In Context

We've FINALLY moved!

2009-09-11T14:40:00.003-04:00

In Context has at long last relocated, here.

It's about time.

Weekend reading

2009-09-04T19:01:00.000-04:00

Two items in the news lately, both of which have been magnets for a great deal of misinformation, are the subject of two different monographs, both published by Nadav Shragai through the auspices of the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs.

Last August, Shragai presented "Releasing Terrorists: New Victims Pay the Price." In the midst of the false rumors and ridiculous demands coming fast and furious with respect to the ever "imminent" release of Gilad Schalit, this piece is more relevant than ever.

More recently, Shragai wrote an in-depth analysis of "The U.S.-Israeli Dispute over Building in Jerusalem: The Sheikh Jarrah-Shimon HaTzadik Neighborhood." It's an especially important read in light of the continuing escalation of the building issue and the heat that's obscuring the issue from both sides.

Shabbat Shalom.

Promise Keepers 2.0

2009-08-30T00:24:00.002-04:00

They're baaaack!

A Drew University professor who has spent years studying evangelical Christianity says a once mighty men’s revival group is back and is intensifying its outreach to the Jewish community.
And while some of this outreach is in the name of interfaith amity, the group is also firming up its ties to messianic Jews — Jews by birth who profess a belief in both Judaism and Jesus as their messiah.
Messianic Judaism is considered anathema to almost all mainstream Jewish organizations.
J. Terry Todd, director of Drew’s Center on Religion, Culture & Conflict, recently watched a webcast of a two-day conference and prayer rally sponsored by Promise Keepers.

Yes, they're definitely "reaching out" ... to us.

According to an article Todd wrote for the website ReligionDispatches.org, the July 31-Aug. 1 rally, held at the stadium of the University of Colorado, was replete with Jewish symbolism. Leaders blew the shofar, welcomed 10,000 guests with the words “Shabbat Shalom,” apologized for Christian participation in the Holocaust, and even donned yellow stars as an act of solidarity with Jewish victims of the Nazis.
At the same time, Todd wrote, the rally featured a “parade of messianic Jewish speakers and entertainers,” including Jonathan Bernis, Joel Chernoff, Dan Juster, and musicians Paul Wilbur and Marty Goetz.

There's a lot more detail on that rally in Todd's full article, including this:

The Galatians 3:28 theme that played most consistently (and insistently) throughout was the need for reconciliation between gentiles and “believing Jews.” The Messianic Jewish movement focuses on the conversion of Jews to Christianity, yet it also encourages Jews to maintain their cultural and religious identities, including their observance of Mosaic laws. You could see some evidence of this impulse in the audience at Folsom Field: the Israeli folk dancers, the shofar blowers, the men (and even some women) wearing kippot and tallitot, arms upraised, singing the praises of Yeshua. “God loves diversity,” Rabbi Jonathan Bernis of Jewish Voice Ministries declared on Friday night. During the altar call, Bernis told Jews to remember that “if you are Jewish and you have converted, you are still Jewish.”
The afternoon’s “Did You Know?” PowerPoint slideshow proclaimed the Jewish people as “the fathers of the faith,” firmly embraced the Jewish roots of Christianity, and soundly rejected Christian supercessionism. God had not abandoned his covenant with Abraham, the voiceover declared, and the Jews are still God’s chosen people. The slideshow also offered an explicit apology for the church’s complicity in supporting and sustaining anti-Semitism. (In the webcast’s chat room, Stanley from West Lafayette, Indiana, typed, “Please forgive us Lord Jesus for not honoring and respecting our Jewish family.”) Then to great applause in the stadium, the narrator declared, “The Jewish people are coming to Christ in record numbers.”

Uh, no. Sorry. They're not.

If you can't quite recall what all of the fuss was about during PK's heyday, here's a pretty comprehensive (and conservative) critque from that time. For a more liberal perspective, there's always NOW's PK page.

My advice to PK2.0, FWIW, would be to leave the Jews alone. We're really not interested. Honest.

Crape through the window

2009-08-28T19:21:00.000-04:00

Our pink crape myrtle just started to bloom last week. It's really late this year. But once it got going, it went nuts. The best view of the blossoms right now is out the upstairs bedroom window. A few bunches of them are mushed up against the pane and aren't that attractive. But most of these still have room to breathe.

Nice. And obviously, they're not done yet.

Shabbat Shalom.

The right message

2009-08-27T15:01:00.001-04:00

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu visited the Wannsee House, the site of a key 1942 meeting during which the Nazis formalized plans for the extermination of the Jews. Netanyahu visited Wannsee Thursday between meetings with German Chancellor Angela Merkel and the German foreign minister.
Earlier, Netanyahu was presented with the architectural blueprints for the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp during a ceremony in Berlin.
"Armed barbarians need to be stopped in time for human lives to be saved and civilization secured," said Netanyahu - a reference to the Allies' failure to stop the Nazis but also an allusion to the current situation with Iran.

And Bibi signed the guestbook.

Am Yisrael Chai!

Update: where's the link? Sorry about that. And to make matters worse, the original story has now been revised beyond recognition and the photo of the guest book is gone ... preserved, it would appear, only here at IC. (Though there's an even better photo, including the Hebrew entry, here.)

Stupid boycott tricks

2009-08-23T20:25:00.001-04:00

Fans of Obamacare are now boycotting Whole Foods because of this op-ed by CEO John Mackey in The Wall Street Journal. For the most part, this is called cutting off your nose to spite your face, as Whole Foods provides a notably progressive employee benefits program and promotes exactly the kind of eco- and small farm-friendly agenda that the Obama administration supports.

Not to be outdone, from the ... other side ... along comes this story, supporting the boycott of Whole Foods because the chain "refuses to carry Israeli olive oil" and, instead, carries Canaan Fair Trade olive oil, which allegedly (no surprise) supports all sorts of virulently anti-Israel causes.

The problem is, Whole Foods has no such policy. For the most part and within limits, stores decide which products they're going to carry based on demographics and demand. My local Whole Foods, for example, carries Halutza olive oil, an Israeli company (yes, really!) that harvests its olives from groves in the Negev Desert (check out their website). It also carries Interrupcion Fair Trade olive oil (from Argentina). But there's no Canaan Fair Trade olive oil to be found on the shelves. Go figure.

Just to round out this idiocy, here's a plea to boycott Whole Foods because they sell Israeli couscous and thus support "massacres in Gaza" ("every box is a bullet in the brain"). You can't make this stuff up.

Case closed? I doubt it.

G-20

2009-08-22T22:26:00.001-04:00

As my original home town of Pittsburgh gears up for the G-20 summit, the residents are getting increasingly unhappy and the bad crazies are coming out.

A coalition of groups opposed to the G-20 met last night to plan what appears to be shaping up as a 21st-century battle for Fort Pitt -- saying the city has blocked plans to protest.
Some hinted at civil disobedience, others at civil litigation.
"I've always had it in the back of my mind about civil disobedience and being arrested," said Kathy Cunningham, a Sharpsburg woman who said she has long experience marching in the streets, but none to date waiting in a jail cell.
The dilemma over when, where and how to take to the streets, emerged, protest leaders said, after the city failed to approve a series of permits sought by a range of groups.
Code Pink and several other groups sought a permit for a tent city at Point State Park and say they were turned down because the police and Secret Service want to use it as a staging area during the Sept. 24-25 meetings.
[ ... ]
Some, such as Albert Petrarca, a Highland Park resident active with the Palestine Solidarity Committee, suggested a two-track struggle: litigate for the permits and, if it becomes necessary, plan for mass arrests.
"It seems to me the only thing they're going to listen to is the threat of non-violent civil disobedience," Mr. Petrarca said. "We should be filling these jails. We should be filling them willingly; we should be filling them joyfully."

The disruption this will cause, I'm afraid, is too high a price to pay for the perceived PR bonus. All of the people I know there are just wishing this would go away.

Not so mini link dump

2009-08-21T19:35:00.002-04:00

Lots of great stuff out there this week. Here's a sample.

Rick Richman at Contentions:

In some circles, Obama is a “sort of god,” but a conference call with rabbis to urge them to give sermons relating to contentious pending legislation, on the holiest days of the Jewish calendar, seems to me to stretch the bounds of religious and political propriety.

Yes, you read that right. Rick has the nauseating details.

Solomonia has a unique take on the travesty of "justice" perpetrated in Scotland yesterday.

He's freed a man on "compassionate grounds" that, far from deserving compassion, deserved to be tossed out of an airplane 270 times. For that matter, I seem to recall reading that his prison conditions were far from austere. It's leftist panty-waist state gone mad.

So Libya has its mass murdering "hero" back and all's right with the world. The BBC has the whole sordid timeline of al-Megrahi's trials, denials and appeals, from the bombing of Pan Am flight 103 in 1988 through his release yesterday. Our deepest sympathies (yet again) to the families of the victims (Jim Swire notwithstanding).

Sol also links to this excellent video essay by Bill Whittle over the Pajamas Media.

The Power & Danger of Iconography: The Resistance Steals Obama's Weapons

Don't miss. (Yes, I'm linking to Bill Whittle. What about it?)

Meryl Yourish digs beneath the putrid surface of Sweden's latest blood libel and demonstrates it total lack of novelty as well as the utter disingenuousness of the editor of the rag that published it.

But he is either deeply ignorant, deliberately trying to deflect the subject, or lying. The libel against the IDF—saying that they are killing Palestinians to steal their organs—strongly resemble the centuries-old blood libel that Jews murder Christians to use their blood in religious rituals. But while the blood libel does date back to the middle ages, it is not we who are using centuries-old images, nor are we “propagandizing” the issue. Those who hate Israel and Jews have been utilizing these images since the twelfth century.

And Mere Rhetoric points to yet another example of the State Department's double standard when it comes to Israel.

Just so everyone's clear: for the purposes of pressuring Israel to give away territory, there is a timeless distinction between Palestinian land and Israeli land. But when it comes to letting random Israel-hating US citizens wander between terrorist havens and Israeli cities - well, it's all just land, ya know?

Finally, speaking of Israel ... wealthy Arabs from Persian Gulf states are now buying up land in the Galilee. And it appears that the new land reform laws in Israel are going to make this easier? Bibi is pushing this land reform while Kadima and Meretz oppose it. Something's very wrong with this picture.

And that's a wrap.

Shabbat Shalom.

Not news dept.

2009-08-21T10:35:00.000-04:00

Remember the outrage circling the blogosphere a few weeks ago over the website of the U.S. Consulate in Jerusalem that appears (and always has appeared) to ignore Israelis and pander to "Palestinians?" Well, Israel National News reports that, in response to a letter from an angry Florida cardiologist, the Consul General has pretty much admitted that that's exactly what it does and so what?

The reply, received Monday, August 17, speaks for itself:
"Thank you for your feedback on the U.S. Consulate General Jerusalem's Website. Just to clarify, the Consulate General in Jerusalem is the principal representation to the Palestinian Authority. We also provide services to American citizens in Jerusalem, the West Bank, and Gaza.
"The U.S. embassy to Israel is in Tel Aviv and is focused on the bilateral relationship with Israel. Their website is
http://usembassy-israel.org.il/. The American Center in Jerusalem also provides information about the United States to the Israeli public. Their website is http://usembassy-israel.org.il/ac/ .
"Jerusalem is a final status issue. Israel and the Palestinians have agreed to resolve its status during negotiations. We will support their efforts to reach agreements on all final status issues."

Let's remember that the CG and its website are run by the State Department. And this reply, sadly, is a pretty accurate summary of the attitude of that organization, now and since Israel's inception, toward the Jewish State and its status in the Middle East ... which is to say that it's an unpleasant reality they would rather ignore and rebuff and occasionally poke an accusatory finger at and that they are utterly unapologetic about it.

We get that. We really do. Not news. Not even close.

Not a giant

2009-08-19T17:37:00.000-04:00

Kudos to Debbie Schlussel for squarely nailing this one. With so many "conservative" bloggers and pundits rushing to gush over the late, execrable Bob Novak, she's telling it like it is, in spades.

You won’t see me among the many conservatives crying over the passing of noted anti-Semite and open friend of HAMAS, Robert Novak. I couldn’t care less if he was a conservative. That makes his open anti-Semitism and wish for Israel’s death no less offensive, no less noxious, no less disgusting.

I couldn't agree more. From the comments I've seen on various threads, it appears that a lot of those mourning Novak's passing have passing little knowledge of his consistent positions on issues relating to Israel, Iraq, Afghanistan, global jihad, the "root causes" of 9-11, the "Jewish Lobby," our Saudi "allies" or illegal immigration, just to name a few. If you're among them, you might want to click through to Debbie's story as well as this follow-up. Or revisit this essay from 2006 by Jackie Mason.

A man who commanded not one iota of my respect during his lifetime does not become entitled to it simply because he's passed away. Good riddance, I say. RIH.

Imagine that

2009-08-14T18:43:00.003-04:00

Muslims, Arabs among J Street donors
The J Street political action committee has received tens of thousands of dollars in donations from dozens of Arab and Muslim Americans, as well as from several individuals connected to organizations doing Palestinian and Iranian issues advocacy, according to Federal Election Commission filings.
Additionally, at least two State Department officials connected to Middle East issues have donated to the PAC, which gives money to candidates for US Congress supported by J Street. The organization describes itself as a "pro-Israel, pro-peace" lobby pushing for more American involvement and diplomacy in resolving the Middle East conflict.

I'm shocked. Really. Who would have thought that a self-described "pro-Israel" organization would have backing from Arabs, Muslims and State Department officials?

But why not? Don't all Jewish and Zionist organizations attract some of that same support?

Not so much.

Arab and Muslim donors are extremely rare for other organizations that describe themselves as supporters of Israel as J Street does, Jewish leaders at organizations across the political spectrum told The Jerusalem Post. Because most of these other organizations are not PACs, however, US law does not require them to release their donor lists. J Street's non-PAC arm also does not release a complete list of contributors.

So why do they support J Street? Beats me. Somehow, though, they must be getting the idea that J Street is furthering their agenda.

The funds that come from these sources indeed constitute a small fraction of the year-and-a-half-old organization's political fundraising, which totaled around $844,000 in 2008 - a key election year - and $111,000 so far in 2009. They comprise several dozen of the PAC's 4,000-5,000 donors.
But some of the contributors play key roles in the organization. The finance committee's 50 members - with a $10,000 contribution threshold - include Lebanese-American businessman Richard Abdoo, a current board member of Amideast and a former board member of the Arab American Institute, and Genevieve Lynch, who is also a member of the National Iranian American Council board. The group has also received several contributions from Nancy Dutton, an attorney who once represented the Saudi Embassy in Washington.
Smaller donors include several leaders of Muslim student groups, Saudi- and Iranian-born Americans, and Palestinian- and Arab-American businessmen who also give to Arab-oriented PACs.

It's odd, by the way. J Street also styles itself as a peace-promoting "alternative to AIPAC." And they both do lobby Congress and other government officials. But, unlike J Street, AIPAC (the American Israel Public Affairs Committee) is not a PAC (Political Action Committee) and doesn't support or endorse policital candidates (no matter what its detractors claim). So it's not so much an "alternative" as it is an opponent. And its supporters know that.

Shabbat Shalom.

Not dissing surgeons

2009-08-12T09:48:00.000-04:00

OBAMA: So we are going to be taking steps as part of reform to deal with expanding primary care physicians and our nursing corps. On the doctors front, one of the things we could do is to reimburse doctors who are providing preventive care and not just surgeon who provides care after somebody is sick. Nothing against surgeons. I want surgeons. I don't want to be getting a bunch of letters from surgeons now. I'm not dissing surgeons here.
All I'm saying is: Let's take the example of something like diabetes, a disease that's skyrocketing, partly because of obesity, partly because it's not treated as effectively as it could be. Right now, if we paid a family -- if a family care physician works with his or her patient to help them lose weight, modify diet, monitors whether they are taking their medications in a timely fashion, they might get reimbursed a pittance.
But if that same diabetic ends up getting their foot amputated, that's $30,000, $40,000, $50,000, immediately, the surgeon is reimbursed. So why not make sure that we are also reimbursing the care that prevents the amputation? Right? That will save us money.

I heard the President say that at the town hall meeting in Portsmouth, NH, yesterday, and I'm still trying to wrap my mind around it. Does Obama think we should be reimbursing doctors $30,000 a pop for providing nutritional advice and monitoring medications? Is he trying to equate the level of time, skill and expertise necessary to provide those services with that necessary to successfully amputate a limb? Clearly, he fails to realize that the number of diabetics who require amputation are only a tiny fraction of those who require nutritional advice and medication monitoring (less than 0.4%) and that increasing reimbursement for the latter to even remotely approach appropriate reimbursement for the former would not save money but would vastly increase spending for medical care.

Oh, and, by the way, while I'm a huge advocate of preventive care from a wellness perspective (something that HMOs used to promote in the good old days), Obama's cost-savings-of-preventive-care meme has already been thoroughly debunked. (via Hot Air)

Not so much

2009-07-31T18:31:00.001-04:00

So our President has been reaching out, again, to the Arab world. And, again, he's finding the door slammed in his face. The latest is no surprise.

Saudi rebuffs US on improving ties with Israel
By MATTHEW LEE (AP) – 1 hour ago
WASHINGTON — Saudi Arabia on Friday bluntly rejected U.S. appeals for improved relations with Israel as a way to help restart Middle East peace talks, saying the Jewish state is not interested in a deal.
After talks with Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal said his country will not consider steps suggested by U.S. Mideast peace envoy George Mitchell until Israel accepts Arab demands to withdraw from all occupied Palestinian territories.

And there you have it. A textbook example of what happens every time an attempt is made to appease and conciliate those whose goal is nothing less than Israel's destruction. It's a gap that will never be closed, because every step taken in their direction, whether by America or Israel herself, results in a larger step backward by the target of the rapproachment. The harder we try, the deeper they entrench. But some people never learn.

There's a wealth of good analysis out there. Soccer Dad, for example, has a terrific post today on some of the subtler nuances of this dance. Who's paying attention?

I've been away on my usual July vacation. I'm back now but only sort of. Kind of hard to tear myself away from this.

Shabbat Shalom.

Tour stuff

2009-07-17T20:08:00.001-04:00

This so sucks.

VITTEL, France -- Lance Armstrong's teammate Levi Leipheimer withdrew from the Tour de France before Friday's 13th stage after breaking his wrist in a crash, his Astana team said.
Leipheimer fell off his bike about 1.86 miles from the finish line Thursday in a crash involving two-time Tour runner-up Cadel Evans.
The American was fourth overall, 39 seconds behind race leader Rinaldo Nocentini of Italy.

Levi can't get a break ... ok, bad choice of words. But he missed the race last year due to stupid bureaucratic BS (or something worse) and a lot of people were really looking forward to seeing him on the Champs-Élysées. Damn damn damn.

On a cheerier note, good decision.

TONNERRE, France -- Earpieces will be allowed Friday on the Tour de France after the International Cycling Union lifted a ban an all communications between sports directors and their riders for the 13th stage.
"To put an end to the controversy which is compromising the running of the Tour de France, the UCI management committee has decided not to repeat the experiment of a stage without radio communication on Friday 17th of July," the UCI said in a statement on Thursday.
Earpieces were banned on Tuesday in order to spice up the race, but 14 of the 20 teams protested, filing a petition to the sport's governing body and riding the 10th stage at a leisurely pace.

Heh. I used to think race radios were a cop-out. But it's become clear they perform both an important safety and strategic function and are now considered pretty much indispensible by the riders. Sounds like TPTB got the message.

