Tuesday, December 29, 2009

1. Iran (What Else?) - Lots of new unrest in Iran coincidental with the Shiite holiday of Ashura. The Iranian Government seems to be cracking down even harder. What will happen next?

2. Dry Bones - I often post cartoons by the Israeli cartoonist "Dry Bones" - his real name is Yaakov Kirschen - because they are so witty and often illustrate a serious point in a moment as well as could an exhaustively researched article that would take an hour to read and digest. But he is not just witty - he really understands the underlying issues - as, I think, is evident from this link to a current cartoon and explanatory article - Quiz - the Dry Bones Blog.


3. Terror in the Air - The (thankfully) failed airline terror attack on Christmas Day has led to a lot of controversy - especially as to (a) how this guy ever got on a plane and (b) how he ever got on the plane with explosives. A number of stories:

4. Robert Morgenthau - The long-time Manhattan DA retires - Interview With Robert Morgenthau: The World's District Attorney - WSJ.com - wonder what he thinks of the previous topic?


5. From The River To The Sea - The "occupation" ain't just about Gaza and the West Bank - ThreatsWatch.Org: RapidRecon: Palestinians: 'From The River To The Sea'.



7. "....But I'll Not Be Seen In Public" - live, from whatever rock he is hiding under at the moment, Hizbullah chief Nasrallah -Hizbullah leader: Israel used to do more than speak Middle East.

(the text is - "Your defenders are your destroyers")


9. Islamist Double-Speak? - I'm shocked! Pajamas Media » Shameless Islamist Doublespeak Rages On. Wouldn't it be a very simple thing to devote part of your intelligence budget to following what these guys say to their own people in their own tongue? Which is why organizations like MEMRI and Palestinian Media Watch are so valuable - provided that someone watches and learns.

10. IDF Kills Terrorists - is Bad!! - IDF kills 3 Aksa Martyrs Brigade men in Nablus Israel Jerusalem Post but see - Love of the Land: Double Edged. What do you expect when the US charged their own Navy SEALS for punching the terrorist accused of the terrible atrocity in Fallujah - that's right, punching - not waterboarding, not shooting, and not torturing - punching. Also see PA security forces arrest several W. Bank attack suspects Israel Jerusalem Post - oh, yeah - they let them go......


12. MNF Shocker - I would never have figured the Bears to have a chance against Minnesota this evening - but they survived a "patented" Brett Favre 4th quarter comeback to win very dramatically in overtime - here's the video of the winning play.

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Saturday, December 26, 2009 - Motzei Shabbat

1. Boxing Day - Today is "Boxing Day" in Canada. According to Wikipedia, the name of the holiday

"...derives from the tradition of giving seasonal gifts, on the day after Christmas, to less wealthy people and social inferiors, which was later extended to various workpeople such as labourers and servants.

The traditional recorded celebration of Boxing Day has long included giving money and other gifts to charitable institutions, the needy and people in service positions. The European tradition has been dated to the Middle Ages, but the exact origin is unknown and there are some claims that it goes back to the late Roman/early Christian era.

In the United Kingdom it certainly became a custom of the nineteenth century Victorians for tradesmen to collect their 'Christmas boxes' or gifts in return for good and reliable service throughout the year on the day after Christmas."

However, for me, today is "Boxing Day" in another sense. Reading today's Halifax morning newspaper, I came across this little ditty;
"N.S. postal worker to join Gaza march

Nova Scotia postal worker Toni MacAfee is spending the Christmas holidays in Gaza.

Ms. MacAfee, the Atlantic region education and organization officer with the Canadian Union of Postal Workers, is part of a Canadian delegation participating in the Gaza Freedom March. More than 1,300 activists are expected to travel from Cairo to Gaza to witness the devastation from last year’s Israeli invasion, a union news release states."


I was so upset that I felt like putting on some boxing gloves and throwing some haymakers. However, since I fight better with words, I composed this letter to the editor:

Some Context Please

To The Editor:

Isn’t it just special that a CUPW representative is traveling to Gaza on a “Freedom March”? The union news release that was quoted refers to the so-called “Israeli invasion” a year ago, but somehow omits the 10,000 or so rockets fired from that very Gaza at Israeli civilian targets from 2001-2009, including after August 2005, when there was no Israeli presence in Gaza whatsoever.

