Middle East: appeasing Radicals drives to Confusion

Saudis Make Fun of Obama Middle East Policy; Administration, Media, Pretend Not to Notice
Saturday, August 1, 2009

By Barry RubinSaudi foreign minister Prince Saud al-Faisal is visiting Washington. He praised the Obama administration and then hammered nails into the coffin of its Middle East policy. There was nothing subtle about the Saudi response.For the first time, a non-radical Arab regime—that is, one nominally allied with the United States—has openly ridiculed the U.S. government’s new policy. Naturally, the prince was full of praise for the Obama administration, in general. In specific, he did the opposite.Consider this statement by the foreign minister-prince: "Today, Israel is trying to distract by shifting attention from the core issue -- an end to the occupation that began in 1967 and the establishment of a Palestinian state-- to incidental issues such as academic concerns and civil aviation methods. This is not the way to peace."But wait a minute! These weren’t Israeli ideas, this was the American plan. So the Saudis point 1 was: Forget about it, Obama.Point 2 was, of course, the very trap the administration set for itself. The Arabs want Israel to agree to withdraw from the entire West Bank, Golan Heights, and east Jerusalem. Then they want it to accept a Palestinian state. Then they want it to agree to take in millions of Palestinian refugees.At that point, they’ll talk about what they’ll do in exchange. This is, after all, the Saudi peace plan that everyone tries to make sound more moderate by leaving out all of the details.Point 3 is that the parties should go to an immediate comprehensive agreement based on those prior Israeli concessions. This last point has its amusing side. In 2000, Arab states and the Palestinian Authority pushed for a total, comprehensive agreement as fast as possible. So the U.S. president held a meeting in Switzerland with his Saudi counterpart, and a negotiating conference with the Palestinians and Israelis at Camp David. In both cases, the Arab side refused to give any ground whatsoever. [Oh, and prediction: Even if Israel withdrew from all the West Bank, east Jerusalem, and Golan Heights; agreed to a Palestinian state; and accepted back any Palestinian who wanted to live there, the Saudis still wouldn't permit Israeli airliners to overfly their kingdom and foster academic exchanges.]The Bush administration, advised by President Bill Clinton who was a victim of that 1990s' peace process, learned something: the Arabs are not so eager to make peace. The Obama administration thought this was just more Bush evil mischief. Now it is starting to learn otherwise.But what about Saudi help on pressing Iran? Predictable, privately they will demand the United States save them, practically and publicly they will do nothing constructive.What about Saudi help in stabilizing Iraq? The regime will continue to look the other way as wealthy, well-connected Saudis send money and dispatch Sunni men to fight against the Shia-Kurdish regime there. All of this was obvious on January 20, 2009. More than six months have been wasted. Claiming to have hit the ground running, the Obama administration hit the ground fumbling.

Source: http://rubinreports.blogspot.com/2009/08/saudis-make-fun-of-obama-middle-east.html
H/T: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/07/31/AR2009073103764.html

Iran Begins Trial of Postelection Protesters

August 01

Defendants sit in a court room in Tehran, Iran.

TEHRAN, Iran — Iran began its first trial of the post-election crisis on Saturday, a mass court case against more than 100 activists and protesters accused of plotting a "velvet revolution" to topple clerical rule.

Some of the most prominent politicians of the pro-reform movement, including a former vice president, were among the defendants brought before the court in gray prison uniforms. A number of them delivered confessions, according to the Iranian media.

Coming days before President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is to be sworn in to a second term, the mass trial was part of the government's efforts to choke off a persistent protest movement by Iranians who claim his June 12 re-election was engineered through fraud.

The protesters have presented the cleric-led regime with its biggest challenge since the 1979 revolution despite a brutal crackdown that has left hundreds in prison.

A prosecutor used Saturday's hearing to press the government's claims that the opposition is a tool of foreign enemies. He accused the three biggest opposition parties of receiving money from foreign non-governmental organizations as they plotted a government overthrow.

The charges, read out in court by the prosecutor from a 15-page indictment, included attacking military and government buildings, having links with armed opposition groups and conspiring against the ruling system, Iran's official news agency, IRNA, reported.

Reformists denounced the trial and said the defendants had no access to lawyers.

