Gang of 5 hoodlums charged with terrorizing Jewish summer camp

We seem to have another unpleasant incident taking place in America that shows anti-semitism is still around:

Anti-Semitism is alive and well in the United States too.

Four American teenagers and a 21 year old were arrested last week for terrorizing a Jewish camp in Pennsylvania. The gang went racing through Camp Bomin in a white Ford pickup truck while shouting vicious anti-Semitic epithets, according to a police criminal complaint.

In one incident, the gang also allegedly shot Jewish campers and staff with a paintball gun. One 18-year-old camper was hit while leaving a synagogue, according to the rap sheet.

Mark Trail, 21, Tyler Cole Spencer, 18, Cassandra Robertson, 18 and the two juveniles – whose names could not be published because they were ages 17 and 16 – damaged fields, yards, buildings, and fences while “narrowly missing several campers and staff” according to the complaint.[...]

Spencer, from Linden, Tennessee, allegedly hit a camp counselor before fleeing with his pickup truck on July 16. His bail was set at $200,000. Trail and Roberston and both from Wayne County, Pennsylvania, and bail was set for both at $20,000. The three older gang members were charged with ethnic intimidation, terror threats, recklessly endangering others and institutional vandalism. Some of the charges are felonies.

Wouldn't the terrible Henry Ford be so proud of these filthy scorpions if he knew they were driving one of his junkpiles. They should all be locked up and set for hard labor in prison.

This incident should also serve as an important reminder that it would be foolish to think anti-semitism is completely gone from the USA, and everybody recognizing the dangers of it should be on the lookout for thugs like those.

Danny Danon sees Mitt Romney as Israel's real pal

MK Danny Danon has written an op-ed in the Jerusalem Post where he tells why Mitt Romney is the real friend of Israel in contrast to Barack Obama (H/T: The American Thinker):

By coming here, Romney is indicating to his Israeli friends his deep commitment to the State of Israel and the importance that he places on his friendship with the Jewish people.

Not only is the governor taking the time to visit the Jewish state in the midst of his campaign, but he has also stated repeatedly that should he win the presidency, his first official trip abroad would be to Israel. It is these types of pledges – along with his steadfast statements affirming Israel’s right to defend itself from all threats, both near and far – that is convincing so many Democratic pro-Israel voters to switch sides and vote for the Republican candidate in the upcoming election.

Obama, on the other hand, has been anything but resolute in his support for Israel since he was elected in 2008. In his now infamous Cairo Speech, the president put the onus of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict squarely on the shoulders of what was once called America’s only true ally in the Middle East.

There's a good point for starters. Barry Rubin and Daniel Pipes have also given praise to Romney for setting such a good example. Let's hope that Romney does well, because we could sure use a guy like him to help this world.

Italy's Olympic team shows the solidarity rest of IOC doesn't

Some brightening news from the Olympic scene:

The Italian Olympic team at the London Olympic Games made a noble gesture Sunday and stood in silence outside the quarters of the Israeli team, in memory of the 11 athletes slain in the Munich Olympics 40 years ago, Voice of Israel radio reported Sunday.

About 30 Italians were present at the ceremony, including Italy's Minister of Sport, the heads of the Italian Olympic Committee and athletes. Israeli Olympic Committee head Tzvi Varshaviak and Olympic delegation leader Efraim Zinger also took part.

According to an unverified report on the internet, the pilot and crew of a British airliner headed for Israel Thursday did what the Olympics Committee refused to do, and observed a moment of silence in memory of the Israel athletes murdered in Munich in 1972.

The "USA Stands with Israel" Facebook page, with over 10,000 subscribers, reported that the heartwarming gesture was made by a pilot for EasyJet, on a flight headed from the firm's home base of Luton, England, to Tel Aviv.

With any luck, there'll be more reps from various other countries who'll do the same as these groups have done, and will provide their own special moments of silence that the official committee doesn't have the courage to do.

Mitt Romney sets himself apart from Obama on Israel

Presidential candidate Mitt Romney's paid his visit to Israel, and as Benjamin Shapiro tells, he's set a very good example in contrast to Obama, by recognizing that Jerusalem is Israel's capitol, which the staff of the Obama administration wouldn't do. Romney's speech went as follows:

To step foot into Israel is to step foot into a nation that began with an ancient promise made in this land. The Jewish people persisted through one of the most monstrous crimes in human history, and now this nation has come to take its place among the most impressive democracies on earth. Israel’s achievements are a wonder of the modern world.

These achievements are a tribute to the resilience of the Israeli people. You have managed, against all odds, time and again throughout your history, to persevere, to rise up, and to emerge stronger.

You can read the rest of Romney's speech at the link. It's very good. Here's more on Yahoo News.

Update: predictably, the left is enraged Romney would ever dare call Jerusalem Israel's capitol.

I don't think this year's Olympics are much fun to bother about

Not just because London is surely the worst place today where you could hold them, but also because the committee's refused to hold a moment of silence for the murdered Israeli athletes. Thus, I don't see much reason why to bother with them now.

Lilli Platt has an op-ed about this hypocrisy in Newsday. The committee still has time to reveal whether they can actually stand up to the Arab/Muslim countries who belong to dominate the IOC. But don't bet on it.

Update: Jonathan Tobin has more here and here. And here's Benjamin Weinthal's entry on NRO, and Joel Pollak's on Big Journalism.

Commentary's Seth Mandel is a disgrace

On the other hand, if you're looking for an alleged reporter who's apparently anti-Israel, there is Commentary's Seth Mandel, who attacked Danny Dayan's op-ed and says:

First and foremost, a majority of Israelis (usually around the 60 percent mark, sometimes higher) consistently support the two-state solution, even at a time when that proposal is clearly at a post-Oslo low point. So Dayan need not appeal to readers of the New York Times; he is far from convincing his own countrymen to join him. It is much easier to understand why the Times chose to publish the op-ed: the American left would like to frame the debate as consisting of two points of view–Dayan’s and J Street’s. Both are outside the mainstream consensus on this issue, and it is only up against Dayan’s arguments that the hard-left can appear reasonable. With regard to Dayan, there are three questions he should be asked after writing this op-ed.

First, the obvious: What about the Palestinians? Dayan doesn’t say Israel should give the Palestinians in Judea and Samaria voting rights. If he would, is he not concerned about the demographics at play? If he would not, is he suggesting that the Palestinians should be a permanently stateless people and that Israel would be permanently without clear national borders? He writes that Israeli security should be paramount, but the Judea and Samaria he envisions would be a long-term security nightmare for Israel.

Has Mandel parchance ever read this Angus-Reid polling research that shows many Israelis actually oppose a 2-state "solution"? This is the same magazine that 7 years ago would not even oppose the damage Ariel Sharon led to, and has rarely even spoken about anything Pamela Geller's had to say. Mandel also perpetuates the lie of a "palestinian people", and might I add that so long as they continue to embrace Islam, that's a reason why they're not deserving of voting rights if they intend to exploit that for purposes that could help undermine Israel's safety in their favor. Mandel then caps his junk with the following:

...it would be more constructive if Dayan made these critiques of Mideast policy as part of an effort to reform the current structure of the two-state solution in ways that might make it more workable, not less.

One of the people in the comments said:

Very disappointing to see Commentary become an advocate for the two-state final solution, which not only will lead to placing a dagger pointed at the Tel Aviv - Jerusalem heartland, but more importantly legitimizes redentist fantasies that the biblical lands of Judea and Samaria are really Arab lands over which Jews have no claim to whatsoever. The resulting delegitimation that has flowed from accepting the Arab myth that Judea and Samaria is theirs is most manifest in the massive erosion of support Israel has suffered in the western media ever since it signed the Oslo Accords. Now I am starting to understand why Newt Gingrich's most accurate statement about the Palestinians being an invented people provoked such hostility among Contention commentators. However I have yet to comprehend why those who hold high the neoconservative banner embrace policies that objectively undermine Israel and only further Islamic jihadism.

Whenever Commentary publishes degrading opinions like Mandel's, that's exactly what makes me wonder if they're even a truly reliable source to begin with, if they cannot bring themselves to shun an otherwise damaging belief and policy. This is just why a magazine like them requires considerable caution and much of what they say has to be taken with big bags of salt.

