Sunday, August 16, 2010

I was away last week and unable to update my blog - so there is lots to talk about!

1. Braveheart - the Mel Gibson reference is unintentional, though maybe it is a Freudian slip. In any event, I do not receive many comments for consideration, and of those I do, almost all are legitimate comments about something I have written about, or linked to. However, occasionally, I do get the odd piece of what I will loosely describe as "hate mail". Last week was one of those occasions when someone from the deep dark recesses of cyberspace, using the cloak of anonymity, submitted a rather nasty comment about Israel. I did not publish the comment as it served no purpose - I might be tempted to do so if the person had the courage (hence the title for this section) to give their true name and address.

While obviously I do not condone in the least anything that Mel said in his attack against Jews in 2006, or in his latest tirade there is at least one thing you can say abut Mel - he did not do things anonymously.


2. The Ground Zero Mosque - this story seems to grow by the minute. Friday, President Obama stated his support for the right of Muslims to build "... a place of worship and a community center on private property in lower Manhattan, in accordance with local laws and ordinances". Yesterday, he backed off that comment by stating that he was "...not commenting on the wisdom" of the project." Sounds like the President will be awarded the "Waffler of the Year" title.


In the circumstances, I am 1,000,000% against the right to build the mosque. I do not believe this to be a freedom of religion issue. I believe that the overt purpose of the mosque is political, not religious. I do not think that the United States has to show tolerance in this fashion, especially when the leading national practitioners of Islam (e.g., Saudi Arabia) are anything but tolerant. As one of the many commentators on this issue has written, and I am paraphrasing, Islam is great at asking for (demanding) tolerance, but is not so great at showing it.


Here are a variety of links on this very current and controversial topic:
3. Islam - I am not going to smear every practitioner of Islam with the brush of radical Islam. I do not know a lot of Muslims, but the few I do know are the same as anyone else I know except they adhere to different religious beliefs. They are primarily interested in making a living and providing for their families.

That said, I think that there are a lot of misconceptions about Islam that need to be identified. For example, in my opinion, President Obama has vastly overstated the role of Islam in the history of the United States - Mr. Obama, "Islam had no influence on the origins and development of the United States" - Jihad Watch

4. Fundamental Islamic Values - Canadian imams issue declaration of fundamental Islamic values - why is it that the leaders can never quite go all the way and instead wrap themselves in basic, non-controversial statements?



6. Christopher Hitchens, #2 - Chosen - Magazine - The Atlantic


8. The Kibbutz - an integral building block of the modern State of Israel - Collective Memory - by Vox Tablet > Tablet Magazine - A New Read on Jewish Life






11. Double Standard Alert #2 - Middle East's Western Media




13. Iran #1 - Iran and its nuclear program are in the news again - this time prompted by an extensive article in The Atlantic by Jeffrey Goldberg - The Point of No Return - Magazine - The Atlantic. Also see:



15. Lebanon - things are getting busy here:


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Sunday, August 8, 2010

1. Are You Proud Of That? Lebanon: We fired first at IDF unit near Israel border - Haaretz Daily Newspaper | Israel News





3. Hiroshima Anniversary - This part Friday was the 65th anniversary of the atomic attack on Hiroshima. Here is a very good piece to place that event in its proper context - Hiroshima, Obama, and Truman.


4. Veiled Threats - More on the burka/airport issue in Canada - Lifting veil on security | Michael Coren | Columnists | Comment | Toronto Sun

5. Response - Recently, I linked to a piece by Barbara Kay that was critical of Jewish extremists. Here is a response from B'nai Brith Canada - Frank Dimant: Barbara Kay owes the Jewish world an apology Full Comment National Post.


6. View From The Street - an interesting interview conducted by Michael Totten - Michael Totten » “The Greatest Collection of Nightmares on Earth”

"The first thing visitors notice is that Israelis are prickly. Native-born Israelis are called sabras. The sabra is a cactus fruit that has prickly thorns on the outside, but is soft and sweet on the inside. That’s how Israelis view themselves. We can be aggressive and rude, but once you get to know us, we love you and we want you to marry our sisters and brothers.