The indictment described an alleged yearslong plot by the top pro-reform political parties to carry out a "velvet revolution," a popular, nonviolent uprising to overthrow the Islamic Republic similar to ones in Eastern Europe. The phrase comes from the peaceful 1989 Velvet Revolution that overthrew decades of communism in Czechoslovakia. Read more here,,,

Source: FoxNews

Fanatics’ call to prosecute Queen

FANATICS led by a sponging Islamic extremist enraged MPs yesterday by publicly demanding the Queen is prosecuted – for GENOCIDE.

Islamist Choudary goes on to preach ” She is the one who applauds her sons and daughters to go out and massacre hundreds of thousands of innocent people”– words spoken while bilking on handouts at the hands of the British taxpayer.

Rabble-rouser Anjem Choudary’s cohorts accused British troops of wiping out the civilian population in Afghanistan and said it was Her Majesty’s fault because she is “the head of this country”.

Extremist … Anjem Choudary

In an internet rant to fellow extremist Muslims, they declare: “She is the one who applauds her sons and daughters to go out and massacre hundreds and thousands of innocent people.

“Shouldn’t she be tried for genocide and the extermination of a nation?” The fanatics insist: “Yes.”

Labour MP Andrew Dismore said of the shameful attack that appeared on a website linked to Choudary: “Never mind calling for the prosecution of the Queen. The Queen should prosecute HIM. It’s about time he was busted.”

Fellow MP Patrick Mercer – chairman of the Commons counter- terrorism sub-committee – branded it an “insult to our monarch.”

The ex-soldier stormed: “We must recognise Mr Choudary’s words for what they are – weapons being wielded by al-Qaeda and the Taliban.

“This is the next phase of an enemy operation in our country.”

Would his sermon not aptly apply to much of the Muslim world and carried beyond, where it is commonplace to exact strife and brutality upon innocents in the name of Islam? Choudary in all of his cowardice and postured holy stance would no doubt have been swallowed whole by the past Elizabeth, a thought unbearable to a Muslim extremist, especially at the hands of a woman.

If the Queen is to be admonished for anything, it would stem from the forgetfullness of the warrior words of a Queen past, stern and brandished by a fierce virtue and loyal duty to her land and people; the young, red-headed Queen who would have proudly and fearlessly stood up in the face of such thuggery, mockery, contempt and brutishness.

“Let tyrants fear; I have always so behaved myself that, under God, I have placed my chiefest strength and safeguard in the loyal hearts and good will of my subjects……….”Queen Elizabeth 1

Source and thanks to Vlad Tepes

The Islamist Who Served on the Electoral CollegeWhere might Jafar "Jeff" Siddiqui turn up next?

By David J. Rusin

Election 2008 proved historic on a number of levels, but one milestone passed without the recognition it deserves. When the Electoral College convened on December 15 to ratify the citizens’ choice of Barack Obama as the next president, Jafar “Jeff” Siddiqui of Lynnwood, Washington, became the first known Islamist to cast an electoral vote.

Siddiqui — a real estate agent, former chairman of the Islamic School of Seattle, and founding member of the American Muslims of Puget Sound activist group — was named a Democratic elector after his impromptu speech at the state party convention, in which he pledged to fight “the hate and bigotry that are being promoted in this country.” The Post-Intelligencer gushed, “His mission is to counteract the image of Muslims as fanatical terrorists and extremists that, he believes, is propagated in the media, popular culture, and even the government.”

Yet Siddiqui has a long record of airing his own extreme views in local papers and the American Muslim magazine, a truth that was noted by an alert blog but predictably ignored by the mainstream press at the time of his appointment. As detailed below, Siddiqui is a textbook “lawful” Islamist who dreams of imposing at least one element of Sharia on the West: curbing speech that is critical of Islam. In keeping with the Islamist modus operandi, he also paints opponents of radical Islam as Nazis, portrays America as oppressive, denies the religious rationale of Muslim terrorists, and insists that Muslims are victims even when they take part in violent aggression. These factors should have more than disqualified him for the privilege and responsibility of serving on the Electoral College, a key safety valve in the selection of the commander-in-chief. Read more ...

