The JTF.org newsroom is updated daily. Check back often for the latest breaking news stories and coverage.
 - B. Hussein Coddling The Taliban And Other Terror Regimes

- B. Hussein Addresses His Anti-American Base

- Obama Signs Executive Order Allowing Mass Fakestinian Immigration To The U.S.
Update:
Here is what reader Judy posted in the comments:
Please note the automatically generated link to the blog I write for, Refugee Resettlement Watch. It is to my post, <a href=Hamas members are NOT flooding into the US from Gaza. This presidential determination is about sending aid to Gaza, NOT Gazans coming here. Migration is not [...]
- You Just Might Be A Liberal Jew If…
Via Zionist Conspiracy
Hat tip: Xoce
1. If you spend more time worrying about whales and dolphins than about Jews, then you just might be an assimilated Jewish liberal.
2. If you think that the essence of Jewish ethics is supporting the political agenda of the left wing of the Democratic Party, then you just might be an [...]
- JTF’s Newest Video–B. Hussein Wants To Destroy Israel

- Obama Urges Israel To Open Gaza Borders
I doubt this news will affect any of the millions of stupid liberal Jews who voted for Obama. After all, liberal Jews are notorious for caring about every other cause under the sun except for the plight of their fellow Jews, and the Jewish state. Liberalism is their true religion, and they’ve twisted [...]
- Meet Obama’s Middle East Envoy
B. Hussein has surrounded himself with yet another Arab who is hostile to Israel. In the case of former Senator George Mitchell, he’s only half Arab, as his mother was a Lebanese immigrant. But the the hatred of Israel is there nonetheless.
To refresh the memory of the reader: In late October, [...]
- New JTF Video–How Arabs Teach Their Children To Kill
This video was made by JTF member 4International. It’s approximately ten minutes long.

- Obama Inaugural Prayer Speaker Heads Up Group Linked To Hamas
Meet Ingrid Mattson, the first female head of the Islamic Society of North America. She’ll be one of the religious leaders speaking at Obama’s inaugural prayer service. Just to refresh your memory, ISNA was one of the unindicted co-conspirators in the Holy Land Foundation case.
Mattson’s group calls itself “the largest Muslim umbrella [...]
- Gaza Offensive By Israel To Stop?
I knew this would happen. After enough whining from the United (with Terrorists) Nations, the European Union, and the Muslim terrorist loving news media, the Israeli government is saying its Gaza offensive could be in the “final act.”
Now I’m just an average person, but can someone please explain to me how broadcasting your intentions [...]
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- Upcoming Manhattan Tea Parties
I’ve been asked about upcoming Manhattan tea parties. So here’s what I found. (Hat tip: Dan Maloney, Gathering of Eagles)
July 1 Tea Party
Where: Times Square
When: Wednesday, July 1, 2009, 6:30pm to 8pm
Speakers include: Stephen Baldwin, Margaret Hoover, K.T. McFarland, Andrew Wilkow, Kevin McCullough, Nick Rizzutto, Kellen Guida, David Webb and more.
I’ve also [...]
- How To Weed Out Terrorists
Hat tip: Psychoboyinla
Don’t forget to mark your calenders.
As you may already know, it is a sin for a radical Muslim male to see any
woman other than his wife naked. He must commit suicide if he does. So next Saturday at 4 PM Eastern Time, all American women are asked to walk out of their house [...]
- It’s Almost Over
From The Violence Worker
Almost 233 years ago, this country was born. It was a grand experiment that said that the state was subordinate to the people. The state was there to provide for the common defense and protection, but the citizens decided how much and when. Liberty and freedom were ours to [...]
- Judge Sonia Sotomayor–Disenfranchising Felons Is“Racist”
I’m not surprised that Barack Obama’s candidate for the position Supreme Court Justice has described her success as a product of affirmative action. Also, I’m sure you all remember how she openly stated that with the “richness” of her Latina heritage, she would make better decisions than white men.
So I don’t think [...]
- On The Riots In Tehran
If any of you have been following the news coming out of Iran via the mainstream media, you would think that the Iranians have become sick and tired of having their country run by Islamo nutter terrorists, and that they yearn for a U.S. style democracy. (America is a republic, not a democracy, but [...]
- One Less Pedophile In The World
Michael Jackson has died.
Related Posts:I Hope This Shuts the Rabid Mobs Up!Breaking News -- Saddam Hussein ExecutedTony Snow Name White House Press SecretaryTeddy Bear Jihad UpdateNew Orleans Police in the News Again
- R.I.P. Farrah Fawcett
Farrah Fawcett, one of the original “Charlie’s Angels,” has died today of rectal cancer at the age of 62.
Here’s how most of you, no doubt, will remember her.
Related Posts:International A.N.S.W.E.R. ProtestObama Thugs Vandalize Property Of McCain SupporterMy Run-In With A Police Office At The Pro-Hamas RallyObama Threw His Nose Under The BusProof [...]
- Caption This!
Related Posts:International A.N.S.W.E.R. ProtestObama Thugs Vandalize Property Of McCain SupporterMichelle Obama's Latest Outlandish OutfitWhat The Hell Is Michelle Obama Wearing?My Run-In With A Police Office At The Pro-Hamas Rally
- Michelle Obama’s Latest Outlandish Outfit
To say the least, this outfit is very un-First Lady like. But what do you guys think?
Related Posts:Michelle Obama's Inauguration DressWhat The Hell Is Michelle Obama Wearing?Michelle Obama On The Cover Of VogueMichelle Obama, Then And NowInternational A.N.S.W.E.R. Protest
- Kosher Catered Bar Mitzvah Bash In A Manhattan Jail
This lavish affair was held in a prison in lower Manhattan with 60 invited guests and live music.
The inmate, Tuvia Stern, a former fugitive who was facing charges that he stole $1.7 million, held the six-hour kosher-catered party in December in the gymnasium of the Manhattan Detention Complex, apparently with the knowledge of [...]
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 - Oldest Book in the Bible Explored! Who Was Job?
