"Syria authorities target children, says UN rights chief"

The BBC is reporting that....

Syrian authorities are systematically detaining and torturing children, the United Nations' human rights chief, Navi Pillay, has told the BBC.

Ms Pillay said President Bashar al-Assad could end the detentions and stop the killing of civilians immediately, simply by issuing an order.

....

"They've gone for the children - for whatever purposes - in large numbers. Hundreds detained and tortured... it's just horrendous," she said.

"Children shot in the knees, held together with adults in really inhumane conditions, denied medical treatment for their injuries, either held as hostages or as sources of information."

I ask for universal condemnation of these horrific acts of violence against the most vulnerable in any society.

How any country, such as China and Russia, can support such a regime in the security council and at least in Russia's case, via arms and munitions is unimaginable

Russia faces a growing international outcry over its arms sales to Syria but shows no sign of bowing to pressure and has even increased deliveries of arms that critics say are helping keep President Bashar al-Assad in power.

How any country's ruling political alliance, such as Lebanon can include a party, such as Hezbollah, that supports such a regime is unimaginable. The people of Syria are taking note

Hezbollah's support for the Assad regime has not gone unnoticed by Syrian protesters. Recent images from demonstrations in the country show people burning the yellow Hezbollah flag. The Syrian Revolution Coordination Committee has accused Hezbollah of firing Katyusha rockets from Lebanon into the al-Zabadani region of Syria where anti-Assad protests are taking place.

The world is watching.

Victory in Park Slope: BDS Loses Vote On Whether To Have Vote

The results are in from tonight's much followed vote by the Park Slope Food Coop on whether to have a vote on whether to join BDS - the "Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions" regime that seeks to replace Israel with an Arab-majority state. Out of more than 1600 votes cast at an unprecedented meeting of some of the coop membership at a high school auditorium, the members present opted to defeat BDS by a margin of 61% to 39%.

It is an important victory for the anti-BDS side because this debate drew significant outside attention beyond the usual I-P partisans, with repeated coverage in the New York Times and other media outlets, as well as by entertainer and paranoid freak Glenn Beck. Also, rather unique to BDS circuses, this one featured several prominent local politicians weighing in, including New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg who delivered a scathing rebuke of BDS.

It is interesting that this partcular vote was accompanied by significantly more outside interest. One could certainly attribute it in part to being in New York City, the home of many media companies. The Park Slope Coop is also a pioneer in the food coop movement, dating to the early 70s, so their move either way may be seen as more significant and impactful than recent similar happenings in Sacramento, Davis, Port Townshend, Ann Arbor, and Olympia.

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61% to 39% is closer than many would have liked, but it is a decisive defeat that will probably keep BDS from trying again in Park Slope for at least a little while. It is also possible that some people in attendance out of deference to (small-d) democratic ideals may have voted to hold the vote but would have voted no in that actual vote. Also the vote itself drew only the most interested members. 39% is therefore an upper limit to BDS support at the coop (Note that this will not stop BDS from claiming that their democratic rights were infringed because of the arcane procedure that this was the vote on whether to hold the vote and not the actual vote - and I note the insane hypocrisy that will accompany this because in Olympia BDS insisted on no vote by the membership).

This is another in a very long line of electoral defeats for BDS, which include all of the above mentioned food coops except for Olympia, as well as every college and university, municipality, and church hierarchy in America where they have tried over the past 10 years (many gory details are available at the excellent Divest This blog). However - and this is crucial for understanding what BDS is all about - BDS will not see Park Slope as much of a defeat, for their goal is not to actually economically harm Israel, which everyone knows could not happen even if every food coop in America stopped selling hummus.

Rather, the goal of BDS is to get the "Israel=bad" meme to be associated with a respected progressive institution such as a coop, university, mainline church, or cool city. And that is unfortunate, because it means we have to strive to defeat BDS every time, not just a majority of times or the most important times. Annoyingly, Park Slope is not the end, it may not even be the beginning of the end, but at least it may be the end of the beginning.

This Friday is Buy Israel Day, and I hope many Brooklynites will hit up Park Slope for the Israeli products they will continue to be able to enjoy.

Strange Times We Live In: The Red-Brown-Redneck Alliance

One of the most fascinating things for me as I have explored the depths of blogdom and activism is the ideological alliance that has coalesced among the strangest of bedfellows, who find common cause at the intersection of antisemitism and Israel hatred.

It has often been mentioned how Israel exercises power far out of proportion to its tiny size - economically, militarily, and culturally - and to that list we can also add the extraordinary way it has brought together Jihadis, survivalists, and supposedly secular far-leftists.

Attend any ANSWER-type political rally nowadays, or look at almost any web-based discussion of Israel - whether it be in the comments section of a CNN article or Youtube video, or at a blog such as Daily Kos, or a dedicated anti-Israel and antisemitic website such as Mondoweiss - and you will notice three distinct and seemingly incompatible affiliations, all brought together:

1) Jihadis: Their motivation in the game is clear, and they have an unhidden genocidal hatred of Jews and Israel. Online, their presence is characterized by mangled spellings and grammar (e.g. the famous "BUT can yoo handle the truth with facts??!!"), copious broken links to Jihadist and Iranian regime websites, and random interjections of 100 variations of AhaLlu AkBar, all featuring different spellings and capitalizations. At ANSWER-type rallies, they can be seen waving Hamas flags, dressing children up in suicide bomber regalia, and doing those ominous "Yehuuuudi" chants.

2) Survivalists: They are obsessed with Jewish and Israeli influence in the US government, and are tweaked by all of the insane conspiracy theories, from 9-11 to the USS Liberty and beyond. This group is mostly middle aged and older Caucasian males, usually bearded, who are on the margins of society. Online they are obsessed with the USS Liberty and display significant support for Ron Paul. At ANSWER-type rallies, they have the barely coherent often hand-made signs charging vast conspiracies of Jews and Israel.

Many would think of these people as some sort of Neo-Nazis, but while there are similarities, I think there is a distinction because they are not usually affiliated with actual Neo-Nazi groups, and they have a completely different aesthetic and age distribution - tending toward older, bearded, health-afflicted, and lazy, rather than young, built, and looking for a fight. They really exist at the aesthetic intersection of redneck, hippie, and petty paranoia. However, they are far lazier than those who would act physically on their hatred. The best word I could think of to encompass all of the converging strands is 'survivalist'. Basically BigAl (for those familiar with Daily Kos) is the model for this person, but they can be seen all over fringe rallies and websites.

Why would people who are fundamentally pretty racist be so eager to ally with Arab and South Asian Islamists? I think it is because the survivalists' combination of racism and laziness manifests in a desire not for race war but for America to completely withdraw from contact with the rest of the world, and Jihadis of course are their allies in this. But it gets even stranger with group #3:

3) Secular far-leftists: The secular far-leftists tend to be the organizers of, and strive to be the public face of the alliance. They are the ones who organize the rallies, who form the leadership of far-left organizations such as ANSWER, and who run the websites such as Mondoweiss and Adalah at Daily Kos. They thrive off the support from, and in turn provide rhetorical support to, the Jihadis and the survivalists. Without the Jihadis and the survivalists, ANSWER-type rallies and Mondoweiss and Adalah would have a small fraction of the bodies that they do now, with the accompanying irrelevance.