Michelle Bachmann is courageous to confront Islamism

Congresswoman Michelle Bachmann has called for investigation of the Muslim Brotherhood's influence in America, and she's won the support of Eric Allan Bell, the former leftist now turned critic of Islam.

She's also had problems with GOP members who've unfortunately had the cowardice by contrast to attack her concerns as "baseless", including House speaker John Boehner and John McCain. As Diana West notes:

And so the muck flies -- at Michele Bachmann. She has the audacity, in their eyes, of asking for information that the American people have every right to know. Her character-assassins in the media, in her own party, committ the very crime they falsely accuse her of: slandering without facts. House Speaker John Boehner actually admitted he hadn't read Bachmann's query letter but saw fit to denounce Bachmann anyway for "throwing around" accusations that were "pretty dangerous." John McCain, the man who last year called AQ-linked Libyan forces his "heroes," erroneously stated on the Senate floor that Bachmann's concerns -- "sinister accusations," he luridly called them -- “rest solely on a few unspecified and unsubstantiated associations of members of Huma’s family.” (Again, as Andy McCarthy lays out here, "the ties of Ms. Abedin’s father, mother, and brother to the Muslim Brotherhood are both specific and substantiated.")

Boehner owes Bachmann an apology for implying that any and all discussions of legitimate concerns like these is forbidden, and so does McCain. This is a sad problem with even so-called conservative leaders that they're apparently not willing to face the serious realities about Islam, and that even included, sadly enough, Ronald Reagan. As Caroline Glick reminded almost 2 weeks ago:

Back in the 1980s, the Reagan administration happily cooperated with the precursors of al-Qaida in America's covert war against the Soviet Union in Afghanistan. It never occurred to the Americans then that the same people working with them to overthrow the Soviets would one day follow the lead of the blind sheikh and attack America.

And it never occurred to Jimmy Carter, the originator of these cooperations, either, I guess. This sends an important message that conservatives who recognize the dangers of Islamofascism could not have expected Reagan to take a proper approach to dealing with it in his time. After all, he never called upon Egypt's Mubarak to shape up the country for real and abandon Islam, did he?

Bachmann's courage in confronting a serious subject is something to be commended, and the GOP would be advised to thank her for it. Newt Gingrich has already come to her defense, and others should too. The Muslim Brotherhood is a very dangerous movement that cannot be allowed to have influence in democratic countries.

Danger lurks at the Olympics in London

Alan Caruba at Accuracy In Media's written about the danger of jihad that's lurking at the Olympics in England, and is right to be concerned even now:

A foretaste of what might occur in London when the Olympic games open on Friday, July 27, occurred on July 20 when a Muslim youth shouting in Arabic, “God is great”, attempted to seize the Olympic torch as it was being carried through Maidstone toward Redhill.

I was reminded of the 1972 Olympic Games in Munich when members of the Israeli team were targeted and killed by Islamists. Then I thought of other terrorist attacks in London and in Manchester in the recent past.

Wikipedia offers some sobering information about Islam and England. There were more than 1,500 mosques in England as of 2007. Muslims have been part of the English population as early as 1707 and today it is the second largest religion in the country. As of 2011 the Muslim population was estimated to be 2.869 million. It is the fastest growing religion in the UK. [...]

The opening day ceremonies will be further disrupted by planned strikes by transportation unions and the main access to the venue will be via subway, a prime target for bombs. The British have mobilized elements of their armed forces to provide security, but it is my view that, like most acts of terrorism, it will be virtually impossible to deter bombings and other mayhem.

The 2012 Olympic Games hold the prospect of becoming a bloodbath for participants and attendees.

This is hardly at all a way to celebrate an event like the Olympic games by having union strikes take place. It's very good that Israeli security sources are set up at the games, but even so, in a country that's already sold its soul, there's no telling what could happen.

Danny Dayan is right: Judeans/Samarians are here forever

In a rare show of respect for a pro-Israel voice, the New York Times published an article by Danny Dayan, chairman of the Yesha Council:

WHATEVER word you use to describe Israel’s 1967 acquisition of Judea and Samaria — commonly referred to as the West Bank in these pages — will not change the historical facts. Arabs called for Israel’s annihilation in 1967, and Israel legitimately seized the disputed territories of Judea and Samaria in self-defense. Israel’s moral claim to these territories, and the right of Israelis to call them home today, is therefore unassailable. Giving up this land in the name of a hallowed two-state solution would mean rewarding those who’ve historically sought to destroy Israel, a manifestly immoral outcome.

Of course, just because a policy is morally justified doesn’t mean it’s wise. However, our four-decade-long settlement endeavor is both. The insertion of an independent Palestinian state between Israel and Jordan would be a recipe for disaster.

The influx of hundreds of thousands of Palestinian refugees from Syria, Lebanon, Jordan and elsewhere would convert the new state into a hotbed of extremism. And any peace agreement would collapse the moment Hamas inevitably took power by ballot or by gun. Israel would then be forced to recapture the area, only to find a much larger Arab population living there.

Moreover, the Palestinians have repeatedly refused to implement a negotiated two-state solution. The American government and its European allies should abandon this failed formula once and for all and accept that the Jewish residents of Judea and Samaria are not going anywhere.

Read the rest. He deserves many congratulations for this. But one more reminder: that land we had to go into during 1967 was handed over by the British to the Arab/Muslim entity. And that's just one more reason why we have the right to live there.

Vulgarian police chief suspended after allegations of sexual assault

Nisso Shaham, the Jerusalem police chief, who was one of the most evil lackeys in the "disengagement" disaster, has been suspended by Israel's chief police commissioner pending investigation of sexual assault:

Jerusalem police chief Nisso Shaham took a forced administrative leave starting on Thursday morning, following reports of sexual assault against a policewoman. The Justice Ministry’s Police Investigations Department said Shaham was questioned yesterday on suspicion of sexual harassment, indecent assault, and illicit sexual relations after an undercover investigation.

Dept. Commander Nissim Edri, the head of the Zion precinct, was also placed on administrative leave on the suspicion that he was aware of Shaham’s actions and did not take appropriate action as required by law.

The contents of the investigation are still under a partial media gag order. [...]

Shaham captured headlines in 2005 when he was the Negev District Chief during the disengagement from Gaza. Shaham was filmed saying that the settlers in Kfar Maimon “should all burn, those [expletive] settlers.”

There's more about this vile, disgusting man over here:

Police Commissioner Yohanan Danino has decided to suspend from office the Jerusalem District Major General Nisso Shacham until further notice, due to an ongoing investigation against him and another senior officer in the district for sexual assault, harassment and misconduct. Internal Security Minister Yitzhak Aharonovitch has been briefed on the case.

Now to the poetic justice business: Nisso Shacham has become the face of the Gush Katif evacuation with this highly watched video, shot by Channel 10 photographer Yisrael Rosner, in which he is depicted giving instructions to his men using the most vile and violent language (don’t watch in a room with Hebrew speaking children).

Shacham is seen telling his troops: “No problem whatsoever – batons, lower body if necessary. – OK,” and a line we can’t quote here in which he says he isn’t some lady of the night and then adds a sordid description which included himself and a proverbial mother of the demonstrators.

The ranking officer’s vulgar language and obvious violent attitude towards the “Haredim” as he refers to the settlers (“I’m an expert on Haredim,” he tells his men in the video), peppered with gutter sexual imageries, brought before the Israeli public an image of Israel’s police force as they all had known from personal encounters – and remains to this day an extreme symbol of the way the establishment felt at the time about the vermin-like settlers that stood in its way.

The storm that erupted following the broadcast on Channel 10 (the most hated news channel by government of all stripes) forced the police brass’ hand.

On July 24, Police Chief Moshe Karadi suspended Shacham for his behavior, removing him from the senior role he had been assigned in uprooting and transferring some 8,500 Jews from their homes in Gush Katif, Gaza strip.

Then NRP MK Shaul Yahalom slammed what he termed an inadequate punishment. “The police chief’s decision sends a message of forgiveness in the face of violence, which is contradictory to democracy and the law,” he said. “The fact that Shacham was not kicked out of the police proves the police disregard the standards of democracy and maintaining the rule of law in Israel.”

