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1. Huckabee in Knesset: "Construction Freeze is Irrational"
by Hillel Fendel
Republican presidential frontrunner Mike Huckabee visited the Knesset today, and warned that Islamic fundamentalism could threaten not only Israel, but also the entire world.
Huckabee took part in a special session of the Knesset Committee for Immigration, Absorption and Diaspora Affairs, centering on the challenges of anti-Semitism that face Israel and the Diaspora.
Regarding the situation in Egypt, Huckabee said, “a threat upon Israel is a threat upon all those in the world who love peace and freedom... Radical Islamic jihadism is an anti-freedom threat.“
"Good Israeli-U.S. relations are not just an option,” Huckabee told the MKs. “They are rather a necessity for both sides, and an obligation upon all of us in the American government.” He said he would continue to work to preserve the Nation of Israel’s historic right to live in the Land of Israel.
"I don’t see why bedrooms for their children built by Jews on a hilltop in Samaria pose a threat to world peace," Huckabee said. "It's the lack of construction that is irrational, not the opposite... Those who aim their rifles at Jewish babies are irrational; the danger is not the weapons, but the hatred behind the weapons."
Against Giving Land
"Why should Israel give any territory to people who don’t recognize its right to exist?" the American candidate asked.
Committee chairman MK Danny Danon (Likud) attacked U.S. President Barack Obama’s Middle East vision, outlined in his famous Cairo University speech in June ’09. “Obama’s vision has failed,” Danon said. “It led to the toppling of the Hariri regime in Lebanon, and the construction freeze in Judea and Samaria has led the Palestinians to believe that if they received a finger, they’ll be able to receive the whole hand. Bringing democracy to Arab countries has led to anarchy in Egypt. Obama must understand that in the Middle East, you have to speak the language of the Middle East.”
MK Yulia Shamalov-Berkovitz (Israel Our Home) praised Huckabee for having spoken "very Zionistically," adding that there are some Israelis who could learn from him.
MK Tzipi Hotovely (Likud) added that the developments in Egypt show that "the conflict in this region is not a matter of territory [as Israel has already given Egypt all the territory it won from Egypt in various wars - ed.], but simply Islam against Judaism... The issue now is not the 1967 borders, but the very formation of the state in 1948."
Voight: Torah Has All the Answers
Former Gov. Huckabee is being accompanied on this, his 15th visit to Israel, by known Zionist figures Dr. Joseph Frager, Dr. Paul Brody and Ms. Odeleya Jacobs, as well as by actor Jon Voight, who told the MKs, "The Jews have given the world the Torah, which includes every possible answer to your life’s needs... I witnessed the victims of barbaric Palestinian attacks, and it is outrageous that the world accepts this barbarism as a means of attaining political goals such as a state."
Comment on this story
by Hillel Fendel
Republican presidential frontrunner Mike Huckabee visited the Knesset today, and warned that Islamic fundamentalism could threaten not only Israel, but also the entire world.
Huckabee took part in a special session of the Knesset Committee for Immigration, Absorption and Diaspora Affairs, centering on the challenges of anti-Semitism that face Israel and the Diaspora.
Regarding the situation in Egypt, Huckabee said, “a threat upon Israel is a threat upon all those in the world who love peace and freedom... Radical Islamic jihadism is an anti-freedom threat.“
"Good Israeli-U.S. relations are not just an option,” Huckabee told the MKs. “They are rather a necessity for both sides, and an obligation upon all of us in the American government.” He said he would continue to work to preserve the Nation of Israel’s historic right to live in the Land of Israel.
"I don’t see why bedrooms for their children built by Jews on a hilltop in Samaria pose a threat to world peace," Huckabee said. "It's the lack of construction that is irrational, not the opposite... Those who aim their rifles at Jewish babies are irrational; the danger is not the weapons, but the hatred behind the weapons."
Against Giving Land
"Why should Israel give any territory to people who don’t recognize its right to exist?" the American candidate asked.
Committee chairman MK Danny Danon (Likud) attacked U.S. President Barack Obama’s Middle East vision, outlined in his famous Cairo University speech in June ’09. “Obama’s vision has failed,” Danon said. “It led to the toppling of the Hariri regime in Lebanon, and the construction freeze in Judea and Samaria has led the Palestinians to believe that if they received a finger, they’ll be able to receive the whole hand. Bringing democracy to Arab countries has led to anarchy in Egypt. Obama must understand that in the Middle East, you have to speak the language of the Middle East.”
MK Yulia Shamalov-Berkovitz (Israel Our Home) praised Huckabee for having spoken "very Zionistically," adding that there are some Israelis who could learn from him.
MK Tzipi Hotovely (Likud) added that the developments in Egypt show that "the conflict in this region is not a matter of territory [as Israel has already given Egypt all the territory it won from Egypt in various wars - ed.], but simply Islam against Judaism... The issue now is not the 1967 borders, but the very formation of the state in 1948."
Voight: Torah Has All the Answers
Former Gov. Huckabee is being accompanied on this, his 15th visit to Israel, by known Zionist figures Dr. Joseph Frager, Dr. Paul Brody and Ms. Odeleya Jacobs, as well as by actor Jon Voight, who told the MKs, "The Jews have given the world the Torah, which includes every possible answer to your life’s needs... I witnessed the victims of barbaric Palestinian attacks, and it is outrageous that the world accepts this barbarism as a means of attaining political goals such as a state."
