Thursday: Pressure from Robert Gates on Israel and Missiles and Mortars

Nadene Goldfoot
On Thursday, when Israel was attacked by 10 missiles and mortars, Secretary of Defense Dr. Robert Gates was attending a meeting in Tel Aviv at the Defense Ministry urging Israel to work harder to achieve peace with the Palestinians to bring about a two state solution.  He hadn't visited Israel since April 2007.  He only attained this position in 2006.  Sec. Gates received his doctorate in Russian and Soviet History.  Prior to this position he was with the CIA for many years. 

Nobody has worked harder or cared more about peace than Israel, but they're not about to pick up and leave, and that's what the Palestinians seem to really be after, not peace.  I wonder if Gates has bothered to talk to the Palestinians in the same manner.  Have the Palestinians been told to get back to the peace table that they walked away from?  What is Netanyahu supposed to do?  Have Mossad kidnap Abbas and bring him back?

What several of us fear is that Obama and his group will attack Israel next on the pretense of defending Palestinians when Israel reacts to all their shelling, which she will have to do. This is especially possible after seeing what is happening in Libyia, which is not that far away on the west side of Egypt.     USA, England and France never seem to care that Israel is being attacked constantly and that their citizens suffer from shelling, even though Gates said that no country would stand for that.  This is a true statement but why did he say it?  Is he goading Israel into a reaction or is he just being sympathetic and understanding?  I really wonder being he is the one pressuring Netanyahu  to make the peace and not Abbas. 

Actions speak louder than words.  Obama said we would not have men on Libya's land yet today we just learned that we have had men there scouting out places to bomb.  It's all for humanitarian purposes, saving innocent lives that the countries have taken over the air space keeping the government of Libya out of it, but this could become a general pretext for going into certain countries and not others.  Obama said we're not going after Gadaffi yet his son may have been killed already and Gadaffi's building has been targeted.  We've heard a lot of promises in the last few years but the results have been something else.  Promises have not been fullfilled.  Case in point that I cite is the talk he and Hillary gave to AIPAC. 

http://www.jpost.com/DiplomacyAndPolitics/Article.aspx?id=213706
http://www.defense.gov/bios/biographydetail.aspx?biographyid=115

Egypt Not Against Israel Again
Nadene Goldfoot
It looks like my source misunderstood a map he or she had seen from Egypt's airline.  I'll leave my story, but the explanation is at the end.  To have seen a map without Israel on it caused some panic.  The upcoming Muslim Brotherhood is still causing consternation among us all, so we are quick to be wary of problems. 

Egypt seems to learn the hard way that they shouldn't cross Jews.  They did it the first time in the Exodus when they told Moses that he and his people could leave, then chasing after them only to be drowned in the sea.  They repeated their folly by joining their brothers in attacking Israel at its birth and continually in the many wars after that.  It's been heaven-sent since Sadat made peace with Israel and Mubarek carried on with the peace.

Not now can Israel depend on their peace with the coming change in their political order.  Suddenly Egypt Air, the main airline in Egypt removed Israel off of their map.  they are showing Jordan reaching the Mediterranean Sea.  Are they anticipating the near future?  If so they certainly are wrong, or is this a continuation of the brain washing that the Palestinians maintain in their schools. 

Their subsidiary, Air Sinai has been flying to Israel daily.  Ben Gurion Airport will not be on their map.  I wonder if they'll ever land there again and if so, how will they find it?  Egypt Air has been flying to Israel 4 times a week but when the uprising in Egypt started, the flights were halted but had started up again.  This airline has had an increase of 27% in 2010 from 2009, so if they don't land in Israel they're going to lose some of their profit.  Evidently they don't care.

It's too bad that Mubarak wasn't the mentch that Sadat was.  The Egyptian people might have been treated better and more democratic meansures could have transpired.  With the fall of his regime, I see the Muslim Brotherhood stepping into the forefront with their hateful rulings against Jews and Israel, and here is  one big indication of their powerful influence.  All this is happening at the same time Gaza is stepping up its attack on Israel.  Egypt, don't be surprised when your plans backfire as it has done in the past.  Treat Israel badly and you'll get only the backlash.  Treat Israel well and you will be rewarded with peace, happiness and many Israeli tourists.

PS The map shown on the link is the route map of Egyptair showing their destination cities – to which I referred in my email yesterday. Air Sinai destinations are not shown as they are not Egyptair. The Israeli borders are shown. It seems someone is misreading the map.  from Keith Grenville.
http://keithgrenville.wordpress.com/

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4046460,00.html

  Creating a Palestinian State

from Dr. Dore Gold's interview by Michael Tuchfeld
Nadene Goldfoot

The Palestinians are going to ask the UN Security Council again to create Palestine for them.  I'd like to point out that Hebrews arrived in present day Israel under Joshua, and afterwards were led by King David.  Independent Hebrew Kingdoms were a fact for more than 1,600 years in what the Romans later called "Palestine."  It was Judea that was renamed Palestine because the Romans were trying to dejudaise it.  Thousands of Jews remained in large communities such as Jerusalem, Safad (where I lived) Tiberias and Hebron.  There were Jews in smaller communities also such as Gaza, Rafah, Ashkelon, Caesarea, Jaffa, Acre, and Jerico.  Many Jews have remained in the land up to 1948 when it again became Israel.  Right now Palestinians have been trying to whitewash our connection with the land, even with Jerusalem.  This is a travesty to history. 

