Blog From Away #2 - May 8, 2010 - motzei Shabbat

1. This Is Why You Fight Hitler - In my blog the other day, I linked to a story about a poll detailing the extreme reluctance of today's Canadian youth to fight Hitler. Maybe that youth should consider this - Dutch PM pays tribute to Canadian liberators - Nova Scotia News - TheChronicleHerald.ca or this - Why the Dutch are so grateful to Canadians: A personal account of Peter Kuitenbrouwer.



"The core of his argument is to accuse Europe of willing collaboration with Islamic fundamentalists seeking to destroy the liberal freedoms we have taken centuries to achieve. He argues that Europe has never recovered from its own barbarity and that now it seeks to cleanse its original sin with a new Eden; even if this Paradise has 70 waiting virgins. The Left has cynically used political Islam for its own ends but, in its naivity, has not realised what collaboration means."

Reminds me in certain ways of Holocaust inversion








8. Myth - Israeli/Palestinian Conflict Is At The Heart Of Mideast's Problems - Linked In - by Lee Smith > Tablet Magazine - A New Read on Jewish Life

9. Myth - The Prison of Gaza - Jacob Shrybman: Debunking the Gaza Seige Myth. And in what "prison" could this happen? - BBC News - Gazans cut through Egypt's border barrier


10. Goldstone - Turns out old Goldstone is not exactly as pure as the driven snow......Commentary » Blog Archive » The Un-Goldstone and Commentary » Blog Archive » Goldstone’s Past: Apartheid Hangman


11. Know Your Enemy - several good pieces:
12. Good Night George - Don't call, don't write, don't email, don't fax - you miserable prick - Poplar & Limehouse: Not Such A Good Night For Gorgeous George Galloway, Steve Hargrave Reports | Politics | Sky News - go hang out with your Hamas buddies - too bad Arafat is dead.


13. I Never Liked This Guy - and this is one reason why - Counterpoint: Yakov Rabkin on Pride parade - Full Comment - there are several good comments following the article

14. Thanks, Fellas - Maybe you should show some gratitude - Rabbinical court forbids Haredim from investing in Israeli companies - Haaretz Daily Newspaper | Israel News - I know that Hashem is omnipotent, but it doesn't hurt to have the IDF as well.

15. Thanks, Pal - Pajamas Media » Boycotting Israel? There’s an App for That - another anti-Israel Jew .

16. Adolf Eichmann - One of the most disgusting persons in history - payback must have been a bitch - especially at the hands of Jews - ‘Maybe’ was not an option - Haaretz Daily Newspaper | Israel News


17. Speaking Of Payback Being a Bitch - Devastation of War: Archival Discovery Reveals a Ruined Berlin - SPIEGEL ONLINE - News - International - you got what you deserved.


18. Big Seller In Boston - On this trip to Boston, I noticed this book in many stores - however, since the Yankees are in the process of beating the living daylights out of the Red Sox at Fenway (across from my hotel), Sox fans may need to back off a bit.


note the subtitle - Red Sox Fans Are From Mars, Yankees Fans Are From Uranus: Why Red Sox Fans Are Smarter, Funnier, And Better Looking (in Language Even Yankees Fans Can Understand)
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Brief Blog From Away - May 6, 2010

1. This Is Just Pathetic - Fight Hitler? Today’s young folk not so sure - Nova Scotia News - TheChronicleHerald.ca - what would motivate them? And all the more to admire the men and women of the volunteer Canadian Armed Forces.



2. And So Is This - Clash at Brandeis U. over Israeli speaker - Washington Times - can't wait until these guys get introduced to the real world.







7. The Peace Process - here are a variety of perspectives:
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Thursday, April 29, 2010 - HABS WIN HABS WIN!!!!

1. So Much For Free Speech - British protesters attack Israel's deputy ambassador - Israel News, Ynetnews. This is even more disturbing because it took place on a university campus, where freedom of speech is supposed to be a given - but intolerance, intimidation, violence, and just plain bad manners are not at all unusual these days, to wit:
  • Then former (and now current) PM Benjamin Netanyahu at Concordia;
  • Ambassador Michael Oren at University of California (Irvine);
  • Dr. Yossi Olmert at UCI and St. Thomas University (I witnessed this last debacle myself);
  • Former PM Ehud Olmert at University of Chicago (this was recorded by electronicintifada - hardly a friend of Israel;
  • Foreign Minister Ayalon at Cambridge University;
  • Benny Morris at Cambridge University; and
  • the mere presence of Israel Apartheid Week on university campuses.
I have learned that freedom of speech often really means that (a) people are only free to speak if the audience wants to hear what they have to say (rarely applies to pro-Israel speakers) or (b) audiences are free to listen to the most vicious anti-Israel hatred.

To be clear, I would not want to listen to a lot of the things that the pro-Palestinian camp has to say, but the choices open to me are either to (a) attend the event and allow them to say what they have to say and then try to ask contrary questions afterward, or (b) not attend. I can also assure you that the pro-Palestinian events I have attended are very tightly scripted and controlled - it is extremely difficult to even be allowed to ask a question if you are not known to the organizers - and even if you do, you are heckled, your picture is taken and so on.

