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Australian Voices for Israel (www.av4i.org.au) 29 Dec. 2014
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If some images do not transmit correctly, please click on link beneath article.
Islamic State fighters are moving ever closer towards Israel
The single war now raging in Syria, Iraq and increasingly Lebanon, is moving closer – toward Israel.
By JONATHAN SPYER Jerrusalem Post 27 Dec 2014
![Islamic State flag]()
Smoke raises behind an Islamic State flag in Iraq . (photo credit:REUTERS)
Despite setbacks on some fronts, Islamic State continues to advance southward in Syria and move toward the Jordanian and Israeli borders.
Islamic State has suffered severe losses as a result of coalition air strikes in the last months. Over 1,000 of its fighters have been killed, and Kurdish peshmerga forces have driven the jihadists back on a wide front between the cities of Erbil and Mosul.
The terror movement has also failed to conquer the symbolic town of Kobani (Ayn al-Arab) close to the Syrian-Turkish border (further south, Islamic State losses have been more modest and at least partially reversed).
Yet despite these setbacks, there are no indications that Islamic State is anywhere close to collapse. And while American bombers and Kurdish fighters are preventing its advance further east, there are many indications the jihadists are continuing to advance their presence in a south and westerly direction – from the borders of their entity towards Damascus and Lebanon, and incidentally, in the direction of Israel.
A largely hidden contest is under way in Deraa province in southern Syria, between Islamic State and the rival jihadists of Jabhat al-Nusra.
Deraa, where the Syrian rebellion was born in March 2011, has been the site of major losses for the Assad regime over the last year. Nusra established itself as a major force in the area after its fighters were defeated by Islamic State further east.
But now it appears that Islamic State is seeking to establish a foothold in this area, too.
In recent weeks, reports have emerged that three rebel militias in Deraa have pledged bay’ah (allegiance) to Islamic State. The largest of these is the Yarmuk Martyrs Brigade; the others are Saraya al-Jihad and Tawheed al-Junub. While the Yarmuk Martyrs Brigade has since denied pledging formal allegiance to Islamic State, the reports have Nusra and the Western- supported rebel groups in the south nervous.
They are acutely aware that in locales further east, such as al-Bukamal on the Syria-Iraq border, in the course of 2014 Islamic State came in not through conquest, but by recruiting the non-Islamic State groups that held the area to its flag. Nusra now fears that Islamic State wishes to repeat this process further south.
This fear is compounded by the appearance of Islamic State-linked fighters in the Damascus area in recent weeks. In the town of Bir al-Qasab, fighters affiliated with the terror movement have been battling other rebels since early December; Islamic State has engaged in resupplying these fighters from its own territory further east. Nusra and other rebel groups have begun to speculate about the possibility of a push by the jihadists either toward Deraa or Eastern Goutha, adjoining Damascus.
Finally, further west, in the Qalamoun Mountains, Islamic State and Nusra fighters have clashed in recent weeks. Reports have surfaced that Islamic State has begun to demand that other rebel groups in the area, including Nusra, pledge bay’ah to it.
This is despite the notable fact that the Qalamoun area had been the scene in recent months of rare cooperation between Islamic State and Nusra, out of shared interest in extending the conflict into Lebanon.
The events there come amid Lebanese media speculation as to the possibility of an imminent Islamic State push from Qalamoun toward the Sunni town of Arsal across the border (or even, in some versions, toward the Shi’ite towns of Baalbek and Hermel).
Such an offensive would form part of the larger campaign against the regime and Hezbollah in this area.
SO, WHAT does this all amount to? First, it should be noted that Nusra’s presence in Quneitra Province, immediately adjoining the Golan Heights, is the point at which Syrian jihadists currently come closest to Israel.
And while Nusra has not yet been the subject of hostile Western attention, it is no less anti-Western and anti-Jewish than its Islamic State rivals. The fact that it cooperates fully with groups supported by the Military Operations Command in Amman should in itself be a matter of concern for the West.
But Nusra, unlike Islamic State, appears genuinely committed to the fight against Syria’s Assad regime. And at times, at least, it is prepared to set aside its own ambitions to pursue this general goal.
This means, from Israel’s point of view, that while its presence close to the border is a matter of long-term concern, in the immediate future the al-Qaida franchise’s attentions are largely turned elsewhere.
Such calculations could not be safely made regarding Islamic State, which by contrast works only for its own benefit.
Its sudden push into Iraq in June and then August show the extent to which it is able to abruptly change direction, catching its opponents by surprise. The record of Islamic State against other rebel groups thus far has been one of near uninterrupted success.
Conversely, it is now being halted in its eastern advances by the US and its allies. But neither the US Air Force nor the Kurdish ground fighters are present further south and west, so there is a clear strategic logic to the current direction of Islamic State activity.
As Islamic State loses ground further east, it seeks to recoup its losses elsewhere; this trend is bringing jihadists closer, toward the borders of both Israel and Jordan. It may be presumed this fact is not lost on Israeli defense planners – hence the reports of increased activity by Military Intelligence collection units and reinforcement of the military presence on the Golan Heights.
