Now you see it, now you don't

(photo by me) Israel is again fanning the flame of revolt by excavating the area under the Al Aqsa Mosque (the Dome of the Rock) with the intent to build a synagogue a mere 40 meters away, overlooking the mosque. A very brief history: Muslims believe the actual rock under the Dome is the location of where the Prophet Muhammed rose to heaven and made a journey touring heaven, receving the commandments, and returned to Mecca with these commandments to tell instruct the faithful of them. This makes the Dome of the Rock the third holiest site in Islam. Jews contend the site of the present mosque is where Solomon built the magnificent Jewish temple (Bet HaMikdash) which was destroyed by the Bablyonians in 586 B.C., rebuilt, then subsequently destroyed again by the Romans in 70 A.D. What remains of the temple supposedly is the Western Wall or Wailing Wall. Jews believe that restoration of this temple, the third temple, will precede the coming of the Messiah. For this, Jews pray three times a day. It’s a contentious area to say the least. In 2000, former Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon visited the Dome of the Rock, instigating the intifada. Sharon was an ass, but Olmert, Israel’s new Prime Minister, is just plain stupid. If Israel really wants peace with its Arab neighbors, should Olmert give permission for Jews to built a temple on such a hotly contested site? In and around Jerusalem, there are (Jewish) paintings, posters, and other representations of Jerusalem itself. In these depictions, many of them have simply erased the Dome of the Rock from the picture as if it isn’t really there. Perhaps their wish will come true. Today, Israel is restricting Muslims access to the mosque in preparation for the dig. To jeopordize the structural integrity of the mosque appears to be purposeful taunt by Israel, which will no doubt provoke a violent Palestinian response, which will in turn, give Israel more justification to treat the Palestinians with even greater violence. For this, I am afraid. Read Al Jazeera article here

Dershowitz Left Out in the Cold

Jimmy Carter, though I didn't much like him when he was president (nor was I old enough to care - except for never being able to go anywhere on account of the gas prices, which by the way, was because of USA support for Israel, but that's another story) is now my favorite octagenarian. Apparently he was invited to Brandeis University to give a speech about his new book PALESTINE: PEACE NOT APARTHEID, and Brandeis, as many of you know, is made of a rather large Jewish constiutency (if I may quote their website: ""Brandeis has a clear and unambiguous identity that rests on four solid pillars: dedication to academic excellence, non sectarianism, a commitment to social action, and continuous sponsorship by the Jewish community.") Needless to say, but I will, Carter's speech was an interesting moment. Pretty ballsy. Originally Carter was invited to debate everybody's favorite Jew they love to hate, Alan Dershowitz, however, Carter is more dignified than that and refused. Dershowitz had to wait outside the Brandeis gym while Carter gave his speech. hahahahahaahahaha. Read about it in the Boston Globe here: Read Boston Globe article here

Who Is Avidgdor Lieberman?

In the Fall of 2006, Avidgdor Lieberman entered the government of Israel as Deputy Prime Minister of Israel and Minister of Strategic Affairs, a new position basically focusing on preparations for war with Iran. Among Lieberman’s more racist attitudes, are these stances on Arabs: - Execution of Arab Knesset members who speak to members of Hamas or who celebrate the Nakba Day (marking the Palestinian diaspora). - Land and population exchange that would reduce the number of Arabs who are Israeli citizens - Says non-Jews are not welcome in Israel - Called for thousands of Palestinian prisoners held by Israel to be drowned in the Dead Sea and offered to provide the buses to take them there. In 2002 Lieberman said he would not flinch at ordering the IDF in the West Bank to destroy the PA’s military infrastructure, and everything else, including civilian targets. That same year he also said the IDF air force should bomb Palestinian commercial centers, including banks and gas stations. The Israeli newspaper Ha’aretz said, “"The choice of the most unrestrained and irresponsible man around for this job constitutes a strategic threat in its own right. Lieberman's lack of restraint and his unbridled tongue, comparable only to those of Iran's president, are liable to bring disaster down upon the entire region."

Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid

Even though a former US President has written a book condemning Israel for its apartheid-like treatment of Palestinians, the message will never get through the thick heads of the US congress. Minority House leader, Nancy Pelosi, (Democrat), said about the book, "It is wrong to suggest that the Jewish people would support a government in Israel or anywhere else that institutionalizes ethnically based oppression, and Democrats reject that allegation vigorously.” First of all Ms. Pelosi, the allegation was not made at you, so how do you have the right to reject it? Are the Democrats of the USA speaking for Israel? Why? Further, if you stepped outside of your obviously vacant brain, beyond CNN and Fox News, you could see the writing on the (apartheid) wall. I haven't read the book, but I am sure I will find no surprises here. Carter basically criticizes Israel settlement policies, the wall, and the US for being complicit. He says, "Israel’s continued control and colonization of Palestinian land” as “the primary obstacles to a comprehensive peace agreement in the Holy Land.” Hopefully, this debate doesn't get quashed by the likes of well-intentioned but basically ignorant politicians like Pelosi. Read why Carter wrote the book here

IDF Blog

This is a fantastic blog written by an Israeli soldier and remedies the belief that the Israeli army is one of the toughest in the world...it's very real and very human. HER Nov. 6th entry is priceless. http://madrona.typepad.com/givingupsundays/

Documentary part one - A Stone's Throw Away

I am working on a documentary about my time spent in the West Bank. Though it is a work in progress, here is part one. Hope you like it. Also, the photos are mine. Public Transportation Careening through Israeli army firing ranges with crooked olive trees bent toward chapped earth, through fields of burning garbage, the taxi van curves around snaky roads hissing through sleepy Arab villages, passing donkeys and children who scurry away from the listing, determined vehicle. Switching vans every now and then, passengers wring their way through frequent checkpoints emptying pockets, opening robes, waiting for permission. Stop for water at small stores, share a fig, pass other vans on narrow roads configured like a curly willow branch, rushing, music blaring, the driver with one hand clutching a cellphone, hurrying past minarets with backbones as straight as a soldier. Black cloth curtains on the windows jammed shut, like the warm breath of a sigh. Red tile Israeli settlement rooftops whiz by, dense and uniform, plump with falafel stands, landscaped public spaces, the sweet smell of fresh cut grass, surrounded by security fences and other barriers, cutting through Palestinian towns like scissors. Passengers eventually abandoned near a lump of rocks at a dead end road, arriving, on foot, to the village of At-Tuwani. Routine Children tumble into the room with the tenor of clanging pots and pans, shouting and pointing, sweaty and big eyed, speaking feverishly. Settlers, one of them says. Adults hurry outside. Two men on horseback sit frostily at the edge of the settlement’s forest challenging boundaries with their presence, near fields where Palestinian shepherds graze sheep. The inertia of uncertainty drapes itself around the terrace where the adults are composed. Watching steadily. Any movement from the riders. On stand by. A phone rings. One child picks up a stone. As if holding their breath. Waiting. The horsemen ride away uneventfully after a few minutes. You can’t talk to them, one of the men says, if I walked into the settlement right now, they would kill me. Moments later, an army vehicle growls its way up the dirt road and parks outside. Israeli soldiers, checking on things, cautiously look around, ask questions, flash rifles. Carry on. Khadra Gathered under a tarp, she shoos flies and chats as lethargic breezes from low hills drift by, delivering momentary relief as she wrestles with the midday heat of a late summer day and hulk of her black dress. The afternoon opens like an oven. Blankets and rugs tangled in posts and ropes block the tilt of the sun, drooping with wooly weight and itchy unforgiveness. Shoes are taken off and placed near the edge of the tarp, creating an imaginary border between inside and outside. Her black cotton dress, dappled in embroidered purple irises, red poppies, and blue anemones, reflects the once blossoming land of her ancestors. She rests crossed-legged, stiff backed on the stone slab. Guests sit on thin foam mattresses. Her son brews sweet mint tea. Her voice, a jackhammer, breaks the respite. My family was grazing our sheep near our olive trees close to the settlement. Twenty settlers came out of the woods with security forces and beat us with sticks and slingshots, she says matter-of-factly. Deep scars on her lip and chin punctuate her fraction of a smile. But I was not scared, she says, and sits up like a poised needle. She pauses for a hot intake of breath, exhales, spits her words out in controlled bursts. We can’t live near them in peace…we can’t trust them…they have never come to help us, only to beat us. They have guns and we have stones. What can we do, she says, her eyes like seeds.

