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1. TIME Magazine’s Latest Blood Libel About Israel
by Prof. Phyllis Chesler
Prof. Chesler is an Emerita Professor of Psychology and Women's Studies at City University of New York. She also is an author and appears often in international media interviews. She lives in New York City.
The September 13, 2010 issue of TIME Magazine arrived yesterday. The cover story is titled “Why Israel Doesn’t Care About Peace” and is illustrated by a large Jewish star composed of daisies. Yes, daises—as in “counting daisies, don’t have a care in the world.”
This is precisely the point of Karl Vick’s article. He writes:
Israelis are no longer preoccupied with the matter [of peace with the Palestinians]. They’re otherwise engaged: They’re making money; they’re enjoying the rays of the late summer … they have moved on.
Vick quotes an Israeli real estate agent in Ashdod, one Eli, who tells him:
People are indifferent. They don’t care if there’s going to be war. They don’t care if there’s going to be peace. They don’t care. They live in the day.
According to Vick, Israelis don’t care about peace, peace negotiations, or about the Palestinians because they are simply having too good a time: sunbathing, swimming, café-hopping, profiting from start-up companies, and, according to polls cited by Vick, utterly disconnected from “politics;” indeed Vick suggests that Israelis resemble Californians more than they resemble Egyptians. These are all points which scream: Israel does not fit in; if Israelis were only more impoverished, more indolent, and paradoxically, even more “laid back,” they might be recognizable as indigenous to the region, a true part of the Middle East.
These are Vick’s thoughts, not mine.
Of course, Jews are the original Palestinians and the most indigenous of the region’s inhabitants; yes, there are many impoverished Israelis, both Jews and non-Jews; and, let’s not forget that there are even some Israelis who remain permanently on high alert for the next terrorist attack, permanently scarred by the last ones. For a moment, let’s forget about all that. Allow me to ask: Why doesn’t Vick also point out that Palestinians are leading the high life on the West Bank and in sumptuous villas on both the West Bank and in Gaza; that they, too, are sunbathing, swimming, shopping, dining out, and relaxing at the beach—at least as much as the Islamist thugs who run the lives of Palestinians will allow it?
Vick and his editors at TIME seem to think that showing six photos of Israelis at leisure: blowing smoke on a beach chair, lounging on a beach chair, resting in an army uniform on the beach without a chair, playing with one’s baby in a stroller, sitting at a café—are proof that Israelis are engaging in activities which are not admirable, are, in fact, “proof” that they are not suffering but rather, proof that Israelis simply don’t care about peace with the Palestinians. And Vick brings in polls as well as expert and person-in-the-street opinions to back up this claim.
Vick writes that real estate is booming, as is business in general, Israeli “brainiacs” have helped their nation avoid the economic disasters that have plunged Europe and America into a recession. He literally writes this. “Israel avoided the debt traps that dragged the U.S. and Europe into recession. It is known as a start-up nation—second only to the U.S. companies listed on the Nasdaq exchange.”
Is Vick aware that, consciously or not, intentionally or not, he is counting on the world’s long-held resentment about Jewish creativity, genius, and scientific and economic success—counting on the world’s willingness to scapegoat Israel once again for crimes that it has not committed? Or because Jews seem to “know something,” maybe they are channeling God directly and thus, the deck is stacked against non-Jews. Vick presents Israel’s “success” as somehow unseemly, because it makes other nations look bad. Does he harbor the suspicion that Jewish prosperity has been “stolen” from non-Jews or is he merely advertising that Jewish gold is there, ripe for the taking?
Buried—but really buried-- in Vick’s four page cover piece are snippets of true facts: That the Israelis are weary of peace negotiations which never succeed because the Palestinians do not want peace; that Arabs and Palestinians want to destroy the Jewish state and as many Jews as possible.
But Vick fails to convey that negotiations cannot work as long as the ultra-Nazified Arab Islamic propaganda against Jews and Israel continues to turn out children who hate Jews and who become human homicide bombs, snipers, kidnappers, kassam rocket throwers, etc.
Here is what Vick utterly fails to comprehend, namely, that the Israelis are not merely tired, disenchanted, living in la-la land a la southern Californians (hence, the Jewish star made of daisies on the cover). The Israelis are actually showing the entire world how to embrace life, even as they live, trembling, in the shadow of death. They are teaching the world how to “love life more than they fear death.” A new and wonderful book A New Shoah. The Untold Story of Israel’s Victims of Terrorism by Italian journalist Giulio Meotti, which is not yet out, makes precisely this point.
