Sunday, November 17, 2019

Palestinism and Palestinianism

As Vic Rosenthal writes

Palestinism? It is the belief that the Palestinian Arabs were unfairly victimized, dispossessed, colonized, raped, punished, expelled, murdered, degraded, castrated, etc. by the Zionist Jews who created the State of Israel, which continues to do all these things to them. Palestinism holds that this is the single greatest injustice in the world today, and only the replacement of the world’s only Jewish state by an Arab state can rectify it.

I use a parallell term, Palestinianism, since at least 2011.

Palestinianism is that ideology which promotes a nationalist myth that there is an Arab Palestinian nation.  It is different from all other Arabs.

That they have resided in the area of Palestine for 5000 years.

That Palestine was never a Jewish homeland. 

That, for example, the Temple never existed. And if it did, it was not erected in Jerusalem.

And on and on.

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Thursday, November 14, 2019

Forcing Language Down Our Throats - UPDATED

The decision of the EU Court in the Psagot Winery case contains this language:


"foodstuffs originating in territories occupied by the State of Israel must bear the indication of their territory of origin, accompanied, where those foodstuffs come from a locality or a group of localities constituting an Israeli settlement within that territory, by the indication of that provenance... as regards the issue whether the indication ‘Israeli settlement’ is mandatory, the Court first of all underlined that the settlements established in some of the territories occupied by the State of Israel are characterised by the fact that they give concrete expression to a policy of population transfer conducted by that State outside its territory, in violation of the rules of general international humanitarian law. The Court then held that the omission of that indication, with the result that only the territory of origin is indicated, might mislead consumers."

From that it seems that any winery or factory for that matter must use the term "settlement" on its label.

But why is that the term to be employed?

Why not "community"? Or another synonymous term?




Why is "indication of their territory of origin", which plainly refers to a geographical location, to be solely defined as "settlement" rather than actual geography?

The geographical terms "Judea" and Samaria" after all appear in the UN's 1947 Partition Plan to delineate borders. Here:


...The boundary of the hill country of Samaria and Judea starts on the Jordan River at the Wadi Malih...at a point on the district boundary between Haifa and Samaria west of El Mansi...From here it follows the northern and eastern boundaries of the village of Ar'ara, rejoining the Haifa-Samaria district boundary at Wadi'Ara

Can this: "Produced at the Psagot Winery, in the territory of Samaria", be used?   

Or can "Produced at the Locality of Psagot" be used?

If not, why?

Why is the Court obligating, as regards "indication", that only the specific term "settlement" is mandatory?

By the way, in French, "settlement" is translated as colonie (see here). That truly would be a matter of bad English with unnecessary negative connotation.

This is, in addition to all else wrong with the decision, stuffing langauge down or throats.

__________

P.S.

Yes, I am aware that the issue the Court addressed was whether the products made in Judea and Samaria can be labelled "Made in Israel".  See this as an example of addressing that.

P.P.S.

If the wine, or whatever, produced in Judea & Samaria cannot be labeled as "Made in Israel", it equally should not be labeled as "Made in Palestine" so, is it "Made in the Disputed/Occupied/Liberated Territories of Somewhere or Other"?

UPDATE

The full judgment (I was relying on the press release) reads:


For products from Palestine that do not originate from settlements, an indication which does not mislead about the geographical origin, while corresponding to international practice, could be “product from the West Bank (Palestinian product)”, “product from Gaza” or “product from Palestine”.

P.P.P.S

The Court also observed that 


the country of origin or the place of provenance of a foodstuff must...be indicated where failure to indicate this might mislead consumers into believing that that foodstuff has a country of origin or a place of provenance different from its true country of origin or place of provenance. In addition, it noted that, where the origin or provenance is indicated on a foodstuff, it must not be deceptive.
and

For products from the West Bank or the Golan Heights that originate from settlements, an indication limited to “product from the Golan Heights” or “product from the West Bank” would not be acceptable. Even if they would designate the wider area or territory from which the product originates, the omission of the additional geographical information that the product comes from Israeli settlements would mislead the consumer as to the true origin of the product. In such cases the expression “Israeli settlement” or equivalent needs to be added, in brackets, for example. Therefore, expressions such as “product from the Golan Heights (Israeli settlement)” or “product from the West Bank (Israeli settlement)” could be used.’


