A Lie told a Million Times is still a lie: Israel has the 4th largest army in the world

A lie told a million times is still a lie.

Its been said a million times, in a million different ways. Yet there is no credible source backing it up. Does Israel have the "4th largest army" in the world?

No.

From the Huffington post to Rense to Iranian PressTV , this claim is made repeatedly, yet of the dozens of lists available on the web, not a single source bears this out.

In terms of size of the army: Nationmaster ranks Israel in position 17 in terms of army personnel
In a list of manpower fit for service, Israel ranks in dismal 88th place http://www.photius.com/rankings/military/manpower_fit_for_military_service_male_2011_0.html

In terms of defense expenditures: A list of countries by military expenditures from 2010 ranks Israel in 17th place, well behind such military giants as Canada, Spain and Italy

The CIA world factbook Military expenditures as a percent of gross domestic product (GDP); ranks Israel in 6th place, with positions 1-5 taken up by Oman, Saudi Arabia, Qatar Jordan and Iraq. The US is in 24th place in that list

So, where did the factoid "4th largest army in the world" originate from? It appears to have been invented from the fertile minds of the Israel bashers.

The most comprehensive ranking site Global firepower actually ranks Israels overall military strength 10th in the world, taking into consideration 45 separate factors, in 8 categories
PERSONNEL (including total population, available military manpower, active and reserve military manpower)
LAND ARMY (includes land based weapons, including tanks, artillery, etc)
AIR POWER (includes aircraft, helicopters, etc)
NAVAL POWER (includes ports, aircraft carriers, destroyers, etc)
RESOURCES
LOGISTICAL (overall rail/roadway service)
FINANCIAL (USD) (includes defense spending budget)
GEOGRAPHIC

Cry me a River. Palestinian lies about Water Use Exposed

On June 15, 2011 The Jerusalem Post published an article written by the head of the Palestinian Water Authority, Dr. Shaddad Atilli blaming Israel for the water crisis in the Palestinian territories. Atilli claimed that Israel’s ‘discriminatory policies’ are to blame for the lack of water in Palestinian society. He claimed that Israel uses the Joint Israeli Palestinian Water Committee (JWC) to delay and deny Palestinian water projects. He also wrote that Israel illegally exploits 90% of the shared water sources. Furthermore, he claimed that because of the Israeli theft of water and the destruction of water wells and treatment plants, people realize that the two-state solution is rapidly fading.

The article was reprinted and reposted in multiple sites, and has been used once again as a way of delegitimizng Israel. And once again, we learn that it is based on lies. It is the Palestinian authority that has been sabotaging efforts to create a local water infrastructure

From the JPOST written by Yochanan Visser , Director Missing Peace Information (an Israel-based PD organization operating in Belgium and the Netherlands), and publicist for the Dutch papers De Volkskrant, Het Vrije Volk and De Dagelijkse Standaard.

“...Recently our organization, Missing Peace, obtained authentic papers documenting meetings of the Joint Israeli Palestinian Water Committee (JWC), and correspondence between Colonel Avi Shalev, head of the International relations branch of COGAT, and Dr.Atilli. These documents paint an entirely different picture.

Contrary to Atilli’s outrageous accusations, the Palestinian Authority has been sabotaging the two-state solution by preventing the development of an independent water infrastructure for the future Palestinian state.

Let’s examine some of the claims in Atilli’s article and compare them with the picture that emerges from the JWC and COGAT documents.

‘Israel delayed and vetoed Palestinian water projects,’ says Atilli.

First of all, article 40 (14) in the Oslo Accords clearly states that all JWC decisions about water projects in the West Bank need mutual agreement.

Once approved, JWC projects for the territories under Palestinian control (Areas A and B) do not need any further Israeli involvement.

Projects in Area C, where Israel is in control, need approval from the Israeli Civil Administration (ICA).

Since 2000 the PWA submitted 76 requests for permits to the office of the Civil Administration.
Subsequently 73 permits were issued by ICA and three denied because there was no master plan.

In a letter of June 8 2009, Shalev responded to Atilli’s complaint that ICA did not honor a PWA request to issue 12 of these permits. Shalev wrote that these permits had already been issued in 2001, and that ICA wondered why the PWA did not execute these projects.

Another 44 JWC-approved projects, the majority in Areas A and B, like the construction of a waste water treatment plant (WWTP) in Jenin that received approval in 2008 - have not been implemented. The German government even withdraw a plan to build a WWTP in Tulkarm when it concluded that the PWA could not handle the project.

When, back in November 2009, the PWA complained about a lack of funds, the Israeli government offered to finance water projects for Palestinian communities. The PA has yet to respond to this offer.

‘Israel allocates only 10% of the shared water sources to the Palestinians’ claims Atilli.

The water quota for the West Bank were mutually agreed upon in the Oslo Accords. As a result, 33% of the water in the aquifers under the West Bank is allocated to the Palestinians.

In 1993 the Palestinians could pump up 117 million cubic meters and Israel would provide an additional 31 million. In 2007 200 million cubic meters were allocated to the PA, of which Israel provided 51.8 million.

However, of those 200 million cubic meters, only 180 million were actually used.

The main reason for this is that the PWA did not implement projects in the Eastern aquifer that would have solved much of the Palestinian water crisis. More than half of the wells approved for exploitation of the Eastern aquifer have still not been drilled. The permits were issued in 2000.

In a letter written on April 4, 2001, the civil administration urged the PWA to execute these projects. A letter from June 8 2009 repeated that request.

Atilli also lied about Palestinian water consumption. In the JPost article he claimed that Palestinians are ‘limited to an average of just 60 liters.’ However, in 2009 his own PWA published a report that mentioned an average supply of 110 liters per capita per day.