Pictured: Prof. Phyllis Chesler The Jewish insistence on life may be the key to our survival as a people despite ceaseless persecution. It might be the lesson, the model, for all humanity in an era of genocides, civil wars, torture chambers, tyrannies, and totalitarian regimes. Why is TIME turning things on their head and refusing to recognize the courage and the heroism of Jewish Israelis who choose to live in the moment when the moment is all they have? Against all odds, the Jews simply refuse to give up. As Meotti writes of the numerous victims of terrorism during the ongoing Intifada of 2000, “Israel teaches the world love of life, not in the sense of a banal joie de vivre, but as a solemn celebration.”
Meotti begins where I began in early 2004, when I wrote about a new Holocaust in the pages of The Jewish Press, a Holocaust which is now based in Israel. At the time, I was not heard beyond a small circle. I did what Meotti now does in his opening pages. Meotti fully understands that Israel is the “first country ever to experience suicide terrorism on a mass scale: that more than 150 suicide attacks have been carried out plus 500 have been prevented." According to Meotti, there have been “1,723 people (murdered) and 10,000 injured” in Israel. Meotti does what I did: He converts these numbers into the demographic equivalent of attacks on Americans. When I did so there were somewhat fewer people in both categories. Thus, Meotti writes that in American population terms, this means that “74,000 Americans” would have been killed and “400,000 injured.”
Vick does not factor this grave reality into his article. Nor does he seem to know how high the Jewish population growth was in the DP camps right after the Holocaust. Can he comprehend that permanently endangered Jews—a people that has survived as a people for nearly six thousand years—the Chosen People—have always chosen life in the moment, have chosen to seize life with both hands, even as they memorialize their dead and make sense of their persecution in a way that illuminates this particular Hell for all humanity?
What Meotti is doing is remembering the lives and the deaths of the Israeli victims of Palestinian terrorism during the last decade. I have only read the first few chapters but cannot put it down. These are unknown stories, unnamed victims, whose mortal remains have often evaporated, disintegrated as surely as those Jews who literally went up in smoke during the Nazi Holocaust. His stories are mainly of victims who were unarmed and helpless and who, it turns out, were actually exceptionally kind to others, often to the very Arab Palestinians who shot them down, bludgeoned them to death, or blew them up into unrecognizable bone fragments, drops of blood, perhaps a few teeth.
I look forward to completing Meotti’s book. I hope that people more fully understand that TIME Magazine as well as countless other media in the Western world, can no longer be trusted to tell the truth.
Reprinted with permission of Newsrealblog and sent to Israel National News by the author.
Comment on this story
by Prof. Phyllis Chesler
Prof. Chesler is an Emerita Professor of Psychology and Women's Studies at City University of New York. She also is an author and appears often in international media interviews. She lives in New York City.
The September 13, 2010 issue of TIME Magazine arrived yesterday. The cover story is titled “Why Israel Doesn’t Care About Peace” and is illustrated by a large Jewish star composed of daisies. Yes, daises—as in “counting daisies, don’t have a care in the world.”
This is precisely the point of Karl Vick’s article. He writes:
Israelis are no longer preoccupied with the matter [of peace with the Palestinians]. They’re otherwise engaged: They’re making money; they’re enjoying the rays of the late summer … they have moved on.
Vick quotes an Israeli real estate agent in Ashdod, one Eli, who tells him:
People are indifferent. They don’t care if there’s going to be war. They don’t care if there’s going to be peace. They don’t care. They live in the day.
According to Vick, Israelis don’t care about peace, peace negotiations, or about the Palestinians because they are simply having too good a time: sunbathing, swimming, café-hopping, profiting from start-up companies, and, according to polls cited by Vick, utterly disconnected from “politics;” indeed Vick suggests that Israelis resemble Californians more than they resemble Egyptians. These are all points which scream: Israel does not fit in; if Israelis were only more impoverished, more indolent, and paradoxically, even more “laid back,” they might be recognizable as indigenous to the region, a true part of the Middle East.
These are Vick’s thoughts, not mine.
Of course, Jews are the original Palestinians and the most indigenous of the region’s inhabitants; yes, there are many impoverished Israelis, both Jews and non-Jews; and, let’s not forget that there are even some Israelis who remain permanently on high alert for the next terrorist attack, permanently scarred by the last ones. For a moment, let’s forget about all that. Allow me to ask: Why doesn’t Vick also point out that Palestinians are leading the high life on the West Bank and in sumptuous villas on both the West Bank and in Gaza; that they, too, are sunbathing, swimming, shopping, dining out, and relaxing at the beach—at least as much as the Islamist thugs who run the lives of Palestinians will allow it?
