Sunday, November 7, 2010

Israel Today: Three articles worth reading

"Israel Today Magazine" is a site that is on the daily list of places to look for pertinent news - and often there is something interesting - but today every article is interesting and worth reading.


1. Hamas: The Goal is to expell all Jews

There are many in the international community who suggest that most Palestinians do not harbor the desire to destroy Israel, and there are some who even defend Hamas as an organization that truly wants peace. But Gaza-based Hamas leader Mahmoud Zahar at the weekend sought to set the record straight when he told supporters that the Jews must and will be expelled from the region.

Zahar claimed that the Jews were historically expelled from France, Britain, Belgium, Russia and Germany "because they betrayed, stole and corrupted these countries." Only the Islamic world took in Jews, said Zahar, but insisted that now "they have no place here amongst us because of their crimes. They will soon be expelled from here." The Hamas leader urged unity between his group, which rules the Gaza Strip, and Mahmoud Abbas' Palestinian Authority that exercises control over the so-called "West Bank."

"Together, with blood, we could liberate our lands and holy sites," said Zahar. "You have tasted the bitterness of arbitrary negotiations." International figures are increasingly siding with the notion that Hamas must be part of the diplomatic equation. They do their best to ignore the fact that Hamas remains dedicated to Israel's ultimate demise, and therefore cannot be a true peace partner. What they also ignore is the fact that Hamas was overwhelmingly voted into power by the Palestinian public.


Again - how can a country make peace in this setting? And in spite of this rhetoric, Israel is asked to ignore it and give up more and more concessions, while the "Palestinians" are allowed to continue to call for the destruction of Israel. I just don't get it.

2. Lebanon in 'grave danger' of becoming Iranian satellite

A top Lebanese politician on Friday warned that his country is in “grave danger” of being taken over by Hizballah and turned into a satellite of the group’s sponsors in the Iranian regime.

“Lebanon as an entity and a democratic country is in grave danger,” said Amin Gamayel, a former president of Lebanon, after an emergency meeting with other Christian politicians.

Gamayel and others are concerned because Hizballah continues to maintain a military force nearly on par with the official Lebanese army in clear violation of UN resolutions, and because the group now exercises veto power over the government. Veto power was given to Hizballah as part of a 2008 unity coalition deal struck in Qatar that was seen by most as an appeasement of the Islamic group after weeks of clashes between its forces and the army.

But Hizballah and Iran are looking for more than that.

According to a reports in the pan-Arab newspapers A-Sharq Al-Awsat and Al Akhbar last week, Hizballah and its allies in Lebanon are already plotting to take over the country.

“If this scenario does take place, Hezbollah would be able to seize power in three days or a week at most,” a Lebanese general who supports Hizballah told Al-Sharq Al-Awsat.

Were Hizballah to seize control, Israeli intelligence has no doubt Lebanon would be turned into one of several launching pads for an Iranian-sponsored strategy to overwhelm the Jewish state.
“The next conflict, even if it is limited in scale will be much bigger, much broader, and with many more casualties,” warned outgoing Israeli army intelligence chief Amos Yadlin in his final Knesset appearance.


3. Jerusalem Arabs attack Jews for taking wrong turn

This story is really worth reading, because it is so symbolic of the intense hatred that is directed towards the Jews on a daily basis. Again, the media and politicians keep telling us that Israel is blocking peace, not the "Palestinians". Yet we see these stories every day. The entire article is quoted below:

Three young Israelis and a visiting Australian friend of theirs nearly lost their lives this week after accidentally entering an Arab neighborhood no the outskirts of Jerusalem, where the local residents felt compelled to violently attack the wayward Jews.

The three Israelis explained to Israel’s Ynet news portal that they are from the Tel Aviv area, and don’t know Jerusalem very well. So, after picking up their foreign friend from the Hebrew University campus on Mount Scopus, they made a wrong turn on their way downtown. Instead, they ended up in the village of Issawiya.

After realizing their mistake, one of the Israelis pulled over and asked a young Arab boy how to get to downtown Jerusalem. Instead of helping them, the boy called for a nearby Arab man. The two chuckled at the Israelis and the man made a phone call before telling the motorists to continue straight deeper into Issawiya. It was an ambush.

As the car reached the center of the village, the Israelis said young men started to appear everywhere with iron bars and bricks. They even hastily erected a makeshift roadblock to prevent the Israelis from escaping. The Arabs then proceeded to smash the car repeatedly with their bars and bricks.

“I had never encountered such a situation of helplessness without any preparation, and with friends and a terrified tourist,” said the driver of the car. “Several minutes later we were surrounded, and I realized that I must drive my car into the barrier if I want to get out of here alive.”

The four managed to get out of the center of Issawiya only to find that the local residents had used several taxis to block the road further on. Fortunately, they had failed to close one small gap, which the driver of the Israeli vehicle managed to squeeze through and reach safety.

While they managed to escape with their lives, the three Israelis and the young Australian girl will always be haunted by the evening they accidentally strayed into a Palestinian village.

“It was like entering a nightmare. They had a look of murder in their eyes,” one of them recounted after the ordeal. “Had we stayed there one more minute we wouldn’t be alive anymore. It wasn’t just an attempt to stone us, but an intentional desire to lynch us only several meters way from the university.”

The world likes to paint the local Arabs as living under siege, while the Israelis uncaringly lord over the land. But the reality, even in Jerusalem, is that Arabs can go just about anywhere without risking their lives, while Jews or other non-Arabs are in mortal danger any time they enter Arab areas. There is an exception for foreign media and diplomats, of course, as those are the people the Arabs are trying to convince that they are an oppressed but peaceful society.


Also seen in this publication are two more articles of interest:

UK recognizes 'Palestine'

Israel's Supreme Court won't stop destruction of Temple history

No comments: