Standing on a landmine

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US President Barack Obama’s warm endorsement of the plan to build a mosque by the ruins of the World Trade Center tells Israel – and its enemies – everything we need to know about the President of the United States of America.

 

Speaking during a Ramadan fast breaking meal at the White House to an audience of people affiliated with various Muslim Brotherhood- related groups in the US, Obama couched his support for the mosque at Ground Zero in constitutional terms.

 

In his words, “As a citizen, and as president, I believe that Muslims have the same right to practice their religion as everyone else in this country. And that includes the right to build a place of worship and a community center on private property in Lower Manhattan, in accordance with local laws and ordinances. This is America. Our commitment to religious freedom must be unshakable. The principle that people of all faiths are welcome in this country and that they will not be treated differently by their government is essential to who we are. The writ of the Founders must endure.”

 

Of course, none of those who have voiced opposition to the mosque project at Ground Zero have claimed that the Islamic group behind the mosque project is acting unlawfully in seeking to construct a mosque. The nearly 70 percent of Americans who oppose building a mosque at Ground Zero oppose the mosque because they believe it is wrong to build a mosque at the site where less than a decade ago Muslims acting in the name of Islam murdered nearly 3,000 people in an act of war against the US and an act of terror against the American people.

 

Obama has been pilloried by his opponents for his position. And his fellow Democrats, facing the likelihood of massive defeats in the Congressional elections in three months, are reportedly deeply frustrated by his statements. Indeed, the uproar Obama’s pro-mosque remarks has unleashed has been so harsh it raises the question of why he made it.

 

THERE ARE two possible explanations for Obama’s move. Either he was motivated by politics or he was motivated by ideology. The view that Obama was motivated by politics is easily dismissed. With more than two-thirds of Americans telling pollsters they oppose the Ground Zero mosque project, it makes no political sense for a politician to strike out a position in favor of the mosque. Indeed, major Democrats have either refused to state a position on the issue or, like New York Governor David Paterson, they have recommended that the mosque builders construct their mosque elsewhere.

 

Perhaps Obama thought he could he could get away with making his statement. However, with his polling numbers consistently eroding, it is hard to imagine Obama’s advisers would have told him that was a realistic view.

 

This leaves ideology. But what ideology motivates Obama to embrace such an unpopular initiative at such an explosive political juncture? Obama and his supporters would like us to believe this is a civil rights issue. In his defense of the Ground Zero mosque, Obama claimed his position was based on the American values such as, “The laws that we apply without regard to race, or religion, or wealth, or status. Our capacity to show not merely tolerance, but respect towards those who are different from us.”

 

But if Obama is motivated by a belief in civil rights that is so strong it propels him to take on deeply unpopular causes in an election season, then one could reasonably expect that his support for civil rights would be absolute. That is, one could expect him to use the same yardstick for all groups, in all places and at all times.

 

But for Obama, there are some groups who must be denied the same civil rights he upholds as absolute in his defense of the plan to build a mosque at Ground Zero. As Obama has made clear since his first days in office, he believes that Jews should be denied the right to their property in Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria simply because they are Jews.

 

OBAMA IS so firm in his belief that Jews should be denied civil rights in Israel’s capital and in the heartland of Jewish history that he has provoked multiple crises in his relations with Israel to advance this bigoted view. Almost from his first day in office Obama has struck out a radical position in which he has insisted that Jews must be prohibited from building anything – synagogues, homes, nurseries, schools – in Judea, Jerusalem and Samaria on land they own. Jews – Israeli and non-Israeli – should be barred from exercising their property rights even if their construction plans have already been approved “in accordance with local laws and ordinances.”

 

At the same time, Obama has insisted that Israel take no action to enforce its “local laws and ordinances” against illegal structures built by Arabs in Jerusalem, Judea, or Samaria.

 

Next month the deeply discriminatory and legally dubious 10-month moratorium on Jewish building in Judea and Samaria that Obama coerced Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu into instituting is set to end. So now Obama is putting the full weight of the White House on Israel to again coerce Netanyahu into prolonging the discriminatory ban that denies the civil rights and property rights of Jews simply because they are Jewish.

 

Obama claims to be embracing the nullification of Jewish civil right in the interests of peace. In his stated view, to forge peace in the Middle East it is necessary for the Palestinians to achieve statehood. But it hard to see how the establishment of a Palestinian state squares with Obama’s purported dedication to civil rights.

 

In a briefing with the Egyptian media last week Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas told reporters that no Jews will be allowed to live in a future Palestinian state. He also said that while he would agree to allow NATO forces to deploy in the future Palestinian state, he would not permit any Jewish soldiers to serve in the NATO units stationed on the territory of such a state. As he put it, “I will not agree that there will be Jews among NATO forces and I will not allow even one Israeli to live amongst us on the Palestinian soil.”

