HEZBOLLAH SYMPATHISERS WERE ARRESTED BEFORE THEY COULD CARRY OUT POISON PLOT

In this disgusting news report, we learn that 2 Fatah collaborators who also side with Hezbollah were thankfully arrested before they could work on a plot to poison customers at a resturant they worked at:

Two Arabs from Nablus, Ahab Abu Riyal and Anas Salum, were arrested by Israeli Shin Bet officers last month before they could carry out their mission to poison Israelis on behalf of Hizballah. They are members of the Fatah-al Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades, part of Mahmoud Abbas' "moderate" Fatah organization.

The cell was led by two wanted terrorists, Hani Kabi and Husni Tsalag.

They were hired as kitchen workers by the Grill Express restaurant near the Diamond Exchange in Ramat Gan, apparently after presenting Israeli-issued IDs allowing them to work in the country. Their orders were to dump a slow-acting colorless, tasteless and odorless poison in the food of customers. It would take effect after four hours, enough time to murder a large number of Israeli diners. The Shin Bet did not identify the substance.

One of the two men was detained on March 19, just days before the mission date. The second was picked up at the home of an Israeli Arab friend in Jaffa.

Israeli security forces consider poisoning diners at restaurants or cafes to be a "strategic attack". In the past, terror organizations have tried repeatedly to recruit Palestinian cooks and waiters to poison food at Israeli restaurants. Police note that the plan is a relatively easy means of carrying out a mass attack, as there is no need to smuggle sophisticated weapons into Israel and restaurant employees have free access to the attack site.

Businesses like resturants are going to have to consider the dangers of hiring people who adhere to Islam, since they could serve as agents who'd endanger the lives of their customers.

IRAN ARMING HIZBALLAH WITH MISSILES VIA TURKEY

HAARETZ:

Iran is arming Hezbollah with missiles sent via Turkey, according to intelligence received in Israel. Turkish authorities are unaware of the arms shipments, which are in violation of United Nations Security Council Resolution 1701 that brought an end to the Second Lebanon War.

A senior Israeli government source said that Brigadier General Yossi Beiditz, head of the Israel Defense Forces research department, last week told European Union ambassadors in a briefing that Iran continues to transfer arms and equipment to Hezbollah, in spite of Tehran's denials.

Some of the weapons include long-range missiles that are being transfered through flights using Turkey's airspace, as well as overland though Turkey, under the guise of civilian cargo. From Turkey, the missiles are transfered to Syria and then Lebanon. Turkey has not permitted the use of its territory for such transfers.

The same source said that according to Beiditz, some of the missiles Iran transfered to Hezbollah have a maximum range of 300 kilometers, "capable of reaching the Dimona area from Beirut."

According to intelligence so far available to Israel, the maximum range of missiles in Hezbollah's arsenal had been 250 kilometers.

Beiditz said that the missiles currently in Hezbollah's possession are more accurate and capable of carrying larger warheads.

WHICH EXPLAINS THIS:

Israel buys supply of pills to protect against nuclear radiation

Defense establishment officials reported on Sunday that Israel has recently purchased a new supply of "Logol" pills against nuclear radiation.

The pills were first experimentally distributed in 2004 to residents of Arad and Yavneh in southern Israel, and were met with strong opposition from the mayors of these Negev towns.

The initiative to repurchase the pills was reported by officials on Sunday as part of a visiting delegation of Knesset Members to the Soreq Nuclear Research Center, located southeast of Dimona.

However, the defense establishment is still mulling whether to redistribute the pills to residents of communities located near the nuclear reactor or store them away for the time being.

• IF IRAN IF LEFT ALONE, IT WILL DESTABILIZE IRAQ AND TRY AGAIN TO UNLEASH A TERRIBLE WAR AGAINST ISRAEL - ONE WHICH WILL SEEK TO ANNIHILATE ISRAEL, NOT MERELY DEFEAT HER.

• WE MUST STRIKE IRAN AND NEUTRALIZE IT BEFORE THEY STRIKE US OR OUR ALLIES.

LEBANON 'S DUELING MEMORIALS: HARIRI VERSUS MOUGHNIYAH

Nothing could display the disparate contrasts and deep divisions within Lebanon more than the upcoming memorials for two of Lebanon's most well-known sons - one good and one evil: HARIRI VERSUS MOUGHNIYAH.

BOTH WILL BE COMMEMORATED ON THURSDAYS, (coincidentally Valentine's Day).

TVNZ: Hezbollah to hold mass funeral - [FOR THE EVIL MOUGHNIYAH]

Feb 14, 2008 12:23 PM

Lebanon's Hezbollah holds a mass funeral for its assassinated commander Imad Moughniyah, one of the United States' most wanted men, in Beirut to calls of revenge against its sworn enemy Israel.

