TGI Friday briefs

Posted on 04/29/2011 by Meryl Yourish

Awww. Seattle anti-Zionists lose again: First they lost the bus ads. Now they lost the billboards. Poor SeaMAC. On top of everything else, they have a really crappy acronym.

Passover in Moscow: You know, at my synagogue’s Seder, I met a young man who was from Russia, who told me that it’s changed a lot there for Jews. I am deeply suspicious, but apparently, it really has. There are fifteen synagogues in Moscow today.

So much for the moderates: Hamas wants Salam Fayyad to go under any unity deal. Fayyad, you may remember, is the man that the UN and the West seem to think will reform the crooks in the PA and stop them from stealing all of the aid money. Gee. I wonder why Hamas wouldn’t want him around, keeping track of the funds, making sure it didn’t go to, oh, I don’t know, the Hamas weaponry and leadership villa fund? And hey, even better: The State Department isn’t definitely ruling out cutting off U.S. funds if Hamas joins the government. Because it’s not like they’re a terrorist organization or anything like that, and we didn’t already do that when they took over in Gaza.

Oh, please. Ha’aretz editors are not living in the same universe as the rest of us. Yeah. Israel can redeem itself in the world’s eyes if it is the first nation to recognize and greet the Palestinian state. Seriously? These people read the world media and think that the countries that hate Israel are going to suddenly stop? Sure, because it’s not like they say Israel has occupying Palestinian territory since 1948 or anything. Oh. Wait.

Say, remember when Israeli bombed the Syrian nuclear reactor and everyone said it wasn’t a reactor? They were wrong.

Posted in Gaza, Israel, palestinian politics, Religion, Syria | 3 Comments

On the interconnectedness of it all… to Zionists

Posted on 04/28/2011 by SnoopyTheGoon

When you think that The Guardian cannot get any lower that it already got to regarding Israel… scratch it. I know that I’ve already used this sentence more than once. I also know that no matter when this sentence is said and no matter how many times it’s repeated, Guardian will get lower yet. So, you could do better reading this report by Just Journalism where they take apart a thoroughly vile editorial where Guardian lets its base instincts running wild. Just an example:

One country’s ability to bury the evidence of war crimes endangers how civilians are treated in all other conflicts. A single failure of international justice is also a collective one.

Guess which country it is…

So: Sri Lanka, Israel, Guardian… Guardian, Israel, Sri Lanka… Israel, Sri Lanka…

On the other hand, who knows… after all, everything in this world is interconnected. When a butterfly farts somewhere in Tibet, you know what usually happens in London… And all this interconnectedness is orders of magnitude stronger when looking at the Zionist octopus that has its tentacles – well, I shouldn’t expand more on something that is clear to any avid watcher of the big Z…

And, since we are rejecting the mere term “coincidence” in our progressive interconnected world, here is another outstanding example of the same phenomenon. Unfortunately, the article and the attached clip are both in Hebrew, but here is the gist: According to the Syria’s luminary speaking in this clip, the Syria’s current turmoil is not good to Arabs and not good to Muslims. The whole Syrian brouhaha, according to the man, is cooked up by… the Jewish party Shas. Even without knowing Arabic or Hebrew, you can clearly distinguish the words “Shas” and “Yahudi” (Jew) in this clip.

So: Syria, Jews, Shas… Shas, Syria, Jews… Jews, Syria, Shas…

OK, you would say. We all understand the desperation of the murderous autocratic Syrian regime. We know that this vile libel is only one of many thrown in the air by a regime that may very well be on its last legs and thus could be easily disregarded.

I don’t really have anything against this analysis. But let’s try another ditty then:

Syria, desperation, vile libel, Guardian… Guardian, Syria, desperation, vile libel… vile libel, Guardian, desperation…

Mmm… how does it sound to you?

