http://www.discoverthenetwork.org/ Date: 5/20/2011 9:45:54 AM
AL-MAGHRIB INSTITUTE (AMI)
318 John R Road
Suite 346
Troy, MI
48083
Phone :1-888-256-2447
Email :info@almaghrib.org
URL :http://www.almaghrib.org/home.php
College-level religious education program through which students can obtain a bachelor's degree in Islamic Studies
Course curriculum is characterized by extremism, anti-Semitism, Holocaust denial, and the preaching of militaristic jihad
All six of Al-Maghrib’s instructors hold degrees from Saudi institutions controlled by Wahhabi extremism
The Michigan-based Al-Maghrib Institute is a college-level religious education program whose mission is to help its students “gain a deeper understanding of Islam”; to “build sincere, dedicated and brilliant students … who will go on to become leaders, bringing their communities to new heights”; and to “make people better Muslims and bring people closer to Allah.” The Institute seeks to achieve these objectives by offering “trademark double-weekend [six-day] university-style seminars carrying students toward a bachelor's degree in the Islamic Studies.”
Al-Maghrib's classes are given at mosques in at least thirteen North American cities: College Park, Maryland; Fairfax, Virginia; Houston, Texas; New Brunswick, New Jersey; San Francisco Bay area, California; Seattle, Washington; Memphis, Tennessee; Sacramento, California; Detroit, Michigan; Chicago, Illinois; Ottawa, Canada; Montreal, Canada; and Toronto, Canada. Al-Maghrib also ran onsite seminars in Columbus, Ohio during 2006.
Characterized by Wahhabi-influenced extremism, rabid anti-Semitism, Holocaust denials, and the preaching of militaristic jihad, Al-Maghrib’s courses are accredited by American Open University (AOU), which in turn is accredited by Al-Azhar University in Cairo -- the headquarters of the Muslim Brotherhood, the oldest and largest radical Islamic organization in the world.
A review of the course summary for Al-Maghrib’s Islamic Studies degree program shows that the required reading list is dominated by the works of Muslim Brotherhood and Wahhabi theologians and theorists. In particular, the program requires students to read Sayyid Qutb’s In the Shade of the Quran. Qutb, the Muslim Brotherhood thinker who was executed by Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser in the 1960s, was influential in justifying terrorism and jihad, and in laying down the theoretical principles upon which al Qaeda was built.
Another Muslim Brotherhood theorist prominent in the Al-Maghrib curriculum is Sayyid Sabiq, who wrote his book Fiqh-us-Sunnah at the request of Muslim Brotherhood founder Hasan al-Banna. The two volumes of Sabiq’s work are the only texts for Al-Maghrib's “Fiqh of Worship” course.
The Al-Maghrib reading list also features the works of Bilal Phillips, who in January 2007 gained notoriety as one of the radical preachers secretly videotaped for the Undercover Mosque investigative program aired on Britain’s Channel Four. In that program, Phillips was shown lecturing in favor of forced Islamic marriages for prepubescent girls.
The justification of jihad and a call for Islamic dominance are promoted in the Al-Maghrib course titled "Islam Invulnerable: The Making of the Modern Muslim World." Tracing the rise of Islam as a global force from the initial Islamic invasions and occupations of the Near East, North Africa and the Iberian Peninsula, this class glories in the triumphs of the Ottoman, Safavid, Qajar and Mughal Empires. The Crusades are denounced, as are European “imperialist” and “colonialist” efforts in recent centuries, while Islamic conquests undergo “narrative reinterpretation” to explain how they differ from Western exploits. Moreover, the present-day Arab-Israeli conflict is blamed entirely on the "Zionists."
Other Al-Maghrib’s courses rely on commentaries by 13th Century theologian Ibn Taymiyyah and Wahhabi sect founder Muhammad ibn Abd-al-Wahhab.
All six of Al-Maghrib’s instructors hold degrees from Saudi institutions controlled by Wahhabi extremism:
Muhammad Alshareef, the founder of Al-Maghrib Institute and a Canadian citizen, graduated from the Islamic University of Medina in 1999 with a degree in Shari’a (Islamic Law). The University of Medina was founded in 1961 by the ruling Saud family specifically for the propagation of Wahhabism worldwide. In an article titled "Why the Jews are Cursed," Alshareef charged that the international media are owned and controlled by Jews, and thus are biased against Muslims; that Jews were guilty of making blasphemous statements and murdering the Prophets; and that Muslims should never marry, befriend, or imitate Jews or Christians under any circumstances. Alshareef’s father was an associate of Ahmed Said Khadr, a leading al Qaeda financier, the top al Qaeda agent in Canada, and a close personal associate of Osama bin Laden.
Yaser Birjas, a Palestinian, graduated from the Islamic University of Medina as the 1996 class valedictorian. According to an announcement issued by the Al-Maghrib Institute, Birjas was arrested and detained by U.S. authorities in 2005 due to problems with his immigration visa.
AbdulBary Yahya obtained his degree from the Islamic University of Medina. In March 2006 it was reported that Yahya was scheduled to speak at an event (sponsored by the University of Central Florida’s Muslim Student Association) with Ibrahim Dremali, a Florida-based Imam who advocates suicide bombings. Yahya and Dremali had previously shared a podium at the 2005 Texas Dawah Convention, which also featured Siraj Wahhaj, an unindicted co-conspirator in the 1993 World Trade Center bombing.
Yasir Qadhi, who graduated from the Islamic University of Medina, draws from the anti-Semitic fogery, Protocols of the Elders of Zion, to explain that Jews are not racially Semitic and therefore have no right to make a claim on the Holy Land. A Holocaust denier, Qadhi has stated: “Hitler never intended to mass-destroy the Jews.” In August 2006 Qadhi revealed that he was on the U.S. Department of Homeland Security's terrorist watch list.
Mohammed Faqih obtained his bachelor's degree from the Institute of Islamic and Arabic Sciences in Fairfax, Virginia, and then earned a degree in Koran Recitation and Memorization from the King Abdulaziz University in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. This latter school was Osama bin Laden’s alma mater and a haven for Muslim Brotherhood teachers who fled persecution from President Nasser’s regime in Egypt during the 1950s and 1960s. Sayyid Qutb’s brother, Mohammed, was a longtime instructor in the Jeddah university and was one of bin Laden’s primary mentors.
Waleed Basyouni attended the Al-Imam Muhammad ibn Saud Islamic University in the Saudi capital of Riyadh, where he studied under the Wahhabite ideologist Sheikh Abdelaziz bin Baz and obtained both a bachelor's degree and a master's degree.
Apart from their teaching duties, Al-Maghrib instructors appear regularly on a number of Islamic satellite television networks, and are in high demand as motivational speakers at Muslim organization events all over the world. The Institute is also active amongst the 150-plus campus chapters of the Muslim Students’ Association of the U.S. and Canada, located at universities all over North America.
In addition to the courses it offers, the Institute sponsors the EmanRush Audio website, which sells Al-Maghrib audio and video course lectures, and the Khutbah.com website, which provides the texts of sermons and articles delivered by Al-Maghrib instructors and staff.
In February 2006, Al-Maghrib's media arm, Ilmquest Productions (which not only publishes and markets DVDs and CDs of Al-Maghrib “scholars,” but also the works of numerous other extremist speakers, including Bilal Philips, Khalid Yasin, and Yemeni al-Qaeda cleric Anwar Al-Aulaqi) co-sponsored a “Leaders of Tomorrow” conference held by the Muslim Students Association of Ohio State University. Fellow co-sponsors included: (a) Kindhearts (an organization that was raided immediately thereafter by federal law enforcement and was closed by order of the Treasury Department for financing terrorism); and (b) Kindhearts' local parent organization, Masjid Omar Ibn El-Khattab, the mosque (near the OSU campus) which was home to the largest known al-Qaeda cell in the U.S. since 9/11, with two former members -- Iyman Faris and Nuradin Abdi -- already convicted and serving prison terms for their participation, and another cell member -- Christopher Paul -- awaiting trial at the time.
Most of this profile is adapted from the article "Jihad U," written by Patrick Poole and published by FrontPageMagazine.com on February 14, 2007.
Winter Field Day, Summer Field Day, "Summits On The Air" with W7MRC, Amateur Radio, Rhodesian Ridgebacks, Field Craft, Living in Montana, Old 4 Wheel Drives, Old Tube Radios, Hiking and "Just Getting Out There"
Friday, May 20, 2011
Religious Left
From Robespierre to Stalin (himself a former seminarist), leftists have traditionally been opposed to all religion, viewing it as a threat to their own revolutionary schemes. But in recent decades -- in fulfillment of the Marxist theorist Antonio Gramsci’s prediction that communism would gradually make its "long march through the institutions" of culture -- leftists have entered the religious arena and made churches throughout the developed world into captives of radical politics.