Comment on this story
2. Egypt 2011=France 1968? No Ideal Choices Here
by Dr. Amiel Ungar
It is the prophet Amos who said that "the wise man would be silent at that time".
There is a great deal of confusion about the eventual outcome in Egypt. A correspondent for the Economist began by rapturously chronicling the fall of the regime as electronic files were being destroyed. Later, he qualified his prediction and said it might take one more battle or push.
Hillary Clinton went from one news program to the other to plead for a transitioned approach to democracy that would not leave a dangerous vacuum, but explained that this should not be interpreted as a call for Mubarak's ouster, nor as a threat to remove aid to Egypt.
The Egyptian army was doing a great job, according to Clinton, in discriminating between peaceful demonstrators and keeping order against criminal elements.
But--what happens if Mubarak wants to cling to power and the opposition refuses an orderly transition, and one has to choose between the two?
The prophet Amos' dictum cannot be adhered to by politicians who must supply interviews and project the image that they are controlling events. The same goes for talking heads and pundits who must demonstrate their predictive abilities. So although silence may be golden, it is impossible to maintain. Therefore, we present ur view that this situation is reminiscent of Egypt 1952, but even more of France in May 1968.
In January 1952, a mob swept through Cairo destroying symbols of foreign presence in the capital, including the famous Shepherd's Hotel (yes, they had one too) and the tennis club. This was a reaction against the British punitive raid against Suez.
The British had bases on the canal by virtue of an agreement with the Egyptian government, but that same government was now egging on guerilla warfare against the British. The government, at the same time, was unable to preserve stability and was in the midst of a war with the Muslim Brotherhood that included assassinations by the Brotherhood and killings by the government.
This set the stage for the coup of July 1952, that installed the military in power and they remain in power to this day. In other words, the chaos and anarchy eventually created a consensus behind whoever could restore order.
When Egyptians have to create vigilante groups to protect their property in the current situation, as criminals are freed and looters enter the national museum and smash mummies, the quest for order is growing. Some suspect that this is part of Mubarak's tactics. They may be right, but the fact is that this is how it is playing out.
France, in the fateful year of 1968, appeared to be on the cusp of revolution. Charles De Gaulle had only been in power nine years, not thirty like Mubarak, but he had been a political factor since 1940. The French students revolted for the same reasons that the Egyptian young are revolting today; because after completing their studies they have few job prospects. The student revolt was joined by a general strike that paralyzed France.
At this stage, left candidate Francois Mitterand played the role of Mohammed el-Baradei by offering himself as the alternative if the strikers and students would unite behind him. Mitterand had been buoyed by the parliamentary elections of the previous year when the left had made sharp gains at the expense of the Gaullists and their allies. De Gaulle appeared paralyzed, but then he met with the army and dissolved the National Assembly. His Prime Minister Georges Pompidou ended the strikes via negotiations. Then De Gaulle presented France with a choice between his way and the "chienlit (dog droppings) of the left". The left was wiped out and its return to power was deferred till 1981.
This comparison means sticking my neck out and ignoring Amos' warnings.
If Hillary Clinton's fantasy comes about, this would be the best way, but its actually occruring is doubtful, to say the least. If the options in Egypt come down a stark choice between order and "chienlit", I believe the tendency will be for order to reassert itself.
Comment on this story
by Dr. Amiel Ungar
It is the prophet Amos who said that "the wise man would be silent at that time".
There is a great deal of confusion about the eventual outcome in Egypt. A correspondent for the Economist began by rapturously chronicling the fall of the regime as electronic files were being destroyed. Later, he qualified his prediction and said it might take one more battle or push.
Hillary Clinton went from one news program to the other to plead for a transitioned approach to democracy that would not leave a dangerous vacuum, but explained that this should not be interpreted as a call for Mubarak's ouster, nor as a threat to remove aid to Egypt.
The Egyptian army was doing a great job, according to Clinton, in discriminating between peaceful demonstrators and keeping order against criminal elements.
But--what happens if Mubarak wants to cling to power and the opposition refuses an orderly transition, and one has to choose between the two?
The prophet Amos' dictum cannot be adhered to by politicians who must supply interviews and project the image that they are controlling events. The same goes for talking heads and pundits who must demonstrate their predictive abilities. So although silence may be golden, it is impossible to maintain. Therefore, we present ur view that this situation is reminiscent of Egypt 1952, but even more of France in May 1968.
In January 1952, a mob swept through Cairo destroying symbols of foreign presence in the capital, including the famous Shepherd's Hotel (yes, they had one too) and the tennis club. This was a reaction against the British punitive raid against Suez.
The British had bases on the canal by virtue of an agreement with the Egyptian government, but that same government was now egging on guerilla warfare against the British. The government, at the same time, was unable to preserve stability and was in the midst of a war with the Muslim Brotherhood that included assassinations by the Brotherhood and killings by the government.
This set the stage for the coup of July 1952, that installed the military in power and they remain in power to this day. In other words, the chaos and anarchy eventually created a consensus behind whoever could restore order.
