Israeli parliamentarian says nuclear Iran balances Israel

Yes, she is in the Israeli government
March 31, 2009

On one of her first days in the Knesset, Hanin Zoabi said she welcomed increased Iranian influence in Gazaalso called Israel an "aggressor state." Zoabi is the first woman elected in the Balad party which is Arab. As reported by The Bulletin:

“If this influence is supporting me, so I will not mind this influence. Even, I would ask for this influence ... The question is not whether there is an influence or not, the question whether this influence is supporting you, can support your demands or can go against your demands.”

Queried regarding Iran’s quest to manufacture nuclear weapons, she stated was that “It would [sic] be more supporting me to have a counter-power to Israel” and “I need something to balance its [Israel’s] power.”

She also spoke of Egypt and Jordan as being a threat to the Arabs of the Gaza Strip, intimating that they are scared of a free and democratic Palestinian state.

Ms. Zoabi was then asked if she felt worried due to the fact that Iran is getting close to acquiring a nuclear weapon and because she lives in close proximity to Jews. She replied, “No, I am not, I’m afraid from the nuclear Iran, I am more afraid from the Israeli nuclear [weapons].”

Israel is a democracy that allows free speech. Zoabi's case isn't unique. Many of the Arab party Knesset members speak out against Israel and advise the Palestinian Authority. In many other nations, this would be considered treason, but Israel allows it.

More from Zoabi:

Ms. Zoabi said that Israel was an aggressor state, and that only a situation similar to that which existed between the Soviet Union and United States in the form of the doctrine of “Mutually Ensured Destruction” would restrain Israel.

“It’s the balance of power. This is the only idea. Our only idea that it is more dangerous to the world, more dangerous to everyone, more dangerous to the Palestinians, to Israelis to have Israel as the only powerful state. I need something to balance its power because this balance of power will restrict the Israeli using of power. The Israeli violence of the army is an outcome of the Israel’s convenient feeling that no one will restrict her, that no Arab country will really declare a war against [Israel].”

She continued by saying “and another thing … I need a power which can make contrast to the Israeli power and it’s not for myself. It is not supporting me the fact that Israel would be the only state with a nuclear weapon. It’s more supporting me to have counter power to Israel.”

“I believe that [Israel] would respect its use of power if she’s afraid from others. The fact that she is not afraid from Arab countries, the fact that she is not afraid from a potential declaration of our Arab world to declare war against Israel, makes Israel more violent. You understand me. Sometimes I need power not in order to implement this power but in order to respect the other’s power. “

She was then asked if an Iranian bomb would lead to a nervous America and thus more U.S. pressure on Israel and if that would be good for her she replied “Exactly.”

Checkpoint violence

March 31, 2009

Two Palestinian students said Israeli border patrol guards beat them at a checkpoint on Saturday as they were making their way from Jericho to Jerusalem.

According to Alla and Iad Mazlum, relatives of the two, said the two were detained at the checkpoint along with other Palestinians.

Alla's father told Ynet that after identifying themselves, his son and Iad were taken into a room, where the officers ordered them to strip and "beat them for no reason."

... Border Guard said the officers offered a different version of the events, but added that the incident would be investigated.

If true, a travesty indeed.

Two-state solution older than Israel

March 31, 2009

The two-state solution isn't a new and sudden idea. In this American Thinker piece, Victor Sharpe traces the history of two states to pre-Israel. And it was a lot larger than anything in question now. In fact, present-day Jordan would've been included in Mandatory Palestine.

The Balfour Declaration issued by Lord Balfour, British Foreign Secretary, never envisaged that the Jordan River would be the eastern boundary of the reconstituted Jewish homeland.

The squabbling by the French and British colonial powers over the final frontiers of the Palestine Mandate had earlier led the London Times to urge Paris to accept sensible and rational frontiers in both the north and east of Jewish Palestine. As early as September 19th, 1919 it had thundered in an editorial:

"The Jordan will not do as the eastern frontier of Palestine ... Palestine must have a good military frontier east of Jordan ... Our duty as Mandatory is to make Jewish Palestine not a struggling state but one that is capable of vigorous and independent life ... "

Great read. Article here.

Thanks, Islam. No really.

March 31, 2009

If anyone can believe this, the Anglican church's Archbishop Rowan Williams thanked Muslims for bringing religion back to Great Britain. Muslim.net reported:

In an unprecedented move by a Western Christian leader, Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams has praised British Muslims for bringing back religion and ethics into public life.

"I think Islam has made a very significant contribution to getting a debate about religion into public life," Williams, the leader of the Anglican Church, told the Muslim News. "And I think it's very right that we should have these debates and discussions between Muslims and Christians and others in public."

Britain is home to more than 2 million Muslims.

This is the first time a Western Christian leader thanks Muslims for bringing back religion to a secular Western society.