Source: PJM

Arabs' Language Oppression Squelches Intellectual Growth

Both the Muslim religious establishment and pan-Arabists insist on preserving Standard Arabic as the official language for religious and political reasons. Why?

Dr. Sami Alrabaa

We Arabs not only suffer from lack of political and religious freedom, and economic backwardness, but we also suffer from a huge language and thinking problem, which hampers civilized change.

The Arab countries have two levels of language: local Arabic, i.e. national and regional, called language varieties (dialects) versus Standard Arabic. There is Egyptian spoken Arabic, Syrian Arabic, Saudi Arabic, Moroccan Arabic, etc. These dialects are our mother tongues. They are, however confined to daily spoken conversations. We are not allowed to use them in writing, especially in books, print media, school textbooks, and other official documents.

Standard Arabic is the official language across all Arab states. It is not, though, our mother tongue; actually no one speaks this language as a mother tongue, we begin learning it at school at the age of 6 or 7. It is our second language as opposed to our national and regional spoken Arabic which is indeed our mother tongue. Read more ...

Source: FSM

Mullahs Squirm as Defiant Iranians Honor Martyrs. Iranian citizens continue to defy the mullahs as they honor those who died in the cause of freedom.

By Amir Taheri

Serving notice that the fight for the future of Iran was far from over, multitudes throughout the country yesterday defied a government ban to attend ceremonies marking the 40th day since the death of pro-democracy protesters in Tehran.

The ceremonies, known as "Chelleh" (quarantine), are part of a tradition with pre-Islamic roots sanctioned by the Shiite version of Islam. But a show of force by the authorities prevented the formation of massive crowds.

Police also prevented Mir Hussein Mousavi, the officially defeated candidate in June's presidential election, and other prominent opposition leaders from reaching the Behesht-Zahra graveyard in Tehran. Read more ...

Source: FSM
Alireza Eftekhari
Amir Javadi-Far
Hussein Akbari
Massoud Hashemzadeh
Mohsen Ruhalamini
Neda Agha Soltan
Sohrab Aaarabi
Latest recipients of The MASH Award

North Carolina: Meet Taqiyya Jihad

How many U.S.-born terror combatants have been able to perform perfect taqiyya for 10 or 20 years until today? Does our government even know what this dangerous doctrine is all about?

By Dr. Walid Phares

With shock and malaise, Americans are discovering that their country is penetrated by Jihadi terrorists, particularly those we call "homegrown." Over the past few months, several alarming cases have been revealed by law enforcement. Not only the frequency of these revelations but also the type of Jihadi cells are teaching the public that something very troubling is happening within the homeland: the surge of a threat deserving a greater attention than the current attitude dispensed by the administration.

The arrest of Daniel Patrick Boyd, a married 39-year-old, his two sons, and four other “Jihadis” in a rural area south of Raleigh, N.C., is not a little matter in our global analysis of the movement within the United States. “Saifullah,” the Jihadi name of Boyd; his two sons, Zakariya, 20, and Dylan, 22; Mohammed Omar Aly Hassan, 22; and Ziad Yaghi, 21, are all U.S. citizens. Hysen Sherifi, 24, a Kosovo national, is a legal resident. Read more ...

Source: FSM

The Terror ConnectionDid North Carolina’s jihadist plotters learn hate in the state's Islamic Centers?

By Jamie Glazov

Frontpage Interview’s guest today is Dave Gaubatz, the first U.S. civilian (1811) Federal Agent deployed to Iraq in 2003. He is the owner of DG Counter-terrorism Publishing. He is currently conducting a 50 State Counter-terrorism Research Tour (CTRT). He can be contacted at davegaubatz@gmail.com.

FP: Dave Gaubatz, welcome to Frontpage Interview.

Seven Muslims from North Carolina (NC) were recently arrested for terrorism-related charges. Frontpage previously interviewed you about Islamic Centers in NC advocating violence against America and innocent people. Are they related?

Gaubatz: Thank you Jamie.

Yes they are related. The same ideology being advocated by the seven Muslim men is exactly what is being advocated at several NC Islamic Centers and by Islamic leaders across America. I conducted research in NC several times in the last two years and the evidence forced me to rate it very high for potential for violence.

