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"It is better to take refuge in Adonai than to trust in human beings; better to take refuge in Adonai than to put one's trust in princes." -Tehilah 118:8-9



Annapolis and the Fall of America: Part I

We know where Annapolis is taking us to, namely; Auschwitz borders, expulsion and deportation of 200,000 Jews and the division of Jerusalem with the Holy Basin under the control of the Muslims. Need we know more?
-Ted Belman, Annapolis will bring death and destruction. Israpundit 14 Nov 2007

The United States government is in the process of organizing a Middle East "Peace Conference" to be held at the end of November in Annapolis, MD. Of course, Ted Belman and the fine folks at Israpundit have been following the press and providing analysis on the prospective event. To give you an accurate timeline of current events surrounding the Annapolis conference, I summarize mainly from Israpundit's excellent archive:

Oct. 16: Israpundit quotes David Bedein of The Bulletin who writes,
A week ago, in an attempt to show maximum flexibility during the forthcoming negotiations in Annapolis, Md., two senior Israeli cabinet ministers - Haim Ramon and Avigdor Lieberman - declared that they would be willing to cede Arab neighborhoods in Jerusalem, Israel’s capital, to the sovereign control of a future independent Palestinian state. “Ceding Arab neighborhoods in Jerusalem” does not sit well with many Israelis and conjures up images of what Jerusalem endured from 1949 until 1967, when the city of Jerusalem was divided between Israel and Jordan. In West Jerusalem, on the Israeli side of the divide, people from all religions could visit and reside. In East Jerusalem, on the Jordanian side, no Jew was allowed.

...WITH DOUBTS ABOUT SUCCESS IN ANNAPOLIS, A SEPARATE ISRAELI-PALESTINIAN CONFERENCE WILL CONVENE TWO WEEKS EARLIER

With almost every media outlet in the Middle East expressing doubt the scheduled Middle East summit on November 26th will bear any fruit, public relations advisors to the Israeli, American and Palestinian leadership have suddenly orchestrated a high profile meeting with more than eighty senior Israeli, American and Palestinian leaders to discuss politics, security, communications and economics.

This gathering will take part in a forum that will take place at Saban Center for Middle East Policy Center between November 3rd and November 5th.

The Saban Center is directed by former US ambassador to Israel, Martin Indyk.

...On Thursday, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert announced his intention to attend the November 3rd parlay and it was announced that the Middle East Quartet envoy, former British Prime Minister Tony Blair would be the main speaker on the official opening evening. The forum has scheduled plenary sessions on the Saudi Initiative, the Iranian nuclear threat, the role of the intelligence community and the democratization policies advocated by the USA and other democratic governments in the West.
Oct. 27: Israpundit publishes the press release,
Jewish Leaders Initiate International Effort to Keep the Jewish Capital Secure, Intact and United

NEW YORK, NY (October 24, 2007) - We are proud to announce today the formation and launch of The Coordinating Council on Jerusalem, for the purpose of uniting American Jewish organizations on behalf of a secure and unified Jerusalem. Rabbi Pesach Lerner, Executive Vice President of the National Council of Young Israel, founded the initiative as a united public front of Jewish American organizations towards the principle of keeping Jerusalem united. It has been endorsed by hundreds of Jewish leaders in the Diaspora and Israel.

Recently, in preparation for next month's Annapolis summit with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and United States Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, ministers of Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert’s government put forth their view that Jerusalem was negotiable and opened the door to concessions of parts of Jerusalem, including the Temple Mount, world Judaism's holiest and most revered site. Following his ministers' remarks, Olmert himself questioned the value of maintaining Jewish sovereignty over certain Jerusalem neighborhoods. As a result, Jewish leaders around the world are coalescing around a simple bottom-line position: World Jewry opposes Israeli negotiations which would include any discussion of ceding sovereignty over part or all of Jerusalem. ...

The Coordinating Council on Jerusalem, currently in formation, includes Americans for a Safe Israel, Association for Jewish Outreach Programs, Emunah of America, Hineni, Jerusalem Reclamation Project, National Conference of Synagogue Youth, National Council of Young Israel, One Israel Fund, Poalei Agudath Israel of America, Rabbinic Alliance to Save Jerusalem, Rabbinical Alliance of America, Rabbinical Council of America, Religious Zionists of America, Russian Jewish Community Foundation, Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations (OU), Unity Coalition for Israel, Young Israel Council of Rabbis, and Zionist Organization of America.
Oct. 29: Israpundit quotes David Bedein of The Bulletin who writes:
Jerusalem - Yesterday, following the weekly Israel government cabinet meeting, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert dispatched cabinet secretary Oved Yehezkel and his official spokesman Yaakov Galanati to brief the press about the steps that will lead to the Annapolis Middle East Summit on Nov. 26.

