5772 and the same old.....same old?

Hello from the Galut of NY State.

The economy seems to be failing, slower than recently.
It's like the a storm that rips through the trees after the large storm that ripped through the trees....
All of the weak branches have fallen. What is left are those more economically stable and/or with more
fallback or the self employed that have simply tightened their belts hoping to weather the storm.

There is a Presidential election creeping towards us and the GOP with pick some appointed Xtian candidate to represent the old boy network. The Dems with probably run with the incumbent BHO. Will BHO even have to try to get elected if the opposition continues to present a non-minority etc candidate?

Will Jonathan Pollard get a pardon from the second chance POTUS? He thinks everyone else deserves a second chance and government safety nets etc....But of course Jonathan is a Jew and there is no doubt in my mind that the POTUS is top 5 largest Anti-Semites on the Planet (Hello Soros) .So, no dice!

When will Israel cut the purse-strings of the US?
When will the Israeli's take care of Eretz Yisrael, so I go home?
Bibi?

Can Michael Ben-Ari lead the Kahane charge?
Will he?
How can he?

Can Ben-Ari and Feiglin forge a Coalition?

Who can tell me?

Avi

No Victory Without a Goal: By Moshe Feiglin

21 Menachem Av, 5771
August 21, 2011
Translated from the article on the Ma'ariv's NRG website

The frustration that grasped me over Shabbat reminded me time and again of the man who told me how, at his bar mitzvah, "A ghost suddenly entered the synagogue in Budapest. It was scary, with a stench of smoke and death. The ghost ascended to the stage of the synagogue and began to shout: 'Jews! I have escaped Auschwitz to warn you! They will burn you! Run away now!'"

"The synagogue managers," the man continued, "dragged him off the stage and threw him out of the synagogue. I was sitting next to my father, in an aisle seat, and the man touched me. Until this very day, I can remember his smell. One month later, I was in Auschwitz."

That is what happens when the public is not willing to deal with the significance of what it hears. That is what happens when leadership is captive to the existing pre-conceptions. No facts, proofs or evidence will help. They will not listen to you; they will throw you out of the synagogue, they will say that you are an extremist, crazy; they will do anything to save themselves from dealing with the significance of what you are saying.

I didn't really want to write about what is happening in Israel's south. What can I say? "I told you so?" There is nothing taking place now that I have not warned about in tens of articles. What good will come out of writing the same things again? Why should anybody listen now? What can I write? Blame Begin who surrendered the Sinai desert? Rabin and Peres who surrendered Gaza and injected Arafat's army of terrorists into its streets and alleys? Sharon who destroyed (excuse me, "disengaged" from) Gush Katif?

I hear the "experts" on the radio. The broadcasters are not interviewing those people who tried to warn us. Instead, they interview the 'synagogue managers', those people who held senior positions and those who cooperated with the liars. They will go to great lengths to preserve the lie and the mentality that defends it.

"Feiglin! Tell me what we can do!" a senior worker in the Ashkelon municipality shouted to me after a Grad missile landed in her yard.
"First of all, change all the names of the streets, plazas and boulevards here back from 'Rabin' to their original names," I answered her and she, totally shocked, turned around and walked away, not integrating what I had just said to her.

Remember Rabin. It is impossible to get through to a public that is captive to a misconception. From at least the time of Oslo, the Nation of Israel is captive. Instead of freeing itself from the Oslo mentality and the name Rabin that symbolizes it, they changed the names of the Katyusha missiles. Rabin promised they wouldn't fly from Gaza into Israel. They do, but never fear. In the north, where Rabin never promised we would not be hit by Katyushas, we are still attacked by Katyushas. But in the south, where he scoffed at the thought, we are attacked by Grads.

Just a short while after the murderous rampage (a.k.a a "terror attack") in the south, Israel's Air Force eliminated five senior terrorists in Gaza. The news broadcasts also mentioned that they were behind Gilad Schalit's abduction. Why didn't they kill them earlier and prevent the murders? Because Israel has no goal other than to survive. Its leadership cannot initiate anything because there is no national goal for which it is legitimate to fight, other than simple existence. If Israel had killed the terrorists before their rampage, tensions here would have escalated and the media that continues to pump Oslo into our bloodstream would have blamed our leaders. In other words, when there is no destiny beyond mere existence, we cannot initiate. All we can do is react. So now we have more murdered Jews and an escalation of tensions, as well.

