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Petition Seeks to Remove Anti-Israel Page on Facebook

February 6, 2013 / / 0 Comments

F*ck Israel Facebook Page

Facebook is a social network where anyone can share their views and have it heard by millions in an instant. While free speech is a freedom that everyone enjoys, some people exploit that right to serve their own prejudices.

A Facebook page called “F*ck Israel” has been stirring a lot of controversy. A petition is now swirling around the site and garnering support in an effort to pressure Facebook to close the page.

The petition was started by Michael Mendelson with the support of several Pro-Israel groups and has already collected more than 75,000 likes. According to Mendelson, he has not been in contact with any Facebook officials though he speculates that the petition will need roughly 10 times the number of likes as the “F*ck Israel” page in order for Facebook to act.

The Anti-Defamation League has also stepped in and urged Facebook to step up and remove all offensive comments and remarks on the page.

The “F*ck Israel” page has 36,000 likes so far and has statements that praise Adolf Hitler and also refers to Jews as pigs, apes and baby killers. The page, however, also contains a number of comments that stand behind Israel and boldly denounce the hateful sentiments.

According to Abraham Cooper, a Los Angeles rabbi, there are about two dozen other similar groups on Facebook as well as others on Twitter and Youtube. Most of them are believed to be started by Muslim groups. Most of these pages contain a logo of the Palestinian flag or the Israel flag with a censor mark over it.

Facebook is also home to several pages dedicated to the defamation of Mormons, Muslims, Christians and Hindus. While Facebook has been responsive and have removed pages containing offensive material, the creators of such groups are often allowed to create another page under a different name.

Rotten Melon?

September 13, 2011 / / 0 Comments

Mel Gibson, who told a police officer once when he was drunk and Israel’s 2006 invasion of Lebanon had the front page of every media outlet: “Fucking Jews… the Jews are responsible for all the wars in the world…” is set to direct a new film!

The Los Angeles Times reported:

“Mel Gibson, the Oscar winner who has defended himself against accusations of anti-Semitism, is developing a film for Warner Bros. about the life of Judah Maccabee, the warrior whose ancient victory is celebrated by Hanukkah…
…Gibson’s Icon Productions has closed the producing deal with Warner Bros., and Joe Eszterhas will write the screenplay. Gibson’s camp said the filmmaker will decide if he’s directing after the script is done and that he has not ruled out the possibility that he could act in the film…”

It is a good idea if you think about it.

A big budget motion picture based on Judah Maccabee. Often I’ve pondered doing a Masada remake, or better, Bar Kokhva the film, with Antonio Benderas as the megalomaniacal Shimon bar Kokhva, Kevin Spacey as the Roman emperor Hadrian and James Earl Jones as Rabbi Akiva.

So despite the fact that the guy’s an Anti-Semite, I’d pay to see the film. However, various Jewish groups are up in arms about it.
Abraham Foxman, Anti-Defamation League national director:

“Judah Maccabee is a hero of the Jewish people and a universal hero in the struggle for religious liberty, he deserves better. It’s facetious that his story is told by a person who has no respect for other people’s religious viewpoints…”

Rabbi Marvin Hier from Los Angeles’ Simon Wiesenthal Center:

“Gibson’s plan is simply an insult to Jewish people…He has antagonistic viewpoint towards Jews. Casting him as a director or perhaps as the star of Judah Maccabee is like casting (Bernie) Madoff to be the head of the Securities and Exchange Commission, or a white supremacist as trying to portray Martin Luther King Jr. It’s simply an insult to Jews…”

In a recent interview in GQ, Wynona Ryder told Alex Pappademas:

“I remember, like, fifteen years ago, I was at one of those big Hollywood parties. And he was really drunk. I was with my friend, who’s gay. He made a really horrible gay joke. And somehow it came up that I was Jewish. He said something about ‘oven dodgers,’ but I didn’t get it. I’d never heard that before. It was just this weird, weird moment. I was like, ‘He’s anti-Semitic and he’s homophobic.’ No one believed me!”

So he can’t deny his anti-Semitism.

Nevertheless, the church has often been interested in the various texts of the Aprocrypha, a collection of texts from Ancient Judea, largely written in Greek, which were not canonized, and in which the story is included.

Check out Jeffrey Goldberg chin-wagging Gibson over at the Atlantic.

Is anti-Semitism on the Rise or Decrease in Venezuela?

May 27, 2011 / / 0 Comments

A Jewish advocacy group in Venezuela is protesting a state-run radio broadcast referencing the “Protocols of the Elders of Zion.”