One early warning of this evolving movement came in the late 1960s with the appearance of liberation theology, a movement founded on the belief that God makes Himself known particularly through the poor, and that the Bible can be fully understood only when interpreted from the perspective of the impoverished. Centered in Latin America and especially influential within Roman Catholicism, liberation theology advocated political activism, even including revolutionary activity, as a means of applying the tenets of Christian faith.
When socialism and communism had presented themselves candidly as essentially godless doctrines aiming to seize a secular version of the power enjoyed by religion, they enjoyed only limited appeal among a traditionally religious population. But now, reframed by liberation theologians, socialist theory had a new power in church going populations because of its vision of transforming socioeconomic structures -- generally meaning capitalism -- that caused social inequities around the world.
Since the 1960s, the religious left has expanded its reach to embrace the tenets of leftist doctrine in a host of spheres, including: radical environmentalism (depicting capitalism and industry as inherently destructive to the natural world); feminism (supporting "pay equity" and, in some cases, universal access to taxpayer-funded abortion-on-demand); gay rights (supporting a radical redefinition of marriage and family); anti-war movements (viewing the United States as the chief cause of international strife); open borders (supporting amnesty and expanded rights for illegal immigrants); human rights (classifying the United States and Israel as the world’s foremost transgressors); civil rights (characterizing the U.S. as an irredeemably racist nation where preferential policies are needed to counterbalance this intractable trait); criminal justice (viewing crime as a by-product of corrupt social institutions like capitalism); and economics (again, depicting capitalism as an exploitative system that harms the vast majority of the world’s population for the benefit of a small, powerful elite).
Many Christian churches seek to justify the foregoing views by asserting that Jesus Christ himself, were he alive today, would have adopted these same positions. Thus religious leftists propose to combine the teachings of Jesus with the teachings of Marx as a way of justifying a socialist revolution designed to overthrow the economics of capitalism and greed. They re-render the gospels not as doctrine impacting on the human soul but rather as windows into the historical dialectic of class struggle.
In the religious left’s ideal, the Marxist State serves as a substitute for Christ, offering a theory of sin (private property) and salvation (collective ownership); a church that dispenses grace (the State, as administered by the vanguard of the proletariat); and a litany of saints (socialists) and sinners (capitalists). And the eagerly anticipated Marxist “revolution” takes the form of wealth redistribution rather than violent looting.
This section of DiscoverTheNetworks examines the worldviews and activities of organizations that seek to advance the doctrines of the religious left. The RESOURCES column on the right side of this page contains a link to the section where profiles of these groups can be found. It also contains links to articles, essays, books, and videos that explore, in depth, the following:
liberation theology, which holds that the church must stand on the side of the impoverished and the downtrodden, and that it must, if necessary, support the overthrow of social systems -- especially capitalism -- that contribute to their oppression;
the religious left's affinity for socialist and Marxist doctrines;
the anti-Americanism that is a hallmark of the religious left;
the anti-Israel and anti-Semitic worldviews that are commonplace among the religious left;
the religious left's embrace of radical environmentalism, which views capitalism and industry as inherently destructive to the natural world;
the religious left's support for open borders, unregulated immigration, and amnesty for illegal aliens residing in the United States; and
the religious left's steadfast belief that pacifism is the only morally acceptable way of dealing with aggressors around the world.
One early warning of this evolving movement came in the late 1960s with the appearance of liberation theology, a movement founded on the belief that God makes Himself known particularly through the poor, and that the Bible can be fully understood only when interpreted from the perspective of the impoverished. Centered in Latin America and especially influential within Roman Catholicism, liberation theology advocated political activism, even including revolutionary activity, as a means of applying the tenets of Christian faith.
When socialism and communism had presented themselves candidly as essentially godless doctrines aiming to seize a secular version of the power enjoyed by religion, they enjoyed only limited appeal among a traditionally religious population. But now, reframed by liberation theologians, socialist theory had a new power in church going populations because of its vision of transforming socioeconomic structures -- generally meaning capitalism -- that caused social inequities around the world.
Since the 1960s, the religious left has expanded its reach to embrace the tenets of leftist doctrine in a host of spheres, including: radical environmentalism (depicting capitalism and industry as inherently destructive to the natural world); feminism (supporting "pay equity" and, in some cases, universal access to taxpayer-funded abortion-on-demand); gay rights (supporting a radical redefinition of marriage and family); anti-war movements (viewing the United States as the chief cause of international strife); open borders (supporting amnesty and expanded rights for illegal immigrants); human rights (classifying the United States and Israel as the world’s foremost transgressors); civil rights (characterizing the U.S. as an irredeemably racist nation where preferential policies are needed to counterbalance this intractable trait); criminal justice (viewing crime as a by-product of corrupt social institutions like capitalism); and economics (again, depicting capitalism as an exploitative system that harms the vast majority of the world’s population for the benefit of a small, powerful elite).
Many Christian churches seek to justify the foregoing views by asserting that Jesus Christ himself, were he alive today, would have adopted these same positions. Thus religious leftists propose to combine the teachings of Jesus with the teachings of Marx as a way of justifying a socialist revolution designed to overthrow the economics of capitalism and greed. They re-render the gospels not as doctrine impacting on the human soul but rather as windows into the historical dialectic of class struggle.
In the religious left’s ideal, the Marxist State serves as a substitute for Christ, offering a theory of sin (private property) and salvation (collective ownership); a church that dispenses grace (the State, as administered by the vanguard of the proletariat); and a litany of saints (socialists) and sinners (capitalists). And the eagerly anticipated Marxist “revolution” takes the form of wealth redistribution rather than violent looting.
This section of DiscoverTheNetworks examines the worldviews and activities of organizations that seek to advance the doctrines of the religious left. The RESOURCES column on the right side of this page contains a link to the section where profiles of these groups can be found. It also contains links to articles, essays, books, and videos that explore, in depth, the following:
liberation theology, which holds that the church must stand on the side of the impoverished and the downtrodden, and that it must, if necessary, support the overthrow of social systems -- especially capitalism -- that contribute to their oppression;
the religious left's affinity for socialist and Marxist doctrines;
the anti-Americanism that is a hallmark of the religious left;
the anti-Israel and anti-Semitic worldviews that are commonplace among the religious left;
the religious left's embrace of radical environmentalism, which views capitalism and industry as inherently destructive to the natural world;
the religious left's support for open borders, unregulated immigration, and amnesty for illegal aliens residing in the United States; and
the religious left's steadfast belief that pacifism is the only morally acceptable way of dealing with aggressors around the world.
AMERICAN FEDERATION OF LABOR - CONGRESS OF INDUSTRIAL ORGANIZATIONS (AFL-CIO)
http://www.discoverthenetwork.org/ Date: 5/20/2011 9:33:02 AM
AMERICAN FEDERATION OF LABOR - CONGRESS OF INDUSTRIAL ORGANIZATIONS (AFL-CIO)
815 16th St., N.W.
Washington, D.C.
20006
URL :http://www.aflcio.org/
America's largest labor federation
John Sweeney’s leadership from 1995 to 2009 was instrumental in transforming unionism into a progressive cause.
Gives tens of millions of dollars to Democratic lawmakers and politicians who promote government expansion and higher taxes
Is the main proponent of the Employee Free Choice Act, which would outlaw secret ballots in the process whereby workers decide whether or not to unionize
Supports government-run, universal health care and the open-borders movement
See also: John Sweeney Richard Trumka
The American Federation of Labor - Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO) is the largest labor federation in America, consisting of 57 autonomous and international unions. It was formed in 1955 when the American Federation of Labor (AFL) combined with the Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO). At the time of the merger, membership totaled 15,913,077. By 2010, the AFL-CIO represented 11.5 million members, a decline of some 4.4 million since 1955.
From 1955 to 1995, the AFL-CIO struggled for labor unity not only domestically, but globally. When George Meany (1894-1980) became president of the American Federation of Labor in 1952, he inherited a profoundly divided labor movement. He worked immediately for labor unification and, when the AFL and the CIO merged in 1955, he was unanimously nominated president, a position he held until 1979.
Meany’s 25-year tenure underscores the centrist liberalism of the labor movement during that time. Meany was a strong voice for human and civil rights, in America and around the world, speaking out against colonial exploitation of the developing world, supporting the state of Israel, fighting for the freedom of the states of Central Europe, advocating for Soviet Jews and supporting the fights against South African apartheid and against the military dictatorships in Spain and Chile. The federation was also a bastion of anti-communism during the Vietnam era. Meany invited Alexandr Solzhenitsyn to speak at AFL-CIO meetings and brought awareness of Soviet human-rights abuses to U.S. audiences.