Atilli’s level of chutzpa is best shown by his third claim, about Israel stealing water and destroying Palestinian water projects. In fact, Palestinians steal millions of cubic meters of water per year by drilling illegal holes into the water pipes of the Israeli water provider Mekorot. The Civil Authority fixes 600 of these illegal taps each year.

Furthermore, since 2008 Israel has asked the PA to re-establish the joint JSET water patrols that fought water theft before the El Aksa intifada.
The PA has refused.

Another reason for the loss of water is the poor maintenance of the Palestinian water infrastructure. A staggering 33% of the fresh water supply gets lost because of leaks, theft and poor maintenance.

Other documents provided solid evidence that the closing of 250 illegal wells was agreed upon in the JWC meetings. For example, minutes of the JWC meeting on November 13, 2007 show a consensus decision to destroy ‘illegal drillings and connections.’ Nevertheless, Atilli acted as if he never attended these meetings or co-signed the joint decisions.

He even had the gall to write urgent appeals to the international community as soon as ICA, after numerous appeals to the PWA to follow up on the agreed closure of illegal wells, finally closed those wells.

These are only few examples of the shocking way the Palestinian Authority neglected the basic needs of its citizens and cynically uses water as a weapon in a PR campaign against Israel. It shows that, contrary to reports dealing with progress in state building, the PA is far from ready for statehood."

He concludes:

"The stubborn refusal to work with Israel on mutual interests like improvement of the water infrastructure, and the way the PA subsequently uses that lack of improvement to demonize Israel, prove that the PA is not interested in the two-state solution, or peace.

In fact, the bid for UN recognition of a state without a peace agreement, and the way the PA deals with Israel regarding water are part of the same campaign. The goal of that campaign is, as Mahmoud Abbas pointed out in his infamous NYT op-ed, the continuation of the conflict by different means.

By now it has become clear that the use of water as weapon is one of those means.”


For more information on water use in Israel and the disputed territories see The Issue of Water between Israel and the Palestinians

UPDATE:

Thanks Friends, for recommending this film on water use in Israel, made by American high School students

Remembering Gilad Shalit, around the World

From Rome:


From England:

Israel’s supporters came out in Trafalgar Square today to show sympathy with Israel as rockets continue to rain down from Gaza and to wish a happy 25th birthday to Gilad Schalit who is in his sixth year in isolation in Gaza having been kidnapped by Hamas from Israeli soil when he was 19.




To Berkeley, California, where activists from StandWithUs/San Francisco Voice for Israel set up a banner drop at the Pedestrian overpass on I 80.
(Yes, Virginia. There are Zionists in Berkeley )



Please let us know of other community actions, and we'll publicize them. Thanks

Activists Launch Twitter Campaign for Gilad Shalit’s 6th Birthday in Captivity

For those of you on Twitter:
A press release by the grassroots human rights campaign, #tweet4shalit:

Tweet for Shalit

"American human rights activists are launching a new social media campaign on Twitter to raise awareness of the plight of captive Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit. The grassroots campaign, titled #Tweet4Shalit, hopes to rally thousands of tweeters on the week of Gilad Shalit’s 6th birthday in captivity.

“Gilad Shalit has been held in captivity for five years by the Hamas terrorist organization without a single visit from the International Committee of the Red Cross,” says Isaac Yerushalmi, creator of the campaign. “This contravenes international law. On his 5th consecutive birthday in Hamas captivity, Gilad is not able to tweet his wish for freedom, so we will.”

Gregg Roman, advisor at the Israeli Knesset says, “This is a great tool to remind everyone that Gilad is in the hands of the incredulous Hamas terrorist organization in Gaza, and I tip my hat off to the creator for taking this initiative.”

The campaign is viral in nature, and if successful could lead to the trending of Gilad Shalit’s name on the popular social networking website, making it visible to millions of Twitter users."
The campaign website can be accessed at http://www.tweet4shalit.com.

For additional information and interviews, contact:

Isaac Yerushalmi
+972-52-798-7699
iyerushalmi@gmail.com
http://www.tweet4shalit.com

Andre Obler discusses this grassroots campaign at JPost

"The current Tweet4Shalit campaign is an example of grassroots activism by regular users. It uses well established techniques and is exactly two years behind the leading edge of modern online campaigning. Campaigns of this nature are far less newsworthy, and are also less likely to excite the technology enthusiasts who serve as catalysts for campaigns going viral. The secret to success in this type of a campaign is user friendliness and to eliminate all entry barriers. Tweet4Shalit.com does this very well. Follow a link to the site, and two clicks later, with no typing at all, you’ve left your mark. Success for such a campaign depends on grassroots activism and enthusiasm. It relies on many people putting in 10 seconds each, and on the nature of Twitter itself where the desired action also spreads the message to new potential participants."


Lets keep Gilad in peoples hearts and minds. Please tweet for Shalit. Thanks.

UPDATE

Free Gilad billboards have gone up throughout the coutry Have you spotted one? Send us a photo- we'll post it here.

Free Gilad billboard in NYC

Gilad Shalit Day San Francisco Aug 28 2010

Gilad Shalit was kidnapped over 5 years ago by Hamas in a cross-border raid that killed two of his fellow soldiers and wounded three others.

Since then, he has been deprived of his Geneva convention rights, and denied the right to Red Cross visitation, and to communicate with his family. Gilad Shalit turns 25 this Sunday, Aug 28. Mayor Edwin Lee of San Francisco has proclaimed Sunday "Gilad Shalit day"




Pray for Gilad Shalit written by Sephardi Chief Rabbi of Israel, Shlomo Amar.
Psalm 70, 13, 142, and 126


"May it be Your will, Adonai our God and God of our fathers, that the verses of these psalms which we have read before You today will find favor and will be accepted before you as if spoken by King David, Your servant and anointed one.