When Egyptians have to create vigilante groups to protect their property in the current situation, as criminals are freed and looters enter the national museum and smash mummies, the quest for order is growing. Some suspect that this is part of Mubarak's tactics. They may be right, but the fact is that this is how it is playing out.
France, in the fateful year of 1968, appeared to be on the cusp of revolution. Charles De Gaulle had only been in power nine years, not thirty like Mubarak, but he had been a political factor since 1940. The French students revolted for the same reasons that the Egyptian young are revolting today; because after completing their studies they have few job prospects. The student revolt was joined by a general strike that paralyzed France.
At this stage, left candidate Francois Mitterand played the role of Mohammed el-Baradei by offering himself as the alternative if the strikers and students would unite behind him. Mitterand had been buoyed by the parliamentary elections of the previous year when the left had made sharp gains at the expense of the Gaullists and their allies. De Gaulle appeared paralyzed, but then he met with the army and dissolved the National Assembly. His Prime Minister Georges Pompidou ended the strikes via negotiations. Then De Gaulle presented France with a choice between his way and the "chienlit (dog droppings) of the left". The left was wiped out and its return to power was deferred till 1981.
This comparison means sticking my neck out and ignoring Amos' warnings.
If Hillary Clinton's fantasy comes about, this would be the best way, but its actually occruring is doubtful, to say the least. If the options in Egypt come down a stark choice between order and "chienlit", I believe the tendency will be for order to reassert itself.
Comment on this story
3. First Time Ever? Graffiti at Western Wall Plaza
by Hillel Fendel
As worshippers braved the rains and visited the site of the Western Wall on Monday morning, a man burst onto the scene with yells and curses. He railed against Israel’s “occupation,” and then spray-painted the word “Palestine” on the stone wall separating the men’s prayer section from the visitors’ section, and on the barrier adjoining the women’s prayer section.
The man was described by onlookers as being “odd,” News-1 reported. He was arrested by police stationed at the holy site.
Rabbi Shmuel Rabinovitch, Rabbi of the Western Wall and Holy Sites, ordered the graffiti to be cleaned immediately. He expressed sorrow over what he called “the desecration.”
Comment on this story
by Hillel Fendel
As worshippers braved the rains and visited the site of the Western Wall on Monday morning, a man burst onto the scene with yells and curses. He railed against Israel’s “occupation,” and then spray-painted the word “Palestine” on the stone wall separating the men’s prayer section from the visitors’ section, and on the barrier adjoining the women’s prayer section.
The man was described by onlookers as being “odd,” News-1 reported. He was arrested by police stationed at the holy site.
Rabbi Shmuel Rabinovitch, Rabbi of the Western Wall and Holy Sites, ordered the graffiti to be cleaned immediately. He expressed sorrow over what he called “the desecration.”
Comment on this story
4. Assad: Revolutions a Result of Regional Political ‘Disease’
by Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu
The protests that toppled the Tunisian government and threaten the Mubarak regime are a result of a regional political "disease," Syrian President Bashar Assad told The Wall Street Journal Monday.
In a rare interview, he said the movement will not spread to Syria, maintaining that “we are not Tunisians and we are not Egyptians.” Assad said that Syrians share the same ideology with his government, and added that unlike Egypt, he and his people are not pro-American or friends of Israel. Opponents to his government are planning a "Day of Rage" on Saturday.
Speaking at times like a political scientist and alternatively like a philosopher, Assad asserted that the protest movements in other countries are a result of stagnation by ruling governments.
“It means if you have stagnant water, you will have pollution and microbes,” he said. "And because you have had this stagnation for decades, let us say, especially the last decade, in spite of the vast changes that are surrounding the world and some areas in the Middle East... because we had this stagnation we were plagued with microbes.
“So, what you have been seeing in this region is a kind of disease. That is how we see it.”
Assad commented that Middle East governments must begin to understand and satisfy their citizen’s political and economic desires and that he is introducing new reforms. He skillfully deflected questions concerning arms smuggling for Hizbullah and Hamas, ties with Iran, the concept of peace and the issue of human rights in Syria, rated as one of the world's worst violators.
He also categorically denied that the military site (pictured) allegedly bombed by Israel three years ago contained nuclear material, and he accused Israel and the United States of deception in claiming otherwise.
Assad also argued that there is no question that Israel must surrender all of the Golan Heights to Syria. “This is where you start the peace process,” he explained. “You occupy the land, you want to withdraw, but to which line? It should be to the line that you crossed 40 years ago,” referring to the return of the Golan Heights to Israel in the Six-Day War in 1967.
Turning his attention to the United States, he had nice words for U.S. President Barack Obama, whom he differentiated from the American legislature and institutions.
"I think he is genuine as a person, and he believes in whatever he says." Assad said in the interview. "But in the end, you have internal politics in the United States…Those institutions do not see sometimes the interests of the United States, at least in our region, in a very realistic way.”
He cited the international community in general and the United States in particular as being an “external factor” on the movements in Tunisia and Egypt, which he said are spurred by desperation.
“Whenever you have an uprising, it is self-evident that you have anger, but this anger feeds on desperation,” according to Assad. “Desperation has two factors: internal and external….
