I Love LatmaTV

Obama's advisor on Arab democracy, Jamil and Awad embrace reconciliation

I especially love the bit at the end about pluralism in viewpoint amongst journalists.

One Israeli is Worth Over a Thousand Arabs

This is a late post that has been sitting in the bin. My apologies for not posting this earlier.

I am not the one saying it, Hamas is.

Israeli Soldier Moved From Gaza To Egypt

The exchange between Israel and its bitter Hamas enemy sees Israel freeing a total of 1,027 prisoners - hundreds of them from life sentences imposed for killing Israelis.

Buses of Palestinian prisoners are now moving from Israel into Egypt en route to Gaza.

For the murderous freaks of Hamas, Hezbollah, the Muslim Brotherhood, et al., this counts as a great victory. As far as I am concerned it says that the life of a single Israeli Jew is worth the lives of a thousand Palestinian Arabs. I don't believe that this is necessarily true, but then again I have no sympathy for a people that would chose the terrorism of Fatah and Hamas over peace and the opportunity to build their own State.

Here's hoping for Israel's continued success in her national defense, and damn all of those who would hold her back.

Palestinian Arab Civilization

Palestinian Arabs are passing out sweets and celebrating this.

It is a tribute to the Israelis that this barbaric non-civilization hasn't been forcibly removed to Jordan and Egypt. Most other countries would have done that decades ago.

Delusions of the Left

This is a slightly older piece that I have intended to post, but with events current in my life, just didn't get around to. It is, however, still good.

Vietnam, Israel and the Left’s Delusional Narratives

The comparisons between the views held by the left on Vietnam and their views on the contemporary conflict surrounding Israel are obvious.

As with Vietnam, leftists today claim that Israel acts out of imperialism, racism and colonialism. As with Vietnam leftists today completely ignore the nature or intentions of the regimes and groups attacking Israel. Most leftists have no clue about the Nazi history and ideology of the Baathist regimes of Syria, Jordan, Egypt and (formally) Iraq. They know nothing of the regimes’ need to maintain Israel as an external enemy in order to maintain their own rule. As with Vietnam, they view the nature and intentions of the opposing actors as irrelevant because the primary driver for the conflict is the internal failings of Israel.

As with Vietnam, leftists accuse Israel of routinely and intentionally committing war crimes, while the immediately obvious and overt routine and intentional war crimes — e.g., suicide bombings aimed at civilians — of Israel’s attackers are relentlessly downplayed into insignificance. As with Vietnam, all claims of war crimes made by Israel’s enemies are taken as true without independent confirmation. As with Vietnam, all accidental deaths, even those clearly orchestrated by Israel’s enemies, are blamed on Israel’s disdain for human life. As with Vietnam, any real Israeli war crimes brought to light, even those brought to light by the Israelis themselves, are proclaimed to be merely the tip of an aiceberg instead of outliers.

As with Vietnam, the delusional narrative used by the left originates primarily from the propaganda of the non-democratic actors. All the delusions of the “peace” movement in Vietnam came first from communists, usually transmitted via Europe and then mindlessly accepted by leftists in America. The left in America swallowed communist propaganda as mechanically as a python engulfing a pig. Likewise, the left today will swallow any accusation against Israel.

and

Why leftists in mass repeatedly fall into the same pattern of delusional narratives goes beyond the scope of this post. What is important is the fact that they do, and that therefore you can’t actually argue with them using facts or concepts that leftists don’t believe fit within the narrative. Doing so is as jarring to them as would be writing a cowboy character into Hamlet. They just put down the “book” in disgust and leave the conversation.

Instead of arguing with leftists about Israel, using facts they will ignore or transmogrify to fit the narrative, instead argue against their use of the narrative itself. Drive home the point that leftists keep to a “script” that just has the names changed in order to fit any particular circumstance. Hammer on the parallels between the Vietnam narrative, which we now can prove was delusional, and the narrative about Israel or other conflicts.

Every time you find yourself in a discussion or debate with leftists about Israel, bring up the obvious parallels between the current narrative and the failed narrative of Vietnam. Point out that the same people who fell for communist propaganda then, fall for similar propaganda now. Point out that the evils assigned to America then, such as war crimes, are the same as the evils assigned to Israel today. Point out that the poor quality of the evidence accepted against America then is the same quality of evidence accepted against Israel now. Point out that just as the left ignored the internal natures and dangers of the communists back then, the left ignores the internal natures and dangers of the groups and regimes opposing Israel now.

