THE WHITE HOUSE

Office of the Press Secretary

 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

April 28, 2009

 

Statement on the 61^st Anniversary of Israel’s Independence

On behalf of the people of the United States, President Obama congratulates the people and government of Israel on the 61^st anniversary of Israel’s independence.  The United States was the first country to recognize Israel in 1948, minutes after its declaration of independence, and the deep bonds of friendship between the U.S. and Israel remain as strong and unshakeable as ever.  The President looks forward to working with Israel to advance our common interests, including the realization of a comprehensive peace in the Middle East, ensuring Israel’s security, and strengthening the bilateral relationship, over the months and years to come.

 

 

###

Abbas: "I don't accept Israel as a Jewish state"

Palestinian pres. Abbas said on April 27 he will not recognize Israel as a Jewish state. That's exactly what Hamas wants to hear him say bc acceptance of the Jewish state means the end of the conflict. Hence Abbas' refusal SHOULD mean that the establishment of a Palestinian state be put on hold. -- Mark Finkelstein

Abbas won't recognize Israel as a Jewish state

AFP and The Associated Press contributed to this report, published 4/27/09 on ynet.com

Palestinian President delivers harsh speech in Ramallah in which he says Israel can define itself as a Jewish state, ' but I don't accept it and I say so publicly.' Abbas also says talks cannot be resumed without Israeli settlement freeze


Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas said on Monday that he will not recognize Israel as a Jewish state, as demanded by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

"A Jewish state, what is that supposed to mean?" Abbas asked in a speech in the West Bank's political capital of Ramallah. "You can call yourselves as you like, but I don't accept it and I say so publicly."

He said it's not his job to define the state of Israel. "Name yourself, it's not my business," He said. "All I know is that there is the state of Israel, in the borders of 1967, not one centimeter more, not one centimeter less. Anything else, I don't accept."

Abbas said that the topic was "extensively discussed" and rejected by the Palestinians during the November 2007 international conference in Annapolis, Maryland during which the two sides relaunched their negotiations.

Netanyahu has demanded that Palestinians recognize Israel as a Jewish state as part of an eventual peace deal.

Such a move would amount to an effective renunciation of the right of return of refugees from the 1948 Arab-Israeli war, when Israel was created, one of the most cherished and visceral principles to the Palestinians.


Abbas also said a complete construction freeze is a prerequisite for resuming talks. Netanyahu supports settlement construction and has not committed to the idea of Palestinian statehood.


In his speech, Abbas said he would not give in to possible Israeli or international pressure on the Palestinians to resume negotiations even if settlement construction continues.


"For sure, we won't submit to pressures. For example, if they say 'come and then we'll see, come.' No, we won't accept. Regarding the peace talks, this is our position, even if someone, if anyone in the world says 'you're wrong,"' he said.

Wapo: Iran is playing with the US

An editorial from the Washington Post, challenging the president's strategy with Iran.

What Iran is doing is inviting Mr. Obama to humiliate his new administration by launching talks with the regime even while it is conspicuously expanding its nuclear program, campaigning to delegitimize and destroy Israel and imprisoning innocent Americans. --editorial

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

Invitation to Appease Will the Obama administration talk to Iran while it persecutes Americans and libels Israel?

Editorial, Washington Post Wednesday, April 22, 2009

LAST WEEK, the Iranian regime brought American journalist Roxana Saberi before a closed court and in a one-hour trial convicted her of espionage -- a blatantly bogus charge. She was sentenced to eight years in prison. On Monday, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who was last seen inaugurating a new facility for Iran's nuclear program, appeared at the U.N. conference on racism in Geneva to deliver a speech seemingly calculated to cause maximum outrage in the United States and other Western countries. They had, he said, "resorted to military aggression" in order to create Israel "on the pretext of Jewish sufferings and the ambiguous and dubious question of the Holocaust."

Thus has Iran answered President Obama's offer of dialogue and the decision by his administration to join talks on Tehran's nuclear program. To the consternation of some European officials, Washington has insisted on dropping a long-standing demand that Iran obey U.N. resolutions ordering it to suspend uranium enrichment before negotiations begin. Iran could have responded to this concession by releasing Ms. Saberi, who holds U.S. and Iranian citizenship, and ex-FBI agent Robert Levinson, as the administration asked it to do in a State Department letter last month. Instead the charges against Ms. Saberi were ramped up, from practicing journalism without a credential and buying wine, to espionage; the regime does not even admit that it is holding Mr. Levinson.

