Fiddling public opinion: The British on-line polling company, YouGov, always popular with the media but notorious for peddling
worthless opinion data, has one of their regular polls on the Middle East today.
Normally, because of the nature of Internet polls, I don't encourage this sort of thing. But since I hate YouGov, I am encouraging everyone to
fiddle this poll as much as possible. Here are some of the questions and their obnoxious current answer percentages:
2. Some people have said that the two key leaders, Yasser Arafat and Ariel Sharon, have become too entrenched to solve this crisis, and should step aside to allow new leaders. Others say that only Mr Sharon and Mr Arafat have the legitimacy to find a solution. What do you think?
Ariel Sharon should step aside 24%
Yasser Arafat should step aside 9%
Both should step aside 47%
4. In the current conflict in the Middle East, how much sympathy (using a scale of 0 to 10, where 0 means ‘no sympathy at all’ and 10 means ‘great sympathy’) do you have for...? a) the Israelis
0 6%
1 4%
2 9%
3 12%
4 9%
5 18%
6 8%
7 9%
8 10%
9 3%
10 9%
4. b) the Palestinians
0 3%
1 2%
2 3%
3 4%
4 6%
5 16%
6 10%
7 13%
8 18%
9 9%
10 13%
5. Using a scale from 0 to 10, where 0 means ‘strongly oppose’ and 10 means ‘strongly support’), how much do you oppose or support… a) Israeli military operations against the Palestinian Authority
0 36%
1 9%
2 11%
3 7%
4 4%
5 8%
6 4%
7 4%
8 5%
9 2%
10 6%
5. b) Palestinian actions against Israel
0 34%
1 10%
2 14%
3 10%
4 6%
5 10%
6 3%
7 3%
8 3%
9 1%
10 3%
8. Which of the following statements comes closer to your own view?
Yasser Arafat could prevent Palestinian terrorist attacks on Israeli civilians if he wanted to 22%
Whether or not Yasser Arafat would like to prevent such attacks he has no power to prevent militant Palestinians from carrying them out 68%
9. Which of the following statements comes closer to your own view?
Israel would best secure its own future by taking over the whole of the West Bank and Gaza (the traditional ‘land of Israel’) 9%
Israel would best secure its own future by withdrawing behind its original frontiers and also withdrawing Israeli settlements from the West Bank and Gaza 71%
13. Do you think current actions by the Israelis increase anti-Jewish feeling throughout the world?
Yes 77%
No 16%
11. Thinking of the policy of the Bush administration in the United States, do you think:
It is broadly pro-Israeli 75%
It is broadly pro-Palestinian 2%
It is broadly even-handed as between the two sides 10%
Don't forget you have to register with YouGov to take part in this nonsense...
As the trees grow...: My Jewish group, YPK, originally planted a tree in memorial for assasinated Israeli PM Yitzhak Rabin in 1997. While the plaque survived, the tree did not. But there are moves to find a new tree to replace it which will take to the soil much better.
Peace never dies, it just whithers sometimes.
FBI Director Mueller likes to meet with some shifty folks: This memo on the American Muslim Council comes from the Center for Security Policy:
FBI Director Robert S. Mueller III plans to give a lunch talk to the American Muslim Council’s Annual Conference on Friday June, 28th, because, as his spokesman Bill Carter has explained, the FBI regards the AMC as “the most mainstream Muslim group in the United States.” The AMC however, is one of the most extreme U.S. groups supporting militant Islam. AMC has consistently defended terrorist groups, designated as such by the US Government and/or by foreign governments, while it has worked to undermine stronger anti-terrorist measures designed to protect Americans here at home.
It is important to note that:
- AMC has a long and consistent history of making common cause with terror groups in the United States, most of which are unrelated to Islam or Mideast issues. (AMC is an “active member” of the National Coalition to Protect Political Freedom, many of whose members have bombed America, e.g., the Puerto Rican FALN and Macheteros, Black Liberation Movement, Weather Underground), and abroad in Jordan, Algeria, Egypt, Pakistan and Sudan -- all countries separate from the Israel-Palestinian conflict.
- AMC has a history of common cause with cop-killers. Its active membership in the National Coalition to Protect Political Freedom puts AMC on the side of Mumia Abu-Jamal, convicted of murdering Philadelphia police officer Daniel Faulkner; and Leonard Peltier, who murdered FBI Special Agents Jack Coler and Ronald Williams. The former president of the Executive Board of the AMC Board of Directors is Jamil Abdullah Al-Amin (formerly known as H. Rap Brown), who was twice on the FBI’s own Ten Most Wanted Fugitives List. He once threatened to assassinate Lady Bird Johnson, then-First Lady of the United States. Today he is serving a life sentence for the 2000 murder of Fulton County, Georgia, Sheriff’s Deputy Ricky Kinchen.
- AMC representatives repeatedly refuse to denounce specific terrorists or terrorist groups, always dodging into generalities about terror, and then entering into political diatribes explaining why the terror or terrorist in question allegedly is justified or engaged in “freedom struggle.” AMC executive director, Eric Vickers, has repeatedly refused to denounce Hamas, Hizbollah, Egyptian and Palestinian Jihad, and other groups historically supported by AMC -- even including Al Qaeda!
- Soon after 9/11, AMC linked to a document called “Know Your Rights” that advises “Don’t Talk to the FBI.” AMC fervently opposed both Clinton and Bush anti-terror initiatives prior to and following the attacks of 9/11.
- While many of the charges and quotes about AMC center on its long-time Board member and former Executive Director Abdurahman Alamoudi, (still housed in AMC’s offices and running the related-American Muslim Foundation) – the AMC itself has hosted terror groups from all over the world virtually each and every year of its 12 year life. AMC is directly associated with many groups, charities and individuals that have been raided, closed, or subject to asset impoundment, arrest or deportation in connection to international terrorism, both before and after the attacks of 9/11. Certainly American Muslim groups without this extremely broad and deep history of troubling connections can be found and fostered.
Apologizing for Terrorism
- Hamas & Hizballah. Years ago, the State Department formally certified Hamas and Hizbullah as terrorist groups; AMC disagrees. Just two years ago Abdurahman Alamoudi, AMC’s long-time executive director and Board member, exhorted a rally outside the White House “We are ALL supporters of Hamas. Allahu Akhbar!…I am also a supporter of Hizbullah.” (This statement caused candidates George W. Bush and Hillary Clinton to return $1000. contributions from Alamoudi.) A Hamas publication in the United States, Az-Zaytuna, reported him as boasting that the AMC has gone “to the White House and defended what is called Hamas.”
- Terrorist fundraising fronts. The Holy Land Foundation (HLF) is one of the primary U.S.-based charities supporting terrorists overseas and President Bush ordered it closed after 9/11 for collecting money “used to support the Hamas terror organization.” AMC, however, responded by condemning the president’s act as “particularly disturbing … unjust and counterproductive.” Before the group was closed AMC had bestowed an award on it, commending its “strong global vision.”
- Plotters against Jordanian king. A previous AMC annual conference hosted Layth Shubayalat a terrorist implicated in an Islamist plot to topple King Hussein. AMC also has defended the outlawed Jordanian Islamic Action Front.
- 1993 World Trade Center bombing. Alamoudi has defended Sheik Omar Abdul Rahman, the convicted mastermind of the 1993 World Trade Center bombing.