“Regarding the West, it is about the problems that we have in our region, i.e. the lack of peace, the invasion of Iraq, what is happening in Afghanistan and now its repercussions in Pakistan and other regions. That led to this desperation and anger.”
Waxing philosophic, the Syrian dictator spoke about having an "open mind” for an entire society, noting that Syria now has Internet. He did not refer to the restrictions he has imposed on it use, especially in Internet cafes, where users must register their names on a list that police can inspect.
“We always say that we need reform but what kind of reform?” Assad continued. “If you want to make a comparison between what is happening in Egypt and Syria, you have to look from a different point: why is Syria stable, although we have more difficult conditions? Egypt has been supported financially by the United States, while we are under embargo by most countries of the world. We have growth although we do not have many of the basic needs for the people. Despite all that, the people do not go into an uprising. So it is not only about the needs and not only about the reform. It is about the ideology, the beliefs and the cause that you have.”
As for smuggling, Iran and Hizbullah, Assad maintained all of the subjects cannot be addressed without talking about peace, not only a peace treaty. “The problem with most of the officials we have from the United States during previous administrations, whether they have good or bad intentions, is that they knew very little about this region. That is why they need the support of others,” according to Assad.
“If you want to deal with Hizbullah and to deal with Hamas and even Syria, I said when you want to deal with the peace issue; if we have a peace what will happen to those parties?... So, if they do not like Iran, this does not mean that you do not have to deal with it.
Comment on this story
by Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu
The protests that toppled the Tunisian government and threaten the Mubarak regime are a result of a regional political "disease," Syrian President Bashar Assad told The Wall Street Journal Monday.
In a rare interview, he said the movement will not spread to Syria, maintaining that “we are not Tunisians and we are not Egyptians.” Assad said that Syrians share the same ideology with his government, and added that unlike Egypt, he and his people are not pro-American or friends of Israel. Opponents to his government are planning a "Day of Rage" on Saturday.
Speaking at times like a political scientist and alternatively like a philosopher, Assad asserted that the protest movements in other countries are a result of stagnation by ruling governments.
“It means if you have stagnant water, you will have pollution and microbes,” he said. "And because you have had this stagnation for decades, let us say, especially the last decade, in spite of the vast changes that are surrounding the world and some areas in the Middle East... because we had this stagnation we were plagued with microbes.
“So, what you have been seeing in this region is a kind of disease. That is how we see it.”
Assad commented that Middle East governments must begin to understand and satisfy their citizen’s political and economic desires and that he is introducing new reforms. He skillfully deflected questions concerning arms smuggling for Hizbullah and Hamas, ties with Iran, the concept of peace and the issue of human rights in Syria, rated as one of the world's worst violators.
He also categorically denied that the military site (pictured) allegedly bombed by Israel three years ago contained nuclear material, and he accused Israel and the United States of deception in claiming otherwise.
Assad also argued that there is no question that Israel must surrender all of the Golan Heights to Syria. “This is where you start the peace process,” he explained. “You occupy the land, you want to withdraw, but to which line? It should be to the line that you crossed 40 years ago,” referring to the return of the Golan Heights to Israel in the Six-Day War in 1967.
Turning his attention to the United States, he had nice words for U.S. President Barack Obama, whom he differentiated from the American legislature and institutions.
"I think he is genuine as a person, and he believes in whatever he says." Assad said in the interview. "But in the end, you have internal politics in the United States…Those institutions do not see sometimes the interests of the United States, at least in our region, in a very realistic way.”
He cited the international community in general and the United States in particular as being an “external factor” on the movements in Tunisia and Egypt, which he said are spurred by desperation.
“Whenever you have an uprising, it is self-evident that you have anger, but this anger feeds on desperation,” according to Assad. “Desperation has two factors: internal and external….
“Regarding the West, it is about the problems that we have in our region, i.e. the lack of peace, the invasion of Iraq, what is happening in Afghanistan and now its repercussions in Pakistan and other regions. That led to this desperation and anger.”
Waxing philosophic, the Syrian dictator spoke about having an "open mind” for an entire society, noting that Syria now has Internet. He did not refer to the restrictions he has imposed on it use, especially in Internet cafes, where users must register their names on a list that police can inspect.
“We always say that we need reform but what kind of reform?” Assad continued. “If you want to make a comparison between what is happening in Egypt and Syria, you have to look from a different point: why is Syria stable, although we have more difficult conditions? Egypt has been supported financially by the United States, while we are under embargo by most countries of the world. We have growth although we do not have many of the basic needs for the people. Despite all that, the people do not go into an uprising. So it is not only about the needs and not only about the reform. It is about the ideology, the beliefs and the cause that you have.”
As for smuggling, Iran and Hizbullah, Assad maintained all of the subjects cannot be addressed without talking about peace, not only a peace treaty. “The problem with most of the officials we have from the United States during previous administrations, whether they have good or bad intentions, is that they knew very little about this region. That is why they need the support of others,” according to Assad.
“If you want to deal with Hizbullah and to deal with Hamas and even Syria, I said when you want to deal with the peace issue; if we have a peace what will happen to those parties?... So, if they do not like Iran, this does not mean that you do not have to deal with it.
