The Real Apartheid in the Middle East

The news:

Delta Partnership With Saudi Air a Controversial Connection

The Saudi government-owned carrier does not allow anyone into Saudi Arabia, no matter their ethnicity or citizenship, if that person has an Israeli stamp on his or her passport...Delta's new alliance with Saudi Arabian Airlines through its Skyteam Network is coming under fire. As policy, the Saudi government-owned carrier does not allow anyone into Saudi Arabia, no matter their ethnicity or citizenship, if that person has an Israeli stamp on his or her passport.

"...[ADL notes] discrimination of this kind has no place in American business or trade."

..."As a Jewish person, I should be able to fly into Saudi Arabia or anywhere else," says South Florida Delta passenger Michael Friedman. He says he has many Delta miles under his belt, but thinks partnering with the Saudi carrier reflects badly on Delta. 

...The Saudi government [claims] that it does not deny visas to U.S. citizens based on their religion.  The statement did not mention entry denied to those with Israeli stamps on passports.

...While Delta cannot control the Saudi government's rules governing who is allowed to enter that country, the airline can certainly choose with whom it forms alliances, as one South Florida traveler told NBCMiami at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood Internatonal Airport.  "I guess it's something that we need to be more educated on, who we're doing business with," said Lisa Angelbello, just before boarding a Delta flight.

More news (with correction on Saudi policy):

The Saudi Arabian embassy on Friday (June 24) denied as "completely false" reports that U.S. Jews would not be able to travel to Saudi Arabia under Delta Air Line's planned partnership with Saudi Arabian Airlines..."Rumors being circulated via the Internet regarding passenger flight restrictions on Saudi Arabian Airlines are completely false," the embassy statement said. "The government of Saudi Arabia does not deny visas to U.S. citizens based on their religion."  Saudi officials told CNN that the kingdom does not grant visas to holders of Israeli passports because it does not recognize Israel, and will not deny entry visas to Americans simply because of an Israeli stamp on a U.S. passport...Delta did not deny concerns about Jews' or Israelis' ability to travel to Saudi Arabia.

And that has led to action:

A U.S. lawmaker wants the Federal Aviation Administration to investigate allegations that Delta Airlines has entered into an agreement with Saudi Arabia that could prohibit American Jews from flying into the country - a charge the airline and the Saudi government vigorously dispute.  “I request your investigation into this matter to determine whether Delta Airlines violated U.S. law or regulation and to ensure no U.S. citizen is denied their right to fly solely on the basis of their religion,” Illinois Sen. Mark Kirk wrote in a letter to the head of the FAA.

So, Jews have problems.  What about Christians?  Well

The Saudi regime's Expatriates Monitoring Committee used a new high-tech finger-print system to identify Nirosh Kamanda of Sri Lanka as a Christian, reported Arab News, the government-approved English-language paper.   "The Grand Mosque and the holy city are forbidden to non-Muslims," said Col. Suhail Matrafi, head of the department in charge of Expatriates Affairs in Mecca. "The new fingerprints system is very helpful and will help us a lot to discover the identity of a lot of criminals and overstayers."

More on him here.  And see this.

Should Christians protest?  Why not is suggested here.

Is that a form of apartheid?

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Words of Wisdom

Those, even Jews themselves, who announce they have nothing against Jews but are opposed to Zionism are like those who say they like Afro-Americans but can't stand the color black.

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Looking Back on That 1947 Partition Recommendatiom and Around-about

Who was enthusiastically in favor?