Lane Kirkland succeeded Meany as president of the AFL-CIO from 1979 to 1995, continuing his predecessor's work for labor unity as well as his anti-totalitarianism. Kirkland supported America’s involvement in Vietnam and was instrumental in the AFL-CIO's refusal to endorse the anti-war candidacy of Democratic Senator George McGovern in 1972. During his tenure as president, Kirkland also used his power to funnel more than $6 million in aid to Polish workers. This aid, which consisted chiefly of cash and communications equipment, was considered instrumental in Solidarity's successful effort to end 50 years of Communist Party rule in Poland. President Bill Clinton awarded Kirkland the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1994.
After Lane Kirkland’s retirement in 1995, John Sweeney became president of the AFL-CIO and was able to repeal an AFL-CIO rule prohibiting Communists from being leaders of its member unions. Abandoning the blue-collar industrial unionism of the past, Sweeney, a member of Democratic Socialists of America, was instrumental in remaking labor into a progressive movement led by people such as the following:
Linda Chavez-Thompson was executive vice president of the AFL-CIO from 1995 to 2007. She is also vice chairwoman of the Democratic National Committee, which controls the Democratic Party.
Steve Rosenthal worked in the Clinton administration and, in 1995, became AFL-CIO’s political director. On August 8, 2003, Rosenthal and feminist activist Ellen Malcolm founded America Coming Together (ACT), the most powerful of the organizations forming the core of George Soros’s Shadow Party.
Former New Leftist Andrew Stern worked began working for the AFL-CIO in 1973 but later led the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) out of the AFL-CIO and became SEIU president.
Bill Fletcher Jr., former education director for the AFL-CIO and assistant to President Sweeney, is also a leftwing activist. He founded the Black Radical Congress and authored the book Solidarity Divided.
Richard Trumka, former secretary-treasurer of the AFL-CIO, became president of the federation in 2009. That same year, President Barack Obama named Trumka to his Economic Recovery Advisory Board.
In 1997 the AFL-CIO was one of more than 100 organizations that co-sponsored and launched the “Progressive Challenge,” in an effort to unite their activities and talking points under a “multi-issue progressive agenda.” To view a list of many of these co-sponsors, which worked closely with the Congressional Progressive Caucus, click here.
In February 2000, the AFL-CIO reversed what had been its longstanding opposition to illegal immigration. Now the union federation advocated amnesty for millions of illegals already residing in the United States. The chief lobbyist most responsible for persuading the AFL-CIO to change its policy was Eliseo Medina, the international executive vice president of the SEIU.
Under John Sweeney’s leadership, the AFL-CIO and its affiliated unions donated large sums of money to Democratic candidates. Overall, it is estimated that $800 million in union dues was spent on political campaigns during the 2000 election cycle alone; of that total, 90 to 95 percent was given to left-wing candidates.
During the Bush administration, the AFL-CIO charged that the right of American workers to form unions was under attack. Thus in the 2004 election cycle, the federation allocated $44 million to its (unsuccessful) effort to defeat President Bush's re-election bid.
As of December 2008, the AFL-CIO was a “partner” of the Democracy Alliance, along with such notable individuals and organizations as Patricia Bauman, Rob Glaser, Norman Lear, Peter Lewis, Rob McKay, Drummond Pike, Simon Rosenberg, Herb and Marion Sandler, George Soros, Rob Stein, the AFL-CIO, and the Service Employees International Union.
With the power of unions greatly in decline and an American public warier of unions than ever before, the AFL-CIO has sought in recent times to renew the influence of unions by expanding their membership numbers. In the 2008 campaign cycle, for example, the federation donated $53 million to Democratic candidates, particularly seeking support for the Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA), which (despite the name) sought to ban secret ballots for any workers considering joining a union. AFL-CIO president Richard Trumka called the EFCA an “important part of the economic recovery program,” and he used his clout in the Obama administration to drum up support for this cause.
In March 2009, President Obama promised a group of union leaders that the controversial EFCA would become law. To gain further political momentum and support for EFCA, the AFL-CIO pledged to spend even more money in the 2010 midterm elections than the $53 million it had spent in 2008, focusing particularly on “six states, California, New York, Illinois, Nevada, Ohio, and Pennsylvania, […] especially around Senate candidates like Harry Reid (D-Nev.) and Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.).”
The AFL-CIO’s campaign for EFCA also targeted Democrats who “do not support labor.” As Gerald McEntee, then AFL-CIO chair of the Executive Council’s Political Education Committee, told the press: “If you are not with us, then you are against us.” One of the first Democratic politicians to come under attack was Senator Blanche Lincoln of Arkansas. When she spoke against the EFCA's “card check provision,” the AFL-CIO threatened to fight her and pledged $3 million to the opposing candidate for the May 2010 Democratic primary.
The AFL-CIO has also taken a firm stand in favor of comprehensive universal health care, which it views as a "basic human right." "[W]hile the market has an important role to play," says the union federation, "our government—as the voice of all of us—must play the central role in regulating, financing and providing health care." To promote such a policy, in 2009-2010 the AFL-CIO affiliated itself with a number of progressive heath-care groups, the most prominent being the George Soros-funded Health Care for America Now! (HCAN) and its ally, the Universal Health Care Action Network (UHCAN). Nick Unger, the health-care campaign training director of the AFL-CIO, was a prominent member of UHCAN’s board as well as a spokesman for its mission.
In 2009, Heather Booth served as the AFL-CIO's national healthcare campaign director.
An active supporter of the pro-amnesty, open-borders, immigration-reform movement, the AFL-CIO has planned and organized numerous "immigrant rights" rallies alongside such groups as the SEIU, the Center for American Progress, the League of United Latin American Citizens, the National Council of La Raza, and the National Immigration Law Center.
The AFL-CIO endorsed the October 2, 2010 "March on Washington" organized by One Nation Working Together. On December 5, 2010, John Olsen, head of the Connecticut AFL-CIO, was honored at a Communist Party USA awards ceremony in that state.
In February 2011, the AFL-CIO took part in a “Rally to Save the American Dream” (RSAD), which was organized as an expression of solidarity with Wisconsin public-sector union employees. The AFL-CIO is a member group of the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights (LCCHR), a coalition of more than 200 national organizations.
AMERICAN FEDERATION OF LABOR - CONGRESS OF INDUSTRIAL ORGANIZATIONS (AFL-CIO)
815 16th St., N.W.
Washington, D.C.
20006
URL :http://www.aflcio.org/
America's largest labor federation
John Sweeney’s leadership from 1995 to 2009 was instrumental in transforming unionism into a progressive cause.
Gives tens of millions of dollars to Democratic lawmakers and politicians who promote government expansion and higher taxes
Is the main proponent of the Employee Free Choice Act, which would outlaw secret ballots in the process whereby workers decide whether or not to unionize
Supports government-run, universal health care and the open-borders movement
See also: John Sweeney Richard Trumka
The American Federation of Labor - Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO) is the largest labor federation in America, consisting of 57 autonomous and international unions. It was formed in 1955 when the American Federation of Labor (AFL) combined with the Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO). At the time of the merger, membership totaled 15,913,077. By 2010, the AFL-CIO represented 11.5 million members, a decline of some 4.4 million since 1955.
From 1955 to 1995, the AFL-CIO struggled for labor unity not only domestically, but globally. When George Meany (1894-1980) became president of the American Federation of Labor in 1952, he inherited a profoundly divided labor movement. He worked immediately for labor unification and, when the AFL and the CIO merged in 1955, he was unanimously nominated president, a position he held until 1979.
Meany’s 25-year tenure underscores the centrist liberalism of the labor movement during that time. Meany was a strong voice for human and civil rights, in America and around the world, speaking out against colonial exploitation of the developing world, supporting the state of Israel, fighting for the freedom of the states of Central Europe, advocating for Soviet Jews and supporting the fights against South African apartheid and against the military dictatorships in Spain and Chile. The federation was also a bastion of anti-communism during the Vietnam era. Meany invited Alexandr Solzhenitsyn to speak at AFL-CIO meetings and brought awareness of Soviet human-rights abuses to U.S. audiences.
Lane Kirkland succeeded Meany as president of the AFL-CIO from 1979 to 1995, continuing his predecessor's work for labor unity as well as his anti-totalitarianism. Kirkland supported America’s involvement in Vietnam and was instrumental in the AFL-CIO's refusal to endorse the anti-war candidacy of Democratic Senator George McGovern in 1972. During his tenure as president, Kirkland also used his power to funnel more than $6 million in aid to Polish workers. This aid, which consisted chiefly of cash and communications equipment, was considered instrumental in Solidarity's successful effort to end 50 years of Communist Party rule in Poland. President Bill Clinton awarded Kirkland the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1994.