I am unfamiliar with instances where pro-Israel advocates have behaved as have the perpetrators of the above incidents.



3. I'm Absolutely Shocked! - Watchdog: BBC biased against Israel





6. The Latest "Outrage" - Pajamas Media » General Jones’ Apology Not Nearly Good Enough - there are all kinds of opinions out there on this one - just read the comments to the article - my take is that it takes an idiot to be in that position before that audience and tell that type of joke - I'm not going to leap to the conclusion that he is antisemite based on that one example. That said, I'll bet he would not have recited a similar joke about Muslims, blacks, gays, Catholics, Episcopalians, Polish people, environmentalists, dogs, or cats.


7. Happy Birthday - May 2 marks the 150th anniversary of the birth of Theodore Herzl - JPost.com BlogCentral Center Field WWHD: What would Herzl do?.

8. Victor Davis Hanson - a very interesting article on the future of warfare.






12. The Habs - Did I mention that Montreal beat Washington? They now get the dubious reward of playing Pittsburgh, the defending Stanley Cup champions led by Nova Scotia native Sidney Crosby. So let's enjoy what the Habs have already achieved before worrying about the Pens.


also check out this great video:

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Tuesday, April 27, 2010 - #2

1. A Different Approach - In my Israel advocacy work, I do not for a moment think that my (sarcasm on) highly sophisticated and brilliant blog entries (sarcasm off) is going to convince the hard-core anti-Israel types to suddenly see the light - that is highly unrealistic and would be a waste of resources.

My goals are much more modest - (a) to provide support and information to pro-Israel people who may not have the time or inclination to sift through all the developments regarding Israel, Judaism and so on, and (b) to try to convince people who are not necessarily pro-Israel but who have an open mind about Israel and are willing to engage in honest debate that a lot of what is thrown about regarding Israel is disingenuous, dishonest or just plain incorrect.

Therefore, in various circumstances, I think that approaches that are not confrontational but which show the commonality of Canadian and Israeli values are very useful. Here is one example - Jewish group tries to counter anti-Israel activity on campuses.


2. The US and Israel - Some things to ponder:
3. Experts - One of my favorite sayings is that an expert is a man who knows 100 ways to make love to a woman but doesn't know any women, so - here is an interesting article >>>>>> How to tell when a Mideast Expert is lying - Haaretz - Israel News.


4. Do We Need A Shoah Memorial In Atlantic City? - Atlantic City boardwalk to get a Holocaust memorial - strikes me as strange.


5. This Is Controversial - I am sure that this article will make some people wonder whether I have lost my head - and no, I do not like his use of the term apartheid - Declare Independence. Free Israel. End the Occupation - Haaretz - Israel News - but in the interest of intellectual honesty, I think that it deserves to be read and critiqued, rather than ignored or dismissed.

6. What If Achmed Woke Up One Day To Discover He Is Really Avram? - Fiddler on the mosque


7. Hitler Parodies - Not sure if I posted about this before. One used to be able to go to YouTube and search for clips that parodied Hitler's reaction to any number of current events - most often I had seen it in terms of sports events (Hitler reacts to Kovalev signing with Ottawa). The parodies are based on a very dramatic scene from the excellent movie Downfall that chronicles the last days of Hitler in the bunker in Berlin, with subtitles appropriate to the parody being superimposed on the clip.

But is the stuff funny? Personally, I do not think so, and I consider myself to have fairly broad taste. Here is one perspective - Close Read: The Downfall of “Downfall” : The New Yorker. Oh, and in late breaking news - YouTube has removed these parodies from its site - CANOE -- CNEWS - Media News: Hitler 'Downfall' parodies removed from YouTube.

The best thing to do is watch the movie - it is excellent.



9. The Palestinians - Here are a variety of articles:
10. Egypt - Not sure I agree with everything in this article, but I think that basic premise is correct - Egypt a ticking time bomb | Eric Margolis | Columnists | Comment | Ottawa Sun




12. Jewish History In Budapest - In Budapest, Jewish history came looking for us

13. From The Left - I take this to be an exercise in intellectual honesty - CIC Scene » Speech by Spanish Activist Pilar Rahola: The Struggle of Israel is the Struggle of the World

14. There's A Lot Of Truth Here, Too - CIC Scene » Exposing the Unholy Alliance of Israel Haters





17. Jaffa Gate - Jerusalem reopens popular Old City gate - Yahoo! News - proving that the Palestinians can complain about anything.


18. Hockey News - I have been a fan of the Montreal Canadiens since 1968 - generally a rewarding time frame, but not so much lately. In this year's playoffs, the Habs are facing Eastern Conference champion Washington and its high-powered offence led by Alexander Ovechkin. Pretty much all predictions were that Washington would kick the daylights out of Montreal for 4 games before moving on to the next round.

But it has not worked out that way. Montreal goaltender Jaroslav Halak has been nothing short of phenomenal in allowing Montreal to battle back from a 3-1 series deficit to force a deciding Game 7 tomorrow night in Washington. Here's hoping the Habs can do it one more time!

Here is some amazing video of Halak's handiwork:

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