Tag: Egypt
Arabs Defend Israel Against American Administration
Miracles continue to happen in the Holy Land. Of course, when it comes to survival, Arabs know who to look to for protection.
Caroline Glick, writing in the Jerusalem Post, says:
It is a strange situation when Egypt and Jordan feel it necessary to defend Israel against American criticism. But this is the situation in which we find ourselves today.
Last Friday, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton told the House of Representatives Appropriations Committee that Arab support for Israel’s bid to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons is contingent on its agreeing to support the rapid establishment of a Palestinian state. In her words, “For Israel to get the kind of strong support it’s looking for vis-a-vis Iran, it can’t stay on the sidelines with respect to the Palestinians and the peace efforts.” As far as Clinton is concerned, the two, “go hand-in-hand.”
But just around the time that Clinton was making this statement, Jordan’s King Abdullah II was telling The Washington Post that he is satisfied with the Netanyahu government’s position on the Palestinians. In his words, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu has “sent a message that he’s committed to peace with the Arabs. All the words I heard were the right words.”
As for Egypt, in spite of the media’s hysteria that Egypt won’t deal with the Netanyahu government and the Obama administration’s warning that Israel can only expect Egypt to support its position that Iran must be denied nuclear weapons if it gives Jerusalem to the PLO, last week’s visit by Egypt’s intelligence chief Omar Suleiman clearly demonstrated that Egypt wishes to work with the government on a whole host of issues. Coming as it did on the heels of Egypt’s revelation that Iranian-controlled Hizbullah agents were arrested for planning strategic attacks against it, Suleiman’s visit was a clear sign that Egypt is as keen as Israel to neutralize Iranian power in the region by preventing it from acquiring nuclear weapons.
And Egypt and Jordan are not alone in supporting Israel’s commitment to preventing Iran from becoming a nuclear power. American and other Western sources who have visited the Persian Gulf in recent months report that leaders of the Gulf states from Bahrain – which Iran refers to as its 14th province – to Saudi Arabia to Kuwait and, of course, to Iraq – are praying for Israel to strike Iran’s nuclear facilities and only complain that it has waited so long to attack them.
As one American who recently met with Persian Gulf leaders explained last week, “As far as the Gulf leaders are concerned, Israel cannot attack Iran fast enough. They understand what the stakes are.”
UNFORTUNATELY, THE nature of those stakes has clearly eluded the Obama administration. As the Arabs line up behind Israel, the Obama administration is operating under the delusion that the Iranians will be convinced to give up their nuclear program if Israel destroys its communities in Judea and Samaria.
According to reports published last week in Yediot Aharonot and Haaretz, President Barack Obama’s in-house post-Zionist, White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emmanuel, told an American Jewish leader that for Israel to receive the administration’s support for preventing Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons, it must not only say that it supports establishing a Palestinian state in Judea, Samaria, Jerusalem and Gaza, it must begin expelling its citizens from their homes and communities in Judea and Samaria to prove its good faith.
Many of us warned American Jews prior to the election that an Obama administration would create danger for Israel. American Jews were so enthralled with electing an African-American President so they could assuage their guilt and could show that they were not racist, that they wouldn’t believe that an Obama Administration might not be good for Israel.
More from Glick:
With just months separating Iran from either joining the nuclear club or from being barred entry to the clubhouse, the Obama administration’s apparent obsession with Judea and Samaria tells us that unlike Israel and the Arab world, its Middle East policies are based on a willful denial of reality.
The cold hard facts are that the Middle East will be a very different place if Iran becomes a nuclear power. Today American policy-makers and other opponents of using military force to prevent Iran from building nuclear weapons compare the current situation to what the region could look like in the aftermath of an Israeli campaign against Iran’s nuclear installations. They warn that Hizbullah and Hamas may launch massive retaliatory missile attacks against Israel, Egypt, Jordan and other states, and that US military personnel and installations in the region will likely be similarly attacked by Iranian and Syrian proxies.
Indeed, proponents and opponents of an Israeli strike against Iran’s nuclear installations alike warn that Iran’s deployment of terror proxies from Beirut to Bolivia, from Managua to Marseilles, and from Gaza to Giza means that things could get very ugly worldwide in the aftermath of an Israeli attack.