May You do this for the sake of Your Holy Names that is written in them, alluded to and included within them. Accept mercifully and graciously our prayer and request. May our supplication come before You that You shall take pity, forgive and have mercy upon Your servant, the son of Your handmaiden,

Gilad, son of Aviva (Shalit)

And save him through both physical salvation and compassion, together with all the hostages and prisoners of Israel, Your People.

God, who liberates prisoners in good health, may You redeem him (Gilad) from his captors;
Bring him forth from captivity to freedom, from slavery to redemption, from darkness into light;
Restore him to complete health, both in mind and body;
Fortify his spirit and increase his strength, spreading happiness and joy;
So that he may be strengthened and healed, and know eternal happiness.

May the proliferation of public prayer, protest and grief on his behalf, far and wide, act on his behalf to protect, shield and redeem him from the house of his imprisonment.

And God will cast asunder his evil sentence that has been decreed, his good deeds shall be enumerated before the Almighty, blessed be God, including all that he has done and accomplished on behalf of our people and our inheritance. So shall God cast asunder his evil sentence through the Holy Name that is alluded to in the initials of the words "קבל רנת עמך שגבנו טהרנו נורא"; accept the delight of Your People, exalt us and purify us exceedingly.

May God fulfill for him the Biblical declaration, as it is written: And those redeemed by Adonai shall return and come to Zion in gladness, with eternal happiness on their heads; they shall know rejoicing and happiness; sorrow and grief shall fade. May this come to pass speedily in our days. Amen."


UPDATE:
Full text of the resolution

WHEREAS, the City of San Francisco has a long history of promoting human rights at the local, national and international level through the work of private citizens and governmnent with the ultimate goal to increase equalityu, eradicate discrimination, and to protect human rights for all people; and


WHEREAS, on June 26, 1945 the Charter of the United Nations was signed in San Francisco - forming a new international organization with the stated objective "to save succeeding generations from the scourge of war" and "to reaffirm faith in fundamental human rights"; and

WHEREAS, this year marks the 5th anniversary of the capture and kidnapping of Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit by Hamas; and

WHEREAS, during his captivity, Gilad Shalit has been denied basic human rights to communicate with his family or to receive visits from the International Community of the Red Cross; and

WHEREAS, today, on the occasion of Gilad Shalit's 25th birthday, we join with the United Nations, the REd Cross, the Palestinian Authority, Israel and the United States Department of State in calling for his immediate release; and

WHEREAS, we express our support for a peaceful resolution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and we call upon all parties to respect internatinoal humanitarian and human rights laws and to halt continuing violence against Israeli and Palestinian civilians; now

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, that I, Edwin M. Lee, Mayor of the City and County of San Francisco, do hereby proclaim August 28, 2011 as...

Gilad Shalit Day
In San Francisco!

J STREET: MILDER THAN YOUR AVERAGE SAN FRANCISCO NUTBALL

This was the announcement sent out over a week ago by the local chapter of the "not particularly Zionist" conspiracy:

Join us August 23rd at 12:15 PM at the Crocker Galleria to show that a two-state solution has real support by marching together and delivering thousands of postcards signed by J Street members backing the President's vision of a two-state solution. Be a part of this national day of action with other J Street supporters from all over the Bay, and show your representatives and the entire country that you believe in a two-state solution!
We'll go from the Crocker Galleria to McKesson Plaza in front of Senator Feinstein's offices at 12:15 pm, then hold a program with guest speakers and more fun.
For more information, contact Molly Freeman at sfbayarea [at] jstreet [dot] org.

Event Location
Crocker Galleria
50 Post Street
San Francisco, CA 94104


Fun! And guest speakers! Plus a controversial subject, bound to attract attention. What a ripping idea for mid-day in the middle of the week.
If you missed out on yesterday evening's rapid transit rumble, with the two ugly naked people, you can still get in on political mass-action.

Ein gonz kolossale idée, Batman, ba emmes!


TWO STATE SOLUTION? FAUGH!

Well, that assertion that there should be TWO states did not sit well with some people.
A day or two later I received this e-mail:

"The Zionist Lobby again is asserting its tentacle like grip on the American political system, advertising a rally on Tuesday Aug 23rd meeting at the Crocker Galleria (50 Post st, San Francisco) then marching to McKesson Plaza in front of Senator Feinstein's offices at 12:15 pm. They will claim they are for "Human rights" and for "peace".
Please join real human rights activists to remind the clueless members of the Israeli lobby that there can not be peace without justice.
Meet us at McKesson Plaza at 12. 1 Post Street San Francisco, right by BART
Use your lunch hour to tell the world that San Francisco will not be fooled by wolves in sheeps clothing, ever again.
Until Justice! Until return!"

No, shan't mention which organization sent that - they don't need to know that their mailing list includes moles, police officers, outer space aliens, Scientologists, or free masons.

They're paranoid enough already.


ATTENTION, SHEEPLE!

Well, J-street isn't, strictly speaking, my crowd. I'm on their mailing list, but that doesn't mean I sit at the same table.

But I decided that, seeing as their event was in the Financial District, it might be interesting.

Strolled over at 12:30.

Fifty four people.
Nobody I recognized.
Mostly middle-aged to far beyond retirement age.
A dozen with premade signs: “pro Israel, pro peace”, and “two countries now”.
Two speakers – neither very inspired, nor objectionable.
No counter demons.
Rather little attention from lunch-time passers-by.

Several construction workers drinking up the sun while seated on the steps of the Bart entrance nearby, completely indifferent to the quiet, restrained, unnoticeable bunch of people who looked like they were posing for a “class of 1958 – where are they now” photo.