Not them:

December 3, 1947

Anti-partition Demonstrations Break out in Egypt; 30,000 Demonstrate in Baghdad

New demonstrations broke out in Egypt today and violence was reported in at least one city as Arabs in the major centers of the Middle East joined the Palestine Arabs in a protest strike against the U.N. decision in favor of the partitioning of Palestine. At Zagazig, a town about 40 miles north of Cairo, the British Institute was wrecked and gutted by fire after being attacked by 1,000 demonstrators...In Cairo, Premier Mahmoud Nokrashy Pasha told the Parliament that Egypt would "ignore" partition. Abdul Rahman Azzam Pasha, secretary-general of the Arab League, told demonstrating students in Cairo that it was their duty to go to Palestine and fight...In Baghdad, 30,000 demonstrators were kept in line by mounted policemen. Recruiting offices were reportedly opened in Beirut for Arabs desiring to fight in Palestine.  According to another report some 20-odd Syrian deputies volunteered for combatant service after the Syrian parliament had voted some $880,000 to raise a "striking force."

Two months earlier:

The ex-mufti of Jerusalem today arrived in Beirut, Lebanon...to attend a meeting, begun yesterday, of the Arab League Council, which will discuss the Palestine problem, among other matters...Sheikh Hassan el Banna, head of the Moslem Brotherhood, had pledged to send 10,000 young Arabs to "save Palestine." In a cable to Abdul Rahman Azzam Pasha, secretary-general of the Arab League who is now in Beirut, Banna said that "fighting is the only means of saving Palestine."

By the way, this sounds familiar:

[UN] Israeli representative Aubrey Eban...pointed out that other atrocity stories mentioned by Azzam Pasha had proved to be "imaginary." In addition, he asserted that any suffering of the civilian population was the responsibility of the Arab states who admittedly invaded Palestine.

And what about the theme of boycott?  Here, from October 1947:

The Arab League Council today decided on measures to strengthen the boycott of "Zionist-made" goods...it was reported tonight from Beirut.  Abdul Rahman Azzam Pasha, general-secretary of the League, declared that Palestine was the keystone about which had been built the first agreement for military cooperation in the history of the Arab nations....

And here's the left-wing talking in October 1947 (sounds like today's radical progressives?):

There is no danger of an Arab invasion of Palestine in spite of the threats of the neighboring Arab countries, it was reported here today by three leaders of the Histadruth...Abba Khoushi, Joseph Biankower and Don Pines...

Did the Arabs invade before May 15, 1948?

February 5, 1948
British Repulse Arab Attack at Palestine-syria Frontier; Capture Iraqis and Syrians

One Arab was killed and several wounded in a fight between British frontier troops and an Arab unit dressed in military uniform which attempted to cross from Syria into Palestine to attack Jewish settlements in the Mishmar Hayarden area. Two Iraqis and four Syrians were captured in the battle, while the others retreated into Syria.

And this from March 4, 1948

Approximately 5,000 Arabs invaded Palestine from neighboring countries since the adoption of the partition decision by the General assembly, it was reported today in the House of Commons during a debate on the Palestine question in which Foreign Secretary. Ernest Bevin participated.

What else went on that I could recalll to you?  Ah, this:

Nuri Pasha es-Said, ex-Premier of Iraq and President of the Iraq Senate, submitted to the recent meeting of Arab state premiers a plan worked out by British officials providing for the annexation by King Abdullah of Transjordan of the projected Arab part of Palestine, to be set up under United Nations auspices as a separate state, it was learned here.The Arab part of Palestine, under the British plan, would then be used as a British advance base in the Middle East.

Did Jews assert their rights?  Yes.  The Jewish Agency described:-

...the statement made yesterday by Jamal Husseini, Palestine Arab leader, to the opening session of the second part of the London Conference as a "complete disregard of the fundamental facts of history and the present position of the Jews," the Jewish Agency office here today stated that the Arabs need not fear the emergence of a Jewish state.  Maintaining that the Zionists have always taken into account the presence of the Arabs in Palestine, and the fact that it is surrounded on three sides by Arab-speaking countries, the statement declares that Husseini and his friends ignore the attachment of the Jewish people to Palestine and their determination to renew their national life there, and the international recognition given their right to do so. "To call Jews returning to Palestine 'aliens' is to fly in the face of the most patent reality affecting the country's political future," the Agency continued. "The Jews are returning as sons of the country, ready to share it with the Arab inhabitants, but not conceding the latter's exclusive or predominant mastery in it. "The Jewish claim to statcheed is as natural and as elementary as any other peoples'.