Then came Mr. Ahmadinejad's speech, which repeated the numerous anti-Israel and anti-Semitic libels that have made the Iranian president a pariah in the West. Western delegates walked out on the address, which the State Department rightly called "vile and hateful." Yet Mr. Ahmadinejad had accomplished his aim: advancing Iran's claim to represent radical Arab and Islamic opinion, along with his own campaign for reelection in June.

Iran watchers point out that Mr. Ahmadinejad has sent other messages recently. He said he would welcome direct talks with Washington, and over the weekend he dispatched a letter to Ms. Saberi's prosecutor urging that she be allowed to defend herself. These are not necessarily contradictions. What Iran is doing is inviting Mr. Obama to humiliate his new administration by launching talks with the regime even while it is conspicuously expanding its nuclear program, campaigning to delegitimize and destroy Israel and imprisoning innocent Americans. Mr. Ahmadinejad's unlikely concern for Ms. Saberi's defense, along with other regime statements suggesting her sentence could be reduced, sound like an offer to make her a bargaining chip -- to be exchanged, perhaps, for members of the Revolutionary Guard Corps who are in U.S. custody in Iraq.

Mr. Obama has always said that talks with Iran must be conducted under the right circumstances and in a way that advances U.S. interests. The administration won't meet that test if it allows negotiations to become a means of vindicating Mr. Ahmadinejad's radical agenda. It should postpone any contact until after the Iranian election in June -- and it should look for clear signs that Iran is acting in good faith before talks begin. The unconditional release of Ms. Saberi and Mr. Levinson would be one.

AJC Denounces Durban II Declaration that Singles Out Israel, Threatens Free Speech

April 21, 2009 – Geneva – AJC [American Jewish Committee] denounced today’s adoption by the Durban Review Conference of an outcome document that singles out Israel and endangers freedom of speech.

“Today, once again, the UN has chosen the unfair treatment of Israel over the real fight for equality and human rights,” said AJC Executive Director David Harris, who is attending the conference along with a group of 25 young AJC activists. “And this document also threatens democratic values with a vague effort to criminalize incitement. The United States, Israel and eight other democracies were absolutely right to stay away from this conference and not endorse the document.”

The document approved today “reaffirms the Durban Declaration and Programme of Action (DDPA), as it was adopted” at Durban in 2001. The DDPA wrongly categorized the Israeli-Palestinian conflict as racial, and described Palestinians as victims of Israeli “racism.” Israel was the only country specifically criticized in the entire document.

This year’s document also mandates that “any advocacy of national, racial or religious hatred that constitutes incitement to discrimination, hostility or violence shall be prohibited by law.” This effort to criminalize certain types of speech is troubling in light of repeated efforts by Muslim countries to effectively wall off Islam from criticism by classifying any criticism as “incitement.”

AJC had encouraged nations of good will to withdraw from the conference once it became abundantly clear that it might well undermine democratic values and the struggle for racial equality – two causes to which AJC has been steadfastly committed for over a century.

AJC is online at www.ajc.org

Elie Wiesel Verbally Abused as "Zio-Nazi" by Ahmadinejad Entourage at Durban II This is evil.

Watch this video, which shows Durban II delegates leaving the hall as Ahmadinejad denigrates Israel.

http://hurl.no/go.nrk/Ci

Many diplomats at UN Racism conference walk out when Ahmadinejad condemns Israel as "racist"

DEBKAfile Special Report April 20, 2009, www.debka.com

Protesters constantly disrupted the speech as Mahmoud Ahmadinejad condemned Israel for "racism" at the Anti-Racism conference which opened in Geneva Monday, April 20. He went on to denounce the US invasion of Iraq and Afghanistan as an arrogant drive to "expand its sphere of influence."

The boycott of the UN World Conference against Racism snowballed with Germany and New Zealand joining the US, Canada, Australia, Italy, Holland, Sweden and Israel. It is the follow-up to Durban I in 2001, from which the US and Israeli delegates walked out over its anti-Israel, anti-Semitic content. Yet the text prepared for second session reaffirms the language of the first. The Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad also scheduled a press conference for Monday, the eve of Israel's annual Holocaust Remembrance Day.

