Tel-Chai Nation

It just shows how even the US under the Obama administration is willing to take some very dangerous steps that would not be guaranteed any true cooperation from the Taliban. From Reuters (via Jihad Watch):

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Obama administration is considering transferring to Afghan custody a senior Taliban official suspected of major human rights abuses as part of a long-shot bid to improve the prospects of a peace deal in Afghanistan, Reuters has learned.

The potential hand-over of Mohammed Fazl, a 'high-risk detainee' held at the Guantanamo Bay military prison since early 2002, has set off alarms on Capitol Hill and among some U.S. intelligence officials.

As a senior commander of the Taliban army, Fazl is alleged to be responsible for the killing of thousands of Afghanistan's minority Shi'ite Muslims between 1998 and 2001.

According to U.S. military documents made public by WikiLeaks, he was also on the scene of a November 2001 prison riot that killed CIA operative Johnny Micheal Spann, the first American who died in combat in the Afghan war. There is no evidence, however, that Fazl played any direct role in Spann's death.

Senior U.S. officials have said their 10-month-long effort to set up substantive negotiations between the weak government of Afghan President Hamid Karzai and the Taliban has reached a make-or-break moment. Reuters reported earlier this month that they are proposing an exchange of "confidence-building measures," including the transfer of five detainees from Guantanamo and the establishment of a Taliban office outside of Afghanistan.

Now Reuters has learned from U.S. government sources the identity of one of the five detainees in question.

The detainees, the officials emphasized, would not be set free, but remain in some sort of further custody. It is unclear precisely what conditions they would be held under.

In response to inquiries by Reuters, a senior administration official said that the release of Fazl and four other Taliban members had been requested by the Afghan government and Taliban representatives as far back as 2005.

The debate surrounding the White House's consideration of high-profile prisoners such as Fazl illustrates the delicate course it must tread both at home and abroad as it seeks to move the nascent peace process ahead.

One U.S. intelligence official said there had been intense bipartisan opposition in Congress to the proposed transfer.

"I can tell you that the hair on the back of my neck went up when they walked in with this a month ago, and there's been very, very strong letters fired off to the administration," the official said on condition of anonymity.

What they're suggesting they might be willing to do is extremely dangerous, and the Taliban, you can be sure, will not show any genuine cooperation, nor will Afghanistan's government.

Labels: Afghanistan, dhimmitude, islam, jihad, United States

Here's an article about Tuesday's protest against pseudo-Hasidic segregationists, co-organized by Rabbi Dov Lipman. And in this article, a special note on just where this whole problem could originate:

[Eli] Yishai told a Shas faction meeting that such behavior goes against the values of the Torah, and the law must be enforced “with all its severity.”

The Shas leader related a Talmudic story in which the sage, Rabbi Yohanan Ben-Zakkai, opposed an extremist group called Sikrikim, after whom the modern-day haredi group is named, saying that the phenomenon in which a minority is more extreme than leading rabbis is at least 2,000 years old.

I see. Glad he's also stating at least one thing I can agree with.

The whole problem with pseudo-Hasidic segregationists, as I'll call them, is still keeping on, with this latest report of one who was busted for harrassing a female soldier in Jerusalem. MK Tzipi Hotovely, herself a religious politician, has said that the segregationists are desecrating the Torah, and indeed they are, what with the kind of language they're resorting to. Even Rabbi Lipman was sadly menaced a few days ago by these extremists (via Beltway Buzz).

What really makes me mad here is that these pseudo-Hasidic extremists are potentially taking away attention from the more serious crises with Islamofascism, and with something that much more vicious around, that's exactly why we cannot afford to face more problems like these in our own midst.

Labels: Israel, Jerusalem, misogyny

Via Breitbart and Atlas Shrugs, former ambassador John Bolton has also spoken out against demagogue Ron Paul and advised against voting for him. Bolton says:

"That’s why I think the debate on the Republican side is so important. And why when I see, I have to be candid, a candidate like Ron Paul whose foreign policy is if anything is worse than the Obama administration apparently leading in Iowa according to some polls, it just gives me great concern...So if you’re thinking about Ron Paul because of his domestic issues, think again and look at virtually any of the other candidates and consider how they would be as Commander-in-Chief. That’s the president’s first duty, defending the country."

Paul spoke in support of Bradley Manning, who illegally gave classified info to Julian Assange of Wikileaks, and any politician who's willing to support someone who committed that grave a crime cannot be trusted to do any better. Bolton is right, Paul is dangerous.

Fortunately, as The Weekly Standard reports, following the reports on Paul's dark background and mindset, his numbers have been dropping in the polls. Among his latest disturbing deeds, he's even signaled support for the Occupy movement, even going so far as to blatantly compare it to the tea party movements! Clearly, he is going off the deep end, one more sign why he would not make a stable president.

Labels: anti-americanism, anti-semitism, islam, jihad, racism, RINOs, terrorism, United States

More disaster emerging from the results of the Arab pseudo-spring:

The United States expressed deep concern over Egyptian police raids Thursday on several non-governmental organizations, including three U.S.-based pro-democracy groups.

Egyptian authorities said the raids were conducted as part of an investigation into alleged foreign funding of the groups, many of which help train political parties to participate in the democratic process. But rights activists said the targeting of civil society groups is the latest ominous sign of Egypt's military rulers resisting transition to democratic governance while blaming others for their misrule. [...]

Egyptian uniformed and plains-clothes police on Thursday stormed the Cairo offices of National Democratic Institute, International Republican Institute, Freedom House, Germany-based Konrad Adenauer Siftung, the Arab Center for Independence of the Judiciary ‎and the Legal Profession, and the Budgetary and Human ‎Rights Observatory. They seized documents and laptops in the raids, isolating NGO staff in their offices, and later sealed the offices, observers on the scenes and representatives of the organizations said. [...]

Raided groups called the action unprecedented, comparing it to the authoritarian rule of Egypt's ousted strongman Hosni Mubarak.

"The raids today represent an escalation of repression unheard of even during the Mubarak regime," said David J. Kramer, president of Freedom House, in a statement sent to Yahoo News. The actions are "the clearest indication yet" that Egypt's military rulers have "no intention of permitting the establishment of genuine democracy and [are] attempting to scapegoat civil society for its own abysmal failure to manage Egypt's transition effectively."

The "raid is confusing given that IRI was officially invited by the Government of Egypt to witness the people's assembly elections," IRI said in a statement sent to Yahoo News. "It is ironic that even during the Mubarak era, IRI was not subjected to such aggressive action."

Staff members of the raided organizations were "warned from using their cell phones, laptops and computers; and are being isolated from contact with the outside world," said Ehab Monir, executive secretary of the Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies, in an alert sent to Yahoo News. "The storming of NGO offices is an unprecedented move in the recent history of Egyptian NGOs."

Middle East experts also noted the apparent hypocrisy of the prosecutor's rationale that the groups were allegedly being investigated for receiving foreign funding, given that a large chunk of the Egyptian government's budget comes from foreign governments, including $1.3 billion in mostly military aid from the United States.

A budget that must cease being funded, and soon. This is just one more sign of Egypt's trudging into the darkness of a sharia-run regime.

Labels: Egypt, islam, United States

Power Line's staff criticized Israel's intention to release terrorist prisoners in exchange for Gilad Shalit because of what it could lead to, good intentions notwithstanding. Now, we see the result:

[A] senior IDF commander said on Wednesday that motivation to kidnap Israeli soldiers has significantly increased since the prisoner swap for Gilad Schalit.

According to Col. Tal Hermoni, commander of the Gaza Division’s Southern Brigade, Hamas, Islamic Jihad and other terrorist groups in the Gaza Strip are working to abduct Israeli soldiers and are digging tunnels that could be used in such an attack. [...]

There were people working in Gaza “on a daily basis” in the tunnel industry, and Israel was investing significant resources to gather intelligence and locate those tunnels to limit the element of surprise if they were to be used in a future attack, he said. [...]

Hermoni said the abduction of a soldier would have “strategic significance” for Israel, and the IDF was working on several levels to prevent such an attack and to thwart one if it were launched.

If they don't make a serious bid to bring down Hamas in Gaza, disaster will be more likely to happen.