Vick and his editors at TIME seem to think that showing six photos of Israelis at leisure: blowing smoke on a beach chair, lounging on a beach chair, resting in an army uniform on the beach without a chair, playing with one’s baby in a stroller, sitting at a café—are proof that Israelis are engaging in activities which are not admirable, are, in fact, “proof” that they are not suffering but rather, proof that Israelis simply don’t care about peace with the Palestinians. And Vick brings in polls as well as expert and person-in-the-street opinions to back up this claim.
Vick writes that real estate is booming, as is business in general, Israeli “brainiacs” have helped their nation avoid the economic disasters that have plunged Europe and America into a recession. He literally writes this. “Israel avoided the debt traps that dragged the U.S. and Europe into recession. It is known as a start-up nation—second only to the U.S. companies listed on the Nasdaq exchange.”
Is Vick aware that, consciously or not, intentionally or not, he is counting on the world’s long-held resentment about Jewish creativity, genius, and scientific and economic success—counting on the world’s willingness to scapegoat Israel once again for crimes that it has not committed? Or because Jews seem to “know something,” maybe they are channeling God directly and thus, the deck is stacked against non-Jews. Vick presents Israel’s “success” as somehow unseemly, because it makes other nations look bad. Does he harbor the suspicion that Jewish prosperity has been “stolen” from non-Jews or is he merely advertising that Jewish gold is there, ripe for the taking?
Buried—but really buried-- in Vick’s four page cover piece are snippets of true facts: That the Israelis are weary of peace negotiations which never succeed because the Palestinians do not want peace; that Arabs and Palestinians want to destroy the Jewish state and as many Jews as possible.
But Vick fails to convey that negotiations cannot work as long as the ultra-Nazified Arab Islamic propaganda against Jews and Israel continues to turn out children who hate Jews and who become human homicide bombs, snipers, kidnappers, kassam rocket throwers, etc.
Here is what Vick utterly fails to comprehend, namely, that the Israelis are not merely tired, disenchanted, living in la-la land a la southern Californians (hence, the Jewish star made of daisies on the cover). The Israelis are actually showing the entire world how to embrace life, even as they live, trembling, in the shadow of death. They are teaching the world how to “love life more than they fear death.” A new and wonderful book A New Shoah. The Untold Story of Israel’s Victims of Terrorism by Italian journalist Giulio Meotti, which is not yet out, makes precisely this point.
Pictured: Prof. Phyllis Chesler The Jewish insistence on life may be the key to our survival as a people despite ceaseless persecution. It might be the lesson, the model, for all humanity in an era of genocides, civil wars, torture chambers, tyrannies, and totalitarian regimes. Why is TIME turning things on their head and refusing to recognize the courage and the heroism of Jewish Israelis who choose to live in the moment when the moment is all they have? Against all odds, the Jews simply refuse to give up. As Meotti writes of the numerous victims of terrorism during the ongoing Intifada of 2000, “Israel teaches the world love of life, not in the sense of a banal joie de vivre, but as a solemn celebration.”
Meotti begins where I began in early 2004, when I wrote about a new Holocaust in the pages of The Jewish Press, a Holocaust which is now based in Israel. At the time, I was not heard beyond a small circle. I did what Meotti now does in his opening pages. Meotti fully understands that Israel is the “first country ever to experience suicide terrorism on a mass scale: that more than 150 suicide attacks have been carried out plus 500 have been prevented." According to Meotti, there have been “1,723 people (murdered) and 10,000 injured” in Israel. Meotti does what I did: He converts these numbers into the demographic equivalent of attacks on Americans. When I did so there were somewhat fewer people in both categories. Thus, Meotti writes that in American population terms, this means that “74,000 Americans” would have been killed and “400,000 injured.”
Vick does not factor this grave reality into his article. Nor does he seem to know how high the Jewish population growth was in the DP camps right after the Holocaust. Can he comprehend that permanently endangered Jews—a people that has survived as a people for nearly six thousand years—the Chosen People—have always chosen life in the moment, have chosen to seize life with both hands, even as they memorialize their dead and make sense of their persecution in a way that illuminates this particular Hell for all humanity?
