Now I know why.

Gal Beckerman, a historian of the Soviet Jewry movement, told Tablet on Tuesday that this even led Kissinger to suppress a letter that might have helped salvage a deal with the Soviets to release Jews under the Jackson-Vanik stipulations.

Similar considerations led Kissinger to press Nixon during the 1973 Yom Kippur War to delay delivering arms to Israel by a few weeks. Their conversations at the time show Kissinger arguing that Anwar Sadat, Egypt’s president, needed an unadulterated victory to make peace concessions. Nixon argued — correctly, as it turned out — that Sadat was already able to claim a victory, and that it was more important to stanch an ally’s casualties in a war that would claim 3,000 Israeli lives.

Un-freaking-believable. Kissinger was willing to sacrifice Jewish lives to feed Anwar Sadat’s ego.

I would very much like to be able to throw him out of the tribe, but it looks like he’s already removed himself. And His Holiness feels he is utterly above apologies, and has nothing to apologize for. Eff you, Hank. Eff you.

For one thing as Jennifer Rubin notes, the Rabbis chosen to meet with the President were known for being favorably disposed towards him.

As to the build-up, Moline lets on that no one predisposed to say nasty things about Obama was invited, nor was anyone who didn’t vote for him. (”We also wanted people who had not engaged in the kinds of behaviors I mentioned in my introduction, which is to say people who had been positively predisposed to President Obama once the election was over, but found themselves troubled by what had transpired over the subsequent year.”)

But was the purpose, as Rubin alleges, simply to ensure a positive reception? Or did the President feel that if Rabbis known to be sympathetic were bothered by the administration’s policies, that there was real work to be done?

Then there are Herb Keinon’s observations.

The truth, however, is that beyond the “message problem” there are indeed fundamental conceptual differences between how the Israel and the US view regional reality.
. . .
The differences are there, and they are real. What has changed now is that the administration has decided, in large part because of electoral considerations, that rather than playing these differences up, as it has done up until now, they will now keep them in the background … at least until the midterm congressional elections in November.

After that, it will be time again for the Netanyahu government to duck and look for cover, until the US presidential primary season heats up in the fall of 2011. Then electoral considerations will again become paramount in Washington, and Israel will again catch an American reprieve.

The only real reason to change approaches now would seem to be electoral considerations.

The Obama administration has been very open about its courting of Muslims. But the administration’s outreach to the Rabbis or even to Democratic legislators hasn’t made the pages of either the New York Times or Washington Post.

Based on the timing, President Obama’s own record and the administration’s relative quiet about the outreach to the Jewish community, it would appear that the Jewish outreach or “charm offensive” is more cynical than sincere. I think that Rahm Emanuel was right about the “messaging.” The administration doesn’t believe that it was wrong in its approach to the Middle East – including blowing up a bureaucratic snafu into an international incident – it’s mostly concerned that that approach will be “misunderstood” as being anti-Israel or, at least, unfair to Israel. The truth is that it would be no misunderstanding.

Crossposted on Soccer Dad.

And so, based on the thousands of comments and emails I’ve read over the years, both here and on other blogs and media sites, I present The Blogger’s Guide to Anti-Semitic Comments Trolls. Below are the some of the types of anti-Israel commenters I’ve identified over the years, but the list is by no means complete.

The garden-variety neo-Nazi Jew-hater: Yadda yadda Jews die, yadda yadda Jews suck, yadda yadda Jews control the world, yadda yadda bankers, kikes, money, world media, ZOG, yadda yadda, yadda yadda. These are the Stormfront community Jew-haters who have never been able to figure out why their life sucks so bad, so they blame the Jews. (Here’s a tip: Look in the mirror. It’s all your fault, bubelahs. There is no vast Jewish conspiracy that made you stupid and talentless; you did that all by yourself. Oh, and God doesn’t love you, either. He told me so himself at the last ZOG meeting.)

