MARK STEYN ON THE GELLER CANCELLATION
BY CANADA’S SHARIA POLICE

By Yochanan Visser, TOI

On Monday Robert Walker who heads the US based Population Institute and  worked for 14 years on Capitol Hill wrote a devastating analysis about Egypt’s severe economic crisis in the Huffington Post. In the article titled: ‘Egypt: too big, too late to save?’ , Walker paints a bleak picture of Egypt’s immediate future. The country desperately needs cash and its food, energy and foreign currency reserves are steadily shrinking.

By Eugene Kontorovich, Volokh Conspiracy 

In an important but largely ignored case, a French Court of Appeals in Versailles ruled last week that construction of a light rail system in the Israeli-controlled West Bank by a French company does not violate international law. In doing so, the court sided with many of the arguments long made against the blanket application of the relevant provisions of the Geneva Conventions to Israeli settlements. National courts rarely if ever address such issues, and thus the decision is important both for its rarity and for what it says.

In this post, I’ll address issues relevant to the substance – Israel’s presence in the West Bank. In the next post I’ll deal with the “Kiobel” issues raised by the case – corporate liability, the value of American ATS cases, and so forth. I should note at the outset that what follows is based on a rough translation of the opinion and my vague French; I would be grateful for corrections on matters of language that I have misapprehended. I venture forward because it is an important decision that deserves attention, yet has been met by complete silence by international legal scholars. Read more…

By Shmuel Smulovich, TOI

The bill, which was set to be voted on by the Ministerial Legislation Committee Monday, raises the electoral threshold to four percent of the general population from two — putting small parties, namely the Arab lists, at a disadvantage — and limiting the number of ministers that can serve in a government to 19 as well as establishing a maximum of four deputy ministers.

The new governance bill that seeks to beef up the government’s staying power by making it less prone to toppling via no confidence votes was introduced Wednesday by Yisrael Beytenu MK David Rotem.

The draft, which was believed to be submitted at the behest of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, was met with applause from Rotem’s faction but was promptly criticized by members of the opposition who claimed it gave large parties too much power, while stripping small parties of their voice.
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By Ted Belman

Today Netanyahu said:

“The purpose of the future agreement with the Palestinians is to prevent the eventuality of a binational state and to guarantee stability and security.”

Not a word about Judea and Samaria belonging to Jews.
Not a word about an undivided Jerusalem, the capital of Israel.
Not a word denying the right of return.
Not a word about refusing to uproot settlers.

Only the far left worries about becoming a bi-national state. Now Bibi has joined their ranks

By Chris Mitchell and John Waage, CBN News Jerusalem Bureau

JERUSALEM, Israel — At a news conference Tuesday, President Obama said he still hasn’t determined whether Syria crossed a “red line” with a chemical weapons attack in March.

The president suggested he would consider military action against Syria if the United States can confirm President Bashar al-Assad used chemical weapons against his people.

But a number of U.S. allies — and enemies — are intently following Washington’s response to the threat. No one has more at stake than Israel.

Syrian opposition groups released a video showing dozens of people they say were killed or sickened in a chemical weapons attack by the Assad government. Back in March, Obama issued a warning:
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By Barry Rubin, Rubin Reports

Israel’s economic and strategic situation is surprisingly bright right now. That’s partly due to the government’s own economic restraint and strategic balancing act, partly due to a shift in Obama Administration policy, and partly due to the conflicts among Israel’s adversaries.

Let’s start with the economy. During 2012, Israel’s economy grew by 3.1 percent. While some years ago this would not be all that impressive it is amazing given the international economic recession. The debt burden actually fell from 79.4 percent of Gross Domestic Product to only 73.8 percent. As the debt of the United States and other countries zooms upwards, that’s impressive, too.
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The Australian Editorial

IT says a great deal about the illiberal tendencies of parts of our academic community that the anti-Israeli boycott, divestment and sanctions movement – which often borders on the anti-Semitic – finds support in the humanities faculties of some of our universities.