The Venezuelan Confederation of Israelite Associations filed a formal complaint with the Public Ministry denouncing the broadcast in which journalist Cristina Gonzalez read the anti-Semitic text and suggested listeners should read it:

“Venezuelan Jews know that promoting this anti-Semitic document only sows hate and discrimination, violating the Constitution of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela…I do not have an anti-Semitic stance, I’m not anti-anything, I read everything that falls my way…”

Salomon Cohen, the confederation president requested a formal investigation into the matter and a meeting with government officials.

Last year, President Hugo Chavez met with Jewish community representatives to discuss what they described as an “incessant barrage of anti-Semitic commentaries” on state-run media. As a positive result, there was a detectable decrease in anti-Semitic rhetoric. Increasing diplomatic signals from the Chavez government explained that relations between the Jewish community and the revolutionary state of Venezuela were improving.

However, Venezuelan anti-Semitism seems to be brewing again among the most radical elements of government supporters as Chavez gets ready for a reelection campaign next year.

Austria to Renovate Mauthausen

April 4, 2011 / / 0 Comments

The Jewish Telegraph Agency reported that in a $2.4 million restoration project, Austria is to renovate the site of the Mauthausen concentration camp.

Mauthausen LiberationThe two-year project includes building a hall of names in memory of the camp’s victims, similar to the one at Yad Vashem in Jerusalem, and a new display about the Shoah and upgradings of the permanent exhibition.

A statement on the website of the Austrian Interior Ministry said:

“We are sending a signal that the republic is assuming its national and international responsibility to commemorate the victims of the Nazi regime,” Interior Minister Maria Fekter said in a statement. “We are also standing against intolerance, racism and anti-Semitism.”

At least 95,000 prisoners died in Mauthausen; more than 14,000 of whom were Jewish. About 200,000 people visit Mauthausen each year.

This Week Around the World

March 21, 2011 / / 0 Comments

Jews in Danger

Last week in London, two men were arrested by the police when a pro-Israel protester, standing outside the School of Oriental and African studies was bitten on the cheek and subsequently taken to the hospital.

Four members of the organization, Stand With Us, decided to go to SOAS after
learning that a Celebrate Palestine event was going down – part of Israel Apartheid Week. Two of these Jewish gentlemen, Tony Coren and Gili Brenner, went into the university and held a conversation with the student
participants.

Palestinian child

“We had placards and some information packs, and we had some very interesting and civilised discussions,” said Mr. Coren. However, the situation quickly, unexpectedly turned antagonistic, “About four or five people were standing around Gili, Ro’i Goldman, and the fourth member of our group, Dean Gold. One man
began to say some extremely unpleasant things about Jews. He said that
the best thing the Jews had ever done was to go into the gas chambers.
Dean asked if he could film him. The man said yes, adding that ‘these
things should be heard.'”

“Another man then came forward and told the abusive man that he did not
have to be filmed or interviewed. Despite the abusive man agreeing to be
filmed, Mr Coren said, the second man, who was “big and burly and of
Middle East appearance,” allegedly launched himself at Dean, grabbing at his
camera, punching him and then biting him on the cheek….There was a struggle and the university security guards came out. A number of other people then began to say we shouldn’t be there. The president of the union came out and said we had made our point. A policeman strongly advised us to leave.”

Jenni Frazer, of the Jewish Chronicle Online, reported:

“Ro’i Goldman, who plans to study in the UK next year, said he was very shocked by the experience. But Tony Coren said he was not shocked, but was angry that the university authorities had indicated that by their very presence, the Stand With Us
protesters had possibly provoked the attack.”

Meanwhile, an IDF officer suffered slight injuries on Yom Purim during a scuffle on Yehuda Hayamit Street in Jaffa. A captain in the Armored Corps, the officer was attacked from behind by an unidentified assailant while sitting on a bench. The assailant stabbed him once in the chest and snatched his rifle.

The officer was evacuated to the Sourasky Medical Center in Tel Aviv.

Beyond the Palin

Meanwhile, 2008 vice Presidential nominee, former Alaskan governor, and American Republican Party mogul, Sarah Palin visited the Kotel on Purim. She is scheduled to have dinner with Binyamin Netanyahu and his wife on Monday. Reuters reported that she said Israel is “too apologetic.”

Reuters Has the Scoop

Meanwhile, on Saturday night, Hamas men broke into a Reuters office in Gaza and assaulted one journalist, clobbering him with a metal pole and breaking his arm.

Hamas is divided over Mahmoud Abbas’ offer to visit Gaza and conduct conference with Hamas leaders about the formation of a Palestinian Unity government.

