Shomer HaZikaron - שומר הזיכרון
In honor and tribute to Israel's first hero since the Zealots of the Matzadah, Prime Minister Gen. Dr. ARIEL SHARON (Sh"lyta)


     ABOUT THE AUTHOR:


      Name:     Michael L. S.   [E-Mail]
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      Website:  Middle East Resource Center

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How To Talk To An Israel-Hater IV

Posted on: Thursday, September 30, 2004
ב''ה

Shalom, shalom!

Before I continue with the mesmerizing exchange between old Cliffy and me, a piece or two of good news. Remember my telling you about installing a WLAN myself for less than 10% of the quoted price? Well, a few days ago I rendered the last computer I had wireless-capable and amd happy to report the whole thing (one desktop and two laptops) are working flawlessly. There has been no degradation in bandwidth nor have I experienced any problem. In accordance, I can happily recommend NETGEAR products (routers and PCI adapters)--they are really top quality. Of course, if you do undertake this kind of endeavor yourselves, you'd be well advised to brush up on security standards and protocols. Wireless networks are notoriously insecure so you want to be sure yours is impervious to attacks. If you need advice, send me an e-mail.

Oh and I got my new desktop computer last week. It's just bitching: another Dell, this time a Precision workstation. Transferring the settings from the old computer to the new one wasn't as straightforward as I'd thought. I put the old HDD in the new computer as the slave drive, configured Boot.INI and you would've thought that would be it! But nooooooooooooo... - the damn thing wouldn't boot; "configuration error". My foot. And I couldn't access the files by booting into the new system because--being security-conscious as I am --I had had them encrypted and made private (ie. I could only access them by logging into the system). Oy vey! I still managed to get to the files but it was a bitch of a process, especially porting various registry settings. And then last night I entered BIOS to fiddle with something and only by happenstance saw that the damn thing had the "second HDD" setting as "off" instead of "auto". Oy GEVALT!!! That's why I couldn't boot into the old system! And I had perused Boot.INI line by line, character by character; I opened the computer at least fifteen times messing with the IDE and jumper settings; and had all but given up... - and it was the damn BIOS all along. Son of a bitch!!

Anyway, the point: this only confirmed it but if you're buying a new computer, buy DELL. This is my fourth Dell computer and I can attest to their reliability, robustness, easy upgradability and everything else you look for in a computer.

On to the fourth (fifth? ) installment of the "How to talk to an Israel-hater?" series. Let's remind ourselves: I came across a photo I wanted to post here and e-mail the webmaster of the site in question to clarify any copyright restrictions, etc. He said he had no idea concerning that but that he found the sites quoted in my e-mail sig to be, get this, "racist". What were the sites in question? This site, my website, and a site encouraging trade with Israel. Oh yeah, "racist" indeed. Whatever... Hiw parents were reportedly killed in the King David Hotel bombing and our Cliffy hence has little time for what he terms "Zionist propaganda." I took exception to that, e-mailed him back saying he was tripping, and a rather protracted exchange of facts, factoids and mendacities ensued. Following my response--cited in the previous entry--to his broadside, came his reply:


Dear Michael,

This correspondence is starting to get out of control.

There's some truth in a lot of what you say. My experience in Israel was around 1985 when I was 3 1/2 months in the country. I went there with an open mind but was disturbed by the open racist attitutudes and the exploitation of non-Jews. It was a relief to go to the Sinai (Egyptian at that time) and talk to the Bedouins and Egyptians. After spending a lot of time traveling I feel I can communicate with most people. It's with Americans and Israelis that I have the most problems (with some exceptions, of course). Is it because both groups believe that they're God's chosen people?

Might I suggest you read a few articles on my site?

1. About the deliberate use of terror tactics to expel the Palestinians: www.doublestandards.org/pilger2.html and Palestine Remembered at http://www.palestineremembered.com/Acre/Palestine-Remembered/Story674.html which quotes the Israeli historian Benny Morris.
2. About the "equality" of the Arab Israelis: Human Rights Watch at http://www.hrw.org/reports/2001/israel2/ISRAEL0901-01.htm, www.doublestandards.org/levy2.html, www.doublestandards.org/palchron1.html.
3. You may find the section on Some Jewish Voices at http://www.doublestandards.org/pales.html#voices also interesting.
4. You may like to take the quiz at www.doublestandards.org/quiz2.html.


The memri and pmw sites are notorious for translating mainly extreme articles. It's like translating articles from British neo-Nazi newspapers into Arabic to give the impression that this is the way the British think.

I understand what you are saying about the difference in motivation being important. But I do think it's splitting hairs. If country A invades country B and in the process kills lots of civilians, a consequence that was obviously known before, how is this morally better than a suicide bomber deliberately targetting civilians? (BTW, nearly all Israelis are technically in the military until their 55th birthday, so there is not always a clear line between "civilian" and "military" targets).

I certainly do not defend the killing of Israeli civilians by suicide bombers, but unless you believe that the Arabs are subhuman, ask yourself what depths of despair and hopelessness would drive a human being to such extremes. There are two sides to most problems, but the fact does remain that the Israelis are free to travel abroad and live at a level not far from that in Europe, while the Palestinians are kept in the world's largest open Prison (Gaza), soon to be the second largest when the West Bank wall is completed, in squalor and abject poverty, and liable to get killed in the "cross-fire" or by bombs dropped from F16-s or Apache attack helicopters. What would you do if you had been born there? It's been 37 years now. Isn't it up to Israel as the occupying power to make the first move?

Kind regards,

Cliff



Shit. I was hoping for a bit more constructive rebuttal of what I'd written than that! Doesn't this kind of reply give off the impression: yeah, you're getting into too much details debunking my postulates so let's forget all that and start anew with my restating the "truth"? The "truth". Geddit?

I could've let it slide and just finish the exchange. But that would be tantamount to defeat! After all, Cliff is not an intransigent dickhead--at least, not as explicitly instransigent a dickhead as the majority of those who espouse his views. With people like Cliff there IS an off chance that if you expose his "arguments" for the bullshit they are enough times, he may realize it himself. So I took the challenge and answered what he wrote above. But since this is already too long, I will post that answer here tomorrow. Till then try a little exercise: look at Cliff's specious points and see what reply you'd give him. Amusez-vous bien!

Kol tuv!

>> send me your opinions by e-mail <<





How To Talk To An Israel-Hater III

Posted on: Tuesday, September 28, 2004
ב''ה

Hi all!

Another great article in HaAretz yesterday regarding the termination of a Chamas bigshot in Damascus. The message was sent: terrorists have nowhere to hide. You can try to wrap yourselves in human blankets, you can try to hole yourself up abroad, you can lower your profile... - but we WILL find you, we WILL take you out and there is nothing you can do about it. And just as importantly, as the article says, HaMOSSAD IS BACK IN ACTION!

Back to Cliffy though and my response to his polemic. This is becoming a bit tricky to follow so I've tried to make the hierarchy easier to follow by coding my old comments in dark green, his in red and my fresh replies in green. Also, wherever there is an elipsis "[...]", it signifies that I snipped something. However, unlike in Cliff's case, this was done transparently, solely for the sake of brevity and nothing contentious was deleted--only items we had agreed on or parts of items not essential for the easy comprehension of the cited parts.


[MS:] I don't think the Palestinians SHOULD suffer at all because of the Britishers or us or anyone else! I think they must have a state in Judea, Samaria and Gaza but that's beside the point.

[CJ:] Why is this beside the point?

[MS:] Because your questions were (1) whether I thought the Palestinians deserved to suffer because of the Britishers' sins, (2) concerning refuged Arabs from the 1948 War of Independence, and (3) whether I thought blowing up as bus was more of a terrorist act than dropping a one-ton bomb in a civilian neighborhood. I wanted to keep to the point.



[MS:] Yes, at least 500,000 Arabs were left refugees following the 1948 war. But I strongly disagree that they were driven out by the Jewish forces, let alone in an act of ethnic cleansing. No doubt tales, real and imaginary, of massacres by Etzel and Lehi (Irgun and Stern) had something to do with it.

[CJ:] There is abundant evidence of a terror campaign deliberately designed to make the Palestinians flee from the land where thay had lived for generations.

