UnMasking Hassan Rouhani, Iran's President

Nadene Goldfoot                                                                      

                   Who is Hassan Fereydoon Rouhani?  What is his resume like?
He was born on November 12, 1948 in Sorkheh, Iran to a religious Shi'ite Muslim family, so he will soon have his 65th birthday.

1. 35 years of loyal service to the Islamic Republic serving as close aide to:
        a. Ayatollah Khomeini
        b. Ayatollah Khamenei
2. One of 6 presidential candidates out of a field of discarded 678 who were ideologically unsound
3. Was one of "moderates" in 1986 that Robert McFarlane dealt with in the arms-for-hostage meeting in Tehran. McFarlane was President Ronald Reagan's former national security adviser who met with them in a secret trip.The Iran-Contra affair involved secretly selling arms to Iran and funneling the money to support the Contras in Nicaragua.

How is he different from the previous President Ahmadinejad?  He's using a "charm offensive" approach.  Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu believes this is ploy meant only to stave off Western action against Tehran's nuclear program.  Through Ahmadinejad, we learned that Iran's feeling was that Israel needed to "vanish from the page of time," accompanied with vows that no one could stop the Islamic Republic if it wanted a nuclear weapon.  Iran even claimed that a "nefarious cabal inside the US government was behind the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington.  Ahmadinejad's favorite site to spew lies about Israel was the UN General Assembly in New York and did this every year since 2005 until last year.  Rouhani is taking a defensive approach.  Israel is alarmed at the prospect of a meeting between Obama and Rouhani. Netanyahu feels that a "bad agreement is worse than no agreement at all.

Ahmadinejad spent all his time of showing an overt anti-Semitism affect.  Everything he said about Jews was more than anti-Semitic, if that were possible. He often said that "Israel will be eliminated."  He accused Jews of having no roots in the Middle East.  Evidently he hasn't heard our history as told in Queen Esther's story which is found in the Bible, either, when a Jewish woman was queen of Persia.   This is what made him so loathed.  Rouhani is moving in a different direction to get the same goal.  He knows his country's nuclear program is seen as a direct threat to Israel and that Israel's officials are highly skeptical of a diplomatic solution to this standoff.   He's trying to assure Israel and the USA that he is not a threat.

His comments come hard for him and he has raised concerns among skeptics who worry that he may not be all he seems.  Steps of his to reach out to the Jews have been symbolic and awkward. On September 4th he sent out a Twitter account wishing "all Jews" a happy Rosh Hashanah.  The West could not believe their eyes.  Was it actually from Rouhani himself? They concluded, Yes, but not directly from him.  The Iranian foreign minister sent Rosh Hashanah wishes as well.
                                                                       

Last week he was interviewed by Ann Curry who had previously interviewed Ahmadinejad for NBC.  She was way too easy on Ahmadinejad and soon after that had lost her position.  This time she asked Rouhani point-blank if he shared Ahmadinejad's view about the Holocaust being just a myth.  Rouhani dodged that bullet  and said, "I'm not a historian.  I'm a politician.  What is important for us is that the people, the nations in our region should get closer to one another."   Well, the leaders could all sit around a campfire and sing, Kum Bay yah, my dear, Kum Bay yah, but I don't think he meant that way in closeness.  Notice how he said it wasn't important about  what one thought about the Holocaust being a fact?  He's minimizing the importance of saying he also  doesn't believe it happened.   He just wants to be the leader of the pack and to be seen as the good guy.  .

Rouhani's UNGA speech didn't include Israel or even Jews.  CNN's interview was reported with Rouhani telling them that he condemned the Holocaust as a horrible crime against humanity which of course Ahmadinejad was the strong Holocaust denier.  Since that interview was aired, Tehran officials have challenged the translation of Rouhani's remarks.

Suddenly President Hassan Rouhani let Obama know that he wanted to talk on Friday.  Iranian officials contacted Americans and Obama about it.    Obama returned the call at about 2:30 p.m. and they spoke through a translator for 15 minutes even though Rouhani is fluent in English.  This first is an event of more than 30 years since Iran and the USA presidents spoke.   That way Rouhani can always blame the translator if it isn't acceptable as told to newspapers.  

Obama was concerned about 3 Americans; former FBI agent Robert Levinson who had disappeared in 2007 from an Iranian island, Amir Hekmati, a former Iranian-American Marine they are holding on espionage charges, and Saeed Abedini, Iranian-American Christian in prison for 8 years for evangelizing.

After the call, Obama called Israel to let them know because such a private phone call connection would be viewed with possible alarm considering the alarm Israel is already under about Iran. The newspaper reporters added that "both are  likely to encounter fierce resistance from domestic opponents and close allies, especially Israel in the case of the United States."  After all, Israel is greatly concerned about saving the lives of 8 million Israelis and does not want an atom  bomb dropped on their tiny country.

 Rouhani told people on his Twitter feed and let people know that they discussed "different issues."  One included the need "for expediting a resolution of the West's standoff with Iran over the latter's nuclear program."  The sweet talk will now continue to get those nasty sanctions lifted.  And what changes will we see from Iran?  It reminds me of the alcoholic who continues to tell his wife that he's sorry and will not drink anymore.  Usually they are so convincing.  Does Rouhani continue with Ahmadinejad's denial that  it is seeking nuclear arms and says its atomic work is peaceful and aimed at generating electricity?  In an oil rich country?  Come to think of it, isn't this ploy exactly like our bad cop-good cop routine?    

