Why Listen to Us?

April 2004

We in the United States have a lot to talk about. We talk and we talk and we talk. Committees are continuously set up and conferences held to discuss. Unfortunately, with all that talking, our country carries a big stick but talks too softly.

Our soldiers are getting killed at an alarming rate by the same savages who have been blowing up the buses and discos in Israel for the past three years. Despite 9/11 it hasn't quite hit our shores yet. The depressing vision of Arab fundamentalism blowing up Starbuck's and Macy's hasn't happened yet. And I hope it never does. But they are marching over the hill if you look really closely. 

Why do I mention this? According to a recent Jerusalem Times (independent "Palestinian" [Arab] weekly), U.S. officials are actually leading mediation efforts with the terrorist organization Hamas. They are trying to achieve a compromise with Hamas -- who is going to give one of their promises to be really, really good and freeze all anti-Israel attacks, including retaliations to Yassin's and company's deaths. Of course, in return, the Israelis agree to halt assassination against Hamas leaders. 

Do any of you see anything wrong with this picture? Is that like sending in the fox to check the hen house? And it's all so cozy. During all of this hustle and bustle of negotiation with the savages, Hamas has voiced its readiness for joining the PLO. They do state, however, that “Our position is clear. That is: We don't mind joining the PLO for ‘certain' conditions.” (All of these conditions detrimental for the future existence of the Jewish State.)

I'm surprised that our State Department hasn't worked a codicil in there to release a few hundred more prisoners from jails around the country. That is, if there are any left after the last amnesty, which wasn't so long ago. And who, incidentally, have already been responsible for more Israeli deaths.

What I find amazing is why on earth Israel would even consider listening to advice from Uncle Sam when we don't have enough confidence in our county to hire workers from here! It is virtually impossible to call any airline for reservations, or computer company for technical help, without getting someone from India and sometimes the Philippines to help you. Now that tax season is over, our own IRS is sending out their business to India. 

My friends who are out of jobs are complaining that all the work is being "farmed out." Here in Tinsel Town, emergency meetings are being held by the Screen Actors Guild to complain about "runaway production" to places like Australia, New Zealand, and Canada. Hollywood is alarmed, with good reason.

Gas prices are at an all time high and still they insist on driving SUVs -- and continuing to remain at the mercy at of the Arabs for our oil. 

It's depressing to read the nightly news and see the multitude of articles expounding on how the world hates the Americans. Gone are the days when all we had to worry about was whether Britney Spear wore implants, people kept their doors unlocked, or whether Ricky Martin was gay. 

The Arabs have brought to our door fear, loss of innocence, and economic collapse. Our borders are unchecked, and millions of illegal immigrants are filtering through these borders each year. If I had my "druthers," I'd take every serviceman that we had around the world defending countries that hate and envy us and bring them back to guard our borders. 

My disgust with the United Nations knows no bounds. They are ridden with corruption and deceit, and these evil and primitive governments have the nerve to meet on a regular basis to vote against Israel. Who cares?

I could continue, but it's too early in the morning to get so depressed. The question that plagues me, however, is why on earth would anyone, especially Israel, even listen, much less pay attention to, the "advice" the United States' leaders give about anything?

People, I believe, are finally beginning to wise up and realize that the Moslems aren't so peaceful after all. It took a year or two of them pounding our military men and women with "suicide bombings" to have us wake up and notice: Although the Moslem religion might have started out with lofty goals, they have been infected with a virus that glorifies death and carries it our with cold, unfeeling, and evil calculation. It's now down to “them” against “us.”

One interesting aspect that I've noticed is that since our nightly news reports are so filled with scenes out of Iraq, and our newspapers show page after page of the savage deaths of our American servicemen, they don't seem to have time to propagandize for the "Palestinians." Gone are the platitudes for the ”poor, downtrodden Arabs.”

The air-waves no longer fault Israel, as I noticed not so long ago. I suppose we've just gotten too busy noticing the problems on our own shores … finally!

Copyright © 2004 Arlene Peck . Reprinted here by permission of the author.

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No Excuse This Time Around

April, 2004

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I thought to myself, "L-rd, what has it come to?" when I found myself attending an all-day conference entitled "How to defend Israel (on campus, in the media, to the White House, at your office)". It was being sponsored by Stand With Us , AIPAC , and CAMERA . 

I doubted the conference until later that evening when I had dinner with a Jewish man from California who told me, "They ought to give Israel back to the Palestinians, to whom it belongs." 

Questioning him further, he replied that "they" were the Jews who didn't belong there in the first place. Controlling my anger, I smiled and asked this idiot to where he thought they should move? 

He responded, "Anywhere. They have money. Countries will take them in." 

It was then that the need for such conferences hit me. It took all of my control, despite my red hair, not to hit him. 

That is the reason why we – and in this case, the "we" stands for Jews and Christians who are alarmed about what is over the horizon – should be aware, and attend such conferences. 

When the Second World War was being fought, my southern relatives had excuses for inaction that we don't now. My daddy, a man from Atlanta, Georgia, was in the Navy and stationed in the Brooklyn Navy Yard. From what I gathered, the people at home knew there was a war, and all-out efforts were made to support our boys in the service. They really weren't aware, however, of what was happening to our brethren in Europe, who were systemically being slaughtered to the tune of millions, and were being herded into the ovens of the death camps. [Note: Reports of concentration camps, death camps, and the wholesale slaughter of Jews were being published in The New York Times regularly by 1942. - Editor]

The Atlanta Jewish community had lulled themselves into believing that President Roosevelt was a great man. I don't believe they knew that his immigration policy towards Jews resulted in their being trapped in Europe, where Hitler would find them. It was only later that they realized the allies did not bomb even one concentration camp, or even one railroad leading to a concentration camp.

Today we just don't have any excuse. Thanks to television and the Internet, the news is broadcast around the world. Unless you have been living in caves, as those in many of the countries that oppose us have been, you know what s going on. (Even there they use computers to keep in touch.) 

Even that haven of Arab propaganda, The Los Angeles Times , which had spent all week beating up profusely on Israel over the Sheikh Yassin killing, surprised me. They ran a token story on anti-Semitism entitled "New Anti-Semitism Stirs Old Anxieties." I found it a little ironic, as it was a contributing story at the same time their resident Nazi, Tracy Wilkinson, who never met an anti-Semite she couldn't write a story defending, had been moved to Italy to do her damage from there.

I didn't need the folks at Stand With Us, AIPAC, CAMERA, or any of the others who were at that conference that day to tell me that when it comes to the European Union, anti-Semitism is at pre-1930 levels. It's obvious when Europe makes a major issue of putting Israel on trial for war crimes when it takes steps to protect its citizens. And for the past year or so, Europeans aren't just after Israel, they're after the USA too.

They know you don't negotiate with people whose only reason for living is killing. Terrorism is terrorism, everywhere in the world. Except of course when it happens in Israel. Then it's reported as "incidents." 

We try and sound-bite terrorism, but somehow Israel's public relations (or lack thereof) don't quite convey what we need to hear: That being that The Jewish State is fighting a real, honest-to-goodness war. The side that speaks most effectively for peace will win American support. Yasser Arafat has been telling The Big Lie of "Palestinian" statehood for so long that there is an entire generation who grew up never knowing that there are no Palestinians. They are simply Arabs. 

I think, however, that we in the United States are finally beginning to realize that Israel's problem is now a global one. Too much of our tax money is going to people who wish us ill. (Although we haven't quite begun to realize that our aid to the downtrodden "Palestinians" is in reality fomenting a culture of hatred, and is going to fund streets, squares, and soccer teams named after suicide bombers, and towards payoffs to the families of terrorists.) Bombings of our own soldiers and embassies are getting to be all too common. And then there are all those charities such as CAIR that are funding terrorism yet even Senator John Kerry's wife makes donations to them.

I recently received an email from Professor Francisco Gil-White, who teaches in the psychology department at the University of Pennsylvania. He was fired because of his pro-Israel and pro-Serbian views. Initially I found it hard to believe that Professor Gil-White was actually being fired, until I made a call to the dean and also tried to speak with Prof. Robert DeRubeis, the psychology department chairman. None of my calls to the university were returned. It's unfortunate that good gentiles such as Professor Gil-White are now on the receiving end of persecution because of their defense of Israel. 

The situation has gotten so bad that it's almost impossible for any speaker who is Jewish or is from Israel to speak on any campus. The Arab coalition and their clueless, Jew-hating supporters are strong, and the universities have been greatly weakened by the politically correct dribble that is being taught to the students there. 

Even journalists are not immune. One of my colleagues, writer Steven Plaut, is facing thousands of dollars in legal fees because of a lawsuit initiated by Neve Gordon. Gordon is saying that Plaut damaged his good name. Yet, as Mr. Plaut states, how can someone who says Israel is a fascist, apartheid, terrorist state, and someone whose anti-Israel comments are regularly featured on the websites of neo-Nazis and Holocaust deniers, even have a good name that can be damaged?

The case was filed in a Nazareth court because Mr. Gordon wanted the case to be heard by an Arab judge. He thought an Arab court would be more sympathetic to Gordon's going into Ramallah illegally in the middle of Operation Defensive Wall to serve as human shield to show his solidarity for Arafat and the PLO. Now Mr. Plaut is facing thousands of dollars in legal expenses to fight off this frivolous suit. 

What is happening in Israel when anti-Semitism is at an all-time high, while freedom of speech is being slowly removed from Israel -- by Jews, no less. I am still astounded that the Arutz Sheva radio network isn't allowed to broadcast because they too have been deemed politically incorrect. Yet the official PLO media continue to broadcast incitement against Israel, even though Israel controls the airways.

Time is on Israel's side because terrorism is not a Jewish problem. Its cancer has a tendency to spread. It doesn't discriminate among its victims. The monsters who target buses, schools, discos, restaurants, etc., don't give a diddly-squat whether they kill babies, old people, or even the neighborhood dog. Our newspapers over the past couple of years have been filled with Arab terrorism. Our economy has been going down the tubes in large part because of Arab/Moslem terrorism and the cost of protecting ourselves against it. 

Anti-Semitism is an immediate threat, but  Christians are in the terrorists' sights now and reality is beginning to set in that our enemy is a common one. Now we in the United States are witnessing the grisly scenes of barbaric Arabs dancing and waving and chanting anti-American slogans while mutilating and burning the remains of U.S. civilians before dragging them down the street into the cheering mobs. The American mentality will eventually understand just how vicious, evil, and formidable the enemy is. 

Our army has already had a press conference stating, "We will have a deliberate, precise, overwhelming response." Funny, when Israel responds to terrorism with that attitude, the United Nations usually has emergency sessions protesting the harsh response. How this plays out is going to be interesting.