- Beirut ‘terrorist conference.’ In January 2001 in Beirut, Lebanon, Abdurahman Alamoudi, former AMC Executive Director and current Secretary of AMC's Board of Directors attended and participated in what the U.S. State Department called a terrorist conference with a "destructive agenda." The conference brought together leaders of Hamas, Hizballah, Islamic Jihad, and Usama Bin Ladin's organization. The communiqué issued at the end of the conference stated, "The only decisive option to achieve this strategy [the destruction of Israel] is the option of Jihad in all its forms and resistance…" The communiqué also called for a boycott of American products (in addition to Israeli products), "The American products are exactly like the Israeli products. America today is a second Israel."
- Sudanese terrorism. AMC has provided defense of, and press conferences for, the Sudanese National Islamic Front , a State Department-designated terrorist group ; denied Sudanese connections with terrorism arguing that “[Sudan is] not engaged in terrorist activities and is not harboring terrorists,” despite Sudan’s place on the U.S. government’s list of state sponsors of terrorism; and denied Sudan’s continued practice of slavery. They also hosted an Iranian-backed radical cleric of the NIF, Hassan al-Turabi, for a U.S. visit in 1992.
- Syrian terrorism is not terrorism. The ambassador from another terrorist-sponsoring state, Syria, Rostum Al-Zoubi, will be speaking on the same podium as will Director Mueller. In 1996, the then Deputy Director of AMC, Khaleed Saffuri, stated, “Many of the things called terrorism in the hearing, by international law, is not terrorism," referring to a HIRC hearing chaired by Chairman Gilman on Syria's support for terrorism.
- Part of terrorism legal support campaign. The American Muslim Council belongs to the National Coalition to Protect Political Freedom (NCPPF), whose President is Sami Al-Arian of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad. NCPPF is ‘legal aid’ for every known terrorist group in the US. Specifically, NCPPF defends the PFLP-MF, Sheik Abdul Rahman, Egyptian Islamic Jihad, Hamas, ETA, FALN, NORAID, Shining Path, Weather Underground, AIM’s Leonard Peltier who killed two FBI agents in 1975, among others. Although Al-Arian is the organization’s President, the real dynamo is Kit Gage, Executive Vice President at the former Soviet-funded front group, the National Lawyer's Guild.
- Won’t denounce terror groups when given the chance. AMC’s current Executive Director, Eric Erfan Vickers, appearing on the Alan Keyes show on 18 June 2002, did not, when given the opportunity, denounce terror groups AMC had previously supported. He declined to denounce Al Qaeda by name when requested to do so on Fox News on 19 June 2002.
- U.S. pulled money from AMC leader’s group. Vickers was also an incorporator and Board Member of the Islamic African Relief Agency (IARA), which had two grants worth $4.2 million revoked by the U.S. Agency for International Development, at the State Department’s request, because of the group’s ties with terrorist sponsoring Sudan (including the provision by IARA officials of intelligence equipment to AlQaeda). AMC’s current President Yayha Basha served on the Agency’s Board as Vice President.
- Denounces moderate Muslims who openly oppose terrorism. The AMC has aggressively attacked Sheikh Muhammad Hisham Kabbani, a leading moderate voice in the American Muslim community. Kabbani has spoken out against militant Islamic fundamentalism and the network of front groups operating and raising funds in the U.S.
Hostility to the United States
- For all its apparent patriotism, AMC harbors a deep anti-Americanism. AMC has not openly urged American Muslims to help root out terrorists from their communities, instead choosing to denounce U.S. anti-terrorism efforts as being hostile to Muslims. One of its featured speakers and coalition allies, Sami Al-Arian of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, is on the record calling, “Let us damn America.”
- Alamoudi has dilated on the agony of living in a country he loathes: “I think if we are outside this country, we can say oh, Allah, destroy America, but once we are here, our mission in this country is to change it. There is no way for Muslims to be violent in America, no way. We have other means to do it. You can be violent anywhere else but in America.”
- Former AMC President Al-Amin was noted for saying “We’re gonna burn America down,” during his days as a 1960s radical.
A Checkered History with Law Enforcement
- AMC opposed 1996 Anti-Terrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act and the key aspects of President Bush’s 2001 USA PATRIOT Act, both designed to strengthen U.S. anti-terrorism capabilities. It now accuses Attorney General John Ashcroft of “using national security as a pretext” to engage in a pattern of ethnic and religious discrimination” and instilling “intimidation.”
- The former president of the Executive Board of its Board of Directors is Jamil Abdullah Al-Amin (formerly known as H. Rap Brown), who was twice on the FBI’s own Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list. Today he is serving a life sentence without parole for murdering a Georgia sheriff’s deputy.
And finally, beware the weight of demographics when it is raised in debate. Eric Vickers, executive director of the American Muslim Council, defended AMC thusly on CNN Wednesday night: "There has been this continuing process of Mr. Harris and others trying to subvert the ability of the 7 million Muslims in this country having a dialogue with their government."
7 million Muslims?! They're still peddling that line, even after a thorough investigation showed our best estimate of Muslims in America was around
2 million.
Iran and Iraq developing some hefty WMDs: Iran was developing a nuclear capability as well as missiles that could reach Europe and eventually the United States, according to the head of Israel's intelligence agency. Israel also has "clear indications" that Iraq resumed efforts to produce fissile materials, Mossad leader Ephraim Halevy said while addressing a closed session of the NATO council Wednesday in Brussels. The Israeli Yediot Aharonot newspaper published the full text of the speech Friday.
Halevy reportedly said several countries that have been traditional foes of Israel were developing advanced weapons systems, including Iran which in recent years has invested heavily in developing ballistic missiles based on North Korean expertise. He noted that the Iranians successfully tested the Shehab-3, which has a range of 800 miles and announced they were trying to extend its range, payload and destructive capability. (
UPI)
Recycle this book, please! My review of the book
Cradle to Cradle was in The American Enterprise online yesterday. The book claims to have a practical way to solve our environmental problems... but the authors are a bit more pie in the sky than they seem.
Israeli economy tanking, but not because of terrorism: So said Wall St. Journal Europe's financial correspondent, David Rosenberg, yesterday (
link requires subscription):
over the last two weeks panic has taken hold around the weakening shekel, now bumping against five to the dollar after a near 20% drop in its value since the end of last year.
Israelis have moved some $1.5 billion of their money abroad so far this year -- not a huge amount, but enough to knock the fragile currency off balance -- and the reason isn't the unending "cycle of violence" or the collapse of the peace process. Palestinian unrest exploded nearly two years ago and after a half-century in a continuous state of war or near-war, Israeli investors have developed a thick skin for geopolitical risk. Rather, the reason Israelis are taking out their cash is because they're distressed at the state of the economy, and more specifically with economic policy.
Israel's economy is in a particularly bad state even by the standards of the global slowdown. Gross domestic product fell 0.6% last year, the first such decline since 1953, and is widely expected to show further contraction this year. Foreign investment fell 60% last year from its 2000 peak of $11.9 billion. Inflation, which was nil two years ago, is likely to reach 6-7% this year. Unemployment is 10.6%.
Part of the blame rests on three events Israel could not control: (1) the collapse of the global high-tech industry after Nasdaq's crash in March 2000; (2) the outbreak of Palestinian unrest six months later; and (3) the world economic slowdown in 2001.
