עמנואל מורנו – Emmanuel Moreno

Naftali Bennet talks about his friend Emmanuel Moreno( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emmanuel_Moreno ):

הסיפור העצוב של צד″ל

Moshe “Bogie” Yaalon’s speech

On Wednesday, August 3, 2011, The State of Israel’s Vice Premier and Minister of Strategic Affairs, Lt. Gen. Moshe “Bogie” Ya’alon, and the Friends of the Israel Defense Forces’ National Vice President, Rabbi Isaac Jeret, were invited to Paepcke Auditorium at the Aspen Institute by the Coalition For An Enduring Mid-East Peace. Rabbi Jeret offered introductory remarks, Vice Premier Yaalon presented a significant address regarding the Netanyahu Administration’s perspective on the challenges Israel faces in a rapidly changing Middle East. The Vice Premier commented in depth on the peace process with the Palestinians and threats and challenges posed by Iran, Hamas, Turkey, Egypt, Hezbollah, and Syria. Rabbi Jeret then interviewed the Vice Premier, in dialogue, throughout the remainder of the program.

What they really want from jews ?

According to face-to-face surveys conducted according to the highest international standards, more Palestinians in east Jerusalem would prefer to become citizens of Israel rather than citizens of a new Palestinian state. In addition, 40 percent said they would probably or definitely move in order to live under Israeli rather than Palestinian rule…

Read more >>>

 

The Iranian political-military leadership has argued that the protest movement in the Arab world draws its inspiration from Iran’s Islamic Revolution. In the Iranian conceptual lexicon, one does not encounter the concept of the “Arab Spring” that is so prevalent in Arab and Western political discourse. Instead, Iran has coined the term “Islamic awakening,” which also reflects Iran’s policy, course of action, and aspirations…

Read more >>>

Changed Middle East – days before September 2011

A Strategy for Israel in the Changed Middle East
by Efraim Halevy

“The options for Israel and the Palestinians basically can be boiled down to these: a permanent agreement, an interim agreement, a de facto interim agreement, and a situation of no agreement. The best possible option – a permanent agreement – is not operable at this time and is the least probable…”

Read more : http://jcpa.org/JCPA/Templates/ShowPage.asp?DRIT=1&DBID=1&LNGID=1&TMID=111&FID=442&PID=0&IID=8073&TTL=A_Strategy_for_Israel_in_the_Changed_Middle_East

What Are the Palestinians Planning after September?
by Pinhas Inbari

“What the Palestinians really envisage after September is to exploit a UN endorsement of statehood to legitimize an escalation of the conflict. After having the 1967 lines recognized so as to negate the results of the Six-Day War, they plan to seek recognition of the 1947 partition lines…”

Read more: http://www.jcpa.org/JCPA/Templates/ShowPage.asp?DRIT=1&DBID=1&LNGID=1&TMID=111&FID=442&PID=0&IID=7797&TTL=What_Are_the_Palestinians_Planning_after_September?

A Blast from the Past: The Upcoming Durban III Conference (September 2011)
by Alan Baker

“A further attempt to re-legitimize Durban will take the form of a ten-year anniversary commemoration of the Durban conference at the UN in New York on 22 September 2011.
This event will coincide with the Palestinian attempt to have the UN recognize and accept a unilateral declaration of a Palestinian state, in violation of the peace negotiation process. This juncture of events confirms and endorses the interconnection between the Durban process and the ongoing international campaign to delegitimize Israel…”

Read more:http://www.jcpa.org/JCPA/Templates/ShowPage.asp?DRIT=1&DBID=1&LNGID=1&TMID=111&FID=442&PID=0&IID=8243&TTL=A_Blast_from_the_Past:_The_Upcoming_Durban_III_Conference_(September_2011)
Hizbullah’s Predicament in Light of Syria’s Decline
by Shimon Shapira

“Five years after the Second Lebanon War, a war whose results Hizbullah leader Hassan Nasrallah considers a “divine victory,” Hizbullah has currently reached one of its lowest points due to the endangered survival of the Assad regime in Syria, as well as the international tribunal that has demanded the extradition of four Hizbullah members suspected of murdering former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri…”

Read more:http://jcpa.org/JCPA/Templates/ShowPage.asp?DRIT=1&DBID=1&LNGID=1&TMID=111&FID=442&PID=0&IID=8058&TTL=Hizbullah’s_Predicament_in_Light_of_Syria’s_Decline