There is so much to be reminded of.

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Rip-off at J Street

As reported:

Sullivan took his 15-year-old chow mix, named Ivy, out for a quick walk, Wednesday morning. Upon his return, Sullivan saw an SUV backed up to the front door of his home on “J” Street and a man loading up a t-v, computers and a guitar.  “I go, oh, he’s ripping me off,” said Sullivan. “So I ran in front of his bumper, I’ve still got the dog on the leash, I pounded on the hood of his car and said stop.”

And there is expanded room available at J Street, too.

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Sex Cues and the Media

There's a new academic study out entitled "Sexual Cues Emanating From the Anchorette Chair: Implications for Perceived Professionalism, Fitness for Beat, and Memory for News".

Writen by Maria Elizabeth Grabe and Lelia Samson of Indiana University, Bloomington, the experimental study:-

employed one of the most compelling visual cues of female sexual attractiveness (low waist-to-hip ratio) to test the influence of news anchor sexualization on audience evaluations of her as a professional and their memory for the news that she presents. Male participants saw the sexualized version of the anchor as less suited for war and political reporting. They also encoded less news information presented by the sexualized than her unsexualized version.

Conclusions were drawn in line with evolutionary psychology expectations of men’s cognitive susceptibility to visual sex cues. Women participants, on the other hand, did not vary across conditions in their assessments of the anchor’s competence to report on war and political news. Moreover, they encoded more news information presented by the sexualized than unsexualized anchor condition.

The "low waist-to-hip ratio" is compellingly sexually attractive?

When does a viewer ever see that space?

Behind the news desk, she would appear so:

Without the desk, you'd see this:

What are they talking about?

The "low-waist to hip ratio" (WHR) is

...the ratio of the circumference of the waist to that of the hips. Strictly, the waist circumference is measured at a level midway between the lowest rib and the iliac crest, and the hip circumference at the level of the great trochanters, with the legs close together. The waist-hip ratio equals the waist circumference divided by the hip circumference.

I still don't get it.  Even blind men prefer that and they can't see.

Anyone enlighten me?

Ah, this is a bit more clear:

The study was done in a controlled fashion, where men watched the same 24-year-old anchor read the news in a newscast produced by the researchers. In one newscast, the anchor "was dressed in a tight-fitting dark blue jacket and skirt that accented her waist-to-hip ratio," and she wore red lipstick and a necklace, said the study. In the other, the same woman was dressed in a "shapeless and loose-fitting" jacket and skirt. The participants were given a quiz about the stories on the newscast and questions about the anchor's appearance.

P.S.  Another study.  And its good for less heart attacks (avoiding other physiological elements, I guess, is also good for fewer heart attacks, quite).  Dress standards is an issue.

P.P.S.  Check out this humor (originally here):

...the biggest conclusion I get from this study is that universities will throw money at anyone with an idea and a scientific procedure, no matter how predictable the results might be. With that in mind, I'm going to see if I can get funding for the following:

-- A study to examine whether people prefer pizza or Brussels sprouts.
-- A study to see if men drive faster in a Ferrari or a Ford Focus.
-- A study to find out what happens to rain when the temperature dips below 32 degrees.

^

Maybe There Was a Hole in the BBC's Bucket?

The BBC is so, so...idiotic and anti-Jewish from this report (k/t=EOZ):

The remains of 17 bodies found at the bottom of a medieval well in England could have been victims of persecution, new evidence has suggested.  The most likely explanation is that those down the well were Jewish and were probably murdered or forced to commit suicide, according to scientists who used a combination of DNA analysis, carbon dating and bone chemical studies in their investigation.  The skeletons date back to the 12th or 13th Centuries at a time when Jewish people were facing persecution throughout Europe...

Does the BBC think it natural that 17 people are at the bottom of a well?

Was there an undiscovered hole in the bucket?

