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By Israel Zwick, CN Publications, August 10, 2009
“If Israel is such an “oppressive, racist, apartheid state,” then it would be logical to assume that the Arabs should be eagerly lining up to emigrate to any of the 21 nations of the Arab League where they would presumably have more freedoms and civil liberties. But they are not.”
As I sit and write this, I am nearing the completion of a six week visit to Jerusalem, Israel. I come here with my wife twice per year because two of our children and all of our grandchildren live here. When we come, we don’t live in hotels or ride tourist buses. We rent an apartment in a residential area, buy food at the local markets, and travel with public buses, vans, or taxis that may have either Israeli or Arab drivers. Because we travel on a tight budget and we’re environmentally conscious, we don’t buy newspapers but get all of our news and information from the Internet. I have become especially fond of Google News because it enables me to get news selected by region from a variety of sources and I can search for topics of interest. When I enter search terms such as “war, ethnic conflict, liberation movements, refugees,” this is what I discover.
There are about 5000 different ethnic groups living in 190 countries, some of which number in the millions and make up a large percentage of the host country. Many of these groups are suffering from oppression and denial of civil rights.
There are a number of wars going on right now in Africa, Asia, and the Middle East. Most of these involve Muslims. The wars and conflicts are causing large numbers of deaths and injuries among civilian populations. Everyday innocent civilians are killed in conflicts, usually by Muslims. Children are dying from disease and starvation.
There are scores of active liberation movements struggling for self-determination
There are millions of refugees and internally displaced persons around the world living in deplorable conditions.
However, if I search Google News for the terms “war crimes, war atrocities, humanitarian crisis, and violation of human rights,” I get thousands of articles related to the Arab-Israeli conflict. This is what I read:
Israel is an oppressive, racist, apartheid state that consistently violates Arab rights
Israel is responsible for 60 years of suffering of the Palestinian people
The Palestinians are struggling for liberation from the brutal, illegal Israeli occupation of Palestinian lands
Israel violates international law by establishing settlements on “occupied Palestinian lands.” The established Jewish communities are “obstacles to peace.”
Israel is guilty of vicious war crimes and atrocities against the Palestinian people
Israel is committing ethnic cleansing and genocide against the Palestinian people
Israeli military forces continuously commit brutal aggression against the suffering Palestinian people
Israel is responsible for the horrid humanitarian crisis in Gaza and the West Bank
Israelis grab precious natural resources for themselves while denying them to the Palestinians
Israeli military occupation is responsible for the economic hardships in Gaza and the West Bank
Israel is a gross violator of human rights
Israel deserves to be boycotted commercially, militarily, culturally, and academically for its violations of human rights and international law.
Israel’s illegal occupation of Arab lands is responsible for most of the strife in the Middle East
Posted by CNP Webmaster as Middle East Report, Opinion, Recent Posts, Zwick's Picks on August 10, 2009 - כ' אב תשס"ט at 5:18 pm
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Compiled by Israel Zwick, editor, CN Publications
Sources: Wikipedia – Persecution of Bahai
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Persecution_of_Bah%C3%A1%27%C3%ADs
www.bahai.org – persecution
http://www.bahai.org/dir/worldwide/persecution
Main article: Bahá’í Faith by country
See also: Bahá’í statistics
Bahá’í sources usually estimate the worldwide Bahá’í population to be above 5 million. Most encyclopedias and similar sources estimate between 5 and 6 million Bahá’ís in the world in the early twenty-first century.
From its origins in the Persian and Ottoman Empires, by the early 20th century there were a number of converts in South and South East Asia, Europe, and North America. During the 1950s and 1960s vast travel teaching efforts brought the religion to almost every country and territory of the world. By the 1990s Bahá’ís were developing programs for systematic consolidation on a large scale, and the early 21st century saw large influxes of new adherents around the world. The Bahá’í Faith is currently the largest religious minority in Iran.
According to The World Almanac and Book of Facts 2004:
The majority of Bahá’ís live in Asia (3.6 million), Africa (1.8 million), and Latin America (900,000). According to some estimates, the largest Bahá’í community in the world is in India, with 2.2 million Bahá’ís, next is Iran, with 350,000, and the US, with 150,000. Aside from these countries, numbers vary greatly. Currently, no country has a Bahá’í majority.
The Bahá’í religion was listed in The Britannica Book of the Year (1992–present) as the second most widespread of the world’s independent religions in terms of the number of countries represented. Britannica claims that it is established in 247 countries and territories; represents over 2,100 ethnic, racial, and tribal groups; has scriptures translated into over 800 languages; and has seven million adherents worldwide [2005]. Additionally, Bahá’ís have self organized in most of the nations of the earth.
