Tuesday, September 13, 2011 - An "I Need To Vent" Edition

1. Did I Miss A Memo Or Something? Can someone please tell me what other people and country are subject to the absolutely incessant torrent of abuse and attacks on a regular basis? I don't know if it is a "perfect storm" or what, but the number of antisemitic and anti-Israel issues that are at the forefront of current international events is just shocking.

Consider (and I will spare the adjectives), in no particular order, the following relatively recent events:
  • the attack on the Israeli embassy in Cairo;
  • the Palestinian statehood gambit, with threats of a Third Intifada;
  • terrorist attacks from Sinai against Israeli citizens;
  • the Durban III Conference;
  • open threats of nuclear attack by Iran;
  • attempts organized by the Syrian "government" to deliberate have massed civilians to breach the Israel-Syrian border;
  • whatever the hell Turkey is up to;
  • the Al-Quds rally on the steps of the Ontario legislature;
  • antisemitic cartoon in "The Walrus" magazine; and
  • I'm sure I've missed some things, but I'm sure the above list will do for now.
I ask again - what other people and nations are subject to all of this? Beats me.....but as I have said, the more it happens, the more I am losing my patience and the less reasonable I become (if anyone cares).

The only "good thing" I can say is that I am not alone in noticing this - at least not in certain circles - Stephens: Israel's Predicament - WSJ.com and Israel Surrounded as Arab Spring Turns Darker: Jeffrey Goldberg - Businessweek.
"No democracy in the world today lies under a darker shadow of existential dread than Israel. And the events of the past month ought to demonstrate that Israel's dread is not of shadows only. Israel's efforts to allay the enmity of its enemies or mollify the scorn of its critics have failed. But is it too much to ask its friends for support—this time, for once, without cavil or reservation?"
2. A Quiet Coffee Shop In Halifax - met a friend today at a quiet cafe on Windsor Street in Halifax to discuss Israel advocacy issues. Didn't notice at first, but soon did - one of the walls was festooned with pictures of the recently aborted Gaza peace flotilla - I'm suspecting they were compliments of the self-proclaimed "Jewish Haligonian" Miles Howe. I wonder when they will put up a copy of the Hamas Charter for all to read, or pictures of the "results' of Hamas terrorist attacks? Not holding my breath......

And I may be paranoid, but I also believe that a young mother with two small children heard us talking about Israel and moved to another part of the cafe.


3. WTF Is With Turkey? In this brief edition, apart from this link, Turkey says flotilla raid was 'cause for war' - Yahoo! News, I will simply let a couple of cartoons suffice. Personally, I think that Erdogan has been ingesting way too much Turkish Delight - and I don't mean the chocolate confectionary be the same name.......




4. WTF Is With Egypt? - can you honestly imagine that the news of the storming of a country's embassy would attract the paucity of media coverage that it has? Can you imagine what would happen if the Russian or Chinese Embassies in Cairo were attacked?
5. WTF Is With Europe? European 'No-Go' Zones for Non-Muslims Proliferating - 3 questions - does anyone not understand what this means in terms of the true goals of radical Islam, does anyone think the same thing can't happen (or be permitted to happen) in North America, and who will turn out the lights in Europe when the whole place is a giant no-go zone?


6. WTF Is With These Columbia Students? Columbia students may dine with Ahmadinejad... JPost - International Well, I guess no one knows where Khadaffi is, Assad is busy murdering his own people, Castro and Chavez are ill, and Hitler, Stalin, & Mao are all dead.


7. WTF In General? OK, I like to say WTF. But seriously - check out this Canadian story - Sex workers, Palestinian solidarity mentioned in 6-year-old’s official school planner | News | National Post - a little heavy for a 6 year old, don;'t you think?

By the way, here is the link to the planner itself, which is "not meant to be an exhaustive list" (I cannot imagine what was omitted) - did you know that January 24-28, 2012 is "International No Name Calling Week" - honest to Pete!


