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Monday, November 11, 2013

ARE THE SAUDIS, IRANIANS, AND PAKISTANIS PLAYING US?


Consider the following speculative idea:  Iran and Saudia Arabia are central to the Muslim World, and Muslim messianic faith tells of the coming of the "Mahdi", who will unite Sunni Islam and Shia Islam, establishing a united Islam dominant in the world.

We hear talk of a common front by Israel and Saudia Arabia against what may be imminent Iranian nuclear power; and we hear that Pakistan may be readying to ship nuclear bombs to Saudia Arabia, ostensibly to defend against Iran.

Yet do we not also hear of the imminent completion of an oil pipeline connecting Iran to Pakistan?

Pakistan lies adjacent to Iran, sharing a common border with Iran; and, the significant beachfront geographies of Pakistan, Iran, and Saudia Arabia make for easy mercantile intercourse between them.

Though Pakistan is Sunni -- as is Saudia Arabia from whence Islam first emerged -- what is there to prevent Pakistan from using the oil pipeline into Iran as a conduit for nuclear fuel or nuclear weapons?

Even as the West supports wars that pit Sunni against Shia, do we not also see growing Islamic unity against the West?

While our eyes are on the centrifuge capabilities and the hard water facilities of Iran -- truly these are real threats in and of themselves -- just next door to Iran lies Pakistan, nuclear capable and possibly just the completion of an oil deal away from sharing that nuclear capability with Iran.  Time Iran may seek to "purchase" from the West via negotiation, allowing nuclear inspections in exchange for an easing of economic sanctions, may also buy time for oil pipeline completion of the into Pakistan.  We risk complacency with respect to the visible Iranian threat, apparently blind to a plausible unknown-unknown nuclear threat in the form of Iran-Pakistan.

The bloody Syrian situation (and the simultaneous Iraqi situation) lies to the west of Iran; the bloody Pakistani and Afghani situations lie to the east of Iran.  Iran itself is relatively quiet, though we may delude ourselves into believing that the Iran of the Mullahs is on the brink of profound civil unrest.  Meanwhile, the clock ticks down on American and Allied presence in both Afghanistan and Pakistan.  (It is worth noting that both Pakistan and Afghanistan share borders with Chinese occupied Tibet to the northeast and with Iran to their west).  So, the way to pressure the Iranian Mullah hegemony may first require that both Syria/Iraq and Pakistan/Afghanistan be squared away; and, the way to pressure Pakistan and Afghanistan may require continued sanctions against Iran and interruption of the Iran-Pakistan oil pipeline.

Continuous and extended Western involvement and re-involvement (such as in Iran, Iraq, Syria, Pakistan, and Afghanistan) may be the hard but necessary road to successful containment of Islamic nuclear power.  Neither can we ignore Turkey and Egypt at this time.  But, the question raised herein goes to whether or not there is a subterranean alliance between Iran and Pakistan that may have nuclear consequences.

Wednesday, August 14, 2013

What? A new label? How about... "Made In The Historical Homeland Of Israel"!

LONG MAY THE VINEYARDS, WINES, AND ALL PRODUCE AND PRODUCT OF "THE HISTORICAL HOMELAND OF ISRAEL" FLOURISH....

Currently, produce and manufacture of Israel, including that of the disputed territories, is labeled, "Made In Israel".  Would it make a difference, if all the produce and manufacture of Israel, including that of the disputed territories, were labeled "Made In The Historical Homeland Of Israel?"  Would such a slight labeling transformation (not exactly according to the specifications of the EU) have a transformative effect, positively expressing a rightful Israeli point of view against the evil eye of  Europe, which relentlessly and profoundly insults,  pressures, and aggravates Israel?  The EU presently insists that Israel distinctly relabel those products and produce, such as are produce and products coming from "Occupied Palestinian Territory".  According to the EU this requirement is consistent with and necessary according to "International Law".

Israel did not participate in, does not accept the jurisdiction of, nor accede to the anti-Israel 2004 ICJ Decision against the Israel Security Fence.  This current EU requirement may provide an opportunity for Israel to challenge both the new EU requirement and the 2004 ICJ Decision.  Neither the UNGA nor the ICJ may definitively nor unilaterally establish Israeli borders (there has been no final resolution of the Arab-Israel Conflict nor of the matter of the disputed territories).  Yet, alteration of the label is an intriguing idea....

Whether produced or manufactured in Judea-Samaria, or in the Golan, or along the Mediterranean, or in the Negev, "Made In The Historical Homeland Of Israel" is a phrase that goes to the heart of the matter and teaches that heart to the entire world.  (For that matter Israel could well invite Lebanon, Syria, and Jordan to also label it's produce and manufacture "Made in the Historical Land of Israel," as the Dynasty of King David included these lands -- not that the Arabs would jump at the chance to advertise that historical fact!)

