The Letter They Refused to Sign

Mike L.

{Cross-Posted at Israel Thrives and Geoffff's Joint, Bar and Grill.}

It seems to me that our political views, if they are capable of flux and change and evolution, often get rattled at particular moments due to specific events.  I wrote about this a little in a 2010 piece entitled Landmarks in which I discussed how the Mavi Marmara incident effected my perception of the progressive-left.  It was a political landmark for me, a nudge in a different direction.

If I were to chart my own political evolution over the years I would highlight growing up in the aftermath of the Vietnam War, the Bush administration's reaction to 9/11, the realization of the hatred spit at Israel from elements on the progressive-left, and, most recently, my developing criticisms of the Jewish left.

Like the other aspects, this last thing, has a number of landmarks associated with it in my personal experience.  One of these was the refusal of many Jewish "progressives" of my acquaintance to sign a letter of condolence to Tamar Fogel after the murder of her family by a Palestinian Jihadi.  The letter, which I am reprinting in full below, was written by Professor Denis MacEoin, a scholar in the fields of Arabic, Persian and Islamic Studies, and the editor of The Middle East Quarterly.

At the time, I was just horrified at the Fogel murders and particularly at the fact that the Palestinian Jihadis who perpetrated them cut the head off of a three month old baby girl.  Nothing in this world seemed more natural to me than to sign a letter from a distinguished and respected scholar to the twelve year old daughter of the victims.  And I know that at some point she received that letter and there were hundreds, if not thousands, of names from Jews and non-Jews all around the world letting her know that people cared.  I very much hope that Tamar read those names, because one of them is mine.

So, when our "progressive Zionist" friends refused to sign this letter, I was quite taken aback.

I was, in fact, both horrified and disgusted.

My thought at the time was that if these people, these Jews, will not stand in solidarity with that little girl then they stand for nothing and can be counted on for nothing.  Sadly, from that moment to this moment, little has happened to alter that perception.

The reason they refused to sign the letter, I feel reasonably certain, is because Tamar is a Jew who lives in "the West Bank" and MacEoin refers to her place of residence, Itamar, as "Jewish land."

That's it.  That's all it took for these particular Jewish leftists to refuse a gesture of friendship and condolence and solidarity with a young Jewish girl who had just lost her family to murderers.

I cannot even find the words to express my sadness and disgust.

Here is the letter:

An open letter to Tamar Fogel, by Denis MacEoin (April 2011)

Dear Tamar,

We have never met, nor are we likely to. I am not a Jew nor an Israeli, though for many years I have defended both Jews and Israelis from the physical and political attacks that are made on them. I live in England, though I’m Irish. The Irish used to be great enemies of the English, who did bad things to us, but who gave us their language, something in which we excel. But many years ago, long before you were born, the enmity between the Irish and the English faded. We are not the same people, but we no longer hate each other, and the English Queen will soon make her first visit to Ireland, in a gesture that the past is past, that we are now allies, not enemies.

The most important for you is to be sure that the only guilty parties were the terrorists who carried out the slaughter. And I need not tell you that these were not the first Palestinian terrorists to take out their hate, their resentment, and their jealousy on helpless Jews living on Jewish land.

I have watched you in two videos, the first time when Binyamin Netanyahu came to visit you and your grandparents, and I still remember the force with which you challenged him, such an important man and such a young girl. And after that your tears. It seemed to me then, and it seems to me now that the dead are at peace, and your two living brothers may grow up with less dark memories, but that you above all are old enough and aware enough to carry the most terrible memories through the rest of your life.

But I also saw a second video in which you spoke to a reporter from Israeli National Television, and here your tears gave way to a most articulate, awesomely mature, and moving assertion of your right to live in Samaria. I wish every Palestinian could watch that video with an Arabic voice-over. Perhaps there and then they might see that their fight against Israel is worthless, that you will never surrender, that you will not let yourselves be led to the slaughter as happened all those years ago.

Rabbi Chaim Potok once wrote that there are no more gentle Jews. He did not mean that Jews are no longer kind or good, but that they now know how to fight back. Kol Hakavod for every word you spoke.

You will grow up among strong people, and you will finally marry and have children of your own. That may seem far off to you, but to someone much older like myself, it will happen in no time at all. When that happens, and when your two brothers find wives and have children, there will soon be more Fogels than before. They cannot substitute for the dead, but they can stand up and speak for them down the long years to come. Your life, however much you may wish it otherwise, will be overshadowed by the terrible event that has fallen on you. You will ask questions and you may find answers.

After the Shoah, many rabbis tackled the question of hester panim, asking why HaShem had seemed to turn his face away from his people. I am not a Jew, and I cannot provide easy answers to those questions. You must seek your own answers from your rabbis and in your scriptures.

One answer may be found in a short sound recording that was made in Belsen shortly after its liberation by British forces. It was made by the BBC and contains at the end description of a Shabbat service held by a British rabbi, at the end of which the survivors stand and sing HaTikva. They are weak, they are out of tune, some of them will still die: but they are singing in open defiance of the very great Nazi evil that had overwhelmed them and their families. Three years after that, the state of Israel was established.

I’m writing, first because I’m a writer and that’s how I express my feelings best. But also because I want to convey just how many people’s thoughts are with you. You have your grandparents and aunts or uncles, and after that you have your small and concerned community of I’timar, but beyond that you have a world of people, Jews and non-Jews, who stand with you in your grief. We feel helpless, not knowing what we can or should do to help, yet longing to do so.

How many people can say they truly love the murderers who came to your house that night? Some may hand out candies and dance in the streets, but how meaningful is that? They love themselves and their own dreams of glory, but who can truly love men of blood, people who kill infants in their cradles?