8. Great Video #1


9. Great Video #2


10. Mysterious - it doesn't pay to speak up - Syrian Sunni Cleric Who Signed Protest Statement Dies Mysteriously


11. Interesting Theory - Israel As The Dutch Republic

12. Khaled Abu Toameh - always excellent - The UN's Durban III Conference: An Arab View


14. The Controversial Benny Morris - First Report: Is Israel Over? - The Daily Beast


(YIVO library in pre-war Lithuania)


(Lithuanian collaborators)

16. Jerusalem: Jews and Muslims Video


17. "Independent Panel" My Tuches! - UN independent panel rules Israel blockade of Gaza illegal - Haaretz Daily Newspaper | Israel News - If the loathsome Richard Falk has anything to do with it, run as fast as you can in the other direction. Here's his picture, just so that you recognize the SOB


18. Are You Ready For Some Football? Please don't mention what the Patriots did to my Dolphins last night. Instead, let's look at the Sunday night Jets-Cowboys game. I hate (in a sports sense) each team with a passion - the only reason I would ever root for Dallas to win is because the Jets play in the same division as the Dolphins.

Anyway - here's a sign of the apocalypse. In the entire history of the Dallas Cowboys (the team joined the NFL in 1960 - so we're talking 50+ years), it has never lost a game when it was leading in the fourth quarter by 14 or more points. Until Sunday night. Here are 3 reasons why that streak is now over.




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Saturday, September 10, 2011 motzei Shabbat

1. 9/11 - Tomorrow is 9/11/11 - the 10th anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks in New York and Washington. Being the 10th anniversary has prompted more than the usual "anniversary pieces". I assume that I am pretty much like everyone else - I vividly remember the horrific events of that tragic day, where I was, what I felt, and so on. I will keep those memories to myself, but I will share a variety of 9/11 items that caught my attention.



3. More About Islamic Radicalism - (thanks to MF for this link)



4. And More On The Decline Of The West - How to Reverse the West's Decline | Standpoint - also see (thanks to JV):


(I must admit that at first, it was a little unsettling listening to someone speak so passionately in German to such loud approval....)


5. Personal Ways To Fight Islamic Terror - Fighting Islamic Terror: A Personal Duty


6. Turkey - The etymology of "Turkey" is that it is derived from "Turk" - meaning "strong" in the Old Turkish language, and "iye" - a suffix meaning "owner" or "related to" - you can look it up here.

Alternatively, according to urbandictionary.com, in slang, "turkey" means "...a person who is not in with current culture and slang or is just generally uncool." One can also be a "jive turkey", which, if you will pardon the direct quote (though you will soon see why I use it), means "...someone who talks a lot of shit, either a complete liar or someone who is so full of shit they think they are telling the truth.” (pardon my emphasis)
All of which leads to this - in my opinion, the only manner in which the current political leaders of Turkey are being "strong" is the degree to which they are being "jive turkeys". Read these links and you'll see what I mean.

7. Hey Erdogan, What Do You Have To Say About This?? - you JIVE TURKEY.....Syrian forces attack Homs, Arabs send envoy - latimes.com. Let me suggest this - in a slightly more delicate way than I would normally say it - you are such a JIVE TURKEY (refer to above definition) that your eyes are brown. I'm just sayin'......

8. Palestinian Statehood Bid - Well, it's official. The Palestinians have launched their bid to become recognized as a member state of the United Nations. While the rhetoric has been flying all over the place (more on that later), I thought that it would be interesting to start this section by examining what a "country" has to do to become a UN member state.

I also think that given UNGA Resolution 194, it is rather ironic that if somehow this bid succeeds, Palestine will become the 194th member state.

I will preface this with the comment (that will be quite familiar to anyone who has read this blog from time to time) that the UN as it now exists is largely a corrupt, biased and bloated joke. Anyway....

"Membership in the Organization, in accordance with the Charter of the United Nations, “is open to all peace-loving States that accept the obligations contained in the United Nations Charter and, in the judgment of the Organization, are able to carry out these obligations”. States are admitted to membership in the United Nations by decision of the General Assembly upon the recommendation of the Security Council." (my emphasis)

I should also point out that it is my understanding that the Palestinian Authority, since renamed the "Palestinian National Authority", was intended to be an interim administrative body and was established in accordance with the Gaza-Jericho Agreement after the Oslo Accords to assume the responsibilities of the Israeli military administration in populated Palestinian centers (Area A) in the West Bank and Gaza Strip until final status negotiations with Israel were concluded. In case anyone does not know this (????), those final status negotiations have never been concluded.

