You Read It Here First

[Annie]

http://www.danielpipes.org/article/2836

Lots of links

"Today Gaza, Tomorrow Jerusalem"
by Daniel Pipes
New York Sun
August 9, 2005

[NY Sun title: "Are Critics Of Israel Correct?"]

Are Israel's critics correct? Does the "occupation" of the West Bank and Gaza cause the Palestinian Arabs' anti-Semitism, their suicide factories, and their terrorism? And is it true these horrors will end only when Israeli civilians and troops leave the territories?

The answer is coming soon. Starting August 15, the Israeli government will evict about 8,000 Israelis from Gaza and turn their land over to the Palestinian Authority. In addition to being a unique event in modern history (no other democracy has forcibly uprooted thousands of its own citizens of one religion from their lawful homes), it also offers a rare, live, social-science experiment.

We stand at an interpretive divide. If Israel's critics are right, the Gaza withdrawal will improve Palestinian attitudes toward Israel, leading to an end of incitement and a steep drop in attempted violence, followed by a renewal of negotiations and a full settlement. Logic requires, after all, that if "occupation" is the problem, ending it, even partially, will lead to a solution.

But I forecast a very different outcome. Given that about 80% of Palestinian Arabs continue to reject Israel's very existence, signs of Israeli weakness, such as the forthcoming Gaza withdrawal, will instead inspire heightened Palestinian irredentism. Absorbing their new gift without gratitude, Palestinian Arabs will focus on those territories Israelis have not evacuated. (This is what happened after Israeli forces fled Lebanon.) The retreat will inspire not comity but a new rejectionist exhilaration, a greater frenzy of anti-Zionist anger, and a surge in anti-Israel violence.

Palestinian Arabs themselves are openly saying as much. A top Hamas figure in Gaza, Ahmed al-Bahar says "Israel has never been in such a state of retreat and weakness as it is today following more than four years of the intifada. Hamas's heroic attacks exposed the weakness and volatility of the impotent Zionist security establishment. The withdrawal marks the end of the Zionist dream and is a sign of the moral and psychological decline of the Jewish state. We believe that the resistance is the only way to pressure the Jews."

A Hamas spokesman, Sami Abu Zuhri says likewise that the withdrawal is "due to the Palestinian resistance operations. … and we will continue our resistance."

Others are more specific. At a mass rally in Gaza City last Thursday, about 10,000 Palestinian Arabs danced, sang, and chanted, "Today Gaza, tomorrow Jerusalem." The commander of Gaza's Popular Resistance Committees, Jamal Abu Samhadaneh announced Sunday, "We will move our cells to the West Bank" and warned "The withdrawal will not be complete without the West Bank and Jerusalem." The Palestinian Authority's Ahmed Qurei also asserts, "Our march will stop only in Jerusalem."

Palestinian Arab intentions worry even Israeli leftists. An Arab affairs specialist for Ha'aretz, Danny Rubinstein notes that Prime Minister Sharon decided to leave Gaza only after anti-Israel carnage there had escalated. "Even if these attacks were not the reason why Sharon came up with the idea of disengagement, the Palestinians are certain that that is the case, and this has reinforced their belief that Israel only understands the language of terror attacks and violence."

Israel National News has collected other leftist comments.

* A former justice minister and chairman of the Yahad/Meretz Party, Yossi Beilin: "There is a concrete danger that following the disengagement, the violence will greatly increase in the West Bank in order to achieve the same thing as was achieved in Gaza."
* A former Labor Party foreign minister, Shlomo Ben-Ami: "A unilateral retreat perpetuates Israel's image as a country that runs away under pressure ... In Fatah and Hamas, they will assume that they must prepare for their third intifada - this time in [the West Bank]."
* A former General Security Service chief, Ami Ayalon: "Retreat without getting anything in return is liable to be interpreted by some of the Palestinians as surrender. ... There is a high chance that shortly after the disengagement, the violence will be renewed."
* A former air force commander, Eitan Ben-Eliyahu: "There is no chance that the disengagement will guarantee long-term stability. The plan as it stands can only lead to a renewal of terrorism."

Events, I predict, will prove Israel's critics totally wrong but they will learn no lessons. Untroubled by facts, they will demand further Israeli withdrawals. Israel's one-car crash is dismally preparing the way for more disasters.

 

[manu1959]

i would advise the palestinians not to press the attack...if they are wise the will take their gift of gaza and hold pat....for if they choose to press i would guess that israle will wipe them from the face of the earth

 

[HorhayAtAMD]

Our local newspaper is doing a 3 part story on the pullout and basically the palestinians they spoke to don't trust Israel's motives for the pullout. Who knows, maybe Israel has ulterior motives but considering the Israelis have the power to do anything they want in the region anyway, it isn't exactly like Israel needs to "trick" anyone.