David Horovitz Wants Democracy

February 20, 2011 / / 0 Comments

Editor-in-Chief of the Jerusalem Post, David Horovitz, gave a 100 second video monologue on Thursday on the JPost website, emphasizing that “Israel wants to be joined in this region by democracies…” Certainly, when the United States went after Saddam Hussein and the Taliban, the great dream was for democracy throughout the Middle East. However, Israel and the United States that facilitated the surrender of Gaza certainly failed to amplify the great cry for democracy in Egypt, until her citizens decided the time for revolution is now. Where were Obama and the other democracy superheroes when putting Mubarak at the helm of negotiations between Mahmoud Abbas of the Palestinian Authority and Netanyahu? And Israel is supposed to listen? To halt construction in its own capitol?

Cairo Tahrir SquareThis is not to call Horovitz a left-slinger, or one who is not an opponent of the Muslim Brotherhood; he is an expert. I was just taken aback by his relaxedness. Visible on the cover of the Herald Tribune, one day, in the midst of chaos in Tahrir Square, when the outcome was still unknown: was a sketching of Hosni Mubarak with a Star of David on his forehead, in the tradition of the “Protocols of the Learned Elders of Zion.” What could justify such vitriolic art? Because of a peace treaty with Israel? Is peace so bad? What exactly does Egyptian democracy have in mind? Hopefully it won’t threaten the lives of millions of Jewish children!

Pollock number 8When CBS correspondent, Lara Logan, was assaulted by a mob of Egyptians for 20 to 30 minutes, the attackers cried, “Jew! Jew!” Lara Logan is not Jewish. Nor does a political upheaval in the name of democracy justify the thrashing of a foreign journalist.

What is missing is a pattern. The Muslim Middle East, today, is without form, like a Jackson Pollock painting. Beautiful, perhaps. But one cannot pretend they see form or pattern where clearly there is none.

What is more dangerous, the lack of democratically-run governments; or the anti-Jewish leviathan of extreme Islamism? For Obama or Israel to side with “democracy,” means nothing, unless the intention is to create a dangerous bog of extreme Islamism that threatens Jews, which is what a “democracy” run by the Muslim Brotherhood, would be; or, to put it fairly, risking Israel.

The government in Israel is running smoothly. Why not sit back and enjoy this show that is devoid of form and pattern. Like visitors at a modern art museum.

Just Say No to the Ebb and Flow

February 9, 2011 / / 1 Comment

Last December, the High Court of Justice rejected appeals made by Yigal Amir to alter the terms of his imprisonment. The high court ruled that Amir is to be held in solitary confinement for six more months. Amir, who, if you were unaware, is in year 15 of serving a life sentence for assassinating Yitzhak Rabin, rejected last Sunday, an offer from the State Prosecution, permitting him to hold a one hour, bi-weekly Torah study session with one fellow prisoner – in conjunction with permission to join a prayer Minyan with other prisoners. Amir, protesting his rejected appeal, told the court, “no thank you.”

Amir’s attorney, Ariel Atari wrote to the Petach Tikvah District Court:

“The offer disrespects the High Court’s decision…There is no doubt that this position reflects the attitude of the Shin Bet in general and of the Prison Service especially, that the court is at their service – otherwise it is impossible to understand their contempt towards the High Court conveyed by this proposal…There is no doubt that the prosecution wishes to drag out the High Court’s decision, and attempts to draw the court into some kind of negotiations, starting at the opening point, as though the High Court did not speak out…Of course, there is nothing to stop a prison service official from joining the quorum as a 10th man, enjoying Amir’s poetry and hearing all his thoughts and conversations with the rest of the worshipers and with his God…If he finds any faults, he can report them to the court immediately.”

And meanwhile, in Washington, Jewish-American diplomat, Aaron David Miller, wrote a great op-ed in the Washington Post citing the mainstream Arab insanity and anti-Semitism:

“…There’s no doubt that a new Egyptian government and president, more responsive to public opinion – indeed, legitimized by the public in free elections – will be, by necessity or inclination, far more critical of Israeli actions and policies and far less likely to give Israel the benefit of any doubts. Will the new Egyptian leadership monitor smuggling across the Egypt-Gaza border as carefully? Will it be more supportive of Hamas and less understanding of Israeli concerns about Hamas’s acquisition of rockets and missiles? And how will a newly elected Egyptian president interact with an Israeli prime minister? (Mubarak met regularly with Netanyahu; it’s hard to imagine a new Egyptian leader doing so without demanding concessions for Palestinians or progress in the peace negotiations.)”

