Zionism- controlling the media, finance and impeding evolution

Every Friday for years, Berkeley Women in Black has made a practice of harassing students at UC Berkeley. Students at the University call this phenomenon "Black Friday". According to one blogger,
"The only thing more Berkeley than having an inflammatory opinion is gathering together a cadre of similarly-minded people and staging an unimpressive display to annoy passers-by."

Berkeley Women in Black have accused Israel and the Jewish people of controlling the media, government, and the banking industry for years. However on Friday Dec 4, Berkeley Women in Black (now including people of indeterminate gender) added a new accusation to the repertoire of dastardly Zionist deeds. Apparently the tag team of great Satan and little Satan is now "impeding evolution".

Berkeley Women in Black- bringing a bit of dreariness and surrealism into Berkeley, each and every Friday.

Heart Warming Photos of Gazan Children Celebrating Eid

Sometimes, no caption is even needed

Oh, those poor starving Gazans!

I just received this alarming email from Noura Khouri and Manal Elkarra. They claim:

The people of Gaza are literally being starved of basic food and needs; while caged in and locked out from the rest of the world. When governments of the world fail to act, we the people must. Please join us!

Poor Noura and Manal. Perhaps they don't read "Palestine Today" . Its possible they can't even read Arabic. If they did, they would have seen these photos from Gaza, taken just last week


Gaza Fruit Market


Gaza Bakery


Gaza Candy Seller


Noura. Manal. Just what basic foods are the people of Gaza being deprived of? The markets seem pretty well stocked to me. UNICEF thinks so too- Palestinian children are the second healthiest in the Arab world, after oil rich Qatar.

Top Ten Israeli Products to BUY BUY BUY

The Support Democracy, Buy Israeli list, modified ever so slightly from the BDS folk's list

AHAVA
This brand’s cosmetics are produced using salt, minerals, and mud from the Dead Sea.

2. Delta Galil Industries
Israel’s largest textiles manufacturer provides clothing and underwear for such popular brands as Gap, J-Crew, J.C. Penny, Calvin Klein, Playtex, Victoria’s Secret and many others. Its founder and chairman Dov Lautman is a close associate of former Israeli President Ehud Barak.

3. Motorola
While many of us know this brand for its stylish cellphones, did you know that it also develops and manufactures bomb fuses and missile guidance systems? Motorola components are also used in unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs or “drones”) and in communications and surveillance systems to keep the citizens of Israel safe.

4. L’Oreal / The Body Shop
This cosmetics and perfume company is known for its investments and manufacturing activities in Israel, including production in Migdal Haemek, the “Silicon Valley” of Israel. In 1998, a representative of L’Oreal was given the Jubilee Award by Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu for strengthening the Israeli economy.

5. Dorot Garlic and Herbs
These frozen herbs that are sold at Trader Joe’s, and support the beseiged kibbutzim of southern Israel. Trader Joe’s also sells Israeli Cous Cous and Pastures of Eden feta cheese that are made in Israel.

6. Estee Lauder

This company’s chairman Ronald Lauder is also the chairman of the Jewish National Fund.

7. Intel
This technology company that manufactures computer processors and other hardware components employs thousands of Israelis and has exports from Israel totaling over $1 billion per year. They are one of Israel’s oldest foreign supporters, having established their first development center outside of the US in 1974 in Haifa.

8. Sabra
This brand of hummus, baba ghanoush and other foods is co-owned by Israel’s second-largest food company The Strauss Group and Pepsico. Yes, its manufactured in New York, but it sounds vaguely mid-eastern and vaguely Israeli so the BDS folks have targetted it for action. No, I don't get it either, but the lemon hummus is really yummy, so just go for it.


9. Sara Lee
Sara Lee holds a 30% stake in Delta Galil (see #2) and is the world’s largest clothing manufacturer, which owns or is affiliated with such brands as Hanes, Playtex, Champion, Leggs, Sara Lee Bakery, Ball Park hotdogs, Wonderbra, and many others. Similar to L’Oreal (see #4), a representative of Sara Lee received the Jubilee Award from Netanyahu for its commitment to business with Israel. Nobody doesn't like Sara Lee.

10. Victoria’s Secret
Most of Victoria’s Secret’s bras are produced by Delta Galil (see #2), and much of the cotton is also grown in Israel.

Continue to support democracy and to support Israel!

Fight the BDS Movement- Shop at Seattle Trader Joes- redux

Cross posted here


Einstein was known for saying "Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results". In spite of their repeated, dramatic failures throughout the country, the BDS folks are at it again, this time targeting Seattle Trader Joe's.

