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http://www.hudsonny.org/2010/02/palestinians-the-new-peace-talks.php
February 9, 2010 5:00 AM
by Khaled Abu Toameh
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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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 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 MEMRI
For other recent statements by Mahmoud Al-Habbash, visit MEMRI and MEMRI.
"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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http://www.hudsonny.org/2010/02/us-sends-terror-apologist-to-speak-for-us-overseas.php
February 9, 2010 4:30 AM
by ZOA
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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http://www.hudsonny.org/2010/02/tehran-hangmans-belligerent-insecurity.php
February 9, 2010 4:00 AM
by Kamal Hasani
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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http://www.hudsonny.org/2010/02/the-eus-horrible-honeymoon.php
February 8, 2010 5:00 AM
by Paul Belien
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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http://www.hudsonny.org/2010/02/words-can-mean-whatever-you-choose.php
February 8, 2010 4:30 AM
by Herbert I. London
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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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 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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http://www.hudsonny.org/2010/02/islamist-lawfare-defeated-in-texas.php
February 5, 2010 4:30 AM
by Daniel Huff
Libel suits are not normally associated with national security, but a case the Texas Supreme Court ruled on January 15 carries just such implications. The suit against internet journalist Joe Kaufman is a prime example of how libel law can be manipulated to stifle dissemination of information about terrorism and radical Islam.
It arises out of Kaufman's September 28, 2007 FrontPage Magazine article on the Islamic Circle of North America (ICNA), which sponsored a "Muslim Family Day" at Six Flags Over Texas. Kaufman vowed to protest the event citing, among other things, ICNA's alleged "physical ties with the Muslim Brotherhood and financial ties to Hamas."
Within days, Kaufman was sued, but not by ICNA. Rather, seven Dallas area Islamist organizations, none of them named in the article, sued Kaufman for defamation arguing they were implicated by inference since they too sponsored the event. In June 2009, a Texas appellate court dismissed the case before
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http://www.hudsonny.org/2010/02/uzbekistan-as-a-us-ally.php
February 4, 2010 5:00 AM
by Stephen Suleyman Schwartz
The Obama administration, in its squirming attempts to project an effective strategy against radical Islam in Afghanistan, has committed itself to a series of dangerous illusions. These have included continuing efforts to find allegedly moderate Taliban - a nonexistent phenomenon - as partners for the legitimate government in Kabul. Such attempts have accompanied a larger and more fundamental American error: apathy regarding Pakistan as the determining factor in the Afghan conflict.
The battle for South Asia is not limited to the Afghan backwater. Extremist Islamist forces in the region aim at control of nuclear-armed Pakistan, seizure of the whole of Kashmir, further disruption in India, and penetration of Bangladesh. Destructive elements in this panorama include the clerical dictatorship in Iran as well as the fundamentalist Deobandi sect, represented by the Taliban, and aggressive Pakistani jihadist movements. Pakistani, Indian, and Bangladeshi Muslims, whose religious legacy was influenced by Persian more than Arabic Islam, are Sunnis, but the armed fanatics among them, although financed and encouraged by Saudi Wahhabism, are less fearful of Iran than are the Arab powers. The Pashtun ethnic group that comprises the main component of the Taliban speaks an Iranian language. Pashtuns and Tajiks, the main Afghan ethnic groups, although long-term rivals, are, at least in linguistic terms, cousins: Tajik is also an Iranian idiom.
The Islamist terror, now washing Afghanistan and Pakistan with blood and flooding India and Bangladesh with the money typically needed to recruit new jihadist cadres, has a Central Asian as well as a South Asian orientation. Prior to September 11, 2001, Al-Qaida supported the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU), which sought to
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http://www.hudsonny.org/2010/02/geert-wilders-no-fair-trial.php
February 4, 2010 4:55 AM
by BlogSpot
The Amsterdam District Court apparently doesn’t want to hear the truth about Islam. Nor is it interested to hear the opinion of top class legal experts in the field of freedom of expression. In one swift move, the Court brushed aside fifteen of the eighteen expert-witnesses the defence had requested to be summoned.
Only Hans Jansen, Simon Admiraal and Wafa Sultan were allowed to be heard as expert-witnesses. Their testimony
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http://www.hudsonny.org/2010/02/stacking-the-deck-against-geert-wilders.php
February 4, 2010 4:45 AM
by Aaron Eitan Meyer
In a brief courtroom session today, Amsterdam's District Court found it had jurisdiction to hear the case against Geert Wilders for "inciting hatred," and further announced it would allow only 3 of the 18 witnesses Wilders had requested.
Wilders had sought three categories of witnesses: 5 free speech experts, 8 Islam experts, and 5 "experiential experts." This latter category consisted of various Islamists, including Theo van Gogh's murderer, a Dutch imam who had unsuccessfully tried to sue Wilders, and the Egyptian fundamentalist Yusuf al-Qaradawi.
The court decided to permit only the three Islam experts to testify: Johannes Jansen, Simon Admiraal and Wafa Sultan. In fairness, barring the Islamist witnesses is perhaps excusable. Presumably none would be willing to testify voluntarily, and only one resides freely in the Netherlands. What is much more troubling is the court's refusal to hear from any of Wilders' five free speech experts - all of whom would
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http://www.hudsonny.org/2010/02/fearing-for-freedom-in-a-post-christian-europe.php
February 4, 2010 4:30 AM
by David J. Rusin
Sometimes it seems that European Christian leaders are more concerned with preparing their flocks for dhimmitude than with defending their faith and the civilization built around it. Among other infamies, prominent clerics have maintained that the acceptance of Shari'a law is "unavoidable," urged believers to refer to God as "Allah," suggested that Lent be rebranded as "Christian Ramadan," and insisted that Catholic schools incorporate Muslim prayer rooms.
But not all are content to watch Christianity "go gentle into that good night" — and often they specify secular reasons. Michael Nazir-Ali, the former Anglican bishop of Rochester, has argued that
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http://www.hudsonny.org/2010/02/arguments-ad-hominem-and-by-ethnic-identity-in-defense-of-goldstone-report.php
February 3, 2010 8:45 AM
by Alan M. Dershowitz
Even before the Goldstone Report was released, Richard Goldstone was arguing for its credibility by invoking his Jewishness, his Zionism, his daughter’s residence in Israel and his connection to Hebrew University. It was the mirror image of the classic fallacy known as the argument ad hominem, which is defined as follows: A substantive argument should not be rejected solely because of who has offered it.