After ten minutes I went off to do my own thing elsewhere.
No point in staying – none of the Jaynicks were going to throw rocks or loot stores. Even chanting seemed too improper.


I guess it’s just difficult to get a crowd together to scream out “we’re solidly wishy-washy and have rather bland thoughts!”


Still, better than playing canasta in the recreation lounge on a sunny day.



================================================================================
NOTE: Originally posted here:
http://atthebackofthehill.blogspot.com/2011/08/j-street-milder-than-your-average-san.html.
Please feel free to share YOUR impression of J-Street.

California Divestment Campaign strikes out again

Oh, pity the poor California Divestment campaign. (or laugh at them behind their backs. We are fine with that, too) After failing miserable to get enough signatures to place their anti-Israel measure on the California ballot, (reports indicate that fewer than 5 % of the needed signatures were collected) they lowered the bar and decided to just try a plain old petition to pressure the state public retirement system CalPERS and CalSTRS to divest from companies doing business in Israel. After 5months, only 1600 people have signed on, the vast majority with no investments in either fund.

Welcome to the fairy tale world of the BDS movement. This lack of sucess hasn't prevented the California Divestment Campaign by crowing victory from the rooftops, bragging about hitting the milestone of less than .0001 % of eligible participants signing on to their campaign. Thats 1600 signatures, out of the 1.6 million CalPers fund participants.

In America, Boycotts, divestment and Sanctions BDS has a long and venerable record of abject failure. Way to go, California Divestment Campaign. May you continue to go from failure to failure.

This is getting to be a thing, with the Russians

Per CAMERA's Snapshot blog, there is some question about whether this is still up. I now find it 'edited'.

Adam Holland located it.

The Rev. Vicki Gray writes, for the Episcopal News Service:

“Almost amusingly, Rabbi Daniel Sperber of Tel Aviv's Bar-Ilan University reportedly told the conference not to worry … "the churches are full" thanks to Filipino guest workers and 50,000 Christians who have immigrated from the former Soviet Union. These latter "Christians," he failed to note, are for the most part Soviet "Jews" who have made aliyah to Israel and brought with them racist, fascist attitudes that have given rise to neo-Soviet policies that would discriminate against Palestinians and Filipinos alike and, in the process, threaten Israeli democracy.”

The date is late July of this year.

This casual bigotry against Russian Israelis is fascinating, isn't it? I'd ask what this stemmed from, but it's pretty clear what this stems from.

Disgusting.

Harriet Sherwood and the Russians

Remember Harriet Sherwood? The one with the felafel issues? She's back, and over at CIF, they're commenting on a piece she wrote for the Guardian about how the Russians are ruining Israel.

CIF points out, correctly, that Sherwood and her readers would probably be infuriated (and rightly so, in my eyes) at a journalist who broadly slurred a group of immigrants to Britain as damaging the country. Indeed, I've spent some time online myself, since the London riots, dealing with people who blame the whole thing on the West Indians, or the Muslims, or...well, mostly one of those two.

Yet, Harriet Sherwood – the Guardian’s Jerusalem correspondent, who, no doubt, fancies herself a multiculturalist who is free of such narrow-minded anti-immigrant bias – saw fit in her most recent post, “Israel’s former Soviet immigrants transform adopted country“, Aug. 17, to blame Israeli immigrants from the former Soviet Union (FSU) for moving the country in a dangerous direction.

Sherwood’s piece blames “The million-plus citizens of the former Soviet Union who immigrated to Israel in the past 20 years” for causing a housing crisis, being resistant to integrating into Israeli society, and bringing with them Russian political values inconsistent with democracy, tolerance and compromise.

Now, just imagine if something similar was written about the injurious effects of immigration to the UK on traditional British culture, and substitute the word “Muslims” for “Russians” to get a sense of the supreme moral hypocrisy at play here.

Luckily, we get a rejoinder, from Anastasia Couzminski, one of those unintegrated Russians, who has this to say:

Hello CiF watch,

As a regular reader of your blog and one of those annoying Russians that “integrated little” in Israel, I couldn’t let this article pass. This is personal.

I am beyond furious at [Harriet Sherwood's] article!

[What she says about Russians] couldn’t be any farther from the truth.

As an immigrant who’s been living here most of my life, I consider myself to be 110% ISRAELI and not Russian or Kazakh (I was born in the republic of Kazakhstan).

My mother is Jewish but I have many friends whose mother are in fact non-Jewish but are similarly supremely dedicated to this country.

It is absolute rubbish that immigrants integrated little and live mostly in “Russian enclaves”.

Many such “unintegrated Russians” are married to “Sabras” (Israelis who were born in Israel), give their kids Israeli names and many even refuse to speak Russian anymore.

This LIE [regarding the] lack of integration is evident everywhere.

I, as with most of the “unintegrated Russians”, have served in the army and, in fact, many of these “unintegrated Russian” young men go to become fighters and officers in the army and fight and DIE side by side with Israel-born soldiers!

We study all together in schools and universities and despite there being “Russian” hang-out places, it is SIMPLY NOT TRUE that [non-Russian] Israelis are NOT wanted there. The FIB that Russians created a housing problem is [also simply not true]. Russians did not come to parasite on this country. They finished “Ulpan” (Hebrew classes for immigrants) and right away began searching for jobs. They can now be found in every single workplace including hospitals, courts, and the media (NOT ONLY Russian media).

The fact that Harriet Sherwood makes a point of singling out Russians is a total double standard. And the following quote by the Russian-hating Israeli journalist, whom [Sherwood] must have had to dig out from some very dark place, which claims “…alienation between Russian immigrants and native-born Israelis [exist because] there is not much social interaction” is also simply not true.

Most of my friends are Israelis, many of my friends are married to Israelis, we party, travel and do everything together! And the older generation is the same.