Most importantly, remind them that their “victory” back then lead to incredible bloodshed and oppression. Then pray to all gods and fates that this time, even though we have started with the same delusional narrative, we can “write” a different ending.

Go read the whole thing. Shannon Love spells out the Left's™ delusions about Vietnam and discusses how they are being repeated with respect to Israel. History will reveal the truth as it has with Vietnam. Sadly, not only do we already know the truth, as anyone with open eyes does, but the delusional Left™ will forever continue to deny it.

YouTube Cons the World

Lawrence Solomon says it:

Lawrence Solomon: YouTube Cons The World

YouTube’s reason for shutting down the video sensation?: “This video is no longer available due to a copyright claim by Warner/Chappell Music, Inc,“ YouTube tells those who try to access the parody.

This claim by YouTube is itself a con. As YouTube well knows, parodies are not subject to a copyright claim. To add to the absurdity of YouTube’s claim, YouTube carries numerous other parodies of “We are the world,” – a search on the YouTube site of “We are the world spoof” turns up 5,100 results.

YouTube’s real problem with this viral hit is the virus of anti-Semitism.

LiveLeak still has it. Here is the embed.



Thanks to the folks at Israelly Cool for finding this for us.


Update: The folks at YouTube apparently did not like getting called out on their anti-Semitism and have reposted the video. I still believe them to be anti-Semites.

Gaza Flotilla Participants Explain: We Con the World

The full text:

There comes a time
When we need to make a show
For the world, the Web and CNN
There's no people dying,
so the best that we can do
Is create the greatest bluff of all

We must go on pretending day by day
That in Gaza, there's crisis, hunger and plague
Coz the billion bucks in aid won't buy their basic needs
Like some cheese and missiles for the kids

We'll make the world
Abandon reason
We'll make them all believe that the Hamas
Is Momma Theresa
We are peaceful travelers
With guns and our own knives
The truth will never find its way to your TV

Ooooh, we'll stab them at heart
They are soldiers, no one cares
We are small, and we took some pictures with doves
As Allah showed us, for facts there's no demand
So we will always gain the upper hand

We'll make the world
Abandon reason
We'll make them all believe that the Hamas
Is Momma Theresa
We are peaceful travelers
we're waving our own knives
The truth will never find its way to your TV

If Islam and terror brighten up your mood
But you worry that it may not look so good
Well well well well don't you realize
You just gotta call yourself
An activist for peace and human aid

We'll make the world
Abandon reason
We'll make them all believe that the Hamas
Is Momma Theresa
We are peaceful travelers
We're waving our own knives
The truth will never find its way to your TV

We con the world
We con the people
We'll make them all believe the IDF is Jack the Ripper
We are peaceful travelers
We're waving our own knives
The truth will never find its way to your TV
We con the world (Bruce: we con the world...)
We con the people (Bruce: we con the people...)
We'll make them all believe the IDF is Jack the Ripper
We are peaceful travelers
We're waving our own knives
The truth will never find its way to your TV
The truth will never find its way to your TV

Courtesy of LatmaTV

Helen Thomas, Anti-Semite

Yes, I mean it. Is she unaware of the treatment that Jews received at the hands of the Germans and the Poles? How can any honest person explain this away?



It speaks for itself. Liberalism indeed.

UPDATE: The anti-semite has since apologized.

"I deeply regret my comments I made last week regarding the Israelis and the Palestinians," she wrote. "They do not reflect my heartfelt belief that peace will come to the Middle East only when all parties recognize the need for mutual respect and tolerance. May that day come soon."

A standard non-apology apology. Since her beginnings 600 60 years ago she has apologized for terrorists and against the defense of Israel. I bet that she would be outraged if someone would say that she should return to Lebanon (I wish she would).

For Jews it is 1930 again.

Anti-Semitic UN to Act

The loathsome United Nations will, in its great tradition of antisemitism, act against Israel this week.

The Great Mona Charen writes,

Israel's Deadliest Foe to Strike This Week

The war over the war in Gaza is heating up. Next week, the United Nations General Assembly will consider the tendentious Goldstone Report, the highest profile exercise in blaming the victim in the U.N.'s tawdry history. Simultaneously, lawyers in Britain, the Netherlands, Spain, Belgium, and Norway are drawing up criminal indictments against IDF officers who participated in the Gaza operation. The Israeli newspaper Haaretz reports that a number of names are on a police watch list for arrest and detention should they attempt to enter Britain.