Resource: Oregonian Newspaper 9/27/13, page B5, The Iranian "Moderate": Playing for time, playing the West, by Charles Krauthammer
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hassan_Rouhani
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/worldviews/wp/2013/09/26/hassan-rouhanis-jewish-problem/
Oregonian newspaper, 9/28/13  Unexpected call:  Obama to Iranian by Jonathan S. Landay and Anita Kumar, McClatchy Washington Bureau-from UN
breakingisraelnews.com  Israeli Minister Calls Palestinian President's UN Speech a "Lie"
http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Security-Watch/Backchannels/2013/0923/In-parts-of-US-and-Israel-Iran-s-Ahmadinejad-is-sorely-missed
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/09/24/us-un-assembly-ahmadinejad-idUSBRE88N0HF20120924
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_McFarlane

Double Talk At UN From Obama

Nadene Goldfoot                                                                      

   Ramallah, Muslim center, formally a Christian town, 6 miles North of Jerusalem

Talk about mixed messages and how to try to stay friendly with opposing groups, Obama is an expert.  Tuesday at the UN annual meeting, he spoke about being glad to see a "growing recognition within Israel that the occupation of the West Bank is tearing at the democratic fabric of the Jewish state."

Where does he get that information?  The so called West Bank, named only by Jordan when they illegally occupied the land which was Judea and Samaria, long ago Jewish states from the days of Joshua and the 12 Tribes of Jacob.  Now that was an illegal occupation.  The land was officially part of the designated Jewish Homeland as described by the League of Nations.  The land now Jordan was part of that Homeland.  Then England backed off and altered the course of history.  The land West of the Jordan was still part of the Homeland.

Part of that land, which is divided into areas which then are designated as to who can settle there or not or what it is used for, is a buffer between Israel and Jordan, meaning the hordes of Arabs that have tried to come across previously.  It's necessary for survival.

 Instead of sitting down and making peace with Israel, Arabs have refused to recognize this Jewish state because it is a Jewish state and they seem to think that is  conflicting to their Muslim stand in the community.  That they all are monotheistic and that Arabs and Jews are both a Semitic people and have been cousins for thousands of years doesn't seen to cut it.  That the Jewish Homeland as found was in a terrible neglectful state after being held by the Ottoman Empire for 400 years doesn't seem to matter to them.  That it was only a latrine for wandering nomads on camels and was only bearing weeds makes not a speck of difference.  That the Jews have turned it into a Utopia makes them covet the land now.  NOW they want it.

Obama seems to want to forget that war of 1967 when all the greedy Arabs again attacked Israel and when Israel miraculously won the war without one American soldier helping out.  Alone in battle they withstood the enemy much to the consternation of those that wish to drive Israel into the sea for only G-d knows why, jealousy perhaps?  About 600,000 Israelis live in Eastern Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria.  Samaria, incidentally, is the name of ancient Israel whose capital was Samaria after King Solomon had died in 920 BCE.  Yes, we go back over 3,000 years to that date, far longer than most of the nomadic Arabs who actually came in from Syria and who thought of themselves as Syrian not too long ago.

Obama then commiserated with the Arabs of Ramalla who he recognized as understandably cynical and frustrated who have to "endure daily indignity of occupation."   What kind of indignity is he dreaming of?  He's intimating that Israelis, who have undergone the worst indignities of the Holocaust, of Pogroms, even of the indignity of living under occupation themselves in Jerusalem before Jesus was born and afterwards, wouldn't try to emulate?  The very words conjure up rabid pictures making Israelis look like the enemy of Obama.

The President  is being conciliatory with the Palestinians and shows that he is on their side of fighting Israel which has existed for the past 65 years.  Bringing in a state of Palestine which continues to teach people to hate Israel and that it doesn't even exist by showing maps without it is not a friendly move.   Israel has had to fight how many wars and constant skirmishes, human bombers, constant bombing of missiles, mortars and rockets in the past 13 years from Gaza?  It's because they've never been told straight that in order to have their own state for what ever reason they must be a friendly state.  Enough with these attacks from them and all their neighbors who lead them.

It was just 4 days ago that an Israeli soldier was shot dead by an Arab told to continue killing.  This happened in Hebron where 500 Jews dare to live among the 100,000 Arabs.  I wonder what Oregonians would do if suddenly Portlanders decided that they couldn't abide their Chinese community?  Or their Arab community?  Well, you see, the future Palestine will kick out all Jews.  It's to be Arab only.  This is called Apartheid, but who cares?  Only people who idiotically call Israel an Apartheid state, with its Jews from every corner of the globe along with 1.4 Arabs.  But then, who looks up definitions?

It's like this.  If you have a peaceful family oriented neighborhood, you're going to be upset when a drug warlord moves in who kills his neighbors if they complain about the traffic, the shooting of innocent nearby people, and the cops who have to constantly come to arrest someone for disturbing the peace and breaking the law.  If they want to live there, they have to shape up or ship out.  You don't side with these obnoxious characters who don't want to abide by rules of conduct in a civilized society.

I've seen Kerry in action on TV.  He could deliver the message, good and strong.  The USA will back a Palestine only under certain requirements.  Meet that and you might stand a chance.  Shape up or ship out.  Instead, Obama stated that  "allowing the PA to create the Arab state it seeks is the only way to peace."
No preconditions.  Give in to their demands.  That's going to lead to peace?  It's going to lead to them and everyone else in the Middle East to demand what they want and they will figure they will get it.  They've got leaders buffaloed.