Labels: anti-semitism, islam, Israel, jihad, terrorism

Another jihadist murder of a number of people took place on Christmas (H/T: Bare Naked Islam and The Jawa Report):

Citing public records and interviews with friends and neighbors, media reports identified Aziz Yazdanpanah and others who had died: his estranged 55-year-old wife, Fatemeh Rahmati, their 19-year-old daughter, Nona Narges Yazdanpanah, and 15-year-old son, Ali Yazdanpanah. Friends of the family said Fatemeh Rahmati’s 58-year-old sister, Zohreh Rahmaty, and her husband, Hossein Zarei, 59, and daughter Sahra Zarei, a 22-year-old pre-med student at the University of Texas at Arlington, also were killed.

Aziz Yazdanpanah seemed to be losing control of his life in recent months — his wife left him, his house was in foreclosure, and his 19-year-old daughter was dating a young man he didn’t like.

Yazdanpanah, a volunteer high school debate coach described as a doting father, is the focus of suspicion a day after a Christmas morning massacre in which a man dressed as Santa Claus killed six relatives and then committed suicide.

Grapevine police arrived at the Lincoln Vineyard Apartment Homes a few minutes before noon and discovered bodies sprawled among opened presents and wrapping paper. The victims were ages 15 to 58.[...]

Yazdanpanah said he bought a gun after expressing concern that his daughter’s boyfriend was stalking him. He also insisted on picking up his daughter from her job at a phone kiosk inside Sam’s Club in Grapevine because of concerns about the alleged stalker. The boyfriend has not been publicly identified.

Neighbors said the family was Muslim but had always hung Christmas lights on their home — except this year.[...]

But a more ominous portrait emerged of Yazdanpanah in interviews with some of his daughter’s other classmates.

“She would come to school crying and telling us her dad was crazy,” said Lacie Reed, 18. “He wouldn’t let her wear certain things. He was always taking her phone away, checking her call history and checking her text messages.”

Friends said Nona’s father had installed cameras all around the home so he could watch the family’s comings and goings. Others said he nailed her bedroom window shut so she could not sneak out at night and see her boyfriend.

As always, this is truly repulsive. Most offensive is that the monster was allowed to buy a gun, very possibly without review of his background or behavior. But don't expect any legal gun merchant to start being more cautious to whom they sell.

Labels: islam, misogyny, United States

Eric Dondero of Libertarian Republican, who used to work for Ron Paul between 1987-2003, has written a special post for Right Wing News about his former boss' extremism (via Commentary). There are some shortcomings, but overall, Dondero does give some very eyebrow raising insight into just how demented Paul really is. For example:

He is however, most certainly Anti-Israel, and Anti-Israeli in general. He wishes the Israeli state did not exist at all. He expressed this to me numerous times in our private conversations. His view is that Israel is more trouble than it is worth, specifically to the America taxpayer. He sides with the Palestinians, and supports their calls for the abolishment of the Jewish state, and the return of Israel, all of it, to the Arabs.

Again, American Jews, Ron Paul has no problem with. In fact, there were a few Jews in our congressional district, and Ron befriended them with the specific intent of winning their support for our campaign. (One synagogue in Victoria, and tiny one in Wharton headed by a well-known Jewish lawyer).

There's just one little question: what kind of political leanings did they have for the most part? Liberal? And if we were to ask if they were religiously minded, just what sects would they be part of? Orthodox, Conservative, Reform or Satmar? What if they turned out to be the latter 2?

There was another incident when Ron finally agreed to a meeting with Houston Jewish Young Republicans at the Freeport office. He berated them, and even shouted at one point, over their un-flinching support for Israel. So, much so, that the 6 of them walked out of the office. I was left chasing them down the hallway apologizing for my boss.

Martin Luther King Jr. once said that when you speak against Israel and/or the Jews, it's anti-semitism. So what's the point of arguing that he's not an anti-semite, for example?

Ron Paul is most assuredly an isolationist. He denies this charge vociferously. But I can tell you straight out, I had countless arguments/discussions with him over his personal views. For example, he strenuously does not believe the United States had any business getting involved in fighting Hitler in WWII. He expressed to me countless times, that “saving the Jews,” was absolutely none of our business. When pressed, he often times brings up conspiracy theories like FDR knew about the attacks of Pearl Harbor weeks before hand, or that WWII was just “blowback,” for Woodrow Wilson’s foreign policy errors, and such.

I would challenge him, like for example, what about the instances of German U-boats attacking U.S. ships, or even landing on the coast of North Carolina or Long Island, NY. He’d finally concede that that and only that was reason enough to counter-attack against the Nazis, not any humanitarian causes like preventing the Holocaust.

There is much more information I could give you on the sheer lunacy of his foreign policy views. Let me just concentrate on one in specific. And I will state this with absolute certainty:

Ron Paul was opposed to the War in Afghanistan, and to any military reaction to the attacks of 9/11.

He did not want to vote for the resolution. He immediately stated to us staffers, me in particular, that Bush/Cheney were going to use the attacks as a precursor for “invading” Iraq. He engaged in conspiracy theories including perhaps the attacks were coordinated with the CIA, and that the Bush administration might have known about the attacks ahead of time. He expressed no sympathies whatsoever for those who died on 9/11, and pretty much forbade us staffers from engaging in any sort of memorial expressions, or openly asserting pro-military statements in support of the Bush administration.

On the eve of the vote, Ron Paul was still telling us staffers that he was planning to vote “No,” on the resolution, and to be prepared for a seriously negative reaction in the District. Jackie Gloor and I, along with quiet nods of agreement from the other staffers in the District, declared our intentions to Tom Lizardo, our Chief of Staff, and to each other, that if Ron voted No, we would immediately resign.

Ron was “under the spell” of left-anarchist and Lew Rockwell associate Joe Becker at the time, who was our legislative director. Norm Singleton, another Lew Rockwell fanatic agreed with Joe. All other staffers were against Ron, Joe and Norm on this, including Lizardo. At the very last minute Ron switched his stance and voted “Yay,” much to the great relief of Jackie and I. He never explained why, but I strongly suspected that he realized it would have been political suicide; that staunchly conservative Victoria would revolt, and the Republicans there would ensure that he would not receive the nomination for the seat in 2002. Also, as much as I like to think that it was my yelling and screaming at Ron, that I would publicly resign if he voted “No,” I suspect it had a lot more to do with Jackie’s threat, for she WAS Victoria. And if Jackie bolted, all of the Victoria conservatives would immediately turn on Ron, and it wouldn’t be pretty.

If you take anything from this lengthy statement, I would hope that it is this final story about the Afghanistan vote, that the liberal media chooses to completely ignore, because it doesn’t fit their template, is what you will report.

The parts about his opposition to America fighting in WW2 and also his complete insensitivity to the victims of 9-11 are something to pay careful attention to. That he would even forbid the staffers from holding memorials to the victims is absolutely abominable, and anyone who votes for him in the coming week is only giving legitimacy to his vicious mindset.

I will have to disagree with him on something he says in the last paragraph though:

If Ron Paul should be slammed for anything, it’s not some silly remarks he’s made in the past in his Newsletters. It’s over his simply outrageously horrendous views on foreign policy, Israel, and national security for the United States. His near No vote on Afghanistan. That is the big scandal. And that is what should be given 100 times more attention from the liberal media, than this Newsletter deal.

While his initial opposition to raiding Afghanistan and his cold stance on the victims of 9-11 are definitely abominable, I disagree that the newsletters aren't something serious. They most definitely are. All those years, even if he didn't write the opinions himself, he still edited and published some of the most racist drivel against blacks and Jews/Israel, and it's a good question who suffers worse in his bigoted, obnoxious rants. Paul referenced blacks as "animals" and claimed that 95% of DC's residents were "criminal" or "semi-criminal", and even his financial newsletters contained weird, offensive junk. Let us be clear here, to make the kind of racist statements Paul did against blacks is wrong, and for all we know, he could very easily have been one of the reasons why for many years, the Republicans had difficulty in convincing many blacks and Jews to vote for them when vile inciters like Paul were in the vicinity.