In other Tour news ... oh! There were Senate confirmation hearings this week for Judge Sotomayor? Yes, indeed there were. Yes, I did watch. I thought her performance was abysmal. I thought she contradicted herself and meandered all over creation in her "answers," many of which weren't answers at all. I thought she was embarrassing and confusing. I think she'll continue to be embarrassing and confusing on the Supreme Court. Unfortunately.

There are at least dozens of qualified liberal judges out there who could run circles around her. The job she's seeking does, after all, require coherent thinking, communication and persuasion skills, none of which appear to be her strong suit. It's a shame and just a part of the legacy of poor choices and policies that Obama is piling up. But who knows? Maybe she'll grow into the job. I believe Clarence Thomas (whose appointment also caused me some concern) did just that. Of course, he'd only had two years' experience on the federal bench while she's had seventeen. But now I'm rambling and the sun is setting.

Shabbat Shalom.

Misdirection

2009-07-10T20:03:00.005-04:00

A question that has been bothering me for weeks is this: what's up with all of the misleading reports out of the Arab press about Gilad Schalit? It seems that every day there's another false rumor planted and duly published by the Western (including the Israeli) media, usually with a caveat attached but WTF?

Today's item:

'Israel, Hamas agree to discuss Schalit'
Israel and Hamas have agreed to renew negotiations for the release of captured IDF soldier Gilad Schalit, London-based Arab newspaper Al Hayat reported Friday morning.
G-8 leaders urge Hamas to release Schalit, give Iran till September on nukes
An unnamed Egyptian official told the paper that Cairo wants to understand the new Israeli government's position on a prisoner swap.
"So far, the Israeli government has not given any offer that we can work with," the source said. He said that much progress had been made with the previous government and that it would be a shame to start again from scratch.
"The agreement to renew talks is a positive step, but we are waiting to hear the Israeli position," he said.
The Jerusalem Post could not independently verify the Al Hayat report.

Of course they couldn't. Two weeks ago, it was this:

Report: Schalit release imminent
The London-based Asharq Alawsat reported Saturday significant progress in negotiations to release captive IDF soldier Gilad Schalit, held by Hamas in the Gaza Strip for over three years.
According to the report, Israel and Hamas reached a compromise according to which Israel would eventually release 1,100 Palestinian prisoners, of which 400 would be picked by Hamas.
Hamas ministers and parliamentarians would also be released, according to the reported agreement.
Israel would also remove the siege of the Gaza Strip, open the southern Rafah Crossing and return it to the level of operation that existed before the Hamas coup two years ago.
The paper reported that the plan received the blessing of the United States.
Israeli and Palestinian sources both doubted the veracity of Asharq Alawsat's report, and The Jerusalem Post could not verify its reliability.

Moshe Feiglin asks why Schalit isn't home yet. There's an unpleasant answer lurking between the lines in another recent report:

Hamas says has no knowledge of Shalit's life
GAZA, June 25 (Xinhua) -- The Islamic Hamas movement on Thursday said it cannot confirm or deny if the captive Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit is still alive.
"The crazy war on the Gaza Strip wiped out everything so we don't know if Shalit is still alive or if he has died," Osama al-Muzini, a Hamas official authorized to speak on this issue, told Xinhua, referring to a 22-day Israeli offensive against the Hamas-controlled territory in January.
Al-Muzini, however, said Israel has to go ahead with talks to exchange Shalit for a number of Arab prisoners "whether the soldier was dead or alive."
"The Zionist enemy has to pursue negotiations without any signal confirming or denying this argument," al-Muzini added.

Hamas has gotten a heck of a lot of mileage out of hiding the ball when it comes to Schalit. They would lose all that if they either released him or acknowledged that he's no longer alive and I doubt there's any price high enough to make up for that. It's extremely unlikely, sad to say, that there will be any reliable information on the true fate of this brave soldier any time soon.

Shabbat Shalom.

4th

2009-07-03T19:59:00.001-04:00

Wishing a big, bright Happy Birthday to the USofA.

233 years young and still going strong. Well, still going, anyway, and hopefully soon to be stronger again. We'll see what year 234 brings.

Shabbat Shalom.

The Czechs, of all people

2009-06-27T23:45:00.000-04:00

We've officially entered The Twilight Zone (a/k/a Chelm) here:

The Israeli government has not offered a clear picture of its demand that the Palestinians recognize Israel as the state of the Jewish people as a precondition for resuming stalled peace talks between the two sides, visiting Czech Republic Foreign Minister Jan Kohout said in an exclusive interview with The Jerusalem Post.
"First we have to understand what is meant by this [demand]," said Kohout, whose country currently holds the rotating EU presidency, but will pass it on to Sweden at the beginning of July. "So far, I can say that I don't have a clear picture on that."

Perhaps Minister Kohout would like to explain what, exactly, is meant by the acknowledgement of Czechoslavakia as a state of the Czech people. I must confess I don't have a clear picture on that. Thankfully, he clarifies his understanding of Israel as a Jewish state.

The minister did say that a demand the European Union deemed acceptable regarding the recognition of Israel's Jewish character in a future peace agreement, was UN Resolution 181, also called the 1947 UN Partition Plan, which calls for two states to be established within the Mandate of Palestine - one Jewish and one Arab - with equal rights for all peoples in both states.
"Resolution 181 calls for recognition of Israel as a Jewish state," Kohout said. "But at the same time it gives equal rights to all of its citizens, and we think that now is the time to use this approach. Now we have an opportunity to relaunch direct negotiations without preconditions and serious concerns must be dealt with during these negotiations."

In other words, Israel should be a Jewish state in name only, and "now is the time to use this approach," as opposed to the approach Israel has used for the past 61 years of its existence in which it has in fact been both a Jewish state and a state for all of its citizens; a state for the Jews, the only state for the Jews, even for those Jews who deride and denigrate her, even for those Jews who violently riot in the streets over the opening of a parking lot on Shabbat so that secular and non-Jewish visitors to Jerusalem don't block major intersections with the cars they have nowhere else to park.

Where is Rod Serling when we need him?

Why bother?

2009-06-27T23:04:00.002-04:00

When the local weather forecast says we have a 95% chance of precipitation, it's dry as a bone. And when they say there's a 0% chance, we get a torrential downpour.

I give up. Astrology is more accurate.

Hey, of course I realize that this "climate change" must have been the result of someone in my neighborhood exhaling too deeply. Watch those carbon emissions, clutz.

Freeze

2009-06-26T20:05:00.002-04:00

It's a pile-on. Obama's been on about it for weeks, Hillary too. Just about everyone is jumping on the bandwagon. And now now this.

Both the G-8 and the Middle East Quartet - the United States, Russia, European Union and United Nations - urged Israel to freeze all settlement activity Friday.
The call included freeze of 'natural growth' construction, with the quartet also urging the Israeli government to dismantle settlement outposts erected since March 2001.

But, yes, Israel and the U.S. did have an agreement on settlements. The Obama administration can deny it from here to next Purim, but it won't change the facts. That agreement was, needless to say, a deliberate incentive and a pivotal selling point for Ariel Sharon in pushing the "disengagement" from Gaza back in 2005. Some of us warned then that President Bush's successor might decline to feel bound by it and we were pretty much written off as nuts. As happens so often lately, I'd really rather have been nuts than right.

Meanwhile, severe thunderstorms threaten southeastern Pennsylvania.

Shabbat Shalom.

Tough enough?

2009-06-12T20:13:00.002-04:00

UN Security Council imposes tough new sanctions on NKorea

So says the AP.

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The U.N. Security Council has approved tough new sanctions against North Korea for its recent nuclear test.
The resolution imposes new sanctions on the reclusive communist nation's weapons exports and financial dealings, and allows inspections of suspect cargo in ports and on the high seas.
U.S. deputy ambassador Rosemary DiCarlo said Friday's vote was a strong and united international response to North Korea's unacceptable behavior.

Was it really? The Asia Times (a little closer to the action) begs to differ.

WASHINGTON - The United Nations Security Council's draft resolution on North Korea's second underground nuclear test amounts to a slap on the wrist that's likely to have minimal impact after an initial burst of rhetoric and headlines.
That's the impression given by an exercise in diplomatic sleight of hand that's gotten the reluctant Chinese and Russians to go along with a draft that condemns the nuclear test of May 25 "in the strongest terms" and demands the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) "not conduct any further nuclear test" or launch more ballistic missiles.
The resolution goes on with equally unenforceable demands for the DPRK to "suspend all activities" related to ballistic missiles, to "comply fully" with the previous resolutions demanding the same thing after its first nuclear test in October 2006, and to "abandon all nuclear weapons and existing nuclear programs in a complete, verifiable and irreversible manner".

So where's the beef?

The answer, in the hopeful view of the US diplomats responsible for fashioning the resolution, lies in calls lower down for "all states" to inspect suspicious cargo in their territory and even to stop vessels "on the high seas" if they're believed to be carrying nuclear materiel or components - or the missiles for firing them to distant targets.
For all such lingo, the resolution waffles on doing anything to stop North Korea from carrying on as a newly minted member of the global nuclear elite. China insisted on language that would make any real action voluntary - and was responsible for the qualifying the call for inspections by saying they are to go on "with the consent of the flag state".

In other words, more like tofu. This pretty much reflects the brief remarks I heard John Bolton make this morning in an interview on Fox News. In our new world order, aggression and intransigence are increasingly being met with timidity and appeasement.

Speaking of which, Iran had an election today. Here's a shock.

Dispute emerges over winner of Iran election

Ahmadinejad and Mousavi are both claiming victory. Ultimately, it doesn't much matter. New boss, old boss, neither's one's the real boss. But I agree with Meryl.

Iran will not change. The only difference, if Mousavi wins, is that he will be more politic in what he says to the world, while advancing the same goals as his predecessor. He has criticized Ahmadinejad’s Holocaust denial not because it’s wrong, but because it brings bad publicity for Iran. He has stated that he will not stop Iran’s nuclear program, either. He has criticized Ahmadinejad’s economic policies, but so what? That doesn’t affect Iran’s attitudes towards Israel (which will remain unchanged if Mousavi is elected).
I want Ahmadinejad to pull out this election. Because if he loses, the world will give Mousavi ovations and flowers, all the while ignoring that he will be doing exactly what his predecessor was doing—only with more outward finesse.

Similar sentiments by Daniel Pipes, here. And yet more here ("Mousavi bad for Israel") from the director of the Ezri Center for Iran and Persian Gulf Studies at the University of Haifa.

Finally, my sincere condolences to the family of Stephen Tyrone Johns. May his murderer burn in a thousand hells, preferably sooner rather than later. And here's a gratuitous link to the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum. A worthy institution for our support, now more than ever.

Shabbat Shalom.

Something I forgot

2009-06-06T23:58:00.002-04:00

Among many things that never made it into my previous comments on Obama's Cairo speech was this link, to the analysis of Ayaan Hirsi Ali

AYAAN HIRSI ALI: OBAMA LET DOWN MODERATE MUSLIMS

The Cairo speech

2009-06-05T20:05:00.004-04:00

The first general comments I read about the speech, from sources not prone to knee-jerk responses, were pretty positive. Then I started reading some excerpts and got a sinking feeling. So I sat down and watched the entire bloody thing over at HuffPo. (There's a transcript there, too, though I believe it's an advance one ... there was a bit of ad libbing in there if you read it while you watch.)

The sinking feeling rapidly turned to annoyance and frustration and then to anger. And that was only exaccerbated by the ridiculous claims of media around the globe as well as Democrats (of course) and even Republicans (well, this one anyway) that this was somehow a ground-breaking, wound-healing, earth-shatteringly important speech that will go down in history, blah, blah, blah.

By now it's been thoroughly picked over and dozens of important points have been made about the strong points, the weak points and the absurd points. SoccerDad puts it in context (heh) in remarkably succinct fashion and links to gobs of other analysis, all (or at least as much as I've been able to read) well worth a click. Charles Krauthammer, as usual, slices and dices with precision. Especially on this point:

Obama says he came to Cairo to tell the truth. But he uttered not a word of that. Instead, among all the bromides and lofty sentiments, he issued but one concrete declaration of new American policy: "The United States does not accept the legitimacy of continued Israeli settlements," thus reinforcing the myth that Palestinian misery and statelessness are the fault of Israel and the settlements.
Blaming Israel and picking a fight over "natural growth" may curry favor with the Muslim "street." But it will only induce the Arab states to do like Abbas: sit and wait for America to deliver Israel on a platter. Which makes the Obama strategy not just dishonorable but self-defeating.

Needless to say, I agree. More incisive comment on the Israel angle here (again, thanks to Soccer Dad).

I would make the following abbreviated points of my own. I think these are bit off the beaten path. Let's start at the beginning.

I am honored to be in the timeless city of Cairo, and to be hosted by two remarkable institutions. For over a thousand years, Al-Azhar has stood as a beacon of Islamic learning, and for over a century, Cairo University has been a source of Egypt's advancement.

Obama mentioneed Al-Azhar again a few minutes later with similar praise. Now Al-Azhar was Obama's host and no one expects a guest to insult his host (certainly not in the Middle East of all places). And yet, Al-Azhar does have a history of blatant antisemitism, and it's hardly a secret.

Much has been made of the fact that an African-American with the name Barack Hussein Obama could be elected President. But my personal story is not so unique. The dream of opportunity for all people has not come true for everyone in America, but its promise exists for all who come to our shores - that includes nearly seven million American Muslims in our country today who enjoy incomes and education that are higher than average.

Suddenly his story is not so unique. That's new. Throughout his campaign, throughout his pre-inaugural rhetoric and in the view of countless breathless essays, editorials and op-eds, it was incredibly unique. As for those "nearly seven million American Muslims," Daniel Pipes addressed that yesterday. What's the reason for this constant exaggeration of the numbers? A classic effort to pump up the perception of Muslim political power and, above all, to give the impression that it now dwarfs that of the nefarious and all-powerful "Zionist Lobby" (yes, it's a contradiction, but what can you do). But why has our President bought in?

Too many tears have flowed. Too much blood has been shed. All of us have a responsibility to work for the day when the mothers of Israelis and Palestinians can see their children grow up without fear; when the Holy Land of three great faiths is the place of peace that God intended it to be; when Jerusalem is a secure and lasting home for Jews and Christians and Muslims, and a place for all of the children of Abraham to mingle peacefully together as in the story of Isra, when Moses, Jesus, and Mohammed (peace be upon them) joined in prayer.

Last time I looked, Israel was not the "Holy Land" of Islam. Islam has quite a number of holy sites there and, lately, has developed a particular attachment for Jerusalem (strangely lacking during periods of history in which it actually controlled Jerusalem), but the term "Holy Land" is Christian and for Jews, of course, Eretz Yisrael is the alpha and omega of holy ground. Islam's "Holy Land" is currently under the administration of the Saudi family. But let's be charitable and call this poetic license. I wonder if it has escaped Obama's notice that under Israeli rule Jersualem was already (for the first time in a very long time) a home for Jews and Christians and Muslims and a place where all the children of Abraham (and Christians, too) mingled peacefully together and, while they prayed separately, prayed in peace. Then along came this intifada thing and buses and pizza parlors and city squares blowing up. It's odd.

There's more. But I need to wrap this up before it becomes tedious (and I'm out of time anyway). My response to Obama's comments regarding Jewish settlements in Judea and Samaria, both yesterday and over the past few weeks, requires a separate post. To be continued...

Shabbat Shalom.

Moadim L'Simcha

2009-05-28T20:02:00.002-04:00

A guy who calls himself LudwigVanQuixote over at Little Green Footballs put this comment up today. If he had a blog, I'd link it. But he doesn't (as far as I know). So here's some food for thought and for conversation, an extrememely important point that doesn't get made often enough.

For those who claim that Israel does not want peace, they really need to consider the Temple mount.
In Judaism the is only one Temple. The one in Jerusalem, the one where we believe Abraham took Isaac, the one that was the center of our faith, the place where our tradition teaches the very presence of G-d manifested itself in the Holy of Holies.
There is no more sacred place to us in the world.
Yet we leave two Mosques squat on top of it.
If the Muslims had ever taken the Vatican and turned it into a Mosque, how long would the Catholics let it remain so if they got it back? How long would Haiga Sophia stay a mosque if the Greeks ever got it back?
How long would the Muslims let there be a Church in Mecca?
Yet,
We leave those structures squat on our holiest site - even when we know it was built specifically to announce Islam's supremacy over us and all other faiths. I will be clear. I have nothing against mosques, but that one is a painful abomination to my nation.
Yet,
We would rather have peace.
Anyone who thinks that Israel and the Jews have not sacrificed for peace is a fool. We have given our dearest blood.

Indeed.

Chag Shavuot Sameach and

Shabbat Shalom.

Eternal and undivided

2009-05-21T13:25:00.000-04:00

So the palestinian arabs "demand" a militarized state on every inch of the land Israel "occupied" in 1967, with Jerusalem (including the Old City) as its capital? Too damn bad.

Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu speaks for me, and for most Jews I know, and for most Israeli Jews, without question:

United Jerusalem is Israel's capital. Jerusalem was always ours and will always be ours. It will never again be partitioned and divided.

Emet (truth).

And I may have my differences with Israeli President Shimon Peres, but today, on Yom Yerushalayim, he was hitting on all cylinders.

The size of Jerusalem is measured not by its geography but by its history," said the president. "Geographically, Jerusalem has no distinction; no river runs through it, there is no beach nearby and the mountains surrounding are not extraordinarily high. But there is no city in the world with a historical wealth to match Jerusalem, both political history and spiritual history.

Yes.

Jerusalem was, and remains Israel's capital. Israel never had a different capital and Jerusalem has never been the capital of another people. Fierce battles took place here, more than anywhere in the world. The city charmed rulers who wanted control of it, it drew in peoples who wanted to force the city to serve their purposes. Legions sieged its walls, and the Jewish people had to defend its spirit as well as its alleyways time after time. At times Jerusalem almost met its undoing but it remained the inextinguishable hope of the Jewish people, which pledged 'never to forget thee, O Jerusalem.

Absolutely.

When Jerusalem was in non-Jewish hands, Jews were not allowed to pray at the holy places, while under Jewish rule, it is open to all faiths and all forms of prayer.

Yet another point that bears repeating and that the rest of the world was only too willing to ignore and is only too happy to forget. Not again. Never again.

The blood spilled in Jerusalem was the blood of our soldiers, but also the blood of the Jewish people, flowing through the veins of our existence.

42 years ago today, Jerusalem was reunited under the sovereignty of the State of Israel. Jerusalem is the beating heart of the Jewish people. For millenia, we have cared for her, yearned for her, prayed for her, adored her and adorned her. You don't rip the heart out of a living body. Not while it has an ounce of breath. Not while any of us do.

Block break

2009-05-15T19:52:00.003-04:00

It's one of those things. Just as soon as I break through this block ... I do hope to be back. In the meantime ... here's a beautiful blooming bush at Qumran.

Shabbat Shalom.

Headache

2009-05-01T18:30:00.000-04:00

I do not get migraines and I rarely even get headaches. But there's this one muscle in my back that sometimes goes into a knot and then I can't do much of anything until someone works it out or it goes away on its own. Today I've had one that refuses to respond to rubbing, pushing, prodding, kneading or any other sort of attention. It just keeps getting worse. And as a result I'm just a big puddle of uselessness. Sorry.

Meanwhile, Israel had a birthday Wednesday. It's not like me to miss commenting on that joyful occasion but stuff has been going on and this knot is likely in part a response to that. Stress. I need to make some changes, I think.

Happy belated Yom Ha'atzma'ut and Shabbat Shalom.

