J-NewsLine

Tuesday, December 29, 2009

Rubin: The Danger of Revolutionary Islamism

Scholar and political analyst Barry Rubin provides some useful information and offers some advice, in his latest article, about what he terms Revolutionary Islamism:

The Obama Administration should acknowledge that the United States confronts a huge—but not united--revolutionary movement [Revolutionary Islamism] which has major assets. Elements control Iran, Syria (not Islamist but allied with it), Sudan, the Gaza Strip, and now in part Lebanon, too. There are major elements in the Pakistani and Turkish governments that lend it aid and comfort. It is also fueled by Saudi Wahabi Islam and money.

[Revolutionary Islamism] is fighting in two dozen countries, from Indonesia, the Philippines, China, and Thailand in the east, to Morocco and even within Europe on the western flank. That movement is also challenging for authority in every Arabic-speaking country and trying to destroy Israel.

The following should be instructive to those who (a) want either to blame all Muslims or Islam itself for the behavior of jihadi Islamists; or (b) who chose to believe that the concept of military jihad is not present in the sacred Islamic texts. -- MF

[T]raditional Islam in most places was socially reactionary but also relatively moderate. While jihad was part of the sacred texts, no one was advocating that it be carried out. Suicide attacks were viewed as a heretical activity. ... [R]evolutionary Islamism reinterpreted conservative traditional Islam. ...[Revolutionary Islamism] used deep-seated beliefs and values ...[and] made them into something quite different.

JPost: Netanyahu has good meeting with Mubarak

1. Egypt's Foreign Minister: Netanyahu seems to genuinely want to try to resume negotiations with the Palestinians.

2. US envoy George Mitchell expected to bring documents setting the basis for restarting diplomatic discussions.

3. Netanyahu, in a speech Monday to 140 Israeli ambassadors and heads of delegations currently in Jerusalem for a series of high-level briefings, emphasized the importance in his mind of Palestinian acceptance of Israel as a Jewish state, and said that demilitarization was Israel's key security requirement for any future Palestinian state.

Recognizing Israel as a Jewish state, Netanyahu said, was necessary for any agreement with the Palestinians that would lead to an end to the conflict.

"We want an end to the conflict," he said. "That means the Palestinians must stop attempts to use a Palestinian state as jumping-off point for further claims against Israel. No claim to flood Israel with refugees, which would mean the end of theJewish state; and no irredentist claims to the Negev, Galilee or Israeli citizens, which would mean the dissolution of the Jewish state."

Regarding Israel's demands that any future Palestinian state be demilitarized, Netanyahu said this would necessitate preventing the import of rockets and missiles that could be fired into Israel, as was currently the situation in Gaza and Lebanon.

He said the situation in Lebanon, and the rearming of Hizbullah despite Security Council Resolution 1701 prohibiting just that, proved that agreements on paper were ineffective.

"I am doubtful that anyone can do this except a real Israeli presence, Israeli forces," he said, intimating that in any future agreement with the Palestinians, Israeli forces - not international ones - would have to be on the eastern border of a future Palestinian state to prevent it from importing arms and staging attacks against Israel.

Monday, December 28, 2009

Arabs and Jews Get New Housing Starts in East Jerusalem

From The Israel Project www.theisraelproject.org

Contact: Marcus Sheff: marcuss@theisraelproject.org

Arabs and Jews Get New Housing Starts in East Jerusalem

Today (Dec. 28) the Israeli government announced it has approved the construction of 1,192 new housing units for both Arab and Jewish residents of East Jerusalem; 500 housing units have been authorized in the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Silwan for the Arab population, and 692 housing units have been authorized for the mostly Jewish neighborhoods of Har Homa, Neve Yaakov and Pisgat Zeev.[1]

The Israeli government has stated that Israel’s 10-month freeze on settlement construction in the West Bank excludes the East Jerusalem neighborhoods.[2]

Said Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat on Nov. 17, "Israeli law does not discriminate between Jews, Muslims, and Christians or between eastern and western Jerusalem. The demand to halt construction by religion is not legal in the United States or in any other free place in the world. I do not presume that any government would demand to freeze construction in the United States based on race, religion or gender and the attempt to demand it from Jerusalem is a double standard and inconceivable."[3]

On Nov. 25, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced the 10-month construction freeze on West Bank settlements - a gesture to the Palestinian Authority to build confidence between the two sides and restart peace negotiations.[4] Despite significant political and public opposition in Israel, the freeze is currently in effect and is being enforced by government agencies and security services.[5]

The majority of the land on which the East Jerusalem neighborhoods of Neve Yaakov and Har Homa are built was purchased by Jewish organizations or individuals before the State of Israel was established in 1948, or was legally acquired by the Israeli government post-1967.