All that we wanted was to realize the Zionist goal of "being a normal nation like all other nations." We tried to create an artificial reality that would replace the heavy burden of destiny that the Jewish Nation carries on its back.
But reality, of course, cannot be changed. We have lost eye contact with our destiny and now, even though we are stronger than ever, we cannot defend ourselves. Without destiny, all that we can do is react. And he who only reacts, will ultimately fall.
I am a great believer in this Nation. I believe that ultimately, we will return to our destiny-consciousness. When that happens, our enemies will evaporate. I just pray that the process of reclaiming our destiny will not be too painful.

'Theocracies outlasted democracies' -Obadiah Shoher

Churchill was wrong saying that democracy is the worst of all political systems
except for every other which was ever tried. We can counter with Keynes’
quote, “In the long run, we’re all dead.” Every system, including every
political system, is always exploited, loopholes found in its checks and
balances, and the system is taken over by unscrupulous men and deteriorates.
That is equally true of clans, monarchies, feudalism—any form of government.
In historical terms, democracy is not even the most resilient system: for most
of human history, people were governed by paternalist clans. In every country
except the United States, monarchy has outlasted democracy, and even there
dynasties emerge, such as the Bushes.

So the real question is not what political system can exist eternally? None can.
The question is also not what political system outlasts all others? There is
nothing inherently wrong with societies changing their system of government. The
question is what political system conforms to our best goal  right now?

Our goal in Israel cannot just be safety, for we would never be safe in a sea of
Muslims. Even if we totally submit to them as dhimmi, Muslims are unlikely to
offer Jews the relative protection we enjoyed with them for centuries. Modern
Muslims are experiencing the death pangs of their failing civilization, or
rather their way of life, as they have failed to develop a civilization. They
are desperate, and desperation often makes people aggressive.

Our goal in Israel is a kind of Jewish state, vaguely defined as something
between the Left’s “state with a Jewish majority” and a religious Jewish
state. The “Jewish majority” definition is evidently unworkable: even before
Arabs reach a majority, they have already been proven to exert considerable
influence over Jewish lives. Israeli Arabs side with Jewish defeatists in the
Knesset, attack Jews and threaten riots throughout the country, and even judge
the Jews, especially the thousands of Jewish women who married the Arabs. Also,
the “Jewish majority” goal is actually a means: the majority is supposed to
vote the Jewish way.

What is a Jewish way? Like any other people except for religion. There is no
Jewish blood, culture, or cuisine worth fighting for. Jewish people are only
distinct in terms of religion. Now, many might think the prohibition against
using an elevator or turning on a light on Sabbath is silly, but there is no
argument that work is prohibited on the Sabbath. The Israeli state needs an
ideology, a raison d’etre, like any state, and only the Jewish religion offers
such ideology. When we fight the Arabs, it is evidently more inspiring to fight
for “cities of our God.” When we claim our right to the land, it is simple
enough to assert that God gave it to us—without dubious and humiliating
references to the UN resolutions. When we want to live without Arabs, we can
easily justify such policies by the religious commandment to expel the
aborigines. Judaism offers valuable suggestions on dealing with the Amalek from
Gaza, on cleansing the Temple Mount of the Aqsa abomination, for refusing to
give away the Promised Land.