But Rosenberg says Israel made its plight worse through bad economic policy choices:
The Israeli Treasury planned the 2002 budget on the politically convenient but economically unfounded assumption the economy would grow 4% this year. It revised its estimates lower until it stopped making any estimates at all, and adjusted spending accordingly -- but nothing it has done seems to be in tune with the real state of affairs. The Treasury's latest budget revision, approved by the Knesset earlier this month, calls for higher taxes at a time of deep recession. Government borrowing has become so heavy that long-term interest rates have soared.
The Bank of Israel, once regarded as a bastion of economic discipline, blundered into making a hefty two percentage point rate cut last December, inadvertently setting off the depreciation of the shekel. In doing so, it managed to re-ignite inflation at a time when the economy is slack. To rectify its mistake, the central bank has since reversed course and raised interest rates 5.3 percentage points. Its zig-zagging does not inspire confidence that the bank has a firm grip on how the economy is functioning or what it needs.
... Even though Israel shoulders heavy defense and debt-repayment burdens, welfare spending is slated to grow to 31% of the budget this year from 25% in 2002 and is now the single biggest part of the budget. The percentage of GDP going to taxes, always a high figure, has been going up since 2000.
So investors are headed for the hills because of problems that began some time ago. While Israel's economy was soaring in the 90's, its economic reform movement sputtered and stalled. In the booming 90's this was fine. Israel could get away with it. But Rosenberg says that now that high-tech, a big part of Israel's economy, has sputtered, there ain't much left to power the economy.
Israel's capital market is small and inefficient. Telecoms deregulation is stuck in a twilight zone between a free market and a state monopoly, creating a knot of regulatory idiocies. No one has touched the power-generation industry or the government's near-monopoly on land. The state-owned telecoms company, many of the banks and a host of other companies have been in the "process" of being privatized since the early 1990s. Social welfare policy has created such negative incentives to work that Israel has one of the lowest labor force participation rates in the industrialized world.
Oops. Now what? Rosenberg thinks the immediate future is bleak unless Israel kicks its economic reforms into high gear:
The global high-tech recovery is likely to be slow in coming and Israel's industry has become so thoroughly internationalized that entrepreneurs and investors need not commit their resources to Israel if the economic and political environment is so insecure. They can do what they need to abroad. No one is expecting Palestinian unrest to wind down anytime soon or for the peace process to return to its pre-Intifada momentum. Without high tech and without peace, Israel will end up becoming the economic basketcase it was in the 1970s and 1980s. That is, unless it can liberate its human and financial resources by freeing its economy.
Arafat’s Links to Terrorism: The Middle East Forum sends this summary of remarks by U.S. Rep. Joseph M. Hoeffel (Dem-Pennsylvania). He spoke before the forum on June 3:
On a recent trip to Israel, I met with victims of terrorist attacks and reviewed evidence provided by the Israeli government implicating Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasir Arafat in the ongoing wave of terrorism carried out by Palestinian militants against Israeli citizens. These attacks, and their links to the Palestinian Authority, have deep implications for U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East.
Israel’s Fight Against Terror
The terrorism faced by Israel is unacceptable and horrible. Since September 2000, Israel has suffered as the result of more than 40 suicide bombings, 500 mortalities, and 4,000 casualties. Israel has the right to defend itself and it is not for America to determine the limits of an Israeli response to terrorism.
Both Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and U.S. President George W. Bush share a common attitude towards terrorism. Mr. Sharon says that there can be no compromise with terror and President Bush says that there must be a zero tolerance for terrorism in the Middle East (and the rest of the world, for that matter). It is clear that Yasir Arafat cannot be the exception to the president’s doctrine on terrorism.
On May 2nd, my colleagues and I passed a congressional resolution expressing solidarity with Israel, while concurrently condemning the ongoing Palestinian terrorism. Four days later, I traveled to Israel as part of a four-member delegation to express congressional solidarity with the people of Israel. What I learned was that despite the threat of terrorism, Israelis have a wonderful spirit and remain an upbeat, courageous, and confident people.
Arafat Can Stop the Terror
Documents seized by the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) this spring, during the raid on Arafat’s Ramallah compound, provide irrefutable links between Arafat and Palestinian terrorism. Memos in Arabic - signed by Arafat - show that the Palestinian Authority compensated the families of shuhada’, or “freedom fighters” involved in suicide bombing operations. Other memos show that Arafat actually allocated cash to militant groups. Indeed, these documents proved that Arafat was aware of the terrorism, directed it, and can stop much of it should he choose to do so.
There is also the matter of the Karine A affair, whereby the Palestinian Authority attempted to smuggle in 50 tons (valued at $8 to $10 million) of weapons from Iran that were deemed illegal by the 1993 Oslo Accords. I personally saw the cache, which included rocket propelled grenade launchers and anti-tank weapons. The most chilling of the weapons, however, was a suicide bomber’s vest because sewn inside the black vest was webbing from which hung 20 straps. Those straps had small sections of plastic tubing filled with C4 explosives and ball bearings. This apparatus, designed to kill and maim, was perhaps the most evil thing I have ever seen.
What Next?
In my judgment, the solution for a just and lasting peace between Israel and the Palestinians is a two-state solution. Indeed, the goal for the United States is to help ensure that Israel is secure, and that it engages in normal diplomatic relations with its neighbors. This must include a demilitarized Palestinian state alongside Israel.
Arafat, for his part, has lost his credibility. He is clearly not a trustworthy partner for the Israelis or the U.S. for further negotiations. Although it is not our place to pick a Palestinian leader, Washington has the right to set conditions and standards. No matter who leads the Palestinian people next, that individual must renounce terrorism in both word and deed, and fully recognize Israel’s right to exist in peace as a Jewish state.
Such a leadership has yet to arise, in part, because those Palestinians who challenge the current leadership risk their lives to do so, in Arafat’s brutal authoritarian state. Sadly, unless the Palestinians demand reform and rehabilitate their nascent country, peace will never be achieved.
Conclusion
There is no moral equivalency between the defensive actions of the Israelis and the terrorist actions taken by Palestinian militants. Israel is engaged in legitimate military action against combatants. Palestinian militants, however, are targeting civilians. Terrorism can, and never will be justified. We need to be tougher on the Palestinian leadership to prevent future attacks. We must also take a tougher stance with the so-called moderate Arab states (like Saudi Arabia and Egypt) that condone or sponsor Palestinian terrorism, and teach their children hate.
U.S. Representative Joseph M. Hoeffel (D) is currently serving his second term representing Pennsylvania’s 13th district. He was first elected to office as representative to the state legislature in Harrisburg in 1976 and served four terms from 1977-1984. Mr. Hoeffel is now a member of the House of Representative’s budget committee and the committee on international relations. He is a graduate of Swarthmore College and Temple University’s School of Law.
Did Iranians plan to detonate a Canadian natural gas facility? Two Iranian men ''capable of posing a threat to Canada'' scouted a gigantic natural gas facility on the Alberta-Saskatchewan border three months before Sept. 11, the
National Post has learned.
The sprawling facility, near Empress, Alta., is made up of a series of natural gas processing plants and pipelines and is the key export point for Canadian natural gas shipments to the United States. Canada supplies nearly 30% of all American gas and a disruption could shut down industry, home heating and power generation in vast portions of the United States.
My cat is back! Thank you to anyone who said a prayer for our cat Barbu. Three teenagers (who knew teenagers could be useful for something?) called us up around 1am when they found him this morning. He was cowering under a car on the other side of our "village." He was scared, a bit dirty, and absolutely famished.