Even Oslo architect, former Meretz Chairman MK Yossi Beilin was offended by the video, calling it a “serious error.”

“Sacham’s place is not in the police. The things he said have no explanation and should not be forgiven,” Beilin said.

It turns out both men, on the right and on the left, were absolutely correct.

Exactly seven years later to day (it works if you allow for two leap years), foul mouthed Jerusalem police chief Nisso Shacham was given a forced vacation again. He will be replaced by Inspector Manny Yitzhaki, who only eight days ago received an appointment as head of Lahav 433, a new Israeli crime-fighting unit with an FBI-like status regarding local police operations.

Another Jerusalem senior police officer was suspended, Brigadier General Nissim Edery, commander of the Zion police station. There is a gag order on both suspensions. Rumors suggest Shacham and his buddy concealed evidence about an ongoing investigation.

One thing is certain, if finally given the boot, the Memoir by disgraced policeman Nisso Shacham will be a local hit.

And still a bit more in this article, which provides clearer info on the charges:

Three women have made complaints, according to Channel 10. According to Channel 2, one of the complainants claims that Shaham tried to kiss her during an interview.

His subordinate, Nissim Edri, who commands the city’s Zion sub-station, is suspected of ignoring complaints about Shaham’s behavior.

Given what an obscene color of character Shaham's got, it shouldn't be too surprising he could be that bigoted against those policewomen too. Now, he's on the receiving end of some more punishment, but the big question is whether he'll actually pay for his crimes with a dismissal from the police and a jail sentence for the offenses he's committed.

Army judge charges Nidal Hasan with contempt for not shaving his beard at trial

The jihadist murderer at Fort Hood has refused to shave off his beard at the trial, in an obvious show of contempt typical of many jihadists, leading a military judge to make the following rulings (via The Jawa Report):

FORT HOOD, Texas - In an Article 39A hearing July 25 in the case of U.S. vs. Maj. Nidal Hasan, the Military Judge Col. Gregory Gross began the morning with a contempt hearing for Hasan's failure to comply with Army grooming standards and appear in court clean shaven.

Gross found the accused in contempt and fined him $1,000, the maximum amount the court could impose as a fine under the court-martial contempt statute. After conducting the contempt hearing, the accused refused to voluntarily shave and watched the remainder of the hearing outside the courtroom via a close-circuit television feed. The military judge further informed the accused that if he did not voluntarily shave, Gross would likely compel a shaving sometime in the future so the accused could personally attend forthcoming court-martial hearings.

A wise decision indeed.

Even if there was a "peace deal", PLO's economy wouldn't function

The World Bank is saying the following:

The Palestinian economy cannot sustain statehood while it continues to rely heavily on donors funds and the private sector fails to thrive, the World Bank said in a report its published Wednesday.

"No matter what steps the Palestinian Authority takes, it is unlikely to reach fiscal sustainability until there is a political settlement [peace deal] that allows the private sector to experience rapid and sustained growth," the report said.

The report blamed the problem on the absence of a final status agreement, which would allow for a two-state solution.

But the situation, it said, was made worse by Israeli restrictions on movement and access, which limits the ability to the Palestinian private sector to develop sustainable businesses.

First, even if there was an agreement, they still wouldn't have financial stability due to how the evil politicians in charge are keeping much of the money for themselves, and if they're going to keep pushing this 2-state propaganda, that's just another reason why they are only destined to fail.

The World Bank is not a place for civilized people to keep their money.

Olympic committee's underwhelming moment of silence for murdered Israeli atheletes

In the past week, the Olympic committee refused to hold a moment of silence in memory of the Israeli athletic team murdered by Islamic terrorists in 1972, apparently because the Arab countries involved demanded they not. Tablet's got more on this here (also via Power Line).

Now, it turns out that they did hold a moment of silence in the victims' memory, but it was so quiet and underwhelming, and done as more of a sideshow, that Israeli officials were left unimpressed:

Israeli officials were underwhelmed Monday by a surprise tribute the International Olympic Committee paid at London's Olympic Village to the 11 Israeli athletes killed at the 1972 Munich games.

A ceremony that nobody knew about or paid attention to is not what Jerusalem was looking for, said one diplomatic official.

The official said that Israel thought that 40 years after the Munich massacre it was time for a tribute to be paid at a central Olympic event, like the opening of the games, and not at a side event as has been the case in years past. [...]

Israeli officials had said that they wanted the event marked not at some side ceremony, but rather at the opening ceremony attended by tens of thousands of people and watched by hundreds of millions more around the globe.

And they're right. This way, millions of people could get a clearer understanding of what went on, and more notice would be paid.

Ankie Spitzer and Ilana Romano, the widows of Israeli athletes slain by Palestinians terrorists at the 1972 Olympics in Munich, told The Jerusalem Post they were outraged by the ceremony calling it a ruse intended to deflect criticism against the IOC.

"He is trying to do the bare minimum," said Romano over the phone, referring to Rogge. "This is shameful."

Spitzer and Romano, who will board a flight to London on Tuesday, speculated the last-minute ceremony was a bid to preempt a press conference they plan to hold on Wednesday where they will reiterate their demand that their loved ones be honored at the opening ceremony this Friday.

"He tried to pull the rug from under our feet, but we still have a few things to say," said Romano.

Spitzer added: "This is not the right solution, to hold some ceremony in front of 30 or 40 people. We asked for a moment of silence at the opening ceremony not for someone to mumble something in front of a few dozen people."

I'm glad to see they're not backing down. The message must be made clear that an official, up front memorial moment must be held at the opening, and NOT as a mere sideshow.

The apartheid zone in Hebron

I'm glad to see that Sammy Levine's posted the following information on Pajamas Media (via The Jawa Report and Ace of Spades) about a segment of Hebron's industrial area where the IDF actually put up a sign saying that entry for Jews is forbidden. Of course, what it really tells is that the Islamic entity within that place is deadly hostile to Jews to the point of segregation. And that's as abominable as you can figure.

More info on Vel D'hiv

Haaretz has written about French president Francois Hollande's visit to the site of one of the worst cases of collaboration with the nazis during WW2:

French President Francois Hollande's decision to speak last week at a commemoration of the single worst deportation of Jews in Western Europe during World War II is an important step toward addressing European anti-Semitism.

On an early morning in July 1942, 13,000 Jews were awakened in their Parisian homes by French gendarmes, or soldiers. They were pushed into buses and trucks and taken to one of the most popular sporting stadiums in France. Located in the heart of working class Paris, the Vél d’Hiv was the cathedral for France’s most passionate sport – cycling.

The Jews were left in the stands of this revered velodrome to swelter in the summer heat. The glass roof had been painted dark blue as part of black-out procedures, and the windows were shut tight. A single tap provided water for the victims. Children were separated from their parents. The whole operation was carried out with scarcely a German uniform in sight.

This was French anti-Semitism organized as state action by French civil servants, police officials and other public functionaries. The Jews were later taken to German extermination camps on Polish soil. But the historic importance of Vél d’Hiv is that the horrible sequence of hatred was initiated by French citizens in the name of France.

And that is why it was obliterated from official French history for decades and why Hollande’s decision, early in his presidency, to speak about the duty to remember Vél d’Hiv is so important. A recent survey showed that 60 percent of 18 to 24 year olds in France have never heard of the Vél d’Hiv mass round-up of Jews.

The related picture I've uploaded is from Henri Amouroux's book Les Passions et les Haines, which shows a scene from the urban concentration camp set up by the traitors to humanity. Incidentally, while Hollande's visit in itself is a noble act, it's not clear whether he's acknowledged his father's own collaboration with the nazis at the time, and if he condemns the shame it brings upon him.

And if he keeps up the PC tactic of even remotely calling Israel an "occupier" and excusing Islam, then he hasn't done much to distinguish himself from Jacques Chirac, who was notorious for that.

German government in 1972 had knowledge of Munich attack being planned

Israel National News reports that according to Der Spiegel, the German government knew that a terrorist attack was being planned at the Olympics in 1972:

The German government had advance warning of the 1972 Munich Olympic massacre, Der Spiegel reported Sunday.