In short, [Sherwood] evidently didn’t have anything to report about and found, in the much maligned Russian community, a convenient target and scapegoat.

Sincerely,

Anastasia

Watching anti-Israel writers deal with the phenomenon of immigration to Israel from the FSU has been rather interesting. They see them as a single group, of course, and the information that not all of the Russians are Ashkenazi, or from Russia, often appears to baffle them. (Jews from Kazhakstan? Huh?) Mostly, though, they appreciate the Russians, even as they bash them, because the Russian olim reinforce what the anti-Israel crowd wants to see, in their own minds, that is. They see the Russians as 'white', and 'intolerant' because of their Soviet background. (Odd, from people who insisted, while it was still standing, that the USSR was a bastion of tolerance.) This saves them, once again, from having to examine the multicultural nature of Israeli society, or from examining other groups in the country too closely. The Mizrahim and Sephardim from Arab countries are a particular problem for the anti-Israel pundit, one they generally solve by publicly 'supporting' them as victims of Israeli racism, but not actually caring to know anything about their history, their existence as Israelis, or their political opinions.

Museum of Childrens Art in Oakland to host Anti-Israel art fair

Coming to a city near you. The latest in Palestinian propaganda, in the guise of "childrens art" is traveling, with drawings specially selected to demonize the Worlds only Jewish state. The next stop is the Oakland California Museum of Children's Art (MOCHA), where this collection is being promoted by the Middle East Children's Alliance (MECA) and is marketed to children from kindergarten through 8th grade.


Parents of 5 years olds. Do you really want your children subject to images like these? When you sign a permission slip allowing your child to go on a field trip to MOCHA, is this what you expect? Teachers- how will you explain the anti-Semitic and anti-American imagery to your kindergartners?





Notice the use of Jewish stars in the "art" turning this from simply a chronicle of childrens experiences during war, into a demonization of Jewish state. The anti-American imagery provides a nice touch, too.

The Children of Sderot, just a mile from the Gaza border are truly living under siege, suffering from daily missile attacks. Indeed, there are common threads in the drawings, yet the Israeli children manage to convey the horrors of war without the use of anti-Islamic imagery.







To the Museum of Childrens Art, the staff, board and the individuals and foundations that support MOCHA:
This exhibit is without context and balance, and includes anti-Semitic and anti-American imagery. By allowing your facilities to be used in this manner, you are presenting an incomplete picture, creating heat without light and contributing to the vast pool of lies misinformation on the conflict in the Middle East. This is an inappropriate use of a treasured local resource.

Demonizing Israel for Fun and Profit

From Arutz Sheva
"Are Israel's leftists pure ideologues or guns for hire? Yotam Feldman, who was born into the leftist camp – his father is liberal lawyer Avigdor Feldman – believes the latter.

In a Hebrew language post at the "Eretz HaEmori" blog, Feldman says that in his life, he has witnessed how Israel's "human rights movement" became a source of income for its activists. He relates how his father's old Subaru "gradually turned" into a BMW, and how the family moved from a rented apartment in Yafo to a spacious Tel Aviv apartment. "

He continues:

"It is a well known but seldom stated fact that a very large part of the leftist activists in Tel Aviv earn their salaries in different ways from the human rights branch. Many of the prominent – and often most vocal – activists in the demonstrations are paid spokespeople, PR people, producers and organizers and of course, lawyers who man the tip of the pyramid in these groups."

"This is a pretty confusing situation because when you are standing in a demonstration or even just engaging in idle talk, it is not clear if the person next to you is expressing his opinion as a result of inner conviction or as an inseparable part of his job…

"Therefore, if it were not for the plethora of neo-colonialist European Union initiatives for solving disputes, safeguarding human rights and establishing good governance, it is likely that many of my acquaintances would find themselves without an income."

This is probably why leftist groups are so concerned about proposed committees of inquiry into the sources of their NGOs' funding."

Out of Africa

The Horn of Africa is facing its worst drought in 60 years, with an estimated 11.6 million people needing urgent humanitarian aid. Over 2.3 million children are estimated to be malnourished , with over half a million severely malnourished children at imminent risk of death. Tens of thousands of people have died and many more lives are at risk.

And a relief convoy just passed through the region without stopping, on its way to bring aid to Gaza.

From CNN

A humanitarian land convoy heading to Gaza from South Africa reached Port Sudan, Sudan on the Red Sea Wednesday and is destined to become the first relief mission to Gaza from Africa.
"I was inspired last year by the convoys that went to Gaza from Europe, so we asked ourselves; why not from Africa?" said Sheikh Walid al-Saadi of the South African Relief Agency (SARA).

Why not Africa? This is why:

From the CIA Factbook on Somalia:
Infant mortality in Somalia total: 105.56 deaths/1,000 live births
Life expectancy in Somalia total population: 50.4 years

From the CIA factbook on Gaza
Infant mortality total: 17.12 deaths/1,000 live births
Life expectancy total population: 73.92 years

Child in East Africa

Child in Gaza

The ten trucks, explained al-Saadi, left Durban, South Africa on June 26 and has passed through seven countries including Botswana, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Tanzania, Kenya, Ethiopia and Sudan

In a bringing coal to Newcastle moment, this convoy is rolling past the truly needy in Africa, to Gaza, a region with an obesity rate, according to UNRWA of 30-40%. A region where luxury hotels, malls and cinemas have just been built. This is an unconscionable evil, orchestrated by the South African Relief Agency (SARA), and enabled by the selfish and narcissistic regime in Gaza. Visit the SARA facebook page. Let them know how you feel about this. www.facebook.com/africa.to.gaza.aid.convoy

NY Times has provided a list for Helping Victims of the East Africa Famine. And do not allow the Palestinians' well oiled PR machine to distance and distract you from the real need in this world.

