“Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: may they prosper who love you.”
Psalm 122: 6
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Lee Smith—In Iran, It’s the Guys With the Guns Who Call the Shots:
Michael Rubin, a resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute and senior lecturer at the Naval Postgraduate School, has just published a very timely book— especially for anyone interested in the likely success of the Obama administration’s diplomatic engagement with Iran. Dancing with the Devil: The Perils of Engaging Rogue Regimes is a historical survey of American engagement that makes a powerful counterargument to the State Department’s mantra that “it never hurts to talk to enemies.” As often as not, as Rubin shows, this piece of conventional wisdom is dead wrong. Recently I spoke with the former Pentagon official about his new book.
Are there any hopes for engaging the rogue regime in Tehran?
Yes. Twice, Ayatollah Khomeini did an about-face on policy: First, with regard to what it would take to release American hostages, and the second was with regard to ending the Iran-Iraq War. While former Carter aides said it was the triumph of diplomacy that led to the hostages’ release, this is nonsense. It was Saddam Hussein’s invasion of Iran that raised the cost of Iranian isolation to be too great to bear.
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Efraim Karsh: The Palestinians’ Real Enemies— For most of the twentieth century, inter-Arab politics were dominated by the doctrine of pan-Arabism, postulating the existence of “a single nation bound by the common ties of language, religion and history. … behind the facade of a multiplicity of sovereign states”; and no single issue dominated this doctrine more than the “Palestine question” with anti-Zionism forming the main common denominator of pan-Arab solidarity and its most effective rallying cry. But the actual policies of the Arab states have shown far less concern for pan-Arab ideals, let alone for the well-being of the Palestinians, than for their own self-serving interests. Indeed, nothing has done more to expose the hollowness of pan-Arabism than its most celebrated cause.
Richard Schifter: Origin of the Palestinian Claim of a “Right of Return”— Reports emanating from the current Israeli-Palestinian peace negotiations reveal that the Palestinian side continues to demand recognition of “a right of return,” under which about 5 million Palestinians now living outside Israel would migrate to areas within Israel. Acceptance of this demand would result in the liquidation of Israel as a majority Jewish state and is, of course, unacceptable to the Israelis. It has been reported that it is also not acceptable to the United States. Given the special significance of this demand, it is appropriate to examine its history. Following the end of World War II, approximately 12 million Germans fled or were expelled from the former German areas of Prussia, Silesia, and Pomerania, as well as from the Sudeten area of Czechoslovakia, and from Transylvania in present-day Romania. We might note that such Jewish family names as Koenigsberger, Breslauer, Danziger and Posner trace back to the Jewish communities of cities now known as Kaliningrad, Wroclaw, Gdansk, and Poznan.
Minister of Foreign Affairs Avigdor Lieberman: The meaning of the Jewish state and its importance— Decades before the founding of the state in 1948, the international community recognized the Land of Israel as the homeland of the Jewish nation. Palestinian representatives for their part have refused to recognize Israel as the Jewish state. This is not only a matter of semantics; it is, rather, an essential issue of peace making. The core of the conflict remains the Palestinian refusal to accept the existence of Israel as the nation state of the Jewish people. The Jewish people have always constituted a nation, a people and a civilization, even throughout prolonged separation from their land. Millennia before the emergence of the ‘Westphalian system’, the Jewish people had established an independent polity in the Land of Israel. Both historically and from the perspective of modern Zionism, Jewish identity has been forged by a sense of peoplehood linked by a shared destiny, a land, a religion, a culture and a language.
Soeren Kern: Britain: Islamists Create Climate of Fear to Curb Free Speech— Muslim fundamentalists in London have threatened to behead a fellow British Muslim after he posted an innocuous image of Mohammed and Jesus on his Twitter account. The death threats against Maajid Nawaz, a Liberal Democrat Party candidate for British Parliament, add to a growing number of cases in which Islamists are using intimidation tactics to restrict the free speech rights of fellow Muslims in Europe. (Efforts to silence non-Muslims are well documented.)
Steven Emerson: IPT Exclusive: An Al Jazeera Anchor’s Bloody Call— A prominent Al Jazeera anchor with close ties to the Muslim Brotherhood issued a statement praising the murders of police officers and advocating attacks on journalists who stand with Egypt’s current government. Ahmed Mansour’s statement was reported Saturday on the Brotherhood’s own web site, Ikhwan Online. It blamed police and journalists for supporting last summer’s military intervention which ousted President Mohamed Morsi – the Muslim Brotherhood’s candidate – from office just one year into his term.