But all of that ugliness, all of that instability and death will look like a walk in the park compared to how the region – and indeed how the world – will look if Iran becomes a nuclear power. This is something that the Arabs understand. And this is why they support and pray for an Israeli strike against Iran’s nuclear installations.
IF IRAN acquires nuclear weapons, the Obama administration can throw its hopes for Middle East peace out the window. Today, even without nuclear weapons, Iran is the major force behind the continued Palestinian war against Israel. Iran exerts complete control over Hamas and Islamic Jihad and partial control over Fatah.
In and of itself, Iran’s current control over Palestinian terror groups suffices to expose the Obama administration’s plan to force Israel to destroy its communities in Judea and Samaria as misguided in the extreme. With Iran calling the shots for the Palestinians, it is clear that any land Israel vacates will fall under Iranian control. That is, every concession the US forces Israel to make will redound directly to Iran’s benefit. This is why Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s claim that it will be impossible to resolve the conflict with the Palestinians without first neutralizing Iran rings so true.
The Obama Administration is totally clueless about the mentality of the Middle East. Their naivete, ignorance and inexperience will cause the deaths of many people in the region, most of whom will likely be Israelis.
Glick concludes by describing what will happen to the world if Iran acquires nuclear weapons. You can read the whole article for that information, but here is what she says about America.
Finally, there is America. With Israel either barely surviving or destroyed, with the Arab world and Europe bowing before the mullahs, with much of Central and South America fully integrated into the Iranian axis, America would arguably find itself at greater risk of economic destruction and catastrophic attack than at any time in its history since the War of 1812. An EMP attack that could potentially send the US back to the pre-industrial age would become a real possibility. An Iranian controlled oil economy, financed by euros, would threaten to displace the dollar and the US economy as the backbone of the global economy. The US’s military options – particularly given Obama’s stated intention to all but end US missile defense programs and scrap much of its already aging nuclear arsenal – would be more apparent than real.
Yet what Clinton’s statements before Congress, Emmanuel’s statements to that American Jewish leader and Obama’s unremitting pandering to Teheran and its Syrian and Turkish allies all make clear is that none of these reasonable scenarios has made a dent in the administration’s thinking. As far as the Obama White House is concerned, Iran will be talked out of its plans for regional and global domination the minute that Israel agrees to give its land to the Palestinians. The fact that no evidence exists that could possibly support this assertion is irrelevant.
On Sunday, Washington Post columnist Jim Hoagland claimed that Obama will not publish his administration’s policy on Iran until after he meets with Netanyahu at the White House on May 18. It will be during that meeting, Hoagland wrote, that Obama will seek to convince Netanyahu that there is no reason to attack Iran.
The fact that Obama could even raise such an argument, when by Israel’s calculations Iran will either become a nuclear power or be denied nuclear weapons within the next 180 days, shows that his arguments are based on a denial of the danger a nuclear Iran poses to Israel and to global security as a whole.
It is true that you can’t help but get a funny feeling when you see the Arabs defending Israel from American criticism. But with the Obama administration’s Middle East policy firmly grounded in La La Land, what choice do they have? They understand that today all that stands between them and enslavement to the mullahs is the Israel Air Force and Binyamin Netanyahu’s courage.
One wonders at what point American Jews will realize that they made a catastrophic mistake in electing Barak Obama to the Presidency.
Previous Related posts:
Obama: No Ally to Israel
Obama: No Friend of Israel
American Jews are in Denial
Can Jews Afford To “Roll the Dice” on Obama?
Morris: American Jews Misguided
Jackson Confirms Jewish Community Concerns About Obama
Foreign Policy is Reason to Vote McCain
The Jewish Case Against Barack Obama
Obama, McCain and Israel’s National Security
The Obama Voter – Not This Jew
Passover Reflections
1. PHARAOH fathered the first attempt of “The Final Solution” – extermination of Jews – succeeded by Haman of Iran, Hitler and currently by Ahminajad.