The Universal House of Justice is the supreme governing institution of the Bahá’í Faith. It is a legislative institution with the authority to supplement and apply the laws of Bahá’u'lláh, the founder of the Bahá’í Faith, and exercises a judicial function as the highest appellate institution in the Bahá’í administration. The institution was defined in the writings of Bahá’u'lláh and `Abdu’l-Bahá, Bahá’u'lláh’s successor, and was officially established in 1963 as the culmination of the Ten Year Crusade, an international Bahá’í teaching plan.
Its nine members are elected every five years by an electoral college consisting of all the members of each Bahá’í National Spiritual Assembly throughout the world. The Seat of the Universal House of Justice and its members reside in Haifa, Israel, on the slope of Mount Carmel.
This summary gives an account of the persecutions that have beset the Iranian Bahá’í community since the Islamic revolution in 1979. The summary includes a report on the secret government plan to reduce the community to its ultimate eradication…
http://question.bahai.org
Posted by CNP Webmaster as Middle East, Middle East Report, Monotheistic Religions, News Articles, Recent Posts, Zwick's Picks on June 11, 2009 - י"ט סיון תשס"ט at 10:38 am
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By Israel Zwick, CN Publications, January 5, 2009
Editor’s Note: Prior to World War II, there was a town in Eastern Europe called Chelm. The elders of the town were known as the Wise Men of Chelm because of their renowned aptitude for solving daily problems. As a result of the turbulence in Europe during world War II, the Wise Men of Chelm relocated to Geneva, Switzerland where they established the Dialogue for Regional and Economic Cooperation, commonly known as DREC. The group was frequently called on to use their unique wisdom to resolve world crises. CN Publications has been able to obtain a transcript of their last meeting.
Chairman: We are convening today by special request of the distinguished representative of Hamastan, Professor Ahmed Kheshbon, who is concerned about the attacks on his territory from neighboring Yidenland. Professor Kheshbon would like us to intervene and put an immediate stop to the attacks on Hamastan.
Shmeryl: Mr. Chairman, before we begin the meeting, I would like to request that the window be closed, it’s very cold outside.
Chairman: Yes, Shmeryl, I am aware that it is cold outside, but if I close the window, would it get any warmer outside? I’m sorry but I have to deny your request because it makes no sense. Before we continue with today’s agenda, I would like to call on the Secretary to read the minutes of the last meeting.
Secretary: The first item on the agenda was a complaint that the funds that were given to Hamastan to build schools, hospitals, and housing were being abused and misdirected. Apparently, one of the contractors hired to build housing cut down some logs on top of a mountain and instead of rolling the logs down the mountain, he hired his family members to carry them down. So to avoid accusations that our funds were being misappropriated, we provided more funds to carry the logs back up the mountain and then roll them down.
Then we discussed the problems with the food program that we provided to feed the poor, suffering, hungry Hamasniks. Apparently, thieves broke into the warehouse that stored the food, carted it away on trucks, then sold it in the open market. So we appropriated more funds to buy more food but this time we built concrete walls around the food so that the thieves couldn’t get in. The only problem was that the legitimate administrators of the food program couldn’t get to the food either. So we appropriated more funds to buy ladders that were placed all around the concrete walls. This satisfied everyone and the problem was resolved.
Chairman: Now we would like to hear Prof. Kheshbon from Hamastan University explain why he asked us to convene this special meeting.
Prof. Kheshbon: Well apparently, several groups of a few bad boys were shooting some homemade firecrackers across the border into Yidenland, you know how boys can behave. The Yiden became overly upset about the small amount of damage and casualties that these firecrackers caused and started bombing our buildings, inflicting heavy damage and casualties. Now, we can accept that the Yiden might want to retaliate a bit, but it should be proportionate.
Posted by CNP Webmaster as Fun Stuff, Humor, Judaism, Recent Posts, Zwick's Picks on January 5, 2009 - ט' טבת תשס"ט at 1:24 pm
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By Israel Zwick, CN Publications, October 20, 2008
SETTING: Tel Aviv barroom
TIME: Saturday night, October, 2008
Avi: Hey Benni, are you following this Presidential campaign in America? What do you think of it?
Benni: I’m not following it very closely because I’m not an American citizen and can’t vote, but you’re an American citizen so whom are you voting for?
Avi: I’m not sure, it’s a tough choice between Cindy McCain and Michelle Obama, they’re both good-looking women. I haven’t decided yet.
Benni: But the Republicans also have Sarah Palin so it’s two attractive women against one.