Is there a hole in the brain processes of the brains of BBC editors?

Consider this:

Eleven of the 17 skeletons were those of children aged between two and 15. The remaining six were adult men and women. Pictures taken at the time of excavation suggested the bodies were thrown down the well together, head first. A close examination of the adult bones showed fractures caused by the impact of hitting the bottom of the well. But the same damage was not seen on the children's bones, suggesting they were thrown in after the adults who cushioned the fall of their bodies.

Or is it plain bias and antis....?

^

The (Martin) Indyk Sqawks and Fingerpoints

I think I misunderstood a story I heard about last night and that I was not supposed to report it.

But Carl has.

This is what was known to me some 12 hours ago:

Some of the participants at the President's Conference in Jerusalem witnessed a very public display of uncivil and undiplomatic behavior on Thursday afternoon, around 5:30 pm. In the main entrance hall, in full view, former US Ambassador to Israel and State Dep't hack and now being financially supported by Haim Sabban at the Brookings Institute, Australian-born Martin Indyk (who did consider Gaza "A failed terrorist state" in 2007 but still promotes a two-state solution as if that isn't a failed diplomatic position) went up to Prof. Gerald Steinberg, head of NGO Monitor and began to shout at him. Indyk then turned around, made a standard obscene gesture with his finger, and stormed out.

Well, after Baker's "f" word and the French Ambassador to Great Britain's "sh*tty" remark, one would think that a scatalogical maneuver by so esteemed a personnage like Indyk would be out of order or very faux pas. I do know that a fellow blogger approached Indyk and asked a real question and she received almost a sqawk (*), whihc, considering his moniker, is pro forma.

I wonder if he has any other uses for his fingers besides perhaps, to unsully his olfactory organ.

It is surmised that this incident was apparently related to the New Israel Fund. Indyk had joined NIF's board, and in 2010, his effort to get NIF funding in Australia was cancelled after a series of embarrassments. Indyk wrote a crude column directed at the head of NGO Monitor, Steinberg, and blaming him for exposing the NIF facade. NIF tried again, as NGO Monitor published new reports detailing NIF's central role and cover-up in funding BDS-supporting anti-Israel NGOs like CWP, Adalah, etc. Apparently, the Australians did not buy the NIF-Indyk line, and this, most probably, could explain his uncouth behavior and loss of emotional control.

I hope his daughter his colleague's daughter, who seems to have semi-followed her father's footsteps, and even found that the residents of Tekoa, who she visited, "challenged her preconceptions", will stop short of silly, immature temper-tantrums.  She should also condsider an ideological-political reverse. [Sorry, I erred: The one who "met kind, warm people who challenged her preconceptions" in Tekoa is in fact Aaron David Miller's child, not Martin Indyk's].

Look where it got her father's friend.



(*)

In Yiddish, an indyk is a...turkey.
^

Well, Ten Years Have Passed. And...?

Said:

The Zionist, the new Jew, wants to dominate and he pretends that he has got a particular civilizing mission with which he returns to a backward, degenerate race in order to put the elements of progress into an area which wants no progress. Well, that has been the pretension of every power that wanted to colonize and aimed at domination. The excuse has always been that the people are backward and that he has got a human mission to put them forward. The Arabs simply stand and say NO. We are not reactionary and we are not backward. Even if we are ignorant, the difference between ignorance and knowledge is ten years in school. We are a living, vitally strong nation, we are in our renaissance; we are producing as many children as any nation in the world. We still have our brains. We have a heritage of civilization and of spiritual life. We are not going to allow ourselves to be controlled either by great nations or small nations or dispersed nations.

by Azzam Pasha, Secretary of the League of Arab States, to the Anglo-American Committee of Inquiry, March 1946.

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Dog? It's the Women!

The whole world was in an uproar about a supposed stoning of a dog by a Jewish Rabbinical Court decision.

It didn't happen; no dog was killed.

But what about a beheading story that did happen?