UPDATE

From Ma'an

A solidarity group from South Africa arrived in Gaza Thursday evening, for a four-day visit they have called "Freedom for detainees."

The group brought 10 trucks of medical and humanitarian supplies, entering through the southern Rafah crossing between the Gaza Strip and Egypt.

With all the publicity regarding the utter hypocrisy of taking aid out of Africa, the group has kept their arrival in Gaza fairly low key. Publicity stunt fail

Thank you, Arlen Schumer. Captain Israel kicks Foreskins Mans' ,er, Butt

Thank you Arlen Schumer, creator of Captain Israel, who has triumphs over the anti-Semitic Foreskin man!
From the ADL

"The comic book portrays mohels -- those specially trained to perform the traditional Jewish circumcision ceremony -- as rapacious, bloodthirsty and bent on harming children. Some of the imagery calls to mind age-old anti-Semitic canards such as the blood libel, the accusation that Jews ritually murder Christian children. Another comic in the series also calls up more subtle anti-Jewish themes, such as when a character complains that the "pro-circumcision lobby" has "all of the well-connected doctors and lawyers."


Great commentary from John Shore Love his tag line: "Trying God's patience since 1958"

"I met Mr. Schumer during my adventures at Comic-Con. In the audience of our panel discussion, he afterwards politely came up to me and proffered his eight-page, lavishly illustrated comic book before quietly going on his way.

The next day, having read the fine print inside Captain Israel, I googled Mr. Schumer’s name, and from there learned about MGMbill.org, the “intactivists” out there vigilantly fighting for the rights of infant boys to one day have their dicks look as long as possible, and, of course, the handsomely blonde Foreskin Man, who might as well have a swastika on his chest instead of that Bat-Butt thing he’s now sporting.

As I hope is already obvious, what fuels MGMbill.org is good old-fashioned antisemitism.

I was never a big fan of Captain America; I just can’t get excited about what amounts to Captain Geopolitical Entity. And my first thought upon seeing Captain Israel was that a comic book from Bizzaro World had accidentally fallen into ours.

Without in any way referencing to the whole Jewish-Palestinian issue, I would just like to say, on behalf of the six million Jews killed by the Nazis in WWII: Go, Captain Israel. Go.

And fuck you, Matthew Hess."


And the other good news:

A Superior Court judge ordered that the proposed measure, which had initially made it onto the November 8 city ballot, be removed entirely. Superior Court Judge Loretta Giorgi wrote that male circumcision is "a widely practiced medical procedure" and that medical services are left to the regulation of the state, not individual cities.

Fighting Hate with Hot Chocolate: Australia rejects BDS

"We remember the precedence of the 1930s; my father came from Germany, and (at) any sign of this kind of behaviour we have to draw a line in the sand." Australia Labor MP Michael Danby

from the Australian
Prominent Australians met for a hot chocolate last week in a solidarity in front of a Jewish business that was recently targeted as part of an anti-Israel boycott.

"Labor MP Michael Danby, Australian Workers Union secretary Paul Howes, former Labor Party president Warren Mundine, comedian Sandy Gutman, aka Austen Tayshus, and journalist Jana Wendt were among those who spoke out against a violent protest on July 1 outside the Max Brenner chocolate shop in Melbourne in which three police officers were hurt and 19 protesters arrested.

Mr Howes said the far-left protesters were "mimicking the behaviour of the Nazi thugs" and it was necessary to "nip this in the bud".

"I would say the bulk of the people who are voting Greens have no understanding of the xenophobic, extremist and abhorrent policies they are voting for," he said.

Wendt said she felt the tolerance of Australian society was under threat if people did not learn from history"


Want to help, but don't live in Australia? Max Brenner Chocolate shops can be found in America in:

New York
841 Broadway
Between 13th and 14th Streets

Las Vegas
The Forum Shops at Caesars
3500 Las Vegas Blvd

Philadephia
1500 Walnut Street
15th Street between Walnut and Locust Streets

Boston
745 Boylston Street

You can also shop on line at http://shop.maxbrenner.com/chocolate-collections-treats.html

Consider the many delicious ways you can show support for Max Brenner shops as they fight against BDS hate, violence and anti-Semitism. How about sponsoring a chocolate Kiddush at your synagogue? Endorsing a Hadassah "sit and eat -in" at a local Max Brenners? Or consider using Max Brenners chocolates at your next simcha


Mmmmmm. Fighting hate and intolerance never tasted this good.

Thats some Apartheid State: Ethiopian Singer wins Israeli idol

21-year-old Hagit Yasso from Sderot, the daughter of religious Ethiopian immigrants won Israel's version of "American Idol" won take first place in the televised song content "Kochav Nolad" ("A Star is Born") on Saturday night.

Hahit served in a musical troupe in the Israeli military and has worked as a kindergarten assistant.

Here's Hagit Yasso singing "Killing Me Softly"

Promotion of hatred against Jews, Israel at UCSC

NOTE TO READER: A small but mighty contingent of courageous Jewish activists in the UCSC community are fighting for the hearts and minds of the student body against huge, anti-semitic organizations at UCSC such as Students for Justice in Palestine, the Resource Center for Nonviolence, and the Women in Black. A voice of reason has been Tammi Rossman-Benjamin, a Hebrew lecturer at UCSC. Here is her letter seeking support from Jewish Californians to raise awareness about anti-semitism at UCSC and to seek action from an administration that is loathe to admit a problem exists. Tammi is a member of Scholars for Peace in the Mideast which has hosted nearly a dozen pro-Israel speakers at UCSC, events which were mostly boycotted by students and University staff. Ironically, UCSC has the largest percentage of Jewish students of any UC campus yet the anti-semitism demonstrated here is among the worst of all UC campuses. ----Becky Johnson, UCSC grad 1988


HERE IS TAMMI'S LETTER:


Dear Jewish Community of California,

Bigotry against Jewish students has occurred on University of California campuses over many years and on many campuses. Jewish students have been subjected to: swastikas; acts of physical aggression; speakers, films and exhibits that use anti-Semitic imagery and discourse; speakers that praise and encourage support for terrorist organizations; the organized disruption of events sponsored by Jewish student groups; and most recently the promotion of student senate resolutions for divestment from Israel that seek to demonize and delegitimize the Jewish State.

