Monthly Archives: July 2013

August 1, 2013—SnyderTalk Editorial: The Roadmap for Peace Will Lead to More Violence and Maybe another War

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The Roadmap for Peace Will Lead to More Violence and Maybe another War

Today, Dan Shapiro, U.S. Ambassador to Israel, said that he is optimistic about the possibility that the peace talks initiated by Secretary of State John Kerry will lead to lasting peace between Israel and the Palestinians.  He even said that “core issues such as Jerusalem and the right of return for refugees were ‘solvable’.”  There is not a single shred of tangible evidence to support his optimism, but there is abundant evidence to support the belief that the peace talks currently underway in Washington will lead to another round of violence and maybe another war.

Secretary Kerry thinks that a final status agreement between Israel and the Palestinians can be reached in 9 months.  Why he selected 9 months instead of 10 months or 11 months or 12 months is interesting.  I have a hunch that he wants to liken the final status phase of the Oslo Peace Process to the 9-month gestation period for human beings.  If he chose that interval for symbolic reasons, he will probably be disappointed because the process that he imposed on Israel is far more likely to end up in stillbirth than live birth.  Perhaps Kerry’s unbounded enthusiasm was inspired by his desire to win a Nobel Peace Prize or another shot at the presidency, but whatever the case may be, he will end up being responsible for unleashing forces that he doesn’t understand and can’t control.

To begin with, Kerry’s underlying premises are off base, and anyone familiar with strategy should understand that faulty assumptions can produce catastrophic consequences.  He said,

“We all understand the goal that we’re working towards: two states living side by side in peace and security. Two states because two proud peoples each deserve a country to call their own. Two states because the children of both peoples deserve the opportunity to realize their legitimate aspirations in security and in freedom. And two states because the time has come for a lasting peace.”

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“I think everyone involved here believes that we cannot pass along to another generation the responsibility of ending a conflict that is in our power to resolve in our time. They should not be expected to bear that burden, and we should not leave it to them. They should not be expected to bear the pain of continued conflict or perpetual war. So while I understand the skepticism, I don’t share it, and I don’t think we have time for it.”

It would be wonderful if the Palestinian goal was to live side-by-side with Israel in peace, but the Hamas and Palestinian charters expose the lie in that myth.  It would be fantastic if Palestinian leaders were concerned about the welfare of future generations of Palestinians, but nothing they have done to date and nothing they have proposed for the future points in that direction.  Far from it: they have preached war with Israel since 1948; they teach their children to hate Israel and Jews; and they seek every opportunity to destroy the only state in the Middle East with any semblance of sustainable prosperity.  None of that bodes well for peace, and as I intimated, it suggests that war is inevitable.

In November 2011, I wrote an article for American Thinker in which I laid out the reasons why a flourishing Palestinian state is just a pipedream.  Nothing of substance has changed since then.  Below is what I said:

There are many reasons why a Palestinian state of any sort can’t work.  Chief among them is that Palestinians lack the prerequisites for a nation: common purpose; the desire to live in peace so the nation’s citizens can carry on normal lives and build for a better future; concern about the well-being of their children and posterity; and a commitment to law and order and to building an economic infrastructure capable of supporting a thriving economy.  These are the basics that any nation must have, and all of them are missing.

Common purpose

Only one thing unites the people we call “Palestinians” today — the desire to annihilate Israel.  If you read the Palestinian and Hamas charters, you can’t help but notice that the central tenet in both of them is the animus the Palestinian people have for Israel.  The elimination of Israel is the overarching theme in both charters, and the creation of a Pan-Arab nation comes in second.  Neither of these guiding principles bodes well for peace with Israel or for building a prosperous Palestinian state.

The desire to live in peace so the nation’s citizens can carry on normal lives and build for a better future.

Judging by what the Palestinians say they want to achieve, peace with Israel is totally out of the question.  In fact, based on what they say, war is inevitable.  Both charters call upon Palestinians to dedicate their lives and their wealth to destroying Israel.  The Western concept of a “normal life” isn’t even hinted at, and a better future by their definition is nothing more than a Middle East with no Israel.  If you take them at their word, and there is no reason not to, they have no other vision for a brighter future.

