Presumptive Republican nominee for President, Senator John McCain made an international tour last week which brought him at one poin to the Israeli town of Sderot. As many of you know, Sdeort has been the target of thousands of Palestinian rockets and missiles over the past five years. These missiles are fired everyday at Sderot, a city of now just 20,000 down from over 30,000, indiscriminately and meant to kill and maim civilians. We’d like to thank Mr. McCain for coming to Sderot to help bring a attention to the Israeli civilians being terrorized on a daily basis in Sderot.

You can see more pictures here

Comments (1) Mar 24 2008

Comments (0) Mar 03 2008

Haaretz Editorial
11 February 2008

The firing of Qassam rockets against Sderot and the nearby kibbutzim is not stopping and is extracting a heavy price in terms of fear and blood. Responsibility for the shooting from the Gaza Strip, which has been going on for seven years - both before and after the disengagement from the Strip - falls on the Palestinians. Were it not for the shooting, Israel would not respond.

For the past eight months Hamas has ruled the Gaza Strip alone, and it is no longer possible to explain away the shooting as due to a lack of control over rogue organizations. The time has come for the Palestinians to ask themselves and their leadership about the direction they are heading. Are the West Bank and the Gaza Strip still one entity, aspiring to establish an independent state alongside Israel? Is it possible that in all situations, Israel will hold negotiations for the establishment of such a state while Hamas is shooting at it? Has Hamas decided to foil a peace agreement and chosen for its people the option of continuous war?

Israel left the Gaza Strip in the summer 2005 to signal the start of an end to the occupation. Kadima was set up after leading figures in Likud, with Ariel Sharon at their head, decided to withdraw from the Greater Land of Israel to more secure and limited borders. The party’s political platform also included a withdrawal from the West Bank, dividing the land into two states for two peoples and an evacuation of settlements. In order to show the seriousness of its intentions, settlements from Gush Katif and northern Samaria were evacuated without an agreement.

The ball passed to the Palestinian court, where it has been stuck after the Palestinians elected Hamas, which opposes a peace agreement with Israel. Instead of Gaza becoming the cornerstone for a Palestinian state, it has become a hostile entity under siege.

The disengagement was not a mistake, but a necessary move of vision and hope. Hamas undermined the hope for a shared future and opted to preserve, as its declared policy, its “resistance” to the existence of the State of Israel, and by extension continue its path of violence. While Israel is trying to correct its historic error of settling in the heart of the Palestinian population by converging into old-new borders of a more ethical democracy, the Palestinians elected Hamas, which is not willing to compromise. The Qassam attacks are not proof that the disengagement failed, but that the Hamas rule is leading the Palestinians into a new round of an unnecessary war. While Mahmoud Abbas is trying to preserve, with the skin of his teeth, a channel of dialogue with Israel, one that will lead to an agreement, Hamas and the other groups are making great efforts to foil any chance for a solution.

If the limited military actions Israel is undertaking in an effort to bring an end to the Qassam rockets will not bring an end to the shooting; if the moderate states, and first and foremost Egypt and Jordan fail to contain Hamas - Israel will have no option but to embark on a broad military operation.

The Israel Defense Forces raison d’etre is to protect the country’s citizens from attack. Even if the success of a military operation is not guaranteed, that concern must not prevent the government from doing what is necessary in order to protect the lives of its citizens and the state’s border. The solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is political, and should always be pursued. At the same time, Israel must prove that the blood of its citizens cannot be forfeited - so that in the future, its neighbors will abide by the agreements to which they have committed.

Comments (0) Feb 12 2008

The New York JCRC planted a field of some 4,200 balloons across the street from UN headquarters on Thursday, in a display meant to call international attention to the intolerable situation in the Israeli city of Sderot and its surrounding communities.

The red balloons were meant to represent the thousands of rockets, fired from the Gaza Strip, that have struck Sderot since Israel’s withdrawal from Gaza in September 2005. Sderot and the surrounding area have been under near-constant bombardment, suffering thousands of strikes by Qassam rockets, thousands of mortar shells, and recently an Iranian-made Katyusha (”Grad”) rocket.

