Posts Tagged ‘Israel’

Homeland

Saturday, June 12th, 2010

In a screed at American Thinker against Rosie O’Donnell, Eileen F. Toplansky lays out the facts concerning Jews “returning” to their “homelands” in Germany, Poland, and elsewhere.

The Jewish homeland is, in fact, Israel, and has been “since time immemorial”:

There are archaeological remains that attest to this fact. The holy books of the Jews and the Arabs also confirm this. So Jews don’t have to go back home ~ they are already home. The Jews in Europe, Asia, and America are in the Diaspora because they were summarily expelled from countries throughout the ages. The term “wandering Jew” comes from the historical facts that Jews were expelled from England in 1290; from France in 1393; from Berne, Switzerland in 1427; and from Spain in 1492, to name only a few places.

In her book From Time Immemorial: The Origins of the Arab-Jewish Conflict Over Palestine, author Joan Peters, proves with historical data and other archival information that Jews did not displace Arabs in Palestine-just the reverse: Arabs displaced Jews. In fact, the blurb of this 1984 book relates that:

A hidden but major Arab migration and immigration took place into areas settled by Jews in pre-Israel Palestine; that a substantial number of the Arab refugees called Palestinians in reality had foreign roots; that for every Arab refugee who left Israel in 1948; there was a Jewish refugee who fled or was expelled from his Arab birthplace at the same time. . . .

Recently, filmmaker Pierre Rehov created the film entitled “The Silent Exodus” about these Jews who were kicked out of their Middle Eastern homes. Between 1946 and 1974, there were a million of forgotten Jewish fugitives expelled from the Arab world. These Jews had been living in Arab lands for thousands of years but their homes were stolen from them; they literally had nothing but the clothes on their backs when they fled. They were received in Israel. They did not remain refugees; they had no special United Nations agency to assist them. Israel welcomed them and they rebuilt their lives.


Related, and linked here for reference, “Genetic Evidence Shows Common Origins of Jews“, by David Bernstein at the Volkh Conspiracy. From The New York Times:

Jewish communities in Europe and the Middle East share many genes inherited from the ancestral Jewish population that lived in the Middle East some 3,000 years ago, even though each community also carries genes from other sources — usually the country in which it lives.

But note this comment by Bernstein:

I don’t think that Zionism, etc., depends on whether Jews really have common genetic origins or not, anymore than Palestinian identity is any more or less real depending on whether, as some claim, a large percentage of “Palestinian Arabs” had immigrated rather recently from other countries in the Middle East. But I do think that manipulating history for ideological purposes is bad…

I Eat Shoe Leather

Friday, June 11th, 2010

Awhile back I credited the administration for its (rather half-hearted) support of Israel in the wake of the Hamas terrorist aid flotilla.

I just hate being stupid. Stupid and gullible. What the hell was I thinking?

…[The] administration intends to support an effort next week at the United Nations to set up an independent commission, under UN auspices, to investigate Israel’s behavior in the Gaza flotilla incident. The White House has apparently shrugged off concerns from elsewhere in the U.S. government that a) this is an extraordinary singling out of Israel, since all kinds of much worse incidents happen around the world without spurring UN investigations; b) that the investigation will be one-sided, focusing entirely on Israeli behavior and not on Turkey or on Hamas; and c) that this sets a terrible precedent for outside investigations of incidents involving U.S. troops or intelligence operatives as we conduct our own war on terror.

While UN Ambassador Susan Rice is reported to have played an important role in pushing for U.S. support of a UN investigation, the decision is, one official stressed, of course the president’s.

William Kristol at The American Standard, via The Flea, who also posts a reference to the scorching Psalm 41:9:

9 Even my close friend, whom I trusted,
he who shared my bread,
has lifted up his heel against me.

and comments:

The election of Barack Obama to the Presidency was a greater defeat than Pearl Harbor.

Jew-Hating Liberal Gorgon Resigns

Monday, June 7th, 2010

Helen Thomas, who revealed her true heart to the world by saying that the Jews in Israel needed to go back to Germany, Poland, and wherever else they came from, has resigned.

Thanks to feelthy Joooo Rabbi David Nesenoff for having captured her vile poison on his flip-cam. Gonna have to get me one of those.

As many have said, this remark exposed a long and fiercely held prejudice, one which was tolerated by her fellow reporters because in their true hearts, they agreed with her.

Some have expressed regret that her long career ends in such ignominy, just shy of her ninetieth year.

It should have ended long ago. All of her work should now be seen in the glaring light cast by Rabbi Nesenoff.

It’s all of the same cloth, all from the same inkpot, off the same ribbon. Every word.

You can die now, Helen, — but frankly, I hope you live a long time, alone, reviled and hated as you so richly deserve. You did huge damage to the nation and profession that sheltered you.

