"No mosque at Ground Zero" was the rallying cry of the day, as thousands of angry demonstrators gathered for a rally to oppose the proposed construction of a 13-story mosque just blocks away from the site of the 9/11 attacks.

A large crowd of demonstrators closed down Wilshire Boulevard in front of the Israeli Consulate in mid-city Los Angeles on Sunday afternoon, June 6, to show support for Israel and listen to dozens of speeches by city, state and Jewish leaders. Organizers of the rally estimated a turnout of approximately 3,000 people.

there are aspects of [Faisal Shahzad's] immigration history that indicate his possible awareness of how to work our system, suggesting this was neither a case of "home grown" terrorism, nor a case of "a legal immigrant's failed American Dream," as suggested by a CBS newscaster. ...

the same radically Islamist mindset responsible for 9/11 or the Mumbai massacre tends to keep their women in burqas, niquab, or hijab, segregated and subordinate.

In short, Islamists -- whether Khomeini, Banna, Qutb, Yassin, bin Laden, Zawahiri, al-Baghdadi, or al-Masri -- are not the cause of hostilities; they are symptoms of a much greater cause -- the "struggle between Truth and Falsehood [that] transcends time." Individually killing them off -- which is nice -- only temporarily treats the symptom; it does not permanently eliminate the cause that motivates them.

Citing the fact that over the last 10 years, "Israel was hit with more than 10,000 rockets [by Palestinian terrorists]," and that, "India faced brutal terrorism in the form of 60,000 terror incidents that killed about 18,000 people, mostly due to radical Islam," a group billing itself as the "Coalition for Peace" has organized an "Awareness Campaign Against Terrorism" during President Obama's inaugural parade on Tuesday, January 20, 2009, in Washington, D.C.

The "US, Israel and India should work together to defeat the axis of radical Islam," says a Coalition press release because, "Radical Islam has assumed an alarmingly dangerous worldwide proportion, [and] it is absolutely essential that U.S.A, the only Super Power of the world, under the Presidentship of Barack Obama take firm action on those who support terrorism in the name of the extreme ideologies."

The Coalition for Peace is a "Hindu-Jewish-Christian-Buddhist coalition against Islamic terrorism."

Please plan on attending and/or helping to publicize this event. Shown below are some details from a Coalition for Peace press release regarding the event, including a list of contacts for requesting further information and getting involved.

Thanks go to Phyllis Chesler, noted author, human rights campaigner, and stalwart ally of Israel, for helping to publicize (and organize, I believe) this important event.

... 41-67 Judge Street (5P)
Elmhurst, N.Y. 11373
(718) 478-5735/ (732) 939-2060

SUB: INVITATION TO PARTICIPATE IN THE
"AWARENESS CAMPAIGN AGAINST TERRORISM"
IN WASHINGTON, D.C. DURING PRESIDENT BARACK
OBAMA'S INAUGURAL PARADE ON TUESDAY, JANUARY 20, 2009

Groups from New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Maryland, Washington, D.C. and Virginia have planned an "Awareness Campaign Against Terrorism" under the banner of Coalition for Peace, in Washington, D.C. during the inaugural ceremony of President Barack Obama, from 12:00 noon to 04:00 p.m. on Tuesday, January 20, 2009.

More than one million people are expected to participate in the Celebration. We will carry banners urging/requesting President Barack Obama to declare Pakistan a Terrorist Sate; stop Iran from producing an Atom Bomb; stop Saudi Arabia from funding terrorism; stop Pakistan's double game with USA; stop Hamas and Hezbollah rocket attacks into Israel; seize Saudi Arabian assets for crimes against humanity; stop repeat of Mumbai terror attack anywhere in the world; denuclearize Pakistan and Iran.

Since Radical Islam has assumed an alarmingly dangerous worldwide proportion, it is absolutely essential that U.S.A, the only Super Power of the world, under the Presidentship of Barack Obama take firm action on those who support terrorism in the name of the extreme ideologies. US, Israel and India should work together to defeat the axis of radical Islam i.e., Pakistan, Iran and Saudi Arabia. Jews, Christians, Hindus, Buddhists as well as moderate Muslims who do not subscribe to radical Islam need to come together to face this evil.

In the last 10 years India faced brutal terrorism in the form of 60,000 terror incidents that killed about 18,000 people, mostly due to radical Islam. Pakistan ISI in coordination with Bangla Desh Security agencies are in the process of carving out northern portion of India to create Mughalstan, a contiguous area from Pakistan to Bangla Desh. Part of this process is the 350,000 Kashmiri Hindus who were driven out from their homes by Pakistan supported Kashmiri separatists and are living as refugees in their own country for the last 18 years in squalid camps. In Pakistan itself, 25% of minorities, primarily Hindus were reduced to less than 1% in just the last 60 years. Similarly, in Bangla Desh from 30% to about 7%. In both countries, minorities were terrorized, raped, mutilated and their children and property taken away from them.

Israel was hit with more than 10,000 rockets in the last 10 years. In spite of withdrawing from Gaza, it faces a continued threatening situation by rockets from Hamas. Iran, on the other hand, openly declared to wipe out Israel and is busy building nuclear weapons and supporting Hezbollah and Hamas militants. Israeli citizens are targeted in many parts of the world by radical Islamists. There is growing concern that nuclear Pakistan will inevitably assist other radical Islamic countries to become nuclear. It declared that it will do first nuclear strike if India goes to war against it in response to continued Pakistan supported terrorism.

