1. The Gaza-Concentration Camp Comparison - I think that there is a valid comparison here, but not in the way that Israel's enemies suggest. Please bear with me as I try to make my point.
During the Shoah, the Nazis maintained a ghetto called Theresienstadt. The camp was located in the fortress/garrison town of Terezin, which was built by Austrian Emperor Joseph II and named for his mother Maria Teresa. It was located near Prague in what is now the Czech Republic. The fortress had a very famous prisoner between 1914-1918 - Gavrilo Princip, whose assassination of Austrian Archduke Franz Ferdinand in Sarajevo was the final trigger to the start of World War I.
The Gestapo took control of the fortress in June, 1940 and turned the Main Fortress into a ghetto (the smaller Fortress served as a prison). The ghetto was portrayed to the outside world as a model Jewish settlement, when in reality it was a concentration camp, as well as a transit camp for Jews en route to Auschwitz.
"Hitler, the world was to be told, had built a city for the Jews, to protect them from the vagaries and stresses of the war. A film was made to show this mythic, idyllic city to which his henchmen were taking the Jews from the Czech Lands and eight other countries. Notable musicians, writers, artists, and leaders were sent there for “safer” keeping than was to be afforded elsewhere in Hitler’s quest to stave off any uprisings or objections around the so-called civilized world. This ruse worked for a very long time, to the great detriment of the nearly two hundred thousand men, women and children who passed through its gates as a way station to the east and probable death."
So Terezin was set up to deceive the world into believing that the Nazi treatment of Jews was somehow humane.
"The Red Cross was allowed to visit Terezin once. The village of Terezin was spruced up for the occasion. Certain inmates were dressed up and told to stand at strategic places along the specially designated route through Terezin. Shop windows along that carefully guarded path were filled with goods for the day. One young mother remembers seeing the bakery window and shelves suddenly filled with baked goods the inmates had never seen during their time at Terezin. Even the candy shop window overflowed with bon bons creating a fantastic illusion she would never forget.
When the Red Cross representative appeared before this young mother, she remembers being asked how it was to live in Terezin during those days. Her reply implored the questioner to look around. Be sure and look around, as she herself rolled her own widely opened eyes around in an exaggerated manner. The Red Cross reported dryly that while war time conditions made all life difficult, life at Terezin was acceptable given all of the pressures. The Red Cross concluded that the Jews were being treated all right."
I hasten to point out that the one time the Red Cross was permitted to visit Terezin is one more time than it has been allowed to visit Gilad Shalit.
Let's turn to Gaza. Hamas has cynically allowed the vast part of Gaza to turn into a giant cesspool. This is deliberately done to deceive the world into thinking that Israel are somehow modern-day Nazis - a form of what is known as holocaust inversion.
But just as Terezin had a hidden side, so does Gaza. It has an upscale restaurant and hotel, its stores are full of sweets and treats, and it recently had an antique car show. Most recently, it opened a shopping mall.
But the same type of people who were utterly oblivious to the plight of the Jews during the Shoah eat up the the "bad side" of Gaza, wringing their hands in self-righteous indignation, organizing "freedom flotillas", and condemning Israel at every turn - all while completely ignoring the true nature of the Hamas regime - and completely ignoring any justice for Gilad Shalit.
Israel already supplies or permits enormous amounts of aid into Gaza despite the genocidal nature of the Hamas regime. Does anyone really believe that the situation in Gaza would not be 1,000% better if Hamas recognized Israel's right to exist and stopped its terrorist attacks against Israel (including, by the way, rocket attacks against the electrical plant in Ashkelon that supplies electricity to Gaza)?
Here are some links on both Terezin and Gaza - what do you think of my analysis?
4. Iran - always in the news:
5. The Lockerbie Bomber - this worked out well, didn't it?
6. Mel, Mel, Mel - If memory serves, Australia was founded as a prison colony. Good place for Mel - somewhere deep in the Outback.....
12. Seinfeld - if you are a regular visitor to this site, then you know that I am a Seinfeld aficionado. One of my favorite episodes was The Serenity Now (episode 3 of the 9th season). Here are some clips from the original episode, as well as a clever assembly of various Seinfeld scenes into an action-thriller movie trailer.
