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Who Governs the Palestinians?
June 18th, 2007
The events of the last week make us ponder the above question. According to the Khaleej Times, an English-language newspaper in Dubai (UAE), the “international community has signalled its support for (Mahmoud) Abbas and its intention to isolate Hamas”. Hamas, elected in January 2006, to run the Palestinian Legislative Council took to the streets in the past week and killed a number of high-ranking Fatah officials. Now, Abbas has sworn in a “12-member emergency cabinet led by moderate prime minister Salam Fayyad as he sought to restore his authority, and swiftly took aim at Hamas by declaring its militia’s illegal.”
These event beg the question - who governs the Palestinians? There are two main factions in Palestinian politics - Hamas and Fatah. Fatah, considered by most to be moderate (feelings not shared by us who run this website), lost the 2006 election to Hamas (by a margin of 74-45), but retained the presidency. Now, Abbas doesn’t like what he’s seeing, so he’s asserting his authority to undermine Hamas.
Our personal view of what will come of this is a situation similar to what happened to Pakistan in 1971. Between 1955 and 1971, East Pakistan (now know as Bangladesh) was a province of Pakistan. As we know from history, the only people that Muslims hate more than the infidels is each other, and thus East Pakistan broke off and became an independent country. Given that Gaza is primarily Hamas territory, it will be virtually be impossible for Fatah to assert control over it. The West Bank is primarily Fatah territory and given recent events, will likely maintain it’s allegiance. We don’t believe that these two rival parties will ever be able to reconcile and will effectively break ties in the not too distant future, leaving the West Bank to be governed by Fatah and Gaza to be governed by Hamas.
The above events are likely to be viewed as negative by the Arab world, Palestinian activists and the UN, the events could be a great victory for Israel, given that previous peace agreements with the Palestinians stipulated that Israel would have to give the Palestinians a way to move between Gaza and the West Bank, which would surely cause security issues for Israel. Should these two territories be ruled by different parties for an extended period of time, this demand will not be realistic and Israel will not have to put itself in a terrible position. Time will tell whether our prediction is correct, but given the events of the past week, this scenario is looking more and more realistic as time passes.
Tags:Arab Muslim World , arab government , arab world , fatah , gaza , hamas , israeli security , palestinian authority , United Nations
Hamas Threatens Kidnapping of Israeli Soldiers
April 26th, 2007
In a bid to behave like a real democratic government (yes, this is sarcastic), Hamas, the radical elected government of the “Palestinian people”, has threatened to kidnap more Israeli soldiers, to secure the release of Palestinian prisoners with blood on their hands.
According to Palestinian Media Watch, an organization that monitors and translates Palestinian media, The Palestinian Legislative Council’s “Prisoners’ Committee” presented 10 suggestions for action “and the most prominent was the call for further kidnappings of Zionist soldiers as a solution to end the prisoners’ suffering,” according to a report by Hamas’s Al-Aqsa Television.
This policy arose, apparently because of Israel’s willingness to swap Palestinian terrorists for kidnapped Israeli soldiers, include Gilad Shalit. However, because of Israel’s insistence on releasing only a limited number of terrorists in exchange for the single soldier, Hamas’ strategy is to kidnapping more Israeli soldiers, in order to release the thousands of imprisoned
Palestinian terrorists.
For those who think this is a fringe plan, notice the consitency of these remarks:
Sa’id Siam, former Palestinian Interior Minister: “There were suggestions to repeat the kidnapping operations of other Israeli soldiers. the capture of the [single] soldier will not be [enough] cause for the release of over 10,000 prisoners. There are many suggestions, but what’s important is what will actually be done.”
Um-Nasser Farachat, Member of the Legislative Council: “With no connection to my being a member of the Palestinian Legislative Council and my involvement in the leadership, as a Palestinian citizen, by God, I don’t believe in any solution other than one: kidnapping Zionist soldiers ……. We hope that with the help of Allah, praise and extol him, the kidnappers will stick with their demands and will not lower their demands in any way. until they [the Israelis] will surrender to our conditions.
Newscaster, Hamas’s Al-Aqsa Television: “The kidnapping of more Zionist soldiers [is required]. 10 Zionist soldiers - maybe less - will guarantee the release of thousands of Palestinian prisoners ….. A number of suggestions were brought up during the meeting of the Legislative Council, and the most prominent was the call for further kidnappings of Zionist soldiers as a solution to end the prisoners’ suffering.” [Al Aqsa TV, Hamas, April 18, 2007]
If these kidnappings happen, Israel will surely strike Hamas and bring them to their knees. Israel does not play these games with terrorists and will not stand for more kidnappings of their soldiers. The only way that the prisoner terrorists will be let go, should Israeli soldiers be kidnapped, is for their prison times to end.
Hamas is intentionally instigating Israel to act, and are hoping to provoke an Israeli reaction. This could be a dangerous escalation in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, one that could lead to further violence and war. Our hope is that Hamas realizes the stupidity of these plans to kidnap Israeli soldiers and that the only way that they will get peace is to put down their weapons and act like civil humans. Only then will we see peace in the Middle East.
Tags:Arab Muslim World , Commentary , hamas , israel defence forces , palestinian media watch
Israel’s Amazing Accomplishments in 59 Years
April 26th, 2007
April 22, 2007 marked Memorial Day, or in Hebrew, Yom Hazikaron, in Israel. Yom Hazikaron is a day where Israelis (and decent people around the world) remember the more than 23,000 Israeli soldiers that have fallen since Israeli independence in 1948.
