State Dept.: Israel’s religious freedom is as bad as Iran’s

Posted on 11/19/2010 by Meryl Yourish

The State Department truly is filled with morons. It says that religious freedoms in Israel are on the same level as those of Iran and Saudi Arabia. Yeah, because it’s just like two countries that lop off hands, stone women, require women to have male guardians, or not drive, or not play sports with men—yep, Israel’s just like those states.

Part I of the Executive Summary discusses overall conditions during the reporting period in countries where “violations of religious freedom have been noteworthy.” Israel is listed among 30 nations selected for this category — including Afghanistan, China, Iran, Iraq, Nigeria, North Korea, Pakistan, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen — due to the emphasis of the Jewish State on maintaining the status quo with regard to respect for Jewish legal standards.

Really? The Jewish state wants to adhere to Jewish law, and so that puts it on the same level as Muslim states adhering to a version of sharia that allows women to be buried up to their necks and have large stones thrown at them until dead?

The report complained, for instance, that three Messianic Jews were denied the right to immigrate to Israel during the reporting period.

“Messianic Jews” are not Jews. They are Christians. Worse, they are generally Christians who are trying like hell to convert Jews to their cause. (Although they mostly fail miserably–something like over 90% of all Jews who get caught under their spell go back to Judaism a short while later.) We’ve been up and down that road on my blog a dozen times. I’d really like to see where it is interfering with religious freedom by not allowing faux Jews to emigrate to the Jewish state.

Other issues of contention included Israel’s unwillingness to recognize conversions performed in the country which do not meet criteria under Torah law, identification cards (Teudot Zehut) that differentiate between Jews and non-Jews, and the authority over marriages and burials exercised by the Chief Rabbinate, which is Orthodox.

Wow, that’s quite a list of things that restrict religious freedom. Oh, wait. In fact, that is actually a list of Jews expressing their religious freedom. (Okay, I do agree on the civil marriages thing, but let’s not get sidetracked.)

So what’s the article have to say about this?

All religions have freedom of worship in Israel — unlike the other countries mentioned above.

Yes, let’s count the number of churches in Israel. Now count the number of churches in Iran and Saudi Arabia. Also, please show me worshippers in Israel being persecuted for their beliefs. Now look at the Bahai in Iran and Christians in Saudi Arabia, as well as Sunni Muslims in Iran and Shia in Saudi Arabia. Also, Zoroastrians.

That’s right, it’s PC gone wild at the U.S. State Department. But Foggy Bottom hates Israel, so we are not really surprised by this report.

Posted in Israel Derangement Syndrome, Religion | Tagged , | 3 Comments

I’d just like to point out…

Posted on 11/18/2010 by Meryl Yourish

…that talking about zombie movies with friends (let alone playing Plants vs. Zombies on a regular basis) may lead to nightmares about zombies, which end up your fearing infection at the very last moment of the dream, until you are awakened by—a hot flash.

Sigh.

It’s a double whammy.

And what I’d really like to know is, who was the asshat in the dream that allowed the smart zombies to block us from the room with the bombs? We ran out of ammo, dammit. (And someone loaded my shotgun with blanks!)

I wonder if peroxide on a zombie cut on your leg protects you from infection? Well, I’ll probably find out in the next installment. (Oh, yeah. I sometimes have serial nightmares on the same theme. My subconscious is a nasty, nasty thing.)

Posted in Life | 5 Comments

Thursday morning un-brief briefs

Posted on 11/18/2010 by Meryl Yourish

Living in peace, if peace means “trying to kill people by throwing cement blocks at their cars:” Yep, those peaceful Palestinians, who are only waiting for the stubborn Israelis to stop causing them to do things like throw cement blocks at passing cars and fracture the drivers’ skulls, are not obstacles to peace. The drivers are.

The anti-Semitic Time’s Man of the Year: Can’t really tell who to give the top Jew-hating title to, Time or Recip Tayyip Erdogan. Reading this utterly anti-Israel p.o.s. piece on voting for the Islamist who is moving Turkey towards becoming a fascist, Islamist state is rather nauseating. “Man of the Year” used to mean the person who most influenced world events. That’s why people like Hitler got it. Erdogan has influenced some Middle East events, but nowhere else, really. As for the utterly biased account of an Israeli “raid” killing Turkish “activists” delivering “aid”—well, this is the [so-called] newsmagazine that helpfully put “rhymes with Fagin” as a how-to-pronounce guide of Menachem Begin’s last name. And may I say: Eff you, Time, and all your Jew-hating writers and editors.