Israel has long known that the culture of the enemy is not one with which it is possible to reason. They understand force. I hope the time is coming soon in Israel when they will also understand transfer. That is the only option.

Copyright © 2004 Arlene Peck . Reprinted here by permission of the author.

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Finally! The National News Prints The News!

March 2004

Wow!! The Los Angeles Times recently printed an article in their paper about the "Palestinians" [Arabs] -- all about how “law and order breaks down in Nablus” -- and amazingly enough they didn't show any file photos of little "Palestinian" [Arab] boys throwing stones at the big bad Israeli tanks. 

In fact, for once they covered a story fairly accurately. The article described how the mayor of Nablus was quoted as saying that the once-thriving "Palestinian" [Arab] business hub has turned into a gun-crazy den of lawlessness. Gee! What a surprise! 

According to The Los Angeles Times -- that bastion of Arab political correctness: "Gangs rule the streets of Nablus, the West Bank's largest city, shooting rivals, strong-arming merchants, and carrying out beatings and kidnappings. Residents have no faith in the toothless police force, which shows little stomach for stopping the disorder. The courts are a joke.” Hmm, sounds as though the "Palestinian" [Arab] army that Shimon Peres and the rest of those fools supplied with guns are dangerous men, and are again turning them against their own people -- as they have so often in the past.

And Gaza? Hosni Mubarak, president of Egypt, is already disavowing any connection to Gaza, and who could blame him? I was in Egypt, in the city of El Arish, in September, 1978 while the Camp David settlement was being drawn up in the U.S. Then-president of Egypt Anwar Sadat wouldn't take back Gaza even then, when everything was up for grabs. He was calling it "a den of snakes" -- and who could blame him for not wanting it, especially when Israel was offering prime real estate and oil wells in Sinai?

A year ago I met with Dr. Daniel Pipes , and he told me that we were winning the war. I didn't believe him then, but I do now. The Palestinian Authority has lost control. As the internal power struggles are becoming more intense throughout the "West Bank" (Judea and Samaria) and Gaza, it's only a matter of time before all hell breaks loose and the Arabs realize that their violence is counterproductive. The next step is civil war.

That evil old man Arafat may be fading away, but his damage has been done. When I traveled into Gaza years ago I saw what a cesspool it was then, but that was nothing compared to what it has now become. I traveled throughout the maze of humanity in the casbah of the old city section. I thought then that it should be razed, and the terrorists who filled the nearby refugee camps moved out. Otherwise, the future was clear: There were too many people with nothing to do but look for new ways to kill. Thugs walk through the shops, steal what they want, and order the merchants to close during the funerals of their fellow terrorists. There is no one to stop them. Order is a thing of the past. 

Fatah is thriving here, and it's obvious that a pull-out by Israel would leave terrorist groups like Hamas, Hezbullah, and Arafat's favorite, Al-Aksa Martyrs Brigade, in charge.

Yet with all of this, Ariel Sharon seems to be plunging ahead, listening to dignitaries who have never had the good will of Israel in their sights. According to The Los Angeles Times , when speaking of the U.S. officials who are working with Sharon: “They want to ensure that Israel coordinates any moves with the Palestinian Authority.” I feel ever so much safer now that Yasser Arafat was quoted as saying, “Any withdrawal should result from face-to-face talks under the peace plan, which has stalled in recent months.” He continued, “The Palestinian Authority will maintain law and order in areas that Israel vacates.” Gawd! Don't you feel ever so much better about Israel's security?

I notice, though, that the evening news is getting a little more strident concerning the plans of the Islamic fundamentalists. Of course the fact that the end of Europe seems to be on the horizon -- caused by the fundamental transformations in the political and economic institutions of the European Union -- might have something to do with the feelings that are beginning to surface. France has been totally taken over by Moslems, and the character of their country will be probably be gone within the next decade. Are these the people the United States or Israel should be listening to?

Our public doesn't seem to be so concerned with the plight of the poor "Palestinians“ [Arabs] after seeing the carnage resulting from the multiple bombings of commuter trains in Spain this week. This act of violence and others like it were carried out by the savage cousins of the "Palestinians" [Arabs]. They all think that killing is the answer for everything. People are finally beginning to realize that the Arab promise of going after the "Sunday people" really is in their agenda. There is an element of world anger; people are beginning to voice their concern. And there are many good Christians out there who have joined the fight. 

The time is coming for Israel to make its move. As usual, it has been easy for the world to be benevolent towards the Arabs when it was only Jews who were being slaughtered. People had a tendency to be far more politically correct. But  the new reality of terrorism has finally hit. The millions in Spain who marched in a blinding rainstorm now had their own “Ground Zero” -- and because of the same savage Islamic fundamentalists. They know it's time to do something. I'll wager that their open door policies might be slamming shut and their politically correct mantras of "poor Palestinians" might be silenced. 

Not too many people, I believe, are taking our President Bush too seriously when he rambles on about what a peaceful culture Israel's neighbors are. Especially since you can count on one hand how many of the two billion they represent have actually spoken out to condemn these evil goals.

It is becoming more obvious, I believe, that to win the war on terror, drastic measures must be taken. We are idiots if we in the United States continue to keep our borders open and preserve the welcoming beacon of light for these forces of dark. The European Union tried that and they are in serious trouble.

Our President and the leaders of the EU are "concerned" with the security fence. They continue to push for the “roadmap to hell.” Well, who cares? Israel must do what it has to do. Although it's been at great cost to its citizens, Israel is winning the war of public opinion by continuing to systematically target the terrorists wherever they find them. Our country ought to be doing more of that instead of pandering to the oil interest that supports these terrorists. Building fences and closing our borders are things that the United States should emulate instead of criticizing the strong responses that Israel must take. And Israel? Transfer is a word that must be considered!

This war is not about land. Never has been. The "Palestinians" have a state. It's called Jordan.

Copyright © 2004 Arlene Peck . Reprinted here by permission of the author.

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I Strive To Be Politically Incorrect!

March 2004

To all of you who've written in to tell me how politically incorrect I am, let me take this opportunity to thank you.

Most of the time I think that we in the United States just don't “get it.” What does it take to realize that the Arabs have a plan and we don't -- their plan being: once they destroy the Saturday people, then the Sunday crowd is next. All this kissy, feel-good, be-nice political behavior, along with giving in to the ACLU and "human rights” groups, are destroying the very fiber of our country. And for some perverse reason, Israel -- which has more to lose in a shorter time -- seems to be following the same destructive path.

Have any of you ever looked at the pictures on our evening news of the masses of Arabs parading down the street having their “days of rage?” Gawd! Look into the faces of these barbarians who want to kill … anybody, everybody! They have a cause? What is that? Death?

I know it's difficult for people who are educated, or simply kind, to comprehend that there are people -- great masses of humanity -- who are harvesting hate. But it's true, and they are steadily marching to overthrow everybody and everything in their path. 

Even the Los Angeles Times, which has never been pro-Jewish State, recently had a column with the heading “Violent Rituals Gave Way to Violent Atrocity," which described how Arabs bloody themselves in worship as a way to warm up. Lovely. 

Let me tell you a little bit about Gaza. I've traveled there a few times as a journalist, and I realized (about ten minutes after arriving into that cesspool) that it is an overcrowded cauldron of hell bubbling over. It is filled with children who are being harvested for martyrdom by hate-filled fanatics.

I have never seen such old eyes in children as I saw in Gaza. More frightening, however, was the hate I saw in them. Maybe it's a result of their early introduction to manhood. For so many of these adolescent and pre-adolescent boys, their first introduction to sex has been by rape -- usually by a male relative. 

The Gaza Strip is jam- packed with young men (the women aren't seen as they are kept inside) with nothing to do but burn tires, make bombs, and think of ways to cause chaos. 

When they're not smoking their “laughing water” machines and burning tires, thousands of them are cheering and following in funeral processions, randomly shooting off guns in the air, waving their fists and shouting " jihad ." (CNN will probably be covering the story, commenting on how a "militant" was killed by big bad Israeli soldiers.) 

These are not people you can negotiate with. Hey, these aren't folks who you'd want to socialize with either. Unless of course you'd want to sit in a cave and have your coffee in a cup that hasn't been washed since the last journalist drank from it. They're sorely lacking in basic social skills, and only able to feel superior by treating women as sub-humans. I truly believe that these men treat their farm animals better than their women, but I've written about that topic in a previous column . Over here, these guys would never have a date for the prom.

I think our State Department is beginning to become aware of the seventh-century mentality they're trying to rationalize with in Iraq and Afghanistan. People -- parents -- who raise their children to strap bombs on their bodies so they can harvest the bounty for their deaths cannot be reasoned with. 

Yet these Arabs constantly rush to call United Nations special emergency meetings to condemn Israel for "crimes against humanity." If it were up to this "politically incorrect" lady, I'd forget about bulldozing the house of the terrorist's family and just raze the entire neighborhood instead. Let them go off and get acquainted with their 72 virgins. 

To hell with the folks at Hague! Human rights for terrorists? They want their loved ones bodies returned to them afterward so the family can bury them? You betcha! After they've been wrapped in pigskin! 

We in the United States haven't a clue about the kind of mentality it takes to deal with the savagery that is being forced upon us. To our way of thinking, to “racially profile” an Arab terrorist-in-training is rude. Our human resource departments are at a loss as to how to handle the foreign applications which are pouring in to our key companies from Islamic countries. We don't want to "violate their human rights" by checking too carefully. Yet not doing so is going to result in the kind of daily carnage that Israel faces, and what we're now seeing first-hand in Iraq is just the next step. 

There are others -- like Steven Plaut, Trudy Gefen, Naomi Ragen, Beth Goodtree, etc. --  who write as I do. And I'll bet they're also receiving letters berating them for being politically incorrect. I was even fired from a Jewish newspaper, The Jewish Post & Opinion, after thirty years because the new, liberal owners of the paper didn't like my being so “mean to the Arabs.” [See The Thought Police - Ed.]

Israel knows how to chase after and demolish those “militants.” In the old days they didn't much care what the politicians from the multitude of countries who regularly come out to condemn Israel had to say about it. They did what they had to do and they did it well. 

Now is the time for Israel to re-find those guts. 

Copyright © 2004 Arlene Peck . Reprinted here by permission of the author.

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Israel should treat the world like men!

February 2004

Recently, while unpacking some old boxes, I came across some treasures that had been packed away for more decades than I care to remember. I had saved all those old long-ago appointment books and love letters from probably more men than I should remember. The reason I mention this now is because, until then, I never realized what a terrible person I was.

After sitting down and reading these postscripts to my past, I noticed something. It seemed the more I was mean to these guys, the more they wanted me. Truly. Although I thought what a terrible person I was,  nobody in all those little stacks of envelopes seemed to mind that I gave them a hard time.

