Snow Job on America, Because I Am Not Flaky!

A response from a brilliant professor, who teaches criminology, to my last memo regarding Obama. What my friend has said without saying it, in so many words,is that Obama is doing a snow job on America. He is getting away with it because he is not considered flaky!

Well if America was buying a stock called Obama Inc. one could argue it was not doing "due diligence." Obama says: "I will bring the troops home and end the war" and no one in the media asks a follow up question, challenges the comment or considers how the vacuum created will be filled.

Nixon won by saying the same thing and I daresay we are still paying for this "victory." Kissinger was manipulated by his N Vietnam counterparts who played him for the "ego centric" blow hard he is. We negotiated from weakness having played all our cards. Subsequent events, volunteered by the leading N Vietnam general, were that had we persevered, even a few weeks more, we would have won because we had broken their backs but Walter Cronkite said we had lost so being dutiful media worshipers we picked up our marbles and went home. I see nothing has changed except the clock has moved forward !(See 1 below)

Dick Morris has certainly burned his bridges with the Clintons but seems not to care. (See 2 below.)

One of the current political issues has to do with ear marks, ie spending attachments tacked onto bills that are really never debated. Both sides of the aisle engage in same. It is a misnomer to call them "earmarks" when no politician is listening to what the people are saying. Earmarks are a way of favoring special interests, buying votes while remaining deaf!

Meanwhile, Olmert gets an ear full but is he listening? (See 3 below.)

According to Elliot Chodoff, Hamas will get their just deserts in the Spring. (See 4 below.)

Manipulating education has always been one of the methods of attacking the soft underbelly of any free society. (See 5 below.)

I have voted. I took McCain's mother's advice, held my nose but did not vote for her son.

Dick


1)I am not so sure the heart is even there. He is an excellent talker but:
1) He has dubious support from the likes of the nation of Islam lovers (his pastor). He also has too many of them on his staff.
2) He is reported to have hired Zbig as his national security advisor. That is a disaster and certainly does not augur well for change.

I have serious concerns about someone as unknown with no track record (he was asked about the economy today and said he has been working 20 years to improve the economy - what a joke). Jimmy Carter was "Jimmy who" but at least he was a governor with some record and no one cares about the unknowns concerning Obama?


2) AN ANALYSIS WORTH READING: by Dick Morris, former political advisor to President Bill Clinton

If you happen to see the Bill Clinton five minute TV ad for Hillary in which he introduces the commercial by saying that he wants to share some things we may not know about Hillary's background . . beware . . ...

As I was there for most of their presidency and know them better than just about anyone, I offer a few corrections;

Bill says: 'In law school Hillary worked on legal services for the poor.' The facts are: Hillary's main extra-curricular activity in law school was helping the Black Panthers, on trial in Connecticut for torturing and killing a federal agent. She went to court every day as part of a law student monitoring committee trying to spot civil rights violations and develop grounds for appeal. Some of these Panthers still live in Cuba.

Bill says: 'Hillary spent a year after graduation working on a children's rights project for poor kids.' The facts are: Hillary interned with Bob Truehaft, the head of the California Communist Party. She met Bob when he represented the Panthers and traveled all the way to San Francisco to take an internship with him.

Bill says: 'Hillary could have written her own job ticket, but she turned down all the lucrative job offers.' The facts are: She flunked the DC bar exam, yes, flunked, it is a matter of record, and only passed the Arkansas bar. She had no job offers in Arkansas, none, and only got hired by the University of Arkansas Law School at Fayetteville because Bill was already teaching there. She did not join the prestigious Rose Law Firm until Bill became Arkansas Attorney General and was made a partner only after he was elected Arkansas Governor.

Bill says: 'President Carter appointed Hillary to the Legal Services Board of Directors and she became its chairman.' The facts are: The appointment was in exchange for Bill's support for Carter in his 1980 primary against Ted Kennedy. Hillary then became chairman in a coup in which she won a majority away from Carter's choice to be chairman.

Bill says: 'She served on the board of the Arkansas Children's Hospital.' The facts are: Yes she did. But her main board activity, not mentioned by Bill, was to sit on the Wal-mart board of directors, for a substantial fee. She was silent about their labor and health care practices.