Politics of Space and Policies of Closure - Vulnerability in the Middle East

Globalization is actually…not global. Palestinians living in the occupied Palestinian territories (OPT) are on the brink of being excluded from history in their own Diaspora within their own country. They are in the process of being literally written off the map because of the effects of what Jan Nederveen Pieterse calls “uneven globalization” (2004, p. 30) and the shattered potential of a borderless world. As Pieterse points out, “…contemporary globalization refers to the exclusion of the majority of humanity…” (Ibid) where the world is parsed out between who has access to globalization and who has not. In the contemporary world where information is the “raw material” (Castells, 1996, p. 61) holding the key to development, not vice-versa, the Palestinians operate with on enormous deficit. Pieterse explains this “cultural differentialism translates into a policy of closure and apartheid. If the outsiders are let in at all, they are preferably kept at arm’s length in ghettos, reservations, or concentration zones” (p. 56). He clarifies this “paradigm of differentialism” (Ibid) by saying it follows the principle of purity in blood, lineage, or race (p. 56) and evidence of this lies in Israel’s separation-like behavior toward the Palestinians. Robert D. Kaplan, National Correspondent at The Atlantic, describes this “bifurcated world” more succinctly as “part of the globe is inhabited by…Fukuyama’s Last Man, healthy, well fed and pampered by technology. The other, larger, part is inhabited by Hobbes’s First Man, condemned to a life that is ‘poor, nasty, brutish, and short’” (2000, p. 24). In the OPT, the imbalance is salient; Palestinians are economically, socially, physically, technologically, geographically and politically hemmed in and shut out from globalization. Natural resources are scarce in the region and subsequently the people depend on trade. Israel became a member of the World Trade Organization (WTO) in 1995, however the membership benefits do not extend to Palestinians living there (WTO, n.d.). A glimpse at the The World Factbook, an online repository containing data on every country in the world, notes industries in the OPT are “generally small family businesses that produce cement, textiles, soap, olive-wood carvings, and mother-of-pearl souvenirs” (World Factbook-West Bank). These products are mainly sold to tourists in the souks of the OPT, not as goods to a global marketplace. Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) on the other hand, indicates, “Israel has matured into a knowledge-based economy with internationally competitive telecommunications, IT, electronics, and life sciences industries” capitalizing on its skilled and educated workers. The MFA also boasts a “highly developed infrastructure and investor-friendly business environment” as well as its enormous growth in the high-tech industry (MFA, 2005). While Israel enjoys free trade with such partners as Mexico, Canada, the USA and the EU, through WTO membership, (WTO) the OPT shares its exports with…well, Israel. Commercial airports in the OPT? None. Commercial seaports, with Gaza perched on 40km of coastline on the Mediterranean? Zero. The fact is, despite the internationally-recognized Palestinian Authority (PA) as the governing body of Palestinians, the Israel government controls nearly everything, including land, sea and air, blocking the import and export of goods and people, to and from the OPT. Palestinians even require Israeli-issued permits to sometimes access their own land, among other complicated and random procedures involving their movement (UN-OCHA, 2005; RAND, 2005; & B’tselem-Restrictions). In 2002, Israel’s government approved and began building a barrier to protect Israeli citizens from terrorists, but in reality, the barrier acquisitions land from the Palestinians which is subsequently absorbed into Israeli settlements. This barrier and corresponding settlements (both declared illegal by UN Security Resolutions), since their construction have swallowed thousands of acres of Palestinian land. In addition, maps of the barrier’s route show a contiguous state for Israel, and a divided community of Palestinians; At its completion, the barrier will affect around 1/2 million Palestinians. (Lein and Cohen-Lifshitz, 2005 and RAND, p.381). With the map of their country a minefield and the map key reflecting a new language to signify the diversity of barriers put there, the territory of the OPT has become “…a reflection of the map” not a map which reflects the existing land. (Bauman, 1998, p. 35) MAP. During the time the barrier was being built, there was a dramatic increase in foreign investment to Israel. The MFA reported from 1992 foreign investment in Israel was $537 million. In 2004 it grew to $5.3 billion. (MFA) Meanwhile, the land confiscation impoverished the Palestinians further by obstructing access to their land and their jobs (B’tslem-Restrictions). In 2000, poverty affected 22% of Palestinians; In 2004, it rose to 47% (UN-OCHA, 2004) and by 2006 it is expected to reach 72% mainly due to border closings (United Nations Consolidation Appeals Process, 2005, p. 5). According to The World Factbook, out of 3.9 million Palestinians – who also have one of the highest birthrates in the world – (RAND, p.16) only 160,000 have access