I really wasn't going to blog more today, but it seems like I always have so much to say.
I am on a study break, and I just finished reading some incredibly useless & mindnumbing article by one of my least favorite people in the world, anthropologist Talal Asad. I am disgusted by the fact that so many of the biggest idiots in the academia have chosen the same subject as I have.
For those of you who don't know, Asad is the son of a Saudi Arabian princess, and a Jewish father who converted to Islam. I can't even begin to tell you how much that digusts me. I normally feel that people should be free to choose their own religion... EXCEPT if they're Jews who want to convert to Islam. Or, come to think of it, if they're just basically anyone who wants to convert to Islam.
But anyway, Talal Asad grew up to be a fervent supporter of the palestinian cause. When Edward Said died last year (at long last), he expressed his sorrow, and claimed that Said (who was one of history's biggest liars <--- read that!) was "the manifestation of ethics".
But anyway, I wanted to post this comment I saw somebody wrote about Talal Asad, which I thought made a lot of sense:
Palestinians as "victims"? Anthropology is generally the study of diverse customs and traditions, not political ideology. So I was both surprised and disgusted with your recent article, "An International Double Standard?," which reported the views of anthropology professor Talal Asad. Clearly the professor is biased when he recounts the political plight of Palestinians, decrying their status as the "victims of victims" who have suffered at the hands of the Israelis. I guess he has forgotten the proclaimed goals of the Arab-Israeli wars of 1948, 1967, 1973, and 1982 to destroy the Jewish state and commit genocide by pushing all the Jews into the sea. Professor Asad should stick to his own field of study, lest he continue to expose his real prejudice without the security of his academic trappings.
Lets badmouth Jews over a nice cup of tea, shall we?
This was a "small" article, hardly to be noticed in Ha'aretz, but I am wondering how many of you are realising how important this could be?
All I can say is thank goodness that Jews now have their own independent state, and are therefore not as powerless as they were before the beginning of WW2 (and at various other times). A problem with this is, of course, that this very reason encourages anti-semitism worldwide. It seems that a lot of people are somewhat "OK" with Jews as helpless victims. But as individuals with the same rights as other human beings, that is, a right to a homeland of their own in which they are able to defend themselves? No, that's too much for them.
The same week that the eyes of the world were on the moving ceremonies to mark the 60th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz, there were reports in Britain and at the official web site of the British Labor Party, election campaign messages that smacked of anti-Semitism.
In one poster, two senior politicians from the Conservative Party --Chairman Michael Howard, who is also the opposition's shadow prime minister, and Oliver Letwin, the opposition's shadow chancellor of the exchequer - were depicted as flying pigs. Both are Jews. This week Howard was depicted as Faigin, the haunted Jewish criminal from Charles Dickens' Oliver Twist, the most well-known anti-Semitic stereotype in Britain.
A few weeks ago, Trade Minister Mike O'Brien wrote an article for a Muslim newspaper in which he argued that only Labor will protect Muslim rights and bring about the establishment of a Palestinian state. "Ask yourselves, what will Michael Howard do for the Muslims of Britain?
Rabbi Jonathan Romain, a leader of the Reform Movement in Britain, responded in the press and said that labor's campaign messages are spoiling the atmosphere and had crossed the line between political attacks and unacceptable anti-Semitic imagery. Commentators in the British press are writing that there is a deliberate strategy of using clear hints of anti-Semitism to reach the Muslim community, which is several times larger than the Jewish community.
The Global Forum on Anti-Semitism, jointly operated by the Israeli government and the Jewish Agency, announced last week that there was a 100 percent increase in Britain or anti-Semitic incidents in 2004. The data was confirmed by various Jewish monitoring groups n Britain, which pointed to a rise in anti-Semitic violence in the streets, expressed in the form of assaults on people with a Jewish appearance.The vast majority of incidents involve the participation of Muslims, who are acquiring ever increasing political influence in Britain. Some Muslim British leaders even demonstratively announced their boycott of ceremonies marking the Holocaust.
Ben Cohen, a former producer and journalist for the BBC, argues that it is impossible to disassociate the anti-Semitic incidents in Britain from the hostile coverage of Israel and the fashion in the radical left to challenge the legitimacy of Israel's existence. On the other hand, he explains, for electoral reasons, many British politicians refuse to condemn forthrightly the anti-Semitic incitement coming from some Muslim leaders. He particularly accuses London Mayor Ken Livingstone, for whom the Muslim vote was so important he hosted the Egyptian radical clergyman Yusuf el Karadawi a few months ago, despite Karadawi's declarations that there is no room for dialogue with Jews, "except with the sword and rifle."
Blair's government, which has often come out strongly against violent anti-Semitism, has to recognize the danger of more sophisticated anti-Semitism sometimes hiding behind a mask of intellectualism and sometimes behind media spins for the sake of electoral politics.
