America, some say, is hobbled in its policies toward Iraq by not knowing much about what Iraqis really think. Are they on the side of radical Islamists? What kind of government would they like? What is their attitude toward the U.S.? Do the Shiites hate us? Could Iraq become another Iran under the ayatollahs? Are the people in the Sunni triangle the real problem?

Up to now we've only been able to guess. We've relied on anecdotal temperature-takings of the Iraqi public, and have been at the mercy of images presented to us by the press. We all know that journalists have a bad-news bias: 10,000 schools being rehabbed isn't news; one school blowing up is a weeklong feeding frenzy. And some of us who have spent time recently in Iraq -- I was an embedded reporter during the war -- have been puzzled by the postwar news and media imagery, which is much more negative than what many individuals involved in reconstructing Iraq have been telling us.

Well, finally we have some evidence of where the truth may lie. Working with Zogby International survey researchers, The American Enterprise magazine has conducted the first scientific poll of the Iraqi public. Given the state of the country, this was not easy. Security problems delayed our intrepid fieldworkers several times. We labored at careful translations, regional samplings and survey methods to make sure our results would accurately reflect the views of Iraq's multifarious, long-suffering people. We consulted Eastern European pollsters about the best way to elicit honest answers from those conditioned to repress their true sentiments.

Conducted in August, our survey was necessarily limited in scope, but it reflects a nationally representative sample of Iraqi views, as captured in four disparate cities: Basra (Iraq's second largest, home to 1.7 million people, in the far south), Mosul (third largest, far north), Kirkuk (Kurdish-influenced oil city, fourth largest) and Ramadi (a resistance hotbed in the Sunni triangle). The results show that the Iraqi public is more sensible, stable and moderate than commonly portrayed, and that Iraq is not so fanatical, or resentful of the U.S., after all.• Iraqis are optimistic. Seven out of 10 say they expect their country and their personal lives will be better five years from now. On both fronts, 32% say things will become much better.

• The toughest part of reconstructing their nation, Iraqis say by 3 to 1, will be politics, not economics. They are nervous about democracy. Asked which is closer to their own view -- "Democracy can work well in Iraq," or "Democracy is a Western way of doing things" -- five out of 10 said democracy is Western and won't work in Iraq. One in 10 wasn't sure. And four out of 10 said democracy can work in Iraq. There were interesting divergences. Sunnis were negative on democracy by more than 2 to 1; but, critically, the majority Shiites were as likely to say democracy would work for Iraqis as not. People age 18-29 are much more rosy about democracy than other Iraqis, and women are significantly more positive than men.

• Asked to name one country they would most like Iraq to model its new government on from five possibilities -- neighboring, Baathist Syria; neighbor and Islamic monarchy Saudi Arabia; neighbor and Islamist republic Iran; Arab lodestar Egypt; or the U.S. -- the most popular model by far was the U.S. The U.S. was preferred as a model by 37% of Iraqis selecting from those five -- more than Syria, Iran and Egypt put together. Saudi Arabia was in second place at 28%. Again, there were important demographic splits. Younger adults are especially favorable toward the U.S., and Shiites are more admiring than Sunnis. Interestingly, Iraqi Shiites, coreligionists with Iranians, do not admire Iran's Islamist government; the U.S. is six times as popular with them as a model for governance.

• Our interviewers inquired whether Iraq should have an Islamic government, or instead let all people practice their own religion. Only 33% want an Islamic government; a solid 60% say no. A vital detail: Shiites (whom Western reporters frequently portray as self-flagellating maniacs) are least receptive to the idea of an Islamic government, saying no by 66% to 27%. It is only among the minority Sunnis that there is interest in a religious state, and they are split evenly on the question.

• Perhaps the strongest indication that an Islamic government won't be part of Iraq's future: The nation is thoroughly secularized. We asked how often our respondents had attended the Friday prayer over the previous month. Fully 43% said "never." It's time to scratch "Khomeini II" from the list of morbid fears.

• You can also cross out "Osama II": 57% of Iraqis with an opinion have an unfavorable view of Osama bin Laden, with 41% of those saying it is a very unfavorable view. (Women are especially down on him.) Except in the Sunni triangle (where the limited support that exists for bin Laden is heavily concentrated), negative views of the al Qaeda supremo are actually quite lopsided in all parts of the country. And those opinions were collected before Iraqi police announced it was al Qaeda members who killed worshipers with a truck bomb in Najaf.

• And you can write off the possibility of a Baath revival. We asked "Should Baath Party leaders who committed crimes in the past be punished, or should past actions be put behind us?" A thoroughly unforgiving Iraqi public stated by 74% to 18% that Saddam's henchmen should be punished.



This new evidence on Iraqi opinion suggests the country is manageable. If the small number of militants conducting sabotage and murder inside the country can gradually be eliminated by American troops (this is already happening), then the mass of citizens living along the Tigris-Euphrates Valley are likely to make reasonably sensible use of their new freedom. "We will not forget it was the U.S. soldiers who liberated us from Saddam," said Abid Ali, an auto repair shop owner in Sadr City last month -- and our research shows that he's not unrepresentative.

None of this is to suggest that the task ahead will be simple. Inchoate anxiety toward the U.S. showed up when we asked Iraqis if they thought the U.S. would help or hurt Iraq over a five-year period. By 50% to 36% they chose hurt over help. This is fairly understandable; Iraqis have just lived through a war in which Americans were (necessarily) flinging most of the ammunition. These experiences may explain why women (who are more antimilitary in all cultures) show up in our data as especially wary of the U.S. right now. War is never pleasant, though U.S. forces made heroic efforts to spare innocents in this one, as I illustrate with firsthand examples in my book about the battles.

Evidence of the comparative gentleness of this war can be seen in our poll. Less than 30% of our sample of Iraqis knew or heard of anyone killed in the spring fighting. Meanwhile, fully half knew some family member, neighbor or friend who had been killed by Iraqi security forces during the years Saddam held power.

Perhaps the ultimate indication of how comfortable Iraqis are with America's aims in their region came when we asked how long they would like to see American and British forces remain in their country: Six months? One year? Two years or more? Two thirds of those with an opinion urged that the coalition troops should stick around for at least another year.

We're making headway in a benighted part of the world. Hang in there, America.

This can't be what the Iraqis want, my liberal bias media told me so

'Iraqis start to act like they better than us, time enforce are views of how they should think on themselves.'
okay aside from the poor sentence structure I guess the post seems to imply that our troops are now not being killed as hated occupational forces. Yeah, right.
This is more disenguenious (big fibber!) than the warm fuzzies photos
of G.I.s kissing babies and petting kittens.
BRING THEM HOME NOW
we have failed (lied about)
Finding WMD
Bringing freedom and democracy to Iraq.

It's always good to get beyond the headlines and find out what people are thinking. It confirms what we knew all along, that Iraqis would be grateful to be free from that tyrant.

Let's see, we're supposed to believe that the results of a poll posted by some
inarticulate fool by the name of "someguy" without any proof or documentation of
sources is supposed to suggest that the Iraqi people love being oppressed by
American forces. We're supposed to believe that this moron was able to
freely travel about the devastated countryside and easily interview people without
being obstructed by army checkpoints, irate civilians, guerillas, devastating heat,
etc. We're supposed to believe that this survey is more reliable than the emails
being sent back by soldiers who report their frustration at being sent on a wild
goose chase (no WMDS and al-qaeda connection) for an extended period.
This is one of the weakest fabrications I've seen and its so bad and ficticious
that I don't think it would even fly in a jingoistic military rag like Stars and Stripes.

You know, you spooks who are trying to infiltrate and do survellience on the IMC
are pretty pathetic in your efforts, like those fictional losers in that movie "Enemy of
the State." Get a real job.

so now you are skeptical about an article. How interesting. So if it doesn't say what i think then it's bullshit. Well that explains it all. Half the info posted on this wire is cooked bullshit. But your not so skeptical when its conveying your interest. I get it. I believe its called hypocracy. Welcome to the club.

Here's the "fabricated", "bad and fictitious" poll.

http://www.taemag.com/issues/articleID.17697/article_detail.asp

Imagine that.

I will bet your paycheck, mediawatcher (assuming you earn one), that had the poll found out Iraqis hate America as much as you do, you'd have claimed it was Holy Writ.

Hypocrite.

yes, media watcher they are busy nowadays.
I love the fumbeling efforts to justify this open piracy from an illegal
president with his band of criminals.
Money can buy a truckload of perfume to mask the smell.

This just has to be true, my rightwing bias media told me so

LIST OF TERRORIST ACTIONS BY YOUR BUDDIES AT THE :

JEWISH DEFENCE LEAGUE

(THE ONES YOU SAID NEVER DID ANYTHING)


1969-1980.....

September 1969:

The President of the United Nations Security Council revealed that six UN Missions of the Arab states received telegrams from the Jewish Defense League threatening each as a "legitimate target" in revenge for acts of terrorism committed by Arabs.


May 18, 1970:

Fifty JDL members took over the Park East Synagogue opposite the Soviet UN Mission. Positioning themselves in the sanctuary, on the roof and on scaffolding surrounding the building, they unfurled huge banners decrying the plight of Soviet Jews. Those on the roof shouted demands and played martial music through a loudspeaker directed at the Mission across the street. Responding to the pleas of the synagogue's rabbi to leave, Kahane told him that as far as he was concerned, there was "nothing to talk about." The takeover continued for nine hours, due to the hesitancy of the synagogue's officials to aggravate the situation by asking the police to intervene."


May 22, 1970:

Six unidentified members of the JDL stormed into the offices of two Arab propaganda agencies in New York. Three Arab men were severely beaten with wooden clubs, and the offices were left in disarray. The three victims were hospitalized. Responding to reports that JDL literature was found at the scene of the attacks, Kahane did not take credit for the assaults but stated that "If we did [take credit], we'd be open to all sorts of problems. We obviously can't." He then proceeded to express his approval of the attacks.


September 27, 1970:

Two members of the JDL, Avraham and Nancy Hershkovitz, were arrested in an alleged plot to hijack an Arab airliner. The two were arrested at Kennedy Airport carrying firearms and explosives. They were later indicted on six counts by a grand jury but pleaded guilty only to a charge of passport falsification.


October 1970:

A group of JDL members led by Kahane took over the executive offices of the Federation of Jewish Philanthropies in New York. They occupied the offices for two hours, demanding $6 million for "Jewish education"


November 16, 1970:

Continuing their efforts against the Federation, the group subsequently launched a telephone harassment campaign against then Federation President George C. Heyman. A newspaper advertisement called for sit-in demonstrations at Heyman's office and advised, "[I]f you cannot stop by, phone him several times that day."


November 24, 1970:

In the second takeover of the Park East Synagogue that year, the JDL again commandeered the premises of the synagogue for an anti-Soviet demonstration. After the police erected barricades to prevent demonstrators from approaching the Soviet Mission, a car suddenly veered onto the sidewalk into a line of uniformed policemen. Six patrolmen and one officer were injured.


November 25, 1970:

At 3:20 a.m., a bomb exploded at the Manhattan offices of the Soviet airline Aeroflot and its travel agency Intourist causing extensive damage. Thirty-five minutes after the explosion of the bomb, an anonymous caller telephoned the Associated Press and declared that the bomb was in response to Soviet anti-Semitism and pronounced the JDL slogan, "Never again!" At a subsequent press conference, Kahane voiced approval of the bombing but denied responsibility for it, stating, "Any protest to help enslaved people is a legitimate form of protest - including bombing and other forms of violent action."


January 8, 1971:

A bomb exploded in the pre-dawn hours of the morning outside a Soviet cultural building in Washington DC causing moderate damage. Shortly after the explosion, a woman telephoned news agencies and warned: "This is a sample of things to come. Let our people go. Never again! " Bertram Zweibon, the vice-chairman of the JDL denied the group's involvement, but declared, "We do not condemn the act.


February 29, 1972:

JDL members wielding sticks fought with left-wing protesters who disrupted a lecture given by Kahane at the City College of New York.


March 2, 1972:

A member of the Jewish Defense League who purchased a rifle allegedly fired into the Soviet UN Mission in October of 1971 was indicted by a federal grand jury on charges of possessing a false draft card and falsely identifying himself when buying a firearm. On March 18, 1975, he pleaded guilty.


