March 7, 2012
Sharing
Mostly a bit of news and a variety of materials that are worthy of being shared.
Let me begin with a brief update on the little boy I've been tracking -- Zakkai. He's making good progress in his recovery and is becoming more like himself. But all is not smooth: he's clingy, which is understandable considering the trauma he's had; wants to be carried on stairs, which he finds difficult to navigate; and still has some discomfort. Since his balance isn't good and he has other problems connected to the surgery on his spine, he has rehabilitation specialists working with him to help him regain his former mobility.
Please God, a matter of time. The family prays for a return to normalcy.
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The Center for Near East Policy Research, which has produced a variety of materials on UNRWA over the years, has just put out a new video on the "Right of Return" as taught in the UNRWA schools.
See this and understand why UNRWA is part of the problem, and why peace is not possible while the Palestinian Arab kids in its classrooms continue to be taught to kill Jews in order to regain "their" land. This is stunning documentation -- you get it from the mouths of students, teachers and administrators themselves (with subtitles). What the kids say is most stunning of all:
This is one of those things that everyone should know about. UNRWA would have people believe that it is a "humanitarian" organization benignly serving a population disenfranchised by Israel.
Please spread this around broadly.
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Lawrence Korb, who served as Assistant Secretary of Defense during the Jonathan Pollard affair, was here this week. You can find here (scroll down a bit) a video clip from his news conference on Tuesday, making the case for Jonathan's release. He provides important background information:
Read: 'Pollard Didn't Deserve to Receive a Life Sentence'
Read: 'Pollard Didn't Deserve to Receive a Life Sentence'
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Unreal. Incredible. But no surprise in this unreal and incredible world. John Brennan, who by all accounts makes Chuck Hagel look good, has been confirmed by the Senate as the next CIA head.
What is there to say that hasn't already been said?
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Barry Rubin, whom I cite often because of his sharp analyses, gave me a laugh today. And when I can laugh about Secretary of State Kerry, I think it's worth sharing:
Said Rubin:
"In practically his first outing as secretary of state abroad, John Kerry made some remarkable statements in a meeting with young Germans. The main thing being widely quoted is this:
"'In America, you have a right to be stupid if you want to be,' he said. 'And we tolerate it. We somehow make it through that. Now, I think that’s a virtue. I think that’s something worth fighting for.”'
"Of course, there’s a right to be stupid in America! Indeed, just this week it’s been expanded into having a right to be simultaneously stupid and secretary of defense!"
Rubin also quoted Kerry saying something else so incredibly insensitive and impolitic that I did a double-take:
"You know, education, if you make the most of it, if you study hard and you do your homework, and you make an effort to be smart, uh, you, you can do well. If you don’t, you get stuck in Iraq."
For those of us who might doubt that even Kerry would really say anything quite so obtuse, we are provided with a video clip:
America is in a heap of trouble.
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It was announced yesterday that Obama has decided to skip a planned speech in the Knesset when he's here, opting for a more "politically neutral" venue instead. Apparently he's afraid of being interrupted by right wing MKs.
MKs Avi Wurtzman (Habayit Hayehudi) and Tzipi Hotovely (Likud-Beiteinu) have written to the president urging him to reconsider.
US "sources" are saying that rumors that the president will be demanding a timetable for withdrawals from Netanyahu are not true -- that he intends to present a "general framework" for peace and no more. Do not ask me what a "general framework" means, or how it differs from the 100 previous frameworks that failed.
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Who knows, by the time I next write, there may be a coalition. There was no way Netanyahu was going to miss that March 16 deadline set by Obama, upon which his coming would depend.
For a while now it's been a question of who blinks first and according to latest rumors, it's Yair Lapid who has, surrendering his demand for the Foreign Ministry (which is being saved for Lieberman). Apparently agreement is now close.
There's a great deal yet to discover.
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© Arlene Kushner. This material is produced by Arlene Kushner, functioning as an independent journalist. Permission is granted for it to be reproduced only with proper attribution.
If it is reproduced and emphasis is added, the fact that it has been added must be noted.
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