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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...

from the April 09, 2003 edition - CSM POROUS BORDER: Afghans show documents to a guard to cross into Pakistan. Officials say radicals are regrouping on both sides of the border.FAISAL MAHMOOD/REUTERS   A triangle of militants regroups in Afghanistan Intelligence officials say Al Qaeda and Taliban are tied to a radical Islamist party. By Scott Baldauf and Owais Tohid PESHAWAR, PAKISTAN - Sana Hamid has come to Pakistan to recruit a few good terrorists.Not just anyone will do. There are plenty of people in this part of Pakistan who would love to fight American forces in Afghanistan. But...

"America's Stunning Victory"by J. R. Nyquist  It is now apparent that Iraq is on the verge of defeat. The threat to U.S. lines of communications has been countered. Any delays to America’s forward advance were therefore insignificant. At the same time, Iraqi forces were unable to launch an effective counterattack. As these words are written, Iraq’s best divisions are being shredded, the Iraqi people are turning against the regime of Saddam Hussein, and the prospect of a sudden Iraqi collapse is before us.If Saddam’s army collapses or surrenders in the next two or three weeks the war will be...

DEBKAfile’s Exclusive Middle East sources have tracked down top Iraqi leadership’s bolt-hole: Baghdad pre-paid and chartered entire Hotel Cote d’Azur De Cham Resort at Syrian Mediterranean port of Latakiya near Assad family villa. Group may include Saddam Hussein or his sons, but this is not confirmed. Top Iraqi officials hiding there since March 23, four days after coalition invaded Iraq, guarded by Syrian commando unit armed with anti-air missiles and Syrian naval missile boats securing port!  

Text of Slain Soldier's Last Letter Home By The Associated Press The last letter written by Army Pfc. Diego Fernando Rincon, 19, of Conyers, Ga., to his mother. It is dated Feb. 22 and received March 22. Rincon was killed in Iraq (news - web sites) in a suicide bombing attack Saturday:

British tanks wipe out Iraqi Soviet-made tanks around Basra Iraqi armored units have proven to be no match to British main battle tanks. Officials said Britain's Challenger-2 tanks have easily picked off Iraqi T-55 tanks around the southern city of Basra. So far, they said, scores of Soviet-origin T-55 tanks have been destroyed in battles around Basra over the last two days. On Thursday, officials reported the destruction of 14 Iraqi tanks, believed to have been T-55s. Iraq first obtained the T-55 in the mid-1960s and some of them were upgraded in the 1980s. Officials said Iraq appears to...

March 24, 2003Inside the IDF's Wartime Broadcast Studio The new IDF wartime broadcast studio is situated underground at IDF headquarters. From within this confined, sound proof "aquarium", whose dimensions are only two meters by two meters, no more than two people can broadcast. Most of the time, IDF Spokesperson Brigadier General Ruth Yaron will, alone, convey up to date facts and messages to the public. Yet, if necessary, the Chief of General staff will also broadcast from the studio. In addition to this new IDF studio, the Homefront Command maintains a studio located in the center of the country,...

Latest from Debka.... HEADLINES Fresh flare-up of US-Turkish military frictions. Ankara holds back permission for American over-flights in reprisal for US denial of Turkish troop entry into northern Iraq. Ankara also furious over US joining forces with Kurds for northern oil fields takeover.

Arrow anti-missile system on high alert (Day in the life of Missle Crew..) By Amos Harel Haaretz Correspondent The face of the air defense commander, Brigadier General Yair Dori, paled in seconds. Dori was about to complete a routine briefing to journalists visiting an Arrow anti-missile system battery at Palmachim on Thursday. In the absence of any other action, the journalists had jumped at the opportunity to take some photographs of the system poised to defend against a threat from the east. About a minute before completing the briefing, a siren began to wail. Lieutenant Colonel Shachar, commander of...

Zero Hour Approaches I pray that the Iraqi military commanders will disobey their orders to use Chemical/Biological weapons. We need to pray for our military's Divine protection. This could be a very costly war. Biological weapons are a terrifying element to defend against. The weather plays a critical role in this. If it is unseasonably hot, soldiers could collapse from heat exhaustion inside their protective suits. If the winds change, other severe problems are presented. The latest intelligence reports that the Republican Guards in southern Iraq have already deployed chemical artillery shells. Israel is preparing for the worst. Some...