The claim that "International Law" holds Israel to be in violation of "Palestinian" territory is shameful, disgusting, and questionable -- even when setting aside that Israeli identity is properly Palestinian by definition!  Israel should make every effort to find a way -- openly, before all the nations of the world, and in every proper legal and media venue -- to challenge the rulings, opinions, and resolutions of such as the UNGA and the ICJ.  It should be possible for Israel to go directly before the ICJ to challenge the anti-Israel 2004 ICJ Decision regarding the Israel Security Fence;  Israel should challenge that Decision based on two concepts: (1) Jurisdiction, and (2) Success.   Not only did Israel in 2004 not acknowledge ICJ jurisdiction nor participate in those ICJ proceedings; but, the ICJ should now realize, recognize, and rescind it's 2004 Decision, which it should do based on it's own review by which it must conclude that it improperly assumed jurisdiction.  And, the success of the Israel Security Fence in bringing positive security results to the benefit of everyone on both sides of the Fence is proof that the ICJ decision was utterly wrong.

Israel must not surrender it's future to the whims of Hitler's Children, as dictated by the ICJ and as executed by the European Union.  By it's present behavior the EU may be regarded as the "Third Reich Risen".  Was this "Third Reich Risen" the goal of the Marshall Plan?  Is this "Third Reich Risen" how Europe "remembers" and "learns" and "rebuilds" and "reforms" from the ashes of World War II -- of the Shoah?

Israel is the diamond light of the world and must set itself, so as not to shatter under a European/Eurabian Hammer.  All produce and product of the "Historical Land Of Israel" should be so labeled and so be a reminder to all five senses and to all thought and memory throughout the world!   As kosher wine from the vineyards of the "Historical Homeland Of Israel" sparkles diamond-like in every glass, each sip should enliven and liberate every throat to speak a toast, "Yes, I remember!  Israel has a right in it's Historical Homeland!"






Wednesday, July 17, 2013

EUROPEAN UNION ESTABLISHES BOYCOTT CLAUSE INTO BUSINESS AND GRANT CONTRACTS WITH ISRAELI INSTITUTIONS

LYNCHING NOOSE DRAWN TIGHTER AROUND ISRAEL'S NECK

This past week the EU has taken an huge step towards the lynching of the State of Israel.  The EU decision this past week to sanction Israel is consistent with the 2004 decision of the ICJ (International Court of Justice in Brussels) to presume to jurisdiction in the matter of Israeli Borders.  It is necessary to recall that the ICJ ruled against Israel's construction of the Security Fence, interpreting and extending that decision to far broader legal and territorial implications.  It is worth noting that (a) Israel has never conceded to ICJ jurisdiction in this matter, and that (b) it is the existence of the Security Fence that has brought terrorism against Israel [from the Arabs of the "West Bank" and "East Jerusalem"] to a virtual standstill.  The ICJ decision presumed to deny Israel it's rights and it's means to prevent terror.  Israel rightly neither accepted then nor accepts now any presumed ICJ jurisdiction in the matter of borders, nor has Israel ever acceded to the horrendous ICJ decision.

Today (and to be effective in 2014) in tandem with the ICJ decision of 2004 the EU explicitly now defines the Golan, East Jerusalem, and Judea-Samaria (the "West Bank") to be "Occupied Palestinian Territory".  This is (1) despite the record of Arab terrorism against Israel (2) despite the lack of a peace agreement between Israel and the 'Palestinians' (3)  despite the obdurate and official "state of war" that exists against Israel by more than twenty Muslim Arabian countries surrounding Israel (Egypt and Jordan are two singular exceptions) (4) despite the obvious threat to Israel of Iran's terrorist client entities (e.g. Hezbollah and Hamas) (5) despite Iran's relentless push towards nuclear weapons capability, and (6) despite the questionable foundation to presumed legal authority by the ICJ in 2004.

The ICJ is an arm of the UN (United Nations).  The UN is today staunchly anti-Israel (and anti-Western) and is locked in a "love affair" with Arabia, Russia, and China that predetermines incessant anti-Israel UN Resolutions, one after another, which undermine Israel's existential right.  Israel is attacked unendingly in the UN, in the media, in governmental bodies, even in institutions of higher learning; Israel is disrespected in principle and in precedent by resolutions, decrees, rulings, pecuniary supports of terrorists, and by pecuniary offenses against Israel (e.g. boycotts).  There is, too, the never-ending disrespect to Jewish character and the unconditional bigotry against Jews.

