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  A Byrd's eye look at the historic 'Israeli - Arab conflict' towards Annapolis 2007    Around 2,000 years ago, the Romans that have conquered Israel, the Jewish people, the Jewish land, (after killing Jesus) destroy Jews' second temple, massacre hundreds of thousands after a rebellion against Rome's oppression and prohibition on practicing Judaism and mass torture [an armed rebellion which was disapproved by the rabbis & any religious leaders], and expell majority of Jews out of the land [as was expected throught the Jewish prophets, because God expects from his people - the Jews much more than from other...

America has "lost" the war in Iraq primarily because most people believe it has. And most people believe it has because the news media have said so. If this sounds bizarre, consider this: Why is it widely believed that Israel lost its 2006 war against Hezbollah in Lebanon? The answer is essentially the same -- people believe it because the media said so. In fact, there is no rational case for arguing that Israel lost its war against Hezbollah. I have believed that Israel won, or at least that Hezbollah lost, since the end of the war in 2006. I...

Some of those who write to local newspapers try to give the impression that they know the solution to the Middle East conflict because they understand the problem and end up showing how much, in fact, they don't know. For example, one contributor wrote that Israel pretends to be a democracy when in fact the Arabs have no voting rights. Israeli Arabs do have voting rights and have Arab MKs (Members of the Knesset) representing them in the Israeli parliament to this day. The rest of the Arabs living in Gaza or in the West Bank vote for the PA...

Today two groups of protesters are gathered outside the Prime Minister's Office. The Movement for Quality Government is demanding the establishment of an official commission of inquiry, headed by a Supreme Court justice to investigate the handling of the war in Lebanon. Down the road, IDF reservists are demanding that Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, Defense Minister Amir Peretz and IDF Chief of General Staff Lt. Gen. Dan Halutz resign. The critical question arising from the separate protests is whether or not the country's current political and military leadership are capable of drawing the proper lessons from the war. If Israel's...

The United Nations is compensating Lebanon for the war started by the Hezbollah but they seem somehow to have neglected to notice that Israel has suffered major financial and social damage from the same war. Please sign this peition and circulate it for further signatures. http://www.petitiononline.com/IAUN1/petition.html

Since the cease-fire was implemented in Lebanon, we have heard scattered reports indicating that a prisoner swap with the Palestinians may be in the works. In exchange for hundreds if not thousands of Palestinian terrorists now held in Israeli prisons, IDF Cpl. Gilad Shalit, who has been held hostage by Palestinian terrorists for nearly two months, may be released from captivity. These reports lend weight to the view that things are back to normal. Terrorists kidnap Israelis and hold them hostage and Israel releases terrorists in order to free them. It is a comforting thought for people like Prime Minister...

Here is the Israeli version of the American hit song: Was Rightist When Rightist Wasn't Cool I remember wearin' Kova Temble hats and Orange shirts Even when they wer'n't in style And I was listenin' to Arutz7 When all of my friends were diggin' Rock 'n Roll and Rhythm & Blues I was Rightist, when Rightist wasn't cool I was Rightist, when Rightist wasn't cool I am Rightist, from my hat down to my boots I still act, and look the same What you see ain't nothin' new I was Rightist, when Rightist wasn't cool I remember circlin' with the...

BEIRUT, Lebanon - Israeli commandos raided a Hezbollah stronghold deep in Lebanon on Saturday, engaging in a fierce gunbattle, and the Lebanese government threatened to halt further troop deployments to protest what U.N. officials called a violation of the 6-day-old cease-fire. Israel said the raid was launched to stop arms smuggling from Iran and Syria to the militant Shiite fighters. An Israeli officer was killed during the raid, and two soldiers were wounded, one seriously. There were no signs of further clashes, but the flare-up underlined worries about the fragility of the cease-fire as the U.N. pleaded for nations to...

We've all known brave soldiers who fought courageously in multiple conflicts only to succumb to lingering and debilitating illnesses years later. Likewise, history tells us of nations that never lost a battle in combat only to die because they lost their sense of purpose, their will to survive. I think that's what is happening in Israel today. I think the Jewish state is terminally ill. Israel may have won three major wars in its 60-year history, but it will be lucky to survive another decade of morally bankrupt leadership. It's not just former Prime Minister Ariel Sharon who is comatose....

(IsraelNN.com) A group of reserve soldiers, who were recently discharged and are setting up a forum, have called upon Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, Defense Minister Amir Peretz, and Foreign Minister Tsipi Livni to resign. Tonight the soldiers will be holding a demonstration at Rabin Square in Tel Aviv at 7p.m. The demonstration is expected to be the first of several, under the banner, “You failed – resign!” In a petition publicized by the forum, the public is asked to sign the following: “We are very worried about the fate of the country. From all ends of the political spectrum, we...