Big crowds are expected in Beirut's Shi'ite Muslim southern suburb to bid farewell to Moughniyah, a guerrilla seen as a legend by Hezbollah but on the US most wanted list accused of killing hundreds in attacks on Israeli and Western targets.

Hezbollah, which is backed by Syria and Iran, accused Israel of killing Moughniyah on Tuesday by planting a bomb in his car in Damascus. Israel denied any links to the attack while Washington welcomed his death.

Reflecting deep divisions in Lebanon, Moughniyah's funeral will take place a few hours after a rally by the anti-Syrian ruling coalition to mark the third anniversary of the killing of former Prime Minister Rafik al-Hariri in Beirut.

OMAN OBSERVER: Lebanese set to mark Hariri killing

BEIRUT — The streets of Beirut a day before a scheduled mass rally to mark the February 14, 2005 assassinaton of then-premier Rafik Hariri, were tense on Tuesday and anger could be heard in peoples’ comments about the political speeches they hear daily from the country’s leading rival parties.

“We want to be governed by the state and not by religious warlords, sheikhs, or priests,” shouted Ahmed Mortada, a moderate Lebanese Shiite in one of Beirut’s streets. “Both the opposition (led) by Hizbullah and the majority are now threatening each other with war ... as if we (people) are their war toys and they can play with us as they like,” said Souad Hamdan, a Muslim who does not belong to any rival party.

“The political life in this country has gone below zero. The leaders are using radio and television to lash at each other, and the streets are boiling (over) with their followers,” she added. Souad was referring to fiery speeches by the head of the ruling majority, Saad Hariri, and his ally Walid Jumblatt, who threatened the opposition “if you want war...we are ready for it.”

The tough rhetoric has ignited tensions between the followers of both parties in a country already tense over a long-standing political deadlock. Clashes between followers of the late Hariri and those loyal to Hizbullah have erupted here and there. At least two people were wounded on Sunday in a gunfight between Druze supporters loyal to Jumblatt and a pro-Syrian Druze group in Aley, east of the capital.

The streets also witnessed clashes between Hariri supporters and followers who support parliament speaker Nabih Berri. Christian opposition leader General Michel Aoun has accused the ruling majority of having created “a climate of fear” which can trigger clashes at any moment and push the situation out of control.

BAHRAIN TRIBUNE/AFP:

Lebanon braced yesterday for a mass rally by supporters of the Western-backed government to commemorate the third anniversary of ex-premier Rafik Hariri’s murder amid mounting street clashes with the opposition.

Pro-government leaders have called on hundreds of thousands of supporters to converge today on Martyr’s Square in central Beirut, near the beachfront site of the car bombing that killed Hariri and 22 others on February 14, 2005.

The rally was to be held on the same day that the Lebanese resistance group Hizbollah, an important member of the opposition, was to bury one of its top commanders killed on Tuesday in Syria, in a car bombing blamed on Israel.
The Hariri anniversary protest comes amid high tension in Lebanon which has been without a president since November, in its worst political crisis since the end of the 1975-1990 civil war.

Street clashes between the government and the opposition camps and mudslinging among rival politicians have raised fears of civil strife...

STRIFE OR WAR.

• THERE'S ONLY ONE GOOD WAY TO END THESE STARK DIVISIONS WITHIN LEBANON: DESTROY HIZBALLAH - (WHICH IS AFTER MERELY ALL A BUNCH OF GENOCIDAL JIHADO-STOOGES FOR ASSAD AND IRAN).
• THESE TWO MEMORIALS MAY VERY END IN VIOLENCE AND RE-IGNITE LEBANON'S CIVIL WAR.
• HOPEFULLY, THIS TIME IT WILL END WITH HIZBALLAH BEING UTTERLY DEFEATED.

NASRALLAH ADMITS VIOLATING ARMISTICE: TIME TO ATTACK HIZBALLAH

AFP:

Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah said on Sunday no power could disarm his pro-Syrian Shiite militant group and that it was ready for a new conflict with Israel after last year's war.

"No one in the world can disarm Hezbollah," Nasrallah said in a speech broadcast on Hezbollah's Al-Manar television.

"The entire world is not capable of implementing the clause concerning the disarmament of the resistance in (UN Security Council) Resolution 1559," he said.

The 2004 resolution called for the dismantling and disarmament of all foreign or local militias operating in Lebanon, including Hezbollah which says it is a legitimate resistance group against Israel.

"The resistance in Lebanon has determination, will, manpower and sufficient weapons" to face Israel in a new conflict, Nasrallah said.

"The resistance is ready, day and night, to defend south Lebanon (a bastion of Hezbollah) as well as all of Lebanon... to achieve a historic victory that will change the face of the region."

