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Montreal’s La Metropole newspaper published a cartoon in it’s July issue depicting a Hasidic Jewish taxi driver driving a cab labelled Taxi de David and calling out “Come in! May Yaveh be with you…” The cartoon’s headline was “A taxi transformed into a…synagogue?”

Guess what would have happened if La Metropole published a cartoon depicting a devout Muslim taxi driver driving a cab labelled Taxi de Muhammad and calling out Come in! May Allah be with you, under the headline A taxi transformed into a…mosque?

Canada would have had it’s very own Danish cartoon episode, that’s what.

Pathetic and disturbing isn’t it? Crazy too.

Thomas Friedman has perfectly exposed the real root of the current conflict between Israel and it’s neighbors, and of all past and future conflicts as well. It has nothing to do with security fences or maritime blockades, settlements or checkpoints or real or imagined slights or provocations. Those are all diversions, excuses that Palestinians use to keep conflict alive.

The root of the conflict is revealed when the Palestinian mother “blurts out that she hopes her son will grow up to be a suicide bomber to help recover Jerusalem.” She exposes the conflict’s essence when she says “From the smallest infant, even smaller than Mohammed, to the oldest person, we will all save ourselves for the sake of Jerusalem. We feel we have the right to it. You’re free to be angry, so be angry.” This after her small son’s life was saved by Israeli Doctors in an Israeli hospital at no expense to her or her family.

Nothing will change between Israel and it’s neighbors until that attitude does. There is no hope of ending conflict in the Middle East until Palestinians recognize and accept Israel’s legitimate right to exist and stop trying to murder and maim Israelis and wipe the country off the map. Nothing else will suffice.

Parents who actually care more about their children than an ideology of death would be good people to get the ball rolling.

Rashid Khalidi is an old friend and confidant of President Obama and a longstanding anti-Israeli activist. He is currently involved in an effort to send an American ship to break the Israeli maritime blockade of Gaza, which Israel sees as essential to it’s national security. Sending a ship to try and break the blockade is clearly illegal under U.S. law and there are several provisions in it which could be used to investigate and/or prosecute Khalidi and other organizers, including ones which prohibit providing material support to terrorist groups such as Hamas. The Department of Justice under Attorney General Holder would have to take the lead however and that means the Government of the United States is not going to do anything at all to prevent the ship from sailing. There are many reasons for this (none of which hold up under close scrutiny I might add) but two in particular stand out.

The first is the antipathy towards Israel which is rooted in the oval office and is pervasive throughout Obama’s administration. There is no question that America’s relationship with Israel has deteriorated markedly since Obama was elected and that this deterioration has compromised American interests in the Middle East and around the world. The President simply has no real understanding or apreciation of the importance of the U.S. relationship with Israel and of the depth of the ties between the two countries. This animus and ignorance allows him to rationalize actions which are obviously not in the best interests of either nation. His sympathies lie in the Muslim and Arab camp, not the Israeli or American one, and this has prevented him from looking at the Middle East through an unbiased lens, or taking serious measures to combat the Islamization of the United States either for that matter.

The second reason has to do with collusion, or rather Obama being accused of colluding with individuals with terrorist and Jihadist mindsets and proclivities who are involved in illegal activities which are inimical to the interests of the U.S. and one of her most important long term allies, if not the most important. It defies belief to think that Khalidi hasn’t discussed the possibility of sending a ship to Gaza with Obama and received his tacit approval to try and do so. If the Justice Department investigates the affair Obama’s involvement and the reasons behind it could easily become public, which at best would be extremely damaging politically and at worst would mean the end of his Presidency. Even if he is absolved of any wrongdoing through political chicanery or manipulating or intimidating the main stream media he would be even more tainted in the eyes of the electorate than he already is. Not investigating or prosecuting Khalidi is the best way to keep Obama from being called to account over his handling of this affair and of national security and foreign policy issues in general, to keep a lid on things as it were.

For now anyway.

These two headlines and their accompanying stories appeared next to each other in today’s issue of the Jerusalem Post. As the old saying goes ‘the essence of comedy is tragedy’ and all are both laughable and tragic.

Israel doesn’t need to launch rockets against itself and it’s neighbors as a pretext for violence against Palestinians. Hamas provides all the justification necessary by constantly trying to murder and maim Israelis. Whatever violence that Israel commits against Palestinians is nothing more than self defense and in response to the heinous, barbaric and unpardonable acts Palestinians commit against it virtually every single day. The refusal by Hamas to accept responsibility for violence is ludicrous and it’s attempt to blame Israel is nothing more than a transparent ploy to shift the fault away from itself, where it rightly belongs. Pretext? Hamas and it’s actions are the pretext. Besides, far more violence is committed against Palestinians by Hamas and it’s cohorts than by Israelis. Really.

Ahmadinejad’s beliefs about the 9/11 murders are laughable as well. They are akin to saying that Hitler, Stalin and Mao never comitted the atrocities they did or that Iranians are a free people able to live their lives as they see fit or that Islam is a religion of peace. All are laughable, and ludicrous, because they are so obviously untrue and so are Ahmadinejad’s lunatic beliefs about the destruction of the World Trade Center. Lunatic, ludicrous and laughable. That sums them up in a nutshell.

