1. BURKA VERBOD
Men wil in Nederland de Boerka verbieden.
Met als gestelde raison dat het 'op grond van veiligheids redenen' nodig is.
Lijkt eerder op getreiter.
Laat men dan ook, omwille de goede orde, lage heupbroeken en naveltruitjes verbieden. Iemand die haar bilspleet zo tentoonstelt is ook een gevaar voor het publiek. Zelfs als, zoals velen, ze blubbervet is.
Ik zal vast niet de enige zijn die hoofd afwent om de schaamdelen van zo'n sletpuber niet onder oog te krijgen.
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2. MARCO PASTORS
Islamisering lijkt oprukkend Naziisme?
Wat een idote opmerking van Marco Pastors. Hij en velen gebruiken die Nazi-vergelijkingen lukraak.
Zionisme is volgens sommigen Naziisme, de Amerikanen bennen Nazis, de Republikeinen, de Saoedische regering, de Iranezen, de anti-rokers, de dierenrechten activisten, de bontfabrikanten, de vegetarischen, en de vlees industrie.
Links vergelijkt al jaren alles met Naziisme.
Nu blijkbaar doen de rest van de idioten het ook.
Er is 'n hoop in de Islam dat ik niet goed veel.
Maar zo'n vergelijking is wel bijzonder ver gezocht.
Veel dat wij als kwalijk zien is gewoon of 'n spiegelbeeld van het eigene, of slechts de afwijking van onze normen.
Men kwatsjt ook dat over enkele generaties de Islamieten in Nederland de dominante bevolkings groep zouden kunnen worden. Doch ziet over het hoofd dat tegen die tijd die lui volledig verNederlandst zullen zijn.
Net zoals tijdens de oorlogsjaren de NSBers en collaborateurs de dominante bevolkingsgroep waren, en sedertdien dood-normaal gewoon 'n deel van de maatschappij werden.
Waar men zich aan ergert zijn die Islamieten die nog ver van de Nederlandsche normen zijn. Natuurlijk, men merkt juist wel die lui.
Wat men meestens weigert te merken is de Turk of Marokkaan die vlekkeloos Nederlands praat, z'n sjekkie rolt als een 'normaal' mens, 'n bakske koffie om de hoek drinkt, terwijl ie gezellig over PSV of Ajax klets.
De half-mongoolsche inteelt patatte-boer in het platteland, die groffe zondvloeken uitroept tegen de hele wereld, merkt men ook niet...., of men beschouwt hem als een ongevaarlijke oer-Nederlandsche type.
Zoals ik al schreef heb ik problemen met de Islam. Voorts heb ik schurft aan vele opvattingen en gedragspatronen van sommige Islamieten in Nederland. Dat niet tegenstaande merk ik aan Nederlanders op het internet dat als er iets in Nederland is dat op Naziisme lijkt, het meestens hun zelf is.
Hoeveel van die ultra-rechtsche kakkerlakken steunen ook al weer Vlaams Belang? Hoeveel van die lui hadden zelfs ooit gehoord van Theo Van Gogh voordat hij werd vermoord? Hoeveel van die wezels zijn unemployable werkelozen? Lonsdalers?
Dezelfde paranoia dat beweert dat Nederland door de Islamieten overgenomen word, kan ook makkelijk geloven dat Amerika beheerd word door vrijmetselaars en Joden.
Marco Pastors klets uit zijn nek. Precies zulke mensen zijn een gevaar voor de samenleving.
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Note for those who don't read Dutch:
The text above is in reaction to two news items from the Netherlands recently.
The first one is the proposal to ban burqas, the second the comparison (by Marco Pastors) of Islamicization in the Netherlands with Naziism (many Dutch venomously despise the foreigners they invited to do the dirty work that they themselves refused).
There are two things to bear in mind - the burqa ban is alleged to be a security issue, but is more likely fueled solely by bigotry and pettiness; and the comparison made by Mr. Pastors is both a cheap shot and hideously obscene. He should be ashamed of himself for using the Nazi comparison, as should almost everybody who so glibly seizes upon that word.
Nazism was sui generis. There is much wrong with the world, but if we never describe it accurately, and simply compare it to a past-evil, we are scarce better than the Muslim or Anti-Semite whose stock response to everything is 'the Jew', or the racist who blames everything on 'the darkies', or the Frenchman who sees the hand of 'le Boche' behind everything.
Such a comparison cheapens the word, and averts a realistic appraisal.
What makes Mr. Pastors comparison especially egregious is the repulsive nature of the utterance, in the final days of a political campaign. He is using the term 'Nazi' to make political capital. He is using the term in a way that discounts precisely the actual realities of Nazism. He is using the word Nazi to slam a minority. And he is using the term in the same way that the Nazis used the word 'Jew'.
As I said - both a cheap shot, and an obscene comparison.
Friday, November 17, 2006
Thursday, November 16, 2006
MEMORIES OF AL ANDALUZ - PUTRID AND SLIMY
[Question: How do you say 'coward' in Spanish? Answer: Cobarde. But 'collaborator' comes close.]
Mel Gibson: "F----ng Jews... The Jews are responsible for all the wars in the world."
Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero: "Peace between Israel and the Palestinians means to a large extent peace on the international scene..."
Okay..., can someone please explain to me how these statements differ?
Mel Gibson comes right out and says what Spanish PM Zapatero implies.
I honestly cannot see much distinction. The attitude that informs both statements has the same stench, the same feel.
Maybe I'm just not subtle enough.
It would be far too kind of me to assume that Mr. Zapatero has somehow not noticed several international hot spots...... Chechnya, Afghanistan, Irak, Darfur, Kashmir.....
It would also be far too kind to assume that Mr. Zapatero is ignorant of a few key differences between Islam (a factor in all the above) and Judaism (NOT a factor in all the above).
I confess to being absolutely baffled at the connection between Israel and Kashmir. Or Israel and Uruzgan (a hellhole in Afghanistan where the Taliban are making a comeback). Or for that matter the connection between Israel and the Congo, or Darfur, or Liberia, or the Western Sahara, or Somalia, or most of the places where wars have taken place in the last thirty or forty years.
We have a word for people such as Mr. Zapatero. No, I'm not thinking of the obvious one (anti-Semite), but of an even more appropriate term - Quisling.
Mr. Zapatero is bending over backwards to accommodate the anti-Israel side. He knows who has made Israel-Palestine an issue for the last three generations. He knows how they have spread their anti-Israel message among the far-left for three generations. He knows why, and he knows the lies. And he knows the viciousness with which they have furthered their cause.
But he is no doubt grateful that they won him the election that made him prime-minister.
And he is mindful of the tactics they use when people and countries dare to disagree with them.
There is sure to be a second term in his future.
I might remind him that Israel never hijacked a plane, blew up a train, or pushed a wheelchair-bound cripple overboard. I might, but I am sure he knows that as well as anyone.
Instead I would like to remind him about the period between 711 Common Era and 1492 Common Era.
Let him think deeply about that period, as it has not been forgotten by those whom he would placate.
Mel Gibson: "F----ng Jews... The Jews are responsible for all the wars in the world."
Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero: "Peace between Israel and the Palestinians means to a large extent peace on the international scene..."
Okay..., can someone please explain to me how these statements differ?
Mel Gibson comes right out and says what Spanish PM Zapatero implies.
I honestly cannot see much distinction. The attitude that informs both statements has the same stench, the same feel.
Maybe I'm just not subtle enough.
It would be far too kind of me to assume that Mr. Zapatero has somehow not noticed several international hot spots...... Chechnya, Afghanistan, Irak, Darfur, Kashmir.....
It would also be far too kind to assume that Mr. Zapatero is ignorant of a few key differences between Islam (a factor in all the above) and Judaism (NOT a factor in all the above).
I confess to being absolutely baffled at the connection between Israel and Kashmir. Or Israel and Uruzgan (a hellhole in Afghanistan where the Taliban are making a comeback). Or for that matter the connection between Israel and the Congo, or Darfur, or Liberia, or the Western Sahara, or Somalia, or most of the places where wars have taken place in the last thirty or forty years.
We have a word for people such as Mr. Zapatero. No, I'm not thinking of the obvious one (anti-Semite), but of an even more appropriate term - Quisling.
Mr. Zapatero is bending over backwards to accommodate the anti-Israel side. He knows who has made Israel-Palestine an issue for the last three generations. He knows how they have spread their anti-Israel message among the far-left for three generations. He knows why, and he knows the lies. And he knows the viciousness with which they have furthered their cause.
But he is no doubt grateful that they won him the election that made him prime-minister.
And he is mindful of the tactics they use when people and countries dare to disagree with them.
There is sure to be a second term in his future.
I might remind him that Israel never hijacked a plane, blew up a train, or pushed a wheelchair-bound cripple overboard. I might, but I am sure he knows that as well as anyone.
Instead I would like to remind him about the period between 711 Common Era and 1492 Common Era.
Let him think deeply about that period, as it has not been forgotten by those whom he would placate.
ISRAEL REJECTS EUROPEAN DRAFT PROPOSAL FOR PEA.... SAY WHAT?!?
[Full article here: http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/789009.html ]
Quotes from Today's Ha'aretz:
"Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero on Thursday announced plans to launch the initiative, stressing that the international community cannot remain idle as violence rages between Israel and the Palestinians."
"Zapatero announced the new European initiative at a summit with President Jacques Chirac of France. "Peace between Israel and the Palestinians means to a large extent peace on the international scene," Zapatero told a news conference."
This is akin to a rapist telling the trail judge that it was only the biting, scratching, and screaming of the victim that turned what could have been a peaceful encounter into a full-blown violent crime. "Your honour, if the bitch had just quietly submitted, the jury would never have even known about this. So I'm actually innocent, and it's her fault".
The judge agrees that Israel fighting back is purely unreasonable, and dismisses the case. But also shows an unclean interest in being able to watch next time around.
One more quote: "Palestinian Authority spokesman Nabil Rudineh said Thursday that his government welcomed the initiative, particularly its emphasis on international intervention."
I'm sure he would. Internationals in Lebanon are turning a blind-eye to the resupplying of Hezbollah. He expects the same favourable treatment.
International interventions and peace-missions have not been gloriously successful.
Nor is there any evidence to suggest that the Europeans are willing to risk the ire of the Arab world. Which ab initio indicates flaws in the idea of the Europeans being an impartial buffer between the two sides. Their idleness up to this point has been nothing if not partisan.
Quotes from Today's Ha'aretz:
"Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero on Thursday announced plans to launch the initiative, stressing that the international community cannot remain idle as violence rages between Israel and the Palestinians."
"Zapatero announced the new European initiative at a summit with President Jacques Chirac of France. "Peace between Israel and the Palestinians means to a large extent peace on the international scene," Zapatero told a news conference."
This is akin to a rapist telling the trail judge that it was only the biting, scratching, and screaming of the victim that turned what could have been a peaceful encounter into a full-blown violent crime. "Your honour, if the bitch had just quietly submitted, the jury would never have even known about this. So I'm actually innocent, and it's her fault".
The judge agrees that Israel fighting back is purely unreasonable, and dismisses the case. But also shows an unclean interest in being able to watch next time around.
One more quote: "Palestinian Authority spokesman Nabil Rudineh said Thursday that his government welcomed the initiative, particularly its emphasis on international intervention."
I'm sure he would. Internationals in Lebanon are turning a blind-eye to the resupplying of Hezbollah. He expects the same favourable treatment.
International interventions and peace-missions have not been gloriously successful.
Nor is there any evidence to suggest that the Europeans are willing to risk the ire of the Arab world. Which ab initio indicates flaws in the idea of the Europeans being an impartial buffer between the two sides. Their idleness up to this point has been nothing if not partisan.
Wednesday, November 15, 2006
WHAT IS A JEW?
[Note: this was prompted by Steg (dos iz nit der šteg), who posted about "Non-Halakhically Jewish" here: http://boroparkpyro.blogspot.com/2006/11/non-halakhically-jewish.html . You really need to visit his blog more often than you do. Click here: http://boroparkpyro.blogspot.com/. And click often.]
Unlike social circles or fanclubs, Judaism stresses not what the person thinks about themselves as regards identity, but sets certain benchmarks instead.For Goyim to become Jewish, the bar should be high. For those people whose fathers were Jewish, the bar should be lowered. But one cannot arbitrarily chuck the standards aside, even for someone who has talked himself into believing that he is Jewish. Just because someone calls me brother does not mean that he is my kin.
That being said, I'm a little baffled by the people who take an all or nothing approach. Is there anything wrong with being not a Jew, but nevertheless being 'Jewish'?
While I despise the term 'Ben Noach' (an invented term if ever there was one), and the term 'Ger' has only a limited applicability, what about the term 'fellow traveler'?
How perfect a description for the Erev Rav! And how equally perfect for 'God-fearers' (the converts and unconverted fellow travellers in the Roman Empire - by extension in this context, their equivalents in the modern age)!
Plus it suggests a certain snarky rejection of any opprobrium that might adhere to being a Jew, Jewish, Judeo-phile, or pro-Israel.
On the other hand, if someone considers themselves a Jew and clearly has reasons to consider themselves so, is considered to be a Jew by other Jews, and conforms to a certain level of Yiddishkeit, it makes little sense to question their Jewishness, outside of matters pertaining to marriage, burial, and certain employments. There has always been a level of 'take it on faith' regarding the Jewishness of most Jews.
[But I still can't accept the 'Lesbian Womyn's Empowerment Wicca Minyan' as being Jewish. That is a case where I will insist that my definition of Jewish trumps their definition.]
The Halacha is that one is a Jew if one converts to Judaism, like Avraham and Sarah, or is descended from someone who did so, consistently along the female line (in some case all the way back to Sarah, or the wives of the men of Avraham's household).
Technically this could make someone Jewish who does not even have a clue. In practice, however, such people do not identify as Jews, and are not usually known as Jews. Still, Jewish observance or lack thereof is not the ultimate determinant, inheritance is.
Please note: People who claim to be descendants of the lost tribes are insane, not Jewish. Though they might have a Jew in the woodwork somewhere - most people probably do.
Jews for Jesus, if born of Jewish mothers, are Jews. But they are not Jewish. And having rejected any semblance of normative Judaism, are......., erm...., eh...., let's just say 'beyond the fold', and leave it at that. But they do have much in common with the people who claim descent from the lost tribes.
Unlike social circles or fanclubs, Judaism stresses not what the person thinks about themselves as regards identity, but sets certain benchmarks instead.For Goyim to become Jewish, the bar should be high. For those people whose fathers were Jewish, the bar should be lowered. But one cannot arbitrarily chuck the standards aside, even for someone who has talked himself into believing that he is Jewish. Just because someone calls me brother does not mean that he is my kin.
That being said, I'm a little baffled by the people who take an all or nothing approach. Is there anything wrong with being not a Jew, but nevertheless being 'Jewish'?
While I despise the term 'Ben Noach' (an invented term if ever there was one), and the term 'Ger' has only a limited applicability, what about the term 'fellow traveler'?
How perfect a description for the Erev Rav! And how equally perfect for 'God-fearers' (the converts and unconverted fellow travellers in the Roman Empire - by extension in this context, their equivalents in the modern age)!
Plus it suggests a certain snarky rejection of any opprobrium that might adhere to being a Jew, Jewish, Judeo-phile, or pro-Israel.
On the other hand, if someone considers themselves a Jew and clearly has reasons to consider themselves so, is considered to be a Jew by other Jews, and conforms to a certain level of Yiddishkeit, it makes little sense to question their Jewishness, outside of matters pertaining to marriage, burial, and certain employments. There has always been a level of 'take it on faith' regarding the Jewishness of most Jews.
[But I still can't accept the 'Lesbian Womyn's Empowerment Wicca Minyan' as being Jewish. That is a case where I will insist that my definition of Jewish trumps their definition.]
The Halacha is that one is a Jew if one converts to Judaism, like Avraham and Sarah, or is descended from someone who did so, consistently along the female line (in some case all the way back to Sarah, or the wives of the men of Avraham's household).
Technically this could make someone Jewish who does not even have a clue. In practice, however, such people do not identify as Jews, and are not usually known as Jews. Still, Jewish observance or lack thereof is not the ultimate determinant, inheritance is.
--- --- --- --- ---
Please note: People who claim to be descendants of the lost tribes are insane, not Jewish. Though they might have a Jew in the woodwork somewhere - most people probably do.
Jews for Jesus, if born of Jewish mothers, are Jews. But they are not Jewish. And having rejected any semblance of normative Judaism, are......., erm...., eh...., let's just say 'beyond the fold', and leave it at that. But they do have much in common with the people who claim descent from the lost tribes.
THOSE WOMEN
Tehilim (psalms 45:14) says “kol kevudah bas melech penima” (the glory of the king’s daughter is within), which is taken to mean that women should be restricted in their sphere of activity and modest in dress, even to the extent that showing their hair in public is considered immodest, bordering on harlotry - a sentiment that Saul of Tarsus wholeheartedly supports.
But why DO Hhareidim make their wives look like Arab men in mourning?
It is written in Yeshayah (Isaiah) 15:2 "Ala ha Bayit ve divon ha bamot le vechi al Nebo ve al medeva, moav yeyelil be chol roshav karcha kol zakan gerua" (He has gone up to Beis and to Dibon, to the high places to weep - on Nebo, and Medeba, Moab wails like a banshee; on all their heads is baldness, every beard is shaven); in Yeremayah (Jeremiah) 16:6 it says “…e lo yispedu lachem velo yitgodad velo yikareach lachem”(…neither shall people lament for them, nor cut themselves, nor make themselves bald for them).
From this we know that shaving the head is a sign of mourning among the heathen in the land, and remember, we are instructed to NOT be like them.
Shaving one’s wife is open to any number of interpretations, all of them disturbing.
On the other hand, smooth, shiny, round, ooooh! Yes!
But why DO Hhareidim make their wives look like Arab men in mourning?
It is written in Yeshayah (Isaiah) 15:2 "Ala ha Bayit ve divon ha bamot le vechi al Nebo ve al medeva, moav yeyelil be chol roshav karcha kol zakan gerua" (He has gone up to Beis and to Dibon, to the high places to weep - on Nebo, and Medeba, Moab wails like a banshee; on all their heads is baldness, every beard is shaven); in Yeremayah (Jeremiah) 16:6 it says “…e lo yispedu lachem velo yitgodad velo yikareach lachem”(…neither shall people lament for them, nor cut themselves, nor make themselves bald for them).
From this we know that shaving the head is a sign of mourning among the heathen in the land, and remember, we are instructed to NOT be like them.
Shaving one’s wife is open to any number of interpretations, all of them disturbing.
On the other hand, smooth, shiny, round, ooooh! Yes!
Tuesday, November 14, 2006
IRBUVEI DEVARIM
[Muddled words]
"Ki seitzei l'milchama al oyveicha, u-nesana Hashem Eloheicha b'yadeicha ve-shavisa shivyo" (When you will go out to battle against your enemies, and HaShem your God will deliver them into your hand, and you will take them captive as prisoners - Devarim 21:10).
POLITICAL LANGUAGE
Israel, a democracy located in a region where you would least expect such a thing, has Arab parliamentarians. Who fairly consistently speak ill of the state that gives them their bully-pulpit. Someone once said that wild exaggerations and rhetorical flourishes mark Arab discourse, and I've also heard the terms 'lyrical' and 'eloquent' used to describe their political speech.
The word, in the Arab world, is the mother of the fact.
[This may explain why every war against Israel is celebrated as a glorious victory, and why so few people believe that the 'Mother Of All Battles' during the First Gulf War ended badly for Saddam Hussein.]
Arabs speak with passion.
As can be seen below.
MK (Member of Knesset) Honeh Soueid (Hadash): People were killed and you want to be accurate...?
Deputy Defense Minister (Labor) Ephraim Sneh: You think that if you interrupt me, I won't say what I want to say? ... I can promise you one thing: You won't like 90% of what I have to say... Why did we start the military offensive in Beit Hanoun? To protect the citizens of Israel, to attack those who fire Kassams and who store up war material to use it against us. This was the objective; there is nothing more legitimate than that.
MK Muhammed Barakeh: Little children are terrorists?!
[screaming wildly] It's a shame and a disgrace! [continues to scream at Sneh]
MK Moshe Sharoni [Pensioners Party]: You just want to get your picture in Al Jazeera!
Barakeh: Shut your mouth, stupid!
[more screaming, Barakeh is finally ordered to leave by Knesset Speaker Dalia Itzik]
Barakeh [to Sharoni]: Shut your mouth!
Sharoni [in Arabic, apparently a bit taken aback by Barakeh's furious hostility]: Out! Out!
[This exchange is repeated several times, until finally Barakeh is taken out, while continuing to yell]
Speaker Itzik [with a sigh]: Then they talk about the 'image of the Knesset' and that we 'have to come towards...' You heard, MK Gal'on?
MK Gal'on: I didn't see you 'come towards' when Barakeh was talking...
Itzik: Oh, really? OK, OK... Deputy Minister Sneh, please continue.
[Arab MK Ahmed Tibi starts screaming...]
Deputy Minister Sneh: On Nov. 7, from an orchard on the outskirts of Beit Hanoun, rockets were fired towards Ashkelon. On the next morning, we received warning that it would happen again, and therefore two artillery volleys were fired to that spot. As a result of a technical fault in the second volley, tens of innocent people were hit. We see this as a grave issue, a catastrophe, and a failure. I assume that those who fired the rocket on Ashkelon, if they would have hit dozens of innocent people, they would have seen it as a success.
MK Tibi: [screams] You're just clearing yourself! [unintelligible]
Sneh: No, no, Tibi - that's the difference of our cultures; that's the whole thing; that's the difference in our values.
[Tibi and other Arab MKs start yelling wildly]
Sneh: I promised you that you wouldn't like what I had to say. ... You cannot evade the point that when we hit civilians, we see it as a failure, but those who shoot at us see it as a success; that's the difference, you cannot evade that!
[more screaming]
Sneh: I came to speak here in order to respond and there is a limit to what we are willing to hear.
[Tibi and others keep screaming]
Sneh: ...After the extent of the catastrophe became known, we enacted a series of urgent humanitarian measures. The worst of the injured were taken to hospitals in Israel, and even though it was a battle zone, we allowed in trucks of medical supplies, we opened the Rafah crossing, and we did whatever possible to alleviate the unjustified suffering of these people.
Tibi: And then these Palestinians didn't even say thank you, what nerve of them!
Sneh: We didn't expect a thank you, we did what we thought we had to do.
[more interruptions]
Sneh: We didn't expect a thank you, I don't think we even deserved it. I think that we were responsible militarily, and we did what we had to do.
[Tibi continues screaming, Speaker Itzik threatens to remove him]
Sneh: Now that I have said what I wanted to say regarding military responsibility, I will discuss the moral responsibility. [raising his voice] Those who turned Gaza into a launching ground of Kassam rockets against a civilian populace, are responsible for those who were killed. Last September, we left Gaza, and we didn't leave a single thing - not a house or even a guard booth. What justification is there for what you are doing?! [Quiet] Why are the Rafah and Karni crossings half-closed?! Because the people sent by the terror organizations always want to blow up these places, the arteries that provide life to Gaza! They build a 600-meter tunnel - what are they thinking when they dig them?! Who will benefit if they blow up the Karni Crossing and Israelis and Palestinians are killed? And then later they'll complain that there's no milk or flour... What are they thinking? [Quiet] Who destroyed Erez (Industrial Zone), where 5,000 Palestinians worked and made a living? Who destroyed it? The terrorists!
Tibi: And that's why you fire at Beit Hanoun?
Sneh: We fire at Beit Hanoun, Tibi, because they turned it into a base of rockets and missiles against Ashkelon and Sderot. There is no country in the world that would tolerate such a thing! Take this account to Islamic Jihad and to Hamas, and tell them this - give your ethical speeches to them, not to us.
[source: Arutz Sheva: http://www.israelnationalnews.com/ this article: http://www.israelnationalnews.com/news.php3?id=115469 ]
"Maves ve chayim b'yad ha lashon" (death and life are in the grasp of the tongue - Mishlei 18:21).
"Ki seitzei l'milchama al oyveicha, u-nesana Hashem Eloheicha b'yadeicha ve-shavisa shivyo" (When you will go out to battle against your enemies, and HaShem your God will deliver them into your hand, and you will take them captive as prisoners - Devarim 21:10).
POLITICAL LANGUAGE
Israel, a democracy located in a region where you would least expect such a thing, has Arab parliamentarians. Who fairly consistently speak ill of the state that gives them their bully-pulpit. Someone once said that wild exaggerations and rhetorical flourishes mark Arab discourse, and I've also heard the terms 'lyrical' and 'eloquent' used to describe their political speech.
The word, in the Arab world, is the mother of the fact.
[This may explain why every war against Israel is celebrated as a glorious victory, and why so few people believe that the 'Mother Of All Battles' during the First Gulf War ended badly for Saddam Hussein.]
Arabs speak with passion.
As can be seen below.
MK (Member of Knesset) Honeh Soueid (Hadash): People were killed and you want to be accurate...?
Deputy Defense Minister (Labor) Ephraim Sneh: You think that if you interrupt me, I won't say what I want to say? ... I can promise you one thing: You won't like 90% of what I have to say... Why did we start the military offensive in Beit Hanoun? To protect the citizens of Israel, to attack those who fire Kassams and who store up war material to use it against us. This was the objective; there is nothing more legitimate than that.
MK Muhammed Barakeh: Little children are terrorists?!
[screaming wildly] It's a shame and a disgrace! [continues to scream at Sneh]
MK Moshe Sharoni [Pensioners Party]: You just want to get your picture in Al Jazeera!
Barakeh: Shut your mouth, stupid!
[more screaming, Barakeh is finally ordered to leave by Knesset Speaker Dalia Itzik]
Barakeh [to Sharoni]: Shut your mouth!
Sharoni [in Arabic, apparently a bit taken aback by Barakeh's furious hostility]: Out! Out!
[This exchange is repeated several times, until finally Barakeh is taken out, while continuing to yell]
Speaker Itzik [with a sigh]: Then they talk about the 'image of the Knesset' and that we 'have to come towards...' You heard, MK Gal'on?
MK Gal'on: I didn't see you 'come towards' when Barakeh was talking...
Itzik: Oh, really? OK, OK... Deputy Minister Sneh, please continue.
[Arab MK Ahmed Tibi starts screaming...]
