Thoughts on an Israeli swearing-in ceremony

Here is a letter - in full - sent by a friend who attended an IDF swearing-in ceremony at the Western Wall Jerusalem while the conflict in Gaza was still taking place (and let's face it, despite the so-called ceasefire even the mini-conflict has not ended with many dozens of rockets STILL being launched from Gaza). Please read it all.

January 17, 2009

Dear Friends and Family,

This past Thursday evening I was witness to an event that deeply moved me, especially as it comes against the backdrop of the disturbing military operation on Gaza and the rocket attacks streaming into southern Israel. I attended the swearing-in ceremony of our very good friends' son into the paratroopers unit of the Israel Defense Forces. I think that this ceremony, held at the Western Wall, with all the complex emotions it elicited, simply epitomizes the struggles, the conflicts, and the inspirations that we live with every day in this war-torn but vibrant country.

My husband and I went to the ceremony to show our solidarity and support for our friends, a couple our age, who are the first of our social circle whose son is being conscripted into the military. In a bizarre way, you could even say we went to celebrate with them. We've known N. since birth and watched him grow up into a fine, patriotic, kind, and motivated young man who persistently prepared for this day, both physically and mentally, all through high school. He competed unremittingly to be accepted into an elite combat unit and is more than eager to dedicate all his skills and talents to successfully performing whatever assignments his military service might bring his way. Always smiling and friendly, N. is utterly serious about the difficult tasks ahead of our country and has no illusions about the risks he takes. Indeed, for him, this ceremony was anticipated as a celebration of all his hard work and of his altruism.

And now, at this week's ceremony, after two grueling months of boot camp, he stood at the Western Wall, symbol of our Jewish heritage and our thousands of years of connection with this land. Side by side with the other tens of new paratrooper recruits, only 18 years old, he solemnly swore to protect the citizens of this country from harm, to uphold our governing bodies' decisions without wavering, without question, and even to give his life if need be, in the defense of Israel and its people.

Yes, hand in hand with the vow to serve his country was the explicit vow to sacrifice his own life if necessary in the relentlessly enduring fight for Israel's independence and indeed for our very right to exist in this region. This was the promise uttered by each vital young man, as his family listened, as he entered the existential fight that Israel has been waging for 60 years and that, even as the words were spoken at the ceremony, was continuing to be fought intensely in the south of our country in Gaza. Against the quiet Jerusalem night sky, the brigadier general at the ceremony apologized for the absence of the colonel who heads the paratroopers' unit, thus bringing home to us how immediate and how troubling our country's fight – even now being played out in fiery bursts against another sky not so far away to the south. The colonel was currently on the battlefield himself, with his troops, out in the night.

I thought of all the boys in all the wars, each generation following the next, for six generations of new draftees joining the ranks of the IDF, all hoping for peace and security, yet all knowing that they might inevitably face deadly battles like those our soldiers might be seeing at the very moment of the ceremony. For this new group of recruits standing at attention before us, the current Gaza fighting will probably be over by the time they complete their intense training course over the next few months, but surely, knowing our region, another battle will rise up during their three years of mandatory service.

I looked at the sea of boyish faces in uniform, some of whom looked like they had not even begun yet to shave. Some seemed tense, exhausted after their training exercises of the day before, perhaps a bit in awe of the cheering crowds of friends and family around them. Others' poised expressions showed their deep pride at reaching this moment, and their steely determination to take their rightful place in the long line of Israeli heroes and heroines who literally defended their families and homes in the face of enemies bent on destroying them. They seemed keenly aware that they had just been passed on the time-honored role of protector of these very men, women, and children in the crowd.

The number of visitors standing on the Western Wall plaza was so large that we could only watch the ceremony on large video screens from afar, and we couldn't catch a glimpse of N. at all. As I looked around at the families of these young soldiers, straining their necks from stairwells and hillsides and wall tops all around the plaza to see their loved ones marching to the major's barked-out orders, a colorful display of bags and containers came into view at the parents' feet. Everywhere were painstakingly prepared care packages of home-cooked food, dry undergarments and socks, extra layers of clothing, chocolates and favorite snacks (in our friends' case: sushi and meat-filled kubeh) to give their beloved soldier at their highly-anticipated reunion after the ceremony.

As I scanned the parents' excited yet contemplative faces, I asked myself: How could these mothers and fathers just "relinquish their sons" without protest? As my friend said incredulously, "On the morning he enlisted, I thought it unbelievable that we and all these other parents were voluntarily bringing our sons to the army. We packed all his things, drove him to the base, said our tearful goodbyes, and left him there. If we lived in a different time and place, we would keep our son safe and hidden at home and barricade the door to prevent the army from coming to enlist him!" But this is the time and this is the place. 2009. Israel. And things have been the same for mothers and fathers saying farewell to sons for 60 years.

For even longer, in fact. As I looked around the plaza at the Wall, with the great Jerusalem stones in front of me, I thought of the ultimate story of father sacrificing son, of Abraham going to sacrifice Isaac in the bible. These days, the days of war, Israeli poets and philosophers are talking incessantly about the parallels between that story of sacrifice and the story of personal sacrifice being made daily by families living here. The brigadier general at the ceremony made mention of our country's deep appreciation of these bigger-than-life parents standing all around the plaza, whose values and mores planted the seeds for the development of such brave combat soldiers, especially in today's postmodern world of adolescent self-indulgence and materialism.

The irony doesn't escape me. Why on earth should a boy getting his first rifle from his commanding officer be greeted by balloons from his family and cheering from the crowd? What kind of a society cheers for a tool of violence? I'll tell you what kind: A society with a long and agonizing history of victimization and persecution that is now cheering at its own inner strength, celebrating its own survival despite the odds, celebrating the freedom to defend itself instead of depending on others. Up until this last war in Gaza, I could add that we are also a society with sufficient confidence in our own moral standards that we are not afraid to use those tools of violence against those who wish us dead, while taking scrupulous care to avoid injury of innocent civilians, though I now find it harder to make that claim. Yet what heartened me was that, with each rifle, each soldier was bestowed a bible. The commanding officer inserted the bible under the soldier's button-down army shirt, against the soldier's heart, and then the officer pressed that bible firmly into the left side of that soldier's chest, in a wordless gesture that seemed to say "Keep this near your heart, for our heritage and our togetherness as a Jewish people are what give us the strength to fight." Only after receiving the bible did the soldiers get their weapons.

In an ironic twist that so much typifies our lives here in Israel, behind the soldiers' ceremony on the plaza, directly near the Wall, stood a cluster of ultra-orthodox men dressed all in black, bowing fervently in prayer, oblivious of the ceremony. I thought about the bravery of these new young recruits, with their bibles against their hearts, and the fact that those Jews standing only a few paces away never served their fellow citizens in the military. The garb worn by these ultra-orthodox men clearly revealed that they had all filed for exemption from military duty on religious grounds, and yet the young draftees on the adjacent plaza would be protecting them too. I was filled with rage when one of these "haredi" men started to disparage the paratrooper ceremony with catcalls. How could he denigrate this almost righteous ritual, where parents are willing to sacrifice what is dearest to them for the greater good? He was soon pulled away by police and escorted off the premises.

My gaze wavered from the moving IDF ceremony to the Al-Aqsa mosque, which is clearly visible behind and to one side of the Wall. For me, that evening, the mosque stood against the darkened sky as a lucid reminder of our Arab neighbors, our Arab enemies, and the Sisyphean task of trying to establish a peaceful existence in this overwhelmingly Arab part of the world. Whatever ending emerges from the current war will not solve the deep-rooted problems in Gaza, or between us and our Arab neighbors, or for Jews around the world who are now facing an outburst of anti-Semitic acts. I am now experiencing my fourth war since making aliya (not to mention two intifadas). Although this Gaza war is the first time that I remember Arab regimes such as Egypt supporting Israel and condemning the terrorists attacking us, Hamas, Hezbollah, and their sponsor, Iran, are unwavering in their resolve to eradicate us from the face of the earth. There just seems to be no reasoning with them, or negotiating with them. Yet here they are, on our borders, just as that mosque stands behind the Wall.