Miller asked:

“…Would a new Egyptian government be taken over by radical Islamists? Would it break the peace treaty between the two nations? Would it seek to go to war again? All Israeli prime ministers since the treaty was signed in 1979 have carried such fears in the back of their minds, yet they gambled that in giving up the Sinai Peninsula, the country had exchanged territory for time, perhaps in the hope that a different relationship with Egypt and their other Arab neighbors would emerge.”

Libya’s War on Zionism

December 23, 2010 / / 1 Comment

A WikiLeaks cable revealed that Libyan authorities adopted “repugnant anti-Semitic tactics” against the Marks & Spencer store in Tripoli, in an effort to have the store closed and drive the British company out of the country.

The leaked memos, sent from the US Embassy in Tripoli, show that the anti-Semitic campaign became so violent that American officials were warned by Libyan government insiders that at least one high-ranking businessman, the Marks & Spencer franchiser, could be involved in a “fatal car accident”.

Marks & SpencerA source from the General Union of Chambers of Commerce and Industry told an American contact that M&S was:

“well-known among Libyans and other Arab and Muslim peoples for its strong support of Israeli occupation of Palestine and the huge funds it provides for killing of Palestinians and constructing of illegal settlements in occupied Palestine…The very mentioning of Marks and Spencer is considered by Libyans as an insult to their national feelings and an attack on their national feelings the source clarified.”

The US Embassy warned Washington back in 2008 that attacks on the British retailer by Libyan officials “at the highest levels” risked causing irretrievable damage to bilateral ties with the UK.

The British Guardian quoted the memos, describing:

“The ongoing drama surrounding efforts by the UK government and investors to keep open the Marks & Spencer retail store in Tripoli, and a campaign by some Libyan government officials to close it.”

Not long after the store was launched, it was subjected to what the cable described as “persistent anti-Semitic rhetoric” by the Libyan government.

The store was closed temporarily by Libyan authorities at least twice, and employees were repeatedly taken in for questioning and put under “close scrutiny” by security officials who, the ambassador warned, were used as a “strongarm adjunct in this political play”.

Blama De Jews

November 24, 2010 / / 0 Comments

That is always good advice – BLAMA DE JEWS!

Fundamentalism in Bosnia and Herzegovina

October 22, 2010 / / 1 Comment

Fundamentalism in Bosnia and Herzegovina probably deserves more attention as a sociological and political phenomenon, than it does in other European countries. It is a country with a very weak democratic and parliamentary tradition, until 15 years ago Bosnia suffered from extremely destructive war which in this case was more than just a civil war. The territory of the country was literally trampled by many paramilitary forces and by ambiguous political regimes from both inside of country and the neighborhood. Today, Bosnia and Herzegovina, one of the rare European countries with a Muslim majority, struggles with a difficult political system, an economy that is in an unsustainable state. It has huge unemployment and corruption rates and the highest illiteracy rate in Europe. This small country is comprised of three constitutive peoples: Bosniaks, Serbs and Croats, which are characterized by three different and strong religious communities: Muslims, Orthodox Christians and Catholic Christians.

Many of European and domestic officials have for some time believed that Bosnia might be the potential zone of rising terrorism. The terrorist attack in the town of Bugojno on the 27th of June and the case of the village of Gornja Maoca where, on the 2nd of February, Special Forces of Bosnian security agencies entered the isolated Wahhabi community are a few major incidents which exemplify the rise of Fundamentalism in Bosnia in 2010.

Fundamentalism seems to be growing in the country, notably among the youth and even in the youth intellectual circles. Individuals, shaken by uncertainty, search for ways to secure themselves. Several internet based sites promote the alternative ways of surviving. Domestic media promote Fundamentalism often enunciated by people close to clerical institutions.

They don’t belong here, they should go back to the places where they come from… They have nothing to do with Bosnia and Bosnian traditions, they have never existed in Bosnia before the war…

Said Samra, a 22 year old student of Sociology, about Wahhabi movement members in Bosnia.

There are many Wahhabi followers in Bosnia. They came here from Arab countries during the war. Nobody asked them to come, and they should return… They are destroying the dignity of Bosnian people…

Samra added.

Male members of Wahhabi movement are easily recognizable on the street by their specific wardrobe and their long beards. Females are required to wear a hijab. It is widely believed, as Samra said, that members of Wahhabi and other similar groups came to Bosnia from the Middle East. This is actually not true. Most of them, about 97%, are domestic or from neighborhood countries.

It’s not about ideology, it is about surviving. Everybody knows that every girl that ’covers’ herself gets money, I don’t know how much, but they say it’s about 300 euro’s per month. Anyone can do it, even me…

Said Selma, 21, other student from the University of Sarajevo, but she fails to say where that money comes from.

