Hudson New York

Hudson Institute is attempting to encourage civil discourse on important issues of our time. However, the views expressed are not necessarily the opinions shared by those at the institute, but reflect a variety of viewpoints that may be controversial and sometimes provocative.

Latest Articles

1. http://www.hudsonny.org/2010/02/palestinians-the-new-peace-talks.php

   February 9, 2010 5:00 AM
   by Khaled Abu Toameh

   Palestinians: The New Peace Talks, What Fatah Can Deliver

   Although the Palestinian Authority appears to have softened its position regarding the resumption of peace talks with Israel, it is wrong to assume that it has also changed its stance on major issues such as Jerusalem, refugees, borders and settlements. Thanks to the ongoing incitement and indoctrination in the Palestinian and Arab media, the Palestinians have been radicalized to a point where any talk about making concessions to Israel is automatically associated with "high treason." Sadly, we have reached a point where many Palestinians and other Arabs are convinced that the only language that Israel understands is force, and that this is the only way to extract concessions from the Jewish state. Fatah today is weaker than it it was a few years ago, largely thanks to Prime Minister Salam Fayyad's refusal to allow the party free and unlimited access to the Palestinian Authority coffers. Fayyad, in a move that has enraged many senior Fatah leaders, has also kept Fatah members away from high positions in the Palestinian cabinet in the West Bank. Some Fatah officials have even accused Fayyad of being part of a US-Israeli-European conspiracy to eliminate Fatah for once and for all so that he could have exclusive control over the affairs of the Palestinians. Even if Mahmoud Abbas were to sign a peace agreement with Israel tomorrow, ...
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2. http://www.hudsonny.org/2010/02/pa-minister-nobody-has-the-right-to-declare-the-end-of-jihad.php

   February 9, 2010 4:55 AM
   by Middle East Media and Research Institute

   P.A. Minister: "Nobody Has the Right to Declare the End of Jihad"

   P.A. Minister of Religious Endowments, Mahmoud Al-Habbash, recently delivered a sermon, which aired on Palestinian Authority TV on January 7, 2010. To view this clip on MEMRI TV, visit http://www.memritv.org/clip/en/0/0/0/0/0/0/2358.htm . For other recent statements by Mahmoud Al-Habbash, visit http://www.memritv.org/clip/en/0/0/0/0/0/0/2350.htm and http://www.memritv.org/clip/en/0/0/0/0/0/0/2352.htm. "Jihad Means Exerting Mental, Physical, Financial, or Verbal Efforts to Elevate the Word of Allah" Mahmoud Al-Habbash: "I will talk about one notion - the notion of resistance. Today, we are standing on the land of a village in Palestine, which may only be a small village, but is a village of resistance - resistance in the true sense of the word, which we want to understand... "What is Jihad, and what is resistance? When people talk about Jihad, what do they mean? What is the meaning of Jihad in Islam? And what is the meaning of resistance in Islam? We must understand this. [...] "The literal meaning of 'Jihad' is the exertion of efforts - exerting your efforts and investing your energy. Jihad for the sake of Allah means ...
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3. http://www.hudsonny.org/2010/02/us-sends-terror-apologist-to-speak-for-us-overseas.php

   February 9, 2010 4:30 AM
   by ZOA

   U.S. SENDS TERROR APOLOGIST TO SPEAK FOR U.S. OVERSEAS

   The Obama Administration and Secretary Clinton's State Department have sent the director the Muslim Public Affairs Council (MPAC), Salam Al-Marayati, overseas to speak on behalf of the United States. Al-Marayati is a vocal Israel-hater and apologist for Islamist terrorism who has who has called for Israel's destruction; suggested Israel be placed on a suspect list as the possible perpetrator of the 9/11 acts of terrorism; condemned already in the 1990s American air strikes of Al-Qaeda in Afghanistan and Sudan; and defended the rights of Holocaust deniers. According to MPAC, Executive Director Salam Al-Marayati traveled to Europe at the invitation of the State Department to speak about religious freedom and free speech. He spoke at ...
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4. http://www.hudsonny.org/2010/02/tehran-hangmans-belligerent-insecurity.php

