Abbas And The Murder of Ido Zoldan

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Message from DAVID BEDEIN, CENTER FOR NEAR EAST POLICY RESEARCH
Media1@actcom.co.il
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Help us publicize these basic facts for the American and Israeli public to know whom they are dealing with…before, during and after the Annapolis summit

WANTED FOR MURDER OF IDO ZOLDAN: MACHMUD ABBAS, A.K.A. ABU MAZEN

The Al Aksa Brigades of the Fatah, commanded by Machmud Abbas, aka Abu Mazen, proudly took immediate credit for the drive by murder of Ido Zoldan, age 29, father of two little children, on Monday night.

Meanwhile, Abbas refuses to disarm or disband the Al Aksa Brigades of the Fatah which operate under his direct command.

Even worse: Neither the Israel nor the American government demand that Abbas disarm or disband the Al Aksa Brigades, even though the Al Aksa Brigades has been defined as an illegal terrorist organization by both the US and Israeli governments.

Even worse: both the US and Israel offer arms and ammunition to Abbas.

Do the American and Israeli people know this?

Help us publicize these basic facts for the American and Israeli public to know whom they are dealing with…before, during and after the Annapolis summit.

LET MY PEOPLE KNOW.

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About Ido Zildan z"l

On Nov 19, 2007 - Ido Zoldan, 29, of Shavei Shomron was killed in a shooting attack near Kedumim in the northern West Bank, when terrorists opened fire from a passing car at around 11:30 pm.

A terrorist cell was waiting in ambush near Kedumim, in Samaria, for Israeli vehicles. When Ido, who was riding alone, came into range, the enemy attackers sprayed the vehicle with gunfire. Ido was mortally wounded. Paramedics who arrived at the scene were unable to save his life. The Fatah Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades claimed responsibility for the terror attack as "an act of protest against the Annapolis conference."

Ido was born and raised in Kedumim, where he met his wife, Tehila. They had also "adopted" a group of Ethiopian children, helping them integrate into Israeli life.

Ido Zoldan was buried in Kedumim. He is survived by his wife Tehila and his two small children, three-year-old Aharon and one-year-old Rachel.

In the event a Palestinian state is created, should we expect similar murders of Israelis every time Palestinian Arabs feel the need to protest some action of their Israeli neighbors?

Just asking.

Technorati Tag: Israel and Ido Zoldan and Annapolis and David Bedein.

Jerusalem Rally on Sunday November 25 on Har HaZeitim (Important Update!)

Update: I received an email from One Jerusalem:

Is not a rally and is not on har hazeitim - it is a campaign launching event at the Hass Promenade.

I will post more info when I have it. One Jerusalem is not the one who sent me the original email.

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From an email:

Join Natan Sharansky and Israelis from all parts of the country on Har HaZeitim on Sunday evening November 25, the eve of the Annapolis summit, to declare support for Jerusalem as the eternal undivided capital of the Jewish people.

What: Jerusalem Rally - sponsored by One Jerusalem
Where: Mount of Olives
When: This Sunday, November 25, 2007
Time: 5:30 PM (17:30)

There will be buses leaving from the Jerusalem Theater (corner of Chopin and Marcus, Talbiyeh) Sunday at 5 p.m. (and returning about 8 p.m.) Reserve by calling Shalom Helman, 052-477-6275 or email helman-s@bezeqint.net.

For more information visit http://www.jer1.org.il in Hebrew and http://www.onejerusalem.org in English, or contact Eitan at 050-723-9438 Behar.eitan@gmail.com

Technorati Tag: Israel and Jerusalem and Annapolis.

Where The GOP Stands On Annapolis

They don't stand with President Bush--nor with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. And they seem pretty unanimous about it:

But with the president embracing the mediation effort he largely rejected in his first term, the Republicans who hope to replace him sound like Mr. Bush did in 2002 when he made changes in the leadership of the Palestinian Authority a prerequisite for the final status talks he hopes the Annapolis meeting will spur.

Mayor Giuliani's chief foreign affairs adviser, Charles Hill, yesterday told the New York Sun, "Israel, as a sovereign ally, can decide with whom it wants to negotiate. But it would be very risky to push toward Palestinian political goals when the institutional foundations of statehood do not exist."