What Meotti is doing is remembering the lives and the deaths of the Israeli victims of Palestinian terrorism during the last decade. I have only read the first few chapters but cannot put it down. These are unknown stories, unnamed victims, whose mortal remains have often evaporated, disintegrated as surely as those Jews who literally went up in smoke during the Nazi Holocaust. His stories are mainly of victims who were unarmed and helpless and who, it turns out, were actually exceptionally kind to others, often to the very Arab Palestinians who shot them down, bludgeoned them to death, or blew them up into unrecognizable bone fragments, drops of blood, perhaps a few teeth.
I look forward to completing Meotti’s book. I hope that people more fully understand that TIME Magazine as well as countless other media in the Western world, can no longer be trusted to tell the truth.
Reprinted with permission of Newsrealblog and sent to Israel National News by the author.
Comment on this story
2. Abbas Back to Square One, Demands ‘Freeze’ Before Talks
by Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu
Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas, speaking Sunday as if he had never met with American and Israeli leaders in the White House last week, conditioned more direct talks with Israel on an extension of the building freeze.
His statement turned back the clock to pre-White House rhetoric that had precluded face-to-face discussions with Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu until last week. Abbas and Prime Minister Netanyahu, after individual meetings with U.S. President Barack Obama in a day of carefully choreographed discussions last Thursday, spoke with each other for over two hours behind closed doors and gave President Obama the opportunity to say he brought them together.
U.S. Middle East envoy George Mitchell said they even agreed to meet next week for a fresh round of talks, but Abbas said on a visit to Libya Saturday night, “If the freeze period is not extended by the end of the month, there will be no negotiations."
He was referring to the freeze on construction for Jews in Judea and Samaria, a halt to building that Israel adopted last September as a concession for the PA to sit down at the same table with Israel over the proposal to create a new Arab country headed by the PA.
Abbas did not refer to his condition in the public statements in Washington but said on Saturday that he made his views known to Prime Minister Netanyahu. The Prime Minister, picking up the American government’s plea that both sides reach a final agreement within a year, told the Cabinet Sunday morning, "We will have to learn the lessons of 17 years of experience from negotiations and to think creatively -- what's called 'outside the box.’ In order to achieve practical solutions, we'll have to think of new solutions to old problems. I believe this is possible."
Abbas' statement appeared to pour cold water on Defense Minister Ehud Barak’s declaration on Army Radio Sunday morning that "a way was being sought so that [ending the building freeze]) would not harm the continuation of talks."
Doubts for success in the talks have been expressed even by the left-wing camp in Israel. Yossi Beilin, former Meretz party leader and the man behind the Geneva Initiative that would satisfy almost all PA demands, wrote on the Bloomberg News website last week that he admits that the PA must settle for a partial success if the talks are to succeed. However, he added he sees no chances for a positive result.
Beilin warned that a failure in the negotiations “will lead to more frustration and deeper skepticism that the Israeli-Palestinian conflict can be resolved. The security arrangement between the two sides, which is guaranteeing the current state of calm, will be dealt a blow and there will be a danger of violent outbursts.”
He admitted that “the distance between his [Netanyahu’s] positions and the minimum claims of the pragmatic Palestinian camp can’t be bridged…. Abbas can’t implement a peace agreement with Israel because as long as Hamas retains control of Gaza, Gaza won’t be part of the solution, and there can’t be any ‘safe passage’ between the West Bank and Gaza.”
Comment on this story
by Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu
Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas, speaking Sunday as if he had never met with American and Israeli leaders in the White House last week, conditioned more direct talks with Israel on an extension of the building freeze.
His statement turned back the clock to pre-White House rhetoric that had precluded face-to-face discussions with Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu until last week. Abbas and Prime Minister Netanyahu, after individual meetings with U.S. President Barack Obama in a day of carefully choreographed discussions last Thursday, spoke with each other for over two hours behind closed doors and gave President Obama the opportunity to say he brought them together.
U.S. Middle East envoy George Mitchell said they even agreed to meet next week for a fresh round of talks, but Abbas said on a visit to Libya Saturday night, “If the freeze period is not extended by the end of the month, there will be no negotiations."
He was referring to the freeze on construction for Jews in Judea and Samaria, a halt to building that Israel adopted last September as a concession for the PA to sit down at the same table with Israel over the proposal to create a new Arab country headed by the PA.
Abbas did not refer to his condition in the public statements in Washington but said on Saturday that he made his views known to Prime Minister Netanyahu. The Prime Minister, picking up the American government’s plea that both sides reach a final agreement within a year, told the Cabinet Sunday morning, "We will have to learn the lessons of 17 years of experience from negotiations and to think creatively -- what's called 'outside the box.’ In order to achieve practical solutions, we'll have to think of new solutions to old problems. I believe this is possible."