It is tough to discern the actual core values of this group of secular far-leftists, because they have absolutely no problem making common cause and perpetual alliance with the awful people described above, not to mention other fundamentally illiberal villains such as the Cuban or Venezuelan regimes. They also, to put it mildly, tailor their message to the audience, speaking of "human rights" and "peace" when speaking to liberals, and speaking of "revolution" and "resistance" when talking to others.

So what do they actually believe and seek? I don't know, but it seems to be some sort of world anti-Capitalist and anti-American revolution that absolutely has to start in Israel, and somehow things will just work out from there.

The secular leftists are of course the most surprising contingent of the alliance, because it seems like they should know better than to make common cause with the other two. After all, they spend their time sitting around coffee houses reading Marx and Sartre, right? And they really care about human rights, alternate sexuality, and patriarchy, right? Well, I don't know.

What I do know is that they have adopted Muslims and Arabs, and in particular the Palestinian Arabs, as the major symbolic representatives of everything that is wrong with, and victimized by, American and Western military and economic power, Capitalism, and so forth. And in turn, the Arab world's major self-declared mortal enemy, Israel, has become the symbolic representative of Western, American, and Capitalist military and economic power.

Now I will be the first to state that there are many problems with the manifestations of extreme Capitalism and American military overreach - I am a liberal after all. However, I recognize the fundamental illiberality of Jihadists and conspiracy nuts, and of seeking to deny self-determination to only one ethnic group in the world - the Jews - which also happens to be the most persecuted group in human history.

But that's me. The secular far-leftists in question don't believe so. They see Israel - population 6 million, with gay rights, universal health care, environmental stewardship, and universal suffrage - as the necessary starting point for a world revolution. Unfortunately, this strange belief has been creeping in from the extremes of the far left into more mainstream leftist thought, at places such as Human Rights Watch and even Amnesty International.

The amazing thing is that all of this has already been tried before by the secular left, to disastrous results. They seem not to be aware of, or not to want to learn from, obvious history. Many people forget that the Iranian Islamic Revolution was initially largely supported by the secular liberals and Communists in that country and among its exiles. They figured that once the Shah was dealt with and the old order was overthrown, they could maneuver in the post-Shah system to achieve their goals.

Boy were they wrong! Iran's leftists and Communists quickly learned that their position once the Ayatollahs took over was not going to be at the negotiating table or in the Parliament, but rather in the prisons and torture chambers, behind veils, and for the lucky few, in exile. The same will no doubt be the case in the unlikely scenario that certain Western far-leftists succeed in bringing about revolutionary change through their alliance with Jihadis.

----------------------

This analysis applies to what I would call the 'true believers' from each camp - those that are genuinely convinced of the ideological righteousness of their cause. Of course beyond those types, in these sorts of movements, there are the opportunists who are willing to do anything to sell a book, become famous, drum up support for their regime, sell pot, or whatever else it might be. Those people would probably need an entirely different analysis, because their motivations are quite different than true believers.

Politicians: Don't Attend Netroots Nation If Antisemitic Panel Is Included

(note: this is a draft of a petition that will be circulated through change.org)

Netroots Nation is an annual gathering of internet-based activists, largely centered around the website Daily Kos. In the past, Netroots Nation has focused on a variety of topics of Democratic Party and progressive interest, often in panel discussion format, and has had the participation of a number of mainstream Democratic Party figures.

This year there is a proposal to include a panel discussion at Netroots Nation about the Israeli-Arab conflict. The proposed panel is entirely one-sided, illiberal, and against universally held Democratic Party and progressive principles. As proposed, there will be no representation on the panel from a pro-Israel perspective. The two 'sides' of the proposed discussion will both consist of extremists who favor the elimination of Israel and its replacement with an Arab-majority state. The only effective disagreement between the two proposed sides of the discussion is the method by which this outcome will be acheived. The most famous proposed participant is blogger Ali Abunimah, who has explicitly called for the elimination of Israel and for a "third Intifada".

Furthermore, some of the proponents and promoters of the proposed panel have a long history of tolerating and promoting explicit antisemitism at the website Daily Kos. As documented extensively in summaries such as available at http://progressivezionist.blogspot.com/2012/03/resources.html, many of the proponents tolerate and promote traditional antisemitic rhetoric such as charging Jewish Americans with disloyalty to America and intent to control US foreign policy, promoting conspiracy theories involving the USS Liberty, pushing the debunked Khazar hoax, and many other staples of antisemitic rhetoric. Many of these same panel proponents have excused the rhetoric of the Iranian regime and expressed support for both Iran and Hezbollah acquiring nuclear weapons.

If the proposed panel is included, it will be a forum for some notorious internet promoters of antisemitism to push their hateful ideas, as well as a forum for extremists alone to promote their preferred outcome to the Israeli-Arab conflict: the replacement of Israel with an Arab-majority state, in direct contradiction to the positions of the Democratic and Republican Party platforms and every major elected official in the United States.

We call on all politicians and elected officials to avoid any association with Netroots Nation if the proposed Israeli-Arab panel is included in the program. Such extremist ideas are the antithesis of the true mission of the Netroots, the progressive movement, and the Democratic Party.

We the undersigned pledge to withhold all contributions and votes from any politicians or elected officials who participate in Netroots Nation if the proposed Israeli-Arab panel is included.

Resources

Hello, thank you for your interest in combatting internet-based antisemitic rhetoric.

These collections are an extensive, but by no means complete, documentation of antisemitic rhetoric promoted by users and the management of the website Daily Kos. Many of the same users are promoters of the proposed Netroots Nation Panel on the Israeli-Arab conflict.

These collections are not exhaustive, meerly a representative sample of the rhetoric promoted and tolerated on Daily Kos by proponents of the Netroots Nation panel.

A) Links to many instances of antisemitic rhetoric, including:
1) Charging Jewish Americans with disloyalty to America
2) Promoting conspiracy theories involving Jewish control of finance, the media and government
3) Denying, minimizing, or revising the Holocaust
4) Promoting the debunked Khazar hoax


B) Links to instances of rhetoric such as:
1) Holocaust and Darfur genocide denial
2) Promotion of the elimination of Israel
3) Promotion of nuclear weapons in the hands of the Iranian regime and terrorist organizations

C) Links to more of the same, including
1) The elimination of Israel and possible genocide of its inhabitants
2) Accusations of Jewish control of the US government

An Open Letter to the Administration about Netroots Nation 12

Mr. President and Staff,

My name is _____ and I blog under the name volleyboy1 at both Daily Kos and at my own blog http:progressivezionist.blogspot.com (the Progressive Zionist). On my site I constantly defend this administration against Right Wing members of the Jewish community. At Daily Kos I am one of the co-founders of "Jews for President Obama". This said....

At Netroots Nation 12 there is consideration for a panel on the Israel-Palestine conflict that would feature only those voices that would deny Israel's existence and force a One State solution on the area.

While it is important to recognize that the Palestinians DO indeed have a voice that needs to be heard, in this setting it is also important that Zionist voices are heard as well. For over 95% of American Jews, the existence of Israel is an important and vital part of our lives.