Israel must regard both (a) the current EU decree to sanction Israel and (b) the dishonest foundation for that decree of the ICJ decision of 2004 (c) to be not merely tactics to press Israel towards a 'tough' but 'noble' and 'courageous' agreement with the 'Palestinians'.  Israel must regard both the decision of the ICJ and the decree of the EU to be symbolic of a failed European Conscience that would serve up Israel for dinner to Hamas, Hezbollah, and Fatah and call it a "negotiation".  Israel must not allow itself to be a "goose" around which a "noose" is tightened, lest Israel's "goose" be "cooked".





Tuesday, June 18, 2013

APPROACHING THE THREE WEEKS

NOT EXACTLY HOT FUN IN THE SUMMERTIME

SYRIA and IRAN and EGYPT stand out as the greatest concerns of the moment, with Iraq, Turkey, Pakistan, and Afghanistan not far behind.  ISRAEL is certainly caught between Iraq and hard places....

On the one hand getting Syria right may be the key that finally unlocks the gates to the potential nuclear hell that is Iran.  The results of the Iranian "elections" may mean that Iran has reached a tipping point and is ready to engage with the UN and the West in a way that suggests a less megalomaniacal attitude.  On the other hand regardless of the Syria outcome the present "election" results may be intended simply to enable Iran to present the appearance of a more moderate face to the world, even as Iran shifts it's alliances eastwards.

To date we see the Russia-Syria-Iran connections quite clearly.  There is every reason to see and be vigilant regarding these connections, and to be alert as well to the Stalinesque Putin-Assad-Ahmadinijad-Erdogan-Morsi patterns of totalitarianism in various stages of their development (even though Turkey is a NATO country and Egypt is presently, though precariously, in the American sphere, we had best not take these relations for granted).

We must not be so narrowly focused on Syria that we lose sight of the growing Iran-Pakistan-China connection.  There is an oil pipeline in progress to supply Iranian oil to Pakistan -- and whatever else may conceivably be transported via such a pipeline, eastwards or westwards (which possibility ought not be taken lightly, whatever weight the crude, as the new government of Pakistan has publicly announced a deepening of Chinese assistance in the further advancement of the nuclear capabilities of Pakistan).  It is not then a far stretch to realize that there may also be a deepening Chinese involvement in the assistance of Iranian nuclear development, whether as a complement to present Russian guidance or as a replacement of the Russians, should the Western nations coax the Russians out of their Iranian beach front.

What can Israel do, caught as it is in the center of all this superpower international intrigue that is laced with the aspirations of the would-be-superpowers of the Muslim world, and all of whom seem to regard Israel as at least the goalie to the soccer ball that is presently Syria and and could overnight become Israel as well?

One thing Israel can do is to remember that needless hatred and the destructiveness thereof is not restricted to the history of Israel.  One-hundred-thousand Syrians have already paid dearly for the needless hatred of Syrian v. Syrian, and most of those, who have paid the price, have been innocents.  Can Israel find ways to aid suffering Syrian refugees without also exposing Israel's underbelly?  Can Israel suggest ways to cool things down between the contesting parties  of Syria?  Can Israel manage to stay sufficiently out of the fray so that Hezbollah will not attack Israel?  If Hezbollah chooses anyway to attack Israel, is Israel ready -- and ready as well, should Hamas join in and attack Israel from Gaza?  Could Iran conceivably attack Israel?  Is Morsi studying ways to convert a public stance against Assad into a war footing that may further consolidate Muslim Brotherhood power in Egypt?  Is an Israeli-Egyptian alliance against Iran conceivable?  Oy, Vey!  Such questions!

Wednesday, January 30, 2013

POSITIVE ELECTION RESULTS? WHY NOT? WE SHALL SEE...

LOOKS GOOD SO FAR!

Israel has chosen a broad spectrum of solid leaders.  May HaShem prove them all to be equal to the tasks before them, tasks which are not simple; yet, neither are they hopeless tasks:  peace and security in a place surrounded by war and hatred, prosperity and stability in a time of economic strife, and faith and freedom caught up in a timeless struggle with each other.

HAREDIM INTO THE MILITARY?

It is a good idea, that everyone serve the country, including service in the military.  There already exist successful examples of devoted military service by religious Jews (note: saying so here in such an understated way is not intended to belittle anyone).  Haredim may conceivably be a special case; and so it is incumbent on the Nation of Israel that there be a national dialogue on the subject that is not based merely on resentments, be those resentments by persons religious, non-religious, anti-religious, or Haredi.

