Editor and Researcher Elisa Vandernoot

American Freedom Alliance Weekly Gazette

THE WEEK AT A GLANCE

This Week's Editorial

Do the U.C. Regents Really Know What is
Going On?
By Avi Davis

Several weeks ago, my friends Tammi Rossman- Benjamin, a lecturer in Hebrew at U.C. Santa Cruz and Leila Beckwith, Professor Emeritus at UCLA,  contacted me about a letter which they wished to address to Mark Yudof, President of U.C. California – the largest college system in the United States.    They expressed their outrage with the failure of Yudof and the U. C. Regents to adequately address the rising tide of anti-Semitism on  California college campuses and the apparent ease with which Muslim groups and other left wing organizations are able to demonize Jews and Israel in the most vile and inciting language.

In the letter, to which they asked me to append  my name and the endorsement of the American Freedom Alliance, they outlined some of the outrageous attacks to which Jewish students have been subjected over the past several years.  To wit:

“ Over the last several years, Jewish students have been subjected to -  swastikas and other anti-Semitic graffiti; acts of physical and verbal aggression; speakers, films and exhibits that use anti-Semitic imagery and discourse; speakers that praise and encourage support for terrorist organizations that openly advocate murder against Israel and the Jewish people; the organized disruption of events sponsored by Jewish student groups; and most recently, the promotion of student senate resolutions for divestment that seek to demonize and delegitimize the Jewish State.”

The crowning incident of these macabre developments occurred when grotesque gestures and obscene epithets were hurled at Michael Oren, Israel’s ambassador to the United States, when he attempted to deliver an address to students at U.C. Irvine on February 8.  Eleven students , most of them belonging to the college’s Muslim Student Union, were arrested for civil disturbance.

The incident not only shone a kleig light on the problematic campus but also pointed to intense problems of oversight within the U.C. system itself.   The failure of the Board of Regents to adequately discipline  a campus which has witnessed repeated instances of  anti- semitic outbursts from Muslim students and has paid little attention to the growing climate of intolerance, was a making a farce of  the Regents’ professed multicultural ethos.

President Yudof’s answer was to institute a series of  campus climate committees -  groups of academics, campus administrators and lay leaders who might represent a broad multicultural approach to resolving campus problems.

Tammi and Leila’s letter attacked the Yudof plan as being out of touch with reality since it does not expressly deal with the most egregious form of bigotry and hatred -  the attack on Jews and supporters of Israel.  In other words, their contention was that the campus climate committees have not been convened to specifically address anti-Semitism – which accounts for 80% of the threatened violence and racial slurs on campus, but have been given wide purview for an investigation embracing all forms of racism.   The letter composed by Rossman- Benjamin, Beckwith and U.C. Irvine lecturer Roberta Seid, gave explicit recommendations for the course the U.C. President ( himself an observant Jew) , should undertake.

They are too numerous to enumerate here but fall under the rubric of one basic directive : Call this intolerance and bigotry for what it is -  a resurgence of the same anti-Semitism which has  its roots planted deeply in Western history.

Yudof, disappointingly, has not risen to this challenge.  In a letter, dated July 2 and addressed to the fourteen named leaders of organizations who signed the original June 28 letter( myself included)  he ducks the demand that the Board of Regents  expressly name anti-Semtism as the number one cause of disturbances  on our campuses.   Instead he urges that the multicultural campus climate change committees be given the opportunity to do their work and provide their recommendations for dealing with outbreaks of racism.

Fair enough.   I can take Yudof at his word and wait for his committees to do their work.   But we are  all, nevertheless, absolutely correct to be skeptical.   For multicultural panels throughout the West , such as the ones he has convened, have proved themselves regularly inept in addressing outbreaks of anti-Semitism, particularly from within the Muslim community.  Read almost any British newspaper these days ( or the reports that we present weekly from that country in The Western Word) and you will find evidence of multicultural city councils, police boards and government agencies  surrendering to the cultural sensitivities of Muslim communities, abjectly bowing to their supposed ‘multicultural’ and rights of free speech to express anger about  Israeli policies and against any Jew who supports them.

I rather like Sharon Rappeport’s response to Yudof’s letter.    She states that sensible monarchs learned centuries ago that  there is never a  substitute for first hand experience and every now and then it is good for the King to wander amongst his subjects to see for himself what is really going on in the streets of his towns and villages.

“  May I suggest then that you dress as do many of your ( observant Jewish)  students:  with a beard, kippa, and tzitzit–the strings hanging on the outside. Then attend a free speech “talk” by Abdul Malek at U.C. Irvine or Santa Cruz and discover what it feels like to be pointed at and screamed at by him and intimidated by his menacing bodyguards. Hang out at “the wall” during “Israel Apartheid Week”–choose any of the U.C. campuses–and try entering a discussion with the organizers of that hate fest, surrounded by banners equating Jews with Nazis. They will tell you straight out that they believe you should be killed.”

It seems inevitable that while the climate change committees slowly deliberate over the nature of  violent rhetoric that has engulfed California campuses in recent years,  actual violence and murder may not be too far away.

At that point, with blood  spilled on our campuses, it may be too late for Mark Yudof and his Board of Regents to officially recognize that, yes, indeed, we have an antisemitic problem that cannot be met by subscription to the usual multicultural pieties or soft touch policies.  They can only be stamped out by resort to the most draconian measures  – either the dissolution of campus organizations, expulsion of the offending students or direct charges of criminal behavior.