The mosque against the skyline also reminded me of our military's bombings of such Moslem places of worship in Gaza. I know we did so only because these mosques were serving Hamas as ammunition depots, but, nevertheless, to paraphrase Golda Meir, I will never forgive Hamas for making us go against our own ethical standards and destroy their houses of prayer. Like the majority of Israelis, I feel the current military operation in Gaza was unavoidable. I can hardly believe that I am writing such hard words, such militant words, about the fact that military action is inevitable. But I know that any nation anywhere in the world who suffers incessant rocket attacks on its citizens would respond. For eight years southern Israel saw thousands of rocket and mortar attacks on civilian targets like schools, houses, malls, and community centers, including thousands launched after we evacuated the Gaza Strip entirely in 2005. Unlike Hamas, Israel takes significant steps to avoid civilian casualties and never aims intentionally to harm innocent people, whereas that is Hamas's express purpose. But nevertheless we did much harm, with horrific human consequences, and I cannot accept that bloodshed is the only answer. The power of our armed forces requires extraordinary strength, wisdom, and responsibility from our leaders, and I found myself praying silently at the Western Wall that night, for our country to be generously imbued with such virtues as it faces the upcoming frustrations, obstacles, and depressing reality of our region. I felt weighed down with thoughts about our country's present military actions and with my desire to act as an ambassador for Israel and to explain our viewpoint on current events to everyone I know abroad. But as I watched the paratroopers and their commanding officers at the Wall, with the mosque looming overhead, the complexity of our geopolitical mire just seemed too overwhelming to know where to begin.

I could have found this evening to be so devastatingly sorrowful, at the thought of the dangers lurking ahead of these soldiers and the hopelessness of our quest for peace. The evening could have been especially upsetting as I envisioned myself standing at a similar ceremony for all of our friends' older children in the next few years, and then for our eldest son in a little more than three years. Yet, surprisingly for me, I came away from the experience feeling not only troubled but also renewed and strengthened. Despite my profound concern about the future, the fortitude, resilience, and solidarity of this crowd – with its internally weeping but externally beaming parents – moved me deeply and again forged for me that same visceral connection with the Jewish people and with Israel that originally led me to come live in this country.

When it came time to sing the national anthem, Hatikva, I was so choked by tears that I could not emit a voice. As the anthem mentioned "Mizrach" – the West – I observed that it was referring to the ancient holy temple whose western wall was before me. And, as the crowd intoned "2000-year-old hope," I thought between my tears how our entire people was grasping at that hope, desperately wanting to believe that peace is now nearer, that no more sons will be lost, and that we could finally live a free and meaningful life as Jews anywhere in the world and especially here in our homeland.


I send out a wish for peace.

Love, Dee

Reading

I am going abroad for a while - probably won't be posting for a few weeks. Some excellent articles to read in the meanwhile:

To understand why the main stream media reports about Israel and the Palestinians in the way it does read Michael Totten's interview with Palestinian journalist Khaled Abu Toameh

For an articulate and heartfelt critique of the West's pandering to the Islamafascists read Judea Pearl on the 7th anniversary of his son's murder by Islamic terrorists in Pakistan

Douglas Murray (who was last week stopped from speaking at the LSE due to threats from Islamic students) has a great article about how Islamic intimidation in the UK works.

An Open Letter to A citizen Of Gaza: I Am the Soldier Who Slept In Your Home

I came across this letter, which should be read by everybody who does not yet understand the basic rights and wrongs of the Gaza conflict.


By: Yishai G (reserve soldier)

Hello,

While the world watches the ruins in Gaza, you return to your home which remains standing. However, I am sure that it is clear to you that someone was in your home while you were away.
I am that someone.

Read the rest

Poor defenceless Palestinians continue to kill Israelis

The poor defenceless (Hamas supporting) Palestinians of Gaza, for whom who the entire British media feel are more deserving of charity than any other group of people in the world, continue with their only real goal in life - to kill Israelis through terror operations. And you can be sure that this important incident this morning will not be reported in the media - at least not until Israel responds (by which time it will be mentioned at the end of any such report, with an implication that this was the Palestinian 'retaliation'):

• An IDF non-commissioned officer was killed on Tuesday morning when a roadside bomb planted by Gaza operatives along Israel's border with the Strip detonated under the army vehicle he was traveling in. Another officer was seriously wounded and two soldiers were lightly hurt in the incident near the Kissufim crossing, the army said... more
  

American Intifada

A good collection of brief videos (5 minutes total) demontrates that, while the pro-Hamas rallies in the USA have not reached the level of violence as they have in London, they are still pretty frightening. No attempts there to conceal anti-semitism as anti-Zionism.

Marching for Hamas

The 'anti-war' brigade are yet again out in London and the media yet again fails to see the irony of an 'anti-war' movement that demands the violent destruction of the State of Israel. These 'peaceniks' will no doubt later this evening be seeking yet more Starbucks restaurants to destroy and yet more Jews to beat up.

A terrific article by Denis Maceoin "Marching for Hamas" sums it all up perfectly.

A Tribute to Dvir Emanuelof

The Elder of Ziyon blog has a very powerful piece containing a letter from the Shalem Center's president Daniel Polisar about Dvir Emanuelof who was killed in Gaza last week. Read it all here. Think about this when you watch the BBC coverage of the conflict.

Jihadists a danger? No, Spurs supporters are the real threat to society

	Vicious
	Peaceful

In the last two weeks in the UK we have witnessed destruction and anti-semitism on a massive scale committed by Islamafascists and their useful idiot allies of the hard left. Look at the scenes from the mainstream anti-Israel march in London or the destruction later the same day in Kensington High Street, with more here. How about this disgusting blood libel outside the Israel embassy in London in broad daylight. There have been attacks on a Marks and Spencer store in Bristol and on people selling Israeli goods in a Belfast shopping mall. Even more chilling, look at one of the main speakers at the 'stop the war' rally of 20,000 people and the reaction he gets when he openly incites terrorism and continually chants "We are all Hamas". The hardcore of this 'anti-Israel' movement is committed to the violent overthrow of the government in the UK and is openly supporting a banned terrorist group. What the videos clearly show is many identifiable people breaking the law in many ways. And the police doing absolutely nothing about. No attempt to either arrest anybody or even stop it. The police appear to have given free reign to the Islamafascists to terrorise and destroy wherever they want without the slightest danger of arrest and prosecution. All helped with the incitement of terrorist supporting leaders like George Galloway and Azam Tamimi.

But have no fear. Because it was revealed today who the police are arresting and prosecuting. In the last few months the Police launched an unprecedented operation targetting a number of Spurs football fans who were alleged to have chanted insulting songs at Portsmouth footballer Sol Campbell during the Portsmouth v Spurs match last October. In fact, people who were at the match say that the singing was the normal banter you get at football matches, and much less offensive, for example, than the crude anti-semitic chants directed almost every match against Spurs fans (the club is known to have many Jewish supporters as well as a Jewish Chairman). Campbell was singled out for special treatment not because he is black or gay but because he used to be Spurs captain and after stating his undying love for the club in 2001 he left a few weeks later to join their bitter rivals Arsenal. Under such circumstances ANY footballer would come in for some stick from the terraces when they play their former club.

It's comforting to know that the police in the UK understand the real threat to society.

Jihad in London in broad daylight

The Jihad Watch site has a chilling video of the main anti-Israel march in London on Saturday. It's 9 minutes long but you must watch it:

http://www.jihadwatch.org/archives/024365.php

In particular note this is not the evening 'splinter' group violence in Kensington. This is the main event - the one that the BBC, Sky and CNN told us was a peaceful, carnival-like anti-war demonstration.

A letter to the hypocrites of "Save the Children"

I think this letter I just sent is pretty self-explanatory:

Jasmine Whitbread
Chief Executive
Save the Children
1 St John's Lane
London EC1M 4AR

12 January 2009

Dear Ms Whitbread

My sunday newspaper today has a full page advertisement by your organisation entitled "Stop the Suffering" which appears to be saying that only children in Gaza are suffering and that if everybody texts a message saying "CEASEFIRE" to 81819 then this could force 'an end to the violence'.

I don't understand this. For 8 years the civilians of Southern Israel were living in shelters to protect themselves from indiscriminate bombing from Gaza (over 8,000 rockets including some 6,000 AFTER Israel removed all of its citizens and army personnel from Gaza in 2005). I do not recall ever seeing a campaign by Save the Children to stop their suffering.

Moreover, when the Gazan government (yes Hamas is the government in Gaza) ended a 6-month 'ceasefire' on 19 December 2008 by launching a barrage of longer range Iranian Grad missiles that brought almost one million civilians (including round 250,000 children) within range there was similarly no word from Save the Children despite the pleas by Israel to the international community of the seriousness of this situation.

When this barrage continued for 7 days without a word of world protest, Israel finally acted in self-defence to put an end to it. The suffering in Gaza that resulted is the direct responsibility of the Hamas government, which is committing war crimes by placing civilians deliberately in locations from which it is firing rockets. But indirect responsibility for the suffering is due to organisations like yours which stayed silent when the Israelis were the victims of indiscriminate bombing from a terrorist government. If the world had made its revulsion clear to Hamas then the current suffering would never have happened.

