Daniel Lubetzky

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Read the full piece after the jump.

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Read the full piece after the jump.

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Two painfully poignant articles came across my email box indicating the resentment Palestinians have towards President Abbas for participating in a peace conference in Israel amidst the war with Hamas in Gaza, and Hamas’s fury that Abbas has not done more to support them.

It is true that Abbas is stuck in between, and weakened by, violent extremism on both sides – from the kidnapping and murder of there Israeli teenagers, to the live burning of the Palestinian teenager in Shuafat – and that he can exert little influence on, or neutralize, either the extremists from Hamas or the extremist Israelis from Habait Hayehudi who fan the flames of hatred and seek to annex the West Bank.

But that is only part of the analysis. The true losers from all of this are ALL OF US. Every Israeli, Palestinian and international citizen is worse off, whether they realize it (as moderates do) or they don’t (as some extremists may think).

This is a wake up call to all of us.

These articles provide further proof – as if any was actually needed- to the Jews and Israelis and Westerners who have been brainwashed to think that Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas is an extremist (!) or a ‘terrorist’ (!) by hateful edicts from Israeli Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon to Economic Minister Naftali Bennett, to even Netanyahu on some occasions – that President Abbas is the strongest partner for peace and non-violent means to achieve it, equal in those values and temperament to President Shimon Peres, as the departing statesman has said himself.

And unless moderates on all sides stand up to seize back the agenda for conflict resolution and buttress the heroic moderate leaders who show strength in their courage and principled determination to pursue a two state solution through non violent means and through acknowledgment of the other, as Abbas has, and as Olmert had, and as Tzipi Livni and Isaac Herzog have courageously and selflessly and steadfastly done also, all of us will share the blame for the Balkanization and Lebanonization of the Holy Land.

Time we wake up and mobilize.

This article (shared below in full) talks about a Saudi man who takes holidays to go fight the Shiites in Syria. It is a compelling read.

I initially pondered if a silver lining of the Syrian war was that the extremists on both sides would deplete each other – with Iranian proxies like Hezbollah and Assad’s army fighting off Al Qaeda surrogates and affiliates and neutralizing and weakening each other.

But the inescapable lesson from this horrible conflict is that hatred and inhumanity breed more hatred and inhumanity, which can come back to haunt humanity in unpredictable ways. In the end it makes all of us worse off.

Just like a whole generation of jihadists was groomed in the Afghanistan war to incite terrorist attacks across the West and also all over the Middle East, thousands of Muslims are being attracted towards a glamorized battle to defend their brethren in this war in Syria. It is hardening so many souls to the path of intolerance and violence towards those different from them. It cannot end well.

I wish the international community, including the US, had been much more forceful in preventing Assad’s atrocities early on, when a large majority of Syrians were standing up against his dictatorial abuses in a non-violent, moderate, and mostly non-sectarian way. That was the time for an international coalition to take surgical military steps to dethrone Assad and swiftly enable a process for new elections. This was such a tragic missed opportunity which will haunt our world for decades to come.

The Saudis, who are determined to oust President Bashar al-Assad and his patron, Iran, fear the rise of Al Qaeda’s affiliates in Syria but face fighting a proxy war using zealot militia fighters over whom they have almost no control.

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Iranian journalist, Amir Taheri offers his thoughts and suspicions of President Hassan Rouhani. Only time will tell how the new Iranian President will fare. Read Taheri’s full piece after the jump.

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This is yet another pitiful example of extremists disparaging one another. Moderates must vocally stand up to extremism on both sides of the divide. Otherwise, we are stuck with a relentless zero-sum fight between anti-Israeli and anti-Palestinian groups trying to delegitimize the identity and the humanity of the other. Any group that does not accept the fundamental right of each nation to a state, to freedom and to dignity and peace is part of the problem.

If we do not stand up firmly and resolutely against these extremists on both sides, they will continue feeding and strengthening one another and eventually turn both Israelis and Palestinians into international lepers. It is already happening. The question is whether enough of us will stand up before it’s too late.

The absurd alliance of Argentina and Iran to jointly investigate a 1994 terrorist attack against the Buenos Aires Jewish Community Center circumvents justice channels by allowing Iranians to absolve themselves of any blame from the prosecutor’s chair. Andres Oppenheimer further explores the complexities in his Miami Herald piece after the jump.

Spotted by Daniel Lubetzky, by Julianna Storch

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Thanks to Harriet Green who shared this extraordinarily powerful viral video by Invisible Children about a campaign to stop Joseph Kony, a heinous murderer who has abducted tens of thousands of African children to join his army, often forcing them to murder their parents and dismember others as a rite of passage.  It is incredible that someone like this has been able to elude justice for decades!  He must be stopped.  I pledge to join the campaign.  I have forwarded the video to all my team members, made a donation, and requested their kit to post posters, and encourage you to do the same.  It is our duty as human beings.

And for activists and campaigners anywhere, this video is also a must-watch.  The organization and team putting this together is extraordinary.  This is one of the best campaigns I have witnessed ever.  Truly commendable and cutting edge.  Lots for us to learn about.

STOP KONY IN 2012!

KONY 2012 from INVISIBLE CHILDREN on Vimeo.