How badly did Obama and Kerry lie?
At least Israel and Iran can agree on something. Obama and Kerry are unreliable liars.
For the last two weeks, the lame duck Obama administration has been trying to depict itself as
totally passive in allowing UN Security Council Resolution 2334, condemning Israeli 'settlements' in Jerusalem (among other things), to pass.
Last week, Israel Radio reported on an
Egyptian newspaper report that put out a transcript of what was said to be a White House meeting with 'Palestinian negotiators.' Now, MEMRI has
translated that report into English. It's devastating. Among other things not previously reported, the 'Palestinians' asked that Obama cancel the designation of the PLO as a terrorist organization, and insisted that the 'Palestinian leadership' be allowed to move freely in the United States. Look for Obama to issue executive orders on these issues in the next two weeks.
On December 27, the Egyptian daily Al-Youm Al-Sabi',
which is close to Egyptian intelligence services, published an exposé
of the minutes of the secret talks. According to the report, by Ahmed
Gomaa, the Palestinian delegation included PLO Executive Committee
secretary and negotiating team leader Saeb Erekat; Palestinian general
intelligence chief Majid Faraj; Husam Zomlot, strategic affairs advisor
to Palestinian Authority president Mahmoud 'Abbas; Palestinian Foreign
Ministry official Dr. Majed Bamya; Palestinian negotiations department
official Azem Bishara; Palestinian intelligence international relations
department chief Nasser 'Adwa; and head of the PLO delegation to
Washington Ma'an Erekat.
The report gave the details of the
Palestinian delegation's schedule during the visit, noting that "the
Palestinian side began its meetings on December 12, when Saeb Erekat and
Majid Faraj met with U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry. The next day,
the two met with National Security Advisor Susan Rice. The entire
delegation met with an American team that included four representatives
of the Secretaries of State and Homeland Security, for a six-hour
political-strategic meeting. Majid Faraj concluded his visit with a
lengthy meeting with the CIA chief."
According to the report, the
minutes of the "top secret" meeting of Kerry, Rice, Erekat, and Faraj
reveals U.S.-Palestinian coordination leading up to the UN Security
Council vote on Resolution 2334 regarding Israel's settlements, which
was adopted December 23. It states that the sides "agreed to cooperate
in drafting a resolution on the settlements" and that the U.S.
representative in the Security Council was "empowered" to coordinate
with the Palestinian UN representative on the resolution.
The meeting also, according to the
report, was aimed at coordinating Kerry's attendance at the upcoming
international Paris Conference set for January 15, 2017, in order to
promote a further international move regarding the Israeli-Palestinian
conflict. Kerry, it said, offered to propose his ideas for a permanent
arrangement "provided that they are supported by the Palestinian side."
At
the meeting, Rice pointed out the "danger" of the incoming Trump
administration's policies, the report stated, adding that both she and
Kerry had advised President 'Abbas to make no preliminary moves that
might provoke the new administration. Rice even offered to help arrange a
meeting between the Palestinian delegation and a representative from
the Trump team, by enlisting the help of World Jewish Congress president
Ronald Lauder.
Also at the meeting, Erekat warned
that if the U.S. Embassy was moved to Jerusalem, the Palestinians would
call to expel U.S. Embassies from Arab and Muslim capitals, the report
said.
The report added that Kerry and
Rice had fulsomely praised 'Abbas's policies and how he handled matters,
and harshly criticized Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu,
saying that he "aims to destroy the two-state solution."
...
U.S.
Representative To The Security Council Coordinated With Palestinian UN
Representative On The Issue Of The Resolution Condemning The Settlements
According to the Al-Youm Al-Sabi' report, "the minutes of the
meeting – which was attended by U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and
National Security Advisor Susan Rice, and on the Palestinian side by PLO
Executive Committee Secretary and negotiations team leader Saeb Erekat,
and head of Palestinian general intelligence Maj,-Gen. Majid Faraj –
reveals that the sides agreed to collaborate regarding a resolution on
the settlements." According to the report, "during the meeting, the
American side focused on coordination of positions between Washington
and Ramallah regarding the resolution on the settlements, which was
brought to a vote in the Security Council and adopted several days
ago..."