Then Obama comes back rather weakly now after that statement with "Friends of Israel, including the United States, (not the USA and friends) must recognize that Israel's security....depends on the realization of a Palestinian state."  As I see it, this means a threat to Israel's security because they are changing their goals or their methods.  They will have a better chance than ever to attack Israel.  To Obama, Abbas just finally sitting down to talk is the greatest thing since the invention of ice cream, the true peacemaker now.  This is while there has been attacks continuing on Israel as I write.  Is it a downplay  I note that Obama then mentioned Netanyahu releasing murderers from prison as requested by this peacemaker, Abbas?  Already Israelis are being murdered again by Palestinians.  They get the green light from efforts like this.

Enough said from this armchair Yiddishe bubbe.  We'll soon see how Netanyahu and Livni assess all this.

Resource:  http://www.jewsnews.co.il/2013/09/24/obama-at-un-end-occupation-of-west-bank/
http://jewishfactsfromportland.blogspot.com/2011/02/misguided-attitude-towards-judea-and.html
ttp://www.reuters.com/article/2013/09/22/us-israel-palestinians-idUSBRE98L0F720130922
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ramallah







.  

Rouhani's Sweet Talk at UN

Nadene Goldfoot                                                                            

"Iran is on course to develop a nuclear bomb within six months and time has run out for further negotiations, a senior Israeli minister said."  Israel feels that "unless it faced a credible threat of U.S. military action, it would not stop its nuclear activities."  

The so-called new "moderate" Iranian President, Rouhani,  told the UN today that they pose "absolutely no threat to the world or the region."  To prove this he said that his country was willing to hold time-bound talks on its nuclear program.  More talks are just a stalling process for his country to continue progress.   It was emphasized that he wanted everyone to recognize Iran's right to enrich uranium and that their nuclear program is a peaceful one.  How about that?

Only about 6 days ago NBC was told they Iran will never build nuclear weapons. To show their good faith, they have freed 11 political prisoners including Mohsen Amenzadeh, a politician and the prominent human rights lawyer, Nasrin Sotoudeh.  Their case is being well orchestrated, evidently.

Then he had to get his nasty digs in about Israel by talking about Palestine, saying it is under occupation.  He went on claiming that their basic rights were being violated and that they were deprived of the right of return to their homeland.

Those of us who know the history of the Arabs that are called Palestinians, something Jews were also called who were living in  the land that was to be the Jewish Homeland, as voted by the UN's former organization, the League of Nations,   know that there never was a country of Palestine.  It was just the name the Romans gave to the land when they conquered Jerusalem in 70 CE.  Rouhani knows that Israel was created by not only the League of Nations in the 20's but also by the UN on May 14, 1948.  The Palestinians  and evidently Iran continues to propagate this myth that there had been a Palestine country and that these Arabs have been tossed out of it.

Not so.  Most all the ancestors of the present day Palestinians were people who followed Jews in their building from 1880's on.  They came from all over the Middle East as they heard about the prospects of getting jobs with them.  Now they want to take over the country.  Time spent reading Joan Peters book, From Time Immemorial would enlighten Rouhani.  Peters went to the actual original records to get her information about the "Palestinians."

If the next 9 months of meetings between Israeli and Palestinian represenatives stay on course, there will be no such thing as their right of return.  They weren't on the land designated to be a state of Palestine in the first place.  Some were here, but much fewer in number, and they left because of the Arab attack of 1948, minutes after Israel was pronounced a new state.  They left because their leaders told them that they were taking over this new state of Israel and when the attack was over, they could move back in and even take over the Jews' homes.  Weren't they surprised to find that the ones who won were the Jews.  So what did these brilliant Arab leaders do?  Tell their people to remain in refugee camps set up for them.  And there they have been for the last 65 years, pawns of their leaders led to think that they are destroying Israel this way.

It's a good thing that the Israeli delegation at the UN walked out just before Rouhani spoke.  They would be been revolted at hearing this vision of history.  Just like Amadinejad's former speeches, the Iranians take these speaking opportunities to vilify Israel.  Only last week Rouhani refused to recognize that the Holocaust actually happened.  I wonder what material he calls historic for his research?

President Obama has a different tactic.  He has reached out to Rouhani at the meeting and let the members know that he is testing the diplomatic path.  He seems to believe this could be a step down a different path than taken by Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and that they are interested in reaching their potential in commerce and culture, science and education.  He recognized before all that the status quo will only deepen Iran's isolation.  The status quo has been  since 1995, that the United States has had an embargo on trade with Iran. According to a 2013 BBC World Service Poll, 5% of Americans view Iranian influence positively, with 87% expressing a negative view, the most unfavorable perception of Iran in the world.  Behind the scenes Obama has told Netanyhu that he isn't being fooled by these words.  He said that actions will speak louder.  Yes, they certainly do speak louder than promised words.  

Back in 2002, President Bush said that Iran was the axis of evil.  He saw that the proliferation of long-range missiles developed by Iran  constituted terrorism and threatened the United States.  Since then, Iran has come into nuclear material and has been working day and night frantically to manufacture what most people see as nuclear weapons.  This come from all the threats they have made on the USA and Israel.  Since Israel is standing to receive the greats threats being much closer, the USA had promised to stand by them and not allow the production to reach this point.  Was that like the Syrians who were not to reach the red line?  They've already crossed that one.  Now Syria's Assad has much more time to move his chemical arsenal over to Lebanon which has been seen on the radar.  

