Levitt Letter Extra News

By Rosslyn Smith, www.AmericanThinker.com

 Are the Ayatollahs learning that hell hath no fury like 34 million women scorned, forced out of the workplace, harassed, and humiliated by religious police for three decades? I have noticed some of the bravest protesters in Iran have been women, including a few who have been without headscarves and showing a great deal more of their figures than the regime would approve. Roger Cohen of the NY Times has noticed this, too.

 …. Iran’s women stand in the vanguard. For days now, I’ve seen them urging less courageous men on. I’ve seen them get beaten and return to the fray. “Why are you sitting there?” one shouted at a couple of men perched on the sidewalk on Saturday. “Get up! Get up!”

CNN has noted that for at least some of these women it is about far more than a stolen election.

Like thousands of other Iranian women, Parisa took to Tehran’s streets this week, her heart brimming with hope. “Change,” said the placards around her.

 The young Iranian woman eyed the crowd and pondered the possibility that the rest of her life might be different from her mother’s. She could see glimmers of a future free from discrimination—and all the symbols of it, including the head-covering the government requires her to wear every day.

 Earlier stories about the Iran election noted that Mir-Hossein Mousavi’s wife, Zahra Rahnavard, is a formidable political force in her own right, having been the first woman chancellor of an Iranian university since the Revolution. That she may have lost that position in a purge of reformists after Ahmadinejad was elected President in 2005 helps explain some of the enmity between the candidates. Unusual for Iran, Rahnavard’s actively campaigned for her husband, particularly among university students and women. On the campaign trail she noticeably flouted violations of the dress codes that tightened up after Ahmadinejad’s 2006 election. Her head covering was a brightly colored scarf, her use of makeup was noticeable, and her chador was worn so you could glimpse the outfit underneath.

The flouting of the moral police was probably political theater. A more substantive reason that Rahnavard’s active campaign presence excited women is this dismal fact about how the kleptocracy of misogynist ayatollahs has thwarted human expectations: More than 60 percent of Iran’s university students are women, but women make up only perhaps 15 percent of the workforce. One sector often favored by college educated American women, that of civil service, has been increasing hard for women to access under Ahmadinejad.

Women left alone with children after the death or desertion of a husband are particularly hard hit in a culture that openly discriminates in employment. So are those in abusive relationships with fathers or husbands. One of Iran’s dirty little secrets is how many women are forced into prostitution. News stories from 2002 reported as many as 300,000 women were engaged in prostitution in greater Tehran. In an area with a population then estimated at 12 million that is close to 5% of the total female population. 

The religious fig leaf for the business of selling sexual favors is a practice allowed in Shiite branch of Islam know as sigheh, or a marriage contracted for a fixed period of time. Supposedly the woman contracted in such a marriage is not to enter into a new contract until one menstrual cycle has passed. This was obviously not the case because the reason prostitution came to official attention in 2002 was that two women engaging in the trade infected over 1,100 men with the HIV virus.

I am not a bit surprised that women are among the leaders of this revolt. Several years ago I read Azar Nafisi’s memoir of life in Iran during and after the 1979 revolution, Reading Lolita in Tehran. Educated in the West where she was active on the political left, Dr, Nafisi returned to Iran in 1979 to teach English language literature. Some of the best passages in the book relate to her fight not to have to wear the head covering and shapeless cloak increasingly being mandated by Iran’s new rulers. Those forcing her to become a walking mummy included Marxists who went along with the Islamic fundamentalists on the issue before they, too, were squeezed out of the power structure. The Marxists argued that staying with Western-style dress was a symbol of solidarity with colonial oppressors! When Nafisi lost the fight on the chador, she vowed to teach her own children, sons and daughters alike, about the injustice of such restrictions on women.

Dr. Nafisi knew that her favorite students mostly agreed with her on such issues, but she later learned she had also had a great influence on some others who had gone with the flow in 1979. Near the end of the her book, when she is preparing to emigrate to America, Dr. Nafisi runs into one of her students. This young woman had belonged to the Muslim Students’ Association. She had vocally objected with fellow MSA members on being made to read about “immoral” characters like Heathcliff and the foolish, unreasonable, stubborn, and equally immoral Daisy Miller. It seems the student had been far more engaged in the material than her classroom protests would have indicated. She told Nafisi she had continued to read literature “for her own heart” after leaving school. She was married now, with a newborn daughter she named after the professor! Not the name on the birth certificate. That was the name of a favorite aunt, now deceased.

…but I have a secret name for her. I call her Daisy. She said she had hesitated between Daisy and Lizzy. She had finally settled on Daisy. Lizzy was the one she had dreamed of, but marrying Mr. Darcy was too much wishful thinking. Why Daisy? Don’t you remember, Daisy Miller? Haven’t you heard that if you give your child a name with meaning she will become like her namesake? I want my daughter to be what I never was — like Daisy. You know, courageous.

When I read Nafisi’s words, I thought of how one of the events that helped the women’s movement initially resonate in America was the manner in which some women who had taken jobs outside the home during the labor shortages of WW II were summarily fired in peacetime. A good friend’s mother who taught at a noted left-wing university during and immediately after the war never let her son forget that she had lost her job just as soon as a male with a newly minted degree under the GI bill had became available. The injustice done American women pales besides that inflicted on the women of Iran. But in both situations the women made sure their sons, daughters, nieces, and nephews all knew that such discrimination was wrong. And like the student who wished she had spoken for herself instead of allowing the MSA to speak for her, many American women of the post-war era urged their own daughters to do what they had not dared to do.

When I watched the brave and often incredibly beautiful young Iranian women take to the streets the last few days, I also thought back to how Dr. Nafisi’s favorite students mocked a culture that allowed them a university education while attempting to confine them to gender roles more appropriate to 7^th-century warring Arab nomads. One favorite way to do so was to parody the opening sentence of their favorite novel from Dr. Nafisi’s syllabus:

It is a truth universally acknowledged that a Muslim man, regardless of his fortune, must be in want of a nine-year-old virgin wife.

I could see them marching through Iran’s cities, casting a wary eye at onlooking security forces even as they poked fun at then. They talk about how the Islamic Revolution was for men who couldn’t find a wife another way, and how Elizabeth Bennett wouldn’t go near a man who wanted a child bride — or multiple wives.

Iranian-American journalist Roya Hakakian, who left Iran in 1984 at the age of 18, echoed the sentiments of Nafisi and her students in a recent interview in which she noted that in the last ten years a new generation of women has organized in ways not seen since 1979. She notes the women of this generation learned an important lesson from their predecessors. (http://www.forbes.com/2009/06/17/political-climate-elections-iran-forbes-woman-power-feminism.html)

The feminist movement, which has been ongoing in Iran, has now joined the broader public movement against the regime. This happened in Iran in the late 1970s too, but it actually had a terrible effect on the women’s movement in Iran. Women were somehow “hoodwinked” to think that the veil wasn’t such an important issue, that it was more important to sacrifice for the greater good. So the Shah went and the veil stayed.