When analyzing diverse forms of Fundamentalism there is one other term that is used a lot in the field and that is the notion of supremacy, although the groups following this ideology of supremacy usually avoid this term and often identify them self’s as a part of Neo-Nazi movement.

In the Bosnia’s case, things are more specific. First of all there is an anti-Semitism, motivated mainly by the emphasized empathy of Bosnian Muslims exclusively with Muslims from Israel and Palestine. Many of Bosnian Muslim citizens are very critical of Israeli political decisions, and often blame Jewish people globally for most of today’s World’s problems. The wars on the Middle East are seen as pure aggression and never as a multisided conflict or civil war caused by complex dynamics on the region. There is actually inflexibility in the reasoning of the majority which is often governed by the notion of Muslims brotherhood and not by the fact that there are people belonging to no matter what ethnicity in the Middle East who are affected by or involved in war. Such deviation and generalization lead often to increasing of the prejudices’ against Jewish people, and fit into the concept of Neo-Nazi ideology.

Bosnian Movement of National Pride is a Neo-Nazi group represented in February 2010 in Bosnia. Aside of proclaiming Jews as their enemies, this group lists many others: Gypsies, ex-Yugoslavian president and Communist leader Josip Broz Tito, Communists, homosexuals and blacks, than Chetniks (Serbian nationalist paramilitary organization), Croatian separatists and even radical Islamists. This group launched the site, where they declared radical views about Bosnian constitution, and made announcements of their future actions. Yet again, they are blaming the Zionists for the current disrupted state in the World.

Today I went to buy my breakfast before going to my Faculty, but I didn’t know what to buy. Everything is produced by Jews. There was one ‘free’ Serbian company that produces food, but recently Jews bought it too. I don’t want to buy anything that is made by Jews. I don’t want to sponsor an evil.

Says Amela, Medical student from Sarajevo.

In general, Bosnian Fundamentalism is most often associated with Islamic terrorism. It is believed that Fundamentalism in Bosnia is getting stronger every day because of the lack of the political will to resolve the problem, and because of desperate economic circumstances that are getting worse with the time.

Bosnian politicians are not aware of the urgency and size of the problem, and in rare moments when they are, they are using it for their political aims…

Said Nihad, professor from Sarajevo, after Bugojno terrorist attack in June.

Such situations are defining more and more the image of Bosnia and Herzegovina in Europe and the rest of the World. Government officials recently stated that there are three thousands of potential terrorists in the country.

It remains to be seen if freshly formed Government can change directions of ideological temptations in Bosnian society. It is believed, also, that the travel visa free regime, that Bosnia is about to reach in few months, will assist in opening up communications and help to deflect people from fundamentalist ideas.

Slouching Towards Apartheid

October 17, 2010 / / 1 Comment

Whether you realize it or not, if you are a Jew living in the Diaspora, you are living in peril. Jews living in Israel should keep on smiling, having great ideas and loving their children.

Here are some examples of what I mean. Take Europe for instance, where recently a government-funded Catholic school in Antwerp hosted a ‘Palestine Day,’ sated with anti-Semitic activities for youngsters. In one stall was “Throw the soldiers into the sea”, where kids were invited to throw effigies of IDF soldiers into two large tanks.

In Sweden, an event for children in the Jewish community of Malmo was interrupted by shouts of “Heil Hitler” and “Jewish Pigs.”

Ilmar Reepalu, the newly elected mayor of that Swedish city said “we accept neither Zionism nor anti-Semitism,” equating thereby by Zionism with racism.

Dr. Moshe Kantor, President of the European Jewish Congress said

“Small Jewish communities are facing a situation where they are being physically, verbally and psychologically threatened by fundamentalist elements and their extreme left-wing cohorts on one side and the far-right neo-Nazis on the other.”

He continued,

“If they can’t receive protection or respite from mainstream officials then we are entering a very dark period for the Jews in Europe.”

Kantor, who is hosting a conference in Dubrovnik, Croatia later this month about effective practices in fighting racism and xenophobia said, European Union and European leaders should “launch a campaign against intolerance and anti-Semitism to remind European citizens that the new Europe was established after the Second World War on the concept of ‘Never Again.'”

Say it to my Facebook

Meanwhile, Simon Wiesenthal Center researchers have uncovered about two-dozen Facebook sites with titles like “Kill a Jew Year” and “Kill a Jew Day” in just one week.

“Some have been posted from the United States, others from the United Kingdom,”

Reported Rabbi Abraham Cooper, associate dean of the Simon Wiesenthal Center and director of the Jewish Human Rights NGO’s Digital Terrorism and Hate project.

