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11/06/2009

Boycotting Israeli universities: A self-imposed death sentence

Filed under: Israel Derangement Syndrome, World — Meryl Yourish @ 11:30 am

Norway’s second-largest university is considering boycotting Israeli academics. And if they do, here is what they will be boycotting:

Israeli scientists have identified a substance that can kill cancerous cells without harming healthy ones, paving the way for more effective cancer treatment.

The findings by researchers at Tel Aviv University and Sheba Medical Center, Tel Hashomer, were published in the current issue of the international peer-reviewed journal Breast Cancer Research.

“We actually found the Achilles heel of the cancer cell,” said Prof. Malka Cohen-Armon from Tel Aviv University, who headed the research team. “As soon as you can target cancerous cells without killing healthy ones, you can produce medications that would cause a lot less suffering to the patient. We can even give a much more aggressive treatment without worrying about harming healthy tissues.”

Feel free, Norway, to boycott the possible cure for cancer. Perhaps in turn, Israel will find it hard to ship this medicine to Norway, and to all of the other nations that boycott Israel.

Of course not. Because that’s not what Jews do. That’s what the enemies of Jews do. And I count among the enemies of Jews those nations, companies, and groups that take part in boycotting the Jewish state. It’s not anti-Zionism.

The letter claims that Israeli universities and other institutions of higher education “have played a key role in the policy of oppression” that the signatories claim exists in Israel. It goes on to say that “Israel goes against all the ideals of open universities and academic freedom.”

Really? In Saudi Arabia, men and women are unable to take classes together. In Iran and Egypt, students are arrested and imprisoned for speaking their minds about the current governments. In Israel, Arabs and Israelis work side by side in universities all over the country. It isn’t Israel that goes against the ideals of open universities and academic freedom.

But sure, Norwegians, go ahead—boycott Israeli universities. It’s not like they’re coming up with a cure for cancer or anything like that.

Oh. Wait.

11/03/2009

French hypocrisy on war crimes

Filed under: Gaza, Israeli Double Standard Time, United Nations, World — Tags: — Meryl Yourish @ 9:00 am

The U.K. and France are the latest countries to jump on the bandwagon to force Israel to investigate the accusations in the Goldstone report. Let us review the French reaction to her citizens being attacked in the Ivory Coast a few years back:

The present crisis began on 6 November when the government attack on Bouaké also killed nine French peacekeepers. The French president, Jacques Chirac, ordered the destruction of the Ivorian air force. In Abidjan Gbagbo’s supporters promptly turned on the expatriate French community.

None of this settled anything, but it did clarify the nature of the conflict. This was the first time in 40 years of postcolonial apprenticeship that the lives of French citizens in Africa had been so threatened. Everyone had been happy to watch Africans kill each other, but television images of tearful French evacuees stepping off planes outside Paris were another matter – almost enough to make viewers forget that French forces had killed Ivorian civilians and destroyed a sovereign state’s air force to reassure 15,000 compatriots and to avenge the deaths of nine soldiers.

[...] On 7 November 2004 there were minor skirmishes between Fanci, Ivory Coast’s national armed forces, and French Operation Unicorn soldiers. Although these were of no military significance, it would be unwise to underestimate their symbolic importance. Even before these confrontations, and despite the fact that it was operating under a UN security council mandate, Operation Unicorn was perceived as an occupation force. The disproportionate nature of its response confirmed this, sending a signal not just to Ivory Coast but to other client states in France’s sphere of influence. It is easy for the weight of history to give young soldiers the impression of being stuck in an isolated garrison on the remote tribal fringes of the empire. Although African heads of state – all fervent democrats, of course – sided with France, there was fierce condemnation in French-speaking countries of what had become a bloody colonial adventure.

There were no UN resolutions or worldwide outrage that the French were using disproportionate force on a former colony. There was no call for investigation of the deaths of civilians. There were no charges of war crimes. There was only the expectation that since French citizens were being attacked, France had the right to defend them with all means at her disposal.

Funny, isn’t it, how the French can get away with this, yet Israel cannot defend herself against eight years of missile attacks on her civilian population without raising the anger of the collective world community—including the hypocrites in France?

What time is it? That’s right. Israeli Double Standard Time. But don’t worry, it only occurs on days that end with a “y.”

Update: Found this after I posted. The hypocrisy is even worse.

UN and US back French intervention in Ivory Coast
France has received international backing for its intervention in its former colony, Ivory Coast (Côte d’Ivoire) where a civil war has been raging for five months. The United Nations Security Council passed a resolution that “welcomes the deployment of Ecowas (Economic Community of West African States) forces and French troops” and endorses the peace agreement signed by both the government and rebels in the current civil war.

A UN resolution backing France’s action. Wow. Words just fail.

10/30/2009

Briefly

Filed under: Iran, Israel, Jews, News Briefs, The One, World — Tags: , — Meryl Yourish @ 10:00 am

Obama administration forces Honduras to let anti-Semitic nutjob back in power: So, the guy who said that Mossad agents were poisoning him is going to be back in charge of Honduras in some fashion, forced there by the United States and the OAS overriding Honduras’ Supreme Court decisions and the laws of the nation. Way to go, Obama! Way to work for the rule of law. Oh, wait. It’s the Chicago Way. I keep forgetting.

Awesome: Congressional nitwit puts private ethics investigation data on public website. You have to love the internet age, because people being people, there are still just as many idiots as there were before everything was online. Only now when they make mistakes, we get to see what’s really going on behind the scenes in Congress.

Postcards from the IDF: Yossi Klein Halevi on Israeli citizens’ receipt of a postcard that details how much time they have to get to the nearest bomb shelter in the event of a missile attack. A sobering read.

No. Ya think? Best headline yet on the Iran cheat-and-retreat strategy: “Iran accused of playing games on nuclear deal.” The Telegraph wins the Keen Grasp of the Obvious award for that one.

But—but—this totally blows away the “European colonialism” argument! Genetic proof that Jews were from the land of Israel, and the man behind the science. (Of course, he’s a Jew.)

10/15/2009

Snarking

Filed under: Iran, Israel, Lebanon, World — Tags: , , — Meryl Yourish @ 10:30 am

Turk to Israel: No, really, we love you, you baby-killing bastards: Yeah, right. The Turkish producer of a film about Palestinians that depicts IDF soldiers murdering young girls for no apparent reason other than they’re Zionist child-killers says that just because the uniform looks like the IDF, and just because it takes place in Gaza, doesn’t mean that the show is about IDF soldiers murdering innocent Palestinian children. He defends his thesis by bringing up Mohammed al-Dura and 300 dead children from the Gaza war. I guess his show must be about Shmisraeli ShmIDF shmoldiers, not Israeli IDF soldiers.

Hezbollah: That was no missile, that was a door! I really want to see their video footage. They’re claiming that the group of Hezbollah terrorists seen loading a long, metallic object onto a truck were carrying a metal door. Uh-huh. I’m also eagerly awaiting UNIFIL’s explanation as to why their men were watching Hezbollah load a “metal door” onto a pickup truck. What? UN peacekeepers ignoring Hezbollah UN Resolution violations? No! You don’t say!