Those, who insist that Haredim serve in the military, ought to ask themselves two questions: (1) Are there service protocols that may be tailored to enable Haredim to serve in ways consistent with Halachah; and, (2) Are there societal protocols that non-religious and anti-religious Jews ought to commit themselves to in order to make their own contribution to the integrity of Israel (e.g. - keeping some of the vital Shabbas Halachoth, dressing Modestly, keeping Kosher, etc.)?

IRAN DEADLINE?

June 6 would be a good deadline date for Iran to come clean with respect to it's nuclear ambitions, to cease it's imperial provocations around the world, and to cease it's campaigns of Holocaust Denial and Jew Hatred.

Such a deadline should be established jointly by the UNGA and the UNSC under combined Israeli, American, Russian, and Chinese sponsorship;  and, the suggested joint sponsorship process should have, as it's foundation, repudiation of the Iranian policy of Holocaust Denial, a subject cogently brought to world attention by PM Netanyahu earlier this week on International Holocaust Remembrance Day (January 27).

Tuesday, January 8, 2013

GESHEM-GESHEM!! MAYIM-MAYIM!! MIN HA'SHEMAYIM!!

YEARS AND YEARS OF DROUGHT -- AND NOW -- FINALLY -- HEAVENLY -- RAIN, RAIN, RAIN!!!

HASHEM PROVIDES THE BEST CONTRIBUTION FOR PEACE, LOVE, AND PROSPERITY -- MUCH NEEDED WATER!!!

Two wonderful opportunities exist now for Israel: (1) Make optimal use of the replenishment of it's water resources, and (2) redesign and rebuild for flood weather, so that damage will be minimal -- even close to zero -- next time around (which may be sooner than we may think).

Perhaps in it's redesign efforts Israel may set an example for other nations, even the USA, by building on stilts and by incorporating other elevation engineerings into construction in low-lying areas, especially along the sea; and by constructing multi-use barriers inclusive of wind and tidal power.

The best place for the ocean is "Under the Boardwalk"!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iyzCccndc2w

Sunday, January 6, 2013

"STATE OF PALESTINE" ??????????? OY, GEVALT!!!!!!!!!!!!

FROM THOUGHT TO SPEECH TO ACTION...

Mahmoud Abbas has led the PAL on a path that calls to mind a fundamental teaching of Hasidus, "From Thought To Speech To Action".  Abbas has thought "State of Palestine".  Abbas has spoken "State of Palestine".  Abbas may imminently win an existential "State of Palestine".

Today it was reported by the Associated Press that Abbas has ordered the Palestinian Authority (PA) to officially change it's name to "State of Palestine" on the presumption that it is consistent with the recent decision of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) to recognize the "State of Palestine" (SOP) as a full Non-Member Observer "State".  The keywords are "State" and "Palestine".

The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) has not so recognized a "State of Palestine".  Can the UNSC override and negate the UNGA recognition of the SOP?  If so, then the effrontery of the PAL and the UNGA may be checked by firmer UNSC action than it's presently passive non-ratification of the UNGA move; and Israel must so urge the UNSC.

Perhaps in one united decision the UNSC may officially recognize the non-observer status of The Holy See and simultaneously officially nullify the UNGA recognition of the "State of Palestine".  (Whether or not the UNSC can be brought to an unanimous vote to override the UNGA in this matter should be regarded as possible on structural grounds regarding matters of proper balance of power at the UN, if a case for the Right of Override by the UNSC may be made de jure, defacto, or de implicatione by the UN Charter.)

Or must such a precedent be established via the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in Brussells?  Does it not make sense, that if any type of Observer Status, Non-Observer Status, or actual Statehood is recognized by the UNGA, that such recognition must be ratified by the UNSC in order to become valid, binding, and active at the UN?  This logic should apply as well to recognition in such UN bodies as UNESCO or the Antiquities Authority.

There is a speedy "train" in motion upon which the world appears ready to board; that "train" is official recognition of the "State of Palestine".  If the UNGA may say that there is a "State of Palestine", then what is to stop the majority of individual Member States of the UN from officially doing the same?  (Are the Member States of the UN bound to honor the both the UNGA and the UNSC prior to acknowledging a State?  No, in fact neither, but, a tidal wave of "permissions" flowing outwards from the UNGA epicenter of the "Arab Spring" may drown Israel and the World.)