So it got me to thinking: Israel has been too needy. Just like the woman who sits in a bar with the expectant look of “Pick me! Pick me!" is never going to have a date for the prom, I think the same holds true for Israel. They want to be loved! They need to be appreciated!

The rest of the world? Well, to my thinking, it's pretty much the same thing. Israel tries to hard to be respected, loved, or appreciated for all the truly wonderful things that they are. So what? Treat the European Union like a scorned man and they'll come groveling.

And there is another thing I learned a long time ago: There are four words that need to be taken out of the English language. They are: ought, should, fair, and equitable . Because life ain't always the way it ought to be or should be, and for sure it's not fair or equitable.

Why should Israel give a diddly-squat that those very same folks who gave us the Holocaust decide to meet in the Hague to protest Israel? 

Besides, they're not going to like the Jews … no matter what. The Jews gave a conscience to the world. The Ten Commandments was a stunner! Until then, everyone was happy in their hedonistic ways. Hey, they could sleep with sheep and who would care. Moses had to do his "thing" and it's been downhill ever since.

The fact that the Jews are just tiny spot on the planet and the major recipients of the Noble Peace prizes doesn't help either. 

To give you a comparison: I think I have no problem with my identity -- until some young, tall, skinny blond wearing implants and hip-huggers walks past me. Do I like her? No! I think "witch." She could have the personality of Lady Di or the goodness of a saint. It wouldn't matter. She's hated by most of the women in the room. 

The same goes for Israel. Their immediate neighbors (most of which have the educational skills of an eggplant) hate The Jewish State. It's a shame. It's tragic. But that's just the way it is. Their schoolbooks teach math: “If Abdul kills three Israelis and Mohammed bombs ten, how many are left?” This is not a mentality you can reason with. 

I grew up in Georgia. It saddens me to say it, but the state was filled with men who I believe slept with their cousins. That's just the way it was. Do you think that they would have cared for a moment or reacted by changing their ways if the general population of California decided to violate their "states' rights" by interfering in the habits of the local natives? It almost caused a war when the state legislature decided to take down the Civil War flag from the courthouse.

Yet just as soon as George Bush or any of our State Department civil servants (who have been on the payroll of the Saudis for many years) snap their fingers, the wayward, hungry leaders of the State of Israel say “How high?”

Which brings me back to how Israel ought to treat her detractors like a successful woman treats her men. (Jealousy in moderation never hurt either.) The United States doesn't want to give that needed three billion dollars in foreign aid to Israel? Hey, call Michael Eisner! He's a nice Jewish boy who has money to burn and just turned down FIFTY-ONE BILLION dollars for a transfer of Disney to Comcast Cable Company.

Copyright © 2004 Arlene Peck . Reprinted here by permission of the author.

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Where is Irv Rubin When You Need Him?

February 2004

Recently, while transferring some of my past television shows ( Wow! It's Arlene Peck! ) from tape to DVDs, I had a chance to review some shows I had done with Irv Rubin. For those of you who don't know who he is, Irv was the Director of the Jewish Defense League, which was founded by Rabbi Meir Kahane who, like Irv, was also murdered. I knew both of these men well, and it's ironic how the words of both men -- which in those days were considered "radical" and "crazy" -- have become mainstream thinking today.

I remember Rabbi Kahane telling me repeatedly how “We Jews are the only ones stupid enough to give our enemies the ability to vote. Tell me: Which Arab country would Jews be allowed to visit, much less vote? They aren't going to beat us with bullets, but with ballots!”

Irv was another story. Although he didn't have the same charisma as Kahane, he was a powerful force. I have no doubts that he was killed in prison on his way to arraignment. The official story of suicide was ludicrous. Knowing Irv as I did, there is no way he would have killed himself. Especially after waiting a year in jail for his case to come up.

The reason I mention this now is because there is a terrible void. The kind of "rabble rousing" that these men represented is needed in the Jewish state. 

Israeli leaders (usually the same half dozen) come and go. And ten minutes after taking office they begin to capitulate to the demands and whims of our State Department -- most of whose officials, I believe, are firmly in the pocket of the various Arab countries that they once represented. 

Israel is not a banana republic, yet it is treated like one. Unfortunately, most times its leaders respond as if it were one, which doesn't help the situation. Instead of opening the jails and tearing down the fence, they might want to show a little backbone. Any other country at this point in time would be bombing the hell out of the "Palestinian Authority." Yet the current logic is “Let's tear down the fence so Arafat can go bomb another bus and we can keep the guys in Hague happy.”

Aside from the lack of leadership, where are the public relations from the Israeli government that are so sorely needed? Far too often I see issues being buried under "quiet diplomacy" when they should be shouted from the rooftops. Stories which should be placed in the national newspapers are totally ignored by local consulates. I think it's  necessary that full-page newspaper ads be placed on a regular basis to get the point across.

Walid Shoebat, who was recently a guest on my television show, was once a PLO terrorist. He is now a strong supporter for Israel. At great danger to himself he is speaking out about the violent culture which he was raised in.

A week or two before the taping I called the Israeli Consul General, Yuval Rotan, to invite him or a representative to appear on the show. As usual, I was rebuffed. I then contacted the Press Office to see if they would like to send someone to the studio to go on with him. Nobody was interested. What are those people doing over there?

Incidentally, I contacted the good people at Front Page Jerusalem , a Christian Broadcasting station with over a hundred outlets and they jumped right on it. Shoebat was even invited to North Carolina to attend a Christian Coalition meeting.

When speakers like Shoebat, or Daniel Pipes, or Tovia Singer, or most any controversial person who happens to be Jewish, are booked to speak at a University, the Arabs are there in full force. They intimidate. They threaten. And usually are able to shout the Jewish speaker down.

I spoke with Dr. Pipes on his way to the UC Berkeley campus, and he told me his reactions afterward. “It was a carnival atmosphere, but I also expected the university to do a much better job of controlling the outbursts, the insults, and the general atmosphere of intimidation.” He is a guy who can handle that; however, most speakers can't, and the students are the ones who suffer. 

In the old days, my friend Irv Rubin would have traveled there just as he did to Idaho to confront the Nazis. Where are the backups to combat these Arabs who are out there at our universities? Shouldn't the Israeli consul be doing less plaque-taking and more proactive hasbara?

When I was in Israel reporting, I went to that bastion of Arab anti-Semitism in Jerusalem, Orient House, where the press seemed to like to gather and have drinks in the evening. The Arabs were out in full force socializing with the members of the press. Maybe it's time for the Israeli Consul to do a little of their own promoting.

"Anti-Zionist" film festivals are becoming the norm at our universities, and the students are being taught regularly about the "siege and occupation" of Israel by the Jews. Anti-Semitism is running rampant at our schools. What is being done to combat it? The Irv Rubin that I remember would have been outside with a bullhorn reminding these planned "demonstrators" that they were not allowed to do all that they are getting away with today. He took his own "troops" to Idaho to confront the Nazis. Where are the backups to combat these Arabs who are out there at our universities? 

Like the hijackings and “suicide” bombings this violent culture has besieged upon the world, they have been very effective. So now the unthinkable -- anti-Semitism -- is given full reign and nobody is there to combat them. Maybe the Israeli consulate should be doing less "plaque-taking" and a little more basic public relations? We need someone around to remind the world, “Never Again!”

Copyright © 2004 Arlene Peck . Reprinted here by permission of the author.

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Walid Shoebat: From Terrorist To Zionist!

February 2004

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I truly believe that with some of our friends, we don't need enemies. And if the truth be told, we as Jews are often our worst adversaries. What makes those self-haters the way they are? Did their mothers not breastfeed them? Did they never have a date for the prom? 

I am often called upon to speak to groups, both Christian and Jewish. Lately I've been privileged to go on Front Page Jerusalem radio, which has a Christian audience. These good Christians are receptive to learning who the enemy is and what can be done to combat the raging waves of Islamic fundamentalism that threaten the very core of our way of life. 

It sometimes amazes me just how naïve Jews can be when it comes to "getting it." Given our past history, why are we as Jews so prone to putting our heads in the sand when it comes to the meaning of "peace" in the Middle East? The issue isn't one of land. No matter how much Israel cuts The Jewish State into pieces like salami for this illusive peace, it won't matter. The majority of Arabs don't want to live side by side with anybody. The neighbors of Israel want the Jews dead and gone. And, as they've frequently stated, after they've finished with "the Saturday people," "the Sunday people" are next.

I wasn't aware how big of a problem the brainwashing and cult of death had become until I recently had the opportunity to spend a few days with Walid Shoebat, who flew in to be a guest on my television show. This amazing man was once a PLO terrorist. Despite the time he's spent in Israeli jails, he is now an ardent Zionist.

I sat in awe while Walid told me, along with a room full of Los Angeles Jewish community leaders, how violent a culture he once belonged to. He reaffirmed how fundamental changes need to take place in the "Palestinian" [Arab] society before any negotiations can begin. 

"The hatred has always been in the minds of the Palestinians [sic] ," said Shoebat. "However, under the direction of Arafat, the books the children study in school have been filled with fallacy concerning the Jews for at least a full generation." Imagine all this coming from an Arab who was on the inside of it all.

The key word is education. The day a Jewish kid is born, the parents usually start a college fund at the bank. Unfortunately, when Moslem children are born they are trained as toddlers that the Jews are the enemy and must be killed. 

I've long known this basic fact. And that knowledge is validated when an articulate man like Walid tells us that "fundamental change needs to take place in Palestinian [sic] society, as an entire generation of Palestinian [sic] youth has been taught to hate The Jewish State." This makes an impression when it comes from a man who grew up and acted on the hate-filled background he was taught day after day. 

Walid continues: "The occupation is not Israel occupying the land which supposedly belongs to the Arabs," he says. "The true occupation is of the minds of Palestinians [sic] , of teaching them hatred for Jews. That is the real occupation." This is the message this amazing and very brave man is taking on the road. 

Later, at his lovely home, I had dinner with his family. His wife, and their children were terrific, and after spending time with them I was even more impressed. I had no doubts about the genuine and meaningful transformation of this former Palestinian [Arab] terrorist.

Walid told me he used to raise funds for the Palestinian Authority [PLO] to finance bomb-making and other terrorist activities. "I even walked to the Temple Mount one time with bombs, but changed my mind when I saw Arab children playing in the yard." He said he did, however, serve time in Israeli jails, and came close to lynching an Israeli soldier who miraculously got away.

There are others trying to educate the Jewish community about such dangers, however futile their efforts may be. Recently, I heard Rabbi Tovia Singer speak to a large group of Hillel kids about the dangers of anti-Semitism, and the lure of cults facing them when they got to college. He was impressive and seemed to make an impression on their young minds.