The report stated that "the minutes of the meeting reveal
American-Palestinian coordination regarding the resolution on the
settlements" and that Kerry and Rice stressed that "they were willing to
cooperate with a balanced resolution, and that Washington's UN mission
was authorized to discuss this matter with the Palestinian
representative to the UN, Ambassador Riyad Mansour." It continued: "The
U.S.'s representative to the Security Council coordinated with the
Palestinian ambassador on the issue of the resolution condemning the
settlements."
Coordinating Kerry's Attendance At International Conference In France
The delegation also attempted to coordinate Kerry's attendance at the
Paris Conference, which will take place January 15, 2017, to promote a
further international move for the Israeli-Palestinian conflict,
according to the report. "As for the French initiative, U.S. Secretary
of State John Kerry said that he could not attend [the conference if it
were to be held] December 21-22, but stressed that he could [attend it
if it were to be held] after January 9. The Palestinian delegation
stressed that 'Abbas had contacted the French side, and that it had
expressed its willingness to postpone the international conference [in
Paris] so that the American secretary of state could attend."
Possibility Of Kerry Presenting His Ideas For Permanent Solution
According to the report, "Kerry raised the
possibility of presenting ideas for a permanent solution, provided that
they are supported by the Palestinian side... and this refers to
principles that have already been raised as part of the Framework
Agreement.[3]
He also proposed that the Palestinian delegation travel to Saudi Arabia
to discuss these points, but according to the minutes, he did not
contact the Saudis on this matter. [Additionally,] according to the
minutes of the meeting, National Security Advisor Susan Rice rejected,
and ridiculed, the offer to propose ideas, arguing that the [incoming]
administration of Republican President Donald Trump will completely
oppose them."
Rice "Stressed The Danger Posed By The Trump Administration"
Rice, the report stated, "stressed the
danger posed by the Trump administration, which could take a position
different from that of all American administrations since 1967 on the
issue of Palestine and Israel. She emphasized that she took seriously
statements about moving the U.S. Embassy to Jerusalem and the Trump
administration's view of the settlements."
Kerry and Rice "advised Palestinian
President Mahmoud 'Abbas to not take any preliminary steps that could
provoke the Trump administration, such as dismantling the PA, turning to
the International Criminal Court, or ending security coordination with
Israel," said the report, adding: "They [also] stressed the need to
avoid military action or martyrdom [attacks], as these would greatly
jeopardize the Palestinian position.
"They praised the substantial efforts of
the Palestinian security apparatuses, specifically Palestinian [general]
intelligence, led by Majid Faraj, as part of what they called 'the
struggle against terrorism.' [The two] maintained that
Palestinian-American collaboration in this area is among the closest of
all the coordination between American apparatuses and security forces in
the region."
Rice Offered To Organize Meeting Between Ronald Lauder And Palestinian Delegation
"According to the minutes of the meeting,
Susan Rice asked whether the Palestinian delegation could meet with a
representative from Donald Trump's team. She clarified that she could
request intervention and could organize this by means of World Jewish
Congress President Ronald Lauder. Saeb Erekat responded that he had
already asked but that Lauder could not. He added: 'We were told that
they were still organizing the new administration, and that once they
were done, they would officially meet with the Palestinian side.'"
Erekat: If U.S. Embassy Is Moved To Jerusalem, We Will Call To Expel U.S. Embassies From Arab And Muslim Countries
"When Susan Rice asked what the
Palestinian response would be if the U.S. Embassy was moved to
Jerusalem, or if a new settlement bloc was annexed, Erekat responded:
'We will directly and immediately join 16 international organizations,
withdraw the PLO's recognition of Israel, and cut back our security,
political, and economic ties with the Israeli occupation regime, and we
will hold it fully responsible for the PA's collapse. Furthermore, we
will [call] on the Arab and Islamic peoples to expel U.S. Embassies from
their capitals.' Rice answered Erekat by saying: 'It seems that future
matters could be very complicated, and we are all apprehensive about
sitting down with Erekat because of his absolute knowledge of these
matters, and because of his memory and his sincerity.' She expressed the
American side's respect and friendship for Erekat, and apologized for
yelling at him in March 2014."