2. MEMORY/ROOTS, EDUCATION, FAITH, DEFIANCE OF ODDS and LIBERTY are the intertwined fundamentals of Passover. The first three constitute prerequisites for the latter. The Hebrew word for “memory” is ZIKARON, which is composed of two Hebrew words: ZAKH (pure) and RON (hymn). The Hebrew word for “education” is KHINOUKH, whose root is “to inaugurate.” The Hebrew word for “faith” is EMUNAH, whose root is AMEN. The Hebrew word for “liberty” is KHERUT, spelled identically to the word KHARUT, “carved.” In other words, liberty is a G-d given eternal right, carved in stone, independent of human rulers, nurtured by education, never to be taken for granted. A nation which commemorates enslavement and deliverance of 3,600 years ago is destined for a glorious future, while a nation which turns its back on history dooms its future.
3. DAVID BEN-GURION, first Prime Minister of Israel (UN Commission, 1947) highlighted Passover’s focus on the LAND OF ISRAEL and MEMORY: “300 years ago, the Mayflower launched its historical voyage. How many remember the data of the voyage, how many passengers were on the Mayflower and what kind of bread did they consume? However, 3,300 years earlier, the Exodus from Egypt took place. Every Jew knows the date of the Exodus – 15th of the month of Nissan – and the kind of bread – Matza, leaven bread – consumed. Until today, Jews all over the world, tell the story of the Exodus and eat Matza on the 15th of Nissan. They conclude the story of the Exodus [HAGADAH] with the statement: This year we’re slaves, but next year we shall be liberated; this year we’re here, but next year in Jerusalem.”
As documented by the chronicles of Passover, the Exodus set the Jewish Nation on the Road Map to a specific site (and not just to liberation), the Land of Israel.
4. PASSOVER = ROLE MODEL OF NATIONAL LIBERATION.
Passover – just like monotheism, the Sabbath, Ten Commandments, repentance/Yom Kippur – constitutes a Jewish gift to humanity. Passover has been a global inspiration to LIBERTY and to national liberation (Let My People Go), 600-700 ahead of Greek philosophers, some of whom caused confusion between Liberty with permissiveness. Jews have been targeted by enemies of LIBERTY (from Pharaoh, Nazism, Communism to Arab/Islamic terrorism and Ahminajad), because Jews have been rightly perceived as the originators of LIBERTY.
5. PASSOVER & THE FOUNDATION OF THE UNITES STATES.
The Exodus inspired the Puritans, the Pilgrims and the Founding Fathers, who considered themselves “the modern day Israelites”, King George III “the modern day Pharaoh”, the Atlantic “the modern day Red Sea” and America “the modern day Promised Land”. Jefferson, Adams and Franklin considered a proposal for the great seal featuring The Exodus with the inscription: “Rebellion to Tyrants is Obedience to G-D.” The term FEDERALISM is based on “Foedus”, the Latin word for “The Covenant.” The puritans and the Founding Fathers considered themselves to be “the Modern Day People of the Covenant.” John Locke, Roger Williams, Thomas Paine and Simon Howard considered the Laws of Moses and the structure of the 12 Tribes, sustaining semi-independence, governed by Moses, Aharon, Joshua and the 70 person Legislature, a model for the American political system in general and for “Life, Liberty and Pursuit of Happiness” in particular.
6. MOSES, the hero of Passover, has become a role model of leadership and national liberation. The Mosaic legacy has greatly impacted US democracy, hence his marble replica at the House Chamber on Capitol Hill, at the Rayburn House Office Building’s subway station and at the Supreme Court (holding the Ten Commandments). Moses’ name is mentioned only once in the Passover HAGADAH, as a servant of G-d, a testimony to Moses’ humility (his grave site is purposely unknown). The only compliment accorded to Moses in the Torah is “the humblest of all human beings”.
7. PASSOVER = WAR OF CIVILIZATIONS. Moses’ victory over Pharaoh reflected the victory of HUMILITY over hubris, Truth over lies, CONVICTION/MORALITY over convenience/immorality, SOLIDARITY/COMPASSION over selfishness/cynicism, CONTRIBUTION over abuse, REALISM over wishful-thinking, CONSTITUENT over ruler and LIBERTY OVER TYRANNY. The term Passover (Pesach in Hebrew) referred to the sacrificial lamb, which spared the Jews the 10th plague (death of the elder son), by Passing-Over their homes. Judaism introduced the immorality of human sacrifices. The Hebrew words for Sacrifice are KORBAN (to get closer), OLA (to elevate), MINCHA (to be guided, to relax) and SHLAMIM (wholesomeness).
