From Michael Totten in South Lebanon
Michael Totten and Noah Pollack visit South Lebanon guided by Said and Henry, who work for the Lebanese Committee for UNSCR 1559, an NGO which closely advises the Lebanese government and the international community on the disarmament of illegal militias in Lebanon. From the safety of the Christian village of Ein Ebel just outside Bint Jbail, Henry discusses the situation in Lebanon.
“We have been screaming about this conflict for 30 years now,” Henry said as he dealt himself a hand of Solitaire from a deck of cards in his pocket. “But no one ever listened to us. Not until September 11. Now you know how we feel all the time. You have to keep up the pressure. You can never let go, not for one day, one hour, not for one second. The minute you let go, Michael, they will fight back and get stronger. This is the problem with your foreign policy.”
“Since 1975 we have been fighting for the free world,” Said said. “We are on the front lines. Why doesn’t the West understand this? America can withdraw from Iraq, you can go back to Oregon, but we are stuck here. We have to stay and live with what happens.”
More of Arafat's legacy. He sowed chaos and death wherever he strode.
In retrospect, though, it's interesting to note that Arafat's use of Lebanon for war against Israel - a Sunni incursion - was soon followed by the Iranian revolution.
We are still living in the aftermath of these two disastrous events.
Arafat and Khomeini in hell looking up at the world, at Gaza, at South Lebanon, at Jenin, at parts of Iraq:
Arafat says to Khomeini:
This is the world that we made. Isn't it wonderful?Labels: Arafat, Iran, Islamism, Lebanon War
14 Members of the Carter Center Resign Due to Carter's Recent Book
From the letter sent by 14 members of the Carter Center announcing their resignation, now published in the WSJ:
The facts in dealing with the conflict are these: There are two national narratives contesting one piece of land. The Israelis, through deed and public comment, have consistently spoken of a desire to live in peace and make territorial compromise to achieve this status. The Palestinian side has consistently resorted to acts of terror as a national expression and elected parties endorsing the use of terror, the rejection of territorial compromise and of Israel's right to exist. Palestinian leaders have had chances since 1947 to have their own state, including during your own presidency when they snubbed your efforts.
Your book has confused opinion with fact, subjectivity with objectivity and force for change with partisan advocacy. Furthermore the comments you have made the past few weeks insinuating that there is a monolith of Jewish power in America are most disturbing and must be addressed by us. In our great country where freedom of expression is basic bedrock you have suddenly proclaimed that Americans cannot express their opinion on matters in the Middle East for fear of retribution from the "Jewish Lobby" In condemning the Jews of America you also condemn Christians and others for their support of Israel...
You wrote that UN Security Council Resolution 242 says that "Israel must withdraw from territories" (p. 38), but you know the word "must" in fact is not in the resolution. You said that since Mahmoud Abbas has been in office there have been no peace discussions. That is wrong. You wrote that Yassir Arafat told you in 1990 that, "The PLO has never advocated the annihilation of Israel" (p. 62). Given that their Charter, which explicitly calls for Israel's destruction, was not revised until the late 1990s, how could you even write such a claim as if it were credible?
You denied on Denver radio on December 12 that Palestinian Prime Minister Haniyah said he would never accept or negotiate with Israel. However the BBC monitoring service reported just the opposite. In fact Haniyah said: "We will never recognize the usurper Zionist government and will continue our jihadist movement until Bayt al-Maqdis (Jerusalem) and the Al-Aqsa Mosque are liberated. When presented with this fact you said, "No he didn't say that, no he did not do that, I did not hear that." These are not points of opinion, these are points of fact...
In other words, in the world according to Carter, even if Haniyah said it, he can't hear it...la,la,la,la,la.
So, it's an open question for now, I think. Is the man, now in his early 80s, going senile, or is he merely letting his true instincts out; or has senility removed his reticence to flaunt certain aspects of himself that have always been there.
Labels: anti-semitism, Arafat, Carter, Haniyeh
Squick to the Millionth Degree
In his new book,
Terry MacAuliffe reports that Arafat repeatedly rubbed his leg under the table at a dinner in Washington in 2000.
The idea of this has me gagging into my cereal. It's Arafat. Rubbing leg. Enough said.
Oriana Fallaci was the first, I believe, to report that Arafat was gay; she observed the eye-contact and body language between him and his bodyguard during her interview with him.
Here's also a very interesting book review on the current state of Islam and homosexuality; it is a fairly informative review dealing with how fundamentalism has complicated the situation for homosexuals in Islam, a phenomenon that had long been tolerated. See too
here.Labels: Arafat, Homosexuality, Islamic culture
A Moment of Infamy
I get why the Ultra Orthodox in general and naturei karta in particular are anti-Zionist, because they believe that God will bring the Messiah and the return of the Jewish people to Israel in his own time and He cannot be hastened. Moreover, to their minds, a secular Jewish nation in Israel is only going to delay the coming of the Messiah.
However, what I don't understand is, theologically speaking, how does Naturei Karta justify Holocaust denialism.
Or, is it only that, like Ahmadinejad, they don't believe the Holocaust should have led to the development of Israel and that Jews (except them, of course) should have stayed in exile in Europe?
Or, do they want Ahmadinejad to destroy the secular state of Israel in order to bring the apocalypse and the Jewish messiah?
In short, does anyone know what their halakhic "reasoning" is specifically for Holocaust denial, which is aberrant in an altogether different way than treating with the enemies of secular Israel, such as Arafat?
Labels: Arafat, Iran, Israel, Naturei Karta