Buh-bye, Jihadis: IDF got another couple of terrorists in Gaza. I’d say “Tuna for terrorists,” but the kitties get canned food every day now, so no tuna for them. Bonus points: These are the jerks that kidnapped the BBC reporter (who still hates Israel, though). Al Qaeda is now threatening Jews in Hebrew over these killings. Because it makes a difference if they use our language or theirs. Duh.

What’s missing from this AP piece on the freeze? The fact that the Palestinians have said they will not resume talks without a full settlement freeze. Funny, the Israeli press can find quotes to that effect, but not the AP. And then there’s the “they want a freeze but that’s not a condition” bullshit. Um—they want a freeze, but it’s not a condition? In what universe?

Palestinians want construction to halt in both war-won areas, which they claim for their future state along with the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip.

But they have not set that as a condition for resuming U.S.-brokered peace talks, which broke down in late September, just three weeks after they began at the White House, following the expiry of a 10-month moratorium on new West Bank construction.

Sure looks like a condition to me.

Big, scary Israel is scaring scared villagers: The AP just can’t go a day without slamming Israel for everthing. The village of Ghajar was captured from Syria during the Six-Day War. When Israel left Lebanon in 2000, the UN split the village in half. Israel occupied it again during the war with Hezbollah, and reunited the village that the UN had stupidly split in half. Now, the villagers say they don’t give a crap who rules them, they want their village whole in one piece. So, of course, it’s Israel’s fault that the village is now split. Not the UN surveyors. It’s the headline that irks me the most: Israel pullout stirs fear in Lebanon border hamlet. Big, scary Israelis—even when they leave, they’re scaring the poor, innocent fill-in-the-blanks.

Lawfare works both ways: Awesome! An Israeli student fought a Spanish websites anti-Israel policies and won. Looks like the threat of being sued ranks higher than a stupid boycott, eh? (Also doesn’t help that the Euros have those thought-crime laws, and it’s far easier to win lawsuits there than it would be here in the U.S. But hey—we’ll take the win.)

Posted in Israel, Lebanon, Media Bias, Terrorism, United Nations | Tagged , , , | 3 Comments

Better Felt Up Than Blown Up

Posted on 11/18/2010 by Rabbi Kaufman

Wasn’t there a big deal about the Pedophile’s Guide being sold on Amazon. No need now. The entire guide can be summed up in these words, “Join TSA.” If you haven’t seen the article about TSA body searching a three year old, you can see it here. If you haven’t seen the Taiwanese parody of the TSA searches, you really should see it here.

This situation is absurd, but it may not be as crazy as people might think. Clearly, we need profiling and security dogs at a minimum. However, if indeed PETN can’t be tracked by the dogs, we need scanners as such or else the pat downs may be necessary. I tend to believe at this point that TSA has received intelligence that more Christmas Day bombers with PETN undies are coming. PETN is not detectable by the metal scanners, thus people can just walk through the detectors wearing explosives. Plus, evidently, it isn’t detectable by the general explosives scanners either. It is only detectable by touch or by the newer scanning  machines.

Regarding scanners see this article about scanning all cargo and just how much that would cost, except here we’re talking about using these same scanners for passengers as well as bags and cargo. Almost no airport is equipped to do that and it would cost billions of dollars to install everywhere as well as taking many months just to cover major airports.

My belief is that Homeland Security suggested that TSA enact the screening for PETN because of credible intelligence. The only thing that can be done other than either the advanced scanners (which are highly limited right now) or pat downs is to do Israeli style profiling and questioning which would add at least two hours to every flight and require months, if not years, to initiate here because of training and hiring. If this is an immediate risk issue, and I imagine that it is, they have little choice beyond the pat downs. There may not be reasonable and effective immediate alternatives.

I am assuming that TSA has been told not to inform the public about the need for these checks so as not to cause panic during the travel season. Better they be seen as overly intrusive than absolutely necessary. Imagine the looks that every minority person would face, especially Muslim dressed minority people, the entire time they are in the airport.