The Tovia Singer Show
Renowned lecturer on Tanach, David Solomon, delves into the traumatic live of Job, one of the most stunning and perplexing characters in Tanach. What was his life’s message? Did Job ever exist? (www.inonehour.net)
- 'Not a Single Jewish Home Without Obama's OK'
The Tovia Singer Show
Aaron Klein,WorldNetDaily's Jerusalem bureau chief and author of "The Late Great State of Israel,” reports that no Jewish home will be built in the strategic area of Judea, Samaria or East Jerusalem without approval of the Obama administration and the Palestinians. Also, investigative journalist Lee Kaplan reports that while Israel demonstrated some common sense when the IDF navy boarded the latest ISM boat sailing from Cyprus to Gaza, he demands an answer as to why Huwaida Arraf, founder of the ISM and perhaps the most renowned pro-terror activist, is untouchable by the Israeli justice system. (www.StopTheISM.com)
Discuss this topic in the newForums Section
- ParashatBalaq
Torah Tidbits Audio
And the children of Israel journeyed, and pitched in the plains of Moab beyond the Jordan at Jericho. And Balak the son of Zippor saw all that Israel had done to the Amorites. And Moab was sore afraid of the people, because they were many; and Moab was overcome with dread because of the children of Israel. And Moab said unto the elders of Midian: 'Now will this multitude lick up all that is round about us, as the ox licketh up the grass of the field.'--And Balak the son of Zippor was king of Moab at that time.-- And he sent messengers unto Balaam the son of Beor, to Pethor, which is by the River, to the land of the children of his people, to call him, saying: 'Behold, there is a people come out from Egypt; behold, they cover the face of the earth, and they abide over against me...
Discuss this topic on the newTorah Spirituality for the Nations forum
- Surprise! Dovid and Go'el Call Ron On the Air
Aliyah Revolution
Dovid and Go'el call Ron On the Air... even though Ron doesn't want anyone to know he's making aliyah. Not yet at least.
Discuss this topic in the newForums Section
- Synagogue and Idolaters
Yishai Fleisher and Friends
Ben Bresky interviews the visiting group from Park Synagogue in Cleveland, Ohio led by Gadi Galili and discusses what the average Jewish American feels about visiting Israel during the economic downturn.
Then, volcanoes and blood - Idolatry is alive and well in Italy.
Discuss this topic in the newForums Section
- Angela Merk-Hell
Yishai Fleisher and Friends
Why does Yishai have such disdain for Angela Merkel?Why does he foam at the mouth when speaking of her?Rabbi Yaakov Moshe Poupko marries off a son and glows as he speaks words of Torah. Then Yishai and Malkah read your emails including Nixon detractors, Noahides, and almost-immigrants to Israel.
Discuss this topic in the newForums Section
- Cancer Catcher
Yishai Fleisher and Friends
Dr. David Sidransky is the Director of the Head and Neck Cancer Research Division at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and Professor of Oncology there. He's one of the most highly cited researchers and was named to Time's list of top-5 world scientists. He joins Yishai and Malkah in the Beit El studios to talk about the future of cancer treatment. But first, why do some rabbis tell their congregants and followers not to make Aliyah?
Discuss this topic in the newForums Section
- Unlikely Author Explores Judaism in Contrast to other Religions
The Tovia Singer Show
Aaron Minsky is not the typical author one would expect to find for a groundbreaking book such as“Beyond Faith.” He is the world-renowned rock cello innovator “Von Cello” raised in the Reform movement where he discovered that there was a much stronger rationale behind traditional Judaism than he had ever imagined. (http://www.beyondfaithbyaaronminsky.com;http://www.voncello.com.) His unique musical path earned him inclusion in Who’s Who in America, and the International Who’s Who. How then is he qualified to write a book on religion?Along with music, Minsky’s passion has always been the study of religion, especially Judaism. He approaches both subjects with the same intellectual curiosity, humor, and zeal.
Discuss this topic in the newForums Section
- ‘Jerusalem Must be Ceded to Gentiles’
The Tovia Singer Show
In this volatile broadcast Singer rants over prominent Washingtonthinktank which insists non-Jews govern Jerusalem instead of Israel.
Discuss this topic in the newForums Section
- Listener’s Probing Questions Addressed on Air!
The Tovia Singer Show
Fascinating broadcast as co-hosts Jeremy Gimpel and Tovia Singer field intriguing spiritual questions from a worldwide audience.
Discuss this topic in the newForums Section
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- I visited the White House and all I got ...
'Where's the birth certificate?' postcards available now
- It's witchcraft! Harry Potterpushing same-sex marriage
Dumbledore's 'social change' agendateaches foreign policy 'friendship'
- Top tea party speech chosen
Read winning address urging rebellion against Chains of Tyranny
- He's back! Guess who's coming to tea parties ...
Find out which popular patriot is helping take America back this Independence Day
- Economic stimulus? Shop the 'Tea Party Store'
The place to go for all your patriot signage needs
- 'Liberty and Tyranny' - $4.95 this weekend only!
Save $20 on No. 1 New York Times best seller by Mark Levin
- 'DON'T TREAD ON ME'
Rebellion in America's Heartland
- Muslims attack fleeing Christians with acid
9 women, 4 children injured by rampage
- North Korea threatens foreign Christians
Warns of 'something bad' for group that sent Gospel via fax
- Christian workers retrenching after aid worker slain
Funeral services held for Leggett as Mauritania danger pegged at high
- Holder 'conflict' cited in eligibility case
Lawyer says attorney general must enforce Constitution
- See how many support prez eligibility bill now
Proposed law would require proof of future White House candidates
- eBay seller claims certified Kenya birth certificate
Says copy sports embossed seal, signature of physician
- Start your own eligibility billboard campaign
Yard signs that ask: 'Where's the birth certificate?'
- Check out latest eligibility billboard location
See 'birth certificate' campaign that revived debate nationwide
- The ad campaign that revived eligibility debate
See the impact of 'birth certificate' billboards nationwide
- $10,000 bounty for any witness to Obama's birth
Editor encourages readers to help him up the ante
- What's the difference?
Compare 'long-form' Hawaiian birth certificate with Obama's
- Americans vote with wallets to see Obama documents
$75K already given to 'truth and transparency' billboard campaign
- Is Obama constitutionally eligible to serve?