This generation is a lot smarter. The broader social movement is far more sympathetic to the cause of women than in the late 1970s. Thirty years later, Iranian men now realize that their fate is entwined with that of their female counterparts: If women are doing better, then men will do better too.

Azadeh Moaveni, born in Palo Alto of Iranian parents in 1976 and co author of Iran Awakening with Iranian Nobel Peace Prize winner Shirin Ebadi, had this to say about the extent of the repression:

The weight of discrimination against women is felt most profoundly through Iran’s legal system, but Moaveni said Ahmadinejad added to the hardship by clamping down on women’s lifestyles. He mandated the way women dress and even censored websites that dealt with women’s health, Moaveni said. A woman would be hard-pressed to conduct a Google search for something as simple as breast cancer.

Azar Nafisi, now a professor at Johns Hopkins, told CNN she has been watching the footage from Iran with “inordinate pride.”

After Saturday, Dr. Nafisi probably wants to add “and great sorrow” to her statement.

Another Iranian woman not allowed to use her education, who has taken to the streets:

Artemis, a 41-year-old Tehran woman, is the proud holder of a law degree, but has never been allowed to work. She was clear about why she joined the million-plus men, women, and children who took to the streets of Tehran last Monday.

“People want freedom and justice,” she said. “They stole the vote. No one in his right mind believes this result.”

She said she had been afraid to voice criticism before. “The neighbors listen to you, and people go to prison just for what they say, or what they write. But this is contagious. What you are seeing, all these people, this comes from 30 years of oppression and now we have had enough.”

Perhaps the most poignant words about what is happening comes from an Iranian woman sending messages to Nico Pitney at the Huffington Post who has been living blogging events for a week now (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/06/13/iran-demonstrations-viole_n_215189.html). She wrote that she would be in Saturday’s demonstrations where she may be killed. Saturday evening she got out a message that she was okay, but that her ”sister” had died.

Here is the translation of part of her message.

I’m here to tell you, my sister who died was a decent person… and like me, yearned for a day when her hair would be swept by the wind… and like me, read “Forough” [Forough Farrokhzad]… and longed to live free and equal… and she longed to hold her head up and announce, “I’m Iranian”… and she longed to one day fall in love to a man with a shaggy hair… and she longed for a daughter to braid her hair and sing lullaby by her crib…

my sister died from not having life… my sister died as injustice has no end… my sister died since she loved life too much… and my sister died since she lovingly cared for people…

Much of the world has seen the video of this beautiful young woman, sister to us all, taking her last breath before our eyes. It is being reported that her name was Neda, which is said to be Farsi for voice or call. Her actions give voice to the oppressed women of Iran, and call out to all of us to stand with them against oppression.

http://daniel-venezuela.blogspot.com

The Chavista (follower of Venezuela’s President Hugo Chavez) red shirt onslaught seems to be sharpening its pitch. After all, weeks and weeks of attacks, fanned by “Globovision (a 24-hour television news network in Venezuela) as the source of all evil,” have a way to self-generate excessive stimulation in those quarters.

Yesterday (Wednesday, June 17), we saw many concerted attacks of the sort, worthy of any self-respecting totalitarian regime. I chose to show only one, the attack on Miranda State’s Governor Radonski ’s office by the mayor of Los Teques, Alirio Mendoza. The pictures say it all. My only question is how come nothing will happen to this mayor promoting violence and using public employees for that purpose DURING working hours, while Globovision will be closed any time soon just because Rafael Poleo did not control his big mouth for a few seconds? Does chavismo ignore that these things do go around the world? The shirts might be red, but this is Fascism and the language is clear: those who wear the swastika in their heart are those covering the walls with it.

By the way, just for the record, the grandparents of governor Capriles Radonski died in the Holocaust. So we can mark that down as yet more chavista anti-Semitism.

Chavismo will not stop at anything to weaken those opposition officials elected last November. Rosales, Maracaibo mayor is in exile; Ledezma, Caracas mayor, has been stripped of any function; Governors Perez of Zulia, Navarro of Nueva Esparta, and Salas Feo of Carabobo have lost control of ports, airports, and highways; and now it is the turn of the two last-remaining governors with still some authority. The attack on Capriles Radonski in Miranda has restarted and in the most ignominious way one can think of.

As protestors fight with the police in the streets of Iran, the opposition leader, Mir Hossein Mousavi, asks Iran's Supreme Court leader to declare the election invalid.

Supporters of opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi marched in the streets of Tehran Monday.

Iranian presidential candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi, with his wife Zahra Rahnavard, addressed supporters in Tehran.

online.wsj.com

Gunfire from a compound used by pro-government militia was believed to have killed at least one demonstrator Monday after hundreds of thousands of opponents of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad massed in central Tehran to cheer their pro-reform leader in his first public appearance since elections that he alleges were marred by fraud.

A group of demonstrators with fuel canisters attempted to set fire to the compound of a volunteer militia linked to Iran’s powerful Revolutionary Guard as the crowd dispersed from Azadi Square after dark. As some attempted to storm the building, people inside could be seen firing directly at the demonstrators at the northern edge of the square, away from the heart of the demonstration.

An Associated Press photographer saw one person who appeared to have been fatally shot and several others who appeared to be seriously wounded.

The chanting demonstrators had defied an Interior Ministry ban and streamed into central Tehran — an outpouring for reformist leader Mir Hossein Mousavi that swelled as more poured from buildings and side streets.

The massive show of protest followed a decision by Iran’s most powerful figure for an investigation into the vote-rigging allegations.

The chanting crowd — many wearing the trademark green color of Mr. Mousavi’s campaign — was more than five miles long, and based on previous demonstrations in the square and surrounding streets, its size was estimated to be in the hundreds of thousands.

Security forces watched quietly, with shields and batons at their sides.

Mr. Mousavi, in a gray striped shirt and talking through a portable loudspeaker, had paused on the edge of the square — where Mr. Ahmadinejad made his first postelection speech — to address the throng. They roared back: “Long live Mousavi.”

“This is not election. This is selection,” read one English-language placard at the demonstration. Other marchers held signs proclaiming “We want our vote!” and raised their fingers in a V-for-victory salute.

“We want our president, not the one who was forced on us,” said 28-year-old Sara, who gave only her first name because she feared reprisal from authorities. The demonstration lasted several hours before the crowd began to disperse and violence erupted.

Hours earlier, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei directed one of Iran’s most influential bodies, the Guardian Council, to examine the claims.

The results of the elections touched off three days of clashes — the worst unrest in Tehran in a decade. Protesters set fires and battled riot police, including a clash overnight at Tehran University after about 3,000 students gathered to oppose the election results.

