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February 10, 2012
Lisa M. Krieger: Man with defibrillator demands access to his own heart's information
David G. Savage: Why activists may not be in a hurry to have High Court rule on alternative marriage
February 9, 2012
Laura McMullen: 10 Least Expensive Public Schools for Out-of-State Students
Kimberly Palmer: How to actually enjoy -- relaxing, financially -- your vacation
February 8, 2012
Warren Richey: Why momentous Prop. 8 ruling might not satisfy gay-rights groups
Menachem Wecker: Though Controversial, LL.M.'s Can Lead to Specialized Legal Jobs
The Kosher Gourmet byDana Velden: Going to the bother of making soup? You know it better be good. This CREAM OF TOMATO SOUP certainly is! And it's a cinch to make, too (Includes techinques and serving secrets)
February 7, 2012
Frank J. Gaffney, Jr.: Caught off-guard? President's Super Bowl interview with Matt Lauer gives those who need a reason not to vote for him, a darn good one
Suzanne Bohan: Leaping lizards! Tiny reptiles advancing robot design
February 6, 2012
Jonathan Tobin: Iran Threatens Israel With Destruction, But the New York Times Doesn't Hear It
Jeffrey Fleishman: In newly democratic Egypt, tens of democracy activists jailed, to stand trial; their groups are 'threatening the stability of the homeland'
Julie Deardorff : Researchers say antioxidants may not be that effective and could do more harm than good
Mark Clayton: How did Anonymous hackers eavesdrop on FBI and Scotland Yard?
February 3, 2012
Edmund Sanders : Israeli official says Iran is creating missile that could reach East Coast of US
Victoria Kim: Immigrant-smuggling ring used black drivers to avoid racial profiling
February 2, 2012
Jim Carney: Wrong number call may have saved her life
Reza Kahlili : Ex-CIA spy in Iran's Revolutionary Guard: What Obama doesn't grasp about striking deals with Tehran
Tina Susman: For woodchuck rescuer, every day is Groundhog Day
February 1, 2012
Brian Bennett: US officials see increasing threat of domestic attack from Iran
Emily Brandon: How to Take Advantage of New 401(k) Fee Disclosures
January 31, 2012
January 30, 2012
Paul Richter and Ramin Mostaghim: Misreading Teheran's limits -- deadly and economically devastating as they may be -- is a risk administration, Europe seem willing to take
Suzanne Bohan: Warning: Nap-deprived tots missing more than sleep, study finds
Meg Handley: Banks Revamping Rewards Programs to Woo Customers
January 27, 2012
Caroline B. Glick: Obama: Of course I intend to prevent a nuclear holocaust . . . in a few months
Yochonon Donn: In liberal New York City, fervently-Orthodox Jews may soon be getting a district to call their own
Jeannine Stein: An inflated ego and thinking you're 'all that' doesn't just make others sick of you, it can make you ill
Katy Hopkins: New budget rules may affect how much money you get for college
January 26, 2012
Ed Koch: To the New York Times, calling for the murder of Jews by those capable of having their incitement taken seriously isn't news
Jeannine Stein: Mental illness struck one in five U.S. adults in 2010: Report
January 25, 2012
Richard Simon: House passes two bills endorsing the use of religious symbols at military memorials
Fred Weir: Putin: Multiethnic Russia cannot survive as a US-style 'melting pot'; must find its own way
Susan Johnston: 5 Sneaky Coupon Strategies Consumers Should Watch Out For
January 24, 2012
Carol Clark: The price of your soul: How your brain decides whether to 'sell out'
Caroline B. Glick: America lost most in 'Arab Spring'. Sadly, many voters still don't grasp the extent
Warren Richey: Drug criminal scores win in GPS ruling from conservative-leaning high court
Erika Bolstad: Black conservatives gather to talk about gaining strength
January 23, 2012
Melissa Dribben: Jewish voters to play a key role in Florida's Republican primary
Jordan Rau: In quest to grow, Catholic hospital system will announce this morning its break from church
Ali Safi: U.S. envoy gives Taliban terms for peace talks
January 19, 2012
January 18, 2012
January 17, 2012
Frank J. Gaffney Jr.: No-kidding red lines: U.S. response to an Iranian nuke may be bluster, but Israel's won't be
David G. Savage: They sued their principals after slandering them online --- now the cases are headed to the Supreme Court
David Francis: Where to Invest in 2012: With stocks expected to rebound, opportunity abounds for investors
January 13, 2012
Ben Lynfield: Israeli lawmakers move to annex Jewish Judea, one museum at a time
Alexia Elejalde-Ruiz: Thriving through touch: Gentle massage helps older people with low mobility improve in mind and body
January 12, 2012
Warren Richey: Landmark Supreme Court ruling a 'resounding win' for religious groups
Warren Richey: Supreme Court says no to new rule on eyewitness testimony
John Fauber : Statins found to raise diabetes risk in postmenopausal women
Katy Hopkins : Consider This Before You Pay for an Online Degree
The Kosher Gourmet by Joseph Erdos: This mushroom and barley soup has an intense -- almost nutty -- flavor that mixes robust with Middle East. It has creaminess without cream
January 11, 2012
Shari Roan: Millions of atrial fibrillation sufferers at risk for devastating, but preventable, stroke
Tom Hussain: Pakistan -- recipient of more than $21 billion in civilian and military aid -- speeds pursuit of Iranian pipeline, defying US
David G. Savage: High court signals it won't be loosening TV's 'indecency' rules
Stephen Ceasar: Oklahoma's Islamic law amendment can't go into effect, court rules
January 10, 2012
Reza Kahlili: From an ex-CIA spy: US must exploit new split in Iran's Revolutionary Guard
Karen Kaplan: Study: Nicotine replacement products ineffective when used in real-life situations
January 9, 2012
Michael Doyle: Put through legal hell over dream home, couple fought back hard --- all the way to Supreme Court
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Jewish World Review
Sept. 30, 2003
/ 4 Tishrei, 5764
After 3 years, Arabs becoming disillusioned with intifada, Arafat
By
Soraya Sarhaddi Nelson
Did Sharon's strategy actually work?
