Blog | Yourish.com | Cutting straight to the point

The “stones” the Palestinians throw

Posted on 02/23/2012 by Meryl Yourish

That isn’t a rock. And that isn’t an unusual occurrence.

This wasn’t Weiss’ first time in an incident of this kind.
“The Palestinians love to throw stones near that spot, and at two other sites near the village,” she said. “I have lived in Karmei Tzur for eight years and I can tell you that they hurl stones almost every day.

But when they get arrested, all you read about is how Israel is arresting children for throwing stones at cars.

Right.

Remember this, next time you read one of those reports.

That’s not a stone. It’s a lethal object.

Posted in Israel, Media Bias | Comments Off

Not so smashing

Posted on 02/22/2012 by Meryl Yourish

I love Broadway plays. I love musical theater and the movie musical, and always have. So I was thrilled when I saw promos for Smash, the new NBC series about putting on a Broadway show. I watched the pilot, and it was excellent. So yay, a musical show for grownups! (I’ve tried to watch Glee and have yet to manage five full minutes without intense boredom.)

And after about four shows, I’m pretty sure I figured out the conversation of the creators of Smash when they first thought it up.

“Hey, let’s put on a show about putting on a show. Nobody’s ever done that before!”
“Or at least not in the last few decades. Judy Garland and Mickey Rooney did it?”
“Who?”
“Never mind, dear. I’ll send you a link.”
“Okay, but this is a modern Broadway show, and there aren’t any kids in it. We’ll do it about Marilyn Monroe! Sex sells, and we can get a big, busty blonde to play the part.”
“Ooh, and we can make her dumb as a brick, too.”
“And there will be the ingenue, the corn-fed hick from Iowa, who has the corny, conservative parents who think she’s wasting her life.”
“Don’t forget about the gay co-creator, the obnoxious director who sleeps with the blonde after striking out with the ingenue, the assistant who is really only out for himself and ready to screw anyone who gets in his way.”
“If we make him a guy, do you think anyone will notice we took him straight out of All About Eve”?
“No, and make him straight, because he’s working for a gay guy and you know how those corn-fed hicks don’t like too many gay guys. Oh, but make the actor who plays him look totally gay just to keep everyone guessing.”
“Ooh! Ooh! Let’s have the playwright have an affair with one of the actors from the last time he starred in her show!”
“Great idea! Oh, and let’s have the producer divorce his wife so she has to prove she’s every bit as good a producer as he is and try to get the show produced without her husband. That’s new, a woman who dumps a rich guy after he cheats on her with a string of bimbos trying to prove she has her own talent and he didn’t marry her just for her looks.”

So let’s see: They’ve got the All About Eve assistant subplot. They actually had the blonde ask, “Do you think I got the part just because I slept with the director?” (And yes, dear, the director doesn’t take you to his home because he can’t cook because the gas is out. Right. Sure. Of course.) Every actor is dumber than mud. Only the slightly bitchy playwright sees the assistant for the evil bitch that he is (he is so not straight, I don’t care if he has a girlfriend). Oh, Deborah Messing is wearing the ugliest glasses they could possibly have gotten for her, but I guess they’re going by the old “It makes her look smart!” thing.

The show tunes are really good, and I’m interested in seeing the play, well, if there’s a book instead of just the songs. But do I want to invest 37 minutes of time for a five-minute song that I can probably just download from iTunes instead?

I’m thinking not so much. Cliches? Really? That was the best they could do? I should have realized the show couldn’t live up to its title. Hubris, people. It isn’t a smash until we say it is. And I’m not saying it.

Posted in Music, Television | 3 Comments

Wednesday, briefly

Posted on 02/22/2012 by Meryl Yourish

If only they’d all fight each other like this: Iraqi jihadis are now heading to Syria to fight the Assad dictatorship. Of course, the enemy of my enemy is not my friend. These are Iraqi Sunnis, the legacy of Saddam Hussein‘s dictatorship. And the irony of foreign fighters heading across the Syrian border from Iraq is–well, it sure seems like Divine justice.

Factory-made terror bombs: The bombs intended for Israelis in Thailand are–gee–just like the bombs found in Georgia and India. The most disturbing description in this news article? The bombs were “factory-made.” How’d they get them in?