The single war now raging in Syria, Iraq and increasingly Lebanon, is moving closer – toward Israel.
http://www.jpost.com/International/Behind-the-lines-Moving-ever-closer-385791
The single war now raging in Syria, Iraq and increasingly Lebanon, is moving closer – toward Israel.
By JONATHAN SPYER Jerrusalem Post 27 Dec 2014
Smoke raises behind an Islamic State flag in Iraq . (photo credit:REUTERS)
Despite setbacks on some fronts, Islamic State continues to advance southward in Syria and move toward the Jordanian and Israeli borders.
Islamic State has suffered severe losses as a result of coalition air strikes in the last months. Over 1,000 of its fighters have been killed, and Kurdish peshmerga forces have driven the jihadists back on a wide front between the cities of Erbil and Mosul.
The terror movement has also failed to conquer the symbolic town of Kobani (Ayn al-Arab) close to the Syrian-Turkish border (further south, Islamic State losses have been more modest and at least partially reversed).
Yet despite these setbacks, there are no indications that Islamic State is anywhere close to collapse. And while American bombers and Kurdish fighters are preventing its advance further east, there are many indications the jihadists are continuing to advance their presence in a south and westerly direction – from the borders of their entity towards Damascus and Lebanon, and incidentally, in the direction of Israel.
A largely hidden contest is under way in Deraa province in southern Syria, between Islamic State and the rival jihadists of Jabhat al-Nusra.
Deraa, where the Syrian rebellion was born in March 2011, has been the site of major losses for the Assad regime over the last year. Nusra established itself as a major force in the area after its fighters were defeated by Islamic State further east.
But now it appears that Islamic State is seeking to establish a foothold in this area, too.
In recent weeks, reports have emerged that three rebel militias in Deraa have pledged bay’ah (allegiance) to Islamic State. The largest of these is the Yarmuk Martyrs Brigade; the others are Saraya al-Jihad and Tawheed al-Junub. While the Yarmuk Martyrs Brigade has since denied pledging formal allegiance to Islamic State, the reports have Nusra and the Western- supported rebel groups in the south nervous.
They are acutely aware that in locales further east, such as al-Bukamal on the Syria-Iraq border, in the course of 2014 Islamic State came in not through conquest, but by recruiting the non-Islamic State groups that held the area to its flag. Nusra now fears that Islamic State wishes to repeat this process further south.
This fear is compounded by the appearance of Islamic State-linked fighters in the Damascus area in recent weeks. In the town of Bir al-Qasab, fighters affiliated with the terror movement have been battling other rebels since early December; Islamic State has engaged in resupplying these fighters from its own territory further east. Nusra and other rebel groups have begun to speculate about the possibility of a push by the jihadists either toward Deraa or Eastern Goutha, adjoining Damascus.
Finally, further west, in the Qalamoun Mountains, Islamic State and Nusra fighters have clashed in recent weeks. Reports have surfaced that Islamic State has begun to demand that other rebel groups in the area, including Nusra, pledge bay’ah to it.
This is despite the notable fact that the Qalamoun area had been the scene in recent months of rare cooperation between Islamic State and Nusra, out of shared interest in extending the conflict into Lebanon.
The events there come amid Lebanese media speculation as to the possibility of an imminent Islamic State push from Qalamoun toward the Sunni town of Arsal across the border (or even, in some versions, toward the Shi’ite towns of Baalbek and Hermel).
Such an offensive would form part of the larger campaign against the regime and Hezbollah in this area.
SO, WHAT does this all amount to? First, it should be noted that Nusra’s presence in Quneitra Province, immediately adjoining the Golan Heights, is the point at which Syrian jihadists currently come closest to Israel.
And while Nusra has not yet been the subject of hostile Western attention, it is no less anti-Western and anti-Jewish than its Islamic State rivals. The fact that it cooperates fully with groups supported by the Military Operations Command in Amman should in itself be a matter of concern for the West.
But Nusra, unlike Islamic State, appears genuinely committed to the fight against Syria’s Assad regime. And at times, at least, it is prepared to set aside its own ambitions to pursue this general goal.
This means, from Israel’s point of view, that while its presence close to the border is a matter of long-term concern, in the immediate future the al-Qaida franchise’s attentions are largely turned elsewhere.
Such calculations could not be safely made regarding Islamic State, which by contrast works only for its own benefit.
Its sudden push into Iraq in June and then August show the extent to which it is able to abruptly change direction, catching its opponents by surprise. The record of Islamic State against other rebel groups thus far has been one of near uninterrupted success.
Conversely, it is now being halted in its eastern advances by the US and its allies. But neither the US Air Force nor the Kurdish ground fighters are present further south and west, so there is a clear strategic logic to the current direction of Islamic State activity.
As Islamic State loses ground further east, it seeks to recoup its losses elsewhere; this trend is bringing jihadists closer, toward the borders of both Israel and Jordan. It may be presumed this fact is not lost on Israeli defense planners – hence the reports of increased activity by Military Intelligence collection units and reinforcement of the military presence on the Golan Heights.
