
                

                Oh, I'm sure he'll be upset if the terrorist is released, but he knows the terrorist will not be released. Note, he's watching the speed of Obama flipping the bird, not waiting to see what Obama will do. Which is pretty much a foregone conclusion. Da Blind Sheikh ain't a- goin' nowhere.

                
                

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                  stephen rothbart  Makabit • 20 hours ago

                  
                  

                  But that's not what you said, you said "Dcook is not concerned lest the terrorist in question be released," which may have been misstated but as written gives an entirely different flavor to your post.

                  
                  

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  Colin • 2 days ago

  
  

  I'll guess that the chances of Palestinians voting for peace with Jews are as much as Sunnis voting for peace with Shias, or by extension with any group of humans that don't belong, apart from say a tribe of DAs.

  
  

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  Dcook • 2 days ago

  
  

  At last! An ATL commenter who understands the peace process is dead and its the fault of the Palestinians.

  Never has Golda Meir's saying "The Palestinians never miss an opportunity to miss an opportunity" been so well defined and seen to be classically true.

  Showing a map where you have erased another country is covered by the conventions on Genocide as one of the elements that defines Genocide intentions.

  How can the lie that "the Palestinians recognise Israel" when it is clear that they do not?

  
  

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    Beakerkin  Dcook • 2 days ago

    
    

    Obviously if you believe in the Obama cult this is a mistake. The messiah can convince people who have never been inclined towards peace to accept peace by blaming Israel.

    Obviously Israelis who don't trust Obama need to read Gene and Goldberg and join the cult.

    
    

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      Makabit  Beakerkin • 2 days ago

      
      

      Yes, I remember when Obamessiah sent Condi Rice to scold Israel about the settlements, and how they weren't helpful to the peace process. My blood near boiled.

      Wait...

      
      

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        vildechaye  Makabit • 2 days ago

        
        

        nice one, makabit.

        
        

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          stephen rothbart  vildechaye • 2 days ago

          
          

          Yes Vildechaye, you would rather make a comment about someone's mistake than the catastrophe facing Israel and nation and people you profess to support.

          That Bush did silly things is not in question, but in case you and makabit have not noticed, Bush is not in the White House now, your man Obama is.

          And despite an extensive and alarming post about the treacherous nature of the international community's attitude to Israel and their unbelievably vile support of everything Palestinian, the only thing you can offer is a smirking giggle on a "gotcha" remark by Makabit.

          At at time when the Palestinians are reviewing maps of Palestine without a Jewish presence, and Obama has just nominated Hagel and Kerry for the roles directly affecting Israel's ability to survive the world's community's persecution of the Jewish state, you can only put your hands over your ears, shut your eyes and go la la la.

          Well good for you and your hollow victory over Bearkin.

          
          

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            vildechaye  stephen rothbart • 2 days ago

            
            

            I'll take it. Meanwhile, you can take your "my way or the highway" approach to all things Israel/U.S. and shove it up your peahole.

            
            

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              stephen rothbart  vildechaye • 2 days ago

              
              

              Er..what's a peahole?

              
              

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            Beakerkin  stephen rothbart • 2 days ago

            
            

            There is no victory. The cult of Obama has not accomplished anything. Even the death of Bin Laden was in spite of Obama, not because of his leadership.

            
            

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              Makabit  Beakerkin • 2 days ago

              
              

              See, this is why we're not going to have this discussion. Because stuff like that is just silly.

              
              

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                Beakerkin  Makabit • 2 days ago

                
                

                What has the cult of Obama accomplished?
                The economy is a mess. We are more divided then ever. His foreign policy seems delusional. He has abused power.

                Sorry, but this cult of personality bit is objectionable.

                
                

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              vildechaye  Beakerkin • a day ago

              
              

              Cuckoo. Cuckoo.

              
              

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                Beakerkin  vildechaye • a day ago

                
                

                Another foreign member of the cult of Obama
                rants. Many members of this Cult are not American but feign expertise in all things related to the dear leader.

                What has the great leader improved. The great Obama has made every single problem
                worse.

                
                

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            Makabit  stephen rothbart • 2 days ago

            
            

            It's not, actually, a gotcha. It's a comment that the criticism of Obama on this issue has been incredibly shallow, and informed by a strong, pre-existing dislike of the man among many of his critics.