Deputy Minister Sneh: On Nov. 7, from an orchard on the outskirts of Beit Hanoun, rockets were fired towards Ashkelon. On the next morning, we received warning that it would happen again, and therefore two artillery volleys were fired to that spot. As a result of a technical fault in the second volley, tens of innocent people were hit. We see this as a grave issue, a catastrophe, and a failure. I assume that those who fired the rocket on Ashkelon, if they would have hit dozens of innocent people, they would have seen it as a success.
MK Tibi: [screams] You're just clearing yourself! [unintelligible]
Sneh: No, no, Tibi - that's the difference of our cultures; that's the whole thing; that's the difference in our values.
[Tibi and other Arab MKs start yelling wildly]
Sneh: I promised you that you wouldn't like what I had to say. ... You cannot evade the point that when we hit civilians, we see it as a failure, but those who shoot at us see it as a success; that's the difference, you cannot evade that!
[more screaming]
Sneh: I came to speak here in order to respond and there is a limit to what we are willing to hear.
[Tibi and others keep screaming]
Sneh: ...After the extent of the catastrophe became known, we enacted a series of urgent humanitarian measures. The worst of the injured were taken to hospitals in Israel, and even though it was a battle zone, we allowed in trucks of medical supplies, we opened the Rafah crossing, and we did whatever possible to alleviate the unjustified suffering of these people.
Tibi: And then these Palestinians didn't even say thank you, what nerve of them!
Sneh: We didn't expect a thank you, we did what we thought we had to do.
[more interruptions]
Sneh: We didn't expect a thank you, I don't think we even deserved it. I think that we were responsible militarily, and we did what we had to do.
[Tibi continues screaming, Speaker Itzik threatens to remove him]
Sneh: Now that I have said what I wanted to say regarding military responsibility, I will discuss the moral responsibility. [raising his voice] Those who turned Gaza into a launching ground of Kassam rockets against a civilian populace, are responsible for those who were killed. Last September, we left Gaza, and we didn't leave a single thing - not a house or even a guard booth. What justification is there for what you are doing?! [Quiet] Why are the Rafah and Karni crossings half-closed?! Because the people sent by the terror organizations always want to blow up these places, the arteries that provide life to Gaza! They build a 600-meter tunnel - what are they thinking when they dig them?! Who will benefit if they blow up the Karni Crossing and Israelis and Palestinians are killed? And then later they'll complain that there's no milk or flour... What are they thinking? [Quiet] Who destroyed Erez (Industrial Zone), where 5,000 Palestinians worked and made a living? Who destroyed it? The terrorists!
Tibi: And that's why you fire at Beit Hanoun?
Sneh: We fire at Beit Hanoun, Tibi, because they turned it into a base of rockets and missiles against Ashkelon and Sderot. There is no country in the world that would tolerate such a thing! Take this account to Islamic Jihad and to Hamas, and tell them this - give your ethical speeches to them, not to us.
[source: Arutz Sheva: http://www.israelnationalnews.com/ this article: http://www.israelnationalnews.com/news.php3?id=115469 ]
"Maves ve chayim b'yad ha lashon" (death and life are in the grasp of the tongue - Mishlei 18:21).
Sunday, November 12, 2006
COUNTER DEMO REPORT
Note: The silent-vigil and the counter demo started shortly after five in the evening on Friday November tenth, and ended around seven pm.
Being in a pro-Israel counter-demo is a crap-shoot; you never know how much outnumbered you will be.
Despite the extremely short notice, we were not much outnumbered.
The pro-Palestinian side had two dozen activists.
Our side (pro-Israel) had nearly twenty people.
I am especially grateful to the observant people who were present, as it cut into their shabbes. But everyone who came deserves appreciation - it took extra effort for them to be there.
Most passers-by studiously avoided eye-contact with either side, some took flyers and some engaged briefly in conversation.
Despite not being able to discuss the issue in any great depth with many people, I believe that we successfully got our message across that ever-increasing attacks on Israel, and the firing of Qassam rockets from densely populated civilian neighborhoods, is neither valid dialogue nor conducive to a peaceful resolution, but instead counts as both violent provocation and terrorism. Necessarily there will be regrettable occurrences - and in fact the Palestinian side deliberately elicits military responses because they know that civilian victims are invaluable, civilian shields a deterrent.
The demo was mostly peaceful, and fairly quiet.
Though there were also people who vociferated as they went by.
Several thoughts:
1. R told me that he thinks of this as a legitimate form of fighting Amalek.
Which, when you think about it, is a very appropriate way of rationalizing it. Amalek will rise in each generation, and the commandment is to combat Amalek in each generation. It is a commandment that transcends much else (Lakewood Yid and I had a conversation several weeks ago about this in the comments on another blog). If Amalek represents all that is deliberately and consciously evil, rather than strictly sitra achra by descent, then it follows that there are those who by choice and of their own free will are Amalek.
There are Ahavei-Yisroel, and there are the unknown Tzadkim; there are Sonei-Yisroel, and there are Amalekim.
2. The person who told me to go back "there" (by which he clearly meant Israel), with that very statement acknowledged the Jewish right to the land. He probably did not realize that.
3. The person who told me that the US should cut all aid to Israel unknowingly admitted what all of us already know, namely that the Arab world would commit a second and final holocaust if they could.
This is the logic: Arguing that US aid is the only thing that protects Israel is expressing that Israel could otherwise be succesfully dealt with by her enemies.
The Arabs have consistently tried to destroy Israel, and they have consistently empowered those who would do the dirty work. Blaming US aid for Israel's continued existence is an admission that the efforts to eliminate Israel are unceasing.
Which ab initio means that support for Israel is the only moral choice.
If we do not support Israel, who will? The Europeans?
The Europeans would have done nothing about Bosnia and Kosovo if the United States had not forced them to get involved. The Europeans are happy to sit back and let France block any measures to stop the Genocide in Darfur.
The Europeans were mute against the half-century threat presented by the Soviet Union, limp against Fascism and tyranny. The Europeans have fairly consistently taken the side of the Arabs. The only thing that can be expected from the Europeans would be inaction, recrimination, and ever more pro-Arabism.
Russia will sell arms to anybody in the Mideast who can pay, India has a history of being less than room-temperature at best towards Israel, China uses its weight at the UN against Israel, and the third-world has been in the pocket of the oil-states and the erstwhile Soviet Union for decades.
But of course, the statement that US support is the only thing that keeps Israel from going under is absolute horse-feathers. All the money in the world could not preserve Israel if Israel was not determined. This is not a battle of means, but a battle of will. Israel has the will to survive, her enemies have the will to destroy her. By aiding Israel we recognize both sides for what they are.
4. The grungy-looking gentleman who went into a long screaming tirade about 'damned Jews murdering babies' with his tax-money unwittingly demonstrated two things: The first being that the anti-Israel side has unbalanced and hate-filled members, the second being that there is a need to voice support for Israel - when hate-filled bigots reveal themselves, they publicly prove the need to counteract them.
5. The gentleman who gave me the finger had an ugly anti-Semitic finger.
I hope it turns septic and gangrenous.
6. Final thought: I really need to buy more flags. A mass of flags makes a visual statement that needs no words, they add punch to the message. And, as many of us who come to these events are understandably somewhat hesitant to shlep our flags and signs on public-transit, it makes sense for me to store more such props at work, being so conveniently close to the cockpit where these love-fests occur.
Being in a pro-Israel counter-demo is a crap-shoot; you never know how much outnumbered you will be.
Despite the extremely short notice, we were not much outnumbered.
The pro-Palestinian side had two dozen activists.
Our side (pro-Israel) had nearly twenty people.
I am especially grateful to the observant people who were present, as it cut into their shabbes. But everyone who came deserves appreciation - it took extra effort for them to be there.
Most passers-by studiously avoided eye-contact with either side, some took flyers and some engaged briefly in conversation.
Despite not being able to discuss the issue in any great depth with many people, I believe that we successfully got our message across that ever-increasing attacks on Israel, and the firing of Qassam rockets from densely populated civilian neighborhoods, is neither valid dialogue nor conducive to a peaceful resolution, but instead counts as both violent provocation and terrorism. Necessarily there will be regrettable occurrences - and in fact the Palestinian side deliberately elicits military responses because they know that civilian victims are invaluable, civilian shields a deterrent.
The demo was mostly peaceful, and fairly quiet.
Though there were also people who vociferated as they went by.
Several thoughts:
1. R told me that he thinks of this as a legitimate form of fighting Amalek.
Which, when you think about it, is a very appropriate way of rationalizing it. Amalek will rise in each generation, and the commandment is to combat Amalek in each generation. It is a commandment that transcends much else (Lakewood Yid and I had a conversation several weeks ago about this in the comments on another blog). If Amalek represents all that is deliberately and consciously evil, rather than strictly sitra achra by descent, then it follows that there are those who by choice and of their own free will are Amalek.
There are Ahavei-Yisroel, and there are the unknown Tzadkim; there are Sonei-Yisroel, and there are Amalekim.
2. The person who told me to go back "there" (by which he clearly meant Israel), with that very statement acknowledged the Jewish right to the land. He probably did not realize that.
3. The person who told me that the US should cut all aid to Israel unknowingly admitted what all of us already know, namely that the Arab world would commit a second and final holocaust if they could.
This is the logic: Arguing that US aid is the only thing that protects Israel is expressing that Israel could otherwise be succesfully dealt with by her enemies.
The Arabs have consistently tried to destroy Israel, and they have consistently empowered those who would do the dirty work. Blaming US aid for Israel's continued existence is an admission that the efforts to eliminate Israel are unceasing.
Which ab initio means that support for Israel is the only moral choice.
If we do not support Israel, who will? The Europeans?
The Europeans would have done nothing about Bosnia and Kosovo if the United States had not forced them to get involved. The Europeans are happy to sit back and let France block any measures to stop the Genocide in Darfur.
The Europeans were mute against the half-century threat presented by the Soviet Union, limp against Fascism and tyranny. The Europeans have fairly consistently taken the side of the Arabs. The only thing that can be expected from the Europeans would be inaction, recrimination, and ever more pro-Arabism.
Russia will sell arms to anybody in the Mideast who can pay, India has a history of being less than room-temperature at best towards Israel, China uses its weight at the UN against Israel, and the third-world has been in the pocket of the oil-states and the erstwhile Soviet Union for decades.
But of course, the statement that US support is the only thing that keeps Israel from going under is absolute horse-feathers. All the money in the world could not preserve Israel if Israel was not determined. This is not a battle of means, but a battle of will. Israel has the will to survive, her enemies have the will to destroy her. By aiding Israel we recognize both sides for what they are.
4. The grungy-looking gentleman who went into a long screaming tirade about 'damned Jews murdering babies' with his tax-money unwittingly demonstrated two things: The first being that the anti-Israel side has unbalanced and hate-filled members, the second being that there is a need to voice support for Israel - when hate-filled bigots reveal themselves, they publicly prove the need to counteract them.
5. The gentleman who gave me the finger had an ugly anti-Semitic finger.
I hope it turns septic and gangrenous.
6. Final thought: I really need to buy more flags. A mass of flags makes a visual statement that needs no words, they add punch to the message. And, as many of us who come to these events are understandably somewhat hesitant to shlep our flags and signs on public-transit, it makes sense for me to store more such props at work, being so conveniently close to the cockpit where these love-fests occur.
Thursday, November 09, 2006
COUNTER DEMO FRIDAY NOVEMBER 10TH. 2006
..............................................................
Sixty-eighth anniversary of Kristalnacht
..............................................................
EMERGENCY ACTION ALERT --- FORWARD WIDELY
Counter Protest Anti-Israel demonstrations:
1. Downtown San Francisco, Montgomery Street BART
(Montgomery and Market)
Friday, November 10th, 5-6:30 PM
2. Berkeley, Corner of College and Ashby, in Berkeley
Saturday, November 11th, 3- 4 pm
BACKGROUND
Palestinian terror organizations in Gaza including both Hamas and Fatah have been continuously shelling Southern Israel for the past two years. When Israel ended its presence in Gaza in August 2005, the shelling increased, thus putting an end to the myth that "Occupation" was the source of Palestinian violence. Israel finally decided that enough was enough in June of 2006 and launched operations designed to end the prolonged siege of her civilians.
Many of the bombs are coming from the Palestinian city of Beit Hanoun in northern Gaza, less then 3km from the Israeli city of Sderot.
Regrettably, there have been civilian casualties, some from being human shields for the terrorists, others from errant shells for which Israel has apologized.
Some civilians are even being treated in Israeli Hospitals.
Women In Black and and the American Arab Anti Discrimination Committee group "Break the Siege" will be protesting Israel’s defensive actions on Friday and Saturday. As was clear from their demonstration outside the Israeli Consulate this past Monday, they object not only to Israel’s defensive actions to protect her citizenry, but the very existence of Israel itself. Chants such as "Palestine will be free/from the river to the sea" and "Long live the intifada" show that they not only support the ongoing terror against innocent Israeli civilians, but they want the entirety of Israel to be wiped off the map!
EVENT DETAILS:
Friday’s event was just announced yesterday but we believe we can still mount an effective response.
Stand WithUs/SF Voice For Israel will have a representative on site to provide the pro-Israel voice. Even if you can come for just a few minutes, please add your voice to these pro-Israel
demonstration so that our enemies know that even whenever they come out to promote terror and to deligitiize Israel, we will be there.
If at all possible please bring your own signs and flags. Due to the timing of the event, we will be unable to provide many signs and flags of our own.
Signs or graphics offensive to any racial or ethnic group including but not limited to Arabs, Islam, or Palestinians will not be allowed.
