Top Stories

Quran burning draws controversy

Nishant Ramayan  •  September 9, 2010

On the last day of Ramadan, Florida pastor Terry Jones has planned to commemorate September 11 attacks by burning copies of Quran. The church Jones founded in Germany in the 1980s is even condemning the upcoming Quran-burning at Terry's small place of worship in Gainesville, Florida.

For the second time in about 18 hours, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has condemned a Florida pastor's plan to burn copies of the Quran on the anniversary of 9/11. Clinton also expressed her hope that the media will not cover the event on Saturday "as an act of patriotism."

Continue Reading

America At Risk – premiering on 9/11

Blitz Desk  •  September 3, 2010

Citizens United, a non-government organization has made a film titled 'America At Risk', which will be launched on September 11, 2010 in Washington DC. Commenting on this movie, Lauren Fleming of Citizensunited told Weekly Blitz "In America at Risk, Newt and Callista Gingrich explore our current national security concerns and what is necessary to safeguard our country and our future. From Pearl Harbor to 9/11, from the Christmas Day airline bomber to the Ft. Hood massacre, we know that surprise is certain. It is a given that we will experience more attacks on our country.

"And in our dangerous world, fantasy and wishful thinking put our nation at risk.

From Iran, North Korea, and from radical Islam we face an existential threat. Nuclear weapons and being developed, and loose nuclear materials are at risk.

Continue Reading

Israel and Islamism

Barry Rubin  •  September 9, 2010

Two readers asked me questions well worth answering. The first asked whether Islam itself isn't the enemy; the second, how these distinctions appear from an Israeli standpoint:

Regarding the first question, I would stress that "Islam" as a religion functioning in the world is not at war with anyone as such. There are those who want to steer Islam toward an active war against how the majority of Muslims live at present and almost all the governments ruling them, using valid quotations and interpretations. And there are those who oppose them, including most of those governments, also using valid quotations and interpretations of Islam.

Continue Reading

Will You Hide a Muslim in Your Attic?

Szandor Blestman  •  September 9, 2010

There's some scary stuff happening in this nation right now. It has to do with Muslims. No, I am not afraid of Muslims. No, I do not believe that they are out to destroy our way of life. No, I do not believe that they are inherently violent people who see Christians and Jews as demons that need to be wiped from the face of the Earth. No, I do not believe they are the new boogie man hiding around every corner with a belt of explosives waiting to duck into some nightclub to kill himself and as many other innocent people as he can in a blaze of glory. It is not the Muslims that scare me. It is the people who are trying to make me so paranoid of the Muslims that I will forsake my principles and turn against my fellow human beings because their ways are different than mine that scare me. It is those who believe that people should be treated differently simply because of their religion that scare me.

Continue Reading

Can it ever happen?

Gadi Adelman  •  September 9, 2010

Call me a pessimist, say I have no faith in the improbable, but I have a better chance of becoming the world's first Jewish Pope before Israel and her Arab neighbors have peace.

How many times have we seen this over the decades? What does it accomplish besides photo ops? One thing I know for sure that happens every time these people sit down and talk peace is a rise in terrorism against the Israeli people.

Okay, I know what you are thinking, what about Israel and Egypt? Yes, I know, I was in Israel when Sadat came to Jerusalem and spoke at the Israeli Knesset (Parliament).

I stood on an over pass and watched as Sadat's motorcade drove past. From Tel-Aviv to Jerusalem, the entire highway along the motorcades route had Israeli and Egyptian flags flying on every other light post. It is something I will never forget. But Abbas is no Sadat and Palestine is no Egypt.

Continue Reading

Syria's strategic alliance with Hizbullah

Dr. Jonathan Spyer  •  September 9, 2010

President Bashar Assad of Syria this week reiterated his country's firm strategic alliance with Hizbullah. The occasion for the dictator's remarks was the latest visit by Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri to the Syrian capital. Assad's statement was particularly noteworthy because some in Lebanon and further afield have claimed to discern in recent weeks a growing distance between Syria and Hizbullah. The Syrian president's latest verbal endorsement of the "resistance" was followed by reports in a Kuwaiti newspaper of a military alliance between Syria and Hizbullah which if correct would make Syrian involvement a certainty in a future conflict between the Shi'ite Islamist movement and Israel.

Continue Reading

Terror attack near Hebron

Barry Rubin  •  September 9, 2010

An isolated fragment of news, a tragic story, or just another act of terrorism? What's necessary, however, is to fit events into a broader picture and so it is with the latest attack by Hamas, killing four Israelis driving near Hebron.

What does this mean? What's it all about? It's a signal, timed for the restart of direct negotiations, that Hamas will subvert by terror any progress toward Israel-Palestinian peace. Hamas said so explicitly, saying the attack was also against those, "Led astray by the illusion of negotiations" and reminding the PA that its "natural choice...is jihad and resistance." Fatah leader Marwan Barghouti said the same thing from his Israeli prison cell.

President Barack Obama called the attack "senseless slaughter" against which the United States would "push back."

Continue Reading

Vaccine suspensions and drug disasters

Christina England  •  September 9, 2010

GlaxoSmithKline the drug giants, have spent the last few days trying to stay off the bottom of the FTSE 100, especially after the UK's Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency said that it's diabetes treatment Avandia should be pulled from sale, over concerns that it can lead to heart attacks in some patients. This came at a particularly difficult time for GlaxoSmithKline and was yet another nail in their coffin, as Pandemrix, their vaccine for the swine flu, is currently also under the magnifying glass, having been suspended by Finland, Sweden, Poland and Nepal, due to a growing number of reports of adverse reactions.

Continue Reading