Israel remembers

2009-04-28T10:24:00.004-04:00

Yom HaZikaron 5769:

After the official ceremony in memory of Israel's fallen soldiers, a ceremony memorializing victims of terror attacks was held in Jerusalem on Tuesday.
Rabbi Shimon Rosenberg, the father of Rivka Holtzberg, who was slain along with her husband Rabbi Gavriel Holtzberg in the horrific terror attack in Mumbai in November 2008, spoke at the ceremony at Mount Herzl.
[ ... ]
Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu also spoke at the ceremony.
"Dear bereaved families," he said. "As a member of a bereaved family, I recognize and know your pain, the pain that accompanies the family members every day, and is not focused on a particular day or event. Today, Remembrance Day for the fallen of Israel's wars and those who fell in terrorist attacks, the entire State of Israel, bows its head with you and to you, salutes the fallen and embraces you."
The prime minister said that the entire country stands with the victims' families and remembers and recalls the relatives who are no longer among the living.

And tonight, the celebration of Yom HaAtzmaut, Israel's Independence Day, will begin.

Sticky opinions

2009-04-24T19:35:00.001-04:00

Some stuff that's been on my mind ...

This was a very bad day for America. I'm becoming more and more convinced that so was this. I hope we survive it. I know that sounds a little hyperbolic. And still...

This guy is NOT a hero. He's an instigator. And he's clearly confused about what, exactly, are his Fourth Amendment rights. Then again, so are the Border Patrol guys who beat him up, it would appear. The dog was totally unnecessary.

This one has me in a bit of a pickle. On the one hand, David Duke surely deserves whatever is coming to him. On the other hand, the hate speech laws in Europe give me the willies. They could just as easily be turned on their heads. There are those who are already doing their damnest to see that happen. For now, I guess I'll just indulge in a bit of hypocrisy and work on sorting all this out later.

This and this make me literally ill. So it's time I officially weighed in. Yes, I've read beyond the headlines. I've been following this sad story for well over a year now. I do hope and pray that both Pamela Geller and Robert Spencer come to their senses, before it's too late. I'm not holding my breath.

Well, that's about enough out of me for now.

Shabbat Shalom.

Yom HaShoah 5769

2009-04-21T22:39:00.004-04:00

A day late ...

Never again.

Their Last Steps / Leurs derniers pas -- David Olère (1902-1985)

Please visit this website.

Holiday-itis

2009-04-14T19:00:00.002-04:00

It's not like there's not what to post... (huh?) I just seem to have been pre-occupied with other stuff last week, and this week. Taxes are all done now but another holiday approaches.

I'll be back after.

Chag Pesach Sameach.

Friend or fig leaf?

2009-04-03T18:48:00.002-04:00

The known civilized world has its knickers completely in a twist over the impending departure of Salaam Fayad as the prime minister of the Palestinian Authority. It's quite pathetic, really.

As the Jerusalem Post headline today laments, "Trusted PM's resignation could affect US aid to PA." Trusted by whom?

Well, by Rep. Gary Ackerman (D-NY), apparently.

"It certainly makes it much more difficult," said US Rep. Gary Ackerman (D-New York), who chairs the House foreign affairs subcommittee on the Middle East, of efforts to allocate funds to a PA absent Fayad. "He's good, and he instills much confidence in the part of those [in Congress] who will have something to say about that money."

Rep. Rep. Nita Lowey (D-NY), too.

"I'm hoping that he will be the prime minister because he's been a very important leader and earned the respect of Congress," she told the Post. "His leadership has been critical."

President Bush and Condi Rice were also fans. The European leaders adore him. The Wall Street Journal calls him "a Western favorite." He has gained a reputation as the last and only honest palestinian politician, seemingly due primarily for his ongoing insistance upon transparency and integrity in the management of PA funds and particularly those that have been donated by generous foreign governments.

But the fact is that Fayyad has clearly been fighting an uphill battle and has gained no traction in his attempts to reform financial business-as-usual in the palestinian fisc.

Hamas despises him, which is, of course, a point in his favor. Nevertheless, his "moderate" credentials don't stand up all that well to scrutiny.

Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad has said Palestinians have a legitimate right to resist Israeli occupation, even if the phrase does not appear in his new government program.
"We are certainly an occupied people and resistance is a legitimate right for the Palestinian people as an occupied people," Fayyad told reporters in Cairo, where he is leading the Palestinian delegation to an Arab League meeting on Monday.
Palestinian officials confirmed on Friday that the platform of the new government omits the phrases "armed struggle" and "resistance" against Israeli occupation.

But he implied that "resistance" did not mean "armed struggle." Necessarily.

And a few months ago, while lauding the importance of Jerusalem to the world's major religions at a "UN organized interfaith peace conference," he ... left one out.

"Jerusalem is home to the third most holy place to Islam, the place where Muhammad rose to the heavens, and the place where Jesus, the Christian, was resurrected," the Palestinian leader proclaimed.

So are we in the West, already cash strapped and struggling to prop up our economies with gimmicks and slight of hand, so incredibly anxious to continue doling out money to the Arabs in Gaza and Ramallah that the departure of Fayyad is causing such wailing, moaning and gnashing of teeth? Again, from the Wall Street Journal.

"The feeling is that Fayyad is a guarantee for our support and our money," said a Western diplomat in Jerusalem. "Fayyad has overwhelming support from Moscow to Washington to Rome and without him it will be a lot harder to persuade our domestic parliaments to give money to the Palestinians."

Is Fayyad really a guarantor that our support and our money will be spent wisely? Or is he just a fig leaf that allows us to claim it's protected while we keep shovelling it out. And if his presence is the magic balm without which we have no confidence in the integrity of the system that oversees the use and distribution of our largesse, isn't is just possible that we shouldn't be sending it there in the first place?

Shabbat Shalom.

Both sides now

2009-03-27T19:02:00.001-04:00

It's no surprise. Benjamin Netanyahu is literally caught between the proverbial rock and hard place.

On the one hand, we have the morons at the EU, who are clinging desperately to the world's worst idea (or at least one of them)...

The European Union once again sent strong warning messages to Prime Minister-designate Binyamin Netanyahu on Friday, cautioning him that EU ties with Israel could take a turn for the worse if he rejects a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

On the other hand, we have the staunch right wingers in Israel, whom Bibi never pretended (much) to be courting (what choice did they have?), throwing their own hissy fit over his partnership with labor.

Ah, well. Israeli politics. The more things change, the more that stays the same. Unpredictable and motivated by many of the baser human instincts. Those who pretend to be shocked (shocked! I say) at this are fooling no one.

As always, stay tuned. Oh, and a parting message for the EU: please to STFU.

Shabbat Shalom.

Dear Noam and Aviva (Shalit)

2009-03-20T18:53:00.000-04:00

Parents who lost their children in terrorist attacks explain in an open letter why they oppose a deal "at any cost." Eloquent and heartbreaking.

... We sat across from you on the sidewalk in order to present the people of Israel with a different stance, an unpopular one perhaps, an unpleasant one perhaps, but the right one in our view. Gilad needs to be released in a way that secures our future, that would ensure the cessation of abductions, and that would prevent terror. We must do it in a way that chooses the present and the future, for the sake of all citizens of the country, over Gilad's wellbeing.
Quietly, within us, we asked for your forgiveness a thousand times. We debated every day whether we are convinced that what we are doing is right. We tried to find excuses for why we should give up and go back home.
As you asked us many times, where were you for three years? We were at the same place where many of the country's citizens are found today. We were scared to hurt you. Yet every day, when we returned home, we saw our children who are still alive, the ones we promised to protect over the graves of our dead children, and we decided that we will do everything in our power to stop the terrorists. ...

As indeed we all must.

Shabbat Shalom.

Meat

2009-03-18T20:45:00.000-04:00

This past weekend, we were celebrating ... meat. It all started here, as a protest against PETA's "Holocaust on Your Plate" campaign and, well, it's become a tasty tradition.

Sharing is part of the fun. So here are a few samples of what was for dinner here at our house on Saturday and Sunday night.

That's a hunk of raw buffalo tenderloin, just waiting to be thrown on the grill. And here's a chunk of said tenderloin post-grill, about to be enjoyed ... by me.

Eland is a kind of African antelope (sort of). They're quite beautiful, very plentiful and extremely delicious. This loin chop didn't disappoint.

And that's it for this year's EATAPETA, where we eat well and make fun of stupid, offensive and over-the-top "animal rights" organizations all at the same time. Cheers!

Consistency

2009-03-13T18:00:00.003-04:00

Further to the Chas Freeman withdrawal, SoccerDad meticulously sets forth the case for What Was really behind it (as well as What Wasn't). There's too much good stuff in there to effectively excerpt and it hangs together too well as a whole so you really should just go and read it all. But here's the core of his analysis:

One can only conclude that it was Freeman himself who feared the revelations of the IG and stepped aside before they became an issue. His accusation that the Israel Lobby scuttled his appointment was calculated to obfuscate the real issue. Still there was a credulous media ready to accept it.

Yeah. And they'll always have help. (See also...)

In other news, Charles Krauthammer's excellent op-ed this week exposes yet more of the moral bankruptcy and overweening arrogance of the Obama administration. It just keeps coming.

While I favor moving that moral line to additionally permit the use of spare fertility clinic embryos, President Obama replaced it with no line at all. He pointedly left open the creation of cloned -- and noncloned sperm-and-egg-derived -- human embryos solely for the purpose of dismemberment and use for parts.

Those of us who favor federal funding for embryonic stem cell research with appropriate safeguards and restrictions in place have now been thrown under the bus along with those who disfavor funding of such research. To the tiny crowd of those still standing, I hope you enjoy your brave new world.

And George Will makes a similarly salient point in an entirely different area: the economy.

The president's confidence in his capacities is undermining confidence in his judgment. His way of correcting what he called the Bush administration's "misplaced priorities" has been to have no priorities. Mature political leaders know that to govern is to choose -- to choose what to do and thereby to choose what cannot be done. The administration insists that it really does have a single priority: Everything depends on fixing the economy. But it also says that everything depends on everything: Economic revival requires enactment of the entire liberal wish list of recent decades.

It appears we can at least tentatively award Obama a few points for consistency.

Nevertheless, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 9% this week. Yes, it may be a bear market rally but I'll take it.

Finally, Daylight Savings Time began last Sunday. I love DST. I'm not a morning person so it really is a gift of an extra hour of sunshine and I already feel like I'm emerging from my winter doldrums. I do think they're pushing the envelope starting it this early in March, but I especially appreciate it on Friday afternoons, which never seem long enough in the winter. See? Today, I'm early!

Shabbat Shalom.

Withdrawal

2009-03-11T22:48:00.002-04:00

On a day when the most virulent of Israel bashers are trying their best to pin the withdrawal of Chas Freeman on the efforts of "Steven Rosen, a former director of AIPAC awaiting trial on espionage charges [sic], who has a long history of attacking and undermining anybody he deems hostile to Israel," it's more than surprising to find Daniel Pipes and the Middle East Forum working to help them out.

I'm not going to publish the text of the email Pipes sent out to his readers yesterday. You can find it here, on one of the most hysterically anti-Israel sites on the blogosphere, which was more than delighted to have "confirmation" of "The Lobby" conspiracy.

Jeffrey Goldberg (admittedly neither Rosen's nor AIPAC's biggest fan) went out of his way to dismiss this charge today.

It is widely believed on the blogosphere that the campaign against Freeman was coordinated by AIPAC or by Steve Rosen, the former AIPAC official no charged with espionage. I've been away, so maybe I've missed a couple of Elders of Zion meetings, but no one coordinated this "campaign" with me. In fact, I haven't spoken to Steve Rosen since he screamed at me for writing this profile of him in 2005.

(Ah. You'll have to follow the link to get the link to that profile. I believe in feeding my sources.)

Fact is, the Freeman appointment was derailed by the hard work of a number of people and in the end was driven more by Freeman's glaring conflicts of interest, foreign entanglements and anti-American statements than by the anti-Israel bias that Rosen first exposed. So why does Pipes reiterate the rationalizations of Freeman's defenders by characterizing the derailment as Rosen's "achievement?"

Needless to say, it was quickly picked up by Freeman's supporters. Glenn Greenwald gloats:

...And Antony Loewenstein notes that neocon fanatic Daniel Pipes is sending out mass emails crediting indicted AIPAC official/espionage suspect Steven Rosen with being the catalyst of the anti-Freeman campaign.

(Follow those links if you must. It's the first and last (I hope) time you'll ever find a link to either of those twits here. But as compensation I must refer you to this classic post which, if you haven't read it, you haven't truly lived.)

Pipes is hardly a "fanatic." But I can't imagine what he was thinking here. And the Zionist Organization of America, for some reason, is exercising a similar lack of common sense and discretion in sending around a memorandum claiming its own title in the Freeman KO.

The fact is, it wasn't the efforts of Rosen or the ZOA or the "Israel Lobby" that defeated Freeman's appointment. If anything, those efforts made it a bit harder by generating resistance to the appearance of "caving in to pressure." What ultimately mattered was that enough members of congress, including several Democrats, started to realize that this guy had way too many negatives and that the appointment was making them look bad.

Yes, it appears that "the Lobby" would love to take credit for this one. They can't. In the end, Freeman defeated himself.

One more thing

2009-03-06T17:46:00.002-05:00

Last week, I posted an update to the ongoing saga of the campaign against Bangladeshi pro-Israel Muslim journalist Salah Uddin Shoaib Choudhury. He has since then published this press release at The Blitz. It's a detailed account of the latest physical attack on him and the reluctance of the Bangladeshi authorities to take any action against his attackers. Please do read it all.

I'd like to take this opportunity to point out that Rep. Mark Steven Kirk (R-Ill.) has been among the leading voices advocating for Choudhury's freedom and release from the scurrilous charges brought against him by his government. You can read more about Rep. Kirk's efforts here.

This week and last, Rep. Kirk has been instrumental in launching this offensive to challenge the appointment of Chas Freeman to the chair of the National Intelligence Council. Kirk's appeals to the Inspector General are designed to shine light on Freeman's numberous conflicts of interest and failures of disclosure, which are already raising uncomfortable questions in Congress among Republicans and Democrats alike. This could get interesting.

Sincere thanks to Rep. Mark Kirk for his hard work and support on so many fronts.

Shabbat Shalom.

Good stuff

2009-03-06T17:20:00.001-05:00

This is a great story about real hope and change.

Less than a day after receiving the rank of officer and before heading back to the paratroopers he will command, Lioz Shaashua headed to Havat Hashomer military base to direct a phys-ed class. The visit had great significance, not just for Shaashua but for all involved in a project launched 30 years ago by former IDF Chief of Staff Rafael (Raful) Eitan.
The project, dubbed 'Raful Youth', was intended to assist and support soldiers from disadvantaged socio-economic backgrounds and to reinforce their integration within the IDF.
The army was reluctant to enlist Shaashua, 22 from Bat-Yam, who dropped out of high school after completing the tenth grade and became involved in criminal activity. But he claims the army changed his life as he became the first 'Raful youth' to complete the officers' training course on Thursday.
"It's an amazing feeling of satisfaction and personal victory, but it's also more than that," Shaashua told Ynet. "My message is clear – whoever wants to reach the top just needs to know how to get the right tools, and no one will be able to stop him."

And there's both good and bad news out of Italy. First, the good news:

ROME (AP) — Italy said Thursday it is pulling out of a U.N. conference on racism — the latest blow to a meeting seen by many Western governments as marred by Muslim attempts to attack Israel and shield Islam from criticism.
Foreign Minister Franco Frattini also decided to postpone a planned trip to Iran in protest over remarks against Israel and the U.S. administration by Tehran's leadership, the ministry said in a statement.
Speaking on the sidelines of a NATO summit in Brussels, Frattini said Italy has withdrawn its delegation from the preparatory negotiations ahead of the so-called Durban II conference due to "aggressive and anti-Semitic statements" in the draft of the event's final document.

And then, the not-so-good:

VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - The Vatican said Friday it would attend a U.N. conference on racism next month but hoped for a change in the wording of its final declaration, which some countries view as hostile to Israel.
"People go to conferences to discuss and debate," said the Vatican's chief spokesman, Father Federico Lombardi. "That doesn't mean we agree with the draft text of the final declaration as it is now."
Both Italy and the United States have said they will not attend unless the wording of a document they consider hostile to Israel is altered before the gathering starts.
Israel is calling for a boycott of the April 20-24 event but so far only the Jewish state and Canada have said they will not participate.

This is incredibly disappointing, as well as naive. And it sounds a lot like what Obama was saying a few weeks ago before he was disabused of his optimism.

Yes, I know that Anne Bayefsky and Melanie Phillips are seeing this glass half empty. I did catch the weasel words and I reluctantly suspect that Durban II's agenda is a lot less offensive to the Obama administration than they like to pretend. My optimism stems from the fact that most of the world won't look too closely behind that curtain and on the surface at least, the departure of the U.S. and Italy are both good. It also stems from my desperate need to find something to be optimistic about.

Best news in a while

2009-02-27T17:26:00.001-05:00

Ok, that's not saying much. But it's something.

WASHINGTON – The Obama administration has decided not to participate in a UN conference against racism dubbed 'Durban 2', which is scheduled to take place in Switzerland in April. A senior US official said the White House would announce its intention soon.
US President Barack Obama's administration sent two representatives to Geneva last week, where negotiations on a document leading the event were taking place. The administration hoped it would succeed in getting anti-Israeli references dropped from the document, which characterizes Israel as a racist and occupying nation.
While the US presence was warmly welcomed, the senior official said Friday that in the negotiations a bad document became worse.
In choosing to withdraw participation from the conference the US is following the lead of Israel and Canada, and a number of European countries are currently awaiting an official statement from the White House in order to declare their refusal to participate as well.

If you've been following Anne Bayefsky's reporting on the pathetic attempts of the US representatives to steer this conference away from blatant antisemitism, this comes as cautiously welcome news. I say "cautiously" because it's not a done deal yet. And I'm skeptical of anything coming out of the White House these days. But just yesterday Bayefsky laid out in very clear terms that we were headed into the deep weeds and the point of no return was rapidly approaching. Maybe someone actually listened.

According to the AP, the decision to withdraw is contingent upon a failure of the conference "to drop all references to Israel and its criticism of religion" in its final document. That's a bet I'd take.

Shabbat Shalom.

Choudhury attacked -- again

2009-02-26T14:02:00.002-05:00

This report from Sunita Paul is an update of her previous reports on the trials and tribulations of Bangladeshi pro-Israel Muslim journalist Shoaib Choudhury. As such, it contains a great deal of valuable background for those not familiar with his story and his mission.

This time not Islamists or religious fanatics, but, this time, our Hero and my brother and a loving brother of millions of people around the world, Salah Uddin Shoaib Choudhury is attacked by the very party cadres of Bangladesh Awami League, a party now in power in Bangladesh, which pretends to be following secularist ideology.
According to a Press Release, distributed by U.S. Peace activist Dr. Richard L Benkin and a tireless defender of Shoaib Choudhury, office of anti Jihadist newspaper, Weekly Blitz in Bangladesh came under attack on Sunday morning (February 22, 2009) by armed members of the ruling party in presence of law enforcing agencies. The team of thugs was led by one Shamim from DGFI (Military Intelligence).

The details are quite harrowing and starkly reveal how badly Bangladesh's attempts to achieve democracy continue to slide backwards.