Israel has been greatly threatened by Iran.  "President, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, and his demand for "the regime occupying Jerusalem" to "vanish from the page of time", has led Israelis to fear an eventual attack from Iran."  The attitude comes from the religious leader, the Ayatollah.  A change in the presidency has not altered that, only the manner of the presentation of a new speaker. Now, instead of saying that Israel is a cancer and must be removed, Rouhani is preaching "tolerance."   Netanyhu will be at meetings on September 30 and November 1st.  No doubt he will address the Iranian developments.  

http://www.brookings.edu/research/papers/2012/11/israel-syria-rabinovich
Resource: http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/172212#.UkJr19KOTqF
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-14542438
From Time Immemorial by Joan Peters
Genesis 1948 by Dan Kurzman
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iran%E2%80%93United_States_relations
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/saudiarabia/10172463/Saudi-Arabia-targeting-Iran-and-Israel-with-ballistic-missiles.html
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/21/world/middleeast/prime-minister-netanyahu-on-iranian-president-rouhani.html?_r=0
http://news.yahoo.com/no-time-left-negotiations-iran-israeli-minister-100029438.html

What Happened to the Jews of Aleppo, Syria ?

Nadene Goldfoot                                                                 

                                     A Jewish Wedding in Aleppo  1914

According to the book of Samuel and Psalm 60, Aram Soba, the Biblical name for Aleppo, was part of the extended area of Israel.   Aleppo covered a huge area at this time.  Aleppo's history goes back to King David's day  of 1010-970 BCE.  The Jewish community here was one of the oldest in the world.  

When the United Nations declared a Partition Plan for Palestine in November 1947, the Middle East went wild.  Severe anti-Jewish pogroms took place with many casualties across the whole Arab world.  The most violent happened in Aden and Syria.  The violence caused a severe increase in a Jewish exodus, with the Aleppo Jewish community declining.  The rioters in Aleppo burned the city's Jewish quarter and killed 75 people.  After the pogrom, the city[s Jewish population had left.  

In 1948, there were about 30,000 Jews in Syria.  That's not many when you realize that in 2011 the population of Syria was as high as 22,505,000.  The Syrian government placed severe restrictions on Jews who might choose to escape.  This included emigration.  

Over the next decades, many Jews managed to escape, and the work of supporters, especially Judy Feld Carr, who helped smuggle Jews out of Syria, brought their plight to the attention of the world and raised awareness of their situation.  

After the Madrid Conference of 1991, the USA pressured Syria's government to ease its restrictions on Jews.  By Passover  1992, the government of Syria began granting exit visas to Jews on condition that they would not go to Israel.  4,000 Jews were living in Damascus called in Arabic "Yehud ash-sham) and Aleppo and Qamishli.  Most Jews had made it to the USA and some to Israel already. A few family had chosen to emigrate to France and Turkey.   There is a large Syrian Jewish community living in South Brooklyn, New York.  A few remained in Damascus.  There was a final airlift by Israel  that took place in 1994.  They took these few to Tel Aviv.  

"The Syrian Jewish community in New York originally consisted of two groups, Jews from Aleppo and Jews from Damascus, Syria. At first the convergence of the two groups was not easy. The Aleppan Jews thought of themselves as more knowledgeable, largely due to their history in Syria as a center of Jewish learning. The Aleppans, or Halabis , followed the traditions of Aram Soba . The Damascene Jews or shammies , prayed in a different house of worship, although in Brooklyn the two groups lived side by side and socialized."

By 2004, the Syrian government tried to establish relations with the emigrants, and a delegation of about 12 Syrian Jews  came back and visited Syria in the Spring.  

The surname of Halabi means Aleppo.  It denotes an origin from Aleppo (Halab), Syria, or people who traded with Aleppo residents.  A number of different families from different religions used that surname. Muslims, Jews, Christians or Druze might be carrying this surname.  

Some of the Muslims with the surname of Halabi have migrated away to cities in Western Saudi Arabia such as Jeddah, Madinah and Makkah.  Many Halabi Christians have migrated to the USA, England and other European countries.  Druze al-Halabi are found in Lebanon,  Israel, Canada and the USA among other countries.  Halepovich is a variant of the name which is used among slavic Muslims in the Balkans.  

Najeeb Halaby is the Syrian father of Queen Noor of Jordan who was born as Lisa Najeeb Halaby.  Lisa Elhalabi is the Administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration of the USA and the CEO and chairman of Pan Am.  

ALEPPO in arabic is called. Ḥalab; the Jews of Aleppo called it  Aram-Ẓoba or Aram Ẓova), It was the second-largest city in Syria and the center of northern Syria.  The legend has it that Abraham pastured his sheep on the mountain of Aleppo and distributed their milk (ḥalav) to the poor on its slopes.   Jews settled in Aleppo during the Greek period and remained there during the Roman days.  "The community seems to have had close contacts with Palestine, and heads of Palestinian yeshivot (schools that studied the Torah) visited Aleppo." Judea and Samaria were called Palestine after 135CE by the Romans.  "At the beginning of the 16^th century exiles from Spain started to arrive in Aleppo, among them outstanding rabbis. " It was the Spanish Inquisition of 1492 that drove out the Jews from Spain and then from their refuge, Portugal and caused them to flee to Syria.  

In Aleppo is the Al-Hayyat mosque.  It used to be a synagogue dating from the 6th century.  Benjamin of Tudela found 1,500 Jews living there in 1170 CE.  Before 1914 there were 14,000 Jews living in Aleppo.  The Jewish quarter contained many ancient synagogues with the oldest being the Mustaribaha which was destroyed in 1947's riots.  The main part of this synagogue dated back to the 4th century.  

