P.A. CALLS ON WORLD'S PALIS TO "CONVERGE" ON ISRAEL

The Palestinian Authority's Latest Anti-Israel Stunt

(LGF)

Gotta hand it to the Palestinians. They’re not much good at building a functioning society or a productive future for their children, but they’re the world’s best at cooking up propaganda stunts: PA urges Palestinians to ‘return’.

The Palestinian Authority is planning to mark Israel’s 60th anniversary by calling on all Palestinians living abroad to converge on Israel by land, sea and air.

The plan, drawn by Ziad Abu Ein, a senior Fatah operative and Deputy Minister for Prisoners’ Affairs in the Palestinian Authority, states that the Palestinians have decided to implement United Nations Resolution 194 regarding the refugees.

Article 11 of the resolution, which was passed in December 1948, says that “refugees wishing to return to their homes and live at peace with their neighbors should be permitted to do so at the earliest practicable date, and that compensation should be paid for the property of those choosing not to return and for loss of or damage to property which, under principles of international law or in equity, should be made good by the Governments or authorities responsible.”

The initiative is the first of its kind and is clearly aimed at embarrassing Israel during the anniversary celebrations by highlighting the issue of the “right of return” for the refugees.

Entitled “The Initiative of Return and Coexistence,” the plan suggests that the PA has abandoned a two-state solution in favor of one state where all Arabs and Jews would live together.

“The Palestinians, backed by all those who believe in peace, coexistence, human rights and the UN resolutions, shall recruit all their energies and efforts to return to their homeland and live with the Jews in peace and security,” the plan says.

Oh yeah, that’ll work.

WHEN THE DOMINICAN REPUBLIC WELCOMED JEWISH REFUGEES FROM NAZI GERMANY

Strange Migration: An Unlikely Haven For Refugees By JORDANA HORN (WSJ)
On July 6, 1938, at Evian-les-Bains, a lovely French tourist resort on Lake Geneva, representatives of 32 countries met for a conference to discuss the growing Jewish refugee problem in Europe triggered by the rise of Nazi Germany. One by one, the representatives from each country (including the U.S.) explained why they would not be able to take in the displaced Jews. The German newspaper Völkischer Beobachter encapsulated what Evian meant for the Jews: "Nobody wants them." The conference was later deemed by various historians to have given Hitler the implicit go-ahead for his Final Solution.

Out of all the conference attendees, only one unlikely nation volunteered to take in refugees. The Dominican Republic, led by dictator Rafael Trujillo, made an offer to receive as many as 100,000 people. Because of problems with exit and transit visas, only about 700 Jews actually made it to that country's shores, to the town of Sosúa on the country's northern coast.

The story of this strange migration is being told at New York's Museum of Jewish Heritage. "Sosúa: A Refuge for Jews in the Dominican Republic" (which opens Sunday and runs through July 25) presents the fascinating and little-known tale of the Jews saved from the Holocaust by a genocidal Caribbean dictator.

LET'S REALLY TALK ABOUT REFUGEES, SHALL WE?

A Modest Proposal for Middle East Peace - Victor Davis Hanson
Why not hold an international conference on all displaced populations, many from the post-war, late 1940s? Perhaps it would be best to start with the millions of Germans who were expelled from East Prussia in 1945, or Indians who were uprooted from ancestral homes in what is now Pakistan, or over half-a-million Jews that were ethnically cleansed from Egypt, Iraq, and Syria. Were these refugees ever adequately compensated for lost property and damages? Can they be given promises of the right to return to their ancestral homes under protection of their host countries? The ensuing solutions might shed light on Palestinian aspirations to return to land lost sixty years ago to Israel.

Another international panel could take up the issue of returning territory lost by defeat in war. Ten percent of historic Germany is now part of Poland. The Russians still occupy many of the Kurile Islands, and Greek Cyprus lost sizable territory in 1974 after the invasion by Turkey. The Western Sahara is still annexed by Morocco, while over 15% of disputed Azerbaijan has been controlled by Armenia since 1994. Additionally, all of independent Tibet has been under Chinese occupation since 1951. Surely if some general framework concerning these occupations could first be worked out, the results might then be applied to the much smaller West Bank and Golan Heights. (National Review)

OBAMA ADDRESSES JEWISH CONCERNS

Obama addresses Jewish concerns (JTA)

WASHINGTON (JTA) -- A packed auditorium was waiting for U.S. Sen. Barack Obama to receive a pivotal endorsement and his aide was rushing him along, but he had something important to say first -- to American Jews.