• THIS CONFIRMS A DIRECT, FLAGRANT, COMPLETE AND UTTER VIOLATION OF UNSCR #1559, WHICH WAS THE TERMS FOR THE CEASE-FIRE.

• THEREFORE, IN A LEGAL SENSE, THE CEASE-FIRE IS OFFICIALLY BROKEN.

• SO NOW, LET'S GIVE HIM WHAT HE WANTS: A WAR.

• BUT THIS TIME LET'S FIGHT UNTIL HE AND HIS ENTIRE GANG OF SADISTIC, RACIST, XENOPHOBIC, MISOGYNISTIC, ANTI-SEMITIC, HOMOPHOBIC SERIAL MURDERERS ARE ERADICATED - AS IN ERASED.

ALL DEAD. EVERY. SINGLE. LAST. ONE.

UN BASICALLY DECLARES RESOLUTION 1559 (THE TERMS OF THE 2006 HIZBALLAH WAR CEASEFIRE) TO BE BROKEN

HAARETZ/DPA:

UN: Hezbollah has increased military strength since 2006 war

More than a year after the summer war in southern Lebanon ended, the United Nations said Wednesday the Hezbollah militia has "rebuilt and even increased its military capacity."

A report to the United Nations Security Council on progress to pacify southern Lebanon said Hezbollah's military strength is now comparable to the period before the July-August 2006 war with the Israeli Defence Forces, which ended with a council-ordered ceasefire.

The report said the findings about the situation in the region is "deeply disconcerting and stands in stark contradiction to the terms of Resolution 1559," which contains the ceasefire provisions. It called for disarming forces in southern Lebanon and for the UN peacekeeping operations and Lebanese army to monitor the ceasefire.

Under terms of the ceasefire, Hezbollah has to be disarmed and transformed into a political party that would take part in political life in Lebanon.

• WHEN THE TERMS OF A CEASEFIRE ARE BROKEN THEN A STATE OF WAR AUTOMATICALLY REVERTS. IOW: BREAKING THE TERMS OF A CEASEFIRE IS A CASUS BELLI.
  

• IF THE UN AND THE LEBANESE ARMY WON'T DISARM HIZBALLAH, THEN ISRAEL SHOULD.

HERE'S HOW:

• GIVE THE UN AND LEBANON AND HIZBALLAH AN ULTIMATUM: 4 WEEKS TO VOLUNTARILY DISARM - AND FOR ANY AND ALL INNOCENT/UNARMED PEOPLE TO EVACUATE THE REGIONS HIZBALLAH CONTROLS.

• AND, IF HIZBALLAH IS NOT CERTIFIED AS ARMS FREE - WHICH IS WHAT UNSCR 1559 DEMANDED, THEN ISRAEL SHOULD TURN THE REGION UNDER CONTROL OF HIZBALLAH (AND EVACUATED OF UNARMED NON-COMBATANTS) INTO A PILE OF ASHEN DUST.

PEACE THROUGH VICTORY. END OF STORY.

PEACE IS NEVER THE RESULT OF A NEGOTIATED SETTLEMENT. IF IT WAS, THEN THE MIDDLE EAST WOULD BE THE MOST PEACEFUL PLACE ON EARTH.

(THE USA COULD AND SHOULD ISSUE THIS JOINT ULTIMATUM WITH ISRAEL. HIZBALLAH IS AN ENEMY OF LEBANON, ISRAEL, THE USA AND THE FREE WORLD. BY NULLIFYING THEM, WE DIMINISH THE THREAT POSED BY IRAN.)

IS HIZBALLAH PREPARING FOR ANOTHER WAR?

SEEMS SO - NRO/THE TANK, FROM LEBANON:

Hezbollah is rehearsing for something big here. Not sure what or when. But a few days ago, between 4,000 and 5,000 HezB gunmen deployed to the Christian areas of Beirut in an unsettling “show of force,” positioning themselves at road intersections and other key points throughout the city.

Two additional objectives were achieved: First, the operation served as a probing action to determine local reaction. Second, it served as an exercise to gauge the time required (speed, synchronization, etc.) to achieve the key points and intersections.

Amazingly, there was no response from the police or the army.

HezB is also jamming cell-phone signals almost daily. Their lookouts are everywhere, at least from my vantage point, because they are watching the people I'm with and me.

HezB is also far better armed, equipped, and tactically proficient than most Americans might realize. They are terrorists to be sure: But they are also a very strong Iranian-trained guerrilla force here in Lebanon, and they seem to be getting a pass from far too many people in high places.

I BETCHYA DAMASCUS AND TEHRAN KNOW EXACTLY WHAT'S UP...

It might be timed to occur just before the next meeting of Abbas and Olmert - on 10/2, or at least before the next major "peace" conference (in Annapolis, MD), in November...