Khameini in a coma? Or dead? I hope it’s true. But if it is, well, Iran ain’t seen nothin’ yet. Revolution? That won’t be the half of it. It might be great news to Israel, depending on who wins the power struggle. We can always dream that client states Syria and Lebanon get left out in the cold.

Those wily Jews: While the Arabs and Muslims in the region continue their important work in improving the many ways you can carry a suicide bomb, Israelis are developing things like a battery that will last thousands of hours in hearing aids and the like. Oh, and the battery will be cheaper and cleaner than those currently on the market. No wonder Israel has more Nobel prizes than the entire Arab world combined.

09/22/2009

Barack Obama’s Great Adventure

Filed under: Israel, The One, United Nations, World — Tags: , , — Meryl Yourish @ 10:30 am

President Obama will be spending most of the day today meeting with world leaders in New York. Even the AP is writing that little will come out of these sessions. But of course, the focus will be on the trilateral talks between Obama, Bibi Netanyahu, and Mahmoud Abbas—who has already said he will not negotiate with Israel without a complete settlement freeze.

No one in the White House, the Israeli government or among Palestinian officials is publicly predicting a breakthrough out of the three-way Mideast meeting that President Barack Obama is hosting here. And yet the session Tuesday is seen as a crucial step for Obama.

Why it’s a crucial step, the AP says:

One reason to have the meeting is the need to get momentum going.

“The U.S. wants to and the U.S. needs to negotiate in public,” said Jon Alterman, a senior fellow in Middle East policy at the Center for Strategic and International Studies and a former State Department official in President George W. Bush’s first term. “There’s a perceived need for the U.S. to visibly be involved in making progress on Arab-Israeli issues.”

Ah. Appearances. Well, Obama is great at appearances. But not so great at getting results. In fact, the world has been essentially stiffing him on everything.

But eight months after his inauguration, all that good will so far has translated into limited tangible policy benefits for Mr. Obama. As much as they may prefer to deal with Mr. Obama instead of his predecessor, George W. Bush, foreign leaders have not gone out of their way to give him what he has sought.

European allies still refuse to send significantly more troops to Afghanistan. The Saudis basically ignored Mr. Obama’s request for concessions to Israel, while Israel rebuffed his demand to stop settlement expansion. North Korea defied him by testing a nuclear weapon. Japan elected a party less friendly to the United States. Cuba has done little to liberalize in response to modest relaxation of sanctions. India and China are resisting a climate change deal. And Russia rejected new sanctions against Iran’s nuclear program even as Mr. Obama heads into talks with Tehran.

But hey, the world likes our president again, and that’s the important thing, right? It’s much better to be popular than accomplished.

As for the trilateral meeting, well, nobody’s expecting anything in Israel, either.

Sources in the PM’s entourage said the meeting between Netanyahu, Abbas and Obama would likely be symbolic in nature, adding that they do not foresee any diplomatic achievements during the General Assembly’s session.

But don’t worry. Jimmy Carter, Stephen Walt, and their anti-Israel followers will all be happy to place the blame squarely on Israel’s shoulders. The fact that Hamas said only yesterday that they will not respect any deal made by Abbas during this summit is irrelevant. Hamas rejectionism isn’t a problem, you see. Only Israeli settlement building.

At least Pee-Wee Herman found his bike at the end of his great adventure. Barack Obama will be coming out of this with nothing.

09/21/2009

Your morning snark

Filed under: Anti-Semitism, Iran, The One, World — Tags: , , , — Meryl Yourish @ 9:00 am

I know you are, but what am I? Ahmadinejad exhibits the grown-up attitude we’ve come to expect from the Holocaust Denier-in-Chief: He flips the bird to the world in response to the worldwide denunciations of his Holocaust-denying speech on Quds Day. (And “quds” is so not the Arabic word for Jerusalem. It is the Arabic name for the city that everyone else in the world calls Jerusalem. I’m so sick of the media using that narrative.) Expect a doozy of a one-two speech from Ahmadinejad and Ghaddafi next week at the UN.

Hypocrites of the world, unite! So, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has called for the end of Israel, called the Holocaust a “myth,” and uttered myriad statements against Israel and Jews, and the world has basically stood back and tut-tutted in ones and twos, maybe in threes. Suddenly, the whole world is down on Mad Mahmoud? The EU issues a condemnation? Russia too? So, where were they last year when he was issuing the most anti-Semitic speech in the history of the United Nations—at the United Nations? I find this sudden anti-Iran bandwagon extremely suspicious. If they think this is the quid pro quo for settlement freeze, I’m thinking Bibi is laughing his ass off.

Peaceful, peace-seeking Palestinians burn down Israelis’ fields: Yeah, they want to live in peaceful coexistence. Just ask The One. Countdown to lefty NGOs saying that this is payback for Israelis cutting down olive trees in 3, 2….

ACORN? That’s a little nut, isn’t it? Obama is on record denying he knows much about ACORN. Huh. Funny, considering he defended them as a lawyer, steered funds to their coffers, and traded donor lists with them. But he has no idea how much federal money they get. Uh-huh. Sure. Right.

09/06/2009

Sunday morning briefs

Filed under: American Scene, Iran, Israel, The One, World — Meryl Yourish @ 8:49 am

If you won’t meet with me, then I don’t want to meet with you! The Swedish foreign minister has canceled his trip to Israel after hearing that Benjamin Netanyahu was about to snub him. It’s good to know that the man entrusted with Sweden’s foreign relations is acting just like a teenage girl. The article says there may be consequences to Israel for this missed meeting. What, you mean like Sweden refusing to condeman an article falsely accusing the IDF of stealing Palestinian organs or something?

World’s tiniest violin orchestra: We’re supposed to feel sorry for someone who is defaulting on a $24 million loan? Excuse me? I don’t give a damn if Annie Liebovitz loses the copyrights to her photos. Anyone too stupid to figure out how to pay bills after reaching adulthood—that doesn’t have the excuse of mental incompetence—deserves whatever happens to them. And that goes double for millionaires.

Oh, look. Another Uzi Mahnaimi piece about Israel to ignore: The Times never gives up on letting this proven liar lie some more. Double bylines notwithstanding, we’re onto you. Now, am I saying that I think the Mossad didn’t have anything to do with hijacking the Russian ship? Nope. Just that anything you read in this piece is suspect, because all of Mahnaimi’s articles are.

Van goes under the bus: Obama’s 9/11 Truther green jobs czar has resigned, issuing a statement late on a Saturday night of a holiday weekend. No, Obama isn’t trying to skip the news cycle on that at all. Why do you ask?