"The Palestinian Delegation Officially Demanded That The Law... Designating The PLO A Terrorist Organization Be Rescinded"
According to the report, "the Palestinian
side officially demanded that the 1987 U.S. law designating the PLO a
terrorist organization be rescinded.
[4]
Furthermore, both sides agreed to establish a bilateral commission to
examine visa requests from Palestinians and entry and movement visas for
Palestinian leadership in the U.S."
Read the whole thing.
Labels: American allies, Barack Hussein Obama, Binyamin Netanyahu, designated terror organization, Jerusalem Embassy Act, John Kerry, Ron Lauder, Saeb Erekat, United Nations Security Council Resolution 2334
'A climate of hate'
Shavua tov, a good week to everyone.
Four people have been murdered (a fourth person died after the video below was released) in a terror attack on the Jewish museum in Brussels on Saturday.
Let's go to the videotape.
The reactions have been
shocked. And for reasons I'm going to explain below, I have to wonder why everyone seems so surprised.
Belgian Foreign Minister Didier Reynders was at the scene shortly after the attack, and told reporters that the two other victims had been shot inside the museum. "I hope we will identify those responsible very quickly," he said.
Reynders said he had been nearby when he saw people fleeing and heard shots and rushed to help. When
he saw "bodies on the ground in pools of blood" he called the
112 emergency number and rounded up eye-witnesses to assist the police.
Police quickly cordoned off the area.
"I am shocked by the murders committed at the Jewish museum, I am thinking of the victims I saw there and their families," Reynders said on Twitter.
...
The head of Belgium's Jewish Consistory told La Libre that "it is probably a terrorist act. For us it is an extremely serious act."
He said the museum had received no recent threats and that its staff "are in shock".
Milquet said the government had moved to increase protection at Jewish buildings as well as the Israeli embassy.
Belgium Prime Minister Elio Di Rupo also expressed that he was "very shocked" by the attack.
"All Belgians are united and show solidarity in the face of this odious attack on a Jewish cultural site," he added.
They weren't the only ones who professed shock.
Brussels Mayor Yvan Mayeur told the BBC as stating that the shooting was
likely a terror attack and that the choice of location “isn't a
coincidence.”
About half of Belgium's 42,000-strong Jewish community lives in Brussels.
...
“Two years after Toulouse, and on the eve of the European elections,
this despicable attack is yet another terrible reminder of the kind of
threats Europe’s Jews are currently facing,” World Jewish Congress
President Ronald Lauder said in a statement shortly after the shooting.
The attack was “clearly was targeted at Jews.”
“Tomorrow, we must all work together to ensure that this doesn’t happen
again. If that means to improve security at Jewish sites in Europe, we
have no choice. It must be done. If not, more people may be able to
carry out such terrible crimes,” he added.
But not everyone is shocked. From the first link again.
A Jewish community figure, Joel Rubinfeld, told AFP it clearly "is a terrorist act" after two men were seen driving up and double-parking outside the museum.
The gunman opened fire, allegedly shooting indiscriminately before getting away.
Rubinfeld, who heads the country's anti-Semitic League, said the act was the result of "a climate of hate."
World Jewish Congress President Ronald Lauder and European Jewish Congress President Dr. Moshe Kantor don't sound too shocked either. Neither does the Anti-Defamation League. This is from the second link.
“Two years after Toulouse, and on the eve of the European elections,
this despicable attack is yet another terrible reminder of the kind of
threats Europe’s Jews are currently facing,” World Jewish Congress
President Ronald Lauder said in a statement shortly after the shooting.
The attack was “clearly was targeted at Jews.”
“Tomorrow, we must all work together to ensure that this doesn’t happen
again. If that means to improve security at Jewish sites in Europe, we
have no choice. It must be done. If not, more people may be able to
carry out such terrible crimes,” he added.
