First the good news. The State Ombudsman, Avigdor Raviv phoned this morning. He was to meet
with the State Comptroller within an hour to discuss my request to investigate the Shamgar
Commission. He assured me he was sympathetic to the request and that it did fall within the scope of
the State Comptroller's duties.
It's not approved yet but all you fine people turned the tide. Thank you, you did it!
For the past seven years I have been trying to make people understand that outside forces are
deliberately stirring up violence with the aim of sending foreign ie. UN troops to Jerusalem. This is the
Vatican's desire, that Israeli sovereignty end on the Temple Mount, with the Vatican taking control of
the holy sites and the UN in charge of security and diplomacy, yes, just like in Kosovo.
That is happening now, with Sharon ordered to prepare the pretext for the UN takeover. I told over a
dozen radio programs in August that the plan would be put in motion in late September, as the High
Holidays started. Well, I was right. There is nothing spontaneous about our mini-war. It was designed
from abroad. Note Albright and Chirac are cooking up the solution. Soon, very soon, the New World
Order will arrive in Jerusalem with its army guided by our treacherous, corrupted leaders.
I leave you with the latest World Affairs Brief, which puts things in perspective, a perspective sadly
lacking in Israel. Barry Chamish
WORLD AFFAIRS BRIEF Sept 22, 2000 Copyright Joel Skousen. Quotations with attribution permitted: Cite source as
Joel Skousen s World Affairs Brief. Website: http://www.joelskousen.com
MY IMPRESSIONS OF ISRAEL:
I recently returned from my fact-finding trip to the Middle East. What follows is my frank and personal assessment of the
modern state of Israel, without the embellishments of rose-colored glasses. Millions of religious pilgrims trek to the "Holy
Land" each year, skimming the surface of the country in almost total isolation from reality. Their guided tours, cushioned by
air-conditioned tour buses and 5 star hotels, concentrate on what was, not what is. Churches dot the Judean landscape, each
laying claim to a piece of the past that, with few exceptions, doesn t exist anymore. I would estimate that fully 80% of the "holy
sites" are not the actual location where the original events occurred--which in most cases is virtually impossible to determine.
The famed "Via Doloroso" tracing the presumed path of Jesus agonizing trek to Golgotha is merely an arbitrary walk through
14th century streets built on 40 foot deep rubble left over from the numerous destructions of Jerusalem s past. The few holy
sites that are authentic are encumbered by heavy stone medieval churches with dark interiors that do not, in my opinion, impart
any of the spiritual feeling of the original place.
The Israeli government itself helps perpetuate the mystical, romantic illusions of the past, being acutely aware of the millions of
dollars each year generated by religious tourism. The old city of Jerusalem is bathed in soft rosy artificial light at night to give
tourists that romantic feeling they can write home about. But the selective rosy views only mask the chronic tension enveloping
this relatively hostile land, a region bereft of natural beauty--except for about 5 weeks during the spring when wild flowers
briefly bloom, and commercial photographers descend to work their art of selective embellishment that makes Israel look so
enchanting in tourist brochures. So great is the contrast between promotion and reality that psychological clinics in Israel have
a special term to describe the disillusionment that often affects religious pilgrims. It s called the "Jerusalem Syndrome" and
refers to a chronic form of depression that can afflict those who cannot deal with the extreme contrast between holy and
unholy. But with all that said, and in spite of the crass commercialization of religious antiquities, I must admit that one can still
sense the God of Israel hovering over the land. I have no doubt that He intends to redeem Israel someday--and believe me, it
needs redemption.
LAND: I was struck by the steep ruggedness of terrain in the Judean and Samarian hill country. One doesn t get an accurate
impression of the stark hostility of this terrain from photographs. Though not very high in altitude the hills of Israel are almost
barren, extremely rocky and punctuated by deep ravines and gorges that make travel in central Israel a strain on man and
machine. From Biblical stories and movies one gets the impression that trips to Bethlehem, Bethany or even Nazareth are
relatively peaceful walks in the pastoral countryside. In reality, there is almost no greenery, only rocks and sand of a fairly
bland hue-- completely lacking in the brilliant colors and shapes characteristic of the deserts in Utah and Arizona. Travel
involves major descents into gorges often over a thousand feet in depth and climbing back up again repeatedly.