Security forces have struck back with targeted arrests of pro-reform activists and blocks on text messaging and pro-Mousavi websites used to rally his supporters.

One of Mr. Mousavi’s websites said a student protester was killed early Monday in clashes with plainclothes hard-liners in Shiraz, southern Iran. But there was no independent confirmation of the report. There also have been unconfirmed reports of unrest in other cities.

Most media are not allowed to travel beyond Tehran and thus cannot independently confirm protests in other cities.

The unrest also risked bringing splits among Iran’s clerical elite, including some influential Shiite scholars raising concern about possible election irregularities and at least one member of the ruling theocracy, former President Hashemi Rafsanjani, openly critical of Mr. Ahmadinejad in the campaign.

According to a pro-Mousavi website, he sent a letter to senior clerics in Qom, Iran’s main center of Islamic learning, to spell out his claims.

The accusations also have brought growing international concern. On Sunday, Vice President Joe Biden raised questions about whether the vote reflected the wishes of the Iranian people.

Britain and Germany joined the calls of alarm over the rising confrontations in Iran. In Paris, the Foreign Ministry summoned the Iranian ambassador to discuss the allegations of vote tampering and the violence.

Overnight, police and hard-line militia stormed the campus at the city’s biggest university, ransacking dormitories and arresting dozens of students angry over what they say was mass election fraud.

The overnight gathering at Tehran University started with students chanting “Death to the dictator.” But it quickly erupted into clashes as students threw rocks and Molotov cocktails at police, who fought back with tear gas and plastic bullets, a 25-year-old student who witnessed the fighting told the AP. He would only give one name, Akbar, out of fears for his safety.

The students set vehicles on fire and hurled stones and bricks at the police, he said. Hard-line militia volunteers loyal to the Revolutionary Guard stormed the dormitories, ransacking student rooms and smashing computers and furniture with axes and wooden sticks, Akbar said.

Before leaving around 4 a.m., the police took away memory cards and computer software material, Akbar said, adding that dozens of students were arrested.

He said many students suffered bruises, cuts, and broken bones in the scuffling and that there was still smoldering garbage on the campus by midmorning but that the situation had calmed down.

“Many students are now leaving to go home to their families, they are scared,” he said. “But others are staying. The police and militia say they will be back and arrest any students they see.”

“I want to stay because they beat us and we won’t retreat,” he added.

The university was the site of serious clashes against student-led protests in 1999 and is one of the nerve centers of the pro-reform movement.

After dark Sunday, Ahmadinejad opponents shouted “Death to the dictator!” and “Allahu akbar!” — “God is great!” — from Tehran’s rooftops. The protest bore deep historic resonance — it was how the leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini asked Iran to unite against the Western-backed shah 30 years earlier.

In Moscow, the Iranian Embassy said Mr. Ahmadinejad has put off a visit to Russia, and it is unclear whether he will come at all. Mr. Ahmadinejad had been expected to travel to the Russian city of Yekaterinburg and meet on Monday with President Dmitry Medvedev on the sidelines of a regional summit.

By Thomas Erdbrink, www.WashingtonPost.com

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad declared a “new beginning” for Iran late Saturday after he was declared victor in the presidential election, but as he spoke on national television violent demonstrations rolled through several areas of Tehran. Supporters of defeated candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi burned dumpsters, threw stones and clashed with police in the worst rioting in Tehran in many years.

The Interior Ministry, controlled by Ahmadinejad, announced that he had been elected in the first round with 62.6 percent of the vote, compared with less than 34 percent for Mousavi, who was the leading challenger. Turnout was a record 86 percent of the 46.2 million eligible voters.

Announcement of the results triggered protests throughout the day. Families lined the streets in the middle-class neighborhood of Saadat Abad, cheering on the demonstration and shouting, “Death to the dictator!”

Ahmadinejad’s reelection will pose fresh challenges to the United States. It has pressed Iran to halt a nuclear program that critics say could be used for weapons, but Iran says it is for civilian purposes. Ahmadinejad has also taken a sharply confrontational approach in foreign affairs.

Talks between Iran and the United States are still a possibility with Ahmadinejad at the helm. On several occasions, he has said he wants such talks. His oft-repeated verbal attacks on Israel are not expected to change.

After the results were announced, the Obama administration said it was examining the charges of election fraud. “We are monitoring the situation as it unfolds in Iran, but we, like the rest of the world, are waiting and watching to see what the Iranian people decide,” Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said.

The White House released a two-sentence statement praising “the vigorous debate and enthusiasm that this election generated, particularly among young Iranians,” but it expressed concern about “reports of irregularities,” the Associated Press reported.

In Tehran, Mousavi’s whereabouts were unknown. Reporters on their way to a news conference by the former candidate were stopped by security personnel, who said the meeting had been canceled. Several journalists were beaten.

In his speech from the garden of the presidential palace, Ahmadinejad, who campaigned as a champion of the working class, lauded the high turnout in the voting, which he described as free and fair.

“There were two options,” he said. “Either to return to the old days or continue our leap forward towards high peaks . . . and progress. Fortunately, the people voted for that last option.” He said the Iranian people had chosen a program over a personality, and he promised to continue his policies “only with more energy.” He also attacked foreign media coverage of the campaign, saying “they have launched the heaviest propaganda and psychological war against the Iranian nation.”

Mousavi, who had said on Friday that he won, posted a statement on his website rejecting the vote tally as rigged.

“I’m warning that I won’t surrender to this manipulation,” he said. “The outcome of what we’ve seen from the performance of officials . . . is nothing but shaking the pillars of the Islamic Republic of Iran’s sacred system and governance of lies and dictatorship.”

He warned that “people won’t respect those who take power through fraud.” The headline on the website declared, “I won’t give in to this dangerous manipulation,” the AP reported.

Mousavi appealed to Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, to intervene. But Khamenei had already issued a televised statement that declared Ahmadinejad the victor, and he appealed to Iranians and the defeated candidates to support the president. Khamenei’s statement made it unlikely the election results will be overturned.

In his address, Ahmadinejad criticized his opponents, particularly the influential clerics and former officials behind Mousavi who have ties to the 1979 Islamic revolution. He said it did not matter what they had done at the time of the revolution. “It matters what they do now,” he insisted, suggesting that his opponents were not working for the people.

Tensions enveloped Tehran early Saturday after Ahmadinejad had been declared the victor. Youths, families, and young women in traditional black chadors gathered around the heavily fortified Interior Ministry, where the votes had been counted.

Fights erupted in several locations across Tehran soon after Khamenei’s televised statement.

On Mottahari Street, protesters set three buses on fire. Riot police appeared in full protective clothing and helmets, wielding batons as they raced through the streets in two-man teams on red motorcycles. Others stood in lines between three burned city buses.