Demand an end to rocket attacks against Israeli civilians!
Demand Gilad Shalit, Eldad Regev, and Ehud Goldwasser be returned home safely!
Demand the Palestinian Authority put an end to terror attacks!
Demand an end to the deligitimization and demonization of Israel!
Demand the Palestinian Authority and their local supporters choose peace so that the Palestinian people can have a future!
StandWithUs/San Francisco Voice for Israel
http://www.blogger.com/www.SFVoiceForIsrael.org
www.StandWithUs.com
------------------------------------------------------
Upcoming Events
Street theater performers needed!!
Saturday, November 18th, 3- 4 PM.
Counter anti-Israel protest
Berkeley, Corner of College and Ashby, in Berkeley
Saturday, November 25th, 3- 4 PM.
Counter anti-Israel protest
Berkeley, Corner of College and Ashby, in Berkeley
Friday, November 24th, 11:30AM - 1 PM.
Counter Women In Black’s annual post-Thanksgiving anti-Israel rally in Union Square.
Meet at the Bank of America building across from the Powell St. BART station, Powell and
Market, San Francisco.
Saturday, December 2nd, 3- 4 PM.
Counter anti-Israel protest
Berkeley, Corner of College and Ashby, in Berkeley
Monday, December 4th 11:30 AM.
Counterprotest anti-Israel demonstration outside AIPAC lunch 747 Howard Street, San Francisco (Outside Moscone
Center South)
Monday, December 4th 5:30PM.
Counterprotest anti-Israel demonstration outside AIPAC dinner
1001 Broadway, Oakland (outside Oakland Marriott)
------------------------------------------------
Do you want to become more involved with organizing our activities?
Send a message to
info@SFVoiceForIsrael.org
If you are interested in participating in our campaign to counter anti-Israel speakers, please send an e-mail to
info@SFVoiceForIsrael.org
Join the discussion! Do you have ideas? Classes to announce? Events to announce or discuss? Join our discussion list by sending an e-mail to
sfproisrael-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
San Francisco Voice for Israel is a non-partisan coalition that takes no position on the war in Iraq, the settlements, or Israel's final borders. Our members span the political spectrum and are united only by our commitment to preserving the State of Israel as a Jewish State within secure borders.
Please send your tax deductible donation to:
Stand With Us
P.O. Box 341069
Los Angeles, CA 90034-1069
Write SFV4I in the memo line.
ANOTHER PROTEST, ANOTHER CALL TO COUNTER-PROTEST
The usual gang of terrorism sympathisers are throwing another fit.
This site mentions details:
http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2006/11/09/18328267.php
In their words:
"EMERGENCY PROTEST Against the Massacre of Palestinian Civilians in Gaza Friday, November 10, 2006 5:00 - 6:30 p.m. Montgomery & Market Streets, San Francisco
Called by independent activists from Break the Siege and San Francisco Women In Black Bring relevant signs and candles Stop the Killing - Let Palestine Live! "
START DATE: Friday November 10
TIME: 5:00 PM - 6:30 PM
--------------------------------------
Note two things: this wasn't made known until today (Thursday afternoon), and tomorrow's event is planned for both the rush hour and the beginning of the Sabbath.
It would be lovely if we can get a serious presence to let an alternative voice by heard. Israel is catching hell from all the usuall loudmouths, who have already passed judgement and discounted the Israeli side, and have refused to mention the fact that a daily rocket barrage has been coming out of Gaza for months now.
Israel withdrew from Gaza last year. Israel no longer "occupies" Gaza. Yet the terrorist attacks have only increased, the level of haphazard violence directed against Israel has only gotten worse, and the chorus of hate has only gained in volume.
Palestinian terror attacks are standardly justified as righteous self-defense. Which is balderdash. Self-defense does NOT consist of firing Qassams into residential neighborhoods. Self-defense does NOT include deliberately targeting the Israeli public. Self-defense does not include kidnapping and suicide-bombers.
Qassams, kidnapping and murder, and suicide bombings are acts of terror aimed at civilians.
I know that many Europeans are largely willing to overlook perfidy, provided that the terrorists only strike the Jews.
I do not believe that Americans are like that.
Please, please, show up tomorrow and let your voice be heard. Speak out against the supporters of terror against Israel, speak out against the quislings who advocate surrender, speak out against the secretive anti-Semites who hide their hatred under a pretence of concern!
Bring signs. A good selection of possible signs and slogans can be found here: http://www.standwithus.com/signs.asp
Good messages to tell the public:
STOP FIRING ROCKETS FROM GAZA!
HAMAS, STOP THE AGGRESSION!
Also bring flags. Israeli flags, and American flags.
Thank you in advance for your support, I hope to see you there.
Be strong, and be well.
This site mentions details:
http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2006/11/09/18328267.php
In their words:
"EMERGENCY PROTEST Against the Massacre of Palestinian Civilians in Gaza Friday, November 10, 2006 5:00 - 6:30 p.m. Montgomery & Market Streets, San Francisco
Called by independent activists from Break the Siege and San Francisco Women In Black Bring relevant signs and candles Stop the Killing - Let Palestine Live! "
START DATE: Friday November 10
TIME: 5:00 PM - 6:30 PM
--------------------------------------
Note two things: this wasn't made known until today (Thursday afternoon), and tomorrow's event is planned for both the rush hour and the beginning of the Sabbath.
It would be lovely if we can get a serious presence to let an alternative voice by heard. Israel is catching hell from all the usuall loudmouths, who have already passed judgement and discounted the Israeli side, and have refused to mention the fact that a daily rocket barrage has been coming out of Gaza for months now.
Israel withdrew from Gaza last year. Israel no longer "occupies" Gaza. Yet the terrorist attacks have only increased, the level of haphazard violence directed against Israel has only gotten worse, and the chorus of hate has only gained in volume.
Palestinian terror attacks are standardly justified as righteous self-defense. Which is balderdash. Self-defense does NOT consist of firing Qassams into residential neighborhoods. Self-defense does NOT include deliberately targeting the Israeli public. Self-defense does not include kidnapping and suicide-bombers.
Qassams, kidnapping and murder, and suicide bombings are acts of terror aimed at civilians.
I know that many Europeans are largely willing to overlook perfidy, provided that the terrorists only strike the Jews.
I do not believe that Americans are like that.
Please, please, show up tomorrow and let your voice be heard. Speak out against the supporters of terror against Israel, speak out against the quislings who advocate surrender, speak out against the secretive anti-Semites who hide their hatred under a pretence of concern!
Bring signs. A good selection of possible signs and slogans can be found here: http://www.standwithus.com/signs.asp
Good messages to tell the public:
STOP FIRING ROCKETS FROM GAZA!
HAMAS, STOP THE AGGRESSION!
Also bring flags. Israeli flags, and American flags.
Thank you in advance for your support, I hope to see you there.
Be strong, and be well.
Wednesday, November 08, 2006
THE VALIANT DEAD CONTINUE TO MANFULLY RESIST, COMRADES!
Note: this posting is meant as gentle remonstrance, and I hope to spark a slightly different perspective of recent events. I sincerely pray that my Arab and European readers will take it in the kindly spirit in which it is offered.
CIVILIANS IN COMBAT ZONES
Civilians die during military operations. This is obvious. Regrettable, but obvious.
More Europeans died as collateral damage during liberation than as actual combatants.
And no, I'm not calling the utter destruction of several German cities collateral damage.
Armies, whether invading or retreating, necessarily see civilians as either impediments or bumps on the landscape. Military organizations strike at combatants. Civilians occasionally get hit.
And civilians in war-zones are often not impartial observers, but actively involved, committed to one side or the other, and functioning in support-roles.
It is only in modern times that civilian casualties have generated much condemnation - and by modern times I mean the last forty years, during which the Europeans have not themselves been extensively involved in war, but have felt compelled to criticise allies that were.
MODERN GUERILLA TACTICS
Mao Tse-Tung argued that the civilian population was the natural hiding place for guerillas, and that the populace both needed to be co-opted, and considered expendable. To Ho Chi-Minh, civilians were the first and last line of defense, and the first group to throw into combat, as a distractive gambit and to tie the enemy down. A variation of this idea was used by Imam Khomeini to clear the minefields during the war with Iraq.
Such tactics have recently been employed in Lebanon, where many civilians were moved to support Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah (laqnatullah anhu), many civilians lambasted Israel and screamed bloody murder to the world "look what those horrid Jews are doing", and huge numbers of civilians volunteered to be human shields for Hezbollah.
I believe that such volunteering was because of the splendid 72 virgin opportunities......
In any case, I've been firmly told that no coercion whatsoever was involved ('heaven forefend and damn you for even thinking so'), and as the people who told me this are all good people and mostly European, who could never be accused of bias, I believe them.
I laud both the patriotic Lebanese volunteer shields, and their European supporters. Bravo.
The dead civilians of Lebanon continue to perform admirable services for Hezbollah and its supporters, much like the dead Muslims of Sabra and Shatila, killed by Christians, did for the Euro-communists.
This does however raise questions about civilians in the Middle-East. And suggests that dead civilians are extremely useful to their own side.
MIDDLE EASTERN ATTITUDES ABOUT ENEMY CIVILIANS
In warfare in the Levant, civilians are often more dangerous than the official combatants. Most of the deaths in Iraq have been caused by civilians expressing polite political disagreement with their brethren. More ordnance is in civilian hands in Iraq than is held by the army and police force, and it is wielded more effectively besides.
Civilians in middle-eastern countries are a force to be reckoned with, whose often inchoate blood-lust is easily channelled by political demagogues and religious leaders.
Armies and politicians in the Middle-East have never considered civilians inviolate; certainly not the enemy populace, and often not even their own - Saddam Hussein, Hafez Assad, and Husni Mubarak all demonstrated political spunk by the judicious slaughter of some of their own people, much as one trims some fruits from a tree to make the others thrive. And of course they have at times vigorously sought to trim enemy populations.
Since World War II, well-over six million people have died in military events in the Mideast that did not involve Israel.
This is how wars along the southern and eastern shores of the Mediterranean have always been waged - since time immemorial, regions have been depopulated, cities have been laid waste, populations transported into exile, kingdoms pulled down stone by stone, and areas left abandoned to the howling wolves. This is part of the web and woof of glorious empires and great civilizations, whose achievements we still celebrate, and whose splendid heritage still warms our breasts. Egypt, Ur, Babylon, Persia, Greece, Macedon, Rome, Byzantium.
Often the victors would slaughter the men and the elderly, and enslave and rape the women and children.
Even Islam could not stop what was a time-honoured custom - opportunities to convert were often not extended to enemy tribes, instead they were treated as booty and traded like cattle. War, in addition to being a favoured mode of political discourse, was also an economic enterprise, which fuelled expansion and rewarded the faithful.
Slave raiding (rather than proselytizing) was practiced against the heathen until comparatively recently. Several Sultanates and Caliphates were slave-empires, notably the Mamelukes in Egypt and the Ottomans in the Balkans, Asia-Minor, and all of greater Syria.
Plus, to a certain degree, Saudi Arabia, where the royal family kept slaves even in the post-war period, and is rumoured to still have a few - mostly elderly wet-nurses and middle-aged eunuchs.
The mess in the Sudan is demonstrative of Islamic ideas about warfare, and a last echo of the slave-raiding culture. Events in Darfur excite the imaginations of many, who cannot find it in their hearts to utter bruising criticisms of the pious Islamists in Khartoum.
As similarly in the past they did not criticise their brother Saddam for what he did to the Kurds and to Kuwait, or brother Hafez for chiding of the city of Hama in 1982.
[Arabs are often pained by blunt speech, and prefer gentle diplomatic tact over overt criticism.]
All of this must be borne in mind when regarding statements by Palestinian leaders.
MODERATE PALESTINIANS
For instance, here's what Jamel Abed, Fatah leader in Gaza, said recently: "I call on all the armed groups everywhere to avenge the blood of the dead with suicide bombings against Israeli civilians".
Fatah are considered moderates, by the way. People we can trust, a group we can negotiate with.
Jamel Abed also called for cross-border attacks against Israeli civilians:
"I call on all the armed groups everywhere to avenge the blood of the dead with suicide bombings against Israeli civilians ( ) attacks should be carried out with no bounds or geographical limitation, and anywhere the mujahideen can hit Israelis they should do so."
Again, I remind you that Fatah are moderates.
Here's a somewhat more nuanced statement by a Palestinian government official and Hamas spokesperson, Doctor Ghazi Hamad:
"This is not a country of humans, these are animals and a bunch of gangs, and this nation must be wiped off the face of the earth."
Doctor Ghazi Hamad has been described as a moderate member of Hamas.
The desirability of massive civilian casualties is intrinsically part of the welt-anshauung of moderate Arabs and respected by many opinion-makers.
I need not even mention what the other moderate Palestinian organizations and warlords have said, other than that Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has again shown himself anxious to keep his position.
[Conceivably he fears being killed by his own people if he demonstrates independent thought? Well then he can always go live in Paris, like Suha Arafat. I'm sure that his friends have squirreled away enough money donated by the Europeans and Americans that he can live quite well, to say nothing of what the PLO has harvested from oil-sheikhs, fellaheen, and the former communist states.]
The only country for which the dead are not usefull, and not considered to be valiantly fighting the propaganda war, is Israel. Israel values the living. On both sides.
One would wish that other countries did not so treasure the dead. On both sides.