Comment on this story
5. Rains Finally Come but Roof of Patriarchs' Cave Collapses
by Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu
Welcome rains are drenching Israel from the Golan to the Negev, but they also bought down a makeshift tarp roof at the Cave of the Patriarchs Cave (Ma’arat HaMachpelah) in Hevron.
More than two inches of rain have fallen in the Golan Heights and the north during the current system, and the badly-needed rains spread to the northern Negev Sunday night and Monday, where more than an inch of rain has fallen. More rain is expected in the coming days.
However, the rain and accompanying heavy winds caused the collapse of a canvas that has served for years as a roof over a prayer hall. Water began dripping from the canvas several weeks ago and forced the removal of the Torah, which was being read at the same moment.
Sunday night’s storm left a gaping hole, and water poured on the heads of worshippers, according to Hevron spokesman David Wilder.
“For about a decade Hevron community leaders have been trying to convince the ‘powers that be’ to remove the awning and replace it with a high-quality roof,” he said. “This covering, a poor attempt to protect visitors and worshipers from the elements, hasn’t been cleaned in years. A filthy, water-creased tent-like structure adorns the second holiest place to the Jewish people in all the world.”
The Cave is the burial place of Abraham and Sarah, Isaac and Rebecca. and Jacob and Leah. It is the first site in the Bible whose purchase was recorded. Hevron is one of the four “holy cities” in Jewish tradition, the others being Jerusalem, Tiberias and Tzfat.
Previous archeological excavations have revealed 2,700-year-old seals with the word Hevron inscribed on them.
Despite the significance of Hevron, politics have been a stumbling block to placing a respectable roof at the Cave, Wilder said, even though approximately 700,000 people visited the cave last year. The site includes several prayer halls used by Jews and Muslims.
Comment on this story
by Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu
Welcome rains are drenching Israel from the Golan to the Negev, but they also bought down a makeshift tarp roof at the Cave of the Patriarchs Cave (Ma’arat HaMachpelah) in Hevron.
More than two inches of rain have fallen in the Golan Heights and the north during the current system, and the badly-needed rains spread to the northern Negev Sunday night and Monday, where more than an inch of rain has fallen. More rain is expected in the coming days.
However, the rain and accompanying heavy winds caused the collapse of a canvas that has served for years as a roof over a prayer hall. Water began dripping from the canvas several weeks ago and forced the removal of the Torah, which was being read at the same moment.
Sunday night’s storm left a gaping hole, and water poured on the heads of worshippers, according to Hevron spokesman David Wilder.
“For about a decade Hevron community leaders have been trying to convince the ‘powers that be’ to remove the awning and replace it with a high-quality roof,” he said. “This covering, a poor attempt to protect visitors and worshipers from the elements, hasn’t been cleaned in years. A filthy, water-creased tent-like structure adorns the second holiest place to the Jewish people in all the world.”
The Cave is the burial place of Abraham and Sarah, Isaac and Rebecca. and Jacob and Leah. It is the first site in the Bible whose purchase was recorded. Hevron is one of the four “holy cities” in Jewish tradition, the others being Jerusalem, Tiberias and Tzfat.
Previous archeological excavations have revealed 2,700-year-old seals with the word Hevron inscribed on them.
Despite the significance of Hevron, politics have been a stumbling block to placing a respectable roof at the Cave, Wilder said, even though approximately 700,000 people visited the cave last year. The site includes several prayer halls used by Jews and Muslims.
Comment on this story
6. Assad Prepares for ‘Day of Rage’ in Syria
by Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu
Syrian President Bashar Assad has one eye on a potential revolution and another eye on remaining a dictator. He says he will push for reforms and will raise subsidies for heating oil, but his country is still restricting Facebook, the social network that is being used to stage an anti-Assad rally Saturday.
In a rare interview with The Wall Street Journal Tuesday, Assad observed that the movements for revolution in Tunisia, Yemen and Egypt signal a "new era" in the Middle East, and that Arab rulers, if they want to remaining power, must understand citizen’s social and economic desires. Unlike Egypt, Syria is openly anti-American and is an ally of Hizbullah and Iran.
Assad’s regime is considered one of the most ruthless, even for the Middle East. Poverty in the country is rising, but is still far less than in other Muslim nations, including Egypt. However, abuses of human rights and freedom of expression are frequently the target of criticism by human rights groups and the United States.
“People here are suffering much more than Egypt or Tunisia but you don't see it," a medical student told Al Jazeera. “They keep their mouths shut because they don't want to be locked up for 10 years.”
Opponents to Assad are using Facebook to prepare for a mass rally Saturday, using proxy servers to get around government restrictions on Facebook. Users must register their names when using Internet cafés, and police have the authority to confiscate the lists.
The Syrian dictator told the Journal he will grant more power to non-government organizations (NGOs) this year, and he is taking steps to lower food prices in an effort to stave off the revolution fever that is beginning to spread in Muslim countries.
He offered no signs of changing his one-party system and the strict control, often through brutal means, over anyone trying to suggest that Syrians would be better off under a different government. One elderly leftist is serving seven years in jail for proposing an alternative to Assad’s dictatorship.