Another Republican presidential candidate, a former senator from Tennessee, Fred Thompson, told a group of about 100 people in Sioux City, Iowa that he saw no reason for optimism with regards to Annapolis. "There's not reason for great optimism there to tell you the truth," he said, according to footage captured from the NBC affiliate in Sioux City "This has been a longstanding thing. …These are tough, tough problems, and a part anyway, of the Palestinian Authorities are committed, apparently still, to the destruction of Israel."

Mr. Thompson is only the latest major Republican candidate to throw cold water on the pending Annapolis summit. On October 16, the former governor of Massachusetts, Mitt Romney, told the Republican Jewish Coalition, "There's just not anyone to talk to right now who has those institutions in place." Senator McCain of Arizona on October 30 warned against going for a permanent solution all at once. "An encompassing, all encompassing, one-step solution was tried by former President Clinton and I think that's probably a very, very difficult accomplishment," he said.

Mr. Giuliani kicked off the Annapolis skepticism among his party's presidential nominees in August with his essay in Foreign Affairs. He wrote, "It is not in the interest of the United States, at a time when it is being threatened by Islamist terrorists, to assist the creation of another state that will support terrorism."

At a time that President Bush is at least as open to criticism for his policy and actions with Israel and the Palestinians, Democrats have consistently limited themselves to criticism to Iraq. Now their criticism of Iraq is somewhat muted as even the liberal press has been forced to recognize that the surge is being successful--yet they have yet to criticize a conference with 2 weak leaders, pressuring Israel, with limited advanced preparation to ensure success...

Let's face it, the Democrats could easily condemn many specific elements of Bush's policy and handling of the Israel-Palestinian issue. Instead they talk about the need to do more than what Bush is doing and have had a hands off position on the Annapolis conference. Instead, they offer vague assurances of friendship and concern for Israel.

Some friends.

Technorati Tag: Israel and Annapolis and Democrats and Republicans.

Welcome To Annapolis-on-Turtle Bay

Apparently the guest list to the Annapolis Conference has been expanded. After all, somebody is bound to show up:

The following countries and groups have been invited:

Algeria
Arab League Secretary General
Bahrain
Brazil
Canada
China
Egypt
EU Commission
EU High Rep
EU Pres Portugal
France
Germany
Greece
India
Indonesia
Iraq
Italy
Japan
Jordan
Lebanon
Malaysia
Mauritania
Morocco
Norway
Oman
Pakistan
Poland
Qatar
Russia
Saudi Arabia
Senegal
Slovenia
South Africa
Spain
Sudan
Sweden
Syria
Quartet Special Envoy Tony Blair
Tunisia
Turkey
United Arab Emirates
United Kingdom
UNSYG
Yemen

Observers:
IMF
World Bank

They may as well hold the thing at the UN at this point. Arabs and their friends will be there, but what about Israel?

Syria and Lebanon are both invited--while they're at it, will this august group insist that these two iron out the timetable for the complete withdrawal of the Syrian presence from Lebanon, and maybe even get Syria to agree to stop assassinating Lebanese leaders? Odd that Rice sees this conference as a way to isolate Hamas and they turns around and invites Syria who plays host to Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal.

Is there anything about this Annapolis summit that is not designed to put pressure on Israel alone?

Technorati Tag: Israel and Annapolis.

One Jerusalem Launches Special Jerusalem Campaign

As part of a new project, One Jerusalem has launched a special website--currently in Hebrew--but with an English version on the way. Meanwhile, you should still take a look at the film on the top right of the homepage. One Jerusalem has indicated that Israeli censors have refused to show this fact-based film on television.

There is also an interactive map on the bottom left--in English and Hebrew--that explains the security dangers inherent in giving away any part of Jerusalem.

See also the special Sharansky interview.

Jerusalem One plans to combine their web-campaign with radio and grassroots projects in order to demonstrate to the Olmert Government and the world the extent to which Jews all over oppose negotiating away any part of Jerusalem. The website will host Facebook and other social networking communities in support of a united Jerusalem governed by the State of Israel, and will have live broadcasts about life in Jerusalem 24/7. They are also planning various videos, petitions, forums, articles, blogs, and more.

The Jerusalem Post has coverage of Natan Sharansky, One Jerusalem's Chairman, leading off the project with a news conference in Jerusalem this morning.

