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Oct 09 2009

Obama, the “Occupation” and the Six-Day War

Posted by smoothstone

In spite of the fact that Arabs have been slaughtering Jews since the late 1880’s, Barack Hussein Obama blames Israel for the 1967 “occupation” even though Israel was attacked first in a coordinated aggression that started when Egypt closed the Straits of Tiran and Arab armies amassed on Israel’s borders to invade and liquidate the state.

The West Bank and Gaza, which were controlled by Jordan and Egypt from 1948 to 1967 came under Israeli control only during the Six Day War of 1967 and it is important to note that during their 19-year rule, neither Jordan nor Egypt made any effort to establish a Palestinian state on those lands. Israel has, in fact, returned most of the land that it captured during the 1967 war and right after that war offered to return all of it in exchange for peace and normal relations; the offer has been rejected multiple times.

The land that Obama calls Palestine is formerly a part of Jordan.  Sixteen years after the founding of the state of Israel and three years before the Six Day War in 1967, Fatah was founded in 1964 with Arafat as one of its founding members.  Unless causality has no meaning, the ongoing war against Israel was born with no reference to 1967 but, rather, with Jews living in their own indigenous homeland and Israel’s re-birth in 1948.

The fact that Jews in the British Mandate have been attacked by Arabs since the early 1900’s -  was not because of any territorial dispute – but is because Jews exist.

In fact, Arabs themselves are occupiers in the Middle East – Arabs belong in Arabia and have no right to Egypt, Syria, Jordan, or Lebanon, so Obama needs to be corrected and reminded that Judea, Samaria and Gaza are not Israeli-occupied territory but Arab-occupied territory.

With the exception of Egypt, all the countries of the Middle East are artificial creations. After World War I, England and France carved up the Ottoman Empire, with England retaining what are now Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Israel and Iraq, and France being in possession of what are now Syria and Lebanon.

But because Obama has Muslim roots, he will keep diapering and bottle feeding palestinians and will never admit that palestinians are not exactly chained to their homicide belts and kassam rockets.

Obama needs to answer this:

If Israel is responsible for Muslim wrath, please explain what Israel did to encourage Syria to swallow Lebanon, to encourage Saddam Hussein to unleash a bloodbath against Iran, to encourage Saddam Hussein to invade Kuwait, to encourage Kuwait to expel hundreds of thousands of “palestinians”, to encourage the Taliban to destroy the Bamiyan Buddha statues in Afghanistan, to encourage the slaughter of Christians in the Sudan, to encourage the bombings in Bali that killed 202 people, to encourage church bombings in Pakistan, or to blow up 200 Indians on the railroad system in Bombay.

The oft-repeated Arab claim that the Israeli ‘occupation’ is somehow to blame for being the root cause of palestinian terrorism is nothing more than an empty retort, repudiated by the facts, and disproved by a century of historical reality.

Obama needs to learn about the longest running war, the war of
hatred that Arabs have perpetrated upon Jews including the 1929 Hebron Massacre when Arabs shot and murdered 66 innocent Jewish men, women and children while praying in a synagogue in Hebron, before there was an “occupation”.

To those of us disgusted with the demonization of Israel, the Nazification of
Zionism, the politicization of all things Israeli, the Arab oversimplification reducing all discussions of Israel to the “palestinian problem”,
we have assholes like Obama telling us how to think, feel, react, emote,
and otherwise curl up and go submissive, while he sprinkles his
speeches with historical revisionism in foreign countries.  What a detestable fraud he is.

There is nothing more disgusting than Muslims who de-legitimize non-Muslims.

The fact of the matter is that it’s not Israel that causes MidEast unrest, it’s Islam.  Islam is unhinged.  It is the global Muslim rejection of Israel’s right to exist and not Israeli policies that are the cause of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.

How detestable that we have a president, a World Citizen, who denies how mohammedans are ethnically cleansing Gaza, Lebanon and TransJordan of the indigenous Jews from their ancient homeland of Israel with genocidal Muslim zombies raised on milk from their mother’s breast full of hatred for the infidel.

It’s too bad that Obama’s own Muslim identity politics interferes with his ability to know facts and history.  But that’s who America elected.  It is outrageous in the extreme that the US has a president that accepts a scheme that would permit Arabs to have an ethnically cleansed geographical region where no Jews can live.

Thank goodness for two-term presidential limits.