It follows of course from this fallacy that an argument should also not be accepted because of who offered it.
A close relative of the ad hominem fallacy is what I have called “the argument by ethnic identity,” which I have defined as follows: An anti-Israel argument is made stronger if offered by a Jew. (“See, even a Jews agrees that…)
These are precisely the fallacious arguments being offered in
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http://www.hudsonny.org/2010/02/the-ayatolollahs-leviathan-power-in-iran-today.php
February 3, 2010 5:00 AM
by Kamal Hasani
The misrulers of Iran claim inspiration from the Qur'an and other Islamic sources, as well as Plato's concept of the "philosopher-king." But it now seems they are inspired by a more recent Western thinker, Thomas Hobbes. In his classic on the state, Leviathan, Hobbes wrote, "the aim of punishment is not revenge, but terror." The Iranian government takes Hobbes as their guide for maintaining the Ayatollahs' Leviathan in power.
Recent political murders by "uncontrolled" radicals supporting the Iranian regime are a major element in the government's response to public demands for political rights. The patron of terror against the people is Ayatollah
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http://www.hudsonny.org/2010/02/palestinian-authority-where-the-money-ends-up.php
February 2, 2010 6:00 AM
by Khaled Abu Toameh
"If the current state of corruption in the Palestinian Authority continues, we will lose the West Bank to Hamas," said Fahmi Shabaneh, a 49-year-old intelligence official who until recently, headed the "anti-corruption unit" in Mahmoud Abbas's General Intelligence Service. "What happened in the Gaza Strip will repeat itself in the West Bank."
Shabaneh, who lives in Jerusalem with his wife and five children, is now willing to speak out because, he explains, he has reached the conclusion that Abbas and his authority are not serious about ending the corruption.
The international community, particularly the donor countries, need to ask themselves: How come Hamas's chances of extending its control from the Gaza Strip to the West Bank remain so high after all the billions of dollars in financial aid that has been poured on Abbas and Prime Minister Salam Fayyad?
The Palestinian intelligence official has a clear answer to this question. "But," he continues,
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http://www.hudsonny.org/2010/02/vaclav-havel-sends-message-of-solidarity-to-chinese-dissident.php
February 2, 2010 4:30 AM
by Human Rights in China
Vaclav Havel Sends Message of Solidarity to Chinese Dissident by Human Rights in China
Vaclav Havel, playwright, former dissident, and first president of the Czech Republic (1993-2003), expressed strong solidarity and sympathy with jailed Chinese dissident Liu Xiaobo and his family in a recent interview with Sharon Hom, executive director of Human Rights in China. On December 25, 2009, Liu was sentenced to 11 years in prison on conviction of “inciting subversion of state power,” for six of his essays and for co-authoring Charter 08, an online petition released in early December 2008 calling for human rights and democracy and an end to one-party rule in China.
On January 19, 2010, in Prague, Havel said: “It’s incumbent upon us,
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http://www.hudsonny.org/2010/02/liu-xiaobo-appeal-charges-court-with-abuse-of-public-power.php
February 2, 2010 3:30 AM
by Human Rights in China
In the appeal defense statement filed on behalf of Liu Xiaobo, Liu’s lawyers charged that the trial court abused its public power in finding Liu guilty of “inciting subversion of state power” and sentencing him to 11 years’ imprisonment.
In the statement filed on January 28, 2010, with the court of second instance, the Beijing Municipal High People’s Court, Liu’s lawyers of the Beijing Mo Shaoping Law Firm, argued that Liu’s essays - cited as “criminal evidence” in the verdict - criticized the government and the ruling party, and not state power. Liu’s lawyers charged that the Beijing Municipal No. 1 Intermediate People’s Court, the court of first instance, in finding Liu guilty, lacked the “common sense” to tell them apart, and conflated the concepts of government, ruling party, and state power. (Liu’s lawyers invoked
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http://www.hudsonny.org/2010/02/israels-military-investigation-is-it-enough.php
February 1, 2010 3:05 PM
by Alan M. Dershowitz
In its most recent response to the Goldstone report, the Israeli government has catalogued the investigations being conducted by the Israeli Defense Forces:"Of the 150 incidents, so far 36 have been referred for criminal investigation. To date, criminal investigators have taken evidence from almost 100 Palestinian complainants and witnesses, along with approximately 500 IDF soldiers and commanders. The Paper describes some of the challenges encountered in the conduct of the investigations, including accessing evidence from battlefield situations and the need to make arrangements, together with non-governmental organizations such as B'Tselem, to locate and interview Palestinian witnesses. To address these challenges, special investigative teams have been appointed and are currently investigation complaints arising from the Gaza Operation"
Some charges being investigated derive from the Goldstone report. Others go beyond the report. The Israeli response explains the extensive investigatory mechanisms employed by Israel, several of which are completely independent of the military chain of command. It compares the Israeli investigatory mechanisms with those of other democratic nations such as the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada and Australia.
It then discloses the
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http://www.hudsonny.org/2010/02/presidential-denial-1.php
February 1, 2010 5:30 AM
by Herbert I. London
Denial is a powerful influence in public life. It is obviously a major influence in the Obama administration, which may explain why a Republican party and conservatism which were declared dead institutions and philosophies have risen as a phoenix with life and vitality.
In response to Scott Brown's remarkable Senate victory in Massachusetts, President Obama said, "The same thing that swept Scott Brown into office swept me into office." People are angry, and they're frustrated. Not just because of what's happened in the last year or two years, but what's happened over the last eight years.
Here is the blame George W. Bush gambit yet again, even though Scott Brown is a Republican who ran against Obama's policies in a state that is overwhelmingly Democratic.
To make matters even more laughable, the president went on to say, "If there's one thing that I regret this year, is that we were so busy just getting stuff done and dealing with the immediate crises that were in front of us, that I think we lost some of the sense of speaking directly to the American people about what their core values are and why we have to make sure those institutions are matching up with those values."
Well, the question remains, what precisely did he get done? He did get a stimulus bill through the Congress: has done nothing to stimulate national employment, even though that was the promise. For a man busy with getting stuff done - a curious rhetorical position - he had the time to deliver 411 speeches, 52 on health care alone, which by presidential standards is unprecedented. Moreover, the president, who often speaks of ...