This one:

Migrant worker Ruyati binti Sapubi, 54, was executed after she was convicted of murdering her Saudi employer, Khairiya bint Hamid Mijlid, with a meat cleaver.

The maid carried out the killing after she was denied permission to leave the kingdom and return to her family in Indonesia, according to officials in Jakarta.

"The Indonesian government has decided to impose a moratorium on sending workers to Saudi Arabia," labour minister Muhaimin Iskandar was quoted by state news agency Antara as saying.

The only similarity is that a court was involved in both instances.

^

She's...Jewish?

I am sitting here at the computer and just caught Angelina Jolie in "Mr. and Mrs. Smith" in this dialogue:

She and Brad Pitt are revealed both to be assassins and after first fighting each other and even trying to kill each other, come to an understanidng and while fleeing pursuerss in a high speed car chase, Pitt laments that they've both been lying to each other for their entire marriage and says,

"We're going to have to redo every conversation we've had."

At which point Angelina says,

"I'm Jewish."

Well, the screen writer is also Jewish.  Though this version lacks those lines at page 95.

But she doesn't look well, that Jewish:

But don't forget, I have a special affinity for the family - through Shiloh, the daughter.

^

A "Thank You' Wall Poster

Remember that poster, in Hebrew and English, asking those going to the Western Wall for dawn prayers on Shavuot holiday to use the Damascus Gate for men while the women were requested to pass through Jaffa Gate? (No? Well it's the fourth poster here)

Well, they were so pleased that they put up a thank you poster:

All the worthy and righteous women who went through Jaffa Gate, and especially those who did so later on during the day, are to be blessed and congratulated.  Through their actions, Israel is redeemed.

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Say Hi to the Hittites

Is is any coincidence that the Turks are promoting the cause of a Palestinian people and also the Hittites?

Press Release

Çorum, 24 March 2011

The Çorum based Hitit University, that has just celebrated its 5th anniversary, announced the establishment of a “Research Center of Hittite Civilization”. The foundation of this center that is affiliated with the Hitit University Rectorate was announced at a panel and a reception at the Anitta Hotel.

...the foundation of such a center would effect the course of Hittite studies in Turkey and Çorum. He pointed out the negligence of Hittitological work in Turkey and compared it with active Hittitological research and publication in Europe and America.

Ünal also gave a long list of goals and duties...
• To research the geography, history, language, art and archeology of Hittite civilization.
• To set up a comprehensive library in which researchers can find every kind of information and secondary publications on the Hittites and lay down an archive of the entire Hittite cuneiform text corpus, which will consist of transliteration and translations.
• To support archeological excavations, surveys, restorations and the reconstruction material remains.
• To plan projects about the Hittite Civilization and to collaborate with other interdisciplinary research programs and cultures such as Hattic, Sumerian, Egyptian, Assyrian, Luwian, Palaic, and Hurrian studies.

Additional information can be found at http://www.hitituygarligi.hitit.edu.tr/

Hitit University, Department of Archaeology, Research Center of Hittite Civilisation
PK 19030 Çorum, Turkey

I have read weirder things.

^

Fake Settlement Scheme?

"Fake"?

"Settlement"?

"Scheme"?

Not in our neighborhood.

Here's the story:

Fourth Rothstein Associate Pleads Guilty in Fake Lawsuit Settlement Scheme


A fourth associate of convicted fraudster Scott Rothstein admitted to his role in a $1.2 billion investment scheme involving fake lawsuit settlements...[they]...set up a fake TD Bank website showing Rothstein had $1.1 billion in a trust account...“The investors, relying on this information, ended up investing in excess of $35 million,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Lawrence LaVecchio told the judge.

...Rothstein pleaded guilty last year to five counts of racketeering, money laundering and wire fraud, admitting he sold investors interests in bogus settlements in sexual-harassment and whistle-blower suits. He was sentenced to 50 years in prison...The cases are U.S. v. Renie, 11-60123; U.S. v. Kusnick, 11- 60125; and U.S. v. Caputi, 11-60124; U.S. District Court, Southern District of Florida (Fort Lauderdale).