The planned Facebook-inspired rally may fall flat on its face, partly because of Internet restrictions and partly because it simply has not captured the hearts and minds of Syrians, whether out of fear or because of a feeling of apathy.
The independent Islamic Bloc is among those promoting Saturday’s “Day of Rage” rally in front of the parliament in Damascus, but the government this past Saturday prevented a rally for solidarity with Egyptian protesters, reported the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI)
Syrian security chief Ali Mamlouk reportedly has met with province governors and police commanders in order to prepare for possible protests in the country, according to Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI) research director Y. Yehoshua.
Comment on this story
by Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu
Syrian President Bashar Assad has one eye on a potential revolution and another eye on remaining a dictator. He says he will push for reforms and will raise subsidies for heating oil, but his country is still restricting Facebook, the social network that is being used to stage an anti-Assad rally Saturday.
In a rare interview with The Wall Street Journal Tuesday, Assad observed that the movements for revolution in Tunisia, Yemen and Egypt signal a "new era" in the Middle East, and that Arab rulers, if they want to remaining power, must understand citizen’s social and economic desires. Unlike Egypt, Syria is openly anti-American and is an ally of Hizbullah and Iran.
Assad’s regime is considered one of the most ruthless, even for the Middle East. Poverty in the country is rising, but is still far less than in other Muslim nations, including Egypt. However, abuses of human rights and freedom of expression are frequently the target of criticism by human rights groups and the United States.
“People here are suffering much more than Egypt or Tunisia but you don't see it," a medical student told Al Jazeera. “They keep their mouths shut because they don't want to be locked up for 10 years.”
Opponents to Assad are using Facebook to prepare for a mass rally Saturday, using proxy servers to get around government restrictions on Facebook. Users must register their names when using Internet cafés, and police have the authority to confiscate the lists.
The Syrian dictator told the Journal he will grant more power to non-government organizations (NGOs) this year, and he is taking steps to lower food prices in an effort to stave off the revolution fever that is beginning to spread in Muslim countries.
He offered no signs of changing his one-party system and the strict control, often through brutal means, over anyone trying to suggest that Syrians would be better off under a different government. One elderly leftist is serving seven years in jail for proposing an alternative to Assad’s dictatorship.
The planned Facebook-inspired rally may fall flat on its face, partly because of Internet restrictions and partly because it simply has not captured the hearts and minds of Syrians, whether out of fear or because of a feeling of apathy.
The independent Islamic Bloc is among those promoting Saturday’s “Day of Rage” rally in front of the parliament in Damascus, but the government this past Saturday prevented a rally for solidarity with Egyptian protesters, reported the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI)
Syrian security chief Ali Mamlouk reportedly has met with province governors and police commanders in order to prepare for possible protests in the country, according to Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI) research director Y. Yehoshua.
Comment on this story
7. Azzam Azzam: Mubarak Must Go
by Elad Benari
As the riots in Egypt and the loud calls for the resignation of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak continue, Azzam Azzam who spent eight years in an Egyptian prison after being convicted of spying for Israel, believes that Mubarak will ultimately have to resign.
Azzam had been sent to Egypt as an employee of an Israeli textile company and worked at a textile plant which was a joint business venture of Israeli management and Egyptian labor. In 1996 he was arrested in Cairo and was accused of industrial espionage, later being accused of using women's underwear soaked in invisible ink to pass information to the Mossad.
In August 1997 Azzam was convicted of helping to send news about Egyptian industrial cities to Mossad and was sentenced to fifteen years jail with hard labor.
After having spent eight years in the Egyptian prison, Azzam was freed in December 2004, in exchange for six Egyptian students who were suspected of planning to rob a bank, capture a tank and kidnap IDF soldiers. Both Azzam and the Israeli government have always denied that he was an Israeli spy.
Now, as he follows the news from Egypt from his home in Israel, Azzam spoke to Arutz Sheva’s Hebrew website on Sunday and outlined what he believes will happen as a result of the uprising there.
“The era of the dictators is over,” Azzam said. “Mubarak needs to go. It started in Tunisia, moved to Egypt, and other countries will follow. For thirty years ago the people told Mubarak ‘yes,’ and now it is time to tell him ‘no.’”
During the interview Azzam expressed his support of the Egyptian people. “I say to the Egyptian people: ‘I’m holding out my hope for you. You have suffered enough. You should earn your bread with dignity.’ For thirty years the Egyptians were only allowed to open their mouths in the dentist’s chair, and today they have opened their mouths and told Mubarak: We are tired of you.”
Regarding the fact that the number of fatalities in Egypt is so small in relation to similar riots in other countries, Azam said: “I think the death toll exceeded 1000. Never in my life have I believed the reports coming from Egypt. What is broadcast from Egypt is not true. The truth is being swept under the rug and no one can see it. It will be revealed about another month or two after Mubarak falls.”
He expressed his great anger towards Mubarak. “I cannot look him in the eye and I want to see him in the same jail cell in which he put me,” he said.
Azzam ended the interview on an optimistic note: “I want peace to prevail among all nations. May all the regimes around us become democracies so that we can sleep peacefully.”
Click here for an Op-Ed on the convicted spies for Israel, including Azzam.
