The Middle-East!

There really are no good guys and bad guys when it comes to the Middle-East kids!

Nooooo!

All we have are shades of grey. I admit that some are greyer than others but there is nothing black and white for sure!

When we look at the different players, some might be leaning more toward the lighter shades and some more towards the "dark side" [sic] but they are all the same as we ourselves are.

By that I mean that each and every one of us can recall all the good guys and the bad guys that we've been, all the hero's and the villains, and the people in between.

So let no one claim the moral high ground bunky, because that would be casting the first stone!

With that in mind lets notice a few exceptions or anomalies, if you will!

Yasssar Arafat was leader of the PLO and seen by many as a hero of the Palestinian cause but it is generally accepted that Camp David would have succeeded if not for Yassar's intransigence. (Yassar always said No-ssar!) And while we are on the subject, where in the hell did he get almost a Billion dollars which he squirreled away in banks around Europe!

Yassar........ the guy was filthy rich while most Palestinians lived in poverty!

'Splain that one to me!

Now, let's get around to the big picture in the Middle-East and tackled a subject that is much more important than the Palestinian one!

A top Israeli official said today that if Iran continues with its alleged nuclear arms programme, Israel will attack it.

Speaking to Yediot Ahronot newspaper, Deputy Prime Minister Shaul Mofaz said sanctions on Iran were ineffective.

Earlier this week, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said Iran's nuclear programme must be stopped by what he termed all possible means.

"The international community has a duty and responsibility to clarify to Iran, through drastic measures, that the repercussions of their continued pursuit of nuclear weapons will be devastating," Mr Olmert said.

Iran insists that its nuclear programme is for peaceful purposes but it is defying a demand from the UN Security Council to stop the enrichment of uranium.

"If Iran continues with its programme for developing nuclear weapons, we will attack it. The sanctions are ineffective," Mr Mofaz told Yediot Ahronot.

"Attacking Iran, in order to stop its nuclear plans, will be unavoidable," he said.

To this argument there are loud cries that Israel has up to 150 nuclear weapons so why are they so paranoid about Iran?

It's quite simple my friend. Although not running around with the white hat and riding a white horse, Israel is at least rational and responsible, while Iran and many other countries in the Middle-East are unstable, subject to religious uprisings and generally are considered lose cannons by World wide diplomatic circles!

In other words Israel isn't likely to use it's nuclear weapons, and especially not for a first strike.

With the Iranians it's a different matter entirely!

We don't know, and certainly can't take that chance!

Your "tell it like it is" scribe;
Allan W Janssen

Allan W Janssen is the author of the book The Plain Truth About God (What the mainstream religions don't want you to know!) and is available at the web site www.God-101.com

Visit the blog "Perspective" at http://Allans-Perspective.blogspot.com

Stupid is as stupid does!

Lebanon, the West Bank and Gaza are all in a state of virtual civil war.
Aided by Syria/Iran on one side and the United States on the other, Hamas and Fatah have escalated their sectarian fighting to unprecedented levels and the conflict has the potential to spread to other parts of the Middle-East as well.

Israel has been on high alert for the last 60 years or so against Arab aggression and repeated calls to wipe them off the map.

But, if things continue the way they are going, all the Israeli's will have to do in the next little while is sit back and laugh their asses off while the Arabs self-destruct!!!

Not much from that area can surprise me anymore!



Your "live from the front" scribe;
Allan W Janssen

Allan W Janssen is the author of The Plain Truth About God-101 (what the church doesn't want you to know!) www.God-101.com

Worse Than Tunnel Vision!

Israeli newspapers have printed photos of Defence Minister Amir Peretz trying to watch military manoeuvres through binoculars with the lens caps still on. Mr Peretz was inspecting troops in the Golan Heights with the Israeli army's new chief of staff, Gen Gabi Ashkenazi.

But, one Israeli paper pointed out that he is not the first prominent official to make this mistake. According to the daily Yediot Ahronot, US President George W Bush and former Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon have both done the same thing.

These guys have been accused in the past of having "tunnel vision," but this beats that by a country mile!