At 10 a.m. Sunday, local time, internationally-acclaimed journalist Salah Uddin Shoaib Choudhury, was attacked as he was working in the office of his newspaper, Weekly Blitz, by 'a gang of thugs' claiming to be from Bangladesh's ruling Awami League. Choudhury is now under medical treatment for eye, neck, and other injuries suffered in the attack. The renewed violence marks the first against him since he was abducted by Bangladesh´s dreaded Rapid Action Battalion a year ago.
A large group led by one Shamim introducing himself to be an official of DGFI stormed Blitz premises and attacked newspaper staff until they found Choudhury. At that point, he said, 'they dragged me (and two staffs) into the street' where they beat them in broad daylight. They looted Blitz office and stole Shoaib Choudhury´s laptop with all his important information. As of this writing, the attackers continue to occupy the Blitz office and there is no sign of any action from the government in Dhaka.
Police were impassive and seemed intimidated when the attackers emphasized their party membership and accused him of being an agent of the Israeli Mossad. They later threatened to attack his home should Choudhury go to the police again.
A case has been lodged with Paltan Model Police Station. Case No. 65. Under section 143, 448, 323, 342, 384, 380, 227 and 506 of Bangladesh Penal Code. Police although claim to have already started searching for the culprits who were involved in this broad day crime, according to Weekly Blitz; there is no action from the police in arresting the culprits. Meanwhile, a number of culprits are continuing to give threat calls to Weekly Blitz editor Salah Uddin Shoaib Choudhury and reminding him of not taking any legal action on Sunday's incident. They are saying, "You should know, Awami League is in power and we can do almost everything, whatever we want. You will be a dead man if you proceed."

Elements in the international community and governmental pressure from the U.S. have probably been the only thing standing between Shoaib Choudhury and a death sentence for the crime of attempting to attend a writers' peace conference in Tel Aviv in November, 2003. This resolve is constantly being tested, and the reported indifference (back in 2006) of Senator Obama to Shoaib's situation has surely been noted by and has no doubt encouraged those hoping to make him quietly disappear.

Let's disappoint them -- again.

Hello Bibi

2009-02-20T16:34:00.000-05:00

So it's official. Benjamin Netanyahu will be given first crack at forming the next Israeli government coalition under his leadership. It certainly seems that, should he succeed, Avigdor Lieberman's Israel Beyteinu party will be at his side. Israel's three religious parties joined in the recommendation to President Peres to give Bibi the nod. And that coalition would give him 65 seats, enough to form a small, solidly right-wing, majority. Except on religious issues, that is, where the solidarity would take a hit.

Will Kadima join the Labor, Meretz and Arab parties in the opposition? Or will Livni cave and agree to join the 65 already in Bibi's camp? Will the religious parties and Lieberman be able to reconcile their differences? Or will the religious parties bolt, which could open the door for a 70 seat Likud-Israel Beyteinu-Kadima coalition?

However it turns out, it appears that Israel has learned the lessons the U.S. has not. Maybe that's because of the rockets' red glare, which we seem to forget, ignore or dismiss. Good for Israel. Too bad for us.

Shabbat Shalom.

Oh. Ooops.

2009-02-18T14:20:00.001-05:00

Newsflash.

Shimon Peres has now decided that the "disengagement" from Gaza was a mistake.

President Shimon Peres said Wednesday that he had erred in supporting Israel's unilateral withdrawal from Gaza.
The revealing remarks come three years after Israel's evacuation of the volatile coastal strip which has since been seized by Hamas.
"Whatever will happen in the future, we shall not repeat the mistakes we made in leaving Gaza," Peres said in a question and answer session with a group of American Jewish leaders. "It should have been done otherwise. I was for leaving Gaza. I consider myself as one of the persons mistaken."

Three and a half years, almost to the day, but never mind.

I'm sure that the people who were physically torn from the homes they'd built with their own hands, the people who watched their gardens and their loved ones' graves being dug up, the people who lost their livelihood and still after three and a half years have no jobs and no permanent place to live, the people still living in Sderot and Kibbutz Yad Mordechai and those in Ashkelon and Beersheva who have endured the steady barrage of kassams ever since ... I'm just absolutely sure that all of those people are feeling much, much better to hear that their lives have been destroyed for a mistake.

On the other hand, at least Peres has finally admitted it. Olmert, the architect, not so much.

Beyond enough

2009-02-13T17:16:00.001-05:00

In the pre-election buzz, the Jerusalem Post had a very important editorial on Sunday called "Misguided Compassion." It said a lot of things that nobody wants to hear but that needed to be said.

This week's news cycle began with a flurry of rumors that a deal for the release of Gilad Schalit, a Hamas hostage for over 950 days, might shortly be wrapped up. Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni and Defense Minister Ehud Barak held an unusual Saturday night meeting to discuss Schalit and a Gaza cease-fire.
The troika met again prior to Sunday's cabinet meeting. Afterwards Barak updated President Shimon Peres on the Schalit-cease-fire negotiations between Defense Ministry official Amos Gilad and Egypt's Omar Suleiman. Peres will need to grant 1,000 pardons to the imprisoned terrorists who are reportedly to be exchanged for Schalit.

Of course, nothing has come of this. But the critical part of the piece is its attempt to bring some sober and reality-based reflection to the public perception of the horrible dilemma facing decision makers.

SCHALIT RUMORS touch an emotional nerve in the Israeli psyche every time they come to the fore. Hamas has hardheartedly refused to allow the Red Cross to visit him, so no one can credibly guarantee that he is alive and well.
Knowing what we know about Hamas's malice, the idea that our young soldier has been their hostage for so long fills Israelis with dread. We shudder to think about his physical and psychological well-being. So when Israelis deliberate what blood ransom to pay for our soldier's freedom, the quarrel takes place within Clal Yisrael - the House of Israel - where no one has a monopoly on compassion for Gilad and his parents, Aviva and Noam.

This is the first terrible prong and the one that no one wants to talk about. The "guarantees" that Gilad is alive, let alone well, are all empty and all rely upon trust of those who cannot and should not be trusted. How many Israeli soldiers have been returned from captivity well? How many have been returned alive?

But there's more.

WE LACK confirmed specifics, granted, but how is this deal different from the one Israel has been rejecting since June 25, 2006 - the day Palestinian gunmen violated our border, killed the forgotten Lt. Hanan Barak and St.-Sgt Pavel Slutsker, and took Schalit captive? Why do Israeli politicians speak in code about the "painful" price to be paid if the deal goes ahead? Don't they have the moral fiber to name names?
Do Olmert, Livni and Barak really intend to free Hamas's top West Bank terrorists? The masterminds of the Hebrew University and Sbarro bombings? The engineer of the Pessah massacre in Netanya? What will they say to those who risked their lives to capture these fiends in the first place?
Moreover, the troika purportedly plan to parlay Israel's capitulation to Hamas into another gesture to "help Abu Mazen," this time by freeing one of the main arsonists of the second intifada, Marwan Barghouti, and wiping away his culpability for the slayings of dozens of Israelis.

The second prong, the quantifiable price to be paid, truly boggles the mind. Especially in light of time that has passed since the same deal was supposedly offered. It goes without saying that the timing is suspect. No, "suspect" is way too kind a word.

Finally,

We all want Gilad Schalit back home. The question is one of price and consequence. Is it truly in keeping with Jewish compassion to purchase the freedom of one beloved captive at the almost certain cost of unleashing fresh acts of terrorism on our buses, in our cafes and malls, and on our roads - violence that would send many more innocents to their deaths?

And this is the most terrible of all, the future price, the price that can't be defined or quantified. How many more will die by these already bloody hands, how many more will be abducted and held, their families and friends and again the whole country in daily agony, because this tactic has been proven to work? Enough already.

But in the end, it really doesn't look as if there was ever really a deal in the offing. Once again, after succeeding in provoking Israeli leaders into public speculation about how far they will go, how low they will bend, and after all the demoralization that is always bound to accompany such speculation, Hamas appears to have changed the subject and removed Gilad Schalit from the equation. For now.

Again, enough. Far beyond enough.

Shabbat Shalom.

In honor of Tu B'Shvat

2009-02-09T17:05:00.004-05:00

Some wonderful photos of trees in Israel, from Arutz 7 and photographer Michelle Baruch.

A pomegranate tree budding near Jerusalem

Many more here.

Friday political rant

2009-02-06T17:00:00.001-05:00

I must get out of this habit. It's not a good way to end the week. The news, however, is not cooperating. So I'll make this short. (Ok, no, I guess I won't.)

President Obama stepped up pressure on Congress today to pass a massive economic stimulus bill, citing new unemployment numbers to charge that further delay is "inexcusable and irresponsible."
In remarks at an appearance to introduce a new Economic Recovery Advisory Board, Obama also stressed that his election in November gave him a mandate for change, and he endorsed the size, scope and priorities of the stimulus package -- now totaling more than $900 billion -- in the face of Republican opposition.

What's inexcusable and irresponsible is trying to ram through this unstimulating "stimulus" crap under cover of the economic crisis. As Charles Krauthammer so aptly put it in his op-ed today,

It's not just pages and pages of special-interest tax breaks, giveaways and protections, one of which would set off a ruinous Smoot-Hawley trade war. It's not just the waste, such as the $88.6 million for new construction for Milwaukee Public Schools, which, reports the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, have shrinking enrollment, 15 vacant schools and, quite logically, no plans for new construction.
It's the essential fraud of rushing through a bill in which the normal rules (committee hearings, finding revenue to pay for the programs) are suspended on the grounds that a national emergency requires an immediate job-creating stimulus -- and then throwing into it hundreds of billions that have nothing to do with stimulus, that Congress's own budget office says won't be spent until 2011 and beyond, and that are little more than the back-scratching, special-interest, lobby-driven parochialism that Obama came to Washington to abolish. He said.

And, by the way, where is the media outrage at the presdent playing the "politics of fear?" Sorry. That outrage is permanently Reserved For BUSH! At least for now.

As for this "mandate for change," it's quite unseemly how both Obama and Biden keep waving their election victory in everyone's face. "I won," is something you might expect to hear from a 12 year old who succeeded in being elected student council president after a particularly nasty campaign. Coming from a president of the United States, it's downright embarrassing. Obama won the election. And he won it by a healthy 7.2% margin. But 47% of the Americans who voted didn't opt for his brand of change. And like it our not, he's our president too. I didn't like this "mandate" talk when it came from President Bush and I like it even less now.

We still have an independent legislative branch in this country and each and every one of our representatives is entitled and expected to excercise his or her best judgment in the service of his or her constituents. They'd better keep it up, even in the face of presidential temper tantrums.

If Obama would start behaving a little more like a leader and a little less like a spoiled brat, he just might find a way to bring the folks in Washington together to figure out a solution that would actually help to steer us through this global and national crisis. So far, all I see is lots of bad ideas and even more money being thrown at them. It's not good. It's not hopeful. And it's not change that most of us can or should believe in.

Shabbat Shalom.

Interference

2009-02-04T18:35:00.001-05:00

On Sunday, Michael Totten posted this transcript of a talk he attended a few weeks ago given by Israeli Arab journalist Khaled Abu Toameh to a group of journalists in Israel. I didn't see the post until after I had returned home Monday afternoon ... from a talk given by Khaled Abu Toameh at the Jewish Federation in Philadelphia (co-sponsored by CAMERA, the JCRC and the Center for Israel and Overseas).

For the most part, the content was the same. But perhaps due to both the passage of time and the change of audience, there were differences. For the most part, I'm only going to summarize and comment on the things that weren't already covered in Totten's report, so I highly recommend reading it in its entirety.

A dominant theme of both talks was this: U.S. "engagement in the peace process," i.e., interference and meddling, has been detrimental both to the cause of peace and to the welfare of both Israelis and palestinians. How and why?

Well, first we brokered the Oslo accords and brought Arafat back, and with him a regime of terror, corruption and incitement. Then we gave him guns and money and media access. He used the guns for more terror, the money for more corruption, and the media for more incitement. So we gave him more guns and more money, which he used to suppress the very reformers we were supposed to be encouraging to emerge. Meanwhile, due to a combination of his suspect Western support and his misappropriation of the funds he'd been given, he lost the trust of his people. Into that breach, stepped Hamas with its charitable and medical and social services and its suicide bombing recruitment.

Then we pushed for democratic elections. What did Hamas do? It participated. It promised an end to the internal terror and corruption. It put a bunch of “good guys” on its list of candidates. Intellectuals, academics, etc. Fatah's list, meanwhile, was full of murderers and known corrupt politicians. And it was backed by the U.S. The kiss of death.

“Everyone knew Hamas was going to win except Condoleeza Rice,” says Khaled. The Bush administration was clueless. He wrote an op-ed for the Wall Street Journal on the eve of the elections, in which, he says, he predicted the overwhelming Hamas victory. (But judge for yourself.)

In spite of the stunning Hamas victory, we continued to support Fatah. Again, the kiss of death, first because there was an overwhelming distrust of our motives and our influence and second because we were seen as trying to undermine the express will of the people in the very elections we had sponsored. The U.S. has no business, says Khaled, supporting the losers against the winners. By doing so, we helped to facilitate the "coup" in which Hamas threw Fatah out of Gaza altogether.

Khaled says the U.S. needs to butt out. Israelis and Palestinians understand each other much better than the U.S. understands either one. They're cousins, after all.

In addition to his frustration with international journalists and their utter refusal to report the truth of what they see with their own eyes and hear with their own ears, Khaled also expresses frustration with the Israeli government and its seeming inability to snatch victory from the jaws of ... victory (e.g., leaving Lebanon in 2006 before the job was finished, ditto with Gaza last month). Israeli politicians run on one platform and when they get elected they do the opposite, sometimes even adopting the very ideas they ran against (as did Rabin with Oslo and Sharon with the "disengagement."). They make the same mistakes, over and over, never learning. “Fool me once," he says,"shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me." A lot Israelis, he continues, are willing to die for peace. He doesn't want to die for peace. He wants to live in peace.

An interesting highlight of Khaled's presentation here was his account of a two hour meeting he had with Barack Obama, sometime prior to the election. He didn't specify the date, but it was probably at least a year ago because he said he asked why he was scheulded for a one-on-one with this guy and was told he was going to be next president of the United States. He says Obama told him he had never before heard the things Khaled was telling him, about how American "engagement" was really received, about the corruption and misappropriation of funds by the PA, about the real reasons for the Hamas victory. He says Obama told him it sounded similar to things he had heard from his father about Kenya (when he was 10 years old?). And he advised Obama to listen to what people say in their own language. He says Obama took notes. I hope he remembers.

Khaled also talked about the persecution of Christians in the disputed territories. This is one of those well-documents facts that no one wants to write about. Before Oslo, he points out, Christians constituted 70% of the population of the city of Bethlehem. Today, they are less than 20% and the number continues to dwindle.

And he talked about Iran, saying that the threat it poses is not only the bomb and not only to Israel. The threat is to all moderate Arabs and Muslims, and they should be the ones leading a coalition against Iran and against radical Islam. Interesting.

I was particularly stuck, however, by a personal statement he made about his own experience and his own identity as a Muslim Arab living in Israel. He bought a house in a Jewish neighborhood near the Green Line, obtained a goverment mortgage and received a stipend for “strengthening Jerusalem.” His daughters go to a Jewish school. He says he’s “proud to be an Israeli citizen.” And that he would rather live in Israel as a second class citizen (which he's quick to assure us he is not) than in Gaza or the West Bank as a first class citizen.

I reported on another local appearance by Khaled a few years ago. At the moment my older archives are still not officially up (honestly, I am going to take care of this in very short order) but here's a repost of most of it. I have a great deal of admiration for this man and for the courage he displays in speaking and writing his mind, at what is clearly considerable risk. He spends a great deal of his time in Gaza and Ramallah. And when he does speaking tours in the U.S., his audiences aren't always as uniformly friendly as the one on Monday nor, apparently, do they always hear (or think they hear) the same message. Hardly surprising.

Good news/bad news

2009-01-30T16:53:00.001-05:00

The good news: Steele Elected RNC Chair.

That's a face I'm proud to see at the head of my party. Ooops. It's not officially my party. Yet. But it will be, shortly.

The bad news: almost ... everything ... else.

I don't want to talk about it.

Shabbat Shalom.

Four more years?

2009-01-23T16:52:00.000-05:00

Because the first three days have been pretty bad. But who knows? Obama remains, as ever, a cipher. Still ...

I am just about out
of benefit of the doubt.

Hey, since Blago didn't give us a poem today, I thought I'd step up.

Shabbat Shalom.

Reflections at the end of inauguration day 2009

2009-01-20T22:41:00.004-05:00

I, Barack Hussein Obama, do solemnly swear …

I, George Walker Bush …

I, William Jefferson Clinton …

I, George Herbert Walker Bush …

I, Ronald Reagan …

I, Jimmy Carter …

I, Gerald R. Ford …

I, Richard Nixon …

I, John Fitzgerald Kennedy …

I, Dwight D. Eisenhower …

I, Harry S. Truman …

I, Franklin Delano Roosevelt …

Which of these is not like the others?

Although no one ever referred to Bill Clinton as “William,” he took the oath of office under his given name. Yes, Ronald Wilson Reagan and Richard Milhous Nixon omitted their middle names from the oath. And Dwight David Eisenhower and Gerald Rudolph Ford used only their middle initials.

But James Earl Carter, Jr., took the oath of the Presidency under a casual nickname.

That right there should have been a clue.

I have avoided the hoopla today like the plague. I'll probably catch up over the next few weeks, once I no longer feel like I'm being bludgeoned with it. It was an historic occasion. Too bad the media had to oversaturate it to the point of nausea even well before the fact.

I wish President Obama all the best. It's in my interest, the interest of my country and the interest of the entire Western world that he succeed.

Exposed

2009-01-19T14:23:00.000-05:00

Whatever else may or may not have been resolved by Israel's defensive offensive into Gaza, the Hamas leadership appears to have been exposed for the snivelling little cowards they truly are.

As the fighting continued in Gaza, important changes took place in Hamas - changes that will have a powerful effect at the end of the war. Of course, Hamas leaders will crown themselves with the victors' laurels and try to sell a tale of success. But as Israel's campaign entered its third week, the were hard-pressed to find buyers for their stories.
In the Arab world, an atmosphere of skepticism about Hamas's claims of achievements on the battlefield prevailed, since, for the most part, these claims have turned out to be little more than transparent lies.

Yes, he goes on to provide details. Memo to all of those shreiking moonbats out there proclaiming "We are all Hamas!": I'd rethink the wisdom of that if I were you.

Hamas abandoned the heart of "Qassamland" - the areas surrounding Beit Lahiya, Beit Hanoun and Atatra - almost without resistance. The offensive array of bunkers and tunnels, booby-trapped buildings prepared for detonation from afar, and all the other tricks adopted by Hamas were captured intact. From the perspective of the people of Gaza, Hamas simply abandoned the arena and fled into the crowded neighborhoods.
Once there, since the second day of the campaign, Hamas fighters have hurriedly shed their uniforms. Many of them simply deserted and returned to their families, taking their guns with them. In some locations, Hamas prevented civilians from leaving neighborhoods that were in the line of fire; overall, it invested great effort in blocking civilians who wished to flee to the south of the Strip.
Hamas forcefully appropriated the few international aid deliveries, hijacked ambulances in order to move from one location to another, and carried out public executions of Fatah activists. In many cases, Hamas fighters showed "forgiveness" and made do with shooting the Fatah men in the legs.
All of this was going on while the entire political leadership of Hamas was hiding in the basements of hospitals such as Shifa in Gaza City or Kamal Adwan near Beit Lahiya.
Sporadically, they released videos from their places of hiding. The rather pathetic impression they created is that of a leadership that abandoned its population and was busy trying to save its own skin.

If you consider this to be heroic behavior, you're in serious need of psychiatric help.

And now, after cowering in their bunkers or behind their wives and kids and whimpering in the face of the IDF, these brave folks are trying to reassert their manhood by rounding up and brutally torturing Fatah activists.

Let's give them a Nobel Prize.