Precedent already exists at the UN, that Member States may not be required to acknowledge each other.  That precedent exists in that there are at least twenty member States, who have chosen not to recognize the existence of Israel.  This is a "thumbing the nose" at both the UNGA and the UNSC, as much as it is an affront to Israel's Right to Exist .  This first precedent of non-recognition is also precedent to it's inverse, that an individual State may be UN Member State and yet independently recognize any entity claiming to be a state, e.g. the "State of Palestine" or, hypothetically, the "State of Al-Quaeda in Yemen", "Al-Quaeda in Syria", "Hezbollah in Syria-Lebanon", etc.

It must be remembered that the guiltiest parties to this nefarious recognition of a "State of Palestine" may be the more than fifty Member States, which either did not show up to vote or deliberately abstained from voting; a UNGA two-thirds majority in favor of Statehood for the PA could not have manifested, had those fifty-plus Member States voted against PA Statehood.

The propaganda war waged in the name of "Palestine" by the Arabs, having achieved a worldwide victory at the UNGA, may now press further into official recognition by the majority of individual States throughout the world, leaving only the UNSC and a handful of States to yet recognize "The State Of Palestine".  The weight of time and pressure on these remaining official bodies to recognize "The State Of Palestine" does not favor Israel.  Such "olives" these Arabs press into "oil...." 

Israel urgently faces "crunch time" decisions to defend itself from deleterious final status in the face of probable international recognition of the "State Of Palestine" along unsustainable borders for Israel.  In the jargon of basketball, the "game is into overtime" and Israel must exercise a "full court press" in order to survive and advance to the next level.

What can Israel do?

In the Media and at the UNGA, UNSC, ICJ, and to individual States throughout the world, Israel must itself move from thought to speech to action or, failing to do so, concede to the Arabs a ghettoized Israel.

Israel must:

1.  Make the case, as there is no UNSC-recognized "State of Palestine", that it is premature for the PAL to change it's name;

2.  Make the case, as there is no UNSC-recognized "State of Palestine", that the UNGA must freeze it's present recognition, until and unless the UNSC recognizes a "State of Palestine".

3.  Make the case -- for by definition "Jews" and "Israel" are "Palestinian" and "Palestine" (by the ignominious nomenclature of the Ancient Romans) -- that recognition of any entity of Palestinian Arabs must only be by some appropriate name, e.g. "Fatah", as the heritage of foreign occupations of Israel/Palestine  requires prominent recognition and receives none.  (In fact it would be quite elegant to press the UN Antiquities Authority to verify this history and nomenclature of Israel from Roman times to the Present....)

4.  Make the case that Israel will not recognize the presently alleged "State of Palestine" nor will speak "of" or "to" the PAL except by an actual appropriate name, e.g. "Fatah" in proper recognition of identity and in order to no longer give verbal credibility to the identification of the Arabs as Palestinian and the Jews as Not-Palestinian.

5.  Take strong, calculated, restrained, strategic, tactical, and expeditious actions on the ground to secure Israel; these should be inclusive of settlement activities, construction activities, defense preparation activities, police activities, judicial activities, and political activities. 

6.  Make the case strongly that none of the four explicit tests of the Montevideo Criteria for Statehood are met by the PA ("Fatah"), as these four tests (stable population, borders, government, and capacity for international relations) are each of them and collectively questionable, controversial, and disputable.

**************************** LEGAL ARTICLE REFERENCE
REGARDING THE U.N., THE HOLY SEE (VATICAN), AND THE P.A./STATE OF PALESTINE:

American Society of International Law 09/07/2012
http://www.asil.org/insights121208.cfm.

Friday, January 4, 2013

"QUASIMODO" OR ""WINNIE THE POOH?

OGRE OR PUSHOVER (TO BE OR NOT TO BE)?


The world wants to believe that we are ogres. And so we contort ourselves until we become ogres.  Or we distort ourselves into such niceness, we cannot even believe it ourselves.

The West keeps us on a tight leash, such that we choke, then the West asks, "Why didn't you tell us the leash was too tight?"

The West murders us in ghettoes for centuries; now we morf ourselves into builders of "security fences".  Sanity would have us resettle our historical homeland!

Meanwhile -- what goes on beneath Jerusalem?

What goes on below the Temple Mount?

The Waqf digs, deeper and deeper, destroying evidence of Jewish
Heritage.  The Waqf every day today pulverizes the antiquities of our heritage, even as the Nazis cremated millions of our precious living heritage.

For this the United Nations elevates the "Palestinian Authority"; having already appointed the PA to the UN Antiquities Authority, now the UN has granted the PA into virtual Statehood!

Bibi N., Tzipi L., Ehud B., Moshe F., Shelly Y., Arye D. -- 

EFSHAR B'YACHAD BEYN HAMETZAR AL HA'ETHID!