Quick Takes: <i>News You May Have Missed</i>

Quick Takes: News You May Have Missed

By: Aaron Klein

Published: May 18th, 2011

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Third Intifada In The Works?

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas’s Fatah organization held a series of local meetings this week to discuss the possibility of launching a large-scale uprising, or intifada, targeting Israel, according to Fatah sources present at the meetings.

The Fatah sources said the meetings were held by the local Fatah leadership in the cities of Jerusalem, Ramallah Hebron and Nablus.

The sources said the meetings did not reach any conclusion, but most Fatah leaders present were in favor of an intifada that would focus on protests and rock throwing that would take on the guise of a popular uprising.

The Fatah leaders felt such a campaign would aid the Palestinian Authority’s bid to unilaterally declare a state at the United Nations Security Council and General Assembly this September.

Dimitri Diliani, a spokesperson for Fatah, refused to confirm or deny the content of the Fatah meetings.

Diliani told this column that support for a third intifada “comes from people’s frustration with the very long peace process that has not translated into any results on the ground.”

“These ideas will continue to gather support as long as the peace process is dormant,” he said.

Diliani noted that only Fatah’s executive committee, and not local leaders, could take the ultimate decision of launching an intifada.

“There are no local Fatah factions who could even manage such a campaign by themselves,” he added.

According to the Fatah sources present at the meeting, the local leaders strongly presented the case for a sustained pressure campaign aimed at Israel’s Jewish communities in the West Bank.

Among the ideas discussed were staging mock trials of individual leaders of the Jewish communities in the West Bank and eastern Jerusalem.

“All focus must be on attacking the settlement project diplomatically, politically and legally,” said one Fatah source.

Syrian Government Tied To Border Clashes

Israel has information implicating the Syrian government in the deadly clashes that rocked the Jewish state’s borders on Sunday, according to informed Israeli security officials.

Separately, a group that operates from the Golan Heights and is closely tied to the Syrian regime told this column it helped organize the riots that resulted in Israeli troops shooting Syrians who attempted to breach the border.

The protests marked what the Arabs refer to as the Nakba, or “tragedy” of Israel’s founding.

A leader of the Committees for the Liberation of the Golan Heights confirmed the group was behind the planning of the demonstrations at the Syrian border.

The organization was first formed in 2006. It operates from both the Golan Heights and Syria, and is reportedly tied to the Syrian government.

Obama’s Faith Adviser: Radical Muslims

Are Like Radical Christians And Jews

President Obama’s faith adviser, Eboo Patel, compared Al Qaeda to what he called Christian “totalitarians” in the U.S. and Jewish “totalitarians” in Israel, this column has learned.

In February 2010, Obama named Patel to his Advisory Council on Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships.

Patel, a Muslim activist from Chicago, is the founder and executive director of Chicago-based Interfaith Youth Core, which says it promotes pluralism by teaming people of different faiths on service projects.

In an October 2009 article in a Newtopia Magazine, a liberal cultural publication, Obama’s faith adviser made the controversial comparison.The article was adapted from the text of a speech given by Patel to the Interfaith Education for a Global Society Conference in New York City in January 2002.

Stated Patel: “The problem is that we live in a time when the Muslim totalitarians are dominating. Why? Because they are building powerful institutions that propagate their interpretation of Islam – just as the Christian totalitarians in America have powerful institutions; and the Jewish totalitarians in Israel have powerful institutions; and the Hindu totalitarians in India have powerful institutions.

“What do I mean by institutions?” asked Patel. “Lobbying groups that pass policies, political organizations that get people elected, television and radio and magazines and publishing houses which articulate ideas, schools and universities, youth organizations and women’s groups, bodies which raise and distribute money.”

Patel then stated, “Al Qaeda is a network of institutions. Schools and mosques which teach eight-year-olds a certain ideology; organizations which lead them to Afghanistan; training camps which make them soldiers; manuals which offer advice on the prayers to whisper while engaging in violence.”

Patel explained his reference to Christian “totalitarianism” stems from a piece by New York Times foreign affairs columnist Thomas Friedman who wrote that World War III will be fought against “religious totalitarianism.”

“Religious totalitarianism is not just the belief that one religion is right,” added Patel, “but also that there is only one correct interpretation of that religion and everyone should practice it or else.”

Rep. Simpson: U.S. Is Becoming A Police State

Airport screening rules imposed by the Obama administration are turning the country into a “police state,” charged Texas Rep. David Simpson in a recent radio interview.

Simpson is the chief sponsor of a state bill that makes it a criminal offense for public servants to inappropriately touch travelers during airport security pat-downs.

“Here in Texas, we’re drawing the law at private parts,” stated Simpson. “We’re losing our dignity. But the government, instead of protecting our dignity and our privacy and our freedom, they are turning us into a police state and taking innocent travelers and making them into suspicious criminals.”

Simpson was speaking on “Aaron Klein Investigative Radio”on New York’s WABC Radio.

The Republican lawmaker criticized airport procedures that require travelers to either pass through a scanner that images the entire body or submit to an intrusive pat down.

He said metal detectors are far more effective, noting instances in which the detectors caught banned objects while the body screeners missed them.

Aaron Klein is Jerusalem bureau chief and senior reporter for Internet giant WorldNetDaily.com. He is also host of an investigative radio program on New York’s 770-WABC Radio, the largest talk radio station in the U.S., every Sunday between 2-4 p.m.

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About the Author: Aaron Klein is Jerusalem bureau chief and senior reporter for WorldNetDaily.com. He is also host of an investigative radio program on New York's 770-WABC Radio, the largest talk radio station in the U.S., every Sunday between 2-4 p.m (CHANGE TO 7-9 p.m.). His website is KleinOnline.com

Quick Takes: News You May Have Missed

Syrian Government Tied To Border Clashes

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