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 and the Los Angeles Jewish Journal Blog  On The Other Hand.

NEWS: EUROPE AND AMERICA

Terror Experts Blast Obama Move to Drop References to Islamic Extremism-AP
The Obama administration's recent move to drop references to Islamic radicalism is drawing fire in a new report warning the decision ignores the role religion can play in motivating terrorists.
WASHINGTON -- The Obama administration's recent move to drop references to Islamic radicalism is drawing fire in a new report warning the decision ignores the role religion can play in motivating terrorists. Several prominent counterterror experts are challenging the administration's shift in its recently unveiled National Security Strategy, saying the terror threat should be defined in order to fight it. The question of how to frame the conflict against Al Qaeda and other terrorists poses a knotty problem. The U.S. is trying to mend fences with Muslim communities while toughening its strikes against militant groups. In the report, scheduled to be released this week, counterterrorism experts from the Washington Institute for Near East Policy argue that the U.S. could clearly articulate the threat from radical Islamic extremists "without denigrating the Islamic religion in any way." President Barack Obama has argued that words matter, and administration officials have said that the use of inflammatory descriptions linking Islam to the terror threat feed the enemy's propaganda and may alienate moderate Muslims in the U.S. In the report, which was obtained by The Associated Press, the analysts warn that U.S. diplomacy must sharpen the distinction between the Muslim faith and violent Islamist extremism, identify radicalizers within Islamic communities and empower voices that can contest the radical teachings. (Foxnews)

Canadian extremist Salman Hossain charged with promoting genocide-Kathryn Blaze Carlson
A Canadian extremist who has allegedly called for the “extermination” of Jews has been charged with promoting genocide, marking the first time such a case has been filed in Canada. Salman Hossain was charged by Ontario Provincial Police following an investigation into Internet posts that advocate the mass killing of Jews in Canada and other Western countries. At a press conference at a hotel near Pearson Airport this afternoon, out-going OPP Commissioner Julian Fantino and Deputy Commissioner Vince Hawkes announced the unprecedented charge against the Bangladeshi-Canadian, who left Mississauga for South Asia before the five-month police investigation was finished.“Canada’s Charter of Rights and Freedoms includes the right to freedom of speech and freedom of assembly,” said Commissioner Fantino. “But we must not stand idly by when these rights are used as a shield to promote hatred against in a community.” The National Post first reported in January 2008 that police were investigating Mr. Hossain after he allegedly posted messages online saying he enjoyed “watching the blood flow from the western troops” and allegedly said “the Jews are literally the most treacherous nation on the face of the Earth.” He is now facing charges of willfully promoting hatred and advocating or promoting genocide against an identifiable group. (Nationalpost)

Homegrown terrorism remains a threat across Europe-Fabian Schmidt
Five years after the London bombings, in which 52 people died, homegrown terror remains a concern across Europe. More dialogue and a coordinated strategy is how EU countries hope to tackle the problem.
Homegrown terrorism is a relatively new term - and a new phenomenon. But Europe has learned through experience that it is a danger from within that cannot be ignored. Five years ago, on July 7, 2005, four bomb attacks on the London transport system left 56 dead and countless wounded. One year earlier, the Madrid attacks claimed the lives of 191 people. In Germany, the so-called Sauerland terror cell had devised attacks on airports that were only prevented because the group's plans were uncovered shortly before they intended to carry them out. Homegrown terrorism is different from attacks like those in the United States on September 11, 2001. The perpetrators come from the very countries they attack, where they grew up and went to school. Most come from secular immigrant families and are brought up without religious zeal. They seem well integrated into society - until they come into contact with Islamist extremists. Some of these homegrown terrorists do not even have a Muslim background and only convert to Islam when they become adults. (Dw-world.de)

Anti-veil law risks being shot down by constitutional council-Gaëlle LE ROUX
France’s UMP party leader at the National Assembly has declared that the party's proposed anti-veil law would be sent to the Constitutional Council to confirm its constitutional validity, a rather risky move for the party. A proposed law against the wearing of the full Islamic veil in French public spaces is to be sent to France’s Constitutional Council after being voted on by the Parliament.That was the surprise announcement by Jean-Francois Cope, head of the ruling UMP party in parliament, during a debate on the text by the French National Assembly on Wednesday. The ‘Sages’ (wise ones), as the Constitutional Council of France is popularly known, are charged with examining the compatibility of laws with the rights and freedoms guaranteed by the constitution. But there’s a strong chance that they will reject a general ban on the Muslim veil, making it a risky bet for the majority party. Back in March, the State Council, an advisory government body headed by the prime minister, expressed serious reserves on a “general and absolute ban on the wearing of the full veil as such or any method of concealing the face in all public spaces," saying that the act "would be exposed to serious risks with regards to the Constitution...". Gilles Devers, a lawyer in Lyon and co-author of the book Law and Islam, agrees: "This law touches on fundamental freedoms, it will not withstand the scrutiny of the Constitutional Council," he said. (France24)

Council forces schools to rearrange exams and cancel lessons to avoid offending Muslims during Ramadan-Claire Ellicott
Schools are being urged to rearrange tests, cancel swimming lessons and stop sex education to avoid offending Muslims during Ramadan. Head teachers in Stoke-on-Trent have been issued with the guidance for treatment of Muslim pupils who may still be fasting when the new term starts in September. But critics dismissed the advice as ‘over-zealous’ bureaucracy and said all pupils would be forced to miss out on activities as a result. During Ramadan, all Muslims who have reached puberty avoid eating or drinking between sunrise and sunset to encourage discipline and self-restraint.
To help them with this, Stoke council advises schools not to schedule exams or hold parents’ meetings and social events after school. They should also avoid swimming lessons because some parents and pupils consider the risk of swallowing water too great. It even advises schools to cancel sex education because Muslims are expected to avoid sexual thoughts while fasting. (Dailymail.co.uk)

