by Daniel Pipes
Two religiously-identified new states emerged from the shards of the British empire in the aftermath of World War II. Israel, of course, was one; the other was Pakistan.
They make an interesting, if infrequently-compared pair. Pakistan's experience with widespread poverty, near-constant internal turmoil, and external tensions, culminating in its current status as near-rogue state, suggests the perils that Israel avoided, with its stable, liberal political culture, dynamic economy, cutting-edge high-tech sector, lively culture, and impressive social cohesion.
But for all its achievements, the Jewish state lives under a curse that Pakistan and most other polities never face: the threat of elimination. Its remarkable progress over the decades has not liberated it from a multi-pronged peril that includes nearly every means imaginable: weapons of mass destruction, conventional military attack, terrorism, internal subversion, economic blockade, demographic assault, and ideological undermining. No other contemporary state faces such an array of threats; indeed, probably none in history ever has.
The enemies of Israel divide into two main camps: the Left and the Muslims, with the far Right a minor third element. The Left includes a rabid edge (International ANSWER, Noam Chomsky) and a more polite centre (United Nations General Assembly, Canada's ...   more »

By Stan Goodenough
Israeli lawmakers and others across the political spectrum are demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Ehud Olmert after police revealed Thursday he is under investigation for allegedly receiving large amounts of cash in bribes.
Responses have ranged from outrage at the fact that Olmert is undergoing yet another criminal probe - his fifth since taking office - to the conviction that he is paying the price for pushing ahead with plans to divide the Land of Israel and give half to the Palestinian Arabs.
The Labor Party, the largest coalition partner after Olmert's Kadima Party, has said it will remain in the government for now and "see what happens."
While a number of Kadima officials have indicated that it will be difficult for them to remain supportive of Olmert, they were not jumping ship just yet.
A Knesset Member in the opposition Likud Party, MK Gideon Sa'ar, described Olmert as "unworthy" and not fit to continue as prime minister. "The Kadima government is up to their necks in investigations of corruptions and is failing to run the state properly," he charged. Israel is demanding that elections be held, so that the people can "choose a different leadership." ...   more »

By Stan Goodenough
US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, appearing
increasingly desperate to see an Israeli-Palestinian
Arab agreement signed before her president leaves
office at the end of the year, reportedly used less
than diplomatic language speaking to a reporter last
Monday.
Both sides "need to draw a map [showing their
agreed-upon borders of Israel and "Palestine"] and get
it done," she said tersely, according to a report in
The Jerusalem Post Friday.
Rice was on her way back to Washington from a two-day
visit to Israel when she let her irritation show.
She appears to have failed in her quest on that visit,
where her brief was supposedly to try and get
something substantial for President George W. Bush to
work with when he arrives in Jerusalem next week.
Instead, after meeting with a newly-scandal-plagued
Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and ineffectual PLO
terror chief Mahmoud Abbas, Rice was forced to leave
empty-handed.
Bush is due to arrive Wednesday on a 60-hour visit.
His schedule has him addressing the Knesset, meeting
with Olmert and Israeli President Shimon Peres, taking
a tour of Masada, hosting a reception in honor of
Israel's 60th Anniversary, which on the Gregorian
Calendar falls on ...   more »

By Stan Goodenough
Lebanon appeared to be sliding into chaos Friday as the Iranian-backed, Syrian-supplied Hizb'allah moved to dramatically upgrade its role in the running of Israel's sorely-troubled northern neighbor.
At least 11 people were reportedly killed and dozens wounded in three days of clashes which saw armed Hizb'allah fighters - who are Shia Muslims - clash with Sunni Muslim and other government-supporting Lebanese and take over most the Muslim western part of Beirut.
Government-run media outlets were seized and the Lebanese army - reportedly wanting to remain "neutral" - handed control of its offices over to Hizb'allah forces.
Some analysts said the terrorist organization would not try to directly install itself as the new government - a step that could easily ignite a new civil war - but instead was likely to ask the military to assume control.
From his new position of strength Hizb'allah terror chief Hassan Nasrallah dismissed calls by other Lebanese political leaders to quell his belligerence, and demanded the US-backed government of Prime Minister Fuoad Siniora agree to sit down to "talks" with his organization.
But while the immediate ramifications of what seemed undeniably to be a violent putsch attempt were not clear, the quickly-forming ...   more »

Still Fighting the Same War

By Jonathan Tobin


 
 
 
 

 

 



 In the course of a lengthy essay in The Atlantic, writer Jeffrey Goldberg quotes an encounter he had with a Gazan imam named Ibrahim Mudeiris, who had just delivered a sermon in which he had described the Jews as "the sons of apes and pigs."
Mudeiris summed up the current standoff between Israel and the Hamas movement which currently runs Gaza by saying, "It does not matter what the Jews do. We will not let them have peace."
He went on to describe the futility with which generations of Israelis have sought to deal with the Palestinians succinctly: "They can be nice to us or they can kill us, it doesn't matter. If we have a cease-fire with the Jews, it is only so that we can prepare ourselves for the final battle."
What can the Israelis do when faced with such intransigence?
ARE THEY FINISHED?
Goldberg's lengthy and disquieting ruminations on this question provide no easy answers, but the question in the title of the piece, "Is Israel Finished?" provides the decided noncelebratory feel to a piece published to coincide with Israel's 60th birthday.
Prime ...   more »

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad chooses to mark Israel's 60th Independence Day by warning Zionist regime of its 'impending doom'
AFP
"Israel is nothing but a stinking corpse," said Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad Thursday, speaking with the Iranian news agency IRNA.
Unlike other world leaders who sent Israel their congratulations on its 60th Independence Day, Ahmadinejad chose to convey a radically different message.  
"Those who think they can resuscitate the stinking corpse of the Zionist regime on its birthday are sorely mistaken… the very existence of the Zionist entity is questioned. It is heading for destruction.
"Israel has come to its end like the dead rat it became after it was beaten in the (Second) Lebanon War," added Ahmadinejad.
The small Jewish community in Iran did not celebrate Israel's independence. Siamak Morsedah, head of the Jewish community in Iran told AFP that the community saw no need to celebrate, especially since Israel was "killing innocent Palestinians" in theGaza Strip.   
The Jewish community in Iran, he added, does not agree with Israel's conduct in the Strip since it constituted what he called "inhumane behavior"; nor does the community feel the need to mark the Jewish State's independence – "We are ...   more »