Via JPost:

President Obama’s speech at the UN, with its reference to ending “the occupation that began in 1967,” implies, perhaps unintentionally, that Israel’s occupation of the West Bank is the cause of the Arab-Israeli conflict. This clearly inverts cause and effect. Terrorist activities against Israel had started years before the “occupation,” and the PLO, committed to the destruction of the Jewish state, was founded in 1964.

On May 13, 1967, the Egyptian dictator Gamel Abdel Nasser announced that two Egyptian divisions would move into the Sinai Peninsula bordering on southern Israel – contrary to international agreements, U.S. commitments and UN guarantees. Shortly after, Cairo announced that it would block all shipping to the port of Eilat, Israel’s only maritime outlet in the south, while Egyptian Mig21 war planes began flying over Israeli territory. Concurrently, Syrian and Iraqi forces were ordered to prepare for an assault on northern Israel. On May 30, King Hussein of Jordan signed a military agreement with Egypt’s Nasser, including a Jordanian commitment to join Egypt in any war with Israel. Its “Arab Legion” was put under Egyptian command.

The rest is history. Israel achieved complete victory in a war of legitimate self-defense against blatant aggression whose declared aim had been its obliteration. Successive American leaders declared that Israel should never be asked to go back to its former vulnerable borders. This is what 1967 is all about: not “ending” occupation, but making sure that Israel will never again be put in a situation like the one it faced in 1967.

Jun 18 2009

Obama refuses to “meddle” in Iran but doesn’t hesitate to “meddle” in Israel

Posted by smoothstone

Looks like Obama’s Muslim identity politics are blinding him to behave like the hypocrite that we already knew he was.

In the first article below, Obama refuses to “meddle” or criticize Iran’s tyranny and Iran’s tyrannical regime’s hiring of Hamas thugs to kill more than 32 Iranian dissidents, yet, in the second article below, Obama willfully meddles into the politics of the sovereign nation of Israel and proceeds to layout where he believes Israel’s national borders should lie.

I have stated it before and I’ll state it again.  Obama was brought in for one singular purpose:  to destroy Israel.

Via JihadWatch:

If the Threat of the Great Satan doesn’t exist, it is necessary to invent it.

“Iran election: Barack Obama refuses to ‘meddle’ over protests,” by David Blair in the Telegraph, June 17 (thanks to James):

Barack Obama, the US president, is refusing to “meddle” in the disputed Iranian elections, despite mass protests over the result which returned President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to power….

President Obama said: “It’s important to understand that, although there is amazing ferment taking place in Iran, the difference between Ahmadinejad and Mousavi in terms of their actual policies may not be as great as has been advertised.

“Either way, we were going to be dealing with an Iranian regime that has historically been hostile to the United States, that has caused some problems in the neighbourhood and has been pursuing nuclear weapons,” he told CNBC television.

He said he hoped Iran’s leaders responded to outrage over an election that pro-reform activists say was stolen by Ahmadinejad, not with violence but by respecting the right to peaceful expression.

“Am I optimistic that that will happen? You know – I take a wait-and-see approach. Either way, it’s important for the United States to engage in the tough diplomacy around those permanent security concerns that we have – nuclear weapons, funding of terrorism,” he said….

“It is not productive, given the history of US-Iranian relations to be seen as meddling – the US president, meddling in Iranian elections,” Mr Obama said….

Now read about Obama’s hypocritical, audacious and meddlesome behavior towards Israel below.  Frank Gaffney explains it very clearly in the video.  Obama is signalling a submissive effect to the Muslim world.  He has embraced the Muslim brotherhood.  Iran, and the threat it poses to Israel and the rest of the free world, is terribly important but Obama won’t speak out against members of his tribe.  Via JPost:

Obama’s administration’s criticism of
Prime Minister
Binyamin Netanyahu’s policies has crossed the line into interfering in Israeli politics, top Likud ministers and MKs said Tuesday.

Kadima officials responded to the allegations by disagreeing that the US was meddling but expressing concern that such a perception by the Israeli public would harm their party and end up strengthening the prime minister. They accused Netanyahu’s associates of portraying Obama as an enemy of Israel in order to unite the public behind him.

The charges of American interference began April 16 when Yediot Aharonot quoted Obama’s chief of staff Rahm Emanuel telling an unnamed Jewish leader:

“In the next four years there is going to be a permanent-status arrangement between Israel and the Palestinians on the basis of two states for two peoples, and it doesn’t matter to us at all who is prime minister [of Israel].”

