Blog | Yourish.com | Cutting straight to the point

More AP whitewash of Hamas terror

Posted on 12/14/2012 by Meryl Yourish

Really, I should just get someone to write me a script, since the AP makes me repeat and repeat and repeat myself.

This is a four-paragraph story sent out over the wires. Most newspapers carry one, two, or three paragraphs for each World News item in the World News section. Look what the AP chose to but in the fourth paragraph–knowing full well it will be cut by nearly every newspaper on the list.

RAMALLAH, West Bank (AP) — Hamas has staged new rallies in the West Bank, one day after thousands of its activists turned out for the first marches there by the militant group there in five years.

Friday’s marches in several cities appeared larger than Thursday’s demonstrations, the first in the Palestinian territory since the 2007 split in which Hamas seized Gaza and the secular-leaning Fatah was left in control of the West Bank.

The rivals have been making overtures toward each other since last month, when Hamas fought an eight-day conflict with Israel and the West Bank’s Western-backed president Mahmoud Abbas won U.N. recognition of a de facto Palestinian state.

Marchers chanted for Hamas to bomb Israel. Hamas’ leader in Gaza, Ismail Haniyeh, addressed crowds by phone — an unusual concession by Fatah.

The AP: You can always count on them to carry water for the bad guys. They did the same thing in their longer story on the previous day’s Hamas terror march. Here’s paragraph four:

Marchers chanted, “Hamas — you are the guns; we are the bullets,” and, “Hamas, fire more rockets on Tel Aviv.” Some women held models of the rockets Gaza militants fired at Israeli cities in last month’s fighting.

Funny how that stuff never makes it into the lead.

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Sixth light

Posted on 12/13/2012 by Meryl Yourish

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Goodreads giveaway

Posted on 12/13/2012 by Meryl Yourish

Five copies are now available as a giveaway on Goodreads. (Bumped: The giveway ends at mdnight PST.)

Goodreads Book Giveaway

Darkness Rising

by Meryl Yourish

Giveaway ends December 18, 2012.

See the giveaway details
at Goodreads.

Enter to win

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Thursday briefs

Posted on 12/13/2012 by Meryl Yourish

Denmark does not like the Jews: Jews are being warned not to wear yarmulkes or religious symbols in public for fear of being attacked. Because the anti-Zionists aren’t anti-Semitic, they’re just anti-Zionists who beat up Jewish people who are wearing kippot and Stars of David or mezuzahs. Hello, 1930s.

Darwin award nominee: How stupid do you have to be to draw a toy gun on an IDF soldier? This stupid. And of course, now the Palestinians are rioting, insisting there was no gun. The AP story, of course, does not mention the fake gun until long after the three paragraphs on riots over the death of a teenager. And they make sure to use the word “teenager,” as opposed to when they describe the deaths of Israelis, who are rarely named or their ages given.

Oh, look, HRW is noticing someone other than Israel: They’re calling Syria out on dropping incendiaries. The Scud missiles? Not yet. Let us not forget that Saddam Hussein sent Scuds into Israel and that they can carry a payload of chemical weapons.

Obama, Clinton, hardest hit: Tzipi Livni is saying pretty much exactly what Bibi said about how the world uses a double standard when judging Israel and Israel’s enemies. She points out that eveyrone knows and expects Israel to keep Maale Adumim and other Jerusalem suburbs. And that the world should not use moral relativity on Israel and the terrorists.

Livni said she was frustrated as an Israeli when the international community compared casualties caused by the IDF, which acts to defend Israel and target terrorists, to those killed by terrorists who target civilians.
“The message terrorists need to hear is that there are things that the international community considers illegitimate,” she said. “It is unacceptable that soldiers feel that they cannot act against those who try to harm them.”

Think she’s trying to move to the center? Of course, Krugman, Friedman et al are going to be horrified at her “rightward” turn.

Turkey is now funding Palestinian lawfare: Awesome. The faux mini-statelet of East Palestine is joining up with the Islamist, Israel-hating Turkey regime to try Israel in international court. Hilarity will not ensue.

