NEWSLETTER

Straight-Talk

Fascinating Poll

October 22, 2006

There's a very interesting poll conducted by the American Jewish Committee. In particular, the following numbers are worth pondering:

54% of American Jews support the establishment of a Palestinian state, but 81% think the Arabs want to destroy Israel rather than get back occupied territory.

  • Question - if 81% of American Jews believe the Arabs want to destroy Israel, then why do 54% support the establishment of another Arab state in Israel's backyard (which would involve handing over some more so-called "occupied" territory)?

57% over 35% of American Jews support Israel taking military measures to stop Iran from getting nuclear weapons. HOWEVER, the numbers are practically reversed - 38% to 54% - when it comes to the United States acting by force against Iran.

  • Question - Why is it okay for Israel (said to be roughly the size of New Jersey; 1/19th the size of California; 2½ times the size of Rhode Island; or only slightly larger than the Canary Islands) to stop Iran from getting nukes, but not okay for the United States (where Israel would fit approximately 768 times) to do it?

74% of American Jews agree with the statement that "caring about Israel is a very important part of my being a Jew."

  • Question - Obviously the 74% of "caring" American Jews includes many of the 54% who would rather see tiny Israel take on Iran rather than have the world's one and only superpower do it. Curious, huh? I guess it depends on the definition of "caring".....

Most of those American Jews surveyed identified themselves as Democrats (54%) rather than Republicans (15%). The rest were either Independents (29%) or clueless (i.e., "not sure") (3%).

  • Question - None.

Fascinating poll, eh?

[Posted by R.S.]

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Morphing Into Tomorrow's Refugees

August 13, 2006

Want to know how today's "Palestinians" magically morph into tomorrow's refugees? [BTW: anyone living in "Palestine" (i.e., Israel today) before 1948, was called "Palestinian"; inhabitants were either Palestinian Jews or Palestinian Arabs].

Read the bulletin below and see how today's "Palestinians" morph into tomorrow's "refugees" who claim that Israel forced them off their lands:

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Palestinian Media Watch Bulletin - Aug. 13, 2006 

History repeats itself: 1948 & 2006 Arabs called to leave Haifa to facilitate the killing of Jews

1948 - Arab League tells Arabs to leave Haifa to facilitate the killing of Jews
2006 - Hezbollah tells Arabs to leave Haifa to facilitate the killing of Jews

by Itamar Marcus and Barbara Crook

Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah's request of Arabs to leave Haifa to facilitate the bombing and killing of Jews in Haifa is the identical call heard by the Arabs of Haifa and other cities by the Arab League attacking the new State of Israel in 1948.

2006 - Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah:
"I have a special message to the Arabs of Haifa, to your martyrs and to your wounded. I call you to leave this city. I hope you do this. ... Please leave so we don't shed your blood, which is our blood."

1948 - Palestinian journalist describes Arab leaders action in 1948:
"To the [Arab] Kings and Presidents: Poverty is killing us... yet you are still searching for the way to provide aid... like the armies of your predecessors in the year of 1948, who forced us to leave [Israel], on the pretext of clearing the battlefields of civilians... "
[Fuad Abu Higla, columnist official PA daily Al Hayat Al Jadida, in an article before an Arab Summit, critical of Arab leaders for a series of failures. Al-Hayat Al-Jadidah, March 19, 2001]

View bulletin here.

[Posted by R.S.]

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Best Quote of the Day

July 23, 2006

"If [Hizbollah] wants to be a political party, it needs to act like a political party and not have in its arsenal things like anti-ship cruise missiles -- most political parties don't have that kind of weaponry."

~ Ambassador John Bolton, today on "Fox News Sunday"

[Posted by R.S.]

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Sit, Hunker & Blame

July 21, 2006

Below is an excerpt from today's Ha'aretz. You gotta love the way these UN peacekeepers follow instructions to a tee:

1) SIT on the border;

2) HUNKER down if missiles fly by; and

3) BLAME the side you're least afraid of.

Oh, how we'll miss them if and when (please G-d) their term expires...

Excerpt from article entitled 16 hurt, 4 moderately, in Katyusha strike on Haifa:

Also Friday, a United Nations observation post just inside northern Israel was struck during fighting between Israel and Hezbollah militants.

The Israel Defense Forces said Hezbollah-fired rockets fell short of their targets in Israel and struck the post, but a UN officer said the facility was hit by an artillery shell fired by the IDF.

The UN officer, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the situation, said an IDF shell "impacted a direct hit on the UN position overlooking [the Israeli border town of] Zarit." The post is part of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL).

The UN official said the facility was severely damaged but that none of the Ghanaian troops inside the bomb shelters were injured.

The mission of the UNIFIL force, currently at almost 2,000 military personnel and more than 300 civilians, is to patrol the border line, known as the Blue Line, drawn by the United Nations after Israel withdrew its troops from south Lebanon in 2000 after 18 years.

[Posted by R.S.]

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In Defense of Disengagement (Not)

July 11, 2006

There's a piece in today's WSJ entitled "In Defense of Disengagement",  in which columnist Bret Stephens makes a case in support of the Gaza disengagement. Unfortunately, however, Mr. Stephens fails to address the issue of how the withdrawal was perceived - rightfully or wrongfully - by Hamas & co. (including fellow terrorists everywhere) and more importantly, the consequences of this perception.

Stephens writes, for example: "It bears notice that since Israel withdrew from its security corridor in southern Lebanon in May 2000, its northern frontier has been relatively quiet, despite Hezbollah and its thousands of medium-range missiles."

Maybe, but Stephens neglects to mention that Israel's hurried withdrawal from Lebanon in May 2000, left not only its Lebanese Christian allies (the SLA) reeling from whiplash, but also terrorists-in-waiting (e.g., Arafat & co.) emboldened by a perceived victory for terrorism, and reenergized to embark on a second Intifida only months later. Israel's northern frontier may have quieted down (relatively-speaking) for now, but its other "frontiers", i.e., the West Bank, the Gaza strip (not to mention the internal Israeli Arab situation), have exploded into violence.

There are several other assertions in Stephen's article with which I disagree, but the bottom line is: When assessing whether a unilateral and partial/temporary solution, like the Gaza disengagement, is a success, one needs to factor in the effect(s) it's had on ALL frontiers.

[Posted by R.S.]

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