The GOP needs to purge themselves of rock-bottom monsters like Paul once and for all if they're to regain full confidence of the African-American and Jewish-American public. While I'm not happy that Dondero holds back from completely slamming Paul, I do appreciate that he's spoken out and related some of the most chilling details about just what kind of demonic mindset Paul adheres to. Paul's horrific approach to 9-11 is definitely something every self-respecting person needs to know about.

Update: here's an op-ed by Ron Jager making clear that Paul is unfit to hold office. And here's one by Hugh Hewitt where he and Mark Steyn tell that Paul's squad of "truthers" will include everyone who votes for him in Iowa.

Update 2: I'm glad to see that Erick Erickson comprehends that Paul is simply bad news, and in doing so, Erickson regains some credibility with me. Plus, here's another posting about this case from Leon Wolf.

Update 3: the Wash. Examiner has an interesting revelation (via Hot Air): Paul's biggest supporters aren't even Republicans:

In an analysis accompanying his most recent survey in Iowa, pollster Scott Rasmussen noted, “Romney leads, with Gingrich in second, among those who consider themselves Republicans. Paul has a wide lead among non-Republicans who are likely to participate in the caucus.”

The same is true in New Hampshire. A poll released Monday by the Boston Globe and the University of New Hampshire shows Paul leading among Democrats and independents who plan to vote in the January 10 primary. But among Republicans, Paul is a distant third — 33 points behind leader Mitt Romney.

In South Carolina, “Paul’s support is higher among those who usually don’t vote in GOP primary elections,” notes David Woodard, who runs the Palmetto Poll at Clemson University.

In a hotly-contested Republican race, it appears that only about half of Paul’s supporters are Republicans. In Iowa, according to Rasmussen, just 51 percent of Paul supporters consider themselves Republicans. In New Hampshire, the number is 56 percent, according to Andrew Smith, head of the University of New Hampshire poll.

This is certainly concerning, and shows why the GOP may have to maintain stricter rules for voting if they're to prevent "mischief voters" from influencing the elections.

Labels: Afghanistan, anti-americanism, anti-semitism, islam, Israel, jihad, political corruption, racism, terrorism, United States, war on terror

In a followup to this earlier topic, A Mother in Israel presented these 2 pictures of women/girls who are part of a cult in Beit Shemesh that actually takes up the same approach as Muslim women with creepy looking veils that look as though there's no eyeholes. Scary, right? Maybe I'm righter than I think about Islam having a terrible influence on some alleged practicers of Judaism. More on that here, and some more here too on how some rabbis are making an effort to stop it.

In more news on the current crisis, the so-called Hasidics rioted after signs calling for segregation were taken down (via Failed Messiah):

Police forces accompanied by Beit Shemesh municipal inspectors removed public signs calling for segregation between men and women in the city on Sunday. This prompted dozens of haredim to crowd around the officers. They hurled stones and cursed the officers. Some haredim called police "Nazis." There were no reports of injury.

Earlier on Sunday, Beit Shemesh Mayor Moshe Abutbul held a meeting on the matter in his chambers. His order to remove the signs was carried out at 5 pm when the streets were meant to be empty of people due to the lighting of Hanukkah candles. Nevertheless, several haredim rioted and hurled stones in protest.

Some of the signs were put up again later in the day by local haredim.

Abutbul strongly condemned "the radical fringes of the haredi sector who tarnish the reputation of all Beit Shemesh residents."

It's clear that we're facing a grave "religion-war", and soon.

It's fortunate that the chief rabbis have condemned this behavior, starting with the bus segregation (also via Failed Messiah):

Chief rabbis against 'kosher' buses: Israel's Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi Yona Metzger on Sunday responded harshly to the ultra-Orthodox demand to operate "kosher" bus lines in haredi neighborhoods, saying that the haredi public had not right to impose its opinion on the rest of the population.

"We can't be the world's landlords. This isn't the haredi public's country," the chief rabbi said in an interview to Kol Barama Radio. "We have no authority to impose our opinion on others. This is a public place."

I won't be surprised if in the coming week or so, this is still going to be a major issue. Here's one more item from the Jerusalem Post.

Labels: dhimmitude, islam, Israel, misogyny

The Islamofascists continue to shed their masks and show just how much respect they truly have for Armenians and their allies (via Jihad Watch):

The French parliamentarian who proposed a controversial genocide denial bill has received death threats and had her website attacked.

Valérie Boyer, a member of the governing UMP party, was successful in getting parliamentary approval for a bill that outlawed the denial of a massacre of Armenians by Ottoman troops in 1915.

The bill’s passage unleashed a wave of indignation in Turkey.

Turkish prime minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, said the vote represented “politics based on racism, discrimination and xenophobia.”

Daily newspaper Le Parisien reported that Boyer’s website was attacked on Sunday.

Visitors were redirected to a site showing the Turkish flag and a message attacking the French government and the Armenian community in France.

“You, the Armenian diaspora, are so cowardly that you don’t have the guts to open up the archives and face the truth,” said the message.

In an attack on French politicians the message said “you, the French, are so pitiful and pathetic that you ignore the truth to get votes.”

On Monday morning, the site, valerie-boyer.fr, was still unavailable with a "site indisponible" message being shown.

Boyer said she has received numerous “insults and threats of murder and rape” over recent days on her Facebook page and her Twitter account.

“That such a level of violence is being expressed shows the necessity to punish genocide denial,” she told the newspaper.

“What I’m experiencing is without doubt nothing compared to the experience of the Armenian community."

Over in Israel, more politicians are calling for a recognition of this period in history, and a right-wing politician has submitted a bill of his own:

Knesset members from all sides of the political spectrum called for the government to officially recognize the Armenian genocide, marking the first time the issue was discussed in an open Knesset meeting.

The Knesset Education Committee meeting was initiated after MK Arye Eldad (National Union) proposed a bill to mark the Armenian genocide annually, which was then turned into a motion for the agenda after Eldad realized the coalition would not allow the legislation to pass. The meeting also addressed a similar motion put forward by MK Zehava Gal-On (Meretz), making Armenian genocide one of the few topics agreed upon by the Knesset factions farthest to the political left and right.

The discussion took place a week after France’s lower house of parliament moved to criminalize Armenian-genocide denial, leading to a diplomatic crisis between Paris and Ankara.

Knesset Speaker Reuven Rivlin said that those who fight Holocaust denial must not ignore the tragedies of other nations, and it is a moral imperative that Israel remember the Armenian genocide.

Rivlin said that he made a motion to the agenda on the matter in 1989, but until Monday, it was not discussed openly in the Knesset, due to political and diplomatic reasons. He added that the issue was moved from the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, where it was discussed behind closed doors, to the Education Committee, with the press present, so that “morals and values” could be discussed. [...]

Eldad accused the government of hypocrisy, saying that at first, the matter wasn’t publicly addressed because relations with Turkey were strong, and now the same policy stands for the opposite reason.

Coalition chairman Ze’ev Elkin (Likud) said that he is embarrassed that the Knesset has yet to fulfill its “basic responsibility” in recognizing the Armenian genocide.

He said “a wall has been broken” in that the Education Committee discussion was taking place openly, but that progress still needs to be made.

Elkin also mentioned that in 1939, Hitler cited the fact that Europe ignored the Armenian genocide to justify his actions.

At the same time, Foreign Ministry representatives in the meeting said that it would be irresponsible to make any official declarations on the matter.

The ministry never denied the Armenian genocide, the representatives explained, but the issue has become political, and Israel prefers not to be involved, especially because Turkey and Armenia have been holding an open dialog on the facts and opinions surrounding it.

In addition, only 21 countries have officially recognized the Armenian genocide, according to the Foreign Ministry, and it would be unfair to declare all those who haven’t immoral.

Nobody's accuding anyone of immorality here, unless they try to use political relations as their defense. This is not a matter of politics, but of the importance of history, and the foreign ministry should not be trying to oppose this.

Update: more on this subject over here.

Labels: anti-semitism, Armenia, France, islam, Israel, jihad, Knesset, racism

I recently wrote about the case of a rabbi making a most revolting statement that it was better for a religiously minded soldier to die in battle than hear a female singer play. But that's just the tip of the iceberg of cases of - specifically - fringe elements of Hasidics who are enacting discrimination against women mainly in Beit Shemesh and it's getting disturbingly out of hand, and cannot be ignored. Let's start with this Jerusalem Post op-ed:

Discrimination and violence against women – purportedly motivated by religious sensibilities – have spiraled out of control.