Our favorite grocery store, Trader Joe's, is being targeted by these groups for boycotts and vandalism simply because of their refusal to cave to pressure to remove Israeli products from their shelves. Israeli products at Trader Joes include Pastures of Eden feta cheese, Israeli couscous, and Dorot frozen cubes of garlic, basil and cilantro. The feta cheese is particularly lovely. Try in tossed in a spinach salad, with kalamata olives and sliced red onion.

A series of actions are being planned, organized by Nada Elia of Antioch University. Prof. Elia has said "I am particularly interested in activist resistance to institutionalized forms of violence and oppression. This involves a re-evaluation of what constitutes resistance..." Apparently she believes that unbridled rage against frozen garlic and cilantro is a legitimate form of resistance.

The Pro-Israel community is now in a position to make an immediate and positive impact on Israel's behalf.

Here's what you can do:
Please make a point of shopping at Seattle area Trader Joe's over the coming days and weeks.
Please go out of your way to introduce yourselves to store-managers and to let them know that one of the reasons that you are patronizing their store is because of their principled and courageous determination to continue selling Israeli products.

Wherever you may shop - for groceries and otherwise, please consider going out of your way to purchase Israeli products and thanking store-managers for carrying Israeli products.

1700 E Madison St, Seattle - (206) 322-7268
4555 Roosevelt Way NE, Seattle - (206) 547-6299
112 W Galer St, Seattle - (206) 378-5536

"I hear the Israeli couscous goes well with grilled scapegoat, by the way."
Jeffrey Goldberg "The Atlantic"

Palestinian Children fare better than their Arab neighbors

In spite of JVP's squeals about "starving Palestinian children", a new UNICEF report shows that Palestinian children fair much better than their Arab neighbors. Children in the disputed territories suffer less from stunted growth due to maternal and childhood undernutrition than others in the region.

Palestinian Territories- 10%
Lebanon - 11
Jordan - 12
Oman - 13
UAE - 17
Saudi Arabia - 20
Kuwait - 24
Iraq - 26
Syria - 28
Egypt - 29
Yemen – 58

An estimated 200 million children aged under five in the developing world suffer from stunted growth due to maternal and childhood malnutrition, according to the report.
Yet JVP and its allied groups remain silent on the plight of the children of Yemen and Egypt and throughout the Arab world. Its as though only the Palestinian children counted to them.

With approximately 10% of Palestininian children experiencing stunting between 2003-2008, the disputed territories are on equal footing with Turkey, Tuvalu and Bahrain, which at last glance, did not suffer from Israel's "brutal and genocidal" occupation.

BRITISH JOURNALISTIC INTEGRITY

If one needed anymore proof that anti-Semitism is alive and well in England, and that there is a substantial pro-Arab lobby in the British Isles, then the comments on the Channel 4 website about an upcoming "expose" on the 'Israel lobby' prove it.

QUOTE:
"Despite wielding great influence among the highest realms of British politics and media, little is known about the individuals and groups which collectively are known as the pro-Israel lobby.
Political commentator Peter Oborne sets out to establish who they are, how they are funded, how they work and what influence they have, from the key groups to the wealthy individuals who help bankroll the lobbying."
END QUOTE.

Ah yes, secretive, influential, and bankrolled. Where have we heard this before?

SOURCE:
http://www.channel4.com/programmes/dispatches/episode-guide/series-42/episode-1


One might think that he's smoking crack, given the singular INEFFECTIVENESS of any pro-Israel lobbying, or any other pro-Israel or even philo-Semitism in Britain.

Most of the virulent English-language Jew-hatred in the world today originates in Britain, and it will be recalled that Britain has far less than even Holland or France evinced any affection or support for the Jewish state.


How remarkable that anyone thinks that there is ANY pro-Israeli voice heard in Whitehall.


QUOTE:
"Oborne examines how the lobby operates from within parliament and the tactics it employs behind the scenes when engaging with print and broadcast media."
END QUOTE.


Tactics it employs behind the scenes? Mister Oborne, are you going to show that you are a talented writer of fiction in addition to being a reporter?

How often have British officials cozied up to Arabs, mister Oborne? Too many times to count? Have you considered a report on the inordinate influence of the Camel Corps in the Foreign Office, and the relationship between Britain's predominantly left-wing intelligentsia and certain foreign entities?


How about the strange overlap between far-right Jew-hatred and far-left Jew-hatred?


Predictably, the program is being promoted on the internet message boards of the British National party and various neo-Nazi websites.