[MS:] There is just as much evidence that they left for other, no less orchestrated, reasons which were contrived by others. There is just as much evidence that stories about such "campaigns" had in some cases been exaggerated, embellished or completely manufactured. Have you read eyewitness testimonies of Palestinian refugees or talked to them? I have. (And on a point of fact, not all Palestinians [at the time referred to as Arabs] had lived on that land for generations. A great number of them had arrived at the same time as most Jews, ie. during the Mandate period, from Syria, Egypt and Tunisia.) But anyway, look, we could argue about this till the end of time itself. Who and what made Arabs flee that land in 1948 is a moot point. There ARE today several million Palestinian refugees, they have to be compensated and their misery ended once and for all. All human beings have the right to a dignified life.



[MS:] But there is just as much evidence of Arab civil and military leaders inviting them to leave for this or that reason, and also there was a war going on and people sensibly didn't want to stay there. I accept that the vast majority of them left with a view to coming back at some point. I think they should all be adequately compensated.

[CJ:] And when will the compensation come?

[MS:] As far as I'm concerned, tomorrow morning.



[MS:] Another fact going against the ethnic cleansing theory is that, while 400-650,000 Arabs left what became Israel, 250,000 did not (they and their posterity are today citizens of Israel and commonly referred to as "Israeli Arabs"--they make 20% of Israeli citizens). I'm not trying to be funny here, but someone trying to ethnically cleanse an area wouldn't leave two out of every five "clients" behind.

[CJ:] Well, I could respond that the ethinic cleansing was not a complete success.

[MS:] Yes, you could. And I could say to that that Israel had 56 years to finish "the job" once it became clear that the "ethnic cleansing" had not been successful. But it didn't because the ethnic cleansing quite simply did not take place.



[CJ:] And do you really believe that the Arab Israelis have equal rights?

[MS:] They do just as do African Americans in the US or Arab-Europeans in France. Yes, in practice they are not as well off as Israeli Jews but there are lots of reasons for that (just as in the case of minorities in the US, Europe and pretty much anywhere else). There is no institutional discrimination in place--quite the contrary--as has been attested by international organizations and Israeli Arabs themselves.



[MS:] But also bear in mind that NO-ONE has abused the Palestinians, especially the refugees, more than Arab leaders who have cynically been exploiting them for propaganda gains. The refugee problem could've been resolved decades ago--remember the even greater number of Jews who were driven out of Arab countries at the roughly same time?

[CJ:] There is also evidence that Mossad created "incidents" to motivate the Jews to emigrate to Israel.

[MS:] Er, sure. Look, haMossad does know its stuff and has pulled off some stunts but the "fete" of getting almost a million Jews to "emigrate" from their homes in ten different countries thru covert operations is stretching it just a LITTLE bit, don't you think? HaMossad didn't organize mass anti-Semitic riots to intimidate Jews and force them to leave. Nor did haMossad issue orders for Jews to leave a country within X hours with only whatever they could carry.



[MS:] They haven't been languishing in squalid camps for 56 years sending bombers to Cairo pizzerias and Damascus buses but were immediately absorbed by Israel and they're now living there very happily.

[CJ:] From my experience in Israel I didn't find many happy people.

[MS:] Irrelevant; they've not turned into terrorists, and they're not even demanding compensation for their property confiscated by Arab governments. And if I may ask, your experience of life in Israel would be...?



[CJ:] [...]
[MS:] Blowing up a bus is a premeditated act designed very deliberately to take down as many Jews (or whoever else happens to be riding on there) as possible. It is not done out of despair nor is it done because actual soldiers or other military/strategic targets are nowhere else to be found. They are acts whereby maximum firepower available is used against places with the highest concentration of people (civilians). That's not warfare and that's not guerilla.

[CJ:] But blowing up the King David hotel where there were many civilians is warfare?

[MS:] King David Hotel, as I had said previously, was the military and police HQ of the Britishers for the entire Cisjordan. The civil service was also stationed there. I concede: Etzel could have found purely military targets and attacked them but to equate an attack on such a site with a deliberate mass murder of civilians in purely civilian areas is, to say the very least, unreasonable and betrays, shall we say, double standards.



[MS:] [...] But of course, doing that would undermine the whole culture of war and hatred that's been carefully cultivated by the PA so it's not going to happen. ...

[CJ:] I don't think that the PA has to cultivate hatred. An occupied people will often resist.

[MS:] We are not talking about resistence. We are talking about the MANNER of "resistence". There are several nations/peoples in the world who have been occupied and/or oppressed for just as long and much more brutally than the Palestinians but they quite frankly never attempted to use the tactics used by Palestinian terrorist outfits (Tibet, Mauritania, Sudan, Kashmir [pick your side there], nations and tribes all over Africa, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, etc., etc.). And nor did their plight merit the establishment of "doublestandards.org" websites.

And if you have any doubts about the very calculated cultivation of hatred on the part of the PA and its minions, have a look at websites like http://www.pmw.org.il/ or http://www.memri.org/ . What they do is look at Palestinian and Arab media and translate them into English, no more, no less. Pay particular notice to TV programs aimed at children.




[CJ:] Or do you blame the leaders of the Warsaw uprising for cultivating hatred against the Nazi occupiers?

[MS:] No, but that's not the point. The point is that not they, not the French Resistance, not the Partisans, not anyone with a grievance against the Nazis (QUITE a few people, I would think) thought to strap explosives around their waists, find a place with a very high concentration of German civilians and blow them to smithereens. Look for whatever excuses you want, but what Palestinian (and external) terrorists do is inexcusable.



[MS:] Dropping a bomb on civilian Palestinian areas is not acceptable. Don't forget though that such actions do NOT have as their aim killing as many civilians as possible and they are done because the legitimate target IS actually hiding/present in that area constantly.

[CJ:] So you have no problem with "collateral damage"? Are you saying that if I kill innocent people when trying to arrest a criminal then it's okay? Would you like to explain that to the mother of a baby who had been "caught in the crossfire"?

[MS:] Did I say I had no problem with it?!? A life is a life, even that of a terrorist. My point was that such Army operations are not done with the explicit aim of murdering as many Palestinian civilians as possible whereas that is PRECISELY the aim of Palestinian terrorists vis-a-vis Israeli civilians. If you cannot discern the difference between the two, then I do feel sorry for you. (Oh, and don't forget that you're not trying to arrest a criminal in a leafy Dutch suburb but in the middle of a war zone, in "enemy territory" where the armed perp's armed friends lurk behind every corner among a multitude of civilians.)



[CJ:] [...]
[MS:] And lastly, don't just listen to the media. The media don't tell you about operations that were aborted because there was a risk of civilian casualties; they don't tell you about trials of soldiers when an operation goes wrong and civilians are killed (thru negligence, false intelligence and similar); and it DOES happen, a lot.

[CJ:] Could you tell me how many IDF soldiers have actually been punished for crimes against civilians?

[MS:] Punished? Quite a few. Do a search. Punished ADEQUATELY? Shamefully few if any.



[CJ:] Or are the IDF an exception and there is not a single member of the IDF who has ever killed an innocent civilian? They're all angels?

[MS:] You know, for someone affecting to seek truth, justice and fairness, you display an inordinate amout of prejudice which you then project on me. I don't know what gave you the idea that I would think all IDF soldiers are "angels". Perhaps the fact that I DO see the difference between an accidental killing or even one caused by negligence/recklessness and a killing which is premeditated and cold-blooded?



[MS:] I don't want to justify nasty deeds by the IDF--I don't think they CAN be justified. Believe it or not, I am aware of how the soldiers can and do behave and what the Palestinians have to go thru, and I am VERY bothered by it.

[CJ:] Are you bothered enough to do something about it?

[MS:] And how much do you know about me or about what I'm doing, exactly, if I may ask? Are you bothered enough about the Palestinian's misfortune to get them to extricate themselves the culture of hatred and terror and thus not give the lunatic element in Israel any remote cause for existence?



[CJ:] The fact is that Israel has maybe 200 atom bombs, 650,000 soldiers, nearly 4000 tanks, more than 500 fighter aircraft, 200 plus helicopters and spends nearly 9 billion dollars per annum for military purposes. All this in self-defence?

[MS:] Er, no. Maybe in order to kill 5,000 Palestinians in four years? Or to attack Egypt, Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, Iraq, Saudi Arabia and Sudan as, of course, it has been doing for the past 56 years?



[CJ:] Who in their right mind would attack Israel?