German intelligence and the German foreign ministry reportedly received information indicating that a terror attack was being planned at the Olympics, but decided not to take precautions or preventive measures against the threats.

According to the report, authorities ignored not only intelligence reports but also public warnings. On September 2, three days prior to the attack, the Italian magazine Gente also reported that Black September terrorists were planning "a sensational action in the Olympic games."

The attackers were reportedly able to enter the quarters of the Israeli athletes without undergoing additional security measures.

Der Spiegel also implies that local and federal German authorities attempted to cover up their prior knowledge of the attack and their failures to prevent the murder of the 11 Israeli athletes.

According to the German weekly, shortly after the attack, a message was distributed directing officials to refrain from criticizing any of the involved authorities and to refrain from providing information to the public.

The report is based on secret reports from the inquiry following the attack, cabinet meeting minutes and diplomatic correspondence.

The full report, titled "From Dream to Terror – Munich 1972" was aired on Sunday night on German television.

Well now it's clear that they never had any true regrets over the Holocaust, and this just shows why we cannot take their guarantees of safety at face value.

Some Israelis are going out of their minds resorting to self-immolation

In the past week or so, there's been a disturbing series of self-immolationists burning themselves - at least 5 people did this - as part of "social justice" protests. This is ludicrous and does not help the situations Israel faces at all, certainly not after Kadima left the government about a week ago. Big Peace says about the peculiar protests:

The Israeli economy is also among the strongest in the industrialized world. Its economy is growing at a rate of 3.3%, far higher than that of the United States; its unemployment rate is below six percent, falling to a 32-year low of 5.6% earlier this year. Its currency, the shekel, is relatively strong against the dollar and its government budgets, while tight, are nowhere near the debt disaster that has befallen Europe (and which awaits the U.S.).

Still, three factors have driven social unrest in Israel. One is rising prices, due in part to the oligarchic structure of many sectors of the Israeli economy. A second is the massive size of the Israeli welfare state, upon which many Israelis have come to rely for basic needs; budget restraint hits them hard. A third factor is the left-wing nature of Israeli politics, which endures despite the country’s entrepreneurial culture and military reality.

Yes, it's still a very sad factor in the problems this country's coping with now. As for the welfare situation, it makes me sick how this is what quite a few people in society here, notably in the Hasidic sector, have been practically demanding be the norm. It doesn't help a bit and even goes against the Torah-based beliefs in self-reliance. And changing that mindset could take considerable time.

Until then, I should hope that anybody planning self-immolation will come to their senses and not do it, because it does not solve their problems or anybody else's.

Update: one leftist has appealed to protestors not to self-immolate.

Fears of terrorist attacks at Olympics are justified

Israel National News reports that Israel's security experts are worried - and rightly so - about the possibility that terrorists could attack Jewish and other targets at the Olympics in London. And I wouldn't trust the British security forces 100 percent myself, knowing how deceptive the UK's been for many years now. That's why it's good that Israeli experts were sent there as well to deal with the security matters.

BBC won't identify Israel's capitol for the Olympics

Honest Reporting found the most PC television network in the UK working overtime again to obscure Jerusalem as Israel's capitol. And, they even made sure to list "palestine" as a country with "east Jerusalem" listed as its capitol.

As Big Journalism notes:

For decades, Great Britain has bowed to the Arab countries surrounding Israel; as far back as the 1940’s the British wiretapped American Jews who supported an independent Jewish state, and when the war of 1948 started, the British supplied the Arabs with arms. Thus it is not surprising that the British, who are now threatened by a rapidly growing Muslim population, will do anything to placate their Arab brethren, even denying the eternal capital of the Jewish people.

Yep, they are the worst of Europe.

Some independent panel that is

According to the Daily Caller and Atlas Shrugs (via Jihad Watch), a supposedly independent panel set up to investigate the Fort Hood bloodbath by Nidal Hasan has chosen to ignore Islam's role in the massacre.

In that case, is this really an independent panel? I'd say no, it's not. Instead, the people in charge are clearly pathetic.

Update: for a better observation of the case, here's a topic from Long War Journal. And some more here from Atlas Shrugs.

AFDI's victory against MTA

Pamela Geller's group scored a victory against the MTA in NYC over their refusal to run her pro-Israel ads in the subway system to counter anti-Israeli ads also being run there (Hat tip: Jihad Watch).

Surprisingly, the NY Times was fairly even-handed in their coverage too, acknowledging that the MTA violated their free speech rights. Well, I hope now that they're going to run the AFDI's ads without one single objection now, and show that they can respect pro-Israel and anti-jihad movements properly.

Update: Geller's got more here.

A world reverting to barbarism

Mark Steyn talks about how barbarism is returning in this world:

...halfway across the world, the Arab Spring was also hailed as the voice of youth, tweeting its universal message of hope and change. A year on, it's proved to be rather heavier on change, and ever lighter on hope. Egypt's first freely elected head of state is a Muslim Brotherhood man. In the parliament of the most populous Arab nation, the Muslim Brotherhood's party and its principal rival, the Even More Muslim Brotherhood, between them won nearly three-quarters of the seats. In traditionally relaxed and secular Tunisia and Morocco, elections have been won by forces we are assured by the experts are "moderate Islamists" – which means that, unlike the lavishly bankrolled American protectorate of Afghanistan, they won't be executing adulterous women in the street, or at any rate not just yet.

But they will soon, tragically enough. Not that this kind of barbarism had ever vanished; if you know where to look, you'll likely find that it took place right under everybody's noses back in the 50s and 60s too. It's just that a pretentious MSM never wanted to let anyone know about it. And many governments would not research the root cause of the problems or make demands that the RoP be abolished by the regimes where it reigns, so we can see how it continued unchallenged till this day.

And that's why Islamic barbarism is now resurging in the worst ways possible.

John McCain is getting too old for his career

He attacked Michelle Bachmann for requesting that the Justice and Defense Depts investigate potential influences of the Muslim Brotherhood in politics. He even had the gall of attending an al-Jazeera forum along with Nancy Pelosi and acting all sugary there too. No wonder he lost the election nearly 4 years ago. It's time for him to retire and not trouble the political landscape any more with his dhimmitude.

Smear tactic debunked

An attempt by the Wall Street Journal - yes, that allegedly conservative newspaper - to demonize "settlers" with a misleadingly captioned picture has now been debunked:

A photo taken near the Shimon Hatzaddik neighborhood during the FlagDance on on Jerusalem Day, 2010, is making the rounds on the internet again, and has given rise to an avalanche of responses on the Reddit website.

The photo initially appeared on a Wall Street Journal blog with the following explanatory text:

"A Palestinian woman whose house has been occupied by Jewish settlers argued with Israelis who came to celebrate Jerusalem Day in the mainly Arab neighborhood of Sheikh Jarrah, East Jerusalem."

The photo appears to show several young Jewish men mocking a lone Arab woman, who has her back to the camera.

Thousands of comments have been posted, most of them denouncing the Jewish men, many of them vile, some calling them "racists" and even posting photos comparing them to Nazis.

HolesintheNet, an Israeli website devoted to online world, published the story behind the picture Thursday, based on an explanation posted by a Reddit user. Several Arab families were expelled from homes in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood after the High Court found, in 2009, that the homes belonged to Jewish families and the Arabs were illegal squatters.

The Reddit user said that he spoke to one of the young men in the photo. The young man told him:

"This is false propaganda. This is a case of a good photographer who documented our faces, mostly mine, at the right second. As we sang and celebrated in Sheikh Jarrah, the Arab woman came out of a house, banging on a pan, and tried to disturb our celebrations, so we raised our voices and sang louder as she came nearer. We did not yell at her or mock her. We simply tried to keep on celebrating and she tried to disturb us. The picture does not show several other women who banged on pots and tried to interfere with our celebrations."

HolesintheNet contacted the photographer, Ahmad Gharabli, and said it would bring his reaction when it receives it.

As reported in Arutz Sheva at the time, FlagDance marchers in 2010 received specific instructions to avoid confrontations with Arabs. Rabbi Yaakov Meidan, head of the Har Etzion Hesder Yeshiva, wrote an article for youth before the celebrations on avoiding incidents in the Hebrew Makor Rishon newspaper.

