Editor and Researcher Elisa Vandernoot

American Freedom Alliance Weekly Gazette

THE WEEK AT A GLANCE

This Week's Editorial

Next Year in Occupied East Jerusalem!
By Avi Davis

Over the weekend I was a victim of a hoax.  An internet scenario played out a scene in which Barack Obama tells a visiting Israeli delegation to the White House, headed by Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, that he believes the cause of peace would be advanced if the words “Next Year in Jerusalem” were excised from the Passover Haggadah.

The prime minister, squirming uncomfortably in his seat, looks from aide to aide before finally offering to remove the words from the Yom Kippur service but not the Haggadah.  Not satisfied with the response, Obama stands up to excuse himself for dinner, indicating that he will be back later. ” I’ll give you some time to think about it and will return to have you sign the new edict.”

I believed it for a moment because, like all parody, it possesses an inkling of truth.  Given this administration’s impatience with the Netanyahu government’s obduracy in attaching itself to a united Jerusalem, one would think that there is indeed some substance to the idea that the Obama administration not only wants to sever East Jerusalem from West, but the Jewish people’s attachment to the city in general.

Maybe that is why an unconfirmed rumor circulating the Internet,  that the Obama White House seder will not conclude with the traditional words ” Next Year in Jerusalem” for fear of offending Palestinian sensibilities, has gained such currency.

It may all be nonsense but still it leaves many with the sense that things seem to have gone very wrong.  During his electoral campaign, Obama’s own platform called for a united Jerusalem and the U.S. Congress itself has been behind that very notion since at least 1995  when it passed The U.S Embassy Relocation Act.

Is Obama not aware that no Israeli government which accepts the division of Jerusalem can hope to survive very long as evidenced, by the collapse of  Ehud Barak’s coalition  in late 2000?    Can the President of the United States and his counselors not fathom that a united Jerusalem is, for the Jewish people, more than just bricks and mortar, roads and traffic lights, but a focus of national aspirations, a transcendent longing that has kept hope burning in the hearts of a people for two millennia?

It is in fact, the very idea around which the Jewish people’s national liberation movement, ” Zionism” is woven, Mt. Zion itself being situated in the very heart of what Mr. Obama refers to as East Jerusalem.

There is nothing that even remotely parallels this in the Arab, Muslim or Palestinian narratives.

Not mentioned even once in the Koran, Jerusalem was never a focus of Muslim attachment and was essentially neglected by its Ottoman overlords for seven centuries.   It did not stir any Arab or Muslim  interest until Jewish immigration in the early 20th century spurred an economic revival.  For a brief movement, following the Jordanian Legion’s capture of the Old City in 1948, it gained Muslim attention.  But the  Hashemites had little affection for Jerusalem, where some of their most devoted enemies lived and where the Jordanian king, Abdallah,  was  himself was shot dead in 1951.   In fact, the Hashemites did little to bring attention to the city, leaving its abandoned Jewish Quarter an utter ruin and moving the city’s officials to Amman.  As a result, for nineteen years, Arab Jerusalem became an isolated backwater, second to even dingy Nablus.   The economy stagnated and many thousands left the city.

Only with its capture by the IDF in the Six Day War, did Muslim and Arab historians begin to remember the centrality of Jerusalem to Muslim (and, of course, Palestinian) tradition.

This rather sordid history has no impact on those who vaunt Jerusalem today as ” a city sacred to three religions.”

Perhaps Barack  Obama   -  and those court Jews  who surround  him -  believe, as did the Romantic poets, that the word ” Jerusalem”  is more an abstract  symbol than a physical location and it is better for Jews to cement the idea of such unity in heart and mind than in reality.  For the Romantics, the Crusader notion of raising an army to liberate the city was anathema. “The New Jerusalem” could be better regained  through contemplation and spiritual relocation rather than under arms.

Jews, however, have never accepted  Jerusalem as a mere theoretical construct that requires no physical attachment.

For example, the centrality of Jerusalem is embedded in Jewish liturgy and has been so for at least 1800 years.  One of the 19 blessings of the Amidah ( thesilent prayer pivotal to all Jewish prayer services) reads: “Return to Your city Jerusalem in mercy, and establish Yourself there as you promised…Blessed are you Lord, builder of Jerusalem.”   This prayer is traditionally recited three times a day, while facing Jerusalem.

For the generation that witnessed the rise of the first Jewish state in two thousand years and then the unification of the city 19 years later, with the holiest shrine in Judaism along with it, there can be no talk of such surrender.  For to give up sovereignty to the Old City, the Mount of  Olives and Mt. Zion, all located in the proverbial “East” Jerusalem,  would feel like an amputation.   Not for nothing  do Jews recite the line from Psalms:  ” If I forget thee, O Jerusalem, let my right hand whither……” as a reminder of their attachment to their ancestral home.

It is was therefore no accident that those were the exact words emblazoned on the first lorry to break through the Arab blockade of Jerusalem in 1948, as it reached the  starving Jerusalem residents who had begun to give up hope of ever being relieved.  The story is powerfully recounted by Amos Ben Ami:

“Within an hour the whole city knew. On this Sabbath morning, cheering people lined the convoy’s route. People came, with tears in their eyes, to see the wonderful sight. It gave them the feeling that Jerusalem is not isolated; we are united with the rest of Israel!”

That event took place exactly 62 years ago in the days immediately preceding Passover. The unification of Jerusalem with the rest of  Israel gave the fledgling Jewish state the will to defeat the five Arab armies that only a month later would invade on four borders.

For many Jews there is no longer an “East” or “West” Jerusalem, but a united, indivisible city for whom hundreds of thousands, even in this deeply cynical age, would give their lives to defend.  The Israeli prime minister seems to understand this.  But it is apparent that the leader of the world’s most powerful nation and the country’s foremost ally, does not.

