CAFI Newsletter #64
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Fri, 4 Jan 2002 16:03:50 -0500
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* CHRISTIAN ACTION FOR ISRAEL NEWSLETTER #64 *
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"ON YOUR WALLS, O JERUSALEM, I HAVE APPOINTED WATCHMEN"
Isaiah 62:6
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Friday, January 4, 2002
IN THIS ISSUE:
1. REFLECTIONS ON ISRAEL'S PAST YEAR AND THE FUTURE
2. IDF CAPTURES SHIP IN RED SEA SMUGGLING WEAPONS TO PA
3. WHERE POWER TALKS
4. OUR PROBLEM IN THE ARAB WORLD
5. BAD TIMES IN NAZARETH
6. QUOTES TO NOTE
7. HIGHLIGHT ARTICLES
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1. REFLECTIONS ON ISRAEL'S PAST YEAR AND THE FUTURE
By Bernard J. Shapiro
The trauma of this past year for Israelis is almost more than
one can conceive. The bodies of young and old were blown apart,
maimed and bleeding covering the streets of Tel Aviv, Jerusalem,
Netanyah and Emanuel. Whole streets had turned red and special
crews had to come in to wash the blood away. In dozens of
different places snipers took the lives of innocent travelers
on the roads of Israel. How much longer can the People of
Israel suffer such cruel slaughter of its citizens. How much
longer before the cry of thousands of mothers and fathers,
sisters and brothers demand that the government of Israel
rid the Land of the pestilence that preys upon it like
an evil monster of nightmares.
My study of Jewish history reveals clearly that this is not
the only period murder and torture of Jews. Going back 2000
years and then culminating in the Holocaust, we Jews were
afflicted with murder, forced conversion, expulsion,
pogroms and torture in every generation. In the 18th
through the early 20th century Cossacks from Russia spelt
a river of Jewish blood in attacks on the small Jewish
shtetls of Eastern Europe. It was their habit to ride
through Jewish villages swords in hand and slice off the
arms of anyone they found on the street. Today Arafat
maims with suicide bombs.
"The more things change. The more they stay the same."
I read a book by Diogbert D. Runes entitled: DESPOTISM A
Pictorial History of Tyranny (Philosophical Library 1963).
In it he has a chapter on the Jews and he reveals some
interesting demographic statistics. The Jews were very
prominent in the ancient world, perhaps a third of the
Roman Empire. Over a million lived in Alexandria, Egypt
alone. Jews were healthier than their European neighbors
due to the Jewish custom of bathing. The Catholic hierarchy
discouraged bathing as a sin until recent times. According
to Runes' demographic studies' the Jews today (1963) would
total one billion people had they not faced the evils of
the past 2000 years.
The reason for this story should be clear to all of us.
Arafat's terrorist gangs are involved in one long pogrom
against the Jews of Israel. The evil he and his associates
perpetuates differs only in the volume perpetuated by the
Nazis and the Catholic Church. However, there is a
significant difference between then and now. Today Israel
has a powerful military, the Israel Defense Forces, to
protect its citizens. Yet despite the obvious advantage of
having a strong military, it is weakened by a political
leadership that seems to be afraid of its shadow and
afraid to utilize the great power of the IDF.
In the latter part of 2001, Israeli Prime Minister Ariel
Sharon began to exert more military actions against the
terrorists. Unfortunately it was too little and too late.
What was needed was a comprehensive plan to restore
security to the Israeli people. There was no
comprehensive plan. Foolish and dangerous ideas like
seeking a ceasefire, negotiations, a Palestinian state or
unilateral separation crept back into the diplomatic
lexicon. I now understand how Jewish leaders carried out
negotiations with Hitler until the last Jew was killed.
I am making no comparison to Israeli leaders, only to
the delusions and gullibility of man I will refrain
from enumerating the many other failures of the last year.
Now we must look to 2002.
LOOKING TO THE FUTURE
THE TOP TEN ACTIONS ISRAEL MUST TAKE IN 2002
10. Reduce the income disparity between management and
worker. Are you aware that some managers of government
companies get 50-100,000 NIS a month. This is obscene
while the bottom third of the population is at the
poverty level.
9. Develop water resources. Are you aware that serious
action has been delayed by 10 years although the need
was quite predictable?
8. Outlaw Arab political parties that are disloyal to
the State of Israel.
7. Indict on criminal charges of incitement Arab
Knesset members, Moslem clerics, news people on PA TV,
teachers and any others that spread hatred and
anti-Semitism toward the Jewish people. They should be
held under harsh treatment with no bail.