Since WSJ's current owner Rupert Murdoch has been such good friends with Saudi prince bin Talal, one can only wonder if this blood libel they committed was a product of that partnership that's uncalled for.

UK Muslim couple convicted for plotting to murder Jews in Manchester

There've been individuals among the Muslims and there've been gangs, but not often do I officially hear of husband-wife plotters who planned to do horrific things like these:

A Muslim couple from the Manchester region of Britain has been convicted for plotting to murder Jews. The two will be sentenced Friday.

Mohammed Sajid Khan, 33, confessed to engaging in conduct in preparation for acts of terrorism. Shasta Khan, 38, denied involvement in the plan, but a jury found her guilty of preparation for acts of terrorism and possessing information useful for committing or preparing for an act of terrorism.

The two had read Al-Qaeda propaganda and were learning to prepare bombs. Data taken from Shasta Khan’s satellite navigation device showed that the two had made multiple trips to Jewish neighborhoods in Manchester in order to look for targets.

But who knows if they'll remain in prison for a suitably long time? I've seen how unclear their law enforcement is regarding their ability to keep convicts in jail properly, and won't be surprised if they don't serve enough time, which should be forever.

Update: here's more from the Yorkshire Post (via Atlas Shrugs).

Bulgarian police release video of the jihad culprit

Here's more news from Times of Israel (via Jihad Watch):

Bulgarian police have released a short video they say is of the suicide bomber responsible for Wednesday’s terror attack on a tour bus full of Israeli citizens at the airport in Burgas, Bulgaria.

The Bulgarian news agency Sofia reported that the bomber was carrying an American passport and Michigan driver’s license. Both documents are believed to be forgeries.

Sofia also reported that the Bulgarian Interior Ministry has managed to recover the fingerprints of the bomber, which they have submitted to the FBI in the United States and the international police organization Interpol. The FBI and CIA have joined Israeli and Bulgarian officials in investigating the attack.

Interior Minister Tsvetan Tsvetanov told Sofia that DNA tests would be run to determine the identity of the Caucasian man, who the minister described as casually dressed with nothing suspicious about his appearance to set him apart from the crowd of people at the airport.

The ministry did not indicate how the police came to the conclusion that the man was the suicide bomber.

The video released by the police on Thursday shows a young man with long hair wearing a hat and backpack, dressed in a blue T-shirt and Bermuda shorts. He was filmed by the video camera approximately one hour before the attack took place.

Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borisov said Thursday the attack was likely carried out by a suicide bomber who detonated as he boarded the bus. Initially, investigators believed the bomb had been set off from within a suitcase on the bus.

It could be that he was one of the converts the Islamofacists are eager to recruit for their repulsive cause.

Update: Big Peace has more news on how this monster who should burn in hell was from Sweden and may have been a Gitmo detainee (via Power Line).

UN refuses to call attack on Israelis in Bulgaria "terror"

UN Watch (via Big Peace) explains how the corrupt politicians of the UN are keeping up their vulgar hostility to Israel:

• A U.N. spokesperson said that Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon condemned the attack "in the strongest possible terms." In fact, however, the U.N. chief's choice of terms was weak in comparison to his statement two weeks ago on the bombing of churches in Kenya. In that case, Mr. Ban rightly spoke of "terrorist"attacks, "reprehensible and criminal," saying the perpetrators "must be held to account." Yet today hereferred only to the deadly "bombing" of Israelis -- noticeably declining to describe it as an act of terrorism -- and he made no call for holding the perpetrators to account. UN Watch today urged Mr. Ban to clarify his position and to truly use the strongest possible terms to condemn today's terrorist attack.
• U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay has remained silent on today's attack. By contrast, hours after the Gaza Flotilla incident of 2010, Ms. Pillay expresed her "shock" and condemned Israel. The top story on her office website instead criticizes Western states for how they combat terrorism, with America accused of having "dangerous" laws that violate due process. Supported by a Facebook campaign now going viral, UN Watch called on the High Commissioner to speak out for victims of terrorism, condemn today's gruesome murders in Bulgaria, and instruct her staff to investigate the perpetrators and hold them fully accountable for the crimes.
• The U.N.'s 47-nation Human Rights Council has also stayed silent. By contrast, in 2004 it wasted no time in convening an emergency session to eulogize Hamas terrorist leader Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, and to condemn Israel. Currently, the council is busy with yet another "fact-finding mission" into alleged Israeli human rights violations. The council has never mandated an inquiry into terrorism or rocket attacks targeting Israelis.

Once again, this now useless organization has proven why it's outmoded and disgusting.

Update: be sure to read John Bolton's newest op-ed in the Wall Street Journal (via Atlas Shrugs) about all the awful things both the US and Israel get for the UN's blank check.

Update 2: in more news about the terrorist attack, Reuters (via Jihad Watch) tells how the culprit looked just like anyone else and carried a fake driver's license from Michigan.

Bosnian Muslim arrested in Virginia for war crimes on Serbian Christians

The Roanoke Times (via Atlas Shrugs) has details on a Bosnian Muslim arrested for committing horrific atrocities against Serbs in the former Yugoslavia:

A former Bosnian prison camp guard now living in Roanoke County was led in handcuffs to a federal courtroom Tuesday, where he was told he faces extradition to his native country on charges of committing war crimes.

Almaz Nezirovic was ordered held without bond during a brief hearing in U.S. District Court in Roanoke.

Court papers unsealed late in the day accuse Nezirovic of torturing Serbian civilians who were sent to a prison camp during the civil war in the former Yugoslavia, now known as Bosnia-Herzegovina.

The prisoners were beaten with rifles and batons, starved, ordered to crawl naked on the ground and forced to eat grass soaked with urine, a seven-page complaint charges.

"In these and other ways, the Fugitive participated in torturing and inflicting cruel, inhumane and humiliating treatment on multiple prisoners at the Rabic camp," the complaint states.

Nezirovic -- who had been living quietly as a welder and soccer coach in Roanoke County since immigrating to the United States about 15 years ago -- appeared stunned and defiant during his hearing.

"I was very surprised," he told Magistrate Judge Robert Ballou in broken English.

Either this so-called surprise stems from how monstrously backwards Islamic education is, a pure distorted reflection of reality, or he's putting on a pretend act. He should definitely be extradited for the horrors he took part in. This is another telling issue that shows that any claim the Bosnians were the "victims" in that war is an obscene lie.

Terrorist attack on Israelis in Bulgaria

A very horrible tragedy has occurred in Bulgaria:

At least three Israelis were killed and 20 others injured Wednesday in a terror attack an Israeli tourists' bus traveling in Burgas, Bulgaria.

Bulgarian media reported of that the explosion took place while the bus was still in the terminal of Sarafovo Airport in the city.

The Israeli Foreign Ministry has set up a special team in its situation room to monitor the events.

“An explosion occurred in a passenger’s bus with Israeli citizens at the Burgas Airport,” Mayor of Burgas Dimitar Nikoliv confirmed to a local radio station. Bulgarian security forces and emergency medical teams have blocked off the area.

Burgas is the second-largest city on the Bulgarian Black Sea Coast and a favorite summer destination for Israeli tourists.

This is all the info that's available so far, but already it's clear that what did happen is abominable.

Update: there's more info available now on Yahoo News:

Although it was not yet certain what caused the blast, Israeli tourists have been targeted in attacks before before, namely in India, Thailand and Azerbaijan. Israel foe Iran is suspected of being behind these assaults.

Yes, it wouldn't surprise me if they had any connection to this monstrosity.

Here's more from the Jerusalem Post.

Update 2: seven people dead. The prime minister's vowed a forceful response.

Committee confirms: Judea/Samaria is not "occupied" territory

Another news report I'm late in writing about, this one is very impressive and can help tremendously (via The Jewish Press):

Retired Supreme Court Justice Edmond Levy, who heads a committee tasked with examining the legality of Jewish construction in Judea and Samaria, declared on Tuesday that Israelis have a legal right to settle the region.

"According to international law, Israelis have a legal right to settle all of Judea and Samaria, at the very least the lands that Israel controls under agreements with the Palestinian Authority," Levy stated. "Therefore, the establishment of Jewish settlements [in Judea and Samaria] is, in itself, not illegal."

