Name:     Michael L. S.   [E-Mail]
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Shabat shalom.

Heh, I had a big electronic bust-up with an individual yesterday. A guy wrote me vituperating my blog for throwing mud at his country (Britain). Immediately I thought, Donnerwetter noch mal, noch ein Herr Gedankenpolizist. But after a few exchanges I caught on to the fact that he was Asian European (Chinese, not from the Inidan subcontinent). I thought that particularly odd since I'd never come across someone of the Chinese extraction who gives a monkeys ass about the welfare of Britain, never mind one who could easily be a BNP subfuhrer. It would be too tedious giving a synopsis of our exchange but basically he was born in Britain, brought up there, went to public (state) school and is doing a telecoms job now. He'd never experienced any racism. Good for him. So that made him British and proud to be thus at that. In every paragraph he would emphasize the fact he was British. Right. The same way Jews-4-Jesus are Jewish. Yeah. Aha.

Except they're not.

And he's not.

So he was born in Britain. And? I was born in Yugoslavia. Does that make me Yugoslavian (or Croatian, as it is now)? Of course not. I've no more in common with Croats than I do with the Maori. About forty percent of them would slaughter me given half the chance. He has a British passport. Mazel tov. What does it prove though? Jack squat. Legally he is British. Does it matter? No. If his parents or grandparents had been born just a little bit more to the south, he'd be treated like a piece of shit wherever he traveled because his skin would be darker, hence he'd be a potential terrorist, especially as far as the US is concerned. (It is a well-known fact that the DHS has authorized use of racial profiling at US airports--hardly anyone's uttered a word of protest since.) This is beside the daily abuse he'd experience at the hands of the "police" who'd harass him thinking he might be a Muslim and hence, yes, a potential terrorist. (Though, of course, the "police" don't actually think that; they're simply letting off their sadism by molesting Muslims now it's too risky to do it to African Europeans post-Stephen Lawrence.) He doesn't realize that he isn't Brtish and--short of doing a Michael Jackson--never will be; not he, not his children, not his grandchildren. I'm not saying this because *I* highlight his complexion and other "racial" features. As far as I go, there is only one race and that is the human race. Nothing else matters. Not your ethnicity, not your nationality, not your culture, not your heritage, not your religion, etc, etc. But very few people see it like that. And if I don't bring the guy down to earth, someone else will. Much harder.

You can be born and bred on that island. You can walk and talk like the Britishers. You can be as well educated as they or better. You can have as big a house as they, drive as flashy an automobile as they. You can earn as much as they and have as good a job as they. You can be as obnoxious in xenophobia, retrospection, introversion and bigotry as they. You can drink "tea at five". But you, my dear Chinese friend, will NOT be British. If I took off my kipah and started speaking like a ponce, I'd be allowed entry into places and societies which will remain firmly shut to you till the Mashiach comes Himself. You have to understand that the vast majority of Caucasian teabags do not accept you; they tolerate you. So long as you ask nothing of them, they will tolerate you... - but they would definitely not want their daughter to come back home with you. And even that could change with another couple of summers of "race" riots in Burnley or Oldham.

I'm not saying he should hate Britain (although when one considers how the sconeheads screwed the Chinese in the Opium Wars it's difficult to see how not to hate it). My point is he should not put al his eggs in one basket because he'll get disappointed. Big-time. He should not try to gain full acceptance by treating others the way his parents had been treated.* (A) he will never get full acceptance no matter what he does, and (b) it's just pathetic. Ultimately, a country is no more than a line on the map drawn by a human. There's nothing natural about it. To defend "your" street, school and perhaps city, ie. environment in which you grew up, I understand. But country?! It's not like Britain is Israel where the very existence of a nation is imperilled. So, dude: chill! Leave Britain alone. Be a citizen of the world. Don't waste your life fighting for something that has caused so much misery in the past centuries, the results of which are arguably even more visible and acute today. Especially don't do it out of such misguided motives: hope for acceptance. If you want to fight for a worthy cause, fight for the people whose lives were doomed for generations to come by Britain's actions: from erstwhile colonial Africa to the people of Iraq where Britain just executed an illegal aggression. Or the people of Uzbekistan who are living like animals because it's in Britain's political interests to keep its wicked regime propped up. Or the people of SE Asia and South America who are suffering thru neocolonialism working all day long for a couple of bucks a month to make trainers you then pay $200 for, $185 of which line the pockets of modern-day slave-runners (aka. CEOs).

* This is what completely baffles me when I see someone from an "ethnic minority" take the Tory or Blunkett line on immigration. I mean, your own grandparents and parents were "welcomed" to Britain with signs of "No Irish, No dogs, No blacks." And now you are doing practically the same to others. Disgusting.

Have a shavua tov. Shalom, shalom.

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Difficult to believe this but it's true: Javier Solana came on a visit to Israel and said the following: "The European Union is a very important international power and is going to play a role here, whether you like it or not."  Wonderful; like a true colonialist pig.

Mr. Solana is the European Union's foreign and security minister.  His comment comes only a few days after the EU had voted against Israel at the UNGA concerning an extraordinarily vituperative and tendentious resolutions berating Israel's erection of the security barrier.   As big a fan of the EU as I am, Solana can shove his arrogance and imperious pomp up his ass.  Even leaving aside Europe's treatment of Klal Yisrael--from the early Roman and Spanish Moor days to Hitler and modern-day conspiracy theorists, neo-Nazis and other morons--this type of statement is just breathtaking.

No, Solana, you will NOT play a role in the Middle East peace process if we don't want you to, any more than we will unilaterally tell the teabags what to do in Ireland or your own Spaniards in Ceuta.  You will either treat Israel as an equal or you can bugger off and try to lord it over the new EU states whom you're treating like second-class members.  Why SHOULD we let the EU play any part in the ME process?  A few days ago they sided with the most brutal and despicable regimes on the planet to castigate Israel for building the security barrier.  In the highest international forum Solana's EU took the position that the inconvenience of Palestinians takes precedence over saving even a single life from terrorist attacks.  Does that denote even-handedness, level-headedness, integrity and sound values?  I don't think so.  And would you want such an actor to tell YOU what to do?  Didn't think so either.