Full facial detection software and questioning in front of facial scanners in order to identify those who are lying or are unusually stressed would work too, but again we’re talking cost and time. If we have no time, which is my bet, namely that there is an immediate credible threat, they may have no choice but to pursue this ridiculously obtrusive path. The motto for TSA really should be “Better felt up than blown up.”

Posted in Terrorism | Tagged , , , | 6 Comments

Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog

Posted on 11/17/2010 by Meryl Yourish

Okay, I am very late to the party, but I bought the DVD and finally caught up. My estimation of Joss Whedon has gone even higher than I thought it could ever go.

Must. Buy. Soundtrack.

And Blu-Ray.

I read recently that a sequel is planned.

I cannot stop singing the tunes in my head.

If you like Joss Whedon, and you like musicals, well, what are you waiting for? I just told you how great Dr. Horrible is!

Posted in Movies | 5 Comments

Wednesday briefs

Posted on 11/17/2010 by Meryl Yourish

Yeah, sure, okay: Iran says that it chased half a dozen foreign jets out of its airspace during air defense drills. Also, sixteen UFOs, forty-five Zionist infiltrators, and Santa Claus on an early test run of the new RoboRudolph. Oh, and their radar can reach all the way to the moon. To the moon, Alice!

Unbiased AP headline of the day: Future of Mideast peace process in the hands of polarizing rabbi. By the way, the AP changed it from “Mercurial rabbi may hold the key to peace talks.” Funny, they never seem to use the words “polarizing” and “mercurial” when it comes to people like, say, Hassan Nasrallah. Funny, that.

Hezbollah threatens coup over Hariri Commission outcome: Yep. They’re totally threatening to take over Lebanon, and yet, this rates barely a blip on the world media. And when they do take over, what will the angle be? Somehow, Israel made them do it. Sure, Congress, send those weapons to the Lebanese army. Because it’s not like Hezbollah rules Lebanon or anything.

Uh-oh, terrorists: I didn’t realize that the IDF had stopped training in urban environments after an accident killed a soldier. But they’re ba-aack. As we know, the IDF fights the next war. The terrorists are always fighting the last war. Thankfully!

Posted in AP Media Bias, Iran, Israel, Lebanon, News Briefs | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

Palestinians Leveraging UN Pressure

Posted on 11/16/2010 by Rabbi Kaufman

An article in Haaretz today describes the problems that the Palestinians have with the current moratorium extension proposal. The article quotes an unnamed Israeli official as saying:

The political benefits that Israel would receive as part of the package of understanding with the U.S. are not acceptable to the Palestinians because they ease some of the pressure on Israel and make it impossible for [the Palestinians] to apply their strategy of evading direct talks and of trying to force Israel into an arrangement through UN resolutions.

The US must discourage this kind of thought process. This cannot be an option afforded the Palestinians because if they were to choose it and the US were to back off, the result would be persecution of Israel on a scale never before witnessed and of Jews on a scale witnessed all too often throughout history. The US must stand up for Israel. So, if in fact, this really is the Palestinian strategy, and it appears to be, the Palestinians must be forced to abandon it.

For more on this, you may want to visit the We Are For Israel blog, where Rabbi Micky Boyden and myself have been writing about the various proposals and counter proposals going on.

Posted in Israel | Tagged , , , , , | 2 Comments

The It’s Tuesday briefs

Posted on 11/16/2010 by Meryl Yourish

Another year gone already? I don’t know what it is, but this task seems more onerous now that I’m a year older. Or maybe I’m just all tuckered out from driving back and forth to NJ twice in the last ten days, and having surgery on my eyes, and trying to adjust to a whole new view (literally), and dealing with family stuff, and—and—oh, never mind, now it just sounds like whining.

First they came for the Jews: Greek Orthodox Christians assault Muslims celebrating Eid. We are the canaries in the coal mines. Ignore anti-Semitism at your peril, because this is a result of turning your back on Jew-hatred.

Gee, no way this can go wrong: Lebanon is going to be supplied arms by Russia. Say, anyone up for a rerun of the U.S.-Russia Middle East arms race?