The Saudis are the biggest funders of terrorism. With one billion dollar oil revenue per day, they are spreading hatred in young Muslim minds through Madrassas and adult Muslims in Mosques with their intolerant version of Islam. The Pakistan nuclear program was funded by Saudis. Most of the perpetrators of 9/11 are educated Saudi citizens. Saudi children are taught to hate other religions from pre-school. Increasingly, Saudis are Islamitizing the West with sanitized versions of Islam in Universities and the Media. The cash starved Western institutions are falling easy prey to cash rich Saudis who have the potential to buy most major corporations in the West and set the agenda to radically Islamitize the West in just a few decades.

While the world sees it as a problem between Israel and Gaza, Pakistan and India, the larger sight of radical Islam and its ambitions to radically Islamitize while the whole world is lost on the politically correct media and multicultural apologists, who are perhaps as dangerous as terrorists, if not more. These apologists trumpet their perceived discrimination of Muslims in troubled areas, but little do they question the brutal treatment of minorities in Islamic countries, fueled by radical psalmists. Nor do they care to comprehend the brutal record of radical Islam which in the last 1400 years killed 270 million people, of which are 120 million Africans, 60 million Christians, 80 million Hindus and 10 million Buddhists and the current battles are a continuous ongoing jihad against non-believers.

What Israel and India represent, some of the oldest civilizations that are surrounded by radical Islamic countries, are facing is the best example of the future that awaits the rest of the free world. Unless the free world comes together, we face a very dangerous situation.

We believe that this is an appropriate occasion to draw attention, through the powerful media covering this momentous celebration, to the menace of radical Islamic terrorism. Only by coordinated action by various groups consisting of Jews, Hindus, Christians, Buddhists as well as Muslims who do not subscribe to radical Islam and through sustained activism can we hope to counter the threat of radical Islam.

Hence, we will appreciate it very much if you could kindly join us in this Celebration. Accommodation is provided. People within 5 or 6 hours drivable distance can go to DC on the night of Jan. 19th. Please call any of the undersigned if you have any questions.

Raju Patel
(732) 319-7778
Narain Kataria
(718) 478-5735
Arish Sahani
(718) 271-0453
Parveen Sharma
(718) 227-0241
Sarang Rastogi
(732) 213-7281
Rajendra Sherikar
(732) 513-0162
Arun Joshi
(732) 549-1318
Shivram Sitaram
(301) 515-8504
Jayesh Patel
(732) 688-2658
Mahindra Sapa
(301) 549-4145 ...

Police arrested four men in connection with last month's suicide attack on a hotel that killed 54 people, authorities said Friday.

Militants in Pakistan have launched more than 90 suicide attacks on civilian, military and Western targets since July last year, killing nearly 1,200 people, according to military statistics....

Thousands of people have been fleeing renewed fighting between African Union peacekeepers and Islamist insurgents in the Somali capital, Mogadishu.

The BBC's Mohammed Olad Hassan in Mogadishu says Islamist insurgents have been gaining ground in the city in their fight against the Ethiopian-backed government....

Britain's youngest terrorist, Hammaad Munshi, convicted after a guide to death and explosives was found in his bedroom.

Sentencing him at the Old Bailey today to two years in a young offenders' institution, Judge Timothy Pontius said that he "fell under the spell of fanatical extremists". He added: "There is no doubt that you knew what you were doing." ...

"Underlying all these analyses," notes Yaakov Amidror, a retired Israeli major general, is the assumption "that counterinsurgency campaigns necessarily turn into protracted conflicts that will inevitably lose political support."

Gen. Amidror, however, disagrees with this assessment. In a recent study published by the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs, "Winning Counterinsurgency War: The Israeli Experience," he convincingly argues that states can beat nonstate actors. ...

Sareve Dukat kept her composure, even though the United States was under attack by Islamo-fascists, drunk on religion, hatred, and a lust for power. The date was September 11, 2001. An airliner full of civilians was just cynically rammed into tower #1 of the World Trade Center in New York City. Ms. Dukat would not survive the day that has become the defining moment for a generation of Americans, myself included.

Dukat, who was working on the 87th floor of tower #2, calmly called her family to tell them that she was alright and that she would stay at her desk. But the brief calm would not last, as Islamic lunatics drove another plane full of innocent passengers into WTC tower #2, and into the heart of one of the world's greatest and most diverse cities, stealing the miraculous gift of life away from Sareve, and 2,995 other people.

At first, as New Yorkers bravely shook off the shock of the savage attack on their fair and proud city, Sareve was listed as "missing," as were so many other 911 victims. Authorities sifted through dust and ashes in a struggle to identify victims. Many were only accounted for based on a process of eliminating evidence, lacking any bodily remains. Sareve was confirmed dead.

According to Sareve's daughter, Athena:

Sareve Dukat is survived by mother Ann Dukat, brother Paul Dukat, husband Joel Shapiro, daughter Lauren Shapiro and daughter Athena Dawn Shapiro. We miss you.

Simple, concise, sad, but not fearful. A noble testament by a noble family to a noble loved-one.