The tragedy is that people who are otherwise of good heart and common sense believe the substance of the Post articles or take them at face value, for any number of reasons, and that this lazy and inadequate ‘thinking’ does nothing to solve problems and everything to exacerbate them. Why are they so accepting? Perhaps they are unwilling or unable to think critically or don’t have the time or inclination to truly educate themselves about the Middle East…perhaps they believe in the essential goodness of man and cannot accept that evil exists…perhaps they are naive and easily manipulated by nature…perhaps they have memories of better times and places…perhaps there is some sort of incipient, knee-jerk anti-Americanism or anti-Semitism at play…perhaps they equate ignorance and accommodation with safety…perhaps they actually have faith in the New York Times or the Washington Post, the BBC or the Guardian, the CBC or the Toronto Star…perhaps they do think differently and are afraid to speak out. The possibilities go on and on.

Laughable and tragic…no doubt about it.

The United Nations has supported Israel’s account of the firefight on the border with Lebanon and acknowledged Lebanon’s culpability in the incident. UNIFIL, the United Nation’s peacekeeping force in South Lebanon, said that Israeli forces were cutting trees within their own territory when they were attacked by Lebanese Army troops. This clearly corroborates Israel’s statements about how the fighting started and invalidates the Lebanese version of events.

This is the second time in the last two weeks that the United Nations has sided with Israel. On July 24 it was slammed by Hamas and accused of collaborating with the enemy because it asked groups sending aid to Gaza to send it by land instead of by sea, thereby circumventing Israel’s maritime blockade.

The U.N. siding with Israel…will wonders never cease?

There will be war in the Middle East any time now because Iran and the Arab world want one to take place as soon as possible. They are trying very hard to provoke Israel into launching hostilities so that they can claim a propaganda victory even if they lose militarily. They understand that the United States will not intervene on Israel’s behalf or do anything substantial to restrain them prior to the upcoming mid-term elections in America and that this unwillingness to assist Israel will almost assuredly change should the Republicans make significant gains or even achieve majority status in the House of Representatives and/or Congress, which could very well occur. Their window for taking advantage of the current situation is really only three months long, which means that in the next 90 days we can expect attacks on Israel to increase in number and severity as her enemies try to force her into war by committing more and more acts of murder and mayhem.

Should Israel take the bait? Absolutely. Restraint will accomplish nothing, least of all prevent further attacks, protect Israeli lives or improve Israel’s image internationally. If anything it will encourage her enemies and further endanger the lives of her citizens and the country’s national security. Diplomacy, concessions and holding back won’t keep the enemy at bay. Power is the only thing Israel’s enemies really understand and respond to and power alone can keep Israel and Israelis safe. That includes it’s manifestations like the blockade, the security wall and the checkpoints of course. Israel is seen as weak, vulnerable and without friends at the moment, which is why her enemies think the time is right for war and why they are making so much mischief. It is incumbent upon Israel to show them that they are wrong.

War is coming soon alright and Israel will fight because she has to, not because she wants to. As always.

You can thank the usual list of suspects for that.

President Obama just announced that he intends to have all United States combat troops out of Iraq by the end of the month and remaining U.S. troops out of the country by the end of 2011.

This is an extremely cynical move by Obama. He is making it for purely political reasons and is in effect abandoning the Iraqi people and their fledgling democracy. It really has to do with Afghanistan and his image as Commander-In Chief of America’s military, not Iraq.

The war in Afghanistan is going very badly, there is no hope of victory in conventional terms, whatever moderate improvements that have been made in the lives of some Afghans cannot be sustained and the country as a whole will go straight back to the dark ages as soon as the West, meaning America, leaves, as it will. The President is being criticized vociferously over Afghanistan and the criticism promises to grow in scope and intensity as the American people come to recognize the futility of the situation there. Obama thinks that by announcing success in Iraq he can get Americans to overlook or disregard failure in Afghanistan, at least in the short term. This is especially important with the midterm elections coming up. He badly needs a military success story to foist on the electorate, so he’s made one up and will use spin doctors and public relations flacks to milk it for everything it’s worth. The fact that it has nothing to do with reality is irrelevant.

That is bound to backfire. The Iraqi government will simply not be in a position to defend itself by the end of 2011 and the American withdrawal means that violence and death will increase as any number of parties, including foreign governments and religious factions, try their utmost to bring it down. Iraq’s democracy cannot survive without the protection of the United States military and it is folly to think otherwise. The news coming out of Iraq will get worse and worse as U.S. soldiers depart. Obama must believe that a lid can be kept on things until after the elections and that afterwards it doesn’t really matter because he can always blame George Bush (Iraq was his war after all), the Iraqis themselves, American scapegoats of his choosing, even the tooth fairy if he has to, as circumstances inevitably deteriorate.

He’s wrong of course. It matters a great deal, in human, geopolitical and domestic political terms. Thousands if not millions of Iraqis will suffer and die needlessly and the national security of the United States will be sorely compromised. In the end, Americans will see the withdrawal for what it is, short term thinking in the extreme and a cynical political move made to help keep him in power, nothing more.