March 16, 1972:

A JDL member poured blood over the head of a Soviet diplomat after crashing a Washington, DC reception.


March 22, 1972:

A band of 12 JDL members disrupted a luncheon meeting of the Long Island Association World Trade Club during a speech being given by an official of the Russian Embassy. Detectives forcibly removed them from the room.'


April 8, 1972:
A warrant for the arrest of a JDL follower was issued in Manhattan Criminal Court when he failed to pay a $200 fine imposed after he pleaded guilty to criminal mischief for invading and vandalizing the offices of the Soviet news agency Tass in 1969.


May 9, 1972:

At a sit-in at the Austrian Embassy in Washington, JDL members scuffled with Austrian officials.


May 24, 1972:

In an apparent effort to disrupt U.S. - Soviet relations, four people, two of which were reported to be members of the JDL, were arrested and charged with bomb possession and burglary in a conspiracy to blow up the Long Island residence of the Soviet Mission to the UN. President Nixon was on an official visit to Moscow at the time. The arrests were announced by Acting Attorney General Richard Kliendienst. On August 4 1972, the two JDL members pleaded guilty and were sentenced to serve 3 years in prison for one and a year and a day for the other.


September 14, 1972:

Members of the JDL were arrested in Los Angeles twelve hours after the bombing of an apartment building which included among its tenants a Palestinian Arab. No one was injured. In June of 1973, two members of the organization were convicted on charges of assault.


September 27, 1972:

Three members of the JDL pleaded guilty in Brooklyn Federal Court to charges related to bombing incidents in 1971 at the Amtorg Trading Corporation offices and at the Long Island estate of the Russian Mission.


January 12, 1973:

A group of anti-Soviet demonstrators, identified by police as JDL members, invaded the Park East Synagogue opposite the Soviet UN Mission on East 67th Street, and shouted slogans at the Mission. The synagogue's rabbi called the group "irresponsible."


February 6, 1973:

An FBI agent revealed that members of the JDL had planned to use a "drone airplane" in 1971 to bomb the Soviet Mission to the UN in New York.


February 22, 1973:

Ten members of the JDL took over and vandalized the offices of the World Council of Churches in New York.


February 28, 1973:

Eight members of the JDL took over the offices of the American Friends Service Committee in Philadelphia.


March 1, 1973:

The executive secretary of the New York office of the World Council of Churches stated that the Council would seek payment from the JDL for damages caused on February 22 by ten JDL members who invaded the Council's offices and vandalized the premises.


May 22, 1973:

A Queens, New York high school teacher was sentenced to 90 days in prison for using false documents to hide the identities of individuals who purchased rifles for use in a JDL camp in 1970. A co-defendant, also a JDL member, was convicted on similar charges, and was sentenced to 5 months in prison on July 15.


June 30, 1973:

Rabbi Kahane revealed that he had instructed followers to kidnap a Soviet diplomat in the U.S. to forestall a U.S.-Soviet summit meeting.


July 17, 1973:

Rabbi Kahane stated in Israel that he had written to JDL members in the U.S. suggesting they blow up the vacant Iraqi Embassy in Washington.


August 23, 1974:

Four JDL leaders were arrested and charged with disorderly conduct while attempting to disrupt a performance of the Bolshoi Ballet at the Temple University Music Festival. Earlier, officials of the festival had received a letter from a JDL official stating that unless the proceeds from the program were donated to organizations helping Soviet Jewry, the JDL would try to prevent the program from taking place by "whatever means are necessary." The Pennsylvania leader of the JDL was later convicted of disorderly conduct, while charges against the other three JDL members were dismisse


November 13, 1974:

A JDL leader was arrested by agents of the FBI after he publicly threatened to assassinate the head of the Palestine Liberation Organization, Yasir Arafat. Other JDL officials repeated the threat. He was convicted on June 13, 1975.


January 21, 1975:

Rabbi Kahane and 47 other demonstrators were arrested in a clash with police outside the Soviet UN Mission in which six persons, including two policemen, were injured. Two of the demonstrators were held on felonious assault charges but the rest, including Kahane, were released after being given summonses for disorderly conduct.


January 24, 1975:

A JDL official admitted that the group had taken and hidden the printing presses of a Philadelphia Arabic newspaper.


January 30, 1975:

Two JDL members were arrested on suspicion of arson following the firebombing of an automobile belonging to the brother of an accused Nazi war criminal. The two were identified as members of the JDL by the group's West Coast director, who expressed sympathy with the firebombing. On November 27 1975, a JDL member pleaded guilty to the firebombing.


February 8, 1975:

Rabbi Kahane was accused of having conspired to kidnap a Soviet diplomat, to bomb the Iraqi Embassy in Washington, and to ship arms abroad from Israel, when he was there in 1972. As a result, a federal judge scheduled a hearing on revocation of Kahane's 5-year probation, dating from a July, 1971 conviction for making a firebomb.The judge subsequently found Kahane guilty of violating his probation, and imposed a one-year prison term, which Kahane began serving on March 18 of that year.


February 24, 1975:

Kahane announced that the JDL planned to recruit a 150,000 member volunteer army to fight for Israel, emphasizing that such volunteers "should be prepared to kill Arabs if necessary. . ." Kahane conceded that such an "army" had no approval from the Israeli government, which he criticized as "appeasement oriented."


March 5, 1975:

Twelve young people affiliated with the JDL off-shoot called the Committee Against Israeli Retreat (CAIR) invaded the B'nai B'rith offices in Washington, taking control of the switchboard and seizing the office of another B'nai B'rith staff member. The group demanded that B'nai B'rith and other Jewish organizations mobilize against U.S. policy in the Middle East and against the potential return of any occupied territory by the Israeli government. The group used a bullhorn to convey its message through open windows in the building. They also sent telegrams to Jewish organizations in several cities falsely claiming that B'nai B'rith was organizing protests against "the Ford-Kissinger policy of step-by-step strangulation of Israel." Police were called but no arrests were made.


March 19, 1975:

A JDL member pleaded guilty in Brooklyn federal court to possession of a false draft card, which was used to purchase a rifle that was fired into the Soviet UN Mission in October, 1971.


March 19, 1975:

Kahane began a one-year federal prison term for violation of a previously imposed 5-year probation sentence relating to an arms smuggling conviction.


April 15, 1975:

Responsibility for the smashing of two windows of a Chemical Bank branch in Coram, Long Island was claimed by an unidentified man who called Newsday using the JDL slogan, "Never Again." Contacted by Newsday, a JDL official denied responsibility for the vandalism, but stated, "We applaud the act of militant Jews and support all such activities."


April 18, 1975

The FBI and local police, armed with search warrants, searched JDL headquarters in Los Angeles and the homes of several JDL members in connection with an investigation of a series of explosions in the Los Angeles area. A JDL spokesman denied JDL involvement in the bombings although he said the group applauded them.


April 25, 1975:

Six JDL members, expressing dissatisfaction with the responsiveness to community needs of the San Francisco Jewish Welfare Federation, forced their way into the office of the executive vice president of the Federation, ransacked files and assaulted four staff members, including one who, according to a Federation spokesman, had been crippled as a result of having spent time in a concentration camp during World War II.


June 19, 1975:

Kahane announced that a Jewish "counter-terrorist group" had been formed to combat "the sworn enemies of the Jewish people with hard-core violence." While disclaiming knowledge of the size of the group, its membership or where it would strike, Kahane said the JDL would serve the new group "as a conduit in relaying their views and plans to whoever they would ask us to; to serve
as an ideological and philosophical guide for them, and to aid them in whatever way we can.


August 29, 1975:

Eleven JDL members locked themselves in the lobby of 515 Park Avenue, which houses many Jewish organizations, and blocked all means of entrance to or exit from the building, demanding to see an official of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations. They also demanded that the Presidents Conference support the JDL view that Israel should not give up "a single inch of territory" in negotiations with Arab states


December 12, 1975:

A JDL spokesman announced a campaign of following and harassing UN diplomats who represented the 72 nations which voted in the UN to equate Zionism with racism. Incidents involving diplomats or their family members from the Soviet Union, Poland and India were reported. The JDL spokesman said of the campaign, "We are prepared to stay within certain civil laws and not physically attacked anyone. But if we are provoked we will slug it out. Quite frankly, we are hoping for that. We want to create a major incident. "


January 6, 1976:

Three JDL members were charged by police with invading and vandalizing the Mexican Consulate in Philadelphia, allegedly to protest Mexico's vote for the UN resolution equating Zionism with racism. However, a local judge dismissed the charges. The judge was quoted as saying that he dropped the charges not because of the merits of the case, but because of improper Mexican treatment of American prisoners. Federal charges against the three remain in effect. On January 13, a federal grand jury in Philadelphia indicted the three JDL members on charges involving obstructing foreign officials and their duties, damaging property of a foreign government, and conspiracy. The three JDL members later pleaded guilty to the federal charges and were sentenced to two years probation."


January 13, 1976:

Three pipe bombs were discovered and disarmed by New York City police near the United Nations, and a fourth bomb found at the Iraqi UN Mission was later similarly disarmed. Anonymous telephone callers told the Associated Press that the bombs had been set by the Jewish Armed Resistance Strike Unit, which has been associated with the JDL. The UN bombs were found by a Transit Authority employee in a subway emergency exit shaft under an exit ramp from the FDR drive next to the UN. A UN spokesman said that fragments from the bomb could have killed or wounded anyone within 50 feet. A JDL spokesman said his organization applauded the attempted bombing.'


January 17, 1976:

A pipe bomb exploded in front of the Polish Consulate on Madison Avenue near East 37th Street in Manhattan. After the explosion, a man called two wire services and the New York Post and claimed he represented "the voice of Jewish Armed Resistance. "


March 2, 1976:

The JDL issued a statement applauding the firing of several bullets into an apartment building in the Soviet UN Mission residence in the Riverdale section of New York, but denied any connection with the Jewish Armed Resistance, the group that claimed responsibility for the shootings.


March 9, 1976:

The Jewish Armed Resistance Strike Movement claimed responsibility for an explosion that destroyed part of the Fifth Avenue building housing the Soviet and Czechoslovak airlines. Condemning this bombing, Stanley Lowell, chairman of the National Conference on Soviet Jewry, observed that "had the bomb injured or killed an innocent individual, the cause of Soviet Jewry would have been irreparably harmed." Lowell added, "those who continue these tactics and their supporters accomplish nothing. Terrorist acts can only hurt the cause of Soviet Jews. . ."


March 26, 1976:

The Jewish Armed Resistance claimed responsibility for a time bomb that was discovered at the Amtorg Trading Corporation, the Soviet trade agency, on Lexington Avenue in New York.


On March 28 1976, in an article titled "Anti-Soviet Violence Here Upsets Jews in Moscow" The New York Times reported that Soviet Jewish refuseniks had publicly criticized the JDL's actions: "A number of Jewish activists refused permission to emigrate... feel that lanti-Soviet] harassment in New York hurts their cause and may give Soviet authorities an excuse to become even more intransigent." The article also quoted several Jews awaiting exit visas in Moscow as expressing opposition to violent attacks upon Soviet personnel in New York, and concluded: "Another Jewish activist feared that such actions could make authorities more unwilling to relax emigration policies for fear of losing face."

Several days later, on April 6 1976, nine Moscow Jewish activists condemned as a "terrorist act" the shots fired at the Soviet Mission to the UN. In a statement released by the National Conference on Soviet Jewry, the nine activists stated: "Such actions constitute a danger for Soviet Jews... as they might be used by the authorities as a pretext for new repressions and for instigating anti-Semitic hostilities." The signers included Vladimir Slepak, Alexander Lerner, Anatoly Shcharansky, and losif Begun. A similar statement was also made by the Soviet Jewish scientist and "refusenik" Benjamin Levich.


April 12, 1976:

Seven JDL members mounted the roof of the Park East Synagogue across the street from the Soviet UN Mission and shouted insults at occupants of the Mission The rabbi of the synagogue described this activity as "harmful and irresponsible," and indicated that he would press charges of trespassing.' 95 A day after the demonstration. Kahane praised those who had been attacking Soviet diplomats and offices as "Jewish patriots."


