Incitement: Hit Palestinian Children’s Song Glorifies Martyrdom
Published June 23, 2010Just like Sesame Street: When we die as martyrs!
The Palestinian Authority is supposed to be combating incitement, at least that’s what Mahmoud Abbas has told Obama, Israel and Jewish leaders.
Obamas has staked the last 17 months on reaching nothing remotely resembling peace. Instead we are shooting lower. According to White house officials dialog between the parties would be a major breakthrough, especially seeing as this actually was going on before Obama assumed office. So far so futile. The word was in Washington that by pressuring Israel (and pressure there has been in spades) the ‘door would open’ for comprehensive peace..
So far despite the grandiose plans, as well as a politically difficult settlement moratorium by Israel (which will soon expire after 10 months) there is..
- No open door
- No direct negotiations
- No seeming wider Arab world involvement
- No halt to PA incitement
All aboard, the peace train!!
The Mofaz Plan: Fox Loose in Livni’s Kadima Hen House (Link Update)
Published November 10, 2009Mofaz tables Disengagement+ in bid to top Livni
The internal battle for the Kadima leadership rolls on. Shaul Mofaz the party #2 seized an opportune moment (all Israeli political heavy weights abroad) to let loose a bombshell as part of his leadership bid, a new peace plan.. To recognize a Palestinian State!
[...] Under the plan, Israel would annex settlement blocs while withdrawing from 60 percent of the West Bank, comprising Areas A and B, where 99.2 of the Palestinians live, and additional land to create territorial contiguity. A Palestinian state would be set up in those areas of the West Bank and in Gaza, while no settlements would be evacuated at that stage.
Israel would then negotiate the fate of the rest of the West Bank and other core issues of the conflict with the leadership of the new Palestinian state, while passing legislation sanctioning compensation for settlers living in outlying settlements that would be evacuated.
“As a candidate to lead the country, I felt I had to present a plan” – Mofaz. [...]
Mofaz’s plan is very different than Livni’s Annapolis process, in which Israel would make no concessions to the Palestinians until a final-status deal would be reached on all issues. Bypassing Livni on the left, Mofaz said he would be willing to negotiate with Hamas under certain conditions to advance the plan.
“If Hamas would be elected and would want to negotiate and accept the quartet’s conditions, from that moment, it is no longer Hamas,” Mofaz said. “Responsible leadership in Israel would sit with those who changed their agenda.” [...]
Please everyone but Israel plan..
Shaul Mofaz goes gunning for Livni
Not quite sure what if any benefit would arise from Mofaz’s plan. We already tried the disengagement plan in Gaza with poor results. This time out Mofaz seems convinced the entity leading this proposed Palestinian state may be Hamas from the get go, yet he’s undeterred. Isn’t the objective supposed to be gaining some peace? It seems highly unlikely any deal would result from this disengagement+ plan, we’d be in the same spot we are in now less the land and with 10x the security threat.
Equally, this doesn’t assist us in any way securing a regional peace deal with the Arab world. Sorta looks like a plan full of rewards for all the wrong people (including terrorists) with little payoff for Israel. Mofaz is clearly gambling he can rely on his solid right military credentials.. While leaping way left, poaching at Livni’s support base in the mix of Labor, Kadima, Meretz liberal soup that exists.
Time will tell how solid that keeps his right flank in Kadima & beyond. The center party is comprised of both right & left after all. Is this electable? Olmert certainly tried, but witness the backlash in Israel with the resurgent right as a result.
Not that it matters much – Hamas responds..
Former Palestinian Authority foreign minister Mahmoud Zahar of Hamas responded that it would never accept the Quartet’s conditions, which include recognizing Israel, disarming terrorists, and accepting diplomatic deals signed by the PA.
“Hamas will not negotiate with Israel,” said Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhoum. “We do not believe in engaging with the occupation, or in talks that would beautify its face in the eyes of the world.” [...]
Mofaz is gunning for Livni
Shaul is sure to get much more headway with his plan internally within Kadima. He upstages Livni who’s leadership qualities are being weekly challenged within the party, he even tosses in the fact Ehud Barak & President Peres support the initiative. All subtle jabs at Tzipi. Her personal relationship with Barak is frosty at best, and her own plan beyond opposing Netanayhu in everything remains obscured. The strategy of undermining her here is already paying off..