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http://www.hudsonny.org/2010/02/the-role-of-ideology-in-the-afghan-strategy.php
February 1, 2010 5:00 AM
by Alexander Meleagrou-Hitchens
One of the main talking points during last Thursday's Afghanistan Conference in London was a plan to create a $500 million fund for President Hamid Karzai to use in order to "buy off" certain elements of the insurgency in Afghanistan. Although paying people to stop killing NATO troops may be difficult for many to stomach, it could be very effective if it follows some of the core principles of the Sunni "Awakeninging" Iraq.
As with the Awakening, this aspect of the Afghan strategy will come down to two issues: money and
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http://www.hudsonny.org/2010/02/state-of-the-union-dangerous-weakness.php
February 1, 2010 4:45 AM
by Anne Bayefsky
President Obama’s message in the State of the Union address confirmed that he is tone-deaf to the grievous threats that exist to American national security and incapable of changing course before those dangers become a terrible reality.
The catastrophe of nuclear proliferation had finally made it to the top of the agenda by the time he took office. But over the past year, this president added disarmament to the same platform. He put the retention of U.S. nuclear weaponry on the U.N. negotiating table alongside Iranian acquisition of such arms. In this State of the Union address he wasn’t shy about reasserting this world view: “We are also confronting perhaps the greatest danger to the American people — the threat of nuclear weapons.” By which he meant, in American hands too. The president did not first and foremost promise never to let the genocidal Iranian regime acquire these weapons of mass destruction. Instead, the first national-security priority he articulated was to seek “to reduce our stockpiles and launchers.”
According to President Obama, only by weakening America can we hope to convince our enemies to stand down.
The president alleged that it was
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http://www.hudsonny.org/2009/02/turkey-obama-boosts-radicals.php
February 27, 2009 6:30 AM
by Anna Mahjar-Barducci
On March 29, Turkey will vote for municipal elections. The electoral campaign has become fierce and the ruling AKP party seems rising on the polls thanks as well to its anti-Israel rhetoric. The so-called “secular” opposition is trying now to find new ways to counter PM Erdogan, but with no success.
Turkey seems to have already forgotten the AKP’s files on corruption and Erdogan’s strict control over freedom of the press and of speech. In a way, the Turkish PM managed to erase the controversial past of his party, by giving to Turkey the illusion of a return of the Ottoman Empire’s glory. “Turkey is no longer a country unable to gain prestige in line with its power in the international arena or one suffering from a lack of self-confidence,” said Erdogan during a rally, adding that Turkey should take a stance proper to its power and gravity. US President Barack Obama seems to agree with him. Despite Erdogan’s statements against Israel and his relations with Iran, on February 16 Obama called the Turkish PM telling him: “I would like to say that your leadership is vital in the Middle East peace process and America always understands Turkey’s sensitivities.”
Hence, Turkish opposition is losing hope to win the local election, and in a desperate move to get votes, is trying to emulate the AKP, slowly losing its secular identity. The daily Turkish newspaper Vatan reported that while the photos of AKP executives drinking alcoholic beverages at various party functions are being published, main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) started to support the veil and Koran classes and the opening of new courses on the Koran throughout Turkey.
After Davos, Erdogan became a “hero” not only in his country, but as well in the Arab world. Just few days ago, a group of young Lebanese gathered in Beirut to give its support to Erdogan, and Iran has declared the Turkish PM the
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http://www.hudsonny.org/2009/02/should-the-mek-stay-or-should-it-go.php
February 27, 2009 6:30 AM
by Andrea Loquenzi Holzer
This is what Maryam Rajavi - head of the People's Mujaheddin of Iran (PMOI, or MEK, or MKO) stated in Brussels on January 27, 2009 while standing in front of her many supporters, right after the decision of the ECJ (European Court of Justice) to put her movement off the list of terrorist groups:
"My fellow compatriots, Friends of the Resistance,
The obstacle of the terrorist allegation has crumbled. The spell has at last been broken. With perseverance and determination, you courageously rose above the flames of injustice and rendered law and justice victorious…This marks a decisive turning point on the course of democratic change in Iran."
Although, the US State Department's report on terrorist organizations states the following:
"The MEK advocates the violent overthrow of the Iranian regime and was responsible for the assassination of several U.S. military personnel and civilians in the 1970's. MEK leadership and members across the world maintain the capacity and will to commit terrorist acts in Europe, the Middle East, the United States, Canada, and beyond.
The MEK emerged in the
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http://www.hudsonny.org/2009/02/the-real-burma-problem.php
February 26, 2009 6:30 AM
by Gordon G. Chang
On Wednesday, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton signaled the United States will review its policy toward Burma. “Clearly, the path we have taken in imposing sanctions hasn’t influenced the Burmese junta,” she said (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/02/18/AR2009021800273.html) in Jakarta, the second stopover on her first trip abroad as America’s top diplomat.
Burma—or Myanmar as the ruling generals have renamed their desperate nation—is one of the world’s most repressive states. President and Mrs. Bush, to their great credit, worked hard to force change but ultimately had little effect. Aung San Suu Kyi, the inspiring dissident, is still under house arrest, and the junta retains its firm grip despite—or maybe because of—widespread poverty.
As Mrs. Clinton also noted,
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http://www.hudsonny.org/2009/02/the-strangest-of-bedfellows.php
February 26, 2009 6:00 AM
by Nibras Kazimi
Assuming that ethics still matter, a number of people in Washington DC should be feeling disgusted with themselves. These would be congressmen, journalists, academics, philanthropists and other assorted anti-Bush administration gadflies who were busily promoting Iraqi parliamentarian Mohammad al-Daini for the span of several weeks back in May 2007.
While Daini was making the rounds on Capitol Hill, spinning caustic rhetoric on America’s perfidy and the crimes of the Shias against the Sunnis, and being listened to raptly by those longing to hear whatever confirmed their preset notions about Iraq, he neglected to tell his hosts that his own hands were drenched in innocent blood.
Today Daini stands accused of mass
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http://www.hudsonny.org/2009/02/china-law-firm-punished-for-support-of-direct-bar-election.php
February 26, 2009 5:30 AM
by Sharon Hom
The Beijing Yitong Law Firm was given notice that it will be shut down for six months for, the authorities claimed, allowing a lawyer in the firm to practice without a license. However, the lawyer in question, Li Subin (李苏滨),......
