Video- Greece Blocks Gaza-Bound Flotilla, Netanyahu And Papandreou’s Strengthened Ties

Video below:



MSNBC reports:

The campaign to breach Israel's sea blockade of Gaza suffered a major setback when Greece announced its restrictions on Friday, and authorities arrested the captain of a boat carrying American activists that tried to leave Greece without permission.

However, organizers of the flotilla were trying to maintain momentum with planned protests in Athens in the face of increasing calls for them to scrap their campaign. On Saturday, the Middle East Quartet of Mideast mediators — the U.S., U.N., EU and Russia — urged governments to discourage Gaza-bound flotillas that could escalate tension in the region.

Haaretz reports how Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over the past year-and-a-half has worked hard on increasing diplomatic ties with Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou.

Israeli diplomats can attest that the budding friendship between the two countries over the course of the past year-and-a-half has been nothing short of dramatic. Intelligence communication has increased, the IAF has conducted a number of joint exercises with Greece’s air force and Netanyahu has requested Papandreou’s assistance in passing on several messages to Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas.

Many of Netanyahu and Papandreou’s talks in the past few months have revolved around the severe financial crisis Greece is currently suffering. Netanyahu recently decided to come to the aid of his newfound friend in a meeting of foreign ministers and European leaders, imploring them to provide Greece with financial aid.

“Netanyahu has become Greece’s lobbyist to the European Union,” an Israeli diplomat said.

In recent weeks, as efforts to stop the impending pro-Palestinian flotilla to Gaza came to a head, Netanyahu reaped the benefits of his investment in Israel-Greece ties and his gamble on the European country paid off.

He was able to create a viable alternative to relations with Turkey in several regards, showing Erdogan that Israel will not hesitate to become close to its greatest enemy in the West.

And when the moment of truth came, Greece followed through and ordered all Gaza-bound departures be blocked from leaving its ports. Greece’s decision, along with the Turkish Humanitarian Relief Foundation's (IHH) announcement that it would not be sending the Mavi Marmara and the president of Cypress’s statement forbidding ships from sailing to Gaza sealed the fate of the flotilla almost entirely.

Semi-related is NYT's headline "Europe Agrees to Give Billions to Greece."

Of course Hama's is denouncing Greece but this action has shown what diplomacy and cultivating friendships can do for a country, something Obama could learn a little bit about.

An interesting tidbit from Elder of Ziyon as well:

Remember how the flotidiots accused Israel of sabotaging the Irish boat in the harbor in Turkey? This accusation even made it into the Huffington Post as a headline story. Well, it turns out that there was no sabotage, as Turkey's Hurriyet reported.

More at YNet.

In the meantime, over at Maannews.net I see two interesting top news items, one right after each other "Israel to allow 200 trucks carrying limited goods to enter Gaza Strip and "Israel: Gaza projectile lands in Eshkol regional council."

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This Is Why We Stand With Israel- Netanyahu Speech to AIPAC

[Update] Full video of Benjamin Netanyahu's speech to the House of Representatives, on follow up post.

Benjamin Netanyahu whole AIPAC speech will be shown below the post.

Barack Obama either miscalculated badly or simply didn't understand the ramifications of his words in his speech where he took the Palestinian position of peace negotiations starting along the 1967 lines between Israel and it's neighbors.

After being publicly rebuffed and given a history lesson by Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Democratic and Republican lawmakers spoke out in support of Netanyahu's position and against Obama's poorly chosen words.

Democratic lawmaker, the Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, is the latest to break with Obama in Reid's public speech made at AIPAC 2011, where he states "The place where negotiating will happen must be the negotiating table – and nowhere else. Those negotiations will not happen – and their terms will not be set – through speeches, or in the streets, or in the media.

"No one should set premature parameters about borders, about building or about anything else."

Obama seemed to realize his mistake when he spoke at AIPAC after his initial highly criticized speech and he tried to reaffirm his words but attempted to change the meaning of them when he said hsi reference to the 1967 lines with mutually agreed swaps "by definition" meant the "Israelis and Palestinians - will negotiate a border that is different than the one that existed on June 4, 1967."