Take a look now--and stay tuned for more.

Technorati Tag: Israel and Jerusalem and Annapolis.

We'll Always Have Annapolis

Whatever else Annapolis will be known for, it will not be associated with Oslo and Madrid, to its everlasting credit. Bret Stephens writes:

No wonder, then, that as skepticism about Annapolis grows its perceived significance shrinks. What was originally billed as a conference is now being described by the State Department as a "meeting." What was originally envisaged as a three-day event has become a one-day event. There is, as of this writing, no firm list of participants. And there are whispers the date of the meeting may be pushed back, perhaps to December.

As for the agenda, there isn't one. Substantive discussions have been ruled out. There was some hope that Israelis and Palestinians would agree to a joint "declaration of principles," but they could not come up with a common text. Now there's talk of issuing separate declarations, or doing without declarations altogether.

His best line in the piece:

Ariel Sharon is still in a coma, but it's his successor who's really on life support.

And the Annapolis 'meeting' is DOA.

Technorati Tag: Israel and Annapolis.

Annapolis: "Diplomacy With The Devil"

Danielle Pletka, vice president for foreign and defense policy studies at the American Enterprise Institute, has an editorial in The New York Times entitled Diplomacy With The Devil. She writes about the Bush administrations sudden search for a legacy as it pursues questionable policies in North Korea and the Middle East.

When Bush first started out as president, things were much different:

Back in 2001, the newly minted Bush administration was scornful of Bill Clinton’s efforts to build a Palestinian state with a terrorist government in place. Mr. Bush refused to allow Yasir Arafat to darken the White House door and said he would “not support the establishment of a Palestinian state until its leaders engage in a sustained fight against the terrorists.” Now Hamas is in control of Gaza, Mahmoud Abbas is the powerless president of a Palestinian Authority and members of his Fatah forces tried to assassinate Israel’s prime minister.

Nonetheless, Ms. Rice has been to the region repeatedly and recently sought advice from not just Bill Clinton but, of all people, Jimmy Carter. Next week, she’ll be playing host to Prime Minister Ehud Olmert of Israel and his Palestinian antagonists at a cozy chat session in Annapolis, Md. (None seem as committed to the meeting as Ms. Rice — originally expected to last three days, it has reportedly been pared down to one.)

Pletka notes Rice's apparent indifference to Israel's mission in Syria back in September, to which her response was, “issues of proliferation do not affect the Palestinian-Israeli peace efforts we are making”--which is an odd response if those who claim the Annapolis summit is an exercise in forming a coalition against Iran, with whom Syria is closely allied and dependent.

Pletka concludes:

By kowtowing to the conventional wisdom of what a secretary of state should do, Condoleezza Rice is making her legacy dependent on the future behavior of a North Korean tyrant and Palestinian pretenders. Ultimately, that will serve neither selfish nor national interests.

Pletka compares Bushes current policies with Bill Clinton's policies when he was in office.
Indeed, what was old is new again.

Technorati Tag: Israel and Annapolis.

Check Out: Coordinating Council On Jerusalem

The Coordinationg Council on Jerusalem (CCJ) is a coalition of Jewish groups from across the political and religious spectrum. Here is a condensed version of their 'about' page:

Who we are
CCJ is a broad-based coalition of major American Jewish organizations which take differing views on many matters, but which unite around the firm conviction that Jerusalem is the Capital of the Jewish People and the heritage of all Jews everywhere and that we oppose any negotiations which involve possible concessions of Jewish sovereignty or control over Jerusalem.

Our Mission
CCJ’s mission is to help unite, focus, facilitate and leverage the activities of CCJ’s member organizations and to use all educational, diplomatic, political and other legal means to ensure that Jerusalem remains intact, secure, undivided and under Jewish sovereignty.

CCJ’s activities include:

• Coordinating Initiatives Among CCJ Organizations and with Other Organizations in Israel and Elsewhere
• Publicizing and Supporting Relevant Initiatives of CCJ Member Organizations
• Educating the Public
• Organizing and Leveraging World Rabbinic Leadership
• Mobilizing Grassroots and Youth in Support of CCJ’s Mission
• Organizing Mass Events in Appropriate Venues
• Lobbying and Working with Policymakers in Israel and the Unites States and Elsewhere, as Appropriate

Check out their web site.