You may call us "illegal", and we're not.

You may term us "illegitimate", and we're not.

We're the authentic Zionist expression of dedication and commitment to the Land of Israel, to assuring Israel's secure future and to prevent the collapse of the Jewish national ethos.

^

And America's New Ambassador to Israel Is...

Inside info:

The newly appointed US ambassador to Israel is a young man (44) named Daniel Shapiro. It is difficult to have a civil discussion with his mother about Israel because "everything would be just fine if Israel would agree to peace."


Daniel and his wife spent a year during college in Israel - he speaks Hebrew and Arabic. He worked in Bill Nelson's office where he pronounced his admiration of Dan Kurtzer's approach to the Arab-Israeli conflict.

He is also about as far left as it is possible to be, a huge, long time supporter of Obama and has the potential to be a snake in the grass where Israel is concerned.

People need to be forewarned about the potential damage he may do.

^

President's Conference - Part Three

Carl has done a very good job of detailing what went on at the session devoted to Israel-Diaspora Relations this morning.  So, read him and I will add some other details and observations.

But first, the dramatis personea:

(left to right: Moderator Shmuel Rosen, Jeremy Ben-Ami, Dani Dayan, Rabbi Eric Yoffie, Prof. Fania Oz-Salzberger and Prof. Dina Pinto.  Photo credit: YMedad)

As expected, Dani, who I knew was well prepared, did an excellent opening salvo.  He described acts that he thought were beyond criticism and dialogue and exchange of views and then declared that they were anti-Israel.  I will have to do some more research but Jeremy's line of defense was to prevaricate and deny and then to declare that J Street wasn't attacking Israel (in the instance of the UN Security resolution on Jewish communities in Yesha: "...we cannot support a U.S. veto of a Resolution that closely tracks long-standing American policy and that appropriately condemns Israeli settlement policy") but, acting as Americans, they were supporting an American policy.  Did you get that?  That was "dual loyalty" at its worse - backhanding Israel and then denying they did it as Jews.  Dani also noted that all this talk of the "tent" is problematic because what J Street is doing is sneaking in to this community tent and subverting from within.

Amos Oz's daughter, Fania Oz-Salzburger, actually said two things memorable: the first, that Israel's need to learn the new global language and get nuances correct (Carl has on this "She says brush up your English and don't play into anti-Israel hands" which is true but I think that, at this point, she really did express concern about Israelis, even well-meaning ones, who adopt terms that indicate to Israel's enemies that the enemies are right in that they lose the semantic under-layers - and I was thinking them so much about her father).  The second was her attempt to portray pre-1967 kibbutzim as the legitimate expression of "the Zionist settlement enterprise" whereas the post-1967 Yesha communities are not.  That attempt at distinguishing, of course, makes no difference to Arabs, local or others, and so Fania, professorship and all, was simply, to quote her, 'playing into the hands of Israel's enemies'.  She also said at the end that the Yesha communities were a real danger to Israel's existence and therefore it is quite legitimate a target for criticism.

Poor Dina Pinto.  She had to deal with the panel, explain why ethnicity and God are not in the lingo of Europe and then saw fit to attack Chief Rabbi Sacks for daring to declare that "human rights" is the new mutation of anti-semitism which always rides on the central motif of discourse (in the Middle Ages - religion; in the 19th-20th century - science and now human rights).

The alliance between Dani and Rabbi Yoffie, - who, I must note, not only remembered when we met long ago but is aware that I blog (see, there are advantage to blogging) and I must have said something very negative about him for him to recall my activity, - was played almost perfectly by Dani, even when he noted that Reform Judaism realized the era of its ways when it was anti-Zionist and decided to come back into the tent in 1937.  I am sure, though, that few youngsters there were aware of that prehistoric event (and ARZA only joined to Zionist Organization in 1978).