6. Require a loyalty oath to Israel as a Jewish State
before being alloyed to vote.
5. Breakup the national unity government and call for new
elections. This will create a fully Right-wing government.
4. Fire Shimon Peres (Arafat's Foreign Minister) and
Ben-Eliazer (known for saying the conflict with the
terrorists could not be won by military means). Does
Israel really need a Defense Minister who has already
decided that he CANNOT defeat the enemy?
3. Israel must accept no more mediators. Not from America,
Europe, or the UN. Mediators interfere with Israel's
ability to terminate the enemy. Remove hostile reporters
and photographers and keep them barred from PA areas.
2. Restore Jewish control to the Temple Mount.
1. Renounce Oslo as having been a failed experiment.
Mobilize the army and crush all terrorist targets
causing maximum damage (not the current minimum).
Much of the population will flee reducing the
demographic pressure on Israel.
--------
Jews will live safely in their own land. Tourists
and immigrants will come again. Industry will develop
rapidly. This is truly the future I pray for.
==============
Bernard J. Shapiro is executive director of the Freeman
Center For Strategic Studies and the editor of
THE MACABEAN ONLINE.
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2. IDF CAPTURES SHIP IN RED SEA SMUGGLING WEAPONS TO PA
By Amos Harel, Ha'aretz 4 January 2002
[IMRA: COS Mofaz noted that the range of the Katyushas would
have enabled the PA to threaten Israel's cities from within
the area under its control. Israel Television reported that
Gen Zinni was already advised of the incident yesterday.]
A ship carrying weapons intended for the Palestinian Authority
was captured in the Red Sea on Thursday by Israel's Navy
and Air Force.
The capture of the boat was released for publication on Friday.
IDF Chief of Staff Shaul Mofaz said at a press conference
Friday to announce the ship's capture that it was carrying
some 50 tons of weaponry and ammunition, including Katyusha
rockets, rifles, mortar shells, mines and a variety of
anti-tank missiles, such as Sager and Lao. Only ten percent
of the ship's cargo has been checked.
"The connection between the Palestinian Authority and the
smuggling operation is unequivocal, clear, and undeniable,"
said Mofaz. "Official figures in the Palestinian Authority
were involved, among them senior officials in the
Palestinian naval police."
Mofaz said that the captain of the intercepted ship was
an officer in the Palestinian naval police.
Channel Two reported that U.S. envoy Anthony Zinni was
informed on Thursday of the boat's capture.
Mofaz said that Israeli forces captured the ship,
"Karin A," which was carrying some 50 tons of weapons and
ammunition intended for the Palestinian Authority.
"In a complicated and daring operation, navy, air force and
intelligence forces captured the ship and its crew," he said.
Senior sources said that to date this was the largest
attempt to smuggle weapons to the Palestinian Authority
to be intercepted by Israeli security.
Mofaz said the operation was carried out overnight some
500 kilometers from the Israeli coast "in complete surprise
and with no casualties."
"We are witnessing a double game played by the PA
leadership," Mofaz said. "It is a terrorist network,
infected from head to toe by terror, that doesn't
understand that it cannot make achievements using
terror, especially after the events of September 11."
Channel Two reported that the ship was being escorted
by Israeli forces to Eilat.
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3. WHERE POWER TALKS
By Charles Krauthammer - January 4, 2002
It was a sign of the gathering power of radical Islam.
Strictly interpreted Islamic law, as practiced (with public
executions and amputations) in places like Afghanistan
and Saudi Arabia, was near to becoming the law of the
land in, of all places, Kuwait. Kuwait -- liberated by the
United States, moving toward democracy, yet caught in
the rising tide of radical Islam.
No longer. Kuwait has just abandoned the move to install
sharia. Indeed, it has suddenly swung the other way,
banning scores of Islamic charities that support religious
extremists.
What happened? The spontaneous eruption of
Western-style liberalism? The sudden emergence of an
Islamic Reformation?
No. The answer is simple: Afghanistan. "America's
success in Afghanistan [has had] a ripple effect," wrote
the Wall Street Journal correspondent in Kuwait City, " . . .
rolling back the tide of political Islam in the religion's
heartland."
"The secular people . . . are triumphant now," said the
leader of an ultrafundamentalist sect in Kuwait. "We
grieve about the defeat of the Taliban. Our people are
depressed."
It is hard to recruit for the Taliban -- or for the Taliban
model in Kuwait -- when that regime has been blasted to
pieces, its leaders scattered and scurrying after so much
bravado and boasting and basking in the great blow to the
infidel on Sept. 11.