Multiple authorities told ABC News the devices were either slipped through airport security or smuggled in a diplomatic pouch.

My money’s on the diplomatic pouch. Mark my words, there are bombs in America just like these. The terrorists are in Azerbaijan, as well. Oh, and they’re right here in the good ol’ US of A, coming at us across the Mexican border. Thanks, guys!

The unity deal charade continues: The AP repeats Palestinian propaganda and tells us that everything is hunky-dory in Hamas-Fatah Unityland. And get a load of this biased bushwa:

Reconciliation was made possible, in part, by a narrowing of the ideological rift between the two sides.

So, what’s the narrowing of the rift?

Mashaal, although not formally renouncing violence, has embraced the idea of “popular protests” against Israeli occupation as a gesture to Abbas. And while Hamas has long opposed Abbas’ talks with Israel on the terms of a Palestinian state, Abbas now seems to have given up hope he can reach a deal with the current rightist Israeli government.

In other words, Hamas is pretending to be more moderate, and it’s all Israel’s fault that the PA isn’t dealing with Israel. That’s the “narrowing of the ideological rift.” Really? Because it looks to me like both groups effectively reject Israel’s existence, and there’s never been a rift–just a fiction that has been dutifully reported by mainstream media outlets like the AP.

Posted in Iran, Israel, Media Bias, palestinian politics, Syria, Terrorism | Comments Off

Washington’s Birthday briefs

Posted on 02/21/2012 by Meryl Yourish

No, not his actual briefs, because they didn’t wear briefs in those days. And, ew.

Yep, Islamists are still trying to murder Israelis: Suuuure, they’re moderating. That’s why the IDF foiled another terror plot on the Egyptian border. And by “foiled” we mean “found a big-ass bomb.” Was it the Muslim Brotherhood? PIJ? Hamas? All three? (I’m betting it’s the last.)

Even lefty Indian journalists hate the Jews: Anti-Semitism in India (which was nonexistent until the Muslims showed up). Twitter is teh awesome for finding out who really hates you.

Okay, now I’m starting to believe it: Jen Rubin is rather hawkish, so when I read her piece about how Obama’s message to Iran seems to be that the U.S. is doing everything it can to stop Israel from attacking Iran, I gave it a grain of salt. But now the WSJ editorial board says exactly the same thing. Israel is under pressure from all sides not to attack Iran. Quel surprise, the world won’t let Israel defend itself. Where have we seen that before? Oh. Right. In every single war with the Arabs and Muslims.

Iran is against Palestinian brotherhood: This is interesting. Iran doesn’t want Hamas and the PA to be friends. And why not? Because Iran doesn’t want Hamas dealing with Israel at all. So, what are the odds that all those journalists and pundits who insist that a kinder, gentler Hamas is at hand will notice this, or credit it when it happens? How many will blame Israel for somehow causing the Hamas-PA deal to falter? (If you said none and all, take ten points for Gryffindor.)

Posted in Anti-Semitism, Hamas, Iran, Israel, palestinian politics, Terrorism | 4 Comments

Extra Caturday post

Posted on 02/20/2012 by Meryl Yourish

My Maine Coon mix is now a Virginia Coon mix. He forgot what snow was, and didn’t want to go out in it.

Yep. I have two cats that are, quite frankly, scaredy cats. Gracie is (literally) afraid of ants, and I have the picture to prove it. Tig refused to go into that weird white stuff.

Maybe next year.

Posted in Cats | 2 Comments

Sunday snowy briefs

Posted on 02/19/2012 by Meryl Yourish

Really? The Brits were buying oil from Iran even though they know that Iran is working toward a nuclear bomb? Really? So Iran cutting off exports to the U.K. and France is, what–a waste of time for all involved? Because some other nation that doesn’t care about sanctions will buy the Iranian oil, so who cares? On the other hand, when the British foreign minister tells Israel that they’d better not attack Iran, I think we’ve got an idea on which side their bread is buttered. Because let’s face it, if the U.K. gave a crap about Israel, they’d have stopped buying Iranian oil years ago. By the way, Spain, Italy, and Greece are still buying Iranian oil. If we give Greece a thin dime….

