Amazon.com Widgets

June 2010 Archives

Wednesday, June 30, 2010

[The following, by Ben Cohen, is crossposted from Z Word.]

One of the tell-tale signs of a regime in distress is that its top officials begin sounding off on subjects quite removed from their remit. So it is with Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki, who claims to have discovered the reason behind the exit of France, England and the United States from the World Cup.

Was it the seething discord in the French camp spilling onto the field? Was it England's defensive failures compounded by the nasty habit of engaging in "kick and rush?" Was it the US tendency to play catch-up by, more often than not, conceding early goals?

No, it was none of those things, according to Mottaki.

"In this World Cup you see a meaningful correlation between politics and diplomacy and football," Mottaki was quoted as saying by Tehran Emrouz newspaper. "Those who played a key role in new sanctions against Iran such as America, England and France were eliminated in the early stages and some countries that were somehow involved in sanctions did not get into higher rounds."

Well, no, actually.

Continue reading "Iranian Regime Unlocks World Cup Strategy Secret"

[The following, by Zach, is crossposted from The Brothers of Judea.]

Dear Huffington Post Staff,

I am writing in response to your request for more information in combating the problem of anti-Semitism on the Huffington Post. I would like to draw your attention to a blogger named MJ Rosenberg whose actions in many ways encapsulate this problem; he does not say anything anti-Semitic himself but enables and legitimizes those who do. If I could spare a moment of your time I will explain why I make this accusation. It was not made lightly.

I will began by informing you about an anti-Semitic staple that has appeared in various forms for centuries: The myth of the Zionist occupied government. In short this myth claims that a secret group of Jews control not only the government of many countries but in fact seek to control the entire world (if they do not do so already). The most prominent example of this is the famous forgery "The Protocols of the Elders of Zion" which made exactly that claim. Since then it has appeared in the writings and political cartoons of many anti-Semites, including the Nazis and quite a few Muslim nations. It is one of the few myths about Jews that have persisted into the modern era, even when many religiously-based slanders (such as deicide) have all but disappeared.

So you might be asking at this point: What does this have to do with MJ Rosenberg? Well I will tell you: Mr. Rosenberg writes almost exclusively about what he likes to call "The Lobby" aka "the pro-Israel lobby" aka AIPAC. In fact it appears that Mr. Rosenberg is on a quest to tear down AIPAC and replace it with other pro-Israel groups that he likes, most notably J Street. For every one post about any other topic, there is one attacking AIPAC or people who support it. This isn't all that unusual, there is much to criticize about the way that AIPAC operates. If criticizing AIPAC was all that Mr. Rosenberg did, I would not be writing to you.

Continue reading "My Letter to the Huffington Post (MJ Rosenberg Edition)"

[The following, by Eamonn McDonagh, is crossposted from Z Word.]

In the Huffington Post, Hagai El-Ad has this to say:

What a long way has Israel traveled in just over six decades: from being founded on the very same year as the Declaration of Human Rights, as some form of a response to one of the most horrible crimes in human history - to becoming a state referred to by one of the Declaration's drafters as having a "criminal government" deserving of BDS. How much goodwill, hope and optimism were destroyed along this journey, how much human suffering caused - and how difficult it will be to change course. The path leading beyond the cliff's edge is clear and Israel's government is propelling the country forward with eyes wide open.

Three aspects common to many recent critiques of Israel are present here: Israel is seen as having once been very good and much loved and now to be very bad and widely hated, the person making the critique is Jewish (in this particular case, there's the added bonus of the fact that Stéphane Hessel, the cited drafter of the Declaration of Human Rights is a Holocaust survivor) and Israel is seen to be heading for catastrophe if it doesn't change its ways.

Continue reading "Three Aspects of Criticism of Israel"

[The following, by Barry Rubin, is crossposted from The Rubin Report.]

Aside from all the traditional reasons--antisemitism, oil money, the Arab world's strategic weight, guilt over colonialist pasts, fear of Islamist violence, etc--there are some important new ideological ones making large elements of the Western cultural and intellectual elite dislike (or hate) Israel.

If you understand these factors, it also explains a lot more generally about the (temporarily?) hegemonic ideology that has taken over much of Western academia, media, and politics.

1. Religion
As a Jewish state, and a country where religion plays an important role, Israel is anathema to Western leftists and intellectuals who are against religion, or at least against Judeo-Christian religions. Incidentally, though, Israel is not a theologically based or defined states. In fact, Jews are a people who happen to have a distinctive religion, something rather common in history. The idea that Jews are only a religious group is a very recent idea in world history.

But the allergy to religion in public life is a powerful force in Western elites today. Why doesn't this apply to Islam? There are a number of reasons but one rarely mentioned is that Islam isn't "their" religion, meaning that they have never personally or collectively rebelled against it, nor has it shaped elements in their own society that these people hate. Islam may be a repressive religion in Saudi Arabia, but it isn't responsible for Jerry Falwell or the "Christian right." Hence, to a member of the Western elite, it isn't "their" problem.

Continue reading "Why So Much of the Western Elite Hates (or Doesn't Like) Israel (And Their Own Societies, Too)"

He's not the first man in history to try to give meaning to the lives of the downtrodden by scapegoating the Jews. Now he's turning it up a notch: Nation of Islam leader accuses Jews of 'anti-black' behavior, asks for dialogue

Nation of Islam Minister Louis Farrakhan has written the leaders of more than a dozen major U.S. Jewish groups and denominations seeking "repair of my people from the damage" he claims Jews have caused blacks for centuries.

Farrakhan sent the letter along with two books from the Nation of Islam Historical Research Team that the 77-year-old minister said prove "an undeniable record of Jewish Anti-Black behavior," starting with the slave trade and Jim Crow laws.

"We could charge you with being the most deceitful so-called friend, while your history with us shows you have been our worst enemy," he wrote.

Farrakhan has long accused Jews of wrongdoing in speeches, but he has rarely addressed Jewish groups so directly in writing.

The Anti-Defamation League, a Jewish civil rights group which distributed copies of the letter, said in a statement Tuesday that Farrakhan's "anti-Semitism is obsessive, diabolical and unrestrained. He has opened a new chapter in his ministry where scapegoating Jews is not just part of a message, but the message."

In the letter, dated last Thursday, the Chicago-based Nation of Islam leader said he sought a dialogue with Jews. He sent the letter to groups including the Orthodox and Reform movements, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, and the American Jewish Committee, a New York-based advocacy and humanitarian nonprofit that spearheads inter-religious dialogue.

"This is an offer asking you and the gentiles whom you influence to help me in the repair of my people from the damage that has been done by your ancestors to mine," he writes. "Your present reality is sitting on top of the world in power, with riches and influences, while the masses of my people ... are in the worst condition of any member of the human family."...

This is a loogy in the face of all those Jews and Jewish organizations who have put the interests of Black people before their own interests, and in many cases have sacrificed their health and even their lives in doing so. The ADL press release is here.

Mosab Hassan Yousef will not be deported:

The son of a Hamas founder who became a Christian and an Israeli spy will be granted US asylum after he passes a routine background check, an immigration judge ruled Wednesday.

Mosab Hassan Yousef got the news during a 15-minute deportation hearing after a US Department of Homeland Security attorney said the government was dropping its objections.

The agency denied Yousef's asylum request in February 2009, arguing that he had been involved in terrorism and was a threat to the United States.

The immigration judge, Rico Bartolomei, ruled that Yousef will be allowed to remain in the United States after he is fingerprinted and passes a routine background check.

Yousef, who has been living in San Diego, was cheered by supporters as he left the hearing. "I will keep fighting the ideology that is behind terrorists because I know how they think," he said outside the courtroom.

Yousef, 32, said he could not explain the government's abrupt decision, but said authorities may have had second thoughts after reviewing his case more closely...

They got an earful from the public, and perhaps it did some good. This on the day that Yousef has an op-ed published in the Washington Post: Why deport a friend to Middle East peace?

Tuesday, June 29, 2010

In full from Jewish Russian Telegraph. Looks like the Rabbis are outnumbered:

We, undersigned members and representatives of the Russian Jewish community of Massachusetts, are writing to you to express our deep concerns about the state of affairs in our community. Enemies of Israel and of the Jewish people are raising their heads without much resistance from the part of organizations that are supposed to defend us. Here is what we witnessed in our recent memory:

  • In January when 54 Democratic congressmen wrote an unprecedentedly biased letter criticizing the Jewish state, six of these congressmen came from Massachusetts delegation. They joined without any fear of backlash or political and community repercussions
  • during the past decade radical Islamists took over peaceful and historically tolerant Muslim community in the Commonwealth, building mosques with questionable terrorist affiliations that are providing safe haven to preachers of hate. Calls for elimination of Israel and physical destruction of the Jewish people are heard without any forceful resistance
  • Jewish students are harassed on campuses
  • radical anti-Israel organizations like J Street (routinely shunned by official representatives of the state of Israel) are brazenly claiming and getting their seat at the community table
  • cases of terrorist activities by Muslim youth, influenced by radical hate propaganda, are increasing in Massachusetts

With these facts on the background ADL spends more time fighting cyber-bullying and attacking Avigdor Lieberman than they spend on fighting hate and calls to violence against the Jews coming from radical Islamists. JCRC, an organization solely dedicated and funded to be an effective community tool in situations like these, is completely missing in action. Granted, each time, when they are confronted with the facts, Islamists have a tale to tell: "jihad is a way for self-improvement; a gun mentioned in a talk, is not a real gun, but gun of prayer; killing Jews, meant killing only some Jews." Big comfort!? But there is no spin that our leaders would question, and there is no lie that they would not gladly absorb.Their good will and credulity have no limits when it comes to leaders of Islamist radicals. Everything changes though when dissent comes from within the community. Just look at the vicious ad hominem attack unleashed by self-selected community leadership on Charles Jacobs. While official Jewish leadership was silent, media oblivious or intimidated, Charles Jacobs and his group of volunteers have been providing precise and well-documented facts about clear and present danger of Islamist hate surrounding us. Our Jewish leaders who were tame as lambs in front of Islamists, roared as lions against this brave and lonely voice of dissent. Apparently freedom of expression, that is granted for use and abuse to our enemies without any reservations, is apportioned very narrowly to any critic of the politically correct dogmas. Back in the Soviet Union authorities would put a man like Jacobs behind bars for anti-Soviet propaganda. In the United States we are dismayed by attempts to ostracize and silence him. Unable to handle the message, Jewish community leadership decided to attack the messenger. But this shall not pass.

We demand a community wide dialog about the current situation. We must discover what our leaders knew, when they knew it, and why they failed to act. We must do it now, before it is too late. Scripture says: "don't stand idly by the blood of your neighbor." We, our families, and our neighbors are in danger. If we really mean it when we say "Never Again", we must act now.

Signed (90 people):

Dr. Nadia Rodberg, Framingham - RJCF, Romen Rodberg, Framingham, Dr. Nellie Konnikov, Newton, Gennady Konnikov, Newton, Samuil Shmuylovich, Framingham, Nima Shmuylovich, Framingham,Sergey Liberman, Waltham, Natalia Liberman MD, Waltham, Julia Velixon, Lexington, Elvira Fagel, Cambridge, Professor Michael Sherman, Newton, Julia Yaglom, Newton,Vitaly Dumanis, Foxboro, Lev Brown, Newton, Eugenia Brown, Newton,Alex Wolfson, Swampscott,Tamara Wolfson, Swampscott, Michael Brook, Newton, Dr. Mila Magitsky MD, Newton, Dr. Efim Magitsky, MD, Newton, Ary Rotman, RJCF President, Brookline, Alex Koifman, Newton,Greg Margolin, Brighton,Rabbi Dovid Margolin, Inna Tunkel, Lexington, Anna Krasko, Sharon, Raia Levin, Newton, Natalia D Tufeld, Ashland, Ilana Tufeld, Ashland, Shulamit Sophia Dubrovin, Brookline, Eli Dubrovin, Brookline, Igor Tufeld, Ashland, Anna Dubrovina, Marblehead, Dan Roginsky, Brookline, Dr. Dmitry Gurevich, PhD, Arlington, Dr. Boris Dashevsky, Ph.D., Boston, Boris Furman, Newton, Dr. Emmanuil Shrayer, Ph.D., Lexington, Anna Lanskoy, Lexington, Dr. Yuri Tuvim, Gloucester, Dr. Simon Gurmarnik, Sharon, Polina Margolin, Brighton, Ilya Goldovt, Ashland, Vitaly Khazansky, Brookline,, Dr. Igor Khait, PhD, Brookline, Ilia Sokolinski, Brighton, Anna Sokolinski, Brighton, Mikhail Rizkin, Carlisle, Irina Rizkin, Carlisle, Vitaly Tunkel, Littleton, Raisa Rosovsky, Littleton, Igor Chernin, Acton, Bela Chernin, Acton, Mikhail L Gershteyn, Newton, Mariya Gershteyn, Newton, Svetlana Sheinina, Boxborough, Dmitry Sheinin, PhD, Boxborough, Tanya Gurevich, Esq, Needham, Dr. Yuri Shamritsky, Needham, Inessa Rifkin, Newton, Victor Rifkin, Newton, Masha Rifkin, Newton, Ilya Rifkin, Louisville, KY, Lana Madorsky Rifkin, MD Louisville, KY, Leonid Madorsky Louisville, KY, Inessa Madrorsky Louisville, KY, Michael Gorbatov Newton, Lana Gorbatov Newton, Ross Gorbatov Newton, Joseph Itkis, PhD, Newton, Dr. Leonid Raiz, Newton, Alexandra Raiz, Newton, Alexander Epstein, Reading, Leo Galperin, Brookline, Irene Galperin, Brookline, Lina Klebaner, Esq., Boston, Dmitry & Maria Gofshteyn, Marblehead, Sergey Selyutin, PhD, Arlington, Anneta Trifonov, Arlington, Boris Levit, Newton, Berta Shaffer, Lynn, Seva Brodsky. Boston/Jerusalem, Gregory Kaidanov, Newton, Yury Livshetz, Revere, Tanya Gorlin, Brookline, Andrew Gorlin, Brookline, Iosif Lakhman, PhD, Brighton, Mr. George J. Vysotsky, Boston, Katherine Vysotsky, Boston, Dr. Olga Levenson, MD, Brighton

dodtwof16s.jpg

U.S. Air Force F-16 Aggressor aircraft from the 18th Aggressor Squadron fly a sortie over Alaska June 24, 2010, during exercise Red Flag - Alaska 10-3. Red Flag Alaska is a Pacific Air Forces-directed advanced aerial exercise that trains U.S. and allied air force pilots for real combat situations. (DoD photo by Tech. Sgt. James Harper Jr., U.S. Air Force/Released)

Buchanan_Pat1.jpg

Pater Familias of a Deranged Crew

chossudovsky1.jpg

Chossudovsky, Ottawa Loon

Justin-Raimondo1.jpg

Justin Raimondo, CA Loon
 

I don't know why I just fixated on Pat Buchanan, but I did. He is so bizarre and Jew-crazy that I just had to feature his latest dementia. Champion of John Demjanjuk, the Sobibor killer, consort of Holocaust deniers and demonizer of Israel, he gets my vote for loon of the year. Of Demjanjuk, he recently said,

"the same satanic brew of hate and revenge that drove another innocent man up Calvary that first Good Friday 2,000 years ago."

Israel, however, remains in the crosshairs of this pathetic bigot. Buchanan's rants are "researched" by his shadowy media group called "Global Research." When you click on the "about" link you get this:

"The Centre for Research on Globalisation (CRG) is an independent research and media organization based in Montreal. The CRG is a registered non profit organization in the province of Quebec, Canada. "

The head of Global Research is Michel Chossudovsky, erstwhile economics professor, conspiracy theorist and - yes - Holocaust denier. In 2005 [PDF],

"B'nai B'rith Canada complained to the University of Ottawa in August 2005 that one of its faculty members, economist Michel Chossudovsky, maintains a web site that includes postings alleging Jewish conspiracies and denying the Holocaust. Articles on Chossudovsky's web site, www.globalresearch.ca, include "The Hilarious Auschwitz Story," "The HolyCo$t Lie is Finished," "Jewish Lies of Omission (about the 'Holocaust')," and "Jewish Hate Responsible For Largest Mass Killing at Dachau." Interviewed by The Ottawa Citizen, Chossudovsky said the postings are "anti-Zionist, not anti-Semitic."2
1 Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA), February 25, 2005.
2 The Ottawa Citizen, August 20, 2005.

Such are Pat Buchanan's "researchers." The Great Man never saw a leftist organization that he despised except on the subject of Israel and the Jews. His take on the jihadists aboard the Mavi Marmara ship: "Israel Doctored the Evidence!" Read more Laroucheisms here.

There seems to be no trough dirty and deep enough to turn away Buchanan. Another of his favorite sources is Justin Raimondo, self-described "paleo-libertarian", far right (left?) - we're getting into murky territory here - who -oddly enough - asserts that Israeli intelligence knew in advance of the 9/11 attacks and deliberately denied the information to the United States. And, oh yes, Mr. Raimondo is a proud homophobe, forever battling the evils of gay politics.

Why anyone would take Buchanan seriously at this point - or any other - is a good question. And Natan Sharansky should never agree to debate him, or for that matter, agree to be in the same city.

[Crossposted from JStreetJive.]

[The following, by Will Spotts, is crossposted from The PC(USA) on Israel and Palestine.]

If you want to say something offensive about Israel or the Jewish community, find a Jewish person who is saying it and quote him. That way you are absolved of all responsibility for the offense, and you couldn't possibly be an anti-Jewish bigot.

This notion is so absurd it should require no response. Yet the tactic is being employed with such increasing frequency that, apparently, someone must believe it. I'm not really sure whether the believers are the people attempting to use Jewish voices for cover or their target audience.

In the PC(USA) context, uses of this tactic abound. Here are a few examples:

Continue reading "Presbyterian Fiction #2: the Get-out-of-Antisemitism-Free Card"

[The following, by David Adler, jazz critic and political commentator, is crossposted from Z Word.]

The bloggers of Mondoweiss have worked very hard to convince the public that antisemitism does not exist among the Palestine solidarity movement - indeed, that all such charges of antisemitism are mere subterfuge concocted by "Zionists" to tar critics of Israel, who are by definition pure of heart.

So it's important to note that Mondoweiss is now voicing support for the Israeli-born, UK-based jazz musician and virulent antisemite Gilad Atzmon.

Atzmon, who has declared, "One of the things that happened to us was that stupidly we interpreted the Nazi defeat as a vindication of the Jewish ideology and the Jewish people," is scheduled to play two concerts in upstate New York with Rich Siegel, a pianist, vocalist and bandleader from New Jersey. Siegel is author of the Mondoweiss posts, here and here, alleging that the Rochester concert was nearly canceled thanks to what he calls "Zio-pressure."

Continue reading "Don't Let Atzmon Hoodwink America's Jazz Scene"

[The following, by Barry Rubin, is crossposted from The Rubin Report.]

Hamas has twice violently attacked UN summer camps in the Gaza Strip in order to destroy them and intimidate kids from attending them. The goal is to force young people to go to Hamas summer camps where they will be given military and ideological training to teach them to be future terrorists.

The UN actually condemned the attacks and the Hamas regime for fomenting them.

I'm not complaining about this article--a small drop in the ocean of needed media coverage of Hamas's repression and extremism--but one sentence caught my eye. The UN, "camps provide a rare distraction from the hardships endured by more than 250,000 Palestinian refugees that live in the Gaza Strip."

Continue reading "Hamas Attacks UN Summer Camp For Not Being a Terrorist Training Camp"

Monday, June 28, 2010

In the ongoing tumult surrounding the Charles Jacobs/Rabbis dispute, last week witnessed a gigantic outpouring of support for clarity, accuracy and honesty at Temple Beth El in Newton, MA. A crowd of over 300 watched Charles Jacobs and his team at Americans for Peace and Tolerance answer the innuendos and ad hominem attacks leveled by a group of rabbis whose temerity outweighed their objectivity and vertebrae.

Having documented for years the highly disturbing personalities, funding and statements emanating from the Islamic Society of Boston and the Muslim American Society , Jacobs laid out in graphic detail his case for confronting Taqiyya at the ISB. Presenting hard evidence, most often contained in the mosque's spokespersons' own words has nothing to do with bigotry or attempts to sabotage interfaith dialogue. Had spokespersons from Christian Evangelical churches uttered the same anti-Israel and anti-semitic remarks, the rabbis would have been the first to denounce them. Of course, the vast majority of evangelicals have demonstrated their unconditional support for Israel's survival, which typically earns them the scorn from many within Jewish leadership.

As the Marxist question asks (Groucho, of course), "Are you going to believe me or your lying eyes?" judge for yourself as you watch the videos below to discover just how serious the Jihadist, anti-Israel situation is in the Boston area. Dialoguing with moderate Muslims is not damaged by a careful examination of the facts. Reform and "Progressive" rabbis should be the first to declare "Dibru Emet" (tell the truth). We hope that honest dialogue is advanced by doing so.

[Crossposted from JStreetJive.]

[The following, by bataween, is crossposted from Point of No Return.]

ghadry.jpg

Farid Ghadry

Hate for Jews following the Free Gaza flotilla incident is off the scale, Farid Ghadry, leader of the Syrian Reform Party and now a US citizen, has calculated. Yet, Muslims who inflict much more pain on each other and own 97 percent of the Middle East, escape accountability. Every Muslim should try being a Jew for one day. (With thanks: Lily)

When I Googled the words "Hate Jews" and "Hate Zionsim", I received back 1,520,000 and 4,100,000 hits. Similarly, when I Googled the words "Hate Muslims" and "Hate Islam", I received back 1,170,000 and 2,110,000 hits. But these numbers tell part of the story because if you are a good statistician (I just know finance), you would know that 1,520,000 or 4,100,000 for a global population of let's say 15,000,000 Jews is vastly different from a 1,170,000 and 2,110,000 hits for a global population of 1,400,000,000.

How different?

In percentages, Jews are hated to the tune of 121 times more. That is 12,125% more than people hate Muslims if the ratio of number of Muslims as compared to Jews is taken into account as well as the "Hate Index" of each. An index that the unsuccessful, jealous of Jewish accomplishments, keep pushing up.

In spite of the terror we Muslims inflict daily on others and on each other, Jews are hated more than we could ever be.

Israel attacked Hamas only after Hamas launched thousands of rockets. But Hamas attacked the PLO in Gaza for no reason. Yet, the Jews are hated, and the Muslims, inflicting pain unto each other, escape accountability. Israel established a blockade to weaken its extremist nemesis, yet, the Jews are hated for defending their borders when we Muslims own 97% of the lands. Lands where Jews lived and roamed thousands of years ago and where remnants of Synagogues are found today in several Arab countries, including Syria, Yemen, Oman, Iraq, Egypt, Lebanon, and as far as Morocco.

We, Muslims, should be lucky the Jews only want Jerusalem...

Read post in full

[The following, by bataween, is crossposted from Point of No Return.]

ezrashrine.jpg

The tomb of Ezra at Uzair, near Basra

This story's still being told in Iraqi-Jewish circles. Let's call it the story of O.

A young woman - call her O. - attended a Sephardi synagogue in the US some years ago. She struck up a conversation in Arabic with some of the congregants, who came from Iraq. " What's a Muslim doing in our synagogue?" the congregants muttered to each other - for the young woman did not speak Judeo-Arabic, with its distinctive accent and pronunciation.

It turned out the young woman was a Jew who had recently arrived from Basra. There had been so few Jews in the city that O. had never learned to speak Judeo-Arabic. As one of the few dozen Jews still living in Iraq under Saddam's rule in the late 1990s, her dearest wish was to leave. But the government were holding the tiny Jewish community as virtual hostages.

Continue reading "How one young woman kept her promise to Ezra"

Peace Now may have become moribund in Israel in the aftermath of the 2000 intifadah and the rocket response to the 2005 Gaza pullout, but the hydra has more heads in the game these days. The New Israel Fund, with its ample $30,000,000 budget is one these heads, funding and supporting organizations that espouse a lethal, anti-Zionist agenda. BDS initiatives abound in their client groups, even advocates of the "one state" solution (which amounts to a "final" solution for the Jewish state).

Emboldened by Obama's hostility towards Bibi and Israel and fattened with Soros money, the NIF functions as the nuts and bolts of Ben Ami's J Street. As duplicitous as J Street is, the NIF is even more so in its alliances with organizations like Adalah and Israel Physicians for Human Rights. (see our report here).

Professor Gerald Steinberg has just published the definitive profile of the NIF along with serious demands that it demonstrate a responsible and substantive role as it claims to be the premier "pro-Zionist" hyper critic of Israel:

Continue reading "A Declartion of Principles for The New Israel Fund [Hillel]"

Sunday, June 27, 2010

[The following, by Barry Rubin, is crossposted from The Rubin Report.]

Israel is subject daily to scores of false claims and slanders that receive a remarkable amount of credibility in Western media, academic, and intellectual circles even when no proof is offered.

Palestinian groups (including the Gaza and Palestinian Authority regimes), associated local and allied foreign non-government organizations, Western radical and anti-Israel groups, and politically committed journalists are eager to act as propaganda agents making up false stories or transmitting them without serious thought or checking.

Others have simply defined the Palestinians as the "victims" and "underdogs" while Israel is the "villain" and "oppressor." Yet truth remains truth; academic and journalist standards are supposed to apply.

While regular journalists may ask for an official Israeli reaction to such stories the undermanned government agencies are deluged by hundreds of these stories, and committed to checking out seriously each one. Thus, the Israeli government cannot keep up with the flow of lies.

So the key question is to understand the deliberateness of this anti-Israel propaganda and evaluating the credibility of the sources.

An important aspect of this is to understand that Israel is a decent, democratic country with a free media that is energetic about exploring any alleged wrongdoing and a fair court system that does the same. To demonize Israel into a monstrous, murderous state--which is often done--makes people believe any negative story.

Some of these are big false stories--the alleged killing of Muhammad al-Dura and the supposed Jenin massacre--others are tiny. Some--like the claim Israel was murdering Palestinians to steal their organs-- get into the main Western newspapers while others only make it into smaller and non-English ones.

Continue reading "The Privileged Slander: Why the Media Laps Up The Anti-Israel Lying Campaign"

[The following, by Eamonn McDonagh, is crossposted from Z Word.]

Every so often and apropos of nothing in particular El País feels obliged to vomit up a gut full of hatred for Israel. Today's edition runs an editorial titled "The Israeli Quasi-theocracy".

It characterizes Israel as being "territorially gluttonous", of hiding its real motives and being run by a military-theocratic government which bases its policies on the contents of the Bible. It also accuses Ariel Sharon, of all people, of advocating and practising a policy of never ceding an inch of territory to the Palestinians.

Argument is obviously wasted on such a text so I won't offer any. I'll just mention that:

1. In 1979 the Spanish state signed and ratified a treaty with the Vatican binding it to provide financial support for the Roman Catholic Church, a commitment it complies with to this day. No such support is provided for other religions.

2. Juan Carlos 1, the constitutional monarch of Spain, and his family all ostentatiously practise the Roman Catholic faith. Article 57 of Spain's constitution establishes that the current monarch will be succeeded by his descendents in perpetuity.

3. Many state occasions in Spain, such as the funerals of members of the security forces murdered by terrorists continue, to be imbued by Roman Catholic ritual.

4.Crucifixes continue to hang on the walls of public schools. No such privilege has been extended to the symbols of other faiths.

[The following, by bataween, is crossposted from Point of No Return.]

The Algerian authorities have turned down a request from French Jewish groups to visit the 13th century tomb of Rav Ephraim El -Kawa in Tlemcen, north west Algeria, the Algerian newspaper Al-khabar reports. Via JSS blog (With thanks: Andrew)

These same groups, led by Tlemcen native Andre Charbit, had wanted to repeat their 2005 pilgrimage. Charbit had then headed a group of 220 pilgrims, the largest group of Jews to visit Algeria since independence. They flew to Tlemcen aboard a special Air Algerie flight. The visit created widespread media interest.

tlemcen.jpg

Sources say that public opinion and the political class rejected the idea following the free Gaza flotilla incident, in which Algerian 'activists' took part.

Anti-Jewish Algerians believe that these types of visits on the human and tourist level may hide attempts to drag Algeria towards normalisation with Israel - a prospect Algiera officially refuses to countenance.

Algeiran officials believe that the 2011 festival celebrating 'Tlemcen, capital of Islamic culture' is incompatible with a visit from a group of Jews who consider the site the second most holy in North Africa after the Ghriba synagogue in Djerba (Tunisia).