[MS:] Maybe the "brave" (or is it, "desperate"?) terrorists who blew up two buses packed with civilians in Beer-Sheva last week? Yes, so Israel spends a lot on defense; can you blame it? It's been attacked four, five times with terrorist attacks going on thruout; Iran is about the get the bomb; Itbakh al Yahud is being chanted from Morocco to Mindanao; weapons are being smuggled into the PA from all over the place; Qassam rockets are raining daily on Sderot and all over haNegev; a homicide bombing is thwarted several times every week; Jews are being attacked and our property vandalized all over Europe... After numerous opportunities to reach a settlement, all fell thru and the outlook for peace is probably just as bleak as it was in 1949. And this time, Israel has the world to contend with, too; the world which relies on dogma (hey, we hate America so we gotta hate Israel, too) and distorted media (which, paradoxically, we are also constantly accused of controlling--go figure) to form its opinions about the conflict in the Middle East. You, even though your knowledge appears to be much deeper than that of a regular punter, try to reduce the history, circumstance, incidence and cause-and-consequence of the ME conflict to one-liners. And also, as I said, there are many infinitely more pressing human tragedies unfolding the world over. Only in Sudan 1,500 innocent people are killed DAILY. And yet, the world is not interested. Is it because terrorists have exported this conflict outside the ME and bombs are going off now in places they "shouldn't"? And Israel is to be blamed for that?! Or is it something else in question? I mean hey, even Russia--whose soldiers have bombed, robbed and raped the Chechens senseless--is not pilloried by the world. Care to guess what the situation would be if, by some chance, the Russians were Jewish?



[MS:] I'm someone who was abused and humiliated because of my ethnicity and I could never (want to) justify the same happening to another human being.

[CJ:] Then don't justify it.

[MS:] I do not. I believe I am even-handed in my attitudes: I condemn what is wrong and advocate what is right. If you reckon I have deviated from that anywhere, please show me where. OTOH, you are the one seeking to justify what is to any moral and objective person a clearly reprehensible deed: conscious and cold-blooded masss murder of innocent civilians.



[CJ:] [...]
I don't think it's so complicated:

The Israelis have oppressed and occupied the land of the Arabs living in Palestine and justify it because:
* "God" promised the land to the Jews 4.000 / 6.000 years ago. Yeah, sure.


[MS:] That argument holds no water with me and I consequently do not use it. Nor did the international community which recognized Israel use it. In fact, no-one but the crackpot Gush Emunim--who think Jews have the right to the WHOLE of Cisjordan--use this argument so I don't see why you've even listed it here, never mind in the top spot.



[CJ:] * The UN allotted 50% of Palestine to the Jews. (Strange that the Israelis support the UN in this, but ignore the many UN resolutions since 1948.) Israel proper (1967 border) consists of 78% of Palestine plus the settlements. Not much left for the Palestinians.

[MS:] That's a very unfortunate argument you used there. If you recall, it were actually the Arabs (governments, not people) who rejected the Partition Plan out of hand and elected to start the 1948 war (which, of course, is responsible for creating the refugees and the consequent refugee problem). And by the same token, the Arabs, including the Palestinians, suddenly started supporting the UN after they had rejected its plan for peace and lost all subsequent wars.

And no, Israel proper consists of the pre-1967 land which is recognized as the State of Israel. The wretched settlements do not form part of it.




[CJ:] * They have suffered terribly at the hands of the Germans. And how are the Palestinians to blame for this?

[MS:] Er, they are not; who said or suggested they were? Projecting again?

Take care,

Michael



It's getting interesting, huh!

B'shalom...

>> send me your opinions by e-mail <<





How To Talk To An Israel-Hater II

Posted on: Monday, September 27, 2004
ב''ה

Shalom aleichem!

I read a pretty good article in HaAretz today written by Uri Avnery. I have reservations about mar Avnery who--in my opinion--is just trying a bit too hard but most of what he wrote today, especially toward the end, is just dead on. Read it yourselves: How I Became What I Am.

OK, the long and anxiously anticipated sequel of Cliff's and my exchange. I thought I'd be posting two letters in each installment but then I saw it would be too long for comfort so, on this occasion: his response to my letter which I quoted in the penultimate entry. His (CJ) statements are shown in dark red and mine (MS) are in green.


Administrator wrote:
[MS:] Hi again Cliff:

You're right about the Britishers. Don't forget their latest outrage: the phoney war in Iraq.


[CJ:] No problem with this.


[MS:] I don't think the Palestinians SHOULD suffer at all because of the Britishers or us or anyone else! I think they must have a state in Judea, Samaria and Gaza but that's beside the point.

[CJ:] Why is this beside the point?


[MS:] Yes, at least 500,000 Arabs were left refugees following the 1948 war. But I strongly disagree that they were driven out by the Jewish forces, let alone in an act of ethnic cleansing. No doubt tales, real and imaginary, of massacres by Etzel and Lehi (Irgun and Stern) had something to do with it.

[CJ:] There is abundant evidence of a terror campaign deliberately designed to make the Palestinians flee from the land where thay had lived for generations.


[MS:] But there is just as much evidence of Arab civil and military leaders inviting them to leave for this or that reason, and also there was a war going on and people sensibly didn't want to stay there. I accept that the vast majority of them left with a view to coming back at some point. I think they should all be adequately compensated.

[CJ:] And when will the compensation come?


[MS:] Another fact going against the ethnic cleansing theory is that, while 400-650,000 Arabs left what became Israel, 250,000 did not (they and their posterity are today citizens of Israel and commonly referred to as "Israeli Arabs"--they make 20% of Israeli citizens). I'm not trying to be funny here, but someone trying to ethnically cleanse an area wouldn't leave two out of every five "clients" behind.

[CJ:] Well, I could respond that the ethinic cleansing was not a complete success. And do you really believe that the Arab Israelis have equal rights?


[MS:] But also bear in mind that NO-ONE has abused the Palestinians, especially the refugees, more than Arab leaders who have cynically been exploiting them for propaganda gains. The refugee problem could've been resolved decades ago--remember the even greater number of Jews who were driven out of Arab countries at the roughly same time?

[CJ:] There is also evidence that Mossad created "incidents" to motivate the Jews to emigrate to Israel.


[MS:] They haven't been languishing in squalid camps for 56 years sending bombers to Cairo pizzerias and Damascus buses but were immediately absorbed by Israel and they're now living there very happily.

[CJ:] From my experience in Israel I didn't find many happy people.


[MS:] Arabs countries don't give a flying monkey's ass about the refugees. Jordan killed five times more of them in one month than died in these four years of "intifada" (Black September, 1972). Kuwait booted out 300,000 of them 14 years ago. In Lebanon they have fewer rights than did enslaved African Americans in the old Confederacy. Arafat certainly doesn't care about them. I personally think Israel should more than anyone show we care and, as I said, at the very least generously compensate them.

[CJ:] There's a lot of truth in what you say.


[MS:] Blowing up a bus is a premeditated act designed very deliberately to take down as many Jews (or whoever else happens to be riding on there) as possible. It is not done out of despair nor is it done because actual soldiers or other military/strategic targets are nowhere else to be found. They are acts whereby maximum firepower available is used against places with the highest concentration of people (civilians). That's not warfare and that's not guerilla.

[CJ:] But blowing up the King David hotel where there were many civilians is warfare?


[MS:] Instead of blowing up a pizzeria, a moral fighter would blow up a bridge, railroad line or desalination plant. The long-term damage would be greater, there would be no moral opprobrium attached and it would actually make the government think while leaving the "let's retaliate" brigade without a leg to stand on. But of course, doing that would undermine the whole culture of war and hatred that's been carefully cultivated by the PA so it's not going to happen. ...

[CJ:] I don't think that the PA has to cultivate hatred. An occupied people will often resist. Or do you blame the leaders of the Warsaw uprising for cultivating hatred against the Nazi occupiers?


[MS:] Dropping a bomb on civilian Palestinian areas is not acceptable. Don't forget though that such actions do NOT have as their aim killing as many civilians as possible and they are done because the legitimate target IS actually hiding/present in that area constantly.

[CJ:] So you have no problem with "collateral damage"? Are you saying that if I kill innocent people when trying to arrest a criminal then it's okay? Would you like to explain that to the mother of a baby who had been "caught in the crossfire"?


[MS:] I personally think Israel should carry out raid-and-arrest operations which would ensure there were hardly ANY casualties but there IS a fundamental difference in the mentality behind the two types of "operation".

And lastly, don't just listen to the media. The media don't tell you about operations that were aborted because there was a risk of civilian casualties; they don't tell you about trials of soldiers when an operation goes wrong and civilians are killed (thru negligence, false intelligence and similar); and it DOES happen, a lot.


[CJ:] Could you tell me how many IDF soldiers have actually been punished for crimes against civilians? Or are the IDF an exception and there is not a single member of the IDF who has ever killed an innocent civilian? They're all angels?