 

[Said1]

Here's a good map of the area. The blue triangles are Israeli settlements (in case the text is too small).

 

[rtwngAvngr]

This Daniel Pipes guy is an interesting character. I saw a documentary on Illumati, Templars, Knights of the ROsy Cross, Bilderbergers, CFR and all that. Daniel Pipes was "the authority" saying all these conspiracy theories are bogus.

 

[Annie]

This Daniel Pipes guy is an interesting character. I saw a documentary on Illumati, Templars, Knights of the ROsy Cross, Bilderbergers, CFR and all that. Daniel Pipes was "the authority" saying all these conspiracy theories are bogus.

http://www.danielpipes.org/bios/

Biographical articles about Daniel Pipes
Title Publication Date

Militant about "Islamism" Harvard Magazine January-February 2005
Pipes Objects to Fox in the Henhouse Insight Magazine March 19, 2004
Truth on Terror World Magazine October 11, 2003
Where's the Muslim Debate? Wall St. Journal May 22, 2003
Muslims for Pipes New York Sun April 21, 2003
Smearing Daniel Pipes New York Post April 21, 2003
Terror's Nemesis New York Post April 6, 2003
Daniel Pipes Visits Hamilton College Capitalism Magazine March 31, 2003
Pipes' London lecture surprisingly low key London Free Press March 25, 2003
Writer Daniel Pipes is a Lightning Rod in the Post-9/11 World Newhouse News Service March 14, 2003
Islam's battle with a hostile world Financial Times January 10, 2003
Pipes' Dreams Philadelphia City Paper July 18, 2002
Radical Islam vs. Academic Freedom: One Example FrontPageMagazine.com April 29, 2002
Islam Expert in Demand Boston Phoenix December 19, 2001
Islam expert suddenly in the spotlight Philadelphia Inquirer November 29, 2001
Yes Related No. 3: The Pipes, the Pipes Are Calling Slate.com November 28, 2001
Daniel Pipes: Prophet Lifestyles Magazine June 2000
A Contract for "The Ayatollah, the Novelist and the West" is Canceled New York Times July 19, 1989

* Information & Articles about President Bush's nomination
of Daniel Pipes to the U.S. Institute of Peace

Biographical Sketch of Daniel Pipes

* Downloadable PDF version

Daniel Pipes is director of the Middle East Forum and a prize-winning columnist for the New York Sun and The Jerusalem Post. His most recent book, Miniatures: Views of Islamic and Middle Eastern Politics appeared in late 2003. His website, DanielPipes.org, is the single most accessed source of specialized information on the Middle East and Islam. It offers an archive of his work and a chance to sign-up to receive by e-mail his new materials as they appear.

Mr. Pipes was one of the few analysts who understood the threat of militant Islam (“Unnoticed by most Westerners,” he wrote in 1995, “war has been unilaterally declared on Europe and the United States”). The Boston Globe states that “If Pipes's admonitions had been heeded, there might never have been a 9/11.” The Wall Street Journal has called him “an authoritative commentator on the Middle East.” MSNBC describes him as one of the best-known “Mideast policy luminaries.”

He received his A.B. (1971) and Ph.D. (1978) from Harvard University, both in history. He spent six years studying abroad, including three years in Egypt. Mr. Pipes speaks French, and reads Arabic and German. He has taught at the University of Chicago, Harvard Uni-versity, and the U.S. Naval War College. He has served in various capacities in the U.S. government, including two presidentially-appointed positions, vice chairman of the Fulbright Board of Foreign Scholarships and member of the board of the U.S. Institute of Peace. He was director of the Foreign Policy Research Institute in 1986-93.

Mr. Pipes frequently discusses current issues on television, appearing on such U.S. programs as ABC World News, CBS Reports, Crossfire, Good Morning America, NewsHour with Jim Lehrer, Nightline, O’Reilly Factor, and The Today Show. He has appeared on leading television networks around the globe, including the BBC and Al-Jazeera, and has lectured in twenty-five countries. He has consulted on Middle Eastern topics for prominent financial, manufacturing, and service companies; law firms, bar associations, trade groups; agencies of the U.S. government; and law courts in the United States and Canada.

Mr. Pipes has published in such magazines as the Atlantic Monthly, Commentary, Foreign Affairs, Harper's, National Review, New Republic, and The Weekly Standard. More than a hundred newspapers have carried his articles, including the Los Angeles Times, New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post. His writings have appeared on hundreds of websites and been translated into twenty-four languages.

Mr. Pipes has written twelve books.