Read blog post in full (French)

[The following, by The Bagelnosher Blog, is crossposted from CiF Watch.]

snake.jpg

BGU - Ben Gurion University of the Negev - suffered parallel snake problems this week. On two separate occasions, they had to deal with serpents in their midst.

One of the critters they had captured, bagged and hauled away. But when confronted with the other snake, this one they wanted to keep right where he was -- in front of the classroom.

The first serpent - a black three-foot long species native to Israel - surprised the staff when it was spotted lurking behind a desk at the nanotechnology building on the University's main campus. Officials called Beersheba's official snake catcher who responded to the scene. "The snake wasn't a poisonous variety," the snake removal man said afterward. "It appeared to have gotten into the building through an improperly secured air vent. The snake was aggressive, but I caught it and later released it in a remote place where it won't do any harm."

The second, equally aggressive, snake is far more dangerous. This one, known as Neve Gordon, walks upright on his own two feet, although he, too, lurks behind a desk at BGU where he's spent almost a decade bombarding students with his anti-Israel, anti-Semitic tirades. This snake in the grass is treated far differently by BGU officials. Not only was Neve Gordon not bagged and hauled away -- instead, the President of BGU, Rivka Carmi, promoted him.

Again.

Continue reading "The Nest of Vipers"

Had a good time at a party out in the woods of New Hampshire last night:

Note the hollow tree trunk upright in the bonfire. It burns from the inside out with a jet of flame shooting out the top. Very cool:

P1000415.JPG

Here's a can of bug spray in the hollow tree trunk after the trunk fell over. Yeah, it was that kind of party. Actually, I think it was mostly empty, and just made a rush of sparks for a few seconds.

P1000422.JPG

The morning after:

P1000455.JPG

Saturday, June 26, 2010

I was at the Americans for Peace and Tolerance event on Thursday night, filming. It was one of the best attended events of this type I've been to, and the crowd was extremely enthusiastic. I'm not sure yet just how much of the film I'm going to post, but I did want to get this snippet up which I think most of you will enjoy.

Watch, and more to the point, listen to this mostly Jewish audience's reaction during the Q&A as Republican hopeful Sean Bielat introduces himself. I'm not sure if it comes through in the video or not, but it was very loud and uproarious in the hall prompting me to immediately widen out the shot (keep your speakers up):

bielat-banner.jpg

Remember when Barney put his foot in his mouth over the flotilla (later he desperately backed off)? Bielat took the opportunity to issue a strong statement in defense of Israel's actions:

Brookline, MA - Barney Frank indicates skepticism at best and disdain at worst against Israel's action to defend its borders against the Turkish flotilla bound for Gaza.

Barney Frank has looked past the fact that 600 pro-Palestinian activists were on the flotilla Marmara for the stated purpose of provocation as part of a "Free Gaza" movement. And the activists have pledged to send even more ships to the region. New York Times - June 3, 2010

Pro-Palestine activists have engaged in a public relations war against Israel and men like Barney Frank are helping them achieve their ends. Israel has every right to defend its borders and has done so in accordance with stated policy. When militants breach those policies, Israel can and must react.

The United States would do well to learn from countries that seriously defend their borders against elements who wish to do harm to the nation and its citizens.

Unlike Barney Frank, I'm not "ashamed" of our closest ally in the Middle East when it uses legitimate and lawful action to protect its security. While I appreciate Mr. Frank's efforts to clarify his statements, far too often we've seen him issue retractions and deny previous statements in regards to Israel, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, and other important topics.

That's the second time a potential Frank opponent has gotten a big reception in a synagogue recently. The prior time it was Earl Sholley: See Part 6 at about 2:20.

Looks like now might be a good time to post up some of the strongly pro-Israel statements I've been forwarded by a number of the local Republican hopefuls.

jeffperrybanner.jpg

Jeff Perry: Quote from a Republican emailer:

Attached is State Rep. Jeff Perry's position paper on the U.S.-Israel relationship. Rep. Perry is a Republican running for the 10th Massachusetts Congressional seat being vacated by Bill Delahunt which covers the South Shore, Cape & the Islands. He is currently a State Rep and has already been endorsed by Sen. Scott Brown (R-MA).

I believe that he is the first candidate in this race to submit a paper to AIPAC and to clearly establish his positions on these key issues -- a reflection of his commitment to the issues. Based on the paper, it is also clear that a Perry victory would represent an overall improvement on the collective positions/votes taken by the Massachusetts congressional delegation...

Here is his strong paper [PDF]. Replacing Delahunt (a horror show) with this guy would be a major plus.

Perry also issued the following strong statement in support of Israel earlier this month while the flotilla matter was at its height:

STATEMENT OF JEFF PERRY IN SUPPORT OF ISRAEL'S RIGHT TO SELF-DEFENSE

"Recent events in the Middle East serve to highlight the importance of Israel's natural right to defend itself against the threat of attack from other nations, states or terrorist groups. I stand steadfastly behind Israel, and I firmly oppose any other nation or organization's efforts targeted at undermining this fundamental right. Every legitimate nation has the right of self-defense, and no nation should be required to sit idly in the face of potential attack. I call upon President Obama and leaders of other nations to support Israel's right to self-defense as a free and independent nation, and I will continue to advocate for this right if I am elected to serve in Congress."

leporbanner.jpg

Keith Lepor is running against Stephen Lynch. Here's a snip from his strong letter on Israel [.doc]:

...Israel was -- and continues to be -- justified in taking all actions necessary to ensure that the blockade of Gaza remains in effect, thus preventing weapons from reaching the Hamas terrorists. While the world reflexively condemns Israel and the White House continues in its failure to stand with any moral clarity, I understand, like you, that Israel has lived from the day of its birth on the edge of existence. Surrounded by sworn enemies who do not, will not and can not bring themselves to recognize Israel's fundamental right to exist; and who direct far more energy to Israel's destruction then their own national development, Israel has zero margin for error...

...With family ties that go back to my father's role in the Israeli War of Independence, I have been a consistent and strong supporter of Israel. By profession, I am a freelance photojournalist specializing in guerilla warfare and counter-insurgency and most recently spent a year in support of US and Coalition forces in Afghanistan. I have a graduate degree in Middle East Studies from Cairo, Egypt and a post-graduate degree in International Relations/Political Economy from Oxford University...

Strong. (I keep using that word a lot.)

jimbenderbanner.jpg

And for good measure, Senatorial candidate Jim Bender chimed in on the Gaza Flotilla from New Hampshire [PDF]:

..."As tensions continue to grow in the Middle East, I want to stress that Israel exercised its legitimate right to self defense and we must learn all the facts in this regrettable and deadly flotilla incident. Hamas and its allies are the responsible parties for the recent violence and the continued difficulties for the people of Gaza. The Palestinian people have legitimate rights to a state that is a peaceful neighbor of Israel, but those who assist Hamas only undermine that goal and a peaceful resolution. We must maintain the Middle East peace process and unfortunately events like this undermine that process. One thing is clear; the Obama administration has managed to convince most countries around the world that we are worth little as a friend and worth even less as enemies. They have made a dangerous world even more dangerous by not standing by their allies and refusing to impose tougher sanctions on Iran as it continues to be a nuclear threat to its neighbors."...

sammeasbanner.jpg

Finally, let's replay that video of Congressional hopeful Sam Meas:

Update: And let's not forget our friend Scott Brown who, after all, will be up for reelection before you know it: Brown launches defense of Israel

..."I don't need polling or political strategists to help define a nuanced stance on Israel," Brown said, according to a copy of his prepared remarks. "We are engaged in a worldwide struggle against radical, violent jihad. It is the defining issue of our time. Our best friends and the strongest allies in this fight are in the State of Israel."

"Let's remember - Israel is our ally. Israel is a democracy," Brown added. "Hamas is a terrorist group with clear and genuine intentions of destroying Israel's way of life."...

Update: Since this has been circulating, I've gotten a couple of other statements from candidates that deserve to be mentioned as well:

martylambbanner.jpg

Marty Lamb is running the MA 3rd district, currently held by far left J Street candidate Jim McGovern. Here is his position paper on Israel [PDF], and here's a snip. Marty is not afraid of naming the enemy:

As a congressman representing Massachusetts' Third Congressional District, I would be a firm and vocal supporter of the strategic relationship between the United States of America and the State of Israel. Israel and the U.S. have been long time allies. Jewish settlers in pre-State Israel fought alongside the Allies in World War II and Israel was a strong U.S. ally in the days of the Cold War. Today, Israel and the U.S. share technology, intelligence and the values of freedom and democracy as they stand together against common threats.

One such common threat is radical Islam. Radical Islam is not only anti-Israel, it is anti-U.S., anti-West and anti-freedom. As proof, Americans have become targets of terror much like the citizens of Israel. Recent events on our army bases, in the sky over Detroit and in Times Square are terrifying reminders of this sad fact. And these events should drive us to stand with ever greater resolve with our allies and against the forces of radical Islam wherever they appear. This includes providing Israel with all of the necessary military and financial support as they stand on the front lines of this battle...

On June 4, following the Gaza Flotilla, Lamb issued the following press release:

Holliston, MA...Today Marty Lamb, Republican candidate for Congress in Massachusetts Third District, stated, in response to the flotilla raid, that Israel has the right to defend itself against attacks and terrorists.

"I stand by Israel's right to defend its borders and citizens. The country lives under constant threat of violence from Hamas and other terrorist organizations," said Lamb. "I call upon Congressman Jim McGovern to stand with me in support of Israel and to join me in cautioning the United Nations from condemning Israel's raid."

"The United States must stand by its allies," stated Lamb.

dembrowskibanner.jpg

Gerry Dembrowski is hoping (we are all hoping) to unseat Ed Markey (boo, hiss). He issued the following statement following the Gaza Flotilla:

US CONGRESSIONAL CANDIDATE GERRY DEMBROWSKI CALLS "PEACE ACTIVISTS" PROVOCATION INTOLERABLE, SUPPORTS ISRAEL'S DEFENSIVE ACTIONS

US Congressional candidate Gerry Dembrowski today condemned the actions of the pro-Hamas "peace activists" in the "peace flotilla" heading for Gaza and said the response of the Israeli military was measured and appropriate. The Jerusalem Post reported June 1, 2010 "Fifty 'Mavi Marmara' aka peace flotilla passengers tied to global jihad network." Dembrowski also condemned the United States government for its weak response and its failure to support its closest friend and ally in the Middle East, Israel. "We should've waited to hear both sides of the story."

Tuesday, the Israeli military also discovered a cache of bulletproof vests and night-vision goggles, as well as gas masks. Dembrowski said "Are these items standard issued peace keeping paraphernalia? " The so-called peace activists intentionally created this situation and they've played their part very well. The pro-Hamas activists forced Israel to defend itself with force and now world sympathy is with the pro-Hamas activists while Israel is condemned. This is exactly the opposite of what should be happening.

Dembrowski, running for US Congress in the Massachusetts 7th district against incumbent Ed Markey, rejected the claim the ships' mission was humanitarian in nature.

The group of over 50 passengers with possible terror connections have refused to identify themselves and were not carrying passports. Many of them were carrying envelopes packed with thousands of dollars in cash.

"The Palestinians in Gaza are already allowed more than enough food and supplies under the direction of Israel and the UN. The United States contributes a large measure to that effort. Israel offered to allow the flotilla to land at Gaza if Israel first inspected the cargo but the activists refused. Instead, the pro-Hamas activists chose to confront the Israelis by running the blockade so they could bypass UN and Israeli inspections.

"And in response the Obama administration calls for an independent investigation, as if Israel and its terrorist enemies in the region are on equal footing and neither one can be trusted to tell the truth about what happened. This is the same sad spirit in which Obama pressures and snubs Israel, a close and enthusiastic ally of the United States, browbeating them to the bargaining table, as if Israel hasn't already shown her willingness to give up land for peace and to negotiate openly and fairly with any legitimate party."

"I call on our elected representatives to tell the truth about Middle Eastern politics and not play the cynical game of punishing our friends and forgiving those who jeopardize America's interests, as if that will bring about peace in the world."

As Americans we can't stand for politics as usual. It's time we do the right thing because it is worth doing and stop doing the wrong thing or nothing at all because its politically correct.

"The activists and protesters could bring Middle Eastern peace much closer to reality if instead of provoking Israel, they convinced their allies Hamas to release Gilad Shalit, the Israeli soldier abducted and held captive by Hamas since June, 2006, four long years ago."

"I don't believe in turning a blind eye to the destructive practices of potential enemies while insulting and pressuring our friends to try to create some weak and fragile peace. If we're not honest with our friends as well as our enemies, we don't have the right to expect any positive outcome of our efforts in the world."

Dembrowski, a life-long resident of Woburn, Massachusetts and a doctor of chiropractic, says he will make a common sense foreign policy and fair and open dealings with all nations a focus of his campaign.

And again. Like mother's milk. From Palestinian Media Watch: PA TV host to children: Jews are "our enemies," Israeli soldiers are "wild animals"

The host of a program about prisoners on official Palestinian Authority television described Jews as "our enemies" and Israeli soldiers as "wild animals" when she interviewed young children.

Her comments were made during two recent episodes of the PA TV program For You, which features interviews with the families of Palestinians imprisoned by Israel. In an interview with the young sister of a prisoner serving a 13-month sentence, the PA TV host asked the girl if the Israeli soldiers bother the family when they visit her brother in prison. When the girl agreed, the host added: "They're wild animals, right? Aren't they wild animals?"

In another episode, the same host interviewed the four-year old son of a prisoner serving a 15-year sentence. She asked who imprisoned his father, and the boy answered, "The Jews." As in the other interview, the host prompted the child: "The Jews are our enemies, right?" The boy nodded in response.

It is worth noting that the boy did not say that "Israelis" imprisoned his father, but specified that it was "the Jews."...

You want to know what the cause of the trouble is? This is the cause of the trouble. This is video of a two year old child being taught hate. Hate like mother's milk.

Click for the translation.

[The following, by Will Spotts, is crossposted from The PC(USA) on Israel and Palestine.]

Presbyterian employees, members of national committees, agencies, and networks of the PC(USA) do not speak for the PC(USA). The PC(USA) is not responsible for their statements.

This refrain and its variants have been offered many times in response to controversial actions and statements of Presbyterian officials and groups. For example, this was the most common framing given to various Presbyterian delegations' visits with Hezbollah - which usually resulted in widely reported Presbyterian flatteries of Hezbollah.

More recently, this rationalization has been applied to the activities of the Israel Palestine Mission Network of the PC(USA).

It has occurred on more than one occasion that the IPMN posted information on its website or issued statements that conflicted with "official PC(USA) policy". Most recently, in a letter - provided to commissioners to this General Assembly - the IPMN falsely accused unnamed American Jewish organizations of sending a bomb to PC(USA) headquarters and setting fire to a Presbyterian church as part of a concerted effort to censor Presbyterian speech on Israel and Palestine. Also in this letter, the IPMN argues that a "worldwide increase in anti-Jewish rhetoric and actions" is a reaction to Israeli policies, and objects to the concept of a Jewish state.

Continue reading "Presbyterian Fiction #1: The PC(USA) is not accountable for its parts"

Friday, June 25, 2010

[The following, by bataween, is crossposted from Point of No Return.]

Al-Din-Iraq.jpg

Ayad Jamal al-Din is a brave proponent of a secular Iraq. He's one of the most exciting figures to burst onto the Iraqi political scene in recent years. Yesterday I attended a lecture he gave at the House of Commons in London entitled The New democracy in Iraq.

An ayatollah in a turban pleading for a secular Iraq? What could be more paradoxical. But Ayad Jamal al-Din personifies this apparent contradiction.

The young cleric, standing for the Ahrar Party, lost his seat in the Iraqi elections in March ('our party was robbed of votes' he reflects bitterly, hinting that corruption prevented a clear winner emerging.) But he and his Ahrar party are not deterred from campaigning to clean up corruption and create a strong, secure and liberated Iraq for the future.

Continue reading "Encounter with a brave proponent of a secular Iraq"

This is just more proof that J Street is not "pro-Israel," but instead are all about their own leftist agenda -- a continuation of policies from failed Israeli politicians: J Street Goes Even Further Left - Kadima goes right.

...Sensing an opportunity earlier this week, Livni blasted Netanyahu for easing the blockade on Gaza.

"In the neighborhood where we live Israel has to take decisions on the basis of its own interests and not under pressure," Livni said. "Acting under pressure signals weakness and we cannot allow ourselves to do that."

So the leader of Kadima has now become even more hardline than Likud on an issue of paramount importance to the anti-Israel left, and she has explicitly rejected the premise of J Street - that U.S. pressure can resolve the Arab-Israeli conflict.

As Ben-Ami wrote on the Huffington Post this week, in the wake of a failed campaign to dissuade members of Congress from signing on to AIPAC-sponsored letters in support of Israel's right of self-defense, Congress should stop offering unqualified support for Israel and "stand behind the President - or at least not stand in his way - if he steps forward in the coming months with a meaningful initiative to lead the way to a negotiated two-state agreement."

Translation: Stand with President Obama as he pressures Israel to take decisions that are not in what Israeli leaders, and the Israeli public, see as their best interests...

More here.

Related J Street bashing: The J Street Test

The House of Representatives passed the Iran sanctions bill by a 408-8 vote. Who are the eight? Well, there is an interesting overlap with J Street's favorite lawmakers...

"Teacher" should really be in quotes, since it sounds as though what Brian Kwoba really was was a radical leftist indoctrination machine at Cambridge Rindge and Latin. He's been on the radar briefly here before (see here and here, for instance):

Brian Kwoba, in terror scarf, pursuing his true passion.

Here is Kwoba's whiny lament from the Cambridge Chronicle: Guest commentary: A Cambridge Public School dictatorship?

Cambridge -- The Cambridge Rindge and Latin School administration is a dictatorship which has terminated one of its most passionate and outspoken teachers. To understand why, I want to share my experience as a teacher in the school for the past three years.

Admittedly, I am not a typical teacher. I am the faculty adviser to the Peace and Justice Club, and have organized in-school assemblies about US wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. I have co-organized trips for students to volunteer in Tanzania and to march for LGBT equality in Washington, DC. I am the only African-American male in the history department.

In mid-March, I was shockingly informed by the dean of the department, Damon "Uncle" Smith, that he was not recommending me for continued employment. What were his reasons?

One was that I gave the wrong exam to my honors class last semester, the other was that I "took too long" to mature as a teacher. Even if both these charges were true (and they are patent lies), neither would be legitimate reasons to dismiss me--unless all along the principal, Chris Saheed, had an agenda to do so before I got the tenure that I was to receive at the end of this year. Was there such an agenda?

Ever since I started working with students to make social change, I have felt nothing but hostility from the administration. In January 2009, I sent an email to all staff announcing a meeting to address Israel's war on the Gaza strip. I was lambasted by the administration for having the audacity to "take a side" (as an advisor to a club advocating peace, mind you). After this incident, the administration put up resistance to the posting of club flyers in the school and censored any mention of US foreign policy from our mission statement...

Oh, do read the rest. You know you want to. May I also just mention how insane it is to think that High School teachers actually get tenure? That just sounds crazy and pointless to me. What a great way to make instructors even less accountable, and thus even worse.

Oh, and DO read the comments as well. You wouldn't think that a Cambridge paper would be getting so many unsympathetic comments, but this fellow has clearly earned few admirers amongst the student body. Example:

Give me a break....clearly, you were using your job to perpetuate your own social and political agendas. I know for a fact that you were not a very organized or particularly good teacher. At first you seemed like the 'cool' teacher, the approachable and interesting guy that was on your side. That quickly turned out to be not true. The last week of your job, you taught your students biased beliefs about US involvement in other countries. All of the material for your homework assignments was drawn from websites like 'socialistworker.org.' Your grading systems and lesson plans were messy, seemingly thrown together haphazardly and not thought out very well. You told us that we needed the entire story to asses a situation, but quickly proved that you were a hypocrite in that area. The fact that you have the audacity to believe that the school is against you because your ideas are too radical, or because you're the 'only black male history teacher' is ridiculous and only proves that you are an overly self-righteous moron. Have you ever considered that you weren't asked to return because you're not a very good teacher, and Cambridge Public Schools doesn't feel the need to keep you around? Gee, how's that for a thought?

A Communist denied continuing employment in the People's Republic of Cambridge? Now that is an accomplishment.

Here is the video of the program discussed in the first item of this post: Arab Childrens' Education: Hate Everyone (Especially Jews). It wasn't with the story originally and must be seen to be believed (h/t: Will Spotts, who asked, "Can this be real?" Yes.). This is produced by a Palestinian Arab TV entrepreneur in Bahrain. In all the years I've been posting material like this, the shock at the sickness of it never fades, but even worse than the thing itself, even worse than what it says about the Arab culture that spawns it, is that people in the West ignore it, write it off, bury it, excuse it, and in all respects refuse to face the reality of it. I am looking at you, Congressman Stephen Lynch:

Thursday, June 24, 2010

Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman (Israel's Prince of Darkness to some) takes to the pages of the Jerusalem Post to lay out his vision for what certainly sounds like a perfectly reasonable end to the conflict. His point is that binational states simply don't work. If people don't feel themselves part of the same Nation, that Nation simply won't function properly (A house divided against itself...). It's simply untenable to have a large population of Arab Israelis whose expression in the political arena is to constantly undermine the state. Far better to re-draw the boundaries so as many Jews and Arabs are on opposite sides as possible: My blueprint for a resolution

...IF THE conflict returns to the pre-1967 lines, it will inevitably pass beyond those borders and into Israel. Most of the country's Arab population defines itself as Palestinian politically and culturally.

Many openly identify with the Palestinian national movement to the point where they openly act against the state which provides them with full civil rights. In 2006, the Arab leadership wrote a paper titled "The Future Vision of the Palestinian Arabs in Israel," which was deeply troubling as it questioned Israel's legitimacy and raison d'être as the realization of Jewish self-determination.

Even worse, some Arab leaders actively assist those who want to destroy the Jewish State. Former MK Azmi Bishara directed Hizbullah rocket attacks on Israel and Ahmed Tibi advised Yasser Arafat and current Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, even though he is a member of the Knesset whose wages are paid by the taxpayers.

Large-scale demonstrations against Israel regularly appear in Arab cities all over the country, where it is not infrequent to hear the cries of "Death to the Jews" and where pictures of terrorist leaders from Hamas and Hizbullah are prominently displayed. These phenomena are a clear indication that a conflict between two peoples is the cause of friction.

The solution lies not in appeasing the maximalist territorial demands of the Palestinians, but in truly creating "two states for two peoples."...

More.

[The following, by Dexter Van Zile, is crossposted from CAMERA.]

A Jewish dance group was recently attacked -- with stones -- by audience members during a show at Hanover Germany.

Here are some details:

A Jewish dance group was attacked with stones by a group of children and teenagers during a performance at a street festival in the Germany city of Hannover, police said Thursday. One dancer suffered a leg injury and the group then canceled their performance.

The teenagers also used a megaphone to shout anti-Semitic slurs during the Saturday afternoon attack, Hannover police spokesman Thorsten Schiewe said.

Police said the incident is under investigation and that they do not have an exact number of attackers yet. Schiewe said there were several Muslim immigrant youths among the attackers.

By portraying Israel, the target of genocidal hostility from its neighbors, as a genocidal apartheid nation inhabited by extremists and governed by monsters, so-called peace activists in the West helped render Jews, wherever they may be, as legitimate targets for acts such as this.

So what else do you expect from the UN? UN Watch reports that Communist Miguel d'Escoto is up to his usual tricks, on a world stage provided in part by me and you: NGO urges U.S. to condemn d'Escoto's "divisive and politicized abuse of mandate"

As the Geneva-based non-governmental organization UN Watch warned last week, controversial ex-Sandinista Miguel d'Escoto is already abusing his new mandate as advisor to the UN Human Rights Council to promote divisive politics, pledging today on Colombian TV to use his UN podium specifically to target the U.S., which he compared to a "monster," and Israel.

"A man who has eagerly sided with international criminals such as Iran's Ahmadinejad and Sudan's Al-Bashir has no credibility on human rights, and embodies precisely the inverted morality and debased political culture that currently reigns at the UN Human Rights Council, which just this week added Col. Qaddafi's Libya as a member," said UN Watch executive director Hillel Neuer.

"We continue to urge the U.S. government to make clear its objection to d'Escoto's appointment, especially after today's outburst, in which he openly confired his intention to breach UN principles of objectivity and non-selectivity," said Neuer.

Spanish news agency EFE reported today that d'Escoto told Colombian's Channel 12 TV that he will prioritize denouncing the U.S. - Colombian military base agreement before the council. Click here for English summary and here for Spanish original.

According to D'Escoto, America's "foreign bases" in Colombia "constitute a violation of the human rights" of Colombians and neighboring countries.

According to D'Escoto, Nicarauga "already knows the monster from within," referring to the U.S. use of a Honduran base in its fight against the Sandinista government in Nicaragua from 1979 to 1990.

D'Escoto also pledged as another priority to attack Israel over the May 31 flotilla incident, when violent Jihadists seeking martyrdom, members of the radical Turkish IHH group, deliberately provoked a confrontation with the Israeli navy.

D'Escoto was suspended by the Vatican in the 1980s together with two other priests involved in the Sandinista revolution, Ernesto and Fernando Cardenal. During a visit to Central America, Pope John Paul II publicly reprimanded him for his political activities...

More.

[The following, by Vienna-based veteran anti-fascist journalist Karl Pfeifer, is cross-posted from Z Word.]

Stadt_Wien_-_Wien_ist_ander.jpg

The city of Vienna launched a promotional campaign with the slogan "Wien ist anders", "Vienna is different." And Vienna after the Second World War was different, insofar as it did not welcome back its former Jewish citizens and tolerated antisemitism in politics and media for several decades.

After the publication of Carl Schorske's book "Fin de siècle in Vienna," the city of Vienna discovered that the world wants to know more about the flowering of culture in Vienna - and those Jews who contributed to it. Since then the city of Vienna has built a Jewish Museum and Michael Häupl, the Social democratic mayor of Vienna, condemned the antisemitic election campaign in 2001 by the FPÖ of the late Jörg Haider.

Therefore it was a surprise to the Jewish community when the Vienna City Council (Wiener Gemeinderat) voted unanimously on an anti-Israel resolution initiated by Omar al Rawi, a Social Democratic member of city council.

Erwin Javor and Peter Menasse of the Jewish periodical "Nu" sent three letters to Godwin Schuster, the Social Democratic President of the Council. They received no answer.

The first letter:

Continue reading "Vienna is Different"

Wednesday, June 23, 2010

j street logo.jpg
jcrc-logo-color.jpg
adl.jpg

Partners in Shame

Only the Boston Jewish Community Relations Council could conceive an event honoring Stephen Lynch, Democratic Congressman representing a melange of rough and tumble blue collar voters along with upscale suburbanites. Aside from the obvious in-their-pocket J Street politicians like Keith Ellison, Donna Edwards and Maurice Hinchey, Lynch is probably the most squishy congressman on the terrorist threat to Israel.

Recently, Lynch has become so extreme on the subject of Gaza, that he has laid virtually all the blame on Israel for the (phony) "humanitarian" crisis culminating in the Gaza flotilla incident three weeks ago. As a preface to his skewed view of the Gaza situation , he - along with 2 other Massachusetts congressmen - was one of only 36 nay votes that refused to condemn the incredibly biased UN Goldstone Report.

On the subject of Israel defense funding, however, he scores relatively high marks. Anyone representing heavily Jewish Needham, would be unelectable were he to oppose defense aid to Israel. The only congressmen consistently voting against funding for Israel are the usual suspects: John Conyers (representing Dearbornistan, Michigan), Dennis Kucinich (who never saw an Islamic terrorist he couldn't "understand"), the ever bizarre Ron Paul, and California's Pete Stark (representing San Francisco's east bay - enough said?

And so, onto the bimah of Temple Beth Shalom in Needham strode Congressman Lynch sponsored by the JCRC of Greater Boston with its Director, Nancy Kaufman, seated prominently next to him. Lynch has also refused to add his signature to the Poe-Peters letter affirming Israel's right of self defense in the wake of the Gaza blockade incident. To date, 315 members of Congress have signed the letter.

Watch the video of Congressman Lynch press the Palestinian position, blaming the violence that ensued following the flotilla interdiction solely on the Israelis.