to the Internet, whereas in Israel, at least half the population is online, with downtown Jerusalem gone WiFi. The World Factbook’s general assessment of Israel’s telephone system is the “most highly developed system in the Middle East…” (World Factbook-Israel; Gaza; West Bank). Cellular phone coverage remains dismal and segregated in the OPT; Placing calls outside the OPT requires a separate phone with an Israeli service provider which is difficult for Palestinians to obtain (Hereni, et al., 2005). Moreover, the Basic Laws of Israel only protect Israelis regarding human rights, freedom of movement, and ownership of land (Knesset, n.d.). These same laws actually restrict PA governance as well. In addition, Palestinians detained by Israel, are tried in a military court with no due process (B’tselem-Administrative Detention). Palestinians are forbidden to fly their national flag, drive on Israeli settler roads (Hereni, et al.), must obtain their electricity from Israel, (RAND). Finally, the names of their ancestral villages have been stricken from official maps of Israel. To say Palestinians are excluded from globalization is an understatement. The barrier built by Israel is the ultimate line drawn in the sand, an impermeable physical reminder of the vulnerability of Palestinians and a blank faced denial of their access to the benefits of globalization, where, as Kaplan (2000) alluded to, the Last Man stares with dull superiority across the divide to the First Man and a world of chaos…where the chosen ones remain opposite the invisible ones. With September 11, 2001 came sweeping pronouncements and Kantian-loaded speeches from U.S. President, George W. Bush; “Either you are with us, or you are with the terrorists” (Bush, 2001). Suddenly, the borderless world of globalization reverted back to the physical world. Geography became relevant again as people hunkered down in their homes in fear and the previous gleeful economic interconnectedness of the globals (Bauman) disappeared faster than a mouseclick. What arose from the ashcan of the World Trade Center was a shift in globalization – the invisibles make themselves visible and a resounding us-against-them mentality ensued. Out of the clear blue sky (of NYC), the locals were no longer at arms length. Fast-forward to 2005 and Hamas’ election to Palestinian parliament. One direct result of their election was an embargo on aid by the Middle East Quartet. After 9/11, Hamas fell under the gill net of the war on terror and the Roadmap for Peace, became a roadblock. Phase I of the edict called for Palestinian leadership to issue an “unequivocal statement reiterating Israel’s right to exist” (U.S Dept. of State, 2003) however, this leadership refused to comply. The ultimatum backed Hamas and the Palestinians, none of whom were involved in the creation of the Roadmap, into the metaphorical corner, facing financial blackmail of the globals. Freedom of choice, which they thought they were making in their elections, became choose us (the globals) or them (the locals-Hamas). With a “space war” (Bauman, p. 27 ff.) occurring within their own communities, the Palestinians are still expected to choose the very thing which seemingly has nailed them up against the literal wall – the globals’ version of democracy by accepting Israel’s right to exist. It wouldn’t be as much of an imposition if Palestinians were privy to globalization and the accepted precondition of democracy (or at the very least, a say in the wording of the Roadmap). In other words, it’s not only the exclusion of globalization which makes them vulnerable, it is the expectation imposed upon them by the globals, despite the exclusion, which is an additional liability specific to the situation in the Middle East. An illustration en pointe is when Thomas Homer-Dixon (Director of the Center for the Study of Peace and Conflict at the University of Toronto) quips, quoting Daniel Deudney, “Think of the a stretch limo in the potholed streets of New York City, where homeless beggars live. Inside the limo are the air-conditioned postindustrial regions…with their trade summitry and computer-information highways. Outside is the rest of mankind, going in a completely different direction.” (Kaplan, p.24). How can dialogue begin when there is an enormous crevice between Israelis and Palestinians, where concrete walls are built between families and jobs, when physical movement is obstructed by sharpshooters, where Palestinians are within reach (a stone’s throw) of the message but not the action (Pieterse), where the globals are literally on the other side of the paved road “simultaneously inaccessible and within sight” (Bauman, p. 54). How can Palestinians form the globals’ version of a democratic government, when one half of their “state” is inaccessible to the other and democracy is imposed, not generated from within their society? And further, if Israel is the example of democracy in the Middle East, what then is democracy? For the Palestinians, it seems there can be no Network Society (Castells) if there isn’t even a network. September 11th may have been a catalyst for peace in the region or a prescription for apartheid, but one thing for sure: it brought the physical world into the borderless world where the hierarchy of the Panoptipcon (Bauman, p. 34) was destroyed. Perhaps 9/11 generated a new version of globalization, where