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Jonathan Pollard, in better days

If this report is true, then the behavior of my government is worse than despicable:

Following reports that Israel and the U.S. are engaged in advanced negotiations over the release of convicted Israeli spy Jonathan Pollard, the Shas ultra-Orthodox newspaper Yom l’Yom [Day to Day] reported Thursday morning that disputes have arisen between the two sides over the details of the deal.

According to the Shas newspaper, the U.S. said it will agree to release Pollard only under condition that he continue to be imprisoned in Israel. The Israelis, however, demand Pollard’s full and permanent release. The report said that despite their disagreements the two sides are trying to come to a compromise.

Last week, a local Jerusalem newspaper reported that Pollard, who is serving a life sentence for espionage in a North Carolina prison, could be released in exchange for Israel agreeing to a settlement freeze.

I have discussed the Pollard case in numerous posts. Here’s some of what I said the last time:

Pollard’s hugely disproportionate sentence — Pollard is the only American who has been given a life sentence for spying for an ally — the government’s reneging on his plea bargain, his treatment in prison, far worse than that of Soviet spy Aldrich Ames, for whose crimes Pollard may have been blamed, and the continued lack of an acceptable rationale from the government, tell us that there is something ‘special’ about this case.

One thing that is special, in my opinion, is that Pollard knows something that would be embarrassing to some US officials. This explains the demand that he continue to be imprisoned in Israel. Certainly there would be a secret protocol that he would not be able to speak publicly. The evil that is being done to this man, who has more than paid for his crime, is remarkable.

But I wonder what moral cretin in the administration came up with the idea of trading him for a settlement freeze. It probably went something like this:

The Jews will do anything to get one of their people back. Look what they paid for Shalit! This yid is just costing us to feed him in Butner [Federal Prison], so why let him die and go to waste? Let’s see what we can get for him.

Maybe it isn’t true. I hope not. That is, I want to see Pollard released as much as anyone, and I hope he will be freed to live his last days in Israel with his wife, who has dedicated herself to saving him.

What I can’t face is that my government may be on the same moral level as Hamas.

Technorati Tags: Jonathan Pollard, Obama Administration, Israel

YAMAM team members in Oakland. If you are a terrorist, you definitely do not want to meet these guys.

During the Second Intifada, the Israel Police counter-terrorism unit (YAMAM) saved countless Israeli lives, driving and flying from one end of the country to the other to intercept tens of suicide bombers and other terrorists as they tried to enter Israeli population centers from the territories. Sometimes they were arrested, sometimes they tried to shoot it out and sometimes they just blew themselves up. But most of the time, the terrorists did not carry out their missions (unfortunately, some of the arrested ones were released in the recent ‘prisoner exchange’).

Now, for the second year in a row, the YAMAM took first place in the international Urban Shield competition for SWAT teams right here (well, almost right here) in Oakland, California:

During the internationally acclaimed competition [organized by the US Dept. of Homeland Security], combat teams were tested in a variety of anti-terrorist, extreme crime, hostage rescue, and tactical combat scenarios. An FBI team and a team of royal Jordanian guards were also among the participants.

The national emergency drill was created in the wake of the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks, with the aim of testing the preparedness of emergency services and anti-terrorist units should another terrorist attack occur.

Although this marked the competition’s sixth consecutive year, Israel only began participating two years ago. It has now taken first place in both attempts.

Israel’s Counterterrorism Unit is an elite unit in the Border Police, comparable to such global crime-fighting groups as U.S. SWAT teams, the French GIGN, and the German GSG-9, which was established after 11 members of the Israeli Olympic team were murdered at the 1972 Olympic games in Munich.

The Counterterrorism Unit is tasked with handling a number of security and civilian-related situations, and its members are trained in various types of drills and simulations — some secret — mainly focusing on terrorist attacks and hostage crisis situations.

The Counterterrorism Unit is one of Israel’s most in-demand security units. Its members take on complex and dangerous missions, sometimes working in tandem with the Internal Security Agency. They arrest crime bosses and take on missions in some of the nation’s most high-risk areas. The unit employs advanced hi-tech equipment and unique methods of operation, some of which were developed especially for the unit.

In September, the same Israeli team won first place in a handgun shooting competition for special IDF and police units. Other participants in that competition were the National Police Undercover Unit, the Border Police Undercover Unit, and several elite IDF units. — Israel Hayom

These guys are the best in the world at what they do. Period. I have the good fortune to know some of them.