09/04/2009

Friday SNB

Filed under: Israeli Double Standard Time, News Briefs, United Nations, World — Tags: , , — Meryl Yourish @ 10:00 am

Never mind about those 16 deaths per month; war’s over: The outgoing UN peacekeeping head of the Darfur reason says the war’s over, because only 16 people per month are dying, as opposed to 130 per month last year. Two observations: One would think that when nobody’s dying, the war is over. Also, imagine them saying that about the Palestinians—even though fewer Palestinians are dying. Oh, and then there’s the 300,000 dead and millions displaced—but what’s the worst problem facing world peace? That’s right. Israeli settlements.

International pressure rises, but not on Iran: Funny, isn’t it, how the world can’t seem to find a way to pressure Iran into stopping work on its nuclear weapons program, but everyone is jumping on the STOP ISRAELI SETTLEMENTS!1!!1 bandwagon? France. Germany. And, of course, The One. Because it’s far more important to stop Israelis from moving into the eastern side of Jerusalem—the city that Jews built—than it is to stop Iran from getting the bomb.

He was for the settlements before he was against them: Netanyahu is going to approve building additions to the suburbs of Jerusalem (which is another name for “West Bank settlements”) before freezing settlement building. Countdown to outraged Palestinian reaction in one.

The fabled Arab love for their Palestinian brethren: Get out. The UAE is expelling all Palestinians from within their borders, regardless of whether they’ve lived their all of their lives. The Palestinian population of the UAE is about 140,000. And oh yeah—no reason was given. But hey, that Muslim umma? It’s really working for them, isn’t it?

08/25/2009

Palestinian family: We never talked to a Swedish reporter

Filed under: Anti-Semitism, Israel Derangement Syndrome, World — Tags: , , — Meryl Yourish @ 11:00 am

The Jerusalem Post’s crack reporter, Khaled Abu Toameh, interviewed the family of the Palestinian that is the centerpiece of the Aftonbladet story accusing the IDF of harvesting organs from dead Palestinians. And the family says they never said anything about their son missing his organs. In fact, they say, they never even spoke to the reporter.

Jalal said that he and other villagers recall that a Swedish photographer was in the village during the funeral and that he managed to take a number of pictures of the body before the funeral. “That was the only time we saw this photographer,” he recounted.

Ibrahim Ghanem, a relative of Bilal, said that the family never told the Swedish photographer that Israel had stolen organs from the dead man’s body.

So the story is made up from whole cloth. The family admits it. And yet, in true Israel Derangement Syndrome fashion, they’re quite willing to believe the story.

Jalal and other members of the family said that “rumors” about Israel killing Palestinians to steal their organs have been circulating for a long time.

“I can’t tell you if these rumors are true or not,” the brother said. “But in light of the investigative report in the Swedish newspaper, we are demanding an international commission of inquiry into the case.”

Meantime, someone in Sweden invoked their “racial agitation” law and reported the Aftonbladet. Not that they care. Their CYA excuse? They didn’t say “Jews.” They said “Israelis.” And note the quote: Reporting rumors is now “solidarity,” not reporting.

“I think it is a shame that whenever solidarity is shown for the Palestinians and criticism is directed again Israel, someone cries anti-Semitism.”

“One has to have the right to ask questions,” Linderborg replied when asked if she or the newspaper regretted publishing the article.

Nils Funcke, one of Sweden’s leading experts on legislation pertaining to freedom of speech, said he expected the Chancellor of Justice to reject the case.

“The article can hardly be construed as racial agitation. There is no ethnic group targeted; the article focuses on the Israeli army, and Israel is not made up solely of Jews,” Funcke told The Local.

Nothing will come of this. And in spite of Sweden’s Jews insisting that if only Israel hadn’t made such a fuss, this would have passed without notice in much of the world, I’m with Yaacov on this one: The reporter is an antisemite, the paper is antisemitic, and this issue is a modern retelling of the blood libel. Even worse, it’s been proven false, and the paper is publishing more articles with the same lies. But it’s anti-Zionism, not antisemitism. Really.

08/20/2009

Sweden’s double standard on freedom of the press

Filed under: Anti-Semitism, Israel Derangement Syndrome, Israeli Double Standard Time, Religion, World — Tags: , , — Meryl Yourish @ 9:30 am

There is a decided double standard in the Sweden Foreign Ministry when it comes to freedom of the press, particularly in response to running anti-Semitic tropes in a major Swedish daily. Representatives of the Swedish government are standing up for freedom of the Swedish press, even the freedom to publish a blood libel like the one that says IDF soldiers kidnap Palestinians and harvest their organs.

Aftonbladet editor Jan Helin said: “It’s deeply unpleasant and sad to see such a strong propaganda machine using centuries-old anti-Semitic images in an apparent attempt to get an obviously topical issue off the table.

[...] Helin called it an opinion piece raising questions of Israel in the context of a suspected link to Israel in that US case. He denied any suggestion of anti-Semitism from his paper.

Oh, so now it’s an opinion piece. Good tactic. The author has stated that he doesn’t know if the charges are true, but he decided to go with them anyway. And neither he nor his editor think that charges of anti-Semitism are in order. Why, they wonder, are Israelis so touchy? This is just a criticism of the IDF. Right?

Take a look at this image of Der Stürmer. This is the classic blood libel against the Jews, that we drink the blood of Christians and use it in our rituals. (Larger image in my previous post.)

Photo of anti-Semitic Nazi rag with blood libel image

Photo of anti-Semitic Nazi rag with blood libel image

Now, why on earth would we accuse a Swedish newspaper of using anti-Semitic blood libel tropes in its story about the IDF kidnapping Palestinians and stealing their organs?

The Swedish Foreign Ministry is doubling down on the freedom of speech aspect while ignoring the “lying about the IDF” aspect. Witness:

Sweden’s Foreign Ministry on Thursday said a response by the Swedish Embassy in Israel to a report by the Aftonbladet news saying IDF soldiers killed Palestinians in order to harvest their organs does not represent the government’s stance.

The embassy had stated that the report was “appalling”. But the Foreign Ministry’s spokeswoman said, “The embassy in Tel Aviv responded in accordance to Israeli public opinion, however the Swedish government is committed to freedom of the press.”

[...] Another Swedish government spokesperson, Anders Jorle said, “The Foreign Ministry would not have acted in the same way” as the ambassador.

Interesting response. Especially when you consider the Swedish Foreign Ministry’s response to another controversy, this one regarding cartoons about Mohammed.

On February 5, Swedish Minister of Foreign Affairs, Laila Freivalds stated the following in an interview:[24] We support the freedom of speech, that I think is very clear. But at the same time it is important to say that with this freedom comes a certain responsibility, and it could be objectionable to act in a way that insults people.

There was also the Swedish government’s response to a political party in Sweden holding a Mohammed cartoon contest in response to the Mohammed cartoon controversy. One of the cartoons displayed on the website portrayed Mohammed as a dog.

A Swedish foreign ministry spokeswoman told Sweden’s English-language The Local that the diplomat had apologized for any hurt feelings the publication may have caused.