The single war now raging in Syria, Iraq and increasingly Lebanon, is moving closer – toward Israel.
http://www.jpost.com/International/Behind-the-lines-Moving-ever-closer-385791
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Western leftists stand up for their comrades in Islam
The utopian socialists and Islamists both promise world peace — after their bloody revolutions, of course.
Jennifer Oriel The Australian December 27, 2014
THIS year was for Australia, as for much of the world, an annus horribilis. The downing of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 by Russian-backed rebels and the Sydney siege by Islamist jihadist Man Haron Monis announced to our nation the return of an old foe: totalitarianism.
The Lindt cafe nestles in Martin Place, a cosmopolitan promenade steeped in the story of Australia’s rise as a liberal-democratic nation. At one end sits the General Post Office, rendered sublime by the imagination of immigrant Scottish architect James Barnet in a neoclassical revival of the Italian Renaissance. At the other there’s the Australian Provincial Assurance building, a towering art deco tribute to technology and modernity erected at the dawn of totalitarianism in 1937; it is this that houses the Lindt cafe.
Martin Place is a standing celebration of the Australian story, our civilisation’s love of aesthetic beauty, our embrace of modernity, our legacy of civic freedom. It is guarded by the Cenotaph, whose inscription “Lest we forget” is a melancholic reminder of that old adage: the price of liberty is eternal vigilance.
Islamic State’s totalitarian ideology is clarified in Dabiq magazine and Flames of War, a documentary that justifies its genocidal barbarity using propaganda concocted by the 1960s communist Left. In socialist and Islamist propaganda, the West is portrayed as an imperialist colonial leviathan that stands between eternally oppressed minorities and the second coming of international socialism. The utopian socialists and Islamists both promise world peace — after their bloody revolutions, of course.
Reality is an enduring irritant in the smooth passage of totalitarian propaganda from its political elite to the masses. The internet has revealed the intimate violence of life in socialist and Islamist states, whose totalitarian ethos descends on the wings of a promise of peace and equality.
North Korea uses the UN to market itself as a champion of peace. Islamists claim to represent a religion of peace. Socialism is sold as the politics of peace. On December 16, as Australians mourned our first victims of Islamic State terror on home soil, the jihadist who terrorised our nation, Monis, could be found on Wikipedia’s list of peace activists, cited as an “Australian Muslim cleric, anti-war activist”. The list includes socialist Noam Chomsky, pedophilia advocate Allen Ginsberg and anarchist Emma Goldman.
In November, members of Britain’s socialist-communist party Left Unity proclaimed that the Islamic State caliphate had “progressive potential” because it opposed “Western-imposed nation-states” in the Middle East. Repeating the ignoble lie that “Western domination” gave rise to Islamic State, Left Unity socialists John Tummon and Mark Anthony France issued a diktat: “The European Left has to acknowledge and accept the widespread call for a caliphate among Muslims” as “an authentic expression of their emancipatory, anti-imperialist aspirations”. They praised the caliphate for its “strong internationalism” while heaping criticism on the West for its dedication to secularism..... (continue reading)
Read full article:>>
OR on av4i website: http://www.av4i.org.au/full-articles.html
Jennifer Oriel is a political scientist and commentator.
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The video ends by urging viewers to carry out similar attacks: “What are you waiting for? Go out and stab.”
By Dave Bender ALGEMEINER DECEMBER 28, 2014
![Hamas stabbing instructional video. Photo: screenshot.]()
After a failed stabbing attack against two border policemen in Jerusalem’s Old City on Friday, Palestinians have published a training video entitled “How to stab right,” Israel’s NRG News reported Sunday. In the attack, which took place after Muslim prayers, one officer was stabbed in the neck, and the other in the hand. Both were treated for their wounds in a Jerusalem hospital and are recovering.
The attacker fled after scuffling with police after the failed attempt. “This was a serious event in which police officers were injured. The Jerusalem police will find the assailant,” vowed District commander, Maj.-Gen. Moshe Edri.
In the video, which shows a masked instructor holding a knife and a masked “victim,” the assailant demonstrates how to stab in order to cause maximum injury to the victim. The instructor displays several knife attack techniques, including twisting the knife to inflict maximum harm, and how an attacker can quickly stab and flee the scene.
The YouTube clip became an immediate hit among Palestinian Facebook and Twitter groups in Jerusalem, and the West Bank.
The video ends by urging viewers to carry out similar attacks: “What are you waiting for? Go out and stab.”
Hamas, in the past, has used such video clips as psychological warfare tools intended for Israeli audiences, including one exhorting, “Rise up and carry out attacks,” to martial Arab music. Unfazed Israelis, however, quickly layered on mocking soundtracks, including a capella versions and even one interspersing clips from the Lion King animated film.
Watch the graphic clip. There is no gore, but some viewers may find the intensity disturbing:
By Dave Bender ALGEMEINER DECEMBER 28, 2014
Hamas stabbing instructional video. Photo: screenshot
The attacker fled after scuffling with police after the failed attempt. “This was a serious event in which police officers were injured. The Jerusalem police will find the assailant,” vowed District commander, Maj.-Gen. Moshe Edri.