 

The notion that an inherently anti-Semitic Palestinian state, predicated on Jew hatred that strong, could possibly live at peace with Israel is simply ridiculous. But tellingly, in all the American pressure that has been placed on Abbas to begin direct negotiations with Israel, at no time has the administration been reported to have insisted that Abbas abandon his anti-Semitism. Obama has made no statement addressing the fact that the Palestinians demand that Jews be barred from living in the future Palestinian
state. He has certainly not objected to this position although it squares with none of the American values of tolerance and property rights he upheld so strongly in his remarks on the Ground Zero mosque.

 

SO THE ideology Obama holds so strongly that it provokes him to take positions antithetical to the political interests of his party during an election season is not civil rights. Rather it has to do with his commitment to advancing the interests of a specific group or groups over the interests of other specific groups. In the case of the Ground Zero mosque he prefers the rights of Muslims over the values of the overwhelming majority of Americans. In the case of the Palestinians, he prefers their anti-Semitic nationalism over the civil rights of Jews.

 

Obama’s behavior tells Israel’s leaders something very important about how they should think about their relations with the Obama administration. It tells them that Obama is so wed to his ideology that he will push it regardless of political conditions. This means that for Israel, dealing with Obama is like standing on a landmine. Just as a landmine can explode at any minute, Obama can attack Israel at any moment. He is so ideologically bound to the Palestinian cause against Israel that he is liable to provoke a crisis when it is least politically advantageous – from his perspective – for him to do so.

 

This lesson is particularly urgent on the eve of yet another round of direct negotiations with the Palestinians and as the freeze on Jewish property rights is about to expire. Obama’s ideological fanaticism means that nothing Israel does in the upcoming talks will help us.

 

As Obama’s media surrogates like Tony Karon at Time magazine have made clear in recent weeks, the anti-Israel narrative has already coalesced. Everything that happens regarding those negotiations is Israel’s fault. It is Israel’s fault that they haven’t begun. It will be Israel’s fault when they falter. It will be Israel’s fault when they fail. And if they succeed, Israel will still be blameworthy.

 

Facing this US President and his radical ideology, Netanyahu and his deputies must understand that they cannot appease him. They cannot convince him of Israel’s good intentions.

 

The US leader who has rejected the expressed views of 68 percent of his fellow citizens in favor of the construction of a mosque at Ground Zero is not going to be moved by reason. The American President who defends the Ground Zero mosque builders even though their leader refuses to acknowledge that Hamas is a terrorist organization and has claimed that the US had the Sept. 11 attacks coming to it; and the American President who upholds the Palestinian cause even though it is virulently, and often genocidally anti-Semitic is not going to be appeased by Israeli building freezes and other confidence building gestures.

 

What this means is that Netanyahu and his deputies must concentrate on defending Israel and advancing its national interests. It is in Israel’s national interest to guarantee the civil rights and property rights of Jews. It is in Israel’s national interest to forthrightly set out and defend Israel’s legal rights in Judea and Samaria and its sovereignty in united Jerusalem. It is in Israel’s national interest to enforce its laws without prejudice towards all its citizens and expect all its citizens to respect its laws.

 

We are dealing with a self-consciously radical President who intends to remake the US relationship with the Muslim world. We will find no understanding from him.

 

Originally published in The Jerusalem Post. 

 

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36 Comments

  • naomir 08/17/2010 at 8:04

    Caroline, thank you again for putting the issues in their proper perspectives. With Obama’s endorsement of the mosque at Ground Zero, I think US Jews are finally beginning to see the stupidity of their actions in putting this obvious Muslim worshiper in the White House. The bottom line is clear. Neither here in the US or especially in Israel can Jews expect any aid or comfort unless the situation changes dramatically.

    Reply
  • anonymous 08/17/2010 at 8:55

    Netanyahu’s cowardly self-interest is just as anti-Semitic as Obama. If I want to be sold out by a politician I may as well stay in the US rather than move to Israel.

    Reply
  • keren 08/17/2010 at 9:04

    Great analysis Caroline. You certainly show up Obama’s self righteous lawyer speak to be sleazy duplicity.

    Reply
  • marcel 08/17/2010 at 10:21

    ‘Obama’s behavior tells Israel’s leaders something very important ‘
    At the same time Israel’s servile obedience and surrender to the US/Globalist,final solution Road Map agenda, and their latest puppet Obama tells us something about Israel and the lack of leaders and only weak always capitulating followers at the helm.
    Israel’s unwavering and religious determination to follow a failed, scam peace because the Jews want to be led instead of lead has come to it ugly fruition.
    Israel invested all of it’s effort and gambled the nation on the U.S led peace agenda and the game is over.You lose ,no peace only major war awaits.
    Having put all hope and trust in America Babylon even a dunce can see the apocalypitic finale brewing for this national stupidy.
    Israel’s trust in lying idols is soon to be re-paid.
    Islam’s open and genocidal goal of exterminating Israel is no secret to anyone and yet the nations of the world go out of their way to appease this death cult of intolerance and hate and still Israel goes along with the pogrom allowing the US to lead the Jews once again into the modern day gas chamber.
    You get what’s coming because of your own stupidity.