Itamar Marcus, from Palestinian Media Watch , spoke to a rapt audience at The Museum of Tolerance a few nights later when he showed the actual footage of the outrageous lies the Moslem youth are fed in order to indoctrinate them as adults.

Even Walid -- who, incidentally, has an American mother with her own horror stories to tell -- told me that when he was finally shown footage of the Holocaust on Israeli television he thought it was a fabrication. He related how he and his friends sat around eating popcorn and laughing and wondering how the Jews found skinny actors to fall into the graves.

It's great when my fellow journalists and activists, such as Trudy Gefen, Naomi Ragen , Steven Plaut and so many others -- join me in beating the drums to get out this message. But we are usually preaching to the choir. How encouraging it is when a Walid Shoebat comes onto the scene, along with a Joseph Farah, who publishes WorldNetDaily , and Tashbih Sayyed, who publishes the newspaper Pakistan Today . They are telling the truth about Israel, with great personal danger in doing so. They have been there from the inside and speak out with the same message. They make an impression that we just can't.

Walid told me, "The Jews don't speak up as they should. So I've taken it upon myself to speak out for them." He's doing a great service. It's a shame that we can count on one hand, out of over a billion, the other Moslems who are doing the same. Or have I missed their marches protesting the violence and senseless homicide bombings?

It's a disgrace that there are so many leftist Jews out there who think the way to solve any problem is to stand by the roadside and paint peace signs on vans and give the peace sign as people drive by. Even this sometimes outrageous columnist was fired from the Jewish Post & Opinion after thirty years of being a featured writer because the New Leftist owners of the paper decided that my columns were "mean to the Arabs," and they only wanted to print "words that were kind and not words that hurt."

Well, we are hurting. I'm thankful that there is a former PLO terrorist like Walid out there who now strongly considers himself a Zionist. I wish that there were more like him who felt the same way, especially in the Jewish community. I wish the Israeli government would try to combat the problem with a massive public relations campaign instead of the usual "quiet diplomacy."

Walid told me that he would like nothing better than to be able to return to Israel to de-program as many of those brainwashed as he can. Let's hope he stays safe, and we should do what we can to help him finish his mission.

Copyright © 2004 Arlene Peck . Reprinted here by permission of the author.

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The Inmates Have Taken Over The Asylum 

February 2004

Truly, I think the leaders of Israel have lost it. First, letting loose terrorists to murder again. When I heard that, I could only shake my head in disbelief. The line has been crossed and Pandora's Box opened. Now it's going to be open season on Israelis, tourists, or anybody these barbaric people can grab off the street. 

Their thinking is truly amazing. Hezbollah, which is one of the world's most dangerous terrorists groups, and whose only goal is the complete and utter destruction of Israel, are the ones that Ariel Sharon picks to work with in that moronic trade? Crazy. They are bad people and deserve to be caged.

The families of those who were murdered are still in mourning, yet Israel opens the jailhouse doors? Am I the only one who sees the insanity in this?

What happens to the leaders of Israel once they get elected? And I don't just mean Ariel Sharon. He has been possibly the biggest disappointment, but pretty much the same goes for Shimon Peres, Yitzhak Rabin, Binyamin Netanyahu, and Ehud Barak. They have all given carte blanche to the wishes of everyone but their constituents. Who would have believed that these men, either because of weakness or corruption, would have sold the citizens of Israel down the Road to Hell?

As if that wasn't enough for the "week that was," another nail in the coffin of the Jewish state was hammered in. Sharon and company introduced their plans for the ethnic cleansing and removal of the Jews from their homeland. 

Ironic, isn't it? I wrote columns and columns about cutting the cancer out of the country. Every time I wrote one of my politically incorrect articles and dared mention the transfer of Arabs out of Israel, I couldn't find a publisher that was willing to publish me. After all, such thoughts weren't "the Jewish way" and my thoughts were put down as immoral. Yet when it's reversed, and the plan is to "transfer" the Jews out of their land, that's okay.

What is wrong with a world that chooses to forget that close to a million Jews were expelled from the Arab countries? Everybody talks about the plight of the Arab refugees. What about the plight of the Jewish refugees? Jewish refugees were not left to fester on the doorsteps of the Arab world. They were brought home to Israel.

The same foolish Israeli leaders who are in power today let that moment of transfer pass, and told the Arabs in Israel to stay and live together in peace. Had they not made that mistake then, both nations could have avoided the deplorable conditions and expensive refugee problem their Arab brothers have perpetuated for over fifty years.

Has anyone in Israel -- or more importantly, the world body, which somehow feels that it has the right to dictate the future of Israel -- ever looked at a map? We in the United States have shopping centers bigger than this great new Arab region of Gaza. Worse, smack dab in the middle of The Jewish State, in Judea and Samaria, is the land designated by the "world" for the Arabs. Enough! 

Every time Prime Minister Sharon opens his mouth and repeats his mantra of how "inevitable" a Palestinian state is, I cringe. I know that George W is in an election year. And I'll wager that Sharon has promised to be a "good boy" and follow orders to make Bush's reëlection go off without a hitch. But logically, now would be the best time for Sharon to use leverage, and not cave in to the U.S. State Department or the reëlection campaign. 

It just seems to me that the issues facing Israel, such as these incredible prisoner "exchanges," removing the Jews from their homes, and even the very idea of a transfer of the Arabs back into their historic lands, needs to be put on a ballot for the country to decide. Good L-rd, the very future of the Jewish people is at stake!

If it were not for the stupidity of Yasser Arafat when he turned down the giveaway that then-Prime Minister Barak offered, Israel would have been in Arab hands now. How can one man, or one small group, have the right to make a decision which concerns us all? 

Rather than face the fact that Israel is involved in a war and act accordingly, its leaders repeat the mantra "Palestinian state" over and over. Am I the only one who sees that the mindsets of the two cultures are so opposed that there is no chance for the elusive peace that everyone (except the Arabs) wants? What does it take to understand that most of the Islamic culture is violent and treacherous? Let there be no doubt, as long as the enemies of Israel are living within the land of Israel, they will continue to pick off the citizens, five or ten at a time, on a daily basis. 

Israel has the means to win the war. Why have their leaders lost the ability to lead, or behave as if they have lost the will to win? Appeasement isn't the answer. What has recently been done by opening the jailhouse doors will, I'm afraid, come back to haunt them.

My attitude with men and real estate has always been timing and location. In the case of Israel, why choose this moment to reward Hamas and Islamic Jihad by the obvious capitulation in Gaza? And let's not forget Hezbollah who, through their press conferences, are now gloating. Hey, you know it has to be bad when even Yossi Beilin, who has been almost as destructive as Peres in his creative "peace treaties," is on record as saying that Sharon is rewarding Hamas!

Those who attack Israel are people who have trained their babies from birth to kill the Jewish "enemy" and to strive for death as the only chance they'll have for "honor" and happiness. 

If Prime Minister Sharon continues to repeat to the world how he must take steps that are painful, then maybe he might consider resigning. That should be painful, but only to him.

Copyright © 2004 Arlene Peck . Reprinted here by permission of the author.

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Israel's Revolving Door

January 2004

Have they lost their minds? Israel has let out another four (five?) hundred more terrorists. For what? The remains of three dead soldiers and one live businessman with dubious ties and who shouldn't have been there in the first place? And who apparently is under suspicion of engaging in drug deals at the time he was taken captive? I think the powers that be who are running the country are not dealing with a full deck. 

Even the fact that they pick such historic good friends of the Jews as Germany to broker the exchange I find astounding. Why not the French? Or maybe the Saudis? And the logic of the cabinet is that these busloads of freed terrorists are prisoners with less than two years still to serve and without “blood on their hands.” What exactly does that mean?

Are these savage terrorists who “don't have blood on their hands” (yet) acceptable because they failed in their attempt to collect the fee for bombing innocent civilians? Would that make them nice guys who should be let out? If only the "nice" terrorists are going to be released, then why is Israel willing to open the jailhouse doors to let a terrorist murderer like the Lebanese prisoner Samir Kuntar out to kill again?

Why? Because Israel has been promised that they will receive concrete proof as to the fate of that poor man, Ron Arad, who was kidnapped by these savages almost twenty years ago. Great! They'll smile and tell Israel “He's dead,” and then the murderers go free. One of these prisoners is even suing Israel for $1.4 million dollars, claiming he was raped by his Israeli interrogators. With the mentality of Israel as of late, I wouldn't be surprised it they pay up.

In this moronic bargain the enemy doesn't even have to supply Israel with a body. All they have to do is tell what happened to him and Voila! -- another terrorist goes free!

Does anybody out there see anything wrong with the revolving door that the misguided leaders -- and I use the word loosely -- have set up for whenever their prisons get too full?

Have any of you actually read the conditions of this “exchange?” According to the Israeli government statement on prisoner exchange, “Israel has apparently accepted the principle that the sovereign state of Lebanon has borne no responsibility for the open holding of hostages by an armed camp.” Of course they don't. There is no more Lebanon. Its all Syria now.

Good L-rd! What kind of message does this send to the terrorists? You want land? Money? The prisons opened? Well, apparently in Israel, all you have to do is kidnap someone and you won't even have to go meet your 72 virgins. Just grab somebody out of a restaurant or disco, or kidnap a few Jewish kids out of school, and they'll give you anything you want to get them back. They don't even have to be living when you trade them back, or when you give Israel your "wish list." 

How the enemy must be laughing in their mosques. What contempt Israel has earned. I remember Rabbi Meir Kahane telling me years ago “The people in Israel want to be loved. I don't want the love of the Arabs. I want them to fear us, and respect us.” Now I know what he meant. He knew the meaning of the words “Never Again.” 

I feel like an idiot. I'm one of those silly American journalists who go on Front Page Jerusalem (a Christian radio show which is heard in a hundred stations across America), or I speak to a group of Hillel kids and tell them, “You want to support Israel? Then get on a plane and travel there. The people of Israel need you. Don't be afraid.”

Well, you can bet that I'll think twice the next time, because crazy and irrational actions like this release don't make me want to encourage anyone to travel there.

What does this do to morale? How does the IDF feel now, knowing that their hard-earned capture of these savage barbarians was for nothing? Do you think that the United States would be crazy enough to open the gates at Guantanamo and let those dangerous men loose?

I have an idea! Maybe the damn fools who think it prudent to let even more terrorists roam the streets of Tel Aviv and Jerusalem give it a little more thought: As long as they are setting them free, why not give them one-way tickets for them and their families to any Arab country of their choice? But I'll make a bet with you. Just as always, they wouldn't find any of their Arab brothers willing to take these trouble-makers in. The "Palestinian" Arabs want to push Israel into the sea? They should be pushed back into their Arab lands. Anyone of the twenty-two that they already have will do.

Shimon Peres, who gave the PLO an army and guns, was quoted in the Los Angeles Times as saying “There's no room for joy here. We paid a high price because we are more sensitive to human life than Hezbollah is.” Lovely. 