The clear intention of your advertisement is to stop Israel from defending itself. A forced ceasefire that leaves Hamas free to continue its promise to destroy Israel and every Jew once it has the time to re-arm will lead to an even worse catastrophe in 6 months time.

But I guess you never really understood the situation well enough to figure that out. Just like your organisation continually howls about the lack of humanitarian supplies in Gaza, without ever asking why there is no lack of rockets and weapons for the Hamas government who run the place.

Finally your claim about 10 children per day being killed comes from non-verified Hamas sources (remember Hamas controls UNWRA in Gaza) and so should be taken with a pinch of salt. Whatever the number, it certainly is dwarfed by the number being killed in many other conflicts around the world – most inflicted by Muslims about you which you apparently have much less concern.

Yours sincerely,


Edgar Davidson

The peaceful anti-Israel demonstration in London

As my posts below about both the pro-Israel demonstrations I've attended in the last few days suggest, the TV news media has been grossly misrepresenting what has been going on in the various demonstrations. From BBC, Sky and CNN you will have got the impression that that there may have been a small amount of violence but that this was somehow evenly distributed between pro and anti-Israel demonstrators with the Police separating the two sides. In fact it turns out that their reporting in this respect bears all the features of its more general reporting of the Israel-Palestine conflict. It is complete and utter bullshit. The pro-Israel supporters have behaved impeccably and the anti-Israel supporters have behaved like animals.

The images here (which I got from the Mail on Sunday) are from the pro-Hamas London rally on Saturday (and if anybody tries to tell you this was pro-Palestinian rather than just pro-Hamas and anti-Israel just look carefully at the images). Most of the action here took place in Kensington High Street. When we there last Wednesday I noticed that the Hamas supporters were very close to this Starbucks and I had a feeling this would eventually be a target for their violence due to the Muslim campaign to boycott Starbucks as they view it as a 'Zionist' institution. It was therefore no surprise that this Starbucks was smashed up and then looted by these people. [UPDATE: here is a video of them smashing up Starbucks - listen to the 'fuck the Jews' cries and also notice a line of Police who simply allow the thugs to carry on the destruction without fear of arrest]

Of course none of this got any mention on the news channels. This is happening now every night in one of the busiest and most fashionable streets in London and nobody is doing anything about it. Even worse, despite both the police officers on the scene and the shop owners being outraged by this (I know because I've spoken with them) somebody high up in the Metropolitan Police is giving authorisation to allow these demonstrations ot take place every night.

Massive turn-out for pro-Israel rally

The organisers estimated there were 35,000 people at today's rally in Trafalgar Square. The BBC (for reasons partly explained below) estimated a much lower number - 4,000. That number is impossible since not only was the entire square packed but there were also many people on the outside. I would estimate the numbers as about 10,000 - a fantastic turnout so early on a cold Sunday morning.

More than anything this was a response to the despicable media campaign that has created the perception that the whole British public is outraged by Israel's actions in Gaza. I felt that there was a real determination by so many Jews to set the record straight.

Today's rally will, of course, be given only a fraction of the media coverage of yesterday's pro-Hamas hatefest. But I'd like to think that anybody who witnessed both rallies will have been struck by the difference in the message today (Peace for Israel and Gaza by stopping Hamas terror) with that of yesterday ("Destroy Israel"). Today: dignified with compassion for all victims. Yesterday: violent, with compassion and love for the terrorist perpetrators and hatred for the Israeli victims.

Yesterday Lindsey German of the "Stop the War Coalition" said that the sheer number of people protesting meant that the government had to do what the protesters demanded and this included boycotting Israel and expelling the Ambassador. Think about that for a moment. It is a bizarre statement on so many levels. On the one hand this woman, who claims to speak for the "weak", the "oppressed", and the "disenfranchised" is advocating that a count of the number of activists on the streets should dictate government policy. That sounds a bit like "might is right" to me - the very thing they accuse Israel of. Also it means that if you can get enough Islamafascists and their useful idiots of the Left on the streets then you have to not only listen to what they say but you must also do what they say. So I suppose that means that if next time they demand the public execution of all Jews then that is what the Government should do to make the mob happy. It is also ironic to note that the "peace protesters" (as the media portrayed them) openly support a terrorist organisation and openly called for the violent destruction of the state of Israel. Peace for everybody else but violence against Israel. And of course never a mention of the suffering of the Israelis under daily bombardment.

Update: Just seen the CNN news report about the rally this evening and it was breathtaking in its misrepresentation. According to this report there was as many anti-Israel demonstrators protesting the rally as there were pro-Israel demonstrators (whom they described as 'several hundred'). Moreover, their angle was that the bulk of the anti-Israel demonstrators were Jews. They duly interviewed one of the Jews for Justice for Palestinians fruitcakes and then focused on the obligatory Neturei Karta lunatics. They also stated that a massive police presence was necessary to keep the two sets of demonstrators apart. For organisations like the BBC and CNN it is clear that even if one million people had turned out for a pro-Israeli rally with a half a dozen counter-demonstrators, their spin would have been to present it as some kind of a tie in numbers. Theydo not want the public to know that there a large number of decent people who understand and support Israel and who are prepared to reclaim the streets from the Hamas supporters.

Pro-Israel Rally London: nice people versus the nasties

We attended the pro-Israel rally outside the Israeli Embassy in Knightsbridge this evening that was arranged only within the last 24 hours as a counter demonstration to the nightly demos by anti-Israel thugs. I understand the demonstration was originally arranged by the Christian Friends of Israel and was going to be fairly low key, but word got around - especially among the young Jewish community via Facebook and the result was a very impressive turn-out that clearly took the anti-semites (and yes that is what the vast majority of them were) on the other side by surprise. Some poor quality images are shown here and don't really give a feel for the size and density of the crowd. which I would estimate as at least 3,000.


When we arrived at Ken High Street tube station we were greeted by a middle-aged white Englishman standing in the street and screaming relentlessly and with total hatred "Murderers" at a small group of elderly people being escorted along the road by policemen. It turned out that this was the first group of pro-Israel demonstrators and was ironically probably mainly the Christian Friends. It was difficult to comprehend the hatred of this guy. I wondered why people like that would not show the same pure hatred at, say, the Sudanese for the massacre of black Africans, the Sunni and Shia groups massacring eachother in Iraq, the Chinese for their brutal oppression of the Tibetans, the Sri Lankans for their treatment of the Tamil Tigers, or dare I say it Hamas for their continmued attacks against civilians or even for the brutal massacre of their Fatah opponents. No, for this guy - and so many like him - none of those real murderers stirred his conscious. Al Quada, the Taliban? No - what consumed this guy with rage was Jews finally defending themselves against terror.

Anyway, we joined the small group and had to pass the violent anti-Israel mob (who had George Galloway apparently leading the chorus). The police described them as a bunch of very nasty people. This was the only time we really got to see them because we were shepherded to the other side separated by a couple of police lorries (and at the end of the rally we were not allowed to go back to Ken High Street tube but had to walk in the opposite direction). The pro-Israel crowd very quickly grew (the slow start was due to the fact that although we had heard
it was scheduled to start at 7.30, most others heard 7.45 or 8.00). We were packed in very tightly about 30-40 deep across a length of pavement about 100 metres long (hence the estimate of at least 3,000). As you would expect, in stark contrast to the other side, our crowd were polite and dignified, singing the occasional Hebrew songs about peace, interspersed with renditions of both the Israeli and British national anthems. On the other side they cursed and threatened, promised death to Israel and honoured the Hamas terrorists. One guy walked along in front of us waving a Hizbullah flag. We heard that on a number of occasions the thugs tried to break through the police lines to attack and that they were verbally abusing the police continually. I guess it was little surprise then, when at the end a policeman came up to us and said that we were the nicest group of demonstrators he had ever encountered.

So there you have it. In the Alice in Wonderland world of the UK and its media, the anti-Israel demonstrators (who glorify terrorism, fight the police and call for the destruction of Israel) are apparently the 'opponents of the war' i.e. the peace lovers. And the pro-Israel demonstrators who sing songs of peace are the fascist Zionists supporting a genocidal war. At least the police (and any other passers-by in Kensington) know different.