May 3, 1976:

Five pipe bombs shattered windows and caused minor damage to two banks, a Russian book store, a subway exit near the UN and the national headquarters of the Communist Party. A caller to the Daily News stated that the bombs had been planted by the Jewish Armed Resistance Strike Unit, and supplied the location of a letter relating to the bombings, which was later found there by police.

Responding to the spate of violence against Soviet diplomatic personnel and property, six Orthodox rabbis and deans of Yeshivot (Jewish religious seminaries) issued a statement denouncing violence and terror by Jews against Russian officials and property in the United States as a transgression of Jewish law. The statement was released on May 14, 1976 by the Agudat Israel of America in the name of the Council of Torah Sages.


June 23, 1976:

Two vehicles were firebombed near the Pan Am cargo terminal at Kennedy Airport. An anonymous call told the New York Post that the Jewish Armed Resistance was responsible.'


August 19, 1976:

Four members of the JDL were charged with conspiring to direct violent attacks against foreign governments in the United States, including the Soviet and Iraqi Missions at the United Nations. In addition to conspiracy, the defendants were charged with interstate transportation of explosives and firearms, and with violating statutes that provide protection to foreign officials and their property.

The indictment referred to the following incidents: An attempted pipe bombing of the Iraqi Mission to the. United Nations on January 12, 1976; a shooting into the Soviet Mission to the UN on April 2, 1976; a pipe bombing of a New Jersey service station on August 17, 1975; and the shooting into the Soviet residential complex in Riverdale, NY on April 2, 1976. The four JDL members entered guilty pleas to the federal charges. (A fifth defendant who was a juvenile at the time of his arrest and whose arrest was not reported at the time also pleaded guilty.)


November 19, 1976:

Five JDL members staged a 5-hour sit-in at the office of U.S. Senator Abraham Ribicoff of Connecticut. The JDL objected to statements and positions on Israel by Ribicoff, who was described by Kahane earlier as a "far greater danger to Israel than any Arab army. "


November 24, 1976:

Kahane led a group of JDL members in a sit-in at the HIAS office to protest what they claimed was a decision by HIAS to stop providing aid to Soviet Jewish "dropouts." They carried signs and distributed leaflets urging HIAS not to "cave in to Israeli pressure" on the issue.


November 26, 1976:

The head of the Washington, DC area JDL was convicted of conspiring to shoot out the windows in the apartments of two Soviet Embassy officials.


December 16, 1976:

A JDL member was sentenced to three years in federal prison in New York following his guilty plea to charges of transporting a rifle across state lines. He had previously received a one-year suspended sentence following his 1975 conviction for threatening the life of PLO leader Yasir Arafat in 1974. Following that suspended sentence he had been placed on probation for four years.


December 16, 1976:

Two JDL members were sentenced to up to six years in federal prison following their guilty pleas to the federal indictment announced by the Justice Department on August 12. A third individual involved in that indictment had been sentenced earlier to a similar term. The fourth of those indicted was the individual sentenced to three years, as noted above. A fifth individual associated with that indictment was released on probation.


December 20, 1976:

The JDL announced that it had "declared war" against the Unification Church leader, Rev. Sun Myung Moon, and "vowed that no Moon missionaries would walk the streets safely."


February 1, 1977:

Twelve JDL members disrupted a meeting sponsored by Breira, a Jewish group advocating Israeli recognition of the PLO, held at a Manhattan synagogue. As a result of this action, the meeting was canceled. A JDL spokesman warned: "Breira must be crushed once and for all, and those who aid and abet it will get lost in the crush as well."


February 14, 1977:

The former director of the Washington, D.C.-area JDL was sentenced to two years in federal prison, fined $12,000 and put on supervised probation for three years. He had been convicted of conspiracy relating to a plan to fire a rifle into a Maryland apartment rented by Soviet diplomats.


March 18, 1977:

Following a two-day siege against B'nai B'rith headquarters in Washington by a group of Hanafi Moslem terrorists, Kahane denounced the Hanafis as "Nazis" and sent a telegram to Hanafi headquarters demanding an apology for the terrorist action. In response, a statement by the Hanafis threatened "all Zionist Jews and their allies" with "bloodbaths."


June 8, 1977:

A telephone caller identifying himself as a member of the Jewish Armed Resistance claimed responsibility for the arson at a Boro Park bank as a political protest. Damage to the building was light. A JDL spokesman denied that the Jewish Armed Resistance was linked to the JDL, but applauded the action.


August 15, 1977:

The JDL claimed responsibility for the firebombing in Brooklyn of a vehicle used by the proselytizing organization Jews For Jesus.


February 17, 1978:

In a pre-recorded telephone message, the JDL offered $500 for every Nazi "lawfully killed during an attack on a Jew." Calls to the New York headquarters of the JDL activated the telephone message which also stated "We are calling for Jews to unite in an all-out war against Nazis and other Jew-haters." The message added "We are also advocating mass executions of Nazis in order to make their stay in this country an unhealthy one."


April 21, 1978:

A taped telephone message played to callers to the JDL office in Miami Beach urged Jews to own guns, with the words, "Every Jew, a .22."


June 1, 1978:

The JDL announced a campaign intended to force a Jewish attorney to end his legal representation of an accused Nazi war criminal living in New Jersey. Speaking of the attorney, a JDL official stated, "From here on there will always be the presence of the JDL in his area and wherever he goes, to make him resign..." The lawyer charged that his life had been threatened.


June 22, 1978:

A Canadian member of the JDL pleaded guilty to setting a bomb that exploded at the home of a Canadian neo-Nazi activist.


July 11, 1978:

Kahane and several associates broke into a Russian Orthodox Church in Jerusalem and sprayed black paint on the walls to protest the Soviet trial of Anatoly Shcharansly.


August 18, 1978:

An anonymous caller to the Associated Press claimed JDL responsibility for a fire at the Democratic Party's Southern California headquarters in Los Angeles. A JDL spokesman later refused to comment on any JDL role in the fire, but expressed sympathy with the perpetrators. The arson was assertedly to protest Carter Administration pressure on Israel.''


August 30, 1978:

A JDL member convicted of bombing a Los Angeles theater during a showing of Vanessa Redgrave's pro-PLO film, "The Palestinians," was sentenced to a three month "thorough psychological examination" with the California Youth Authority.


September 26, 1978:

A federal appeals court upheld the firearms conviction of a Washington, D.C.-area JDL official, but overturned his conviction on a conspiracy charge, due to an erroneous jury instruction from the trial judge.


November 20, 1978:

A group calling itself the "New Jewish Defense League" took responsibility for the attempted bombing of the home of an Egyptian UN diplomat in Queens. The device did not go off.


December 7, 1978:

A JDL member convicted earlier of a June bombing at a Los Angeles area theater showing a pro-PLO Vanessa Redgrave film, was sentenced to up to four years in the California Youth Authority. His sentence was credited with the nearly six months he had already spent in custody.


December 22, 1978:

Three JDL members were evicted from the West German Consulate offices in Miami after they occupied the office form more than an hour, in protest against Germany's announcement that it would cease prosecuting alleged Nazi war criminals after the next year. Those convicted were arrested and charged with trespassing, battery and false imprisonment.


December 29, 1978:

A JDL official pleaded no contest to causing a disturbance outside a local courtroom where an alleged Nazi war criminal was being tried. The JDL official was sentenced to sixty days probation.


1979:

Updated JDL Document: "Needed: An American Jewish Underground" -- this JDL document, circulated in 1979, advocated the formation of an armed Jewish American "underground" to "quietly and professionally eliminate those modern day Hitlers who are becoming an ever increasing threat to our existence.

"...I state emphatically, the JDL is not an 'underground.' It is an 'above-ground' organization, an activist, ideological movement which operates in full view of the public and police. Militant and sometimes violent? Yes, in the defense of Jews.

"But a void, a gap needs to be filled within the complex make-up of the American Jewish community today. As 1 stated above, what is needed is a secret, underground strike-force which will eliminate those individuals that threaten our very existence. The time is long overdue for the birth of such a group."


June 25, 1979:

JDL members swinging baseball bats disrupted meetings of neo-Nazi groups in two suburbs of Cleveland, Ohio. There were no arrests.


September 5, 1979:

Two JDL members disrupted the first night performance of the Bolshoi Ballet in a Los Angeles auditorium. The disrupters were ejected by security guards.


September 20, 1979:

A California Appeals Court ruled that a JDL official could be prosecuted on charges of soliciting the murder of American neo-Nazis. The Court overturned a lower court ruling that the JDL official's public comments had been protected by the First Amendment. The official had waived five $100 bills in the air at a Los Angeles news conference and offered them to anyone who "kills, maims or seriously injures a member of the American Nazi Party."


November 5, 1979:

"The Jewish Defense League is urging American Jews to purchase firearms and know how to use them as part of the forty first observance of Kristallnacht, or 'Night of Broken Glass,' in which pogrom-like rioting was directed against the Jewish communities of Germany on November 9th and 10th, 1938.

"Saying that 'America closely resembles the Germany of the 1920s,' and that 'overt and physical Jew-hatred covers nearly the entire spectrum of American society today,' JDL national director Brett Becker announced the JDL would begin the 'Every Jew, A .22' campaign on the anniversary of Kristallnacht. "


November 19, 1979:

A "smoke bomb" went off inside Carnegie Hall during a performance by a Soviet orchestra. A caller identifying herself as a JDL member claimed JDL responsibility for setting the device.


January 27, 1980:

An anonymous caller claimed responsibility in the name of the JDL after a bomb exploded outside the San Francisco office of Bank Melli of Iran.


February 6, 1980:

Eight JDL members allegedly assaulted American Nazi leader Harold Covington outside NBC studios in New York. The neo-Nazis were protesting the broadcast of NBC's docu-drama "Holocaust."


June 9, 1980:

A JDL official in California, predicting a new Holocaust, urged Jews to arm themselves. The JDL was offering monthly weapons-training sessions in the area."


June 26, 1980:

Five JDL members took over the New York offices of Hebrew University and American Friends of Hebrew University


July 1980:

The "JDL Update" contained the following items:

* JDL members disrupted speeches at Temple Sinai in Washington, D. C. given by Arab mayors recently expelled from Israel. (June 4).

* Seven JDL members were arrested after invading the New York office of the Soviet line, Aeroflot (June 19).

* JDL members in Los Angeles staged a weapons training class following KKK leader Tom Metzger's Congressional primary win (June 22).

* Thirty JDL members in Miami demonstrated in protest against Kahane's detention in Israel (June 24).



July 18, 1980:

Four JDL members took over the offices of United Zionist Revisionists of America (Herut).


August 29, 1980:

Four JDL members took over the Israel Aliyah office in Queens, New York.


November 17, 1980:

Twenty JDL members staged a 3-day sit-in at the Israeli Consulate and Mission to the UN in New York.


January 25, 1981:

A bomb exploded in the early hours of the morning outside the Bank Melli Iran building in San Francisco. Windows were shattered on both sides of the street, but there were no injuries. A man who identified himself as a representative of the JDL telephoned United Press international and claimed responsibility, stating that the group's act of violence was taken to protest the "brutal persecution of Iranian Jewry " and demanded the release of "50,000 Jews held hostage" that he described as being held in Iran. Earl Krugel, director of the JDL in California, denied responsibility for the explosion but was reported as condoning the action.


January 30, 1981:

Twenty members of the JDL took over the offices of the American Civil Liberties Union in New York as a protest against the ACLU's legal defense of a neo-Nazi group in Buffalo. Over a period of four hours, the JDL commandeered the ACLU reception area and disrupted the work of its staff by chanting "Don't defend Nazis!" and "Six Million - Never Again!" No injuries or serious damage was reported.


February 2, 1981:

Three members of the Jewish Defense League were issued summonses for harassment after they verbally abused diplomats at the Soviet Mission to the UN. One of the three, Howard Perel, stated that he had "shouted and cursed" at the diplomats as they were leaving the mission and had shouted slogans referring to Anatoly Shcharansky.


February 6, 1981:

Eight members of the JDL wielding steel pipes attacked National Socialist Party of America leader Harold Covington on as he approached the NBC studios in New York. Covington and an aide were attired in full Nazi stormtrooper uniforms on their way to a taping of the "Tomorrow" show. Later in the evening, Covington appeared on the program heavily bandaged and declared that all Jews should be gassed."