ACADEMIC FREEDOM

Conferring Privilege: DOJ, Law Schools, and the New Politics of Race-Peter Wood
The resignation of career official J. Christian Adams from the Justice Department in protest over the Department’s decision to dismiss its charges against the New Black Panther Party has put a spotlight on a legal theory that apparently has considerable support in the Obama administration. The New Black Panther Party was accused of using threats of force and intimidation at a polling station in Philadelphia in the November 2008 election. Some of the New Black Panthers were caught on a widely circulated video threatening would-be voters verbally and with a nightstick. The actions of the men in the video seem to be a clear-cut instance of a violation of the 1965 Voter Rights Act--but apparently not to some senior figures at the Justice Department. The nonfeasance of the Justice Department in this case has drawn the attention of the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights which has opened its own inquiry. What’s going on? This year marks the 45th anniversary of affirmative action, and the irony has never been thicker. It was on June 4, 1965 that President Lyndon Johnson gave his “Freedom is not enough,” speech at Howard University, in which he called for steps to achieve racial equality in the United States beyond simply removing legal barriers. Later that year he issued Executive Order 11246, which made affirmative action an official federal policy. Johnson had no idea that what he had set in motion in the name of equality would eventually become the basis for a new institutionalized system of racial inequality. (NAS)

How Diversity Punishes Asians, Poor Whites and Lots of Others-Russell K. Nieli
When college presidents and academic administrators pay their usual obeisance to "diversity" you know they are talking first and foremost about race. More specifically, they are talking about blacks. A diverse college campus is understood as one that has a student body that -- at a minimum -- is 5 to 7 percent black (i.e., equivalent to roughly half the proportion of blacks in the general population). A college or university that is only one, two, or three percent black would not be considered "diverse" by college administrators regardless of how demographically diverse its student body might be in other ways. The blacks in question need not be African Americans -- indeed at many of the most competitive colleges today, including many Ivy League schools, an estimated 40-50 percent of those categorized as black are Afro-Caribbean or African immigrants, or the children of such immigrants. As a secondary meaning "diversity" can also encompass Hispanics, who together with blacks are often subsumed by college administrators and admissions officers under the single race category "underrepresented minorities." Most colleges and universities seeking "diversity" seek a similar proportion of Hispanics in their student body as blacks (since blacks and Hispanics are about equal in number in the general population), though meeting the black diversity goal usually has a much higher priority than meeting the Hispanic one. Asians, unlike blacks and Hispanics, receive no boost in admissions. Indeed, the opposite is often the case, as the quota-like mentality that leads college administrators to conclude that they may have "too many" Asians. (Mindingthecampus)

MEDIA BIAS

Fit for ‘The New York Times’-Caroline Glick
The media barely noted two important statements made this week that shed light on the nature of Palestinian conflict with Israel.
Two important statements this week shed a light on the nature of the Palestinian conflict with Israel. Both were barely noted by the media. On Saturday, the London-based Al-Hayat newspaper reported that Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas gave US mediator George Mitchell a letter detailing a number of concessions that he would make towards Israel in a final peace treaty. These included a willingness to accept permanent Israeli sovereignty over the Jewish Quarter in Jerusalem’s Old City and over the Western Wall. The Al- Hayat report received enthusiastic and expansive coverage in the Israeli media and in media outlets throughout the world. What was barely noted was that just hours after the report hit the airwaves, Abbas’s chief negotiator Saeb Erekat categorically denied the story. In an interview with Israel Radio, Saeb Erekat said the story was untrue. Abbas has been the recipient of adulatory press coverage in Israel over the past several days. Last week, he thrilled the Hebrew-language media when he invited Israeli reporters to a sumptuous feast at his Ramallah headquarters. And then the Al-Hayat story came out. Lost in the excitement was Abbas’s eulogy for arch terrorist Muhammad Daoud Oudeh, who died over the weekend. Oudeh was the mastermind of the PLO’s massacre of 11 Israeli athletes during the 1972 Munich Olympics. Abbas himself served as the operation’s paymaster. (Jpost)

Whitewashing Black Racism-Michelle Malkin
Team Obama and its media water-carriers are exhibiting the very racial cowardice they once purported to condemn.
Why haven’t national media outlets reported on the vile and violent rants of the New Black Panther Party (NBPP) thugs whose 2008 voter-intimidation tactics got a pass from the Obama administration? Simple: Radical black racism doesn’t fit the Hope and Change narrative. There’s no way to shoehorn Bush-bashing into the story. And, let’s face it, exposing the inflammatory rhetoric of the Left does nothing to help liberal editors and reporters fulfill their true calling — embarrassing the Right. This week, Justice Department whistleblower J. Christian Adams came forward with damning public testimony about how Obama officials believe “civil-rights law should not be enforced in a race-neutral manner, and should never be enforced against blacks or other national minorities.” In the wake of Adams’s exposé on how the Obama Justice Department abandoned default judgments against the NBPP bullies for the sake of politically correct racial politics, a shocking video clip of one of the lead defendants in the Philadelphia voter-intimidation case resurfaced on the Internet. It shows bloodthirsty King Samir Shabazz during a 2009 National Geographic documentary interview spewing: “You want freedom? You’re gonna have to kill some crackers! You’re gonna have to kill some of their babies!” (Nationalreview)

