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1. New Yorkers Plan to Fight Mosque Near Ground Zero
by Hana Levi Julian
A growing rage is gripping New Yorkers over plans to build a 13-story mosque just two blocks away from the site of the worst terror attack ever perpetrated on U.S. soil.
“What could be more insulting and humiliating than a monster mosque in the shadow of the World Trade Center buildings that were brought down by an Islamic jihad attack?” said Pam Geller, who heads a protest group called Stop the Islamicization of America. “Any decent American, Muslim or otherwise wouldn't dream of such an insult. It's a stab in the eye of America,” she told The Times.
The group is calling for a massive protest on June 6.
The plans by the American Society for Muslim Advancement call for construction of the mosque and community center at the former Burlington Coat factory, badly damaged in the attack by radical Muslim terrorists on September 11, 2001. The building has stood empty since “9/11” – but the group now wants to rebuild it as a major Islamic center instead.
Daisy Khan, director of the Society, explained that the group wants to “create a platform by which the voices of the mainstream and silent majority of Muslims will be amplified. A center of this scale and magnitude will do that.”
The center, to be located at 43-45 Park Place, would include a mosque on the top floor, large enough to accommodate some 2,000 Muslims for Friday prayers, overlooking Ground Zero. It would also would feature a 500-seat theater, a swimming pool and a basketball court.
Project director Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf said the mosque and Muslim-led community center would be called Cordoba House. According to Geller, who also writes the blog Atlas Shrugs, the name refers to the historic period in which the Islamic Caliphate in Cordoba, Spain, ruled much of Europe and non-Muslims lived as second-class citizens under Islamic rule. Rauf has reportedly stated he wants to attract converts to the Muslim community with by exploiting the proposed center's proximity to Ground Zero.
Another group, the “9/11 Families for a Safe & Strong America” (9/11 FSSA) has also expressed its opposition to the plan. An outraged Debra Burlingame contended that the same imam blamed “9/11” on America's treatment of Muslims immediately after the attack. Burlingame, whose brother was a pilot on the flight that was hijacked and crashed into the Pentagon, is the co-founder of 9/11 FSSA.
Regardless, New York City's Community Board 1 gave the $100 million project a thumbs-up at its financial district committee meeting on May 5, albeit not with a unanimous vote.
Board member Paul Sipos told the New York Post he thought the project was “insensitive,” pointing out that “If the Japanese decided to open a cultural center across from Pearl Harbor, that would be insensitive. If the Germans opened a Bach choral society across from Auschwitz even after all these years, that would be an insensitive setting.
“I have absolutely nothing against Islam,” he added. “I just think: why there?”
Geller's group noted that Islamic clerics often make a point of building mosques upon the ruins of other religious sites in order to proclaim its dominance. The Al Aqsa Mosque on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem was one of several examples she cited.
Geller, as well as columnist Rabbi Shmuely Boteach, suggested that the group instead build a Muslim center devoted to “expunging the Koran and all Islamic teachings of the violent jihad that they prescribe, as well as all hateful texts and incitement to violence.”
2. Could US-Trained PA Military Turn Guns on Israel?
by Avi Yellin
During a military exercise with the IDF’s elite Kfir Brigade last week at the Tze'elim base in Israel’s south, GOC Central Command Maj.-Gen. Avi Mizrahi warned soldiers of potential challenges they may face in the near future.
The Kfir brigade, created December 2005 to deal with unrest in Israel’s Judea and Samaria regions, trained extensively in urban warfare and simulated a scenario in which IDF soldiers were pitted against the Fatah-led Palestinian Authority’s new American-trained military.
Mizrahi told soldiers that the PA security forces, trained in Jordan by United States Lt. Gen. Keith Dayton, is a formidable potential enemy and that the IDF needs to know how to fight them if the need should arise.
"This is a trained, equipped, American-educated force," Mizrahi said. "This means that at the beginning of a battle, we will pay a higher price. A force like that can shut down an urban area with four snipers… It is a proper infantry force facing us and we need to take that into account. They have attack capabilities and we do not expect them to give up easily."