In more news, tomorrow (Dec. 29), Netanyahu is scheduled to meet with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak in Egypt. The meeting between the two leaders will focus on ways to advance the Israeli-Palestinian peace process.[11]

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The full article is found online at

http://www.theisraelproject.org/site/apps/nlnet/content2.aspx?c=hsJPK0PIJpH&b=689705&ct=7790991

Sunday, December 27, 2009

Manji rallies Muslim expression against anti-Semitism

December 27, 2009

(JTA) -- Muslims placed personal messages against anti-Semitism on the Facebook page of a Muslim reformist and author.

The hundreds of personal messages on Irshad Manji's Facebook fan page were a thank you to the European Union of Jewish Students, for their statement earlier in the month condemning the Swiss vote to ban minarets in the country.

Following the Dec. 2 EUJS statement, Manji, the author of “The Trouble with Islam Today: A Muslim’s Call for Reform in Her Faith” and the producer of the Emmy-nominated film, "Faith Without Fear," asked her Muslim fans to post personal statements against anti-Semitism.

"The move by Irshad Manji and EUJS has shown how successful and meaningful the Jewish and Muslim connection can be on a grassroots level. We hope that this connection is only the beginning of a springboard for further dialogue, cooperation and collaboration between Jewish and Muslim groups," read a statement from EUJS in its December newsletter.

IDF kills Fatah terrorists and Gaza infiltrators

Fatah officials in the West Bank demanded on Saturday [December 26, 2009] that the Palestinian Authority put an end to security coordination with Israel, after the IDF killed three Al-Aksa Martyrs Brigades operatives who were behind the Thursday shooting attack that killed [an Israeli, ] Meir Chai.

[Note: According to Ma'an, the Palestinian news service, "On Thursday, the Mughniya faction [of Fatah's Aksa Martyrs Brigade] said its members killed an Israeli settler near Nablus. In an emailed message, the organization also warned of "a series of attacks to come."" ]

Fayyad and commanders of the PA security forces visited the families of the three Fatah gunmen to offer condolences.

Nabil Abu Rudaineh, a spokesman for PA President Mahmoud Abbas, said that the Nablus raid, as well as the killing of three Palestinians from the Gaza Strip who tried to cross the border into Israel, showed that Israel "does not want peace."

[From report, "PA urged to end cooperation with Israel," by Khaled Abu Toameh, Dec. 26 and 27, 2009. The article also notes that the IDF had also intercepted and killed three Palestinians trying to enter Israel from Gaza.]

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IDF identifies the Aksa Martyrs Brigade/Fatah terrorists:

Nader/Raed A-Gabar Machmad Surkajy, a 40 year old resident of Nablus, is a Nablus Fatah Tanzim activist and has been imprisoned in Israel in the past. Prior to his arrest in 2002, Surkajy was a senior member of the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades and was involved in multiple terror attacks. Surkajy was also involved with the manufacturing of explosives and the establishment of an explosives-manufacturing laboratory in Nablus. Surkajy was arrested in April 2002 and was released earlier this year in January 2009.

Assan Fatachi Naif Abu Sharach, a 40 year old Nablus resident, has also been previosly imprisoned in Israel. He is the brother of Naif Abu Sharach, the former head of the Fatah Tanzim in Nablus, who was responsible for planning multiple terror attacks until he was killed by IDF soldiers in 2004.