It speaks poorly of her peers at Hearst that she was allowed to resign; she should have been fired.


helenthomasbyebye

Drudge front page, via KisP.


Everybody’s Favorite Cute and Cuddly Mustelid:

Ding Dong: …you’d better BELIEVE the left had to purge her fast, lest we wonder how many of them agree with her.

Follow the link for Weasel’s perfect graphic.

And of course, those of us who have been paying attention for the last nine or ten years know that they all agree with her to some degree. She’s just the first pus to squirt out of the abscess, is all. Gods know it’s long overdue for lancing.


And, dag nab it, I can’t find the link, but someone’s noted that it’s wrong to suggest that HT’s comment is as bad as encouraging blacks to return to Africa. It’s far worse. Blacks did indeed come from Africa, but Israel is the Jewish homeland, and has been since the flight from Egypt. The only reason they’re in all those other places was the Diaspora, being driven from Israel by the Babylonians and from Judea by the Roman Empire.

If any people has the right to occupy a given land, it would be the Jews in Israel.


No sooner do I post the above update, but I come across this from Billy Beck, as always striking his own path with the strict theodolite of principle:

Let me point out that I, too, have urged the Jews to leave Israel. They should come to America. This is the land for them. Among the matters that their culture has been known for across all their history is their grasp of money as technology: concepts put to work on material life. Nowhere in the world has there ever been such a home for such a thing as this one. This was an element of America when “the New World” was still a only gaseous dream of scripture.

I am, cautiously and with great respect, going to disagree on this point. I like there being at least one other place on the planet populated by people who think like this, and I love it that it’s one of the most successful outposts of capitalism, even though, or even because, it is “in the middle of hundreds of millions of howling savages specifically intent on bringing them to ghastly murder”. No bigger “Fuck You!” to the dark evil of Islamic ignorance and hatred can I imagine.

I agree with Beck in that I want our foreign aid to stop going there, but then, I want to stop foreign aid to just about everywhere. Either produce something we need and set a fair price, find another market for your crap, or be taken over by someone else who gets it.

Foreign aid ruined Africa, turned it into a bloody abattoir, and the Islamic Middle East’s been driven insane by profits from an industry it doesn’t understand and didn’t establish.

Israel, I’m convinced, has been weakened by the Socialist cancer precisely because it didn’t have to stand on its own. It might have needed a little pump priming, but the time for that is long past. Now all they need is a strong ally to take their backs against the savages.

I don’t want America to be the only capitalist nation; I want that idea to spread. I want America to face strong competitors, because that’s how we will grow stronger.

Bravo Israel, I say: I don’t believe they deserve the land because a non-existent God gave it to them, but because unlike their neighbors, they clawed an actual, modern nation out of a hell of sand. They earned it, and if they want to stay there, more power to them.


Yet another update:

And yet again, I don’t know where I saw this:

HT is being lauded for her confrontational questioning. However, that’s only because, whoever she confronted, she attacked from the socialist left.

Nobody who attacked from the right would have been allowed to remain in the press corps. There have been a few conservative members, but compared to Thomas, they’ve been models of polite deference.

Free Gaza…

Saturday, June 5th, 2010

…From Hamas:


Speaking of which, Israel stopped and bordered the MV Rachel Corrie as it attempted to run the blockade. No lives lost.

I’m guessing that the people aboard that ship, and the people supporting it, do not realize that some of us regard the name “Rachel Corrie” not with sympathy for a righteous stand against tyranny, but rather with contempt for deceit, treachery, and above all, useful idiocy.

Blockade Rules

Saturday, June 5th, 2010

Over at the Anti-Idiotarian, LC Subotai Bahadur, Lord Pao An, has the rules of war that govern blockades. Guess what? Turns out Israel isn’t a rogue state after all.

The Hamas pseudo-government in Gaza, on the other hand….

Is there a state of belligerency between the Palestinian authorities who govern Gaza and the State of Israel?

Yes. The Palestinian government of Gaza has repeatedly declared itself to be at war with Israel, conducted attacks on Israeli territory, civilians, and armed forces. It has refused to negotiate with the government of Israel. If you accept that the Palestinians govern Gaza, they are at war. If they do not govern Gaza, then the area and its inhabitants are pirates, bandits, etc. and are outside the laws of nations.

And again:

If Palestinian Gaza is a state, which is at war with Israel; as a non-signer of the Hague and Geneva Conventions, neither those in arms against Israel, nor their civilian counterparts are covered by them. If Palestinian Gaza is NOT a state, and is not under the jurisdiction of a state [and no one I know of claims them] they are at best “unlawful combatants” and more like “hostis humani generis“.

That status accrues also to foreign nationals who act on their behalf as part of their war effort.