Israel's enemies certainly seek to terrorize and demoralize Israel. But the more important campaign -- which is gaining traction -- is to delegitimize her and to brand Israel's self-defense as a war crime.

Hamas wants the world to recognize them as a legitimate government, and many in the world do. If they are, then it seems to me that the same rules should apply. This piece offers a comparison.

ISRAEL

Consider the assessment of Col. Richard Kemp, former commander of British forces in Afghanistan, and a veteran of the Gulf War and the conflicts in Northern Ireland, Bosnia, and Macedonia. "During Operation Cast Lead, the IDF did more to safeguard the rights of civilians in a combat zone than any other army in the history of warfare. Israel did so while facing an enemy that deliberately positioned its military capability behind the human shield of the civilian population."

What army has offered 48 hours notice to its enemies of planned operations? Israel did so, dropping 2 million leaflets in advance of army movements. Twenty-four hours before the IDF moved on a suspected terrorist site, the army phoned civilians to warn them to evacuate. There were 100,000 calls. And five minutes before an operation began, the IDF sent out text messages. The calls and messages contained not just warnings, but instructions on which roads were safe to take and which schools or other buildings could be used for shelter. In the midst of the conflict, hundreds of trucks brought food, water, and medical supplies to Gaza.

In Rafa, Israel sought to close 225 tunnels (with 800 entrances) used to smuggle arms to Gaza from Egypt. The easiest and safest course for the IDF would have been to level the homes without warning that contained the entrances using air power or tanks. In Gaza City, to avoid civilian casualties, IDF infantrymen went house to house, encountering booby traps along the way and fending off seven attempted kidnappings.

Hamas was so confident that Israel would not knowingly shoot at civilians that they hid behind human shields throughout the short war. It was common, when word came of an impending attack, for Hamas to send children out to play in the streets at that moment. "Will I shoot?" Gruber asks. "I will not." There is video of a terrorist with a rocket launcher slung over his shoulder grabbing a 10-year-old boy by the collar and dragging him across the street to deter Israeli snipers. And it worked. Israel has similar video (from Reuters actually) showing U.N. ambulances ferrying armed men. "Yes," says Gruber with resignation, "the 'ambulances' were always at the front."

HAMAS

There are scores of other examples -- Hamas firing from mosques, schools, private homes, and hospitals. The very fact that Hamas used human shields betrays their admission that Israel abides by ethical standards in war fighting. They took advantage of Israel's moral qualms about harming non-combatants. Now they accuse Israel of the crimes they themselves committed -- deliberately targeting civilians by raining down 12,000 missiles on southern Israel since the Israeli withdrawal from Gaza.

Liberals, amongst whom antisemitism is mainstream (of course they accuse we conservatives of it constantly), will back the UN in efforts to punish Israel for defending herself and support the real terrorists.

UPDATE: Just in case anyone objects to my view that modern liberalism™ is the home of mainstream antisemitism, this from Caroline Glick;

Former ambassador to the UN Dore Gold should probably buy himself a flak jacket. Gold is scheduled to debate Richard Goldstone at Brandeis University next Thursday and the anti-Israel forces are organizing quite a reception for him.

Goldstone, who chaired the UN Human Rights Council's commission charged with accusing Israel of committing war crimes in Gaza during Operation Cast Lead, has become a darling of the anti-Israel Left in the weeks since his report accusing Israel of committing both war crimes and crimes against humanity was published last month. And anti-Israeli leftists don't like the idea of someone challenging his libelous attacks against Israel in a public debate at a university.

In an e-mail to a campus list-serve, Brandeis student and anti-Israel activist Jonathan Sussman called on his fellow anti-Zionists to disrupt the event that will pit the "neutral" Goldstone against Gold with his "wildly pro-Zionist message." Sussman invited his list-serve members to join him at a meeting to "discuss a possible response."

As the young community organizer sees it, "Possibilities include inviting Palestinian speakers to come participate, seeding the audience with people who can disrupt the Zionist narrative, protest and direct action." He closed his missive with a plaintive call to arms: "F**k the occupation."

Apparently the aspiring political organizer never considered another possibility: listening to what Gold has to say.

More to follow on liberalism™ and antisemitism.