One might also wish that the Palestinians find a better use for their civilians.
Ambulatory explosives, lynchmob thugs, or cover for escaping murderers - surely some of them are capable of better things?
CIVILIANS IN COMBAT ZONES
Civilians die during military operations. This is obvious. Regrettable, but obvious.
More Europeans died as collateral damage during liberation than as actual combatants.
And no, I'm not calling the utter destruction of several German cities collateral damage.
Armies, whether invading or retreating, necessarily see civilians as either impediments or bumps on the landscape. Military organizations strike at combatants. Civilians occasionally get hit.
And civilians in war-zones are often not impartial observers, but actively involved, committed to one side or the other, and functioning in support-roles.
It is only in modern times that civilian casualties have generated much condemnation - and by modern times I mean the last forty years, during which the Europeans have not themselves been extensively involved in war, but have felt compelled to criticise allies that were.
MODERN GUERILLA TACTICS
Mao Tse-Tung argued that the civilian population was the natural hiding place for guerillas, and that the populace both needed to be co-opted, and considered expendable. To Ho Chi-Minh, civilians were the first and last line of defense, and the first group to throw into combat, as a distractive gambit and to tie the enemy down. A variation of this idea was used by Imam Khomeini to clear the minefields during the war with Iraq.
Such tactics have recently been employed in Lebanon, where many civilians were moved to support Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah (laqnatullah anhu), many civilians lambasted Israel and screamed bloody murder to the world "look what those horrid Jews are doing", and huge numbers of civilians volunteered to be human shields for Hezbollah.
I believe that such volunteering was because of the splendid 72 virgin opportunities......
In any case, I've been firmly told that no coercion whatsoever was involved ('heaven forefend and damn you for even thinking so'), and as the people who told me this are all good people and mostly European, who could never be accused of bias, I believe them.
I laud both the patriotic Lebanese volunteer shields, and their European supporters. Bravo.
The dead civilians of Lebanon continue to perform admirable services for Hezbollah and its supporters, much like the dead Muslims of Sabra and Shatila, killed by Christians, did for the Euro-communists.
This does however raise questions about civilians in the Middle-East. And suggests that dead civilians are extremely useful to their own side.
MIDDLE EASTERN ATTITUDES ABOUT ENEMY CIVILIANS
In warfare in the Levant, civilians are often more dangerous than the official combatants. Most of the deaths in Iraq have been caused by civilians expressing polite political disagreement with their brethren. More ordnance is in civilian hands in Iraq than is held by the army and police force, and it is wielded more effectively besides.
Civilians in middle-eastern countries are a force to be reckoned with, whose often inchoate blood-lust is easily channelled by political demagogues and religious leaders.
Armies and politicians in the Middle-East have never considered civilians inviolate; certainly not the enemy populace, and often not even their own - Saddam Hussein, Hafez Assad, and Husni Mubarak all demonstrated political spunk by the judicious slaughter of some of their own people, much as one trims some fruits from a tree to make the others thrive. And of course they have at times vigorously sought to trim enemy populations.
Since World War II, well-over six million people have died in military events in the Mideast that did not involve Israel.
This is how wars along the southern and eastern shores of the Mediterranean have always been waged - since time immemorial, regions have been depopulated, cities have been laid waste, populations transported into exile, kingdoms pulled down stone by stone, and areas left abandoned to the howling wolves. This is part of the web and woof of glorious empires and great civilizations, whose achievements we still celebrate, and whose splendid heritage still warms our breasts. Egypt, Ur, Babylon, Persia, Greece, Macedon, Rome, Byzantium.
Often the victors would slaughter the men and the elderly, and enslave and rape the women and children.
Even Islam could not stop what was a time-honoured custom - opportunities to convert were often not extended to enemy tribes, instead they were treated as booty and traded like cattle. War, in addition to being a favoured mode of political discourse, was also an economic enterprise, which fuelled expansion and rewarded the faithful.
Slave raiding (rather than proselytizing) was practiced against the heathen until comparatively recently. Several Sultanates and Caliphates were slave-empires, notably the Mamelukes in Egypt and the Ottomans in the Balkans, Asia-Minor, and all of greater Syria.
Plus, to a certain degree, Saudi Arabia, where the royal family kept slaves even in the post-war period, and is rumoured to still have a few - mostly elderly wet-nurses and middle-aged eunuchs.
The mess in the Sudan is demonstrative of Islamic ideas about warfare, and a last echo of the slave-raiding culture. Events in Darfur excite the imaginations of many, who cannot find it in their hearts to utter bruising criticisms of the pious Islamists in Khartoum.
As similarly in the past they did not criticise their brother Saddam for what he did to the Kurds and to Kuwait, or brother Hafez for chiding of the city of Hama in 1982.
[Arabs are often pained by blunt speech, and prefer gentle diplomatic tact over overt criticism.]
All of this must be borne in mind when regarding statements by Palestinian leaders.
MODERATE PALESTINIANS
For instance, here's what Jamel Abed, Fatah leader in Gaza, said recently: "I call on all the armed groups everywhere to avenge the blood of the dead with suicide bombings against Israeli civilians".
Fatah are considered moderates, by the way. People we can trust, a group we can negotiate with.
Jamel Abed also called for cross-border attacks against Israeli civilians:
"I call on all the armed groups everywhere to avenge the blood of the dead with suicide bombings against Israeli civilians ( ) attacks should be carried out with no bounds or geographical limitation, and anywhere the mujahideen can hit Israelis they should do so."
Again, I remind you that Fatah are moderates.
Here's a somewhat more nuanced statement by a Palestinian government official and Hamas spokesperson, Doctor Ghazi Hamad:
"This is not a country of humans, these are animals and a bunch of gangs, and this nation must be wiped off the face of the earth."
Doctor Ghazi Hamad has been described as a moderate member of Hamas.
The desirability of massive civilian casualties is intrinsically part of the welt-anshauung of moderate Arabs and respected by many opinion-makers.
I need not even mention what the other moderate Palestinian organizations and warlords have said, other than that Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has again shown himself anxious to keep his position.
[Conceivably he fears being killed by his own people if he demonstrates independent thought? Well then he can always go live in Paris, like Suha Arafat. I'm sure that his friends have squirreled away enough money donated by the Europeans and Americans that he can live quite well, to say nothing of what the PLO has harvested from oil-sheikhs, fellaheen, and the former communist states.]
The only country for which the dead are not usefull, and not considered to be valiantly fighting the propaganda war, is Israel. Israel values the living. On both sides.
One would wish that other countries did not so treasure the dead. On both sides.
One might also wish that the Palestinians find a better use for their civilians.
Ambulatory explosives, lynchmob thugs, or cover for escaping murderers - surely some of them are capable of better things?
UGLY EUROPEANS
Vanochtend was ik bijzonder blij dat de democraten zo zegevierden in onze verkiezingen.
Maar na de gebruikelijke Nederlandstalige webfora te hebben bezocht, is die vreugde grotendeels verdwenen.
Opmerkingen als "eindelijk een greintje common sense in die kleine kopjes", "demokraten zijn net zo onnozel", "stom volk", "hetblijven domme fassisten", "een verachtelijk volkje", "vuile immigranten landje", en dergelijke venijnige pennevruchten laten blijken dat het ook nooit goed is voor Jan Kaas - hij mot immer sjagrijnig zijn stomme meningen uitflappen, altijd iets rots zeggen, elke keer weer schofterig zijn grote bek opendoen.
Met dat konstant giftig gezeur zijn Nederlanders stukken gemeener dan de rest van de Europeanen, die mekkeren wel ietsje minder. Maar Nederlanders zijn niet originele denkers - wat uit hun monden of pennen gekakt word vertegenwoordigt het gedachtengoed van de rest van dat zooitje aan de andere kant van de Atlantiek. Zoals rap blijkt wanneer men Duitsche en Fransche webfora bezoekt, of kranten in die talen leest.
Ik heb tegenwoordig zodanig de rot-pest aan Europeanen, dat telkens wanneer ik die kots-aksenten hier op straat hoor ik mijzelf moet dwingen rustig te blijven, mijzelf eraan moet herinneren dat niet iedere European een rotzak is (en zeker niet diegenen die hier effe de tourist uithangen). Er zijn ook beschaafde Europeanen, goedwillende Europeanen, humane Europeanen. Een kleine minderheid die gekoesterd moet worden.
De rest van die Europeanen, vooral inkluus Nederlanders, kan me gestolen worden.
Maar na de gebruikelijke Nederlandstalige webfora te hebben bezocht, is die vreugde grotendeels verdwenen.
Opmerkingen als "eindelijk een greintje common sense in die kleine kopjes", "demokraten zijn net zo onnozel", "stom volk", "hetblijven domme fassisten", "een verachtelijk volkje", "vuile immigranten landje", en dergelijke venijnige pennevruchten laten blijken dat het ook nooit goed is voor Jan Kaas - hij mot immer sjagrijnig zijn stomme meningen uitflappen, altijd iets rots zeggen, elke keer weer schofterig zijn grote bek opendoen.
Met dat konstant giftig gezeur zijn Nederlanders stukken gemeener dan de rest van de Europeanen, die mekkeren wel ietsje minder. Maar Nederlanders zijn niet originele denkers - wat uit hun monden of pennen gekakt word vertegenwoordigt het gedachtengoed van de rest van dat zooitje aan de andere kant van de Atlantiek. Zoals rap blijkt wanneer men Duitsche en Fransche webfora bezoekt, of kranten in die talen leest.
Ik heb tegenwoordig zodanig de rot-pest aan Europeanen, dat telkens wanneer ik die kots-aksenten hier op straat hoor ik mijzelf moet dwingen rustig te blijven, mijzelf eraan moet herinneren dat niet iedere European een rotzak is (en zeker niet diegenen die hier effe de tourist uithangen). Er zijn ook beschaafde Europeanen, goedwillende Europeanen, humane Europeanen. Een kleine minderheid die gekoesterd moet worden.
De rest van die Europeanen, vooral inkluus Nederlanders, kan me gestolen worden.
GET YOUR GLOAT ON!
.
.
.
GLOAT. GLOAT. GLOAT. GLOAT. GLOAT. GLOAT. GLOAT. GLOAT. GLOAT. GLOAT. GLOAT. GLOAT. GLOAT. GLOAT. GLOAT. GLOAT. GLOAT. GLOAT. GLOAT. GLOAT. GLOAT. GLOAT. GLOAT. GLOAT. GLOAT. GLOAT. GLOAT. GLOAT. GLOAT. GLOAT. GLOAT. GLOAT. GLOAT. GLOAT. GLOAT. GLOAT. GLOAT. GLOAT. GLOAT. GLOAT. GLOAT. GLOAT. GLOAT. GLOAT. GLOAT. GLOAT. GLOAT. GLOAT. GLOAT. GLOAT. GLOAT. GLOAT. GLOAT. GLOAT. GLOAT.
.
.
.
And neener neener neener.
.
Bitches.
.
.
.
.
.
.
GLOAT. GLOAT. GLOAT. GLOAT. GLOAT. GLOAT. GLOAT. GLOAT. GLOAT. GLOAT. GLOAT. GLOAT. GLOAT. GLOAT. GLOAT. GLOAT. GLOAT. GLOAT. GLOAT. GLOAT. GLOAT. GLOAT. GLOAT. GLOAT. GLOAT. GLOAT. GLOAT. GLOAT. GLOAT. GLOAT. GLOAT. GLOAT. GLOAT. GLOAT. GLOAT. GLOAT. GLOAT. GLOAT. GLOAT. GLOAT. GLOAT. GLOAT. GLOAT. GLOAT. GLOAT. GLOAT. GLOAT. GLOAT. GLOAT. GLOAT. GLOAT. GLOAT. GLOAT. GLOAT. GLOAT.
.
.
.
And neener neener neener.
.
Bitches.
.
.
.
.
Monday, November 06, 2006
PRO-ISRAEL AND ANTI-ISRAEL
Report on the love-fest outside the Israeli Consulate, Monday November 6th., 2006.
I got to the Consulate by around ten past four. And was somewhat surprised by the un-impressive turnout - usually the soft-on-terror side has more people. By four thirty both sides had reached the numbers that, with only little increase, were to be maintained for the next two hours.
Our side (the Pro-Israel side) had about a dozen people. Their side had about fifteen. The police had about twenty. The anti-Israel side had billed this as a 'silent vigil'. A concept which some of them did not grasp. One of the vocal demonstrators fittingly carried an anarchist banner, the significance of which was as incomprehensible to him as the imperative to shut up and not make a fool of himself.
We are much blessed by the lack of brainpower of our enemies.
While both sides faced each other across the street, the police happily stood around keeping an eye on things. There was little for them to do, little intervention required.
By five o'clock the venomous potato woman and her friend the blinking ex-red guard had augmented their side, along with a few other known faces, maybe half a dozen. Our side had grown by probably the same number. And both sides festively moved down Montgomery Street, to take up positions at the BART station four blocks away, where the silent part of the silent vigil was abandoned in favour of angry ranting and the spitting of unprintables by the more eloquent Jihadniks.
An undercurrent of anti-Semitism (the spice of life!) coloured their rhetoric, and their uncritical support of murderers and hate-mongers did not go entirely unnoticed.....
If their motive was to rouse sympathy for the poor downtrodden rocketeers of Gaza, they failed rather miserably -- many people came over to shake our hands and voice their support for our cause and thank us for being there.