the people outside Homer-Dixon’s limo, use the power of the globals to create a new meaning of interconnectedness…a world where the globals (Israelis) must be validated or “recognized” by the locals (Palestinians). References Bauman, Z. (1998). Globalization: The Human Consequences. Cambridge: Polity Press. B’tselem: The Israeli Information Center For Human Rights in the Occupied Territories. (n.d.). Administrative Detention. The Legal Basis for Administrative Detention. Retrieved September 20, 2006 from http://www.btselem.org/english/Administrative_Detention/Israeli_Law.asp. B’tselem: The Israeli Information Center For Human Rights in the Occupied Territories. (n.d.). Restrictions on Movement. The Palestinian economy during the period of the Oslo Accords: 1994-2000. Retrieved September 25, 2006 from http://www.btselem.org/english/Freedom_of_Movement/Economy_1994_2000.asp. B’tselem: The Israeli Information Center For Human Rights in the Occupied Territories. (n.d.). The Gaza Strip. Israel’s Responsibility toward residents of the Gaza Strip. Retrieved September 25, 2006 from http://www.btselem.org/english/Gaza_Strip/Gaza_Status.asp. Bush, G. W., President of the United States of America. (Speaker). (September 13, 2001). Address to a Joint Session of Congress and the American People (Transcribed for Internet). United States Capitol, Washington, D.C. Retrieved on October 12, 2006 from http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2001/09/20010920-8.html. Castells, M. (1996). The Rise of the Network Society. Oxford: Blackwell Publishers, Ltd. Cramer, R. B. (2004). How Israel Lost. The Four Questions. New York: Simon & Schuster. Fukuyama, F. (1992). The End of History and the Last Man. New York: Avon Books. Hereni, H., and Khadra, Muhammed, Haja – last names unavailable. (August 13-18, 2005). Personal recorded translated conversations with residents living in At-Tuwani, West Bank. (Trans. Hereni). Hobbes, T. [1651] (1991). Leviathan. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, Inc. Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs (February 1, 2005). Israel’s economy shows growth in 2004. Retrieved September 28, 2006 from http://www.israel-mfa.gov.il/MFA/Israel+beyond+politics/Israel+economy+shows+growth+ in+2004+-+Feb+2005.htm. Kaplan, R. D. (2000). The Coming Anarchy. Shattering the Dreams of the Post Cold War. New York: First Vintage Books Edition, Random House, Inc. Knesset. Basic Laws. Retrieved September 25, 2006 from http://www.knesset.gov.il/description/eng/eng_mimshal_yesod.htm. Lein, Y. and Cohen-Lifshitz A. (December 2005). Under the Guise of Security: Routing the Separation Barrier to Enable the Expansion of Israeli Settlements in the West Bank. (Shulman, Z. Trans.). Downloaded February 13, 2006 from http://www.btselem.org/english/publications/Index.asp?YF=2005&image.x=20&image.y=10. Nederveen Pieterse, J. (2004). Globalization and Culture: Global Melange. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc. Palestinian Trade Center. (n.d.). Country Profile. Retrieved September 25, 2006 from http://www.paltrade.org/Paltrade/business/coprofile2.htm#Foreign%20Trade. The RAND Palestinian State Study Team. (2005). Building a Successful Palestinian State. Santa Monica, CA: RAND Corporation. United Nations Consolidated Appeals Process. (2005). Occupied Palestinian territory 2005 Mid-year Review. (GE.05-01229-June 2005-1,500) Geneva: United Nations. United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs occupied Palestinian territory. (2004). Review of the Humanitarian Situation in the occupied Palestinian territory for 2004. Jerusalem: OCHA. United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs occupied Palestinian territory. (March 2006). Gaza Strip Situation Report. The Humanitarian Impact of the Karni Crossing Closure: Bread running out in Gaza. Retrieved October 11, 2006 from http://domino.un.org/UNISPAL.nsf/eed216406b50bf6485256ce10072f637/67453c32078bbc 1a852571380076c202!OpenDocument United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs occupied Palestinian territory and the United Nations Refugee and Works Agency. (March 2005). The Humanitarian Impact of the West Bank Barrier on Palestinian Communities. (Update No. 5). Jerusalem: OCHA. U.S. Department of State. (July 16, 2003). Roadmap for Peace in the Middle East: Israeli/Palestinian Reciprocal Action, Quartet Support. Downloaded October 11, 2006 from http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/rls/22520.htm. The World Factbook. (n.d.). West Bank. Retrieved September 25, 2006 from https://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/we.html The World Factbook. (n.d.). Gaza Strip. Retrieved September 25, 2006 from https://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/gz.html The World Factbook. (n.d.). Israel. Retrieved September 25, 2006 from https://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/is.html World Trade Organization. (n.d.). Member Information. Israel and the WTO. Retrieved September 23, 2006 from http://www.wto.org/english/thewto_e/countries_e/israel_e.htm Associated Press. (10/11/06). U.N. Humanitarian chief says Gaza borders must be opened to avert ‘social explosion’. International Herald Tribune. Retrieved October 12, 2006 from http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2006/10/11/news/UN_GEN_UN_ Palestinians_Gaza_Crossings.php