The American position has been that the UN was not created to deal with political issues such as Palestine and Israel's needs.  In doing this, what will happen is that the UN will predetermine the borders without any negotiations.  America uses its veto because it's been in American interests to do so and hopefully will veto this again. 

The settlements are a very sensitive issue.  This vote is designed to take Israel back to the 1967 borders.  This took place from June 5th to June 10th 1967 in what is called "The Yom Kippur War" or the Six Day War, when Egypt, then known as the United Arab Republic, Jordan and Syria all attacked Israel on their holiest of holy days, The Day of Repentence, when all of Israel was fasting.  The world must recognize Israel's needs of security in this geography and not allow this to happen.  

Only Carter's government hadn't felt  that the Israeli settlements were legal, and he's been accusatory of Israel ever since his presidency with his books and actions.  They all thought the settlements were an obstacle to peace, however.  I hope that they now see that it isn't settlements that deter peace but the unwillingness  of the Palestinians who have refused to accept even a cupful of a Jewish Israel who have kept peace from happening.  Even Professor Rostow from Yale Law School stated that Israel had the right to build in the settlements.  I feel that as long as the Palestinians were unwilling and continue to do so to this day to stop fighting Israel, and come to a peace settlement, Israel had the right to inhabit the land that was not only formerly theirs for upteen generations, but that all the Arab countries had sacrificed in their zeal to attack and kill off Israel.  Blood-letting acts deserve an effect, and that is to have lost Judea and Samaria, East Jerusalem and whatever else they think they should obtain.  Why on earth should they be rewarded for their horrible greedy behavior? 

It was Arafat who asked for a building freeze on the settlements  and luckily Peres and Rabin refused to do this.  Arafat then gave up and told Abbas to sign the Oslo Accords in 1993.  Legally, Israel has no legal reason to stop construction because of this signing. 

My opinion is that the Palestinians are still imbued with hatred for Israel and Jews and are in no way ready to be good neighbors and not be a threat to Israel.  Gaza must be considered as well as the West Bank and it is as hateful as a hungry rattlesnake who is striking with missiles and rockets constantly.  Much change has to happen before they prove themselves to be trusted. and ready for nationhood. 

After living through a horrible attack of many Muslim countries in 1967 and winning, why should Israel be punished to go back to those impossible-to-defend borders, especially at a time when it needs a better defensive position?  This has become a very unstable era in the Middle East.  I'd like to see a time when the UN starts pressing the Palestinians to instead accept Israel as being a Middle East member who is there to stay after their struggles of 63 years.  Like Oprah Winfrey says, hating only hurts your own body.  Or like my idol, Golda Meir had said, when the Palestinians start loving their own children as much as the Jews love theirs, then there is hope for peace between the two.  She would not have been surprised at how Palestinian chldren  have been sacrificed by their own parents in their hatred for Israel. 

Reference: http://www.jcpa.org/JCPA/Templates/ShowPage.asp?DBID=1&TMID=111&LNGID=1&FID=573&PID=0&IID=6243

Dr. Dore Gold, a former Israeli UN Ambassador, is president of the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs. 

Alan Dershowitz: The Case for Israel
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Six-Day_War

Reality About West Bank Towns

Nadene Goldfoot

First of all, "settlements" is such an antiquated term. A few Jews are living in Judea and Samaria, their ancient homeland. To be exact, 393,900 Jews are living in 122 towns or villages. This is only 12% of Judea and Samaria's total population and much less than the over a million Arab population in Israel., for Arabs make up about 20% of Israel. Settlement is such a political word used to make one think that the area is only temporary, used by squatters and is illegal. I won't use it. People should be reminded that this was land talked about in the bible that belonged to the Jews and was only called "West Bank" under Jordan's control.

60% of the Jews live in four towns; Ma'ale Adumin, Betar Illit, Modi'in Illit and Gush Etzion. These are all near the Green Line and the plan is to include them inside the Israel line in any agreement that will create a Palestine. Logistics deem this a sensible thing to do.

The other 40% are scattered in small communities that might have to be evacuated in exchange for peace since "Palestine" is to be Juden free. This would be at the Arab's demands, not Israel's.

