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June 20, 2004
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 Arafat Losing Hold on His People by Peter Hermann
A deadly three-year uprising against Israel by Palestinian militias, some supported or encouraged by Arafat, has not produced any tangible victories. Instead of loosening Israel's hold on the West Bank and Gaza, the militant groups have undercut Palestinian officials and created a lawless society in which citizens complain more about the armed gangs than about Israeli soldiers. A growing number of Palestinians regard Arafat as a barrier to reforms. (Baltimore Sun)
Christians Want a Birthright Program, Too by Daphna Berman
 The Israel Experience College Scholarship Program is a new and completely subsidized Christian evangelical initiative sponsored by the New York-based Eagle's Wings Ministry. The program has been recently dubbed by some as "Birthright for Christians." Though it is geared towards preparing the students to help in public relations for Israel, it is also intended to give them an appreciation of Christianity's roots in the Jewish faith and Jerusalem - a Birthright-esque program for the next generation of active and identified Christian evangelicals. Ten devout young Christians are touring Israel now. (Ha'aretz)
Israeli Arabs Credit Fence for Newfound Prosperity by Matthew Gutman
The West Bank security fence has gained some unlikely enthusiasts: the leaders of Israel's Islamic Movement. Since the completion of the security fence in their areas, many Israeli Arab communities have enjoyed a spike in both security and economic activity, as Arabs who once shopped in the West Bank now shop locally. "God be blessed, the fence ended the parade of terrorists through this city and gave us an economic boom and increased security," says Umm el-Fahm City Manager Tawfiq Karaman. (Jerusalem Post)
IDF Removes 40 Roadblocks to Ease Palestinian Movement by Matthew Gutman
The Israeli army has begun the removal of some 40 roadblocks and obstacles near Palestinian villages across the West Bank in an effort to "ease the flow of movement and quality of life" for Palestinian civilians, following several weeks of relative quiet in the territories, IDF officers said last week. However, the continuation of the process depends on "terrorist groups not taking advantage of the new situation." (Jerusalem Post)
Israel Seeks to Build Gaza-Egypt Canal
Israel has launched a project to construct a huge trench along the border of Egypt and the Gaza Strip. The Israeli Defense Ministry has announced a tender for the construction of a four-kilometer trench along the Egyptian-Gaza border in an effort to stop the smuggling of weapons and explosives to the Palestinian Authority and insurgency groups. The trench was specified as having a depth of up to 25 meters. (Middle East Newsline)
 Demonizing Israel is Tragic for All by Rabbi Dr. Jonathan Sacks, Chief Rabbi of the United Kingdom
I am genuinely distressed that the Israel-Palestinian conflict is presented in the European media as a zero-sum game. So you are either pro-Israel or you are pro-Palestinian. That is an entirely fallacious way of looking at things. From peace, both sides gain. From violence, both sides lose. Therefore, it is not a zero-sum game whatsoever. Those who care about the future of the Palestinians must care about the future of Israel as well, and vice versa. Those who support Israel's neighbors in demonizing Israel are indirectly perpetuating closed societies which deprive human beings of their rights. (Telegraph-UK)
Israel's Example by Sadiq Reza
Is it ever right to torture a captured terrorist - for instance to obtain information about a future attack that could result in the deaths of American civilians? A few years ago Israel's High Court of Justice considered this question with respect to Palestinian terrorists and Israeli civilians. Its answer? Almost never. One can oppose Israel's policies in the West Bank and Gaza and still applaud this stand by its high court - and learn from it. Surely the U.S. interest in combating terrorism is no greater than that of Israel. The writer is an associate professor at New York Law School. (Washington Post)
Israel's Intifada Victory by Charles Krauthammer
The Palestinian intifada is over, and the Palestinians have lost. The past four years of terrorism have killed almost 1,000 Israelis and maimed thousands of others. But Israel has won strategically. Israel's economy is growing again. The tourists are returning. There was terrorism before the intifada and there will be terrorism to come. The Palestinians know the ruin that Arafat has brought, and they are beginning to protest it. He promised them blood and victory; he delivered on the blood. Even more important, they have lost their place at the table. Israel is now defining a new equilibrium that will reign for years to come. (Washington Post)
Hebrew U: New Torah Scroll in Memory of Bombing Victims
Last week, Hillel House of Hebrew University of Jerusalem received a Torah Scroll written in memory of the nine victims of the July 2002 terrorist bombing at the university. The scroll was funded by the Hillel organization of Montreal, in the framework of a two-year initiative called Project M.O.S.E.S. Hillel Montreal serves over 8,000 Jewish students at campuses such as McGill University, Concordia University, University of Montreal, Marianopolis College, Dawson College, Vanier College, and John Abbot College. Hillel at Hebrew University serves 12,000 students at the Hebrew University on the Mt. Scopus campus. (Israel National News)