I kid you not, that is a direct quote.


Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has now given his speech at AIPAC, which he will followup by speaking before Congress today, but in his speech he made many good points, thanking America for all it has done for Israel as well as what Israel has supplied America with via technology and the very basic fact that support for Israel unites Republicans, Democrats and Independents, which is confirmed by the latest Gallup poll showing a majority of all three being more sympathetic to Israel as is to the Palestinians.

80 percent of Republicans, 57 percent of both Democrats and Independents, totaling and overall 63 percent "continuing to say their sympathies lie more with the Israelis. Seventeen percent sympathize more with the Palestinians"

Much more on the breakdown's over at Gallup showing that Israel currently enjoys popular U.S. support across all major party groups and most major societal subgroups.

Obama's contempt has been duly noted, publicized, rejected and rebutted.


Full AIPAC speech by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, via The Algemeiner:

When tragedy strikes America, Israel mourns.

Tragedy has struck America.

In recent days, tornadoes and floods have claimed the lives of hundreds of Americans.

Israel grieves with you.

To all our supporters in this great hall, and to the millions of our supporters across this great land, the people of Israel thank you.

Thank you for your staunch commitment to Israel’s security.

Thank you for defending Israel’s right to defend itself.

Thank you for standing by Israel as it seeks a secure peace.

You know that Israel is America’s indispensable ally.

You understand that Israel and America stand shoulder to shoulder fighting common enemies, protecting common interests.

You know that Israeli innovators help power computers, fight disease, conserve water, and clean the planet.

Your support for Israel flows from the heart.

It’s not just what Israel does. It’s what Israel is.

Yesterday, they let me out.

My wife got to visit Washington’s majestic memorials.

I read Jefferson’s timeless words, “We hold these truths to be self-evident that all men are created equal.”

I read Lincoln’s immortal address reaffirming “Government of the people, for the people, and by the people.”

You know why these words resonate so powerfully with me and with all Israelis.

Because they are rooted in ideas first championed by our people, the Jewish people.

The idea that all men are created in God’s image.

That no ruler is above the law.

That everyone is entitled to justice.

These revolutionary Jewish ideas were spoken thousands of years ago when vast slave empires ruled the earth.

Israel is the cradle of our common civilization, crucible of our moral ideals.

The Jewish state was founded on these eternal values.

This is why Israel’s more than one million Muslim citizens enjoy full democratic rights.

This is why the only place in the Middle East where Christians are completely free to practice their faith is in the democratic State of Israel.

And this is why only Israel can be trusted to ensure freedom for all faiths in our eternal capital, the united city of Jerusalem.

My Friends,

Israel and America have drawn from this deep wellspring of common values.

We have forged an enduring friendship not merely between our governments but between our peoples.

Support for Israel doesn’t divide America.

It unites America.

It unites the old and the young, liberals and conservatives, Democrats and Republicans—and yes, Joe Leiberman, it even unites Independents—

This broad support for Israel is a source of great strength for my country.

Since Harry Truman, Israel has looked to American Presidents to stand by its side to meet unfolding challenges of a changing world.

President Obama has spoken about his ironclad commitment to Israel’s security.

He rightly said that our security cooperation is unprecedented.

He spoke of that commitment not just in front of AIPAC, but in two speeches heard throughout the Arab world.

And President Obama has backed those words with deeds.

I know these are tough economic times.

So I want to thank the President and Congress for providing Israel with vital assistance so that Israel can defend itself by itself.

Thank you for supporting the Iron Dome missile-defense system.

A few weeks ago, Hamas terrorists in Gaza fired eight rockets at Ashkelon and Be’er Sheva.

The rockets never reached their targets.

Iron Dome intercepted them.

For the first time, a missile defense system worked in combat.

Thank you, America.

America and Israel are cooperating in so many other ways.

In science, in technology, in trade, in investment.

Its not only American companies investing in Israel.

It’s Israeli companies investing in America.

In the last decade, Israeli companies have invested more than $50 billion in America.

One of those investments is happening just down the road in Richmond.

An Israeli company is building a food factory there.

That means more business, more jobs and yes, more Hummus.