Resource: http://jewishbubba.blogspot.com/2013/07/modern-day-female-moses-judith-feld.html
 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jewish_exodus_from_Arab_and_Muslim_countries
http://jewishfactsfromportland.blogspot.com/2013/07/what-happened-to-jews-of-damascus-syria.html
http://jewishfactsfromportland.blogspot.com/2012/07/what-had-happened-to-jewish-syrians.html
http://genealogy.familyedcation.com/surname-origin/halabi@ixzz2thCmJfAC
http://genealogy.familyeducation.com/surname-origin/halabi
http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/judaica/ejud_0002_0001_0_00732.html
The New Standard Jewish Encyclopedia  "Aleppo"
http://www.jewishgen.org/sefardsig/aleppojews.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Syrian_Jews

Who Are the Syrian Rebels That Obama Is Arming?

Nadene Goldfoot                                                                 

                                       Rebel in Homs, Syria

Out of about 100,000 rebels fighting in Syria's 22,505,000 populated country which had about 296,000 active military troops at their disposal, 10,000 are jihadists.  This includes foreign fighters that are linked directly to terrorist organizations like al Qaeda.  Add to that another 30,000 to 35,000 hardline Islamists who share the same philosophy as al Qaeda, but are focused on war in Syria.  The aim of many jihadists is to create a worldwide Islamic Caliphate.  Another 30,000 in the mix that also share their brother's Islamic character are more moderate than the rest .  The downside of this is that strictly nationalist groups wanting a piece of the Arab Spring, meaning a more democratic state, are a small minority of the rebels.  Secular groups are not in any leadership capacity.

"While many non-Muslims are now aware that there is a sectarian divide in Islam between Sunnis and Shiites, it is less commonly known that Syria is ruled largely by members of an esoteric Islamic sect, the Alawites, whose belief in the divinity of Ali, Muhammad’s cousin and son-in-law, is just one of the reasons that they were oppressed as infidels for centuries by other Muslims."  Syria has Lebanon and Iraq as neighbors who have gone through civil war.  Assad has warned that if he loses power, the country would be in a civil war.  That's quite ironic being he is now the cause of it in trying to hold on.  

Al Qaeda is the prevalent group.  It is a "global militant Islamist organization founded by Osama bin Laden in Peshawar, Pakistan, at some point between August 1988 and late 1989, with its origins being traceable to the Soviet War in Afghanistan. It operates as a network comprising both a multinational, stateless army and a radical Sunni Muslim movement calling for global Jihad and a strict interpretation of sharia law."

So, ignoring these facts, our president of the USA, Obama, has waived two laws that were designed to prevent arming terrorists and our government has already started doing just this before his signing was even completed, meaning that Congress doesn't even get their 15 day warning about it.  We have already sent over weapons, vehicles, advanced communications equipment and advanced medical kits.  

McCain, our warrior, is all for it, probably thinking this is being most humanitarian.  His strategy is to provide "meaningful lethal assistance to moderate opposition forces."  Al Qaeda was lead by Osama bin Lauden who engineered the 9/11 attacks that downed the Twin Towers 12 years ago.  They are far from being moderate. 

Last month it was al Qaeda who launched 4 rockets from Lebanon into Israel on the trumped up charges that Israel was plotting with Hezbollah to fight against the Syrian rebels.  What a cock-a may-mee story this one is, and believe me, they will all believe it.   The Abdullah Azzam Brigade is not an honorable group.  They are the al Qaeda members who are spreading this propaganda.  

Hezbollah is a big  Shi'a terrorist group out of Lebanon.  They are also political, so there is competition here between Hezbollah and al Qaeda in who has the power, similar to Hamas and Fatah in Gaza and Judea/Samaria.  Hezbollah has a big hatred for Jews.  ""The anti-Semitism of Hezbollah leaders and spokesmen combines the image of seemingly invincible Jewish power ... and cunning with the contempt normally reserved for weak and cowardly enemies."

Our Arab Israelis have been joining the Syrian rebels lately. " There is a possibility that Arab Israelis who are being trained in Syria may use their knowledge against Israel – both by spreading ideologies and by using intel and military capabilities they've learned there."   These men are not forced into Israel's IDF and usually don't opt to join.  Actually, this hurts their opportunities to get better jobs, as an IDF service on one's resume is highly desirable.  Arab Israeli women have been reported to feel more nationalistic about Israel and have been joining up in the IDF.  

Lost in this morass of fighters is the honest nationalistic Syrian who wants to live a democratic life.  He is surrounded by other fighters who want something quite different.  Assad was a tyrant without a heart, but was able as an Alawite to keep control with his whip.  He was detestable to the Jewish community of Aleppo and Damascus and drove them all out, the last leaving in 1994 with Israel's help.  

Barack Hussein Obama II, our American president, is daring to take a very large step in overlooking the necessary steps in this recent enterprise of aiding and abetting the rebels.  The rebels are not all of one mind.  It's almost impossible for the USA to vet them.  He has waived the prohibitions set up to arm these rebels.  At the rate they are warring each other like Syria is warring against its own people, it won't take long for the arms to get into the hands that are the strongest, and that will be the large terrorist groups of al Qaeda and Hezbollah, who probably do a little recruiting on the side.    

Last year Israel announced that they knew of 200,000 missiles pointed in their direction.  Though they are ready for them,  Israel realizes that there are "growing threats Israel was facing: "a more hostile, more Islamic, more sensitive Middle East, one more attune to public sentiment, less controlled by the regimes, and less susceptible to international influence."  I guess we can thank the Arab Spring for a lot of this turmoil.  With a supreme take -over- all- the- land -attitude and force everyone to convert, Democracy just doesn't stand a chance.  The Muslim Brotherhood,  who is all for sharia law,  seems to work against any democratic values.  

