Why do we allow others to define who we are?

Why do we allow others to define who we are?
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Slain Israeli boy wasn't a 'settler'

"The Baltimore Sun's headline "Palestinian kills Israeli settler, 13" (April 3) was an unfortunate way of describing the cold-blooded ax-murder of a sweet, harmless little boy. And since the victim is described as a "settler," he is treated, in some way, as the bad guy, while the term "Palestinian" is, at most, neutral."

"I have visited Bat Ayin, the community where the killing occurred. It is in Gush Etzion south of Jerusalem. Gush Etzion was part of Jewish Palestine before 1948.

The Jordanian Arab Legion led by British officers besieged it and murdered all the males and deported the women and children. The children came back in 1967 and rebuilt the villages their fathers had died protecting.

Israel will never give back Gush Etzion; it is a nonnegotiable part of the land of Israel.

To call residents of Gush Etzion "settlers" is the same thing as calling Jews living live near the Western Wall settlers because this area was also reclaimed in 1967."

Rabbi Leonard Oberstein Baltimore

Further Reading:The History of Gush Etzion
A history of Gush Etzion and the Massacre of Kfar Etzion

References:
Slain Israeli boy wasn't a 'settler'

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Bodgey Bagels Caption Contest Week 39

The 'Almost Famous'
Bodgey Bagels Caption Contest

Number 39

Entries in by Sat 18th April

Bodgey Bagels Caption Contest

will now always be available from:
http://bodgeybagels.blogspot.com/

Or see the caption link in the Mr Bagel Menu.

Ground is broken for White House 'kitchen garden'

... Caption away!
Leave your entries in the comments section
before Saturday 18th April.
Take Note of New weekly Tuesday Deadline

Leave yourcaptions on Bodgey Bagel Comments

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Pro Palestinian Supporters decide what can be sold in French supermarkets

Forget freedom of choice you will do what we want!

If the video fails to play click here:
Pro-Palestinian Supporters Enter French Supermarket And Remove Israeli Goods From Shelves

This video has just appeared on the Pro Palestinian George Gallaway site 'Viva Palistina'
Seems these nice friendly people think its appropriate to march into French stores and start throwing products they don't want the stores selling into baskets. Why do they look so much like a lynching mob? Why were they able to get away with this kind of behaviour? Why do the most active 'activists' look like they might be Middle Eastern Muslims?
What would happen if some one marched into a French store and banned goods from Islamic countries??

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The New Diplomatic Mantra: Peace for Peace

Apparently the return of a sense of conviction and strength from Israel's new ruling coalition has made some parties very nervous. Some elements of the mass media are desperately trying to present this assertive stance in a poor light.

You can bet the inevitable violence that the Palestinians unceasingly direct towards the Israeli civilian population will be held to be the result of this 'refusal to bend (read buckle)'

AP has quickly jumped on the 'Israeli the peace breakers' bandwagon, as this article shows.
Re: Netanyahu pledges to produce peace policy soon

JERUSALEM (AP) — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday said his government would immediately get to work on Mideast peace issues, promising to present a diplomatic agenda in the coming weeks.

Apparently within a week of forming a government your expected to have a comprehensive peace plan that covers all the opinions of your wide coalition. I think considering it has taken over a month to form a Government it might be safe to say it might take just over a week to form a consensual platform to negotiate peace from.

Speaking at the first meeting of his Cabinet, Netanyahu said he planned to appoint an inner Cabinet on Sunday to deal with the nation's most pressing security and political issues. "In the coming weeks, we shall complete our policy guidelines for progress on peace and security," he said.

Despite the media's portrayal of the Government being against peace, the real difference is this Government isn't going to persist in continuous compromises which are never rewarded and simply weaken Israel's position both strategically and militarily.

Netanyahu has sent mixed signals about his diplomatic program in recent weeks. Elected on a platform highly critical of his predecessor's peace talks with the Palestinians, he took a softer line when he was sworn into office last week, telling parliament he would pursue a "full peace" with the Arab and Muslim world

Remember when Israel was being called upon to negotiate with Hamas, who refuse to actually even acknowledge the existence of Israel? Well now with the new Israeli government only just coming into power we have this gem from Associated Press.