[MS:] I don't want to justify nasty deeds by the IDF--I don't think they CAN be justified. Believe it or not, I am aware of how the soldiers can and do behave and what the Palestinians have to go thru, and I am VERY bothered by it.

[CJ:] Are you bothered enough to do something about it? The fact is that Israel has maybe 200 atom bombs, 650,000 soldiers, nearly 4000 tanks, more than 500 fighter aircraft, 200 plus helicopters and spends nearly 9 billion dollars per annum for military purposes. All this in self-defence? Who in their right mind would attack Israel?


[MS:] I'm someone who was abused and humiliated because of my ethnicity and I could never (want to) justify the same happening to another human being.

[CJ:] Then don't justify it.


[MS:] My main point is that things are not black and white, and that you have to delve much deeper than a few "scoops" on the main news and emotive images to know what's really happening.

[CJ:] And what is "happening" according to you? As far as I can see the mass media toes the Zionist line.


[MS:] Listen, I'm REALLY sorry about the length of this. I know the questions were simple but the answers, just like the whole conflict, are not...

[CJ:] I don't think it's so complicated:

The Israelis have oppressed and occupied the land of the Arabs living in Palestine and justify it because:

o "God" promised the land to the Jews 4.000 / 6.000 years ago. Yeah, sure.

o The UN allotted 50% of Palestine to the Jews. (Strange that the Israelis support the UN in this, but ignore the many UN resolutions since 1948.) Israel proper (1967 border) consists of 78% of Palestine plus the settlements. Not much left for the Palestinians.

o They have suffered terribly at the hands of the Germans. And how are the Palestinians to blame for this?

Kind regards,

Cliff



Just as an afterthought vis-a-vis Cliff's most discerning () remark that as far as he could see(!!!) "the mass media toes the Zionist line", consider this: several days ago Tzahal conducted an operation in Jenin in which nine terrorists were eliminated with an additional civilian casualty. On the very same day an auto-bomb exploded in Iraq in front of a police station where hundreds of young Iraqi men were queuing hoping to find a job--at least forty-seven (47) people were killed (all civilians) and over 120 wounded. But guess what: newsagencies around the world, according to Google, produced 843 reports concerning Jenin while only 784 thought ten times as many dead Iraqis (and civilians at that) deserved any mention. Some "toeing the Zionist line"...

L'makhar...

>> send me your opinions by e-mail <<





Yom Kippur

Posted on: Friday, September 24, 2004
ב''ה

Shalom, shalom!

Since it's Yom Kippur tomorrow, I won't post the third installment of Cliff's and my exchange but rather an excerpt from an article I found on the war of 1973--remember: when Syria and Egypt thought they'd sneak one in. For the full text of this piece and for other material, visit the Gates to Jewish Heritage.

"After the Six Day War, the Arab world's response was a vow to continue the fight against Israel. Egyptian President Nasser's forces shelled Israel's positions on the east bank of the Gulf of Suez in what was called a War of Attrition. Israel built a huge set of fortifications all along that defense line, called the Bar Lev Line. These were so sophisticated that Israel assumed Egypt would not be able to break through them.

"In September 1973, Israel received intelligence reports that there were tank and troop build-ups on both the Syrian and Egyptian fronts. Because of an effective Arab deception plan, Israel assumed that these were just military exercises because it was believed the Arab states were not yet prepared for another war.

"October 5 was Erev (the Eve of) Yom Kippur. Intelligence reports noted that heavy concentrations of Egyptian and Syrian troops indicated a serious threat. Israel's cabinet cancelled all army leaves and ordered the standing army to be ready. After much argument, it was decided not to call up the active reserve (practically the whole country) because of the holy day.

"At 4:00 am on Yom Kippur Day, Israel's cabinet received information indicating that the Arabs were going to attack at 6:00 that evening. At 10:00 am, while most of Israel was at Yom Kippur services, the order went out for total mobilization. At it turned out, it was very fortunate that it was Yom Kippur, because, since everyone was gathered in synagogues, the army was able quickly to notify the entire country of the mobilization order. All vehicles were available for transportation of the troops. Things could have been worse, but not much: Egypt and Syria attacked at 2:00 pm, long before Israel's reserve forces could get into position.

"Approximately 70,000 Egyptian troops crossed the Suez Canal and attacked the 500 Israelis stationed along the Bar Lev Line. It was easily taken. Israeli planes counterattacked and were overwhelmed by Soviet-made anti-aircraft missiles. Israel's reserve troops, arriving at 4:00 that afternoon, were repulsed but took up defensive positions and stopped the Egyptian advance. For the next week Egyptian forces kept trying to break through beyond their positions, which remained six miles east of the Suez Canal.

"The situation was even more serious on the Golan Heights. On October 6 Syria attacked with more than 1,400 tanks against an Israeli defense of 180 tanks. Unbelievably, the Syrians were able to overwhelm only one Israeli fortification, Mount Hermon. However, Syrian tanks advanced steadily toward Lake Kinneret. On October 8, Israeli tanks launched a major counteroffensive and, after two days of bitter fighting, pushed Syria back to the 1967 cease-fire lines.

"Israel's greatest problem during the war was trying to maintain arms supplies. The Soviet Union began re-supplying Egypt on the day hostilities began. Golda Meir sent urgent requests to the United States for aid. It took several nerve-wracking days, but President Nixon, under great pressure, finally agreed to an airlift to re-supply Israel.

"With those arms, Israel went on the offensive. In a daring drive led by General Ariel Sharon, Israeli troops crossed the Suez Canal into Egypt . Combined with a large force on the east side of the Canal, two armies pushed south, wiping out Egypt's anti-aircraft missile sites and giving Israel control of the skies. Egypt's Third Army found itself totally cut off, surrounded and threatened with annihilation. It was only when it was clear that Egypt was going to lose that the United Nations did anything; a cease-fire was ordered for October 22. At that time, Israel held the entire western side of the Suez Canal, coming within 42 miles of Cairo.

"In the north, Israel had pushed Syria back to within 40 miles of Damascus, having destroyed more than 1,100 tanks. The Yom Kippur War officially ended as a tremendous victory for Israel, demonstrating great resourcefulness and incredible individual bravery."

Have an easy Yom Kippur, everyone. Till next week...

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Correspondence Sequel

Posted on: Sunday, September 19, 2004
ב''ה

Shalom, shanah tova vshavua tov! Before I paste the next part of my exchange with Cliff, just to convey a piece of very good news. As you may know, Palestinian terrorists have for a long while been firing Qassam rockets from Aza into Sderot and western Negev (ie. civilian centers in Israel proper). They intensified this activity in the past several weeks. There have been very few casualties and little damage--owing mostly to the poor aiming abilities of the terrorists--but I think all can appreciate that the psychological effect of the constant threat has been enormous. However, the ingenuity of our valiant armed forces is once again certain to get the better of the criminal vermin: an early defense warning system was put in place last week which is based on the radar technology. It can pinpoint almost instantaneously the site of the rocket launch with great precision (to within meters), it is connected to the local public information system so that residents of Sderot and other Negev towns get a minimum twenty second warning which is ample time to seek and find cover, and it's been 100% successfully tested. Barukh haShem! The next step--already in testing phases--is to integrate this system with anti-ballistic defense which will (a) intercept all incoming missiles so they have no chance of reaching their destinations and (b) send our own rockets to the sites of the launch.

One of the points of the above is that--despite militating to the contrary by the crackpot brigade--it is perfectly possible to respond adequately to all types of terror without breaching principles of humanity, proportionality, law, etc. There are wider implications, namely, that the implementation of the Aza disengagement plan will not compromise the security of the State. Firstly, there is an anti-terrorist barrier running all along Aza. Secondly, as seen, it is possible to foil whatever terrorists come up with by using innovative measures. And thirdly, our various agencies are more than capable of neutralizing the enemy even before they strike. After all, The Institute got Eichmann, Vanunu and others (known of and not) and it's performed numerous operations efficiently the world over. Shabak pre-empts terrorist attacks on a daily basis thru intricate intelligence work and an extensive network of informants. Cheil haAvir possesses technology which enables pilots to deliver bombs literally thru house windows without ever entering enemy territory on the ground. We have nothing to fear.

Nu, Cliff's reply to my e-mail which can be found at the very bottom of the preceding entry:

Hi Michael,

Far be it for me to defend the British - most of the world's trouble spots such as Kashmir Zimbawe Palestine Iraq Iran are leftovers from the British Empire. I also find it disgusting that the British and Americans did nothing about the holocaust.