The Western media must take a lot of the blame

The Western media's ignorance and misrepresentation of the current situation in Gaza was perfectly demonstrated by an appalling interview by Andrew Pierce on LBC last week of the Israeli Ambassador Ron Prosor. My letter to LBC below is self-explanatory:

I wish to complain about the questioning by Andrew Pierce (on LBC on 29 Dec) of Ron Prosor the Israeli Ambassador. Mr Pierce sarcastically and repeatedly asked why so few Israelis had died if the attacks against them were as serious as the Israelis claimed ("come on Mr Ambassador just tell me how many dead Israelis are there from these so-called rockets").

Mr Pierce exhibited appalling ignorance, unprofessionalism and insensitivity. He seemed to be completely unaware of the years of rocket attacks and their seriousness (including the use of long-range Iranian Grad missiles). He had no conception that 800,000 Israelis were living under constant threat of rocket attacks, unable to be more than 15 seconds from a shelter, unable to work, shop, drive, or go to school. He was unaware that the reason for the relatively few fatalities was the infrastucture, warning system and use of shelters since Israelis (unlike Palestinians) take repsonsibility for their citizens. But what was especially unforgivable was that he was unaware of the particularly ferocious and significant barrage of rockets that rained down on Israel for several days prior to Israel's response. That new barrage included attacks against major cities (including Ashdod and Beersheba) which had previously been beyond range.

Perhaps if news stations like LBC had bothered ever to report the attacks against Israel, Mr Pierce and other listeners may have realised that these actions put Hamas beyond the pale, especially when their misfiring rockets also kill Palestinians such as on 26 Dec when a Hamas rockets killed two Palestinian children in Beit Lahiya.

In fact if News stations such as LBC had bothered to ever report on the daily rocket attacks against Israel over the last few years then I believe that the current Gaza crisis may never have happened since Hamas may have been made aware by the rest of the world that these actions were intolerable.

Yours

Edgar Davidson

The last bit is something I really believe. Although I am not naive to assume that the Hamas attacks - if reported properly - would have triggered the same kind of worldwide condemnation and UN action that greeted Israel's eventual defensive actions, I believe there would have been widespread revulsion of Hamas and even pressure on it, which could have led to its eventual demise.

Unfortunately, nobody in the West has ever been made aware of the suffering of the Israelis living under constant rocket attacks. It was painful having to explain to even intelligent Jewish pro-Israel friends after the Israeli response that Israel had just been subjected to days of intolerable attacks. Typical responses were "that cannot be true because there was nothing about it in the newspapers or on TV". And it is little surprise that idiotic presenters like Andrew Pierce behave in the way they do. Or why Palestinian spokespeople, such as Diana Buttu (who, note, is an advisor to the 'moderate' Fatah not Hamas) are now consistently - and without challenge on interviews like on CNN - making the claim that the Hamas rockets never carried any explosive charge.

So, you see, the 800,000 Israelis living under constant threat of rocket attacks are all either a figment of the imagination or need to realise that their worries about being harmed are totally irrational since the rockets fired at them are less harmful than a broken sparkler.

Anyway, some good pieces on the situation are here:

Alan Dershowitz's analysis of the legal aspects of Israel's actions

Melanie Philips on the moral case

Barry Rubin on the ground in Gaza

Michael Totten: Gaza and the Law of Armed Conflict

News of the World Article slanders Israel

I felt moved to write the following self-explanatory letter to the News of the World political writer Fraser Nelson. The article was about the child Afghan suicide bomber who killed three British marines. It was entitled "Who can spot an angel of death?". The article managed to incorporate two outrageous and totally irrelevant slurs against Israel. And what makes it so shocking in my view is that I am sure the writer had no idea that he was being offensive in any way.

****************************************************

Dear Mr Nelson

I enjoy your column in the News of the World every week, and hence am particularly disappointed that your normal journalistic standards could have been so completely compromised as they were in your article today about the child Afghan suicide bomber.

The problem in the article is that you have introduced two inappropriate, unnecessay and totally incorrect references to the Israel-Palestinian conflict. There have, of course, been many articles in the media that exhibit both ignorance and anti-Israel bias, but your two references to Israel reach an all-time low in my view (especially as I am sure your outlook is generally sympathetic to Israel). Specifically:

Point 1: You say "The Taliban use children like the Israeli army use robots. Seldom has a fighting force been so callous"

I can only assume that you had a mental blockage when you wrote this statement. First of all it seems to imply that the Israelis callously use robots to attack people in the way the Aghans do with suicide bombers. I can only assume that you have confused your facts here. The Israelis have, on a small number of occasions used robots to DISARM potential suicide bombers, as in the well known case of the 14-year-old Palestinian boy in March 2004:

http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9E06E0DC1530F936A15750C0A9629C8B63

This use of robots is exactly the opposite of what is implied in your statement. The use of robots is explicitly to save lives including even that of the suicide bomber. Your statement is a kind of a blood libel, that requires an apology. Perhaps you were confusing Israel's use of robots with the American use of drones against the Taliban. That would surely have been a more relevant and appropriate comparison to make given that the article was about Afghanistan and not Israel.

Point 2: You say (about the Afghan suicide bombers): "These are not the serious, adult suicide bombers used by Palestinian terrorists against Israel". This statement is offensive and ignorant on two levels. First the statement is false because the Palestinians have not only used child suicide bombers extensively, but have indoctrinated an entire generation of children to believe that killing as many Jews as possible by becoming a suicide bomber is the greatest ambition they can achieve. In fact, compared to the Afgan child bomber (who apparently may not even have known that he was on a suicide mission) the Palestinian child bombers have begged to become suicide bombers as a result of their indoctrination. For information about this, and a catalogue of Palestinian child suicide bombers see:

http://www.internationalwallofprayer.org/A-096-Child-Abuse-In-The-Palestinian-Authority.html

Secondly, the statement implies that Palestinian use of suicide bombers is somehow a legitimate and professional type of activity compared to the Afghans. Again you need to be reminded that, almost exclusively, Palestinian suicide bombings have been directed at civilian and not military targets. To even imply that these are morally superior somehow to the Afghan suicide attacks against the army is truly abhorrant.

I am extremely upset that you of all people have now joined the rest of our media writers in using any opportunity, no matter how inappropriate, to slander Israel.

Yours sincerely

Edgar Davidson

No memorial to massacred Israelis for fear of upsetting Muslims

What a surprise. It seems that 'Muslim experts hired by Scotland Yard' are lobbying to minimise or even stop any planned memorial at the London Olympics to the massacred Israeli athletes of 1972.

The story is here at the Times.

Two obvious questions:

1. Why would Muslims be offended at such a memorial?

2. Why are Scotland Yard hiring Islamfascists to peddle their usual garbage?

"Religon of Peace" maintains its peaceful image with Western media

If Israel kills Hamas terrorists in Gaza in the act of launching rockets the muslim world is outraged and the western media goes into overdrive to cover events and denounce the Jews. Yet Fatah muslims blowing up Hamas muslims in Gaza, even when a 4-year-old child is one of the victims, is not considered sufficiently important to merit a single word in most newspapers or even on the 24-hour news channels (Al-Jazeera, which devoted hours of coverage when an arrested Palestinian was shot in the foot with a plastic bullet by an Israeli soldier also somehow managed to avoid the events on Saturday). Today's Sunday Times weighs about three tons, but apparently they do not have enough room to say a single word about what happened in Gaza. Nor do they have a single word to say about the multiple bomb attacks by Islamists in India yesterday that killed dozens.

Today's terrorist attack in Jerusalem

Having close family members who were either nearby today's attack or were in the exact location shortly beforehand makes it somewhat personal. Hamas and all the other Palestinian groups, including Abbas's own Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigade have, as usual, glorified the attack - claiming it is a "natural action". So it is apparently perfectly natural to crush to death young women and babies. One of the young women could very easily have been my own daughter. And all this during a supposed ceasefire. And not in any 'occupied territory'.

So I got to thinking why such attacks continue and this is where I start to blame the western media and leftists. The fact is the attacks continue because few in the western media actually disagree with the Hamas notion that such acts are natural (Bradley Burston has written a fantastic article on this very point). On the contrary, the BBC and their ilk - if they report such stories at all (most news outlets in the UK totally ignored the story today as usual) - inevitably seek to justify such acts in ways that are not too dissimilar to the way Hamas does. What people in the West fail to realise is that the Palestinians - including even Hamas - are incredibly sensitive to 'Western opinion'. You only have to look at how they reacted when they received widespread condemnation over the kidnap of the BBC journalist Alan Johnson to realise this. Basically, as soon as they saw it was hurting their image Hamas released him. Simple as that.

