By Sarah Honig
The Jerusalem Post
May 18, 2012

It’s official. A brand new Three Stooges remake is well under way. The sequel stooges have just banded together in a mutually advantageous alliance to fortify the governing coalition of the Jewish state – the ultimate setting to best suit their zany misadventures. For one thing, it’s quite compatible with the ethnicity of the original trio – brothers Moe and Curly (born Horwitz) and Larry who was a Feinberg.

But more important is the fact that there’s nowhere like Israel’s madcap political arena to accentuate the knucklehead anarchic antics of the jerks-of-all-trades (as yesteryear’s screwballs dubbed themselves). With them around there’s never a dull moment. They keep unsettling all and sundry, themselves foremost.

Stepping into Moe’s shoes is Binyamin Netanyahu even though he doesn’t sport a soup ball haircut and even if he hasn’t exactly been poking at politicos’ eyes, whacking sidekicks with skillets and crunching the noses of cronies with neurotic, hyperactive zest.

By Jay Bushinsky
The Jerusalem Post
May 18, 2012

It was inconceivable that Tel Aviv University, part of whose budget is covered by the government of Israel, would permit the observance of "Youm a- Naqba" -- Arabic for "The Day of the Catastrophe" -- on campus.

It was unbelievable that Arab students who are Israeli citizens would be joined by Jewish students to commemorate the suffering endured by Palestine's Arabs due to Israel's emergence as an independent Jewish state 64 years ago.

This abortive event, which initially was unopposed by the university's administration, surely has no counterpart in the United States, which, like Israel, also is a democratic country.  Students in any of the American South's colleges and universities do not mourn the defeat of the Confederacy that violated the
U.S. Constitution by seceding from the federal union and forming a separate government 151 years ago.  Similarly, latter-day monarchists in France, if there still are any, do not stage memorial ceremonies for members of the royalty and aristocracy who were guillotined during the French Revolution of 1789.

By Elad Benari
Arutz Sheva
May 17, 2012

Iranian official calls for an ‘Islamic Awakening’ movement to help PA Arabs “demolish the Zionist regime”.

An Iranian official called this week for an ‘Islamic Awakening’ movement to help Palestinian Authority Arabs “demolish the Zionist regime”, the IRNA news agency reported.

The comments were made at a conference in Tehran in honor of Nakba Day – the day of catastrophe – which is what the Arabs call the English date of May 14, when the State of Israel was re-established with a declaration of independence in 1948.

In a brief address at the end of the conference, the official, Hossein Shiekholeslam said, “In success of a revolution three major factors need to play effective roles, and they are the people, the leadership, and the school of thought, or ideology.”

By Raymond Ibrahim
FrontPage Magazine
May 15, 2012

As the United States considers the Islamic jihadi threats confronting it from all sides, it would do well to focus on its southern neighbor, Mexico, which has been targeted by Islamists and jihadists, who, through a number of tactics—from engaging in da‘wa, converting Mexicans to Islam, to smuggling and the drug cartel, simple extortion, kidnappings and enslavement—have been subverting Mexico in order to empower Islam and sabotage the U.S.

According to a 2010 report, “Close to home: Hezbollah terrorists are plotting right on the U.S. border,” which appeared in the NY Daily News:

Mexican authorities have rolled up a Hezbollah network being built in Tijuana … closer to American homes than the terrorist hideouts in the Bekaa Valley are to Israel. Its goal, according to a Kuwaiti newspaper that reported on the investigation: to strike targets in Israel and the West. Over the years, Hezbollah—rich with Iranian oil money and narcocash—has generated revenue by cozying up with Mexican cartels to smuggle drugs and people into the U.S.  In this, it has shadowed the terrorist-sponsoring regime in Tehran, which has been forging close ties with Hugo Chavez of Venezuela, who in turn supports the narcoterrorist organization FARC, which wreaks all kinds of havoc throughout the region.