Sareve was a Manhattan resident, 53 years old, and was employed as a tax conferee for the New York State Department of Taxation and Finance. Ms. Dukat contributed to life by helping New Yorkers deal with state tariffs -- maybe not glamorous, but she was a regular person like most of the world's inhabitants, and most regular people are decent folks. Just gaze at the kindness and innocent spontaneity exuded by Sareve's photo above.

Who killed Sareve and for what reason? Nineteen rich boys from the Arabian Gulf region, high on Mohammed and violence, striving to create some kind of world-wide utopian, Islamist caliphate -- another "ism" like communism or fascism; a solution looking for a problem. These homicide bombers were cannon-fodder for the latest incarnation of the devil, who comes in every age and goes by many names, like Osama bin Laden, Genghis Kahn, Caligula, Moctezuma, Hitler, Stalin, Mao, etc.

Notice I use the term "Islamist", not Islam. The Islamists have hijacked a religion from the 1.2 billion Muslims who go about their lives minding their own business.

G#d only knows how Sareve and the other 911 victims would have touched the lives of those around them, and contributed to human kind -- that is, if they were not senselessly killed. I feel that I cannot honor Ms. Dukat without pointing out who killed her, and asking why her life was needlessly taken away. By fighting hatred, I honor Sareve.

The Islamist tactic, fueled by hatred, is to strike such horror into "infidels" so that we will bow our heads in submission, allowing these radicals to forcibly mold the world in their twisted vision, and sweep human beings like Ms. Dukat under the rug -- the terrorists believe that their means justify the end.

Was Sareve guilty of some crime, justifying her savage murder by al-Qaeda's Islamo-fascists? No, but unfortunately there are those in our society who would rationalize Sareve's death, proof-positive that terrorism works; all the more reason to learn the lessons of 911, which seem too easily forgotten.

So let us not rationalize murder and hide under our beds because of our fears. Let us honor the victims of 911, like Ms. Dukat, and agree that we will fight to the end to protect our freedoms and way of life. Never again. Liberty forever. And let us keep cool heads in our struggle, as Sareve did on 911. Dear Sareve, rest in peace, and know that we will not forget you.

____________________
© 2008 microIT Infrastructure, LLC. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

The threat to freedom here does not come from a few Islamic radicals, but from the invertebrate liberals of the cultural establishment who have so lost faith in themselves that they will surrender their freedoms before anybody starts a fight. The mere suggestion of causing offence to some mob of imagined stereotypes is enough to have them scurrying for a bomb shelter, their creative imaginations blowing up small protests into the threat of a big culture war. Of course, such pre-emptive grovelling only encourages any zealot with a blog to demand even more censorship. ...

Apologizing for terrorism is completely indefensible. Have people forgotten MLK and Gandhi's teachings? Have people forgotten the Velvet and Singing Revolutions in Eastern Europe against the Soviet/Russian Empire?

The Soviets murdered millions, deported millions to Siberia, bugged telephones, banned books, outlawed native languages, encouraged Russians to emigrate to occupied nations to dilute the indigenous cultures, assassinated and jailed dissidents -- it was the Orwellian horror come true.

But, for example, the Balts (Lithuanians, Latvians, and Estonians) never turned to terrorism during 50 years of brutal occupation. They organized secret meetings, passed banned books around, held clandestine cultural festivals -- held tenaciously onto their culture.

In their ultimate act of rejection of Soviet oppression, thousands of people held hands forming a chain across all three Baltic nations. Now that's beauty. That's what MLK and Gandhi taught.

Estonia (1.3 million people), Latvia (2.3 million people), and Lithuania (3.6 million), all three with few natural resources, never had a chance of facing off militarily against the might of Russia (141 million) with virtually unlimited natural resources.

The Balts didn't blow up cafes full of civilians. Same goes for African-Americans led by MLK against the U.S. status quo of the time, or Gandhi against the British Empire, or now the infinitesimally small Tibet against 1.3 billion Chinese.

Turning to terrorism takes a twisted, immoral, despicable consciousness -- an unwillingness to accept personal responsibility, and an abrogation of common decency.

Click here to find info about a new documentary about Estonia's struggle for independence from the Soviet Union.

This conclusion fits into a larger argument that Islamism has little to do with economic or other stresses. Put differently, ideas matter more than personal circumstances. As I put it in 2002, "The factors that cause militant Islam to decline or flourish appear to have more to do with issues of identity than with economics." Whoever accepts the Islamist (or communist or fascist) worldview, whether rich or poor, young or old, male or female, also accepts the ideological infrastructure that potentially leads to violence, including terrorism. In policy terms, Americans have no reason to be smug. Yes, Europeans should indeed learn from the United States how better to integrate their Muslim population, but they should not expect that doing so will also diminish their terrorism problem. It could, indeed, even worsen.

that enemy has a precise and concise name: Islamism, a radical utopian version of Islam. Islamists, adherents of this well funded, widespread, totalitarian ideology, are attempting to create a global Islamic order that fully applies the Islamic law (Shari'a).

Thus defined, the needed response becomes clear. It is two-fold: vanquish Islamism and help Muslims develop an alternative form of Islam. Not coincidentally, this approach roughly parallels what the allied powers accomplished vis-à-vis the two prior radical utopian movements, fascism and communism. ...

Fearing his days were "numbered" and his arrest imminent, the alleged ringleader of a homegrown terror cell wanted to forge ahead and build explosives to carry out a "mission" that included an attack on Ottawa ...

He went on to reveal that the Americans were planning to attack the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, adding, "That's pure airborne, man." ...