“Facebook officials have been very cooperative in removing these calls for anti-Jewish violence, but the hate continues to sprout at an alarming rate. We know they are committed to thwarting online bigotry, but if such a trend continues, we will urge Facebook and other social networking hubs to track and preempt online bigots more aggressively.”

Bringin’ it all back home

And concerning Jews in Israel, Noam Shalit, father of Gilad Shalit, IDF captive being held in Gaza since 2006, complained recently that the European Union hasn’t done enough to pressure Hamas. However, he said

“When there is a need to pressure Israel, the European Union knows how to do that very well.”

In the United States, anti-Semitism is less severe; it is reduced to isolated attacks of violence, yet a post-Holocaust trend of anti-Zionism has left its mark in a more inconspicuous way.

When Jimmy Carter, who will be visiting Israel this week, wrote his book in 2006, “Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid” , Abraham Foxman of the Anti-Defamation League was quick to have the former president apologize to Israel and Diaspora Jews for the “stigma” the book and its subsequent publicity may have caused them.

In those four years, applying the term ‘Apartheid’ to the Zionist cause has gone beyond ‘wha’ or edginess. It is hip, it is soon to be a norm – and in no consideration of actual facts, I might add. Heck, there is even a Wikipedia page now dedicated to just this. That is to say, I’ve never seen side-by-side Arab and Jewish drinking fountains or parking spaces. Though I’ve noticed the security barrier has reduced terrorism in the Jewish country, some 92 to 97%.

On August 31th, Thomas L. Friedman, the Jewish, sometimes-supporter of Israeli policy, wrote in his New York Times column of the Israeli right-wing, (an educated assumption)

“The opponents want to destroy the idea of a two-state solution for Israelis and Palestinians, so Israel will be stuck with an apartheid-like, democracy-sapping, permanent occupation of the West Bank.”

Whether Peace Talks fell under Abu Mazen’s faint-heartedness or the pressure of Hamas, (or perhaps Bibi whispered something in Abbas’ ear, such as “go back to Saudi Arabia, you dog”) Friedman who supported the Lebanon invasion and Operation Cast Lead just wanted to sound young and hip, so he used the term apartheid; thereby propelling a Liberal American mentality yet one-step closer to further isolation, misunderstanding and eventually resentment toward Zionism and the Jewish State; which can and will act under its own auspices – that is to say, the US is Israel’s biggest ally, but not her boss.

(Even counting the self-interested US as a confidante is something that opposition-Kadima leader, Tzippi Livni has recently warned Bibi about). And as if the soul of the Jewish-American population has not become diluted enough, today 50% of all American Jews wed outside the faith.

A frightening hint of things to come…

Walking on Water

September 29, 2010 / / 0 Comments

The Israeli Government and the IDF coordinated the delivery of a variety of Humanitarian Aid and Development Assistance to the civilian population in the Gaza Strip, whose dire situation is actually questionable and whose peaceful disposition is a fallacy.

The month of August saw a 41% increase in the net volume of truckloads entering Gaza, together with the ongoing discharge of the new policies approved on June 20th.

These are including the establishment of a Joint Project Coordination Team between COGAT and the PA, which has already overseen various development efforts.

In addition there has also been a near doubling of the capacity for imports via the Kerem Shalom Crossing since the month of May.

Gaza aid shipTuesday afternoon, the Irene yacht carrying nine activists from the United States, Israel and Britain – which intended to single-handedly break the Gaza naval blockade was docked at Ashdod Port after being intercepted by the Israeli Navy. Thank God there was no violence.

Despite opposing pressure and the grilling of senior officials throughout the summer the Jewish Country insists that the objective behind the blockade is simply to prevent arms smuggling into the Hamas-run territory.

Since the end of Operation “Cast Lead” in January 2009, 500 projectiles – rockets and mortar shells – have been fired from Gaza at civilian targets in southern Israel.

The Islamic Jihad newspaper, Palestine Today explained that unlike other vessels and flotillas, Hamas has been

“Ambivalent at best towards the entire idea of this particular pseudo-aid ship…”

Therefore you can bet that Israel coordinated aid to the Gaza strip is a lot more effectual than silly Turkish yachts full of anglo-speakers, if what you have in mind or heart is actually the civilians.

A Thought On Zionism

On a side note, I would like to bring to recollection today a few recent instances of Israel demonizing.

Remember when Helen Thomas said this to Rabbi David Nessenoff?

Q: Any comments on Israel?

HT: Tell them to get the hell out of Palestine. Remember, these people are occupied and it’s their land. It’s not German, it’s not Polish.

Q: So where should they go, what should they do?

HT: Go home.

Q: Where is the home?

HT: Poland. Germany.