Freivalds shut down the website and later lied about it, which ultimately caused her resignation. But note the difference in tone about the freedom to offend—it’s different when offending Muslims, apparently.

Let us compare and contrast. On the Mohammed-as-dog cartoon:

Swedish Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Anna Björkander told The Local it had been a “misunderstanding” on the part of the Pakistanis to conclude that the government fully shared the views of the Muslim community.

Björkander added, however: “The Chargé d’Affaires said he was sorry if the publication had hurt Muslim feelings.”

On the publication of a false story that the IDF kidnaps Palestinians and steals their organs:

But the Foreign Ministry’s spokeswoman said, “The embassy in Tel Aviv responded in accordance to Israeli public opinion, however the Swedish government is committed to freedom of the press.”

She added that Israel had not issued an official complaint on the report.

Another Swedish government spokesperson, Anders Jorle said, “The Foreign Ministry would not have acted in the same way” as the ambassador.

Barry Rubin wrote a tongue-in-cheek essay that has a solution to all of Israel’s problems: Jews should act like Muslims, and riot and protest violently every offense, real or imagined. The sad thing is: He’s probably right about the results. Just look at the difference between Sweden’s response to this issue. If Sweden were as scared of Jews as they are of Muslims….

08/19/2009

Swedish newspaper channels der Sturmer

Filed under: Anti-Semitism, Israel Derangement Syndrome, Media Bias, World — Tags: , , , — Meryl Yourish @ 6:00 am

It’s 2009, but you wouldn’t know it from reading this Swedish newspaper article. It’s like a mixture of urban legend and anti-Semitic blood libel. It’s so awful, you just have to wonder: Are the editors of this newspaper out of their effing minds?

Leading Swedish daily Aftonbladet claimed in one of its articles that IDF soldiers killed Palestinians in order to trade in their organs.

[...] The report mentioned Brooklyn resident Levy Izhak Rosenbaum, who is accused of involvement in the recent human organ-trafficking case that caused a storm in the US and Israel. The report said Palestinians claim youngsters were forced to give up theirs before being executed. This suspicion, the report said, may lead to an international war crimes investigation against Israel.

And who, pray tell, is feeding the author this information?

Guess.

Aftonbladet also said Palestinian youths who were snatched from their villages in the middle of the night were buried after being dismembered. The reporter, Donald Boström, said he was informed of the alleged atrocities by UN employees while he was working on a book in the West Bank.

Those would be the same eyewitnesses that said that Israeli soldiers were bulldozing hundreds of bodies in Jenin. Yes, the ever-reliable Palestinian eyewitnesses—there’s no stopping their imaginations, in any case. As to their truthfulness, well—it’s been proven to be extremely limited.

Put this one in the same category as Palestinians who insist that Yasser Arafat was killed by Israeli death rays, Israel is giving Palestinians gum that increases their libido, and, of course, the Suha Arafat claim that Israel is poisoning Palestinian children. There is nothing, it seems, that people won’t blame on Israel. But that’s not much of a surprise. They blamed Jews for poisoning wells, too.

You would think that in this day and age, lies like this would not be published. But then you would be vastly underestimating the widespread insanity that I like to call Israel Derangement Syndrome. If Israel didn’t exist, they’d still be blaming us Jews in pretty much the same way—we just would be blamed for doing it to Swedes instead of Palestinians.

I would like nothing more than to wake up and find that this article was one big hoax. I suspect that won’t happen.

08/18/2009

Tuesday Snark News Briefs

Filed under: Israel, Pop Culture, Television, Terrorism, The One, World — Tags: , — Meryl Yourish @ 11:00 am

Britain’s FM: Hey, terrorism can be useful sometimes! He was talking about South Africa, not the U.K., so it must be okay, right? (And of course, he probably doesn’t shed a tear for any Jews killed in terrorist attacks. What do you expect from a guy who’s father was a Marxist?

Netanyahu caves: There is a freeze on all new settlement construction. Oh, and the reason he’s freezing construction? He’s hoping to get Europe and America to recognize Israeli sovereignty over Jerusalem. Because they’ve all indicated that that’s what they want to see happen, right? Epic fail, Bibi. Epic fail.

Time for the latest round of Iranian running out the clock: Iran says it’s ready for nuclear negotiations without preconditions. I think this makes the tenth or eleventh time they’ve said they’d talk about their nukes with the west. But this time, they really mean it. Honest. You betcha! (And watch the Obama spin machine on this one. It should be a laff-riot.)

Death at Disney World! Here’s news you almost never see: Three workers have died at Disney World so far this year. Wow, the Disney PR flacks have really dwindled in talent. Oh, wait—three people died at Disney world so far this year? And this is the first you’re hearing about it? I stand corrected. (Actually, I read about the monorail crash. But I really have no desire to visit Disney World ever again. Crowds. Ugh.)

But the stimulus is working! Eric Cantor sponsored a job fair in my neck of the woods yesterday. The Times-Dispatch says more than 2,000 people showed. Cantor’s office says it was 3,200. I’m not at all surprised. We lost Circuit City, had massive layoffs at places like Capital One and Genworth, and are also affected by the overall dreadful economy.

Dancing with the exterminator: Ew. Tom Delay is going to be on “Dancing with the Stars.” Mind you, I’ve never really cared for the show, watched it for, at best, a minute at a time, and don’t care at all about the show. But ew—Tom Delay? Tom “the Exterminator” Delay? Now that’s reaching. And a little bit gross. (I don’t care how far to the center I move, I will always loathe Tom Delay.)

08/11/2009

Israeli sues the EU for damages from Hamas rockets

Filed under: Hamas, Israel, World — Tags: , , — Meryl Yourish @ 9:00 am

It’s just perfect.

Israeli and Belgian lawyers acting for Eyal Katorza, who is also a French citizen, are preparing a legal case demanding that the EU does more to protect the 300,000 Europeans living in Israel.

Legal documents, seen by The Daily Telegraph, have accused the EU of indirectly funding Palestinian terrorism because of a failure to “prevent the misuse of European funds by non-profit organisations which use these funds to finance terrorism”.

Really, you just can’t get much more shadenfreude out of an issue. Israelis are turning around and doing the same thing to the EU that the Palestinians have done to them. Except there seems to be an actual basis in law for this suit.

Mr Katorza has demanded EU “reparations for lost job income, reparations for physical and psychological damages, reparations for property damages, monies for reinforced buildings against missiles or any other military projectiles”.

The dual French-Israeli citizen, from Sderot in Israel’s Negev region, has lost his job and family business because of Qassam rocket attacks launched from the Gaza strip by Hamas.

His lawyers have cited clauses in the EU Treaties that offer protection to Europeans even while they are living abroad.

Even better, they’re looking to make it a class-action suit. Next up: Someone should sue UNRWA and the UN.

08/06/2009

Welcome to World Hypocrisy 101

Filed under: Israeli Double Standard Time, The One, United Nations, World — Meryl Yourish @ 11:00 am

Say, folks. Let’s take a look at the ongoing peace talks between two sides of a country that’s been occupied for 35 years.