WND's complete archive of news reports on the issue
- Shocker! Palin steps down as Alaska governor
Republican VP candidate won't complete 1st term
- Warning: American Gestapo ahead
Exclusive: Henry Lamb tells of Dem plan for feds to suppress 'unlawful assemblies'
- GOP's Crist told to pick judge from all-white list
Court ruling impacts racial quotas in Florida
- Happy 4th! 'Finest American freedom video' – $4.95 today!
Save $20! 'A Nation Adrift' masterfully chronicles U.S. history from Columbus to present
- Flags? Where else? Go to WNDFLAGS.com
Beautiful new Stars 'n' Stripes entries just in time for July 4
- Go crazy! Express yourself!
Explore whole line of WND's specialized removable bumper stickers
- NYC forced to honor Islam on Sept. 11?
Resolution backed by CAIR urges closing schools on Muslim holidays
- America soon to crumble to 'The Third Jihad'?
'We all know about terrorism. This is the war you don't know about'
- Texas trying to save 'NAFTA Superhighway'?
Gov. Perry calls special legislative session on transportation
- Holder: 'Gays' protected, ministers not
Attorney general's testimony on 'hate crimes'
- Senators get 705,000-plus letters opposing 'hate crimes'
Source: 'Bill has become much more controversial as a result'
- Private lawyers to defend California constitution
Federal judge's ruling comes after attorney general abandons fight
- News agencies gagging 'gay' factor in boy's rape
But coverage beyond bonkers for fake Duke lacrosse assault
- 'Prosecute,' Gibbs advises
Question raised over 'gay' rape case
- Very important open letter to WND readers
Managing Editor David Kupelian takes on XXX-rated press corps
- Have you been waiting for WND TV, WND Radio?
News, commentary, satire, talk shows – all in 1 location
- Illegals to kill Obama health plan?
Immigration problem threatens administration's medical care 'reform'
- What should be done about health care?
Here's your chance to propose an alternative to Barack Obama's plan
- Idea whose time has come? Declaration of liberty
Michael Farris launches declaration to unite believers in freedom, morality
- Oliver North joins commentators
Best-selling author, combat-decorated Marine now featured weekly
- Did you miss us?
Click for recap of latest WorldNetDaily stories
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 - Israeli sub said armed with nuclear-capable torpedoes navigates Suez Canal
The Dolphin-class attack submarine is reported to be the first Israeli naval vessel to transit the Suez Canal in four years on its way from Haifa to Eilat last month. According toDEBKAfile's military sources, the move indicates a strengthening of the informal Israel-Egyptian-Saudi pact forged in recent months against Iran and first revealed by our sources. According to foreign military sources, the Israeli Dolphins are armed with torpedo tubes capable of launching nuclear-capable cruise missiles.
- Big gaps, no answers, in Airbus company disaster findings
The information offered by senior investigator Alan Bouillard on July 2, one month after Air France Rio-Paris flight 447 plunged into the Atlantic killing all 228 people aboard indicates either that the inquiry is stumped or that information is being withheld. American aviation experts ask many questions, including: How could the investigators be sure without examining the bodies that the Airbus broke up only when it slapped down on the water? All the remains are held by the Brazilian authorities who refuse to give France their autopsy findings.
- First US soldier captured in E. Afghanistan as US Marines launch big anti-Taliban in the south
The US military spokesperson provided no details about the missing US soldier, the first abduction in America's eight-year Afghan war, except to say that he went missing Tuesday, June 30.DEBKAfile's military sources report that big US air bases are located between Herat in the east and the Iranian border. News of the capture broke after 4,000 US marines and 650 Afghan troops launched Operation Strike of the Sword against the Taliban heartland in Helmand province, southern Afghanistan.
- US commander warns: Iran continues to back violence in Iraq
Parties, processions, a parade in the fortified Green Zone seat of government and embassies, and prime minister Nuri al-Malikii's proclamation of June 30 National Sovereignty Day celebrated the US military's handover of towns and cities to Iraqi security personnel on the way to a full withdrawal by the end of 2011. YetDEBKAfile's military sources stress that unresolved tensions among Shiites, Sunnis and Kurds still simmer and may erupt after the withdrawal of 130,000 US troops to 39 remote rural bases - nowhere near on hand for emergencies.
- DEBKA-Net-Weekly reveals: Iran and Israel eye war options
Iran and Israel are each thinking about using the fallout of the domestic unrest in Tehran for attacking the other: Iran to flex muscle, Israel to strike a looming nuclear menace. In its next issue out Friday,DEBKA-Net-Weeklyweighs the chances of a clash, discloses how the Obama administration plans to hold the two back from a major conflagration. To subscribe toDEBKA-Net-WeeklyclickHERE.
- The changing Mossad: Frontrunner for next director is former Air Force chief
The Israeli government's decision Sunday, June 28, to extend Meir Dagan's service as director of Israel's external intelligence service, the Mossad, until the end of 2010 raised some dust in political circles - especially after his deputy resigned in a huff over the long wait for his turn at the helm. AsDEBKA-Net-Weekly396revealed on May 15 this year, prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu mad this the decision last May for the sake of an orderly transition. To subscribe toDEBKA-Net-WeeklyclickHERE.
- How Iranian intelligence turned the Internet against opposition
Iran's opposition leaders relied heavily on YouTube, Twitter, Facebook, Flickr and other social sites to orchestrate their street rallies and expose regime repression. They did not appreciate at first that Iranian intelligence Internet experts were manipulating their electronic communications to shoot them down. The United States has been alerted to seek new cyber defense systems to fight massive Internet invasions like the one Iran mounted to suppress its protest movement. Read more about Iran's cyber war methods inDEBKAfileExclusive Report below.
- Washington: Weakened Ahmadinejad may seek military adventures
Two fundamental conceptions underpinning the Obama administration's Middle East policies have been swept away by the upheaval in Iran: the principle of nuclear negotiations with Iran and the premise that progress on the Palestinian peace front is the key to a US breakthrough with Iran. Sunday, June 28, Washington observers familiar with White House thinking cited insiders as speculating that Binyamin Netanyahu's government is too weak to survive defying the US over the settlements. If it did, Netanyahu would fall and Ehud Barak take over.
