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Threats: As a somber anniversary nears, "proportional response" has replaced "victory" in the lexicon of war. But no nation facing an existential threat should apologize for winning or for saving the lives of its own people. The other day Navi Pillay, the United Nations' high commissioner for human rights, after a meeting of the U.N.'s Geneva-based Human Rights Council, said that Israel, despite dropping leaflets, dummy bombs and even sending text messages and using social media to warn citizens in Gaza, was not doing enough to protect civilians — and "international law has been violated, in a manner that could...

Nobel Peace Prize recipient Jimmy Carter takes to ForeignPolicy.com to argue that the key to ending the current war in Gaza is "recognizing Hamas as a legitimate political actor." Writing along with fellow "Elder" Mary Robinson (part of an "international group of elder statesmen"), the former president pins the blame for the current conflict on Israel's refusal to appreciate a "major concession" made by Hamas in April and to recognize the new Palestinian government formed by the Hamas-Fatah "reconciliation": This tragedy results from the deliberate obstruction of a promising move toward peace in the region, when a reconciliation agreement among...

US President Barack Obama unexpectedly joined Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak's meeting with US National Security Advisor James Jones. This gesture could have been meant to bestow honor upon Ehud Barak, make it clear that Jone''s positions reflect those of Obama, or alternatively was an effort to show a balanced approach and give Israel a boost amid the US administration's outreach to the Muslim world, which will include a visit to Riyadh on Wednesday and a major speech in Cairo on Thursday, but no stop in Israel. Meanwhile, Obama intends to give Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu 4-6 weeks to...

Surprisingly, something useful has emerged from the combination of the misconceived Annapolis meeting and a weak Israeli Prime Minister, Ehud ("Peace is achieved through concessions") Olmert. Breaking with his predecessors, Olmert has boldly demanded that his Palestinian bargaining partners accept Israel's permanent existence as a Jewish state, thereby evoking a revealing response. Unless the Palestinians recognize Israel as "a Jewish state," Olmert announced on November 11, the Annapolis-related talks would not proceed. "I do not intend to compromise in any way over the issue of the Jewish state. This will be a condition for our recognition of a Palestinian state."...

by Mark Finkelstein August 10, 2006 - 08:52 That truth is the first casualty of war has been borne home by the proliferating scandal of photographs of the current Middle East crisis doctored so as to portray Israel in the worst possible light. At this point, can we look at any image from the area without a good dose of doubt? Take this morning's report on the Today show. NBC's Richard Engel, in Tyre, Lebanon, reported that: "The fighting has made humanitarian relief efforts almost impossible. Israel has cut roads and attacked vehicles, isolating Hezbollah and everyone else." This was...

by Mark Finkelstein July 30, 2006 If private citizens met a few years ago with the ambassador of a hostile country, then top US officials should do the same in the current sensitive context. That was the liberal logic Ellen Ratner of Talk Radio News put on display this morning during 'The Long & the Short of It' segment on Fox & Friends Weekend. The topic was the conflict in the Middle East. Ratner decreed that the time had come for bringing in the "partners" in the area, and that in addition to Lebanon, "that means Syria." Syria? Partner? What-evuh....

Full List of Palestinian Political Parties The Palestinians have said that they were sick of the ongoing corruption and disorganization of the Fatah party. But does that justify electing a terrorist group into power? Despite common belief it was not just a vote between Fatah and Hamas. As noted above the Palestinians had EIGHT OTHER PARTIES they could have voted for besides Hamas. So why did they choose Hamas? Why did they choose the only Islamist Palestinian political party? The Palestinian society is the only in the Arab world which doesn't enforce any form of the backwards sharia law. Why...

Arafats Trail Of Blood The world media portrays Yasser Arafat as a kindly George Washington of the Palestinian people. The real Arafat is a blood-thirsty Ghoul. He Pioneered airline high- jacking's, and he was the god father of terror. Whole villages of Christians were massacred under his command in Lebanon. His P.L.O. conducted many cowardly campaigns of murder. Perhaps the best known, in 1972, when 5 Arab terrorists entered the Olympic Village in Munich Germany, and Slaughtered 11 unarmed Israeli athletes in cold blood. This beast must not be glorified! To the side, you will find a portrait of the...

Protesters hold Hamas flags during a protest rally in support of Palestinian prisoners inside Israeli jails, in Gaza August 16,2004. Israel declared psychological war on hunger-striking Palestinian prisoners on Monday, saying it would barbecue meat outside their cells to try to break their will. The 1,500 inmates, seen by Palestinians as symbols of resistance to Israeli occupation, want wardens to stop strip searches, allow more frequent family visits, improve sanitary conditions and install public telephones, supporters said. (Ahmed Jadallah/Reuters)

JERUSALEM (AP) - Palestinian prisoners launched a hunger strike Sunday, in what was shaping up to be the biggest showdown between thousands of inmates and the Israeli authorities since the outbreak of fighting in 2000. The prisoners want more family visits and telephone access, but an Israeli cabinet minister said he'd rather let them starve. Prison officials imposed more sanctions. Meanwhile, in violence in Gaza, Israeli helicopters fired four missiles north of Gaza City near the border with Israel early Monday, witnesses said. Palestinian hospital sources said two people were killed in the strike. Israeli military sources, speaking on condition...