STAY TUNED.

BBC: HIZBALLAH IS PREPARING HUGE NEW MISSILE LAUNCHING AREAS WITH MORE HIDDEN, RE-INFORCED BUNKERS

Blue Crab Blvd has linked to an important news-item about Hizballah's "land-buying" expansion into souther Lebanon:

The Telegraph reports that Hezbollah has begun buying up large chunks of land north of the Litani River - and out of the UN patrolled exclusion zone - and is busy fortifying their new holdings for the next war with Israel.

The land grab is thought to be driven by the Iranian-backed guerrillas' efforts to rearm themselves and fortify the strategically important ravines north of the Litani River, just north of the front line in last year's 34-day conflict with its Jewish neighbour.

Here, Hizbollah has been free to press forward without harassment from the 13,000 United Nations peacekeepers and 20,000 Lebanese army troops who were deployed south of the Litani as part of the ceasefire agreement that ended the conflict.

TH SITUATION IS REALLY EVEN WORSE.

Last night I caught the last half of an EXTRAORDINARY documentary on BBC WORLD - Hezbollah's secret nectarines [NOTE: this doc' was first broadcast in May.]:

In southern Lebanon, where the Israeli army and Hezbollah fighters fought last year, an uneasy peace reigns. But as Darius Bazargan reports, Hezbollah remains a force to be reckoned with.

"Modern live/work space available to buy or rent: 400 sq metres in a sun drenched Mediterranean valley. Electricity, hot/cold running water, shower, fitted kitchen, air con, reinforced concrete construction, all metal walls, 100 metres under a mountain. Can withstand all known ordnance and most air strikes."

If you are looking for a place in the sun with a difference, head for Lebanon. The south of this country is riddled with such des-res properties.

They are the secret bunkers of Hezbollah, recently abandoned by the Shia Islamist guerrillas after last year's ceasefire took hold. You can find them in amongst the cluster bombs and debris of war. ... With over 10,000 UN peacekeepers now patrolling the ground between the Israeli border and the Litani River, it has become increasingly difficult for the militants to operate in their old stamping ground.

But I had heard that they were reinforcing a defensive line north of the Litani, just outside of the UN zone. From here, they could launch longer range rockets into Israel, over the heads of the peacekeepers. ... As we drove into the misty mountains, my trusty driver Dawoud - himself a Hezbollah supporter from south Beirut - regaled me with stories about how "The Party of God" dealt with espionage during last summer's war. ...

Live minefields spread out as far as the eye could see, the earth was also seeded with unexploded and unmapped cluster bombs.

All across this region, mysterious activity. Bulldozers, diggers and cement mixers could be seen abandoned on hilltops, or by the roadsides, in the middle of nowhere - but no new buildings.

There were fresh roads above us, but they were blocked off. Occasionally, cars packed with grim looking, black clad figures, sat guarding the entrances.

All around, the Lebanese Army was manning roadblocks with an unusual alacrity, but leaving the final decision as to who they should let through to a number of other bearded gentlemen, also dressed in black and who carried Motorola walkie-talkies.

Most locals were too apprehensive to do interviews, but one told us to be careful. "Hezbollah are everywhere," he said. "But you will not see them, they will see you."

Another recounted how Hezbollah had restricted her family's movements on their own farmland.

"The Boys", as she called them, had dumped several hundred tonnes of sand at the bottom of her garden and were shipping it out by truck. She had no idea where they were taking it or what they were doing.

Sand is a vital ingredient for mixing concrete. And concrete is a vital ingredient if you are building underground bunkers. ...We drove down one of the new roads.

What had started as a muddy cart track suddenly became a metalled road, with saplings planted on either side.

Large tennis court-sized areas had been completely smoothed off and were followed by a number of squat concrete buildings, a sentry box and painted a sign declaring the area a security zone and Hezbollah territory. ...
We got picked up and detained by a Hezbollah patrol.

They made us an offer we could not refuse. We were to accompany them to the dingy looking farmhouse and they would find someone who could "help us to do even better filming."

Inside the farmhouse were the rest of the Hezbollah cadre and we feared the worst.

They did not shoot us though. They sat us down in front of a big yellow Hezbollah flag and offered us sweet tea.

Then they questioned me and my driver and went through the tape in my video camera. It was blank. Luckily I had been able to swap it when they were not looking.

The Hezbollah men told me that we were in a restricted military security zone, but admitted that Hezbollah had indeed been taking over the land in the area.

"We are not forcing Christian or Druze off their land," one Hezbollahi insisted. "We're offering them a good price. They're moving of their own free will. Anyone can buy land here," he added, seemingly forgetting that it was a strict military zone. ... One of the Hezbollah men came running up and insisted that I had to tell the truth about what the Party of God's activities are in those forbidding mountains.