* * *

And in Aza things are by no means dying down.  Arafat is in his stubbornness still refusing to implement any kind of meaningful reforms preferring instead, true to fashion of all half-senile despots, to cling on to absolute power for as long as he possibly can.  (BTW, I came across a brilliant article which I highly recommend you read.  It was published by a Lebanon(!) newspaper and is entitled "Gaza's crisis mirrors wider Palestinian and Arab failures".)  That this kind of attitude has been screwing the Palestinians for decades and is doing so much more now does not matter.  Especially not to the EU.  Hasn't Solana's silence on the recent events in the PA been deafening?  But then, it's not acceptable to criticize the Palestinians anymore--just Jews under the guise of criticizing Israel--so that's OK.

Speaking of silence, have any of mainstream media carried the report of the following incident: "Palestinian terrorists shot and killed a 15-year-old Arab boy in Beit Hanoun this morning, after he and his family objected to the placing of Kassam rocket launchers outside their home. The boy and other members of his family, seeing the terrorist cell arrive, "greeted" them with sticks and stones in an attempt to banish them. The terrorists responded with gunfire that killed the teenager and also wounded five others. After the murder, the terrorists loaded up their weapons and fled the scene. PA sources first accused Israeli forces of having killed the boy. The Israeli Defense Forces recently circulated an Arabic-language leaflet in Gaza, calling on residents not to allow Kassam launchers to operate in their midst."

Now, if Tzahal had killed a fifteen-year-old for throwing stones can you even BEGIN to imagine the brouhaha it would've evinced from the media?  The outrage, the indignation, the condemnation, the sympathy...  It just proves the two things I've always said: (1) a Palestinian life is only worth a second thought if an ISRAELI takes it, and (2) to the goyim the only good Jew could ever be a cowed Jew.  If we kill anyone, even in self-defense, we are the bad guys.  What little sympathy some of the world had for us in the wake of haShoah has evaporated and it's now back to Jew-bashing full force.  An enemy of Jews is right only by virtue of it being the Jews on the other side.  Syria is one of the most repugnant regimes on earth and has sponsored terrorism like an MNC sponsors a basketball match.  There are terrorist organization offices and training camps all over Syria.  But the IAF dared to bomb one of those camps some months ago, and guess who got a mouthful.  And it doesn't matter that it's always been the Palestinians who started and perpetuated the conflict.  It doesn't matter that they've utilized their entire firepower to kill the Israeli civilian population en masse whereas any civilian Palestinian casualties at our hands are almost always collateral damage and the result of Palestinian terrorist tactics (eg. supra: placing rocket launchers in a civilian neighborhood).  No, none of it matters: it's Jews on the other side so the first side must be right.  Well, fuck you.  So the world hates us, see if we give a shit.  Never again will we go helpless to the gas chambers.  Never again.

But the above does have a positive undercurrent.  Could it signify that the Palestinians have finally awakened and started opposing use of their homes, streets and neighborhoods for terrorist activities.  Can they have seen that those homes and streets being then inevitably demolished by our Army is not worth it?  Can they even have seen that terrorism itself is not worth it and is not the way forward?  Well, we can hope.  Getting shot and wounded for telling terrorists to take a hike didn't help in this respect but if more Palestinians mustered the courage to do the same, things would change.

Have a shavua tov and shalom.

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When one writes what many would call essentially a theory concerning a controversial issue, it doesn't happen often that a few days later the subjects of that endeavor very enthusiastically prove one absolutely correct.  And so we behold the latest developments in Aza.  It is difficult not to gloat and say "we've been telling you so all along" as we witness the utter disintegration of chairman Arafat's "authority".  Of course, the physical reality of it all is regrettable.  But it does prove what we've been saying all along: Arafat is interested in only holding on to his power; negotiating and reaching a solution with Israel would herald the beginning of the end of his power, and since he wields ALL the power in the PA, we haven't in him a partner to negotiate with.  EVEN most of the world is applying pressure on him to reform and restructure his notoriously corrupt Palestinian authority because it is obvious that peace cannot be reached when one of the parties is an introverted and despotic clique which would much rather keep its people in perpetual misery than even CONTEMPLATE relinquishing some of the nigh absolute power it enjoys.  Reforms are vital and they include the departure of Arafat himself.  Old habits die hard and someone who has been running a basically feudal system was never able to transform it into a democratic one nor will he be able to be.  In a surprisingly critical article The Independent wrote, inter alia: "Mousa Arafat [(Arafat's cousin--whom Arafat appointed as replacement for "general" Jabali who was hounded out of office by protesters against corruption) is] among the most corrupt of Palestinian officials. Other sources in Gaza said the intelligence chief was widely suspected of creaming profits from cigarettes and drugs smuggled, along with weapons, through tunnels controlled by his service."

These are the direct results of the putative strategy initiated by Yasir Arafat's a decade ago.  That is when he began permitting all and sundry groups to be incorporated all over Palestinian authority territories.  One would not be off the mark to suspect this was done so as NOT to achieve peace and to undermine what he had undertaken to do at Oslo in 1993.  After all, if there are disparate groups running amok in the PA and attacking Israel, Arafat can easily say they have nothing to do with him and be absolved of blame while continuing his aggression against Tzion.  And he can even more easily milk the international community for cash supposedly to help him organize his security forces to be able to rein in these groups.  This he never did preferring instead to pocket the money.  The gangs stayed and waxed stronger and better equipped, the PA was turned into a series of ghettoes controlled by these disparate groupations, they kept attacking Israel and so Arafat was still able to conduct war against us while being perceived as a peacemaker by the outside world which thought Arafat simply didn't have the means or power to exert control and establish his authority over all of PA.  In reality he very much had control and played the gangs as he pleased.  His virulent anti-Israel rhetoric (which invariably differed from what he served to the media when speaking in English) ensured the mood among his minions remained anti-Semitic.  And so he could sit back and feign impotent innocence while the various groupations conducted terrorism against Israel.  His own PLO sponsors three major gangs: the Fatach, Tanzim and al-Aqsa "martyrs" plus a myriad of offshoots.  That's all in addition to Chamas, Chizbolah, DFLP, PFLP and tens of others.