In recent weeks, we have been witness to women attacked for refusing to move to the back of the bus to uphold a policy of gender segregation; women forced out of a venue where elections in a Jerusalem neighborhood were being held; women denied the right to come on stage to receive an official Health Ministry prize for research into the relationship between Halacha and medicine; women banned from a Jerusalem ad campaign to encourage organ donations; and women prevented from serving in key IDF positions due to the opposition of a growing, increasingly vocal group of religious male soldiers and officers. And this list is by no means exhaustive.

These incidents have generated a debate over what has been euphemistically referred to as the “banishing” of women from the public sphere. But chauvinism, discrimination or downright violence would more accurately describe this behavior.

On Saturday night, a young haredi man was arrested on suspicion of spitting at a woman helping girls onto a school bus at a religious-Zionist elementary school in Beit Shemesh.

The recent spate of incidents is so severe that it brought the issue of gender discrimination to the center of public discourse. Significantly, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, who opened Sunday’s cabinet meeting by denouncing discrimination against women, has called on haredi legislators to speak out publicly against the phenomenon and ask their spiritual leaders to do so as well.

In recent years, a rapidly growing ultra-Orthodox community has adopted more extremist positions, especially with regard to questions of female modesty, known as tzniut in Hebrew. Women’s physical proximity, no matter how perfunctory, has been transformed by radical haredi men into an insurmountable hurdle.

The inner dynamics of the ultra-Orthodox community allow these men to leverage their influence. Moderation is viewed with disdain as a weakness. The result has been an unrivaled push for the radical revamping of the public domain.

Much has changed since Rabbi Moshe Feinstein (1895- 1986), the most important halachic authority in America, permitted men to commute to work on subways and buses because “unavoidable and unintentional physical contact is devoid of sexual connotations.”

Today, in contrast, where the zealots have a say, women simply do not exist. You can search in vain for a female presence in the ultra-Orthodox press. Pictures of women are taboo, even when the subject is an infant. If there is a doubt regarding the gender of a baby – say in a diaper ad – sidelocks or a kippa are added. Female names are even abbreviated.

This hyper-puritanical world view is, furthermore, being accommodated outside strictly ultra-Orthodox circles. As The Jerusalem Post’s health reporter Judy Siegel reports in today’s paper, at least two state-funded health funds – Clalit and Meuhedet – have published special brochures in deference to ultra-Orthodox sensitivities.

Neither “breast” nor “cancer” is mentioned in these brochures. Instead, code words are used. And even the most innocent photos of women or young girls are vigilantly removed. Faced with the prospect that segments of the ultra-Orthodox community would refuse to read these “sexy” brochures – and thus endanger women’s lives by failing to detect breast cancer early – the heads of the health funds apparently felt compelled to make these modifications.

Similarly, public bus companies, apparently motivated by economic considerations, have allowed haredi activists to enforce gender segregation. By caving in to these unreasonable demands, the bus companies and health funds are giving them legitimacy. And the inevitable side effect is a feeling of entitlement and self-righteousness that emboldens some particularly extreme haredi men to aggressively confront women – whether on the bus, in the streets of Beit Shemesh or elsewhere.

According to a recently released CBS report, by the year 2059, haredim – who currently make up 10 percent of the population – will grow by 580% and represent a third of Israelis. As it grows, the need for haredim to integrate into mainstream Israeli society and transform themselves from a parochial enclave to a full-fledged partner in the flourishing of a healthy Jewish state will grow as well.

What is desperately needed today in the ultra-Orthodox community is the sort of reasonable, pragmatic spiritual leadership personified by Rabbi Moshe Feinstein that would enable such integration. Otherwise, coexistence will inevitably become more and more difficult.

Back in the late 1990s, there were a couple of similar incidents of would-be Hasidics who antagonized women they considered "immodestly" dressed (one witness said it was like being attacked by a sea of black), including spitting at or worse, throwing rocks at women whose dress style they disapproved of. There was no indication of whether any of the victims who experienced this horrific behavior were religious themselves, and at that time, one could pretty much say that the MSM exploited these cases as a way of smearing the right in Israel. That was one of the causes of anti-religious sentiment in Israel at the time, because they agitated people's take on Judaism, and led to the loss of the Likud in the 1999 election, partly because the Hasidic religious parties were seen as close to them. I can't help but wonder if their chilling beliefs stemmed from Islamic influence, since this kind of mindset might date back to the 19th century at the time of the Ottomans. And maybe I'm right; it could have something to do with that. (Not to mention the anti-Zionist Satmar sect.) I'm practically on the verge of suspecting that those fringe extremists were hoping to doom the right's electoral chances at the time.

As these recent incidents involving aggression against even religious women should tell, however, it's not just "secular" women who've been targeted by these near-misogynists who seem determined to destroy proper distinctions between Judaism and Islam. Even religious women have been victimized by this crazy mindset. Here's another recounting by a pious woman of her experience on a segregated bus in Beit Shemesh. The headline there hints at similarities with Rosa Parks, and it makes me think of how sickening it'll be if a black woman - whether religious or not - were to run afoul of any alleged Hasidics who espouse that kind of insanity and even go so far as to use racial slurs. I don't know of any actual incidents like this occurring yet, but if something concrete isn't done soon, it could happen.

Thank goodness that now, the right is making a more serious effort to confront problems like these. I suspect that one of the reasons why this has been taking place is because these fringe extremists - who certainly aren't following any true beliefs in Judaism with their behavior - must think having a conservative government in control makes it easy to get away with their offensive acts. Not so anymore as Netanyahu has wisely come out swinging clearly against these monstrous acts.

Many in Jewish society consider the image of an "evil Hasidic gangster", something that Fagin in Charles Dickens' Oliver Twist may have led to, an offensive stereotype. Why are these nutcases going out of their way to legitimize such a filthy concept by stooping to violence against women (and even men) in Jewish society over disagreements with how they run their lives?

Here's some more past horror stories you should take note of, including a case of 10 teens of a "national religious" background who were assaulted by a mob of as many as 70, another one involving fringe extremists who terrorized religious girls out of hate for their gaining a school building, and there's videos there to check as well, and another with a letter by Rabbi Dov Lipman on arrests that thankfully were made. And here, most recently, is a chilling case of an 8-year-old girl who was threatened by these madmen (via JPI). More on the same situations is also available here and here. As these should make clear, it's not just "secular" women or even men who've been targeted, but also religious people from non-Hasidic backgrounds. And it's a very scary situation that needs to solved.

Labels: islam, Israel, misogyny

Matt Mackowiak, along with Ford O'Connell, has written a couple reasons why, even if Ron Paul doesn't win the nomination for presidential candidate in the GOP primaries, it would still be taking some considerable risks. For example:

Let us also not forget that should Paul actually be the nominee, his decades-old incendiary (although unbylined) newsletters — once Team Obama highlights them — will likely damage the Republican brand for years to come. Simply put, if Paul is the Republican nominee, President Obama will be assured four more years in the White House, and Americans just cannot afford that.

This just hints at one of the major problems voting for Paul in the Iowa primary could cause: what if it gives the MSM the opportunity to smear even Iowa's conservatives as racists?

That's something very important to think about. For quite a while now, conservatives have been trying to appeal more to black and Jewish voters. Any support for Paul beyond his hardcore base of idol worshipers could very easily jeopardize the potential of gaining the support of the black and Jewish communities, 2 of the biggest victims of Paul's bigoted views in the past 3 decades of his publishing newsletters. If the conservative movement is to defeat Obama, they're going to need all the help they can get and not alienate the wrong crowds.

Also:

In the past, Paul has not demonstrated himself to be a team player, and with our new primary rules, Paul could wreck havoc all the way to the convention in Tampa. This counterproductive behavior was on display in 2008, when he refused to endorse then-nominee McCain and proceeded to hold a protest near the national convention. If Paul accumulates enough delegates in 2012, he could cause some real problems for the eventual nominee and the party at the convention. Regardless of which candidate not named Paul ultimately wins the nomination, every potential GOP voter needs to be unified if Obama is to be defeated in 2012.