    Reply
  • Loudmer 08/17/2010 at 11:24

    It’s time to admit the USA have a leftist radical President; his interpretation of the Pessah Hagadah read at the White House where he stated that the Palestinian are today the oppressed Hebrew people is a huge slap in the face of history , common sense , plain truth. Obama-Chomsky is the next ticket for elections , what a stupid farcical character.I would like to ask Pdt.Obama what are his ideas about the ” oppressed ” deutsche Sudeten volk , and its mysterious fate after world war two ? Maybe Pdt.Obama will find an illuminating parallel beteween this useful “can-opener” people ( Sudeten at the hands of the nazis )which justified the dismembrement of Tchekoslovakia and today the so-called Palestinians which are a useful tool to break Israel legitimacy. Poor America, poor western world..

    Reply
  • Brad Brzezinski 08/17/2010 at 11:33

    An excellent analysis. Obama has also demonstrated his carelessness of civil rights in the Honduras case and in his embrace – direct or tacit – of so many countries that tread on such rights.

    Reply
  • Anonymous 08/17/2010 at 11:48

    Too bad Caroline doesn’t know about the 1st Amendment to the US Constitution – religious freedom.

    Reply
  • Dan 08/17/2010 at 11:56

    Excellent article, but contains one flaw. Whereas I am among the majority of Americans against the proposed ground zero Mosque, and do regard it as an extremely aggressive act, I also recognize that the destruction at the WTC was primarily due to controlled demolition, and not the crashing planes. Therefore, it is imperative that we stop using 9/11 to exemplify the worldwide jihad against non-Muslims. Probably at least 50% of American adults understand that there is something fishy about 9/11.

    Reply
  • Marc Handelsman, USA 08/17/2010 at 12:45

    The ideology that motivates President Obama to embrace unpopular initiatives like endorsing a mosque near Ground Zero is Neo-Liberalism. Neo-libs are not the New Deal Democrats of the 1930’s, but are left-wing ideologues who hijacked the Democratic Party. That explains why President Obama has the political instincts of Jimmy Carter, and will mostly likely be a “one-term fiasco.” The President could care less, if he wins a second-term because he won the Presidency, Nobel Peace Prize, and overhauled healthcare. His last goal is the creation of a Shangri-La called Palestine.

    Reply
  • gijemi 08/17/2010 at 13:52

    Nice update on the old grade school composition “Contrast and compare.” Why can’t our so-called “Jewish Leaders’ see this. Wisdom from the New Testament: There are none so blind who will not see.”

    Reply
  • Anonymous 08/17/2010 at 16:43

    Does the placing of mosque building have anything to do with religion. Not in my opinion. It has to do with freedom of speech which as all now know has its strict limitations. The right to freedom of speech has been interpreted so that hate speech which offends others is liable to prosecution. In the eyes of millions of Americans what ia taking place is symbolic speech (something like flag burning) that is offensive to millions of Americans. It recalls posting a portrait of Jesus’ mother Mary in the Brooklyn museum (now known as the BM) in elephant dung. In fact, Muslim practice now claims the space on which the building is erected as permanent Muslim soil.

    Reply
  • David Custis Kimball 08/17/2010 at 17:52

    Dear Caroline,
    I recently found this 1790 dialogue between Moses Seixas of the Hebrew Congregation in Newport, Rhode Island upon receiving George Washington there:
    http://gwpapers.virginia.edu/documents/hebrew/address.html
    I pray that their blessing of G.W. in his struggles would give you some hope that your struggles like those that ‘delivered David from the peril of the sword’ would reflect on the unbreakable bond between our Founding Dad, George and your Netanyahu, as conflicted, but as brave and brilliant and holy as Moses Seixas to so honor and inspire the great attribute which is common to us both … our bond with what is surely of eternity… ‘Philanthropy, Mutual Confidence and Publick Virtue.’
    G.W. wished that we would ‘sit in safety under his own vine and figtree, and there shall be none to make him afraid’. He open us up to all ‘Children of the Stock of Abraham’, including Muslim(even if unsaid). But ‘who dwell in this land, continue to merit and enjoy the good will of the other…’
    Both Moses and George know that Israel ‘continue to merit’ each other, the USA and Israel. It is the other Abraham stock that have cast themselves out of this sacred trust.
    And yes, it seems Barak Obama has cast himself with the lot of the meritless.
    I am inspired and happy to acknowledge that we can still be eternally bound as friends, Israel and USA … no matter what happens with Islam’s descent into darkness.
    And George Washington would I’m sure pray this to you and Beni Netanyahu as he did to Moses Seixas and his congregation:
    ‘May the father of all mercies scatter light and not darkness in our paths, and make us all in our several vocations useful here, and in his own due time and way everlastingly happy.’
    George had and has great trust that Israel will do the right thing, confront evil, defend herself and her people and wisely find satisfaction for those who wish happiness, see a lighted path and recognize good will.
    Their spirits pray confidently and I would welcome anyone else’s who reads this.