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 - Caroline Glick Israel's democratic challenge
Column One: Israel's democratic challenge Caroline Glick , THE JERUSALEM POST Jul. 3, 2009 www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1246443708031&pagename=JPArticle%2FShowFull It works out that retired Supreme Court president Aharon Barak - the man who shaped Israel's judiciary in his own image - doesn't care much for Jews. In a speech last Thursday sponsored by the post-Zionist New Israel Fund, Barak said, "If you ask a Jew whether he supports equality with the Arabs, he will say: 'Certainly.' And if you ask if he supports kicking all the Arabs out of here, he will say: 'Certainly.' He sees no contradiction between the two." After denouncing Jews as stupid racists, Barak went on to explain that in his years on the bench, as his anti-Jewish views developed, he gradually abandoned his legal duty to ground his judgments in Israeli law. Instead, he engaged in a free-wheeling dispensation of justice in accordance with his radical political views. As he put it, "I remember the problems that were brought before me in my 20 years as a judge, when my line of thought was always administrative: How much power do the administrative bodies in the territories have? With time, as my knowledge of international law increased, my outlook began to change. Instead of talking about what is allowed and what is forbidden for Israeli forces, I thought about the rights of the people there: what rights they deserve." So by his own admission, during his years on the court, Barak determined what "rights" the Palestinians "deserve," unfettered by annoying inconveniences like the pretense of law or the normal legal boundaries that inform the decisions of a state governed by the rule of law. It was due to his open contempt for Israeli democracy that under his judicial leadership the country was effectively transformed from a parliamentary democracy governed by law into a judicial tyranny governed by the preferences and prejudices of a fraternity of lawyers that Barak empowered to adjudicate permissible behavior on the basis of their shared radical political preferences. Barak's bigoted castigation of Jews in his speech raised a storm of public protest. Unfortunately, the far greater danger exposed by his elucidation of his extra-legal judicial philosophy was largely overlooked. This is troubling because on a national level, it is much more important for Israel to roll back Barak's anti-democratic judicial revolution than to condemn his personal bigotry. OUR ELECTED officials took an important first step in this direction last month by electing MK Uri Ariel to serve on the Judicial Selections Committee responsible for appointing judges. Ariel's election by his Knesset colleagues marked the first time in a generation that the radical judicial activists loyal to Barak comprise the minority of committee members. That is, Ariel's election opened the door to the appointment of non-radical judges who believe that court judgments should be based on laws, not on political and social agendas. Now, in the aftermath of Barak's speech, the Netanyahu government and the Knesset should present Ariel's election as a first step in an overall policy of reforming the judiciary and the State Prosecution. Specifically, the Knesset should pass legislation reinstating checks and balances on the Supreme Court that Barak removed through judicial fiat as court president. These checks and balances must bar the court from cancelling legally promulgated laws, and block it from using its role as the High Court of Justice to dictate government policy. Beyond that, the government and the Knesset should pass legislation ending the current untenable situation in which the government and the Knesset are denied legal counsel because they have become the servants rather than the masters of their legal advisers. Over the past decade, coerced by the court and its servile media, the government and the Knesset have been barred from appointing the attorney-general and the Knesset's legal adviser. Instead these officials are appointed by civil service commissions controlled by retired Supreme Court justices and are consequently informally subordinate to the Supreme Court, rather than to the elected officials they are supposed to be serving. This must end. Throughout Barak's tenure as Supreme Court president, he enjoyed unconditional support from the media. Israel's court reporters and their bosses renounced their primary journalistic duty to act as democracy's watchdog in favor of behaving as Barak's guard dog against all who would question the democratic, normative and legal bases of his actions on the court. For over a decade on a near daily basis, Barak's media servants castigated critics of his rulings as "anti-democratic," or "racists," or "anti-human rights," or "politically motivated." Rather than facilitate public debate, these compliant media leaders prevented discussion of Barak's actions and in so doing, assisted him in weakening the foundations of Israeli democracy still further. Now, in the aftermath of his anti-Semitic broadside, some of these media figures are upset with Barak. But even as they condemn him for his anti-Semitism, these same lap dogs continue to guard his judicial record from scrutiny. Case in point is former Haaretz and Globes editor Mati Golan. In an opinion column published in Globes titled, "Aharon Barak's blood libel," Golan condemned Barak for his views of Jews. But Golan's issues with Barak's statements do more to expose the problem with Golan's type of journalism than the problem with Barak's professional record. Golan warned that by leaving the proverbial closet and exposing himself as a Jew-hater, Barak did the unthinkable. He caused "people to begin to wonder: Is this the man, the genius, the prodigy whose judgments are a candle lighting the paths of all courts? Should this candle continue to guide legal judgments or should it be snuffed out?" Golan concluded that in the future, Barak should keep his big mouth shut. Golan's excoriation of Barak was highly manipulative. He used his criticism of one aspect of Barak's talk to squelch discussion of a more troubling aspect of Barak's talk. This media two-step is the stock-in-trade of Israel's media elite, which like Barak's court system, is a closed circle of self-promoted brethren marked by ideological uniformity and anti-democratic radicalism. Although Golan is no longer among the leaders of this media fraternity - which since the 1980s has developed in parallel to Barak's legal fraternity - his record is notable for his occasional willingness to expose its prejudices, much as Barak exposed the rationale for his anti-legal judicial legacy last Thursday. What Golan's record shows among other things is that the source of his anger at Barak's anti-Semitism stemmed from Barak's lack of discrimination between "good Jews," and "bad Jews." Golan made his own - more selective - anti-Semitism clear in an article he published in The Jerusalem Post in March 2005. There he explained that from his perspective, religious Jews cannot reasonably expect the protections afforded to other citizens of a democracy, because they are religious Jews. As he put it, "Religion and democracy simply do not go together. Democracy requires an open mind, freedom of choice, the ability to criticize. Religion on the other hand is based on virtually blind obedience to its priests. What some in the religious settler population want is to eat their democratic cake and, as