Bill says: 'Hillary didn't succeed at getting health care for all Americans in 1994 but she kept working at it and helped to create the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) that provides five million children with health insurance.' The facts are: Hillary had nothing to do with creating CHIP. It was included in the budget deal between Clinton and Republican Majority Leader Senator Trent Lott. I know; I helped to negotiate the deal. The money came half from the budget deal and half from the Attorney Generals' tobacco settlement. Hillary had nothing to do with either source of funds.

Bill says: 'Hillary was the face of America all over the world.' The facts are: Her visits were part of a program to get her out of town so that Bill would not appear weak by feeding stories that Hillary was running the White House. Her visits abroad were entirely touristic and symbolic and there was no substantive diplomacy on any of them.

Bill says: 'Hillary was an excellent Senator who kept fighting for children's and women's issues.' The facts are: Other than totally meaningless legislation like changing the names on courthouses and post offices, she has passed only four substantive pieces of legislation. One set up a national park in Puerto Rico . A second provided respite care for family members helping their relatives through Alzheimer's or other conditions. And two were routine bills to aid 911 victims and responders which were sponsored by the entire NY delegation. Presently she is trying to have the US memorialize the Woodstock fiasco of 40 years ago.

Here is what bothers me more than anything else about Hillary Clinton. She has done everything possible to weaken the President and our country
(that's you and me!) when it comes to the war on terror.

1. She wants to close GITMO (Guantanamo Base, Cuba) and move the combatants to the USA where they would have access to our legal system.
2. She wants to eliminate the monitoring of suspected Al Qaeda phone calls to/from the USA .
3. She wants to grant constitutional rights to enemy combatants captured on the battlefield.
4. She wants to eliminate the monitoring of money transfers between suspected Al Qaeda cells and supporters in the USA ..
5. She wants to eliminate the type of interrogation tactics used by the military & CIA where coercion might be used when questioning known terrorists even though such tactics might save American lives.

One cannot think of a single bill Hillary has introduced or a single comment she has made that would tend to strengthen our country in the War on Terror. But, one can think of a lot of comments she has made that weaken
our country and makes it a more dangerous situation for all of us.

Bottom line: She goes hand in hand with the ACLU on far too many issues where common sense is abandoned.

3) After Dimona attack, senior MK demands assassination of Hamas leaders


A senior member of Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's party Tuesday urged the government to order the assassination of Hamas political leaders in response to the Monday suicide bombing claimed by the Islamist group.

Hamas' armed wing said it was responsible for the bombing that killed an Israeli woman in the southern town of Dimona on Monday, the first such attack claimed by the group since 2004.

Hamas called the Dimona bombing retaliation for Israeli raids. The bomber and his accomplice, shot by police before he could detonate an explosives belt, were also killed.

Kadima party lawmaker Tzachi Hanegbi, chairman of the influential Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, said that Hamas had refrained from carrying out attacks in Israel for years and that the bombing marked a change of policy.

"Because of this, the Israeli government should also change its policy and we should no longer allow Hamas's leadership to enjoy immunity," Hanegbi told Israel Radio.

According to Hanegbi, the group's formal division into separate political/diplomatic and armed wings was a fiction. He said it made no difference whether Hamas figures "wear explosive suits or diplomatic suits."

Israel assassinated top Hamas leaders Ahmed Yassin and Abdel
Aziz al-Rantissi in the Gaza Strip in 2004, killings that Hanegbi said had a "direct effect on the motivation of the Hamas leadership to continue to carry out suicide attacks."

The Israeli military has since largely refrained from targeting Hamas's political wing, but has struck against the Islamist movement's field commanders.

"(Hamas's political leaders) have evidently forgotten the bitter fate (of Yassin and Rantissi) and therefore we should add the current leaders of the organization to that list," Hanegbi said.

Commenting on Hanegbi's remarks, Taher al-Nono, a spokesman for Gaza-based Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh, said: "The threats are part of continuing Israeli terrorism and crimes aimed at achieving political gains.

"We will not hide or be frightened by these threats."

4) Strategic Implications for Israel of the Gaza-Egypt Border Opening

It must be understood that Hamas is no longer merely a well-trained guerilla
terror force. Rather, Hamas must be confronted as a state army that uses
guerilla tactics and terrorism while, simultaneously, it prepares for
all-out war against Israel. With each passing day that Israel does not
mobilize for a major ground operation in Gaza, it will be more difficult for
the IDF to enter Gaza and destroy Hamas, whose growing Katyusha rocket
arsenal has already reached Ashkelon and can strike major Israeli urban
centers 20 kilometers north of Gaza, like Kiryat Gat and Ashdod.

