Worthwhile Sunday Reading

(Updated) A rare and eloquent exposition of moral clarity. The widow of Andrei Sakharov writes about Jews, Israel, and antisemitism. (JPost)

At one time, the Nobel Peace Prize was the highest moral award of our civilization. But after December 1994, when Yasser Arafat became one of the three new laureates, its ethical value was undermined. I haven't always greeted each selection of the Nobel Committee of the Storting [Norwegian parliament] with joy, but that one shocked me. And to this day, I cannot understand and accept the fact that Andrei Sakharov and Yasser Arafat, now posthumously, share membership in the club of Nobel laureates.

...

And yet I still think (and some will find this naïve) that the first tiny, but real step toward peace must become the release of Schalit. Release, and not his exchange for 1,000 or 1,500 prisoners who are in Israeli prisons serving court sentences for real crimes.

Returning to my question of why human rights activists are silent, I can find no answer except that Schalit is an Israeli soldier, Schalit is a Jew. So again, it is conscious or unconscious anti-Semitism. Again, it is fascism.

Stephen King goes to bat for Israel...why is the planet fixated on Israel, when there are at least 70 other conflicts going on around the world?

SO WHY why the obsession with Israel? It’s the only country in the world whose existence is queried is one reason. It’s the Holy Land to the world’s two largest faiths is another. That al-Qaeda sometimes backs the Palestinian cause makes Israel/Palestine strategically important – but that’s true of Chechnya, too.

Maybe it’s the oil in the Middle East region that makes Arab countries important in western capitals (while distracting from their own despotism)?

Could it be some wrongheaded notion of guilt for having set up Israel after the Holocaust, when actually Israel fought British imperialism for its independence? Could it be, as many Israelis believe, that we see Israelis as Jews and, therefore, as bloodthirsty sub-humans in the latest manifestation of centuries-old anti-semitism?

Or is it just anti-Americanism? Perhaps it’s a little to do with each of these factors. But could it actually be that we see Israelis as very much like ourselves – sophisticated, prosperous, well-educated, fairly pale-skinned democrats? Do we hate ourselves that much? It’s either that or Israel simply isn’t deadly enough to deter the journalists too afraid to work in fly-ridden Congo.

Read it all here. hat-tip: Soccer Dad

Iran starts manufacturing of a new "anti-aircraft" canon.

TEHRAN (Nasdaq via AFP)--Iran launched a production line Sunday for manufacturing cannons for warships that can be used against cruise missiles, the Fars news agency reported.

"The final range of the 40-millimeter naval cannon, named Fath (victory), is 12 kilometres (more than seven miles) and it shoots 300 projectiles per minute," Defence Minister Mohammad Mostafa Najjar said in a statement reported by Fars.

"It can be used against cruise missiles...It is an anti-aircraft low-altitude weapon for use on warships," he said, adding that it was being entirely built by Iranians.

Iran has boasted in the past of developing new weapons systems only for its claims to be met with skepticism by Western defense analysts.

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad announced Wednesday that Iran had successfully test-fired a new medium-range missile, named Sejil-2, drawing a warning from Israel that Europe too should now worry about the Islamic republic's ballistic program.

How does Israel keep its spy network going in Lebanon? The Lebanon Daily Star reports its all because of "Beautiful women."

BEIRUT: Beautiful women, clandestine trips abroad and a hurried escape across a mine-infested border ... All are aspects of alleged Israeli espionage networks unraveling in Lebanon and worthy of a spy novel. Nearly 20 suspected spies, including a butcher, a mobile phone salesman and a retired general, have been detained in recent months as part of a long-running probe by Lebanese intelligence into Israeli sleeper cells. And more arrests are expected, security officials say.

source here. (Or cached here if the first link isn't working)

And why are these spy network unraveling? JoeSettler has the scoop.

It is well-known that the US has been supplying various Lebanese Internal Security Force with money ($1 billion since 2006), training and equipment.

This money, training and equipment was supposed to go to the fight against terror and Hezbollah.

It was these US backed, trained, and equipped security forces that uncovered the spy rings that were spying on Hezbollah.

Ha'aretz managed to link statements by the Lebanese government indicating that these US resources went specifically to capturing the Israeli spies that were targeting Hezbollah.

Hezbollah is expected to win major if not majority control in the upcoming June 6th elections.

Mark my words -- the upcoming June 6th Lebanese election will be pivotal to the future of the Middle East.

In a classic US State Department blunder, US Vice President Joe Biden visited Beirut to "show support for Lebanese democracy and independence". The State Department is clueless if they think that Biden's appearance in Beirut will help keep Hizbollah out of power.

It's a measure of how seriously the White House is taking the Lebanese elections next month that Joe Biden made the rounds in Beirut today, the highest ranking American official to visit in 25 years. Like Secretary of State Hilary Clinton, who passed by last month, Biden kept up the fiction that the trip was a show of support for Lebanese democracy and independence and not an endorsement of any one faction. He then promptly met with the leaders of the ruling, pro-American coalition behind closed doors. (TIME)

The US is not regarded that highly in Lebanon today, and Joe Biden's appearance will bolster anti-US sentiment and provide even more support for Hizbollah.