But killing Israel civilians is ALWAYS justifiable in the eyes of the leftists in the West who dominate the mainstream media. So, no matter how heineous the terrorist attack, it will never be condemned - or even exposed - by that media. In fact, if news of terrorist attacks against Israelis is covered at all in the mainstream media it will normally be accompanied by more prominent material sympathetic to the Palestinians (often even focusing on the family of the terrorists themselves - conveniently ignoring all the rejoicing and candy-handouts that preceeded the BBC interviewers knock at the door).

Compare the reaction to today's terrorist attack with the accidental death of Rachel Corrie - an ISM activist dedicated to the destruction of Israel - when she deliberately ran into the path of an Israeli bulldozer in 2003. Don't hold your breath waiting for the kind of international condemnation (not to mention endless documentaries, plays, books and articles) that followed that death.

So if, as Bradley Burston implores, the leftists could for once bring themselves to condemn unconditionally this kind of attack, there is a very good chance it could have a real impact in avoiding future similar outrages. Their deafening silence means that THEY are part of the problem, and it is fair to put some of the blame for the deaths of these innocent young women on them.

A visit to Sderot

The media has almost totally ignored the appalling plight of the Israeli town of Sderot, which has been under constant bombardment by rockets from Hamas in Gaza. If mentioned at all the reference is likely to be dismissive and sneering - usually referring to 'home-made' (implying 'harmless') rockets. The letter here, from a young English girl visiting Sderot, gives a moving first hand-account of the impact of these 'harmless' rockets on everyday life.

How the story but not the news changed in Gaza

On Thursday 12 June an explosion flattened a house in Gaza belonging to one of Hamas's major military commanders, killing several people including a 4-month old girl. All the news agencies dutifully reported that "Hamas said the blast was caused by an Israeli airstrike" and the usual scenes of destruction and wailing people were broadcast with viewers left in no doubt that this was Israel's doing. The BBC, Sky and Al Jazeera carried the story prominently with the Hamas claims of Israel's responsibility. To emphasize their 'outrage', Hamas 'responded' with its most ferocious bombardment yet of Israel, some 50 rockets in the space of two hours.

But within less than 12 hours it was clear that Israel could not have been responsible for the explosion and even Reuters reported the following:

• GAZA (Reuters) - Hamas's military wing said on Friday an explosion that killed eight Palestinians in the Gaza Strip was an accident that occurred as militants prepared to carry out a bomb attack. Hamas initially blamed Thursday's explosion on an Israeli air strike, but the Israeli military denied involvement. The blast flattened the two-storey house of Hamas bomb-maker Ahmed Hamouda in the northern town of Beit Lahiya, killing six Hamas fighters, a four-month-old girl and a civilian.

You would have thought that the real story in this case - Hamas' own explosion killing so many people, its deliberate misleading of the media and its diabolical rocket attacks on Israel as false retaliation - would have led to that same media giving it prominence. Wrong. Whereas the original false story implicating Israel was given prominence, the real story has been ignored totally on TV and radio in the UK. What about newspapers? No chance. Today's Times newspaper has only one small item about Israel and that is of course a negative one, highlighting US criticism of its home building programme in Jerusalem.

If you want an example that captures everything about the media's bias against Israel it is this saga. And here is something that you should also remember. When the next figures listing Palestinian casualties of Israeli 'agression' are trotted out you can be guaranteed these the people kille in the explosion wil be added to it.

Terrorist Incitement by George Galloway MP

I've just posted the following self-explanatory letter to the Prime Minister. If you can stomach it you should watch the video link in the letter to know what we are up against. And also note the reaction of our enlightened Jordanian 'friends'.

The Prime Minister
10 Downing Street
London
SW1A 2AA

Dear Prime Minister

Terrorist Incitement by George Galloway MP

On 15 May 2008 George Galloway delivered a speech in Amman Jordan that was shown on Al-Jazeera TV. I have attached the transcript of the speech. The actual footage is available here:

http://www.memritv.org/clip/en/1773.htm

This speech includes a call for the violent destruction of the State of Israel, which is especially concerning since it was delivered in Jordan – one of only two Arab countries officially at peace with Israel. It also contains a number of instances of glorification of terrorism (as well as, curiously, the glorification of Saddam Hussein). While Galloway never mentions the word ‘Jew’ (instead referring to Israeli Jews as being either ‘occupiers’, ‘colonialists’, or simply ‘gunmen from Brooklyn, London, Paris, and Moscow’) the speech is deeply offensive to Jews at all levels.

On 16 March 2008 I wrote to the Home Secretary Jacqui Smith about a related subject (and have received no reply or even acknowledgement). I attach a copy of that letter. The point about that letter is that the Government of the UK has legislation to handle incitement to terrorism, but has badly misused it.

I would like to know whether you intend to use the legislation now against George Galloway.

How (not) to fight Islamic extremism

Melanie Philips reports today on various aspects of Government lunacy regarding pandering to the Islamists. One example is allowing the massive funding from Saudi Arabia of Islamic Studies departments in UK Universities, despite the overwhelming evidence that this always results in an obsessive and ferocious anti-Israel agenda (the example at Oxford University being one I know well).

Well, at least the money pouring in to Universities to fund Islamic extremism is mainly being provided by the (foreign) extremists themselves. Unfortunately we can't say the same about the initiative that Home Secretary Jacqui Smith is set to announce according to the report here.

Basically, it appears that the Home Secretary's answer to the problems of Pakistani imams indoctrinating congregants in their mosques with Islamic extemism is to ... pay to import even more Pakistani imams. Here is what the article says:

This week the Home Secretary will step up the government's "Prevent" campaign—its battle against Islamic extremists who preach hate and indoctrinate potential jihadi recruits.

On Wednesday she will announce a new deal she struck with the Pakistani government on a visit last week. It will allow respected moderate Islamic clerics to be brought over from Pakistan to help British imams combat extremism in the Islamic communities.

Mrs Smith explained: "The vast majority of British Muslims have a Pakistani heritage. If we work with the government there we can win the arguments.

"We need to do more to tackle those places where radicalisation is developing—in prisons, schools, higher education—so that people are getting the right messages about what it means to be a British Muslim."

Remember that when they talk about "respected moderate Islamic clerics" the most celebrated such 'moderate' is none other than our old friend al-Qaradawi - the anti-semitic, homophobic, misogynist who issued the fatwa permitting the murder of Israeli children and who not only encouraged Muslim women to become suicide bombers, but also allowed them to disguise themselves in Western clothes to do so.

Oh, and of course, I still have not received any response from Jaqui Smith to my letter asking why she allowed in Islamic terrorist supporters but banned Israeli members of Parliament under the new anti-terrorism legislation.

UK Government hypocrisy over who it allows in

I've posted the following self-explanatory letter to the Home Secretary:


Jacqui Smith MP
The Secretary of State for the Home Department
Home Office
Direct Communications Unit
2 Marsham Street
London SW1P 4DF

16 March 2008

Dear Ms Smith,

Excluding the wrong people from the UK

When the government introduced its legislation (following the Islamist terrorist bombings of London) to bar from the UK anybody responsible for fomenting or justifying terrorist violence, most sensible people assumed that the target of this ban would be the many Islamic fundamentalists who preach hatred of the West, work for the destruction of the State of Israel, and glorify suicide bombings.

But in fact it turns out that you have used the legislation to ban the very victims of terrorist incitement rather than those doing the incitement. I refer to your banning of an Israeli politician (Moshe Feiglin) who had not even applied to enter the UK, at the same time as Islamic fundamentalists are allowed in to preach their hatred and justify terrorism. In case you are not aware of it, the Israelis have been and continue to be the number one victims of Islamic terrorism, so the irony here is somewhat tragic.

In fact in the same week that you made your bizarre unilateral decision to exclude Mr Feiglin a spokesman (Ibrahim Mousawi) for the proscribed terrorist organisation Hezbollah was allowed in to the UK for a speaking tour. This is the organisation whose leader has vowed to kill every Jew in the world. Perhaps you can explain how Ibrahim Mousawi’s entry into the UK (even Ireland had banned him) was likely to do anything other than foment and justify terrorist violence?

But it certainly does not stop with Ibrahim Mousawi. The UK hosts many notorious Islamists who foment and justify terrorist violence in the furtherance of world-wide Islamic domination. I understand, for example, that the UK has hosted many visits by Sheikh Faysal Mawlawi, vice president of the European Council for Fatwa and Research, a Dublin-based organisation of Muslim Brotherhood clerics. He issued a fatwa that legitimises and encourages the killing of any and all civilians in Israel. Sheikh Faysal Mawlawi's teachings go well beyond those of Feiglin. Moreover, he is a cleric who, unlike Feiglin, is specifically targeting his rulings at Muslims living in Europe. The argument for banning him, and every other member of the European Council of Fatwa and Research is surely compelling.