Given the right of people to go about their legal business, and shop where they please, it is questionable that the University of NSW should even tolerate protests against a chocolate shop being established on its site. But it is beyond question that it should take action against protesters using blatantly racist and anti-Semitic language as part of these protests. We expect that, quite rightly, there would be forceful action to stamp out any vilification of, say, Muslim or Asian students. Yet seemingly the targeting of Israeli-linked companies and Jewish people throws up a confected moral quandary.
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The Arab-Muslim Propaganda War About Jerusalem

By Mort Klein, Cutting Edge Commentator

The propaganda war by the Palestinian Arabs that began as soon as the Oslo agreements were signed has recently expanded to include an all-out assault on the idea that there has ever been any real Jewish connection to Jerusalem. Like the “revisionist” historians who claim that the Holocaust never happened, Palestinian Authority (PA) officials are attempting to falsify history in order to undermine the Jewish connection to the Holy City.
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By Rick Moran, AMERICAN THINKER

I’m sure glad we have the most transparent administration in history, aren’t you?

Fox News:

At least four career officials at the State Department and the Central Intelligence Agency have retained lawyers or are in the process of doing so, as they prepare to provide sensitive information about the Benghazi attacks to Congress, Fox News has learned.

Victoria Toensing, a former Justice Department official and Republican counsel to the Senate Intelligence Committee, is now representing one of the State Department employees. She told Fox News her client and some of the others, who consider themselves whistle-blowers, have been threatened by unnamed Obama administration officials.
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By Dr Sasser, Brandeis U

The Jordanian monarchy is going through one of its most difficult periods ever. The present crisis is certainly the most trying phase of King Abdullah’s reign, which began fourteen years ago upon the death of his father, King Hussein, in February 1999. But one should not rush with predictions of doom and gloom with respect to the Hashemites in Jordan. Too many have done so for decades past, only to be proven wrong time and again.

This Brief argues that the situation in Jordan, though tenuous, remains manageable, at least for the time being. The Arab Spring has emboldened the opposition by eroding the deterrent effect of the notorious “fear of government” (haybat al-sulta) in the Arab world in general and in Jordan in particular. For over two years, Jordan has experienced almost weekly demonstrations, led primarily by the Muslim Brethren but also by other less substantial opponents of the regime. They demand political reform and decry the pervasive corruption in the country, which they argue is the major cause for the depletion of the state’s resources and the steadily declining living standards of the masses. At the same time, while the demonstrations continuing for more than two years reflects the perseverance of the opposition and the depth of popular disaffection, it also indicates the staying power of the regime and the relative ineffectiveness of its fractious rivals.
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The desire to have ultra-Orthodox Jewish men and Arab young men enter the work force must not be confused with the principle of having the burden of defending the country shared by all. Entering the work force is beneficial for those who do so and for the country as a whole, but it is not a substitute for military service.

By Moshe Arens, HAARETZ

Civilian national service is not the same as military service. Not only does civilian service not expose those called up to the same dangers and the same discipline as military service, but it is questionable whether in a modern democracy the government has the right to compel young people to perform civilian tasks which are performed by others for pay.
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[THIS MONEY WOULD BE BETTER SPENT ON EVACUATING ARABS.]

JPOST

The evacuation of isolated West Bank Jewish communities outside of the settlement blocs could cost the government more than NIS 250 billion, the Council of Jewish Communities of Judea, Samaria and the Gaza Strip said on Monday.

It released this figure amid renewed United States efforts to revive direct negotiations for a two-state solution. Any final-status agreement achieved through negotiations would likely involve the evacuation of isolated West Bank settlements.

But the figure itself was part of a detailed response to a Peace Now YouTube video released last week, which urged Finance Minister Yair Lapid to cut spending for West Bank settlements.
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When the Saudi Plan was first tabled in 2002, it made NO mention of swaps but swaps were mooted. I recall that in that discussion, they mentioned swaps should be of equal value rather than equal size. This Plan was amended by the Arab League and became known as the Arab Peace Initiative. The amendment required a just settlement of the refugee issue. Israel has already rejected the ’67 lines plus swaps proposed by Obama so there is nothing new here. T. Belman

Arabs soften stance on Israel’s final borders

In DC, Qatari PM reiterates call for peace deal based on 1967 borders, but cites possibility of ‘comparable,’ mutually agreed and ‘minor’ land swaps between Israel, Palestinians. Kerry: Agreement common interest for region, whole world

Yitzhak Benhorin, YNET

WASHINGTON – Arab countries endorsed a Mideast peace plan Monday that would allow for small shifts in Israel’s 1967 border, moving them closer to President Barack Obama’s two-state vision.
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