Your "on the front lines" scribe;
Allan W Janssen

Guest Post: Tim McGirk!

Brace yourself. James Cameron, the man who brought you "The Titanic" is back with another blockbuster.

This time, the ship he's sinking is Christianity.

In a new documentary, Producer Cameron and his director, Simcha Jacobovici, make the startling claim that Jesus wasn't resurrected --the cornerstone of Christian faith-- and that his burial cave has been discovered near Jerusalem.

And get this, Jesus sired a son with Mary Magdalene.

(Gee, I wrote that in my book; "The plain truth about God-101" [what the church doesn't want you to know!] about six years ago!

And no, it's not a re-make of "The Da Vinci Code."

Let's go back 27 years, when Israeli construction workers were gouging out the foundations for a new building in the industrial park in the Talpiyot, a Jerusalem suburb. of Jerusalem.

The earth gave way, revealing a 2,000 year old cave with 10 stone caskets.

Archeologist's were summoned, and the stone caskets carted away for examination.

It took 20 years for experts to decipher the names on the ten tombs. They were: Jesua, son of Joseph, Mary, Mary, Mathew, Jofa and Judah, son of Jesua.

Israel's prominent archaeologist Professor Amos Kloner didn't associate the crypt with the New Testament Jesus. His father, after all, was a humble carpenter who couldn't afford a luxury crypt for his family. And all were common Jewish names.

There was also this little inconvenience that a few miles away, in the old city of Jerusalem, Christians for centuries had been worshipping the empty tomb of Christ at the Church of the Holy Sepulcher.

Christ's resurrection, after all, is the main foundation of the faith, proof that a boy born to a carpenter's wife in a manger is the Son of God.

But film-makers Cameron and Jacobovici claim to have amassed evidence through DNA tests, archaeological evidence and Biblical studies, that the 10 coffins belong to Jesus and his family.

Ever the showman, (Why does this remind me of the impresario in another movie,"King Kong", whose hubris blinds him to the dangers of an angry and very large ape?) Cameron is holding a New York press conference on Monday at which he will reveal that three of the coffins are supposedly those of Jesus of Nazareth, his mother Mary, and Mary Magdalene.

News about the film, which will be shown soon on Discovery Channel, Britain's Channel 4, Canada's Vision, and Israel's Channel 8, has been a hot blog topic in the Middle East (check out a personal favorite: Israelity Bites)

In the Holy Land, Biblical Archeology is a dangerous profession. This 90-minute documentary is bound to outrage Christians and stir up a titanic debate between believers and skeptics. Stay tuned.
--Tim McGirk/Jerusalem

In spite of what McGirk said in his post, Bar-Ilan University Prof. Amos Kloner, the Jerusalem District archaeologist who officially oversaw the work at the tomb in 1980 and has published detailed findings on its contents, on Saturday night dismissed the claims. "It makes a great story for a TV film," he told The Jerusalem Post. "But it's impossible. It's nonsense."

Kloner, who said he was interviewed for the new film but has not seen it, said the names found on the ossuaries were common, and he added that "Jesus, son of Joseph" inscriptions had been found on several other ossuaries over the years.

The only thing for sure about this documentary is that it's going to get a lot of publicity. Of course, that was the whole point, wasn't it?

Your "show me" scribe;
Allan W Janssen

Allan W Janssen is the author of The Plain Truth About God-101 (what the church doesn't want you to know!) www.God-101.com

HEY YOU!

Let your faith guide you, just be careful of which direction!

Of course politics can be just as irrational as faith. Don't beleive me? GO HERE for an example of just how screwy some people can become about stuff they passionately beleive in.

Allan W Janssen is the author of The Plain Truth About God-101 (what the church doesn't want you to know!) www.God-101.com

Dateline: - Middle-East

A couple of incidents caught my eye in the last day or so about stuff that happened in the Middle-East.

Two Canadian teenagers accused of vandalizing public property in Israel, including a memorial to fallen soldiers, were released by police after claiming diplomatic immunity, Israeli officials say.