Abbas' statement appeared to pour cold water on Defense Minister Ehud Barak’s declaration on Army Radio Sunday morning that "a way was being sought so that [ending the building freeze]) would not harm the continuation of talks."
Doubts for success in the talks have been expressed even by the left-wing camp in Israel. Yossi Beilin, former Meretz party leader and the man behind the Geneva Initiative that would satisfy almost all PA demands, wrote on the Bloomberg News website last week that he admits that the PA must settle for a partial success if the talks are to succeed. However, he added he sees no chances for a positive result.
Beilin warned that a failure in the negotiations “will lead to more frustration and deeper skepticism that the Israeli-Palestinian conflict can be resolved. The security arrangement between the two sides, which is guaranteeing the current state of calm, will be dealt a blow and there will be a danger of violent outbursts.”
He admitted that “the distance between his [Netanyahu’s] positions and the minimum claims of the pragmatic Palestinian camp can’t be bridged…. Abbas can’t implement a peace agreement with Israel because as long as Hamas retains control of Gaza, Gaza won’t be part of the solution, and there can’t be any ‘safe passage’ between the West Bank and Gaza.”
Comment on this story
3. Air Force Bombs Gaza Tunnels after Rocket Attack
by Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu
The IDF continued Saturday night to carry out the government policy of bombing Gaza smuggling tunnels—but only after terrorists attack Israel with missiles. A Kassam rocket struck an open area near a Gaza belt community Saturday, causing no damage or injuries.
One of the tunnels collapsed, killing one person, and injuring two others.
The Air Force quickly retaliated several hours later, bombing three tunnels used to smuggle weapons and terrorists. Some of the tunnels are designed to help terrorists kidnap Israeli civilians and soldiers.
Despite their known presence and purpose, the IDF has refrained from bombing the tunnels, except in retaliatory operations. Saturday night’s F-16 attacks hit tunnels near Rafiah, which straddles the Egyptian border, and Khan Yunis, located in south-central Gaza and adjacent to the sites of former Jewish communities the government destroyed in 2005, when Israel withdrew all military presence from the area.
The “disengagement” policy was trumpeted at the time as a move that would end once and for all Gaza-based terrorists attacks on southern Israel. More than 100 rockets and mortars have been fired at Israelis since the beginning of 2010, and over 400 rockets were fired from Gaza since the end of Operation Cast Lead more than a year and a half ago.
Hamas has threatened to continue attacking Israelis following the murder of four civilians from a Hevron area community last week.
“The IDF remains committed to protecting the citizens of Israel and will continue to act against terror. The IDF holds Hamas solely responsible for terror emanating from Gaza,” IDF spokesmen said.
Comment on this story
by Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu
The IDF continued Saturday night to carry out the government policy of bombing Gaza smuggling tunnels—but only after terrorists attack Israel with missiles. A Kassam rocket struck an open area near a Gaza belt community Saturday, causing no damage or injuries.
One of the tunnels collapsed, killing one person, and injuring two others.
The Air Force quickly retaliated several hours later, bombing three tunnels used to smuggle weapons and terrorists. Some of the tunnels are designed to help terrorists kidnap Israeli civilians and soldiers.
Despite their known presence and purpose, the IDF has refrained from bombing the tunnels, except in retaliatory operations. Saturday night’s F-16 attacks hit tunnels near Rafiah, which straddles the Egyptian border, and Khan Yunis, located in south-central Gaza and adjacent to the sites of former Jewish communities the government destroyed in 2005, when Israel withdrew all military presence from the area.
The “disengagement” policy was trumpeted at the time as a move that would end once and for all Gaza-based terrorists attacks on southern Israel. More than 100 rockets and mortars have been fired at Israelis since the beginning of 2010, and over 400 rockets were fired from Gaza since the end of Operation Cast Lead more than a year and a half ago.
Hamas has threatened to continue attacking Israelis following the murder of four civilians from a Hevron area community last week.
“The IDF remains committed to protecting the citizens of Israel and will continue to act against terror. The IDF holds Hamas solely responsible for terror emanating from Gaza,” IDF spokesmen said.
Comment on this story
4. Growing Tidal Wave of Anger May Drown Obama in November
by Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu
More polls point to a GOP tidal wave of victory in November’s Congressional elections and U.S. President Barack Obama facing the humility of being a one-term president.
Just when Democrats thought ”things could not get worse,” even surveys from center-left media such as CNN show that the president may repeat former U.S. President Jimmy Carter’s embarrassment of being dumped after one term. An Associated Press report posted on YouTube states that Americans do not believe President Obama’s optimism.
