Viewing Rice without rose-coloured glasses

Viewing Rice without rose-coloured glasses

Ruth Matar, Women in Green

I must confess that I have heretofore been an admirer of the new US Secretary of State, Condoleezza Rice. She seemed to me to be a perfect role model for women, someone who grew up in very difficult circumstances, but pulled herself up by her bootstraps, and reached the very heights of personal achievement. President George W. Bush nominated her to succeed Colin Powell as US Secretary of State in November of 2004, and the Senate confirmed her nomination by a vote of 85 - 13.

Condoleezza Rice was born on November 14, 1954, in Birmingham, Alabama, the only child of Angelena Rice and the Reverend John Wesley Rice, Jr., a minister at Westminster Presbyterian Church.

Birmingham, Alabama, where Condoleezza grew up, is the town where Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King was thrown in jail for demonstrating without a permit. Where black people had to ride at the back of the bus. Where black people weren't even allowed to drink water from public fountains. Where a classmate of Condoleezza, Denise McNair, was among the four girls killed in the 1963 bombing of an African-American Baptist church by white supremacists. But Condoleezza states that growing up during segregation taught her determination against adversity.

I was very pleased, along with many others, that Colin Powell was not going to be the US Secretary of State during the second term of President George W. Bush, as Israeli analysts had predicted that Condoleezza Rice was going to be friendlier to Israel than her predecessor. I became somewhat concerned when I learned that at her Senate confirmation hearing Rice said: "And, if I am confirmed, I will be especially honored to succeed a man I so admire - my friend and mentor, Colin Powell. He was a great and inspirational Secretary of State."

That was the first alarm bell. Colin Powell was the US Secretary of State, who described Arafat to a US Senate Committee as follows: "One man's terrorist is another man's freedom fighter."

I became really concerned about Ms. Rice's attitude toward Israel when I read the newspaper headlines during her recent whirlwind tour of Europe and the Middle East. For instance, the headline in The Jerusalem Post of February 7, 2005 read as follows on the front page:
RICE CALLS ON ISRAEL TO HELP, NOT HINDER, ABBAS.

In private meetings and public declarations, visiting US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice urged Israel to do everything possible to support Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas, and to refrain from taking steps that would make it more difficult for him to assert his authority... According to diplomatic officials, Rice said that Abbas needed to have tangible results to take to his people....

What exactly does that mean? Should the victim supply the hangman with the rope? Should Israel be on Abbas' side in the negotiations? Does Ms. Rice not want a mutual give and take? Condoleezza also made it clear that the US government was against settlements. Whose settlements? (According to Joseph Farah, Arab-American head of World Net Daily, more Arab than Jewish settlements have been established in the Holy Land since 1948. As a matter of fact, almost twice as many Arab settlements than Jewish settlements have been built since the Jewish State was reborn!) Also, Condoleezza insists that the Disengagement Plan go forward as promised by Sharon. Altogether, Rice made it clear that she wanted Israel to take steps to bolster Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen).

It seems that Rice was not concerned about bolstering Sharon, who had just encountered a massive non-violent demonstration of at least 200,000 people who strongly disagreed with his policies vis a vis the PLO enemy, and his intentions to reward such terrorists with Biblical covenant land.

Condoleezza Rice, in an interview with Yediot Aharonot, said: "I am the daughter of a Presbyterian minister and was brought up on the very moving stories of the Holy Land. They mean a lot to me. When I first visited Mt. Olives, Lake Kinneret, Jerusalem, I felt a very deep emotional experience. I already then felt that I am returning home despite the fact that this was a place that I never visited. I have a deep affinity with Israel."

Sadly to say, the daughter of a Minister of God is hell-bent on promoting the expulsion of 8,000 Jews from their Biblical homeland. During her childhood, Condoleezza must have read the Judeo-Christian Bible. No doubt she must have come across the fact in the Book of Joshua that G-d gave Gaza to the Tribe of Judah. Also, that it is stated in the Book of the prophet Amos, Chapter 9: 14-15, "I will return the captivity of my people Israel, and they will rebuild desolate cities and settle them; they will plant vineyards and drink their wine; they will cultivate gardens and eat their fruits. I will plant them upon their land and they will never again be uprooted from their land that I have given them, said HASHEM your G-d."

I decided to do some research through the Internet to find out more about Condoleezza Rice. If you, dear friend, have some extra time, you will be able to find out interesting facts about Condoleezza Rice, her attitude to the Holy Land, and her past associations, which are far from reassuring for friends of Israel. For instance, James Baker of "F__k the Jews" fame, is one of her good friends. They have many common interests and attitudes.

As Condoleezza Rice embarked on her maiden voyage after her appointment as US Secretary of State, it was reported that she departed from America armed with a new policy paper on how to implement the Quartet's Road Map produced by the JAMES BAKER INSTITUTE FOR PUBLIC POLICY AT RICE UNIVERSITY.

According to Edward Djerejian, the former US Ambassador to Syria who directs the Baker Center, the policy paper, with its detailed recommendations, is a "street map to the Road Map."