In the video, which shows a masked instructor holding a knife and a masked “victim,” the assailant demonstrates how to stab in order to cause maximum injury to the victim. The instructor displays several knife attack techniques, including twisting the knife to inflict maximum harm, and how an attacker can quickly stab and flee the scene.
The YouTube clip became an immediate hit among Palestinian Facebook and Twitter groups in Jerusalem, and the West Bank.
The video ends by urging viewers to carry out similar attacks: “What are you waiting for? Go out and stab.”
Hamas, in the past, has used such video clips as psychological warfare tools intended for Israeli audiences, including one exhorting, “Rise up and carry out attacks,” to martial Arab music. Unfazed Israelis, however, quickly layered on mocking soundtracks, including a capella versions and even one interspersing clips from the Lion King animated film.
Watch the graphic clip. There is no gore, but some viewers may find the intensity disturbing:
http://www.algemeiner.com/2014/12/28/after-failed-attack-in-jerusalem-hamas-releases-%E2%80%98how-to-stab-jews%E2%80%99-clip-video/
A young Israeli girl and her father were wounded Thursday after the car in which they were traveling in the West Bank was hit by a firebomb, only a month after her mother escaped a similar attack in the same area.
The girl is in serious condition after suffering massive third degree burns after flames engulfed the car, which was traveling near the settlement of El Matan in the Shomron.
My personal Kishinev
Do we, civilized people, understand what it means to be in a struggle with barbarians?
You probably heard about the 11-year old girl who was critically burned on Thursday when the car she was riding in was struck by a firebomb thrown by an Arab terrorist. And you certainly know about the attack on the Kehilat Bnei Torah synagogue in Jerusalem in which four worshipers and a policeman were brutally murdered. You probably know about the several incidents in which Arabs drove their vehicles into groups of Jews, including one in which a 3-month old baby and a tourist from Ecuador were murdered, and another in which the driver got out and ran back to his not-yet-dead victim and cut her throat.
If you follow these things, you may also know that Jews are afraid to go to the historic Mount of Olives Cemetery in Jerusalem because of continued violent attacks on buses, cars and people. You may also have heard about the daily rock-throwing attacks on the light rail in Jerusalem, against Jewish-driven cars on the roads in Judea and Samaria, theacid thrown on a Jewish family, etc. I could go on. And on.
The horror of the 1903 Kishinev pogrom was a turning point for many Jews, including Ze’ev Jabotinsky. Jew-hatred was finally seen to be implacable and a permanent feature of Diaspora life, and only a complete separation from the haters by the establishment of a Jewish state and the relocation of the Jewish people to it could be a permanent solution.
I think the firebomb incident was my own personal Kishinev experience. Now there is a Jewish state, but the problem of hatred-spawned violence against Jews has not ended, even here.
There is a simple reason for that: we allow it....
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Young girl seriously wounded by firebomb in West Bank terror attack
Father and daughter's car attacked by Palestinians in West Bank, leading girl to suffer third degree wounds to over 50% of body, month after mother escaped a similar attack.
Itay Blumenthal, Yoav Zitun YNET (Israel News) 25 Dec, 2014
![Ayala Shapira (family photo)]()
Father and daughter's car attacked by Palestinians in West Bank, leading girl to suffer third degree wounds to over 50% of body, month after mother escaped a similar attack.
Itay Blumenthal, Yoav Zitun YNET (Israel News) 25 Dec, 2014
Ayala Shapira (family photo)
A young Israeli girl and her father were wounded Thursday after the car in which they were traveling in the West Bank was hit by a firebomb, only a month after her mother escaped a similar attack in the same area.
The girl is in serious condition after suffering massive third degree burns after flames engulfed the car, which was traveling near the settlement of El Matan in the Shomron.
Do we, civilized people, understand what it means to be in a struggle with barbarians?
by Vic Rosenthal Blogsite Abu Yehuda Dec 27, 2014
You probably heard about the 11-year old girl who was critically burned on Thursday when the car she was riding in was struck by a firebomb thrown by an Arab terrorist. And you certainly know about the attack on the Kehilat Bnei Torah synagogue in Jerusalem in which four worshipers and a policeman were brutally murdered. You probably know about the several incidents in which Arabs drove their vehicles into groups of Jews, including one in which a 3-month old baby and a tourist from Ecuador were murdered, and another in which the driver got out and ran back to his not-yet-dead victim and cut her throat.
If you follow these things, you may also know that Jews are afraid to go to the historic Mount of Olives Cemetery in Jerusalem because of continued violent attacks on buses, cars and people. You may also have heard about the daily rock-throwing attacks on the light rail in Jerusalem, against Jewish-driven cars on the roads in Judea and Samaria, theacid thrown on a Jewish family, etc. I could go on. And on.
The horror of the 1903 Kishinev pogrom was a turning point for many Jews, including Ze’ev Jabotinsky. Jew-hatred was finally seen to be implacable and a permanent feature of Diaspora life, and only a complete separation from the haters by the establishment of a Jewish state and the relocation of the Jewish people to it could be a permanent solution.