            There is a lot to criticize about Obama's approach to Israel, just as there was about Bush, and a whole long line of presidents before him. But many people don't offer criticism, they offer paranoid explanations of malevolent intent. These same people find things that Bush did, who they consider Israel's bestest friend (as Beakerkin clearly still does), to be premeditated attacks on Israel when Obama does them. I'm not trying to attack Bush, either. He tried, to the extent that he had time and interest, to do the right thing in regards to Israel, and I think he had a certain hope for the peace process. Somehow he got a different reaction from a certain crowd.

            This does not make me take the folks talking nonsense like this very seriously.

            
            

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              vildechaye  Makabit • a day ago

              
              

              Bingo. Of course, you'll still be accused of being an Obama-worshipper by the local ODS crowd.

              
              

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                stephen rothbart  vildechaye • 20 hours ago

                
                

                Well of course if you both like the kind of man who tells the Russians, sotto voce, that they just need to wait until after the election and then things will change, then that is up to you.

                And if you like the kind of man that appoints a Right wing homophobic anti-Semite as Defense Secretary then that is of course up to you too.

                I don't like Obama, it's true, but he is President of the United States. And he has just appointed a man both sides dislike as his Defense Secretary, and this is about Israel and her safety, so if you cannot find anything to worry about there, then perhaps it's you who both have the ODS in the sense that you are both so smitten with him that you will never see the things he is doing and saying in a realistic light.

                
                

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        Beakerkin  Makabit • 2 days ago

        
        

        Actually, nobody accused GW of ever wavering on Israel. GW was Pro-Israel and did not waste his time with intransigent Arabs.

        The Cult of Obama says the Israelis should sell their security for the glory of the Cult. The Arabs do not want peace.

        
        

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    cba  Dcook • 2 days ago

    
    

    Just a couple of pedantic points (sorry): It was Abba Eban who (more or less) said that, not Golda Meir, and what he actually said was, "The Arabs never miss an opportunity to miss an opportunity." He said it in the days before "Palestinian" referred exclusively to the Arab inhabitants of the area. (As you know, prior to Israel's establishment, a "Palestinian" was a Jew who lived in the area.)

    Apart from that, I agree with your comment.

    
    

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  Biscuit Barrel • 2 days ago

  
  

  I have absolutely zero sympathy for the Palestinian cause. None whatsoever. I only have sympathy for the ordinary Palestinians - represented by scum at home and advocated for by scum abroad.

  
  

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    Lynne T  Biscuit Barrel • 2 days ago

    
    

    It never ceases to amaze me how blind most people are to the manipulation that has gone on around the displacement of Palestinians from 20% of Mandatory Palestine over 60 years ago. It's made very outrageously rich men out of scum like Arafat and Abbas and provide employment of various kinds, from creepy "activitsts" to outright bands of thugs who intimidate their opposition into silence or compliance. And I fear that there are elements in the aboriginal community here in Canada who have learned from the Palestinian "resistance". We have at the moment, the chief of a small band in Northern Ontario and some supporters on a hunger strike holding out for meetings with our PM and Governor General on a broader rights issue, while, at the same time she and her spokespeople are is refusing to make any statements about $80 million in funds provided to the band for which the band council has been unable to furnish the independent auditors sent in by the government of Canada with any documentation as where monies meant to alleviate the terrible housing situation on that reserve has gone. I'm sure there are people back in Attawapaskat who know but are likely unable to speak out for fear of reprisals, but little is being mentioned about this in the Canadian media. Instead the focus is on the sideshow that's grown up around the hunger strike under the brand "Idle No More".

    
    

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      vildechaye  Lynne T • a day ago

      
      

      Yes Lynne, I find the tactics and demands of the chiefs and the movement to be quite repulsive; and the cowtowing to their demands (e.g. not good enough to see the PM, the GG must attend too," etc etc) even more revolting.

      
      

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        Lynne T  vildechaye • 18 hours ago

        
        

        Terry Malewski, one of the CBC's few good reporters had two things to say about Theresa Spense and her entourage -- that Spense has no idea how to get things done in the modern world and that her PR team are quite incapable of communicating on her behalf.

        
        

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  Hunt S Cross • 2 days ago

  
  

  100% factual and logical.

  
  

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  Colin • 2 days ago

  
  

  How recent is the photograph? What's the occasion? Who's in the photo with Abbas?.