Hezbollah were not building new bunker networks, missile bases or anything military, he said. They were, in fact, moving into fruit production.

"We are going to import nectarine plants from Italy," he said. "Then we will sell our fruits on the world market. It is most important you tell the world what we are doing."

OF COURSE, THE NECTARINES BIT IS A LIE. ONE YOU COULD EASILY SEE FROM THE VIDEO IN THE DOCUMENTARY.

But the fruits which the "army of Allah" actually does bring into the World is very telling: As Jesus said - when asked about how to tell real prophets from false prophets - BY THEIR FRUITS YE SHALL KNOW THEM:

Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves. Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles? Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit. A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire. Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them.

The fruits of islam are what, exactly? Really: scan the globe and examine the life which islam affords its believers. It is one where women are degraded - even murdered for "honor". It is one which forbids any other faith - even sect. It is one of ignorance about modernity - which has brought humanity not one useful invention or discovery or tool.

By this measure, islam is a false and evil creed and its prophet a false one.

And since Muslims claim to hold the Bible as a holy book, I don;t quite see how even they can avoid this conclusion.

BUT ALL THIS IS A RELIGIOUS DEBATE - AND NOT A PRESSING MATTER.

WHAT IS A PRESSING MATTER ARE THESE NEW BUNKERS AND MISSILE LAUNCHING AREAS.

THEY COULD LAUNCH IRANIAN MISSILES OVER THE UN "PEACEKEEPERS" INTO ISRAEL - AND EVEN INTO EUROPE.

And they are very hard to destroy. The IAF will need our biggest bunker-busting bombs. AND A LOT OF THEM.

AND SOON... They can make fruit-salad out of these "nectarine orchards."

AND: THIS WILL BE GOOD PRACTICE FOR WHAT MUST BE DONE TO IRAN.

[MORE LINKS HERE AT MEMEORANDUM.]

Faster, please....

ISLAMIC GROUPS IN US NAMED IN HAMAS FUNDING CASE

An important development in the investigation of Hamas funders has come to light. And yep, you guessed it, CAIR is among those cited in the report:

Federal prosecutors have named three prominent Islamic organizations in America as participants in an alleged criminal conspiracy to support a Palestinian Arab terrorist group, Hamas.

Prosecutors applied the label of "unindicted co-conspirator" to the Council on American-Islamic Relations, the Islamic Society of North America, and the North American Islamic Trust in connection with a trial planned in Texas next month for five officials of a defunct charity, the Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development.

While the foundation was charged in the case, which was filed in 2004, none of the other groups was. However, the co-conspirator designation could be a blow to the credibility of the national Islamic organizations, which often work hand-in-hand with government officials engaged in outreach to the Muslim community.

A court filing by the government last week listed the three prominent groups among about 300 individuals or entities named as co-conspirators. The document gave scant details, but prosecutors described CAIR as a present or past member of "the U.S. Muslim Brotherhood's Palestine Committee and/or its organizations." The government listed the Islamic Society of North America and the North American Islamic Trust as "entities who are and/or were members of the U.S. Muslim Brotherhood."

[...]

The inclusion of the Islamic groups on the list of alleged conspirators could give ammunition to critics of the organizations. CAIR, in particular, has faced persistent claims that it is soft on terrorism. Critics note that several former CAIR officials have been convicted or deported after being charged with fraud, embargo violations, or aiding terrorist training. Spokesmen for the group have also raised eyebrows for offering generic denunciations of terrorism but refusing to condemn by name specific Islamic terrorist groups such as Hamas or Hezbollah.

Since CAIR is probably the worst of these groups, that's why it's a good thing that they've been fingered as one of the Hamas' collaborators. It's time to shut them down and to prosecute them, and it's to be hoped that this'll lead to a major trial in which they're told to stand before the court.

BISHARA SUSPECTED OF COLLABORATING WITH HEZBOLLAH

Azmi Bishara, who phoned in his resignation from the Knesset recently, is suspected of aiding the Hezbollah:

Azmi Bishara is suspected of having aided Israel's enemies during the Second Lebanon War.

The information came to light after the Petah Tikva Magistrate's Court partially lifted the gag order that was imposed on the case since Bishara left Israel.

Bishara is suspected of transferring information to Hizbullah during the war, of maintaining contacts with a foreign agent, and of money laundering.

[...]

Recently Bishara tendered his resignation from the Knesset, but as a former MK he continues to hold many of the privileges of an elected official - a situation that the State of Israel cannot accept, MKs said on Tuesday.

MKs from the right-wing parties were discussing ways to revoke some of Bishara's pension privileges, including the more than NIS 72,000-a-year pension that he will receive for the next decade for his years of Knesset service. The MKs, who asked to remain anonymous, said that they were planning to file a complaint against Bishara in the Ethics Committee.