Avi: I guess you’re right, so I’ll vote Republican. Say, do you think that with a nice Jewish name like Sarah she could be one of our girls.
Benni: You’re probably getting her confused with Linda Lingle, the Jewish governor of Hawaii. Sarah Palin is Governor of Alaska and she’s Christian.
Avi: Well, Jewish or not, she’s definitely matza chain b’enai, much more appealing than the other candidates, and easy on the eyes.
Gilad: You guys are demonstrating that Mel Brooks was right when he said in one of his satirical movies that it’s all “bullshit, bullshit, bullshit.”
Avi: What do you mean, you think it’s bullshit who becomes President of the United States, it’s the most powerful position in the world.
Gilad: No, I mean this campaign is bullshit. Both candidates are distorting statistics to their benefit, making promises that they can’t keep, and presenting proposals that will never come to fruition.
Benni: So what’s so unusual about that? What makes it different from any other election campaign in the USA or Israel?
Gilad: This election is important and there are major differences between the candidates. The American people need to realize that there are different skills involved in running a successful campaign and actually being President.
Avi: What’s the difference, if you think it’s all bullshit anyway?
Gilad: To run a good campaign, it helps to be an energetic, motivating speaker who can inspire hopes and dreams in the people and encourage them to donate money to the campaign. Being President requires different skills. When an issue arises, the President sits down to discuss it with the appropriate advisers, which may include Cabinet officers, military leaders, intelligence agencies, and Congressional leaders. He needs to gather information from many sources, evaluate the data, and use his knowledge and experience to make a decision on a course of action. Then he has to inspire confidence in the American people and Congress to accept his decision and follow through on it. So the American people have to choose which candidate will make the right decisions, not necessarily which is the best speaker or debater.
Avi: You mean I shouldn’t just vote for the best-looking First Lady?
Gilad: Unfortunately, many Americans will vote like you by just looking at superficial characteristics without evaluating who can actually make the best decisions for the American people. There are a number of factors to take into consideration.
Benni: It isn’t any different in our country, it’s the same bullshit. For the last two decades, every Israeli Prime Minister has been talking about making peace with the Palestinians and nothing ever comes of it, it’s all diplomatic bullshit.
David: In Israel, there is a better word for it. Instead of bullshit, I would call it “tukhes.”
Avi: What are you talking about, I understand bullshit, but what’s tukhes?
David: Do you mean that you young Israelis don’t even know what tukhes is? Read the rest of this entry »
Posted by CNP Webmaster as Fun Stuff, Humor, Middle East Report, Opinion, Recent Posts, Zwick's Picks on October 23, 2008 - כ"ד תשרי תשס"ט at 12:10 am
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CN Publications Editorial, August 3, 2008
By Israel Zwick, Editor
Ever since Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert announced his impending resignation last week, there have been intense attacks against him in the Israeli press from both the left and the right. Essentially, the commentators and analysts are saying, “good riddance, can’t wait to see you go, leave now, don’t wait, you’re the worst that we’ve ever had.” Our readers may have noticed that we have not published any articles attacking Ehud Olmert personally or his government policies. Some are asking why this is so since Israel is now in such a precarious situation with its surrounding enemies. Perhaps a note of explanation is due.
First, most of the criticism in our articles and editorials have been reserved for the “sonei yisroel,” those that want to dismantle the Jewish state and leave the Jews wandering around the world again without their own sovereign state. There are so many of those in the UN, EU, USA, and even in Israel, that most of our efforts have been involved with refuting their lies, distortions, and biases. That leaves little time or effort to criticize those who have been entrusted with the task of defending and securing the Jewish state. Yet, there are still reasons for commending Olmert, instead of condemning him. He’s entitled to at least some approbation instead of opprobrium.
Posted by CNP Webmaster as Middle East Report, Opinion, Recent Posts, Zwick's Picks on August 3, 2008 - ב' אב תשס"ח at 12:32 am
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By Israel Zwick, CN Publications, July 15, 2008
See Also: Al-Quds Times
Author’s Note: It is common knowledge that Israeli intelligence agents monitor the meetings of Arab leaders. Recently there was a secret meeting in Tehran that the Israeli agents missed. Fortunately, an anonymous source sent a transcript to CN Publications.
Editor’s Note: Though the following story is fictional, most of the details provided are true and have been vetted from a variety of sources.