April 6, 1981:

Two members of the JDL were arrested in Torrance, California at a demonstration outside the offices of the Institute for Historical Review, a Holocaust revisionist organization. Willis Car-to, the director of the Institute, was assaulted by one JDL member after he began to write down car license plate numbers. Another member of the group was arrested after he was seen placing a loaded semi-automatic pistol in the trunk of a car.


May 31, 1981:

Two JDL members were arrested for throwing rocks, bottles and eggs at the offices of the Soviet airline Aeroflot in New York. The two, Avigdor Eskin and Alex Khaves, were charged with starting a riot, reckless endangerment, and criminal mischief. Both had recently emigrated to the U.S. from the Soviet Union.


June 1, 1981:

Two JDL members were arrested after allegedly vandalizing the Aeroflot office in Manhattan.


August 30, 1981:

Four gasoline firebombs were hurled at the home of an accused Nazi war criminal, Boleslavs Maikovskis, in Mineola, Long Island at 2:30 a.m. There were no injuries, but slight damage to the house was reported. Within minutes of the firebombing attack, a representative of the JDL telephoned the New York Post and took responsibility for the attack.


September 1, 1981:

At his deportation hearing, alleged Nazi criminal Boreslavs Maikovskis was punched and knocked down by a member of the JDL who shouted, "You Nazi bastard! " The JDL member was later identified as Mark [Mordechai] Levy, who was removed from the courtroom and charged with five misdemeanors.


September 2, 1981:

Two JDL members were issued summonses after they allegedly harassed Soviet diplomatic personnel on a New York bus.


September 3-4 1981:

Six unexploded bombs were discovered near the Soviet Mission to the United Nations on September 3. On September 4, a small bomb exploded under an unoccupied car with diplomatic license plates parked near the Soviet Mission. No one claimed responsibility for these incidents.


September 6, 1981:

A small bomb exploded at the Four Continent Bookstore at 1:40 a.m., causing damage to the display window of the store. The Four Continent Bookstore, which sold literature published in the Soviet Union, was targeted by what a caller identified as the "Thunder of Zion" which claimed to be a "militant faction" of the JDL. The caller stated, "Within the next two weeks they [Soviet Jews, including refuseniks Anatoly Shcharansky and Maria Tlemkin] had better be released or Russian blood will flow on New York streets. There will be blood up to your knees, including [Soviet foreign minister Andrei] Gromyko's." Arno Weinstein, the national director of the JDL, in an interview with the New York Post, said, "We do not take responsibility for this, but we applaud it. I am very happy that Jews are finally taking some action."


September 9, 1981:

Fifteen members of the JDL take over the offices of the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society (HIAS) in New York, forcing the organization's employees to leave their offices and barricading the doors behind them with desks and office furniture. The JDL members occupied the office for two hours and demanded that HIAS send messages to Ethiopia calling for the emigration of Jews from that country. At the offices of the World Zionist Organization (WZO), another group from the JDL chained and padlocked the front doors of the organization's offices. The WZO offices continued to function normally in spite of the JDL's attempts at disruption.


October 25, 1981:

Two firebombs severely damaged the Egyptian Government Tourist Office at Rockefeller Center in New York at 4:18 a.m. There were no injuries. An anonymous caller to the New York Daily News claimed responsibility for the bombing at 4:35 a.m., stating, "This is the JDL. We have just firebombed the Egyptian government offices. We demand that the Camp David Accords be buried with Anwar Sadat, in solidarity with those against the retreat from the Israeli-liberated lands - the Sinai. Shalom. Never again!" A spokesman for the JDL later denied responsibility for the bombing, but "if this bombing was done to expose the fallacy of the Camp David Accords, we support the act. " Kahane himself was quoted by the New York Post as saying, "it could have been members of the JDL and it could have been anyone. "249 At a press conference on October 26, Kahane stated, "I would not be particularly anxious to be an Egyptian in New York City." He continued, "I'm not going to say that the JDL bombed that office. There are laws against that in this country. But I'm not going to say I mourn for it either." In response to a question regarding the possibility of other such attacks, Kahane replied, "1 would not be surprised. It might very well be."

One day later, an anonymous caller claimed responsibility for the JDL after the October 25 fire-bombing at the Egyptian Government Tourist Office in New York. A JDL spokesman later denied his group's involvement, adding "We support the act."


November 15, 1981:

Twelve bullets were shot into the sitting room in the home of the Soviet Union's ambassador to the United Nations in Glen Cove, Long Island. There were no injuries. An unidentified caller telephoned United Press International and claimed responsibility in the name of the JDL. Meir Kahane, in an interview with the New York Daily News while on a speaking tour of the U.S. stated, "We have no exact knowledge of who fired into the home, but we have no doubt it is the work of Jewish activists." Describing the shooting as an "unlawful act," he went on to praise it by saying, "We applaud it." At a press conference 15 hours after the shooting, Kahane "proudly announce[d]" and "heartily applauded" the act, predicting an "escalation" of attacks against Soviet representatives in the future. "Jews don't walk freely in the streets of Moscow," he said, warning, "Russians won't walk freely here."


December 25, 1981:

Two houses are spray-painted with Stars of David and slogans during the night, apparently in retaliation for earlier acts of vandalism carried out by two sixteen year-olds against two synagogues in East Meadow and Mineola, Long Island. Nine Stars of David were painted on the house of Donald Ostrandez, and one on a car parked in front of house. Atthe house of Joseph McCloskey, all the tires on the two cars parked in the driveway had their tires slashed. Stars of David and the slogan "Never Again!" were painted on the house. A caller to several news organizations claimed responsibility for the act in the name of the JDL


January 29, 1982:

Forty JDL members seized the offices of the National Jewish Community Relations Advisory Council (NJCRAC).


February 19, 1982:

For the third time in as many months, JDL vandals spray-painted the homes of individuals recently convicted of anti-Semitic vandalism. After denying involvement a JDL official then admitted to his group's "revenge" action.


February 21, 1982:

Following the explosion of two bombs outside the Washington, D.C. office of Aeroflot, an anonymous caller claimed responsibility for the JDL. He added that there would be further actions would continue.


April 2, 1982:

Kahane and about thirty followers seized the offices of the Herut Party in New York as a protest against Israeli withdrawal from Sinai.


April 9, 1982:

Kahane and twenty-five followers took over the main floor of the Israeli Consulate in New York.


July 6, 1982:

An anonymous caller claimed responsibility for the JDL after pipe-bombs were set off outside both the French and Lebanese Consulates in New York. Later, a JDL official denied the claim but added that the JDL did "applaud those actions."


December 20, 1982:

Thirteen JDL demonstrators chanted obscenities and disrupted services at a church where accused Nazi war criminal Valerian Trifa was to appear.


January 26, 1983:

Five JDL members, on a "deprogramming mission," abducted a 22-year-old woman walking on a New York street. The woman had been active in the Jews for Jesus movement. One of her abductors was apprehended by police."


March 3, 1983:

A JDL leader, surrounded by 25 heavily armed supporters, announced plans to create vigilante squads that would mete out "Jewish justice" to "Jew haters." This action was criticized by New York police and by ADL associate national director Abraham Foxman, who noted: "The JDL has a history of violence and extremism and a knack for exacerbating tensions."


November 10, 1983:

Following Jesse Jackson's announced candidacy for President, a JDL spokesman vowed that his organization would disrupt Jackson rallies and meetings.


February 23, 1984:

An anonymous caller from the "Jewish Direct Action" took responsibility for the fire-bombing of a car in the Soviet compound. A spokesman for the group later denied the group's responsibility. However, the group stated in a press release that it would "launch a 'war' that will wreck Soviet-American relations" and would stage "major acts of violence that will seriously endanger" Soviet diplomats.


February 28, 1984:

An anonymous caller claiming to be a JDL member took responsibility for spray-painting the homes of local sponsors of a Soviet film series. A JDL spokesman denied his group's involvement, but did admit that the perpetrators may have been JDL members.


March 13, 1984:

An anonymous caller claimed responsibility for the JDL in the planting of a practice grenade in the Greenburgh, N.Y. town hall during the showing of a Soviet film. A JDL official denied responsibility, but then admitted that it was "possible the people who perpetrated this may be JDL members."


October 11, 1985:

The West Coast headquarters of the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee is bombed, killing its Palestinian-American director, Alex Odeh and injuring 7 others. A JDL spokesman declared that Odeh "got exactly what he deserved."


December 1985:

A bomb was placed under the car of Walter Berk, then the acting chairman of the JDL in New York, who was involved in a dispute with other members of the group over mailing lists and finances. In 1987 it was revealed that another JDL member, Jay Cohen, had planted the bomb. No injuries were reported.


March 1986:

Another bomb was placed under the car of JDL chairman Walter Berk by a rival member of the JDL. No injuries were reported.


April 28, 1986:

A member of the JDL placed a firebomb under a loading dock at a Pan Am building at Kennedy International Airport in protest of the airline's flights to Russia.


September 2, 1986:

A tear gas grenade was thrown into the opening performance of the Soviet Moiseyev Dance Company at the Metropolitan Opera. Twenty people were sent to the hospital for treatment, including the Soviet Ambassador, Uri Dubinin. 4000 others were evacuated from the building. JDL members Jay Cohen, Sharon Katz and JDL leader Victor Vancier were arrested in 1987 for carrying out the incident. (See October 27 1987)


November 26, 1986:

Victor Vancier, [aka Chaim Ben Yosef] the "self-proclaimed leader" of the JDL in New York, was arrested outside the Penta Hotel with a tear gas grenade after a fire broke out in the tunnels under the hotel where the Soviet Moiseyev Dance Company, was staying. Vancier was charged with a federal weapons violation. (See October 27 1987)


February 9, 1987:

Two JDL members disrupted the performance of Soviet pianist Lazar Berman at Carnegie Hall in New York by chanting, "Free Soviet Jews, Communist Nazis." Both were removed from the hall and charged with disorderly conduct.


April 1, 1987:

Murray Young, a "suspected JDL member," was arrested for his involvement for two violent attacks that took place at the Metropolitan Opera and Avery Fisher Hall. Police confiscated "a cache of weapons and documents" from Young's home. Included among the weapons were: a semi-automatic machine gun, handguns, rifles and two stun guns, as well as ammunition, tear gas canisters, explosive powder, stink bombs and "detailed records about bombings directed at organizations affiliated with the Soviet Union." Young was charged with possession of a pistol silencer without a serial number, and later received a 5-year prison term. (See October 27 1987.)


May 8, 1987:

Jay Cohen, Sharon Katz and Victor Vancier, all JDL members, are arrested in connection with six incidents, including the 1984 firebombing a car at the Soviet diplomatic residence in Rive rdale, the 1985 and 1986 fire and pipe bombings of cars owned by a rival JDL member in Howard Beach, the 1986 firebombing at the stage door of Avery Fisher Hall before the performance of the Soviet State Symphony, and the detonation of a tear gas grenade at the Metropolitan Opera in September 1986. Authorities stated that with the arrests of the three, they had "solved all the significant JDL terrorist acts in the New York area. " (See October 27 1987.)


May 20, 1987:

An arrest warrant for disorderly conduct was issued for Kahane in Overland Park, Kansas after he failed to appear at a hearing examining those charges in connection to a shoving match that Kahane had with two Arab men who attended a lecture he gave on November 18 1986. One of the men, Musa Shoucair, filed a civil suit against Kahane for $10,000 in damages for "assault, battery and outrageous conduct resulting in emotional stress" as the consequences of the incident."


May 31, 1987:

Eight JDL members disrupt the Womens' Olympic Volleyball match in Florida between the U.S. and Soviet teams by sitting in the middle of the volleyball court and chanting, "One, two three, four, open up the iron door, five, six, seven eight - let our people emigrate." They were arrested and charged with disorderly conduct."


June 30, 1987:

The outer shell of a grenade wrapped in aluminum foil and connected to four batteries and a clock was found in a garbage can at Lincoln Center in New York hours before the Bolshoi Ballet was to perform. Minutes before the device was discovered, an unidentified caller telephone United Press International and said: "Bomb. Lincoln Square Plaza. Death to Soviet dancers," and referred to JDL founder Meir Kahane.