    Reply
  • Geoffrey Britain 08/17/2010 at 18:14

    “Too bad Caroline doesn’t know about the 1st Amendment to the US Constitution – religious freedom.”
    Ah, the troll Obama apologist raises its head.
    “I also recognize that the destruction at the WTC was primarily due to controlled demolition, and not the crashing planes.”
    Ah, the ‘truther’ in the crowd raises its head. Hey, how’s former US czar Van Jones doing these days Dan?
    Question: Does any agreement Netanyahu signs with the Palestinians have to be approved by the Knesset?
    Observation: If Netanyahu does nothing and lets Iran get the bomb, his gov’t. will fall. If Netanyahu attacks Iran, his gov’t. will fall. So, no matter what he does regarding Iran, his gov’t. will fall.
    This is a perfect reflection of the divided opinion and resulting gridlock of Israeli society.

    Reply
  • Robert Pereira 08/17/2010 at 18:21

    It’s 1938 and Judea and Samaria are the Sudetenland…

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  • Repstones 08/17/2010 at 19:28

    who intends to remake the US relationship with the Muslim world.
    So you seem to prefer the status quo – having the US invade an occupy various Muslim countries at any given time. Yes Ms Glick, that really does sound a lot better than building bridges with the Muslim world.

    Reply
  • Charles Smyth 08/17/2010 at 19:44

    It could be seen as an effort by Obama to gain electoral support and party financing from the Muslim world over fears that the Jewish vote will be lost along with campaign contributions from the pro-Israeli lobby groups, if he and his administration continue to appease Israel’s enemies. After all, there was once a time when the Irish-American vote was desperately important, but that has been greatly marginalized by way of the Hispanic population.

    Reply
  • anonymous 2 08/17/2010 at 19:44

    Anonymous of 11:48am
    It’s you, Obama, and Bloomberg who don’t know that building any house of worship is not an absolute right but is subject to local zoning laws, health and safety regulations, demolition codes, building codes, and handicapped access regulations according to the Aid to Disabled Americans Act. Any community has the right to protest a building that would threaten the health, safety, traffic patterns, and peace of that neighbourhood. I’d have had city inspectors thicker than fleas on a camel on the contractors for the muzzie bastards.

    Reply
  • Susan 08/17/2010 at 21:34

    “Religious FREEDOM – Not having a complete moron trying to force Islam down our American throats! Islam is an evil ideology just as I think this so-called “president” is.
    Obama is trying to silence Christians as he supports Islam as well!
    Yes I do think that he was “elected” to do just what he is doing..and I know it is not within his pay scale to have thought all this up by his-self.
    Israel IS America’s ally..Always was… antisemitism is a seed of Satan himself. Straight up outta the deepest dankest cell in Hell.

    Reply
  • Anonymous 08/17/2010 at 21:34

    How did Obama even get into the elections?
    I have heard speculation that he was not even born in the United States? If this is so, how did this happen? That a Muslim is acting as President of the strongest country in the world? This is scary, this is disgusting, this is extremely sinister!

    Reply
  • rayturner 08/17/2010 at 21:55

    As always, Caroline demonstrates her intellectual superiority when it comes to the infantile mindset of the person who currently occupies the Oval Office. Barack Obama’s feigned attempt to cover up his intentions by citing the Constitution is a grandiose deception. He only cares about the first amendment when it’s expedient for him. If Christians wanted to pray at school by themselves, he would demand that they cease, and invoke his liberal ideaology to demand that we silence free speech and freedom of religion in the name of seperation of church and state. It’s a blatant hypocrisy to tell israel it shouldn’t build settlements on it’s own land, and to continue to demand concessions in trying to force a false peace that will not last. The consequences for Israel are deadly when it comes to his ideaological mindset.

    Reply
  • ephtog 08/18/2010 at 0:07

    I do not agree that that Obama is motivated by ideology i.e The First Amendment. Its a smokescreen. He wants a fast track to totalitarian government. What is one way to do it? Hire some killers. To get a glimpse one has to look at what he means by fundamentally transforming the US. There is one reason why he is cozy with the Muslim Brotherhood, the allies of the Nazis (which have yet to be punished for WWII-Der Grosse Mufti al-Husseini). They both want totalitarian government.
    Historically, during the 7th century, Islam uprooted the remenant of the Roman Empire’s System of commerce and laws which the Visigoths, Franks, Ostrogoths and etc. ran after being absorbed in the vacuum that was created after the Roman Empire collapsed. This plunged Europe into the Dark Ages and put Europe on a path of a 1000 year war footing to stop Islam. Islam, then, failed to conquer Europe.
    This time the Muslim Brotherhood and Obama want fundamental change incrementally. Last Saturday Obama let the cat out of the bag with his intentions and his support for Sharia Law as a front against The Republic of the USA.