The following is part of an article by Caroline Glick, Jerusalem Post columnist:

"... the team that composed the report included senior policy makers from the US, the Palestinian Authority, Egypt, Canada and the World Bank. The US was represented by current Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs William Burns as well as by Norman Olsen, the political counselor at the US embassy in Israel. The PA was represented by security strongman Jibril Rajoub and by senior aides to Mahmoud Abbas, Yasser Arafat and Ahmed Qurei. Egypt was represented by Dictator Hosni Mubarak's senior adviser Osama El Baz and by General Hossam Khair Allah.

Israel had no official representation. Rather, the Jewish state was represented by none other than Yossi Beilin's Geneva Accord crowd. Amnon Lipkin Shahak and Shlomo Brom, signatories to that subversive agreement where private citizens tried to abscond with the government's sovereign power to determine foreign policy by negotiating the scandalously anti-Israel "accord," participated. They were joined by members of Beilin's EU-financed think tank, the Economic Cooperation Foundation.

Not surprisingly, the product this team produced and delivered to Rice is soft on Palestinian terrorism, soft on Palestinian democratization, and relentlessly harsh toward Israel - its sovereignty, its right to defend itself, and its ability to claim any right to retain any of the Israeli communities in Judea and Samaria.

The document makes no clear statement on the need for the Palestinians to dismantle terrorist organizations. Indeed, the term "terror organizations" is absent from the report. Instead, the Palestinian requirement to combat terrorism is reduced to demands on Israel to facilitate the training, arming and operation of the "reformed" Palestinian security services while not interfering with them in any way....

But two questions still arise: Why is the US government sending its officials to participate in a 'working group' which works to undermine the sovereignty of a US ally; and why is the Israeli government not taking legal action against private citizens who travel the world "negotiating" away the sovereign rights of the state while undermining the prerogatives of the Israeli government?"


* * *


I have only chosen two items from her background which I feel cast light on the persona of Condoleezza Rice.

1) Chevron is a San Francisco-based multinational oil firm, one of the top ten largest oil companies in the world. Condoleezza Rice served on Chevron's board from 1991 until January 15, 2001, when she resigned after Bush named her as his top national security aide. A double-hulled 129,000-ton giant tanker, part of the international fleet of Chevron, had years before been named "Condoleezza Rice" in honor of her service to the Chevron oil company.

Critics complained that the ship served as a giant floating symbol of the Bush administration's cozy ties to the oil industry. The tanker's name also raised more serious questions of possible conflict of interest for Rice, because Chevron does business on six continents and in 25 countries, and has been sued for alleged human-rights abuses in Nigeria.

Leaving a wave of controversy in its wake, one of the most visible reminders of the Bush administration's ties to big oil - the "Condoleezza Rice" tanker - was quietly renamed the "Altair Voyager."

2) There has been widespread concern that Rice's expertise is the Soviet Union and that she is out of her depths in the Middle East. Actually, she was out of her depths in relation to the Soviet Union as well. Rice, who claims an expertise in nothing less than the high-stakes world of global power, has failed spectacularly as the "expert" who was disastrously wrong in her area of expertise -- the US relationship with Mikhail Gorbachev. President George H. W. Bush, Rice, National Security Advisor Brent Scowcroft, James Baker (then Secretary of State) and then Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and Colin Powell approved supporting the Soviet leader and his vision of a reformed Soviet Union. Dick Cheney (then Secretary of Defense), Paul Wolfowitz (his deputy), and Lewis "Scooter" Libbey foresaw the break-up of the USSR and wanted to speed it along. "Regime change" in Europe and Asia was what the Cheney crew were after -- with resulting opportunities for American corporate interests if the US got in on the action early.

As it turned out, Bush and Rice prevailed. In one famous incident, Rice physically blocked the door to the Oval Office to prevent Russian leader Boris Yeltsin from meeting with the President. The Bush team was slow to grasp the scope of the changes that were seizing Europe, slow to encourage the unification of Germany, and slow to give up on the Soviet Union. A speech Bush gave with Rice's assistance in Kiev became notorious as the "Chicken Kiev" speech because in it, the US urged the people of the Ukraine, (then clamoring for independence), to remain loyal to Moscow. At the same time, the President balked at giving Gorbachev what he needed -- either at arms talks, or in terms of foreign aid -- and the Soviet leader's domestic currency made a nose-dive. Within months, the Gorbachev era was over. The new post-Soviet Republics broke away one by one and in Russia, Yeltsin rose to power.


* * *


The above information gleaned from the Internet certainly made me less starry-eyed about Condoleezza Rice.

Of prime importance to us in Israel is Condoleezza Rice's apparent antagonism to the Jewish People, and their right to live in their entire homeland, as spelled out continuously in the Bible. We must also be aware of her continual attempts to whitewash Mahmoud Abas (Abu Mazen) and his unsavory past.

