December 2009 Archives

Where's our leadership?
By Charles Jacobs

We are a small people. We have multiple and powerful external enemies. Striving for Jewish political unity is our natural and rational impulse. Criticizing other Jewish leaders and mainstream Jewish organizations is usually just not done.

But these are extraordinary times. We face daunting challenges for which there are no known answers. Chief among them are Islamic anti-Semitism and the global jihad that pose enormous, unanticipated threats to Jews around the world.

In my last column I criticized the Anti-Defamation League and its head, Abraham Foxman, for its inadequate response to these threats. In truth, it is not only the ADL that is failing: Few Jewish leaders and almost no mainstream organizations have alerted our community that we face a radically new and potentially existential threat profile.

Jews are caught up in a perfect storm: In Western societies, real danger to Jews no longer comes from Christian hatred of Judaism or from Nazi-like animus against our "race"; it comes instead from a hatred of the Jewish state and its Jewish supporters. That this animus comes mostly from the ideological left, with which a majority of Jews identify, is painful and confusing to many.

At the same time, blowing in from the Muslim world is a different sort of anti-Semitism, one which combines modern anti-Zionist themes with primordial Islamic theological hatred. Jew-hatred now drives countless masses around the globe. Imbibing this poison, Muslim radicals have attacked and murdered Jewish people from Israel to Europe, from India to Seattle.

Islamic hatred has indeed come to America. In 1999, Sufi Sheikh Hisham Kabanni, head of the Supreme Islamic Council, testified to the State Department that 80 percent of American mosques are in the hands of radicals. A study by Freedom House, a Washington, D.C. policy center, found Saudi-produced anti-Semitic literature in Islamic Centers around the country. "Close Guantanamo, Re-open Auschwitz" has been shouted by Muslims at anti-Israel demonstrations in Fort Lauderdale and posted on Boston based Muslim Web sites.

Jewish leaders, at least at the national level, are not blind to these threats. Two years ago at an international conference on global anti- Semitism in Jerusalem, the heads of many major American Jewish organizations heard speakers like Robert Wistrich, the director of Hebrew University's Vidal Sassoon International Center for the Study of Antisemitism, who described Muslim Judeophobia as an existential threat. Last March, Wistrich wrote in Haaretz that "the scale and extremism of the literature and commentary available in Arab or Muslim newspapers, journals, magazines, caricatures, on Islamist websites, on the Middle Eastern radio and TV news, in documentaries, films, and educational materials, is comparable only to that of Nazi Germany at its worst." Through the Internet, this material is available to Muslims living among us here.

Because the mainstream media for various reasons downplay these threats, Jews who depend on The New York Times, The Boston Globe or CNN mostly don't see how our situation has been radically altered. And so the question remains: If they know, why haven't our leaders told us?

I suggest three reasons. First is a fear of being attacked as racists, bigots and Islamophobes - a line of attack that has been particularly effective against Jewish organizations. Second is a fear of being targeted for "defamation" suits like the one launched against activists and media outlets in Boston who reported on, or asked questions about the radical connections of leaders of the Saudi-funded Roxbury mosque. "Lawfare" works: Legal defense costs can be crippling. But I think the real reason that our leaders are silent is that they simply don't know what to do. Rather than admit this, they stay mum and mostly limit their public efforts to issuing reports and posting on their Web sites.

In this context, the letter to the Advocate by ADL's New England head, Derreck Shulman - in which he protests that I am "unaware of ADL's activism" against radical Islam - was a bit disappointing. Shulman points to articles about Islamic extremists and Arab anti-Jewish cartoons on ADL's Web site, instances of Congressional testimony and consultations with world leaders. Surely this is not a serious effort for an operation with a $50 million annual budget that claims to be our chief defender. Where is the big-picture strategy?

I don't blame Derrick - in fact his letter exposing CAIR (Committee on American Islamic Relations) just published in the Globe is a step in the right direction. The problem resides in New York. Should Jews not expect Foxman - and our other leaders - to level with us? To tell us what they know - about the penetration of the Muslim Brotherhood into our communities and about the proliferation of radical mosques across America, and about the intimidation?

Help us, Abe. We cannot continue with PC-denial and with timidity. Silence is potentially deadly. Let us face this challenge forthrightly, and together.

Charles Jacobs is president of Americans for Peace and Tolerance

This week Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas once again honored the memory of the terrorist Dalal Mughrabi - this time by sponsoring a ceremony celebrating the 50th anniversary of her birth. Mughrabi led the worst terror attack in Israel's history in 1978, when she and other terrorists hijacked a bus and killed 37 civilians. Present at the ceremony were Palestinian dignitaries and a children's marching band. Earlier this year, Abbas sponsored a computer center named after Mughrabi.

The PA further glorified Mughrabi on the date of her birth when the Governor of Ramallah announced the naming of the "Dalal Mughrabi Square".

An article by Fatah spokesman Jamal Nazal in the official PA daily defined the terrorist Mughrabi as "the heroine of Palestine's heroines."...

The Iranian football federation sent its Israeli counterpart a new year's greeting on Thursday, Army Radio reported, in what a Tehran official described as a mistake.

Mohammad Ali Ardebili, director of foreign relations for the Football Federation of the Islamic Republic of Iran, told Army Radio that he had not intended to send the missive to the Israel Football Association.

"It is a greeting sent to every country in the world," Ardebili said. He quickly then inquired: "Are you talking from Israel? I can't speak with you. It's a mistake, it's a mistake."

The greeting was received in Israel by the head of the Israel Football Association's legal department, Amir Navon.

"He came into my office asking me if I thought it was a mistake," said body spokesman Gil Levanoni/ "So I told him that I didn't know, but that we should send in a reply."

Levanoni and Navon said they replied to the greeting with a "happy new year to all the good people of Iran," and said: "We also added a wink."...

With year one drawing to a close, the truth of the Obama presidency is laid bare: retrenchment abroad, and redistribution and the intrusive regulatory state at home. This is the genuine calling of Barack Obama, and of the "progressives" holding him to account. The false dichotomy has taken hold -- either we care for our own, or we go abroad in search of monsters to destroy or of broken nations to build. The decision to withdraw missile defense for Poland and the Czech Republic was of a piece with that retreat in American power.

In the absence of an overriding commitment to the defense of American primacy in the world, the Obama administration "cheats." It will not quit the war in Afghanistan but doesn't fully embrace it as its cause. It prosecutes the war but with Republican support--the diehards in liberal ranks and the isolationists are in no mood for bonding with Afghans. (Harry Reid's last major foreign policy pronouncement was his assertion, three years ago, that the war in Iraq was lost.)

As revolution simmers on the streets of Iran, the will was summoned in the White House to offer condolences over the passing of Grand Ayatollah Hussein Montazeri, an iconic figure to the Iranian opposition. But the word was also put out that the administration was keen on the prospect of John Kerry making his way to Tehran. No one is fooled. In the time of Barack Obama, "engagement" with Iran's theocrats and thugs trumps the cause of Iranian democracy.

In retrospect, that patina of cosmopolitanism in President Obama's background concealed the isolationism of the liberal coalition that brought him to power. The tide had turned in the congressional elections of 2006. American liberalism was done with its own antecedents--the outlook of Woodrow Wilson and FDR and Harry Truman and John Kennedy. It wasn't quite "Come home, America," but close to it. This was now the foreign policy of Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi and Joe Biden. There was in the land a "liberal orientalism," if you will, a dismissive attitude about the ability of other nations to partake of liberty. It had started with belittling the Iraqis' aptitude for freedom. But there was implicit in it a broader assault on the very idea of freedom's possibilities in distant places. East was East, and West was West, and never the twain shall meet...[More]

Protest leaders stranded in Cairo accepted an Egyptian offer on Tuesday to allow only 100 out of about 1,300 protesters into blockaded Gaza after the activists staged demonstrations and a hunger strike.

The decision split delegates from more than 40 countries who came to Cairo planning to reach the Palestinian enclave, which shares the Rafah border crossing with Egypt...

...Separately, organisers of another aid convoy trying to reach Gaza -- Viva Palestina led by British MP George Galloway -- said it would head to Syria en route for Egypt after being stranded in Jordan's Red Sea port of Aqaba for five days.

They had planned to drive to Gaza from the Red Sea port of Nuweiba -- the most direct route -- but Egypt insisted the convoy could only enter through El-Arish, on its Mediterranean coast.

A U.S. congressman is the latest to call for a Justice Department investigation into whether a pro-Palestinian group has been raising money on college campuses for Hamas.

In a letter to U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder, Rep. Brad Sherman (D-Calif.) urged a probe into Viva Palestina USA, a humanitarian aid convoy led by British lawmaker George Galloway that brought medical supplies to Gaza last July.

Both the Zionist Organization of America and the Anti-Defamation League in recent months have urged Holder to investigate reports about the convoy's links to Hamas.

The groups made their requests after Galloway and other Viva Palestina USA members appeared and reportedly raised funds at some college campuses in the spring and summer.

"Clearly, people and organizations in the United States cannot be allowed to solicit funds for foreign terrorist organizations," Sherman wrote in his letter to Holder.

"That such solicitation is occurring during the middle of the day at a public university is truly frightening," he said, referring to the University of California, Irvine.

Once again, Judge Richard Goldstone attempts to evade substantive criticism of his Gaza report by playing the "they're attacking the messenger" card. In an interview with the New Statesman today, Goldstone states:

There has definitely been a consistent effort to attack the messenger rather than read the report. Clearly, personal attacks have been unpleasant for me, and unpleasant for my family.

Yet, critics have consistently dealt with falsehoods and distortions in the content of his report. When CAMERA's Ricki Hollander sent him a detailed open letter which questioned the report's findings about the Al Bader flour mill, the al-Maqadmah mosque and the military use of mosques, as well as the question of Palestinians engaging in combat while wearing civilian clothes, among other issues, Goldstone refused to respond, writing:

Dear Ms. Hollander,

I confirm receipt of your letter. I have no intention of responding to your open letter.
Sincerely,
Richard Goldstone

Goldstone has apparently likewise declined to respond to other serious critics who addressed the content of his report in detail. How long will he continue to hold up the false ad hominen deflector?

The recent statements by the European Union's new foreign relations chief Catherine Ashton criticizing Israel have once again brought international attention to Jerusalem and the settlements. However, little appears to be truly understood about Israel's rights to what are generally called the "occupied territories" but what really are "disputed territories."

That's because the land now known as the West Bank cannot be considered "occupied" in the legal sense of the word as it had not attained recognized sovereignty before Israel's conquest. Contrary to some beliefs there has never been a Palestinian state, and no other nation has ever established Jerusalem as its capital despite it being under Islamic control for hundreds of years.

The name "West Bank" was first used in 1950 by the Jordanians when they annexed the land to differentiate it from the rest of the country, which is on the east bank of the river Jordan. The boundaries of this territory were set only one year before during the armistice agreement between Israel and Jordan that ended the war that began in 1948 when five Arab armies invaded the nascent Jewish State. It was at Jordan's insistence that the 1949 armistice line became not a recognized international border but only a line separating armies. The Armistice Agreement specifically stated: "No provision of this Agreement shall in any way prejudice the rights, claims, and positions of either Party hereto in the peaceful settlement of the Palestine questions, the provisions of this Agreement being dictated exclusively by military considerations." (Italics added.) This boundary became the famous "Green Line," so named because the military officials during the armistice talks used a green pen to draw the line on the map.

After the Six Day War, when once again Arab armies sought to destroy Israel and the Jewish state subsequently captured the West Bank and other territory, the United Nations sought to create an enduring solution to the conflict. U.N. Security Council Resolution 242 is probably one of the most misunderstood documents in the international arena. While many, especially the Palestinians, push the idea that the document demands that Israel return everything captured over the Green Line, nothing could be further from the truth. The resolution calls for "peace within secure and recognized boundaries," but nowhere does it mention where those boundaries should be...[more]

Plane Incidents in Ariz., Mich. Raise Profiling Concerns:

...The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) today called on airline passengers, crews and security personnel to avoid ethnic and religious "profiling" in the wake of the attempted bombing of a flight arriving in Detroit on Christmas Day...

"The Strong Horse is hard to describe and even harder to put down. Lee Smith has concocted an addictive and original brew of reportage, memoir, and political analysis that casts the Middle East and its relations with the 'Great Satan' in a fresh and fascinating light. Writing about his meetings with everyone from Omar Sharif to Natan Sharansky, he delivers one shrewd insight after another. Anyone seeking to understand the world's most volatile region should read this timely and entertaining book." -- Max Boot

"A chronicle of one American's journey to the Middle East in search of an answer to the question "why 9/11?", The Strong Horse offers a fascinating depiction of a culture so different from our own that it is a challenge for us to understand just how great this difference is. Lee Smith has faced this challenge, and the insights he offers require nothing less than a radical paradigm shift in American thinking about the Middle East. If we wish to shape history, and not be run over by it, there is no better place to start than by reading Lee Smith's beautifully crafted and deeply moving journey of discovery."