Itamar is a village near Shechem, the 4,000 year old Jewish city in the mountains of Shomron " Samaria." This is where the remains of Joseph are entombed. It is also called Nablus by the Arabs. Itamar was created in 1984, so it's now 27 years old. It was named for Aaron's son's. Aaron was Moses's brother who was designated as high priest. Since Itamar is so close to Arabs, they find driving on the road dangerous. Right now they are trying to renovate their library, and need more books. A settlement's last thoughts would be on libaries, and here they are needing to renovate theirs. They have about 120 families. In June of 2002, a mother and her three children were shot and killed by Arab intruders who broke into their home. I, for one, would be most sad to see this community having to disband after all the living and love that this Yishuv have given this place.

Other villages equally important are Bracha, Yitzhar and Elon Moreh which also are nearby Itamar in the Samarian hills.

Israel also had to endure this exchange in 1982 when thousands of Israelis were moved from the Sinai in the Egyptian Peace Treaty. Also, Israel had to move 8,000+ Jews from the Gaza Strip in 2005 hoping that this would affect the Palestinians to negotiate an end to the war. In this case, it only increased attacks on Israel, so it had the opposite affect.

Any construction now going on in Judea-Samaria is inside the borders of established towns. People are only building on a lot next to a home that is empty, which is a normal development.

There have been no new towns built since 1999. The last place that went up was Negahot in the Hebron hills.

Israel has had Judea-Samaria under their control for about 42 years now, ever since 1969's war when Israel was attacked and won. Towns built since then make up less than 1.7% of the territory's area.

Palestinian Arabs had been talking to Israel and the peacemakers for 17 years without thinking of expecting a precondition of a "settlement freeze." Why all of a sudden? When this condition was thrown out on the table, Netanyahu went along with it and froze building for 10 months, the condition he put on the table. Did the Arabs come to terms or talk about peace during that time? No. They wasted it, so in September 2010 construction requests were acted upon. Palestinians had sat on their duff for 9 months, just remembering what was to be in the 10th month. Then, finally, they agreed to have one round of talks but saying they would go home if the freeze was not continued. Prime Minister Netanyahu was ready to freeze construction for another painful 3 months but after talking to the USA, America dropped the idea, which I think was the smart thing to do. That would just give them more ideas of stalllng and gaining time to keep from signing any peace agreement. After All, Netanyahu was chomping at the bit, ready for bear. He had all his points to cover in a row. He's an excellent debator.

I'm really disgusted with newspaper reporters who make out like Israel is screwing up the works by having millions of Jews building "settlements" in the "West Bank." and this is keeping these Palestinians from having a homeland. Not so. I think this is the only issue that they are aware of in the relationship of Israel and "Palestine." Their facts of history and current events are lame.

I would call the Muslims "land hungry". After all, they only have 23 states of their own. Actually, there are 47 states or countries that have 50% and more Muslim population in the world. These so called "Palestinians" are not true Palestinians at all. The "Palestinians" are the people who lived in what was called Palestine before 1948. That included a lot of Jews. My neighbors, the Padrows, had been born in Palestine and came to Portland, Oregon from there. Mimi's parents had an orange grove. Her relatives had a hotel in Tel Aviv. I believe that the riots of 1929 caused them to move to the states. That's when Arabs were slaughtering Jews. Mathew was a dentist and a pharmecist, so he found that he could quickly make a living here. His son, Ben, went on to become at professor at Portland State U. Joan was my best friend and playmate. The Arabs calling themselves Palestinians include Arabs living there also, but most of them came just a little earlier from nearby Arab states looking for work with the new Zionists who were building and creating something out of swamps and deserts. As it turns out, there were very few Arab families living in what became Israel. Their need to be there was to look for work. Jewish people were there to escape from Pogroms and anti-semitism and for religious beliefs.

Judea and Samaria were in the plans to be a part of Israel in the beginning of British thinking after 1917 when it fell to them to administer. After getting the Jewish leaders all stirred up and thinking that they would be given a goodly piece of land for their new country, the British backed off from their promise and whittled down the land to almost nothing. Our Jewish leaders took what they were finally given anyway, needing it as soon as possible. At the same time, the Arabs refused their half, for that was what the whittling was for, and they showed no desire at that time to have a country. So it has been since then.

After many failed attempts to eradicate Israel in the many wars, these "Palestinians" are choosing to fight a different kind of fight along with the regular rockets and missles they bombard Israel with. Wanting a state is now the cry from them.

It would be nice if reporters actually studied the dynamics of the Middle East before they were sent out to write about Israel and Palestine. There's a big picture that they're missing, and so their readers comprehend a very mishapen picture of reality.
Reference: Dr. Mitchell Bard #376 Is Settlement Construction Preventing the Creation of a Palestinian State?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Itamar
http://www.shechem.org/itamar/eindex.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Muslim_majority_countries
http://www.chabad.org/special/israel/points_of_interest_cdo/aid/588228/jewish/Shechem.htm