If a respected religious authority calls for the execution of someone who simply suggests that people holding other faiths deserve respect, doesn't that tell Saudis that the lives of Christians, Jews, Hindu and Buddhists are of lesser value?

Abdul-Rahman al-Barrak, a 75-year-old sheik, issued the fatwa calling for the journalists' death. In Saudi Arabia, he is a leading authority on Wahhabism, the country's fundamentalist form of Sunni Islam.

"It's disgraceful that articles containing this kind of apostasy should be published in some papers in Saudi Arabia," he wrote last month. If the reporters do not repent, they "should be killed." ...

The Islamist movement has two wings – one violent and one lawful, which can operate apart but often reinforce each other. While the violent arm attempts to silence speech by burning cars when cartoons of Mohammed are published in Denmark, the lawful arm is skillfully maneuvering within Western legal systems, both here and abroad. ...

Analysts differ on the question of Al-Qaeda's centralization. On one end of the spectrum: Al-Qaeda has been significantly degraded since it lost its sanctuary in Afghanistan; At the other end of the spectrum: Al-Qaeda's leadership has regrouped in the border region between Afghanistan and Pakistan and has established new terrorist training camps in Pakistan's Federally Administered Tribal Areas.

Please go here to watch Geert Wilders' film Fitna, which is critical of Islamist terrorism. LiveLeak has dropped the film due to death threats.

The acceptability of suicide missions has led several Islamic groups to boast that they "love death" in the same way that Jews and Christians love life. Such sentiments extend even to young children, brainwashed to fight despite international conventions against children participating in military combat.

When an attendee asked him why no other impoverished or oppressed group around the world resorts to suicide bombings [besides Muslims], Esposito stonewalled for several minutes before giving one of the few straight answers of the night: "I don't know."

In reality, the conflict is sparked not by grievance but rather by incompatibility between Islamist ideology and the natural rights articulated during the European Enlightenment and incorporated into U.S. political culture. Acquiescing to political grievances will not alter the fundamental incompatibility between Lockean precepts of tolerance and current interpretations of Islam: Only Islam's fundamental reform will resolve the conflict.

While the Marxist groups of the 1970s might have threatened hostages against concrete demands, Islamists seek to kill first and lecture later. Islamists do take hostages but, in such cases, their goal is as likely to be to draw out terror in a 24-hour news cycle than to win concessions.

If anyone writes a book in America or in Europe which tells the truth about Islamic terrorism, both author and publisher can be sued in London for "libel" where libel laws favor the accuser. However, if an author is not a multi-millionnaire and cannot afford to defend herself or to risk being ordered to pay for both her own and for the plaintiff's barrister—she is royally screwed.

This is tantamount to sending the enemy resources while fighting is still under way – not a hugely bright idea. Rather than further funding Palestinian bellicosity, Western states, starting with Israel, should cut off all funds to the Palestinian Authority.

Whether from a desire to avoid being labeled as racist, from cowardice when confronted with the PR machine that is the Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR), or from slanted coverage in the mainstream media, presidential candidates of both parties take great pains to avoid commenting on jihad (Islamic holy war), even as they blame the West for terrorist acts committed against it, according to noted expert on Islam Robert Spencer. ...

A NUCLEAR attack by terrorists causing widespread panic, chaos and death is inevitable and will happen soon, a senior Scottish police officer has warned.

Ian Dickinson, who leads the police response to chemical, biological and nuclear threats in Scotland, has painted the bleakest picture yet of the dangers the world now faces.

Efforts to prevent terrorist groups from obtaining materials that could be made into radioactive dirty bombs - or even crude nuclear explosives - are bound to fail, he said. And the result will be horror on an unprecedented scale.

"These materials are undoubtedly out there, and undoubtedly will end up in terrorists' hands, and undoubtedly will be used by terrorists some time soon," he declared. "We must plan for failure and prepare for absolute terror."...

The BBC reported today that a Danish court has convicted three Muslims for plotting bomb attacks against Denmark (a country that welcomed these men). But it is not enough for the Beeb to report the news. The BBC has to editorialize about the lawful conviction of Islamist terrorists, and create a flimsy rationale blaming one of the world's great liberal democracies for bringing terrorism upon itself:

... Denmark's military contribution to the US-led campaign in Iraq has prompted fears it could be targeted by militants.

Last year, the country was also the focus of worldwide protests by Muslims, who were angered by a Danish newspaper's publication of cartoons depicting the Prophet Muhammad. ...

Could the first paragraph be any less specific? As to the second paragraph, need I remind everyone that Muslims rioted, burned, murdered, and looted all because a Danish newspaper exercised free speech and published a couple of cartoons? -- all while the Muslim world spews forth bigoted imagery and labels non-Muslims as "apes" and "pigs." Sounds like the Beeb is trotting out the old "she got raped because of what she was wearing" argument.

Cross-posted at netwmd.com and Newsvine.

The Los Angeles Police Department recently announced a program designed to gather information on Muslims living in the city. The department apparently plans to collect information with the goal of determining which Muslim communities may be susceptible to the call of Islamist terrorism. ...

Various committees of the U.S. Congress will conduct oversight hearings on the state of affairs in Syria, Iran, Pakistan, and Lebanon; on use of the Internet by jihadists; the problems with terrorist watch lists; and on planning for a post-9/11 world. The lineup: ...