Outside, an "alternative" anti-racism conference was staged in protest with the participation of refugees from political and human rights abuses in Iran, Libya and Sudan.

Jerusalem recalled its ambassador to Bern for consultations to protest the meeting Swiss president Hans Rudolf Merz held with the Iranian president despite Israel's request not to shake the hand of this "Holocaust denier, exporter of terrorism and anti-Semitism." The pope criticized the boycott after US president Barack Obama spoke of the antagonism to Israel at Durban I "in ways that were extremely hypocritical and counterproductive."

In regretfully announcing US absence from the Geneva event, State Department spokesman Robert Wood said the US also has serious concerns about relatively new additions… regarding 'incitement' which run counter to the US commitment to unfettered free speech."

Explaining its absence, Canada has said it is "interested in combating racism, not promoting it," and Italy condemned its "aggressive and anti-Semitic statements."

The European Union failed to reach a consensus on its position.

The UK sent a low-level delegation - like Switzerland and the Czech Republic.

In walking out of the original conference in 2001, the then secretary of state Colin Powell said: "… you do not combat racism by hateful language, some of which is a throwback to the days of Zionism equals racism, support the idea that we have made too much of the Holocaust or suggest that apartheid exists in Israel or that single out only one country in the world – Israel – for censure and abuse."

Black U.S. Congresswoman Barbara Lee (Democrat) said the Black Caucus, which she heads, was “deeply dismayed” at the decision to boycott Durban II. She explained that this would make it more difficult for Washington to influence the UN Human Rights Council.

Washington has taken steps to join the controversial body which is dominated by states under fire for human rights violations.

A rally by pro-Israeli and pro-freedom of speech groups was to be led by US Rep. Scott Garret (R-N.J.). Garret, Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart (R.-Fla.), and Rep. Dough Lamborn (R.-Colo.) have co-sponsored legislation to prohibit US funding for any follow-up events of Durban I.

Hamas-Fatah feud

Analysis: Real 2-state problem is the Hamas-Fatah feud
Apr. 17, 2009 Khaled Abu Toameh , THE JERUSALEM POST

The Obama administration, through its special Middle East envoy George Mitchell, has launched what seems to be an aggressive campaign aimed at pressuring the new Israeli government into accepting the two-state solution.

But even if Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman do finally succumb to the American pressure, they, along with Mitchell, will find that the Palestinians themselves are still far from achieving their goal of building a viable and independent state.

In fact, the Palestinians already have two separate political entities, or mini-states - one in the West Bank and the other in the Gaza Strip. These rival entities, controlled by Fatah and Hamas respectively, are acting and dealing with each other like two different countries.

Fatah representatives who participated in the last round of "reconciliation" talks with Hamas in Cairo said upon their return to the West Bank that they felt as if they were conducting negotiations with representatives of another country and not with Palestinians from the Gaza Strip.

Repeated attempts by Egypt and Saudi Arabia over the past few months to persuade the two parties to end their differences and form a Palestinian unity government have failed, prompting Cairo and Riyadh to come up with the idea of establishing a confederation between the two "mini-states."

However, both Hamas and Fatah have categorically rejected the confederation idea out of fear that it would perpetuate and consolidate the split between the West Bank and Gaza.

Palestinian Authority officials said that PA President Mahmoud Abbas would ask Mitchell during their upcoming meeting in Ramallah to put pressure on the Netanyahu government to accept the two-state solution as the basis for a "just, comprehensive and everlasting peace" in the Middle East.

Abbas, the officials said, would also make it clear during his meeting with the US envoy that there was no point in resuming the peace talks with Israel as long as the Israeli government remained opposed to the establishment of an independent Palestinian state with east Jerusalem as its capital, continued settlement activity in the West Bank and demolished illegally built houses in Arab neighborhoods of Jerusalem.

Abbas, they added, would also brief Mitchell on the failed attempts to persuade Hamas to form a unity government with Fatah.

Spokesmen from both Palestinian parties have said over the past few days that only a miracle could lead to an agreement between the two sides. The gap between them remained as wide as ever, they noted, adding that the Egyptians were now considering canceling plans to host another round of reconciliation talks scheduled to take place in Cairo at the end of April.