October 27, 1987:

Victor Vancier, the former National Chairman of the JDL, was sentenced to ten years in prison for bombing attacks at the Soviet diplomatic residence in New York and at Soviet cultural performances. A JDL co-defendant in the case, Jay Cohen, committed suicide on September 6 in his hotel room in the Catskill Mountains. Two other JDL members who were sentenced in the same case were Murray Young, described as a "bomb maker," who received a five-year term because he co-operated with prosecutors after his arrest. Young told the sentencing judge that he had engaged in violence because his grandfather had been beheaded in Russia. Sharon Katz was sentenced to six months house arrest and five years probation, and a $5000 fine for detonating a tear gas grenade. The three were sentenced for an incident in October of 1986 in which the opening night performance of the Soviet Union's Moiseyev Dancers was tear gassed. Vancier had previously justified the JDL's violence by saying that Jews must take extreme measures because "crazy Jews live longer.


January 23, 1988:

Irv Rubin, the JDL National Chairman in California, taunted Muslim anti-Israel protesters at the Federal Building in Westwood, California. Police officers at the scene intervened in order to prevent any violence.


February 15, 1988:

JDL National Director Irv Rubin denied responsibility for the bombing of the PLO's "Ship of Return" in Limassol, Cyprus. The "Ship of Return" was a PLO propaganda project aimed at evoking sympathy for convicted Palestinian terrorists who were expelled from Israel for their violent activities. An anonymous caller telephoned the Associated Press in Nicosia, Cyprus and claimed that the JDL in the U.S. was "responsible for the bombing in Limassol. Next time we will bomb it-with all the people on it." When asked about the bombing, Rubin stated, "I wholeheartedly applaud the bombing of the PLO-chartered ferry in Cyprus. It was a sacred, righteous act to defend the state of Israel. I am honored that our group was blamed. I would love to take credit for this action, but the credit belongs to people much more heroic than I and the JDL. " On a radio program several days before the ship was sunk, Rubin stated that he thought that "someone should sink the boat," and if people were aboard the ship while it was attacked, he "would not condemn the action. I am a Jew who understands what the PLO is about. Their total reason for being is to destroy the state of Israel.


June 1988:

Rochelle Manning, a member of JDL who was then living in Israel, was arrested as she alighted from a plane in Los Angeles for her involvement in the letter-bomb murder of Patricia Wilkerson, a secretary working for the business rival of one of her JDL associates in Manhattan Beach, California. The bombing was not connected to the political program of the JDL, but was apparently part of a business feud between JDL member William Howard Ross and Brenda Crouthamel, who had no ties to the JDL. Both Rochelle Manning's and her husband, Robert Manning's fingerprints were found together with the materials accompanying the bomb. Robert Manning was previously convicted in 1972 for "placing an incendiary device" outside the home of two Arabs in Los Angeles. (See March 8 1994)


September 8, 1988:

An anonymous caller to a new agency in France claimed responsibility in the name of the Jewish Defense Organization for vandalizing the offices of French right-wing extremist Jean Marie Le Pen. The vandals painted SS insignia, swastikas and the Star of David on the walls, broke furniture, and stole membership money from Le Pen's National Front organization.


February 17, 1989:

Irv Rubin, National Chairman of the JDL in California, announced his group's intentions to disrupt the convention of a Holocaust revisionist organization, the institute for Historical Review (IHR). "If we can find [their] location, we'll bring at least 100 people," Rubin said. Describing his group's stance towards the IHR, Rubin declared, "You don't picket Nazis, you don't protest Nazis, you smash Nazis. "


March 4, 1989:

JDL Chairman Irv Rubin stated that his group would hold a rally against a white supremacist rock concert called "Aryan Woodstock" in San Francisco. "We're going to rally with our people. [We want] such a large number that the skinheads will show their true colors and scamper away like cockroaches," Rubin said.


March 31, 1989:

Jewish Defense Organization leader Mordechai Levy threatened to "meet violence with violence" if a projected Ku Klux Klan rally was to take place in Millville, New Jersey. "I don't like violence," Levy said. But sometimes, violence must be used. If the Klan marches, it will be opposed with force."


June 3, 1989:

The JDO's Mordechai Levy and the JDL's Irv Rubin nearly came to blows at a Los Angeles airport press conference that was called by Levy to denounce the attack by four neo-Nazi skinheads against a Middle Eastern couple whom they mistook for Jews from La Verne, California. Rubin and several of his followers accosted Levy as he arrived in Los Angeles. The two spat in each others' faces and a Rubin follower tried to attack an innocent bystander whom he thought was a Levy sympathizer. The man, who happened to be Jewish, was holding a baby and chastised his attacker by saying, "I am a Jew, too, so let me through," as he walked down the hall.


August 11, 1989:

The JDO's Mordechai Levy opened fire from the roof of his apartment building in New York on his arch rival, Irv Rubin, who was trying to subpoena Levy with a slander suit. After a 2 and 1/2 hour standoff, Levy surrendered to police. As the result of the shooting, a retired busdriver, Dominic Spinelli, was struck with gunfire in his leg. Levy was charged with four counts of attempted murder, one count of first-degree assault, and one count .of criminal possession of a deadly weapon.


October 18, 1990:

40-60 JDL members pounded on the front door, trampled the lawn and left signs stating, "Deport Nazi Ensin!" and "No Mass Murderers in Mass.!" on the house of accused Nazi war criminal Albert Ensin in Stoughton, Massachusetts.


November 14, 1990:

Nine days after the murder of Meir Kahane, a note was mailed to a television reporter threatening vengeance for the murder of the Kach leader. Threatening that "things will go boom in the night," the note reportedly contained a "hit list" which included prominent Jewish critics of Israel's policies and American Arabs sympathetic to the PLO. The note reportedly listed Rita Hauser, Chairperson of the International Center for Peace in the Middle East and a New York attorney who met with Yasir Arafat in 1988; Rabbi Arthur Hertzberg, a professor at Dartmouth known for his support of Israeli and Jewish peace groups, and New York Times columnist Anthony Lewis. Others reportedly included on the list were former Palestine National Council member Edward Said, Rashid Khalidi, former Arab League Ambassador to the UN Clovis Maksoud, Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan, and Muhammad T. Mehdi, head of the National Council on Islamic Affairs.




JDL TERRORISM 1991-


February 26, 1992:

A bomb exploded at 2:07 a.m. outside the Syrian Mission to the United Nations. Damage to the building included a shattered plate glass window near its entrance and a two foot hole in its entryway. There were no injuries. Several hours later, an identical bomb was found inside a cardboard box within a telephone booth on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. A note found with the first bomb was destroyed by the blast, but the second note read, "Free Syrian Jews." Later in the day, a man identifying himself as a member of Kahane Chai contacted the Associated Press and claimed responsibility for the bombing. Subsequently, the group made a statement denying responsibility for the bombing but did not condemn it. Binyamin Kahane, the director of Kahane Chai, made a written statement which declared:


"We hope this incident will serve as a warning and a deterrent to Syria and to Syrian- acked terrorists that the long arm of Jewish vengeance can reach them too."


January 5, 1994:

Between 2:30 and 3:30 a.m., a bomb was placed outside a New York building that houses Americans for Peace Now, Habonim, Israel Horizons, and the Progressive Zionist Caucus. The bomb did not explode but was later defused by police . A second bomb, placed outside the building which houses the New Israel Fund, exploded but there were no injuries. Notes left with the bombs declared that an Jewish "civil war has begun. " The notes also spoke of the "spilling of blood in Israel" and criticized the Israeli Government as being "too liberal. " The notes were signed by the "Shield of David" and the "Maccabee Squad." A press release issued by Kahane Chai provided its traditional response subsequent to such incidents: the organization "denied responsibility" for the attacks, but "refused] to condemn the act."


February 10, 1994:

JDL member Robert Manning was convicted of complicity in the 1980 letter-bombing death of a secretary in Los Angeles. He was sentenced to life imprisonment without possibility of parole for 30 years. The letter-bomb incident had no connection to JDL activities but was instead an attack contracted by William Howard Ross, a fellow JDL member who had a long drawn out business dispute with the owner of the firm where the secretary worked.


March 8, 1994:

The Israeli High Court of Justice rejected a petition by Rochelle Manning, wife of Robert Manning and both JDL members, to block her extradition to the United States in order to face murder charges. Rochelle Manning is to be re-tried on murder charges relating to the 1980 letter-bomb attack on a California secretary. On March 19 1994, Rochelle Manning died of a heart attack in an Israeli prison while awaiting her extradition to the United States.


June 9, 1995:

Los Angeles, California - William Howard Ross, a member of the Jewish Defense League, was sentenced to life imprisonment for having enlisted Robert and Rochelle Manning to construct and mail a booby trap bomb to a local computer company with whom Ross had had a personal dispute. (See June 1988 and February 10, 1994 regarding the trial and sentencing of Robert Manning.)


2001

LOS ANGELES, California (CNN) -- Federal authorities Wednesday charged two leaders of the Jewish Defense League with conspiring to blow up Arab and Muslim institutions in southern California, including the offices of Arab-American congressman Rep. Darrell Issa.

Irv Rubin and Earl Krugel were taken into federal custody following late Tuesday raids by members of an antiterrorism task force, said Thom Mrozek, a spokesman for U.S. Attorney John S. Gordon.

"When you target innocents based on religious or political affiliation or belief, we consider that terrorist activity," Gordon said.

"Their primary motivation was to send a 'wake-up call' or terrorize Muslims or Arabs and alert the local, if not national, community to the JDL's commitment to attack those targets."



BUT THE JDL NEVER DID ANYTHING !

Going through all the incidents perpetrated by the JDL, I came up with this:

In 32 years, the JDL injured 17 people and killed none.

Ha ha!

Obviously, they're amateurs compared to militant Arab groups. Just think...NONE of the bombs the JDL set off killed anyone. Shoot, they didn't even INJURE anybody with their explosives!

How many Israelis and Jews were killed by Arabs in the same 32 year span?

Here's a TV program someone recorded - it's a bunch of interviews with men *on the ship at the time* talking about how the pilots were buzzing by so close they *even waved at eachother* and so on (the ship was flying an american flag as big as a billboard in BROAD DAYLIGHT)

Listening to these men who went through it talking about it in thier own words there's *absolutely no question* israel knew they were attacking an american ship killing 34, injuring 172

http://clients.loudeye.com/imc/mayday/uss_liberty.mp3

(20.kbps MP3PRO 45.min / 6.3MB - streamable)

How many Israelis and Jews were killed by Arabs in the same 32 year span?

Here's the israeli "bible" - 100 % pure professional grade propaganda


http://www.reseauvoltaire.net/IMG/pdf/wexner-communication.pdf


Luntz Wexner Analysis

The Luntz Research Companies & The Israel Project - April 2003 1 WEXNER ANALYSIS:

ISRAELI COMMUNICATION PRIORITIES 2003

OVERVIEW

The world has changed. The words, themes and messages on behalf of Israel must include and embrace the new reality of a post-Saddam world.

In the past, we have urged a lower profile for Israel out of a fear that the American people would blame Israel for what was happening in the rest of the Middle East. Now is the time to link American success in dealing with terrorism and dictators from a position of strength to Israel's ongoing efforts to eradicate terrorism on and within its borders. In the current political environment, you have little to lose and a lot to gain by aligning with America.

With all the antiAmericanism across the globe and all the protests and demonstrations, we are looking for allies that share our commitment to security and an end to terrorism and are prepared to say so. Israel is a just such an ally.


THE NEXT STEP

The fact that Israel has remained relatively silent for the three months preceding the war and for the three weeks of the war was absolutely the correct strategy - and according to all the polling done, it worked. But as the military conflict comes to a close, it is now time for Israel to lay out its own "road map" for the future which includes unqualified support for America and unqualified commitment to an ongoing war against terrorism.

Perceptions of Israel and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict are being almost entirely colored and often overshadowed by the continuing action in Iraq.

Partisan differences still exist (the political Left remains your problem) and complaints about Israeli heavy-handedness still exist. Advocates of Israel have about two weeks to get their message in order before world attention turns to the so-called "road map" and how best to "solve" the Israel-Palestinian conflict. Developing that message is the purpose of this memo.