I would however be interested to hear your opinions as to why the Palestinians should suffer for the sins of the British. Or do you not agree that at least half a million Palestinians were driven out of Israel in 1948, in an act of ethnic cleansing?

Please tell me also why the blowing up of a bus is a "terrorist act" whereas the dropping of a one-ton bomb in a Palestinain residential area, killing civilians, is acceptable?

Kind regards,

Cliff


Sure, a succinct note. But simple questions do not necessarily mandate simple answers. After all, if the answers were simple, this would not be one of the most fraught conflicts in the world. My response:

Hi again Cliff:

You're right about the Britishers. Don't forget their latest outrage: the phoney war in Iraq.

I don't think the Palestinians SHOULD suffer at all because of the Britishers or us or anyone else! I think they must have a state in Judea, Samaria and Gaza but that's beside the point. Yes, at least 500,000 Arabs were left refugees following the 1948 war. But I strongly disagree that they were driven out by the Jewish forces, let alone in an act of ethnic cleansing. No doubt tales, real and imaginary, of massacres by Etzel and Lehi (Irgun and Stern) had something to do with it. But there is just as much evidence of Arab civil and military leaders inviting them to leave for this or that reason, and also there was a war going on and people sensibly didn't want to stay there. I accept that the vast majority of them left with a view to coming back at some point. I think they should all be adequately compensated. Another fact going against the ethnic cleansing theory is that, while 400-650,000 Arabs left what became Israel, 250,000 did not (they and their posterity are today citizens of Israel and commonly referred to as "Israeli Arabs"--they make 20% of Israeli citizens). I'm not trying to be funny here, but someone trying to ethnically cleanse an area wouldn't leave two out of every five "clients" behind. But also bear in mind that NO-ONE has abused the Palestinians, especially the refugees, more than Arab leaders who have cynically been exploiting them for propaganda gains. The refugee problem could've been resolved decades ago--remember the even greater number of Jews who were driven out of Arab countries at the roughly same time? They haven't been languishing in squalid camps for 56 years sending bombers to Cairo pizzerias and Damascus buses but were immediately absorbed by Israel and they're now living there very happily. Arabs countries don't give a flying monkeys ass about the refugees. Jordan killed five times more of them in one month than died in these four years of "intifada" (Black September, 1972). Kuwait booted out 300,000 of them 14 years ago. In Lebanon they have fewer rights than did enslaved African Americans in the old Confederacy. Arafat certainly doesn't care about them. I personally think Israel should more than anyone show we care and, as I said, at the very least generously compensate them.

Blowing up a bus is a premeditated act designed very deliberately to take down as many Jews (or whoever else happens to be riding on there) as possible. It is not done out of despair nor is it done because actual soldiers or other military/strategic targets are nowhere else to be found. They are acts whereby maximum firepower available is used against places with the highest concentration of people (civilians). That's not warfare and that's not guerilla. Instead of blowing up a pizzeria, a moral fighter would blow up a bridge, railroad line or desalination plant. The long-term damage would be greater, there would be no moral opprobrium attached and it would actually make the government think while leaving the "let's retaliate" brigade without a leg to stand on. But of course, doing that would undermine the whole culture of war and hatred that's been carefully cultivated by the PA so it's not going to happen. ... Dropping a bomb on civilian Palestinian areas is not acceptable. Don't forget though that such actions do NOT have as their aim killing as many civilians as possible and they are done because the legitimate target IS actually hiding/present in that area constantly. I personally think Israel should carry out raid-and-arrest operations which would ensure there were hardly ANY casualties but there IS a fundamental difference in the mentality behind the two types of "operation". And lastly, don't just listen to the media. The media don't tell you about operations that were aborted because there was a risk of civilian casualties; they don't tell you about trials of soldiers when an operation goes wrong and civilians are killed (thru negligence, false intelligence and similar); and it DOES happen, a lot. I don't want to justify nasty deeds by the IDF--I don't think they CAN be justified. Believe it or not, I am aware of how the soldiers can and do behave and what the Palestinians have to go thru, and I am VERY bothered by it. I'm someone who was abused and humiliated because of my ethnicity and I could never (want to) justify the same happening to another human being. My main point is that things are not black and white, and that you have to delve much deeper than a few "scoops" on the main news and emotive images to know what's really happening.

Listen, I'm REALLY sorry about the length of this. I know the questions were simple but the answers, just like the whole conflict, are not...

Best wishes,

Michael


--

עם ישראל חי - Israel Lives!
http://locham.blogspot.com/
http://www.me-rc.info/

BUSINESSES: Help the besieged people of Israel
http://www.export.org.il/



And finally, a less than promising piece of news: Arafat's official PA television has resumed airing of inflammatory propaganda glorifying terrorism and, in particular, homicide bombings. Visit the PMW website and you'll be left in no doubt about the extent and kind of brainwashing that goes on in the PA and which has shaped the Palestinian mentality for so long.

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New Year; A Gift From Me; Go Arik - Go Arik!!

Posted on: Wednesday, September 15, 2004
ב''ה

To all my Jewish friends:

לשנה טובה תכתבו ותחתמו


Shalom, shalom, shalom! The New Year is upon us and, being the generous person that I am , I couldn't let the festivities pass without bestowing a gift on y'all. So, here comes "something for Rosh haShanah"!

Now, you know I do not normally talk about the correspondence I conduct concerning politics and similar to any significant degree, let alone quote it here. However, I will now make a wholesale exception here for reasons outlined below. The picture I posted in my previous entry I had found on a website. I was keen to get as much information about it as possible, so I sent the webmaster of the self-styled "DoubleStandards.org" (Cliff) the e-mail below:


Dear [Cliff]:

I came across a picture on your website: http://www.doublestandards.org/kikpal.html and was wondering if you had any background details on it including the source because I'm interested in putting it up on my blog. My impression is that the attackers are settlement residents but would appreciate any further information.

Thank you in advance.

Sincerely yours,

Michael Steiner.


--
עם ישראל חי - Israel Lives!
http://locham.blogspot.com/
http://www.me-rc.info/

BUSINESSES: Help the besieged people of Israel
http://www.export.org.il/


Pretty inncuous, one might think. And he replied in kind. However, he could not resist having a dig at what one might think was a pretty insignificant feature of my message. Here is the reply I received:


Dear Michael,

Thanks for writing.

I'm afraid I'm not sure where the picture came from, but I thought it was relevant at the time, and so added it to my site.

I had a quick look at the sites you link to, and I found them rather racist.

My parents were both killed in the Jewish attack on the King David hotel in Jerusalem on July 26, 1946. The leader of the terrorist group, Menachem Begin, later became the prime minister of Israel, so you must forgive me if I am a little cynical when the Zionist propaganda machine talks about the Palestinian terrorists when they are merely reacting to their land being stolen.

Kind regards,

Cliff []


I could've left it at that--but most of those who know me are aware that I'm never one to pass up an opportunity to have a good old argument. See my response the the preceding a bit further down.

What I've resolved to do is post my exchange with Cliff verbatim. Why? For several reasons. Firstly, this is one of the few intelligent discussions I've had on the issue of the Middle East in quite a while. Most other punters are at best semi-literate, bigoted, racist ignoramuses--and I don't mean just the pro-Palestinian ones either. Secondly, I want my friends and novices to the debating arena to see how a typical discourse on the Middle East conflict might unravel and how to respond to questions raised. (Of course, you can only use my responses if you agree with my views--that means leave pre-conceived notions, appeals to religious sensitivities, racism, black-and-white/with-us-or-against-us type of variables, etc. at home.) And thirdly, perhaps crucially, I want to show how even those who may prima facie appear to be educated and temperate and who even affect to seek justice and fairness will ultimately resort to repugnant postulates which disclose their true colors and will seek to rehabilitate notions and acts which they would find utterly reprehensible in any context other than the Middle East.

