France, Jews And The Absence Of Memory

Truly, there can never be any virtue without memory, and France - it would seem - displays a persistent penchant for forgetting. Now unambiguously aligned with the Arab/Islamic states in global geopolitics, France's staunchly oppositional posture toward Israel is a predictable continuation of official French policy toward the Jews during and immediately after World War II.

Understanding The Religious War Against Israel And America: Barbarism As Sacrifice

How shall we truly understand what happened on the last day of March one year ago, when an Iraqi mob burned, desecrated and hanged four American contractors from a bridge in Fallujah?

Cowardice And Desecration: The Deeper Jewish Meanings Of ‘Disengagement’

Bettelheim, like the Greek poet Homer, understands that the force that does not kill - that does not kill just yet - can turn a human being into stone, into a thing, while it is still alive.

On ‘Disengagement’ And Disobedience (Second Of Two Parts)

Can the Sharon government protect Israel's citizens? Clearly, "disengagement" will open the door widely to "Palestine." In consequence, once deprived of its remaining strategic depth, Israel will become an irresistibly tempting object for aggression by certain enemy states.

Israel Freeing Arab Terrorists And Surrendering Jewish Land Living Precariously In The Delirium Of...

Writing of the Jews as a "people of solitaries," E.M. Cioran, the most dazzling French philosophical voice since Paul Valery, observes of the Jewish "nation" that this people, "...unsuited to the complacencies of despair, bypassing its age-old fatigue and the conclusions imposed by fate, lives in the delirium of expectation, determined not to learn a lesson from its humiliations...."

Israel Releasing Arab Terrorists – Again

It is a familiar story. Israel, with nary a hint of meaningful reciprocity (reinforcing standing government policy of "Land For Nothing"), releases Palestinian terrorist prisoners. This time, in fact, Prime Minister Sharon even threw in amnesty for terrorists not yet apprehended.

On “Disengagement,” Civil Disobedience, And IDF Military Refusals (First of Two Parts)

A dear friend of mine in Israel, a hard-fighting veteran of all too many wars, was asked to summarize his view of the "disengagement." "What," I inquired, "do you think of the forcible deportation of Jews from Jewish lands in Gaza and parts of Samaria by the government in Jerusalem?"

Israeli Nuclear Deterrence

Israel's nuclear capacity remains undeclared. For now, this is in Israel's overall best interest. In a world where the United States currently expresses serious concerns about nuclearization in Iran and North Korea, it would be inappropriate for Israel to embarrass its major ally by any form of nuclear disclosure.

Resurrecting A Canard – Mahmoud Abbas And The ‘Cycle Of Violence’ In The Middle...

The new Palestinian Authority "President" hadn't even been sworn in before he criticized the "cycle of violence" in the Middle East. An inaccuracy, to be sure. Mahmoud Abbas knew exactly what he was saying.

The Meaning Of ‘Palestine’ For Israeli Security And Regional Nuclear War

A new state of "Palestine" will very likely be carved out of the still-living body of Israel. Supported by the President of the United States, this 23rd Arab state will quickly try to extend, incrementally, even within the "Green Line" boundaries of Israel itself.

If You Liked Fallujah, You’ll Love ‘Palestine’

Today we think of Fallujah as the site of ongoing battles between courageous American forces and assorted enemy fighters. But back on the last day of March of this year, Fallujah was briefly known for the manifestly unheroic behavior of its Arab/Islamic combatants. Then it was the place where Islamic insurgents openly dramatized their long-cherished practice of desecrating the dead.

What Islamic ‘Sacrifice’ Means To Israel (Part Two of Two)

Ayatollah Khomeini, in the foreword to his book on Islamic government, offered remarks which are today still taken as the dominant and incontestable orthodoxy in Iran: "The Islamic Movement was afflicted by the Jews from its very beginnings, when they began their hostile activity...."

What Islamic ‘Sacrifice’ Means To Israel (Part One of Two)

Israel may learn from history. Volume III of Plutarch's "Sayings of Spartain Mothers" reveals the Spartan mother as one who rears her sons for sacrifice on the altar of civic necessity.

Avoiding The ‘Road Map’ After Arafat

Arafat is gone, but the "Road Map" remains. Indeed, regarding Israel's continuance in the Middle East, absolutely nothing has changed in the Palestinian Authority or in the Arab world generally. Notwithstanding President Bush's explicit plea for a "Two State Solution," the PA and its allies still see only one state. This State of Palestine would include all of Judea, Samaria and Gaza, and ALL of the rest of Israel.

