Rubicon3

Iran's ambassador to London was summoned to the Foreign Office this morning after the country's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, singled out Britain as Iran's foremost enemy. In his speech during Friday prayers, Khamenei played on the historic suspicions many Iranians have of Britain by hinting at its involvement in the demonstrations and describing it as "the most evil" of foreign powers.

He held up the Westminster MPs expenses scandal as a prime example of the corruption which he said was rife in many western countries.

Then he unleashed a thunderbolt – a warning not to be wooed by foreign enemies.

Western countries were "hungry wolves ambushing us and removing the diplomatic cover from their faces. Do not neglect these people," he warned.

"The outstanding diplomats of some western countries who have talked to us with diplomatic courtesy up to now, have, during the past few days, taken the masquerade away from their faces and are showing their true image.

"They are showing their true enmity towards the Iranian Islamic state and the most evil of them is the British government."

The mention of Britain triggered chants of "Marg bar Ingles" (Death to Britain) from the ranks of worshippers.[Link]

Via sitemeter: Someone from the US House of Representatives visited this blog searching for the address of Richard Cheney.

You've got to be taught
To hate and fear,
You've got to be taught
From year to year,
It's got to be drummed
In your dear little ear
You've got to be carefully taught.

You've got to be taught before it's too late,
Before you are six or seven or eight,
To hate all the people your relatives hate,
You've got to be carefully taught.

The Palestinian Hate Industry Continues
Hamas and Islamic Jihad continue to inculcate the values of hate and support of terrorism in Palestinian children, viewed by those terrorist organizations as a highly important target audience. Hamas publishes a bi-weekly in London called Al-Fateh for children on www.al-Fateh.net. Its goal is to inculcate children with the ideas of radical Islam and hate of Israel, the Jewish people, and even the West, and to instill the values of violence and terrorism (including explicitly calling for killing Jews) from an early age, and to turn Hamas operatives, including senior commanders and suicide bombers, into role models to be admired and revered. The June 2009 edition includes a poem called "My name is Palestinian," illustrated by a cartoon of an angry child holding the Palestinian flag: "All that is Arab inside me calls me to avenge and liberate [Palestine]."
    On June 3, 2009, a website associated with Islamic Jihad (Pal Today) published photographs from a graduation ceremony of kindergarten children at the Rashad al-Shawa Center in Gaza City. A show put on during the ceremony featured the children dressed in uniform and carrying toy guns confronting and killing IDF soldiers. The youngsters were seen shooting at soldiers, taking soldiers captive, and then performing a "victory" dance around corpses of IDF soldiers lying on the ground. (Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center)

A restaurant in Lima, Peru.

Former President Jimmy Carter said this week that he plans to ask the Obama administration to take Hamas off the U.S. list of terrorist organizations. This prompts the question, what part of the word "terrorist" doesn't Mr. Carter understand?

President Clinton designated Hamas a foreign terrorist organization in 1995 during a suicide bombing campaign against Israel. Since then Hamas, formally known as the Palestinian Islamic Resistance Movement, has routinely engaged in bombings, kidnappings, assassinations and other undeniably terroristic activities. After violently seizing control of the Gaza Strip in 2007, Hamas radically escalated attacks on cities in southern Israel with thousands of rockets and mortars. When Israel responded with force last January, Mr. Carter roundly denounced the move.

"I have to hold back tears when I see the deliberate destruction that has been wreaked against your people," Mr. Carter said from Gaza on Tuesday, "by bombs from F-16s made in my country." Mr. Carter may have been feeling guilty about deals his administration made to sell the aircraft to Israel and the $800 million in grants he supplied to construct air bases in Israel's southern Negev desert. But he had nothing to say about the destruction wrought by Hamas' Iranian-made rockets, even though in 2008 he described attacks on the Israeli city of Sderot "a despicable crime." Mr. Carter further noted the "grief and despair" he felt at the "destruction perpetrated against innocent people," but was silent on Hamas' use of civilians as human shields.

Mr. Carter called the blockade Israel and Egypt have imposed on Gaza since Hamas took over an "atrocity" and blamed Jerusalem, Cairo, Washington and the rest of the world for "this terrible human rights crime." Hamas was conspicuously left off his blame list. He claimed that "never before in history has a large community been savaged by bombs and missiles and then deprived of the means to repair itself," even though the Obama administration has pledged $900 million in relief aid to Gaza. Most of this is wisely being channeled away for Hamas and toward the Fatah faction, which may be Mr. Carter's main objection.