May 16 2009

“Lawfare” Against Israel Complicates the Search for Peace

Posted by smoothstone

Lawfare:  the newest tactic in singling out Israel for harassment.

If anyone has a conscience, one must be adamant about decrying and documenting the hypocrisy of the global community as it holds Israel to different standards while ignoring all the crimes against humanity committed by murderous Islamists within the Palestinian Authority, Hamas, Hezbollah, Iraq, Iran, Syria, Lebanon, Chechnya, and murderous non-Islamist dictators in China, North Korea and Russia.

Via WallStreetJournal:

Last week a Spanish judge decided to pursue an investigation in a case brought by a group of Palestinians accusing Israel of “crimes against humanity” for a 2002 strike against the military leader of Hamas in Gaza.

That strike took place during a year in which waves of suicide bombings rocked Israel’s cities. As a result of the war in Gaza last January, Israel expects to face a slew of similar probes and lawsuits in foreign courts.

The misuse of legal concepts in public discourse is often designed to give one-sided criticism of Israel the appearance of a judicious assessment of international law.

Political philosopher Michael Walzer correctly points out that the term “disproportionate violence” as used by many commentators today “is simply violence they don’t like, or it is violence committed by people they don’t like.”

Apr 30 2009

British Airline Removes Israel from the Map

Posted by smoothstone

This is an absolutely sickening case of pandering to Islamism, but I shouldn’t be surprised, considering how deeply the British Empire loathes the Jewish people.  Time to divest from BMITell them how you feel.  Via INN:

The British airline, BMI, has removed Israel from the electronic maps displayed to passengers in some of its planes, Army Radio reports. The report claimed that the reason was to avoid offending Muslim passengers. However, the maps showed passengers the direction of Mecca.

Israel does not appear in maps on BMI flights between London and Tel Aviv, and Khefa, the pre-independence Arabic name for Haifa, appears on the maps.

In addition, the electronic maps display the distance between the plane and Mecca. The airline claims that the map has not been changed due to a “logistical problem.” Instead, it has presently been removed from the two planes that transport passengers to Tel Aviv.

Mar 18 2009

EU and US to turn against Israel if they don’t agree to the manufactured entity known as “Palestine”

Posted by smoothstone

Europe (Solana) to Netanyahu: Agree to Palestinian state, or else

The European Union on Sunday warned incoming Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that if he doesn’t work toward the creation of a sovereign Palestinian state, ties between Europe and the Jewish state are likely to turn hostile.

The warning came from EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana, who told reporters, “Let me say very clearly that the way the European Union will relate to a government that is not committed to a two-state solution will be very, very different.”

Netanyahu ran for prime minister on a platform of freezing the current land-for-peace process because the Palestinians had demonstrated that any land surrendered to them would be used to further threaten Israelis.

Instead, Netanyahu wants to focus on boosting the Palestinian economy and bettering those parts of the Palestinians’ lives that they use as an excuse for their terrorist behavior.

That approach has also riled the Obama Administration in Washington, which recently made clear that it will accept no other outcome to the Middle East peace process than the birth of “Palestine.”

Mar 10 2009

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton interviewed by the sons and daughters of murderers

Posted by smoothstone

I hope that you haven’t eaten yet when you read this for surely, it will make you throw up.  Via PMW:

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was interviewed today live on a PA TV program for teenagers. The following is a transcript of the interview:

Boy host:
“You have just finished meeting with the Palestinian children in the Access program. Can you tell us, what do you think of such a program and of the students involved?”
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton:
“First of all, I am delighted to be on your program and I thank you for giving me the opportunity. I think it is very important to have a program run by young people about speaking about speaking out and I just saw some very impressive people. The students in this access program that I visited were incredibly smart, asked great questions, their English was really good and I am proud to say that we are expanding on the access programs…” [talks more about being happy to be on show]
Girl host:
“The access program is an exchange program funded by the American government. What role do such programs play in bridging the gap between cultures and what can be done to make them 2 way exchange programs?”
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton:
“I am hoping to play a big role in working to connect the Palestinian people and American people more closely. As you know, we have many Palestinian Americans, we have very successful Palestinians in every walk of life; in business, in academia, you name it, in every walk of life. And I want to do more to connect up our two countries. Our people, having the Palestinian people feel that they have a better understanding of the United States and having the American people feel like they have a better understanding of the Palestinian people.”
Boy host:
“Both you and President Obama have spoken about your interest in bringing about a peace agreement between the Israelis and Palestinian people. What are the concrete steps that you are planning to take to bring out such an agreement?”
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton:
“Well, we already have taken some. One of my first recommendations to president Obama was to appoint Senator Mitchell as our Middle East Envoy, to do it immediately and to send him to the region to begin his work and the president and I were able to make that announcement on the second day of the administration. Senator Mitchell left on one of the first few days. We wanted to send a very clear message to the Palestinian people, to the Israeli people to the region that this administration is dedicated to working towards a two state solution. My appearance at Sharm El Sheikh at the Gaza reconstruction conference hosted by the Egyptians, was intended to send another message; that the United States will commit nine hundred million dollars to the people of Gaza because we want to alleviate humanitarian suffering in Gaza but some of that money will also go to the West Bank because the work being done by President Abbas and Prime Minister Fayad is very effective and successful and we want to support that. Of course once an Israeli government is formed, Senator Mitchell will go back and talk with them.”
Girl host:
“Before becoming the Secretary of State you were the senator, governor, and first lady and first woman candidate for presidency. What would be your added value as a woman to such a position?”
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton:
“I have had an extraordinary experience.
I have been so honored to hold these positions in my country, to work with my husband Bill Clinton who as you know was very committed to bringing about a two state solution with Palestinian and Israeli people. I have been the senator in New York and I will continue my work on children’s rights and women’s rights to better economic opportunity to better understanding around the world and now as Secretary of State I feel very privileged to represent President Obama who is reaching out to the world, making it clear that the United States wants people to have a better future.”
Girl host:
“We have taken our cameras to the streets and asked many young Palestinians about questions they want to ask you. A little young girl from a village in Ramallah wants to know what you would do if your daughter Chelsea was unfortunate enough to have been born under occupation, to be born deprived of freedom and liberty?”
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton:
“Well I would do what so many parents here in the West Bank and in Gaza do. I would love her, I would take care of her, I would get the best education I could for her, and I would never lose hope, I would never give up on the dream of a Palestinian State. No matter what happens, no matter what people do to try and derail that dream. I would tell my daughter and I would hope my daughter would believe with all of her heart that she has the same opportunities for the best future that any child anywhere in the world does and that’s what my goal will be.”
Boy host:
“Many of our viewers are young Palestinians. What message would you deliver to young Palestinians, many of whom have lost hope in justice and can no longer see the light at the end of the tunnel?”
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton:
“I understand the frustration and sense of hopelessness that can sometimes effect peoples thinking and feeling but I believe that with all my heart that there is no excuse for hopelessness. There is always the possibility of the human spirit that can overcome any barrier. Not violence, not rejectionism and despair but constantly making it clear that human beings deserve the same rights no matter who you are and what you are and where you live; that’s why getting an education is so important. That’s why meeting these young students in access and talking to the two of you fills me with hope. Now there have to be changes and the United States is committed to a two state solution. I met with Palestinian leaders, I met with Israeli leaders, I have delivered the same message to everyone I met with. We are committed to working towards a two state solution and I have to say that the work that President Abbas and Prime Minister Fayad have done have given every young Palestinian not just hope, but conviction that it is possible, because you should have seen the presentation that President Abbas and Prime Minister Fayad gave in Sharm El Sheikh; among the best I have ever seen from anyone. The written materials, the specifics. People came to Sharem El Sheikh willing to give money to help the people in Gaza. But after hearing that they nearly doubled their commitment. Because it is not just a question of hope. You have to have a clear program. You can’t just say “here I am, help me” you have to say “Here’s what I’m doing to help myself, here’s what I’ve accomplished, now it’s your turn.” You shift the burden and that’s what president Abbas and Prime Minister Fayad have done and that is what the United States is committed to doing. Both Israelis and Palestinians are looking towards the day when Israelis can live in security, because that’s of course a very legitimate concern, and the Palestinian people can live in security in their own state and shape their own destiny.”
Boy host:
“The 8th of March is international women’s day. Your Excellency has become a role model for many women around the world. Do you have any plan to empower women on the level of political participation, negotiations, and peace making? “
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton:
“Yes, I am all of that. I am committed to the rights of girls and women to live up to their God given potential. When I see a young woman like you sitting next to an impressive young man, I see the future and I see that we are using the talents of everyone. Any country that does not utilize the talents of half the population will never be as successful as they could be and that’s just I think an obvious fact. So I am going to do as Secretary of State what I have done all my life. I will stand up for women’s rights. Stand up for women to have the same chances as boys, for daughters to have the same support as sons, because we all have different talents, we have all been endowed with different talents and society must recognize that so that’s my goal. I will work very very hard towards that.” [Expresses thanks for being invited.]
Feb 13 2009