Cross-posted on SimplyJews

Posted in Israel Derangement Syndrome | 1 Comment

The myth of the moderation of Hamas, exposed at last

Posted on 04/28/2011 by Meryl Yourish

Years ago, when George W. Bush let Condi Rice talk him into allowing Hamas to run for office in the Palestinian territories, Hamas won a significant number of offices. And so the pundit class and the realists and the anti-Israel left all said, “Hey, Hamas will have to moderate now. They’re going to have to figure out how to get rid of the garbage, so they won’t have time to send in the terrorists.”

They were wrong, and yet, they still held out the hope that Hamas would moderate. At various times in the last few years, pundits, congresspeople, and fairly unknowledgeable bloggers all pointed out that Hamas could really, would really, should really moderate—or at the very least, it would declare a long-term truce with Israel. In fact, the onus was starting to get put on Israel for refusing to negotiation with Hamas. The PLO, they pointed out, was a terrorist group, and yet, Israel negotiated with it. The Irgun was a terrorist group, and it grew up to become Likud (which is fatuous and untrue, but let’s ignore that for now and go with the lies of the left).

And so, now, Hamas and Fatah have their unity deal, which was the last obstacle in the PA’s unilateral push for recognition for the Palestinian state. Recognition, I would point out, without having to fulfill any of their obligations to Israel, such as stopping terror, incitement, and negotiating about borders, Jerusalem, and the “right of return.” That, in a nutshell, is why there is this “unity” agreement. (My prediction: It will unravel fairly quickly.)

But here is the moderation of Hamas. It is a quote I can’t find in any Western press release. So far, it’s only in the Israeli media. It’s from a press conference, so there’s no excuse for it not to be splashed all over the AP and Reuters. Hamas says they will never negotiate with or recognize Israel.

Mahmoud al-Zahar, a senior Hamas leader who participated in the talks said that peace with Israel was not on the table. “Our program does not include negotiations with Israel or recognizing it,” Zahar said in Cairo. “It will not be possible for the interim national government to participate or bet on or work on the peace process with Israel.”

Pretty clear. Pretty ominous. And pretty hard to find outside of the Israeli press. Here’s the party line that the wire services and mainstream media are pushing. In WaPo:

Abu Marzuk, the Hamas leader, said the conditions set by the Quartet, a group of Middle East mediators comprising the United States, Russia, the European Union and the United Nations, were not part of the reconciliation agreement.

The AP:

Al-Ahmed said reconciliation was more important than negotiating with Israel, and said unity would make their position stronger in seeking statehood’

Reuters buries the quote in the 27th paragraph of a 30-paragraph story.

And yet, that is the most relevant quote of the entire issue. The Palestinians blame Israel for not negotiating when, in fact, the Palestinians have refused—for more than a year—to sit down for face-to-face negotiations. Now the Palestinians will blame Israel again, because Israel will not negotiate with Hamas. Come September, the Palestinians are going to try to push a resolution through the UN General Assembly recognizing the state of Palestine. At the rate they’re going, it will happen—unless, of course, Hamas and Fatah start shooting at each other again. Which is not a longshot.

When some youths in Gaza went out to spontaneously celebrate the unity agreement, Hamas sent goons to break up the festivities.

Hamas forces dispersed dozens of people who gathered in a Gaza City square to celebrate the progress made on the national reconciliation issue, witnesses and demonstrators said Wednesday.

The rally was organized late Wednesday following the news that Palestinian National Authority President Mahmoud Abbas’ Fatah party and the Islamic Hamas movement reached an initial agreement on ending split and restoring unity in Cairo.

Several vehicles carrying Hamas detectives broke into the Unknown Soldier Park in the city and forced the joyful youths to leave, saying that the gathering was not licensed by Hamas authorities.

I’m with Barry Rubin on this one. My money’s on the accord breaking down fairly quickly. I don’t think it will last the summer, particularly if the new Gaza Flotilla is anything like the old one.