According to EJC President Dr. Moshe Kantor, while details of the attack
are still lacking, it is clear that it is indicative of a “permanent
threat to Jewish targets in Belgium and across the whole of Europe.”
"This is once again, much like the savage murders in Toulouse, a clear
example of where hate and anti-Semitism leads. European government must
send out a clear message of zero tolerance towards any manifestation of
anti-Semitism."
Kantor recently made waves by stating that without a significant
reduction in the fear and insecurity plaguing European Jewry, normative
Jewish life on the continent is “unsustainable.”
“Incidents such as this do not occur in a vacuum, and are the direct
result of a systematic culture of hate and anti-Semitism against the
Jewish community and the State of Israel in so many parts of Europe,
including Belgium,” the Israeli Jewish Congress asserted.
A spokesman for the organization pointed out that according to a recent
Anti-Defamation League Study, 27 percent of Belgians harbor anti-Semitic
sentiments.
According to the ADL, Belgium comes in as the sixty third most
anti-Semitic country out of one hundred territories polled around the
world.
I'm not shocked either. In January 2013, I wrote a post in which Brussels was called the
capital of European anti-Semitism.
Belgium, which hosts the European Union capital in Brussels, provides
a paradigmatic example of the new-style ֲ hatred for the Jews. The
Belgian capital’s oldest Jewish school,ֲ named forֲ Maimonides, will be
closed soon due to anti-Semitic attacks and lack of students. Like
during the Nazi occupation, it is dangerous today for a Jewish girl to
go to school in Brussels these days. They are routinelyֲ told "Dirty Jew
– go to your country".
Belgium has 40,000 Jews. In 2012, watchdog groups recorded a 50 percent rise in anti-Semitic hatred.
It
is estimated that 30% of the Brussels population (1 million) is Muslim
and they will be the majority in three generations. The daily De Morgen published
the results of a survey among young Muslims in Brussels high schools.
It finds that half "can be described as anti-Semitic, which is a very
high rate", says VUB sociologist Mark Elchardus.
Meanwhile,
Belgian authorities declared war on Judaism. A Belgian court in the city
of Antwerp has just forced a Jewish Orthodox school for girls,
affiliated with a hassidic sect, to admit the two sons of an
anti-Zionist hareidi militant who attended the Holocaust denial
conference in Tehran in 2006 and was photographed kissing Iranian
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
...
In 1940
the Belgian Jews were burned in Auschwitz with the voluntary
participation of the Belgian authorities. Seventy years later, Belgian
pupils are learning how to target Israeli flags, effigies of an Antwerp
Hassid, a synagogue, the Maccabi sports club - and ultimately, to kill
Israelis.
These days, while the Belgian authorities were
opening the Jewish museum in the building that served as a Nazi station,
passengers on a train in Brussels got a shock as the following
announcement came over the speaker, “Welcome to the train to Auschwitz.
The Jews are asked to get off at Buchenwald".
Presumably the same Jewish museum at which four people lost their lives today.
Time to make aliya guys.
Labels: Belgium, European anti-Semitism, European Jewish Congress, European Jews, Ron Lauder
Fear of Romney to bring 'Palestinians' to the table?
World Jewish Congress President Ronald Lauder, who is close to Prime Minister Netanyahu, says Israel should
use fear of Mitt Romney winning November's elections to bring the 'Palestinians' to the table.
“The election in November between President Obama and Mitt Romney could have important consequences for the peace process,” Lauder told The Jerusalem Post. “I believe that the uncertainty over who will win the election could and perhaps should convince the Palestinians that it would be in their own best interest to restart the peace process as soon as possible.”
Lauder noted that solving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict had fallen off the international agenda, due to the increasing focus on other problems in the Middle East, such as preventing the nuclearization of Iran, the Syrian civil war and the Muslim Brotherhood’s takeover of Egypt. He said the Palestinian issue can become a top priority again if the PA agrees to restart negotiations without preconditions.
“There has never been a better time to make a peace treaty between the two peoples,” said Lauder, who recently met with Abbas in London. “If both sides can sit down, I think a deal could be made quickly. I fear that unless something happens to restart negotiations in the next several months, it could lead to another Palestinian intifada.”