It was also sad to note how little topsoil had been allowed to develop in the hill country. Although the rainfall is extremely
sparse here, I attribute the main cause to extreme overgrazing. For centuries the Judean hills have been used to graze sheep
and goats which have extracted the last once of nutrition from this land and not given anything back. Even today herds of
sheep and goats, mostly Bedouin-Arab owned, forage on almost bare ground with no visible grass--only tiny bits of stubble.
This destruction of the long term soil development is typical of many things I witnessed in Israel on Arab lands. There seems to
be a politically correct notion that Arab tribal nomadic culture requires that they be left to age-old practices, no matter how
damaging they are to the land agriculturally. The Israeli government is also under severe pressure internationally to let the
Arabs do whatever they want.
AGRICULTURE: There are two fertile plains in Israel, one along the Mediterranean coast and the other around the sea of
Galilee and the Jordan river (which is more like a small creek). Both areas have been put into intensive cultivation by the
Israelis. While there have been many comparisons to the Biblical adage of making the "desert blossom," the extreme efforts
applied to maximize water resources in relatively poor soil have had many negative environmental effects. Water is
extremely scarce, and thus Israel has been at the forefront in the development of drip irrigation systems that conserve the
maximum amount of water. Large diversion projects of Jordan river water have, however, overtaxed the northern water
resources in order to expand agriculture to the Negev desert to the south, where the sandy soil is much less fertile. Maximum
utilization and reuse of fixed water supplies tends, over time, to concentrate contaminants and salt content, leading to the
corruption of the aquifers. Both Israeli and Arab controlled agricultural areas pump large quantities of water out of the ground
with deep wells. Overpumping from the aquifers has resulted in an increase in the saline content as water from the
Mediterranean sea seeps in to replace it. Excessive chemical and fertilizer use in agriculture and industry has also led to
extreme pollution levels in rivers and groundwater sources. Some rivers are actually toxic.
The Israelis are reacting to the problem with some earnest. More strict environmental regulations are being implemented, but
the Arab controlled areas are exempt for political reasons. There is also a growing movement in Israel to switch to organic
farming. I visited a few Kibbutzim (collective farms) and Moshavim (cooperative farms) that are on the cutting edge of
organic farming. Israel has developed a special fabric covering that allows them to grow vegetables free from insects
inside a greenhouse type enclosure. It is more costly, so much of this elite produce goes to markets serving the orthodox
Jewish communities world wide that require certified insect-free food.
Israel has established a significant agricultural outreach to other nations who desire to implement the unique low-water
farming techniques it has developed. The Arabs in Israel and neighboring Jordan have especially benefited from Israel s
willingness to share their agricultural expertise. Jordan has been radically transformed into an agricultural Mecca due to the
willingness of the late King Hussein to work with the Israelis rather than reject all contact as the more radical Arab factions
have done. For Arabs living next door to productive Jewish agro projects, the lure of becoming productive farmers has in
many cases overcome the innate hostility between the two cultures. I saw it with the Druse Arabs in the Golan heights and in
the Arab areas in Galilee. In these areas orchards may not be as well kept as the Jewish farms but at least they are vastly more
productive than before. Only in PLO controlled areas did I find such a strong hatred of everything Jewish that they refused to
join in the new green wave of agro-prosperity. As one example of extreme resentment, young Arab radicals regularly destroy
trees that the Jews plant as part of their national reforestation effort. This kind of hatred is an all too common byproduct of
constant PLO propaganda and incitement to exterminate all Jews.
ECONOMY: Most Americans don t realize that Israel has one of the most tightly controlled statist economies in the world. It
is socialist in the extreme due to a combination of early Zionist collectivist fervor and the influence of Russian and Eastern
European Marxists that came to Israel and formed the core of the ruling Labor Party. Israel s Histadrut, a kind of super labor
union, controls every aspect of Israel s economic life--at least until recently. During the last decade, there has been a slow but
persistent movement toward free-market reforms in Israel--not because the Jews have much of a free market philosophy in
their heritage, but rather because they have a naturally competitive spirit and were forced to compete in a fast-paced
international economy. When the government refused to implement needed reforms, there began a ground swell of rebellion in
the 1980s and 90s against Israel s ponderous education, medical, tax and regulatory establishment. The more the government
tried to suppress the gray and black markets, the greater the "brain drain" in Israel became as thousands emigrating to the US
and Europe.
