Again I would like to mention how much I love this website Israelim.com, and I feel that it is a pity I did not discover it sooner. It covers a great deal of issues concerning Israeli matters, and I think that pretty much everyone interested in anything that has to do with Israel would find something to read there.
I have been meaning to post an interesting article I saw there for a while. This author is saying exactly what I myself am constantly trying to explain to people: How Israel is the "Jew among nations" (Bernard Lewis came up with that sentence though, I'm really not that articulate). If you don't agree with this article, then you don't agree with me! No but seriously, if you don't, I am going to allow myself to say that you're living in denial. This man makes perfect sense, and has written a butt kicking article. So check it out:
In 1968 the LA times ran this article, written by Eric Hoffer, a former longshoreman and non-Jewish American social philosopher. Born in 1902, Hoffer died in 1983, after writing nine books and winning the Presidential Medal of Freedom. Although written 34 years ago, the following is as timely and applicable today as then.
by Eric Hoffer May 26, 1968
The Jews are a peculiar people: things permitted to other nations are forbidden to the Jews. Other nations drive out thousands, even millions of people, and there is no refugee problem. Russia did it, Poland and Czechoslovakia did it. Turkey threw out a million Greeks and Algeria a million Frenchman. Indonesia threw out heaven knows how many Chinese and no one says a word about refugees. But in the case of Israel displaced Arabs have become eternal refugees. Everyone insists that Israel must take back every single Arab.
Arnold Toynbee calls the displacement of the Arabs an atrocity greater than any committed by the Nazis.
Other nations when victorious on the battlefield dictate peace terms. But when Israel is victorious, it must sue for peace. Everyone expects the Jews to be the only real Christians in this world.
Other nations - when they are defeated - survive and recover, but should Israel be defeated it would be destroyed. Had Nasser triumphed last June he would have wiped Israel off the map and no one would have lifted a finger to save the Jews. No commitment to the Jews by any government, including our own, is worth the paper it is written on.
There is a cry of outrage all over the world when people die in Vietnam or when two Negroes are executed in Rhodesia. But when Hitler slaughtered Jews no one remonstrated with him. The Swedes, who are ready to break off diplomatic relations with America because of what we did in Vietnam, did not let out a peep when Hitler was slaughtering Jews. They sent Hitler choice iron ore and ball bearings, and serviced his troop trains to Norway.
The Jews are alone in the world. If Israel survives it will be solely because of Jewish efforts. And Jewish resources. Yet at this moment Israel is our only reliable and unconditional ally. We can rely more on Israel than Israel can rely on us. And one has only to imagine what would have happened last summer had the Arabs and their Russian backers won the war to realize how vital the survival of Israel is to American and the West in general.
I have a premonition that will not leave me; as it goes with Israel so will it go with all of us. Should Israel perish the holocaust will be upon us.
I hope this one doesn't freak ya all out too much.
Maria....
You will study study study
You love love love reading about African tribes and Inuits
You don't like the internet. You hate the internet. You stay away from it. Awayyyy
You like getting up early in the morning. You don't feel the slightest bit tempted to sleep late and miss class
Chocolate is not tasty. You don't need it.
(Coffee is okay though, I'm an understanding hypnotist).
I'm so damn grumpy today, and I don't know what is causing it. I don't know if it's the hail that I almost worry is going to put a crack in my windows, or all the little things in life that burden many a university student.
MSN conversation with ET today (slightly edited, to spare the innocent, or ehm, guilty):
Maria: Urgh damn it!
Friend: What?
Maria: What, do I have to explain this??
Friend: What, are you upset about something?
Maria: No! I'm not angry. Only 30 minutes ago I was in a GREAT mood!
Friend: I don't understand
Maria: I'm not feeling talkative. Sorry for being such a jerk.
Friend: I don't think you're a jerk
Maria: Hey don't you bullshit me! I know I am.
Friend: Hey I said you weren't a jerk
Maria: Ok
Friend: I'm sure it will be okay.
Maria: What do you mean? I don't understand
Friend: Heh, now you know how I feel!
I received a couple of requests to change the color scheme of my website, due to the fact that it was making it hard for people to read. Since I am not one to turn down the requests of readers, I have now replaced the old layout with a new one. I would appreciate feedback on the new one, and whether this one generally agrees with people. Thanks.
One of my very favorite bloggers Treppenwitz was writing about how Israelis start their meeting by practically forcing each other to eat or drink. Personally I think it's a nice "tradition" (especially since I like to eat more than the average person). I ended up writing such a lengthy comment, that I decided to post it here (a bit edited):
Well I'm not familiar with business meetings, but as far as Israelis generally are concerned, I DO recognise this pattern of behavior. It's almost scary how everybody is obsessed with feeding you. Here in Scandinavia it is the exact opposite. People don't see the point in "wasting their food (and thus their hard earned money) on other people", and inviting someone over for dinner is a pretty big deal (making the myth about the "cheap Jew" somewhat bizarre). But in Israel, every single person I visited insisted on feeding me. A typical visit would be something like this:
Host: Maria, you want coffee?
Me: no thanks I'm fine
Host 5 minutes later: Maria you sure you don't want coffee?
Me: No thanks I really am fine
Host: sure?
Me: yes I'm sure
Host 5 minutes later: You sure you don't want coffee?
Me: well why don't I have a cup..
Host: you want a cookie with that, or a sandwhich or something else to eat?