Concern about the well-being of their children and posterity

Palestinians raise their children to become martyrs — walking bombs that they can explode among crowds of innocent Israelis.  That’s not what I say — it’s what they say, and it’s spelled out clearly in their charters as though it’s the only reason Palestinians have children.  That’s a version of love for children and posterity that Western minds can’t fathom, and it’s certainly not conducive to building a prosperous and peaceful nation.

A commitment to law and order

The Palestinian government, be it Hamas or Fatah, is notorious for corruption and the whims of despotic rulers.  The rule of law isn’t even part of their vocabulary.  Peaceful and prosperous nations that survive over the long-term must have law and order, and there is no evidence that Palestinians want either.

Building an economic infrastructure capable of supporting a thriving economy

The economic model in place today in the Palestinian community is one of providing labor for a bustling Israeli economy and seeking donations from useful idiots around the world who support the Palestinian cause, which is to destroy Israel.  These two economic characteristics are antithetical to building a flourishing national economy.  By definition, Palestinians can’t seek to eliminate Israel and at the same time expect to thrive as Israel grows and prospers.  Similarly, Palestinians can’t hope to achieve economic independence if they position themselves as global beggars.  Delusory thinking and hatred are not substitutes for sound economic principles, and they don’t lead toward prosperity or peace.

Absent sweeping changes in Palestinians’ thinking, there is no way a Palestinian state will work, and no amount of wishing and hoping for peace and prosperity will compensate for the abiding hatred the Palestinian people have for Israel.

The “Right of Return” is a Deal-Breaker

Most people don’t have any idea what the “right of return” means.  In a nutshell, it means that descendants of so-called “Palestinians” who left their homes when Israel’s War of Independence began in 1948 have the right to return to their homes.  But this issue is murkier than you can imagine.  For instance, consider these facts:

  • In 1948, when Israel’s War of Independence began, everyone living in the land we call Israel today was referred to as a Palestinian — Jews and Arabs alike.
  • Yasser Arafat commandeered the name “Palestinian” for Arabs in 1964 when he founded the PLO as the “sole legitimate representative of the Palestinian people.”
  • When the British Mandate ended, the land was divided into two parts: Israel and Transjordan. Transjordan was supposed to be the Arab state, and Israel was supposed to be the Jewish state. Later, the name “Transjordan” was changed to Jordan. For a more complete explanation, see “A Brief History of Israel and Palestine.”
  • Jews in Palestine at the time of the War of Independence invited their Arab neighbors to stay and help them build a country. Arab leaders told them to flee immediately because they intended to crush the fledgling Jewish state and, as they put it, “to drive the Jews into the sea.” Most of the Arabs departed, thinking that they would return in a few days at most and reclaim their homes along with spoils left behind by the defeated Jews, but Israel defeated the combined Arab armies, and Arabs who left their homes became refugees.
  • Most Arab political leaders decided not to offer citizenship to Arabs who fled Israel. Instead, they built refugee camps for them in hopes of winning global sympathy for their plight. King Hussein of Jordan, King Abdullah’s father, made it clear that Arab leaders alone were responsible for the plight of the refugees, but his was a voice in the wilderness. Israel gladly accepted Jewish refugees from Arab countries.
  • There were more Jewish refugees from Arab countries during Israel’s War of Independence than there were Arab refugees from Israel.
  • The value of assets left behind by Jewish refugees from Arab countries far exceeds the value of assets left behind by Arabs who fled Israel.
  • Many, if not most, of the so-called “Palestinian refugees” today have no connection whatsoever to people who fled Israel at the time of the War of Independence. For decades, Arab leaders have routinely ousted rabble-rousers from their countries and forced them to join their Arab brothers in “Palestinian” refugee camps. It was a form of exile — like being sent to Siberia in Stalin’s Soviet Union.

Every year, Arabs remember Nakba Day.  In English it means “the Day of Catastrophe.”  It refers to Israel’s defeat of the combined Arab armies during the War of Independence.  In a literal sense, they aren’t just remembering the “catastrophe,” as they put it.  They are hoping and waiting for the day when they can reverse their fortunes and return to the land of Israel, or Eretz Yisrael.

On Nakba Day 2011, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas issued a statement saying, “The right of return will remain sacred for every Palestinian who was forced by the Zionist war machine to leave his or her home and land in Palestine.  The Palestinians won’t succumb to extortion; either we get the home and land peacefully, or we will make sacrifices until we return.”  As the facts above indicate, that statement is a bald-faced lie, but it sells well in the Arab world and among the liberal, left-wing Western intelligentsia who have bought into the Palestinian cause hook, line, and sinker.