The Faux Jew: This one is usually fairly easy to spot. The Faux Jew is often a neo-Nazi fresh from a stint at Stormfront, where he and his buddies have just discussed what they think Jews really think. He comes to my blog to pretend to be a Jew so he can trap me with his wily Faux Jew comment. He adds “stein” to a last name that generally doesn’t sound Jewish at all. He will use “Moshe” or “Hesh” or “Abe” or another name that he thinks is typically Jewish. (For some reason, these creeps never use Murray or Harry or Josh. Oh, wait. The reason is they’re effing morons and don’t really know anything about Jews.)

The Faux Jew likes to pretend to be a bloodthirsty, bigoted asshat who puts up gleeful comments about the death of Palestinians. He uses the word “goyim” a lot (because he thinks that all Jews, when talking among ourselves, use the word “goyim” a lot, always in a derogatory fashion). Over the years, I’ve come to realize that what they want me to do is publish their comment and then say, “Right on, Fellow Jew!” Because, you know, that’s what we do. A quick test to see if your Faux Jew is Stormfront material: If you substitute the word “Jew” for “goyim” in his comment, the true (and ugly) face of the Faux Jew will appear.

Sometimes, the Faux Jew uses faux quotes by real Jews. A quick check on Google will show you that the quote is fabricated, taken completely out of context, or originates on a neo-Nazi website, and is referenced only by neo-Nazi websites. That’s your clue that the commenter is probably a regular at the Stormfront Annual Picnic in East Podunk, Idaho. (I hear the fifty spots for next year’s picnic are filling up fast; reserve now.) The Faux Jew will also use Yiddish words, misspelled and misused. If your commenter sounds like he picked up Yiddish by watching Mike Myers on Saturday Night Live, he’s a Faux Jew. Ban him.

The last strain of Faux Jew is a little harder to detect. I had one that took me a while figure out, but something about the troll kept sitting wrong with me from the get-go. The Faux Jews that work really hard at it will use Hebrew words and throw in Torah quotes. The dead giveaway there is that Christians will almost always apply the principles of the religion that they learned growing up—Christianity. Believe me when I tell you that to a Jew who is even semi-observant, it’s really noticeable. This type of Faux Jew uses Christian dogma without realizing it. Also, it’s really hard to fake being an observant Jew. The dead giveaway: Posting on Shabbat. That happens more often than you’d think, because most anti-Semitic comments trolls are not all that bright.

The Mikey Rivero Wannabes: Mikey Rivero runs the execrable and anti-Semitic “What Really Happened” website. The man is positively obsessed with bashing Jews and Israel, and he writes (and runs) long-winded, boring articles that purport to prove just how evil, vicious, and inhuman Jews and Israelis really are. The Mikey Rivero Wannabe will post long-winded, boring articles that s/he finds on various anti-Semitic websites. S/he is especially fond of reposting articles by Norman Finkelstein and Noam Chomsky. The Wannabes have never yet gotten past my moderation policy; their comments are deleted as soon as I see the comment page scrolling off the screen.

The Intolerant Atheist: This comments troll likes to pretend that s/he hates all religions equally, but after the opening salvo, s/he goes on and on about the evil Jews who think that Israel should be a Jews-only country. That’s the tic that gives them away: They never seem to notice that there are large populations of Israeli Arabs and Christians right there in that Jews-only state. Nor do they seem overly upset about the Islamic-only nations in the world. No, the only religion that bothers them seems to be Judaism. I wonder why that is? (Not really. See title.)

The “I’m an Anti-Zionist, Not An Anti-Semite” Troll: This one insists, over and over again, that s/he has nothing against Jews, it’s just Israel that s/he can’t stand. While defending this stand, however, the anti-Jewish remarks always seem to just slip out. These are also the trolls who make it a point to preface all of their remarks with “Of course you’re going to call me an anti-Semite for criticizing Israel.” This sort of troll spreads out into the mainstream (cf: Walt, Mearsheimer, Carter).

The David Duke/Pat Buchanan/Ron Paul Defenders: It is absolutely astonishing how fast the defenders of these three stooges come out of the woodwork. It’s zero to Jew-hate in no time at all. The mere fact that I posted their names here will bring out their supporters in droves, and as soon as they get a quick look at this post, they will leave their vile remarks for me to moderate (and add to my troll file for future use; I never approve these idiots’ comments).