As Paul has signaled recently, if he's not to be the candidate for the GOP, he won't support the one who does win the nomination. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if, based along similar lines, a lot of his cultists wouldn't even bother to vote for whomever does get the nomination in the general election unless it's Paul himself. I do know though, that the Republicans cannot continue to allow Paul to monopolize subjects like economy, an issue he has cleverly exploited this year. In fact, with positions as extreme and dishonest as he's got on racial issues and foreign policy, can he actually be trusted with finance either?

Congressman Paul is extremely dangerous and his candidacy for president should not be taken lightly. He cannot be allowed to gain momentum in Iowa, either within the Republican field or in preparation for a third-party general election run. Our country’s future literally hangs in the balance.

You got that right.

Update: more from Alana Goodman at Commentary.

Labels: anti-americanism, anti-semitism, dhimmitude, islam, Israel, political corruption, racism, United States

What makes this case disturbing is that while Mitt Romney is a candidate on the Virginia ballot, so too is Ron Paul. Just why is man like Paul with his bigotry and blame-America tactics allowed to run here but not someone with more rationale like Gingrich?

I do hope Gingrich seeks legal action to fix this very troubling development, because it shows that there's some very serious malfunctions abound in the primary system for Virginia, if anywhere.

Labels: United States

Some unique sanity displayed in Britain (via The American Thinker):

A baby girl born out of wedlock must be adopted to save her from the risk of being slaughtered in an "honor killing," a court ruled yesterday.

If the unmarried Muslim woman's father found out about the child, he would feel such "unimaginable shame" he could unleash a vengeful bloodbath by killing the baby and his whole family, three senior judges agreed.

So they made the extraordinary order to have the one-year-old girl - known as Baby Q - adopted for her own safety.

She will now grow up with adoptive parents and, when she is older, they will explain to her why she could not have been brought up by her biological parents.

It is believed to be the first time an English court has ordered an adoption to prevent a murder.

And it's a very lucky thing the court had the sense to make this ruling.

Labels: islam, londonistan, misogyny

No big loss suffered, really. But, here's what's happening now:

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced Thursday that he would cancel all political, economic and military meetings between representatives of Turkey and France. He also forbade French aircraft from landing in Turkey and said French ships were no longer welcome in Turkey's ports.

Turkish television reported earlier that Ankara would call back its ambassador from Paris.

The crisis was precipitated by a bill ratified Thursday in the French parliament, according to which denying the 1915 Armenian genocide would be punishable by a jail sentence of up to one year and a 45,000 euro fine. The bill has yet to receive final approval in the senate.

Turkey has been threatening a tough response if the bill is passed. Armenia, meanwhile, expressed its official thanks to France for approving the bill.

Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian told AFP that France had "once again proved its commitment to universal human values".

I don't know if Renault motors still has engines built in Turkey, but if they do, they'd best remove all their businesses from that darkening country, and consider getting them built and sold in America instead, where they might actually find better service.

Labels: Armenia, France, islam, jihad, turkey

Here's a story from the UK Mail (via Galliawatch and Observitoire de l'Islamisation) that reeks of the same kind of contempt you'd see in some parts of France where they had street crowding prayer tactics:

With a sea of yellow stretching into the distance, it looks like the taxi queue at a busy airport.

But this picture was actually taken outside a Mosque during a prayer service - with 200 Muslim cabbies illegally parked.

Residents of the wealthy Upper West Side of Manhattan are outraged that their streets are being taken over multiple times each day for the 45-minute service.

The taxi drivers are double and triple parking in a huge line that forces traffic into the oncoming lane. [...]

Muslims have been parking illegally at the Islamic Cultural Centre for four years but the row has blown up because a road that connects to it that has been closed for the whole time has now reopened.

Prayers take place five times a day but the busiest is on Fridays at lunchtime when up to 300 worshippers - and 200 taxi drivers - are in attendance.

Most of the taxi drivers appear unrepentant with one claiming: 'I have to pray. I have no choice but to break the rules.'

Cabbie Abdoulaye Diallo, a 30-year-old immigrant from Guinea, told DNA info that he had got several $75 fines for parking illegally outside the mosque but he did not care.

He said: 'For me, my prayer is more important, because that's what I'm going to take with me the day I die'.

Residents however are increasingly anxious that they cannot cross the road safely.

'It's an accident waiting to happen, said James Beale, the resident manager at a Trump tower block that is next to the mosque.

'It's a very dangerous situation. It's like all the rules of the road are thrown aside,' he told DNA info.

We can probably thank the socialist coddling policies of mayor Bloomberg for this mess.

Labels: islam, New York, United States

I've always wanted to write about a subject like this, because it is something important, but figuring out how is the difficult part. But now, I'd like to address the unfortunate discrimination that's admittedly been going on in some Hasidic mindsets as to a woman's status in Israeli society. In this case, it's of a rabbi who told his disciples that it's better to die in battle than hear a woman sing. According to this article:

Israel Defense Forces soldiers should choose death before they remain at army events which include women's singing, a top settler religious leader said in an interview on Thursday.

The comment made by Elyakim Levanon, the rabbi of the West Bank settlement of Elon Moreh, came after earlier this week, 19 reserve major generals sent a letter to Defense Minister Ehud Barak and IDF Chief of Staff Benny Gantz, imploring them not to allow harm to come to women's service in the army as a result of religious soldiers' demands.

[...]in a radio interview on Thursday, Rabbi Levanon criticized a possible ruling that would forbid religious soldiers from leaving events over women's singing, saying that IDF soldier should choose death before complying with such an order.

"[The IDF] is bringing close the day in which rabbis will have to say to soldiers 'you have to leave those events even if there's a firing squad outside, and you'll be shot to death," Levanin said.

If this is accurate enough, I must say that I'm really aghast that he would make such a statement. On the one hand, I'll say in fairness that if they don't want to hang around, they don't have to, provided they don't try to punch the singer in the nose. On the other hand, Levanon's suggesting to anyone that it's better to die than hear a woman singing is offensive and abominable. Are the (presumably Hasidic) religious soldiers going to be smashed into the dust by the Lord's hand if they commit the "crime" of hearing women sing, or are they going to end up in hell? Frankly, I don't think so, and making that statement at the expense of the female sex is simply unacceptable.

As told in this interview with veteran rabbi David Hartman (via Religion and State in Israel):

From a halachic perspective, is there a problem with women standing up to sing?

“No. The Gemara talks only a loss of concentration while reciting the Shema. If women are singing when you are in the middle of reciting the Shema, it will hinder your intent. That’s it. No more. A rabbi in Israel saying that it’s better to die than to hear a woman singing is crazy.” (Referring to Elyakim Levanon, the rabbi of Elon Moreh, who declared that he would prefer to stand in front of a firing squad than hear a woman sing).

As far as I know, it's only in religious prayer where women serving in song isn't thought to belong. Non-religious entertainment is completely irrelevant.

Torah and religious scholars are going to have to start teaching their disciples that it's not sinful at all to listen to women singing. Some of this, I wonder, might've come vaguely from Islamic influence. What if indeed it did? Then it's something that's going to have to be reversed.

Labels: Israel

Well isn't that a good way to get the attention of the MSM: demagogue Paul wasn't happy about CNN's questioning him about the vicious newsletters he'd published in the past 3 decades, to the point where he apparently strode out on them. And he's the one who complained that the MSM wasn't giving him enough attention, and we thought he actually wanted it! Does he regret that now?

Back in 1995, he thought these were classics he was producing, and even considered them "educational". With the kind of opinions he was espousing/publishing, I wouldn't consider them that even in terms of finance. Even if he was the only financial expert on earth, I'd still avoid his crap like the plague. He's practically corrupted and demonized capitalism with the way he profiteered off of racism.

If he's not willing to discuss challenging subjects like this now, the less good it'll do him overall. If he really wants the MSM's attention, he's got to be prepared and willing to answer challenging subjects. This sure wasn't setting a good example on his part.

Update: see also this article that talks about a newsletter he wrote predicting a "race war".

Labels: anti-americanism, anti-semitism, political corruption, racism, RINOs, United States

Et Tu Mr. Destructo has more scans of the horrific newsletters Ron Paul published in the past 3 decades, which feature yet more disturbingly creepy remarks.