   February 9, 2010 4:00 AM
   by Kamal Hasani

   Tehran Hangman's Belligerent Insecurity

   As the 31st anniversary of the Iranian Islamic Revolution, on February 11, 2010, approaches, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has increased his belligerent and provocative rhetoric. The literal hangman of Tehran has declared that America and the West - which he now designates, in the manner of the radical left, as “the capitalist powers” - will suffer a significant defeat on that date. Western commentators naturally interpret this exaggerated idiom as a meaningful portent of global violence. The real target of Ahmadinejad, who rules at the pleasure of clerical controller Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, is not ...
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5. http://www.hudsonny.org/2010/02/the-eus-horrible-honeymoon.php

   February 8, 2010 5:00 AM
   by Paul Belien

   The EU's Horrible Honeymoon

   Last week, Barack Obama snubbed the Europeans by refusing to attend next May's European Union summit in Madrid. The Europeans are very upset. But that is not the worst of their problems, and neither is the looming bankruptcy of Greece. Analysts fear that Spain might sink the euro, the EU's common currency, and with the euro also the dreams of greater political integration. At this point Europe is not even halfway into its 100-day political"honeymoon" since the Treaty of Lisbon, which transformed the EU into a state in its own right, came into force. So far the honeymoon has been a nightmare. Since the beginning of the year, the EU's currency, the euro, is on the brink of collapse; Greece has been placed under EU financial supervision to prevent it from going bankrupt. Now U.S. President Barack Obama has announced that he will not attend next May's EU summit in Madrid. It was to have been Obama's first visit to post-Lisbon Europe - the consecration of the new political order. Washington informed Brussels last week that Obama is not coming because it is not clear who is his European counterpart. Since the ...
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6. http://www.hudsonny.org/2010/02/words-can-mean-whatever-you-choose.php

   February 8, 2010 4:30 AM
   by Herbert I. London

   Words Can Mean Whatever You Choose

   The contemporary spokesmen for government, business and the academy have taken a page out of Alice in Wonderland: Words mean whatever you choose to have them mean. At some point, words had meanings detached from the user. They were ideas that stood on their own, buttressed by Webster's Dictionary. Now, of course, they are unmoored, set adrift by sophists who employ words for advantage or even to change meaning. The Orwellian reversal of language, e.g. "war is peace" has been taken to a new level of manipulation. President Obama no longer refers to enemy combatants; they are now "isolated radicals." This is a blinkered attempt to suggest that it isn't jihadists we are opposed to, but the most radical elements within this category. Similarly, we are not in a war against terrorists; we are rather in overseas operations. On the homefront the word "stimulus" has been expunged from public usage as it did not stimulate: it is now "spending." "No new taxes" - a campaign pledge - has been converted into "new taxes." "Transparency," as in all government action will be transparent and visible on C-Span, has been transmogrified into secrecy as in the Healthcare bill of 2000 pages that will not be made available for public review. The redistribution of wealth - an apparent government objective - is understood as taking from Peter to give to Paul, a condition with which Paul rarely objects. Bonuses, even if built into iron clad contracts, are little more than manifestations of "exploitation." -- an argument made by community organizers who, ...
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7. http://www.hudsonny.org/2010/02/a-dutch-politician-a-sharia-compliant-court-assassination-by-trial.php

   February 5, 2010 5:15 AM
   by A. Millar

   A Dutch Politician. A Sharia-Compliant Court. Assassination by Trial

   A few years ago Britain's Channel 4 TV broadcast a documentary exposing a number of hate preachers. These were shown variously praising Osama bin Laden, denouncing non-Muslims, or "kuffar," calling women "deficient," and inciting violence, including the murder of Jews and homosexuals. Much of what was said, and broadcast in Undercover Mosque, was patently illegal under British law. Instead of acting against the preachers, the police filed a complaint against the filmmakers, whom they accused of taking things "out of context" - it is just that easy to do, when imams call for murder, apparently. The filmmakers were later vindicated. But the message had been sent loud and clear: Shine a light on the growth of radical Islam, expose the extremists, and you - not they - will be prosecuted. Britain's police were not the only ones to defend the fanatics. Equally surreal, when ...
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