Posted in Israeli Double Standard Time, Media Bias, palestinian politics, Turkey, World | 2 Comments

Fifth Light

Posted on 12/12/2012 by Meryl Yourish

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And you thought I was too busy for 12/12/12

Posted on 12/12/2012 by Meryl Yourish

Nope.

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Fourth Light

Posted on 12/11/2012 by Meryl Yourish

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Regarding the above-mentioned double standard

Posted on 12/11/2012 by Meryl Yourish

Bibi was wrong about the EU not condemning Hamas. They did.

In statement released following a meeting of EU foreign ministers in Brussels, the bloc reiterated its “fundamental commitment to the security of Israel, including with regard to vital threats in the region,” adding it “will never stop opposing those who embrace and promote violence as a way to achieve political goals.”

Wow, that’s a pretty harsh condemnation. The EU “will never stop opposing” violent organizations.

Now let’s see what they have to say about plans to build new units in Jerusalem’s suburbs. Plans, mind you. They’re not going to be built for years.

At the same time, however, the EU also said it was “deeply dismayed by and strongly opposes” preliminary Israeli plans to construct 3,000 homes in the E1 area of Jerusalem.
“The E1 plan, if implemented, would seriously undermine the prospects of a negotiated resolution of the conflict by jeopardizing the possibility of a contiguous and viable Palestinian state and of Jerusalem as the future capital of two states,” the EU claimed.
“In the light of its core objective of achieving the two-state solution, the EU will closely monitor the situation and its broader implications, and act accordingly,” the statement concluded.

What double standard? Really, what’s Bibi talking about? There is only one standard for Israel, and that is blame, oppose, harass, and beat down.

No, really. Look again. See the difference.

“The EU is deeply dismayed by and strongly opposes Israeli plans to expand settlements,” foreign ministers of the 27 EU states said in a statement after meeting in Brussels.
“The EU will closely monitor the situation and its broader implications, and act accordingly.”

And now their statement on Hamas stating openly that it will never recognize Israel, that “Palestine” is theirs from “the river Jordan to the sea,” and that they will continue to violently attempt to destroy Israel.

“The EU finds inflammatory statements by Hamas leaders that deny Israel’s right to exist unacceptable,” the ministers said.

The breathtaking double standard, in perfect evidence, in three sentences. Calls to destroy the state of Israel? Unacceptable. Plans to create more buildings on disputed land? Deep dismay and opposition.

Despicable. Europe still hates the Jews. Only now, they use the Palestinians as a fig leaf for their hatred. It’s a pretty transparent fig leaf, Euros. We’ve seen through you all along.

Posted in Gaza, Hamas, Israeli Double Standard Time, World | 3 Comments

Bibi and the world’s double standard on Israel

Posted on 12/11/2012 by Meryl Yourish

Oh, Bibi. Do you really think the world gives two figs about the double standard they apply to Israel? The AP couldn’t even get the headline right. No mention of Israel, which is the subject of Netanyahu’s quote.

Israeli’s Netanyahu: World has double standards

This one, though is a puzzle. Was it the original AP headline, or did the CBS News editor rewrite it to be perfect?

Israel PM Benjamin Netanyahu accuses international community of “deafening silence” on Hamas threats

They’re both the same story, with the same lead. With the same purpose of whitewashing the Palestinians by not including the direct quotes in the three-paragraph story that shows up in the “World News” section of your local paper. And the same purpose of chastizing Israel for planning new bulding in Maale Adumim, which they’ve ben doing all along.

Note also that the AP points out that Bibi accusing the world of a double standard is going to make Israel even more disliked–by those he accuses of having the double standard. The mere act of pointing out the truth–that the world treats Israel differently than it treats everyone else–is going to make them dislike Israel even more. Curiously, that’s the argument I’ve heard over my eleven years of blogging–from anti-Semites. They tell me that Jews bring trouble on themselves, and when Jews have the nerve to point out how they’re hated, people hate them even more. Nice work, AP! You have now reached the same level of logic as anti-Semitic commenters on a blog.