Keith Dayton himself has expressed belief that his PA army would likely attack the Jewish state in the event that Israel does not give in to the demands of the Middle East Quartet, comprising America, Russia, the United Nations and European Union. At a May 2009 lecture in Washington, Dayton indicated that if Israel does not surrender Judea and Samaria to the PA within two years, the Fatah forces he and his fellow American officers are currently training could easily turn their guns on the Israelis.
"With big expectations, come big risks," Dayton said. "There is perhaps a two-year shelf life on being told that you're creating a state, when you're not."
Following these remarks, United States Defense Secretary Robert Gates extended Dayton's tour of duty for an additional two years and gave him the added responsibility of serving as deputy to President Barack Obama's Middle East Envoy George Mitchell. The United States has already poured over $300 million into the new PA army and the acknowledged prospect of that army attacking the State of Israel has not deterred Washington from continuing to arm, train and finance it.
3. Dershowitz Continues Support for Pollard
by Hillel Fendel
Law Professor Alan Dershowitz, a former lawyer for Jonathan Pollard, says, “We must keep up the pressure regarding Pollard… he has served more than he should have.”
Winding up a nine-day visit to Israel, Dershowitz says the continued incarceration of Pollard, in his 25th year of a life sentence in the United States, “is a scandal – not only for Israel; it’s a scandal for America. He was treated so unfairly. America broke its deal; [it] broke its promise with him.”
Pollard, in jail since 1985, was convicted on one count of releasing classified information to a U.S. ally – namely, Israel. The normal sentence for this crime is 2-4 years, whereas Pollard received a life sentence.
In a message to the Yeshivat Hesder of Sderot in honor of its upcoming annual dinner, Dershowitz said, “We must keep up the pressure regarding Pollard. I wouldn’t ask for a pardon – I would ask for a commutation. A pardon suggests that he didn’t do wrong, [but] by American law standards, he did. A commutation suggests that he served more than he should have and at this point it’s due to free him.”
"Cruel Hamas" Holding Shalit
Dershowitz also spoke about Natan Sharansky and Gilad Shalit: “We took that attitude [requesting commutation] with Sharansky. I was Sharansky’s lawyer and we got him free, as well as many of the leaders of Israel today who were Prisoners of Zion and served in prison. Sharansky left on his own terms. When they tried to take away his Book of Psalms that kept him so vibrant in prison, he refused to let them… He was strong, he stood up to them, he looked them in the eye - and I hope that Gilad Shalit is doing the same thing. We have to have all of our efforts behind him, a young boy missing out on his youth because of the cruel, cruel Hamas not allowing proof if he’s alive, not allowing the family, not allowing the Red Cross [to visit him]…”
"Goldstone Didn't Visit Him"
Prof. Richard Goldstone, author of the controversial Goldstone Report accusing Israel of war crimes in defending itself against Hamas terrorism, once again did not escape Dershowitz’s wrath. “Goldstone had an opportunity, when he was in Gaza, to ask to see [Shalit],” Dershowitz said, “or to do something about it - and he did nothing. I think we all have to keep up our efforts on behalf of Gilad Shalit [and] on behalf of Jonathan Pollard.”
The Affidavit: False Information "Weighed Heavily" in Life Sentence
Prof. Dershowitz filed an affidavit in March 1990 in which he quoted former Supreme Court Justice Arthur Goldberg as having accused the Justice Department of improperly "pandering" to the racial sensitivities of Pollard’s sentencing judge. The affidavit states that this was done by providing Judge Audrey Robinson, a black man, "with false, inflammatory, ex parte information” regarding allegations that Pollard had helped the South African apartheid regime with secret information on nuclear technology.
“Justice Goldberg told me,” Dershowitz stated in the affidavit, “that Judge Robinson had told him that the Pollard-South African connection had weighed heavily in his (Judge Robinson's) decision to impose a life sentence.”