Goals of divine service and comfortable life are not mutually exclusive. In
every country, people accept upon themselves certain prohibitions in order to
live comfortably. We don’t turn on loud music at 3 a.m. even if our mood is
great and we would love for every neighbor to know it. Comfortable social life
is, first of all, the realization that all your neighbors share your way of
doing things, if not your way of thinking. Comfort lies in knowing that your
neighbors are like you – and  they are likely to like you, and you like them.
You wouldn’t want your children to socialize with  the homosexuals  next door,
or learn from defeatists in school, or encounter missionaries on the streets.
I’m not a haredi, but always feel an almost physical wave of comfort upon
coming to their Mea Shearim or Bnei Brak neighborhoods. I know that I have more
in common with them than with the commies from the kibbutzim.
So the question is if we can  accept a degree of religiosity as a common
denominator for Jews? In very basic terms, the requirements are quite simple: we
don’t eat pork and rabbit, refrain from going to the office on Shabbat, keep
short fasts and go to synagogues once in a while, and refuse to give up the
Promised Land to Arabs within or without. In my experience, just about all the
secular persons who started observing commandments in their most basic form
eventually accepted upon themselves the Yoke of Heaven. Such progress is,
however, voluntary. Society doesn’t look into your home fridge, but it would
also not tolerate Tel Aviv restaurants serving pork. No one checks to see if you
have read the Kiddush on Shabbat, but at least you’re expected to refrain from
driving on Shabbat; you can drive on Sunday, which would also be a weekend
holiday. Believe me, after a year of not driving on Shabbat you will start
reading Kiddush, too, if only to justify your not driving. The society where all
the people share basic religious values and act coherently would be
fantastically comfortable.
The Jewish law in Israel would make her a very strong society. Pressing a
religious society to give away the holy land is pointless. Our Arab enemies
would only remain outside the country, and they will know that Jews fight the
biblical way, so there is no point provoking us.

Jewish theocracy closely parallels original, unadulterated democracy. Early
democracies had an electoral barrier: not everyone could be elected, but only
the people whose age and status offered a good chance that they would lead
society wisely. So Jewish democracy is based upon Sanhedrin rather than the
Knesset. In practical terms, that means that only rabbis can be elected.
Messiah, of course, doesn’t belong to Shas, but even the Shas rabbis are much
more intelligent and decent than the average MK; rabbis are certainly preferable
to Meretz or the Arab MKs.
Religious parties exploit the system of government, but all the parties do
likewise and often squeeze much more public funds and for much more useless
purposes than religious Jews do. In a Jewish theocracy, the ruling rabbis would
be constrained by halacha, just like constitutional monarchies are constrained
by basic law. Jewish theocracy makes for a very decent society with a
laissez-faire economy with 10 or 20 percent non-military taxation.

What is the alternative to religious ideology? Zionism was the idea to bring
Jews to a state of their own; that idea is fulfilled and is not moot. Zionism as
seen by Herzl is irrelevant today. In post-Zionist Israel, conscription will
become increasingly unfashionable, something for the lower classes. This process
is known from the USSR and USA: military service, once an attraction and a
matter of pride, suddenly becomes unattractive. No amount of propaganda in
school can stem that development: Israeli children would soon laugh at the empty
militarism: stupid people fight the Arabs, and smart people do business with
them or conduct peace talks. The army would have to accommodate religious Jews,
and they will change the army and become actively involved in the state’s
affairs.

Eventually, even such a state would deteriorate. Religiosity would become
unfashionable. The observance will become automated, and the sense of religious
identification will diminish. First-century Judea retained attributes of a
religious state while actually becoming an assimilationist hotspot. Its Temple,
built by the non-observant non-Jew King Herod, could not possibly attract the
Divine Presence. Judea was polluted—and controlled—by idol-worshiping
foreigners who erected their altars throughout the country. Jews were content
with shrinking the Land of Israel’s sanctity to Jerusalem, which was the only
city relatively free of paganism. The dissidents fled to Qumran. Judea was not
ruled according to Jewish law. The country’s destruction saved the Jews by
sending us to semi-isolated Diaspora communities rather then allowing Jews to
assimilate in their own country.

Theocracy and a Halachic state wouldn’t last forever, but would be the best
thing for now.

WFAN Fans - Mike Francesa & Chris Russo Antisemitic Rant!!!

WFANS Mike Francesa & Chris Russo..

Blamed 9/11 on the Jews!

AND GOT AWAY WITH IT.

Francesa is still polluting the airwaves...

Dealing With Jordanian Squatters -

Jews need not exterminate the locals as Joshua supposedly did, behavior not readily reconcilable with the
tolerance the Torah teaches (The Torah prescribes restraint toward slaves and help for enemies who are one’s
co-religionists. Hatred of idolaters is a divine prerogative, not to be enforced by
Jews in some kind of jihad. Killing the Canaanites was a separate commandment
precisely because it was hard to justify based on the other commandments. Many
archeologists doubt the extermination ever took place).