  
  

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    Fasdunkle  Colin • 2 days ago

    
    

    the speech abbas read at the UN recently was printed on headed paper showing a map of "Palestine" - no Israel.

    
    

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    TorontoBobby  Colin • 2 days ago

    
    

    Colin,

    The photo is from a Palestinian Youth Conference in
    Ramallah, April 27, 2009. According to Palestinian Media Watch, the photo was published in both official PA newspapers. I chose this photo because it was made for publication and shows up nicely, but as Fasdunkle notes, the PA erases Israel from the map as a matter of course.

    By the way, Abbas told the conference delegates: “A Jewish State, what is that supposed to mean? You can call yourselves as you like, but I don’t accept it
    and I say so publically. All I know is that there is the State of Israel, in the borders of 1967, not one centimeter less. Anything else I don’t accept.” (http://www.palwatch.org/main.a...

    You might say it’s good that Abbas does accept Israel within “the borders of 1967” (meaning the Armistice line of 1948). But his rejection of Israel as a Jewish state is a rejection of Israel’s legitimacy. And along
    with Abbas’s “acceptance” of Israel comes the notion that it’s really all Palestine and the hope that sometime soon it will all be Palestinian once
    again.

    
    

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      stephen rothbart  TorontoBobby • 2 days ago

      
      

      So we go round and round in circles. The world tries to push Israel into a two state solution which the Arabs will not accept because they do not accept the concept of Israel.

      So the world punishes Israel for not trying harder.

      After Alamein, Churchill remarked that the victory was "not the end. It is not even the
      beginning of the end. but it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning."

      With the Peace process, I doubt very much there was even a start of the beginning. And it is indeed the end.

      
      

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        vildechaye  stephen rothbart • a day ago

        
        

        RE: And it is indeed the end.

        Meaningless, alarmist, hysterical drivel.

        
        

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          stephen rothbart  vildechaye • 19 hours ago

          
          

          Well well, look who has shown up again with his informed rebuttal of my views.

          
          

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      Colin  TorontoBobby • a day ago

      
      

      How strange of Abbas to allow himself to be photographed displaying a Hamas wish-map. If that - and not the 1967 borders - is his bargaining position, he might as resign and hand over to Hamas whose retrospective claim is for a good chunk of Turkish empire from 'the river to the sea'.

      
      

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  Sebastapol • 2 days ago

  
  

  "88 percent believe that the results of the confrontation in Gaza prove that armed struggle is the best means of achieving Palestinian independence."

  Not really that surprising - it's difficult to see what other message would be taken from Pillar of Defence.

  There was no ground invasion. There was a relaxation of the blockade. Tel Aviv was proven to be in range. Egypt continued to emerge as the natural political backer of Hamas.
  This wasn't a bad war for them, especially compared to the disaster of Cast Lead.

  Meanwhile, literally hours after having granted those concessions to a militant Gaza, 50 arrests made in the West Bank.

  
  

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  Kellie Strøm • 2 days ago

  
  

  Brian writes: "The Oslo Accords state that parties who pursue their aims through unlawful means (such as terrorism) or that are racist cannot run in Palestinian elections."

  I'm having trouble finding this clause in either Oslo 1 or Oslo 2. Can anyone give chapter and verse?

  
  

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    Commentary101  Kellie Strøm • 2 days ago

    
    

    Oslo II, Annex II, Article III:

    
    The nomination of any candidates, parties or coalitions will be refused, and such nomination or registration once made will be canceled, if such candidates, parties or coalitions:
    1. Commit or advocate racism; or -
    2. Pursue the implementation of their aims by unlawful or non-democratic means.

    
    You're welcome.
    

    
    

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      Kellie Strøm  Commentary101 • 21 hours ago

      
      

      Many thanks.

      
      

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  James Mendelsohn • 2 days ago

  
  

  Great piece.

  Question: can anyone please point me to an accurate online account of what was offered at Annapolis?

  
  

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  Lamia • 2 days ago

  
  

  An excellent piece, Bryan.

  Neither the Palestinian populace nor their supporters want peace, they want total victory and the Jews completely under a Muslim heel once more.

  So they don't really deserve sympathy. And there are far worse and actually real humanitarian problems in the world than in the supposed open-air concentration camp which in fact has a higher life expectancy than any other Arab population.