Yes, and he likes puppies and kittens and fluffy clouds and rainbows: Of course the world media doesn’t tell you that the Palestinian on a hunger strike is a leader of Palestinian Islamic Jihad, a terrorist group out to destroy Israel. Like the BBC. What are they calling him? A “33-year-old baker”. Elder did the background on this “baker.” The AP explains his background in the same way:

The hunger strike has transformed Adnan into a Palestinian hero, with thousands protesting in support of the once obscure bearded baker. The Iranian-backed Islamic Jihad has vowed revenge if Adnan dies, possibly by firing rockets into Israel from Gaza. The group has killed dozens of Israelis in suicide bombings and other attacks. Adnan was once a spokesman for the group. It’s unclear if he ever participated in any attacks.

Buried at the end of the AP article is the news that Adnan’s buddies are firing rockets into Israel.

Also Saturday, Palestinian militants fired three rockets from Gaza into Israel, officials said.
Israeli police spokesman Shmuel Ben Ruby and a military official said the rockets landed in an open area, causing no damage.
A years-old understanding between Israel and Gaza’s Hamas rulers have halted much of the rocket fire from the tiny territory. But Palestinian militants continue to fire salvos at Israel — either in defiance of Hamas, or with the militant rulers’ quiet permission.
No Palestinian group immediately claimed responsibility for the rocket firing.

Your media bias at work. Civilians being attacked with grad rockets? No biggie. A Palestinian on a hunger strike claiming he’s being jailed unfairly? Big news.

Posted in Iran, Israel, Media Bias, Terrorism | 1 Comment

Happy pre-snow Caturday

Posted on 02/18/2012 by Meryl Yourish

It’s going to snow in Richmond–a significant amount, it seems–and I am going to see The Lion King in the theater tonight. So here are Gracie and Tig. Happy Caturday!

First, Miss Gracie and her ball. This is one of the only toys she plays with. Nearly every day, as I’m working in my office, I hear the soft sounds of Gracie pouncing on a rubber ball behind me. When I turn to look–the instant I turn to see what she’s doing–she stops. Every time. I just got lucky, catching her paw on the ball with my camera.

Next we have my goofball, on my bed after my crack ninja staff of cleaning ladies were here. I stopped making my bed on cleaning day because they actually remake it no matter what I do, so I have accepted that my bed-making is not up to standard. Of course, since they use hospital corners, I have to pull the sheets and blankets out from the mattress after they leave. I have arthritis in the lower three disks of my spine, and a tight blanket on my feet means a painful night. Also, having a big fluffy orange boy on my feet. (I kick him off of them.)

Happy Caturday!

Posted in Cats | 5 Comments

The AP: Ignore what we said yesterday, it was too pro-Israel

Posted on 02/17/2012 by Meryl Yourish

Yesterday, the AP reported that Iran was behind the attempted terrorist attacks on Israelis in Thailand. They even headlined the article that way.

Thailand: Iranians’ Targets Were Israeli Diplomats

The lead tries to fudge just a little bit by using the words “Israel has strongly accused Iran,” but this is a pretty solid, they-did-it story.

Three Iranians detained after accidentally setting off explosives in Bangkok were planning to attack Israeli diplomats, Thailand’s top policeman said Thursday in the first confirmation by local officials that the group was plotting attacks in Thailand.
Israel has strongly accused Iran of being behind the botched plot, a bombing in India and an attempted bombing in the former Soviet republic of Georgia this week, which Iran has denied.
Citing the similarity of bombs used in New Delhi and Tbilisi, national police chief Gen. Prewpan Dhamapong said that Thai authorities now “know for certain that (the target) was Israeli diplomats.”
“This issue was about individuals and the targets were specific,” he said. “This was something personal.”

They even state, farther down in the article, that one suspect has “partially confessed” to the plots. So what’s the story today? The AP doesn’t know who the “assailants” were.

Earlier this week, assailants planted a bomb on an Israeli embassy car in India, critically injuring a diplomat’s wife, and carried out two botched bombing attempts against Israeli diplomats in Georgia and Thailand.
Israel has blamed Iran for all three incidents and there has been speculation that Hezbollah, the Lebanese militant group, carried them out on behalf of its Iranian patron.
Iran and Hezbollah have denied involvement in all three attacks.

I swear, there are people at the AP whose sole job is to whitewash all attacks against Israel and magnify all Israeli defense actions against its enemies. I’ve detailed countless times the way headlines change to a more pro-Palestinian tilt as the day goes by–particularly after a terror attack in Israel–but it just stuns me that the AP keeps on doing it, day after day, month after month, year after year.