Think the AP will change the boilerplate on Muslim-Christian relations over this? Egyptian Muslims torched more Christian homes. Why? Because of a rumor that a Muslim girl had an affair with a Christian. And here’s the AP on the attacks:

Clashes between Christians and Muslims occasionally occur in southern Egypt, mostly over land or disputes over church construction. But sectarian tensions have also been on the rise recently in the capital.

Last year in Qena, a Coptic man was accused of kidnapping and raping a 12-year-old Muslim girl. The alleged assault led to widespread protests by the Muslim community and increased tensions between the two religious groups, which culminated in the murder of six Copts and one Muslim security guard at a church on January 6.

Coptic Christians make up about 10 percent of Egypt’s population of 80 million. Copts and Muslims generally live in peace, though tension and violence occasionally flares.

Note the text in bold. See how the AP downplays the violence against Christians, just as it downplays the violence against Jews in Israel stories. Riots are called “protests”. Murder is called “increased tension”. And the boilerplate—the paragraph directly above this one—remains unchanged.

Whoa… Stealth fighters? The Obama administration really, really, REALLY wants this freeze. They’re offering Israel 20 Stealth fighters as a gift if Israel signs onto the freeze for three more months? Yeesh… sign on the dotted line, Bibi. It’s worth 100 times the number of “the Zionists control the U.S.” stories this deal will bring.

Posted in AP Media Bias, News Briefs, Religion | Tagged , , | 3 Comments

The unbearable dilemma of an “anti-Zionist”

Posted on 11/16/2010 by SnoopyTheGoon

The famous Buridan’s ass that is dying due to its inability to choose between two equally succulent and equidistant stacks of hay* has nothing on a rabid anti-Zionist**, one professor Francis Boyle.

You have, most probably, observed at least once in your life, a baby unable to choose between two different toys and unable to hold or play with both at the same time. The situation frequently creates some hilarious scenes and memorable snapshots to proud parents.

Here we have a case that, while hilarious, could hardly make the institutions of higher learning in United States of America proud. It rather shames the august Harvard University, where Boyle received a J.D. degree magna cum laude and A.M. and Ph.D. degrees in political science.

Professor Boyle doesn’t like Israel. OK, you might say, many people don’t like many countries or nations. With professor Boyle, however, this dislike is more of an obsession. So much so that when he starts venting his dislike, his whole education and cutting edge intellect, honed by Harvard and his exemplary experience, seem to go down the drain. So much so that, even when rehashing the usual conspiracy theory about us Elders owning the world, he is unable to keep the thread of his logic (yep, even a conspinut usually has a kind of warped logic). And, like that above mentioned baby, he can’t choose between two different kinds of blame to assign to his much hated Zionists. Here he starts:

In fact, when it comes to US foreign policy to oppress the Palestinians, nothing has changed. Obama was bought and paid for by Zionists.

And here he continues:

As you well know, all the major US news media sources are Zionist – every one of them. Likewise, higher education, here, in America, has become predominantly Zionist in its orientation, since I entered college in 1968. As a matter of fact, if I were trying to become a professor today, the Zionists would make sure I could not become a professor – exactly as they did to my friend Norman Finkelstein at DePaul University.

By now, I hope, you have starting to get the general drift and the usual grim picture of the Zionist octopus holding the world in general and America in particular where it hurts and having its way with the said world. And you are relaxed in your armchair, seeing as how the learned professor is telling it all.

And suddenly professor sees and seizes a different toy:

We have to understand that historically, Israel has always been nothing more than a Jewish Bantustan, set up by the Western colonial powers, in the Middle East, to control and dominate the Middle East at their behest. It is that simple. Israel does now what the United States tells it to do.

Oops…

I don’t know how you are going to sleep tonight. No, really, what with professor Boyle showing you two completely different evils, how would you know which one is real and which one is not? How do you know whether to watch for the monster under your bed or for the boogieman in your closet?

Are you confused? Even an Arab watcher, Professor Shibli Talhami, from Maryland University (and no great friend of Israel), is confused:

First he says that the Zionists control the US and its policies, and then he says that the US controls Israel, so I’m not sure what his position is.

But I think that I have explained this behavior in the beginning of the post. When professor Boyle grows up a bit more, he will definitely decide which one of the two toys is more suited to his needs. I am sure of that. Are you?