After Lane Kirkland’s retirement in 1995, John Sweeney became president of the AFL-CIO and was able to repeal an AFL-CIO rule prohibiting Communists from being leaders of its member unions. Abandoning the blue-collar industrial unionism of the past, Sweeney, a member of Democratic Socialists of America, was instrumental in remaking labor into a progressive movement led by people such as the following:
Linda Chavez-Thompson was executive vice president of the AFL-CIO from 1995 to 2007. She is also vice chairwoman of the Democratic National Committee, which controls the Democratic Party.
Steve Rosenthal worked in the Clinton administration and, in 1995, became AFL-CIO’s political director. On August 8, 2003, Rosenthal and feminist activist Ellen Malcolm founded America Coming Together (ACT), the most powerful of the organizations forming the core of George Soros’s Shadow Party.
Former New Leftist Andrew Stern worked began working for the AFL-CIO in 1973 but later led the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) out of the AFL-CIO and became SEIU president.
Bill Fletcher Jr., former education director for the AFL-CIO and assistant to President Sweeney, is also a leftwing activist. He founded the Black Radical Congress and authored the book Solidarity Divided.
Richard Trumka, former secretary-treasurer of the AFL-CIO, became president of the federation in 2009. That same year, President Barack Obama named Trumka to his Economic Recovery Advisory Board.
In 1997 the AFL-CIO was one of more than 100 organizations that co-sponsored and launched the “Progressive Challenge,” in an effort to unite their activities and talking points under a “multi-issue progressive agenda.” To view a list of many of these co-sponsors, which worked closely with the Congressional Progressive Caucus, click here.
In February 2000, the AFL-CIO reversed what had been its longstanding opposition to illegal immigration. Now the union federation advocated amnesty for millions of illegals already residing in the United States. The chief lobbyist most responsible for persuading the AFL-CIO to change its policy was Eliseo Medina, the international executive vice president of the SEIU.
Under John Sweeney’s leadership, the AFL-CIO and its affiliated unions donated large sums of money to Democratic candidates. Overall, it is estimated that $800 million in union dues was spent on political campaigns during the 2000 election cycle alone; of that total, 90 to 95 percent was given to left-wing candidates.
During the Bush administration, the AFL-CIO charged that the right of American workers to form unions was under attack. Thus in the 2004 election cycle, the federation allocated $44 million to its (unsuccessful) effort to defeat President Bush's re-election bid.
As of December 2008, the AFL-CIO was a “partner” of the Democracy Alliance, along with such notable individuals and organizations as Patricia Bauman, Rob Glaser, Norman Lear, Peter Lewis, Rob McKay, Drummond Pike, Simon Rosenberg, Herb and Marion Sandler, George Soros, Rob Stein, the AFL-CIO, and the Service Employees International Union.
With the power of unions greatly in decline and an American public warier of unions than ever before, the AFL-CIO has sought in recent times to renew the influence of unions by expanding their membership numbers. In the 2008 campaign cycle, for example, the federation donated $53 million to Democratic candidates, particularly seeking support for the Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA), which (despite the name) sought to ban secret ballots for any workers considering joining a union. AFL-CIO president Richard Trumka called the EFCA an “important part of the economic recovery program,” and he used his clout in the Obama administration to drum up support for this cause.
In March 2009, President Obama promised a group of union leaders that the controversial EFCA would become law. To gain further political momentum and support for EFCA, the AFL-CIO pledged to spend even more money in the 2010 midterm elections than the $53 million it had spent in 2008, focusing particularly on “six states, California, New York, Illinois, Nevada, Ohio, and Pennsylvania, […] especially around Senate candidates like Harry Reid (D-Nev.) and Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.).”
The AFL-CIO’s campaign for EFCA also targeted Democrats who “do not support labor.” As Gerald McEntee, then AFL-CIO chair of the Executive Council’s Political Education Committee, told the press: “If you are not with us, then you are against us.” One of the first Democratic politicians to come under attack was Senator Blanche Lincoln of Arkansas. When she spoke against the EFCA's “card check provision,” the AFL-CIO threatened to fight her and pledged $3 million to the opposing candidate for the May 2010 Democratic primary.
The AFL-CIO has also taken a firm stand in favor of comprehensive universal health care, which it views as a "basic human right." "[W]hile the market has an important role to play," says the union federation, "our government—as the voice of all of us—must play the central role in regulating, financing and providing health care." To promote such a policy, in 2009-2010 the AFL-CIO affiliated itself with a number of progressive heath-care groups, the most prominent being the George Soros-funded Health Care for America Now! (HCAN) and its ally, the Universal Health Care Action Network (UHCAN). Nick Unger, the health-care campaign training director of the AFL-CIO, was a prominent member of UHCAN’s board as well as a spokesman for its mission.
In 2009, Heather Booth served as the AFL-CIO's national healthcare campaign director.
An active supporter of the pro-amnesty, open-borders, immigration-reform movement, the AFL-CIO has planned and organized numerous "immigrant rights" rallies alongside such groups as the SEIU, the Center for American Progress, the League of United Latin American Citizens, the National Council of La Raza, and the National Immigration Law Center.
The AFL-CIO endorsed the October 2, 2010 "March on Washington" organized by One Nation Working Together. On December 5, 2010, John Olsen, head of the Connecticut AFL-CIO, was honored at a Communist Party USA awards ceremony in that state.
In February 2011, the AFL-CIO took part in a “Rally to Save the American Dream” (RSAD), which was organized as an expression of solidarity with Wisconsin public-sector union employees. The AFL-CIO is a member group of the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights (LCCHR), a coalition of more than 200 national organizations.
Allen West on Obama Backing Palestinian Demand: ‘Could Be the Beginning of the End’ for Israel
Politics
Posted on May 19, 2011 at 3:15pm
by Jonathon M. Seidl
Tea Party Rep. Allen West has just issued a response to Obama‘s announcement that he backs the Palestinians’ demand that Israel redraw its borders to where they were in 1967. Not only did he call the move the “most egregious foreign policy decision” the administration has made, but he also feared this “could be the beginning of the end as we know it for the Jewish state.”
“The pre-1967 borders endorsed by President Obama would deny millions of the world’s Jews access to their holiest site and force Israel to return the strategically important Golan Heights to Syria, a known state-sponsor of terrorism,” West said in an e-mail.
“Resorting to the pre-1967 borders would mean a full withdrawal by the Israelis from the West Bank and the Jewish neighborhoods of East Jerusalem. Make no mistake, there has always been a Nation of Israel and Jerusalem has been and must always be recognized as its rightful capital.”
He concluded with some harsh criticisms: “President Obama has not stood for Israel or the Jewish people and has made it clear where the United States will stand when Palestine attempts to gain recognition of statehood by the United Nations. The President should focus on the real obstacle to security- the Palestinian leadership and its ultimate goal to eliminate Israel and the Jewish people.”
West has been an outspoken supporter of Israel in the past. Back in January he delivered a speech at the Americans Against Hate Pro-Israel Conference in Fort Lauderdale, FL:
West wasn’t the only one to respond with harsh criticism. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called the 1967 lines “indefensible.”
Read West’s full statement below:
(WASHINGTON) — Congressman Allen West (FL-22) released this statement today:
“Today’s endorsement by President Barack Obama of the creation of a Hamas-led Palestinian state based on the pre-1967 borders, signals the most egregious foreign policy decision his administration has made to date, and could be the beginning of the end as we know it for the Jewish state.
From the moment the modern day state of Israel declared statehood in 1948, to the end of the 1967 Six Day War, Jews were forbidden access to their holiest site, the Western Wall in Jerusalem’s Old City, controlled by Jordan’s Arab army.
The pre-1967 borders endorsed by President Obama would deny millions of the world’s Jews access to their holiest site and force Israel to return the strategically important Golan Heights to Syria, a known state-sponsor of terrorism.
Resorting to the pre-1967 borders would mean a full withdrawal by the Israelis from the West Bank and the Jewish neighborhoods of East Jerusalem. Make no mistake, there has always been a Nation of Israel and Jerusalem has been and must always be recognized as its rightful capital.
In short, the Hamas-run Palestinian state envisioned by President Obama would be devastating to Israel and the world’s 13.3 million Jews. It would be a Pavlovian style reward to a declared Islamic terrorist organization, and an unacceptable policy initiative.
America should never negotiate with the Palestinian Authority- which has aligned itself with Hamas. Palestine is a region, not a people or a modern state. Based upon Roman Emperor Hadrian’s declaration in 73 AD, the original Palestinian people are the Jewish people.
It’s time for the American people to stand by our strongest ally, the Jewish State of Israel, and reject this foreign policy blunder of epic proportions.