Me: oh no thanks, I'm not hungry, coffee is great, thanks
Host brings back coffee and asks again if a want a cookie
Me: no thanks
Host again in 5 minutes: you want a cookie?
Me: well maybe one cookie
Host brings back a plate with 20 brownies
I think to myself that I have to eat at least 3-4 brownies, otherwise I'll be rude
Host: you want a sandwhich?
Me: no thanks I really am fine, these are great brownies
Host: no they are nothing special. They're from the store. Come back after shabbat and I'll bake real, homemade brownies for you, they're much better!
Me: thanks...
I'm not exaggerating to spice up the story here. Really.
Following a two-day debate on the Expulsion/Compensation, the Knesset voted for six hours on its various clauses and proposed amendments today. The final vote was 59-40 in favor of the uprooting.
It is now Israeli law that Prime Minister Sharon can order the Gush Katif and northern Shomron areas closed in preparation for their evacuation and abandonment, and the expulsion of their Jews. A final Cabinet decision on the actual implementation of the uprooting is expected this coming Sunday.
Oh I do declare! No just kidding. A guy who used to work with me, but is now working for The British Airways, wrote this in his weblog. It's been stuck in my head ever since.
Surely you must all know by know how much I detest the BBC, and love Honest Reporting. This time Honest Reporting even mentions bloggers. Go bloggers, yay!
Inaccuracies and outrageous libel from BBC Radio, missing context from AFP, and the bloggers demanding truth from big media.
Every morning at 7:45, BBC Radio provides listeners with an inspiring 'Thought for the Day' from a religious cleric or philosopher. On the program's February 10 edition, Rev. Dr. John Bell (at right) used the platform to describe an Arab-Israeli acquaintance of his ¯ 'Adam' ¯ who was
conscripted into the Israeli Army. There he had distinguished himself as a good soldier and was made a corporal. He was also imprisoned for refusing to shoot unarmed schoolchildren.
Through our BackSpin weblog, HonestReporting encouraged subscribers to notify the BBC that 1) Arab-Israelis are not 'conscripted' into the IDF (though some volunteer to serve), and 2) the claim that the IDF orders officers to 'shoot unarmed schoolchildren' ¯ under penalty of imprisonment ¯ is outrageous, libelous, and completely unsubstantiated.
BBC has since issued an official apology for not 'fact-checking' that Israeli-Arabs are not conscripted. However, neither Bell nor the BBC has retracted the libelous claim ¯ broadcast to millions worldwide ¯ that the IDF would order an officer 'to shoot unarmed schoolchildren.'
On Feb. 14, a Palestinian in Hebron tried to stab an IDF soldier, but was shot and killed before he could do so.
Agence France-Presse (AFP) released this photo (at left) of the scene, with the following caption:
An Israeli soldier walks next to the body of a Palestinian who was shot dead by Israeli troops close to the Tomb of the Patriarchs in Hebron. Israel handed over the remains of 15 militants shot dead by the army during attempted attacks in the Gaza Strip as part of a series of goodwill gestures towards the Palestinians.
The AFP caption omits the essential context of this scene ¯ the pictured man had attempted to stab the IDF soldier, who then shot in self-defense. The effect is to suggest that the IDF killed the Palestinian man for no reason.
' The HR approach to online, critical journalism is expanding. As weblogs become more and more popular, there is a growing public demand for honest reporting from the big media outlets.
Bloggers' diligence has been the source of two recent major media shake-ups: CBS News' highly dubious report in September that contributed to anchorman Dan Rather's departure, and now the Feb. 11 resignation of CNN's chief news executive Eason Jordan, in the wake of Jordan's controversial statement implying that the US military intentionally shot at journalists in Iraq.
Stockholm - A Swedish woman said on Sunday that she had found a penis in a bottle of ketchup.
Viktoria Ed said she was lucky enough to discover the organ before putting the sauce on her bread rolls, unlike her husband Stefan and their children, Madeleine and Simon. It sure is a good thing she was LUCKY enough to find a PENIS IN HER KETCHUP, before applying the ketchup to the family's next meal of Swedish meatballs (oh Maria you are wicked).
"It looked like a penis, of an adult if it's human, and medium sized," she said.
"It's disgusting. The top of the bottle was intact, as if it had just left the factory. We would like to know how this thing ended up in a ketchup bottle." You know, I think I would also like to know that.
The Godegaarden brand ketchup was made in Turkey and distributed in Sweden by the company Axfood. The shop where the ketchup was bought on Friday has thrown out the rest of its stock.
"I will never buy this brand again, it's finished," vowed Ed. Really? I'm surprised to hear that. I would have gone right out and bought some more!
BEIRUT, Lebanon — A stunned nation was in mourning Tuesday, with stores closed and troops at intersections to prevent violence, following the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri (search), whose death raised fears that Lebanon (search) might revert to the political violence of its 1975-90 civil war.
Police raised the death toll from Monday's massive bombing in downtown Beirut to 13 dead and about 120 injured.
The streets of the capital were virtually empty Tuesday as the Lebanon started three days of mourning. Schools, banks and shops were closed.
Update: They are indeed blaming Israel, which is why I had to change the name of the post from "Wait, they're not blaming Israel?".
Every morning at 7:45, BBC Radio provides listeners with an inspiring 
The HR approach to online, critical journalism is expanding. As weblogs become more and more popular, there is a growing public demand for honest reporting from the big media outlets.