"Before we go, I'd like to add one last comment," the Democratic presidential hopeful told the aide in a conference call with the Jewish news media Monday morning, just minutes before being endorsed by U.S. Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.) at American University here. "My strong and deep commitment and connection to the Jewish community should not be questioned."

The call was about to end after about 20 minutes of questions, but then Obama (D-Ill.) announced that he wanted to address a series of falsehoods appearing in e-mails aimed at the Jewish community.
The e-mails in question describe the candidate, who was born to a nominally Muslim Kenyan father, as a secret practitioner of Islam.

Read more and listen to the conference call.

SEE ALSO: Obama: Palestinian refugees can't return (JPost)
Palestinian refugees belong in their own state and do not have a "literal" right of return to Israel, Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama said Monday.

"The outlines of any agreement would involve ensuring that Israel remains a Jewish state," Obama told The Jerusalem Post and other members of the Jewish and Israeli press on a conference call. He reiterated his support for a two-state solution, but said, "We cannot move forward until there is some confidence that the Palestinians are able to provide the security apparatus that would prevent constant attacks against Israel from taking place."

His conversation with reporters and his support for the Israeli position on refugees came on the heels of scurrilous charges that Obama is secretly a Muslim who received a radical Wahabi education.

OLMERT TO ALLOW 50,000 PALIS TO "RETURN"?

Report: Olmert Agrees to Allow in 50,000 Arab 'Refugees' by Hillel Fendel

(IsraelNN.com) The issue of "Arab refugees" has long been a matter of widespread consensus in Israel, with even left-wing parties declaring that allowing them into Israel would endanger its very existence as a Jewish state. Nevertheless, the subject does not appear to be going away. Reports are that Prime Minister Olmert has now agreed to allow 50,000 Arabs who left Israel in 1948 - or are descendants of those who did - to enter and live in Israel.

Channel Ten reported Thursday night that in a private meeting between Olmert and Palestinian Authority Chairman Abu Mazen, the two agreed that in the final-status agreement, Israel would withdraw from 92% of Judea and Samaria, including all the non-Jewish neighborhoods in eastern Jerusalem. It was also agreed that 50,000 "refugees from 1948" would enter and live in the State of Israel.

BUSH PROMOTES A PALESTINIAN "RIGHT OF RETURN"

Bush Promotes a Palestinian "Right of Return" By Daniel Pipes

The Palestinian "right of return" entered the lexicon of American policymakers in December 2006, when the Iraq Study Group Report urged the U.S. government to support Israel-Palestinian negotiations that addresses what it termed a "key final status issue." That recommendation came as a mild shock, given that the "right of return" to Israel is transparently a code phrase to overwhelm Israel demographically, thereby undoing Zionism and the Jewish state, and so never before a goal of official Washington.

A year later, White House deputy press secretary Dana Perino adopted the term, though without much notice. Out of seemingly nowhere, she informed journalists at a press briefing on November 28, 2007 that "The right of return issue is a part of the road map and it's going to be one of the issues that the Israelis and the Palestinians have to talk about during … negotiations."

Indeed, on schedule, "right of return" emerged as a motif before and during George W. Bush's recent trip to Israel and the Palestinian Authority, when he mentioned it three times publicly:

• January 4: In an interview with Israel's Channel 2, Bush announced himself "optimistic that we can have the outlines of a state defined. In other words, negotiations on borders and right of return and these different issues can be settled."

• January 9: At a joint press conference with Israel's Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, he referred to the core issues of the conflict as "territory and right of return and Jerusalem."

• January 10: In a parallel joint press conference with Palestinian Authority leader Mahmoud Abbas, he stated that the two-state idea "really doesn't have much bearing until borders are defined, right of return issues resolved, Jerusalem is understood, … [and] the common security measures will be in place."

In a different setting, also on January 10, Bush, somewhat elusively, stated his belief that "we need to look to the establishment of a Palestinian state and new international mechanisms, including compensation, to resolve the refugee issue." Is the "right of return" to be one of those new international mechanisms?