The plight of Sderot’s citizens has gone largely unnoticed by the international media — and hence the international community — even as the city absorbs more and more projectiles fired from Gaza. It is hoped that international pressure can help stop the attacks that have damaged homes, hospitals and schools and force children to have class in bomb shelters.

Comments (1) Jan 25 2008

By David Billet

On the eve of Christmas, an op-ed by Kenneth L. Woodward, the former religion editor and now contributing editor of Newsweek, appeared in the Wall Street Journal. Titled “The Plight of Bethlehem,” it enumerated a number of ways in which the Jewish state imposes hardships on Christians in the Holy Land. According to Woodward, Israel restricts their movement and their access to holy sites; squeezes them economically in cities like Bethlehem; and confiscates their land for its security fence and for Jewish settlements. Woodward closes by reminding Israel that it would be a mistake to “lose” the good will of the dwindling population
of Palestinian Christians, who enjoy “remarkably good” relations with their Muslim neighbors, have long been a moderating force in the area, and in any case “deserve to keep their land and work for peace on earth, goodwill toward men.”

A rousing tale of injustice–but one constructed almost entirely out of bias, falsehood, and demagoguery.

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Comments (0) Jan 04 2008

Hamas’s demand for 450 prisoners, some with blood on their hands, in return for Gilad Schalit, has provoked soul-searching in the highest reaches of the Israeli government. On one hand, Israeli military policy has always emphasized the necessity of freeing captured Israeli citizens. However, Hamas’s list of prisoners includes Abdallah Barghouti, Hassan Salameh, and Nail Bargouti, together responsible for the deaths of over 130 Israelis, and Marwan Barghouti, serving 5 life sentences for the murders of Israelis. The mathematical inequalities and the high-profile names Hamas has demanded has led many to question how far the State of Israel should compromise on behalf of one of its own.

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3485938,00.html

Comments (0) Dec 24 2007

As part of the week long political jubilee known as the UN GA, usually the most interesting and important meetings take place behind the scenes, and this week has been no exception. Here we have some exclusive footage courtesy of Israel’s Channel 10, of our Foreign Minister, Tzipi Livni, meeting with the Emir of Qatar to discuss many important things.

Comments (0) Sep 26 2007

We here at Politik feel that it is important to remind our readers of the ideaology of Hamas as it is written and articulated by them. At a time when people are increasingly contemplating the embrace of the most radical and extremist elements of fundamental Islam if only to produce short term positive political results, we should take pause and remind ourselves of these groups true intentions.

As written by Hamas in 1988 and still their standing covenant (we took the time to highlight some of the most glaring examples of hate):

The Covenant of the Islamic Resistance Movement
18 August 1988
In The Name Of The Most Merciful Allah

“Ye are the best nation that hath been raised up unto mankind: ye command that which is just, and ye forbid that which is unjust, and ye believe in Allah. And if they who have received the scriptures had believed, it had surely been the better for them: there are believers among them, but the greater part of them are transgressors. They shall not hurt you, unless with a slight hurt; and if they fight against you, they shall turn their backs to you, and they shall not be helped. They are smitten with vileness wheresoever they are found; unless they obtain security by entering into a treaty with Allah, and a treaty with men; and they draw on themselves indignation from Allah, and they are afflicted with poverty. This they suffer, because they disbelieved the signs of Allah, and slew the prophets unjustly; this, because they were rebellious, and transgressed.” (Al-Imran - verses 109-111).

Israel will exist and will continue to exist until Islam will obliterate it, just as it obliterated others before it” (The Martyr, Imam Hassan al-Banna, of blessed memory).

“The Islamic world is on fire. Each of us should pour some water, no matter how little, to extinguish whatever one can without waiting for the others.” (Sheikh Amjad al-Zahawi, of blessed memory).