In practical terms, Abbas was saying that the “right of return” is non-negotiable.  Even more, he was saying that Arabs will fight until the bitter end for the “right of return.”  In absolute terms, the “right of return” is the ultimate deal-breaker, because Israel will never accept it, and for good reasons.   In other words, for Palestinian leaders, the “right of return” is a convenient way out of any compromise that may lead to peace with Israel.

As we go through yet another charade that is being thrust upon Israel by self-aggrandizing wannabes, we should focus our attention on what we know instead of what we wish were so, and this is what we know is true:

  1. Israel has been seeking peace with its neighbors since 1948.
  2. Israel’s neighbors have seen trying to destroy Israel since 1948.
  3. The Hamas and Palestinian charters still call for Israel’s destruction.
  4. Palestinians raise their children to believe that their highest goal should be to die as martyrs in their quest to rid the Middle East of the Israeli presence.

As I said, none of this bodes well for peace.  In fact, it points in the direction of another bloody war.

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9--Jerusalem Post

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US ambassador: Refugees, Jerusalem, solvable problems in peace talks

Livni: Coalition members have ‘collective responsibility’ to support peace process

Editorial: Peace imperative

MKs discuss anti-Semitism after Abbas calls for Israeli-free state

Kerry: Talks aim to reach final-status agreement in 9 months

Report: Philippines likely to keep troops in Golan

PMO official: Current Beduin situation in Negev unsustainable

US peace talks envoy Indyk said ‘hard to believe’ parties can reach agreement in 2012 interview

Senior US officials: Palestinian referral of Israel to ICC unlikely while talks last

Kenyan lawyer takes State of Israel, Jews to Hague over Jesus’ death

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10--Arutz Sheva

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Quartet: Don’t ‘Undermine’ the Talks

Eritreans Attack Family: ‘I Thought Eyal was Dead’

Anti-Semitism in Sweden Forces Jews to Question their Future

PM ‘Promised 5,000 Homes’ in Deal with Bayit Yehudi

 Two Hurt in Rock Attack on Bus in Jerusalem

Lieberman: No Peace with a Holocaust Denier

Activists: Put ‘Amalek Rabbi’ on Trial

Rebels Shoot Syrian Officers on Busy Highway 

Danon: Livni Won’t Think About Judea and Samaria

Report: Nazis in US Because They Can’t Be Deported

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11--THE TIMES OF ISRAEL

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Senior US officials: Talks will ease pressure on Israel at UN

All issues to be on the table, Kerry says as peace talks kick off

7 reasons the Americans think this time will be different

The yawn of a new era

In Ramallah, little enthusiasm and less expectation as talks restart

Obama to send senators Graham, McCain to Egypt

France struggles to separate Islam and the state

Hamas Patches Up Ties with Iran, Hizbullah

Iran president’s inner circle has Western accent

Iran may hit nuclear breakout point by mid-2014

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12--Other News

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Why Palestinians Want This Video Removed (Video)

Getting to know Jerusalem’s Eight Gates (Video)

Analysis: As Peace Talks Begin, Middle East Analysts Praise John Kerry, But Maintain Low Expectations

In Effort to Embarrass Abbas as Peace Talks Begin, Fatah’s Military Wing Touts Weapons Capabilities Online

United States Presses Israel to Release Murderers But Won’t Release Pollard

Israeli Ambassador: Palestinians Don’t Yet Recognize Jewish Right of Self-Determination

Economic Ties Grow between Israel and Turkey

Some Freed Palestinian Prisoners Return to Terror

Liberal Democrats Urge US Congress to Hold Off on Tougher Iran Sanctions 

France is Losing Hearts and Minds of Native-Born Muslims

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13--Perspectives

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Khaled Abu Toameh: Iran Enters the Peace Process—Hamas is so desperate following the ouster of Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi that it is now seeking to mend fences with Iran. Relations between Hamas and Iran became strained after Hamas supported the rebels fighting against Syrian President Assad’s regime. Hamas leaders believed that the support of Qatar and Egypt’s ruling Muslim Brotherhood would make up for the loss of its allies in Tehran and Damascus. But now, Hamas has lost the backing of Egypt and its leaders realize they cannot depend only on Qatar’s support.