Technorati Tag: Israel and Jerusalem and Annapolis.

Haveil Havalim #141 Is Up!

This week, Haveil Havalim #141--The Save Israel Edition is being hosted by Yid With Lid. Lots of posts from around the JBlogosphere with the emphasis on Israel, Jerusalem, and Annapolis.

Don't forget--you can submit entries to Haveil Havalim using the submission form at BlogCarnival,where you can also find past posts and future hosts.

Please remember that the cutoff for nominations is now Friday.

Upcoming hosts include:
Nov 25 - #142 - Soccer Dad (?)
Dec 2 - #143 - Soccer Dad (?)
Dec 9 - #144 - Soccer Dad (?)
Dec 16 - #145 - Soccer Dad (?)

You can email Soccer Dad (dhgerstman at hotmail dot com) if you'd like to host an upcoming edition.

Listed at the Truth Laid Bear Ubercarnival.

Technorati Tags: Blog carnivals, haveil havalim, Israel, Judaism.

Rabbi Shafran: No. We're Sorry. Not Jerusalem

NO. WE’RE SORRY. NOT JERUSALEM.

Rabbi Avi Shafran

This morning I counted. There were at least ten times the Hebrew name of Jerusalem, or its synonym Zion, passed my lips. Before breakfast.

There was “Jerusalem, praise G-d,” “May You shine a new light on Zion,” “the Builder of Jerusalem,” and many more throughout the Jewish morning prayer service.

And then there were the other references to Jerusalem but without her name, like “May it be Your will… that the Holy Temple be rebuilt, speedily in our days” and “the city called by Your name.”

After a bowl of cereal, the blessing “Al Hamichya” would mention Jerusalem two more times. And for any meals including bread that might have followed, one of the main blessings that comprise the grace after meals would have the Holy City as its subject as well, beginning with a reference to “Jerusalem Your city” and ending “Who in His mercy builds Jerusalem.”

And, then, in each of the day’s two remaining prayer services, as in the morning one, the silent “Amidah” prayer includes a similar blessing.

It is hard to believe that any people, entity or government could arrogate to claim a closer connection than the Jewish one to the city nestled in the Judean hills, the city toward which praying Jews for millennia have faced thrice daily, and face to this day.

And it is even harder to believe that a government of a self-described Jewish State would even consider, much less announce, its contemplation of placing Jerusalem on the cutting block of negotiations with an enemy.

Yet that is what is happening before our incredulous eyes.

There are Jews who, whether on religious or nationalistic grounds, reject without qualification the very idea of territorial compromise. Many of the religious leaders of the haredi world, however, have clearly stated that political sovereignty over land does not trump the attainment of peace and security. None of us haredi Jews deny, G-d forbid, the holiness of any part of the Jewish Land. But we know that the true, complete (territorially as well as spiritually) “Jewish State” will arrive only when the Messiah does, and that the Third Holy Temple will be built by the hand of not man but G-d. Thus, the reflexive form in our prayer: “May it be Your will that the Temple be [re]built.”

That said, though, “territorial compromise” with an adversary that includes duplicitous, hate-filled elements – elements that celebrate violence and make no secret of their goal of destroying Israel, elements that have time and again asserted themselves at will, brushing away the ostensibly more moderate among them like so much lint – is, to put it mildly, foolhardy. And the Israeli leadership’s apparent readiness to treat even Jerusalem, the very wellspring of the Holy Land’s holiness, like a salami to be shared merits an adjective considerably less mild.

Mere days before this writing, we were reminded of what lies on the “other side.” A Fatah rally in Gaza was attacked by Hamas forces who killed six and injured dozens. The PLO’s chief negotiator publicly rejected the notion that the Palestinians would ever recognize Israel as a Jewish State. Israeli leaders would have to be seriously deluded to imagine that offering such people a part of Jerusalem will result in anything like a secure city.

One can only add to our prayers the hope that those political leaders somehow experience some flash of recognition of what they are contemplating. That they blink a few times, shake their heads and remember just what Jerusalem means to the Jewish People. That they come to open a Jewish prayer book and not only read the words but pay attention to them; and say the grace after meals, doing the same.

And that they then turn to their adversaries and say, without rancor but with full determination: “No. We’re sorry. Not Jerusalem.”