Strategic Implications for Israel of the Gaza-Egypt Border Opening
Maj.-Gen. (res.) Yaakov Amidror and Dan Diker

Some had hoped that pressuring Hamas in Gaza via sanctions, while helping to
create a stable and prosperous Palestinian society in the West Bank under
Mahmoud Abbas, would trigger support for Abbas' leadership in Gaza. However,
Hamas, via Gaza's new-found access to Egyptian materials, goods, and
services, can now ease Gaza's depressed condition and diminish the
differences between Gaza and the more prosperous West Bank.

For the first time in the history of the modern Middle East, Hamas - the
Palestinian branch of the Muslim Brotherhood and the ideological cousin of
al-Qaeda - has gained full control over contiguous territory and population, and has
now effectively become a state government without real opponents.

In sharp contrast to Fatah's yet unfulfilled promises, the Palestinian
public sees Hamas' dramatic opening of the Gaza-Egypt border as the latest
in a series of successful actions. Others include Hamas' surprise January
2006 electoral victory over Fatah, its kidnapping of Israeli soldier Gilad
Shalit, the sustained rocketing of southern Israel, and Hamas' expulsion of
Fatah forces from Gaza and the establishment of its control over the
government there in June 2007.

Terrorist operatives and groups such as al-Qaeda, that have already used
Egyptian Sinai as a rear base, can now reach Gaza without interference. Gaza
has transformed from its prior status as part of the Palestinian Authority
to its new role as a mini-state that is now an integral part of the Arab
world. Hamas will now be able to obtain weapons, ammunition, explosives, and
training more freely via Egyptian Sinai. Since the border opening, weapons
have flowed unimpeded into Gaza, enabling the transfer of higher-grade
weapons such as anti-aircraft missiles.

Al-Qaeda operatives already infiltrated the Gaza Strip from Egypt, Sudan,
and Yemen back in 2006. After the breach of the Egyptian-Gaza border, many
Palestinians trained in Syria and Iran easily returned to Gaza. With the
open flow of Palestinians into Sinai, there are also increased prospects for
attacks against Israeli targets by terrorists infiltrating across Israel's
long border with Sinai. If Egypt is forced to take responsibility for Gaza,
Israel will have to more carefully weigh its military responses to Hamas
terror actions originating from the Strip.

The Recognized Government of the State of Gaza

Hamas' breaching of the 12-kilometer security fence separating Gaza from
Egyptian Sinai on January 23, 2008, with the acquiescence of Egyptian
President Hosni Mubarak, has triggered major shifts in the triangular
relationship between Israel, Gaza, and Egypt.

Hamas' opening of Gaza's southern border to Egypt was a well-planned
strategic move that has effectively knighted Hamas as the recognized
government of a new state of Gaza. Previously, the Palestinian Authority in
the West Bank and some Israelis had hoped that pressuring Hamas in Gaza via
sanctions, while helping to create a stable and prosperous Palestinian
society in the West Bank under Fatah leader and PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas,
would trigger support for Abbas' leadership in Gaza.

However, recent events in Gaza have buried this possibility for the
foreseeable future. Hamas, via Gaza's new-found access to Egyptian
materials, goods, and services, can now ease Gaza's depressed economic
condition, and thereby diminish the differences between Gaza and the more
prosperous West Bank. Hundreds of thousands of Palestinians flooded the
northeastern corner of the Sinai Peninsula after January 23, spending
approximately $130 million in local Egyptian markets.1

The opening of the state of Gaza to Egypt reinforces Hamas control that no
external pressure will be able to reverse at this juncture. The prospects of
Mahmoud Abbas regaining control in Gaza are remote at best. Despite reports
of an agreement with Egypt to include Abbas' Palestinian Presidential Guard
at Gaza's Rafah border crossing, Hamas will not give up its achievement and
allow forces loyal to Abbas to control the border, despite Egypt's
preference for such an arrangement.2

The radical Hamas government, which is financed, trained, and armed by Iran,
has proven itself as an effective military and political force. Hamas has
upgraded its strategic posture by opening its southern border and forcing
its Egyptian neighbor to allow free and largely unimpeded access for nearly
two weeks for hundreds of thousands of Gazans who crossed Egypt's sovereign
borders and returned to Gaza at will. Hamas' success in forcing Egypt to
negotiate over the crisis has established Hamas' upgraded status.3 Hamas has
agreed to cooperate with Egypt to close the breached border. However, the
gesture is temporary and must also be considered in the context of Hamas'
stated intention to disengage completely from Israel, abandon the Israeli
shekel and adopt an Arab currency, and seek fuel, utilities, trade, and a
new open border regime with Egypt.4