The Syrian Uprising: Implications for Israel
by Eyal Zisser

“In Syria, the story is the emergence of social groups from the periphery and their struggle to gain access to power and take over the center. The emergence of the Baath party and the Assad dynasty in the 1960s involved a coalition of peripheral forces led by the Alawites, but many others joined who came from the periphery. Now, because of socioeconomic reasons, the periphery has turned against the regime…”

Read more: http://www.jcpa.org/JCPA/Templates/ShowPage.asp?DRIT=1&DBID=1&LNGID=1&TMID=111&FID=442&PID=0&IID=8154&TTL=The_Syrian_Uprising:_Implications_for_Israel

Рав Ури Шерки: “Ислам – нам есть о чем говорить” (радио “7-й канал”)

- Здравствуйте, рав Шерки !
- Здравствуйте !
- Я сейчас говорил с востоковедом проф. Рафи Исраэли. Он говорит, что исламский мир становится более исламским, невзирая на интернет и т.п., но, с другой стороны, другие востоковеды считают, что исламский мир станет более терпимым, более “западным”. Каково Ваше мнение ?  Т.с., с “философской точки зрения”.

- Смотрите, есть в современной западной философии некий исходный тезис – “когда религиозное движение становится еще и политическим, то оно постепенно превращается в секулярное движение”.  Этот тезис ослепляет многих, в т.ч. “востоковедов”.
На примере ислама мы видим обратный процесс – фанатизм крепнет с усилением политической власти ислама.
Но давайте рассмотрим это в более широком плане.
Наши политические лидеры всегда смотрели на  Ближневосточный конфликт как на конфликт политический.
Догмой была и есть идея, что если смотреть на конфликт как на конфликт религиозный, то решения уже точно не найти.

Я думаю, здесь есть несколько ошибок:
1) Конфликт – религиозный и игнорирование этого факта не поможет его разрешению.
2) Поняв, что конфликт – религиозный, мы сможем найти решение, т.к. между верующими может быть диалог. Даже если он в начале – диалог в форме конфликта. Но как минимум участники знают причину и друг друга.

Еврейский религиозный взгляд на ишмаэльтян известен. Если он будет нашей позицией, то на Западе он найдет понимание.
Исламский ренессанс может быть полезен: все карты на столе и видно кто стоит за секулярными фигурами типа Мубарака и т.п.  В конце концов, из этого ренессанса может вырасти нечто хорошее для всех, если все смогут его правильно использовать. Как ?

Мы должны распространить знание Торы – чему мы можем научить мусульман, как то – “теория бней Ноах”, статус “гер-тошав”. Мы должны также знать о великой благодати для Израиля, которая может произойти от сынов Ишмаэля…
Если, конечно, диалог будет настоящим – т.е. на базе религий.

- Есть такая возможность ?  Между Ицхаком и Ишмаэлем не особенно-то велся диалог.

- Да, они не разговаривали, в отличие от Яакова и Эйсава. Христианство вело религиозный диалог с иудаизмом, иногда диалог “со взломом”, но – диалог. Связи ислама с иудаизмом ограничивались философией и наукой.
Однако, Тора говорит, что Ишмаэль раскаялся в конце жизни, когда встретил Ицхака на похоронах Авраама в Хевроне…

- Почему ислам не примет западные религиозные ценности ?

- Потому, что один из постулатов христианства – разделение светской и религиозной властей. “Богу – богово, кесарю – кесарево”.  Ислам это не примет никогда. Даже перенимая “светские” идеологии, арабский мир аборбирует их –  единственное,что остается в итоге – это ислам.

Toward a Radicalism ?

Democracy does not seem to be closer in Tunisia today than it was four months ago, since the beginning of the so-called “Jasmine Revolution.” Instead it seems that Tunisia is in a stalemate, caught in moving sands, unable to stabilize and consolidate the domestic political scene.

Rather than advancing, it looks as if Tunisia has made a great leap backwards: Democracy has not eased the economic situation. The majority of the 350,000 employees in the tourism sector are unemployed, 25% of the main hotels are in a state of bankruptcy, while 80% of them are still closed. TunisAir, whose flights were cancelled, is being paid by the government for the lost seats in order to survive the absence of tourists. Supermarkets are still attacked and looted. Anarchy is such that the transitional government has reinstalled the notorious night curfew in Tunis as if former President Ben-Ali was still in power. Tanks and armored cars are still on the streets of Tunis.  Moreover,Tunisia is in an open conflict with Libya, which has tried several times to attack Tunisian units deployed on their common borders. Last but not least,Tunisia has had three transitional governments since the Jasmine revolution and instability still prevails.