He then joins the international chorus by insisting on an "investigation." Of course, he does not demand an international commission to investigate the Turkish and IHH role in preparing their Shaheeds for martyrdom. The Q & A portion is audio only (apologies), but suffice it to say that, in spite of the sponsorship of J Street/JCRC, among others, there was significant pushback from the audience, to their credit.

Regarding the question about prosecuting U.S. citizens who participate in "humanitarian" missions to Gaza (aid - in virtually any form - to terrorist groups is a felony and was affirmed by a recent Supreme Court decision), Lynch chose not to reply.

To this point, in attendance was Jeff Klein, who, in his own words, has "left the Jewish race to join the humans". He urged Lynch to cease all aid to Israel and is currently spearheading a "Jewish" boat project from Boston to Gaza to break the blockade and make it possible to ship any and all goods into the Hamas weapons depot. Klein may be an extreme case, but the roots of betrayal intertwine at J Street and it would seem, now among Jews in leadership positions. Boston is now vying for number one with San Francisco as one of the worst examples of Jewish steadfastness and honesty.

[Crossposted from JStreetJive.]

[The following is a guest post by Alexander Maistrovoy.]

Showing weakness and stupidity, the West encourages the Middle East predators, promotes the collapse of moderate Arab regimes and throws Israel into a dilemma: the Holocaust or the "Samson option"

"When people speak about human rights, everyone has in mind his own ones", German scientist and publicist Wilhelm Schwebel wrote. His words perfectly reflect the issue of "breaking" the Gaza blockade. These actions are as related to human rights as Josef Stalin's "fight for peace". Till now not a single person has died of hunger in Gaza . They die in another part of the world, in Kirghizia, but nobody cares about it. The rights of Palestinians are above the rights of the Uzbek people. As well as the Sudanese Christians, Iraqi Kurds, Boers in Southern Africa, "Ahmadyya" in Pakistan and Baha'is in Iran. Palestinians are the high caste of mankind because fortunately they are up against Israel , and the international community has its own rights and interests in this conflict.

What are they? The interests of all the players are very clear except for the West.

The goal of Iran is to strengthen its base on the Mediterranean Sea coast to escalate the confrontation with Israel and with moderate Sunni Arab regimes, and at the same time to distract the world's attention from its nuclear program.

The goal of Turkish Justice and Development Party led by Erdogan is to get points before the elections, make Turkey the leader of the Sunni world and to revive the national ambitions lost with the fall of the Ottoman Empire.

Russia is supporting Iran and Turkey in an attempt to restore previous Soviet influence, push the US out of the region, and recover lost imperial greatness.

The aims of these powers are completely contrary to the aims of the other two leading players in the region: Israel and the moderate Arab regimes.

Continue reading ""Samson Option": choice in absence of choice?"

Avi Trengo thinks so: Another wasted crisis - Israel fails to utilize flotilla crisis in order to finally disengage from Gaza

The Israeli public increasingly recognizes that our interest is to disengage from Gaza, rather than control it. Five years after the disengagement, only the radical margins want to see some kind of link to the hostile territory: The far Right dreams of returning to Gush Katif, while the Left hopes to see Mahmoud Abbas sign a piece of paper that would end the Qassam attacks.

However, the Israeli government finds itself entangled in an imbroglio of contradictory interests: The combination of political interests, economic interests, and pressure that the public remains unaware of. Some of this information is published in the Arab press, however.

For example, Egyptian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Hussam Zaki told newspaper al-Hayat that Israeli Minister Katz's statements on severing the transportation connection to Gaza are "completely unacceptable and expose Israel's negative intentions on the matter."

"The Official Israeli thinking aims to rid itself of the responsibility for the Gaza Strip and impose it on Egypt," he said. "We fully object to this." Meanwhile, Egypt's prime minister noted that the establishment of an independent entity in Gaza "will put an end to the Palestinian people's legitimate demands of Israel."...

Get it? Keeping Gaza engaged with Israel (dependent) is a way of keeping the pressure on. It's a way of using the (supposed) misery of the Gaza Arabs as another bludgeon against the "Zionists." So could Israel really simply block Gaza off -- close the crossings completely, stop transferring shekels, stick the whole thing on Egypt's shoulders? Sounds nice in theory? Is it practical?

Probably not. Egypt doesn't want it. The infrastructure is built for Gaza to get a large part of its electricity from Israel. The economy does rely on the shekel for solvency. And the international "community" (such as it is) would scream to high heaven, as well as a significant portion of the Israeli public. Nice idea. Doubt it would work.

The following, by Will Spotts, is crossposted from The PC(USA) on Israel and Palestine.]

The debate on Middle East issues in the PC(USA) is surrounded by several fictions.

I do not mean the fictitious details of the actual Israeli / Palestinian conflict. There are, frankly, so many pieces of disinformation, glaring omissions, unfairly framed items, and disputed claims that sifting through them all would be prohibitive. More accurately, to even get an approximation of the truth of the conflict would be the work of many months or years. That is just the nature of the beast.

Instead, I refer to the claims that surround the actual debate. Some of these are specific to the situation in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) while others concern much wider activism. Some are dangerously flawed assumptions, while others are mis-statements of fact. What they have in common is that all are false.

Whether or not the people who spread these fictions believe them to be true is both and unknown and beside the point. Sincerity or dishonesty on their part makes little difference. More to the point is the fact that we - and commissioners to the PC(USA)'s 219th General Assembly - need to examine these more closely. We need to see the role they play in the debate, and, at least on a couple of them, we need to seriously analyze their merits.

This is, of course, only a very truncated list, but these items are either explicitly stated or logically necessary undercurrents in the conduct of PC(USA) officials, the Middle East Study Committee (MESC), the Israel Palestine Mission Network (IPMN), the Advisory Committee on Social Witness Policy (ACSWP), the Committee on Mission Responsibility Through Investment (CMRTI), and many Presbyterians.

Continue reading "PC(USA) Fictions: Polite and Not-So-Polite (introduction)"

Here's a collection of links regarding the way the little kids are trained. Someday the MSM will start reporting on this...

First from "moderate" Bahrain (!): Arab song for kids: Allah loves martyrs

Anti-Israel television for children: The Birds of Paradise band has released a new song in which children express their desire to be shaheeds (martyrs).

The song, sung by young children on the Birds of Paradise television channel, includes the lyrics, "When we die as shaheeds we'll go to paradise. No, don't say we're young. This life has made us old. Without Palestine, what significance is there to our lives? Even if they give us the whole world, we'll never forget her (Palestine)."

During the song, an older man appears. "Children, we must keep our religious commandments," he sings. "There is no god but Allah, and Allah loves shaheeds."

At the end of the song, the children sing, "Allah watch over the children of Palestine. Allah will make our prayers come true."...

Lovely.

And here's a dump of all the stuff from Palestinian Media Watch I've been meaning to post for the past week or so. Hate like mother's milk:

PA TV broadcast kids singing anti-Israel war song to terrorist who aided suicide bomber

Song to violence and death at PLO cultural festival

Continue reading "Arab Childrens' Education: Hate Everyone (Especially Jews)"

Tuesday, June 22, 2010

In case you were closely following the non-prosecution of individuals who knowingly aid and abet officially designated terrorist groups (like HAMAS), you may have missed the lengthy jail sentences not meted out to Noam Chomsky, Joel Beinin, Sara Roy and the scores of others who have traveled to Gaza to lend their support to their favorite terrorist regime.

Well, now, the Supreme Court has had the final say on terrorist aid, be it in the form of money, weapons, services, or "expert assistance". According to Robert Sugarman, chief counsel at the Washington Legal Foundation:

"There is no such thing as 'good' aid to a terrorist group, because all aid is fungible".

This morning there must be plenty of consternation in the hate-Israel camp, and plenty of second thoughts about mounting more flotillas to Gaza. Since the law was passed in 1996, law enforcement officials have been reluctant, to say the least, to prosecute individuals who have clearly attempted to aid terror groups. In yesterday's Supreme Court decision, the majority ruled that:


"Congress has amended the definition of "material support or resources" periodically, but at present it is defined as follows: "[T]he term 'material support or resources' means any property, tangible or intangible, or service, including currency or monetary instruments or financial securities, financial services, lodging, training, expert advice or assistance, safe houses, false documentation or identification, communications equipment, facilities,weapons, lethal substances, explosives, personnel or more individuals who may be or include oneself), and transportation, except medicine or religious materials."

That means that Noam Chomsky's 2006 embraceable moment with Hezbollah's chief, Sheikh Nasrallah, in which he said...

"I think Nasrallah has a reasoned argument and persuasive argument that they - (the arms) -should be in the hands of Hezbollah as a deterrent to potential aggression, and there is plenty of background reasons for that. So until, I think his position reporting it correctly and it seems to me reasonable position, is that until there is a general political settlement in the region, the threat of aggression and violence is reduced or eliminated there has to be a deterrent, and the Lebanese army can't be a deterrent."

...is clearly felonious.

At the very least, Chomsky's passport should have been revoked by the State Department. And that same standard should have been applied to Edward Said in his famous stone throwing episode on the Lebanese border.

Similarly, the Gaza Flotilla wannabees, whose "expert assistance" is being offered to HAMAS, must be prosecuted. A case in point is a current initiative by a Boston Group of "Jews" planning to assist the genociders of Gaza, The AJJP or American Jews for a Just Peace. Have look at their graphics:

ajjp.jpg

[Two Things to Note: Judaism is Relegated to a Small Panel on the Right and the Familiar Keyhole Representing Palestinian Keys to All of "Palestine"]

"AJJP is proud to announce that we will serve as the U.S. Coordinator for the "Jewish Boat to Gaza." The boat, sponsored by a coalition of international Jewish organizations dedicated to peace with justice in Israel/Palestine, is scheduled to sail from an undisclosed location in the Mediterranean this July. It will head toward Gaza in an effort to break the siege imposed by Israel in 2006. Passengers will include Jews from Germany, the U.K., and the United States, including at least one survivor of the Nazi Holocaust.

AJJP joins the "Jüdische Stimme" ('Jewish Voice' for a Just Peace in the Near East) and Jews for Justice for Palestinians (UK) in sending a call to the leaders of the world: help Israel find her way to reason, to a sense of humanity and a life without fear.
The Jewish Boat's captain, Glyn Secker, is a British Jew and a longtime activist with Jews for Justice for Palestinians in the UK. In an impassioned speech at a London demonstration protesting the attack on the Gaza flotilla on May 31, Secker told the crowd, "As Jews we should stand as a beacon for human rights not as an internationally known perpetrator of atrocities." Secker confirmed that the boat will carry school bags and books, donated by German schoolchildren, musical instruments, and art materials, as well as essential medicines and small medical equipment.

Absolutely no weapons will be on board, and all passengers and crew will be trained in and committed to the principles of non-violent action. Organizers are requesting that the Israeli government, the British government, the German government and the Obama Administration guarantee safe passage for the boat, its passengers and cargo.
Please help spread the word. The organizers have asked for support from Jews and allies around the world.

The moral imperative to end the siege of Gaza is absolute. When governments fail to act, ordinary people must organize to intervene. As ordinary people of conscience, we are determined to act on behalf of the people in Gaza deprived of their right to ordinary lives.

Click here to contribute." [Link redacted.]

This group does not even attempt to circumvent the law by avoiding HAMAS officials. Like every other boat that has brought "humanitarian" aid to Gaza, it has been greeted by Ismail Haniyeh's representatives. Congressmen who have served as apologists for HAMAS, like Steve Lynch, (more about him later) of Massachusetts have at least kept up the appearance of avoiding official contacts with the terror-designated group. Not so with this group. They have met publicly with Hamas representatives in Gaza and in Bethlehem.

howard lenow3.jpg

Howie Lenow of the Proposed Boston to Gaza Boat

The appeal specifically calls for donations, another clear violation of the law. We can only hope that our lawmakers will finally reinvigorate their spines and carry out their sworn duty to uphold the law and prosecute these felons.

[Crossposted from JStreetJive.]

Indeed it do: Supreme Court ruling barring aid to terrorist groups: why some lament it

...On Monday, the high court upheld a federal law that outlaws providing "material support" to any group on a State Department list of terrorist organizations.

The prohibition extends beyond knowingly facilitating illegal operations. The law - part of the USA Patriot Act - makes it a federal crime to provide any help or support to a terror group - even support designed to teach a violent group how to use legal and peaceful means to achieve political change.

Violators face up to 15 years in prison.

Organizations and individuals involved in international peace and humanitarian efforts expressed disappointment with Monday's ruling.

"The 'material support law' - which is aimed at putting an end to terrorism - actually threatens our work and the work of many other peacemaking organizations that must interact directly with groups that have engaged in violence," said former President Jimmy Carter, founder of the Carter Center.

"The vague language of the law leaves us wondering if we will be prosecuted for our work to promote peace and freedom," he said...

Elation. We can only wonder if there were some cases being held back pending this ruling. We expect a population exchange between the City of Cambridge, MA and the federal prison system at any moment.

[The following, by The Alchemist, is crossposted from CiF Watch.]

On June 18th, Friday, Jose Saramago died. He was a Nobel Laureate, writer, poet, communist and Jew hater. Saramango symbolized what happens when the line between anti-Zionism and all out antisemitism is blurred and in fact crossed.

In "Death of a Jew Hater" David Frum writes:

But unlike other European anti-Zionists, Saramago explicitly connected his dislike of Israel to his feelings about Jews.

In a speech in Brazil on Oct. 13, 2003, Saramago reportedly unburdened himself of this thought about the world's Jews: "Living under the shadows of the Holocaust and expecting to be forgiven for anything they do on behalf of what they have suffered seems abusive to me. They didn't learn anything from the suffering of their parents and grandparents."

It was Judaism itself that Saramago blamed for everything he disliked in Israel. He wrote in the Spanish newspaper El Pais on April 21, 2002:

"[C]ontaminated by the monstrous and rooted 'certitude' that in this catastrophic and absurd world there exists a people chosen by God ... the Jews endlessly scratch their own wound to keep it bleeding, to make it incurable, and they show it to the world as if it were a banner. Israel seizes hold of the terrible words of God in Deuteronomy: 'Vengeance is mine, and I will be repaid.'"

A few weeks previous, Saramago had visited Ramallah. The visit occurred shortly after the Passover 2002 suicide bombing at the Park Hotel in Netanya, Israel that killed 30 people and wounded 140 more. Saramago expressed no grief for these murdered innocents. Instead, he toured areas damaged during fighting between Israeli and Palestinian armed forces and pronounced to a Portuguese radio interviewer: "[I]n Palestine, there is a crime which we can stop. We may compare it with what happened at Auschwitz."

Sounds like a familiar mind. Compares Israel to the Third Reich, pisses on Judaism from the perspective of an atheist sophisticate (makes no mention of the monstrous certitudes in Islam) and makes excuses for leftist dictatorship. The perfect personality for a Guardian eulogy which came promptly.

Continue reading "Eulogy of a Jew Hater"

Cross-posted from Divest This!

In penning earnest analysis of the comings and goings of an obscure and disappearing religious sect, I seem to have shirked my duties of late regarding other BDS news. And so to remedy that:

Story #1 - Elton John Plays in Israel

Elton (or, should I say, Sir Elton) decided to tell those demanding he boycott the Jewish state to take a long walk on a short flotilla vessel, playing to a crowd of 50,000 Tel Avivians last week. The response of those who failed to get this rocker to do their bidding was muted, with some mumbling about gay solidarity here (is Elton John gay?), some grumbling about John's recital at Rush Limbaugh's twelfth wedding there (I thought Limbaugh had gone deaf?)

There was no such below-the-breath muttering from the rock star himself who shouted to the crowd:"Shalom, we are so happy to be back here! Ain't nothing gonna stop us from coming, baby," and "We don't cherry-pick our conscience." before breaking into all the hits I used to enjoy on my eight-track tape player before settling down to an afternoon of watching Creature Double Feature on Channel 56.

While I make it a habit to not take political advice from celebrities whose reputation for wisdom (i.e. Martin Sheen) or toughness (i.e., Bruce Willis) comes from reading lines penned and polished for them by professional writers, I must say that Elton John's one sentence about "cherry-picking" conscience said a hell of a lot more than the pages of mealy-mouthed HTML that accompanied the allegedly moral decisions by slightly less aging rockers like Elvis Costello and the Pixies.

As a final note regarding Elton John, it's a little known fact that the singer had a huge impact on Israeli culture, notably with regard to customer service. Back in the day, the country prided itself on its informality and open hostility to manners, with Israel's socialist origins making them especially proud of treating the rich and famous with contempt.

When they tried pulling this on Elton John during his first visit to play in Israel, making him wait in the regular airport passport line like every other Tom, Dick and Shlomo, the musician was so incensed he walked out of line and immediately flew back to England. It was only after the concert organizers pleaded with the singer, offering him (among other things) a talking parrot in his dressing room that Elton John returned to begin a history of playing to sold out Israeli audiences.

So the next time you're in Israel and a waiter or security guard tells you to "have a nice day," that's one more thing for which you can thank Elton John.

Story #2 - Breaking the BDS Blockade

While the Turkish/IHH mercenaries who attacked Israeli soldiers during last month's flotilla incident may have failed to break Israel's of Gaza, they did succeed in breaking another boycott: the one being pushed by the BDS movement.

CitizenWald has the story of how the Gaza solidarity crew equipped themselves with night vision equipment allegedly from ITT and communications gear from Motorola, both sets of devices on the BDS proscription list. And so, we're left with the delicious situation of BDS activists demanding that schools divest from ITT and Motorola in solidarity with a "Gaza Freedom Flotilla" that used ITT and Motorola equipment to support their "peace campaign" that involved beating and stabbing people while talking with each other over walkie-talkies in the dark.

Story #3 - BDS Protestors Defy China on Occupation of Tibet

Can you believe it? Early Sunday morning a group of protestors formally obsessed solely with Israeli villainy showed up at the sea port in Oakland California and prevented a Chinese ship from being unloaded in protest of China's illegal, decades-long occupation and repression of the people of Tibet.

Okay, okay. As it turns out, the group gathered to do their protest thing on an Israeli ship, not realizing that the ship where they picketed was actually owned by that wondrous bastion of rights and freedom, the People's Republic of China (not that nefarious rogue Jewish state of Israel).

In another example of the surreal nature of BDS politics, the Internet is aglow with BDSers patting one another on the back for this successful "operation," even if the actual ship they targeted didn't arrive in port until hours after they left (where, I believe, it was unloaded without incident).

In other words, this Potemkin protest was not about actually accomplishing anything beyond getting some credulous media to portray events as the divestors wanted, all so they could continue to dwell in their fantasy world where, unlike the real world, the BDSers are relevant to anyone but themselves.

Monday, June 21, 2010

The initiative promised in Jose Maria Aznar's influential essay (see: Jose Maria Aznar: Support Israel: if it goes down, we all go down) now has a web site and is soliciting signatures: FriendsofIsraelInitiative.org: Stand for Israel, Stand for the West. Read the excellent statement of principles there, and if you agree, as I do, then please sign on.

At Islam in Europe: Amsterdam: Hitler salutes

Following reports that Jews couldn't walk outside without being cursed and jeered, the Dutch Jewish broadcaster (Joodse Omroep) sent three Jewish-looking men, Rabbi Lody van de Kamp and two younger men, to walk the streets of Amsterdam, filming them with a hidden camera. The result? Hitler salutes and jeers.

Via The Flea: This is what "anti-racists" look like

Paul Larudee of the International Solidarity Movement and a bunch of other radical Leftist and Islamist groups, along with the complicity of the local longshoremen's union, managed to shut down the port of Oakland, California as they targeted a Zim ship to prevent offloading. (Actually, they only managed to prevent to offloading of a Chinese ship. The Zim didn't come in until later. Oops.)

Zombie has the initial report, including photos and video: Radicals, Islamists and Longshoremen blockade Israeli ship in Oakland

See also Gateway Pundit: Radical Jew-Hating Leftists and Islamists Protest Israeli Ship in Oakland (Video), and Figures... Radical Leftists and Islamists Think They're Blocking Israeli Ship at Oakland Port - It Was Chinese. And Carl: Moonbats block Israeli Chinese ship from unloading in Oakland

It's open season out there. I would think the organizers would be subject to some sort of civil (if not criminal) lawsuit, but this never seems to happen.

[The following, by Barry Rubin, is crossposted from The Rubin Report.]

Elsewhere, I have explained in great detail the changes in Israeli policy as well as the implications of Western policy in the Gaza Strip: economic normalization meaning also normalization of the existence of a Gaza Hamas-ruled statelet. Israel, seeing that there is not going to be any "rollback" to remove Hamas from power has basically accepted a containment startegy of limited the military weaponry and capability of Hamas.

The U.S. government and former British Prime Minister Tony Blair as the Quartet negotiator have been critical of Israel's concessions as insufficient. While Israel is offering 130 truckloads a day of non-military goods and construction material only for demonstrably non-military projects, the U.S. and European governments want 400 trucks a day, which is what some aid agencies say is needed.

Continue reading "A Bit More on the Gaza Strip Diplomacy"

That's what Ed Morrissey asks about this one that has Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis advising illegals of the number they can call to make sure they are getting their proper wages. Not, apparently, a joke.

Says Ed:

Does it occur to the White House at all that "undocumented" workers are breaking the law themselves? They shouldn't be exploited, but then again, they shouldn't be here to be exploited, either.  At the same time that the Obama administration contemplates a lawsuit against Arizona to stop them from enforcing immigration law, they're working on a program that supports the people breaking that law, all while unemployment continues at a high rate long after their stimulus plans have run aground.  Instead of enforcing the law - which is, after all, the raison d'être of the executive branch -- they're conspiring to help people break it, and with our tax dollars, no less.

Of course, this could be an elaborate ruse to find new sites to raid.  The political fallout from that would be fun to watch, but alas, it seems that despite the cheesy graphics and extraordinarily bad concept, Obama and his team are serious about helping illegal immigrants get paid more for their work.

Here's another excellent piece of writing from Shelby Steele in today's Wall Street Journal. (Also posted at Hoover and here in full).

Israel and the Surrender of the West

One of the world's oldest stories is playing out before our eyes: The Jews are being scapegoated again.

By SHELBY STEELE

The most interesting voice in all the fallout surrounding the Gaza flotilla incident is that sanctimonious and meddling voice known as "world opinion." At every turn "world opinion," like a school marm, takes offense and condemns Israel for yet another infraction of the world's moral sensibility. And this voice has achieved an international political legitimacy so that even the silliest condemnation of Israel is an opportunity for self-congratulation.

Rock bands now find moral imprimatur in canceling their summer tour stops in Israel (Elvis Costello, the Pixies, the Gorillaz, the Klaxons). A demonstrator at an anti-Israel rally in New York carries a sign depicting the skull and crossbones drawn over the word "Israel." White House correspondent Helen Thomas, in one of the ugliest incarnations of this voice, calls on Jews to move back to Poland. And of course the United Nations and other international organizations smugly pass one condemnatory resolution after another against Israel while the Obama administration either joins in or demurs with a wink.

This is something new in the world, this almost complete segregation of Israel in the community of nations. And if Helen Thomas's remarks were pathetic and ugly, didn't they also point to the end game of this isolation effort: the nullification of Israel's legitimacy as a nation? There is a chilling familiarity in all this. One of the world's oldest stories is playing out before our eyes: The Jews are being scapegoated again.

Continue reading "Shelby Steele: Israel and the Surrender of the West"

Sunday, June 20, 2010

This one's coming from Lebanon and has no terrorist connections at all. Nope. No Siree Bob. Not a one...

HusamZomlot.png

What's a Nice PLO Boy Doing Aiding the Gaza Flotilla?

Husam Zomlot has been the toast (Visiting Fellow) of Harvard's Center for Middle East Studies for some time now. He is best buddies with Sara Roy, the Hamas apologist, CMES Director and conduit for all things propagandistic for the most right wing, anti-semitic segments of the Palestinian population (and, of course, she is the daughter of a Holocuast survivor). Mr. Zomlot served as PLO representative to the UK from 2003 to 2008 and holds a PhD in economics and political science from Bir Zeit University near Ramallah (you remember Bir Zeit, the wonderful folks who gave us the celebratory reenactment of the Sbarro massacre in 2001):

sbarro reenactment.jpg

Among other accomplishments, he represented the Palestinian "narrative" in a debate with Israel's Consul General in Boston, Nadav Tamir, two years ago. Now, let's remember that the PLO under "Mr. Moderate", Mahmoud Abbas, is Israel's official Peace Partner. If that's the case, then why is Mr. Zomlot acting as one of the chief strategists for "Breaking the Siege of Gaza?" and aiding his chief rival, Hamas?

In Cambridge last week, Mr. Zomlot led an event called "Breaking the Siege of Gaza: UJP Strategy Conference" UJP, or United for Justice with Peace (one of the extreme anti-Israel front groups that pop up and disappear within a few months). Aside from Zomlot, the program featured Ret. Colonel Ann Wright, Gaza Flotilla passenger and clumsy apologist for the would-be killers aboard the Turkish ship, Mavi Marmara. Read the full skinny on her here:

Breaking the Siege of Gaza: UJP Strategy Conference
When: Saturday, June 19, 2010, 2:00 pm to 5:30 pm
Where: Cambridge Friends Meeting Center • 5 Longfellow Park • Harvard Square T • Cambridge

Ann Wright
Husam Zomlot
Jeff Klein

The deadly Israeli attack May 30 on a humanitarian flotilla delivering aid to blockaded Gaza has aroused the condemnation of the world, further isolated Israel's intransigent regime, and challenged the U.S. to review its Middle East policy lest it, too, face isolation. There is a new situation and new opportunities to build the movement to end the siege of Gaza and US support for the occupation of Palestine. Three speakers will lead off our discussion:

  • Ann Wright was a passenger on the Challenger 1, one of the six boats in the Gaza flotilla that was raided by Israeli commandos on May 31, and will give us an eyewitness report. She is a retired U.S. army colonel who also served as a State Department diplomat. She resigned her State Department post in 2003 to protest the war in Iraq. (After the conference Saturday night, Ann will also give an in-depth presentation at the Palestinian Cultural Center - NOT on Friday as previously posted).
  • Gaza-born Palestinian scholar and diplomat Husam Zomlot served as a PLO diplomat to the UK from 2003 to 2008. He is a specialist in the political economy of conflict, has a PhD in economics from the University of London, and is currently a visiting scholar at the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs at Harvard's Kennedy School of Government.
  • Dorchester People for Peace activist Jeff Klein will put the current crisis into perspective and kick off our discussion of what UJP and the peace movement can do.
  • The conference will also address peace movement strategy, which will be up for discussion this summer. UJP will be presenting a workshop at the US Social Forum in Detroit June 22-26. The Unified National Antiwar Conference will meet in Albany July 23-25, and One Nation One Dream will march on Washington in October. Our strategy conference will review these and other initiatives and discuss UJP's response to, and participation in, them.

Colonel Wright (just how low our military has sunk is no better illustrated than putting this America-hating whacko in uniform) is also memorably recalled for an interview she gave to Bill O'Reilly following the abduction of British sailors a few years ago by Iran):

But I digress. UJP is interchangeable with AJJP , American Jews for a Just Peace, another born yesterday hate-Israel group that will no doubt re-form under a different acronym but with just as lethal a purpose. Mr. Zomlot is advising this "Jewish" group on how best to break the blockade of Gaza and get weapons to Hamas. The strategy session was attended by someone who identified himself as a "rabbi" for human rights. I could tell, because he was wearing a kippah along with a "talis" emblazoned with a Palestinian flag.

Straightjackets all around.

[Crossposted from JStreetJive.]

Here's a powerful piece at American Thinker, by Stella Paul, in defense of Charles Jacobs:

Are you ready for Rabbis Gone Wild -- Boston Edition? In the latest installment of this tragicomedy, the progressive Jewish leadership of Massachusetts decides to break the arrogance barrier and set new records for dangerous egomania.

First, let's meet our cast: seventy distinguished rabbis in Greater Boston, including the Past President of Hebrew College. Boy, you could fell an ox with the collective weight of these worthies' credentials.

And now, the bloodcurdling story: On June 10, these seventy men and women publicly condemned and virtually excommunicated one of the finest American Jewish leaders and human rights activist alive today.

Why? Because Dr. Charles Jacobs has the chutzpah to present documented facts about the Islamic Society of Boston Cultural Center, Boston's increasingly infamous, radical-linked, Saudi-funded mega-mosque.