Israel’s prime minister on Monday accused the international community of “deafening silence” in response to recent vows by the head of the Hamas militant group to fight on until the Jewish state is destroyed, and appeared unmoved by the gathering storm of global condemnation of his government’s plans to continue settling the West Bank.
Benjamin Netanyahu’s tough words were likely to deepen the rift between Israel and some of its closest allies, particularly in Europe, that has emerged since the U.N. General Assembly overwhelmingly voted in favor of Palestinian independence last month. In a sign of the tense relations, European Union foreign ministers were gathered in Brussels to condemn new settlement construction that Netanyahu has authorized in response to the U.N. decision.
Speaking to foreign reporters, Netanyahu accused the international community of having double standards, condemning not-yet-built settlements in the West Bank while standing quiet during a historic visit to the Gaza Strip by Hamas’ exiled leader, Khaled Mashaal.

So what’s the quote that the AP so kindly pushed to paragraph four? Fooled you! The AP didn’t quote Khaled Mashaal at all, only paraphrased him.

Making his first trip to the Hamas-ruled territory over the weekend, Mashaal delivered a series of speeches to throngs of supporters vowing to wipe Israel off the map. The visit underscored Hamas’ rising clout and regional acceptance since its eight-day conflict with Israel last month.

He didn’t say he would “wipe Israel off the map.” Here’s what he actually said:

First of all, Palestine – from the [Jordan] River to the [Mediterranean] Sea, from its north to its south – is our land, our right, and our homeland. There will be no relinquishing or forsaking even an inch or small part of it.

You can watch the whole thing at MEMRI (and consider donating to them).

Oh, and he also said this:

Jerusalem is our soul, our history, our collective memory, our past, our present, and our future. It is our eternal capital, to which we hold fast and which we will liberate, inch by inch, neighborhood by neighborhood, stone by stone, every place sacred to Islam, and every place sacred to Christianity. Israel has no right to Jerusalem.

MEMRI translations are available freely to the public. I wonder why the AP doesn’t utilize their services? Then again, the AP uses Arabic-speaking reporters. I wonder why they don’t produce these quotes in their articles?

No, not really.

The world is always living on Israeli Double Standard Time. Bibi knows this. He just felt that it was time to point it out again. But don’t worry! It only occurs on days that end with a “y”!

Posted in Gaza, Hamas, Israeli Double Standard Time | Comments Off

Third Light

Posted on 12/10/2012 by Meryl Yourish

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A reader’s Second Light

Posted on 12/10/2012 by Meryl Yourish

Sabba Hillel’s menorah.

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They’re watching you

Posted on 12/10/2012 by Meryl Yourish

Glenn Reynolds linked to an article that describes how companies now have your real user information and they’re sending it to one another when you shop and search.

Georgia resident Andy Morar is in the market for a BMW. So recently he sent a note to a showroom near Atlanta, using a form on the dealer’s website to provide his name and contact information.
His note went to the dealership—but it also went, without his knowledge, to a company that tracks car shoppers online. In a flash, an analysis of the auto websites Mr. Morar had anonymously visited could be paired with his real name and studied by his local car dealer.

Yeah. Over the weekend, I did some research for the second book in The Catmage Chronicles series. I was trying to find an Egyptian cat pendant in a museum or antiquities collection. I had to use advanced search methods and then some in order not to get results that showed cat pendants in museum stores (or not in museum stores–Google was trying desperately to get me to buy a cat pendant, it seemed).

Last night, I ordered a few things on Amazon. And in my “People who bought this would also like” list was–Egyptian cat pendants. The very same links that kept showing up in my search attempts. Clearly, Google and Amazon are trading information.

They see you when you’re sleeping. They know when you’re awake. Online privacy? What’s that?

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Second Light

Posted on 12/09/2012 by Meryl Yourish

Second light.

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Ever the AP whitewash

Posted on 12/09/2012 by Meryl Yourish

Hamas had a big anniversary party the other day. They invited their exiled leader, Khaled Mashaal, to join them. Since Egypt is now ruled by the Muslim Brotherhood, and the Muslim Brotherhood is the parent of Hamas, he went to Gaza after 25 years in exile and from there proclaimed that Hamas will destroy Israel.

