Bring Pollard to Israel

More than 50,000 people have signed a letter calling on United States President Barack Obama to free Jonathan Pollard. An ongoing campaign to free Pollard has gone into high gear in light of Obama’s plan to visit Israel in March.

Jonathan Pollard was given a sentence of life in prison for passing classified defense-related information to Israel. His supporters say his sentence is unusually harsh for the crime of revealing classified information to a friendly state.

The petition states, “Jonathan Pollard has now served 28 years of a life sentence in American prisons. A few short weeks from now, he will mark his 10,000th day in jail. Both he and Israel have repeatedly expressed remorse.  We have learned our lesson and have been living with the painful consequences for nearly 3 decades.” (Jonathan Polard’s crime was that he had provided Israel with information about enemies of the Jewish state, which the United States agreed to supply but withheld from Israel. During his trial judge even dismissed a plea-bargain and gave him a harsh life sentence. Even Soviet spies were not held in the US prison for so long!)

Food for Thought by Steven Shamrak

The old religious hate-conflict between Shiites and Sunnis has been invigorated again. The major players, Iran and Saudi Arabia, have been using their Islamic proxies, like Hezbollah and Al Qaeda, to wage it. Western democracies should not be involved in so-called Arab Spring and civil war in Syria. Regardless of which side wins, we will be blamed, and already are, for the results of their idiotic blood-thirsty nature and intolerance!

Iran Accelerates Nuclear Bomb program

The US slammed as “provocative” the installment of 180 advanced centrifuge at Iran’s main uranium enrichment site at Natanz. The UN nuclear atomic agency in its latest report confirmed that the new IR-2m centrifuges can enrich three to five times faster than the outdated machines in use at Natanz until now. The report's findings "prove that Iran continues to advance quickly to the red line" which Israel considers intolerable.

IDF Sends Helicopter to Save Life of PA Arab Rioter

Israeli taxpayers laid out tens of thousands of shekels to transport to hospital by helicopter a hurt Arab rioter who attacked IDF soldiers. The number of riots by PA Arabs had climbed significantly, as had the number of injured Arab rioters. Consequently, the number of Arab rioters Israel is treating in its hospitals had also grown considerably. (This hunanitarian act of Israel the international press does not report!)

Syrian Isamists ‘Helping’ Israel Fight Hezbollah

Hezbollah's deputy chief Naim Qassem was killed last Tuesday when Syrian rebels bombed a convoy consisting of high-ranking Syrian government officers near the Lebanon border. Qassem had served as the deputy to Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah.

Storm in a Cup of Tea - Australia was Informed

Australia’s Fairfax Media quoted a “well-placed source familiar with the case” as saying Israeli intelligence had told Australian officials about the 2010 arrest of Zygier, a dual Australian-Israeli citizen dubbed Prisoner X. (It does not matter if he was a traitor, double agent or working for ASIS. His arrest was kept secret, most likely, to save Australia from embarrassment - that is probably why the Australian government maintained a ‘plausible deniability’ status in this case!)

At the same time: Austrian Hostage in Yemen

An Austrian man, Dominik Neubauer, kidnapped in Yemen late last year with a Finnish couple said in a video posted on the Internet that his captors would kill him in a week if their demands were not met. (And this is not front-page news!)

Israel Successfully Tested Arrow III Interceptor

A successfully test of the next-generation of the Arrow (Hetz) ballistic missile interceptor represented a powerful upgrade of Israel’s multi-tier missile defense system. The system is designed to defend against medium-range missiles that could be fired from countries such as Iran. The Pentagon’s missile defense agency and the US company Boeing are partners in Arrow project. (This is another example how both the US and Israel benefit from mutual co-operation.)

Here We Go Again: Rocket Fired from the Gaza Strip

A rocket fired from the Gaza Strip (26 February 2013) has landed in southern Israel - the first such attack since shortly after a ceasefire ended eight days of clashes in November, Israeli police say. Meanwhile, a senior Hamas leader, Salah al-Bardawil, urged the kidnapping of Israeli soldiers saying that, “a new Palestinian Intifada is about to break out in support of prisoners." Fahd El-Lil (Night's Leopard), Fatah-linked group, issued a statement claiming responsibility for the attack. (Hamas and Fatah are unwilling to change their hateful nature. it is certain that anti-Semitic idiots, especially in the UN, will find justification for this attack and will blame Israel for any retaliation that follow!)

PA: “Too Soon” for Soccer Match with Israel

The head of the PA’s soccer federation said that it is "too soon" for a match against Israel, as suggested by Barcelona club president Sandro Rosell. Several months ago Hamas reacted furiously after the Barcelona soccer team invited Gilad Shalit to attend a Barcelona-Real Madrid derby. (Not long ago the world was ‘infuriated’ when fans of the Zionist soccer club, Maccabee, protested against inviting an Arab player. Anti-Semites never object to anti-Israel discrimination! How many Jewish players are playing in Arab sport clubs?)