The Brotherhood calls for jihad against “the Muslim’s real enemies, not only Israel but also the United States. Waging jihad against both of these infidels is a commandment of Allah that cannot be disregarded.” —Muslim Brotherhood Supreme Guide Muhammed Badi, Sept. 2010.   

Reference:  http://frontpagemag.com/2013/arnold-ahlert/obamas-move-to-arm-al-qaeda-in-syria/?utm_source=FrontPage+Magazine&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=f071ead496-Mailchimp_FrontPageMag&utm_term=0_57e32c1dad-f071ead496-156514682
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al-Qaeda
http://freebeacon.com/al-qaeda-affiliated-group-claims-responsibility-for-rocket-attack-on-israel/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hezbollah
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4431574,00.html
http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/some-200-000-missiles-aimed-consistently-at-israel-top-idf-officer-says-1.410584
https://www.standwithus.com/news/article.asp?id=1757#.Ujx5_dKOTqE on Muslim Brotherhood Charter
http://thelede.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/06/14/syrias-ruling-alawite-sect/?_r=0

Fox Hired to Watch Over Henhouse: Russia's Involvement in Syria

Nadene Goldfoot                                                                                

    UN inspectors searching for Sarin Gas use on shrouded bodies

Forty-eight hours previously, President Obama was going to make a call to arms against Syria.   Evidence has been found that Sarin gas was used on the population killed.   At the last hour yesterday, President Obama pulled the rabbit out of the hat with the announcement that instead of hitting Syria with missiles as a punishment for killing hundreds of children and adults of his own people with chemical weapons identified as Sarin gas, their sponsor, Russia, will take over and collect the chemical weapons and see to their destruction, saving Obama from a vote that would not pass at this time to do his bidding.  The fact that Assad has killed over 100,000 of his people by modern and horrible conventional weapons in their 2 1/2 year old civil war is not being dismissed in our minds, only by our government's agenda.

 It is, after all, Syria's own civil war.  A country of over 22 million people, several million are already overpowering the capabilities of Jordan and Lebanon, who is full of terrorist groups already.  Many took refuge in Egypt and are not even registered as refugees due to the bungling of Morsi.  Their government troops number about 296,000 and it is they who must have used the Sarin gas on their own people.  Otherwise, Al Qaeda terrorists are part of the rebels along with other terrorist groups.  Christian groups are divided in their loyalty.  Syria is backed by Iran and Iran is backed by Russia who backs them both.  The country is now physically and economically in ruins.  Homes and cars have been demolished by weapons.  Businesses are no more.  One anti-government activist, K. Ibrahim, is one of the refugees who is completely bewildered by the USA action.  She doesn't understand what is happening or why but was against US striking Syria.  Just recently the Syrian government bombarded towns across the Damascus suburbs with air and artillery strikes.  Barrages around Homs went on between rebels and security forces.  There is infighting between the rebels.  It has all made normal residents continue to run to another state such as nearby Lebanon.

Did our government realize that Russia will now feel free to be  in the act of selling to Iran some S-300 missiles so they could down other ballistic missiles and commercial airplanes from a distance of 120 miles?  They will be in a good position to get away with such a sale of one of the most lethal anti-aircraft systems in the world.

If any sanctions are created, Russia is ready to sell them the Antei-2500,AKA S-300VM, or SA-23 Gladiato,  something ground forces would be using.  .

Russia is also willing and able to build them a 2nd nuclear reactor in Bushehr, which would make it very clear to Israel what their intentions for that is for.  Russia, when the USSR fell apart, has been in dire need for money.  China has also, and has been loaning out money to the USA.  They both have become weapon suppliers to Iran and Syria which give these countries something to counter Western superiority.

Selling these missiles will net Russia about $700 million and puts Putin in the lead of all nations.  Iran's Defense Minister, Brigadier General Hossein Dehqan,  is anxious for this sale, promised in 2005.
                                                                         

Obama is now giving serious consideration that international monitors would be able to take over and destroy Syria's arsenal of chemical weapons.  He can't tell now if they will really succeed.  He feels that any agreement must verify that the Assad regime keep its commitment, and who is the verifier but Russia, the fox watching the henhouse for us.

Syria's foreign minister, Walid al-Moallem, said yesterday that Syria will turn over its chemical weapons arsenal to Russia, the UN and other countries, which is quite a concession.  It was just this week that Assad said they never possessed chemical weapons.
                                                                             

Obama asked his congressional leaders to postpone a vote to authorize the use of force while he pursues "this diplomatic path."   Some of our leaders, however, feel that this gives Syria time for further mischief and play on our instincts of not striking if things go awry.  Securing chemical weapons stockpiles in the middle of this civil war is going to be an impossible goal.  He didn't promise to stop his war.

The steps since Monday have led to Russia clashing with the USA and France in making the proposal binding and backing it up with the threat of force or not.  Kerry is pushing for a full resolution on this measure and will meet with Sergey Lavrov, Russia's foreign minister, in Geneva on Thursday to work on their disagreements, so its not all light and roses yet.  Kerry wants swift action.

Ten days ago Obama described the Security Council as "completely paralyzed and unwilling to hold Assad accountable and now our government  is doing just that.  Carl Levin,, chairman of the USA's Senate Armed services Committee,  said that a resolution to authorize a military strike is set it aside for now if Assad complied is "kind of a twofer".  It's a way of keeping the pressure on Syria and on Russia to get rid of chemical weapons, which is the goal of the whole effort.  If they fail, it would keep the authorization to launch a strike as planned originally.