Any panel at this conference that did not include Zionist voices that support the full existence of the State of Israel would be a sure indicator that the delegitimization of the legitimate right of Jewish self-determination.

Were any Democrat to then speak at Netroots Nation with a panel that denied Israel and Jewish Self Determination I can't help but think that they would be supportive of that panel as well. As such I could not see myself supporting those particular politicians and in fact would speak out against them.

Therefore, I am asking that should Netroots Nation 12 take this path -the administration NOT support this by sending speakers or representatives. Can you imagine what FOX or Right Wing bloggers would do with tapes of this. It would destroy all of the hard work you have put in to show the Jewish community that you are our friend.

Mr. President, we support you. You have been a great friend to our community and to Israel. Please don't let this tarnish that friendship.

Please join me in sending the text of this letter (skip the first paragraph as it is not relevant to individual writers) to your representatives and the White House. I will be sending this to my Rep. John Garamendi as well as the offices of Senator Boxer and Senator Feinstein. Hopefully they will not support nor send proxies to NN12 should the panel as discussed (a panel in which NO strong Zionist voices would be presented) go forward.

The goal here is not to shut down Netroots, I think it is a great conference. The goal is to make sure that Democrats are not supporting something that gives a platform for hatred and denial of the legitimate right of Jewish self determination.

The thing is that there are people (whether Paulistas or true lefties) that are trying to radicalize the Democratic party for whatever reason and there is no reason that we as Democrats should let them. Racism, has no place in our party. The Republicans and the Right have embraced that meme (just look at the Paul candidacy or "the Southern Strategy" or the speakers at CPAC etc...), let them have it. We don't need it, don't want it, and I for one won't stand for it. Not that what I say has any bearing on what people think.
All of us have a voice to fight racism. NN12 is proposing a racist panel. We can't just fight the racism that exists "across the aisle", we have to face what we see here as well.

SO... please keep an eye on this, and let our representatives know that participating in a conference that actively promotes anti-Jewish memes (destruction of Israel through BDS and the Palestinian One State Solution) is simply unacceptable to us as Democrats.

Shalom!

US Report: Turkey among worst defenders of religious rights

The US Commission on International Religious Freedom has released its annual report where Turkey has now been added to the list of countries found to be the among the worst in violating religious rights within the country.

ABC News reports the commission as citing Turkey for "systematic and egregious limitations" against religious freedom.

Among other problems, the report criticizes Turkey for regulating non-Muslim groups by restricting how they can train clergy, offer education and own their places of worship.

Turkey joins a list of countries that includes

Tajikistan, Myanmar, North Korea, Egypt, Eritrea, Iran, Iraq, Nigeria, Pakistan, China, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Vietnam.

Not great company in regards to respect for religious liberty.

UPDATE: Thanks to Pager for the link to the report here

Excerpts from the report....

Due to the Turkish government‘s systematic and egregious limitations on the freedom of religion or belief that affect all religious communities in Turkey, and particularly threaten the country‘s non-Muslim religious minorities, USCIRF recommends Turkey be designated a ―country of particular concern.The Turkish government, in the name of secularism, has long imposed burdensome regulations and denied full legal status to religious groups, violating the religious freedom rights of all religious communities. These restrictions, including policies that deny non-Muslim communities the rights to train clergy, offer religious education, and own and maintain places of worship, have led to their decline, and in some cases, their virtual disappearance.

Other concerns include the Turkish government‘s intervention into minority religious communities‘ religious affairs; societal discrimination and occasional violence against religious minorities; limitations on religious dress; and anti-Semitism in Turkish society and media. Additionally, Turkey‘s military control over northern Cyprus supports numerous arbitrary regulations implemented by local Turkish Cypriot authorities. These regulations limit the religious activities of all non-Muslims living in northern Cyprus, deny these religious communities the right to worship freely and restore, maintain, and utilize their religious properties, and threaten the long-term survival of non-Muslim religious communities in the area.

Welcome, Zion Square

One of the more malignant features of the dialogue in the United States about Israel, Zionism and the role of Jews in our body politic has been the absence of confident, informed Progressive voices.

In practice, this has resulted in the terms of debate being set by the fringes of the far right and far left with all their attendant issues of bigotry and maximalist positions, of the kind that are persuasive only to those who require no persuasion. An echo chamber is not the same thing as a conversation. The rest of the nation, to the extent that it is even interested - and I would posit that most Americans, of the left or right, simply can't be bothered to unravel the Byzantine complexities of the Arab-Israeli conflict - has no voice in that dialogue.

Which is why I am really rather intrigued by Peter Beinart's new blog on The Daily Beast, Zion Square.

It begins with the naming. A square is a place where people meet, exchange goods and ideas, where our communities are centered. By definition, a square is open to all.

Zion, meanwhile, and note I'm writing this as a Gentile, is a deeply resonant name in our society. 'Jerusalem' is often called England's unofficial anthem. The American landscape is dotted with little Zions of our own, and in our own land of milk and honey, places matter. They form our collective memory, the ground where our dreams take hold.

We often hear - and rather loudly, at that - from the above-mentioned fringes that Zionism is in crisis. I would argue the contrary; as national liberation movements go, it is a spectacular success. The state it has built, a thriving, tolerant liberal democracy, is not something normally created in the blink of the eye of historical time. But it happened, on the eastern shore of the Mediterranean. You might get a sense of just how difficult that is from the paroxysms currently shaking Egypt.

Our job, as Americans, is to try to understand the complexities inherent in this unprecedented endeavor, and to do so without the rancor and division the subject so often inspires. We can't shout each other down. So why don't we try talking?

Maybe in Zion Square.

Anti-Israel Activists Try To Distance Selves From Gilad Atzmon - Too Little Too Late

As reported on the Electronic Intifada and elsewhere, the "US Palestinian Community Network", a group with a number of prominent Palestinian and affiliated activists, has released a letter trying to distance themselves from anti-Israel advocate and rabid antisemite Gilad Atzmon.

Atzmon has made a name and career for himself by minimizing the Holocaust and perpetuating antisemitic memes about Jewish conspiracies and Jewish tribalism, as well as promoting extreme anti-Zionism, to the point of claiming that there is no difference between Tel Aviv and a West Bank settlement. And all along, in doing so, he has had the enthusiastic support of, and has been a celebrity in, the pro-Palestinian activist community. As recently as a mere two weeks ago they were fundraising with him at an appearance in Berkeley.

It seems that now some in that community have finally decided that Atzmon, with his obvious, unapologetic, up front antisemitism, costs them more than he gains them, hence the new statement.

However, as with everything else in the anti-Israel activist community, the statement is full of lies. It starts out calling Atzmon a "self-appointed" activist, as though he hasn't had the support and endorsement of large segments of the anti-Israel community for years, including up until two weeks ago in Berkeley. And then it goes on from there, making the laughably ridiculous claim that Atzmon's extreme anti-Zionism is actually itself a form of Zionism. The whole thing is so stupid, insipid, and lying that it doesn't even merit a larger response.