Author's note: This is not a policy document. This document is strictly a communications manual. As with every memo we provide, we have used the same scientific methodology to isolate specific words, phrases, themes and messages that will resonate with at least 70% of the American audience. There will certainly be some people, particularly those on the political left, who will oppose whatever words you use, but the language that follows will help you secure support from a large majority of Americans. These recommendations are based on two "dial test" sessions in Chicago and Los Angeles conducted during the first ten days of the Iraqi war for the Wexner Foundation.


The Luntz Research Companies & The Israel Project - April 2003

2


ESSENTIAL CONCLUSIONS

This document is rather long because it is impossible to communicate all that is needed in simple one-sentence sound-bites. Yes, we have provided those on the pages that follow, but we have taken the space to explain why the language is so important and the context in which it needs to be used. If you only read two pages, these are the key conclusions:


1) Iraq colors all. Saddam is your best defense, even if he is dead. The worldview Americans is entirely dominated by developments in Iraq. This is a unique opportunity for Israelis to deliver a message of support and unity at a time of great international anxiety and opposition from some of our European "allies." For a year - a SOLID YEAR - you should be invoking the name of Saddam Hussein and how Israel was always behind American efforts to rid the world of this ruthless dictator and liberate their people. Saddam will remain a powerful symbol of terror to Americans for a long time to come. A pro-Israeli expression of solidarity with the American people in their successful effort to remove Saddam will be appreciated.

2) Stick to your message but don't say it the same way twice. We have seen this in the past but never so starkly as today. Americans are paying very close attention to international developments and are particularly sensitive to any kind of apparent dogma or canned presentations. If they hear you repeating the exact same words over and over again, they will come to distrust your message.

If your speakers can't find different ways to express similar principles, keep them off the air.


3) It DOES NOT HELP when you compliment President Bush. When you want to identify with and align yourself with America, just say it. Don't use George Bush as a synonym for the United States. Even with the destruction of the Hussein regime and all the positive reactions from the Iraqi people, there still remains about 20% of America that opposes the Iraqi war, and they are overwhelmingly Democrat. That leaves about half the Democrats who support the war even if they don't support George Bush. You antagonize the latter half unnecessarily every time you compliment the President. Don't do it.


4) Conveying sensitivity and a sense of values is a must. Most of the best- performing sound bites mention children, families, and democratic values. Don't just say that Israel is morally aligned with the U. S. Show it in your language.

The children component is particularly important. It is essential that you talk about {the day, not long from now, when Palestinian children and Israeli children will play side-by-side as their parents watch approvingly.}


The Luntz Research Companies & The Israel Project - April 2003

3


5) "SECURITY" sells. Security has become the key fundamental principle for all Americans. Security is the context by which you should explain Israeli need for loan guarantees and military aid, as well as why Israel can't just give up land. The settlements are our Achilles heel, and the best response (which is still quite weak) is the need for security that this buffer creates.


6) The language in this document will work, but it will work best when it is accompanied with passion and compassion. Too many supporters of Israel speak out of anger or shout when faced with opposition.

Listeners are more likely to accept your arguments if they like how you express them. They will bless these words but they will truly accept them if and only if they accept you.


7) Find yourself a good female spokesperson. In all our testing, women are found to be more credible than men. And if the woman has children, that's even better.


8) Link Iraqi liberation with the plight of the Palestinian people. It is likely that the most effective argument(s) you have right now are those that link the right of the Iraqi people to live in freedom with the right of the Palestinian people to be governed by those who truly represent them. If you express your concern for the plight of the Palestinian people and how it is unfair, unjust and immoral that they should be forced to accept leaders who steal and kill in their name, you will be building credibility for your support of the average
Palestinian while undermining the credibility of their leadership.


9) A little humility goes a long way. You saw this with your own eyes. You need to talk continually about your understanding of "the plight of the Palestinians" and a commitment to helping them. Yes, this IS a double standard (no one expects anything pro-Israeli from the Palestinians) but that's just the way things are.

Humility is a bitter pill to swallow, but it will inoculate you against critiques that you have not done enough for peace. Admit mistakes, but then show how Israel is the partner always working for peace.


10) Of course rhetorical questions work, don't they? Ask a question to which there is only one answer is hard to lose. It is essential that your communication be laced with rhetorical questions, which is how Jews talk anyway.


11) Mahmoud Abbas is still a question mark. Leave him that way. You stand much more to lose by attacking him now. But similarly, he is not worthy of praise.

Talk about your hopes for the future, but lay out the principles you expect him to uphold: an end to violence, a recognition of Israel, reform of his own government, etc.


The Luntz Research Companies & The Israel Project - April 2003

4


THE TWO MOST IMPORTANT WORDS: SADDAM HUSSEIN (STILL)

This document is about language, so let me be blunt. "Saddam Hussein" are the two words that tie Israel to America and are most likely to deliver support in congress. They also just happen to be two of the most hated words in the English language right now. Without being repetitive, Americans fundamentally believe that a democracy has a right to protect its people and its boarders. Unfortunately, as a democracy, we tend to dwell on our failures (Vietnam, Watergate, etc.) more than our successes. It is essential for the long- term support of a strong military and a commitment to national security that we remind people again and again and again that there are times when it is necessary to take preventative action and that military intervention is better than appeasement.


A WARNING There are some who would say that Saddam Hussein is already old news. They don't understand history. They don't understand communication. They don't understand how to integrate and leverage history and communication for the benefit of Israel. The day we allow Saddam to take his eventual place in the trash heap of history is the day we loose our strongest weapon in the linguistic defense of Israel.

References to the successful outcome of the war with Iraq benefit Israel. While Americans don't want to increase foreign aid in a time of significant budgetary deficits and painful spending cuts, there is one and only one argument that will work for continuing Israeli aid (in four easy steps):



THE ISRAELI AID MESSAGE TREE


(1) As a democracy, Israel has the right and the responsibility to defend its borders and protect its people.

(2) Prevention works. Even with the collapse of Saddam's regime, terrorist threats remain throughout our region.

(3) Israel is America's one and only true ally in the region. In these particularly unstable and dangerous times, Israel should not be forced to go it alone.

(4) With America's financial assistance, Israel can defend its borders, protect its people, and provide invaluable assistance to the American effort in the war against terrorism.



The Luntz Research Companies & The Israel Project - April 2003

5


This is important. All the arguments about Israel being a democracy, letting Arabs vote and serve in government, protecting religious freedom, etc., won't deliver the public support you need to secure the loan guarantees and the military aid Israel needs. All the language we have written in past memos will not work when it comes to U. S. tax dollars. You need a national security angle - one that clearly links the interests of both Israel and America:


WORDS THAT WORK: SELLING ISRAEL AID (I)


It was Israel who risked their pilots and planes in taking out Saddam Hussein's nuclear reactors and thus thwarted his quest for nuclear weapons of mass destruction.

It was Israel who provided much of the intelligence that helped America defeat Iraq back in 1991.

It was Israel alone among Middle Eastern nations that supported America's successful effort to remove Saddam Hussein and liberate the people of Iraq.

We stood without you against the Saddam regime from beginning to end. Israel has been a key regional asset and military ally of the United States for more than 50 years. That relationship must continue, even and especially in the post-Saddam era. It is a partnership of democracies devoted to the war against terrorism and the fight for freedom.

As we have seen, the news cycle during and immediately following a war is is not a matter of idle curiosity, it is compulsory viewing. Even more than in Israel, where conflict has tragically been almost commonplace, war means a new and real threat to personal and familial security in America. And Saddam Hussein, dead or alive, still embodies that threat.

Americans have been thinking and talking about the war on terror for almost a year and a half now, and they have come to conclude that Saddam Hussein is a sponsor of world terror and is a particular threat to the democracies of the world. New and shocking revelations about the brutality of his regime are discovered daily, which only reinforces American support of military action. But the fact that Hussein was a direct threat to Israel is especially important.

Israel opposed his cruel ambitions for decades - a decade longer than the U. S. Remind audiences that Israel and America have common values, but then stress that we also share common enemies.



The Luntz Research Companies & The Israel Project - April 2003

6


But deterrence is only half the message. You really do need to emphasize your historic willingness to compromise and sacrifice on behalf of America. This may not play well among some Israeli politicians but it will certainly play extremely well in the States.


WORDS THAT WORK

During the Gulf War, Iraq attacked Israel with Scud missiles 39 times. Israel stood by each time, not knowing if the next missile contained biological and chemical weapons. Israel chose restraint instead of war, because it was what the U. S. asked. It was Israel's way to support our ally, America, and its troops during the Persian Gulf War. We put supporting American priorities higher than our own. But now, with our national security at stake, we need America's financial help.



RESPONDING TO PALESTINIAN PRESSURE

While the Chicago and Los Angeles sessions yielded significant new language and several new communication "principles," most of our previous observations hold true. Too many in the Jewish community are too linguistically hostile at a time when the other 97% of America wants a resolution to the conflict. In particular, you cannot just issue recriminations, however justified, against the Palestinian Authority and expect American elites to be suddenly convinced of your righteousness. All the evidence and common sense can be on your side, but the hostility and negativity will be rejected as biased and one- sided.


Here's a specific example:



WORDS THAT WORK

When facing a fanatical enemy, you have two options: deter or destroy. Saddam was not deterred by inspections. He was not deterred by threats. He was not even deterred by military action against him in 1991. And if had possessed nuclear weapons, nothing would have deterred him. For ten years the United Nations talked about deterrence, and for ten years Saddam defied the international community.


Just as America had no choice but to remove him from power, Israel has no choice but to protect its borders and its people from terrorists who mean us harm.



The Luntz Research Companies & The Israel Project - April 2003

7



WORDS THAT DON'T WORK

There is no moral equivalency. On one side you have duly elected and appointed Israeli officials from a democracy that has been operating for more than half a century. On the other side you have corrupt Palestinian officials who have lied, cheated and stolen from their people. Israel will not negotiate until they have someone to negotiate with.


While the statement above is perfectly accurate and justified, it will not work. Individually, the words are good, the facts are accurate and the message is correct. But this communication effort fails miserably because it is regarded as a complete rejection of negotiations and peace. Listeners see it as accusatory and contentious - exactly what they don't want to hear and will not accept. We have a better approach, one that says virtually the same thing but in a more effective way:


WORDS THAT DO WORK

Whatever the root causes of the Palestinian- Israeli crisis, there are certain tragic cultural facts and differences that stand in the way of peace negotiations between the people of Israel and the Palestinians. No Israeli child has ever strapped a bomb to his back and gone off to kill civilian Palestinians, and yet the Palestinian leadership does too little to dispel the notion among its more extreme citizens that killing Israelis with a suicide bomb is the surest route to heaven. How can Israel deal with a population of parents that stand aside or even encourage their children to become martyrs?


Yes, this is harsher and more explicit than the previous paragraph, but it works for several reasons:

(1) The human touch. Mentioning parents and children humanizes and personalizes the terror that Israel has to face every day.

(2) The rhetorical question. Even pro-Palestinians have a tough time answering that final question. It's time for Israeli spokespeople to ask a lot more unanswerable rhetorical questions as part of their communication effort.

(3) Acknowledging a cultural difference between Israelis and Palestinians is stating the obvious - and good for your case. Even those Americans that have sympathies for the Palestinian struggle have an easier time relating to the Israelis because of the similarities between America and Israel in culture, tradition and values.



The Luntz Research Companies & The Israel Project - April 2003

8



With this in mind, we have identified four specific spokesperson themes and emotions that appeal to American opinion influencers when discussing the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and whatever negotiations may or will take place:

OPTIMISTIC

I am hopeful that with the end of this war, the peoples of the Middle East will celebrate life and freedom. I am hopeful that the scenes of Iraqis throwing off the yoke of tyranny and fear will serve as a model for all peoples of the region. Yes, I do have hope that by reaching out to the stars, we can bring something good back to earth.


RESPECTFUL

What we are hoping for is that the Palestinian people recognize the leadership they have right now has unfortunately a very different agenda than the agenda of the real Palestinian people

We do not have the right to tell the Palestinians who to elect to represent them but we hope they will choose leaders that will listen and truly care about them.


THE HUMAN ELEMENT

It's very difficult for us. We know that going into these Palestinian cities creates hardships and dilemmas for the Palestinians. But it is even more difficult to look our own children in the face knowing that that there are people in these cities planning to commit terrorist acts and not go in there and try to stop them before they kill.


