Saturday, April 30, 2011 motzei Shabbat - Yom HaShoah edition

(in memory of the Six Million)

1. Hamas and Fatah, Up In A Tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G - to quote the old schoolyard rhyme. Not like the newly minted Duke and Duchess of Cambridge. More like Hannibal Lechter dating Sirhan Sirhan. Jason (Friday the 13th) hanging with Freddy (Nightmare on Elm Street). Lex Luthor teaming up with Darth Vader. With Charlie Manson in the background absolutely beaming....

The genocidal group of murderous terrorists that is Hamas is making nice with the allegedly "moderate" (oh, please!!) group of former genocidal group of murderous terrorists that is Fatah. This does not augur well for whatever shambles the "peace process" has been reduced to, for Israel's relations with the useless EU and corrupt UN, the continued tense but non-violent stand-off over Gaza, and for peace in the entire Middle East region.

I can almost hear the top guns of each gang of thugs agreeing - "well, we may have our differences, but isn't the goal to kill the Jews and destroy Israel? - we can always kill each other later....."


I don't believe that this is any long-lasting relationship - both groups are such bitter rivals, too self-interested, too corrupt and so on that even the goal of killing Jews/destroying Israel won't be enough to keep them on the same page.



Here are a variety of items on this marriage (or whatever) made in hell:
And what will the Americans do? Maybe since President Obama wasn't invited to Friday's Royal Wedding, he will embrace this one - hope not! Hopefully he will cut off American aid - which hasn't exactly been used so well anyway - for example - Pajamas Media » Palestinians in Shooting Spree U.S.-Trained, and Muslim policemen shouting "Allahu akbar" open fire on Jews praying at Joseph's Tomb - Jihad Watch.

In fact, it has been suggested that continuing aid would be illegal under American law - Kirk: Aid to Fatah-Hamas Axis Would Be Illegal - Commentary Magazine.


This ain't going to be pretty......

2. Arab Spring? I don't think so:

3. Getting Away with Murder in Syria - and while the world does the square root of nothing - I actually have a slightly saltier expression, but you get the point.




4. Back To The Peace Process and the One-State/Two-State Solution - Let's be clear - there is no peace process when the Palestinian representatives won't come to the table, make ridiculous demands from afar, and simply wait for their buddies in the EU and the UN to shove something down Israel's throat.
5. Ambassador Michael Oren - but can logic and common sense penetrate a wall of indifference and the current manner of thinking in Washington? The Ultimate Ally - By Michael Oren | Foreign Policy


6. Useful Idiots #1 - never in short supply!


11. Iran - this group of theocratic nuts (the leadership, not the people) are likely just sitting back, having a good time with all the unrest in the Middle East and waiting for the 12th Imam to come for a visit - and to kill some time, they are hanging some homosexuals, persecuting some religious minorities, doing some fission (clever, huh?), watching oil prices rise - oh, and banning dogs......now they've gone too far!

But maybe everything isn't as good as it seems in the Islamic Republic
12. On The College Front - Yale versus Purdue...oh, and Purdue has a better football team!


Purdue -

13. Yom HaShoah - Sunday, May 1, corresponding to the 27th day of the Jewish month of Nissan, is Yom HaShoah. The date, which falls a week after the 7th day of Passover and a week before Yom HaZikaron (Israel's Remembrance Day was proclaimed by the Israeli Knesset in 1951, making this its 60th anniversary. Here is a primer - Yom Hashoah: Holocaust Memorial Day - My Jewish Learning.


15. Moving Video:


16. Learning About The Shoah - as I have said many times, the Shoah was not a monolithic event - it did not happen the same way in France as it did in Lithuania, for example. Similarly, educational material, books, movies, plays and other works about the Shoah are not monolithic. Here is what I hope is a useful guide to all the various material - The Thinking Person’s Guide to the Holocaust – Forward.com

17. Canadian Election - There is a Canadian federal election on Monday, May 2. When the election was called, the Conservative Party under Stephen Harper was the governing party in a minority government. For non-Canadian readers, the Conservative Party is pretty much the equivalent of the Republican Party in the US. To be quite frank, my vote goes to whichever party supports Israel the best.


