SUMMARIES
 

The Strategy of Islamic Conquest, Then and Now

Mordechai Nisan

The flow of Islamic domination over non-Muslim countries evolved, not only from military conquest, but from social penetration of Middle Eastern lands and beyond. Muslim settlement, Arabic linguistic colonization and Islamization of native populations launched a thorough transformation of society, as history records in Syria and Persia, Anatolia and Bulgaria, and elsewhere. Old established communities were overwhelmed and their cultural identities eradicated.

In Israel, the Arabs/Muslims are dedicated to transform the country into a Muslim-dominated and governed state. The Arab population within the Green Line, increasing demographically while adopting an extremist Palestinian/Muslim ethos, disdains Israel’s Jewish character. The ineluctable goal is to cause the diminution of the Jewish population, by instilling fear leading to flight among Jews, just as Muslim peoples caused the diminution of Christian and Jewish communities in the region throughout history. Palestinian demands from Israel for national rights and democratic freedoms are parallel non-violent methods of Muslim conquest.

Israel must cultivate conviction in its national right to the Land of Israel, freeze the “policy of peace” which is a prescription for territorial withdrawal, invalidate the Oslo Process, and engage in a dynamic settlement enterprise throughout the country.

Jerusalem is a microcosm of the Arab threat to Israel, and if Israel were to concede sovereignty to the Palestinians in the eastern part of the city, that would lead to unraveling the cohesiveness and safety of Jewish neighborhoods in the western part of Jerusalem as well.

The sinister and persistent strategy of Islamic conquest must be understood in order for Israel to survive this grave internal threat. The true theatre of confrontation is not at negotiation sessions in Washington or Sharm e-Sheikh, but in the mountains of the Galilee, the Negev desert, and the hills of Judea and Samaria. Whoever controls the public space and geographic terrain will win the war over the Land of Israel.

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The Assassins:
The First Islamic Suicide Bombers and
Their Effect on the Modern Islamic Terror Organizations

Ronen Yitzchak

“Assassins” was the name for the members of a secret order of the Isma`ili sect of Islam; which were known as Nizaris. This name was given to them based on the belief that they used drugs (Hashish) before they killed their enemies. The murders were by dagger, but Assassins wanted to commit suicide after the act because they believed that after the murders, each assassin would be a “Shahid” (Martyr) and would go directly to Paradise. Therefore, they were the first suicide organization in the Islamic world.

The order was founded by Hasan al-Sabbah when he gained control of the mountain fortress of Alamut in 1090. The order spread over Persia and Syria, gaining control of many strongholds, and wielded great political power by terror until the coming of the Mongols who destroyed their fortresses in 1258. The Assassins in Syria were killed by Baybars, the Mamluk sultan of Egypt.

The modern Islamic terror organizations and Islamic suicide bombers drew great inspiration from the Assassins' activities. They used the same methods that Assassins used in medieval times. Mobilization of new believers was accomplished by preaching and convincing these believers to perform acts of terror because it is God's will and through His promises, these murderers would go to Paradise.

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Terrorism at Sea –
A New Threat to International Security

Krzysztof Kubiak

Despite the relatively high number of criminal acts, which took place at sea after World War II, violence in that realm is marginal and can be paralleled to piracy. Conventional wisdom has it that this phenomenon is tied to impoverished countries, torn by internal conflict, backward and incapable of effectively controlling their coastal areas. Illegal activities at sea have had very little effect on international security, on world naval commerce and on the economic status of the world’s leading nations. Even the recurrent information regarding the acquisition of advanced technical capabilities by organizations tied to this illegal activity has done nothing to affect that conventional wisdom. Only the suicide bombing against the American naval destroyer Cole, while refueling at the port of Aden and the events of September 11, 2001 were able to bring about a reassessment of the complacent evaluations mentioned above, which are out of touch with reality.

In the wake of the terrorist offensive against the United States, research centers began putting together the pieces of the international “naval puzzle” that had been scattered until now. The attack on the naval destroyer Cole was tied to the maritime terrorism of the Tamil separatists and to attacks perpetrated by various Palestinian groups. Attention was also directed towards South American drug cartels, which employ remote control speedboats steered by means of cables. The analysis focused on reports of attempts by extremist groups and crime organizations to build miniature submarines. These efforts led to new and frightening assessments and predictions regarding security at sea throughout the world. Especially, the realization has dawned that despite the increasing efforts to improve security of key facilities, land structures and civilian air travel, the terrorists are liable to focus on attacking the “soft underbelly” of the world’s wealthiest countries, that is, naval trade and shipping.

The transformation which terrorism has undergone, from a means of exerting pressure and drawing attention, to an instrument of total destruction, is completely consistent with potential acts of maritime terrorism, whose perpetrators enjoy complete freedom in terms of place, time and method of carrying out the mission. Their only limitations are organizational ability, availability of personnel and funding. Therefore, it is impossible to make predictions regarding areas of severe danger of naval terrorism. That type of activity was and will continue to be worldwide and will harm both ships and shipping infrastructure (lanes, loading docks, etc.).