Then we have Abd al-Bari Atwan, the editor of the London based Al-Quds Al-Arabi. I note, for example, in his lead article last Sunday, he glorified the terrorist killing of eight teenage students in Israel, and said the celebrations in Gaza that followed symbolized the "courage of the Palestinian nation." He added that the recent violence in Gaza might "mark the countdown to Israel's destruction." Atwan has already been banned from Australia as a result of his declaration, last year, on Lebanese TV that "If the Iranian missiles strike Israel, by Allah, I will go to Trafalgar Square and dance with delight.” I trust, therefore that you will never give him the opportunity to go to Trafalgar Square again by deporting him.

Yours

BBC's Jeremy Bowen - beyond the pale

Following on from my complaint to LBC this morning I have now sent one to the BBC:

The BBC's anti-Israel bias in the reporting of the massacre of young Israeli students is simply beyond the pale. In particular I refer to the following quote in the article which comes under the bizarre subheading "Settler stronghold"

"The BBC's Middle East editor Jeremy Bowen says that the school was no ordinary seminary. It was the ideological cradle of the settler movement in the West Bank, which could be the reason it was targeted."

This statement by Bowen is not only inflamatory and irrelevant, but is completely nonsensical. Has Bowen looked at a map of Jerusalem to see where the seminary is? It is in West Jerusalem in an area that was never part of the "occupied territories" and with no connection to "settlers" or the "West Bank". According to Bowen's twisted logic any Israeli is a valid target for massacre.
I expect to see a full apology for this appalling rubbish.

How LBC reported the massacre in Jerusalem

This is how LBC Radio this morning presented the news of the
massacre of Jewish students by a Palestinian terrorist.

“8 people have been killed in a religious school in Jerusalem when a gunman opened fire. It came days after Israel fired rockets into Gaza.”

In a later broadcast the newsreader added the comment

“It was the first militant attack in Jerusalem for 4 years.”

I have made a complaint to LBC about their reporting. Here is what I said to them:

If you knew little of the details of the Israel Palestine Situation (like 99% of the public) you would have assumed from the report that the 8 dead were probably Palestinians and that they were killed as a direct result of some rocket attack by the Israelis. For those who found out from other sources that the dead were Jews and the killer was a Palestinian terrorist then the later broadcast would have assured them that this kind of thing has not happened for a long time.

As a news channel LBC ought to report the news in a clear and understandable way, not in a way that is deliberately misleading and biased. LBC also ought to be aware that it is the Palestinians who have been firing rockets into Israel not the other way round as stated. In fact over 8,000 have been fired against civilian targets in southern Israel since Israel withdrew completely from Gaza in 2005. Of course, LBC has never once reported on these attacks, nor on the suffering in Israeli cities like Sderot that are attacked every single day. Nor of course did it report on last night’s scenes of wild celebrations by thousands of Palestinians when they heard of the massacre in Jerusalem. And of course they did not report on the Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri declaring it as a ‘heroic attack’.

What LBC has reported of course many times are the previous Israeli responses to rocket attacks. Israel’s responses have, in the main, been pinpointed and accurate strikes against the rocket crews and other terrorists. By focusing only on Israeli responses to Palestinian terrorism rather than on the terrorism itself, LBC in common with other news media are becoming part of the problem. The terrorists are comforted to know that their actions will never be properly condemned and that instead the condemnation is reserved for the very victims of their terrorism. This in turn encourages more terrorism.

And as for the comment about this being the first ‘militant’ attack in Jerusalem for 4 years, this is complete nonsense. As recently as 25 Jan 2008 a Palestinian terrorist attack in Jerusalem result in Israeli killed and six injured in Jerusalem. There were also deadly attacks in Jerusalem on 6 Nov 2006, 8 Oct 2006 and 25 Aug 2005. Moreover, during this period Israeli security forces have stopped dozens of major attacks in Jerusalem.


******************************************************

I received the following response (very fast I must say):



----- Original Message ----
From: LBC Complaints LBC Complaints
To: Davidson Edgar
Sent: Friday, 7 March, 2008 5:20:02 PM
Subject: Re: Write Your Complaint or Feedback Here ENTRY

Dear Mr Edgar

I'm sorry you were unhappy with our news coverage. We always strive to be fair and balanced, obviously you feel we failed in this case. It's a shame you also didn't hear James O'Brien this morning between 10 and 1 who presented an excellent hour on the conflict in which both sides put across constructive words about the terrible situation with the aim of discovering if there could be a solution. I found that debate refreshing because it offered hope.

Kind regards,



Jonathan Richards
Programme Director
LBC 97.3

***********************************************************************

And here is my follow-up reply:


Jonathan

Thanks for replying.

I did not hear the James O'Brien show, but even if I had that hardly excuses the appallingly misleading, inaccurate and blatantly anti-Israel presentation of your main morning news (which I assume is the part of the programme the vast majority of your listeners would have heard). There is no doubt that whoever was responsible for the text provided to your newsreaders this morning spent considerable time massaging the words to ensure that listeners were not aware that:

a) the victims were Jews
b) the attacker was a Muslim Arab terrorist
c) the attack took place inside Israel
d) the attack was supported (and indeed later claimed) by the Hamas government of Gaza
e) the attack sparked scenes of wild celebration by many thousands of Palestinians.

All of these facts are crucial to the story and all were provided by other news agencies as long as 10 hours earlier (even the notoriously anti-Israel BBC managed to give relevant information). Yet somebody at LBC made the very deliberate and conscious decision not only to doctor the story, but to introduce the false and irrelevant point about Israel firing rockets into Gaza. In other words somebody at LBC has a very clear and spiteful anti-Israel agenda and I find that unacceptable.

Edgar Davidson

Anti-semitism in the UK

Today's Sun contains a chilling story about Chelsea's Israeli manager Avram Grant receiving anti-semitic death threats from Chelsea fans. The article says:

One package was found to contain white powder and a chilling note warning it was lethal.
The ground was sealed off and staff put in isolation as experts tested the powder.
Special Branch were then called in after cops read the sickening antisemitic threats against Israeli Grant, 52, and his TV star wife Tzofit, 43.
One note read: “You are a back-stabbing Jewish b*****d.
“When you open this letter you will die a very slow and painful death.”
A second message made twisted sexual threats against his wife Tzofit, adding: “Then she will die.”
Dad-of-two Grant was subjected to racist abuse after replacing Jose Mourinho as manager last September.
Many fans thought Grant – a close pal of Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich – was to blame for Mourinho’s axeing.

I checked the BBC News and Sport, Sky News and Sport, BBC teletext news and Sport and ITV teletext news and sport. None of them made any mention at all of this news item. I also looked at Google News UK and Yahoo News UK. Not a mention. [Update: some later news bulletins did mention the story briefly]. Can you imagine the outrcy if anti-Islamic death threats had been made against such a public Muslim figure. There is no doubt it would have been the lead story on the BBC News. But hey, it's only a Jew so it doesn't matter.

New spate of terrorist attacks the direct result of Western apologists

I was thinking about the conclusions that could be drawn from the following brief news item from Israel tonight (and like most attacks against Israelis it will not be reported on any mainstream British News outlet):

**************************************************************************
Two Palestinian terrorist attacks near Jerusalem leave one Israeli dead, six Israelis injured

Thursday night, Jan. 24. Palestinian gunmen opened fire on an Israeli border checkpoint near Shuafat on the old road to Pisgat Zeev, Jerusalem. One border guard was killed, and his female partner left in serious condition from shots in the chest. The two gunmen escaped before Israeli forces arrived on the scene and set up a manhunt.
At Gush Etzion, southeast of Jerusalem, two Palestinian gunmen clad in Israeli uniforms burst into the Makor Haim yeshiva (school). Wielding guns and knives, they injured three Israelis, one seriously. In a shoot-out in one of the buildings, the two gunmen were shot dead.
*******************************************************************************

What conclusions can be drawn from this news? Recently my MP quoted body counts as the ultimate 'proof' of Israeli brutality and responsibility for 'the cycle of violence'. More Palestinians are killed than Israelis, so ispo facto the Israelis are the guilty party. In tonight's attacks only one Israeli dead (known so far), but two Palestinians dead. So Palestinian dead outnumber Israeli dead by two to one. The Israelis are therefore twice as brutal as the Palestinians. Do you think my MP might start to see the problem with his logic? Don't hold your breath.