We are told that there is a difference between extremist Islam and peaceloving normal Islam.
Judging by their behavior, Muslims are anti-West, anti-Democracy, anti-Christian, anti-Jewish, anti-Buddhist, and anti-Hindu. Muslims are involved in 25 of some 30 conflicts going on in the world: in Afghanistan, Algeria, Bangladesh, Bosnia, Congo, Cote d'Ivoire, Cyprus, East Timor, India, Indonesia (2 provinces), Kashmir, Kazakastan, Kosovo, Kurdistan, Macedonia, the Middle East, Nigeria, Pakistan, Philippines, Sudan, Russia-Chechnya, Tajikistan, Thailand, Uganda and Uzbekistan.
Doesn't this mean that extremist Islam is the norm and normal Islam is extremely rare?
"The Palestinian people does not exist. The creation of a Palestinian state is only a means for continuing our struggle against the state of Israel for our Arab unity. In reality today there is no difference between Jordanians, Palestinians, Syrians and Lebanese. Only for political and tactical reasons do we speak today about the existence of a Palestinian people, since Arab national interests demand that we posit the existence of a distinct 'Palestinian people' to oppose Zionism.
"For tactical reasons, Jordan, which is a sovereign state with defined borders, cannot raise claims to Haifa and Jaffa. While as a Palestinian, I can undoubtedly demand Haifa, Jaffa, Beer-Sheva and Jerusalem. However, the moment we reclaim our right to all of Palestine, we will not wait even a minute to unite Palestine and Jordan." (PLO executive committee member Zahir Muhsein, March 31, 1977, interview with the Dutch newspaper Trouw.)
It should be remembered that in 1918, with the fall of the Ottoman Empire, Britain and France were handed 5,000,000 square miles to divvy up and 99% was given to the Arabs to create countries that did not exist previously. 1% was given as a Mandate for the re-establishment of a state for the Jews on both banks of the Jordan River. In 1921, to once again appease the Arabs, another three quarters of that 1% was given to a fictitious state called Trans-Jordan. (Jack Berger, May 31, 2004.)
The total for all the 22 Arab League countries is 6,145,389 square miles. By comparison, all 50 states of the United States have a total of 3,787,318 square miles. Israel has 8,463 square miles, about one-sixth of that of the State of Michigan. Iran, Turkey, Pakistan and Afghanistan are Muslim but not Arab and are not included. (See http://www.masada2000.org/geography.html for a graphic presentation of the land area of Israel relative to the size of the Arab countries.)
World Arab population: 300 million; World Jewish population: 13.6 million; Israel's Jewish population: 5.4 million. (reference: Dr. Wilbert Simkovitz,
http://dehai.org/archives/dehai_news_archive/apr04/0223.htmldehai.org/ archives/dehai_news_archive/apr04/0223.html)
"... if Moslems are a minority they are the cause of violent conflicts; if they are a majority, they bring violence to other Moslems - in Pakistan, Sudan, Iraq and elsewhere. Even in the U.S. where newcomers tend to adopt our values, the moderate Moslem majority of new Americans is faced with the control of mosques, schools and community organizations by violent radical minorities." (Sy Frumkin, Graffiti for Intellectuals newsletter, Oct. 25, 2004)
The Palestinian Authority is not the solution; it is the problem. Legitimizing top leaders of the PA, such as Abu Mazen, Abu Ala', Dahlan and Rajoub - in defiance of their horrific track records - constitutes a victory of wishful thinking over moral clarity. (Yoram Ettinger, "A New Palestinian Regime?" November 2004 Blog-Ed.)
"... Mr. Bush is counting on the appearance of elections, with the only candidates being Islamists bent upon genocide and the stealing of rightful Jewish land, to suddenly make these fiends turn into sweet, loving, civilized creatures." (Beth Goodtree, "Bush's Oxymoronic Policy: Fascist-Imposed Democracy," December 2004 Blog-Ed)
"To pretend that Islam has nothing to do with Sept. 11 is to willfully ignore the obvious and to forever misinterpret events." (Bruce Tefft, "Islamic Terror Based On Qu'ran: Ex-Cia Official," December 2004 Blog-Ed)
"The goal of the disengagement plan is to bring about a new reality, a permanent arrangement in which there will not be Jewish settlement in these areas [Judea and Samaria]." (Itamar Yaar, a senior figure on Israel's National Security Council, December 2004 Blog-Ed)
"The last Jews to be forcibly evicted from their homes only because they were Jewish also wore stars. Rather than 'damaging the memory of the Shoah,' it reinforces it." - ("Orange Stars in Gaza," Ari Sacher from Moreshet, Israel. Jerusalem Post Letter To Editor, December 23, 2004.)