Hot Air reports that conservatives in Iowa are becoming concerned about Paul's possibilities too. I hope they realize the main reason they should worry is because of how it might undermine their chances to win over more of the Jewish and black voters.

I think what's really infuriarating about Paul is how he's exploited a perceived weakness in the American public now - economy. But given how dishonest he constantly is on many other subjects, how can his positions on economy be believable? Breitbart has just posted a video of a statement he made 2 decades ago, where he praised the Soviet Union for "rejecting central planning". The craziness of his claim aside, if he admired communism as per the Soviets, that too should be a reason for anyone who really does have common sense to give pause.

Update: while on the subject, Paul also came out in favor of Bradley Manning, who was charged with leaking classified info to Wikileaks. Tsk tsk tsk.

Labels: anti-americanism, anti-semitism, political corruption, racism, United States

The Swedish car manufacturer has filed for bankruptcy. I really don't like their products (though to be frank, it's Volkswagen that I really can't stand in cars and trucks) and Sweden itself has done enough to alienate me, so I'm not sorry to see them go under.

Update: and if you read this news about Ikea's founder, Ingvar Kamprad, you'll understand why I will definitely not be sorry if they ever go under either.

Labels: Scandanavia

Kim Jong-Il, the dictator of North Korea, is now dead. His son, Kim Jong-Un, will be his successor. The question is whether this signals the end of the autocracy that's led to North Korea's becoming such a land of oppression. We have to hope it does lead to the end of the dictatorship.

Labels: Asia

Ron Paul's vile newsletters of past decades are becoming a topic for discussion now, and are definitely a cause for concern. Before I get around to that, Phillip Klein has warned why a vote for Ron Paul in Iowa could end up sending the wrong message, and not what some people apparently desperate for better economy think would be sent. Here, the problem in focus is Paul's noxious views on Israel (via Betsy's Page):

...the reality is that on numerous occasions, Paul has crossed the line from merely saying America should stay out of all conflicts, to actively attacking Israel and taking the Palestinians' side -- even when the non-interventionists should theoretically remain silent.

Nearly three years ago, Israel launched a counterattack on Palestinian terrorists in Gaza who had been firing thousands of rockets at Israeli civilians. In early January 2009, Paul released a web video in which he charged that Israel was launching a "pre-emptive war," that Palestinians were living in a "concentration camp" and that they merely had "a few small missiles."

He then repeated this claim on Press TV -- the state-owned propaganda channel of Iran's Islamist government. "To me, I look at it like a concentration camp, and people are making homemade bombs," he said of the situation in Gaza, adding sarcastically, "like they're they aggressors?"

Not only did Paul inaccurately portray Israel as the aggressor, and ignore the Israeli victims of Palestinian terrorist attacks, but he also played into the global propaganda campaign to delegitimize Israel. Israel's enemies think that Jews have exploited global sympathy for the Holocaust, so they routinely liken Israelis to Nazis with phrases like "concentration camp."

Well, so much for any defense he might mount about being the "only" member of Congress to defend Israel's attack on Iraq's own nuclear development sites in 1981. Even just recently, he's engaged in some most despicable acts. Klein mentions that Erick Erikson of Red State and Dean Clancy of Freedom Works are 2 more names besides Glenn Beck who are risking throwing away their merits by recommending we vote for Paul, and contradicting Benjamin Franklin's argument that those who seek personal liberty for personal safety deserve neither liberty nor safety, and as a result, I'm not going to waste time on them anymore.

Now, here's where you can find some leading examples of Paul's racist newsletters mainly from the late 80s-early 90s, which, as the evidence presented points out, he both wrote and edited. Here's a most lurid sample of his take on blacks, plus a sample scan:

"We don’t think a child of 13 should be held responsible as a man of 23. That’s true for most people, but black males age 13 who have been raised on the streets and who have joined criminal gangs are as big, strong, tough, scary and culpable as any adult and should be treated as such."

“Opinion polls consistently show that only about 5 percent of blacks have sensible political opinions,”

“I think we can safely assume that 95 percent of the black males in that city are semi-criminal or entirely criminal,”

“we are constantly told that it is evil to be afraid of black men, it is hardly irrational.”

See more at the Houston Chronicle. This stuff absolutely make me shudder. He also seems to think that the public isn't concerned about white offenders, or that there's never been any laws that enable juvenile offenders of all backgrounds to be tried as adults. As it so happens, there have been such laws as early as the 1950s.

James Kirchick at the Weekly Standard (via Atlas Shrugs) has more about this, including how he may have made a whole business off of his abominations:

...a subsequent report by Reason found that Ron Paul & Associates, the defunct company that published the newsletters and which counted Paul and his wife as officers, reported an income of nearly $1 million in 1993 alone. If this figure is reliable, Paul must have earned multiple millions of dollars over the two decades plus of the newsletters’ existence. It is incredible that he had less than an active interest in what was being printed as part of a subscription newsletter enterprise that earned him and his family millions of dollars. Ed Crane, the president of the Cato Institute, said Paul told him that “his best source of congressional campaign donations was the mailing list for the Spotlight, the conspiracy-mongering, anti-Semitic tabloid run by the Holocaust denier Willis Carto.”

This sordid history would not bear repeating but for the fact that the media love to portray Paul as a truth-telling, antiwar Republican standing up to the “hawkish” conservative establishment. Otherwise, the newsletters, and Paul’s continued failure to name their author, would be mentioned in every story about him, and he would be relegated to the fringe where he belongs. But Paul has escaped the sort of media scrutiny that would bury other political figures. A December 15 profile of Paul in the Washington Post, for instance, affectionately described his love of gardening and The Sound of Music and judged that “world events have conspired to make him look increasingly on point”—all without any mention of the newsletter controversy. Though present at nearly every Republican debate, he has yet to be asked about the newsletters. Had Paul’s persona and views changed significantly since 2008, this oversight might be understandable. But he continues to say and do things suggesting that, far from disowning the statements he has claimed “do not represent what I believe or have ever believed,” he still believes them.

I can wager a good guess why the MSM may not be covering his horrific writings, which almost make Stephen King's thrillers seem tame by contrast: no doubt some of them are concealing this in hopes he'll at least score a minor victory in Iowa, which alone could give them the perfect opportunity to attack the conservative movement for being what they've been working so hard to prove they're not - racist. This is exactly why, IMO, Paul should be expelled from the competition altogether, since the GOP can ill-afford the kind of tarnish he could end up giving their image.

As Bryan Preston tells in his assessment of the latest GOP debate, this was Paul's worst performance to date:

Mitt Romney earns a laugh line for mocking President Obama’s “pretty please, Iran, return our stealth drone!” Pounding Obama’s foreign policy comes easy for anyone on the stage but Ron Paul, and Romney does well here. Bachmann follows up by accusing Obama of intentionally attempting to lose the peace our troops have won in Iraq, and then rips into Ron Paul’s ideas on security, earning applause and boos simultaneously. Bachmann forces Paul to admit that he doesn’t want Iran to have nuclear weapons. I’m not sure I’ve heard him say that before. He actually seemed to sense that he was losing the argument. And then he questioned why we were flying a drone over Iran at all. Perhaps, to keep an eye on their nuclear program because we can’t trust the UN that Paul keeps referring to? Paul flew his freak flag more brightly than he has in any previous debate, and lost a heated battle of wits and facts to Michele Bachmann. He ended the exchange in a long-winded, rather intemperate, babble about when he was drafted and how we must declare war before taking any military action. This was by far Paul’s worst moment of any debate, any time he has run. And it was one of Bachmann’s best. Paul should experience a slide back down the polls after tonight. A question about his beliefs concerning 9-11 could have sunk Paul for good, but it went unasked.

We have to hope that better members of the GOP will bring up the subject of Paul's newsletters, because the conservative public in particular has the right to know that this terrible man is someone who could very easily blacken the image of the right and cause considerable division that could jeopardize chances needed to unseat Obama. A responsible leadership would see to it that Paul is expelled from the race, since at this point it would only cause further embarrassment. The newsletters should provide all the ammo needed for anyone to make a point about why he's not what his apologists would want people to think he is. Calling for better economy is a positive idea, but politicians shouldn't be judged on that platform alone. Public safety has to take some importance beforehand, and judging from Paul's opposition to the Patriot Act, that's why he can't be trusted on domestic security issues either.