WTF?

John Bolton is a card carrying member of AIPAC. Probably comes as no surprise to most of you, but I have had my head buried in other things. He not only spoke at the AIPAC conference in March 2006, but he also prior to that, won the "Defender of Zionism Award." Here's an excerpt from his speech last March: "I sometimes find it an odd question because to me the answer is so strikingly simple, but I have been asked before why I remain so strongly committed to the protection, preservation and prosperity of Israel. My answer is straightforward: unlike Mr. Ahmadinejad, I know my history. Whether from school, or more poignantly and heart-breakingly, from the stories of survivors of the Holocaust, I know what can happen when we turn a blind eye to tyranny, whether it manifests itself as fascism or, in this case, as totalitarianism. Many of you here in this room are responsible for helping me, indeed all Americans, to understand this undeniable truth. But know that I will do what I can to continue to fight against anti-Semitism in whatever form it takes, and wherever it happens, including at the United Nations. As it turns out, and as you well know, my current position lends itself well to such a fight. Your unrelenting and constant support, though, has been indispensable in our mutual fight for what we cherish most – freedom and democracy. For that, I thank you." Mr. Bolton does not know his history as stated. First of all, Israel is not fighting a war with Iran, the country he is obviously villifying in opposition to Israel, nor is Iran currently involved in terrorist attacks on either Israel or the USA.Tyranny and totalitarianism is something Israel is very familiar. Formally the are denoted as a democracy. In reality, their tyranny is far worse than what is going on in Iran. They have killed something like 3.7 Palestinians to every one Israeli killed, while creating hundreds of thousands of refugees all over the world. Furthermore, they will not give Palestinians their own state, yet will not give them the same legal rights as Jewish Israelis. And freedom? Not only are the Palestinians walled within their villages, but so too are the citizens of Israel. Both sides are shut in and shut out. That is not freedom. Palestinians are semitic. From the Wikipedia definition - " In linguistics and ethnology, Semitic (from the Biblical "Shem", translated as "name") was first used to refer to a language family of largely Middle Eastern origin, now called the Semitic languages. This family includes the ancient and modern forms of Amharic, Arabic, Aramaic, Assyrian, Akkadian, Hebrew, Maltese, Syriac, Tigrinya, etc." If he truly believed what he said, he would support the Palestinians right to exist, not just Israel's. United with Israel is not in America's best interest. There is no partner in the war on terror with Israel. Their enemies are not America's enemies. Israel is precisely the reason US relationships with certain countries (i.e. Iran) are so tenuous. Mr. Bolton, tear down this wall!