Well it’s not just food we’re bringing to America.

Take medicine.

Israel is advancing cures for multiple schlerosis, cancer and alzheimer’s.

We’ve developed the mechanical means to make paraplegics walk again.

We placed a tiny diagnostic camera inside a pill.

A Jerusalem start-up company has developed a bandage to rapidly stop bleeding.

A million of those bandages have been supplied to the US army.

They are saving American lives and limbs.

But not just on the battlefield.

A few months ago, one of those bandages was carried by a policeman in Tuscon, Arizona.

It helped save the life of a great friend of Israel, Congresswoman Gabriel Giffords!

Israel and America are also cooperating to end the world’s worst addiction — the addiction to oil.

This dependence fuels terrorism.

It poisons the planet.

We’ve launched a ten-year program to seek a substitute for gasoline.

If we succeed, we can change history.

My Friends,

The American people’s support for Israel is reflected in my invitation to address a joint meeting of Congress tomorrow.

I will talk about the great convulsion taking place in the Middle East -

I will talk about the dangers of a nuclear-armed Iran.

I will also outline a vision for a secure Israeli-Palestinian peace.

I will speak the unvarnished truth.

Now, more than ever, what we need is clarity.

Events in our region are finally opening people’s eyes to a simple truth.

The problems of the region are not rooted in Israel.

The remarkable scenes we are witnessing in town squares across the Middle East and North Africa are occurring for a simple reason.

People want freedom.

They want progress. They want a better life.

For many of the people in the region, the 20^th century skipped them by.

Now 21^st century technology is showing them what they missed.

That desperate fruit vendor in Tunis didn’t set himself on fire because of Israel.

He set himself on fire because of decades of indignity, decades of intolerable corruption.

The millions who poured into the streets of Tehran, Tunis, Cairo, Sanna, Benghazi and Damascus, were not thinking about Israel.

They were thinking of freedom.

They were yearning for opportunity.

It’s time to stop blaming Israel for all of the region’s problems.

Let me stress one thing.

Peace between Israelis and Palestinians is a vital need for us.

Peace would be the realization of a powerful and eternal dream.

But it is not a panacea for the endemic problems of the Middle East.

It will not give women is some Arab countries in the Middle East the right to drive a car.

It will not prevent Churches from being bombed.

It will not keep journalists out of jail.

What will change all this? One word.

Democracy. Real, genuine, democracy.

By democracy, I don’t just mean elections.

I mean Freedom of Speech. Freedom of the Press. Freedom of Assembly.

The Rule of Law. Rights for women, for gays, for minorities, for everyone.

What the people of the Middle East need is what you have in America, and what we have in Israel.

Democracy.

It’s time to recognize this basic truth:

Israel is not what’s wrong about the Middle East.

Israel is what’s right about the Middle East.

My Friends,

Israel wants peace because we know the pain of terror and the agony of war.

We want peace because we know the blessings peace could bring to us and to our Palestinian neighbors.

But if we hope to advance peace with the Palestinians, then it is time that we admitted another truth.

This conflict has raged for nearly a century because the Palestinians refuse to end it.

They refuse to accept the Jewish state.

This is what this conflict has always been about.

There are many issues that must be resolved between Israelis and Palestinians.

We can and must resolve them.

But I repeat. We can only make peace with the Palestinians if they are prepared to make peace with the Jewish state.

Tomorrow, I will speak more about what such a peace could look like.

But tonight I wanted to express Israel’s gratitude for all you are doing to help strengthen Israel and its great alliance with America.

*You help maintain our Qualitative Military Edge.

*You back sanctions against Iran.

* You support a genuine peace.

*You oppose Hamas.

*You’ve joined President Obama and me in denouncing Hamas and demanding that it release, Gilad Shalit.

That’s another outrageous crime of Hamas.

Keeping a young soldier locked in a dark dungeon for five years without even a visit from the Red Cross.

Hamas must release Gilad Shalit!

My friends,

I spent my high school years in Philadelphia.

I went many times to see the Liberty Bell.

Now, as Prime Minister of Israel, I can walk down the street and see an exact replica of that bell in Jerusalem’s Liberty Park.