And in typical Jewish fasion, April 23, 2007, one day after Memorial Day, Israel celebrated 59th year of independence. This is the strength of the Jewish people - to honour those who gave their lives for our people, but also to look forward to a shining future. It takes a special group of people to follow up one of the saddest days of the year with one of the happiest days of the year. This is what we love about Israel and the Jewish people!
Israel, for the young country that she is, has made some unbelievable advancements in the last 59 years. Here is just a tiny number of the accomplishments of the State and it’s people. Sources are not given, but will be added if requested.
Israel the 100th smallest country, with less than 1/1000th of the world’s population, can lay claim to the following:
- The cell phone was developed in Israel by Israelis working in the Israeli branch of Motorola, which has its largest development center in Israel.
- Most of the Windows NT and XP operating systems were developed by Microsoft-Israel.
- Both the Pentium-4 microprocessor and the Centrino processor were entirely designed, developed and produced in Israel.
- The Pentium microprocessor in your computer was most likely made in Israel
- Voice mail technology was developed in Israel.
- Both Microsoft and Cisco built their only R&D facilities outside the US in Israel
- The technology for the AOL Instant Messenger ICQ was developed in 1996 by four young Israelis.
- Israel ’s $100 billion economy is larger than all of its immediate neighbors combined .
- Israel has the highest percentage in the world of home computers per capita.
- According to industry officials, Israel designed the airline industry’s most impenetrable flight security. US officials now look (finally) to Israel for advice on how to handle airborne security threats.
- Israel has the highest ratio of university degrees to the population in the world.
- Israel produces more scientific papers per capita than any other nation by a large margin - 109 per 10,000 people — as well as one of the highest per capita rates of patents filed.
- In proportion to its population, Israel has the largest number of startup companies in the world. In absolute terms, Israel has the largest number of startup companies than any other country in the world, except the U.S. (3,500 companies mostly in hi-tech).
- With more than 3,000 high-tech companies and startups, Israel has the highest concentration of hi-tech companies in the world — apart from the Silicon Valley, U.S.
- Israel is ranked #2 in the world for venture capital funds right behind the U.S.
- Outside the United States and Canada, Israel has the largest number of NASDAQ listed companies.
- Israel has the highest average living standards in the Middle East.
- The per capita income in 2000 was over $17,500, exceeding that of the UK.
- On a per capita basis, Israel has the largest number of biotech startups.
- Twenty-four per cent of Israel’s workforce holds university degrees, ranking third in the industrialized world, after the United States and Holland and 12 per cent hold advanced degrees.
- Israel is the only liberal democracy in the Middle East.
- In 1984 and 1991, Israel airlifted a total of 22,000 Ethiopian Jews (Operation Solomon) at Risk in Ethiopia, to safety in Israel.
- When Golda Meir was elected Prime Minister of Israel in 1969, she became the world’s second elected female leader in modern times.
- When the U. S. Embassy in Nairobi, Kenya was bombed in 1998, Israeli rescue teams were on the scene within a day — and saved three victims from the rubble.
- Israel has the third highest rate of entrepreneurship — and the highest rate among women and among people over 55 - in the world.
- Relative to its population, Israel is the largest immigrant-absorbing nation on earth. Immigrants come in search of democracy, religious freedom, and economic opportunity. (Hundreds of thousands from the former Soviet Union)
- Israel was the first nation in the world to adopt the Kimberly process, an international standard that certifies diamonds as “conflict free.”
- Israel has the world’s second highest per capita of new books.
- Israel is the only country in the world that entered the 21st century with a net gain in its number of trees, made more remarkable because this was achieved in an area considered mainly desert.
- Israel has more museums per capita than any other country.
- Medicine… Israeli scientists developed the first fully computerized, no-radiation, diagnostic instrumentation for breast cancer.
- An Israeli company developed a computerized system for ensuring proper administration of medications, thus removing human error from medical treatment. Every year in U. S. hospitals 7,000 patients die from treatment mistakes.
- Israel’s Given Imaging developed the first ingestible video camera, so small it fits inside a pill. Used to view the small intestine from the inside, cancer and digestive disorders .
- Researchers in Israel developed a new device that directly helps the heart pump blood, an innovation with the potential to save lives among those with heart failure. The new device is synchronized with the camera helps doctors diagnose heart’s mechanical operations through a sophisticated system of sensors.
- Israel leads the world in the number of scientists and technicians in the workforce, with 145 per 10,000, as opposed to 85 in the U. S., over 70 in Japan, and less than 60 in Germany. With over 25% of its work force employed in technical professions. Israel places first in this category as well.
- A new acne treatment developed in Israel, the Clear Light device, produces a high-intensity, ultraviolet-light-free, narrow-band blue light that causes acne bacteria to self-destruct — all without damaging surrounding skin or tissue.
- An Israeli company was the first to develop and install a large-scale solar-powered and fully functional electricity generating plant, in southern California’s Mojave desert.
- All the above while engaged in regular wars with an implacable enemy that seeks its destruction, and an economy continuously under strain by having to spend more per capita on its own protection than any other county on earth.
With contributions like this to the world, how can anybody hate the country? For it’s size, Israel has pitched in far more than it’s share to innovations in health and wellness, technology, computing and virtually everything else. Israel deserves to get credit where credit is due. If you have friends that don’t know about the above facts, please pass the link onto them - this is important information! If you feel that the press should repeat this information to it’s readers and viewers, be sure to pass it on to them!
Happy 59th birthday Israel!
Tags:Commentary , facts about israel , israel , israelis , middle east facts
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