If only I hadn’t attended that workshop on anti-Israel media bias the first year I taught Hebrew school in Richmond. Maybe I’d still be blissfully unaware of the Israel-haters within the media.

Poof! There went that fantasy, ended as soon as I typed it.

And here’s your proof: In the time it took me to write this post, the AP updated its article. They’ve eliminated even that paragraph above and changed it to the following:

Israel already has accused Iran of being behind three attacks this week on Israeli targets — a botched bomb plot in Thailand, a bombing in India that wounded an Israeli diplomat’s wife, and an attempted bombing in the former Soviet republic of Georgia this week.

Once again, I’d like to point out that the AP itself ran an article stating that the Thailand investigation says unequivocally that Iranians are behind the plot. Not that it matters to the AP. Apparently, blaming Israel first is the standard boilerplate.

Posted in AP Media Bias, Iran, Israel, Media Bias, Terrorism | Comments Off

Friday briefs

Posted on 02/17/2012 by Meryl Yourish

Our ~~friends~~ the Pakistanis: Get a load of this news item.

Pakistan on Thursday stressed the need for multi-faceted cooperation between Pakistan, Afghanistan and Iran on the basis of their being close neighbours, to address the numerous challenges and exploit opportunities within the region.
For its part, Tehran offered to boost bilateral trade with Islamabad to $10 billion within two months, and showed an interest in buying wheat and rice from Pakistan.

They were never our friends. Let’s stop pretending. There’s even a souvenir picture to remember the event by.

Nice treaty you got there. Shame if anything were to happen to it: The Muslim Brotherhood is now blackmailing the U.S. into giving it aid. If aid is cut, they say the treaty will be broken and therefore they won’t need to follow it. Remember, those are the nice, “moderate” Brotherhood that the media kept telling us were running the show.

Sad. Just sad. CNN is now troll-baiting by putting up a post with ten ways there might be an Israel-Iran war, sourced by–get this–“Wikistrat, the world’s first massively multiplayer online consultancy.” Awesome. A bunch of analysts play wargames and earn money as they do it, and this is now considered a strategic analysis worthy of publication by CNN. Well, why not? Their analysts are doing essentially the same thing, only they get paid by CNN instead of whatever structure Wikistrat has. And by the way, most of their ten ways seem to be utter bullshit.

Why the South American Jewish population is dwindling: It’s not just that South American countries were havens for Nazis after the war, and their descendants still hate the Jews. It’s that Hugo Chavez has learned from history that nobody ever went wrong blaming the Jews for anything, so he’s calling his opponent a Jew. I wonder what his buddy Sean Penn would say about that? Meh. He’d probably blame America for being too close to Israel or something.

Posted in Anti-Semitism, Iran, Israel, Middle East | Comments Off

Thursday briefs

Posted on 02/16/2012 by Meryl Yourish

The Revenge of Hezbollah: So far, it’s a fail, thanks to the tireless work of the Mossad. They foiled an attempt to assassinate Ehud Barak in Singapore. Here’s what really bothers me: How did they get a detailed itinerary of Barak’s trip?

It’s a good-news, bad-news kind of thing: The president of Croatia apologized to Holocaust victims. Meanwhile, fellow Nazi collaborator nation Poland has decided that it will put up hurdles and make it more difficult for Jews to reclaim Polish lands that were stolen from them during the Holocaust. Yeah, Poland still hasn’t paid its share of reparations, either. Three millions Jews lived in that nation before the Nazis did their awful work. Three million. No wonder they don’t want to pay reparations. Jewish history is filled with stories of nations throwing out the Jews and keeping all their money and property. You don’t have to go that far back, either.

In your face, Erdogan: Bibi Netanyahu is visiting Cyprus to strengthen ties between the two nations, and probably also to talk about the natural gas fields that Turkey and Lebanon are trying to steal from Cyprus and Israel. I’m guessing military ties are being strengthened as well. Actions have consequences, Erdogan. Israel knows who its friends–and enemies–are.