By JPost Editorial
May 15, 2012

As long as infiltrators assume that once through, they become untouchable and able to stay, they will keep coming.

While numerous pontificators and self-styled social commentators bewail the proliferation of violent crime in our cities, few make mention of where most of the increase comes from. It may be politically incorrect to note, but many of the violent crimes in the Tel Aviv area, for example, are perpetrated by non-locals.

Reports of spine-chilling attacks in Tel Aviv followed hot on each other’s heels over the past two weeks. All were committed by foreign infiltrators.

The biggest headlines were made, understandably, by the sadistic rape and battery of the teenage couple in the Gan Ha’ir car park, where the suspect is a Nablus-area Arab who crossed the Green Line illegally.

By Peter Martino
Gatestone Institute
May 14, 2012

It is as if the U.S. were to renounce the dollar for the "amro," a common currency with countries as different as Mexico. Colombia, Brazil and Argentina. A documentary on German television last week revealed that the political class in Europe knew that the Greeks were cooking the books, but did not care. Extremist parties of the Left and the Right (all of them anti-Semitic) are rapidly gaining electoral support at the expense of mainstream parties....

The European Union, and especially its common currency, the euro, is on the brink of collapse. The Greeks, unable to form a government after the May 6 elections, will have to go to the polls again next month. In Germany, Chancellor Angela Merkel is rapidly losing support. If she cares about her reelection next year, she had better push Greece out of the eurozone rather than keep that country afloat with German taxpayers' money. If Greece leaves, the whole euro edifice might come down – a better outcome than the present situation, in which extremist parties on the Left and the Right (all of them anti-Semitic) are rapidly gaining electoral support at the expense of mainstream parties which keep clinging to the failed project of the common European currency.

A recent program on German television revealed that former German Chancellor Kohl had exchanged the strong D-mark for the crisis-prone euro because he wanted to atone for Germany's role in the Second World War. Contemporary Germans, however, are not inclined to pay for the Greeks and other southern Europeans to make up for their grandfathers' role in the Second World War.

By Andrestinos Papadopoulos
Cyprus Mail
May 13, 2012

The recent visit by Israel’s Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman had two aspects. One covered negotiations on a variety of issues to help further enhance Cyprus-Israeli relations. The other, far more important, is the geostrategic dimension of these relations, which is better understood, if we keep in mind that Cyprus is viewed by Israel as its bridge towards Europe.

The far-sighted Shimon Peres, now Israel’s president, had perceived this back in 1994. At the time, the then foreign minister of Cyprus, Alecos Michaelides, was trying to secure from the EU a date for the start of accession negotiations. Peres’ assistance was prompt and immediate. Believing that he was promoting Israel’s strategic interests, he phoned decision-makers in Europe and the United States to support Cyprus’ request. This action, phone calls made by Richard Holbrooke - the US’ assistant secretary for European affairs - to London, Paris and Bonn, as well as the Greek government’s decision to waive its veto against Turkey’s customs union with the EU, resulted in the decision of the Council in March 1995 to fix the date for the start of accession negotiations between Cyprus and the EU six months after the end of the Inter-governmental Conference.

This view that Cyprus was strategically important for the interests of Israel was espoused by Avigdor Lieberman who became the protagonist of closer relations between Cyprus and Israel, as his frequent visits to Cyprus testify. In accordance with what is known as the “Lieberman doctrine” the Israeli politician advocates a strong Israel in the Mediterranean and Africa with a special relationship with Cyprus, Greece and the Balkans.

By Rick Moran
FrontPage Magazine
May 11, 2012

Two suicide car bombs detonated outside of Syrian intelligence headquarters on Wednesday, killing 55 civilians and security personnel and wounding nearly 400. The twin blasts bore the signature of Islamic terrorists affiliated with al-Qaeda and demonstrated a new determination by the terrorists to intervene directly in what is now a simmering civil war in Syria. The US and UN both condemned the attacks, but suggested no new ideas on how to quell the slaughter, now in its 14 month, except to maintain the hope that the peace plan brokered by former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan might somehow calm the situation.