The vandals destroyed park benches, pulled down outdoor lights and uprooted street signs,and caused about $5,000-worth of damages.

Insp. Micky Rosenfeld, an Israeli police spokesman, said two Canadians, an American and an Israeli were questioned after police arrived at the scene.

The Canadians were, in fact, released as a result of their diplomatic immunity and therefore we couldn't question them or investigate them," he said.

Diplomats at the Canadian Embassy in Tel Aviv refused to comment about the incident although it seems obvious that the teenagers must have been the sons of Canadian diplomats.

"Destroying public property, public order, this is something that is a severe crime as far as we're concerned," Rosenfeld said.

If they are not able to be charged in Israel, then perhaps we should think about legal action back here in Canada.

I don't think that Canada wants the reputation of flouting local laws and accepting criminal behaviour from the Diplomatic corps, or their families!

On an even more serious note the investigation into whether a Canadian woman should face charges in Lebanon for taking her children back from her estranged husband is over and a decision is expected shortly.

Here is another case of women having either no rights - or at least reduced rights in the Middle-East. (She's damned lucky this did not happen in Saudi Arabia!!!)

Cedar Hawach, three, above, and her sister Hannah, six, are both Canadian citizens and have acquired Lebanese citizenship since their father took them to Lebanon.

Melissa Hawach and two foreigners who helped her could face Lebanese charges related to child abduction for arranging to take Hanah, 6, and Cedar, 3, from their father just before Christmas.

Melissa, who is originally from Saskatchewan, travelled to Lebanon in December to recover her two girls after their Lebanese father abducted them and took them to Lebanon without her consent!

Their mother has custody of the children in Canada. But their father, Joseph Hawach, argues that under Lebanese law, he now has custody.

The children have Canadian citizenship, but they have also acquired Lebanese citizenship since their father took them to Lebanon.

Melissa Hawach reportedly enlisted the help of four ex-soldiers from Australia and New Zealand, two of whom were arrested and are in a Lebanese jail awaiting the results of the investigation.

Meanwhile, husband Joseph Hawach has been in hiding in Lebanon.

Interpol has circulated an international warrant for his arrest and extradition.

He faces allegations in Canada of unlawfully removing the two children.



Your "Interpol" scribe;
Allan W Janssen

A Cry in the Wilderness

There are many, many Arab sites and blogs which promote hatred, anti-American, anti-Western, anti-Jewish, anti-Christian viewpoints.

These sites cater mostly to the poor and lower class because (surprise! surprise!) they are the most religious and in the majority.

The Arab (And Persian) middle-class however are a whole different ball game. While only the minority, they represent a point of view that is more reasoned and logical.

They have long odds to beat, but theirs is not a cry in the wilderness.

People are listening and I would like to convey one of these blogs from Iraq for your perusal. (Since this blog is out of Iraq I thought it prudent to give the writer anonymity.)

Begging for more anger!

Iraq's speaker of parliament opened Tuesday's session by complaining "the Pope's excuses are not enough, he must make a clear apology…."

The Islamist speaker, Mahmoud al-Mashhadani said it without shame or hesitation, just like all other leaders who owe us a thousand apologies a day for their ignorance and incompetence.

What can I say? We got used to this kind of behavior. When someone is full of mistakes he finds no shelter except in accusing others of being wrong.

I don't know what good this can do for Iraq or its people!

What difference does it make to the average Iraqi whether the pope apologized or not? Did Mr. Speaker ask himself these questions?

My guess is that he was in a state of euphoria after watching 150 teenagers demonstrating in Basra, which is another proof of the ignorance of its managers.

I saw angry young men burning the flags of America and Israel, and I still can't figure out the connection they saw between Israel or Jews and the Pope!!

In fact the continuous pathetic attempts to blame the West and Israel for everything shows clearly that the motives of such demonstrations are political not religious.

Anyway, it looks like the reaction of Muslims were not as violent or as bloody as the leaders wished them to be and that's why they're now provoking and yelling at the "sleeping" masses and pushing them to show more fury.