"However, Netanyahu has given few details about his program and has so far refused to endorse the idea of an independent Palestinian state. Palestinian independence is a cornerstone of U.S. policy in the Mideast, and the Palestinians have said that if Netanyahu does not commit to a two-state solution, there is no point in negotiating."

Its almost sickening to see the Palestinians play the 'we really want peace card', the simple fact is its hard to believe some one is sincerely wanting peace whilst they're firing Katushas every day towards civilians.

In another article discussing the controversial approach (refreshing to some) by Avigdor Lieberman towards any future negotiations, written by Matti Freeman for AP :
Ex-foreign minister: Israel not a peace partner

Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat said Lieberman's remarks were an insult to the world powers pushing for peace.

"He has slammed the door in the face of the U.S. and the international community," Erekat said. "It seems to me that this is President Obama's first real test."

Of all the people to talk about insults to world powers in the pursuit of peace Saeb Erekat takes the cake.

Its not enough that Tzipi Livni was giving concession after concession away in the recent peace negotiations, now she's actively undermining the position of the new coalition in future peace negotiations. Where does political point scoring become less important than Israel's future in any peace deals?

Two notable quotes from Lieberman:

"Netanyahu's hard-line foreign minister, Avigdor Lieberman, raised additional concerns on his first day in office when he dismissed as meaningless the past year of U.S.-led peace negotiations and said concessions to the Palestinians only invite war."

and the best quote to be heard this week:

Peace for Peace!

References:
AP: Netanyahu pledges to produce peace policy soon
AP : Ex-foreign minister: Israel not a peace partner
Picture Credit: Cox & Forkum

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Finally some reality therapy...

Finally, harsh realism from Israel

If Avigdor Lieberman's first speech as Israel's new foreign minister did nothing else, it certainly vexed the media.

The Associated Press called it a "scathing critique of Mideast peace efforts" that had diplomats "cringing," while other reports said Lieberman had "dropped a political bombshell," "sparked an uproar," "repudiated a key accord," and "reinforced fears." The New York Times pronounced Lieberman's remarks "blunt and belligerent," describing the foreign minister as a "hawkish nationalist" who is "not known for diplomacy" and heads an "ultranationalist" party that is "seen by many as racist." Headlines summed up Lieberman's debut as an attack on peacemaking: "Lieberman dashes peace hopes," "Israeli official hits peace efforts," "Lieberman dumps peace deal."

But the headlines were wrong, as anyone can ascertain by reading Lieberman's short address. Far from disparaging peace, Israel's new foreign minister called for pursuing it with the respect and realism it deserves. And far from "dumping" agreements entered into by his predecessors, he explicitly committed himself to upholding the Roadmap - a step-by-step blueprint to a "two-state solution" adopted by Israel, the Palestinian Authority, and the international Quartet in 2003.

"I voted against the Roadmap," Lieberman acknowledged, but it was "approved by the Cabinet and by the Security Council" and is therefore "a binding resolution." However, he insisted, it must be implemented "in full." The Roadmap imposes specific obligations that the Palestinians must meet prior to achieving statehood - above all, an unequivocal end to violence, terrorism, and incitement against the Jewish state - and Israel will not agree to waive them in order to negotiate a final settlement.

If Lieberman is as good as his word - and if he is backed up by Benjamin Netanyahu, the new prime minister - we may finally see an end to Israel's fruitless attempts to buy peace with ever-more-desperate concessions and retreats. Under Ariel Sharon and Ehud Olmert, Israel surrendered the entire Gaza Strip, released hundreds of arrested terrorists, and even offered to divide Jerusalem with the Palestinian Authority. "But none of these far-reaching measures have brought peace," said Lieberman. "To the contrary." The steeper the price Israel has been willing to pay for peace, the more it has been repaid with violence: suicide bombings, rocket attacks, kidnapped and murdered soldiers, and wars with Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon.

It is time, Lieberman is saying, for Israel to stop genuflecting to a feckless and counterproductive "peace process" and to return instead to the pre-Oslo policy of deterrence. "The fact that we say the word 'peace' 20 times a day will not bring peace any closer," he noted. It only makes Israel seem weak and irresolute, encouraging its enemies not to halt their murderous jihad, but to redouble it. Sixteen years of appeasement have left Israel more demonized and isolated than ever, the foreign minister observed. And when was Israel most admired in the world? "After the victory of the Six Day War," when no one doubted the Jewish state's audacity or resolve.