Comments: (1) Despite the major shift in policy implied by the U.S. government adopting the "right of return," the media has largely missed the story, as "The Lurker" documents in "Censoring Bush's call for Palestinian ‘right of return'." In particular, the Jerusalem Post reported on this reference, then posted a second story denying it.

(2) When the Iraq Study Group Report first appeared, analysts puzzled over the "right of return" mention, as one person close to the process explained: "It's hard to know whether that language got in there because of carelessness – I know there were many revisions up to the very last minute – or whether it was a deliberate attempt to fuse something to the Bush rhetoric which wasn't there before." Retrospectively, it appears that the reference was indeed intentional – and quite successful in its purpose. "The Lurker" concludes, perhaps correctly, that James A. Baker, III, lead author of the Iraq Study Group Report, "has once again become a major factor in setting U.S. Middle East policy."

(3) This is only one of several problematic statements from the Bush administration, such as the president's morally equivalent reference to "terrorism and incitement, whether committed by Palestinians or Israelis" or Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice's calling the Arab-Israeli conflict the central issue of the Middle East and seeing Palestinians as analogous to Southern blacks.

(4) Bush prefaced his January 10 comment by asserting, "I'm the only president that's really articulated a two-state solution so far," and he is right. Put differently, he is the only U.S. president to promote a "Palestine" and now to call for a Palestinian "right of return." More broadly, throughout his presidency, Bush has marched to his own drummer on the Arab-Israeli issue, offering novel and personal solutions to a century-old problem andthrowing out the rulebook on Arab-Israeli diplomacy.

(5) One can only guess how often Bush raised the "right of return" in his private conversations with Israelis and Palestinians, and with what intensity and pressure.

(6) Looking ahead, to the last year of the Bush presidency, quoting myself: "should the Israelis resist a joint U.S.-Palestinian position, I see a possible crisis in U.S.-Israel relations of unprecedented proportions." I am not predicting this will happen but noting that the pieces are all in place for such a development.

(7) Although Bush is "seen by many Israelis as the best friend the Jewish state has had in the White House," I have long doubted that characterization, and now more so than ever.

THE WRONG OF THE "RIGHT" OF RETURN

Wrong Right (American Thinker)
The Palestinian demand to allow the great-grandchildren of Arabs who fled Israel during the War of Independence is unjust, ill-intentioned and grounded in deceit, says essayist Rachel Neuwirt.

OLMERT AND KING OF JORDAN DISCUSS DIVIDING JERUSALEM

'Olmert, Abdullah II discussed division of Jerusalem' (JPost)
Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Jordan's King Abdullah II discussed the division of Israel's capital during a brief visit Olmert held with the monarch Thursday, the London based Al Hayat reported Friday.

Quoting Jordanian sources, the prime minister and the king discussed at length issues relating to a final status settlement between Israel and the Palestinians. Apart from the potentiality of ceding parts of Jerusalem, the two also addressed the issue of Palestinian refugees.

Reportedly, during the meeting which was aimed at coordinating positions ahead of a visit by US President George W. Bush slated for next week, Abdullah II told Olmert that the latter had to stand up to commitments he made in the past, and begin making public statements regarding the division of Jerusalem.

Israel Radio reported earlier that official statements from Jordan said that the monarch wanted to avoid unilateral actions and that Olmert clarified that Israel was not intending to build new settlements.

The meeting, in the southern Jordanian seaside resort of Aqaba, went unreported in the press until it was already underway due to security concerns.

A day earlier, Abdullah II met with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas.

U.N. STILL HAS NOT MENTIONED JEWISH REFUGEES

126-0 (BackSpin)

That's not the score of the latest Knicks' latest loss. Thumbs up to the National Post for explaining what 126-0really means.

Since 1947, there have been 126 UN resolutions that have specifically dealt with the Palestinian refugee plight. Not one of these resolutions makes any reference to the plight of the 850,000 Jews displaced from Arab countries.

See also Volokh Conspiracy for a critical, comprehensive, history of the UNRWA's handling of the Mideast's better known refugees.