Justice Department Whistleblower Ignored by News Media. Why?-Jim Kouri, CPP
The Department of Justice whistleblower who resigned over the “corrupt nature of the dismissal” of the New Black Panther case testified before the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights this week. Unfortunately, except for the Fox News Channel -- Megyn Kelly, Glenn Beck and others -- the nation's newsrooms are ignoring the story. At the hearing in the commission’s Washington D.C. headquarters, J. Christian Adams accused the DOJ of racial bias for dropping charges against the New Black Panther Party. An attorney on the case, Adams testified that within the DOJ’s Civil Rights Division there is a pervasive and open hostility towards equal enforcement of the law. So insidious is this attitude that, according to Adams, even a minority DOJ employee was harassed by DOJ Voting Section staff for working on a case with white victims. To support his allegations regarding the culture of the Civil Rights Division, Adams cited numerous second and firsthand accounts. Notably, he stated that Deputy Assistant Attorney General Julie Fernandes told him personally that the division is “in the business of traditional civil rights work. "In other words, it will only pursue cases with minority victims," said officials at the Washington watchdog group Judicial Watch. (Familysecuritymatters)

FREEDOM OF SPEECH

What You Can't Say About Islamism-Paul Berman
American intellectuals won't face up to Muslim radicalism's Nazi past.
In our present Age of the Zipped Lip, you are supposed to avoid making any of the following inconvenient observations about the history and doctrines of the Islamist movement: You are not supposed to observe that Islamism is a modern, instead of an ancient, political tendency, which arose in a spirit of fraternal harmony with the fascists of Europe in the 1930s and '40s. You are not supposed to point out that Nazi inspirations have visibly taken root among present-day Islamists, notably in regard to the demonic nature of Jewish conspiracies and the virtues of genocide. And you are not supposed to mention that, by inducing a variety of journalists and intellectuals to maintain a discreet and respectful silence on these awkward matters, the Islamist preachers and ideologues have succeeded in imposing on the rest of us their own categories of analysis. Or so I have argued in my recent book, "The Flight of the Intellectuals." But am I right? I glance with pleasure at some harsh reviews, convinced that here, in the worst of them, is my best confirmation. No one disputes that the Nazis collaborated with several Islamist leaders. Amin al-Husseini, the mufti of Jerusalem, orated over Radio Berlin to the Middle East. The mufti's strongest supporter in the region was Hassan al-Banna, the founder of the Muslim Brotherhood. Al-Banna, too, spoke well of Hitler. But there is no consensus on how to interpret those old alliances and their legacy today. (WSJ)

Ayaan Hirsi Ali: the fatwa victim who refuses to keep quiet-Tom Leonard
With a new book out, Ayaan Hirsi Ali shows no sign of softening in her criticism of Islam.
Ayaan Hirsi Ali sips green tea, the porcelain cup and saucer miraculously not too heavy for the slightest of wrists, the slimmest of figures perched stork-like in a hotel lobby's armchair. When she talks, her voice is so soft that I feel my tape recorder will have to be right in front of her mouth to catch her words before they float away. But then, a police officer – her police officer – walks past our table having exchanged a nod with her bodyguard near the entrance, a gentle reminder that Hirsi Ali is rather more than the sum of her slender parts. Somali immigrant, feminist activist, ex-Dutch politician and relentlessly fierce critic of Islam, Hirsi Ali was living under a fatwa even before Theo van Gogh – her collaborator on a controversial film about a Muslim woman – was murdered in 2004. A message was left stuck into his chest with a knife saying that she was next. She went into hiding and has had to live a life constrained by security precautions. The experience has hardly mellowed her views or her willingness to speak out. Her latest barrage, a second memoir entitled Nomad, has left her opponents seething with rage once again and scrambling to denounce her. And that's just the liberals. (Telegraph.co.uk)

Swedish cartoonist 'Islam's greatest enemy'-AFP
Two brothers accused of fire-bombing the home of a Swedish artist over a picture of the Prophet Mohammed went on trial Tuesday with one of them calling him "Islam's greatest enemy".
Artist Lars Vilks "is God's enemy, he is the Prophet's enemy, he is the Muslims' enemy," the eldest of the two brothers told the court in the southern city of Helsingborg, the TT news agency reported. "He is Islam's greatest enemy right now," he added. The news agency did not give the brothers' names, but the Expressen tabloid identified them as Mentor and Mensur Alija, aged 21 and 19. Vilks has faced numerous death threats and a suspected assassination plot since his drawing of the Muslim prophet with the body of a dog was first published by Swedish regional daily Nerikes Allehanda in 2007 to illustrate an editorial on the importance of freedom of expression. The brothers, who are Swedish nationals of Kosovar origin, were arrested in May when several of their personal items were found outside the artist's house after it was attacked with Molotov cocktails. (Swedishwire)