As the JonathanPollard.org website states, “This allegation [that Jonathan Pollard spied for South Africa] is completely false... Jonathan Pollard was never indicted for spying for South Africa.”
US Apologized for Calling Pollard “Traitor”
In addition, the U.S. Government was forced to apologize for allegations that Pollard is a “traitor” to the United States. The Pollard website states as follows: “Over the years American Government officials and other enemies of the case have falsely accused Jonathan Pollard of treason, and have referred to him as a ‘traitor’. When challenged, they implausibly try to justify their use of this terminology by claiming that they intend the term ‘traitor’ according to some sort of popular usage and not in a legal sense. But even the Courts reject this kind of spurious rationalization, and they categorically reject the Government's attempts to slip-slide on this issue. During the oral arguments of September 1991, the Courts forced the US Government to apologize to Jonathan for falsely identifying him as a traitor in the Weinberger memo and in other statements. The Court notes the Government's apology in its 1992 decision.”
4. Gaza Terrorists Attack UN Children’s Camp, Warn Aid Director
by Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu
Gaza terrorists raided a United Nations beachside children’s summer camp Sunday and left death threat warnings for John Ging, the head of U.N. Relief and Works Agency's (UNRWA) Gaza operations. The attack was reported by the Associated Press but was ignored by most major local and foreign newspapers and web sites. No children were at the camp, which is to open in three weeks.
“We were shocked by this painful attack,” Adnan Abu Hasna, UNRWA spokesman said at a press conference. Hamas condemned the pre-dawn attack by black-masked terrorists who entered in jeeps and tied the hands of a guard. They damaged eight tents, burning several of them, and torched several plastic water tanks. The terrorists also left behind three bullets next to a written threat to kill Ging and other United Nations officials.
The Ahrar Islamic terrorist group took responsibility for the raid. That group and several other organizations even more extreme than Hamas have charged that the United Nations ruins Muslim values by teaching secular subjects and allowing boys and girls to mingle together. Hamas and other terrorist groups also have attacked Internet cafes, Christian institutions and music stores since the Hamas coup four years ago that resulted in the group's total control over Gaza.
Most newspapers, while ignoring the attack, published U.N. claims that most of the damage sustained from the Operation Cast Lead last year has not been repaired. The international agency blamed Israel for the state of affairs, charging that the partial closing of Gaza crossings has prevented needed materials from reaching the region.
The United Nations and news agencies continue to describe the situation at Gaza crossings as a “blockade” despite daily shipments of hundreds of tons of humanitarian and other aid. Israel closed the crossings to commercial traffic after Hamas kidnapped Israeli solider Gilad Shalit nearly four years ago.
Attempts by the IDF to reopen the crossings were thwarted by Hamas terrorist attacks on trucks and personnel bringing aid to Gaza residents. The de facto Hamas government in Gaza has been accused of preferring that the crossings stay closed so it can reap profits from the tunnel smuggling system along the border with Egypt.
5. British Paper: Peres Tried to Sell Nuclear Weapons
by Maayana Miskin
The British Guardian published an article Monday claiming that President Shimon Peres offered to sell nuclear weapons to South Africa. The offer was allegedly made in 1975, during Peres's term as Defense Minister, when South Africa was still under apartheid, the report claimed.
The report was based on classified documents that South African officials gave United States academic Sasha Polakow-Suransky. Polakow-Suransky has released a book entitled, “The Unspoken Alliance: Israel's Secret Alliance with Apartheid South Africa.”
While Polakow-Suransky and writers at the Guardian interpreted the documents as referring to nuclear weapons, the pages contain no explicit references to such weapons. The minutes of one meeting state that “Minister Peres said the correct payload was available in three sizes,” Polakow-Suransky inferred that one of the “three sizes” was a nuclear payload.