The nation's largest terror-support trial ended in a mistrial Monday after jurors were unable to reach unanimous decisions on most counts. In a bizarre twist, three jurors told U.S. District Judge A. Joe Fish that they disagreed with acquittals announced against at least two defendants, prompting the judge not to accept those outcomes.

It wasn't enough. ...

The Beeb is at it again: Radical Islam is not the cause of terrorist acts; it is the meddling West and its allies whom drive the desperate Islamists to inflict horrendous, terrorist crimes against humanity. G#d forbid that Benazir Bhutto publicly marshal her democratic supporters in Pakistan and "antagonize" the terrorists:

... Questions and accusations ...

The BBC's Damian Grammaticas in Karachi says Ms Bhutto is clearly attempting to portray herself as a brave fighter for democracy.

But he adds that there are bound to be questions about why, if she had been warned of a suicide bomb attack, she authorised such a slow public procession from the airport attended by hundreds of thousands of supporters. ...

Cross-posted at netwmd.com and Newsvine

"Everything" did not change on 9/11, as some expected, but one thing certainly did: the U.S. government's willingness to preempt enemies before they act. This new policy has outraged so many, it may be discontinued.

In foreign affairs, preemption replaced the long-established policy of deterrence. A series of speeches established the new policy, culminating in George W. Bush's June 2002 declaration that "our security will require all Americans to be forward-looking and resolute, to be ready for preemptive action when necessary to defend our liberty and to defend our lives." Nine months later, preemption justified the invasion of Iraq before Iraqis had attacked the United States, to the fury of many. ...

Practically speaking, we will have returned to 9/10.

My captivity for three weeks at the hands of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) during Black September 1970 is not simply a harrowing personal story or merely part of a compelling human drama that riveted the world's attention for three weeks. It is the tale of a pivotal moment that changed the course of Middle East history and still informs us today on the motives of Israel's enemies, the roots of Islamist terrorism, and how to confront both.

On September 6, 1970, the PFLP triggered one of the most audacious and spectacular terrorist acts ever with its four attempted airplane hijackings, a record that stood in infamy for 31 years. I was 17 years old with my mother and four younger siblings aboard one of those planes, TWA flight 741 out of Frankfurt, Germany, on our way home to Trenton, New Jersey, after a summer in Israel. Our plane was forced to the desert floor in Jordan, about 35 miles northeast of Amman. As we sat in the eerie darkness once the power was turned off, a hijacked Swissair plane landed right behind us, nearly colliding with our plane. The PFLP threatened to blow us up in 72 hours if its demands for the release of terrorists in Israeli and European jails were not met, and they wired our plane with explosives.

The next day, the non-Jewish women and children were sent to hotels in Amman, and over 100 people lived aboard our plane for almost a week. With the power off, we had neither air conditioning during the blistering hot days, nor heat during the cold desert nights. There were no lights and no functioning toilets. Food and water were scarce. Jewish passengers were interrogated, some threatened at gunpoint. To the Holocaust survivors among us, this was a recurring nightmare. ...

On September 28, the Investigative Project on Terrorism's (IPT) Lorenzo Vidino was on FOX news addressing IPT's release of videos regarding Muslim American Society (MAS) president Esam Omeish showing his documented support of Jihad. The interview points out once again the problems with the American government failing to clearly identify the enemy and failing to have a clearly defined policy on Jihad and on political Islamism. Moreover, we need to agree on the definition of "Jihad" and not be misled by apologists, as pointed out by Walid Phares.

America has to come to grips with the question: "What does it mean for Islamists to call for Jihad?" While for IPT and many others, myself included, the answer to this is obvious, without a clear American policy on Jihad, the ambivalence on Jihad will continue to undermine American national security efforts, where the FBI defines its "fight" against terrorists, but cannot address the ideological issues. The reaction of the Washington Post, Alan Colmes, and others to Omeish's resignation once again highlights this massive fault line in American national security. ...

Note: The following article was published as a response to an editorial in The Diplomat, a top Canadian international affairs magazine, which explicitly claimed that the Arab-Israeli conflict–and specifically Israel's "occupation" policy–was at the root of all the problems in the Middle East, between the Middle East and the West, and between Islam and the West. This notion continues to be expressed (perhaps increasingly so) despite the fact that there is so much evidence to the contrary and that (though many in the West seem to have failed to nice this little detail) Israel has withdrawn from the Sinai, south Lebanon, the Gaza Strip, and much of the West Bank, as well as offering to leave the rest of the West Bank and the Golan Heights in exchange for full peace.

What is antisemitism? It is not merely the Nazi view that all Jews are evil and should be killed without exception. It is a set of beliefs including the idea that Jews are the cause of all the world's problems–which is expressed in this editorial–and others which are not contained in this particular editorial.

These other ideas include, Jews are conspiring to seize world power, Jews are traitors to the nation and pursue their own interests at its expense, and Jews drag countries into unnecessary wars for their own greedy reasons. We can look to Jimmy Carter and Walt-Mearsheimer for these aspects of antisemitism.

Another contemporary mistake about antisemitism during most of history is to think it is present only if all Jews are seen as enemies. Historically, of course, if Jews ceased to be Jews religiously (by conversion) or took a position that advocated the community disappear by other means (as left-wing revolutionaries dissolving any Jewish identity in the new socialist or communist utopia), they were given immunity from being denounced or persecuted. Even Usama bin Ladin likes Noam Chomsky. But I digress. If you are interested in these issues, please see my book, Barry Rubin, Assimilation and Its Discontents.