Incidentally, I’d never run across the term “hostis humani generis“ before; it translates as “enemy of all mankind”.

The attempt to divert or capture (52a) the blockade running flotilla was in fact what was required by international law as a first resort. They were attempting to exercise military control (52b) as allowed under the laws of naval warfare in maintaining a blockade. Since the blockade is in place to bar offensive weapons, especially rockets and missiles, from reaching Gaza to prevent further firings on Israeli civilians, a refusal to allow inspection or diversion does raise a reasonable assumption that it is carrying weapons, regardless of what they claim. That makes them a legitimate military objective (52c).

Israel had every legal right to declare the blockade, to enforce it where their judgment of military requirements says to place the blockade line, to stop, to board, to search, or to divert any ship attempting to approach the blockade line. Under international law. And under that same international law, once there was resistance or refusal; they had every right to sink those vessels. And they still do for the next wave coming at them, and any after that.

Yes, international law grants rights and protections in war zones to innocent civilian traffic. But to keep those rights and to not be re-classified as a target, it also imposes responsibilities and duties of compliance. Failure to fulfill those responsibilities, or comply with directions means you are no longer an innocent civilian, but rather an enemy belligerent, subject to treatment as such.

Well worth your time and study.

It always strikes me that most people think the Geneva Conventions mean, more or less, that America and Israel must not defend themselves, that we are forbidden any but the most cautious self-defense.

Nothing could be further from the truth. Indeed, the sense I’ve gotten from my own study of these Conventions, cursory as it’s been, is that vigorous self-defense, and unrelenting pursuit of outlaw nations, was regarded by the Convention authors and early signers to be necessary for the maintenance of peace and the rule of law among nations.

Siding With Our NATO Allies, The Turks

Thursday, June 3rd, 2010

The harmless ship brutally boarded by those filthy goddamned christ murdering Jews was registered to America’s faithful NATO ally in the Middle East, Turkey. Of course we should side with Turkey, withdrawing all aid to the disgusting Jews, who have, after all, perpetrated so many atrocities like this:
Armenian_Heads

Oops, no, sorry, that was actually from the Turkish genocide of Armenians.

Israelis Keep Ungrateful Gaza Thugs From Starving

Wednesday, June 2nd, 2010

Via Charles at Little Green Footballs:

Here’s a summary of last month’s activity in this rather massive relief program:

Weekly summary of the Gaza crossings: 16-22 May 2010

  • 523 truckloads (13,517 tons) of goods were transferred to the Gaza Strip.
  • 938,127 liters of heavy-duty diesel for the Gaza power station, and 645 tons of cooking gas were delivered.
  • 281 Gaza residents entered Israel for medical reasons via the Erez Crossing.

Weekly summary of the Gaza crossings: 9-14 May 2010

  • 637 truckloads (14,069 tons) of goods were transferred to the Gaza Strip.
  • 810,209 liters of heavy-duty diesel for the Gaza power station, and 897 tons of cooking gas were delivered.
  • 781 Gaza residents entered Israel for medical reasons via the Erez Crossing.

Weekly summary of the Gaza crossings: 2 -8 May 2010

  • 714 truckloads (17,060 tons) of goods were transferred to the Gaza Strip.
  • 1,535,777 liters of heavy-duty diesel for the Gaza power station and 293,796 liters for transportation, and 917 tons of cooking gas were delivered.
  • 370 Gaza residents entered Israel for medical reasons and 93 entered Israel for other reasons via the Erez Crossing.

Yep, those evil Israelis, committing genocide against the innocent Palestinians, through the unusual method of giving them large amounts of food, electricity, medical services, and other necessities. Diabolical.

Obama Doesn’t Screw An Ally

Tuesday, June 1st, 2010

Official: US Will Stand With Israel,” says ABC news.

I am greatly relieved to hear this. I wish the response had been faster and much, much stronger, but at least BO didn’t outright condemn Israel for defending its borders.

[update]
As I reread the article, I realize: this is an unidentified “official” speaking, not a formal announcement of Obama’s policy. And it’s very vague, simply a refusal to condemn, not a statement of support. Very weak; downright cowardly, even. A refusal to take stand, rather than picking sides.

America should lead, Mr. President. You should lead. Toning down the UN Security Council resolution is far from leading.

[/update]

Whenever The He does something even remotely correct, I have to wonder: was this His own opinion, His natural leadership?

Or did certain “advisers” from, say, the military and intelligence agencies show up unannounced in the Oval Office, shut the door behind them with a Marine or two standing guard outside, and explain exactly what would happen if The He followed His natural impulse to betray the country He pretends to lead?

Not, mind, just in terms of unintended consequences, but in terms of what would happen to Him, personally.