In a broadside entitled "An Open Letter to the Jewish Community," published in the Jewish Advocate, seventy rabbis signed their name to a letter demanding that "Mr. Jacobs discontinue his destructive campaign against Boston's Muslim community, which is based on innuendo, half-truths and unproven conspiracy theories. We call upon members of our community to reject the dangerous politics of division that Mr. Jacobs fosters."

The rabbis then referenced the Torah portion in which Israelite scouts are struck by fear: "Because they succumbed to their fears, God condemned this generation to die in the wilderness. We refuse to allow Mr. Jacobs to spread his calumnies and paralyze our community in fear."

Way to go, rabbis! Stirring imagery! Biblical metaphor! Huge spiritual uplift! No, wait, that was my lunch...

Do read the rest! And don't forget that meeting on Thursday night. How many of those Rabbis who signed letters do you think will be there?

[The following, by Barry Rubin, is crossposted from The Rubin Report.]

Israel has looked for a policy that preserves its security to the maximum extent, undermines Hamas as much as possible, and reduces international criticism, in that order of priority. Thus, the cabinet has approved an altered strategy on the Gaza Strip.

The main principle can be summarized as placing the emphasis on anything that can be used for military purposes against Israel but easing up on the destabilizing effort. This makes sense since the international community's protection of the Hamas regime--despite the fact that it is a revolutionary Islamist, terrorist, genocide-intending, anti-Western client of Iran that will fight Israel and subvert Egypt in future--makes its overthrow impossible any way.

The June 20 cabinet decision states:

"Israel's policy is to protect its citizens against terror, rocket and other attacks from Gaza. In seeking to keep weapons and war materiel out of Gaza while liberalizing the system by which civilian goods enter Gaza...."

Thus, the first principle is:

1. Publish a list of items not permitted into Gaza that is limited to weapons and war materiel, including problematic dual-use items. All items not on this list will be permitted to enter Gaza.

Continue reading "Flash: Israel Revises Gaza Policy; World Gets What it Wants: Terrorist, Genocidal, Antisemitic, Revolutionary Islamist Statelet on the Mediterranean"

[The following, by Will Spotts, is crossposted from The PC(USA) on Israel and Palestine.]

One week this July, a small - though historically significant, United States Protestant denomination will hold its biennial national meeting. Hundreds of this denomination's members and a host of interested parties will descend on the Minneapolis Convention Center. During that time, they will consider around 750 pieces of business; a surprising number of these business items concern Israel and the Palestinian territories. And they are heavily weighted against Israel.

What does it matter? Let's suppose the 219th General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) passes every single resolution critical of Israel. I mean, who really cares? Some (by no means all - probably not even most) members of PC(USA) congregations are interested because it is, after all, their denomination. Some Presbyterians from other smaller denominations will care if the PC(USA) garners negative press coverage because they will be caught in the fallout - having the misfortune of being frequently mistaken for the PC(USA).

But when the PC(USA) is considering actions that are actively harmful to those outside the denomination, people should care. Members should care because their names and any money they have contributed to the denomination are being used to support those actions. People outside the denomination should care because those actions will affect many of us.

Continue reading "A Rhetoric of Evil"

Saturday, June 19, 2010

M51_peris900r.jpg

Hydrogen in M51 - Perhaps the original spiral nebula, M51 is a large galaxy, over 60,000 light-years across, with a readily apparent spiral structure. Also cataloged as NGC 5194, M51 is a part of a well-known interacting galaxy pair, its spiral arms and dust lanes clearly sweeping in front of companion galaxy NGC 5195 (top). This dramatically processed color composite combines M51 image data from the Calar Alto Observatory's 1.2 meter telescope. The data include long exposures through a narrow hydrogen alpha filter that trace emission from atomic hydrogen. Reddish hydrogen emission regions, called HII regions, are the regions of intense star formation seen to lie mainly along M51's bright spiral arms. Intriguingly, this composite also shows red hydrogen emission structures in the faint features extending even beyond NGC 5195, toward the top of the frame.

Jeremy Ben Ami has always denied any current connection with regard to himself and his former employer, Fenton Communications (let the record show), but it certainly is worth remarking upon that J Street's reaction to the "flotilla" matter was (OK, as per usual) an outlier in the Jewish Community. Their reaction has actually been what one would expect from an anti-Israel lobbying group like CNI, AJJP, JVP, or others. That is, rather than standing up for Israel and her fight against Hamas, and helping to explain the hard realities that Israel is faced with and the difficult decisions that those realities engender for her, J Street in fact jumped on the criticize Israel bandwagon. They took the opportunity of an Israel under stress to pile on the pressure and push for more Israeli concessions -- just as if they were really working for the other side.

I'm not stating that they were -- formally -- doing so, but it certainly comes as no surprise that Fenton Communications represents a Qatari-based group that supported the Gaza Flotilla. I wonder how much contact Jeremy has with his old colleagues: U.S. PR Firm on Payroll of Qatari Group that Took Part in Gaza Flotilla - Qatar-based Initiative Encouraged Action against Israel

A U.S. Justice Department document shows that Fenton Communications, a U.S. public relations firm, has been working for "Al Fakhoora," a Qatar-based pro-Palestinian initiative that participated in the illegal flotilla to Gaza last month and urged action against Israel.[1]

According the group's director, Al Fakhoora has "launched an advocacy campaign to file legal charges against Israel and change the public perception in the West about its actions."[2]

Al Fakhoora is supported by the office of Her Highness Sheikha Mozah bint Nasser Al Missned, the second wife of the emir of Qatar.[3] According to a document filed by Fenton under the Foreign Agents Registration Act of 1938, Her Highness' office agreed to pay Fenton approximately $240,000 for communications services rendered from March 1 - Aug. 31, 2010.[4]

Fenton distributes materials through Al Fakhoora's Web site, which includes a Facebook page[5] and a "Flotilla Action Alert" urging activists to oppose Israel's blockade on Hamas-controlled Gaza.[6]...

...Al Fakhoora's director, Farooq Burney, a Canadian national, was aboard a Turkish ship in the Gaza-bound convoy when passengers attacked Israeli military personnel trying to intercept the vessel May 31.[10] Al Fakhoora participated in the flotilla in partnership with the Insani Yardim Vakfi, or "humanitarian relief fund" (IHH),[11] a Turkish organization that Israel and other countries believe has ties to jihadist groups.[12] The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) has said that some of the passengers have connections with Al Qaeda, Hamas and other terrorist organizations.[13]...

More here.

Update: Good roundup of info/links on this at Israel Matzav: J Street's al-Fakhoora project, including Legal Insurrection: Suicide Protesters Against Israel, Power Line: The MoveOn/Hamas Nexus, and Memeorandum.

Friday, June 18, 2010

orangesun_friedman.jpg

Orange Sun Simmering: Explanation: Even a quiet Sun can be a busy place. And over the deep Solar Minimum of the past few years, our Sun has been unusually quiet. The above image, taken last week in a single color of light called Hydrogen Alpha and then false colored, records a great amount of detail of the simmering surface of our parent star. The gradual brightening towards the Sun's edge in this color-inverted image, called limb darkening, is caused by increased absorption of relatively cool solar gas. Just over the Sun's edges, several prominences are visible, while two prominences on the Sun's face are seen as light streaks just above and right of the image center. Two particularly active areas of the Sun are marked by dark plages. In contrast to recent quiet times, our Sun is moving toward Solar Maximum, and for years will likely appear much more active.

A special meeting for those who would like to learn some of the facts behind the controversy (When Rabbis Attack: The Fallout -- JCRC Needs New Leadership) from Americans for Peace and Tolerance:

As you may know, the Jewish political divide is now emerging as a public debate in New England's Jewish community, covered in the Jewish Advocate and on local blogs. The immediate debate centers on the role of Jewish leadership in dealing with the threat of radical Islam in the Boston area.

This week's Jewish Advocate carried round two of the debate, including letters written in my support by Muslims, Jews, and Christians - as well as further condemnations of my work by several more local rabbis and by Boston JCRC executive director Nancy Kaufman. You can read the letters below.

On the heels of this debate comes the news that federal prosecutors yesterday have brought further terrorism charges against two Massachusetts Muslim men already accused of a plot to shoot up local shopping malls. The new charge accuses them of providing material support to Al Qaeda. Both men have extensive ties to the Muslim American Society.

Americans for Peace and Tolerance have been leading the effort to encourage Boston's Jewish leadership to openly discuss this important and sensitive issue with the community.

We are holding a special meeting of our supporters and other sympathetic parties this coming Thursday, June 24 at Congregation Beth-el Aterith Israel, 561 Ward Street in Newton at 8:30pm.

At the meeting we will have a discussion on all these issues.

In Freedom,

Charles Jacobs

[The following, by bataween, is crossposted from Point of No Return.]

240px-Tangier1.jpg

View over the Mediterranean from Tangiers

Gem of an article by the celebrated columnist Mark Steyn in Macleans: Steyn was shocked to discover that, contrary to assurances received, the graves in the Jewish cemetery of Tangiers were unkempt and being used to dry someone's underwear. It is not unusual for the Jewish 'community' of places like Tangiers to reside in the cemetery, he argues - a fate which jihadists (and Helen Thomas) wish eventually to reserve for Tel Aviv.

Continue reading "Tangiers 'community' resides in the cemetery"

[The following, by Richard Landes, is crossposted from Augean Stables.]

I've seen various items on this and couldn't believe that it was true (or at least, that it would continue very long). It would be just too stupid and vicious...

The Department of Homeland Security wants to deport Joseph (Masab) Yousef, the "Son of Hamas," who has so ringingly denounced the cult of death spawned by his father and other Hamas leaders.

But it looks like it's for real (see his facebook page). Which raises a question for me.

Continue reading "Dupes or Demopaths? Homeland Security wants to deport "Son of Hamas""

2 Charged in Mass. With Conspiring to Aid Al Qaeda

BOSTON -- Two men accused in a terror plot to kill Americans face new federal charges that they conspired to provide personnel, advice, assistance and other services to Al Qaeda.

A grand jury on Thursday added charges of conspiring to provide material support to a designated foreign terrorist organization in a superseding indictment against 27-year-old Tarek Mehanna of Sudbury, Mass., and 28-year-old Ahmad Abousamra. Authorities say Abousamra, who used to live in Mansfield, Mass., is now in Syria.

The men face up to 15 years in prison and a fine of $250,000 if convicted of the latest charge.

When reached by phone, Mehanna's lawyer, J.W. Carney Jr., did not comment.

The suspects already face a 10-count indictment. Prosecutors say the men conspired to kill American troops in Iraq, assassinate two unnamed U.S. politicians and shoot shoppers in U.S. malls.

Lest we forget:

...Ahmad Abousamra is the oldest son of Abdul-Badi Abousamra, former vice president of the Boston branch of the Muslim American Society, which operates the largest Islamic center in the Northeast...

Someone alert the local Rabbis.

The Claire and Oken Orient Express

orient express2.jpg

Claire is a novelist, Okan a documentary filmmaker. Both are courageous truth seekers and, in spite of the dangers, they recently confronted the IHH in their den with the following interview. In their words,

"We've had it with press coverage of this region that relies eternally on the same recycled handful of tired sources, uncritically repeats partisan propaganda, and sheds more heat than light. The coverage of the Mavi Marmara flotilla fiasco was the last straw: If this is a media war, we decided, someone needs to be shooting straight."

Continue reading "Meet Claire and Okan: The Righteous of Istanbul [Hillel]"

Last week we discussed the spectacle of 70 Rabbis and Rabbinical students taking to the pages of Boston's Jewish Advocate to attack local uber-activist Charles Jacobs on behalf of one of their colleagues: When Rabbis Attack: Standing Up for Charles Jacobs. I won't rehearse what I said then and where I stand on the general matter. Please go back and take a look if you're not up to speed on the controversy.

As expected, this week's edition is full of the fallout. Charles Jacobs dedicates his weekly column to a response, and the letters page was expanded to accommodate the correspondence, the majority of which is favorable to Jacobs.

Below, you will find the letters, including a couple that I received that were not published, followed by the Jacobs column.

I would like to feature one letter in particular, and then offer a personal comment:

Continue reading "When Rabbis Attack: The Fallout -- JCRC Needs New Leadership"

Thursday, June 17, 2010

This cartoon, from a 1956 Swiss magazine, has been floating around for awhile. Thought it was worth posting again. Not much has changed:

Israel1956.jpg

Click to expand.

[h/t: Mark N.]

[The following, by Barry Rubin, is crossposted from The Rubin Report.]

The dispatch of an official U.S. high-tech delegation to offer the Syrian dictatorship more Internet access and other gizmos--in exchange for him abandoning his alliance with Iran, Hamas, Hizballah, and now even Turkey!--reminds me of a little personal experience which shows a lot about Western naivete and how the media works nowadays.

After Bashar al-Assad became president of Syria, following his father's death, there was a huge amount about how he was a devotee of Internet and a real kind of twenty-first century "hip" guy when it came to hi-tech. The main, in fact the only, evidence of this was that he was head of the Syria Internet Society.

Being a bit of a researcher, I took 30 seconds and went to the site of the Syria Internet Society. Within another 30 seconds I noticed what was really going on. Yes, Bashar was the head of the Society, but the previous head had been his older brother, Basil.

Continue reading "Birth of a Myth: Winning Over Syria's Dictator with High-Tech?"

Let's see what the UN has been up to in Geneva lately:

Well, they do have their priorities.

[This excellent piece announcing a new initiative of heavy-hitters, by Jose Maria Aznar, is posted in full from today's UK Times.]

Anger over Gaza is a distraction. We cannot forget that Israel is the West's best ally in a turbulent region

For far too long now it has been unfashionable in Europe to speak up for Israel. In the wake of the recent incident on board a ship full of anti-Israeli activists in the Mediterranean, it is hard to think of a more unpopular cause to champion.

In an ideal world, the assault by Israeli commandos on the Mavi Marmara would not have ended up with nine dead and a score wounded. In an ideal world, the soldiers would have been peacefully welcomed on to the ship. In an ideal world, no state, let alone a recent ally of Israel such as Turkey, would have sponsored and organised a flotilla whose sole purpose was to create an impossible situation for Israel: making it choose between giving up its security policy and the naval blockade, or risking the wrath of the world.

In our dealings with Israel, we must blow away the red mists of anger that too often cloud our judgment. A reasonable and balanced approach should encapsulate the following realities: first, the state of Israel was created by a decision of the UN. Its legitimacy, therefore, should not be in question. Israel is a nation with deeply rooted democratic institutions. It is a dynamic and open society that has repeatedly excelled in culture, science and technology.

Continue reading "Jose Maria Aznar: Support Israel: if it goes down, we all go down"

Wednesday, June 16, 2010

Even though I can't think of a single situation in which I would actually use it...

[h/t: Fred]

[The following, by Barry Rubin, is crossposted from The Rubin Report.]

Remember what I told you: if you want to know what policy is going to be, watch the governments, not the media. While the results of the EU foreign ministers' meeting in Luxembourg were far from perfect, they also show the difference between decision-makers and opinion-makers on the Middle East.

First, the foreign ministers proposed new sanctions going beyond the ones just voted in the UN against Iran's nuclear program to prohibit new investment and transfer of technology, equipment and services.

The British representative, William Hague, told the EU to take a "strong lead" on this issue. Sweden's opposition was overcome. We must wait to see the details but clearly this is a step in the right direction. Incidentally, I believe the main European states were willing to do this nine months ago but were forestalled by the go-slow U.S. policy.

Continue reading "Some Semi-Sanity from Europe: EU Foreign Ministers Make Partial Sense on Gaza, Iran"

[The following, by Dexter Van Zile, is crossposted from Snapshots.]

Two scholars from Vanderbilt Divinity School, Ted A. Smith and Amy-Jill Levine have written an authoriative critique of "Breaking Down the Walls," a report that will be on the agenda of the upcoming General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (USA). Smith, Assistant Professor of Ethics and Society, and Amy-Jill Levine, E. Rhodes and Leona B. Carpenter Professor of New Testament Studies at Vanderbilt, had their piece, ("Habits of anti-Judaism"), published by Christian Century, the house organ for mainline Protestant churches in the U.S.

The two authors offer their qualifications to their readers as follows:

Continue reading "Christian Century Publishes Critique of Presby Document"

[The following, by bataween, is crossposted from Point of No Return.]

jews_of_iraq3.jpg

One must not speak ill of the dead, but the lies and fabrications Naieem Giladi spread while he was alive - he died in March 2010 - will live on unless they are challenged. Here's my attempt to rebut some of Giladi's claims published by The Link in its April-May 1998 issue, found on an Islamic site.

Naieem Giladi was born in Baghdad and joined the Zionist underground as a teenager. He was jailed by the Iraqis for smuggling Jews out to Iran, arriving in Israel in May 1950. Something happened to turn Giladi against Israel, and he became active in fighting racism in Israeli society, joining the Black Panthers. Becoming a US citizen in the 1980s, Giladi self-published Ben Gurion's scandals blaming 'cruel Zionism' for scaring Jews, who were otherwise content living in Arab countries, into leaving Iraq. His claim that Zionist agents set off bombs became a staple of anti-Zionist propaganda.

Early on in the interview, Giladi gives a potted history of the Jews of the region. "Although Jews like other minorities in what became Iraq, experienced periods of oppression and discrimination depending on the rulers of the period, their general trajectory over two-and-a-half millennia was upward."

Continue reading "Naieem Giladi and the Jews of Iraq"

I guess it's my version of affirmative action describing yesterday's Tom Friedman column as "pretty good," but it gets so that anything that even gets it half right in the New York Times is something to celebrate. Friedman makes a few good point that are important for Times readers to hear: Letter From Istanbul

...Erdogan today is the most popular leader in the Arab world. Unfortunately, it is not because he is promoting a synthesis of democracy, modernity and Islam, but because he is loudly bashing Israel over its occupation and praising Hamas instead of the more responsible Palestinian Authority in the West Bank, which is actually building the foundations of a Palestinian state.

There is nothing wrong with criticizing Israel's human rights abuses in the territories. Israel's failure to apply its creativity to solving the Palestinian problem is another dangerous vacuum. But it is very troubling when Erdogan decries Israelis as killers and, at the same time, warmly receives in Ankara Sudan's president, Omar Hassan al-Bashir, who has been indicted by the International Criminal Court on charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity for his role in the bloodshed in Darfur, and while politely hosting Iran's president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, whose government killed and jailed thousands of Iranians demanding that their votes be counted. Erdogan defended his reception of Bashir by saying: "It's not possible for a Muslim to commit genocide."

As one Turkish foreign policy analyst said to me: "We are not mediating between East and West anymore. We've become spokesmen for the most regressive elements in the East."...

Tuesday, June 15, 2010

[The following, by Eamonn McDonagh, is crossposted from Z Word.]

The publication of the Saville Report into an atrocity carried out by the British Army in Northern Ireland in 1972 has tempted Andrew Sullivan to write a post of remarkable stupidity.

This panicked murder of unarmed civilians was the Brits' Gaza moment (along with their Cheney moment in instigating the torture of terror suspects in prison).

As anyone who has had a moment to glance at the report or knows anything about the recent history of Ireland is already aware, the soldiers of 1 Para were anything but panicked. They were pumped up and raring to go, the people who panicked were the demonstrators when the Paras opened up on them with their 7.62mm rifles.

Continue reading "The Saville Report and Andrew Sullivan"

farrooq.jpg
The Imam and the Rabbi: His Master's Voice
gordis.jpg

Did you hear the one about the 70 Lefty rabbis who walked into a bar?.....

Here's the punch line: "They all decided that safety lay in siding with the coming dominant political culture - Islam - and not by standing up for a fellow Jew, in this case, Charles Jacobs."

Dr Jacobs has been sounding the alarm about political Islam for years, allying himself with MOC (Muslims of Conscience) like Ahmed Mansour and courageously exposing and combating Taqiyya, the Islamic doctrine of dissembling in order to advance the faith.

A particularly adept practitioner of this doctrine is one Abdullah Farooq, Imam at the ISB mosque in Roxbury, the center which David Gordis, one of the signers of the letter attacking Charles Jacobs, helped dedicate under the watchful eyes of the Muslim American Society, a branch of the Muslim Brotherhood.  Imam Farooq once let slip a remark that he would be delighted to see Israel "disappear". As Solomonia has reported, Imam Farooq has also achieved notoriety by urging his followers to "grab the gun" in pursuing Jihad.

Moreover, representatives of the Saudi-funded mosque have stood by terrorists Aafia Siddiqi and Tarek Mehanna. Siddiqi was recently convicted of attempted murder of American soldiers and Mehanna was recently indicted in the plot to kill Americans at a shopping mall in Massachusetts.

Interfaith nonsense pervades the craven letter from the rabbis. Seeking to inaugurate a "different kind of politics", the letter will simply reinforce the pathetic "dhimmi" role of sycophantic Jews. Rabbi Gordis, past President of the near-bankrupt Hebrew College in Newton, MA is fond of decrying Jewish "triumphalism." If the supercessionist aims of political Islam are victorious, then Rabbi Gordis will certainly get his wish.

Most of the other delusional rabbis who signed the letter have no qualms at all in "othering" when it comes to their fellow Jews. "Settlers" and anyone else who criticizes their divinely-inspired notions of "social justice" are fair game for being labeled "the Other."

One of the signers of the letter, I recall, was instrumental in inviting an Arab representative of Neve Shalom, the "Oasis of Peace" colony in Israel which distinguishes itself by - among other "anti-triumphalist" exercises - lowering the Israeli flag on Israel Independence Day. The representative, speaking at the Jewish school, told the students and parents that he aspired to be a suicide bomber! The venue, needless to say, was a Reform Jewish school.

Ironic indeed, is the letter's twisting of the Shelach Lechah parsha into an attack against Dr. Jacobs for "spreading calumnies". Of course, the Torah portion's central theme is the delusional, paralyzing fear conveyed by the scouts who try to terrify their fellow Jews into giving up their quest for the promised land. The learned rabbis would be well advised to re-read the Torah portions dealing with Korach, Dathan and Aviram and the consequences of cowardice, delusion and treason.

Dr Jacobs has worked his entire life speaking truth to power by his pioneering work with the American Anti Slavery movement and now with Americans for Peace and Tolerance.  The defamatory gibberish contained in the rabbis' letter reflects a defeatism reminiscent of the unconscionable cowardice of much of  American Jewish leadership during the Holocaust.

[Crossposted from JStreetJive.]

[The following, by Will Spotts, is crossposted from The PC(USA) on Israel and Palestine.]

[I believe most Presbyterians want a policy on Israel and Palestine that is both fair and helpful. I suspect many are not that familiar with the issues of the conflict, and fewer are aware of the current state of activism. I believe most Presbyterians want information on the Middle East that is accurate and not one-sided. I believe most Presbyterians are concerned for Palestinians - but also for Israelis. I believe most Presbyterians want to avoid unfairness, bias, and the anti-Jewish themes in PC(USA) statements and actions. And I believe most Presbyterians would be disappointed with the details (as opposed to the sound bytes) of the business coming before this General Assembly. This is my impression; if it is not the case, then so be it. You cannot force fairness and accuracy on Presbyterians, but if it is their desire, then commissioners have a responsibility to at least attempt it.

The two previous General Assemblies have made statements calling for basic fairness. Unfortunately, those calls have had a negligible effect on PC(USA) advocacy. This is partly because those GA's sent conflicting messages. On one hand they called for fairness - and made decisions reflecting that priority, while on the other, they endorsed documents, reports etc. that undercut that emphasis. I believe the only way for the 219th General Assembly to actually accomplish that goal would be to speak with one voice - being careful not to make contradictory decisions, and being careful not to endorse statements and affirmations that sound good, but ultimately undercut fair treatment.

The following recommendations are intended to serve that goal.]

Continue reading "Toward a Fair PC(USA) Policy on Israel and the Palestinians"

Remember that guy who threw his shoes at George Bush? Hamas embraces Iraqi shoe-thrower

Hamas offered on Monday to provide financial aid and a Palestinian bride to Muntazer al-Zaidi, the Iraqi journalist who threw his shoes at former US President George W. Bush during a press conference in Baghdad in 2008.

Hamas's offer came after Zaidi complained that Arabs and Muslims have failed to fulfill their promises to help him financially after his release from prison.

Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh announced that his government was prepared to cover all the expenses of the journalist's wedding.

He also offered to help the Iraqi journalist find a bride from the Gaza Strip.

"We are prepared to receive him here in the Gaza Strip and to cover all the expenses of his wedding," Haniyeh told the Elaph Web site. "We are even prepared to find him a bride here. He's most welcome in the Gaza Strip."

In a recent interview with the British Observer newspaper, Zaidi complained that promises of cars, gold-saddled horses, money, camels and virgin brides were never kept.

He said that his only regret after spending nine months in prison was that he was still a relatively poor man.

"I blame the media because they said I would become rich for doing what I did, that I would become a multimillionaire," Zaidi said. "All the promises about gifts I heard when I was in prison were just empty. The only gift I've got since my release is from Canadian television, who made me their man of the year and gave me a pair of golden shoes."

Life is so unfair.

[The following, by Denis MacEoin, is crossposted from CiF Watch.]

Denis MacEoin is the editor of the Middle East Quarterly. This article was originally submitted to Brian Whitaker for publication in the Guardian and was rejected by him on the basis of there being too many articles on the subject. Given the 37 articles, editorials and cartoons published over the course of the flotilla incident, I leave it to CiF Watch readers to speculate as to the real reason behind the rejection of this piece from such an esteemed commentator in the field.

Those of you who take an interest - and, in most cases, that's going to be a malign interest - in matters relating to Israel, Palestine, and the strangely lovable terrorists of Hamas and Hezbollah - will have been greatly stirred by the troubling episode of the boat that tried to break a blockade imposed by a state acting within its legal rights, but which ended up with nine of its activists dead. What a rush to judgement this has been. Within hours of the event, half the world had decided it knew all the facts and wasn't going to back down, regardless of any new facts that may come to light. I have some of those for you, but wait a little. What you need first is context, something in short supply in discussions of these matters.

If, like myself, you have a serious interest in Middle East affairs, you can't be unaware of an accusation that has infected the Arab world and beyond. It's very simple: take a war (any war will do), a revolution (ditto), a tragedy, and, lo and behold, the Jews are behind it. Here's a string of such claims from a bog-standard white supremacist website [Warning hate site]. And here's a representative (and much shortened) statement from Egyptian general Hasan Sweilem:

Continue reading "What the Guardian Doesn't Publish: How many Seas...? by Denis MacEoin"

I have a piece in the Post today that "Cliff Notes" various BDS stories from Divest This into a single feature. No news yet on dates for the final exam.

Monday, June 14, 2010

The following, by Ben Cohen, is crossposted from Z Word.]

First-class reporting from German broadcaster Südwestrundfunk below. The members of the German leftist party Die Linke don't seem remotely bothered that they were traveling with the Islamist IHH "charity," nor with the fascist, antisemitic BBP Party. Once again, the sordid nature of the alliance between Islamists and so-called leftists is plain for all to see.

Watch and spread the link.

Well, at least the Rabbis didn't actually grab anyone...

Think things are getting stressful down there in Washington? It's tough to be in Congress these days I guess, just ask Bob Etheridge (D-N.C.):

Touchy much? Those students must have been flipping out.

He's issued an apology, but the whole thing just remains very weird.

Update: Democrats are trying to defend Etheridge, saying it was a Republican "hit." So what?

I congratulate the Globe for admitting this: Oopsies: Globe sent anti-Israel writer to cover Israeli ambassador's commencement speech at Brandeis [I'm pirating Adam's post in full.]

The Globe yesterday apologized for this news story, written by a freelancer named Michael Corcoran, who has been writing pro-Palestine posts on his blog for about three years now:

Editor's note: A May 24 story about a protest against an Israeli ambassador's commencement speech at Brandeis University was written by a part-time correspondent who failed to disclose that he had previously editorialized in personal Internet posts against Israeli policy toward Palestinians. Globe editors learned of those posts while conducting an internal review of the Brandeis coverage. The correspondent's failure to disclose a conflict violated Globe policy, and he should not have been assigned to cover the event. The story failed to include coverage of the substance of the remarks made by Michael Oren, Israel's ambassador to the United States, and made no mention of an electronic petition supporting his appearance.

Corcoran has made his blog (on which he covers non-Middle East issues as well) invitation only, but for the next couple of days, you can get a taste of it through Google's cache. He's also purged his Twitter feed.

Via John Carroll, who keeps close tabs on the Globe's corrections.