    Reply
  • Mongo 08/18/2010 at 1:02

    Oh, blow it out your rightwing hole with your Bolton type BS. Your rightwing failed, we are trying the better way.

    Reply
  • Sue 08/18/2010 at 5:08

    Building a Ground Zero mosque is indeed a stark act of aggression. Makes me want to say to its supporters, “Go ahead. Build your mosque…on the day you support the construction of the most beautiful big synagogue on the Temple Mount and full worshipping and visiting rights to the whole hill extended to all Jews and Christians.”

    Reply
  • Marcel 08/18/2010 at 8:24

    The only way Muslim ascendancy could happen in America is with the help of the government media globalists now in firm in control of both parties.
    Having successfully dumbed down the masses,Islam is making lightening inroads into America as the government imports them by the hundreds of thousands yearly to bring it all down.
    This same Tower of Babel gang have been in control of Israel for a long time and this is why the people of Israel don’t resist the final, final solution.
    They’ve been dumbed down and believe the lies their government and media have fed them and the Bolshevik police state reminds the religious Jews who is god in Israel.
    It’s religious supremacy for only one religion with the globalist New World Order agenda. Christian’s and Jews have long ago been thrown overboard to second class status and this below is just one of many examples of this.
    Of course Imam Bloomberg has nothing to say about this overt double standard that refutes their ‘religious freedom argument for the Ground Zero Mosque and exposess them and Obama as the liars they are.
    ‘The Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America accused New York officials on Tuesday of turning their backs on the reconstruction of the only church destroyed in the Sept. 11 attacks, while the controversial mosque near Ground Zero moves forward.
    The sidelined project is the St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church, a tiny, four-story building destroyed in 2001 when one of the World Trade Center towers fell on top of it. Nobody from the church was hurt in the attack, but the congregation has for the past eight years been trying to rebuild its house of worship.
    While the mosque project cleared red tape earlier this month, negotiations between the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey and the church stalled last year — and will not be revived, according to government officials. Though the particulars of the two projects are completely different and on the surface unrelated, the church and its supporters see a disconnect in the way the proposals have been handled.’
    http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2010/08/17/ground-zero-church-archdiocese-says-officials-forgot/

    Reply
  • anonymous 2 08/18/2010 at 10:00

    Ertog, Obama is more an Tzip Erdogan rather than a Hugo Chavez, he has to impose his totalitarian plans gradually.

    Reply
  • carlos 08/18/2010 at 10:41

    all i can say is God help us all.we lose whether we bomb iran’s nuclear program and we also lose if we do not stop them.although i believe we already lost even before obama became president.the seeds of these demon plants or weeds were sown decades ago.the usa has shown repeatedly that it does not stand by its friends.recent example honduras.we have a chavez in power because a george bush said he had been elected democratically.so the the removal by the military failed.now look at the results.the usa turned its back on the shah of iran.i pray that God protects our great nation and that we are guided by leaders with wisdom and good faith towards it citizens.

    Reply
  • Geoffrey Britain 08/18/2010 at 12:12

    Those who advocate “building bridges” to the Muslim world, reveal their utter ignorance of the reality with which Israel and the West are confronted.
    You build bridges AFTER you’ve defeated your enemy, because if you build a bridge before the conflict is resolved, the enemy will use the bridge as another avenue for attack…
    And those who think that appeasement, is the “better way” reveal that they have failed to learn history’s lessons.
    “We should seek by all means in our power to avoid war, by analyzing possible causes, by trying to remove them, by discussion in a spirit of collaboration and good will. I cannot believe that such a program would be rejected by the people of this country, even if it does mean the establishment of personal contact with dictators, and of talks man to man on the basis that each, while maintaining his own ideas of the internal government of his country, is willing to allow that other systems may better suit other peoples.” –Neville Chamberlain, explaining Munich
    “Britain and France had to choose between war and dishonor. They chose dishonor. They will have war.” Winston Churchill

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  • Dan 08/18/2010 at 13:27

    Again, the worldwide jihad against the non-muslim world existed long before 9/11, and will likely continue for a long time to come. While the precise details of 9/11 are not very important in this overall picture, it is critical that we stop using 9/11 as the pretext, for example, for opposing the proposed mosque. The proposed mosque is an extremely aggressive act because of the appearance that it would be built on the site of an Islamist military victory over the United States. What happens, however, if the true nature of 9/11 is much different than the official story? Although a jihad aspect may indeed have been involved, the truth must be much more complicated, because the WTC destruction could not physically have been caused by the official fire-induced collapse hypothesis. It was accomplished, instead, by controlled demolition, and we now have, in the open literature, dust analysis proving the existence of many tons of exotic explosives. By refraining from using 9/11 as a pretext for defending ourselves against radical-Islam, we skirt the problem of having legitimate arguments thrown out with the bath water, and a great proposganda victory handed to the enemy.