If so, how can anything produced by Arabs in the same territory be labled "Made in Palestine"? The Court suggests the Shiloh Winery located 1.5 kilometers from Turmos Aya are in two different geographical provenances?




Much more deceptive as Palestine doesn't actually exist. 

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Monday, November 11, 2019

Temple Mount Double Header

Two recommended videos.

Here's me explaining the historical and political issues related to the Temple Mount.

And here, you can take a tour of the Temple Mount.

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Wednesday, November 06, 2019

Begin, Carter and Shiloh


"Prime Minister Begin: I want to discuss the question you raised about settlements. This is a very serious matter for us. I want to speak with candor. No settlements will be allowed to become obstacles to negotiations. Jews and Arabs live together in Jaffa, in Haifa. There are many towns named Hebron in the United States, and many named Bethel and Shiloh.
President: Just 20 miles from my home town there is a Bethel and a Shiloh, each of which has a Baptist Church!
Prime Minister Begin: Imagine the Governor of a state declaring that all American citizens except Jews could go to live in those towns. Can we be expected, as the government of Israel, to prevent a Jew from establishing his home in the original Bethel? In the original Shiloh? These will not be an obstacle to negotiation. The word “non-negotiable” is not in our vocabulary. But this is a great moral issue. We cannot tell Jews in their own land that they cannot settle in Shiloh. We cannot do that. This is a serious issue to us. One day I hope you will come to visit Shiloh.
President: I have already been to Bethel.
Prime Minister Begin: You will find it interesting to see Shiloh. There are many Biblical stories about it."

'Settlers' Cutting Down Olive Trees?

No.

Arabs trimming them. Near Qaryut. Assisted by a solidarity activist.

Can you tell the difference?




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Tuesday, November 05, 2019

Balzac in Brody

My mother's family is from Brody.

Did you know that Balzac passed though Brody?

Twice?

It was the major railway crossing point into Russia from Eastern Europe, as the two tracks were of different gauge and a transfer was required from one to the other.

From this book: 

"Brody: A Galician Border City in the Long Nineteenth Century" by Börries Kuzmany



The source is here.

And this:

Jews celebrated their feast; and when the Jews celebrate their rituals, commercial life ceases. Everything from Brody is in the hands of the Jews. I have not read in any work the exact news about this conquest of Poland by the Hebrews. The Jew rules and doesn't rule! It is certain. (...) Jews in Brody, even for millions, would not neglect their rituals, so it was impossible to make a deal for my trip from Brody to BerdyczĂłw, I expected a Jewish banker from BerdyczĂłw, an old Halperin who prayed and addressed my letter of recommendation. This king Berdichev said that he would not leave the synagogue before evening; I had to go to the exchange office of the rich company Hausener, where I exchanged napoleons for rubles, half rounds, third, fourth, fifth and tenth parts of the ruble. What did not tell me the factor of the Russian Hotel, which showed me around Brody!

I seem to recall a Haaretz story on this. In it Balzac adds that he was amazed at the way the Jewish women paraded the streets in their finery and in all their jewels.


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Friday, November 01, 2019

Swastikas a Symbol of White Supremacy?

We read:


SAFI stands with Jewish students and all those affected by the Swastikas drawn on the Fine Arts Center today. We are deeply hurt and disgusted by these anti-Semitic symbols being represented on our campus. This is an act of White Supremacy which is unacceptable and we must condemn it. Hate Has No Home at UMass:

I commented


Wow. This "an act of White Supremacy" shows how much you students still need to learn. The Mufti linked himself to Nazism from 1933 and served Hitler. We see swastikas all the time here in Judea and Samaria. The Gazan protestors wave it on flags and banners.

In case they remove it, here's a screensnap:





If you Google, you can find photos of swastikas held aloft in pro-Palestine demonstrations all over Europe as well, not only here on our borders





Who will teach these students?

P.S.

Been sent this, part (I hope) of their solution to the swatikas:


"Students, we are here for you! For those who want to talk and be in community, here are a few opportunities:
"Our staff will be outside Peet's Coffee in the ILC today from 1:00-5:00 p.m. with bagels."We will hold open office hours in the Hillel House this evening from 4:00-8:00 p.m."Tomorrow, following Shabbat dinner, we will be holding space at Hillel for conversation, reflection, and processing. All are welcome to come by to be in community."


Nothing like bagels to ward off swastikas.

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