Ellen Cantarow: Apologist for Land Theft

by Becky Johnson

November 11, 2009

Santa Cruz, Ca. -- A friend of mine passed on an article by Ellen Cantarow. "Heroism in a Vanishing Landscape" published on the notorious, anti-Israel website, Counterpunch.org on November 10, 2009. In the article, Cantarow blasts all parties (except the Palestinian families themselves) and gives a unique history of the eviction of two families from the E. Jerusalem neighborhood of Sheik Jarrah. One that is highly selective, and which discounts the actual court decisions made regarding the disposition of the property according to law.

You can read Cantarow's article with my imbedded comments here.

BELOW IS AN EXCERPT:

ELLEN CANTAROW: In 1948 Ghawe’s grandparents fled from Ein Sfarand near Lydda. Ein Sfarand was bulldozed into the ground along with over 450 other Arab villages.

BECKY: Actually, Israel set up a commission, The Guardian of Absentee Assets, which dealt with all abandoned properties. They distinguished between public land, privately-owned land, and re-repatriated many Arabs with their property when they returned and petitioned the commission. Lands belonging to Palestinian Arab villagers in the areas taken over by Israel in 1967 generally remain in Palestinian Arab hands. To determine that these lands do not belong to anyone, the state checks the land registries, aerial photographs showing the lands to be uncultivated and then when convinced that these lands have no ownership, advertises in Arabic in the Arab newspapers that the state has declared these lands as its own and anyone having any kind of legal deed to contest this is invited to do so. If any Arab is able to produce a land deed proving the land is theirs, then the state leaves the land to the Arab. If there are still any doubts, then the issue is taken to court". But Cantarow wants readers to believe that all Arab land was confiscated and bulldozed.

ELLEN CANTAROW: Pretty national parks and kibbutzim erased any trace of the traditional Arab architecture, agriculture and the rest of life which once characterized Palestine. Hebrew names – Lod, for example, for Lydda - replaced the Arabic ones. The Ghawes fled to East Jerusalem where UNWRA (The United Nations Works Relief Agency) housed them as refugees. In 1956 they returned their refugee cards and rented a house from a local Palestinian builder.

American Red Cross co-sponsors hate speech

A friend with a remarkably pink blog kindly alerts me to an utterly odious situation.

QUOTE:
The Stanford Department of Drama and the Stanford Theatre Activist Mobilization Project (STAMP) are proud to announce a staged reading - the San Francisco Bay Area premiere - of the thought-provoking play, My Name is Rachel Corrie.
The performances feature an impressive line-up of post-show discussion speakers including Rabbi Michael Lerner, Professor Joel Beinin, and Professor Tom Sheehan.

This event is Free & Open to the public. Please email stanfordrachelcorrie@gmail.com to reserve tickets.

My Name is Rachel Corrie is Co-Sponsored by: American Red Cross, Amnesty International, Coalition for Justice in the Middle East, Emma Goldman Society for Queer Liberation, Jewish Voice for Peace, Muslim Student Awareness Network, Peninsula Peace and Justice Center, Physicians for Human Rights, Stanford Says No to War, Stanford University Students for UNICEF, and Students Confronting Apartheid by Israel.
END QUOTE.

The American Red Cross? Aren't they supposed to be 'apolitical'?

Surely their sponsorship is a horrible mistake? Perhaps an agent from the other side infests a local branch of an otherwise sometimes commendable organization? And that suspicion is not entirely unfounded - the Red Cross was notorious for several decades for refusing linkage with Magen David Adom, on the spurious grounds that the Seal of Solomon, symbol of Magen David Adom (literal translation: Red Shield of David) was a religious symbol, quite unlike the cross or the crescent.

Often otherwise excellent groupss will find themselves subverted by those who would make of them mere front-organizations.

Pro-Palestinism is as much a religion as any other, and has quite as many strictures which to the skeptic seem irrational. The Red Cross may have fanatics among its ranks.
I shall henceforth not contribute even one paise to their cause.

For shame, bloodsuckers, for shame.

Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer group Lies about Exculsion of Israelis at Middle East Conference on Breast Cancer

From a Jerusalem Post article by Judy Siegel-Itzkovich

The Israel Medical Association on Tuesday denounced all boycotts of Israelis at international medical conferences such as the one held in Cairo last week on coping with breast cancer.

IMA chairman Dr. Leonid Eidelman said that Israeli doctors and scientists are often confronted by hostility when attending professional conferences abroad.

Eidelman said that medicine and science are not political. Even those who oppose policies of the government of Israel should never inject politics into these fields, which aim to save lives and to which Israelis contribute a great deal, he said.