If you think things are bad in Iraq now just wait. Let’s be honest. U.S. withdrawal may be the end of combat for Americans there, but it’s just the real beginning for everyone else.

Hamas has accused the United Nations of collaborating with Israel because it has asked groups sending aid to Gaza to send it by land instead of by sea. The rationale is transparent. It has everything to do with Israel’s naval blockade and nothing to do with aid reaching Gaza. Ships trying to break the blockade are stopped and inspected before being allowed to proceed. Every time that happens Hamas has an opportunity to try and take political advantage of the situation. Aid coming in by land doesn’t afford it the same opportunities at all.

Palestinians are the second largest per capita recipients of foreign aid in the last decade. Approximately ten billion dollars worth has been sent to them during that time. Virtually all of it arrived by land. Will Hamas accuse the donors of collaborating with Israel and refuse to accept it? It would be the principled thing to do but since Hamas has never allowed principles to get in the way of politics and expediency it’s obviously not going to happen. Even browbeaten and cowed Palestinians wouldn’t put up with that. Talk about a lack of gratitude and exposing themselves for the hypocrites they are…with one hand Hamas accepts billions in aid and with the other it wants to control the means of transmission for it’s own nefarious political purposes.

The United Nations is without doubt an extremely anti-Israeli organization and always has been. For it to be accused of collaborating with Israel is beyond laughable. What will it do to refute the allegation, to regain it’s standing in the Islamic world so to speak? Time will tell, but whatever it is Hamas will try to use it to it’s own advanage just like it does  everything else, truth be damned.

Construction of a giant mosque overlooking the site of the destroyed World Trade Center in New York City is being proposed. The proposed mosque is 13 stories tall, would cost one hundred million dollars to build and would be called Cordoba House. If construction is allowed to go ahead it’s opening date would be September 11, 2011, the tenth anniversary of the worst mass murder in American history when thousands of innocent people were killed by Muslims acting in the name of Islam. The mosque and the opening date constitute a deliberate insult to the memory of those who died and a warning to freedom loving people everywhere.

There are many reasons why a mosque should not be constructed within sight of the World Trade Center killing ground, the most important having to do with the main factor motivating those who want to put it there to begin with. The name of the new mosque is a dead giveaway, even for those with only a passing interest in Islam. Cordoba in Spain was the capital city of Muslim conquerors who celebrated their victory over Spanish Christians by turning a church there into one of the largest mosque complexes in the world. Cordoba symbolizes conquest in the Islamic mantra.

Islam is in fact a religion of conquest and violence which has no tolerance or respect for people of other faiths and creeds, especially Christians and Jews, especially Americans and Israelis. It’s purpose is to subdue unbelievers and force them to live under Islamic law, sharia. That is precisely it’s aim in the United States and the rest of the Western world and a mosque at Ground Zero would help it do exactly that. It would move Islamization in the U.S. and elsewhere forward by leaps and bounds.

Muslims consider conquered territory and people to be forever under the sway of Islam and they can never be seen as anything else. Placing a mosque so close to the World Trade Center, particularly a megamosque like the one being proposed, would enable them to see New York as conquered territory and view it as a bridgehead leading to the subjugation of the entire United States as well. Mosques are symbols of triumph and conquest and individual churches, synagogues, temples and shrines have been converted to them throughout Islamic history, if they haven’t been destroyed that is. Putting a megamosque two blocks away from the spot where Islam’s adherents murdered three thousand Americans and other infidels…in America’s most prominent city and one with a very large Jewish population no less…literally and metaphorically you can’t send a clearer message than that.

Of course New Yorkers, Americans, can send a clear message of  their own by preventing the mosque from being constructed. They would be saying that they are not willing to accept the erosion of their values and way of life, that Islamization will be fought and that America is not an Islamic nation and won’t become one. They would be telling the mosque’s proponents that New Yorkers, Americans, live in a free, democratic, secular society, have no wish to live under an Islamic regimen and will not allow that to happen.

Chapter one was the destruction of the World Trade Center and the deaths it caused. Chapter two is the current battle being fought over the construction of Cordoba House and the Islamization of America. Chapter three is yet to be written but there are encouraging signs for those who love freedom. Americans may be beginning to wake up and recognize the true nature of Islam and the serious threat it poses to them. Will they open their eyes in time and keep Islam from taking over the country-that’s the real issue.

Here’s hoping the opposition prevails and the mosque never gets built.

There is nothing to debate. Israel has no choice. Israelis have to attack and destroy Iran’s nuclear facilities as a matter of national survival. There is no doubt whatsoever that Iran will attack Israel with nuclear weapons as soon as it can in an attempt to wipe it off the map, to remove it from the face of the earth. A preemptive strike is the only way to prevent this and Israelis will have to carry it out themselves because the United States under President Obama doesn’t have the sense, foresight or enlightened self-interest to launch an attack of it’s own.

Kill or be killed. That’s reality, like it or not. Iran and Islam are to blame, not Israel. That too is reality.