Mr. Carter stated that Hamas leaders "want peace" and want to "live side by side" with Israel, a curious statement given that Hamas is pledged to the total destruction of the Jewish state. [Link]

Obama spoke on the Middle East in Cairo.  Netanyahu responded with a speech which included the idea of a Palestinian state.  Why did Abbas remain silent?

Why is it the critics of Netanyahu’s speech never stopped to ask the simple question: Where was the Arab counterpart? If June is now Middle East Landmark Speech Month, why are only the United States and Israel celebrating?

The reason is twofold: When America whistles, Israel is compelled to come. The American president’s call for a Palestinian state side-by-side with Israel and for a freeze to settlement expansion demanded a response from a prime minister who had, over the years, opposed those things.

“...The reason for giving the speech was what the prime minister called the ‘international situation’ — a delicate way of referring to U.S. diplomatic pressure,” blogged Gershom Gorenberg, author of “The Accidental Empire.”

But it goes beyond just U.S. pressure. The democratically elected leader of Israel had to answer to his own people, he had to explain where he stood in relation to their most important ally.

So Netanyahu strove mightily to soften his hard line. His advisers pushed him to include the two words that they knew would be magic to Obama’s — and the world’s — ears, “Palestinian state,” even if doing so would infuriate his hard-line supporters, even if the Arabs would call him disingenuous, even if he himself had major reservations. The European Union said it was a step in the right direction.

“There were a lot of conditions,” Obama said of the speech this week, “But what we’re seeing is at least the possibility that we can restart serious talks.”

The Arab leaders didn’t respond with speeches, but with criticism and nitpicking.

No major policy speech from Cairo — other than Obama’s. And not one from any other Muslim capital.

If any single fact should reveal what Israel is up against, it’s the fact of that silence — of leaders who don’t need to answer to their people, of leaders who are afraid to confront their extremists, of people who are afraid to demand answers of their leaders.

What a speech from Abbas might have said.

Only 6 percent of Jewish Israelis consider the views of American President Barack Obama's administration pro-Israel, according to a new Jerusalem Post-sponsored Smith Research poll.

Another 50% of those sampled consider the policies of Obama's administration more pro-Palestinian than pro-Israeli, and 36% said the policies were neutral. The remaining 8% did not express an opinion.

"...Some of the indications we have seen in the last few weeks make it more difficult for Israelis to see the US in its traditional role as an honest broker," said Shoval, a former ambassador to the US, who will head a committee on Israel-American relations that national security adviser Uzi Arad will form soon. "The vast majority of Israelis don't blame the prime minister for a confrontation with the US. They are putting the onus on the Obama administration."  [Link]

A Palestinian Choice - Editorial (Wall Street Journal)

• On Sunday, Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu delivered a detailed speech in which he hailed President Obama's "desire to bring about a new era of reconciliation in our region." He said he was "willing to meet" with Arab leaders "at any time, at any place, in Damascus, in Riyadh, in Beirut and in Jerusalem as well" to make peace. He invited Arab entrepreneurs to "assist the Palestinians and us to give the economy a jump-start." He committed his government to all of Israel's international agreements. He said "we have no intention to build new settlements or set aside land for new settlements." "In my vision of peace," he said, "there are two free peoples living side by side in this small land, with good neighborly relations and mutual respect, each with its flag, anthem and government, with neither one threatening its neighbor's security and existence."
• To this, the Palestinian reaction was to say the speech was "worthless," "nothing but a hoax," that it had "destroyed all peace initiatives and [chances for] a solution," and that Mr. Netanyahu was "a liar and a crook." And that was the reaction among the Palestinian moderates.
• The transformation of the Gaza Strip into an armed and hostile Hamas enclave is evidence enough of why any future Palestinian state would have to be demilitarized. Nor should the thought of Israel as a Jewish state be controversial: That's how it was conceived by the UN resolution that helped bring it into existence, and that's how it was recognized by Harry Truman minutes after it declared independence.
• For too long the Palestinians have practiced a kind of fantasy politics, in which all right was on their side, concession was dishonor, and mistakes never had consequences. Mr. Netanyahu's speech now offers them the choice between fantasy and statehood. Judging from early reactions, they're choosing wrongly again.