I would say that the brazenly dishonest way they have completely ignored the years of their movement's of close alliance with, and promotion of, Atzmon is a new low. He's spoken at many of their events, and they've fundraised off of his books and appearances. Anti-Israel activists disavowing Atzmon and calling him a "self-appointed" activist is like Republicans suddenly disavowing Reagan and calling him "self appointed" - it just flies in the face of everything that has been happening for years.

Atzmon is a despicable antisemite and deranged asshole, so of course I don't feel bad for him. But he is now being unceremoniously discarded by the anti-Israel set after years of being considered a hero to them, and this should serve as a warning to people like David Harris Gershon. The anti-Israel movement might be acting like your best friend at the moment, but as soon as they decide you are no longer useful to them, they will drop you like a ton of bricks so quick you won't know what happened.

Kindegarten Hit by Palestinian Rockets: Islamic Jihad and PRC will "not accept cease-fire"

The latest round of tragedy in Southern Israel / Gaza continues unabated.

Last week, the Israelis, acting on information that the Palestinian Popular Resistance Committee was planning a major incident (re: terrorist attack) on the Egyptian / Israeli border, struck the leadership of the PRC in a targeted Air Strike and killed their Secretary General Zuhair al-Qissi. The IAF followed that up with a focused strike that killed a Rocket Team preparing to bombard Southern Israel.

This brought on an massive rain of Rocket fire directed at civilian areas of Southern Israel and had not the Iron Dome short range missle defense system been working and had not the Israeli government closed schools casualties from these rockets directed into civilian areas would have been huge.

In addition to the strikes that have threatened the lives and caused injuries to civilians in Southern Israel a number of Palestinians (23) have been killed and many more wounded (80) during the course of 23 IAF air missions. Of course, it should be noted that the militant groups firing on Israel are firing from crowded areas and using civilians as human shields. NOT too mention that all of their fire is directed solely at random CIVILIAN targets in Southern Israel.

With all the damage that is occuring though, so far Hamas has been staying out of the fighting, and at least part of it is talking with the Egyptians in an attempt to rein in Palestinian Islamic Jihad and the PRC that continue to fire. while the PRC and Islamic Jihad are saying "No" to cease fire talks.

GAZA CITY (Ma'an) -- Islamic Jihad held a press conference on Monday warning that it would not agree to a truce with Israel while airstrikes continue to kill Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.

"We will not agree on a ceasefire stipulated by Israel, neither do we accept a ceasefire while the lives of our people are taken without restraint," Jihad officials told reporters in Gaza City.
Senior Hamas official Mahmoud Al-Zahhar told Reuters in Cairo he expected a ceasefire to be reached, but the timing depended on Israel.

"I expect matters will calm down," Zahhar said. "The statements coming from them (Israel) either in public or via mediators, especially Egypt, say that they do not want escalation."

But even Hamas admits that the Israelis DO NOT want an escalation.

And Haaretz is reporting today:

Egypt negotiating between Israel and Gaza factions for ceasefire, diplomats say

"We hope that we will succeed to reach quiet tonight," said one Egyptian diplomat. Strategic Affairs Minister Moshe Yaalon said that Hamas approached Egyptian intelligence and asked to pass a message to Israel regarding the renewal of calm.

"We do not carry out negotiations with Hamas," Yaalon said.

"Our response through the Egyptians was very simple, this is basically our policy since the beginning of the current administration: if you are quiet, we will be quiet, if you shoot, or plot attacks, we will hit you, and so the ball is certainly in their court."

The Egyptian diplomat who is involved in the efforts to bring about the ceasefire said that Egyptian intelligence has been talking with Amos Gilad, head of the Defense Ministry's diplomatic-security bureau since Sunday, as well as with different Palestinian factions, with an emphasis on Hamas.

It is coming down to a matter of "who will blink first" in the fight between Israel and the Palestinian factions. The Israelis have vowed to strike continue to strike as long as the militants continue to fire into Israel or plan Terror strikes into Israel. Even the Israeli politicians outside of Likud are supporting this current round of strikes.

Labor faction chairman Isaac Herzog on Monday also expressed support for the decision to assassinate Zuhir al-Qaisi, the Popular Resistance Committee leader, on Friday, which ignited the current flare-up. "We hope that the current round of violence will end soon," he added.

Netanyahu expressed similar sentiments on Sunday at a meeting with the heads of local authorities in Ashdod. "I came to identify with the residents and with you, and to express my deep appreciation for the IDF and the Shin Bet," Netanyahu said.

Both the U.S. and the U.N. have expressed concern regarding the state of fighting in Gaza:

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton also condemned rocket fire from the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip into southern Israel and called on all sides to try to restore calm (vb1 emphasis).

"Let me also condemn in the strongest terms the rocket fire from Gaza into southern Israel, which continued over the weekend," Clinton said during an appearance on Monday before the UN Security Council. "We call on those responsible to take immediate action to stop these attacks. We call on both sides - all sides - to make every effort to restore calm," Clinton said.

Let us all hope that cooler heads will prevail and the Rocket Fire and Air Strikes can come to a screeching halt.

Great Column by Brad Burston Haaretz: If Obama Wins in November is Netanyahu in trouble

Writing in Haaretz today Bradley Burston has a very interesting comment with regards to our election.

There is something in the air. Something new. Something as recent as this week's AIPAC conference. And for Benjamin Netanyahu, it's not something to be desired.

American conservatives have begun to think out loud that Barack Obama will win in November. Citing the GOP's disastrous showing in the 1964 presidential election, influential Washington Post columnist George Will suggested this week in a tone of some resignation ("the Presidency is not everything") that conservatives might better use their energies by concentrating instead on Congressional and Senate races.

No one will be following the campaign more closely than the man adored by Republicans nationwide as the favorite son they can never adopt, Benjamin Netanyahu. And should Obama win a second term, perhaps recouping a measure of Congressional strength on his coattails, Netanyahu stands to lose as much as anyone.

Much of the prime minister's policymaking strategy has been based on educated hopes for a steady decline in Obama's first-term electoral strength and a Netanyahu- friendly Republican taking the White House in 2012. Marshalling conservative allies in Congress and the Jewish community, Netanyahu seemed to have shattered the Obama administration's linkage of Israeli-Palestinian peace progress (with its attendant threats to the settlement enterprise) and resolution of other regional issues, notably Iran.

But it's a different Netanyahu coming home this week. The Prime Minister's Office is no longer betting on Obama to lose.

According to Burston Channel 10 is reporting that some officials have been remarking that "Well, If the President does get re-elected and we are restrained, hopefully he will remember that".

Another thing we is this:

Israel Cautiously Welcomes Western Nuclear Talks with Iran

Tuesday's announcement of new talks followed a visit by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to the United States, where President Barack Obama said the talks offered a diplomatic chance to quiet the "drums of war".

"I'm very happy that they are opening discussions," said Netanyahu's national security adviser, Yaakov Amidror.

"There will be no one happier than us, and the prime minister said this in his own voice, if it emerges that in these talks Iran will give up on its military nuclear capability," he told Israel Radio.....

....."It should be clear that without a real military alternative, the Iranians will not relent in the negotiations. And without there being a serious alternative, they will not enter the negotiations, and in any event there has to be readiness for the negotiations failing," Amidror said.   