I recall that when the article came out the lack of coverage of the actual event stood out like a sore thumb but just chalked it up to the usual Globe slant, so it's good to see the Globe do the right thing here.

Good news. The group responsible for the organized disruption of Michael Oren's speech at UC Irvine last February has been suspended. It took time, but it looks like UCI ended up doing the right thing. The only question remaining is whether any of the individuals involved will wind up paying a price: UC Irvine Muslim Student Union Suspended

Many in our community have waited a long time for UC Irvine officials to take action against the ongoing actions by the Muslim Student Union.  Some thought it would never happen.  Today's blog is will certainly get your attention.

Jewish Federation Orange County announced this morning  it has learned the results of UC Irvine's judicial process. UCI has suspended the Muslim Student Union (MSU) for one year and placed it on disciplinary probation for an additional year. That's not all. The MSU is also required to collectively complete 50 hours of community service. As a result, it will not be allowed to conduct organized campus events until at least the fall of 2011....

More.

Update: The OC Register story has a link to the PDF of the administration decision: Muslim Student Union members shocked by suspension

Aaron Elias writes at PJM: Muslim Student Union Suspended at UC Irvine ... Finally

From Divest This!

Now this is strange.

According to Divest This! moles buried deep within every BDS organization in the country, Jewish Voice for Peace (an organization I enjoy taking apart in my other blogger/hobby) has decided to make TIAA CREF their target for divestment over the coming months and years.

But didn't TIAA CREF already divest from Israel last year according to BDS advocates including (if I am not mistaken) the aforementioned Jewish Voice for Peace? So why target the retirement fund again, given that it's already supposedly following the lead of the boycotters on investment/divestment decisions related to the Middle East?

Oh yes, now I remember! The TIAA CREF divestment story from last year turned out to be a fraud! The company made it clear that its decisions regarding buying and selling shares in Israeli companies (or companies doing business with Israel) had nothing to do with politics including (or should I say, especially) the politics of those hectoring them to join the BDS bandwagon.

So now it seems that JVP is trying to win a genuine victory with CREF, rather than take the easier (but ultimately more ridiculous) route of trying to perpetrate another divestment hoax. Unfortunately, once you send out press releases making false claims about the actions of a third party (such as TIAA-CREF), that third party is not very likely to want to take your phone calls the following year. Which is why CREF has responded to their new campaign with a polite but firm "We are not divesting from holdings in Israel" followed by "We appreciate you taking the time to share your thoughts" which to me reads like "don't call us, we won't call you".

Now no one knows what the future may hold with regard to CREF or any other investor in Israel. But as we wait to see what happens, I think it's more than fair to demand that, given its history, JVP and other divestment supporters can only claim victory when they stand alongside the leaders of the group that is supposedly doing the divesting at a joint press conference where CREF states clearly and unequivocally that the organization is divesting for the political reasons claimed for them by the BDSers. Fair enough?

Until then, I'm happy to take the boycotters at their word that a dollar spent or pulled from the stocks they list represents support or political criticism of the Jewish state. Which means that, at least for now, CREF supports the state of Israel to the tune of $300,000,000.

Let the games begin.

Sunday, June 13, 2010

[The following, by AKUS, is crossposted from CiF Watch.]

The New York Times has re-posted what they claim is an Unedited Video of Israeli Raid shot by Iara Lee, a Brazilian-American filmmaker and activist who was shooting a documentary on the flotilla of ships that was intercepted two weeks ago on its way to Gaza. Iara Lee posted one hour of unedited video online that shows the early stages of the Israeli commando raid.

At approximately 15:50 minutes into the video we can hear two people talking in English. One is asking questions about what is to be expected when the Israel Navy diverts the Mavi Marmara, and the other is quite blunt about what is going to happen.

The following is an extract from the video shot by Iara Lee and posted on the NYT's web-site, first exactly as it appears on the site, then repeated with the sound track slightly filtered to reduce the background noise of the ship and make the voices stand out more clearly.

Continue reading "Violence was Planned on the Mavi Marmara: "Ready to Fight""

[The following, by Barry Rubin, is crossposted from The Rubin Report.]

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has proposed a limited international investigation to look at the Gaza flotilla incident. The investigation would include as official international observers: Ken Watkin of Canada and David Trimble of Northern Ireland. Presumably this has been agreed to with the United States as an alternative to a UN-organized, anti-Israel investigation.

The members of the commission would be:

Retired Supreme Court Judge Jacob Turkel (chair);

Prof. Shabtai Rosen, winner of the Israel Prize for jurisprudence and the Hague Prize for International Law;

Former Technion President, Maj.-Gen. (ret.) Amos Horev

There are four points to be investigated:

1. Examine the security aspects of the naval blockade on Gaza and adjusting it in accordance with international law.

2. Examine Israel's actions to enforce the naval blockade and prevent the international flotilla from reaching Gaza on May 31, 2010 with respect to international law.

3. Examine the actions of the organizers of the (Gaza) flotilla and identifying its participants.

4. Examine whether Israel's process of looking into complaints of Israeli violations of the Laws of War--as was implemented during the said incident--corresponds with the country's obligations vis-à-vis international law.

Continue reading "News Flash: Israel Proposes Framework for Investigation of Flotilla Incident"

[The following, by Barry Rubin, is crossposted from The Rubin Report.]

The Turkish text is followed by an English translation

Kıymetli dostlar,

İsrail'de, bizler, hayatlarını kaybeden Türkler için son derece üzgünüz. Bu çatışmayı istemedik. Tamamıyla haklı olduğumuzu, herşeyi doğru olarak yaptığımızı ve hata yapmadığımızı iddia etmiyor, ancak, dostluk ruhu içerisinde bu konuların tartışılabildiğini ve en iyi şekilde çözülebildiğini ifade etmek istiyoruz. Aynı zamanda Türkiye'deki deprem dönemindem beri gelişen karşılıklı işbirliğimizi ve ortak anlayışımızı da hatırlıyoruz.

İsrail her ne hatalar yapmış ise dahi, Türkler ve Yahudiler arasında Osmanlı'dan gelen kardeşlik geleneği, ve Türkiye ile İsrail arasında gelişen dostluk bu zor zamanları aşmamıza yardımcı olacaktır. Lütfen hatırlayınız ki, Yahudi aleyhtarı ve İsrail aleyhtarı duyguları sömürme yöntemi, gücü elinde tutmak isteyen, kendi teb'asını sömüren ve kandıran tiranlar tarafından öteden beri kullanılmıştır.

Continue reading "An Open Letter to Turkish Friends [In Turkish and English]"

[The following, by bataween, is crossposted from Point of No Return.]

kurdmagazine.jpg

Daoud Baghstani with the first issue of the Israel-Kurd magazine

Daoud Baghstani is a brave man with an unusual mission: It has been almost two years since he started his glossy bimonthly magazine Israel-Kurd, published by his Israel-Kurd Institution. Now he is appealing to Jewish organisations and communities worldwide for moral, political and academic support.

The two nations are believed to have close genetic ties. In the absence of official ties, Baghstani wants to use the media to strengthen Israel-Kurdish relations. He wants to expand the distribution of his magazine to the whole of Kurdistan.

Continue reading "Kurdish magazine appeals for Jewish support"

Well this is a very interesting blog:

...I had prearranged for a driver to collect me from the airport, and I was soon delivered to the house of Yasser - the charity director - in Deheishe, a refugee camp on the outskirts of Bethlehem. From the outset, I didn't like him. He was unfriendly and seemingly unable to abide by acceptable social conventions, and within the first five minutes I was wondering whether he was an imposter, and whether he actually ran a charity. The very first thing he said to me was "don't worry, you won't be raped here, just don't go outside naked," the second thing he said was "some of my previous volunteers were spies," he asked me a lot of bizarre, irrelevant questions, he stared at me for long periods of time in line with some psycho-analytical bullshit pretence of 'studying' me in order to get to know me, and then he'd sit for even longer periods, chain-smoking and staring into space. When I asked him any questions - about himself, the charity, the refugee camp, what my daily program would be like - he'd either accuse me of not having done any research, of being uninformed, or he'd tell me to calm down, to stop being nervous, that I'd have to settle in and get to know my host family before I'd start working. He also announced that Rhiannon was too difficult to pronounce, and said he was going to call me Stacey instead. I firmly insisted he call me Rhiannon, which made him visibly angry. He baffled me, and I felt far from comfortable with him, but I wasn't overly unsettled. After my four months of dealing with the constant harassment and intimidating tactics of Syrian men, it takes rather a lot to perturb me...

Also this:

...I can report that in terms of its appearance and facilities, Deheishe isn't all that different from Damascus. The very term 'refugee camp' is a bit of a misnomer - it conjures images of tent dwellings, a lack of basic infrastructure, no luxuries, and abject poverty. In actual fact, people live in regular apartments, there is no shortage of essential supplies such as food and clean running water, and luxuries abound. The family I stayed with had state-of-the-art mobile phones, a television in every room, satellite television, a computer, the internet, more than enough food, and wardrobes brimming with clothes.

This is not to say that the residents of Deheishe are well-off, have an easy time or lead an enviable life, but given that the Palestinians are the recipients of more aid and more charity than any other people in the world, it's rather astonishing that they still live in relative squalour. Jerusalem is moments away, and yet the contrast between the two places is sharp. I conclude that standards of living are mainly attributable to the attitude and the mentality of the people and their leaders. I know where I'd rather live!

Do read the whole thing. Feeling trapped in unfamiliar surroundings where you know no one has to be one of the most uncomfortable feelings in the world.

Even a Kennedy wouldn't want to appear on the stage with her now:

*New*
Thank you, Mr. President: Helen Thomas and the White House --A Screening and Discussion
Thursday, July 15, 2010 5:00-6:30 PM

Rory Kennedy, youngest child of Robert and Ethel Kennedy, discusses the documentary with her venerable subject, Helen Thomas. Known as "First Lady of the Press," Ms. Thomas has covered every President since John F. Kennedy.

This forum has been cancelled.

I think I'll go anyway and enjoy the silence.

Saturday, June 12, 2010

Boston Pride Parade 2010

6__1276372457_1305.jpg

Heavy rains didn't stop Gay Pride celebrations today as many took to the streets for this year's Boston Pride Parade, which was titled, "Riots to Rights: 1970-2010." Click through for more scenes from the parade.

At least Boston isn't full of hypocrites (at least, not the same type), unlike Madrid: Nothing to Be Proud of: Madrid's Gay Pride Parade Bans Israel

Israel, of course, being the only Mideast country to offer legal protection to gays. The ban coincided with the disruption of a Spain-Israel energy conference.

[The following, by Barry Rubin, is crossposted from The Rubin Report.]

The New York Times is a vast and wealthy organization with highly paid reporters and news bureaus around the world. Unfortunately, however, it seems to need a little help in gathering the news. In an editorial, the newspaper has held forth with the following sentence:

"The Israelis claim that Insani Yardim Vakfi is a dangerous organization with terrorist links. They have yet to offer any evidence to support that charge."

This is like Goldstone who keeps saying that no one has challenged his report despite literally hundreds of specific refutations. It is like the little boy who doesn't want to hear something, puts his hands over his ears, and keeps yelling, "I don't hear you!"

Continue reading "The New York Times Needs My Help to Find Flotilla Planners' Terrorist Ties: Viola! Here's A Start for Their Research"

No Jews involved: Egypt activists denied Gaza entry

Gaza blockade not ending yet: Egypt prevents hundreds of activists carrying Palestinian flags, trucks carrying humanitarian aid from entering Strip via Rafah Crossing; meanwhile, Hamas says no Red Cross visits for Shalit

Egypt banned hundreds of activists from Gaza, igniting protests at the Rafah border that is the only non-Israeli entry into the Palestinian enclave, a security official said on Saturday.

"They spent the night in front of the crossing asking to be let in and continued protesting on Saturday," the official said.

Carrying Palestinian flags, they chanted "Palestine is Arab," "Open the border," and "Lift the blockade," witnesses told AFP.

By Saturday afternoon, most of the activists had started making their way back to Cairo, the official said.

Authorities also denied entry to two trucks carrying humanitarian aid sent by the people of the Egyptian province of Daqahliya...

The name Charles Jacobs should be a familiar one to readers of this blog. Charles Jacobs, founder of The David Project, co-founder of the Boston branch of CAMERA and the American Anti-Slavery Group, and now Americans for Peace and Tolerance. I would hazard to say, without any exaggeration at all, that Charles Jacobs has done as much or more for the Jewish People (and Western Values in general) off the pulpit than any other single person in New England.

Unfortunately for Charles, and more importantly, for us all, Charles Jacobs stepped on the toes of the Massachusetts left-wing Rabbinical establishment with his recent column: What's up with Deval Patrick? In the column, Jacobs addresses the political controversy stirred up by Governor Deval Patrick's recent visit to the Islamic Society of Boston Mosque. (More on that in the videos below.) Along the way, Jacobs called out some of the local religious leadership which has credulously run toward the cliff in allowing themselves to be used as a whitewash for some of the mosque's radical connections, many of whom should well know better. Jacobs even had the temerity (honesty) to call Rabbi Eric Gurvis by name.

Read the linked column. What's written about Gurvis may sting for the truth of it, but it can hardly be called a substance-less personal attack.

Not so the response it has garnered, however.

Not allowing any slight to go unpunished, seventy of Gurvis' colleagues -- most of them on the liberal left-wing of the Reform and Reconstructionist movements -- have counterattacked with an open letter, printed in the same local paper that Jacobs' column originally appeared in. I have pasted the letter and the complete list of signatories at the end of this post. Please review the list to see if your Rabbi is on it.

The Rabbis call the Jacobs column a "vicious, personal attack," when it was anything but. In fact, it is these Rabbis who are guilty of committing a scurrilous personal attack on a man who has put more on the line for this community than most of them can ever hope to do in their lifetimes. Their letter is devoid of any response whatsoever to the substantive matters that Charles Jacobs has exposed. Their letter is a reply the nature of which ought to be beneath the dignity of Jewish clergy. They didn't respond this way when it was brought to light that patrons of this mosque were preaching the worst kind of despicable Jew hatred. No, these "leaders" who have elevated "dialogue" and "interfaith relations" to the level of a fetish have reserved their worst invective for a man who dared simply to criticize one of their guild. They have utterly abdicated their responsibility to protect their own community in favor of good relations with the Muslim Brotherhood and a few friendly photo-ops, even stooping to the commandeering of Torah verse as a bludgeon, a blackjack employed in the service of their personal vendetta.

Where have they been as the Wahhabis have built the east coasts' largest Mosque? Silent. Hiding. Complicit. And they dare attack the one man -- more leader than any of them -- who was willing to put himself and his own reputation on the line when none of them would? Shame on them. The fact is they know they've lost authority, through their own inaction, to this unordained layman...and it galls them.

They have so badly forgotten that their primary responsibility to the rest of us is not comity at all costs, but to speak the truth and stand for our community, that they have cast their sense of propriety to the wind and shamed themselves.

Again I ask, is your Rabbi on the list?

[Update: Richard Landes has an excellent post going point by point on this: On the nature of Islamophobia: Jacobs vs. the "liberal" Rabbis on the Boston Megamosque]

Here is everything you need to know. First, watch this excellent video of Charles discussing matters with Bill Whittle of PJTV. Jacobs is eloquent and measured throughout:

Second, here is that Americans for Peace and Tolerance video about the Patrick visit to the Mosque. This is that painful substance the Rabbis wish to ignore:

By the way, even the lefty Boston Phoenix assails the Patrick visit to the ISB in an excellent editorial entitled Mickey Mouse Multiculturalism

Now, here is that "Rabbinical" letter:

Continue reading "When Rabbis Attack: Standing Up for Charles Jacobs"

[The following, by AKUS, is crossposted from CiF Watch.]

One of the concerns Israel has about an investigation, which I do not share, is that it will be biased against Israel in the same way as the Goldstone report was with respect to Cast Lead. The video evidence is so compelling, and the reports by witnesses so revealing of what actually happened, that Israel should be heading the demands for an investigation.

Here is one example:

This radio interview reveals a "witness", U.S. Army Colonel (ret.), Ann Wright, squirming, wriggling, humming and hawing as it gradually emerges that like Sergeant Shultz from the program Hogan's Heroes she heard and saw nothing. She finally admits she wasn't even on the Mavi Marmara after retelling what happened there!

Continue reading "A flotilla witness condemned by her own words"

[The following, by bataween, is crossposted from CiF Watch.]

If you still haven't heard of Helen Thomas, you have not been reading The Guardian. Ever since the grande dame of the Washington DC press corps told Jews to 'get the hell out of Palestine' and 'back home to Germany and Poland' our favourite newspaper has run no less than seven pieces or blogs about her.

With an exquisite sense of timing, the veteran journalist made her ignorant and hurtful remarks to a rabbi with a video camera at a reception hosted by President Obama to celebrate Jewish Heritage Day.

We are told that Helen Thomas, who will soon be 90, shares a birthday with President Obama. Let's hope he also does not share her antisemitic views. Although Thomas, the daughter of Lebanese immigrants, did apologise, she was forced to resign her post with Hearst Newspapers. Critics were particularly stung at her reference to Germany and Poland. She could not have picked two places where Jews have suffered more in Europe. (Besides, as Richard Cohen pointed out in the Washington Post, 1,500 Jews did try to 'go home' to Poland after the Second World War, only to be murdered.)

Continue reading "What about Mizrahi Jews, Helen Thomas?"

Unbelievable dhimmitude on the part of YouTube, and not the first time: YouTube silences Latma, removes We Con the World

As Israel went offline for the Jewish sabbath, YouTube removed most versions of Latma's hit parody song We Con the World. If you try to access the song on YouTube you receive the notification:

This video is no longer available due to a copyright claim by Warner/ Chappell Music, Inc. .

Copyright experts we advised with before posting the song told us in no uncertain terms that we were within our rights to use the song because we did so in accordance with the Fair Use Doctrine. The Fair Use Doctrine, copied and pasted below from the US Copyright Office stipulates that it is legal and permissible to use copyrighted material under the fair use doctrine for purposes of parody.

Copyright attorneys also warned us that given our clearly lawful use of the song We are the World, if anyone wished to silence our voices, they wouldn't target us. Instead they would target YouTube. It is YouTube's standard practice to remove any material that they receive even the flimsiest threat for because the company wishes to avoid all litigation.

At the same time, this is not YouTube's first move to silence Israeli voices...

Read the rest at the link. Let's be clear. There is no copyright issue here as far as this layman who has to worry about these things can see. Parody is absolutely protected under the doctrine of fair use.

Caroline Glick writes:

...stay tuned for our next video next Thursday night.

If someone is in fact trying to silence our voices, they will soon discover that they are messing with the wrong Jews...

Support Latma here.

[The following, by Barry Rubin, is crossposted from The Rubin Report.]

A great deal was made of a statement by Palestinian Authority leader Mahmoud Abbas to a closed meeting of Jews in Washington that there is a historical tie between Jews and the land of...well let's leave the name a blank for the moment. Mass media outlets made this sound like a big step forward in the Palestinian recognition of the right for a Jewish state of Israel to exist.

For example, Haaretz reported: "Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas told U.S. Jewish leaders on Wednesday that he would never deny Jews their right to the land of Israel, according to participants of the two-hour roundtable discussion." In the past, Abbas has repeatedly ridiculed this idea. See for example here.

Continue reading "The Misunderstood Statement of Mahmoud Abbas"

[The following, by Barry Rubin, is crossposted from The Rubin Report.]

Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad (known as "the giraffe" among his people when they think no secret police are listening) was in Turkey recently and had a proposition for that country.

"Turkish blood and Arabic blood is the same," he told the Turkish prime minister. "Israel has to be kept in quarantine not to spread its disease. From now on the Turkish flag will remain in the coasts of Palestine,till the Palestinian nation will reach all their rights." Remember that for Assad that means wiping Israel off the map.

So that's what Iran's chief Arab ally has to offer Turkey, involvement in a decades'-long conflict, the abandonment of Turkish nationalism, unity with the Arabs (and Iranians), conflict with the West, battle with Israel and...the ultimate triumph of Iranian ambitions and Islam.

Continue reading "Syrian Dictator Asad to Turks: Enter the Arab-Israeli Conflict and Shed Your Blood for Us"

Always read the label? Muslim Brotherhood slams Hamas for Israeli food

Egyptian delegation to Gaza angered by Israeli products at official dinner hosted by Hamas

Bitter conflict broke out between Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood delegation visiting Gaza this week because of Israeli-produced food, the official Palestinian Wafa news agency reported Saturday.

Sources said the conflict was sparked during a dinner hosted by Hamas's prime minister in Gaza, Ismail Haniyeh. His guests noted some of the products were Israeli-made, and an Egyptian parliament member even cried out, "Shame on you!"

Wafa is known for its lack of sympathy for Hamas, and the report has not yet been confirmed by any other source, but if it is indeed true it constitutes a major embarrassment for the group, especially in light of the boycott recently imposed by its rival, Fatah, in the West Bank...

Poisoned, by Zionist baba ghanoush.

Friday, June 11, 2010

If this report from Bill Kristol is true, then there needs to be some big noise made. This internationalist fetish is getting ridiculous. It's impossible for anything good to come of this: Sources: Obama Administration to Support Anti-Israel Resolution at UN Next Week

THE WEEKLY STANDARD has learned that senior Obama administration officials have been telling foreign governments that the administration intends to support an effort next week at the United Nations to set up an independent commission, under UN auspices, to investigate Israel's behavior in the Gaza flotilla incident. The White House has apparently shrugged off concerns from elsewhere in the U.S. government that a) this is an extraordinary singling out of Israel, since all kinds of much worse incidents happen around the world without spurring UN investigations; b) that the investigation will be one-sided, focusing entirely on Israeli behavior and not on Turkey or on Hamas; and c) that this sets a terrible precedent for outside investigations of incidents involving U.S. troops or intelligence operatives as we conduct our own war on terror.

While UN Ambassador Susan Rice is reported to have played an important role in pushing for U.S. support of a UN investigation, the decision is, one official stressed, of course the president's. The government of Israel has been consulting with the U.S. government on its own Israeli investigative panel, to be led by a retired supreme court justice, that would include respected international participants, including one from the U.S. But the Obama administration is reportedly saying that such a "kosher panel" is not good enough to satisfy the international community, or the Obama White House.

Keep your periscopes up and your radars active.

Update: White House denies. Interesting. What is Kristol's source?

Had a great time today in studio for Michael Graham's, "That's a Wrap" segment (a lighthearted look back at the week's events). The other guests were Michele Mcphee and long-time Boston comedian Jimmy Tingle. I was not exactly expecting for the fast pace! With three professionals in the room, two of whom are or have been professional comedians there was a lot of pressure to keep up my end of things. After the first segment I realized the other three were all standing at the mics, so I figured I better stand too! Then the pressure to think of something witty to say...oy.

Thanks also to Jimmy for the signed CD! Everyone was extraordinarily gracious, including Jay Severin who came in at the end for his show.

Thanks again to Michael and TKK for having me.

Thursday, June 10, 2010

[The following, by Barry Rubin, is crossposted from The Rubin Report.]

The Obama Administration has replaced George W. Bush's, "You're either with us or you're against us," with, "If you're not with us, that's cool!

What do you do when a supposedly friendly country stabs you in the back?

Normal diplomacy: Show them (and would-be imitators) that there is a cost for behaving that way.

Obama diplomacy: Assure them that their actions are understandable and their behavior will have no effect on your relationship.

Continue reading "Clinton to Brazil/Turkey: You're Against U.S.? Hey, That's Cool!"

usaid.jpg
Married to the Mob
unrwa.jpg

Since 1994, the United States, through the Agency for International Development (USAID), has funneled nearly three billion dollars to Gaza, with virtually no interruption following the 2007 Hamas takeover. Yesterday, in addition to the $960 million dollars already pledged by Barak Obama following Israel's Operation Cast Lead in 2009, the President promised $400 million dollars more.

The European Union has pledged nearly as much for the same period. Turkey, on the other hand, for all its propaganda bluster in support of the Gazans, ranks 26th on the aid list, below Belgium, Finland and Ireland. In 2009 the munificent Turks ponied up a whopping $1.08 million to UNRWA, the UN agency tasked to dole out foreign largess. In contrast, Sweden gave $48.6 million. Kuwait and Saudi Arabia are the only other Muslim nations that show up on the donor list.

With a GDP of nearly a trillion dollars, the skinflints of Ankara apparently would rather put their humanitarian foot forward in support of the Al Qaeda connected IHH rather than cough up real humanitarian aid. Private sector NGO's in Turkey have added another $340,000 to the pot - thus making the Turks the Middle East's equivalent of Ebinezer Scrooge.

USAID, on the other hand, channels virtually all its cash through UNRWA, the organization specifically set up to support Arab refugees following the unsuccessful attempt to destroy the newly established state of Israel in 1948. No other refugee group in the world has a U.N. agency devoted to their plight - not Rwandans, Tamils or Congolese. In Gaza, 99% of UNRWA's employees are Hamas members or supporters, effectively placing a UN agency under their control. Unlike the infrastructure disbursements in the West Bank, there are no U.S. officials in Gaza overseeing payouts.

An alarming example of this lack of oversight involves Gaza media. In a rare public condemnation of Palestinian official anti-Israel and antisemitic propaganda (no doubt partially paid for with American dollars), Hillary Clinton outlined the problem:

According to Executive Order 13224, signed by President Bush in 2001, which continues to this day, foreign charities and humanitarian organizations must be vetted in order to ensure that funds or in- kind aid not go to individuals or groups that espouse or practice terrorism:

"individuals or groups determined by the Secretary of State, in consultation with the Secretary of the Treasury and the Attorney General, to have committed, or to pose a significant risk of committing, acts of terrorism that threaten the security of U.S. nationals or the national security, foreign policy, or economy of the United States (shall not receive foreign aid)"

UNRWA's ties to terrorism have been widely documented by CAMERA.

In other words, no money for HAMAS since it has been officially designated a "terrorist" group by the State Department. The fiction, however, is maintained through the UNRWA conduit.

Not only has USAID turned mostly a blind eye with regard to enforcing EO 13224 (Larry Garber, former director, admitted his lax enforcement of the policy. Mr. Garber then moved on to direct The New Israel Fund), but has even ignored the continual corruption and outright theft of USAID funds.

With an Obama administration openly hostile to Israel and wishing to curry favor with the Arab and Muslim world, what kind of due diligence will be applied to the hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars that find their way to the vaults of Gaza?

[Crossposted from JStreetJive.]

[The following, by Ben Cohen, is crossposted from Z Word.]

In the late, unlamented Soviet Union, the phrase "international Zionism" was the communist version of that Tsarist-era fabrication, The Protocols of the Elders of Zion. Hugo Chavez's regime in Venezuela has picked up the baton:

CARACAS, Venezuela (JTA) -- A foreign policy adviser to Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez equated what he called "international Zionism" with "Nazism."

Raimundo Kabchi, a professor at the Institute for Higher Diplomatic Studies, which is connected to the Ministry of Foreign Relations, said Israel's "pretensions" over Palestinian territories constitutes "a new Nazism, international Zionism," during an interview Wednesday on National Radio of Venezuela.

Kabchi also criticized the U.N. Security Council's decision to pass new sanctions on Iran for what he called the nation's "peaceful" and "scientific" use of atomic energy. He noted that the move could affect Venezuela by placing 41 Iranian businesses on a blacklist.

In the past, Chavez has described relations between Venezuela and Iran as brotherly. Chavez reportedly spoke over the phone with his Iranian counterpart, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, soon after taking to the national airwaves to "curse" Israel for its maritime raid on an aid flotilla headed for Gaza.

Kabchi is cited frequently in the local government press as a Middle East specialist and often is quoted referring to the "Zionist lobby."

For example, Morocco's decision to sever diplomatic ties with Venezuela in 2009 following Chavez's expulsion of the Israeli ambassador was, in Kabshi's opinion, "a decision meant to serve the interests of the world Zionist lobby."

Most of Venezuela's small Jewish community is Sephardic, of Moroccan descent.

Last week, Chavez himself showed signs of Mugabe-like dementia when he declared, "Israel finances the Venezuelan opposition, the counter-revolution. There are groups, even Israeli terrorists, the Mossad, that are after me, trying to kill me."

Anyone remember the Doctor's Plot?