“We haven’t set a timeline,” Alexander Downer, the top U.N. official on the war-divided island, said in an interview with the AP.

“If you become a slave to a date, you may find that you don’t have a high quality agreement and then you’ll just have to start all over again sometime in the future.”

Really? You mean to say that there’s no pressure on Turkey and Greece to settle their differences over Cyprus and come to terms?

Downer said the two leaders should not worry about the “ebbs and flows of opinion every day” and keep talking.

“They don’t need to convince the public every day of the week,” he said. “You want it all put together in a week at the end of 40 or 50 years? … People who think that don’t know the Cyprus problem.”

Thought experiment time! Let’s substitute “Israel-Palestinian problem” for “Cyprus problem” and see what we come up with.

U.S. President Barack Obama has given himself a two-year deadline to reach a breakthrough on a two-state solution for Israel and the Palestinians, The Sunday Times reported.

Uh-huh. World Hypocrisy, 101. Of course, if you’re expecting Obama to weigh in on Cyprus, you’ll be waiting a long time. Nobody outside Turkey, Greece, and Cyprus give a damn about it.

08/05/2009

Wednesday SNB

Filed under: Iran, Israeli Double Standard Time, Syria, Television, The One, World — Tags: , , , , — Meryl Yourish @ 11:00 am

Human rights, shmuman rights: The U.K. is perfectly fine with backing an economic pact between Syria and the EU in spite of its “concerns” about Syria’s human rights violations. Because after all, the almighty Euro is more important than the lack of freedom, right? Mind you, America is right down there with the coddling of nations that are serial human rights abusers. It’s called “realpolitik,” right? School of realists? The Walt and Mearsheimers of the world? Yeah, that is some great school. It gives us cases like North Korea, Iraq, and Iran, to name only three of the world’s worst human-rights abusers. (Iraq under Saddam, not sure what it’s like anymore.) Of course, the fact that the U.K. stopped selling military parts to Israel on the pretense that too many civilians were killed does not mean in the least that the U.K. is hypocritical, or heaven forbid, anti-Israel. Nope. Not at all. You see, they really do care about human rights. But only if they can’t blame the problems on Jews.

If an army has to be there for your swearing-in, are you really the “elected leader”? Robert Gibbs said yesterday that Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is the “elected leader” of Iran, in spite of the fact that he had to have 5,000 security forces at his swearing-in ceremony, the opposition boycotted it, and his mentor, the Ayatollah Khameini, didn’t give him the victory kiss of congratulations the other day. Sucks to be you, Mad Mahmoud. (As for that “Smartest administration EVAH” thing—I’m thinking not.)

Billy Jeff goes to North Korea: President Clinton came through with the goods and got two American journalists out of the hell that is North Korea. As I am simply glad that he got them back, there is not much to snark about. Oh, of course there is. The North Koreans rejected the Obama administration’s first choice for mediator: Al Gore. Do you think it was the gasbag effect, or the Gore Effect? The good news is that Clinton didn’t do to Obama what Jimmy Carter did to him, and go off the reservation. We’re still paying for that trip.

News I really don’t care about: Paula Abdul is leaving American Idol. The fact is I have watched, perhaps, a total of ten minutes of the show since it first aired. The only “reality show” I’m finding myself at all interested in watching is Wipeout, because you get to go “Oooh!” “OW!” “That had to hurt!” and “No way are you going to make it!” at the TV when you watch it. Plus, it’s fun to watch people get knocked into the water over and over again. I can’t explain why. But it really is.

08/03/2009

The Nanny State: Alive and well in the U.K.

Filed under: American Scene, World — Meryl Yourish @ 9:00 am

What if, instead of taking children out of the homes of lousy parents (drug addicts, alcoholics, abusers), there was a way you could monitor the family 24/7 and try to influence their behavior that way? Do you think that American family services programs would ever try this?

Well, the U.K. already has.

The Children’s Secretary set out £400million plans to put 20,000 problem families under 24-hour CCTV super-vision in their own homes.

They will be monitored to ensure that children attend school, go to bed on time and eat proper meals.

Private security guards will also be sent round to carry out home checks, while parents will be given help to combat drug and alcohol addiction.

Around 2,000 families have gone through these Family Intervention Projects so far.

George Orwell was so right when he set 1984 in the U.K. Europeans have never had a tradition of individual liberties in the way Americans understand them. The state comes first. It’s the heritage of nations that aged in the tradition of monarchy and the powers of the king, which evolved into the power of the state to interfere in your lives. Which gives us this example of the Nanny State at its worst—trying to influence human behavior by force.

But Shadow Home Secretary Chris Grayling said: “This is all much too little, much too late.

“This Government has been in power for more than a decade during which time anti-social behaviour, family breakdown and problems like alcohol abuse and truancy have just got worse and worse.”

He is bemoaning the fact that the British government has allowed people to be free. No, I don’t approve of bad parenting, and yes, I sure wish that alcoholics and drug addicts didn’t have children. But in America, the best way to fix that is to take the children out of the bad environment instead of leaving them there with their drug-addicted or alcholic parents. In the U.K., apparently, they intend to force a change in human nature. Yeah, good luck with that.

And here’s the punchline of the entire story: Grayling is a member of the Conservative Party—the so-called conservatives in the U.K., thus proving that you can call yourself a conservative, and actually be nothing of the sort. He’s complaining that the Labor Party has not interfered enough into the lives of Britain’s citizens over the past decade. The program itself is being expanded by the current ruling party.

But we’re not done yet. The government will be sending parents contracts specifying parents’ duties while theire children are enrolled in school.

I think all of us have said, at one point or another, “The government should license people to have children!” The fact that it doesn’t gives us women like the Octomom, who obviously should never have had a single child, let alone fourteen. But the flip side of a free society that allows freaks like the Octomom to thrive is a society in which every mistake you make as a parent is monitored, recorded, and judged—by bureaucrats. I don’t think I’ll ever wish for parent licenses again.

The only bright spot about this story is the comments by British citizens who are decrying this invasion into the lives of their countrymen. But so far, the citizens of the U.K. have done little more than complain. I think, however, a storm is coming. You can only push people so far before they push back.

The really frightening thing about this story is that I’m sure we can find some members of Congress who would love to initiate a program like that here.

(Via Rantburg.)

07/31/2009

The blood chilling affinity or songs that change color

Filed under: World — SnoopyTheGoon @ 8:00 am

There is nothing more painful for an indoctrinated old-style communist than this subject. Indeed, such communist will vastly prefer that you stick a fork in his/her eye…

It is a long post, so for the impatient here comes a clip that will give you a brief overview of the subject: the unthinkable (for some folks, mentioned above) affinity between Nazi and Soviet songs of the 1920-1940 period. The clip voice-over is German, but it is not necessary to listen to the words – it is mandatory, however, to listen to the melodies and watch… enjoy.

