Our Ambassador to the US Responds to Time Magazine’s Ludicrous Cover

Michael Oren wrote this response to Time, which as usual, says it best.  He is one of our greatest orators and pro-advocates.  Seen in one of my recent posts here, Time ran a damaging cover story about Israelis’ desire for peace. 

This was published in the LA Times last week. 

http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/commentary/la-oe-oren-israelpeace-20100915,0,6374377.story

Hamas Focuses on Indoctrinating its Youth to Prolongue Conflict

Young children in Gaza being indoctrinated to fight Israel 100,000 children attend radical Hamas summer camps

By YAAKOV KATZ, Jerusalem Post 14/09/2010

Participants undergo anti-Israel indoctrination; UNRWA run simultaneous camps for a further 250,000 children.

Hamas continued to gain strength this past summer as about 100,000 youngsters underwent radical anti-Israel indoctrination at dozens of summer camps run by the terrorist group – which also attacked United Nations camps, its main competition – according to a report released on Tuesday by the Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center According to the report, more than 100,000 children and teenagers participated in the Hamas camps, which included paramilitary training and military parades. The Islamic Jihad terrorist organization also opened 51 different summer camps for over 10,000 children.

In contrast to the Hamas camps, the United Nations has been running summer camps throughout the Gaza Strip for 250,000 children. These camps, run by UNRWA, are being held at over 150 locations in Gaza. The participants engage in arts and crafts, sports and other cultural activities, and are mostly between the ages of six and 15.

On several occasions during the summer, however, groups of masked men believed to be affiliated with Hamas ransacked a number of UNRWA camps and in one case burned down the facility and all of its contents.

According to the report, Hamas feels threatened by UNRWA, which it perceives as its main competition in educating Palestinian youth in the Gaza Strip. Last year, for example, Hamas launched a campaign against UNRWA, and accused the organization of distributing drugs to Palestinian youth and of mixed malefemale dancing. The accusations were rejected by the UN body.

At the Hamas camps, based on pictures obtained by the Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center, the children learned about the Turkish flotilla, which was stopped by Israel as it tried to break the sea blockade over the Gaza Strip in late May. In one photo, children are seen training in hand-to-hand combat in front of a Turkish and Palestinian flag. Another picture shows children holding a poster which they drew as a sign of solidarity with Turkey and the flotilla.

http://www.jpost.com/MiddleEast/Article.aspx?id=188082

An Extremely Provacative and Insidious Cover Story for Time Magazine

The recent cover of Time magazine, damaging and insulting to Israel

 This biased cover story in the recent issue of Time Magazine lays a dangerous precedent and is a sad statement to the magazine’s current standing. 

It is titled: “Why Israel Doesn’t Care About Peace.”  This is an insulting and absurd notion in a country where nearly every Israeli has a child, sibling, boyfriend or parent in the army. Nearly every Israeli has been to the funeral of a fallen soldier, or a friend killed in a terrorist attack. Most Israeli homes and businesses come equipped with safe rooms or bomb shelters; every Israeli owns a gas mask. The whole country exists under the encroaching shadows of Hezbollah in Lebanon, Hamas in Gaza, and the prospect of a nuclear Iran. How many Americans, to say nothing of Europeans, can say the same about their own lives?

Bret Stephens from the Wall Street Journal agrees and says it eloquently in his recent Op-Ed piece:

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703946504575469502667359126.html

More Effort to Harass Israel on the World Stage

From the WSJ: “Israel is believed to be the only Middle East country to possess atomic weapons. Its government neither confirms nor denies their existence.”

 Israel has allegedly maintained nuclear weapons for almost 4 decades.  Had they wanted to use them for aggressive and hostile purposes or posturing, the world would have seen that already.  Unlike Iran, and every other Middle Eastern country, Israel does not parade its long range missiles down its main city streets, nor do its government leaders loudly preach utter annihilation and destruction to its enemies.  Instead this society produces more Nobel Laureates, technological advancements, and medical breakthroughs per capita than any other nation on earth.  Yet somehow, someone is feeling threatened by Israel’s alleged Nuclear arms? 

 Israel’s silent and secret nuclear program is to ensure that Jews will not face another attempted genocide or holocaust this century.  What is Iran’s excuse for very publicly developing long range missiles, preaching destruction to Israel, and producing nuclear fuel? 

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704505804575484001714966966.html?mod=WSJ_World_LEFTSecondNews

Palestinian Media and Education Promote a Troubled Future

Organizations that have been monitoring Palestinian Authority controlled media and education in their territories have been reporting on their grim findings now for over a decade.  When children are told that there is no Jewish State of Israel, and only “occupied Palestine,” a peaceful future is hard to imagine.

One prominent monitoring organization is Palestinian Media Watch http://www.palwatch.org/

This Wall Street Journal special report reveals how this incitement continues today with the full support of the Palestinian Authority and the funding of foreign donations. 

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703995104575388754261573556.html?mod=WSJ_Opinion_LEFTTopBucket#articleTabs%3Darticle

More War Mongering and Threats from Iran, Hizbullah, and Hamas

With Iran’s leaders holding nationwide anti-Israel rallies this last Friday, it is clear that a peaceful settlement with them will be all but impossible.  Instead of supporting the efforts for a peaceful settlement between the Palestinian Authority and Israel, the Iranian regime seeks to spark unrest and derail any such hopes.  In the words of the top leaders, they will settle for nothing short of “liberating Jerusalem,” which means destroying Israel.  Of course, Hamas and Hizbullah are right there in support of this war cry.  Considering that Iran is the main supporter of Israel’s greatest enemies today, sitting back and watching them achieve nuclear arms seems suicidal for the small Jewish State. 

For more on Iran’s war cry:

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704855104575470020696330864.html?mod=WSJ_World_LEFTSecondNews#articleTabs%3Darticle

We Want Peace, but with Who?

Once again, Israeli hearts are filled with gut wrenching sadness and anguish over the murder of 4 civilians, one of them pregnant, in their car at the hands of Hamas terrorists.  One of the couples had 6 children.  Killed on the road to their home, they serve as an example of people who understand and accept the dangers, but cannot be deterred from simply living in the place that they believe in.  To these victims, and all of their neighbors in Judea, we wish and dream for peace.  We want Jews to be able to live in their historic homeland without the threat of terror ambush. 

Why should the 7,000 Jews in and around Hebron not be allowed to live next door to the over 200,000 Arabs there? 

Israel is approximately 20% Israeli (Palestinian) Arab.  These people live with full citizen’s rights and have no fear of being gunned down indiscriminately by terrorists while on their way home.  Even if ALL the Jewish settlers currently living in the West Bank were granted the right to stay there and even the right to citizenship in a future Palestinian state, they would hardly make up 10% of the population there. 

Israel wants peace.  We want peace of mind, peace of body, and peace for a nation that is forced to divert massive amounts of its budget to defense costs simply to exist in the region. 

Hamas not only does not want peace with the “Zionist Entity” as they refer to Israel, but actively works and plots for the total destruction of the Jewish State.  They refuse to even recognize our right to exist in the Middle East as a nation.  Sadly, they represent a large portion of the Palestinian Arab mentality.  Fatah, labeled as the moderate and peace seeking element of Palestinian government, is not even united in their desire for peace alongside Israel.   

With whom will Israel finally be able to make peace?

For more about the attack outside Hebron:

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704421104575463781359214128.html?mod=WSJ_World_MIDDLENewsIntl