The Conservative Party is a staunch supporter of Israel, even though, unlike in the US where there are electoral districts with heavy Jewish concentrations that can impact the outcome of an election, there is no political benefit to such strong support - if anything, there is political cost.

The other major parties, in terms of standings at the end of the last Parliament, were the Liberals, the New Democratic Party and the Bloc Quebecois. I would classify their respective support of Israel as being equivocal, schizophrenic and indifferent at best.

Recently, political commentator David Frum (sometimes credited with the creation of the "Axis of Evil" phrase) wrote a column criticizing Michael Ignatieff, the leader of the Liberal Party (which is traditionally the party of choice for Jewish voters) - Ignatieff 's dog whistle for anti-Israel voters. That prompted this column in reply by Liberal Party member Bob Rae - The truth about the Liberal party and the Middle East. I think that Frum got best of the last word with this column - David Frum: Bob Rae takes ‘shabby’ position on Israel | Full Comment | National Post.

Meanwhile, I am hoping that the Conservative Party wins a majority government position on Monday, though it is doubtful whether this will be the case. All reports are that (for reasons that have noting to do with the above spat) the Liberals are in free fall, and that the NDP (which has basically always been the third place party and therefore has often avoided the kind of scrutiny reserved for the Conservatives and the Liberals) is surging. The BQ only runs candidates in Quebec and are dedicated to Quebec sovereignty, so the best they can do is play spoiler, draw off support in Quebec for the other parties, and then become a separatist pain in the backside after the election.

Without getting into things in more detail, the deceptive thing is that while as noted the NDP is said to be surging - their supposedly growing support is expressed in ways that are incompatible with the way the election is decided. It is possible, for example, for a party to win 40% of the total popular vote across Canada and still not have any representation in Parliament. Of course, the media never says that - or this - the way they report the pre-election polls can influence voters to vote for a party portrayed as surging, even though that surge might only be in one part of the country. To further elaborate, if the NDP are surging in Quebec, all that surge might accomplish is to reduce the size of the margin by which the Bloc candidates win their seats in Parliament - but that is never elaborated upon or explained.

One last thing - a last minute "scandal" has emerged concerning NDP Leader Jack Layton - Layton slams ‘smear campaign’ over massage-parlour allegations | Posted | National Post. I do not know who orchestrated the leak, I am not a fan of such tactics, and it seems that the "scandal" is a bit overblown. That said, I am flabbergasted by the hypocrisy of people complaining of this leak when leaks that attack Prime Minister Harper and the Conservatives do not come in for the same criticism. Mind your double standards, people! Oh, and Mr. Layton - how's the heat in the kitchen?

18. In Memory of the Six Million - including some 1.5 million children.




(from the excellent series "Band of Brothers")


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2 comments:

  1. AnonymousMay 1, 2011 at 9:09 AM

    There is no question that Hamas is made up of a bunch of murderous psychopaths, and yes it is officially illegal for the US to support Hamas, but this never stopped them before. Remember back to when Arafat was at the helm. The reality is that the hatred between the two groups is nothing more than sibling rivalry but when push comes to shove, they are one family. An exagerrated rift was orchestrated for western audiences. This is clear. Examine the videos of that luxurious restaurant in Gaza, Abbas is cozying up to Hannyia, both fressing at the same table, listening to music, watching belly dancers, and merrymaking. Today there is no longer as need to play good cop, bad cop- hatred of Israel is now in fashion and considered cool in European circles, so they no longer need to play the game. They have the west where it wants it. Abbas is glorified as a capable leader by the media, especially in
    Britain, so European and Western money will pour forth. Since Iran is financing Hamas, there will be no threat of any shortfall,so they the U.S. on its knees, tryingt to lure them back. The US will have no choice now but to up the ante. Obama has been financing the refurbishment of deteriorated mosques throughout the middle east, all along, so I have no doubt that Obama will find a way to rationalize throwing more money at this group of thugs. The devil's dance is just beginning. A.S.

    ReplyDelete
  2. ErhardMay 2, 2011 at 10:06 PM

    Israel always has and always will have my full and solid support

    ReplyDelete

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