Also, according to that MP's logic the only reason for Palestinian terrorism are the roadblocks and checkpoints which prevent their freedom of movement. Therefore the Israelis should lift all the checkpoints and everyone will live happily ever after. But the problem with that logic is that it is ONLY the roadblocks and checkpoints that are preventing massacres against Israeli citizens every hour of every day.

In truth the Palestinians have become emboldened in their terrorist actions precisely because of apologists like my MP and the media in the West. It is the same reason why they bombard Israeli cities from Gaza with total impunity because the media turns a blind eye to it and expects the Israelis to grin and bear it. In the rare cases where Palestinian terrorism is reported in our media the apologists do not issue unequivocal condemnation, but rather seek to 'explain' and 'justify'.

Despite what the apologists for Palestinian terrorists want to think, the basic problem is not Israeli 'occupation' (the dispute and Palestinian terrorism existed long before 1967), it is not the Israeli response to Palestinian terrorism and its attempts to quell it, it is not even the Palestinian violence itself. The basic problem is the complete refusal of the Palestinians to recognize the right of the Jews to have a Jewish State in any part part of the Jew's historic homeland. And because of apologists like my MP they will continue to kill Jews because they will never be be aware that it is simply WRONG to do so.

Reflections on the Gaza situation

Naomi Ragen captured the bitter irony of the Gaza situation very well

Picture this: the electric plant which supplies 70% of electricity to the Palestinians in Gaza is in Ashkelon. The Palestinians in Gaza have been shooting kassam rockets at the
plant ever since the "disengagement" i.e. the abandonment of Gush Katif. Now, Palestinians are crying that they don't have enough electricity. They are complaining about Israeli sanctions against them. They are going to the U.N.

The truth is, Israel has not stopped supplying electricity to Gaza. Not only that, but Israeli electric company employees are risking their lives to do so.

Mickey Tsarfati, head of the union of electrical workers, said: "It is unbelievable chutzpah for them to complain. We have not stopped supplying them with electricity for a minute. And they have not stopped logging bombs at us for a minute." Many of the workers who fix the lines to Gaza daily are residents of Sderot. It has happened more than once that bombs fell next to their homes as they were fixing the lines to supply electricity to the bombers.

Now the U.N. and the Quartet, and the Arab League are all getting demands to stop Israeli "sanctions" against the Gazans....

You tell me what other country would be supplying electricity to people who are bombing their children on a daily basis, and risking their lives to do so.

The situation is indeed unprecedented in the history of the world. One country A under brutal, unprovoked and continual attack from a neighbouring country B whose government is committed to killing or expelling every citizen of A. Yet A is not allowed to defend itself, and also has to supply its enemy B with the means for their further continued attacks. And the whole world has sympathy only with country B.

Even if you try to think of analogous situations in history it is impossible to come up with anything as far fetched. The closest I could think of was 1940 Britain: No longer with any forces on mainland Europe. No active allies. All alone against the Nazis who occupy the whole of Western Europe including France next door from where they threaten to invade. Night after night German bombers blitz London. Now imagine that, when the RAF sent up its brave pilots to confront the Nazi planes, there was an outcry from the rest of the world about Britain using disproportionate force and about it 'creating a cycle of violence'. Even this analogy does little justice ot Israel's comparative plight. For a start, unlike Britain, Israel is completely surrounded by deadly enemies, so for the analogy to work you would have to imagine that Ireland, Scotland and Wales were in the hands of the Nazis. And you would also have to imagine that there was no British Channel separating Britain from France. Moreover, it would have had to be the case that Britain supplied the fuel for the Nazi warplanes and that the rest of the world condemned Britain when it threatened to withhold that fuel from the Nazis. And you would also have to imagine that the rest of the world (including countries like the USA, Canada, and Australia) were openly rooting for the Nazis even though they were not involved in the fighting.

But the worst shame about where the analogy breaks down is that Israel has no Churchill to lead them. Someone who, above all else knows that there can never be any compromise with the Nazis.

BBC now even attributes Hamas murders to Israel

Today Hamas claimed responsibility for the killing of a foreign volunteer in a western Negev kibbutz. The Jerusalem Post reports that 20-year-old Carlos Andres Muscara Chavez from Quito, Ecuador, was working in a potato field in Kibbutz Ein Hashlosha, when he was shot by a Palestinian sniper.

But if you read the BBC report about this murder of an innocent civilian, you will be led to believe that it was the Israelis who killed him. In the report here the headline says "Israeli Gaza City raid kills 16" and the first paragraph reports:

• "At least 16 Palestinians, including at least 13 militants, have died in an Israeli raid in the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip, reports say. Medical sources and witnesses said the deaths came after Israeli tanks pushed into eastern suburbs of Gaza City. A farm worker in southern Israel was also killed by sniper fire from Gaza. "

Since the report only refers to the "Israeli raid" (and of course says nothing about the barrage of rockets into Israel that preceded the raid and which injured a woman and 7-year-old child) the implication is that the sniper must have been Israeli. In common with BBC reporting on Israel, as analysed by Honest Reporting, today's story again uses explict headlines involving "Israelis kill Palestinians" but when Palestinians kill Israelis the prepetrators (and often even the victims) are never mentioned explicitly. The BBC today have managed to provide both examples of the bias identified by Honest Reporting in the same story.

Our Palestinian friends

I found this image (of a Palestinian 'infomer' being mutilated after a public execution by Islamic Jihad) on the Winds of Jihad website, and further references to it on Atlas Shrugs. Both sites refer to an Islamic website that boasts the picture and proudly proclaims

"This is a picture of a Palestinian mother stepping on the corpse of her son who betrayed the Muslims by helping the Israelis. If all mothers were like this, Our lands would be liberated in no time."

However, I do NOT believe the woman is the mother. After some digging it appears the woman is the mother of an Islamic Jihad member and she was invited to crush the head of the executed man. What is certain is that this took place with hundreds of people watching in Jenin (which is of course under the control of our friends the Palestinian Authority) in 2006. More information about it can be found in this video (the video lasts about 5 minutes and the relevant bit is near the end, but you should watch the whole video anyway). Please note that because the video shows graphic evidence of Muslim violence it is likely to be removed by YouTube at any time (the Islamists are well organised in complaining in numbers to YouTube to get any video they do not like removed and YouTube, who are happy to host the most vicious anti-semitic and pro-Jihadist videos, usually succumb to their demands).

Fun and games at terrorist's funeral

Interesting story from Gaza today (also reported here). Note that the terrorist whose funeral it was belonged to Abbas's Fatah movement. These are the people who Israel is negotiating peace with while they fire rockets into Israel. And I was especially intrigued by the joyful chap who accidentally blew up the bomb he had around his waist while he was singing songs on top of a car. I mean doesn't everybody wear a bomb around their waist at a funeral?

Just checked to see if the BBC had this story on their teletext service. What a surprise - not a whisper about it. Yet they are running a story about the Red Cross making an unprecedented complaint about how Israel is making life unbearable for the Palestinians.

Does this make you want to vote Tory?

An item on the LGF website about the Conservative Muslim Forum should be compulsory reading for anybody contemplating voting for Cameron's Tories in the next election. In a nutshell these 'enlightened' Muslims are advising the Tories to ditch any support for Israel and to support a nuclear Iran. While there are plenty of ferociously anti-Israel MPs in Labour's ranks there is no doubt that if, push comes to shove, Gordon Brown's instincts will always be to support Israel. Anybody who thinks the same is true of the slimy Cameron is deluding themselves. For one thing, he simply does not understand anything about the Middle East and Israel's situation. Moreover, his Foreign Secretary-in-waiting, William "Israel must be condemned for using disproportionate force against Hezbollah" Hague has nailed his colours firmly to the "appease fundamentalist Islam" mast. Setting up a Muslim forum, which peddles the usual fundamentalist Islamic message, to advise him is even more deeply worrying.

Also worth reading the report on Harry's Place about who is really behind the "Islam is Peace" campaign going on at the moment ad nausea. No suprise to me that it's the same old fundamentalists behind this. The first time I heard a spokesman talk about this campaign they came out with the same "if only the government did not support Israel there would be no problems blah blah". Yeah, just like Israel was the root cause of the massacre of 130 Muslims by other Mulsims in Pakistan yesterday. Where is the Muslim outrage about that?