JAPAN PLEDGES SUPPORT FOR USA AND PRESIDENT BUSH...   New U.N. resolution unneeded for attack   By TARO KARASAKI, The Asahi Shimbun With the U.S. and Britain set to drop the hammer on Iraq, Japan falls in line diplomatically.While stressing Japan was pinning its hopes on last-minute diplomatic options, officials in Tokyo on Monday shifted away from the need for a new United Nations Security Council resolution authorizing a U.S.-led attack against Iraq, and said current resolutions were sufficient.The new stance came following the weekend meeting in the Azores by leaders of the United States, Britain and Spain.Addressing the issue...

Understanding the Breakdown of Israeli-Palestinian Negotiations Lt. Col. Jonathan D. H. [Editor's note: The author is an IDF intelligence officer. This is an abbreviated version of the article that first appeared in Ma'arakhot, the IDF magazine for military affairs (in Hebrew). It received the IDF Chief of Staff's prize for military affairs writing. A longer version, including the author's footnotes, is available from the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs website, www.jcpa.org] The second Camp David summit (July 2000) was the culmination of nearly ten years of political dialogue between Israel and the representatives of the Palestinian people, and of almost...

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Ottawa, Ontario, Canada author Clive Douglas Campbell and Phoenix, Arizona, USA publisher Selah Publishing Group are pleased to announce the release of Messiah: 2030. Nobody knows the day and hour of the Second Coming, but the following years are on the front cover: Messiah: 2030 Cluny: 1030 Jesus: 30 David: 970 Abraham: 1970 Noah: 2970 Adam: 3970 Messiah: 2030 claims the Bible prophesies a sixth Arab-Israeli war will be over in 2003 and include the following: --the Palestinians will be deported to Jordan --Israel will go to war with Jordan, possess Jordanian land east of the Jordan River and King...

Does Yasser Arafat really want a "Palestinian homeland"? Or, as many have suggested, is this 35-year-old demand merely a ploy to conduct asymmetrical warfare against the Jewish state of Israel? While there is no doubt in my own mind that Arafat has no interest in governing a new Arab state neighboring Israel and living at peace with it, many in the West – even in Israel – remain convinced pursuing such a plan still represents the best hope for the region. I just read a 1998 book, "Arafat," by Said K. Aburish, an author quite sympathetic to the Palestinian cause,...

Israeli soldiers used Quran as toilet paper 1 May 2002 Israeli soldiers who have taken part in the invasion of 1967 Palestine used torn pages from the Quran to wipe themselves. At the opening meeting of the Knesset's summer session yesterday Arab Member of the Knesset Ahmed Tibi accused soldiers of "wiping their butts" with pages of the Holy Quran during the so-called Operation Defensive Shield. "They take a Koran and use it to wipe themselves in the bathroom, your soldiers, your boys," Tibi said. "You should be ashamed of yourselves. What a disgrace." Tibi also accused the IDF of...

Russian politician dies in air crash Lebed (l) with former Russian President Boris Yeltsin Former Russian presidential candidate Alexander Lebed has died from injuries sustained in a helicopter crash in Siberia. The Mi-8 helicopter is said to have hit a power line in poor weather conditions at 0615 local time before crashing near Abakan, about 2,100 miles (3,400km) east of Moscow. Lebed, elected governor of the huge Krasnoyarsk region in 1998 and once a prominent army general, was taken to a nearby hospital with severe injuries but later died. At least five other people were killed in the crash....

Bulldozers destroy Arafat's carsBy Saud Abu RamadanFrom the International DeskPublished 4/27/2002 4:11 PM GAZA, April 27 (UPI) -- Israeli army bulldozers Saturday destroyed cars that belong to Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat's convoy, official Palestinian sources at Arafat's office in Ramallah reported.The sources said the bulldozers powered into Arafat's compound and destroyed seven presidential armored Mercedes.Witnesses in Arafat's office said the bulldozers also flattened the presidential guards' vans and Cherokee jeeps.Meanwhile, Palestinian National Authority Minister of Information Yasser Abed Rabbo lashed out at the military for directing loudspeakers at Arafat's main office, describing the measure as "provocative and criminal Israeli army...

Vigilante killings escalate in West Bank By GREG MYRE, Associated PressHEBRON, West Bank (April 24, 2002 9:59 a.m. EDT) - When Israel killed a prominent Palestinian militia leader in a nighttime helicopter attack, his loyal gunmen exacted swift revenge and put their work on public display. The body of a suspected informer for Israel hangs from a power pole as a crowd of children watch in the southern West Bank town of Hebron on Tuesday. AP Photo/Lefteris Pitarakis TODAY IN PHOTOS The militiamen entered a Palestinian jail at dawn Tuesday and seized three men accused of collaborating with Israel. All...