The next holocaust train has already left the station and is once again hurtling towards the abyss. What will change the US policy favoring the forced deportation of Jews from Gaza and Samaria?

Dear friends, I feel that only a very strong showing of support for Israel by Jewish and Christian Bible believers, and other concerned supporters of Israel, will be able to stop this train.

Let us start a list of people who are willing to join a giant rally on the Washington, DC Mall, most likely in the month of May 2005.

Please email me your name and address if you think this is a good idea.

We have a wonderful friend in Oklahoma City, Pastor James A. Vineyard, who is enthusiastic about taking part in this endeavor. He has sponsored the production of a DVD on "Disengagement."

The DVD which Pastor Vineyard sponsored has interviews made with Israelis who are to be "deported" from their homes. This is powerful stuff. As Pastor Vineyard says, he doesn't want to profit from the troubles of the Jews, so he's only charging $10 for a copy. In the words of Pastor Vineyard, "The deportation scheme will be one of the 'ugliest scenes' unfolding for 2005, because these folks probably will not go peaceably and quietly."

Time is short! Get your copy of the DVD and encourage your friends to get a copy as well. Plan a social evening in your home, and invite people in your community to view the DVD as well. Also, arrange that Synagogues and Churches feature a viewing of this tape, together with a discussion program. To purchase a copy of this DVD, email javyedidimis@aol.com or write him at 5517 NW 23rd St., Oklahoma City, OK, 73127.

It is most important, dear friends, that after viewing this DVD, you express your feelings to President Bush. Send him a fax at 202-456-2461, or a letter by snail mail to 1600 Pennsylvania Ave., NW, Washington, DC 20500. In addition, call his office at 202-456-1414. As I previously mentioned, emails are not as effective, as they're not printed out, and therefore your opinion may not be fully brought to the President's attention. Also, contact your Senators and Congressman in this regard.

With Blessings and Love for Israel,
Ruth Matar


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Posted by Ted Belman at February 11, 2005 08:59 AM

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Comments

1. BobW said:

It is reassuring that the American dream of gold cobblestoned streets, a chicken in every pot and a pizza in every oven, is still around. At 37 years old, Condoleezza Rice became a member of the Board of Directors of Chevron Corporation, "one of the top ten largest oil companies in the world".

Dr Rice's rise to the top of Chevron was faster than Dr Armand Hammer's development of Occidental Petroleum. Dr Rice did, of course, have academic expertise in the Soviet Union whereas Dr Hammer only had access to the top leaders of the Soviet Union.

One of Sigmund Freud's biographers, Peter Gay, had recommended the desperate need for a book on "stupid Jews". Something is missing from Ruth Matar's post and the referenced link. The non-stupid (disregarding alcoholic beverage consumption) have caught on.

A technical point re historical accuracy matters; black people in America's South could drink from public water fountains if labeled "colored" or not "white only" (but dangerous depending on other factors). There were less foundains for blacks and not maintained as well as white drinking fountains.

The US Government does not want a "mutual give and take". Joseph Farah's opinions have as much relevance as Leon Tolstoy's or Connie Chung's.

Was not familiar with a "Judeo-Christian Bible". Regardless, Scriptural references do not govern the creation of a new Arab state.

Ammon Shahak and Shlomo Brom have no less official status than "retired" Henry Kissinger or the President of ARAMCO, Saudi Arabia. Pro forma titles don't count. Armand Hammer performed many secret missions for the US Government. They were official - otherwise he wouldn't have been allowed to perform them for the US Government.

Another publicity stunt? .. on the Washington, D.C. mall? On the other side of the Louisiana Purchase, Knesset Member Benny Elon will be addressing thousands of Christian broadcast journalists. Rabbi Elon is not involved in any publicity stunt; only efforts to save Israel.

Kol tuv,
BobW

Posted by: BobW on February 12, 2005 06:11 AM

2. Tamar said:

Read Glick's article, and check each name against the CFR member's list.

Posted by: Tamar on February 12, 2005 04:08 PM

3. BobW said:

Shalom Tamar,

The critical element is not the Council on Foreign Relations.(Don't read the JP. Cancelled my print subscription long ago. Will not register with JP web. Only read posted or linked JP articles.)

The fate of Israel is not governed by CFR or America's "Bowash" [Boston-Washington, D.C.] bloc. There have been major changes throughout the world and Israel, because of its socialist inception, has still not adopted to them. (Eg an example I offered somewhere here about the States of the Church from 8 to 1.)

There are powerful forces in the US known by such terms as "Rockefeller Republicans", "Christian Coalition", "China Lobby", etc. Jewish cosmology is no less an equivilant. It is just not being used.

As bleak as Israel's situation is - and the Bernodotte Plan is being reactiviated - there are a couple of great signs.

Don't worry about CFR. The declining role of the US in a multipolar world is cataloging America's "Eastern Establishment" next to the Church of England, the Fifth French Republic, etc. America is changing with little internal violence. Israel has yet to change.

Kol tuv,
BobW

Posted by: BobW on February 13, 2005 02:42 AM

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