Barbu seems quite happy to be back home, and we're damned relieved to have him back...
Italy joins Bush, tells Arafat to get lost: European support for Yasser Arafat crumbled further on Thursday, as U.S. President George W. Bush's call for leadership change in the Palestinian Authority was endorsed by Italy, one of the Palestinians' traditional backers.
Speaking to reporters after meeting Mr. Bush at the Group of Eight summit in Canada, Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi said there are "more than suspicions" about the Palestinian Authority's involvement in terrorism and corruption. "If I were Arafat, I'd make a grand gesture," Mr. Berlusconi said. "Many are convinced that Arafat, a Nobel Peace Prize winner, can make a generous gesture and step down." (
Wall St. Journal, subscription required)
Peres warns that Bush will cause a Middle Eastern "bloodbath." Or does he? Tim Blair has found an inflammatory quote attributed to Israel's Shimon Peres in the Australian press. Trouble is, he's had no luck verifying its accuracy and it was not reported widely. So was it a
fabrication?
ISRAEL'S FOREIGN MINISTER, Shimon Peres, says US President George W. Bush's speech will cause "a blood bath" in the Middle East.
A furious Peres declared: "The abyss into which the region will now plunge will be as deep as expectations of this speech were high."
Have you read this story? Anywhere? It should be in every newspaper worldwide, but so far it has apparently only been reported by Tim Palmer, Middle East correspondent for the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.
And Palmer himself didn't see fit to run the explosive Peres quotes as his lede...
No, at least not by the Aussie journalist. It appears the source was a Hebrew-language newspaper, Yediot Aharonot. But the quote was all but off-the-record... watch for an urban legend in the making.
Update: Australian Broadcasting Corporation reporter Tim Palmer has demanded an apology for this post, threatening to sue Kesher Talk. Blair has
apologized for any misrepresentation. But I made it clear in my original post that any possible problems with Shimon Peres' annoying "blood bath" quote derived from its source, Yediot Aharonot journalist Shimon Shiffer. I never accused Palmer of fabrication. I did question the source. The only mistake -- yet to be proven -- was assuming that Peres would not be so ridiculously stupid. Wishful thinking on my part? Most likely.
Regardless, Palmer is in the clear, so there is no need for an apology.
To be frank, if this had come up in a regular newspaper, the "correction" would have run in small type out of sight. Here, he's getting what amounts to, at best, a clarification. On my front page. Not a bad deal at all.
Media bias? On Hilliard-Davis race, you betcha!: Throughout this Associated Press article, absolutely no mention is made that opponents of Israel made large contributions to and drummed up votes for the loser, Earl Hilliard. For more on this, see Wednesday's and last Friday's blog posts.
As usual, the journalists cannot help but writes stories about "
Jewish money":
Money From Supporters of Israel Played Role in Alabama Upset
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
BIRMINGHAM, Ala., June 26 (AP) — Artur Davis used a flood of donations from supporters of Israel, many of them from New York, in his Democratic runoff victory over Representative Earl F. Hilliard in a mostly poor Alabama Congressional district.
Mr. Davis, 34, a lawyer, is expected to win this fall because no Republican is nominated in the heavily Democratic district.
Nearly $189,000 of the $306,482 in individual donations that Mr. Davis received came from New York. Almost $134,000 of that came from around New York City, according to FECInfo, a Web site that tracks political money.
The money helped Mr. Davis pay for television commercials that questioned Mr. Hilliard's ethics and suggested that he tacitly supported terrorism because he visited Libya five years ago.
The Davis campaign acknowledged holding fund-raisers in New York that sought money from pro-Israeli groups and Jews. Mr. Davis was also among the candidates who appeared at a Washington conference sponsored by the American Israel Public Affairs Committee.
And the Israeli newspaper
Ha'aretz is even worse:
To understand the political background to Bush's speech, it's worth taking a look at the Web site of the U.S. Federal Election Commission. Look for contributors to Artur Davis, a black lawyer who won the Democratic primaries in the 7th Congressional District in Alabama on the day of the speech. Davis beat his rival, the 60-year-old, five-term Earl Hilliard, who is also black, by a 56-44 percent vote.
Here are some of the names from the first pages of the list of his contributors: there were 10 Cohens from New York and New Jersey, but before one gets to the Cohens, there were Abrams, Ackerman, Adler, Amir, Asher, Baruch, Basok, Berger, Berman, Bergman, Bernstein and Blumenthal. All from the east coast, Chicago and Los Angeles. It's highly unlikely any of them have ever visited Alabama, let alone the 7th Congressional District...
What do the Adlers and Bergmans have to do with an unknown lawyer running for a Congressional seat from Alabama. Why should Jews from all over the United States send hundreds of thousands of dollars to his campaign coffers, which reached $781,000 - compared to the $85,000 he had in his coffers the last time he ran, and lost? The answer can be found in the AIPAC index of pro-Israel congressmen. Hilliard, who once visited Libya, is paying for his Congressional seat for a number of votes the Jewish lobbyists didn't like... The message was clear - this is what happens to politicians who upset Israel's friends...
Today is a day of fasting It is the 17th of Tammuz, a day of fasting to remember the fall of Jerusalem, prior to the destruction of the 2nd Temple. It also marks the beginning of a 3-week national period of mourning, leading up to Tisha B'Av.
In case anyone is interested, while I may not be eating well today, I am not fasting...
Five catastrophes befell the Jews on this day in history:
- Moses broke the tablets at Mount Sinai - in response to the sin of the Golden Calf.
The daily offerings in the First Temple were suspended during the siege of Jerusalem, after the Kohanim could no longer obtain animals.
Jerusalem's walls were breached, prior to the destruction of the Second Temple in 70 CE.
Prior to the Great Revolt, the Roman general Apostamos burned a Torah scroll - setting a precedent for the horrifying burning of Jewish books throughout the centuries.
An idolatrous image was placed in the Sanctuary of the Holy Temple - a brazen act of blasphemy and desecration.
(
courtesy of Aish)
The fast was originally observed on the ninth (the day Jerusalem fell prior to the sacking of the 1st Temple in 586 BCE) but the 17th soon became a
combined fast day.
Sort of like President's Day in the U.S.
Hamas to benefit from elections in Palestine: With Israel occupying West Bank cities and President Bush calling for Yasser Arafat's ouster in new elections, the Palestinian leader is in a battle for survival among the toughest of his tumultuous career. But the leaders of Hamas are in high spirits.
The Islamic fundamentalist movement, which calls for Israel's destruction, is convinced it is making big gains among the public with its suicide attacks and rejection of Mr. Arafat's lingering calls to negotiate.
Analysts say Hamas would get about 20 percent of the votes if national elections were held today, making it the leading opposition force to Arafat's Fatah movement. And with its experience in running local institutions and a reputation among Palestinians as untainted by corruption, it could win municipal elections, says Avraham Sela, a leading Israeli analyst.
The expectation of doing well may explain Hamas's decision not to reject Bush's call for polling, though it denounced the rest of his speech. (
Christian Science Monitor)
How to steal an election: A Palestinian guide: With elections possibly on the Palestinian horizon,
Daniel Polisar looks back at how Arafat stole his election.
Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter, asserted in a recent op-ed in
The New York Times that the PLO leader had become the Palestinians' president through "a democratic election in the West Bank and Gaza which was well organized, open, and fair."