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http://www.hudsonny.org/2009/02/all-israeli---but-no-palestinian---leaders-want-to-end-the-conflict.php
February 26, 2009 5:30 AM
by Barry Rubin
What is the most important theme of Israeli politics, policy, and thinking today? It is pretty simple but you will rarely see it explained in much of the world:
Most Israelis believe that the Palestinians don't want to make a comprehensive peace with Israel in exchange for a Palestinian state. Hamas doesn’t want it; the Palestinian Authority (PA) is both unwilling and unable to do it. Israel faces a hostile Iran, Syria, Hamas, and Hizballah, and various Islamist movements which all want to destroy it. In addition, it cannot depend on strong Western or international support in defending itself.
Therefore, it is
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http://www.hudsonny.org/2009/02/we-pay-pakistan-2-billion-a-year-and-look-at-what-we-are-buying.php
February 26, 2009 5:00 AM
by Riaz Khan
(Feb 16) PESHAWAR, Pakistan - Pakistan agreed to suspend military offensives and impose Islamic law in part of the restive northwest, making a gesture it hopes will help calm the Taliban insurgency while rejecting Washington's call for tougher measures against militants.
A U.S. defense official called the deal "a
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http://www.hudsonny.org/2009/02/the-popularity-trap.php
February 25, 2009 2:46 PM
by William Katz
Golda Meir said she would rather have a bad editorial than a good obituary; her wisdom seems in short supply today.
Like a high-school kid, America has become obsessed with popularity. It's expressed in a number of ways, all of them starting with a required
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http://www.hudsonny.org/2009/02/bad-for-america-the-ban-on-space-weapons.php
February 25, 2009 6:30 AM
by Taylor Dinerman
The effort to impose some sort of international space traffic control on the US, which owns nearly half of the 900 satellites now in orbit, would not only negate the principal of freedom of space, which is the basis of the 1967 Outer Space Treaty, by giving effective sovereignty to a UN controlled institution, but it would give such an institution control over where and when the US could fly its military satellites. The US does not need to ask permission to sail the high seas: neither should the US have to ask for permission to operate in space.
Invariably in war, striking an undefended weak point, especially a critical communications link, is a great advantage to the attacker. America’s satellites are the key to
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http://www.hudsonny.org/2009/02/iran-waiting-for-the-fish-tail-report.php
February 25, 2009 6:00 AM
by Amir Taheri
Sometime next week, Director of the International Atomic Agency (IAEA), Muhammad el-Baradaei, will publish his latest report on Iran's controversial nuclear programme. The report will set the tone for the meeting of the IAEA's Board of Governors next month when its 32 members discuss further steps the organisation should take in dealing with the dossier.
The report could go three different ways:
• It could inform the board that the Islamic Republic remains in violation of its obligations under the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty (NPT). In that case, the matter will remain in referral to the United Nations' Security Council that has already passed four resolutions on it.
• The report could give the Islamic Republic the all-clear by stating that it had met its obligations, answered all remaining questions, and removed o all ambiguities. Such a report could make it difficult for the UN Security Council to continue sanctions against the Islamic Republic.
• Finally, the report could come in a fish-tail style, that is to say
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http://www.hudsonny.org/2009/02/uk-student-occupations-and-media-bias.php
February 25, 2009 5:30 AM
by Ronnie Fraser
The outlook in the UK is gloomy. Not only have there been the highest number anti-Semitic incidents ever recorded in one month, but there have also been student occupations on campus as well as reports published on bias in the media.
Israel’s incursion into Gaza has led to 21 student occupations so far at our universities.* The students’ demands have all been fairly similar: a University statement condemning Israel’s invasion, the creation of a scholarship program for Palestinian students, twinning with the Islamic University of Gaza, the showing the Gaza appeal, the one the BBC refused to broadcast, and the suspension of links with defense companies especially those involved in supplying arms to Israel.
Other demands are based on the Durban conference boycott, divestments and sanctions programs requiring the universities to divest from companies that
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http://www.hudsonny.org/2009/02/pakistani-taliban-form-new-alliance-with-mullah-omar-as-their-supreme-leader.php
February 24, 2009 6:30 AM
by Amir Mir
(Feb. 23 - LAHORE): Days after the Pakistan government and the Taliban inked a peace deal in Swat following a failed military operation in the picturesque valley, three major Taliban groups in Pakistan have formed a new alliance - Shura Ittihadul Mujahideen (Council for Unity of Holy Warriors) - in the twin agencies of North and South Waziristan after burying the hatchet, declaring the ameer of the Afghan Taliban Mullah Omar as their supreme leader and al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden as their role model.
The development came hardly a few days after the Pakistan government, unable to contain the threat from the Taliban militants in the Swat Valley despite an 18-month long military operation, signed a truce with the Taliban militants in Swat by pulling away its military and thus allowing Shariah to be implemented in the region.
According to an announcement made by the Pakistani Taliban, the new alliance would
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http://www.hudsonny.org/2009/02/unrwa-director-secret-agent-of-hamas.php
February 24, 2009 6:00 AM
by Eli Tabori
Is anyone asking the UN Secretary General with what authority did Karen Abu Zeid, Director of UNRWA - the United Nations Refugee Works Agency in Gaza - try to break the boycott on Hamas?
Is she a secret agent of Hamas? If so, she should be removed immediately from her post.
The State Department confirms that she had handed Senator Kerry a letter from Hamas in a bundle of other documents, without his prior knowledge of the content. He was, thus, put in an untenable position by this ploy.
Since when does Hamas use members of the US Senate as couriers? Worse: Since when do members of the US Senate allow themselves to be used as couriers by terrorist organizations?
This is an
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http://www.hudsonny.org/2009/02/obamas-real-agenda-at-durban-ii.php
February 24, 2009 5:30 AM
by Nina Rosenwald
The Washington Post, Friday, February 20, 2009 carried a story that gravely falsified the facts surrounding the Obama Administration's participation in the UN's Durban II "anti-racism" conference.
The article by Colum Lynch, entitled "U.S. Holds Firm on Reparations, Israel in U.N. Racism Talks," led with these words: "The Obama administration on Thursday concluded its first round of politically charged U.N. negotiations on racism, pressing foreign governments...to desist from singling out Israel for criticism in a draft declaration to be presented at a U.N. conference in April."