ANTISEMITISM

The Hidden Costs of Jew-Baiting in England-Richard Landes
London is an amazing place, full of vitality, intensity, foreign tourists and residents, a patchwork of pluralism. Talk to the average person, and nothing seems amiss: this cab driver, having driven in London for 40 years, sees no significant change in the neighborhoods he travels through; this financier sees no signs of intimidation; this shopper, this tavern-hopper, this man on the bus, lives in an interesting and relatively normal world. A superficial walk through the [Regent’s] park gives the distinct sense of normality. But talk to the Jews, and you get a different story. The International Association of Jewish Lawyers and Jurists held a conference here this week. The topic: Democratic and Legal Norms in an Age of Terror [1]. Panels discussed everything from the Goldstone Report, to the BDS (Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions) movement, to “universal jurisdiction” (lawfare against Israelis brought in foreign courts). Here, in the Khalili Lecture Theatre of the SOAS (School for Oriental and African Studies), Jewish lawyers discussed a grim reality whose only public appearance on an everyday basis is the drumbeat of calumny that a boisterous elite — NGOs, journalists, academics — rain down on Israel. Perhaps the most startling of the sessions concerned the BDS movement. Jonathan Rynhold, from the BESA Center at Bar Ilan, and Anthony Julius, author of Trials of the Diaspora: A History of Anti-Semitism in England [2], both presented a picture of British anti-Zionist activity whose intellectual and moral foundations were profoundly irrational, a dogmatic will to stigmatize and destroy Israel that responded to no argument about proportion (what about other places?) or reason (you make no moral demands of the Palestinians). (Pajamasmedia)

Jews reluctantly abandon Swedish city amid growing anti-Semitism-Donald Synder The Forward
The Muslim population in Malmo lives in segregated conditions that seem to breed alienation and anger directed at Israeli policies.
MALMO, SWEDEN — At some point, the shouts of “Heil Hitler” that often greeted Marcus Eilenberg as he walked to the 107-year-old Moorish-style synagogue in this port city forced the 32-year-old attorney to make a difficult, life-changing decision: Fearing for his family’s safety after repeated anti-Semitic incidents, Eilenberg reluctantly uprooted himself and his wife and two children, and moved to Israel in May. Sweden, a country long regarded as a model of tolerance, has, ironically, been a refuge for Eilenberg’s family. His paternal grandparents found a home in Malmo in 1945 after surviving the Holocaust. His wife’s parents came to Malmo from Poland in 1968 after the communist government there launched an anti-Semitic purge. But as in many other cities across Europe, a rapidly growing Muslim population living in segregated conditions that seem to breed alienation has mixed toxically with the anger directed at Israeli policies and actions by those Muslims — and by many non-Muslims — to all but transform the lives of local Jews. Like many of their counterparts in other European cities, the Jews of Malmo report being subjected increasingly to threats, intimidation and actual violence as stand-ins for Israel. (Haaretz)

Jordan: Boycott Drive Hits Next Level-Maayana Miskin
One of Jordan's largest committees to oppose the normalization of ties with Israel – the Higher Executive Committee for Defending the Homeland and Confronting Normalization – has called on national unions not only to avoid business with Israel, but to take the additional step of refusing to deal with companies that transport goods to and from the Jewish state. The committee asked the Jordanian general federation of trade unions to refuse to load or unload goods from Israel or the United States, or to do any work involving ships heading to Israel. The request was signed by Hamza Mansour of the Islamic Action Front. Mansour noted that the Swedish Dockworkers Union had temporarily refused to work with Israeli ships in response to a clash between Israeli soldiers and a Gaza-bound flotilla. Turkish citizens aboard the flotilla brutally attacked soldiers, who opened fire in response, killing nine. Jordan, not Sweden, should take the lead in boycotting Israel, he said. (INN)

Camels were never this vicious-Melanie Phillips
No sooner is one smacked smartly on the butt and disappears into the desert than another one comes ambling across the sand. The gushing effusions by Britain’s ambassador to Lebanon, Frances Guy, about the spiritual godfather of Hezbollah which as I wrote below she posted on the Foreign and Commonwealth Office site, have been excised from that site. But now it turns out that Britain’s ambassador to Jordan, James Watt is even worse, as ‘Bialik’, a reader on the Harry’s Place blog, has pointed out. For on his own FCO blog, Watt makes it clear he doesn’t think Israel has an overwhelming historic claim to its existence, thinks the Palestinian Arabs were indigenous to the land and that the idea that Israel was the Jews’ national home thousands of years ago is fanciful. Here he denies Jewish national self-determination: No one outside Israel is prepared – or very few – to take Zionist arguments at their face value any longer. Here he denies Jewish and Middle Eastern history: Completely non-factual assertions - for example that a Jewish people was building Jerusalem 5,000 years ago - only serve to emphasise the absence of real content or reasoning. The strange thing is how long Western audiences tolerated such claims without challenging them: I think because they were hoping that a reasonable settlement with the indigenous Palestinian population would emerge in the course of things (and with some diplomatic heavy lifting). Here he denies Jewish history and national self-determination and descends into rank bigotry: The origin of the problem – the arrival of the Zionists in Palestine, with their commitment to avoiding any kind of integration into existing society, and their policy of importing their co-religionists from cultural and social backgrounds alien to Palestine, changed everything. (Spectator.co.uk)