Q: So you’re saying Jews go back to Poland, Germany?

HT: And America and everywhere else.

And within the same week wrote this on her website:

“I deeply regret the 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.”

Oh and when Jimmy Carter wrote that book, “Israel: Peace Not Apartheid” and then months later told the Anti Defamation League this:

“We must recognize Israel’s achievements under difficult circumstances, even as we strive in a positive way to help Israel continue to improve its relations with its Arab populations, but we must not permit criticisms for improvement to stigmatize Israel,”

Continuing:

“As I would have noted at Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, but which is appropriate at any time of the year, I offer an Al Het for any words or deeds of mine that may have done so…”

Well, right wing Hollywood hunk, Mel Gibson too apologized for his drunken anti-Semitic rant five years ago.

If indeed Zionism is virtuous – the world will not receive apologies from the Jewish Country when nine incognito Turkish Jihadist posing a pantomime peace activism are killed on board the Mavi Marmara.

Nor can Richard Goldstone squeeze out guilt or remorse from the IDF concerning “Operation Cast Lead”.

The answer?

One party is propelled by survival and the other by anti-Semitism.

Virtue does not regret its actions. Virtue does not apologize. And a Jewish State which fights for its survival is virtuous.

Everybody Must Get Stoned

July 28, 2010 / / 1 Comment

“In feature films about John F. Kennedy, Richard M. Nixon and George W. Bush, Oliver Stone, gave free rein to his imagination and was often criticized for doing so”

Writes Larry Rohter of the New York Times. During the recent New York Times interview, Rohter wrote that Stone stated,

“People who are often demonized, like Nixon and Bush and Chávez and Castro, fascinate me…”

And the famed director does not wane in his creative calling or his denouncement of demonization.

Stated Stone:
Oliver Stone

“We’re going to educate our minds and liberalize them and broaden them. We want to move beyond opinions …Go into the funding of the Nazi party. How many American corporations were involved, from GM through IBM. Hitler is just a man who could have easily been assassinated.”

What is so fascinating is that such a political and historical skeptic would not come to the side of Israel – the true victim and even the archetypal victim of demonization.

Furthermore, is not anti-Semitic rhetoric really a kind of “funding” for neo-Nazism?

Stone stated in the recent New York Times interview as the cause for disproportionate attention to the Holocaust in American media:

“The Jewish domination of the media. There’s a major lobby in the United States” he said “They are hard workers. They stay on top of every comment, the most powerful lobby in Washington. Israel has f***ed up United States foreign policy for years.”

Mr. Stone will be attacked for his comments by those who love America and by Jews who love themselves – just as Mr. Stone is attacked by critics for the historical and biographical motion pictures which he makes. The common denominator is his masterful misrepresentation of the truth.

There is no defense for the artist who tells lies in the real world. His honorable occupation of story-telling on the silver screen loses credibility, you see.

So while Stone slanders his father’s people and Mel Gibson digs his hateful hole deeper; while Meg Ryan boycotts Israel and Stone’s boy Hugo Chavez lets the Hezbollah operate freely in Venezuela, and the “demonized” Iranian President, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad continues to tell lies and facilitate the murder of Israelis – not one Christian Hollywood notable has stepped up and said, “enough!”

Aside from this, Stone should be aware: the true demon is within himself. Because of this, his art suffers.

Fear and Loathing in Oslo

March 15, 2010 / / 0 Comments

Oslo, NorwayJews in Oslo were taken aback over the weekend when the leader of the local Jewish Community, Anne Sander criticized haredi Judaism, the Chabad movement, the settlements and Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman. The remarks came in an interview with the Dagbladet newspaper, on the milieu of the situation between Jews and Muslims in Norway.

Only 1,100 Jews live in Norway today, most of them in Oslo. They live alongside more than 70,000 Muslims. Anti-Semitic incidents from the past few years include harsh statements made by Norwegian comedian Otto Jespersen, a plan by local Muslims to murder the Israeli ambassador and gun shots fired at an Oslo synagogue.

The journalist who interviewed Sander has in the past compared former Prime Minister Ariel Sharon with Nazi leader Hermann Göring. The interview began with a poetic description of “the Israeli war machine”.
Sander said:

“Both sides are right. It’s something that we must learn to live with, accept the fact that we disagree…There is a radical polarization in the Jewish world today…You have the liberals, and on the other side you have the ultra-Orthodox – which look as if they may become dominant. We don’t like it. What’s happening is very dangerous. This is Judaism from the inside like in all other religions. Extremism exists everywhere, among us as well.”

