Letter to Editor of Star-Ledger

Readers of Terror Victims Voice read my post about an op-ed written by Pete McDonough Jr. regarding the effect of Israeli security checkpoints. I sent a letter to the editor of the Star-Ledger that was printed today. Here's the letter as published.

"Humiliation vs. security

Pete McDonough Jr. writes in “On West Bank, humiliation is constant” (Oct 8): “Ask any Palestinian on the streets of Ramallah to describe his or her life, especially those who travel around the occupied territory, and ‘humiliation’ is among the first words uttered.”

Now, I don’t have any objection to my money going to educate others around the world, and the Palestinians can, in my opinion, use a lot of education when it comes to public relations. However, when that teacher, in this case McDonough, enters the political fray of the Middle East, he’s out of his league.

Yes, there are checkpoints in the West Bank, but McDonough fails to ask why they are there. In case he doesn’t know, they are there to reduce the threat of suicide bombings and other serious attacks in Israel. And by all indications, the checkpoints are working.

McDonough admits that the “conflict is more than anyone could hope to understand in a short visit, even one involving meeting with cabinet ministers and other ranking government officials.”
New Jersey politics may be rough and tumble, as McDonough knows, but it doesn’t result in suicide bombings, ambushes, knife attacks and military retaliation. Yes, the situation is “complicated,” and until he learns the difference between sitting shiva for a murdered terror victim (as I did for my daughter) and humiliation suffered at a checkpoint, I think McDonough would do us a service if he kept his comments to himself. "

Where are their parents?

If there is to be peace in the Middle East, there has to be respect. As you will see from the video below, a car is set up for attack by rock throwing Arab children in the presence of the media. The news then reports,

Two Palestinian children in eastern Jerusalem were hit by a car driven by a settler leader after they threw rocks at the vehicle.

David Be'eri, the director of Elad, a nonprofit organization that runs the City of David and helps move Jews into homes in Silwan, told Israeli media that he accidentally hit the children after the car came under attack from rocks thrown by several children on the morning of Oct. 8.

A video of the incident shows the car swerving to avoid hitting a child standing in the street and then plowing into the other two. The Palestinian boys reportedly sustained leg injuries. The back window of Be'eri's car was smashed.

Jerusalem police questioned Be'eri.

David Be'eri is no wild eyed fanatic, he's an anthropologist. You can see that he ran for his life after the accident because to stop would have brought him harm.

So, where are the parents of these boys? Maybe they should be questioned by social workers for their shameful lack of parental supervision.

A dead end in Dubai

We previously wrote about the assassination of Hamas murderer, Mahmoud al-Mabhouh, in Dubai.

Well, there seems to have been a break in the case after all this time. The identity of one of his alleged killers has been uncovered by the Dubai police. Unfortunately for Dubai's gendarmes, the man has been dead since 1973.

The Jerusalem Post, citing a story in the Wall Street Journal, writes,

“In cooperation with Interpol, British and French police, Dubai police were on
the trail of one of the alleged assassins of senior Hamas terrorist Mahmoud
al-Mabhouh. The man reportedly entered Dubai under a British passport with the
name "Christopher Lockwood." However, they discovered that the man's "real" name was Yehuda Lustig and that he had changed it in 1994 to the more Anglicized
"Christopher Lockwood," according to the Journal's report.”

“According to the Defense Ministry, the real Lustig died in a battle along the Suez Canal during the war, as yet another lead pursued by Dubai police chief Lt.-Gen. Dahi Khalfan Tamim leads to a dead end.”

Sounds like something out of the French Revolution segment of History of the World, Part I. Mel Brooks fans will know what I mean.

Read the full report.

Humiliation versus murder, which do you choose?

Pete McDonough, Jr., a former press agent for NJ Governor Christine Whitman, has just returned from the Middle East as an American paid PR consultant to the Palestinian Authority.

His taxpayer paid trip resulted in a column appearing in the Star-Ledger, “For Palestinians, daily humiliation.”

“Ask any Palestinian on the streets of Ramallah to describe his or her life, especially those who travel around the occupied territory, and “humiliation” is among the first words uttered.”

Now, I don’t have any objection to my money going to educate others around the world, and the Palestinians can, in my opinion, use a lot of education when it comes to PR. However, when that teacher, in this case McDonough, enters the political fray, I think he’s crossed the line.

“Travel in the region for Palestinians always involves being stopped at checkpoints, ushered out of their cars and through narrow inspection points before being allowed to go from one part of their country to another.”[“Country?” The P.A. was offered one in 2000 but turned it down.-Ed.]

“As an American with in a consular vehicle, the checkpoints are no bother. If I were Palestinian, I could look forward to possibly being detained and searched for no reason other than my nationality and route of travel.” [The checkpoints exist to stop murderers from entering Israel. Their success is well documented.-Ed.]

“The stories from Palestinians I worked with bear an unsettling resemblance to the tales of racial profiling in states throughout our own country. The profiling in Palestine, though every bit as dehumanizing is omnipresent.” [Young boys and women are recruited as suicide bombers. –Ed.]

“Had I spent the last week working with Israeli officials, I have no doubt that they would have just as profoundly opened my eyes to the daily threats that their own people suffer through. I have no reason to expect that those threats are any less pervasive or pernicious than the humiliation experienced by Palestinians. The Arab-Israeli conflict is more than anyone could hope to understand in a short visit, even one involving meeting with cabinet ministers and other ranking government officials.” [So, he didn’t ask any questions about why the checkpoints exist? –Ed.]

“The situation is even more complicated by the political pressures to which Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is subjected by hardliners in his government who insist that he not budge at all on plans to resume the expansion of settlements, and by the irrational demands of Hamas extremists who insist that Palestinian President Mahmood Abbas reject any peace negotiations unless Israelis withdraw completely from any and all occupied territory.”

New Jersey politics may be rough and tumble as McDonough knows, but it doesn’t result in suicide bombings and military retaliation. Yes, Mr. McDonough, the situation is “complicated” and until you learn the difference between sitting shiva for a murdered terror victim (as I did) and humiliation suffered at a checkpoint, I think you should keep your comments to yourself.

Read the full column.

Well, that's what I have to say.

From the IPT - CAIR, Academic Scheme to Inflate Book Sales

The Investigative Project on Terrorism (IPT) has uncovered a link between CAIR and a University of Chicago professor to boost sales of his recent book on terrorism.

University of Chicago political scientist Robert Pape, whose research finds religious extremism has a limited role in suicide bombings, is working secretly with a suspected Hamas front to pump up sales of his new book, the Investigative Project on Terrorism has learned. That includes a secret agreement by CAIR to have its chapters around the country to buy them in bulk so they can manipulate the sales to move up the bestseller ranks. Pape is also scheduled to appear at this weekend's national banquet for the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR).

"Cutting the Fuse: The Explosion of Global Suicide Terrorism and How to Stop It," is Pape's latest project touting his thesis that religion is not a prime factor in suicide bombings. Rather, it is a response to occupation, he argues. That's appealing to CAIR, which court records show was part of a Hamas-support network in the United States. Prosecutors say CAIR, which touts itself as the nation's leading Muslim civil rights organization, never withdrew from the conspiracy to support Hamas politically and financially. And the FBI cut off communication with CAIR in 2008, saying it won't resume until "we can resolve whether there continues to be a connection between CAIR or its executives and HAMAS."

Terror's supporters can be found on college campuses around the country. Read the full story CAIR, Academic Scheme to Inflate Book Sales.

Well, that's what I have to say.

Stephen M. Flatow