For you the greatest problem of the next few years may be this: you are still a child and you deserve to be reading funny books and watching films and playing games and going to your youth club; but many will treat you as an adult before you are entirely ready for adult responsibilities. You do seem older than your years, but you should not be rushed into adulthood. I am sure your grandparents and others will understand this and will do their best to protect you from those who want to take your childhood away from you.

Enough of the advice! Everyone likes to give advice. You don’t have to listen to any of it, and advice isn’t really the reason I’ve written. You are in my thoughts and in the thoughts of millions of other people because the murder of your family has gone so deeply into so many people’s hearts. The list of atrocities carried out on Jews, not just in Israel but beyond, is very long. As a result, it’s easy to let them all blur together into one mass. But every so often one death or a group of deaths stands out and demands special attention.

One day there will be a memorial to the sacrifice your family made. People from far away may come to visit it. Photographs of it will appear in the press. But the true memorial will be you, an ordinary girl, with a torn heart and a wounded soul, going to school, going to shul, making friends, baking bread, sewing, cooking, reading, blushing when a certain young man comes to speak to you, going to Kever Yosef to marry him, giving birth to your first child.

I just mean to say that no-one expects from you heroic deeds, no-one wants you to have to shoulder resistance to all the evils you know better than most. It is your ordinary deeds, the day-to-day living of an ordinary life that are for the creators of horror the most painful thing of all, that Jews will continue to live on land sanctified by Jewish blood.

At the end of that recording made in Belsen, someone calls out ‘Am Yisrael Chai’. By living, the killers only bring eternal disgrace on themselves, their families, and everyone who shelters them. By living, you make clear to everyone that the People of Israel live, that their light will not be snuffed out, and that when your enemies have gone to dust and seen a darkness beyond measure engulf them, the light of the Jews will illuminate the nations. Grow and be happy and tell us what you see on your journey.

Denis MacEoin

Haifa Maccabi vs the Golden State Warriors In Oakland tonight

The BDS'ers missed the boat on this one, and have been scrambling furiously to make up for lost time. The best they could    do was to crank out yet another petition,   which was largely ignored by all involved
I'm think- what was that again? Oh, yes. Its yet another "BDS  fail"

The failed petition contains the usual rant from the BDS-holes:
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  
"The 2005 Palestinian civil society call for boycott, divestment, and sanctions (BDS) calls for broad boycotts on Israel. In solidarity with the Palestinian BDS call, activists around the U.S. are calling on sports teams to boycott upcoming games with Maccabi-Haifa basketball team...There should be no sports as usual with ambassadors for Apartheid Israel!

With a sense of urgency, we ask you to boycott the exhibition game against Maccabi-Haifa, the Israeli team that you are scheduled to play. Israel is committing grave human rights abuses involving an elaborate system of racial apartheid which discriminates against the native Palestinians in violation of international law. Israel's abuses have been confirmed by the United Nations Security Council and the International Court of Justice. Israel has been convicted by the Russell Tribunal of the crime of apartheid. Nobel Laureate Desmond Tutu has described Israel's apartheid system as worse than the apartheid that existed in South Africa. Yet, despite worldwide condemnation, Israel not only refuses to dismantle its apartheid system, but it continues to expand and reinforce it." 

Here's a photo from tonight's game.  Maccabi James Thomas is  playing against Festus  Ezeli.    I'm not quite seeing the "crime of apartheid"  here .

Maccabi Haifa's James Thomas defends as Golden State Warriors' Festus Ezeli drives for the basket during the first half of an NBA exhibition basketball game in Oakland, Calif., Thursday, Oct. 11, 2012. (AP Photo/George Niktin)  

Golden State Warriors' Brandon Rush goes up to shoot past Maccabi Haifa's Bryan Cohen during the first half of a preseason basketball game in Oakland, Calif., Thursday, Oct. 11, 2012. (AP Photo/George Niktin)

Florida-based billionaire Jeff Rosen, purchased the team in 2007 .   While visiting Haifa's sister city, Maccabi players and coaches  participated in a basketball clinic for San Francisco children., organized by the S.F.-based Jewish Community Federation’s Israel Center and the S.F. Recreation and Parks Department.  Simply evil.

 Alas. the Golden State Warriors beat Israel's Haifa Maccabi 108-100.

Emory University confronts its toxic legacy of Anti-Semitism

From the NY Times

Early in the summer of 1952, after his first year of dental school at Emory University in Atlanta, Perry Brickman received a letter from the dean. It informed him that he had flunked out.
Perry Brickman was among Jewish students who faced discrimination at Emory University’s dental school. His interviews with other such students formed the basis of a documentary.
Mr. Brickman was mystified. He had been a B-plus student in biology as an Emory undergraduate and had earned early admission to dental school. He had never failed a course in his life.
Over the next few weeks of that summer, Mr. Brickman found out that three of his classmates had also been failed. All of them happened to be Jewish. Yet instead of fighting back, Mr. Brickman and his friends searched for other dental schools and swallowed a shame that lasted decades.
Mr. Brickman taped interviews with many of the Jewish students, and that video became the foundation of a documentary, “From Silence to Recognition" by David Hughes Duke.

Its been over 60 years, but Emory University has finally apologized for anti-Semitism at its Dental School. John Buhler served as dean of the Dental School from  from 1948 to 1961. At that time,  Emory's application  designated prospective students as “Caucasian, Jew or Other.”  Quota limited Jewish admission to 4 students per year.   During  Buhler's tenure  65 percent of Jewish students were flunked out or forced to repeat courses.  All four Jewish students in Perry Brickman's  dental school class were gone within two years.  Brickman eventually went on to graduated  fourth in his class  from the University of Tennessee's dental school.

This week, some of the Jewish students forced out have been invited back to the school, to meet with Emory  President James Wagner, and to attend a screening of Perry Brickman’s documentary.