"How can we accept a situation in which this man dishonors the state and yet we continue to pay him, like freierim [suckers], and give him all his privileges?" said one MK.

Bishara was last known to be in Egypt, but even his colleagues in Balad said they did not know his current whereabouts.

If Bishara were to move to Syria, one of the countries that he is rumored to be considering for residence, the MKs said that there should be a legal way to stop funds from reaching him.

Bishara, meanwhile, has promised that he will return to Israel to confront the charges being leveled against him. There is a court-imposed gag order that prohibits the publication of suspicions against him or details of the police investigation.

Frankly, I doubt he'll return so soon, since an arrest warrant could be issued for him. He's also sent someone to gather the rest of his belongings, and if he hasn't left anything behind, then it's unlikely he'll be back, if at all. He certainly shouldn't be allowed any benefits as an erstwhile Knesset member, and steps should be taken to bar him from even that.

WRETCHED MK AZMI BISHARA GOES MISSING, WHICH IS JUST AS WELL

There's been much speculation as to the whereabouts of Knesset member Azmi Bishara, an Arabic member with zero loyalty to the Jewish state. The NY Sun has one of the latest reports on this puzzling case of where he's gone:

A firebrand advocate of ending Israel's standing as a Jewish state, Azmi Bishara of the Balad Party has been out of the country for more than two weeks. A report Friday in a local Arab-language newspaper that the Knesset member plans to resign his post — and subsequent reports that he could seek asylum in Qatar — has become the talk of the Knesset. [...]

Two weeks ago, Mr. Bishara, who lives in a wealthy neighborhood in Haifa, left for Qatar during the Knesset's Passover recess. He appeared on Al-Jazeera as a political analyst during the Arab League summit in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, and confidants say he is now on his way to Europe. [...]

"Nobody has been more harmful to the delicate relations between Israeli Arabs and Jews than Bishara, and if indeed he has decided to leave, this will benefit everyone," the leader of the Likud Party, Benjamin Netanyahu, said at a public event in northern Israel.

"Bishara is involved in a very serious affair," a leader of the National Religious Party, Effie Eitam, told Israel Radio yesterday, hinting at the lawmaker's possible collaboration with an Israeli enemy. "Arab Knesset members who visit enemy countries violate the law and are scornful of the loyalty to our state."

Mr. Bishara has maintained close ties to Damascus and its Baathist government, as well as Hezbollah, and he has traveled to Syria and Lebanon several times. "Hezbollah won, and we" — the Arabs — "have tasted victory for the first time since 1967," he said in 2000 in the aftermath of Israel's withdrawal from Lebanon, in a speech made in the Israeli Arab city of Um al Fahm. "It is the right of Hezbollah to be proud of its achievements and to humiliate Israel."

A year later, after making a similar statement in Qardaha, Syria, at the funeral of President Hafez al-Assad, Mr. Bishara's was stripped of his immunity from prosecution as a Knesset member and he was indicted for supporting a terror organization. In 2006, however, the Israeli Supreme Court ruled that the speeches consisted political activity and reinstated his immunity.

He's a dangerous man, this Bishara is. He won't be missed, whereever he is, and even his own party isn't sure where he's gone. Yisraeli reported that his family has joined him in his departure, and he was last seen in Jordan. Is he in hiding? Nothing is clear so far, but it doesn't matter anyway. He does not belong here.

IRAN: THE BARBARY PIRATES OF THE 21ST CENTURY

WASH POST: Terrorists by Another Name: The Barbary Pirates

They considered us infidels -- and easy targets. They committed atrocious acts against civilians. They provoked war with America.

"They are odious for the constant violation of the laws of nations and humanity," as one writer put it. We saw them as bloodthirsty fanatics, sanctioned by Islamic despots, and we believed their behavior threatened the future of the modern world.

Thus the president found it necessary to launch America's first military campaign against state-sponsored terrorists. Except he didn't call them that, because 200 years ago, everyone called terrorists by another name: pirates.

For all the talk in Washington that the current battle against global terrorism represents an entirely new kind of war, against a different kind of enemy, historians say America's seen this before. Back when the nation was largely untested in the arena of foreign entanglement, we found ourselves in an extended, exasperating campaign against various Muslim states in North Africa, which harbored the notorious Barbary pirates. By most reckonings, that battle lasted 30 years.

