Israel and The Sin of Expulsion

Report: Rice Backs Freeing Barghouti

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A Saudi Arabian newspaper has reported that American Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice asked Prime Minister Ehud Olmert to release convicted terrorist Marwan Barghouti. Barghouti is the founder of the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, the terrorist arm of the Fatah movement headed by Palestinian Authority (PA) president Mahmoud Abbas.

The Saudi newspaper Okaz reported Wednesday that Rice told Prime Minister Olmert that freeing Barghouti, who is widely popular among the Arab population, would help strengthen Abbas and weaken the Hamas terrorist organization, which controls the PA legislature. read more

Officials Warning of Growing Dangers in Gaza

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There is a growing sentiment among senior military commanders that the IDF may soon be compelled to order a major ground incursion into Gaza, one that may escalate to a full war.”

Getting Ready for the Next Gaza War, by Michael Freund (Israel National News) read more

The Coming Middle East War, by Michael Freund (Jerusalem Post)

“The government needs to begin seriously contemplating the possibility of launching preemptive and wide-ranging military strikes. Our foes are openly preparing for war, so why should we allow them the luxury to choose when it starts?

Passivity and indecisiveness cost us dearly in the past, and especially in Lebanon this summer. We can not allow ourselves to play by the enemy’s rules, or even by his schedule.”

Excerpts; read more

A Defunct Paradigm That’s Got to Change, by Daniel Pipes (Jerusalem Post)

“Western governments ‘need to see public relations as part of their strategy.’

The West is fortunate to predominate in the military and economic arenas, but these no longer suffice. Along with its enemies, it needs to give due attention to the public relations of war.”

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Soldiers, sailors, and airmen once determined the outcome of warfare, but no longer. Today, television producers, columnists, preachers, and politicians have the pivotal role in deciding how well the West fights. This shift has deep implications. read more