Egypt's Mubarak: What's standing in the way of an Israeli-Palestinian peace

Ha'Aretz reports:

Mubarak expressed great concern over the increasing strength of Hamas. He said Egypt is making great efforts to end the Hamas government and support PA chairman Mahmoud Abbas and Fatah.

"With Hamas no way," he reportedly said.

Mubarak painted a dark picture of the situation with Hamas and said there was no chance for peace with the organization. "Hamas will never sign a peace agreement with Israel if it stays in power," the Egyptian president said.

(complete article)

When the Palestinians elected Hamas to run their government they elected an admitted terrorist organization-- who's purpose is the destruction of Israel, and who's policy includes the use of violence to achieve its political ends. No matter what concessions Israel may make, there can be no peace as long as this terror organization is in power.

(For more about Hamas, see ConceptWizard's excellent online slideshow: Hamas: Meet the New Neighbor.)

On the front lines against global jihad - women of the IDF

Israel is a tiny country, about the size of New Jersey. Because they are surrounded by hostile neighbours who wish to annihilate them, they find themselves on the front lines in the fight against global jihad.

As such, they must devote extraordinary time and energy towards merely surviving. This include the necessity of drafting women to serve as soldiers in their army (the Israel Defense Forces, or "IDF" ).














Israel is such a mall country that no place is far from the borders of unfriendly neighbours. Most people are not aware of just how tiny this country is. To get an idea of Israel's small size, here are two maps comparing its size with two neighbouring countries:



































Click the picture for more Israel size comparison maps. (If you're wondering how all this came to be, here is a really excellent online slideshow that explains it: History in a Nutshell).


















Video (above)- collection of photos of Israel's female soldiers.
(Hattip: Vital Perspective )


















Probably the best collections of still photos of these amazing women are on Israel Military Net and Rachel Papo: Serial No. 3817131.

(There is also another excellent Youtube video of women in the Israel Defense Forces here).

Video: Ayaan Hirsi Ali & Bill Maher - Panel Discussion of Islam

Is Islam a religion of peace? A panel discussion (shown in this Youtube video) has some people who know a lot about Islam (and several people who don't!) all expressing their opinions: Steven Weber, Bill Maher, Ayaan Hirsi Ali, and Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA). They discuss terror, religion, and freedom. Hirsi Ali outshines them all-- her presentation is quite knowledgeable, clear and to the point.

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Watching the video, I was very impressed with Ayaan Hirsi Ali. She really has an in depth understanding of Islam, having been raised as a Muslim.

In contrast, it amazing how some of the others on the panel really don't know much about the subject and are obviously merely repeating politically correct cliches they've heard. (Actually, I think a lot of people in the media don't really know a lot about Islam, so they repeat politically correct things, and try to sound like they know what they're talking about).

Here are some brief excerpts from this article about Ayaan Hirsi Ali:

Born in Somalia, her family lived in Saudi Arabia, Ethiopia and Kenya. As a young Muslim girl, she was forced to undergo the cruel practice of female genital mutilation (AKA "FGM", or "female circumcision").

Later, following Saddam's invasion of the fundamentalist Islamic Republic of Iran, she sympathised with Iran and the Islamist Muslim Brotherhood, and also wore a hijab. She supported the fatwa against British writer Salman Rushdie following the publication of his controversial novel The Satanic Verses.

She moved to the Netherlands in 1992, where she worked as an interpreter and translator for Somali women in asylum centers and hostels for battered women. She saw firsthand the way certain practices she thought she had left behind in Africa continued in the West, as well as the workings of the Dutch immigration system, and became severely critical of the way it handled asylum seekers.

Inspired by The Atheist Manifesto she renounced Islam and became an atheist writing a book called De Zoontjesfabriek (The Son Factory) that criticized Islamic culture, which is a dangerous thing to do. Not surprisingly, after its publication she received death threats for the first time. (cont'd)