PHOTO: Tammi Rossman-Benjamin

Last May, more than 700 Jewish UC students signed a petition expressing outrage at anti-Jewish rhetoric and imagery on their campuses. They asserted that these incidents are as offensive and hurtful to Jewish students as a "Compton cookout" or a noose are to African American students.

In addition, dozens of Jewish students from three different UC campuses, who responded to an on-line questionnaire, described feeling harassed and intimidated by the promotion of hatred against the Jewish State and of Jews. Almost all of the students felt that the administrators on their campuses did not treat Jewish concerns as sensitively as they did the concerns of other minorities such as African Americans and Latinos.

In June 2010, leaders of 12 Jewish organizations, including the Orthodox Union and the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism, wrote to UC President Mark Yudof, expressing their concerns about the hostile environment faced by Jewish students on UC campuses, and calling on him to address this serious problem immediately. President Yudof responded by asking Jewish leaders to have patience and faith in the newly-established Advisory Councils on Campus Climate, Culture, and Inclusion.

Over the last year, however, these Advisory Councils have failed to address, or even acknowledge, the problem of anti-Semitism on UC campuses. In fact, the aims and actions of the Advisory Councils since their inception, as revealed by documents released under a Freedom of Information request, show that Jewish students are not a focus at all.

In an effort to convey to President Yudof the deep concern that members of the California Jewish community feel for the well-being of Jewish students, and their distress that the harassment and intimidation of Jewish students have not been addressed by UC administrators in a substantive way, we have created the AMCHA Initiative. AMCHA is the Hebrew word meaning "Your People" and also connotes "grassroots," "the masses," and "ordinary people." It is our goal to bring together Jewish people from all over California so that they might speak in one voice, united in their concern for the safety of Jewish students on UC campuses.

Jewish students, like all students, should be guaranteed a campus environment that is safe and conducive to learning.

Please help protect Jewish students at the University of California by signing the Petition to UC President Mark Yudof protesting the intimidation and harassment of Jewish students on several UC campuses:

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/LettertoUCPresidentYudof

In order to reach as many Jewish Californians as possible, please circulate this letter widely.

For more information, contact Tammi Rossman-Benjamin: tbenjami@ucsc.edu.

Sincerely,

Leila Beckwith, Professor Emeritus, University of California at Los Angeles

Tammi Rossman-Benjamin, Lecturer, University of California at Santa Cruz

Qassams! Aisle 2! Grand Opening of the Gaza City metro market

From the Free Gaza Movement latest news - An explanation why they rejected the Greek governments offer to have humanitarian aid shipped to Gaza

"We refuse to accept your breadcrumbs. We crave freedom, dignity and the ability to make choices in our daily lives. "

Well, Greta, Huwaida and friends, today is your lucky day. No wonder you don't need humanitarian breadcrumbs. You've got ready access to your own supply. Announcing the grand opening of the brand new Gaza City metro mart for all your breadcrumb needs!




Sure looks like there is plenty of "choice".






So, do you still believe the flotilla is about delivering huumanitarian supplies to Gaza?

More photos from the worlds largest open air concentration camp here

Code Pink attempts to Hijack Rebuilding the Dream house meetings

Interesting Code Pink email this week

We need YOU to join the Pink Dream Team.
Make time this weekend to attend a Rebuild the Dream house meeting near you. Don't forget to wear your pink, take your talking points, and ensure that ending the wars remains a pillar of the progressive agenda.

Were you disappointed when Obama chastised progressives during his deficit press conference on Monday? Instead of slashing vital programs, there's a real path to ending the country's debt problem - end the wars, cut military spending, and tax the rich.

With 9.2% unemployment, we can't afford one more cut to social programs. 25% of American children live in poverty - how will they build an American dream when the WIC budget is slashed?

As part of the Pink Dream Team, you'll help bring the voice of reason to this weekend's house meetings. It's up to YOU to make sure that ending wars, supporting whistleblowers, and cutting aid to Israel are part of the progressive agenda. Help us cover at least 10% of the 2000 meetings. Let us know which one you will be at and get your talking points and hand-outs.

For the peaceful America we all dream about,
Alli, C.J., Dara, Farida, Gayle, Heather, Janet, Jean, Jodie, Kristen, Lisa, Nancy, Medea, Melanie, Rae, Sanaa, Sasha, Tighe

P.S. Remember, staying home this weekend could mean the progressive movement joins the president in sweeping $4 trillion wasted on war under the rug. Can you afford to let that happen?

But check out their website. Can you see the difference?

Join CODEPINK in Rebuilding the American Dream!

CODEPINKers are participating in this movement to remind our sisters and brothers that Bringing the War $$ Home is a foundational aspect of rebuilding the dream. The PINK Dream Team is attending 33 events this weekend. Will you join the PINK Team?

How You Can Help:

1. Sign up NOW to attend an American Dream house meeting near you on July 16 or 17. Remember to Wear Your Pink!

2. Email pinkteam@codepink.org to let us know you've joined the PINK team. Be sure to include what city you'll be attending a meeting in.