“Nobody does Israel any service by proclaiming its 'right to exist.'

Israel's right to exist, like that of the United States, Saudi Arabia and 152 other states, is axiomatic and unreserved. Israel's legitimacy is not suspended in midair awaiting acknowledgement....

There is certainly no other state, big or small, young or old, that would consider mere recognition of its 'right to exist' a favor, or a negotiable concession.”

                                                                             — Abba Eban

Daniel Pipes gave a sober, mixed assessment of Netanyahu's speech.  After listing several high points, he notes:

But Netanyahu does not lay down enough conditions for that theoretical moment. All he requires is a formalistic guarantee and recognition, which the years of Israeli-Palestinian diplomacy should have established as inadequate. In addition, the Israeli government should also require, at the least:

A complete overhaul of messages coming from textbooks, classrooms, media, sermons, political rhetoric, and the other areas of public Palestinian discourse, eliminating the anti-Semitism, the anti-Zionism, and the incitement while condemning terrorism and other acts of "resistance" (muqawama).

A protracted era in which Palestinians do not engage in violence against Israelis.

Normal relations in such areas as trade, tourism, sports, and scholarly exchanges.

A good-neighborly foreign policy.

 [link]

Jennifer Rubin writes:

Netanyahu provided a robust retort to Obama concerning Zionism and the right of the Jewish people to a state. Obama would have us believe it is out of sympathy for the Jews because of the Holocaust that the world gave Israel its state. This is false and Netanyahu said so.

...One can’t but admit what a vast gulf there is between Obama’s distorted history and Netanyahu’s accurate one, and between Obama’s formulation that Israel’s territorial concessions must precede unconditional recongition and Netanyahu’s diametrically opposite view.

Where do we go from here? Nowhere, it seems. But let’s be honest that we weren’t going anywhere before. The Palestinians have no viable government, have not resolved their internal conflict between the PA and Hamas and still refuse to concede Israel’s right to exist as a Jewish state. So the rest is, pardon the expression, commentary.

[link]

Unsurprisingly, Palestinian Authority officials were not pleased.  Anything less than "The Jews are leaving the Middle East" would not meet with their approval:

Palestinian Authority officials in Ramallah expressed outrage and shock on Sunday over Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu's call for the establishment of a demilitarized Palestinian state and his demand that the Palestinians recognize Israel as a Jewish state.

The officials said that the speech that Netanyahu delivered at Bar-Ilan University was much worse than they had expected.

They also warned that Netanyahu's policies would trigger a new intifada.

[link]

Egypt's President Hosni Mubarak had a very negative response:

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's demand in a key speech Sunday that Palestinians recognize Israel as the state of the Jewish people "scuttles the chances for peace," Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak said Monday.

"...You won't find anyone to answer that call in Egypt, or in any other place," Mubarak was quoted as telling the troops.

[link]

Two examples of how the internet provides a unique experience for getting news: 

Honey-Vanilla Challah

Congregation Bnai Tikvah
North Brunswick, New Jersey

CHAPEL WINDOW

Designed and painted by Nancy Katz, 8' by 6'. 

The window is dedicated to the memory of Tzvi Hershel by his loving wife. He was a Kohen, therefore Nancy included the priestly hands.

The Hebrew name Tzvi means deer, so she painted one on the right side of the window.

See more here.

The American Jewish Committee's Washington, D.C. chapter has set up a memorial fund to benefit the family of Officer Stephen Tyrone Johns, who was killed Wednesday at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum. The organization said it will soon have a place on its Web site where one can contribute, but those who want to donate immediately should send checks made out to the American Jewish Committee, with "Holocaust Museum Memorial Fund" in the memo line, to:

American Jewish Committee, Washington Chapter

C/O Melanie Maron

1156 15th Street, NW, Suite 1201

Washington DC 20005

One hundred percent of the contribution will go to the Johns family.

*********

Update:  The Holocaust Museum has also set up a fund:

The Museum has established a special fund for the benefit of Officer Johns’ family. Make a contribution to the USHMM Officer Johns Family Fund.

Checks payable to USHMM Officer Johns Family Fund may be mailed to USHMM, 100 Raoul Wallenberg Place, SW, Washington DC 20024.