That's not only my call. IDF Major General (reserves) Yaakov Amidror said it today on IDF Radio.

Oh well.

Iran, Gaza, Syria...Lebanon, what's one more country that's trying to drive us into the sea?

Wherever I am, my blog turns towards Eretz Yisrael טובה הארץ מאד מאד

What the heck is going on in Lebanon?!

Picture via BloggingBeirut

My good friend "Lurker" and I have each missed major historical events as they took place;

• I told him about Iraq's invasion of Kuwait (he missed that one, but then again, the NY Times didn't appreciate its significance the first day either).
• He told me about some big event in Russia back in August, 1991.
• I tagged him back this past Wednesday, and told him about Hizbollah's military coup in Lebanon.
• He tagged me back on Friday, that Lebanon had fallen. Well, almost...but it's only a matter of hours to days before Lebanon is entirely under Hizbollah's control.
  

The Beirut Blogger calls Hizbollah, the "opposition" -- yet the combination of Amal and Hizbollah has taken over the Beirut airport, the media, burned down newspaper offices, and Lebanon is now in mayhem, with people fleeing in all directions.

The Lebanon Star reports from Beirut: Lebanon's governing coalition, the March 14 Forces, accused Hizbullah of staging a military coup against the state and said that Hizbullah's arms have become illegitimate after they were used against their fellow Lebanese citizens. "Hizbullah's claim that its arms were only targeted at Israel have proved false and invalid in the past two days, which witnessed the uses of such arms against the Lebanese people," the statement said.

Despite the dire warnings on the United States of America Embassy website in Beirut;

As stated in the current Travel Warning for Lebanon, the Department of State continues to strongly urge that Americans defer travel to Lebanon and that American citizens in Lebanon consider carefully the risks of remaining.

In a crisis situation, American citizens are responsible for arranging commercial or private means of transportation to depart Lebanon. American citizens wishing to depart Lebanon are urged to do so, keeping in mind that options are currently limited.

Major roads to Beirut International Airport remain blocked, and there is only limited airline service at present. Violent clashes in several areas in and around Beirut have been reported, and it is still not known when the airport road will re-open and normal air transport services will resume. The main road to Damascus remains blocked.

American citizens wanting to depart may wish to consider chartering private watercraft to Cyprus. Until such time as travel services out of Lebanon become available, the U.S. Embassy urges American citizens to ensure they have an adequate supply of food, water and other essential items and to remain safely inside their homes. Americans are encouraged to review their travel plans following resumption of normal air services.

the embassy website claims that it's still business as usual...sort of.

The U.S. Embassy remains open for business; however, Nonimmigrant Visa processing has been suspended except under special circumstances. American Citizen Services and Immigrant Visa processing are functioning normally. American citizens are urged to avoid the airport road and any other areas where demonstrators are gathered, and to monitor the local media for information regarding the security situation.

However, Israeli websites claim that the US has already started evacuating its personnel from the Beirut embassy.

Of course, nothing could be worse for Israel than the timing of Lebanon's take-over by Hizbollah, than the current (and latest) Olmert scandal -- which is paralyzing Israel from effectively preparing for the new reality. The only message the government could send out was far from reassuring...

The latest upheaval in Lebanon found its way to the government meeting Sunday, as Military Intelligence chief Major-General Amos Yadlin briefed the ministers on the ongoings across the northern border. Israel, said Yadlin, must be prepared for the power shift in Lebanon: "Hizbullah's use of weapons inside Beirut send a very different kind of message… We have to be pragmatic, but there is no need for hysteria."

Vice Premier Haim Ramon added that "we have to realize that Lebanon is a Hizbullah state. Everything happening there is their doing… The country is ruled by the Hizbullah and the reigning government is meaningless, its fiction."

Internal Security Minister Avi Dichter reiterated, "Hizbullah maintains its hold on Lebanon, without the responsibility of running matters of state. This creates a real difficulty for Israel, which can't work against the (emanating) regional terror."

"We are constantly briefed on the situation in Beirut, and since Israel may be affected by what is going on over there, we are somewhat concerned… Israel, however, cannot lead the international response (to the events), which is why we are still refraining from any official move." (YNET)

The bottom line is that Lebanon is now going the same route as Gaza (or vice-versa). Both will be ruled by Islamic fundamentalist groups that are proxies of anti-Israel fundamentalism. Both are dangerous to Israel's security. Both will be active battle fronts against Israel -- and will play off each other; escalation on one front will bring about escalation on the next, making it even more difficult for Israel to respond to the ongoing missile strikes from Gaza (or Katyusha attacks up north)

The Middle East has definitely just taken a new turn for the worse.

Wherever I am, my blog turns towards Eretz Yisrael טובה הארץ מאד מאד