Flying Flotilla To Gaza Will Flout US Law To Aid Hamas

IMRA notes that it is being reported that there is now a plan to send a flotilla to Gaza by air next year:

A pro-Palestinian group based in the US will send a plane loaded with aid to the Gaza Strip in defiance of Israel's air and sea blockade, an official said Sunday.

"We intend to send an aircraft to Gaza in much the same way boats were used -- without going through Israeli or Egyptian airspace," said Paul Larudee, an organizer with the California-based Free Palestine Movement sponsoring the flight.

Authorities in Gaza are supportive of the initiative and are working to locate a landing site, Larudee said. Gaza's now-defunct Yasser Arafat International Airport is not being considered, he said.

In the meantime, Free Palestine Movement officials will look for a plane designed for rough landings and takeoffs such as those used in Alaska and other locales lacking proper aviation facilities, Larudee said. The plan is to send a light aircraft equipped with material sometime in the spring of 2011, after the next sea voyage.

"Breaking the blockade by air may be even more feasible than by sea. An aircraft cannot be boarded while in flight, and the right aircraft can land almost anywhere in Gaza," a statement on the group's website says.

Following on the heels of the flotilla being planned by Rashid Khalidi--Obama's friend with ties to the PLO--maybe it is time to address the legal issues associated with American assistance to terrorist groups.

Jonathan Schanzer asks Do Gaza Flotillas Provide Material Support to Hamas?--and refers to former federal prosecutor Andy McCarthy to look into some answers:

McCarthy notes that it is illegal for Americans “to furnish or fit out a vessel in the service of any foreign entity ‘to cruise, or commit hostilities’ against a nation with which the U.S. is at peace.” Israel, of course, is an American ally that is imposing a policy in Gaza that Washington officially supports.

McCarthy also notes that the Logan Act prohibits U.S. citizens “from carrying on ‘any correspondence or intercourse’ with any foreign government… to ‘defeat the measures of the United States.’” To this end, McCarthy then suggests that the Justice Department should investigate flotilla organizers’ communications with the de facto Hamas government in Gaza, particularly if they seek to undermine U.S. policy.

In the end, it is McCarthy’s third point that is the most convincing: The Justice Department, under the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act, could also investigate American flotilla organizers for providing material support to a terrorist group.

The application of the law has been further defined by the Supreme Court:

According to a Supreme Court decision in June (Holder v. Humanitarian Law Project), the prohibition against material support can apply even when the offerings are not money or weapons.

...However, as Chief Justice John Roberts noted, even if the support is administered with peaceful intent, it can lighten the financial burden of a terrorist group, and thus allow it to expend resources on terrorist activities.

It is all well and good for left wing groups to pursue their agendas, but when they intend to break the law in order to do it, it is time to see whether the US government takes it own laws seriously.

Technorati Tag: Gaza Flotilla and Paul Larudee .

Research Indicates That Arabic Is Harder to Learn Than Hebrew

Thinking of learning Arabic on a whim? Think again:

Haifa University’s Professor Zohar Eviatar and neuropsychologist Dr. Rafik Ibrahim of Rambam Medical Center have shown that the complexities of the Arabic language impede the right brain from taking part in learning to read it. This is largely because of the graphic complexities of the language, in which very similar shapes stand for different letters, while the same letter is depicted in a variety of ways depending on whether it is in the beginning, middle, or end of a word.

...Asked why Hebrew-speakers do not have the same difficulty, Eviatar told Israel National News, “It’s true that many Hebrew letters are built around similar square shapes. However, only five Hebrew letters change their shape depending on whether they end a word or not, while many Arabic letters do so, and even take on different shapes in other parts of the word.”

While this difference may not matter to you and me, it may matter to more and more students in Israel since Arabic to become compulsory in Israeli schools:

Tell Me Again--Why Is It A Novel Idea To Strike Back At Hamas During Peace Talks?

...Yitzhak Rabin and Shimon Peres deemed the suicide bombings that followed the 1993 Oslo Accord “crimes against the peace process” and the victims, "sacrifices for peace".
Evelyn Gordon

Sacrifice: to surrender or give up, or permit injury or disadvantage to, for the sake of something else.
Dictionary.com

Israel may not have responded militarily to the murder of 4 Israelis by Hamas terrorists, but Al Jazeera reports Israel has responded to rockets fired from Gaza:

Israel has launched a series of air raids against targets in southern Gaza just hours after Palestinian fighters fired a rocket over the border.

Darn That Pesky Word "Is"--Seems That Obama's Tripped Over It

At least that is what appears from an AP memo that challenges Obama's claim in his Tuesday speech that "the American combat mission in Iraq has ended".