Comment on this story
by Elad Benari
As the riots in Egypt and the loud calls for the resignation of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak continue, Azzam Azzam who spent eight years in an Egyptian prison after being convicted of spying for Israel, believes that Mubarak will ultimately have to resign.
Azzam had been sent to Egypt as an employee of an Israeli textile company and worked at a textile plant which was a joint business venture of Israeli management and Egyptian labor. In 1996 he was arrested in Cairo and was accused of industrial espionage, later being accused of using women's underwear soaked in invisible ink to pass information to the Mossad.
In August 1997 Azzam was convicted of helping to send news about Egyptian industrial cities to Mossad and was sentenced to fifteen years jail with hard labor.
After having spent eight years in the Egyptian prison, Azzam was freed in December 2004, in exchange for six Egyptian students who were suspected of planning to rob a bank, capture a tank and kidnap IDF soldiers. Both Azzam and the Israeli government have always denied that he was an Israeli spy.
Now, as he follows the news from Egypt from his home in Israel, Azzam spoke to Arutz Sheva’s Hebrew website on Sunday and outlined what he believes will happen as a result of the uprising there.
“The era of the dictators is over,” Azzam said. “Mubarak needs to go. It started in Tunisia, moved to Egypt, and other countries will follow. For thirty years ago the people told Mubarak ‘yes,’ and now it is time to tell him ‘no.’”
During the interview Azzam expressed his support of the Egyptian people. “I say to the Egyptian people: ‘I’m holding out my hope for you. You have suffered enough. You should earn your bread with dignity.’ For thirty years the Egyptians were only allowed to open their mouths in the dentist’s chair, and today they have opened their mouths and told Mubarak: We are tired of you.”
Regarding the fact that the number of fatalities in Egypt is so small in relation to similar riots in other countries, Azam said: “I think the death toll exceeded 1000. Never in my life have I believed the reports coming from Egypt. What is broadcast from Egypt is not true. The truth is being swept under the rug and no one can see it. It will be revealed about another month or two after Mubarak falls.”
He expressed his great anger towards Mubarak. “I cannot look him in the eye and I want to see him in the same jail cell in which he put me,” he said.
Azzam ended the interview on an optimistic note: “I want peace to prevail among all nations. May all the regimes around us become democracies so that we can sleep peacefully.”
Click here for an Op-Ed on the convicted spies for Israel, including Azzam.
Comment on this story
8. Concern for Christian Minorities Under Islam Continues
by Amiel Ungar
Although media attention is focused primarily on the situation in Egypt, it is a mistake to overlook other trouble spots that are tangential to the same issue. As reported in previous articles, the plight of Christian communities in the Muslim world is beginning to attract attention and even some indignation.
Doctor William Oddie, a leading English Catholic writer and broadcaster and a former editor of the Catholic Herald, expressed his pessimism over the future of Christian-Muslim dialogue. He reached this conclusion given the reaction of top Muslim scholars at Egypt's Al-Azhar University who suspended dialogue with the Vatican to protest Pope Benedict XVIth's condemnation of anti-Christian violence in Egypt. The writer was referring to the decision of Sheik Ahmad el-Tayeb, the supreme Muslim religious authority in Egypt, and members of the Islamic Research Academy to suspend dialogue with the Vatican.Sheikh el-Tayeb called the papal comments "inacceptable interference in Egypt's affairs."
According to Dr. Oddie, the double standard that allowed Muslims to comment on anything that happens to Muslims anywhere in the world, but refuses to allow the pope similar rights when complaining about the persecution of Christians, is unacceptable. It also was not the doctrine of a minority but that of the religious establishment and seconded by other Al-Azhar scholars. Doctor Oddie claimed that the idea of defensive jihad has now been extended to secure Islam's borders and to carry the fight to regimes that do not allow Islam to flourish.
Dr Michael Nazir-Ali, the former Bishop of Rochester who was the first Asian to be appointed a Bishop of the Church of England, has stepped up his role on the issue. He recently retired from his post in order to concentrate his full attention on protecting Christian minorities the Muslim world. He knows the situation firsthand, because he too was forced to flee Pakistan for England due to religious persecution after his parents converted to Christianity from Islam. He, however, returned to Pakistan to work with Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari.
The main topic on Nazir-Ali's agenda is a call to repeal the blasphemy law that imposes the death penalty on insulting Mohammed and life imprisonment for those desecrating the Koran. He pointed out to the Pakistani president that Muslims suffer from the law as well because the denunciations are frequently used for settling personal scores. To circumvent the power of local courts that are frequently captives of Islamic fundamentalists, he urged Zadari to create a legal body answerable to the president that would assume authority in such cases, as well as special police units. Zadari was sympathetic but acknowledged that given Pakistan's situation, this was highly toxic.
Italy is also trying to engage Pakistan to safeguard Christian and other minority rights and modify the blasphemy law. Foreign Minister Franco Frattini underlined this while speaking to the Italian group called "Italy for Asia Bibi Freedom Justice and Human Rights Committee. Bibi is a 45 year old Christian mother of five facing the gallows for presumably insulting Mohammed.