Netanyahu's spokesman Liran Dan said there had been no U.S. effort to veto or endorse any military action by Israel on Iran.

This coming just a week after the government had this to say regarding the U.S. deal with N. Korea

Wednesday's agreement between the United States and North Korea that would halt the latter's nuclear program is no proof that diplomacy will be enough to stop Iran's pursuit of nuclear capabilities, a senior Israeli diplomatic official said.

More to the point, that the Israelis signal Nuclear Talks COULD work, something they were not signalling before. So how does this sync with Burston's article? Well, two of the Republican Candidates are banging on the drums and calling for Bombs Away and that the Presidents approach won't work. The other (the front runner btw), Mitt Romney simply just lied about and said the President never put the "military option" on the table, even though he clearly did.

The fact that the Netanyahu government is willing to start shifting their positions publicly on this is quite interesting and telling. Perhaps, in Washington some reassurances were made, perhaps the Prime Minister saw the wind was blowing with regards to the Republican Primaries (and what a joke they have become). Who knows?

Jon Stewart captured it perfectly the other night and BruinKid over at Daily Kos got it right in this diary. I heartily recommend reading it: Jon Stewart blasts Republicans over Obama on Israel.

One interesting note is that rumor in Israel has it that PM Netanyahu is thinking of early elections in Israel. He is ahead in every poll I have seen so perhaps he wants to consolidate that now rather than waiting until 2013 (when electios are due) so he can negotiate with President Obama from a position of internal strength which presumably won't be weakened by new U.S. moves.

Oops! Which Political Party Has An Israel Problem?

There has been an ongoing debate as to what extent the mainstream Democratic party should be held responsible for the Israel derangement of the loony far left exhibited at places such as Daily Kos. People who think the answer is 'a lot' tend to use that to justify support for the Republican party.

But lookie lookie what happened today!

Whatever people say about President Obama, there is only one explicitly anti-Zionist candidate in the 2012 presidential race, and it is Ron Paul. Paul has said that Israel's creation was, quote, "a mistake". He promises to zero out aid to Israel. His campaign even bragged about this hostility to Israel on a flyer targeted at Arab American voters.

Well today Ron Paul the anti-Zionist pulled 41% of the vote in the Virginia primary. His tallies were helped by the absence of the two other non-Romney candidates from the ballot in that state, but the fact remains that 41% of Virginia Republican voters are okay voting for an explicit anti-Zionist.

I'm going to go ahead state that fact again, because it flies in the face of so much rhetoric we've been subjected to about the Democrats' supposed Israel problem:

41% of Virginia Republican voters are okay voting for an explicit anti-Zionist

Ron Paul the explicity anti-Zionist candidate also pulled 35% of the Republican vote in Maine, and 25% or more of the Republican vote in Vermont, Washington, and Minnesota.

Meanwhile it looks like the least pro-Israel Democratic member in the entire House of Representatives (and he's not even that anti-Israel) lost his primary.

So which political party's base has an Israel problem?

Kudos to A Brave Palestinian Woman

A 25-year-old Muslim woman, Bushra Khalilieh is a true example of bravery.

Maan News reports on this:

BETHLEHEM (Ma'an) -- Israel has sent a delegation of 100 students to represent it in the annual Apartheid Week in South Africa, an Israeli newspaper reported Tuesday.

The report in Maariv noted one unusual participant in this year's delegation -- a 25-year-old Muslim Bushra Khalilieh, a member of Israel's Arab minority in the Galilee.

The newspaper said Khalilieh was attending university in one of South Africa’s university campuses. Khalilieh, who wears a hijab, came to Israel's defense during activities on campus.

"We toured Johannesburg and Cape Town’s campuses and met local students," she said.

"We spoke with them about Israel and I told them about my personal issue as an Arab girl living in Israel. I feel Israel to be my hometown where there’s equality and I have all my rights.”

"When students hear us, they are surprised as there are some who do not even know there are Arabs living in Israel. I, as an Arab Israeli girl, love my country and believe that it seeks peace and respects all its citizens.”

Khalilieh, a masters student at Tel Aviv University, stressed that she represents herself and not the position of the Israeli government.

“I represent myself as a Muslim Arab who lives in Israel as a liberal and free girl unlike other Arab girls who live in Arab countries and do not have the human rights I have like freedom of expression and dignity.”

She added: "There are people who are calling to boycott us and say that there is apartheid in Israel, but I try to show Israel as a country that’s different from what they think."

 

If only the BDS Crowd or their Hard Right counterparts could see this.

 

Here is a woman that will speak "truth to power" and stand up for what is right while at the same time presenting a positive view of cooperation between Jews and Palestinians in Israel.

 

For the BDS crowd it is important because they are so filled with misinformation regarding the state of Israeli Arabs with whom they conflate with Palestininans in the West Bank. Obviously this young woman, who attends the University in Tel-Aviv is not suffering from the ravages of an imagined Apartheid system (under which this situation would never occur). This goes hand in hand with the many examples of Israeli Arabs wanting to stay a part of Israel rather than move to or become part of a Palestinian State.

 

This echo's my experience living in Israel around the Israeli Arabs that I met. They were all students at the University and I did not see any outright examples of discrimmination towards them. Now, was their racism there. Yes there was, were there "unspoken" barriers placed before them... Yep. BUT, it was nothing like what the BDS'ers (or those suffering from Israel Derangement Syndrome) portray.

 

And for those on the Hard Right suffering from MDS (Muslim Derangement syndrome), this along with many other examples goes to show that not all Muslims (and I would venture most) are truly out for our blood. Because that too was my experience living in Israel and interacting with both Jewish and Arab Israelis. In fact, my worst experience was with a young Kahanist... anyway..

 

I just thought I would add this hopeful story.

On Useful Idiocy and David Harris Gershon

It has come to my attention that there are still supposed liberals and progressives (on Daily Kos, of course) maintaining that baptizing my dead relatives into the Mormon Church against theirs and my will is no big deal. Just, you know, shit happens and I should stop complaining. As usual, these supposed 'progressive' thinkers are defended, excused, and inspired by wannabe author and serial failure David Harris Gershon.

Apparently they also maintain that dog whistles about Jewish control of the government and disloyal Jewish senators that are drawn straight out of Neo-Nazi rhetoric are also just fine. After all, what a terrible, 'chilling effect on free speech' it would be if one were to insist on norms of respectful behavior that have long ago been accepted in regard to every other ethnic group. Without being able to insinuate in polite company that Jews or Jewish interests control the government and that Jewish-American politicians are disloyal... well how in Earth would people be able to insinuate that Jews or Jewish interests control the government and Jewish-American politicians are disloyal?? Down with censorship!

And I am also told that in spite of a mountain of convincing evidence that includes, well fuck, everything, many people who claim to be on the side of the political aisle that favors rationality are simply unable to wrap their heads around the simple concept that Jews are a people, not a religion. Nope, in spite of a mountain of genetic and historical evidence, they can't process it. I kid you not, there are seriously people seemingly unable to understand this.