For now, it appears that the Palestinians (and the rest of the world) will have to live with the fact that the split between the West Bank and Gaza Strip is not a temporary or passing phenomenon.

If the Obama administration is serious about promoting the two-state solution, it must focus its efforts first and foremost on helping the Palestinians solve the dispute between the Fatah-run state in the West Bank and the Hamas-controlled entity in the Gaza Strip.

The divisions among the Palestinians, as well as failure to establish proper and credible institutions, are the main obstacle to the realization of the two-state solution.

Less than half of the West Bank is controlled by the corruption-riddled Fatah faction, which seems to have lost much of its credibility among the Palestinians, largely because of its failure to reform itself in the aftermath of its defeat to Hamas in the January 2006 parliamentary election.

The Gaza Strip, on the other hand, is entirely controlled by the radical Islamic movement that has, through its extremist ideology, wreaked havoc on the majority of the Palestinians living there.

The Obama administration is mistaken if it thinks the power struggle between these two groups is a fight between good guys and bad guys. This is a confrontation between bad guys and bad guys, since they are not fighting over promoting democracy or boosting the economy, but over money and power.

Netanyahu and Lieberman need not worry about accepting the two-state solution, because Fatah and Hamas don't seem to be marching toward achieving the national aspirations of their people.

Breaking News: Ahmadinejad says no more talks about Nuclear Issue
April 16, 2009 by Barry Rubin

Meir Javedanfar, a reliable analyst who follows Iran closely and is fluent in Farsi, says that Iran's president is now saying Iran's nuclear program is non-negotiable. The tone of the statement is similar to his Der Spiegel interview which I reported here earlier.

The implication is that President Obama's approach and the weakness of other Western governments has emboldened Ahmadinejad, who is also showing off for his election supporters. Now he says he's going on the offensive, saying in effect: let's not talk about Iran's nuclear program, let's talk about how we are going to change the structure of international affairs to eliminate Western hegemony and redistribute power.

Meir writes:

"On the 15th of April, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, in a speech in the city Kerman stated that “the time for discussions over the nuclear program has come to an end, and the clock will not go back”.

He continued to say “today, we have to discuss and collectively think about other issues such as reform of international structures, reform of the UN Security Council, and execution of justice and real peace. Iran is ready in all such areas”.

Meir adds: "It is very unlikely that Ahmadinejad would make such a statement without the consent of the Supreme Leader. Therefore, judging by his statement, the nuclear program is unlikely to be part of the negotiations with Obama."

source: http://middleeastanalyst.com/2009/04/17/ahmadinejad-iran-wont-negotiate

Presidential appointee Mogahed doesn’t recognize 1.9 million South Sudanese deaths as inflicted by Radical Islam.  Certainly won’t call it ‘jihad.’

 

By Mark S. Finkelstein     April 14, 2009   

  A commentary on Dalia Mogahed’s appointment  by President Obama  to the Presidential Advisory Council on Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships.  (1)     

 

Before the crisis in Darfur, Sudan, there was one in South Sudan.   As far back as 1998, Researchers called it genocide and tallied “ an astounding 1.9 million deaths [in the South] since the current phase of Sudan's civil war began in 1983.” ( 2 )

 

What was Sudan’s civil war all about?  “Since [Sudan’s] independence on January 1, 1956 successive Arab and Muslim dominated governments in Khartoum have strived to forcefully bring the South under Arab and Islamic fold.  ...   The National Islamic government [in Khartoum] has even gone as far as to declare "Jihad", an Islamic Holy war against the people of the South and the Nuba Mountains, who it considers as infidels and who must be totally eradicated or brought under the banner of Arabism and Islamism.”  ( 3 ) 

 

 And so the Nationalist Islamic government “forced Islamization and Arabization” ( 4 ) on the Christian Sudanese.  They used a number of means including the imposition of strict Islamic religious law (including amputation for proscribed crimes)( 5 )  on Christians as well as on Muslims and by the “[d]enial of basic human needs and use of food as a weapon for conversion into [the] Islamic religion.” ( 6 )  Slavery has been documented first-hand as well. ( 7A )   Slavery?  Read Simon Deng's testimony (7B ) yourself.