 

Read more>>>

 

The Rafah border crossing connecting Gaza with Egypt was officially opened on May 28, 2011, by the Egyptian authorities and the Hamas government. The Egyptian news agency MENA reported that the crossing will be open six days a week, excluding Fridays and holidays, as part of Egyptian efforts to bring the internal Palestinian split to an end and to promote national reconciliation.

Gaza residents will now enjoy simplified procedures while crossing the border in both directions at Rafah and at all other border crossings in Egypt. Palestinians are no longer required to apply for a visa to enter Egypt, although a visa valid for at least six months is needed if a Palestinian is travelling through Egypt to a third country. According to the Egyptian announcement, the new procedures will apply to men under the age of 18 or above 40, students at Egyptian universities, patients who come for medical treatment, and children joining their parents.

 

Read more >>>

 

The reality that confronts Lebanon today raises hidden fears of Shi’ite domination and the transformation of Lebanon into a radical factor in the Middle East, aligned with Syria and Iran. That explains why Mikati sought in an interview with AFP to reassure the world and the Lebanese that “the fact that Hizbullah and its allies have 18 seats in the 30-member cabinet does not mean that the country will join the radical camp in terms of its relations with the international community.” Mikati was also quick to reiterate that his government will respect Lebanon’s international commitments, a reference to the International Tribunal investigation over the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, whose conclusions might point at some Syrian-backed Hizbullah operatives who were involved in the assassination plot.

 

Read more >>>

 

 

Narratitis

“Narratitis”

The Disease of Narratives

Mahmoud Abbas is refuting Mahmoud Abbas

Ben-Dror Yemini

 

In a guest op-ed in the New York Times Mahmoud Abbas stated that shortly after the UN announced its partition plan “Zionist forces expelled Palestinian Arabs… and Arab armies intervened“ and that he and his family “took up shelter in a canvas tent provided to all the arriving refugees“ in Syria as a result. Let’s check the facts.

First, the UN partition plan was passed on 29th November 1947, yet the Arabs of Safed  fled, under the encouragement of the Arab leadership, only in May 1948. Second, Abbas’ family was affluent and had the means to live in better conditions than a canvas tent. Third, Abbas’s family fled to Jordan, not Syria, and moved to Damscus later. Fourth,  the Arab population fled of its own free will, mailny our of fear of reprisal for the massacre it carried out on the Jewish population in 1929. Fifth, the Arabs in general were forced out, but it was the Arab armies that forced them to leave their homeland. Sixth, it was not the Jews who refused the partition plan but the Arabs did, and immediately declared war on the Jews.

Is it only “Zionist propaganda” that contradicts Abbas’ claims? Not at all. Abbas himself has refuted each and every one of his own claims. Only two years ago in a 2009 interview for the Palestinian broadcasting service, Abbas spoke about his affluent family who left Safed of their own free will due to fear of reprisal, and he stated that they moved to Jordan.

Some have argued that these words were never spoken, and in the pertinent Wikipedia article, they were removed with the excuse that there is no record of them. I asked MEMRI, which researches and translates Arabic channels, to try to find the original interview. Eventually it was located, and the video segment in which Abbas tells his family story is available, and can be viewed. The interview was also reported, shortly after the broadcast, int the Jerusalem Post, by Sara Honig.

As for the so called “Zionist expulsion” claimed by Abbas, we must ask if  the Zionist forces were the ones who really expelled the Arab populace, as Abbas argues or did the Arab armies force them out? Dr.  Yitschak Ben Gad in his book “Politics, Lies and Videotape” quoted Abbas who wrote in “Falastin el-Thawra”: “The Arab armies entered Palestine to protect the Palestinians… but, instead, they abandoned them, forced them to emigrate and to leave their homeland…”

We can continue ad-infinitum and it is doubtful whether there is one paragraph in Abbas’s New York Times article that passes the simple test of truth. Of course, lies can be exposed and truth can be revealed, yet this time Abbas does it himself. Historians will dub Abbas’s invented version with the Orwellian term “Palestinian Narrative”. Indeed. It seems that even the Palestinian leader does not have one Narrative but many. The many “narratives”, that are synonymous with “lies”, can be classified as a new disease which can be called  ”Narratitis”.