They want to add another big scene to the countless previous ones—angry mobs burning flags and pledging to destroy the "infidels".

Actually their latest calls for MORE ANGER are becoming pretty much like begging.

Meanwhile, Iran thinks the Muslim people fell short of doing their duty and Qaradawi calls on Muslims to have a "day of fury".

All these are theatrical acts directed by governments and corrupt clerics seeking controlled anger among the mobs to use in intimidating the West and discouraging it from applying more pressure on, or calling for changing, these tyrannical regimes.

Such calls are taking the headlines in the governments-controlled media in the Arab countries, and the governments, whether religious or secular, are promoting this provocation of anger.

Meanwhile, voices of reason are being pushed to the rear -to appear in a short subtitle or in a tiny corner in the 10th page, or even not mentioned at all.

What the rulers want is the anger that the masses, in the eyes of the rulers, did not express enough of.

What has to be done now from the governments' perspective is to lash those lazy masses with the whips of the media and religion to do more angry protests and show more fist-shaking on TV.

For a while let the people forget about poverty, hunger, terrorism, illiteracy and other problems of the region…

And let's redirect the world's attention from "insignificant" issues like Darfur, nuclear reactors, Hizbollah's defiance or Syrian and Iranian meddling with Iraq's or Lebanon's affairs.

What matters now is anger and only anger.

Right Mashhadani? Right Ahmedinejad? Right Asad? Right Mubarak?

Now in answer to this I have to once again quote from the blog: "Enough With The Apologies Already!"

A lot more time has been spent analyzing what the pontiff meant to say, or should have said, or might have said if he had been given better advice.

All of which is simply beside the point, since nothing the Pope has ever said comes even close to matching the vitriol, extremism and hatred that pour out of the mouths of radical Imams and fanatical clerics every day across Europe and the Muslim world.

Almost none of which ever provokes any Western response at all.

Maybe it's time that it should: When Saudi Arabia publishes textbooks commanding good Wahhabi Muslims to "hate" Christians, Jews and non-Wahhabi Muslims, for example, why shouldn't the Vatican, the Southern Baptists, Britain's chief rabbi and the Council on American-Islamic Relations all condemn them -- simultaneously?

By "we" I also mean the White House, the Vatican, the German Greens, the French Foreign Ministry, NATO, Greenpeace, Le Monde and Fox News -- Western institutions of the left, the right and everything in between.

True, these principles sound pretty elementary -- "we're pro-free speech and anti-gratuitous violence" -- but in the days since the Pope's sermon, I don't feel that I've heard them defended in anything like a unanimous chorus.

As one of the newsletters from the Ayn Rand Institute says:
"These people (Middle East governments and clergy) are laughing at us because nobody in the (Western)media or government will stand up and tell it like it really is!"
Just so you know!

Allan W Janssen is the author of The Plain Truth About God-101 (what the church doesn't want you to know!) at; www.God-101.com
And the petition to have people mind their own business instead of yours at; http://www.petitiononline.com/moses/petition.html

On a serious note! PLEASE READ THIS!

Ran across this article by Daniel Gordis that I would like to share;

This is not about the “occupation.” This is not about creating a Palestinian State. This is about whether there will be a state called Israel. Sixty years after Arab nations greeted the UN resolution on November 29 1947 with a declaration of war, nothing much has changed. They attacked this time for the same reason that they did sixty years ago.

At first, it was the Egyptians, Jordanians and Syrians. We put a stop
to that in 1949, 1956, 1967 and 1973.

Then it was the Palestinians, who bamboozled the world (and many of us Israelis) into believing that they just wanted a State, and that their terror was simply a way of forcing us to make one possible. We fought the terror in 1982 (Lebanon), 1987 (Intifada) and even after Camp David and Oslo, once again in 2000-2005 (the Terror War). And then, we actually tried to make the State happen. We got out of Lebanon to put an end to that conflict. And even more momentous, we got out of Gaza, hoping that they’d start to build something.