The PNA has an elected President (the "inscrutable" Mahmoud Abbas of the Fatah party), while the legislative body - the Palestinian Legislative Council - is controlled by Hamas, with Fatah is a secondary position. That old organization that we know and love as the PLO still exists, and purports to act (and is recognized) as "the sole legitimate representative of the Palestinian people" - it even has observer status at the UN (and to anticipate a comment from many of the people who regularly read this blog - I recognize the whole issue about whether there is even such a thing as the "Palestinian people" - follow this link for more)

So let me ask this. Is there anyone in their right mind who honestly and truly believes that a new State of Palestine, which will be controlled by Fatah and Hamas, is remotely capable of being a "peace-loving State?"

Not sure? Here's the Fatah Constitution. Here's the Hamas Charter. I won't even begin to try to detail the linguistic gymnastics that the PLO and that lying bastard Yassir Arafat have engaged in regarding their Charter except to note this:

"Reportedly, an internal PLO document from the Research and Thought Department of Fatah stated that changing the Covenant would have been "suicide for the PLO" and continued:

“The text of the Palestinian National Covenant remains as it was and no changes whatsoever were made to it. This has caused it to be frozen, not annulled. The drafting of the new National Covenant will take into account the extent of Israeli fulfillment of its previous and coming obligations... evil and corrupt acts are expected from the Israeli side... The fact that the PNC did not hold a special session to make changes and amendments in the text of the National Covenant at this stage... was done to defend the new Covenant from being influenced by the current Israeli dictatorship”.


This new State of Palestine will be a peace loving state. Sure....

And then let me ask this following question - Will this new State of Palestine accept the "obligations contained in the United Nations Charter?" Here is a link to the UN Charter itself - trying to be objective, but based on the Fatah Charter, the Hamas Charter and the Palestinian National Covenant, I cannot see the Palestinian Authority getting past the preamble to the Charter - let alone any specific chapters that follow.


Finally, will a new State of Palestine be capable of carrying out its obligations under the UN Charter? Watch this video and you tell me if the new State will be capable of anything but corruption?


Or violence?


Of course, in an organization that contains such member state luminaries (let alone the presence of such states on bodies like the Security Council and Human Rights Commission) as North Korea, Iran, Syria, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, Cuba, and Somalia, to name but a few, a vote for Palestinian Statehood actually could pass the UNGA. That is, if it ever got past the US veto at the UNSC.

But enough of my thoughts - here are a variety of excellent links on the subject by people much brighter than me:
And I will leave you with this from the last link:

"The left is in denial about what Palestine is; it is not a nationality, but a pretext for endless war. The “Palestinian” cause cannot be separated from the campaign for regional supremacy by Muslim states; it began as a way for Egypt and Syria to harass Israel, and it continues as a Saudi, Turkish and Iranian campaign to destroy Israel. The actors change, but the goal remains the same.

The UN can declare a Palestinian state, but it can’t reunify Gaza and the West Bank, or bring order to the feuding militia camps that pretend to be governments. The nations of the world can vote to recognize it, but they can’t make it self-supporting. Billions of dollars have already been wasted on the effort. And neither political support nor foreign aid will end the violence."

9. Michael Coren on Zionism - courtesy of CIJA's youtube page and broadcast on SunTV.






12. With Apologies To My Rabbinic Friends - Don't Call the Rabbi, Make your Own Rituals – Forward.com

13. Overshadowed by 9/11 - pretty much everything was overshadowed by 9/11. Many people forget that the antisemitic and anti-Israel hatefest formally known as the UN sponsored "World Conference against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance" concluded on September 8, 2001.


"The NGO declaration at the Durban conference, written in highly politicized language, reflected a concerted effort to undermine Israel. Article 164 states targeted victims of Israel's brand of apartheid and ethnic cleansing methods have been in particular children, women and refugees. Article 425 announces a policy of complete and total isolation of Israel as an apartheid state...the imposition of mandatory and comprehensive sanctions and embargoes, the full cessation of all links (diplomatic, economic, social, aid, military cooperation and training) between all states and Israel. Furthermore, Article 426 talks of condemnation of those states who are supporting, aiding and abetting the Israeli apartheid state and its perpetration of racist crimes against humanity including ethnic cleansing, acts of genocide."

Not only was there a 2009 Durban Review Conference - did they forget to include blaming Jews for supposedly poising wells and abducting non-Jewish children to use their blood for making Passover matzo - there is a further conference in September that will use the 10th anniversary of the original conference to re-affirm its disgusting conclusions.