Such a conclusion, however, would have to stand on more than the observation that an election was held in the West Bank and Gaza in January 1996 in which Arafat received nearly 90 percent of the votes. After all, plenty of dictators do that well in elections aimed principally at reinforcing their rule, and this phenomenon is particularly widespread in the Middle East.
A real look at the question of Arafat's legitimacy, therefore, has to involve a more serious examination of the origins of his rule in the wake of the 1993 Oslo accords-and particularly the crucial two-year period in which he established the Palestinian Authority and paved the way for himself and his loyalists to win a landslide victory at the polls. Such an accounting reveals a disturbing picture, of a PLO leadership that-after having been brought in from Tunis amid widespread jubilation-used every means at its disposal to ensure that the Palestinian voter would have only one viable option as to which political party would represent him, and only one real candidate to vote for as president. Under these conditions, Arafat's landslide victory was not an expression of democratic will, but rather a testament to the success of the measures he employed.
What Artur Davis' victory yesterday symbolizes: A post-script to Hilliard's loss: From the
Birmingham News, a view quite contrary to the Council on American Islamic Relations'...:
What's going on? Watkins calls it a "maturing of the black electorate."
Certainly, more and more voters from Birmingham to Montgomery to the Black Belt are showing they no longer heed the marching orders of the political bosses who once called all the shots.
They don't need a sample ballot to tell them how to vote. They don't listen to out-of-state big wigs to tell them how to vote. They don't respond to race-baiting and other dirty political tricks to tell them how to vote.
Instead, they look at an elected official's track record and pay attention to core issues such as education, economic development and health care. They also are willing to weigh, and vote for, candidates who didn't earn the endorsement of the Citizens Coalition, the ADC or the Alabama New South Coalition.
This is a very good thing. Voting as instructed, whether it's being done by African-Americans or white conservative Christians, isn't democracy. It's nothing more than machine politics.
Although few Alabamians these days even bother, voting is a hard-earned freedom too important to turn over to political bosses. Against the wishes of those bosses, voters no longer willing to toe the line on Tuesday kicked out some longtime politicians who richly deserved it.
More power to them.
FBI director Mueller to meet with terrorist supporters:
The New York Times reports today that Director Robert S. Mueller III's planned appearance at a meeting of the American Muslim Council has prompted protests because the organization supports terrorist groups and wants Israel dead.
"Mr. Mueller is scheduled to speak Friday at a luncheon during a meeting of the council in Alexandria, Va. In the past, the council has urged members to contribute to certain charities, some of whose assets have since been frozen by the United States for links to terrorists. Some members of the council have been accused of supporting militant groups like Hamas and Hezbollah."
On CNN's "Wolf Blitzer Reports" last night, David Harris (executive director of the American-Jewish Committee) said, "The American Muslim Council for years has been identified with terrorist organizations, both abroad and here at home. They have been closely linked to organizations like Hamas and Hezbollah, which are organizations that our government has declared terrorist organizations. Why would the FBI director want to meet with a group that has served as an apologist and spokesman for terrorist operations, especially after September 11? ... This organization has had spokesmen who have stood in front of the White House and have publicly praised Hamas and Hezbollah."
Eric Vickers (executive director of the American Muslim Council) defended his group on the show right afterwards: "There has been this continuing process of Mr. Harris and others trying to subvert the ability of the
7 million Muslims in this country having a dialogue with their government. It is entirely appropriate for Director Mueller to meet with the Muslim Council. The American Muslim Council has been in this country since 1990. It is a mainstream organization. All these allegations of links to terrorism are simply baseless."
Reactions to Bush's speech Part II: Here are today's editorials regarding Bush's speech. These are only editorials, I've omitted any opinion columns. Why? Dunno, just felt like it:
Supportive Editorials:Indianapolis Star: “If Palestinians are serious about wanting a state, the Bush plan offers the best hope for now.”
Kansas City Star: “[Arafat] seems to enjoy playing the martyr, complaining to anyone who will listen about the Israeli tanks parked outside his door.”
Miami Herald: “But from [Arafat], Washington, Jerusalem and the world have gotten only deceit, lies and support of terrorism. Better to be rid of him and move on.”
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: “It is also generally considered dangerous to insist on the replacement of one leader when one doesn't know who will follow.”
Rocky Mountain News: “Bush's plan, while laudable and certainly worth trying, may prove a futile gesture.”
Skeptical Editorials: Atlanta Journal Constitution: “The Bush vision is laudable. But the steps to achieving it -- which will require dramatic and simultaneous changes on both sides -- are not at all clear.”
Baltimore Sun: “He has delivered a quid pro quo that conflicts with the basic tenets of democracy.”
Chicago Tribune: “…it clears up the ambiguity in the U.S. position; it reiterates that no political progress can take place until the level of violence is reduced…”
Christian Science Monitor: “The plan has to be [complex] to hide the fact that it lacks a simple deadline for a clear goal: creation of a Palestinian state.”
Hartford Courant: “Mr. Bush's proposal is so one-sided that cynics are saying it was ghostwritten by Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, who has consistently opposed peace agreements with Arab governments and has often said he will not negotiate with Mr. Arafat.”
Houston Chronicle: “Ironically, the Bush proposal, insofar as it is seen to challenge Palestinian pride and autonomy, might have given Arafat exactly the popularity boost he needs among his people at exactly the time he needs it.”
New Orleans Times-Picayune: “A strategy outlined Monday by President Bush represents an honest effort to find a way out of the current stalemate. Whether the plan will succeed is an open question.”
Sacramento Bee: “…his speech treated Palestinians as if they were children. Reject terror, hold elections, pick new leaders, make a market economy and then the United States will support a "provisional" Palestinian state. Be good and you will be rewarded.”
St. Louis Times: “But Mr. Bush does not have a realistic plan for achieving that vision, and his demand for an end to Yasser Arafat's leadership is presumptuous and likely to backfire.”
Anyone seen my cat?: If you live in Northern Virginia, please keep an eye out for a lost cat named Barbu. He's black on top, white on the bottom, has a black beard... he somehow slipped out last night, so everybody be on the lookout! I have to put up signs tonight in our neighborhood, so I figured I would start here...
Council on American Islamic Relations abhors influence of dirty Jewish money:
In the Name of Allah, the Compassionate, the Merciful
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
PRO-ISRAEL LOBBY BUYS ALABAMA HOUSE SEAT SAY MUSLIMS
(WASHINGTON, D.C., 6/26/02) A prominent national Islamic advocacy group is calling Rep. Earl Hilliard's (D-AL) loss Tuesday in a runoff primary in Alabama's 7th Congressional District a "defeat for democracy," an insult to African-Americans and a victory for pro-Israel extremists. (In the heavily Democratic district, the winner of the primary will almost certainly be elected to the House.)
Hilliard's opponent, Artur Davis, had been heavily backed by out-of-state supporters of Israel who opposed the five-term incumbent's criticism of American policies in the Middle East and his support for Palestinian rights. In fact, a CAIR analysis of a recent Davis donor list revealed that 81 percent of his campaign contributions came from outside Alabama, mostly from New York. The donations from the pro-Israel lobby began to flow after Davis traveled to Washington, D.C., to meet with representatives of AIPAC, the American-Israel Public Affairs Committee.
The effort to impose a candidate on a majority African-American rural district in Alabama caused tension between pro-Israel activists and the Congressional Black Caucus. Many African-American leaders and elected officials saw the move as a return to the time when outsiders tried to pick leaders of their community. (Both Hilliard and Davis are African-American.)