While on the subject of lies, or narratives, Haaretz published an interview with one Ismail FahEr el-Din from the village Magdel Shams, who spoke of his recollection from the “Nakba”: “I recall that the village was full of refugees who fled from their homes” he said, which is astonishing since he reports himself as being 57 years old. This man is a real phenomenon, because he can recall events which happened 6 years before he was born.

The question is not how could such figures as Abbas make up such a “narrative”, but rather, how could such lies escape the fact checkers employed by respectable medias.

Ben-Dror Yemini is a researcher, lecturer and journalist
bdyemini@gmail.com

 

“נרטוזיס”  

בן-דרור ימיני

אבו-מאזן מפריך את השקרים של אבו-מאזן

 

במאמר ל”ניו-יורק טיימס”, בשבוע שעבר, סיפר אבו-מאזן ש”מייד לאחר החלטת החלוקה גירשו הציונים את הערבים”. וכי “משפחתו גורשה לסוריה ונאלצה לגור באוהל קנבס”. יש שם עוד טענות. על הציונים שפתחו במלחמה לגירוש הערבים, על החלטת החלוקה שגרמה לגירוש, ועוד ועוד. נבדוק.

ראשית, החלטת החלוקה הייתה ב-29.11.47. הפינוי מצפת, באשמת ההתקפה הערבית ובעידוד ההנהגה הערבית, בוצע רק במאי 48′. שנית, משפחתו של אבו-מאזן הייתה אמידה. היו לה מספיק אמצעים כדי להתקיים במשך שנה ללא דאגות. שלישית, משפחת אבו-מאזן עברה לירדן, ולא לסוריה. רק מאוחר יותר היא עברה לדמשק. רביעית, ערביי צפת עזבו מרצונם, גם כפחד מנקמה, על הטבח שהם עצמם ביצעו ביהודי צפת ב-1929. חמישית, אכן היה גירוש. אבל אלה צבאות ערב שהכריחו את הערבים להגר. שישית, אלה לא היהודים שסירבו להצעת החלוקה, אלא הערבים. ושביעית, הכרזת המדינה היהודית כללה הצעת שלום, ואלה לא היהודים, אלא הערבים, שפתחו במלחמת שמד נגד היהודים.

האם זו התעמולה הציונית שסותרת את טענות אבו-מאזן? לא ולא. ההפרכות לקוחות מתוך דברים שאמר וכתב אבו-מאזן. במו פיו ובמו ידיו. רק לפני שנתיים, ב-2009, בראיון לטלוויזיה הפלסטינית, סיפר אבו-מאזן על משפחתו האמידה, על העזיבה מחשש לנקמה, ועל המעבר לירדן. היה ויכוח אם הדברים אכן נאמרו. בדיון שהתקיים בויקיפדיה באנגלית, הדברים שיוחסו לאבו-מאזן הושמטו, משום שלא הייתה הוכחה לכך שהדברים אכן נאמרו. כך שהיה צורך בהוכחה. ובכן, עבדכם הנאמן פנה לממר”י. אם הדברים נאמרו – זה מכון המחקר שיכול לאתר אותם. ואכן כך. הקטע אותר, וניתן לצפות ולשמוע את אבו-מאזן אומר את הדברים . להלן גם הפניה לתמליל.

נמשיך לסוגיית “הגירוש הציוני”. האם היו אלה הציונים האכזרים שגירשו את ערביי פלסטין המנדטורית, או שמא פלישת צבאות ערב גרמה לכך? סוגיה ידועה ומוכרת, אך נדמה שהפעם יהיה זה נכון להציג את גרסתו של לא אחר מאשר אבו-מאזן. ובכן, ד”ר יצחק בן-גד מציג בספרו (Politics, Lies and Videotape) דברים שכתב אבו-מאזן בביטאון הרשמי של אש”ף, “פלסטין אל-ת’וורה”: “צבאות ערב נכנסו כדי להגן על הפלסטינים, אך במקום זאת, הם נטשו אותם והכריחו אותם להגר ולעזוב את מולדתם” (עמ’ 310). נדמה שברור יותר קשה להיות.