YAMAM team members training for hostage rescue

Technorati Tags: YAMAM, Israel, Urban Shield

Earlier today, I discussed the admission of ‘Palestine’ to the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). I argued that ‘Palestine’ is not actually eligible for membership, because it does not meet the criteria in the UNESCO Constitution.

In particular, ‘Palestine’ is not a State.

Of course, the Palestinian Authority claims that it is. Let’s see what it means to be a State and whether ‘Palestine’ is one. Here are the criteria, according to geographer Matt Rosenberg. I’ve interspersed my comments (italicized).

An independent State:

Has space or territory which has internationally recognized boundaries (boundary disputes are OK).

No. The lack of defined boundaries go beyond a ‘boundary dispute’. In fact, the PA’s application for admission to the UN that it presented to Ban Ki-Moon does not even specify boundaries, except insofar as it refers to the 1947 partition resolution, UNGA 181, which was never implemented. It could be argued that the PA’s continued publication of maps and other materials that show ‘Palestine’ as occupying all of the land between the Jordan and the Mediterranean indicate that its claims to defined boundaries are frivolous at best.

Has people who live there on an ongoing basis.

Yes.

Has economic activity and an organized economy. A country regulates foreign and domestic trade and issues money.

No. It does not regulate foreign trade or issue money. Its ‘economy’ is based on the international dole. It is a pre-failed state.

Has the power of social engineering, such as education.

Yes. The nature and quality of its ‘social engineering’ is suspect, however, since it is racist and focused on aggression against Israel and not toward building an independent and peaceful state.

Has a transportation system for moving goods and people.

Yes.

Has a government which provides public services and police power.

Yes. It has far more police per capita than New York or Los Angeles, or indeed any UN member state.

Has sovereignty. No other State should have power over the country’s territory.

No. Hamas controls part of its territory where 40% of its population lives. Israel controls most of Judea and Samaria and eastern Jerusalem. Israel also controls the airspace and most ports of entry. In the parts of Judea and Samaria that it supposedly does control, the PA’s authority is totally dependent on the presence of the IDF and would vanish if it were not there.

Has external recognition. A country has been “voted into the club” by other countries.

Yes, quite a few countries have announced that they ‘recognize’ it. Without sovereignty or defined boundaries, it’s not clear how these statements can be more than rhetoric.

The lack of sovereignty and defined boundaries is critical. Palestine is not a State by the normal criteria of geography.

Of course, for political and propaganda reasons, night can be day.

Technorati Tags: Palestine, UNESCO

‘Palestine’ was admitted today to UNESCO, the UN Educational, Scientific and  and Cultural Organization. The Voice of America reports that

France voted for the motion, along with almost all Arab, African, Latin American and Asian nations, including China and India. Israel, the United States, Canada and Germany voted against it. Japan and Britain abstained. A two-thirds vote was required by the U.N. Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization’s 193 members. [but see below regarding the part in italics]

The contributions of ‘Palestine’ in these areas is well-known. It’s about time they were recognized.

Take for example, the educational achievement of both the PLO and Hamas, who have educated an entire generation with such vicious hatred of Jews and Israelis that they are prepared to die in order to kill them (including babies).

Palestinian advances in rocket science are also remarkable. The new Qassams have a range of up to 30 miles and can carry a payload of up to 100 pounds of explosive. Sure, they don’t compare to the Russian-designed Grad missiles that have been landing on Israeli towns lately, but they show what can be done with simple technology and available materials, if only you have enough desire to commit murder.

And culture — well, a picture is worth a thousand words:

I know that all rules and normal standards are suspended when the Palestinians are involved, but it appears that ‘Palestine’ isn’t even eligible for membership, according to the UNESCO charter, which allows for the following to join: UN members, states which are not UN members (on a 2/3 vote of the UNESCO General Conference), and finally

Territories or groups of territories which are not responsible for the conduct of their international relations may be admitted as Associate Members by the General Conference by a two-thirds majority of Members present and voting, upon application made on behalf of such territory or group of territories by the Member or other authority having responsibility for their international relations.

I think that applies to entities like Puerto Rico. ‘Palestine’ is none of these. But hey, who’s counting? This is ‘Palestine’!

But here is some excellent news (also from the VOA item linked above):

The United States says it is cutting off financial contributions to the United Nations cultural agency following its vote Monday to grant Palestinians full membership.