Israel has clear guidelines in dealing with Palestinians: the Ten Commandments,
which prohibit murder and robbery but not killing in a war for the Promised Land,
nor do they prohibit running people off, provided the land and other property is
justly compensated. Those who compare Israeli policy with the Nazis should
imagine the Germans moving the Jews to Switzerland forcibly but compensating
them for their real estate.

Obadiah Shoher

Egypt Remilitarizes the Sinai

Going from bad to worse: "Thirty years of peace with Egypt have rested, above all, on a demilitarized Sinai."

Israel Will Permit Egypt to Deploy Troops in Sinai The Economist
"Sometimes you have to subordinate strategic considerations to tactical needs," says Ehud Barak, Israel's defense minister. This is one such time: Mr. Barak, backed by the current prime minister, Binyamin Netanyahu, is going to agree to Egypt deploying thousands of troops in Sinai even though the Israel-Egypt peace treaty strictly forbids it. They will have helicopters and armored vehicles, Barak says, but no tanks beyond the lone battalion already stationed there.
  Israel faces a dilemma with far-reaching strategic consequences. Thirty years of peace with Egypt have rested, above all, on a demilitarized Sinai. The peninsula is patrolled by an international force and monitored by America from the air, to ensure that both sides keep their armies out, even though Sinai is sovereign Egyptian soil. Until now, Israel had  said no to Egyptian demands t o let more troops on to the peninsula, beyond what is specified in the 1979 peace treaty. Yet it urgently needs Egypt to tighten security.
The decision comes after an audacious attack on August 18th on Israeli vehicles travelling on a scenic road that hugs the Israel-Egypt border and ends at the resort town of Eilat. Eight Israelis, civilians and soldiers, died in the attack and in shoot-outs involving the army. Ten attackers were killed, two apparently by Egyptian border guards, six of whom were also killed in the crossfire. Egypt blamed Israel for the deaths. Israel replied that a hard-core group of Palestinians, all heavily armed, had entered Egypt’s Sinai peninsula from Gaza a month ago, camped and trained there, and made their way unhindered across open desert to the site of the attack. Egyptian and Israeli security sources believe that several militants operating in Sinai joined them to take part in the attacks.

Egyptian military took part on the attacks on Israel. How many will join the war againt the Jewish state once its militarized?
This is very worrisome.


http://networkedblogs.com/may66

Glenn Beck's Revealing visit

American media superstar Glenn Beck's visit to Israel this week was a revealing and remarkable event. It revealed what it takes to be a friend of Israel. And it revealed the causes of Israel's difficulty in telling its enemies from its friends.

Read More...please!


Glenn Becks Revealing Visit

Galut or Ga-Oohlah...

So here we are heading towards one of the few last Shabbat's of 5771 and what is different then last year? Or the year before? Bibi plays strong and ...nothing changes. It is clear that the only option for Israel remains : Annex Gaza, Judea and Samaria and begin expelling the enemy. All non-Jews in Israel need to be laid off. All welfare programs for non Jews cut off. Whatever it takes begin the process!!

Glenn Beck Exploiting Israel

Op-ed: Fired Fox commentator intends to use Israel as prop in his effort to get back on top

M.J. Rosenberg

Published:  08.17.11, 11:14 / Israel Opinion

If there is one thing that pretty much all Israelis agree on, it is the determination not to be perceived as, or to actually be, a “freier,” a Hebrew slang term for “sucker” or “chump.” Nobody likes to be taken advantage of, but Israelis seem more sensitive to this than other people, sometimes even preemptively turning the other guy into a freier rather than let him get you first.
Well, guess what? The entire State of Israel is being played for a freier right now, with the actual freier extravaganza taking place on August 24.
...............................................


more..
Glenn Beck exploiting Israel...

Pregnant Palestinian woman at Israeli checkpoint – -Must See to Believe!

Pregnant Palestinian woman at Israeli checkpoint
This is a woman who about a year earlier was treated for massive burn over her body from a cooking gas tank explosion. She is stopped at the border when she wants to return to the same hospital in Israel due to her pregnancy.
Due to suspicion and security integrity, she is asked to undress at the border terminal.
And the world asks: “why do the Israelis need checkpoints, and a border fence?” Watch the video, and “get” the answer.
Watch the 3 minute video:
http://atlasshrugs2000.typepad.com/atlas_shrugs/2011/04/there-are-no-words.html

The American Aliyah . . . . and how it will happen

You heard it here first. By 2025 there will be over 1 million American Jews living in Israel.