To be sure, from a haredi perspective, it doesn’t make any inherent difference what temporal flag flies above the hewn stones of Jerusalem’s walls. The city’s holiness is neither heralded nor preserved by such banners. But it is a fallacy of the most dangerous sort to imagine that the cause of peace could possibly be advanced by surrendering the heart of the Jewish People.

© 2007 AM ECHAD RESOURCES

[Rabbi Shafran is director of public affairs for Agudath Israel of America.]

Technorati Tag: Israel and Annapolis and Jerusalem.

IMRA: Secretary Rice Fails As Amateur Pollster

Dr. Lerner makes the same point that I made (in Condoleezza Rice--Making It Up As She Goes Along), only more forcefully, that when Condoleezza Rice claims to have the numbers to back up this desperate rush for peace--she doesn't. Dr. Lerner also gives an insight into what Israelis are really thinking.

Secretary Rice fails as amateur pollster

Dr. Aaron Lerner
Date: 15 November 2007

It seems that every time U.S. Secretary of State Rice or Israel President Shimon Peres make public remarks about the Arab Israeli conflict they don their amateur pollster's caps and proclaim that the Israeli street supports the measures that they advocate.

And they are wrong.

Now it could very well be that most of the English speaking Israelis that Ms. Rice encounters are eager for a "land for piece" (of paper) deal and certainly Mr. Peres' acolytes may share his virtual reality take on the situation. But you can't gauge the attitude of the street by relying on such a skewed sample.

Polls are far from exact tools in measuring public opinion, but they are magnitudes more accurate than the Rice-Peres straw polls.

One of the most fascinating findings of polls of the Israeli public is the consistent response to the following basic question:

Do you agree or disagree with the following statement: "Most of the Palestinians have not accepted Israel's existence and would destroy it if they could."

Here are the results for Israeli Jews polled in the Peace Index October 29-30 poll:

Agree a lot 44.5%
Considerably agree 20.2%
Middle 13.2%
Considerably disagree 11.2%
Disagree a lot 7.9%
Don't know/No reply 3.0%

Again, the question didn't read "the Palestinians would like to destroy Israel if they don't get a sovereign Palestinian state". It didn't even say "the Palestinians would like to destroy Israel if all their demands are not met."

Rice confuses Fatah for the NAACP and keeps on thinking that if the Palestinians would just be given a sovereign state and "dignity" (which apparently means not being subject to vital Israeli security operations) that peace would reign eternally . Peres continues to doggedly adhere to his flush toilet theory of peace, arguing essentially that the ideological drive to destroy the Jewish State can be neutralized via an improved living standard.

But that's not what the Israeli street thinks.

The Israeli public, at least when it stops for a moment to think, views policy issues through the prism of the fundamental truth that Rice and Peres deny: that regardless of what concessions we make, most of the Palestinians have not accepted Israel's existence and would destroy it if they could.

Sure, the "Dumbo" questions can get some respondents to say that they support withdrawals in return for "real peace". But "real peace" is hardly guaranteed by the creation of a sovereign Palestinian state (and, Dumbo's ears can flap enough to make the elephant fly).

That's why the Peace Index found that 59% oppose, in exchange for a peace agreement, transferring the Arab neighborhoods of Jerusalem to Palestinian sovereignty so that they can serve as the capital of Palestine (33% support it).

A Maagar Mohot poll of Israeli Jews 18-26 October (commissioned by the Israel Policy Center for Promoting Parliamentary Democracy and Jewish Values in Israeli Public Life) released this week is chock-a-bloc with similar results:

In light of the current situation of the PA, do you support or oppose that Israel should commit to transfer parts of Jerusalem to Palestinian control??

Oppose 69% Maybe 11% Support 17% Other replies 3%

In light of the current situation of the PA, do you support or oppose that Israel should commit to remove the IDF from most of Judea and Samaria, and transfer it to Palestinian control?

Oppose 61% Maybe 15% Support 22% Other replies 2%

In light of the experience with the disengagement, do you support or oppose that Israel should commit to a mass evacuation of Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria?

Oppose 65% Maybe 13% Support 19% Other replies 3%

Do you agree or disagree with the claim that in light of the experience of the past Israel should deal with the Palestinians with a tougher approach and not seek simple ways to solve the Israel-Arab conflict?