I must have spoken with around twenty people. Which is remarkable, given that I was actually deep in conversation with another member of our side about Palau (an island-nation in the Pacific, east of the Philippines) , betel nut (areca palm nuts chewed for their stimulating effects in many parts of South-East Asia and the Pacific), herring (a product dear to our hearts), red loin cloths (the crimson hue has magically protective powers), headhunting by Dayaks (when the government in Indonesia was not paying attention a few years ago, Dayaks in Borneo dealt quite effectively with Madurese transmigrants who had dispossessed them), Indonesian imperialist ambitions (anyone remember the brutal occupation of Timor L'Este? How about the continuing repression in West-Irian?), and several other matters.
All in all, the public seemed much more supportive of our point-of-view than I had experienced at previous events. Perhaps the tide is turning. Perhaps the strident hatred expressed by the other side is starting to grate on people. Whatever it is, it's a refreshing change, and I hope that the clarity and moral-support evinced today continue to spread.
The battle for the hearts and minds of the public must continue. But in that battle, our enemies are our unwitting allies. Which is a very good thing.
I got to the Consulate by around ten past four. And was somewhat surprised by the un-impressive turnout - usually the soft-on-terror side has more people. By four thirty both sides had reached the numbers that, with only little increase, were to be maintained for the next two hours.
Our side (the Pro-Israel side) had about a dozen people. Their side had about fifteen. The police had about twenty. The anti-Israel side had billed this as a 'silent vigil'. A concept which some of them did not grasp. One of the vocal demonstrators fittingly carried an anarchist banner, the significance of which was as incomprehensible to him as the imperative to shut up and not make a fool of himself.
We are much blessed by the lack of brainpower of our enemies.
While both sides faced each other across the street, the police happily stood around keeping an eye on things. There was little for them to do, little intervention required.
By five o'clock the venomous potato woman and her friend the blinking ex-red guard had augmented their side, along with a few other known faces, maybe half a dozen. Our side had grown by probably the same number. And both sides festively moved down Montgomery Street, to take up positions at the BART station four blocks away, where the silent part of the silent vigil was abandoned in favour of angry ranting and the spitting of unprintables by the more eloquent Jihadniks.
An undercurrent of anti-Semitism (the spice of life!) coloured their rhetoric, and their uncritical support of murderers and hate-mongers did not go entirely unnoticed.....
If their motive was to rouse sympathy for the poor downtrodden rocketeers of Gaza, they failed rather miserably -- many people came over to shake our hands and voice their support for our cause and thank us for being there.
I must have spoken with around twenty people. Which is remarkable, given that I was actually deep in conversation with another member of our side about Palau (an island-nation in the Pacific, east of the Philippines) , betel nut (areca palm nuts chewed for their stimulating effects in many parts of South-East Asia and the Pacific), herring (a product dear to our hearts), red loin cloths (the crimson hue has magically protective powers), headhunting by Dayaks (when the government in Indonesia was not paying attention a few years ago, Dayaks in Borneo dealt quite effectively with Madurese transmigrants who had dispossessed them), Indonesian imperialist ambitions (anyone remember the brutal occupation of Timor L'Este? How about the continuing repression in West-Irian?), and several other matters.
All in all, the public seemed much more supportive of our point-of-view than I had experienced at previous events. Perhaps the tide is turning. Perhaps the strident hatred expressed by the other side is starting to grate on people. Whatever it is, it's a refreshing change, and I hope that the clarity and moral-support evinced today continue to spread.
The battle for the hearts and minds of the public must continue. But in that battle, our enemies are our unwitting allies. Which is a very good thing.
COUNTER PROTEST ANTI-ISRAEL DEMO OUTSIDE CONSULATE -- MONDAY, NOVEMBER SIXTH
EMERGENCY ACTION ALERT – FORWARD WIDELY
Counter Protest Anti-Israel demonstration outside the Israeli Consulate
Downtown San Francisco, 456 Montgomery Street
Monday, November 6th, 4-6 PM
BACKGROUND
Palestinian terror organizations in Gaza including both Hamas and Fatah have been continuously shelling Southern Israel for the past two years. When Israel ended its presence in Gaza in August 2005, the shelling increased, thus putting an end to the myth that "Occupation" was the source of Palestinian violence. Israel finally decided that enough was enough in June of 2006 and launched operations designed to end the prolonged siege of her civilians.
Many of the bombs are coming from the Palestinian city of Beit Hanoun in northern Gaza, less then 3km from the Israeli city of Sderot.
As they did earlier this year, anti-Israel groups such as Women In Black, International Solidarity Movement, and the American Arab Anti Discrimination Committee group "Break the Seige" will be protesting in front of the Israeli consulate to demand that Israel stop defending herself and to allow unlimited bombing of Israel. These groups all reject Israel’s right to exist.
EVENT DETAILS:
This event was just announced yesterday but we believe we can still mount an effective response. Stand With Us/SF Voice For Israel will have a representative on site to provide the pro-Israel voice. Even if you can come for just a few minutes, please add your voice to the pro-Israel demonstration so that our enemies know that even when they try to keep us away by holding events during the workday, we will still be there!
If at all possible please bring your own signs and flags. Due to the timing of the event, we will be unable to provide many signs and flags of our own.
Signs or graphics offensive to any racial or ethnic group including but not limited to Arabs, Islam, or Palestinians will not be allowed.
Demand an end to rocket attacks against Israeli civilians!
Demand Gilad Shalit, Eldad Regev, and Ehud Goldwasser be returned home safely!
Demand the Palestinian Authority put an end to terror attacks!
Demand an end to the deligitimization and demonization of Israel!
Demand the Palestinian Authority and their local supporters choose peace so that the Palestinian people can have a future!
StandWithUs/San Francisco Voice for Israel
www.SFVoiceForIsrael.org
www.StandWithUs.com
------------------------------------------------------
Upcoming Events
Monday, December 4th 5:30PM
Counterprotest anti-Israel demonstration
1001 Broadway, Oakland (outside Oakland Marriott)
------------------------------------------------
Do you want to become more involved with organizing our activities? Send a message to
info@SFVoiceForIsrael.org
<mailto:info@SFVoiceForIsrael.org>
If you are interested in participating in our campaign to counter anti-Israel speakers, please send an e-mail to info@SFVoiceForIsrael.org
<mailto:info@SFVoiceForIsrael.org>
Join the discussion! Do you have ideas? Classes to announce? Events to announce or discuss? Join our discussion list by sending an e-mail to sfproisrael-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
<mailto:sfproisrael-subscribe@yahoogroups.com>
San Francisco Voice for Israel is a non-partisan coalition that takes no position on the war in Iraq, the settlements, or Israel's final borders. Our members span the political spectrum and are united only by our commitment to preserving the State of Israel as a Jewish State within secure borders.
Please send your tax deductible donation to
Stand With Us
P.O. Box 341069
Los Angeles, CA 90034-1069
Write SFV4I in the memo line.
Counter Protest Anti-Israel demonstration outside the Israeli Consulate
Downtown San Francisco, 456 Montgomery Street
Monday, November 6th, 4-6 PM
BACKGROUND
Palestinian terror organizations in Gaza including both Hamas and Fatah have been continuously shelling Southern Israel for the past two years. When Israel ended its presence in Gaza in August 2005, the shelling increased, thus putting an end to the myth that "Occupation" was the source of Palestinian violence. Israel finally decided that enough was enough in June of 2006 and launched operations designed to end the prolonged siege of her civilians.
Many of the bombs are coming from the Palestinian city of Beit Hanoun in northern Gaza, less then 3km from the Israeli city of Sderot.
As they did earlier this year, anti-Israel groups such as Women In Black, International Solidarity Movement, and the American Arab Anti Discrimination Committee group "Break the Seige" will be protesting in front of the Israeli consulate to demand that Israel stop defending herself and to allow unlimited bombing of Israel. These groups all reject Israel’s right to exist.
EVENT DETAILS:
This event was just announced yesterday but we believe we can still mount an effective response. Stand With Us/SF Voice For Israel will have a representative on site to provide the pro-Israel voice. Even if you can come for just a few minutes, please add your voice to the pro-Israel demonstration so that our enemies know that even when they try to keep us away by holding events during the workday, we will still be there!
If at all possible please bring your own signs and flags. Due to the timing of the event, we will be unable to provide many signs and flags of our own.
Signs or graphics offensive to any racial or ethnic group including but not limited to Arabs, Islam, or Palestinians will not be allowed.
Demand an end to rocket attacks against Israeli civilians!
Demand Gilad Shalit, Eldad Regev, and Ehud Goldwasser be returned home safely!
Demand the Palestinian Authority put an end to terror attacks!
Demand an end to the deligitimization and demonization of Israel!
Demand the Palestinian Authority and their local supporters choose peace so that the Palestinian people can have a future!
StandWithUs/San Francisco Voice for Israel
www.SFVoiceForIsrael.org
www.StandWithUs.com
------------------------------------------------------
Upcoming Events
Monday, December 4th 5:30PM
Counterprotest anti-Israel demonstration
1001 Broadway, Oakland (outside Oakland Marriott)
------------------------------------------------
Do you want to become more involved with organizing our activities? Send a message to
info@SFVoiceForIsrael.org
<mailto:info@SFVoiceForIsrael.org>
If you are interested in participating in our campaign to counter anti-Israel speakers, please send an e-mail to info@SFVoiceForIsrael.org
<mailto:info@SFVoiceForIsrael.org>
Join the discussion! Do you have ideas? Classes to announce? Events to announce or discuss? Join our discussion list by sending an e-mail to sfproisrael-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
<mailto:sfproisrael-subscribe@yahoogroups.com>
San Francisco Voice for Israel is a non-partisan coalition that takes no position on the war in Iraq, the settlements, or Israel's final borders. Our members span the political spectrum and are united only by our commitment to preserving the State of Israel as a Jewish State within secure borders.
Please send your tax deductible donation to
Stand With Us
P.O. Box 341069
Los Angeles, CA 90034-1069
Write SFV4I in the memo line.
ACTION! MONTGOMERY STREET BETWEEN CALIFORNIA AND SACRAMENTO STREETS, FROM TEA-TIME TILL THE COCKTAIL HOUR
If you're in the downtown today, please spend some time with us making a counter-statement to the usual bunch of retrogrades and hate-filled jugend.
Vigil at the Israeli consulate, 4-6 today, sponsored by the usual suspects.
It would be nice to have a pro-Israel presence as well.
We will send out a "formal" announcement as soon as we get our act together.
All our best,
------The vast Zionist Conspiracy
PS. This is of course why I keep an Israeli flag at my desk, along with some protest signs.
Vigil at the Israeli consulate, 4-6 today, sponsored by the usual suspects.
It would be nice to have a pro-Israel presence as well.
We will send out a "formal" announcement as soon as we get our act together.
All our best,
------The vast Zionist Conspiracy
PS. This is of course why I keep an Israeli flag at my desk, along with some protest signs.
Friday, November 03, 2006
UNDERCOVER JEW
Yesterday evening, famous Kazakh journalist Borat Sagdaiev was a guest on The Daily Show ('Der Taglishes Shau', for those of you with Boropark cable), speaking with Jonathan Stewart (Reb Yonosson Stebartabam, f.t.o.y.w.b.c.).
When explaining the toast 'le chayim' to Borat, reb Yonosson let slip that he was Jewish.
Borat recoiled, and accused him of having had plastic surgery, as his horns were no longer visible ("and also, please to keep your claws where I can see them...").
Which brings two things to mind.
The first one being the old idea that Jews have horns.
Where did that idea come from?
It came from a misinterpretation of the verse in which Moses comes down from the mountain after forty days face to face with the divine.
Seifer Shemos (Exodus), Parshas Ki Sisa, seventh Aliyah, psookim (verses) 34:29 - 30 "Vayehi beredet Moshe mehar Sinai ushenei luchot ha edut be yad Moshe beridto min ha har u Moshe lo-yada ki karan or panav bedabro ito" (And so it happened that when Moses descended from Mount Sinai with the two tablets of testimony in his hand, that when he came down from the mountain he did not know that horns of light came from his face when He spoke with him), "Vayar Aharon ve chol Benei Yisrael et Moshe vehine karan or panav vayiru migeshet elav" (And when Aaron and all the Children of Israel saw Moses, lo, horns of light came forth from his mien, and they were scared to come near him).
'Karan Or', idiomatically, meant rays of light. But the word karan specifically refers to horns.
For centuries, analogous to Alexander the Great (Sikander Dhulkarnain - Alexander with the two horns), who was represented with the ram's horns of an Egyptian divinity springing from his forehead on coins struck during his reign in Egypt, Moses was portrayed as having actual horns.
[A very Egyptian image, by the way, but it is doubtful most people realized that.]
Now, to the typical mediaeval European, Moses was the quintessential Jew, and one of the few shown in a multitude of representations. If Moses had horns, then horns should mark other Jews as well. Logic and actual observation would contradict this, of course, but most ignorant Christian peasants never came in contact with Jews, and happily believed that the Jew with whom they did exceptionally come in contact must have trimmed or cut his horns to pass unnoticed among them. The foolish-looking hats that Jews were forced to wear as identifying marks by the authorities in many provinces were re-interpreted by the ignorant as being a Jewish choice, meant to hide the stumps.
[These hats were often bright yellow, with tall floppy peaks, and broad drooping rims - very distinctive. The kind of hat you would see in a Dr. Seuss book.]
