Hundreds of
headlines appear each day in Israel. Over the course of 24 hours, headlines
ricochet back-and-forth between dozens of topics.
Can you
follow it all?
In this
report, you’ll see a way to make sense of and discover patterns appearing
within the news. First, you’ll find an organized selection of headlines from
Israel’s press. Then you’ll see comments.
Today, we
look at—and comment on—some headlines for December 8-9, 2013. Tomorrow, we look at other headlines.
The war against
Israel
-Netanyahu: The conflict did not begin with Israel refusing
the Palestinians a state (12/8/13, Haaretz)
-Ya'alon:
There's No Peace Partner, Only Incitement
-Arabs Wave
PLO Flag in the Center of Haifa (12/9/13, Arutz Sheva)
-Hamas: We
Won't Cede a Single Grain of Soil(12/8/13, Arutz Sheva)
-Hamas Vows
to Oppose Interim Peace Agreement(12/9/13, Arutz Sheva)
-PLO Opposes
Interim Peace Agreement (12/9/13, Arutz Sheva)
-PLO:
Palestinians won't accept current proposals from Israel (12/9/13, Jerusalem Post)
-Report: Kerry to Postpone Terrorist Release to Pressure PA
(12/9/13, Arutz Sheva)
-Report: PA Won't Agree to Delay in Prisoner Release
(12/9/12, Arutz Sheva)
-PA Demands Terrorist Prisoner Release on Time (12/9/13, Arutz
Sheva)
-Palestinian official: Kerry's peace ideas will lead to
'total failure' (12/9/13, Ynet)
-Palestinian throw firebomb at Israeli bus south of Nablus,
no injuries reported (12/9/13, Haaretz)
Today’s news
cycle began with a statement by Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (“Netanyahu:
The conflict did not begin with Israel refusing…”). Mr Netanyahu reminded the
world that the Arab-Israel conflict did not begin with Israel refusing the
Palestinians a state. The current Arab-Israel conflict began more than 65 years
ago when the Arabs chose to start a war. They attacked Israel. They wanted the
new-born state to be Jew-free. The Arabs, Mr Netanyahu wanted you to know, are
still fighting that war.
If you don’t
believe this assertion, check out the story about Hamas in this news cycle (“Hamas:
We Won't Cede a Single Grain of Soil”). Hamas is not interested in living
side-by-side with Israel in peace and security—as the West so often tells us.
Hamas has the same goal the Arabs had in 1948: the only Palestine they want—and
will accept--is one that stretches from the Mediterranean Sea to the Jordan River.
You can’t get
any clearer than that.
If you do
not understand Middle East geography, you should know that the only land in
this region that stretches from the Mediterranean Sea to the Jordan River is
Israel. Hamas wants its ‘Palestine’ to replace Israel.
Don’t think
the PLO/Fatah is any different. In another story from this same news cycle
(“PLO Opposes Interim Peace Agreement”), the PLO Executive Committee reiterated
its demand that any permanent agreement for peace had to include a complete Jewish
withdrawal from Judea and Samaria, and the establishment of Jerusalem as the (Jew-free)
capital of the PA state. The Committee warned that there will be no peace
without those two unalterable requirements.
PLO/Fatah
Arabs also agree with the Hamas ‘from the River to the Sea’ demand. We know
this because of the PLO/Fatah logo.
That logo
shows the new Arab ‘Palestine’ where Israel is today. Their ‘Palestine’
replaces Israel on the map—and yes, that ‘Palestine’ stretches from the
Mediterranean Sea to the Jordan River.
Hamas and
PLO/Fatah share the same goal. Both want to erase Israel from the map.
It doesn’t
get any more graphic than that.
The world likes
to believe that there is no peace in the Arab-Israel conflict because of Israel.
But today’s news cycle reveals the truth: it’s Arabs’ unyielding demands that
keep peace from ‘happening’.
That’s what
the Kerry-generated headlines above proved. US Secretary John Kerry has (perhaps)
finally conceded that Israel has legitimate security concerns. He seems finally
to recognize (maybe) that the West must give credence to stated Hamas/PLO/Fatah
anti-Israel hostility. He has, to this end, proposed to Abbas a way to help
Israel get that security.
Abbas balked.
He rejected Kerry’s (so far unpublicized) suggestions.
What
happened next was totally unexpected: Kerry suggested that, if Abbas is being
this stubborn about negotiating peace, perhaps the US will tell Israel to delay
the next-scheduled prisoner release (scheduled for the end of this month). The
prisoner release was a promised three-stage release of Arab terrorists held in Israeli
prisons. The promise of release had been made to entice the PA to the negotiating
table.
The US position
seemed clear. If Abbas wasn’t interested in being at the negotiating table, the
prisoner release should stop; it could start up again once Abbas showed more
willingness to compromise.
When Abbas
heard that, he went ballistic (“Palestinian official: Kerry's peace ideas will
lead to 'total failure'”). Abbas didn’t just oppose Kerry’s suggestion for
Israel security; he threatened a complete collapse of the talks over this
issue.
Who’s being
intransigent here, Israel or Abbas?
The answer
seems, clearly, Abbas. Will the world see that?
Nelson
Mandela
-'South
Africans Don't Hate Israel, They Hate Oppression' 912/9/13, Arutz Sheva)
-Netanyahu
Won't Attend Mandela Memorial (12/9/13, Arutz Sheva)
-Peace Now to PM: participate in Mandela's funeral, high
costs mustn't be used as an excuse (12/9/13, Haaretz)
The death of
Nelson Mandela reminds us how badly our moral leaders can fall. For many,
Nelson Mandela was the idol for morality. He spoke to the world of moral
issues. He stood tall for justice.
But he also failed
because he supported, praised and encouraged the ‘Palestinian cause’. Although
he spoke specifically of ‘freeing’ the Palestinians, he did nothing to free those
Arabs from the horrors of living under ‘Palestinian’ rule.
He chose the
wrong cause to label ‘moral’.
Mandela
spoke out against Israel. But as he did that, he ignored disgusting
Arab-on-Arab oppression--documented by Human Rights organizations--that occurs
with unrelenting regularity in both the Palestinian Authority (PA) and Gaza.
He abandoned
the suffering of truly innocent Arabs in order to join the let’s-get-Israel
crowd. That’s what’s so troubling about Nelson Mandela. He could have protected
Arabs from their own rulers. He could have used his moral authority—as no one
else could—to embarrass Hamas and the PA in front of the world, to call out to
them to stop killing and torturing Arabs under their direct control.
He didn’t do
that. Instead, he chose to join their anti-Israel war.
Look at the
2013 World Report from Human Rights Watch (HRW). Both the PA and Hamas stand accused
of hundreds of complaints of torture of their own people across several years.
Both the PA and Hamas harm and severely restrict the freedoms of the press and
assembly. For example, their security
officers wade into peaceful protesters and beat their fellow-Arabs—just because
they assemble, just because they speak out.
While not in
the HRW Report, both Hamas and the PA actively oppress anyone who is not
Muslim. Neither allows freedom of religion or the freedom to worship as one
pleases.
Mandela was wrong.
He had the moral authority to speak out. He didn’t.
Israel’s
Left is also wrong (see the ‘Peace Now’ headline above). Israel is correct not
to send its Prime Minister or President to Mandela’s funeral.
Thee is shame here, not honour. When it came to the world's only Jewish state, Nelson Mandela abandoned his nobility.
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Come back tomorrow for more news.
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