Actually – you didn’t hear it here first. We read it in the Tanach, Hashem told us this would happen through His prophets over three thousand years ago.

The process of Kibbutz Galyout, the ingathering of the exiles, has been taking place for well over a century. Since the first Russian Jew had enough of the pogroms and headed eastward, there has been a mass movement to the Holy Land from three of the four corners of the earth. Israel today boasts millions of Jews who have roots in the Arab Lands, Asia, South America, Europe, and Africa.

The only part of the world that hasn’t come home en masse is North America.

That’s about to change.

It won’t change because of Zionism, persecution, or even, Hashem forgive me, religious observance. But Hashem is guiding His hand to help us. It will happen for the simplest of reasons – self preservation.

Here’s how millions of American Jews will find themselves in Israel by 2025:

Over the next 15 years, the economic fortunes of America and Israel will cross paths in opposite directions. For the first time since World War II, the U.S. government has amassed a debt load equal to its entire economy. During WWII, all of this money was used towards industrial production of the American war machine. When the war was over, the factories were already built. The capacity was in place for the greatest economic expansion mankind has ever seen. While the debt of the U.S. continued to rise in the post World War II period, the economy grew so much faster that the debt to GDP ratio fell dramatically.

Until now.

Today, more than any government department except defense, America spends $420 billion a year on interest for its debt. This is while interest rates at all-time lows. If interest rates were to “revert to the mean” and hit, say 5%, this amount will double. America owes five times as much debt as they report to the world in the form of future Social Security and Medicare payments. They have to come up with $100 trillion over the next 30 years. Over 60% of U.S. debt is in the form of two year notes. This means that if interest rates were to suddenly spike, America is very exposed. America does not have the luxury of having locked up low interest rates for decades in the form of 30 year treasury notes – they stopped issuing them a while back. If rates go up, within 24 months, the total interest charge to the $14 trillion debt will skyrocket exponentially.

The only way America can pay it’s credit card and keep growing is by printing money. The contemporary term is quantitative easing, or QE3. This is the death blow for any economy. This is what did Germany in during the 1920s. it’s already having an impact today.

As time wears on, less and less of that money will be readily available to the average American family. Taxes will have to go up to service debt, or at least to ensure that after the government pays the interest, there will be enough left to provide the American public the bare essentials. Taxes can go up to 50%. After taxes, the government will continue to print money to “make ends meet,” i.e., fill in the gaps. This causes inflation – which means that after your pay your taxes, the buying power of the money you have left will quickly erode. This is why printing money is often referred to as the “invisible tax.”

Until America fundamentally restructures itself, a process that will take many years of very painful rebuilding, it will continue its economic decline.

Compare that to Israel.

Israel has a debt that is, according to the CIA factbook, 77% of its economy. This ratio is concerning, but not critical. The difference is that Israel has just discovered $1 trillion in natural resources off its coast. The next 15 years will see massive development of these resources and its use domestically, as well as its export to the world. Yes, Israel will probably double its debt in the next one to two decades, but her economy will grow at twice that pace. By 2025, Bezrat Hashem, the ratio of debt to GDP could be 45-50%, a very healthy number.

The State of Israel will not have to print money to meet its financial obligations. It also will not have to raise taxes either. If the economy doubles, or triples in size and tax rates stay the same, then the government will see three times the money flow in to its coffers. If the government even lowers taxes say, 10-20%, in real terms, they will still see more money come in than ever before.

Look at this from a personal perspective.

If you are an American family, you are going to see your taxes go up, and the value of the money you have left go down.

If you are an Israeli family, you are going to see your taxes remain the same, your income go up, and the value of the money you keep after taxes become more valuable. Israel has vowed to invest the lion’s share of its oil and gas royalties into education, meaning that these resources are going to fuel even more growth. Israel may be on the cusp of an economic explosion not seen since America in the 1990s.