Here are a couple of further links, one of which is written by Alan Baker - former Israeli Ambassador to Canada who I had the pleasure to meet in person on a couple of occasions:
14. The Apartheid Canard - Israel - An Apartheid State? Look how the Arabs treat the Palestinians - maybe this should be subject to some sort of review - perish the thought.....


15. I Have A Question - just a thought - a scant 66 years after the end of the Second World finished murdering 6,000,000 Jews simply because they were Jewish - that then being only the most recent example of the persecution of the Jewish people - let's not even go into the prior history of persecution (here's just one tiny example), often done under the auspices of the Church - what does the world now expect Jews and Israel to do when daily there is a vile torrent of antisemitism and anti-Israel lies and propaganda? Threats of nuclear annihilation? Attacks on Embassies?

Just brush it off? Ignore it? Blame ourselves as the cause? We've seen the crimes of commission and omission by enemies and "friends" - remember the SS St. Louis?.

To quote American diplomat Dean Acheson - "No people in history have ever survived who thought they could protect their freedom by making themselves inoffensive to their enemies."

So I'm very sorry - as the saying goes - "we've been there, done that and bought the t-shirt". You want to engage in the persecution of Jews? You want to demonize Israel, hold it to double standards and question its legitimacy? I'm going to fight back - and encourage others to fight back - to the best of my ability.



And here's something else to ponder. I consider myself a fairly reasonable person. I'm not a fan of war, and I have no right to be since I am too old to put myself in harm's way, though I recognize that sometimes war is necessary to defeat evil. But the more that Jews and Israel are unfairly targeted and attacked - the less reasonable the reasonable people will become. And when that happens, everything becomes 1,000,000 times harder.

This article by Moshe Arens make sense to me - especially this paragraph:

"This is not a time to throw caution to the wind. This is not a time to withdraw to the 1949 armistice lines. It is not a time for "daring political initiatives." It is a time for watching and waiting to see how things are going to turn out. It is a time to think how we are going to assure the security of Israel's citizens in the southern part of the country from daily rocket attacks, and make sure that those living in the north and the center of the country do not share their fate."

16. I Have Another Question - Why doesn't the UN hold a conference to recognize the utterly amazing and wildly disproportionate contributions of Jews and Israel to the betterment of the world? When was the last time you read a story about some medical breakthrough coming from Iran, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, or Egypt - just to name a few? Hey - here's just one recent example of yet another contribution Jews and Israelis are making to the world - Israeli Scientists Isolate Nearsightedness Gene – The Shmooze – Forward.com.

17. Hodge-Podge - a variety of links to which I have added some commentary:

18. Finishing Up - this clip about Islam and Terror is from The Big Speech, a TV special by American comedian Dennis Miller. Please be forewarned that Miller uses a lot of coarse language - so watch the clip in your discretion.

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Saturday, September 3, 2011 - motzei Shabbat

1. More On The Queen's Park Rally - watch this video....


2. More on (Moron?) Karin Brothers - the ostensibly meek little mouse who claimed to be from the UCC (and from whom the UCC rapidly distanced itself) and spoke at the Queen's Park Rally apparently she has had a lot to say about Israel - I wonder where she keeps her copy of The Protocols Of The Elders of Zion?

3. The UCC - it's nice of them to throw Karin Brothers under the bus - and deservedly so - but shouldn't the UCC also unequivocally condemn the racist, violent and genocidal statements made at that little hate-fest? If you need to be reminded of what was said (personally, I can't get it out of my head), and if you can stand it - watch the video again.

4. The Government of Ontario - I'm curious whether almost a week later, the Government has any position on what took place and was said literally on its doorstep.....

5. The Media - did not see this disgraceful event covered anywhere in the Toronto media - except Sun TV. Why not?

6. No Apology Necessary - Israel Unfazed by Turkey: We Will Not Apologize - Middle East - News - Israel National News. Meanwhile, Turkey won't back down:
So let's get this straight. A group of Islamic radicals who happen to be Turkish citizens sail on a flotilla that is contrary to international law, and then violently attacks unarmed IDF members when they legally board the boat. The IDF then, and only then, responds with lethal force and 9 of these Islamic radicals die.

And Turkey expects Israel to apologize? That's the mindset of Hermann Goring, the fat Nazi bastard, who ordered Jews to pay for damages caused by the Kristallnacht pogrom that was organized and directed against the Jews.