On both bells is the same inscription.

It comes from the Bible, from Leviticus.

“Proclaim Liberty throughout the Land.”

My Dear Friends,

This is the essence of the great alliance between our two nations.

Two peoples bonded in Liberty, and seeking freedom and peace for all.

That ladies and gentlemen, is why we stand with Israel.

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Pushback Against Obama On Israel As He Speaks From Both Sides Of His Mouth

Starting off with a video from April 2008, compliments of HotAirPundit of Barack Obama speaking to Jewish leaders and declaring that "dividing Jerusalem along the 1967 borders is not going to be an option."



Jump to 2011 and Obama makes another speech where he demands that Israel's future borders with a Palestinian state "should be based on the 1967 lines," and Prime Minister of Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu, very publicly rejected that and additionally told Obama, while sitting in the White House in front of the press, that absorbing Palestinians (reference to the so-called "right to return") into the Jewish state was "not going to happen" as he schooled Obama on the history and expressed his total refusal to leave Israel "indefensible."

As well he should. The last time Israel was in a completely indefensible position they were attacked ruthlessly from all sides.

Quick History on 1967 Six Day War:

Egypt, the largest Arab state with a population of 31 million, massed troops on its border with Israel and imposed a naval blockade of Israel’s southern port, an act of war. Confronted with these aggressive moves, and the Arab leaders' promises to destroy the Jewish state, Israel launched a pre-emptive strike against the Egyptian army and airforce. Egypt’s air force was quickly crippled, and a well-executed Israeli ground offensive routed the Egyptian forces in Gaza and the Sinai peninsula in four days.

Buoyed by false reports of Egyptian success, Jordan initiated offensive actions against Israel from the eastern portion of Jerusalem and from lands it occupied west of the Jordan river (the West Bank). Israeli forces responded by attacking Jordanian military positions. After a three days of fierce fighting, especially in and around Jerusalem, Israeli forces defeated the Jordanians and gained control of all of Jerusalem as well as the West Bank, the historical heartland of the Jewish people known to Israelis as Judea and Samaria.

Following an air attack by the Syrians on the first day of the war, Israel dealt a shattering blow to the Syrian air force. Hostilites continued in the days that followed, and on fifth day of the war, the Israelis mustered enough forces to remove the Syrian threat from the Golan Heights. This difficult operation was completed the following day, bringing the active phase of the war to a close.

In six days Israel had managed to defend itself against acts of war from three fronts.

The backlash against Barack Obama now is coming form multiple fronts, Democratic and Republican lawmakers are speaking out against Obama's new position which is far different from what he stated to the Jewish community in April 2008.

Prominent Jewish Americans are now rethinking their support for Obama in his bid for reelection in 2012, resulting in New York Mayor Ed Koch actually condemning Obama for his speech.

Ottawa is refusing to back Obama’s Mideast peace proposal as well.

Others who voted for Barack Obama in 2008 are speaking up against him, such as famous Israeli born KISS rock star Gene Simomons who publicly states that Obama has "no fucking idea what the world is like because he doesn't have to live there." (Video at that link)

Even the Washington Post editorial board is taking Obama to task:

The renewed peace process that Mr. Obama seeks could, at best, have the effect of curbing the Palestinian campaign against Israel or at least depriving it of major European support. The idea that it could lead to a peace settlement under the current Israeli and Palestinian leaders strikes us as unrealistic. This president likes to portray himself as a pragmatist in foreign policy. In this case, pragmatism would suggest that restoring trust with Israel, rather than courting a feckless Palestinian leader, would be the precondition to any diplomatic success.

In Obama's AIPAC speech (speaking again to an audience of American Jews), which is seeing much Twitter reaction, Obama claims his words were "misrepresented" and manages to yet again speak from both sides of his mouth as he reaffirms his peace proposal while at the same time backpedaling to explain that the 1967 lines are really different from the 1967 lines.

Yes, seriously.

That is what I said. Now, it was my reference to the 1967 lines with mutually agreed swaps that received the lion's share of the attention. And since my position has been misrepresented several times, let me reaffirm what "1967 lines with mutually agreed swaps" means.