Two of the four leaders allegedly behind the al Qaeda plot to blow up a Northwest Airlines passenger jet over Detroit were released by the U.S. from the Guantanamo prison in November, 2007, according to American officials and Department of Defense documents. Al Qaeda claimed responsibility for the Northwest bombing in a Monday statement that vowed more attacks on Americans.

American officials agreed to send the two terrorists from Guantanamo to Saudi Arabia where they entered into an "art therapy rehabilitation program" and were set free, according to U.S. and Saudi officials.

Guantanamo prisoner #333, Muhamad Attik al-Harbi, and prisoner #372, Said Ali Shari, were sent to Saudi Arabia on Nov. 9, 2007, according to the Defense Department log of detainees who were released from American custody. Al-Harbi has since changed his name to Muhamad al-Awfi.

...28-year-old Christian man's funeral took a surprising twist at the Helsinki Malmi cemetery when the deceased's Muslim relatives arrived at the grave and took the lead in the funeral. - Upon reaching the gravesite all of a sudden Muslim men jumped out from the thicket and replaced the Finnish pallbearers and the Imam began to lead the service, "the pastor, Jukka Simoila said...[more]

An unconfirmed report is that at at 8:30pm tonight, December 24, 2009, the Egyptian Foreign Minister said on Egyptian TV Channel 2, that neither the Gaza Freedom March nor persons accompanying the Viva Palestina convoy would be allowed to enter Gaza...

Well folks, as you awake today from your Christmas hangover, over 500 people from 20 countries, in 250 vehicles loaded with Humanitarian Aid, are left stranded in Aqaba, Jordan, having been refused permission to enter Egypt. From Ireland, 10 volunteers in 2 ambulances, a van, and a truck loaded with Humanitarian Aid are part of this convoy. The convoy is organised by "Viva Palestina", a charity founded by George Galloway, MP.

The Egyptian Government have placed 3 conditions on the convoy if it wants to enter Egypt.

1. We hand all our vehicles and aid over to UNRA.

2. We drive 500 miles back to Syria, and take a 24 hour ferry through the Suez Canal.

3. We have to ask Israel for permission to cross from Egypt to Gaza.

All 3 conditions have been flatly rejected by everyone on the convoy, as we want to cross into Gaza and hand our aid over to the Palestinians ourselves...

Israeli forces killed six Palestinians in separate incidents in the West Bank and Gaza early Saturday, acts that quickly drew Palestinian condemnation.

The first incident happened in the West Bank city of Nablus, where the Israeli military killed three Palestinians it said were responsible for the death of an Israeli civilian in the West Bank this week.

Israeli forces entered Nablus overnight to locate the suspects and killed them Saturday morning, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said. Palestinian medical officials and witnesses confirmed the deaths.

The strike was a joint operation by the Israeli military and Israeli security services, a spokeswoman for the Israeli military said. She said all three men were known militants associated with Fatah militant groups.

Israeli forces found four guns at the place where one of the suspects was killed, the IDF said.

"The Israel Defense Forces will act firmly against those who aspire to harm citizens of the state of Israel and Israeli security forces, and will not rest until those involved in the murderous act are brought to justice," said Maj. Gen. Avi Mizrachi of the IDF...

...The Israeli military spokeswoman could not say what proof or evidence they had against the three Palestinian suspects, who all lived in Nablus. [And quite correctly, too.]

Two of the Palestinians, both 40, had been imprisoned in Israel in the past; one of them had been a senior member of the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, the militant wing of the ruling Fatah party in the West Bank, according to the IDF.

The third man, who was 36, had been involved in widespread militant activity and had been an arms dealer and supplier, the IDF said.

Palestinian medical officials in Nablus said two of the men suffered gunshots to both the upper body and the head...[more]

Forty years ago this Christmas eve, five small boats showing almost no lights slipped out of Cherbourg harbor into the teeth of a Force 9 gale which kept even large freighters from venturing out.

Built for the Israel Navy, the vessels had been embargoed at the beginning of the year by French president Charles de Gaulle. Their empty berths on Christmas Day and the absence of any announcement about the embargo's termination prompted media inquiries, which failed to elicit convincing explanations. "Where are they?" asked a banner headline in a local newspaper.

In the news doldrums of the holiday season, the international media scented an outlandish story: Had Israel stolen back its own boats? A television team flew out over the North Sea to see if the boats were headed for Norway, to which they had ostensibly been sold; others flew out over the Mediterranean.

The boats were indeed on the run. Battered by towering waves as they crossed the Bay of Biscay, they dropped anchor in a Portuguese cove alongside an Israeli freighter fitted out as a refueling ship, one of several support vessels deployed along the 5,150-km. escape route. When the boats entered the Mediterranean, British maritime monitors on Gibraltar signaled "What ship?" A Lloyd's helicopter circled the silent vessels but saw no identity numbers or flags. The British monitors, guessing the boats' destination from the media reports, flashed "bon voyage" in salute to Nelsonian flair...[more]

Remarks by Israel's ambassador to the United States, Michael Oren, against the liberal Jewish lobby J Street were "most unfortunate" according to Hannah Rosenthal, head of the U.S. administration's Office to Monitor and Combat Anti-Semitism.

In an interview with Haaretz in Jerusalem, where Rosenthal was the administration's envoy to the Foreign Ministry's Global Forum for Combating Anti-Semitism, Rosenthal, who once served on J street's board of directors, said she opposes blurring the lines between anti-Semitism and criticism of Israel.

"It is not 1939," she said. "We have the state of Israel. We have laws in countries that are holding people accountable."...

...Rosenthal, who also served on the board of directors of left-wing group Americans for Peace Now, said she believed Oren "would have learned a lot" if he had participated in J Street's conference.

"I came away realizing what a generational divide there is and I don't know how it is in Israel. Young people want to be part of the discussion, they feel they have fresh ideas and they feel that we have to end the stalemate," she said.

Rosenthal strongly believes that new and different voices need to be heard regarding Israel in the American Jewish community...[more]

Major Jewish organizations on Thursday blasted an Obama administration diplomat with connections to J Street for criticizing Israeli Ambassador Michael Oren in a newspaper interview.

..."I was surprised to see an official of the American government commenting on the positions taken by Ambassador Oren," said Alan Solow, who is a long-time supporter of US President Barack Obama, is considered close to the administration, and is the chairman of the New York-based Conference of Presidents.

Rosenthal's comments "go beyond her responsibilities," he said, and reflected only her "personal feelings."

"I've had any number of conversations with people in the administration who interact regularly with Ambassador Oren, and they have spoken very highly of him. The comments are especially inappropriate given the fact that theadministration is actively involved in trying to advance the peace process and its relationship with Israel on a variety of fronts," he added.

Josh Block, a spokesman for AIPAC, the largest Israel advocacy group in Washington, said "AIPAC totally agrees with the sentiment expressed by Alan Solow and the Conference of Presidents, and those views are widely held by members of the Conference."

A senior Jewish official in Washington who asked to remain anonymous called the Rosenthal interview, published in Haaretz on Thursday, "a very troubling occurrence. I can't recall a circumstance in which an American diplomat criticized an ambassador of any country in such a significant way."

The official said news reports that Jewish leaders are calling the White House to protest the interview "are accurate."...[more]

I am not telepathically gifted and I get it very clearly. The writer is very clearly talking about Viva Palestian i.e. Galloway and company and the local Southern Californica Viva Palestina committee. He goes on to talk about the current effort to "support" the Palestinian refugees that have recently relocated to Southern California from the refugee camps after evacuating from Iraq.

There are currently four families in El Cajon with more on the way. AL-Awda is holding an "emergency" fundraiser and has been fundraising in the name of these families. There is yet to be any accounting, transparency, reporting of any kind as to what has been collected or spent so far for these families. While there has been all kinds of fundraising, the families remain in dire need. The writer is speaking from the first person narrative as he is directly involved in trying to help the families as much as he can on all levels. Hope that helps.

The information wasn't made available sooner as it wasn't apparent sooner. There was no reason to assume the worst. There were ongoing attempts to seek resolution, seek the accounting and reporting. The local volunteers with Viva Palestina unfortunately seemingly sided with Galloway and company in utilizing all kinds of tactics to delay and distract from the reality of what was apparently being planned. That was to continue fundraising without any measure of transparency or accountability at all. When it became painfully clear then there was no choice but to do the responsible thing and that is to bring the information to the attention of our community. That is exactly what happened.

The European Initiative, a new European pro-Israeli lobby, has filed a lawsuit in Belgium against Hamas leaders from Gaza and Damascus, demanding that they be brought to justice for war crimes.

The lawsuit is intended as a response to Palestinian legal warfare against Israel and the various lawsuits filed against Israelis in international courts. It was filed on behalf of 15 Israeli citizens who live in the Gaza periphery and who hold Belgian citizenship.

Among the Hamas leaders targeted by the lawsuit are Damascus-based leader Khaled Mashaal, Prime Minister in Gaza Ismail Haniyeh, former foreign minister Mahmoud Zahar and Ahmed Jabri, who heads the group's military wing.

"The request for arrest warrants was submitted after six months of legal preparation and is based on strict evidence which ties Hamas leaders to terror attacks in which Belgium citizens ware harmed," the Israelis' attorney, Roel Coveliers, said.

"The Goldstone Report says, among other things, that the rocket attacks by Hamas constitute a violation of international humanitarian law, so as a member of the United Nations, I don't believe Belgium will ignore the complaint," Coveliers said...

The choir of Clare College, Cambridge and its pro-'Palestinian' conductor are reported to have cancelled a planned performance in 'east' Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria because they are also performing in Israel.

The Palestine Solidarity Campaign wrote a letter, signed by more than 200 people, asking that the choir cancel its tour of Israel or risk, in their words, 'appearing indifferent to Palestinian suffering'. As a result, the PA asked the Bishop of Jerusalem to withdraw the invitation for the choir to sing in East Jerusalem and Bethlehem.

Betty Hunter, the general secretary of the Palestine Solidarity Campaign, says that desire to travel to the West Bank does not excuse the choir's tour of Israel. That tour, she says, is 'surprising and shocking' - something which, in her words, 'promotes Israel as a normal state rather than one which represses Palestinians'.

Is that so. Here is the parlous state of the Palestinians of the West Bank:

For the time being, International Monetary Fund officials say economic growth in the West Bank could reach as much as 7 percent in 2009 if Israel continues to relax restrictions, notably the removal of roadblocks...

Meet Yussuf Khoury, a 23-year old Palestinian refugee living in the West Bank. Unlike those descendents of refugees born in United Nations camps, Mr. Khoury fled his birthplace just two years ago. And he wasn't running away from Israelis, but from his Palestinian brethren in Gaza.

Mr. Khoury's crime in that Hamas-ruled territory was to be a Christian, a transgression he compounded in the Islamists' eyes by writing love poems.

"Muslims tied to Hamas tried to take me twice," says Mr. Khoury, and he didn't want to find out what they'd do to him if they ever kidnapped him. He hasn't seen his family since Christmas 2007 and is afraid even to talk to them on the phone.

Speaking to a group of foreign journalists in the Bethlehem Bible College where he is studying theology, Mr. Khoury describes a life of fear in Gaza. "My sister is under a lot of pressure to wear a headscarf. People are turning more and more to Islamic fundamentalism and the situation for Christians is very difficult," he says.

In 2007, one year after the Hamas takeover, the owner of Gaza's only Christian bookstore was abducted and murdered. Christian shops and schools have been firebombed. Little wonder that most of Mr. Khoury's Christian friends have also left Gaza...[more]

THE MUSLIM American community's effort to maintain an open dialogue with US government officials to strengthen our shared goal of security for all citizens is admirable. However, praising organizations like the Council on American-Islamic Relations ignores their historical links to Hamas and their pattern of offering platforms to conspiratorial Israel-bashers and anti-Semites ("Terrorism: Muslim families as first line of defense," editorial, Dec. 15). Evidence presented at the Holy Land Foundation trial in Texas identified CAIR founders Nihad Awad, Omar Ahmed, and Ghassan Elashi as personally involved in discussions regarding fund-raising for Hamas. At the conclusion of the trial, Elashi, who is also the founder of CAIR's Dallas chapter, was sentenced to 65 years in prison for raising funds for Hamas in the US.

Earlier this year the FBI limited its contact with CAIR because of evidence introduced during the Texas trial.

Furthermore, CAIR's InFocus News regularly publishes anti-Semitic articles and cartoons, as well as content expressing support for terrorist groups. And earlier this year, CAIR funded a public advertising campaign in Florida that provided via its website links to anti-Semitic materials.

DERREK SHULMAN
Boston
The writer is New England regional director for the Anti-Defamation League.

Sen. John Kerry has suggested becoming the first high-level U.S. emissary to make a public visit to Tehran since the 1979 Islamic revolution, a move White House officials say they won't oppose.

The offer comes as mass protests against Iran's regime are resurfacing and a U.S.-imposed deadline nears to broach international sanctions against Iran.

"This sounds like the kind of travel a chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee would -- and should -- undertake," said a White House official, adding it would be at Sen. Kerry's own behest.