Four deal with Islam: Militant Islam Reaches America (2002), The Rushdie Affair (Birch Lane, 1990), In the Path of God (Basic Books, 1983), and Slave Soldiers and Islam (Yale University Press, 1981).

Three books concern Syria: Syria Beyond the Peace Process (1996), Damascus Courts the West (Washington Institute, 1991), and Greater Syria (Oxford University Press, 1990).

Four deal with other Middle Eastern topics: The Hidden Hand (St. Martin's, 1996) analyses the way Arabs and Iranians see themselves and the outside world. An Arabist's Guide to Colloquial Egyptian (Foreign Service Institute, 1983) systematizes the grammar of Arabic as spoken in Egypt. The Long Shadow (Transaction, 1989) and Miniatures (2003) contain essays on varied Middle Eastern and Islamic topics.

Conspiracy (Free Press 1997) establishes the importance of conspiracy theories in modern European and American politics.

Mr. Pipes has edited two collections of essays, Sandstorm (UPA, 1993) and Friendly Tyrants (St. Martin's, 1991). He is the joint author of eleven books.

Mr. Pipes sits on five editorial boards, has testified before many congressional committees, and worked on four presidential campaigns. He is listed in Marquis’ Who's Who in the East, Who's Who in America and Who's Who in the World. Universities in the United States and Switzerland have conferred honorary degrees on him.

Mr. Pipes founded the Middle East Forum (www.meforum.org) in 1994. An independent 501(c)3 organization with an over-US$1 million budget, its mission is to “promote American interests” through publications, research, consulting, media outreach, and public education. The Forum publishes the Middle East Quarterly; it sponsors Campus Watch (www.campus-watch.org), a project to review, critique, and improve Middle East studies; and it sponsors events in four cities.

Updated December 2004

 

[rtwngAvngr]

Yep. illuminati all the way.

 

[Annie]

http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/nm/20050811/wl_nm/mideast_hamas_flags_dc

Hamas militants make flags to fly over settlements

By Nidal al-MughrabiThu Aug 11,10:24 AM ET

Palestinian workers on Thursday sewed thousands of Hamas flags that the Islamic militant faction plans to hoist over vacant Israeli settlements in occupied Gaza after their evacuation later this month.

The flourish of flags would fete the demise of settlements despised by Palestinians as symbols of Israeli occupation. But Hamas is also competing for post-pullout popularity and power with the mainstream Fatah party of President Mahmoud Abbas.

Flagmaker Haitham Abu Khaled said he and others would make at least 10,000 green Hamas banners for the settlement takeover. In July, another flagmaker said Abbas's Palestinian Authority had ordered up 60,000 national red-black-and-green banners.

"With the blood of our martyrs we kicked the enemies out," read one new Hamas banner in Abu Khaled's shop, alluding to a Palestinian revolt that raged from 2000 until a ceasefire this year that has been generally heeded by militant factions.

"Gaza is the start of liberation and it will not be the last departure of the occupation," said another banner in the shop, whose walls were adorned by posters of Hamas founder Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, assassinated by Israeli forces in 2004.

Palestinians want Israel to withdraw as well from the much larger West Bank to fulfil their quest for a viable state.

Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon intends to scrap all 21 settlements in Gaza and four in the northern West Bank. But he says Israel will keep forever sprawling West Bank settlement blocs with more than 200,000 people.

Abbas wants to negotiate for a state in the West Bank and Gaza at peace talks with Israel, whereas Hamas is sworn to destroying the Jewish state.

Palestinian Authority police launched a campaign last month to remove opposition militant factions' banners from the streets to leave only the national flag on view.

But Hamas flags could make a big comeback if the activity in Abu Khaled's workshop is any indication, raising the Islamists' profile for their first parliamentary election campaign.

Abbas has slated a parliamentary vote for January and Fatah, tarnished by corruption, faces a stiff challenge from Hamas.

"We will use the flags in marches of victory through the settlements," said Abu Khaled.

The Palestinian Authority says it will allow Palestinians to celebrate inside areas to be vacated by Israel but vows to prevent property seizures by armed factions who dominate the streets in many areas of Gaza.

Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri said it would take part in official Authority celebrations, if invited, but would also hold its own, although "without any chaos."

A narrow majority of Israelis favor what would be Israel's first dismantling of settlements on land Palestinians want for a state. Rightist Jews condemn the plan as "capitulation" to Palestinian militant violence.

 

[dilloduck]

"With the blood of our martyrs we kicked the enemies out," read one new Hamas banner in Abu Khaled's shop, alluding to a Palestinian revolt that raged from 2000 until a ceasefire this year that has been generally heeded by militant factions

This is similar to what I expect to hear when or if American troops leave Iraq.