Hamas TV Beams Anti-Semitic Lies About Ben Franklin-Hana Levi Julian
Al Aqsa (Hamas-Gaza) TV is continuing its unabated televised anti-Semitic incitement with an interview that claims United States founding father Benjamin Franklin warned Americans about the Jews. The claim, made in an Arabic-language interview on June 17 by United Arab Emirates Creativity Center director Dr. Ali Al-Hamadi, was translated by the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI). “If you read about the literature and heritage of America, you will see that they consider former U.S. President (sic) Benjamin Franklin to be one of their greatest minds,” Al-Hamadi began. “When you read about U.S. heritage, you encounter words written in ink of gold. The Americans endorse the words of Franklin, but when he talks about the Jews, they ignore his words completely." “He (Franklin) lived in 1779, and delivered a famous speech. Addressing the American people, he talked about an immense danger that faced them. He said: 'Do not think that by achieving our independence, the United States is safe from all danger. There is an immense danger...' “These were his words. 'An immense danger faces the American people – the proliferation of Jews in the United States.' He went on to say: 'The Jews are devils and bats. We must expel these sinners...' These are his words, not mine. We must expel this group of sinners from the United States, and if you don't do this immediately, our future generations will curse you, when they find themselves under the boots of the Jews.' It turns out, however, that Al-Hamadi's claim is based on a classic anti-Semitic canard called The Franklin “Prophecy,” a falsified document debunked many decades ago. A 2004 report issued by the U.S. Congress, “Anti-Semitism in Europe: Hearing Before the Subcommittee on European Affairs of the Committee on Relations” describes the fake on page 69: (INN)

TERRORISM, security and policy

Deadly Blasts Rock Uganda's Capital-PETER WONACOTT
Bomb blasts ripped through two establishments in Uganda's capital late Sunday in an apparent terrorist attack targeting crowds that gathered to watch the final World Cup soccer match. A police official in Kampala said the death toll from the two explosions had risen to 64, according to the Associated Press. One American – a private citizen who worked in Uganda – was confirmed dead and several were injured, U.S. State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley said. "We offered assistance to the government on the investigation and they've accepted," he said. "We'll be helping them in coming days." He declined to provide further details about the dead American, saying that the government had to first inform the next of kin. The deadliest attack occurred at a rugby club, as soccer fans watched the final game between Spain and the Netherlands on a large-screen television outdoors, news agencies reported. The second blast took place at an Ethiopian restaurant. Several Americans, part of a church group from Pennsylvania, were wounded at the Ethiopian restaurant. The Rev. Kathleen Kind, a pastor at Christ Community United Methodist Church, in Selinsgrove, Pa., said members of the group were injured but declined to provide more information. "We are in touch with the persons involved and their families and holding everyone in our prayers," she said. (WSJ)

Karzai to push for removing up to 50 ex-Taliban officials from U.N. Blacklist-Colum Lynch and Joshua Partlow
UNITED NATIONS -- Afghan President Hamid Karzai plans to seek the removal of up to 50 former Taliban officials from a U.N. terrorism blacklist -- more than a quarter of those on the list -- in a gesture intended to advance political reconciliation talks with insurgents, according to a senior Afghan official. The Afghan government has sought for years to delist former Taliban figures who it says have cut ties with the Islamist movement. But the campaign to cull names from the list, which imposes a travel ban and other restrictions on 137 individuals tied to the Taliban, has taken on renewed urgency in recent weeks as Karzai has begun to press for a political settlement to Afghanistan's nearly nine-year-old conflict. The diplomatic outreach at the United Nations has been met with resistance from U.N. officials, who are demanding more evidence that the individuals in question have renounced violence, embraced the new Afghan constitution and severed any links with the Taliban and al-Qaeda. On Tuesday, Richard C. Holbrooke, President Obama's special envoy for Afghanistan and Pakistan, traveled to New York to meet with U.N. officials to press them to move forward on the delisting process, according to sources familiar with the talks. The United States opposes the delisting of some of the most violent Taliban fighters, including leader Mohammad Omar. But Holbrooke is eager to reach agreement on removing a slate of purportedly reformed Taliban members ahead of a major international conference in Kabul this month that is aimed at bolstering stability in Afghanistan. (Washingtonpost)

U.S. senators demand Lockerbie bomber is sent back to jail-Daniel Bates
Furious American senators yesterday lambasted Britain's ambassador in Washington over the release of the Lockerbie bomber. The decision to free Abdel Baset al-Megrahi from a Scottish prison was ‘outrageous’ and he should be returned to jail immediately, four prominent Democrats declared. They spoke after the doctor who said Megrahi would be dead within three months admitted he was 'embarrassed' that the mass killer had outlived his prognosis. Dr Karol Sikora, the dean of Buckingham University Medical School, conceded this week that the Libyan could live for 10 or even 20 years. Last night senators despatched a letter to Nigel Sheinwald, the British Ambassador in Washington, calling for an official inquiry into Megrahi's release. Speaking on behalf of the families of his victims, the senators said the episode was a sham and poured shame on Britain. US Senators Kirsten Gillibrand and Charles Schumer of New York and Frank Lautenberg and Robert Menendez of New Jersey demanded the matter be looked into again. ‘I was outraged when Mr. al-Megrahi was released from prison and it is sickening that this convicted terrorist may have been released under false pretenses,’ said Senator Lautenberg. Senator Gillibrand said: ‘The latest reports are extremely troubling. (Dailymail.co.uk)