The article then quoted from a member of the Obama delegation, Felice Gaer (American Jewish Committee): "The administration "is pushing back against efforts to brand Israel as racist in this conference," Gaer said in an interview."
In fact, the Obama administration did
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http://www.hudsonny.org/2009/02/syria-listen-to-us-mr-obama.php
February 23, 2009 6:30 AM
by Farid Ghadry
The Middle East is engaged today in a battle for its soul and the decisions acted upon by the new Obama and Israeli administrations will either defer a Muslim Renaissance by offering an olive branch to violent dictators like Assad or institute a sensible strategy to help usher a new era in the region. Real peace - not the ceremonial one intended to decorate resumes - is only possible by helping free the people of Syria to embrace their democratic neighbors.
Middle Eastern countries with violent dictators, such as Syria and Iran, have brought the region to a boiling point because
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http://www.hudsonny.org/2009/02/interfaith-dialogue-some-hints.php
February 23, 2009 5:30 AM
by Valentina Colombo
After the tragic massacre of the school of Beslan in North Ossetia-Alania in September 2004, Abd al-Rahman al-Rashed, general manager of Al-Arabiya news channel and one of the most important Arab liberal thinkers, wrote: “It is a certain fact ...
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http://www.hudsonny.org/2009/02/us-policies-boost-hamas.php
February 20, 2009 6:30 AM
by Khaled Abu Toameh
Senior Hamas officials have become frequent visitors to the Egyptian capital of Cairo, where the authorities treat them as VIP's and invite them to meetings with top government officials.
Following the Israeli military operation in the Gaza Strip, the Egyptians have invited several Hamas leaders for talks on ways of achieving a new cease-fire with Israel and ending the rift between Hamas and Fatah. Some of these Hamas representatives have been in Cairo for weeks now as guests of the Egyptian government.
Similarly, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas has launched a "national reconciliation dialogue" with Hamas for the first time since the Islamist movement kicked his loyalists out of the Gaza Strip in the summer of 2007. The dialogue, according to Abbas's aides, is aimed at persuading Hamas to agree to the formation of a unity government with Fatah.
Hamas leaders and spokesmen have not concealed their satisfaction with Hosni Muabrak and Mahmoud Abbas's new strategy.
Until recently, the two US-backed Arab leaders had refused to engage Hamas diplomatically to avoid legitimizing the movement and turning it into a significant player in the Middle East. Both Mubarak and Abbas even
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http://www.hudsonny.org/2009/02/in-with-the-new.php
February 19, 2009 4:21 PM
by Nibras Kazimi
The Iraqi parliament is due to elect its new speaker today, after having narrowed the field to two candidates in the initial set of voting yesterday. The delicate power sharing agreements in place among Iraqi major political players had set aside the speaker’s chair for a Sunni member, but the question is ‘Which Sunni?’
While the post has been empty for almost two months since the last speaker resigned in the storm of controversy over his colorful coarseness, it seemed inevitable as early as a couple of weeks ago that the post would go to the Islamic Party, given that it had projected itself as the foremost power among Sunnis. But the provincial elections results nullified that notion after the IP’s very poor showing. New Sunni forces are
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http://www.hudsonny.org/2009/02/obamas-high-risk-engagement-at-durban-ii.php
February 19, 2009 6:30 AM
by Gerald M. Steinberg
The Obama Administration's decision to jump into the preparations for the UN's Durban Review Conference, scheduled for Geneva in April 2009, is a bold but also a risky move. Beyond the specific results in this case, the results will set the tone for relations with Iran, the challenge of radical Islam, chances for progress in George Mitchell's peace efforts, and the policy based on engagement and dialogue.
Iran, Cuba, Libya, the members of the Organization of the Islamic Conference, and other paragons of human rights have used this framework for anti-Semitism and to demonize Israel, advance Holocaust denial and make a mockery of human rights. They have also attempted to legislate against free speech, using allegations of "Islamophobia" to block criticism of extremism and violence. Canada and Israel have lost hope and pulled out, and some European officials have spoken about not participating, but are now waiting for the results of the US policy.
If the Americans succeed in reversing this agenda in the brief time that remains, it would mark a major success and set the stage for restoring US influence and values. Proponents of engagement argue that
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http://www.hudsonny.org/2009/02/the-periodization-of-history---excerpts.php
February 16, 2009 6:00 AM
by Bernard Lewis
My subject this evening is the periodization of history and I would like to begin by telling you two stories from a very remote past when I was a young lecturer in the University of London just beginning to learn my profession. On one occasion I was asked by the School of Oriental and African studies at which I was teaching to sit on the committee which interviewed applicants for undergraduate places. One of the applicants was a young lady - presumably about 18 years old from a school on the Welsh border who said that she wanted to ...
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http://www.hudsonny.org/2009/02/geert-wilders-speech-in-house-of-lords-if-he-would-not-have-been-banned-from-the-united-kingdom.php
February 13, 2009 1:15 PM
by Geert Wilders
London, Feb. 12, 2009
Ladies and gentlemen, thank you very much.
Thank you for inviting me. Thank you Lord Pearson and Lady Cox for showing Fitna, and for your gracious invitation. While others look away, you, seem to understand the true tradition of your country, and a flag that still stands for freedom.
This is no ordinary place. This is not just one of England’s tourist attractions. This is a sacred place. This is the mother of all Parliaments, and I am deeply humbled to speak before you.
The Houses of Parliament is where Winston Churchill stood firm, and warned - all throughout the 1930’s - for the dangers looming. Most of the time he stood alone.
In 1982 President Reagan came to the House of Commons, where he did a speech very few people liked. Reagan called upon the West to reject communism and defend freedom. He introduced a phrase: ‘evil empire’. Reagan’s speech stands out as a clarion call to preserve our liberties. I quote: If history teaches anything, it teaches self-delusion in the face of unpleasant facts is folly.
What Reagan meant is that you cannot run away from history, you cannot escape the dangers of ideologies that are out to destroy you. Denial is no option.