Problem for him now is that some of these gangs have turned on their maker.  Don't mistake this for a popular uprising demanding democracy, transparency, accountability and integrity from those in power.  Those stirring up trouble in Aza are bandits who are assaying to create as best a position for their own gang as they can before Israel withdraws.  Of course, none of those enumerated above would be any better or worse than Arafat: they, too, would need to retain their power once they got it.  And we all know what that means: more corruption, more intimidation, more abuses of Palestinians' human rights.

Nonetheless, the Palestinian people now have the unique opportunity to reach a kind of catharsis and start anew.  They can topple Arafat and his oligarchic clique and elect someone like Mahmoud Abas or Ahmed Qureia whose egos cannot possibly match Arafat's and who are thus much more likely to work for the Palestinian people rather than for themselves and their cousins.  Will it happen?  Probably not.  Decades of anti-Semitic indoctrination will ensure that power is seized by someone like Chamas rather than a moderate and modernizing force.  This chaos though might in the meantime well assume the characteristics of the situation in Iraq with warlords vying for power with beheadings and car bombs.  Still, whatever happens, the status quo is as good as gone.  Even if Arafat stays, he will no longer be able to continue as hitherto and will have to start listening to his own people as well as the outside world which, barukh haShem, has at last gotten exasperated with him.

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The above just about sums it up. The Butler enquiry reported the day before yesterday. (The Butler enquiry was set up in the wake of the invasion of Iraq when it turned out that the reasons proffered to justify that invasion had been fabricated. It had taken a lot of pressure before the British government gave in and gave the go-ahead to "lord" Butler to proceed.) As expected the report was a pathetic whitewash. Essentially, yes, "intelligence" was flawed, mistakes were made but no-one is guilty. Blair stays in his post, every other cabinet and government member does, too, as do the various establishment and "intelligence" cogs, from lowly apparatchiks up to the MI6 chief. And that is that.

!!!

HELLO!!!

This kind of bullshit would've been unacceptable if it pertained to a botched plumbing job. But this was a war! A war in which thousands upon thousands of people died, mostly thru no mistake of their own, and a war which was initiated on the basis of pure and unalloyed LIES. What the hell happened to accountability and honor?! And what makes all of this a million-fold worse is Mr. Blair imponderable arrogance and self-righteousness. Why can he not be man enough and even JUST ADMIT he was wrong to have done it? He doesn't even have to resign! Just say he was wrong to have gone head-long into a lethal war on a false pretext. What kind of putz are you, Mr. Blair, that even that is too taxing for you. Instead he keeps digging his already mighty deep hole. I'm sure you've noticed his semantic acrobatics:
1- "we are CERTAIN about the EXISTENCE of weapons of mass destruction",
2- "there is EVIDENCE of weapons of mass destruction",
3- "we are CERTAIN of the existence of weapons of mass destruction PROGRAMS",
4- "we have EVIDENCE of weapons of mass destruction programs",
5- "Saddam was PREPARING to BUILD weapons of mass destruction",
6- "Saddam was preparing to build weapons of mass destruction PROGRAMS",
7- "we MAY never find weapons of mass destruction but Saddam was a bad leader",
8- "there are NO weapons of mass destruction but we got rid of Saddam",
9- "we got rid of Saddam".

Son of a bush... - or should that be, Bush. In 1997 most of us thought things had gotten better after eighteen years of Tories who wouldn't know integrity if it came up to them and gave them a handjob. So there were NO weapons of mass destruction. Not Britain, not the US, not even Eretz Yisrael were under any threat from Saddam. There goes the first reason for starting the war. There were no links between Saddam and al-Qu'ida (and you'd have to be a massive dumbass not to have seen that ab initio). The second reason bites the dust. Yes, a terrible tyrant has been deposed but does that justify this war. Not unless the transient coalition goes after EVERY terrible tyrant there is on the planet. Iran, anyone? It conveniently placed between Iraq and Afghanistan so no costly and pesky troop transports to think of. Only problem is Iran wouldn't go down nearly as easily as Iraq, never mind the Taliban. Plus Iran has no oil, all oil and gas pipelines that could be built have been built elsewhere, and Bush's daddy doesn't have scores to settle with Khamenei or Khatami. How about Uzbekistan? Islam Karimov's regime has been responsible for gross abuses of human rights, torture, censorship, mass "disappearances"; he makes the Shah look like an amateur. Ah but he granted the US use of his territory during the war in Afghanistan. And there's a spanking new pipeline snaking thru Uzbekistan. So he's actually "with us": a wholesome, good guy. That's why the Brit ambassador to Uzbekistan nearly had his ass thrown in jail when he tried to raise awareness of Mr. Karimov's misdeeds. A jail in BRITAIN, that is! Saudi Arabia? Two words: "Fahrenheit 9/11". And what of the countless morons in Africa who conduct endless wars over hectares of useless land while their people drop dead like flies of starvation or AIDS? Well, they're just Africans; they and slaughter go hand-in-hand. And besides: SADDAM WAS BAD; WE GOT RID OF SADDAM!

That's all OK then.

I also heard Mr. Bush at one of his rallies the other day prattling about how America was more secure because Saddam and the Taliban were gone. And you could see the sheep around him beaming like cretins with approbation and adulation as though the Mashiach Himself had arrived. Worse: half of Americans believe him, too. And IS America more secure? Of course it isn't. Since Iraq never posed a threat to it, invading and destabilizing it has by no means helped. If anything, they obviated the one obstacle to Osama bin Laden's total dominance of the extremist Muslim element by removing Saddam and they made Iraq a very fertile ground for recruiting more of bin Laden's jihadis. And seeing how tumultuous and fractious Iraq is now, one wouldn't be surprised if al-Qu'ida got a foothold in it NOW, thus picking up where it left off with the fall of the Taliban.