Religious fanaticism thrives on its sense of inevitability, on
its aura of triumph and divine appointment. Nothing,
therefore, deflates it like military defeat.
For years, Islamic extremism went from victory to victory,
from the Iranian revolution of 1979 to the radicalization of
Sudan and Afghanistan to the world-shaking success of
Sept. 11. Then it finally met real resistance in Afghanistan,
home of the most radical Islamic state, and was utterly
broken in nine weeks by American power. Gone is the
mandate of heaven.
How far America has come. Remember the initial
post-Sept. 11 why-do-they-hate-us angst? How could we
possibly defeat this powerful, fanatical, ingrained,
battle-hardened, religiously grounded enemy? We
discovered the answer: satellite-guided
thousand-pounders with the odd daisy cutter thrown in.
Osama knows. "When people see a strong horse and a
weak horse, by nature, they will like the strong horse," he
explained on that famous home video. How to win a holy
war? Bomb the holy warriors -- and overawe the
fence-sitting spectators.
It is touching to watch American officials trying to win
friends with PR and protestations of goodwill toward
Islam. Muhammad Ali has been recruited for a 30-second
spot. Former U.S. ambassador Christopher Ross spent
15 minutes on al-Jazeera TV making our case in Arabic. It
was, reports Middle East scholar Daniel Pipes, a bust.
Said one Arab commentator, "His performance was
terrible. . . . He was like a robot who speaks Arabic." No
surprise, and not Ross's fault. The task is hopeless. It is
like trying to change American public opinion about al
Qaeda with an Osama appeal delivered in English.
What talks in the region? Power. Look around. Yemen,
home to terrorists who blew up the Cole, and run by a
government that had stymied American investigators, has
begun a military campaign against its own al Qaeda
elements. Some of the factions in Somalia have united to
go after al Qaeda as well. Under heavy post-Afghanistan
American pressure, both Pakistan and the Palestinian
Authority have begun to put some curbs on the terrorists
they harbor.
Why? A new understanding of the value of human life? A
new appreciation of their enemies' grievances?
Of course not. Fear. Respect for American power. The
Somalis and the Yemenis know that if they do not go after
al Qaeda, the laser-guided, precisely addressed bombs
might fall on them.
In 1996 bin Laden declared war on America, glorying in its
"impotence and weaknesses" for running out under fire
from Beirut (Marine barracks bombing, 1983), Aden (hotel
bombings, 1992) and Mogadishu ("Black Hawk Down,"
1993).
He got it wrong. And the world now knows it. Afghanistan
demonstrated that America has both the power and the
will to fight, and that when it does, it prevails.
Yes, bin Laden is still on the loose, and that is important,
because he could still direct terrorist attacks. But the
demonstration effect of the Afghan war has already
deeply changed the Near East. The area's leaders
understand that their future lies with us, not him.
Accordingly, they are listening to us.
How far will they go in fighting radical Islam with us? As
far as we will push them. We must not relent. We must
summon the will and determination to demand that they
go all the way -- to eradicate al Qaeda and the other
terrorists within their midst -- or else start scanning the
skies for B-52s.
© 2002 The Washington Post Company
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4. OUR PROBLEM IN THE ARAB WORLD
By Joseph Farah - January 4, 2002
Let's Be Honest.
We Have A Problem In The Arab World.
We can pretend our problem is with "terrorism," but our
problem is bigger.
It's a problem not only for the state of Israel, it is a
problem for the United States of America, too.
The problem is not limited to a handful of extremists.
The problem is that millions of Arabs hate us – for all
kinds of good reasons and bad reasons, legitimate
reasons and illegitimate.
As if we needed more evidence of this problem – more
proof – it came in the form of a pan-Arab public opinion
survey conducted by the Okaz newspaper among
participants in Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Jordan, Abu
Dhabi, Sanaa, Aden and the Gaza Strip.
What the poll results show on the worst personalities of
2001 was not surprising, unfortunately.
The least favorite world personality was Ariel Sharon,
the Israeli prime minister with 56 percent.
The second least favorite personality in the world among
the Arab respondents was President George W. Bush
with a very significant 29 percent.
And where did Osama bin Laden, the evil perpetrator of
the Sept. 11 crimes against humanity, finish?
Well, in horse-race parlance, he did "show" – at third
place with only 11 percent. His benefactor in
Afghanistan, Mullah Omar, came in fourth with 3
percent.
The only other personalities receiving any statistically
significant responses were Israeli Foreign Minister
Shimon Peres and Iraqi President Saddam Hussein.