Instead, according to the AP 'Combat in Iraq is not over, and we should not uncritically repeat suggestions that it is':

Hezbollah Again Caught Violating UN Resolution 1701

Back in July, I blogged about how Israel Publishes Maps Pinpointing Hezbollah Weapon Caches--Near Schools And Hospitals, including video.

Now Hezbollah has helpfully revealed more weapons that it had illegally stored in southern Lebanon. According to Ya Libnan:

A large explosion rocked a village in southern Lebanon Friday, according to a Lebanese security source.

The explosion took place inside the village of Shehabiyeh , near the border with Israel.

According to a witness, the sounds of further blasts continue to be heard in Shehabiyeh , as ambulances and firefighters were rushing to the area of the initial blast.

Preliminary reports from security sources in southern Lebanon said the house that seems to be the center of the blast belongs to a Hezbollah member and might have been an arms depot.

New York Times On Anti-Zionism--From 40 Years Ago

One may oppose Israeli policy, resist Zionism or criticize worldwide Jewish support of Israel without being anti-Semitic. But when one draws on the age-old hostility to Jews to strengthen a political position, when one gives credence to the charge of a worldwide Jewish plot to rule, when one attacks those with whom one has political and economic difference, when one implies that Jews are guilty of some primal evil, then one is guilty of anti-Semitism, and one is engaged in the same racism that all decent men insist on eliminating…
Seymour Martin Lipset

Sound familiar?
This is from an article in The New York Times Sunday Magazine--from 1971, entitled: 'The Socialism of Fools'; The New Left calls it "anti-Zionism," but it's no different from the anti-Semitism of the Old Right
Apparently, many people have still not gotten the message.

Harry's Place has some more excerpts:

Barack and Netanyahu: How Long Will The Honeymoon Last?

Barry Rubin examines the change in the political landscape that has resulted in Barack Hearts Bibi:

What is the basis of this new era? When it came to office, the Obama Administration was in radical mode, determined to distance itself from Israel as a key to winning over Arabs and Muslims, assuming that peace could be achieved with sufficient pressure on Israel as the only requirement, and hostile to Israel’s current government.

A measure of reality eventually set in, involving a large number of factors ranging from the lack of Arab cooperation, to Iran’s intransigence, the lack of progress in engaging Syria, and the tasks of dealing with Iraq and Afghanistan. The administration’s head-on charge over demanding a freeze of construction on settlements only produced a one-year-plus delay on Israel-Palestinian negotiations. The Palestinian Authority (PA) was uncooperative. American public opinion was unhappy with the policy toward Israel.

This is not to say that the situation is simple but by September 2010 things are very different.

News Flash: Jewish Fathers Get As Little Respect As Abbas

Being an Abba myself, I have to say that this is not really news to me.

Hat tip: LBD

Technorati Tag: Abbas.

Mideast Peace Talks: Apparently, They Can't Even Figure Out What "Agreement" Means

You cannot separate process from substance
George Mitchell on the current peace talk

And what exactly is the process--I mean, we know that Netanyahu and Abbas are going to be meeting every 2 weeks, but what is the first step?

“The parties themselves have suggested and agreed that the logical way to proceed is to try to reach a framework agreement first,” Mitchell told journalists at the State Department Thursday, defining it as “not an interim agreement and more detailed than a declaration of principles but less than a full-fledged treaty.”

Well, at least there is no argument over the shape of the table--at least not as far as we know.
Still, if such double-speak has already begun, then we are in for a long year.

Technorati Tag: Mideast Peace Talks.

Video: The Inevitable Hillary Ad--And So It Begins...Again (Update: I wonder...)

August 2, 2005:

Hillary Ads Hit The Airwaves
Group With No Tie To NY Senator Promotes 2008 Run For President

Hillary Clinton isn't running for president, but her campaign already has started in New Hampshire.

A group, Hillary Now!, this week will run TV ads in Manchester, Concord, Portsmouth, Salem and Nashua, pushing the New York senator for president in 2008. The group has no official ties to Clinton's office, but its president, Bob Kunst, of Miami Beach, said he is laying the foundation for her possible bid for the presidency.

10 Tips On How To Volunteer Your Way To A Paid Job

A Mother in Israel has a guest post up on Job Mob--10 Best Practices to Volunteer Your Way To a Paid Job:

Volunteering in a non-profit organization is a great way to build up skills, make contacts for your job search, and keep up your morale. But merely offering your services is not enough. And you never know, your volunteer job might even become a paid position.

Take a look. The tips are helpful even if you’re not looking for a job right now--and you can always share these tips with your favorite volunteer.

Technorati Tag: Job Hunting.