Hundreds of protesters rained stones at the police. Thick black smoke filled the air. Loud thuds could be heard in the distance.

“We want freedom!” protesters shouted. Many covered their faces with green cloth, the color of their candidate, Mousavi. About a dozen ran after someone they thought was an undercover policeman. Dressed in a checkered shirt, wearing a backpack, he had stood between the mostly younger protesters, trying to film them.

“You are without honor!” two girls covered in traditional chadors shouted at police.

Traffic sign poles that had been ripped from the ground lined the streets. “Fight them!” one man shouted. “Death to the dictatorship!” others yelled at they ran toward the riot police.

In other locations, demonstrators threw policemen to the ground, who were then beaten and kicked by bystanders. “They have insulted us with this result,” said Mehrdad, a student who refused to give his family name. “We want Mousavi,” the men around him said.

“Commando troops are beating the people. I even saw they beat an old lady,” said Morteza Alviri, a former major from Tehran, now a campaign official for Mehdi Karroubi, a former candidate. He was trapped in his car by the protests and spoke by phone. “They were beating her to a pulp,” he shouted.

The demonstrations continued into Saturday night, with riot police receiving support from Iran’s voluntary paramilitary force, the baseej.

Ahmad Zeidabadi, a political dissident, was arrested Saturday evening, his wife, Mandieh Mohammadi, confirmed. There were reports that 11 other prominent opponents were also arrested. Mobile telephones services were cut and social network sites Facebook and Twitter were filtered. Internet connections as a whole were down part of Saturday. Iranian media remained silent on the riots. State television showed voters saying it was time to move forward and accept the result.

Mousavi was not seen Saturday. In the afternoon, Ali Reza Adeli, a senior official in Mousavi’s campaign, denied reports that his candidate was under house arrest. Zahra Rahnavard, Mousavi’s wife, told the BBC by phone that she and her husband will continue to fight to achieve the “rights of Iranian voters.”

Ahmadinejad announced a “victory party” on Sunday at a central square that Mousavi supporters used in recent weeks to stage their election rallies.

“We are hopeful,” the president said during his speech. “Now it’s time to move on and continue to build our great Iran.”

www.haaretz.com

Honored guests, citizens of Israel,

Peace was always the desire of our people. Our prophets had a vision of peace; we greet each other with peace; our prayers end with the word peace. This evening we are in the center named for two leaders who were groundbreakers for peace —Menachem Begin and Anwar Sadat — and we share their vision.

Two and a half months ago, I was sworn in at the Knesset as the prime minister of Israel. I promised that I would establish a unity government, and did so. I believed, and still believe, that we need unity now more than ever before.

We are currently facing three tremendous challenges: The Iranian threat, the financial crisis, and the promotion of peace.

The Iranian threat still is before us in full force, as it became quite clear yesterday [when Iran held presidential elections]. The greatest danger to Israel, to the Middle East, and to all of humanity, is the encounter between extremist Islam and nuclear weapons. I discussed this with President Obama on my visit to Washington, and will be discussing it next week on my visit with European leaders. I have been working tirelessly for many years to form an international front against Iran arming itself with nuclear armaments.

With the world financial crisis, we acted immediately to bring about stability to the Israeli economy. We passed a two-year budget in the government and will pass it through the Knesset very soon.

The second challenge, rather, the third so very important challenge facing us today is promoting peace. I discussed this also with President Obama. I strongly support the idea of regional peace that he is advancing. I share the President of the U.S.A.’s desire to bring about a new era of reconciliation in our region.

I discussed this in my meetings with President Mubarak in Egypt and with King Abdullah in Jordan to obtain the assistance of these leaders in the effort to expand the circle of peace in our region.

I appeal tonight to the leaders of the Arab countries and say: Let us meet. Let us talk about peace. Let us make peace. I am willing to meet at any time, at any place, in Damascus, in Riyadh, in Beirut, and in Jerusalem as well. (Applause)

I call upon the leaders of the Arab countries to join together with the Palestinians and with us to promote economic peace. Economic peace is not a substitute for peace, but it is a very important component in achieving it. Together we can advance projects that can overcome the problems facing our region: for example, water desalinization. And we can utilize the advantages of our region, such as maximizing the use of solar energy, or utilizing its geographical advantages to lay pipelines—pipelines to Africa and Europe.

Together we can realize the initiatives that I see in the Persian Gulf, which amaze the entire world and also amaze me. I call upon the talented entrepreneurs of the Arab world to come and invest here, to assist the Palestinians and us, to give the economy a jump-start. Together we can develop industrial zones, we can create thousands of jobs and foster tourism that will draw millions—people who want to walk in the footsteps of history, in Nazareth and Bethlehem, in the heights of Jericho and on the walls of Jerusalem, on the shore of the Sea of Galilee, and at the baptismal site of the Jordan. There is a huge potential for the development of tourism potential here. If you only agree to work together.

I appeal to you, our Palestinian neighbors, and to the leadership of the Palestinian Authority. Let us begin peace negotiations immediately, without prior conditions. Israel is committed to international agreements and expects all sides to fulfill their obligations.

I say to the Palestinians: We want to live with you in peace, quiet, and good neighborly relations. We want our children and your children to ‘know war no more.’

We do not want parents and wives, sons and daughters, brothers and sisters to know the sorrow of bereavement. We want our children to dream of a better future for humankind. We want us and our neighbors to devote our efforts to ‘plowshares and pruning hooks’ and not to swords and spears. I know the terror of war; I participated in battles; I lost good friends who fell [in battle]; I lost a brother. I saw the pain of bereaved families from up close very many times. I do not want war. No one in Israel wants war. (Applause)

Let us join hands and work together in peace, together with our neighbors. There is no limit to the flourishing growth that we can achieve for both peoples — in the economy, in agriculture, in commerce, tourism, education — but, above all, in the ability to give our younger generation hope to live in a place that’s good to live in, a life of creative work, a peaceful life with much of interest, with opportunity and hope.

Friends, with the advantages of peace so clear, so obvious, we must ask ourselves, “Why is peace still so far from us, even though our hands are extended for peace? Why has the conflict going on for over 60 years?” To bring an end to it, there must be a sincere, genuine answer to the question: What is the root of the conflict? In his speech at the Zionist Congress in Basel, in speaking of his grand vision of a Jewish homeland for the Jewish People, Theodor Herzl, the visionary of the State of Israel, said: “This is so big, we must talk about it only in the simplest words possible.”

I now am asking that when we speak of the huge challenge of peace, we must use the simplest words possible, using person-to-person terms. Even with our eyes on the horizon, we must have our feet on the ground, firmly rooted in truth. The simple truth is that the root of the conflict has been—and remains—the refusal to recognize the right of the Jewish People to its own state in its historical homeland.