While the tone adopted by Oddie, Nazir Ali and Frattini is not a total surprise, one cannot say the same about a recent article in the Huffington Post by Prof. John L. Esposito, Professor of Religion & International Affairs at Georgetown University and founding director of the Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding. It is coauthored by Sheila B. Lalwani, a Research Fellow at the Center.
Esposito is a longtime defender if not an apologist for Islam. Now Esposito is forced to take note of "the significant threat to religious minorities in some Muslim societies, citing a vast arc extending from Turkey to Pakistan and acts varying from discrimination to murder.
Esposito manages not to abandon political correctness by saying that "this is an act of a significant minority of hard-line conservative fundamentalist and militant Muslims – like their counterparts in Christianity and Judaism." Esposito expressed his shock that the assassin of the governor of Punjab was greeted as a celebrity and lawyers are lining up to defend him, pointing to the seepage of fundamentalism to the mainstream.
In proposing a solution Esposito returns to "evenhandedness".
Both Muslim and Christian religious leaders will need to work more closely on religious and curricula reforms for madrasas, seminaries, schools, and universities and utilize mass media, the internet, and other avenues of popular culture.
Still, it is something that Esposito has to address the issue and it is remarkable that the Huffington Post, a critic of "Islamophobia", has printed it.
Comment on this story
by Amiel Ungar
Although media attention is focused primarily on the situation in Egypt, it is a mistake to overlook other trouble spots that are tangential to the same issue. As reported in previous articles, the plight of Christian communities in the Muslim world is beginning to attract attention and even some indignation.
Doctor William Oddie, a leading English Catholic writer and broadcaster and a former editor of the Catholic Herald, expressed his pessimism over the future of Christian-Muslim dialogue. He reached this conclusion given the reaction of top Muslim scholars at Egypt's Al-Azhar University who suspended dialogue with the Vatican to protest Pope Benedict XVIth's condemnation of anti-Christian violence in Egypt. The writer was referring to the decision of Sheik Ahmad el-Tayeb, the supreme Muslim religious authority in Egypt, and members of the Islamic Research Academy to suspend dialogue with the Vatican.Sheikh el-Tayeb called the papal comments "inacceptable interference in Egypt's affairs."
According to Dr. Oddie, the double standard that allowed Muslims to comment on anything that happens to Muslims anywhere in the world, but refuses to allow the pope similar rights when complaining about the persecution of Christians, is unacceptable. It also was not the doctrine of a minority but that of the religious establishment and seconded by other Al-Azhar scholars. Doctor Oddie claimed that the idea of defensive jihad has now been extended to secure Islam's borders and to carry the fight to regimes that do not allow Islam to flourish.
Dr Michael Nazir-Ali, the former Bishop of Rochester who was the first Asian to be appointed a Bishop of the Church of England, has stepped up his role on the issue. He recently retired from his post in order to concentrate his full attention on protecting Christian minorities the Muslim world. He knows the situation firsthand, because he too was forced to flee Pakistan for England due to religious persecution after his parents converted to Christianity from Islam. He, however, returned to Pakistan to work with Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari.
The main topic on Nazir-Ali's agenda is a call to repeal the blasphemy law that imposes the death penalty on insulting Mohammed and life imprisonment for those desecrating the Koran. He pointed out to the Pakistani president that Muslims suffer from the law as well because the denunciations are frequently used for settling personal scores. To circumvent the power of local courts that are frequently captives of Islamic fundamentalists, he urged Zadari to create a legal body answerable to the president that would assume authority in such cases, as well as special police units. Zadari was sympathetic but acknowledged that given Pakistan's situation, this was highly toxic.
Italy is also trying to engage Pakistan to safeguard Christian and other minority rights and modify the blasphemy law. Foreign Minister Franco Frattini underlined this while speaking to the Italian group called "Italy for Asia Bibi Freedom Justice and Human Rights Committee. Bibi is a 45 year old Christian mother of five facing the gallows for presumably insulting Mohammed.
While the tone adopted by Oddie, Nazir Ali and Frattini is not a total surprise, one cannot say the same about a recent article in the Huffington Post by Prof. John L. Esposito, Professor of Religion & International Affairs at Georgetown University and founding director of the Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding. It is coauthored by Sheila B. Lalwani, a Research Fellow at the Center.
Esposito is a longtime defender if not an apologist for Islam. Now Esposito is forced to take note of "the significant threat to religious minorities in some Muslim societies, citing a vast arc extending from Turkey to Pakistan and acts varying from discrimination to murder.
Esposito manages not to abandon political correctness by saying that "this is an act of a significant minority of hard-line conservative fundamentalist and militant Muslims – like their counterparts in Christianity and Judaism." Esposito expressed his shock that the assassin of the governor of Punjab was greeted as a celebrity and lawyers are lining up to defend him, pointing to the seepage of fundamentalism to the mainstream.
In proposing a solution Esposito returns to "evenhandedness".
Both Muslim and Christian religious leaders will need to work more closely on religious and curricula reforms for madrasas, seminaries, schools, and universities and utilize mass media, the internet, and other avenues of popular culture.
Still, it is something that Esposito has to address the issue and it is remarkable that the Huffington Post, a critic of "Islamophobia", has printed it.
Comment on this story
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