Mr. Olmert's spokespeople emphasized that the Israeli government did not expect to reach any agreement with the Palestinians at the summit and that that the 'only thing that would happen there would be declarations,' adding that 'Israel will announce its recognition of a Palestinian Arab national state alongside an Israeli Jewish national state, with Israel formally accepting the road map.'
Nov. 6: Israpundit cited David Brooks, in a New York Times op/ed, What is Condi Doing? analyzing:
It's not really about Israel and the Palestinians; it's about Iran. Rice is constructing a coalition of the losing. There is a feeling among Arab and Israeli leaders that an Iran-Syria-Hezbollah-Hamas alliance is on the march. The nations that resist that alliance are in retreat. The peace process is an occasion to gather the "moderate" states and to construct what Martin Indyk of the Brookings Institution's Saban Center calls an anti-Iran counter-alliance.
Nov. 11: Israpundit quotes Yisrael Medad, who writes:
...I do think someone erred in affixing the signatures of the two Chief Rabbis of Israel to the document of the "Council of Religious Institutions of the Holy Land".

...As we know, Secretary of State Rice encouraged the organizers to have their conference now to dovetail (no pun intended) with Annapolis. The document aids her in her efforts to wrest Jerusalem and more from Israel. That's the first reason the Rabbis should have stayed clear.
Nov. 12: Israpundit quotes Israel National News in reporting,
A dozen Jewish organizations have united to hold a "summit" calling for Jewish sovereignty over all of the Land of Israel, meeting on the same day as the Annapolis summit. The title:

Sovereignty for the Jewish Nation Over the State of the Land of Israel.

..."Recognizing that the Jewish Nation does not have a representative body," the formative statement begins, "and greatly fearing that the government in Israel is undermining the fundamental interests of Jewish existence (based on its declarations and actions in anticipation of the Annapolis summit), we - many right-wing movements and organizations - have united together to convene a counter-summit. Our goal is to emphasize what we stand 'for,' not 'against.'"

...The idea of the alternative summit, the organizers say, is to "establish the first-stage organizational and conceptual skeleton that will promote a congress to represent the entire nation, including hareidim, during the course of Nissan (April 2008)."

Among the initiating organizations are: Manhigut Yehudit (Jewish Leadership), Land of Israel Task Force, Cities of Israel, the Temple Institute, and the Sanhedrin. Also participating are Mateh Tzafon, Task Force to Save the Land of Israel, Women in Green, Nahalal Forum, and Honenu.

Rabbis who have lent their support include Kiryat Arba/Hevron Chief Rabbi Dov Lior, Sanhedrin President Rabbi Adin Steinzaltz, Rabbi Shalom Dov Wolpe of Chabad, Rabbi Yoel Schwartz, Rabbi Yisrael Ariel and more.

Participating public figures include Yoram Ettinger, Prof. Paul Eidelberg, Dr. Yossi Ben-Aharon, Prof. Gabi Barkai, Prof. Hillel Weiss, Atty. Aviad Visuly, Prof. Aryeh Zaritsky, Architect Gideon Charlop, Nadia Matar, Shmuel Medad, Dr. Uri Milstein, Aryeh Stav, Moshe Feiglin, Ronen Tzafrir, and many more.
Nov. 13: Israel National News reports,
U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice claimed Tuesday evening that a majority of Israel citizens are willing to give up Judea and Samaria in exchange for peace with Palestinian Authority Arabs.

Rice expressed optimism that progress would be made at the upcoming Mideast summit to be held in Annapolis in her speech to the annual General Assembly of the United Jewish Communities in Nashville, Tennessee. Most Arab states no longer deny Israel's existence, she said, but rather, what might be the price of peace. She added that most Israelis believe establishment of a PA state will be to Israel's advantage.
Nov. 14: Israpundit cites a Ha'aretz article that reads,
The Knesset plenum passed in a preliminary vote Wednesday a bill that would make it far more difficult to divide Jerusalem in the context of a peace agreement with the Palestinians.

54 MKs voted in favor of the bill, with 24 against. The Knesset holds preliminary votes on private bills, presented by individual MKs. Before being enacted into law, however, the bill must still be approved in committee and then pass three more plenum votes.

The bill, which was authored by Likud faction whip Gideon Sa’ar and 25 other rightist and religious MKs, would require the support of 80 MKs for any changes to the Basic Law: Jerusalem.

...The timing of the bill is also significant, and is designed to warn the government that it cannot make concessions on the capital a few weeks before the U.S.-sponsored Middle East peace conference in Annapolis, Maryland.
The board is set, and the players are cautiously making their moves.

More to come...

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posted by Shoshana @ 7:26 PM

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