Groundhog day

2009-01-16T16:44:00.001-05:00

If you're starting to have that feeling of déjà vu all over again, well, welcome to the club. As Omri at Mere Rhetoric has so aptly put it:

... [N]ow Israel is getting tangled in international agreements and stuttering ceasefires. Today there was that anti-smuggling understanding with the US that won't work. And tomorrow Israel's cabinet will probably wrap up the whole thing by declaring a unilateral ceasefire. Why unilateral? Because Hamas has made it clear that they won't stop their attacks on Israelis.

(Click through for the links.)

Let's review.

In August of 2005, Israel pulled every last soldier out of Gaza, dismantled some twenty-one thriving communities, uprooted several thousands of its citizens (most of whom still remain without livelihood or permanent housing), and subsequently sold 3,200 extremely productive greenhouses to private donors with the intent of turning them over to the Palestinian Authority.

By the end of that year, the greenhouses had been destroyed and cannibalized for weapons parts. The rocket attacks from Gaza into nearby Israeli civilian communities, which had steadily increased since they began in 2001, had not only failed to abate but had escalated. Israel suffered more than five times the number of rocket hits in 2006 that it had in 2005.

In January, 2006, Hamas won a stunning victory in the palestinian parliamentary elections. And in June, 2007, Hamas tossed the "moderate" President Mahmoud Abbas and his Fatah party out of Gaza in a violent and bloody coup backed by Iran.

And all the while, the rocket attacks continued to increase, in volume and in range, and the smuggling of weapons and explosives into Gaza from Egypt continued to surge. By the end of 2008, rockets had been successfully launched into Ashdod and Beersheva.

The international aid that has been pouring into Gaza has been appropriated by the Hamas to buy weapons. Fuel has been diverted from civilian to military use. And with all of the military build-up, bomb shelters have not been built. In fact, infrastructure projects are non-existent. And still, the alleged "humanitarian crisis," ever on the brink of destroying life in Gaza, has been exposed as a fraud.

Hamas terrorists direct women and children to sites (some of them apartment buildings, schools and mosques, all of them loaded to the gills with explosives or serving as bases of attack on Israeli soldiers) that Israel has announced, in an effort to reduce civilian casualties, they are going to bomb. Directs them to these sites rather than evacuating them from these sites. Hamas terrorists cower in underground bunkers built as humanitarian projects by Israel during the dreaded "occupation" while they send their people out to act as human shields and media bait.

The story goes on. And on. And on. Who is committing the war crimes here? Who is deliberately targeting civilians and who is making every effort to avoid civilian casualties? How in this day and age can an event happening right under our eyes be so distorted and twisted by the media, the basic facts ignored by so many among the consuming public?

And after all of it, the eight years of forebearance, the tremendous cost, in so many ways, of launching such an offensive, once again it appears that Israel is ready to leave the job undone. Condi Rice and Tzipi Livni have, after all, signed an agreement.

While we're on the subject of U.S. brokered agreements, let's not forget this:

In the aftermath of the Gaza disengagement, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice brokered the Rafah Crossing Agreement on November 15, 2005, to regulate the Gaza-Egyptian Border. The agreement provided for third-party monitors who were supplied by the European Union. The European monitors did not succeed in halting the flow of weapons or cash to the terrorist organizations. Moreover, as the security situation in the Gaza Strip deteriorated in 2006 and 2007, the EU monitors repeatedly withdrew from the border crossing area. In addition, Egypt has been completely unhelpful in the Rafah border area; Cairo even allowed Hamas operatives to leave Gaza in transit to Tehran, where they were trained by the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) before returning to Gaza.

Let's not forget the terms under which Israel agreed to a ceasefire in Lebanon in 1982. And again in 2006. How's that working out for them?

Since Hamas will agree to nothing, Israel's cabinet is now set to deliberate a unilateral ceasefire.

Uniteral actions, like Barak's unilateral withdrawal from Lebanon in 2000 and Sharon's unilateral withdrawal from Gaza in 2005, have not been a resounding success.

I'm out of time and sometimes I feel like I'm running out of hope.

Shabbat Shalom.

An oldie but goodie

2009-01-14T14:48:00.004-05:00

Time to dig this one out again. A picture sometimes is worth 1000 words.

So how do you know when you really have a terrorist gang's back up against the wall? When it starts talking ceasefire.

Just say no.

The enemy within

2009-01-14T11:48:00.000-05:00

Constant rocket attacks from Gaza. Now intermittant rocket attacks from Lebanon. A shooting attack from Jordan. Continuing, ongoing, incessant, virulently antisemitic attacks from rabid mobs all over the world. Israel is literally bombarded from every direction and in every conceivable way. But it's not enough. Now, in the middle of the hard-fought battle being waged to eliminate the threat of Iran's proxy army in Gaza, the resolve of the highest level government officials appears to have melted and they're desparate to get out there waving their white flags, cheered on by Israel's best known defeatist leftist rag, Ha'aretz.

Defense Minister Ehud Barak is promoting a week-long "humanitarian cease-fire" in the Gaza Strip. In contrast, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert believes the military operation still has not achieved its goals.
Olmert is delaying a meeting with senior ministers in an effort to allow the military operations in Gaza to continue.
[ ... ]
Barak believes Operation Cast Lead has achieved its main objectives, first and foremost bolstering Israel's deterrent power. He does not believe continuing the offensive will bring further gains, but rather only operational complications and casualties.

Achieved its main objectives? Really?

Palestinian terrorists continued to attack Israeli civilian areas on Wednesday, firing 16 projectiles by late afternoon, including a phosphorous mortar shell that hit the Eshkol region.
In the latest attack, a Kassam hit an open area near a kibbutz in the Sdot Negev region. Earlier, two Grad rockets hit the Shfela region, in the central district, while Ashdod, Ashkelon, Sderot and Beersheba were also hit. No one was wounded and no damage was reported in the attacks.

But the article goes on to say that the rocket attacks are "declining." Is that because Israel's deterrant power has been "bolstered?" Or because the terrorists are starting to run out of rockets and places to launch them from? If the former, then why are we now seeing test rocket attacks coming from Lebanon? Did they fail to read the memo? No, the fact is that Israel's defensive offensive has now reached the point where the enemy is starting to feel the pinch. It's own offensive capabilities have been weakened to the point where it will soon no longer be able to fire at will.

And this is always the point where Israel is pressured, both externally and internally, to pull back and give them the breathing room to retool and rearm. If that happens, they'll be back. They'll be back with more accurate and longer range missiles and more of them. They'll be back with the ability to send the people of Tel Aviv scurrying into shelters with 15 seconds' notice. And then what?

Back to Barak.

Barak is proposing the IDF cease its fire, hold its positions and keep the reservists under arms, and thus negotiate with Egypt and the United States on an arrangement that would include preventing arms smuggling into the Strip.
The defense minister is concerned that when U.S. President-elect Barack Obama takes office next Tuesday, he will demand that Israel immediately cease the operation. A tough UN Security Council resolution is also a risk.

Because these "arrangements" to prevent arms smuggling and weapons buildups during truces and ceasefires have worked so well in the past. Because that's not "also a risk." And so what if President-elect Obama demands that Israel immediately cease the operation next week? That's seven days away. A lot can happen in seven days. A hell of a lot can happen in seven days.

Meanwhile,

Livni insists Israel must end the operation without an agreement, enjoying its refreshed deterrence against Hamas. She also believes the mission cannot obtain any more major gains.
Meanwhile, senior IDF officers expressed concern on Tuesday that continuing the fighting would increase the number of casualties.

Is that a top level military assessment? Continuing the fighting may increase the number of casualties? Do they get paid for that kind of penetrating analysis?

It's ironic, that it's Olmert, who three and a half years ago was (yes, I know you've heard this before) "tired of fighting, ... tired of being courageous, ... tired of winning ...tired of defeating our enemies," who today is the one trying to push through this apparent wall of defeatism that pops up whenever Israel is on the verge of an actual victory.

Yes, I'm all too aware that it's easy for me to say, sitting here in the comfort of a safe place thousands of miles away and with no husband or brother or son on the line. But how many of these brave men and women are we going to continue to sacrifice, what can we say to the citizens of Sderot and Ashdod and now Ashkelon and Beersheva, when and if after all of this we just go back to the status quo ante, only ratcheted up yet another notch?

I have a question for Mr. Barak and Ms. Livni: when are we going to decide it's time to actually and decisively defeat those who seek our destruction? If not now, when?

A rally for real peace

2009-01-09T16:35:00.001-05:00

This rally in Philadelphia yesterday drew about 2500 supporters and a handfull of moonbat protesters.

Against a backdrop of furling flags and frigid temperatures, an estimated 2,500 people gathered in Center City yesterday to light a fire for Israel.
Sponsored by the Jewish Federation of Greater Philadelphia, the rally at John F. Kennedy Plaza was organized in support of Israel's recent and controversial incursion into Gaza.

Hey, it's the Philadelphia Inquirer. Gotta get that little "controversial" dig in there.

Unlike similar events held around the country last week, the hour-long gathering went off without incident. No arrests were made, no rocks thrown, no anti-Semitic obscenities hurled.

Yes, the police did a wonderful job. There were apparently no clashes or confrontations.

Supporters held signs that had such messages as "4,000 rockets from Gaza will not bring peace"; "Let Israel Defend Itself"; and "How would you like rockets thrown at your home?"
One young man in shorts and flip-flops wore a T-shirt that read, "If I were a suicide bomber, you'd be dead now."

And the speakers talked a lot about peace. For both Israelis and palestians. Funny thing about that. I don't hear much talk about peace for Israelis at those "other" rallies.

The LOVE Park rally took place on a day when the United Nations suspended food deliveries to Gaza and the Red Cross accused Israel of blocking medical assistance after forces fired on aid workers, killing two.

Yep. That's my Inqui.

In a surprise appearance, Pennsylvania Sen. Arlen Specter told the crowd that Israel's attack of Gaza was justified because the country "has every right under international law to defend itself against rocket fire from Hamas."
The Republican's sentiments were echoed by virtually every speaker and drew a vocal reception from the audience, which included more than 500 students bused in from area Jewish day schools and colleges.

I got there a few minutes late and missed Specter's speech. Darn. (Who knew a Jewish event would actually start on time?)

Actually, the real surprise for me was this.

The final speaker at the rally was J. Whyatt Mondesire, president of the local chapter of the NAACP. "This flag is my flag," he said, referring to the many Israeli banners being waved by the crowd.
"The black community and the Jewish community have been joined together for almost 200 years. . . . Israel is not alone. It will never be alone," he continued.
"It has friends all over the world."

He spoke about the ties between the black and Jewish communities and the support of so many Jews for the civil rights movement in its earliest days. He spoke strongly in support of Israel and its battle against the Hamas terrorists. I was impressed.

Shabbat Shalom

Unbelievable chutzpa

2009-01-04T18:54:00.002-05:00

Jordan says it will reevaluate its relations with Israel. Amman is reportedly "infuriated" by Israel's offensive in Gaza.

The unmitigated gall!

Jordanian Prime Minister Nader Dahabi said Sunday that Amman reserves the right to reexamine its relations with Jerusalem in light of the recent developments in Gaza.
"The Jordanian government reserves the right to reevaluate its ties with any element, let alone Israel, in accordance with the need to maintain our national interests," he told the parliament.
Twenty-one of Jordan's parliamentarians sent their chairman a letter demanding Jordan sever all ties with Israel without delay and expel the Israeli ambassador to Amman, in view of the "Israeli aggression in the Gaza Strip."

The king, at least, appears to be holding this off for the time being.

This is the "peace" for which Israel has made so many concessions and labored diplomatically for decades. Amman should have been infuriated by the Hamas offensive against a neighboring country with which it has a "peace treaty." But, no. Self-defense is a privilege forbidden to Jews.

Once upon a time (38 years ago), Jordan's had to deal with its own terrorist threat -- from the PLO. Some have even suggested that Black September was a disproportionate response. And who pulled King Hussein's ass out of the fire when Syria took advantage of the Arab world's fury and sent tanks toward Amman?

When the palestinian casualties in Gaza begin to approach a tiny fraction of those in Black September, Jordan will still be a long way from having the right to criticize Israel's current response.

Anger and frustration

2009-01-04T11:55:00.001-05:00

Ksenia Svetlova is an Israeli freelance journalist who is particularly adept at examining the conflicts between Israel, its Arab population and the palestinian Arabs living in Judea and Samaria from the Arab POV. This article, entitled Shattered Calm, reports on the protests against Operation Cast Lead that have erupted in East Jerusalem over the past week.

Amid widespread condemnation of the operation and calls for a third intifada in the Arab world, east Jerusalemites have not remained indifferent to these images pouring from their TV sets, voicing their reaction loud and clear through demonstrating, stone throwing and flag burning. The first wave of violence began early on Saturday, soon after the operation in Gaza was launched.
In the Shuafat refugee camp, walking distance from Pisgat Ze'ev and French Hill, angry youths threw stones at Border Police jeeps, chanting "Death to Israel! We will redeem you, Gaza."
The next day, similar images from Silwan, A-Tur and Sur Bahir kept on coming. Dozens were arrested, others were warned by the police and by the dignitaries in their neighborhoods, but the situation continued to be tense.

Israel, so far, has been doing an unusually good job of explaining its actions and motives in this operation to the international community. Israel's enemies, for a change, have not. Part of the reason for this, no doubt, is ambivalence. Hamas has the support and backing of Iran and Syria, but most other Arab governments would prefer to see it defeated or at least weakened. And yet the mantras of "disproportionate force" and "brutality" are still dutifully dragged out and repeated endlessly. Israel must, of course, be criticized, condemned and demonized, regardless of the context. This message, though, is apparently being communicated more forcefully to "the street," than to the media at this point.

Munir Khalil, a butcher from the Shuafat camp, echoes Rami's sentiments. "It's our brothers who are dying there. Israel says that this war is against Hamas, but it seems to me that they are victimizing the entire Palestinian population in Gaza. That is why I participated in the demonstrations that took place in the camp."
Khalil, a handsome bearded man of 25, denies any affiliation with Hamas, yet there is a huge Hamas poster in his shop. Green flags hanging from the rooftops are not an unusual sight in the camp streets as well. But Khalil says that it's not important. "You can be Hamas, you can be Fatah, you can be independent or not at all affiliated with any party, but you just can't stay calm when your brothers are being massacred in cold blood," he says, and quotes from the Al-Quds newspaper lying on the table: "The harshest attack since 1967."
Back then, Israel fought armies; now it's hitting inside the densely populated areas of Gaza, the butcher says. This is the reason for people's anger and frustration, his assistant adds. "We've never seen anything quite as brutal and horrible," he explains.

This is, of course, all irrational nonsense. What is truly brutal and horrible is the launching of thousands of rockets, missiles and mortars into Israeli streets, homes, kindergartens and playgrounds. What is truly brutal and horrible is the way the Hamas thugs have stolen the funds, goods and services meant to make the lives of "their people" more liveable and diverted them into the procurement, production and delivery of weapons and the construction of smuggling tunnels. These are just causes for anger and frustration. But, as always, the anger and frustration are deliberately directed elsewhere.

After eight years of rockets falling indiscriminately on the civilian populations of the Negev, increasingly deadly rockets with greater and greater range, after three and a half years since Israel left Gaza with no respite in the attacks, after a failed "truce" that only allowed Hamas to restock and rearm, after innumerable attempts by the EU, the US and the Egyptians to stop the rocket fire through diplomacy, threats and other non-military means, Israel has finally embarked on the only course that can conceivably return life to a modicum of normality for its citizens. It's beyond comprehension that anyone can look at this situation and demand that Israel do any less.

To Whom it may concern ...

2009-01-02T16:29:00.001-05:00

Many thanks for the New Year's gift.

Nizzar Rayyan was (was! yes!) a real piece of work. But I guess he was an honest piece of work. Let's give him that. Please don't ask me to cry over the collateral damage. The use of human shields was one of his trademarks. Speaking of which, I wonder what happened to this thread?

And a special New Year spit-out to Roseanne Barr, who offers yet more confirmation that some of the most vile and clueless antisemites are the Jewish ones.

Happy 2009!

And Shabbat Shalom.

The other pardon

2008-12-26T16:18:00.000-05:00

On Tuesday, President Bush granted a posthumous pardeon to 19 more people, among them Charles Winters.

Winters, who died in the 1980s in Florida, was in the airplane business after World War II. He bought up former military cargo planes and used them to transport fruit and other products. He later started helping his Jewish friends who were shipping arms to Jews trying to found their own state in the Middle East.
Winters, a Protestant from Boston, could fly his planes in and out of the region without interference from authorities. In 1948, three of his planes left Miami, picked up weapons in Azores and Czechoslovakia and then left the planes and arms in Palestine.
Winters was convicted of violating the Neutrality Act, fined $5,000 and sentenced to serve 18 months in prison. The act is designed to ensure that financial assistance and arms are not provided to parties in foreign conflicts where the US has not taken sides.
Two others, Herman Greenspun and Al Schwimmer, also were convicted of violating the act, but they did not serve time. President Kennedy pardoned Greenspun in 1961. President Clinton pardoned Schwimmer in 2000.

Kudos to the President for this move. It sends exactly the right message to the enemies of Israel who are also the enemies of the United States. The U.S. had not taken sides in Israel's battle to be born and in the struggle of the Jewish inhabitants of the Mandate to avoid being pushed into the sea. But the U.S. has taken a side now. Or at least up to now. Bush's trust in Abbas, pressure on Israel to capitulate to terror and encouragement of palestinian statehood may be misguided, but in the war for Israel's survival, he's left no doubt as to where the United States of America stands. This pardon rights a wrong and underscores that point. And it will generate much seething on the part of Israel haters and moonbats. Cool.

Of course, the pardon of Winters won't assuage those who are demanding that other pardon. I've made my position on that question crystal clear many times in the past and it hasn't changed. I trust that, notwithstanding this sort of nonsense, the President will leave it alone.

Shabbat Shalom and Happy Hanukkah.

Coal for Channel 4

2008-12-25T12:52:00.004-05:00

What could be more inappropriate than a Christmas message from Mahmoud Ahmadinejad?

Thanks. I'll pass.

To all who are celebrating today, I wish you a very merry and Ahmadinejad-free Christmas.

Out of darkness

2008-12-24T17:26:00.000-05:00

Light!

It's one of the things Hanukkah is all about.

The father of Rivkah Holtzberg, who was killed along with her husband Gavriel during the terror attack on the Chabad house in Mumbai, India last month, held a menorah-lighting ceremony at his Afula home Sunday evening.
Moshe Holtzberg, the murdered couple's 2-year-old son, lit the first Hanukkah candle.
Rabbi Shimon Rosenberg spoke to Ynet about the emotional event: "We conducted the ceremony along with friends and members of my congregation, and Moishe lit the first candle, an honor that was usually reserved for his father.
"We recited the prayer 'He who performed miracles for our ancestors in those days at this time', which has a special meaning now in light of our own Hanukkah miracle – that Moishe is here with us today," he said.
Rabbi Rosenberg said Moshe played with a dreidel while those on hand ate Sufganiot (Hannukah doughnuts); a Chabad flag retrieved from the house in Mumbai hung in the background.

Be happy

2008-12-21T19:58:00.001-05:00

It's Hanukkah!

One light, first night.

No news in Minnesota

2008-12-19T16:20:00.001-05:00

I thought the Franken/Coleman Senate race was supposed to be decided by now but, alas, 'tis not. The jackass has now pulled into the lead, although there's no particular reason to think he'll stay there. Nor is there any particular reason to think he won't (unless there is a merciful God ...).

On Caroline Kennedy's political aspirations, Charles Krauthammer makes an unoriginal but important point.

