Everywhere you go in the UK at the moment you can see those adverts for the DEC Gaza appeal.
Let's ignore for a moment the irony of a mass charity appeal that raises money for the very people who started a war and then were responsible for the civilians killed on their own side by deliberately using them as human shields. Let's ignore the fact that such an appeal provides every incentive to Hamas and other terrorist groups to start similar wars again, knowing that the useful idiots in the West will provide the necessary financial support for it. Let's also ignore the fact that at this very moment in the world there are millions of more needy and deserving recipients of charity in the Congo, Darfur, Zimbabwe, many other parts of Africa, South Africa and even Australia.
What you cannot ignore is the fact that the charity is unnecessary because the Palestinians, uniquely, have their own UN agency (UNWRA) that ensures that they (uniquely among all the peoples of the world) will, in perpetuity, always receive basic free food, housing and education (albeit mainly anti-semitic indoctrination) paid for by taxpayers in the West not their Arab brothers.
And this ultimate dependency culture is what guarantees that there can never be a 'solution' to the 'Palestinian problem'. Read this excellent analysis of the problem from a genuinely independent source.
And then you will realise that the DEC appeal must ranks as one of the most ludicrously unjustified charities in history - even on a par with that famous telethon in Saudi Arabia that raised millions for families of suicide bombers. But, of course, it was never intended primarily to be a genuine charity. This was always primarily a political message to ensure the public were reminded that this is what those evil Israelis did to innocent Palestinian children.
Thursday, February 12, 2009
Thursday, February 05, 2009
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
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
Tuesday, February 03, 2009
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.
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.
Thursday, January 29, 2009
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
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
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
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.
Saturday, January 24, 2009
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 terrific article by Denis Maceoin "Marching for Hamas" sums it all up perfectly.
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
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.
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
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.
Monday, January 12, 2009
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.
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
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
Sunday, January 11, 2009
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.
Wednesday, January 07, 2009
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.
Sunday, January 04, 2009
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").
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
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
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
Sunday, December 14, 2008
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
****************************************************
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
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
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?
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?
Sunday, July 27, 2008
"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.
Wednesday, July 02, 2008
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.
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.
Sunday, June 15, 2008
A visit to Sderot
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