"Rep. Hilliard's loss shows that the domestic lobby for a foreign government is willing to use its considerable financial resources to force hand-picked 'leaders' on the African-American community. This is a defeat for democracy and civil rights and a victory for those who would institute a pro-Israel litmus test for American political candidates," said CAIR Board Chairman Omar Ahmad. Ahmad added that our nation's voters deserve representatives who put America first, and are not compromised by allegiance to special interest groups.
Please share your feedback with CAIR, they're always open to discussion: Ibrahim Hooper, 202-488-8787 or 202-489-5108, E-MAIL: cair@cair-net.org;
Ms. Hodan Hassan, 202-488-8787 or 703-861-7294, E-MAIL: hhassan@cair-net.org
John Stewart ("The Daily Show") on Middle East peace: From last night:
"Genuine change was at the core of the President's demands, starting at the top, with Bush stating, quote: 'The Palestinian state will never be created by terror; it will be built through reform. And reform must be more than cosmetic change.' That last sentence, of course, a clear reference to the recent nomination of 'Yassira Arafatwa' for new Palestinian chairwoman.'"
"Actually, Bush did not mention Arafat by name once during his speech, a tactic that backfired after Bush called for the Palestinian leader's removal, and Arafat was overheard telling an advisor, 'I'd hate to be 'that' guy.'"
Saddam: 'US-Zionist Plotting' To Grow 'Fiercer': FBIS offers this translation of an official Iraqi television broadcast (from Baghdad Republic of Iraq Television in Arabic 1700 GMT 25 Jun 02):
Mujahid leader President Saddam Husayn, may God watch over him, has chaired the 29th session of the Council of Ministers. The council discussed the overall political situation. In the course of this discussion, the president said: The US-Zionist plotting against you will grow fiercer, because the Americans and the Zionists can see no action by anyone and can see that you are firm, organized, and progressing under the siege. They can see that there is no problem for which you cannot find a solution, and that you do not defer anything which you believe could improve your living standards until after the siege is lifted.
The Arab masses are more conscious than their governments, but they face continued shocks and attempts to tame them into accepting weakness. You can, therefore, see that the Arab masses are facing huge obstacles placed by their governments. Your responsibility has grown bigger because your duty is no longer to defend your will and cause, but also to protect the Arabs from becoming weak and make them believe that they can play an influential role when they want. The Americans and Jews will therefore not leave you alone, because they do not want to see the return of an Arab model, and youare a model now.
Although we are still students when it comes to reading history and are seeking to preserve the heritage of our great forefathers, there is no one like you who can reject humiliation and progress in such an integrated manner. Although we have not so far reached the full picture, your enemy is seeing what kind of hope you can spread in the hearts. The enemy believes that this nation should be deprived of any opportunity for a long time and that it is you who are confronting this strategy. This is a big burden placed on your shoulders now, which is, at the same time, a big honor.
The council looked into issues listed on its agenda and made the necessary decisions and recommendations. [passage omitted on domestic issues discussed] [Video shows Saddam in civilian clothes conferring with ministers]
Anti-Israeli congressman gets the boot!: Five-term Rep. Earl Hilliard was ousted in the Democratic primary runoff vote yesterday by pro-Israeli Artur Davis. The astonishing victory by Harvard-educated lawyer Artur Davis was tantamount to election because there is no Republican nominee.
Yeehaw! All my info on the race was listed out yesterday.
More coverage in the
AP,
The New York Times,
Washington Post,
Tuscaloosa News, and the
Birmingham News.
And UPI's Capital Comment has a quick report on the ongoing repercussions of the race:
At least one person attending the Annual Black/Jewish Congressional Awards ceremony and reception hosted by the Foundation for Ethnic Understanding and co-sponsored by the NAACP and The World Jewish Congress thought honoree Rep. Shelley Berkley's, D-Nev., remarks were rather curious.
Berkley made a point of saying kind things about Rep. Earl Hilliard, D-Ala., without who's help -- she said -- she would not be in Congress. Hilliard, the first black elected to Congress from Alabama since reconstruction, is currently engaged in a bitter runoff against fellow black Democrat Artur Davis. The principle issue in the race is Israel. Hilliard is receiving active support from the American Muslim community while Davis, some of his opponents charged, is being largely funded by supporters of Israel living in New York City.
Her comments about Hilliard, while supportive, conspicuously stopped short of an endorsement, according to a person at the event. Berkley's congressional press secretary did not, as promised, call to confirm whether or not she had endorsed Hilliard for re-election over Davis. As she is running for re-election, in a newly redrawn congressional district with a large minority population, against a black Republican woman, some people speculate Berkely's coyness may reflect her local political concerns. In any case, people still want to know which side of the Hilliard/Davis fence Berkley is on.
Over the river and through the woods, to Sadaam's house we go: A new poll of 900 registered voters by Fox News shows the president's job approval rating holding steady at 73 percent. The same poll shows that the job approval rating accorded Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein by Americans is not as high. According to the figures, 75 percent of those surveyed would approve if President Bush authorized the CIA to use deadly force to bring down the Iraqi leader and that 55 percent of those surveyed think the United States should just go ahead and assassinate him. The survey also indicates there is division as to who presents a greater threat to the United States. Among respondents, 36 percent said Hussein poses a greater danger than Osama bin Laden while 21 percent think bin Laden is more dangerous. The poll was conducted June 18 and 19 and had a margin of error of +/- 3 percent. (UPI's Capital Comment, Jun. 24)
Pundit reactions to Bush's speech yesterday: Fresh from my mini-vacation, I return to an editorial bonanza regarding Bush's speech. I posted all of this at my Op/ed blog
Opinion Native, but I figured I would put it here too.
There seem to be two categories of articles. The first group is nearly completely supportive of the speech and Bush's plan. The other group is more skeptical, usually because Bush didn't offer enough incentive to the Palestinians to reform. Here's a link to each article separated into two groups with a quote from each:
Supportive Editorials:Boston Herald: "Any electoral competition in these circumstances is likely to degenerate into a contest over who has been and can be the most beastly to Israel."
Chicago Sun-Times: "His policy springs from the fundamental truth that has existed since September of 2000: No Palestinian violence, no Israeli violence."
Cleveland Plain Dealer: "There was, as expected, no room in Bush's long-awaited proposal for the man whose name he did not speak, who for decades has been the central figure in Palestinian affairs - Yasser Arafat."
Houston Chronicle: "And he focused, as he should even if Sept. 11 had never happened, on the current major roadblock to peace: Palestinian terrorism as funded and condoned (and at least at times orchestrated) by Arafat."
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: "...Bush set himself a Mideast peacemaking agenda that is vastly more ambitious - and would require far more presidential leadership - than anything Clinton devised."
NY Daily News: "The future belongs to the peacemakers, not the warmongers."
New York Post: "Can the Palestinian people rise to the occasion? History - not to mention current events - suggests otherwise."
Washington Times: "The president must impress on certain members of his administration that they must not undermine his message, with schemes of their own, in the days ahead."
Skeptical Editorials: Boston Globe: "To help Palestinians avid to reach that democratic destination, Bush will need to assist them more immediately with funds for rebuilding destroyed Palestinian towns and ending Israel's reoccupation of those towns."
Charlotte Observer: "The Palestinians face a difficult challenge. They are asked to build a nation though they exercise none of the powers of nationhood and no guarantee that doing so would achieve their ultimate goals."