In 1947, when the United Nations proposed the Partition Plan for a Jewish state and an Arab state, the entire Arab world rejected the proposal, while the Jewish community accepted it with great rejoicing and dancing. The Arabs refused any Jewish state whatsoever, with any borders whatsoever.

Whoever thinks that the continued hostility to Israel is a result of our forces in Judea, Samaria, and Gaza is confusing cause and effect. The attacks on us began in the 1920s, became an overall attack in 1948 when the state was declared, continued in the 1950s with the fedayeen attacks, and reached their climax in 1967 on the eve of the Six-Day War, with the attempt to strangle Israel. All this happened nearly 50 years before a single Israeli soldier went into Judea and Samaria.

To our joy, Egypt and Jordan left this circle of hostility. They signed peace agreements with us, which ended their hostility to Israel. It brought about peace.

To our deep regret, this is not happening with the Palestinians. The closer we get to a peace agreement with them, the more they are distancing themselves from peace. They raise new demands. They are not showing us that they want to end the conflict.

A great many people are telling us that withdrawal is the key to peace with the Palestinians. But the fact is that all our withdrawals were met by huge waves of suicide bombers.

We tried withdrawal by agreement, withdrawal without an agreement; we tried partial withdrawal and full withdrawal. In 2000, and once again last year, the government of Israel, based on good will, tried a nearly complete withdrawal in exchange for the end of the conflict, and were twice refused.

We withdrew from the Gaza Strip to the last centimeter; we uprooted dozens of settlements and turned thousands of Israelis out of their homes. In exchange, what we received were missiles raining down on our cities, our towns, and our children. The argument that withdrawal would bring peace closer did not stand up to the test of reality.

With Hamas in the south and Hezbollah in the north, they keep on saying that they want to ‘liberate’ Ashkelon in the south and Haifa and Tiberias.

Even the moderates among the Palestinians are not ready to say the most simple of things: The State of Israel is the national homeland of the Jewish People and will remain so. (Applause)

Friends, in order to achieve peace, we need courage and integrity on the part of the leaders of both sides. I am speaking today with courage and honesty. We need courage and sincerity not only on the Israeli side; we need the Palestinian leadership to rise and say simply, “We have had enough of this conflict. We recognize the right of the Jewish People to a state of its own in this Land. We will live side by side in true peace.” I am looking forward to this moment.

We want them to say the simplest things to our people and to their people. This will then open the door to solving other problems, no matter how difficult. The fundamental condition for ending the conflict is the public, binding, and sincere Palestinian recognition of Israel as the national homeland of the Jewish People. (Applause)

For this to have practical meaning, we need a clear agreement to solve the Palestinian refugee problem outside of the borders of the State of Israel. For it is clear to all, that the demand to settle the Palestinian refugees inside of Israel contradicts the continued existence of the State of Israel as the state of the Jewish People. We must solve the problem of the Arab refugees. And I believe that it is possible to solve it because we have proven that we ourselves solved a similar problem: Tiny Israel took in the hundreds of thousands of Jewish refugees from Arab countries who were uprooted from their homes.

Therefore, justice and logic dictate that the problem of the Palestinian refugees must be solved outside the borders of the State of Israel. There is broad national agreement on this. (Applause)

I believe that with good will and international investment we can solve this humanitarian problem once and for all.

Friends, up to now, I have been talking about the need for the Palestinians to recognize our rights. Now I will talk about the need for us to recognize their rights.

The connection of the Jewish People to the Land has been in existence for more than 3,500 years. Judea and Samaria — the places where our forefathers Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob walked, our forefathers David, Solomon, Isaiah, and Jeremiah — this is not a foreign land: This is the Land of our Forefathers. (Applause)

The right of the Jewish People to a state in the Land of Israel does not arise from the series of disasters that befell the Jewish People over 2,000 years — persecutions, expulsions, pogroms, blood libels, murders—which reached a climax in the Holocaust, an unprecedented tragedy in the history of nations. There are those who say that without the Holocaust the State would not have been established. But I say that if the State of Israel had been established in time, the Holocaust would not have taken place. (Applause) The tragedies that arose from the Jewish People’s helplessness show very sharply that we need a protective state.

The right to establish our sovereign state here, in the Land of Israel, arises from one simple fact: Eretz Israel is the birthplace of the Jewish People. (Applause)

As the first PM, David Ben Gurion, said in the declaration of the State: the State of Israel was established here in Eretz Israel, where the People of Israel created the Book of Books and gave it to the world.

But, friends, we must state the whole truth here. The truth is that in the area of our homeland, in the heart of our Jewish Homeland, now lives a large population of Palestinians. We do not want to rule over them. We do not want to run their lives. We do not want to force our flag and our culture on them. In my vision of peace, there are two free peoples living side by side in this small land, with good neighborly relations and mutual respect, each with its flag, anthem, and government, with neither one threatening its neighbor’s security and existence.

These two facts—our link the Land of Israel, and the Palestinian population who live here—have created deep disagreements within Israeli society. But the truth is that we have much more unity than disagreement.

I came here tonight to talk about the agreement and security that are broad consensus within Israeli society. This is what guides our policy. This policy must take into account the international situation. We have to recognize international agreements, but also principles important to the State of Israel. I spoke tonight about the first principle — recognition. Palestinians must truly recognize Israel as the state of the Jewish people. The second principle is demilitarization. Any area in Palestinian hands has to be demilitarization, with solid security measures. Without this condition, there is a real fear that there will be an armed Palestinian state which will become a terrorist base against Israel, as happened in Gaza. We do not want missiles on Petah Tikva or Grads on the Ben-Gurion International Airport. We want peace. (Applause)

And to ensure peace, we don’t want them to bring in missiles or rockets, or have an army, or control of airspace, or make treaties with countries like Iran, or Hezbollah. There is broad agreement on this in Israel. We cannot be expected to agree to a Palestinian state without ensuring that it is demilitarized. This is crucial to the existence of Israel: we must provide for our security needs.

This is why we are now asking our friends in the international community, headed by the U.S.A., for what is necessary for our security: that in any peace agreement, the Palestinian area must be demilitarized. No army, no control of air space. Real, effective measures to prevent arms coming in, not what’s going on now in Gaza. The Palestinians cannot make military treaties.

Without this, sooner or later, we will have another Hamastan. We can’t agree to this. Israel must govern its own fate and security. I told President Obama in Washington: if we get a guarantee of demilitarization, and if the Palestinians recognize Israel as the Jewish state, we are ready to agree to a real peace agreement, a demilitarized Palestinian state side by side with the Jewish State. (Applause)

Whenever we discuss a permanent arrangement, Israel needs defensible borders with Jerusalem remaining the united capital of Israel. (Applause)

The territorial issues will be discussed in a permanent agreement. Till then, we have no intention to build new settlements or set aside land for new settlements. But there is a need to have people live normal lives and let mothers and fathers raise their children like everyone in the world. The settlers are not enemies of peace. They are our brothers and sisters. (Applause)

Friends, unity among us is, to my view, vital, and unity will help with reconciliation with our neighbors. Reconciliation must begin now. A strong Palestinian government will strengthen peace. If they truly want peace, and educate their children for peace and stop incitement, we for our part will make every effort, allow them freedom of movement and accessibility, making their lives easier, and this will help bring peace.