You may also contribute by calling toll free 877-91USHMM (877-918-7466) from 8:00am to 8:00pm Eastern time.

The Museum expresses its gratitude for the outpouring of support and messages of condolence we have received from so many concerned citizens and organizations across the country and around the world. [Link]

A hero who would die for you.

The Jerusalem Post has a long and very interesting interview of Charles Krauthammer.  A sample:

The view of the world that basically led to [Ronald] Reagan's policies - the success of the Cold War, the basic response to 9/11, which is sort of parallel to that in seeing radical Islam as the equivalent of the great totalitarian enemies of the 20th century - I think is basically correct.

We can argue, I think we should argue, whether some of the tactics of counterinsurgency were correctly carried out, and there's no question that they were incorrectly, badly, tragically done in 2004, 5 and 6. But because the first three years of the Civil War were such a disaster it doesn't make you rethink the basic idea of the Civil War, which was to keep the union intact... The basic idea of trying to defeat radical Islam on the ground had to be done. You can't defeat it by cruise missiles and you can't do it by preaching. And if we succeed in creating this seed in Iraq which may actually be happening, it could have a profound effect on the evolution of the Middle East and that would be the ultimate answer to 9/11.

The reason I haven't changed my views is that no one has offered a remotely plausible alternative to answering the challenging of 9/11 and its origins. So when someone does I'll be willing to rethink it.

Highly recommended reading.

Cue ominous music....Oh, just settle down.

You know how they are.

Two passengers with names linked to Islamic terrorism were on board the Air France flight which crashed and killed 228, it emerged today.

Clarity for the Deniers - Michael Gerson

In Obama's Cairo speech he drew one vivid line. Holocaust denial, he said, is "baseless," "ignorant" and "hateful." He talked about the "evil" of genocide, repudiated "lies about our history" and challenged Iranian President Ahmadinejad to visit Buchenwald. Obama's intensity and clarity on this issue were unexpected - and needed. Holocaust denial has long been a staple of Middle Eastern anti-Semitism. The political purpose of Middle Eastern Holocaust denial is to delegitimize the State of Israel. Since Israel, in this view, was created by the West out of Holocaust guilt, disproving the Holocaust removes the reason for Israel's existence.

Yet this conception of Israel's history is itself a distortion. Zionism existed well before the European genocide. The ties between Jews and the Land of Israel reach back for millennia. Israel does not exist merely because of Holocaust guilt. It exists because of its own tenacity, sense of purpose and national success. (Washington Post)

See: Theodor Herzl, February, 1896

And:

The Zionist ideal of a return to Israel has profound religious roots. Many Jewish prayers speak of Jerusalem, Zion and the Land of Israel. The injunction not to forget Jerusalem, the site of the Temple, is a major tenet of Judaism. The Hebrew language, the Torah, laws in the Talmud, the Jewish calendar and Jewish holidays and festivals such as Shavuot all originated in Israel and revolve around its seasons and conditions. Jews pray toward Jerusalem and recite the words "next year in Jerusalem" every Passover. Jewish religion, culture and history make clear that it is only in the land of Israel that the Jewish commonwealth can be built. [link]

And: 

Does Gen. Petraeus Really Believe Hizbullah Exists Only Because of the Israeli-Palestinian Dispute? - Nicholas Guariglia (Pajamas Media)

    I consider Gen. David Petraeus to be among the best military leaders in American history. Yet the Arabic-languageal-Hayat recently quoted him as saying, "Hizbullah's justifications for existence will become void if the Palestinian cause is resolved."

    Hizbullah is an Iranian-backed, Iranian-financed, Iranian-armed jihadistorganization that was created by the Islamic Republic in the early 1980s and sent to Lebanon to kill and intimidate those who oppose theocracy and fascism.

    Hizbullah terrorists have killed more Americans than any other terrorist group in the world, save al-Qaeda. They have conducted attacks on innocents and civilian targets in the Middle East, in Latin America, in Asia; they have bases all over the world.

    To suggest Hizbullah's primary motivations are minimalist and nationalist is baloney. The rationale for Hezbollah's existence is to overtake and ransack Lebanon and make it a satrapy state for Iran, to Islamize the secular Lebanese polity, to kill Westerners wherever and whenever possible, and to strive for the end of Israel's existence.