Posted in Hamas, Israel, palestinian politics | 1 Comment

Belated condolences to Sissy Willis

Posted on 04/27/2011 by Meryl Yourish

I didn’t know you’d lost Tiny. My heart goes out to you.

We never really forget them. I still think of Tiger, the cat that was in our house when I was born. (She’s the reason why I say I’ve had cats since before I was born.) Or Lady, who lasted nearly 20 years and at the age of nineteen would still play like a kitten if you dragged a string across the glass-topped coffee table. My first Tig, whose last pictures I just found (and will scan in when I get my new laptop). My second Tig, whom you all knew through pictures on the website. And my current Tig, the goofball, who makes me laugh on a daily basis, and who is the able successor to the other two Tigs.

Here he is, in a picture taken last Sunday, surrounded by a ring of light.

Tig surrounded by sun

He just missed catching a skink, which hid inside the neighbor’s deck, between two wooden posts. This picture was taken later, and just looking at it makes me laugh. I’ve never caught that particular expression on camera before.

Tig

Every so often, I talk about the day I called my team lead up and told her I was done with work for the day, because I was driving out to Colonial Beach to pick up my new Maine Coon orange boy. She inevitably says that she remembers the day very well, because before I came home with a new kitten, “You were so sad.” It changed in a moment.

The loss of our pets is huge. I’m not remotely in the same class of photography as Sissy. But I can send Tiny off with a kitty tribute. My condolences, Sissy.

Posted in Cats | 4 Comments

Non-Violence as a Military Tactic

Posted on 04/27/2011 by Rabbi Kaufman

In Mark Perry’s recent article in Foreign Policy, he wrote:

In Cairo, in June of 2009, President Obama linked the Palestinian quest for freedom to the American civil rights movement. “Palestinians must abandon violence,” he said. “Resistance through violence and killing is wrong and it does not succeed.” He was right. So why is it that now — when finally, Montgomery has come to Nabi Saleh — he chooses to remain silent?

This is an appeal to Obama specifically presenting the Palestinian cause as a civil rights movement. The obvious answer to Perry is that it is not a civil rights movement, but rather an attempt to use non-violence to achieve the military objectives that violence failed to achieve, namely the acquisition of lands. In other words, the only rights in question are rights to land.

Land issues should be solved in negotiations, not through violence or through non-violence. Non-violence is a tactic, not a goal. If the goals are the acquisition of territory or the elimination of the Jewish state, non-violence is in fact simply another tactic used to achieve these military goals. One can be a non-violent hater, a non-violent Jew hater, a non-violent advocate for the elimination of the Jewish state through non-violent means, a non-violent advocate for the expulsion of the Jews from the land.

We may argue about whether or not certain border fences should be where they are and whether certain lands will be Israel’s or part of a future Palestinian state, but the use of non-violence to achieve those goals rather than negotiations is only qualitatively different from using violence. In effect, one can execute a non-violent attack and attempts to harm Israelis by harming Israeli security are exactly such an attack. This is why non-violent protests that attempt to do harm to Israel’s security are met with a response as if Israel were under attack. They are attacks.

The only question that need be asked if one is wondering whether or not an action qualifies as an attack is “Does it affect the other side harmfully?” Attempts to dismantle security barriers that prevent harm from coming to residents on the other side are such attempts.

Addendum from Meryl: Mark Perry is lying about the protests being nonviolent.

A border guard was blinded by a “protester”. There were also broken leg, broken arm, injuries, injuries, and more injuries during the weekly Bilin “protests.” And here is a picture of the stones used to injure the soldiers.

Posted in Israel | Tagged , , , , , | Comments Off on Non-Violence as a Military Tactic

The final word on birthers

Posted on 04/27/2011 by Meryl Yourish

Two words, actually: Shut up.

Posted in The One | Tagged , | Comments Off on The final word on birthers

Syria and the UN Human Rights Council

Posted on 04/27/2011 by Meryl Yourish

The UN Human Rights Council is holding a special session on Syria. Whoa—did the UN suddenly get a conscience?