It's unclear whether Iran would welcome the visit, and it would be controversial within both countries. The Iranian government has rebuffed other recent White House efforts to establish a direct dialogue.

The Obama administration hasn't decided whether to make Sen. Kerry its official representative if he goes, but as chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Sen. Kerry can visit if the White House and Tehran both approve.

Many opponents of Tehran's regime oppose such a visit, fearing it would lend legitimacy to President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad at a time when his government is under continuing pressure from protests and opposition figures. Hundreds of thousands of demonstrators took to the streets again this week to voice their opposition to the government following the death of a reformist cleric...

...Last week, an Israeli-American lawyer, Shamai Leibowitz, pled guilty to leaking to an unidentified blogger five classified documents Leibowitz obtained while working as a Hebrew translator for the FBI from January through August of this year. Court records also said that four documents classified as "secret" were found in an August search of Leibowitz's Silver Spring home. Leibowitz held a top-secret clearance, the filings said.

But Leibowitz, 39, seems an unlikely candidate for a top U.S. security clearance. After news of the charges against him broke, it took reporters only minutes to track down news articles reporting that he was fired from a legal clerkship in Israel and was publicly chastised by a court there for leaking a judge's private comments.

Experts were also puzzled that someone with a long history of public activism on polarizing issues would wind up working for U.S. law enforcement in a classified environment and be granted access to sensitive information.

A quick Google search reveals Leibowitz's public life as an activist and also the frequent controversy that his views incited. Born into a famous family of Israeli Torah scholars and intellectuals, Leibowitz was a Yeshiva student whose experience as a tank commander in the Israeli military during the second intifada horrified him. After that, he wrote and advocated frequently in articles, blogs and public appearances for Israeli soldiers to refuse to serve in the West Bank and Gaza, and at one time supported U.S. divestment from Israel, a view that he later changed.

"I think whoever was doing the vetting on him didn't do their job," Cohen said. "This guy sounds like just a real loose cannon on the deck. How could he slip through?"

Cohen said Leibowitz's guilty plea shows that the FBI should have taken note of reports in 1999 in the Israeli newspapers Ha'aretz and the Jerusalem Post that Leibowitz was publicly rebuked by an Israeli Supreme Court justice for disclosing another judge's comments.

"What he did and what he was reported to have done then are exactly the same. He violated confidences because he thought he knew more, he knew better," Cohen said...[more]

The Moldovan Orthodox Church blamed the Jewish community for the recent anti-Semitic protest in which a public menorah was torn down.

"We believe that this unpleasant incident in the center of the capital could have been avoided if the menorah had been placed near a memorial for victims of the Holocaust," the church's statement said, according to a report Monday by the Interfax news agency, reported UCSJ: Union of Councils for Jews in the Former Soviet Union.

On Dec. 13, some 200 fundamentalist Orthodox Christians in the Moldovan capital Chisinau removed the large, metal menorah that had been set up in downtown Europe Square, and placed it upside down on Stefan cel Mare Square at the base of a statue of King Stephen the Great. The group chanted anti-Semitic slogans during the incident. Neither police nor onlookers intervened... more

...Israel: The Forum asked, "Islam defines the state of Egypt/Saudi Arabia; under the right circumstances, would you accept a Jewish State of Israel?" In this case, 26 percent of Egyptians and 9 percent of Saudi subjects answered in the affirmative.

We posed this question to quantify the heart of the Arab-Israeli conflict, a conflict not about the size of Israel, its resources, armaments, sovereignty over holy sites, or the number of its citizens living on the West Bank. Rather, it concerns the fundamental goal of Zionism, the creation of a state defined by Jewish identity.

To provide context: About 20 percent of Palestinians since the 1920s have been willing to live with Israel in a state of harmony. The Egyptian response exceeds this slightly, the Saudi one comes in substantially below it. These results are in keeping with the more overtly religious nature of political life in Saudi Arabia than in Egypt. They confirm that the main source of anti-Zionism now is no longer nationalism but Islam...

There are some very close ties between Saudi Arabia, the Arab American Institute, and J Street...

...A member of J Street's advisory board, Judith Barnett, worked on aspects of the Saudi account for Qorvis [a Washington PR firm hired by the Saudis] in 2004. She was also one of the first contributors to J Street's PAC and was later joined in the PAC by Nancy Dutton, the Saudi Embassy's Washington attorney; Lewis Elbinger, a U.S. State Department official who was based in Saudi Arabia; and Ray Close, the CIA's station chief in Saudi Arabia for 22 years who later went to work for Saudi intelligence bosses. Close's son Kenneth registered at the Justice Department as a foreign agent, working for Saudi Prince Turki al-Faisal, the author of the Saudi peace plan.

Beyond sharing support for the Saudi plan, the J Street-AAI financial and ideological ties also appear to be very tight. Richard Abdoo is a member of J Street's finance committee with its minimum contribution of $10,000 to J Street's PAC. James Zogby recently wrote in the Bahrain Gulf Daily, "On October 25, [2009] the Arab American Institute and J Street convened a joint meeting that brought leaders and activists from both communities together as an expression of our shared commitment to advance a just and comprehensive Middle East peace."

J Street's embrace of the Saudi initiative is not a surprise, considering the strong endorsement the plan received from George Soros, J Street's purported godfather and sugar daddy...

...Despite its recent national conference, J Street still defies definition. Beyond Ben-Ami, its ubiquitous and loquacious director, the decision-makers and major funders of J Street remain anonymous. The Saudi-Arab-American Institute-J Street nexus begins to provide some definition to the self-proclaimed "pro-Israel" organization. But more disclosure is needed.

Using the pretext of escalating tensions on the Gaza-Egypt border, the Egyptian Foreign Ministry informed us yesterday that the Rafah border will be closed over the coming weeks, into January. We responded that there is always tension at the border because of the siege, that we do not feel threatened, and that if there are any risks, they are risks we are willing to take. We also said that it was too late for over 1,300 delegates coming from over 42 countries to change their plans now. We both agreed to continue our exchanges.

Although we consider this as a setback, it is something we've encountered-and overcome--before. No delegation, large or small, that entered Gaza over the past 12 months has ever received a final OK before arriving at the Rafah border. Most delegations were discouraged from even heading out of Cairo to Rafah. Some had their buses stopped on the way. Some have been told outright that they could not go into Gaza. But after public and political pressure, the Egyptian government changed its position and let them pass.

Our efforts and plans will not be altered at this point. We have set out to break the siege of Gaza and march on December 31 against the Israeli blockade. We are continuing in the same direction...

Egypt is stepping up security on its border with the Gaza Strip after earth moving equipment came under fire from the Palestinian side for three days, a security source said on Saturday...

For years, the Egyptians have been strongly condemning Israel for erecting the security fence in the West Bank. But now Egypt is quietly building its own wall along its border with the Gaza Strip and does not want to hear any complaints.

The Israeli barrier was built with the chief goal of halting suicide bombings and other terror activities against Israelis. The Egyptian fence, on the other hand, is being constructed to stop Palestinians living in the Gaza Strip from entering Egypt...

SALT LAKE CITY -- The man who inspired the title character in the Oscar-winning movie "Rain Man" has died.

Kim Peek was 58. His father, Fran, says Peek had a major heart attack Saturday morning and was pronounced dead at a hospital in the Salt Lake City suburb of Murray.

Peek was a savant with a remarkable memory and inspired writer Barry Morrow when he wrote "Rain Man," the 1988 movie that won four Academy Awards...

It should be a time of unalloyed joy for Tim Brown. The director of one of Britain's most well-regarded choirs is beginning a six-concert tour of Israel this week.

The choir of Clare College, Cambridge, will be singing Bach's Christmas Oratorio with the Israel Camerata Orchestra. But the singers have not, as a choir, been able to perform in East Jerusalem or Bethlehem in the occupied West Bank, after a Palestinian protest against the choir's tour of Israel.

The choir has been caught in the passionate arguments over whether Israel should be boycotted.

Tim Brown says he is very disappointed. He had been hoping that the choir could precede its tour of Israel with a visit to St George's Cathedral in East Jerusalem, and the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem. They had been invited to sing in both locations by the Anglican Bishop of Jerusalem.

But that was before the London-based Palestine Solidarity Campaign swung into action. The campaign wrote a letter, signed by more than 200 people, asking that the choir cancel its tour of Israel or risk, in their words, "appearing indifferent to Palestinian suffering".

The Palestinian Authority joined in...

While AFL-CIO president Rich Trumka has reaffirmed the labor federation's support for Israel, a group called Labor for Palestine has issued an "Open Letter From US Trade Unionists" to Trumka calling for a boycott of "Apartheid Israel."

Among the listed signatories is Clayola Brown, president of the A. Philip Randolph Institute, an AFL-CIO-affiliated organization of African-American trade unionists. But as the TULIP website reports, Brown has sent an email message to Labor for Palestine:

It is with disgust and dismay that I find my name listed as a signer of "Boycott Apartheid Israel: Open Letter from US Trade Unionists." I demand that my name be removed immediately!

Prior to seeing the letter on the Palestine Chronicle website, I had never seen such a letter or engaged in discussions about its content. I find it disrespectful that someone would attach my name to a document and circulate such a document without contact with me, or consent from me.

Please make every effort to convey my demand to and any other publications that you have used or are likely to use your letter with.

WASHINGTON (JTA) -- Jimmy Carter asked the Jewish community for forgiveness for any stigma he may have caused Israel.

In a letter released exclusively to JTA, the former U.S. president sent a seasonal message wishing for peace between Israel and its neighbors, and concluded: "We must recognize Israel's achievements under difficult circumstances, even as we strive in a positive way to help Israel continue to improve its relations with its Arab populations, but we must not permit criticisms for improvement to stigmatize Israel. As I would have noted at Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, but which is appropriate at any time of the year, I offer an Al Het for any words or deeds of mine that may have done so."

"Al Het" refers to the Yom Kippur prayer asking God forgiveness for sins committed against Him. In modern Hebrew it refers to any plea for forgiveness.

Carter has angered some U.S. Jews in recent years with writings and statements that place the burden of peacemaking on Israel, that have likened Israel's settlement policies to apartheid, and that have blamed the pro-Israel lobby for inhibiting an evenhanded U.S. foreign policy.

Abraham Foxman, the Anti-Defamation League's national director, welcomed the statement, calling it the "beginning of reconciliation."

"We welcome any statement from a significant individual such as a former president who asks for Al Het," Foxman said. "To what extent it is an epiphany, time will tell. There certainly is hurt which needs to be repaired."

In a recent Friday sermon from Qatar by Sheikh Yousuf Al-Qaradhawi, he condemned Christmas celebrations in Muslim countries, saying that they were forbidden and stating that the Muslim nation is abandoning its Muslim identity. He also commented on President Obama's Nobel Peace Prize, calling it undeserved...

My dear friends, I am a rabbi, and I do not celebrate Christmas. I will leave that for Christians.

I do not believe that the God of the universe begat a son, born to a virgin mother in a manger on a cold December night. I do not sing "Silent Night."

There are plenty of Christians who believe that their Lord Jesus was born in a manger on a cold night, and this has galvanized their faith and transformed our world. They sing "Silent Night."

May God bless my Christian brothers in faith -- even though we believe differently, we are still brothers in faith -- during their holy time.

So even though I don't celebrate Christmas or believe in Jesus, I do believe in Santa Claus...

Flight Documents Detail a Complicated Itinerary That Included Tehran; Plane's Cargo Described as 'Oil Industry Spare Parts'

A plane loaded with weapons from North Korea that was recently impounded in Bangkok was bound for Iran, according to documents obtained by arms-trafficking experts.

The destination of the Ilyushin-76, which Thai authorities have said carried 35 tons of armaments, has been unknown. Thai officials said the plane flew to Pyongyang via Bangkok to collect its cargo, then returned to Bangkok to refuel on Dec. 11. It was seized during that stop and its five crew members were detained by Thai police.

A flight plan for the IL-76, obtained by researchers in the U.S. and Belgium, shows that after Bangkok the plane was due to make refueling stops in Sri Lanka, the United Arab Emirates and Ukraine before unloading its cargo in Tehran. Iranian officials didn't respond to requests for comment...

If former Secretary of State Colin Powell; Former Gov. Mitt Romney; Sen. John McCain; Comedian/TV Star Bill Engvall; Country singer Martina McBride; James Denton from Desperate Housewives; Rocker Ted Nugent; Iconoclast Ann Coulter; comedian Mike O'Malley; NFL great Mike Ditka; the Boston Pops' Keith Lockhart; real-life reports from the battlefield by our military heroes who've been helped by Fisher House; and a cast of surprise guests won't get you to tune in for our Fisher House radiothon, then how about this:

Playboy Magazine's Miss January 2010 and Amazing Race finalist Jaime Edmonson!

For a more detailed look at Ms. Edmonson's work, check out Tom's Take. To hear today's radio extravaganza, tune in from 10am-6pm, or listen online at www.969bostontalks.com.

And to support our wounded warriors and their families, make a donation here, or bid in our online auction.