Let's Kill All The Jews

As I return home for a very few months and try to put things together, I thought that I should start right in with how our unwillingness to take meaningful action in the face of evildoers endangers the world. Include our unwillingness to see through the lies of our enemies (and Mr. Obama's choice to make friends of enemies and enemies of friends). I will start with a piece that I was writing a few months ago. As Obama makes noises about how Mr. Netanyahu needs to accept a "two-state" solution as Mr. Abbas supposedly does, we should remember that what the Palestinian leadership says in public is one thing, but another thing is said amongst themselves in Arabic.

Let's kill all the Jews.

That is the word from Fatah. They openly admit that they are fooling the western powers with the phony acceptance of the right of the state of Israel to exist, or the right of Jews in the middle east to continue breathing. And, having said so openly, expect no objection from us.



Read all about it on the Strategy Page.

Let's Kill All The Jews

March 19, 2009: Fatah, the "moderate" Palestinian political movement, has admitted that it does not recognize the existence of Israel. Fatah points out that the Palestinian Authority, an organization set up in the 1990s after peace negotiations with Israel allowed the Palestinians to assume control of their own affairs, does not speak for Fatah. The Palestinian Authority recognized Israel, but Fatah points out that this was done to meet the demands of Western nations that were going to provide the Palestinians with billions of dollars in economic aid. What the Western donors ignored was the fact that Palestinians regularly used maps of the area that showed Israel as Palestinian territory. To Palestinians, Israel did not exist. Children were taught that Israel was an illegal entity, and the Israelis (at least the Jewish ones) foreign invaders who must be expelled or killed. All this was in Arabic. English pronouncements tended to be rather more opaque on the "kill the Jews" stuff.

And so we allow ourselves to be fooled.

Hillary re: Israel's Security Barrier

With the announcements of Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, John Edwards, Tom Tancredo, Sam Brownback, and Bill Richardson as entrants in the race for President, I remembered a time when Hillary was very pro-Palestinian and anti-Israel. That was a long time ago. I decided to check her out on the Security Barrier, and was pleasantly surprised at what I found.

On Hillary's website she has posted a document dated April 1, 2004 urging the (worse than useless) United Nations to change its stance on Israel's Security Fence.

Senators Urge United Nations to Reconsider Stance on Israel's Security Fence

Washington, DC - In a letter, today, sent to UN Secretary General Kofi Annan, Senators Hillary Rodham Clinton (NY), Orrin Hatch (UT), Charles Schumer (NY) and Gordon Smith (OR) joined with 75 other Senate Colleagues urging the General Assembly to reject the International Court of Justice (ICJ) decision to consider the legality of Israel's security fence. The conflict between the Israelis and the Palestinians cannot be resolved in the ICJ, but rather must be resolved between the parties.

"Israel's fence is a legitimate response to an onslaught of terrorist attacks against Israelis. The decision to build the security fence has been thrust upon Israel by the Palestinian refusal to crack down on terror. The future of the fence should not be a legal matter, and has no place in the International Court of Justice." Senator Clinton said.

"Every nation in the world has a right to defend itself, a right well established under international law," said Senator Hatch. "We're asking Secretary General Annan to recognize that Israel has this fundamental right, and to reject the politicization of Israel's temporary security fence by placing this issue before the ICJ. It would seem to me that, if the U.N. wants to be seen as supportive of the war on terrorism, the Secretary General will heed our concerns."

"The drive to get the international court to rule on the fence is politics pure and simple. Enemies of Israel want to embarrass her at whatever cost, even if it means destroying the legitimacy of the ICJ in the process. And that is exactly what will happen here if the court intervenes and exposes itself as an instrument of the anti-Israel movement. By building the fence, Israel is taking responsible measures to defend itself again Palestinian terrorism, end of story," Senator Schumer added.

Senator Smith said, "Israel's fence is a response to years of unrelenting terrorist attacks that have claimed over 900 lives. Israel enjoys the right to protect its citizens just as other nations of the world, and the security fence plays a part in this defensive effort."

In the letter, the Senator's stress that, "Israel has no less of a right to defend its citizens than other nations of the world, and the security fence is a major part of this defense effort, particularly since the Palestinian Authority refuses to take any action against terrorism. Israel has reiterated the security needs for this fence, has declared that is not to be seen as permanent, and continues to aspire to political settlement with a Palestinian Authority that can credibly deliver on its commitments to security. The GA's request for an ICJ advisory opinion is a blatant attempt to manipulate the United Nations system for clearly political purposes."

The full text of the letter to Secretary General Kofi Annan is as follows:

Go read their letter to the anti-Semite Kofi Annan. I am, as I said, pleasantly surprised.