Perhaps, then, it might well be fitting for the President to end the White House seder this year with the words “Next Year in Occupied East Jerusalem!”

Then there could be no doubt  about his sensitivity to Palestinian rights and demands, nor of his outright rejection of the Jews’ claim or attachment to their eternal capital.

Avi Davis is the President of the American Freedom Alliance in Los Angeles. His writings and blog entries can be found at The Intermediate Zone. 

 

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View the best of The Intermediate Zone from last week:

The Catholic Church's Old Boy's Club
A Greek Tragedy
A Pirate's Life for Me
Ann Coulter's Uncivilized Discussion
Bombers for Settlements

Avi Davis can be contacted at adavis@americanfreedomalliance.org

NEWS: EUROPE AND AMERICA

Chicago cab driver accused of funding al-Qaeda for weapons 'planned to funnel the cash via England' -Mail Foreign Service
A Chicago cab driver has been charged with trying to provide funds to al-Qaeda, it has been revealed.Raja Lahrasib Khan planned to send money via England to a terrorist leader in Pakistan who had said he needed cash to buy explosives, federal prosecutors said. The 56-year-old is a naturalised US citizen of Pakistani origin, was charged yesterday with attempting to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organisation. According to the criminal complaint, Khan also discussed a possible bomb attack on an unspecified U.S. stadium this summer. Speaking with a man identified only as Individual B, Khan allegedly said bags containing remote-controlled bombs could be placed in the stadium and then, 'boom, boom, boom, boom,' prosecutors said. The balding, bearded Khan, clad in a wrinkled nylon jacket, rumpled pants and sneakers, appeared before US Magistrate Geraldine Soat Brown on Friday. She ordered him held pending a status hearing set for Tuesday. He was represented by Daniel McLoughlin, a staff lawyer with the federal defender programme. (Dailymail.co.uk)

Bin Laden: We Will Execute Americans If You Harm KSM-Jason Ryan
U.S. Official: Osama's Threat 'Height of Absurdity'
In an audiotape released Thursday, Osama bin Laden threatened to kill any captured Americans if the U.S. government executes accused 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Muhammad. U.S. officials are trying to authenticate the message, but believe it is in fact bin laden's message. A U.S. counterterrorism official quickly responded to bin Laden's message, telling ABC News, "It's the height of absurdity for anyone associated with al-Qaeda to even suggest that -- now, at long last -- they're going to start treating captives badly. They may have forgotten Danny Pearl and all the others they've slaughtered, but we haven't." "If this is Bin Laden and he wants to weigh in on legal proceedings involving 9/11 conspirators, I challenge him to show up in court to make his case," the official added. "Frankly, that's about all the comment this deserves." The message first aired on Al-Jazeera television. In the message, bin Laden said al Qaeda would take revenge against Americans if Muhammad, who has taken credit for planning the 9/11 attacks, or any other al Qaeda operatives in U.S. custody were to be executed. U.S. military officials believe an American soldier captured in Afghanistan in 2009, Pfc. Bowe Bergdahl is currently being held by an al Qaeda-affiliated insurgent group in Pakistan's tribal areas. Muhammad and four other senior al-Qaeda members are expected to be prosecuted for their roles in the 9/11 attacks after being held for years at Guantanamo. This is the first bin Laden message since late January, when he addressed the Palestinian struggle against Israel. (Abcnews)

Female Muslim doctors allowed to wear disposable sleeves for modesty: official guidance-Rebecca Smith, Medical Editor
Female Muslim doctors and nurses are to be allowed to wear disposable sleeves in order to comply with NHS rules to prevent the spread of hospital superbugs.
All staff involved in caring for patients should be 'bare below the elbows' to ensure sleeves do not become contaminated and hands can be washed thoroughly to prevent infections passed around the ward. However female Muslim staff had been concerned about the rule as exposure of their forearms is seen as immodest. Staff in several hospitals had reportedly refused to expose their arms for hand washing and 'scrubbing in' procedures before surgery. New guidance from the Department of Health said staff can wear disposable sleeves which are elasticated at the wrist and elbow when in contact with patients. The guidance also states that using alcohol gel to cleanse hands between treating patients does not contravene strict Muslim rules on alcohol. The guidance was drawn up following meetings between the Muslim Spiritual Care Provision in the NHS group and Islamic scholars, chaplains, multi-faith representatives and infection control experts. It said: "Use of hand disinfection gels containing synthetic alcohol does not fall within the Muslim prohibition against natural alcohol (from fermented fruit or grain)." (Telegraph.co.uk)

Quebec passes law regarding Muslim veil-AP
MONTREAL - The province of Quebec passed landmark legislation Wednesday that stipulates Muslim women will need to uncover their faces when dealing with Quebec government services. The bill says people obtaining or delivering services at places such as health or auto insurance offices will need to do so with their faces in plain view. The law covers all garments ranging from the face veil to the burqa, a traditional head-to-toe veil worn by some Muslim women. It says people's face-coverings will not be tolerated if they hinder communication or visual identification. Premier Jean Charest told a news conference that the province was drawing a line in defense of gender equality and secular public institutions. "This is a symbol of affirmation and respect -- first of all, for ourselves, and also for those to whom we open our arms," Charest told a news conference. "This is not about making our home less welcoming, but about stressing the values that unite us. ... An accommodation cannot be granted unless it respects the principle of equality between men and women, and the religious neutrality of the state." (Businessweek)

