NEWS FOR MEMBERS OF THE TRIBE

THOSE DARN CHECKPOINTS!

2008-04-01T11:27:00.000-07:00

Palestinian youth caught with pipe bomb at Hawara checkpoint (YNet)
A search of a Palestinian youth at Hawara checkpoint, south of the West Bank city of Nablus, uncovered a pipe bomb. The bomb was detonated in a controlled environment by IDF soldiers. The youth was transferred to security forces for questioning.

POLL: 76% OF ISRAELI JEWS FAVOR TRANSFERRING ISRAELI-ARABS TO "PALESTINE"

2008-04-01T11:24:00.000-07:00

Poll: Israelis favor Arab transfer to Palestine (JPost)
A total of 76 percent of Israeli Jews give some degree of support to transferring Israeli Arabs to a future Palestinian state, a poll commissioned by the Knesset Channel revealed, Monday.

The poll asked participants whether as part of an agreement to establish a Palestinian state there would be justification to demand that Arabs with Israeli citizenship relocate to Palestinian territory.

Only 24% were totally against the idea.

Of the remaining 76%, 29% said all Israeli Arabs should relocate. An additional 19% said only Arabs living in close proximity to the Palestinian state should relocate, and 28% said transfer should be decided based on loyalty or disloyalty to the State of Israel.

NYT NOTICES THAT HAMAS HATES JEWS

2008-04-01T11:17:00.000-07:00

JUST A LITTLE "COMPLICATION." WHY SHOULDN'T ISRAEL MAKE NICE WITH PEOPLE COMMITTED TO THE DEATH OF EVERY JEW ON THE PLANET? HAMAS JUST NEEDS A HUG!

Hamas Ideology Complicates Peace Efforts - Steven Erlanger
In the Katib Wilayat mosque in Gaza one recent Friday, Imam Yousif al-Zahar of Hamas told the faithful: "Jews are a people who cannot be trusted." At Al Omari mosque, the imam cursed the Jews and the "Crusaders," or Christians, and the Danes, for reprinting cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad. He referred to Jews as "the brothers of apes and pigs," while the Hamas television station, Al Aksa, praises suicide bombing and holy war. Such incitement against Israel and Jews was supposed to be banned under the 1993 Oslo accords and the 2003 Roadmap peace plan. Hamas, no party to those agreements, feels no such restraint.

Since Hamas took over Gaza last June, Hamas sermons and media reports preaching violence and hatred have become more pervasive, extreme and sophisticated, on the model of Hizbullah and its television station Al Manar, in Lebanon. No matter what Israeli and Palestinian negotiators agree upon, there is concern that the attitudes being instilled will make a sustainable peace extremely difficult. (New York Times)

GAZA PALIS ARE BARAK OBAMA'S BIGGEST FANS

2008-04-01T10:07:00.000-07:00

HISTORIAN: BRITAIN NOW EURO CENTER OF ANTI-SEMITISM

2008-03-31T16:52:00.000-07:00

Historian: UK is now European center of anti-Semitism (JPost)
Britain has become the epicenter for anti-Semitic trends in Europe as traditional, age-old anti-Semitism in a country whose literature and cultural tradition were "drenched" in anti-Semitism has developed into a contemporary mix of anti-Semitism and anti-Zionism, an Israeli historian said Monday.

The problem of anti-Semitism in Britain is exacerbated by a growing and increasingly radical Muslim population, the weak approach taken by a timid British Jewish leadership, and the detachment of the British from their Christian roots, said Hebrew University historian Prof. Robert S. Wistrich in a lecture on British anti-Semitism at the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs.

"Britain has become the center point for the meeting of anti-Semitic trends in Europe," Wistrich said.

In a wide-ranging two-hour address, the Cambridge University-educated historian, who has just completed a book on global anti-Semitism, traced the roots of British anti-Semitism to its history, culture and literature going back to medieval times.

"Anti-Semitism in Great Britain is at least a millennial phenomenon and has been around for 1000 years of recorded history," Wistrich said.

He noted that the expulsion of all Jews from Britain in 1290 by King Edward I following years of anti-Semitic violence was the first major expulsion of any Jewish community in Europe.

Jews were banned from Britain until 1656, when Oliver Cromwell, who had overthrown the monarchy, authorized their return....

In his address, Wistrich said that today's British media had taken an almost universally anti-Israel bias, especially but not exclusively on the BBC, with context removed from description of Israeli military actions, and Islamic jihadist activity such as suicide bombing never connected to ideology.

"Under no circumstance will a Palestinian act of terrorism be referred to as terrorist, They are militants similar to the floor-shop dispute in Liverpool whose workers have decided to go on strike," he said.

"Palestinian terrorism is portrayed as a minor pin-prick compared to 'massive' retaliation of this 'rogue' state [Israel]," he said.

"You cannot read a British newspaper without encountering a variant of the libel that Zionism is racism or Zionism is Nazism," he said, describing a culture of "barely disguised hatred" when the subject of Zionism of British Jewry or Anglo-Israel relations is broached, unless they are "the good anti-Zionists."

HAMAS PUPPET THEATRE!

2008-03-31T16:48:00.000-07:00

Hamas’s Puppets by ABE GREENWALD (Commentary)

On March 30, Hamas’ Al-Aqsa TV aired a children’s puppet show in which a child puppet stabs a George W. Bush puppet to death. Here’s the child’s indictment of Bush:

Child: “You killed daddy in the Iraq war. It’s true, you killed him in the Iraq war. As for my mom - you and the criminal Zionists killed her in Lebanon. You and the criminal Zionists also killed my younger and older brothers in the Gaza holocaust. I’m an orphan, you criminal!”

I have to admit, I love the Bush puppet’s Larry David-esque response:

Bush: “What are you talking about? Where did you come from? Don’t I have enough troubles already? Where did you come from?”

Good question. But this much is clear: If his father is Iraqi, his mother Lebanese, and his brothers Palestinian, the Democrats would champion him as being even better than Obama at leading America into a post-racial future.

Of course, the kid is an amalgam of all the Muslim victims of American and Zionist imperialism. Which sheds a curious light on the scene’s final exchange:

Child: “You are impure, Bush, so you are not allowed inside the White House.”

Bush: “What are you saying?! Why am I not allowed into the White House?”

Child: “Because it has been turned into a great mosque for the nation of Islam. I will kill you just like Mu’az killed Abu Lahab. I will kill you, Bush, because that is your fate.”
Child stabs Bush repeatedly

Child: “Ahhh, I killed him.”

But Abu Lahab was killed for rejecting Islam. These righteous anti-imperialists have the darndest time staying on message!

HAMAS LEADER OFFERS PARTIAL CEASE-FIRE, DENIES HOLOCAUST

2008-03-31T16:45:00.000-07:00

Mashaal offers to stop civilian attacks (JPost)
Hamas has offered Israel a deal in which both sides would refrain from attacking civilian targets, the group's Damascus-based leader Khaled Mashaal said.

In an interview with Sky News broadcast Monday, Mashaal said the offer was identical to one made to Israel 10 years ago.

"We renew our offer to Israel to let the civilians on both sides not be a part of this conflict," he said. "We renew this offer today."

Mashaal asserted that if the IDF refrained from killing any Palestinian civilians, Hamas would only carry out attacks against Israeli military targets.

Mashaal went on to confirm that captured IDF soldier Gilad Schalit was alive...

Mashaal continued by saying that Hamas believed the number of Jews killed in the Holocaust was "exaggerated."

"We don't deny the Holocaust, but we believe the Holocaust was exaggerated by the Zionist movement to whip up people," he said. "We don't deny the fact but we don't accept two issues. We don't accept the exaggerating of numbers and we don't accept that Israel uses this to do what it wants."

DID ASTEROID DESTROY SODOM AND GOMORRA?

2008-03-31T16:42:00.000-07:00

Researchers: Asteroid Destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah (FOXNEWS)
A clay tablet that has baffled scientists for 150 years has been identified as a witness's account of the asteroid suspected of being behind the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah.

Researchers who cracked the cuneiform symbols on the Planisphere tablet believe that it recorded an asteroid thought to have been more than half a mile across.

The tablet, found by Henry Layard in the remains of the library in the royal place at Nineveh in the mid-19th century, is thought to be a 700 B.C. copy of notes made by a Sumerian astronomer watching the night sky.

He referred to the asteroid as a "white stone bowl approaching" and recorded it as it "vigorously swept along."

Using computers to recreate the night sky thousands of years ago, scientists have pinpointed his sighting to shortly before dawn on June 29 in the year 3123 B.C.

About half the symbols on the tablet have survived and half of those refer to the asteroid. The other symbols record the positions of clouds and constellations. In the past 150 years scientists have made five unsuccessful attempts to translate the tablet.

NEW YORK'S NEXT GOVERNOR?

2008-03-31T16:39:00.000-07:00

London tab reportedly has video of FIA president in sex tape (ESPN)
LONDON -- Formula One's governing body is keeping its distance from sexual allegations in a British tabloid newspaper about its president, Max Mosley. "This is a matter between Mr. Mosley and the paper in question," an International Automobile Federation (FIA) spokesman said. "We understand that Mr. Mosley's lawyers are now in contact with that newspaper and the FIA has no comment."

The News of the World reported in a front page story that FIA president Mosley, 67, had taken part in a "sadomasochistic orgy" with five prostitutes that reportedly involved Nazi role-playing.

According to a story posted by the London-based Times Online on Monday, Mosley and others "re-enacted a concentration camp scene in which he played the role of both guard and inmate."

POLL: MOST AMERICANS SIDE WITH ISRAEL

2008-03-31T16:37:00.000-07:00

Most Americans side with Israel (JTA)
A solid majority of Americans sympathize more with Israelis than with Palestinians, a poll found.

The Gallup Poll published last week found that 59 percent of respondents placed their "sympathies more with the Israelis," with 17 percent sympathizing more with the Palestinians.

The poll also found that Americans were split evenly on whether the Bush administration was doing enough to advance the peace process, with 46 percent agreeing that it is doing enough and 47 percent disagreeing.

That was not a significant change from a year ago, before the Bush administration launched the Annapolis process and Condoleezza Rice, the U.S. secretary of state, started making frequent visits to the region.

Such activity usually is reflected in polls. For instance, in June 2002, when President Bush launched his "road map" peace plan, 61 percent credited him with "doing enough." It's not clear why the administration's current efforts are not registering.

Americans remain pessimistic about the prospects of peace. Only 39 percent believe Israel and its Arab neighbors at some time "will settle their differences and live in peace," compared to 59 percent who do not.

The Feb. 11-14 poll of 1,007 Americans has a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.

P.A. ANTI-SEMITES GET A FREE PASS FROM U.S. STATE DEPT.

2008-03-31T16:28:00.000-07:00

PA Anti-Semites Get a Free Pass from the State Department - Rafael Medoff (National Review)
The State Department conspicuously omitted the Palestinian Authority from its March 13 report on anti-Semitism around the world. The report did note that Hamas, which rules Gaza, treats the anti-Semitic Protocols of the Elders of Zion as fact, denies the Holocaust, and broadcasts hateful TV shows aimed at children.

But the PA under Mahmoud Abbas, which controls the West Bank, managed to escape blame for the anti-Semitism that it promotes with no less energy. The American Jewish Committee released a study showing the PA's schoolbooks characterize Jews in "hateful" and "derogatory" language, cite the Protocols of the Elders of Zion as a legitimate source of historical information, and omit any mention of the Holocaust. The State Department report did mention that in the 1990s, Holocaust denial became commonplace in popular media in the PA - without any acknowledgment that most of the "popular media" is government-controlled.

ISRAEL MAKES MAJOR SECURITY CONCESSIONS

2008-03-31T16:21:00.000-07:00

Rice Wins Concessions from Israel - Matthew Lee
Secretary of State Rice, visiting the region for the second time this month, announced a series of concrete steps by Israel aimed at improving the Palestinian economy. The agreement includes: removing 50 travel barriers in and around Jenin, Tulkarem, Kalkilya and Ramallah; dismantling one permanent roadblock; deploying 700 Jordanian-trained Palestinian police in Jenin and allowing them to take delivery of armored vehicles; raising the number of Palestinian businessmen allowed into Israel; increasing the number of work permits for Palestinian laborers; building new housing for Palestinians in 25 villages; connecting Palestinian villages to the Israeli power grid; and Israeli support for large-scale economic development programs and encouragement of foreign investment. (AP/Washington Post)

THE U.S. WAS "VERY SURPRISED" AT THE EXTENT OF ISRAELI CONCESSIONS. INDEED, ISRAEL SEEMS TO HAVE AGREED TO SERIOUSLY COMPROMISE ITS SECURITY. BUT CONDI DIDN'T GET EVERYTHING....

LUCKILY, A CIVILIAN SAVED HIMSELF FROM BEING THE FIRST VICTIM OF ISRAEL'S CONCESSIONS.

ROCKET HITS ISRAELI PRE-SCHOOL

2008-03-28T11:52:00.000-07:00

Kassam hits kibbutz school, none hurt (JPost)
Three Kassam rockets were fired at Israel from the northern Gaza Strip on Friday morning, one of them hitting the outer wall of a preschool in one of the kibbutzim in the Sha'ar Hanegev region moments after the children were taken inside by their teacher.

The teacher and a parent of one of the children suffered shock and the building was damaged.

Two other Kassam rockets that were fired at the western Negev landed in open areas and caused no wounded or damage.

MAGDI ALLAM: MEDIA DISCRIMINATES AGAINST ISRAEL

2008-03-28T11:49:00.000-07:00

Magdi Allam: Media Discriminate Against Israel (CAMERA)

Magdi Allam, an Egyptian-born Italian intellectual who earlier this month made waves with his public conversion from Islam to Christianity — he was baptized at Saint Peter's Basilica on Easter night by the Pope — has weighed in on the media's (mis)treatment of Israel.

In a March 1 column in Italy's best-selling Corriere della Sera, Allam asserted that "If a comparison is made between the way the media have covered the battle Turkey has conducted against the PKK in Iraq, on the one hand, and the battle that Israel has conducted against Hamas in Gaza, on the other, one can see the clear discrimination against the Jewish state."

The translation is according to Ha'aretz, which has published an interview with Allam. You can read it here.

FORMER ARAFAT AIDE INVESTIGATED FOR EMBEZZLING FROM P.A.

2008-03-28T11:46:00.000-07:00

Former Arafat Aide Under Investigation for Embezzling Funds from PA (Maan News-PA)
PA Attorney General Ahmad Al-Mughani is considering taking legal action against Muhammad Rashid, a former economic advisor to Yasser Arafat, after news reports that Rashid is planning to invest $600 million in a construction project in the Jordanian Red Sea resort city of Aqaba. Rashid is suspected of having embezzled huge sums of money from the PA following Arafat's death in 2004.

EU RELEASES $467M IN AID TO PALIS

2008-03-28T11:44:00.000-07:00

EU Releases 300 Million Euros in Aid for Palestinians (AFP)
The European Commission released 300 million euros ($467 million) in aid for the Palestinian territories Tuesday. Last week, the U.S. granted $150 million to the PA.

SEE ALSO: Bush transfers $150 million to P.A. (JTA)

HAMAS SMUGGLES IRANIAN ROCKET BLUEPRINTS INTO GAZA

2008-03-28T11:43:00.000-07:00

Hamas Smuggles Iranian Blueprints into Gaza for Rocket Upgrades - Avi Issacharoff and Amos Harel (Ha'aretz)
Hamas militants who recently returned to Gaza after training in Iran brought detailed blueprints for upgrading the capabilities of rockets, according to senior PA sources. The aim is to strike at Israeli communities north of Ashkelon. The source added that some 200 Hamas militants who received training in Iran, the Beqa'a Valley in Lebanon, and Syria have returned to Gaza. Hamas and Hizbullah militants are being trained in Iran together, and are learning the same fighting doctrines.

JUDGE SETS ASIDE $200M TERROR AWARD V. P.A.

2008-03-28T11:42:00.000-07:00

Palestinian Authority Granted New Trial in Terrorism Damages Suit - Glenn Kessler
The Palestinian Authority won a major legal victory when U.S. District Judge Victor Marrero Wednesday agreed to set aside a judgment of nearly $200 million awarded to American victims of Palestinian terrorist attacks in Israel and allow a new trial. The judge said that he would vacate the previous legal victory only if the PA put up a $192.7 million bond to ensure that it does not default again if it loses in court. He also ordered the Palestinians to reimburse the plaintiffs for previous legal expenses. But Marrero's decision gives the Palestinian government hope that it can escape from lawsuits that its officials said threatened to bankrupt it. (Washington Post)

AFP DIGS UP INAPPROPRIATE FILE PHOTO

2008-03-27T10:53:00.000-07:00

AFP Digs Up Inappropriate File Photo (BackSpin)

Palestinians in Silwan, adjacent to the Temple Mount, are protesting archeological work by the Israeli Antiquities Authority. Although the IAA digging is taking place south of the Temple Mount and outside the Old City walls, this file photo accompanying AFP coverage suggests something different:

File photo shows a trench being dug as part of an archaeological dig in the Al-Aqsa mosque compound. A tunnel that is being dug to access a Jewish temple and which passes under many Palestinian homes in East Jerusalem is causing new conflict in the city. (AFP/File/Ahmed Gharabli)

The implication is that the nasty Israelis are digging up the Temple Mount itself. Moreover, the caption omits that the excavation shown here was actually carried out by the Islamic Waqf when it dug a massive trench last August.

SEE ALSO: AFP's biased article of the day (Elder of Ziyon)

RANGE OF TERROR ROCKETS INCREASES

2008-03-27T10:46:00.000-07:00

Israel: Hizbullah Increases Rocket Range - Matti Friedman (AP)
Senior Israeli defense officials said Thursday that Hizbullah has dramatically increased its arsenal of rockets and their range. The officials said Hizbullah has acquired new Iranian rockets with a range of 186 miles that can hit anywhere in Israel's heavily populated center.

See also IDF: Islamic Jihad Producing Longer-Range Rockets - Hanan Greenberg (Ynet News)
The Islamic Jihad terror group has recently begun manufacturing rockets with a 12.5-mile range, similar to the Grad (Katyusha) rockets already in use by terror organizations in Gaza. The new rockets are armed with a much deadlier warhead that carries double the amount of explosives carried by Kassam rockets. Armed groups in Gaza have also recently obtained two new types of Iranian-made mortar shells, some of which can travel up to 6.2 miles.

ISLAMIC JIHAD LEADER ADMITS SECURITY FENCE THWARTS TERROR

2008-03-27T10:45:00.000-07:00

Palestinian Terrorist Leader Admits Israeli Security Fence Blocks Suicide Bombing Attacks (Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center)

Palestinian Islamic Jihad leader Ramadan Abdallah Shalah told the Qatari newspaper Al-Sharq on March 23 that rocket fire had replaced suicide bombing attacks because Israel had found ways to protect itself from such attacks.

"For example, they built a separation fence in the West Bank. We do not deny that it limits the ability of the resistance to arrive deep within [Israeli territory] to carry out suicide bombing attacks."

HAMAS: "WE DESIRE DEATH"

2008-03-27T10:25:00.000-07:00

“We Desire Death”

DAVID HAZONY - (CONTENTIONS)

How twisted is Hamas? Here is Fathi Hammad, a Hamas member of parliament, in a startling video that everyone should watch. In a speech, Hammad described Hamas’ attitude towards the wondrousness of human life:

[The enemies of Allah] do not know that the Palestinian people has developed its methods of death and death-seeking. For the Palestinian people, death has become an industry, at which women excel, and so do all the people living on this land. The elderly excel at this, and so do the mujahideen and the children. This is why they have formed human shields of the women, the children, the elderly, and the mujahideen, in order to challenge the Zionist bombing machine. It is as if they were saying to the Zionist enemy: “We desire death like you desire life.”

Zowie. This is not a single suicide bomber, or a crazed lunatic, but a leading politician in the leading Palestinian political party. In recent posts I have suggested that the Palestinians have some important cultural issues which may need tackling before a genuine reconciliation with the West can happen. I do not know exactly how representative Hammad is of the average Palestinian’s worldview. But his party was voted in by a majority of Palestinians; even in the West Bank, traditionally a Fatah stronghold, Hamas has recently pulled even in polls.

THE OVERLAP OF ANTI-ZIONISM AND ANTI-SEMITISM

2008-03-26T21:41:00.000-07:00

STATE DEPT: OVERLAP OF ANTI-ZIONISM & ANTI-SEMITISM (JPC)

Jews worldwide are facing a new form of anti-Semitism disguised by hatred toward Israel, in addition to more traditional forms of anti-Semitism, according to a new report issued, the AFP notes.

"This new anti-Semitism is common throughout the Middle East and in Muslim communities in Europe, but it is not confined to these populations," the US State Department said in a report for 2007.

Even before this report was issued, Kenneth Marcus wrote about the dangerous and growing overlap between anti-Zionism and anti-Semitism in the newest edition of inFOCUS Quarterly.

EGYPTIAN HATE SINGER TO RELEASE PRO-OBAMA SONG

2008-03-26T21:36:00.000-07:00

Egyptian Hate Singer to Release Pro-Obama Song

(LGF)

Barack Obama has picked up another celebrity endorsement—Shaban AbdelRaheem, the Egyptian pop singer whose best-known hit song is titled, “I Hate Israel:” Anti-Israel egyptian singer makes Obama song.

EVEN IF OBAMA IS NOT AN ANTI-SEMITE, IT MUST GIVE YOU PAUSE THAT ANTI-SEMITES ARE DRAWN TO HIM.

ISRAEL REJECTS CARTER-ANNAN MEDIATION WITH HAMAS

2008-03-26T15:50:00.000-07:00

Israel rejects Carter-Annan mediation (JTA)
Israel turned down an offer by Jimmy Carter and Kofi Annan to mediate a cease-fire with Hamas. The former U.S. president and former U.N. secretary-general belong to The Elders, an international conflict-resolution group established last year by British tycoon Richard Branson.

Several weeks ago, the Foreign Ministry in Jerusalem received a proposal that Carter and Annan come to Israel along with two other Elders, South African Archbishop Desmond Tutu and former Irish President Mary Robinson, to pursue a truce with Hamas and promote peacemaking with the Palestinian Authority.

After much deliberation, the offer was politely refused, Yediot Achronot reported Wednesday.

"Israel believes that at this time, it would not be right to introduce more players into a diplomatic process that is already in a complex stage," the newspaper quoted the Foreign Ministry as saying in a letter to The Elders.

Israel's ambassador to the United Nations, Dan Gillerman, had a blunter rebuff.

"Nothing good could come out of this initiative," he told Yediot. "Most members of the group, especially Desmond Tutu and Jimmy Carter, are people who nurse prejudices and have been shown to be hostile to Israel."

SWISS WRITER WHO PRAISED HOLOCAUST DENIER WINS U.N. HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL POSITION

2008-03-26T15:48:00.000-07:00

Ziegler wins U.N. advisory role (JTA)
A Swiss writer who praised a Holocaust denier won an advisory position to the U.N. Human Rights Council. Jean Ziegler won 40 of 47 votes Wednesday to become one of 18 "expert" counselors.

His election to the Geneva-based council, dominated by anti-Western authoritarian states, was virtually guaranteed and U.N. Watch, a United Nations monitor, had campaigned to convince Switzerland to withdraw his nomination.

That culminated in a letter this week signed by 24 human rights activists and groups opposing Ziegler. Swiss officials dismissed the effort as politicking.

Ziegler, a leftist theorist, has praised and supported dictators including Cuba's Fidel Castro, Ethiopia's Haile Mengistu, Libya's Moammar Ghadafy, Zimbabwe's Robert Mugabe and North Korea's Kim Il-Sung.

In 1996, Ziegler praised French Holocaust denier Roger Gaurady as "one of the leading thinkers of our time."

In interviews, Ziegler says his critics are puppets of his Western opponents and notes that he had helped expose how Swiss banks hoarded funds deposited by Jews during the Holocaust.

Also elected as an "expert" adviser to the council was Richard Falk, a Princeton emeritus professor who has likened Israel's dealings with the Palestinians to the Holocaust.

U.S.: P.A. FAILS IN FIGHT AGAINST TERROR

2008-03-26T15:43:00.000-07:00

U.S.: PA Fails in Fight Against Terror - Amos Harel, Avi Issacharoff and Yuval Azoulay
The American officers responsible for monitoring Israeli and Palestinian compliance with the road map peace plan, headed by Gen. William Fraser, say the PA security services occasionally arrest members of Islamic terror organizations, but they do not follow up with the other steps in the "chain of prevention": interrogations, arrests of additional operatives, indictments and trials. Trials generally take place only if the PA is under external pressure. (Ha'aretz)

HAMAS' NEW SONG IN HEBREW ABOUT KILLING JEWS

2008-03-26T15:37:00.000-07:00

Hamas new song in hebrew about killing jews (MySpaceTV)

"They just want to kill...

No matter who....

Next Year your home...

Total Jihad on Non-Muslims...

Let's start with the Jews...."

WHAT IF THE ROLES WERE REVERSED?

2008-03-26T15:34:00.000-07:00

Fitzgerald: Reversing the roles of the Arabs and Israel (Jihad Watch)
A Jihad Watch reader asked me: “If the Israel/Palestinian conflict were exactly the same as it is, only the roles of the two warring parties were exactly reversed, would you then switch allegiances to the Palestinian side?”

Let's see. [READ ON]

ISRAEL CAPTURES HAMAS PASSOVER TERROR MASTERMIND

2008-03-26T15:32:00.000-07:00

Israel: Hamas mastermind captured (AP)
JERUSALEM - Israeli soldiers on Wednesday arrested the Hamas mastermind of the bloodiest suicide bombing of the Palestinian uprising, an attack that killed 30 people and wounded 143 others during a Passover dinner celebration in 2002, the army said.

Omar Jabar planned the attack and dispatched the suicide bomber to the hotel in the Israeli coastal city of Netanya, the military said. He was arrested early Wednesday in the West Bank, the army said.

N.Y. D.A. SOURCE: HAT CRIME STATS SKEWED FOR MUSLIMS

2008-03-26T15:30:00.000-07:00

NY D.A. Source: Crime stats skewed on behalf of Muslims (NE Intell. Net.)

* "Hate crimes" against Muslims skewed upward - many religiously motivated crimes against Jews go unrecorded.

* Cites pressure from Muslim advocacy groups

By Douglas J. Hagmann, Director

25 March 2008: A source inside the Manhattan District Attorney’s office admitted to me during a telephone conversation yesterday that “hate crimes,” specifically those occurring against Jews, are frequently omitted from such classification. Meanwhile, acts that victimize Muslims, regardless of their motivation, are usually reported as "hate crimes." Consequently, crimes against Jews and other religions fail to garner the same media focus as crimes against Muslims and skew the figures used to track criminal motives. Although this is not a new phenomenon, it has recently been accentuated by the incident that took place on a New York subway last week.

OBAMA'S CHURCH PUBLISHED LETTER ALLEGING ISRAELI "ETHNIC BOMB"

2008-03-26T15:12:00.000-07:00

Obama's Church Published Letter Alleging Israeli 'Ethnic Bomb'

(LGF)

Following the discovery of a Hamas manifesto published under Rev. Jeremiah Wright’s “Pastor’s Notes,” Bob Owens has another example of a deranged anti-Israel article appearing in the bulletin of Barack Obama’s church, the Trinity United Church of Christ: Confederate Yankee: It Never Stops: Obama’s Church Published Letter Alleging Israeli ‘Ethnic Bomb.’

ISRAEL LAYS INTO U.N. FOR MORAL EQUIVALENCY

2008-03-25T16:32:00.001-07:00

Gillerman decries 'immoral equivalency' at Security Council (JPost)
Israel's UN ambassador, Dan Gillerman, slammed the "trend" of equating the "lawful actions" of a state defending its citizens with the "violence of terrorists," in a bitter exchange at the Security Council's monthly session on the Middle East on Tuesday.

"The misguided tendency to accept the status quo of terrorism is simply unacceptable," said Gillerman. "Such parity, which is often in the name of an ill-conceived balance, undermines the strength and credibility of moderate states to bolster one another and isolate the extremists."

HEZBOLLAH LOOKING FOR A FEW GOOD KIDS

2008-03-25T12:55:00.000-07:00

Hezbollah: Looking For a Few Good Kids (BackSpin)

Time magazine takes a startling glimpse into the world of Hezbollah recruiting:

The two phases in the development of a Hizballah fighter are like Boy Scouts and Boot Camp. During the first phase, Hizballah recruiters keep an eye out for young Shia Muslim students in both Hizballah-run schools and the national school system. They look for energetic kids, violent kids, and smart kids,from the age of seven into the late teens, and begin taking them on field trips and workshops where they are given a through ideological indoctrination, and then as they get older, a brief introduction to the AK-47 assault rifle.

Why not Teach Kids Peace?

REPORT SLAMS BBC FOR SUPPORTING IRAN, HEZBOLLAH

2008-03-25T12:54:00.000-07:00

Report Slams BBC Arabic For Supporting Iran, Hezbollah (BackSpin)

A soon-to-be-released report by Trevor Asserson slams BBC-Arabic's radio for biased commentary during the Second Lebanon War. YNet News explains:

The research team observed the station's main commentary program "Hadith al-sa'a" (Talk of the Hour) during the Second Lebanon War, and concluded that commentators supporting Iran and its views were given preference.
The station's commentators, the report said, did not even try to hide their clear sympathy for the Lebanese side and Hizbullah fighters.

Asserson's previous studies of the BBC are impressively thorough and online at his web site, BBCWatch.

NAZI RECORDS GIVEN TO HOLOCAUST GROUPS

2008-03-25T12:52:00.000-07:00

Nazi Records Given to Holocaust Groups (SFChron)
The names of some 3.5 million people displaced after World War II have been provided to Holocaust memorial groups and museums in the United States, Israel and Poland by a recently opened archive of Nazi-era documents.

The International Tracing Service of the International Committee of the Red Cross said Tuesday that it had handed over a third round of digitally copied documents to the Yad Vashem Memorial in Jerusalem, the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington and the Warsaw-based National Institute of Remembrance.

The archive, based in Bad Arolsen, Germany, said the transfer involved copies of index cards that feature the names of people who were freed from Nazi concentration and labor camps as well as prisoners of war.

The move came after a meeting March 18-19 of representatives of national organizations from the member nations of the International Commission, which oversees ITS.

ISRAEL GRANTS SANCTUARY TO GAY PALESTINIAN

2008-03-25T12:50:00.000-07:00

Gay Palestinian Seeks Sanctuary from Non-Gay Palestinians

(LGF)

When gay and lesbian Palestinians want to be safe, they know where to go: Gay Palestinian gets OK to live with Israeli lover.

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israel has granted a Palestinian a rare residency permit after the man, who is gay, said his sexuality put his life in danger in the West Bank, a Defence Ministry official said on Tuesday.
The 33-year-old Palestinian from Jenin was issued a temporary permit to live with his Israeli partner in Tel Aviv after arguing he faced death threats from fellow Palestinians who disapproved of him being gay, the official said.
Israel’s Interior Ministry rarely issues permits for Palestinians in the occupied West Bank who want to live with their partners in Israel, regardless of sexuality. Requesting such a permit can take years.
“In this case the man’s lawyer said his life was in danger because of his sexual preference,” said Peter Lerner, spokesman for Israel’s Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories, whose office comes under the defence ministry.
“On this basis we issued the temporary permit,” he said.

It wouldn’t be Reuters, of course, if they didn’t find some way to: 1) excuse the medieval mentality that systemically targets gays for murder, and 2) blame it on Israel.

But while homosexuality is largely taboo in conservative and majority Muslim West Bank cities, one rights groups working with Palestinian gays said there had been few reports of physical violence in recent years.
However Palestinians are wary of collaborators and Rauda Morcos, director of Aswat support group for Palestinian lesbians, said this suspicion was directed at gay men and women.
Morcos said Palestinian gays were sometimes targeted by the Israeli secret service and told they must collaborate or face being outed.

UPDATED: ANOTHER ANTI-ISRAEL OBAMA SUPPORTER

2008-03-25T12:46:00.000-07:00

RJC Calls on Sen. Obama to Remove Key Advisor (RJC)
Washington, D.C. (March 25, 2008) -- The Republican Jewish Coalition (RJC) today called on Sen. Barack Obama to remove Gen. Merrill "Tony" McPeak as his military advisor and national campaign co-chairman.

"By choosing to have a military advisor and national campaign co-chairman like General McPeak, serious questions and doubts are once again being raised about Senator Obama's positions and judgment on Middle East issues," said RJC Executive Director Matt Brooks.

In a 2003 interview with the Oregonian, Gen. McPeak resorted to old stereotypes and unfortunate language by blaming the lack of progress with the Israeli-Palestinian peace process on the undue political influence of American Jewry. The problem, said McPeak is "New York City. Miami. We have a large vote -- vote, here in favor of Israel. And no politician wants to run against it."

"Rather than putting the blame where it belongs -- on the Palestinian leadership and their continued reliance on terror, General McPeak finds it more convenient to blame American Jewry and their perceived influence," said Brooks. "This is the same dangerous and disturbing canard being promoted by the likes of Jimmy Carter and authors Mearsheimer and Walt in their book, The Israel Lobby."

In addition, Gen. McPeak has a long history of criticizing Israel for not returning to the 1967 borders or returning the Golan Heights to Syria, as he wrote in Foreign Affairs in April 1976.

"Senator Obama continues to surround himself with advisors holding troubling and disturbing anti-Israel bias. General McPeak's views are alarming. We call on Senator Obama to immediately remove General McPeak from his campaign leadership role and as a key advisor," said Brooks.

SEE ALSO: OBAMA'S MILITARY ADVISOR HATES ISRAEL (China Confidential)

UPDATE: Obama 'disagrees' with ex-general adviser (JTA)

Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) "disagrees" with a top adviser who appeared to blame Jewish voters for U.S. Mideast policy failures.

In a 2003 interview with the Oregonian, Gen. Merrill "Tony" McPeak, now the co-chairman of Obama's presidential campaign, critiqued the Bush administration for its handling of the Iraq war.

In part, he said, the Bush administration lacked a broader Middle East strategy, particularly in the area of Israeli-Palestinian peacemaking. The reporters asked him whether the State Department or the White House was to blame.

McPeak answered, "New York City. Miami. We have a large vote -- vote, here in favor of Israel. And no politician wants to run against it."

The reporters pressed him again to assess whether the State Department or the White House was responsible, but he persisted: "I think that everybody understands that a settlement of the Arab-Israeli problem would require the Israelis to stop settling the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, and maybe even withdraw some of the settlements that've already been put there. And nobody wants to take on that problem. It's just too tough politically."

In a statement to JTA, the Obama campaign noted the senator's pro-Israel record and added, "Neither Senator Clinton nor Senator Obama agrees with every position their advisors take, and in this case Senator Obama disagrees with General McPeak's comments."

McPeak, a former Air Force chief of staff, has lent Obama's campaign substantial defense credibility and has appeared frequently as its surrogate on military matters.

The American Spectator, a conservative magazine, uncovered the Oregonian interview this week.

UC IRVINE CHANCELLOR REFUSES TO REFUTE CAMPUS ANTI-SEMITISM

2008-03-25T12:44:00.000-07:00

Drake stays mum on UC Irvine anti-Semitism (JTA)
The University of California, Irvine's chancellor again refused to speak out against acts of anti-Semitism on his campus.

Michael Drake, confronted over his position at the opening plenary of Hillel’s summit Monday in Washington, issued a blanket condemnation of hate speech, including anti-Semitism, saying it had no place in society.

"It's deplorable. It's deplorable," Drake said. "And we reject it absolutely."

Drake declined to comment, however, when asked by JTA after the summit how he feels about some of the anti-Israel activity that has taken place at UC Irvine. He said the university wished to remain "content neutral."

UC Irvine students have charged that they have been physically and verbally harassed by Muslim students, and that speakers are routinely invited to campus who compare Israel to Nazi Germany.

Drake's participation in the summit generated vocal opposition from groups who say his refusal to condemn specific incidents of anti-Israel and anti-Semitic activity makes him unfit to speak at the event. Hillel: The Foundation for Jewish Campus Life has rejected that position.

A representative of the Coalition of Jewish Concerns-Amcha interrupted the plenary following the opening remarks, seizing the microphone on the rostrum and accusing Hillel of adopting a "Do as I say, not as I do" attitude. The representative, Rabbi Shmuel Herzfeld, also distributed a letter criticizing Drake.

A letter last week sent to Hillel's president, Wayne Firestone, from 41 Jewish students condemned Drake's invitation. Firestone met with the students last Friday.

In a meeting with reporters following the plenary, Firestone reiterated Hillel's position on the Drake invitation and said he was "proud" the organization had given the chancellor a platform. Firestone said Drake's participation created a "public accounting" and was an opportunity to "build sensitivity" among university administrations to issues of Jewish concern.

FRENCH ALIYAH DOWN UNDER SARKOZY

2008-03-25T12:43:00.000-07:00

French aliyah down under Sarkozy (JTA)
French Jewish emigration to Israel has plummeted since Nicolas Sarkozy took office, data suggest.

Tuesday's Ma'ariv published figures provided by Israel's Immigration and Absorption Ministry suggesting that the rate of aliyah from France so far this year has been 42 percent less than in the same period in 2007.

But Jewish Agency for Israel officials in Paris dispute the figures. "Yes, aliyah from France is down and yes, there is a Sarkozy effect," said David Roche, JAFI head in Paris, "but the figures are exaggerated, and don't mean that much in any case."

Roche said according to JAFI figures in Paris, about 300 people made aliyah from France in the first three months of 2008, compared to about 400 last year. "That is a drop of 25%, not 40%," he noted. "And in any case, this time of year is always slow for aliyah compared to July and August, so we really have to wait until then to establish any kind of trend here."

French community officials said the increase in aliyah from France was the result of a rise in violent anti-Semitic incidents committed mostly by North African Arab and African youths, linked to the Al-Aksa intifada. Jews also said they thought about moving to Israel partly because of what they perceived as indifference by the general French population to the violence and the fear it created, especially in suburban Jewish communities.

The expression the "Sarkozy or Sarko-effect" has been used in a positive sense by the French Jewish media to describe the ongoing warming of relations between France and Israel since Nicolas Sarkozy was elected president last May. A drop in aliyah is seen by many people as a potential down side.

ISRAELI SOLDIER SUSPECTED AS HEZBOLLAH SPY

2008-03-25T12:41:00.000-07:00

Soldier suspected as Hezbollah spy (JTA)
An Israeli soldier is suspected of supplying classified information to Hezbollah in exchange for drugs.

Police announced Monday that a noncommissioned officer serving as an infantry tracker along the Israel-Lebanon border was arrested last month on suspicion of spying for the Lebanese terrorist group.

According to authorities, the soldier gave Hezbollah information on Israeli troop deployments along the frontier in exchange for its expedition of cross-border drug deals.

Two other Israelis in custody are suspected of being involved in the alleged drug smuggling.

No personal details were immediately available on the arrested soldier other than that he lives in the Galilee area. Israel's military trackers generally are Bedouin Arabs.

WHY DO PALIS GET MORE ATTENTION THAN TIBETANS?

2008-03-25T12:37:00.000-07:00

PERHAPS THOSE TIBETAN MONKS SHOULD STRAP SOME BOMBS ON THEIR CHESTS AND MURDER LITTLE KIDS...

Why Do Palestinians Get Much More Attention than Tibetans? - Dennis Prager (FrontPageMagazine)

The long-suffering Tibetans have been in the news. Tibet, at least 1,400 years old, is one of the world's oldest nations, has its own language, its own religion and its own ethnicity. Over 1 million of its people have been killed by the Chinese, its culture has been systematically obliterated, 6,000 of its 6,200 monasteries have been looted and destroyed, and most of its monks have been tortured, murdered or exiled.
Palestinians have none of these characteristics. There has never been a Palestinian country, never been a Palestinian language, never been a Palestinian ethnicity, never been a Palestinian religion in any way distinct from Islam elsewhere.
Indeed, for most of the first half of the 20th century, "Palestinian" almost always referred to the Jews of Palestine. The United Jewish Appeal was known as the United Palestine Appeal.
Compared to Tibetans, Palestinian Arab culture has not been destroyed nor its mosques looted or plundered, and Palestinians have received billions of dollars from the international community. Unlike the dying Tibetan nation, there are far more Palestinians today than when Israel was created.

FRENCH OFFICIAL FIRED FOR ANTI-ISRAEL DIATRIBE

2008-03-25T12:36:00.000-07:00

French Official Sacked for Anti-Israeli Diatribe (AFP)
A French senior civil servant has been sacked for publishing a violent anti-Israeli diatribe on a web site. Bruno Guigue, deputy prefect of Saintes, wrote in an online column this month that Israel was "the only state where snipers shoot down little girls outside their school gates." Interior Minister Michele Alliot-Marie dismissed the official after learning of the column.

U.S. FUNDING PALI TERROR

2008-03-25T12:34:00.000-07:00

U.S. AID for Terror- Rachel Ehrenfeld and Alyssa A. Lappen (FrontPageMagazine)
Since 1994, the CIA armed and trained thousands of Palestinian "security forces," who subsequently joined every Palestinian terrorist organization. CIA Palestinian training success is best described by a member of the PA chairman's own security unit - Force 17 - officer Abu Yusef:

"The operations of the Palestinian resistance would [not] have been so successful and would not have killed more than 1,000 Israelis since 2000, and defeated the Israelis in Gaza without [American military] training," he boasted in August 2007.

SEE ALSO: Your Tax Dollars at Work in Gaza - Jonathan S. Tobin

American officials are again pressing Congress to open up the U.S. aid pipeline to the Palestinian Authority. We are told that unless we help fund the training and the payment of Palestinian security forces, the PA will have no way to cope with terrorists who want to sink any chance of a two-state solution which would enable Israel to live side-by-side with a peaceful Palestinian partner. Reinforcing the PA seems to make sense. But does it really?

The support by the PA media for attacks against Israelis, such as the slaughter of eight students at a Jerusalem yeshiva this month, as well as the ongoing blitz of southern Israel by Hamas missiles, is reason to doubt the PA's sincerity. The PA also continues to honor the memory of slain terrorists as "martyrs," and plans to celebrate Israel's 60th birthday by having Arab refugees rush Israel's borders to promote a "right of return," which is synonymous with the destruction of the Jewish state. America's attempts to create a Palestinian peace partner have failed. No amount of money will buy us a moderate state that will accept peace with Israel if the Palestinians don't want one. (Philadelphia Jewish Exponent)

HEZBOLLAH LEADER: ISRAEL CAN BE "ELIMINATED"

2008-03-25T12:31:00.000-07:00

Hizbullah Leader: Israel Can Be "Eliminated" - Benny Avni (New York Sun)
Echoing Iran's threat to wipe Israel off the map, Hizbullah leader Hassan Nasrallah said Monday that the targeting of Israeli civilian centers has made it possible for the Jewish state to be "eliminated."

"Can Israel be eliminated? Yes and a thousand yeses, Israel can be eliminated," he said. Hamas and Hizbullah "are betting on Iran," said former Israeli Foreign Ministry official Jonathan D. Halevi. "People in the region assume that as soon as Iran gets a nuclear bomb it will become a regional superpower, which makes it a hot commodity."

See also Hizbullah: Mughniyeh Was "Leader of Two Victories" Over Israel (Al-Bawaba-Jordan)
At a rally in southern Beirut on Monday in honor of slain military commander Imad Mughniyeh, Hizbullah Secretary General Hasan Nasrallah called Mughniyeh the "leader of both victories," referring to the Israeli withdrawal from southern Lebanon in 2000 and the July 2006 war.

DARFUR MUSLIMS FIND REFUGE IN ISRAEL

2008-03-25T12:30:00.000-07:00

An Unlikely Refuge: Muslims Fleeing Darfur Rebuilding Lives in Israel - Seth Freedman
"Even though we're Muslim, the Islamic world has done nothing to protect us," said Yassin, one of the first Darfurians to make it into Israel across the border from Egypt and now director of Bnei Darfur [Sons of Darfur], which assists Sudanese refugees to integrate into Israeli society. "All of the Arab countries support the government of Sudan - our problem is with the Arab League," he said. As far as Yassin is concerned, Israel has provided for his people in a way that no Arab country would - and for that he's eternally grateful. (Guardian-UK)

KIDS' NEWSPAPER QUIZ FOSTERS ANTI-ISRAEL VIEWS

2008-03-24T14:18:00.000-07:00

Kids Newspaper Quiz Fosters Anti-Israel Views (CAMERA)

Would an innocent-looking weekly syndicated children’s quiz column - often found in the comics section - be used to inculcate anti-Israel views?

Yes - when it’s "The Quiz" produced by Judith Laitman whose public utterances (see below) habitually condemn Israel for alleged mistreatment of the blameless Palestinians. Ms. Laitman is owner and president of “Knowledge Unlimited Inc” of Madison, Wisconsin which distributes “The Quiz” to newspapers across the U.S. including the Dallas Morning News where it was brought to CAMERA’s attention. Any reference in “The Quiz” to Palestinians is invariably benign while nearly every mention of Israel is one of condemnation.

In the March 3, 2008 Quiz column (above), the Newsname section asks the child to name the man pictured who is “president of the Palestinian National Authority.” While failing to mention the Palestinian firing of barrages of rockets from Gaza at the Israeli cities of Sderot and Ashkelon precipitating Israeli actions, the Newsname text goes onto say, “In the past few days, Israeli attacks on Gaza killed more than 110 Palestinians, including 22 children, …”

This assertion regarding casualties disregarded Israel’s side of the story. The more sober New York Times description said,

“At least 10 Palestinians were killed on Sunday by Israeli fire, local hospital officials said, bringing the number of Palestinians killed since Wednesday, when the latest surge in hostilities began, to more than 100. Israel says that most of those killed were armed militants, but Palestinian officials say that more than half were civilians, including several children." (March 3 by Kershner, Erlanger and El-Khodary).

Another report - a syndicated article by Middle East correspondent Gwynne Dyer - said:

“Israel says 90 per cent of the Palestinian casualties were fighters; Palestinian sources say half were civilians, including 22 children. Given the crowded living conditions of the Gaza Strip, the latter estimate is more plausible, although it would make no sense for Israeli forces to target civilians deliberately.”

TO SEE MORE OF THESE QUIZES FOR KIDS WITH ANTI-ISRAEL BIAS, CLICK HERE AND SCROLL DOWN.

HAMAS/FATAH DEAL NOW OFF

2008-03-24T14:10:00.000-07:00

'Signing of Yemeni proposal a mixup' (JPost)
Top aides to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Monday distanced themselves from a Yemeni plan outlining a path to reconciliation with Hamas movement, and one said an Abbas envoy only signed the document because of a mixup.

Under the Yemeni proposal, signed Sunday, Abbas’s Fatah movement and Hamas would agree in principle to unite in a single Palestinian government. However, in several days of talks in Yemen, the bitter rivals failed to resolve the crucial question of how they should share power.

Abbas has said repeatedly that he would not negotiate a new power-sharing deal with Hamas unless it first steps aside in Gaza. Despite Hamas’ refusal to do so, Abbas sent a representative, former Deputy Palestinian Prime Minister Azzam al-Ahmed, to Yemen to explore the reconciliation proposal - apparently to avoid being seen as inflexible on trying to mend the deep internal Palestinian rift.

On Sunday, al-Ahmed and a senior Hamas representative, Moussa Abu Marzouk, signed a declaration that both accept a Yemeni initiative calling for the creation of a national unity government and the rebuilding of security forces loyal to that government instead of factions.

A senior Abbas confidant, chief Palestinian negotiator Ahmed Qurei, said Monday that al-Ahmed signed because of a mixup. Al-Ahmed called Abbas’ office repeatedly to get guidance, but Abbas was meeting at the time with US Vice President Dick Cheney, and al-Ahmed went ahead and signed, Qureia said.

“There was a misunderstanding,” Qurei told reporters Monday. “President Abbas was busy hosting Cheney, and Azzam tried many times to contact him (Abbas), but couldn’t reach him. The talks were at the end, and time was pressing.”

SCARLETT JOHANSSON: JEWISH

2008-03-24T14:02:00.000-07:00

Scarlett Johansson's a Jew, too (JTA)
Scarlett Johansson said she identifies as Jewish. The actress said in an Israeli television interview broadcast Saturday that her mother is of Ashkenazi Jewish descent and brought her up with a basic observance of Shabbat and holidays such as Chanukah.

Johansson, 23, was speaking to Israel's Channel 2 from the set of "The Other Boleyn Girl" along with her Israeli-born co-star Natalie Portman. Unlike Portman, Johansson does not speak Hebrew and claims to know only a smattering of Yiddish.

According to Channel 2, Johansson's father is of Danish descent and is not Jewish.

SUPER JEWISH DELEGATES

2008-03-24T14:00:00.000-07:00

Super Jewish delegates (JTA)
The Forward’s Jennifer Siegel takes a look at how the 70 or so Jewish super delegates are breaking in the Democratic presidential race:

According to a new survey conducted by the Forward, a disproportionately large share of the Democratic party’s super-delegates are Jewish. Many of them have declared their support for Hillary Clinton, accounting for more than 15% of her current backers.

Like the general population of super-delegates, whose support remains fluid, several Jewish supporters of the New York senator said in interviews that their votes still remain up for grabs. All told, more than 70 Jewish super-delegates will make the trip to Denver this summer for the Democrats’ nominating convention. …

If the Democratic presidential primary comes down to a photo finish, these Jewish insiders could play an outsized role in anointing a nominee at the party’s August convention. And it would be a history-making experience: Although Jews have long been considered a formidable voting bloc and have been overrepresented among the country’s cadre of liberal activists and thinkers, they have only more recently become common as Democratic establishment insiders, with unprecedented numbers of both Jewish elected officials and party leaders.

THOSE SUPER DELEGATES MAY WANT TO TAKE A LOOK AT THIS: Barack Obama and Israel (American Thinker) (Hat tip: Uncle Sticky)

ISRAEL OKAYS 25 RUSSIAN-MADE ARMORED VEHICLES FOR P.A.

2008-03-24T13:52:00.000-07:00

Israel Okays 25 Russian-Made Armored Vehicles for PA (AFP)
Israel on Friday authorized the Palestinian Authority to import 25 Russian-made armored vehicles to the West Bank, an Israeli defense ministry official said Saturday. The delivery, which has been pending for months, was approved during a visit to the region by Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. Moscow has proposed providing the Palestinians with 50 armored vehicles over two years, but Israel can veto the second shipment if it fears that the vehicles may fall into the hands of militants.

SADDAM COLLECTED INFO FROM P.A. ON TARGETS IN ISRAEL

2008-03-24T13:50:00.000-07:00

Saddam Collected Information from PA on Potential Targets in Israel - Amir Oren
Saddam Hussein's intelligence service collected information on dozens of sites in Israel, including airports, other transportation centers, as well as scientific and religious centers that were thought to be potential targets for attacks. Among the sources providing intelligence to Saddam's regime was Force 17, the security force of Yasser Arafat, which planned and carried out attacks against Israeli targets from its Ramallah headquarters. This information emerged following the release of documents captured during the American invasion in 2003. The captured documents also detail a 2001 plan to release jailed Iraqis if they agreed to volunteer to carry out attacks on Israeli targets. (Ha'aretz)

SEE ALSO: Indyk was Hussein's target (JTA)
A former U.S. ambassador to Israel was targeted for assassination by the Saddam Hussein regime, according to top-secret Iraqi documents.

Martin Indyk, an Australian-bred Jew, was listed in a U.S. Institute for Defense Analyses report released this week by the Pentagon on the fifth anniversary of the invasion of Iraq.

The Pentagon said the paper provides “strong evidence” of the links between Saddam’s regime and global terrorism.

Indyk, who served two separate diplomatic terms in Tel Aviv, is mentioned in a letter to Baghdad from terrorist leaders in the Gaza Strip. The suggestion to “eliminate” Indyk was based on his apparent involvement in cooperative activities between Israelis and Palestinians.

An Australian newspaper reported Saturday that Indyk, a native of Britain, was unaware of the plot but said the letter was written on June 30, 2001 -- his last day as U.S. ambassador to Israel.

AL QAEDA: KILL THE JEWS!

2008-03-24T13:48:00.000-07:00

Al-Qaeda: "Hit Jews and Americans" (Reuters)
Al-Qaeda's second-in-command Ayman al-Zawahiri called for attacks on Israeli and Western targets in an audio tape posted on the Internet on Monday. "O Muslims. Today is your day. Hit the interest of the Jews and the Americans and all those who participated in the aggression against Muslims," Zawahiri said. "Monitor the targets, collect the money, prepare the hardware, plan accurately and then attack....No one can say today that we should fight the Jews in Palestine only."

REUTERS PROMOTES ANTI-ISRAEL BLOG

2008-03-24T13:46:00.000-07:00

Reuters Promotes Anti-Israel Blog (Honest Reporting)

Why does Reuters give credibility to a one-sided and hateful blog story?

The Blogosphere contains a wealth of opinions and claims, some of which contribute to a rational debate and others which may be the personal rantings of a deranged individual. While freedom of speech requires a degree of responsibility that is sometimes lacking in blogs, reputable news services are compelled to comply with much higher standards.

So why, then, is Reuters publishing a blog posting entitled "Israeli Troops Given the Go-Ahead to Kill Peaceful Palestinian Protesters"? The posting reveals its true nature in the first line:

The Zionist regime has given orders to allow Israeli troops to fire live rounds on Palestinians protesting the illegal Apartheid Wall surrounding Jerusalem.

Continuing in a hateful and one-sided vein, failing to mention Palestinian terror or legitimate Israeli security concerns:

The Apartheid Wall, meant to strangle local West Bank economies and annex Palestinian land, started to encapsulate occupied Jerusalem in 2002.

Merely the term "Zionist regime", popularized by terrorist groups and individuals such as Iran's President Ahmadinejad, should have been enough to raise alarm bells at Reuters as to the unsuitability of such a posting. Not to mention the contents of the piece itself, which maliciously accuses Israel of actively seeking to kill Palestinian protestors.

Reuters includes the disclaimer: "The opinions and views expressed herein are those of the author and are not endorsed by Reuters.com." While Reuters may not endorse the sentiments of the blog posting, it still decided to publish them on its own site, therefore giving it unwarranted credibility as a news source.

Reuters asks you to Let us know what you think of this feature. Please do so by selecting the Blogs option in the Topics menu and ask Reuters to exercise responsibility in its choice of blogs.

FATAH/HAMAS FINALIZING UNITY AGREEMENT?

2008-03-22T21:43:00.000-07:00

'Fatah, Hamas polishing unity agreement' (JPost)
Fatah officials have agreed to Yemen's reconciliation initiative and are prepared to sign it, while Hamas officials requested additional time to discuss the initiative with the group's leaders, Yemen's Foreign Minister Abubakr al-Qirbi announced on Saturday.

According to a Yemenite news agency, talks between the rival Fatah and Hamas are continuing to take place in Yemen, after a crisis in talks occurred on Thursday in which Fatah representatives threatened to return to Ramallah.

"Hamas is not declining the Yemenite initiative which aims to resolve the rivalry between Hamas and Fatah," Ahmed Youssef, adviser to Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh, told the London-based Al-Quds Al-Arabi.

Youssef also said that Hamas is maintaining contacts with European representatives. "Most of the Europeans we maintain contact with are British, Swedish, Swiss and French. In most cases they were unofficial European representatives who are helping change the European attitude towards Hamas."

On Thursday, An attempt by the Yemeni government to mend fences between Fatah and Hamas failed after the Fatah delegation walked out of the talks.

Earlier this week, representatives of Fatah and Hamas were invited to Yemen's capital Sanaa for talks on an initiative by Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh to end the ongoing power struggle between the two parties.

The initiative urges Hamas to end its control of the Gaza Strip and hand the area back to Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas's Fatah.

Earlier Saturday, the Palestinian news agency Ma'an reported that senior representatives of Hamas and Islamic Jihad are set to meet Egyptian officials on Saturday in order to discuss a truce, or period of calm, with Israel.

BBC ADMITS INACCURACIES IN ISRAEL COVERAGE

2008-03-22T21:41:00.000-07:00

BBC admits inaccuracies in coverage (JPost)
The BBC has apologized for significant errors in two recent news reports on Israel.

In a news item on March 7, following the Mercaz Harav Yeshiva attack, the BBC showed a bulldozer demolishing a house, while correspondent Nick Miles told viewers: "Hours after the attack, Israeli bulldozers destroyed his family home. Later, mourners set up Hamas and Islamic Jihad banners nearby."

The house, however, was not demolished; the BBC was embarrassed when news reports from other broadcasters showed the east Jerusalem home intact and the family commemorating their son's actions.

Last week, the BBC apologized live on its news program, admitting it had used footage of another house being demolished.

News anchor Geeta Guru-Murthy said: "Now, we would like to clarify a report we heard at this hour last Friday about the attack by a Palestinian gunman on a Jewish seminary in Jerusalem. In the report, the day after the attack, BBC World said that the gunman's home in east Jerusalem had been demolished by the Israeli authorities. That was not correct, and the images broadcast were of another demolition."

The fabrication was exposed by Boston-based media monitor CAMERA, which revealed that the images used by the BBC were similar to photos taken by the Palestinian news agency Maan from the demolition of the house belonging to Islamic Jihad leader Muhammad Shehadeh in Bethlehem on March 7.

In a second incident, in a news item entitled "Israel jets strike northern Gaza" on March 14 on their News Web site, the BBC reported that Israel was deliberately targeting civilians in an operation targeting Kassam rocket launch sites in Gaza, and claiming that the United Nations secretary-general had described it as an attack on civilians.

"The Israeli air force said it was targeting a rocket firing team... UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has condemned Israel's attacks on Palestinian civilians, calling them inappropriate and disproportionate," the report said.

In a letter to the BBC, Manchester Jewish community member Jonathan Hantman wrote,

"It is one-sided for the report to describe Israel's operations as 'attacks on civilians' while not describing the Palestinian rocket attacks, to which Israel was responding, as 'attacks on civilians' or 'acts of terrorism.'"

Hantman also pointed out that Ban's attributed comments were made weeks earlier to the UN Security Council and not in reference to that particular attack. He added that it was also wrong to mention the UN secretary-general's condemnation of Israel without mentioning his condemnation of Palestinian rocket attacks in the same statement.

"Ban's statement, made some two weeks ago, did not refer to yesterday's attack and did not describe Israel's operations on Gaza as 'attacks on civilians,'" Hantman noted. "He did, however, describe Palestinian rocket attacks as 'acts of terrorism.'"

In his statement to the UN Security Council on March 1, Ban said: "While recognizing Israel's right to defend itself, I condemn the disproportionate and excessive use of force that has killed and injured so many civilians, including children... I condemn Palestinian rocket attacks and call for the immediate cessation of such acts of terrorism."

Apologizing for the error, the BBC said in its response, regarding the speech: "We accept we should have made reference to what [Ban] said about Palestinian rocket attacks as well as to the 'excessive use of force' by Israel. We have amended the report, also removing the reference to Israeli 'attacks on civilians.'"

POPE'S GOOD FRIDAY PRAYER "INSULTING TO JEWS"

2008-03-22T21:35:00.000-07:00

‘Insulting to Jews’: Leading German Rabbi Condemns Pope’s Good Friday Prayer (Der Speigel)
Around the world, millions of Catholics are celebrating Good Friday, when they commemorate the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. But for many Jews, this year’s ceremonies leave a bitter aftertaste, due to a controversial new version of a prayer that many claim is anti-Semitic.

Last month, the Vatican announced that Pope Benedict XVI had revised the so-called “Good Friday Prayer for the Jews” which forms part of the Tridentine Mass, often referred to as the Latin Mass. The new version, translated from the Latin, reads: “Let us also pray for the Jews: That our God and Lord may illuminate their hearts, that they acknowledge that Jesus Christ is the Savior of all men.”

Several leading Jewish organizations, including the Anti-Defamation League, the American Jewish Committee and the International Jewish Committee on Inter-Religious Consultations, have strongly criticized the new wording of the prayer. However only the very small minority of Catholics who celebrate the Good Friday mass in Latin will actually hear the allegedly anti-Semitic version of the prayer.

The new wording is similar to the original version of the prayer, which read: “Let us pray also for the faithless Jews: that almighty God may remove the veil from their hearts; so that they too may acknowledge Jesus Christ our Lord.”

This original version was toned down at the 1962-1965 Second Vatican Council which introduced many far-reaching reforms of the Catholic Church, including replacing the Tridentine Mass with vernacular liturgies. The Good Friday Prayer then became: “Let us pray for the Jewish people, the first to hear the word of God, that they may continue to grow in the love of his name and in faithfulness to his covenant.”

SHHHH! OBAMA'S REAL VIEWS ON ISRAEL

2008-03-22T11:01:00.000-07:00

Electronic Intifada: How Barack Obama Learned to Love Israel

(LGF)

There’s yet another Barack Obama story that’s been out there for a while, but is only starting to get noticed this week in the context of the Rev. Wright meltdown—Obama’s connections to the radical Palestinian propaganda web site Electronic Intifada and its co-founder Ali Abunimah.

Joel Pollak at Guide to the Perplexed points out an article posted at Electronic Intifada March 4, 2008: ei: How Barack Obama learned to love Israel.

Over the years since I first saw Obama speak I met him about half a dozen times, often at Palestinian and Arab-American community events in Chicago including a May 1998 community fundraiser at which Edward Said was the keynote speaker. In 2000, when Obama unsuccessfully ran for Congress I heard him speak at a campaign fundraiser hosted by a University of Chicago professor. On that occasion and others Obama was forthright in his criticism of US policy and his call for an even-handed approach to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.
The last time I spoke to Obama was in the winter of 2004 at a gathering in Chicago’s Hyde Park neighborhood. He was in the midst of a primary campaign to secure the Democratic nomination for the United States Senate seat he now occupies. But at that time polls showed him trailing.
As he came in from the cold and took off his coat, I went up to greet him. He responded warmly, and volunteered, “Hey, I’m sorry I haven’t said more about Palestine right now, but we are in a tough primary race. I’m hoping when things calm down I can be more up front.” He referred to my activism, including columns I was contributing to the The Chicago Tribune critical of Israeli and US policy, “Keep up the good work!”

REPORT: SMALL PROGRESS IN REVISING PALI TEXTBOOKS

2008-03-21T14:19:00.000-07:00

Report: Small Progress in Revising Palestinian Textbooks (American Jewish Committee)

Seven years after the Palestinian Authority began publishing textbooks for use in West Bank and Gaza schools, there still is no recognition of the State of Israel and no advocacy of peace with it.
Instead, the textbooks promote violent struggle, while hateful descriptions of Jews and the West remain prevalent, according to the report, "Palestinian Textbooks: From Arafat to Abbas and Hamas," co-published by AJC and the Institute for Monitoring Peace and Cultural Tolerance in School Education (formerly the Center for Monitoring the Impact of Peace-CMIP).
"While Israeli leaders speak openly of negotiating a two-state solution, Palestinian children are exposed to a rigid, narrow worldview in which Israel does not exist and Jews are considered subhuman enemies," said AJC Executive Director David A. Harris.
"A negotiated settlement cannot succeed until Palestinian children are taught to live in peace with their Israeli neighbors."
Read the Report (pdf)

PALI EXHIBITS DEPICTS ISRAEL PUTTING PALI KIDS IN CREMATORIUM

2008-03-21T14:15:00.000-07:00

Palestinian Exhibit Depicts Children in Crematorium - Itamar Marcus and Barbara Crook (Palestinian Media Watch)

The Ramallah-based Al Ayyam reported Thursday: "The National Committee for Defense of Children from the Holocaust opened its activities with a Holocaust exhibit. The exhibit includes a large [cremation] oven and inside it small children are being burned [by Israel]."

IRAN GAVE SYRIA $1B FOR ARMS PURCHASES

2008-03-21T14:14:00.000-07:00

Iran Gave Syria Over $1 Billion for Arms Purchases - Barak Ravid (Ha'aretz)

Iran is making huge efforts to upgrade the Syrian army and provided Syria with more than $1 billion to buy surface-to-surface missiles, rockets, anti-tank missiles and anti-aircraft systems.

Syria is buying more missiles than tanks, on the assumption that attacking the Israeli home front would deter Israel and help to determine the war.

The London-based Asharq Alawsatnewspaper reported in July 2007, during Iranian President Ahmadinejad's visit to Damascus, that he promised Bashar Assad that Iran would finance Russian and North Korean weapons deals for $1 billion.

In exchange, Syria reportedly undertook not to proceed with the peace process with Israel.

Israel is also concerned over Iran's continuing weapon deliveries to Hizbullah via Syria. Recently, Iran sent Hizbullah a number of deliveries, including a large amount of explosives.

MCCAIN'S PRO-ISRAEL AGENDA

2008-03-21T14:11:00.000-07:00

McCain Speaks
John McCain outlines a staunchly pro-Israel agenda in an interview with the Jerusalem Post.

WELCOME TO SWASTIKA CANADA!

2008-03-21T14:08:00.000-07:00

CJC says Swastika's name is OK (JTA)
The Canadian Jewish Congress is comfortable with an explanation of the origins of the name of the Ontario community of Swastika.

The community will celebrate its centennial this summer. The planned festivities prompted the CJC to request information on the community's name.

Swastika's name is not affiliated with the Nazi symbol, community historian Carolyn O'Neil told the Ontario's Northern Daily News on Tuesday.

O'Neil said the community's name may have derived from the language of Northern Ontario's Cree Indians, in which "swas" means joining and "ika" means water.

"It was never the CJC's intention to wipe Swastika off the map," CJC spokeswoman Wendy Lampert told the News.

U.S. STATE DEPT. TELLS U.S. ARABS TO REPORT PROBLEMS ENTER ISRAEL

2008-03-21T14:05:00.000-07:00

State tells Arab Americans: report entry issues (JTA)
The U.S. State Department urged Americans of Arab origin to report difficulties encountered entering Israel.

"The United States Government seeks equal treatment for all American citizens regardless of national origin or ethnicity," said a travel warning issued Wednesday. "American citizens who encounter difficulties are encouraged to contact the U.S. Embassy in Tel Aviv or the U.S. Consulate General in Jerusalem." It listed phone numbers of consular officials.

The warning described difficulties that Arab Americans might face.

"American citizens whom Israeli authorities judge (based on their name or other indicators) may be of Palestinian origin are likely to face additional, and often time consuming, questioning by immigration and border authorities," it said. [ED. I WONDER WHY]

The warning came days after Arab American groups sent a letter to Condoleezza Rice, the U.S. secretary of state, urging her to press Israel to lift such restrictions, claiming they violate U.S.-Israel treaties.

The travel warning also warned Americans of Israeli descent that Israel regards them as Israeli citizens.

It repeated warnings urging Americans not to travel to the Gaza Strip and to postpone travel to the West Bank. Americans who do travel to the West Bank are warned to avoid demonstrations and exercise caution at checkpoints.

SOUTH AFRICAN JEWS WORRIED

2008-03-21T14:03:00.000-07:00

Violence, political future worry South African Jews (JTA)
CAPE TOWN (JTA) -- Violent crime, political change and an energy crisis are fueling a growing sense of panic among South African Jews.

Several weeks ago the Jewish community was shaken when a Jewish man in Johannesburg named Sheldon Cohen was shot to death while sitting in his car waiting for his son to finish soccer practice.

In the past few months at least two other Jews were murdered in the same city, including an elderly man on his way to synagogue on Shabbat morning who was shot for the contents of his tallit bag.

The violence comes amid growing concerns among South African Jews about threats to the rule of law in the country following the election last December of the controversial Jacob Zuma to the presidency of the ruling African National Congress....

The Jewish community is “very nervous -- the worst I’ve seen in the eight years I’ve been in leadership,” said Michael Bagraim, the president of the South African Jewish Board of Deputies, the community’s umbrella group.

PALI POLL REVEALS DEEP PALI JEW HATRED

2008-03-20T21:59:00.000-07:00

Hate That Dares Not Speak Its Name (INVESTOR'S BUSINESS DAILY)
The Mideast: When a poll reveals all but a fraction of Palestinians support the murder of eight innocent Jewish seminarians, it shows a people wedded to evil. It's a short trip from this hate to the kind Hitler espoused.

The West Bank-based Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research, a professional and independent polling agency that surveys Palestinians four times a year, has found that no less than 84% of 1,270 Palestinians questioned by the center in personal interviews said they supported the March 6 shooting inside Jerusalem's Mercaz Harav yeshiva.

The slaughter was carried out by East Jerusalem resident Alaa Abu Dheim, who was himself eventually killed during his attack. All but one of the eight he killed were teens, two of them only 15 years old. Another 11 were wounded.

Pollster Khalil Shikaki was understandably shocked at the results, which also found 75% support for scrapping Israeli-Palestinian talks and 64% support for the Hamas terrorist group's thousands of recent rocket attacks from the Gaza Strip on Israeli towns.

Asked for their preferences for president of the Palestinian Authority, 47% chose Ismail Haniyeh of Hamas while 46% chose their current "moderate" president, Mahmoud Abbas.

But the chilling significance of the poll numbers goes beyond media commentaries about them reflecting "increased tensions." Imagine if more than 80% of some sector of the American public supported an Oklahoma City-like terrorist attack carried out on our soil. It would be viewed as a breakdown of civilization.

And consider the fact that such a large proportion of Palestinians approve of slaughtering of victims who not only were civilians and religious students, but minors. A true slaughtering of the innocents.

The message we get from this is very clear: The vast majority of Palestinians advocate such acts of terrorism against young innocents because the victims were Jews.

Their version of the Final Solution may not entail gas chambers and concentration camps, as Germany's National Socialists did in the last century. But it does apparently include murdering, at random, Jews because they are Jews. Not to say that there was not a clear political purpose behind the choice of target. The Mercaz Harav yeshiva is considered the flagship of the religious Zionist movement, the roots of which date back to a century and a half ago.

Religious Zionism holds that Jews have an inalienable and permanent right to the land of Israel because God bestowed the Holy Land upon the ancient Israelites. The resettling of Israel by Jews and the establishment of a Jewish homeland there, according to its rabbinical supporters, can hasten the coming of the messiah.

Founded in 1924, the yeshiva's alumni include leading Israeli armed forces officers and prominent rabbis. One of them, Rabbi David Stav, said the attack struck the heart of religious Zionism.

"The terrorist targeted a place that symbolizes love for the land of Israel, love for the people of Israel and love for the Torah," he told the Jerusalem Post.

"No Jewish soul can remain indifferent to the horrible thought that a despicable terrorist attacked a group of young men who were busy studying the holy Torah," added Stav, who has taken part in inter-religious activities with Muslim clerics. "Followers of Islam claim they respect the people of the book. But this horrific act proves the emptiness of their claims."

It's one thing for a tribe or nationality to oppose its neighbors, even by war. Arabs can fight the Israeli military, oppose its settlement policies, and even question the very existence of the state of Israel as artificial. But what we're seeing here sinks far beneath that.

What's at issue here is the difference between ordered liberty and barbarism, between humanity and savagery.

The Shikaki poll shows that nearly an entire people support the murder of innocent kids because they're religious Jews. The civilized nations once fought a world war to prevent the global dominance of that kind of hate.

SYRIA STILL SUPPLYING HEZBOLLAH WITH WEAPONS

2008-03-20T14:39:00.000-07:00

Peres to Lavrov: Syria still supplying Hizbullah with arms (JPost)
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov arrived in Israel on Thursday, after reportedly saying in Damascus that a touted peace conference in Moscow would deal with the Golan Heights - only to be told by Prime Minister Ehud Olmert that he is not even convinced of the utility of such a get-together for the Palestinian track.

Israel has roundly rejected past attempts to revive the idea of an international peace conference dealing with the Golan. According to the Prime Minister's Office, Lavrov raised the conference idea with Olmert, who remained noncommittal even on the Palestinian track....

Syria also came up during a meeting Lavrov held with President Shimon Peres, with Peres saying that Damascus was continuing to transfer weapons to Hizbullah in Lebanon, and that this transfer of weapons called into question the sincerity of Syria's signals regarding peace negotiations.

OBAMA'S REVEREND ADMITS HE COULD COST JEWISH VOTES

2008-03-20T14:33:00.000-07:00

Wright’s Stance on Israel Could Cost Obama Jewish Votes (Patterico via LGF).
Did Wright discuss these issues consistently enough that he believed it might be a problem for Obama? Yes. Wright seemed to think so when asked about it in a February 2007 interview (though, to be fair, he said he had not talked to Obama about it):

I just shared with, I was trying to remember who it is, somebody in public life was asking me about Barack, and I said listen, Barack might be forced by the media and/or by supporters to be very absent from this church and to put distance between our church and himself. As a politician, he might be forced into that. I have not talked to him about that at all. It’s just that my read just of the blogs and what the right-Christian-wing leaders have said about him being a part of our church over past three months says this is — you think it’s ugly now, it’s going to get worse, it’s going to get much worse. For survival’s sake, as a politician he just might have to not — not that I love you less, I love me more. I’ll never get elected as long as they keep harping on this. And that’s — again, I haven’t talked to him about that at all.

Q: How do you feel about that?

A: I would understand. I really would. I would understand. For instance ... he can’t afford the Jewish support to wane or start questioning his allegiance to the state of Israel because I’m saying the position we’ve taken in terms of Palestinians is wrong, and I think we need to revisit that. Just that kind of statement would cause negative repercussions in some quarters in terms of some supporters, in terms of some people he needs to support his election campaign.

5 MUSLIMS BEAT RABBI IN BROOKLYN

2008-03-20T14:30:00.000-07:00

Five Muslims Beat Jewish Rabbi in Brooklyn (Debbie Schlussel)

Yesterday, at 6:00 p.m. Eastern Time, four to five Muslims viciously attacked Rabbi Uria Ohana in Brooklyn, New York, while shouting, "Allahu Akbar."

Rabbi Ohana, assistant head rabbi of Chabad-Lubavitch of Massachusetts, was about to get on the F-Train at Fourth Avenue and Ninth Street in Brooklyn.

The young Muslim assailants grabbed rabbi Ohana's yarmulke (skullcap), and when he went to them to get it back, they beat him and shouted, "Allahu Akbar." One of the Muslim attackers ran away into the street and was hit by a car (G-d works in mysterious ways). He was arrested by police. But three to four other Muslim assailants--whom you can bet will attack other Jews--escaped and are free.

TEENS FIRE BOMB RHODE ISLAND SYNAGOGUE

2008-03-20T14:29:00.000-07:00

Vacant Providence temple firebombed (JTA)
A teenager was charged with throwing a Molotov cocktail outside a vacant synagogue in Providence, R.I.

The teen, with two alleged accomplices, placed the incendiary device in front of the long-vacant Temple Beth-El early Wednesday when the boys were spotted by police, the Providence Journal reported.

A patrolman extinguished the fire. The intended target apparently was a vacant lot across the street from the temple, the newspaper reported.

The incident does not appear to be related to Saturday's firebombing of the home of a Jewish Agency emissary in a nearby neighborhood, police told the Journal. That incident is still under city, state and federal investigation.

The teens, two aged 17 and one aged 15, are in custody in a juvenile facility until a hearing scheduled for Monday.

DVAR TORAH FOR PURIM

2008-03-20T14:25:00.000-07:00

Dvar Torah for Purim (Rabbi Joshua Strulowitz)
It wouldn't be Purim without "Purim Torah", an offbeat look at our weekly Dvar Torah. This one is courtesy of Rabbi Mordechai Kamenetsky

Whoever misses the Divine hand that touched the Purim story is not looking. And if he claims that he heard the Megilah, he probably was not listening. Imagine, the Prime Minister draws lots and decides to annihilate the entire Jewish nation. Within 24 hours he has approval from the ruler of the not-so-free-world, King Achashveirosh.

Within days, the plot is foiled, the Prime Minister is hanged and his prime target is promoted to replace him! Pretty political. Pretty miraculous. And definitely divine. Yet Hashem's name is not mentioned once in the Megilah. Why? Of course, the Megilah is replete with allusions. There are acronyms that spell the name of Hashem, and our sages explain that every time the word "King" is mentioned in the Megilah, it has a divine reference. But, still, why does the last book of the Prophets, a Divinely inspired Megilah, have only veiled references to Heavenly intervention?

It was a sweltering August day when the Greenberg brothers entered the posh Dearborn, Michigan offices of the notoriously anti-Semitic car-maker, Henry Ford.

"Mr. Ford," announced Hyman Greenberg, the eldest of the three, "we have a remarkable invention that will revolutionize the automobile industry. " Ford looked skeptical, but their threats to offer it to the competition kept his interest piqued. "We would like to demonstrate it to you in person." After a little cajoling, they brought Mr. Ford outside and asked him to enter a black Edsel that was parked in front of the building.

Norman Greenberg, the middle brother, opened the door of the car. "Please step inside Mr. Ford."

"What!" shouted the tycoon, "are you crazy? It must be two hundred degrees in that car!"

"It is," smiled the youngest brother, Max, "but sit down, Mr. Ford, and push the white button."

Intrigued, Ford pushed the button. All of a sudden a whoosh of freezing air started blowing from vents all around the car, and within seconds the automobile was not only comfortable, it was quite cool! "This is amazing!" exclaimed Ford. "How much do you want for the patent?"

Norman spoke up. "The price is one million dollars." Then he paused, "And there is something else. We want the name 'Greenberg Brothers Air Conditioning' to be stamped right next to the Ford logo."

"Money is no problem," retorted Ford, "but no way will I have a 'Jew-name' next to my logo on my cars!"

They haggled back and forth for a while and finally they settled. One and one half million dollars, and the name Greenberg would be left off. However, the first names of the Greenberg brothers would be forever emblazoned upon the console of every Ford air conditioning system.

And that is why today, whenever you enter a Ford vehicle you will see those three names clearly defined on the air-conditioning control panel: HI -- NORM -- MAX.

The writers of the Megilah left us with a message that would accompany us throughout our long exile. You will not always see G-d's signature openly emblazoned upon every circumstance. However, throughout persecution and deliverance, He is always there. And just like on Purim His obvious interference is undocumented; but we know and feel it -- and we search for it, and we find it! So, too, in every instance we must seek His name, find it, and recognize it. It may not be emblazoned on the bumper; it may be hidden on the console -- but it is there. For Hashem is always speaking. All we have to do is listen. Joyous Purim!

U.S. TO TRANSFER $150 MILLION TO PALIS

2008-03-20T14:22:00.000-07:00

U.S. to Transfer $150 Million to Palestinians
The U.S. agreed on Wednesday to transfer $150 million in budgetary support to the Palestinian Authority as part of past pledges to boost Mahmoud Abbas' government. The U.S. had pledged $550 million at a donors' conference in Paris in December. (Reuters)

NO VIRGINS FOR THESE WOULD-BE TERRORISTS

2008-03-20T14:21:00.000-07:00

Work accident!

(Elder of Ziyon)

YNet reports:

Palestinian security officials reported Thursday of an explosion at a beachfront facility of the militant Hamas organization. According to an initial report, two people were killed in the incident and one was injured.
Palestinians claimed that the facility was attacked by the IDF, but the Israeli army denied striking in the area.

Palestine Today (Arabic) describes it as a "mysterious explosion" which, ironically, leaves no doubt as to its source.

Ma'an Arabic, which used to be a reasonable source of accurate news, continued its slide towards Hamas propaganda by claiming it was an Israeli airstrike and declaring the dead terrorists "martyrs." Palestine Press Agency reported it more accurately.

The known 2008 PalArab self-death count is now at 40.

UPDATE: Tunnel collapse!

A young Palestinian man was killed on Thursday when a tunnel collapsed on top of him in the As-Salam neighborhood of Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, Palestinian medical sources said.

According to the sources, 23-year-old Ashraf Ataya was dead on arrival at Abu Yousif An-Najjar Hospital in Rafah. Medical checks revealed the man suffocated under the debris when the tunnel collapsed.

41.

OBAMA'S REVEREND AND HAMAS

2008-03-19T14:30:00.000-07:00

Rev. Wright and Hamas

(LGF)

Tom Blumer at BizzyBlog has a very eye-opening look at the many public statements and writings of the Rev. Jeremiah Wright—including reprinting on his “Pastor’s Page” an infamous op-ed by Hamas kingpin Mousa Abu Marzook: TUCC’s Church Bulletins from July 2007 Probably Make Whether Obama Was Present on July 22 Irrelevant.

Previously at LGF:
What the Hell is Wrong with the Los Angeles Times?

2ND TEMPLE HALF-SHEKEL FOUND IN JERUSALEM DIG

2008-03-19T12:55:00.000-07:00

Second Temple Half-Shekel Found in Jerusalem Dig (INN)
A half-shekel coin from the Second Temple was found in excavations in the City of David, just in time for its role in the Purim festival.

THE AUDACITY OF (OBAMA'S) CHUTZPAH

2008-03-19T12:51:00.000-07:00

The Audacity of Chutzpah (Wash. Post)

A group of Jewish leaders announced that it was having a public meeting yesterday to discuss the 2008 presidential election. Representing John McCain: former secretary of stateLawrence Eagleburger. Representing Hillary Clinton: former White House official Ann Lewis. Representing Barack Obama: "a high-level representative of Barack Obama's presidential campaign (TBA)."

TBA? Obama's Jewish problem must be getting worse.

Finally, TBA was ID'd: Princeton professor Dan Kurtzer, a former ambassador to Israel. And when the victim, er, high-level representative, took the stage at the Washington Hilton yesterday for the United Jewish Communities debate, he went quickly on defense.

"There's a question in the community that's unfortunately been stimulated and stirred about and played with in e-mails and innuendos and newspaper articles," he said, "that suggests that there's something wrong with Senator Obama's views about Jews, about Israel." He then suggested that Jews could relate to Obama's persecution. "There are nagging doubts, there are e-mails, there are innuendos: These are the kinds of things which we as a community have suffered over the years at the hands of anti-Semites."

It took a bit of chutzpah to play the anti-Semite for Obama -- but these are tense times for the senator from Audacity....

Kurtzer, granted his turn to speak, attempted to argue that "on issues relating to Israel, frankly, there aren't any differences among the three candidates." Eagleburger looked at him incredulously; the audience laughed.

MCCAIN SHOWS PRO-ISRAEL CREDENTIALS

2008-03-19T12:47:00.000-07:00

In Israel visit, McCain shows his pro-Israel credentials
By Dina Kraft

JERUSALEM (JTA) -- Wearing a white knitted kipah, U.S. Sen. John McCain stood at the Western Wall, tucked a note inside one of its crevices and pressed his hand on the ancient stone, striking an image meant to speak to American Jewish voters across the sea that he is indeed their man

McCain, the Arizona senator who is the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, spoke Wednesday of his "deep and abiding commitment to Israel" -- a theme he stressed throughout his meetings this week with Israeli leaders.

Sounding a note of commonality and understanding with his Israeli hosts, McCain said that Iran, Hamas and Hezbollah were threats not only to Israel, but to America as well.

SEE ALSO: McCain tours Sderot with Barak (JPost)
US presidential hopeful Sen. John McCain says he understands Israel's tough response to Palestinian rocket fire.

"To live with an advance notice of 15 seconds is not the way for children to celebrate Purim", said Senator John McCain Wednesday afternoon during a tour of Sderot with Defense Minister Ehud Barak.

"No nation can afford not to respond when attacked or when its citizens are attacked," added the Republican presidential candidate.

SEE ALSO: McCain Backs Israeli Reprisals in Gaza (MSNBC)
SDEROT, Israel - Touring a war-battered town, Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., said Wednesday he understands Israel's tough response to Palestinian rocket fire, adding that there is no point in negotiating with the Gaza Strip's Islamic Hamas regime.

TERRORISTS BUYING CHEAP KAFFIYEHS FROM CHINA

2008-03-19T12:35:00.000-07:00

West Bank Feels Pinch of Chinese Imports - Karin Laub and Dalia Nammari
Yasser Herbawi once supplied much of the West Bank and Gaza with black-and-white checkered scarves, but now most of his looms in Hebron stand idle, his product edged out by cheap imports from the world's newest keffiyeh capital: China. After a decade of being flooded with Chinese goods, the West Bank is struggling to compete - yet another obstacle to economic independence for Palestinians. Two-thirds of Hebron's textile workshops have closed and 6,000 shoe factory workers have lost their jobs in the last eight years. Herbawi's son, Izzat, noted that even Arafat's Fatah movement buys some keffiyehs from China. (AP/Washington Post)

ABBAS AID CAUGHT SMUGGLING 2,000 CELL PHONES

2008-03-19T12:32:00.000-07:00

Israel Seizes 2,000 Cell Phones from Palestinian Official (AFP/Khaleej Times-Dubai)

Israeli authorities on Tuesday seized 2,000 cell phones found in the car of senior Palestinian official and Abbas aide Rawhi Fattuh - who enjoys VIP status - as he was returning from Jordan, IDF military spokesman Peter Lerner said on Wednesday.

Jihad Watch points out that there are "[a]ll kinds of things you can do with cell phones -- including setting up a bomb to be set off from afar. Of course, maybe he just wanted to call 2,000 Western officials to beg for more money and aid."

CONCERN OVER GROWING ARAB CONTROL OF U.S. COMPANIES

2008-03-19T12:30:00.000-07:00

Arab Financial Offensive on U.S. Companies Concerns Analysts - Yaakov Lappin (Jerusalem Post)
As the American economy reverberates with fears that a recession has begun, affluent Gulf states are seizing the opportunity to increase their control of the U.S. economy, leaving some analysts concerned over negative consequences for Israel.

"There is concern that the purchase of strategic assets provides the owners with the ability to intervene politically," said Prof. Gerald Steinberg, chairman of the political studies department at Bar-Ilan University.

"The problem is not investment, but control. You could start to see subtle aspects of a boycott [of Israel], even though that is illegal under American law. You might find that some of these firms place obstacles to deals with Israel," Steinberg said.

Petrodollar investment in the U.S. economy was nothing new, Steinberg noted, but "what makes this period potentially different is if it marks a significant decline in American economic power," leaving the door open to an Arab petrodollar buyout.

MCCAIN GETS WARM WELCOME IN ISRAEL

2008-03-18T16:10:00.000-07:00

McCain gets celebrity welcome in J'lem (JPost)
US presidential hopeful John McCain received a celebrity welcome in Jerusalem Tuesday, with American tourists scrambling to shake his hand and get a souvenir snapshot.

McCain began a two-day visit with a stop at Israel's national Holocaust memorial, Yad Vashem. As his motorcade pulled up, dozens of tourists greeted him and chanted "Mac is back," while he shook their hands and posed for photographs.

McCain is on a weeklong trip to Israel, Iraq, Jordan, Britain and France. He has said the tour is a fact-finding, mission, not a campaign photo opportunity.

During his 90-minute visit at the memorial and museum, McCain was visibly moved, his eyes welling with tears as he viewed photographs from Nazi death camps.

MURDERERS OF ISRAELI HIKERS ESCAPE FROM P.A. PRISON

2008-03-18T16:08:00.000-07:00

Murderers of Israeli Hikers Escape from PA Prison
The Palestinian terrorists who murdered Israeli hikers Ahikam Amihai and David Rubin near Hebron in December have escaped from their PA prison cells, Israel Army Radio reported Tuesday. (Jerusalem Post)

RABBI STABBED IN JERUSALEM'S OLD CITY

2008-03-18T16:07:00.000-07:00

Rabbi Stabbed in Jerusalem's Old City - Meital Yasur-Beit Or
A rabbi at the Ateret Kohanim yeshiva was stabbed by an Arab in the Old City of Jerusalem on Tuesday. Paramedic Ilan Klein said: "We found a 50-year-old man bleeding from the neck after being stabbed, but fully conscious. He said he was stabbed from behind." (Ynet News)

TWO FACEBOOK SCREW UPS RE ISRAEL

2008-03-18T16:03:00.000-07:00

Facebook Reverses Decision Moving West Bank Jews to "Palestine"
The social networking Web site Facebook, which had begun automatically listing Jewish residents of the West Bank as living in "Palestine," reversed itself Monday and now is allowing them to list themselves as residents of Israel. "I was surprised and disappointed to find that my hometown of Ariel is listed in Facebook as being part of a country called 'Palestine,'" Ari Zimmerman wrote in a posting on Facebook. "I am a citizen of Israel, as are all of the other residents of Ariel. We do not live in 'Palestine,' nor does anyone else." Brandee Barker, Facebook's director of communications, said users now can choose between Israel or "Palestine" as their permanent residence. (FOX News)

Facebook Group Memorializes Palestinian Terrorist

(LGF)

This is just lovely; at Facebook, a page in Arabic dedicated in memory of the mass murderer who slaughtered teenagers in Jerusalem: Facebook | R.I.P ALA’A ABU DHAIM. Currently with 91 members.

P.A. CALLS ON WORLD'S PALIS TO "CONVERGE" ON ISRAEL

2008-03-18T14:28:00.000-07:00

The Palestinian Authority's Latest Anti-Israel Stunt

(LGF)

Gotta hand it to the Palestinians. They’re not much good at building a functioning society or a productive future for their children, but they’re the world’s best at cooking up propaganda stunts: PA urges Palestinians to ‘return’.

The Palestinian Authority is planning to mark Israel’s 60th anniversary by calling on all Palestinians living abroad to converge on Israel by land, sea and air.
The plan, drawn by Ziad Abu Ein, a senior Fatah operative and Deputy Minister for Prisoners’ Affairs in the Palestinian Authority, states that the Palestinians have decided to implement United Nations Resolution 194 regarding the refugees.
Article 11 of the resolution, which was passed in December 1948, says that “refugees wishing to return to their homes and live at peace with their neighbors should be permitted to do so at the earliest practicable date, and that compensation should be paid for the property of those choosing not to return and for loss of or damage to property which, under principles of international law or in equity, should be made good by the Governments or authorities responsible.”
The initiative is the first of its kind and is clearly aimed at embarrassing Israel during the anniversary celebrations by highlighting the issue of the “right of return” for the refugees.
Entitled “The Initiative of Return and Coexistence,” the plan suggests that the PA has abandoned a two-state solution in favor of one state where all Arabs and Jews would live together.
“The Palestinians, backed by all those who believe in peace, coexistence, human rights and the UN resolutions, shall recruit all their energies and efforts to return to their homeland and live with the Jews in peace and security,” the plan says.

Oh yeah, that’ll work.

POLL: PALIS SUPPORT KILLING JEWISH KIDS

2008-03-18T14:25:00.000-07:00

NEW POLL: "OVERWHELMING MAJORITY" OF PALESTINIANS SUPPORT MURDEROUS RAMPAGES AGAINST ISRAELI SCHOOLCHILDREN, ROCKET ATTACKS AGAINST CIVILIANS (PLUS: IT'S ISRAEL'S FAULT) (mere rhetoric)

Of course it is. This is out of the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research. They've been producing "the Palestinians really do want peace" media fodder for years. Maybe there's something behind those massive pro-terrorism rallies after all:

A new poll shows that an overwhelming majority of Palestinians support the attack this month on a Jewish seminary in Jerusalem that killed eight young men, most of them teenagers, an indication of the alarming level of Israeli-Palestinian tension in recent weeks. The survey also shows unprecedented support for the shooting of rockets on Israeli towns from the Gaza Strip and for the end of the peace negotiations between Palestinian and Israeli leaders. The pollster, Khalil Shikaki, said he was shocked because... never before, he said, had a majority favored an end to negotiations or the shooting of rockets at Israel... His explanation for the shift, one widely reflected in the Palestinian media, is that recent actions by Israel, especially attacks on Gaza that killed nearly 130 people, an undercover operation in Bethlehem that killed four militants and the announced expansion of several West Bank settlements, have led to despair and rage among average Palestinians who thirst for revenge. Mr. Shikaki’s poll also showed that the militant Islamist group Hamas, which Israel and the United States have been trying to isolate, is gaining popularity in the West Bank

Well, if they're despaired and enraged than surely a genocidal war is the answer. What could be more natural? Although that part about how Fatah's popularity has been plummetting in the West Bank - along with support for negotiations - only since Israel's recent counter-terrorism operations? Yeah, that's pretty much the opposite of true.

References:
* Poll Shows Most Palestinians Favor Violence Over Talks [NYT]
* Hey, How About Having Fatah Support Plummet In The West Bank? [MR]

Previously:
* Teenage Arab-Israeli Girl Arrested For Seeking To Blow Up Jews, Herself
* UN Almost Manages To Kind Of Condemn Yeshiva Massacre. But Not Quite.
* Palestinian Authority Working Overtime To Honor Terrorists

OBAMA'S PASTOR ON ISRAEL

2008-03-17T13:55:00.000-07:00

UPDATED: Rev. Wright on Israel

(LGF)

Ace dug up another interesting video clip of Rev. Jeremiah Wright, making some (try not be shocked) anti-Israel remarks: Wright: ‘Israel’ a Dirty Word; Blacks Get all Quiet at the Mention of Israel.

UPDATE: Rev. Wright's 'War on Iraq IQ Test'

(LGF)

[A] link to yet another disturbing rant by Jeremiah Wright, this time in writing: The War on Iraq IQ Test.

After a series of viciously slanted pro-Saddam questions, the Reverend’s IQ test suddenly veers into Israel-hatred straight out of the Muammar Gaddafi playbook:

41. Q: How many UN resolutions did Israel violate by 1992?
A: Over 65
42. Q: How many UN resolutions on Israel did America veto between 1972 and 1990?
A: 30+
43. Q: How much does the U.S. fund Israel a year?
A:$5 billion
44. Q: How many countries are known to have nuclear weapons?
A: 8
45. Q: How many nuclear warheads has Iraq got?
A: 0
46. Q: How many nuclear warheads has US got?
A: over 10,000
47. Q: Which is the only country to use nuclear weapons?
A: the US
48. Q: How many nuclear warheads does Israel have?
A: Over 400
49. Q: Has Israel every allowed UN weapon inspections?
A: No
50. Q: What percentage of the Palestinian territories are controlled by Israeli settlements?
A: 42%
51. Q: Is Israel illegally occupying Palestinian land?
A: Yes

And concluding with this:

52. Q: Which country do you think poses the greatest threat to global peace: Iraq or the U.S.?
A: ????

ST. PATTY'S DAY AND THE JEWS

2008-03-17T10:42:00.000-07:00

The Jewish St. Patty's connection (Elder of Ziyon)
I heard on a TV show yesterday, and a number of websites confirm, that the idea of corned beef and cabbage as an Irish food is a purely American invention, unknown in Ireland.

Apparently, the Irish immigrants who settled in the Lower East Side wanted to make boiled bacon and cabbage, which is the traditional Irish dish. But they had no real choice but to frequent the many kosher butchers and delis that were owned by Jewish immigrants.

Obviously there was no bacon available at these shops, so they substituted corned beef from the kosher delis, and the rest is history.

Tip of the Hat (JTA)
Boston Globe guest columnist Elinor Lipman marks St. Patrick's Day by recalling how her Jewish family fit seamlessly into one of Beantown's Irish-American neighborhoods.
(read more)

LVOV CAMP SURVIVOR IS ANGEL OF MERCY

2008-03-17T10:16:00.000-07:00

Lvov camp survivor an angel of mercy to Jews in native city (JTA)
The man who believes he is the last living survivor of a Ukrainian concentration camp devotes his life to feeding, clothing and providing medical care to thousands of Jews in his native Lvov region.

MAPS OF WARS

2008-03-17T09:26:00.000-07:00

Imperial History of the Middle East

Who has conquered the Middle East over the course of world events? See 5,000 years of history in 90 seconds.... here.

IAF AIRSTRIKE KILLS GAZA ROCKET CREW

2008-03-17T09:23:00.000-07:00

Airstrike Kills Islamic Jihad Rocket Crew in Gaza - Yuval Azoulay and Avi Issacharoff
Three Palestinian Islamic Jihad members were killed Saturday in an Israel Air Force strike east of Gaza City as the men were on their way to launch Kassam rockets at Israel. According to the Shin Bet security service, the group had fired the rocket that cost Osher Twito, 8, of Sderot, his leg last month.

On Friday, Hamas militants directed machine-gun fire at an Israeli helicopter, hitting one of the aircraft's panels. The aircraft returned to base and did not make an emergency landing. According to reports, Hamas is in possession of more than 10 Russian-made KPV-14.5 heavy machine guns. Hamas spokesman Abu Obeida said the machine guns were confiscated from Fatah during the Hamas takeover of Gaza last year. (Ha'aretz)

NINTENDO TO RELEASE HOLOCAUST VIDEO GAME

2008-03-17T09:20:00.000-07:00

Nintendo to Release Holocaust Video Game (JEWCY)

Think a Nintendo game is a good way to teach kids about the Holocaust? A 21-year-old British video game developer does, and the company producing his latest creation hopes to have it ready for distribution in Europe by the end of the year. Luc Bernard's game,Imagination Is the Only Escape, is based on the ways that the Nazis tortured children, and won’t be distributed in the US.

Reactions have been as condemnatory as you’d expect. However, Bernard maintains that he’s not trying to make light of the suffering of children. He promises that there won’t be any on-screen violence, and though Alten8--the company producing the game--originally asked him to remove all swastikas from the game, it subsequently backed off. Bernard says he’s trying to make a game that will be educational and appropriate for young children, and points out that his mother is Jewish and members of his family took care of Jewish orphans after World War II.

MORE BBC ANTI-SEMITISM

2008-03-17T09:16:00.000-07:00

"The Core Audience" (BackSpin)

There's a smarmy subtext to BBC producer Hilary Salmon's comments about an upcoming Passion show the Beeb is pesenting jointly with HBO. She told The Guardian:

[HBO is] more sensitive than we are to the Jewish angle. Many of its core audience are Jewish liberals who set the cultural agenda much more than here, so we had a Jewish consultant, as well as experts on the gospels. You had to be careful not to tie yourself in knots though.

Winston Pickett finds this astonishing:

[It] startles because of the ethnic-saturated stereotypes it contains, and because it presupposes a kind of wink-and-nod agreement by the readership of the publication in which it appears . . .

5 KIDS HURT IN L.A. JCC SHOOTING AWARDED $2.25M

2008-03-16T17:57:00.000-07:00

Five children hurt in a Los Angeles-area JCC shooting have been awarded a total of $2.25 million (JTA)
Five children hurt in a Los Angeles-area JCC shooting have been awarded a total of $2.25 million.

The children, all under 10 years old at the time, were injured physically and emotionally when parolee Buford Furrow Jr., 46, fired more than 70 rounds at the North Valley Jewish Community Center in 1999.

Under a settlement reached last week, the Washington State Department of Corrections will pay the families who had filed a $15-million claim against the agency for not properly supervising Furrow, who had been amassing firearms in his home, The Los Angeles Times reported Saturday.

Furrow, a self-avowed white supremacist, had tried to commit himself to a psychiatric hospital in Washington state in 1998 but threatened staff members with a knife. He was arrested, pleaded guilty and served 5 1/2 months in prison for assault with a deadly weapon.

The gunman told police the JCC attack was a "wake-up call to America to kill Jews," according to the Times.

Furrow also shot a mail carrier to death at point-blank range immediately following his JCC rampage. He is serving a life sentence in prison.

BBC, SKY NEWS ANALYST LAUDS MERCAZ MASSACRE OF JEWISH STUDENTS

2008-03-16T17:56:00.000-07:00

BBC, Sky News Analyst Lauds Mercaz Massacre. (BACKSPIN)

Abd al-Bari Atwan, editor of the London-based Al-Quds Al-Arabi, wrote that the Mercaz massacre was "justified" because the seminary is responsible for "hatching Israeli extremists and fundamentalists."

Atwan (pictured) is a regular talking head for BBC and Sky News who generated outrage last year when he told Lebanese TV he would dance in Trafalgar Square if Iranian missiles hit Israel.

Send your comments to Sky News viewers' editor Paul Bromley - news@sky.com and the BBC Complaints website(direct your official complaint to News 24).

TIBET AND "PALESTINE"

2008-03-16T17:49:00.000-07:00

So, uh, when do we all start boycotting Chinese universities and denouncing the “Apartheid” regime in Beijing?
By Jonathan Kay (Political Mavens)

I see that Tibet is aflame, with at least 100 people dead in street protests.

The broad narrative here is eerily similar to another, somewhat less obscure “conflict zone”: Local activists rise up against a power they regard as a brutal colonial occupier. The occupier fights back. Blood flows in the street. The Tibetans haven’t yet started blowing themselves up in restaurants or mowing down Chinese students with machine guns. When they do, the Palestinian precedent shows, the world will solemnly pronounce them to be locked “in a cycle of violence.”

Actually, do some bare-bones research, and you’ll find that the Tibetans have a far better claim to the world’s sympathy than the Palestinians. After China’s 1950 invasion, Chinese troops killed a million Tibetans — that’s about two decimal orders of magnitude above the total number of Palestinians killed by Israel over the last six decades. (Which means that, if Islamist claims of a “Holocaust” in Gaza and the West Bank are to be believed, then Tibet has suffered at least 100 holocausts. Wow — that’s a lot of Holocausts.) On top of that, there’s the massive flood of ethnic Chinese migrants, who’ve made the Tibetans a minority population within their own territories (for some odd reason, the media never refers to these folks as “settlers”); not to mention the destruction of 6,000 Tibetan monasteries (a figure that is roughly 6,000 more than the number of mosques destroyed by Israel). And on and on it goes — though you never hear about any of this in the media most days.

But no doubt, this month’s violence in Tibet will open people’s eyes, right?

Even as I write this, union leaders in Europe and Canada presumably are hard at work drafting a resolution aimed at boycotting all Chinese products. Student activists are smashing their Leonovo laptops. Engineering departments at campuses all across North America are tearing up their partnership projects with colleagues in China. There will also presumably be a flurry of anti-China resolutions put forward by the United Nations assembly and the UN’s various agencies — especially the Human Rights Council. Jimmy Carter, one supposes, is hard at work on a Tibetan-themed follow-up to Peace Not Apartheid.

As for the Beijing Olympics, they might as well be canceled? Who would go to them now?

Yup. This will all happen. Just you watch. Anything else amount to a “double-standard.” And that’s simply unthinkable.

THE DISGRACE OF HONOR KILLINGS

2008-03-16T17:46:00.000-07:00

Honor Killers of Sister Seek Clemency for 'Family Grief' (IRIS)

Remember the old joke about the definition of chutzpa? A young man who murdered his parents then sought mercy on the grounds that he was an orphan. This story is quite similar:

The Haifa District Court on Wednesday sentenced two brothers to life in prison for murdering their sister in what was termed an "honor killing."

The two brothers, 40-year-old Anwar Salameh and Hassan Salameh, 37, were convicted of conspiring to commit a crime, kidnapping with intent to murder, and premeditated murder.

The murder occurred in December 2005, when the victim was 21. The two defendants, residents of the village of Mrar, conspired to kill their sister after they discovered she had a secret romantic relationship, defying them. They viewed their sister's behavior as harming the family's honor and consequently planned to convince her to join them on a trip somewhere and then kill her.

Anwar Salameh said to the judges that "the penalty is a little severe for us; we received a very serious punishment. I ask you to take into consideration our situation? My family is bereaved."

The Disgrace of Honor Killings

DAVID HAZONY - (Contentions)

Israeli news agencies have been awash with new reports of Arab women being assaulted or murdered by members of their own family. “Family honor,” they call it.

Among many Palestinians and in much of the Arab world, when a woman enters a relationship with someone whom her family does not approve of, she takes her life into her hands. Recently we learned of a 19-year-old from the Israeli-Arab town of Naura, who sustained two gunshot wounds to her head and played dead until paramedics arrived, as she listened to her brother getting congratulated by his family. Then there was Nadi Abu-Amr, who was kidnapped and murdered by her three brothers and her uncle in November 2007. Her crime? She refused to marry the man she was engaged to. According to one of the suspects, she was “slaughtered” because she “deserved to die.”

And today’s Haaretz reports that Sara Abu-Ghanem, age 40, from the mixed Jewish-Arab city of Ramla, miraculously sustained only light injuries to her head and neck when an unidentified assailant opened fire on her. Abu-Ghanem, whose crime was falling in love with a Jewish man, is part of an extended family in which 9 women have been murdered in recent years. A week ago, Kamil Abu-Ghanem was sentenced to 16 years in prison for murdering his sister Hamda. But this happened only after 20 of the family’s women defied the men’s orders and testified to police about the killings.

There is no clearer indicator of a “clash of civilizations” than the prevalence of honor killings in the Arab world. With all due respect to pluralism, universalism, and respect for the Other, here is a piece of intolerance that can unite all of us, left and right, liberal and conservative. The idea that one’s relationships are one’s own business is a cornerstone of liberal thinking. That a disapproved-of relationship justifies murder — that one should take pride in killing one’s own sister because of it — well, that’s just way, way outside the pale of anything we Westerners can handle. Honor killings are so shocking to even the most tolerant among us, that one wonders why the West has failed to express its moral outrage.

One problem with honor killings is that they are not easily confined into a single religious sub-sect, and to raise the issue may be to defame a whole culture or civilization, and Westerners haven’t been into that lately. Whatever George Bush was able to achieve by not blaming terrorism on Islam broadly defined, he can never do with honor killings in the Arab world. This is exactly the kind of phenomenon that Western diplomacy cannot handle, for it suggests so great a cultural gap—a moral gap—as to bring an end to the compromise and the compulsive smoothing-over that seems to be a prerequisite for a long career at State.

A close aide to Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert once caused a stir when he suggested that the Palestinians will get their state only when they “become Finns.” Liberals do not like statements like that, because it reeks of prejudice, generalization, even racism. But what is one to do with a culture that celebrates the butchering of its family members? That treats women as literal slaves?

And more uncomfortably still: Is the West really doing a good deed by empowering such a culture with statehood?

PALESTINE, JORDAN, AND THE HIJACKING OF HISTORY

2008-03-15T20:47:00.000-07:00

Palestine, Jordan, and the Hijacking of History by Jason Maoz (Contentions)

Thirty years ago this month, the journalist Sidney Zion wrote an article for New York magazine titled “The Palestine Problem: It’s All in A Name,” which he would update in 2003 for The Jewish Press. Zion essentially supported the right-wing Zionist argument against the historicity of the Kingdom of Jordan, while upending the right-wing Zionist argument against the historicity of a Palestinian people.

Not that the latter was necessarily an exclusively right-wing conceit — Labor party icon Golda Meir, for example, insisted publicly on more than one occasion that “There are no Palestinians, there are only Jordanians.”

“Of course,” wrote Zion, “she was wrong. In fact, there are no Jordanians, only Palestinians.”

Zion’s contention was that by pushing the idea that there was no such thing as a Palestinian Arab and acquiescing in the myth that Jordan is “an immutable entity, as distinct from Palestine as are Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Lebanon and Iraq,” Israeli leaders had helped obscure the empirical truths that Jordan was the artificial nation and “Jordanian” the artificial nationality. And their doing so lent important credence to the misperception, by now almost universally accepted, that Israel sits on the entirety of what was once Palestine.

The reality, Zion noted, was that “what began in 1920 as a mandate to turn Palestine into a Jewish homeland turned into a reverse Balfour Declaration, creating an Arab nation in four-fifths of Palestine and leaving the Jews to fight for statehood against the Arabs on the West Bank.”

Writing about Jordan in a 1981 New York Times op-ed column, Zion encapsulated in one paragraph the real history of Jordan and the repercussions of that history having disappeared down the memory hole:

I know people who think it’s two thousand years old. But Jordan was only the name of a river until 1922, when Winston Churchill, then colonial secretary, turned its East Bank into the Emirate of Transjordan - created an emirate out of the British Mandate territory of Palestine. Transjordan was 80 percent of the land mass of Palestine. Transjordan is Palestine. In 1946, by British fiat, [then-King] Hussein’s grandfather, Abdullah, became King of Transjordan. In 1948, Abdullah changed the name of his country to the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan. Presto! The Ancient Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan. So what? So everything. What was in every respect Palestine became a refugee camp for Palestinian Arabs, a host country for those “driven out” by the Jews. And so it is viewed today. The Hussein family, brought out of Arabia by Churchill, are the only true non-Palestinians living in Jordan today. Yet the world sees Palestine as wherever the Jews live.

Would history have turned out differently had Israel and its supporters, loudly and consistently, focused on the fact that the real “theft of Palestine” had been pulled off by the British for the sake of an Arab client and that almost without exception “Jordanians” are in fact Palestinians?

In his 1978 New York article, Zion felt that it indeed would make at least some difference “if the world were to understand that Israel now occupies only 20 percent of Palestine” and that “if it becomes clear that the Arab refugees and their children who crossed over to Jordan in 1948 did not enter a ‘host country’ but rather the Arab part of their own country . . . ”

Zion may have had some basis for hope 30 years ago, when Israel was but three decades old and not quite yet the international outcast it has since become. But now that Israel is twice as old as it was in 1978 and the world - including an appreciable number of Jews - has largely come to view the Arab-Israeli conflict through the prism of Israel’s enemies, such conjecture seems like nothing more than a sad joke.

It’s a story of missed opportunities, and of how a people lauded for their smarts permitted their history and patrimony to be hijacked while barely putting up a fight.

HOUSE OF JEWISH AGENCY ENVOY FIREBOMBED IN RHODE ISLAND

2008-03-15T20:26:00.000-07:00

US: Molotov cocktail thrown into home of Jewish Agency envoy (YNet)
A Molotov cocktail was thrown Saturday into the home of a Jewish Agency envoy residing in Rhode Island in the north-eastern United States. The envoy, who was home at the time, was immediately evacuated to a nearby hotel following the incident.

The incident took place at 2 am (local US time) when a Molotov cocktail was throw through the living room window of the envoy’s apartment. He was in a different room at the time, and was therefore not injured. The Molotov cocktail set a nearby yard on fire, but firefighters dispatched to the scene easily extinguished the flames.

The FBI as well as local Rhode Island police personnel are investigating the incident. This is the first time that a Jewish Agency envoy is attacked in this fashion.

HAMAS ANIMALS, NOT JUST A METAPHOR

2008-03-15T10:24:00.000-07:00

HAMAS MEDIA LOVEFEST GOES AWRY AS GREEN-HEADBAND WEARING FARM ANIMALS BEGIN DEFECATING, HAVING SEX (Mere rhetoric)

What does a genocidal Palestinian terrorist organization have to do to get some media love? International media outlets are normally only too eager to help Hamas publicize their intentionally engineered humanitarian crisis. But there are some spectacles so surreal that not even the glory of dropping rockets on Israeli kids can make them seem not retarded. And so it goes:

On Tuesday, a protest was held by Hamas supporters in the Gaza Strip where sheep, camels and donkeys where paraded before journalists (with some farm animals wearing Hamas headbands!) alongside signs reading "Save the Children of Gaza" in a protest against Israel's decision to blockade the Gaza Strip... But there was only one problem — The Hamas-garbed farmed animals wouldn't stop defecating into the street and having sex with each other during the protest. From the always-excellent Popbitch:... After a few minutes the beasts started a dirty protest. Some defecated in the streets, while the donkeys started shagging each other. Journalists found it almost impossible to do a straight piece to camera without some animal porn behind them.

Click through to Fishbowl NY and see which of the world's distinguished media outlets had lined up to transmit this particularly retarded Hamas propaganda as newsworthy copy. Honestly - we're losing to clowns. Clowns that may have a future producing bestiality scat porn. But still clowns.

References:
* Palestinians Going Global With Program To Demonize Israel For Deliberate, Hamas-Engineered Gaza Humanitarian Crisis (Updated: WaPo Hops On Board) [MR]
* Hamas Confiscates Aid Trucks, Promises To Deliver Them Some Time Later [MR]
* Farm Animals Ruin Gaza Photo Op With Sex, Defecation [Fishbowl NY]

Previously:
* Reuters Mistranslation Responsible For Idiotic "Holocaust" Slander
* The Media Lies - Civilians In Gaza Mysteriously Appear In Desolate Warzones, Reappear In Media Coverage
* European Media Bias - Really?