I think the firebomb incident was my own personal Kishinev experience. Now there is a Jewish state, but the problem of hatred-spawned violence against Jews has not ended, even here.
There is a simple reason for that: we allow it....
[...]
We don’t have a death penalty for terrorist murder. Instead, we keep the murderers in jail until their supporters kidnap a Jew, and then we ransom the Jew by releasing them, sometimes in a ratio of 1027 terrorists to one Jew. The terrorists go home to a victory parade and then go back to trying to kill Jews.[...]
We are at a turning point. We need to choose between victory and destruction. There are no other alternatives.
Read full article:>> http://abuyehuda.com/2014/12/my-personal-kishniev/
Read full article:>> http://abuyehuda.com/2014/12/my-personal-kishniev/
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Two Interesting articles by Alan M. Dershowitz (Alan Dershowitz is the Felix Frankfurter Professor of Law, Harvard Law School (emeritus) and author of "Terror Tunnels: The Case for Israel's Just War Against Hamas" (Rosetta Books 2014).
A Brandeis Student Refuses to Show Sympathy for Assassinated Policemen -- and Her Critic Is Attacked
by Alan M. Dershowitz • December 28, 2014 at 1:30 am
As I watched, with tears in my eyes, the funeral of police officer Rafael Ramos who was ambushed along with fellow officer, Wenjian Liu, in revenge for the deaths of two black young men who were killed by policemen, I could not help thinking of the following horrible words tweeted by a bigoted young woman named Khadijah Lynch, on the day the police officers were murdered in cold blood, and the day after:
"i have no sympathy for the nypd officers who were murdered today." (December 20, 2014)"lmao, all i just really dont have sympathy for the cops who were shot. i hate this racist f...ing country."(December 21, 2014)
Khadijah Lynch is a Brandeis University junior who at the time she wrote the tweet was the undergraduate representative in the Brandeis African and Afro-American studies department.
AND:
Hard Leftists are as Guilty of Censorship as North Korea's Dictator
Hardly an Excessive Demand
Israel has only asked that it be allowed to live in peace with recognized and defendable borders....
Eli E. Hertz Myths and Facts online December 28, 2014
The weight of the evidence of so many scholars, observers, pollsters and monitors make it almost impossible to mitigate, not to mention ignore the enormity of finding a solution to the Arab-Israeli conflict [or better described as Arab-Israeli war].
When one grasps the duration of the conflict and its roots, when one fully faces the depth of animosity towards Israel and the antisemitism that permeates the Arab world from the political, religious and intellectual elites down to the grass roots, the sheer magnitude of the challenge for peacemakers becomes painfully apparent.
When one admits the implications of Palestinian society’s behavior – the repetitive pattern of nearly 100 years of rejectionism on the diplomatic front and a penchant for terrorism against civilians, the “readiness” of Arabs for co-existence and the chances of a breakthrough assume their true proportions.
The unwillingness to accept Israel as a legitimate non-Muslim political entity is epitomized by the Palestinians asymmetrical demands for the Right of Return of all Palestinian refugees to the Jewish state coupled with a demand that the West Bank and Gaza be cleansed of all Jews.
One cannot artificially narrow the scope of the conflict. One cannot duck the tough issues – whether in the Palestinian camp or the Arab world as a whole. Western leadership that is “Staying above the conflict” out of fear that demanding Arabs to ‘walk the talk’ will jeopardize one’s status as an honest broker has not and will not bring peace.
There has never been “a cycle of violence.” Resorting to such neutral terminology requires the U.S. and Europe to acquiesce to, and perpetuate a gross misrepresentation of reality.
Putting Israel and its neighbors on the same footing totally ignores the asymmetry of the history of the conflict and something as fundamental as “cause and effect.” The truth is – one side has been the aggressor time-after-time. The Arabs have been the initiators of more than five major wars resulting in the death of more than 22,000 Israeli soldiers and civilians. Arabs continuously call for political and economic boycotts and unbridled incitement. The Palestinians have launched wave-after-wave of terrorism against Israelis and other Jews and made hate the fuel that directs and runs their society.
All this began before there was a State of Israel, before there was an “occupation” and it continues unabated to this day.
In response to these onslaughts, Israel has not demanded reparations for the horrific causalities it has sustained in its fight for survival against repeated Arab aggression. It did not ask the Arab countries for restitution on behalf of 899,000 Jews that fled “All Moslem Lands” [NY Times , May 16, 1948]. It has only asked that it be allowed to live in peace with recognized and defendable borders as suggested in UN Security Council Resolution 242, and to develop according to its own Jewish ethos, and this is hardly an excessive demand.
Society has diluted its ability to sense reality
TALKING POINT THE AUSTRALIAN DECEMBER 27, 2014
JANET Albrechtsen is correct in raising the issue of tolerance (“Sorry history of tolerating the intolerant”, 24/12). Yet her concerns with respect to the Sydney gunman Man Haron Monis being able to avail himself and have access to benefits unchecked fails to address the real issue — not how such access could have been more strictly monitored, but whether society has been culturally reconditioned, diluting its collective sense of intolerance that enables it to readily identify, expose and condemn those likely to abuse the process.