Maybe it's time to stop being so politically correct and sensitive to the life of the terrorists, and instead show some cojones . Israel is in a war and has the power to do something. It's time to do it.

Copyright © 2004 Arlene Peck . Reprinted here by permission of the author.

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Get Outta Town!

January 2004

Wow! I feel ever so much safer now that President Bush has gotten so vocal and is standing in the door of the Baghdad O.K Coral telling the enemy in his best Texan drawl, “Turn yourselves in ... or die!” Hey, I like that “Get outta town" attitude. 

Do ya think that Israel might adopt that same attitude? Or would Bush send his deputy, Colin Powell, over on one of those “emergency meetings” we've all come to expect, to discuss how The Jewish State by their insurgent attitude is a hindrance to the roadmap to hell?

Maybe it's because we in the U.S. are more poetic in our demands that nobody thinks of having “emergency sessions” in the United Nations to complain. For instance, Lt. Gen. Ricardo Sanchez, the commander of the U.S.-led coalition forces in Iraq, said at a news conference, “We will be relentless in the pursuit of these targets.” He continued, “The timing is perfect for the anti-coalition forces and the former regime elements to make a decision that it is time to embrace the future,” Sanchez said. Now isn't that lovely, “embracing the future?” So maybe that's why there isn't any protest from the left when he finishes the comment with, “We are focused. We are effective in our pursuit of these individuals. We are going to capture them or kill, as our mission.” Lovely … don'tcha think? 

And when he does go after the bad guys, I'll bet that President Bush won't be wearing his white hat. Nor will any of his deputies be rushing over to demand that the jails be opened in Guantanamo and the prisoners released as a "good-will gesture." Hey, we're proud of that deck of cards that we've been so relentless in pursuing! 

Because, if the truth be told, I kinda like that attitude of tough love that we in the United States are taking with our good friends, the Iraqis. In fact, since jobs are so plentiful here, and President Bush has offered to give amnesty to ten million illegal aliens who have set up camp on our doorstep, he now wants us to use all of our extra billions of dollars to go to Mars! Which on retrospect gives me an idea: How about sending all of those pesky terrorists who are so busy ambushing United States soldiers in Afghanistan and Iraq, along with the "mistreated" terrorists who Israelis have to contend with on a daily basis in vicious attacks against their civilians, and send them to Mars? (Interestingly enough, while Bush wants to travel to the moon and set up manned stations on Mars, there are people in America who can't afford to go to the doctor.)

The problem as I see it is just in semantics and the gentle phrasing of words, as our government has mastered so well. If Israel's prime ministers would learn the art of double-speak and double-cross instead of just telling things as they are, maybe the acceptance of cutting the cancer out of the country wouldn't be so impossible. After all, it hasn't taken much for the world -- and even worse: Israelis; and worst of all: the Israeli government -- to accept the thought of moving the Jews out of their rightful land so it could be turned over to the Arabs. All they have to do is use the words “peace” and "transfer" in the same sentence to make it palatable.

Because if the truth be told, the steady rise in Arab fundamentalism is a cancer. I recently spent some time with Dr. Pinchas Gerber, Ph.D, who is the director of the Shomron Development Fund , which was established "to help the families of the Shomron live normal, healthy lives." He spread out the map and pointed to the areas which have now been given over to the Arabs, and it cuts through the very heart of the tiny Jewish state. Why is the phrase “moving them out” when in relation to the Jews acceptable, and not the other way around?

I wonder: If Israel were to go after these killers, would U.S. officials still see it as an “impediment to peace under the “road map plan?” And why is it imperative that Israel feel an obligation that they have to accede to the wishes of the world, or even the demands of the USA? What is the obligation to follow orders from the American State Department? When did Israel become a banana republic? Would it ever be possible, as touted in our anti-drug program, to “Just say NO?” 

After every bombing, there are 20,000 Arab "workers" who wait at the gates of Gaza to come back to their jobs when Israel closes the crossing -- then Israel re-opens the crossing after two or three days, fearful of charges of "collective punishment." Since the re-openings are always followed by more bombings (or shootings), wouldn't it be desirable to tell the "workers" that NO, this time they're staying out? And actually mean it!

Good L-rd, why do we in the U.S. always underestimate the value of Israel's friendship? Even the pictures which are coming back from Mars, which I again suggest as a good place to begin the twenty-third Arab state, are from former Technion students. Israel gives enormous help in science, medicine, and technology, and now that we are finally experiencing the daily threat of Islamic fundamentalist terrorism, Israeli forces are teaching security to American forces and airport personnel. In fact, if the truth be told, I'll bet that there is a lot more tangible help that Israel is giving to the USA that nobody talks about so “we don't make the Arabs angry.”

Israel should worry more about what is good for her, rather than pleasing those who most often would delight in her demise.

Copyright © 2004 Arlene Peck . Reprinted here by permission of the author.

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Pillow Talk with Laura Bush

January 2004

Let me see if I understand it right: If Israel dares mention that they have a cancer in the country called terrorists that they would like to cut out, the world is outraged. The “Zionist Entity” is called “Nazi” and the United Nations is sure to have emergency meetings to protest Israel's right to even exist. But ...

A recent article in the Los Angeles Times, a paper which, incidentally, promotes anti-Semitism and “anti-Zionism at every turn, had an extensive column with the heading, “Bush to Frame Migrant Policy”

Apparently our president has presented to Congress “expected changes in immigration laws" this week, including an expanded guest worker program and the opportunity for millions of undocumented workers to get green cards.

”Guest worker program?” Funny the difference mere semantics make. I look upon them as undocumented migrants who entered our country in violation of our laws, and are nothing more than on-going criminals and a danger to our country. 

Moreover, millions of illegal people pouring into our borders as potential terrorists to our country are for sure a drain on our state facilities. Oh, and higher taxes for those of us who pay them.

As I write this, there are between eight to eleven million illegal immigrants in the United States. ELEVEN MILLION! About sixty percent of them are from Mexico, with more pouring over the border every day into my bankrupt state of California. These "new residents" have learned to apply for and receive support, health care, and schools for their many children. But there is an election year coming up -- look how many votes this new plan could garner for President Bush.

Do you think that Laura Bush, and her family's proud Mexican heritage, could have been a motivator for the warm and fuzzy treatment of Mexico that our "guests" continues to receive in the USA? Of course Daddy Bush and his love affair with the Saudi Arabian royal family might have been -- and continue to be -- instrumental in the flow of "students" from many of those Islamic countries into our welcoming shores. And let's not forget good old Colin Powell's ability to deliver Arab oil to Exxon and all those other happy Texas oil companies.

M eanwhile, the homeland security folks keeps our country at “high alert” because of the immediate threat from terrorists coming into our country. And Donald Rumsfeld continues to give press conferences about how we must fight global terrorism. 

I'm confused. Does that mean that if these illegal "guests" come into our country from our good neighbor to the south (Mexico), then accepting millions of them is okay?

D o you think that viewpoint might be the basis of the world getting on Israel's case about “collective punishment” when Israel sometimes finds the gumption (or is that pressure?) to open the gates to Gaza and Ramalla and let thousands of terrorists -- under the guise of “workers” -- into Israel?

Now I know that we in California have a big fence between our state and Mexico. And from what I hear, it's getting bigger every day. And I'll bet that a lot of you don't know that one of the most vocal anti-Semites against the Israeli fence lives behind a massive security fence which encircles the Vatican.

Again, I'm confused as to why the fence that the Jewish State was forced to build to keep the bad guys from coming into Israel to murder and maim everyone in sight (and which, incidentally, seems to be working) is a deterrent to peace in the eyes of our President and State Department. Is the idea of a fence to keep out those who don't belong in the country okay for the United States (and the Vatican) but not for the defense of Israel? 

It's outrageous how the double standard between Israel and the rest of the world is accepted when it comes to Jews. Even by her own people. I don't understand it. Truly.

Eleven million illegal immigrants! Do you know your Holocaust history? Remember about the ship St. Louis, immortalized in a book and subsequent film entitled Voyage of the Damned ? This ship with its Jewish passengers traveled around the world during the time of World War II for over a month. These poor Jewish souls -- nine hundred of them who managed to get out with the Nazis on their heels -- tried to find one country to take them in, to relax their strict immigration laws. Yet even we in the benevolent United States could not find room to save them from certain death, and they were forced to return to Germany, where most of them perished. 

Amazing how we now find room for everybody. Especially if they're not Jewish. 

Maybe since President Bush is in such a giving mood, Arafat might want to get his “Palestinians” en masse to Mexico and become “guest” workers in the California social service system. The last I heard there were a lot of jobs that need to be filled. 

Do you really think it's a good idea to reward criminals who don't deserve citizenship? I wonder if that's the basis of the U.S. Middle East foreign policy on terrorism ...

I think it would be a great idea to see a "guest worker" program from "Palestine" implemented for Washington D.C. If they're not qualified for the (Arabist) State Department, for sure we could find use for a million or two of these "peaceful" people in the Post Office! They could give a whole new meaning to the expression "going postal."

Or as our welcoming President says in Texan, "Ya'll come!"

Copyright © 2004 Arlene Peck . Reprinted here by permission of the author.

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Jew Hatred -- Overblown? 

January 2004

The Los Angeles Times for once actually surprised me. This is a newspaper that for years has devoted untold pages to the promoting of Israel-baiting and anti-Semitism. Suddenly they saw fit to devote two pages to the possibility that “Jews face a widening web of hate.” 

They even published an article written by Abraham H. Foxman, who is the national director of the Anti-Defamation League and author of Never Again? The Threat of the New Anti-Semitism . Wow! Do you think that they might just be "getting it?" The BBC, CNN, ABC, and most of the talking heads in the mainstream media have done everything in their power for years to slant the news against Israel in every possible way. (Many times I watched them gleefully speak of “Anti-Zionism,” which we all know has been a code word for plain old Jew hatred.) 

I'm not talking the distant past. Just sixty-five years ago, in pre-Holocaust days -- which are looking very familiar as of late -- the same signs were there. The Jewish State has been targeted by the United Nations and the European Union continuously, and singled out as a pariah state. Obscenely, Israel has been singled out as a “Nazi State.”

A recent Newsweek devoted a cover and story to “New Anti-Semitism,” yet how many of their issues gleefully reported on the terrorists' bombings of Israeli civilians out for a stroll or eating pizza, and then compared these atrocities to Israel's carefully planned and surgically executed removal of the bombers -- as some sort of "tit for tat?" 

We are so pitifully "politically correct" in this country. Night after night, the news is filled with nothing but the carnage that the Arabs are causing, yet nobody can actually mention the real root of the world's problems without being accused of being unkind. Or of discriminating against the powerful Arab cartel. While the Arab world is bombing our American soldiers in ambushes that the Israelis have come to know so well, our press and president still speak of the “peaceful Arab nations.” Oh really? Where? 