What outsiders first encounter is that, and they often tend to base their view of Israelis on that first impression. And they either react negatively or are enthralled by it. They either see us as boorish, violent, and obnoxious, or as honest, tough, and straight-talking but also sentimental and lovable. But either way, they rarely see what’s underneath.

Amos Oz once gave the best description of us. He said there is an Israel of the day, and an Israel of the night. Israel during the day is a prosperous and cosmopolitan Mediterranean society, but at night it’s the greatest collection of nightmares on the face of the earth. Everyone here, at one point or another, has seen the devil.

Although there’s a general awareness of the Holocaust, I’m not sure outsiders are aware of the depth of the sense of trauma in Israeli society. We’re a people who really are deeply wounded. Around seventy percent of the people who moved here were forced out of the places they came from. That’s true of almost all the Jews from the Muslim world. It’s true of most of the Jews from Europe who fled persecution before the Holocaust, during the Holocaust, or after the Holocaust. Very few people came here out of free choice."

7. Is It Any Wonder That A Regime That Does This - Iranians arrest 14 squirrels for spying - Israel News, Ynetnews






10. Here's Some Advice For Ahmadinejad - from Jerry Seinfeld, naturally....

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Wednesday, August 4, 2010 - Brief Posting

1. Terrorism On The Border - There was a terrible terrorist incident yesterday on Israel's border with Lebanon. While performing routine maintenance - removing a tree and shrubbery - on the Israeli side of the border - two senior Israeli military officers were shot - one died and one was badly wounded. The incident resonated a bit more with me as it took place at Kibbutz Misgav Am - where I had visited in May, 2009 - and where one can clearly see the very delicate nature of the border.

(looking into Lebanon from Kibbutz Misgav Am)

Meanwhile, for once, it appears that the US, which has been so critical of Israel lately, recognizes that this was nothing more than an unprovoked attack (see first link below). Even the ultimate in useless - UNIFIL - said that the Israelis did not cross the border. That said, it is instructive to read the RubinReports link below to see examples of media bias.


My condolences are extended to the family of the murdered IDF officer, and a refuah shleimah for a full and fast recovery goes to the injured IDF officer.

Here are a variety of links:
"was worried about the incident and sorry about the loss of life on both sides. He called on both Lebanon and Israel to exercise restraint to avoid further violence."
Reminds me of the garbage apologies that Arafat, Abbas or any of those goofs issue(d) when there was a terror attack that killed only Jews - "we regret the loss of life of all innocent civilians......"

Go to hell! The only reason that there was loss of life on the Israeli side was because a terrorist gunned down an Israeli on Israeli land doing something entirely legal. The only reason that there was loss of life on the other side was because the IDF defended itself against such a cowardly attack.

So, Mr. Secretary-General - why don't you call a spade a spade - how about - I'm truly and sincerely sorry that yet another Israeli was murdered by terrorists, and I think that the LAF terrorists that did this are damn lucky that only a few of them died when Israel exercised its right of self-defense.




4. Good Question - Whither Israel’s al-Jazeera?

5. Good Speech - We owe the Jews

6. Goodbye - Closure of Cape Breton’s oldest synagogue marks end of era Holy Post National Post - this is going to get me into trouble, but for all the many, many times that I have been to Cape Breton - and Glace Bay - I never was inside the Glace Bay Synagogue.

I can tell you that many of the current and former members of the Jewish communities in industrial Cape Breton (and I'm probably committing another sin by lumping them all together) are as well-versed about Judaism and Israel as you would like. And extremely nice people to boot!





(what is the point of posting this on Facebook?)

9. Good Grief Part 2 - Maybe the notion is noble, and it is certainly not my place to criticize the IDF, but who else in the world operates under these constraints - my concern is first and foremost for the members of the IDF - and I am confident that they are trained to a very high ethical level when it comes to civilians.