The problem is Kennedy's sense of entitlement. Given her rather modest achievements, she is trading entirely on pedigree.
I hate to be a good government scold, but wasn't the American experiment a rather firm renunciation of government by pedigree?
Yes, the Founders were not democrats. They believed in aristocracy. But their idea was government by natural -- not inherited -- aristocracy, an aristocracy of "virtue and talents," as Jefferson put it.
[ ... ]
No lords or ladies here. If Princess Caroline wants a seat in the Senate, let her do it by election. There's one in 2010. To do it now by appointment on the basis of bloodline is an offense to the most minimal republicanism. Every state in the union is entitled to representation in the Senate. Camelot is not a state.

In the real world, Anne Bayefsky has a chilling piece in Ha'aretz this week about the travesty that is to be Durban II and the mounting pressure to get the Obama administration to give it a go. This will be an interesting test. My bet is that he capitulates. My bet is that he wants to capitulate. And not due to the outside pressure so much as due to the pressure of his own ego telling him he can "fix" it, make it better, bring everyone together in a global group hug. I hope I'm wrong. Please let me be wrong.

Shabbat Shalom.

Greed and corruption

2008-12-12T16:20:00.002-05:00

Some days it seems like there's not an honest man or woman left in a position of power anywhere on the planet. The news this week has been shocking. Not that anyone was surprised by the Blagojevich indictment. It's been a long time coming. But the breadth and depth of it, the sheer sliminess of the allegations, go way beyond what most people were prepared for. It might get worse.

Then there's Bernie Madoff. This one's a stinker, for so many reasons. A lot of people are going to get hurt. People who never had anything to do with his Ponzi scheme are going to get hurt. He probably didn't mean to hurt anyone. These guys almost never do. They never think it's going to catch up with them and once it starts to go bad the efforts to patch it, hide it, fix it until things get better (but they never do) just snowballs out of control. I've seen this before. Everyone loses.

Relevant cliché of the day: if it looks too good to be true, it is. Take a deep breath and walk away.

Then again, sometimes even a really bad deal is actually worse than it looks.

Shabbat Shalom.

Tranquility

2008-12-05T16:20:00.005-05:00

To end the week on a peaceful note, here's one of my favorite spots on earth.

Ahhhhhh...

Shabbat Shalom.

Mumbai

2008-11-28T16:17:00.001-05:00

Little Moshe Holtzberg will be two years old tomorrow. He'll celebrate his birthday with his grandparents, in Mumbai. His parents, Gabi and Rivka (z"l) are gone. Hundreds of others are dead or wounded.

There is real, true and absolute evil in this world. It must be stopped. Now. What will it take before the civilized world realizes this? Will it be soon enough?

Our heartfelt prayers and condolences go out to the Scherr family, the Holtzberg family, the entire Chabad community and so many others who are grieving tonight.

Baruch Dayan Emet.

Shabbat Shalom.

Giving thanks and stuff

2008-11-27T11:20:00.003-05:00

You want to watch this? I don't want to watch it. (But I did.)

Overwhelming and inexcusable ignorance on display. Here is a rebuttal, of sorts.

Meanwhile, there are some folks in Mumbai who are in genuine crisis and could use all of our prayers.

It's been a tough year. It could still get tougher. And yet..., and yet we still live in the greatest country on earth at a time when new insights, new discoveries and new inventions are broadening our horizons and our opportunities on a daily basis. As a whole, we live better and have more freedom and, yes, more resources if we would only tap them, than anyone anywhere anywhen. So in spite of all the tsuris, we have a great deal to give thanks for, this year and every year.

Happy Thanksgiving.

Market melt-up

2008-11-21T16:23:00.003-05:00

Vastly preferable to the melt-downs of the past few days and obviously attributable to Obama's selection of Geithner. Well, that appears to be one good choice.

So what else is up? Certainly not Sholom Rubashkin, and the fallout from the Agriprocessors debacle is spreading. Hardly helpful in light of the other recent blows to the economy.

Disaster relief efforts have been launched to help the Agriprocessors employees who are still living in Postville, Iowa without paychecks. The direst concern was that electricity might be cut off in local housing just as winter hits. The companies that own much of the real estate in town have not paid utility bills recently, but some fast thinking by Jeff Abbas, who runs the local radio station, got people registered so that their electricity would not be cut off. There also have been a number of separate food-relief efforts. Morris Allen, a Minnesota rabbi who has been a leading critic of Agriprocessors, led a drive to bring kosher food to the many Jewish families associated with the company. Abbas said that through the food drives he has run, “we’re going through 800 to 900 pounds of food a day.”

(Yes, his name is Abbas.)

Ok, breaking news! UN says Gaza on brink of humanitarian disaster!! Meryl has some thoughts (wait ... before you click, guess how long Gaza has been teetering at the edge of this very same precipice. It's gotta be a world record.)

And in other news, southeastern Pennsylvania has snow. Not a lot, but definitely snow.

So. Once more, into the weekend. Hope it's a good one.

Shabbat Shalom.

"Collaborator!"

2008-11-16T19:30:00.002-05:00

This is what palestinian arabs who try to help reduce terrorist attacks against Israel can expect.

Military Court in Bethlehem Sentences a Palestinian to Death; PCHR Calls upon Palestinian President Not to Approve the Sentence, and for Abolition of Death Penalty in Palestinian Law
On Wednesday, 12 November 2008, the Military Court in Bethlehem sentenced Ayman Ahmed 'Awwad Daghamgha, 24, a member of the Palestinian General Intelligence Service, from al-'Arroub refugee camp north of Hebron, to death by firing squad. The trial was administered by a panel of 3 judges (Chief Justice Fares Douda; Judge Fadi Hijazi; and Judges Ahmed Jaddou'). It was held in the headquarters of the Military Court in Bethlehem. Representatives of the prosecution, Major Ibrahim Abu Saleh and First Lieutenant Akram 'Arar, and the defendant's lawyer, Khalil al-Heeh, were present in the trial.
The court convicted Daghamgha of treason in violation of article 131/A of the Palestinian Revolutionary Penal Code of 1979, and sentenced him in consensus to death, a sentence that needs the Palestinian President's approval and which can be appealed against. The bill of indictment presented against the defendant states that he started to collaborate with the Israeli intelligence service when he was working in a gas station in "Kfar Etzion" settlement, south of Bethlehem, in 1999. Since then, he had monitored stone throwers and students and provided information to the Israeli intelligence in exchange of little money. Later, he joined the Palestinian Naval Police in the Palestinian National Authority (PNA) before he moved to the General Intelligence Service. He started to monitor Palestinian resistance cells and to provide information on them to the Israeli intelligence. Such information allowed the Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) to extra-judicially execute Jad 'Atallah Salem and Ahmed Is'haq Hamamda, members of the al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades (an armed wing of Fatah movement) on 8 March 2008. He also cooperated with IOF in arresting a number of Palestinians.

I'd point out that this "Military Court" is convened in Bethelem under the PA, not in Gaza under Hamas. And implementation of the sentence (under the law, anyway) requires the approval of moderate man of peace President Mahmoud Abbas.

So what will happen? Stay tuned.

Under the bus

2008-11-14T16:22:00.003-05:00

Ok, this is all kind of creepy.

US President-elect Barack Obama's White House chief of staff apologized to the Arab-American community on Thursday for remarks his Israeli-born father made to Ma'ariv.
Last week, Benjamin Emanuel talked about his son Rahm Emanuel's new job and told the Israeli daily that "obviously he'll influence the president to be pro-Israel. Why wouldn't he? What is he, an Arab? He's not going to be mopping floors at the White House."
That prompted an outcry from the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee, which called on Rahm Emanuel, a former Israeli citizen, to condemn the "unacceptable smear."
On Thursday, Rahm Emanuel called the group's president, Mary Rose Oakar, to apologize on behalf of his family.
"These are not the values upon which I was raised or those of my family," the group quoted him as saying.
Oakar said the apology was accepted.

I think Dr. Emanuel's comment was taken the wrong way, but I can see how it could be interpreted badly. It would have been nice to see his son stick up for him and explain what he really meant rather than tossing him under the bus, but that wasn't how things were done during the Obama campaign and it looks like we can expect more of the same in the Obama administration. Too bad.

Shabbat Shalom.

A good election result

2008-11-12T12:01:00.002-05:00

It looks like Jerusalem, despite a few shenanigans, made a good choice.

Secular businessman Nir Barkat won the Jerusalem municipal election and will succeed Uri Lupolianski as mayor of the capital.
The result was officially declared Wednesday morning when votes had been counted at all 707 polling stations, with Barkat garnering just over 52 percent of the vote, MK Meir Porush of the United Torah Judaism Party just over 43%, Israeli-Russian billionaire Arkadi Gaydamak 3.5% and Dan Birron of the Green Leaf Party wining 0.5%.
However, despite his win, Barkat's party, Jerusalem Shall Succeed, did not win a majority in the city council, but rather came in second behind United Torah Judaism. Wake up Jerusalem, a new party made up of young, mostly secular Jerusalemites, won two mandates, while Gaydamak's Social Justice party did not win any seats.
Barkat made a victory speech to a crowd of celebrating supporters at a Bayit v'Gan hotel, calling the win "a victory for Jerusalem, Israel and the Jewish people... for the Left and the Right, the secular and the religious."

The East Jerusalem Arabs, as usual, mostly boycotted the election. Too bad for them. They don't seem to have a problem accepting all of the benefits that their Israeli ID cards provide, and they certainly don't want to lose those benefits by being turned over to gentle mercies of the Palestinian Authority. But participating in the choice of their next municipal government? That just might be seen as acknowledging ~~Israeli~~ Jewish sovereignty over our eternal capital. No can do.

Like I said, too bad for them. And warm congratulations to mayor-elect Barkat.

Thanks

2008-11-11T17:02:00.003-05:00

I just wanted to take this opportunity to say thanks to all our veterans.

Once a year, we set aside a special day for this, but hopefully this day serves to remind us to thank them all year 'round. Because that's when they serve. Every day, every hour, every minute, they've had our backs, and the backs of freedom loving people all over the world. Those who are veterans and those who will be veterans when their service is over. Although their service is never really over. Those who have served usually continue to serve, in one way or another.

Without them, we wouldn't be here.

So thank you, one and all, from the bottom of our hearts.

Happy Veterans' Day.

Food fight

2008-11-07T15:53:00.002-05:00

Although this is old news already, it deserves a mention here as part of the ongoing theater of the absurd that we seem to be living now. Can it get any worse? Of course it can.

After decades of war, invasion and occupation, Lebanon and Israel have plenty of tension simmering between them; but the latest source of strife is literally cooking.
From the deep-fried chick peas that make falafel to the parsley and burghul wheat of tabbouleh, the salad that's almost a national obsession - green-fingered enthusiasts once held the world record for making a dish weighing one and a half tonnes - Lebanon's foodies are pushing back against what they see as Israel's appropriation of their cuisine.
"At ethnic food exhibitions our producers go to the Israeli stand and find most of the specialities they are marketing as Israeli foods are Lebanese," said Fadi Abboud, president of the Lebanese Industrialists' Association (LIA). "Our culture goes back a few thousand years. It's time to set the record straight."

Time to set the record straight? Well, ok, but be careful what you wish for. First, the "justification" being bandied about for this move is, well, just plain ridiculous.

"Foods like falafel are not Lebanese but they're certainly not Israeli either. How can they be when Israel is only 60 years old?" asked Rami Zurayk, professor of agriculture and ecosystems at the American University of Beirut, and author of a book on "slow food" in Lebanon.
"But Lebanon's borders are only 60 years old as well. There is an instinctive response in the region against what is seen as Israel's theft of land and appropriation of culture, but to register falafel as Lebanese is almost as absurd and chauvinistic as Israel trying to register it as Israeli."

But the thing is that Israel has never tried to "register" any of these foods as Israeli, as far as I know. What the LIA is upset about is that Israel appears to be doing a better job of marketing them overseas than Lebanon is. Whose fault is that? (Sorry. Silly question.)

According to Ynet (via Wikipedia), the origins of falafel are murky but may date back to the Egyptian Copts, India or even ancient Egypt.

Likewise, hummus, although that dish may (or may not) have originated in or around eighteenth century Damascus (i.e., back when it was a part of the Ottoman Empire known as "Greater Syria"). The same would appear to be more or less true of tabbouleh.

According to this Beirut based website, the palestinian arabs also claim ownership of falafel although, again, the argument is anachronistic.

But Lebanon may be opening up a can of worms by claiming falafel, tabbouleh and hummus as Lebanese because the Israelis are not the only ones in the game.
Siham Baghdadi Zurub, a Palestinian chef in Ramallah and author of The Palestinian Cuisine, staked her own claim in an interview with the Daily Telegraph.
Zurub argues that the Palestinians were in fact the first to make hummus from chickpeas given that they were plentiful in ancient Palestine, unlike in Egypt or Syria where the fava bean was more common.

Sounds reasonable ... except that there were no "Palestinians" (i.e., arabs) in ancient Palestine. On the following point, however, we're in complete agreement.

But, said Zurub, "No one has the right to call hummus and falafel as his national dish. Putting copyright on certain dishes is a selfish trend that reflects insecurity and a lack of common sense."

Thank you. It's also an effort that's unlikely to get very far beyond an official nod by the Lebanese government. And, no, the "Greek precedent" isn't going to help them much. Greece has been around for a little longer than Lebanon and has a pretty airtight claim to feta cheese. And, nevertheless, the enforcement thing just doesn't seem to be happening, even there.

By the way, I'd like to take this opportunity to recommend this blog, which I keep forgetting to add to the blog roll over there. Hummus is one of my very favorite foods, even though it's (still) really hard to find much worthy of the name around these parts and I still haven't figured out a way to make it well. Anyway, here's heaven.

Shabbat Shalom.

Things fall apart

2008-11-05T15:21:00.008-05:00

Turning and turning in the widening gyre
The falcon cannot hear the falconer;
Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;
Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,
The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere
The ceremony of innocence is drowned;
The best lack all conviction, while the worst
Are full of passionate intensity.

The Second Coming
William Butler Yeats

Rapidly becoming one of the most over-quoted poems ever, it pretty much sums up my feelings today.

Barack Obama has been elected President of the United States (with 78% of the Jewish vote). Al Franken might very well soon be poisoning a seat in the U.S. Senate (though on this one, I still have hope).

Joe Sestak has been returned to the House of Representatives for two more years, due to the utter failure of the Pennsylvania GOP to advance even a modest campaign for his very worthy opponent (who nevertheless garnered an impressive 40% of the vote). And Proposition 8 passed in California.

Nothing makes sense.

Read the rest.

P.S. Did I forget Murtha? Yeah, I did.

This is it

2008-11-04T12:46:00.002-05:00

Well, folks, it's do or die time. If you haven't already, please get out there and vote.

No matter how long the lines, no matter what you think your candidate's chances are. This isn't one to sit out.

And please keep this in mind.

Greetings from Phillie-delphia

2008-10-31T17:24:00.004-04:00

Well, wow. Just wow. I skipped the parade, though. Philadelphia sports fans tend to get ... overheated. I got caught in the middle of the 1983 Sixers celebration. Never again.

As if there wasn't already enough excitement, Chase Utley just went and dropped an "f" bomb on live radio (link). The crowd didn't seem to mind. But I expect fallout.

What else? Well, there's this: Obama warns of overconfidence; Pa. polls still show Obama lead. Yes, but it's shrinking. I spent the afternoon working at my local McCain HQ. Who knows? We just might pull it out.

And speaking of elections, this is encouraging: Rightist bloc leads Left in 'Post' poll

The Rightist bloc led by the Likud will defeat the Left, led by Kadima and Labor, by eight Knesset seats in the national election on February 10, according to a Jerusalem Post/Smith Research poll.
The survey, taken on Wednesday of 501 respondents representing a statistical sample of the electorate, found that Likud, Shas, Israel Beiteinu, the National Union-National Religious Party and United Torah Judaism would combine for 64 seats, while Labor, Kadima, Meretz and the Arab parties would together win only 56.
If those numbers prove to be correct, Likud chairman Binyamin Netanyahu could form a right-wing government that would likely end negotiations with the Palestinian Authority and perhaps with Syria. However, Netanyahu told the Knesset this week that he wanted to see Kadima and Labor in his government.

Hey, it's Friday and it's the last day of the month. And the DJIA actually had a (very) positive week. Happy Halloween!

And Shabbat Shalom.

Irony

2008-10-26T23:12:00.003-04:00

The Who are playing the Wachovia Center in Philadelphia tonight.

And Tommy is about to be coronated King of America. It doesn't get much more ironic than this. The generation that thought it invented the greatest challenge to blind obedience to authority and mind control has utterly succumbed to both and is about to elect a figuratively blind deaf and dumb candidate to lead this nation into the abyss.

If we weren't living it, it would be theater. But we are. So it's tragedy on a grand scale.

Update: Of course, it ain't over until the fat lady sings ...

I tend to post negative but I'm not ready to roll over yet.

(No, I'm not bi-polar ... there aren't enough poles to define my mood swings in this election)

Sponge mode

2008-10-24T17:52:00.001-04:00

Over the past few weeks, I've found myself reading obsessively. It really is getting out of hand. Maybe once the election is over ..., no, maybe once the financial meltdown reverses ..., no, maybe once Israel schedules new elections and they're over ..., no, well, it seems I'm in sponge mode, for the time being. Not very productive, I'm afraid.

The least I can do is share some of the most enlightening and elucidating essays and articles I've come across over the past several days. Some of them are more recent, others less, but these all focus on the upcoming presidential election, to varying degrees, and if you're still on the fence about it or wishing you had some lucid arguments to make to others who are, they may help.

Allies Want McCain by Richard L. Benkin

Poll after poll shows that respondents in every European (and Muslim) country want us to make Barack Obama president in November. On the other hand, those people who are on the front lines of our war against Islamist extremism feel just as passionately that an Obama victory will undermine their efforts.

TO THE UNDECIDED VOTER by Neal Boortz

The Republicans don't deserve power in Washington just as you don't deserve a boil in the center of your forehead. There are worse things, however. Complete Democrat control or, in the case of your forehead, a nice big melanoma. Pretty much the same things, actually.
It's not that the Republicans did everything wrong. They got the tax cut thing right, and they responded correctly, for the most part, to the radical Islamic attack on our country. They just did so much wrong at the same time. They got drunk with power, and the hangover affects all of us.

Would the Last Honest Reporter Please Turn On the Lights? by Orson Scott Card

If you had any principles, then surely right now, when the American people are set to blame President Bush and John McCain for a crisis they tried to prevent, and are actually shifting to approve of Barack Obama because of a crisis he helped cause, you would be laboring at least as hard to correct that false impression.
Your job, as journalists, is to tell the truth. That's what you claim you do, when you accept people's money to buy or subscribe to your paper.

Wright 101 by Stanley Kurtz

However he may seek to deny it, all evidence points to the fact that, from his position as board chair of the Chicago Annenberg Challenge, Barack Obama knowingly and persistently funded an educational project that shared the extremist and anti-American philosophy of Jeremiah Wright. The Wright affair was no fluke. It’s time for McCain to say so.

McCain for President by Charles Krauthammer

The case for McCain is straightforward. The financial crisis has made us forget, or just blindly deny, how dangerous the world out there is. We have a generations-long struggle with Islamic jihadism. An apocalyptic soon-to-be-nuclear Iran. A nuclear-armed Pakistan in danger of fragmentation. A rising Russia pushing the limits of revanchism. Plus the sure-to-come Falklands-like surprise popping out of nowhere.
Who do you want answering that phone at 3 a.m.? [ ... ]
Today's economic crisis, like every other in our history, will in time pass. But the barbarians will still be at the gates. Whom do you want on the parapet? I'm for the guy who can tell the lion from the lamb.