The committee was established by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in efforts to determine and cement the legal status of the outposts in Judea and Samaria, with an emphasis on communities that were not built on privately owned Palestinian land but their status was still in doubt due to legal bureaucracy.

The committee issued its report on Tuesday, which was subsequently handed over to Attorney-General Yehuda Weinstein. In the report, Levy wrote that "upon completing the committee's tasks, and considering the testimonies heard, the basic conclusion is that from an international law perspective, the laws of 'occupation' do not apply to the unique historic and legal circumstances surrounding Israel's decades-long presence in Judea and Samaria."

"Likewise," the report said, "the Fourth Geneva Convention [relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War] on the transfer of populations does not apply, and wasn't intended to apply to communities such as those established by Israel in Judea and Samaria."

This news has predictably gotten the left in a tizzy, to which I can only reply that they should ashamed of themselves for going the cliched route of accusing the retired judge of being a "rightist tool".

Steven Plaut says:

A fascinating development this week in Israel was the release of the report of a governmental commission whose assignment had been to define the legal status of the “occupied territories” for purposes of government policy. The commission was headed by Edmond Levy, an interesting former Supreme Court justice and one of the only ones who is not a judicial activist leftist.

The Obama people are upset with the report (an indication of how good it is) and Israel’s moonbat Left is positively wetting itself in anguish.

Basically the report says that the West Bank – Judea and Samaria – are not occupied territories at all but, at most, disputed territories, something like the US-Canadian border areas were during parts of North American history.

As such, there is no reason why Israel cannot build there and even seize land there under eminent domain.

There is nothing in international law that would make settlements “illegal.” And they should thus be proclaimed by Israel to be completely legal. Whether or not Israel builds settlements then becomes a matter of Israeli interests and policy, not legal obstacles.

And Tzipi Hotovely says:

Several historical opportunities stand before the Netanyahu government.
The issue of enlistment is one, but no less important is the opportunity to completely overhaul the management of Judea and Samaria.

The Levy Report established de facto that it is no longer possible to treat the legitimate settlement of Judea and Samaria as a misbegotten stepchild, a wild west twilight zone in which the Jordanian and Ottoman registries are recorded willy-nilly while the secretive veil of the Defense Ministry hovers above, ruling the territory through the civil administration.

After almost half a century of settlement in Judea and Samaria, it is impossible to continue building without a systematic and reliable Israeli land registry. Rather than depend on the goodwill of the defense minister, who can currently prevent the building of public institutions and new neighborhoods with his signature, it is imperative to restore responsibility to the government so that it can build according to its desire. This will be possible once the government has before it a systematic land registry that will allow for settlements to expand and not be blocked due to political factors unrelated to land purchases.

The legal battle is the last stronghold of the leftists, who understand they cannot simply overrule the majority of the public who support the settlement enterprise. When the public votes the Likud into power, it expresses its desire to continue the pioneering and Zionist enterprise in Judea and Samaria. We cannot allow “Peace Now” the right to control the building process. This responsibility is entrusted to the government alone.

However, without a systematic registry, residents time and again fall victim to the legal traps set by the Left’s attorneys.

The latter fight against the settlements by means of the Jordanian registry, mostly fictitious, allowing them to falsely claim ownership in the name of petitioners who never knew they were the proprietors and never claimed ownership for over 40 years.

Read the rest, and see also this article that tells she's going to submit a bill for adopting the report's findings. This is something the government must definitely work on adopting as part of the legal structure so that Israel's citizens can find a decent residence without legal/political problems. Update: see this posting on Israpundit too.

Patricia Said should be indicted for her complicitness in murder of daughters

Pamela Geller has some more details on how the mother of Sarah and Amina Said, Patricia, was just as guilty as her filthy husband Yaser in murdering them (H/T: Jihad Watch). The mother did nothing on her part to help them, was apparently addicted to this monster, and assisted him in drawing them back to their deaths, and for that, she should be prosecuted and sentenced to prison for the rest of her life.

Until then, whereever she is, Patricia Said should be ostracized and banned from public spaces like supermarkets and resturants for her obscene behavior and being complicit in the murder of her own offspring.

New French president's image hurt by a mere Tweet

Francois Hollande's allegedly squeaky-clean image has already been damaged by a simple entry on Twitter:

A feud involving the French president's live-in girlfriend, his former partner and his eldest son may have tarnished the new leader's carefully cultivated image as "Mr. Normal" _ credited with helping him win the spring election among a populace weary of his flashy predecessor, Nicolas Sarkozy. [...]

A tweet last month, during legislative elections, by Hollande's companion Valerie Trierweiler in support of the political opponent of his ex-partner Segolene Royal caused a scandal. Royal _ the mother of the president's four children _ was defeated in her bid for a parliamentary seat.

The tweet was all it took to set the French political establishment aflame, and turn the president's image on its head.

Widely criticized as a vindictive move, the tweet went viral and dominated news shows.

"He campaigned for a clean break with Sarkozy, but it was a big mistake for Valerie, as it put his private life into public view," political communications expert Arnaud Mercier said in a telephone interview.

With the way he's running the show now, and the potential danger and damage he's bound to cause France soon enough, I figure he was asking for this embarrassment.

Muslim clerics in Egypt call for destruction of Pyramids

As Islamofascism continues to consume Egypt, the monsters there add more fuel to the fire by calling for destroying the ancient pyramids. A telling example of how Islam can disregard and disrespect history.

70th memorial of Vel D'hiver

I think it's important to post about the 70th year to the day of Vel D'hiver (via Voz is Neias), when 13,000 Jews in France were sent to Auschwitz by the French police - presumably Vichyites and definitely filth - which should serve as an important reminder how even in France, they weren't innocent. Here's another article on Ynet from 2010, focusing on survivor Madeline Testyler, some news on Ruth King's site.

Former president Jaques Chirac acknowledged in 1995 that it was French police officials who did this at the time and not just Germans, and then, as is clear by now, he proceeded to throw his perceived apology into the trash bin by attacking Israel. It's a shame that even as some European countries acknowledge their own complicity with nazism during WW2, they still continue to adhere to anti-semitism.

Condi Rice would be a bad choice for vice president

According to Daniel Halper, the former secretary of state, the one who gave Israel a very hard time and is partly responsible for leading to the situation we now have in Gaza, is near the top of Mitt Romney's list of possible nominees for vice president. If she's chosen as his running mate, that would only be a galling pick, because most Israelis like myself find her an awful lot. I hope she's not the one he picks, but you never know what's going to happen.

Update: according to the updated info on this Hot Air post, a senoir Romney aide's said "no Condi". If not, that's fortunate.

Bosnia doesn't allow Jews to run for office

Anti-Jewish discrimination in an Islamic-run country on the European side:

The Representative of the Irish Chair-in-Office of the Organisation for Security in Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), Minister for European Affairs Lucinda Creighton, has urged Bosnia to end practices of discrimination against its Roma and Jewish minorities, whose members cannot run for high elected office, AFP reported.

"There is no excuse to discriminate against anyone, especially minorities," Creighton said in a statement.

"This is especially important in a post-conflict society," she said in a reference to Bosnia's 1992-1995 war.

Which the Bosnians started, not the Serbs.

Bosnia's constitution makes a clear distinction between "constituent peoples," namely Bosniaks (Muslims), Croats and Serbs and "others," categorized as Jews, Roma and other minorities. [...]

In 2009, the European Court of Human Rights condemned Bosnia for barring Jews and Romas from running for high elected office. The Strasbourg-based tribunal ruled that the Balkan country was violating provisions of the convention prohibiting discrimination and upheld the right to free elections, AFP reported.

What do they expect though from a society that collaborated with the nazis during WW2?

Jewish woman saved from clutches of PA-based Muslim after nearly 3 decades

Another very fortunate rescue of a woman who made the mistake of pairing with a Muslim cretin:

A dramatic rescue takes a Jewish woman and her two young children out of the clutches of a brutal Palestinian Authority Arab husband with whom she lived for 28 years.

The anti-missionary Yad L'Achim organization, which also works on behalf of Jewish women trapped in relationships with Arabs, revealed the extraordinary story, after “Dinah, the daughter of Leah,” was safely back among Jews.