 

 There were 1.9 million Christian and animist victims of supremacist Islamism in Sudan.   But Dalia Mogahed would not acknowledge this.  At a public program in Des Moines, Iowa on May 27,  2008 , I personally asked her to acknowledge these facts, and I expected her to do so, because the case is incontrovertible.  But she refused.

Why did she refuse?  Perhaps acknowledging Sudanese jihadism goes against her apparent need to present  radical Islamic extremism as a reaction to political grievances with the world.  For in the book she co-authored with John Esposito   ( 8 ) – the book she came to talk about – she concludes :  the “data indicate that faith [i.e., religion, i.e., adherence to the tenets of a jihadi interpretation of Islam] is not the distinguishing factor primarily responsible for extremism…” (p. 163) ;  That “ the real difference between those who condone terrorist acts [including, jihad – my addition]  and all others is about politics, not piety.” ( p. 74)  Fortunately there are some pretty  solid critiques of the Esposito- Mogahed book  available, one of them being Robert Satloff’s article entitled: “Just like us? Really?” ( 9 ) 

The fact that Ms. Mogahed is either unable or unwilling to identify the Sudanese jihad for what it is and for what it has done, should make one pause.   Think for a moment about the things she is conveniently able to overlook. 

Mark S. Finkelstein serves as Director of Community Relations for the Jewish Federation of Greater Des Moines, Iowa.  He may be contacted at jcrc@dmjfed.org

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

 References 

1.    http://www.whitehouse.gov/the_press_office/President-Obama-Announces-Additional-Members-of-Advisory-Council-on-Faith-Based-and-Neighborhood-Partnerships/

 

 2 .  Testimony of J. Millard Burr, to Congress, 1999.   Burr is the author of “Quantifying Genocide in Southern Sudan.  http://home.planet.nl/~ende0098/content/documents/Burr.htm

 3 . Sabit A. Alley from the iAbolish, the Anti-Slavery Portal, 2005. http://web.archive.org/web/20051221045218/http://www.iabolish.com/today/features/sudan/overview1.htm  

  See also: de Chand, "The Sources of Conflict between the North and the South in Sudan"  http://www.dur.ac.uk/justin.willis/chand.htm who identifies many of the residents of South Sudan as Christians.  “ The 13-year old Jihad (Holy war) being waged by the extremist Islamic regime in Khartoum against Christians in the South has given slavery a come back.”

 4 . and  6 .  Riek Machar Terry-Dhurgon.  “South Sudan: A History of Political Domination” http://www.africa.upenn.edu/Hornet/sd_machar.html

 

 5 .  "In September 1983, as part of an Islamicization campaign, President Nimeiri announced that traditional Islamic punishments drawn from Shari’a (Islamic Law) would be incorporated into the penal code. This was controversial even among Muslim groups. Amputations for theft and public lashings for alcohol possession became common. Southerners and other non-Muslims living in the north were also subjected to these punishments."   U.S. Department of State    http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/5424.htm

 

 7A "Slavery Widespread in Sudan, Bishop charges." 1998   http://www.domini.org/openbook/sud80713.htm

  . 

7B   Simon Deng’s personal account of slavery under the Khartoum regime.  "I was abducted into slavery at the age of nine, in which I spent three and half years of my life as a slave."   http://www.satyamag.com/mar06/deng.html

 

 8.  John L. Esposito and Dalia Mogahed  ,  Who Speaks for Islam . What a Billion Muslims Really Think.  Gallup Press, 2007. 

 

 9.  Robert Satloff .  “ Just Like Us. Really?”   A critique of Esposito & Mogahed's Who Speaks for Islam

 http://www.weeklystandard.com/Content/Public/Articles/000/000/015/066chpzg.asp?pg=1

 

 

Rubin: read article on why Israel might have to attack Iran someday

An extremely interesting article about why Israel might--and might have to--attack Iran some day
-commentary by Barry Rubin


link to article recommended by Barry Rubin: http://www.slate.com/id/2215820/

Read it as so far superior to what is usually written on such matters. The critique below is about secondary points which do not detract from the article's value but express some of my personal reactions.