11. Good Cartoon:


12. Good Night: Cool ads, even if they might be fake - from the English soccer side Aston Villa:




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Sunday, August 1, 2010

1. Antisemitism On The Internet - Let's assume that you have nothing better to do on a summer Canadian long weekend than to surf the internet (which must in some fashion be true if you are reading this). You decide to follow some links to stories about Israel. If after reading the story you continue to read the comments section, I will hazard a guess that in almost any ostensibly "neutral" site - in other words and for example, not the Jerusalem Post - you will readily come across criticism of Israel that covers the whole spectrum from articulate criticism expressed by someone with a differing perspective to withering, unbridled antisemitism.

On occasion I have spent some time reading the comments sections, and even posting my own from time to time to respond to what I see as the most egregious postings. The experience is akin to getting a nice 2x4 piece of wood and then asking someone to hit you with it as hard as they can. My personal experience is that the ignorance and hatred is quite commonplace - even on sites where comments are monitored.


I have no idea what percentage of commenters are represented by these people, nor what percentage of society in general that they represent. I do know that it reflects a very seedy and ugly side of the internet.


If you don't have the time to read both articles, then at least read the "Jew-baiter's Lexicon" in "Playing With Fire". If you can't do that, then read this very short summary - How Jew-Baiting Makes Money on the Internet | Jewish News From WorldJewishDaily.com



3. The Nakba - being defeated in 1948 was not just a military defeat - The Nakba Obsession by Sol Stern, City Journal Summer 2010






"Most significant, there is sharia. By pressing the issue, Newt Gingrich accomplishes two things. First, he gives us a metric for determining whether those who would presume to lead us will fight or surrender. Second, at long last, someone is empowering truly moderate Muslims — assuming they exist in the numbers we’re constantly assured of. Our allies are the Muslims who embrace our freedom culture — those for whom sharia is a matter of private belief, not public mission. Our enemies are those who want sharia to supplant American law and Western culture. When we call out the latter, and marginalize them, we may finally energize the former."

8. Apart From Apple Pie, What Is More American Than An Eagle Scout? - maybe not for much longer - Hamas-linked Muslim Brotherhood front group sponsoring interfaith events at Boy Scouts National Jamboree - Jihad Watch = part of the slow creep referred to in McCarthy's article in the previous item?

9. Scary Saying - One of the scariest sayings one can hear is "I'm from the government and I'm here to help" A newer version is "I'm an intellectual and I can explain all this".

I know a lot of people who are much brighter than me (admittedly, a low threshold). But I wonder if many of them have the ability - in the real world - to tie their own shoes or walk across the street. When I think of intellectuals I think of the old joke - "What is the definition of a consultant? A guy who knows 100 ways to make love to a woman, but who doesn't know any women."



10. I Have No Time For These Guys - Homeland Insecurity - by Marissa Brostoff > Tablet Magazine - A New Read on Jewish Life - my heart bleeds.....

11. Speaking Her Mind - Melanie Phillips does not mince words. Here are two of her recent columns - Melanie Phillips’s Articles » Israel and the Blackmailer Paradox and No Win Journalism
12. Putting Your Money Where Your Mouth Is - The hutzpa to be exceptional





15. When The Shoe Was On The Other Foot - it was not pretty - somehow this gets no attention, though I would suggest that it is part of the continuing plan to undermine the notion of an ancient Jewish presence on the Temple Mount - Islamic Waqf Likely Destroying Jewish Antiquities on Temple Mount | Jewish News From WorldJewishDaily.com - but what are the Islamists going to do about the billions of copies of the Bible?

16. Whiskey Tango Foxtrot (WTF)??? - are you kidding me???? Lifting the veil on airport security Canada News Toronto Sun

(Did I read that correctly?)

17. Thought-Provoking - Israelis must quell internal confl - from the director of the Vidal Sassoon International Centre for the Study of anti-Semitism at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

18. OK - This Is Sarcasm - in case for some inexplicable it is not clear....oh, and I could not care less about Christiane Amanpour......

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