CHARACTERS:
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, President of Iran
Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen), President of the Palestinian Authority
Bashar Assad, President of Syria
Ismail Haniyah, Hamas leader in Gaza
Hassan Nassrallah, Hizbullah leader in Lebanon
TIME: the present
SETTING: secret underground concrete bunker somewhere in Tehran
Ahmadinejad: My dear friends, I have asked you to come here so we can discuss how we can finally eliminate the Zionist entity from our midst. It must be completely wiped off the map of our region, which belongs solely to the people of Islam. It has become evident that those martydom operations, which killed 20 or 30 Zionists riding in a bus or eating in a restaurant, would not be sufficient to drive them away. On the contrary, it only strengthened their resolve. What we need is to mount a full multimodal assault involving military, political, social, and economic measures that would completely devastate the Zionist entity. To that end, we have been supporting both Shiite and Sunni insurgencies against the American and Zionist enemies. We have been developing our Shahab-3 missile that will soon be able to reach the enemy with both conventional and nuclear warheads. If we shoot 100 missiles and only one in five reach their target, we can cause significant death and destruction to the Zionists.
For the last few years, I have been providing you all with financial and military assistance for your efforts to defeat the Zionist enemy. I have gathered you here to obtain a progress report of your efforts and to hear your plans for the future. Ismail, let’s start with you. What have you been doing in Gaza with all the money I gave you besides shooting off all those harmless firecrackers?
Haniyah: First of all, I wouldn’t minimize the effects of the rockets and mortars that we have been firing on a daily basis. We have succeeded in reducing the Zionist population and military along the border. We have disrupted their lifestyle and economy. The Zionists don’t want to live or work within the range of our rockets. Their industrial centers are threatened and they have to spend huge sums on security.
Now that they have agreed to a temporary truce, we are using the time to develop our military forces and arsenal. We have an army of 20,000 men with 30,000 rifles, 6 million rounds of ammunition, 230 tons of explosives, and scores of advanced anti-tank and anti-helicopter weapons.
Posted by CNP Webmaster as Fun Stuff, Islam, Middle East, Middle East Report, Opinion, Recent Posts, Zwick's Picks on July 15, 2008 - י"ב תמוז תשס"ח at 4:03 am
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By Israel Zwick, CN Publications, June 25, 2008
See Also: The Two Israels
It was an unusual day for January in Jerusalem, much different from what I expected. Every January, I visit my children in Jerusalem and I usually encounter damp, cold weather that chills me to the bone. But today was atypical. The sun was shining through a bright blue sky and the temperature was a pleasant 20C (68F). What a day to take the grandchildren to the Jerusalem Biblical Zoo! We called for a van, piled in and off we went. Apparently, we weren’t the only ones with the same idea, which is not surprising since the Zoo is Israel’s most popular tourist site. By the time we arrived, the Zoo was already teeming with families and school groups, both Israeli and Arab. A while later, we stopped at a bench to rest. I sat down and gazed at the picturesque landscape, rejoicing in the blessing I received from God, to be able to spend such a lovely day in Jerusalem with my wife, children, and grandchildren. Can it get any better than this? Read the rest of this entry »
Posted by CNP Webmaster as Middle East Report, Opinion, Recent Posts, Zwick's Picks on June 26, 2008 - כ"ג סיון תשס"ח at 6:58 am
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By Israel Zwick, CN Publications
Author’s Note: The following story was adapted from Classic Logic Puzzles (Sterling Publishing Co., 2003). The story is entirely fictional. Any resemblance to real persons, places, or events is completely coincidental.
Once upon a time there was a little town in the desert called Greenfield. The Greenfielders were mostly poor immigrants who were struggling hard to build better lives for themselves and their families. They succeeded in developing their small desert town into a flourishing community.
However, near Greenfield was a small strip of land called Azan. The people of Azan believed that Greenfield was rightfully their land so they decided that they would drive out the Greenfielders by force. To do that, they started shooting rockets at Greenfield on a daily basis. The rockets were specifically aimed at the civilian population: at schools, homes, and businesses. Some of the rockets fell harmlessly, some caused property damage, some caused injuries, and occasionally they caused deaths.
The Greenfielders were frightened of these rockets because they never knew where they would land, they could land anywhere. They had only 15 seconds to seek shelter once a rocket was detected. Their lives were in constant turmoil. Children were afraid to play outdoors and mothers were afraid to go shopping. Many Greenfielders fled the town for a safer environment.
Finally, the Greenfield Town Council decided to have a meeting to decide what to do about the incessant rockets. They decided to hire three tanks that would go into Azan and finally destroy the rocket launchers. So the next week, three tanks lined up on the Azan border ready to attack Azan as soon as they received the orders. The tanks were named Emunah, Chochmah, and Gvurah. However, as soon as the international community detected the tanks, there was a big outcry of protest.