Samuels is sympathetic to Israel and there are good--even very clever--aspects to the argument. But he has to earn his right to make an essentially pro-Israel argument by:

1. bashing Israel a bit, sometimes in rather silly ways.

2. says all sorts of inaccurate things about Israel.

3. understandably put everything in terms of US interests. This is reasonable for a U.S. audience of course but still it is an article about why Israel might have to take great risks.

4. miss the reality of the Arab world making it seem like a sort of black box rather than a place with serious malfunctions that messes things up on its own.

And finally, and most importantly, he omits the rather main reason why Israel has launched attackes on Hamas and Hizballah--self-defense, not restoring credibility as the main goal--and on Iran--belief that Iran might use nuclear weapons against it.

Again, though, an important article well-worth reading, making insightful points. Samuels has been writing good things and shown some real courage in doing so.

The President holds a seder in the WH

Why was last night different?
Apr. 8, 2009 HILARY LEILA KRIEGER, The Jerusalem Post, Washington

WASHINGTON - US President Barack Obama was scheduled to celebrate Pessah on Thursday night with staff and friends in what is believed to be the first White House Seder attended by an American president.

The event was slipped onto the president's public schedule Tuesday night with little fanfare, following a letter signed by Obama earlier in the day wishing Americans who mark the day a "peaceful and relaxing holiday."

While presidential proclamations in honor of Pessah were common throughout the administrations of George W. Bush and Bill Clinton, this year's Seder is believed to be the first of its kind.

"I'm really happy to hear about it," said Steve Rabinowitz, who once led a staff Seder in the Clinton White House but was unaware of a White House Seder in which the president had personally taken part. "It's been an extremely open White House to all faith communities, certainly including ours."

William Daroff, who runs the United Jewish Communities' Washington office, recalled that Franklin D. Roosevelt had snuck out the back door of the White House in 1943 to avoid seeing rabbis marching out front to demand US action to save European Jews from the Nazis.

"Sixty-six years later the president of the United States is spending Thursday evening with his friends and family celebrating the liberation and survival of the Jewish people," Daroff noted. It was "a testament to how far we have come as a Jewish people in America," he said.

"Jews are a vital component in the mosaic that is American culture and society," Daroff continued. "Our welcome through the front door, and the dining room door, of the White House speaks to the inclusiveness of today's America and of President Obama. This night is indeed different from all other nights."

In his letter, Obama described the story of Jews' ascent from slavery to freedom in the Land of Israel as being "among the most powerful stories of suffering and redemption in human history," accompanied by rituals and symbols that indicate "the beauty of freedom and the responsibility it entails."

He also said the holiday presented a message for all humankind. "As part of a larger global community, we all must work to ensure that our brothers and sisters of every race, religion, culture and nationality are free from bondage and repression, and are able to live in peace."

He concluded his letter with the traditional Hebrew greeting chag sameach, or happy holiday.

Though Pessah started on Wednesday evening, Obama was hosting the second Seder, on Thursday night, apparently so that those in attendance could celebrate with their families on the first night.

The guest list included the president, First Lady Michelle Obama and their daughters, Malia and Sasha, as well as a dozen staff members and friends along with their families.

Last year, most had been on a campaign stop in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, with then-senator Obama when the first night of Pessah fell.

According to the White House, Obama insisted on holding an impromptu Seder, and this year invited those who were with him to celebrate together again.

This article can also be read at http://www.jpost.com /servlet/Satellite?cid=1238562942442&pagename=JPArticle%2FShowFull

A member of the Chicago Board of Rabbis, Rabbi Capers Funnye [ pron. Foo-Nay'] is spiritual leader of Beth Shalom B'nai Zaken Ethiopian Hebrew Congregation in Chicago. Let's go to the videotape....

The Palestinians' Obligations

Monday, April 6, 2009; A14  Letter to the Washington Post

Your March 31 editorial "Israel's New Government" talked a lot about what the Israelis must do to continue to have support from the United States. What I found lacking was a discussion of what the Palestinians must do to have acceptance by Israel and the United States for a two-state solution. If peace is to come in that troubled region, both the Palestinians and the Israelis have to make concessions and bear responsibilities. Pressure should not be put just on Israel alone, as the editorial attempted to do.