Communism was
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http://www.hudsonny.org/2009/02/hampshire-divests-from-israel-so-contributors-should-divest-from-hampshire.php
February 13, 2009 1:09 PM
by Alan M. Dershowitz
Several months ago, a rabidly anti Israel group on the Hampshire College campus began a campaign to try to get the college to divest from six companies that they claim helped “the Israeli occupation of Palestine.” Those who came up with this formulation regard all of Israel, including Tel Aviv, Haifa and Ben Gurion Airport, as “occupied Palestine.” In other words, their goal is to end the existence of Israel. This divestment effort is part of an international campaign against Israel. Until now, every American university administration has categorically rejected this attempt to single out Israel in a world filled with massive human rights abusers. But Hampshire...
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http://www.hudsonny.org/2009/02/hearing-the-muslim-world.php
February 13, 2009 6:30 AM
by Barry Rubin
Message to New York Times: Read your own op-ed page.
The Times and other American media and educational institutions are giving increasing amounts of space to people from the Moslem-majority and Arabic-speaking states in the apparent hope of understanding better their world view. Sometimes, however, they have a hard time hearing what is being said.
Here is what the newspaper’s editorial for February 8 claims and urges:
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http://www.hudsonny.org/2009/02/house-arrest-in-india.php
February 13, 2009 6:00 AM
by Taslima Nasreen
This is my beloved India, where I have been living and writing on secular humanism, human rights and emancipation of women. This is also the land where I have had to pay the price for my most deeply held convictions, where not a single political party of any persuasion has spoken out in my favour, where no non-governmental organization, women's rights or human rights group, has...
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http://www.hudsonny.org/2009/02/iraqs-provincial-election-results-going-by-the-numbers.php
February 12, 2009 6:30 AM
by Nibras Kazimi
I had focused on three provinces in the run-up to the provincial elections by writing a series for Hudson-NY on what the results from these case studies may reveal about trends and trajectories in Iraqi politics. The results are finally in, and it’s time to crunch the numbers:
Basra
Basra’s election was supposed to reveal the true depth of the popularity seemingly enjoyed by Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, and well, the guy does seem to be very
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http://www.hudsonny.org/2009/02/myths-about-the-bomb.php
February 12, 2009 5:00 AM
by William Katz
In contemplating an Iranian bomb, some claim not to be "that" concerned. After all, we learned to live with the Soviet bomb, didn't we? Thus, we can learn to live with the Iranian model simply by again practicing basic deterrence. And, these observers often add, it's one thing to have the knowledge to build the bomb, and even the materials, and quite another to build it. They go on to say, further, that transforming the "device" into a weapon is still one more challenge. They like to cite a U.S. National Intelligence Estimate, which many experts do not believe, that claims that Iran stopped part of its nuclear-weapons program in 2003.
What to make of this? If we examine
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http://www.hudsonny.org/2009/02/british-authorities-surrender-to-extremism.php
February 11, 2009 12:28 PM
by A. Millar
The British government is currently preparing to accept Guantanamo Bay detainees from the US authorities. It has consistently failed to deport known terrorists and promoters of jihad against the West, and against Britain. And Britain’s intelligence service has identified 2,000 terrorist suspects inside the country. However, such men apparently pose a far lower security risk than that of the cultured, mild-mannered, coiffed, Dutch politician Geert Wilders, who has been informed that he will likely be refused entry to the UK should he try.
A letter signed Irving N. Jones, http://www.brusselsjournal.com/node/3793 on behalf of the Secretary of State for the Home Department, declares that the Dutch politician’s “[…] presence in the UK would pose a genuine, present and sufficiently serious threat to one of the fundamental interests of society.” It is of course what Jones calls Wilders’ “statements about Muslims and their beliefs” in Fitna and elsewhere that has the authorities so afraid that they have barred Wilders from entering the country.
As we are no doubt aware, Wilders does not attack Muslims, but rightly attacks the ideology of jihad, that is on the rise around the world, and that fuels terrorism, so-called “honor killing” and “honor violence,” ritual beheading, and other acts of barbarity. And it is clear from Jones’ letter that the government also fears
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http://www.hudsonny.org/2009/02/turkey-in-the-fire.php
February 11, 2009 5:30 AM
by Barry Rubin
What direction is the Turkish regime heading?
A pessimistic view goes like this: The ruling AK party is pushing toward an Islamist agenda both at home and abroad. It is moving closer to Iran, Syria, and Hamas. In some ways, Turkey might become part of the Iran-led alignment in the region. Anti-American, anti-Western, and anti-Israel feeling is growing. The government is making a sharp break with the past, based on structural changes in the country. It is gradually capturing institutions: buying up or intimidating the media; allied with a rising, more traditionally oriented new business class and village migrants to the city; naming judges; and
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http://www.hudsonny.org/2009/02/dutch-mp-geert-wilders-denied-entry-to-uk.php
February 10, 2009 2:58 PM
by Thomas Landen
This morning Lord Malcolm Pearson, a member of the British House of Lords, announced that he has invited Geert Wilders, a member of the Dutch Parliament, to show the movie Fitna (see it here) in a committee room of the House of Lords next Thursday (12 February). Mr. Wilders has been asked to address a private meeting with members of the British Parliament, explaining to the Peers and MPs why he made Fitna and to engage in an open and frank discussion with them.
This afternoon Mr. Wilders received a letter from the British Embassy in The Hague [see below] saying that he is a “persona non grata” in the United Kingdom. The ambassador told Mr. Wilders that he is a threat to public security and public harmony because of the controversy created by Fitna. Mr. Wilders intends to go to London anyway. “Let them arrest me in Heathrow,” he says.
If Mr. Wilders is denied entry to the United Kingdom, it will be the first time that Britain refuses entry to an elected politician from another member state of the European Union. The Dutch government has
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http://www.hudsonny.org/2009/02/israeli-arabs-the-way-forward.php
February 10, 2009 6:30 AM
by Khaled Abu Toameh
The Palestinian intifada, which erupted in September 2000, not only destroyed relations between Jews and Palestinians, it has also badly damaged relations between the Jews and the Arab citizens of Israel.
The spate of suicide bombings that hit Israel in the first years of the intifada convinced many Jewish citizens that all the Arabs are out to destroy Israel.
This feeling was enhanced as a result of the actions and statements of the Israeli Arabs' representatives, especially those who were elected to the Knesset. Some of the Arab parliamentarians are responsible for the fact that many Israeli Jews no longer see a difference between a loyal Arab citizen of Israel and a Palestinian suicide bomber from the Gaza Strip.