"Fear and Trembling in the Middle East"by J. R. NyquistAfter Vice President Richard Cheney met British Prime Minister Tony Blair on March 12, Blair ordered the manufacture of 16 million doses of smallpox vaccine. Did Cheney warn the British of a possible biological attack?According to Joseph Curl, writing in the April 16 edition of The Washington Times, Cheney told Blair that the U.S. and Britain are vulnerable to weaponized Iraqi smallpox. Not wasting any time, the British government began to coordinate defensive measures. Health ministers from Germany, the U.S., France, Mexico, Japan and the U.K. met in London on March...

I just got back from the American Enterprise Institute. When I arrived there, police were everywhere. The line to go through security and get into the conference room was long, but by being near the end of the line (I was late, so sue me), I passed through the metal detectors just before Bibi came breezing in. I stepped forward to try to shake his hand and five Secret Service agents gave me the stare of death... so, no hobnobbing with greatness tonight. But I did listen to one of the most engaging and intelligent politicians I've ever encountered. Netanyahu...

The Illogical Logic of Appeasement They were allowed to form a police force of 25,000 and given side arms and rifles to arm them. They immediately violated this concession, bringing in over 40,000 trained combatants. They heavily armed them with weapons that were forbidden by the Oslo Agreement. Negotiations began and continued until finally, Ehud Barak at Camp David offered Arafat almost all of what he originally asked for. The offer represented tremendous concessions on the part of Israel. It was far more than any other Israeli Prime Minister will ever offer again. But Yasser Arafat did not even give...

Arutz Sheva IsraelNationalNews.com Israeli Gov't: Won't Withdraw Now, No Decision On North The security cabinet, comprised of representatives of all coalition parties, convened this morning. On the agenda: the continuing terrorism against Israel, the continuing anti-terror offensive, the intensified U.S. pressure upon Israel to end it, and Arab pressure upon the U.S. to get Israel to end it. Despite the intense international pressure on Israel to forego its right to defend itself from terrorism, the government decided that the IDF would not withdraw at present from the Yesha cities it recently entered. In addition, the siege on the Church...

Israel's Title Deed To PalestineThe whole world has become absorbed with the Arab-Israeli conflict. All the Media — TV, Newspapers, Magazines and Radio — are consumed with the issue. It is truly fascinating to observe the various approaches being taken to the problem.  The Arab/Muslim nations are reflecting a collective amnesia with history. The Europeans are simply displaying a shameless historic bias against Jews in general. The United States is guilty of using a blatant double standard. Every justification the US has used to wage its just war against terrorism is being denied Israel who has an even greater basis...

Israel offers Arafat one-way ticket out Troops enter more Palestinian townsBy DAN EPHRONSpecial to the ChronicleJERUSALEM -- As Israeli troops invaded more Palestinian towns on Tuesday, Prime Minister Ariel Sharon said he would allow Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat to leave the West Bank and travel abroad but only with a one-way ticket. Palestinians rejected the offer, and Washington expressed opposition to the idea. But coupled with skirmishes on Israel's northern border, talk of the eviction, which could stir up the entire Arab world, raised the specter of a wider regional conflict. At least 13 Palestinians were killed in gunbattles that...

The Coming Palestinian State Several days ago, I received a call from a dear friend who pastors one of America’s largest churches. We were discussing the formation of a Palestinian state. I was sharing with him a series of scriptures that I believe indicate a future state will exist beside Israel for a brief time.  This will be a “covenant of death” that God will eventually annul in order to spare the Jewish people (Isaiah 28:15-18.)The prophet Ezekiel gave some of the most fantastic prophecies concerning the future of Israel.  He told about the millennial temple in Jerusalem in chapters...

Main Points of GOC Central Command Press Briefing, Major General Yitzhak Eitan. "On Passover eve there occurred a horrific massacre, when civilians, most of them elderly, came to celebrate the holiday and a terrorist attacker exploded himself in a hotel and took many lives. Yesterday as well, the terror events continued and a terrorist attacker penetrated Alon Moreh and killed members of the Gavish family. In addition, this morning, a female terrorist attacker committed a horrifying terror attack in Jerusalem. Due to the lack of activity on behalf of the Palestinian Authority and in order to strike the terror...

End Game! 03/29/02  Commentary By Benjamin Netanyahu  An unremitting carnage that indiscriminately slaughters all who come within the murderous reach of Palestinian terrorists shows the depths of their hatred. Clearly, the only constraint for Arab terrorists is their destructive capability. Given the power, they would destroy all of us, down to the last infant. The primary objective of Arafat's terrorist regime is not to establish the twenty-second Arab state, but to destroy the only Jewish state. This was and remains the heart of the conflict. In 1948, the Arabs rejected an international resolution that would have established an Arab state,...