The Missing Peace has an excellent report on just what it was that was found aboard the Gaza Flotilla: Humanitarian aid on the Flotilla. Guess what? Three of the six ships, including the Turkish Mavi Marmara, had no "humanitarian aid" on them whatsoever. Here are a few highlights:

...A breakdown of the cargo found on the ships shows that of the six ships of the flotilla only three had humanitarian aid aboard:

Gaza ship: building materials, cement, iron - The ship has not been fully unloaded.

Sofi ship: building materials, iron

Defne Y ship: clothing, humanitarian aid (roughly 40 trucks worth), and games, building materials, wheelchairs.

The "Marmara": carried only passengers and their personal belongings. Many passengers carried large sums of money on their body. There was no Humanitarian aid on this ship.

The other two ships did not carry humanitarian aid as well

The humanitarian aid on all the ships was not packaged and not placed on the ship in an organized way, as one would expect from an organized humanitarian aid cargo. Everything was in individual units thrown on to a pile on the ships. This was not only unsafe, but it also caused a lot of damage to the objects, since the weight crushed a lot of things and since a lot of the things were just thrown on board...

The nature of the "aid":

... Medicine: Out of the 400 tons of humanitarian aid on the ship only about 4 tons was medicine and medical equipment. A Japanese reporter who visits Gaza regularly, said that what is needed in Gaza is hospital/medical equipment and medicine. He said that if the flotilla would have been really concerned about what is needed in Gaza, they would have made sure to send more medical things. Furthermore, most of the medicine was expired. Medicines were shown whose expiration date was Sept. 2009. The medicines were stored in a separate cooled in-door storage space.

Clothing and shoes: most of the clothes and shoes were so worn that they cannot be used. Many of the shoes had holes and the shoe soles were half broken; many of the clothes were torn. They were private donations and were just thrown on to the ship.

Only 1/3 of the ship's cargo was new equipment.

Cement and other construction materials: all the construction materials on the ships are waiting for project approvals in the Gaza Strip. The minute a specific humanitarian project is approved the construction material is allowed into the Strip. For example 151 housing units of the UNRWA have been approved and construction material will be transferred for it...

Read it all.

What this amounts to is yet further proof that this flotilla had no other purpose than politics, and as such it had even less (read: none) legal right to run the blockade.

[The following, by Eamonn McDonagh, is crossposted from Z Word.]

Apart from being Jewish and having lost family members in the Holocaust (why that should bestow credibility on anyone's analysis of Middle East history and politics I don't know but it seems to be the case), Tony Judt's chief claim to credibility as a critic of Israel is that he is a renowned historian of modern European and is therefore, one would imagine, capable of getting his facts right and arguing in a rigorous and convincing manner.

However, that's not what he does in this piece in the New York Times.

1.

Some critics of Israel are motivated by a wish that it did not exist - that it would just somehow go away. But this is the politics of the ostrich: Flemish nationalists feel the same way about Belgium, Basque separatists about Spain.

Basque nationalists, even those with the most extreme views, are indifferent to the existence of Spain, they just want to break away from it. None of them think that Madrid is the rightful capital of the Basque country or that Euskera should be spoken from Bilbao to Cadiz. Likewise with Flemish nationalists in Belgium, they only seek the dissolution of Belgium in so far as that would allow them to be shot of the Walloons; they don't want to send them "back" to France and establish themselves as the rulers of all the territory of what is now Belgium.

Of course, not all Palestinians want to replace Israel with Palestine, but Hamas most certainly does.

Continue reading "Tony Judt Warns The Jews"

The following, by Will Spotts, is crossposted from The PC(USA) on Israel and Palestine.]

Commissioners to the PC(USA)'s 219th General Assembly, you face a moral quandary. Unfortunately you also face a practical nightmare. The amount of business on Israeli and Palestinian issues you will have to consider is daunting. In writing over the last couple of weeks, I have spent considerable time examining that business. It reaches a point where one's instinctive reaction is to tune it out and look for a bottom line.

You may feel a lot of pressure to complete this business amicably; the climate of General Assemblies insures that you will automatically feel pressure to affirm reports from committees. It is a simple fact that the GA system is weighted toward approval of committee recommendations. Failure to do so might indicate a lack of appreciation for all the committee members' hard work. Additionally, you may feel a pressure to try to please everyone - knowing that whatever you do, someone will be unhappy and critical. This combination of pressures tends to result in one of two outcomes: affirmation of committee work and recommendations or an attempt to split the difference.

I wish I could offer you a simple evaluation of the issues before you. Unfortunately, I can't. There is a great difference between the actions you are being asked to take and their purpose and symbolic significance. Each occurs within a larger context that is distinct from what you see on paper. Your task is to discern both properties.

Continue reading "A Moral Quandary: an Open Letter to Commissioners"

Just a little reminder on that original Pallywood production from Richard Landes:

Last January, Info-live interviewed Nidra and me about the al Durah case. I never heard back about the final product, but here it is. Nidra's remarks about the crucial element of accusation of intention and its functioning in the blood libel are especially important.

[The following, by Ben Cohen, is crossposted from Z Word.]

June 12 marks the first anniversary of Iran's stolen election. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad continues his brutal repression at home while enjoying a warm welcome in certain countries abroad, with Turkey the destination for this week's visit.

One body which has remained conspicuously silent on Iran is the UN Human Rights Council. While Israel is a permanent item on the Council's agenda, the Council - which brought us the Goldstone report and is now calling for a similar "investigation" into the Gaza flotilla - has behaved as though the events in Iran were taking place on another planet.

Many seasoned observers view the Council as a write-off, and for good reason: its membership is typically drawn from serial human rights violators like Saudi Arabia and Cuba. Nevertheless, last year the US reversed its position of shunning the Council by joining it. "Working from within, we can make the council a more effective forum to promote and protect human rights," said US Ambassador Susan Rice.

Now is the time to put that objective to work. AJC has launched a campaign to commemorate the anniversary and to urge American action on Iran at the Human Rights Council.  Please visit the campaign page, sign the letter to Hillary Clinton and spread both the video  - which you can see above, and there's another one coming shortly - and the letter via blogs, websites and social media platforms.

Thank you.

Just another example of how the deck is stacked against Israel in getting their version of events out: Meet the Foreign Press Head

Do you wonder why foreign press reports about Israel are so skewed? Meet Conny Mus, the Dutch chairman of the Foreign Press Association in Israel.

Last week for the first time, foreign reporters in Israel literally came under attack when TV crews reported about the Turkish flotilla from Ashdod. Angry Israeli's disturbed live broadcasts by waving flags in front of the cameras and by shouting slogans.

Israelis are apparently fully aware of the way events in their country are depicted by a large number of foreign reporters. Last week's events showed clearly that the Israeli public is fed up with this.

And rightly so, the damage done to Israel by these reporters is immense. The flow of biased reports, cropped pictures and outright lies has caused an unprecedented deterioration in Israel's international position and has strengthened the position of Israel's enemy's.

Conny Mus the Dutch chairman of the Foreign Press Association in Israel is one of the main forces behind the foreign media campaign against Israel.

He was probably also responsible for the attempt to curb the flow of IDF You Tube video's about the events on the Mavi Marmara. The FPA accused Israel of illegal use of the confiscated camera's and demanded immediately return of the camera's and the footage.

Mus, a veteran Dutch language reporter working for RTL 4 Television has become increasingly hostile to the Jewish state over the years...

The rest.

Wednesday, June 9, 2010

[The following is a guest post by Ann Green.]

I'm so glad they were "peace activists," those nice folks who were screaming in my face as I walked into the Sheraton Boston the other night. Had they been Israel-hating anti-Semites it might have been disturbing. Okay, how do I know they really were Israel-hating anti-Semites? Because those who truly care about peace do not single out for their venom the landmass that takes up 1/6th of 1% of the Middle East, the only democracy in that human rights cesspool, the only nation in the region which gives equal rights to all regardless of race, religion, national origin, gender or sexual orientation -- the state of Israel, of course.

On my way to attending the AIPAC (American Israel Public Affairs Committee) Leadership Dinner on June 6, I had to walk a gauntlet of "demonstrators," and even use of that designation is being generous. In fact, attending any Israel-related event these days, even a cultural one, guarantees one's being on the receiving end of something vile. No event connected to Israel is considered apolitical by "peace activists."

Continue reading ""Peace" Activists Screaming in My Face (Report from Outside the AIPAC Meeting)"

[The following, by Barry Rubin, is crossposted from The Rubin Report.]

According to the first media report by Hisham Bourar of al-Hurra television, President Barack Obama has announced an additional $400 million in aid for housing, school construction and business development in Gaza and West Bank. Calling the status quo in Gaza unsustainable, Obama said he was talking with Europeans, Egypt, Israel, and the PA on how to have a better approach that takes into account the security concerns of Israel and the needs of people in Gaza.

He did not add anything regarding an investigation but said everyone should know the facts and make sure something like this didn't happen again. Thus, he left the door open to either an Israeli or an international investigation.

Abbas called for lifting the blockade completely.

Analysis:

Continue reading "News Flash: Obama Meets Palestinian Authority Leader, Tries to Pay Off Hamas (In Practice, Not Intention)"

[The following, by Will Spotts, is crossposted from The PC(USA) on Israel and Palestine.]

One of the burning issues the 219th General Assembly of the PC(USA) will consider is what they will do with Caterpillar, Inc. The Presbyteries of San Francisco, Newark, and San Jose are calling for divestment while the Mission Responsibility Through Investment Committee and the Middle East Study Committee are calling for denunciation. I think the PC(USA) holds 54 shares of CAT stock, so the material effect would be negligible. It is likely that the MRTI's process of corporate engagement directed at Caterpillar has already cost more than the total value of CAT stock owned by the PC(USA). It is clear that the action is more rhetorical than practical.

Actions of this type - because they are rhetorical - can cause far more significant harm than their immediate material result. That potential harm must be a significant factor in commissioners' decision making process (and I will address this more directly in another post). But if commissioners want to make responsible, moral, and ethical decisions, they must also deal with other considerations.

Continue reading "Before Voting to Divest from or Denounce CAT"

[The following, by Zach, is crossposted from The Brothers of Judea.]

Dear Mr. ___________,

I am a Huffington Post reader who wrote you two days ago to express my gratitude toward the new comment policy. I would like to thank you and the other Huffington Post staff for your hard work in keeping our community a civil one, and I know that this new comment policy is a reflection of that dedication. I would particularly like to thank you for mentioning "anti-Semitism" specifically as a form of hate speech that is not to be tolerated. I have been reading the Huffington Post for almost a year now and in that time I have found anti-Semitism among the readership to be a huge problem, and I hope that these changes mean you do as well.

However, it is on the topic of anti-Semitism that I feel like I should write to you and communicate what I have been feeling. I would appreciate it greatly if you would spare some of your time to listen to what I have to say. I have always found the Huffington Post staff to be an open one that are receptive to the opinions of its readership. I write because I truly want this community to be an open one, so I hope you do not mind if I offer some suggestions.

Continue reading "My Letter to the Huffington Post"

ijan.jpg

ijan_logo.jpg

At last, a putative Jewish group more deranged (but less dangerous) than J Street rears its ugly head in Britain.  Kudos to Richard Millett [in a must-read posting] who turned over the rock at the University of London to expose the International Jewish Anti Zionist NetworkThe "Hate That Dared Not Speak its Name" is now in full view and full of pride.  In a similar fashion to our attempt at filming (the "transparent") goings on at Harvard Law School at the occasion of Christine Chinkin, the Goldstone Report commissioner's talk, the theo-fascists of London tried to stop Richard from filming:

Note that the speaker, Uri Davis, is described as a "Muslim of Jewish origin". I assume that he recited the shahada and voila! became a Muslim. We all know how apostasy from Islam is treated.

J Street has resisted the temptation to welcome groups like this into its big tent.  Among these "beyond the fringe" groups we find QUIT Palestine ("Queers Undermining Israeli Terrorism"), Queers Against Israel Apartheid and my favorite, Jews for Allah:

jfa.JPG    jfa2.JPG

They even offer selected verses from the Quran-in Yiddish! Oy Vay! (How do you say, "Jews turned into Apes and Swine" in Yiddish?)

I corresponded with a representative of QUIT Palestine! and pointed out that all of their members would be welcomed in Gaza with torture and the hangman's noose while Israel is one of the safest places on earth for homosexuals. I received no reply.

Jewish Voice for Peace  will probably be ushered into J Street's tent eventually, but for now, its pro BDS stance along with the "one-none-state-solution" keeps it out in the cold for Ben Ami.

jvp.jpg

My experience at J Street's national conference in October of last year revealed a wide level of support for JVP among the attendees, but they were reluctant to publicly voice their approval.

Given the current hysteria over the Gaza Flotilla event in spite of the exculpatory video evidence in Israel's favor, the lunatic fringe appears to be growing. Reality is becoming a scarce commodity.

Tuesday, June 8, 2010

[The following, by Barry Rubin, is crossposted from The Rubin Report.]

I've written about how the Gaza flotilla issue and stirring up a hysterical hatred of Israel is playing a role in internal Turkish politics as the government tries to use this demagoguery to continue eroding Turkish democracy and to win the next election. And a little later I'm going to talk about a major new development in the flotilla story.

In addition, while Turks are united in anger and sorrow about the deaths of nine of their citizens, they do not necessarily agree with the current government's extremist response which threatens to lead to involving Turkey in violence and damaging its reputation abroad.

The leader of the main opposition, Ataturkist and social democratic party, Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu stated that Prime Minister Erdoğan, "Almost declared war against Israel in his party's meeting....Our party displays a more moderate and careful approach. Foreign policy can't be carried out with heroism but with reason. The Turkish Foreign Ministry should publicly disclose correspondence made with Israel so that we may all learn whether Israel warned Turkey or not."

Now you might ask yourself what is Kılıçdaroğlu hinting at here? And the answer is important and potentially explosive. There is a widespread story, which cannot yet be verified but seems to be more than a rumor, for why this tragedy might have happened. People ask: Why did the Israeli soldiers land on a ship where they should have expected to be received with a violent attack?

Continue reading "Flash: Major New Development in Flotilla Story? Evidence Emerges of Government-Flotilla Link; Brave Turkish Nationalists Try to Calm Things Down"

Hatred, demonization...you can imagine... Here are a couple of examples. Many more at the link.

Egypt:

flotillacartoon_04.jpg

Ruz al-Yusuf, June 2, 2010
Headline: "The Israeli Attack on the Freedom Flotilla." The Israeli soldier is saying: "I don't understand why the world is so shocked by me. I've been killing innocent people all my life and no one spoke to me (about it)..."

Oman:

flotillacartoon_22.jpg

Oman, June 1, 2010
The ship is labeled "Freedom Convoy."
The man being beaten by the Jewish man is holding a sign that reads: "Free Gaza."

Qatar:

flotillacartoon_27.jpg

Al-Watan, June 2, 2010
In Arabic: "Terror State."

I have just signed legislation declaring myself humiliated. The rioting begins in five minutes...

How does Gaza rank with respect to its rates of infant mortality, general mortality, and mobile phone market penetration? The answers might surprise you. Or not, depending on how closely you've been paying attention.

For decades, The Boston Workmen's Circle has benefited from its association with the Combined Jewish Philanthropies of Greater Boston. In terms of prestige and cash grants through CJP's Donor Advised Funds, the "yiddishkayt" group has flourished in its mission of preserving eastern European Jewish culture and promoting a socialist agenda of "a besere velt" (a better world). Sadly, the organization has not risen to the challenge of preserving Israel. For decades, The Circle has hosted scores of virulently anti-Israel speakers and events.

The recent Gaza Flotilla incident is a shameful case in point. Recently, the Boston CJP issued an accurate and commendable statement on the maritime attempt to resupply and support Hamas:

cjp.jpg


Statement by Combined Jewish Philanthropies and Jewish Community Relations Council on the Flotilla to Gaza

"Our community grieves this most recent loss of life in the Middle East which, like so many others before it, has as its direct cause the refusal of certain forces to end their state of war with Israel. Hamas' determination to persist in its declared effort to eliminate Israel, and to maintain the Gaza Strip as an armed base from which to conduct its campaign of elimination, continues to bring no end of tragedy to the people of this region, and to frustrate hopes for peace at every turn. Hamas' unwillingness to make peace with Israel, and to make Gaza a place of opportunity rather than a place of war, continues unabated and so, too, does the loss of life for which Hamas is responsible. Our hearts go out to the people of this region, and we stand with the state of Israel as it struggles and struggles again to cope with those who, regrettably, refuse to permit Israel and its neighbors to live in peace.

Certain fundamental points are of critical importance. First, Hamas, which rules Gaza with an iron hand, is recognized by the international community as a terrorist enterprise, and one which has pledged itself to the annihilation of Israel and the torpedoing of peace. Second, Hamas insists on using Gaza as an armed base from which to wage war on Israel and, for that matter, on the peace process. Third, it is Hamas and its allies who have necessitated the embargo on the Gaza Strip, which has as its purpose stopping the flow of materials used to launch attacks on Israeli civilian centers.

Fourth, Israel works on a daily basis to ensure that aid that is genuinely humanitarian in nature reaches the civilians of Gaza, who are effectively held hostage by a repressive regime which cares more about waging war on Israel than it does about improving the lives of its people. And finally, the organizers of the flotilla involved in today's incident, who ignored repeated warnings from the Israeli government intended to avoid violence, chose to refuse Israel's offer to ensure that the humanitarian aid on board these ships be routed to the people of Gaza after any non-humanitarian materials were removed. Sadly, this speaks volumes about the real nature of this flotilla.

Our community continues to hope that those who are so adamantly opposed to peace with Israel will join with those who desire peace, and will cease taking actions designed to frustrate the cause of peace in the Middle East to which all reasonable people aspire."

In stark contrast to the CJP statement, The Workmen's Circle produced the following:

workmen's circle.jpg

wc banner2.gif

Statement on the Gaza Flotilla Tragedy

"The Workmen's Circle expresses its grief and horror at the consequences of the Israeli military attack on civilian ships bringing humanitarian aid to Gaza, resulting in the death of at least nine civilians. Unless there is an end to the occupation of the West Bank and East Jerusalem, and the lifting of the blockade of all civilian goods to Gaza, tragic events like this one will continue. Regrettably, the policies of the current Israeli government have resulted in the continued oppression of Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza, while at the same time undermining Israeli democracy and contributing to the isolation of Israel in the world community. The ongoing occupation and the blockade of Gaza not only diminish Israeli security and embitter daily Palestinian life, they also threaten peace and stability in the wider world.

We call upon the government of the United States to support a thorough and genuinely impartial investigation into the events of May 31st, and to support the prosecution of any violations of international law that such an investigation may uncover. More importantly, we call upon the United States to employ its considerable influence and resources to bring about a speedy and just solution to the Israeli/Palestinian conflict through the establishment of a viable, independent Palestinian State based on the pre-1967 borders, with agreed-upon adjustments, alongside a safe, secure, and democratic Israel."

For CJP to maintain relations - and financial support - to an organization that, at every opportunity, has sided with individuals and groups that seek the end of Israel as a Jewish state is absurd. If The Workmen's Circle wishes to resurrect the Bund, to celebrate Stalin's birthday or to commemorate Die Freiheit, let them do so inside their own bizarre tent. At a time of unprecedented, existential threats to Israel, the Jewish community tent isn't big enough to accommodate their betrayal and mishigas.

Rabbi Nessenoff has re-released his video of Helen Thomas with the fuller context of the remarks. It doesn't make Thomas look any better:

Via Yid with Lid.

Update: Well, this is interesting: Cal Thomas column on Helen Thomas spiked. I wonder how many consumers of the MSM, like Boston Globe readers, are only now finding out there was any controversy involving Thomas now that she's retired.

Monday, June 7, 2010

Here are a few shots of a moment in time I captured before leaving for work this morning as one of the cats caught sight of a chipmunk on the front step, and the chipmunk caught site of him and froze there. The two stood, frozen, for several full minutes, the cat's tail swishing back and forth and his mouth chittering, and the chipmunk frozen in place, counting down the seconds until his life was to end (transparent but cat-proof surfaces being a bit beyond his cranial-capacity).

P1050292.JPG

Continue reading "Through a Glass Hungrily"

Yesterday was the 66th anniversary of the invasion of Normandy and The Big Picture has a good selection of photos: Remembering D-Day, 66 years ago:

d39_0p000713.jpg

French townspeople lay flowers on the body of an American soldier. (Regional Council of Basse-Normandie/U.S. National Archives)

From the comments, here's a related and interesting Flikr account (in French).

[The following, by Barry Rubin, is crossposted from The Rubin Report.]

What if two groups are in conflict and have a completely different way of looking at the world, thus often misperceiving each other? Many Westerners say nowadays that their societies misunderstand the Middle East or Muslim-majority societies and the correct response is to apologize humbly, make amends through unilateral concessions that will prove they are nice, and avoid any possible offense.

But maybe the misunderstanding is in the opposite direction from what they think.

Consider this small example with big implications.

Hurriyet, a Turkish newspaper, ran as its lead article on page one a story about what it called photos the Israelis didn't want the world to see. Many Westerners who read these words would expect to see some kind of atrocity -- Israelis murdering or injuring people -- that Israel wanted to hide. That's the implication in a Western context.

Continue reading "Clash of Perceptions: A Picture is Worth 10,000 Academic Theories"

[The following, by Ben Cohen, is crossposted from Z Word.]

Here's a worthwhile piece from the Armenian Weekly which contains the photograph below, taken at a demonstration in Istanbul on June 5, in which the placard declares, "Legendary leader Adolf Hitler, our patience is running out, we need your spirit."

How long before the flotillistas and their cheerleaders claim this image was faked?

hitlerr.jpg

From Gateway Pundit: THOUSANDS Rally In Support of Israel at Los Angeles protest

Thousands of supporters attended the Pro-Israel rally in Los Angeles yesterday. California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger was the keynote speaker. Actor Jon Voight and Israeli Consulate General Jacob Dayan spoke with reporters at the rally...[More.]

And here's a great gallery of photos from a rally in Montreal, Canada.

2010 06 07 Rally Westmount Square 0012.JPG

[The following, by Will Spotts, is crossposted from The PC(USA) on Israel and Palestine.]

As we approach the PC(USA)'s 219th General Assembly, a lot of people are writing on the Middle East issues being considered. I'd like to highlight a number of these resources.

Presbyterians for Middle East Peace [A group of Presbyterians committed to fairness and accuracy in the formulation of the PC(USA)'s Middle East Policy. This site features analysis of overtures coming before the GA, articles, and videos.]

Bearing Witness 2010 [I am contributor to this site. It has been created by Jon Haber in response to the fact that many of the materials coming before the PC(USA)'s GA do not present both sides of the issues. "Bearing Witness 2010 hopes to rectify that situation with some well-reasoned analysis that puts the entire matter of Presbyterian relations with the Jewish state into context, as well as taking on individual issues related to this year's GA votes."]

Continue reading "Some Pointers on the Upcoming PC(USA) General Assembly"

[The following, by bataween, is crossposted from Point of No Return.]

With thanks: Sara

How bad are things for Turkish Jews? One Jewish lady reassured a friend in the UK, anxious at reports that the flotilla incident would stoke Turkish antisemitism, that they were all fine.

Turkish people were angry at the government, she said, for using the flotilla incident to distract them from other, more pressing issues - notably Turkey's repression of the PKK, outlawed as a party of Kurdish militants. The Turks are claiming the reverse - that the Israeli secret service is stirring up the PKK as a decoy.

Here is what the Jewish lady wrote to her friend:

"For the moment in Turkey, people around do not think as the Prime Minister does. In only one month 35 young soldiers died; on the very day of the ship (incident), seven Turkish soldiers died, two from Izmir, in the Eastern part of Turkey, in the internal war with the PKK terrorists.

"The government forgets these are very important Turkish issues and act as if they were the government of the Palestinians. Therefore people around are very angry.

"Poverty, hunger, unemployment are real problems in Turkey now and the government does not even mention them.

"Maybe this is just a tactic to make the population forget the real problems and close its eyes to internal issues."

Helen Thomas saves some other people embarrassment (actually, she saves them what should have been the honor of doing the right thing) by quitting. Buh. Bye.

Jonah Goldberg gives some good Thomas background: The Helen Thomas "Scandal"

Shmuley Boteach has a good piece here: Helen Thomas and Open Season on Jews

I am not interested in the game of "more politically correct than thou," and we who are against most PC speech enforcement should never be too quick scream when it's our ox being gored, but...Taboos are taboos only when they are enforced, otherwise they lose their power. What Thomas said was way, way over the line. No government sanction need apply. It was up to us to demand that she get get get gone. And she did. And that's the right outcome.

Update: Excellent: The First Cousin of Holocaust Denial

A number of Goldblog readers have written to ask, in essence, why the big deal over batty Helen Thomas? What is so especially offensive about her comments (comments that now seem to have gotten her fired)? I think the answer is fairly obvious. While it is one thing (not a good thing, of course) to argue in euphemism for the destruction of Israel by invoking the so-called one-state solution, it is quite another to advocate for the "return" of Israeli Jews to their German and Polish homelands, not merely because such advocacy is almost comically absurd and cruel (or, at the very least, stunningly ignorant of recent European history) but because this argument denies to Jews what Helen Thomas, and people like Helen Thomas, want to grant the Palestinians: Recognition that they comprise, collectively, a nation.

The Jews, of course, are an ancient nation, a nation whose history took place in a sliver of land called Israel. Helen Thomas's argument, if you can call it an argument, centers on the pernicious belief that Jews are strangers in a place called "Palestine." Palestine, of course, is the name that was given by the Romans to the Land of Israel precisely in order to sever the connection between the Jews and their homeland. Helen Thomas, and people like her, are thus soldiers in a (Roman-inspired) war against history. This particular war is not as offensive to most people as the war against the memory of the Shoah, but it is rooted in the same grotesque motivation: To deny to Jews the truth of their own history.

Thanks to Kevin at Pundit Review Radio on WRKO 680AM for having me in studio for the full 6:00 hour last night. Our friend Lee Smith, author of The Strong Horse: Power, Politics, and the Clash of Arab Civilizations also joined in at 6:30. We discussed the Boston and New York mosque controversies (briefly), Helen Thomas, and the Gaza Flotilla (majority of the time).

Kevin has posted the full audio at his blog: Trying to understand the anti-Semitic left

Sunday, June 6, 2010

Following the Dick Morris event the other night, I had the privilege of speaking for a couple of minutes with Congressional hopeful Sam Meas. Sam is running for the Republican nomination in the Massachusetts 5th Congressional District, now held by Democrat Niki Tsongas. I think you will enjoy seeing this short video I made in which Sam discusses his background and his feeling for Israel:

In a future post, I will be compiling the positions of some of the other people in the race as they relate to Israel.

Arafat groupie and official member of the J Street Advisory Council, Robert Malley, the on-again-off-again Obama advisor, can now "envision" the idea of an American led flotilla intended to break the Israeli blockade of Hamas-controlled Gaza.

Al Jazeera English presents the interview:

The utter absurdity of inviting inveterate Israel-haters like Malley to sit on its council conclusively demonstrates  the real animus J Street holds for The Jewish State.  We've profiled him before.  Malley is a favorite go-to guy for Al Jazeera, the Qatar based news agency that brought us the birthday celebration for Samir Kuntar, the Lebanese terrorist who brutally killed a Jewish policeman and his four year old daughter in Nahariya in 1979.  He returned to a hero's welcome in Lebanon after being freed in a prisoner exchange for soldiers Eldad Regev and Ehud Goldwasser whereupon the "objective" Qatari news channel threw him a party.

Note: The Al Jazeera staffer, Clayton Swisher, is one of Malley's strongest supporters in his long since discredited account of how Ehud Barak sabotaged the Camp David Peace Plan.  He shares (and even wrote a book about it) Malley's exculpation of Arafat (denied by both Bill Clinton and Dennis Ross). And who does Swisher count among his friends?  The execrable MJ Rosenberg formerly of Media Matters, another favorite of Ben Ami and J Street.

This is the caliber of people chosen to sit on J Street's Advisory Council. It should also be kept in mind that Malley was Obama's classmate at Harvard. Ominouser and ominouser.

From the IDF Spokesperson: Specific Flotilla Passengers Linked to Al-Qaeda, Hamas and Other Terror Organizations

The following passengers on board the Mavi Marmara are known to be involved in terrorist activity. The Mavi Marmara attempted to break the maritime closure on the Gaza Strip on Monday, May 31st 2010, and was boarded by Israel Navy forces.

Fatimah Mahmadi (born 1979), is a United States resident of Iranian origin, and an active member of the organization "Viva Palestine", she attempted to smuggle forbidden electronic components into the Gaza Strip.