believers, have their anti-democratic one, too." Here, not only did Golan expose his ignorance of basic Judaism - a religion founded on deliberation, debate and rebellion against arbitrary power - he demonstrated his illiberal support for authoritarian governance against his political foes. Like Barak, Golan is comfortable with a regime that prejudicially discards the legal rights of one group in favor of the imagined extra-legal rights of another group. GOLAN'S SELECTIVE anger at Barak points to a second area of Israeli public life in dire need of expansive reform: The media. Today, Israel's Byzantine media regulatory system places massive, non-economic bars on entry of new actors into the electronic media market. These obstacles prevent reliable dissemination of news and information to the public and make it all but impossible for competition to arise in the war of ideas. For instance, to receive a radio license, new stations must agree to broadcast the hourly news updates produced by either by the ideologically uniform Israel Radio or by the ideologically uniform Army Radio. That is, by law, radio operators are effectively barred from producing their own news and compelled to maintain the media fraternity's monopoly on news reportage and information dissemination. For the past 20 years, the media fraternity's rigid ideological uniformity has been enabled by over-regulation and maintained through incestuous self-promotion and replication of news gathering models and news line-ups across the newspaper, radio and television spectrum. Like the legal fraternity it protects and supports, the media fraternity has used its power to successfully bar elected officials from setting the national agenda in line with the wishes of the public as expressed at the ballot box. For instance, from the onset of the Oslo process with the PLO until Yitzhak Rabin was assassinated, the Rabin-Peres government never enjoyed a majority of public support for its controversial appeasement policy. But the media blocked all public debate by silencing Oslo's critics as enemies of peace and warmongers. The situation only deteriorated after Rabin's murder. The same was the case with the controversial - and disastrous - withdrawals from Lebanon and Gaza. The media has similarly blocked debate of government economic liberalization policies, and educational reform policies. The story is always the same. Any policy that weakens the position of unelected officials in favor of elected officials is wrong and must be blocked. By smothering debate and manipulating the flow of information, the media have for decades eroded Israeli democracy and diminished the importance of the public's franchise by weakening the ability of our elected leaders to serve our wishes as we express them when we vote. During his first tenure as prime minister, Binyamin Netanyahu attempted to deregulate the electronic media in order to facilitate competition in the war of ideas. His efforts were stymied at the time by his own political weakness and by an ad hoc coalition of the religious Right and the secular Left which banded together to prevent the free market from endangering their existing media organs. Once Netanyahu's attempt was scuttled, the Left wasted no time in using Barak's court to remove the religious Right from the airwaves altogether. Today, Netanyahu is stronger, and due to the Internet, the media is notably weaker. The time has come to reinstate his proposed reforms from a decade ago. Television and radio waves should be deregulated. The only bar to entry should be the ability to pay for a broadcast license. The only determinant of success should be a station's ability to survive financially. Israel today faces massive threats to its security, its economic viability and its national character. To successfully lead Israel though its current predicament, our politicians need the powers and protections of a properly functioning democracy governed by the rule of law - and not by radicalized lawyers and journalists. It is time for Netanyahu, his government and the Knesset to seize the moment and reinvigorate Israeli democracy. caroline@carolineglick.com
- PA: Arrested Hamas activists planned to assassinate Abbas
PA: Arrested Hamas activists planned to assassinate Abbas By Avi Issacharoff Haaretz Last update - 03:21 03/07/2009 www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1097504.html Hamas activists arrested by the Palestinian Authority have admitted to tracking the movements of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and to gathering intelligence on his security, PA sources told Haaretz. Their motive clearly was to assassinate Abbas, the sources said. "Hamas' intention was to scuttle the reconciliation talks [between Hamas and Fatah] in Cairo and to create chaos in the West Bank, in contrast to the sense of security that has characterized the territory for the past two years," Fatah spokesman Fahmi Zarir told Haaretz. Palestinian Authority Secretary Taib Abd-Arahim had said Monday amid the Cairo talks that Palestinian security forces had arrested 10 Hamas members planning to attack PA institutions. The detainees admitted they were planning to assassinate several senior Palestinian Authority officials on July 1, in order to halt the conciliation talks, he said. Now, new details have now emerged about the plot: The Hamas activists were caught with weapons, maps and photos of senior Palestinian officers. The photos and maps indicated the cell was conducting surveillance on Abbas himself. Sources say Palestinian security forces have detailed confessions in which the suspects acknowledged planning to assassinate several PA officials and stated they were observing Abbas' movements. PA sources say their motive was clear: to assassinate Abbas. The cell had three to five members, between the ages of 25 and 30. A spokesman for Hamas' military wing has denied the allegations. However, if they are true, this is evidence not only of Hamas' intention to scuttle reconciliation with Fatah, but also to stage a coup of sorts against the Palestinian Authority. Reports suggest Hamas' military wing has an extremist agenda, but Hamas' political leadership in the west bank is thought not to have been aware of the plot.
- 18 year old Palestinian mother abused at home tries to get IDF soldier to kill her
Palestinian woman wounded by IDF fire JPost.com Staff , THE JERUSALEM POST Jul. 3, 2009 www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1246443709870&pagename=JPArticle%2FShowFull A Palestinian woman carrying a suspicious object was moderately wounded by IDF fire on Friday morning near the Bekaot checkpoint in the Jordan Valley, north of Jericho. The soldiers shot at the woman's lower body after shooting in the air and after she did not heed their calls to stop advancing towards them, the military said. After the woman was shot, the soldiers discovered she was carrying a toy gun. She was evacuated to Haemek Hospital in Afula in moderate condition. An officer of the Civil Administration who interrogated the wounded woman asked her why she acted in the way she did. She showed him bruise marks on her hands and said she wanted to kill herself after having been abused in her house. The woman is an 18-year-old, married with a child. The IDF said troops at the checkpoint acted according to protocol. Three years ago, a gunman shot and killed an IDF soldier at the same checkpoint. IDF soldier St.-Sgt. Ro'i Farjun was killed at there in August 2006, after a Palestinian opened fire at him. Troops returned fire, killing the gunman.