8. THE EXODUS is mentioned 50 times in the Torah, equal to the 50 years of Jubilee, another historical pivot of LIBERTY (“Proclaim liberty throughout the land to all the inhabitants thereof”, Leviticus, 25, 10, inscribed on the LIBERTY BELL). 50 days following the Exodus, Moses received the Torah, which includes – according to Jewish tradition – 50 Gates of Wisdom. The commemoration of the Exodus (Passover) is one of the 613 Jewish/Mosaic laws. Passover features a few times in each daily prayer, during the welcoming of the Sabbath, during the blessing over wine, on holidays, upon circumcision of sons, at the door step (Mezuzah) of Jewish homes, etc.
According to Henry George, a top 19th century economist, who opposed taxation but on land, a student of the Torah and the author of “Moses, The Law Giver”, the Jubilee was Moses’ way of combating monopoly.
9. THE FIRST JEWISH HOLIDAY. Passover has four names: Holiday of Pesach (the sacrifice), Holiday of Liberty, Holiday of Matza and Holiday of Spring. It is the FIRST Jewish holiday, according to the Jewish calendar, which starts in the spring (AVIV in Hebrew, which consists of two words: Father of 12 months), the first stage of natural and national blossoming. Passover – which commemorates the CREATION of the Jewish nation through the 13th century BC Exodus – lasts for 7 days, just like the CREATION of the universe. Passover is the FIRST Jewish pilgrimage and the basis for the other two annual pilgrimages. Thus, the first stop of the Exodus was at Soukkota (Soukkot/Tabernacles is the 3rd pilgrimage), and Passover is the prelude to the receipt of the Torah/Ten Commandments (Shavouot/Pentecost the 2nd pilgrimage).
10. HAGADAH. Passover is launched with the reading of the Hagadah, which documents Jewish history. The Hagadah (based on the Hebrew verb “to tell”) instructs parents to tell their children the story of The Exodus and its implications, thus enhancing MEMORY, a prerequisite to LIBERTY.
11. PASSOVER = OPTIMISM. Passover is celebrated on the 15th day (full moon) of the Jewish month of Nissan, the month of miracles (Nissim in Hebrew – Exodus, Parting of the Sea, manna, Jacob battling the Angel, Abraham victory over the 4 kings, etc.). Nissan (“bud” in Babylon) launches the spring season, a symbol of optimism, freedom and growth, which follows the relatively somber winter Winter is compared to a strait, which restrains the flow of water, but once the strait is over, the water bursts forward in a much more powerful manner (Egypt is MITZRAYIM in Hebrew, a derivative of METZAR, strait in Hebrew). The term spring is mentioned 3 times in the Torah, all in reference to The Exodus.
12. THE TEN PLAGUES aimed at destroying Egyptian spirit, by exposing the vulnerability of their idols. Thus, the plague of blood targeted the idol of the Nile River, the plague of frogs shattered the myth of the idol of fertility (which had a head of a frog), the plague of darkness obliterated the idol of the sun, the plague of the elder sons crashed the supreme idol – the king (son of god), etc.
13. PASSOVER = VICTORY OF JEWISH DEMOGRAPHY. According to Jewish tradition, Jacob arrived to Egypt with 70 Jews and Moses launched the Exodus with 600,000 Jews (some suggest 600,000 adults or 600,000 males) – quite a demographic momentum. The Exodus was the first case of a massive Jewish Aliya (immigration) to Israel. A Jewish Demographic Momentum has currently been in motion between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean. While Herzl launched the Zionist voyage with an 8% Jewish minority west of the Jordan River in 1900, and Ben-Gurion celebrated the 1947 UN vote with a 33% minority, today’s Jewish State is endowed with a 67% majority over 98.7% of the land west of the River (without Gaza). Arab fertility rate has declined systematically in addition to annual net Arab emigration, while Jewish fertility rate creeps upward, bolstered by annual immigration (Aliya) since 1882.
By Yoram Ettinger
(Based on writings by Jewish sages)