An aging, former leader of the country Yoo-Essay, went to visit the Azan leaders and came back saying, “The Azan people want peace with the Greenfielders. The only reason that they are shooting rockets is because the Greenfielders are constantly harassing and irritating them. So if the Greenfielders stop their harassment, the Azans will stop their rockets. If the Greenfielders attack the Azans with their tanks, that would constitute collective punishment against an innocent civilian population so they must not be allowed to do that.”
The leader of a peace organization called the Yoo-Enn, said,” If the Greenfielders attack the Azans it would be a violation of international law and result in unlawful occupation of Azan territory. They cannot do that”
The leader of the Eey-Yoo said, “If the Greenfielders attack the Azans with three tanks it would be considered disproportionate and excessive retaliation against mostly harmless rockets. The Greenfielders must show restraint.”
The Azan leaders warned the Greenfielders, “If you attack us with your three tanks, we will retaliate with our most advanced weapons – our digital video camera with video imaging software. We will produce a video showing children and goats lying in pools of blood with wailing women kneeling over them. We will use Yoo-Toob to distribute this video to millions of people around the world. All the human rights organizations and trade unions will condemn, vilify, and boycott you. You will be finished.”
The Greenfielders were very concerned about these threats so the Town Council decided to meet again. After a lengthy debate, they decided that they would show restraint to the international community. They resolved that they would attack with only one tank, leave another tank at the border for backup, and send the third tank back to the military base.
Using the information below, determine which of the three tanks would attack, which would stay at the border, and which would withdraw to the base.
For solution, click on the link below.
Posted by CNP Webmaster as Fun Stuff, Logic Puzzles, Middle East Report, Opinion, Recent Posts, Zwick's Picks on June 22, 2008 - י"ט סיון תשס"ח at 12:01 am
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By Israel Zwick, CN Publications
Commemorating the liberation and unification of Jerusalem in June, 1967
Author’s Note: The following story was inspired by the Yiddish comedy routine of Dzigan and Shumacher titled “The Psychiatrist,” and by the Yiddish purimspiel, “The Megillah of Itzik Manger.”
SETTING: psychiatrist’s office in Tehran
CHARACTERS:
Dr. Abdul Shaqoury, psychiatrist
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, President of Iran
Security Guards
Ahmadinejad: Doctor, I’m so happy you could see me today, I really need to talk with you. Usually you make me wait about three weeks to get an appointment so when your secretary told me that you had a cancellation today, I grabbed it right away.
Shaqoury: Yes, I know, she gave you the appointment before I could stop her.
Ahmadinejad: Are you suggesting that you don’t want to see me, I really need to talk, and you’re the only one who understands me.
Shaqoury: I’m not suggesting, I’m telling you straight out, read my lips, “I don’t want to see you anymore.”
Ahmadinejad: But you’re my therapist, you’re supposed to make me feel better and improve my self-confidence, you’re not supposed to give me feelings of rejection, abandonment, and isolation, that would only exacerbate my condition, not improve it.
Posted by CNP Webmaster as Fun Stuff, Humor, Islam, Judaism, Middle East, Middle East Report, Opinion, Zwick's Picks on May 29, 2008 - כ"ד אייר תשס"ח at 2:23 pm
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By Israel Zwick, CN Publications, May 14, 2008
See Also: Reexamining Two-State Solution
It isn’t necessary to be an expert in governmental relations to realize that an Arab state in Judea, Samaria, and Gaza would be an administrative and economic disaster. Any observant tourist who spends two weeks traveling around Israel and the Arab areas can easily determine that independently.
The other day when the mail came, I was elated to discover that my copy of Barry Rubin’s new book had arrived (The Israel-Arab Reader, Seventh Edition, edited by Walter Laquer and Barry Rubin, Penguin Books, 2008.) It’s a book containing original documents and speeches that have shaped Israel’s history from the time of Herzl to the present. I find that I get greater insight from reading original documents than from a journalist’s interpretation of selected excerpts. I encourage my readers to do the same by providing links to my sources in all my articles.
I ripped open the envelope and started to browse through the book. On page 68, I discovered a little snippet of Israeli history that is little known and seemingly insignificant. It is widely known that in 1947, the UN Special Committee on Palestine (UNSCOP) recommended that that the British Palestine Mandate “be constituted into an Arab State, a Jewish State, and the City of Jerusalem.” This was the opinion of the seven majority members of the Committee. What is little known is that three members of the Committee released a minority proposal:
Posted by CNP Webmaster as Middle East Report, Opinion, Recent Posts, Zwick's Picks on May 14, 2008 - ט' אייר תשס"ח at 3:08 pm
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