By the way, when the CUPW representative returns, be sure to ask her to talk about the freedoms of speech, religion, press and assembly she experienced in Gaza, not to mention her observations regarding the roles of women and trade unions. And finally, please ask her to comment on the steel fence that Egypt is building on its border with Gaza, the sole purpose of which is to keep the Palestinians out of Egypt.


2. Oh Please - Lebanon, which is under the thumb of Syria and Iran, has a spot on the UNSC? UN gift for Iran - Israel Opinion, Ynetnews.

3. Iran Update - As usual, lots of entries here:
4. Jimmah's Apology - Some interesting perspectives:


6. Another Separation Wall - This doesn't make it to the MSM either - Shhh…Mubarak is building a wall - Hudson New York.

7. Gilad Schalit - Can you imagine any other country that allows itself to have a similar dilemma - Opinion: When killers go free | Op-Ed Contributors | Jerusalem Post and Pajamas Media » Israel’s Shalit Dilemma.


8. Efraim Halevy - I read his book "Man in the Shadows", which I found interesting but not scintillating. Here is an interview from the year-end issue of the Canadian newsmagazine MacLeans - Maclean’s Interview: Efraim Halevy - The Interview - Macleans.ca

9. Wise Words - The West has work to do

10. Pope Pius XII - Should the World War II-era Pope be designated as a Saint? Why make him a saint? and Commentary » Blog Archive » Vatican’s Pius Plea Does Little to Help.








For while it’s certainly true that one shouldn’t bring a gun to a snowball fight, it’s even less advisable to bring a snowball to a gunfight. This was the District of Columbia, after all, where people have been shot dead on far less provocation than being smacked in the puss with a snowball.


18. LipDub - From Boston University (where my daughter is a freshman - or is she a "freshperson"?) The man shown at the very start is Dean Kenneth Elmore - one of the coolest university administrators I have ever met!

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December 25th, 2009 - "You've Got Mail"

You may recall that the other day, I posted the following item - Jewish town won't let Arab build home on his own land - Haaretz - Israel News - under the heading "If This Is True, I'm Not Impressed"

I received the following email (as opposed to a comment on the web site). Apparently, the person preferred anonymity, so while I will post the content of their email, I will not reveal their identity:
So you think it wrong that Arabs can't build houses in Jewish towns in Israel, now where was your protest when the Arab jurisdictions of Jordan, Syria, and Saudi Arabia impliment their version of the Nuremberg Laws!?? All your distain is held only for your brethern and so I quote you from an article in your own blog "The real rules of war"
"But when only one side follows these rules, they no longer elevate us. They create a very unlevel field and more than a little frustration. It is equally bizarre for any of us to judge someone's behavior in war by the rules we follow in our very peaceful universe."
Thats right there is no moral elevation in your position, because there is no level playing field and instead your apparent position aids and abets the enemies of Israel. XXXX has a point on the Islamic view of land ownership it has been clearly laid down in hundreds of sharia rulings that once an district has fallen under Moslem control during the actions of Jihad all that land falls under the ownership of the Wafq (a religious administrative trusteeship). If a Moslem had purchased a parcel in a district outside islamic jurisdiction the Wafq holds a partial ownership (because of Zakatt [Islamic charity rules]) and when the Islamics obtain control of that jurisdiction on the future that family will become the trustee to the Wafq for the whole district, and non-Moslems must submit and pay dihmma taxes to that said family, (its a way of encouraging Moslems to stay loyal to the "faith" even if they are not under the duress of Darr el Harb).
I do not mind criticism, though I was somewhat surprised at the suggestion that I aided and abetted the enemies of Israel, and to learn that "all my distain [sic] is reserved for my brethern [sic]"

So here's my response.

I have always respected the fact that Israel is founded on, among other things, the rule of law. That, together with freedom of religion, freedom of speech and other such basic freedoms that exist in Western democracies, is an essential difference between Israel and its neighbors.

If an Arab legally owns land in Israel, then in my opinion, he should be entitled to do whatever is legally permitted to be done on that land according to Israeli law. Anything else is, to me, blatant discrimination that would give ammunition for those true enemies of Israel who claim that Israel is an apartheid state. It is not up to individual citizens to take the law into their own hands to prevent a result they do not like.

By the way, I note that my critic assumes that the Arab is Muslim - the article does not say whether the "Arab" is Muslim, Maronite, Coptic, Druse, Baha'i or any other faith - not that, in my opinion, it should make a difference.