Ken O'Keefe (Born 1969), an American and British citizen, is a radical anti-Israel activist and operative of the Hamas Terror organization. He attempted to enter the Gaza Strip in order to form and train a commando unit for the Palestinian terror organization.

Hassan Iynasi (born 1982), a Turkish citizen and activist in a Turkish charity organization, is known of providing financial support to the Palestinian Islamic Jihad Terror organization.

Hussein Urosh, a Turkish citizen and activist in the IHH organization, was on his way to the Gaza Strip in order to assist in smuggling Al-Qaeda operatives via Turkey into the Strip.

Ahmad Umimon (born 1959), is a French citizen of Moroccan origin, and an operative of the Hamas Terrorist organization.

[The following, by Barry Rubin, is crossposted from The Rubin Report.]

Why have Israel-Turkey relations gone from alliance to what seems to be the verge of war?

The foolish think that the breakdown is due to the recent Gaza flotilla crisis. The merely naive attribute the collapse to the December 2008-January 2009 Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip.

Such conclusions are totally misleading. It was already clear--and in private every Israeli expert dealing seriously with Turkey said so--well over two years ago. For example, the Justice and Development (AK) party government did not permit a single new military contract with Israel since it took office. The special relationship was over. And the cause was the election in Turkey of an Islamist government.

After all, Turkey needed Israel as an ally when a secular government in Ankara regarded Iran, Syria, and Saddam Hussein's Iraq as the main threats. Once there was a government which regarded Iran and Syria as its closest allies, Israel became a perceived enemy.

Continue reading "Turkish Regime Changes Sides, West Averts Eyes"

[The following, by bataween, is crossposted from Point of No Return.]

ht.jpg

Helen Thomas

The doyenne of the White House press corps, Helen Thomas, 89, has raised a storm of controversy for saying that Jews should 'get the hell out of Palestine' and 'go back to Germany and Poland.'

American Jews have rightly been stung by the suggestion that Jews should go back to the countries that oppressed them and slaughtered them - Germany and Poland.

Now Thomas has apologized, saying her statements 'do not reflect her belief in the need for mutual respect and tolerance'.

According to Ynet News:

Continue reading "Thomas and the 'Jews as European imposters' myth"

Here the New Israel Fund demonstrates that in the mad rush to find friends on a left that feels itself increasingly beleaguered, there are literally no depths some groups won't plumb. In this case, we have a major pro-Israel "Civil Society" charity, the NIF, recommending a Twitter account that appears to have been established by an editor at the premier 'dismantle Israel' site on the web: Electronic Intifada.

This might seem a little inscrutable, but Twitter users will see the significance right away.

Yesterday was Friday, that means "Follow Friday" -- #FF. That's the day you send out tweets composed of nothing but the names of accounts that you follow. It's a way of giving a shout-out to some of the people you like, as well as a way of recommending accounts that you think other people should be following.

And what did @NewIsraelFund tweet yesterday?

#FF @jnewsreader @prasnis @talkoholic @ngo_monitor @Amy2Israel @24kgoldsher @TheOdalisque @askdebra @MitchellPlit @calaris @rebmoti

@ngo_monitor? Is that the account of the excellent NGO Monitor? No, that's @NGOMonitor (and that is an account well worth following).

@ngo_monitor is a fake/satire account hostile to the real NGO Monitor and hostile to the Jewish State that NIF claims to love so much. The tweets characterize Israel and its supporters as the worst racist monsters, scorn the work of the real NGO Monitor, and amplify (re-tweet) the tweets of Israel's worst critics.

Its first follower is an editor at the viciously anti-Israel Electronic Intifada, Maureen Murphy which gives you a pretty good hint as to who started the account in the first place, or at least who their very good friend was. By the way, the second follower is the execrable Richard Silverstein. Nuff said.

This is not a mistake. They didn't mean to cite NGO Monitor and accidentally put in an extra _, thus inadvertently sending their readers to a site whose nastiness they would never, in a thousand years, want to encourage and spread. There's too much hostility from NIF towards NGO Monitor for it to encourage readers there. Indeed, they've never recommended the real NGO Monitor in the past, nor referred to them in any complimentary manner before. Why would they do so now? In recognition of their latest effort critical of NIF? I doubt it.

It's one thing not to encourage your own readers to read what your Israeli critics say. Not admirable, but understandable...

But to send them (out of anger at being criticized) to sites created by sworn, open, and uncompromising enemies of Israel? That seems hard to believe.

And yet, the folks in charge of social networking at NIF had to know exactly what they were doing when they "#FF'd" this brand new fake account. The most charitable explanation would be a temporary lapse wherein someone at NIF allowed their petty hatred to momentarily cloud their judgment. More likely though, they're simply plumbing the depths for friends and don't care who they ally with to combat their enemies. In this case, they identified their enemies not as the forces arrayed against Israel's very survival, but their own personal demons, their Israeli critics.

How sad that a Jewish/Israeli group, allegedly embracing self-criticism (of Israel), has become so incapable of self-criticism of themselves, that they join hands with anti-Zionists of the most virulent and hate-mongering kind.

In the end, I can't know just how much this particular incident reveals about the culture of anti-Israel discourse at NIF (Are they seriously more comfortable with "Electronic Intifada" than NGO Monitor? Indeed, are they willing to throw NGO Monitor under the bus even at the expense of giving fuel to virulent anti-Israel organizations?), or was this the work of just a lone individual? We can't know, but we should have an explanation.

Absolutely shameful.

Update: Richard Landes comments on the social network aspect: Evidence of Sickness in the World of Social Networking. I dare you to try to watch all 6+minutes of the CNN clip he has embedded. I couldn't. I'm afraid that woman still hasn't shut up.

Saturday, June 5, 2010

Well isn't this nice:

A Cairo court on Saturday upheld a ruling to strip Egyptian men married to Israeli women of their citizenship in a case that has highlighted national sentiment towards Israel.

Judge Mohammed al-Husseini, sitting on the Supreme Administrative Court, said the interior ministry must ask the cabinet to take the necessary steps to strip Egyptian men married to Israeli women, and their children, of their citizenship.

The court said that each case should be considered separately, in a ruling that cannot be appealed.

The ruling reflects Egyptian sentiment towards Israel, more than 30 years after Egypt signed an unpopular peace deal with the Jewish state.

Before reading the verdict, Husseini said the case would not apply to Egyptian men married to Arab Israeli women.

"The case for (Egyptian) men married to Israeli Arab women is different to those married to Israeli women of Jewish origin because (Israeli Arabs) have lived under Israeli occupation," Husseini told the court...

Well, I'm sure this just must be the fault of Bibi Netanyahu...or is it George Bush? Nono! It's Avigdor Lieberman! I lose track of who else's fault it is that so many people in the Arab states have their bigoted heads up their collective behinds.

A whole bunch of folks came out on Thursday night to see Dick Morris speak on "Obama, Foreign Policy and the Future of US-Israel Relations," and sign copies of his new book, 2010: Take Back America: A Battle Plan, at Ahavath Torah Congregation in Stoughton, MA. The evening was sponsored by the Republican Jewish Coalition and Rabbi Hausman.

An enthusiastic packed house watched Morris speak (without notes) and take questions on everything from domestic politics to the Iranian threat. A passel of local Republican political hopefuls were also on hand, and you can see them stand up and introduce themselves in part 2 of the Q&A video. Here is the entire video -- 4 parts of the main speech, then 3 parts of Q&A. I apologize for the bad audio for the first minute. Things got better when Morris moved over to the mic. I also had to shift position a couple of times, but overall the video should be quite watchable.

Here is a custom player with all the parts in one playlist. The individual parts are pasted into the extended entry:


Continue reading "Video: Dick Morris in Stoughton, MA! Great Event!"

[The following, by Charles Jacobs, appears in The Jewish Advocate.]

Just days before the Gaza flotilla, Jews were attending to a smaller but more proximate fight: State Treasurer Tim Cahill, who is campaigning as an independent for governor, charged that Deval Patrick's May 22 visit to the Muslim American Society's (MAS) Saudi-funded Roxbury mega-mosque was a case of "pandering" - and of not taking the threat of terrorism seriously.

In response, the MAS - which is called by federal prosecutors "the overt arm of the Muslim Brotherhood in America" - gathered a few hundred people at the mosque and did what it does best when critics raise concerns about who are the trustees and what do mosque leaders teach Boston Muslims about Jews, gays, women, Christians and America. The mosque leaders ducked the questions and charged their critics with bigotry. The MAS lambasted Cahill.

As if on cue, media stenographers dutifully took down and reported the bigotry charge against Cahill as though it was obviously true. And, again as if on cue, prominently noted and photographed was kippah-wearing Rabbi Eric Gurvis, hugging Bilal Kaleem, who heads MAS.

The real story is what actually happened during the governor's visit?

Continue reading "Charles Jacobs: What's up with Deval Patrick?"

[The following, by Eamonn McDonagh, is crossposted from Z Word.]

1.

The Guardian here makes great play of the fact that the autopsies carried out on those killed on the Mavi Marmara show that five of them received gunshot wounds to the head and one was shot between the eyes. The piece quotes a pro-Palestinian activist in the UK as accusing the Israeli commandos having had a "shoot-to-kill" policy.

2.

I can understand reasoned opposition to the blockade of Gaza, the decision to use deadly force to take the Mavi Marmara and anger over the resulting deaths of nine people. However, the attention being given in the Guardian story, and many other media, to the fact that five of the nine died from shots to the head seems to me to reveal more of an obsession with the supposedly uncanny marksmanship and marked bloodlust of Israeli soldiers than anything else. What of those who died from wounds to other parts of their bodies? Do their deaths fall into a separate moral category from those of their comrades?

Continue reading "Shot In The Head On The Mavi Marmara"

daniel schorr.jpg

Retirement Should Have Come Decades Earlier

Daniel Schorr, nonagenarian Senior News Analyst (that's the title bestowed by NPR on left wing reporters when they get put out to pasture by the high-paying networks), has joined the hate-Israel chorus. In his Saturday morning banter with fellow demi-Jew Scott Simon (son of 2nd banana comic, Ernie Simon, Schorr has labeled Israel's interception of the Hamas convoy, "The Hate Blockade."

I wonder if Mr. Schorr would have called the allied naval blockade of Nazi Germany and Japan during World War II a "Hate Blockade"?

Schorr cut his teeth with CBS News in 1946, working with team headed by Edward R. Murrow, the iconic, stylized voice of the network for decades, who made his bones with his intrepid broadcasts from within Nazi Germany and later for his broadsides against Joe McCarthy. For at least a decade, Schorr's punditry - as far as Israel is concerned - has toed the NPR line, namely, Israel has a right to defend itself, but must be condemned every time it does so.

For decades, NPR has unabashedly championed the Palestinian cause, no matter which flavor - the kill -Jews PLO or the kill -Jews Hamas. The powerful, publicly funded radio network feigns objectivity, but is careful to exclude all but the most lunatic, leftist Israeli or Jewish spokespersons (Noam Chomsky, Bernard Avishai, Gideon Levy).

This isn't the first time that Schorr has had to prove himself a member in good standing of that lunatic chorus. In 2009, he pundited:

"Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will not halt settlement activity, and he offers only restraint, a nonstarter for peace negotiations. Netanyahu calls for immediate negotiations looking towards an independent Palestinian state. But his precondition is a demilitarized state, another nonstarter. A state that cannot defend itself is not a sovereign state." (NPR, All Things Considered, Nov. 11, 2009)

So, Mr. Schorr, in spite of the rampant, daily, Jew hatred spewed by the "moderate" (Schorr's word) Abbas and the doctrinal genocidal goals of Hamas, wants the Palestinians to possess a full-fledged military.

When the history of the conduct of American Jews in our time in the face of existential threats to Israel is written, Mr. Schorr and his so-called Jewish comrades in the media it will make the cowardly behavior of the 1940's seem like heroism.

Mr. Schorr obviously lacks the moral clarity of his mentor:

A final note: If you want to read a stand-up Jew, read Krauthammer's latest, brilliant piece: Those troublesome Jews

[The following, by Will Spotts, is crossposted from The PC(USA) on Israel and Palestine.]

I am persuaded the PC(USA)'s Middle East Study Committee was designed to reach a predetermined result. Whether this happened by intent or by accident, I'm not prepared to say. But the weighted composition of the committee (demonstrated by the prior public stands of committee members), the views of PC(USA) staff assigned to the committee (demonstrated by their prior public statements and actions), and the perspective of the large majority of contacts made by the committee (demonstrated by those contacts' statements, actions, and chosen group affiliations) all worked together to insure only one possible result.

I recognize this will be a difficult proposition for Presbyterians to accept. It is often a part of human nature to want to believe that things work the way they should - especially in an institution to which one has dedicated a considerable portion of one's life.

Continue reading "MESC Miscellany"

[The following, by bataween, is crossposted from Point of No Return.]

IST06_wh.jpg

Anti-Israel demonstration in Istanbul (Ynet News)

A Turkish newspaper editor told the European Jewish Press on Wednesday that Turkey's Jewish community feared that the backlash over Israel's interception of aid ships headed for Gaza earlier this week would provoke antisemitism, according to Haaretz :

Continue reading "Jews fear flotilla backlash of rising antisemitism"

In full from The Corner (I doubt they'll mind):

In contrast to the general directions of Helen ("Go back to Germany and Poland") Thomas, the peace-lovers aboard the Mavi Marmara were more specific:

In response to a radio transmission by the Israeli Navy warning the Gaza flotilla that they are approaching a naval blockade, passengers of the Mavi Marmara respond, "Shut up, go back to Auschwitz" and "We're helping Arabs go against the US, don't forget 9/11".

Such amusing conversationalists.

These are not "humanitarian" "peace" "activists". These are, in any objective sense, a party to the conflict. They're not trying to bring "peace", they're trying to help their side win. That's their choice, and may the best man win, but the media collusion in presenting them as "humanitarian" "aid" workers is Orwellian - and all the more so in a world in which the Turkish Prime Minister accuses Israel of killing children on the beach and in which the doyenne of the White House press corps no longer recognizes Israel's "right to exist".

Now the Israeli navy is beseeching the MV Rachel Corrie (an Irish ship funded by the Malaysian government) to land in the port of Ashdod, where the authorities will deliver the (entirely unneeded) "humanitarian aid" to Gaza. The Rachel Corrie is flipping 'em the bird and saying "Gaza, here we come."

This ship is merely the latest memorial to Miss Corrie, a foolish young American killed while enjoying the frisson of vacationing in someone else's despair. There's never been a better time to read Tom Gross' piece on "The Forgotten Rachels":

Rachel Thaler, aged 16, was blown up at a pizzeria in an Israeli shopping mall. She died after an 11-day struggle for life following a suicide bomb attack on a crowd of teenagers on 16 February 2002.

Rachel Corrie's diaries have been published in book form, turned into a hit London play at the Royal Court, and her name has been cited in The Guardian alone hundreds of times ("Remembering Rachel", "Rachel's War", "Rachel Corrie: A True Martyr", "The Lonesome Death Of Rachel Corrie", "Rachel's Words Are A Spur To Action", etc).

By contrast, Rachel Thaler was a British subject. Yet not a single British journalist has ever mentioned her, profiled her, interviewed her parents or other British relatives, or published her diary in a Fleet Street newspaper - except for a single solitary mention by the great (Jewish) comedienne Maureen Lipman noting that nobody ever mentioned her, or the other victims of Palestinian terrorism.

Ah, but Israel is an "apartheid state", and the Palestinians are the Europeans' unending adopt-a-Third-World-pet project. I write in the new National Review (on sale now-ish) that, if old-school judenhass was a by-product of more or less traditional racism and conventional nationalism, the new judenhass advances under the cover of "anti-racism" and "multiculturalism". The oldest hatred didn't get that way without the ability to adapt.


[The following, by Barry Rubin, is crossposted from The Rubin Report.]

Bülent Yildirim, the main organizer of the Gaza Flotilla, explained at a Hamas rally in Gaza that the operation was no humanitarian effort but part of a global Jihad to overthrow governments and install Islamist dictatorships. He made no secret of that fact, as shown in the MEMRI translation and video.

Keep in mind as you read this that his group originated the project and was the main funder, that his followers controlled the biggest ship, and that they were most of those who attacked the Israeli soldiers. Thus, more than any other individual, Yildirim represents the thinking behind the operation, its direction, and the creation of a militarized group on board that started the violence in order to achieve the intended result. Notice, too, that he--and thus the organizers of the operation and those who created the violence--are totally indifferent to the loss of life they cause.

Continue reading "Gaza Flotilla's Leader Explains: It was a Jihadist Attack not a "Humanitarian" Operation"

This is great: IDF Super Star - Druze Vs. Bedouin. I'd post the video here but you really should watch it over at Nizo's to get his full explanation. Two IDF soldiers -- one Bedouin, one Druze -- pass some barracks time by engaging in what appears to be a sort of traditional Arabic rap-off. I don't understand a word but it's mesmerizing.

After the unforgivable, someone, perhaps her employer (Hearst?), instructed Thomas in the correct grunts she was now expected to make:

Helen Thomas issued the following statement today: "I deeply regret my comments I made last week regarding the Israelis and the Palestinians. They do not reflect my heart-felt belief that peace will come to the Middle East only when all parties recognize the need for mutual respect and tolerance. May that day come soon."

Which is, of course, a load of crap. Her initial statement was how she feels, and this boiler-plate BS doesn't even come close to making up for it. Are we supposed to be idiots? Time for the glue factory already.

Update: A reminder that this thing took place during the White House celebration of Jewish History Month.

Links via Instapundit:

MICHELE BACHMANN: Helen Thomas Needs To Go.

Ari Fleischer: Hearst Should Fire Helen Thomas.

Hearst Newspapers Refuse To Say Whether Helen Thomas Will Keep Job.

Navy boards, takes control of 'Rachel Corrie' off Gaza coast

PM compares quiet boarding of boat with "peace activists" to "violent extremists" of Mavi Marmara.

The boarding of the Rachel Corrie containing activists and aid for Gaza was described by Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu on Saturday as a quiet operation. Netanyahu was quick to distinguish between the boat of Irish and Swedish activists and the Turkish-sponsored Mavi Marmara which was boarded May 31 in an incident that left nine dead and scores wounded.

"The different outcome we saw today underscores the difference between peace activists who we disagree with but respect their right to express their different opinion and flotilla participants [on the Mavi Marmara] who were violent extremist supporters of terrorists," said Netanyahu.

IDF navy forces boarded and took control of the MV Rachel Corrie Saturday afternoon. The troops did not meet any resistance from activists attempting to break the Gaza blockade, and the operation was completed without violent incidents.

The military said its forces boarded the 1,200-ton cargo ship from the sea, not helicopters. Army spokeswoman Lt. Col. Avital Leibovich said Saturday's takeover took only a few minutes and that the vessel was being taken to Ashdod port.

Prior to the takeover, three navy ships tailed the aid boat for several hours throughout the morning, a few dozen kilometers from the blockaded Strip. The army said it had contacted the boat four times and urged its passengers to divert to Ashdod, but the activists had repeatedly refused...

The IDF Spokesperson has been posting material concerning the intercept on their blog:

Videos: Radio Transmissions Between Israeli Navy and Seventh Flotilla Ship

This time, the boarding went a bit differently: Video: Aerial Footage of IDF Soldiers Boarding the 7th Flotilla Boat without Incident, 5 June 2010

Photos of Israeli Navy Soldiers Engaging with the Seventh Flotilla Ship, 5 June 2010

dotz_3.jpg

Israeli Navy soldiers board the seventh flotilla ship with permission from the crew

Update: Radio Exchange Between Israeli Navy and 7th Flotilla Ship Regarding Transfer of Aid to Gaza: (IDF offers honorable compromise which goes unaccepted.)


There's been some commentary about the earlier audio released by the IDF (Gaza Flotilla to Israeli Navy: 'Shut Up, Go Back to Auschwitz'). It was pretty clearly a montage and I mentioned that in the initial post, though the IDF made a mistake in labeling it as all being from the Marvi Marmara which I think it's pretty clear it's not. They have now released a version with less material cut out (more boring stuff). I'm told there's even much more than this that they will be releasing, but this is what fits on YouTube:

Update: The IDF has issued its own clarification of the audio issue.

Friday, June 4, 2010

[The following, by Barry Rubin, is crossposted from The Rubin Report.]

"I have not yet begun to fight!" --Captain John Paul Jones 1779

"Don't Give up the ship!" -- Captain James Lawrence, 1813

"Damn the torpedoes! Full steam ahead!" --Admiral David Farragut, 1862

"You may fire when ready, Gridley!" --Commodore George Dewey, 1898

"Oh no! Israel stopped a ship near Gaza, the militants attacked the troops, and nine were killed. Our policy is untenable and we better give in." --President Barack Obama, 2010?

I hope the above turns out to be an exaggeration. Some minor changes--letting private groups send in goods over the border after Israeli inspection--would not damage the effort to isolate and defeat Hamas. But things may go far beyond such cosmetic alterations.

Continue reading "Islamist Extremists Hit Israeli Soldiers with Iron Bars, West Surrenders?"

Nice little explanation in this video on how the media is being willingly manipulated:


J Street has just published its fifth column on the Gaza Flotilla incident.  Let's see how the group is expressing its "Pro Israel" mission following the confrontation in the Mediterranean Sea.  In a familiar, accusatory "open letter", Ben Ami displays his obsequiousness to an administration openly hostile to Israel:

gorilla.jpg

"We mourn the latest loss of life in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict as we mourn the countless deaths and lives destroyed by this tragic conflict over these past decades on both sides of the conflict.

Our deeply-held values demand that we speak out against the death and destruction that accompany this conflict, and the suffering inflicted on both the Palestinian and Israeli people over the decades.

jeremy_benami_320.jpg

We support an immediate end to the blockade of civilian and humanitarian items from entering Gaza, subject to inspection and screening to prevent the import of arms and weapons. We also call for the immediate release of Corporal Gilad Shalit. (emphasis added)

We urge all parties to go the extra mile now for peace before it is too late: talk to your enemies, open the door to compromise, prepare your people for the compromises that ending the conflict will require. Without this effort, the road ahead is paved only with further violence and destruction.

Most important, Mr. President, take immediate action, using the full power of the United States, to achieve a two-state resolution that protects Israel and frees the Palestinian people."

Ben Ami makes no mention of the fact that the "humanitarian" aid aboard the flotilla amounted to less than a day's free shipment of goods by Israel. The afterthought on Gilad Shalit is too self-serving to comment on.

Another of J Street's important constituent groups, The New Israel Fund, put out this statement yesterday:

Continue reading "The 500 lb. Flotilla in the Room: J Street Can't See It. [Hillel]"

He's still standing up for Israel: 'Don't submit to outside probe of raid':

..."Israel has a democratically elected government and like every other democratically elected government in the world, Israel should carry out its own investigation," said Kemp.

"I believe Israel should do it rapidly and comprehensively and should be completely up front if it has made mistakes - mistakes should be admitted by Israel, but I don't think it should be subjected to an independent inquiry any more than other Western countries are.

"Look at what appears to have been a very serious military error made by the German army in Northern Afghanistan last year when something like 50-150 civilians were killed in an air strike," he said.

"Where was the independent inquiry about that? Where were the calls for an independent inquiry about that? Why is it that Israel is subjected to that kind of call when other democratic countries aren't?"...

You can listen to a conference call with Colonel Kemp in which he makes these comment, here.

[The following is crossposted from CAMERA.]

Greta Berlin

Greta Berlin is a 68-year-old, anti-Israel activist and media professional from Los Angeles, CA. In university, she majored in mass communications and theater arts. Her training and professional career as a media and presentations coach have provided her with the skills and experience to manipulate the media in the interest of furthering her radical anti-Israel activities.

greta_berlin.jpg

Berlin began her long career of anti-Israel agitprop after her marriage to a Palestinian man and the birth of their two children in the 1960's. In 2003, she joined the International Solidarity Movement, working as a media officer. She also joined Women in Black In 2006, she co-founded the Free Gaza movement which claims its mission is to "pressure the international community to review its sanctions policy and end its support for continued Israeli occupation." She runs the movement's media initiative.

Berlin displays extreme animus toward the Jewish state, successfully using the media to publicize her outright distortions and anti-Israel agenda. Her support of Hamas is evidenced by comments justifying the group (see below) and this Aug. 28, 2008 photograph picturing her and fellow ISMers celebrating with Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh after Free Gaza's first flotilla landed in Gaza.

Continue reading "Greta Berlin: Gaza Flotilla Propagandist"

Audio:

Lovely.

BTW, I am told by an IDF spokesperson that this is a condensed piece of about a half hour of ongoing exchange including long periods of silence.

This you must see, from old moonbat Jew-hater Helen Thomas:

She is long past her expiration date. This via Yid with Lid who has the full context: Helen Thomas Says Jews Should Get the Hell Out of Palestine and Back To Germany-MUST SEE VIDEO

Thursday, June 3, 2010

Looks like someone got to Barney Frank and convinced him to back off the stupid, stupid remarks he made Tuesday with regard to the Gaza Flotilla: Barney Frank Backs Off From Israel Criticism

U.S. Rep. Barney Frank scrambled yesterday to backtrack from his criticisms of an Israeli raid on a pro-Palestinian flotilla that left nine dead - saying he never referred to those killed as "innocent."

Frank, (D-Newton), came under fire from local Jewish groups after telling the Herald Tuesday he was "as a Jew ... ashamed" of some Israeli actions and saying there should be a "genuinely impartial" inquiry into the raid, (as was reported here on VIN News). Yesterday, Frank said a probe by an Israeli-commissioned group is best.

"The record of the United Nations with regard to Israel is a badly biased one and clearly no inquiry by the U.N. would have the credibility it ought to have," Frank's statement said.

In his Tuesday meeting with Herald reporters and editors, when asked how the United States should respond to the raid, Frank said he needed to review the incident. He then said, "Once you have a combat situation and innocent people die, I mean, you know, look at our problems in Afghanistan, and we have an obligation to try and avoid it."

Frank's statement yesterday said he was not referring to the slain pro-Palestinian activists as "innocent," but was referring to "the problems the American military has encountered in Afghanistan - and before that to a great extent Iraq," an apparent reference to accidental killings of civilians by the U.S. military...

Here are a few links to pages that have been set up for those looking for a lot of information all in one place:

StandWithUs has set up Flotilla Facts.

There's also Talk to Gaza: Flotilla Facts.

And this page, at the Jewish Policy Center, contains a good narrative of what happened on one page: What Really Happened on the Gaza 'Freedom Flotilla'

I know it might seem a strange time to open up another front in the fight against de-legitimization of Israel, but with the Presbyterian Church meeting in just a month to vote on a variety of anti-Israel measures, some Jewish and Christian anti-divestment activists have organized to start a new site, Bearing Witness 2010, designed to take on the issue of anti-Israel animus within the Presbyterian Church. Please point anyone you know who is involved with the church or interested in Christian-Israel or Christian-Jewish relations towards the site and stay tuned to both Divest This and Will Spott's blog (and Solomonia) for ongoing updates between now and when votes are taken at teh PCUSA General Assembly in July.

Wednesday, June 2, 2010

[The following, by Israelinurse, is crossposted from CiF Watch.]

I have just read your latest offering in the Guardian's 'Comment is Free'. Despite (or because of) my English upbringing, one of the things I cherish most about the Israeli people is their directness and their ability to cut to the chase, so I hope you have not forgotten the all-important words in Hebrew 'dugri' and 'tachless' because I do not intend to beat about the bush too much.

daphna-baram.jpg

The decision to live in Israel or not is, of course, entirely yours. The decision to use your Israeli nationality as some sort of badge or certificate which supposedly gives you the moral authority to preach to those of us who actually live here - and don't just have the tee-shirt - is something else, and a subject which I feel is legitimate for public discussion. I will not grace your words by calling them 'chutzpa' but instead point out the dangerous and insidious manner in which you attempt to divide us into categories of 'good Jews' and 'bad Jews' by writing the following:

Continue reading "Shalom Daphna"

Bibi always comes through:

Transcript. A snip:

...This is not a theoretical challenge or a theoretical threat. We have already interdicted vessels bound for Hizbullah, and for Hamas from Iran, containing hundreds of tons of weapons. In one ship, the Francop, we found hundreds of tons of war materiel and weapons destined for Hizbullah. In another celebrated case, the Karine A, dozens of tons of weapons were destined for Hamas by Iran via a shipment to Gaza. Israel simply cannot permit the free flow of weapons and war materials to Hamas from the sea.