7. Attacking Israeli Interests Wherever They Might Be - Report: Hezbollah opens base in Cuba - Israel News, Ynetnews - gee, what if they if use Cuba as a base of operations against the US? - maybe bring some Syrian missiles....it will be Cuban Missile Crisis II (The Sequel) - with the wrong Democrat President in office.

And think - Cuba is 90 miles from Florida. If you drive 90 miles from Tel Aviv, you would be past the Hezbollah positions that border on the North of Israel and would be in the suburbs of Beirut. But no one should over-react or use disproportionate force or prevent flotillas from reaching South Florida. Hezbollah just wants peace!



9. Or, the JUICE - no, not OJ - he's too busy looking for the people that killed his wife Nicole and her boyfriend Ron Goldman - I mean the JUICE, man!


10. Antisemitism in Baseball - this clearly the work of nasty antisemites who have infiltrated the ground crew in Milwaukee, resulting in Jewish baseball star Ryan Braun falling over an invisible speed bump as he rounded third, heading for a sure thing inside the park home run.....bastards........


I think that this work by his teammates is a riot:

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Friday, September 2, 2011 - brief pre-Shabbat edition

1. There's No Antisemitism In Canada - and there's no reason for the Jewish community in Canada to fear radical Islamicists - if anyone believes that foolishness, then in my opinion, they are going to wake up to a harsh dose of reality one day......this video is from a rally held on the steps of the Queen's Park legislative building in Toronto, Ontario on August 28, 2011 but it might as well be from the Reichstag in Berlin on August 28, 1939. This video is posted courtesy of The Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs


For an excellent commentary, please see this video:


The bottom line to me is that if this does not get one up on one's feet to stand up for Israel, I do not know what will move them to do so.

And for those who really believe that what was said at this rally is free speech and legitimate criticism of Israel and not antisemitism - well, please join Useful Idiot deluxe Karin Brothers (the person at the rally who was allegedly speaking on behalf of the UCC representative) in "la la land", where, among other things - up is down, wrong is right, and black is white.

As a final footnote to this disgusting story, the UCC posted this comment on the CIJA youtube website - I think that there is more they could say, but it's a start anyway:
"In answer to several questions about Karin Brothers and her recent participation in the Toronto Al-Quds Day Rally, while Ms. Brothers is a member of the United Church, her views are her own and she does not speak on behalf of, or represent, The United Church of Canada. The United Church of Canada unequivocally supports the right of Israel to exist"
2. Love And Harmony In Israel - just feel those loving vibes - must be because of "the occupation"..............


3. The Halifax Chronicle-Herald - here is some of the activity that has taken place recently in the Herald - Canada should oppose Palestinian UN statehood bid - Opinion - TheChronicleHerald.ca - followed of course by a terribly misinformed and venomous letter from the relentless Dr. Zayid (second last letter) and someone from Abu Dhabi who must be suffering from the heat (third letter).

4. The Coast - This weekly publication is widely available throughout Halifax. While it is mainly concerned with entertainment, it contains some news material - generally dealing with local politics, and, of course - Israel.......

In a shining example of journalistic integrity, a couple of weeks ago it published (as a front page news item) a vicious attack on Israel and Zionism from someone claiming to be a "Jewish Haligonian" and then, in its next weekly edition, and despite having received numerous letters taking issue with the article - published 4 supportive letters. Only after receiving further letters and complaints, did it publish 3 contrary letters in yesterday's edition (you may have to open the image and enlarge it in order to read it - could not find a link).


I can't wait for its take on Palestinian Statehood and Durban III. Funny, though, I don't believe that it had much to such about events in Tunisia, Libya, Egypt and Syria. Maybe I just missed it.


5. Oh, And By The Way - Palmer: Gaza blockade lawful, IDF used "excessive force"... JPost - Diplomacy & Politics. So Turkey chooses this route - did they expel the Syrian Ambassador yet?

6. Another Idiot Bites The Dust - JPost fires Larry Derfner for controversial blog post | JTA - Jewish & Israel News - if you ever read his column, you probably wondered why it took so long to get rid of him. Meanwhile - his apology might sound good on paper, but if you go to his website and then read the comments (including from him), I think you will get the feeling that it is less than sincere.








10. Gotta Calm Down - I may have posted this before, but this is some relaxing and inspirational music from The Moshav Band - and boy we could use a visit from Eliahu HaNavi (Elijah the Prophet) - Shabbat Shalom and Shavuah Tov!!

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