Nope.

The request, filed by the United States, was jointly submitted by 10 European states, as well as Japan, Mexico, South Korea, Senegal and Zambia.

Not a single Arab nation on the council joined in the request. A close personal friend of Muammar Khadaffy is—get this—a “council investigator on human rights violations by mercenaries,” thus explaining why Libya was never brought up on any human rights violations. All of the thugs on the council are in bed with one another regarding covering their own crimes. But don’t forget, Cuba and China are on the council.

The council has no problem finding fault with Israel on the subject of human rights. One might even say it seems to be the council’s raison d’etre. Fifty percent of all special sessions of the UNHRC so far have been devoted to Israel. Fifty percent of all resolutions of the UNHRC so far have been devoted to Israel.

So excuse me while I turn a jaundiced eye toward this new special session, as well as toward Ban Ki-Moon’s objections to Syria gunning down six-year-old children. Nothing will come of it. Bashar al-Assad will survive. And in a year or so, his representatives will be condemning Israel for violating human rights on something or other.

Posted in Israeli Double Standard Time, Syria, United Nations | Tagged , | Comments Off on Syria and the UN Human Rights Council

Your Wednesday briefs

Posted on 04/27/2011 by Meryl Yourish

Boycott this, morons: First Israelis invented texting. Now they’re going to use it to save Israeli lives. Jews rock. UPDATE: My mistake. Israel invented instant messaging, not texting. But Jews still rock.

Apparently, freeing Gaza is not a high priority for too many people: The Gaza flotilla is being postponed. What? You mean people don’t want to risk their lives covering for terrorists pretending to be innocent little activists (who keep talking about martyrdom to the Arabic press)? Color me amazed. If they’re finally getting some sense, good for the idiots. And there’s also this:

It also turns out the Turkish organizers have been largely unsuccessful in raising donations to fund the operation. Many ship owners refused to loan their vessels for the cause, fearing they might be confiscated by Israel. Now the activists are forced to buy the ships themselves.

So the truth did get out, even though the anti-Israel media did its best to paint the Mavi Marmara incident in the best of lights for the terrorists. That’s hopeful news.

Leviathan can’t get here soon enough: I can’t wait for Israel’s energy independence from the Jew-haters around the Jewish state. An “unknown armed gang” blew up the gas line to Israel again. And oh yeah, they’ve arrested the people who made the gas deal with Israel and are charging them for selling gas to Jews for too little money. Sure, Egypt is going to be a peaceful neighbor. Because it’s not like Mubarak allowed decades of anti-Israel incitement or anything like that while he was distracting Egyptians from their shitty condition under him. Oh. Wait.

Obama’s answer to high gas prices: More oil imports. Opening up our own deep water wells again? Nope. Allowing drilling in the U.S.? Nuh-uh. More offshore drilling? Fuhgeddaboudit. But hey, more oil from the Saudis? Awesome! Plus, blaming oil companies for high profits, and putting together yet another commission to investigate “fraud and abuse.” Because that’s exactly what we need, not, say, more American oil.

Posted in Gaza, Israel, Middle East, The One | Tagged , | 2 Comments

An AP WTF?! moment

Posted on 04/26/2011 by Meryl Yourish

Get a load of this gem in the AP. In a story about Jordanian police preventing the smuggling of ancient scrolls out of Jordan, we read:

Ziad al-Saad says the manuscripts were reportedly found by a Bedouin. He says the relics could be among the earliest Christian writings in existence but tests are under way to date them and check their authenticity.

Al-Saad said on Tuesday that if verified, the relics could be the most significant find in Christian archaeology since the 1947 discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls.

In one small quote, the Associate Press adds to the delegitimization of Judaism, as well as the delegitimization of Israel, by passing along the lie that the Dead Sea Scrolls are “Christian archeology.”