Imams and Islamic leaders are not going to openly instruct their worshippers to commit ‘physical jihad’ against countries and people who do not believe in their version of “Pure Islam,” but they will provide them materials to study advising this type action. I have repeated this for years during lectures to law enforcement and to the public. Read more ...

Source: FPM

Deadly SilenceWill Obama fiddle while Iranian protesters are tortured this weekend?

By Ben Johnson

Budapest, 1956.
Prague, 1968.
Gdansk, 1981.
Tianenmen Square, 1989.
Tehran, 2009.

Each of these surprise flashpoints in history’s long march against totalitarianism proved as dazzling at its outset as it did hopeless at its extermination. Each of them left a trail of broken bodies, but the last was different than all its historical forebears in one way: the president of the United States kept silent while it was unfolding. Barack Obama, and the world, saw police beat and gas protesters and kill 27-year-old music students and nine-year-old children; and Iranian reports indicate that those arrested were viciously tortured in a secret prison. All the while, the president maintained a reticence that helped enable the secret police. The young protesters who continue filling Iran’s streets this weekend to renew their revolt against corruption offer Barack Obama a unique opportunity: a chance to redeem his previous, disastrous inaction. Will he act this time to prevent hundreds more of their fellow citizens from meeting a similar fate? Read more ...

Source: FPM

Al-Manar in AustraliaJust what we need, right?

HEZBOLLAH’S TV station, twice banned in Australia for supporting terrorism, has been given permission to broadcast into this country after an investigation found it did not breach the anti-terrorism standard.

The Australian Communication and Media Authority (ACMA) decision on the Lebanese-based al-Manar TV station, announced yesterday, outraged Jewish groups, which said they were less concerned with the station promoting terrorism than its "vicious anti-Semitism".

Hezbollah, a militant Lebanese Muslim party, is banned in the United States as a terrorist organisation, but only its armed wing is proscribed in Australia. Its TV programs endorse suicide bombers, call for Israel’s annihilation, and refer to Jews as the offspring of pigs and apes. More ...

Source: Andrew Bolt
H/T: Gramfan

The Economist publie une lettre qui dit la vérité

The Economist a pris l'excellente décision de publier une lettre qui révèle la vérité sur les crimes d'honneur:

Les crimes d'honneur

Monsieur - Le titre de votre article sur les crimes d'honneur en Syrie pose la question : «La loi change. Les attitudes vont-elles aussi changer ? » (18 juillet). La réponse c'est qu'il est plus facile de changer les lois que le cœur des gens. S’il y a encore des crimes d’honneur dans le monde musulman, ce n’est pas à cause du manque de volonté des législateurs d’adopter des lois punissant ces crimes. La raison principale pour laquelle ces crimes persistent est que non seulement les imams, les muftis et les ayatollahs n'ont jamais condamné ces crimes mais qu'en fait, ils les approuvent.

Par exemple, le «Umdat al-Salik», un manuel sur la charia, affirme que « les représailles sont obligatoires » contre toute personne qui commet un meurtre, sauf lorsqu’«un père ou une mère (ou leurs pères ou mères) » tuent « leurs enfants ou les enfants de leurs enfants ». Par conséquent, celui qui tue son enfant pour des raisons «d'honneur» n'encourt aucune peine en vertu de la loi islamique.

Une situation similaire prévaut en matière d'excision. Si cette pratique est encore très répandue en Égypte malgré qu’elle soit interdite, c’est parce que les religieux musulmans la considèrent comme conforme à la principale tradition islamique.

Il ne suffira pas, comme le demandent les défenseurs des droits humains, qu’il y ait un « changement plus fondamental dans l'attitude de ceux qui rédigent les lois et les mettent en application ». Il faut aussi qu'il y ait une discussion ouverte sur les racines islamiques de pratiques comme les crimes d'honneur et qu’on demande à ceux qui font autorité en matière de charia de renoncer à justifier les crimes d'honneur et d’enseigner les raisons pour lesquelles ces crimes sont injustes dans le cadre d'une interprétation réformée des textes islamiques. Sinon, les attitudes ne changeront pas et la pratique des crimes d'honneur se poursuivra dans le monde musulman et au sein des communautés musulmanes en Occident.