Until Monis staged the siege he was unassailable in his desire to promote an ideological cause and to that end engage the country’s institutions and expertise, none of which was competent or willing to intrude in his path for reasons of political correctness — if not fear of repercussions from within our legal system.
If we do not have the courage to remove shackles to our free and liberal ways, such as section 18C of the Racial Discrimination Act, feel free to speak out as well as redefine the relationship between our society, its values, ethos and norms with those of newcomers who may seek to impose their own, there is no scope for eradicating miscreants such as Monis.
Public intolerance is the antidote, rather than the curtailment of access to our institutions whose functionality is also dependant on the public’s sincerity and co-operation in the outing of abusers.
George Carabelas, Mt Barker, SA
HAVING read of the brutal sexual slavery being practised by Islamic State in Syria and Iraq, I can’t help but wonder when the Western sisterhood will take up the cause of the women being sold as sex slaves.
It is outrageous that this should be happening in our supposedly enlightened 21st century. Yet Western progressives and feminists remain mute. Where is the outrage? Where are the calls for action? Why aren’t our streets filled with chants and placards demanding an end to this heinous crime? I can only assume the Left is paralysed by denial.
So, despite the atrocities, the barbarity justified by religious decree, we hear nothing from those who claim to be the champions of women’s rights.
Chris Fitzgerald, Frankston, Vic
HEAR, hear, Raymond W. Clarke (Letters, 24/12). I found myself nodding in agreement with each point. In particular, the cancer of fanaticism must be addressed by those who harbour it. And the rule of law, with our societal values, must be accepted and respected by all who reside here, regardless of culture or creed.
Unfortunately, the penny has not dropped. The blinkers are on, fostering a belief that inaction will leave them unscathed from the atrocities that those in their midst plot to commit. There appears to be no realisation that inaction condemns them to sharing a future of peril with the rest of us. A future of peril that promises indiscriminate violence if unchecked, along with concomitant consequences for them and theirs. The perpetrators of terror make no distinctions.
P. Reynolds, Gilmore, ACT
Last Post, December 27-28 THE AUSTRALIAN DECEMBER 27, 2014
BRIAN Doherty (Letters, 26/12) asks why Greens MPs Sarah Hanson-Young and Christine Milne are silent on IS selling girls. That is obviously because they can’t work out how to blame it on Tony Abbott.
Greg Kater, Vaucluse, NSW
by Alan M. Dershowitz • December 27, 2014 at 11:00 pm
North Korea's actions emulate those of hard-left feminists, radical Muslims, university administrations, and others who seek to prevent the publication or distribution of material they deem offensive.
This alleged "right" to be free from being offended, is, of course, in direct conflict with the most basic of rights in any democracy: the right to express views deemed offensive by some, and the corollary right to hear or see such views.
Citizen A should not be able to prevent Citizen B from seeing or reading something that would offend Citizen A if he were required to read or see it.
We should begin at home by delegitimizing the efforts of our own citizens to censor material that they find offensive.
Nobody should be surprised that the dictatorial ruler of North Korea would want to censor a film that offended him, or even that he would feel entitled to break the law by threatening reprisals against the offenders. His actions emulate those of hard-left feminists, radical Muslims, university administrators, and others who seek to prevent the publication or distribution of material they deem offensive.
I recall an incident several years ago when radical feminists fired bullets through the windows of a Harvard Square bookstore to protest its sale of Playboy Magazine. I also recall being physically threatened by a group called "Dykes on Bikes" -- a feminist motorcycle gang -- for providing legal representation to alleged pornographers.
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Israel has only asked that it be allowed to live in peace with recognized and defendable borders....
Eli E. Hertz Myths and Facts online December 28, 2014
The weight of the evidence of so many scholars, observers, pollsters and monitors make it almost impossible to mitigate, not to mention ignore the enormity of finding a solution to the Arab-Israeli conflict [or better described as Arab-Israeli war].
When one grasps the duration of the conflict and its roots, when one fully faces the depth of animosity towards Israel and the antisemitism that permeates the Arab world from the political, religious and intellectual elites down to the grass roots, the sheer magnitude of the challenge for peacemakers becomes painfully apparent.
When one admits the implications of Palestinian society’s behavior – the repetitive pattern of nearly 100 years of rejectionism on the diplomatic front and a penchant for terrorism against civilians, the “readiness” of Arabs for co-existence and the chances of a breakthrough assume their true proportions.
The unwillingness to accept Israel as a legitimate non-Muslim political entity is epitomized by the Palestinians asymmetrical demands for the Right of Return of all Palestinian refugees to the Jewish state coupled with a demand that the West Bank and Gaza be cleansed of all Jews.
One cannot artificially narrow the scope of the conflict. One cannot duck the tough issues – whether in the Palestinian camp or the Arab world as a whole. Western leadership that is “Staying above the conflict” out of fear that demanding Arabs to ‘walk the talk’ will jeopardize one’s status as an honest broker has not and will not bring peace.