One easy thing you can do is to make sure your friends, family members and military veterans know about Monday's broadcast by forwarding a link to this webpage, or send a personal invitation to listen of your own. That's how you can help make our efforts for Fisher House Boston a success!

The Fisher House™ program is a unique private-public partnership that supports America's military in their time of need. The program recognizes the special sacrifices of our men and women in uniform and the hardships of military service by meeting a humanitarian need beyond that normally provided by the Departments of Defense and Veterans Affairs.

Because members of the military and their families are stationed worldwide and must often travel great distances for specialized medical care, Fisher House™ Foundation donates "comfort homes," built on the grounds of major military and VA medical centers. These homes enable family members to be close to a loved one at the most stressful times - during the hospitalization for an unexpected illness, disease, or injury...

A committee set up by the Islamist militant group Hamas is aiding European lawyers to investigate war crimes allegedly committed by Israel in its winter offensive in Gaza a year ago, AFP reported on Sunday.

"We provide documents, reports and evidence of crimes to all international bodies aiding the Palestinian people in bringing Israeli civilian and military leaders to trial and issuing warrants for their arrest," Diya al-Madhun, the judge who heads the committee, told the French news agency.

"We have provided a group of independent lawyers in Britain with documents, information and evidence concerning war crimes committed by Israeli political and military leaders, including [opposition leader Tzipi] Livni."

Al-Madhun added, however, that the lawyers acted independently and were not hired by the Islamist group, according to AFP...

SANA, Yemen - The last remaining Jews in Yemen are vanishing, driven out by politics, war, and hatred. Once numbering 60,000, one of the oldest Jewish populations in the Arab world now has fewer than 350 members.

In recent months, persecution by Islamist extremists has intensified, accelerating Jews' flight from Yemen. Many are heading to the United States.

With the help of the US government and US-based Jewish organizations, 57 Yemeni Jews have been resettled in New York since July. At least 38 are expected to arrive soon and many more are eligible, American officials said. Others are seeking refuge in Israel and Europe.

In the capital, Sana, 65 Jews who fled their northern villages are living in a government compound under heavy security. Recently, police arrested two men suspected of planning to assassinate the community's rabbi, according to Yemeni news reports...

The Lockerbie bomber had £1.8m in a Swiss bank account when he was convicted eight years ago, it has been revealed.

The Crown Office, Scotland's equivalent of the Crown Prosecution Service, has confirmed it refused to grant bail to Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed al-Megrahi as recently as November last year because of concerns he might try to gain access to the money.

The existence of such a large sum in a personal account casts doubt on claims by the Libyan government that Megrahi was a low-ranking airline worker.

The disclosure also raises further questions about the wisdom of the Scottish government in releasing the bomber, who has terminal prostate cancer, on compassionate grounds in August.

Sources close to Megrahi's defence team said they were aware of the bank account and had several explanations prepared ahead of his trial in the Netherlands in 2000.

They included the claim that he had been given the money by Libyan Arab Airlines, his employer, to buy aircraft parts abroad in breach of the western trade embargo in place against his country at the time of the 1988 bombing of the Pan Am plane over Scotland, in which 270 people died.

Another explanation would have been that Megrahi had been entrusted with the funds to finance an attempt to include Libya in the Paris to Dakar rally. The issue of the account was never raised by the prosecution because it came too late to be introduced as evidence at his trial.

A source close to Megrahi said: "The crown would have said that the money was being used to buy explosives and pay bribes to people.

"It would have undermined his position as being a simple employee and that he had no big connections with anybody because someone with that status in life wouldn't have that kind of money in bank accounts."

Ben Wallace, Conservative MP for Lancaster and Wyre and a member of the Scottish affairs committee, which is inquiring into the circumstances of Megrahi's release, said the existence of the account was a "startling" revelation.

"Had this been known at the time, the financial web that linked Libya and Megrahi to international terrorism would have been a major plank in the crown's case," he said. "Far from being the wrong man, I think this suggests Megrahi was an international co-ordinator of terrorism for Libya."

Last month, The Sunday Times revealed that Megrahi was implicated in the purchase and development of chemical weapons by Libya, according to documents produced by the American government.

The papers also claimed he sought to buy 1,000 letter bombs from Greek arms dealers while working as a Libyan intelligence officer...

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas claims the German mediator in the Gilad Shalit talks has given Israel an ultimatum by which the state has three weeks to approve a prisoner swap deal to retrieve the kidnapped soldier.

A Hamas source told Ynet that the German mediator blames Israel for hesitating and delaying the deal.

Abbas told the Egyptian Al-Ahram in an interview Saturday, "I have learned from Israel, and not from anyone else, that the German mediator has allotted a limited time period after which he will stop mediating between the sides if the prisoner swap deal is not completed."

When asked to describe the length of time allotted to Israel Abbas answered, "Two or three weeks."

Abbas also claimed he had asked Israel a number of times to release Tanzim leader Marwan Barghouti and Ahmed Saadat, who headed the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine in order to complete the deal.

He said Hamas had been wrong to assume he had opposed Barghouti's release in fear that the latter would compete against him in Palestinian elections...

The execution of the prisoner exchange will be monitored closely from the Lebanese side of the Rosh Hanikra border crossing by its main shepherd: the UN-appointed mediator Gerhard Conrad. Little is known about the mystery man, who is in his forties. Even in Germany, where he holds a senior post in his country's foreign intelligence agency, BND, few know much about him. Before his name was publicized in Israel a little over a year ago, the German public was unaware of his existence.

Officially, Conrad's mediation effort has been on behalf of the UN secretary general, because the return of Eldad Regev and Ehud Goldwasser is part of Security Council Resolution 1701, which brought an end to the Second Lebanon War.

Conrad learned Arabic in Damascus as part of his intelligence training. In fact, he is among the very few Arabic speakers in the BND. That training destined him to serve in the agency's Middle East department. Among other missions, he was sent in 1998 to serve, under diplomatic cover, as the BND's official representative in Damascus, which role included responsibility for Lebanon. Consequently, he is well informed regarding developments in both countries, and has met several times with Hezbollah leaders, including the movement's secretary general, Hassan Nasrallah.

Conrad's wife also works for the BND, and the couple worked together in Damascus.

Since the 1990s, Conrad has played a part in every prisoner swap between Israel and Hezbollah in which the BND and German officials were involved as mediators...

The European Jewish Congress (EJC) has called on the UK and other European nations to change their laws on universal jurisdiction in the wake of the issuing of an arrest warrant against former Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni. If laws are not tightened then the EJC will be forced to consider applying for arrest warrants against those who support and initiate terror and preach hate.

President of the EJC, Dr. Moshe Kantor, slammed the decision by a British court to issue an arrest warrant against Livni. "This is a disgrace and a mockery of the judicial system," Kantor said. "However, if the system is being manipulated to abuse Israeli officials then we will have to look at ways of fighting back and using the same system against those who initiate and support terror.

The EJC decries the fact that terror supporters who preach hate against Jews, Christians, gays and other minorities and initiate terror attacks against them are allowed into Britain and a senior official of a fellow democracy and staunch ally had to cancel their trip.

"It is reprehensible that at this moment there are hundreds of visiting foreign nationals in the UK and Europe who are preaching hate, inciting to murder and raising money for designated terrorist group like Hamas and Hezbollah," Kantor continued. "We will seek to end their impunity and make them think twice before coming to Europe."...

"Not by Might, Nor By Power But By My Spirit...."
Zechariah 4:6

Taanit Tzedek and Gaza Freedom March invite you to:

Gaza: One Year Later
An Interfaith Response

Thursday, Dec. 17th @ 6:30 PM
St. Paul's Cathedral, 138 Tremont St. Boston, MA

Speakers ~

Rabbi Brian Walt - co-founder of Taanit Tzedek: Jewish Fast for Gaza

Dr. Sara Roy - Senior Research Scholar, Center for Middle Eastern Studies, Harvard University, and expert on Gaza.

Dr. Nancy Murray - President of the Gaza Mental Health Foundation, Inc. and Steering Committee member for the Gaza Freedom March

Rev. Anne Franklin - Pastor of Church of the Good Shepard[sic], Watertown, MA

Imam Abdullah Talib Faruuq - Imam of Masjid Al-Hamdulilah, Roxbury, MA [A later version substituted Dr. Abdul Cader Asmal, President Emeritus of the Islamic Council of New England, but it was Faruuq, also spelled Faaruuq. -MS]

This event is part of "Operation Not By Might Nor by Power," a national day of Prayer, Study & Action launched by Taanit Tzedek (www.fastforgaza.net). This event is also co-sponsored by the Gaza Freedom March (www.gazafreedommarch.org).

We folded the leaflets we were giving out in two and put them in the Human Rights pamphlets we were using [Real Human Rights pamphlets. -MS], sticking slightly out, along with information about the 'Rockets to Roses' fundraising program whereby you an purchase a metal 'rose' created by a Sderot artist made from rockets fired at the city from Gaza.

Most people accepted the leaflets, although they may have done so because they thought we were part of the evening's 'entertainment.' A couple of people gave us the booklet back after they realized what it was about and a couple of people became argumentative.  One man began yelling at one of us (who responded wonderfully) and I was screamed at by a third man for allegedly insulting his wife, Hilary Rantisi, at a previous event (I gave her an earful after she started to physically push me around). Rantisi, meanwhile, was asking other leafleters for my name after I had refused to tell her. [Rantisi is a staffer at Harvard's Kennedy School, but her real passion is her anti-Israel activism. She has a great deal of influence over things (and invitations) at the school. Think about it. -MS]

Shortly after this, a man from the church came and said I needed to leave as some people (Rantisi, et al.) said I had threatened them(!) [This is laughable if you know the person in question.-MS]. I told him that I would be glad to move to the sidewalk but that the people who had reported this were lying; other leafleters confirmed this. He also said he was calling the police.

[A second person now:]While the church guy was calling police, I stayed next to the door on top of the stairs. The Imam came out and started talking to me (the good part of the gang was still standing inside the hallway as they apparently do not know where to go or the room is locked or something like that). The first thing that comes out of his mouth is that "Israel should disappear" (so much for interfaith) and that the ones who "do not agree with their program" (i.e., us) are affected by "sickness", and that he was most upset that Americans like us support Israel. I asked him if he was one of the speakers and he said yes. [That would make him Imam Abdullah Talib Faruuq - Imam of Masjid Al-Hamdulilah, Roxbury, MA. -MS]

The encounter with Nancy Murray was much less friendly - she took the handout and then dropped it on the ground saying, "Oh, this is not for me." Don't they teach them not to litter at the ACLU? A woman who was with her started screaming - "My God, the children in Gaza are dying" and went inside... They are nuts.

When the police came, it was not just with a cruiser but a prisoner wagon (it was so cold that that wagon looked pretty good by then). They laughed when they saw just three of us shivering outside (it was just three of us by then -- "this is just three of you, ladies?" and were very friendly but we had to stay off church's steps after that. The police asked for copies of our literature, which we gladly gave them, and stayed in their car outside the church until we left.

Samuel Shamai Leibowitz, former contract linguist for FBI, admits handing over five secret documents concerning US communication intelligence activities to blogger; calls 20-month prison term 'appropriate'

A former contract linguist for the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) pleaded guilty on Thursday to leaking classified documents to an Internet blogger, the Justice Department said.

Shamai Kedem Leibowitz of Silver Spring, Maryland, who is the grandson of renowned Israeli philosopher Yeshayahu Leibowitz, pleaded guilty in a federal court in Greenbelt, Maryland, to one count of disclosing classified information to an unauthorized person, the department said in a statement.

Leibowitz, 39, also known as Samuel Shamai Leibowitz, acknowledged handing over five FBI documents concerning the communication intelligence activities of the United States to the blogger, who was not identified.

The blogger then published information online derived from the documents, which were classified as "secret," the Justice Department said.

The department said prosecutors and Leibowitz had agreed that a 20-month prison term was the "appropriate sentence" in the case. The plea agreement and sentence remain subject to the approval of the court...

Dear Denise,

As an Israeli, I would like to convey to you my gratitude for trying so hard to pass a selective divestment resolution. I am sorry that my presentation was so short, and that in the end, the other Aldermen capitulated under pressure. In university jargon, we would say: you get an E for Effort...

I am very disappointed with the outcome, and I hope that those Aldermen that buried the resolution will come to realize what a grave mistake they made. They are using Somerville residents' money to help continue the practice of torture, home demolitions, bombing of civilians, and severe humiliation. I never knew that cities can have money invested in foreign countries, and that Somerville's money is invested in the terrible war crimes committed by the Israeli army, destroying prospects for peace for many years to come. I am so angry at them.

I hope they understand they have dealt a severe blow to peace and justice in Israel/Palestine. I also hope that the citizens of Somerville remember their cowardly and shameful behavior on election day, and show them the way out of office.