I will go further than that. Israel cannot permit Iran to establish a Mediterranean port a few dozen kilometers from Tel Aviv and from Jerusalem. And I would go beyond that too. I say to the responsible leaders of all the nations: The international community cannot afford an Iranian port in the Mediterranean. Fifteen years ago I cautioned about an Iranian development that has come to pass - people now recognize that danger. Today I warn of this impending willingness to enable Iran to establish a naval port right next to Israel, right next to Europe. The same countries that are criticizing us today should know that they will be targeted tomorrow.

For this and for many other reasons, we have a right to inspect cargo heading into Gaza.

And here's our policy. It's very simple: Humanitarian and other goods can go in and weapons and war materiel cannot. And we do let civilian goods into Gaza. There is no humanitarian crisis in Gaza. Each week, an average of ten thousand tons of goods enter Gaza. There's no shortage of food. There's no shortage of medicine. There's no shortage of other goods...

Frank is full on J Street, pontificating about Israeli politics. He ought to move there and vote since he's got such great ideas. Please, please, please vote this guy out: Barney Frank calls for probe of Gaza raid

U.S. Rep. Barney Frank had harsh words yesterday for the Israeli Navy after a bloody raid on a pro-Palestinian flotilla outside of Gaza, describing nine activists killed in the conflict as "innocent" and calling for an independent inquiry into the showdown...

Would some of the leadership quoted in the article please call Frank and explain that he doesn't know what the hell he's talking about? Fortunately, there is another choice: Sean Bielat.

Elliott Abrams has a must-read on the way in which the Administration stood aside at the UN: Joining the Jackals - The Obama administration abandons Israel.

At the United Nations, a lynch mob for Israel is always just a moment away. The Islamic countries are a reliable source of venom, led by the Arab bloc; what we used to call the "non-aligned" are all aligned against Israel and happy to join the fun; and the Europeans can be counted on for hand-wringing rather than staunch resistance. Only the United States, and a few brave allies like Canada and Australia, can be counted upon to oppose diplomatic lynchings year after year; and only the United States can stop them in the Security Council.

In the American government, it is never the State Department bureaucracy that wishes to brave the endless assaults at the UN. Normally the resistance comes not from the various regional bureaus or from the International Organizations bureau, where Israel is so often viewed as a giant pain, but from the White House and sometimes (example: George Shultz) the Secretary of State.

This week the mob formed again, instantly, after the Gaza flotilla disaster, reinforced this time by the leadership of Turkey, whose language at the UN was more vicious than that used by the Arabs. As usual there was really only one question once the mob began to gather. It is the question that arose repeatedly in the Bush years--when the Hamas leaders Sheik Yassin and Abdel Aziz Rantisi were killed by Israel, when Israel acted in Gaza, when Israel put down the intifada in the West Bank, and during the 2006 war in Lebanon and the late 2008 fighting in Gaza: would Israel stand alone, or would the United States stand with her and prevent the lynching? Would the U.S., in Daniel Patrick Moynihan's memorable phrase, "join the jackals?"

This week the Obama administration answered the question: Yes we would, and Israel would stand alone. It is simple to block the kind of attack issued as a "President's Statement" on behalf of the Council, for such a statement requires unanimity. The United States can just say "No," and make it clear that orders have come from the White House and will not be changed. Then negotiations begin on a serious statement--or, there can be no statement at all. The killing of dozens of South Korean sailors by North Korea in an action that truly threatens the peace did not evoke the kind of action the Security Council took against Israel, proving that the UN does not always act, or act in the same way, when news flashes hit. Whether Israel is slammed depends on whether the United States is willing to take a stand...

Do read the rest. And could we please remember that it's been Hilary Clinton playing point person for many of this administration's assaults? Don't forget it. She'll be back.

More of the cynicism of the Gaza Flotilla is revealed in this interview from Jameel at The Muqata: Exclusive: Interview with Senior Israeli Official from COGAT

This evening, the IDF Spokesman's New Media Unit arranged for an exclusive blogger-press-conference with a senior official from COGAT, Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories, which among its responsibilities, includes coordinating the transfer of humanitarian aid to the Gaza strip.

The senior official briefed us on the humanitarian aid transfer to Gaza in general, as well as the specifics of the aid from the flotilla ships...

Check this out:

Q: How does this equipment normally get distributed?
A: The PA in Ramallah represents the private sector in Gaza and coordinates the distribution via the humanitarian organizations.

Q: How much aid does the flotilla represent, compared to the usual aid flowing into Gaza via Israel?
A: About 1 day's worth.

Q: What sort of aid is on the ships?
A: Clothes and shoes, though its not clear if they are new or used. Medicine, medical equipment. Its difficult to know because it was all randomly thrown into the belly of the ships.

Q: If its urgent for all this humanitarian aid to get into Gaza, why is Hamas not allowing it in?
A: We (COGAT) have even asked the Red Cross to help with distributing the medical equipment, yet they have refused to get involved. We have 13 trucks waiting in Israel, not including the 9 at the Keren Shalom crossing, and we're just waiting to send it in.

Q: Has the date of the aid medication that arrived via the flotilla, expired?
A: So far, we (COGAT) have located two types of medication. An unlabeled cough syrup of some sort, which expired this past April, and children's paracetamol (liquid acetaminophen) which expires this coming July (a month away)...

More here.

From MEMRI: Arab Media Reports on Flotilla Participants: Writing Wills, Preparing for Martyrdom, Determined to Reach Gaza or Die

Following is information from the Arab media about some of the flotilla participants. It should be noted that many of these were from the Muslim Brotherhood across the Muslim world...[The rest.]

Here are a couple of highlights from Just Journalism's report: Controversial flotilla members ignored

Bishop Hilarion Capucci
Aboard the Mavi Marmara
No known affiliations
Convicted and imprisoned in the 1970s for smuggling weapons from Lebanon to the PLO
An article in The Daily Telegraph from 2009 described him as a 'veteran Palestinian rights campaigner', without mentioning his conviction

Muhammad Al-Baltaji
Ship unknown
Deputy secretary-general, Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood parliamentary bloc
'[We] will never recognize Israel and will never abandon the resistance'

Sheikh Jalal Al-Sharqi
Ship unknown
Head of the Association of Islamic Scholars in the GCC Countries
Signed a clerics' petition calling to acknowledge Hamas's legitimacy, and to not prevent it from obtaining weapons.

More here.

[The following, by Barry Rubin, is crossposted from The Rubin Report.]

Brazil is an excellent case study on the failure of President Barack Obama's foreign policy. President Lula Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva is what might be called a near-Communist and an anti-American. Yet he has been flattered and treated as a friend by the U.S. government even as he was preparing to stab the United States in the back by cutting his own deal with Iran.

Continue reading "Is Brazil Nuts or Does it Understand America's Self-Proclaimed Weakness"

I don't know who the anonymous anchor is, or what station/network, but this is quite good, and could describe any number of media outlets:

...Dear XXXX,

I'm writing for some clarification about how we are supposed to cover the Gaza flotilla story. If we, as a news organization, are supposed to be acting as a public relations arm of Hamas, or Hezbollah, both internationally recognized terrorist organizations, or if we are supposed to be jumping on the bandwagon of 1930's style anti-Semitism that's presently sweeping much of the world, then we are doing a fine job. If we are supposed to be acting as a news organization that covers the story objectively, then our coverage is a travesty and an embarrassment.

I just finished watching XXXX's piece on yesterday's 5pm newscast, so I could better understand the grotesquely distorted and biased voice-over that ran on this morning's show. XXXX interviewed former diplomat Edward Peck, who was onboard the "Gaza Flotilla," without describing his views on the Middle East. Some perspective would have helped. Among other things, Peck spoke these words, later famously used by the Rev. Jeremiah Wright:"We bombed Hiroshima, we bombed Nagasaki, and we nuked far more than the thousands in New York and the Pentagon, and we never batted an eye...and now we are indignant, because the stuff we have done overseas is now brought back into our own front yards."

Peck is deeply controversial in other ways. But no mention was made in XXXX's story of anything that might cast the slightest doubt on Pecks political motivations.

In addition, remarkably, her piece made no mention - absolutely none -- of the Israeli perspective in this story. For example...[The rest.]


What's this? I thought there was a humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip (there isn't, and never was), yet...get this...Hamas is setting conditions before they will accept the material seized from the ships from the Israelis: Hamas raises conditions to get aid through Israel

Hamas authorities on Tuesday refused to receive aid and supplies to the Gaza Strip through Israel, stressing that Israel must first free pro-Palestinian campaigners who were onboard an aid flotilla.

Israel can send aid that Gaza flotilla had carried to the coastal enclave "only if the shipments are complete and when Israel release all activists who were onboard the ships, Ziad Al- Zaza, Hamas' Minister of Economy, told Xinhua.

"The priority is to release the detained activists," Al-Zaza added...

...Today, Israel allowed part of the aid, which originally included construction materials and medical supplies, to Gaza through one of its land crossing points, but Hamas refused to let that shipment in, witnesses told Xinhua...

Also at YNet: 'Hamas blocking delivery of aid'

...According to the security sources, despite Hamas' objection, the unloading of the goods at Ashdod Port continues. Port workers and Defense Ministry elements have been working to unload the cargo since the ships docked on Monday, and Tuesday night, eight trucks containing medical equipment, toys, clothing and medicine arrived at the Kerem Shalom crossing.

The cargo was unloaded at the crossing, but has yet to be transferred to the Palestinian side. The Israel Defense Forces, the Defense Ministry, and government sources will continue with their attempts to coordinate the transfer of the goods into Gaza.

A COGAT statement said, "We will continue to work to coordinate the transfer of the humanitarian goods into the Gaza Strip, in coordination with the international community and the Palestinian Authority, as was declared before the flotilla arrived."...

...Colonel Moshe Levy, head of the Gaza Coordination and Liaison Office, said that "there was no need for this cargo. The same goods have been sent into Gaza over the past year on a regular basis. There were more than 100 electric scooters, and tons of medical equipment. This proves that the entire sail was propagandist and provocative and had nothing to do with aid."

Of course, the idea that there is a humanitarian disaster in Gaza, including mass starvation, is a ridiculous lie, as this latest piece of evidence, a Danish report quoted at Elder of Ziyon, makes clear:

...I will not say whether, in better times has been a larger product range than there was yesterday. But there was certainly no shortage of vegetables, fruits or any other ordinary, basic foods. Tomatoes, cucumbers, corn, watermelons, potatoes - mountains of these items in the many stalls.

I must admit I was a little surprised. Because when I call down here to my Palestinian friends, they tell me about all the problems and deficiencies, so I expected that the crisis was a little more clear.

And the first woman we interviewed in the market confirms this strange, contradictory, negative mindset:

"We have nothing," she said. We need everything! Food, drinks ... everything!"

It disturbed her not at least that she stood between the mountains of vegetables, fruit, eggs, poultry and fish, while she spun this doomsday scenario.

Yousuf al-Assad Yazgy owns a fruit and vegetable outlet here in the market. All his fruit is imported from Israel...

In some of the clearest video yet, we see some of the weapons used by the Flotilla passengers against what can only be described as a highly restrained IDF, including clubs, chains, and a stun grenade. These are not the actions of passive civilian peace activists. This is more video evidence of a planned violent resistance against a disciplined force willing to take a beating before causing any casualties:


Update: New Video


Ed Peck Cair.jpg

Edward Peck, Honored Guest at CAIR Meeting

Who is Edward Peck and why is he important in the War Against the Jews? Ed Peck has had a long career beginning in the Nixon administration in the early 1970's. He went on to work for Jimmy Carter as Chief of Mission in Baghdad from 1977 to 1980 then as Ambassador to Mauretania (one of the last countries to permit chattel slavery to this day). Peck is all over the media because he was aboard a small Greek boat that made up part of the "flotilla" turned back by Israeli forces.

Peck has a long history of anti-Israel activity.  A longtime supporter of The Israel Lobby canard by Walt and Mearsheimer ("Of Course There is an Israel Lobby") and frequent guest of CAIR, the Muslim American group many of whose officials have been indicted and convicted of terrorist activity, Peck is now being sought as an expert "witness" to Israeli atrocities on the high seas.  Rounding out his "diplomatic" activities is a long association with Eugene Bird's Council for the National Interest, the far right wing group that advocates divestment and disengagement from Israel.  I forgot to mention that Mr. Peck is also an apologist for Hezbollah maintaining that it is no more a "terrorist" entity than Israel or the United States:

Today Ed Peck was interviewed by National Public Radio and introduced simply as "a retired American diplomat with long experience in the Middle East." Part of that experience, not referenced by the careful fact-checkers at NPR, consisted of being a spokesman for the Palestine Authority. Listen to the complete puff piece:


Tuesday, June 1, 2010

rheaepimetheus_cassini.jpg

Moons and Rings Before Saturn: While cruising around Saturn, be on the lookout for picturesque juxtapositions of moons and rings. Another striking alignment occurred last March in the view of humanity's Saturn-orbiting Cassini spacecraft. Rhea, one of Saturn's larger moons, was caught passing Epimetheus, one of Saturn's smaller moons. Epimetheus, as pictured above, is actually well behind the heavily cratered Rhea. Further back, several of the complex rings of Saturn can be seen crossing the image horizontally. Behind both the moons and rings is giant Saturn itself, showing expansive but featureless clouds in the green light where the above image was taken. The Cassini mission around Saturn has now been extended to 2017 to better study the complex planetary system as its season changes from equinox to solstice.

[The following, by bataween, is crossposted from Point of No Return.]

202015b.jpg

A new book provides essential facts in English about one of the most significant events to affect Jews in Iraq in the last century: the Farhud pogrom, which erupted 69 years ago today.

My 89-year old aunt recently shared her recollections of the Farhud with me for the first time. The Iraqi-Jewish Kristallnacht erupted exactly 69 years ago, in the wake of the pro-Nazi Rashid Ali coup. My aunt lived with my grandparents in their house in Baghdad. The house had an entrance on either side. As they heard the rampaging mob approach, my family fled through the back entrance and into the Muslim neighbour's house.

Although the neighbour was a Nazi sympathiser, his wife was a 'lady' and a good friend of the family. She offered them hospitality until the trouble died down. " She even made the beds for us," my aunt reminisced. Eventually the Nazi neighbour, too, turned up trumps: he remonstrated with the looters and made them return all the property they had stolen from my grandparents' house.

Continue reading "New book in English puts the Farhud on record"

[The following, by Will Spotts, is crossposted from The PC(USA) on Israel and Palestine.]

We've already examined the mandate of the Middle East Study Committee, its composition, and part of its process.  From the outset, the committee failed in one portion of its mandate:  its composition was supposed to be drawn from "a broad spectrum of viewpoints from PC(USA) members."  Optimistically, before even beginning their work, 77% of the study committee's members publicly favored one side.  Again, optimistically, three quarters of the PC(USA) staff tasked with supporting the study committee's work had a record of bias against one side.  The study committee spent a lot of time, traveled, and met with a number of people; but 78% of the study committee's contacts represented one perspective.  In all three cases, the weight was toward the Palestinian narrative and against the State of Israel.

Given those circumstances, the Middle East Study Committee produced the report a person might expect. They made sixty recommendations to the General Assembly. These recommendations range from the non-offensive to the odd to the extreme to the patently unfair. I am not going to attempt to examine all of them in this limited space. Instead, I'll confine myself to reporting some of the more colorful ones.

Continue reading "The PC(USA)'s Middle East Study Committee Recommendations"

IMG_0087.JPG

Looking like the contents of a time capsule, buried in 1969 and popped open this week, the graying, pony-tailed, hate-Israel crowd took advantage of the "Gaza Flotilla" incident to mount demonstrations around the world. Forget about the nostalgic, yearning for World P-E-A-C-E; These people are out for Jewish blood. Oddly, these fighters for "peace and justice" never saw a Darfurian they wanted to save, or a Rwandan that was worthy of demonstrating for. They stayed home in bed when Hamas and Fatah were killing each other with alacrity a few years ago. Composed of roughly equal numbers of real Jihadists, "atheist, socialist" Jews and far left stalwarts of Protestant denominations (Quakers, Unitarians, etc.), the throngs descended on the town squares like an army of Sweeney Todds, reinvigorated by the blades again in their hands:

sweeney_todd.jpg

"But the work waits! I'm alive at last! And I'm full of joy!"

At last, the moth eaten, remnants of the '60's, re-animated by Obama have found a reason to live:

Jew hatred. This is how one demonstrator answered me when I asked him how he could support a regime and people whose core tenets were antithetical to his socialist, atheist roots (Gazans as theo-fascist, woman-hating, woman-killing, gay-hating, gay-killing, anti-socialist economics, etc.):

"             "

That's it - he said absolutely nothing and rejoined his "Palestine Shall be Free from the River to the Sea" comrades.

Further commentary on these images would be superfluous.

Watch and have an air sickness bag ready:

IMG_0073.JPG

IMG_0077.JPG

Continue reading "Endorsing Violence: Leftists and Jihadists Embrace in Boston [Hillel]"

Here's another comprehensive collection of useful information regarding the Gaza Flotilla. Judging from the traffic, yesterday's posting seems to have helped a considerable number of people: Video: Gaza Flotilla Thugs Stab Israeli Soldiers, Use Immediate Extreme Violence (Important Updates)

[Update: Before we get to the links. Here's one young man, D Laugier, who wasn't afraid to venture down to the Boston Common yesterday, and do a lone-man counter-protest to the "spontaneous" protest there yesterday. We salute his bravery and his indefatigability:]

dl1.jpg

dl2.jpg

Now back to the links:

Let's try, once again, to put to bed some of the legal issues:

CAMERA: Israel's right to blockade Gaza and to interdict shipping

Under international law Israel is within its rights to establish a maritime blockade of the Gaza Strip, since Gaza is ruled by Hamas, a hostile terrorist entity that has launched missiles into Israel targeting and killing civilians, and has also infiltrated and attempted to infiltrate into Israel in order to carry out attacks.

While allowing inspected food and other essential materials into Gaza via trucks, Israel has announced that ships attempting to transport supposedly humanitarian supplies into Gaza would have to first dock in Israel for the supplies to be inspected, after which legitimate humanitarian supplies would be trucked into Gaza.

The organizers of the Gaza-bound ships have consistently refused to allow their cargo to be inspected, which seems to prove that their humanitarian aid is just a pretext, and their real aim is simply to break the blockade. Whatever their aim however, Israel has a right under international law to prevent such ships from reaching Gaza...

They go on to quote the relevant international law.

Julian Ku, writing at Opinio Juris answers the question: Did the Israeli Defense Forces Commandos Commit "Piracy"? Nope.

...let me start by advising IDF critics to drop the silly accusation that Israel committed "piracy," which various folks have made...whatever can be said about the legality of the raid, it was not, as a legal matter, piracy...So can we drop the stupid piracy meme?...

Bibi Netanyahu makes a short statement:

This soldier describes what it was like coming down on the deck of the ship, including the use of live fire against them:

Here is chilling audio of the soldiers, their reaction to the attack, and their distress calls while taking live fire:

Richard Landes has posted some even higher definition video of the maelstrom the soldiers came into: High(er) Definition footage of the battle on the Mavi Marmara

[Update: Excellent video of British security expert analyzing the boarding video. Shows the Paintball Guns used by Israeli commandos:]

Here are some links concerning the Turkish Islamist group, the IHH, that seems to have been primarily responsible for the trouble, and with whom the other organizers collaborated:

At The Weekly Standard, Jonathan Schanzer writes about The Terror Finance Flotilla

...The Turkish IHH (Islan Haklary Ve Hurriyetleri Vakfi in Turkish) was founded in 1992, and reportedly popped up on the CIA's radar in 1996 for its radical Islamist leanings. Like many other Islamist charities, the IHH has a record of providing relief to areas where disaster has struck in the Muslim world.

However, the organization is not a force for good. The Turkish nonprofit belongs to a Saudi-based umbrella organization known to finance terrorism called the Union of Good (Ittilaf al-Kheir in Arabic). Notably, the Union is chaired by Sheikh Yusuf Qaradawi, who is known best for his religious ruling that encourages suicide attacks against Israeli civilians. According to one report, Qardawi personally transferred millions of dollars to the Union in an effort to provide financial support to Hamas...

Just Journalism notes that the press hasn't shown much interest in the terror connections of the organizers: Press ignores controversial IHH profile

And here's that report from the Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center: A Danish research institute exposes the links the Turkish organization IHH had with Al-Qaeda and global jihad networks

Elder notes that even Turkey has taken action against the group:

Organizations such as IHH are quick to respond to natural disasters and other human catastrophes. Unfortunately, these groups often seek to use these situations to gain leverage with destitute Muslim refugees. In August 1999, when a devastating earthquake struck Turkey, IHH reached the affected zones, in some cases, even before the Turkish government. Friction quickly grew between authorities tasked with relief and independent Islamist "humanitarian" groups. Ultimately, Turkey was forced to ban the IHH from participating in earthquake aid efforts because it was counted among several "fundamentalist organizations" operating "secret bank accounts" that were refusing to allow local authorities to oversee the distribution of their aid resources

Evan Kohlmann, author of the original IHH report, brings things up to date: Shooting the Messenger: A Look at the Facts on the Turkish Aid Group IHH

...On December 5, 1997, Turkish police raided the IHH headquarters office in Istanbul and arrested its principal leaders. Following their preliminary inquiry, on April 27, 1998, Turkish investigators launched a formal legal case against the IHH. According to a report produced by French counterterrorism magistrates, the inquiry was spurred by the sale of an AK-47 assault rifle to an IHH leader by "a member of the illegal organization VASAT." Turkish police reported seizing a series of disturbing items from the IHH in Turkey, including an explosive device, two sticks of dynamite, bomb making instructions, and a "jihad flag." The French magistrates report noted that:

"It appears that the detained members of IHH were going to fight in Afghanistan, Bosnia, and Chechnya... The essential goal of this Association was to illegally arm its membership for overthrowing democratic, secular, and constitutional order present in Turkey and replacing it with an Islamic state founded on the Shariah. Under the cover of this organization known under the name of IHH, [IHH leaders] acted to recruit veteran soldiers in anticipation of the coming holy war. In particular, some men were sent into war zones in Muslim countries in order to acquire combat experience. On the spot, the formation of a military unit was assured. In addition, towards the purpose of obtaining political support from these countries, financial aid was transferred [from IHH], as well as caches of firearms, knives, and pre-fabricated explosives."...

NGO Monitor does their usual excellent work: NGO Involvement in the Gaza Boat Flotilla

Charities, NGOs, and other groups claiming human rights and humanitarian aid goals have been deeply involved in the demonization of Israel. The "Free Gaza Flotilla" highlights this façade of morality exploited for this political warfare...

YNet is reporting (h/t: IsraeliSoldier on Twitter): Navy Commander: The activists were given money to deal with fighters (sorry for Google translation)

During the special cabinet discussion revealed that Gen. Merom pockets of some of those killed in the incident were found thousands of dollars in cash. Evaluation: Some activists were mercenaries who were paid before boarding ships to confront Israeli soldiers

Also at YNet (another translation):

Most passengers Ahmarmra were political activists and members of humanitarian organizations, but those who attacked the squadron were active fighters who were recruited for this purpose violent. They also brought on board Ahmarmra ceramic bulletproof vests, masks Ab"ach lot of weapons, such as telescopic metal batons, knives and machine guns...

Now in English at YNet: Probe reveals flotilla lynchers have ties to Global Jihad

The ongoing interrogation of passengers who were aboard the Marmara - the Gaza aid flotilla's flagship - revealed that the majority of those who attacked the Israeli Naval Commandos boarding the ship have direct and indirect Global Jihad ties.

Israel's investigation has revealed some 100 people infiltrated the peace and humanitarian aid activists making their way to Gaza, with the explicit design to attack Israeli soldiers using cold arms...

Video at Legal Insurrection: Gaza Flotilla Organizer Puts Lie To "Humanitarian" Purpose

Adam Shapiro, one of the organizers of flotillas to break the sea blockade of Gaza in 2009 and again in 2010, was interviewed on PBS. In the interview, Shapiro made clear that the primary purpose of the flotilla was political.

Only upon prompting by Gwen Ifill did Shapiro even mention a supposed humanitarian purpose...

Not sure if I posted this one already, but Palestinian Media Watch notes: More documentation of flotilla planning violence against Israel

A day before the confrontation with Israel a university lecturer revealed on Hamas TV that the Gaza flotilla's commander had announced that the participants were planning to use "resistance," the Palestinian euphemism for violence, against "the Zionists." He added that the participants sought to die as Martyrs, even more than they wanted to reach Gaza...

Continue reading "Gaza Flotilla Day 2 Mega Roundup"

An on-topic, off-topic posting from Divest This!

On paper, yesterday's utterly inevitable loss of life off the Gaza coast is not per se a BDS story. But remember that BDS is simply a tactic in service to a wider strategy of de-legitimization of the Jewish state.

And this de-legitimization applies not just to Israel itself (via attempts to subject all aspects of the country - including its products, academics and artists - to disruptive political protests). Rather, it also applies to de-legitimizing Israel's ability to do what all other countries are allowed to do (and do routinely), namely defend its borders and its people. The corollary of this strategy is that any attempt to attack Israel is lent immediate legitimacy, up to and including describing a known Turkish Jihadi organization (which has coordinated its activities with the illegal, Islamist Hamas government in Gaza) with the innocent term "humanitarian aid group."

Keep in mind that Israel called the flotilla organizers' bluff weeks ago when they offered to allow all of the aid the ships were allegedly bringing to meet the needs of the people of Gaza through the same avenues already used by Israel to supply much larger amounts of similar aid. The leaders of the group refused this offer, naturally, because their goal had nothing to do with humanitarian aid and everything to do with breaking a blockade that has succeeded in keeping arms (not food) out of the hands of people living in Gaza.

Those gathering around the country (and around the world) to protest Israel's actions against a "humanitarian aid convoy" will have their hands full shouting down these unquestionable and verifiable facts, as well as trying to get the public to ignore video of "peaceful protestors" assaulting Israelis with knives, rods and guns, violent activity that made bloodshed on the high seas all but inevitable.

This shouting will also need to be loud enough to drown out self-reflection by any part of the "Israel is always guilty" community which might point out the role they played in ensuring the loss of life off the Gaza coast. After all, not every ship carried known militants primed for battle once the inevitable happened and their provocation led to boarding by the Israeli navy. In fact, I'm sure that many aboard the boats where battles didn't break out (as well as those that supported the flotilla around the world) have managed to convince themselves that their mission was simply one of humanitarian aid, courage and mercy.

The trouble is, these folks seem to spend so much time thinking well of themselves that they fail to see the true nature of those who are sailing alongside them. Just as the media was willing to characterize the flotilla exactly as they wished to be characterized, refusing to do the 15 minutes of research required to tell them just who was behind the project, so too the convoy's members and supporters cannot imagine themselves being involved with anything that does not fit their self-image of selfless, heroic, humanitarians. And so more people are killed, and those who bear more responsibility for this tragedy than anyone else immediately put their energies into creating new martyrs and new myths of their own wonderfulness and bravery.

Keep in mind that these are not the first people the anti-Israel "peace movement" has managed to get killed. Just last winter, a similar group of irresponsible activists under incompetent leadership dragged a thousand people over to Egypt for a week, succeeding only in getting an Egyptian cop shot when the "activists" triggered a riot at the Egypt-Gaza border.

And let's not forget the Joan of Arc of the anti-Israel "movement," Rachel Corrie, whom the International Solidarity Movement (ISM) managed to sneak into Israel and place directly in harm's way, after filling the girl's head with their propaganda storyline consisting solely of Israeli witches and Palestinian virgins. And once they managed to get Corrie killed, their time was spent turning her into a martyr-saint with plays, films and pageantry, all the time demanding that everyone from Caterpillar Tractor to the Israeli government explain how she died, without once pausing to think about how their own choices led directly to her death.

I've always alluded to the dark side of fantasy politics. It would be a depressing exercise to list all of the people maimed, injured or killed, all so a group of self-righteous Israel-hating loudmouths can make themselves feel hip, virtuous and relevant. But clearly we can now add ten Turks that this list whose only regret is that they did not manage to take as many Israelis to the grave with them as possible.

[an error occurred while processing this directive]

[an error occurred while processing this directive]

Search


Archives
[an error occurred while processing this directive] [an error occurred while processing this directive]