"According to a public survey, 94% of the Arabs living in Israel do not recognize the institutes of the State. Also more than 80% to not trust the Knesset or the Hebrew media." (Guysen.Israel.News, December 29, 2004)
"... calling settlers 'hard-liners,' plays politics by using pejorative terms for one's opponents. The Associated Press does that often. Is it hard-line to want to keep one's home in the cradle of one's civilization in an area set aside for Jewish settlement by the Mandate, rather than turn strategic territory, secure borders, and needed water, over to terrorists?" (Richard Shulman, December 29, 2004 Blog-Ed)
"The laws and mandates of a government or a king in Israel that go against the laws of the Torah, the laws of God, must be disobeyed. It is not an issue of an Israel defying the government and violating the law, but rather an Israel that asks to obey the law that tries to prevent Jews from living in accordance with the law. Not only is it forbidden to accept and obey a mandate or a governmental law that contradicts the Torah, it is, a fortiori, forbidden to assist the transgressors in its actualization." (Rabbi Meir Kahane)
Hasidic Gentile just posted this incredibly heartwarming story.
While I recommend reading the whole story, I'd like to discuss it briefly. It's about an non-Jewish Irish/American policeman whose wife miraculously becomes pregnant and gives birth to a baby boy after receiving a blessing and prayers from a Rabbi. As a result, the father decides to name the boy "Mendel", after the Rabbi. The last bit of the story really touched me:
"But when our parents heard the name they really objected. They said, 'With a name like that, all the kids will think he's a Jew or something and they will call him names and be cruel to him. Why make the kid suffer for no reason?' 'That's just what I want,' I said to them. 'When he comes home and says that the other kids called him names and beat him up because he has a Jewish name, I'll tell him that I want him to learn from those other kids how not to behave. They hate the Jews for no reason, but you should love the Jews, you should help the Jews. You just tell them that without that Jewish Rabbi called Mendel you wouldn't be here at all, and then maybe they'll start thinking differently too!'
Despite this, many news agencies were quick to promote the Palestinian version of events, backed by the UN:
Agence France-Presse, under the headline 'Palestinian schoolgirl shot dead by Israeli troops in Gaza,' prominently quoted the PA prime minister condemning it as 'a crime.' The Israeli denial of responsibility was buried at the very end of the AFP report.
The Independent based its story on a UN official who directly accused the IDF of firing on Deab, then passed off IDF spokespersons who denied culpability as 'plainly embarrassed.'
Knight Ridder-Tribune quoted both Ahmed Qurei decrying the shooting as an IDF 'war crime,' and a UN official condemning 'the Israeli military's indiscriminate firing into civilian areas.'
This lopsided version of events appears all the more ludicrous given the Jerusalem Post's report that PA police have now arrested a Palestinian man for the shooting.
Step two of this dishonest reporting is to ascribe a 'revenge motive' to subsequent Palestinian terror.
Nearly all articles included a statement similar to this from Knight Ridder: 'the militant group Hamas responded [to Deab's death] with a mortar attack on an Israeli settlement.' (Hamas issued a press announcement to that effect.) The IDF was thereby blamed for disturbing the 'calm' that had previously held.
Yet Hamas mortar shells and rockets had never stopped raining on Israeli civilians in Gaza or Sderot \ see reports from Jan. 24, 26, and 29. This episode, therefore, was clearly used by Hamas as a mere excuse for their ongoing terror.
As we've seen repeatedly in this conflict, the terrorists use minor grievances \ oftentimes fabricated \ as pretexts to rationalize their murderous acts against civilians. When media outlets report these statements from Hamas, et al., without directly questioning their merit, the media become a tool exploited by terrorists to promote their anti-Israel campaign.
Since Denmark has only a tiny Jewish community, Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen can't be accused of pandering to the Jewish vote when he launched a spirited defense of Israel on the campaign stump earlier this week.
During an appearance at the University of Aarhus, Rasmussen was challenged over his support for the US and asked why Iraq was attacked for violating UN Security Council resolutions while Israel was able to do so with impunity.
Rasmussen, whose country began a two-year rotating stint on the Security Council on January 1, said that whereas Israel was not completely implementing all the Security Council resolutions, "it is not run by a dictator without a conscience, and that is an essential difference."
"Moreover," he said, "Israel is surrounded by enemies that want to throw it into the sea, and we should recognize that it has a special history. Israel must use somewhat tough measures to defend itself."
Rasmussen's comments were applauded in Jerusalem.
This may be one of several reasons why the not inconsiderable Muslim community in Denmark is mobilizing to unseat him.
On Friday the AFP news agency reported that Rasmussen urged Muslim clerics to "stay out of politics" as a group of imams prepared to ask followers to vote for the opposition.
Twenty-five imams living in Denmark are expected to meet Wednesday to develop a strategy to help promote the opposing parties.