Loss of Freedom of Speech Dept: Geert Wilders deported from England

Posted by smoothstone

Geert Wilders, “Fitna” filmmaker, is deported from England for daring to tell the truth about radical Islam.  Via FrontPage:

On Thursday, February 12, visiting Dutch politician Geert Wilders was humiliatingly bundled back on to a plane to his native Holland shortly after arriving in London. Wilders had been invited to show his controversial, 17-minute documentary film, Fitna, in Britain’s House of Lords but was warned in a letter from the British Home Office last Tuesday he would be denied entry to the country. As reasons for his being declared persona non grata, Wilders was told in the letter he would “threaten community harmony and therefore public security.” The directive never stated, however, that the statements Wilders made in Fitna are false or misleading in any way.

Of course, according to the British cowards who came up with this decision, there are no Islamic jihadists in the UK who are trying to stir up religious hatred. Oh no, only Wilders is doing that. Read more from JihadWatch.

Be sure to check out (and bookmark) Wilders’s new English-language website.

Feb 04 2009

Lawfare Against Israel

Posted by smoothstone

Lawfare:  the newest tactic in singling out Israel for harassment.  If anyone has a conscience one must be adamant about decrying and documenting the hypocrisy of the global community as it holds Israel to different standards while ignoring all the crimes against humanity committed by murderous Islamists within the Palestinian Authority, Hamas, Hezbollah, Iraq, Iran, Syria, Lebanon, Chechnya, and murderous non-Islamist dictators in China, North Korea and Russia.

Via NGO Monitor:

As part of the political war during Israel’s operation in Gaza, 50 NGOs issued more than 500 statements accusing Israel of “wanton killing,” “deliberately targeting civilians,” and “war crimes.”   Many of the documents called for boycotts and international sanctions against Israel and suspension of EU-Israel upgrade talks.  Another aspect included demands for international investigations and “lawfare“.  Although the vast majority of previous lawfare cases have been dismissed, the damage — including the public perception of Israel, the interference with Israel’s diplomatic relations, and the movement restrictions placed on Israelis singled out for this harassment — is considerable.

This NGO Monitor Report presents Frequently Asked Questions regarding NGO lawfare on Gaza.  An Indian newspaper reported on January 25, that the Palestinian Center for Human Rights (PCHR) is preparing cases in six countries, targeting 87 Israelis for harassment.  In the article, PCHR’s Director claims that “dozens of arrest warrants have already been issued.” Other NGOs calling for lawfare in the wake of the Gaza war include the Alternative Information Center, Adalah, Amnesty International, Ittijah, and the Arab Association for Human Rights.

See NGO Monitor’s monograph, NGO “Lawfare”:  Exploitation of Courts in the Arab-Israeli Conflict and “Lawfare Against Israel” for more information on this issue.

General FAQs
Gaza War-related FAQs

Q:  What is lawfare?
A:  Lawfare is the exploitation of courts in democratic countries in order to harass Israeli officials with civil lawsuits and criminal investigations using allegations of “war crimes,” “crimes against humanity,” and other alleged violations of international law.  While these cases claim to be about obtaining “justice” for Palestinian victims, they are part of the larger political war.

Q:  When did NGOs start using lawfare as a weapon in the Arab-Israeli conflict?
A:  The tactic of lawfare against Israel was adopted at the NGO Forum of the 2001 Durban Conference and is an integral part of the Durban Strategy which seeks to demonize and delegitimize Israel.  Although Israel is not the only country that has been subject to lawfare (the US and England have also been subject to suits arising out of the Iraq war), Israel is a primary target.

Q:  Where are lawfare cases initiated?
A:  NGOs exploit universal jurisdiction statutes in Europe and North America to bring these cases.  These statutes allow courts to preside even though the parties and events at issue are entirely foreign.  In some countries, such as Spain, an NGO can apply to a court directly for an arrest warrant or to launch a criminal investigation without the knowledge or approval of the government.