Indeed. Well, as they say, I hope these help.

Shabbat Shalom.

On a positive note

2008-10-17T18:02:00.001-04:00

That's how we're ending this week. They're few and far between these days, it seems, but this is good. Very good.

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — Japan handily defeated Iran for a non-permanent seat on the U.N. security council and Austria and Turkey edged out Iceland in secret ballot voting Friday.
Iran — under U.N. sanctions for its nuclear program — received only 32 votes from the U.N. members compared to 158 for Japan for the Asian seat.
Austria and Turkey beat Iceland in the battle for two non-permanent European seats on the 15-member council in voting at a meeting of the U.N. General Assembly.
The Security Council is the powerhouse of the U.N. with the ability to impose sanctions and dispatch peacekeepers.
The other two seats went to Mexico, which will represent Latin America, and Uganda, which will represent Africa; both ran unopposed.

You would think Iran's defeat would be a foregone conclusion but, really, you can't take anything for granted when it comes to the U.N. Today, sanity prevailed. Somewhere.

Shabbat Shalom.

Shabbat greetings

2008-10-10T17:53:00.006-04:00

There are some really lovely Jewish greeting cards available at this site. Unfortunately for me, it appears that you need to be in Australia to take advantage of them. If you are, please do.

I hope they don't mind my using this image here.

Wishing all a peaceful and refreshing Shabbat.

Sabbath of Sabbaths

2008-10-08T17:06:00.006-04:00

Tomorrow, the markets will be open on Wall Street and Main Street and most people will go about their business. Those of us observing Yom Kippur, unless we live in closed Orthodox neighborhoods, will slip in and out among them on our way to and from shul or just taking quiet walks or sitting at home.

In Israel, of course, it's a different story. And especially in Jerusalem, where everyday life comes to a complete standstill. It's something to behold, something I've felt privileged to have been able to carry with me and retrieve every year back here in the USA.

The headline at JerusalemPost.com now reads:

Jpost.com will resume updates after Yom Kippur

And at Ynet, the latest Update banner, similarly:

Ynetnews will return after Yom Kippur

InContext, likewise, will resume after Yom Kippur. To all of you observing the fast, may it be an easy one.

G'mar hatimah tova (may you be sealed in the Book of Life for a good year).

I heart Jackie Mason

2008-10-03T18:40:00.001-04:00

What a mentsch!

I've never heard of Sarah Silverman before and I wish I hadn't now. She's an extremely unfunny and rude little girl with a very nasty mouth. Someone should wash it out with soap.

Meanwhile, I lost track of how many whoppers and bloopers Joe Biden pulled off in the debate last night. Little Green Footballs has a list (with backup). Some of them, I think, I hope, were just Joe's mouth operating without direction. Others were, well, clearly deliberate lies.

Ok. I know. Too much lashon hara, especially for this time of year. Who decided to put elections right after the High Holy Days anyway?

Hey, I finally got my lawn sign today! Two of them, in fact. I'm probably going to need more because, unsurprisingly, someone is going around the neighborhood ripping up the McCain Palin signs. Yes, so far, anyway, only the McCain Palin signs. Go figure.

I have more to say but I'm out of time, as usual. But, oh yes, thanks to the U.S. Congress for stepping up this week. Let's hope they weren't too late. Some of the speeches on the House floor today were truly memorable (Nancy Pelosi's wasn't one of them this time ... thank God). I realize there's no consensus whatsoever on this, but I do feel that we took a step back from the brink of the abyss today. We'll see.

Shabbat Shuva Shalom.

L'Shana Tova Tikatevu

2008-09-29T18:28:00.002-04:00

What a year this has been.

Here's wishing all a much better 5769, full of peace, prosperity, good health and many blessings.

Shana Tova!

A hard-charging populist

2008-09-26T18:16:00.004-04:00

So neither candidate has distinguished himself so far in his response to the economic crisis. McCain has on more than one occasion jumped the gun and made a few bad calls. He's been obliged to do way too much walking back. Obama, as usual, tries to say and do nothing. It's safe and, sadly, effective. He's rocketing up in the polls.

But now he's trying to take credit for offering solutions to the problem ahead of time. And it's bogus. How far he'll be allowed to go with these claims, I have no idea. The media, after a brief attempt at achieving more balance, now seems to be deeper in the tank for Obama than ever.

In a speech in Florida on Wednesday, Obama took this swipe at McCain:

Now, in the last few days, my opponent has decided to start talking tough about CEO pay. He's suddenly a hard-charging populist. And that's all well and good. But I sure wish he was talking the same way over a year ago, when I introduced a bill that would've helped stop some of the multimillion-dollar bonus packages that CEOs grab on their way out the door. Because he opposed that idea.

Really? If McCain is sounding like a populist, it's hardly the first time and not at all sudden. But let's look at that bill. Obama's referring to S.1181 - the Shareholder Vote on Executive Compensation Act, which he did, in fact, introduce in 2007. It never got out of the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee (on which John McCain does not sit). The Congressional Research Service summarized the provisions of that act as follows:

Amends the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 to require a proxy, consent, or authorization for a shareholder meeting occurring on or after January 1, 2009, to permit a separate shareholder vote to approve executive compensation.
States that such shareholder vote shall not be binding on the board of directors, nor construed: (1) as overruling a board decision; (2) to create or imply additional fiduciary duty by such board; and (3) to restrict or limit shareholder ability to make proposals for inclusion in proxy materials related to executive compensation.
Requires proxy solicitation material for a shareholder meeting occurring on or after January 1, 2009, concerning disposition of substantially all of an issuer's assets, to disclose compensation agreements or understandings with the principal executive officers of either the issuer or acquiring issuer regarding any type of (golden parachute) compensation which: (1) relates to such disposition; and (2) has not been subject to a shareholder vote.
Provides that proxy solicitation material containing such executive compensation disclosures shall require a separate shareholder vote to approve such agreements or understandings.
States that such shareholder vote shall not be binding on the board of directors, nor construed: (1) as overruling a board decision; (2) to create or imply additional fiduciary duty by such board; and (3) to constrain shareholder ability to make proposals for inclusion in proxy materials related to executive compensation.

So his bill would have required a non-binding shareholder vote on golden parachute compensation agreements where a company was going belly up (but not in other cases and only after 1/1/09). (A number of companies have already adopted such measures voluntarily, BTW.) Gee, yeah, that would have gone a long way toward stopping those multi-million dollar bonus packages. Not.

BTW, there's no evidence whatsoever that McCain "opposed the idea." He didn't sponsor the bill, true. Neither did 91 other senators. Politifact (which glosses over the huge gap between what the legislation would actually do and what Obama now claims it would have done) called the Obama campaign to pin that one down. They obviously weren't satisfied with the answer.

Neither was that the end of his disingenuous attacks and distortion of McCain's record in that speech alone. Unfortunately, the full text appears to have vanished from the web (for the moment at least), but there's enough of it here to catch the drift.

I expect more of the same in the debate tonight.

Shabbat Shalom.

Leaving the left

2008-09-23T14:28:00.003-04:00

It's been a long time since I linked Caroline Glick, and for some pretty good reasons, but I'm breaking the ban today, for some equally good reasons. In this column, she sums up, in excruciatingly accurate detail, the incredible imbicility of the dis-invitation of Sarah Palin to yesterday's anti-Iran rally in New York, the mindset of Jewish Democrats and the Democratic Party in general. And in so doing, she also sums up something else: the reasons why, after a lifetime of hanging out in those circles, I have ultimately left the left.

American Jews have good reason to be ashamed and angry today. As Iran moves into the final stages of its nuclear weapons development program - nuclear weapons which it will use to destroy the State of Israel, endanger Jews around the world and cow the United States of America - Democratic American Jewish leaders decided that putting Sen. Barack Obama in the White House is more important than protecting the lives of the Jewish people in Israel and around the world.
On Monday, the New York Sun published the speech that Republican vice presidential nominee and Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin would have delivered at that day's rally outside UN headquarters in New York against Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and against Iran's plan to destroy Israel. She would have delivered it, if she hadn't been disinvited.
[ ... ]
The lives of 6 million Jews in Israel are today tied to the fortunes of those [Iranian] women, to the fortunes of American forces in Iraq, to the willingness of Americans across the political and ideological spectrum to recognize that there is more that unifies them than divides them and to act on that knowledge to defeat the forces of genocide, oppression, hatred and destruction that are led today by the Iranian regime and personified in the brutal personality of Ahmadinejad. But Jewish Democrats chose to ignore this basic truth in order to silence Palin.
They should be ashamed. The Democratic Party should be ashamed. And Jewish American voters should consider carefully whether opposing a woman who opposes the abortion of fetuses is really more important than standing up for the right of already born Jews to continue to live and for the Jewish state to continue to exist. Because this week it came to that.

Please read every word. That's only the beginning and the end. There's so much more in between.

And if you haven't yet read the text of Palin's intended speech, please do that too.

Brief thoughts

2008-09-19T18:44:00.000-04:00

Are we glad this week is over or what? I really don't even want to talk about it. So, briefly.

Stanley Fischer, Governor of the Bank of Israel, says Israel's banks are "doing well." I imagine they are, but does this look like a happy camper to you?

The DJIA ended the week just a few dozen points below where it started. Of course that was only due to heroic measures. Will they work? Who knows?

As for Sarah Palin's disinvitation to Monday's anti-Ahmadinejad rally in New York, please read Soccer Dad. The priorities of the liberal Jewish organizations in this country are just totally screwed up. We should throw them all under the bus. Except that, well, they've got too many people brainwashed and befuddled and, somehow, we need to keep trying to reach out to those people and help them. (Ok, yes, I do know how condescending that sounds. I'm in a mood.)

Meanwhile, I think McCain probably made a mistake jumping on the Franklin Raines thing. It's just flimsy at this point and it gives his detractors a solid peg to hang their accusations of bad campaign tactics on. Just saying. There's so much more important stuff out there.

Like this (followed up with this), for instance. This campaign in getting more bizarre every day.

Hey. It's that time.

Shabbat Shalom.

Lipstick

2008-09-12T18:56:00.000-04:00

Speaking of things changing in a New York minute, how about this? The Intrade Predictions for the Presidential race now favor John McCain over Barack Obama by three points. The Real Clear Politics Electoral map today shows Obama leading by one (1) electoral vote with 105 still up for grabs. Suddenly, even that massive Democratic victory in the upcoming Congressional elections is looking dubious. Whodathunk?

Of course, this can all change tomorrow. How much of it is due to the Sarah Palin phenomenon and how much to Obama fatigue, it's hard to say. The former may well burn itself out (but maybe not) and the latter could reverse course. The media, of course, will play a part, but it's unclear what that will be, as well. The partisanship and blatant lack of objectivity by the major networks appear to be wearing thin. Will they pull back or will they just completely lose the people's trust? And if they lose it, where will people go?

There's that saying about counting your chickens. Those of us supporting the Republican ticket shouldn't get to cocky.

Still, two essays I read this week pretty well bookmarked this issues that I believe define this race. The first, by Fouad Ajami at the WSJ, addresses the differences between the candidates on foreign policy and American's role in the world. The second, by Newt Gingrich and Peter Ferrara at The Weekly Standard, addresses the economy. Both excellent must-reads.

But all that serious stuff aside, in the end this election just may turn out to come down to one word. Lipstick. Imagine that.

Shabbat Shalom.

Seven years gone

2008-09-11T13:02:00.003-04:00

9-11-2001

Do we still remember?

I sure hope so. I know I do.

Charles Johnson has invited his readers to share their memories of that day over at Little Green Footballs. If you're registered there, you can chime in. If not, there are over 500 personal stories to read, each one unique, many of them quite inspiring.

What's up?

2008-09-05T16:13:00.006-04:00

TS Hanna is headed this way. Tomorrow promises to be wet and windy. The wet, we really desperately need. Hopefully, it will come in gradually. Torrential downpours on this parched ground could be a real disaster.

Not nearly the disaster, of course, that Gustav could have been. There's a blessing we say after the aversion of disaster, praising God who (paraphrased) bestows favors on the undeserving, and has shown every kindness. Roger that.

Disasters loom in many places and in many forms, though. I see good old President Shimon Peres made the headlines again today, announcing his opposition to the use of military force against Iran. He's convinced the world will not allow Iran to obtain nuclear weapons. He wants to sit down to tea with them and chat about it. And, while he's at it, he wants to chat with Bashar Assad about giving back the Golan. Because this negotiating thing has worked so well for him (and for Israel) in the past.

McCain's speech. It wasn't bad. It could have been worse. It went too long for the substance it contained. Oh, look. I didn't like it. Sue me. McCain gives lousy speeches. He can, OTOH, be very good extemporaneously. In those respects, he's the polar opposite of Obama. He did a great job at Saddleback. I think he'll do well in the debates, and the less scripted, the better.

Sarah's speech ... awesome. There are, as I've said elsewhere, a lot of things I don't agree with her views on, but I'll have to process that over the next few weeks. For some reason, the thought of her as VP doesn't scare me one bit.

Finally, I want to give a shout out to Meryl, a huge mazal tov on her move and her homeownership and may she enjoy her new condo in most excellent health.

Shabbat Shalom.

What a week!

2008-08-29T19:25:00.000-04:00

It started out early last Shabbat morning with Obama's VP roll-out debacle, leaked at 2 AM to the dismay of all those supporters promised an exclusive text message preview. Biden, a disappointing choice, to say the least. And then, the Spectacle, culminating in the SuperSpectacle. Michelle's tense and earnest speech, every other sentence beginning with "See...," as if there was a message she was desparately trying to convey but never quite hitting the mark. Hillary's lackluster but determined speech, slogged through and finally finished, hitting all the obligatory talking points, never quite admonishing her supporters to give it up and vote for ... him. And outside, the embarassing demonstrations, marches and theater. The roll call drama (would they or wouldn't they?) and melodrama (terminated by HRC herself). Bill's speech (sorry, obnoxious, turned it off after two minutes). Biden's speech (wasn't interested). And then, last night, the huge, surging, roaring crowds, the flags (finally), the single man on the podium, rallying and exhorting the faithful, saying nothing new (surprise), the lights, the music (awful), the fireworks, the confetti. Now, blessedly, over.

Today, McCain announced his VP pick, having been much more successful at controlling the leaks (and what does that say about leadership qualifications?), a bold choice that was a surprise to many. I'm pretty pleased, although of course I have reservations. We may disagree on a lot of things but Sarah Palin is going to be a fearsome fighter and a loyal partner for John McCain. She brings a lot to the ticket. She may bring a lot of undecideds to the ticket. She brings me more enthusiastically to the ticket.

So that was it. One more convention to go and then we're into the home stretch. I can't wait until it's over, frankly. I've been sick of it for months now. But today was kind of exciting. I'm a little less sick of it tonight.

Shabbat Shalom.

Convergence

2008-08-22T19:33:00.001-04:00

From yesterday's Jerusalem Post:

The IDF shut down BBC radio transmitters in Hebron on Wednesday, acting on orders of the Communications Ministry and citing interference with communications at Ben-Gurion International Airport.
The IDF Spokesman said the transmitters were illegal, adding that the Communications Ministry had found them to be jeopardizing contact between Ben-Gurion's control tower and passenger aircraft.
BBC employees had raised the issue during a press conference held by Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni on Wednesday. A government official said in response that in addition to the BBC's transmitters, a number of additional transmitters had been shut down, including some inside Israel, as they were "endangering civilian aviation, a problem we have been suffering from for a long time."
The official added that the BBC was broadcasting on a wavelength allocated to it by the Palestinian Authority without prior coordination with the Communications Ministry. "We are now trying to solve the problem," the official said.

And then there's this:

The BBC has denied charges that money raised by a BBC charity was used to recruit and train the terrorists involved in the 7/7 terror attacks on London that killed 52 people in 2005.
The BBC's own Newsnight current affairs programme reported on Tuesday night's broadcast that the BBC's Children in Need charity had donated around £20,000 to the Leeds Community School, Yorkshire, between 1999 and 2002 which went towards funding the activities of the terrorists behind the July 2005 attacks.
On Thursday the BBC said that there is no evidence that the money was used for terrorist activity.
The school funded and shared premises with the Iqra Islamic book shop where the suicide bombers Muhammad Siddique Khan and Shezhad Tanweer regularly met. Khan and Tanweer attempted to radicalize youths by showing propaganda films at the bookshop, which became a regular meeting place for young Muslims at the time - including Jermaine Lindsay, who went on to become the King's Cross bomber.

Busy little BBC.

And in the three grains of salt category, I'd like to close the week with this bit of presidential campaign pandering (or is it?) from last week. Obviously, this is a matter of grave importance to me, but the way politicians shamelessly manipulate it time and again for the consumption of gullible voters is truly mindboggling.

US Republican presidential nominee Sen. John McCain said on Friday he will promptly move the US embassy to Jerusalem from Tel Aviv if elected president. The firm pledge comes in contrast to his Democratic rival Sen. Barack Obama’s vague stance on the issue of an “undivided Jerusalem.” During an interview in which he was asked about moving the embassy, McCain said, “Right way…. I’ve been committed to that proposition for years.”

I'm sure he is. Yes. Terrific. In case you don't remember, here's the fly in that ointment, later on in the same item.

Both President George W. Bush and former president Bill Clinton also vowed to move the embassy during their initial campaigns for the White House, but both used a presidential waiver authority granted by Congress in the 1995 Embassy Relocation Act to postpone the move on national security grounds.

So I'll believe it when I see it. Who knows? McCain could be the one we've been waiting for ...

Shabbat Shalom.

The failure of hasbara

2008-08-18T19:00:00.003-04:00

Martin Sherman has this column at Ynet today, intriguingly entitled "Explaining Israel's PR failure." That's always a fascinating and frustrating topic. And he actually provides some answers. Or part of an answer.

For many, both in Israel and abroad, the failure of Israeli diplomacy and public relations (Hasbara) is difficult to understand. After all, the Jewish State has many features that, prime facie, should bestow on it the unqualified support of Western democracies: Free fair (and frequent) elections, general gender equality, religious freedom, an open press, tolerance of sexual preferences and so on. Even if in everyday practice there are flaws and imperfections in some of these areas, they are certainly far closer to the desired ideal than in any of its Muslim adversaries and certainly more so than the areas under Palestinian rule (or misrule.)
In fact, the explanation of the failure is very simple – although it may not be easy to accept. For the truth of the matter is that Israel is losing the battle for world opinion because…it simply has no desire to win! At first glance this explanation seems inconceivable. However, an even a cursory examination of the facts will suffice to provide solid evidence to support it.

But the evidence doesn't. Or does it? He goes on to say, for example, that both Ariel Sharon and Yitzhak Rabin were elected on the basis of tough, anti-appeasement platforms that they abandoned once they got into office. True. But his explanation for that turn of events doesn't work.

In actual fact, people who dominate the socio-political mechanisms and in effect are those who "make things happen" in Israel comprise a trinity of elites who, although unelected, impose their views on the general public with great effectiveness. These are the elites in the legal establishment, in the mainstream media, and in academia (at least that portion of academia that interfaces with the previous two elites – principally in the faculties of the social sciences and the humanities, where the politically-correct dominates the factually- correct.)
Thus for example the legal elite can obstruct any assertive initiative that the elected polity may wish to implement (as was the case with the attempt to cut-off the electricity supply to Gaza); similarly, the media elite can initiate any concessionary initiative that the elected polity may be loathe to implement (as was the case with the Disengagement and, to a large degree, with Oslo); and when the stamp of professional approval is required, the amenable academic elite is ever-ready to provide it.