The episode with Judge Goldstone and the South African Zionist Federation (Carl writes: "South African Zionist Federation delegate raises Goldstone...Adds quick anecdote. They asked Goldstone whether he believed the Israeli government was responsible for war crimes and Goldstone said no") is inadequate a retelling.

The man actually said that he asked Goldstone if he truly believed that Israel purposefully committed 'war crimes' and he said that Goldstone admitted he had a problem with "this [Israeli] government" but he pointed out to the judge that the government that led Operation Cast Lead was a Kadima government, not Likud.  I think that is an important addition.

One other matter.  Dani Dayan revealed that he had met the members of a Congressional delegation led by J Street.  I know someone who was invited to meet with a J Street group earlier and was heavily pressured to withdraw due to the firm opposition to any contacts with J Street and the need to ostracize them.  I do not think it fair to say one thing and to do another. [Dani adds: "I never pressed anyone not to meet J Street.

Additionally, I don't consider it as meeting J street but as meeting 5 members of Congress.]

One last thing, with thanks to David Bedein who reminded me.

Who wrote the following:

Western political leaders have acquired a concern for 'Arab-Palestinian homelessness', which is selfishly economic rather than humanitarian.  At the same time they ignore that three quarters of the original Palestine Mandate area is now under Palestinian-Arab rule.  The sooner disaspora Jews and the Hebrew nation recognize these new realities, the stronger they will be.

The Hebrew renaissance offers a painful choice to Jews.  They can live in the diaspora, often  facing isolation, persecution and ambivalent identities, or they can return to their ancient land and face perils, but with a chance for honorable self-fulfillment and an end to wandering...

It was Yitzhaq Ben-Ami, father of Jeremy Ben-Ami, on page 544 of his book.
Years of Wrath, Days of Glory.

Think about that.


P.S.

Arutz 7 has a video up, in Hebrew, of course and here is their interview in English with Dany.

Jewlicious.

P.P.S.  Youtube.
^

Lash LUSH

For anyone unaware Lush is a leading toilertries retailer in every high street in the UK.

Read on now:

Monday, June 13, 2011
Responses from Lush about its Death to Israel campaign
Updated 14 June:
Below is the correspondence with Lush about their Death to Israel campaign on their website. Note that, since this correspondence started, it seems that Lush have actually removed the campaign from their website in the sense that, although the link is still there you won't find it by searching the Luch website. That is good news.

Dear E____,

Thank you for your email. I'm sorry to hear you're disappointed with Lush's support for the OneWorld project.

The history between Israel and Palestine is long, complicated and often under dispute. However, what is very clear is the level of suffering occurring today, in part due to the construction of the wall which is cutting Palestinian people off from vital health services and has dramatically increased poverty in the area. History does not excuse such suffering. It will take both sides to come to a solution, but what is also clear is that this is not a conflict of two equal sides and thus the onus must be on the dominating force, Israel. The OneWorld project is supported by both Palestinian and Israeli organisations and aims to help create peace for both sides.

We support organisations fighting for human rights all around the world on a variety of issues, from the freedom of West Papua and Tibet to labour rights of workers in India, women's rights in Africa and environmental rights of indigenous people in Latin America. Whilst there are many other issues we have not supported, there are sadly limitations as to how much we can do.
Throughout the course of the year we support many humanitarian, animal and environmental causes, many of which are nominated by our own customers. We welcome and value all feedback, so thank you for getting in touch with us. I will be sure to pass your comments on to our Campaigns team for future consideration.

Kind regards,

Vicky Jansson
Customer Care Manager
Lush Ltd.

Do you really need them in your hair?

^

President's Conference - Part Two

What would we be and where would we be without radical liberal ideology?

Author Amos Oz spoke last night at the Conference and - are you ready? - criticized the peace process with the Palestinians.

As reported (sorry, I really didn't want to wait for his flagellations as I have read them for decades):

Oz said he believes the "ongoing occupation" of the Palestinian people in the West Bank and the construction in settlements is in general immoral, as well as bad for Israel's interests...[he] received intermittent applause as well as a good deal of booing, added that the "expulsion of Palestinians" from their homes in Jerusalem and their "replacement" with settlers is also bad for Israel. "I am saying this as a man who loves the state," he added.