Vladimir Frumkin, who appears in the clip speaking Russian, is a musicologist and radio journalist, ex-Soviet citizen who touched a raw nerve in two countries by his research into common roots of several Soviet and Nazi songs, most popular during the period and, it should be mentioned, way beyond the period. Unfortunately, his groundbreaking work wasn’t translated into English – at least not to the best of my knowledge. So, excerpts* from the linked article, translated (poorly) by me and Google, follow. But even if you don’t read Russian, it will be worth your while to browse through the illustrations in the original article that show the same affinity of Nazi and Soviet visual art.
(more…)

07/23/2009

Mustaf Jama – when a niqab doesn’t help

Filed under: Religion, World — SnoopyTheGoon @ 8:00 am

Apparently there still are some cases when the approved dressing code for a Muslim woman doesn’t help. Not it the long run, at least.

A gangster who fled to his native Somalia, after taking part in a bungled robbery in Bradford in which Pc Sharon Beshenivsky was shot dead, was jailed for life today.

Here is a mug shot of the vermin:


He went into hiding in Somaliland but was brought back to the UK to face justice in 2007 after an undercover operation to smuggle him out of Africa.

Good job and kudos to whoever did it. But back to the niqab: the article linked above doesn’t mention the story of Jama’s escape.

Jama was able to sneak on to an international flight at Heathrow dressed in a niqab despite extensive publicity about this murder. His photograph had been circulated to every police force, port and airport in the country. Had he been asked to reveal his face he would have been detected in a moment.

Well, I hope that the British prison will be able to wipe the smile from his face now.

And he could continue wearing the niqab in the prison – could be a good idea…

Cross-posted at SimplyJews

07/15/2009

Wednesday Snark News Briefs

Filed under: Israel, News Briefs, Religion, The One, World, palestinian politics — Tags: — Meryl Yourish @ 8:00 am

Cognitive dissonance: A KKKer hides from the law in Israel? Okay, on a scale of one to ten, the weirdness factor here is seven hundred. I mean, really—a kluxer on the run from the law goes and hides in Israel. Because, see, it’s not like Israel would notice a neo-Nazi hanging around, right? Wrong. But it gets weirder. He has an Israeli girlfriend. And he loves Israelis. Cue Twilight Zone theme. Although it could just be an excuse:

“When I asked him what he was doing in Israel he said he had met the most amazing people he’d ever seen in his life here,” the official recounted.

[...] One source said his story was dubious as the girlfriend had not appealed to the authorities in order to legalize his stay in Israel due to the pregnancy.

Uh-huh. Push the weirdness meter up to eight. Hundred.

Pay no attention to that explosion in Southern Lebanon: Why, yes, Hezbullah is violating UNSCR 1701. Why, no, there will be no outcry from human rights organizations. Arms cache blew up? So what? They can’t blame Israel for it, so nobody cares.

Well, they weren’t very good then, were they? Two French security advisers, in Somalia to train Somali forces, were captured. No word whether their equipment included white flags or not.

This week’s Keen Grasp of the Obvious Award goes to: Tony Blair, for noticing that the world is unfair to Israel. Next week, Blair’s going to figure out it’s because Israel is full of Jews.

Keen Grasp of the Obvious Runner-up Award goes to: The One. Obama hints Iranian elections limit chances for dialogue. Gee. Ya think? Really? No. I don’t believe it!

Palestinians to Leonard Cohen: You’re too Jewish to peform in “Palestine.” Okay, so really, they wanted him to boycott Israel and refuse to play in Tel Aviv, which is, uh, why he’s coming to Israel. So he refused. Because he’s an observant Jew. So rather than take what they could get, they told him to get lost. I’m guessing they never listened to his music.

We can. (I really like the Rufus Wainwright version, too.)

And for purists: The original Cohen.

Can you tell I really like this song?

07/14/2009

Tuesday Snarky World News Briefs (now, with politics!)

Filed under: Israel, News Briefs, The One, World, palestinian politics — Tags: , — Meryl Yourish @ 11:00 am

Yes, we’re going to start delineating world news from, say politics. But I haven’t much time for politics today. Oh, well. Maybe.

Respect my authori-tay! Um, Kartman, call your agent. I think Manuel Zelaya is stealing your act. Here’s my question: Besides saying “Reinstate me or else,” did he stomp his widdle feet and toss his widdle head? Or did he say he’d hold his breath ’til he turned blue?

But Zelaya said Monday that he was “giving the coup an ultimatum.”

Well. That oughta show ‘em.

Redefining chutzpah: Charles Taylor’s defense in his war crimes trial? He was really only working for peace. Please, can he get the death penalty just for being such a giant assh*le?

It couldn’t happen to a nicer guy: Actually, it could have, but that’s the saying, so I’m running with it. The Dear Leader is rumored to have pancreatic cancer. I hope it’s true. And in this case, I hope his son catches it. Soon. If ever a country needed a regime change….

And now, to local news.

ObamaCare: We’ll ram it down your throats, just like we did with the Porkulus bill. The One has spoken. Congress shall ready ObamaCare, or—or—well, he didn’t say or what. (And good God, ABC, do you think you can make your URLs any longer at Tapper’s blog?)

“I just want to put everybody on notice, because there was a lot of chatter during the week that I was gone: We are going to get this done,” the president said. “Inaction is not an option. And for those naysayers and cynics who think that this is not going to happen, don’t bet against us.”

The house is offering two to one odds that ObamaCare does not get through the Senate, Stuart Smalley or no Stuart Smalley.

Fool me once, shame on me: Jewish leaders met with Obama yesterday to be told, once again, that he’s the bestest friend Israel ever had. J Street had a rep there. The Zionist Organization of America did not. Go figure.

By the way, here’s the logic Obama used to prove that he’s also being hard on the Arabs:

The president said that in Arab media he’s depicted as being too pro-Israel.

Every time I’m shown on Al Jazeera they show me at the Western Wall with a yarmulke on, President Obama said.

Well. There you go then. Ignore that speech he made in Cairo, and the many times since the speech where he insisted that the real obstacles to peace are settlements, not Palestinian intransigence. Ignore the fact that Hamas and the PA are sitting back, waiting for Obama to do their dirty work for him. And how did that particular little bit go over with the Jewish leadership?

“And you look good in it, too,” one participant in the meeting joked.

Yeah. *cough*bullshit*cough*

That’s enough to keep you going for a while. I’m off to NorVA today.

07/09/2009

The difference between them and us

Filed under: Israel, World, palestinian politics — Tags: , — Meryl Yourish @ 6:00 am

Palestinians celebrate attacks on Jews.

Gaza’s streets filled with joyous crowds of thousands on Thursday evening following the terror attack at a Jerusalem rabbinical seminary in which eight people were killed.

In mosques in Gaza City and northern Gaza, many residents went to perform the prayers of thanksgiving.

Armed men fired in the air in celebration and others passed out sweets to passersby.

Jews protest attacks on Palestinians—even in France, where Muslim attacks on Jews have become commonplace.