Related reading: Jewish Refugees and the "Right of Return"

THE FORGOTTEN JEWISH REFUGEES

The Forgotten Exodus - Irwin Cotler
This week marks the 60th anniversary of the UN Partition Resolution of Nov. 29, 1947, the first-ever blueprint for an Israeli-Palestinian two-state solution. While Jewish leaders accepted the resolution, Arab leaders did not and declared war on the nascent Jewish state. Had the Partition Resolution been accepted, there would have been no Arab-Israeli war, no refugees and none of the pain of these last 60 years.

The pain and plight of 850,000 Jews uprooted and displaced from Arab countries - the forgotten exodus - has been expunged from the historical narrative these past 60 years. It was also a forced exodus, for the Arab countries not only went to war to extinguish the fledgling Jewish state, but also targeted the Jewish nationals living in their respective countries. Since 1947, there have been 126 UN resolutions that have specifically dealt with the Palestinian refugee plight. Not one makes any reference to the plight of the 850,000 Jews displaced from Arab countries. Nor have any of the Arab countries involved expressed any acknowledgment, let alone regret. (National Post-Canada)

JEWS FLEEING IRAN

Iranian Jews Leaving Home for the Homeland - Rory McCarthy (Guardian-UK)
There remains a Jewish community in Iran of around 25,000 people. Yet large numbers have left and settled across the world, particularly in Los Angeles, and this year around 150 are expected to head to Israel. "In the past year there has been a major increase in immigration from Iran," says Yossi Shraga, the Jewish Agency's expert on Iran.

JEWISH REFUGEES FROM ARAB LANDS LEFT BEHIND $300 BILLION

Jews from Arab lands forced to leave behind $300 billion in assets (CAMERA)
With the Annapolis summit approaching, it is likely that the Palestinians and their supporters will demand compensation from Israel for the plight of the 600,000 Arabs and their descendants displaced as a result of the 1948 Arab invasion of nascent Israel. Little coverage will likely be given to the role that the Arab states played in encouraging them to leave in order to facilitate the invasion and anticipated annihilation of Israel, nor to the fact that the Palestinian Arabs subsequently found themselves in political limbo as a result of most Arab states' conscious decision to turn them into political pawns by refusing to grant them citizenship and by banning them from leaving the often squalid refugee camps to which they have been largely confined in many Arab states.

It is equally likely that little, if anything, will be said at Annapolis about the plight of the approximately 850,000 Jews who fled or were expelled from Arab countries during the same period, and that little or no effort will be made to seek redress and compensation for these Jewish refugees and their descendants from Arab countries. However, a Jerusalem Post article notes that the Jews who were expelled from Arab countries after 1948 left behind assets valued today at more $300 billion and continue to own property deeds on a total area of about 100,000 sq. km. -- which, the article notes, is five times the size of the State of Israel.

The article is here.

U.N.: LINK DUMP

Former U.N. Gen. Sec. Boutros Boutros-Ghali discusses his hatred for Israel.

Why Are the IAEA and Dr. Mohammed El-Baradei Protecting Iran?

Israel calls for firing of U.N.'s chief nuclear weapons inspector.

U.N. and Arab nations conspired to force Jews out of Arab countries.

Group Spotlights Jews Who Left Arab Lands

Despite Attacks From Its Facilities, UN Agency Requests More Funds .

Israel: UN Human Rights Council Is "Morally Bankrupt" and Statement on the UN Human Rights Council

WHAT ABOUT THE JEWISH REFUGEES?

What About JEWISH Refugees? By Stewart Ain (JWR)
As delegates from 10 countries gather in New York Sunday for atwo-day conference focusing on Jews displaced from their Arabhomelands, there is growing concern that this issue will not be apriority for the Olmert government when the topic of Palestinianrefugees is raised at the Israeli-Palestinian summit in Annapolis, Md.

ABBAS: OLSO OFFER NO GOOD, WANTS ALL PRE-'67 LAND

Rice says talks 'gaining momentum' (JPost)
The dialogue between Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas has gained momentum, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said in an interview to CBS. Rice said that during the last round of trilateral talks, in February, Olmert and Abbas had "barely [agreed] to speak to each other, let alone speak about anything of importance."