Lauder said he was optimistic due to the widening of the coalition and the addition of the Kadima party to the government. Kadima’s leader, Vice Premier Shaul Mofaz, is expected to meet with Abbas on Sunday.
“The widening of the coalition helps dramatically,” Lauder said.
“With 94 seats in the coalition, if there was a deal done, I think it would pass.”
Asked why he thought the Palestinians would make a deal now after rejecting Olmert’s offer of 100 percent of the West Bank with land swaps, taking in thousands of Palestinian refugees and dividing and internationalizing Jerusalem, Lauder said that sometimes people refuse an offer for their house and later end up accepting a lower offer later on.
“Sometimes a good offer made at the wrong time does not go as well as a not as good offer made at the right time,” he said.
Why is this wrong? Let me count the ways:
1. There is no indication that the 'Palestinians' intend to come to the table without preconditions.
2. Most 'Palestinians' are quite happy with the status quo, are more interested in putting bread on their tables than in an intifada, and are leery of the prospect of living in a 'Palestinian state.'
3. It is doubtful that the 'Palestinians' will accept less than Olmert offered. It is likely that they will insist on more.
4. If Romney wins, that's good for the Jews, and if Obama - God forbid - wins, the 'Palestinians' are likely to drag out the negotiations until his second term begins.
5. It is doubtful that much of the coalition will vote with Netanyahu on a deal that even approaches the concessions made by Olmert. Much of the Likud won't. None of the parties to the right of the Likud will vote for such a deal. That leaves Ehud Barak's lame duck Atzmaut party and some or all of Kadima.
6. The 'Palestinians' are not the most urgent item on the World's agenda, and aren't even likely to become the most urgent item if Obama wins, although admittedly, they are Obama's special friends.
So, no, no and no.
Labels: Abu Mazen, Barack Hussein Obama, Binyamin Netanyahu, Campaign 2012, direct talks, Mitt Romney, Ron Lauder, two-state solution
Wallowing in politcal correctness
What's the most politically correct thing you can think of doing today? How about denying the existence of 'Islamophobia'? Unfortunately, we have reached the point where despite many more anti-Semitic attacks on a much smaller number of people, the chattering classes are insisting on equating anti-Semitism with an imaginary hatred called '
Islamophobia.' Phyllis Chesler tries to sort it all out.
Did you know that Jews and Muslims have a shared history in Europe? That Muslims have “deep roots” on the European continent and that Muslims are as imperiled by “Islamophobia” as Jews are by anti-Semitism?
Nothing could be further from the truth, and yet the first Gathering of European Muslim and Jewish Leaders issued a statement on May 9th and just held a meeting in Brussels on May 30, 2011. Oddly enough, the meeting was organized by two American Jewish groups, Rabbi Marc Schneier’s Foundation For Ethnic Understanding and philanthropist Ronald Lauder’s World Jewish Congress, as well as by the European Jewish Congress.
No Muslim organization seems to have shared in organizing the meeting, although two organizations and more than a dozen Muslim leaders attended and signed the joint declaration.
Can you believe this? It this some kind of exercise in dhimmitude and self-delusion? Why are the Jews doing the heavy lifting for the far wealthier Muslim world? More important: Why support such dangerously misguided concepts?
At this moment in world history, why are Jews confusing “Islamophobia” with anti-Semitism? One understands that Muslims might want to assume whatever is left of Jewish victimhood and make it their own—but why are Jews enabling them to do so? If the Muslims are coming in great good faith, they would state some obviously truths, beginning with the Koranic roots of Jew- and infidel-hatred and the contemporary Islamist/genocidal intentions towards the Jewish State. Indeed, a new kind of statement from Muslims would include their understanding of–and desire to break from–the historical Muslim persecution of Jews and infidels in Muslim-majority countries.
Continue reading
here. One cannot help but wonder what sort of mental disease would cause Jewish 'leaders' to organize a conference like this. I used to think highly of Ron Lauder (who is or was a confidant of Prime Minister Netanyahu. No more.
Labels: Islamophobia, Marc Schneier, Ron Lauder