ALSO SEE: Arafat's Wife on a Luxury Trip NY DAILY NEWS (11/06/03)---------------------------------------------Last week we were told that "Malnutrition in the Gaza Strip and West Bank is as bad as in sub-Saharan Africa because the Palestinian economy has all but collapsed under Israeli restrictions." (Irish Times February 6, 2004) A report by the cross-party International Development Select Committee also called on Britain to press the European Union to impose trade sanctions on Israel until it lifts its restrictions on Palestinian trade. The World Bank said last year that the Palestinian economy was in steep decline after the Israeli army blockaded and...

CommentsTHE UNITED STATES SHOULD NOT TRY to play a "neutral arbiter" in the Israeli/Palestinian dispute. We should, in fact, be doing our best to make the Palestinians suffer until they change their ways, because, to put it bluntly, they are our enemies. Read this to see how they feel about America. And read this piece by Amir Taheri on the Iraqi "resistance," which notes Palestinian terror connections by the Iraqi insurgents, and features a Palestinian "journalist" egging them on. These folks are our enemies, and deserve to be treated as such. They don't deserve a state of their own. It's...

The author is a professor of law and director of the Frederick K. Cox International Law Center at Case Western Reserve University School of Law. With the simple press of a button, the pilot of an Israeli helicopter gunship unleashed three missiles, instantly killing Sheik Ahmed Yassin, founder of Hamas, as he was being driven home from prayers at his local mosque in the Gaza Strip. Yassin had not been sentenced to death by any court, nor was he on a battlefield in any conventional sense. Seven others died in the attack. Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon made no apologies,...

When the 5-year-old boy ran home bleeding and weeping, his family first thought he had injured himself in a fall. At the doctor, they discovered Zainul Abideen had been stabbed, with wounds to the chest and abdomen requiring 20 stitches. Now they believe the boy was attacked by a serial killer targeting young children in this small town, where three children have been knifed to death in the past three weeks. Police say the slayings could be part of a black magic rite and have arrested about 20 suspects. One confessed to the first three assaults, including stabbing Zainul. Then,...

London of our correspondent With the kingdom of the understatement and euphemism, this letter is a true snub for Tony Blair. Addressing itself, Monday April 26, with British, cinquante-deux the Prime Minister former diplomats of high row announced their "increasing concern to him" in front of "the policy that - it follows on the problem israélo-Arabic and to Iraq, in close cooperation with the United States" . A policy "likely to fail" , estimate the signatories of this missive without precedent. The interested parties know what they speak. One finds among them numbers ambassadors, who represented His Very Gracious Majesty...

JERUSALEM — Israel's response to Palestinian violence after a pullout from the Gaza Strip would be even harsher than it is now, Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon said Tuesday. Interviewed on Israel's Channel 10 television for Israel's independence day, Sharon defended his "unilateral disengagement" plan, including a pullout from the Gaza Strip. Members of his Likud Party vote on the plan in a referendum Sunday. After a pullout, Palestinians could no longer explain violence by saying that Israel was occupying their land, Sharon said, "and Israel's responses (to violence) would be much harsher." He refused to give specifics beyond noting...

The top figures in the militant group Hamas after the assassination Sunday of its leader, Abdel Aziz Rantisi. _Mahmoud Zahar: A Hamas spokesman, the 53-year-old Zahar is considered a hard-liner. Zahar was the personal physician of Hamas founder Sheik Ahmed Yassin, who was killed by the Israelis on March 22. Zahar served as Hamas' liaison with the PLO in the mid-1990s but now opposes compromise with the Palestinian Authority. Zahar has been imprisoned by Israel and has been jailed repeatedly by the Palestinian Authority. _Ismail Hanieh: A top aide to Yassin and like Zahar he is a member of Hamas'...

WASHINGTON -- The blurring of lines between active-duty U.S. soldiers and contracted security personnel is causing unease in Congress, as violence continues to rise in Iraq. Some lawmakers worry that private security forces operate too far outside U.S. military control -- and laws. And experts wonder what would happen if a contractor did something tragically wrong, like shoot an Iraqi child. Thirteen Democrats wrote Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld this month to argue that providing security in a hostile area is a classic mission for the military. "It would be a dangerous precedent if the United States allowed the presence...

"The Middle East Crisis in Retrospect"Was it meant to trigger the final sequence?by J. R. Nyquist I should like to offer a more detailed analysis of the recent Middle East crisis as it developed toward “the Battle of Iraq.” Since late 1999 we find a pattern of moves aimed at damaging America’s strategic position. These moves have not succeeded, but the game is far from over.In late 1999 the Russian Federation announced a fleet deployment into the Mediterranean [1]. This announcement was not incidental. It anticipated future events. As oil prices spiked in early 2000, Russia began to show...

"The Core of the Axis Exposed"by J. R. NyquistWhen a totalitarian government collapses the lies of the regime also collapse and carefully guarded secrets are exposed. Officials who are anxious to escape the death and destruction of the final days sometimes forget to clean up after themselves. Evidence of dirty deals and hidden liaisons, salvaged from the rubble of destroyed buildings, will be brought into the light of day. Ranking officials, captured by coalition troops, will naturally attempt to trade secret information for leniency and thereby reveal the regime’s foreign sources of support and supply. In this way underground...