Steve Apfel: The Why’s and Wherefores of Israel Boycotters: Part I—On their maligned target, Israel, the boycotters ruffle scarcely a hair. If anything, the harder boycotters go at the baby juggernaut the more furiously – infuriatingly – the heart pumps and muscles move and milestone metrics go by – economic, scientific, social, cultural. Will it slow down the beast now that a really big irritant, the EU, has settled on the juggernaut’s rump?

Maj.-Gen. (res.) Yaakov Amidror: The Risks of Foreign Peacekeeping Forces in the West Bank— During the 1967 Six-Day War, I was a soldier serving in Battalion 202 of the Paratroopers Brigade of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF). We entered the Gaza Strip from south of Gaza City and on the first day of fighting, in the early afternoon, we were told not to open fire on a group that was due to arrive in an orderly fashion along the railway line. After about an hour a group of Indian soldiers with large Sikh turbans on their heads approached. They marched between the railway lines in neat groups of four, rifles slung across their shoulders with the barrels pointing downward, a clear sign that they did not intend to use them. This was UNEF, the United Nations Emergency Force, which had retreated from the area just before hostilities broke out.

Adam Levick: What Does the Mother of a ‘Pre-Oslo’ Monster Look Like?— The following is a photo published at The Independent on July 29th to illustrate a story about Israel’s recent decision to release 104 Palestinians prisoners – a group of Palestinians (convicted prior to the Oslo Accords) largely consisting of terrorists who murdered or attempted to murder Israeli citizens, soldiers and foreign tourists.

Meir Elran and Alex Altshuler: Responsibility and Authority (or Lack thereof) on the Israeli Home Front— Among the many issues raised at the sixth annual INSS conference on the preparedness of the home front on July 25, 2013 was the lack of a clear, normative definition of authority and responsibility for management of the Israeli home front. The full severity of this lapse arose seven years ago, following the exposure of failures on the civilian front during the Second Lebanon War, and it has since been discussed repeatedly in various forums and committees. It has generated the design of several systemic models and was the basis for the drafts of the Home Front Law, which though drafted years ago is still on legislative hold. This lapse was also the focus of a series of critical reports by the state comptroller (most recently in July 2013), and it is scheduled to be addressed and resolved by the Prime Minister in the near future.

Robert Springborg: Sisi’s Islamist Agenda for Egypt— Addressing graduates of military academies is a standard responsibility for high-ranking military officers all over the world. But last week, Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, the commander of Egypt’s armed forces, which recently deposed the country’s first freely elected president, went far beyond the conventions of the genre in a speech to graduates of Egypt’s Navy and Air Defense academies. Sisi’s true audience was the wider Egyptian public, and he presented himself less as a general in the armed forces than as a populist strongman. He urged Egyptians to take to the streets to show their support for the provisional government that he had installed after launching a coup to remove from power President Mohamed Morsi, a longtime leader of the Islamist Muslim Brotherhood. “I’ve never asked you for anything,” Sisi declared, before requesting a “mandate” to confront the Muslim Brotherhood, whose supporters have launched protests and sit-ins to denounce the new military-backed regime.

Raymond Ibrahim: Brotherhood Torture Chambers (Finally) Exposed— Some time ago, Fox News published a report titled “Egyptian mosque turned into house of torture for Christians after Muslim Brotherhood protest.”   The report opens by explaining how Islamic hard-liners stormed a mosque in suburban Cairo, turning it into [a] torture chamber for Christians who had been demonstrating against the ruling Muslim Brotherhood in the latest case of violent persecution that experts fear will only get worse.  Such stories have become increasingly common as tensions between Egypt’s Muslims and Copts mount, but in the latest case, mosque officials corroborated much of the account and even filed a police report. Demonstrators, some of whom were Muslim, say they were taken from the Muslim Brotherhood headquarters in suburban Cairo to a nearby mosque on Friday and tortured for hours by hard-line militia members.

Mark Hendrickson: Obama and Marx’s Ten-Point Platform (Part I)— It can be startling to realize how much of Karl Marx’s ten-point platform to socialize an economy (set forth in Chapter Two of “The Communist Manifesto”) has been implemented in the United States. I even wrote a book about it in 1987.[1] Never before Barack Obama’s presidency, however, has a president pushed so assiduously to advance all ten points in Marx’s plan. Is it just a coincidence that Obama’s mentor, Frank Marshall Davis, was a card-carrying Communist and that Obama gravitated toward radicals such as alleged Cuban agent of influence Bill Ayers? Or, as the following synopsis shows, is Obama’s economic agenda is actually Marxist?