There has never been “a cycle of violence.” Resorting to such neutral terminology requires the U.S. and Europe to acquiesce to, and perpetuate a gross misrepresentation of reality.
Putting Israel and its neighbors on the same footing totally ignores the asymmetry of the history of the conflict and something as fundamental as “cause and effect.” The truth is – one side has been the aggressor time-after-time. The Arabs have been the initiators of more than five major wars resulting in the death of more than 22,000 Israeli soldiers and civilians. Arabs continuously call for political and economic boycotts and unbridled incitement. The Palestinians have launched wave-after-wave of terrorism against Israelis and other Jews and made hate the fuel that directs and runs their society.
All this began before there was a State of Israel, before there was an “occupation” and it continues unabated to this day.
In response to these onslaughts, Israel has not demanded reparations for the horrific causalities it has sustained in its fight for survival against repeated Arab aggression. It did not ask the Arab countries for restitution on behalf of 899,000 Jews that fled “All Moslem Lands” [NY Times , May 16, 1948]. It has only asked that it be allowed to live in peace with recognized and defendable borders as suggested in UN Security Council Resolution 242, and to develop according to its own Jewish ethos, and this is hardly an excessive demand.
http://www.mythsandfacts.org/article_view.asp?articleID=294
My Friend Ali Salem
![Kirschen, Dry Bones cartoon,Israel, Egypt, Cairo, Ali Salem, Salem, Mubarak, antisemitism, middle east, media,]()
(From Dry Bones creator, Yaakov Kirschen): I'm proud to say that years ago I met, in Cairo (and later in Israel), with a brave and famous Egyptian writer who had been ostracized and had been expelled from the Egyptian Writers association, because of his support for "normalcy" with Israel. It was during Mubarak's Presidency and rabid antisemitism flourished (with President Mubarak's approval) in Egyptian media. That brave (and talented) writer was Ali Salem. We had long talks and met several times. I consider him a friend but I've lost contact with Ali and have long worried about his safety. Ali is suddenly in the news and I could not resist joyfully reporting on his wise words:
Famous Egyptian writer says Hamas is “the real enemy,” not Israel ....... (see article below) .....
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Famous Egyptian writer says Hamas is “the real enemy,” not Israel ....... (see article below) .....
Famous Egyptian writer says Hamas is “the real enemy,” not Israel
The intellectual said Hamas and Islamic State present the most serious threat to Egypt.
The intellectual said Hamas and Islamic State present the most serious threat to Egypt.
By ARIEL BEN SOLOMON Jerusalem Post 18 Dec 2014
![egypt]()
Egyptian writer and playwright Ali Salem. (photo credit:MEMRI)
Ali Salem says there are currently Israeli factories in Egypt and normalization with Israel is necessary.
Egyptian writer and playwright Ali Salem, who has a record of peaceful statements regarding Israel, said Israel is Egypt’s “friend” and Hamas is “the real enemy.”
It is not in Israel’s interest for Egypt to suffer from a lack of security, Salem said on Al-Arabiya TV in an interview Wednesday, the Egyptian El-Watan website reported.
The intellectual said Hamas and Islamic State present the most serious threat to Egypt.
Salem has visited Israel and called for the normalization of relations, drawing strong reactions from critics.
The real enemy is also poverty, ignorance, and disease, he said, adding, “Egypt will defeat terrorism no matter how long it takes.”
There are currently Israeli factories in Egypt and normalization with Israel is necessary, the playwright said.
In 2001, the Union of Egyptian Writers expelled Salem. He had “visited Israel several times and published a book on those visits, in addition to several articles supporting normalization, which contradicts the general bent of union members and the resolutions of the general assembly in several sessions,” said a union statement reported in an article about the writer in The Middle East Quarterly journal in 2002.
Salem has written 25 plays and 15 books, and some of them Egyptian classics, said the article.
In 1994, after the Oslo agreement, Salem drove to Israel and later published a book about it, “A Drive to Israel.”
“Now I was crossing the border, Egypt was behind me, for a long time I wouldn’t use the Egyptian dialect that I love. I set out on the road to Tel Aviv, in my car with its Cairo license plates: white Arabic numbers on a black background,” wrote Salem according to translated excerpts.
“I admit it: when they left me the Egyptian plates, I felt happy. And I began to exploit the chance to proclaim my nationality … With Egyptian plates and a high-pitched jeep engine I was shouting, without opening my mouth: Hey, folks!… Egypt is your neighbor!… I am an Egyptian coming forth from Egypt.”
In an Egyptian TV interview last year on Al-Kahera Wal-Nas TV, reported by MEMRI, Salem said it disturbs him when people call Israel the enemy.
“The Israelis are not an enemy – at least not of the Egyptians.”
Pressed by the interviewer if Iran or Israel is more of threat to Egypt, Salem responded that Iran was, “absolutely.”
“Because [Iran] has an extremist religious regime.
Egyptian writer and playwright Ali Salem. (photo credit:MEMRI)
Ali Salem says there are currently Israeli factories in Egypt and normalization with Israel is necessary.