The government s virtual monopoly on television was broken after private illegal cable services began sprouting up all over
Israel. The Histadrut s monopoly on health care was broken by a persistent gray market for after-hours surgery performed by
low paid doctors eager for extra money. Even Israel s ponderous "free" public education establishment is under attack as
religious and private schools are being formed in ever-increasing numbers to supplement low quality public education. Often
the best teachers can make more money teaching privately on the side than in their state controlled teaching jobs. In Israel,
public money is doled out even to orthodox Jewish schools which tends to keep them tied to certain political parties which
promote those subsidies in the Knesset.
Dependency upon government is a chronic addiction in all of Israel, keeping taxes so high that Israel has to beg for
American aid and loan guarantees every year, producing a very high ratio of foreign debt to GNP. Income taxes have been as
high as 80% in modern Israel, so naturally, tax evasion is rampant. Recently, to help stem the growth of the underground
tax-evading economy, income tax rates were reduced to below 50%, and new taxes imposed such as the 17% VAT tax. But
I noticed that only established storefront businesses (mostly Jewish) collected the tax. In the Arab markets (part of the
underground economy) I was never charged the VAT tax.
POLITICS: There are no free-market political parties in Israel, only shades of statism. Parties on the "right" are orthodox
religious parties who are opposed to "land for peace" concessions, but otherwise have their hands in the public coffers as
much as the parties on the "left." Except for the recent change to popular election of the Prime Minister, all voting in Israel is
for political parties--not individual candidates. You vote for the party of your choice and the party produces a list of who will
serve in the Knesset. Thus, the Israeli model of parliamentary politics is very close to Lenin s dictum of maintaining rigid "party
discipline." Members of the Knesset owe their entire political existence to the party, and only indirectly to the electorate.
Thus, the powers at the top can and do demand total conformity to the party line. For this reason, Israeli politics are rampant
with corruption. Payoffs and personal enrichment are commonplace as is the inevitable blackmail that comes when a party
official tries to oppose the party line. Virtually all high political offices, including those in the court system are part of the
political patronage system. Hence, it is almost impossible for a beleaguered Knesset member to recur to the courts for justice,
if the Powers That Be are against him. The mere threat of prosecution is turned off and on like a spigot to induce the desired
leverage on wavering politicians. This week s announcement that the investigation into Benjamin Netanyahu s corruption
charges is being dropped is a tell-tale sign that the PTB are intending to resurrect Netanyahu as a leader in the Likud. This is
part of the ongoing evidence pointing to external control of both major parties in Israel.
The Labor Party has undergone a continual stream of factionalization since 1948 when they began with an outright majority of
the 120 seats of the Knesset. Now they hold less than 20 seats and must build coalitions with other parties in order to rule.
The Labor Party still has two major factions within its ranks--one allied with Shimon Peres who is tightly controlled and
financed by the European NWO globalists, and the other aligned with Ehud Barak, the current Prime Minister who, in turn, is
controlled by the US faction of the NWO globalists (Kissinger and group). The other two major parties Likud and Shas range
in support between 15-17 seats and must form coalitions with other opposing parties in order to govern.
The Likud Party is the Israeli equivalent of the American Republican Party. While the Likud has several members who are
pro-free market in orientation, the leadership under Ariel Sharon and Benjamin Netanyahu is as corrupt as the Labor Party.
Sharon is a close friend of Shimon Peres, so there is little difference in their politics except that Sharon pretends to be the
opposition. Bibi Netanyahu owes his entire political career to the Henry Kissinger group in the US who financed his education,
got him a job on Wall Street and guided his rise in Israeli politics.