There is no doubt that Syria has committed atrocities and the question is what the USA and the international community is prepared to do about it because such acts also threaten our own security, and especially Israel's security, as if they hadn't been receiving enough threats already.  What affects Israel's neighbors affects Israel's security as well.  Israel must stay out of this civil war, but is prepared if it reaches their shores.  "The Jewish state deployed strikes in July against Syrian missile convoys destined for one its principal enemies on its northern border, the Lebanese-based Hezbollah."  If Sarin gas is ever used on Israel, their reaction will be "fierce."  One personal  comment about the USA standoff from an Israeli minister was "“One doesn’t need to wait for tens of thousands more to die in order to intervene.”  I think that is how many of us feel, though intervening doesn't necessarily mean to react with more violence.  

Would Russia be then ready with their own S-300 missiles and down ours?  Would the 2 superpowers be pulled into battling each other?

Resource: http://www.jewishpress.com/news/breaking-news/russia-heats-up-cold-war-with-threat-to-sell-iran-s-300-missiles/2013/09/11/
http://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2013/09/will-syria-attack-israel-if-the-us-attacks-syria/279469/
Oregonian newspaper 9/11/13 page A6, Official admits syria has chemical arms by Anne Barnard NY Timees News, Front page, Obama calls for vote delay on Syria by Mark Landler and Jonathan Weisman NY Times 

Muslim Brotherhood's American Partner,The Big ISNA

Nadene Goldfoot                                                                 

In the United States was a group called the Holy Land Foundation which started in December 2001.  It was the largest Islamic charity group in the USA, headquartered in Richardson, Texas, first called "Occupied Land Fund" started in California in 1989 as a tax-exempt charity.   It was finally found to be a terrorist organization, so our government seized its assets and closed it down.  It took till 2004 for the federal grand jury in Dallas to charge the HLF and 5 former officers and employees with supporting Hamas and other offenses to the USA.  It was HLF who helped to win over the hearts and minds of the Palestinian people to support Hamas.  A final trial in 2008 found the charity leaders to be the largest terrorism financing in American history.  2009 brought out the sentences of 15 to 65 years in prison for "funneling $12 million to Hamas."

During the 2007 trial, the US Department of Justice named ISNA (Islamic Society of North America) and CAIR (Council on American-Islamic Relations), and NAIT ( North American Islamic Trust), as unindicted co-conspirators and one of a number of entities who are and/or were members of the US Muslim Brotherhood.  The government then removed some of them as being charged unfairly, but Judge Solis held that the government should not have listed CAIR and ISNA, but he found that the government had produced ample evidence to establish the associations of CAIR, ISNA, NAIT, with the Islamic Association for Palestine, and with Hamas.

Senator Jon Kyl, Republican from Arizona asserted that ISNA is accused of ties to Islamic extremists and investigative journalist Steven Emerson accused ISNA of ties to terrorism.  Dr. Michael Waller told Senators that ISNA refers Muslim clerics to the US Bureau of Prisons and that they are an influential front for the promotion of Saudi Arabia's  Wahhabi Islam's political, ideological and theological infrastructure in the USA and Canada.

ISNA has connections to 50% to 79% of mosques on the North American continent and they dominate Islam here.  Stephen Schwartz described ISNA in the Senate hearing testimony as one of the chief conduits through which the radical Saudi form of Islam passes through to the USA.

A speaker at the 2009 national ISNA convention, Warith Deen Umar, a New York Imam, said that the Holocaust happened to the Jews "because they were serially disobedient to Allah."  He also alleged that a group of Jews close to President Barack Obama "control the world."  47 year old Barack Obama became the 44th President of the USA in November 2008.    Of course ISNA condemned the comments, as they were said publicly.  Two Jewish men appointed by Obama were Rahm Emanuel, Chief of Staff who only lasted from 2009 to 2010 and David Axelrod, Senior advisor who lasted from 2009 to 2011.

The 2nd consecutive year that the Obama Administration honored the annual conference of ISNA was July 6, 2010.  The conference featured false and radical dogma about the Palestinian-Israeli conflict and again purported Jewish "power" over America.  It was in 2009 that a panel of authors spoke about support for Hizballah and anti-Semitic conspiracy theories, saying that Jews controlled the world and said that the Holocaust was punishment for their sins.  They supported Hamas then and lamented what they saw as Israel's power to dictate policy to America, the same old saw that they continue to play.

An audit of the ISNA-Canada found only 1/4 of the funds donated to them went to help the poor.  Charity donations were misdirected to private businesses.  ISNA helped this Canada branch to restart with new leaders, regular audits and financial transparency.

Now ISNA has celebrated their 50th anniversary from August 30 to September 2, 2013, and President Obama told them that "My administration is proud to be your partner."  ISNA's president had met 2 times with Obama and Valerie Jarrett,senior advisor to President Barack Obama, and holds the office of Public Engagement and Intergovernmental Affairs  which meant it was a high end meeting.  Jarrett had been the person to address the ISNA convention in 2009.  Obama gave a very flattering speech in a taped statement congratulating the ISNA, and that the" gathering (convention) is a testament of that tradition."

Other speakers at this convention were Shaykh Hamza Yusuf, Co-Founder of Zaytuna College, and Muslim Brotherhood scion Tariq Ramadan who defended stoning women to death.  Yusuf said of the United States: "America, a country that has little to be proud of in its past and less to be proud of in the present, I am a citizen of this country not by choice but by birth.  I reside in this country not by choice but by conviction in attempting to spread the message of Islam in this country.  I became Muslim in part because I did not believe in the false gods of this society, whether we call them Jesus or democracy or the Bill of Rights."