From Wikipedia:

Most scholars deny any connection between the Christians and the authors of the Dead Sea Scrolls. There is little to suggest that the Christians at this time were as secluded or as interested in elaborate rituals of purity and chastity as the community that produced the Scrolls.[citation needed] Still, Spanish Jesuit Josep O’Callaghan-Martínez has argued that one fragment (7Q5) preserves a portion of text from the New Testament Gospel of Mark 6:52-53.[35] In recent years, Robert Eisenman has advanced the theory that some scrolls actually describe the early Christian community. Eisenman also attempted to relate the career of James the Just and the Apostle Paul / Paul of Tarsus to some of these documents.[36]

Just take a look at the number of scrolls concerning Jewish texts—which would be, oh, all of them—and only someone trying to minimize Jewish history in the region would call the scrolls “Christian archeology.” And of course, the AP blithely passes along this misinformation, contrary to its own standards.

Posted in Jews, Media Bias | Tagged , | 1 Comment

A chip off the old Assad

Posted on 04/26/2011 by Meryl Yourish

I’ve mocked the Dorktator for years. But as time went on, I realized that Baby Assad was every bit as ruthless as his father, who murdered tens of thousands of his own people in Hama, destroyed the town, and salted the fields—to make sure that his subjects (subjects, not citizens) knew the price of disobedience.

Now, Bashar al-Assad is proving that he is his father’s son. He’s sent in the army to put down the rebellion—mercilessly.

When I see Barry Rubin write what I was thinking (and I’ve been waiting for Professor Rubin so I could link to him), then I know game’s over for the attempt at democratic (maybe) rule in Syria. What’s the worst the West will do? Sanctions? UN resolutions? Ooooh, Baby Assad is shaking in his designer shoes. (And hey, U.S. media, nice hagiography! Really, look at this Vogue article on Bashar’s wife.

And let’s not forget John Kerry going over there and insisting that Assad wants peace. He’s someone we can work with. Yeah. Right. A reformer, too, right, Hillary?

Mind you, I’m not calling for intervention in Syria. Of course, it’s too bad the revolution will fail, because that would leave Iran and Lebanon without a third of their axis—at least, until the dust settled. The middle east is looking like it’s heading towards either one giant Islamist hegemony, or several more Syrias. Don’t think the dictators haven’t noticed the difference between Libya and Egypt. The ones that remain will be following the Libya example.

Give it a few more years, and I’m sure you’ll have more magazine articles on what a handsome couple Bashar and his wife make. The dead of Syria? They’ll be forgotten by the West.

Posted in Syria | Comments Off on A chip off the old Assad

One for Mississippi

Posted on 04/26/2011 by Meryl Yourish

Westboro Baptist Cult vs. Brandon, Mississippi.

Awesomeness ensues.

A couple of days before, one of them (Westboro protestors) ran his mouth at a Brandon gas station and got his arse waxed. Police were called and the beaten man could not give much of a description of who beat him. When they canvassed the station and spoke to the large crowd that had gathered around, no one seemed to remember anything about what had happened.

Rankin County handled this thing perfectly. There were many things that were put into place that most will never know about and at great expense to the county.

Most of the morons never made it out of their hotel parking lot. It seems that certain Rankin county pickup trucks were parked directly behind any car that had Kansas plates in the hotel parking lot and the drivers mysteriously disappeared until after the funeral was over. Police were called but their wrecker service was running behind and it was going to be a few hours before they could tow the trucks so the Kansas plated cars could get out.

A few made it to the funeral but were ushered away to be questioned about a crime they might have possibly been involved in. Turns out, after a few hours of questioning, that they were not involved and they were allowed to go on about their business.

They never made it to the funeral. Click the link for more. H/T: Jonathan.

Posted in Israel | Comments Off on One for Mississippi

A royal public service announcement

Posted on 04/25/2011 by Meryl Yourish

The only Royal Wedding you’ll hear about on this blog involves Fred Astaire and Jane Powell. And amazing dancing.