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Now, I learned long ago not to be surprised at these attitudes from supposedly "progressive" quarters. Still, it does still manage to amaze me that a few Jewish people themselves (or at least those claiming on the anonymous internet to be Jewish) often love to provide cover for their own haters. For purveyors of antisemitism, Jewish useful idiots are the most useful idiots of all.

One particularly prominent useful idiot (as prominent as one can be in a web-based echo chamber filled with a rapidly diminishing number of readers such as Daily Kos), who goes by the affore mentioned name name of David Harris Gershon, recently tried the "look over there!" tactic, where when an episode of antisemitism is pointed out the person says 'oh yeah, but these other people have it way worse than us successful happy educated Jews'. Often the 'other people over there' are Muslims, as it was in this case. Now I'm not going to get into a pissing contest about who suffers worse discrimination, other than to refer to this chart or the hundreds like it that are readily available from 2 milliseconds of web searching:

See that, not even in their worst year right after 9/11 were anti-Muslim incidents anywhere as common as anti-Jewish incidents in the US. And this is not privileged information that you have to be a genius like me to get. It is just right there for everyone. And yet, the statements of useful idiots asserting exactly the contrary go unchallenged and accepted in a forum that is supposedly for the 'reality based' side of the political aisle.

Again, I shouldn't be surprised. I do recall that this person is so eager to be useful to antisemites that he would write a diary with a title such as "Criticism of Israel is not Antisemitic" only to be presented with myriad examples where criticism of Israel was in fact highly antisemitic, you know of the "Israeli vampires are harvesting our childrens' organs and blood" variety. Instead of, say, admitting a mistake, Gershon would simply change the title to something less dramatic so that nobody would know he made a boo boo, and go on earning the accolades and twitter follows of antisemites and his fellow useful idiots. Par for the course.

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But this David Harris Gershon character is a useful idiot that not only excels in the useful part, he is also an overachiever in the idiot part (Jews are known for overachieving, after all). See, he would have us believe that in spite of being thus far unable to obtain a much coveted book deal, the thing he wants more than anything and writes about every day, he actually turned down the chance to have a national TV interview on the leading newsmagazine regarding his experience as the spouse of a terrorist victim, and will claim with with a straight face (to the extent that faces are relevant in anonymous web forums) that he did so out of some sort of principle.

While this explanation may fool the sort of feeble minds who can't even understand the simple concept of Jewish peoplehood or why one might justifiably be the slightest tad offended at having their dead relatives baptized against their will, in the real world, outside of the bubble, normal thinking people see right through that unbelievable bullshit.

For those that don't know (which can't be very many people because he says it every two seconds) a hate filled terrorist tried to blow up Gershon, did injure his wife, and killed several other people. Now, let's think about this: Within in the bubble that exists in forums such as Daily Kos, "I am a lowly middle aged male substitute kindergarten teacher who wants to hug the rage filled America-hating person who maimed my wife and did kill several other people" earns a bunch of oohs and aahs and "OMG I love you so much you brave brave man."

But outside of the bubble, in front of a national TV audience? Not so much. If that story ever got airtime, the same story that is peddled within the bubble, Gershon would become the most reviled laughing stock in America. Forget Bill O'Reilly, I'm talking Bill Maher and Ed Shultz and every other person with a pulse and a shred of dignity would be making fun of this guy. He would be our version of the recent Italian sea captain, only about 100 times more reviled. The butt of jokes and true scorn. "I want to hug him" might become the new "Don't touch my junk". We're due for a new buzzphrase, anyway.

It is obvious why he backed out of the TV interview, if one was ever actually on offer. And it is also painfully obvious, for the same reason, why mainstream publishers do not want to touch his book with my ten foot pole. But he thinks that that the rest of us don't see that big chunk of obviousness before us. He has confused the bubble with the real world. Unreality has taken over from reality. And that, my friends, is idiotic.

The beat of Republican Obama Derangement Syndrome (ODS) just goes on...

This week as President Obama spoke at AIPAC, and President Peres and Prime Minister Netanyahu met with our President there has been an abundancy of news stories related the relationship between the two nations; the U.S. and Israel.

Even as Israeli President Peres was praising President Obama for being an exceptional friend to Israel and even as he reiterated that Security arrangements between the two nations have never been as good as they are now, the derangers led by Chicken Hawk Republicans here in the U.S. and their Right Wing allies are not letting reality stand in their way. For instance even as President Peres had this to say:

"Mr. President, I know your commitment to Israel is deep and profound," Peres said. "Under your leadership, security cooperation between the U.S. and Israel has reached its highest level (vb1 emphasis).. Ladies and gentlemen, we have a friend in the White House. He reflects the values that make American great and make Israel secure. Thank you President Obama on behalf of my people."

and President Obama had this to say:

"We all prefer to resolve this issue diplomatically," Obama said in an address at the pro-Israel lobby group AIPAC's policy conference in Washington. "Having said that, Iran’s leaders should have no doubt about the resolve of the United States, just as they should not doubt Israel’s sovereign right to make its own decisions about what is required to meet its security needs. I have said that when it comes to preventing Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon, I will take no options off the table, and I mean what I say."     
     
"That includes all elements of American power. A political effort aimed at isolating Iran; a diplomatic effort to sustain our coalition and ensure that the Iranian program is monitored; an economic effort to impose crippling sanctions; and, yes, a military effort to be prepared for any contingency."

But was this enough? Why no. It was not. Speaking after President Obama:

“No president has done more to undermine and delegitimize Israel than President Obama.”

I guess President Peres, Prime Minister Netanyahu and Defense Minister Ehud Barak didn't get Liz' memo about this. Silly Israeli Leaders... how could they not know this. (/snark).

However, in the end she was shot down by Democratic Congresswoman Jane Harman (D-CA) in this exchange:

Cheney: “No president has done more to undermine and delegitimize Israel than President Obama.” Big applause.

Harman: “It’s a grave mistake to turn Israel into a political football. Huge applause.

But the derangement continued... Mitt Romney, the Republican Front Runner had this to say:

When an 11-year-old boy asked the candidate how he would keep Iran from getting a nuclear weapon, Romney said Obama had not imposed "crippling sanctions against Iran." "He's also failed to communicate that military options are on the table and in fact in our hand, and that it's unacceptable to America for Iran to have a nuclear weapon."

Apparently, during the AIPAC speech Mr. Romney was sitting on the floor with his hands in his ears saying: "LALALALALA I CAN'T HEAR YOU".... I guess he missed... well the entire speech. Oh and I guess he missed reality as well when he was talking about sanctions.

Whoops.....

But in Haaretz, Chemi Shalev explains it well:

There are many people in both America and Israel who wouldn’t believe Barack Obama’s commitment to Israel’s security even if he sang Hatikvah, enlisted in the IDF and did reserve duty guarding an isolated West Bank outpost. These people are now dissecting the president’s speech to the AIPAC Policy Conference in Washington on Sunday in a way that will offer incontrovertible proof that it ranks a close second after Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s pledge to wipe Israel off the map.

My own version of this a few weeks ago was something along the lines of  (paraphrased):

President Obama could be wearing a Kippah, while hugging a Bibi Netanyahu Plush Toy, while singing Hatikvah and the Republicans and ODS'ers would still say he hates Israel.

