Israeli elections reflect “deep changes” in the country; Kedar

January 28, 2013

Doris Strub Epstein

The overflowing audience at Temple Sinai Sunday night was treated to an in-depth, insider’s analysis of the recent Israeli elections and an unvarnished, profoundly knowledgeable look at the Middle East, from a man who tells it as it is with no fear of being politically incorrect. Dr. Mordechai Kedar. He is an Israeli scholar of Arabic and Islam who is fluent in Arabic, a lecturer at Bar Ilan University and Director of the Centre for the Study of the Middle East and Islam. He also spent 25 years in IDF Military Intelligence acheiving the rank of Lieutenant Colonel.

Short of stature but huge in personality, he cut through the complexities of Israel and the Middle East in simple language. He was called a “ball of fire” at the Brooklyn synagogue where he spoke last week, part of a month long North American visit and lecture tour.

Kedar’s analysis and insights of the recent election, sheds light on what the results tell us about today’s Israelis. Likud had 40 seats in the Knesset and expected even more. Instead they lost by 25 per cent. By concentrating on security in their campaign, and ignoring the economic complaints especially of the younger generation, Likud “missed the point”, Kedar said. Their slogan was a “Powerful Prime Minister for a Powerful Israel”. “Israelis didn’t buy it.” The reason he gave was that because of the chaos of the Arab Spring, Israel’s neighbours and enemies do not at present, pose an imminent danger.

EDITORIAL: Why the November 29/12 recognition of ‘Palestine’ is an eternal stain on the United Nations and world community

“It seems cynical, disingenuous and tragically ironic that Arabs turn to the very organization that helped create Israel to seek the legitimacy they have always denied Israel and so, I will close by repeating my assertion – as a simple former peacekeeper – that allowing the U.N. to recognize a Palestinian state which has not renounced the use of violence against innocents would be a terrible crime against all of humanity.”

Mark Vandermaas, Israel Truth Week
Israel Truth Week Conference, March 21/12

On Sept 26/12, the most sacred day in Judaism – Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement) - the United Nations allowed the most dangerous anti-Semite in the world to speak to the General Assembly. The only two nations with the moral courage to stand with Israel by walking out on Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the genocidal president of Iran, were the United States and Canada. New York Daily News writer Dennis Hamill wrote, “Inviting Ahmadinejad to the UN on Yom Kippur is a treacherous piece of stagecraft…that desecrates the memory of 6 million murdered Jews with the histrionic antics of the world’s best-known anti-Semite on the holiest day of the Jewish year. [...] The United Nations loses what little credibility it had left with this latest affront to human decency.” Sadly, Mr. Hamill was wrong…

On November 29, 2012 – the 65th anniversary of the 1947 UN General Assembly’s resolution to partition land set aside by the League of Nations’ British Mandate for a Jewish state into separate states for Arabs and Jews – the United Nations voted to admit ’Palestine’  as an observer state. Save for Canada, the United States, the Czech Republic and several other small states who voted against, the world community, through another treacherous piece of UN stagecraft  not only betrayed the people of Israel, but all of humanity on the anniversary of the vote that helped bring the modern state of Israel into existence.

In my evening presentation at the inaugural Israel Truth Week conference held in London, Ontario, Canada on March 21/12 I explained why this former peacekeeper believes any recognition of a Palestinian state that has not renounced violence would be a stain on the United Nations that could never be erased…

Why I Carry a Palestinian Flag in my Pocket: A UN Peacekeeper’s Case for Israeli and Palestinian Victims of Hamas

by Mark Vandermaas  [PDF; VIDEO (14:26)]

During this afternoon’s session I explained the circumstances that led to the Israel Truth Week concept, and showed you why Jews and those who care about Israel should be very much concerned about not only the racial policing in Caledonia, but the key role anti-Israel groups have played in fomenting the extreme lawlessness there by native militants.

GUEST EDITORIAL – ‘Tarek Fatah: Stop being Jewish and become good Communists,’ by Gary McHale

 NOTE: Background to this editorial follows. All images added by Israel Truth Week.

Tarek Fatah: Stop Being Jewish, And Become Good Communists

by Gary McHale, Nov 28/12

Gary McHale speaks at 2012 Israel Truth Week conference in London, Ontario, Canada. Click image to watch video of his speech, ‘Dr. King’s ‘Letter from Birmingham Jail’: A Blueprint for Victory over Anti-Israelism and Anti-Semitism’

Normally I would not take the time to publicly respond to a radical leftist rant because most people already see the foolhardiness of such views. However, Tarek Fatah’s recent anti-conservative and, dare I say, anti-Jewish-identity tirade at a conference held at a Toronto synagogue November 18, 2012 concerned me enough that I must respond to his views. It is not possible to debate all the points Mr. Fatah raised in his speech, so the following is merely an attempt to encourage people to think through the issues carefully.