- Waqf: Israeli intelligence enter Al-Aqsa disguised as tourists
Israeli intelligence enter Al-Aqsa disguised as tourists Date: 03 / 07 / 2009 Time: 09:55 www.maannews.net/en/index.php?opr=ShowDetails&ID=38986 Jerusalem - Ma'an - A group of Israeli intelligence forces disguised as tourists entered the Haram Ash-Sharif in Jerusalem Friday, the Al-Aqsa organization for Waqf and Heritage claimed. The Haram, or sacred compound, holds the Dome of the Rock and Al-Aqsa Mosque, and was entered by what the Waqf foundation claimed were disguised intelligence officers taking photos of several sites in the compound. The organization said it documented the invasion of the holy site on a video camera. When the disguised intelligence unit realized they were being filmed, the organization said, their police detained Waqf journalist Mahmoud Abu Atta for four hours. Atta was investigated and his camera memory card confiscated before he was released, the foundation said.
- Excerpts:Jordan's new Crown Prince. Saudi sacks mosque sermonizers for 'extremist thought', etc.Update on Iran.Jordan Times excludes Jews from item on interfaith conference.Jordan's new Crown Prince. Saudi sacks mosque sermonizers for 'extremist thought',
Excerpts:Jordan's new Crown Prince.Saudi sacks mosque sermonizers for 'extremist thought', etc.Update on Iran.Jordan Times excludes Jews from item on interfaith conference.Jordan's new Crown Prince. Saudi sacks mosque sermonizers for 'extremist thought', etc.Lebanon needs guarantees from Syria (dismantle Palestinian bases, demarc border). Assets frozen of 'foreign terrorist outfit'.Syria's demands on Lebanon 3 July 2009 +++Mosque sackings for 'extremist thought' and 'negligence' By Naeem Tameem Al-Kaheem FULL TEXTJEDDAH - The Chairman of the Imams and Khateebs Assessment Committee at the Ministry of Islamic Affairs, Azzam Al-Shuway'er, has said that a number of imams and khateebs (persons who give Friday sermons) have been dismissed from their positions citing as reasons "extremist thought, illness and negligence of mosques". Al-Shuway'er described the dismissal of khateebs as "not easy", requiring numerous approvals and procedures. "Field committees first file a request to Shariah committees at the ministry where it is then passed on to a higher committee," Al-Shuway'er said. "A sacking has to be approved at all of these three stages." +++THE DAILY STAR Lebanon) 3 July '09:"Iran's leaders fear their own people most"By Shaazka Beyerle SUBJECT: Update on Iran QUOTE: "Iran's rulers may generate conspiracy theories about 'a velvet revolution staged by foreigners', but in reality it is their own legacy and people they fear" FULL TEXT:On Monday(29 June) something surprising happened in Iran. It wasn't the Guardian Council's certifying the results of the June 12 presidential election - the questionable victory of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad over Mir Hossein Mousavi. It wasn't that thousands of people took to the streets even though electricity, landline and mobile phone connections were cut. Nor was it that security forces were out en masse. It was that citizens confounded the authorities with dispersed actions. According to Roozonline, rather than concentrating in one place, groups formed across Tehran - "something that government agents did not expect, and so [they] did not know how to respond ..." Civil resistance is more than huge demonstrations. People power is expressed through the sustained, strategic use of noncooperation, civil disobedience, mass actions, strikes, boycotts, social networking, and over 200 nonviolent tactics designed to win popular support, shake-up the status quo, and weaken the oppressor's sources of control. The Mahatma Gandhi once pointed out, "Even the most powerful cannot rule without the cooperation of the ruled." Iran's clerics depend on people to carry out their orders - to run the country and to suppress. Nonviolent movements succeed not necessarily when there are masses on the streets, but when a large enough number of citizens withdraws its cooperation from the system, disobeys and disrupts, thereby dissolving the power of the oppressors and undermining their rule. . . .Reports indicate that Iranians are indeed engaging in low-risk mass actions, such as turning on car headlights and, apparently, writing slogans on money and standing in front of security forces holding the Koran. The nightly rooftop calls of "Allahu Akbar" are increasing by the day, and people are wearing black both as a symbol of defiance and as a sign of mourning for dead protesters. Last week, Mousavi urged citizens to walk about the bazaars but refrain from buying. A report in The Los Angeles Times says that "commerce has slowed to a trickle" in the grand bazaar, which normally would be at its busiest as Ramadan approaches. Second, as in past cases, a campaign to win over parts of the security forces may be pivotal. According to Iranian analyst Afshin Molavi, "the Basiji volunteer militia ... [is] not monolithic." The Revolutionary Guard's Tehran chief was detained, and 16 Guard members were apparently arrested after disobeying orders to shoot protesters. If these reports are correct, they are signs of the regime's growing weakness. Finally, nonviolent discipline must be maintained. Only nonviolent methods can enlist the active participation of citizens, spur defections, and encourage disobedience among those carrying out the oppressors' orders. Moreover, nonviolent discipline denies oppressors the excuse to crack down, so when they do, as is happening in Iran, they lose credibility among their own supporters. There are growing rifts in the ruling establishment. Pro-reform clerics have expressed anger and Grand Ayatollahs Yousof Sanei and Hossein-Ali Montazeri have called Ahmadinejad's government illegitimate. Faezeh Rafsanjani, the daughter of the former president, Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, openly backs Mousavi. Her father, who chairs the Assembly of Experts, is attempting to consolidate support to remove Ayatollah Ali Khamenei as the supreme leader, and replace his position with a small committee of senior ayatollahs. Iran's Parliament speaker, Ali Larijani, has announced that he wants to set up a parliamentary committee to examine the recent post-election violence in an "evenhanded way." Ayatollah Abdul-Karim Mousavi Ardebili stated that "people's protests should not be silenced through the use of force." On top of this, around a hundred parliamentarians snubbed Ahmadinejad's victory dinner. If these rifts widen, the system could begin breaking apart. The Nobel laureate, Thomas Schelling, wrote 30 years ago that nonviolent actions can deny oppressors what they need, including money, food, supplies and manpower. From this perspective, can the Iranian regime indefinitely cut electricity, phone links and internet without hurting its own interests? Even attempts to demobilize the popular movement have costs. Moreover, coercion isn't cheap. It requires huge sums to feed, transport