The secretary of state also said that support in the Arab world for Abbas was critical and pointed out that Quartet Middle East envoy Tony Blair's mission had also "helped people focus on the institutions of statehood, the building of capacity to govern."

Turning to the situation in the Gaza Strip, Rice said that Gaza was not separate from the Palestinian Authority. There aren't two Palestinian [Authorities], Rice said. Rather, she asserted, there was the West Bank and Gaza, and there was going to be a Palestinian state under the leadership of Abbas and PA Prime Minister Salaam Fayad.

At some point, Rice said, Hamas will have to make a choice: "is it prepared to be outside that consensus or not; is it prepared to be outside the Arab consensus or not?"

Meanwhile, Abbas told the Washington Post, in an interview published Sunday, that an offer similar to the 92 percent of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip for a Palestinian state extended at Camp David in 2000 would not be enough.

He insisted on the pre-1967 borders, speaking ahead of Tuesday's scheduled meeting with Olmert in his Jerusalem succa to discuss a memorandum of understanding on principles for a peace deal.

We will be flexible," said Abbas. "But before 1947, we had 95% of Palestine. In 1937, the partition plan gave the Israelis only part of Palestine. And they were very happy at that time. [David] Ben-Gurion was very happy with it. It didn't work. After that [came] the 1947 partition plan - we rejected this, so we lost... Now, we accept [the pre-'67 borders]." [ED. THERE ARE SO MANY LIES AND MISREPRESENTATIONS IN THESE STATEMENTS THAT I WOULD GET CARPEL TUNNEL SETTING THEM ALL OUT].

He added that like Arafat, he too would have rejected the offer Bill Clinton made at Camp David in 2000. "Ninety-two [percent] is unacceptable to us," Abbas said. ....

Abbas reiterated his government's position that the key to solving the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians was directly addressing the "final status" issues, including Palestinian statehood, the status of Jerusalem and the right of return for refugees.

Also Friday, Abbas told AFP he thought a final agreement could be hammered out within six months of the November talks.

In his Washington Post interview, Abbas gave a nod in the direction of Vice Premier Haim Ramon's idea of giving the Palestinians parts of east Jerusalem.

"In principle, this is the right direction. The Palestinians should have their own part and the Israelis should have their own part... I say and have always said that east Jerusalem is an occupied territory. We have to restore it."

Asked if he would demand to return to his birthplace, Safed, Abbas said: "This is my right, but how I will use this right is up to me and to the refugees and to the agreement which will take place between us."

"We want to find a permanent solution," added Abbas. "The Israelis want security, and we are in need of independence. We want to bridge the gap during the negotiations."

"We should have a safe passage between the Gaza Strip and the West Bank because Gaza is a part of Palestine... all the Arabs support this vision," he continued.

Abbas said he was not interested in returning to a national unity government with Hamas.

Abbas said Olmert was a sincere and serious leader who wanted to make peace. "I know his internal problems. But he is determined to do something," he added.

In his talks with Olmert, Abbas said, "We tackled all the sensitive issues like borders, refugees, settlements, Jerusalem and security... We have already established the teams that are drafting an agreement about these sensitive issues.

"After the conference, we will start negotiating the details of these issues in order to have a peace treaty," said Abbas.

LEBANON'S DESTRUCTION OF REFUGEE CAMP BRUTAL

Lebanon Kills Hundreds, Destroys Camp, World Yawns (LGF)
Lebanon ruthlessly crushed the "militants" of the Nahr al-Bared "refugee camp," killing (at least) dozens of civilians and hundreds of Islamists and tossing them into mass graves , and wiping out the entire camp . But nobody's demanding United Nations investigations, nobody's accusing Lebanon of war crimes, and nobody's yelling about human rights violations.

BEIRUT (Reuters) - Lebanon said on Tuesday its army killed at least 222 Islamist militants from an al Qaeda-linked group in a 15-week battle at a Palestinian refugee camp in northern Lebanon.

The army finally took control of the Nahr al-Bared refugee camp on Sunday after more than three months of fierce battles, including air, sea and land bombardment against the entrenched Fatah al-Islam militants.

Defense Minister Elias al-Murr also said 202 militants were captured in the battles and an unknown number were buried in mass graves inside the largely destroyed camp. ...