This brings us to the second thing brought up by Borat's comment about the horns, namely the idea that Jews hide their true identity and attempt to blend in, or pass unnoticed among the rest of us. Paired with this is the idea that if they do so, they do it because of some plot or evil intent.
Jews are actually one of the very few minorities whose presence does not register - blacks, Asian-Americans, Latinos, all stand out by their difference. But Jews come in every hue and stripe, and often look no different than the dominant ethnic group. The average well-bred bigot will happily tell black jokes when no black people are present, or say something incredibly stupid about Asians behind their backs, but has a 'problem' as regards the unseen and unknownable Jew.
Often the average well-bred bigot will either assume that there are no Jews present ('cause everyone here looks like us'), or that there might be Jews within hearing distance. If the first assumption dominates, our average well-bred bigot may tell a Jew-joke. And thus innocently create a problem.
Objecting to the joke, whether one is Jewish or not, marks one as a Jew, and specifically as an undercover Jew who hides his identity to trap poor unsuspecting Gentiles.
Not objecting means that one is a person with whom one can share this delicious forbidden fun (along with cracks about blacks, Catholics, Asians, Mexicans, Polish, Irish..... Etcera).
[And this reminds me of an old joke; an orthodox rabbi, an ignorant bigot, and an albino black man were walking down the street together..... ]
It is ironic that almost all of the old-fashioned western world bigotry and misinformation about Jews has found fertile soil in the Middle-East, where most ignorant Islamic peasants never come in contact with Jews, and will happily believe that the Jew they might exceptionally come in contact with has trimmed or cut his horns to pass unnoticed among them.
[Oh Abdullah, my friend, perhaps the Mossaaaaaaad has a horn-trimming department?]
Borat is a perfect send-up of the anti-Semitic praeconceptiva of the Muslim world. Muslims have been spoon-fed nonsense about the Jews for so long, that they'll believe anything, including second hand bigotry that isn't even taken seriously by most people in Europe any more. Borat represents the Islamic everyman - credulous, good natured, and often so staggeringly mis-informed that you don't even know where to begin correcting him.
But Borat is also the perfect undercover Jew, hiding his identity to trap poor unsuspecting bigots.
And as such, he also speaks poignantly to a particular demographic.
In the audience watching this movie there will probably be people of hues, who wistfully will dream of doing the same - venturing unnoticed and unremarked among the people of pallor.
Which is something that us melanin-deprived folks can only dream of dreaming about.
When explaining the toast 'le chayim' to Borat, reb Yonosson let slip that he was Jewish.
Borat recoiled, and accused him of having had plastic surgery, as his horns were no longer visible ("and also, please to keep your claws where I can see them...").
Which brings two things to mind.
The first one being the old idea that Jews have horns.
Where did that idea come from?
It came from a misinterpretation of the verse in which Moses comes down from the mountain after forty days face to face with the divine.
Seifer Shemos (Exodus), Parshas Ki Sisa, seventh Aliyah, psookim (verses) 34:29 - 30 "Vayehi beredet Moshe mehar Sinai ushenei luchot ha edut be yad Moshe beridto min ha har u Moshe lo-yada ki karan or panav bedabro ito" (And so it happened that when Moses descended from Mount Sinai with the two tablets of testimony in his hand, that when he came down from the mountain he did not know that horns of light came from his face when He spoke with him), "Vayar Aharon ve chol Benei Yisrael et Moshe vehine karan or panav vayiru migeshet elav" (And when Aaron and all the Children of Israel saw Moses, lo, horns of light came forth from his mien, and they were scared to come near him).
'Karan Or', idiomatically, meant rays of light. But the word karan specifically refers to horns.
For centuries, analogous to Alexander the Great (Sikander Dhulkarnain - Alexander with the two horns), who was represented with the ram's horns of an Egyptian divinity springing from his forehead on coins struck during his reign in Egypt, Moses was portrayed as having actual horns.
[A very Egyptian image, by the way, but it is doubtful most people realized that.]
Now, to the typical mediaeval European, Moses was the quintessential Jew, and one of the few shown in a multitude of representations. If Moses had horns, then horns should mark other Jews as well. Logic and actual observation would contradict this, of course, but most ignorant Christian peasants never came in contact with Jews, and happily believed that the Jew with whom they did exceptionally come in contact must have trimmed or cut his horns to pass unnoticed among them. The foolish-looking hats that Jews were forced to wear as identifying marks by the authorities in many provinces were re-interpreted by the ignorant as being a Jewish choice, meant to hide the stumps.
[These hats were often bright yellow, with tall floppy peaks, and broad drooping rims - very distinctive. The kind of hat you would see in a Dr. Seuss book.]
This brings us to the second thing brought up by Borat's comment about the horns, namely the idea that Jews hide their true identity and attempt to blend in, or pass unnoticed among the rest of us. Paired with this is the idea that if they do so, they do it because of some plot or evil intent.
Jews are actually one of the very few minorities whose presence does not register - blacks, Asian-Americans, Latinos, all stand out by their difference. But Jews come in every hue and stripe, and often look no different than the dominant ethnic group. The average well-bred bigot will happily tell black jokes when no black people are present, or say something incredibly stupid about Asians behind their backs, but has a 'problem' as regards the unseen and unknownable Jew.
Often the average well-bred bigot will either assume that there are no Jews present ('cause everyone here looks like us'), or that there might be Jews within hearing distance. If the first assumption dominates, our average well-bred bigot may tell a Jew-joke. And thus innocently create a problem.
Objecting to the joke, whether one is Jewish or not, marks one as a Jew, and specifically as an undercover Jew who hides his identity to trap poor unsuspecting Gentiles.
Not objecting means that one is a person with whom one can share this delicious forbidden fun (along with cracks about blacks, Catholics, Asians, Mexicans, Polish, Irish..... Etcera).
[And this reminds me of an old joke; an orthodox rabbi, an ignorant bigot, and an albino black man were walking down the street together..... ]
It is ironic that almost all of the old-fashioned western world bigotry and misinformation about Jews has found fertile soil in the Middle-East, where most ignorant Islamic peasants never come in contact with Jews, and will happily believe that the Jew they might exceptionally come in contact with has trimmed or cut his horns to pass unnoticed among them.
[Oh Abdullah, my friend, perhaps the Mossaaaaaaad has a horn-trimming department?]
Borat is a perfect send-up of the anti-Semitic praeconceptiva of the Muslim world. Muslims have been spoon-fed nonsense about the Jews for so long, that they'll believe anything, including second hand bigotry that isn't even taken seriously by most people in Europe any more. Borat represents the Islamic everyman - credulous, good natured, and often so staggeringly mis-informed that you don't even know where to begin correcting him.
But Borat is also the perfect undercover Jew, hiding his identity to trap poor unsuspecting bigots.
And as such, he also speaks poignantly to a particular demographic.
In the audience watching this movie there will probably be people of hues, who wistfully will dream of doing the same - venturing unnoticed and unremarked among the people of pallor.
Which is something that us melanin-deprived folks can only dream of dreaming about.
Thursday, November 02, 2006
TWO MORE LOVELY SOLICITATIONS
I have received two more lovely letters kindly requesting my assistance.
The basic argument of both epistles is that if I help the writer commit an illegal and unethical act, I will receive a percentage.
I'm sure I will.
Here are both letters.
Letter 1.
MR. SAMUEL AMAGO,
THE SENIOR AUDITOR INCHARGE
FOREIGN REMITTANCE UNIT,
BANK OF AFRICA{BOA}.
OUAGADOUGOU BURKINA FASO.
Dear Friend,
I presumed that all is well with you and your family. Please let this not be a surprise message to you because i got your contact information from the international directory few weeks ago before i decided to contact you on this magintude and lucrative transaction for our present and future survival in life. Moreover, i have laid all the solemn trust in you before i decided to disclose this successful & confidential transaction to you.
I am the senior Auditor Incharge of Foreign Remittance Unit of our bank and i decided to contact you for this financial transaction worth fifteen Million, United States dollar ($15m) for our present and future success. This is an abandoned fund that belongs to one of our bank foreign customers who died along with his entire family through plane crash few years ago.
Meanwhile i was very fortune to come across the deceased file when i was
arranging the old and abandoned customers files in other to sign and submit to the entire bank management for an official re-documentation and audit of the year against 2006.
Informed clearly that it was stated in our Foreign banking rules and regulations which was signed lawfully that if such fund remains unclaimed till the period of 4 years started from the date when the beneficiary died, the money will be transferred into the treasury as an unclaimed fund. However, it is not authorized by the rules guiding our bank for a citizen of Burkina Faso to make the claim of the fund unless you are a foreigner no matter the country. So the request of you as a foreigner is necessary to apply for the claim and transfer of the fund smoothly into your reliable bank account as the next of kin to the deceased.
When the fund is transferred into your account, { 36% } Thirty Six Percent will be for you in respect of all your assistance for the transfer of the fund into your account and provision of the bank account where the bank will remit the fund,{ 56% } Fifty Six Percent will be for me being the pioneer of the business while the rest { 8% } eight Percent will be shared to respectable Organisations such as Charity , Motherless Babies Homes, and helpless disabled people arround us in the World.
If you are really sure of your, Trustworthiness, Accountability and confidentiality on this transaction, contact me and accept not to change your mind to cheat, or disappoint me when the fund is transferred into your account. So reply for the assurance with your telephone and fax numbers necessary to facilitate an easy communication. As soon as you reply, you notify me so that i will let you know the next steps and procedures to follow in order to finalize this transaction immediately.
I expect your urgent communication.
Yours sincerely,
MR SAMUEL AMAGO.
-------------------------------------------------------
Letter 2.
MR MR ERIC MACUS,
CREDIT MUTUAL DU SENEGAL BANK GROUP
DAKAR SENEGAL
ericmacus@safe-mail.net
Telephone:+221-525-1855
FOR YOUR ATTENTION ONLY
I AM MR Paul Cooper, A SOUTH AFRICAN WORKING WITH SENEGAL BRANCH OF CREDIT MUTUAL DU SENEGAL AS THE MANAGER. I HUMBLY WISH TO SEEK YOUR ASSISTANCE IN A MATTER THAT IS VERY IMPORTANT TO ME WHICH REQUIRES UTMOST URGENCY AND CONFIDENTIALITY.I WANT TO START INVESTMENT WITH THE SUM OF($9.000 000) NINE MILLION UNITED STATES OF AMERICA DOLLARS IN YOUR COUNTRY OR ANY OTHER COUNTRY WITH GOOD ECONOMIC STABILITY AND POLITICAL CLIMATE YOU MAY RECOMMEND. I SHALL BE INTERESTED IN REAL ESTATES, HOTEL BUSINESS, STOCKS & BONDS OR ANY OTHER BUSINESS YOU MIGHT RECOMMEND.
THIS MONEY EMANATE AFTER MY BANK WAS BURNT DOWN FEW WEEKS AGO. A LOT OF LOSES WERE IN CURED BOTH IN CASH AND DOCUMENTATIONS. BEFORE THE FIRE INCIDENCE, WE HAD IN CASH A FOREIGN EXCHANGE TO TURN OF NINE MILLION UNITED STATES OF AMERICA DOLLARS. AFTER THE FIRE ACCIDENT, THE BOARD OF THE BANK SUMMONED ME TO ACCOUNT FOR DAMAGES. I DECLARED THAT THE FOREIGN EXCHANGE WAS COMPLETELY BURNT. BUT THE TRUTH IS THAT THE MONEY IS SAFE IN MY PERSONAL CUSTODY.
FOR OBVIOUS REASONS I CANNOT POSSIBLY PLACE THIS FUND WITH ESTABLISHED FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS AND THIS REQUIRES ME TO URGENTLY LOOK FOR A RELIABLE FOREIGNER TO HELP MOVE THIS FUND OUT OF HERE, INVEST/MANAGE IT FOR ME FOR SOME TIME BEFORE I FINALLY RESIGN FROM MY OFFICE. IT IS ALSO MY WISH THAT THIS DEAL BE HANDLED AS QUIETLY AS POSSIBLE WITHOUT ANY LEAKAGE TO THE PRESS. IF YOU AGREE TO ACT AS A FUND MANAGER FOR ME, THEN I WILL RELEASE THE MONEY TO YOU IF YOU MEET MY REQUIREMENTS.
UPON A FAVORABLE RESPONSE FROM YOU I SHALL LET YOU KNOW HOW TO RECEIVE THE FUND.
AFTER SUCCESSFUL DEAL, YOUR COMMISSION SHALL BE THIRTY PERCENT OF THE TOTAL SUM WHICH IS($3.000 000) THREE MILLION USA FOR YOUR ASSISTANCE IN SAFELY MOVING THE MONEY OFFSHORES OF SENEGAL. SIXTY FIVE PERCENT FOR ME AND FIVE PERCENT SHALL BE USED TO RE-INBURES EXPENSES WE MIGHT INCURE DURING THE TRANSACTION.YOU SHALL BE ENTITTLED FOR AN ANNUAL FOURTY PERCENT OF THE MONEY AFTER TAX RETURNS FOR THE FIRST TWO YEARS OF MANAGING MY SHARE OF THE DEAL IN GOOD BUSINESS.
THEREAFTER THE TERMS SHALL BE REVIEW.
IF YOU ARE WILLING TO DO THIS PLEASE INDICATE YOUR INTEREST VIA MY EMAIL SPECIFIED FOR FURTHER DETAILS.