(*) It’s actually a bit more complicated than two stacks of hay, see here.
(**) There is a difference, though. Our professor wouldn’t croak of hunger.

Cross-posted on SimplyJews

Posted in Israel Derangement Syndrome | 6 Comments

Oh, that historic compromise

Posted on 11/15/2010 by Soccerdad

In a bit of fractured history, Saeb Erakat writes in the National (h/t Martin Kramer):

On November 15, 1988, the Palestine Liberation Organisation declared statehood by passing the Palestinian Declaration of Independence while exiled in Algiers. That declaration constituted the Palestinian people’s historic compromise for peace as they limited their national aspiration towards the establishment of the Palestinian state over 22 per cent of historic Palestine, thus tacitly recognising Israel over the remaining 78 per cent.

Disregarding our historic compromise, Israel has instead strengthened its occupation through an illegal settlement enterprise. Throughout a negotiations process lasting over 19 years, the Israeli settler population has nearly doubled, from 236,000 in 1993 to over half a million today.

Congress actually tracked the PLO’s activities in light of this historic compromise, what did Congress find?

(1) United States policy regarding contacts with the Palestine Liberation Organization (including its Executive Committee, the Palestine National Council, and any constituent groups related thereto, (hereinafter referred to as the `PLO’)) set forth in the Memorandum of Agreement between the United States and Israel, dated September 1, 1975, stated that the United States `will not recognize or negotiate with the Palestine Liberation Organization so long has the PLO does not recognize Israel’s right to exist and does not accept United Nations Security Council Resolutions 242 and 338′;

(2) section 1302 of the International Security and Development Cooperation Act of 1985 (22 U.S.C. 2151 note; Public Law 99-83), effective October 1, 1985, stated that `no officer or employee of the United States Government and no agent or other individual acting on behalf of the United States Government shall negotiate with the Palestine Liberation organization or any representatives thereof (except in emergency or humanitarian situations) unless and until the Palestine Liberation organization recognizes Israel’s right to exist, accepts United Nations Security Council Resolutions 242 and 338 and renounces the use of terrorism’;

(3) the Department of State statement of November 26, 1988, found that `the United States Government has convincing evidence that PLO elements have engaged in terrorism against Americans and others’ and that `Mr. [Yasser] Arafat, Chairman of the PLO, knows of, condones, and lends support to such acts; he therefore is an accessory to such terrorism’;

(4) Secretary of State Shultz declared on December 14, 1988, that `the [PLO] today issued a statement in which it accepted United Nations Security Council Resolutions 242 and 338, recognized Israel’s right to exist in peace and security, and renounced terrorism. As a result, the United States is prepaed for a substantive dialogue with PLO representatives’;

(5) President Ronald Reagan, subsequent to the decision to open an United States-PLO dialogue, stated that the PLO `must demonstrate that its renunciation of terrorism is pervasive and permanent’ and if the PLO reneges on its commitments, the United States `will certainly break off communications’;

(6) since Yasser Arafat’s statements in Geneva, there have been several attempted incursions into Israel by PLO member groups, that Arafat has not renounced any of these potential terrorist incidents, that he has threatened `ten bullets in the chest’ to any of his own people who seek peace and coexistence with Israel, and that his principal deputy, Abu Iyad, as well as other senior Al-Fatah figures, have been quoted as saying that the PLO recognition of Israel and renunciation of terrorism is merely tactical and that a Palestinian state is but the first step in the `liberation of Palestine’; and

(7) such actions and statements give both the United States and Israel reason to question the PLO’s ultimate intentions.

It seems that peace in the Middle East has always involved a component of looking the other way and denying the PLO’s involvement in terror. The “historic compromise” that Erakat boasts about was nothing more than window dressing to disguise the fact that the PLO had not really changed.

Crossposted on Soccer Dad.

Posted in Israel, palestinian politics | Tagged | Comments Off on Oh, that historic compromise

Birthday briefs

Posted on 11/15/2010 by Meryl Yourish

I’ve got a few candidates for the journey: Some scientists think we should send people on a one-way trip to Mars. Yeah, I can think of a few people I’d love to see on that trip. Can they make it a bigger ship?