Islamafascists walk through centre of London demanding Israel's destruction

A demonstration of about 400 Islamafascists - organised by the Iranian Government sponsored "Islamic Human Rights Commission" marched through central London today calling for death to Israel. Waving banners of Ayatolla Khomeini and Hezbollah flags, the Islamafascists were 'celebrating' Al Quds Day, which was introduced by Khomeini as an annual day where all Muslims demand the 'liberation of Jerusalem' and the destruction of Israel. The Islamafascists were joined by the inevitable group of Neturei Karta 'Jews' and a small handful of useful idiots from the far left (who would be sure to be among the first to be exterminated under an Islamic regime).

We joined a counter-demonstration at Eros (Piccadilly Circus) that consisted mainly of Iranian dissidents opposed to the Islamic regime. The march was supposed to come past Eros at 12.00 but was delayed. A couple of us decided to take a walk down Piccadilly to see what was going on. We eventually came to the start of the march just past Green Park station. What amazed me was that, on what should have been a lovely Sunday afternoon for London's tourists and shoppers alike to enjoy the centre of town, the police not only allowed this demonstration but actually closed the whole of Piccadilly and the streets around it for what turned out to be several hours. Anyway, when we got to the demonstrators we held up some Israeli flags; the police told us to put them away (although, to be fair, they did tell us that there was a counter-demonstration we could join). But it is a bit ironic that the Islamafascists are allowed to carry Hizbollah flags and placards inciting terrorism (all funded by a regime that is killing British soldiers in Iraq) but the police would not allow an Israeli flag to be held up for 'fear of inciting them'. I cannot begin to describe how disgusting were the scumbags on this march. Their contempt for Western values and hatred of Israel, was accompanied with a barrage of vicious anti-semitic abuse. Make no mistake this lot (despite the Neturai Karta idiots walking alongside them) were openly calling for death to Jews (not just Israel). They chanted "Kill, kill kill the Jews at us when they saw us with the Israeli flags.

We decided to return to the counter-demo at Eros. Although the Islamafascist demo was organised by an Iranian funded organisation, its sole message was anti-Israel, so it was a bit disappointing that the only other counter-demonstrators there were those who wanted to get across their anti-Iranian government message (and nothing else). If ever there was a cause for the entire Jewish community to be out in force it was this one. In many respects what happened today characterised everything that is wrong with the Western approach to Islamafascism:

1. The fact that, presumably in the 'interests of free speech', the authorities allowed this disgusting hate-fest to take place. We the taxpayers had to pay for its policing, and thousands of ordinary Londoners and tourists were massively inconvienced by the disruption.
2. That the authorities seem to think that the freedom to call for the death of millions of non-muslims is important; and that the offence that this causes in the streets of London is irrelevant. After all it's the Muslims' 'right' to incite hatred - but nobody has the right to even slightly upset Muslims.
3. The fact that these people were simply allowed to walk through our streets spewing their hatred totally unchallenged. The thousands of non-political passers-by presumably think it is normal for people to be demanding the destruction of Israel. It is just another part of the process of deligitimisation of Israel.
4. The fact that a march like this (focusing uniquely on the destruction of Israel) can take place with a total absence of any organised Jewish opposition. Nothing from the Zionist Federation; nothing from any of the Youth Groups or students; not even a mention in the Jewish Chronicle that it was happening.

Update: another report at Harry's Place and a couple of videos here.

Palestinians - how much lower can they stoop?

There are people who argue that the Palestinians are very evil. OK they did support Hitler, they did introduce terrorism into the modern world, and they were the first to blow up airplanes. They were the first to directly and specifically target schoolchildren for their terrorist attacks (Maalot 1973), and they came up with real novelties like massacring athletes at the olympics, hijacking boats and throwing elderly wheelchair-bound passengers into the sea. They did give the world suicide bombers and they were also the first to use suicide bombers to maximise civilian casualties. They were also the first to use suicide bombers against such diverse targets as buses, restaurants, hospitals, and snooker halls. They were the first to use both women and children as suicide bombers and they even introduced to the world the granny suicide bomber. Oh and of course, while they were not the first to brainwash all their children they were the first who explicitly decided to brainwash all their children that there was no higher aim in life than to become a suicide bomber to murder Jews.

While they were also the first to use animals (such as donkeys) as unknowing suicide bombers, they have today claimed another unique first. They have inserted a 10kg bomb inside a lamb in order to carry out a terrorist attack. Read about it here along with today's attack against a kindergarten in Sderot. You certainly won't read about it in the Guardian.

"We can’t interfere in any way with a mosque unless they are shooting at us"

Western (i.e. civilised) fighting forces like the US, Brits, and Israelis just don't seem to understand that you cannot fight the Islamafascists with one hand tied behind your back. All over the Muslim world MUSLIMS are bombing mosques and mosques are used as the nerve centre for weapons caches and terrorist activity. Yet western forces have rules of engagement that forbid them to even enter a mosque. In Michael Totten's excellent report of his embedding with a group of US soldiers in Baghdad searching for a senior Al Quaeda operative includes the following dialoge (when four terrorists are spotted on the roof of a mosque):

“They have a little bunker up there,” he continued. “You can’t see it from here, but it has sand bags and sniper netting around it.”

“What are you going to do?” I said.

“Nothing,” he said. “It’s a mosque.”

“They’re violating curfew,” I said, “and stalking us in the dark from a militarized mosque. And you aren’t going to do anything?”

“Our rules of engagement say we can’t interfere in any way with a mosque unless they are shooting at us,” he said.

We left our stalker with his “co-workers” and walked away.

And people wonder why the Americans aren't winning in Iraq!

Burka Brigade: incitement with anonymity

This protest in London yesterday was against the sentencing (for incitement to murder and race hate among other offences) of some Jihadists at a previous 'demonstration' outside the Danish embassy. There is clear incitement here also, but it seems the burka provides 'anonymity'. What is really significant about this is that none of the Danish embassy protesters were actually arrested at the demonstration itself. The police made a decision that it was in the public interest not to do so. Instead they were arrested some time later after the police identified the most serious offenders from photographic and video evidence of the protest. How do they intend to do the same for this mob? Why is it allowed?

A Tale of Two Sieges

Days after Hamas committed the despicable massacre of 32 elderly Jews celebrating the Passover feast on 27 March 2002 at the Park Hotel Netanya, Israeli forces sought out those responsible. When dozens of the most vicious Islamic terrorists (including 13 who had been directly involved in killing civilians) decided to hole themselves up in the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem a few days later the whole world was outraged ---- at Israel for having the audacity to attempt to arrest the terrorists in a holy site. The day-by-day account on the BBC website makes clear their total sympathy for the terrorists. As the report itself notes on 20 April "The Greek Orthodox Church calls for international intervention to end the siege and says it holds Israel responsible." and on 2 May it reports "About a dozen international peace activists dash into the church under the Israeli guns, delivering supplies. They tell harrowing stories of conditions inside."

In fact the siege ended with all Palestinians being freed and the 13 most wanted being allowed to go to Cyprus, where they received a hero's welcome. The most serious damage done to the Church was later found to be caused by a fire deliberately started by the terrorists.

But international condemnation of Israel was, as usual unanimous.

Now fast forward to today's siege of the Red Mosque in Islamabad Pakistan. Again dozens of Islamists were holed up. And a pretty nasty bunch they were too, although unlike the known killers in the case of the Palestinians in Bethlehem, the ones here appear to have been guilty only of mounting a political campaign to install Sharia law which at its most extreme involved some kidnappings (with those kidnapped being released fairly quickly). But compare both the Pakistani military response and the media response to it. No pussy footing around like the Israelis to ensure no-one was killed. A massive assault with tanks and multiple bombs resulting in many dozens dead despite many women and children being in the compound. And the media reaction? Total sympathy with the Pakistani military action such as on the very same BBC news website.

Anyone for a double standard?

When in doubt blame the Israelis

The Lebanese army continues to bombard the Palestinian 'refugee' camp at Nahr al Bared in Northern Lebanon. It did not take long for some of them to pin the blame on Israel even for this.

The report here is an interview with a woman looking after relatives who have fled the camp. It contains the following :

• She shows me the children's drawings from the past few days: a hotch-potch of damaged buildings and military hardware that already reveal signs of disturbance. " The children from Nahr al Bared are drawing from their experience of violence," she says. "But it's better for them to bring it out." Intriguingly, the pictures also feature Israeli rockets and military aircraft not part of the fighting at Nahr al Bared. "They are confused," explains Hoda. "They mix everything together because they see the news and they see what happens in Gaza."

Oh yes - I wonder why they get confused. I am sure it has nothing to do with the pathalogical anti-semitism and anti-Zionism which is force fed into every Palestinian from birth - even those who, like these, have never lived in the 'occupied territories' and who have never seen an Israeli in their lives.