BEST REGARDS,
MR ERIC MACUS,
ericmacus@safe-mail.net
Telephone:+221-525-1855
-------------------------------------------------------
I really like the schizophrenia of the second writer, who seems blisfully unaware of his naming surplus. But he's all business.
The first writer indulges in obsequiy and lyricism, and is so far from using majuscule that he humbly lowercases himself. Oh courteous man from waggadoogoo!
The basic argument of both epistles is that if I help the writer commit an illegal and unethical act, I will receive a percentage.
I'm sure I will.
Here are both letters.
Letter 1.
MR. SAMUEL AMAGO,
THE SENIOR AUDITOR INCHARGE
FOREIGN REMITTANCE UNIT,
BANK OF AFRICA{BOA}.
OUAGADOUGOU BURKINA FASO.
Dear Friend,
I presumed that all is well with you and your family. Please let this not be a surprise message to you because i got your contact information from the international directory few weeks ago before i decided to contact you on this magintude and lucrative transaction for our present and future survival in life. Moreover, i have laid all the solemn trust in you before i decided to disclose this successful & confidential transaction to you.
I am the senior Auditor Incharge of Foreign Remittance Unit of our bank and i decided to contact you for this financial transaction worth fifteen Million, United States dollar ($15m) for our present and future success. This is an abandoned fund that belongs to one of our bank foreign customers who died along with his entire family through plane crash few years ago.
Meanwhile i was very fortune to come across the deceased file when i was
arranging the old and abandoned customers files in other to sign and submit to the entire bank management for an official re-documentation and audit of the year against 2006.
Informed clearly that it was stated in our Foreign banking rules and regulations which was signed lawfully that if such fund remains unclaimed till the period of 4 years started from the date when the beneficiary died, the money will be transferred into the treasury as an unclaimed fund. However, it is not authorized by the rules guiding our bank for a citizen of Burkina Faso to make the claim of the fund unless you are a foreigner no matter the country. So the request of you as a foreigner is necessary to apply for the claim and transfer of the fund smoothly into your reliable bank account as the next of kin to the deceased.
When the fund is transferred into your account, { 36% } Thirty Six Percent will be for you in respect of all your assistance for the transfer of the fund into your account and provision of the bank account where the bank will remit the fund,{ 56% } Fifty Six Percent will be for me being the pioneer of the business while the rest { 8% } eight Percent will be shared to respectable Organisations such as Charity , Motherless Babies Homes, and helpless disabled people arround us in the World.
If you are really sure of your, Trustworthiness, Accountability and confidentiality on this transaction, contact me and accept not to change your mind to cheat, or disappoint me when the fund is transferred into your account. So reply for the assurance with your telephone and fax numbers necessary to facilitate an easy communication. As soon as you reply, you notify me so that i will let you know the next steps and procedures to follow in order to finalize this transaction immediately.
I expect your urgent communication.
Yours sincerely,
MR SAMUEL AMAGO.
-------------------------------------------------------
Letter 2.
MR MR ERIC MACUS,
CREDIT MUTUAL DU SENEGAL BANK GROUP
DAKAR SENEGAL
ericmacus@safe-mail.net
Telephone:+221-525-1855
FOR YOUR ATTENTION ONLY
I AM MR Paul Cooper, A SOUTH AFRICAN WORKING WITH SENEGAL BRANCH OF CREDIT MUTUAL DU SENEGAL AS THE MANAGER. I HUMBLY WISH TO SEEK YOUR ASSISTANCE IN A MATTER THAT IS VERY IMPORTANT TO ME WHICH REQUIRES UTMOST URGENCY AND CONFIDENTIALITY.I WANT TO START INVESTMENT WITH THE SUM OF($9.000 000) NINE MILLION UNITED STATES OF AMERICA DOLLARS IN YOUR COUNTRY OR ANY OTHER COUNTRY WITH GOOD ECONOMIC STABILITY AND POLITICAL CLIMATE YOU MAY RECOMMEND. I SHALL BE INTERESTED IN REAL ESTATES, HOTEL BUSINESS, STOCKS & BONDS OR ANY OTHER BUSINESS YOU MIGHT RECOMMEND.
THIS MONEY EMANATE AFTER MY BANK WAS BURNT DOWN FEW WEEKS AGO. A LOT OF LOSES WERE IN CURED BOTH IN CASH AND DOCUMENTATIONS. BEFORE THE FIRE INCIDENCE, WE HAD IN CASH A FOREIGN EXCHANGE TO TURN OF NINE MILLION UNITED STATES OF AMERICA DOLLARS. AFTER THE FIRE ACCIDENT, THE BOARD OF THE BANK SUMMONED ME TO ACCOUNT FOR DAMAGES. I DECLARED THAT THE FOREIGN EXCHANGE WAS COMPLETELY BURNT. BUT THE TRUTH IS THAT THE MONEY IS SAFE IN MY PERSONAL CUSTODY.
FOR OBVIOUS REASONS I CANNOT POSSIBLY PLACE THIS FUND WITH ESTABLISHED FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS AND THIS REQUIRES ME TO URGENTLY LOOK FOR A RELIABLE FOREIGNER TO HELP MOVE THIS FUND OUT OF HERE, INVEST/MANAGE IT FOR ME FOR SOME TIME BEFORE I FINALLY RESIGN FROM MY OFFICE. IT IS ALSO MY WISH THAT THIS DEAL BE HANDLED AS QUIETLY AS POSSIBLE WITHOUT ANY LEAKAGE TO THE PRESS. IF YOU AGREE TO ACT AS A FUND MANAGER FOR ME, THEN I WILL RELEASE THE MONEY TO YOU IF YOU MEET MY REQUIREMENTS.
UPON A FAVORABLE RESPONSE FROM YOU I SHALL LET YOU KNOW HOW TO RECEIVE THE FUND.
AFTER SUCCESSFUL DEAL, YOUR COMMISSION SHALL BE THIRTY PERCENT OF THE TOTAL SUM WHICH IS($3.000 000) THREE MILLION USA FOR YOUR ASSISTANCE IN SAFELY MOVING THE MONEY OFFSHORES OF SENEGAL. SIXTY FIVE PERCENT FOR ME AND FIVE PERCENT SHALL BE USED TO RE-INBURES EXPENSES WE MIGHT INCURE DURING THE TRANSACTION.YOU SHALL BE ENTITTLED FOR AN ANNUAL FOURTY PERCENT OF THE MONEY AFTER TAX RETURNS FOR THE FIRST TWO YEARS OF MANAGING MY SHARE OF THE DEAL IN GOOD BUSINESS.
THEREAFTER THE TERMS SHALL BE REVIEW.
IF YOU ARE WILLING TO DO THIS PLEASE INDICATE YOUR INTEREST VIA MY EMAIL SPECIFIED FOR FURTHER DETAILS.
BEST REGARDS,
MR ERIC MACUS,
ericmacus@safe-mail.net
Telephone:+221-525-1855
-------------------------------------------------------
I really like the schizophrenia of the second writer, who seems blisfully unaware of his naming surplus. But he's all business.
The first writer indulges in obsequiy and lyricism, and is so far from using majuscule that he humbly lowercases himself. Oh courteous man from waggadoogoo!
Wednesday, November 01, 2006
HOLOCAUST CARTOON
The winning entry in the Iranian sponsored holocaust cartoon competition shows, in the background, the dome of the rock (al Masjid al Aqsa, built on the site of the Temple after the Muslim conquerors took Jerusalem), and in the foreground a crane placing segments of the terrorist-separation barrier, on which is painted the universally recognized vista of the approach to Auschwitz.
We can guess what message the Moroccan artist (Abdullah Derkaoui) intended, and we pretty much know what the Iranian judges thought they saw.
But there is more to it than that. Much much more.
Let us construe.
As follows:
The dome in the distance is the permanent scar left by centuries of Muslim violence and tyranny, while the wall in the foreground is a reminder that the same brutality and barbarism that led to the holocaust not only survives but thrives among the Arabs on the eastern side of the wall.
Would the Muslims want to repeat the holocaust?
There is no doubt that they would - their media, their intellectuals, and their leaders have made that more than clear. Anti-Semitic drivel from their side is such a flood of venom in so many flavours, that the only way to deal with it, in the short-term, is to close ones' ears and close off the source. Doing otherwise would leave one weeping at the amount of evil in the world, and asphyxiating on the smoke-clouds of burning hatred roilling forth from their cities.
They hate, they hate with a passion, they seem incapable of passion other than hate.
The fact that the wall has stopped them from sending their less-gifted children with bomb-belts to blow up buses no doubt leaves much of their society frustrated. All that is left for them is fond-daydreaming of what the Europeans did and what the Iranians promise.
Auschwitz on the wall perfectly represents the frustrated bloodlust of millions, for whom the world is too small and too filled with people who do not acknowledge their claims to superiority and total ownership; it represents decades of murderous propaganda, and billions of dollars wasted by petro-sheikhs and despots who would rather pay for terrorist acts beyond their borders than libraries inside their own capitols.
Auschwitz on the wall represents the complete failure of Arab societies to achieve anything of note in the eight decades since the end of the Ottoman Empire. They've quarreled with each other, fought with each other, betrayed each other, and murdered each other.
And at each turn, they've blamed everyone but each other.
Now there's a picture of Auschwitz on a wall facing them, like a remonstrance, or a reminder of their failings. And tens of millions of them have immigrated into the Western lands, trying to get away from themselves. Europe and America are awash with bitter refuse from all the Arab lands, who saw no future in Fez, or Cairo, or Damascus.
Thank you, Abdullah Derkaoui, for so ably illustrating the ghastly void that is your society, the sad and dismal bankruptcy of your culture, and the dashed hopes and dreary hatreds of your people. Nothing better shows the perversion and destructiveness that lives among the souls lost to Islam.
And also, thanks go out to President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, whose pettiness and loss of contact with reality made this illustration possible, and whose government so perfectly demonstrates why vigilance is still necessary, why the struggle for civilization must still be fought, and why each generation will still have enemies to quell.
I would also thank the Prophet Muhammad, whose dreams and nightmares ultimately made all of this possible - but he's been dead for centuries, and we cannot form any real impression of his character, as we gratefully know so little about him. Other than that he took a nine-year old as wife - an act that in our age and in our society would stamp him as depraved, but which was probably quite normal and fashionable in Mecca and Medina during that dark age.
In any case, it is not entirely fitting to speak ill of the long-dead.
We can guess what message the Moroccan artist (Abdullah Derkaoui) intended, and we pretty much know what the Iranian judges thought they saw.
But there is more to it than that. Much much more.
Let us construe.
As follows:
The dome in the distance is the permanent scar left by centuries of Muslim violence and tyranny, while the wall in the foreground is a reminder that the same brutality and barbarism that led to the holocaust not only survives but thrives among the Arabs on the eastern side of the wall.
Would the Muslims want to repeat the holocaust?
There is no doubt that they would - their media, their intellectuals, and their leaders have made that more than clear. Anti-Semitic drivel from their side is such a flood of venom in so many flavours, that the only way to deal with it, in the short-term, is to close ones' ears and close off the source. Doing otherwise would leave one weeping at the amount of evil in the world, and asphyxiating on the smoke-clouds of burning hatred roilling forth from their cities.
They hate, they hate with a passion, they seem incapable of passion other than hate.
The fact that the wall has stopped them from sending their less-gifted children with bomb-belts to blow up buses no doubt leaves much of their society frustrated. All that is left for them is fond-daydreaming of what the Europeans did and what the Iranians promise.
Auschwitz on the wall perfectly represents the frustrated bloodlust of millions, for whom the world is too small and too filled with people who do not acknowledge their claims to superiority and total ownership; it represents decades of murderous propaganda, and billions of dollars wasted by petro-sheikhs and despots who would rather pay for terrorist acts beyond their borders than libraries inside their own capitols.
Auschwitz on the wall represents the complete failure of Arab societies to achieve anything of note in the eight decades since the end of the Ottoman Empire. They've quarreled with each other, fought with each other, betrayed each other, and murdered each other.
And at each turn, they've blamed everyone but each other.
Now there's a picture of Auschwitz on a wall facing them, like a remonstrance, or a reminder of their failings. And tens of millions of them have immigrated into the Western lands, trying to get away from themselves. Europe and America are awash with bitter refuse from all the Arab lands, who saw no future in Fez, or Cairo, or Damascus.
Thank you, Abdullah Derkaoui, for so ably illustrating the ghastly void that is your society, the sad and dismal bankruptcy of your culture, and the dashed hopes and dreary hatreds of your people. Nothing better shows the perversion and destructiveness that lives among the souls lost to Islam.
And also, thanks go out to President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, whose pettiness and loss of contact with reality made this illustration possible, and whose government so perfectly demonstrates why vigilance is still necessary, why the struggle for civilization must still be fought, and why each generation will still have enemies to quell.
I would also thank the Prophet Muhammad, whose dreams and nightmares ultimately made all of this possible - but he's been dead for centuries, and we cannot form any real impression of his character, as we gratefully know so little about him. Other than that he took a nine-year old as wife - an act that in our age and in our society would stamp him as depraved, but which was probably quite normal and fashionable in Mecca and Medina during that dark age.
In any case, it is not entirely fitting to speak ill of the long-dead.
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GRITS AND TOFU
Like most Americans, I have a list of people who should be peacefully retired from public service and thereafter kept away from their desks,...