Sorry, wrong number: Iran says the weapons that were found being smuggled in containers shipped to Nigeria (by way of Mumbai; are they sure they got them all?) were a “misunderstanding.” I can believe that. They put the wrong number on the end of the code, and instead of Gaza, the weapons wound up in Nigeria. Oops.

Freeze and freeze; what is freeze?! Is anyone else tired of the stupid negotiations on freezing settlements? Hell, I’m tired of writing about them. (Extra credits to the SF nerds who can name the reference in the subhead. Yeah, I know it’s a gimme.)

Aiding the incitement: Great. Norway’s got whole villages funding anti-Israel films, including one that translates “itbah al-Yahud” as “kill the Israelis.” Because of course, all Israelis are Jews; all Jews are Israelis. (“Yahud” is the Arabic word for Jew, if you didn’t already know.)

Posted in Iran, Israel, Israel Derangement Syndrome, Terrorism | Tagged , , | 10 Comments

Racist, evil IDF soldiers rescue 80-year-old Lebanese woman

Posted on 11/14/2010 by Meryl Yourish

Those horrible, horrible Israelis are at it again. Damn them!

An IDF force patrolling along the northern border Saturday detected an 80-year-old woman whose clothes had tangled in the Lebanese side of the border fence. The troops informed United Nations personnel stationed at the area and rescued the woman together.

The elderly woman was caught in a part of the fence which was adjacent to a mine field and when it became clear the Lebanese Army could not assist her, the IDF stepped in.

A joint military force pulled the woman into Israeli territory while the Lebanese Army observed the rescue operation. After making sure the woman was not injured UNIFIL representatives contacted the Lebanese Army and coordinated her return to Lebanon via the Rosh Hanikra crossing.

Don’t believe the hype. Israel is the reason the woman got tangled up in the fence to begin with. They probably used their Zionist mind rays to confuse her and make her head toward the mine field. It’s just sheer luck that she got tangled in the fence instead.

Posted in Israel, Lebanon | 1 Comment

The anti-Israel bias, exposed again

Posted on 11/13/2010 by Meryl Yourish

In this AP article on Congress lifting the holds on sending money to the Lebanese army (and gee, having Obama assure them that the money won’t be hijacked by Hezbollah in any way sure makes me feel better, how about you?), we see the constant anti-Israel bias of the mainstream media.

Let’s parse this paragraph:

Lowey and Berman were among several lawmakers to express concern about the aid and placed holds on it in August after Lebanese soldiers opened fire on Israeli troops. Two Lebanese soldiers, a Lebanese journalist and a senior Israeli officer were killed.

Reading this account, the reader is led to believe that there was an exchange of fire after the Lebanese started it, but Israel, as usual, killed more people and managed to get a journalist, too. What really happened?

Let us review. The IDF notified UNIFIL that they were going to do their regular tree-pruning of the Israeli side of the border. As they were pruning trees, a Lebanese sniper opened fire—but not at the soldiers doing the pruning. He directed his fire at the officers observing the pruning—who were even further inside Israel. The sniper killed Lieutenant-Colonel Dov Harari and wounded another officer. And the world media slammed Israel, of course.

Also unmentioned: For some reason, there were a ton of Lebanese journalists on the other side of the border where the IDF would be pruning the trees. UNIFIL asked the IDF not to do the work at the time the IDF first mentioned, but to delay until a time that UNIFIL wanted this to occur. And there were blue helmets on the Lebanese side of the border, waving and yelling at the Israelis. (Reuters and other news media managed to make this look like the Israelis were ignoring warnings to approach the border, but it turned out that the Blue Helmets were actually trying to prevent the shootings from occuring.) This was an ambush by the Lebanese, plainly seen, and even admitted to by the Lebanese. But none of these facts manage to make it into the description of the attack above. I have a simple rewrite that you’ll never see the AP, or any other mainstream media outlet, attempt:

Lowey and Berman were among several lawmakers to express concern about the aid and placed holds on it in August after Lebanese soldiers ambushed Israeli troops pruning the brush on the Israeli side of the border, killing Lieutenant-Colonel Dov Harari and wounding another officer. Two Lebanese soldiers, and a Lebanese journalist were killed when Israel returned fire.

No, you’ll never see anything like that outside of the Israeli press. And the Jblogosphere.