Egyptian writer and playwright Ali Salem, who has a record of peaceful statements regarding Israel, said Israel is Egypt’s “friend” and Hamas is “the real enemy.”
It is not in Israel’s interest for Egypt to suffer from a lack of security, Salem said on Al-Arabiya TV in an interview Wednesday, the Egyptian El-Watan website reported.
The intellectual said Hamas and Islamic State present the most serious threat to Egypt.
Salem has visited Israel and called for the normalization of relations, drawing strong reactions from critics.
The real enemy is also poverty, ignorance, and disease, he said, adding, “Egypt will defeat terrorism no matter how long it takes.”
There are currently Israeli factories in Egypt and normalization with Israel is necessary, the playwright said.
In 2001, the Union of Egyptian Writers expelled Salem. He had “visited Israel several times and published a book on those visits, in addition to several articles supporting normalization, which contradicts the general bent of union members and the resolutions of the general assembly in several sessions,” said a union statement reported in an article about the writer in The Middle East Quarterly journal in 2002.
Salem has written 25 plays and 15 books, and some of them Egyptian classics, said the article.
In 1994, after the Oslo agreement, Salem drove to Israel and later published a book about it, “A Drive to Israel.”
“Now I was crossing the border, Egypt was behind me, for a long time I wouldn’t use the Egyptian dialect that I love. I set out on the road to Tel Aviv, in my car with its Cairo license plates: white Arabic numbers on a black background,” wrote Salem according to translated excerpts.
“I admit it: when they left me the Egyptian plates, I felt happy. And I began to exploit the chance to proclaim my nationality … With Egyptian plates and a high-pitched jeep engine I was shouting, without opening my mouth: Hey, folks!… Egypt is your neighbor!… I am an Egyptian coming forth from Egypt.”
In an Egyptian TV interview last year on Al-Kahera Wal-Nas TV, reported by MEMRI, Salem said it disturbs him when people call Israel the enemy.
“The Israelis are not an enemy – at least not of the Egyptians.”
Pressed by the interviewer if Iran or Israel is more of threat to Egypt, Salem responded that Iran was, “absolutely.”
“Because [Iran] has an extremist religious regime.
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LETTERS
TALKING POINT THE AUSTRALIAN DECEMBER 27, 2014
JANET Albrechtsen is correct in raising the issue of tolerance (“Sorry history of tolerating the intolerant”, 24/12). Yet her concerns with respect to the Sydney gunman Man Haron Monis being able to avail himself and have access to benefits unchecked fails to address the real issue — not how such access could have been more strictly monitored, but whether society has been culturally reconditioned, diluting its collective sense of intolerance that enables it to readily identify, expose and condemn those likely to abuse the process.
Until Monis staged the siege he was unassailable in his desire to promote an ideological cause and to that end engage the country’s institutions and expertise, none of which was competent or willing to intrude in his path for reasons of political correctness — if not fear of repercussions from within our legal system.
If we do not have the courage to remove shackles to our free and liberal ways, such as section 18C of the Racial Discrimination Act, feel free to speak out as well as redefine the relationship between our society, its values, ethos and norms with those of newcomers who may seek to impose their own, there is no scope for eradicating miscreants such as Monis.
Public intolerance is the antidote, rather than the curtailment of access to our institutions whose functionality is also dependant on the public’s sincerity and co-operation in the outing of abusers.
George Carabelas, Mt Barker, SA
HAVING read of the brutal sexual slavery being practised by Islamic State in Syria and Iraq, I can’t help but wonder when the Western sisterhood will take up the cause of the women being sold as sex slaves.
It is outrageous that this should be happening in our supposedly enlightened 21st century. Yet Western progressives and feminists remain mute. Where is the outrage? Where are the calls for action? Why aren’t our streets filled with chants and placards demanding an end to this heinous crime? I can only assume the Left is paralysed by denial.
So, despite the atrocities, the barbarity justified by religious decree, we hear nothing from those who claim to be the champions of women’s rights.
Chris Fitzgerald, Frankston, Vic
HEAR, hear, Raymond W. Clarke (Letters, 24/12). I found myself nodding in agreement with each point. In particular, the cancer of fanaticism must be addressed by those who harbour it. And the rule of law, with our societal values, must be accepted and respected by all who reside here, regardless of culture or creed.
Unfortunately, the penny has not dropped. The blinkers are on, fostering a belief that inaction will leave them unscathed from the atrocities that those in their midst plot to commit. There appears to be no realisation that inaction condemns them to sharing a future of peril with the rest of us. A future of peril that promises indiscriminate violence if unchecked, along with concomitant consequences for them and theirs. The perpetrators of terror make no distinctions.
P. Reynolds, Gilmore, ACT
Last Post, December 27-28 THE AUSTRALIAN DECEMBER 27, 2014
BRIAN Doherty (Letters, 26/12) asks why Greens MPs Sarah Hanson-Young and Christine Milne are silent on IS selling girls. That is obviously because they can’t work out how to blame it on Tony Abbott.
Greg Kater, Vaucluse, NSW
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