Why should I be surprised that the Arab world is still marching for Saddam when their fathers and grandfathers overwhelmingly supported the Nazis during World War II?

I have been trying to get a marvelous book published and produced. I thought it would a breeze -- the film made from this author's previous book earned half a billion dollars for the movie studio. So I was amazed to find out from them that they were "passing on it" after initially loving the story. Why? Because it deals with the bias and outright lies about Israel initiated in every newsroom every day. Bottom line: They told me that it is too political. They only want to produce romantic comedies now. But the real story is that the book is just too favorable to Israel. And that, folks, isn't very politically correct these days.

What is it going to take to make the world see what is happening in Europe? Do the Jews have to be placed in ghettos or wear yellow stars on their clothes in France to see the signs? Like a cancer that's growing, the United Nations passed another bill calling for Israel to stop its "occupation." The world media continue their mantra against “Zionism.” We in the USA continue to send aid to countries like Egypt, which fill their children's textbooks with hate-filled writings and accusations against the Jews in Israel. When we're not doing that, Colin Powell or President Bush are on television to speaking about the ludicrous “Roadmap to Hell” that they've devised with all those great friends of the Jews, like Germany and France. They still haven't gotten over the fact that Israel still stands even after they were able to push through the Trojan Horse called “Oslo." Now it's changed to "roadmap."

I feel like I'm living in some sort of Orwellian period of time, when doublespeak like "Zionism is racism" and "anti-Semitism doesn't mean anti-Jewish" is becoming the norm. Terrorists like Yasser Arafat receive Nobel Peace prizes. The International Court of Justice? They've simply lost their conscience. We've lived so long in a tangled tale of anti-Semitism that even when the IDF recently discovered 44 tunnels from Egypt to Gaza where huge quantities of sophisticated arms to be used against Israelis civilians were being carried through 24 hours a day, the evening news responded by reporting only on Israel's retaliation. I want to scream “No! It's not retaliation! It's defense, for their very survival!” But they -- the press, the State Department, and the anti-Semites of the world -- are well aware of that fact. 

Hatred of the Jews is alive and well. The signs are there and we have to heed them. 

The Christian Right is getting it. Mainly because they too have become victims of Arab terrorism. But even though they see that their churches are being torn down and mosques built in their places, where are their protests and marches? We need all the help we can get. We're all in the same boat. 

Copyright © 2004 Arlene Peck . Reprinted here by permission of the author.

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Holiday Terror Alerts ... ho ho ho ... hum

December 2003

After three years of unrelenting terrorists attacks against Israeli civilians, I have begun to notice that these same savages who attack “the Jews" are also directing their mindless and cruel behavior towards Christians.

For the first time I noticed on the American television references to how Christians have been terrorized, raped, plundered, and systemically removed from the little town of Bethlehem. 

When it was under Israeli control, the homeland of Jesus was open to all, and a wonderful place to be. Once the PLO took over, the Christian population quickly dropped, and now it is a sad and empty place. Except for the Arab population, of course, who now blame the situation on Israel because the “intafada” has caused tourism to disappear. 

Recently I spoke with Father Keith Roderick, who is the umbrella head of over seventy Christian organizations. He was lamenting to me that it's not only the Jews who are the victims of Arab terrorism. He and many others of his ilk are very fearful of what's happening. We all know about the vicious and frequent acts of anti-Semitism in Europe. Not too much is said, however, about how they are tearing down churches at every opportunity and replacing them with mosques.

I remembered in June of 1982, when I was in Lebanon as a journalist, how the Israelis were the only ones who were helping the beleaguered Christians at the “Good Fence” and saving them from sure death. At that time I wondered where the outcry was about the treatment of their own people from the Christian community. Why were they so complacent? Didn't they care? And now the Moslem plan is one that has systemically removed the Christian community and continues to do so. Why aren't they out there protesting the fact that the population of Bethlehem, the birthplace of Jesus, has gone from 95% Christian to 25% Christians -- and rapidly going down.

I don't know who's worse, the complacent or the self-haters. Recently I wrote some of my usual words of wisdom about what and who the terrorists are. I described in detail my thoughts on the 72 virgins, and  received a "hate letter" from someone named Ilan Hartuv, who wrote me a profanity-laden letter saying that my writings about the Arabs were “racist s**t." He then continued about how he resented my thoughts "as most other Israelis would.” 

Then came the topper: He wrote me that he was a retired Israeli ambassador and Naval NCO in Israel's war ... and "a hater of racists.” Apparently Hartuv takes me to be a racist because I am a strong supporter of Israel and not Oslo, which he can be found on the Internet as supporting.

What I found most alarming about this appalling man is how he gleefully quoted four other former chiefs of the Shabak (Israel's general security services) who wrote in Yedioth Aharonoth that people like me may bring Israel to utter ruin and an untimely end. “My views are exactly those of Amnon Lipkin-Shakhak, one of our best chiefs of staff, of hundreds of retired generals. Who the h*ll are you? How I hate ignorant racists. Pick somebody else! Signed, Ilan Hartuv."

When I received his nasty email, I first assumed that he was an Arab writing to me and trying to disguise himself as an Israeli. Could it really be possible that he was a retired ambassador? Then upon further checking, I found he was the son of Dora Bloch -- who was one of the passengers on the hijacked Air France plane that forced the Entebbe raid in 1976! [Editor's note: Dora Bloch became ill and was removed to a local hospital in Uganda before the Israeli raid on the airport that freed most of the hostages. After the raid, Mrs. Bloch "disappeared" from her hospital room.]

How do men like Ilan Hartuv ever get into power in Israel? I found it interesting that he was glorifying the four former chiefs of the Shabak, as these are men who, in my opinion, should be arrested for treason (or at least deported) when they give press conferences that demean the IDF or government in Israel. 

The foreign press had a field day with their ramblings. And although they and others -- like those pilots and soldiers in the IDF/IAF who signed that protest that went out around the world -- are few in number, they do tremendous damage. Not to mention bringing down morale. Don't people like this realize the damage that they do? Do they care?

When I'm fighting the Arab Islamic fundamentalist I understand the enemy. What I cannot fathom, however, are the self-hating Jews. Especially people like Yossi Beilin, Shimon Peres, and “retired ambassadors” like Hartuv. I know by birth they are Jewish. But somewhere along the way they turned into the enemy. 

Terrorism against The Jewish State, and anti-Semitism against Jews in general, are at an all time high. Yet these self-serving -- and in my opinion evil -- people are running around protesting the plight of the “poor down-trodden Palestinians.” It makes me want to gag. 

Copyright © 2003 Arlene Peck . Reprinted here by permission of the author.

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The Cats in the Hat ... Or, The Rats in the Slammer!

December 2003

Don't you feel ever so much safer now that Saddam is having his lice checked and sitting in some desolate jail? Now, however, I feel a little confused as to how we in the United States can be so joyful and happy while Israel's "Ace of Spades" is still meeting with foreign dignitaries and calling the shots from his hovel in Nablus. 

Woe for the Christians in Bethlehem, because the Moslems have terrorized them to the point where they've all fled and their numbers are few! Oh, the unfairness of it all!

S ince the Chanukah season is upon us, I've decided to "lighten up" and enjoy the days ahead. Readers have been sending me points to ponder, and I want to share some of them with you. Besides, Chanukah stories are good. You can't be nailed to the menorah … and you never have a silent night when a room full of Jewish family and friends get together. 

As the old saying goes, “Yes, Rivka'le, there is no Santa Claus” Has anyone told them that Irving Berlin was Jewish and he wrote all those Christmas songs? But then again, Jesus was Jewish too. And that never stopped Christians from wanting to kill us. 

Jesus didn't leave home till he was thirty. He went into his father's business, he thought his mother was a virgin, and she thought he was G-d. You would be amazed at how many Jewish men, probably reading this now, still have that same attitude. 

One of the best reasons that we have Chanukah is that there are no awkward explanations of virgin births. Since it's long past time to educate the "Palestinians" [Arabs] and bring them into the 21st century, maybe this might be a good time to sit down with Arafat and have him ponder his jihad promises. 

I know that the bomber gets promised 72 virgins, but what if he's gay? Does he get male virgins? Or, if he's bi …does he get 36 of each? I know that Yassir will be able to identify with that situation -- have you ever seen him play "kissy-face" with virtually every man who comes to visit him in his very own "spider hole?” If the bomber has the bad hygiene habits that Arafat is reported to have, and he's as ugly, and the virgins don't want anything to do with him, what happens then? 

Better yet, suppose all 72 virgins are virgins because they're ugly? And would they have to wear burqas even there? Since the Arabs don't have unions I suppose there wouldn't be a problem in them striking if they weren't satisfied? 

Actually, knowing their track record with women, I think that Moslem hell for women would be to be selected as one of the virgins. Maybe the Koran had a typo and they really meant to promise a 72 year old virgin.

Or maybe Allah has a sense of humor that we don't know about and has chosen a clone of Lorena Bobbit to be one of their virgins waiting for him on his trip to Paradise!

Seventy-two of anything just might be a tiny bit excessive. Do you think that it's just stupidity that makes all of the bombers somewhere within their teenaged years? Or do you think that possibly an older terrorist might need Viagra, and would rather have a warm glass of goat milk 
instead?

Lot of questions … If the first virgin that Arafat promises out of his 72 waiting in Paradise is no good, then what happens? Will Allah be there to replace her or is he just stuck with the other 71? Do the Arab virgins with experience count more, even though she acquired it from her brother who put her in Paradise in the first place in the form of “honor killings” because she shamed the family? Actually, from what I've read about the rate of de-flowering their family members, would he be put on a waiting list upon arrival in terrorists' Paradise because of the lack of availability?

Hmm ... I know the southern Baptist believes in being born again. Do you think that once the Moslem virgins are deflowered, are they born again or just replaced by new virgins? Maybe there is some sort of a temp agency where they just call in sick and get replaced? After all, being stuck with the same 72 strangers for an eternity could get old kind of fast.

Knowing the chauvinistic attitude about women in the Arab world -- it's a well-known fact that they treat their farm animals better [see Arlene's column " Arab Women and Farm Animals "] -- does it hold true in Paradise? It's true that when it comes to sending their women into schools, restaurants, and buses in Israel, it is preferred that it's with bombs strapped onto their bodies. But what happens to her if she succeeds? Does she get 72 male virgins and, if so, how do they prove their virginity? I suppose it could get awkward in any event if the bomber knew and dated any of them previously. I don't know too much about Arab lesbianism, although I wouldn't much blame them for that being the flavor of choice. But what if the girl bomber is a lesbian, would they convert her or the virgins ... or would that be a good time to make the switch? 

