Tuesday, April 20, 2010 - mini Yom Haatzmaut Edition


It is time to mark the 62nd birthday of the amazing country of Israel. I will do so as they do in Israel - by first remembering the tremendous sacrifices that were necessary to establish and maintain the State.

1. Sacrifice - Israel's most important resource is people. And many of those people have given their lives in defence of the State. In a tiny country, where military service in mandatory, the loss of people (often the young) is felt very acutely. In fact, since 1860, 22,684 soldiers and terror attack victims have been killed and scores more wounded.


I have been in Israel for Yom HaZikaron - it is a very moving and emotional time - even for visitors from the Diaspora. Here are a few pictures from my collection.








2. Accomplishments - think of what Israel has accomplished in 62 short years despite constant existential threats and imagine what it could achieve if there were a genuine peace in the region. This video is 2 years old, but you'll get the idea.


3. Herzl's Dream - Continuing Herzl’s dream

4. Vital Statistics - News from Israel, Ynetnews

5. The Beauty of Israel - A variety of randomly selected pictures:














6. More Israeli Beauty - can't do a posting about Israeli beauty and leave out Israeli supermodels Bar Refaeli and - Esti Ginzburg - just wouldn't be right - don't worry, the pictures are tame - (and to female readers - when you do your own blog, you can find pictures of handsome Israeli men to post!)

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Sunday, April 18, 2010

1. I Thought He Was Interested In Nuclear Physics, Not Biology - How does the world just sit there while this waste of DNA utters this type of guttersnipe trash?

2. On The Subject Of Iran - meanwhile, on the subject of developments in that thugocracy:

3. General David Petraeus - More on this American General, "designer" of the Surge - The Professor of War Politics Vanity Fair

4. Human Rights Developments - a number of stories on this topic.




7. When All Else Fails, Blame Israel - You may recall that a couple weeks ago I had strongly objected to an allegation in a letter published in the Halifax newspaper that blamed most of the world's hostilities on Israel's unwillingness to make a fair peace with the Palestinians. After much editing, the letter finally appeared in last Sunday's newspaper - the final version is here:

"I was offended by the anti-Israel comments in Jack Warkentin’s April 3 opinion piece.

Limited space does not allow me to reply to his allegations about Israel’s seizure or control of Palestinian lands. I will focus instead on his assertion that Israel’s "refusal to negotiate a just peace … with the Palestinians" (which ignores any question of Palestinian responsibility) is the "root cause of much of the world’s hostilities."

To which hostilities does he refer? To name but a few: the Russian-Georgian dispute? The Russian-Chechen dispute? The war in the Congo that leaves 45,000 people dead every month? The Sudanese civil war and the humanitarian catastrophe in Darfur? The civil war in Somalia that has reduced that country to a lawless no-man’s land? The tensions between North and South Korea, India and Pakistan, or China and Taiwan? Afghanistan? Shia and Sunni Muslims murdering each other all over the globe?

Mr. Warkentin would have readers believe that if only Israel would make peace with the Palestinians, all of these problems would simply vanish — a truly breathtaking assertion.

The serious issues of the Israeli-Palestinian interaction deserve much better analysis."

In any event, here is a much more detailed and articulate response from Professor Barry Rubin - Gloria Center: The Middle East's Biggest Con-Game: Claiming Israel is the Cause of the Region's Problems [Article]



9. An Elephant In The Room - that few in the West care to address - Promoting a Genocidal “Peace” | FrontPage Magazine - maybe this is because of the considerable history of antisemitism (albeit generally not genocidal antisemitism) that has existed since after the death of Christ - more on that in the next item.


10. Constantine's Sword - I may have posted about this before. I have just finished (last night in fact) this in-depth study of the history between the Catholic Church and the Jews written by former Paulist priest James Carroll. The book is not some summer novel you tear off while at the beach - it requires a lot of attention and concentration - and I see that I will have to read it at least one more time.


While generally familiar with the Crusades, the Spanish Inquisition and the Shoah (more so), I did not have a good grasp of the extent of Church-driven antisemitism over the centuries. As well, it was depressing to learn of the many times when there were leaders of the Church who were prepared to depart from the antisemitism of the Church but were not followed.

In any event, Mr. Carroll lives in Boston and published this article in advance of Easter. Obviously that was a few weeks ago, but the message continues to be relevant - Preach peace in Holy Week - The Boston Globe.
"This week, Christian preachers must preach against these texts. Christians must hear these texts as if they are themselves Jewish, having foremost in mind that Jesus never stopped being a faithful Jew. If Christians had remembered that, and measured both their doctrines and their behavior against their Lord’s undying love of his own people, the history of the last 2,000 years would be very different."
11. Then There Is This Disgusting Bastard - The Associated Press: Bishop convicted for denying Holocaust - did I hear that Mel Gibson is going to play him in the movie??? (relax - there's no movie).

12. Polish Tragedy - Last week, the plane carrying a Polish delegation to an ceremony to mark the massacre in the Katyn Forest crashed, killing the Polish President and a very large number of senior politicians, military leaders and bureaucrats. Here are some reflections on that tragedy seen in the light of the event being commemorated.

