Zionism – Features

Israels fated bleak future

by MRN
January 1, 2013July 25, 2013

By John J. Mearsheimer

(source: Chicago Tribune.com)

President Barack Obama has finally coaxed Israel and the Palestinians back to the negotiating table. He and most Americans hope that the talks will lead to the creation of a Palestinian state in Gaza and the West Bank. Regrettably, that is not going to happen. Instead, those territories are almost certain to be incorporated into a "Greater Israel," which will then be an apartheid state bearing a marked resemblance to white-ruled South Africa.

There are four possible futures regarding Israel and the occupied territories. The outcome that gets the most attention is the two-state solution, where a Palestinian state would control 95 percent or more of the West Bank and all of Gaza, and territorial swaps would compensate the Palestinians for those small pieces of the West Bank that Israel would keep. East Jerusalem would be its capital.

The alternatives to a two-state solution all involve creating a Greater Israel — an Israel that effectively controls Gaza and the West Bank. In the first scenario, it would become a democratic binational state in which Palestinians and Jews enjoy equal political rights. This solution would mean abandoning the original Zionist vision of a Jewish state, since Palestinians would eventually outnumber Jews.

Why are so many Isaraelis arrested over illegal arms deals worldwide?

by MRN
January 1, 2013July 25, 2013

The U.S. authorities’ recent arrest of an Israeli for seeking to sell arms to Somalia raises disturbing questions and answers

By Yossi Melman

(source: Haaretz)

At least seven Israeli arms dealers are currently in jail in four countries – the United States, Russia, France and Britain – on charges of illegal arms dealing. Some of them are also suspected of crimes such as forgery, bribery, money laundering and violating UN Security Council embargoes. Such arrests are briefly covered in Israel and then forgotten. But they have a cumulative effect that is very damaging to Israel’s image, or what remains of it.

Even though it is doubtful whether those in jail know one another, they have quite a lot in common. All are men in their fifties or sixties. All are well to do (or were in the past ), having made most of their money in international arms dealing or in exporting security services and equipment from Israel. They served in the Israel Defense Forces and reached mid-level ranks (from captain to lieutenant colonel ), and when they were arrested, they denied the charges. Friends who came to their assistance described them, naturally, as "the salt of the earth."

All seven are familiar faces in the corridors of the defense establishment, and at one time received arms dealing permits from the Defense Ministry. All sought to "expedite procedures" in violation of local or international laws, and did so out of pure greed. Due to this covetousness, they also fell into traps and can expect to face many years in jail.
Shimon Naor-Hershkowitz is detained in France and will apparently be extradited to Romania, where he will serve an 11-year jail sentence. He was convicted of forging documents (end-user certificates ) that he used to purchase Romanian arms together with a Romanian partner (who later informed on him to the authorities ). The arms were ostensibly destined for Togo, but in reality were sent to rebels in Angola.

Tough times ahead as Zuma reaches defining moment

by MRN
January 1, 2013July 25, 2013

By Iqbal Jassat

September 2010 will usher in the ANC’s National General Council and all expectations are that the Zuma presidency will regard it as a defining moment of make or break.

Amidst a wave of countrywide protests and huge outcries for better wages and more jobs, it seems impossible to imagine that only weeks ago the country was caught up in passionate euphoria over the soccer world cup.

National pride was in a state of ecstasy then. Unbelievable levels of efficiency and tight security measures characterized South Africa’s international showcase. Whether FIFA or its enigmatic Sepp Blatter was effectively at the helm of this country did not matter. What mattered was that every conceivable state function seemed to work in harmony.

News reports dominating headlines today seem to have backtracked so swiftly to the pre-WC2010 era, that many would find it unworthy of the soccer festival themed country.

Yet the harsh reality is that there cannot be any permanent escape to few fleeting moments of bliss when we as a country do indeed face tough challenges. While these may be described as socio-economic by some commentators, a fundamental challenge is that of governance.

Chief rabbi wrong to deny existence of apartheid in Isarael

by MRN
January 1, 2013July 25, 2013

Archbishop Tutu wont be fooled or silenced by his plea!

By Iqbal Jassat – Chairman, Media Review Network

The late Palestinian author and eloquent spokesman for the Palestinian cause in the West, Edward W. Said, in a ‘96 essay titled ‘Mandela, Netanyahu, and Arafat’ brilliantly captured the contrasts amongst these leaders.

But the defining gaps were not related to personalities; instead Said unpacked crucial differences related to and informed by ideology. For instance he cited Nelson Mandela’s commitment to the African National Congress’ [ANC] single goal for which it was created: the end of apartheid, and the institution of legal equality – one person, one vote – between blacks and whites.

On the other hand, Benjamin Netanyahu, who incidentally was on his first official trip to the United States, represented bigotry and falsehood. Today almost fifteen years later, one will fully appreciate Said’s critic of this man. His analysis likened Netanyahu to all other Israeli leaders who denied the past and the reality of the Palestinians. Netanyahu was a man insensitive to the human toll caused by Israel to literally millions of Arabs, claimed one of the leading authorities on the Middle East.

Having read South Africa’s Chief Rabbi Warren Goldstein’s open letter to Archbishop Desmond Tutu, I am reminded of the above analogy and thus tempted to attribute Said’s brutal assessment of Netanyahu to Goldstein.

And the reason for doing so is relatively easy once you read and
understand the Chief Rabbi’s shameless denial that “Israel is not an
apartheid state”. And to underpin his misleading assertion, he seeks to
confound it by another blatant untruth: “In the state of Israel all
citizens – Jew and Arab – are equal before the law”.