As far as many Israeli Jews are concerned today, we are all just a bunch of Arabs who seek Israel's destruction. Some see us as
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http://www.hudsonny.org/2009/02/the-american-exceptionalism-debate.php
February 9, 2009 5:00 AM
by Herbert I. London
Godfrey Hodgson, a British journalist and associate fellow at the University at Oxford, has a new book, The Myth of American Exceptionalism that is an attempt to undermine the deeply held belief that the United States is a morally and politically superior nation.
In his treatise he accuses
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http://www.hudsonny.org/2009/02/an-escalating-regional-cold-war---part-1-the-2009-gaza-war.php
February 6, 2009 12:35 PM
by Yigal Carmon
The recent Gaza war was portrayed by the international media as a local military conflict between Israel and Hamas. However, this war, like the 2006 war in Lebanon and various other military and political events in the last three decades in the Middle East have a common denominator - namely, all stem from the conflict between revolutionary Iran and the Saudi Kingdom and the respective camps of each. This conflict is key to understanding the Middle East in the 21st century.
This Saudi-Iranian conflict, whose various aspects - geostrategic, religious, ethnic, and economic - have been affecting the Middle East for the past 30 years, began with the Islamic Revolution in Iran, led by Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini. Since then, there have been lulls (especially during the era of former Iranian president Mohammad Khatami), but the conflict flared up again after Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad rose to power. The conflict has now escalated into an actual cold war, and is reflected in the emergence of two distinct blocs in the Middle East: the Iranian axis (comprising Iran, Syria, Qatar, Hizbullah and Hamas) and the Saudi-Egyptian camp, with which most of the other Arab countries are identified.
This schism, and cold war, will have a major impact on the local, regional, and international level, severely restricting options for diplomatic activity, to resolve the intra-Palestinian rift, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and the problem of a nuclear Iran.
The 2009 Gaza War: Timeline
The Gaza war broke out on December 27, 2008, after Hamas leader Khaled Mash'al refused - reportedly on orders from Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki1- to attend talks for a Cairo-brokered intra-Palestinian agreement. Instead, he announced in Damascus that
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http://www.hudsonny.org/2009/02/islamists-are-playing-for-all-of-the-marbles.php
February 6, 2009 6:15 AM
by Barry Rubin
Arab intellectuals have started an online petition drive to defend freedom of speech and the freedom at least to advocate secularism. They cite a long list of intellectuals and cultural figures persecuted—or even murdered—by Islamists, and often their own nationalist governments, for speaking out. They ask for international support.
And yet we know what the protestors are busy doing—displaying their alleged love for Arabs and Muslims by supporting the Hamas Islamist dictatorship in Gaza and such things. They make up fictitious “war crimes” while ignoring tens of thousands of deliberate murders of civilians and of individual dissidents in Afghanistan, Algeria, Sudan, Lebanon, Iraq, and elsewhere; the repression of Iran; the imprisonments and torture in Syria.
It’s as if the supposed forces of progress had sided with the silencing of Galileo by the Church for saying that the earth went around the sun. Well, actually most of the professors of the time did support it. Indeed, even in the West the ban on criticizing Islam has been extended.
Ali Ahmad Said Asbar is a name almost no one knows but everyone recognizes him by his penname Adonis. He is probably the greatest poet in the contemporary Arab
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http://www.hudsonny.org/2009/02/the-burqa.php
February 6, 2009 6:00 AM
by Taslima Nasreen
My mother used purdah: you cover your entire body except for your eyes, wrists and feet. My mother wore a burqa with a net over her face. It reminded me of the meat safes in my grandmother's house. One had a net door made of cloth, the other of metal. But the objective was the same: keeping the meat safe. My mother was put under a burqa by her family. They told her that wearing a burqa would mean obeying Allah; if you obeyed Allah, He would be happy with you and not let you burn in hellfire. My mother was afraid of Allah and also of her father. He would threaten her with grave consequences if she did not wear the burqa.
My mother was also afraid of the men
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http://www.hudsonny.org/2009/02/eu-funds-spanish-inquisition.php
February 5, 2009 6:30 AM
by Gerald M. Steinberg
The case in Spain against Israeli officials, which stems from the 2002 air force attack that destroyed the home of a senior Hamas terrorist and killed several of his children, is based on the universal jurisdiction provisions in the legal systems of a number of democratic countries.
While designed to bring heinous dictators to justice, "lawfare" - as this tactic has been dubbed - is exploited by non-governmental organizations that use the façade of universal human rights to promote their political goals.
The Spanish example of "lawfare" was initiated by the Palestinian Center for Human Rights (PCHR) with a large budget provided by the European Commission, Norway, Ireland, Sweden, Switzerland and other European governments. PCHR is among the leaders of the anti-Israel demonization strategy.
The strategy was developed in the NGO Forum of the 2001 Durban Conference, the goal being to use boycotts and legal processes to brand Israel an "apartheid" state, while legitimizing terrorism. During the recent
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http://www.hudsonny.org/2009/02/is-this-victory-yet.php
February 5, 2009 6:15 AM
by Nibras Kazimi
Those wishing Iraq the best held their collective breaths as that country’s provincial elections proceeded on Saturday, only to break out in a sigh of relief and pride over the novelty of such a big occasion passing by without any serious security incidents to report. The elections, despite some western reporters’ bleakest write-ups, were only marred by such mundane violations of a nature that campaign posters were still up within less than 100 meters from the polling booths; one can envision activist journalists, a demographic seized with cynicism about the prospects of democracy in Iraq, walking around with tape measures and scribbling ‘Gotcha!’ in their notepads.
January also marked the third month in a row whereby combat deaths of U.S. soldiers were less than or equivalent to
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http://www.hudsonny.org/2009/02/moderate-muslims-v-american-muslims.php
February 5, 2009 5:00 AM
by Supna Zaidi
With the inclusion of Ingrid Mattson, President of the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA), in the national prayer service, it seems it is again time to re-evaluate America’s desire to forge alliances with “moderate” Muslims. Various news sources report that Mattson’s invitation raised criticism due to ISNA’s alleged connections to terrorism. It is a fact that ISNA is a listed un-indicted co-conspirator in the...
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http://www.hudsonny.org/2009/02/what-to-offer-iran.php
February 4, 2009 6:30 AM
by Lee Smith
President Obama has dispatched his Middle East envoy and is poised to engage in active, tough-minded diplomacy in the Middle East, just as he promised. However, the new commander-in-chief should at least take a careful look before leaping for the strategic groundwork has shifted dramatically in the region over the last several months and especially now in the aftermath of Israel’s retaliation against Hamas.