14. The Pacific - The miniseries "The Pacific" continues on HBO Canada this evening with Episode 6. It is clearly different from the "Band of Brothers" series in the same way that the Pacific Theatre of Operations differed from the European Theatre. Here is a concise overview of the Pacific War by the excellent Victor Davis Hanson - VDH's Private Papers:: Remembering the Pacific War.


15. Reflections on Yom HaShoah - one thought to throw into the mix before we move on to Yom HaZikaron and Yom Haatzmaut. I think that it is very important to consider and talk about the Jewish life in Europe that was obliterated by the Nazis. For good reason we hear a tremendous amount about how Jews died, but we rarely talk about how they lived - I think that this is a theme that needs much more attention. Check out this article - Recovering Ashkenaz


16. Woe Canada - various news items with a Canuck-ian twist:
17. Good Advice - this excerpt from The Italian Job pretty much sums it up:


so in that context - Volcanic plume has far reaching effects on the weather, Earth. Mother Nature rules when she wants!

18. Moron Alert - Worker falls after sawing off branch in a 'Laurel and Hardy'-style accident - and then, of course, seeks legal recourse from the Hotel. I guess that common sense is in short supply. Which reminds me of the following (there's even a tree-cutting guy!):


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Saturday, April 17, 2010 motzei Shabbat

1. The Two State Solution - Chesler Chronicles » The Palestinians Already Have Two States: The Truth According to Khaled Abu Toameh





3. Ahhhh...the British - British chutzpa - who better than the Brits to comment on colonialism and occupation?






7. What's Your Name Now? - Oh yeah - Suleyman Ahmad al-Kosovi - think you might have disclosed that in the interests of transparency? - Stephen Schwartz: Why Canadian Muslims are different - Full Comment

8. Don't Be Going All Rodney King On Me... - Traditional adversaries make peace with pucks - The Globe and Mail




10. I Guess He Said Something Different - and not the criticism of Israel originally attributed to him - Petraeus: Israel vital strategic ally and 'Israel made world better’




12. Let Me Get This Straight - This goof was the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency from 1997 until 2009 (during which time there were such issues as , hmmmm - the question of Iraqi WMD and Iranian nuclear development) and won, among other things, the Nobel Peace Prize. Look at what he says now that he is running for President of Egypt.


13. Foreign Manipulation - Not quite free

14. You Don't Say - A controversial Muslim scholar - Tariq Ramadan - how come he does not get the Ann Coulter/Benjamin Netanyahu/Michael Oren/Danny Ayalon treatment?
15. The Truth About Israel - Putting out the truth about Israel - Barbara Amiel, Opinion - Macleans.ca - Conrad Black's spouse


16. The War on Terror - In Obamaland, can one even call it that anymore?
17. Why Did This Bastard Get To Die In Peace? The Quiet Death of a Nazi: Martin Sandberger's Last, and Only, Interview - SPIEGEL ONLINE - News - International - where's Brad Pitt and his Inglorious Basterds when you really need 'em - in my humble opinion, expressed here many times before - he should have been subjected to all the degrading, violent, humiliating, and painful (especially painful) things he so eagerly inflicted on his innocent victims - I do not care how old, senile, infirm or whatever he was. Hope he likes it in hell with the rest of his Nazi bastard buddies and their apologists, accomplices, and enablers.


18. Cowboy Stadium - I don't care if they had the presumption to label themselves "America's Team" - I have never been a fan of the Dallas Cowboys. This past week their old home field - Texas Stadium - which has been replaced by something approximating the Ritz-Carlton - was leveled - love the video so much I have included a couple of different angles.


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Monday, April 12, 2010 - Part 2

Yom HaShoah Ceremony - Sunday, April 11, 2010

As I mentioned in my earlier blog posting, the Yom HaShoah ceremony for the Halifax community was held at the Maritime Museum of the Atlantic.



The Museum and the Atlantic Jewish Council partnered to create a wonderful exhibit to honor the tragic story of the SS St. Louis (check out this link). A ceremony was held last June to mark the date of the return of the St. Louis to Europe. The full formal exhibit was opened to the public on Kristallnacht. Last night, the story of the exhibit came full circle, so to speak.

To recap, in 1939, the S.S. St. Louis desperately sought a port of refuge for more than 900 Jewish passengers who were fleeing Nazi Germany. After the nations of South America and the United States refused them entry, they appealed to Canada as their last hope. When Canada decided to reject the St. Louis, the ship was forced to return to Europe and many of its passengers later perished in the Nazi death camps.

Almost 60 years later, David Demian of Watchmen For The Nations began encouraging Canadian church leaders to take responsibility for the antisemitic sins of their forefathers, beginning a journey of healing and reconciliation that would span years and continents. The remarkable story is chronicled in a movie called "The Embrace"


Last night, David Demian was the keynote speaker at the Halifax ceremony. Addressing a large audience, he spoke very movingly of his spiritual journey. Here are some pictures from the event.

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