Spain tries 2 over 'praising terrorism' Web cartoons-AP
MADRID -- Spanish prosecutors are seeking 18-month jail terms for a Spanish cartoonist and a Moroccan colleague charged with praising Islamic terrorism in writings, drawings and videos posted on the Internet, a court official said Tuesday.One of the sketches attributed to Spaniard Gonzalo Lopez Royo depicts buildings resembling the Twin Towers collapsing, with people dressed in the festive red-and-white garb of Spain's running of the bulls scurrying away. Another shows U.S. Marines in the cross-hairs of a gun. Since 2006 he has also posted more than 1,500 entries in a restricted-access Web forum in which he praised al-Qaida and Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, its leader in Iraq until he was killed in a U.S. missile strike in 2006, prosecutor Teresa Sandoval said in a charge sheet presented at the suspects' trial on Monday. (Chinapost)

Italy summons Pakistani diplomat over attacks on Christians-IANS
Italy summons Pakistani diplomat over attacks on Christians Rome, March 25 (IANS/AKI) The Italian government summoned Pakistan’s charge d’affaires in Rome to discuss the recent attacks reported against minority Christians in Pakistan. The foreign ministry in Rome summoned the Pakistani envoy Wednesday after reports Tuesday said that a 38-year-old Christian man in Pakistan’s northern city of Rawalpindi died after he was set on fire by a Muslim mob. The man’s wife was allegedly gang raped by three police officers, in front of their three children last week, reports said. A mob of alleged Muslim hardliners set Pakistani Christian Arshed Masih on fire after he refused to convert to Islam. He received 80 percent burns on his body. His wife, 33-year-old Martha Masih, was allegedly gang raped by three police officers, in the police station where the couple was held for questioning last Friday. (Thaiindian)

ACADEMIC FREEDOM

Muslim Law Students’ War Against Free Speech-Eric Giunta
Florida State University College of Law is rather moderate as far as law schools go. Sure, nearly all the faculty are committed leftists, but they tend to be fair in their instruction, and are always willing to engage a conservative or libertarian constructively. The student body’s a mixed bag ideologically. Most of the student organizations are oriented leftward, the campus Republicans exist in name only, and the most visible, and best-attended, student organization is our chapter of the Federalist Society for Law and Public Policy Studies, for which I serve as President. The Federalist Society is the nation’s premier fellowship of law school conservatives and libertarians. We are a diverse coalition, united by our commitment to an originalist jurisprudence. Known in some circles as “right-wing extremism,” originalism is a legal hermeneutic whose guiding principle is that laws retain their original public meaning until they are legally rescinded or amended. This contrasts with the predominant leftist hermeneutic, which considers the law to be a “living” instrument – not in the sense that it is open to amendment, but in the sense that laws promulgated at one moment can take on different meanings in another, by judicial fiat. The “living constitutionalist” believes judges are charged with reinterpreting the law in light of what is believed to be a legal metanarrative reflected in the broader legal tradition; the letter of the law is not so important as its spirit, a spirit which just so happens to accord with whatever leftist notions of personal morality and social justice happen to prevail at the time of adjudication. (Frontpagemagazine)

Bias, Barriers, or Biology?-Ashley Thorne
The AAUW, formerly known as the American Association of University Women, has released a 134-page report, “Why So Few? Women in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics.” The report is one of those studies that try to account for why fewer women than men enter math and science. AAUW joins with the National Academy of Science, the National Science Foundation, the National Council for Research on Women, and feminists in general in decrying “bias” and “barriers” as the reasons for the disparity. On the other side of the debate are scholars such as Christina Hoff Sommers and the twelve other authors who contributed to the book The Science on Women and Science. They contend that because men and women are inherently, biologically different, their interests are different. Science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) careers just may not appeal to women as much as they do to men. And that’s ok. But the AAUW insists that “girls’ achievements and interest in math and science are shaped by the environment around them,” and that colleges and universities must change in order to attract more women to the sciences. The report opens by calling the question—“why aren’t there more women scientists and engineers?”—“puzzling.” This could be the equivalent of asking “why aren’t there more women who drive big pickup trucks?” or “why aren’t there more women hunters?” Or for that matter, “why aren’t there more women growing beards?” These are puzzling questions. (NAS)

Welcome to the Machine: Cultural Marxism in Education-Chuck Roger
Welcome to the machine.
What did you dream?
It's alright, we told you what to dream. - Roger Waters
The education machine that keeps churning out newbies conditioned in mind-blunting nonjudgmentalism has laid the groundwork for a left-wing takeover. What reduced American education to its current state? In part, the answer lies in cultural Marxism, a societal disease spawned by an Italian, Antonio Gramsci, in the 1920s. Gramsci preached that in order to free "oppressed" social groups, the oppressors' beliefs must be marginalized. Because Gramsci saw one particular group -- that is, traditional Christians -- as oppressive, he prescribed attacking tradition in general and Christianity specifically as the solution to oppression. Gramsci denounced moral certainty and elevated moral mushiness. Historian John Fonte observed that while traditionalists want to revitalize "objective moral truths" in order to "remoralize society," cultural Marxists push "subordinate groups" to invent situational truths to "achieve political and cultural liberation." Traditionalists support personal accountability. Cultural Marxists heed Gramsci's command to politicize everything, a command followed religiously by feminists, for example. Traditionalists want to strengthen America, but cultural Marxists want "transformation." (Americanthinker)