While the winds of democracy may blow strong in the Middle East, history has demonstrated that gaps in leadership can lead to despotic regimes. I have questions for President Obama: ‘Who will now lead in Egypt?‘ and ’Why should American taxpayers provide foreign aid to a nation where the next chapter in their history may be the emergence of another radical Islamic state?’
President Obama has not stood for Israel or the Jewish people and has made it clear where the United States will stand when Palestine attempts to gain recognition of statehood by the United Nations. The President should focus on the real obstacle to security- the Palestinian leadership and its ultimate goal to eliminate Israel and the Jewish people.”
Posted on May 19, 2011 at 3:15pm
by Jonathon M. Seidl
Tea Party Rep. Allen West has just issued a response to Obama‘s announcement that he backs the Palestinians’ demand that Israel redraw its borders to where they were in 1967. Not only did he call the move the “most egregious foreign policy decision” the administration has made, but he also feared this “could be the beginning of the end as we know it for the Jewish state.”
“The pre-1967 borders endorsed by President Obama would deny millions of the world’s Jews access to their holiest site and force Israel to return the strategically important Golan Heights to Syria, a known state-sponsor of terrorism,” West said in an e-mail.
“Resorting to the pre-1967 borders would mean a full withdrawal by the Israelis from the West Bank and the Jewish neighborhoods of East Jerusalem. Make no mistake, there has always been a Nation of Israel and Jerusalem has been and must always be recognized as its rightful capital.”
He concluded with some harsh criticisms: “President Obama has not stood for Israel or the Jewish people and has made it clear where the United States will stand when Palestine attempts to gain recognition of statehood by the United Nations. The President should focus on the real obstacle to security- the Palestinian leadership and its ultimate goal to eliminate Israel and the Jewish people.”
West has been an outspoken supporter of Israel in the past. Back in January he delivered a speech at the Americans Against Hate Pro-Israel Conference in Fort Lauderdale, FL:
West wasn’t the only one to respond with harsh criticism. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called the 1967 lines “indefensible.”
Read West’s full statement below:
(WASHINGTON) — Congressman Allen West (FL-22) released this statement today:
“Today’s endorsement by President Barack Obama of the creation of a Hamas-led Palestinian state based on the pre-1967 borders, signals the most egregious foreign policy decision his administration has made to date, and could be the beginning of the end as we know it for the Jewish state.
From the moment the modern day state of Israel declared statehood in 1948, to the end of the 1967 Six Day War, Jews were forbidden access to their holiest site, the Western Wall in Jerusalem’s Old City, controlled by Jordan’s Arab army.
The pre-1967 borders endorsed by President Obama would deny millions of the world’s Jews access to their holiest site and force Israel to return the strategically important Golan Heights to Syria, a known state-sponsor of terrorism.
Resorting to the pre-1967 borders would mean a full withdrawal by the Israelis from the West Bank and the Jewish neighborhoods of East Jerusalem. Make no mistake, there has always been a Nation of Israel and Jerusalem has been and must always be recognized as its rightful capital.
In short, the Hamas-run Palestinian state envisioned by President Obama would be devastating to Israel and the world’s 13.3 million Jews. It would be a Pavlovian style reward to a declared Islamic terrorist organization, and an unacceptable policy initiative.
America should never negotiate with the Palestinian Authority- which has aligned itself with Hamas. Palestine is a region, not a people or a modern state. Based upon Roman Emperor Hadrian’s declaration in 73 AD, the original Palestinian people are the Jewish people.
It’s time for the American people to stand by our strongest ally, the Jewish State of Israel, and reject this foreign policy blunder of epic proportions.
While the winds of democracy may blow strong in the Middle East, history has demonstrated that gaps in leadership can lead to despotic regimes. I have questions for President Obama: ‘Who will now lead in Egypt?‘ and ’Why should American taxpayers provide foreign aid to a nation where the next chapter in their history may be the emergence of another radical Islamic state?’
President Obama has not stood for Israel or the Jewish people and has made it clear where the United States will stand when Palestine attempts to gain recognition of statehood by the United Nations. The President should focus on the real obstacle to security- the Palestinian leadership and its ultimate goal to eliminate Israel and the Jewish people.”
Syrian troops fire during rally by thousands calling for regime change; 3 die in central city
By Associated Press,
BEIRUT — Protest organizers in Syria say security forces have fired on an anti-regime demonstration in the central city of Homs, killing three people.
Syria has launched a bloody crackdown over the past two months on an unprecedented uprising against President Bashar Assad, unleashing the army and security forces to crush dissent. Human rights groups say more than 850 people have been killed in the crackdown.
Syria has blamed the unrest on armed thugs and foreign agitators.
A group of local committees in Syria help organize the protests. The committee in Homs confirmed the three killed on Friday.
According to the organizers, there were also protests on Friday in the Mediterranean port of Banias, the central city of Hama and the coastal city of Latakia.
Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
BEIRUT — Protest organizers in Syria say security forces have fired on an anti-regime demonstration in the central city of Homs, killing three people.
Syria has launched a bloody crackdown over the past two months on an unprecedented uprising against President Bashar Assad, unleashing the army and security forces to crush dissent. Human rights groups say more than 850 people have been killed in the crackdown.
Syria has blamed the unrest on armed thugs and foreign agitators.
A group of local committees in Syria help organize the protests. The committee in Homs confirmed the three killed on Friday.
According to the organizers, there were also protests on Friday in the Mediterranean port of Banias, the central city of Hama and the coastal city of Latakia.
Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
World View — Spain: Huge Amounts Of Hidden Debt
by John J. Xenakis May 20th 2011 at 5:52 am
This morning’s key headlines from GenerationalDynamics.com.
Weekend elections in Spain may uncover huge amounts of ‘hidden’ debt
Weekend elections are threatening to drive Spain’s ruling Socialist party from power in several regions. They’re also threatening a nasty surprise: to uncover billions of dollars of “hidden debt” owed by local governments to health clinics and other suppliers. There is widespread, unrecorded debt among once-free-spending local governments. Some companies are complaining that fiscally frail administrations are pressuring them to do business off the books and not immediately bill for goods and services. This would be another potential disaster for the euro and the European Union. Wall Street Journal (Access).
Angry fight between EU and ECB over Greece becomes public
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Yields (interest rates) on 10-year bonds for Greece, Ireland, Portugal and Spain (Reuters)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The European Central Bank (ECB) is “playing its last card” and threatening to refuse to accept Greek bonds as collateral, if the European Union (EU) approved the proposed “soft restructuring” of Greece’s debt. ECB officials have been warning for weeks that any debt restructuring, or any form of default, would have catastrophic consequences for the euro zone. However, some economists are saying that the ECB threat is just a negotiating ploy, and that they’ll be forced to accept Greek bonds, no matter what happens. Kathimerini
ANC losing ground among black voters in South Africa
South Africa’s African National Congress (ANC) party has bee winning elections by 60%+ majorities continually since 1994. But in Wednesday’s municipal elections, the opposition Democratic Alliance began to successfully challenge the ANC for the first time, winning some victories. The ANC is the black liberation party following the end of apartheid, and originally led by Nelson Mandella. The DA opposition party is considered to be for whites and those of mixed race. Black voters are switching allegiance away from the ANC to the DA because the ANC is failing to provide basic services — running water, sanitation, schools, health care, housing — to the poor blacks, while all of these services are usually available in white neighborhoods. Bloomberg
Iraq and Kuwait in potential row over new deep water port
Plans by the Kuwaitis to begin construction of “Mubarak port,” a deep water port just over the border from the site of a new Iraqi port currently under construction, is causing tempers to flare. The two ports would compete for shipping business. The move has caused historic tempers to flare. Iraq invaded Kuwait in 1990, leading to American intervention and the Iraq war. Iraqi activists have called for the closure of the Kuwaiti embassy in Bagdad, and expulsion of their ambassador. Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki ordered the formation of an emergency committee to travel to Kuwait immediately to tackle the dispute between the two countries. Kurdish News Agency (Iraq)
Kim Jong-il’s son makes first diplomatic visit to China
There are reports that Kim Jong-un, the heir apparent youngest son of North Korea’s leader Kim Jong-il, is visiting China for the first time without his father. Last September, the son was named vice chairman of the Central Military Commission of the ruling Worker’s Party and a four-star general, apparently in preparation for becoming the new leader. Yonhap
Kenya: Maize to run out in 10 days
According to Kenya’s Cereal Millers Association that represents 26 millers, they are holding between 400,000 and 500,000 bags of maize, enough to last for ten days. “Supplies are fast drying up and farmers are not selling,” said Diamond Lalji, the millers’ chairman. “If we don’t get more supplies, there will be no unga (flour) on the shelves in the coming days.” All Africa
This morning’s key headlines from GenerationalDynamics.com.