But it might not have to: the Taliban are still very much alive and kicking; kicking the whole of southern Afghanistan, that is. They are still in control of about twenty per-cent. of the country. Alas, the avaricious and barbaric warlords who are in control of most of the remaining land are not much better, and once the coalition troops get out of Kabul and Mazar-i-Sharif which they still deign to administer, there's nothing to guarantee that al-Qu'ida won't form a pact with them, too.

Notice how often I mention al-Qu'ida? That's because the terrorist organization behind 9/11 is still very much in existence and its strength undiminished. In other words, the one genuine and commendable goal behind the specious "war on terror" has not been fulfilled. And for some strange reason the Bush administration does not appear to be too eager to pursue that goal either. It's as if they're desirous of pursuing the "war on terror" for as long as they can. Why would THAT be? Anyone?

Shabat shalom.

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What does one make of this: Terje Larsen, the UN envoy to the Middle East has been declared persona non grata by chairman Arafat. The reason? He criticized the Palestinian "authority" for doing ef-all to fight against violence and corruption in its territories. He stated: "The PA, despite consistent promises by its leadership, has made no progress on its core obligation to take immediate action on the ground to end violence and combat terror and to reform and reorganize the Palestinian Authority. [...] All those who yearn for peace have already and repeatedly argued [chairman] Arafat, in public and in private, [must] take immediate action to restore this diminished credibility." If EVEN the virulently anti-Israel Larsen of the even MORE virulently anti-Israel UN says something like that, then the tide really has begun to turn. Surely everyone with a clear mind has by now realized that Arafat is a spent force; bitter, venal, intransigent, maladroit and frankly useless old man. This would be bad enough if he were leader of some whatnotistan in central Asia. But he is leader of a principal party in one of the longest running and high-profile conflicts on Earth who has been the main obstacle to resolving it for the past decade or so. His time ran out years ago. The UN has now seen it, too. סוף-סוף

An equally important point to note is how the PA reacted to this criticism: pretty much the way they and other despotic, totalitarian regimes react to any dissent. They banished Mr. Larsen from their jurisdiction. If he were Palestinian, he'd have been thrown in prison or publicly executed as a "collaborator". Contrast this with the way every schnook from small-time never-have-been politicians like George Galloway to Jew-haters masquerading as journalists like Orla Guerin traipse around Eretz Tzion when and where they please.

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A woman and her infant were traveling on the Paris Metro (subway) yesterday when they were set upon by a gang of youths. They slashed her clothes with knives and cut her hair in the horrific event. They were of North African-European heritage and they assaulted the lady because they thought she was a Jew. (No-one present in the carriage did anything to assist the victim.) This comes on top of continued attacks on Jews in France such as a young man beaten beyond recognition outside a yeshiva last week.

Enough is enough. I urge all Jews who are at risk of attack to arm and protect themselves. Not another drop of Jewish blood is to be spilled, not a single Jew is to be humiliated again. We have to send a message to those who hate us, as well as to those goyim who don't care enough to help us in our dire need, that you don't mess with Jews. And that if you do mess with us, YOU will end up holding the shorter end of the stick.

AM YISRA'EL CHAI!

UPDATE: It since transpired that the woman in question was not Jewish at all and that she had fabricated the story (albeit for prima facie somewhat salutary reasons). I condemn her doing so because this type of stunt is no different from the more usual "crying wolf": it does nothing in the fight against anti-Semitism which the French government is trying to pursue.

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A bombing in Tel Aviv; not a homicide bombing but homicidal. The cowards didn't blow themselves up this time; they just murdered a woman at a bus stop. And this comes only a couple of days after the ICJ's opinion about the illegality of the separation fence we are building between Israel and the Palestinian Yesha and which this latest outrage puts into its proper perspective. A message to all the dumbasses at the ICJ and elsewhere: we WILL continue building the barrier, Jews WILL defend ourselves, we WILL defend our Eretz Tzion, and you can go jack off. Even I am beginning no longer to care about the Palestinian hardship. They are being incommoded by the fence? Tough shit. Jewish lives are worth more than their convenience. Maybe when they stop sending terrorists to murder Israelis, when they stop letting their houses and streets be used as weapons factories and caches, when they stop indoctrinating their children thus creating generation upon generation of terrorists, when they stop giving support to Chamas and similar outfits, THEN the barrier will come down. Until then, the fence STAYS and we will do EVERYTHING to protect ourselves.

Have a shavua tov and let's hope for better news this week.

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So who is to blame for the longest running conflict in the world? Is it the Israelis or the Palestinians? After all, this IS a conflict between the Israelis and Palestinians. Wrong. It weren't the Palestinian people who attacked Israel in 1947/48 thus instigating this conflict. It weren't the Palestinians who occasioned the Six Day War in 1967. It weren't the Palestinians who tried to sneak one in at Yom Kipur of 1972. Nor were it the Palestinians who necessitated the Israeli infiltration of southern Lebanon. It IS the Palestinians who are sending homicide bombers now but is of their own informed volition? No. Rather, the very first bullet, the last bullet and every bullet in between was fired by the "Arab world", ie. those in control of it. And who IS in control of Arab countries, from Morocco to Egypt to Saudi to Iran? Autocrats, despots, tyrants, theocrats and other assorted anathemas to democracy. The two main characteristics of such dictators are self-interest and self-preservation. The two go hand-in-hand and always have. Dictators need to stay in power at all costs, and people tend not to like gross breaches of their human rights, censorship, political and social oppression, poverty and other abuses. So the age-old recipe has been invoked in the Arab world, too: rally your people around in the fight against an enemy. No enemy? Invent one! Let's have Israel. Let's have an internal enemy, too: intellectuals and reformers! Both these evil Zionists and even more evil women who dare to wear make-up are a threat to the societal order and fabric. They want to destroy the virtual paradise on Earth which is Syria or Jordan, and they have to be fought at all costs. Literally. Of course, it helps an immense deal if this fight against a supposedly common supposed enemy is also portrayed as a fight against the supposed enemies of the ideology on which such societies are based, in this case Islam. And if the protagonists of that ideology (imams in our example) who wield a wide influence among the populace get onboard, you are assured a fervent loathing of the "enemy" develops among your subjects. It's been done since time immemorial: think of the centuries-long strife between Catholics and Protestants in medieval Europe, the USSR with its purges and decades of carefully-crafted paranoia, the parallel developments in the States with the McCarthy Inquiry and rednecks driving up in pick-up trucks, sporting shot-guns, assaying to hunt down the "kum-yoo-nists" ostensibly hiding in the local woods. And most recently, of course, with the "war on terror" which has been used more than anything to erode in a trice the liberties and standards that had taken decades of sweat and blood to stablish speciously so as to "get the bad guys" faster and more efficiently. (The "bad guys", meanwhile, are still roaming Tora Bora or wherever they're hiding, three years after masterminding the single most monstrous terrorist atrocity in the history of terror.) But I digress.