On the other side, there is acceptance of a myth–if it was ever true at all it is 20 years out of date–that all Arab states are obsessed with the Palestinians. It ignores such things as inter-Arab rivalries, fear of Islamism and Iran, disgust with the Palestinian political groups and leaders, the use of the issue in demagoguery at home and manipulating the West internationally, and many other factors–not to mention radical Islamist revolutionary ideology. If you are interested in this point, please see my book, Barry Rubin, The Tragedy of the Middle East.

It's understandable that many people want to believe that the sole or core issue of the Middle East is the Arab-Israeli conflict, as you suggest in your September 5 editorial ("The Problem Is Still Israel-Palestine"), but to think in this manner is to ensure the region will be misunderstood and that problems there become much worse.

After all, if everything can be pinned on the Arab-Israeli conflict, it means the West need fight no battle, face no threat, bear no cost, or deal with complex issues. All that is necessary is to force Israel into concessions that risk its existence or eliminate it altogether and all problems of Arab nationalism, Islamism, terrorism, and revolution disappear.

Father King, cited as the source for this view, may be a great theologian but is certainly no expert on Middle East, politics, Islamism, terrorism, nationalism, or revolution. In fact, the key issues there are: Who holds power in each country and in the region; who gets rich and what ideas govern society. The Middle East's troubles stem, too, from failure in development rooted within the local societies. Arab nationalists and Islamists strive for power; states seek to expand their influence and perhaps territory.

That is what's going on in the region. Iran and Syria seek hegemony; the Sunni and Shi'a fight for control of Iraq; Arab nationalist dictatorships survive their shortcomings by demagoguery against Israel and the West. Radical Islamist movements challenge them for power.

This isn't surprising. European history was marked by violence and ideological dispute for centuries along similar lines, even though European countries were far more successful in economic, social, and intellectual development. All this turmoil took place without there being an Israel there.

Even radical non-Palestinian Islamist literature in Arabic has not focused on the Arab-Israeli conflict. Prior to September 11, for example, Usama bin Ladin mentioned the Palestinian issue around 10 percent of the time, far less than he talked about Saudi Arabia, Iraq, and many other things. As for the Arab states (other than Syria), the emphasis they put and the resources they devote to the Arab-Israeli conflict have fallen steadily over the last 30 years as they turned their attention to other matters.

Your editorial claims: "The problem is, 'as it always was' still rooted…in Israel and Palestine." Really? Conflict between Middle East and West isn't rooted in decades of colonial rule over Algeria, Egypt, or Iraq? In Western support for Arab regimes past and present including Saudi Arabia, Jordan, and Egypt while radical Islamists want to overthrow them? Not rooted in jealousy over the West's greater success and power? In the Islamist view that the West is decadent and the Arab nationalist view that it is imperialistic, whether or not these accusations are true? Not rooted in murderous conflict between Sunni and Shi'a, advocates of capitalism and socialism, and other internal disputes spilling over as participants think they can get Western help or use anti-Western xenophobia to mobilize support? Not rooted in the false picture daily presented of Western society, religions, and culture? Not rooted in antagonism that powerful Muslim groups find in Islam itself, whether or not they "misinterpret" it?

Has it really come down to this: that all problems between the Middle East and West or the Middle East and Christianity can be blamed on Israel?

The idea that the "essential rift between Islam and the West is still to be found in the Israeli-Palestinian divide," is also highly inaccurate. Inasmuch as there is a rift, Islam is a different religion with its own historical culture and worldview, whereas the West has been shaped by different religions. Ordinary Muslims worry about their societies becoming secular like the West, overwhelmed by Western culture and attitudes. Islamists know the West opposes its goal of turning the Middle East into the equivalent of Iran and Taliban Afghanistan. September 11 didn't happen because of Israel, but due to al-Qa'ida's goal of spreading radical Islamist revolution and most immediately due to U.S. backing for the Saudi regime, their top target. To believe the problem is mainly or basically Israel is to fool oneself.

Moreover, the greatest outpouring of attacks on Israel happened after Israel made the Oslo agreement, withdrew from southern Lebanon, the whole Gaza Strip, and virtually all populated portions of the West Bank, proposed an independent Palestinian state, and so on. Israel has made numerous concessions and taken many risks for peace which have not been reciprocated by Syria and Palestinians, though Jordan and Egypt have shown through diplomatic compromise how real progress can be attained.

Blaming Israel for everything blinds one to the real issues, which must also be addressed if any problems are going to be solved: The Palestinian movement is still largely based on Israel's destruction, radical Islamists seek to take over Middle East countries and transform their societies, Iran and Syria seek regional hegemony, and failed Arab nationalist dictatorships make their people discontented.

The Middle East and the problem of radical Islamism require a bit more work than a single-issue approach and a single scapegoat for the turmoil there.

That there is no compulsion in Islam and that Islam is a religion of peace are common refrains among Muslim activists, academics, officials, and journalists. In an age of terrorism and violent jihad, nowhere, they argue, does the Qur'an allow Muslims to fight non-Muslims solely because they refuse to become Muslim. Proponents of Islamic tolerance point to a number of Qur'anic verses which admonish violence and advocate peace, tolerance, and compromise. ...