Majid Rafizadeh: So Long, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad— In less than a week, on August 3rd, the Iranian people will bid farewell to President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who will be replaced by Hassan Rouhani, another regime-insider. The mainstream perception, and the argument supported by many analysts, is that next week will mark the end of Ahmadinejad’s political career. This argument is inaccurate due to the fact that the clerics and political figures in Iran’s gilded circle routinely continue their anti-Western, anti-U.S., and anti-Semitic statements and policies either through regime politics or behind the geopolitical and media scenes.

Jonah Goldberg: Bending the Trayvon Tragedy— I never thought the Trayvon Martin/George Zimmerman case deserved nearly the attention it got. But reasonable people can disagree about that. What strikes me as unconscionable, however, is the way the supposedly objective media have not only sensationalized a tragedy but at times have appeared to deliberately bend the facts to fit a desired storyline. Maybe it started with the use of pictures of a younger Martin or with the sudden embrace of the term “white Hispanic” to describe Zimmerman in order to more easily paint him as a racist.

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Email Distribution List:

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4--Scripture of the Day

Hosea 9: 16-17

Ephraim is stricken, their root is dried up, they will bear no fruit. Even though they bear children, I will slay the precious ones of their womb. My God will cast them away because they have not listened to Him; and they will be wanderers among the nations.

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5--HNIY Print form

His Name is Yahweh explains why the Name of God, Yahweh, is so important.  It’s available in eBook format and in paperback.  It’s also available for free in PDF format.

  • God also said to Moses, “Say to the Israelites, ‘Yahweh, the God of your fathers—the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob—has sent me to you.’ This [Yahweh] is my name forever, the name by which I am to be remembered from generation to generation.” (Exodus 3: 15)
  • “Therefore behold, I am going to make them know—this time I will make them know My power and My might; and they shall know that My name is Yahweh.” (Jeremiah 16: 21)
  • “Behold, the days are coming,” declares Yahweh, “when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch; and He will reign as king and act wisely and do justice and righteousness in the land.  In His days Judah will be saved, and Israel will dwell securely; and this is His name by which He will be called, ‘Yahweh our righteousness.’” (Jeremiah 23: 5-6)
  • Yeshua said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was born, I am.” (John 8: 58)

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6--His Name is Yahweh Audio Presentation

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His Name is Yahweh

Click here to download the entire audio presentation for free and with no strings attached.  Share it as often as you want.

6--Freely You Received Freely Give

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14--Blessings from Revelation

Blessings in the Book of Revelation is a book that you need to read, especially now.  There are blessings throughout the Scriptures but Revelation is the only book in the Bible actually containing a specific blessing for reading it. It’s repeated twice, once at the beginning and again at the end. This is the reason that I believe Revelation should be the first step toward studying biblical prophecy. Though not easy to do, Revelation can be broken down and understood by anyone, not just the academic elite. So, Revelation’s blessings are for everyone.  Click here to order the eBook.  Click here to order the paperback.

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Other Books by Neil Snyder

  • Stand! is a suspense novel that exposes the lies, corruption, and greed underlying the theory that man-made CO2 emissions are responsible for global warming.  Professor Wes Carlyle and Karen Sterling, his research collaborator, carefully scan the audience for their would-be attacker—a member of the enviro-gestapo who has been following them for days.  Wes spots his man in the back of the room leaning against the wall.  Suddenly, another man in the audience steps forward and moves toward Karen at a menacing pace.  With a vicious stroke, he swings a billy club at her head.  Click here to order the eBook.  Click here to order the paperback.
  • What Will You Do with the Rest of Your Life? deals with a question that every Christian has to consider: what should I do with my life?  Click here to order the eBook.  Click here to order the paperback.
  • Falsely Accused is a true story about a young woman who was accused of committing a double homicide.  It’s about a travesty of justice, and it reveals Yahweh intervening in the life of a believer to rescue her from danger in the face of seemingly insurmountable odds.  Everyone will enjoy the book, but young people in particular need to read it because the mistakes made that led to the problem could have been avoided.  They were the kinds of mistakes that young people are prone to make.  As they say, forewarned is forearmed.  Click here to order the eBook.  Click here to order the paperback.

15--Concentric Circles

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