    Reply
  • Walter 08/18/2010 at 18:27

    on August 17, 2010 11:48 AM,
    ‘Anonymous’ said,
    “Too bad Caroline doesn’t know about the 1st Amendment to the US Constitution – religious freedom.”
    +++
    ‘Anonymous’,
    You speak of ‘religious freedom’ […as guaranteed within the US Constitution].
    But i think that it is ludicrous to equate philosophies such as Judaism and Christianity, with a philosophy like ISLAM.
    “If anyone desires a religion other than Islam (submission to Allah), never will it be accepted of him;….”
    Koran 3.85

    ‘Anonymous’,
    IMO, it is *ludicrous* and *obscene*, when people like yourself connect ISLAM, and the concept of ‘religious freedom’, but then intellectually, go ‘off the planet’, and *REFUSE* to subject ISLAM, its foundation texts, and its clearly violent, and *INTOLERANT* doctrines, to critical examination.
    Why is that ‘Anonymous’???
    Why are you prepared to happily wallow in your ignorance, of what ISLAM actually is?
    Or perhaps, the truth is, that you are NOT ignorant of what ISLAM actually is?
    e.g. These quotes are samples from ISLAM’s foundation texts;
    “Allah’s Apostle was asked, “What is the best deed?” He replied, “To believe in Allah and His Apostle (Muhammad). The questioner then asked, “What is the next (in goodness)? He replied, “To participate in Jihad (religious fighting) in Allah’s Cause.” ”
    hadith/bukhari/ #001.002.025
    see also,
    hadith/bukhari/ #004.052.065
    hadith/bukhari/ #004.052.080i
    hadith/bukhari/ #004.052.196
    “O ye who believe! Fight those of the disbelievers who are near to you, and let them find harshness in you, and know that Allah is with those who keep their duty (unto Him).”
    Koran 9.123
    “Fighting [against unbelievers] is prescribed for you, and [if] ye dislike it…..Allah knoweth, and ye know not.”
    Koran 2.216
    “…And why should ye not fight in the cause of Allah….
    Those who believe fight in the cause of Allah, and those who reject Faith Fight in the cause of Evil…”
    Koran 4.74-76
    “Those who believe in Allah and the Last Day ask thee for no exemption from fighting […against ‘unbelievers’]…”
    Koran 9.44
    “O ye who believe! Take not my enemies and yours as friends (or protectors),- offering them (your) love,…”
    Koran 60.1
    i.e. ISLAMIC doctrine, ‘unbelievers’ are the enemy of Allah, and ‘unbelievers’ are the enemy of every good moslem.
    “….take not the Jews and the Christians for your friends….
    ……he amongst you that turns to them (for friendship) is of them.”
    Koran 5.51
    i.e. ISLAMIC ‘religious’ texts declare, that a moslem who makes a sincere friendship with an ‘unbeliever’,
    1/ *is* an ‘unbeliever’,
    2/ becomes an ‘apostate’/rebel, and,
    3/ is worthy of death, at the hand of good moslems.
    ISLAMIC law states that [all] moslems may ‘lawfully’ kill ‘unbelievers’…
    “Ibn ‘Abbas reported that the Prophet said: “The bare essence of Islam and the basics of the religion are three [acts], upon which Islam has been established. Whoever leaves one of them becomes an unbeliever and his blood may legally be spilled. [The acts are:] Testifying that there is no God except Allah, the obligatory prayers, and the fast of Ramadan.”….”
    law/fiqhussunnah/fus3_50 #3.110
    n.b. “Whoever……*becomes an unbeliever*…..his blood may legally be spilled.”
    And that determination is essentially repeated in the Hadith;
    “…the Prophet said, If somebody (a Muslim) discards his religion, kill him.”
    hadith/bukhari/ #004.052.260
    ‘Anonymous’,
    Do you believe, that proponents of ISLAM, within the USA, should be extended the ‘religious freedom’ to teach [to fellow moslems] that every moslem has a religious obligation to terrorise, subjugate [enslave], and/or kill, those who do not believe as they believe??? [We in the West, have come to commonly refer to that moslem ‘religious obligation’, by the common ISLAMIC term, ‘Jihad’.]
    Do you believe, that proponents of ISLAM, within the USA, should be extended the ‘religious freedom’ to teach [fellow moslems] that it is ‘lawful’, for moslems to kill those who do not believe, as they believe???
    Every moslem living within a non-moslem host nation [by self declaring as a moslem], is self declaring a criminal intent [by our laws] against local non-moslems.
    ISLAM is a philosophy which requires a criminal compact among moslems [a religious obligation!], that when they have the means, moslems [where they live] have a religious obligation to wage a violent ‘religious’ war against non-moslems [‘unbelievers’].
    All cognisant moslems themselves, know this intent to be true, and deny and hide this criminal ‘religious’ intent from their non-moslem host communities.
    ‘Anonymous’,
    You speak of ‘religious freedom’, as though the right to oppress and murder those who do not believe as they believe, should be extended as a ‘religious freedom’ to moslems.
    Do you know, that ISLAM teaches moslems that it is ‘lawful’ [i.e. that it is a ‘religious freedom’ !!], for moslems to kill those who do not believe, as they believe???
    Should we [who live within pluralist societies] extend to all persons, to all citizens, the same rights, no matter their intentions, no matter their [self expressed] ‘convictions’?
    e.g.
    Should the US government extend 2nd amendment rights to people who are convicted bank robbers, or to persons with convictions for criminal violence???
    IMO, to do so would be ludicrous and insane!
    In the same way, i think that it is ludicrous for non-moslem host nations to uncritically equate [religious] philosophies such as Judaism and Christianity, with a [political] philosophy like ISLAM, and to extend a ‘free hand’ to those who promote ISLAM, and their violent supremacist philosophy, as a right of ‘religious freedom’.