Dinah was born in the mixed Arab-Jewish city of Lod 48 years ago but became estranged from her family during an emotional crisis, which led her to a relationship with an Arab man.

Since then, she was declared as missing, and her family did not know whether she was dead or alive. At one point, Israeli authorities mistakenly thought they had identified her in a morgue.

She lived with her husband in a Palestinian Authority Arab village in the area of Tulkarm, east of Netanya. She said her husband traumatized her and once tied her to a tree for 13 hours, without food or water The husband said he wanted “everyone to see what will happen to you" if she were to leave the house without permission.

Three weeks ago, ties were suddenly re-established with her family, which finally had a sign that Dinah was still alive. They contacted Yad L’Achim officials, who were given her telephone number and other personal information that enabled them to go into action to rescue her.

When they first got in touch with Dinah, she begged them, “Get me back to my homeland.”

With the help of Interior Minister Eli Yishai and the IDF, special permits were prepared for Dinah and her children to cross the checkpoint near Tulkarm after the rescue, which was carried out in strict secrecy.

And with that, we have another crucial lesson why it's dangerous to overlook the color of the character of diabolical horrors like the man she was lucky to escape.

Olmert was acquitted on all but one charge

I can't say I'm surprised that the Israel Supreme Court, long a bastion of leftism, would decide to acquit Ehud Olmert on many of the charges he was facing, even if one still remains on the Holyland scandal. The Justice Ministry's said this won't change their position on that case, and we better hope they can stand firm. Even so, this is still very sad that once again, the court's leftism may have prevailed over common sense.

Forest arson culprits arrested

It looks like the main perpetrators of the forest fire near Jerusalem were collared at last:

Police arrested two Arab youth in the village of Katanna in connection with the fire two weeks ago near Ma'aleh Hahamisha. The two suspects have criminal backgrounds.

During the course of the investigation they admitted to setting the fire and confessed to being involved in 10 other security incidents including other fires and stone throwing incidents that they carried out with the intent of destroying property and harming Israel.

Arson and vandalism are as much a form of jihad as attacking people with knives and guns. And now, these vile creatures must pay for their sins of harming the environment.

LA's Jewish Federation enforced Sharia law on Pamela Geller

Laura Rubenfeld at Big Peace writes about how the Jewish Federation of LA caved to attacks by CAIR and a number of other Islamist groups and canceled Pamela Geller's scheduled appearance with SIOA at their building with the ZOA. To my knowledge, they may have apologized later, but this is still a very shameful act on their part and a very disgraceful example of Jewish Americans who cater to Islam and dhimmitude. There's more about this case here, which also notes:

The Federation demonstrated cowardice in not standing up to violent intimidation, but it never repudiated Geller’s message. Hamas-linked CAIR and the media have ignored this and portrayed the cancellation as a rejection of that message because they would like Americans to believe that even a mainstream Jewish organization like the Federation is unwilling to discuss Islamic anti-Semitism and jihad – which Geller correctly identifies as the root cause of the Israel/“Palestinian” conflict. The more ignorant and complacent Americans are about the Jew-hatred that is deeply rooted within Islam, and the Islamic texts and teachings that exhort Muslims to wage war against and subjugate Jews and other non-Muslims, the happier Hamas-linked CAIR and its cohorts are.

And indeed, the reality is quite ugly. The Qur'an says that the Jews are "the most hostile of men to the believers" (5:82), and are under the curse of Allah (2:89; 9:30). "O believers,” the Qur’an says to Muslims, “take not Jews and Christians as friends; they are friends of each other. Whoso of you makes them his friends is one of them. God guides not the people of the evildoers" (5:51).

In a hadith, Muhammad, the prophet of Islam, says that "the last hour would not come unless the Muslims will fight against the Jews and the Muslims would kill them until the Jews would hide themselves behind a stone or a tree and a stone or a tree would say: Muslim, or the servant of Allah, there is a Jew behind me; come and kill him" (Sahih Muslim 6985). Islamic doctrine holds that all land that has once belonged to the House of Islam belongs by right to the Muslims forever, and that no non-Muslim state has any legitimacy upon such land; consequently, the idea of a Jewish State in the Middle East is absolutely unacceptable to Muslims on theological grounds. No negotiated agreement or concessions from Israel will mitigate these doctrines, which amount to an imperative to destroy Israel entirely.

And the Federation has the gall to appease monsters who advocate filth like that? Again, it's truly shameful.

UN elects Iran to their arms trade post

UN Watch reports that the UN has picked one of the most dangerous totalitarians for an unsuitable spot (Hat tip: The Weekly Standard):

“Right after a UN Security Council report found Iran guilty of illegally transferring guns and bombs to Syria, which is now murdering thousands of its own people, it defies logic, morality and common sense for the UN to now elect this same regime to a global post regulating the transfer of guns and bombs,” said Hillel Neuer, executive director of UN Watch, a non-governmental monitoring group based in Geneva.


“This is like choosing Bernie Madoff to police fraud on the stock market. And the U.N.’s scandalous choice of Iran is exactly why we fear that Syria’s declared bid for a U.N. Human Rights Council seat is not impossible.”

What this tells is that the UN is becoming extremely dangerous themselves, and another reason why membership with them is ultimately pointless.

Dhimmitude in Cergy, France

A mosque has been built in Cergy, France, where the interior minister has said (via Atlas Shrugs):

'It is our responsibility to progressively build a French Islam, one that will find put down roots in our country,'' said Interior Minister Manuel Valls, who attended the opening of the mosque. ''This was made possible by two things: Muslim unity, and political will,'' Socialist Mayor Dominique Lefebvre said.

At this point I'm tempted to say that Nicholas Sarkozy ought to be proud of himself for prompting this kind of response, since he was the one who said they should build an Islam for France, which is only the same as all others. More precisely though, he should be ashamed of himself for leading to all the embarrassments - and danger for the public - that's going to happen.

Sharia compliance at the YMCA swimming club in San Diego

KPBS in San Diego (via Diana West) writes a predictably sugar-coated report on the YMCA providing women-only hours for Muslim women from east Africa. And that's not all:

There are also cultural barriers that keep them from using the parks. The women can’t risk coming into contact with off-leash dogs. They follow strict hygiene guidelines in their faith, which considers dogs to be unclean, or not halal.

So they'd like to make the parks dog-free. Will Americans stand up for their puppies as much as they should for their pools?

Oliver Stone has a problem with laws against cannbis

According to Christian Toto, the already awful director who's gone downhill thinks laws against cannabis are worse than slavery! As if we didn't need another reminder that Stone's already become irrelevant to pop culture, and we could definitely do without filmmakers like him now.

Michael Freund on the anti-semitism at the Temple Mount

Michael Freund at the Jerusalem Post has written about the disturbing silence on the Israeli police's appeasement of the Muslim Wakf at the Temple Mount:

In recent weeks, there have been a string of incidents that should have sparked outrage across the Jewish world but instead were met with stony silence.

On a number of occasions, Jews seeking to exercise their basic human rights such as freedom of worship and assembly, and freedom of speech, have seen their liberties callously disregarded, and even trampled upon.

Those wishing to pray have been hushed and even threatened with arrest, while others have been asked to remove their yarmulkes while in public.

Needless to say, these detestable acts of anti-Semitism elicited neither a single press release nor even a peep of public protest from world Jewish leaders or organizations.

Had they occurred in Paris, London or New York, the guardian lions of civil rights would surely have made their roars heard. But since these affronts against Jews have all taken place on the Temple Mount, in the heart of Jerusalem, the raucous lions have instead turned into silent lambs, refusing even to bleat in disapproval.

Consider the following. According to a report in Ma’ariv (May 22), the Israeli police have issued new instructions which forbid Jews on the Temple Mount from rocking back and forth, moving their lips or even closing their eyes, as these all might be construed as acts of prayer.

Under pressure from the Muslim Wakf which administers the site, Israel’s finest also warned Jewish visitors against removing a note of paper from one’s pocket and reading it, ostensibly out of fear that the offending page might contain Biblical verses or words of entreaty to Heaven.

Don’t let the absurdity of these regulations detract from their seriousness: this is a shocking and extreme violation of every person’s fundamental freedoms. [...]