Weekend elections in Spain may uncover huge amounts of ‘hidden’ debt
Weekend elections are threatening to drive Spain’s ruling Socialist party from power in several regions. They’re also threatening a nasty surprise: to uncover billions of dollars of “hidden debt” owed by local governments to health clinics and other suppliers. There is widespread, unrecorded debt among once-free-spending local governments. Some companies are complaining that fiscally frail administrations are pressuring them to do business off the books and not immediately bill for goods and services. This would be another potential disaster for the euro and the European Union. Wall Street Journal (Access).
Angry fight between EU and ECB over Greece becomes public
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Yields (interest rates) on 10-year bonds for Greece, Ireland, Portugal and Spain (Reuters)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The European Central Bank (ECB) is “playing its last card” and threatening to refuse to accept Greek bonds as collateral, if the European Union (EU) approved the proposed “soft restructuring” of Greece’s debt. ECB officials have been warning for weeks that any debt restructuring, or any form of default, would have catastrophic consequences for the euro zone. However, some economists are saying that the ECB threat is just a negotiating ploy, and that they’ll be forced to accept Greek bonds, no matter what happens. Kathimerini
ANC losing ground among black voters in South Africa
South Africa’s African National Congress (ANC) party has bee winning elections by 60%+ majorities continually since 1994. But in Wednesday’s municipal elections, the opposition Democratic Alliance began to successfully challenge the ANC for the first time, winning some victories. The ANC is the black liberation party following the end of apartheid, and originally led by Nelson Mandella. The DA opposition party is considered to be for whites and those of mixed race. Black voters are switching allegiance away from the ANC to the DA because the ANC is failing to provide basic services — running water, sanitation, schools, health care, housing — to the poor blacks, while all of these services are usually available in white neighborhoods. Bloomberg
Iraq and Kuwait in potential row over new deep water port
Plans by the Kuwaitis to begin construction of “Mubarak port,” a deep water port just over the border from the site of a new Iraqi port currently under construction, is causing tempers to flare. The two ports would compete for shipping business. The move has caused historic tempers to flare. Iraq invaded Kuwait in 1990, leading to American intervention and the Iraq war. Iraqi activists have called for the closure of the Kuwaiti embassy in Bagdad, and expulsion of their ambassador. Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki ordered the formation of an emergency committee to travel to Kuwait immediately to tackle the dispute between the two countries. Kurdish News Agency (Iraq)
Kim Jong-il’s son makes first diplomatic visit to China
There are reports that Kim Jong-un, the heir apparent youngest son of North Korea’s leader Kim Jong-il, is visiting China for the first time without his father. Last September, the son was named vice chairman of the Central Military Commission of the ruling Worker’s Party and a four-star general, apparently in preparation for becoming the new leader. Yonhap
Kenya: Maize to run out in 10 days
According to Kenya’s Cereal Millers Association that represents 26 millers, they are holding between 400,000 and 500,000 bags of maize, enough to last for ten days. “Supplies are fast drying up and farmers are not selling,” said Diamond Lalji, the millers’ chairman. “If we don’t get more supplies, there will be no unga (flour) on the shelves in the coming days.” All Africa
Disturbing Questions about President Obama's Vision for Israel
May 20, 2011
By Peggy Shapiro
President Obama's speech yesterday about U.S. policy in the Middle East in general and about the Israel-Palestinians conflict specifically calls for democracy yet abandons the only democracy in the Middle East. It rewards terror states and potential terror-states. It asks Israel to accept U.S. assurances while abandoning all the assurances he made as a candidate. Rather than answers, the speech leaves us with many disturbing questions.
1. The president promises billions in aid to Egypt with no non-terror strings attached.
"...we do not want a democratic Egypt to be saddled by the debts of its past. So we will relieve a democratic Egypt of up to $1 billion in debt, and work with our Egyptian partners to invest these resources to foster growth and entrepreneurship. We will help Egypt regain access to markets by guaranteeing $1 billion in borrowing that is needed to finance infrastructure and job creation...
"OPIC will soon launch a $2 billion facility to support private investment across the region. And we will work with allies to refocus the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development so that it provides the same support for democratic transitions and economic modernization in the Middle East and North Africa as it has in Europe"
Will these funds be forthcoming if Egypt is in the control of the Muslim Brotherhood (a more likely scenario each day) and tears up the peace treaty with Israel?
2. The president frames the Palestinian-Israeli conflict as the root of larger problems across the Middle East.
"For decades, the conflict between Israelis and Arabs has cast a shadow over the region. For Israelis, it has meant living with the fear that their children could get blown up on a bus or by rockets fired at their homes, as well as the pain of knowing that other children in the region are taught to hate them. For Palestinians, it has meant suffering the humiliation of occupation, and never living in a nation of their own. Moreover, this conflict has come with a larger cost the Middle East, as it impedes partnerships that could bring greater security, prosperity, and empowerment to ordinary people."
Candidate Obama said to the pro-Israel community at AIPAC in 2008.
"And then there are those who would lay all of the problems of the Middle East at the doorstep of Israel and its supporters, as if the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is the root of all trouble in the region. These voices blame the Middle East's only democracy for the region's extremism. They offer the false promise that abandoning a stalwart ally is somehow the path to strength. It is not, it never has been, and it never will be."
3. The president calls for ethnic cleansing of some areas in the disputed territories and even Jerusalem.
"My Administration has worked with the parties and the international community for over two years to end this conflict, yet expectations have gone unmet. Israeli settlement activity continues."
There are no calls for Palestinians to refrain from building in certain areas which the president wants Muslim-free. Is ethnic cleansing only for Jews?
4. The president asks Israel to take bold (dangerous) steps for peace.
"But precisely because of our friendship, it is important that we tell the truth: the status quo is unsustainable, and Israel too must act boldly to advance a lasting peace.
Responding to American pressure, Israel has acted bolding in unilateral withdrawal from Lebanon and Gaza. The return for these bold moves was increased terror. What bold steps does the president ask the Palestinians to take?
5. While maintaining that "No peace can be imposed upon them, nor can endless delay make the problem go away," yet he issues a concrete proposal with the starting point major concessions from Israel?
"The borders of Israel and Palestine should be based on the 1967 lines with mutually agreed swaps..."
These armistice lines, drawn after the War of Independence, left Israel vulnerable to attack then and would be even more dangerous today. Every assurance since then, including UN Resolution 242 acknowledged that such lines were indefensible. A border on these lines would return the strategically important Golan Heights to Syria and make Israeli towns once again easy targets for the Syrian state-sponsor of terrorism.
6. The pre-1967 lines endorsed by President Obama includes Jerusalem's holiest sites. Jews would be denied access to their holiest sites, which would certainly be desecrated as they were when Israel lost control of Jerusalem in 1948 or even more recently when Israel removed guards from Joseph's Tomb. The president's Israel denies safety and religious rights to the Jewish state. Where is that Barack Obama who pledged in his last address to AIPAC, "Jerusalem will remain the capital of Israel, and it must remain undivided."
7. The president's vision describes a sliced up nation of Israel.
"The Palestinian people must have the right to govern themselves, and reach their potential, in a sovereign and contiguous state."
Look at a map and try creating a contiguous Palestinian state without splitting Israel into little indefensible slices.
8. The president holds onto a fantasy that Hamas will reject the path of terror and rejection. Is there any evidence on this planet that Hamas will reject terror and the annihilation of the Jewish state since the end to all Jewish existence is the core element of the terror group's charter? He also hopes for the Hamas-Fatah terror state to provide border security for Israel.
"Provisions must also be robust enough to prevent a resurgence of terrorism; to stop the infiltration of weapons; and to provide effective border security...The full and phased withdrawal of Israeli military forces should be coordinated with the assumption of Palestinian security responsibility in a sovereign, non-militarized state."
9. The president expects Israel to negotiate with terrorists and give up security for empty promises.
"Recognizing that negotiations need to begin with the issues of territory and security does not mean that it will be easy to come back to the table. In particular, the recent announcement of an agreement between Fatah and Hamas raises profound and legitimate questions for Israel - how can one negotiate with a party that has shown itself unwilling to recognize your right to exist. In the weeks and months to come, Palestinian leaders will have to provide a credible answer to that question."
Will Israelis be so gullible or so pressured to accept another promise, which can be tossed into the bin of broken Palestinian promises? In this case, talk is cheap, but the price Israel would have to pay in blood is very high. In 2008, Obama understood that Israel must not negotiate with terrorists.
"We must isolate Hamas unless and until they renounce terrorism, recognize Israel's right to exist, and abide by past agreements. There is no room at the negotiating table for terrorist organizations."
10. This analysis focuses on Israel, but there is a broader question of a major address which begins with encouragement of the democratic movements in the Middle East and sells out its only democracy.
"Let me be specific. First, it will be the policy of the United States to promote reform across the region, and to support transitions to democracy."