And Obama had praised this group to the hilt.  Example:  "So thank you ISNA for your tireless advocacy and commitment to America that realizes the full potential of all its people."

Yusuf addressed a benefit dinner for a Muslim who had killed an American policeman which was sponsored by Al-Talib Magazine.  This dinner took place September 9, 2001.  Yusuf praised Osama bin Laden and said, "This country of America unfortunately has a great, a great tribulation coming to it.  And much of it is already here, yet people are too too illiterate to read the writing on the wall."  Two days later 9/11 happened, the tribulation he talked about so brazenly.

ISNA's president, Mohamed Magid, not only works directly with the White House, but is sitting on a Homeland Security group that deals with "extremism."  It sounds to me just like the UN's Human Rights Committee with Assad as a member.

How was it that ISNA was not indicted as co-conspirators of the Holy Land Foundation?  They were to be prosecuted at a later time, and they would have been but the Bush administration came to an end.  Instead, Obama took over, and went to Egypt and gave an elegant speech.  The Holy Land Foundation was convicted of funding terrorism, mainly Hamas whose charter states their goal is to destroy Israel.  Holy Land Foundation was a branch of the US Muslim Brotherhood group, ISNA.  First, the government wanted to indict the leaders of HLF, so ISNA was put on a list of unindicted co-conspirators of the HLF to be prosecuted later.  Later hasn't happened.

Such reporting of exposing the problems the USA is facing with Islam are swept aside and buried in our media and are called Islamophobic.  The Center for American Progress (CAP) is out for donor transparency but wants to keep donors a secret. They are backed by such people as George Soros, multi millionaire who also backs  J Street.  CAP is the group that accuses people of having islamophobia.  The charge from them is that representatives of the Israel lobby, AIPAC and the Jewish-American establishment  had conspired to conduct a crusade against mosques and Islam.  Ironically, CAP is a part of of a conservaphobia and has an Israelphobia network of its own.  It is found in Wajahat Ali's writings as he had an interview with the Israel Lobby's attackers, Walt and Mearsheimer  who denounced Israel's egregious crimes and America's slavish loyalty to it.  No, Daniel Greenfield, author of one of my resources is not being islamophobic.  He's a realist who knows how to investigate something that is one of the major problems in the world right now; the Middle East Arabs ganging up on Israel.  We cannot continue putting our heads in the sand.  Start looking at hard evidence.

Regardless, our country now is on the brink of war by voting to make attacks on Syria, which they are not calling war, only something like a spanking for using chemicals on their populace. Our government is pushing hard to do so.   There are many good reasons to do this, even though the ones we are defending are just about as bad as the government of Syria. The problem is that the steps to be taken are shallow and may only shake up the hornet's nest.   The Shiite terrorists threaten retaliation against American interests in Iraq such as Wathiq al-Batat.  Hundreds of targets of American sites and companies are on the line.  This Hezbollah leader is funded and trained by Iran's Revolutionary Guard.  Hezbollah Brigades have attacked US troops in Iraq.  Israel has been threatened by Assad who says that Lebanon, Iraq, Iran and he will attack this little country if he is hit.  Precautions are that the US is emptying nonessential staff and families from our embassies in Lebanon and  they in turn can opt to leave Iraq and Turkey,  neighbors of Syria.  Lebanon has lost 100 people to car bombs in the past month and are susceptible to Iranian and Syrian covert operations.  Threats are that USA action will set the region on fire.

The time to react and investigate  and to remind the Arab nations of the rules of war was when the world heard that Syria, Lebanon and Iran has thousands of missiles pointed at Israel, and that there was the possibility of chemicals in those missiles.  That's why Israel has issued gas masks many times already  to its populace.  That didn't worry the world a little?  Now they've seen Syria calmly kill hundreds including beautiful children of their own.  Who told Obama not to get his feathers ruffled all this time?  What were the Syrians doing;  running out of bullets and so resorting to gassing?  This group of politicians have broadcast their intentions, giving the Syrians more time than they need to move their weapons and hide them.  This very late decision that still hasn't come about and may not is a show that we did something, voted on it, and will just table it.  After all, Obama is being very democratic, isn't he.  Everyone will breathe easier here, till October comes when we run out of money.  No one will raise their voice again but to say, how Obama managed not to spend more money by having that vote which put down the expensive attack.  Now we can be free to spend a little bit more on our health program.

Resource:  http://jewishfactsfromportland.blogspot.com/2012/02/council-on-american-islamic-relations.html written on February 7, 2012
Daniel Greenfield: "My Administration is Proud to be Your Partner.."(gag).http://frontpagemag.com/2013/dgreenfield/my-administration-is-proud-to-be-your-partner-obama-tells-muslim-brotherhood-front-group-linked-to-terrorism/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holy_Land_Foundation_for_Relief_and_Development
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZJ3iBZWx2ck&feature=youtu.be  Obama's speech praising ISNA
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islamic_Society_of_North_America
http://frontpagemag.com/2011/dgreenfield/silencing-critics-of-islamic-extremism/
http://jstreet.org/
http://www.investigativeproject.org/2044/isna-conference-again-features-conspiracy-theories#
http://www.whitehouse.gov/administration/staff/valerie-jarrett
http://blog.unwatch.org/index.php/2012/03/08/scandal-unesco-vote-keeps-assad-regime-on-human-rights-committee/
http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/US-Israel/obamajews.html
Oregonian newspaper page A4, US empties embassies in nations neighboring Syria by Mitchell Prothero, McClatchy Tribune
http://rense.com/general83/irwar.htm