and arm security forces, as well as to maintain the loyalty of the inner circles and top commanders in the state. During the "people power" revolution in the Philippines, the public withdrew its money from banks associated with the Marcos dictatorship and stopped paying utility bills. Will Iranians invent their own low-risk disruptions? Iranians can draw upon their own rich history of nonviolence, spanning over a century, for inspiration, including the 1979 Islamic Revolution that ended the brutal rule of Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi. Iran's rulers may generate conspiracy theories about a "velvet revolution staged by foreigners," but in reality, it's their own legacy and people they fear. *Shaazka Beyerle is a senior adviser with the International Center on Nonviolent Conflict, +++JORDAN TIMES 3 July '09:"Kingdom's interfaith efforts highlighted in Kazakhstan"By Hani Hazaimeh FULL TEXT: AMMAN - Jordan's history of interfaith dialogue took centre stage as dozens of religious leaders gathered on Thursday in Kazakhstan. Deputising for His Majesty King Abdullah at the Third Congress of the Leaders of World and Traditional Religions, which opened in the Kazakhstani capital Astana on Wednesday(1jULY), Director of the Royal Al al Bayt Foundation for Islamic Thought Saeed Hijjawi underlined the Amman Message, the Common Word Initiative and the recent visit of Pope Benedict XVI to the Kingdom as some of the many steps Jordan has taken to improve interfaith relations. In his address, titled, "The Virtue of Tolerance and the Recognition of Differences", he underlined the Kingdom's role in support of dialogue among civilisations. "Jordan has been keen to highlight the true image of Islam out of its spiritual and historical responsibility," Hijjawi said, stressing that King Abdullah's efforts in this regard have contributed to the increasing global respect of Islam. The Amman Message, which was launched in November 2004 and translated into several key languages, seeks to reveal a message of tolerance and humanity and rejects extremism as a deviation from Islamic beliefs. It stresses the true values of Islam and advocates a proper understanding of the faith, which honours all human beings and provides common ground among different faiths and peoples. Meanwhile, the Common Word Initiative seeks to provide common ground for several organisations and individuals working in the area of interfaith dialogue around the world. The initiative was launched on October 13, 2007 as an open letter signed by 138 leading Muslim scholars and intellectuals (including such figures as the grand muftis of Egypt, Syria and Jordan) to the leaders of Christian churches and denominations all over the world.[IMRA: No Jewish clerics?] The Astana conference, which was initiated by Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev, saw the participation of representatives from different world religions, including Christianity, Islam and Zoroastrianism, Kazakhstan's Ambassador to Jordan Bulat Sarsenbayev told The Jordan Times in an interview earlier this week. The ambassador said the conference aims to highlight the role of religious leaders in "building a world based on tolerance, mutual respect and cooperation". "Kazakhstan is a good example of coexistence where people of various ethnic groups live in one country peacefully and in harmony," Sarsenbayev said, noting that the country is home to more than 120 ethnic groups. "It is a national idea in our country to accept the other and be tolerant," he added. +++JORDAN TIMES 3 July '09:"(15 year-old)Prince Hussein named Crown Prince" AMMAN (JT) - A Royal Decree was issued Thursday(2 July) naming HRH Prince Hussein, the eldest son of His Majesty King Abdullah, as Crown Prince effective July 2, 2009. The decree read: "We, King Abdullah II of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, acting under Paragraph A of Article 28 of the Constitution, issue our Royal Decree naming our eldest son, His Royal Highness Prince Hussein Ben Abdullah II, as Crown Prince. He shall be vested with all rights and privileges pertaining to this decree." The Crown Prince was born on June 28, 1994. +++Mosque sackings for 'extremist thought' and 'negligence' By Naeem Tameem Al-Kaheem FULL TEXTJEDDAH - The Chairman of the Imams and Khateebs Assessment Committee at the Ministry of Islamic Affairs, Azzam Al-Shuway'er, has said that a number of imams and khateebs (persons who give Friday sermons) have been dismissed from their positions citing as reasons "extremist thought, illness and negligence of mosques". Al-Shuway'er described the dismissal of khateebs as "not easy", requiring numerous approvals and procedures. "Field committees first file a request to Shariah committees at the ministry where it is then passed on to a higher committee," Al-Shuway'er said. "A sacking has to be approved at all of these three stages." +++NAHARNET (Lebanon) 3 July '09:"Gemayel: We Won't Forget the Past, We Need Guarantees from Syria" QUOTE: "Damascus should give guarantees and show its good intentions" FULL TEXT:Phalange party leader Amin Gemayel said Friday(3 July) that Syria has to prove its good intentions towards Lebanon by dismantling armed Palestinian bases and demarcating the border. "We want good relations (with Syria) and we support technical visits between the two countries. But we need to know where are we heading and what are the guarantees," Gemayel told LBC TV network. He said Damascus should give guarantees and show its good intentions by not resorting to the obstruction of Lebanese government work, dismantling armed Palestinian bases, demarcating the border, unveiling the fate of missing Lebanese and recognizing the Lebanese identity of Shebaa farms area. "The difference between us and Syria is that it wants a relationship based on turning the page on the past," the Phalange leader told LBC. "Our stance is clear: We didn't make all these sacrifices to neglect the country again," Gemayel said. "We need to know who killed the martyrs." On the Syrian-Saudi summit that is expected to take place in Damascus on Monday(6 July), Gemayel said: "It's better for the summit to be held in Riyadh if Lebanon wants to participate in it." +++NAHARNET (Lebanon) 3 July '09:"U.S. Sanctions on Kata'ib Hizbullah, Iran Adviser",Agence France Presse SUBJECT: Assets frozen of 'foreign terrorist outfit' The United States imposed financial sanctions Thursday(2 July) on an adviser to Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and Iraq-based Shiite group Kata'ib Hizbullah, branded a foreign terrorist outfit. The U.S. Treasury Department said it froze the assets of Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, an adviser to the commander of Iran's Qods Force, an arm of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), and Shiite "extremist" group Kata'ib Hizbullah for being a security threat in Iraq. Al-Muhandis was identified also with 19 aliases. The IRGC was accused of providing material support to various militant groups -- Lebanon-based Hizbullah, Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine -- General Command. Further, the IRGC-Qods Force provided "lethal support to Kata'ib Hizbullah and other Iraqi Shiite militia groups who target and kill" U.S. or Coalition troops and Iraqi security forces, a Treasury statement said. The IRGC-Qods Force was named a "specially designated global terrorist" group by the Treasury Department in 2007. The State Department also on Thursday designated Kata'ib Hizbullah a "foreign terrorist organization" for allegedly "committing or posing a significant risk of committing acts of terrorism." "Al-Muhandis and Kata'ib Hizbullah have committed, directed, supported, or posed a significant risk of committing acts of violence against Coalition and Iraqi Security Forces," the statement said. Between March 2007 and June 2008, Baghdad-based Kata'ib Hizbullah members participated in multiple rocket-propelled grenade and improvised rocket-assisted mortar attacks against U.S. forces, it said. It alleged that Kata'ib Hizbullah was funded by the IRGC-Qods Force and received weapons training and support from Lebanon-based Hizbullah. In one instance, the statement said, Hizbullah provided training to Kata'ib Hizbullah members in Iran. The Treasury sanctions came under an executive order targeting insurgent and militia groups and their supporters. "These designations play a critical role in our efforts to protect coalition troops, Iraqi security forces, and civilians from those who use violence against innocents to intimidate and to undermine a free and prosperous Iraq," said Stuart Levey, under secretary for terrorism and financial intelligence.(AFP) +++NAHARNET (Lebanon) 3 July '09:"Syria Sets Conditions, Wants 'Price' to Facilitate Deal on Lebanon Government " QUOTE:"Syrian conditions are 'impossible to implement' " Syria, not only has set conditions, but reportedly wants a price beforehand to facilitate formation of a new Lebanese government.. . . Syria has proposed that the various Lebanese parliamentary blocs visit Damascus to strike a deal on the formation of a national unity government. It said Syria is seeking to reach an agreement in Damascus similar to that of Doha in May 2008 which ended a long-running political crisis that nearly drove the country to a new civil war. The daily An Nahar,...said the Syrian conditions are "impossible to implement." Among these conditions, An Nahar said, was a visit to Damascus by Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri as part of a tripartite summit between Lebanon, Syria and Saudi Arabia prior to government formation. It said the basket of conditions appeared to be closer to pushing the March 14 coalition into relinquishing the victory after achieving a majority in Parliament. While the opposition declined to comment on media leakage about Saudi-Syrian contacts, sources concerned with the issue told al-Hayat that Damascus was in a rush toward normalization of ties. ============================ Sue Lerner - Associate, IMRA
- Haaretz Poll: Support for Netanyahu and Likud up
[Dr. Aaron Lerner - IMRA: from the print Hebrew edition: Grade from 1-10 for Netanyahu Government: 5.6 How does the Netanyahu Government perform as compared to the Olmert Government before it? Better 43% Worse 30% Don't know/refuse reply 27% Is the Netanyahu Government leading Israel in the right direction? Yes 37% No 40% Don't know/refuse reply 23% Percent satisfied with performance of: [results from 14 May poll in [brackets] for all but Netanyahu - Netanyahu previous poll 15 June] PM Netanyahu 49%[44%] FM Lieberman 40%[31%] DM Barak 61%[60%] Finance Minister Steinitz 29%[18%] Education Minister Saar 43%[45%] Interior Minister Yishai 43% Who is most appropriate to serve as prime minister? Netanyahu 52% Livni 34% Don't know/refuse reply 14% Should Israel continue to build in the settlements - even at the cost of a clash with the US? Yes 46% No 44% Don't know/refuse reply 10% [IMRA: this question did not explicitly mention "natural growth" - polls that mention it have had a stronger support for continuing construction] Current Knesset seats in [brackets]. 32 [27] Likud 29 [28] Kadima 14 [15] Yisrael Beteinu 11 [11] Shas 10 [13] Labor 05 [05] Yahadut Hatorah 09 [11] Arab parties 04 [03] Meretz 03 [04] Nat'l Union 03 [03] Jewish Home] Netanyahu has Israelis' approval after first 100 days By Yossi Verter Haaewr\ Last update - 07:23 03/07/2009 www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1097511.html Benjamin Netanyahu's second cabinet will complete its 100th day in power next week, ending what is known as its 'period of grace.' In a private discussions with his associates, the prime minister said that not only was he being denied a grace period, but that he had to deal with a 'media onslaught' that began hours into his term. This onslaught relented only after his address at Bar-Ilan University last month, when he said he accepted the prospect of a future Palestinian state, he said. Advertisement In the same private discussion, the premier recounted what he considers his cabinet's achievements over the past 100 days. These include maintaining the peace in the western Negev through a tough security policy, by means of public and covert action against Hamas. Netanyahu also said he considered plugging leaks from security-related discussions as an achievement, as well as promoting economic reforms and structural changes. A public-opinion survey commissioned by Haaretz to gauge Netanyahu's popularity as he approaches 100 days shows favorable results, despite the criticism since April for his gauche handling of the national budget and the diplomatic crisis with the U.S. His two key appointments, Avigdor Lieberman as foreign minister and Yuval Steinitz as finance minister, also drew fire. The survey by Dialog, conducted Thursday under the auspices of Prof. Camil Fuchs of Tel Aviv University, found Netanyahu's approval ratings were 18 percent higher than Tzipi Livni's - a much larger margin than when they were competing for prime minister. Asked who was better suited to be prime minister, 52 percent said Netanyahu, while only 34 said Livni. The respondents gave Netanyahu's cabinet a barely passing grade of 5.6 points out of 10. Forty percent said the cabinet was not leading Israel in the right direction, while 37 percent said it was. Netanyahu's approval ratings may have jumped 5 points since the last Dialog survey, on June 15. In the most recent survey, 49 percent of the 500 respondents said they were satisfied with Netanyahu's performance. The survey results have a margin of error of 4.5 percent. Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman jumped 9 points since a May 14 survey, with a 40-percent satisfaction rate. Defense Minister Ehud Barak improved by only one point. Forty-six percent of respondents said Israel should continue construction in the West Bank even if this causes a confrontation with the U.S., and 44 percent said the opposite.
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