  
  

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    Lynne T  Lamia • 2 days ago

    
    

    Substantially higher. And by the same token, while the Palestinians are not immediately resposible for the vile treatment of Jews in other parts of the MENA, they are very prompt to deny or excuse treatment that dwarfs anything they experienced at Zionist hands in their name.

    
    

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  Fasdunkle • 2 days ago

  
  

  This is an interesting view - Israel's Jihad is Mine

  http://blogs.timesofisrael.com...

  
  

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    vildechaye  Fasdunkle • 2 days ago

    
    

    Excellent article by a Muslim woman whose intelligence is surpassed only by her bravery.

    
    

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    stephen rothbart  Fasdunkle • 2 days ago

    
    

    Yes fantastic. It would be good to know if her article appeared in any western mainstream media outlets or just in Israel.

    Or is it just hidden away so as not to put the politicians and Trade Unions to shame for endorsing such a heinous body of murderers.

    This woman embodies what I used to think about Islam before it was highjacked by intolerant racists, and groups like the Muslim Brotherhood, Obama's new best friends.

    
    

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      vildechaye  stephen rothbart • a day ago

      
      

      Always got to throw in a mention of Obama, don't you. See what I mean about ODS.... As for peahole, I don't know what it means, but it felt like the right thing to say at the time. Funny thing is, in spite of your obsessions and hysterics, i like you rothbart.

      
      

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        stephen rothbart  vildechaye • 19 hours ago

        
        

        Well with friends etc. etc... but you know we are not so far apart in our views as you think, only with regards Obama.

        Look, I am not comparing the man to a Hitler or a Stalin, I do not think he is evil. If he is anti-Israel that is his choice. Lots of people are, in fact I don't think he hates Israel as such, just thinks he knows better than they do how to run their country and in trying to push them into his way of the thinking is completely undermining her.

        Yes, I think he is a unscrupulous politician and severely under qualified to be President of the United States, but so are many of the politicians on both sides of the political divide.

        But like we had with Tony Blair, who was involved in a great deal of dubious, bordering on criminal actions for which he was never held to account by the adoring Press because he was a personable good-looking guy, I feel Obama gets a free ride for similar reasons, and he has been involved a lot of dubious actions even in his first four years.

        I hold just two opinions on his policies and I felt them before the election: that is he is a "Clear and Present Danger" to the fortunes of Israel and second he is a "Clear and Present Danger" to the US economy.

        So as both these events affect me and my life I feel the need to do what the MSM refuses to do, which is to constantly draw attention to certain things he does as often as I can.

        And I did not invent the endorsement of the MB by the White House. It has been reported in many of the publications and by Arab commentators warning against it, as much as by right wing publications.

        I think it is important to put Obama's actions in their proper context, not because I don't like him much, but because he is the President of the United States, once one of the most influential nations in the Free World, but fast losing that status. And that's it.

        
        

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  Commentary101 • 2 days ago

  
  

  Great piece!
  And, joining the other commentators with the same spirit, I must say that the discussion in Israel, presently, revolves around one key fault of Oslo: The import, for sake of governance, into the WB, of a ragtag band of murders -- the PLO.
  (It is worth noting, I think, that by 1991, Arafat, with his uncompromising support for S. Hussein, had become one of the most hated -- and marginalised -- figures in the Arab world. 
  He had established, with remnants of the PFLP, a sanctuary in Tunisia; whence he was inserted into the West Bank... And the rest, as they say, is History)..
  The idea, that an organisation whose raison d'etre has always been Israel's elimination could conceivably reform into a democratic, civil prototype of a future state, is as absurd now, as it was all those years ago(Oslo's 20th anniversary is coming up).
  Here, I fear, Israel is at least partly to blame. It preferred the easier option, of placating the extremists and the most vociferous of agents, instead of trying to cultivate however slowly, patiently, abidingly, Democratic Palestinian self-government from the grassroots level.

  I am afraid that Oslo's shadow now casts itself as Israelis referring to Abbas & Co., affectionately, as the "Killers of Tunis" -- they're not mistaken in that characterisation.

  
  

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    Lee Ratner  Commentary101 • a day ago

    
    

    The best time to have finally settled the Israeli-Palestinian conflict was about the time of the Israeli-Egyptian peace treaty. Begin had some plans to set up an autonomous government in Gaza and the West Bank and for that to be included in the treaty. It got left out because the Palestinians wanted no part of it, partly because of their non-recognition strategy and partly because Begin's plans did not give the autonomous government a lot of power.