More and more Israelis are now calling for divestement. Below is a very well-written and illuminating article by Israeli Oren Medics. I hope that it is informative to you, and it strengthens your efforts.

http://www.redress.btinternet.co.uk/omedicks3.htm

best regards,
Shamai Leibowitz
***********************************
Shamai K. Leibowitz
New Israel Fund Law Fellow
LLM Candidate, International Legal Studies Program
American University

..."The relative tranquility inside the courtroom was at one point punctuated by loud guffaws from the audience when Leibowitz compared Barghouti, accused of orchestrating attacks in which 26 Israelis were killed, to the biblical Moses. "Moses, too, did not recognize the Egyptians' jurisdiction to try him and fled the country," said Leibowitz, a grandson of the late biblical scholar Yeshayahu Leibowitz.

Quoting Exodus, he continued: "Moses saw cruel occupation and he killed the Egyptian and left him in the sand." A patient (Judge) Gurfinkel carefully retorted "but Moses killed an Egyptian taskmaster who was beating an Israelite, not just any innocent Egyptian.""...

...The sign disappeared from the Auschwitz memorial between 3:30 a.m. and 5 a.m., Padlo said.

Police deployed 50 investigators and a search dog to the Auschwitz grounds, where barracks, watchtowers and ruins of gas chambers still stand as testament to the atrocities inflicted by Nazi Germany.

Police were reviewing footage from Auschwitz's surveillance cameras to see if the theft was recorded.

Auschwitz museum spokesman Jaroslaw Mensfelt said the thieves carried the sign 300 meters (yards) to an opening in a barbed-wire gap in a concrete wall. That opening had been left intentionally to preserve a poplar tree dating back to the time of the war.

The sniffer dog led police to a spot outside the wall where the sign left an imprint in freshly fallen snow, then to a roadside where the sign appeared to have been loaded onto a getaway vehicle...

ABOUT 10 years ago, I was doing a weekend of Christmas concerts, accompanied by a fine regional symphony in California. The first night went well, I thought, with a program of holiday classics that seemed beyond reproach. The song choices were about as controversial as a Creamsicle.

But I was wrong. Minutes before I walked onstage the second night, a nervous representative of the orchestra board appeared in my dressing room to tell me that my program was "too Jewish." Wow, I thought, who knew that orchestra management played practical jokes on artists moments before their shows? My laughter turned to disbelief when the stuttering gentleman said that there had, in fact, been complaints.

Between numbers the night before, I had mentioned that almost all the most popular Christmas songs were written by Jews and then riffed on the idea that the Gentiles must have written mostly Hanukkah songs. The audience was enthusiastic, so I assumed it was somebody on the board who had been offended.

Just as I was informing the unlucky messenger that the second night's show would be "even more Jewish," places were called. I bounded onstage in time to belt out the opening lines of "We Need a Little Christmas," wearing a fake grin that barely concealed my rage. After a while, the music calmed me down, and I was able to merge with the holiday spirit encoded in the Jerry Herman classic. The Jewish Jerry Herman Christmas classic...

Garrison Keillor, self-appointed cultural representative of regular old Americans, ruffled some feathers yesterday with a mildly xenophobic rant about Christmas. After lambasting a Unitarian church in Cambridge, Massachusetts, for "spiritual piracy and cultural elitism" -- tweaking the lyrics of "Silent Night" for a singalong, in layman's terms -- he turned his ire in a different direction:

And all those lousy holiday songs by Jewish guys that trash up the malls every year, Rudolph and the chestnuts and the rest of that dreck. Did one of our guys write 'Grab your loafers, come along if you wanna, and we'll blow that shofar for Rosh Hashanah'? No, we didn't. Christmas is a Christian holiday--if you're not in the club, then buzz off...

In Colombia, a former guerrilla commander says that in "peace communities" controlled by NGOs, the population was exploited and peace-niks helped the terrorists.

...the peace community of San José de Apartadó, according to Samir, was not the least bit neutral. Rather, he says, the FARC had a close relationship with its leaders dating back to the early days.

Samir says that the peace community was a FARC safe haven for wounded and sick rebels and for storing medical supplies. He also says that suppliers to the FARC met with rebels in the town, where there were also always five or six members of the Peace Brigades International.

According to Samir, the peace community helped the FARC in its effort to tag the Colombian military as a violator of human rights. When the community was getting ready to accuse someone of a human-rights violation, Samir would organize the "witnesses" by ordering FARC members, posing as civilians, to give testimony.

Edward Lancheros, a member of the peace community council, and his cohorts (including a Jesuit priest called Javier Giraldo and Gloria Cuartas, the notoriously left-wing mayor of the municipality which includes San José de Apartadó), insisted that the "peace" required that the military stay out of the area. But the paramilitary was not about to observe such a convention. When clashes between the FARC and the paras occurred, Samir says, the peace community played a key role in shaping the story for the public to lay blame on the government...

Let's not fool ourselves. Whatever threat the real Afghanistan poses to U.S. national security, the "Virtual Afghanistan" now poses just as big a threat. The Virtual Afghanistan is the network of hundreds of jihadist Web sites that inspire, train, educate and recruit young Muslims to engage in jihad against America and the West. Whatever surge we do in the real Afghanistan has no chance of being a self-sustaining success, unless there is a parallel surge -- by Arab and Muslim political and religious leaders -- against those who promote violent jihadism on the ground in Muslim lands and online in the Virtual Afghanistan...

... Only Arabs and Muslims can fight the war of ideas within Islam. We had a civil war in America in the mid-19th century because we had a lot of people who believed bad things -- namely that you could enslave people because of the color of their skin. We defeated those ideas and the individuals, leaders and institutions that propagated them, and we did it with such ferocity that five generations later some of their offspring still have not forgiven the North.

Islam needs the same civil war. It has a violent minority that believes bad things: that it is O.K. to not only murder non-Muslims -- "infidels," who do not submit to Muslim authority -- but to murder Muslims as well who will not accept the most rigid Muslim lifestyle and submit to rule by a Muslim caliphate.

What is really scary is that this violent, jihadist minority seems to enjoy the most "legitimacy" in the Muslim world today. Few political and religious leaders dare to speak out against them in public. Secular Arab leaders wink at these groups, telling them: "We'll arrest if you do it to us, but if you leave us alone and do it elsewhere, no problem."...

...A corrosive mind-set has taken hold since 9/11. It says that Arabs and Muslims are only objects, never responsible for anything in their world, and we are the only subjects, responsible for everything that happens in their world. We infantilize them...

TT: What about your own childhood, while you were growing up? At what age did you become aware of anti-Semitism, did you have experiences where you were singled out for being Jewish or anything remotely related to that?

Dr.Cammarella: I was the only child, I grew up in a secular family, I didn't feel anything towards religion, I didn't feel that I was a Jew nor Catholic (his father being Catholic). I grew up in a completely secular area, I never went to Synagogue or to church. Until recently, the only thing that distinguished me, I was born in Israel, and until recently I didn't have any contact with any religion. But the only thing in particular is that my name is Ami, it is a Jewish and Israeli name.

TT: When did that begin to cause you problems, your name I mean, because it both Jewish and Israeli?

Dr.Cammarella: I was a resident at the time in an intensive care department in the north of France, in Dunkirk. It was in May 2002, and one of the chief physicians of the department, but not the main one, who was French, came to me and asked "what is your name, what are the roots of your name?"I answered that it was an israeli name, because I was born in Israel .

TT: How did that make you feel?

Dr.Cammarella: Well for me it wasn't a problem, I didn't think of a real connection with Israel and Judaism at this time . A few days later this chief responded to me, helped by all the propaganda in the news on Israel that you know that didn't just start now but years ago...

TT: Yes, I'm very much aware of it.

Dr.Cammarella: And he told me "You Jews", he was referring to Israel but he told me "You Jews, you are like the Nazis". So you see, for him, Jews and Israelis are the same. You're a Jew, so you are an Israeli, and all Jews are Nazis...

Mystery surrounded the Lockerbie bomber last night after he could not be reached at his home or in hospital.

Libyan officials could say nothing about the whereabouts of Abdul Baset Ali al-Megrahi, and his Scottish monitors could not contact him by telephone. They will try again to speak to him today but if they fail to reach him, the Scottish government could face a new crisis.

Under the terms of his release from jail, the bomber cannot change his address or leave Tripoli, and must keep in regular communication with East Renfrewshire Council.

Politicians on both sides of the Atlantic and relatives of the 270 people who died in the 1988 bombing expressed anger about al-Megrahi's disappearance. Richard Baker, Labour's justice spokesman in the Scottish Parliament, said the whole affair was turning into a shambles and putting Scotland's reputation at risk. "This flags up just how ludicrous it is that East Renfrewshire Council, a local council thousands of miles away from Libya, is responsible for supervising al-Megrahi's conditions of licence," he said...

The House of Representatives approved legislation on Tuesday to impose sanctions on foreign companies that help supply gasoline to Iran, a move lawmakers hope will deter Tehran from pursuing its nuclear program.

The bill authorizes President Barack Obama to levy sanctions on energy companies that directly provide gasoline to Iran along with the firms that provide insurance and tankers to facilitate the fuel shipments. The Senate is likely to approve a similar bill, but it is uncertain how soon it will vote.

The legislation, which would expand an existing U.S. law that seeks to punish foreign companies that invest more than $20 million a year in Iran's energy sector...

In much discourse about the Middle East, there is a widespread myth that Jews are interlopers from Europe and the US - white westerners who came to 'colonise' and 'steal land' from the 'native' Palestinian people to whom it rightfully belongs. This myth, drawing on Marxist terminology, gained increasing legitimacy after 1967 when Israel annexed East Jerusalem and 'conquered' the West Bank. The notion of 'occupation' and the use of the word 'settlers' reinforce the concept of Israeli 'colonisation' of 'Arab' land...

SHANGHAI (Kyodo) Japan should strengthen relations with China because ties with the United States have been strained over the relocation of the U.S. Futenma base in Okinawa, Kenji Yamaoka, Diet affairs chief of the ruling Democratic Party of Japan, said Monday.

"Japan-U.S. ties are strained. It is a realistic approach to first strengthen Japan-China ties and then resolve the problems with the United States," Yamaoka said at a symposium in Shanghai.

He also said Ichiro Ozawa, secretary general of the DPJ, and Chinese President Hu Jintao agreed during a meeting Thursday in Beijing that trilateral relations should be equally balanced like an equilateral triangle.

Japanese-U.S. ties have soured recently after the Hatoyama administration started to re-examine the relocation of the Futenma airfield, which had already been agreed to in an agreement signed in 2006.

"The American government should come up with a new global strategy," Yamaoka said, adding that if the current framework established after the Cold War continues, there will be a "difficult period" in the long run.

Congressional investigators looking into the abrupt firing of AmeriCorps inspector general Gerald Walpin have discovered that the head of AmeriCorps met with a top aide to First Lady Michelle Obama the day before Walpin was removed.

According to Republican investigators, Alan Solomont, then the chairman of the Corporation for National and Community Service, which oversees AmeriCorps, had denied meeting with Jackie Norris, at the time the First Lady's chief of staff. But recently-released White House visitor logs show that Solomont met with Norris on June 9 of this year (as well as on two earlier occasions). President Obama fired Walpin on June 10 after an intense dispute over Walpin's aggressive investigation of misuse of AmeriCorps money by Obama political ally Kevin Johnson, the mayor of Sacramento, California.

After being presented with the visitor logs, investigators say, Solomont explained that he met with Norris to discuss Corporation business but did not discuss the Walpin matter. When pressed, Solomont said he might have made an offhand comment, or a mention in passing, about the Walpin affair, but that he and Norris did not have a discussion about it.

Solomont's explanations have left both Rep. Darrell Issa, ranking Republican on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, and Sen. Charles Grassley, top Republican on the Senate Finance Committee, frustrated and vowing to continue their investigation of the Walpin matter. In a letter to Solomont, sent Friday, Issa wrote that he has "serious questions about the veracity of your...testimony." In a statement Saturday, Grassley said he is "concerned about the accuracy and completeness of Mr. Solomont's answers to questions."

Issa's letter to Solomont laid out in detail the sequence of events that led investigators to suspect there were problems with Solomont's testimony. According to the letter, as well as discussions with knowledgeable sources, this is what happened...

A Taunton father is outraged after his 8-year-old son was sent home from school and required to undergo a psychological evaluation after drawing a stick-figure picture of Jesus Christ on the cross.

The father said he got a call earlier this month from Maxham Elementary School informing him that his son, a second-grade student, had created a violent drawing. The image in question depicted a crucified Jesus with Xs covering his eyes to signify that he had died on the cross. The boy wrote his name above the cross...

...The student drew the picture shortly after taking a family trip to see the Christmas display at the National Shrine of Our Lady of La Salette, a Christian retreat site in Attleboro. He made the drawing in class after his teacher asked the children to sketch something that reminded them of Christmas, the father said...

This barbaric scene belongs in the Dark Ages, but pictures emerged today of a group of Islamic militants who forced villagers to watch as they stoned a man to death for adultery.

Mohamed Abukar Ibrahim, a 48-year-old, was buried in a hole up to his chest and pelted with rocks until he died.

The group responsible, Hizbul Islam, also shot dead a man they claimed was a murderer.

But the verdict was so shocking that it prompted a gun battle between rivals within the group that left three militants dead, witnesses said.