For a two-state solution to become a reality, Palestinians in both the West Bank and the Gaza Strip must recognize the right of Israel to exist as a Jewish state. They must also renounce terrorism and understand that they cannot use terrorism as a negotiating tool to achieve their state. The Palestinians must also agree to abide by all previous agreements signed by their leadership. These are simple things and prerequisites for Palestinians in both Gaza and the West Bank to accept for there to be a peaceful, two-state solution. Since the war in Gaza has ended, Palestinians continue to bombard Israel with missiles threatening Israeli civilians. This must stop if the conflict is going to be resolved.

Peace will come to that region of the world when both sides recognize each other's right to exist in peace and security. It will not come from pressuring Israel to make unilateral concessions in return for worthless promises or worthless pieces of paper.

ELIOT L. ENGEL

U.S. Representative (D-N.Y.)

Washington

The writer is a member of the House Foreign Affairs subcommittee on the Middle East and South Asia.

Most Palestinians appear to hope for something other than a two-state solution.

 

As reported elsewhere on the internet, a Norwegian organization, the Fafo Institute for Applied International Studies conducted an opinion poll in the West Bank and Gaza in late February and early March 2009.  The poll is online at http://www.fafo.no/indexenglish.htm

 

Among the findings:  ( parenthetical comments are mine. -- Mark)

 

35% of respondents [ Total n= 3,232] "hope"  for a Two-state solution. (Advocated by 47% of Fatah respondents; 21% of Hamas respondents.)    (no information available from respondents about whether Israel, as part of a 2-state settlement, would be expected to absorb Palestinian 'refugees' or whether Palestine would permit Jewish residents.)

 

33% hope for the establishment of One Islamic state  (i.e., governed by Islamic law.   Advocated by 58% of Hamas respondents; 17% of Fatah respondents.)

 

20% hope for the establishment of One state with equal rights for all   (In other words, the absorption of Israel into a Greater Palestine and the nullification of Israel as a Jewish state.  Advocated by 22% of Fatah respondents; 12% of Hamas respondents, a majority of whom would prefer a Islamic state. )

 

  3%  hope for a Three-state solution

 

  9%  "Don't know"  what to hope for.  ( A response by 14% of the 35-44 age bracket) 

 

[Table 1.23  Hopes for a future political solution of the conflict with Israel. p. 25]

 

 

 

 

Religion and Poverty: Let All Who Are Hungry Come and Eat,

By Rabbi Steve Gutow, president of the Jewish Council for Public Affairs,

and Dr. H. Eric Schockman, president of MAZON: A Jewish Response to Hunger

A Jewish Call to Protect America’s Hungry

Over the coming months, Spotlight will host a conversation that asks how and whether religious and faith communities should address the issue of poverty in America and explores the relationship between religion and public policy.

As the weather grows warmer and the days grow longer, American Jews are preparing to celebrate Passover. Every spring, we remember our people’s escape from bondage and flight to freedom with songs and stories read from the Haggadah, our traditional guide to the Seder meal. Our primary symbol is a very simple one: matzo, the dry, cracker-like food that we also call “the bread of affliction.”

As we gather, our homes filled with friends and our tables with food, our thoughts on slavery, affliction, and remembrances that we were once “strangers in a strange land,” it is easy to forget that affliction is not a thing of the distant past—that even as we sit down to our holiday meal, many Americans are virtual strangers in their own land, afflicted and enslaved by hunger.

The Seder is not merely a meal, however; it is a tool for education, a call to social action. This year, it comes at a time when many, many American families face times harder than they ever imagined. Today, some 37.5 million Americans live in poverty — a number that includes 13 million children — and the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities estimates that as many as 10 million more of our fellow citizens will have slipped below the poverty line by year’s end. The people who suffer the most in hard times are not those at the top, but those who were already in need when the hard times hit.

The Haggadah wisely guards against the tendency to see religious ritual as a lifeless thing that refers only to the story of the Israelites from the past. We are told that in every generation, we must see ourselves as if we had personally gone out of Egypt. We must take the lessons of bondage and freedom into our daily lives and apply them to the world around us. As we break matzo with those we love, this year of all years, we must certainly remember the millions who do not have enough food on their own tables.