But above all, they must decide: the Palestinians must decide between the path of peace and the path of Hamas. They must overcome Hamas. Israel will not sit down at a conference table with terrorists who seek to destroy it. (Applause)

Hamas is not willing even to let the Red Cross visit our abducted soldier Gilad Shalit who has been in captivity three years, cut off from his family and his country. We want to bring him back whole and well.

With help of the international community, there is no reason why we can’t have peace. With help of U.S.A., we can do we can do the unbelievable. In 61 years, with constant threats to our existence, we have achieved so much. Our microchips power the world’s computers—unbelievable! We have found cures for incurable diseases! Israeli drip irrigation waters barren lands throughout the world! Israeli researchers are making worldwide breakthroughs! If our neighbors will only work for peace, we can achieve peace. (Applause)

I call upon Arab leaders and Palestinian leaders: Let’s go in the path of Menachem Begin and Anwar Sadat, Yitzhak Rabin and King Hussein. Let’s go in the path of Prophet Isaiah, who spoke thousands of years ago: “They shall beat their swords into plowshares and know war no more.”

Let us know war no more. Let us know peace.

By Alireza Jafarzadeh

 Today Iranians are expected to go to the polls to choose the next president in a highly orchestrated and vetted event courtesy of the ruling clerics. Four candidates have been ordained by the Guardian Council- the body of clerical elders which blesses all manners of critical decisions in the country- to run for this election: Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Mir Hossein Moussavi, Mohsen Rezai, and Mehdi Karoubi.

The first is the loud-mouthed current president, who was previously an Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corp (IRGC) commander and a teer-a-khalas (coup de grâce) specialist. The second was Tehran’s prime minister during the tumultuous war years of the 80’s, under the administration of the “pragmatic” (”we only need one atomic bomb to destroy Israel”) Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani – he clearly does not subscribe to or understand Mutually Assured Destruction. The third is a founding member and the former chief of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps, who is on the run from the Interpol for complicity in the 1994 Argentinean Jewish community center bombing. The last, and certainly the least, is the lone certified cleric, a former speaker of the Majlis (parliament) who was an early and rabid supporter of Khomeini’s call for the head of the British novelist Salman Rushdie.

Further forensics may help to clear the political fog. Much is known about the current president Ahmadinejad, so we dispense with (most) of the gore. Ahmadinejad, by his own admission, was part of the quintet of the Central Committee of the Office of the Unity which led and operationally oversaw the takeover of the US Embassy in Tehran in 1979. He was the special operations officer in the 6th special corps of IRGC’s Qods Force, responsible for sabotage and cross-border missions. In his current hat, he oversees his government’s expanding drive to perfect the nuclear fuel cycle and acquire the ultimate weapon.

Mir Hossein Moussavi is the current reincarnation of the moderate political animal in Iran. He was a founding member of the Islamic Republic Party- think of it as the mullahs’ Third Reich. Among honors on his resume, he lists: 144 extraterritorial assassinations during the premiership, the massacre of nearly 30,000 political prisoners on the eve of the signing of the 1988 UN Iran-Iraq cease-fire accord, and the 1983 embassy and marine barrack bombings in Beirut.

Mohsen Rezai ranks high in the pantheon of terror. He commanded the IRGC during the disastrous war with Iraq, with ultimate responsibility for sending tens of thousands of under-aged adults to their death in the battle fronts as human mine sweepers, many of whom were shrouded in army-issued blankets to prevent their body parts from splattering. Rezai played a decisive role in coordinating and directing the 1994 bombing in Buenos Aires, for which he was implicated by an Argentine court and for whom, in 2007, Interpol issued an arrest warrant.

Mehdi Karoubi is the least consequential. Nevertheless, he occupies a special place among the regime hierarchy. For, he is a permanent member of the Expediency Council, chaired by former president, Rafsanjani.

So, where are we now? A bit of chronology brings us home. When faced with the hostage takings by the mullahs in the 80’s, the world blinked. The Iranian regime was rewarded crucially with time; time to suppress dissent at home, and to spread its gospel of hate and warmongering in the Middle East and around the globe. When faced with its drive to build a nuclear bomb in the 90’s and 00’s, the West decided chiefly that it must “engage” the mullahs in dialogue. We were bombarded with group acronyms: EU-3, then EU 3+2 (referring to the big EU countries, plus China and Russia), or P5 + 1 (that is the permanent five + Germany).  “Freeze for dialogue” (a pre-condition for suspending nuclear enrichment in exchange for negotiation), “freeze-for-freeze” (freezing enrichment for freezing sanctions) became mantra for the regime’s calculated strategy of freezing time. It is time which it wants, and which the world has so little of.

Clearly, the mullahs are not suckered. “Bigger sticks and bigger carrots” work if (only and only if) the other side is receptive to an orderly and rational chain of events: faced with a looming threat, it responds by accepting the offer of peace. The Iranian mullahs have distinguished themselves in at least one crucially important fashion: when offered a big carrot, they counter by requiring an even bigger carrot, and then an even bigger carrot. Their rational is clear- at least to some; time is purchased and attention is deflected at the expense of a world and a Middle East in desperate need of peace and crisis resolution.

Among its many faces, the current election charade is emblematic of a constant in the regime tactics. With a strict electoral vetting process, in which “too” anything distasteful to its strategy and ambition is rejected, the Iranian regime prefers very much that the West becomes preoccupied with the absurdity of the June election process, not minding that western nations fret ad nauseam about the winners and losers of this election, while at the end, and at last, it has bought yet more time. More time to perfect how it makes the bomb and more time to repress its citizens and those of other nations.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg, center, with Noam, right, and Aviva Shalit, parents of Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit

By Rebecca Dube, www.forward.com

Asked how he and his wife managed to cope as they approach the three-year anniversary of their son’s kidnapping by Hamas, Noam Shalit was characteristically blunt.

“We don’t,” he said, his arms tightly crossed and his expression stony. “You cannot get used to this situation. It’s a continuous nightmare.”

Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit, now 22, has been the focus of a diplomatic tug of war since he was seized by Palestinian militants on a cross-border raid June 25, 2006. Hamas has not allowed the Red Cross, or any other outside observers, to see Shalit since his kidnapping. The conditions of his captivity and the state of his health are unknown.

The new Israeli government announced on May 31 that Haggai Hadas, a former senior Mossad intelligence agency operative, would take charge of negotiations for Shalit’s freedom. The post had been vacant for a month.