The Shas Party is a "right wing" party of Sephardic Jews whose base of support resides primarily among the Moroccan Jews
who have immigrated to Israel. Its most prominent leader (Deri) is currently in jail on corruption charges stemming from years
of taking bribes from his coalition partners in the Labor Party--who blackmailed Deri in order to keep the Shas Party aligned
with the leftist Labor agenda--something the Shas membership nearly rebelled over.
What is ironic is that the Arab population in Israel controls 10-12 seats and thus has become the determining faction that can
make or break any coalition. For this reason, it would be political suicide for the Israelis to allow a repatriation of millions of
Arab refugees to Israel, who would then be able to command a majority of votes in the Knesset. It is specifically for this
reason that Arafat is demanding not only an independent state, but that Israel (not the Palestinian state) absorb almost all the
Arab refugees. Arafat fully intends to take back Israel either by militarily conquest (after Israel s security position is weakened
by "land for peace" deals), or by democratic conquest via forcing the return of refugees to Israel.
PEOPLE: There are notable exceptions to the generalizations I will make here about Jews and Arabs, but I find these general
observations do correctly describe some of the underlying reasons for long-term conflict between the two groups. The Jews
represent about 80% of the population of Israel, and perhaps only 20% of these could be considered deeply orthodox. The
rest are composed of traditional and secular Jews, most of whom have some feeling for generic Zionism (support of a
homeland for the Jews) but who are otherwise very liberal and left-leaning in their politics. The Sephardic Jews are Semitic
peoples and tend to be more fervent in their defense of Israel as a nation. The Ashkenazi Jews come from eastern Europe
and Russia and tend to provide most of the high intellectual power in Israel, as well as a disproportionate amount of its socialist
and Marxist policies.
There is a fair amount of conflict among the Jews themselves, as the various factions hardly agree on anything. In contrast to
this innate competition, however, there is a general feeling of collective unity that keeps them from splitting apart entirely, borne
out of a common heritage and welded together by persecution. This same collective mentality has allowed the Jews to
prosper under socialism (at least in the incipient phases of economic development) that normally proves disastrous in other
cultures. For example, none of the collective farms the Israelis helped develop in Africa survived, even when managed by
Israelis. Israel s brand of socialism has, itself, had to give way to free market techniques in order to compete in the world
economy. Many Kibbutzim have dropped their most onerous collective policies or have converted to Moshav-type
cooperatives. The Jews are clearly the most industrious group of people in the entire Middle East and thus are destined to lead
economically.
On a negative note, I found a certain amount of insensitivity to the feelings of conscience among both Jews and Arabs.
Everywhere we drove in Israel, there was a pervasive discourteousness, a quickness to anger, and a reluctance to give way in
heavy traffic. Although Jews are, generally, highly rational and quick mentally, they have a certain tendency to reject, in a very
off-handed manner, new concepts that didn t fit into existing patterns of thought. Despite their quick minds, Israeli Jews are
almost totally blind to the deceptions and corruption involving many leaders at the national level. They have almost no concept
of the dangers of the NWO and the globalist agenda to subjugate Israeli sovereignty for the "global good." Even though
approximately 80% of Israel knows about Barry Chamish s startling investigations documenting the role of the Israeli secret
service (Shabak) in the murder of Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, they do nothing. So while there is a subtle collective feeling
on behalf of their national survival, it gets mistakenly mingled with a reliance upon national leaders which produces a uniform
type of apathy concerning individual action.
There is perhaps an overconfidence inherent in the Jewish mind as well. In intellectual discussions I find it very difficult to get
thinking Jews to consider other points of view. On more than one occasion while interviewing some of the best and brightest
Jewish intellectuals, I found them completely insensitive to certain spiritual and libertarian ideals. At the same time, ironically,
there seems to be a fascination in the Jewish mind with intricate conceptual thought as evidenced by the great time invested in
study of the tiniest details in the Talmud and in other rabbinical writings. Why they cannot see through the complexity of global
or national deceptions and conspiracies eludes me.