Yes, Hamas is still a terrorist organization that wants to destroy Israel, why do you ask? More rockets were fired from Gaza today. Of course there was a response, but it’s evidenly not one that is stopping the rocket fire. Here we go again. And no, I can’t find a single note in the AP about the rocket attacks. It’s apparently ot news unless a) Israelis are killed or b) Israel retaliates and wounds or kills Palestinians.

Posted in Holocaust, Iran, Israel, Lebanon, Media Bias, Turkey | 2 Comments

A few questions for a BDS supporter

Posted on 02/16/2012 by SnoopyTheGoon

The article Pennsylvania BDS conference draws controversy, attacks calls for attention not because of its whiny title – does its author really expect a BDS gathering not to cause some waves? – but because of its multiple internal controversies. Also because the author, Uri Horesh, as many other BDS supporters, is consistently coy about his own vision of a solution for Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Continue reading →

Posted in Israel, Israel Derangement Syndrome | 2 Comments

The Growth of Israel Advocacy in the Reform Movement

Posted on 02/15/2012 by Rabbi Kaufman

The dramatic increase in active advocacy for Israel in the Reform movement was obvious at the URJ’s recent Biennial Convention held in Washington DC. That convention featured a number of speakers whose speeches primarily focused on Israel and a number of others whose speeches contained significant references to Israel. All of the speeches delivered were supportive of a strong US-Israel relationship.

The conference as a whole was very comfortable to a regular attendee of the AIPAC Policy Conference featuring speeches from President Obama, Senate Majority Leader Eric Cantor, Former Israeli Prime Minister and current Defense Minister Ehud Barak, Ambassador Michael Oren and Natan Sharansky. In addition to those notable political figures, Rabbi Dick Hirsch delivered an inspiring speech about the importance of Israel advocacy and Zionism in the Reform movement and both Rabbi Eric Yoffie and Rabbi Rick Jacobs noted the Reform movement’s strong support of Israel’s security while hoping that it is able to eventually achieve peace along with it.

The Religious Action Center (RAC) held a “Day with the RAC” program that included lunch at the Israeli Embassy and a discussion with Amb. Oren as well as visits by several Members of Congress who all noted the importance of strong support for Israel. The conference even featured performances by Israeli artists David Broza and Rami Kleinstein. To say that Israel and Israel advocacy were prominent at the Biennial would be a major understatement. AIPAC held a reception at the Biennial for the first time ever and it was well attended by rabbis and congregants alike.

Just yesterday, I received the following in an email from the Religious Action Center:

For the first time ever, the Union for Reform Judaism and the Religious Action Center will be hosting a Reform Movement reception during the AIPAC Policy Conference in Washington, D.C.

The Reform movement is now doing an excellent job of promoting Israel advocacy. Many of the signatories of the We Are For Israel mission statement, the organization of which I am President and founder, have played no little part in the increased attention paid to Israel in the Reform movement and in the strengthened dialogue about our need to support Israel as it pursues both security and peace.

The Israel advocacy sky isn’t falling in spite of what Peter Beinart seems to think. In fact, in the Reform movement support for Israel is increasing both qualitatively and quantitatively. There is both more advocacy going on and better advocacy going on. But there remain problems. First, the children of uninformed or worse–misinformed–parents are much more likely to be uninformed or misinformed themselves. Second, the lack of good information leads directly to apathy and misinformation may even lead to hostility.

We have a lot of work still to do, but we are making headway. Don’t give up! We Are For Israel and all of you who care about Israel advocacy are making a difference.

A similar article is crossposted at We Are For Israel

Posted in Israel, Jews | Tagged AIPAC, AIPAC Policy Conference, RAC, Reform Jews, Reform Judaism, URJ, We Are For Israel | Comments Off

Wednesday news roundup

Posted on 02/15/2012 by Meryl Yourish

The roots of anti-Semitism: Deeper than you think. A new book (which I think I should buy) traces the roots of anti-Semitism and discovers that the Greeks and Romans hated us millennia ago just as much as–well, gee. As much as some Greeks still do today.

Yes, they’re still trying to kill Jews: Palestinians are still trying to murder Jews on a regular basis, throwing rocks and firebombs. But don’t worry. The AP will call them “protestors,” just like it does these people, who hurt a soldier with one of their little “rocks”.

Jaw-Jaw, not war-war? Dennis Ross says Iran is ready to talk. I’m at a loss as to how he thinks this is so, but I don’t have the contacts he does. So I’ll give him the benefit of the doubt. Until Iran’s next insistence that it won’t talk and will continue to work on nukes.