Holder’s Justice Department Has a Racism Issue-Frank Salvato
If there was any question as to whether or not there was an ideological agenda infused at the US Justice Department with the arrival of Eric Holder as the US Attorney’s General, all doubt should now be removed. A cursory examination of Mr. Holder’s personal statements and instituted departmental policy reveals, without doubt, that Mr. Holder is in fact executing an “affirmative action” policy towards “justice” in the United States. The major problem with this is that justice wears a blindfold. From the moment that Mr. Holder ascended to the position of US Attorney’s General he has raised eyebrows. His opening statement to the American people in his new position was overtly caustic and aggressive, describing the United States as a nation, “voluntarily socially segregated.” He continued: "Though this nation has proudly thought of itself as an ethnic melting pot, in things racial we have always been and continue to be, in too many ways, essentially a nation of cowards..." Truth be told, if the nation is “voluntarily socially segregated” and a nation of racial “cowards,” a great portion of the blame lays with Progressives and Democrats who actively opposed the 1964 Civil Rights Act and who continue, to this day, to divide society along the lines of race for the purpose of political opportunity (read: voter blocks). But I digress...Where a man’s statements cannot be a catalyst for the complete judgment of a man, his actions or inactions, coupled with his statements, illustrates the full measure of a man. Eric Holder’s case is no different. (Familysecuritymatters)

Suicide bombers convicted at end of Britain's biggest terrorism investigation-Duncan Gardham, Security Correspondent
Britain’s largest and longest running terrorist investigation has come to an end with the conviction of three British Muslims for planning to become suicide bombers in an al-Qaeda plot to blow up trans-Atlantic airliners. The three men Ibrahim Savant, 29, Arafat Waheed Khan, 29, Waheed Zaman, 26, made vitriolic suicide videos in which they blamed the West for their actions and claimed there was no such thing as innocent victims of their attacks. They were seen meeting with the central figures of the plot and entering the bomb factory in Walthamstow, East London to make their videos during a six week surveillance operation by police and MI5. Communications intercepted by GCHQ helped reveal that a British al-Qaeda lieutenant called Rashid Rauf - who was also involved in the July 7, July 21 and Manchester shopping centre plots - was behind the attacks. Peter Wright QC, prosecuting, said the three men were the “front line troops” with a “willingness to participate in the deployment of suicide bombers as part of a deadly and co-ordinated campaign against the general public.” Two juries at Woolwich Crown Court in South East London failed to reach verdicts on the central charge of conspiracy to murder and acquitted the men of knowing about the airlines plot itself. The men had claimed they were persuaded to make the videos as part of a protest video by the leader of the plot Abdulla Ahmed Ali. But yesterday they were unanimously convicted of conspiracy to murder at the end of a third trial, four years after their arrest. (Telegraph.co.uk)

Muslim Enclaves U.S.A.- Ryan Mauro
It seems almost unthinkable, but Islamist groups are, as we speak, hard at work creating Muslim states-within-states in the U.S. Indeed, this process has been unfolding for a long time across the Western world, through the creation of isolated Muslim enclaves [1] in both rural and urban areas, as well as through the designation of “no-go zones [2]” where governments admit to having little authority over Muslims living there, essentially leaving them to function as autonomous regions. Daniel Pipes has tracked [1] numerous examples since 2004 of Muslim groups working to create communities based solely on Islam and run by Sharia law. As discussed [3] by David Kennedy Houck in 2006, “Although such concepts are antithetical to a free society, U.S. democracy allows the internal enclave to function beyond the established boundaries of our constitutional framework.” For example, one such community, Gwynn Oak, has been created [4] in Baltimore, Maryland, consisting of Muslim immigrants and African-American converts. The project is led by John Yahya Cason, director of the Islamic Education and Community Development Initiative. Cason explained that the neighborhood is a response to the problem that “Muslim communities are ruled by Western societal tenets, many of which clash with Islamic norms.” In his opinion, there is a need for communities with “the totality of the essential components of Muslim social, economic, and political structure.” As such, the Gwynn Oak enclave follows specific moral rules based on Islam and people there speak Arabic. On September 13, 2009, the construction of its three-story mosque began [5]. Approximately 400 Muslims now live in the vicinity. (Frontpagemagazine)

Iranian fighter turned US spy: Tehran will attack Israel-Dudi Cohen
Former Revolutionary Guard member who relayed its secret operations to CIA for 10 years says Iran will commit 'most horrendous suicide bombing in human history' if not stopped
A former fighter in Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) turned US spy offered a rare glance into one of the most complex countries in the Middle East. During a conference held at The Washington Institute for Near East Policy on Friday, Reza Kahlili (pseudonym) estimated that Iran will eventually attack Israel, Europe and the Persian Gulf states. He called for a preemptive strike on the regime in Tehran, but not on the Iranian people or the country's infrastructure. Kahlili accused the Obama Administration of being naïve. According to him, the American overtures are viewed by the Iranian regime as a sign of weakness, while the Iranian people consider the efforts to engage the regime an act of betrayal against their struggle for freedom. "This is a messianic regime. There should be no doubt – they are going to commit the most horrendous suicide bombing in human history. They will attack Israel, European capitals, and (the) Persian Gulf region at the same time," said Kahlili in one of his first public appearances to promote his new book "A Time To Betray: The Astonishing Double Life of a CIA Agent inside the Revolutionary Guards of Iran". Kahlili said he joined the Revolutionary Guard following the Islamic revolution of 1979, but volunteered to work for the CIA when he became disillusioned with the Khomeini regime after witnessing acts of rape, torture and murder. (Ynetnews)

GLOBAL GOVERNANCE AND RADICAL ENVIRONMENTALISM

The Climategate Whitewash Continues-Patrick J. Michaels
Global warming alarmists claim vindication after last year's data manipulation scandal. Don't believe the 'independent' reviews.
Last November there was a world-wide outcry when a trove of emails were released suggesting some of the world's leading climate scientists engaged in professional misconduct, data manipulation and jiggering of both the scientific literature and climatic data to paint what scientist Keith Briffa called "a nice, tidy story" of climate history. The scandal became known as Climategate. Now a supposedly independent review of the evidence says, in effect, "nothing to see here." Last week "The Independent Climate Change E-mails Review," commissioned and paid for by the University of East Anglia, exonerated the University of East Anglia. The review committee was chaired by Sir Muir Russell, former vice chancellor at the University of Glasgow. (WSJ)