Related:

Ace of Spades is on the ball:

The downside is the underlying assumption that the problem with the ‘peace process’ is Israel. That some how if only Israel feels secure then everything will be rainbows and skittles in the Mideast.

The use of Turks as the shock troops was also inspired. While that country has become more and more Islamist over the years, it still had at least relatively cordial relations with Israel.

Not any more.

And James Lewis at Pajamas Media has an excellent analysis of the message Israel is trying to send:

Why did they decide to stop the flotilla with commandos? There are more imaginative ways to do that.

I think the decision was deliberate, and it was not aimed at the blockade-running convoy. It was a signal to Hamas, Hezbollah, Syria, Iran, and most of all the United States — because we are in the midst of the most dangerous war confrontation in decades. This was also a signal for the Obama administration, which just stabbed Israel in the back at another UN phony “peace” conference.

Everything being done by Israel and its enemies today has a double purpose: It is what it is, and it’s also a strategic signal. This time the cabinet and PM decided to show their very sharp claws. It meant: This time we are willing to preempt you with gunfire. Take heed, because we are not interested in PR.

[Bold mine]
Read the whole thing; Lewis provides many interesting links.

And I hope he’s right, that Israel at long last is getting serious about its national sovereignty.

I hope Obama learns the lesson.

Netzach Israel

Monday, May 31st, 2010

I wish you victory, Oh Israel, liberty’s greatest ally in the Middle East.

I look for the fall of your enemies, who are also my enemies.

I call shame upon those who revile you, even unto my countrymen.

Ghost of a Flea has the goods on Israel defending its naval blockade against Gaza.

Statement from the IDF:

Early this morning, IDF Naval Forces boarded six ships attempting to break the maritime closure of the Gaza Strip. This happened after numerous warnings from Israel and the Israeli Navy that were issued prior to the action. The Israel Navy requested the ships to redirect toward Ashdod where they would be able to unload their aid supplies which would then be transferred over land after undergoing security inspections.

During the boarding of the ships, the demonstrators onboard attacked the IDF Naval personnel with live fire and light weaponry including knives and clubs. Additionally one of the weapons used was grabbed from an IDF soldier. The demonstrators had clearly prepared their weapons in advance for this specific purpose.

Go read the whole thing.

Statement from the Flea:

Only for Israel – and Arizona – is it a crime to enforce national sovereignty.

Here’s The Flea again on an outrageous United Nations “resolution” calling for a nuclear free Middle East singling out Israel, but saying nothing of Iran. I am disgusted and ashamed that the traitor governmentregime now sitting inoccupying Washington, D.C., apparently “supports” this resolution. Of course, this is cited as indicating “American” support, but no. Fiercely no. I am more American than BO (but then, Israel itself is more American than BO, at least in spirit), and I condemn this resolution, and will personally rejoice at whatever actions Israel takes to defend itself against the enemy we share.

Including the stationing of nuclear submarines off the coast of Iran, also reported by the Flea. Any sane person hopes, prays, fervently, that those manning these terrible weapons are never called upon to actually use them — but if this happens, I for one will be relieved at the destruction of a threat my own government is too cowardly to counter, or even name.

Today, it is those who condemn Israel who are full of crap, not those who stand with her.

On this Memorial Day, I honor those who have fought, are fighting, for liberty everywhere, not just my countrymen.

No shalom for Israel today, or for us. I look for it, but today is not it.

There is no shalom in defeat.

Uppity Jews

Thursday, June 11th, 2009

You know, if those damn Jews would just take a clue from the peace loving Palestinians whose land they’re squatting on and start blowing themselves up in markets and pizza parlors to make their points, we’d take them a lot more seriously.

I mean, how dare they demand that their countrymen take their stupid religious ideas seriously?

Ultra-orthodox Jews clash with police over a parking garage being opened on the Sabbath.

Ultra-orthodox Jews clash with police.

Raise your hand, everybody who thinks it’s OK for bus drivers to stop in the middle of their route so they can get out, spread a prayer rug, and kneel towards Mecca. Religious freedom, and all.

(Oh, and those ridiculous fur hats! They should try turbans or table cloths, much more civilized.)


Remember, folks: This is taking place in Israel, where Judaism is the official state religion. It makes perfect sense to me that Jews should be able to impose their religious restrictions on public life there. Wouldn’t like to see it here, mind. But I live in a country where state religions are specifically prohibited.


One last thought:
Something’s nagging me about the photos on the original site. For some reason, most of them look static, staged, particularly the ones with protesters and cops. All very well posed, very well lit, good color, very clean.

I am not an expert, I could well be wrong. It may just be that the photographer was very, very good.

I hope I’m wrong. If these did turn out to be fake, it would hurt the Israeli cause far worse than worse fakes hurt the Muslims.