Living out here in the land of Hollywood, I can see the prospect of new businesses opening up. They have scouts for everything else. Why not virgins? Actually, now that I think of it, do they exist in the land of Britney Spears?

I suppose celibate bomber/ terrorists don't have too much to look forward to. Maybe just getting to meet Allah is sufficient? It would be interesting to know: if he blows himself up while building the bomb does Allah gives him credit? Maybe he just gets an inflatable doll and calls it even.

Copyright © 2003 Arlene Peck . Reprinted here by permission of the author.

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The Nameless Victims

December 2003

Yes, they have names and faces (some disfigured by bombs). And they have stories. Twenty-six of them recently spent the better part of two weeks in the United States traveling from Washington to Los Angeles. They visited the Pentagon, saw Disney, and, best of all, came into contact with a lot of people who saw them and heard their stories.

This was all the doing of a wonderful rabbi named Shimon Kashani, who brought them here to provide a break from the pain and suffering they must go through on a daily basis. This was the second annual Survivors of Arab Terrorism dinner given by the rabbi, and it was to be held in true Hollywood fashion.

My job was to bring in the stars and, if possible, sell a few tables. Neither proved too difficult, as this is a cause around which quite a few celebrities were eager to rally. Unfortunately, not many of them were Jewish. But they were there, these selfless souls, without any expectation of pay or perks.

Pat Boone, a born-again Christian whose love of Israel knows no bounds, was his usual gracious and caring self. Few know that Pat is the official Christian ambassador for tourism for the Israeli government. Even fewer are aware that it was Pat who wrote the stirring lyrics to the theme from “Exodus” (“This land is mine, G-d gave this land to me”) — and that he did so on the back of a Christmas card! Despite previous commitments, Pat made it over to the Century Plaza to present awards to the families.

James Avery, better known as the uncle on TV's “Fresh Prince of Bel Air,” was a class act as usual and immediately agreed to attend. The same for Peter Mark Richman (Rev. Snow on “Three`s Company”), who not only attended but pitched in. His wonderful wife, Helen, managed to find some fabulous auction items.

Donald Sterling, who owns the NBA's Los Angeles Clippers, offered his time as well as Clippers tickets and even “dinner with the owner" to be auctioned off. The legendary director Arthur Hiller was quick to respond to our call. The master of ceremonies was German-born soap star Eric Braeden, a strong supporter of Israel.

(Contrast their actions with the behavior of other Hollywood icons who put on a caring face — but only if the price is right. The Los Angeles Times recently reported that Bill Cosby “agreed” earlier this year to be honored by a charitable organization — for a fee of $75,000 and an additional $10,000 in expenses; David Schwimmer, star of “Friends,” reportedly received two Rolex watches worth more than $26,000 for his appearance at a cancer charity dinner; and Camryn Manheim of “The Practice” received a $24,000 Harley-Davidson motorcycle from organizers of a fund-raising event as compensation for serving as the event's mistress of ceremonies.)

Sadly, when it comes to events in support of Israel or Jewish victims of terror, all too many Hollywood Jews are missing in action. It's almost a foregone conclusion that the Billy Crystals of the entertainment industry will send back messages via their assistants saying they are too busy — and no, they won't buy a table or even a ticket.

But enough about spoiled, selfish celebrities. The focus should be on those families who've gone through hell. I spoke with a quiet man named Boaz Shabo. He came home from work one day to see his house on fire and paramedics taking out little bodies. He lost his wife and three of his children (ages 15, 12, and 5), and his ten-year-old son lost a leg in the terrorist attack that wiped out his family.

One tragic family was in Bali at a resort known to be visited by Israelis. A bomb exploded and two teen-aged sons from this family were killed. The mother in her grief tried to go after her children and was engulfed in flames. She screamed for her daughter to drag her to the nearby pool but the child, only ten, couldn't pull her that far. Then there was another explosion and they were thrown into the pool. This child was at the Survivors of Arab Terrorism dinner carrying the extensive burns on her hands and arms she received while trying to save her mother.

Want another story? Leor Thaler made the mistake of thinking he could just go out to a pizza shop on a Saturday night with his sister Rachel and a couple of their teen-aged friends. Unfortunately, a Palestinian terrorist chose to walk in and detonate his bomb. Everyone except Leor Thaler died, and he will always remember the excruciatingly painful days they suffered through before death finally came.

We've grown too jaded because of the sheer numbers of Jews killed and maimed by Arab terrorists. The incidents begin to blur, and the unfortunate but courageous survivors tend to get lumped into the nameless, faceless category labeled “victims.”

We all need take the time to try and appreciate what our brethren are living through on a daily basis, and help whenever and wherever we find a way. 

Copyright © 2003 Arlene Peck . Reprinted here by permission of the author.

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Let Israel Be The Light Unto The World!

December 2003

I think I've figured it out. The people of the world have totally lost their identity, and don't want Israelis to have an identity. No really, have any of you traveled around lately? Between the global money, meetings, and political correctness, little by little the nations are losing whatever it was that made them special.

Paris? Forget it. I was there not so long ago, and they have almost totally given up their culture to the World of Islam. I'm not kidding when I say that within ten years the latest styles coming from Paris will be burqas . French Jews are not only being harassed, but two ritual murders of Jews have been perpetrated by crazed Moslem youths. Their synagogues have been bombed, and Jews are told not to wear their yarmulkes without covering them up. 

This is happening all over Europe and with alarming frequency. Anti-Semitism is at an all time, pre-war-Germany-type high. The usual suspects haven't been rounded up and jailed, however, as it's not the skinheads of the past. This time, it's the same ones who are causing protests at our universities with their anti-Israel rhetoric, or firebombing the Jewish day schools; in other words, the Moslems. Ah, but that's not politically correct to say. We're so concerned in this country with wanting to go and hug somebody that we're going to compassion ourselves into oblivion if changes aren't made … and soon!

These are "peaceful people," and it's not nice to say "words that hurt" when speaking of this group. Don't even get me started on that good ol' boy, Jim-mee Carter. I'm originally from Georgia, and I remember what a terrible governor he was -- and an anti-Semite to boot. I almost got myself kicked out of one of his press conferences twenty-five years ago when I continued to badger him with annoying questions about his obvious preference for the A-rabs.

How dare Jimmy Carter tell this Geneva group and, indeed, the world that the answer is for the Jews to get out of their religious, cultural, and historical homeland in order to make peace? Would he tell that to any other ethnic group? To tell Jews that they should not be allowed to live in East Jerusalem or even nearby is an outrage! 

Their "new" Oslo plan is nothing more than bias, hatred, and discrimination against Jews -- but they cover it up by using the words “anti-occupation.”  Does anyone see a problem in this?

I even have difficulty understanding his comments, to wit: “Had I been elected to a second term with the prestige and authority and influence I had in the region, we could have moved to a "final solution.” Wow, is that telling! The final solution for him -- along with Peres, Beilin, and the rest of the self-appointed decision-makers who couldn't even win an election -- is the destruction of Israel. And their ”final solution“ sounds like something out of the mouth of Adolf Hitler.

I also have difficulty understanding how we in the United States have the nerve to deduct almost 300 million dollars to Israel. These funds [as loan guarantees -- Ed. ] were promised, and are badly needed, but are being withheld as "punishment" for Israel's building a wall to stop the terrorists from coming in. Yet at the very same time, we in the U.S. are spending far more to build a wall separating us from Mexicans.

Our border/security fence with Mexico is made of concrete and sheet metal three layers deep, fifteen feet high, and surrounded by razor wire. The area surrounding it is lit by spotlights, monitored by cameras, motion detectors, and magnetic sensors, and patrolled by armed guards with attack dogs. But hey, that's just to keep out Mexicans,  who are coming in to our country not to blow us up but to find work (or to end up on our social service rolls). Israel's wall is being used to keep terrorists from killing Israelis.

The Israeli fence isn't an obstacle. It is part of a war of culture, a culture which teaches these savages that blowing up civilians in buses and restaurants is their duty. Terrorism may be the result, but the core of the problem is the worldwide war that the nation of Islam has declared on all non-Moslems. Israel is just a sore in their side because they don't want one Jew alive in the Middle East (or anywhere). And Christians? The rest of us are infidels, remember!

Has anyone told Yossi Beilin, Richard Dreyfuss, and their very dangerous admirers that the greatest threat to humanity today is the worldwide Islamic terrorist movement? It's obvious to me that the Moslems have been very busy searching for the means to arm themselves and develop those weapons of mass destruction. In fact, does anyone see that Beilin and company are devoting themselves to a destructive plan that only 18% of the Israeli public has approved? That's because Israelis know it is an initiative that is not only damaging to national security but an invitation to massive loss of Jewish life in the future. 

It's not only the Moslem fundamentalists who have a plan for the destruction of the Jewish state -- that is, Israel's and the USA's misguided "leaders" don't seal the fate of The Jewish State first. (What happens to Israel's leaders ten minutes after they take office that makes them so weak and concerned about what others think? They'd best be worrying about what is good for Israel.)

How many of you know that there is a law in our country against a private USA citizen negotiating a treaty on their own with a foreign country? If any of our citizens tried that, they could go to jail. I wonder if our Secretary of State Colin Powell knows about the Logan act, since he's enthusiastically giving photo-ops to praise the “New Oslo” and writing letters to Beilin and other Palestinians [Arabs] about how delighted he is and just can't wait to meet them. 

Someone really should tell our State Department that this fabulous agreement is a "pretend" document that has no legitimate Israeli or even Palestinian [Arab] official backing -- only out-of-work, un-elected, former politicians. We've got plenty of them here in the USA, but nobody is rushing to meet with Bob Dole or Al Gore to make "treaties."

For the life of me I can't understand how these ex-political figures haven't been arrested for treason. Their master plan is to show the Jews as the obstacle to peace and any resistance that The Jewish State shows as being purposeless. Obviously they feel that Jews have no right to fight for their country. And let there be no doubt about it, the battle for the survival of Israel is being fought. It is outrageous that the former losers of the elections are being given a public forum to do their damage. I wonder if we should send in the Revs Jackson and Sharpton to add their two cents to Jimmy Carter's "final solution?" 

This illustrious group of losers who have no power, respect, or confidence from either the Israeli or Arab population are running around giving press conferences, trying to pick up where Oslo left off. The guys from Geneva are knocking themselves out trying to teach the world that political and actual terrorism pays ... and pays ... and pays. 

These are the same enemies of Israel  -- and I do consider Shimon Peres and his boys enemies of Israel. These guys armed thousands and thousands of PLO with Israeli guns, and even taught them how to shoot the damn things. The new-found success of their very own PLO army/police inspired masses of Palestinian [Arab] youths to end their useless lives by becoming "martyrs.” These savages have murdered over a thousand Israeli men, women, and children over the past three years, and are leaving thousands more maimed and crippled. 