Los Angeles Times: "No matter how contemptible Arafat may be, the U.S. needs to tread warily in declaring who is, and is not, a proper leader of other countries or peoples."
New York Times: "The Israelis and Palestinians need a road map in which a concession by one will be followed by a concession from the other."
San Diego Union-Tribune: "For the Mideast quarrel to be fairly resolved, both sides must compromise, and Bush has asked for no compromises from Israel."
USA Today: "The most obvious problem with Bush's plan is that it fails to give Palestinians a realistic prescription."
Washington Post: "He gave little substance yesterday to what, if the Palestinians do reform, he would support with respect to such difficult issues as borders, contiguity and Jerusalem."
"Stand for Israel" to be a Christian version of AIPAC? Christian Coalition founder Ralph Reed has joined with Rabbi Yechiel Eckstein, president of the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews, to laucnh "
Stand for Israel," a non-profit tax-exempt grass roots organization. It will be unable to lobby on specific political issues, but aims to activate the fervent Christian support for Israel found in thousands of churches around the country.
What will Stand for Israel bring to the table? "The ability to mobilize the groups' 100,000 affiliated churches and 250,000 donors to call into Washington at crucial times."
While some Jewish leaders cringe at working with fundamentalist Christians (their stated objection is that their theological beliefs will prevent them from supporting peace initiatives), Stand for Israel's leaders say their organization won't oppose the Israeli government on its peacemaking efforts — regardless of the deal on the table. "Israelis know better than Americans what policies are best," Reed said. "Our role will not be to tell Israel what to do."
"To increase their numbers and to raise funds, Stand for Israel has just launched a $400,000 media campaign aimed at major newspapers, and radio shows including Rush Limbaugh, Dr. Laura Schlessinger and other nationally broadcast conservative shows."
Who is the duly "elected" leader of the Palestinians? Not Yasser: ZionBlog notes that Arafat's term of office
expired in 1999. No new elections have been held.
Note to ZionBlog: That does not mean he has not been elected (he was -- the 1996 election, which was two years late, was rigged and corrupt but he was still "elected"). It does mean he continues in power as an out-and-out DESPOT.
Middle Eastern military budgets: Smarter Harper's Index analyzes and compares the military budgets of
Middle Eastern countries.
Our friends, the Dutch: Gretta Duisenberg, wife of European Central Bank President Wim Duisenberg, has started a flag-waving trend in the Netherlands. The
Palestinian flag, that is. She flies it to defy “the rich Jews” who enable Israel to continue the “colonial oppression of the Palestinian people.”
Alabama primary runoff vote today: pro-Israeli v. anti-Israeli: The race between Artur Davis and Earl Hilliard gets a
reasonable synopsis this morning in the Birmingham News, though the article repeats the canard that Davis was funded by out-of-state money (neglecting that both candidates raised almost all of their funds that way).
National Review Online calls the race "
a sideline skirmish in the war on terror."
Now that permalinks are functioning, see my old posts on this issue to get up to speed:
June 21,
June 17,
June 13 and
May 31.
Still calling blogger experts: What on earth is happening with my
permalinks? My archives exist, and you can reach them from the archive index page, but my permalinks do not function properly... It seems to have something to do with the /?/ in the code, since the archive index links lack that code.
Suggestions via email are ... needed... Thanks to Moe Freedman for trying to help a little...
G.W. Bush on the Middle East: Bush's speech this afternoon:
For too long, the citizens of the Middle East have lived in the midst of death and fear. The hatred of a few holds the hopes of many hostage. The forces of extremism and terror are attempting to kill progress and peace by killing the innocent. And this casts a dark shadow over an entire region.
For the sake of all humanity, things must change in the Middle East. It is untenable for Israeli citizens to live in terror. It is untenable for Palestinians to live in squalor and occupation. And the current situation offers no prospect that life will improve. Israeli citizens will continue to be victimized by terrorists, and so Israel will continue to defend herself, and the situation of the Palestinian people will grow more and more miserable.
My vision is two states, living side by side, in peace and security. There is simply no way to achieve that peace until all parties fight terror.
Yet at this critical moment, if all parties will break with the past and set out on a new path, we can overcome the darkness with the light of hope.
Peace requires a new and different Palestinian leadership, so that a Palestinian state can be born. I call on the Palestinian people to elect new leaders, leaders not compromised by terror.
I call upon them to build a practicing democracy based on tolerance and liberty.
If the Palestinian people actively pursue these goals, America and the world will actively support their efforts. If the Palestinian people meet these goals, they will be able to reach agreement with Israel and Egypt and Jordan on security and other arrangements for independence.
And when the Palestinian people have new leaders, new institutions and new security arrangements with their neighbors, the United States of America will support the creation of a Palestinian state, whose borders and certain aspects of its sovereignty will be provisional until resolved as part of a final settlement in the Middle East.
In the work ahead, we all have responsibilities. The Palestinian people are gifted and capable and I'm confident they can achieve a new birth for their nation.
A Palestinian state will never be created by terror. It will be built through reform. And reform must be more than cosmetic change or a veiled attempt to preserve the status quo. True reform will require entirely new political and economic institutions based on democracy, market economics and action against terrorism.
Today the elected Palestinian legislature has no authority and power is concentrated in the hands of an unaccountable few. A Palestinian state can only serve its citizens with a new constitution which separates the powers of government.
The Palestinian parliament should have the full authority of a legislative body. Local officials and government ministers need authority of their own and the independence to govern effectively.
The United States, along with the European Union and Arab states, will work with Palestinian leaders to create a new constitutional framework and a working democracy for the Palestinian people. And the United States, along with others in the international community, will help the Palestinians organize and monitor fair, multiparty local elections by the end of the year with national elections to follow.
Today, the Palestinian people live in economic stagnation, made worse by official corruption. A Palestinian state will require a vibrant economy, where honest enterprise is encouraged by honest government.
The United States, the international donor community and the World Bank stand ready to work with Palestinians on a major project of economic reform and development. The United States, the EU, the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund are willing to oversee reforms in Palestinian finances, encouraging transparency and independent auditing. And the United States, along with our partners in the developed world, will increase our humanitarian assistance to relieve Palestinian suffering.
Today, the Palestinian people lack effective courts of law and have no means to defend and vindicate their rights. A Palestinian state will require a system of reliable justice to punish those who prey on the innocent. The United States and members of the international community stand ready to work with Palestinian leaders to establish, finance and monitor a truly independent judiciary.
Today, Palestinian authorities are encouraging, not opposing terrorism.
This is unacceptable. And the United States will not support the establishment of a Palestinian state until its leaders engage in a sustained fight against the terrorists and dismantle their infrastructure.
This will require an externally supervised effort to rebuild and reform the Palestinian security services. The security system must have clear lines of authority and accountability and a unified chain of command.
America is pursuing this reform along with key regional states. The world is prepared to help, yet ultimately these steps toward statehood depend on the Palestinian people and their leaders. If they energetically take the path of reform, the rewards can come quickly. If Palestinians embrace democracy, confront corruption and firmly reject terror, they can count on American support for the creation of a provisional state of Palestine.
With a dedicated effort, this state could rise rapidly, as it comes to terms with Israel, Egypt and Jordan on practical issues such as security. The final borders, the capital and other aspects of this state's sovereignty will be negotiated between the parties as part of a final settlement.
Arab states have offered their help in this process, and their help is needed.