The other troubling thing to me is that if in the opinion of my critic, Israelis are free to disregard the rule of law when it comes to this issue, where would my critic draw the line? Should any Jew who sells land to a non-Jew be sanctioned - just like the Palestinians do? Can Israelis harass the Arab? Can they rough them up a little? Can they kill him as an example? Why stop there, why not rough up/kill all non-Jews in Israel? It's a very slippery slope.

To me, therefore, the bottom line is this. Arabs live in Israel, for better or worse. They are guaranteed certain rights under Israeli law. To freely abrogate these rights because the person is not Jewish will bring Israel down to the level of her enemies, and is simply the start of a long slippery slope.

And as for "aiding and abetting" Israel's enemies, that is patently absurd, as is criticism for not speaking out against Jordan, etc. for implementation of their version of the Nuremberg Laws - this is not any sort of an official blog on behalf of any organization and there is only so much I can post about. I think that my record of speaking out for Israel - and putting my name into the public eye when so many others are simply not prepared to do so - stands on its own. Being an advocate for Israel does not mean blindly accepting whatever Israel or Israelis do.

Shabbat Shalom.
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Wednesday, December 23, 2009

1. In The Words of a Friend of Mine In The Military, "This Guy Gets It" - Warren Kozak: The Real Rules of War - WSJ.com



3. Israel Obsession Disorder - Europe's Israel Obsession - WSJ.com - most commonly found in all "proper" European countries and diplomats....
"Egypt, the Palestinians' Arab brother nation, meanwhile, can quietly build a steel wall—yes, steel—at its Gaza border without having to fear negative Western press coverage, let alone the Baroness's wrath. She has only Israel in her crosshairs, even though Jerusalem is actually still providing a lifeline to the Palestinians."










12. The Immaculate Reception - No, not the "Immaculate Conception", though I guess 'tis the season.

December 23 is the anniversary of the famous NFL play where the Pittsburgh Steelers scored a shocking last second touchdown to defeat the Oakland Raiders - here is the video.


Which also led me to this - an amazing play by current Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger from his college days.

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Tuesday, December 22, 2009

1. Iran - Have to keep up to date on this - stuff happening every day:

2. Copenhagen - Now the fallout and analysis starts - and here's my question - if you don't fully buy into the whole climate change thing, why does that make you some sort of a Neanderthal? Isn't it fair to ask for some reasonable proof?

And what conference can enjoy legitimacy when it is addressed by Robert Mugabe and the idiot Ahmadinejad. Hell, I would not believe a conference to prove that the world is round if it were addressed by those two despots.

3. Islamic Issues - A variety of stories about the "Religion of Peace", or at least its radical adherents:
4. The Auschwitz Sign - Thankfully, the sign has been retrieved, even though it was cut into pieces. Shouldn't the thieves be subject to some sort of dreadful Edgar Allen Poe type of fate for having stolen this sign? Here are some perspectives:

6. Shoddy Journalism - I object to the headline because it distorts the whole story - makes it sound like this rogue pathologist was acting under the authority and approval of the State of Israel - which is not the case - but what 99.99% of people will see is the headline, and they will think that the outrageous story in the Swedish newspaper a while ago was true - Israel admits harvesting Palestinian organs | World news | The Guardian.




8. President Jimmah - I think that what he really said was "I hate" Jews and Israel - must have misunderstood his Southern drawl - Carter offers Jewish community ‘Al Het’ | JTA - Jewish & Israel News


10. Somehow I Don't See A Similar Thing Taking Place in Riyadh - The Perfect Place for a New Mosque: Ground Zero? | NewsReal Blog

11. And Speaking Of Peace, Love And Understanding - Priest leads mob in smashing menorah in Moldova's capital - Haaretz - Israel News - Happy Chanukah!






15. Lebanon - Hariri: Talks with Assad were excellent and frank - Haaretz - Israel News -oh, and thanks to President Obama's foreign policy on this one - Commentary » Blog Archive » Obama’s Engagement Fallout: Lebanon Surrenders - I mean even the New York Times printed an opinion column that says so!



17. As Far As I Am Concerned, It's Never Going To Be Enough - Israel to seek another 1b euros Holocaust in reparations from Germany - Haaretz - Israel News

18. The End Of The Decade - The internet is rife with retrospectives about the first decade of the 21st century - covering important moments in news, entertainment and sports. One of the most amazing moments in sports was David Tyree's astonishing catch in Super Bowl XLII - after Eli Manning somehow escaped a ferocious pass rush - here's the picture:


and here's the clip:

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