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  • Walter 08/18/2010 at 20:24

    on August 17, 2010 11:48 AM,
    ‘Anonymous’ said,
    “Too bad Caroline doesn’t know about the 1st Amendment to the US Constitution – religious freedom.”
    +++
    “….the death of those who are killed for the cause of God gives more impetus to the cause, which continues to thrive on their blood.”
    ISLAMIC scholar, Sayyid Qutb – speaking of the ‘religious freedom’ which moslems demand for themselves.
    A moslem, is a person who *chooses* to embrace a philosophy [ISLAM] which tells moslems that it is ‘lawful’, for moslems to kill, those who do not believe, as they believe.
    ‘Anonymous’,
    And here is another perspective on those ‘religious freedom’ rights which are guaranteed by the US constitution…
    “William Kilpatrick….starts off by confronting the argument of libertarian Steve Chapman that the construction of the Ground Zero mosque should not be opposed because our Constitution requires us to treat all religions the same. Kilpatrick’s reply is that it makes no more sense to treat Christianity and Islam the same because we believe that all religions are the same….Equality means treating similar classes of persons or entities equally, it does not mean treating different classes of persons or entities equally. Only an equality divorced from reality would insist on treating the religion that is part of the foundation of our civilization the same as the religion that aims at the crushing and enslavement of our civilization.” ….by Lawrence Auster
    http://www.amnation.com/vfr/archives/017026.html
    IMO, this generation of mankind has lost the ability to discern between good and evil.
    The Judeao-Christian standards and morality, that guided our present culture in its formative period, has been abandoned.
    Why is that?
    Today, our children are taught that it is wrong to try to ‘discriminate’ between ‘good’ and ‘evil’.
    Today, they and we, are taught that essentially, good and evil do not exist.
    And that all people are equally like us.
    Today, those who abandon standards, and moral discernment are said to be ‘tolerant’.
    And we are taught that to differentiate the merits of different cultures, is wrong, and ‘racist’.
    +++
    “Unlimited tolerance must lead to the disappearance of tolerance. If we extend unlimited tolerance even to those who are intolerant, if we are not prepared to defend a tolerant society against the onslaught of the intolerant, then the tolerant will be destroyed, and tolerance with them.”
    Karl Popper
    “Tolerance becomes a crime when applied to evil.”
    Thomas Mann

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  • Ahmad Ameen 08/19/2010 at 2:11

    Caroline says:
    “The notion that an inherently anti-Semitic Palestinian state, predicated on Jew hatred that strong, could possibly live at peace with Israel is simply ridiculous”
    What a revelation Caroline just stated !! If I was a Palestinian, I would make sure to be grateful and appreciate all the good things Israel did for my people over the last six decades, the problem is that I cannot name one.
    I believe that the early decision to hate Arabs and Palestinians in order to build Israel was a fatal mistake. Just imagine if any Israel can say this to the Palestinians:
    “Look around, do you want to live in the any of the Arab countries and share the misery of your Arab brothers, leaving the sophisticated life style Israel provided to you?”