"I've picked up a lot of parallels," says Capt. Glenn Voelz, a history instructor at West Point. "Maybe we are still fighting the same war. ... "

WIKI:

...in 1785, when the Dey of Algiers took two American ships hostage and demanded US$60,000 in ransom for their crews. Then-ambassador to France Thomas Jefferson argued that conceding the ransom would only encourage more attacks. His objections fell on the deaf ears of an inexperienced American government too riven with domestic discord to make a strong show of force overseas. The U.S. paid Algiers the ransom, and continued to pay up to $1 million per year over the next 15 years for the safe passage of American ships or the return of American hostages. Payments in ransom and tribute to the privateering states amounted to 20 percent of United States government annual revenues in 1800.

Jefferson continued to argue for cessation of the tribute, with rising support from George Washington and others. With the recommissioning of the American navy in 1794 and the resulting increased firepower on the seas, it became more and more possible for America to say "no", although by now the long-standing habit of tribute was hard to overturn. A largely successful undeclared war with French privateers in the late 1790s showed that American naval power was now sufficient to protect the nation's interests on the seas.

In 1786 Jefferson and John Adams went to negotiate with Tripoli's envoy to London, Ambassador Sidi Haji Abdrahaman or (Sidi Haji Abdul Rahman Adja). They asked him by what right he extorted money and took slaves. Jefferson reported to Secretary of State John Jay, and to the Congress:

The ambassador answered us that [the right] was founded on the Laws of the Prophet (Mohammed), that it was written in their Koran, that all nations who should not have answered their authority were sinners, that it was their right and duty to make war upon them wherever they could be found, and to make slaves of all they could take as prisoners, and that every Mussulman (or Muslim) who should be slain in battle was sure to go to heaven.^[1]

... On Jefferson's inauguration as president in 1801, Yussif Karamanli, the Pasha (or Bashaw) of Tripoli demanded $225,000 from the new administration. (In 1800, Federal revenues totaled a little over $10 million.) Putting his long-held beliefs into practice, Jefferson refused the demand. Consequently, in May of 1801, the Pasha declared war on the United States, not through any formal written documents, but by cutting down the flagstaff in front of the U.S. Consulate. Morocco, Algiers, and Tunis soon followed their ally in Tripoli.

... The turning point in the war came with the Battle of Derna (April-May 1805), after a remarkably daring overland attack on the Tripolitan city of Derna by a combined force of United States Marines and Arab, Greek and Berber mercenaries under the command of ex-consul William Eaton, who went by the rank of general, and US Marine First Lieutenant Presley O'Bannon. This action, memorialized in the Marine Hymn — "to the shores of Tripoli" — gave the American forces a significant advantage.

THE SECOND BARBARY WAR:

After its victory in the First Barbary War (1801–1805), the attention of the United States had been diverted to its worsening relationship with France and the United Kingdom, culminating in the War of 1812. The Barbary pirate states took this opportunity to return to their practice of attacking American merchant vessels in the Mediterranean Sea and holding their crews and officers for ransom. Unable to devote military resources and political will to the situation, the United States quietly recommenced paying ransom for return of the prisoners.
...

At the conclusion of the War of 1812, however, America could once again turn its sights on North Africa. On March 3, 1815, the US Congress authorized deployment of naval power against Algiers, and a force of ten ships was dispatched under the command of Commodores Stephen Decatur, Jr. and William Bainbridge, both veterans of the First Barbary War. Decatur's squadron departed for the Mediterranean on May 20, 1815. Bainbridge's command was still assembling, and did not depart until July 1, thereby missing the military and diplomatic initiatives which Decatur swiftly and decisively handled.

Shortly after departing Gibraltar en route to Algiers, Decatur's squadron encountered the Algerian flagship Meshuda, and, after a sharp action, captured it. Not long afterward, the American squadron likewise captured the Algerian brig Estedio. By the final week of June, the squadron had reached Algiers and had initiated negotiations with the Dey. After persistent demands for recompensation mingled with threats of destruction, the Dey capitulated. Decatur agreed to return the captured Meshuda and Estedio while the Algerians returned all American (and a significant proportion of European) captives along with $10,000 in payment for seized shipping. The treaty guaranteed no further tributes and granted the United States full shipping rights.

Shortly after Decatur set off for Tunis to enforce a similar agreement, the Dey repudiated the treaty. The next year an Anglo-Dutch fleet, under the command of British admiral Viscount Exmouth, delivered a punishing nine-hour bombardment of Algiers. The attack immobilized many of the Dey's corsairs and coerced from him a second treaty which reaffirmed the conditions imposed by Decatur. In addition, the Dey agreed to end the practice of enslaving Christians. ... Algiers and Tunis became colonies of France in 1830 and 1881 respectively, while Tripoli returned to the control of the Ottoman Empire in 1835 and became a colony of Italy in 1911. Europeans remained in control of the government there until the mid-twentieth century.