There are an estimated 170,000 Muslims in Denmark out of a population of 5.4 million, making Islam the country's second largest religion. There are an estimated 6,500 Jews in Denmark.
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Some of you may have noticed that I always get quite excited to see a fellow Scandinavian defend Israel. This is mostly, however, caused by the fact that it is such a rare occurence for me, and what I experience is normally the exact opposite. For instance. I just came back from school (university). There a friend told me about how a group of people had spent a substantial amount of time discussing how completely and utterly they dislike me (he used stronger words than this, but I think I should clean up the language) for my opinions where Israel is concerned, and discussed how much they "hated" my article on Arafat. I found the latter quite interesting in the sense that even Abu Mazen wouldn't deny the accusasations of my article. They are facts known by everybody. Well, except for people like my fellow students who have formed their opinions based on ignorance.
Well ain't this swell! This immediately made me think of Adam, who had already told me about 3 times to read this book "The Case For Democracy" by Nathan Sharansky.. It seems that President George Bush (I love that guy!) has beat me to it.
The story has been told over and over in the last two months: Natan Sharansky wrote a book about democracy in the world; President Bush read it and became an enthusiastic fan. The modest author was invited to meet Condoleezza Rice and the Supreme Reader in person, Bush, joined the cause of spreading praise about the book.
A reader meets the author - rare but natural. Sharansky, known in the West for some 30 years, a minister in the Israeli government, is far from being Cinderella, and it is still the stuff of fairy tales: Bush, busy dealing with the world's affairs, takes time to leaf through Sharansky's writings.
"In recent years, however, unemployment in Israel has hit record levels, the army has become more selective in its inductions due to a surfeit of recruits, and the treasury has argued that the age of the welfare state and reliable stipends for the disadvantaged has come to an end."
I realise that as far as practical issues, such as employmency, is concerned, Israeal doesn't "need" Jews. But that isn't the main issue. Instead of declaring my own opinions, I've decided to post some of the comments of the readers.
1. Yes and Yes. Israel and aliyah go together like peanut butter and jelly. They are a part of each other. The more people, the stronger the country. Look at all that Israel has accomplished with one of the smallest populations in the world. One can only imagine what lofty goals Israel could achieve with double the Jewish population it has now. For me, the word 'SuperPower' immediately comes to mind. Aliyah Forever!
Seth Cohen, Miami, United States of America
2. With fire-bombings of synagogues, kosher slaughtering made illegal, emergence of 'far-right' political parties and 75% of CNN's voters saying the Holocaust can happen again - especially with the millions of growing muslims in Europe - it does not seem unreasonable to assume that one day Jews across Europe will again feel threatened. France is just the beginning.
3. Israel has and always will be our home. It was a desert when we weren't there and now we've returned it's an oasis. Israel needs aliyah as much as Jews need Israel.
4. I've just gradauted and I'm going as soon as I get enough experience to benefit Israel's prosperity...I can't wait!
Daniel Cohen, London, United Kingdom
5. Israel, a country indoctrinated with racism and militarism, should strive to make peace and reconciliation with the Palestinians (the victims of the victims) instead of continuing with these evil designs to uproot them and replace them with "Jews" from around the world, most of whom have no connection to Israel and his children.
Khalid Suleiman, Jerusalem, Israel
Sorry I just couldn't resist that guy
6. True, Israel may not need olim, but can Diaspora Jewry really survive without the prospect of aliyah? I am not so sure. We never know what horror lurks around the corner. Have we not learned that by now?
Yehuda Goldstein, Boston, United States of America
7. The question is phrased as though Jewish communities in the diaspora were no longer in 'mortal peril'. This was believed to be the case in the middle of the 19th century too, and we know what happened shortly after. Jew-hatred is still highly abundant in all parts of Europe, especially so in eastern Europe. Even more disturbing is that the hatred is constantly increasing. A more relevant question than whether aliyah is necessary for Israel, is whether aliyah is necessary for e.g. Russian Jewry. I believe the answer is 'yes', and that those who choose to stay in Russia will pay dearly for their blind optimism.
Torbjurn Karfunkel, Gothenburg, Sweden
Yay! I'm not the only thinking Scandinavian! Oh I think he's Jewish, though. I googled him. He's an active supporter of Israel and zionism so he's a much hated man, and he comes from Gteborg, where I was born. Cool!
Yesterday I received a very sweet mail from a fellow "Webshots" user. Webshots is the online photo gallery I use to post photos I take with my digital camera. The mail was from an Israeli PhD student from Haifa. I was extremely impressed with the photos she had uploaded to her own website, since they are a vivid & creative mixture of "life in Israel" photos. I strongly believe (especially after my last visit) that representation like this is exactly what Israel needs: Daily life in Israel - Orly's Gallery I also recommend the links she has to other people. Some of the photos are breathtaking.