I like Cliff--as I said, I found talking to him intellectually stimulating. Unfortunately, I also feel sorry for him because he thinks he's got it and he so sadly has not. (You'll see what I mean when we get to the fourth or fifth installment.) Along with so many others, he doesn't realize that uncritically espousing faux-liberal dogmas can get you to end up just as dogmatic as the most bigoted of right-wingers. Don't think you have found the provenance of wisdom just because you follow Michael Moore as opposed to Christopher Hitchens, or Bobby Fisk rather than Melanie Phillips. If your tenets are ossified, if you embraced them for reasons other than deciding they were meritorious following lengthy, in-depth study and analyses, if you do not CONTINUE to critically assess them, you are no more enlightened than "the masses"; you continue being a nondescript singularity within a gullible crowd of "sheeple." Do you think being anti-US means you're revolutionary, progressive and "independent"? It doesn't. Do you think being anti-US and anti-globalization makes you such? Again, it doesn't... - no more so than being a neo-Nazi. Without meaning to sound like an Oriental sage, but true independence of thought is achieved only when you divorce yourself from all prejudices and expectations, and absorb information from all sources--whatever the perspective of the author--and THEN make up your mind using the talents you have. Yes, it's difficult and most people haven't the time or desire to do it. Most are happy to see a few emotive pictures of "kids throwing stones at tanks" and find out they're meant to be anti-Israel because they're anti-US and since Israel is a US ally and aid recipient... - well, you see how it goes. And once they're anti-Israel, all it takes is visiting "lectures" and "independent" websites which only confirm what they already supposedly "know". And then, of course, they boast of how they haven't fallen under the phantom spell of the "pro-Israel media", "Zionist propaganda" and similar while not realizing that they've fallen prey to a different kind of propaganda: one which is not pro-Palestinian or anti-Israel for any mundane reason (such as that it perhaps emanates from Palestinians or Misrad haKhutz themselves) but rather one which presents--even mandates--being anti-Israel as part of a bigger package. You're against colonialism or racism? Since Israelis are of a lighter complexion than the Palestinians and most are of the European descent (wrong on both counts), you have to be anti-Israel. You're anti-globalization? Well, since the US is the embodiment of globalization plus there's the lingering grudge against it from the Cold War, and Israel is such a bosom-buddy of the United States, you have to be anti-Israel. Think of any permutation involving the environment/ecology, war, imperialism, economy, defense, media, trade, etc, etc, throw in a bit of anti-Semitism and you will find a way to become anti-Israel because "progressive" ideology stipulates you MUST accept one or more precepts along the line of "reasoning". You're against the war in Iraq? That's in the Middle East as is Israel. The US is the one you oppose, and US and Israel are connected. Israel militated in favor of the war. [It didn't but never mind that.] People from the Middle East who are standing next to you are sporting Palestinian flags. So, the ME conflict IS part of the war in Iraq and if you're opposed to that war, then by G-d, you've gotta be anti-Israel, too! All the while, your knowledge of any of the above (ie. environment/ecology, war and so on)--not to mention the conflict in the Middle East--is sketchy at best.

But back to my exchange with Cliff. See my response to his response below. Before that though, may I say a huge

MAZEL TOV!

to our Rosh haMemshalah, Maj-Gen. Dr. Arik Sharon. Arik is despite fierce opposition from the crackpot brigade persevering with the implementation of the Aza disengagement plan. Yesterday he bulldozed the outline of the operation and the preliminary measures necessary thru the Security Cabinet.

So, my response to Cliff:


Hi Cliff:

Thanks anyway; I'll post the picture all the same because it has to be shown.

I am perplexed as to why you should find the sites racist since the third site deals with trade, the second one says little other than that the real site will be up sometime in the future and the first one is my blog which reflects my opinions. And if I'm racist in any manner by way of my views, thoughts or life practice, then there's not a person on this planet who isn't. I don't think becoming pro-Israel after studying the Middle Eastern conflict for several years qualifies me as being racist.

Regarding King David, you may not like to hear it but that was the military and police headquarters of the Britisher mandate administration, so it can hardly be considered to have been a civilian hotel. And if you want to talk racist, perhaps I may point you to the dastradly actions of the Britishers: (1) prohibiting immigration into the Mandate in the latter half of the 1930s, ie. when Jews needed it more than ever in order to escape Nazi persecution or (2) not only shooting at Jewish refugee boats trying to reach the Mandate after WW2--and killing quite a few unarmed and desperate refugees on board--but then arresting and interning these people for years, oftentimes in former Nazi concentration camps (and remember, these individuals had just come OUT of Nazi concentration camps where most had spent YEARS). I do regret your loss--to me every life is worth the same--but perhaps you might want to try to look at things more objectively.

As far as the Palestinians fighting for land that was "stolen" from them, I'll just leave that. Maybe if you've the inclination and interest, you might one day invest some time into really, seriously looking into the ME conflict, and then you'll have slightly ifferent opinions.

Anyway, do take care and all the best,

Michael Steiner


--

עם ישראל חי - Israel Lives!
http://locham.blogspot.com/
http://www.me-rc.info/

BUSINESSES: Help the besieged people of Israel
http://www.export.org.il/



I know it's corny, but lets us hope the new year brings us all the good that this one didn't.

Lashanah habaa!!

>> send me your opinions by e-mail <<





More on Settlers

Posted on: Monday, September 13, 2004
ב''ה

Settler attack a Palestinian woman--khayalim indifferent


That's the picture I wrote about a few days ago. I remembered inaccurately: it's not the woman wearing a kipah but a bystander. The worst part is that our soldiers who are meant to be fighting for Jews and all the noble principles that have guided us and much of the world for millennia just stood there. That the settlers are nutjobs we've known for a long while. You wouldn't believe the antics they get up to. They are dogmatic, racist and violent. It is a shame of the whole Klal Yisrael that these individuals are afforded the protection of the State of Israel. There have been numerous examples of settlement residents going on rampages where they killed, wounded, abused and/or destroyed Palestinian property, and not only were khalayim not permitted to stop them but they had to protect them in case a Palestinian took active exception to their destructive spree.

And now these monsters are threatening civil war in Israel if Dr. Sharon proceeds with the Aza disengagement plan. As I said previously, in my opinion we should forget about evacuating the settlements: withdraw Tzahal and leave these people to fend for themselves. After all, they had the chutzpah to attack Tzahal on numerous occasions so far when the latter tried to ensure the former obeyed the law. We've wasted too much money and reputation and sacrificed too many ideals for them already... - enough is enough.

Shalom.

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Proof: Media ARE Racist; New Kind of News!

Posted on: Saturday, September 11, 2004
ב''ה

We have long been saying that a lot of the world media are anti-Semitic. No, not just because they spend half the Amazon rainforest's worth of paper reporting the death of a 14 year old Palestinian male while hardly mentioning one of the 1,500 refugees being murdered daily in Sudan. No, not just because they use all the sophistry, manipulation and warped morality in the world to justify someone's actively seeking out areas with the highest concentration of unsuspecting civilians to blow up in supposed pursuit of "freedom". And no, not EVEN just because they cry MASSACRE (by Tzahal, naturally) when there isn't one and then don't have the decency to apologize. No, not just those. But if they do not convince you the media are blatantly hypocritical--in the anti-Semitic way--the following should disabuse you of all doubt:
Q: When is a lynch not a lynch? A: When the lynching is done by Palestinians.
(By posting this link I no way endorse the opinions or character of the top-level site.)

* * *

And a blink-and-you'll-miss-it piece of news* from Pakistan. The Pakistani army bombed a supposed al-Qu'ida teaining camp and killed no fewer than (50) "fighters"/"militants" (basically: terrorists). Now, remember when a day earlier Tzahal bombed a Chamas assault course and adjacent Chamas "office" and wasted 14--by Chamas' own admission--terrorists? Remember how it was plastered all across TV news and newspapers, with an emphasis on the 30 wounded "bystanders"? It seems any army in the world can kill as many terrorists as they please with perhaps a cursory mention if the day isn't too busy. Just make sure it's not the ISRAELI Army or else you'll be hearing about ti all day long. If it weren't so sad, it would be fucking ridiculous.

* Blink-and-you'll-miss-it news, you know: one that involves war and death. But since it no Jews are part of the story (ie. doing the warring or killing), the "fair" and "concerned" media don't give a shit. The bleeding hearts bleed only if the perpetrators are Jews. That's why the Internet, TV and newspapers are awash with news and accompanying Op-Ed venom when Tzahal goes into Palestinian refugee camps to look for terrorists who very courageously hide among the inhabitants but you'll hear nothing about police and Syrian paramilitary incursions in Palestinian refugee camps in Lebanon. You'll also hear nothing when two dozen refugees die in inter-factional warring in those refugee camps but if Tzahal kills even one Palestinian in the course of a necessary military operation, especially a child [anyone below the age of what...25], it'll be all over the place. I'll write more about this hypocrisy next week.

Have a shavua tov and shalom.

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ARABS FOR ISRAEL; Outrage from rabis; And some good news!