WE NEED TO BE AT LEAST AS HARSH AND KINETIC NOW AS WE WERE THEN. THAT'S WHAT IT TAKES TO DEFEAT THIS ENEMY AND TO ESTABLISH AND MAINTAIN THE PEACE - ON THE HIGH SEAS AND GLOBALLY.

PEACE TROUGH VICTORY.

OLMERT: ABU MAZEN BROKE PROMISES

HAARETZ:

Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said Sunday that Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas blatantly violated a promise to free captive Israel Defense Forces soldier Gilad Shalit before forming a new national unity government.



Olmert spoke before the weekly Cabinet meeting and ahead of high-profile talks With U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and UN chief Ban Ki-moon, both visiting the region.

"We can't ignore the fact that the chairman of the Palestinian Authority blatantly violated a series of commitments to Israel, especially the commitment that no national unity government would be formed before Gilad Shalit's release," Olmert said.

Olmert said Abbas had made the commitment again and again in meetings between the two leaders, during three-way summits that included Rice, and foreign heads of state.

Murderers - and those who condone murder - will of course LIE! Abu Mazen and his henchmen in FATAH murder Jews and Arabs (their competitors - Hamas); (check out the link - it quotes the FATAH charter - it'll shock you!). They cannot be trusted; therefore. it's time everyone accepted the fact that Israel HAS NO PARTNER WITH WHOM TO MAKE PEACE.

Unless and until the so called "Palestinians" change, there will be no peace.

Abu Mazen is just a slicker, better-coiffed/better dressed version of al Sadr. The West should no more handover more territory to Abu Mazen, then to Hamas (or give Baghdad to the Mahdi Army or give Anbar to al Qaeda, or Basra to Iran).

Just as the UK refused to talk to the IRA until the disarmed, Israel and the West should refuse to deal with - or to even talk to the Pali's, and not give them one red cent - until they disarm their militias.

HECK: IT WAS A PREREQUISITE OF BOTH OSLO AND THE ROADMAP! And neither Arafat or Abu Mazen has EVER lived up to this part of the agreement.

As long as we let them get away with murder... they will murder. It's pretty damn simple. Appeasement of the bad guys always only encourages the bad guys to do more bad things.

Only terrorist-loving anti-Semites like Dhimmi Carter have any business talking to the likes of Abbas. These terrorists need ULTIMATUMS, not concessions.

PREDICTION: TO DISTRACT THE UN AND USA, IRAN WILL INSTIGATE ANOTHER ISRAELI-HIZB'ALLAH WAR

I think these two news items from the ME are QUITE related:

Israel: Lebanon Cease-Fire in Jeopardy -

Israel's defense minister told the head of the United Nations on Saturday that the U.N.-brokered cease-fire in southern Lebanon is endangered by Hezbollah militants, who continue to hold two captured Israeli soldiers and receive arms shipments from Syria.

U.N. Unanimously Approves Iran Sanctions -

The U.N. Security Council unanimously voted Saturday to impose new sanctions against Iran for its refusal to stop enriching uranium - a move intended to show Tehran that defiance will leave it increasingly isolated.

The moderately tougher sanctions include banning Iranian arms exports, and freezing the assets of 28 people and organizations involved in Iran's nuclear and missile programs.

About a third of those are linked to the Revolutionary Guard, an elite military corps.

The United States is ``very pleased by the strength of this resolution'' after two years of diplomacy, said R. Nicholas Burns, undersecretary for political affairs at the State Department.

As we crank up pressure on Tehran, they will crank it up on the Lebanon-Israeli border and in Baghdad. Fasten your seat belts...

The fact is there cannot be peace between Israel and Lebanon and Syria - and Hamas - until we neutralize Iran.

Whether we neuter them militarily or cause them so much economic trouble the evil mullah regime collapses matters not. It only matters that we topple the tyrants of Tehran BEFORE they get nukes.

AND BEFORE THE DEMS TAKE THE WHITE HOUSE!

Lets You And Him Fight

I was reading Michael Totten's blog and came across this interview of him by the Jerusalem Post. One part of the interview caught my eye. (Question by the Post in bold)

Are Syria and Iran still supplying Hizbullah? Have they recovered from the war last summer?

Absolutely. Hizbullah is as strong, or at least nearly as strong, as they were last July. Iran and Syria will continue supplying Hizbullah until they fear the consequences of continuing their support or until no one in Lebanon is willing to receive their support. Right now everyone who dies because of Syrian and Iranian support for Hizbullah is Lebanese or Israeli. They have no reason to stop until that equation is altered.

This fits in with some of my posts from last summer (July and August '06) where I said Israel must take on Syria if it was to accomplish its war aims.

Now it looks like, although Israel thinks a war with Syria is not likely this year, it is preparing for a war with Syria. Perhaps the Israelis are wizing up.

Cross Posted at Power and Control and at Classical Values