The “Just The Facts, Ma’am” Irritant: This troll thinks that civilian vs. soldier casualty counts are more important than, say, the number of Israelis killed and wounded by kassam rockets. The word “genocide” gets thrown around a lot in relation to the Palestinians, even though if Israel is conducting genocide against them, it’s the worst genocide ever, what with there being only a few thousand deaths since 1948 (even including the War of Independence) and the growth of the Palestinian population since then. Comparisons with actual genocides, such as the destruction of two-thirds of Europe’s Jewry, fall upon deaf ears with this troll.

The Really Annoying Moron Who Think This Blog Is A Democracy Troll: They’re not really anti-Semitic, they’re just effing annoying. They blather on and on about how the author refuses to allow dissenting opinions, when what they really mean is that I don’t write what they want me to write. And when directed to my No Israel-Bashing Zone post, they melt down into fits of incoherent rage. I suspect they all have control issues. I suspect that I really don’t care.

That’s about all I can think of for now. I know I’ve missed a few troll types, but I can revisit this theme at a later date. In closing, I would like to direct all the anti-Semitic trolls reading this post to the Yourish.com mantra: Anti-Semites of the world, just die already. Preferably soon.

Witness:

Besides their support, Mutai stressed that “ever since the revolution, the Jewish community has tried very hard not to publicly intervene in election propaganda and to keep clear of the political establishment, since the race between the four candidates has entered a circle of actual physical violence and street fights between supporters of Ahmadinejad and Mousavi. They do not participate in support rallies and certainly do not organize any.”

Professor David Menashri, Director of Tel Aviv University’s Center for Iranian Studies said he also believed that the Jewish votes in Iran are reserved for Ahmadinejad. “The Jews in Iran usually follow the ruling stream in everything to do with internal political power struggles and keep a low profile. They will stay quiet and immediately support whoever wins,” he said.

How can that be? I thought that Jews are cherished and protected under the Iranians—it’s only the Zionists that are despised, is it not?

Not. And this is why:

“The votes are allegedly secret, but in hindsight are not so secret. So the Jews plan to ensure they are on the winning side. In any case, they have no problem supporting whoever is elected,” Ezri said.

They have to support whoever is elected. The Jews of Iran are an endangered species, just as the Jews of the Arab world are pretty much gone from those nations. Yemen is currently the best examples of how Muslims treat The People of the Book. For more examples of that, go look for Christians in Saudi Arabia. You won’t find any publicly practicing their religion, because that’s illegal. Filipinos are regularly arrested for holding private worship services in their homes. Obama has an interesting take on this lack of tolerance.

And throughout history, Islam has demonstrated through words and deeds the possibilities of religious tolerance and racial equality.

Yes, the possibilities of religious tolerance and racial equality exist, but not so much under Islam.

Samuel says she emerged early the next afternoon, when she heard Moshe calling for her. She found the child crying as he stood between his parents, who she says appeared unconscious but still alive.

Based on the marks on Moshe’s back, she believes he was struck so hard by a gunman that he fell unconscious at some point as well.

Sandra Samuel is a righteous woman. She stands very high in contrast to the subhumans who killed Rabbi and Rebbetzin Holtzberg. And Moshe? Well, he’s been traumatized. He may get over it, but rest assured, he will always know that his parents were murdered by terrorists. As to how this will cause him to react when he is grown, well, only time will tell.

In the aftermath of the attacks, Moshe asked for his mother continuously, Samuel says, and he is learning to play again — though he likes the nanny close by. And while she still has nightmares of the horrific siege that took hold of Mumbai, Samuel, a non-Jew and native of India, said she will stay in Israel for as long as Moshe needs her.

Time, and thoughts like these:

“I vow that we will avenge the deaths of Gabi and Rivki,” announced Rabbi Moshe Kotlarsky, vice chairman of Chabad’s educational arm, from New York, referring to Mumbai emissaries Rabbi Gavriel Holtzberg and his wife, Rivka.