I've said in the past that nations are either with us or against us in the war on terror. To be counted on the side of peace, nations must act. Every leader actually committed to peace will end incitement to violence in official media and publicly denounce homicide bombings. Every nation actually committed to peace will stop the flow of money, equipment and recruits to terrorist groups seeking the destruction of Israel, including Hamas, Islamic Jihad and Hezbollah.
Every nation actually committed to peace must block the shipment of Iranian supplies to these groups and oppose regimes that promote terror, like Iraq.
And Syria must choose the right side in the war on terror by closing terrorist camps and expelling terrorist organizations.
Leaders who want to be included in the peace process must show by their deeds and undivided support for peace.
And as we move toward a peaceful solution, Arab states will be expected to build closer ties of diplomacy and commerce with Israel, leading to full normalization of relations between Israel and the entire Arab world.
Israel also has a large stake in the success of a democratic Palestine. Permanent occupation threatens Israel's identity and democracy. A stable, peaceful Palestinian state is necessary to achieve the security that Israel longs for.
So I challenge Israel to take concrete steps to support the emergence of a viable, credible Palestinian state.
As we make progress toward security, Israel forces need to withdraw fully to positions they held prior to Sept. 28, 2000. And consistent with the recommendations of the Mitchell committee, Israeli settlement activity in the occupied territories must stop.
The Palestinian economy must be allowed to develop. As violence subsides, freedom of movement should be restored, permitting innocent Palestinians to resume work and normal life. Palestinian legislators and officials, humanitarian and international workers, must be allowed to go about the business of building a better future. And Israel should release frozen Palestinian revenues into honest, accountable hands.
I've asked Secretary Powell to work intensively with Middle Eastern and international leaders to realize the vision of a Palestinian state, focusing them on a comprehensive plan to support Palestinian reform and institution building.
Ultimately, Israelis and Palestinians must address the core issues that divide them if there is to be a real peace, resolving all claims and ending the conflict between them.
This means that the Israeli occupation that began in 1967 will be ended through a settlement negotiated between the parties, based on U.N. Resolutions 242 and 338, with Israeli withdrawal to secure and recognized borders.
We must also resolve questions concerning Jerusalem, the plight and future of Palestinian refugees, and a final peace between Israel and Lebanon and Israel and a Syria that supports peace and fights terror.
All who are familiar with the history of the Middle East realize that there may be setbacks in this process. Trained and determined killers, as we have seen, want to stop it. Yet the Egyptian and Jordanian peace treaties with Israel remind us that, with determined and responsible leadership, progress can come quickly.
As new Palestinian institutions and new leaders emerge, demonstrating real performance on security and reform, I expect Israel to respond and work toward a final status agreement.
With intensive effort by all of us, agreement could be reached within three years from now. And I and my country will actively lead toward that goal.
I can understand the deep anger and anguish of the Israeli people. You've lived too long with fear and funerals, having to avoid markets and public transportation, and forced to put armed guards in kindergarten classrooms. The Palestinian Authority has rejected your offered hand and trafficked with terrorists. You have a right to a normal life. You have a right to security. And I deeply believe that you need a reformed, responsible Palestinian partner to achieve that security.
I can understand the deep anger and despair of the Palestinian people. For decades you've been treated as pawns in the Middle East conflict. Your interests have been held hostage to a comprehensive peace agreement that never seems to come, as your lives get worse year by year.
You deserve democracy and the rule of law. You deserve an open society and a thriving economy. You deserve a life of hope for your children.
An end to occupation and a peaceful democratic Palestinian state may seem distant, but America and our partners throughout the world stand ready to help, help you make them possible as soon as possible.
If liberty can blossom in the rocky soil of the West Bank in Gaza, it will inspire millions of men and women around the globe, who are equally weary of poverty and oppression, equally entitled to the benefits of democratic government.
I have a hope for the people of Muslim countries. Your commitments to morality and learning and tolerance lead to great historical achievements, and those values are alive in the Islamic world today. You have a rich culture, and you share the aspirations of men and women in every culture. Prosperity and freedom and dignity are not just American hopes or Western hopes, they are universal human hopes. And even in the violence and turmoil of the Middle East, America believes those hopes have the power to transform lives and nations.
This moment is both an opportunity and a test for all parties in the Middle East: an opportunity to lay the foundations for future peace, a test to show who's serious about peace and who is not.
The choice here is stark and simple, the Bible says, "I have set before you life and death, therefore choose life." The time has arrived for everyone in this conflict to choose peace and hope --- and life.
Dead Iraqi children and Sadaam's sick games: The Iraqi dictator says his country's children are dying in their thousands because of the West's embargoes. Matt Welch had the definitive study on those kinds of numbers back in March ("
The Politics of Dead Children",
Reason).
Now, John Sweeney reports in the
Observer that Sadaam inflates the numbers supposedly killed by sanctions not just with air, and with people he killed himself, but with
fake mass baby funerals.
Small coffins, decorated with grisly photographs of dead babies and their ages - 'three days', 'four days', written usefully for the English-speaking media - are paraded through the streets of Baghdad on the roofs of taxis, the procession led by a throng of official mourners.
There is only one problem. Because there are not enough dead babies around, the regime prevents parents from burying infants immediately, in the Muslim tradition, to create more powerful propaganda.
The taxi drivers do what they are told - as everybody does in Saddam's Iraq - to their evident disgust.
It gets even sicker. You were warned...
Primary runoff vote tomorrow: Blacks and Jews at each other's throats on the Hill: JTA catches up on the Hilliard-Davis controversy in
Alabama. If you missed it, go see my latest on the issue, blogged on Friday.
Genocide Bombing? Two months after a White House spokesman coined the phrase "homicide bombing," a member of Canada's Parliament has come up with a new term to describe self-immolators targeting Israeli civilians in discos, pizza parlors and buses: "Genocide bombers."
"Suicide bombing to me is an inappropriate and misleading term," explained MP Irwin Cotler, who is also a world-renowned professor of human rights law. The term homicide bomber, he said, was "a quick attempt to offset the term suicide bombing. It's better than suicide bombing, but I think it should be called what it in fact is."
Cotler tried out his new phrase in the House of Commons on Tuesday, where he gave a minute-long floor speech condemning the "genocidal bombing" that killed 19 Israelis earlier that day in Jerusalem. Then, he personally explained his new term to Prime Minister Jean Chretien, who promptly issued a rare statement on the Middle East. "Canadians are horrified by these brutal attacks," it began. (
Jerusalem Post)
Lebanese Immigrant Found Guilty Of Aiding Hezbollah: The Wall Street Journal (6/24) reports that a
Lebanese immigrant was found guilty of helping to fund the militant group Hezbollah with profits from a multimillion-dollar cigarette-smuggling operation run from North Carolina. A federal jury in Charlotte convicted Mohamad Hammoud, 28-years old, on charges he had provided 'material support' to Hezbollah, which the US has branded as a terrorist organization. Mr. Hammoud and his brother were also found guilty of cigarette smuggling, racketeering and money laundering. Mr. Hammoud is the first person to be tried under provisions of the 1996 federal Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act that make it illegal to provide funding or equipment to foreign terror groups. Friday's verdict shows 'if these kinds of cells are out there we can find them, and we've got the tools to do something about it,' said Kenneth D. Bell, the assistant U.S. attorney who tried the case. 'I don't think this will be the last such case. I think there will be many more.'