In a second document, a South African general writes about missiles “armed with nuclear warheads manufactured in RSA [South Africa] or elsewhere.” As South Africa was not known to have nuclear capability, the document was taken by the newspaper as evidence that the general was referring to the purchase of weapons from Israel.
Peres vehemently denied the allegations. “There exists no basis in reality for the claims published this morning by The Guardian,” his spokespeople said. “Israel has never negotiated the exchange of nuclear weapons with South Africa. There exists no Israeli document or Israeli signature on a document that such negotiations took place.”
The Guardian “elected to write its piece based on the selective interpretation of South African documents and not on concrete facts,” they said. “The Office of the President regrets The Guardian's decision to publish such an article without requesting comment from any Israeli officials.”
The allegations come at a politically sensitive time, as Israel pushes for international action on Iran's nuclear program and shortly after Israel was pressured to sign the Nuclear Non Proliferation Treaty (NPT). Israel has never admitted publicly to having nuclear weapons.
6. Hitler Fashion Billboards Outrage Italians
by Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu
Italians are furious over an image of a pink-clad Adolf Hitler on billboards promoting a fashion campaign in Sicily, Italy, where World War II partisans fought fascism. One giant picture of Hitler shows the architect of the plan to exterminate Jews with a heart on the same place on his arm where a swastika band was worn. The slogan on the billboard states, "Change Your Style. Don't Follow Your Leader."
The promotion campaign also will soon place Chinese Communist leader Mao Zedong on billboards.
The advertising agency behind the campaign said the message was misunderstood and that the idea was to ridicule the Nazi dictator and not to make his war crimes seem unimportant. The intention was to "incite young people to follow their own style and not to be conditioned by leaders,” ad agency director Daniele Manno told Italian media
Ottavio Terranova, the leader of the local Partisans Association, stated, “We do not understand how the city authorities could have allowed such a billboard to be installed. The posters are a serious offense against all those who fought fascism, and violate our democratic and constitutional principles."
The partisans fought in the Italian resistance movement during the reign of Italian dictator Mussolini, who was allied with Nazi Germany.
7. Depite War on Terror, Australia Expels Israeli Diplomat
by Hillel Fendel
Despite warm Australian-Israeli relations, the "Down Under" country has expelled an Israeli diplomat in protest of four cloned Australian passports used in the assassination of a Hamas agent in Dubai in January. Israel supporters complain of a double standard.
“Investigations and advice have left the Government in no doubt Israel was responsible for the abuse and counterfeiting of these passports,” Australian Foreign Minister Stephen Smith said. However, he all but acknowledged publicly that he has no proof of this accusation when he added, “The high quality of these counterfeited passports points to the involvement of a state intelligence service.”
Two months ago, Britain took a similar move, expelling an Israeli diplomat for the first time in ten years.
Leading Hamas terrorist Mahmoud al-Mabhouh, responsible for smuggling weapons from Iran to Gaza, died in a Dubai hotel this past January. It was first believed that he had died of natural causes, and only later was it found that he had been murdered. Analysts say that the presence of surveillance cameras throughout the hotel was not taken sufficiently into account by the murderers. Israel has not accepted responsibility for the assassination.
It is believed that the killers also used forged French, German and Irish passports to enter Dubai. These three countries have not yet announced whether they intend to follow the British and Australian leads and expel Israeli diplomats.
Minister Smith said Israel’s alleged forgery endangered “confidential undertakings” with Australia, and “these are not the actions of a friend. This is not what we expect from a nation with whom we have had such a close, friendly and supportive relationship.”
Israel appears to be diplomatically restricted in its response, but supporters of Israel have asked the following questions: “Will England and Australia give up their forged international passports that are used for intelligence work? Or is it only Israel that is not allowed to do what every other nation does? Are we [Western countries] trying to send the message that terrorists are untouchable and are under our protection? … Talk about hypocrisy: We are in Afghanistan, we have killed thousands going after a terrorist who struck us, and yet we condemn Israel for the possible killing of one known terrorist?”