A Territory Under Islamist Control

This crisis may also be seen in a much broader and far-reaching political
and ideological context. For the first time in the history of the modern
Middle East (other than the limited case of Hassan Turabi's Sudan5), Hamas -
the Palestinian branch of the Muslim Brotherhood and the ideological
precursor to al-Qaeda6 - has gained full control over contiguous territory
and population, and has now effectively become a state government without
real opponents or internal challenges for power.

Gaza's new open border with Egypt represents the fulfillment of a long-held
dream by the Muslim Brotherhood across the region, and suggests far-reaching
ramifications for neighboring Arab countries including Jordan, Syria, and
Egypt. In fact, on January 27, 2008, a senior Muslim Brotherhood delegation
from the Egyptian parliament paid an official visit to Hamas' government
compound in Gaza.7 A senior Hamas delegation headed by its political leader,
Khaled Mashal, has also been invited to Saudi Arabia to discuss
"developments" since the border was opened.8

The Sunset of Fatah

In the Palestinian-Israeli context, Hamas' success enhances its political
power among Palestinians and further weakens Mahmoud Abbas' image as the
leader of the Palestinian people. While Abbas is eager to return Fatah
control to Gaza, recent events have ratcheted up Hamas' control.

In sharp contrast to Fatah's failed and corrupt government, the Palestinian
public sees Hamas' dramatic opening of the Gaza-Egypt border as the latest
in a series of successful actions. Others include Hamas' surprise January
2006 electoral victory over Fatah , its kidnapping of Israeli soldier Gilad
Shalit, the sustained rocketing of southern Israel, and Hamas' expulsion of
Fatah forces from Gaza and the establishment of its control over the
government there in June 2007. Hamas' border breach has also been a signal
to Egypt of the Gaza government's strength.9

The events in Gaza may signal an historic change: the end of Fatah as the
ruling political power in Palestinian society. Fatah's continued control in
Palestinian areas of the West Bank today is the direct result of the Israel
Defense Forces' control of the territory. Only the continuing IDF operations
in the West Bank have prevented Hamas from staging a takeover similar to its
military coup against Fatah in Gaza in 2007.

An Enemy State with an Open Door

Another strategic shift is reflected in Gaza's new status as an enemy state
entity with open borders. Gaza has transformed from its prior status as part
of the Palestinian Authority to its new role as a mini-state that is now an
integral part of the Arab world. Hamas will now be able to more freely
obtain weapons, ammunition, explosives, and training via Egyptian Sinai.
Since the border opening, advanced weapons have flowed unimpeded into Gaza
across the Egyptian border, enabling the transfer of higher-grade weapons
than can be smuggled via underground tunnels.

The Israel Security Agency has confirmed that Hamas smuggled large amounts
of long-range rockets, anti-tank and anti-aircraft missiles into Gaza since
the border was breached.10 This new weaponry will enable the continued
upgrade of Hamas' highly disciplined army that is largely financed and
trained by Iran and is modeled after the Iranian-backed Hizbullah in
Lebanon.

Terrorist operatives and groups such as al-Qaeda, that have already used
Egyptian Sinai as a rear base, are now able to reach Gaza more easily.
Several al-Qaeda-affiliated operatives, some of which infiltrated from
Egypt, Sudan, and Yemen, have been active in Gaza since 2006. Over time,
al-Qaeda-affiliated organizations have also emerged in Gaza, including Jaish
al-Islam (Army of Islam) that was responsible for the kidnapping of BBC
journalist Alan Johnston. Other groups were also formed like Jaish al-Umma
(Army of the Nation), Al-Qaeda in Palestine, and Mujahidin Beit al-Makdes
(Holy Warriors of Jerusalem), which attacked the American International
School in Gaza in January 2008.11

Global jihadi leaders, such as Abu Abd al-Rahman al-Ansari of the
Lebanese-based Fatah al-Islam, called for jihadi fighters around the world
to exploit the breached Rafah crossing and enter Gaza.12 With the open flow
of Palestinians into Sinai, there are also increased prospects for attacks
against Israeli targets by terrorists infiltrating across Israel's long
border with Sinai.