“But not with AK-47s, not with grenades and tanks. We will take revenge in a different way,” Kotlarsky said.

“We will add light. We will add good deeds. We will make sure that there is not one Jewish man who does not put on tefillin. We will make sure that there is not one Jewish woman who does not light candles.

Remember that, when you look at this, and then think of the funerals of Palestinians, and the howls for revenge you hear from the crowds there.

I don’t always light Shabbat candles. I will make sure to do so tonight, to honor their memories.

And forgive me, I forgot to link last week’s. It was at Jack’s, who works very hard for the money. Except we don’t pay him, so he just works hard. So you have a plethora of posts for your morning (and afternoon and evening) read. And that’s a good thing on this eve of Erev Rosh Hashanah.

Some quick picks:

I could never live in Israel. Israelis are so…

A Tale of Two Sons

A visit to Rachel’s Tomb

Imshin finds a great Selichot tune. And then there’s Bush Lied, Bees Died. Good research, Imshin.

The Atheist Jew finds that the world is full of nuts. Yeah, we already knew that.

Wait for the punchline on this one.

Now go surf the rest yourselves.

Islam must do away with the dangers of extremism and present the religion’s positive message, Saudi King Abdullah said Wednesday as he opened a conference of Muslim figures aimed at launching a dialogue with Christians and Jews.

The three-day gathering in the holy city of Mecca seeks a unified Muslim voice ahead of the interfaith dialogue. In particular, Saudi Arabia hopes to promote reconciliation between Shiite and Sunni Muslims.

By the way, there’s something wrong with that modifier in the second paragraph. Let me fix it.

The three-day gathering in the holy only to Muslims city of Mecca seeks a unified Muslim voice ahead of the interfaith dialogue. In particular, Saudi Arabia hopes to promote reconciliation between Shiite and Sunni Muslims.

Boy, are they trying to present a united front or what?

“You have gathered today to tell the whole world that … we are a voice of justice and values and humanity, that we are a voice of coexistence and a just and rational dialogue,” Abdullah told the 500 Muslim delegates from 50 Muslim nations in his opening speech.

Yes, justice. It’s the hammer of justice:

Saudi Arabia is one of a number of countries where courts continue to impose corporal punishment, including amputations of hands and feet for robbery, and lashings for lesser crimes such as “sexual deviance” and drunkenness. The number of lashes is not clearly prescribed by law and is varied according to the discretion of judges, and ranges from dozens of lashes to several thousand, usually applied over a period of weeks or months. In 2002, the United Nations Committee against Torture criticized Saudi Arabia over the amputations and floggings it carries out under its interpretation of Sharia. The Saudi delegation responded defending “legal traditions” held since the inception of Islam 1400 years ago and rejected interference in its legal system.

It’s the bell of freedom:

Saudi women face severe discrimination in many aspects of their lives, including education, employment, and the justice system and are clearly regarded as inferior to men. Although they make up 70% of those enrolled in universities, women make up just 5% of the workforce in Saudi Arabia,[6] the lowest proportion in the world. The treatment of women has been referred to as “gender apartheid.”[7][8][dead link][9] Implementation of a government resolution supporting expanded employment opportunities for women met resistance from within the labor ministry,[10] from the religious police,[11] and from the male citizenry.[12] These institutions and individuals generally claim that according to Sharia a woman’s place is in the home caring for her husband and family. It is a country where culture and religion make women live mostly restricted segregated lives. There is also segregation inside their own homes as some rooms have separate entrances for men and women. [13]

It’s the song about love between the brothers and the sisters, all over this land:

Participants said they hoped the gathering would culminate in an agreement on a global Islamic charter on dialogue with Christians and Jews. They expect Saudi Arabia will launch its formal call for an interfaith dialogue at the conference’s close or soon after.

Abdullah’s message, which has been welcomed by Jewish, Christian and Muslim leaders, is significant, though it remains unclear who will participate in the second phase of the initiative; in particular whether Israeli religious leaders would be invited.

Color me skeptical.