"If you want peace, prepare for war," Lieberman declared.

That idea may offend the smart set and leave diplomats "cringing," but Israel's new foreign minister is hardly the first to express it. "To be prepared for war is one of the most effectual means of preserving peace," affirmed President George Washington in his first address to Congress in 1790.

Perhaps the world would more clearly understand the nature of Israel's enemy if the media weren't forever fanning moral outrage at the Mideast's only bulwark of freedom and democracy.

In recent weeks, the Palestinian Authority has warned Arabs that it is "high treason" punishable by death to sell homes or property to Jews in Jerusalem; shut down a Palestinian youth orchestra and arrested its founder because the ensemble played for a group of elderly Holocaust survivors; and celebrated the deadliest terrorist attack in Israel's history with a TV special extolling the massacre. On Thursday, after a Palestinian terrorist used an axe to murder a 13-year-old Jewish boy, the al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades - a wing of the "moderate" Fatah party - issued a statement claiming responsibility.

There is no appeasing such hatred, and demonizing those who say so will not change that fact. "If you want peace, prepare for war." How refreshing to hear an Israeli foreign minister say so.

Mr Bagel: Instead of never ending one sided concessions with no progress, now the agreed terms of the agreement have to be abided by. This is how it should have been in the first place.
To read the full article hit read more or go to this link:
Boston.com: Finally, harsh realism from Israel

References:
Boston.com: Finally, harsh realism from Israel
Article by Jeff Jacoby

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Hamas sinks to a new low of depravity

Ayman Taha

The article "Hamas: Bat Ayin attack a natural response to the occupation" in the Jerusalem Post shows just how low Hamas has sank in depravity. To justify the killing of a young boy and the attack of another is reprehensible.

According to JPost staff

The terror attack in the Bat Ayin settlement, in the West Bank, which killed a 13-year-old and injured a 7-year-old boy, was simply a natural response to the Israeli "occupation," a Hamas spokesperson said on Thursday.
"This attack was committed in the framework of the resistance," Ayman Taha said. "This is a reaction to the continuing occupation and the continued building of settlements."
"This is a natural reaction," he said, "especially against the backdrop of Israel attacks. We are a people occupied, and it is our right to defend ourselves and to act in every way and with every means at our disposal in order to defend ourselves."

Mr Bagel: The moral bankruptcy of Hamas is beyond the ability of imagining them as ever being willing peace partners.

References:
Jpost: Hamas: Bat Ayin attack a natural response to the occupation

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Netanyahu warns of Iran

New Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Iran is a `grave danger.'
JERUSALEM -- Ten years after being ousted as prime minister, conservative Benjamin Netanyahu returned to power Tuesday as the head of a hawkish coalition government that will be a pivotal player in President Barack Obama's push to stabilize the Middle East.

Netanyahu, 59, faces an immediate challenge in assuaging skeptical world leaders who worry that the new prime minister's combative style will undermine America's diplomatic efforts and fuel another spiral of violence in the Middle East.

In an unusually blunt interview with The Atlantic magazine, Netanyahu charged that Iran was a ''messianic apocalyptic cult'' with nuclear ambitions and a ''grave danger'' to the world.

European leaders have been especially critical of Israel because of its recent 22-day military offensive, which ravaged the Hamas-led Gaza Strip and prompted a brewing feud over the threatened demolition of some Palestinian homes in East Jerusalem.

''We are not happy with some of the steps of the Israeli government, namely construction works close to Jerusalem, but also access to Gaza, which is today very limited,'' Czech Foreign Minister Karel Schwarzenberg, whose country holds the presidency of the European Union, told the country's newspaper Lidove Noviny in Tuesday's edition.

read more from The Miami Herald

Mr Bagel: Nice of Czech Foreign Minister Karel Schwarzenberg to deem it is any of his business what gets built in Israel. Then again Schwarzenberg, whose country holds the rotating presidency of the European Union, said, "The EU remains committed to the Durban Review Conference" and is ready to fully participate."

Cross Posted at: The War in Iran

References:
The Miami Herald: Netanyahu warns of Iran
JPost: EU countries worried about Durban II

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