And now, it’s Hezbollah. Or more accurately, Syria. Or to be more precise, Iran. What’s Iran’s beef with Israel? Territory it lost? It didn’t lose any. Anddoes anyone really believe that Iran cares one whit about the Palestinians and their state? That’s not the reason. We know it, and so do they.

Now, the bitter reality of which Israel’s right wing had warned about all along is beginning to settle in. It is not lost on virtually any Israelis that the two primary fronts on which this war is being conducted are precisely the two fronts from which we withdrew to internationally recognized borders.

We withdrew from Gaza, despite all the internal objections, hoping to move Palestinian statehood—and peace—one step closer. But all we got in return was the election of Hamas, and a barrage of more than 800 Qassams that they refused to end.

And then they stole Gilad Shalit. Not from Gaza. Not from some contested no man’s land. From inside the internationally recognized borders of Israel. As if to make sure that we got the point—“There is no place that you’re safe. There is no place to which we won’t take this war. You can’t stay here.”

Because as much as we have wanted to believe otherwise, they have no interest in building their homeland. They only care about destroying ours.

Six years ago we pulled out of Lebanon. Same story. In defiance of the UN’s resolution 1559, Hizbollah armed itself to the teeth, and as we watched and did nothing, accumulated more than 10,000 rockets. And dug itself into the mountains. And established itself in Beirut, effectively using the entire Lebanese population as human shields. And, assuming that there was little that we could or would do, it attacked on June 12, killing eight soldiers, and stealing Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev. Not from Southern Lebanon. Not from Har Dov, a tiny hilltop that’s still contested. But from inside Israel. Inside a line that no one contests.

Unless, of course, they contest the idea of the whole enterprise. (Israel) Which they do. And which is precisely the point.

Your Scribe

Allan W Janssen

Let's get the Middle East back into perspective here!

I actually had a lot to say about the situation in the Middle East and have been compiling notes for the last several days.

One of my main bitches is that Israel withdrew from Lebanon 18 years ago and during this whole time Hezbollah etc. etc. have been digging in amongst the general population of South Lebanon with the co-operation and support of Iran and Syria and the indifference or inability of the Lebanese Government to stop them, and EVERYONE knew what was coming!

Another assault on Israel

Then I ran across this piece and it basicaly speaks for itself!

An Israeli Defense – A Letter to the Leaders of the World

Ladies and Gentlemen, leaders of the world. I carry these words from Jerusalem, as a response to the difficult scenes displayed from Kana. Every human heart contracts when viewing these scenes. There are no words powerful enough to provide comfort with this type of a disaster. And still, I look you straight in the eye and say loud and clear: Israel will continue its military operation in Lebanon.

The Israeli Defense Forces will continue to attack targets from which missiles and Katyusha rockets are being fired at hospitals, old-age homes, and kindergartens in Israel. The IDF has been instructed to continue to hunt down Katyusha reserves, launching pads, and gun barrels through which these savages bomb and attack Israel.

We will not hesitate, we will not apologize, and we will not be weakened. If Katyushas continue to be launched into Israel from Kana, we will continue to bomb Kana. Today, tomorrow, and the following day. Here, there, and everywhere. The children of Kana could have been sleeping peacefully in their homes, uninterrupted, had the demonic messengers not taken over their land and turned our children’s lives into hell on earth.

Ladies and Gentlemen, it is time you understand: The Israeli State will not longer be stomped on. We will no longer allow anyone to take advantage of highly-populated areas as a front to bomb our citizens. No man will be able to hide behind women and children with the sole purpose of murdering our women and children any longer. This anarchy and irresponsibility is over. You can denounce us, you can boycott us, you can stop traveling to Israel, and if it will be necessary we will stop traveling to your country.

I am the voice of six million Israeli citizens who are being bombed, symbolic of the six million Jews who were exterminated and cremated into ashes and dust by savages in Europe. In both cases, those responsible for these atrocious and sinful acts were barbarians lacking in any human decency who had one simple goal: To obliterate the Jewish race off the face of the earth, in the words of Adolf Hitler, or to erase the State of Israel off the world map, in the words of Mahmud Ahmadinijad.

