While Israel is hoping for a peaceful resolution to Iran’s nuclear ambitions, the Jewish state is also preparing for “a time of war,” declared a Knesset member of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s ruling Likud party.
“We are prepared for all risks,” said Likud Knesset Member Danny Danon. “And I think our enemies should know that even though we are speaking of peace, we are getting ready for a time of war, as well.”
Danon, the deputy speaker of Israel’s parliament, was speaking in an interview on this reporter’s program on New York’s WABC 770 AM Radio.
Danon hinted that Israel may take action if the world does not stop the Iranian nuclear threat, recalling Israel’s lone strike on Iraq’s nuclear reactor in 1981.
Stated Danon: “We are ready for all scenarios, and we are able to defend our civilian population. I cannot tell you how long we can wait more. But we prefer to wait and see if the international bodies are acting, or [whether] it will be only the burden of Israel, like it was in the early ’80s, when the great leader, Menachem Begin, [made] the great decision to bomb the nuclear reactor in Iraq.”
Despite his assertion that Jerusalem is preparing to act alone, Danon stressed that Iran is an international concern. He called on the Western world to “take action” against Iran’s suspected illicit nuclear program.
“I think we have to take action,” he said. “It’s about time to take action. It should be the international world and not only Israel. And I expect the administration in the White House to wake up as soon as possible.”
Danon stated that any future military confrontation against Iran “should be an international effort.”
“We don’t want this to be a war of Jews against Muslims. It should be a war of Western civilization [against] Iran,” he said.
“The threat of Iran becoming nuclear is a threat for the people who live in the U.S., Europe and Israel.” he said. “No one can guarantee that Iran will use its power only against Israel.”
What The New York Times Didn’t Report
The New York Times has minimized the refusal of the controversial imam behind the Islamic center and mosque near Ground Zero to condemn the Hamas terrorist organization.
Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf, head of the Cordoba Initiative, which seeks to construct the proposed 13-story, $100 million center, repeatedly refused in a live WABC radio interview with this reporter to affirm the U.S. designation of Hamas as a terrorist organization or call the Muslim Brotherhood extremists.
In an article entitled, “Parsing the record of Feisal Abdul Rauf,”The New York Times purports to present “a sampling of some of the most often quoted complaints” combined with counter claims by writings and statements from Rauf and his Cordoba Initiative.
Reports the Times: “Mr. Abdul Rauf is often described as having refused to call Hamas…a terrorist organization. On 77 WABC radio on June 18, the talk radio host Aaron Klein asked him, ‘Do you believe that the State Department is correct in designating Hamas as a terrorist organization?’ “
The New York Times then selectively quotes from only a small section of Rauf’s interview with this reporter:
“Well, I’m not a politician. … The issue of terrorism is a very complex question. … I am a bridge builder. My work is … I do not want to be placed nor will I accept a position where I am the target of one side or another.”
The Times apparently implied this small section of Rauf’s interview is the sole basis for the claim the imam refused to condemn Hamas.
The Times did not report that during the same interview this reporter asked Rauf three separate times for his views on Hamas, repeatedly asking Rauf to condemn the Palestinian organization. This reporter also pointed out in the interview that Hamas attacks have targeted civilians and asked Rauf again whether that makes Hamas a terrorist group. The imam refused to pass judgment.
The same New York Times piece implies Rauf does condemn Hamas. The newspaper quotes a statement from the Cordoba Initiative website which states: “Hamas is both a political movement and a terrorist organization. Hamas commits atrocious acts of terror. Imam Feisal has forcefully and consistently condemned all forms of terrorism, including those committed by Hamas, as un-Islamic.”
The Times does not inform readers the statement was posted in direct response to public controversy surrounding Rauf’s interview with this reporter in which the imam refused three times to condemn Hamas or classify the group as a terrorist organization.
Cordoba Initiative Quietly Deletes
Controversial Material
The Cordoba Initiative, the controversial group behind a proposed Islamic cultural center and mosque near Ground Zero, has been scrubbing its website of key information and documentation.
Cordoba’s website previously listed the group’s board members as well as a group of advisers. The names have since vanished from the site. The list of both advisersand board membersare still available in web archives.
Another section of the site previously commented on the meaning of the word Cordoba, but that section has been removed. Also scrubbed from the Cordoba website is a section that detailed a sister project of the organization, founded by Rauf and entitled “Shari’ah Index Project.”
The project’s stated goal was to “define, interpret and implement the concept of the Islamic State in modern times.”
“Imagine: a Perfectly Islamic State,” stated the deleted section of Cordoba’s website.
Blogger Anne Bayefsky, writing at Pajamas Media, documented how until last week, the Cordoba website featured a photograph of the project’s chairman, Imam Faisal Abdul Rauf, and Iranian official Mohammad Javad Larijani at an event the Initiative sponsored in Malaysia in 2008.
Larijani is an Islamic cleric and serves as secretary-general of Iran’s High Council for Human Rights. His brother, Ali Larijani, is Iran’s top negotiator for nuclear issues.
Aaron Klein is Jerusalem bureau chief and senior reporter for Internet giant WorldNetDaily.com. He is also host of an investigative radio program on New York’s 770-WABC Radio, the largest talk radio station in the U.S., every Sunday between 2-4 p.m.
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