An analysis of terrorist actions directed against shipping over the last fifty years enables one to envisage the possible modus operandi which will be adopted by the perpetrators of similar acts in the future, i.e.: Attacks on ports or at sea, hijacking merchant ships, shooting at merchant ships sailing in coastal areas or in domestic arteries, attacks using boats loaded with explosives steered by remote control or by suicide bombers, attacks by means of underwater commandos, attacks using mines.

The fact that a significant portion of the equipment required in order to perpetrate terrorist acts can be purchased through regular business channels, with no restrictions, also works in favor of the perpetrators of naval terrorism. In developed countries, speedboats and motorboats, jet-skis, scuba equipment and the like are considered sporting goods and leisure activities. On the other hand, every speedboat and piece of scuba equipment is an article with dual uses, liable to serve terrorists planning attacks at sea without any need for extensive organization. The same is true regarding the training of navigators and divers.

An additional factor easing the perpetration of marine terrorism is the relative ease in which one can purchase a large ship (with the objective of using it as a base ship for maritime sabotage: as a platform for weapons in order to stage a short attack against choice objectives or to plant mines) due to the liberal laws in effect in the shipping market (especially regarding the matter of “flag as you like it” or countries which sell their flag cheap) and the secondhand ship business. The upshot is that legally purchasing and registering a ship is merely a matter of money.

The threat against maritime security takes on a new dimension in light of the opportunity to purchase naval mines through regular commercial channels outside the control of the country’s security services.

International laws and charters preserve the traditional principles of the countries’ sovereignty over their “territorial waters” as well as “open seas and free sailing”. They thereby place obstacles in the way of achieving success in the battle against maritime terrorism. Despite this, one cannot assume that they will be amended in the foreseeable future. Thus, those conducting counterterrorist operations will be forced to come to terms with the fact that the effectiveness of those operations will be undermined. This situation functions in favor of those perpetrating the terrorist attacks and is liable to deleteriously influence the manner in which naval counterterrorism activities are perceived by the public around the world.

The article points to the possibilities of carrying out vigorous terrorist attacks on a large scale, both in areas within the jurisdiction of the countries and out at sea. The international community is not yet prepared to confront this threat. We must not wait until the next politically motivated, flamboyant terrorist activity. Effective countermeasures and preventive measures must be undertaken against the threat already facing us today.

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The Noam Chomsky File:
Portrait of a Jewish Anti-Semite

Rachel Neuwirth

Noam Chomsky is among the leading lights of the political far left in America, having written extensively and lectured widely, especially on college campuses. He is a Professor of Linguistics at MIT and has been introduced as “arguably one of America’s greatest intellectuals”.

He is held in high esteem by his many followers who enthusiastically, if uncritically, accept his views on global politics. This gives weight to what he propounds thereby making him a factor on the political scene. Among his primary targets are the leadership and policies of both America and Israel. His influence is strongest on campus where tomorrow’s leaders and thinkers are being educated.

Many people feel uncomfortable at what Chomsky is saying, feeling deep down that he is neither objective nor constructive. But Chomsky has developed a powerful political technique by cleverly combining selective truths and half-truths that many people find difficult to refute. This article examines the man and his record and exposes the unsavory substance behind his public image. The thinking public should be armed with this background to avoid being misled by this master propagandist.

Chomsky spreads his extremist views by calculated indirection while piously denying personal anti-Semitism. He thus endorses the views of others who preach anti-Semitism or he claims to only be defending their “freedom of speech”. Also captured are Chomsky’s own words, uttered in an unguarded moment, that reveal his deep hatred towards everything Jewish. Chomsky also plays the game of “blame the victim” whereby he condemns efforts at combating anti-Semitism as a sinister right-wing Jewish conspiracy designed to undermine the “progressive” agenda of the political left.

The public should be alert to the actions of this radical professor and to the danger he represents.

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On The New York Times and Jews in Danger

Yonatan Silverman

“On The New York Times and Jews in Danger” addresses the relationship of one of the world’s most important daily newspapers to three issues of existential interest to the Jewish people in the 20th century. The first and most important issue is the Shoah. During the Second World War, The New York Times published reports about the Nazi annihilation of European Jewry, but buried these reports in the paper’s back pages, and almost never reported explicitly that the victims of Nazi atrocities were Jewish. The figure ultimately responsible for the glaring neglect in The New York Times’ reporting on the Shoah was the paper’s Jewish publisher, Arthur Sulzberger. On account of his adherence to Reform Jewish ideas, Sulzberger was philosophically opposed to showing favoritism to Jews as a unique people. He believed that Judaism was just a religion and nothing more. Although many years later the newspaper published an unusual apology for its failure to report adequately on the Shoah, it is a whitewash.

An example from the 1990s illustrating that The New York Times is not favorably disposed towards Jews is the paper’s reporting on the Crown Heights riots. In contradiction to the facts, the paper falsely reported that the Jewish community in Crown Heights and the Afro-American community there were rioting against each other, when in fact, it was the Afro-American community that was rioting against the Jews. The false reporting had consequences in terms of the delayed and insufficient police reaction, and the riots ultimately caused the murder of Talmudic scholar, Yankel Rosenbaum.