It must be understood that Hamas is no longer merely a well-trained guerilla
terror force. Rather, Hamas must be confronted as a state army that uses
guerilla tactics and terrorism while, simultaneously, it prepares for
all-out war against Israel. With each passing day that Israel does not
mobilize for a major ground operation in Gaza, it will be more difficult for
the IDF to enter Gaza and destroy Hamas, whose growing Katyusha rocket
arsenal has already reached Ashkelon and can strike major Israeli urban
centers 20 kilometers north of Gaza, like Kiryat Gat and Ashdod.

At the same time, Hamas and other terror groups continue to fire
shorter-range Kassam rockets at Sderot and other Israeli localities. Since
January 1, 2008, alone, more than 420 rockets have been fired into southern
Israel from Gaza.13

Completing Israel's Disengagement from Gaza

Following the opening of the Gaza-Sinai border, Israel can now complete the
disengagement it undertook in September 2005 and seal its border with Gaza,
prohibiting the entry or exit of persons and commercial goods, or, as has
occurred recently, explosives disguised as commercial materials.14

Israel and Egypt had negotiated the administration of Gaza in the framework
of the 1978 Camp David accords. However, Egyptian President Anwar Sadat
refused to take responsibility for the Strip. Instead, Sadat insisted only
on establishing an Egyptian liaison office in Gaza. However, Prime Minister
Menachem Begin rejected the Egyptian demand.15

Today, however, a newly-sealed Israel-Gaza border would force Egypt into the
role of state custodian for the Gaza Strip. The opening of the Egypt-Gaza
border has demonstrated that Egypt can play a key role as a supplier of
goods and services to Gazans. Egypt can also supply utilities such as gas,
electricity, and water, and raw materials such as cement.

Egypt sees itself as the Arab world's leading power, and will not stand idly
by and allow Palestinians in Gaza to suffer shortages if Israel closes its
border
with Gaza. Egypt's humanitarian role has been the basis of Mubarak's
justification for allowing the border to remain open and it is unlikely that
Egypt will suddenly reverse this policy in the future.

While certain benefits may accrue to Israel as a result of a shift in
Egypt-Gaza relations, there are also possible dangers for Israel-Egypt
relations, which are a
vital strategic asset for both Jerusalem and Cairo. If Egypt is forced to
take responsibility for Gaza, Israel will have to more carefully weigh its
military responses to Hamas terror actions originating from the Strip.
Israel's strategic flexibility could be reduced due to any direct Egyptian
role in Gaza. Israel may benefit if it is no longer the responsible party
for the welfare of Gaza's citizens. But at the same time, Israel loses its
ability to monitor what enters and exits over Gaza's border with Egypt.

