Omri Ceren Show - 6:30pm PST - Gerald Steinberg On The NGO War, Dan Diker On US/Israeli Tensions, Etc.
I'll be broadcasting 2009's last TOCS episode live from Bulgaria, Bulgaria being a country that suffered for five centuries under the Ottoman yoke and - emerging from that and later from the Iron Curtain - has just committed more troops to the West's efforts in Afghanistan. That's in no way relevant to tonight's topics, though New Europe/Old Europe divides are always worth emphasizing both as matters of ideology and of Iranian weapons range. In any case - 6:30pm PST, live from Bulgaria, tune in via the Blog Talk Radio page to participate in the chat room and get on the air.
As a way of closing out a tension-soaked year, the show is shaping up to be what the kids call a doozy. Prof. Gerald Steinberg - NGO Monitor President, Bar Ilan University Political Studies chair, and bane of conspiracy addled human rights organizations inclined to hire Nazi-obsessed anti-Israel partisans - discusses the role NGO's are playing in the multi-pronged assault on Israel's legitimacy. Divestment, lawfare/universal jurisdiction, and government funding of pro-Palestinian NGO's are all discussed, plus the prospects for pushing back against those efforts.
The weekly call with Dan Diker will focus on a couple of recent revelatory US/Israeli flashpoints. The first is this stunt that US consul officials just pulled, where they tried to run over an IDF soldier. I actually need to do a full post about this because the US Consulate in Jerusalem is the de facto US embassy to the Palestinian Authority, and this is the second time in two years they've pulled this kind of nonsense. Dan has more than a few comments on that point.
The second incident is this flap over Israel's retaliation to the terrorists who murdered Meir Chai. The US demanded "answers" from Israel because the operation happened in Area A, where US-trained and funded Palestinian forces were supposed to have control. In Dan's JPost op-ed on the controversy - for which he provides context and background on today's show - he pointed out the idiosyncrasy of that demand:
The United States' recent request for a public clarification from National Security Adviser Uzi Arad following the IDF's killing of three wanted Al-Aksa Martyrs Brigades terrorists in Nablus is unusual and raises questions... the US demanded a public clarification on behalf of the PA. This clearly represents heightened US sensitivity to Palestinian protests over the IDF's "unjust" incursion into Area A of Judea and Samaria/the West Bank... This is where it seems more appropriate that the US issue clarifications to Israel. At least one of the Aksa Brigades commanders - Annan Sabuh, who was found with two M16 automatic rifles and two other firearms - had been part of the amnesty program for former Fatah-affiliated terror group commanders and operatives that was predicated on turning in all weapons. The amnesty program was implemented in no small part at the behest of the United States and its security reform program, which began under Lt.-Gen. Keith Dayton in 2005.
Gen. Dayton, as long-time MR readers will know, is a blog favorite. His long-running failures dispensing security assistance to Fatah forces naturally also make their way into the conversation.
In between I'll be doing news segments and taking questions. Topics are always fluid until we go on the air, but it's safe bet that segments will cover the Detroit terror attack and the protests in Iran, plus whatever else comes up.
References:
* Bulgaria sending more troops to Afghanistan [AP]
* Iran Tests New Version of Missile that Can Reach Europe, Israel [WSJ]
* The NGO War - Gerald Steinberg, Dan Diker [Blog Talk Radio]
* NGO Monitor - Staff [NGO Monitor]
* Professor Gerald Steinberg [Bar Ilan University]
* The Wrath of Ken Roth: Human Rights Watch, Goldstone and Israel [Hudson NY]
* HRW: We're Not Sure About Marc Garlasco's Nazi Obsession, But There's Definitely A Coordinated Jewish Cabal Of Liars Attacking Us [MR]
* Marc Garlasco - Is HRW's Anti-Israel Investigator A Nazi-Obsessed Collector? [MR]
* Israel: U.S. Consulate Car Tried to Run Over Checkpoint Guard [Fox News]
* AP: Terrorists Who Murdered Father Of 7 Are "Activists" [MR]
* Washington, not J'lem, needs to issue clarifications [JPost]
* Fatah Weapons Champion, Abject Failure Keith Dayton Said Nablus Was Fatah's "First Real Test" How's That Going? (Plus: Dozens Of Fatah Soldiers Building Rockets, Targeting Israelis) [MR]
Related Mere Rhetoric Categories:
* The Omri Ceren Show
* Human Rights
* US Security Aid