If President Obama wants to support democracy in the Middle East, then why is he endangering the only true democracy in the region; Israel?
Asking Israel to accept a terror state on dangerous pre-1967 armistice lines and giving up its holy sites, all in return for meaningless words, rewards terrorism, not democracy. The message to terror groups is, "Keep up the violence and the US will back you to get whatever you want." The message to a democratic ally is, "Make dangerous concession for peace with US assurances and the US will forget the assurances and ask for more concessions."
Page Printed from: http://www.americanthinker.com/2011/05/disturbing_questions_about_pre.html at May 20, 2011 - 07:47:20 AM CDT
By Peggy Shapiro
President Obama's speech yesterday about U.S. policy in the Middle East in general and about the Israel-Palestinians conflict specifically calls for democracy yet abandons the only democracy in the Middle East. It rewards terror states and potential terror-states. It asks Israel to accept U.S. assurances while abandoning all the assurances he made as a candidate. Rather than answers, the speech leaves us with many disturbing questions.
1. The president promises billions in aid to Egypt with no non-terror strings attached.
"...we do not want a democratic Egypt to be saddled by the debts of its past. So we will relieve a democratic Egypt of up to $1 billion in debt, and work with our Egyptian partners to invest these resources to foster growth and entrepreneurship. We will help Egypt regain access to markets by guaranteeing $1 billion in borrowing that is needed to finance infrastructure and job creation...
"OPIC will soon launch a $2 billion facility to support private investment across the region. And we will work with allies to refocus the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development so that it provides the same support for democratic transitions and economic modernization in the Middle East and North Africa as it has in Europe"
Will these funds be forthcoming if Egypt is in the control of the Muslim Brotherhood (a more likely scenario each day) and tears up the peace treaty with Israel?
2. The president frames the Palestinian-Israeli conflict as the root of larger problems across the Middle East.
"For decades, the conflict between Israelis and Arabs has cast a shadow over the region. For Israelis, it has meant living with the fear that their children could get blown up on a bus or by rockets fired at their homes, as well as the pain of knowing that other children in the region are taught to hate them. For Palestinians, it has meant suffering the humiliation of occupation, and never living in a nation of their own. Moreover, this conflict has come with a larger cost the Middle East, as it impedes partnerships that could bring greater security, prosperity, and empowerment to ordinary people."
Candidate Obama said to the pro-Israel community at AIPAC in 2008.
"And then there are those who would lay all of the problems of the Middle East at the doorstep of Israel and its supporters, as if the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is the root of all trouble in the region. These voices blame the Middle East's only democracy for the region's extremism. They offer the false promise that abandoning a stalwart ally is somehow the path to strength. It is not, it never has been, and it never will be."
3. The president calls for ethnic cleansing of some areas in the disputed territories and even Jerusalem.
"My Administration has worked with the parties and the international community for over two years to end this conflict, yet expectations have gone unmet. Israeli settlement activity continues."
There are no calls for Palestinians to refrain from building in certain areas which the president wants Muslim-free. Is ethnic cleansing only for Jews?
4. The president asks Israel to take bold (dangerous) steps for peace.
"But precisely because of our friendship, it is important that we tell the truth: the status quo is unsustainable, and Israel too must act boldly to advance a lasting peace.
Responding to American pressure, Israel has acted bolding in unilateral withdrawal from Lebanon and Gaza. The return for these bold moves was increased terror. What bold steps does the president ask the Palestinians to take?
5. While maintaining that "No peace can be imposed upon them, nor can endless delay make the problem go away," yet he issues a concrete proposal with the starting point major concessions from Israel?
"The borders of Israel and Palestine should be based on the 1967 lines with mutually agreed swaps..."
These armistice lines, drawn after the War of Independence, left Israel vulnerable to attack then and would be even more dangerous today. Every assurance since then, including UN Resolution 242 acknowledged that such lines were indefensible. A border on these lines would return the strategically important Golan Heights to Syria and make Israeli towns once again easy targets for the Syrian state-sponsor of terrorism.
6. The pre-1967 lines endorsed by President Obama includes Jerusalem's holiest sites. Jews would be denied access to their holiest sites, which would certainly be desecrated as they were when Israel lost control of Jerusalem in 1948 or even more recently when Israel removed guards from Joseph's Tomb. The president's Israel denies safety and religious rights to the Jewish state. Where is that Barack Obama who pledged in his last address to AIPAC, "Jerusalem will remain the capital of Israel, and it must remain undivided."
7. The president's vision describes a sliced up nation of Israel.
"The Palestinian people must have the right to govern themselves, and reach their potential, in a sovereign and contiguous state."
Look at a map and try creating a contiguous Palestinian state without splitting Israel into little indefensible slices.
8. The president holds onto a fantasy that Hamas will reject the path of terror and rejection. Is there any evidence on this planet that Hamas will reject terror and the annihilation of the Jewish state since the end to all Jewish existence is the core element of the terror group's charter? He also hopes for the Hamas-Fatah terror state to provide border security for Israel.
"Provisions must also be robust enough to prevent a resurgence of terrorism; to stop the infiltration of weapons; and to provide effective border security...The full and phased withdrawal of Israeli military forces should be coordinated with the assumption of Palestinian security responsibility in a sovereign, non-militarized state."
9. The president expects Israel to negotiate with terrorists and give up security for empty promises.
"Recognizing that negotiations need to begin with the issues of territory and security does not mean that it will be easy to come back to the table. In particular, the recent announcement of an agreement between Fatah and Hamas raises profound and legitimate questions for Israel - how can one negotiate with a party that has shown itself unwilling to recognize your right to exist. In the weeks and months to come, Palestinian leaders will have to provide a credible answer to that question."
Will Israelis be so gullible or so pressured to accept another promise, which can be tossed into the bin of broken Palestinian promises? In this case, talk is cheap, but the price Israel would have to pay in blood is very high. In 2008, Obama understood that Israel must not negotiate with terrorists.
"We must isolate Hamas unless and until they renounce terrorism, recognize Israel's right to exist, and abide by past agreements. There is no room at the negotiating table for terrorist organizations."
10. This analysis focuses on Israel, but there is a broader question of a major address which begins with encouragement of the democratic movements in the Middle East and sells out its only democracy.
"Let me be specific. First, it will be the policy of the United States to promote reform across the region, and to support transitions to democracy."
If President Obama wants to support democracy in the Middle East, then why is he endangering the only true democracy in the region; Israel?
Asking Israel to accept a terror state on dangerous pre-1967 armistice lines and giving up its holy sites, all in return for meaningless words, rewards terrorism, not democracy. The message to terror groups is, "Keep up the violence and the US will back you to get whatever you want." The message to a democratic ally is, "Make dangerous concession for peace with US assurances and the US will forget the assurances and ask for more concessions."
Page Printed from: http://www.americanthinker.com/2011/05/disturbing_questions_about_pre.html at May 20, 2011 - 07:47:20 AM CDT
Obama's borders Caused 60 Years of War
May 20, 2011
By James Lewis
Obama has just given an eager world his fantasy answer for the last sixty years of Arab-Israel conflict. The Great One's long-awaited solution is for Israel to pull back to the cease-fire lines of the 1948 War of Independence, or what Obama, in a moment of historical amnesia, calls "the 1967 borders." People have fought and died over those borders since 1949, not 1967. Make that sixty years of regular warfare.
Take a quick glance at the Green Line on the map, and see if you can honestly answer this question:
Would I want my family and children to live on the scary side of that lengthy, convoluted and meandering border, with Hamas and Hezbollah trying to breach the fence every night with knife-wielding maniacs and Grad rocket launchers?
If you answered that question honestly, you cannot be a liberal. You know too much.
However, if you think the answer is "Yes, I'll do anything for peace, including putting my kids' lives on the line," then you are sucker bait for the most delusional political party in American history. And that includes the Bull Moose Party.
Robert Frost wrote that "Good fences make good neighbors." It's also true that "bad fences make bad neighbors." The Green Line is militarily dreadful, as the map shows. Obama's proposal is therefore strategically destructive.
What's worse, by raising impossible expectations in the Islamic world, expectations that are bound to be disappointed, Obama will end up making things much worse rather than much better. We'll be very lucky if a major Middle East war doesn't break out in the next few years, among emerging nuclear powers.
You don't have to be a military genius to figure out how bad the Green Line is as a defensible border, because we have the evidence of
The "1967 borders" are an invitation to catastrophe, just as the Peace of Versailles led to Hitler and World War II. Woodrow Wilson came back from Versailles announcing Peace Forever to a skeptical American public. But the Germans and the French (and V.I. Lenin) knew better. They knew there would be another war.