He called on the government to launch a serious campaign against such boycotts and have "zero tolerance" for them. The IMA, he said, would be happy to participate in such efforts.

Eidelman added that conferences that keep Israelis out would constitute a "black day for science in Israel and around the world."

Nancy Brinker, founder and head of the Susan G. Komen for the Cure organization that raises significant amounts of money to fight breast cancer, claimed last week that despite threats in Egypt, Israelis were not barred from the Cairo conference.

But the Foreign Ministry and the Hadassah Women's Zionist Organization said they had been.

Another Israeli product to add to the boycott list

Israeli company developing super-vaccine for flu


Israel Radio reported Sunday morning that an Israeli company had developed a universal vaccine for all forms of flu – including bird and swine flu

The multi-season/multi-strain flu vaccine will greatly enhance the average person's immune system, enabling patients to receive a single shot once every few years that will protect them against most forms of influenza. Most strains of flu have characteristics similar enough to enable development of one vaccine that contains the elements of the flu virus' downfall.

The Vaccine is still being researched. When it is available to the public, expect the boycott divestment sanction promoters to campaign against it. Just another product to boycott.....

More photos from Gaza-the world's Largest Open Air Concentration Camp

Twenty Palestinian men competed in a bodybuilding contest in Gaza City Oct. 23, 2009 with over 500 people attending the event. The Arabic on the poster reads 'Under the supervision of the Palestine University - The Gaza Strip Bodybuilding Hero Contest'

Once again, I can only look at this in horror. The sunken eyes, the swollen bellies, the look of despair. It reminds me of nothing less than the Warsaw Ghetto

Say it Ain't So Susan G. Komen for the Cure

Were Israeli doctors excluded from the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Conference because it is being held in Egypt? Did Susan G. Koman for the Cure, the world's largest breast cancer advocacy organization enable this act of anti-Semitic exclusion?

According to INN, the Susan G. Komen for the Cure conference on breast cancer awareness, to be hosted in Egypt next week has been touted by international news networks as an example of “unprecedented cooperation” in the region.

However, Israeli doctors were told at the last minute that their invitations to participate had been rescinded.

Ignoring the deliberate exclusion of Israel, Egyptian Doctor Mohammed Shaalan claimed “The week's events are a demonstration of the cooperation between countries, governments, civil society, advocates, survivors, and the global community as a whole... It shows that breast cancer has no boundaries and reveals the beauty of the world's unity in its fight against breast cancer."

Apparently the "world's unity" doesn't extend to Israel, the worlds' only Jewish state. Israel is at the cutting age of cancer research, with innovations in both diagnosis and treatment, with researchers at the Weizmann Institute of Science in Rehovot developing a non-invasive way of identifying breast tumors using magnetic resonance imaging. And yet Israeli doctors were specfically excluded from a conference meant to enhance regional cooperation, and a well respected American organization faciliated this exclusion.

Its time to give Susan G. Komen a call 1-877 GO KOMEN (1-877-465-6636) or send them an email http://ww5.komen.org/Contact.aspx. Tell them to insist that all countries be allowed to partcipate in this conference. Let them know that future donations may depend on this.

Direct Challenge to the Goldstone Report

Link

Read the transcript at UN Watch.


xposted to In the Gloaming.

Iran's Newest Secret Weapon

It's been almost a week since rumors began flying in Tehran that the Grand Ayatollah Ali Khameni had died. Frustratingly, the claims have not been able to be verified, and after a nail-biting few days, the Ayatollah's office recently released some photos of "Ol' Sparky" that supposedly prove the bearded one is still alive and kicking.

But do they?

I was a little suspicious of the photos and of such a long lag time from the Ayatollah's people, so I ran them by some former Mossad analysts (hi Uncle Doron), and asked them for their input.

Their results were as shocking as they were unshakable. According to my sources, there can be little doubt that the Ayatollah has been turned into a zombie.

Based on top-secret, off-the-record conversations with Persian Jewish dissidents I happen to know through my Ultimate Frisbee League, the Iranians have been investigating the possibilities of secret zombie technology for years, hence their long-standing friendly relationship with Haiti and their hostile policies towards the Dominican Republic, known in Iran as "that teeny-tiny Satan." Apparently the zombie project was first started during the Iran-Iraq war by Ayatollah Khomeini, who was very interested in living forever without actually having to martyr himself. However after an unfortunate accident involving tainted Iraqi werewolf blood, the research was put on hold. Shortly after, Khomeini died (though his brain is supposedly still being frozen for the day when they get the kinks out of the Ayatollah-bots). The same day that Khameni became Ayatollah, the zombie project was brought back out of its evil, dark shadowy grave.