The root of the problem lies in the humiliating arrangements that exist on the Mount, where the extremist Muslim Wakf is allowed a large measure of control. In addition to doing their utmost to erase any trace of Israel’s historical heritage at the site, the Wakf has also regularly harassed Jewish pilgrims who, despite all the restrictions, continue to visit the Mount.

Ten days ago, a young British Jewish student was reportedly accosted by Wakf officials, who demanded that he remove his yarmulke, which they said they found to be “offensive.” Rather than get into an altercation, the student chose to leave, later telling reporters that, “I have experienced anti-Semitism in England, but I never thought that in Judaism’s holiest site I would be subjugated to such discrimination.”

He is right – and no one else should be subjected to it either.

Nor should anybody remain silent on the matter anymore. If anti-semitism is not acceptable abroad, then it's not acceptable at home either, and any person who considers themselves pro-Israel, whether a reporter or a blogger or a diplomat, no matter what their race or nationality, who fails to speak out about this is putting their credentials in jeopardy. I find that offensive that anybody would think it's wrong to be critical of a right-wing Israeli leader for any reason whatsoever, and it's going to have to change sooner or later.

Documentary about exiles from Gaza

12th Tribe Films has a documentary about the people whom Ariel Sharon exiled blatantly from Gaza called Home Game, made to commemorate 7 years since this tragedy happened.

Update: I think I can embed this extra video too:

Some more memories of Yitzhak Shamir

Following the death of the 7th Israeli prime minister, here's some more op-eds written in his memory. For example, from Danny Danon, he writes about Shamir's belief that you shouldn't negotiate your core ideologies.

And, here's the New York Sun's editor speaking about his meeting with Shamir in the early 1980s (via One Jerusalem).

And then, Ayanawo Fareda Sanbatu, a reporter who'd immigrated as part of Operation Solomon in 1991, writes a special thank you from the Ethiopian Jewish community for Shamir's help in getting them transportation to the country 2 decades ago.

It's a dark day when the culprit who vandalized Yad Vashem is one of us

The police have arrested 3 culprits in the anti-semitic graffiti case at Yad Vashem, and the worst part is, the main one responsible is an ultra-Orthodox of a potentially Satmar/Neturai karta-type upbringing:

The state prosecutor on Tuesday filed an indictment against an ultra-Orthodox man for defacing the Yad Vashem Holocaust museum and two IDF war memorials. At Yad Vashem, the graffiti he allegedly sprayed included: “If Hitler hadn’t existed, the Zionists would have invented him.”

Elhanan Ostrowitz, a 31-year-old Jerusalem resident, was charged at the Jerusalem Magistrate’s Court for spraying anti-Zionist hate slogans at the sites and, apparently, has shown no remorse for his actions. [...]

During questioning, Ostrowitz said that if he had the chance he would bomb the Knesset, the High Court, and IDF army bases, the prosecutor wrote. The accused also claimed he received funding to assist him in his campaign.

Ostrowitz, who describes himself as an anti-Zionist, reconnoitered Yad Vashem to examine its security systems before spraying anti-Zionist hate slogans on walls and defacing memorials at the site last month. In another attack, he sprayed graffiti on an IDF war memorial at Ammunition Hill in Jerusalem and tried to burn an Israeli flag flying at the site. Ostrowitz also defaced three IDF memorials in the Jordan Valley.

Haaretz has more:

Ostrowitz's father, Ehud Or, told Haaretz he was angry at his son over his "extremely unethical" actions, for which he should be punished. [...]

The police said the vandalism took place over a period of three months. The first incident was in April, when Ostrowitz allegedly sprayed anti-Zionist slogans and an image of the Palestinian flag on two military memorials in the Jordan Valley. According to the charge sheet he and four other people drove a rented car to one site, where he painted the flag. The group then defaced a second memorial, bearing the names of Israeli war dead, with slogans such as "Zionists out."

Three days later, the indictment states, Ostrowitz sprayed the Ammunition Hill war memorial in Jerusalem, with slogans including "Shimon Peres is Amalek," equating Israel's president with the quintessential Bible-era enemy of the Jewish people. Another slogan read "Gunter Grass is strong and brave," in a reference to the German writer who has been publicly critical of Israel.

Sometimes I just wish there was an official law permitting exile of traitors like this one. He belongs in more backwards countries like Britain, or Venezuela, Germany/Austria, or even Egypt. The weirdest part though, is that he would insult Shimon Peres, after all he'd done in past years, such as his chumminess with Yasir Arafat, and harming the country with appeasement.

But I'm glad to see the creep's father came out against him for his abominations, and summed up just what should be done with him for now: penalize severely.

Update: The Yeshiva World says that the criminal is reportedly part of Neturei Karta, though one of their US heads denies it.

Update 2: The Jerusalem Post verifies the Neturei Karta connections more clearly, and says:

The suspects – members of Natorei Karta – were found in possession of large amounts of texts condemning Zionism and Israel, PLO flags and paint. Texts suspected to be incitement to hatred were also found on computers.

Natorei Karta – a small but vocal, extreme anti-Zionist sect – believes that the founding of the State of Israel, without specific divine intervention, was a sin.

These Karta Kreeps are really pure dhimmis! So badly in fact that it looks like they're well on their way to becoming a jihadist's best companion.

Several items at once

Camera finds the Wall Street Journal ran a piece by a PLO spokesman chock full of lies and other phony crud, one can only figure this newspaper really has been descending into worthlessness.

Israel's got a problem with "social protestors" vaguely similar to the Occupy movement who live in fantasyland, and may be bankrolled by the New Israel Fund, a leftist organization.

Rabbi Shmuley Boteach writes about how the late Yitzhak Shamir was Israel's least appreciated prime minister.

Wouldn't you know it, one of the leaders of the anti-semitic Hungarian political party Jobbik has discovered he's got Jewish roots (via The Jawa Report).

Fjordman writes about the cost uncontrolled immigration has brought Europe (via Klein Verzet).

Front Page Magazine interviews one of the Christians who was assaulted at the Dearborn Arab Festival while the police did nothing and only discriminated against the Christian group.

A judge has ordered that work on the mosque in Murfreesboro, TN, be stopped. While this is good news, I feel bad for any common sense Europeans who are helpless by contrast to stop construction of mosques in their areas.

Suspects in planned attack on NJ synagogue going to court

And yes, these do appear to be jihadists, who were even plotting to target local law officials. According to CBS-NY (via A Blog for All):

A man accused of trying to firebomb New Jersey synagogues is expected to be in court Friday to face new charges that he allegedly plotted to kill an assistant Bergen County prosecutor working on the case.

Aakash Dalal, 20, is charged with conspiring to kill Assistant Prosecutor Martin Delaney.

Since May, the FBI has been investigating Dalal after learning that he wanted to get a gun and kill Delaney once he was released from jail, officials said.

On Wednesday, investigators executed a search warrant on Dalal’s cell and found evidence of the plot, prosecutors said. They also found a list of “enemies” the suspect kept that included Bergen County Prosecutor John Molinelli, according to authorities.

Dalal was due to be released from the Bergen County Jail this week after posting $1 million bail.

The monster also has a disciple named Anthony Graizano. The jihad teacher's bail has been raised to 3 million, and there's more news about a rabbi who'd been injured by their anarchism:

Prosecutors have said Dalal encouraged and advised Graziano, who is accused of firebombing a Rutherford synagogue and setting fire to a Paramus synagogue in January. Dalal and Graziano also have been accused of spray-painting anti-Semitic graffiti at synagogues in Hackensack and Maywood in December.

The most serious attack came on Jan. 11, when Graziano allegedly hurled several Molotov cocktails into the living quarters of a Rutherford synagogue where a rabbi, his wife and five children were sleeping. The rabbi suffered burns on his hand, but no one else was injured.

They're lucky. The disciple must also be put away for a very long time because of his crimes.

3 ex-Muslim women speak about the horror and torture they experienced under the ummah

Via Jihad Watch, Nonie Darwish, Amani Mustafa and Anni Cyrus give interviews on the Glazov Gang radio show about how Islam has ruined the lives of women like them. These are must-sees.