http://www.jewishworldreview.com | (KRT)
RAMALLAH When the current Palestinian uprising began three years ago Sunday, Imad Mustafa threw rocks at Israeli soldiers in hopes of forcing them out of the West Bank forever.
Today the teenager's ambitions are more modest: persuading Israeli soldiers to grant him permission to travel to university classes in the Palestinian city of Nablus, 31 miles to the north.
"It's not good we have this suffering, although every occupation needs its resistance," said Mustafa, 19, halfheartedly defending the uprising he once fervently supported.
"We wasted three years for nothing," interrupted a fellow permit seeker, Mahar Tarhir, who stood in line behind Mustafa at the Israeli military liaison office on the outskirts of Ramallah. "This uprising didn't accomplish anything," complained Tarhir, 25, an aluminum store owner whose business is separated from his home by an Israeli checkpoint born of the uprising. "Now we often need to spend nights away from our homes if we want to get to work."
Anger and disillusionment have replaced the fighting spirit that had propelled the Palestinian movement seeking an end to Israeli control of the West Bank and Gaza, which Israel captured in its 1967 after being attacked by its Arab neighbors.
Many Palestinians blame Yasser Arafat and his Palestinian Authority for allowing the popular uprising to evolve into an unwinnable armed conflict between extremist groups and the Israel Defense Forces, grinding on from year to year as Israel steadily tightens its military grip on Gaza and the West Bank.
"There's no vision, no strategy, no leadership," said Sari Nusseibeh, formerly the Palestine Liberation Organization's representative in Jerusalem and president of the al Quds University there. "The whole thing just went haywire."
Critics say Arafat's government inflamed passions at the start of the uprising, but the Palestinian Authority's failure to establish achievable goals for the movement allowed it to fall in the hands of the militant Islamic groups Hamas and Islamic Jihad, whose dual ambitions of destroying Israel and the Palestinian secular government have defined the uprising ever since.
Arafat's Fatah political party countered the militants by introducing an armed faction of its own, the al Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades, only adding to the death and destruction. Palestinian terrorist attacks and Israeli military reprisals have claimed more than 3,000 lives in three years and left swaths of the West Bank and Gaza Strip in ruins.
The mistake, along with endemic corruption in the Palestinian Authority and his failure to boost living standards, cost Arafat dearly. An April poll by the Jerusalem Media and Communication Center found that only 21 percent of Palestinians still considered him their most trusted leader, a stark contrast to the 88 percent who voted for him to be their president in 1996. Moreover, 1 in 3 of the Palestinians surveyed in April didn't trust any Palestinian leader, according to the poll of 1,201 people, which had a margin of error of 3 percentage points.
At Ramallah's main square, where a prominent Arafat billboard has been replaced with an advertisement for cellular phones, street vendor Abdul Majid, 40, could barely curb his anger at the Palestinian leader and the government for allowing the uprising, or "intifada," to drag on.
"The Palestinian people sacrifice themselves and the Palestinian leaders fail to use those sacrifices to further our goal," said the vendor, who refused to give his last name for fear of retribution from armed Fatah loyalists patrolling the streets. "They planned to remove the Israeli occupation, and now the most we can hope for is to remove checkpoints."
The Palestinian Authority, aware that the uprising has backfired, has spent the past five months trying to regain control, Nusseibeh said.
"There's a serious attempt to establish some law and order and get their act together," Nusseibeh said.
He and other leading Palestinian intellectuals took out a full-page advertisement Thursday in the Arabic-language newspaper al Quds in Jerusalem, calling on the incoming prime minister, Ahmed Qureia, and his soon-to-be named Cabinet to lay out steps and goals to end Israeli occupation and achieve an independent state.
"If you go around asking people to lay down arms with no guarantees of where things are headed, that's not going to work," Nusseibeh said. "We have to make our commitment to the settlement of peace clear and unambiguous to everyone, including ... the Israeli people. We need to make clear that it has costs, it has benefits and in order for us to achieve it, we must lay down arms."
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© 2003, Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Information Services
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