אפשר להמשיך. ספק אם יש פסקה אחת במאמר של אבו-מאזן ב”ניו-יורק טיימס” שתעבור את מבחן האמת. אפשר לחשוף את השקרים. אפשר להפריך את הטענות. אלא שהפעם עושה זאת אבו-מאזן בעצמו. היסטוריונים, מן הסתם, יקראו לגרסת אבו-מאזן בשם האורווליאני – “הנרטיב הפלסטיני”. אכן כן. מתברר שאפילו למנהיג הפלסטיני אין נרטיב אחד. יש הרבה. ואם הפירוש העדכני של “נרטיב” הוא “שקר”, אבו-מאזן מבהיר את הסיבה.

ואם כבר בשקרים עסקינן, כלומר נרטיבים, להלן תוספת קטנה. בעיתון “הארץ”, פורסם ראיון עם אחד, איסמעיל פאחר אל-דין מהכפר מג’דל שמס, שמספר על חוויותיו הקשות מימי ה”נכבה”: “אני זוכר את הכפר מלא אז בפליטים שגורשו מבתיהם”. התיאור מדויק. הרי היו כפרים שהתמלאו בפליטים. אלא שהאיש, לפי עדותו, הוא בן 57. כלומר, הוא זוכר דברים שקרו שש שנים לפני שנולד.

מה לנו כי נלין על זכרונו המתעתע של אל-דין, כשמחלתו של אבו-מאזן בעניין נרטיבים, נקרא לה “נרטוזיס”, הרבה יותר חמורה. השאלה היא רק, איך זה שעיתונים כל כך חשובים הפכו לבמה לשקרים כל כך בוטים.

 

Countdown to September

The UN General Assembly Cannot Establish a Palestinian State

The public debate in Israel over the Palestinian plan to seek UN support for statehood in September is based on a fundamental misconception: that the UN General Assembly can decide about the existence of new states. Contrary to widespread beliefs, it was not the UN General Assembly that formally established the State of Israel. UN General Assembly Resolution 181, also known as the Partition Plan, from November 29, 1947, only recommended the establishment of a Jewish state. It was an important moral boost for the Jewish people. But the actual legal basis for the creation of the State of Israel was the declaration of independence by David Ben-Gurion on May 14, 1948…

read more >>>

Palestinian Leaders Say the Peace Process Is Over

The international community has recently witnessed a series of widely publicized and authoritative declarations voiced by Palestinian leaders, according to which “the current peace process as it has been conducted so far is over” (Palestinian Authority Foreign Minister Riad Malki, March 22, 2011), and “the Palestinian leadership institutions (PLO and Fatah) have decided to submit a request to the UN for recognition of a Palestinian state within the 1967 borders, with its capital in East Jerusalem” (Sa’eb Erekat – AFP, March 20, 2011).

These declarations join an earlier plan by Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Salam Fayyad, announced in August 2009, to unilaterally declare a Palestinian state upon completion of the preparations for Palestinian governing institutions by September 2011… 

read more >>>

What Other Surprises Are the Palestinians Preparing for Israel?

May 15, 2011, might become a turning point in the history of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

One of the main components of Israel’s security is the deterrence factor Israel projects towards its enemies, a factor that has successfully stopped the Arab armies and a plethora of terrorist organizations from initiating an overt war with Israel.

Israel’s deterrence was first rattled in the Yom Kippur War in October 1973 when Israel was taken by surprise by a joint Syrian-Egyptian offensive on its borders. The deterrence factor did not stop the Arab armies from attempting to subdue militarily Israel. Although aware of Israel’s power, Sadat and Assad were ready to sacrifice thousands of lives in order to overcome the temporary borders Israel had established after its victory in the June 1967 Six-Day War in order to reach their political goals…

read more >>>

 

The Reconciliation Agreement between Fatah and Hamas – An Initial Evaluation

The reconciliation agreement signed by Fatah and Hamas is the old “Egyptian paper” with a protocol that added Hamas’ reservations.

It marks an outstanding political achievement for Mahmoud Abbas. He well understands that Europe is eager to have a Palestinian state materialize, and any indication of the viability of that vision may encourage Europe to support the planned UN vote in support of a Palestinian state in September. In fact, major European parties such as Spain, Britain and France have encouraged the PA to follow the track of a unilateral declaration of statehood.

U.S. President Barack Obama is an enthusiastic supporter of Palestinian statehood, but because he lost the majority in the pro-Israel House of Representatives, he cannot pressure Israel in the open. So he exerts pressure through the Europeans…

read more >>>

О культуре дискуссии…