Kadima warms to Mofaz plan for Hamas talks, despite Livni opposition (Haaretz)
Kadima chairwoman Tzipi Livni on Tuesday slammed party rival Shaul Mofaz’ plan to open negotiations with Hamas in order to push forth the establishment of a Palestinian state, saying the concept ran contrary to their faction’s political platform.
While Livni would prefer to ignore the initiative of her number 2, however, she will not be able to avoid the issue for very long, as Kadima MKs are demanding a serious discussion. [...]
A number of Kadima MKs, some of whom supported Livni in her primary fight against Mofaz, support discussing his proposal. [...]
Not Ready for Prime Time
All in all it doesn’t look like Mofaz’s plan will gain much traction in the wider Israel arena, it’s too far left for the climate, not too mention dreamy in regards to Hamas. But I’m not sure it was designed for that purpose. With Bibi, Lieberman, Barak, Livni all clamoring at the top for the leadership of Israel stakes, it is a bit crowded up there right now.
Mofaz has other things to worry about, he’s got to knock Livni out of the Kadima leadership perch before he can play on their turf. His plan looks like the latest in a series of ever more forceful branch shakes.
—————-
Link Update: Mofaz taking heat & clarifying his Hamas statements (Jpost)
“I was the one who fought Hamas through the crosshairs of an Apache [assault helicopter], I stood behind the assassinations of [Sheikh Ahmed] Yassin and [Abdel Aziz] Rantisi and did everything I could to halt the suicide-bombers’ terror from Judea and Samaria during Operation Defensive Shield, and was in charge of the ongoing hits on top Hamas figures between 2003-2005 in Gaza. Nobody can doubt what I think about Hamas.”
1 CommentHope & ShortChange: Obama’s Entire Foreign Policy Reset Fails to Boot (Video)
Published September 8, 2009American Policy Still ‘Stuck On Stupid’
In Lebanon Hezbollah is set to return to full status-quo, and will soon be given control of at least 1/3rd of Lebanon’s government. Don’t hold your breath waiting for the US Administration to tout the glories of Obama’s Cairo speech in achieving this ‘amazing’ result however, as it is too early to celebrate because Hezbollah figures it can get even MORE!
In Syria, a flurry of diplomatic American concessions have resulted in no hope and even less change. In Israel massive pressure has failed to move the Israeli government or public toward Obama’s initiatives, if anything relations have soured. Upcoming settlement deals leave out Jerusalem entirely and look very similar from what we can see so far.. to the deal negotiated with Former President Bush, the one that Clinton & Obama claimed never existed.
There’s some success here somewhere, we just have to dig & find it
On the Palestinian side, positions thanks to Obama have hardened. The Palestinians have delusionally decided to wait for the US President to deliver Israel to them.. Good luck with that. In latin America the US has thrown a former small ally Honduras to the curb, while propping up the commie strongman Hugo Chavez in Venezuela. In Asia the North Koreans have tested a nuclear weapon, missiles, and have only just begun to test the new American president himself.
In Europe, there has been no additional support for the Afghan mission whatsoever. The Czechs & Polish are feeling slighted over Obama’s appeasement of Russia in relation to missile defense, and in return for the American appeasement the Russians have delivered zilch. Despite the bow seen round the world, the Saudis sent Mr. Obama packing and rejected Obama’s peace process reset out of hand. They followed that up by doing so on TV for all to see, at the White House yet!
The War on Terror has been erased from the American lexicon. It is now known as “overseas contingency operations”, lest someone who is Muslim be offended by the fact that 99.95% of all terrorism is carried out by.. fellow Muslims.
As for Iran? They have pulled their nuclear program off the table of any negotiation past present or future. Instead they have offered to have televised debates between President Obama & Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, one imagines in order to milk America for even more legitimacy than Obama has already bestowed on the rogue regime. Woohoo!
President or Avon Lady?
When one considers all this foreign policy success, the words train wreck come to mind. It may be time to Reset the Reset, as Obama’s operating system is now failing to boot completely. Jackson Diehl writes in the WP..