My ex-CIA neighbor added that "this explains everything," such as why Khameni was kept totally isolated in his hospital room and the only one allowed to see him was his son. Can you say "Voodoo Incantation Ceremony?" (Really? Well, try saying it in Farsi. Not so easy, is it?)

Some argue that a Zombie-influenced Iranian leadership could actually be a good thing. Noted Zombieologists at New Orleans State confided in me that historically, many zombies have been proven to be docile, easily influenced, and not usually terribly hostile against Israel. (Compare that to Khameni before his hospital visit. What do we have to lose?) Additionally, America has a strong zombie tradition, so after Khameni gets over his new hunger for brains, his next urge may be to pick up the phone, call up Washington, and ask for a free walking tour of the French Quarter.

No word yet on what the Grand Zombietollah's first move will be. But my psychic pharmacist says that if we're lucky, it will involve a dead chicken, a pentagram made of blood, and Ahmadinejad's soul being transferred into a pin-stuffed doll.

[Sources: Yediot http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3791250,00.html and Jpost http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1255547722212&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull]

Hezbollah re-armed

According to informed sources Hezbollah now has forty thousand missiles in Lebanon.

Additionally, in contravention of United Nations Resolution, there are more than three hundred weapons caches south of the Litani river.

[Resolution 1701: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Nations_Security_Council_Resolution_1701
The Resolution demands: Full cessation of hostilities; Israel to withdraw all of its forces from Lebanon in parallel with Lebanese and UNIFIL soldiers deploying throughout the South; Hezbollah to be disarmed; Full control of Lebanon by the government of Lebanon; No paramilitary forces, including Hezbollah, south of the Litani River. ]


Clearly the United Nations Peacekeepers are obediently staying out of trouble - which must be precisely how the Untied Nations defines keeping the peace.


These rockets and guns are not meant to rust away. Why does the world tolerate an obviously belligerent terrorist group? Especially one so thoroughly distrusted by so many Arabs?
The Sunni, Christian, and Druze politicians in Beirut must be keenly aware of how fragile peace is, and how tenuous their own safety. If there is no war with Israel, Hezbollah will use its materiel to solidify its own position, and make the continued existence of other parties and other creeds in Lebanon untenable.

Lily Haskell of AROC Revisited

As a passive activist and full-time anarcho-Zionist, it's my duty to keep tabs on the haters - persons & things: Becky O'Malley, Berkeley Fellowship of Unitarian Universalists, The Berkeley Daily Planet, The Anti-Zionist Network (comprised mostly of self-loathing Jews, sadly), and of course my non-friend, Lily Haskell.

So I did a search on her name. She's still in the top 5 hits, though she appears on another fellow Zionist's blog, At the Back of the Hill. Still, 2 hits in the top 5 is impressive.

Let's continue. My second search was "Lily Haskell" in google images. IMAGINE MY SURPRISE:

FIRST PHOTO, TOP LEFT (how suiting, for her to be on "the left").



Lily Haskell aka Lily Aida Haskell aka Elizabeth Haskell

See: DISGRUNTLED JIHADI KIDS


xposted to In The Gloaming

HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL SPEECH OCTOBER 15

Earlier today Israel spoke to her critics on the United Nations Human Rights Council regarding the Goldstone Report. The text of Israel's statement is below.

-------------------------------------------

Statement by H.E. Aharon Leshno Yaar
Permanent Mission of Israel
To the United Nations, Geneva
12th Special Session
Human Rights Council
15 October 2009


Mr. President,

Only two short weeks have gone by since we last met. In the real world, absolutely nothing has changed to justify calling all of the respected members of this body back to this hall. Every person here knows that today's meeting is not about human rights but an abuse of the integrity and procedures of this organization to make a point to a domestic Palestinian audience.

One might think that the Human Rights Council would seek to build a modicum of credibility by holding fast to the idea that it should be the home for honorable discussions on Human Rights. It should say that such special meetings, like the one called for today, should only be called in the case of a true emergency, where the words from this hall could have a healing power. But here we are today, for another opportunity for the favorite and most infamous subject of some within this Council, Israel bashing. There is a call to pass this on to other fora, to any place where politics, buried under the flag of human rights, can be waged against one state, against Israel.

In regards to the question of the situation in Jerusalem, as Prime Minister Netanyahu emphasized earlier this week: "Extremist elements tried to undermine quiet and peaceful life in Jerusalem. An extremist minority disseminated lies to the effect that (Israel) intend(s) to dig, or was actually digging, under the Temple Mount. … (T)his is an outright lie."