How does the theological debate over abrogation impact contemporary policy formulation? While not all terrorism is rooted in Islam, the religion is an enabler for many. It is wrong to assume that more extreme interpretations of religion are illegitimate. Statements that there is no compulsion in religion and that jihad is primarily about internal struggle and not about holy war may receive applause in university lecture halls and diplomatic board rooms, but they misunderstand the importance of abrogation in Islamic theology. It is important to acknowledge that what university scholars believe, and what most Muslims—or more extreme Muslims—believe are two different things. For many Islamists and radical Muslims, abrogation is real and what the West calls terror is, indeed, just. ...

...In Iraq, while the coalition fumbles its information operations, the insurgents and militia groups are adept at releasing timely messages to undermine support for the Iraqi government and bolster their own perceived potency. They are quick to exploit coalition failures and excesses; they respond rapidly to defend their own actions, often by shifting blame to the authorities; and they hijack coalition successes to argue that change only occurs as a result of their violence. The slow speed of the U.S. military's clearance process—typically it takes three to five days to approve even a simple information operations product such as a leaflet or billboard—creates an information vacuum that Iraqis fill with conspiracy theories and gossip often reflecting the exaggerations or outright lies of insurgents and extremists.

Insurgent capabilities are advanced. Violence is their most effective propaganda tool. This is not a new strategy. For example, Johann Most, a nineteenth-century German pamphleteer, described terrorism as "propaganda of the deed." In Iraq, violence intimidates the uncommitted, undermines confidence in the authorities, demonstrates potency, and can provoke a disproportionate military response from both the Iraqi authorities and the coalition. For example, in response to a suicide attack or ambush, coalition forces too often respond with disproportionate force, which results in the death of innocent bystanders. The insurgents have also used violence, such as the 2006 bombing of the Askari mosque in Samarra in order to fan the flames of sectarian conflict. Both Sunni and Shi'i groups use violence to silence critics, creating an information vacuum that they fill.

Recognizing that terrorists use violence to psychological affect, the insurgents in Iraq have adopted both an attritional and strategic approach to its application. Improvised explosive devices (IED), small ambushes, snipers, and mortar and rocket attacks inflict a steady stream of casualties that, while insignificant to coalition combat effectiveness, nevertheless, sap the confidence and morale of both Iraqi society and the coalition domestic publics. The insurgents have a strategy. They use rapid movement to keep the coalition off-balance and stage attacks to coincide with breaking events, prominent visits, or external political timetables. For example, attacks increased in the months of September and October in the U.S. election years 2004 and 2006 but fell from September to October 2005, an off-year in the U.S. election cycle.[3] More precisely, on June 13, 2007, Al-Qaeda in Iraq attacked the Samarra mosque a second time (the first was on February 22, 2006), to divert attention from reports of increased cooperation between Sunni tribes and the coalition. Less than two weeks later, on June 25, 2007, a terrorist bombed the lobby of the Mansour Hotel, killing a number of Sunni and Shi'i tribal leaders discussing reconciliation.

When insurgents, terrorists, and militiamen do attack, they use multimedia to amplify their actions and convey sophisticated messages to multiple audiences. Their strategy is broad; they employ low technology strategies to permeate their themes down to the grassroots and exploit mosques both to convey their point to the faithful and to suggest religious legitimacy. Extremist graffiti provides a constant reminder of their presence. In Baghdad and Fallujah, for example, slogans scrawled on walls and houses extol the virtues of various groups and leaders and condemn the Iraqi government and/or coalition while, in Kirkuk, militiamen scrawl slogans extolling Shi'i leader Muqtada al-Sadr on building walls in contested neighborhoods.

Messaging can be diverse. Insurgents and militiamen also utilize the arts, including paintings, poetry, and songwriting, and post flyers, distribute leaflets, author articles, and even publish their own newspapers and magazines. ...

...Aisha, the suicide killer, is not like any Arab woman I have ever known. She plays the part as if she is an angry butch-lesbian, American style, or a male-style angry African-American rapper. Her tactics of intimidation, insults, vulgarity, and sexual put-downs do not ring true. (Listen, what do I know? But I doubt that many such Palestinian women, even among the shahidas, fit this particular profile.)...

Officials at the Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development (HLF) have long maintained that they have no relationship with Hamas, a specially designated terrorist group.

But HLF's own list of speakers from abroad, seized by federal agents in 2001, is a veritable roster of Hamas leaders and activists. In a Dallas courtroom Tuesday, FBI Special Agent Robert Miranda told jurors in HLF's terror support trial how he used telephone records and other information to cement more than three dozen HLF "overseas speakers" to Hamas.

"This is an organization that's all about money," Miranda said of HLF. "Who's raising it for them?"

HLF and five of its officials are on trial for allegedly providing material support to Hamas. The defendants say they merely were helping the poor and needy.

HLF Executive Director Shukri Abu Baker has denied any Hamas link for more than a decade. He told Dallas Morning News reporter Gayle Reaves:

"We never associated with…Hamas to start with, to distance ourselves later on. We never associated with Hamas anyway." The call, on April Fool's Day 1996, was intercepted by FBI agents pursuant to a Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act warrant.

Baker repeated his denial six years later in a sworn declaration submitted for a court case challenging the U.S. government's December 2001 freeze of HLF assets.