3. Things to remember to add into the discussion:

a. Over $3 trillion has been wasted on the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan For more information see Brown University's Costs of War which is recapped in this Huffington Post article.

b. Our nation's mayors agree with us! They passed a historic resolution calling on Congress to cut military spending and redirect the money to domestic priorities at their recent conference in Baltimore

c. The president's "withdrawal" plan from Afghanistan keeps the war going for another three years. That's three years too many. Human needs must be met, not the war machine. Instead of cutting programs like Women, Infant, Children, the federal government should cut the military budget.

d. Another waste of tax dollars are the millions of dollars wasted on prosecuting, infiltrating, and harassing whistle blowers who expose criminal actions and activists who oppose wasteful war policies. The Washington Post reported on out-of-control waste and spending in US intelligence agencies.

Feel free to print out these points and bring them with you to the discussion for easy reference.

4. Download the Not War sign. You can write in your priority for spending. This is based on our popular "Make Love Not War" material. This time, you can tell the world what you'd like to make instead of war! Try to print on pink paper. Take it with you to your meeting and invite people to take a picture with you and the sign. If you can print out other copies and have other attendees write in their priorities, that would be great!

5. Download the War Dollars Home Flyer (pdf). The flyer is designed to be printed double-sided and cut into 1/4 page handouts. This flyer will provide other participants with a succinct introduction to our campaign.

6. Bring a sign-up sheet for our Bring Our War $$ Home campaign, so people can stay connected with us.

7. Remind your CODEPINK sisters to join the PINK team and attend a house meeting near them!

8. Email pinkteam@codepink.org and tell us how the dream meeting went. How many people attended? How many signed up for more information from CODEPINK? What did you think about the experience?


Notice the difference? Code Pink knows that ending aid for Israel is an unpopular stand. That part of their agenda was reserved for very "special" activists. What can you say about an organization that feels the need to lie about its agenda in public forums?

The Right To Make And Eat Felafel

Over at Anne's Opinions, she's tearing up Guardian Israel correspondent Harriet Sherwood. Most of the piece is about coverage of the new anti-BDS legislation, but she added something else that caught my Jewish foodie eye. Anne writes:

In a similar, and totally related, development, Harriet Sherwood reports on McDonald’s withdrawing its McFalafel from Israeli restaurants due to its unpopularity.

So far so tasty.

Then she scrambles her omelette by adding in this nasty little aside right at the end:

"Falafel is thought to have originated in Egypt, although Israel now claims it as a national dish."

Oh! Those thieving Israelis! Not only content to steal other people’s land, now they go and steal other people’s foods! They can claim it as their national dish but we liberal-minded people know better.

Once again Sherwood betrays her bias by inserting an unrelated dig at Israel.

May she stew in her own falafel oil.

This sort of tripe is not uncommon with anti-Zionist types. Assuming as they do that Israelis plopped into the Middle East like Martians from outer space, they are constantly on the lookout for examples of appropriated Middle Eastern foods and such, in order to better define Israelis as fundamentally inauthentic and nonindigenous. I thought I should add a note at Anne's blog, reproduced below:

Lemme ‘splain, Harriet. In 1948, Egypt had 75,000 Jews. Currently, it has less than a hundred. Most of those people headed to Israel, after state persecution and confiscation of their property. In 1956, the Minister of Religious affairs announced that ‘all Jews are Zionists and enemies of the state’, and promised to expel them. Almost no one managed to stay after the 1967 war.

In Israel, these fine people continued to make felafel, and along with other Jews from the region popularized it with the multicultural population of the new nation.

Now, of course, not only is their right of return to Egypt not a potent talking point with left-wing pundits, but even their right to make and eat felafel is apparently up for grabs.

Eejit.

JVP, Tiaa Cref and Pointless Gestures

Some friends of ours emailed us a copy of their TIAA CREF proxy statement, proudly showing their support for Israel, in what they felt was a highly visible and effective manner




And while we were delighted about the support, we explained that proxy statements went to independent tabulating firms, not to Tiaa Cref, and this was an ineffective way to make a pro-Israel statement to their retirement fund.

Generally, its the anti-Israel activists who expend their energy in ineffective manners. Divest this points out this cringe-worthy "flash mob" (lacking, as commenters have pointed out , both "flash" and "mob")

From Divest this:
"Well we defenders of Israel might as well throw in the towel now that BDS advocates have decided to triple down on their “Flash Mob” strategy of pulling 8-12 people together to break into incoherent song and dance at telephone stores or (more recently) a meeting of TIAA CREF here in Boston. After all, who can possibly withstand the awesome political power of images such as this:"




JVP's scheme to coerce Tiaa Cref to divest from Israel's "resilient, globally-oriented and technologically advanced" economy was launched in New York June 10, 2010 , with a coalition that consisted of Code Pink (3 members), Brooklyn for Peace, Veterans for Peace (2 members), Jews Say No, and Adalah (2 members) It was a long term 3-5 year campaign, with organizers declaring "We don’t think we can win in 6 months or a year."... and wistfully mentioning "If we had a flotilla a week it can be much faster."

And they were right. In a full year, they've only managed to gather signatures on an on-line petition, the vast majority from anti-Israel activists world wide who do not hold accounts with Tiaa Cref. And yes, they've managed to get a half dozen or so folks willing to make fools of themselves on youtube. Over and over. And then there was this baffling email from JVP's own Alice Rothchild where she states "CREF has chosen to refuse to share with its own investors a shareholder proposal submitted by nearly 20 of their participants--including me" . Nearly 20, Alice? NEARLY 20? Tiaa Cref serves over 3.7 million individuals and more than 15,000 institutions. Persumably one of the main reasons for their success is that they don't allow "nearly 20" to dictate sound investment strategies for the other 3,699,980.

There is another day o'rage scheduled against Tiaa Cref July 19. Expect more "flash mobs". Yawn. Stay tuned.