At this point, even Annan probably believes it to be a forlorn hope. He told the UN on Tuesday that President Assad is not abiding by any of the terms of the agreement and that this failure is leading to a full blown civil war that may spill over Syria’s borders, affecting Iraq, Lebanon, and other Middle East states. But Annan stubbornly maintains that the peace plan is the only hope to prevent such a catastrophe and that the UN monitors charged with enforcing the agreement should be allowed to continue their mission.

Blaming Western-backed terrorists for the Damascus attacks, President Assad pressed forward with his brutal crackdown. Artillery fire directed at civilians in Homs killed at least 10 people on Wednesday, as Assad continues to receive massive military support from Russia, while Iranian Revolutionary Guards and the Iranian-backed terrorist group Hezbollah continue to supply shock troops for Assad’s increasingly unreliable army.

No claim of responsibility for the bombing has been made, but Bill Roggio of the Long War Journal and other analysts suspect an al-Qaeda-linked militant group called the Al Nusrah Front for the People of the Levant. The terrorist group has claimed responsibility for some recent attacks in Damascus, and Syria’s second largest city Aleppo. The US suspects Al-Qaeda in Iraq or one of its violent offshoots, which have recently moved into Syria to fight against the Alawite regime of Bashar Assad. Press Secretary Jay Carney told reporters aboard Air Force One, “We do not believe (this) kind of attack that you saw in Damascus is representative of the opposition. There are clearly extremist elements in Syria, as we have said all along, who are trying to take advantage of the chaos in that country, chaos brought about by Assad’s brutal assault on his own people.”

By Clifford D. May
Israel Hayom
May 11, 2012

After World War II, the British left India, which was to be partitioned into two independent nations. One would have a Hindu majority, the other a Muslim majority. More than 7 million Muslims moved to the territory that became Pakistan. A similar number of Hindus and Sikhs moved to India. Today, not one remains a refugee.

After World War II, the British left Palestine, which was to be partitioned into two independent nations. One would have a Jewish majority, the other a Muslim majority. About 750,000 Muslims left the territories that became Israel. A similar number of Jews left Arab/Muslim lands. Today, not one of the Jews remains a refugee. But there are still Palestinian refugees — indeed, their numbers have mushroomed to almost 5 million. How is that possible?

Through two mechanisms: A refugee, by definition, lives on foreign soil but for Palestinians the definition has been changed so that a displaced Palestinian on Palestinian soil also receives refugee status. Second, the international organization responsible for resettling refugees, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, was cut out from the start. A new organization was set up exclusively for Palestinians: the United Nations Relief and Works Agency. In 1950, UNRWA defined a refugee as someone who had “lost his home and his means of livelihood” during the war launched by Arab/Muslim countries in response to Israel’s declaration of independent statehood. Fifteen years later, UNRWA decided — against objections from the United States — to include as refugees the children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren of those who left Israel. And in 1982, UNRWA further extended eligibility to all subsequent generations of descendants — forever.

Where Are the Media and So-Called Human Rights Groups?

By Khaled Abu Toameh
May 11, 2012

In recent weeks, Palestinian Authority security forces arrested at least nine journalists and bloggers in the West Bank for exposing corruption. The Palestinian Authority and its media group clearly do not want the outside world to receive information about the situation in the Palestinian territories.

As journalists worldwide celebrated World Free Press Day on May 3, the Palestinian Journalists Syndicate in the West Bank chose to wage a campaign of intimidation against Palestinian reporters who commit the "crime" of meeting with Israeli counterparts.

The decision to punish Palestinian journalists who hold meetings with Israeli colleagues began after a series of joint seminars that were held in Norway, Germany and France. At these seminars, Israeli and Palestinian journalists discussed joint cooperation and ways of promoting freedom of expression.