MEDIA BIAS

How the Left Fakes the Hate: A Primer-Michelle Malkin
If you can’t stand the heat, manufacture a hate-crime epidemic.
After years of covering racial hoaxes on college campuses and victim sob stories in the public arena, I’ve encountered countless opportunists who live by that demented mindset. At best, the fakers are desperately seeking 15 minutes of infamy. At worst, their aim is the criminalization of political dissent. Upon decimating the deliberative process to hand President Obama a health-care “reform” victory, unpopular Beltway Democrats and their media water-carriers now claim there’s a tea-party epidemic of racism, harassment, and violence against them. On Thursday, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi issued a tepid, obligatory statement against smearing all conservatives as national-security threats. But her lieutenants had already emptied their tar buckets. Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee chairman Chris Van Hollen accused Republican leaders of “stoking the flames.” Majority Whip Rep. James Clyburn accused the GOP of “aiding and abetting” what he called “terrorism.” Yet, the claims that tea-party activists shouted “nigger” at black House Democrats remain uncorroborated. The coffin reportedly left outside Missouri Democratic congressman Russ Carnahan’s home was used in a prayer vigil by pro-life activists in St. Louis who were protesting the phony Demcare abortion-funding ban in Obama’s deal-cutting executive order. Videotape of a supposed intentional-spitting incident targeting Missouri Democratic congressman Emanuel Cleaver at the Capitol shows no such thing. Cleaver himself backed off the claim a few days later. He described his heckler to the Washington Post in more passive terms as “the man who allowed his saliva to hit my face.” Slovenliness equals terrorism! (Nationalreview)

“HAMAS Exercise Video”: FOX News “Health Report” is Anti-Israel Propaganda- Debbie Schlussel
I’ve repeatedly warned you about PAWNN–the Prince Al-Waleed News Network–a/k/a FOX News. The anti-Israel world view of Prince Al-Waleed Bin Talal, the Saudi billionaire who is the second largest shareholder in News Corp. and its FOX News, is quickly seeping into FOX News as his investments with Rupert Murdoch increase. And not just to the cable network, but some of its owned and operated stations, like my local FOX News-run FOX affiliate, FOX 2 a/k/a FOX 2. FOX News runs and oversees this station and its “news” operation, and, in the recent past, when I’ve called the station to complain about the station’s frequent anti-Israel, pan-Islamic coverage, FOX News officials have responded. Check out this sickening, uh, “health” story video, below, “reported” by incompetent FOX 2 News and sometime anchor Deena Centofanti. It’s pure anti-Israel propaganda. The “report” ran Wednesday Night on the station’s newscast (and on several other newscasts, during the day, Thursday). In fact, it has nothing to do with health at all. It’s a blatant anti-Israel video screed, with Centofanti doing no reporting. In fact, you’ll notice the FOX 2 News microphone is in the hands of the Palestinian activist, who perpetuated this ridiculous story. And Centofanti puts forth whatever she says as fact, with no opposing viewpoint, no form of objective journalism whatsoever. (Debbieschlussel)

FREEDOM OF SPEECH

“Defamation of Religion” Passes Human Rights Council-UN WatchThe “defamation of religion” resolution (click here for text) narrowly passed the Human Rights Council this afternoon, with 20 members voting in favor of the resolution, 17 opposing and 8 abstentions. Pakistan introduced the resolution, accusing Western countries of “targeting Muslims” and using “pressure instead of reason” to influence votes. “Enforcing their values as universal values reveals an imperial hubris,” he said. “Torture centers such as Abu Ghraib, Guantanamo Bay and Bagram are known to all of us. We hope that this Council will vote according to its conscience and not according to political expediency.” The United States opposed the resolution, which it said “failed to galvanize international support for real solutions to improve the lives of people on the ground.” It called the resolution “ineffective” and an “instrument of division.” (UNwatch)

ANTISEMITISM

Norway: Jewish leader demands investigation of Muslim antisemitism
The Holocaust Center in Oslo will investigate Jew-hatred in Norway, but the center didn't plan to investigate the attitudes of Norwegian Muslims, as a group, when it comes to Jew-hatred. This has become an topical issue with the recent news reports of Jew-hatred among students of Muslim background. "Antisemitism among Norwegian Muslims should be part of the study," says the head of the Mosaic Faith-Society in Norway, Anne Sender. "I can see no other solution when the world looks as it does, and we have the facts and the experiences essentially from the European reality, and in any case, with last week's revelations," she says. The Holocaust Center will now consider whether they'll investigate what Norwegian Muslims think about Jews. Education minister Kristin Halvorsen (SV) already took the initiative to set up a work-group to attempt to fight racism and antisemitism in Norwegian schools. "I've spoken with many teachers who think it's important to tackle the problems that turn up with harassment, racism and antisemitism in Norweigan schools. Therefore we're inviting representatives from the schools, police and various faith-communities to participate in the work-group," said the education minister, who also added that they'll work on attitude-creating work. Following NRK's report on Jew-hatred in Norwegian schools, the minister put the issue on her agenda. On Wednesday she met with representatives from the Mosaic Faith-Society. (Islamineurope)

Saudi Arabia Airs Turkish Anti-Israel Show-Malkah Fleisher
(Israelnationalnews.com) A Turkish political drama series playing in Saudi Arabia is leading to real political drama in the Middle East. The 13-episode "Separation: Palestine in Love and in War (Cry of Stones)" tells the story of a PA Arab family who leaves for a vacation to Jordan, only to return to a home destroyed by Israel. It continues by depicting a life of oppression and suffering at the hands of Israelis. Jewish soldiers are portrayed as cold-blooded killers, intentionally shooting a newborn infant and abusing an elderly man. Originally produced and aired in Turkey, the show was decried in Israel as blood-libelous and inflammatory. Despite a history of military and fiscal cooperation with Israel, and Israeli protests, Turkey continued to show the series. Turkey went on to produce another popular anti-Israel series called "Ambush in the Valley of the Wolves", which portrayed Israeli Mossad agents abducting Arab babies. The show was subsequently bought by Saudi Arabia's Middle East Broadcasting Center (MBC). Saudi Gazette interviewed Arab leaders and Arab media communications experts to determine what the impact of 'Separation' would be in Saudi Arabia. Saud Al-Kateb, a Mass Communications Professor at King Abdulaziz University in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia's second largest city, praised MBC for continuing with the program. He said popular political dramas are the perfect vehicle to enthuse a populace which is not otherwise particularly interested in the story of PA Arabs. (INN)