Only 38 percent of the respondents believed the Sept. 11
terror attacks on the U.S. were the worst incidents of
2001. Nearly an equal number, 33 percent, said the U.S.
war on terrorists in Afghanistan was the biggest
outrage. Another 27 percent think Israel's defense
against terrorism represents the worst thing that
happened last year.
In case you missed it, the poll was reported in the Saudi
English-language paper Arab News and linked
prominently by WorldNetDaily.
This is more than a public-relations problem for the
United States. This is evidence that the Arab world – or,
more precisely, the broader Islamic world – thinks
differently than we do.
If this poll is accurate, and I see no evidence it is not, it
means that more than half a billion Muslims in the
world think the most evil person in the world today is
Ariel Sharon because he used very restrained methods to
defend his country from attacks. It also means about 300
million Muslims believe Bush is the most evil man in the
world because he used very restrained methods to
defend the United States from attacks.
In other words, Sharon and Bush are essentially in the
same category with these folks. That should be a signal
to Bush and Americans that, indeed, the U.S. is very
much in the same position Israel is. Israel is just a little
closer to home for the Arab world.
By deduction, we can also assume that those who detest
Sharon and Bush applaud – to one degree or another –
the terrorist attacks on Israel and the U.S.
Yet, the U.S. continues to instruct Israel not to respond
to the wave of terrorist attacks it faces on a daily basis.
The U.S. continues to act as if Israel is inviting terrorism
by defending itself. The U.S. continues to hold a
double-standard that permits the U.S. to send forces
around the world to root out terrorist threats but
suggests Israel doesn't have a legitimate right to defend
itself in its own backyard.
I believe most Americans – the overwhelming majority –
understand that Israel shows almost inhuman restraint
in defending itself in a very tough neighborhood. But
policymakers in Washington treat Israel as an
international inconvenience at best and an immoral
troublemaker at worst.
Now, I believe the Islamic world is greatly oppressed.
But that oppression comes not from the little Jewish state
of Israel and not from the United States. The oppression
comes from the Islamic world's own tyrannical leaders –
most of whom act as if they have a divine right to
govern for life.
The answer to this problem is not creating more
illegitimate Arab and Muslim potentates – people like
Yasser Arafat. The answer is recognizing the irrational
hatred that exists for the U.S. and the small bastion of
Jews in the Middle East and vigorously, realistically and
unapologetically defending ourselves from it.
© 2002 WorldNetDaily.com
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5. BAD TIMES IN NAZARETH
By Joseph Farah - © 2001 WorldNetDaily.com
We tend to associate Jesus with the place of his birth –
Bethlehem. But Jesus was raised in the town of Nazareth.
The little, traditionally Christian town of Bethlehem is
wracked this Christmas season with violence. There have been
dozens of news stories showing the way the city of David has
become a battleground between Yasser Arafat's Palestinian
Authority and Israeli troops.
But we haven't heard much of what is happening in Nazareth.
So let me fill you in.
During the past 30 months, a violent, Islamic fringe element
has occupied the central plaza in the town. This was a small
piece of real estate set aside by the city and the Israeli
government as open space in the congested town center. The
area was used primarily for loading and unloading of
Christian tourists and others who come from around the
world to visit the ancient remains of Jesus' home town and
the Basilica of the Annunciation.
The radical Muslims have constructed an illegal prayer tent
from which they taunt worshippers and ridicule the Christian
beliefs of those who visit Nazareth.
This group, which calls itself the Islamic Movement, has even
initiated physical attacks on tourists, proclaiming in
banners, "God has no son and Mohammed is his prophet."
Scores of Christian shops have been burned. Both Christians
and peace-loving Muslims have been intimidated and
terrorized by attacks and harassment.
But it gets worse. Within the last 30 days, the group has
moved the tent aside and begun excavating the foundation for
a permanent mosque on the site. Though they have no
property rights to the area, they are moving forward in a
highly provocative way to build an Islamic worship site
without a deed, without building permits, without any
controls, in total disregard for archaeological artifacts.
The local police do nothing for fear of sparking a violent
confrontation. Local residents wonder why the Christian
world and the Israeli authorities do nothing – why they don't
lift a finger or whisper a word of protest.
Israelis do nothing because Christians are a small minority
among the Arabs. They prefer not to create another flashpoint.
But if there were an outcry from the Christian world, there
is no question the Israelis would be forced to act – to
protect the tiny remnant of Christians who remain in the area.
I have written about this atrocity before, but the situation
is becoming more grave. The Muslim campaign in Nazareth is
part of an overall strategy to neutralize or eliminate
Christian sites and Christian believers from the Middle East.