John Kerry - Another Delusional or Bad Poker Player

A new US Secretary of State, John Kerry, insisted there is still a "diplomatic path" to be forged with Iran on its disputed nuclear program, as world powers and Tehran met for a new round of talks. (As usual, as normal people expected, the talks produced no result but another agreement to meet in two months - see below.)

Egypt Court Ordered Destruction of Tunnels to Gaza

A Cairo court has ruled the government must destroy all tunnels between Egypt and the Gaza Strip. Egypt's ruling Muslim Brotherhood has close ties with the Hamas movement that runs Gaza, but many Egyptians fear the enclave is a security risk for Egypt. President Mohammed Morsi's national security adviser, Essam Haddad, has said Egypt will not tolerate the two-way flow of smuggled arms through the tunnels that is destabilizing its Sinai Peninsula. An estimated 30 percent of goods that reach Gaza's 1.7m Palestinians come through the tunnels, circumventing a blockade imposed by Israel and Egypt for more than seven years. (This ruling shows that Muslim countries can fight terrorism effectively when they want! But, could it be just about tunnel tax which is collected by Hamas at the moment? And no one complains about the Egyptian blockade, just the Israeli one.)

System does Work when Good Laws are Enforced

A combination of the desire to return home and the implementation of the amendment to the 1954 “infiltrators law” has lead several hundred asylum- seekers, possibly as many as a 1,000, to leave Israel for Sudan in the past six or seven months. (Most of the illegal infiltrators into Israel are economic migrants - otherwise they would stay in refugee camps in Africa and would not take the dangerous and expensive journey through Sinai.)

Israel’s Prison is Place to Receive Good Education

Over the years, many of Arab prisoners have obtained academic degrees, including a doctorate awarded to prominent Fatah leader Marwan Al-Barghouti. The Education Committee states that it has managed to implement the studies project in all Israeli prisons, including an expansion of available programs and degrees. According to data recently published by the Education Committee, 361 high school diplomas approved by the Gaza Education Ministry were granted to prisoners in the last two years. Some 25% Of Palestinian Prisoners Receive High School And College Education In Israeli Prisons. (Some Palestinians deliberately commit minor offences in order to receive proper education in Israeli prisons!)

Fake Negotiations are Camouflage for Inaction

World powers and Iran have ended their two-day meeting on the country's nuclear program in the Kazakh city of Almaty without breakthrough, according to a Western official. Saeed Jalili, Iran's chief nuclear negotiator said that all sides agreed to meet in the same city on April 5-6 after first gathering their nuclear experts for consultations in Istanbul, Turkey, in March.

Quote(s) of the Week:

“Anything that is theoretically possible will be achieved in practice, no matter what the technical difficulties, if it is desired greatly enough.” - Arthur C. Clarke, “Profiles of Future” - This viewpoint is applicable to any aspect of life. The creation and survival of the Jewish state is one example. Immigration of Jews from the Soviet Union, in spite of the fact that it contradicted the main principle of Communism, equality of the nations, is another one.

Agreements Never Honored by PA - Terror is!

by Aaron Klein (27 Feb, 21013)

President Obama will visit Israel in March. Obama’s planned visit to Israel already has secured Israeli and Palestinian pledges to restart so-called land-for-peace talks, according to informed Palestinian and Israeli officials. As usual, the PA is getting ready for the negotiations by re-activating its terror apparatus!

The high committee of Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas’ Fatah party made a quiet decision yesterday to stop disarming members of the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades terrorist group. The decision to allow the Brigades, Fatah’s so-called military wing, to bear arms is in violation of a 2007 amnesty agreement signed with Israel that requires Brigades members to completely disarm.

The security source further divulged a Fatah decision to allow the Brigades and other gunmen to carry out what is being described as “low-grade” attacks, meaning stoning throwing and Molotov cocktail attacks aimed at Israeli forces in the West Bank.

The Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades in recent days has held two armed marches, one in the Balata camp in Nablus and another in the Askar camp on the outskirts of Nablus in the northern West Bank. The marches, the first of their kind since 2007, also violate the terms of the amnesty agreement signed with Israel.

Perhaps as part of the strategy of violence as a pressure tactic, the PA this week released from its prisons at least 12 members of the Hamas and Islamic Jihad terrorist groups who were captured in recent months. The move comes as the executive committee of the PLO earlier this month formally endorsed the use of what it called “popular resistance” - a phrase tacitly green lighting the use of demonstrations, stone throwing and Molotov cocktails.

PS: Mahmoud Abbas said a week ago that he and Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal have reached agreement on the need for a ‘peaceful’ intifada. (Destruction of Israel is the only subject Hamas and Fatah are agreed on!)