UNHRC OKs Goldstone implementation c’tee-TOVAH LAZAROFF
New push for reparations to Gazans harmed by "unlawful" Israel.
In a move likely to keep the spotlight on the Goldstone Report, the UN Human Rights Council voted on Thursday to form an independent standing committee to evaluate the document’s demand that Israel and the Palestinians probe their actions in Gaza during Operation Cast Lead. The US and five European countries – Italy, the Netherlands, Hungary, Slovakia and Ukraine – voted against the resolution. Israel, which is not a member of the council, attacked the move as a “dangerous precedent.” “No such assessment committee has been formed by this council before,” Israel’s Ambassador to the UN in Geneva Aharon Leshno Yaar told the council prior to its vote. “This resolution is so biased and one-sided – so defamatory – that it crosses far over the line of being ‘only’ anti-Israeli,” said Leshno Yaar. (Jpost)

"Peace Process" as End-Stage Jihad-Diana West
Mind-boggling how quickly the Jerusalem housing project sent the stars into re-alignment over Israel to shine down now on a new, official US vision of the Jewish state as an drag on US interests in the world, even to the point of endangering the lives of American troops. That was the message the Vice President delivered in Israel this month (“What you’re doing here undermines the security of our troops …”) according to Israeli media. The White House denied it. That was the feeling the President conveyed in treating visiting Israeli president Benjamin Netanyahu like an international leper this week (no pictures, no press, no statements, no nothing). And very sensationally, that was the narrative Centcom Commander Gen. David Petraeus put in writing to the US Senate (sending hero-worshipping conservatives into denial) as noted in last week’s column. Disregarding the impetus of 14 centuries of Muslims’ doctrinally-driven aggression on non-Muslims, Petraeus advanced a line that echoed the Arab League’s: namely, that “Arab anger over the Palestinian question” drives violence throughout the Centcom region, which includes Iraq and Afghanistan, and enhances the powers of Iran and Al Qaeda. One prominent conservative commentator who strongly supported the Bush-Petraeus policy in Iraq expressed his shock to me in an email: “I would think that Jewish leaders would be appalled by Petraeus's statement (as if to say The Jew's are protecting their property with the blood from the bodies of our dead young men !!!) It is about 95% the way to the `blood libel’ that, I hate to admit, Christians used in the Middle Ages against the Jewish people.” (Brusselsjournal)

A light in the gathering darkness-Melanie Phillips
At this time of grievous trial and peril for the Jewish people, when the leaders of the western world appear to have tossed both reason and conscience overboard, it is left to an Iranian, the ever prescient Amil Imani, to raise his voice for decency and justice. Writing about the fact that the Jews have been the scapegoats of the world since time immemorial, he observes: Sadly, the Jewish people have been used as scapegoat for many centuries by a variety of non-Jews. Regrettably, Muslims for their part and have adopted scapegoating as an article of faith... The Islamists, for their part, are still playing the Jewish blame card as best as they can. The State of Israel, by its very existence, has provided the inept and habitually devious Islamists a palpable target to blame and attack.
...Iranians are saddened and ashamed both by the appearance of Ahmadinejad on the international scene and his declared intent to wipe out the Jewish homeland from the face of the earth... Ahmadinejad is an Islamofascist whose aim is to have a practice run, first on the Iranian Baha’is before embarking on destroying the Jews and other ‘undesirables,’ following in the footsteps of the German Fuehrer. (Spectator.co.uk)

Analysis: In Venezuela, antisemitism is state policy-Shimon Samuels
A new report by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) has criticised the Venezuelan government for encroaching on the civil and political rights of its people, and particularly those of its Jewish community. The report expressed particular concern about the rising number of antisemitic incidents, and noted that the government-controlled media "contributed to creating an atmosphere of intimidation and violence against the Jewish community in Venezuela". This is cause for serious alarm. However, it is hardly surprising. Since Hugo Chavez took power, antisemitic expression has grown exponentially: in government media; in the dissemination of the Protocols of Zion; in the accusation that "Semitic banks" are sabotaging the economy; in the fact that the Caracas Jewish school was raided twice by armed forces "searching for Mossad-supplied arms caches"; in the desecration of two synagogues; and in the closing of the Israeli Embassy. The Venezuelan ambassador to Moscow even alleged that Jewish citizens implicated in a 2002 anti-Chavez coup were "Mossad agents". The origins of Mr Chavez's attitude can be traced to the influence wielded over him by his Argentine, pro-Nazi, Holocaust-denying school companion, the late Norberto Ceresole, who - in his 1998 book on Mr Chavez's election victory - warned of the Venezuelan "Jewish mafia". In a 2004 Christmas Eve message, Mr Chavez claimed that "the descendants of those who crucified Christ, the descendants of those who expelled Bolivar and crucified him in their own way… took possession of the riches of the world. A minority appropriated the world's gold, the silver, the minerals, the water, the good lands, the oil and has concentrated the riches in a few hands…" (Thejewishchronicle)

Israel’s unwavering guardsmen-Caroline Glick
Little mention is made of the radicalization of Israel’s Arabs.
As the local and international press corps converged on Jerusalem’s Old City to cover the Arab riots at the Temple Mount two weeks ago, little mention was made of the fact that Jerusalem was not the only flashpoint. In Tel Aviv-Jaffa, Israeli Arab rioters supported by far-left protesters stoned buses. Israeli Arabs firebombed motorists on Highway 443 and on the roads to Beersheba. In the North, cars were stoned. These little-reported attacks are the consequence of one of the most dangerous emerging threats to Israel’s national survival: the rapidly escalating radicalization of Israel’s Arab citizens. Over the past decade and at a frenzied pace since the 2005 withdrawal from Gaza, acting at least partially at the direction of the Israeli Islamic Movement and with the active support of the far left, Israeli Arabs and Beduin have launched a massive assault on the state. The relevant national authorities including the courts, the state prosecution, the police, the IDF, the Jewish National Fund, the Israel Lands Authority and the Ministry of Interior have failed to defend against it. Firebombing Jewish-owned vehicles is small potatoes in comparison to developments at the center of mass of the Israeli Arab onslaught: state land. Over the past decade, Israeli Arabs have seized millions of dunams of state land. (Jpost)