Posted on: Thursday, September 09, 2004
ב''ה

I came across a website yesterday that literally made me cry... - but they were tears of joy for a change. Have a look at ARABS FOR ISRAEL. For a long time many of us have been despairing that Shalom Akhshav, B'Tzelem or Shinui have no equivalents in the Arab world. That caused many, including me, to be wary of such organizations (I still have huge misgivings about B'Tzelem). But rational people DO exist on "the other side" as can be seen from the occasional newspaper article in an Arab newspaper which tells it like it is without fear of censorship or worse. And the existence of Arabs For Israel proves it, too. I can only wish them well and hope that more people from the Arab world or the Muslim milieu join them. As I wrote in my e-mail to Nonie: the relations between Muslims and Jews should not be defined by the conflict in the Middle East.

* * *

And speaking of Shalom Akhshav, they pulled quite a coup when they singlehandedly dismantled an illicit outpost a couple of days ago. While this was a commendable action, it is nevertheless absurd that a bunch of lowly volunteers should accomplish effortlessly what haMemshalah promised to do months ago and says is impossible because of settlement residents' vehement opposition.

* * *

In the meantime, head rabis from Yesha and heads of some yeshivot came up with this pearl: "There is no need to avoid hitting or even killing Palestinians who are not involved in terrorism when this will harm the efforts to defend Israeli lives," the statement reads. "Jewish Law provides that during war time, such as that which we are now experiencing, there is no difference between the populace and the army. If a danger arises to Israeli soldiers or to civilians, Jewish ethics teach that our lives take precedence over others." (Full report: HaAretz or Arutz 7.) It is simply disgusting and I condemn such sentiments in strongest terms possible--as I does, believe, the majority of Jews and Israelis. Absolutely every effort should be made to minimize civilian casualties in the course of Tzahal operations. If the terrorists are such cunts that they hide among innocent people, we don't have to play into that game ourselves. Greater endeavors should be made to convince the Palestinian that it is not at all in their interest to condone terrorist activity in their homes, streets and towns. ... Every life is worth the same.

* * *

In a, for a change, welcome development this time, the Chaifa magistrates court forbade the JNF's bid to hold a tender for land lease because this tender was going to exclude Israeli Arabs from competing. Public and JNF-owned land in Israel is open to lease to ALL its citizens and therefore this attempt on the part of the JNF to exclude some of Israel's citizens on the basis of their ethnicity is blatantly illegal. I applaud the court's decision.



Shalom rav...

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Are Terrorists Courageous; Incident in Auschwitz

Posted on: Wednesday, September 08, 2004
ב''ה

With increasing frequency homicide bombers--that is to say, terrorists who effect suicide in the course of carrying out an attack on civilians--are extolled as courageous and noble people, driven to their deeds by desperation, willing to forfeit their own lives in the name of a cause or better life. I've received a couple of e-mails lambasting my description of these humanoids as "chickenshit cowards"; arguments to a similar effect as above were employed, too. So, let's see this more up close and personal: ARE homicide bombers such as those who blew up two buses packed with civilians a few days ago in Beer-Sheva or who even more recently murdered 500 people (half of them primary school children) in Beslan, in the Russian province of North Ossetia brave and virile heroes or indeed chickenshit pussies?

Let's say you're a Palestinian in your late teens or twenties. For the past ten years your daily activities have consisted of kicking your heels, twiddling your thumbs, attending mass rallies where you had the chance to perfect your rendition of the "Itbakh al-Yahud" chant and perhaps watching TV replenished with programs as depicted on the PMW website. You may have gotten married at the age of 17 have five kids by now... - or, just as likely, never had a girlfriend because such a thing is looked askance on in your society. The prospects of your life changing to any significant degree are close to nil. At the same time it is unremittingly being inculcated into you that death is not something to be eschewed, something not to think about until nature takes its course. No: death--especially one incurred while executing a terrorist act against your enemies (and yes, a bus full of schoolgirls does very well qualify as an enemy target, much more so than an army watchtower)--means an instant rapture with your god, access to a multitude of virgins, comforts and whatnot. It also means that your family will be provided for adequately and your name will become sacred to millions. So, if you combine all these factors, it is not at all difficult to see that choosing the "glorious" death of a "martyr" is far preferable to continuing with your ever glummer life.

And then we come to the tactics you use. Do you go down assaulting an army convoy, watchtower or barracks; kidnapping some high-ranking officer; blowing up a machsom WHEN THERE ARE FEW, IF ANY, CIVILIANS AROUND; breaking your comrades out of detention/prison? I'm not talking Rambo stuff here; just what the French Resistance or Partisans did a few decades ago. And remember, THEY were people who had comfortable lives and good prospects of continuing to have comfortable lives. And yet, they exchanged them for lonely, muddy trenches, austerity, separation from family and a good prospect of getting themselves killed. I repeat: they did not travel for tens of miles to reach civilian centers while overlooking military targets staring them in the face. They did not very actively and deliberately seek out places of the highest concentration of civilians to attack. They did not blow up busses, ballrooms and delicatessen in Berlin and Bonn. And THAT is the difference between guerilla warfare and chickenshit, murderous terrorism of the kind that Israel's enemies employ. It's not honorable, it's not clever and it's not courageous. It's comparable to what pedophiles do to children: prey on the vulnerable, destroy lives of the innocent. Chamas, Chizbolah and other pussies may as well start mugging elderly ladies.

* * *

An outrageous event took place in Auschwitz recently. A visiting group of Jewish students was attacked by three French individuals, also apparently visitors. Read the full article from JPost here. It's a good job I was not there because I swear, I would've lynched these motherfuckers with my bare hands. I repeat my exhortation of a few months ago: every member of Klal Yisrael must arm themselves and not run away from those presuming to harm us. At the very least, obtain pepper spray and a stun gun AND USE THEM IF NECESSARY. If we cannot be safe in Israel, cannot be safe outside Israel, cannot be safe in Auschwitz of all places, then the time has unmistakably come for each and every one of us to fight back. We must never again let a goy humiliate us or abuse us.

Kol tuv.

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My opinion on "settlers"; Reuters prove they're dickheads

Posted on: Tuesday, September 07, 2004
ב''ה

Not an earth-shattering event the following but I thought I'd give my two cents' worth anyway. HaAretz carried the story yesterday of a prodigious group of Yesha settlement residents (popularly known as "settlers"*) who for the second time in a few weeks prevented Tzahal from emptying an illegally erected outpost in Yesha. The outposts are illegal under both international and, crucially, Israeli law and the security forces have legal authority to take them down. Now, your opinion about the settlements and outposts may be one way or another but government actions are challenged in court, not by mob rule. At least Israel has a tried and tested fair judicial system so opponents of the decisions reached by both haMemshalah and haKneset regarding evacuation of outposts can easily seek a judicial review. The most ironic (and infuriating) aspect of this is that these same people foam and rave on a daily basis about the supposed illegality of Dr. Sharon's Aza disengagement plan and here they are flagrantly disobeying the law themselves.

* I strongly object to the term "settler" not because it is inaccurate but because of the manner in which it is being used and the connotations it carries. Just like the term "boy" when applied to an African American gentleman, labeling a person as a "settler" aims to dehumanize them and legitimize violent or terroristic activities against them. They are not my most favorite of people but they ARE people. A lot of them ARE religious zealots who think they have a G-d given prerogative to dwell in Yesha whatever the cost. They have caused many sickening incidents with their Palestinian neighbors: provocation, intimidation, beatings, destruction of property, etc. (truth be told, they took their fair share of it themselves) and when you listen to many of them talk, you cannot help but beget the same revulsion toward them that one feels when one absorbs the bullshit spewed by Bush's neo-conservative fuckwits. I've seen footage of a Palestinian lady being abused as she had to walk a gauntlet of settlement residents: I beheld a woman wearing a massive kipah purposing violently to take off the lady's hijab while a child of about five or six was attempting to kick the latter in her shin. It was gut-wrenching and left me bewildered as to how on earth these individuals could insist they were acting out the will of HaShem. At the same time, there are quite a few settlement residents who are secular, temperate people and who came to live in Yesha owing to a particular set of circumstances. The point is: don't presume and assume, don't despise and hate apropos of those assumptions.