But it was neither the courts nor the media nor the academy that drove the Oslo and disengagement engines. It was a change of heart inspired and/or encouraged by a trusted political sidekick (Peres, Olmert). Could Rabin and Sharon have gotten away with it if Sherman's triumverate of defeat (courts, media, academics) hadn't collaborated? Hard to say. Sharon ignored the consensus in his own party so surely he wasn't beholden to the popular will. But, anyway, what does that have to do with the failure of hasbara?

Sherman's analysis of the insecurities, the narcissism and the avoidance of cognitive dissonance that power the elites' world view is spot on, IMO. But it doesn't explain the government's seeming inability to do what the Arabs have done so well for so long: effectively represent its point of view in the court of world opinion. Israel's hasbara couldn't be muzzled by the courts, the media and the intelligensia ... if Israel actually had a program of hasbara. But it doesn't.

In this respect, Sherman is assuredly correct that Israel seems not to want to win the PR war. But of course that's ridiculous. Isn't it? Unfortunately, Deputy PM Ehud Olmert said it best, in front of the Israel Policy Forum more than three years ago:

We are tired of fighting, we are tired of being courageous, we are tired of winning, we are tired of defeating our enemies, we want that we will be able to live in an entirely different environment of relations with our enemies. We want them to be our friends, our partners, our good neighbors, and I believe that this is not impossible.

What or who is responsible for this fatigue? Is it the courts, the media, the academics? Surely they contribute, but it is has to be something more. That's what I'm still looking for and haven't been able to find yet. Sherman again.

Thus a situation has been created in which Israel finds itself unable to embark on a offensive strategic Hasbara initiative designed to defeat its adversaries, and thus restricts itself to tactical defensive responses, designed merely to temporarily ward of enemy offensives and doomed to inevitable failure.

Right.

This then is the explanation for Israel's abysmal performance in the fight for public opinion. Remedying this regrettable condition is not any easy task. While the difficulties should not be underestimated – neither should they be over-estimated. As with any problem, the first stage toward a solution requires an accurate articulation of the issues involved as a necessary condition for their diagnosis and for the formulation of ways to contend with them.
The precise details of these formulae for solutions constitute a topic for a separate discussion, but their overriding objective would be to publicly expose those responsible for the diplomatic debacle, unveil their myopia and their malice, undermine their standing, and erode their status. This is the only way to neutralize their influence and the enormous damage that they inflict on the nation.

But Sherman is mostly describing effects here, of whatever-it-is. Not so much the cause. Still looking ...

Krauthammer on Russia

2008-08-15T19:55:00.001-04:00

An awful lot has been written on this topic this week. I think this piece by Charles Krauthammer nails it.

What is to be done? Let's be real. There's nothing to be done militarily. What we can do is alter Putin's cost-benefit calculations.
We are not without resources. There are a range of measures to be deployed if Russia does not live up to its cease-fire commitments: . . .

You'll have to click through for these.

. . . The most crucial and unconditional measure, however, is this: Reaffirm support for the Saakashvili government and declare that its removal by the Russians would lead to recognition of a government-in-exile. This would instantly be understood as providing us the legal basis for supplying and supporting a Georgian resistance to any Russian-installed regime.

Here's a different view of the conflict. I disagree. But I'm nevertheless deeply disturbed by the virulent hostility that's been directed against Robert Spencer over his position (such as it is) on this issue in the past few days. Something is rotten in the blogosphere and we'd better root it out, pronto.

My thoughts and prayers tonight are with the people of Georgia and their sovereign, mostly democratic state.

Shabbat Shalom.

Out of the ruins

2008-08-10T16:04:00.003-04:00

I found this "talkback" at (naturally) Ha'aretz today in response to an article about "progressive" attempts to make Tisha B'av more "relevant." (Huh?) It's from someone named Eyal in Rehovot.

Tisha B`Av is one of the most beautiful days in the Jewish calendar, commemorating our emancipation from the backwardness of a sacrifice cult run by a priestly class using religious law to extort tithes from the citizenry and to freeload.

The end of the Beit Ha`Mikdash was the birth of Judaism. Those who call for the reinstatement of the Beit Ha`Mikdash are calling for the end of Judaism, the end of everything that was worthy in our teachings. Sacrifices to one who does not want nor need them.

As the famous story of Rabbi Yochanan ben Zakai goes:

Once, Rabban Yochanan was coming forth from Jerusalem, Rabbi Joshua, a disciple, followed after him and beheld the Temple in ruins. "Woe unto us!", Rabbi Joshua cried, "that this, the place where the iniquities of Israel were atoned for, is laid waste."

"My son," Rabbi Yochanan said to him, "be not grieved; we have another atonement as effective as this. It is acts of loving-kindness. For I desire loving kindness and not sacrifice."

Actually, I happen to share his view, though I'd phrase it somewhat differently. I've always had this problem with Tisha B'av. Not that I don't understand the importance of solemnity and reflection on this anniversary of so many tragedies that have befallen our people. I do. It's unfortunate that too many Jews don't acknowledge or even know of this day of commemoration. But I'm skeptical of the various rabbinical proscriptions that have been heaped on top of that. (Actually, yes, I'm pretty skeptical of rabbinical proscriptions in general.)

Like Eyal, I tend to see the destruction of the Temple as the catalyst for the birth of Judaism as we know it today. The fact is that back in 587 BCE, this Judaism really didn't exist. The Northern Kingdom of Israel had been destroyed back in 722, and all that remained of the Israelites were the residents of the Kingdom of Judah (Yehuda), who came to be known as Jews (Yehudim). Their lives were centered around the Temple in Jerusalem and its daily, weekly, monthly and yearly cycles of festivals and offerings, feasts and sacrifices, all orchestrated by the Kohanim under the watchful eye of the monarchy. It was a life few of us can imagine leading.

It's unlikely that this small civilization, its language, its literature, its rituals or its values would have been preserved in any form even into the next millenium if not for the catastrophic events of the Temple's destruction and the people's exile. Out of that devastation grew the Talmud and the ascendancy of our prophetic, rabbinic and liturgical traditions. Minor themes at first, those innovations came to form the core of the Jewish belief and practice that sustained us after the destruction of the Second Temple in 70 CE. And continue to sustain us today.

Or at least that's one way to look at it. It's not the fundamentalist way. It's not even the traditional way. But every year at this time, I meditate on what we lost and what some pray we'll regain. Numbers 28: 1-6:

And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying: Command the children of Israel, and say to them: My food which is presented to Me for offerings made by fire, of a sweet savour to Me, shall you observe to offer to Me in its due season. And you shall say to them: This is the offering made by fire which you shall bring unto the LORD: he-lambs of the first year without blemish, two day by day, for a continual burnt-offering. The one lamb you shall offer in the morning, and the other lamb you shall offer at dusk; and the tenth part of an ephah of fine flour for a meal-offering, mingled with the fourth part of a hin of beaten oil. It is a continual burnt-offering, which was offered in mount Sinai, for a sweet savour, an offering made by fire to the LORD.

This was, in essence, the "Judaism" of 587 BCE. Not something I mourn the passing of. Not something I aspire to return to.

For all those who do, I wish you an easy and meaningful conclusion to your fast.

Friday Crapes

2008-08-08T18:25:00.001-04:00

It's that time again! SoccerDad posted his last week. Here are mine.

The lavender crape myrtle:

And the pink one:

I didn't get to them early enough in the day today, so they're not showing as well as they do in direct sunlight. I'll work on that.

Shabbat Shalom.

Shoaib's trial begins

2008-08-06T10:41:00.001-04:00

Along with many thousands of other supporters of Salah Uddin Shoaib Choudhury, I received this email message from him this morning.

HELLO FRIENDS!

GREETINGS FROM DHAKA.

TODAY, AUGUST 6 2008, FINALLY THE TRIAL BEGAN WITH THE PLAINTIFF GIVING HIS TESTIMONY IN THE COURT. TOMORROW [THURSDAY] IS THE DATE FOR CROSS EXAMINING THE PLAINTIFF.

SO, NOW REALLY MY LUCK HANGS INTO PENDULUM OF BEING EITHER ACQUITED FROM THE CHARGE BY THE COURT, OR ACCORDED CAPITAL PUNISHMENT. THE PROSECUTION IS POSSIBLY HOPING TO SEE ME DEAD. THAT IS MY PERSONAL OPINION ALTHOUGH.

WITH BEGINNING OF THE TRIAL, BANGLADESH GOVERNMENT HAS FINALLY LEFT A STRONG MESSAGE TO THE INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY THAT THEY DO NOT CARE UNITED STATES OR EUROPE OR US CONGRESS OR EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT OR AUSTRALIAN SENATE OR MILLIONS OF MY FRIENDS AND SUPPORTERS AROUND THE WORLD.

SO, TODAY [WEDNESDAY] I WENT TO THE COURT AT 9:00 AM AND HAD TO STAND IN THE DIAS TILL 5:00 PM. TOMORROW WILL BE THE SAME THING.

AS I SHALL FACE THE TRIAL, I WILL REMEMBER, MY FRIENDS AND SUPPORTERS AROUND THE WORLD ARE SPIRITUALLY WITH ME, PRAYING FOR ME AND I AM NOT ALONE.

LET US REMAIN STRONG, AND LET US DEFEAT THOSE ENEMIES OF PEACE TOGETHER. G-D IS WITH US AND WE SHALL WIN.

REGARDS

SHOAIB

If you're not familiar with the story of how this brave pro-Zionist Muslim Bangladeshi journalist arrived at this juncture, you can find out here*. It's quite amazing.

(*Yes, I know, it's Wikipedia. Will wonders never cease?)

Please send him all the good thoughts and prayers you can spare. And a few more.

GIGO

2008-08-05T15:14:00.003-04:00

How often do you get those political polls through the mail or on the phone? You know, like the ones that ask how well you think the country is being run and whether we're safer than we were eight years ago; the ones that ask whether you really want to ruin the pristine wilderness in the ANWAR and the ones that ask how you feel about paying $10 a gallon for gas in order to avoid discomfort to a few polar bears; and the ones that ask whether you support murdering unborn babies and the ones that ask whether you support the rights of women to make informed choices about reproduction.

They're usually targeted to audiences that share the ideology of the commissioner. Some are genuinely intended to take the pulse of the people. Many of them are designed to get you to give money to the cause, in which case there's a beg at the end. Others aspire to gather data that will support their agenda.

A few weeks ago, J-Street, that self-defined "progressive alternative to AIPAC," commissioned a poll that I expect fits into the latter category (I doubt it had a beg). Among other things, it asked American Jews to rate the popularity of various political and quasi-political figures like, for example, Senator Joseph Lieberman and Pastor John Hagee. That part has gotten a bit more publicity than the rest, no doubt due to the efforts of J-Street itself.

According to the poll, which has a margin of error of 3.5 percent, Lieberman scored an unfavorable rating of 48 percent, compared to a favorable rating of 37 percent.

Hagee, the leading right-wing Christian Zionist whose endorsement of U.S. Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) triggered a firestorm earlier this year, fared even worse: The pastor registered a 7 percent favorable rating, while his unfavorables came in at 57 percent.

The poll was based on interviews with 800 Jewish respondents between June 29 and July 3.

At least Hagee did better than the Rev. Jeremiah Wright. But not by much.

J-Street has helpfully published the raw data for the poll and it's illuminating in so many ways. It provides insight into J-Street's agenda (in case you didn't know it already).

Q.6 Generally speaking, do you think that things in this country are going in the right direction, or do you feel things have gotten pretty seriously off on the wrong track?

It offers a pretty frightening glimpse into the opinions of what, I'm afraid, is a fairly representative segment of the American Jewish Left.

Q.32 Below are some pairs of statements. After reading each pair, please mark whether the FIRST statement or the SECOND statement comes closer to your own view, even if neither is exactly right.
...
Q.41 Israel is more secure as a result of George Bush's presidency because this president understood that Israel's struggle is part of the war on terror, provided unwavering support for Israel, and removed Saddam Hussein.
OR
Israel is less secure as a result of George Bush's presidency because America is militarily stuck in Iraq, we have less credibility and influence across the Middle East and Iran has become a stronger regional power.

And it supplies a magnificent example of how a poll can be used to shape public sentiment, as well as to assess it.

[400 Respondents] Q.35 (SPLIT A) Israel needs all the support it can get and it does not matter who lobbies the US government in support of Israel.
OR
If right wing Christian Zionists are the most vocal lobbyists for Israel and set the agenda, they will lead America's Middle East policy in the wrong direction.
[400 Respondents] Q.36 (SPLIT B) Israel needs all the support it can get and it does not matter who lobbies the US government in support of Israel, even if they have their own agenda.
OR
Israel needs all the support it can get, but we send the wrong message when Jewish organizations form alliances with right wing Christian Zionists who have their own agenda.

And then there's the stuff that's just downright dishonest. Let me be clear. I'm not a big fan of Hagee or CUFI. I find a large number of his positions and statements to be offensive and I don't trust his agenda. But that's a different issue and questions like this are just a cheap smear tactic.

Q.74 Below are some more facts and statements about Reverend John Hagee of Christians United for Israel. Please mark whether you think these facts and statements are CONVINCING REASONS TO OPPOSE forming alliances with Reverend Hagee and Christians United for Israel?
[400 Respondents] Q.75 (SPLIT A) Reverend Hagee says, "the coming nuclear showdown with Iran is a certainty and will lead to Armageddon and the second coming of Christ." To bring this about, Hagee has said Iran's President is the new Hitler and Hagee has made Israel the centerpiece of his campaign for America to go to war with Iran.

That "quote" from Hagee is a cobbling together of parts of several statements he's made. Had they put a period after "certainty," it would have been an accurate representation (e.g., here). But J-Street is not about accuracy. It's the agenda, stupid.

A final note. They didn't do so well on this set of questions.

[400 Respondents]Q.39 (SPLIT A) Established Jewish organizations like AIPAC do a good job of representing my views on Israel.
OR
Established Jewish organizations like AIPAC do a poor job of representing my views on Israel.
[400 Respondents]Q.40 (SPLIT B) The traditional Jewish organizations do a good job of representing my views on Israel.
OR
The traditional Jewish organizations do a poor job of representing my views on Israel.

They were looking for a vindication of their raison d'être there, for a vote of no-confidence against AIPAC and "traditional Jewish organizations." They didn't get it.

Go see for yourself.

Disinformation

2008-08-01T18:58:00.000-04:00

I hardly know what to think of this, whether to laugh or to cry.

A peace agreement with Syria is within reach, according to Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's envoys to talks with Syria, who returned from another round of indirect negotiations in Turkey and were quoted in a Ma'ariv report Friday.

According to the report, the sides have already formulated a sketch of a peace deal and have told the Turkish mediators that they are willing to pay the price, which, for the Syrians, would include cutting off Iran.

The Jerusalem Post could not confirm the report.

Of course it couldn't. The "report" is absurd, even if true, which would not be to say that Syria has any intention of living up to such an agreement, just that they have pretended they will. Ridiculous on its face but not nearly as ridiculous as anyone believing it. The Post goes on to say as much. Well, not exactly.

According to the report, there was no way to directly prevent Syria from having ties with Iran. The agreement could, however, forbid Damascus from providing weapons to - or harboring representatives of - nations or organizations that threaten Israel.

The report quoted officials familiar with the negotiations as saying that the Syrians had expressed their awareness of Israel's demand and did not reject it.

The officials also said that talks with Israel had already exacted a price from Syrian President Bashar Assad in terms of his relationship with Teheran.

Yes, I expect that Ahmedinejad has cracked a rib or two from laughing so hard. As if Assad really has any choice in the matter.

I guess the most interesting question is who or what is behind this rather pathetic disinformation campaign. It's not a tough guess. Soccer Dad has analyzed the hysteria in Washington generated by Olmert's not-imminent-enough departure: it's all about the danger to the "peace process," stupid. And, yes, it's very disturbing. More clues here.

Olmert, for all his political prowess, is a whiney little baby and he may just try to give as much of his country away as he can before he leaves office, partly as a payback for being treated so unfairly and partly because (I suspect) he labors under the illusion that history will reward him for it. And at this point he is simply desperate for glory. In the stands cheering wildly, of course, will be the U.S. State Department, which seems more Clintonesque every day.

God save and protect Israel from lame ducks everywhere.

Shabbat Shalom.

Fairy tales

2008-08-01T14:52:00.001-04:00

For those who continue to claim that the Hebrew Bible is all a bunch of made up stories with no factual foundation ... that ice under your feet is getting thinner every day.

A seal impression belonging to a minister of the Biblical King Zedekiah which dates back 2,600 years has been uncovered completely intact during an archeological dig in Jerusalem's ancient City of David, a prominent Israeli archeologist said on Thursday.

The seal impression, or bulla, with the name Gedalyahu ben Pashur, who served as minister to King Zedekiah (597-586 BCE) according to the Book of Jeremiah, was found just meters away from a separate seal impression of another of Zedekia's ministers, Yehukual ben Shelemyahu, which was uncovered three years ago, said Prof. Eilat Mazar who is leading the dig at the site.

Pretty cool, yes?

Of course, Gedaliah and Yucal weren't exactly the heroes of this story. They were among the many advisors to King Zedehiah who tried to silence Jeremiah and who convinced the king to ignore his advice, leading ultimately to the destruction of Jerusalem and the Babylonian captivity.

It's a wrap

2008-07-30T13:40:00.005-04:00

So both my vacation and the suspense over when and how Ehud Olmert will finally, actually, exit stage left, are now in the past.

Prime Minister Ehud Olmert held a special press conference on Wednesday at 8 p.m. where he announced he will not run in the Kadima primary scheduled to take place in September.

Olmert said he would resign from office upon selection of a successor, and would allow his successor to attempt to form a coalition.

And that's all we need to know. If you want to read more about Olmert lashing out against his opponents, protesting his innocence, whining about how mean everyone has been to him and declaring what a resounding success his premiership has been, it's all here. I'll pass.

Ah! A caveat.

While Prime Minister Olmert clearly stated that he would resign after the election of a new Kadima head in the upcoming Kadima primaries, Israel Radio has been broadcasting the following clarification in its hourly news bulletins starting with the 9 PM news:

"Our state affairs correspondent Shmuel Tal clarifies that the person who is elected to head Kadima will be asked to form a government and until he succeeds in doing it Olmert will continue to serve as prime minister. If the new chairman of Kadima fails to form a government Olmert will serve as prime minister until after the coming general elections."

He's said this before. The cat and mouse game is getting a little ... tired, Ehud. Give it up already.

And he's outta here

2008-07-21T18:52:00.004-04:00

Well, it took long enough but it appears (appears) that Ehud Olmert is on his way out of office in disgrace. His party (or, rather, Arik Sharon's party) has at long last shown him the door and placed his hat firmly in his hand.

Prime Minister Ehud Olmert will be replaced as Kadima leader in mid-September, barring unforeseen circumstances, after the Kadima council received the necessary votes on Monday to initiate a party leadership primary.

It took 12 days of voting, but a majority of the council's 180 members voted to change the party's constitution to allow the primary to take place. The next step is for Kadima's election committee to set a date for the primary and a mid-August deadline for potential candidates to join the race.

Sources close to Olmert said he would likely wait until the last possible moment to announce that he is not running in order to minimize the time that he would be considered a lame duck. Olmert's associates said there was almost no chance that he would run, because he is aware that he would have no chance of winning.

Ya think?

The damage that Olmert has done to his country and his people probably won't really be known for years. It remains to be seen whether his successor (probably Livni) will be able to forestall new elections and keep Kadima in power and whether the changing of the guard will actually signal the dawn or a new day or just more of the same.