Idaho: Saudi Cleared of Terror Charges in Idaho by Bob Fick
Sami Omar al-Hussayen, a Saudi graduate student at the University of Idaho, was acquitted of charges he used his computer expertise to help Muslim terrorists raise money and recruit followers. The case was seen as an important test of a provision of the Patriot Act that makes it a crime to provide expert advice or assistance to terrorists. Al-Hussayen set up and ran websites that prosecutors said were used to recruit terrorists, raise money, and disseminate inflammatory rhetoric. (AP/Guardian-UK)
McGill: Protestors Oppose Honorary Degree for Robinson by Janice Arnold
Demonstrators held placards reading "No Degree for Durban," as McGill University awarded an honorary doctor of laws to Mary Robinson. The silent vigil, organized by B'nai B'rith Canada, drew about 20 protesters who considered Robinson, the former United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, unworthy of the honor. "She was the driving force behind that ironically named UN World Conference Against Racism, overseeing what was little more than an intellectual pogrom against Jews and Israel," the organization charged. McGill history professor Gil Troy was the leading opponent of Robinson receiving an honorary degree. (Canadian Jewish News)
UC-Irvine: Disputed Islamic Stoles OKd by Marisa O'Neill
Tensions simmered between Muslim and Jewish students on campus over the weekend. Fifteen Muslim students planned to wear at the commencement ceremony green stoles - which some Jewish students say show support for terrorism. Members of Anteaters for Israel, a Jewish group on campus, contend that the green color and Arabic word "shahada" can be associated with suicide attacks and the terrorist group Hamas. (Los Angeles Times)
UC-Irvine: Jihad Comes to UC-Irvine by Arnold Steinberg
Israeli self-defense is depicted as state terrorism, while terrorist acts to kill Jews are seen merely as the acts of "militants" who are driven to violence by "desperation." At best, the "evenhanded" school of Middle Eastern policy condemns "the violence on both sides." At worst, consider UC-Irvine. Muslim Student Union and Society of Arab Students members wore green armbands to support Hamas. The leaders of Jewish campus organizations protested in vain to the politically correct administration, which is (or pretends to be) unfamiliar with Hamas' charter. What is the responsibility of a college administration for what happens on its campus? (Frontpagemagazine)
Middle East Studies on Trial by Daniel Pipes and Teri Blumenfeld
Fawaz Damra (pictured), the Palestinian-born leader of Ohio's largest mosque, was convicted last week of lying about his connections to terrorist organizations when he applied for U.S. citizenship. The high profile court case turned on videotapes showing Damra calling Jews "the sons of monkeys and pigs" and saying that the Muslim nation will not regain its glory until their "removal." The defense team called upon two academic specialists on Islam and the Middle East to place these statements in context and neutralize them. On the eve of the trial, one of them made a stunning about-turn. He told the court: "Mr. Damra did indeed promote violence and hatred." (FrontPageMagazine.com)
Detached from Reality by Gerald M. Steinberg
The disastrous outcome of the Oslo process - 7 years of false peace negotiations that Arafat exploited to prepare a terror campaign - can be blamed on many factors. Some of my fellow academics who gave the process legitimacy, maintained the facade of peace long after the failure of Oslo became clear, and, even worse, continue today as if nothing has changed. Academic seminars and the illusion of "ripeness," helped create the foundations for the Oslo process. Underpinning it all was the notion that Israelis and Palestinians understood each other's desires, perspectives, fears and vulnerabilities. We know now that these assumptions were incorrect. (Jerusalem Post)
UCLA: Conflict in Israel-Palestine Retains Visibility on Campus by Charles Proctor
The violence in Israel-Palestine hit close enough to home to spark emotions in many students. It created fear and anxiety - and it wasn't just over what was going on in Israel. When the second intifada began, Jewish groups in the United States say there was an alarming rise in anti-Israel and anti-Semitic sentiments at universities nationwide. This gave rise to a new phenomenon: Israel advocacy. Groups were mobilized on campuses. Students were given the opportunity to attend Israel advocacy conferences to learn how to become a supporter of Israel. Sigalit Noureal, the 2004-2005 president of Bruins for Israel (pictured), said as an American student, advocating for Israel is the only way she feels she can make a difference. "It's my own battle for Israel," she said. (Daily Bruin)
UC-Irvine: Security Wall Necessary by Eman Esmailzadeh, letter to the editor
Apartheid Wall? Come on! What Israel is currently building is in no way an "Apartheid Wall" and it seems that the New U. is starting to believe whatever the Society of Arab Students or the Muslim Student Union puts out. Wall? After visiting the barrier in Israel myself, I can tell you that 95 percent of the barrier is chain-link fence - it's not a massive concrete wall that is always portrayed in the news. (New University)
Cisco, IBM Develop World's Fastest Processor in Israel by Alex Doron