"I reject and abhor Hamas, its goals and its methods," Baker's April 2002 declaration states. "I reject terrorism by anyone. I do not believe that it accomplished anything and I believe it to be morally wrong."

But when it came time to raise money, HLF repeatedly turned to Hamas leaders and activists, Miranda testified. He walked jurors through HLF's list of overseas speakers seized from the HLF office, linking dozens of them to the terrorist group.

Miranda cited examples for each and showed how he used telephone records and other means to solidify each speaker's Hamas link.

Then he showed jurors credit card statements showing how some of the speakers' travel was paid for on American Express cards held by defendants Mohammed El-Mezain, Shukri Abu Baker and Ghassan Elashi.

In 1990, a three-month tour through the U.S. and South America by three Hamas speakers helped bring in nearly $400,000, a letter found by agents in the home of Ismail Elbarrasse, an unindicted co-conspirator and former assistant to HAMAS leader Mousa Abu Marzook showed. The Islamic Association for Palestine (IAP), a member of the Muslim Brotherhood's Palestine Committee, organized the tour and received a 10 percent cut of the money. Still, Miranda said, HLF's receipts accounted for more than 40 percent of the foundation's income that year.

Some of those speakers are part of the Jordanian-based Islamic Action Front (IAF), a Muslim Brotherhood party which Miranda described as a political party allied with Hamas. During a 2001 raid of HLF offices outside Dallas, agents found an IAF pamphlet with incendiary language that mirrors the Hamas charter.

The liberation of Palestine is a duty for all Muslims, the pamphlet said. And the conflict with the Jews is not political, but a religious and civilizational battle that can't be settled through negotiations.

Miranda produced records showing some fundraising activity occurred after the 1995 official designation of Hamas as a terrorist group.

"Neither I nor, to my knowledge, any of the other founders of this charity have had any connection whatever to Hamas, or to any terrorist groups or to terrorism," Baker said in his 2002 declaration.

But Baker's brother, Jamal, is a Hamas representative in Yemen who had lived in Sudan. In fact, three of the men on trial are related to Hamas leaders, Miranda said. Mufid Abdulqader is the brother of Hamas political bureau leader, Khalid Mishal. And Ghassan Elashi's cousin is married to Hamas political leader, Mousa Abu Marzook.

HLF also arranged conference calls in addition to bringing speakers in to the U.S. Some of the calls featured leaders of militant groups who praised Hamas actions and platform after the U.S. tagged it as a specially designated terrorist organization in 1995.

One conference call included 64 Islamic centers throughout the country and raised more than $18,000, Miranda said.

On another, a Pakistani named Qazi Hussein Ahmad said "the Muslim people stand by the people who are struggling [against occupation] …under the leadership of Hamas. We in Pakistan stand with the Palestinian people … stand with the Hamas. They will never accept any recognition of Israel by the unjust Muslim regimes," Ahmad said.

He is the leader of Jamaat-e-Islami in Pakistan.

Miranda returns to the witness stand Wednesday morning. Defense attorneys have not yet had the chance to cross examine him.

They cheered and waved Iraqi flags, sharing, perhaps, the first such moment of national pride in recent years...

Which is precisely why the Islamo-fascists struck. They are not interested in liberty, national reconciliation, integrity, or evolution. The Islamists want absolute power based solely on terrorizing, subjugating, converting, or killing those they consider "infidels:"

Two bomb attacks have killed at least 50 people and injured 135 in Baghdad as crowds celebrated a famous victory by the national football team. ...

...the football team's win was a genuine moment of national pride and pleasure which had crossed the sectarian divisions between Iraq's different communities.

Just as the Iraqi team has Sunni and Shia Muslims and Kurds playing alongside each other, the celebrations brought members of all those communities out onto the streets...

...The kidnapping of the BBC's Alan Johnston in Gaza, and now the broadcast of his taped denunciation of the fact of Israel's existence, are only one small part of a wider campaign. And it is working.

The international community is being drip-fed the toxic assertion that, were it not for Israel, ours would be a peaceful world, a harmonious community of nations, living in tranquility alongside each other, respecting differences and working out disagreements in a spirit of compromise. If it were not for Israel, the Original Sin, the bone in the Islamic throat.

In Alan Johnston's Britain, the campaign is proving particularly effective. So much so that the union that represents his own profession, the National Union of Journalists, along with many academics, members of the clergy and numerous other opinion-shapers, now subscribe to this notion of Israel as prime irritant, prompter of terrorism.

They will have nodded sagely this weekend when Johnston, in what must be regarded as a text scripted for him, lamented the fate of the Palestinians, purportedly "arrested, imprisoned for no reason... killed on a daily basis," and forced into "absolute despair after nearly 40 years of Israeli occupation which has been supported by the West," and when he castigated Britain for having "worked to bring about the State of Israel, which is the cause of all the suffering of the Palestinian people."

Willfully overlooked by those who seek to delegitimize Israel and, appallingly by those who fall prey to the campaign, are the basic truths at the root of our Middle East reality, at the root of the Islamist terror campaign.

Willfully overlooked is the fact that modern Israel is not some upstart Western invention, supplanting the state of Palestine, but the ancestral homeland of the Jewish nation, the land where our nation long lived and has always sought to live. The world is filled with Muslim nation-states and Christian nation-states. Ours is the only Jewish nation-state. It is the only nation-state that the Jewish nation has ever sought. ...