TERRORISM, security and policy

Taliban fighters are 'conditioned' to die in battle, claims former insurgent-Sean Rayment, Defence Correspondent in Nad e'Ali
A former insurgent in Afghanistan has told how he survived daily battles with British troops and why he decided to join the peace process in what is believed to be the first ever interview given by a member of the Helmand Taliban. Every morning just before dawn, as the sun rose over the central Helmand plain, Abdul Mohammed would pray to Allah, clean his rifle and prepare to kill British soldiers. For two years, Abdul, who is married with a young son, served as Taliban foot soldier in one of the most violent and battle-scared areas of southern Afghanistan. I expected to be killed in battle – but that didn't worry me," he said. "I never thought about death. If I was told go on a suicide attack, I would have done so. I was a committed Taliban fighter, being with the Taliban was my life. "The British soldiers were my enemy, they would try and kill me, so I'd try to kill them." But last month, after seeing hundreds of his friends and family killed in battle, Abdul turned his back on the insurgency and joined the peace process under the Nato-backed strategy of "reintegration". In what is believed to be the first ever interview by a member of the Helmand Taliban, the former insurgent told The Sunday Telegraph, how he survived daily battles with British troops and why he decided to join the peace process. (Telegraph.co.uk)

A Secret Keeper-Gabriel Schoenfeld
From the March 25, 2010 Weekly Standard Online. President Obama has nominated Solomon B. Watson IV to be general counsel of the Army. Mr. Watson would be coming to this slot after spending 32 years at the New York Times, including a stint as its senior vice president and chief legal officer. Near the end of Mr. Watson's tenure, the paper published a series of stories compromising two highly classified counterterrorism programs. One, in December 2005, offered crucial details of the National Security Agency's Terrorist Surveillance Program, designed to track al Qaeda communications into and out of the United States. Another, in June 2006, disclosed a secret program designed to track the movement of terrorist funds through the Belgian financial clearinghouse known as SWIFT. Top officials in the government, and leading Republicans and Democrats in Congress, bemoaned the serious damage to national security that the paper had inflicted. (A comprehensive discussion of the episode can be found in my forthcoming book Necessary Secrets: National Security, the Media, and the Rule of Law.) As chief legal officer of the Times, what was Mr. Watson's role and responsibility in these controversial decisions? In confirmation hearings before the Senate Armed Services Committee on Tuesday, he was pressed hard by Senators Jeff Sessions and John McCain about whether publication of the stories violated the law. Grasping with visible unease for a response, Mr. Watson offered five variations on a pudding: The first was a dodge: "I was not involved." (Hudsoninstitute)

The Mark of McCain-Andrew C. McCarthy
If you want to find out why judges are releasing terrorists, ask McCain and Graham.
‘If we captured bin Laden tomorrow, would he be entitled to Miranda warnings at the moment of capture?” Sen. Lindsey Graham got a lot of mileage out of that question, which stumped Attorney General Eric Holder during a Senate hearing last November. The South Carolina Republican also won plaudits from national-security conservatives for his reaction to Holder’s indecision. “If you’re going to prosecute anybody in civilian court,” he lectured, “our law is clear that the moment custodial interrogation occurs . . . the criminal defendant is entitled to a lawyer and to be informed of their right to remain silent.” The senator thundered that the attorney general was “criminalizing the war” and “confusing the people fighting this war.” Holder’s record of touting civilian judicial processes as the most effective form of counterterrorism strongly suggests that he does, in fact, believe that enemy combatants should be treated like ordinary criminal defendants — and that means Miranda warnings. But he shrinks from telling us that. Saying it aloud would anger most Americans, who rightly think it is dangerously foolish to criminalize a war, to turn the battlefield into a crime scene governed by peacetime law-enforcement rules. Graham is fortunate that Holder lacks not only the courage of his convictions but also the foresight to prepare adequately for congressional testimony. If he’d done his homework, the attorney general might have answered, “Senator, let’s talk about which one of us has criminalized the war and confused the troops. You’re the one who convinced Congress to give captured terrorists Fifth Amendment rights.” (Nationalreview)

Saudis fund Balkan Muslims spreading hate of the West-Bojan Pancevski in SkopjeSAUDI ARABIA is pouring hundreds of millions of pounds into Islamist groups in the Balkans, some of which spread hatred of the West and recruit fighters for jihad in Afghanistan. According to officials in Macedonia, Islamic fundamentalism threatens to destabilise the Balkans. Strict Wahhabi and Salafi factions funded by Saudi organisations are clashing with traditionally moderate local Muslim communities. Fundamentalists have financed the construction of scores of mosques and community centres as well as handing some followers up to £225 a month. They are expected not only to grow beards but also to persuade their wives to wear the niqab, or face veil, a custom virtually unknown in the liberal Islamic tradition of the Balkans. Government sources in traditionally secular Macedonia (official title the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia), said they were monitoring up to 50 Al-Qaeda volunteers recruited to fight in Afghanistan. Classified documents seen by The Sunday Times reveal that Macedonian officials are also investigating a number of Islamic charities, some in Saudi Arabia, which are active throughout the Balkans and are suspected of spreading extremism and laundering money for terrorist organisations. One of the groups under scrutiny is the International Islamic Relief Organisation from Saudi Arabia, which is on a United Nations blacklist of organisations backing terrorism. It did not respond to inquiries, but has previously denied involvement in terrorist activities, calling such claims “totally unfounded”. (Timesonline.co.uk)