But that I understand. It's a given that the Arab world has spent the same fifty-five years with a "master plan." It began with teaching their children to grow up revering the thought of murder by "suicide." It's going to take another fifty-five years to hopefully bring these backward people into the 21st century -- if they don't blow all of us up first in “jihad.” Meanwhile, let Israel do what it has to do -- and let them be a light unto the rest of us. 

Copyright © 2003 Arlene Peck . Reprinted here by permission of the author.

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Lord! Now it's Michael Jackson!

November 2003

It's getting downright embarrassing. I'm supposed to have a handle on the “Hollywood crowd” and what makes them tick. After all, for the past twelve years I've had a celebrity interview show here in Los Angeles.

Every Monday night, “Wow! It's Arlene Peck!” has been running. There I am, asking them their innermost secrets. In fact, at the moment, I'm billed as the "celebrity coordinator” for the Second Annual Medal Awards dinner, which is another one of those “Victims of Arab Terror” events that we seem to be having all too often. 

The underwriter of this moving event once again is Rabbi Kashani, who is the same outstanding man who is bringing the play “Golda” to Broadway soon. But to tell the truth, even though this particular dinner is Israel-related because the good Rabbi is bringing in about thirty children and their families who have been bombed by Arab murderers, it's difficult to get too much attention out here. 

After all, there are more important things to focus media attention: Michael Jackson's plane is leaving or arriving, or someone in his family wants to talk on camera. The world could be crumbling -- and is -- but nothing is more important, it seems, than Michael Jackson. 

Last week it was basketball player Kobe Bryant, and before that the Laci Peterson murder trial. Our media get hold of a celebrity scandal and forget -- to the detriment of the public -- anything else that might be happening in the world.

When the Jews were destroyed during the Holocaust, television hadn't come into existence and the Internet hadn't been created yet. People waited for the newsreels in the movies to see what was happening. Today we have the round-the-clock and around-the-world news, but what we see is garbage.

We in this country have gotten so "politically correct" that the core of world terrorism isn't admitted or acknowledged. Terrorists are continually described as "militants," "insurgents," "activists." or "Senior Hamas Leaders." 

Everyone knows that savages who roam cafés and schools and board buses to blow up everyone in sight are not someone committed to "suicide;" they are murderers. Yet these homicide bombers, because of political correctness, are somehow given "equal time." The press will shortly after the carnage do a "special" on the poor Palestinian [Arab] and how his living has been harmed because he can no longer go to his olive trees which were cut down because they were giving terrorists refuge. It's gotten to the point that I'd almost rather see that garbage than the constant trivial breaking news of what Hollywood celebrity is doing their latest news-making event. 

I spoke on a Christian radio show ( Jerusalem Radio Network ) recently. It's syndicated in almost a hundred stations, and they asked me, as a supposed “celebrity expert:” Who in Hollywood is supporting Israel? The worst part was that of the few that I could think of (and there were very few) I couldn't think of one who is speaking out for Israel. 

The best I could answer them was that they are so assimilated out here, with Barbie® Doll trophy wives, that they have no conception what “Jewish” is. Most couldn't find Israel on a map.

It makes me nauseous when I see people being honored constantly at events out here. Not because they have worked for Israel or whatever cause they're promoting. They're accepting a plaque because their business manager called and arranged that if they sold enough tables for the event, they could walk away with the "honor."

The anti-Semitism in Europe is chilling, but where are the cries from our country and others about the pre-Nazi Germany situation that is brewing now? Jewish day schools are being burned, the same for synagogues, and Yeshiva children are being advised to wear their yarmulkes under something else in order to avoid "confrontation." The situation is scary and getting worse -- while we are fed a daily diet of Michael Jackson and the movie stars of the week who are getting their fifteen minutes of constant fame. 

I have mixed feelings in some ways about the stupidity of our press. While everyone is so busy covering trivia, they aren't paying attention to Israel or her problems. If Sharon and his government were smart, this would be the time to go in and transfer all of their neighborhood terrorists out of the country -- and nobody would notice. They'd still be covering the latest in Michael Jackson's or Kobe Bryant's case.

While synagogues are being bombed and worshipers slaughtered in places like Turkey, the European Union shelves their report on anti-Semitism because they conclude that the Moslems and pro-Palestinian [Arab] groups were behind most of the incidents it examined. They are blind to the growing fears that there is an upsurge of anti-Semitism in their countries. 

The BBC and International CNN were probably giving non-stop coverage to Britney Spear's breast enhancement the same day that two Istanbul synagogues were destroyed by a terrorist's truck bomb that killed 25 and wounded 300. After all, which is more important?

Lately, though, I'm seeing signs that our media, along with our government, might be having an identity conflict. The Los Angeles Times recently printed an article entitled “U .S. Seeks Advice from Israel on Iraq.” 

American reporters just don't "get it:" they described how “As the occupation grows bloodier, officials draw on an ally's experience with "insurgents." So while the LA Times reporters report on America's “occupation” and the “insurgents” who are killing our soldiers, they also reluctantly wrote how U.S. Army commanders, Pentagon officials, and military trainers are being forced to have Israel teach us everything from how to set up roadblocks to the best way to bomb terrorists' hide-outs in an urban area. (Of course they referred to them as "guerrillas.")

I suppose it's a lot easier to report on Michael ... and Kobe ... and Robert Blake ... than to draw any comparison between what we say is the liberation of Iraq and what the rest of the world has condemned as Israel's “illegal occupation of the West Bank and Gaza Strip.” 

Now the shoe is on the other foot, however, and the United States is forced to learn from The Jewish State by tapping into their experience in dealing with domestic terror, urban terror, military operations in urban areas, and all the rest of the tactics which Israel has taught us in fighting this evil culture. Now that American soldiers are adopting the same defense measures, such as increased use of airpower, aerial surveillance by unmanned aircraft of suspected sites, and the leveling of buildings used by suspected terrorists, it should be interesting to watch. G.I. Joe is even beginning to pinpoint search and seizure operations just like the Israelis, which is something that we were so critical of not so long ago.

Looks to me, folks, like you better fasten your seat belts. It's going to be a bumpy road ahead. 

Copyright © 2003 Arlene Peck . Reprinted here by permission of the author.

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What a Difference a Day Makes

November 2003

What a difference a day makes ... or was that a year? I almost had to laugh yesterday when I saw a front page picture in the Los Angeles Times. Like they say, “A picture is worth a thousand words.” It depicted a dozen Iraqi men surrounded by barbed wire. The accompanying story had something about how the entire Iraqi town of Tikrit was surrounded with fence and barbed wire, and there was now only one entrance into the city. A heavily guarded entrance too, I might add. The reason for the barrier was obviously for "damage control" and to protect the soldiers who were patrolling the town.

My, my, isn't that something? I can remember in our not so distant past when the U.S. State Department and its leaders -- and especially President Bush -- were giving almost daily photo-ops about how "angry" and "disappointed" they were with Israel for building that nasty fence through Judea and Samaria. 

Not so long ago the State Department was proposing that the United States hold in the reins with Israel, and cut to almost nothing the badly needed loan guarantees, if Israel continued building the barrier between Israel and the terrorists. Somehow they failed to mention that the need for the fence in the first place was because of the terrorists' attacks that made the separation fence necessary. Out of the hundreds of homicide bombings against Israel and its citizens, isn't it amazing how not one has come from Gaza -- a place, coincidentally, where there is already a fence in place separating Gaza from Israel?

What I find even more interesting is that nowhere in the horrific "road map" was a fence even mentioned. It did, however, mention and specify in the "road map to Auschwitz" that the "Palestinians" [Arabs] must cease the violence and dismantle their terror regime. None of that was even attempted, and Bush and Powell and the rest of the gang continue to ignore the most important violation while continuing to get on Israel's case for a fence that wasn't even mentioned in any document. 

N ow that the same Arab crazies are shooting our American planes down from the sky, it's amazing how the 101st Airborne feel free to go into Saddam's hometown of Tikrit, where most of the ambushes have been happening, and bomb the h*ll out of the city. Where are the same cries for "restraint" that Bush and Powell were so recently demanding from the Israeli government after the same thing happened to them? Except that in the case of Israel, it wasn't five or six soldiers killed -- as in Iraq -- but maybe thirty innocent men, women, and children who might have been having lunch in a seaside café and just happened to get in the way of the "Palestinian" [Arab] terrorist's bomb?

The double standard that is so often used against Israel just doesn't seem so palatable now that it's on the other foot and so close to home. Wait until they start bombing inside our coffee shops and department stores, like in Israel, right here on our home turf in the United States. It is inevitable that it is going to happen. I have repeated so often that it's getting boring how Israel is the canary in the coal mine. These Islamic fundamentalists love nothing better than to test our resolve by doing the only thing they know best: terrorism. They tried it out in the streets of Tel Aviv, Haifa, and Jerusalem. Now they have perfected it in the streets of Baghdad and surrounding neighborhoods. They are again testing Uncle Sam's resolve in continuing the war on terror. 

Does it make me a bad person when I see that the royal family in Saudi Arabia is now having it hit them on the home front -- and I smile? I watched the evening news and saw the Saudi prince saying how terrorism must be stopped and the evilness they do punished! Does that mean that they won't be having those big telethons anymore where they raise hundreds of millions of dollars to present to the poor families of the "martyred” victims? Or does that just mean they'll continue to promote and pay for terrorism against The Jewish State and punish the terrorists within their own country? 

I have to tell you one important thing: As an American who feels strongly about The State of Israel and her safety, I don't understand how the present government in Israel can vote to release four hundred terrorists so they can go and kill more civilians in coffee shops, schools, and buses just so the bodies of three dead soldiers and one live businessman can be released. What kind of message does this send? The lesson learned from this is that terror pays and guarantees future kidnappings and blackmail. 

Nor can I fathom what is in their minds when they silence the radio station Arutz Sheva (Israel National News) because they are a little too much to the right for the powers that be. Not so long ago my column was dropped, after thirty years, from The Jewish Post & Opinion because the new regime thought my writing was too “mean to the Arabs.” The Thought Police seem to be alive and well in Israel, much to the detriment of its people.

Are they so blind that they just "don't get it" and realize that the final plan is for The State of Israel to disappear? It seems to be apparent to everyone -- except the politicians, who continue to make disastrous decisions. It should be obvious to everyone who lives on our planet that this is just not a war of terror. We are in a war of ideology and there are two billion Moslems out there who are waiting in the wings for the destruction of the West. Discussion is not an acceptable solution. 

[Editor's note: Arutz-7 can be read online by clicking here .]

Copyright © 2003 Arlene Peck . Reprinted here by permission of the author.