In recent weeks, as has been the custom in the 42 years that Israel has controlled the Old City of Jerusalem, access to the Holy sites of all faiths has remained unfettered. A number of provocations and inciting statements, called for violence, totally fabricated any Israeli step or intent. These violent incitements began, on 27 September, without any connection to recent events in this hall, contrary to claims made by some. Individuals gathered and threw rocks and other projectiles from the area around the mosques on the Temple Mount, and a number of locations in East Jerusalem. All of this was met by extreme restraint by Israeli police and officials. Regular contact, consultations and updates were held with officials from Egypt and Jordan in order to ensure calm.

Visits to the Holy sites by Muslim pilgrims and tourists have been taking place and will continue peacefully and in cooperation. During the recent holy month of Ramadan, over 100,000 Muslims visited the Mosques on the Temple Mount each Friday, all without incident. The Mosques remain freely accessible for Muslims, including Palestinians, without any interaction with Israeli security officials.

Internal Palestinian debates about domestic strife have somehow been fed by artificially emphasizing an extremist agenda regarding Jerusalem. And packaging this panic and hysteria here in Geneva, with a reintroduction of the Goldstone Report, also for domestic political purposes, offers a hollow victory for those that want to sow conflict in our region. The moderate forces are weakened, not aided, by these resolutions and conflicts.

Earlier this week in Jenin, Mahmud Abbas, President of the Palestinian Authority made just this point, saying that Hamas is using the Goldstone Report and its ramifications to fight any chance for progress in the peace process and even to cause division within the Palestinian community. Mr. Abbas said that "Hamas used the report to sabotage the reconciliation."

In that same speech, in Jenin, President Abbas, stated that during the events of Gaza last winter, [quote] "the Hamas movement hid in basements. The leaders of Hamas ran away in ambulances to Sinai and left our people to bleed."

The Goldstone Fact-finding mission devoted an entire chapter to the allegations of misuse of ambulances and, unsurprisingly, rejected concerns regarding Hamas misuse. Paragraph 485 of the report definitively determines [quote]: "(o)n the basis of the investigations it has conducted, the Mission did not find any evidence to support the allegations… that ambulances were used to transport combatants or for other military purposes".

This biased and flawed report accuses Israel of war crimes for having taken action to fight against Hamas – war criminals who openly call for our destruction, fired thousands of rockets against us and endangered their own population by hiding and fighting from within densely populated areas.

Israel has given a substantive and clear explanation to anyone who was interested in listening, its criticisms with the fact-finding mission. We explained carefully why we believed the Report was wrong both in spirit and in law. Israel openly shared its dilemmas as a democracy fighting against terror along its border, in the most complex of situations, against terrorists who intentionally put their own people at risk. We offered detailed explanations about our security, legal and political policies and concerns. Mistakes that were made are being investigated by Israel’s relevant authorities, as has always been the case within Israel’s democratic system. Israel’s courts remain open to all, including Palestinians and NGO’s who seek redress. Regrettably, the report saw no problems with the actions of Hamas terrorists, using mosques, homes and hospitals for military purposes, even offering explanations why such action could somehow be excusable.

We still do not understand how a report that completely ignored the concept of Israel's inherent right of self defense, Hamas' smuggling of weapons and Israel's genuine humanitarian efforts during the conflict could be seen as anything but biased and irrelevant. It was fascinating, and telling, to hear Justice Goldstone himself tell a journalist about the distinct limits of his report, saying [quote] "if this was a court of law, there would have been nothing proven."

The supporters of the resolution have no interest in Israel's actions to limit negative effects to civilians, its domestic investigations, the workings of its legal system or the fact that there is no likelihood that this body, or any other, will truly look into allegations of Palestinian crimes. The sponsors of the resolution are not even asking for the smallest amount of introspection from the Palestinian side who are calling on the Council to "endorse" a report that stated that their own people committed war crimes.

There are members that want this Council, as well as the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, to be so preoccupied that there will be no time to investigate human rights in their countries. They are among the "auspicious" group that supported the call that dragged us back here. None of those states could ever imagine any dialogue on human rights or democracy or complementarity in their countries. So they shift the discussion to Israel. Today's session has nothing to do with human rights but everything to do with Palestinian politics and abuse of the integrity of this body.

Mr. President,

The resolution, as proposed, will be a reward for terror and will send a clear message to terrorists everywhere. They will clearly hear that this new form of warfare, as used by Hamas in Gaza, will offer immunity as countries will be prevented from waging effective responses. This strategy will be repeated in other places, against other countries fighting terror.