The executions took place yesterday in Afgoye, some 20 miles south-west of the capital of Mogadishu.

Hizbul Islam fighters ordered hundreds of residents to a field, where a rebel judge announced that the two men had confessed to murder and adultery...

Our new section called "Earth to Iran" has been launched. Planet Iran calls on everyone around the world to videotape themselves (or record an audio with a video montage if you prefer) with a brief message of support and camaraderie to the people of Iran.

In these hours and months where patriots inside Iran continue to protest against the unelected tyrants of a tyrannical regime, few governments have offered even a shred of hope to our heroic citizens. Iranians young and old daily put their lives on the line in their determination to create a genuinely democratic government: one person/one vote, and accountable.

We will compile your videos and messages on our site's YouTube Channel. Please either upload your messages on YouTube and send us the link or else send us your video to our editor's attention at bzb@planet-iran.com; we will add our logo to your video and upload it. sx

If everyone who reads this sends an encouraging word, then the simple force of humanity can reassure and inspire the brave people inside Iran and help give birth to a free nation. Hands across the globe, we can win.

Thank you warmly.

The Editors of Planet Iran

JP: The "litmus test" emerged because Republican leaders have apparently begun to understand that they have to win back the confidence of conservative Americans in the wake of the 2008 election, the NY-23 debacle, and defections on key House and Senate votes. In its origins, the "litmus test" is not a purge by the right, but a commitment from the top--an attempt by GOP institutions to reassure the grass roots that the party will stay true to its values.

That said, there are two questions that remain. One is strategic: is it better to give people credit for the Republican values they share, or to punish them for the points on which they disagree? In other words, is a "litmus test" really better than a new "Contract With America"? I support the latter, which I feel is positive and inclusive. That way, we can focus on our common agenda rather than our differences.

The second question is the substance of the test itself. Most Republicans I know, myself included, could sign on to all ten principles. The minimum score of eight would also allow pro-choice and pro-gay marriage Republicans to wave the GOP banner proudly. I do wonder, however, whether we actually need ten points to articulate the simple principles Republicans have always believed in: freedom, strength, and tradition. What we really need most is the courage to fight for them.

A Muslim man attacked a Chabad rabbi Saturday night as he was conducting the annual ceremony to light the public Chanukah menorah in Stefenfaltz Square in the city of Vienna, Austria.

The attacker hurled himself at Rabbi Dov Gruzman, principal of the city's Jewish school run by the Chabad-Lubavitch Chassidic movement, and began punching him, a local resident told Arutz Sheva.

As the rabbi tried to hold off his attacker, the Muslim suddenly bit his victim, severing part of his finger in the process. The Muslim was caught and arrested by police, and was held for questioning. The rabbi was evacuated to the hospital where doctors rushed to reattach his finger.

Gruzman told Arutz Sheva that the Muslim had raced towards the entrance at the beginning of the ceremony and began to curse the Jews who were there and the Jewish people in general. "I tried to hold him off, to keep him away from the entrance and he bit me really hard, and that's how he injured me," he said...

On December 4 I wrote an editorial for Pajamas Media about the scurrilous Channel Four television documentary presented by British conservative commentator Peter Oborne exposing the "power" of the Anglo-Jewish lobby.

Now I would like to turn to some items following on that story.

No sooner had the program aired than the Jew-avoidance champion Richard Ingrams wrote in his Independent column that it was about time somebody stood up to the Zionists. Then on November 28 he hit the jackpot with a real doozy: he accused former Bush advisers Doug Feith, Richard Perle, and Paul Wolfowitz (he who liveth with a Libyan lady) of being ardent Zionists who are "more concerned with preserving the security of Israel than that of the U.S." Let's stop and look at that for a moment: he is saying that the triumvirate of Jewish neocons was subverting the security of the United States. Isn't that an offense punishable by life behind bars? Would Mr. Ingrams like to let us know exactly how Messrs. Feith, Wolfowitz, and Perle were ignoring the security of the American people in favor of the Israelis?...

Headley has plead not guilty to the charges, but his lawyers claim he is cooperating with the FBI. Indian officials claim they also will charge Headley and have expressed an interest in extraditing him.

The Mumbai terror attacks rank as one of the most sophisticated operations ever run by a terrorist organization. It involved ten men who arrived by sea, worked in teams, and hit at least ten targets nearly simultaneously. Leaders of the terrorist group Lashkar-e-Taiba kept in constant contact with the attackers from Pakistan, directing them who to kill and giving them words of encouragement. When the last of the attackers was killed at the Taj Mahal Palace hotel three days after the carnage began, over 173 people were dead and another 308 wounded.

This gruesome act of terror was clearly well-planned. At least some of that planning was done by Chicago resident David Headley.

David Headley was born Daood Gilani in Washington, D.C., to a Pakistani father and an American mother. When the young Daood's parents divorced he moved to Pakistan with his father and attended an elite military academy. His mother eventually gained legal custody and he moved to Philadelphia where he bounced around in a number of low-level jobs. Apparently not satisfied with a life of poverty, he became involved in a scheme to smuggle heroin from Pakistan. This landed him in jail for 15 months after a 1998 conviction. Published reports claim that the short sentence was due to his cooperation with the Drug Enforcement Administration (he is said to have become an informant)...

Israel is likely to face advanced Iranian weaponry, long-range rockets, large missile silos and dozens of kilometers of underground tunnels connecting open fields with urban centers in the event of a future conflict with Hamas in the Gaza Strip, according to the latest Israeli assessments.

Since Operation Cast Lead ended almost a year ago, Hamas has increased its weapons smuggling and today operates hundreds of tunnels along the Philadelphi Corridor. It has smuggled in dozens of long-range Iranian-made rockets that can reach Tel Aviv as well as advanced anti-aircraft missiles and anti-tank missiles.

Hamas is believed to have a significant number of shoulder-launched anti-tank missiles and 9M113 Konkurs, which have a range of four kilometers and are capable of penetrating heavy armor.

In addition, Hamas is believed to have today a few thousand rockets, including several hundred with a range of 40 kilometers and several dozen with a range of between 60 and 80 km. Intelligence assessments are that Hamas smuggled the missiles into the Gaza Strip through tunnels, possibly in several components.

Iran already supplies Hamas with 122mm Katyusha rockets that are smuggled into Gaza in several pieces and then assembled by Hamas engineers.

One of the main lessons Hamas learned from Cast Lead was the need to reinforce its defenses and as a result has invested efforts in digging additional tunnels, which connect open fields with homes belonging to key operatives as well as command centers.

The idea is to enable freedom of movement for the operatives between different battlefields, which it found difficult during Israel's ground offensive in Gaza earlier this year.

Hamas has also increased its use of civilian infrastructure, particularly mosques, which the terror group already used quite extensively for storage and launching rockets during the operation.Hamas is believed to have taken control of almost 80 percent of the mosques in Gaza, using them to store weapons and set up command-and-control centers.

Hamas, is "padding" itself as well by setting up its command centers in large apartment buildings. This way, it believes, the IDF will not attack them by air, and will need to send ground forces deep into the population centers, where it will lose its technological advantage.

In addition, Hamas is hoping to increase the effectiveness of its rocket capability during a future conflict and has created large missile silos.

Hamas has also recently increased its efforts to dig what the IDF calls "offensive tunnels" close to the border with Israel, which the terror group could use to infiltrate into Israel and kidnap soldiers.

These tunnels are believed to be of strategic value for Hamas, which would only use them for large-scale attacks and high-value targets.

The Goldstone report drove the Israelis and Palestinians apart, a U.S. State Department official said.

The aside by Assistant U.S. Secretary of State P.J. Crowley in a briefing for reporters Tuesday was the clearest signal of U.S. frustration with the United Nations Human Rights Council report into last winter's Gaza war, authored by South African Justice Richard Goldstone, that recommended war crimes charges against Israel and Hamas.

"It's not a failure, because the process isn't over," Crowley said of Palestinian-Israel talks. "The process is ongoing. But clearly, in the aftermath of the Goldstone report, we've seen this fairly substantial gap emerge, and we're seeing what we can do to move both sides closer to a decision to enter into negotiations."...

The IDF has completed a review of the 36 "most serious" cases of alleged war crimes as cited by Judge Richard Goldstone in his damning report on Operation Cast Lead, and concluded that 30 of them are "baseless accusations," The Jerusalem Post has learned. The other six were found to relate to genuine instances, where operational errors and mistakes were involved.

The IDF is currently finalizing a report in response to the allegations leveled by the Goldstone mission on behalf of the United Nations Human Rights Council. It is expected to becompleted and submitted to Chief of General Staff Lt.-Gen. Gabi Ashkenazi for review in the coming weeks. The army has yet to decide what it will do with the report and whether it will be released to the public.

The IDF has, however, already launched a diplomatic campaign to present some of the results of its probe.

On Wednesday, Military Advocate-General Brig.-Gen. Avihai Mandelblit met in New York with representatives of 10 different countries, as well as with officials from the UN secretariat and the Obama administration, to present some of Israel's findings...

It is an ancient royal communiqué that details the appointment of a new tax collector. And its text, newly deciphered after four recent archeological finds were put together, brings demonstrable veracity to the events that precipitated the Maccabean Revolt in 167-164 BCE and the story of Hanukka.

The significance of the communiqué, sent from the Syrian-Greek King Seleucus IV (187-175 BCE) to the ruling leadership in Judea, emerged when it was realized that three inscribed pieces of stone found at Beit Guvrin's Tel Maresha between 2005 and 2006 belonged together with a larger stele piece that was donated to the Israel Museum in 2007.

The reconstituted stele, or inscribed tablet, yielded a text from the king dated 178 BCE - 11 years before the Maccabean Revolt. It set out instructions to his chief minister Heliodorus concerning the appointment of one Olympiodorus to begin collecting money from all of the temples in the region, marking the start of a significant, negative shift in Seleucid policy on Jewish autonomy. That shift culminated in a vicious Seleucid crackdown on the Jews of Judea and the looting of the Temple in 168-167 BCE, which prompted the Maccabean Revolt as memorialized in the Hanukka story...

Dr. Tali Erickson-Gini of the Israel Antiquities Authority: "The Hasmonean king Alexander Jannaeus conquered Gaza and the Negev and for decades prevented the Nabataeans from using the Incense Road."

According to a recent important archaeological and historical discovery, the Hasmoneans also controlled the Negev.

Researchers at the Israel Antiquities Authority are currently processing finds from archaeological excavations at sites located along the "Incense Road" in the Negev that were previously excavated by Dr. Rudolph Cohen of the Department of Antiquities. One of the sites that were excavated was Horvat Ma'agurah, which is located on a ridge, c. 3.4 kilometers west of the Sede Boqer region. The site is situated at a strategic point that overlooks Nahal Besor where the famous "Incense Road" ran, which connected Petra with Gaza. It was along this road that the Nabataeans transported precious goods such as myrrh and frankincense to the Mediterranean Sea and Egypt.

An analysis of the finds has revealed that after Gaza was conquered in 99 BCE, King Alexander Jannaeus - the great-grandson of Matityahu the High Priest - built a fortress with four towers inside an earlier Nabataean caravanserai. With the aid of this fortress he was able to halt any Nabataean activity along the Incense Road and in effect force them out of the Negev.

It was because of the fortress' shape that archaeologist, Dr. Rudolph Cohen assumed at the time it was a stronghold from the Roman period (end of the third century CE). But a new analysis of the artifacts which were discovered inside the fortress, and the architectural features of the fortress itself, has led to the unequivocal conclusion that the fortress is Hasmonean...

• Sixty-seven percent of the worldwide internet population visit social networking sites and blogs (web 2.0). These are now outpacing email in popularity. According to Nielsen Online they have become the fourth most popular online category. The popularity of political blogs is increasing as traditional media struggle to stay afloat.
• The three most popular progressive political blogs in the United States are Huffington Post, Salon, and Daily Kos. These three together have over thirteen million unique visitors per month.
• Within these three blogs a number of historical anti-Semitic staples appear frequently: excessive Jewish power and control over society/government; Jewish citizens are more loyal to Israel than to their own country; Israel resembles Nazi Germany; Israel is demonized.
• In part because of the huge size of the blogosphere - there are thousands of bloggers at Daily Kos alone - such hateful commentary often escapes the kind of scrutiny that the traditional media faces. A major challenge is that anonymity provides bloggers with moral impunity.

Breaking with his previous restraint, Israel's ambassador to the United States delivered an unprecedented blast against J Street, the new dovish Israel lobby that has made waves in Washington and throughout the Jewish community.

Addressing a breakfast session at the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism's biennial convention December 7, Ambassador Michael Oren described J Street as "a unique problem in that it not only opposes one policy of one Israeli government, it opposes all policies of all Israeli governments. It's significantly out of the mainstream."

After a speech that touched on the spiritual basis for and the threats to the state of Israel, Oren issued an unscripted condemnation of J Street.

"This is not a matter of settlements here [or] there. We understand there are differences of opinion," Oren said. "But when it comes to the survival of the Jewish state, there should be no differences of opinion. You are fooling around with the lives of 7 million people. This is no joke."

