Free Republic

SNIPPET: “The ceasefire announced by Hamas on January 18, never a sterling example of the genre, further deteriorated on Sunday as over 15 rockets and mortar shells were fired at Israel from Gaza. That night, when Israeli planes struck back at Hamas targets, many Palestinians reported that Israel had telephoned them warnings to evacuate. There were no casualties in the strike. During Operation Cast Lead, Israel reduced Palestinian casualties with such measures as disseminating warnings in leaflets or SMS messages and dropping small, harmless bombs on rooftops before attacks. It prompted former British colonel Richard Kemp to say that “I...

An immediate Israeli government imperative must be to move the Judea-Samaria security fence eastward by 5-10 kilometers. Failure to do so leaves the capital Jerusalem, major population centers and thoroughfares, as well as Ben-Gurion International Airport, exposed to the threat of enemy missiles. Failure to do so means leaving Israel with indefensible borders. In other words, the current route of the fence poses an inordinate risk to the Israeli population, which is counter to both Israeli and American national interests. In light of the recent missile attacks by the Lebanese-based terrorist organization Hizbullah, it is now very clear that the...

Cardinal Theodore McCarrick, Roman Catholic archbishop of Washington, D.C., is taking an increased interest in the desperate plight of Christians in the Holy Land -- to the point of politely and privately asking for help from President Bush. Immediately at stake is the West Bank village of Aboud, whose Christian roots go back two millennia, and which now is threatened by Israel's security barrier. Aboud is the current object of Israeli policy that has contributed to heavy migration of Christian Arabs, promising further reduction in their present 1.7 percent share of Israel's population. Following previous security barrier construction that effectively...

Leaders of the Presbyterian Church U.S.A. and the country's largest Jewish groups are meeting in New York today to discuss a rift touched off by resolutions that the church adopted this summer regarding the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, most notably one that calls for selective divestment in companies doing business in Israel and the occupied territories. Protestant leaders believe that no other churches in the United States have taken such a step. But others may be considering similarly stringent measures, according to a Presbyterian spokesman and representatives of other mainline Protestant churches. "There have been some expressions of interest for finding out...

Walls are a poor substitute for peace. But as Israel's new 425-mile barricade that's separating Jewish settlements from Occupied Palestinian Territory, has shown, they work as a substitute for bloodshed. Israeli officials point out that not one Palestinian suicide bomber has crossed into the Jewish state wherever the barrier -- now 25 percent complete -- has been constructed. The need for reparations is indisputable. The wall has resulted in the loss of private property, the loss of livelihoods and the loss of quality of life for many Palestinian families. As the court correctly noted, the wall "severely impedes the exercise...

Jamie Gorelick – What a Girl Wants Jonathan M. SteinThursday, May 27, 2004 Jamie Gorelick wants to be Attorney General – badly. That is why she agreed to be on the 9/11 Commission. Her reward for sufficiently tarring President Bush in the Commission’s report would be a guaranteed position as Attorney General in a Democrat administration. Jamie Gorelick wants to be Attorney General, and she will do anything to get the job.Make no mistake – this is an opportunity Ms. Gorelick has been savoring since December of 1996, when Bill Clinton decided to keep Janet Reno on as Attorney...