Reviling Israel and presenting is as a threat has greatly aided these abhorrent regimes in maintaining their longevity. If by some miracle the Middle Eastern conflict were resolved and the people of the Arab world could no longer perceive the existence of an enemy threat, what do you think would transpire? My guess is that the people's attention would suddenly be caught by the state in which they find themselves. They'd look at the disparity between them and the dynasties ruling over them. They'd wonder how it is that Saudi Arabia which is drowning in oil musters less than a quarter the GDP produced by a tiny and barren Israel. They'd query why they are unable to express their opinions without fear of being incarcerated and ostracized. They'd wonder why their leaders took them into one war upon another, wasting exorbitant amounts of money when they were barely able to clothe their children. Or why their leaders' offspring were sent to boarding schools in Switzerland when 35% the population was illiterate. They might even want to indulge in the proclivities of the "west" or, at least, have the option to do so without having to answer to the polito-religious establishment which is happy to keep the people benighted for it consolidates their own power. You see where I'm going with this, I'm sure. In short, I'm pretty sure the megalomaniacs and tyrants running the Arab world would be out of power by and by, possibly facing prosecution if not even persecution. So, you see, they NEED Israel, or AN Israel. And that is why they and their predecessors have done everything they could to perpetuate the conflict and they will not cease doing so. If the conflict is to end, the main prerequisite is mass popular enlightenment which will lead to democracy and with it accountability, transparency, compromise. Of course, the existence of a conflict is preventing this from happening and this happening is imperative if the conflict is to end. Oy vey. We can only hope that introduction of media like the Internet will lead to the empowerment of knowledge which will in turn incite all the changes I talked about. It will be slow but it probably the only way.

The whole point of all this is to show Jew-haters that no: it's NOT the "occupation", it's NOT our potential nuclear weapons, it's NOT any religious zealotry which dictates we must have this or that part of land. This conflict could have been terminated decades ago; indeed, it didn't ever have to start. But there was no desire to do this among Arab leadership. Ultimately, ask yourselves this: if the Palestinians got their own state in Yesha, how long would they be happy to keep in power Arafat and his thieving clique? Don't you think Arafat has thought of it, too? 'Nuff said.

Shabat shalom.

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Well, well, the International Court of Justice (now there's a misnomer if ever there was one) has decreed that Israel's security barrier should be dismantled and that Palestinians adversely affected by it should be compensated. Why? Because it is putatively illegal under international law. Now, as I had written previously, I do have a problem with the route of the barrier as well as the idea on principle. But it has been incontrovertibly proven to work. And so I have just one thing to say vis-a-vis the court's decision: is it legal under international law for Palestinian terrorists to execute genocide bombings on our buses and in our discos and perpetrate other terrorist atrocities against the Israeli populace? I think the goyim have shown clearly over the millennia how they feel about Bait Yisrael. It seems our position is only "legal" if we do according to goyishe commandments and assume the stations in life they would determine for us. The moment we start defending ourselves, we are a problem. The last time we went like lambs to the slaughter was in the Second World War. NEVER AGAIN. And so, you can take your "judgment" and shove it where the sun don't shine, assholes.

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Shalom. And the sconeheads have again excelled themselves in their meanness and idiocy. Get a hold of this:
"THE immigration system was under fire today after a mother and baby were taken on a 6,000-mile round trip which saw them back in England within 24 hours.
"Zenab Traore and her 15-month-old daughter Mariam, who live in Harehills, Leeds were put on a flight on Tuesday morning to the West African country of Guinea after the Home Office decided to deport them. But officials in capital Konakri told Zenab they would not be let in because they did not have a Guinean passport. Within two hours they were put on a return flight and arrived back in London on Wednesday morning.
"[...] Zenab fled Guinea after her family were killed by rebel forces from neighboring Liberia. She was diagnosed last year with post traumatic stress disorder.
"Her MP George Mudie (Lab, East Leeds) said: 'What are we running here? I find it utterly bizarre (the Home Office] have put a young woman known to be suffering mental health problems through such a traumatic ordeal without bothering to find out if she had the right papers. This is to say nothing of the expense to the taxpayer, who've had to foot the bill for these flights.'
"Mr Mudie said he would be contacting Immigration Minister Des Browne over the incident.
"The young mom arrived back in Leeds early yesterday morning. Looking tired and drawn as she spoke to the YEP, and holding baby Mariam, she said was still anxious.
"Zenab, 24, said: 'I was very afraid going back to Guinea. When we got to the airport I was so tired but so scared because I had nowhere to go and a baby to care for. Now I feel relieved to be back in Leeds but I still don't know what will happen to me.'
"[...] Last month the family were taken to the Dungavel detention center in Scotland after Zenab lost her claim for asylum. A Home Office spokeswoman confirmed the removal had been unsuccessful but declined to comment any further."

The Tory shadow interior secretary averred that the incident showed the Government had lost control of its asylum policy: "This is yet another example of the chaos and confusion that runs throughout our asylum system." Yeah, who cares about the actual lady and her infant, right asshole?