After Arafat – Distinguishing Power From Weakness In The Middle East

Even now - after Arafat, after thousands of Israeli men, women and children have been systematically dismembered, burned and mutilated by the most barbaric terrorist movement in recent memory - much of the world remains willfully impervious to geopolitical truth.

The Inauthenticity Of Our Presidential Politics

Every four years, it seems, we Americans must display infinite forbearance in the face of irrepressible foolishness. Transforming all serious meaning into manipulation and marketing, our presidential election process has now been reduced to an endless barrage of numbing cliches and empty witticisms.

Israel, Iran And Preemptive Attack Striking First Under International Law

International law is not a suicide pact. As Iranian nuclearization heats up to a point of no return, Israel's leaders will soon have to make vitally important decisions on launching defensive first strikes. Faced with an existentially hostile regime in Tehran, these leaders cannot now be expected to simply sit back and wait for this regime to deploy atomic weapons. Less than half the size of Lake Michigan, Israel's "wiggle room" in strategic survival matters is profoundly limited.

The Social Impact Of Terrorism: A Human-Centered Perspective

A Speech Presented to Purdue University's Homeland Security Institute Published Exclusively In The Jewish Press (Part One)

After The First Great Debate: A War OnTerror Or A Clash Of Civilizations?

Neither President Bush nor Senator Kerry addressed an absolutely key issue of current American foreign policy in the opening debate.

An Apocalyptic Future? Israel And Middle East Nuclear War (Second Of Two Parts)

Since the presentation of our original Project Daniel document to Prime Minister Sharon on January 16, 2003 (it remained secret until this past May), there have been a few relatively minor "victories" in the effort to control WMD proliferation among Israel's enemies.

An Apocalyptic Future? Israel And Middle East Nuclear War (First Of Two Parts)

Apocalypse, of course, was pretty much a Jewish invention (at least if you ignore ancient Persia and the Zoroastrians), and there is certainly an apocalyptic element in Chicago's own Saul Bellow.

Prosecute Saddam For Crime Of Aggression Against Israel

One of the most elementary principles of law is known as Nullum Crimen Sine Poena: "No crime without a punishment." Stemming from at least three separate passages of the Torah (Exod. 21:22-25; Lev. 24:17-21; Deut. 19:19-21), the Lex Talionis or "law of exact retaliation" was absolutely integral to the Nuremberg Trial and judgment.

In Praise Of Ambassador Zalman Shoval

Zalman Shoval served two terms as Israel's Ambassador to the United States. Although I had made his personal acquaintance only briefly during his first term in Washington (1990-1993), it was immediately apparent that Ambassador Shoval was bringing a markedly favorable presence to Israel's embassy.

Reflections On A Time For Change: A Book By Asher Keren

Modern civilization has a terrible momentum, a frighteningly breathless rhythm that prods us all to forget what is genuinely important. "The end of all this delirium," wrote the philosopher Jacques Maritain, "is to prevent man from remembering G-d." An important new book by Israeli thinker Asher Keren, "A Time For Change," reflects similar concerns.

Suffocating In Mass Society: The bloodless death of individual dignity in America (Second of...

"The mass," said the Spanish philosopher Jose Ortega y Gasset in 1930, "crushes beneath it everything that is different, everything that is excellent, individual, qualified and select." Today, in deference to the Many, the intellectually and culturally unambitious mass not only celebrates the commonplace (which it has been taught to do), it openly proclaims and spreads our American epoch of engineered mediocrity as an enviable form of democracy.

Suffocating In Mass Society: The Bloodless Death Of Individual Dignity In America (First of...

Ravaged by excess - of consumption and commodities rather than of understanding - America now lives anxiously in crowds. This is naturally pleasing to politicians of all persuasions, for whom herding the people together where they cannot think is always "good."

Why Lt. Gen. Moshe Yaalon Is Wrong About Surrendering The Golan

Speaking recently to Yediot Aharonot, an Israeli newspaper, Israel's Chief of General Staff commented that withdrawal from the Golan Heights would not endanger Israel's security. According to Lt. Gen. Moshe Yaalon, the Israel Defense Force (IDF) could defend the country's borders even if a political decision were taken to leave the 620-square mile strategic plateau.

Project Daniel: Conclusions (Part Ten – Final)

Medieval maps typically portrayed Jerusalem at the center of the world. From the standpoint of nuclear strategy and world peace, such a portrayal has exceptional validity today. Confronted with relentlessly genocidal state and non-state enemies, some of which energetically seek weapons of mass destruction, Israel must now quickly fashion a coherent and pragmatic strategic doctrine. Recognizing this urgent requirement, the Project Daniel Group undertook to prepare its unprecedented Final Report to the Prime Minister.

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