That is why, next week, we will bring together not just Jews, but people of all faiths and backgrounds, lawmakers and activists, students and community leaders, to hold a special Seder in the U.S. Capitol, focused on the issues of hunger and child nutrition. This event will kick off a series of similar Seders to be held across the country, as Jewish groups and interfaith leaders convene not just to celebrate the Jewish people’s historical escape from slavery, but to highlight this country’s obligation to ensure that all of our children escape the affliction of hunger.

As a nation, we are only as strong as our weakest members, and, surely, we cannot move forward if we fail to care for our children. As the ancient Israelites had to take action in order to achieve their own exodus, so it is today: hunger can only be defeated if we all take on the responsibility.

As such, these Seders will call on Americans to educate themselves, to advocate on behalf of the hungry to their legislators, and to organize their loved ones and community to take action. Our hope is that the universal message of the right to freedom from want will echo in the halls of Congress, and that our elected officials will see to it that our next federal budget prioritizes meeting Americans’ most basic human needs.

To effectively grapple with childhood hunger, Congress will have to invest substantially in new funding for child nutrition programs. More communities must have access to school breakfast and summer feeding programs, rules must be shaped that will make it simpler for families to participate, and the nutritional quality of the food provided must be improved. $20 billion, over the next five years, will be a critical investment toward making the improvements that these programs urgently need—but not only will such changes make a real difference in the lives of boys and girls currently living in poverty, they will be a vital step toward meeting President Obama’s stated goal of ending child hunger in this country by 2015.

The good news is that these ideas build on an existing foundation, laid by Congressional advocates in recent years. Increases in the Food Stamp benefit were an important part of the Administration’s stimulus package, and last year’s Farm Bill contained a robust nutrition title, with 73 percent of the bill’s total dedicated to the funding of nutrition programs such as Food Stamps and emergency food assistance, as well as programs designed to bring more fresh fruits and vegetables to schools in low-income areas.

It is simply not enough to leave these issues to the good will of individual people or philanthropies. The simple truth is that hunger, like slavery, is a political condition. It is not a lack of food, but a lack of action and will that perpetuates hunger in the lives of our youngest citizens.

When the Israelites were called to leave behind their suffering, they had to do so in a hurry—and so, not having time to allow their bread to rise, they traveled into the desert with matzo, hard bread that served also to remind them of the hard life they had left behind. Today, we too are in a rush, as every day spent in hunger is one too many. The time to act is not next month or next year, but now.

It is important to remember, however, that Passover is not just a holiday of exodus, but also a time of renewal. As the ragtag crowd of Israelites left Egypt and were formed into the Jewish people, so too can the America people rise to their own challenges, and become a better, stronger nation as a result.

As people of faith, we know that we are called to meet the needs of the most vulnerable. To not do so would be an affront to God and all we hold dear. As Americans, we know that generational poverty — the empty belly of a child — weakens and destabilizes our country as a whole.

“Let all who are hungry come and eat,” we read in the Haggadah, “let all who are in need come share our Passover.”

Let us all — Jews, Christians, Muslims, people of any and all faiths — carry this simple, powerful message with us into the world, and take the actions so urgently needed to free American children from hunger.

Rabbi Steve Gutow is the president of the Jewish Council for Public Affairs. Dr. H. Eric Schockman is the president of MAZON: A Jewish Response to Hunger.

 

Teen killed in West Bank terror attack

Terrorist carrying axe attacks and kills 16-year-old youth in settlement of Bat Ayin in Gush Etzion Thursday noon; seven-year-old child sustains moderate injuries. Terrorist flees scene, IDF launches manhunt. Palestinian Authority security official tells Ynet terrorist apparently working on his own
Efrat Weiss  ynetnews  April 2, 2009

Sixteen-year-old Shlomo Nativ was killed and a seven-year-old boy was moderately injured in an attack carried out by a terrorist carrying an axe in the West Bank settlement of Bat Ayin Thursday noon.

 

According to the police, the terrorist managed to flee the scene. The IDF launched a hunt for the terrorist, set up roadblocks and boosted security throughout the communities in the area.

 

Palestinian sources reported that IDF forces were surrounding a house in the nearby village of Khirbet Safa where they suspected the attacker may be hiding. 

 

A Magen David Adom rescue team tried to resuscitate the teen, who they said ran into a house after being attacked, but he died of his injuries.