The Bush letter nine years on

Noah David Simon

The Bush letter nine years on
Israeli NGO Shurat HaDin, to sue PA for terrorism at The Hague
New York attacks First Amendment
#Apartheid Roads

Posted: 14 Apr 2013 03:51 PM PDT

(Carl) Rick Richman reminds us that Sunday is the 9th anniversary of the famous Bush letter that effectively promised Israel the 'settlement blocs.' At the time, the letter was overwhelmingly endorsed by both Houses of Congress, but in 2009, President Obama and his Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, tried to pretend that it didn't exist, and Obama has continued to behave as if the letter did not exist.
US Secretary of State John FN Kerry is unable to pretend the letter didn't exist. But that doesn't mean he's going to back Israel's position. Rick Richman explains.

At an April 9 press conference in Tel Aviv, Bow Shapira from Israeli TV (Channel 1) told Kerry he wanted to ask about “a guarantee from the past”–the 2004 Bush letter, which he described as “telling that blocs of settlements can stay, cannot [be] removed from the territory.” His question about the guarantee was straightforward: “well, does it exist?” Kerry responded in part as follows:
I remember that commitment very well because I was running for president then, and I personally have supported the notion that the situation on the ground has changed, and obviously, we’re talking about blocs that are in a very different status. I’m not going to get into telling you what ought to happen with respect to any particular piece of geography today because that’s for the parties to decide in their negotiation. But I have certainly supported the notion publicly myself that we need to deal with the ’67 lines, plus the swaps that reflect some of the changes that have taken place since then.
It is not surprising that Kerry remembered the commitment so well. He appeared on “Meet the Press” on April 18, 2004–four days after the Bush letter was issued–and was asked directly about it by Tim Russert:
MR. RUSSERT: On Thursday, President Bush … said that Israel can keep part of the land seized in the 1967 Middle East War and asserted the Palestinian refugees cannot go back to their particular homes. Do you support President Bush?
SEN. KERRY: Yes.
MR. RUSSERT: Completely?
SEN. KERRY: Yes.
Kerry’s response to the Israeli reporter last week is significant, because he recognized: (1) that the Bush letter was in fact a commitment, subsequently endorsed by both the Senate (95-3) and the House (407-9) in concurrent resolutions; and (2) that he supported it at the time, in unambiguous terms.
But it is indicative of the continuing problem President Obama created with his refusal in 2009 to endorse the Bush letter that an Israeli reporter felt it necessary to ask whether the U.S. commitment exists. The president has been attempting to assure Israelis with his have-your-back, all-options-on-the-table rhetorical commitments, but they remember that in the past he did not feel constrained to respect even a written commitment to Israel.
Given that Obama doesn't live up to his commitments, why should Israel give up real assets to appease him?
unbelievable!


Israeli NGO Shurat HaDin, to sue PA for terrorism at The Hague
Posted: 14 Apr 2013 10:13 AM PDT
NGO Chairwoman: PA starting war against soldiers, ‘we’ll defend them’. Shahar Chai’


An Israeli civil rights NGO is preparing to sue the Palestinian Authority in the International Criminal Court (ICC) for its alleged responsibility for thousands of terrorist attacks on Israel.

Shurat HaDin’s Nitsana Darshan-Leitner – Photo: Zvika Tishler
The publicity material shows the tagline on top of photographs of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Hamas Prime Minister Ismayil Haniyeh behind bars.
After the United Nations upgraded its status to non-member observer state in late November, the Palestinian Authority hinted its intentions to sue Israelis for alleged war crimes at the ICC in The Hague.
Though recent attempts to revive the peace process appear to have halted these efforts, Shurat HaDin started preparing thousands of cases against the Palestinian Authority and its leaders.
“We call on all Israeli citizens who were harmed in terror attacks to testify through our Facebook page and tell their traumatic experiences,” the organization’s chairwoman Attorney Nitsana Darshan-Leitner explained.
Shurat HaDin, founded in 2002, is an Israeli civil rights non-governmental organization aimed at using litigations against groups it alleges are terror organizations.
So far the NGO won cases to the sum of over a billion US dollars, of which over $120 million were collected.
On 2012 the organization aided in the thwarting of a Gaza bound flotilla and is currently involved in the campaign against the BDS movement.
“Our aim is to prevent this move (suing soldiers) by the Palestinian Authority,” said Darshan-Leitner.
“We’ve realized that when the Palestinian Authority is accepted into the ICC, it becomes exposed to lawsuits as well. “We’ve received dozens of terror victims’ testimonies, from relatively ‘light’ stories to truly shocking ones,” she said.
“I’m certain anyone who hears about the campaign will know at least one victim and encourage them to turn to us.
“They are starting a war against our soldiers, and we’ll do everything we can to defend them,” Darshan-Leitner said.

View original Ynet publication at: http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4367659,00.html
via israelandstuff.com


New York attacks First Amendment
Posted: 13 Apr 2013 07:09 PM PDT

(Examiner)The Washington Examiner reports that a town in New York has forced the removal of the historic Gadsden Flag, which has been a symbol of American determination to fight for liberty ever since the American revolution.
According to Jim Hoft's Gateway Pundit, a group of U.S. veterans is fighting the local city council in New Rochelle, N.Y. for the right to display the flag at the local armory. The Navy and the Marine Corps have been flying the flag since 1775. The Gadsden Flag has long been considered a patriotic symbol.
But the New Rochelle City Council says that the Gadsden Flag is a symbol of the Tea Party and has right wing connotations.
No one in the veteran's group, however, is a member of the Tea Party.
Some of the members of the council itself appear to be carrying their own unjustified bias concerning the flag. One council member likened the Gadsden flag to a flag used by homosexuals on gay pride day. Another stated that the patriotic flag is like the Nazi flag, or graffiti, or a Mickey Mouse flag.
The display of symbols traditionally has been viewed as an aspect of free speech and is thus protected by the First Amendment. But apparently in New York State, not only is the private ownership of guns considered tantamount to an act of violence but free speech is viewed with disdain.(MORE)


#Apartheid Roads
Posted: 13 Apr 2013 05:42 PM PDT

I've asked that question, too:-
The entire world denounces the "apartheid roads" in Judea and Samaria, although in broad daylight Jews and Arabs share every road open to Jews. On the other hand, large signs in bright red ban Jews from traveling on roads in areas specified by the Oslo Agreements for Palestinians. Route 443 has been opened to Arabs as well following a High Court order, but a nearby road – which would have cut the time it takes to travel from Gush Dolev-Talmonin to Jerusalem by at least 30 minutes – remains closed to Jews to this very day. Both apartheid and racism: Israel's Arab citizens are free to enter Jenin, while a Jew will be prosecuted.
When was the last time a state official took journalists on a tour on the ground, to get them to realize that the apartheid on the roads of Judea and Samaria is exclusively against Jews. And which of our media outlets ever exposed the shamefulness of their apartheid: That God forbid should a Jewish-Israeli set foot in Nablus or in 90% of Hebron or in any Arab village? Because that's the rule: The state of the Jews should be brought to trial. Why? Because it put itself there in the first place.

Elyakim HaEtzni
^
via myrightword.blogspot.com