The Iranian Role

The Iranian role is another troubling aspect of the new situation in Gaza.
Iran's direct and robust backing of its Hamas proxy, via Khaled Mashal and
the Damascus-based Hamas leadership, has essentially created a reinforced
Gaza base to export Iranian terror and expand Iranian political control in
the region. It is no small irony that now, Egyptian-assisted Gaza has become
a second Iranian gateway to the Arab world, in addition to Syria, from which
to subvert and assert control over Arab countries and territories, as part
of Iran's grand strategy to achieve regional hegemony under a nuclear
umbrella.
* * *
Notes
1. Ehud Yaari, "Egypt Working to Contain Gaza," Policy Watch #1337,
Washington Institute for Near East Policy, February 1, 2008.
2. "Egypt Agrees to Abbas Control over Gaza Border, Palestinian Officials
Say," Ynet News, January 27, 2008.
3. Khaled Abu Toameh, "Cairo Invites Hamas Representatives for Talks on
Rafah Border Situation, Jerusalem Post, January 28, 2008.
4. "Egypt to Close Rafah Sunday; Hamas Says It Will Cooperate," Jerusalem
Post, February 2, 2008. Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniya was quoted as
saying, "We have said from the days of our election campaign that we want to
move toward economic disengagement from the Israeli occupation. Egypt has a
greater ability to meet the needs of Gaza. Haniya's senior advisor, Ahmad
Youssef, added that "Hamas has already generated plans and proposals to
unite economically with Egypt instead of Israel. According to Hamas, Egypt
can serve as 'Gaza's gateway' to the Arab and Muslim world and as its
in-depth strategic partner." Roee Nahmias, "Hamas Considering Economic
Disengagement from Israel," YNET News, February 2, 2008,
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3501759,00.html
5. Lt.-Col. (res.) Jonathan Dahoah-Halevi, "The Muslim Brotherhood: A
Moderate Islamic Alternative to al-Qaeda or a Partner in Global Jihad?"
Jerusalem Viewpoints #558, Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs, November 1,
2007. "The links between the Muslim Brotherhood and global terrorism were
also made evident by the reception Hassan al-Turabi, a high-ranking Muslim
Brother and at that time one of the heads of Sudan, provided for al-Qaeda in
the early 1990s. In 1991, accepting al-Turabi's personal invitation, Osama
bin Laden moved from Saudi Arabia to Sudan and established a terrorist
network there. In addition, al-Turabi founded the Popular Arab and Islamic
Conference, some of whose members were the PLO, Hamas, Hizbullah, al-Qaeda,
and the Egyptian Jihad. The Conference met in April 1991, December 1993, and
March 1995. In August 1993, in the wake of the attack on the World Trade
Center, the United States included Sudan in its designated list of
terrorism-sponsoring states."
http://www.jcpa.org/JCPA/Templates/ShowPage.asp?DRIT=2&DBID=1&LNGID=1&TMID=111&FID=379&PID=0&IID=1920&TTL=
The_Muslim_Brotherhood:_A_Moderate_Islamic_Alternative_to_al-Qaeda_or_a_Partner_in_Global_Jihad?
6. Dore Gold, "Ties between al-Qaeda and Hamas in Mideast Are Long and
Frequent," San Francisco Chronicle, March 5, 2006,
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?
file=/chronicle/archive/2006/03/05/INGERHG75F1.DTL
7. Israeli Channel Two television news, January 27, 2008.
8. Avi Issacharoff and Barak Ravid, "Officials: Israel Won't Let Gaza Border
Breach Threaten Security," Ha'aretz, January 28, 2008.
9. Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center, January 29, 2008,
http://www.terrorism-info.org.il/malam_multimedia/English/eng_n/pdf/ct_290108e.pdf
10.
http://www.terrorism-info.org.il/malam_multimedia/English/eng_n/pdf/ct_290108e.pdf.
See also "Diskin: Gaza Breach Allowed Influx of Advanced Armament,"
Jerusalem Post, February 3, 2008.
11. Lt.-Col. (res.) Jonathan Dahoah-Halevi, "The Growing Hamas/Al-Qaeda
Connection, Jerusalem Issue Brief, v. 7, no. 1, Jerusalem Center for Public
Affairs, May 17, 2007. See also "Leaflets of Al-Qaeda-Affiliate Found in
Looted American School in Gaza," Ha'aretz, January 15, 2008.
12.
http://www.terrorism-info.org.il/malam_multimedia/English/eng_n/html/ct_290108e.htm
13. "Gaza: Why and What to Do About It," Jewish Institute for National
Security Studies, Report # 740, January 24, 2008.
14. An IDF force checking a truck carrying humanitarian aid (flour, sugar,
etc.) about to go through the Kerem Shalom Crossing into the Gaza Strip
found two tons of dual-purpose fertilizer, also used in the manufacture of
explosives for rockets and bombs. It was not the first time that the
terrorist organizations had tried to smuggle explosives into the Gaza Strip
by disguising them as humanitarian aid. See "News of the Israeli-Palestinian
Confrontation," January 9-15, 2008, Intelligence and Terrorism Information
Center, http://www.terrorism-info.org.il/eng/eng_n/jan_9_15_08e.htm
15. According to Dr. Meir Rosenne, former Israeli Ambassador to the United
States, who was part of the Israeli negotiating team at the 1978 Camp David
Accords, in a phone interview, February 4, 2008.
* * *
Maj.-Gen. (res.) Yaakov Amidror, Chairman of the Institute for Contemporary
Affairs, is former commander of the IDF's National Defense College and the
IDF Staff and Command College. He is also former head of the IDF's Research
and Assessment Division, with special responsibility for preparing the
National Intelligence Assessment. Dan Diker is Director of the Institute for
Contemporary Affairs and foreign policy analyst of the Jerusalem Center for
Public Affairs.