Aymenn Jawad
Cardiff

Source: The Economist via MASH (traduction par Poste de veille)

Fix Tehran issue, and we'll act on Palestine

John Lyons, Middle East correspondent | August 01

THERE's an old Hebrew saying that you shouldn't try to dance at all the weddings. It's important to pace yourself and keep yourself for weddings that really matter.

For Israel right now, a lot of possible marriages are on the horizon -- a proposed forced one with the Palestinians, a more interesting one with the Syrians and one that appears to be just fantasy with the Lebanese.

But the one that really matters to Israel is to renew its vows with the US after a rocky few months.

As international pressure increases for a resumption of talks to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Israel is at the doors of several potential weddings.

What is driving all the manoeuvring is the Obama administration's efforts to bring peace to the Middle East.

After an extraordinary week of meetings between Israeli and US officials in Jerusalem, Israel's game plan is clearer.

The Weekend Australian has drawn on a range of sources, including Israeli government sources familiar with the negotiations, to assess the likely course of the next year.

First, it is abundantly clear Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu sees Iran as infinitely more important than the Palestinian conflict.

Apart from the row over Jewish settlements in the West Bank, this is the biggest difference between Israel and the US, evidenced this week when US special envoy George Mitchell met Netanyahu.

While President Barack Obama and European leaders such as France's Nicolas Sarkozy place the Israeli-Palestinian conflict as their No 1 foreign policy concern, inside Israel it is dwarfed by the Iranian issue.

Much of this week's meeting between Netanyahu and Mitchell, one source said, was taken up with Israel's desire to discuss an option it is serious about -- a military attack on Iran's nuclear facilities.

The source said the US response to Netanyahu was loud and clear -- there can be no attack on Iran while the US still has troops in Iraq. The Americans believe the response from Iran through proxies in Iraq would be "murderous" in US lives.

Washington still has 130,000 troops in Iraq and there will be a significant US presence for two years, so the White House would not want to see any strike on Iran for at least two years.

The US will inevitably face a backlash from any Israeli attack; Israel would require not just US intelligence and support but the US-backed Iraqi regime would need to allow Israeli warplanes to fly over Iraq.

It's clear that while the international headlines are about differences between the US and Israel on Jewish settlements in the West Bank, the main game is whether Israel and Iran, the Middle East's two most bitter enemies, may be at war with each other within a year.

This is a prospect weighing heavily on Washington: a war between Israel, a nuclear power, and Iran, a would-be nuclear power, has dreadful implications.

The US is nervous about what Israel might do to Iran. Two months ago, Obama sent CIA chief Leon Panetta to Israel when suggestions reached Washington that Israel was preparing to attack Iran. The new administration in Washington was wondering whether Israel would act in secrecy, but Israel assured Panetta there was no imminent attack.

Israelis see the Iran issue as urgent -- a matter of survival that needs to be dealt with within two years, before Tehran's nuclear program nears completion.

In contrast, the Palestinian conflict has been going on for so long, since the formation of the Israeli state in 1948, that Israelis sometimes seem perplexed as to why the US sees such urgency.

For most Israelis, life is good at the moment, far better than the lives of most Palestinians in the West Bank and certainly better than those in Gaza. The economy has not suffered much from the global crisis; like Australia, Israel's banking system is well-regulated, and not a single Israeli bank has gone under in the past year.

And, most important for Israelis, security is good. Unlike in 2002 and 2003, when suicide bombings were regular events, Israelis are able to go about their daily lives with a level of normality.

Unlike Palestinians, many Israelis feel no pressure to settle the conflict. Indeed, as every month goes by more Jewish settlers are establishing themselves in Palestinian territory, satisfying Israel's powerful religious groups who argue that biblical references to the lands of Judea and Samaria (the West Bank) give them the right to live there.

From a strategic position, should Israel ever have to sit down with the Palestinians to talk peace, every extra settlement gives them greater leverage to keep the settlements they really want, such as Maaleh Adumim and Efrat.

Obama may want to try to reach an Israeli-Palestinian peace deal in the next three years, but in Israel few expect their PM to sit down with Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas this year.

Israel's basic message to the US is clear: if you resolve the Iranian nuclear issue, then we'll try to resolve the Palestinian issue.

Source: The Australian