And finally, and perhaps most sadly, action taken here today will set back hopes for peace. Any chance for a real dialogue and better and more secure future for our region demands confidence. It would not be special sessions or abusing the agendas of esteemed international organizations, but dialogue, that would offer clear benefits and a mutual building of trust that would strengthen the position of the leaders of the Palestinian Authority. Dialogue, not threats, would also build the confidence of the Israeli public for supporting the peace process. The only beneficiaries of today's proposal would be Hamas and their allies who only seek division and conflict and an end to any hope for peace.

Mr. President, members of the Council, the political weapon proposed here today has nothing to do with human rights. Nothing. And when you next wonder why this body does not receive the respect it would like, remember this moment and you will have your answer.


SOURCE:
http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/Foreign+Relations/Israel+and+the+UN/Speeches+-+statements/Statement-by-Ambassador-Leshno-Yaar-to-the-12th-Special-Session-of-the-Human-Rights-Council-15-Oct-2.htm

-------------------------------------------

It was an excellent speech. The only problem is that most of the listeners were the usual bunch of uncivilized third-world gangsters and thugs - an audience with neither education nor intelligence.

Quote:
The holding of the Special Session comes at the request of Palestine. The request is co-sponsored by the following 18 Member States of the Human Rights Council, namely Bahrain, Bangladesh, Bolivia, China, Cuba, Djibouti, Egypt, Gabon, Indonesia, Jordan, Mauritius, Nicaragua, Nigeria, Pakistan, Philippines, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Senegal.
End quote.
http://www.unhchr.ch/huricane/huricane.nsf/view01/F3055EE9BD9C87A6C125764E0046FB47?opendocument

The only state in the list above with even a half-way decent human rights record is the Philippines. All the others are between horrific and utterly appalling violators. Truly, this is a group to respect.

Per Wikipedia:
2009 Group: Cameroon, Djibouti, Mauritius, Nigeria, Senegal, Bangladesh, China, Jordan, Malaysia, Saudi Arabia, Azerbaijan, the Russian Federation, Cuba, Mexico, Uruguay, Canada, Germany, and Switzerland.

Several Muslim countries, several African clients of the Arabs, several dictatorial regimes and failed states.
Plus, for a flinterthin veneer of respectability and balance, Germany, and Switzerland.

Memphis - home to inbred Jedd and his bigoted klan

There are times when one wonders how soon civilization will strike certain places. Goodness knows, we've waited long enough for it to happen!
When will it be? When? When? When?

One of those places may be Memphis. I'm not sure, I have never been there, despite my idol worship of the king. Until today, it sounded like a wonderful place.


Memphis frat house painted with swastikas

Quote:
The Zeta Beta Tau fraternity has not yet moved into the house on fraternity row at the University of Memphis, but the swastikas spray-painted Tuesday were accompanied by the message "welcome to frat row, Jews".
End quote.

Source:
http://jta.org/news/article/2009/10/14/1008501/memphis-zbt-house-painted-with-swastikas



"Welcome to frat row, Jews"


My guess is that it's food related. Some folks are genuinely scared of what metropolitan people eat - it frightens them, and threatens their sense of personal cultural security.
They're probably scared of brisket in Memphis. And I can understand that; once brisket arrives, the bacon-peanut butter-and-banana sandwich will start disappearing, and one more folkloric Memphis "contribution" to international cuisine will fade into oblivion. So very sad.

When Israel Strikes

Frontpage magazine's Jamie Glazov recently interviewed Kenneth Levin, who among other things is a well-known commentator on Israeli politics, a Princeton historian, and author of The Oslo Syndrome: Delusions of a People Under Siege.

The interview is well-worth reading. A few highlights are presented below.


TIME RUNNING OUT

Levin: The recent missile firings, including those of the longer-range Shahab-3 and Sajjil, while provocative in their timing given the revelation a few days earlier of a secret Iranian uranium enrichment facility near Qom and given also the start of "five plus one" talks with Iran on October 1, do not in themselves add much to what has been known about Iran’s missile capabilities.

At most, they reinforce the conviction of serious observers that Iran has the missile capacity to deliver a nuclear warhead in a strike against Israel or any other Middle East target. This, coupled with evidence of feverish Iranian efforts and advances in mastering the engineering of a warhead-fitted nuclear trigger and in producing sufficient enriched uranium for a bomb, suggests that there is not much time left for the world to act if it is to prevent Iran from attaining a nuclear arsenal.