Shalev finishes strong here and I will let his words speak for me:

Finally, Obama once again demonstrated how much more familiar and how much more comfortable he is with Jews, with Jewish life and with Jewish culture than any of his Republican rivals. As an antithesis to Michele Bachmann’s hilariously mispronounced “chootzpah”, Obama showed that the words “shtetl”, “Haganah” and “seder” roll off his tongue as if he was once a diligent Hebrew School pupil. And he outdid himself not only by announcing that he will be bestowing the prestigious Presidential Medal of Freedom on Shimon Peres, but by achieving the impossible – in two attempts out of three – of avoiding the inescapable pitfall of the Hispanic Perez and pronouncing the name of the Israeli president correctly.

Of course, none of this will matter for Obama’s diehard skeptics. For them, the closer Obama gets to Israel, the more understanding he is of Israel’s security needs, the more genuine he sounds in his declarations of love and undying friendship – the more they will double down in their conviction that this is all some master conspiracy of camouflage aimed at deceiving gullible Democrats and liberal Jews. From that point of view, the president’s speech was just as satisfactory and reassuring for them as it should have been for those who have Israel’s true interests at heart.

This won't stop the Republican Lies and disinformination but it does just go to show how blatant they are.

Attack Is Microcosm of Loony Deranged Far Left Versus Virtuous Mainstream Progressives

If I wanted to set up a fictional confrontation to serve as an allegory of the ongoing battle between the loony deranged far left and mainstream progressives that has become the main theme of my blogging life, I couldn't do any better than a real life incident that actually happened recently and was reported yesterday.

The title of the report in the San Jose Mercury News almost says it all by itself

Three Occupy Oakland protesters arrested for robbery and a hate crime, both felonies

But then the details of the incident are just so appropriate and typical of the evil and cowardice of the loony derangers:

A lone woman was using the ATM at a Wells Fargo branch in downtown Oakland when she was assaulted, robbed, punched, verbally abused, and had her clothing torn by three men from the Occupy Oakland crowd that was protesting outside the bank branch.

Was this woman at least an uppity symbol of the oppressive 1 percent?

Nope. She was apparently a lesbian wearing a pro-Obama pin, which was physically torn from her body. And the verbal abuse by the robbers and batterers? It was homophobia, directed at her perceived lesbianism.

So three Occupy Oakland men robbed, punched, and insulted the sexual orientation of a lone woman, and a fellow member put the video on Youtube, as a celebration.

And that, folks, is what the deranged loony left is all about. The same loony left that we have battled in other internet forums such as Daily Kos, who embrace trutherism, Obama derangement, Israel derangement, antisemitism, and the most dispicable dishonesty and cowardice, while reserving their harshest vitriol for the mainstream progressives that actually bring about positive social change.

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From their enthusiastic, loving embrace of the genocidal dictators and theocrats that comprise Israel's enemies, we already knew that these deranged loony far leftists had no problem with homophobia, antisemitism, and hate. From their twisted misunderstanding of history and current events, and their despicable behavior both online and off, we already knew they were deranged, marginal, hateful characters. And here it is, in this incident, all laid bare.

Long gone are the days when Occupy Oakland was full of thousands of mainstream citizens. After violent confrontations and property trashing they have lost all mainstream support, and all that is left is a core of hardcore derangers and psychopaths, exactly the same people who comprise the loonly deranged left in the blogosphere. This was already well along last month when Occupy Oakland voted to endorse the antisemitic hate of BDS, and is only further in evidence now that Occupy will apparently be providing bodies for the protest against Israeli president and Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Shimon Peres' speech at Temple Emanuel.

Petty robbery, insults, homophobia, and a physical attack of a mainstream progressive. It is everything that I have always known that the loony left derangers I have encountered in the blogosphere would do in real life, if they ever got out of the basement. Life imitates art, yet again.

President Obama, President Peres at AIPAC: U.S. and Israel share common visions in Mid-East

Speaking at the AIPAC (American Israel Public Affairs Committee) annual conference speakers U.S. President Barak Obama and Israeli President Shimon Peres reiterated their message that the U.S. and Israel share views and goals not only on Iran but on peace in the Middle-East between Israelis and Palestinians.

Speaking on the U.S. and Iran, President Peres , who received a lifetime achievement award from AIPAC, had this to say:

"President Obama made it clear that the U.S. will not permit Iran to become nuclear," Peres said, adding that Obama has also made it clear that "all options are on the table".

Then going on to talk about the relationship between the U.S. and Israel Peres had this comment:

"Mr. President, I know your commitment to Israel is deep and profound," Peres said. "Under your leadership, security cooperation between the U.S. and Israel has reached its highest level (vb1 emphasis).. Ladies and gentlemen, we have a friend in the White House. He reflects the values that make American great and make Israel secure. Thank you President Obama on behalf of my people."

According to a recent Jerusalem Post poll, the Israeli people seem to agree with him as they (like their diaspora Jewish brothers and sisters here in the U.S.) favor President Obama over ALL of his Republican challengers.

President Obama



speaking right after President Peres added the following:

"We all prefer to resolve this issue diplomatically," Obama said in an address at the pro-Israel lobby group AIPAC's policy conference in Washington. "Having said that, Iran’s leaders should have no doubt about the resolve of the United States, just as they should not doubt Israel’s sovereign right to make its own decisions about what is required to meet its security needs. I have said that when it comes to preventing Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon, I will take no options off the table, and I mean what I say."         

"That includes all elements of American power. A political effort aimed at isolating Iran; a diplomatic effort to sustain our coalition and ensure that the Iranian program is monitored; an economic effort to impose crippling sanctions; and, yes, a military effort to be prepared for any contingency."

Unlike his Rightwing opponents though both here in the U.S.and in Israel the President urged caution and responsible action:

"Already, there is too much loose talk of war," Obama said. "Over the last few weeks, such talk has only benefited the Iranian government, by driving up the price of oil, which they depend upon to fund their nuclear program. For the sake of Israel’s security, America’s security, and the peace and security of the world, now is not the time for bluster; now is the time to let our increased pressure sink in, and to sustain the broad international coalition that we have built. Now is the time to heed that timeless advice from Teddy Roosevelt: speak softly, but carry a big stick."

Again, even the Israeli public agrees with President Obama as ONLY 19% of them favor a strike on the Iran happening without U.S. backing.     

As for the Presidents messages of Peace and the Two State Solution, President Peres had this to say:
         

"The Palestinians are our neighbors for life," Peres said. "Peace can and must be achieved. A peace based on a two-state solution, a Jewish state - Israel, and an Arab state - Palestine."

"We want to preserve an Israel that is Jewish, democratic and attractive. I meet from time to time with President Abbas and PM [Salam] Fayyad. They need and want peace. I believe that peace is possible. They are our partners for peace. Not Hamas."

Apparently President Peres did not get the memo from Republicans, ODS'ers. Israeli Rightists and U.S. ChickenHawk bloggers that the P.A. will not make Peace with Israel. Now, in fairness to that group (although g-d knows, they don't deserve it) the Palestinian Authority IS making peace negotiations difficult with their insistence on the full return of East Jerusalem and their refusal to curb the rampant anti-Semitism in their ranks, NOT to mention their continued efforts to bring Hamas into their government. Yet, so far the attempts to bring in Hamas have resulted in failure and the P.A. has still admitted it's willingness to go to the table and hammer out a Peace deal.