Q:  Who are the leaders of the lawfare movement?
A:  The Palestinian Center for Human Rights, FIDH, the Center for Constitutional Rights (New York), Al Haq, and Adalah.

Q:  Who funds these NGOs?
A:  These organizations are funded by the EU, European governments (Ireland, Norway, Sweden, Denmark), and prominent foundations such as the New Israel Fund, the Ford Foundation and the Open Society Institute.

Q:  What are the positions of NGO superpowers such as Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch?
A:  These NGOs support lawfare against Israel by providing publicity, organizing demonstrations, and issuing reports crafted as legal briefs to coincide with court hearings.

Q:  How many lawfare cases have been filed against Israelis?
A:  Since the adoption of the lawfare strategy, at least ten cases have been filed against Israelis in England, New Zealand, Spain, Belgium, Switzerland, and elsewhere.   Nine of the cases have been dismissed at the preliminary stages and one case is still pending in lower court.  Despite the dismissals, the damage — including the public perception of Israel, the interference with Israel’s diplomatic relations, and the movement restrictions placed on Israelis singled out for this harassment — is considerable.

Q:  Why don’t NGOs bring cases against Israel at the International Criminal Court or the International Court of Justice?
A:   Israel is not a party to the International Criminal Court or the International Court of Justice due to the overtly political nature of these bodies. The UN Security Council, however, can refer a case to the ICC and the UN General Assembly can refer cases for advisory opinions to the ICJ.  In 2004, the GA referred a case to the ICJ for an advisory opinion regarding the “legality” of Israel’s separation barrier.  Advisory Opinions issued by the ICJ are not legally binding.  In the wake of the Gaza War, NGOs such as the International Federation of Human Rights (FIDH (France)) are lobbying the UN for either a Security Council referral to the ICC or a General Assembly referral to the ICJ.  According to media reports, Amnesty International is transferring files to the ICC Prosecutor regarding alleged “war crimes” committed by Israel.  These reports make no mention of Amnesty transferring files to the ICC Prosecutor regarding Hamas war crimes aided by Iran and Syria.

Q:  What NGOs have been issuing calls for lawfare since the start of the Gaza War?
A:  PCHR is preparing for lawsuits to be filed abroad and appears to be focusing on filing a case for the killing of  Nizar Rayan, one of the leading architects of Hamas atrocities and who sent his son on a suicide bombing mission in 2001.  An Indian newspaper reported on January 25, that PCHR is preparing cases in six countries, targeting 87 Israelis for harassment.  In the article, PCHR’s Director claims that “dozens of arrest warrants have already been issued.” Other NGOs calling for lawfare in the wake of the Gaza war include the Alternative Information Center (“Barak and all Israeli Leaders—To the Hague“), Adalah (Statement to the UN Human Rights Council), Amnesty International (Oral Statement to the UN HRC, Open Letter to George Mitchell), Ittijah (Adalah is a coalition member — January 7, 2009 Press Release), and the Arab Association for Human Rights (“Israel is not above International Law,” January 7, 2009 Press Release).  One anonymous group established a website, entitled “Wanted,” with pictures of Israeli government and military officials.  The website asks those with “information about the suspect[s] when [they] are outside of the Israeli borders” to contact the Prosecutor of the ICC.

Q:  Are Israeli NGOs such as B’Tselem involved in lawfare?
A:  NIF- and EU- funded Israeli NGOs such as B’Tselem, Gisha, Yesh Din, Mossawa, and Physicians for Human Rights-Israel are not at this stage overtly calling for lawfare, but have issued tens of statements leveling charges against Israel such as “collective punishment”, “wanton” use of force, “deliberate” and “unprecedented” harm to civilians, “blatant violation of the laws of warfare,” and “suspicion” of “war crimes.”  B’Tselem even claimed that “it is hard to think of a clear military advantage which could be accomplished” by the killing of Rayan.  These one-sided statements, the distortions of international law, and the emotive “testimonies” collected by these organizations contribute to hostility towards Israel and can underpin any lawfare cases that are filed.