Counter-terror officials name the 20 most influential Islamic blogs- Heidi Blake
British counterterror officials have named the top 20 most influential “pro-Islamic” political bloggers.
The list, compiled by the Government’s counter-terrorism communications unit, appears in a report on the scale and influence of Islamic bloggers in Britain. The tracking exercise found that a network of Islamic bloggers who write about British politics is reaching “a critical mass”, despite being relatively small.
The research, which was conducted in 2008 but only published yesterday, aimed to find new ways of communicating the Government’s anti-terror message to people in the Muslim community who are not reachable through the mainstream media. But the study found that Islamic bloggers in fact draw much of their information from the mainstream media, such as the BBC website. David Stevens of Nottingham University, who conducted the research, identified 140 pro-Islamic blogs on the internet. "Compared with other political blogging communities this is not terribly high," his study says. "As suspected, any pro-Islamic blogging community is likely to be still in its early stages of development in quantitative terms. However the existence of Islamic blog-feed sites (that list recent posts across Islamic blogs in one place) indicates that the community is reaching something of a critical mass." (Telegraph.co.uk)

Radical Islamic elder preaching jihad in Perth's suburbs-EXCLUSIVE By STAFF REPORTERS
A RADICAL Islamic elder who praises the Taliban and preaches violent jihad to a band of keen followers is being investigated in Perth by WA and Federal police.
Sources confirmed the joint-agency investigation after The Sunday Times revealed to police that the newspaper had infiltrated a group in which the sheik described armed jihad as the "top" ideal for Muslims and likened the Taliban to "angels". Muslim community members said they warned police weeks ago that the Middle Eastern man was recruiting disaffected young Muslim men at a Perth mosque and spreading dangerous messages - about armed jihad, or holy war, against those fighting Islam; and that he claimed to know, and have trained with, Osama bin Laden. They stressed that mainstream WA Muslims did not share the views and were concerned police had not acted on their tip-offs. They alerted The Sunday Times as a last resort "before something really bad happens . . . before this poison spreads". In an undercover investigation, The Sunday Times obtained information from meetings at the sheik's northern suburbs home where, before a group of young men, he promoted armed jihad as the highest ideal for Muslims, praised the Taliban and said he had fought in Afghanistan against Soviet forces. In other meetings, he praised bin Laden - and even Hitler, justified the actions of suicide bombers, claimed that US presidents were priests and said that Allah would "get" the US and Jews for their actions. (Perthnow.com.au)

'Obama resigned to nuclear Iran'-JPOST.COM STAFF
Former UN envoy Bolton says Washington pressuring Israel not to strike nuke facilities.
Former US ambassador to the UN John Bolton expressed concern Sunday that Washington was coming to terms with a nuclear Iran. “I very much worry the Obama administration is willing to accept a nuclear Iran, that's why there's this extraordinary pressure on Israel not to attack in Iran,” Bolton told Army Radio.
The former envoy claimed that this pressure was the focus of last week's meetings in Washington between Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyhau and US officials, including President Barack Obama. Bolton said that the Obama administration had embraced the view, prevalent in Europe, that the Israeli-Palestinian conflict was the key to the resolution of all other conflicts throughout the Middle East, including the Iranian conflict. He added that the rift in US-Israel relations stemmed from a fundamental difference in the understanding of the Middle East and Israel's role in the Middle East, and is not really about east Jerusalem at all. Bolton said that the treatment Netanyahu received during his visit "should tell the people of Israel how difficult it's going to be dealing with Washington for the next couple of years." (Jpost)

GLOBAL GOVERNANCE AND RADICAL ENVIRONMENTALISM

Big Ben in darkness as 4,000 cities switch off for Earth Hour-Alastair Jamieson
Office blocks and floodlit landmarks around the world have been plunged into darkness in a gesture to highlight environmental concerns as part of the fourth annual Earth Hour, organized by the World Wildlife Fund. Some 4,000 cities in more than 120 countries switched off to reduce energy consumption at 8.30pm local time. In Britain, the lights went out at Buckingham Palace and Downing Street as well as Big Ben and other UK landmarks. The event began in the remote Chatham Islands off the coast of New Zealand, where, as local time hit 8.30pm, light switches were flicked to the off position. In the UK, the Millennium Stadium, Windsor Castle and Edinburgh Castle were among the landmarks plunged into darkness. Elsewhere, the Empire State Building, Sydney Opera House and the Eiffel Tower were among the structures saving electricity in a bid to pledge support to tackling climate change. David Nussbaum, chief executive of WWF-UK, said: "It was a visible demonstration of the enormous level of support there is around the world for a united effort to tackle climate change. "WWF now asks that world leaders listen to the millions of people who took part and finish the job they started in Copenhagen last year by creating a fair and ambitious global climate deal." Praising the event, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said: "Earth Hour is both a warning and a beacon of hope. (Telegraph.co.uk)

National Geographic Warns Global Warming Leads to Increased Violence... Possibly Even 'Genocide'-Anthony Kang
On March 24, Ker Than argued in National Geographic [1] that "Global warming [2] could make the world a more violent place, because higher temperatures increase human aggression and create volatile situations." Reporting on the findings of a new study released last week, Than repeated the study authors' estimate of increase in violence as temperatures climb: "[I]f the average temperature in the U.S. increases by 8 degrees Fahrenheit, the country's murder and assault rate will jump by about a hundred thousand cases a year." Than also used temperature projections from the UN's IPCC, which has recently been forced to admit "flaws [3]" in its reports since the ClimateGate [4] scandal broke in November 2009. "A 2007 report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change [4] projected that global surface temperatures could rise by 2 to 11.5 degrees Fahrenheit" by 2100, he wrote without mentioning any of the criticisms of the IPCC or their own admission of problematic data. The study about violence and temperature was conducted by sociologist Matthew DeLisi at Iowa State University. He used "government data about average yearly temperatures with statistics on the number of violent crimes committed between 1950 and 2008," to correlate higher temperatures and aggression. DeLisi admitted there are factors other than temperature to consider such as more interaction with people and more opportunity for crime. Still, DeLisi told the Sydney Symposium of Social Psychology that climate- induced displacement can result in conflict and "If these types of skirmishes occur on a global scale, the result could be increased civil unrest-and even genocide and war, noted the study authors, who presented their work last week."
Than found two psychologists to back up DeLisi's conclusions, but did not include any critical views in his story. (Newsbusters)