Update: here's more from Commentary, noting that Sean Hannity has already asked Paul about the newsletters, and Paul unsurprisingly refused to take responsibility.

Labels: anti-americanism, anti-semitism, islam, Israel, jihad, political corruption, racism, United States

S.H. Rolef, a former Knesset employee, has written an op-ed about how until recently, Israel's politicians refused to make an actual recognition of the Armenian Holocaust:

In 1915-16, during World War I, the Turks were responsible for the massacre of as many as 1.5 million Armenian inhabitants of the Ottoman Empire. Among the first to warn about the nature and scope of the atrocity was Aaron Aaronsohn – the renowned agronomist from Zichron Ya’acov who established the Nili spy ring, which in the course of the war collected information about Ottoman military movements and other strategic issues and passed it on to the British authorities.

Several of Aaronsohn’s relatives and colleagues actually witnessed the bloody manifestations of the massacre. In November 1916, Aaronsohn sent the British authorities a memorandum entitled “Pro Armenia,” in which he described the atrocities.

The previous month, he had sent a long letter to Judge Julian Mack – a leading American Zionist – in which he tried to convince him to adopt a pro-British position, inter alia describing the massacre of the Armenians and claiming that the Ottoman policy against both the Armenians and the Jews (who he feared might suffer a similar plight) had “made in Germany” written all over it. The Ottoman Empire, it may be recalled, was an ally of Germany in the war, and at the time Aaronsohn was writing, many Jews held pro-German or neutral positions. The Jewish yishuv in Palestine, the Zionist Organization and the State of Israel since 1948 could not claim ignorance of what happened to the Armenians.

And yet until recently, Israel has chosen to ignore the event, with numerous excuses, each of which is shameful in its own right.

The first is that since Turkey denies that a systematic massacre of Armenians ever took place, as well as minimizing the numbers involved (a number that justifies the term genocide), and since for years Israel regarded Turkey as a strategic ally – one of the few Muslim states it could regard as such – Israel would do well not to “let sleeping dogs lie.”

The fact that other states, including the US, adopted a similar policy seemed to justify Israel’s position.

The second excuse was that referring to the massacre of the Armenians as genocide might belittle the enormity of the Holocaust – an Israeli attitude that applies to other cases of genocide as well (and is, in my opinion, not just unjustified, but disgraceful). The Jewish Holocaust – in terms of both its circumstances and its manifestations – is without doubt unique. Nevertheless, this does not justify our belittling or ignoring the horrors that have occurred to other peoples.

The third excuse is that since we do not like others criticizing our treatment of the Palestinians, we should avoid criticizing other states for the way they treat their minorities. This excuse is simply foolish, and may easily boomerang, because no matter how problematic our record of treating our Arab citizens (and the Palestinians in general) might be, it bears no resemblance to the sorts of acts we are talking about. On the contrary, given the nature of the Arab-Israeli conflict, our record – though certainly not free of blemish – cannot be described as involving massacres or acts of genocide at all, as some, including the Turks, can. The Turks are the first who should be confronted with the difference, and it is a shame that only now, when Israel’s relations with Turkey have deteriorated to unprecedented levels due to unbridled Turkish attacks, Israel has finally decided to have its public say on the Armenian genocide.

For years, various MKs from Meretz have tried to get the Knesset to hold a public debate on the subject. Until last week, the only sort of debate to which the Foreign Ministry, speaking in the name of the government, would consent was one in the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, whose proceedings are confidential and whose minutes are not published.

On May 18, the plenum finally decided, following a motion brought forth by MK Zehava Gal-On, to hold an open debate on the subject in the Education, Culture and Sports Committee – the proceedings of which are public, with full minutes published on the Knesset website.

No one opposed the subject’s being referred to the committee, and all the speakers, from Right and Left, religious and secular, spoke in its favor. All one can say is: “better late than never,” but what a shame it took so long.

The irony here is that it's a small leftist Israeli party that would sponsor such a bill, one that caused enough problems for Israel in years past, including anti-religious sentiment, and which for all we know is still likely to continue doing so. I personally find it troubling if no right-wing party ever took it upon themselves to promote a motion for the subject, since it cannot be left solely to the left to deal with. And besides, what if leftists in Israel decide later on not to promote this because they don't want to offend the Islamists? That's practically what's now happening in America, and Obama certainly hasn't done anything to promote the history subject.

Israel's politicians owe a very serious apology for the trouble they've caused in the past, most likely because they knew it could bring up the subject of Islam, and they didn't want to get into it out of classic cowardice.

Labels: anti-semitism, Armenia, germany, islam, Israel, jihad, racism, United States

It's because of the bill they want to draft making it an offense to deny Turkey's genocide of the Armenians during the last years of the Islamic Ottoman empire. So now, Turkey's Erdogan is rearing his ugly head:

ISTANBUL - Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan told France on Saturday to study its own history rather than Turkey's in a warning against the French parliament passing a law making it illegal to deny the mass killing of Armenians in the Ottoman Empire was genocide.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy, a major critic of Turkey's flagging bid to join the European Union, told Turkey in October that unless it recognized the 1915 killings as genocide, France would consider making denial a crime.

Erdogan has already sent Sarkozy a letter warning political and economic relations would suffer grave consequences if the bill was passed into law and he reiterated the message at a news conference on Saturday.

"Those who want to see genocide should turn round and look at their own dirty, bloody history," Erdogan said after talks with Libyan National Transitional Council chairman, Mustafa Abdel Jalil.

The draft law, put forward by a deputy from Sarkozy's party, is due to go before parliament next Thursday and proposes a one-year prison sentence and 45,000 euro ($58,500) fine for denying the killings constitute genocide.

"If the French National Assembly wants to take an interest in history let it take the trouble of illuminating what happened in Africa, in Rwanda and Algeria," Erdogan said in his first operation since recovering from surgery.

"Let it go and research how many people French soldiers killed in Algeria, how they killed them and what inhumane methods they used."

Oh really, Erdogan? Just how many of those "people" you speak of were really jihadists? I suggest you be more honest about what happened in that otherwise vicious region, which isn't doing much better even after France and other western nations left.

France is Turkey's fifth-biggest export market and sixth-biggest country from which it imports goods and services.

Armenia, backed by many historians and parliaments, says some 1.5 million Christian Armenians were killed in what is now eastern Turkey during World War One in a deliberate policy of genocide ordered by the Ottoman government.

Ankara denies the killings constitute genocide and says many Muslim Turks and Kurds were also put to death as Russian troops invaded eastern Anatolia, often aided by Armenian militias.

As is typical of such sickos, they deny their wrongdoing and act as though the Armenians and Russian soldiers weren't fighting back to stop the genocide the Ottomans caused in that time. A true disgrace that Erdogan and his minions are.

The French Foreign Ministry has stressed the draft law was not a government initiative.

Erdogan said in his letter common sense should prevail over political calculations, a hint the draft law was aimed at securing the support of 500,000 French voters of Armenian descent in elections due in five months time.

Turkey and Armenia signed a peace accord in 2009, agreeing to set up a commission of international experts to examine the events of 1915, restore diplomatic ties and open their border to trade, but neither side has ratified the deal.

Turkey has increasingly flexed its rising economic and political muscle on the world stage and in the Middle East as its economy continues to show strong growth while western Europe suffers a financial crisis.

Well don't worry, those fortunes - assuming the info is accurate - will soon turn to asphalt as sharia comes into effect in Turkey down the road. As the news here signals, the accord hasn't exactly worked out, and will probably fall apart later.

France would do well to let go of any exportation they make for Turkey. To my knowledge, Renault might have a few vehicles built there. They'd do well to cease production of any cars and trucks in Turkey, and see if they can build (and sell) them in America/Canada instead. Turkey, under monsters like Erdogan, is not worth the bother any longer.

Labels: Armenia, France, islam, jihad, turkey

Federal prosecutors have discovered a money laundering scam by Hezbollah that even involved drug smuggling and getting hold of used cars:

Federal authorities blamed Lebanese financial institutions Thursday for wiring more than $300 million into the United States in a money-laundering scheme they said used the U.S. financial system to benefit the militant group Hezbollah.