This means more universities and institutions of higher learning. More scholarships. More opportunities for scientists, engineers, doctors – which there is a shortage of in Israel, and the like. More government payouts to the citizens. Better health care for everyone. Business grants, subsidized food sales, more aid to the poor and needy, and so much more.

If you are a family in America, the best thing you could do for your future, and the future of your children is move to Israel.

If you are a Jewish family, that’s exactly what you will have to do.

Today more than ever, there is a free flow of human capital throughout the globe. A citizen from Ireland, England, or France can work anywhere in Europe. America boasts millions of workers from all over the world – many of which do not have American citizenship. The opportunity for an American to work in Israel for a better life will become more enticing as time moves on.

Already the Nation of Israel appointed as head of its central bank an American expatriate. Stanley Fischer, whether he knows it or not, is the archetypical 21^st century Zionist Pioneer.

It will start with the doctors. 50% of doctors in the U.S. are Jewish. Israel will have a shortage of doctors this decade. For a Jewish state to have a shortage of doctors is pretty ironic – but the Hand of Hashem is moving His people home. Israel will have the financial ability to offer members of the medical profession more and more benefits to work here than ever. The easiest way to do this is to bring over Jewish doctors who are still trying to figure out how they will survive Obamacare.

It will continue with the pensioners. Currently the United States can continue to print all the money it likes without any consequences to its economy. The dollar is relatively solid, and interests rates are still low. The bond market hasn’t devalued the dollar enough yet for the U.S. Central Bank to cut off liquidity. This situation cannot go on forever. A day will come where investors will sell out of U.S. treasuries, driving down bond prices and pushing up interest rates.

The printing press will have to stop.

The U.S. will still have $100 trillion obligations, but they will no longer have the easy option to handle it.

One option is to just default on its debt. Another is to reneg on it.

America may have to come to the conclusion that it cannot feasibly pay out social security or medicare to its citizens. They will simply cancel it. They can either rewrite what benefits they are obligated for – which will be a shadow of what was originally promised, or just throw it out. Once Social Security and Medicare become true lies, America’s $100 trillion debt quickly becomes a $20 trillion debt. It’s the next “easy” solution to this colossal problem.

You don’t think a Congressman will have a problem getting elected on the platform of “Save entitlement or Save America!”

If you are an American family who paid into the Social Security system for decades, only to now realize that all the money you and your fellow citizens put into the Social Security trust fund were raided by Congress over the last 50 years and all that’s left is a big wad of IOUs that now won’t even be paid off – you are out of luck! If you are 75 years old, a retiree, and in need of medical care, you are in serious danger.

What are you going to do, go back to work? Who will hire you?

Israel has virtually free and universal health care. If you are Jewish, you are entitled to all of it by simply getting on a plane. The price of the ticket paid for by Israel.

That’s exactly what will happen in the near future.

Millions of American families will immigrate to Israel for the simple reality that Israel will have something to offer them that America no longer will.

It won’t start big – it will be a trickling at first.

Norman Moskowitz will move his family to Ra’nana. He will continue to skype all of his friends in Bay Ridge. He will tell his fellow officers at the Shul about the warm weather. He will tell his former boss about the exotic food. He will tell his friends about the cheap health care, and he will talk to a few people about opening up an import/export business. At first they will laugh at him. Then he will talk about the tax benefits. He will talk about how many incentives the government gives new immigrants to set up shop in the Holy Land. He will talk about all the social goodies the government showers upon its citizens with the new tax revenues while he still pays taxes equivalent, or even less than what he was paying back in the states.

In absentia, the new Israeli will be the buzz of Bay Ridge. “Norman has done so well for himself.” They will say.

All the families will be jealous. One or two of them, who were considering Israel for a while, will decide that if Norman can do it, so can they. Then these families will be skyping their friends confirming everything Norman said.

The first dominoes will fall and the chain reaction will begin. Pretty soon there will be a mass hysteria to come to Israel.

That’s how it will happen.

Just like the process of the ingathering, something that has been going on for a while and has now taken on a momentum of its own – the events that have been put in place which will complete this process are about to intensify.

Buckle up.

Dovber Halevi is the author of the financial book, How to Survive the Coming Decade of Anxiety. He writes for Breslov World and The Middle East Magazine. He lives with his wife and two children in Eretz Yisrael.