By definition, it means that the parties themselves - Israelis and Palestinians - will negotiate a border that is different than the one that existed on June 4, 1967. It is a well known formula to all who have worked on this issue for a generation. It allows the parties themselves to account for the changes that have taken place over the last forty-four years, including the new demographic realities on the ground and the needs of both sides. The ultimate goal is two states for two peoples. Israel as a Jewish state and the homeland for the Jewish people, and the state of Palestine as the homeland for the Palestinian people; each state enjoying self-determination, mutual recognition, and peace.

Nice doublespeak huh?

Obama did say one thing that many American Jews can agree with as well as Israel as a whole can agree with :

"Ultimately, however, it is the right and responsibility of the Israeli government to make the hard choices that are necessary to protect a Jewish and democratic state for which so many generations have sacrificed"-- Barack Obama AIPAC 2011

In blogospheric tradition, now would be the time to say "Indeed."


(Additions made to this post)

Saturday Reading- Linkfest To A Variety Of News

A couple updates and a few interesting links Saturday, May 21, 2011.

First, let me say "whew", good to see the world is still here, despite all the hype from those-I-will-not-name, who thought Rapture was upon us and the world was ending!!

One of the updates include some reactions to the awesome, polite in-your-face history lesson Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu gave to Barack Obama at the White House in front of the press, which was shown live and now being passed around from YouTube and other video sites as well as videos on media sites across the web.

Video shown at WuA on yesterdays post, well worth seeing and something that needed to be said to Obama.

Andrew McCarthy calls Obama's original speech "Borderline Treachery" and provides a more in-depth history lesson for Barack Obama.

Jim Hoft, Gateway Pundit, thinks Netanyahu's history lesson to Obama was "incredible" and that Obama appeared to be a "complete buffoon."

AllahPundit, Hot Air, thought Barack Obama looked like he was passing a kdney stone during the whole lesson.

Left Coast Rebel puts it best when he says "What Netanyahu said is exactly what he should have said and what I would expect our president to say to the leader of another nation; given we were being pushed into a precarious position, against our interests and safety..."

[Late update] Democratic and Republican lawmakers push back against Obama on Israel:

Dems:

Rep. Steve Rothman (D-N.J.) delivered a similar message, arguing that reverting the borders would only embolden Hamas to launch more attacks.

"A two-state solution agreed upon by the Israelis and Palestinians should be negotiated through direct talks," Rothman said Friday in a statement, "but it is important to remember that a full return to the 1967 borders will be indefensible for Israel and that talking with terrorists who want to destroy Israel is a non-starter."

Rep. Eliot Engel (D-N.Y.) echoed that sentiment, saying the 1967 borders "were simply not defensible, and Israel must not be made to return to them."

"The President is correct that land swaps built into a peace agreement could make Israel’s borders safe and secure, but make no mistake about it – such territorial adjustments would be very significant so that Israel would no longer be 9 miles wide at its narrowest point."

More Dem Pro-Israel reactions, here.

Republican:

"It would undermine Israel’s strategic depth, increasing its vulnerability to both military invasions and the sorts of rocket and missile attacks that Hamas carries out in Gaza," Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-Fla.), head of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said Friday in a statement. "Doubling down on failed policies will not lead to the changes we need. It’s time for the Obama administration to change course.”

This is what happens when an inexperienced child decides to try to insert himself into an adult situation... Could Obama have screwed up more? [End Update]

[Another update with video of Gene Simmons, Israeli born KISS member]



Transcript, via NewsBusters:

GENE SIMMONS, KISS: President Obama, I voted for an idea. What I didn’t realize what I was getting was an idealist. If you’ve never been to the moon, you can’t issue policy about the moon. You have no f—king idea what it’s like on the moon. For a president to be sitting in Washington, D.C., and saying, “Go back to your 67 borders in Israel,” how about you live there and try to defend an indefensible border nine miles wide? On one side you’ve got hundreds of millions of people who hate your guts, on the other side you’ve got the Mediterranean. Unless you control, in Israel, unless you control those Golan Heights, it’s an indefensible position.