Leaving aside the fact that the former colonial (read: enslaving, pillaging, raping, etc.) power Britain refused this woman's claim for political asylum, can you possibly get your head round further torturing this lady in the manner described? The worst part is that there are many Englishers exulting at the news of her deportation and ruing her return if comments on Usenet are anything to go by. Dickheads.

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Tzahorayim tovim! I had thought I'd write a bit more about the Middle East strife today but something happened yesterday which takes precedence. I watched a movie: "Perlasca, An Italian Hero". Information about Giorgio Perlasca N''E can be found here (with pictures of Mr. Perlasca here). Mr. Perlasca was one of the righteous goyim who risked their own lives to save ours in the Second World War.

But what really moved me were yet more scenes of hundreds upon hundreds of Jews being herded onto wagons like cattle to be taken to their deaths, and the sadistic pleasure which facilitating this misery evinced in the Hungarian policemen, Waffen SS and the goyim who witnessed our suffering. Their smirks. Their insults. Their shoving of desperate people, adding insult to injury. The way they would exult at separating morthers and crying children, and laugh at the plaintative cries from the condemned. The way they would point a handgun to a person's head and pull the trigger in cold blood--for nothing except that the person was a Jew... The humiliation they meted out to us because of who we were born. My blood boiled watching that.

Now, of course we have moved on from then. Of course, the eg. Hungarians of today are different people from those who rounded up 550,000 human beings and sent them to be exterminated like vermin. But we must not forget. And we must never, never, never, NEVER allow anyone to humiliate us and oppress us. We must NEVER AGAIN let a single goy put fear in us. So, when some asshole treats you like a second-class citizen again, tries to mug you or "just" passes an anti-Semitic comment, tell them to fuck off. FEEL the righteous indignation. After what has been done to us, we have the right to live in peace and dignity; be it in Eretz Yisrael or anywhere else. Now that our hope of over two thousand years has come to life thru sweat and tears, we WILL
"להיות עם חופשי בארצנו, ארץ ציון וירושלים."

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Shalom aleichem. The Palestinian Media Watch brings us this shocking news:
"[...T]he Palestinian Authority (PA) will deprive Palestinian occupants of refugee camps of their basic democratic right to vote in the upcoming local elections." Why? To "protect[] the unique status of the refugee camps in [Yesha], considering them testimony to the crime that the occupation state made against [the Palestinian] nation for 56 years."

Hm... Correct me if I'm wrong, but doesn't this mean that the Palestinian leadership actively and consciously perpetuate the existence and consequent misery of a large section of the Palestinian society for cheap propaganda gains? And does this not prompt the further question: have they been doing the same for the past fifty-six years? The refugees became refugees in the Arab-initiated war of 1948. As early as 1950 Israel offered the Arab leaders at the time the settlement of the refugee question by allowing some to return to Eretz Tzion and compensation others in return for the Arab world's recognition of Eretz Yisrael and permanent cessation of all hostilities. The Arab leaders rejected this. Further, it is a little known fact but from 1948 almost one million (ONE MILLION) Jews were kicked out of Arab countries (so, twice as many as there were Arab refugees). Did Israel let them languish for nigh-on six decades in order to score political points on the world stage? No, we absorbed them and they are today together with their posterity a thriving section of the Israeli society. And Israel was at the time a very poor and unstable country... - quite unlike eg. Saudi Arabia (one of the 1948 War protagonists, or Iraq, Egypt, Jordan, Syria... Not a single country which started the War which made those Palestinians refugees in the first place did jack-squat to ameliorate their position afterward. Indeed, Jordan fought a WAR with them in 1972 (do a search on Black September and see for yourself: multiple thousands of Palestinians killed); Kuwait expunged no fewer than 300,000 of them at the outbreak of the first Gulf war; and Lebanon keeps them tightly confined in refugee camps--they're not allowed to own property or businesses outside these dens of despondence. And now we learn that the Palestinian authority itself has been doing what it could to ensure that these people's situation is not improved in the slightest. That is bad enough in itself. But it makes it that much worse when we remember that Palestinian terror emanates almost exclusively from these refugee camps. They are where terrorist explosives factories, training camps, various "offices", weapons caches, launch pads, etc. can be found. One of the biggest justification for Palestinian terrorism (proffered even by Cherie Blair (Mr. Blair's wife)) is that they "are hopeless people living in miserable conditions". Well, why don't you assholes take a closer look at WHY they are "hopeless", WHY they are "miserable" and WHO is doing their best to ensure they STAY hopeless and miserable?

And, you see, this is why the chances for peace are so slim. Because it's NOT the "occupation" that caused or is causing the conflict. Tzahal had completely withdrawn from PA areas between 1996 and 2002 when we started Operation Defensive Shield, and yet this period was used by the Palestinians to rearms and regroup themselves, rather than use the money the world was throwing at them to beef up their economy and infrastructure as well as eliminate the refugee camps and integrate their inhabitants into the Palestinian society. In short, this newest decision by the PA proves what we have been saying all along: the ARABS created Palestinian refugees, the ARABS have been ensuring they STAYED refugees, the ARABS are still doing so and it is in the ARAB interest to KEEP doing so.

Nest time: Whose war is it anyway!?

Kol tuv...

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Heye shalom, and news today that Spain--at the behest of the European Union--has built its own separation fence in its northern African enclave of Ceuta. For the uninitiated, Ceuta and Melilla are two cities in Morocco which Spain retained in 1956 when it withdrew from colonized Morocco. And anyone who manages to cross the border into one of the two cities can then travel on to any part of the European Union (excepting Britain which is--surprise, surprise--not part of the Schengen agreement, and Ireland which couldn't do it because of Britain). So, crossing this border is a very attractive opportunity for "illegal" immigrants to gain entry to the EU. And given the hysteria over immigration, particularly in, yes, Britain, the EU resolved to build a badass fence around Ceuta. It is eight meters high and double layered and its purpose is to help in the fight against "illegal" immigration and, I'm sure, "terrorism". They're building the second fence around Melilla. Now, is this the same EU which has so relentlessly been pilloring Israel for building OUR security fence? And remember, our fence is one that actually SAVES LIVES; it prevents access to murderous beasts seeking to massacre people, not people merely seeking a better life. Is this not yet another example of anti-Semitism and hypocrisy exhibited by the enemies of Eretz Yisrael? And we're supposed to take pronouncements from the "international community" (in which the EU forms a substantial clout) which dictates us to do one but itself does the exact opposite. Screw you! The fence stays. And when your terrorist friend bastards stop attacking us (as they did Sderot last week), the fence will come down.