Agree 65% Disagree 28% Other replies 7%

And it goes on.

No. The Israeli street doesn't share the convictions of either Ms. Rice or Mr. Peres.

They can argue their positions. But they certainly have no business claiming that it is the voice of the Israeli street.

Technorati Tag: Israel and Annapolis and Condoleezza Rice and Shimon Peres.

Annapolis Conference Is Not Inspiring Confidence

Is this any way to run a peace conference?

US keeps people guessing as Mideast meet approaches

Just two weeks before an international Middle East conference in Annapolis, Washington has the world guessing about a gathering aimed at jumpstarting the Israeli-Palestinian peace process.

Officials have not yet announced the conference's exact date, its duration, described the level of representation or released an agenda, sowing doubts about its prospects and causing confusion among Washington's allies.

American, Israeli and European diplomatic sources have all said that the full conference will be held on Tuesday, November 27, following a dinner the previous evening.

But US State Department spokesman Sean McCormack refused again Wednesday to announce a date.

"We may have a date, but I'm not prepared to share it yet," he said, triggering laughter. "I'm not going to make any announcements about the Annapolis meeting. Invitations have not yet gone out."

McCormack refused to say why the government of US President George W. Bush, which in July announced plans for an Middle East conference in the autumn, was keeping details secret and risking the impression it was badly prepared.

We are way past just 'risking' the imprerssion that this entire attempt at a peace process is badly prepared.

Technorati Tag: Israel and Annapolis.

Conference Call With John Bolton

Yesterday, Ambassador John Bolton--author of the recently published memoir Surrender Is Not An Option--spoke with bloggers at a conference call hosted by One Jerusalem.

Bloggers attending were: Jerry Gordon from Israpundit, Omri from Mere Rhetoric, Rick Richman from Jewish Current Issues, Avi Green from Tel-chai Nation, Tigerhawk, Pamela from Atlas Shrugs, Anne from Boker Tov Boulder, Don at Liberally Conservative, Carl at Israel Matzav, and Soccer Dad.

You can hear what Bolton said here.

Bolton left his position as US Ambassador to the UN when his year was up, in part due to his disagreement with the direction that US policy had begun to take. Among his disagreements is US policy towards Israel during Bush's second term and Condoleezza's push for the Annapolis summit at a time when both Olmert and Abbas are weak and the US reputation has been put on the line.

Listen to what else John Bolton had to say.

Technorati Tag: Israel and Annapolis and John Bolton and Jerusalem.

AFSI Rally at Annapolis - Reserve for Bus Nov 27th

From an email I received.

AFSI Rally at Annapolis - Reserve for Bus Nov 27th

Protest Against The Division of Jerusalem and Eretz Yisrael

AFSI has obtained a permit to demonstrate in Annapolis.
The conference has tentatively been set for November 27th.

The permit is flexible should another date be chosen.
AFSI will be providing bus service from Penn Station in NYC -- leaving at 7:00 am.
We will arrive back in NYC at 8:00 pm.
Estimated travel time is 3½ hours. We will be in Annapolis for approximately 4 hrs.

The bus fare is $30.00.
Please bring your own lunch.

Please contact us:
1) to make reservations for the bus
2) if you are meeting us in Annapolis – for organizational purposes.

Americans For a Safe Israel
212 828 2424
afsi@rcn.com

Technorati Tag: Israel and Annapolis.

This Parshat Veyetzei Is Parshat Yerushalayim!

From an email I received from the OU:

Join Shuls throughout the nation for Shabbat Yerushalayim this Shabbat, Parshat Veyetzei. The OU sent your Shul materials for an inspirational and informative Shabbat to reinvigorate your connection to Jerusalem. Contact your Shul or the OU's Jerusalem Task Force at jtf@ou.org for additional information or visit www.oujerusalem.org.

This Shabbat is part of the OU's multi-faceted campaign to keep Jerusalem from being divided during Israeli-Palestinian peace negotiations at Annapolis and beyond.

You can access the 34-page resource pamphlet for this program here.

Technorati Tag: Israel and Jerusalem and Annapolis.

Condoleezza Rice--Making It Up As She Goes Along

Condoleezza Rice has a tendency to make broad statements about what Israelis and Palestinian Arabs are thinking, without any resources to back her up.