It’s a nice idea, when you grow up you find out that life isn’t the way you imagined it, and President Obama means well. I think he’s actually a good guy. He has no f—king idea what the world is like because he doesn’t have to live there.

[End 2nd Update]

The next update to one of yesterdays posts here at WuA is Obama's failure to obtain Congressional authorization for military action in Libya and the deadline which passed yesterday for getting such authorization.

Jake Tapper, ABC News' Political Punch reports that Obama sent a letter to Congress asking for a resolution to support military action in Libya and suggests that it doesn't fall under the War Powers Resolution of 1973, therefore isn't a law Obama must obey.

David A. Fahrenthold, Washington Post, explains that the War Powers Act "makes no specific exception for limited or supporting action: It applies to any instance in which military forces are “introduced into hostilities,” or sent into foreign territory or airspace while equipped for combat."

You can look at the War Powers resolution for yourself and determine where you come down on this.

Liberal Taylor Marsh provides the snark for this one with "Pres. Obama, a man who said he wasn’t going to be like Bush, is on the cusp of making the War Powers Act obsolete by simply ignoring it. Hey, but no worries, he’s the president so we can trust him."

Democratic Rep. from California, Brad Sherman, states that Obama is trying to "bring democracy to Libya while shredding the Constitution of the United States."

He continues with "He cannot continue what he is doing in Libya without congressional authorization. When a president defiantly violates the law, that really undercuts our efforts to urge other countries to have the rule of law."

Harsh when that is coming from your own supporters huh?

If the left is coming down hard on Obama on Libya, then you can imagine the reaction from the right.

Or, you can see for yourself.

Those are the updates on yesterday's news, now for some links on other things.

The million dollar recount in the Wisconsin Supreme Court election is complete and Supreme Court Justice David Prosser is still 7,000+ votes ahead.

Defeated Assistant Attorney General JoAnne Kloppenburg, after wasting a million plus in tax payer money on the recount, is now debating whether or not to finally concede to the will of the voters or challenge the results in court.

KETV Omaha reports "Best known as the former chairman and CEO of Godfather's Pizza, Herman Cain says he's running for president of the United States in 2012."

In the South Carolina televised GOP debate, Cain came to the debate with one supporter in the Lutz focus group and by the end of the debate over half of the 29 people in the group raised their hands for Cain as top choice.


Last but not least, the extraordinary photos of homemade damns in Mississippi around individual homes created in a desperate attempt to to save their homes.

Happy Saturday reading everyone.

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Prime Minister of Israel Netanyahu Tells Obama 'It Isn't Going To Happen'

Netanyahu says it all, clearly, concisely and firmly, telling Obama, "It isn't going to happen". (RE: Absorbing more Palestinians into the Jewish state- and 1967 lines)

Watch below:



Well said.

(H/T) YID With LID.

[Update] ABC News' Political Punch "In Oval Office, Bibi Offers History Lessons to Obama"

He certainly did.

(Corrections have been made to this post for the sake of clarity)

Israeli family murdered

*cross-posted from Assoluta Tranquillita*

Five family members killed in suspected terrorist attack at their home in Itamar settlement

According to police the suspect broke into a home in Itamar armed with a knife and killed the family of five people including parents and three children.

By Anshel Pfeffer and Yaniv Kubovich

Five members of an Israeli family were killed Friday night when a suspected terrorist broke into their home in the West Bank settlement of Itamar and stabbed them all to death.

According to police, the suspect broke into the house armed with a knife and stabbed the mother, father and three children, aged 11, three and an approximately one-month-old baby. Magen David Adom rescue services arrived at the scene and found them all dead.

It is believed that there were two other children in the house at the time of the attack, aged 4 and 2, who were not injured in the attack.

Extensive police forces and Israel Defense Forces are scanning the area for the suspect.

The family's 12-year-old daughter, who was at a youth group activity, returned to her home at approximately midnight and her calls for the door to be opened for her went unanswered. With the help of a neighbor, they managed to open the door and came upon the horrible murder scene.

The military blocked the entrance to the northern West Bank settlement of Itamar, as soldiers poured inside and a pair of ambulances departed...

Read the rest of this terrible story here.