The State Department said Washington will not make a $60-million November payment to UNESCO because of a longstanding U.S. law that prohibits American support for any U.N.-affiliated body that accepts Palestinian membership.

Washington currently is UNESCO’s biggest funding source, supplying 22 percent of the agency’s budget.

Now it’s time to completely cut off the Palestinian Authority from all US aid. There are plenty of good reasons for doing so, including

• its direct financial support for convicted terrorists,
• the continued vicious incitement in its media,
• its payment of ‘salaries’ to functionaries located in Hamas-controlled Gaza,
• its abrogation of international treaties including the Oslo accords,

And last, but not least:

• its reconciliation with the explicitly genocidal Hamas.

Technorati Tags: Palestine, UNESCO, Israel, UN moral bankruptcy

Mahmoud Abbas gets a kiss from his mentor, Original Terrorist Yasser Arafat

News item:

The Arab nations should have accepted the U.N. partition plan in 1947, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas said on Friday, about one month after he went to the U.N. to seek unilateral recognition of an independent Palestinian state.

In an interview with Israel’s Channel 2, Abbas conceded that “it was our mistake” for not agreeing to U.N. General Assembly Resolution 181, which called for the establishment of a Jewish state alongside an Arab state in the British Mandate for Palestine. According to Abbas, Arabs as a whole are at fault for rejecting the plan and should have acted like the Jews and established a state. “But should they [the Israelis] punish us for this mistake for 64 years?” he said, speaking in English.

Does this mean that he wishes there were a peaceful Palestinian state alongside Israel, as Resolution 181 envisioned? Does it mean that he recognizes the Jewish state, which was implied in resolution 181?

Of course not. If a separate state were all he wanted, he could have had it in 2008, when then-PM Olmert offered him 93.6% of Judea/Samaria plus swaps, and half of Jerusalem for a capital. Although he now claims that the opportunity was lost when Olmert left office, there is good evidence that the PA walked away from it. And even today he explicitly refuses to recognize Israel as the state of the Jewish people.

In 1947, the Palestinian Arabs believed that — with the help of the Arab nations — they would succeed in driving the Jews out of Palestine or killing them, and therefore they did not accept partition. But that isn’t what happened. Their strategy backfired in the worst possible way.

Abbas understands that despite Arab mythology that the Zionists planned to force them out in any case, the nakba, the flight of about 600,000 Arabs from the area that became Israel, was a result of the war that the Arabs started.

Had there been no war, the Arab state that would have been created by the UN would have had almost no Jews (1%), and the smaller Jewish state would have been 55% Jewish and 45% Arab (Wikipedia). This would have been a much better starting point for an ultimate Arab takeover in almost every way than Olmert’s 2008 offer. No wonder he regrets that it was not accepted!

What is essential to understanding Abbas is to grasp that his demand for a right of return and his refusal to accept that Israel is the nation-state of the Jewish people are essential, not rhetorical, demands.

This is because the essence of the ‘Palestinian Cause’ is the reversal of the nakba and the return of all of the land to Arab control. Accepting resolution 181 in 1947 would have prevented the nakba and laid the groundwork for a more gradual end to Jewish rule. Olmert’s 2008 offer would not have served the Cause — and neither would the bilateral negotiations proposed by Netanyahu today, because they do not include right of return.

This makes the somewhat puzzling last sentence of the quotation — “But should they punish us for this mistake for 64 years?” — understandable. The ‘punishment’ Abbas is talking about is the refusal of Israel to allow the refugees and their millions of descendents to ‘return’ to the Jewish state.

In the minds of Palestinians, great exertions and sacrifices are justified to end the unnatural situation of their ‘exile’. Thus they do not accept any solution to the refugee problem other than ‘return’, they engage in terrorism (including suicide terrorism), and they refused what appear to be excellent offers of statehood from Clinton/Barak and Olmert.

All this is completely understandable and unexceptional to every Palestinian. Although Hamas and the PLO disagree about who should be in charge and about the degree to which a Palestinian state will be governed by Islamic law, they are in complete agreement about the Cause.

What is hard to understand, at least for me, is that despite the fact that the Palestinians have been talking about it for the aforesaid 64 years, Western leaders and diplomats still don’t get it!

Technorati Tags: Israel, Palestinians, Abbas, Nakba