Some 300 people participated Wednesday evening in a show of support in front of a pro-Palestinian bookstore that was vandalized last week in France. The demonstrators called to dismantle the Jewish Defense League, whose members were allegedly involved in the attack on the store. Four young Jews were arrested Wednesday on suspicions of carrying out the attack.

In the event that took place last weekend, five armed masked people broke into the store, smashed computers and set fire to books. The store owners accused the Jewish Defense League for carrying out the attack.

There, in the nutshell, is the difference between them and us.

When the Palestinians start behaving like Jews, there will be peace.

I won’t be holding my breath.

07/05/2009

Obama administration: Throw out the Constitution, please

Filed under: Politics, The One, World — Tags: , , , — Meryl Yourish @ 4:48 pm

The Obama administration is talking about deliberately going against the Constitution of the United States. Because, you see, the Constitution is inconvenient to what they want to do regarding a treaty with Russia.

MOSCOW — With the clock running out on a new US-Russian arms treaty before the previous Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty, or START, expires on December 5, a senior White House official said Sunday said that the difficulty of the task might mean temporarily bypassing the Senate’s constitutional role in ratifying treaties by enforcing certain aspects of a new deal on an executive levels and a “provisional basis” until the Senate ratifies the treaty.

“The most ideal situation would be to finish it in time that it could be submitted to the Senate so that it can be ratified,” said White House Coordinator for Weapons of Mass Destruction, Security and Arms Control Gary Samore. “If we’re not able to do that, we’ll have to look at arrangements to continue some of the inspection provisions, keep them enforced in a provisional basis, while the Senate considers the treaty.”

Has any other administration in recent history been so blithely and deliberately ignoring the law that has run this country for more than 200 years?

This is an impeachable offense. But I’m going to guess that you won’t even see it raised in the mainstream media. Unbelievable. The administration is considering disobeying the Constitution an option.

07/02/2009

Medvedev approves of Obama’s Muslim outreach

Filed under: The One, World — Tags: , , — Meryl Yourish @ 11:00 am

Barack Obama is making the Russian president happy.

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev warned on Tuesday against attempts to impose Western values on the Arab world, praising US President Barack Obama’s recent efforts to reach out to the Muslims.

“There is something to learn from the Arab world,” Medvedev said in an adress at the headquarters of the Arab League in Cairo.

“And therefore mentorship, or democraticising, or all the more so direct involvement from the outside is asolutely unacceptable, in our opinion,” he said in remarks seen as thinly veiled criticism of the previous US administration.

“And understanding of this is growing in the world,” Medvedev said, adding that Obama’s speech in Cairo earlier this month provided evidence to that.

I’m so happy our president is making the Russians happy. Why, Hugo Chavez is about to jump on the Obama bandwagon after his stance on Honduras, and the Arab kings and dictators are already pretty happy with Obama’s submissive speech in Cairo. All that’s left is for Obama to somehow figure out a way to appease North Korea, Iran, and Syria and he’ll have all those dictator ducks in a row, thus showing the conservatives of the world that they were wrong to think that you can’t work with people who don’t believe in basic human freedoms.

As for the Russian respect for the Muslim world, well, see “Chechen, wars of” for the rank hypocrisy of Medvedev’s statements. Then read this fact:

Medvedev also said Russia was an “inalienable part” of the Muslim world and was keen to cooperate with the Arab countries in the future.

Earlier Tuesday, he signed a 10-year strategic cooperation pact with Mubarak, with both nations saying there were committed to the “building of a new multipolar world order, which will be more democratic, fair and safe for all countries.”

No, that’s not it. This is.

With trade of 4.1 billion dollars last year, Egypt is Russia’s largest commercial partner in Africa.

Russia has also expressed interest in a 1.5 billion-1.8 billion-dollar tender to construct Egypt’s first atomic power station, which would resume the country’s nuclear programme after a 20-year freeze.

That Cairo speech just keeps on giving dividends. To everyone but Israel, of course.

06/30/2009

Spain’s activist courts becoming inactive

Filed under: Israel Derangement Syndrome, World — Tags: — Meryl Yourish @ 12:00 pm

Looks like the Spanish government is finally reining in its ridiculous activist judges.

Spain’s National Court on Tuesday decided to shelve an investigation launched by one of its judges into a July 2002 air strike by the Israel Defense Forces on a Hamas target in the Gaza Strip, judicial sources said.

Leading Hamas militant Saleh Shehadeh was killed when the Israel Air Force dropped a one-ton bomb on his apartment building in Gaza. The explosion destroyed the building and killed 14 other people, most of them women and children. Spanish Judge Fernando Andreu had argued that it could constitute a crime against humanity.

The suspects named by Andreu included former defense minister Benjamin Ben-Eliezer and six current or former IDF officers or security officials. The case had created some diplomatic tension between Spain and Israel.

The court decision followed a preliminary approval by parliament of legislation limiting the right of Spanish judges to investigate alleged human rights violations abroad.

Funny how they never manage to get the flip side of the argument. I have yet to read a single article condemning Hamas terrorists for living, working, and creating bombs in the midst of thickly populated civilian areas. But then, that would demand critical thinking skills on the part of Israel’s critics, and there is no such thing for most of them.

At least now Israelis will be able to travel to Spain again without worrying about being arrested. Will the U.K. follow suit?

06/29/2009

And more on Honduras

Filed under: Politics, World — SnoopyTheGoon @ 7:32 am

From WSJ:

Honduras Defends Its Democracy

With a great subtitle:

Fidel Castro and Hillary Clinton object.

Well, politics make strange bedfellows, they say. However, I disagree with the last sentence of the article:

The struggle against chavismo has never been about left-right politics. It is about defending the independence of institutions that keep presidents from becoming dictators. This crisis clearly delineates the problem. In failing to come to the aid of checks and balances, Mrs. Clinton and Mr. Insulza expose their true colors.

Mrs. Clinton doesn’t have any permanent colors, only the camouflage of expedience. Still, she has been jumping into too many random beds too quickly lately. Should take care, methinks.

Cross-posted at SimplyJews

Honduran coup: left, right, left, right…

Filed under: Politics, World — SnoopyTheGoon @ 7:28 am

It looks like Latin America is starting another swing of the hundred(s) years old pendulum. This time from a left wing (populist really) government of a single honcho intent only on keeping himself at the trough to a right-wing military junta. As if there wasn’t any middle ground.

So, on one hand, you might say (and be right at that) that a military coup is no way to manage a democracy. But then you read this crap:

“This was a brutal kidnapping of me with no justification,” Zelaya said.

Uhu… tell it to the Marines, dear. Then – this should make you sit up and listen:

The coup was widely criticized in the region, in strongest terms by Zelaya’s leftist allies, including Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez.

And your antennae start quivering. And then:

Zelaya, a leftist elected in 2005, had found himself pitted against the other branches of government and military leaders over the issue of Sunday’s planned referendum. It would have asked voters to place a measure on November’s ballot allowing the formation of a constitutional assembly that could modify the nation’s charter to allow the president to run for another term.