Factionalism is rampant in Israel due to the intensity with which debate is embraced, especially on religious points, which are
highly subject to the special interpretations of each different school of rabbinical thought. I will say, however, that I found the
orthodox Jewish settlers to be happy, industrious group, filled with passion for life and for Israel. Their cooperative Yeshivot
(schools) are a model of self-help and sacrifice in order to provide a better life for their children. They are certainly not the
"right wing" fanatics the liberal media in Israel makes them out to be. Without this small core of faithful orthodox Jews, Israel
might not have received the many small miracles that led to national independence and subsequent victories over a determined
enemy with a massive quantitative advantage.
The Arabs are generally less intense than the Jews, more likable when not agitated, but less industrious as a whole. Part of the
Arab apathy in overcoming environmental deficiencies of their Middle East surroundings may be tied to the problematic and
fatalistic Islamic doctrine asserting that much of the bad that happens is the "will of Allah." In contrast, the Jewish concept of
being treated by God as a collective (The chosen people, the House of Israel) seems to motivate individual initiative to assist
the salvation of the group. Despite this collective view the Jews have of mutual protection the Jews tend to be independent
thinkers. In contrast, Arabs tend to be greatly swayed by group psychology. If they have good leaders, they are peaceable
and friendly. If they have bad leaders, as is presently the case in the extreme, they can be capable of mass hysteria and panic
or even aggression. Both Jews and Arabs are somewhat captivated by materialism, but in different ways. The Jews view
material gain as an ongoing tool for progress while many Arabs tend to view material gain as an end in and of itself. Thus,
possession of "things" is a sign of prestige in the Arab world. Sadly, because of this, petty theft is a common way of life
among many Arabs and is a constant source of irritation for the Jews. Some Jewish settlements have a hard and fast policy of
not hiring any Arab labor. However, because Jews tend to rise to entrepreneurial levels quickly in life, the Arabs provide most
of the basic labor pool. Thus, Arabs working among the Jews are a permanent fixture in Israel, and of benefit to both Jew and
Arab. However, the constant problem of things "disappearing" keeps a barrier of distrust between the two peoples.
There is another imbalance in the relationship between Jews and Arabs that must be aired. Except in times when border areas
are sealed during terrorist attacks, Arabs can come and go among the Jewish controlled areas in perfect safety, with no fear of
reprisals and vindictive behavior. Yet Jews can never go into Arab controlled areas of the Palestinian Authority and
have that same assurance of safety. In the Gaza strip there is a separate strip of land owned by Jewish settlements on the
coast. The Jews must pass through Palestinian controlled land to get to their zone, and often they must be accompanied by
armed convoys of Israeli troops. This week, two Israeli soldiers were wounded (one fatally) in an Arab attack on a military
convoy trying to protection Jewish civilians trying to get to their homes in Netzarim--a Jewish settlement in the Gaza strip.
Clearly this is evidence that only the Israelis can be trusted to provide overall security to the lands where a mixed population of
Jews and Arabs exist. I don t believe this is a reflection of the common Arab himself, who has a tradition of hospitality, but
rather of the hostile Palestinian leadership that is itching for a fight.
Also in the news this week was a deliberately-staged Arab riot protesting the entrance of Ariel Sharon and a group of
Knesset members onto the temple mount. By prior agreement with the Arabs, Jews have a right to free access to the temple
mount. But wherever the Palestinian Authority (PA) has been given security authority over a sector occupied by both Arabs
and Jews, they refuse to allow Jews safe passage. Worse yet, the Israeli government lets the PA get away with it and the
international community says nothing. In this case, the Palestinian Police chief made clear and provocative statements about the
impending visit designed to encourage Arab radicals to gather at the temple mount and prepare to attack--which they did,
resulting in minor wounds to 34 Israeli policemen. But I suspect that Sharon was not simply trying to publicize the fact that the
Arafat would not be fair or even handed in the management of the temple mount. Likud may well be helping the Labor Party s
initiative to give away sovereignty of the temple mount to the United Nations. By precipitating a nasty Arab reaction on the
temple mount, it helps move the international community to a position that rejects both Jewish and Arab sovereignty over the
contested holy site. The UN tries hard to maintain the image of fairness, but historically the UN has only acted to curtail Jewish
self-defense, not Arab aggression. It will happen again if the UN has its way.