5) Promotion of Islam in Our Schools
by Cinnamon Stillwell
FrontPageMagazine.com February 5, 2008

Public school children in grades K-12 are being assigned textbooks that misrepresent and, in some cases, glorify Islamic beliefs and history – often at the expense of other religions and cultures. The apologetics and indoctrination common in university Middle East studies programs is being carried into public schools by contentious, an historical, and inaccurate textbooks written by those same Middle East studies professors.

History Alive! The Medieval World and Beyond, a textbook published by the Teachers' Curriculum Institute, was removed from the Scottsdale, Arizona school district in 2005 for this very reason. The textbook is now causing controversy in California and at the center of the storm is Cal State University-Sacramento sociology professor Ayad Al-Qazzaz.

An Iraqi native who specializes in Middle East studies, Al-Qazzaz, is both a contributor to History Alive and one of the gatekeepers who approved it for use in California's public middle schools. And, according to an American Textbook Council review cited by World Net Daily (WND):

Al-Qazzaz is a Muslim apologist, a frequent speaker in Northern California school districts promoting Islam and Arab causes…[He] also co-wrote AWAIR's 'Arab World Notebook.' AWAIR stands for Arab World and Islamic Resources, an opaque, proselytizing 'non-profit organization' that conducts teacher workshops and sells supplementary materials to schools.

A parent and former student in one of Al-Qazzaz's Middle East studies courses wrote to WND expressing her own reservations:

That was a big flag for me…after seeing Al-Qazzaz as one of the main contributors I began to put two and two together … about the extra book coming home only in this class and I questioned where this book's money source came from – I still do not know.

Al-Qazzaz's contributions to History Alive on the subject of jihad are flagrantly biased, as he consistently presents jihad as merely a personal struggle rather than a holy war.

Hence, as noted by WND, the text presents jihad as "an effort by Muslims to convince 'others to take up worthy causes, such as funding medical research'" and that "even at its most violent, 'jihad' is simply Muslims fighting 'to protect themselves from those who would do them harm.'"

In a 2003 KXTV, Sacramento, story on "Islamic War Ethics," he elaborated:

Al-Qazzaz says there are two levels of jihad. The greater jihad is every Muslim's quest to live out their faith in their daily lives, to improve themselves and to become a better Muslim. The lesser jihad means to protect one's people and fight against enemies, he says. So the greater jihad prompts devout Muslims to remember their religious guidelines while fighting, which would cause them to treat war prisoners well.

One suspects the victims of beheadings and torture would beg to differ. Moreover, that Islamists (otherwise known as jihadists) worldwide repeatedly cite jihad as a motivating factor belies Al-Qazzaz's contention that war is the "lesser jihad."

In a 2002 interview with Peace Magazine, Al-Qazzaz rejected the association of "jihad" with "fundamentalism" and advocated what's come to be known as the "root causes" approach to combating Islamic terrorism:

You are not going to get rid of suicide bombers by killing them. You have to know the causes. It is like a disease. You can treat the symptoms but if you don't know the causes, the symptoms keep coming up.

Yet, when the interview turned to the study of Islam and its connection to terrorism, Al-Qazzaz skirted the issue by blaming others. After first accusing Islam scholar Bernard Lewis of "becoming progressively anti-Islam and Zionist," he continued:

There are two schools of thought about Islam in the US. One school is headed by Bernard Lewis and Daniel Pipes, who equate Islam to terrorism. The other school, headed by John Esposito, argues that there are bad apples everywhere. You have terrorists in Islam, terrorists in Judaism, terrorists in Hindu-ism. But the majority of the people, though they may be backward, do not have a terrorist attitude.

Al-Qazzaz's characterization of both Bernard Lewis and Daniel Pipes is demonstrably false. Neither equates Islam with terrorism, but, rather, seeks to examine the undeniable connection between the two. John Esposito, who heads the Saudi-funded Prince Alwaleed bin Talal Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding at Georgetown, is a leading Wahhabi apologist who consistently seeks to muddle what is in fact an Islam-specific issue.

Considering Al-Qazzaz's troubling viewpoints on these matters, his involvement with History Alive and other Middle East studies textbooks is cause for alarm. Not only do California education officials need to undertake a rigorous and unbiased reexamination of such textbooks, but also the gatekeepers approving their use. Otherwise, it's simply a case of the fox guarding the hen house.

Cinnamon Stillwell is the Northern California Representative for Campus Watch. She can be reached at stillwell@meforum.org.