Q:  What is the Israeli government doing to combat lawfare?
A:  The Israeli government is taking the threat of lawfare seriously. The IDF has established a team of legal and military experts to collect evidence which can be used to exonerate its officials.  It has appointed an inter-ministerial team, headed by Justice Minister Prof. Daniel Friedman to defend any Israeli subject to suit.  The army is also protecting the identities of battalion and brigade commanders who participated in the war.  However, the government is largely reactive and has not addressed the core role of NGOs and their funders.

Q:  Is there merit to the NGO claims against Israel?
A:  The NGOs calling for lawfare base their allegations on faulty legal premises, factual distortions, and unreliable “eyewitness” testimony.  These NGOs do not possess the military or other factual information necessary to level their charges.  Many NGOs claim Israel breached the laws of war by attacking the Hamas government and its police force on the basis that these are “civilian” entities.   There is no basis, however, for labeling the Hamas government or its police force as civilian, and there is clear evidence that members of these institutions have been involved in attacks.

These NGOs also distort international law by claiming Israel committed “war crimes” by attacking military targets located within civilian infrastructure such as homes, schools, mosques, and hospitals.  Under the Geneva Conventions, the presence of civilians does not render military targets immune, and any civilian deaths resulting from Hamas’ use of human shields in these areas are the responsibility of the terror organization and not Israel.

Many NGOs claim to have greater military knowledge than the IDF, questioning the military advantage of various targets.   In fact, former British army colonel Richard Kemp noted on the BBC that there has been “no time in the history of warfare when an army has made more efforts to reduce civilian casualties and the deaths of innocent people than the [Israel Defense forces did in Gaza.]“   (For more faulty legal claims against Israel, see NGO Monitor’s report: “The NGO Front in the Gaza War:  Exploitation of International Law.”)

Q:  Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch claim that their researchers in Gaza have found “prima facie” evidence of “war crimes”. Is this evidence reliable?
A:  No.  NGOs researchers are not trained professionals in evidence or forensic collection.  These NGOs rarely name their researchers, specify the collection methodology, or identify witnesses.  There is no way of ensuring that this “evidence” is preserved according to forensic standards or that NGO researchers have maintained a recognizable chain of custody.  Due to the absence of any standards or publication of their methods, NGO “evidence” is impossible to corroborate or verify.  The New York-based NGO Human Rights First, has criticized NGO involvement as actually being harmful to a criminal investigation because, “[m]ost NGOs do not employ trained criminal investigators” and this “untrained collection of physical or forensic evidence” can “limit its value” before a court.

Q:  Have these same NGOs called for lawfare against Hamas, Iran or Syria?
A:  No.  In contrast to the many appeals for lawfare against Israel, very few, if any, of these NGOs call for the filing of cases against Hamas.   Hamas war crimes, such as deliberately attacking Israeli civilians with thousands of rockets and mortars; the widespread use of human shields within Gaza; and the killing and maiming of Gazan civilians from premature denotation of Hamas weaponry and “work accidents” are completely ignored.   These NGOs also remain silent regarding the violation of Gilad Shalit’s rights under the Geneva Conventions as a prisoner of war.  Similarly, Iran and Syria — Hamas’ sponsors and conspirators in its legal violations — are not called to account.

For Further Background Reading:

Lawfare,” David B. Rivkin and Lee A. Casey The Wall Street Journal, February 23, 2007

Israel, Gaza, and International Law,” Alan Dershowitz, The Jerusalem Post, January 27, 2009

Amnesty International’s anti-Israel stance undermines human rights and international law,” Prof. Avi Bell, Jurist Hotline Blog, January 5, 2009

“International Law and the fighting in Gaza,” Justice Reid Weiner and Avi Bell, MESI, December 29, 2008
To read the full report, click here.

Jan 01 2009

Protesters gather at Obama’s vacay spot, demanding he support jihad against Israel

Posted by smoothstone

Via JihadWatch:

FreePalestineObamaProtesters.jpg
It’s 1968 out there, man

Read about American Jew-haters and all the crap that goes with it, here, via al-Reuters.

Dec 30 2008

Rick Warren gives keynote address at Muslim convention

Posted by smoothstone

Barack Hussein Obama’s decision to have Pastor Rick Warren deliver the invocation at his inauguration next month provoked anguish among gays and lesbians.

Now Megachurch Pastor Rick Warren has just told a sold-out banquet audience at the 8th annual Muslim Public Affairs Council convention that churches and mosques must team up to solve the world’s problems.

Watch the sickening pandering in the video by clicking the link below:

Rick Warren gives keynote address at Muslim convention