    If the Palestinians took up Begin's offer, the Palestinians could have learned how to govern themselves and live peacefully in Israel. Since it would have been part of a wider Israel-Arab peace plan, there would be more pressure to keep in good faith, probably. Within a decade, Palestine might have been a state.

    
    

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      Commentary101  Lee Ratner • a day ago

      
      

      Excellent points, thanks.
      The mainspring of my argument, was that Arafat shouldn't have been admitted into the WB & Gaza.
      Thereafter, we got terrorism, and the festering problem we've got, today.

      
      

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  Sarka • 2 days ago

  
  

  Excellent article. The question is, where does Israel go from here?

  
  

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    Petra Marquardt-Bigman  Sarka • 2 days ago

    
    

    Not that I have a serious answer, but unseriously, I'm tempted to say: Hah! We are going nowhere! We are staying put! The Palestinians proudly call it "sumud", steadfastness, and all the world admires them for it -- but yes, we can do it too: Netanyahu the Palestinian:http://www.project-syndicate.o...

    
    

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      Sarka  Petra Marquardt-Bigman • a day ago

      
      

      Interesting and persuasive link, thank you.

      Though it's rather tangential here, I'm coming to the conclusion that behind much blindly anti-Israeli feeling in the West there is, apart from the usual conscious or more often unconscious antisemitic elements - an effort to preserve illusions about human nature.

      Seeing the IP situation for what it is means facing the ugly truth about Palestinian, and more broadly Arab eliminationist, even genocidal, attitudes to Israel/Jews. This is just too painful and demoralising for many people, especially on the left which typically has greater investment in belief in the goodness of human nature, and so in this case cannot entertain the truth because just formulating it seems like committing the sin of racism. And perversely, it is through the logic of evasion that they get mired in an antisemitism.that some of them disingenuously, but others sincerely, deny.

      Of course it is not racism: we are talking cultural and political attitudes and mentalities here, not biology; nobody suggests that all Palestinians/Arabs are equally, uniformly eliminationist - only that such attitudes are deep-seated and quite characteristic, and are a major driver of behaviour and - to put it mildly - circumscribe the possibilities of negotiation.

      The trouble is, that the much extended concepts of racism now popular on the lib/left - including any unflattering views of culture, characteristic (if not uniform) attitudes and of course religion, in addition to their other problematic aspects, do genuinely disable realistic understanding of IP.

      
      

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        NicoleS  Sarka • a day ago

        
        

        Spot on again, Sarka. It's the old story of left wing people wanting to feel good about themselves. Fine, until that becomes the most important consideration.

        
        

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        Lee Ratner  Sarka • a day ago

        
        

        I think that a lot of liberals do recognize that there lots of bad parts of Arab/Muslim culture. I think they are reluctant to openly criticize it because they think it'll only make the problem worse; cause the Arab/Muslim societies to go further into their shells. They also think that there isn't anything that could be realistically done to bring about change from the outside. Arabs and Muslims are going to have liberalize themselves and this is going to take awhile.

        
        

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      NicoleS  Petra Marquardt-Bigman • a day ago

      
      

      Thanks for a fascinating link, Petra. Do you think Netanyahu is becoming more popular at home, if not abroad?

      
      

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    Lee Ratner  Sarka • a day ago

    
    

    At this point, I'm favoring some sort of unilateral withdrawal and containment from the WB. Israel should just leave the WB as much as possible and say its a free state. Allow the Palestinians to form relations with any power they want even Iran. At the same time the security barrier should be maintained.

    
    

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      Sarka  Lee Ratner • a day ago

      
      

      It's an understandable point of view, but the example of the unilateral withdrawal from Gaza is not encouraging. , with the security risks to Israel even greater in the very likely event of things going wrong.

      
      

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        stephen rothbart  Sarka • 20 hours ago

        
        

        Yes, exactly Sarka and Lee Ratner's security fence will certainly help when Hamas start firing rockets from the West Bank as well as Gaza.

        
        

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  Fasdunkle • 2 days ago

  
  

  Abbas remembers some dodgy folk

  http://www.algemeiner.com/2013...

  
  

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  Carl Williams • a day ago

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  Excellent stuff, well done Sir.

  
  

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