Back in October 2006 an interview Condoleezza gave to Cal Thomas resulted in this:

QUESTION: ...what evidence do you have out there that if they had an independent state that they would lay down their arms and not complete the mission of killing the Jews and throwing them out?

SECRETARY RICE: Well, you can look at any opinion poll in the Palestinian territories and 70 percent of the people will say they're perfectly ready to live side by side with Israel because they just want to live in peace. And when it comes right down to it, yeah, there are plenty of extremists in the Palestinian territories who are not going to be easily dealt with. They have to be dealt with — Hezbollah in Lebanon, Hamas in the Palestinian territories — they're terrorists and they have to be dealt with as terrorists.

But the great majority of Palestinian people — this is — I've been with these people. The great majority of people, they just want a better life. This is an educated population. I mean, they have a kind of culture of education and a culture of civil society. I just don't believe mothers want their children to grow up to be suicide bombers. I think the mothers want their children to grow up to go to university. And if you can create the right conditions, that's what people are going to do.

QUESTION: Do you think this or do you know this?

SECRETARY RICE: Well, I think I know it.

QUESTION: You think you know it?

SECRETARY RICE: I think I know it.

QUESTION: Is it because — do you think you know it because you want to believe it or do you think you know it because of conversations with tens, scores, hundreds —

SECRETARY RICE: Well, lots of conversations with Palestinians. But also it's — look, if human beings don't want a better future, don't want their children to grow up in peace and have opportunities, then none of this is going to work anyway. But I really believe that the people of the Middle East — not the extremists — want the same things that everyone else wants. I haven't seen a society yet where it wasn't true. Let me put it that way. I haven't seen a society yet where ordinary people, given an opportunity, wouldn't opt for a better life and for peace. [emphasis added]

Rice came close to admitting the obvious, but didn't quite get it.

Note that Condoleezza Rice is willing to offer numbers from unnamed polls to support her position, but when push comes to shove and she is specifically asked about what her statement is based on--Rice has to admit that she is basing herself on a general assumption.

That was then, this is now--and nothing has changed. Rice still makes huge assumptions--and states them in public--with no evidence:

Rice: Israelis are prepared to give up West Bank for peace

U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Tuesday she believes that the majority of Israelis are prepared to give up the West Bank in exchange for peace.

Well, if the majority of Israelis are really prepared to give up the West Bank, why not ask them?

Oh, someone did:

The poll was sponsored by the Israel Policy Center for Promoting Parliamentary Democracy and Jewish Values in Israeli Public Life. The Jerusalem-based center is headed by Prof. Yitzhak Klein, who also advises the Knesset Law Committee.

In the poll of more than 1,000 people representing a sample of the Israeli adult population

...The poll's numbers regarding support for concessions to the Palestinians were bad news for Olmert as well. Some 65% of respondents said that due to the lessons of 2005's disengagement from the Gaza Strip, they opposed a large withdrawal in the West Bank.

Some 61% said they opposed removing IDF soldiers from most of the West Bank and giving control over the territory to the Palestinians.

If Israel did withdraw, some 55% believe the territory would be used to fire rockets at Israelis and 65% believe there is a high or very high chance that Hamas would take control of the area. Some 77% said Abbas lacked the power to prevent attacks from the West Bank.

Assuming that there is anything positive that can come out of the Annapolis summit, how can any good come from this when the person behind this whole adventure is literally making things up as she goes along.

Technorati Tag: Condoleezza Rice and Annapolis.

Israelis Speak Out For An Undivded Jerusalem

The video below is featured on the One Jerusalem site, even though it is not produced by them. The video is entitled "Shas, Don't turn your back on Jerusalem" and was posted on YouTube by theisraelipatriot:

Although Shas party says they support a united Jerusalem, they continue to support PM Olmert who is plotting to divide it.

One Jerusalem notes that the video :

is an example of the Shas community demanding that their leaders leave the government that is going to participate in the Annapolis conference where the division of Jerusalem will be discussed. If Shas leaves the government the Olmert government will fall shortly thereafter.

Here is the Hebrew version of the video:

Technorati Tag: Israel and Shas Party and Annapolis.