[...] In fact, one of the emerging lessons of the Obama administration’s foreign policy might be summed up as follows: The idea that presidential “direct diplomacy” with actors such as Chávez, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Kim Jong Il or Fidel Castro is feasible or likely to produce results is, well, naive.
It’s not that Obama hasn’t tried. According to reports in the Iranian media he has dispatched two letters to Iran’s supreme cleric, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. He has sent multiple high-level envoys to meet Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in Damascus. Shortly after the administration took office, a new special representative for North Korea publicly offered bilateral negotiations to Pyongyang; former president Bill Clinton later met dictator Kim with the administration’s sanction. Obama graciously accepted Chávez’s gift of a stridently anti-American book and later dispatched a new ambassador to Caracas. He lifted some sanctions on Cuba. The problem is that none of this has brought any results.
Remember When? Obama’s foreign policy in a nutshell (Video)
Back in reality, Ralph Peters writes in the NY Post: Bam Vs Democracy
[...] if Obama thinks that handing over a “little” country he couldn’t find on a map is going to win him enduring applause and cooperative friends in Latin America, he’s crazy. What he’s actually doing is frightening our friends. If democratic governments south of the border can’t rely on US support, to whom can they turn?
The increasingly left-wing tone from the White House may be satisfying to ideological activists, but it’s doing tremendous damage to the cause of freedom in our hemisphere.
Not to worry though because the cheerleaders are still out in force despite the fact the home team is getting shellacked. The NY Times, the LA Times, the major networks, most of cable news – American media is still touting the great One! You rarely hear anything about these massive failures. Domestically these media outlets are too busy providing cover for the disastrous health-care, stimulus, and soaring deficits Obama has racked up.
American policy may be stuck on stupid, but not the American people. Obama’s polling has taken a leap off the side of Mt Rushmore. He’s falling faster in polling than any US President in history. How many more times will he be able to hit the reset button on the way down before the big splat is the big question now?
Update: I fixed the H in Jackson Diehl’s name, I keep putting it in the wrong place. This is at least the 4th time I’ve had to fix the guy’s name here in posts the last few months. Credit to him for writing good stuff worth linking. Sorry Jackson, I’d say it won’t happen again but heck it’s habit already ; )
3 CommentsMr. EU Speaks: Solana says not enough ‘urgency’ in Peace Talks
Published September 12, 2008Thanks, feel free to shut up now.
In the nobody cares what you have to say department the unelected multilateral Spaniard is king..
European Union Foreign Policy Chief Javier Solana on Friday issued a harsh criticism of the management of peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians since the Annapolis Conference, saying that from the beginning the talks were carried out far too slowly.
In an interview with Haaretz after his arrival Friday for a tour of Israel and the Palestinian territories, Solana expressed doubts over whether a deal could be completed by the end of the year, saying that the longer the sides wait to go forward with talks, the less they are likely to succeed.
“Because time is shorter, it will more difficult to do,” Solana said in regard to the talks, adding “I think we have to maintain the momentum.”
Do you know what seemingly lacks urgency in my eyes Mr. Solana? Disarming the Hezbollah and preventing them from taking over Lebanon. You know what else seems to lack any urgency on your part Mr. Solana? The removal of the Hamas terrorist government in Gaza. These are pressing issues in Israel in case Mr. Solana didn’t notice.
Nice Work there jacko
Since Solana was such a driving force in trying to arrange a ‘cease fire’ with Hezbollah terrorists in the 2006 conflict, instead of arranging to ’cease their fire’ permanently; or since he was also a driving force in sticking his toy UN soldiers to buffer and protect Hezbollah so they could operate & arm with impunity - one might surmise we could care less what he has to say.
You know what else is urgent Mr. Eu? The Iranians and their mad drive to nuclear weapons. Solana was the last man to speak to the Iranians on the phone after they rejected the latest international package of incentives, his response seemed to be that his talks were satisfactory, a position contrary to just about everyone else save the commie Putin. Funny how these Peace Talks are ‘urgent’ but the threat to annihilate Israel with WMD is not so much so..
Hope you enjoy your tour, try not to choke on a falafel ball while you are here. Can anyone tell I’m a BIG fan? Just checking.
Leave a comment
That's me, I'm part of the vast global Zionist Conspiracy you often 'read' about ;)