    Reply
  • Geoffrey Britain 08/19/2010 at 13:12

    “If I was a Palestinian, I would make sure to be grateful and appreciate all the good things Israel did for my people over the last six decades, the problem is that I cannot name one.” Ahmad Ameen
    You cannot name one or you won’t name one? That’s a rhetorical question BTW. Muslims in general live far better in Israel with far more rights than in any Islamic country. There are a number of Muslims in Israel’s Knesset, name just one Jew in ANY Islamic country’s governing body. You can’t, can you?
    “I believe that the early decision to hate Arabs and Palestinians in order to build Israel was a fatal mistake.”
    You don’t believe that at all. You intentionally have it exactly reversed, just another example of Taqqiya in action. It’s the Arabs and Palestinians who ‘decided’ to follow the Qur’an instructions to hate the Jews. A typical, pathetic attempt at historical revisionism.
    Supposedly, Islam acknowledges the validity of The Ten Commandments. You’ve just broken two of them, you’ve told lies (to knowingly tell an untruth) and born false witness (to knowingly accuse the innocent of an untruth) against your Jewish brothers and sisters.
    The practice of Taqqiya is directly in conflict with the Ten Commandments, which is unequivocal in its condemnation of lying, making NO exceptions. How do you square that circle? And if you can’t, then Allah the God you worship is NOT Moses’ or Jesus’ God…
    Which makes Islam’s pretense to be of ‘the Book’ a lie. And that leads to another point; the Ten Commandments has another Commandment that’s relevant; thou shall have no other Gods before me”…Islam has placed Allah (who we’ve just established is not either the Jewish or Christian God) before God and doing that is directly contrary to God’s law…
    Hhmm, Islam is theo-logically breaking at least 3 of the 10 Commandments…and is thus opposed to God’s laws. What entity, at war with God, might that serve?
    You’re on the wrong side ‘dude’, aligned with Cain, not Abel and your side is still, even after all this time, committing murder…which makes your actions evil. And ‘evil’ interestingly enough is ‘live’ spelled backwards. The God of the Bible is for life, not death… while Allah in the Qur’an calls for the ‘death of the infidel’ more than 12,000 times, which makes it not a religion but a death cult.

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  • ephtog 08/19/2010 at 23:15

    To Mongo:
    Santana, the Spanish philosopher once said, “Those who don’t know their history are doomed to repeat it.” Well good buddy you better change your name. Mongo was a planet in the old Flash Gordon Serials from the 30’s in America. The planet Mongo was ruled by a tyrannical king. Wanna be a tyrannical king good buddy? You’re small ego, feeling driven mind makes you irrelevant. Better change your name to “another socialist dunce” or how about Ming the Merciless.

    Reply
  • beniyyar 08/20/2010 at 10:10

    Okay the Obama administration will be difficult for Israel to deal with positively, possibly impossible to deal with.
    And yet Obama is still the only game in town. Ineed, even after Obama’s party is routed in November’s mid term election, he will still be managing American foreign policy for the next couple of years, albeit severely weakened.
    But the problems of Obama’s hostility to Israel and seeming antagonism towards the Jewish People remains and these problems will have to be confronted and dealt with.
    Israel must maintain the fiction that everything is just fine with Obama, and that we are working hand in glove with the Americans in every sphere, particularly regarding the Palestinian Israeli peace process.
    Israel must always keep in mind that most non Jewish Americans and a majority of Jewish Americans still feel a deep support of Israel and are heartily distrustful and hostile towards the Arabs. But if Israel behaves in a hostile manner, even towards Obama and even with provocation, that support could diminish. Rather Israel must stay on the high road with Obama, and treat his insults and hostility as minor and acceptable disagreements that all allies have from time to time.
    Soon enough Obama will be history, and the next American President will restore the trust, support, and friendship that are the real characteristics of the Israeli American relationship.

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  • cmtsquared 08/20/2010 at 13:05

    Dear Caroline,
    While writing this note I am almost in tears. Not so much for the truth of which you have written of our President and his ideology, but I am almost in tears because it requires a journalist in another country to understand what is happening here in the United States of America.
    In your article you wrote, “…dealing with Obama is like standing on a landmine. Just as a landmine can explode at any minute, Obama can attack Israel at any moment.” Including myself, many people I know here in America feel the same way as you have stated but we are not just standing on the landmine we are literally tap-dancing on the landmine while Obama and his cult covertly attacks the principles and beliefs of all true Americans and freedom throughout the world. As you stated no matter what PM Netanyahu, or the entire State of Israel says or does it will be “Israel’s fault”. I too know that to support my heartfelt comments regarding our illegal muslim president with detailed examples and explanations will not be seen as anything other than me being simply a white republican racist. Let’s pray that the U.S. elections in November will have a positive effect for not just the residents here in the states but for freedom loving people around the world.
    CMT
    Houston, Texas, USA

    Reply
  • michelle 08/25/2010 at 14:10

    Caroline,
    You are wonderful. Keep up the good work.
    Michelle

    Reply

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