And yet, Noam Shalit, who spoke to the Forward while in New York for the annual Salute to Israel parade, has trouble getting excited about the news. His hopes have been raised by apparent progress — and dashed — too many times before.

“It’s about time,” he said.

Hadas replaces Ofer Dekel, who resigned in April after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu took office. Dekel coordinated a failed attempt to negotiate a prisoner exchange for Shalit through Egyptian mediation. Hamas is demanding that Israel free hundreds of Palestinian prisoners in exchange for Shalit.

Noam Shalit said he is heartened by the support he feels from American Jews, especially the crowds who cheered him at the Salute to Israel parade on May 31. He and his wife, Aviva, spoke briefly with Mayor Michael Bloomberg and gave him a button bearing their son’s photograph.

“He sympathized with us, and expressed his solidarity and his support,” Shalit said. The brief moments with Bloomberg were a nice “photo op,” Shalit said, but he knows the main arena for advocacy for his son is Israel. Still, he’s willing to go almost anywhere and try almost anything if he thinks it will help Gilad.

“We are trying every channel, in every possible way. You never know what will be effective,” Shalit said.

A reserved man, naturally quiet like his son, the role of family spokesman does not come easily to Shalit. But he regularly speaks to Israeli, Palestinian, American and European journalists to ensure that Gilad is not forgotten. In Israel, he said the support of everyday Israelis gives him comfort — people on the street, taxi drivers, store clerks recognize him and tell him to stay strong.

Despite the news media appearances and occasional meeting with politicians, the Shalits’ days are very much the same.

“We get up in the morning and think, ‘What can we do today that was not done yesterday?’ Shalit said. “That is basically our days.”

Shalit, an engineer, has scaled back his work to part-time at Iscar, a metal cutting-tool manufacturer owned by American investor Warren Buffet, who met with Shalit when he visited Israel in September of 2006. It can be hard to concentrate at work, he said, but at least it keeps him busy. He and his wife have two other children: an older son who is finishing his university degree, and a younger daughter who just graduated from high school and is preparing to enter the Army.

Celebrations of happy events, like graduations, still go on in the Shalit family, but the shadow of Gilad’s absence is always present, Noam Shalit said.

“The main idea is to keep on with our lives and to combine two things: not to give up the regular life and not to give up the battle for Gilad,” he said.

www.haaretz.com

The United Nations nuclear watchdog has discovered traces of processed uranium at a second site in Syria, the agency said on Friday, June 5, heightening concerns about possible undeclared atomic activity in the Arab state.

The International Atomic Energy Agency has been examining U.S. intelligence reports that Syria had almost built a North Korean-designed nuclear reactor meant to yield weapons-grade plutonium before Israel bombed it to rubble in 2007.

Inspectors who found uranium particles at the remote desert site a year ago also found similar traces at a small research reactor in the capital Damascus, which the IAEA knew about and checks once a year, an IAEA report said. These traces were different from Syria’s declared nuclear material inventory.

The IAEA said in February that inspectors had found enough traces of uranium in soil samples taken from the bombed site a year ago to constitute a significant find.

Friday’s report, obtained by Reuters, said “anthropogenic natural uranium particles” had also turned up in environmental swipe samples taken from hot cells of the Miniature Neutron Source Reactor (MNSR) facility in Damascus.

Syria, told of the IAEA’s discovery last month, sent a written response to the IAEA. But this did not address the presence and origin of the particles, and the UN watchdog was investigating a possible connection with the uranium particles found at the bombed site, the report said.

The IAEA has said in the past that satellite pictures taken before the Israel Air Force bombing revealed a building resembling a reactor. But the new report said Syria, citing national security, was still ignoring IAEA requests for wider access and documentation to back up its assertion that Israel’s target at Dair Alzour was a conventional military building.

The IAEA again urged Syria to provide additional data and trips to Dair Alzour and other allegedly related locations to allow test-sampling of destroyed or salvaged equipment and debris removed before investigators were let into the country.

“It is clearly in Syria’s interest to render to the agency the necessary cooperation and transparency if it wishes the agency to be able to corroborate its assertion about the nature of the Dair Alzour site,” the report said.

Syria’s only declared nuclear site is the old research reactor and it has no known nuclear energy-generating capacity.

The report said Syria was also refusing to discuss satellite pictures the IAEA had offered to share with it.

Syria had provided information regarding procurement of certain equipment and materials including a large quantity of graphite and large quantities of barium sulphate, a compound sometimes used as a radiation shield in nuclear structures.

Syria had indicated the procurement efforts were civilian and non-nuclear, relating to water purification, the steel industry, and shielding material for radiation therapy centers.

Syria has said the uranium particles retrieved from samples taken at Dair Alzour came from depleted uranium used in Israeli munitions, an assertion dismissed by the IAEA. Syria has also suggested IAEA analyses were faulty and that satellite imagery Washington gave to the IAEA was fabricated.

Viennese diplomats said in March that Syria had told the IAEA it had built a missile facility on the desert tract hit by Israel, a disclosure apparently meant to reinforce the Syrian refusal to grant more IAEA access on national security grounds.

IAEA: Iran expands uranium enrichment to 5,000 centrifuges

A separate IAEA report said that Iran is continuing to expand its uranium enrichment, despite three sets of prohibitive UN Security Council sanctions.

International Atomic Energy Agency report said Iran had increased its rate of production of low-enriched uranium (LEU), boosting its stockpile by 500 kg to 1,339 kg in the past six months.

Iran’s improved efficiency in turning out potential nuclear fuel is sure to fan Western fears of the Islamic Republic nearing the ability to make atomic bombs, if it chose to do so.

Oil giant Iran says it wants a uranium enrichment industry solely to provide an alternative source of electricity. But it has stonewalled an IAEA investigation into suspected past research into bomb-making, calling U.S. intelligence about it forged, and continuing to limit the scope of IAEA inspections.

Commenting on the Iran report, the Washington-based Institute for Science and International Security, a think tank that tracks proliferation issues, said that at the present pace of production of enriched uranium, Tehran could make two nuclear weapons — should it choose to do so — within eight months.

David Albright, of the Institute for Science and International Security, said Iran now had accumulated enough LEU to convert into high-enriched uranium (HEU) sufficient for one atom bomb. This would require reconfiguring Iran’s centrifuge network and miniaturizing HEU to fit into a warhead — technical hurdles that could take 1-2 years or more — and would not escape the notice of UN inspectors unless done at an undeclared location.

There are no indications of any such secret site.

“Still, Iran is ramping up enrichment to reach the point of potential nuclear weapons capability. They haven’t made a political decision to do that. But their lack of constraint is disappointing given [U.S. President Barack] Obama’s effort to start negotiations,” Albright told Reuters from Washington.