Posted in AP Media Bias, Israel, Lebanon | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

Palestinian Arrested for Criticizing Islam on Facebook

Posted on 11/12/2010 by Rabbi Kaufman

Today, a young man from Qalqiliya, Walid Husayin, was arrested by the Palestinian Authority for writing on Facebook in criticism of Islam. He wrote parody. Some, if not much of what he wrote was highly insulting of Islam, and he went so far as to write under the name of “God” in some Facebook groups. It is understandable that many Muslims were offended by what he wrote. In fact, considering the lack of tolerance in the Arab world, it is astounding that a Palestinian MUSLIM, his family are MUSLIMS, would write in this manner. Needless to say, he tried to keep his identity a secret. Husayin is an atheist who proclaimed the evils of his family’s faith in public. He aired dirty laundry. Hussein committed heresy.

If you have not read the story in today’s Haaretz about the Palestinian man jailed for criticizing Islam on Facebook, you should. I think that nothing comes closer to illustrating the depth of the difficulty in achieving peace and explain why it detail on the We Are For Israel blog, for which I also write.

In this case, this man may well never be let out of prison, if he is not sentenced to death. You read it right, “DEATH.” Of course, if he were let out of prison, he might well be murdered in the streets by someone “acting in defense of Islam.” The article relates the following:

Now, he faces a potential life prison sentence on heresy charges for insulting the divine essence. Many in this conservative Muslim town say he should be killed for renouncing Islam, and even family members say he should remain behind bars for life.

“He should be burned to death,” said Abdul-Latif Dahoud, a 35-year-old Qalqiliya resident. The execution should take place in public to be an example to others, he added…

Two cousins attributed the writings to depression, saying Husayin was desperate to find better work. Requesting anonymity because of the shame the incident, they saidHusayin’s mother wants him to remain in prison for life – both to restore the family’s honor and to protect him from vigilantes.

The Haaretz article went on to note that:

A small minority hasquestioned whether the government went too far. Zainab Rashid, a liberal Palestinian commentator, wrote in an online opinion piece that Husayin has made an important point: that “criticizing religious texts for their (intellectual) weakness can only be combated by oppression, prison and execution.“

I agree. How is condemning a person to life in prison or even sentencing such a person to execution for expressing unpopular views in accord with either modernity or Western morals and ethics? The terms that come to mind to describe such a government are “oppressive,” “tyrannical,” and dare I say it, “fascist.”

Merriam-Webster’s definition of Fascism is pretty much on the mark here:

a political philosophy, movement, or regime (as that of the Fascisti) that exalts nation and often race above the individual and that stands for a centralized autocratic government headed by a dictatorial leader, severe economic and social regimentation, and forcible suppression of opposition

Should America support such a government??? How can it???

Posted in Bloggers, palestinian politics | Tagged , , , | 4 Comments

Mediterranean conference cancelled on account of cooties

Posted on 11/12/2010 by Soccerdad

When I read something like this Mediterranean summit canceled again due to Arab threat to boycott over Israel (via Daily Alert Blog)

An international summit of Mediterranean leaders has been canceled for the third time because Arab states threatened to boycott if Israel was invited.

I wonder how there’s ever going to be peace.

So many in the media, along with diplomats and politicians fall all over themselves to criticize or condemn Israel for building in its own capital and yet not a single one seems concerned by this infantile hatred of the Jewish state.

Is there a single world leader willing to speak up and say to the Arab/Muslim world, “I know that you’re concerned about the Palestinians, but when you treat Israel as a pariah because Israel hasn’t made peace with the Palestinians, you demonstrate that the issue isn’t fundamentally about Israel failures on any level. Given that you treat your own citizens worse than Israel treats Palestinians – to whom they’ve granted, despte many risks that were realized, more freedom that you grant your own citizens – your outrage is misplaced.

The only reason you avoid Israel is hatred, not justified outrage. In 21st century diplomacy there is no room for such juvenile behavior.”

No one will.

Presumably many Arab states are concerned with Iran and yet won’t even participate in a meeting that could help shore up opposition to Iran. No, Israel would be there and we’d get cooties. Better, I suppose, to get radiation poisoning than to get cooties.

Crossposted on Soccer Dad.

Posted in Israel, Jew Cooties, Juvenile Scorn | Comments Off on Mediterranean conference cancelled on account of cooties