The thunderbolt that struck the Democratic party last week was a Gallup Poll that gave the Republican party a record 10-point margin over the Democrats in a survey that simply asked respondents if they prefer a Democratic or Republican candidate. The GOP edge is the largest in 68 years, dating back to 1942, when the first similar poll was taken.
Similar result in polls by CBS, reflecting dissatisfaction with President Obama’s handling of the economy, health care and the oil spill, indicate that his efforts to impose an agreement on the Palestinian Authority and Israel will not turn the tide.
The CBS “pop poll” last Thursday revealed that two-thirds of Americans give President Obama a “failure” rating for mis-managing the economy, while nearly 60 percent also fail him for foreign policies. On health care, the failure rating soared to more than 78 percent, and 57.5 percent failed him for what used to be called the war on terrorism.
His overall rating: 8.28 percent gave him an “A’ rating, 7.69 percent voted a “B” or “C” rating, 22.25 percent gave him a “D” and 63.76 percent failed him.
The more scientific Gallup Poll revealed that only 43 percent approved of the president’s performance, while 49 percent registered disapproval. Even worse, the polls show that the number of Republicans who are “very” enthusiastic about voting this year is double the number of Democrats.
President Obama’s focus on foreign policy and his contradictory remarks on the Ground Zero Mosque have distracted his officials from American’s number one worry—the economy, according to the Politico.com website.
American Thinker website news editor Ed Lasky recently noted that the “Jewish vote” still is a strong factor, but not because of the issue of Israel. He wrote that President Obama’s policies disproportionately affect Jews because they represent a large number of doctors, small business owners and high-income professionals, all of whom are adversely affected by economic policies.
However, a Republican tidal wave would clearly be to Israel’s advantage because it would oust dovish Democrats who are equated with President Obama’s ‘Illegitimate” label of Jews living in Judea and Samaria as well as large parts of Jerusalem claimed by the Palestinian Authority.
"Republicans' presumed turnout advantage, combined with their current 10-point registered-voter lead, suggests the potential for a major 'wave' election in which the Republicans gain a large number of seats from the Democrats and in the process take back control of the House," Gallup wrote.
Earlier polls, by Rasmussen and McLaughlin, also showed that the Democrats are in big trouble, with Americans against President Obama’s policies on terrorism, immigration, federal spending and the economy in general. On Friday the unemployment rate edged up to 9.6 percent, and the figure does not include tens of thousands of Americans who are thought to be excluded from the statistics because they simply have given up looking for jobs.
As of now, the best the Democrats can hope for is to barely hold on to their majority in the Senate, with polls indicating they will maintain the slimmest of margins—51 against 49. The GOP currently holds only 41 Senate seats.
A complete GOP majority in both houses of Congress would represent nothing less than a political earthquake for a first-term president who won overwhelming support in the presidential as well as Congressional balloting only 22 months ago.
Friday’s CNN poll shows that the only favorable marks for President Obama concern the war in Iraq, but despite a favorable rating, 80 percent believe the war still is not over.
Comment on this story
by Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu
More polls point to a GOP tidal wave of victory in November’s Congressional elections and U.S. President Barack Obama facing the humility of being a one-term president.
Just when Democrats thought ”things could not get worse,” even surveys from center-left media such as CNN show that the president may repeat former U.S. President Jimmy Carter’s embarrassment of being dumped after one term. An Associated Press report posted on YouTube states that Americans do not believe President Obama’s optimism.
The thunderbolt that struck the Democratic party last week was a Gallup Poll that gave the Republican party a record 10-point margin over the Democrats in a survey that simply asked respondents if they prefer a Democratic or Republican candidate. The GOP edge is the largest in 68 years, dating back to 1942, when the first similar poll was taken.
Similar result in polls by CBS, reflecting dissatisfaction with President Obama’s handling of the economy, health care and the oil spill, indicate that his efforts to impose an agreement on the Palestinian Authority and Israel will not turn the tide.
The CBS “pop poll” last Thursday revealed that two-thirds of Americans give President Obama a “failure” rating for mis-managing the economy, while nearly 60 percent also fail him for foreign policies. On health care, the failure rating soared to more than 78 percent, and 57.5 percent failed him for what used to be called the war on terrorism.
His overall rating: 8.28 percent gave him an “A’ rating, 7.69 percent voted a “B” or “C” rating, 22.25 percent gave him a “D” and 63.76 percent failed him.