Like Woodrow Wilson, Obama yearns for that grandstanding photo-op. This whole administration is driven by one Himalayan ego. Everything is done to feed Obama's fragile self-esteem. Hosni Mubarak was brought down, and a 30-year Egypt-Israeli peace treaty was put in danger to feed Obama's ego. Libya was attacked (but not Iran) to stop what was fast turning into an all-consuming firestorm in the Arab political world.
Well, it looks like it's time for Israel to feed Obama's all-devouring ego.
It's worth noticing that Israel became independent in 1948, the same year as Pakistan and India, after the Partition of British India led to some 4 million deaths in Muslim-Hindu riots.
Has the India-Pakistan partition led to peace? After all, in that huge Indian subcontinent there is plenty of room for two great nations to live in peace. The United States and Canada have done it for two centuries.
But not India and Pakistan. They have carried on two major wars since 1948, along with endless terrorist attacks from Muslim Pakistan to majority-Hindu India. The Kashmir is a hot spot for terrorism just like Jerusalem and the West Bank. Pakistan and India have seen assassinations, riots and bombings over disputed holy places, and a nuclear arms race that is now accelerating on the Pakistani side. Pakistan is quickly building a new military-grade nuclear plant, perhaps to supply bombs for the Sunni Arab nations when Iran gets its new toy for the Return of the Mahdi.
You might remember that Pakistan is the country that harbored Osama Bin Laden for seven years.
It's a very peace-loving nation.
This is the first Napoleonic administration in American history. Obama stars in a Cult of Personality, just like Lenin and Mao, as our degraded media demonstrated so well when Osama Bin Laden was assassinated by a SEAL Team, and Obamaparte insisted on hogging all the credit.
To force Obama's wacky ideas on a reluctant world, they routinely use Chicago thuggery. How to improve medical care for 300 million Americans? Let Obama take it over! How to get us out of the Great Recession? By Gum, just give Our Hero fourteen trillion dollars and watch him boogie!
On and on it goes. But I haven't yet met a single liberal who understands what's really happening. Once they get trapped in their delusional system they can't seem find a way out.
Obama keeps ego-tripping about heart-rendingly difficult questions that have baffled far wiser people for centuries. The One really thinks he can solve it all with a snap of the fingers, and the moronic media always sing the Hallelujah Chorus. No matter what actually happens.
The Woods Foundation gave Obama and Bill Ayers scores of millions of dollars to fix Chicago's failing schools. After spending nearly all those millions, all the right palms were greased for Obama's campaign, and not a single school was measurably improved. Obama was quoted as saying that maybe a "jazz curriculum" would solve the desperate inner city. Those two scammers wasted 200 million bucks and came up with a "jazz curriculum." The money came from a charitable foundation, meaning that the taxpayer --- yes, you! --- picked up a big part of the bill.
This is completely typical of Obama's approach to reality.
Has anything actually been solved since Obama's election? Are race relations better? Is the economy barrelling out of the Great Recession? Are freedom and prosperity growing around the world?
This is Inspector Clouseau in a glassware factory, knocking down crystal chandeliers and champagne glasses wherever he goes, and never noticing that anything is wrong. The movie was a lot funnier.
The coming election will be fought over Obama's media-made fantasy that he's already solved America's domestic problems, real and imagined. Like the Great Svengali, The One and his cheering mediots will try to mesmerize enough voters to believe that wacky fantasy; they may even succeed, because we have enough slack-jawed deadheads in the country to give President Calamity another four years.
Page Printed from: http://www.americanthinker.com/2011/05/obamas_borders_caused_60_years.html at May 20, 2011 - 07:44:38 AM CDT
By James Lewis
Obama has just given an eager world his fantasy answer for the last sixty years of Arab-Israel conflict. The Great One's long-awaited solution is for Israel to pull back to the cease-fire lines of the 1948 War of Independence, or what Obama, in a moment of historical amnesia, calls "the 1967 borders." People have fought and died over those borders since 1949, not 1967. Make that sixty years of regular warfare.
Take a quick glance at the Green Line on the map, and see if you can honestly answer this question:
Would I want my family and children to live on the scary side of that lengthy, convoluted and meandering border, with Hamas and Hezbollah trying to breach the fence every night with knife-wielding maniacs and Grad rocket launchers?
If you answered that question honestly, you cannot be a liberal. You know too much.
However, if you think the answer is "Yes, I'll do anything for peace, including putting my kids' lives on the line," then you are sucker bait for the most delusional political party in American history. And that includes the Bull Moose Party.
Robert Frost wrote that "Good fences make good neighbors." It's also true that "bad fences make bad neighbors." The Green Line is militarily dreadful, as the map shows. Obama's proposal is therefore strategically destructive.
What's worse, by raising impossible expectations in the Islamic world, expectations that are bound to be disappointed, Obama will end up making things much worse rather than much better. We'll be very lucky if a major Middle East war doesn't break out in the next few years, among emerging nuclear powers.
You don't have to be a military genius to figure out how bad the Green Line is as a defensible border, because we have the evidence of
The "1967 borders" are an invitation to catastrophe, just as the Peace of Versailles led to Hitler and World War II. Woodrow Wilson came back from Versailles announcing Peace Forever to a skeptical American public. But the Germans and the French (and V.I. Lenin) knew better. They knew there would be another war.
Like Woodrow Wilson, Obama yearns for that grandstanding photo-op. This whole administration is driven by one Himalayan ego. Everything is done to feed Obama's fragile self-esteem. Hosni Mubarak was brought down, and a 30-year Egypt-Israeli peace treaty was put in danger to feed Obama's ego. Libya was attacked (but not Iran) to stop what was fast turning into an all-consuming firestorm in the Arab political world.
Well, it looks like it's time for Israel to feed Obama's all-devouring ego.
It's worth noticing that Israel became independent in 1948, the same year as Pakistan and India, after the Partition of British India led to some 4 million deaths in Muslim-Hindu riots.
Has the India-Pakistan partition led to peace? After all, in that huge Indian subcontinent there is plenty of room for two great nations to live in peace. The United States and Canada have done it for two centuries.
But not India and Pakistan. They have carried on two major wars since 1948, along with endless terrorist attacks from Muslim Pakistan to majority-Hindu India. The Kashmir is a hot spot for terrorism just like Jerusalem and the West Bank. Pakistan and India have seen assassinations, riots and bombings over disputed holy places, and a nuclear arms race that is now accelerating on the Pakistani side. Pakistan is quickly building a new military-grade nuclear plant, perhaps to supply bombs for the Sunni Arab nations when Iran gets its new toy for the Return of the Mahdi.
You might remember that Pakistan is the country that harbored Osama Bin Laden for seven years.
It's a very peace-loving nation.
This is the first Napoleonic administration in American history. Obama stars in a Cult of Personality, just like Lenin and Mao, as our degraded media demonstrated so well when Osama Bin Laden was assassinated by a SEAL Team, and Obamaparte insisted on hogging all the credit.
To force Obama's wacky ideas on a reluctant world, they routinely use Chicago thuggery. How to improve medical care for 300 million Americans? Let Obama take it over! How to get us out of the Great Recession? By Gum, just give Our Hero fourteen trillion dollars and watch him boogie!
On and on it goes. But I haven't yet met a single liberal who understands what's really happening. Once they get trapped in their delusional system they can't seem find a way out.
Obama keeps ego-tripping about heart-rendingly difficult questions that have baffled far wiser people for centuries. The One really thinks he can solve it all with a snap of the fingers, and the moronic media always sing the Hallelujah Chorus. No matter what actually happens.
The Woods Foundation gave Obama and Bill Ayers scores of millions of dollars to fix Chicago's failing schools. After spending nearly all those millions, all the right palms were greased for Obama's campaign, and not a single school was measurably improved. Obama was quoted as saying that maybe a "jazz curriculum" would solve the desperate inner city. Those two scammers wasted 200 million bucks and came up with a "jazz curriculum." The money came from a charitable foundation, meaning that the taxpayer --- yes, you! --- picked up a big part of the bill.
This is completely typical of Obama's approach to reality.
Has anything actually been solved since Obama's election? Are race relations better? Is the economy barrelling out of the Great Recession? Are freedom and prosperity growing around the world?
This is Inspector Clouseau in a glassware factory, knocking down crystal chandeliers and champagne glasses wherever he goes, and never noticing that anything is wrong. The movie was a lot funnier.
The coming election will be fought over Obama's media-made fantasy that he's already solved America's domestic problems, real and imagined. Like the Great Svengali, The One and his cheering mediots will try to mesmerize enough voters to believe that wacky fantasy; they may even succeed, because we have enough slack-jawed deadheads in the country to give President Calamity another four years.
Page Printed from: http://www.americanthinker.com/2011/05/obamas_borders_caused_60_years.html at May 20, 2011 - 07:44:38 AM CDT