Have you ever wondered why Christians are leaving the
Mideast in droves?
This is an example of what they face – every day.
The current Israeli government has shown that it only
responds to political pressure. And now the pressure must be
applied by the international Christian community. I believe
they will get plenty of support among the people of Israel
– if not instantly from government officials.
It's time for Christians and Jews in Israel to draw a line
in the sand by blocking this mosque. It's time for
Christians throughout the world to lend them support.
"But, Farah," you say, "What can we do?"
A new organization has been created to lead the fight –
side-by-side with the Vatican. It's called the International
Coalition of Christians and Jews for the Preservation of
Nazareth, headed by Ed McAteer, an evangelical with close
ties to the Jewish state.
McAteer sees the Muslim plan in Nazareth as simply part of
an overall strategy of Islamic hegemony in the Holy Land.
So, all you have to do to get involved is to write to the
International Coalition of Christians and Jews for the
Preservation of Nazareth and ask for a copy of the
petition to stop the construction of this mosque.
Do it today. Here's the address:
P.O. Box 11467, Memphis, TN 38120.
You should also protest Israeli inaction by calling and
faxing Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's office. The phone
number is 972-2-561-0076. The fax number is 972-2-566-4838.
If you prefer, you can contact an Israeli embassy.
You can e-mail the embassy in Washington by writing
washington@israel.org.
It's time to take a stand, Christians. Your brothers and
sisters in the Holy Land don't have the strength, the
resources or the voice.
Be their voice. Speak out. Lend them your support.
Joseph Farah is editor and chief executive officer of
WorldNetDaily.com and writes a daily column.
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6. QUOTES TO NOTE
"Arafat stayed in Ramallah not because he's a
Christian saint, but because he’s a Muslim terrorist."
Minister without portfolio Danny Naveh, to the Knesset on
December 26. He charged that the Tanzim raped a Christian girl
in Beit Jalla, in the framework of abusing the people of
Bethlehem and the surrounding area, and Arafat did nothing.
--------------------------------------------
"A "demilitarized" Palestinian state is one of the
great fantasies many Mideast peace-mongers, as well
as dope-smoking colleges sophomores, cling to for dear
life. Unfortunately, reality keeps intruding.
How are we to have a demilitarized state when we
already have a militarized autonomy (PA)?
Aaron Lerner - IMRA
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“When the Islamic world acquires atomic weapons,
the strategy of the West will hit a dead-end — since
the use of a single atomic bomb has the power to
destroy Israel completely, while it will only cause
partial damage to the Islamic world. The West’s
support for Israel is liable to bring about World
War III, which will be fought between those
believers who seek a martyr’s death, on the one hand,
and those who represent the epitome of arrogance, on
the other hand. The establishment of Israel is the
most hideous occurrence in history. The Islamic world
will not tolerate the continued existence of Israel
in the region and will vomit it out from its midst.”
—Excerpts of a 14 December speech by Akbar Hashem Rafsanjani,
Iran’s still powerful former president and head of Iran’s
expediency council, which sets the country’s foreign policy
[According to F.M. Shimon Peres, the speech “leaves no room for
any doubt as to Iran’s hatred of Israel and its declared goal
to destroy it”. The speech “clearly contradicts the Iranian
claim that its plans to acquire nuclear technologies are
designed only for peaceful purposed,” Peres stated in a
letter to UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan.](Reuters, Dec. 29)
-------------------------------------------
"A rattlesnake loose in the living room tends to
end all discussion of animal rights,"
Time magazine's Lance Morrow after the Sept. 11 attacks.
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7. FEATURE ARTICLES ON OUR SITE
PERES WANTS PALESTINE
"My proudest moment in my life was Oslo," he told the
Australia/Israel Review in June 1997. By the time he made
that statement, hundreds of graves already bore witness
to the truth: that instead of bringing peace to Israel,
Peres' agreement had let loose a whirlwind of bloodshed
and death on the war-ravaged people the foreign minister
calls his own.
http://christianactionforisrael.org/isreport/jan02/peres_wants.html
SO, YOU WANT ANOTHER PALESTINIAN STATE?
A State of Palestine will be the incubator for a level of
terror that will make Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda seem mild by
comparison. This will not only be the incubator for something
of terrible consequence but will be the last link in a chain
of Islamic nations dedicated to a world under strict Islamic
law, called "Shariah". (As practiced by the Taliban and
followed by Osama bin Laden of Saudi Wahhabism.)
http://christianactionforisrael.org/isreport/dec01/another.html
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