DEDICATED TO DEMOCRACY

We all know the importance of bringing genuine democracy and human rights to all nations and to uproot the ideology of terrorism. That is what we have tried to do, and we will keep on trying.


We have tested about 75- minutes of new language in Chicago and Los Angeles. Much of it was ineffective or worse. However, we did uncover some messages that do move opinion elites from neutral to positive. Of all the language that deals with the Palestinians directly, here's what works the best:



The Luntz Research Companies & The Israel Project - April 2003

9



PALESTINIAN SOUND-BITES THAT WORK

Advocates of Israel will do well if they adopt the language that follows:


The Palestinians deserve better leadership and they deserve a better society with functioning institutions, democracy, and the rule of law.

We are hoping to find a Palestinian leadership that really does reflect the best interest for the Palestinian people.

As a matter of principle, Israel will sit down, negotiate and compromise with those that wish all the peoples of the Middle East to live together in peaceful coexistence. Egypt made peace with Israel. Jordan made peace with Israel. And both agreements still live on today.

We know what it is to live our lives with the daily threat of terrorism. We know what it's like to send our children off to school one day and bury them the next. For us, terrorism isn't something we read about in the newspaper. It's something we see with our own eyes far too often.

We don't want to sign a meaningless agreement that isn't worth the paper it is printed on. We want something real. If there is to be a just, fair and lasting peace, we need a partner who rejects violence and who values life more than death.

As a matter of principle, the world should not force Israel to concede to those who publicly deny our right to exist or call for our annihilation.

Right now, today, there are still terrorist groups like Hamas, Islamic Jihad and the Al Aqsa Martyrs that the Palestinian Authority has either been unable or unwilling to curb {and Israelis continue to die because of it.}

Just as the American government pledges to secure for you life, liberty, and the chance to pursue happiness, so must Israel's government guarantee that we will be secure and free.



The Luntz Research Companies & The Israel Project - April 2003

10



DEMOCRACY: CONNECTING IRAQ AND THE PALESTINIANS

My earnest hope is that with regime change in Iraq, democracy may finally take firm root in the Middle East.

If the Palestinian people and the people of other Middle Eastern nations are able to see the brilliant example of a successful Arabic democracy, I am confident the tide will turn.

Obviously it is wrong to assume that overwhelming American support for regime change in Iraq is fully transferable to changing the Palestinian leadership.

Americans view them as separate issues - at least right now. That being said, your support for the American efforts to liberate the people of Iraq can and should be tied to our mutual interest in guaranteeing freedom for the Palestinian people.

Americans want democracy to flourish in the Middle East. There is genuine hope that the Iraqi people will establish a representative government with genuine freedoms. In that vein, remind people that the Iraqi people need not look any further than their Israeli neighbors for an example of such a government.

Democracy loves company. So far, one of Israel's most effective messages has been that Israel is the only democracy in the Middle East. It's time to take that message one step further.
Emphatically state that while you are proud of Israel's democracy, you would much rather be the FIRST democracy in the Middle East than the ONLY democracy in the Middle East. Consider the following communication ladder that draws the attention first to Iraq and only then to the Palestinians.


(1) Democracy matters. Never in the history of the world has a democratic government engaged in war with another democracy.

(2) Democracy in Iraq matters. Iraq's transition to democracy is an essential first step towards a stable Middle East.

(3) Democracy can bring peace. True regional peace will come only when governments truly represent the interests of their people and guarantee their freedom and security.

(4) It's time for true democracy for the Palestinian people. They deserve no less. This may seem simplistic but the message works when delivered this way and in this order. Americans sincerely hope that Iraq - a former adversary - can become a partner in peace once a representative government is installed. Insofar as they yearn for freedom and deserve representative leadership, the Palestinian people are no different. This is exactly what Israel has asked of the Palestinian Authority for so long: to establish a legitimate government that will become a partner in peace.



The Luntz Research Companies & The Israel Project - April 2003

11



TALKING ABOUT HOPE & THE FUTURE: FOUR KEY SENTENCES

(1) We hope that we can once again achieve peace with an Arab neighbor.

(2) We hope that terror will no longer be the only thing that separates Palestinians from having their own state and Israelis from living in peace.

(3) We hope that the Palestinian people will no longer languish under a leadership that refuses to be a partner for peace.

(4) We hope that we can negotiate a fair agreement with a democratic government that is committed to the rule of law.

As zealous as Americans are about their own democracy, they quite often have to be reminded why they defend it so fiercely. This reminder becomes your obligation when associating Israel's democratic values with those of America.

Using the word "democracy" without giving examples of what makes this system of government so essential is like saying you want "peace" without giving evidence that you've made honest strides toward achieving it. Americans want proof that you know what these nice-sounding words mean.


When linking our common bond of democracy, use specific examples of why we hope that more nations establish the freedoms democracy guarantees.

-Women are treated as equals

-The press operates freely

-All religions are respected

-The people chose who represents them in free elections

-Democracies do not make war on each other

Finally, make the argument that if these freedoms are so dear to Israelis and Americans, they are just as dearly missed by the Palestinian people. All people yearn to live free, and their current leadership denies them that right.



The Luntz Research Companies & The Israel Project - April 2003

12



THE ROADMAP: A BALANCED APPROACH

[Author's note: We include this section because the President's speech did so well in both Chicago and Los Angeles and because this topic will be at the core of Jewish and Israeli communication efforts in the coming months. We warn readers that a great deal of additional research is needed to offer a guarantee that the words and messages included here are the best available.]


As the post-war dust settles over the Iraqi desert, the focus has already begun to shift to the Israel-Palestinian peace process and President Bush's so-called "roadmap" to peace.

The good news is that the American people firmly believe that if the Palestinians want to demonstrate sincere commitment to peace, they must abide by the tenants of the President's soon-to-be released roadmap. The not-as-good news is that they expect exactly same from Israel and they demand it immediately.


In both Chicago and Los Angeles, and among virtually all respondents regardless of political party, Americans responded quite favorably to the language from President Bush for two reasons: "a balanced approach" and "shared responsibilities."


Keep those terms in mind and use them whenever possible.


WORDS THAT WORK: A BALANCED APPROACH


I see a day when two states, Israel and Palestine, will live side by side in peace and security. I call upon all parties in the Middle East to abandon old hatreds and to meet their responsibilities for peace.

The Palestinian state must be a reformed and peaceful and democratic state that abandons forever the use of terror. The government of Israel, as the terror threat is removed and security improves, must take concrete steps to support the emergence of a viable and credible Palestinian state, and to work as quickly as possible toward a final status agreement


We believe that all people in the Middle East -- Arab and Israeli alike -- deserve to live in dignity, under free and honest governments. We believe that people who live in freedom are more likely to reject bitterness, blind hatred and terror; and are far more likely to turn their energy toward reconciliation, reform and development.

President George W. Bush



The Luntz Research Companies & The Israel Project - April 2003

13


COMPLICATING THE ROADMAP: MAHMOUD ABBAS (ABU MAZEN)

To some extent, your job as proponents of Israel has been easy. Under the Arafat regime, it's not difficult to convince the American public of the corruption of the current Palestinian leadership. While many sympathize with the plight of the Palestinian people, there is no love lost for Yassir Arafat. Arafat is a terrorist; they know that. Better still, he looks the part.

The emergence of Mahmoud Abbas as the new Palestinian Prime Minister comes exactly at the wrong time. His ascent to power seems legitimate. He is a fresh face, and a clean-shaven one at that. He speaks well and dresses in Western garb. He may even genuinely want peace.

Just as President Bush had begun to make headway in drawing attention on the need for a reformed Palestinian leadership, the Palestinians throw us this curveball. What will the world make of Abbas? Is he the new leadership for which Israel has pleaded for years? Or is he an Arafat in sheep's clothing?

Given the haze surrounding this new figure, it is imperative that you NOT immediately launch criticisms on Abbas. This is critical for three reasons:

(1) Overt negativity. If it turns out that Abbas legitimately wants peace and that he represents the true interests of the Palestinian people, then the attacks you launch today will turn the tide of public opinion against ISRAEL tomorrow. You will undermine all of your credibility as the willing partner for peace if you shoot down the first true peace partner the Palestinians have offered. (We don't expect this scenario but it is possible.)

(2) The unknown factor. Abbas is a relative unknown in the international community. Look at his emergence as if it were part of a political campaign. He is not a candidate to sit at the negotiating table until he proves his worthiness. While uncertainty makes your communication strategies complicated, it should not necessarily change your priorities. The more you talk about him, the more he is going to be talked about, which leads to the next point

(3) Patiently Await a Peace Partner. Abbas may be a leader who wants peace, but it is incumbent upon him to prove that he is the willing and serious partner Israel needs to pursue peace together. Whether or not he has been elected or appointed to this position, he still needs to demonstrate tangibly that he wants peace. Your goal remains a peaceful resolution to the conflict. Once the Palestinians have shown their house is in order, you will be ready and willing to find an agreement. And if they don't, they, not Israel, will be blamed.

NOTE: This is not to say that Abbas should be given a free ride in the press. It is only to say that criticisms must be confined to what he does to thwart the peace process as a leader of the Palestinian people. Allow him the chance to succeed. A brief exercise in game theory may better illustrate this point. What happens if -



The Luntz Research Companies & The Israel Project - April 2003

14



you immediately attack Abbas, and he turns out to be a genuine and effective partner in peace?

Israel loses credibility as the party that wants peace above all else. He gains popularity among an international community that already doubts your rhetoric and "heavy-handed" actions, and wins over those Americans who sympathize with the Palestinian people but support you because they distrusted previously corrupt Palestinian leadership. This is the worst result possible.

You immediately attack Abbas, and he turns out to be an Arafat in sheep's clothing?


What has Israel truly gained? You may have stripped his faux wool months before he would have done it himself, but you risked backlash. In the end, it would have been better off to publicly remain committed to peace while letting the Palestinian leadership implode on the public relations front - a strategy that has worked effectively thus far.


You wait on Abbas to define himself, and he turns out to be a genuine and effective partner in peace?


The roadmap is instituted and there is a peaceful resolution to decades of conflict by this time next year. This is the best result possible.

You wait on Abbas to define himself, and he turns out to be an Arafat in sheep's clothing?

Let him keep the faux wool; you'll reap the benefits of this communications gold mine. All your old messages of needing a genuine partner for peace will ring even truer, and the next time, the new leader cannot be justifiably appointed by Arafat.

So when people ask for opinions or reactions to Abbas, put it in terms of a "scouting report" with the following two facts:

(1) He was appointed to his current position by Arafat, which is suspect.

(2) He has denied the Holocaust, which is confounding at best and offensive at worst. If he is an Arafat in Western clothing, it will not take long to identify him as such. The American people will know it by the actions he takes and the demands he makes. That is an incrimination that, if true, he will do to himself.

Is it a concern that he is a Holocaust denier? Absolutely. Will that fact convince Americans that he cannot represent the Palestinian people in an honest bid for peace? Hardly.

Americans don't want to hear about the Holocaust anymore, and they particularly don't want to hear it from the Jewish community.

Nevertheless, you need more substance on Abbas before you can tell the American people you question his devotion to peace.



The Luntz Research Companies & The Israel Project - April 2003

15



Americans believe that peace has to start somewhere other than Arafat. If Abbas is presented as that alternative, they quickly identify him as a symbol of "hope."

His emergence as Prime Minister (a very Western, democratic-friendly title) is all Americans will need to believe that the peace process should be underway.

They will expect you to follow suit and take a seat at the negotiating table. Finally, most believe that the United States can and should serve as an honest broker between these two parties. In their eyes, these are all the ingredients needed to begin the peace process.

It is essential that you use positive language when asked about Abbas. However, that does not mean you must compliment Abbas himself. While knocking him down now does little to help your long-term goals, building him up is also counterproductive. Therefore you must remain positive about the peace process and indifferent about Abbas until he defines his role. Above all else, reaffirm your position that first terrorism stops, and then negotiations begin.



WORDS THAT WORK


Yes, we hope that this potential change in leadership signals a new opportunity for peace in our region. Israel has long sought a partner who wants peace as dearly as we do. But Israel reaffirms that before any peace talks can begin, terror must end. We cannot negotiate with any leadership that allows its people to murder our civilians.