The more scientific Gallup Poll revealed that only 43 percent approved of the president’s performance, while 49 percent registered disapproval. Even worse, the polls show that the number of Republicans who are “very” enthusiastic about voting this year is double the number of Democrats.
President Obama’s focus on foreign policy and his contradictory remarks on the Ground Zero Mosque have distracted his officials from American’s number one worry—the economy, according to the Politico.com website.
American Thinker website news editor Ed Lasky recently noted that the “Jewish vote” still is a strong factor, but not because of the issue of Israel. He wrote that President Obama’s policies disproportionately affect Jews because they represent a large number of doctors, small business owners and high-income professionals, all of whom are adversely affected by economic policies.
However, a Republican tidal wave would clearly be to Israel’s advantage because it would oust dovish Democrats who are equated with President Obama’s ‘Illegitimate” label of Jews living in Judea and Samaria as well as large parts of Jerusalem claimed by the Palestinian Authority.
"Republicans' presumed turnout advantage, combined with their current 10-point registered-voter lead, suggests the potential for a major 'wave' election in which the Republicans gain a large number of seats from the Democrats and in the process take back control of the House," Gallup wrote.
Earlier polls, by Rasmussen and McLaughlin, also showed that the Democrats are in big trouble, with Americans against President Obama’s policies on terrorism, immigration, federal spending and the economy in general. On Friday the unemployment rate edged up to 9.6 percent, and the figure does not include tens of thousands of Americans who are thought to be excluded from the statistics because they simply have given up looking for jobs.
As of now, the best the Democrats can hope for is to barely hold on to their majority in the Senate, with polls indicating they will maintain the slimmest of margins—51 against 49. The GOP currently holds only 41 Senate seats.
A complete GOP majority in both houses of Congress would represent nothing less than a political earthquake for a first-term president who won overwhelming support in the presidential as well as Congressional balloting only 22 months ago.
Friday’s CNN poll shows that the only favorable marks for President Obama concern the war in Iraq, but despite a favorable rating, 80 percent believe the war still is not over.
Comment on this story
5. Report: US to Continue Supplying Lebanon with Arms
by Gil Ronen
The United States Administration has decided to continue supplying military equipment to the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF), despite the August 3 border attack in which IDF Lt. Col. (res.) Dov Harari was shot and killed. The report on the US decision appears in Lebanon's An-Nahar daily newspaper.
Soon after the shooting incident last month, US Representatives Nita Lowey and Howard Berman announced they would hold up $100 million that was approved for Lebanon's army but had not been spent. Eric Cantor, a senior House Republican, said future funding should also be called off, pending an inquiry.
A source told An-Nahar that the US administration had so far spent around $700 million on arming and training the LAF, which the American superpower believes will be capable of preserving Lebanon’s sovereignty.
The source added that the LAF had stood up to its commitment to forbid the leakage of certain weapons to political parties or factions in Lebanon. The unstated reference was almost certainly to Hizbullah.
Israel's ambassador to Washington, Michael Oren, warned Friday that Hizbullah is a very serious threat to Israel, having placed 15,000 rockets along Lebanon's southern border with Israel. These include missiles that could hit the southern port city Eilat, at the most southern point in Israel, he explained.
Comment on this story
by Gil Ronen
The United States Administration has decided to continue supplying military equipment to the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF), despite the August 3 border attack in which IDF Lt. Col. (res.) Dov Harari was shot and killed. The report on the US decision appears in Lebanon's An-Nahar daily newspaper.
Soon after the shooting incident last month, US Representatives Nita Lowey and Howard Berman announced they would hold up $100 million that was approved for Lebanon's army but had not been spent. Eric Cantor, a senior House Republican, said future funding should also be called off, pending an inquiry.
A source told An-Nahar that the US administration had so far spent around $700 million on arming and training the LAF, which the American superpower believes will be capable of preserving Lebanon’s sovereignty.
The source added that the LAF had stood up to its commitment to forbid the leakage of certain weapons to political parties or factions in Lebanon. The unstated reference was almost certainly to Hizbullah.
Israel's ambassador to Washington, Michael Oren, warned Friday that Hizbullah is a very serious threat to Israel, having placed 15,000 rockets along Lebanon's southern border with Israel. These include missiles that could hit the southern port city Eilat, at the most southern point in Israel, he explained.
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6. NBA Stars Meet IAF Pilots in Negev Base at Hatzerim
by Chana Ya'ar
American basketball stars, past and present, got a close look at the equipment for a different high-stakes, fast-paced game when they visited the Israel Air Force base at Hatzerim in the Negev, near Be'er Sheva last Thursday.
