Arab Spring has Turned
Autumnal
by Jeffrey Goldberg
The
Middle East is plunging toward crisis. The early promise of Tahrir Square has
been supplanted by dismay that the Egyptian authorities -- such as they are --
allowed mobs to lay siege to the Israeli embassy in Cairo this past weekend.
Not
long ago, Turkey and Israel were strategic partners. Now, relations between
those two key U.S. allies are in ruins. When a recent United Nations report on
the deadly confrontation between the Israeli military and a flotilla of
Gaza-bound activists that sparked this crisis largely exonerated Israel, Turkey
reacted by threatening to send warships to the eastern Mediterranean.
And
the Jewish state faces a miserable month at the UN, where the Palestinians, who
have refused to meet Israel at the negotiating table, are planning to seek
recognition as an independent state, with potentially catastrophic consequences
for both sides.
“As
the months of Arab Spring have turned autumnal, Israel has increasingly become
a target of public outrage,” the New York Times’ Ethan Bronner wrote this
weekend from Jerusalem. “Some here say Israel is again being made a scapegoat,
this time for unfulfilled revolutionary promises. But there is another
interpretation, and it is the predominant one abroad - Muslims, Arabs and
indeed many around the globe believe Israel is unjustly occupying Palestinian
territories, and they are furious at Israel for it.” (The
third interpretation, which is supported by the history of the conflict, is
that Arabs never were interested in peace with Jews. Since 1920s Arabs have
been systematically and quite successfully undermining and destroying the
inspiration for Jewish homeland - Eretz-Israel!)
It Obviously Got Very bad, Very Quickly
At least 23
people were killed and more than 100 were wounded in Cairo as security forces
fought Christian protesters demonstrating against the burning of a church in
the south of the country. The ruling military council has promised to protect
all Egyptians while the country deals with a transition between a revolution
and elections, but Egypt's minority Christians say the council is doing nothing
to stop attacks on their churches and people by radical Islamists.
Islamist Winds in Egypt - No Jews Allowed
For the first time in
recent history, Egypt has decided to completely bar Jews from visiting the tomb
of Rabbi Yaakov Abuhatzeira, head of the dynasty that included Rabbi Yisrael
Abuhatzeira, the famed “Baba Sali.”
Food for Thought by Steven Shamrak
I hate
anti-Semitic stupidity of anti-Israel idiots! They have complete contempt of
the facts of history, never question words or actions of Israel’s enemies as
Arab propaganda, but always insist that Jews must prove every point they make
in Israel’s defence, which are immediately dismissed and delegitimised as
Zionist propaganda, without due consideration. Even pictures of the proposed by
PA/PLO/Hamas map of
The Obama
administration is in "intensive" discussion with lawmakers to release
$200 million in blocked aid to the PA. Congressmen Gary Ackerman, a member of
the House Foreign Relations Committee, is saying that “if the PA is willing to
place its fate in the hands of the UN, perhaps they should also seek aid from
the UN.” State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland
said “We still have some money in the pipeline…” US Secretary of Defence Leon Panetta insisting the funds have helped
improve
Settlement Freeze or No Talks
Nabil Abu Rudeineh,
a spokesman for PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas said “A return to negotiations requires a commitment
by
Turkish warships have been harassing Israeli merchant vessels in
waters off
"It is silly to talk about a Jewish state," French President
Sarkozy said in reference to Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu's assertion no
true peace could be made until officials in Ramallah accepted Israel's
essential Jewish identity. "It would be like saying that this table is
Catholic." (The idiot has compared state of
Israel with a table! But it is not idiotic to ban wearing burkas to protect the
French character of his country.)
PA officials slammed the freeze of $200 million in aid by US lawmakers
while protesters hurl shoes at US diplomats in Ramallah.
Ayatollah
Pulling Plug on Ahmadinejad
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the driving force
behind
Quote of the Week:
“The PLO considers that the signing of the Declaration of Principles
constitutes a historic event, inaugurating a new epoch of peaceful coexistence,
free from violence and all other acts which endanger peace and stability.
Accordingly, the PLO renounces the use of terrorism and other acts of violence
and will assume responsibility over all PLO elements and personnel in order to
assure their compliance, prevent violations and
discipline violators.” - Letter from Arafat to Prime Minister Rabin -
The Greater Goal Cannot be Accomplished in One Go
Following are excerpts from an
interview with Abbas Zaki, member of the Fatah
Central Committee, which aired on the Al-Jazeera network on
Abbas Zaki:
The settlement should be based upon the borders of
If
Who is nervous, upset, and angry
now? Netanyahu, Lieberman, and Obama... All those
scumbags. Why even get into this? We should be happy to see
If we say that we want to wipe