The UN nuclear watchdog report said Iran had 4,920 centrifuges, cylinders that spin at supersonic speed, being fed with uranium hexafluoride gas (UF6) for enrichment nonstop as of May 31, a jump of about 25 percent since February.

Another 2,132 machines were installed and undergoing vacuum tests while a further 169 were being set up — bringing Iran’s total number of deployed centrifuges at its underground Natanz enrichment hall to 7,231 — with 55,000 eventually planned.

The IAEA had told Iran that given the burgeoning numbers of centrifuges and increased pace of enrichment, “improvements to the containment and surveillance measures are required in order for the agency to continue to fully meet its safeguards objectives”, the report said, referring to basic inspections.

Senior inspectors were discussing solutions with Iran.

“There is now a forest of 7,000 machines, that’s quite a lot, it’s a very impressive place, and they will be installing more which could mean 9,000 (soon),” said a senior UN official who asked for anonymity to discuss sensitive information.

“That makes it increasingly difficult to do the surveillance [to ensure no diversions for bomb-making purposes elsewhere]. We are reviewing [the angles] of our cameras, walking rules [for workers handling equipment], where things are being kept.”

At a separate pilot plant in Natanz, Iran continues to test small numbers of a more sophisticated centrifuge than the 1970s vintage it is now using. These models could refine uranium 2-3 times as fast as the P-1, analysts say.

IAEA chief Mohamed ElBaradei has urged Iran to engage with the United States, “grasp the hand that Obama is extending to you,” and negotiate over its nuclear program to ensure it remains civilian under effective monitoring.

But little progress in coaxing Iran to open up to IAEA investigators and grant more wide-ranging inspections is likely without a major thaw in Tehran’s relations with Western powers.

“The Iran file has been on the table for six years. It’s high time to sort it out. We hope Iran and international community get to the table and start to come up with solutions so we can do our [non-proliferation] job,” said the senior U.N. official.

Obama has set a rough timetable for negotiating results with Iran, saying he wanted serious progress by the end of the year. He has underlined that any U.S. overtures will be accompanied by harsher sanctions if there is no cooperation.

Below are the lyrics for Israel’s entry into the Eurovision Song Contest 2009 and a link to watch a performance.

See a write-up posted on May 5 for more information on this unique duet.

Enjoy!

Lyrics

Eurovision Song Contest 2009 Semi-Final (1)
Israel (IBA)

Performer: Noa & Mira Awad
Song title: There Must Be Another Way
Song writer(s): Noa, Mira Awad, Gil Dor
Song composer(s): Noa, Mira Awad, Gil Dor

There must be another, must be another way
עינייך אחות
כל מה שליבי מבקש אומרות
עברנו עד כה
דרך ארוכה
דרך כה קשה
יד ביד
והדמעות זולגות זורמות לשוא
כאב ללא שם
אנחנו מחכות
רק ליום שיבוא אחרי
There must be another way
There must be another way
عينيك بتقول
راح ييجي يوم وكل الخوف يزول
بعينيك اصرار
انه عنا خيار
نكمل هالمسار
مهما طال
لانه ما في عنوان وحيد للاحزان
بنادي للمدى, للسما العنيده
There must be another way
There must be another way
There must be another, must be another way
דרך ארוכה נעבור
דרך כה קשה
יחד אל האור
عينيك بتقول
كل الخوف يزول<
And when I cry I cry for both of us
My pain has no name
And when I cry I cry to the merciless sky and say
There must be another way
והדמעות זולגות זורמות לשוא
כאב ללא שם
אנחנו מחכות
רק ליום שיבוא אחרי
There must be another way
There must be another way
There must be another, must be another way

http://www.eurovision.tv/event/artistdetail?song=24719&event=1482

By David Lev, www.IsraelNationalNews.com

Mordechai Limon, who was one of the pioneers and first commander of the Israel Navy, passed away over the Jewish Sabbath at age 85. Limon, who immigrated to Israel in 1932 from Poland, was at the nexus of two of the most important naval episodes in the course of Israel’s history: The smuggling of immigrants from British detention camps in Cyprus after the Holocaust, and the retrieval from France of five warships that Israel had bought and paid for, but which French President Charles de Gaulle sought not to deliver to Israel.

During World War II, Limon joined the Haganah (predecessor to Israel Defense Forces), where he subsequently helped establish the organization’s naval unit, and conducted training courses for young soldiers. He decided he needed more experience at sea, and joined the British Merchant Marine and sailed the world. At the end of the war, he returned to the Middle East, disembarking at Alexandria. After his return to Mandatory Palestine, Limon commanded several ships smuggling in stateless Jews from detention camps in Cyrus. Altogether, Limon successfully brought 5,000 Jews to the Land of Israel before the establishment of the State.

During the War of Independence, Limon commanded several vessels, and, among other battles, participated in the Helino Incident, in which a Czech ship filled with weapons bound for Egypt was confiscated. In 1950, Limon was named Commander of the newly established Israel Navy, with the rank of general – at age 26, the youngest officer in the IDF’s history to be promoted to that rank.

In 1954, Limon left the Navy and studied business administration in the United States. He returned to Israel and began working in a number of capacities for the Defense Ministry, and in 1962 was chosen to head Israel’s procurement office in Paris, then the most important source for Israel of foreign-manufactured weapons. Limon was able to put together many important weapons deals for the IDF in that post and built up excellent working relations with French government and military officials.

In 1965, Israel negotiated the manufacture and purchase of advanced missile boats at a ship foundry in Cherbourg, France. In the wake of the 1967 Six Day War, French President Charles de Gaulle placed an embargo on Israeli arms purchases from France – including the Cherbourg boats, for which Israel had already paid. The ships, some of which were ready to sail and already manned by Israeli crews, were forced to remain anchored in Cherbourg.

In order to redeem the ships, Limon and other Israeli officials clandestinely established a Norwegian company, which “purchased” the ships from Israel, with the sale approved by French authorities. The Norwegian company was ostensibly to use the ships for oil exploration in the North Sea, but Israeli officials began preparing them for the long journey to Israel, equipping them with spare fuel. At the same time, Israeli sailors, posing as Norwegian staff, began manning the ships. On December 24, 1969, as residents of Cherbourg were celebrating Christmas, the ships left port, arriving in Israel on December 31.

The French, meanwhile, became aware of what happened only after the ships left port, and in retaliation booted Limon out of the country. When he returned to Israel in 1970, he was greeted by the top brass of the IDF and the Defense Ministry, and hailed as a hero for his role in rescuing the ships.

Limon subsequently retired from official life, and became a private businessman.

Speaking Saturday night, President Shimon Peres mourned Limon, saying that his contributions to the State “were as deep and important as they were quiet. He knew how to handle crises, such as in the Cherbourg Affair. The nation has an obligation to salute the man, his personality, his actions, and his contributions.”