In The Name Of The Most Merciful Allah

Introduction
Praise be unto Allah, to whom we resort for help, and whose forgiveness, guidance and support we seek; Allah bless the Prophet and grant him salvation, his companions and supporters, and to those who carried out his message and adopted his laws - everlasting prayers and salvation as long as the earth and heaven will last. Hereafter:

O People:
Out of the midst of troubles and the sea of suffering, out of the palpitations of faithful hearts and cleansed arms; out of the sense of duty, and in response to Allah’s command, the call has gone out rallying people together and making them follow the ways of Allah, leading them to have determined will in order to fulfill their role in life, to overcome all obstacles, and surmount the difficulties on the way. Constant preparation has continued and so has the readiness to sacrifice life and all that is precious for the sake of Allah.

Thus it was that the nucleus (of the movement) was formed and started to pave its way through the tempestuous sea of hopes and expectations, of wishes and yearnings, of troubles and obstacles, of pain and challenges, both inside and outside.

When the idea was ripe, the seed grew and the plant struck root in the soil of reality, away from passing emotions, and hateful haste. The Islamic Resistance Movement emerged to carry out its role through striving for the sake of its Creator, its arms intertwined with those of all the fighters for the liberation of Palestine. The spirits of its fighters meet with the spirits of all the fighters who have sacrificed their lives on the soil of Palestine, ever since it was conquered by the companions of the Prophet, Allah bless him and grant him salvation, and until this day.

This Covenant of the Islamic Resistance Movement (HAMAS), clarifies its picture, reveals its identity, outlines its stand, explains its aims, speaks about its hopes, and calls for its support, adoption and joining its ranks. Our struggle against the Jews is very great and very serious. It needs all sincere efforts. It is a step that inevitably should be followed by other steps. The Movement is but one squadron that should be supported by more and more squadrons from this vast Arab and Islamic world, until the enemy is vanquished and Allah’s victory is realised.

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Comments (0) Jul 24 2007

Wow, this is a long one, but we think essential reading regarding our Foreign Minister, Tzipi Livni.

From the NYT:

July 8, 2007
Her Jewish State
By ROGER COHEN
Soon after our first meeting in her Spartan office in Jerusalem, Tzipi Livni, the Israeli foreign minister, called me. Something was on her mind. A lawyer by training, she does not like to leave loose ends. I had asked her if the four years she spent in Mossad, the intelligence service, made her a disciplined person. Livni had seemed taken aback by the question, which interrupted the cascade of her pronouncements on Israel and its Palestinian nemesis. After a long hesitation, she said: “I don’t like this phrase, a disciplined person. I don’t know. I don’t know.”

Now, an hour later, she wanted to set the record straight. “I was thinking about this idea of me as a disciplined person,” she began. I perched myself on a stone wall near the King David Hotel and listened through a blustery desert wind. “There are other parts of me that are different. I prefer jeans to a suit, sneakers to high heels, markets to malls. You’ve just returned from Paris: I prefer the Quartier Latin to the Champs Elysées. In general, I don’t like formality at all. It is just part of what I do. You know, when I was young, I went to the Sinai and worked as a waitress.”

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Comments (2) Jul 11 2007

From the Washington Post:

A Shadow on the Human Rights Movement

By Jackson Diehl
Monday, June 25, 2007; A19

Where does the global human rights movement stand in the seventh year of the 21st century? If the first year of the United Nations Human Rights Council is any indication, it’s grown sick and cynical — partly because of the fecklessness and flexible morality of some of the very governments and groups that claim to be most committed to democratic values.

At a session in Geneva last week, the council — established a year ago in an attempt to reform the U.N. Human Rights Commission — listened to reports by special envoys appointed by its predecessor condemning the governments of Cuba and Belarus. It then abolished the jobs of both “rapporteurs” in a post-midnight maneuver orchestrated by its chairman, who announced a “consensus” in spite of loud objections by the ambassador from Canada that there was no such accord.

While ending the scrutiny of those dictatorships, the council chose to establish one permanent and special agenda item: the “human rights situation in Palestine and other occupied Arab territories.” In other words, Israel (or “Palestine,” in the council’s terminology), alone among the nations of the world, will be subjected to continual and open-ended examination. That’s in keeping with the record of the council’s first year: Eleven resolutions were directed at the Jewish state. None criticized any other government.

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Comments (3) Jul 09 2007