The third issue the article addresses is the persistent negative editorial bias of The New York Times with regard to the State of Israel.

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Assimilation, Normalcy and Jewish Self-Hatred

Shlomo Sharan

Assimilation of Jews into the Gentile environment is often accompanied by a sense that the Jews are abnormal. In its more advanced form, assimilation entails both cultural and national dimensions, the sense of the Jews being deviant, and a rejection of Jewish historical heritage or of Israel as a nation. This latter phenomenon is called self-hatred or Jewish anti-Semitism. Jewish self-hatred, while not a new phenomenon, has moved from being a peripheral to being a central manifestation in Jewish life today, along with the advance of assimilation.

Jewish “olim” do not simply discard their cultural background when they come to Israel, so that the problems of assimilation, a sense of Jewish abnormality and even self-hatred, are found in Israel society as in Jewish societies elsewhere. Emigration from Israel is one example of the inroads of assimilation in Israel, in addition to the absence of Jewish consciousness among many Jews in Israel, native-born and others. Jews as individuals are as normal as members of other groups, but the Jewish group thus far does not assimilate completely into Gentile societies and retains its distinctiveness in varying degrees, which can be construed as not being normal. Israel as a nation has also manifested many signs of not being a normal nation by reaching agreements with the PLO, a terrorist organization, when these agreements contradict the basic rule of nations to protect the safety and integrity of their populations, and to secure their historical survival. Jewish self-hatred has challenged the legitimacy of Israel as a nation, asserting that Israel should cease to exist as a Jewish political entity. Israel’s survival depends upon the success of its struggle against many external threats as well as against the internal struggle with self-hating Jews.

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Jews Against Israel

Manfred Gerstenfeld

Attacks on Israel by Israelis and Jews are frequently indistinguishable from those by Gentiles. Among the specific aspects in the anti-Israel writings of a number of Jews are the use of their family’s Holocaust experiences, their references to being Jewish, or their mentioning an association of some kind with Israel.

One can analyze texts for their classic and new anti-Semitic elements without knowing who their authors are. This method enables identification of Jewish and Israeli anti-Semites, some of which are extreme ones. Occasionally, even Jewish journals print essays of authors using anti-Semitic arguments. There have been many rewards with correspondingly limited penalties for some Jews who attack Israel.

Gentile assaults often use statements from Israeli or Diaspora Jewish defamers as a way of legitimizing their attacks on Israel or Jews. Furthermore, a small number of anti-Israel Jews enable the media to present a Jewish community divided on key Israeli policy. Anti-Semitic Jews have also become an important tool in the anti-Israeli campaigns of Western media.

Academic initiatives to discriminate against Israeli universities and scholars are an important aspect of the new anti-Semitism. Among the signatories and initiators of the various appeals shows Jews and Israelis played an important role.

The question of what drives Jewish and Israeli anti-Semites has only been partly answered. Probably a variety of motives play a role in Jewish self-hate. The phenomenon, known as the Stockholm Syndrome, is however, not specifically Jewish or Israeli.

There remains a substantial gap between the importance of the problem and the attention given to it in the Jewish world. A more profound analysis is required to assess the political, cultural, psychological, and social aspects of the phenomenon.

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Notes on the Foreign Service of Israel

Moshe Yegar

In recent months, there has been much public discussion in the Israeli media and in some academic institutions, on its Foreign Office: its function (or malfunction) and its role in the shaping of Israel’s national policy in general and its foreign policy in particular.

M. Yegar, a veteran of 40 years in Israel’s diplomatic service, addresses these issues in his above-mentioned study.

It starts with a brief historical background describing the development of the diplomatic profession and the qualities that were traditionally considered desirable for a diplomat. A discussion of the changes brought upon the diplomatic practice since World War II by the development of modern technologies follows. The role of diplomats in all countries has undergone a most drastic change. Diplomats today deal with a variety of issues that were not dealt with by former generations. Most important – conducting negotiations, which was the major occupation of diplomats in the past, is done today, directly and mostly, by heads of states, prime ministers and foreign ministers (“Summit Diplomacy”), and not by ambassadors, as was done previously.

The development of Israel’s diplomatic service is described and analyzed in this theoretical background.

Subsequent chapters deal with the specific issues and problems of Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Israel’s diplomatic service: its achievements and faults; its stand in the eyes of public opinion; its relationship (and difficulties) with the Prime Minister’s Office and with the Ministry of Defense; deterioration in its own practices caused by some inept ministers and directors-general in the area of nominations and appointments and other spheres of activity; the serious problem of leakages; the perennial unsolved issue of Hasbara; the relationship with Jewish communities; the particular way of life that is a part of the diplomatic practice; and some other problems typical of Israel’s foreign service. The author makes recommendations for improvements and reforms needed in the diplomatic service in order to bring it to the level needed by a small and besieged country like Israel, which needs effective diplomats and a good foreign office more than many other countries.

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