Oren's blunt comments contrasted with his reaction in October, when J Street invited him to address its first Washington conference. After an extended delay, Oren declined the offer. The embassy issued a statement saying that it would be "privately communicating its concerns over certain policies of the organization that may impair the interests of Israel." Instead, it sent a lower-level diplomat to observe the conference...

...at the USCJ breakfast, Oren criticized J Street after an audience member asked him how synagogues should respond if congregants requested that the group be invited to make a presentation.

"Engage with them," he said. "But I think it's very important that you be up-front with them and say why these policies are outside the mainstream and why they are inimical to Israel's fundamental interests."

Oren cited J Street's criticism of Israel's military campaign in Gaza in December 2008 and last January, and its support for talks with the Islamist militant group Hamas, which has engaged in terrorism, as examples of positions that were outside the Jewish mainstream; however, an opinion poll sponsored by the Israeli daily Haaretz in November found that 57% of Israelis favored talks with Hamas under certain conditions. Oren also accused J Street of failing to reject the UN's Goldstone report, which found Israel had committed war crimes during the Gaza campaign. Finally, he charged that the group opposed sanctions against Iran...

Captain R., now Major R., won a legal victory Tuesday. Not just a victory - a knockout. It was the culmination of an affair that began in the fall of 2004, when R., then a company commander in the Givati Brigade, became embroiled in the death of Palestinian teenage girl, Ayman al-Hams, in Rafah - an incident that became known as the "confirmed kill affair."

Just over a year later, R. was completely exonerated by a military tribunal, after his lawyers dismantled the military prosecution's case, highlighting serious shortcomings in the way the prosecution, and particularly the military police investigators, had conducted themselves.

Yesterday marked another milestone in the affair, after R. won his libel suit against investigative journalist Ilana Dayan for her presentation of the incident on her Channel 2 show "Fact."

Jerusalem District Court Judge Noam Sohlberg also awarded R. NIS 300,000 [about $79,000 according to YNet] in damages.

Sohlberg's 131-page ruling will become a landmark decision in the history of journalism in Israel, due to the case's extensive publicity and Dayan's prominence...

...The most important sentence in this section of the Goldstone Report is this one: "Mr. Amr Hamad indicated that 324 factories had been destroyed during the Israeli military operations at a cost of 40,000 jobs" (paragraph 1009). I did a double-take when I read that: 40,000 would be astonishing in an economy like Gaza's. This is what Hamad said in his testimony (June 28, Goldstone in the chair):

The industrial sector that was destroyed, for example, the 324 factories that were destroyed, that we[re] destroyed used to employ four-hundred thous-, uh, 40,000 workers. And these have lost their uh, jobs, uh, forever.

So that's the source of the number. But if you return to the report of the Palestinian Federation of Industries, it puts the job losses at these 324 factories not at 40,000, but at 4,000. That's an order-of-magnitude misrepresentation by Hamad of his own organization's findings. The Goldstone Mission should have wondered at the figure, checked Hamad's testimony against the Palestinian Federation of Industries report, detected the discrepancy, and gotten it right. But it didn't. Perhaps the mission members, hearing the word "factories," thought that 40,000 jobs sounded credible. In fact, more than a quarter (88) of these 324 "factories" employed five people or less, and over half (189) employed from five to twenty people (Federation report, p. 12). The vast majority of these "factories" should really be described as "workshops." Only three employed a hundred or more people...

Members of Fatah's Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades are arming themselves for war against Israel by buying guns instead of food for their kids and by selling their wives' jewelry, according to the official Fatah website.

The website says that the Brigades, the so-called "military wing" of Fatah, are preparing a "harsh and painful" response to any Israeli attacks on Gaza. According to one of the heads of the Brigades, the fighters have to buy their own weapons to replace weapons confiscated by Hamas.

Following is the transcript of the item from the Fatah web site:

"With the renewal of the threats emanating from the Zionist military establishment to carry out a new attack on the Gaza Strip... the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades... warned of a harsh and painful response that the occupation state is not expecting. This response was conveyed by one of the heads of the Brigades in the Gaza Strip, Abu Ahed...

"Abu Ahed also declared that the Brigades' activity in Gaza should be viewed as a personal endeavor, since many of the Brigades' Jihad (Islamic War) fighters purchase weapons rather than food for their children, and many of them have even sold their wives' gold [jewelry] in order to obtain weapons, since the Hamas forces have confiscated the Brigades' members' weapons." [Official Fatah web site, www.Fateh.org, Dec. 9, 2009]

A Jewish bride and her father were arrested on the Temple Mount the day before her wedding, after an Arab policeman claimed he saw the father muttering prayers and the bride nodding her head.

The father and daughter were being taken around the site on Wednesday morning by her brother Eli, a volunteer who conducts regular tours at the Temple Mount, when suddenly they were accosted by the Jerusalem policeman.

"We were in the northern part, and I was showing them the archaeological evidence when suddenly a police officer came over to us, Mahmoud Hativ was his name, and he claimed that my father had muttered prayers. "We tried to argue with him and said it wasn't true, but he said, 'You can't fool me,' and insisted that my father had prayed," Eli told Israel National News.

"My sister was just standing there silently, not moving at all. She didn't say a word. It was her first time at the Mount. Other cops came over, Mahmoud said that she had also been involved, and they decided to arrest them both," he continued. "He let me go right away, because he couldn't make any claim against me." His sister and father were taken to the Kishla police station near the Jaffa Gate in the Old City of Jerusalem...

..."The fact that a father comes to the holiest place of the Jewish people and can be arrested simply for allegedly moving his lips is an outrage," Eli said.

"The Supreme Court has repeatedly ruled that the holy sites of all religions have to be protected and respected - that explicitly includes the rights of Jews on the Temple Mount. Jerusalem police continue to ignore that ruling."...

Many Palestinians who work with international or Israeli organizations whose job is to promote peace and coexistence in the Middle East are often afraid or reluctant to discuss the nature of their work, even though it is much more important to teach Palestinian children about coexistence, peace and normalization with Israel than to pressure Mahmoud Abbas to return to the negotiating table.

In the West Bank and Gaza Strip, any talk about these is still associated with treason and defeatism. The Palestinian leadership's actions and words have sent the following message to its constituents: Any person who thinks about normalization or coexistence with the Jewish state will be severely punished.

By cracking down on the Palestinians who are working for normalization and coexistence with Israel, both the Palestinian Authority and Hamas have prevented the emergence of a real peace camp among Palestinians. Has anyone ever heard of an authentic and serious "Palestinian Peace Now" movement in the West Bank or the Gaza Strip?

Where are all the American, European and local non-governmental organizations that are supposed to use US and EU taxpayers' money to promote peace, moderation and coexistence?...

Almost exactly a year ago, Ms. Brittain wrote an article complaining that the horrendous atrocities in Congo got some attention from British officials, instead of them focusing on Gaza (From Goma to Gaza, was the title). A year later, she complains that instead of all the fuss about global warming, the international community should focus on Gaza... Looks like a pattern to me.

But anyway, who will save Gaza's children? How about Gaza's rulers, who had no problem equipping an army that they boast has some 15 000 fighters, who had no problem building up an elaborate network of bunkers and tunnels for military purposes, who had no problem organizing the building of tunnels for smuggling, who had no problem setting up and running a TV station to "educate" their population in the way Hamas wants them to see things -- ah, and btw, yesterday there was a new type of rocket launched from Gaza into Israel, and recently, Hamas reportedly tested a rocket that could reach Tel Aviv. So all in all, it seems that they don't have a problem to get the things they care about done. Apparently, Ms. Brittain recently visited Gaza, given the colorful description she is giving here, maybe she should go back and ask the Hamas leaders why they don't do anything about the sewage and water problem in order to "save Gaza's children".

Egypt has begun the construction of a massive iron wall along its border with the Gaza Strip, in a bid to shut down smuggling tunnels into the territory. The wall will be nine to 10 kilometers long, and will go 20 to 30 meters into the ground, Egyptian sources said. It will be impossible to cut or melt.

The new plan is the latest move by Egypt to step up its counter-smuggling efforts. Although some progress had been made, the smuggling market in Gaza still flourishes.

Egyptian forces demolish tunnels or fill them with gas almost every week, often with people still inside them, and Palestinian casualties in the tunnels have been steadily rising...

US President Barack Obama's views on the issue of West Bank settlements are more challenging for Israel than those of former president Jimmy Carter, Minister-without-Portfolio Bennie Begin said in a meeting with Likud activists from Judea and Samaria at the Knesset Tuesday.

Begin, whose father, former prime minister Menachem Begin, made peace with Egypt during Carter's presidency, made the comments just two weeks after Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu censured Culture and Sport Minister Limor Livnat for calling the Obama administration "horrible."

"This administration is not even like that of Carter - and we realized, in retrospect, who he was," Begin told the activists. "It is unlike the administrations that preceded it, which came to certain understandings regarding construction in Judea and Samaria. This administration says all construction is illegitimate."

Begin made reference to Obama's June 4 speech to the Muslim world in Cairo, in which he declared that "the United States does not accept the legitimacy of continued Israeli settlements."

He said that Carter referred to settlements as "not only an obstacle to peace, but also illegal."

According to Begin, while legality is a technical issue, legitimacy is a matter of political policy, and therefore Obama's views are more problematic for Israel than those of Carter.

"Carter did not maintain that Jews have no legitimate right to live in the towns and villages of Judea and Samaria," Begin said.

In a conversation with The Jerusalem Post, Begin stressed that on many issues, the Obama administration had been "very helpful to Israel and deserves to be recognized for it." But when it came to settlements, "the differences between Israel and the US are great and regrettable."...

I think we can do - indeed we have to do - better than this. Let me give an example. Those of us who are friendly towards the Israeli state often notice that in Britain at any rate there is a form of anti-Israeli-ism somewhat distinct from the more rabid recent varieties. It tends to be held by British people of the older generation who will tell you that the Israeli state was founded on terrorism. They cite the acts of such groups as the Irgun and Stern gangs.

Dear Ms. Hollander,

I confirm receipt of your letter. I have no intention of responding to your open letter.

Sincerely, Richard Goldstone

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad claims the United States is attempting to thwart the return of mankind's savior, according to reports from Al Arabiya, a television news station based in Dubai.

Ahmadinejad reportedly claims he has documented evidence that the U.S. is blocking the return of Mahdi, the Imam believed by Muslims to be the savior.

"We have documented proof that they believe that a descendant of the prophet of Islam will raise in these parts and he will dry the roots of all injustice in the world," Ahmadinejad said during a speech on Monday, according to Al Arabiya.

"They have devised all these plans to prevent the coming of the Hidden Imam because they know that the Iranian nation is the one that will prepare the grounds for his coming and will be the supporters of his rule," Ahmadinejad was quoted as saying...

...Twice--in 1948 and 1967--the West Bank served as the staging ground for large-scale attacks against Israel. While defending itself, Israel captured the territory and reunited with its ancestral homeland: Haifa is not in the Bible, but Bethlehem, Hebron, and Jericho decidedly are. Hundreds of thousands of Israelis rushed to resettle their tribal land.

These communities widened Israel's borders, which at points are a mere eight miles wide. American policy makers recognized Israel's need for defensible borders and, in November 1967, they supported U.N. Resolution 242, which called for withdrawals from "territories" captured in the war, but not from "all the territories" or even "the territories."

All successive Israeli governments supported the settlements. Only with the signing of the 1993 Oslo Accords did then-Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin agree to restrain construction in outlying communities that he considered unnecessary for Israel's defense. But the settlements continued to expand. Meanwhile the peace process progressed. The Palestinians never made a construction freeze in Jerusalem and the settlements a precondition for talks -- until earlier this year.

Mr. Netanyahu initially responded that Jews, like all people, can build legally in Jerusalem, and that it's unreasonable to disallow settlers from building even an extra room for a newborn. Still, he promised not to establish new settlements, not to appropriate additional land for existing ones, nor even to induce Israelis to move to them. Yet the Palestinians balked. The peace process was moribund, awaiting an intrepid stroke.

Mr. Netanyahu has now taken that initiative. By suspending new Israeli construction in all of the West Bank, the prime minister has done what none of his predecessors, including Rabin, ever suggested...

...It would explain why HCAN was particularly aggressive at Rep. Schakowsky's own town hall meeting. And Creamer's involvement would also explain his high profile after being released from prison. He worked for the Obama campaign, training volunteers at "Camp Obama." He has continued his work at the Strategic Consulting Group, leading "many of the country's most significant issue campaigns," he claims. He was also at the White House state dinner last month -- together with Stern, Axelrod, and other cronies -- despite the fact that ex-convicts are usually barred from such events.

Creamer's broader aim, as laid out in his book, is the "democratization of wealth" in America and "progressive control of governments around the world." As he recently wrote on his blog at the Huffington Post: "If we succeed in winning health insurance reform we will have breached the gates of the status quo. We will demonstrate that fundamental change is possible. Into that breach will flow a wave of progressive change."