The U.S. government said in the lawsuit filed in a Manhattan federal court that it seeks nearly a half-billion dollars in money-laundering penalties from some Lebanese financial entities, 30 U.S. car buyers and a U.S. shipping company. It also said it's entitled to claim their assets as forfeitable under U.S. money-laundering laws.

Prosecutors said the $300 million was wired from Lebanon to the United States and used to buy used cars and ship them to West Africa. They said Hezbollah money-laundering channels were used to ship proceeds from the car sales and narcotics trafficking back to Lebanon.

The accusations came two days after an indictment in federal court in Virginia accused fugitive Ayman Joumaa of leading a drug conspiracy that provided income for Hezbollah, an Iranian-backed Lebanese militant group that the U.S. has branded a terrorist organization.

A Washington-based Drug Enforcement Administration spokesman, Lawrence R. Payne, told The Associated Press in February that Joumaa's organization laundered money using 50 used car lots in the United States. Cars were exported to Lebanon and West Africa.

U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara said the civil case brought Thursday reveals a massive international scheme in which Lebanese financial institutions, including banks and two exchange houses linked to Hezbollah, passed money through the U.S. financial system to launder narcotics trafficking and other criminal proceeds through West Africa and back into Lebanon.

The government said substantial portions of the cash were paid to Hezbollah, which has been designated by the U.S. State Department as a terrorist organization since 1997.

This is what they'll do to make money to bankroll acts of terrorism and to get hold of vehicles they can travel in. I wouldn't be surprised if some of those vehicles were used for suicide bombing.

Labels: Africa, jihad, Lebanon, terrorism, United States, war on terror

But now, as the latest news reports, they've destroyed it:

Tehran municipality workers destroyed the "Star of David dome" in the capital's main square, according to a report by Iran's semi-official Fars news agency, cited by Channel Two News.

The authorities reportedly ordered the destruction of the dome, which had "characteristics associated with the Zionist regime." Fars reported that the move came after increasing disapproval was expressed regarding the feature.

The dome was placed in the square in August last year, surprising many due to the central location. It was allegedly placed there instead of a monument to the Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, a symbol and leader of Islamic opposition to the shah’s secular and Western-aligned rule.

According to report, the ornamental tiling which bore a symbol resembling the Star of David was removed, leaving the dome bare.

Over a year ago government officials in Iran were incensed when they discovered the outline of a Star of David atop the roof of the headquarters of Iran.

The six-pointed star was discovered by an eagle-eyed Google Earth user, over three decades after the building that houses the national airline of the Islamic Republic was constructed by Israeli engineers.

Who knew that the dome constructed in August 2010 would end up in the shape of a Star of David, and would be overlooked so easily? It's sad they don't like our symbol either, but I suspect that even if it were a Japanese Buddhist symbol, since some Japanese did use that too, they'd still be as hateful as ever.

Labels: anti-semitism, iran, islam, Israel, Japan

Another couple businesses have removed their ads from TLC's "All-American Muslim", with Kayak travel company being the current one. From the Hollywood Reporter and Yahoo's Cutline, here's a description from the company marketing officer of how the network was not clearly honest with them about the content:

“The first thing I discovered was that TLC was not upfront with us about the nature of this show. As I said, it’s a worthy topic, but any reasonable person would know that this topic is a particular lightning rod. We believe TLC went out of their way to pick a fight on this, and they didn’t let us know their intentions. That’s not a business practice that generally gets repeat business from us. I also believe that it did this subject a grave disservice. Sadly, TLC is not enjoying the attention from this controversy.”

Here's a suggestion for a better TV reality documentary: why not one called "All-American Arab" which would focus on the lives of Arabs of Christian and non-Muslim backgrounds? What's wrong with conceiving of something like that, unless maybe the network's view of Christians and non-Muslims is so degradingly low, they don't have the guts to try out something that does have the potential for better ratings and advertising.

Just like Lowe's, Kayak is another company worth doing business with for similar reasons.

Labels: communications, islam, showbiz, United States

The former French president who had his own part in precipitating the Islamization of France has now been convicted of embezzlement:

PARIS (AP) — A French court found former President Jacques Chirac guilty of embezzling public funds to illegally finance the conservative party he long led, in a historic verdict Thursday with repercussions for his legacy and France's political elite.

Chirac, a savvy world diplomat and icon of France's ruling establishment for decades, will not go behind bars but was handed a two-year suspended sentence that goes on his criminal record. Anti-corruption crusaders, long frustrated by dirty dealings in the French political machine, rejoiced at the conviction.

He's the first former French head of state to face prosecution since the World War II era. But the 79-year-old former leader did not take part in the trial, after doctors determined that he suffers severe memory lapses.

The court said Thursday it had found Chirac guilty in two related cases involving fake jobs created at the RPR party, which he led during his 1977-1995 tenure as Paris mayor. He was convicted of embezzling public funds, abuse of trust, and illegal conflict of interest.

Chirac repeatedly denied wrongdoing. It took years to get him to trial because he enjoyed immunity from prosecution during his 1995-2007 presidential tenure, during which he led France into the shared euro currency and became the global champion of opposition to the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq.

Too bad he won't go to a cell, but at least he's been given the conviction he was long asking for, not just for helping send his country into dhimmitude, but also for hostility to Israel and opposition to the Iraq war. And now that I think of it, his support for the Euro was also a bad thing to do.

Labels: anti-semitism, dhimmitude, France, Iraq, islam, Israel, political corruption

Following the Florida Family Association's campaign to get advertisers to withdraw from the propaganda TV program called "All-American Muslim", Lowe's has withdrawn their ads from the program. However, this has led to a ludicrous and unjust attack from a California senator and even CAIR themselves. Pamela Geller has launched a request to support Lowe's department store this holiday, which I strongly recommend following up on too.

It's important to note that 64 other companies pulled their ads from the show as well, which sure isn't making big ratings on TV. I'm glad others followed Lowe's move and did the right thing too.

Labels: CAIR corruption, dhimmitude, islam, showbiz, United States

A jihadist attack has taken place in Belgium (Hat tip: Atlas Shrugs):

December 13, 2011 — LIEGE, Belgium — Summoned for questioning by Belgian police, Nordine Amrani, a Muslim man with a history of weapons and drug offenses left home armed with hand grenades, a revolver and an assault rifle. Stopping at a central square filled with holiday shoppers, he lobbed three grenades into the crowd, then opened fire.

Five people were killed, including an 18-month-old toddler, and 122 were wounded in the assault Tuesday that brought tragedy to the pre-Christmas season of students reveling in exam results and preschoolers enchanted by brightly lit trees and holiday stalls.

Herman Van Rompuy, a former Belgian prime minister who is now president of the European Council, said he was badly shaken by the attack. “There is no explanation whatsoever,” Van Rompuy said. “It leaves me perplexed and shocked.”

Of course there is an explanation. Amrani was a Muslim and he was waging his personal Jihad against the infidels. After over 18,000 terrorist attacks by the followers of the religion of peace since 9/11, the only thing that is inexplicable and indeed shocking is the surprise of the politicians and their inability to connect the dots between the terrorists and the hate mongering teachings of their prophet.

Two days earlier, another Muslim, calmly pointed his handgun and opened fire on passing cars near Vine Street and Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood while shouting Allahu Akbar. He injured one passerby before being killed by the police. In both cases the media refused to identify the killer as Muslim terrorist.

There was another victim claimed by the Muslim murderer prior to his official assault in Liege: a cleaning attendent at his apartment:

THE gunman who killed three people in the Liege city centre attack also murdered his cleaner before setting out on the massacre.

The body of a woman in her forties was discovered during a search of Nordine Amrani's property.

"It was a cleaning lady. This is how she met him yesterday morning," prosecutor Daniele Reynders said. "She dies, shot with a bullet in the head."

The most stupefying thing here is the jaw-dropping lack of responsibility by the authorities in how they dealt with the monster: despite his offenses with weapons, if not drugs, they still allowed him to go free later. That's something that needs to change, but if I'm correct, a socialist government was elected, and we cannot count on them to be responsible.

Labels: belgium, islam, jihad, terrorism, United States