While on the subject, a lot of people who try to polemicize with me about the conflict in the Middle East quite predictably project their prejudices and misconceptions onto me and don't even bother asking me what my position is. So, what DO I think regarding residents of settlements in Yesha? Nothing much; as I said, one gets all kind of people subsumed in that category. Do I think they have the right to live there? No. At least, not on the basis on which THEY think they do. Should they be booted from the settlements in the interest of achieving peace? Well, this one's a bit more complicated. Settlement residents comprise maybe 8% of the population of Yesha and the settlements physically occupy 3% of Yesha territory. (Of course, currently it is more than 3% because there has to be an exclusion zone around the settlements, protected roads and tunnels, exclusion zones around those, etc. etc. but in real terms it is 3%.) So, surely they are not such an obstacle to peace; surely they would not so seriously imperil the demography of a Palestinian state; surely it's not as if Palestinians would have nowhere to live if the settlement residents stayed. The persistence on kicking settlement residents out of Yesha as a precondition for peace is therefore either a red herring or it discovers as the true nature of Palestinians (or at least their leadership) intolerance and inability to live but in a Judenrein state. All the same, the settlements really should not have been built in the first place and so I think they should go, as far as Israel is concerned. If the residents are unhappy with that, they should not be forcibly evicted (Israel spends far too much money because of them as it is and we mustn't waste more trying to knock sense into them). So, we should not remove them kicking and screaming but, rather, should leave them to their own devices. If they should so desire, they could negotiate their status in a new Palestinian state of their own accord. I abhor the idea of abandoning Jews and ideals which I do understand and which are close to my heart but I do not brook religious arrogance and zealotry, or flouting of common sense. And anyway, achieving peace IS worth making concessions--not that these are as much concessions as they are equitable and common sense.

* * *

In the meantime, Tzahal executed an operation last night whereby its combined land and aerial forces attacked and razed a Chamas training ground in Aza near its border with Israel. Fourteen terrorist monsters were eliminated. Congratulations go to our forces and a big boo-boo to Reuters. Reuters in its report of the operation included the usual eulogies to terrorists, called them "militants", declined to distinguish the innocent civilians murdered by Chamas in Beer-Sheva from armed and insane murderers and the usual crap. But then to top it off they said that in this action, get this: "More than 20 people, including militants and bystanders, were injured [...]." Now, seeing as this operation was executed at midnight (local time) and seeing as Aza is not really an environment which boasts a thriving night-life (no clubs, pubs and similar), what BYSTANDERS could there POSSIBLY have been present at a training camp of a terrorist organization? Were there families perchance having a picnic on the clearing next to the assault course? Perhaps some swans swimming in the nearby lake were, too, decapitated by big Zionist missiles. Fucking absurd. But that's Reuters for you.

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A Great Cartoon, Anti-Semitic Outrage From UEFA

Posted on: Saturday, September 04, 2004
ב''ה

Difficult to believe but get this: one of Israel's biggest soccer teams, Macabi, was scheduled to play a match on the eve of Rosh HaShanah. Macabi remonstrated with UEFA and asked it to reschedule--surely a simple request. You know what the response was? "Israel will have to decide between going to the synagogue and going to soccer." If the club which is almost entirely Jewish elects to observe the new year, it faces expulsion from UEFA for several years. This comes on top of several incidences of UEFA teams refusing to play in Israel out of safety concerns and which UEFA was more than happy to sanction. What a bunch of pathetic motherfuckers. I hope the Macabi management will have the courage to say to UEFA "kiss our Jewish ass."

On a lighter note, I was recommended I had a look at this "presentation" {grin} which I grudgingly did thinking it was just a waste of time. But it's one of the funniest things I've seen in a long while. It's a bitch to download if you're on dial-up (3.5MB) but it sure as hell beats all the silly mp3 you waste your bandwidth on and I promise you, it'll be worth every second of it. Check it out here.

Have a shavua tov and shalom...

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Cluck-cluck...

Posted on: Thursday, September 02, 2004
ב''ה

Shalom.

Well, with reference to the latest developments in North Ossetia where Chechen terrorists have taken over a school full of kids and are threatening to blow it up if this or that demand of theirs is not honored. This comes only a couple of days after a double homicide bombing in Israel against the militarily important targets embodied by two buses full of civilians going about their daily business, as well as a bombing attack on the Moscow subway which was, again, saturated with ruthless enemies of Islam in the form of innocent Moscowite workers, pensioners and children. Then we reminisce about other events in Israel, Russia, Kashmir and elsewhere. There are numerous instances of Palestinian terrorists opting to murder en masse civilians with no means of defending themselves while foregoing more readily accessible and exposed military or strategic targets. Or the siege of the Moscow theater by Chechen "fighters". Yeah, forget a barracks or a police station, go for a theater. Hey, why not a kindergarten next!? What of throwing acid in the faces of women who choose not to conform to the rigid interpretation of Islam in Jammu/Kashmir? What courage!

And then one thinks back to the times of the Moors who bravely fought the Spaniards and whose rule was the model of tolerance and multicultural living for centuries to come (of course, take it with a pinch of salt). What about the Saracens and Saladin who with dignity and valor battled the bloodthirsty Crusaders? And the fight of many Muslim nations against English and French and Dutch colonial oppression? What happened to those people? Without exception, Islam-driven polito-military (read: terrorist) movements of today operate on nothing but pathetic cowardice. Oh yes, they may be big on rhetoric, they may be driven by fervent fanaticism, their determination may be oh-so masculine--especially that of their leaders who'd not in a million years blow THEMSELVES up or send THEIR children to do so--but when it's time to act they use tactics like a bunch of pussies. Any cunt can take a gun and and unleash it on unsuspecting, unarmed, innocent people, particularly schoolchildren.

And that's exactly what these terrorists are: cowardly cunts.

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Beer-Sheva Bombing, Reactions, "Spying" "Scandal"

Posted on: Wednesday, September 01, 2004
ב''ה

A double homicide bombing was perpetrated yesterday in Beer-Sheva claiming sixteen innocent lives, including that of a three year old child (HY"D), and injuring tens more. The terrorist animals sneaked into Israel from Chevron and thru the border between Yesha and Israel where the anti-terrorist barrier has not yet been completed. Leaving aside the bestiality and cowardice of this act, it is of interest to note several germane aspects. Firstly, there's only been pro forma mention of the attack in the world media which preferred to concentrate on the terrorist attack on the Moscow subway which claimed significantly fewer victims. Those who did mention the bombing also managed to squeeze in the report of a fourteen year old Palestinian male who had been killed in Tzahal's operations in southern Aza pertaining to weapons- and terrorist-smuggling tunnels. Need one even begin to wonder what the situation would have been if sixteen Palestinians had been killed by Israel in a single operation, even if it happened accidentally? If in doubt, just wait for all the mandatory swooning at the news that Tzahal has demolished the houses of the terrorists' families or established more machsomim or imposed curfews... And secondly, this for an umpteenth time proves that the barrier is invaluable and essential, and that its completion has to be expedited as much as possible.

In response to the atrocity Lt. Gen. Moshe Yaalon stated that the PA, Chizbolah and Syria had better watch their backs. Even I, who was vehemently opposed to the war in Iraq, am now starting to side with the US war on terror. It is inexcusable that this pariah state Syria which has flagrantly been sponsoring terrorism, coups, genocide and breached international law like a pro for several decades with total impunity continue doing so, should sit on the UN human rights committee or its Security Council (while Israel is literally the only country in the world which is not allowed to do so). Chamas, Chizbolah and other terrorist outfits have walk-in offices in the center of Damascus as well as training camps in other parts of Syria, one of which was bombed to smithereens by the IAF last year. Enough is enough. We have to go after Syria, eliminate Iran's nuclear efforts, conduct operations in Lebanon again and do everything we can to ensure (a) our safety and (b) that our enemies--largely an assortment of primitive tyrannies--are under no illusions that they can kill a single Jew and get away with it. Six decades of constant war, of being unable to go out of your house without the threat of death hanging over your head have been enough. NO other people on this planet would stand for it and neither will we. It's time for decisive action. If the Europeans don't like it, tough shit. They're chummy with Arab dictators so now is the time to tell them in no uncertain terms to get their act together. If not, fuck them, the former and the latter. What right do the Europeans have to sermonize about humanity to us of all people anyway?

Oh, and remember the brouhaha of a few days ago when it was supposedly discovered that a US Defense Department official was "spying" for Israel? Well, it turns out the FBI conducting the investigation are struggling to find any Israeli facet to it all and are becoming increasingly desperate. Read the latest HaAretz report. The Bush administration must heed the call by the Anti-Defamation League and hold a public inquiry to determine who the malefactor is behind this slanderous allegation.

Incidentally, I am on something of a vacation now in Germany so forgive me if my installments are short or infrequent.

B'hatzlacha...

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