In this passage though I think President Obama "nails it" (so to speak):

"I make no apologies for pursuing peace. Israel’s own leaders understand the necessity of peace," Obama said. "Prime Minister [Benjamin] Netanyahu, Defense Minister [Ehud] Barak, and President Peres – each of them have called for two states, a secure Israel that lives side by side with an independent Palestinian state."

"I believe that peace is profoundly in Israel’s security interest. The reality that Israel faces - from shifting demographics, to emerging technologies, to an extremely difficult international environment - demands a resolution of this issue. And I believe that peace with the Palestinians is consistent with Israel’s founding values - because of our shared belief in self-determination; and because Israel’s place as a Jewish and democratic state must be protected."

YES! Exactly,  because it vital to protect Israel as a Jewish, and Democratic State. And as the great statesman Abba Eban and others have stated that Israel can only be Two of the Three following things:

1. Israel can be a Jewish State

2. Israel can be a Democratic State

3. Israel can be a State from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea

The President gets that in the long term interests of Israel - it must maintain it's Jewish character while recognizing that it's Palestinian neighbors also have the legitimate right to self determination.

Meanwhile, back in Israel, never one to be left out of the spotlight, Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman had told reporters that "Israel will decide independently whether to strike Iran". If that is the case (and it certainly is Israel's right to do that), then I guess that they will also decide if they want U.S. aid in that strike as well. Perhaps the Foreign Minister should listen to 81% of his people when they tell him... DON'T STRIKE W/OUT THE U.S.

Now the question hinges on what will PM Benyamin Netanyahu say. Further what will the meeting on March 5th (tomorrow) bring? We are in for a few very interesting days as the AIPAC conference continues along and Israeli and U.S. leaders meet.

One other important thing of note: In Iran today, President Ahmadinejhad has met with defeat at the polls. While the choice was between hard line candidates Ahmadinejhad's candidates were soundly defeated by those supporting the Grand Ayatollah Khameni. What does this mean for everyone else? Not a lot in the sense that the new group coming in are just as dedicated to Iranian Nuclear Power and regional hegemony as Ahmadinejhad HOWEVER, they are far more rational than the President who many in Iran consider a "loose cannon" (my words).

Also with relation to Iran - not only do their proxies in Hizbollah control the Lebanese/Israel Border but according to the Washington Post (as reported in Haaretz) there are Iranian advisors on the ground in Syria aiding in the slaughter of it's own citizens by Dictator Bashar Assad.

Shimon Peres: "Obama is a Great President, Security Ties are the best we have ever had"

So says the headline at Haaretz News:

Israeli President Shimon Peres on Thursday said that U.S. President Barack Obama is “a great president and a great friend of Israel,” and that security cooperation between the U.S. and Israel is “the best we’ve ever had.”

In an hour-long interview with American broadcaster Charlie Rose, conducted before a large audience at New York’s 92nd Street Y, Peres said that he does not want to interfere in American politics, but he is stating his opinion on Obama “because it’s true,” adding that he has “the highest respect” for Obama for overseeing the current relationship between the two countries.

And there we have it folks.... Here is a man who has been Prime Minister and been involved with Israeli Politics as long as there has been a State. If anyone knows about this, it is him.

This year... in an election year, the Republicans and the ODS (Obama Derangement Syndrome) crowd are pathetically trying to make the case to American Jewish voters that President Obama has "rolled Israel under the bus". They have been loud and will resort to any number of lies or twists of information to try to convince Jewish voters that our President really doesn't care about Israel and has abandoned them. Moreover they have called those of us that support President Obama "delusional" and likened us to Ostriches who stick their heads in the sand at any danger. YET, apparently here is the President of Israel stating what many of us who support President Obama have maintained; that our President is indeed a strong friend to the Israeli people and to Israel herself.

Israelis themselves are also beginning to see this as reflected in a recent Jerusalem Post poll  that indicates that the Israelis favor the President over all of his Republican rivals.

The survey also polled Jewish Israelis’ feelings on the US presidential race, with respondents preferring President Barack Obama to all his Republican rivals.

Overall, among Israeli Jews, Obama led Santorum 34% to 21%, Gingrich 31% to 27%, Paul 34% to 24%, and Romney 32% to 29%.

Telhami concluded that “the Israeli public is neither enthusiastic about the prospect of war with Iran nor swayed by the seeming embrace of Israel by our presidential candidates.”

“They have to live with the consequences of war, and they appear to take the American assessment of these consequences seriously,” he added.

Silly Israelis.... apparently along with their President and their Defense Minister, and their Deputy Foreign Minister they are delusional as well... If only they would listen to American Republicans and stop ruining the meme. </snark>

In other news though President Obama has once again been clear with the Israelis as to exactly where he stands on the threats from Iran. As President Obama stated in an interview with the Atlantic (Haaretz Reporting):

On the oft-repeated refrain "all options are on the table," and the contention that it represents a vague remark," Obama said "I think the Israeli people understand it, I think the American people understand it, and I think the Iranians understand it."

"It means a political component that involves isolating Iran; it means an economic component that involves unprecedented and crippling sanctions; it means a diplomatic component in which we have been able to strengthen the coalition that presents Iran with various options through the P-5 plus 1 and ensures that the IAEA [International Atomic Energy Agency] is robust in evaluating Iran's military program; and it includes a military component. And I think people understand that," Obama said.

The U.S. president then added that he thought "the Israeli government recognizes that, as president of the United States, I don't bluff," adding, however, that he didn't, "as a matter of sound policy, go around advertising exactly what our intentions are."

"But I think both the Iranian and the Israeli governments recognize that when the United States says it is unacceptable for Iran to have a nuclear weapon, we mean what we say," Obama said, describing the reasons the Iranian threat was an important issue to his administration.

Meanwhile, with the President supporting his Israeli friends what are the Republican candidates doing regarding the American Jewish vote? Well, noted friend to Stormfront and other Neo-Nazi's, Ron Paul is still running strong and polling between 12-15% of the Republican votes in most states and higher in some others. At the same time the Republican Second Place candidate Rick Santorum is busy telling Americans that the line between church and State should not exist and that:

“My answer to that,” Santorum added, ”was we always need a Jesus candidate."

“We need someone who believes in something more than themselves and not just the economy,” he added. “When we say, ‘God bless America,’ do we mean it or do we just say it?”

Finally, we have Mitt Romney, who though he wants to be President to all Americans refuses to distance himself from the Mormon practice of performing baptisms on the dead and has actually participatwed in this practice. The latest person whose memory has been desecrated this way of course is Daniel Pearl Z"L.
SO.... as American Jews our choices are clear. We can support a President who is a friend to Jews the world over (as is evidenced by his actions here at home AND in his support for the Jewish State of Israel. OR we can support a party that wants to put "Jesus" in to our government and has a frontrunner saying that it's ok to bapitize our dead. Where do we stand?

I think it needs to be with President Obama in 2012.