...the good news, he said, is that the vast majority of both peoples know they must eventually cede some of their ancestral homeland. "Will they dance in the streets when the solution is implemented? No," Oz said. The author added that the solution must be based on the 1967 lines. He also gave his version of peace: One day there will be a Palestinian embassy in Israel and vice versa, he said, and they will be walking distance from one another: One in east Jerusalem and one in its west.

Besides everything else wrong there, Oz seems not to know, or refuses to accept, that the majoirty of the Arabs do not accept partition, territorial compromise or even land-swaps.

So, he either lies, is an Arab propagandist or is really not that intelligent.

I am shortly off to the Conference hall, where at 11 AM there will an air raid drill. This should be fun to watch.

Then it's Jeremy "J Street" Ben-Ami and 3 others vs. Dany Dayan at 11:30.

Part One.
^

Support the Brody Cemetery Project

As I have written here before, my family on my mother's side is from Brody (and my father's family from Zbaraz) in the former Galicia region, today, west Ukraine. Here's where those cities are:

A new project needs some money and perhaps some of my readers would be interested in supporting this effort:

Dear Brody & Galicia Researchers:

I wrote to you several times—most recently last month—about the new Brody Cemetery project. I thought I would update you on our progress!  Thus far, we raised about 84% of our goal of $4,500 from 36 contributors out of over 300 Brody registered researchers.

As we are so close and believe you will help us make our goal, we went ahead—and contracted with our researcher in the Ukraine who has started the work. The time of the year to do this project is here and we would have missed the window of opportunity if we waited until we achieved 100% of our goal. We took a chance by relying on you donating to achieve our goal, so that we would not have to wait until the spring/summer of 2012 to do the project.

Samples of his initial project work are attached (reduced resolution).

We are so close to our $4,500 target but we need YOUR assistance to make the goal and photograph and index the metzevahs in the new Brody cemetery.

Please consider giving generously today so that the work may continue now!
Donations can be through our JewishGenerosity account on either Gesher Galicia's page:
http://www.jewishgen.org/JewishGen-erosity/v_projectslist.asp?project_cat

Or on the Jewish Online Worldwide Burial Records (JOWBR) page:
http://www.jewishgen.org/JewishGen-erosity/v_projectslist.asp?project_cat2

Please contact me for questions.   Those of you that would like to join the 2nd phase of indexing the photographed data, please contact me.

Ami Elyasaf
Project coordinator
Ami.elyasaf@gmail.com

Is "Palestine' A Liberal Cause?

Check these out and there are more posters here:

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Peres' Presidential Conference - Part One

I attended the first major session this evening of the Presidential Conference: Facing Tomorrow.

A lot of people.  Here are some on a break:

Shakira was quite intelligent in her presentation and noted the Abrahamic Culture here and announced "we are all Israel":-

Chief Rabbi Jonathan Sacks from England:

Dr. Ruth Westheimer:

Industrialist Yitzhak Tshuva, Malcolm Hoenlein (back to camera) of the Presidents' Conference and Western Wall Shmuel Rabinowitz:

Photo credit: YMedad

Amos Oz just finished a silly speech ignoring the reality of Islam and the "Palestinian nationalist movement" and warped the historical record.

Anyway, the worst disappointment was Israeli MC Yigal Ravid with Sarah Silverman.  He was completely out-of-depth with her.  She mentioned her need to pee, berated her brother-in-law Yossi Abramovitz, spoke of things coming out of her *ss and asked him if he was on 'delay' as he kept asking her questions which she had already just answered.  Silverman also promoted gay marriage and presumes scatalogical talk in public is cool. She tried to be smart and he preferred her comic character.  She did promote solar power as solving the Arab-Israel conflict, not knowing that's already being done, as Gil Troy notes and as being going on for decades.

End of Day One.

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