After a three-year-long Israel-based R&D, Cisco Systems and IBM developed the world's fastest microprocessor, capable of performing 47 billion operations per second. The chip will be manufactured at IBM's New York and Vermont facilities. Head of the Cisco development center in Netanya David Beletz and IBM technology Division regional manager Shaul Cohen said that the two companies invested $20 million in the development, carried out by a joint team of 30 engineers at the Netanya facility. (Ma'ariv International)
Pistons Win - Owner Bill Davidson's Ties to Israel
The Detroit Pistons won the NBA championship, making team owner William Davidson, who also owns the NHL champions Tampa Bay Lightning, the first owner in major professional sports history to win two championships in different sports in the same year. His major gifts include endowments of the William Davidson Institute at the University of Michigan. The $30 million check he wrote in 1992 to get it started was one of the largest-ever contributions to a business school at the time. Four years later, he made an equal contribution for a business school at Technion institute in Haifa, Israel. (Sports Business News)
See also Davidson Center, Jerusalem Archeological Park
The Jerusalem Archaeological Park, Israel's most important antiquity site, reaches the Temple Mount on the north, the slope of the Mount of Olives and the Kidron Valley on the east, and the Valley of Hinnom on the west and the south. This enormous undertaking could not have been realized without the help of William Davidson, among others. (Archpark)
An Aria for Allah by Lee Landor
She might be female, she might be Muslim, but that doesn't seem to have stopped soprano Enas Massalha from becoming the first Israeli Arab Muslim woman to perform with the Israel Opera. During her studies at the Rubin Academy of Music and Dance in Jerusalem, Massalha, who grew up in the Israeli Arab village of Daburiya near Nazareth, realized she wanted to be part of the opera world. (Jerusalem Post)
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 - Israel's Fence: Fortification or Folly? | Dependent No More by Dan Schueftan
- Israel's fence...is vital because Israel needs to cut itself off - not only from Palestinian terrorism, which has devastated Israel through the mass killings of Israeli civilians; but also from the Palestinian attempt to undermine, demographically, the existence of the Jewish nation state.
- We are probably the only country in the world that has essentially granted complete, free access to its worst enemies. People who are engaged in mass killing of Jews have free access into our streets, homes, bedrooms, and nurseries....Israel will not exist if Palestinians are allowed to undermine it, and Israelis are not willing to commit national suicide.
- Once the security barrier is finished, the number of casualties, particularly civilian casualties, from terrorism will drop sharply....Once the fence is complete and Israel is more secure, we will see a reversal of the downward economic trend that began with the war (the so-called intifada).
- Israel is once again claiming its right to self-determination...(due to) the unbelievable folly of the Oslo process - we became occupied by the Palestinians almost to the extent that the Palestinians are occupied by Israel. The Palestinians have determined Israeli life.
- Since Palestinian "goodwill" has never existed, and is not expected - and since it is a major mistake for Israel's vital interests to depend on the goodwill of its worst enemy - this is what self-determination is all about - we are finally denying the Palestinians the ability to hold our lives hostage. (Reform Judaism Magazine)
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Absurdity, Not Security by Meir Pa'il
- The...security barrier...is intended, according to Israeli government claims, to stop, or at least minimize, the continuous penetration of Arab Palestinian murderers.
- Yet even the barrier's staunchest supporters do not believe it will succeed in stopping every suicide bomber....(They will)...sneak through the barrier's gates...or...dig tunnels; or smuggle (themselves)....The fence cannot defend Israelis from mortars or primitive missiles fired from the West Bank. Historically, strategic walls simply have not worked....Therefore, from a military point of view, the fence is a bad investment.
- Why, then, undertake such a costly project? The unspoken justification is political. The Israeli government is imposing a de facto new border that replaces the "green line," which had...served as the border between Israel and Jordan until the 1967 Six-Day War.
- Eventually it will encircle the whole of the Old City of Jerusalem, plus most of the Arab built-up area of Jerusalem around the Old City, as well as some nearby Arab Palestinian neighborhoods....We must reject the building of a barrier that isolates Jerusalem from Moslems and Christians.
- The Palestinian leadership has not done enough to stop the murderous campaign of terrorism against Israel....But...the placement of the barrier is causing serious disruptions to the lives of thousands of Palestinians and is a major stumbling block to achieving a viable future Palestinian state.
- Constructing fences and walls east of the "green line" is pouring fuel on the fire of the very hatred that brought us to this sad state of affairs in the first place. When the barrier is completed, it will not be a symbol of security, but of absurdity. (Reform Judaism Magazine)
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