Reuters headlined a story properly.

Hamas leader vows never to recognize Israel

The AP did not.

Gazans rally with exiled Hamas chief

Reuters filed the story with a proper lead.

Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal, making his first ever visit to the Gaza Strip, vowed on Saturday never to recognize Israel and said his Islamist group would never abandon its claim to all Israeli territory.
“Palestine is ours from the river to the sea and from the south to the north. There will be no concession on an inch of the land,” he told a sea of supporters at an open-air rally, the highlight of his three-day stay in Gaza.
“We will never recognize the legitimacy of the Israeli occupation and therefore there is no legitimacy for Israel, no matter how long it will take.”

The AP did not.

The leader of the Islamic militant group Hamas vowed to continue fighting Israel Saturday, as hundreds of thousands of flag-waving Gazans turned out to celebrate the organization’s 25th anniversary.
Khaled Mashaal’s visit to the Palestinian territory — a first in his lifetime of exile — underscores Hamas’ rising clout and regional acceptance since its eight-day conflict with Israel last month.
At the main stage in Gaza City, a roaring crowd greeted Mashaal and Gaza Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh, who emerged from a door built into a large model of a rocket fired at Israeli cities during the recent fighting.

Paragraph five of the above lead (and most newspapers now carry only one to three paragraphs of wire news stories, no longer three to five):

“We are not giving up any inch of Palestine. It will remain Islamic and Arab for us and nobody else. Jihad and armed resistance is the only way,” Mashaal said, referring to holy war. “We cannot recognize Israel’s legitimacy.”

The AP writers and editors carefully construct a narrative that they know newspapers around the world will carry. They whitewash Israel enemies and emphasize the concept that Israel is the aggressor. Here’s the latest AP whitewash and spin on Israel’s response to Hamas calling–yet again–for their destruction.

First, note the headline. It’s another “Israel says” style, used when the AP wants people to doubt that Israel or her representatives are telling the truth.

Israeli PM: Hamas leader seeks to destroy Israel

Now the story, all four paragraphs of it. Notice anything missing?

Israel’s prime minister says comments by the leader of Hamas shows that the Palestinian militant group wants to destroy Israel.
In his first reference to Khaled Mashaal’s visit to the Gaza Strip, Benjamin Netanyahu told his Cabinet Sunday that a speech given by Mashaal a day earlier showed that Hamas remained an enemy to the Jewish state.
Netanyahu said: “We have been exposed once again, over the past day, to the true face of our enemies. They have no intention of compromising with us. They want to destroy our country, but they will obviously fail.”
Hamas, which rules the Gaza Strip, does not recognize the existence of the state of Israel. Mashaal, its exiled leader, arrived for his first-ever visit to the coastal territory on Friday.

Where are the quotes by Mashaal, where he said he wants to destroy Israel? If you read only this story–and especially only the first three paragraphs, which is the most you’ll see in the World News section of your local paper–you would think that Netanyahu is just blowing smoke out of his ass about Hamas. Why are there no quotes from Hamas? Because it would prove that Netanyahu is right. As has been seen many times before on this blog, the AP can’t even be bothered quoting from its own stories when those quotes will put the Palestinians in a bad light. Here’s what the AP wrote 24 hours before the above piece.

“We are not giving up any inch of Palestine. It will remain Islamic and Arab for us and nobody else. Jihad and armed resistance is the only way,” Mashaal said, referring to holy war. “We cannot recognize Israel’s legitimacy.”

This is why Israel has to fight both the media and her enemies. Because the media covers up the reasons that cause Israel to go into Gaza and take out Hamas weapons depots.

You know what you didn’t see on TV news reports about the last Gaza campaign? The secondary explosions indicating that Israel hit a weapons depot. There were plenty of them.

The media war. Israel has to fight it every day.

Posted in Hamas, Israel, Media Bias | Comments Off

First light

Posted on 12/08/2012 by Meryl Yourish

I haven’t been in Montclair in over a decade. Time to move on!

I’m changing out the old virtual menorah with pictures of my menorah as it looks today.

Posted in Holidays, Jews | 4 Comments