SCIENCE, SOCIETY AND CULTURE

Health Scan: New study helps identify true suicide risks-Judy Siegel
Israeli and American researchers identify variables that are reliable predictors of suicide attempts.
A landmark Israeli-American study that can predict who among people suffering from depression are most likely to attempt suicide has been published in the prestigious journal Schizophrenia Research. Prof. Jonathan Rabinowitz of Bar-Ilan University’s Weisfeld School of Social Work recently published the study, along with one of his doctoral students, Shelly Bakst, and Prof. Evelyn Bromet of Stony Brook University in Long Island, New York. The research involves a study of 600 patients admitted to hospitals in New York’s Suffolk County with some sort of psychotic illness who were tracked for more than a decade. A very large amount of data was compiled and the analysis enabled the researchers to identify variables that are reliable predictors of suicide attempts. These variables, which include prior suicide attempts, severity of depression and history of substance abuse, will enable psychiatrists to prevent suicide among those who are at higher risk by monitoring them and providing more hands-on therapeutic treatment. “Greater attention to people with these risk factors may form the basis for early interventions aimed at reducing the risk of suicide attempts,” conclude the researchers, whose study was funded by the US National Institute of Health’s National Institute of Mental Health. This latest study follows the researchers’ publication last year in Schizophrenia Bulletin, which found that people with lower functioning exhibited a higher risk of suicidal behavior. These two journals are considered among the top 10 psychiatry journals in the world. (Jpost)

Fifth of spouses snoop on partners emails and texts-Roger Dobson
A fifth of spouses admit checking their partner's emails or text messages, according to a new study.
The report also found that in a fifth of relationships, at least one partner had checked their spouse's browser history on the computer. Entitled "Netiquette within married couples", the study involved an analysis of data from nearly 1,000 UK couples by researchers from the London School of Economics, the University of Oxford and Nottingham Trent University. Ellen Helsper, who led the study, said: "Our findings showed that there are surprisingly high levels of surveillance. "One of the surprising findings was that surveillance was undertaken more often by wives than husbands. "This contrasts with research that suggests that women are less technologically skilled than men. It seems that they are able to overcome these barriers when they feel their relationship is at stake.'' The researchers, who report their findings in the journal, Computers in Human Behavior this week, analysed replies given to a series of questions about internet use. (Telegraph.co.uk)

Survival Tales Told in Snapshots: Czech Jews Enduring the Holocaust-JOSEPH BERGER
We have seen these images before, wizened men and women recalling unspeakable events that occurred when they were teenagers, sometimes tartly mocking their own cluelessness. In a series of four documentaries about the little-known ordeals of Czech Jews during World War II, for example, Anna Kraus Bauer looks back at her train journey to an Estonian labor camp. “I remember I kept looking at the moon, telling myself it is shining here, and it is shining at home too — the very same one,” she says. “So maybe things won’t be so bad.” But what makes “Forgotten Transports” stand out from the multitude of Holocaust documentaries is that its director, Lukas Pribyl, did more than track down survivors or burrow through film archives and deportation records. Over 10 years and visits to 30 countries, he hunted down photographs of SS camp commanders and snapshots taken by local residents and workers who might have encountered inmates, sometimes trading bottles of vodka for the artifacts. The impression conveyed is that a photographer was along for the nightmare ride of the Czech Jews. When Mrs. Bauer and friends who managed to stay together through the war speak of Aleksander Laak, their SS commander, there he is in his fearsome ramrod authority, and, at the film’s end, there he is 15 years later in Canada, looking plump and content, surrounded by the kinds of relatives he never let his victims keep. (NYT)

Can Climate Change Be Funny?-ALEXANDRA ALTER
Ian McEwan tackles global warming—in a comic novel
Novelist Ian McEwan has a recurring dream where he opens his desk drawer and pulls out an old draft of an unpublished novel. He anxiously reads the manuscript, and it's brilliant—the best thing he's ever written. He vows to send it to his publisher right away. "I wake up still feeling rather good, and then I remember," says Mr. McEwan, whose new novel, "Solar," a comedy about climate change, comes out in the U.S. next week. Forty years since he began writing fiction at age 21, Mr. McEwan says he still feels his best work has eluded him. Yet for the last decade, he has occupied a rare niche as a literary novelist who frequently lands on the best-seller list. His novels have sold more than 15 million copies world-wide; his book "Atonement" has sold some 2.2 million copies in the U.S. He's writing a screenplay based on "On Chesil Beach" for director Sam Mendes, and "Atonement," already adapted for the screen, is being made into an opera. "Solar" centers on a portly, self-centered Nobel laureate in physics who tries to revive his stagnant career by inventing a new form of sustainable energy. The novel's occasionally raunchy humor and semi-satirical tone set it apart from Mr. McEwan's more sober recent works—a tragic love story in "Atonement" and a tense post-9/11 work in "Saturday." Physicist Michael Beard gets fatter as the novel progresses. He is slapped in the face by his home contractor, who is also his wife's lover; he mistakes a fellow train passenger's potato chips for his own and devours them; he's pilloried in the press after he playfully tosses a tomato back to a female protester who has thrown it at him. (WSJ)

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