It's the final match of Euro 2004 today: Portugal v. Greece. I'm still upset that Greece defeated the Czech Republic a couple of days ago so I hope they lose. It was a shame; I really like Czechia: it's a nice, unpretentious country with lovely, sweet people, and the way it lost was just heart-breaking. And I happen to like Portugal better than Greece so there's yet another reason to support the hosts.

L'hitraot...

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Funny that; a few minutes after finishing my previous installment I came across this quote by Karl Rove (Mr. Bush's long-time political guru and White House advisor):
"As people do better, they start voting like Republicans...unless they have too much education and vote Democratic, which proves there can be too much of a good thing."

I couldn't have DREAMED of a better endorsement of what I'd just said on ignorance!

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Shabat shalom!

Well, well, it looks like the old teabags are trying to do some damage limitation after Iran caught eight of their "sailors" mucking about in their territorial waters. The newest spiel is that they had been FORCED to enter Iranian waters! That AFTER the Brit charge d'affaires in Tehran had confirmed that the boats had invaded Iran in an unauthorized and supposedly unintentional fashion. The perfidious albion. Nil'ag.

And in a further tidbit, apparently twenty television stations which aired that Super Bowl broadcast during which Ms Jackson flashed her breast may get fined US$ 27.5k. Because of the record number of complaints vis-a-vis the "incident". A reported half million complaints were logged. Oy gevalt!! What the hell is wrong with these people!!? In this day and age 500,000(!) busybodies nag about seeing a nipple on TV, in the US (not in eg. Syria) and they're taken seriously! It's just part of the bigger picture, one in which the United States seems to be taken over by religious fanatics, Xian fundamentalists. In olden days these kooks used to rant about their pet-hates in their little churches and whatnot. But now they've usurped the political establishment and are running the country and, worse, the world. If you don't think that is bad, you need look no father than Iran. Iran is the epitome of what occurs when religious fundamentalists take control of the legislature, executive and judiciary. You think the US is a far cry from Iran? In practical terms yes, just. But look at the trend: Mr. Bush is saturating the Supreme Court with his cronies: judges vehemently opposed to abortion, pornography, persons of alternative sexual dispositions, etc. The Congress is already populated with Republicans and greatly emasculated Democrats, and the latter are assaulted daily as being enemies of the state as are indeed all of us who demur at the neo-conservative view of the world. The administration has instigated more rigorous censorship of the media than ever, state control of individuals and groups, clandestine military and social operations and a barbarous treatment of dissenters (qv. Abu Ghraib or Guantanamo).

The US Army saved my father's life in the Second World War and there used to be no bigger fan of the States and all it stood for than myself. But they are going down the wrong road and that should be patently obvious to all decent-minded and informed individuals. It's not the fact that everyone from communist Cuba to modern-Nazi Taliban is opposing the US today; that is irrelevant. Problem are the lies, secrecy, intractability. Mr. Bush took his country to war having blatantly L-I-E-D about the reasons for doing so. Whether he did so calculatedly or not is immaterial; he never admitted his error(s) and no-one took the responsibility. This is not how democracy operates. And the saddest facet of all this is how many Americans have been taken in by the propaganda, sophistry, rhetoric and plain mendacity. There is always that section of the population which supports "their country" no matter what, who wrap themselves inside their flags and supports "their boys" [military] whatever they do. But the support for the war in Iraq and internal management of the country among the Americans is not confined to this nutty section; roughly half the citizens share the same view. Why? Simple: they are ignorant. Ignorance is worst disease imaginable. You can do to the ignorant nigh anything, and they will accept it. And how can they not be ignorant when (a) so many Americans are not interested in current affairs, (b) the media are very parsimonious in terms of international coverage, and (c) the selection of media outlets is itself dwindling? (Most cities in the US now have the choice of only one or two daily newspapers.) I hope to haShem Kerry wins the forthcoming election.

And speaking of religion, one group that really get my goat are the messianic "Jews". You know: the "Jews 4 Jesus" type of assholes. I've never been able to understand these fascists: why can they not savor their own beliefs--if they think they're so true and special--and leave the rest of us alone? What is it with these damn Xians (and a lot of Muslims, too) that they cannot but proselytize? They cause friction, problems for themselves and communities they're out to subvert, sorry: convert. These dumbfucks waste exorbitant amounts of money on religion. Just the messianic "Jews" waste over US$ 250 MILLION every YEAR on their "missionary" efforts. Yes, 250 million dollars per annum. Anyone want to hazard a guess what that dough would do in Africa? These people come to communities, many of them millennia old such as in India or Israel, and start telling the locals that they're gonna burn in their god's big barbecue for all eternity unless they start believing in Jesus. Of course, most locals take exception to that and beat the crap out of the missionaries. And then the latter say they're being persecuted because they believe in Jesus!!! I really abhor such people. They profess to be doing their "work" out of love and concern for people's souls. But they're actually the most intolerant and bigoted of assaches there are. No, Christians, Jesus will not save you or anyone else. He is dead, providing he ever even existed. Billions of people have died, are dying and will die without ever hearing the name Jesus, let alone anything else. If G-d had a plan to save the human kind, then that plan would have to be UNIVERSALLY known from the very beginning. How can you not see that!!? But that's not the point; if you want to believe Jesus loves you and wants you to do with your lives x, y or z and that makes you happy and fulfilled, good for you. But leave the rest of us the FUCK alone.