The players from the U.S. National Basketball Association (NBA) were given a special tour by proud pilots at the southern Israeli Air Force base. During the visit, IAF pilots showed them some of the battle gear and other equipment they use in their day-to-day work.
The 10 past and present NBA players arrived last week as part of a visit to the country under the auspices of the U.S.-based America Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC).
They were also part of a 23-member delegation who visited with President Shimon Peres at the President's House a day earlier.
“We're here to stand in support of Israel,” explained Allan Houston of the New York Knicks, a personal friend of U.S. President Barack Obama. “We're going to pray for Israel,” he told reporters while posing for pictures with Peres at the president's official residence.
A ball autographed by all the players was presented to the president by Bill Alexson, founder and president of Sports Power International. Warnings not to play with the ball, and to simply “place it in an appropriate place” went unheeded as presidential aides quickly grabbed it and snapped it back and forth amongst themselves.
“I can't play if I don't have a team,” President Peres quipped.
Comment on this story
by Chana Ya'ar
American basketball stars, past and present, got a close look at the equipment for a different high-stakes, fast-paced game when they visited the Israel Air Force base at Hatzerim in the Negev, near Be'er Sheva last Thursday.
The players from the U.S. National Basketball Association (NBA) were given a special tour by proud pilots at the southern Israeli Air Force base. During the visit, IAF pilots showed them some of the battle gear and other equipment they use in their day-to-day work.
The 10 past and present NBA players arrived last week as part of a visit to the country under the auspices of the U.S.-based America Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC).
They were also part of a 23-member delegation who visited with President Shimon Peres at the President's House a day earlier.
“We're here to stand in support of Israel,” explained Allan Houston of the New York Knicks, a personal friend of U.S. President Barack Obama. “We're going to pray for Israel,” he told reporters while posing for pictures with Peres at the president's official residence.
A ball autographed by all the players was presented to the president by Bill Alexson, founder and president of Sports Power International. Warnings not to play with the ball, and to simply “place it in an appropriate place” went unheeded as presidential aides quickly grabbed it and snapped it back and forth amongst themselves.
“I can't play if I don't have a team,” President Peres quipped.
Comment on this story
7. French Jew Taught 'Too Much' Holocaust History
by Chana Ya'ar
A French Jewish history teacher has been suspended from her position in a provincial school system on charges of not having taught about World War II with sufficient “neutrality.”
Catherine Pederzoli, 58, was accused of spending too much time on preparing her students for annual school trips to Poland and the Czech Republic to visit sites like the Auschwitz-Birkenau death camp.
Pederzoli, who had organized the annual trips for the past 15 years without incident, was accused by the school board of “brainwashing” her students, and spending too much time on the Holocaust. The report by the school board, viewed by the AFP news agency, charged Pederzoli of “lacking distance, neutrality and secularism.”
Her lawyer, Christine Tadic, responded that “If this teacher had been a Christian, no one would have accused her of brainwashing. Isn't it the case that this teacher's fault is to have been Jewish?”
The suspension came in the wake of a management change in 2007, and a protest staged by some of the teacher's students in December 2009 during a visit to the Henri-Loritz High School by Education Minister Luc Chatel. The students were protesting a reduction in the number of places on Holocaust field trips.
The petition seeking a court order to annul the suspension was filed by Tadic last Tuesday. Judges are expected to hand down a ruling in 10 days.
Comment on this story
by Chana Ya'ar
A French Jewish history teacher has been suspended from her position in a provincial school system on charges of not having taught about World War II with sufficient “neutrality.”
Catherine Pederzoli, 58, was accused of spending too much time on preparing her students for annual school trips to Poland and the Czech Republic to visit sites like the Auschwitz-Birkenau death camp.
Pederzoli, who had organized the annual trips for the past 15 years without incident, was accused by the school board of “brainwashing” her students, and spending too much time on the Holocaust. The report by the school board, viewed by the AFP news agency, charged Pederzoli of “lacking distance, neutrality and secularism.”
Her lawyer, Christine Tadic, responded that “If this teacher had been a Christian, no one would have accused her of brainwashing. Isn't it the case that this teacher's fault is to have been Jewish?”
The suspension came in the wake of a management change in 2007, and a protest staged by some of the teacher's students in December 2009 during a visit to the Henri-Loritz High School by Education Minister Luc Chatel. The students were protesting a reduction in the number of places on Holocaust field trips.
The petition seeking a court order to annul the suspension was filed by Tadic last Tuesday. Judges are expected to hand down a ruling in 10 days.
Comment on this story
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