Annan Saliman Mustafa Tzubach, a 36 year old Nablus resident, a Shahad Al-Aqsa activist and was involved in widespread militant activity within the framework of the Nablus Fatah Tanzim. The group was led by Naif Abu Sharach until his death. Annan served as an arms dealer and supplier. During an attempt to arrest him tonight, Annan was killed after an exchange of fire with the IDF while he was found in a hiding place along with weapons and ammunition. Annan was included in an agreement in which wanted terror suspects were granted amnesty in exchange for a cease and desist in all terror involvement.

Friday, December 25, 2009

Egypt "concerned" about Iranian regional ambitions

Want to know what's really happening in the Middle East? Read the following carefully. //Mark Finkelstein, jcrc@dmjfed.org

Al-Ahram Weekly 17-23 Dec'09: ["Little chance of Egyptian] Rapprochement with Iran" excerpts

Egypt and Iran have not been able to normalise relations, and Iranian regional ambitions may mean that they will not be able to do so, writes Salah Hemeid

During a tour of the Arab Gulf last week, Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Abul-Gheit renewed his country's concern over Iran's mounting influence in the region and reiterated that Egypt will stand by its brethren in the Gulf against any threats to their security.

... [I]n recent months Egypt has repeatedly accused Iran of attempts to expand in areas such as the Gulf, Iraq, Yemen and the Horn of Africa, all considered by Egypt as vital to its national security.

....
Mustafa El-Feki, head of the Egyptian parliament's Foreign Relations Committee, described Iranian-Arab relations in general as "unsound", attributing this to an Iranian "tendency for hegemony" and "Persian national aspirations".

Yet El-Feki rejected an Arab school of thought that equates what it calls the "Iranian threat" to that posed by Israel. "It is true that Iran poses a danger, but this cannot be compared to the danger implanted in the heart of the Arab world," he said, referring to Israel.
....

Many participants [in the conference] warned that Iran was increasingly interfering in Arab affairs, and that the Arabs should not restore full ties before Iran dropped its current policy of regional expansion and interference in Arab affairs.
....

To Iran, Egypt's efforts to bring about peace in the region, and its encouragement of the Palestinians and other Arab countries to follow its path with Israel, threaten to deprive Tehran of the single most potent regional issue that it can exploit to further its radical agenda.

Therefore, Iran seeks to undermine prospects for peace, and, along with its clients such as Hamas and Hizbullah, it believes the way to do this is by undermining Egypt.
....
The battle for competing regional influence also extends to Iraq and Lebanon, where Iran has been building a power base among the Shias in these two Arab countries.
....
Like many other Arab countries, Egypt is worried about Iran's interference in Lebanon, which Tehran is using to bolster its regional influence. Similarly, Egypt's security interests in the Gulf, and its traditional role as a force for regional stability, present a clear obstacle to Iran's wider regional ambitions.

Also like other Arab countries, Egypt is concerned that any US rapprochement with Iran could ultimately lead to a nuclear-armed, non- Arab, and Shia superpower expanding its influence further in the region.

Egypt fears that the offer of an improvement in US-Iran ties held out by US President Barack Obama could go too far, offering concessions to a powerful regional player long regarded with suspicion.

JTA: Jewish organizations 'tweeting' their way to new kinds of communications

Scores of Jewish organizations are now using Twitter ( http://twitter.com ) to send their members short, cell phone-based, text messages. See: http://digg.com/u1IKrc

The Jewish Federation of Greater Des Moines has two Twitter networks to keep community members informed. One mirrors the JCRC InfoBlog at twitter.com/jewishnewsblog

A new network that we are still developing is to update information about Federation programming. It will be especially useful to convey any last minute changes to time/date/location or content of programs. The network is called Update J and its messages are displayed online at twitter.com/updatej and on the Federation's website: http://jewishdesmoines.org.

The easiest way to sign-on to receive Tweets is to send a text message to 40404 and ask to: follow updatej or follow jewishnewsblog (or any other of the many Tweeters) . Standard text messaging charges apply, as determined by your cellphone company.

Consult your synagogue or temple for information about the Tweet networks they operate!

On the Internet, there is an extensive listing of Jewish organizations that Tweet. Below, for example, is just the very beginning of the directory available at http://listorious.com/MASA__Israel/jewish-organizations

For additional information, contact jcrc@dmjfed.org

Now, from the listorious.com list of Jewish organizations that Tweet:

Follow → View on Twitter →