 From Kate Brumback,

"We knew individually and collectively what the truth was," Brickman said. "But the truth in a situation like this is never really validated until the perpetrator says sorry."
In one interview, former student Ronald Goldstein recalls the dean asking him, "Why do you Jews want to go into dentistry? You don't have it in the hands." Another, George Marholin, recalls a professor coming into a room cursing at him and calling him a "damn Jew."
"I'm sorry. We are sorry," Wagner said before a ballroom packed with several hundred people....

In 2006, Dr. Brickman went to an exhibition at Emory celebrating the 30th anniversary of the school's Jewish studies department. He was surprised to see panels about the discrimination at the dental school. The exhibition's curator, Professor Eric Goldstein, told Brickman he thought the school was ready to face the issue.

Still, Brickman wasn't sure he wanted to reopen that wound. But two years later, when an old friend and former classmate he hadn't spoken to in more than 55 years called him and said he still struggled every day with that pain, Brickman decided to do something. He contacted dozens of former students for interviews and showed them to Hauk, the university vice president. Hauk helped commission father-son documentary filmmakers John and David Hughes Duke to interview Emory administrators and turn them into a film along with Brickman's interviews.

After Wagner's apology and a screening of the film Wednesday night, some of the men and their families had tears in their eyes and expressed a feeling of relief and vindication, grateful the apology came while they're still alive.

Leader of 14 Friends of Palestine Endorses Greta Berlin's Anti-Semitism

Cross-posted at Bluetruth   Written by our friend, Drmike


Anyone reading this post is likely already familiar with the sordid story of Greta Berlin, the co-founder of the Free Gaza Movement, whose ships of fools have brought extensive amounts of humanitarian supplies such as expired medications and used shoes in PR stunts to support the Hamas regime in Gaza.  If not, the short of it is that Berlin has been outed for tweeting a link to a video by the late, unlamented British Holocaust denier Eustace Mullins which claimed that the Zionists were the ones responsible for murdering millions of their fellow Jews in Europe. And if that wasn't enough, posting a 1943 Nazi propaganda film to her Facebook page. And if that wasn't enough, coming up with multiple different explanations for what she did, none of which held up under further examination.  All of these contortions have been extensive documented by Avi Mayer in a first post and then in a followup (readers should continue to hit "read next page" as they scroll to the bottom of his posts).

Once Berlin had provided an irrefutable example of the darkness of anti-Semitism that exists in the core of the anti-Israel movement, others in the movement faced a choice. They could support Berlin, a tireless supporter of the right of Palestinians to try to destroy the Jewish state by any means necessary; or they could denounce her anti-Semitism either on politically expedient grounds or because they were truly disgusted by her overt Jew-hatred.  (Of course, the fact is that it is indeed anti-Semitic to oppose the right of the Jewish people-- and only the Jewish people-- to their own national self-determination, and and to deploy lies equating Israel with Nazi Germany and apartheid South Africa.)

The breakdown of the actors in this drama is interesting:  leading the charge against Berlin was Ali Abunimah,  whose Electronic Intifada blog promotes a so-called "one state solution" which would turn Israel, the West Bank and Gaza into the 24th Arab nation.  Once Abunimah had discredited Berlin's lame explanation that she had posted the Nazi film as part of a Facebook discussion group (he documented that said group did not exist), then others fell in line behind him. Even Jewish Voice for Peace, just as they waited for Abunimah to denounce the ex-Israeli Gilad Atzmon before taking a position on Atzmon's anti-Semitic droppings, only issued a statement cutting ties with the FGM once Abunimah had given them tacit permission. 

As of this posting, one member of the FGM advisory board, Naomi Klein, has resigned because of this. The remaining board members of the Free Gaza Movement have been strangely silent other than a statement on the FGM website distancing themselves from the post.  Of note the advisory board includes Noam Chomsky and Jeff Halper, both of whom use their Jewish identification as credentials to denounce Israel.  

On the Dark Side, in what should be a surprise to nobody, one of Berlin's staunch defenders is Atzmon, who himself links to Holocaust deniers and has left a lengthy trail of anti-Semitism across the internet, including such statements as calling burning down a synagogue "a rational act".  Paul Larudee, another flotidiot who also leads the International Solidarity Movement in northern California, also supports Atzmon.  And in genteel Marin County, there's a homegrown group of PWHI (People Who Hate Israel) called 14 Friends of Palestine; their spokesperson is a grandmotherly British lady named Jane Jewell.  Jewell appears to be on familiar terms with Atzmon, as this post on his blog shows (Atzmon himself goes amusingly ballistic here, saying about Abunimah "Yet, one would expect that after his recent failed attack on myself and my work, Kosher Commissar Ali Abuminah, would think twice before he allies himself with the darkest Zionist and Israeli Hasbara forces around.")

So Jane Jewell, busy with helping Free Gaza Movement board member Ann Wright (silent on Berlin's anti-Semitism) finds the time both to send a letter to Jewish Voice for Peace (presumably condemning their rejection of Berlin) and to put a supportive post on Atzmon's site.

Now in Marin County, 14 FOP has hosted events at the First Presbyterian Church in San Anselmo.  Will the church now dissociate itself from an organization led by an open supporter of anti-Semitism?  Stay tuned.  

Ya Know, For Kids!

Mike L.

{Cross-Posted at Israel Thrives and Geoffff's Joint, Bar and Grill.}

Something called RT News ("Russia Today"?) has published an article entitled "Molotov cocktail for kids: Tunisian children’s magazine publishes deadly recipe"

A Tunisian children's magazine "Kaws Kouzah” has recently published a detailed step-by-step instruction of how to make a Molotov cocktail. Now the periodical is facing a lawsuit for endangering kids lives. 

The Tunisian Ministry for Women and Family Affairs has expressed concern that the article’s content poses a threat to children’s lives, as it “encourages” the use of Molotov cocktails in acts of “vandalism or terrorism.” 

  

We have to be aware, and be willing to discuss, the fact that there is a violent political movement gaining considerable steam throughout much of the Arab and Muslim worlds under the misnamed "Arab Spring."

Our friends on the political left are still telling one another that the "Arab Spring" is about democracy.  It isn't.  What the Arab Spring is really about is the rise of political Islam throughout that part of the world.  Political Islam, as a movement, is fascistic, misogynistic, homophobic, and genocidally anti-Semitic.  It is also exceedingly ambitious because its ultimate goal is a world-wide Caliphate.

And, yet, Barack Obama is actually supporting it.

In his recent UN speech Obama said this:

It has been less than two years since a vendor in Tunisia set himself on fire to protest the oppressive corruption in his country, and sparked what became known as the Arab Spring. Since then, the world has been captivated by the transformation that has taken place, and the United States has supported the forces of change.

The problem here is that Obama, and his supporters, are still laboring under the delusion that the "Arab Spring" is something hopeful and about democracy, which is why Obama is proud that "the United States has supported the forces of change."

Yet the forces of change that Obama supports have nothing to do with liberal democracy and everything to do with the Muslim Brotherhood and radical Islam.

The bottom line for me is that if you are supporting Barack Obama then you are supporting an American president who supports political Islam.

And that, my friends, is not really very bright.

Barack Obama is not playing three dimension chess with Sheldon Cooper.  No.  He is playing checkers with the Brotherhood and he his is losing very, very badly.

Hi tech Expo comes to Starving Gaza.

More scenes from Gaza,  the world's largest  Concentration Camp Gaza.  (with heartfelt apologies to North Korea)

 Expotech 2012 - a high tech conference was held this month in Ramallah and  at the Rashad Shawa Cultural Center in Gaza  This years  theme  was “The Pledge for INNOVATION”.

From the Expotech youtube channel


EXPOTECH Technology Week 2012 will carry the theme "The Pledge for INNOVATION" representing the new vision to grow a nation that nurtures innovation and contributes to world knowledge.


EXPOTECH 2012 will look to add value, knowledge and connections. In addition to the two-day IT Conference that will attract world experts discussing "Palestine IT Industry Beyond Borders -- Integrating within the Global Scene" and "Innovation, R&D - The Linkage Between Idea and Commercialization", along with a full day informative conference designed to attract experts in Technology Niche Area(s) to point out the opportunities and the benefits of redirecting and developing business in two of the hottest topics from the perspective of the global technology industry: Mobility and Cloud Computing.
Business Delegations from different parts of the world will be invited, the IT Exhibition will be conducted with a unique and new approach for the renowned EXPOTECH Exhibition to display IT innovation in Palestine and bring together for the first time under one roof all of the IT ecosystem representatives.

Map of the Exhibition Hall  at the  Rashad Shawa Cultural center in  Gaza

My heart breaks at these scenes of want and deprivation. My eyes swell with tears,   The siege of Gaza is clearly cruel and inhumane. Won't someone send a ship from, oh, lets say, Sweden filled with I pads and I phones for this poor beleaguered people?

UPDATE:

More photos from Gaza's spectacular Expotech 2012 at the blog of our friend,   AussieDave

Attempted murder. Its just "child's play" to Ali Abunimah of the Electronic Intifada.

Ali Abunimah of the Electronic Intifada has posted a video captioned "Israeli forces smash Palestinian child’s head to ground near Jerusalem’s Al-Aqsa". The  video has made the rounds of the usual "I hate Israel sites".  On facebook,  the hyperbole continues:

Who is this "child", this "young Palestinian boy"?

We can find the answer on the Arabic website, Wafa, the official  Palestinian news agency  which reported:

"Israeli occupation forces arrested, today Friday, the Jerusalemite teenager Hasan Afif Hasan al-Afifi (age 17), of Bab al-Hadid in the Old City, after they attacked him. Al-Afifi’s mother told Wafa that her son was arrested during the violent confrontations that occurred at the Al-Aqsa mosque today, and that her son was nowhere near the mosque and did not participate in any activities.

17 is hardly a "young Palestinian boy". Hardly a "child".

 The arrest of Hasan  al-Afifi  followed a day of clashes on the temple Mount.  According to the Lebanon Daily Star

Israeli police hurled stun grenades and fired tear gas to disperse dozens of protesters who threw stones outside the Al-Aqsa Mosque, Islam’s third-holiest site, after Friday prayers. “Several hundred worshippers threw stones at police who were stationed at the Mughrabi Gate, forcing them to go onto the plaza and push them toward the middle,” Israeli police spokeswoman Luba Samri said. An AFP correspondent said the forces had used sound bombs to disperse the crowds. Two people suffered minor injures, while one person was arrested for attempting to stab a policeman as he was being taken into custody, another Israeli spokesman added. The unrest broke out after days of tension at the compound.  Nine people were arrested Thursday. Five were Arab Israelis, who were accused of threatening Jewish and Christian visitors to the site, and four Israeli Jews, three of them right-wing activists who tried to force their way onto the plaza.

The Attorney general's office will charge Hasan with attempting to stab a soldier and throwing rocks at Israeli police.   Attempted murder . Its just "child's play" to Ali Abunimah of  the Electronic Intifada.. 

Torture in Gaza: A Report from Human Rights Watch

Its a pigs fly moment for Human Rights Watch, who has just issued a report highlighting the failure of the criminal justice system in Gaza under Hamas. The "democratically elected" regime routinely conduct arrests without  warrants, deny detainees access to a lawyer and torture detainees in custody. Since Hamas seized control  in 2007, it has executed at least three men  on the basis of “confessions”  obtained by torture. According to the  Independent Commission for Human Rights, Hamas' Internal Security agency, the drugs unit of the  police force and local detectives all torture detainees. 147 complaints of torture  have been reported in 2011.

This report is based on interviews conducted in Gaza in May  2011, based on interviews with ex-detainees, prisoners' families, lawyers, officials and human rights activists and a Gaza judge.. Names were redacted from the  report to protect the participants from reprisals.  Recommendations and guidelines were presented to Hamas officials- their response?  To deny the charges.

From Joe Stork, deputy Middle East director of Human Rights Watch "After five years of Hamas rule in Gaza, its criminal justice system reeks of injustice, routinely violates detainees' rights, and grants impunity to abusive security services.  Hamas should stop the kinds of abuses that Egyptians, Syrians and others in the region have risked their lives to bring to an end." 

Is Barack Obama Hurting the Country?

 Mike L.

{Cross-Posted at Israel Thrives and Geoffff's Joint, Bar and Grill.}

Barry Rubin certainly seems to think so.  In his most recent article entitled Why They Love Usama, Hate Obama, And How Obama Uses the Same Tactic at Home he asks the following question:

Why are tens of thousands of Middle Eastern Muslims chanting about how much they love Usama bin Ladin and how much they hate Barack (Hussein) Obama?

His answer is that Usama is one of them and Obama is not.  It's the politics of "us versus them."  It's the politics of drawing a line in the sand and whoever is on our side of the line are the "good guys" and whoever is on the opposite side of the line are nothing less than the devil.

Well, guess what? That is the line of the Obama Administration and its Newest Left supporters. All African-Americans should support the regime because Obama is black and anyone opposing him is a racist. All “Hispanics” should support the president because he really wants open borders and the turning of all illegal immigrants into citizens, while everyone else is a racist. 

All women should support the ruling group and leftist ideology because it wants to give them free birth control and anyone on the other side hates women.

This is the kind of politics that we get from places like Daily Kos, as well. It's a zero-sum mentality that sees those who we may disagree with politically not merely as one's opponent, but as a mortal enemy. It is this kind of thinking, for example, that leads a progressive-left sycophant of Barack Obama to literally threaten me with violence for daring to step out of line.

One of the things that pleases me about Israel Thrives is that, unlike many other political blogs, we have an acceptance of other political types and of other political viewpoints.  We have people at IT on the political left, on the political right, and ranging throughout the center.  We have Obama supporters and Obama critics, such as myself.

Yet for some reason no one on Israel Thrives is threatening violence against anyone else.  No regular participant thinks of the others as mortal enemies.  We are simply people of various viewpoints who are willing to come together in expressing those viewpoints.  We may disagree on any number of issues but, unlike the Obama administration, we do not seek to make those disagreements into hard lines of hatred.

It was during the Bush years that we began to hear about "red states" and "blue states."  Pat Buchanan's "culture wars" took off in a big way and it sometime seemed as if the country was on the verge of ripping itself to shreds.  Obama promised, of course, to be a uniter, not a divider, but this has turned out to be false.  It has turned out to be a lie.  The fact of the matter is that Barack Obama is a bigger divider than George W. Bush ever was.

Supporters of Barack Obama are very much encouraged to view their political opponents as the very worst people on the planet.  This is why so many progressives despise conservatives and Republicans while almost entirely dismissing the problem of radical Islam.  The real enemies of your average "Kossack" are not people like Osama bin Ladin, but people like Mitt Romney or anyone else associated either with the Republican party or the political right.

I think that the Obama administration is doing the American people a terrible disservice when it encourages this kind of toxic zero-sum mentality.  Y'know, it was not all that long ago when I was told in these pages, by a hostile Obama supporter, that Barack Obama is not Adolph Hitler.  I was a little taken aback at the time because it has never occurred to me to compare Barack Obama to Adolph Hitler and I have certainly never done so.  The truth of the matter is that my critic was projecting his own toxic zero-sum mind-set onto me.

They honestly think that if you oppose the Obama administration this makes you both a racist and a misogynist.   And it is for this reason that American politics has become as toxic as it has.  The current political climate is perhaps the very worst it's been since the Vietnam War era.  The progressive-left gave birth to the Occupy movement and the Occupy movement thought it was a dandy idea to fight the police in the streets of Oakland.

I was just moving here right around that time and I cannot tell you how thrilled I was to see my new city going up in flames directly after Laurie and I purchased our first home in it.  Most progressives, of course, are not fighting the cops in the streets, but the kind of hatred, and economic class resentment, that the Obama administration encourages is just terrible for the well-being of the United States and of the American people.

Whoever wins the next election, the United States will continue to be a major world power and the vast majority of American citizens will continue to know the kinds of freedoms and opportunities that are denied people throughout the world, particularly in the Muslim Middle East.

I wish that progressives would recognize that fact because then they might stop spitting absolute hatred at their fellow Americans.

That would be nice.

Oakland Kosher restaurant faces anti-Semitic harassment

While news of the blatant Antisemitism  of the Free Gaza movement circulates around the world,  closer to home a beloved  local restaurant is also feeling the sting from this irrational hatred.

Yeah its all about the "occupation".

From the J Weekly:

An Oakland restaurant featuring Israeli cuisine has been bombarded by dozens of anti-Semitic, anti-Israeli and other threatening phone calls over the past month, according to its owner.

 Jonathan Wornick said his restaurant, Amba, has received “maybe 50 calls” since early September, sometimes as many as four in one day.“If one of my female employees answers, he says he’s going to come in and rape her, or kill [employees] or follow them home,” Wornick said. “And other things that are somewhat incoherent statements about the Jews and/or Israel.”

Wornick said he has contacted the Oakland Police Department but is mainly working with AT&T and its call-tracking system to “zero in on the phone number,” which shows up as blocked on caller ID. There are no leads or suspects, he said Oct. 3.“When the calls come in, at this point we just hang up and don’t listen to them anymore,” Wornick said.
Wornick noted that there have been no incidents at the restaurant, and that he has not contacted the Anti-Defamation League or any other agencies about the phone calls, saying he doesn’t feel “particularly threatened at the moment.” 

 

Jonathan Wornick does the community a disservice by  not reporting these incidents.  Antisemitic incidents need to be tracked -  and the community needs to be aware of these disturbing trends in our own backyard. As for me,  I'm going to show Amba some love the traditional way- I'm going to stop by for lunch tomorrow  and order up a  yummy tostie, with a side order of  some of the best french fries in the East bay.

From Walter Russell Mead: Archbishop Tutu: Please, Apologize to the Jews

"This is not anti-Zionism. It is not criticism of Israel or defense of Palestinian rights. It is not in the gray zone: it is ugly filth of the lowest kind, gutter anti-Semitism mixed with genocidal rage"

The world is waking up to the anti-Semitism at the core of the anti-Israel movement.

From the blog  American Interest

Archbishop Tutu: Please, Apologize to the Jews

The website of the Free Gaza Movement, a sponsor of the Gaza Flotilla, lists some impressive celebrity endorsements. One of the most impressive names on the list is that of Desmond Tutu, revered throughout the world for his courageous stand against South Africa’s apartheid government and for his leadership of initiatives like the Truth and Reconciliation Commission which did so much to heal the wounds apartheid left behind.

"But there was something the Free Gaza Movement didn’t tell the archbishop: its co-founder and board chair is a Jew-hater named Greta Berlin who uses the organization as a platform form which to spread the ugliest anti-Semitic legends and, literally, Nazi propaganda and lies.
The Free Gaza Movement wants you to think that it is a group of humanitarians stirred to action by Israeli crimes against the Palestinians. But Berlin is something much nastier: a conscious propagandist of anti-Semitic hate — the kind of person with whom no Christian clergyman can associate himself in a common cause without causing grave scandal and harm."

Walter Russell Mead  describes the depths of Greta Berlin's anti-Semitic rage, making it clear that this was no isolated incident

"... The Free Gaza Movement is also touting an anti-Semitic film actually produced under the Propaganda Ministry of Joseph Goebbels during the Third Reich itself: a Nazi propaganda film on the Katyn massacre that tried to whip up hatred against Communists and Jews. And here, too, Greta Berlin, that exquisite connoisseur of cinema and tender-hearted lover of mankind, was so thrilled with this Goebbels’ hard-hitting investigative journalism and fearless proclamation of the truth that she posted a link to a download on her Facebook account.
As this information came out, the “Free Gaza Movement” frantically tried to bury the evidence, taking down the tweets, blocking access to Facebook posts, but it was too late. Screenshots, retweets and Google caches left its pale underbelly exposed.
Obviously Archbishop Tutu had no idea he was getting in bed with Nazi-class Jew haters and aspiring genocidaires when he allowed the Free Gaza Movement the use of his name. Greta Berlin presumably doesn’t wear her Nazi-loving heart on her sleeve when mingling with the Great and the Good and trying to pass herself off as a respectable humanitarian. But because of his enormous global stature and the contentious nature of this particular issue, the archbishop had a duty to himself, to the world and to the Anglican Communion to vet the organization before offering his support.

Read the article in its' entirety here

Feds investigate claims of anti-Semitism at UC Berkeley

From the Los Angeles Times

The federal government is investigating charges that UC Berkeley officials fomented a hostile campus climate for Jewish students by failing to sufficiently tamp down anti-Israel protests.


The U.S. Department of Education’s civil rights office confirmed this week that it has launched an investigation into the charges, first filed in July by two recent Berkeley graduates. They complained that an annual “Apartheid Week” in February featuring protests against Israel's treatment of Palestinians was one of several campus events that have stoked anti-Semitic hate speech.

By failing to curb such activities, the university is presenting “a disturbing echo of incitement, intimidation, harassment and violence carried out under the Nazi regime and those of its allies in Europe against Jewish students and scholars ... during the turbulent years leading up to and including the Holocaust,” the complaint alleges.

University spokesman Dan Mogulof rejected the allegations Wednesday, saying the campus protests were constitutionally protected speech and that officials had made extensive efforts to maintain a safe and inclusive climate. Among other things, he said, the university has set up a website for anonymous complaints, dispatched teams of students and administrators to monitor the campus climate and provided funding for Jewish and Muslim students to promote dialogue and coexistance.
He said U.S. District Court Judge Richard Seeborg recognized the university’s actions last year in dismissing a complaint with similar allegations filed by the same students. A campus poll showed that 80% of Jewish students said they felt respected on campus, about the same proportion as Muslims, Mogulof said.

“We completely reject any allegations that this university has failed to respond promptly and in an effective fashion any time the line that divides constitutionally protected speech from illegal activities gets crossed,” said Mogulof, who described himself as a dual American-Israeli citizen.

Joel H. Siegal, one of two attorneys who filed the complaint, said the actions by activists with the Muslim Student Assn. and Students for Justice in Palestine went beyond protected political protest. During “Apartheid Week,” the San Francisco attorney said, student activists posing as Israeli guards forcing people through mock checkpoints wore Stars of David and skullcaps to attack Judaism and portray all Jews as “bloodthirsty barbarians.”

Daren Briscoe of the federal civil rights office said that opening an investigation “in no way implies that [the office] has made a determination with regard to its merits.” Under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, recipients of federal funds are barred from discriminating on the basis of race, color or national origin.

Last year, a Hebrew language lecturer filed a similar allegation that the UC Santa Cruz campus was a hostile environment for Jewish students because of anti-Israel protests and attitudes. That campus also denied the allegation and predicted the probe would find the claim unmerited.

Vile Anti-Semitism from the Folks at Free Gaza Movement

Free Gaza endorses Holocaust revisionism


From Sarah AB at Harry's place:

The Free Gaza organisation, whose supporters include Desmond Tutu and Noam Chomsky, has recently posted this on Twitter, a video with the caption “Zionists operated the concentration camps and helped murder millions of innocent Jews”.

 The speaker begins by asserting that the word Nazi is derived from an alliance between National Socialists and Zionists which was forged secretly in 1923. It doesn’t get any better. Apparently Zionists were directly responsible for the Holocaust. Will any of the organisation’s many endorsers think again, in the face of this naked bigotry?

UPDATE
From our friends at San Francisco Voice for Israel

• We've known for years that there is a black hole of anti-Semitism at the heart of the hate-Israel movement. This weekend, the Free Gaza Movement (the people who organize the ships of fools trying to sail to Gaza to support Hamas) posted a vile Holocaust-denying message on their official Twitter feed. See the whole story as documented by Avi Mayer here.
  
  The reaction from local groups such as Jewish Voice for Peace and Bay Area Women in Black, who are official endorsers of the FGM? No denunciation of clear-cut Holocaust denial and anti-Semitism. Rather, deafening silence.
  
  Call Jewish Voice for Peace at 510- 465-1777. Ask them if they are going to denounce the anti-Semitism and Holocaust denial of the Free Gaza Movement. Or if they have to wait for permission from Ali Abunimah and other anti-Israel extremists, just like they did before they could condemn the Jew-hatred of Gilad Atzmon.

A taste of New York City for Ahmadinejad

 I love New York.  From the New York Post:

Shalom & welcome to NYC, A’jad!


Feel the love, Mahmoud — and taste the gefilte fish.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad arrived last night at the Warwick Hotel in Midtown in advance of his annual hate-spewing address to the UN General Assembly on Wednesday — and The Post tried to deliver him a gift fit for a despot.

The anti-Semite’s special welcome basket — from New Yorkers with love — included such locally procured goodies as Gold’s Borscht, Manischewitz Gefilte Fish and smoked whitefish from the world-famous Murray’s Sturgeon House on the Upper West Side.

If Ahmadinejad (pronounced: I’m a dinner jacket) needed midnight munchies during his visit to this infidel city, there were also plenty of H&H bagels, onion bialys and Zabar’s cream cheese.

 The Post has assembled a gift basket for Iranian basket case Mahmoud Ahmadinejad stocked with city memorabilia, Jewish delicacies, a ticket (in his name) to “Old Jews Telling Jokes” and a card signed by New Yorkers. Getty ImagesTo cheer up the sourpuss hatemonger, there’s a $125 comped ticket to the off-Broadway play “Old Jews Telling Jokes” — booked in his name. It just might take the edge off his bloodthirsty desire to develop nuclear weapons and wipe Israel off the map.

Anticipating the schlumpy, unshaven dictator’s penchant for wearing the same suit all week long, we thoughtfully included “I ♥ NY” undies and a stick of Irish Spring deodorant, to keep the flies away.

For those quiet moments away from spinning centrifuges, he can relax with a good book. But since it’s likely he can’t read the truth about 9/11, which he condemns as “a big lie,” there’s a picture book, “The 9/11 Report,” a graphic adaptation by Sid Jacobson and Ernie Colon.

There’s also a bobblehead Statue of Liberty to keep on his night table, a teddy bear to cuddle with during those cold Persian nights and a 9/11 American-flag refrigerator magnet that he can stick on the minibar.

The Holocaust denier might want to learn something about the subject by taking in a tour of downtown’s Museum of Jewish Heritage: A Living Memorial to the Holocaust. We packed a brochure.

Of course, a basket of cheer wouldn’t be complete without a card — the little kitty on the cover might melt his evil heart — and New Yorkers lined up to pen their personal greetings.

“Happy [Jewish] New Year 5773. Available for counseling if you need it,” wrote psychologist Alan Hifler, 64, outside Zabar’s deli on the Upper West Side.

“Welcome to New York and the USA! Home of all that is good!” scribbled student Gabriella Guimaraes, 20.

“We’d gladly burn your tongue with coffee,” another woman wrote.

Mark Kirszner, 69, a retired social worker, said, “He could choke on it.”

The Post tried to deliver the care package to Ahmadinejad at the Warwick last night, but his goons weren’t too appreciative of the generous gesture.

ne A-Jad operative seemed so horrified at the sight of a Post reporter and photographer that she snarled, “You’re going to endanger my life!”

That’s prompted a US Secret Service agent to walk over and say, “This isn’t gonna happen. You have to go.”

Genocide fail: Life Expectancy in Gaza and the West bank

Life Expectancy Chart from 2011

The overall  life expectancy at birth for the world is  66.57 years (64.52 years for males and 68.76 years for females) according to CIA World Factbook . Both Gaza and the West bank far exceed this average.  (Hows that genocide going for you, btw?)

In 2011,  a person born in Gaza can expect to live significantly longer  (73.42) than their peers in Egypt (72.12), Turkey( 71.96), Syria (71.19)or Iran  (71.14).  In fact, the life expectancy in Gaza is about on par with that "workers paradise"  of China

Remember this when JVP tells you about the "slow motion genocide" in the disputed territories.

Sabeel : Just Anti-Semitism

 The  Sabeel conference is coming to Albuquerque, New Mexico. Sabeel  demonizes Israel using offensive Holocaust imagery  and spurious theological arguments and is a driving force behind the campaign to pressure mainline churches to divest from Israel.

FOSNA Philosophy Just Anti-Semitism was written by Sam Sokolove / Executive Director, Jewish Federation of New Mexico and Todd Goldblum / Chair, Israel Action Network, New Mexico

 As the Sept. 15 Albuquerque Journal article detailed, Friends of Sabeel in North America will be holding a “Justice & Peace in Palestine and Israel” conference in Albuquerque later this month. What the article failed to convey, however, is that while Sabeel hides behind a language of peace and reconciliation, FOSNA – listed by the Anti-Defamation League as one of “The Top Ten Anti-Israel Groups in America” – actively promotes a rejection of Israel as a Jewish state.

An integral part of the global anti-Israel Boycott, Sanctions and Divestment movement, Sabeel promotes the idea that Zionism is based on a false reading of the Bible and that it stands for injustice and in opposition to God.

 In addition, Sabeel often compares the Palestinians to the crucified Jesus, and Israel to his murderers, alluding to the ugly deicide charge against all the Jewish people. Examples include referring to Israeli actions with deicide language such as “The Israeli government crucifixion system is operating daily” or “Israel has placed a large boulder, similar to the stone placed on the entrance of Jesus’ tomb. This boulder has shut in the Palestinians.”

 Sabeel conferences are notorious for featuring speakers who vilify Israel and routinely lift the voices of anti-Zionist Jews as a means to disingenuously suggest that they bring Christians, Jews and Muslims to the table. They continually reject almost all mainstream Jewish voices, including progressive or dovish Zionists.

When the Jewish Federation of New Mexico and Jewish clergy first became aware of the FOSNA conference last summer, we also learned that friends in the interfaith community had been approached to serve as conference sponsors. Given the positive history of interfaith relations between Christians and Jews in Albuquerque, it was our responsibility to offer a mainstream Jewish perspective on this conference.

 As a result, it was heartening to garner the support of friends like the New Mexico Conference of Churches and Episcopal Cathedral Church of St. John who distanced themselves from FOSNA in demonstration of sensitivity to Jewish community concerns and civic discourse.

Characterizing these conversations as “bullying” and “harassment” is profoundly incorrect, but an expected part of the BDS campaign. We are confident that other church representatives who have lent their endorsement to the Sabeel conference will come to recognize the one-sided, inflammatory and destructive nature of the movement.

To be sure, the Jewish community of New Mexico is in no way monolithic, and many of us often vocally criticize the policies of Israel’s government. However, the overwhelming majority of Jews in New Mexico and around the globe recognize Israel as a miraculous return of our homeland after a 3,500-year exile, and a vibrant, if young and imperfect, democracy for people of all religions within a region surrounded by intolerance and brutal dictatorships that conspicuously escape Sabeel and BDS scorn.

 The conflict in the Middle East is about finding a peaceful path to establish two states for two peoples, not about preventing a group from exercising its right to self-determination.

There are appropriate and meaningful forums for interfaith discussion on all issues pertaining to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict that engender dialogue and increased understanding. Sadly, Sabeel’s commitment is not to promoting this goodwill, but instead to spreading vicious propaganda to assault Israel’s legitimacy

Sabeel, and FOSNA (Friends of Sabeel North America) wrap their old fashioned anti-Semitism in the feel good rhetoric of " peace ".  To those of you in Albuquerque and  elsewhere- if you believe our best hope for peace are two states living side by side, then keep your distance from this extremist organization

I Need a Miracle Every Day

A cringe-worthy post from an Arabic Usenet site

And again in English, for you non-believers.

                                             

Except, oh, gee.  I don't exactly know how to tell you all this, but this photo is from Chile, and was taken in 2010, after a huge 8.8 earthquake that devastated the region. The photo is not of a cinema at all, but rather is a residential building in Concepcion.

Oops. Another Emily Litella moment, brought to you by the interwebs.

Estimated Prophet

Today was "Love for the prophet" Day in Pakistan.  Here's some selected photos.  I'm feeling the love- how 'bout you?

Just a hunk hunka burning love in Pakistan

             
             Hmmm.  "No Religion is Better Than Islam"  I'm not touching that one with a ten foot pole....

Gaza Flotilla Hypocrites

                                                        From the BDS Gone Bad Blog.

                                             Just LOVE this infographic from  Ariel Zinger

Documenting the failure of the BDS Campaign against Veolia

A report  issued by Christian Middle East Watch  and UK Lawyers for Israel  asserts that boycott campaigns against Veolia have been a resounding failure.  Veolia has been repeatedly targeted by the BDS cru activists for daring to provide transportation services in Israel and in the disputed territories.

(BDS'ers lie?  Really?? Who'd ever have guessed?)
From the JC.com

David Lewis, the lawyer who led the project’s research, submitted 18 Freedom of Information requests to local councils that had been targeted by BDS campaigners, asking them how contracts on which Veolia had bid were awarded.

In every response, he was told that all contracts were decided for sound commercial reasons despite claims by boycotters that they had successfully pressured councils not to contract with Veolia.

Some of the councils did do business with the company...

The report concludes that local authorities have acted correctly in ignoring political pressure, and additionally that the emotive rhetoric used by BDS campaigns is unhelpful and often misleading.


Nick Gray, director of Christian Middle East Watch, said: “The BDS campaign is very vocal, very active, and very little is done to combat what they do. This report is the beginning of a way to fight back.”

From the Report's Executive Summary:

Our research included 17 situations where BDS campaigns had pressured local authorities to break their legal obligations in spending public money by asking them to deny Veolia the opportunity to bid for contracts or even to break existing contractual arrangements. We found that the BDS campaigns had failed in every case to achieve their aims.

In order to evaluate the true results of the BDS Veolia campaign in the face of dramatic claims of success at every turn, we sent freedom of information (FOI) requests to 18 councils that (a) had been the subject of a local BDS anti-Veolia campaign, and/or (b) had recently either accepted or rejected a Veolia bid for a future contract, and/or (c) were due to consider a Veolia bid in the near future, and/or (d) had voted on an anti-Veolia resolution, and/or (e) were the subject of claims of success by the BDS movement. Our FOI requests revealed that every one of these contracts was decided on straight commercial grounds and that political considerations were not applied in rejection of Veolia’s bids.

In spite of the lies, the BDS campaign against Veolia has been an abject failure. What was it that Einstein siad about doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result?