* * *

On to more cheerful topics. Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas is due to be published October. Alas, the PS2 version only but I'm sure the PC version will follow. Goodness, that's at least three months away. As a diehard GTA fan, this saddens me most. But the eventual joy when I get my hands on it will be all the greater. I can't wait!!!

Oh, a friend sent me an mp3 of Shir laShalom: the song sang by the late Yitzhak Rabin on the night of his murder. It's the first time I heard it and it is a Beautiful song. A shame nothing came of it, nor probably will...

Well, shavua tov to all.

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I received an e-mail literally a couple of minutes ago. The organization called MEMRI (the Middle East Media Research Institute) has launched a website in which they show translated excerpts from Arab television broadcasts. They've been doing this for quite a while mainly with the Arab press but now TV will be included, too. Though this will be mainly of interest to people following the affairs of the Middle East and those wanting to know what "diet" the Arab populace is being fed, I'd recommend it to anyone. Oh and while there, please support the organization: they really do a difficult, important and unique job.

WWW.MEMRITV.ORG

B'shalom...

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I got an interesting comment (as opposed to e-mail) yesterday. It was written by Hellman Jackson and I'll quote it here verbatim to save you the trouble of looking it up below:
"hello

"I find it a little odd that you variously condemn the lack of literacy in Britain, cite reports on the BBC and mention the positive impact of British administration on pre-Israeli palestine. Not to mention that your analysis of British behaviour in WWII omits any reference to the strong anti-fascist movement and, of course, that Britain (and Russia) turned the tide against Hitler. You accuse the English of being tribalistic, when that is the characteristic that you are exhibiting yourself in your bigotted and simplistic attitude to a tremendously complex nation. England has offered the world the best and worst of pretty much everything, which is not to say that it does not have much need of social change, but it has always managed that change with a stronger eye on common sense and decency than any other."

(BTW, do take a look at his blog, it's quite a good read.)

ראשית, תודה רבה להערות השלך -- Thanks a lot for your comments.

I'll correct a few specific points first. I never said all of Britain was a den of illiteracy; just that Britishers seem to have, shall we say, problems with literacy and numeracy to an above average degree. Also, my opinion of the Britishers does not prevent me from quoting reports from their national news network, however I may feel about that, too (and I'm not the biggest fan of the BBC owing to their less-than-impartial reporting spiel). The "positive" impact of the English administration in the Mandate!!? Where was that?!? Yes, they introduced certain standards and practices which in a fairly undeveloped region were ipso facto advantageous and welcome. But the positive aspects of their administration of the Palestinian Mandate were far outweighed by their negative and downright anti-Semitic ones. By the same token, just because colonialism saw schools being built in eg. India, it doesn't exculpate them for the eg. Amritsar massacre in which the teabags murdered several hundred Indian civilians, nor does it mitigate the evil of colonialism itself.

Yes, Britain had a very strong anti-fascist movement. But what came first: fascism or the anti-fascist movement? Or better, when did the anti-fascist movement start in earnest: once the fascist/Nazi evil had been fully unleashed fully unleashed or once that evil had actually attacked Britain? Of course the Britishers were anti-fascist when they were being attacked by fascism. But why did they decide to combat fascism/Nazism? Because they truly abhorred it or because it threatened their own position in the world? Ponder on that. And yes, there was anti-fascist movement in Britain prior to the actual war; but much good a movement is. Would Britain had entered the war had the Nazis stopped at Czechoslovakia and decided to exterminate "only" the Jews there? These are rhetorical questions but anyone who has convincing arguments the other way is welcome to present them.

Is England a complex nation? Naturally, it is! How in-depth an analysis do you expect me to proffer in five posts!? I AM antipathic toward them--and it is hard not to be when you know as much about them as I do--but that does not mean I tar them all with the same brush. Given our experience, do you think I would ever dream of forming a categorical opinion about a group of people? I was and am talking about prevalent trends in Britain. Fact is, it's a shithole full of ignorance, laziness, arrogance, complacency, xenophobia, retrospection and so on, AND they have only themselves to "thank" for it. That doesn't mean there aren't English people who are absolutely wonderful. But the overall perception of England is, let's encapsulate it in a word: pathetic.* Are they capable of a change? Capable yes, likely to happen no. Do I care? I wouldn't if they kept their idiocy to themselves. Problem is, it is very difficult to be a "foreigner" IN Britain (outside big conurbations) and Britain is still very keen to screw up places OUTSIDE Britain.

*Before I forget, good-bye, Mr. Henman!!! I couldn't believe Mario Ancic would whoop Henman's ass but none happier than I when he did. Remarkable.

So, am I a bigot? Bigotry presupposes lack of knowledge and/or unwillingness to acquire or act on knowledge. That is simply not I. I arrived at my attitude after accruing years (thirteen, to be precise) of knowledge and experience, mine and others', about Britain and its inhabitants. Is my view simplistic? Perhaps in the way I have presented it. But I assure you, as a matter of course I do not lump together people belonging to a group thru no choice of their own, and in this case I actively KNOW better than to do so.

Just a final thought: does anyone else find Star Trek Deep Space Nine imponderably tedious, annoying even? Who wrote that stuff!!? The original series were OK, although VERY naive and silly, watching it now. The Next Generation was probably the best, minus Picard and his asinine trips "back" to the 1950's which drove me absolutely insane. Voyager, too, was good and I can't think of a single instance which had me looking away from the TV and fiddling with something else waiting for the interesting bits to return. But DS9... It's too much like a bad Mexican soap-opera, and the characters and their so-called interactions can be an absolute pain. Take that guy "Odo" for example. Could that guy BE any more boring?! His face, his appearance, his voice, the parts he plays, the way he delivers his lines... If there's one thing that could cause me NEVER to warm to the series, it's his character. Oh, and also the bullshit about "the prophets". I mean, for crying out loud, it's supposed to be the 25th century or whichever, and there they are chanting like fuckwits, bowing to some priestess or whatever she's supposed to be and organizing to galaxy according to "what the prophets want me to do" (just heard that one from Sisko who's meant to be running the whole joint).

Anyway, boker tov vkol tuv.

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