An hour with Shimon Peres, President of Israel taped at the 92nd Street Y in New York.

Tuesday February 22 2011
Tunis, Tunisia
MOTION REJECTED by 26% to 74%

In their first free political debate in nearly three decades, Tunisians have rejected the idea that a new set of strongmen might emerge from the uprisings, rocking the Arab world.

At a special session of The Doha Debates an audience of mainly students and young professionals voted 74 to 26 percent against the motion: “This House believes that Arab revolutions will just produce different dictators”.

But one student warned, “What we have inherited from the old regime is like cancer… it needs radical surgery to remove it.”

Another won applause when he argued passionately that “Tunisians had the quickest revolution in the world and we will have the quickest democracy too”.

The debate took place in the heart of the old city in Tunis, less than a mile from where thousands of demonstrators overthrew President Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali on January 14.

Speaking in favor of the motion were Raoudha Ben Othman, Professor of Linguistics at the University of Tunis, and Kamal Ben Younes, Executive Director of the International Studies Association and Institute Tunisia.

Ben Othman warned that a new dictator could emerge even after the country’s first free elections in nearly two decades, scheduled for this summer. She blamed a lack of accountability, transparency and a deep-rooted culture that favors loyalty to individuals, whoever they are.

Ben Younes, a career journalist, was equally downbeat about the political future in Tunisia and Egypt, where the ruling military council has promised elections in six months, following the overthrow of Hosni Mubarak.

He said “thousands” of dictators remained inside the security and political institutions in both capitals. “Only their heads have been cut off, not their bodies.”  In addition, he warned that Islamists, banned for years, could capitalize on poor and marginalized populations, to secure gains through the ballot box.

Speaking against the motion were Shibley Telhami, professor for peace and development at the University of Maryland, and Fares Mabrouk, founder of the Arab Policy Institute, a new think tank supporting democratic change in the Middle East and North Africa.

Dr. Telhami, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institute, acknowledged there were risks in every transition to democracy. But he said an unprecedented sense of popular empowerment, bolstered by the internet, meant Arab governments could no longer ignore public opinion.

“No one can ever put the genie back in the bottle… dictatorships are over… there is an indigenous momentum that is irreversible.”

Mabrouk, the youngest speaker on the panel, said Tunisians had to come up with a new political model, combining human rights, dignity, and the rule of law.

“No one wants chaos. Our new model is not Iran, or Saudi Arabia. Even conservatives in our society are looking at Turkey as a possibility.”

http://www.thedohadebates.com/debates/past.asp

http://www.islamic.us

by TheJerusalemCenter

Jerusalem, a mosaic of different peoples, faiths, and nationalities. Nevertheless, despite this diversity, under the sovereignty of Israel, Jerusalem is a city that works. But has it always been this way?

Israel’s Critical Security Needs for a Viable Peace

From: TheJerusalemCenter

http://www.jcpa.org – Israel, in any future agreement with the Palestinians, has a critical need for defensible borders. This video outlines the threats to Israel from terrorist rockets, ballistic missiles, and conventional ground and air threats from the east.

See more – http://www.defensibleborders.org/security

ISRAEL START-UP NATION PART 2

JERUSALEM, Israel – How does Israel – one of the world’s smallest countries – produce more startup companies than many of the world’s most developed nations?

It’s a trillion dollar question and the answer can be found in a new book investigating this modern phenomenon.

With a population of slightly more than seven million people, Israel leads the world per capita in technology startup companies.

One reason for Israel’s leading role is its military and the kind of innovative leaders it produces.

“Veterans of the Israeli military, once they retire, join the commercial market and they apply the different cutting edge technologies in the medical market, telecommunications, cellular market, etc.,” Israeli economic analyst Yoram Ettinger told CBN News.

As a result, Israel is credited with developing technologies like the cell phone, voice technology, and even the Intel Pentium chip.

Israel also puts a premium on research and development, with many more people per capita in this field than any other country in the world.

For example, in the Jewish state, 140 people per 10,000 work in research and development. The U.S. is number two in the world, with 85 people per 10,000.

“It just shows you how robust the human factor is here in Israel, and the outcome has produced per capita more cutting edge technologies than any other country in the world,” Ettinger said.

A new book called Startup Nation, the Story of Israel’s Economic Miracle, by author Dan Senor, examines how tiny Israel is a technological giant in today’s global economy.

It argues that Israel is not just a nation but a state of mind, and its old fashioned chutzpa goes a long way toward economic prosperity.

It also shows how other nations – and individuals – can learn from Israel’s example.

How can Americans take note of Israel’s economic achievements? Dan Senor will be on Tuesday’s The 700 Club to talk about his latest book. Check your local listings or check here at CBNNews.com after 11am ET, Tuesday, Dec. 1.

Une jeune Palestinienne de 21 ans après avoir été grièvement brulée par l’explosion d’une bonbonne de gaz est dans un premier temps soignée dans un hopital de Gaza, son état empire, elle est transférée dans un service de pointe de l’hopital israélien Soroka. On lui prodigue des soins qui la sauvent, elle subit également une chirurgie plastique. Quelques mois plus tard, elle est de retour au point de passage d’Erez, frontière entre Gaza et Israel, elle prétend qu’elle doit retourner à l’hopital pour des soins, en fait elle a été chargée de se faire sauter à l’intérieur même du service où elle a été soignée !

Shimon Peres answer Erdogan

Turkish PM Erdogan Slams Shimon Peres

Before you boycott Israel!

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is asked by MSNBC anchor Brian Williams to clarify his statements about the Holocaust. (September 2006