Mix this message in with one of compassion for the Palestinian people. Many Americans sympathize with their plight. So should you. Americans want to hear it. A statement that the Palestinian people deserve better should follow every recrimination of a Palestinian leader or terrorist.



WORDS THAT WORK


We know the Palestinian people deserve better. We want for them what we have in Israel: freedom to say what they want, believe what they want, and live in equality. They also should have the right to choose who speaks on their behalf. The Palestinian people deserve and want leaders who will work for peace and not for terrorism. We know that terrorism causes hardships for everyone involved. That is why we are committed to working for peace as soon as we have a willing partner.



The Luntz Research Companies & The Israel Project - April 2003

16



THE VALUE OF RHETORICAL QUESTIONS


An effective communication technique to continue to apply pressure to the Palestinian leadership without looking like you are ignoring Israel's responsibilities is to pose rhetorical questions. These questions will lead to only one answer, of course: peace cannot be achieved until real reforms are in place, and that the terror must stop first.


RHETORICAL QUESTIONS TO ASK OPPONENTS OF ISRAEL

How can the current Palestinian leadership honestly say it will pursue peace when the same leaders rejected an offer to create a Palestinian state two and a half years ago?

How can Yassir Arafat, whom Forbes Magazine says is worth more than three hundred million dollars, claim to be a leader who understands and represents an impoverished people when he has become rich at their expense?

Is it too much to ask that the Palestinian leadership not sponsor terrorists?

Are we unreasonable to insist that they stop killing our innocent children before we jeopardize our security and make concessions for peace?

How can we make peace with a leader that does not believe in or allow free and honest elections?

Why do Palestinian schools have pictures of suicide bombers hanging up in the hallways of their schools or celebrate them as martyrs? Why do they name sports teams in the West Bank after suicide bombers? How can we make peace with the Palestinian people when their leaders instill a culture of terror against our people?

How can the Palestinian people end their impoverishment if their leaders continue to steal precious resources from them, which are then used to support terror?

Why has Yassir Arafat been in power for so long, and yet made so little progress towards a peaceful resolution? If he were truly committed to peace, would he not have made a sincere effort to achieve it by now?

When will the Palestinian people themselves have a voice at the peace table?




The answer of every rhetorical question is the same: peace will come when the current Palestinian leadership is truly reformed and the terror tactics have ceased.



The Luntz Research Companies & The Israel Project - April 2003

17



CONCLUSION: A LITTLE HUMILITY, PLEASE


Presenting a fair evaluation of your past allows you to present a hopeful - and believable - vision of your future.

You have your work cut out for you. As you emerge from one delicate public relations situation - war with Iraq - you enter an even dicier situation - cooperating on "the road map" with an unknown counterpart, Mahmoud Abbas. Fortunately the former may provide you some breathing room and cover for the latter.


The essential conclusion is to remain focused on your communication priorities from this point forward. Terror ends first. A willing peace partner emerges second. The roadmap is executed last. And throughout it all, you exhibit humility and reaffirm that the Palestinian people deserve better.


This memo has identified language that effectively articulates why - and how - the Palestinian leadership must change. Critiquing the other side is the always the easiest part of public communication, but it is only half of effective language.


Opinion elites in America will not find repeated criticisms of the Palestinian leadership credible unless they are coupled with a similar onus on the Israeli government to accommodate for peace and acknowledge past transgressions.


Assertions that Israel enjoys a blameless history are soundly rejected. This will not be received well by everyone but it is essential for your spokespeople to acknowledge it Israel has made some mistakes. Not only does this build credibility but it also allows the spokesperson to then explain and assert Israel's history of taking strides for peace.



Here is how this message is best developed:


ACKNOWLEDGING THE PAST, BOTH GOOD AND BAD

(1) We know that the history of our conflict has been marked by frustration and mistrust by both Israelis and Palestinians, and Israel is willing to accept some of the blame for what has happened in the past

(2) However, throughout our history we have demonstrated that we value peace above all else. In our hope for peace we overcame differences and found agreement with our Arab neighbors Egypt and Jordan.

(3) We remain committed to peace. We offered the Palestinian people a state of their own that included over 97% of the West Bank. Their leadership rejected this proposal, showing once again that we do not have a partner for peace so long as the current Palestinian Authority remains the voice of the Palestinian people. It's time for a change - not just for us but for our Palestinian cousins as well.

How many Arabs and Muslems were killed by Israelies in the same 32 year span?

UN resolution calling Israel racist Sep 4th 2001

THE UN racism conference in Durban, South Africa, appears close ... NGOs) attached to the conference adopted a resolution calling Israel a "racist apartheid state ...

Nations headquarters condemning anti-Israel measures at the UN racism conference ... as 3,000 NGOs in Durban passed a resolution calling Israel a "racist apartheid state...

The UN Racism Conference: Close to chaos
Sep 4th 2001

Outraged by attempts to label Israel the world's most racist state, American and Israeli delegations have withdrawn from the UN World Conference Against Racism. Can anything be salvaged from the mess?


THE UN racism conference in Durban, South Africa, appears close to collapse, after America and Israel pulled out on Tuesday September 3rd.

All the world's countries (other than america and israel) plus 3,000 NGO's condems israel as a racist apartheid state


This was just days before 9-11 which distracted everyone...

July 22, 1946

The King David Hotel explosion of July 22, 1946 (Palestine), which resulted in the deaths of 92 Britons, Arabs and Jews, and in the wounding of 58, was not just an act of "Jewish extremists," but a premeditated massacre conducted by the Irgun in agreement with the highest Jewish political authorities in Palestine-- the Jewish Agency and its head David-Ben-Gurion.

http://www.iap.org/kingdavidhotel.htm


The Lavon Affair-

The trial established that the bombings had indeed been carried out by an Israeli espionage and terrorist network. This was headed by Colonel Avraharn Dar --alias John Darling-- and a core of professionals who had set themselves up in Egypt under various guises.

http://www.geocities.com/CapitolHill/Senate/7891/lavon_hirst.html


Kahanist Terrorism in the Middle East

Poor zionists-they are so peaceful- so innocent- still Trying to reach out and touch someone.

The deadliest Kahanist terrorist attack was Baruch Goldstein's massacre at the Cave of the Patriarchs in Hebron, in 1994, in which 29 Arabs were gunned down. After this attack the Kahanist group Kach was banned in Israel. Kahanists have also carried out roadside shootings, stabbings and grenade attacks against Arabs in Jerusalem and the West Bank. They never claim responsibility for these attacks under the Kach name, but rather under a variety of aliases including 'The Committee for the Safety of the Roads', 'The Sword of David', 'The Repression of Traitors', 'The Judean Legion' and 'The Yeshiva of the Jewish Idea'.


The Israeli forces started by slaughtering people, dispossessing population, burning farms and houses, destroying infrastructures, and poisoning wells with Typhus and Cholera, as they did in Lydda and Ramleh. They kept on committing massacres against the Palestinians in the 1948 and the 1967 areas, such as Qibya (53), Kufr Qasem (56), Qalqelia (56), Khan Younis (56,67), Gaza (56,87), Al Sammu' (66), The Galilee (76), Al Khalil Univ. (85), Ayoun Qara (89), Nahalin (89), Al Haram Al Sharif in Jerusalem (90), Al Haram Al Ibrahimi in Hebron (94), and Sabra and Shatilla Palestinian refugee camps in September 82 in Lebanon, and many others.


In the late 1940 s, Israel was formed on the blood of many innocents. Terrorists there ruled the day. The Zionists sent off letter bombs to many people; Churchill himself barely escaped one. Churchill's good friend, Lord Moyne, was not so lucky; the Zionists murdered him, causing the terrorist state of Israel not to form until after Churchill was gone.

The Jewish terrorist responsible for Lord Moyne's death also murdered UN mediator Count Folke Bernadotte. Another terrorist bombed the King David Hotel, murdering many innocent Europeans and Arabs who were staying there. In what can only be viewed as state-sanctioned terrorism, the two leaders responsible for the murders of many innocents through assassinations and bombings--Yitzhak Shamir and Menachem Begin, respectively--would later become prime ministers of Israel.

This was to be part of a long, ongoing trend of viciousness, aimed at anyone and everyone who got in Israel's way.



Since 1948, and after the establishment of the Zionist State, the Israeli military forces have occupied more Arab territories. Israel used terrorism and massive bombing of the Palestinian refugee camps in Lebanon, Jordan, and Syria to destroy the Palestinian people and eradicate their political leadership in exile.

Also the Israelis have extended their bombings and air raids to reach other Arab civilians, cities, towns and installations.

In addition the Israeli secret forces (Mossad) committed viscous crimes, by bombing synagogues in Iraq to cause fear among the Jewish Arabs in the late Forties and early Fifties to force their immigration to the newly formed Zionist state. It also planted several explosives at public places, and at the British and American Cultural offices in Cairo and Alexandria, in 1954, to aggravate the British and the Americans against the newly formed Egyptian revolutionary republic.

..."How many Israelis and Jews were killed by Arabs in the same 32 year span?"

Hex replied, "why don't you ask someone who gives a damn ?" and changes the subject again.

Gee, Hex, don't you know the rules? At Indymedia, you're supposed to hide your Jew-hatred under the guise of "anti-Zionism".

BTW, you may call it propaganda, but they've certainly got you nailed: "...the political Left remains your problem...", "There will certainly be some people, particularly those on the political left, who will oppose whatever words you use...".

They got you there -- "If a Jew says it, it's got to be a lie."

"Kahanist terrorism"? But they blew people up!

I thought you admired that.

Absolute proof israel attacking USS Libery was NO accident - and they've lied about it every since.


Here's a TV program someone recorded - it's a bunch of interviews with men *on the ship at the time* talking about how the pilots were buzzing by so close they *even waved at eachother* and so on (the ship was flying an american flag as big as a billboard in BROAD DAYLIGHT)

Listening to these men who went through it talking about it in thier own words there's *absolutely no question* israel knew they were attacking an american ship killing 34, injuring 172

http://clients.loudeye.com/imc/mayday/uss_liberty.mp3

(20.kbps MP3PRO 45.min / 6.3MB - streamable)

...WHAT to do with the Iraqi opinion poll?

Nothing.

Whyare you trying to divert attention from the poll, Hex?

Don't want people to know the truth?

> Don't want people to know the truth?

RHETORICAL QUESTION

Why - did I ERASE posts about it ? Or simply ADD MORE FACTS to counter DENIALIST'S LIES ?

Now your a nerd and a anti-semite. Thats quite a combo. Your quite a renaissance man. Between riding your bike and building cords for antiquated technology you've also found time to hate jews. Good for you.

...changing the subject.

How 'BOUT that Iraqi opinion poll, huh, Hex?

-"Now your a nerd and a anti-semite"
jews, blacks whoever gets in my way i will pound out with my super nerd powers...
-"Between riding your bike and building cords for antiquated technology you've also found time to hate jews. Good for you."
Im also gay and enjoy black panther dong, so put that in your pipe and smoke it, you jew loving hippie.
anyone else care to step up?
no one in this newswire can *F* with my knowledge of the world......

> a anti-semite
> you've also found time to hate jews

RHETORICAL STATEMENT

Care to provide some evidence of that ?
(I have some evidence I can provide that shows otherwise)



> Reverse

A spoofer again...


Re: the issue with nerds & kobe

Kobe is a group of "nerds" with extremely bad attitudes, who like to spend thier time being abusive, disruptive, distracting. The only nerds that are "poor" are them as I already pointed out (how & why)

Although I've been characterized as a nerd this is relative. As it could be said we are all nerds on some level... However these people are far FAR more nerdish than even a typical nerd. In order to try to hide this fact they accuse other people - much less nerdish than they are - of being (worse) nerds.

It's just a game to them - one they spend considerable time playing. A type of nerd (hate filled - with "issues") I've rarely seen (having been to several universities over the years). MOST nerds are almost the exact opposite of these clowns... They really don't even deserve to be called nerds - it's an insult to nerds everywhere. They are closer to sociopaths "playing" at being nerds (as a step up).

For example in "Revenge of the Nerds" - no nerd is like them - some of the jocks are (abusive dishonest weasles) and they only barely qualify in the brains department as nerds (most nerds are very smart)

So really they only dress/look/act like nerds to some extent - actually we're looking at abusive dysfunctional sociopaths.

...how about that Iraqi public opinion poll?