With 78 percent of Jewish voters going for President Obama in the 2008 election despite his tendency to trivialize Jewish-Americans’ concerns about Israel’s security, is it any mystery that during the past two years, the U.S. President has repeatedly sought to de-legitimize Jewish communities in the West Bank, and even in Jerusalem? Even more important, by all appearances, he is leaving Israel to deal with Iran alone. Of course, Congress has passed tough sanctions, but most observers agree such sanctions are coming years too late to arrest Iran’s nuclear program.
Human rights leader Simon Deng, a former Sudanese national swimming champion and escaped slave, has launched his 250-mile freedom walk from the United Nations to Washington D.C. this week to gain U.S. support for the independence of South Sudan.
A mere 70 years after the last attempted annihilation of the Jewish people, a rogue regime that has threatened a nuclear Holocaust races to gain nuclear capability. Most of the world looks the other way. A few nations and their leaders mouth words of support for Israel and her people, while adopting policies of appeasement.
Just wanted to share this video of a Jewish high school student facing an angry mob of pro-Palestinian demonstrators in Los Angeles following the interception of the flotilla.
Over the weekend the Times of London reported that unnamed Saudi government officials have indicated Saudi Arabia has taken measures to enable Israel to use Saudi airspace for a preemptive strike against Iran’s nuclear facilities. Read about it here.
My latest piece, in today’s Washington Examiner, unpacks the Gaza flotilla incident. In it, I quote Dr. Ephraim Sneh, Israel’s former deputy defense minister, who when I interviewed him last week in Herzliya told me, “In the Diaspora, Jews asked for permission. We did not build a state to ask for permission [to defend ourselves].” (He said that as a general statement and not in reference to the flotilla incident, which had not yet occurred. But I think it is applicable here).
Hindsight is 20/20, and there are probably things that Israel could have done better in intercepting the flotilla. (Things can always be done better). One friend, in our discussions on the subject, lamented that the Israeli commandos appear to have been initially overwhelmed (”Israel should have seen this coming a mile away that these were not ‘peace activists’ and that they might be violent. It looks terrible that Israel didn’t know,” my friend says).
But after their initial missteps, the Israeli commandos were, at least, able to defend themselves. While some of us are engaging in Monday morning quarterbacking/analysis (a Jewish tradition if ever there was one), perhaps we should consider how things might have been a whole lot worse. As far as world reaction, well, it is inappropriate for Israelis to ask for permission, or seek approval, for defending themselves. With the respect for human life that is always Israel’s policy, Israelis must do what they need to in order to neutralize threats to life and limb.
Yesterday I appeared on Securefreedom radio, the Center for Security Policy’s radio show, discussing with host Frank Gaffney the attempted Times Square terror bombing and the Baghdad recount. Frank engaged me in some interesting back and forth about NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s off-the-cuff speculation regarding the likely identity and motivation of the would-be car bomber. To my on-air comments I would add that clearly our Mayor is a brilliant manager and businessman, but perhaps he should leave the counter-terrorism analysis to others. You can listen to the show here.
Last week an Iraqi court ruled that sufficient evidence of likely fraud in Iraq’s March 7 election exists to warrant a recount of the votes in Baghdad. In yesterday’s American Spectator I published this piece on alleged fraud likely perpetrated by Iran and Saudi Arabia in the election. Iraqi Parliamentarian Mithal al-Alusi, a fearless champion of human rights and of normalized relations between Israel and Iraq, believes the elections were indeed corrupted by radical regimes in the mideast that are using Iraq as their battleground.
During the run-up to the 2008 election, one of the most disturbing and ominous indicators for those of us who care about Israel’s security was a statement made by an advisor to President Obama’s campaign named Zbigniew Brzezinski, who had served as national security advisor to former President Jimmy Carter.
Hillary Clinton received a warm welcome and standing ovations this morning from nearly 7500 AIPAC delegates–or citizen lobbyists–from across the U.S. as she delivered a highly anticipated speech that heavily addressed last week’s diplomatic flap between the Obama and Netanyahu administrations.
Today the New York Post published my piece on Iraqi Parliamentarian Mithal al-Alusi’s contention that Iran is tampering with votes to fix the Iraqi election.
Is it just me, or does anyone else think last week’s drama surrounding Vice President Joe Biden’s supposed “embarrassment” and Hillary Clinton’s rage over an Israeli decision to build 1600 apartments in East Jerusalem seems manufactured?
Last Thursday the Lawfare Project, a non-profit founded by attorney Brooke Goldstein to confront “lawfare,” held a conference that assembled a remarkable constellation of legal lights to examine the ways jihadists are attempting to hijack Western legal systems—and to fight back, legally.
In the election’s aftermath, Mithal al-Alusi, an Iraqi Parliamentarian up for re-election, told a member of the Australian media he thanks former U.S. President George W. Bush and former British Prime Minister Tony Blair. Here is what he said:
Late last month, the Dhaka home of Bangladeshi journalist Salah Uddin Shoaib Choudhury, publisher and editor of that country’s largest weekly newspaper, The Weekly Blitz, was broken into. Police in Dhaka have done nothing to investigate the incident.
During this week of uprising that left 12 pro-democracy protestors dead in Iran, the sister of Nobel laureate Shirin Ebadi, a human rights attorney and activist, was detained by the Iranian government because of her sister’s human rights work, according to Ebadi.
This Christmas Day, the Jerusalem Post features my piece on Iran’s nuclear program, specifically the warnings of Iraqi Parliamentarian Mithal al-Alusi, who says it is possible that Iran is only weeks away from nuclear capability.
“Those who are prone by character or temperament to seek sharp and clear-cut solutions of difficult and obscure problems, who are ready to fight whenever some challenge comes from a foreign Power, have not always been right. On the other hand, those whose inclination is to bow their heads, to seek patiently and faithfully for peaceful compromise, are not always wrong. On the contrary, in the majority of instances they may be right, not only morally but from a practical standpoint. How many wars have been averted by patience and persisting goodwill! Religion and virtue alike lend their sanctions to meekness and humility, not only between men but between nations. How many wars have been precipitated by firebrands? How many misunderstandings which led to wars could have been removed by temporising! …
Just watched this video clip from FOX News of former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani discussing the impending trial of high level al Qaeda operatives, including 9/11 master planner Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, in New York City.
Late last month, the Dhaka home of Bangladeshi journalist Salah Uddin Shoaib Choudhury, publisher and editor of that country’s largest weekly newspaper, The Weekly Blitz, was broken into. Police in Dhaka have done nothing to investigate the incident.