The Palestinian Fiddle by Yoram Ettinger

Contrary to conventional wisdom, the Palestinian issue is not a
primary Middle East concern.

Pro-Western oil-producing Persian Gulf leaders are traumatized by the
lethal Iranian nuclear threat, by a raging Arab Street of their own
and by a potential Iraqi "earthquake" in the aftermath of the US
evacuation. The pro-Western Hashemite regime is threatened by
intensified discontent among its Bedouin power base; the Muslim
Brotherhood hosted an anti-Western Arab
conference in Cairo on July 24-25, 2011; Strategically-critical Turkey
is becoming more-Islamic and less-western; the pro-Western Moroccan
monarchy is imperiled by the ripple effects of the Tunisian, Libyan
and Egyptian turmoil; Islamic terrorism is gaining ground; Russia,
China and North Korea are expanding their penetration into the Middle
East and the US posture of
deterrence is eroding substantially.

However, while the Middle East is burning - irrespective of the
Palestinian issue, of the Arab-Israeli conflict or Israel's policies
and existence - the American and the European foreign policy
establishments are playing the Palestinian fiddle.  Their track record
features the support of Khomeini and the betrayal of the Shah, the
embrace of Saddam as a constructive force, the
crowning of Arafat as a messenger of peace, the hailing of Bashar
Assad as a moderate leader, the legitimization of Qadaffi as a
reformed ruler and the idolizing of Mubarak as an Egyptian Rock of
Gibraltar. They are convinced that the Palestinian issue is a root
cause of Middle East turbulence and the crown jewel of Arab
policy-making. Therefore, they assume that the resolution of the
Palestinian issue - by pressuring Israel to yield Judea and Samaria to
the Palestinians - would moderate the Middle East, would subside
anti-Western terrorism, would appease the Arabs, would enhance Western
ties with Arab countries and would  facilitate a Western-Arab
coalition against Iran.

But, such foreign policy assumptions are invalidated by the real
Middle East, which highlights the root causes of regional turbulence:
inherent fragmentation, instability, unpredictability, volatility,
violence, terrorism, hate education and tenuous policies, commitments
and alliances. None of these 1,400 year old root causes is related to
the less than 100 year old Palestinian issue.

Arab leaders have never considered the Palestinian issue their prime
concern, but an intra-Arab tool and a pawn against Israel. They are
aware of the subversive and treacherous history of the Arafat-Abu
Mazen wing of the Palestinians, which was therefore expelled from
Egypt in the late 1950s, from Syria in 1966, from Jordan in 1970, from
Lebanon in 1982 and from Kuwait in 1991.

Thus, Arab leaders marshal their rhetoric, but not their resources, on
behalf of Palestinians. For example, during the October 2010 Arab
Summit in Libya, Arab leaders pledged $500MN to the Palestinian - only
seven percent was ever delivered. More than $2 billion were pledged by
the Arabs in support of the first and second Palestinian Intifada
against Israel, but less than $500 million reached the Palestinians.
During the 1980s, Arab financial support of the PLO was less than 10%
of Arab financial  support of the anti-Soviet Muslims in Afghanistan.

Arab regimes did not actively support the PLO during its 1982 war (in
Lebanon) against Israeli and they did not flex a  significant muscle
on behalf of the Palestinians during the 2008 war in Gaza. In fact,
this has been the Arab attitude toward the Palestinian issue since
1948, irrespective of the identity of the Palestinian leader: Haj Amin
al-Husseini, Shukeiri, Hammuda, Arafat, Abu Mazen or Haniyeh.

The Red Carpet, which welcomes Palestinian leaders in the West, is
transformed into a shabby rug upon landing in Arab capitals. What do
Arab regimes know about the Palestinian issue that Western policy
makers do not know or understand?!

Ambassador (ret.) Yoram Ettinger, "Second Thought: a US-Israel Initiative"
Israel Hayom Newsletter, August 2, 2011

Has Bibi Bowed Before Obama's 1967-Lines Formula?

 Prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu has reportedly accepted Obama's 1967-lines formula for peace talks with the PA

 

Has Bibi Bowed Before Obama's 1967-Lines Formula?