Et tu, Bloomberg? (Actually, that’s just for poetic license. I already know that even Bloomberg news has a bias against Israel.) The headline to this article about Benjamin Netanyahu’s visit to Cyprus?

Netanyahu Visit to Cyprus May Stoke Mediterranean Gas Dispute

Let us review: Turkey invaded Cyprus in 1974 and illegally occupied half the island, which even the UN acknowledges. Turkey’s current Islamist prime minister systematically destroyed Turkey’s ties with Israel in order to wrench the title of leader of the world’s Islamists from Iran. This included, as we all remember, sending a flotilla to break the Israeli blockade of Gaza, filled with IHH terrorists whose only goal was to kill Israeli soldiers and make Israel look bad. Part two succeded completely, with the willing aid of the world anti-Israel media, the UN, and useful idiot Judge Richard Goldstone.

As a result of Turkey’s sudden turn away from Israel, Israel has made outreaches to nations like Cyprus, which it formerly treated gingerly so as not to offend Turkey. Subsequently, huge gas fields were discovered in the Mediterranean off the coasts of Israel and Cyprus. Turkey insists that any effort to claim Cyprus’ gas is a hostile action. So when Netanyahu makes ready for his first-ever visit to Cyprus, who, exactly, is going to “stoke” the dispute? Why, Israel, of course.

Your anti-Israel media bias, in one headline.

Posted in Anti-Semitism, Iran, Israel, Media Bias, Turkey | 3 Comments

Thai officials: Attacks in Thailand aimed at Israelis

Posted on 02/15/2012 by SnoopyTheGoon

This story, whether it is precise in its details or not, reads like a parody of a ~~thriller~~ Laurel and Hardy slapstick:

Two suspects have been arrested, and police were in pursuit of three additional suspects. The first arrest is an Iranian man was hospitalized Bangkok when a bomb he was carrying exploded and blew one of his legs off. The second is 42-year-old Mohammad Hazai, who was arrested at the airport just before boarding a flight to Malaysia.

And:

Shortly before the blast that wounded the Iranian bomber there had been an explosion in a house the man was renting in the Ekamai area of central Bangkok, and shortly afterward, another blast on a nearby road.

And, as if the above wasn’t enough:

A taxi driver told Thai television the suspect had thrown a bomb in front of his car when he refused to pick him up near the site of the first blast. He was wounded slightly.

The whole story comes to its climax here:

Government spokeswoman Thitima Chaisaeng said police had then tried to move in and arrest the man but he attempted to throw another bomb at them. It went off before he was able to do so, blowing one of his legs off. A doctor at Chulalongkorn Hospital told reporters the other leg had had to be amputated.

Of course, historic reminiscences are in order too:

In 1994, suspected Islamist militants tried to set off a large truck bomb outside the Israeli embassy in Bangkok but they abandoned the bid and fled after the truck was involved in a minor traffic accident as it approached the mission.

Oh well, let’s hope they will continue in the same vein. One day someone in Hollywood will pick up that tune, and then – sky is the limit.

P.S. Have you counted the blown off legs? Frankly, I am somewhat confused…

Update: In spite of Thai officials reporting that the “suspects” were Iranian, CNN has chosen an original way to report the event:

Israel blames Iran for Thai bombings

Go figure…

Cross-posted on SimplyJews

Update from Meryl: Snoopy, CNN is using the AP headline and text. So is Time. Of course, for them, the fact that the bomber was an Iranian isn’t proof enough that Iran was behind the attacks.

Posted in Iran, Terrorism | 2 Comments

The Hebrew Mamita

Posted on 02/14/2012 by Meryl Yourish

A video sent to me by my former rebbetzin. This would have been perfect to show my fourth graders.

One of the ways we discussed “looking Jewish” was by my going from student to student, and telling them which ones I think would have been able to hide in Nazi Germany, and which would have been taken by the Nazis. It really hit home to them that people would judge them so much by simple appearance.

I don’t look Jewish, either. And when my Star of David is not standing out from my shirt, that’s when I hear the unchecked anti-Semitism of the world.

Posted in Anti-Semitism, Religion | 2 Comments

The Catmage Chronicles