Posted in World | 2 Comments

Other people’s work

Posted on 04/25/2011 by Meryl Yourish

No, I’m not stealing it. Go read other people’s work. I’m tired.

The real story behind “Miral.” Nice. The Weinsteins distributed a movie about Deir Yassin, which would be bad enough—but vicious anti-Semite Vanessa Redgrave is in it.

Goldstone’s retraction and Israel’s vindication: Yes, but the world is ignoring the retraction and, of course, saying that us wily Jews forced him to do it.

The origin of the Likud Party: And somehow, we’re all Likudniks now, according to The One. (And by “all” I mean “Zionists.”)

Elder has first-person accounts of the murder at Joseph’s Tomb.

Awesome. A new virus has struck Iran’s nuclear plants.

Posted in Life | 3 Comments

Two states, side by side, living in peace. Yeah. Right.

Posted on 04/24/2011 by Meryl Yourish

Once again, the Palestinians have proven how eager they are to live in peace with their Jewish neighbors. (Once again, the AP proves its bias.)

A Palestinian policeman opened fire Sunday at a group of Israelis who had come to pray at a Jewish holy site in the West Bank without authorization, killing one and wounding four, the Israeli military said.

The shooting threatened to inflame tensions in the West Bank, where Jewish settlers and Palestinians live in uneasy proximity and where settlers have responded to attacks in the past with violent reprisals.

Israeli police identified the dead man as Ben-Yosef Livnat, a Jerusalem resident in his mid-20s. Ben-Yosef was a nephew of Limor Livnat, a prominent hardline Cabinet minister from the ruling Likud Party.

Limor Livnat, who attended the funeral, told reporters that her nephew was killed by a “terrorist disguised as a Palestinian policeman.”

What the AP does not tell you is that the Israelis were driving back to their homes when the Palestinian police fired on their car—at a checkpoint.

Oh, and there’s also this headline:

     Israeli killed, 4 wounded in West Bank

Really? An Israeli was killed? Who killed him? Because in the lead, the AP tells me it was the Palestinian police. Why isn’t the headline “Palestinian policeman kills 1, wounds 4 in West Bank”? It’s just like the headlines where the AP tells us that rockets kill Israelis, but not that they’re fired by Palestinians.

And why was an Israeli killed at Joseph’s Tomb?

Palestinian officials notified the Israeli military that the Israelis “were shot by a Palestinian policeman who, after identifying suspicious movements, fired in their direction,” the Israeli military said.

“Suspicious movements”? Doubtless, the Jews dared to pray at a shrine that is holy to both Jews and Muslims. Note that the emphasis is going to be on the fact that Jews went to the tomb without coordinating the visit, not that they were murdered by a Palestinian police officer. Also note that unlike the deaths of Palestinians, murders of Israelis by Palestinians barely manage a blip on the world media scene.

Palestinians are saying the police fired several warning shots at the car, then into it when it refused to stop. The investigation is ongoing. Watch for the celebrations from the Palestinian side. And no apology. After the shooting, Palestinians once again mobbed Joseph’s Tomb and desecrated it—because it is sacred to Jews. These are the people that the world wants Israel to give control over the Temple Mount. And people wonder why Israel refuses.

Posted in Israel, palestinian politics, Religion, Terrorism | Tagged , | Comments Off on Two states, side by side, living in peace. Yeah. Right.

Caturday birthday greetings

Posted on 04/23/2011 by Meryl Yourish

For Rahel. Happy birthday!

First, a rare twofer: Tig and Gracie sleeping on my bed.
Tig and Gracie

Next, Miss Gracie.
Gracie

Now that the weather is warmer, Tig and I go out on the deck. Here he is getting freaked out by the top of my chair cover blowing off next to him.
Tigger

All better! He survived. (Yes, he really is that big. Well, that tall, anyway. He has two inches of fluff standing out on either side. At least.)
Tigger

Posted in Cats | 2 Comments