Jim Fletcher: The Power of Positive Thinking— For Christians who want to support Israel, a growing trend is to emphasize the “positive.” After decades of hearing about wars, terrorism, security issues, problematic peace processes and more, some feel the time has come to enhance pro Israel activism with stories of good that come from the Jewish state. Israel has plenty of problems, most not of her own making, but a startling-though-largely unknown story is that with both hands and legs tied behind her back, the Jewish state is achieving stunning success in the fields of science and high-tech.
Ruthie Blum: Frameworks for disaster— Watching time run out at a dangerous pace, U.S. President Barack Obama has decided to take a more hands-on role in foreign policy. The impending peril he fears is not an Iranian atom bomb, however. No, in spite of the Islamic Republic’s refusal to halt its nuclear program, Obama is as hopeful about the latest round of talks in Vienna as is European Union negotiator Catherine Ashton. “We had three very productive days during which we have identified all the issues we need to address to reach a comprehensive and final agreement,” Ashton said last week.
Ant Katz: The face of a passionate Christian Zionist— Earlier this month a ‘Solidarity Conference in support of the people of Palestine, Cuba and Western Sahara’ took place under the auspices of the Parliamentary International Relations and Cooperation Portfolio Committee. “Regrettably,” wrote Board and Fed chairs in a joint statement to the community, “this proved to be little more than a stage managed show trial, one in which Israel was as usual tried, condemned and sentenced in absentia.”
Rafael Medoff: How a Principled Hollywood Screenwriter Defied an Anti-Israel Boycott—In autumn 1948, the British declared a boycott of Ben Hecht, the highest-paid screenwriter in Hollywood, for his fiery newspaper ads denouncing England’s Palestine policy. Hecht’s career included 65 film scripts (including “Gone With the Wind”), 25 books, 20 plays, and hundreds of short stories and magazine articles. “The German mass murder of the Jews…brought my Jewishness to the surface,” Hecht later recalled. After the U.S. entered the war, he forged an alliance with the maverick Jewish activists known as the Bergson Group. Employing tactics that are commonplace today but seemed shocking back then, the Bergsonites used rallies, newspaper ads, and Capitol Hill lobbying to plead for the rescue of Jewish refugees from the Nazis. Hecht authored memorable newspaper ads with headlines such as “Time Races Death-What Are We Waiting For?” and “Help Prevent 4,000,000 People from Becoming Ghosts.”
Joyce Karam: Israel’s Game Plan with Hizbullah and Syria—For 29 years, Israel did not once directly strike Syria outside the Arab-Israeli war of 1973. Now Israel has launched more than five strikes in the last two years, and one on the Lebanese border this week targeting a Hizbullah weapons transfer. According to Jeffrey White, a defense fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, “part of the policy and the red line they (Israel) have established is they will not allow Hizbullah to acquire sophisticated weapons from Syria or from Iran through Syria.”
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Ukrainian crisis overshadows Iran, Palestinian talks as Netanyahu heads to DC
US unlikely to unveil peace framework during Netanyahu-Obama meeting next week
West voices alarm on Crimea, calls on Russia to respect Ukraine sovereignty
Russian lawmakers okay invasion, Ukraine readies for combat
Rouhani: Iran draws ‘red line’ at developing nuclear weapons
Poll: Lapid least popular minister, Ya’alon most popular
Herzog to Kerry: Likud hawks, Bayit Yehudi don’t represent Israel
IDF inspecting remains of two Syrian rockets that exploded on Mount Hermon
Diplomacy: Fish-or-cut-bait time in the diplomatic process
In One West Bank Palestinian Village, Economics Trumps Conflict with Israel
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Ukrainian Military on High Alert Against Russian Invasion
Religious Zionist Leader ‘Shocked and Outraged’ by Hareidi Rally
‘Do Not Bow to US Pressure’ for Framework Agreement
Hundreds of Palestinian Arabs Riot Against IDF
Russia OKs Military Force in Ukraine
International Community Pledges $220 Million to PA
Armed Men Take Over Airport in Ukraine’s Crimea
83% of American Jews Support ‘Gay Marriage’
Uproar over US Official’s Tweets on Daniel Pearl
Michael Oren, What Happens if We Can’t Make Peace?