Nachum Segal Interviews Malcolm Hoenlein

Every Friday, Nachum Segal interviews Malcolm Hoenlein:

Nachum interviewed Malcolm Hoenlein, Executive Vice Chairman of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, who called in for the latest Weekly Update. Nachum and Malcolm opened this week's interview with the latest details leading up to the conference in Annapolis, taking place the last week in November, and talks of Israel taking military action in Gaza around the time of the conference. They also discussed the P.A.'s involvement in the terrorist groups in Gaza and their ability or inability to disband the groups before the creation of a Palestinian state. Nachum and Malcolm covered several other topics including: a disturbing editorial in the New York Times the Bush Administration and Middle East peace summits, the latest news regarding Pakistan, the growing reach of Iran around the world, the importance of teaching our children about the history and context of Jerusalem, and MUCH more. Click the link to listen.

Technorati Tag: Israel and Malcolm Hoenlein and Malcolm Annapolis.

Annapolis and Iran

On November 6, David Brooks wrote in The New York Times that what was driving the renewed diplomacy leading up to the Annapolis summit was an attempt to create a new anti-Iran coalition, using the creation of a Palestinian state as encouragement. I wrote about some of the criticisms of such an idea, and Soccer Dad goes into it in more detail.

Aluf Benn of Haaretz, seems to have come up independently with the same idea as Brooks--and even finds a precedent of sorts for it:

Judging by his actions and by his discreet dialogue with Bush, Olmert envisions a multi-pronged effort for regional change, in which Israel will facilitate a Palestinian state and the United States will take care of Iran. Such a "settlement removal for Natanz destruction" deal, simplistic as it may appear, could nevertheless hold some appeal for both sides. An Israeli withdrawal, or even pledged withdrawal, from the West Bank could give Bush a much-needed gift for his European and Arab allies, who have chastised the administration for its lack of action on Israel-Palestine. In turn, a West Bank withdrawal may dilute the U.S. opposition to a strike against Iran and solidify the Sunni "Arab moderates" who oppose Iranian-Shiite influence. At the same time, Olmert could fend off criticism over the security risks of withdrawal if he shows that, in return, a graver threat to Israel is removed.

Under this scenario, the planned Israeli-Palestinian peace conference in Annapolis, Md., later this month may be the first act in a major regional play. In 1991, the George H.W. Bush administration launched the Madrid peace conference following its victory in the First Gulf War. This time, his son may take the reverse tactic: first Arab-Israeli peace, then hitting at the regional bullies.

Benn, however, is much more conscious of the political realities in the area as well as of Olmert and his government, with reservations by both those without and within his party. Also, Benn quotes a poll by Haaretz on October 10, indicating that Israelis themselves are divided on the Annapolis summit--with 51% supporting talks with Abbas and 42% opposed to them.

Benn's article is entitled End Game--which is the part of a chess game when most of the pieces have been removed. Under the circumstances, it might serve Olmert well to try harder to hold on to his pieces.

Technorati Tag: Israel and Annapolis.

Strange But True: Abbas Is Irreplaceable

According to Military Intelligence, if the talks at Annapolis fail--Abbas may step down.

If he does go home in the wake of a failure of the talks, without a successor acceptable to Fatah, Abbas' departure would create a lacuna in the Palestinian leadership and increase Hamas influence.

Hard to believe--Abbas is supposed to be all that stands in the way of Hamas. So where is the Palestinian leadership? In The End of the Palestinian National Movement, Danny Rubinstein writes that a number of prominent leaders--Nabil Shaath, Muhammad Dahlan and Hasan Asfor--have left and now spend their time in Cairo:

הנטישה הגדולה

אחד הסימנים המובהקים לשקיעתה של ספינת הפרויקט הלאומי הפלשתיני הוא הנטישה של רבים מצוות המלחים שלה. נביל שעת, מוותיקי אש"ף, שהיה שר בממשלה הפלשתינית אחרי שחזר למולדת עם ערפאת והתמקם בעזה, שב לביתו בקהיר ושם הוא ממשיך לנהל את עסקיו המשגשגים. גם מוחמד דחלאן וחסן עספור, עד לפני זמן לא רב שרים ויועצים רבי כוח בעזה, מבלים עתה את רוב זמנם בקהיר, עם משפחותיהם

This is what the PA has come to?

Technorati Tag: Palestinians and Abbas.