‘Running of the Bulls’ in Pamplona, Running of the Bull with Obama’s ‘Green Jobs’ Nonsense-Chris Horner
July 7 was the start of the running of the bulls in Pamplona — an exhilarating test of one’s Darwinistic chops (Washington Times caption of the below photo: “Christopher Horner is partially seen in the lower left-hand corner, pushing a slower Spaniard out of the way at the running of the bulls”). It is a fitting time to examine President Obama’s persistent running with the bull about a supposed Spanish economic miracle. El toro’s most recent charge came this past weekend in Obama’s weekly radio address. In it, he left no doubt that he is either an extremely slow, stubborn learner, or he cares not a whit about how the drama he is scripting will play out. Recall that, on eight occasions in the past, Obama hailed Spain as his model for the centrally planned “green” (energy-constrained) economy of windmills and solar panels he vowed to impose on us along with health care “reform” and spreading the wealth around. Yet as of his recent Oval Office pitch for the same agenda, Obama no longer points to any such examples when insisting on what he calls “the right thing to do” even if you doubt the global warming claims that used to propel this tenet of the modern statist. The new argument is laid out in the Sunday Washington Post headline [2]: “Obama: Solar power will create jobs.” We see that despite public outrage over Washington, D.C., boondoggles, cost is not a consideration when ramming through “investments” in what Obama wrongly and risibly calls “new technologies;” i.e., wind and solar power: (Pajamasmedia)

SCIENCE, SOCIETY AND CULTURE

Wake up and drink the coffee By JUDY SIEGEL-ITZKOVICH
Recent studies show that the beverage can produce a variety of health benefits.
Coffee is usually regarded as something tasty that – when one has to stay awake for studying for exams or other urgent activity – keeps you awake. But the drink has recently been found to produce a variety of other health benefits, according to a survey article published in the latest issue of the Hebrew-language Israeli Journal of Family Practice. Prof. Yair Yodfat, a family medicine expert at the Hebrew University-Hadassah Medical School and an adviser on hypertension to Sheba Medical Center at Tel Hashomer, writes that he is often asked by patients whether coffee drinking can raise blood pressure. He replies that, based on recent studies, coffee and its caffeine – if consumed in moderate amounts – not only don’t have a bad influence on existing disorders but can also help prevent diseases or prevent those that exist from getting worse. The body can adapt itself to caffeine, he said, and for some people can even allow them to fall asleep not long after having a cup. A stimulant, caffeine influences the release of a variety of neurotransmitters such as noradrenalin, acetylcholine and dopamine. It causes certain blood vessels to expand and others to constrict, while also to increase muscular ability. It may ease some headaches by increasing the blood flow to the brain. (Jpost)

Battle of Britain veterans mark 70th anniversary-Gordon Rayner, Chief Reporter
Battle of Britain veterans have gathered on the white cliffs of Dover on the 70th anniversary of their finest hour to launch a new campaign to keep their memory alive.
Just 89 of the 2,940 men who flew in the Battle survive, and the last of The Few are anxious to make sure their story is told to future generations. As they met for their annual Memorial Day to remember the 544 fighter pilots who died in the Battle between July 10 and October 31, 1940, plans were unveiled for a new learning centre overlooking the cliffs, which will be aimed at schoolchildren. Wing Commander Bob Foster DFC, who flew Hurricanes with 605 Squadron, said: “Our aim is to keep the memory alive and the obvious way to do it is by showing the younger generation what happened. “If you stand here looking over the Channel you can visualise hundreds of bombers coming in from France and so this is the right place to build something before we all go.” Mr Foster was one of 19 pilots attending the Memorial Day ceremony at the Battle of Britain National Memorial in Capel-le-Ferne, Kent, where the £650,000 learning centre is to be built.
It will be housed in replica RAF dispersal huts to give the site the feel of a wartime station. Around 5,000 people attended the open air service. (Telegraph.co.uk)

Terrorizing Muslim Women-Nonie Darwish
There is an article floating all over the Internet, “Joys of Muslim Women [1],” which discusses the horrific truth about how Islam legally treats women. The article claims to have been written by me, but that is false: I am not the author. Let me use this occasion, however, to set a few matters straight: The silence is deafening around the world in regards to the inhumanity and brutality of Sharia towards women. Most of the activism against stoning, flogging and abuse of women under Sharia is heard from former Muslim women, like myself, and a few others in the West who dare to expose the truth. Muslim women have no choice but to abide by Sharia, since rejecting it is grounds for the charge of apostasy, punishable by death. Having been exposed to Sharia for centuries, Muslim women have learned convoluted coping mechanisms to avoid Sharia’s wrath. Engaging in their own form of Stockholm Syndrome, most Muslim women publicly defend the very laws that enslave them. Even Obama’s advisor on Islamic affairs, Dalia Mujahed, stated that Sharia is “misunderstood.” Muslim women end up as the guardians of their own jails. It is women who often report younger girls who refuse to wear the head cover, and some wives cover up for the honor killing of a daughter by their husband or son. Many have accepted their inferior status and wear it as a badge of honor. (Frontpagemagazine)

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