She also shed a negative light on the Chabad-Lubavitch movement in her country, which seeks to spread kabbalistic and Chassidic Judaism, as well as the practice of basic mitzvoth, to non-practicing Jews around the world:

“The ultra-Orthodox movement, Chabad-Lubavitch, has been in Oslo for four years. It represents a more distant side in religion than we are able to accept.”

She said that the movement’s values “are completely different than the average. It’s a movement which mixes religion and politics and has an anti-democratic structure.”

Sander mentioned that the movement supports a Greater Israel:

“from Egypt in the West to ancient Babylon in the east, between today’s Iraq and Iran. We are busy with democracy, with volunteering and with being socially responsible, and this conduct is completely destructive towards the environment, and as I said – very dangerous.”

Sander explained that people in Norway were wrong when comparing the country’s Jews to Israelis on all matters:

“Naturally, we have a lot of cooperation on cultural exchanges and similar things, but I don’t engage in politics. That’s the embassy’s responsibility.”

On the topic of Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman, she said:

“I think he has bad advisors, he received false information, he knew only half of the story, he responds emotionally and he talks with his local audience. No one can hit people in the head and call them anti-Semites just because they criticize what the State of Israel does, even if anti-Semitism is hidden undoubtedly in some of the criticism against Israel.”

She said that Jews benefit from West Bank settlements, like Palestinians benefit from suicide bombings:

“When it comes to settlements, I just can’t understand it. It’s completely incomprehensible to me, completely incomprehensible. It’s supposed to be in Israel’s favor. This is not the situation, like suicide bombings for the Palestinian side.”

Rabbi Shaul Wilhelm, who manages the Chabad House in Oslo, told Ynet that Sander’s remarks put the city’s Jews in danger:

“She is simply putting the security of Jews living here in risk. Such statements are a type of incitement. We have been feeling very uncomfortable since the article was published, and so far no one has taken these remarks back…”

The remark about Chabad, said Wilhelm:

“is not true and it’s particularly dangerous when it is said by a central Jewish public figure. Comparing Jews to radical Islam in a country with some 100,000 Muslims is terrible, especially when there is not a lot of sympathy for Jews and Israel in the media.”

Another Jewish resident of Oslo claimed an objection as well:

“There is no problem with Chabad. They are working for the sake of the community like in any other place. I view this as an internal and dangerous political dispute.”

Eric Argaman, a 30-year-old Israeli who has studied in Norway and lives in Oslo, said:

“It’s a product of internal hatred. What’s Chabad got to do with it? It’s an apolitical body. We are working here to prevent anti-Semitism and a person comes along and destroys it. It’s not easy being a Jew here as it is. She did injustice to everyone…Some guys working in security at the Jewish center have resigned. In Israel she wouldn’t have stayed in office. It’s enough that people are looking for reasons to hate the Jews here.”

Synagogue, Cairo

Restoring Egypt’s Synagogues

March 10, 2010 / / 0 Comments

Farouk HosnyJust in time for the festival of Pesach, Egypt’s culture minister says that it will shoulder the costs of restoring the country’s synagogue’s.

Farouk Hosny says that his ministry views Jewish sites as much a part of Egypt’s culture as Muslim mosques or Coptic churches and the restorations would not require any foreign funding. This marks a turn in attitude for the Egyptian artist and culture minister.

On Sunday, the 12th century Ben Maimon synagogue, named after Maimonides, was rededicated in a ceremony including half a dozen Egyptian Jewish families who fled the country long ago.

Ben Ezra SynagogueHosny committed his ministry to restoring all 11 synagogues across Egypt, three of which have already undergone renovation. The most visited synagogue is that of Ben Ezra – located in Cairo’s Christian quarter near a number of old churches, was restored some years ago.

“There were some lectures on the Jewish sites in Egypt and the temple. It was nice, emotional and nostalgic,” said Raymond Stock, an American “close” to the Jewish community in Cairo.

The Jewish community of Egypt, which dates back millennia and at its peak in the 1940s numbered around 80,000, is down to several dozen, almost all of them elderly. The remainder were driven out decades ago by mob violence and persecution.

Synagogue, CairoEgypt and Israel fought a war every decade from the 1940s to the 1970s until the 1979 peace treaty was signed. None the less, Egyptian vibrations remain deeply unfriendly to Israel, and anti-Semitic stereotypes still appear in the Egyptian media.

Last September, Hosny blamed a conspiracy “cooked up in New York” by the world’s Jews when he lost a bid from becoming the next head of the U.N.’s agency for culture and education.

During this time, Hosny’s candidacy raised an outcry because of a threat which he had made in the Egyptian parliament in 2008 to personally burn any Israeli book he found in the Alexandria Library.

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