It would be funny if it were not so sad Turning a golden calf into a sacred cow As the combat has trailed off in Lebanon, it can now be said that whatever Israel’s losses, it has discovered a great comedic genius: Prime Minister Ehud Olmert—a man who sent his army to war, but only after tying its shoelaces together. In fact, Olmert is more than a performing comedic artist but also a director of a war cabinet that encompasses a veritable Shakespearean company performing a seemingly endless comedy of errors. Olmert’s defense minister, Amir Peretz, offered to make peace...

As staff at some of the world’s most prestigious press organizations effectively take Hizbullah’s side in its war with Israel, they inadvertently reveal a profound transformation in the logic of warfare. Some examples of their actions: · Reuters: Adnan Hajj, a freelance photographer with over a decade’s experience at Reuters, doctored his pictures to make Israeli attacks on Lebanon look more destructive and Lebanese more vulnerable. His embellishments created thicker and darker plumes of smoke from bombing raids and posed the same woman bewailing the loss of her bombed-out residence in three different locations. Reuters fired Hajj and withdrew 920...

Polish humanitarian organization to solicit funds for Israel By ETGAR LEFKOVITS In a first, a Polish humanitarian organization is working to provide humanitarian assistance to hard-hit residents of northern Israel, the head of the group said Monday. The non-governmental Polish Humanitarian Organization will ask the Polish government as well as private donors for about NIS 1 million in aid for residents in the north for two projects, in addition to separate funding for Lebanese civilians, said Janina Ochojska, the group's founder and president. The head of the Polish humanitarian organization, who has just completed a tour of hard-hit areas in...

To lead the nation in a war to victory was just too much for them. Too heavy a burden for their narrow shoulders. That trio - Ehud Olmert, Amir Peretz and Tzipi Livni - asked and received a mandate to lead the people of Israel, promising to take our fate into our own hands and unilaterally establish Israel's borders by evacuating Israelis who live in Judea and Samaria, and turn Israel into a country "in which it will be a pleasure to live." We do not know and probably will never know if they would have been up to that...

Dear Mainstream Media, I understand why you report as you do in both the Israel-Hezbollah conflict and the larger war on terror. You believe journalism requires a sort of elegant moral relativism, that telling "both sides of the story" is a necessary prerequisite to "objective" journalism. You don't believe that there can be an objective right or wrong; if you were reporting World War II today, you'd feel obligated to speak to front-line Japanese and Nazi soldiers and discuss the Allies' disproportionate response to the attack on Pearl Harbor and the invasion of Poland. Since you don't believe in right...

Have you noticed that when America declared war on terrorism, it immediately began to redefine the term. Here's the way it works. President Bush told the nations they were either with us or with the terrorists. Remember that speech? It may have been the high point of his administration. But he didn't mean it. The most recent proof is the suggestion within his administration that Syria be used to mediate the Hezbollah-Israeli conflict. Bush's own State Department, which is no different than Bill Clinton's State Department or Jimmy Carter's State Department, classifies Syria as a terrorist-sponsoring nation. In fact, Syria...

Our nation stands at an important precipice: War has been declared against our nation; our people have been killed and wounded in this war, and yet a sizable portion of our population is unwilling to recognize this war and stand up to fight it. The war is of course the battle between Islamic jihadists and the United States of America and our allies in the West. Right now the brave people of Israel are on the front lines of this battle, one that poses a far greater threat to mankind and the civilized world than even the most diabolical machinations...

MOSCOW: The deadly Israeli bombing of Qana in southern Lebanon was a "gross violation" of international norms that confirms the need for an immediate ceasefire, Russia's foreign ministry said on Monday. The Qana bombing "clearly confirms the need to immediately end military activities, bloodletting and violence in Lebanon", foreign ministry spokesman Mikhail Kamynin said. "We have repeatedly expressed our condemnation... of activities that make the civilian population suffer. Such 'mistakes' are a gross violation of fundamental norms of international humanitarian law," Kamynin added. Israel has faced widespread condemnation since its bombing raid that killed at least 52 people, including 30...

If you are ever morally confused about a major world issue, here is a rule that is almost never violated: Whenever you hear that "world opinion" holds a view, assume it is morally wrong. And here is a related rule if your religious or national or ethnic group ever suffers horrific persecution: "World opinion" will never do a thing for you. Never. Supporters of Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and his Fatah Movement hold a poster of Abbas during a rally in support of his call for a referendum in the main square of the West Bank town of Ramallah,...