And just like you didn’t take things seriously then, you are ignoring them now. That, Ladies and Gentlemen, leaders of the world, will not happen. Never again. We will never again wait for the world to rescue us from the gas chambers. We will never again wait for a salvation that will not come. We now have our own air force. Israel can now stand up to those who want to kill us.

They will no longer be able to hide behind their women and children. They will no longer be absolved of all responsibilities.

Every place from which missiles are fired into the State of Israel will be a legitimate target for our attacks. It needs to be said clearly, one time, to the entire world. You are welcome to judge us, ostracize us, boycott us, and defame us. But kill us? Absolutely not.

Four months ago, Ehud Olmert was elected by hundreds of thousands of citizens to the post of Prime Minister, based on his plan to unilaterally withdraw from 90% of the occupied territories, which are part of the heart and soul of the Jewish people, with the sole purpose of ending most of the occupation and allowing the Palestinian people to turn over a new leaf and pacify the tensions until the conditions for a permanent settlement between us would be ready.

Former Prime Minister Ariel Sharon unilaterally withdrew from the Gaza Strip to the internationally recognized border and gave the Palestinians an opportunity to build themselves a new reality. His predecessor, Edud Barak, ended the long-term Israeli presence in Lebanon and withdrew the IDF to international lines, allowing Lebanon to flourish, develop, and base itself as a democratic country with a strong economy.

What did the State of Israel receive in return for these? Did we have one moment of peace and quiet? Was our outstretched hand greeted with an encouraging handshake? Ehud Barak’s peace initiative at Camp David released upon us a wave of suicide bombers who shattered and blew up more than 1,000 citizens, women and children, into pieces.

I don’t remember any of you this enraged back then. Could it be because we didn’t allow close-ups of the dismembered teenagers at the Dolphinarium? Or the broken lives of those celebrating Passover who were butchered at Park Hotel in Netanya? There’s nothing we can do, that’s how it is here. We don’t display dead bodies in front of TV cameras. We mourn quietly.

We don’t dance on the rooftops when the children of our enemies are killed. We express true sorrow and remorse. All these are the animalistic rituals of our enemies. Today they are our enemies. Tomorrow, they will be yours. You’re already acquainted with the murderous flavor of this terror. You’ve tasted it. You will taste it again.

And look at Ariel Sharon’s disengagement from the Gaza Strip. What we get for it? A shower of Kasam missiles on otherwise-peaceful towns, suicide bombings and attacks, and the kidnapping of a soldier.

I don’t remember you reacting with such panic and fear at that time either. And here, for the past six years the withdrawal from Lebanon has been struck with the words and crimes of a dangerous Iranian messenger; an extremist who has taken over an entire country in the name of religious fanaticism and is trying to take Israel hostage on his way to Jerusalem and ultimately Paris and London.

An enormous infrastructure of terror has been established by Iran on our borders, threatening our citizens, getting stronger in front of our eyes, waiting for the moment when Iran becomes a nuclear stronghold, waiting to bring us to our knees. Don’t get me wrong: we are not going down alone. You, the leaders of the free world, the enlightened world, are going down with us.

So today I would like to put an end to this hypocrisy. I can’t remember such a reaction to 100 citizens being killed each day in Iraq. Sunnis killing Shi’ites who kill Sunnis, all of whom are killing Americans, and the world is silent. And I am having a difficult time remembering a similar reaction when the Russians wiped out entire villages and set fire to large cities in order to depress the mutiny in Chechnya.

And when NATO bombed Kosovo for nearly 3 months, and crushed a civilian population, you all looked away. What is it about us, the Jews, the few, the persecuted, that awakens all of this cosmic justice? What is it that we have that the others don’t?

I stand here before you today, loud and clear, with my head held high, looking you straight in the eye, not apologizing. Not giving in. Not whining. This struggle is for our freedom. For our image.

For our right to have a normal life within our recognized and legitimate borders. This is also your struggle. I pray and believe that you will understand it now. Because if you don’t, you might regret it later. When it is too late.

Ben Caspit