At least 42 civilians and 163 soldiers were killed, bringing the death toll to 427 — Lebanon's worst internal violence since the 1975-1990 civil war.

LEBANESE ARMY CLAIMS VICTORY OVER TERRORISTS IN PALI REFUGEE CAMP

Lebanese Army Claims Victory Against Islamic Militants in North - Nada Bakri
The Lebanese Army wrested the Nahr al Bared Palestinian refugee camp from the control of Islamic militants on Sunday, ending three months of fierce fighting that took more than 300 lives. The surprise end to the camp standoff came when about 70 militants tried to escape at dawn Sunday. Soldiers fired on them, killing at least 31, including the group's leader, Shakir al-Abssi, and capturing 32, the army said. Five soldiers were killed in the gunfire. (New York Times)

IF ONLY THE NYT WERE SO LAUDATORY ABOUT ISRAEL'S SIMILAR EFFORTS.

PALI STATE WILL NOT SOLVE PALI REFUGEE "PROBLEM"

Will Palestinian Statehood Solve the Refugee Problem? - Zalman Shoval (Washington Times)

• We now have a radical, Jihadist "government" in Gaza supported by Iran, whose declared aim is to wipe out Israel, while on the West Bank there is what can only be described as a make-believe government under the aegis of Mahmoud Abbas.
• It surely hasn't escaped President Bush that Abbas, on whom he is now placing all his bets, never met the standards set forth in Bush's June 24, 2002, Rose Garden speech - that American support for Palestinian statehood would require the Palestinians to "embrace democracy, confront corruption, engage in a sustained fight against the terrorists and dismantle their infrastructure."
• None of this has happened; on the contrary, Abbas refrained from disarming Hamas when he still could have done it.
• The theory that creating a Palestinian state could resolve the refugee problem was never a sound one. A physically and economically "challenged" mini-state could not absorb more than 10-15% of the refugee population anyway; the only practical way to address the problem would be by their genuine integration into the countries in which they have resided for three generations.
• But the Arab world, including the Palestinian leadership, has always opposed this in order to keep the refugee problem alive and put pressure on Israel. Thus the creation of such a Palestinian state wouldn't end the clamor for the so-called "right of return" of the refugees to Israel, but would actually intensify it.

ISRAELI MK's OPPOSE DEPORTING DARFUR REFUGEES TO EGYPT

Israeli MKs Oppose Deporting Darfur Refugees to Egypt - Mijal Grinberg
Dozens of Israeli legislators from across the political spectrum have urged the government to refrain from deporting to Egypt Sudanese refugees who enter Israel through the Sinai Peninsula. A petition has been signed by 63 MKs including Likud Chairman Benjamin Netanyahu, Labor's Amir Peretz, Hadash's Dov Khenin, and the National Religious Party's Effi Eitam. (Ha'aretz)

EGYPT KILLS 4 SUDANESE REFUGEES TRYING TO ENTER ISRAEL

'Egyptians killed 4 Sudanese on border' (JPost)
Egyptian soldiers killed four Sudanese refugees near the Egypt-Israel border overnight Wednesday in full view of IDF troops, a shaken-sounding IDF soldier said in an interview with Channel 10, Thursday evening.

According to the soldier, female IDF troops operating night vision devices identified several refugees approaching the border in an attempt to infiltrate Israel and alerted other soldiers who arrived after a few minutes in an army jeep.

However, Egyptian troops who also discovered the refugees, fired upon them, immediately killing two and wounding a third. A fourth refugee ran towards the fence and an IDF soldier stretched out his hands, trying to help him cross.

At that point, the soldier recalled, two Egyptian soldiers arrived and started pulling at the refugee’s legs.

“It was literally like we were playing ‘tug of war’ with this man,” the soldier said. The soldier eventually loosened his grip on the man, fearing the Egyptians would shoot him. “They were aiming loaded weapons straight at us, I was afraid they were going to shoot us,” he said.

The Egyptians then carried the man several meters away from the border fence, and proceeded to beat him and another wounded refugee to death with stones and clubs.

“What happened there yesterday was a lynch. These are not men, they’re animals. They killed him without even using firearms,” the soldier said. “We just heard screams of pain and the sounds of beatings. Then the screams stopped.”