It is a radical agenda, making use of Rep. Schakowsky's public profile, a network of far-left organizations, and Creamer's old friends in the White House. It began in federal prison, and has unfolded exactly as intended, over the protests of thousands of ordinary Americans across the nation. It will not end with health care. It will continue until Mr. Creamer's Alinskyite dream of radical change is realized--or until voters stand up and put a stop to it in 2010.

At a time when the United States is looking to Egypt to play a critical role in bringing about a new era of reconciliation and partnership between the Muslim world and the West, an attitude of "business as usual" persists among Egyptian leaders toward the incessant drumbeat of anti-Semitism in the media and society, according to the Anti-Defamation League (ADL).

In a report on Anti-Semitism in the Egyptian Media [PDF], issued today, the League cites a "culture of permissiveness" that enables anti-Jewish and anti-Israel sentiment to flourish in Egyptian society "without a single word of condemnation or criticism from political or civic leaders."

The ADL report was delivered last week to Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, and copies are being shared on Capitol Hill with members of the Obama administration and key congressional leaders.

"President Mubarak's government continues to engage in business as usual when it comes to blatant expressions of anti-Semitism in the media, which seep into Egyptian society," said Abraham H. Foxman, ADL National Director. "These alarming manifestations of anti-Jewish attitudes undermine the attempts by the U.S. administration to deliver on the promise of better relations between the Muslim and non-Muslim worlds in President Obama's Cairo address, and present a major obstacle to his vision of truly normalized relations between Israel and Egypt, and Israel and the other Arab countries."

Daily newspapers and television shows in Egypt routinely propagate age-old anti-Semitic themes, with Jews portrayed as stooped, hook-nosed and money hungry, fighting for world domination...

1. The US team went to work with a vengeance to get a consensus on sanctions. This didn't bother the Iran team in the least. We didn't think they could put together a package that would hurt us in any serious way, and that proved to be true. But more important, in the process they managed to offend all of their ostensible allies and wasted so much time and effort that Iran was better off at the end than they had been at the beginning. Since this represents a version of actual US strategy (and its results) over now three administrations, I think there is a lesson there that is ignored at our peril.

Supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei lashed out Sunday at the US and Britain, labelling them Tehran's main "enemies" and warning they will fail to isolate Iran over its nuclear issue, a report said.

"Americans are at the head of the list of enemies and the British are the most awful of them," state television reported Khamenei as saying in an address to thousands of people to mark a major Shiite ceremony.

"Americans, Zionists and other oppressive powers tried to isolate Iran for the past 30 years, but they failed and with God's help they will also fail in the future," Khamenei said in reaction to sustained Western threats to isolate Iran over its controversial atomic programme.

Khamenei, Iran's all-powerful leader who has the final say in all national issues, said Western powers led by Washington are lying when they claim Tehran's nuclear programme is aimed at producing nuclear weapons...

Executives at National Public Radio recently asked the network's top political correspondent, Mara Liasson, to reconsider her regular appearances on Fox News because of what they perceived as the network's political bias, two sources familiar with the effort said.

According to a source, Liasson was summoned in early October by NPR's executive editor for news, Dick Meyer, and the network's supervising senior Washington editor, Ron Elving. The NPR executives said they had concerns that Fox's programming had grown more partisan, and they asked Liasson to spend 30 days watching the network.

At a follow-up meeting last month, Liasson reported that she'd seen no significant change in Fox's programming and planned to continue appearing on the network, the source said.

NPR's focus on Liasson's work as a commentator on Fox's "Special Report" and "Fox News Sunday" came at about the same time as a White House campaign launched in September to delegitimize the network by painting it as an extension of the Republican Party...

Dear Mrs. Darwish,

I just wanted to thank you for speaking at Boston University yesterday. I would like to apologize again for the confusion regarding the location of the event because of the fire. So far we know the fire was intentionally set in one of the bathrooms on the second floor of the building. It is still under investigation and I will let you know if any more updates come out. I was not the only person to think that the fire could have been set because you were scheduled to speak but I will inform you of any more developments. Once again thank you so much for coming toBoston University and I speak for everyone who attended the event when I say what you had to say was not only extremely important but a pleasure hearing.

Here is the link to the article that was written about the event:

Activist: Arab-Israeli conflict rooted in Islamic law

...When I spoke with Darwish last night, she said that as they were approaching the College of Arts and Sciences Building, the original site of last night's program they notice the fire apparatus. They were told by BU police at the scene that the building was closed and evacuated. Her CAMERA Campus talk was displaced to Hillel House also on the BU Campus, where she spoke to a limited audience.

Darwish remarked that during the past several months she had experienced the worst treatment in endeavoring to speak on college campuses since she started doing that in the wake of 9/11. She noted the disruptive Muslim Students at the Univesity of Seattle, as well as, the recent cancellation of speaking engagements at two Ivy League schools, Princeton and Columbia.

The University of Seattle event was harrowing. Darwish's talk was disrupted by a group of Muslim students lead by a faculty member, a Palestinian from Jordan, who accused her of insulting Muslims. Darwish soldiered on despite the accusations. After the talk she was approached by several Muslim students from Egypt, Palestine, the Sudan and Saudi Arabia, who thanked her for coming to speak and argued with fellow Muslim students, that their antics confirmed what she was talking about-invasion of free speech rights here in America...

An Evening with Dr. Wafa Sultan: A Profile in Courage, a Woman of Conviction Speaks her mind publicly about Muslim culture and treatment of women

..."Most Muslims, if not all of them, will condemn me to death when they read this book." These words were written by Wafa Sultan, author of A God Who Hates. Sultan is a Syrian-born American psychiatrist who speaks out about what she feels is wrong and hateful about aspects of Muslim culture...

Tom Friedman had an especially fatuous column in Sunday's New York Times, which is saying something given his well-established capacity for smug self-assurance. According to Friedman, the big challenge we face in the Arab and Islamic world is "the Narrative" -- his patronizing term for Muslim views about America's supposedly negative role in the region. If Muslims weren't so irrational, he thinks, they would recognize that "U.S. foreign policy has been largely dedicated to rescuing Muslims or trying to help free them from tyranny." He concedes that we made a few mistakes here and there (such as at Abu Ghraib), but the real problem is all those anti-American fairy tales that Muslims tell each other to avoid taking responsibility for their own actions.

I heard a different take on this subject at a recent conference on U.S. relations with the Islamic world. In addition to hearing a diverse set of views from different Islamic countries, one of the other participants (a prominent English journalist) put it quite simply. "If the United States wants to improve its image in the Islamic world," he said, "it should stop killing Muslims."...

...By painting its picture with such a broad brush, the anti-Semitism watchdog group lent its bully pulpit to the administration and its most partisan cheerleaders. Claiming that the tax protest "tea parties," town-hall-meeting dissenters, and Glenn Beck's broadcast broadsides are part of a structure that is threatening democracy or giving rise to anti-Semitism is absurd, but it does serve the partisan interests of the Left. That is not the proper function of the ADL.

The European media are crowded with editorials condemning the Swiss for voting to prohibit the construction of any more minarets in their country. Here in Norway, the newspaper Dagsavisen went furthest of all, devoting its entire front page on Monday to a comparison of the entire nation of Switzerland with Nazi brownshirts. The front-page illustration did not admit to misinterpretation: the Swiss were Nazis, period.

Virtually all of the media went on autopilot in their abuse of the Swiss. What is at issue is the supposedly "sacred" freedom of religion, which has become an icon especially among left-wing intellectuals and the European niceness industry as a whole. But hold it for one second: As far as I've noticed, no major commentator or intellectual who has blasted Switzerland for this plebiscite has taken into account Islam's political content. Can anyone in my own country of Norway, for example, point to a single -- I repeat, a single -- Muslim congregation within our borders that is secular? That is, a single congregation that rejects sharia and Islam's political ambitions?

In any event, thanks to the Swiss minaret vote, Islam and Christianity are yet again being brought together in a forced marriage. A minaret, we keep being told, is just like a church spire. Nothing new there: When it comes to Islam, the editorialists, columnists, and talking heads simply can't or won't face reality. These "decent" people are appalled by the Swiss people's rejection of minarets -- period. Yes, I'll be the first to admit that the case is a disagreeable one -- but if so, it's because Islam is itself disagreeable. To put it bluntly, a mosque with minarets is not the equivalent of a church with a spire. Why? Because Europe's churches have no political agenda, and because they aren't obsessed with the painstaking study of ancient "divine" laws that are consistently placed above secular law.

It is precisely this disagreeable aspect of Islam, in contrast with Christianity, that I think we would profit by discussing openly and honestly. Because if I could be sure that a Muslim congregation (with or without its own minaret, even though the minaret adds an extra dose of religio-political power) was founded on the same freedom-based values as, say, the Norwegian state church, and that any "struggle" involving that community was limited to arguments about things like same-sex marriage and whether Muhammed was born of a virgin, they could build as many minarets in my neighborhood as they wanted -  because in that case Islam would not represent a challenge to Norwegian liberty and democracy. But unfortunately Islam does represent a challenge. Therefore I pose this challenge to the elite of my country: Of the over 100 Muslim congregations in Norway, name one that will forever fight tooth and nail against sharia and for a secular Norway. If such a faith community exists, it's doing a very good job of keeping itself hidden...

...In short, why don't they get it?

There are lots of answers, of course but even after one goes through the list the basic disconnect between reality, perception, and policy remains baffling. To see a society with such advantages and assets act as if it were intent on suicide, or at least with blind disregard for its survival, is a strange phenomenon. To view the stronger obsessed with making concessions, the more moral consumed with guilt, a blind inability to identify enemies who keep proclaiming their nature and intentions is just plain bizarre.

If I had to put it all in one sentence--admittedly a long, complex one--it would be this like this:

American and Western policymakers and intellectuals cannot believe or comprehend that so many would fight for bad causes out of ideological--nationalist, religious, traditionalist--worldviews, turning down material betterment in exchange for years of sacrifice, defeat, and suffering; engaging in a battle that a pragmatic assessment says they cannot win.

Much of the West has lost the ability to understand how a world view can be narrow and fantastical or, on the contrary, quite internally rational but merely designed to deal with a very different set of circumstances and society. You don't get to be the dictator of Venezuela or leader of al-Qaida or a powerful cleric in Iran by behaving and thinking like a Western democratic politician.

They don't understand what Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini tried to explain back in 1979: We didn't make the Iranian revolution to lower the price of watermelons...

...Olmert explains this position to me in unprecedented detail. His offer to Abbas represents a historic watershed and poses a serious question. Can the Palestinian leadership ever accept any offer that an Israeli prime minister could ever reasonably make?

It is important to get Olmert's full account of this offer on the record: "From the end of 2006 until the end of 2008 I think I met with Abu Mazen more often than any Israeli leader has ever met any Arab leader. I met him more than 35 times. They were intense, serious negotiations."...

..."On the 16th of September, 2008, I presented him (Abbas) with a comprehensive plan. It was based on the following principles.

One, there would be a territorial solution to the conflict on the basis of the 1967 borders with minor modifications on both sides. Israel will claim part of the West Bank where there have been demographic changes over the last 40 years."

This approach by Olmert would have allowed Israel to keep the biggest Jewish settlement blocks which are mainly now suburbs of Jerusalem, but would certainly have entailed other settlers having to leave Palestinian territory and relocate to Israel.

In total, Olmert says, this would have involved Israel claiming about 6.4 per cent of Palestinian territory in the West Bank: "It might be a fraction more, it might be a fraction less, but in total it would be about 6.4 per cent. Israel would claim all the Jewish areas of Jerusalem. All the lands that before 1967 were buffer zones between the two populations would have been split in half. In return there would be a swap of land (to the Palestinians) from Israel as it existed before 1967.

"I showed Abu Mazen how this would work to maintain the contiguity of the Palestinian state...

...Olmert says he showed Abbas a map, which embodied all these plans. Abbas wanted to take the map away. Olmert agreed, so long as they both signed the map. It was, from Olmert's point of view, a final offer, not a basis for future negotiation. But Abbas could not commit. Instead, he said he would come with experts the next day.

"He (Abbas) promised me the next day his adviser would come. But the next day Saeb Erekat rang my adviser and said we forgot we are going to Amman today, let's make it next week. I never saw him again."

Olmert believes that, like Camp David a decade earlier, this was an enormous opportunity lost: "I said `this is the offer. Sign it and we can immediately get support from America, from Europe, from all over the world'. I told him (Abbas) he'd never get anything like this again from an Israeli leader for 50 years. I said to him, `do you want to keep floating forever - like an astronaut in space - or do you want a state?'

"To this day we should ask Abu Mazen to respond to this plan. If they (the Palestinians) say no, there's no point negotiating."...

...And most important, if the Palestinian leadership cannot accept that offer, can they accept any realistic offer? Do they have the machinery to run a state? Is their society too dysfunctional and filled with anti-Semitic propaganda to live in peace next to the Jewish state? Could they ever deliver on any security guarantees?...

...Should the Palestinians not return to the negotiations table, he said, "We will resume building. The future of Judea and Samaria will be determined by a final status agreement and not one day before then," said Netanyahu...