So the man was only trying to do a Hugo on his country. Just another Caudillo-to-be. Now read this – from a person who lives there and knows more about Honduras than you and me:

Do I speak for Hondurans when I say, “Leave to Honduras what is Honduran”? We don’t want or need international intervention from Venezuela, Nicaragua, the US, or anyone else. I feel a little resentful hearing the meddling comments from other countries. The US can’t and does not need to try to save every country in the world. Hmmm, now I understand how all those other countries feel.

There is so much misinformation on the internet, even from respected news sources, about what happened here and why it happened that I am astounded.

First of all, the military did not make a coup d’etat or golpe de estado against the government of Honduras. The government of Honduras (at least two branches of it) have been and continue to be in charge. The military were just following their orders. One branch of the government, the Executive branch, put himself above the others and ignored a verdict of the Supreme Court, who agreed with the Legislative Branch, who agreed with the majority of the population. This was no out-of-control military or rogue guerrilla group taking over our government.

Apparently the Honduran constitution does need to be changed, however. It needs to allow for calm, peaceful, and legal manner of impeaching/removing a president who puts himself above the law and the other branches of government. Call what happened today an impeachment, Honduran style.

Uhu. No Pasaran, baby.

Cross-posted at SimplyJews

06/26/2009

No more Spanish war crimes lawsuits?

Filed under: World — Meryl Yourish @ 11:00 am

The Spanish government is trying to change the laws that allow, well, anyone to sue anyone else in the world, for whatever reason.

Spanish legislators voted Thursday to change a law that let judges indict Osama bin Laden and Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet, narrowing its scope to cases with a clear link to this country and yielding to criticism that Spain should not act like a global cop.

The reform will not be retroactive, so the dozen or so cases now being investigated at the National Court will continue, the Justice Ministry said. These include investigations of alleged Chinese abuses in Tibet, an Israeli air force bombing in Gaza that killed 14 civilians, and alleged torture at the U.S. prison for terror suspects in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

I guess Spain is tired of being laughed at. Or perhaps they’ve finally realized that nobody’s going to go to Spain anymore if they can be arrested for any allegation that their political enemies can bring against them. Or perhaps they just woke up to the fact that they have no jurisdiction to try these cases.

Here’s hoping it goes through.

06/18/2009

Iraqis to sue Israel for Osirak

Filed under: Israel Derangement Syndrome, United Nations, World — Meryl Yourish @ 11:30 am

Here we go again.

A group of Iraqi lawmakers are determined to press forward with their demands for reparations for a 1981 Israeli attack on an Iraqi nuclear reactor, Baghdad’s daily al-Sabbah reported Thursday.

Mohammed Naji Mohammed, a member of parliament with the United Iraqi Alliance coalition, is leading a campaign for a parliamentary resolution obliging the Iraqi foreign ministry and courts to seek billions of dollars in reparations for an Israeli air strike on the Osiraq nuclear reactor.

UN Security Council Resolution 487, passed in the wake of the attack, “strongly condemns” Israel’s air strike against Iraq’s Osiraq nuclear reactor in June 1981, and “considers that Iraq is entitled to appropriate redress for the destruction it has suffered, responsibility for which has been acknowledged by Israel.”

Not a problem. Just countersue for the Iraqi army’s invasion of Israel in 1948, plus its support of anti-Israel forces for sixty years, as well as reparations for the Iraqi Jews forced out of Iraq after the creation of Israel.

By my math, I expect the Iraqis will owe Israel billions.

06/17/2009

The legitimization of Hamas begins

Filed under: Hamas, Israel, Terrorism, World — Meryl Yourish @ 10:00 am

Jimmy Carter is going to work the Obama administration to try to get Hamas’ terror designation revoked.

Former President Jimmy Carter will urge the Obama administration to remove Hamas from the terrorist list, FOX News has learned.

Carter, a chief defender of the U.S.-designated terror group, said Tuesday he will meet with officials in the Obama administration in two days to discuss his latest trip to the Middle East.

This comes even as Carter is on yet another of his meddlesome visits to uphold the Palestinians and denigrate the Israelis.

Carter said one of his trip’s main goals was to persuade Hamas to accept the West’s three conditions for engaging the group: renouncing violence, recognizing Israel and accepting previous Israeli-Palestinian agreements – all of which Hamas has refused to do.

At a news conference in Tel Aviv after leaving Gaza, Carter said he was waiting for Hamas to determine what it could agree to.

“When they make their decision on the exact language, they’ll be back in touch with me, and I’ll relay that commitment to the government officials in my country,” Carter said.

The last time he visited Hamas, they swore to him that they would cease violence. He told us so. The next day, Hamas representatives said they’d never said that to Carter. Somehow, those quotes never seemed to get back to Carter, and he doggedly continued his march towards legitimizing the terrorist government of Gaza. And now, the EU is joining him in granting legitimacy to the organization that is sworn to the destruction of all Jews in Israel:

In what is perceived in Jerusalem as a mistaken effort to give Hamas room to maneuver, the EU’s 27 foreign ministers, in a statement issued Monday, did not call, as in the past, for Hamas to forswear terrorism, recognize Israel or accept previous PLO agreements with Israel.

Government sources in Jerusalem said France led the efforts to keep what has become known as the Quartet’s three conditions on Hamas from being included in the European Council’s conclusions on the Middle East peace process.

This is the first step towards allowing Hamas in on the negotiations with Israel—except, of course, Israeli negotiators will not sit down with Hamas, so that leaves the EU to the negotiations. Once more, the world attempts to negotiate for Israel, make demands to Israel, and force Israel to do what they declare—while utterly excusing any and all failures on the Palestinians to end incitement, lay down their weapons, and come to the table as true peace-seekers.

Obama’s Cairo speech has emboldened anti-Israel forces all over the world—including the ones who think they know what’s best for the Jewish state. Here’s a news flash, EU: You have never known what’s best for the Jews. Look to your own history for evidence of that, and STFU.

05/27/2009

Testing Obama’s mettle

Filed under: The One, World — Meryl Yourish @ 11:00 am

A quote from October:

“Mark my words,” the Democratic vice presidential nominee warned at the second of his two Seattle fundraisers Sunday. “It will not be six months before the world tests Barack Obama like they did John Kennedy. The world is looking. We’re about to elect a brilliant 47-year-old senator president of the United States of America. Remember I said it standing here if you don’t remember anything else I said. Watch, we’re gonna have an international crisis, a generated crisis, to test the mettle of this guy.”

Yen Falls as North Korea Holds Nuclear Test, Launches Missiles

North Korea Launches More Missiles

Russia fears Korea conflict could go nuclear

Iran Sends 6 Warships to International Waters in ‘Saber Rattling’ Move

Analysis: US looking for Russians, Chinese to lead

North Korea Threatens South, Armistice Off

It’s a pass/fail test. So far, it’s not looking good for Obama. Or the world.

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