Mr. Fatah is hailed as a Muslim moderate and is often presented on SunTV as a reasonable person expressing rational ideas. While there is little doubt he is a moderate Muslim this may be more due to his radical socialist views than religious principles.

For background on what Mr. Fatah said I recommend that you review Miroslav Marinov’s article at Blogwrath.com [link] where he published a transcript of the remarks based on his audio-recording. Also, review the ‘Scaramouche’ article [link] by a blogger who was also present.

I would like to address four key issues: First, are Republicans (conservatives) who support Jewish people and Israel a group of “Nazis” (Mr. Fatah’s words, not mine)? Second, is it a good idea to attack the people who support you? Third, is Communism the way of the world, and should we all get on board? Fourth, must Jews stop being Jewish and become good Communists in order to get the world to support them?

1. Are conservative allies of Israel truly deserving of the ‘Nazi’ slur?

Mr. Fatah stated:

“You better get inside the Democratic Party and the NDP. […] Don’t deceive yourselves – you lost out on the NDP that was the single biggest supporter of the state of Israel and the Jewish community…”

 ”Do you know that the fact that Republicans support you is your undoing? The same person who is against abortion, the same person who thinks that the immigrants should be thrown out to Mexico, the same guy who doesn’t want black people to come in, the same guys who want gated communities, the same guys who are against the civil rights movement, are supporting you! That’s a kiss of death!… You are being supported by right wing Nazis for crying out loud! This is a problem; we cannot accept that, you cannot get somebody from the religious right.” [full transcript]

Everything Mr. Fatah said about the Republicans he could have said about Prime Minister Harper and the Conservative Party of Canada. The Harper government has made many changes to our immigration laws and has taken steps to stop illegal migrant ships from arriving in Canada. Harper is personally against abortion – is the idea that all life has value and should be protected the same view that the Nazis had? Of course not. The Republican Party, during the past election, wanted people to have to show identification before they voted – apparently this is racist. In Canada we have always demanded people identify themselves before they vote but somehow this is reasonable in Canada but racist in the USA.

Israel Truth Trip: ‘On a Bulletproof Bus to Hebron’

Miroslav Marinov of Blogwrath.com travelled to Israel recently with members of the Jewish Defence League. In the aftermath of the horrific terror attack on a Tel Aviv bus he offers an account of his own bus ride to Hebron…

ON A BULLETPROOF BUS TO HEBRON

This is another article from the series about the life in Israel, based on my impressions from the recent trip. As I mentioned before, I am not covering the events in chronological order. Earlier today I heard the news about an explosion on a bus in Tel Aviv. Tel Aviv, where we spent several days, is a laid back city with ubiquitous fresh juice stands, populated by friendly artsy types, who don’t seem to think too much about the dangers facing Israel, yet the long arm of the Muslim barbarism reached them again.

If you don’t live there, it is difficult to understand a country where an ordinary bus ride may turn into a death trip. And this is not a dysfunctional third-world place, where the everyday madness is a norm. Israel is a country, which tries to balance its democratic openness with the necessity to protect itself from its enemies. All this creates a reality, where the good intentions often backfire.

Our trip to Hebron earlier this month illustrates my point very well. The first unusual thing about the trip was that we had to get a bulletproof bus. Despite the 6 peaceful years, the tourist safety required it. On the outside it looks like an ordinary bus, but its windows are somewhat smaller.

The details that our guide Era provided reminded us of the grim reality with which the Israelis must cope every day. First of all, such a bus is very expensive – it costs about 1.5 million shekels. It is heavy and consumes roughly 1 litre of gas per kilometre (with gas prices much higher than those in Canada).

Those buses are mandatory for transporting children in the risky areas (in fact, the first assignment of our driver for the day was to drive kids to their school). That’s why it looks (and feels) like the seats are smaller. All parts of the bus, including the top, the floor and the tires are designed to withstand an assault. That includes the windows, made from special double glass, which should be kept free from scratches to avoid cracks when hit. That’s why the glass is covered with plastic on the both sides (it made taking pictures from the inside more difficult).

[...] Read the rest of this article…

• Blogwrath.com, Nov 22/12: On a Bulletproof Bus to Hebron

POSTED BY:

Mark Vandermaas
Israel Truth Week
mark@israeltruthweek.org