FAILURE OF THE WORLD TO STOP IRAN

Levin: It is hardly clear that major world players fully share Israel’s concerns or are prepared to act to stop Iran. American-backed negotiations between European powers and Iran have gone on for years, have borne no fruit, and have not led thus far to the Europeans, or the U.S., taking much more dramatic steps against the Iranian regime. On the contrary, Western European states such as Germany have been the major source of much of the technology that has made Iran’s nuclear advances possible.
What trade and other sanctions have been imposed on Iran were won with much resistance by various powers and have obviously been too weak to have stopped Iran’s steady advance toward attaining nuclear arms.


ISRAEL'S SECURITY

Levin: This leaves Israel essentially on its own. Israel’s leaders, in previous governments as well as in the present one, have almost unanimously indicated that Israel will have to strike at Iran’s nuclear installations before Iran attains a nuclear weapon. But it obviously faces many daunting challenges to doing so effectively.


SAUDI AIR-CORRIDOR

Levin: There have been a number of news stories that Saudi Arabia has given Israel a green light to cross its territory, stories which the Saudis have denied. Even if the reports are true, using Saudi airspace would present obvious risks, including that of the Iranians being informed of the approaching attack.


AIR STRIKE

Levin: The general assumption is that Israel’s preferred scenario would be to overfly Iraq. This would be the most direct route, and American cooperation could help secure the element of surprise. But the Bush Administration is reported to have refused to allow Israel the use of Iraqi airspace, and it is hard to imagine the Obama Administration being more cooperative.

To be sure, not everyone around Obama shares
Zbigniew Brzezinski’s view that the U.S. ought to shoot down any Israeli aircraft that try to reach Iran via Iraq. But if the prevailing view in the Administration is that the U.S. can live with a nuclear Iran, there will inevitably be very strong sentiment not only to deny assistance, even passive assistance, to an Israeli raid but to apply extremely heavy pressure to dissuade the Israelis from attacking.


IRANIAN REPRISALS, DIPLOMATIC FALLOUT

Levin: Iran would very likely unleash attacks against Israeli and Jewish targets around the world. It would also very likely seek to have Hezbollah, Hamas and perhaps Syria as well strike at Israel. Hezbollah and Hamas between them have rockets and missiles that can reach most of Israel, while Syria can hit any point in the country, and the civilian population and the nation’s infrastructure – even without Syrian involvement – would be at risk. Israel would, of course, have prepared to aggressively defend itself, but the task of limiting losses would be challenging at best.

There would also be the difficult diplomatic fallout of an Israeli attack. Even those countries relieved by a successful attack would still condemn it. Organs of the UN would, of course, censure Israel. Perhaps they would have Richard Goldstone prepare a report concluding that Israel had committed war crimes and crimes against humanity by initiating aggression against Iran’s peaceful nuclear program.


REALISTIC ASSESSMENTS

Levin: Israel confronts the likelihood of being able to inflict at most only limited damage on Iran’s nuclear program, having to do so in the face of strong opposition from its main ally, almost certainly incurring fierce military and terror reprisals, and likewise having to deal with intense negative diplomatic fallout. Yet, with all the challenges and dangers, Israel does have options for an attack on Iran’s nuclear program and, given the certainty of the existential threat presented by a nuclear Iran, it will almost certainly act to set back the Iranian program whatever the risks and dangers.

Israel would obviously prefer to see determined action by the world’s powers to end the Iranian threat. But if there is no progress, and the coming weeks yield no obvious resolve by the United States and its European allies to take decisive action, then Israel will likely feel compelled to act by early next year if not sooner.


SOURCE:
http://frontpagemag.com/2009/10/01/when-israel-strikes-by-jamie-glazov/
ALSO READABLE HERE:
http://docstalk.blogspot.com/2009/10/when-israel-strikes.html


Jamie Glazov is Frontpage Magazine's editor. He holds a Ph.D. in History with a specialty in Russian, U.S. and Canadian foreign policy. He is the author of Canadian Policy Toward Khrushchev’s Soviet Union and is the co-editor (with David Horowitz) of The Hate America Left. He edited and wrote the introduction to David Horowitz’s Left Illusions. His new book is United in Hate: The Left's Romance with Tyranny and Terror.


Elsewhere on the internet one can find predictions that an Israeli strike will happen relatively soon. It would be irresponsible to speculate about dates and times.
What is, however, likely, is that such an eventuality is fast approaching certainty. There are no indications that Iran will play ball, little hope that the current round of talky-talky with the Persians will be successful, and hardly a chance that their nuclear program be stopped. The American government is determined to offer carrots, but is unlikely to utilize its sticks. That will mean that Israel will have to be, once again, the bad cop.