New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman was concerned back in June that the then-Democratic candidate for president was too eager to engage US foes without establishing the most important precondition of all. “When you have leverage, talk,” wrote Friedman. “When you don’t have leverage, get some. Then talk.”
That is Israel’s White House-warming gift to the new President: leverage
The three-week long raid on Gaza is the capstone of a two-and-a-half year Israeli campaign to strip Tehran of its regional assets and weaken the regime’s hand as it moves closer to completing its nuclear
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http://www.hudsonny.org/2009/02/the-moral-blindness-of-some-religious-leaders.php
February 3, 2009 11:20 AM
by Alan M. Dershowitz
Bill Moyers holds himself out to be a moral arbiteur, based in large part on his commitment to Christian principles. Cardinal Renato Martino is a prince of the Catholic church and President of the Council for Justice and Peace. Former President Jimmy Carter preaches peace, based on the teachings of Jesus. Yet when it comes to the conflict between Israel and Hamas, all three are morally blind.
In a widely watched television assessment of the recent conflict in Gaza, here is what Moyers said: “By killing
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http://www.hudsonny.org/2009/02/turkey-does-iran.php
February 3, 2009 6:30 AM
by Anna Mahjar-Barducci
“How is such a country [Israel], which totally ignores and does not implement resolutions of the U.N. Security Council, allowed to enter through the gates of the U.N.?", the person that uttered these words was not the Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, but Turkey’s Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
This was not the only arresting stance that Erdogan took. At the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, on January 29, Turkish Prime Minister stalked off the stage after sparring with President Shimon Peres over the fighting in Gaza. Responding to the Israeli president, Erdogan said, “When it comes to killing you know very well how to kill. I know very well how you hit and killed children on the beaches." Peres replied that Turkey would have reacted the same way if rockets had been falling on Istanbul.
In the last weeks, with the burst of the crisis in Gaza, the Turkish prime minister did not hide his alignment with Iran and Syria and his dreams to revive the Ottoman Empire. Turkish media reported that the first phone call Erdogan did to restore a “cease fire” in Gaza was to Ahmadinejad, who
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http://www.hudsonny.org/2009/02/the-negotiations-trap.php
February 3, 2009 6:00 AM
by William Katz
There's something about the word "negotiations" that sends some people into an optimistic frenzy. Out comes the Churchill quote that it's better to "jaw-jaw" than to "war-war," and suddenly all is well with the world. "They're talking." Its what proper people do. How can anyone oppose "negotiations"?
Well, few oppose negotiations outright in most cases, but there are informed people who wave the "caution" sign, and that sign has been much in abundance this week, especially after President Obama's interview on Al-Arabiya television. The president signaled his view that relations between the U.S. and the Muslim world could now be different, that negotiations, not conflict, will be our preferred method of operation, that his vision of the world is different from that of his predecessor, who'd committed American troops to combat in the Muslim world. Fouad Ajami, of Johns Hopkins, however, quickly held up the caution sign in
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http://www.hudsonny.org/2009/02/hamas-on-campus.php
February 3, 2009 5:30 AM
by Cinnamon Stillwell
If further proof was needed that the field of Middle East studies is marred by a politicized, morally vacuous approach to the Arab-Israeli conflict, the reaction of many of its leading lights to the current war in Gaza should suffice.
According to these self-appointed arbiters of international law, Israel's military campaign against Hamas following the firing of over 6,000 rockets at Israeli civilian targets since 2005 is unjustified. Hamas, they tell us, is not a terrorist organization bent on Israel's destruction, but rather a national liberation movement that seeks only the noble founding of a Palestinian state. Either that or its leaders, all evidence to the contrary, can be negotiated with and cajoled into moderation. They insist Israel recognize that Hamas was democratically elected in 2006, even as they deny any responsibility on the part of Gazans for electing a terrorist government.
Simultaneously, they falsely accuse Israel of being a racist, colonialist, apartheid state seeking not to defend its citizens against indiscriminate attacks, but to exert hegemony over the entire region. Israelis are blamed for the breakdown of all prior attempts at negotiation, while Hamas is let off the hook for its continued aggression, violence against fellow Palestinians, media manipulation, use of human shields, and of schools, hospitals, UN offices, and mosques as bases from which to launch attacks.
In other words, the same
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http://www.hudsonny.org/2009/02/what-mitchell-should-try.php
February 2, 2009 6:30 AM
by Khaled Abu Toameh
The new reality that has existed on the ground since 2007, where the Palestinians have two separate mini-states in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, casts doubts as to the viability of the two-state solution.
Since the signing of the Oslo Accords in 1993, the Palestinians have systematically failed in laying the cornerstone for a Palestinian state that would exist alongside Israel.
With the help of the US and the Europeans, Yasser Arafat back then established a corrupt dictatorship called the Palestinian Authority. This was, in fact, a one-man show run by Arafat and hundreds of his corrupt cronies, who did almost nothing to build proper institutions.
Instead of building a hospital, Arafat and his men established a casino. Instead of providing jobs and houses to his people, Arafat was giving his wife $100,000 a month to support her shopping sprees in Paris.
Until today, Arafat's successors continue to blame Israel for the fact that the Palestinians still don't have their own state. Their main argument is that Israel's policy of
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http://www.hudsonny.org/2009/02/catch-and-release-returning-terrorists-to-the-battlefield.php
February 2, 2009 5:00 AM
by Herbert I. London
Human rights activists and defense attorneys have argued for several years that the detainees at Guantanamo pose no security threat and should be released. President Obama, based on a campaign pledge, has recently issued an executive order closing the controversial prison.
In a recent report, the Brookings Institution examined hundreds of pages of declassified military documents and arrived at the conclusion that many of the prisoners held without charges are innocent. The report concludes that only 87 of the 250 detainees have any relationship with al Qaeda, the Taliban or other armed groups hostile to the United States.
Several days later, however, the Pentagon released a report indicating that suspects who had been held, but subsequently released from the Guantanamo prison are increasingly returning to fight against the United States and its allies.
61 detainees released from the U.S Naval Base prison in Cuba are believed to have rejoined the struggle against the United States. The total is up from
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