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Russian troops deploy in Crimea as Obama warns Kremlin
White House: Obama Won’t Pressure Sides over Framework Deal
Gaza official: Palestinian woman killed on Israeli border
IAF strikes rocket launcher in northern Gaza
IDF finds remains of 2 rockets fired into Golan Heights
Exiled Palestinian leader builds comeback that could position him as Abbas’ successor
Cyprus water plan: peace pipeline or Trojan Horse?
Syrian extremists live-tweet chopping man’s hand off in punishment
The sorry saga of the American farmers of Jaffa
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Russian parliament approves use of troops in Crimea
Thousands protest against new govt in eastern Ukraine, raise Russian flags
Kerry Opens Door to Extended Talks for Israeli-Palestinian Deal
Palestinians Reject U.S. Push for Peace Talks Beyond April
Iran on Nuclear Negotiations: “We Will Not Close Any Program”
Iran Still Among World’s Worst Human Rights Abusers, U.S. Says
Syrian Kurds Are Working on a Constitution
Amnesty International Report Ignores Palestinian Violence
UN nuclear agency shelved sensitive Iran report, sources say
US Ambassador Warns China, Japan Against Provocations
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Zechariah 9: 9-10
Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout in triumph, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your king is coming to you; He is just and endowed with salvation, humble, and mounted on a donkey, even on a colt, the foal of a donkey. I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim and the horse from Jerusalem; and the bow of war will be cut off. And He will speak peace to the nations; and His dominion will be from sea to sea, and from the River to the ends of the earth.
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His Name is Yahweh explains why the Name of God, Yahweh, is so important. It’s available in eBook format and in paperback. It’s also available for free in PDF format.
- God also said to Moses, “Say to the Israelites, ‘Yahweh, the God of your fathers—the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob—has sent me to you.’ This [Yahweh] is my name forever, the name by which I am to be remembered from generation to generation.” (Exodus 3: 15)
- “Therefore behold, I am going to make them know—this time I will make them know My power and My might; and they shall know that My name is Yahweh.” (Jeremiah 16: 21)
- “Behold, the days are coming,” declares Yahweh, “when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch; and He will reign as king and act wisely and do justice and righteousness in the land. In His days Judah will be saved, and Israel will dwell securely; and this is His name by which He will be called, ‘Yahweh our righteousness.’” (Jeremiah 23: 5-6)
- Yeshua said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was born, I am.” (John 8: 58)
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Hamas is No Peace Partner for Israel
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Blessings in the Book of Revelation is a book that you need to read, especially now. There are blessings throughout the Scriptures but Revelation is the only book in the Bible actually containing a specific blessing for reading it. It’s repeated twice, once at the beginning and again at the end. This is the reason that I believe Revelation should be the first step toward studying biblical prophecy. Though not easy to do, Revelation can be broken down and understood by anyone, not just the academic elite. So, Revelation’s blessings are for everyone. Click here to order the eBook. Click here to order the paperback.
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Other Books by Neil Snyder
- Stand! is a suspense novel that exposes the lies, corruption, and greed underlying the theory that man-made CO2 emissions are responsible for global warming. Professor Wes Carlyle and Karen Sterling, his research collaborator, carefully scan the audience for their would-be attacker—a member of the enviro-gestapo who has been following them for days. Wes spots his man in the back of the room leaning against the wall. Suddenly, another man in the audience steps forward and moves toward Karen at a menacing pace. With a vicious stroke, he swings a billy club at her head. Click here to order the eBook. Click here to order the paperback.
- What Will You Do with the Rest of Your Life? deals with a question that every Christian has to consider: what should I do with my life? Click here to order the eBook. Click here to order the paperback.
- Falsely Accused is a true story about a young woman who was accused of committing a double homicide. It’s about a travesty of justice, and it reveals Yahweh intervening in the life of a believer to rescue her from danger in the face of seemingly insurmountable odds. Everyone will enjoy the book, but young people in particular need to read it because the mistakes made that led to the problem could have been avoided. They were the kinds of mistakes that young people are prone to make. As they say, forewarned is forearmed. Click here to order the eBook. Click here to order the paperback.
