Wednesday, January 12, 2011
At Long Last, A Street Sign (And Another)
At the entrance to the Kotel Katan near the Iron Gate in the Muslim Quarter, north of the Western Wall Plaza (you have visited the site, yes?)
And since we're discussing names of streets, how's this:
a) the neighborhood
b) the street
And there we have a problem.
^
And since we're discussing names of streets, how's this:
a) the neighborhood
b) the street
And there we have a problem.
^
Schultz For Pollard
Jennifer Rubin's exclusive:
^
George P. Shultz calls for Pollard's release
In a remarkable development in the Jonathan Pollard case the former secretary of state and highly respected national security figure George P. Shultz has written to the president asking for Jonathan Pollard to be released:
January 11, 2011
The President The White House 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue Washington, D.C. 20500
Dear Mr. President,
I am writing to join with many others in urging you to consider that Jonathan Pollard has now paid a huge price for his espionage on behalf of Israel and should be released from prison.
I am impressed that the people who are best informed about the classified material he passed to Israel, former CIA Director James Woolsey and former Chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee Dennis DeConcini, favor his release.
I find the letter you received from former Attorney General Michael Mukasey of the Bush administration particularly compelling.
With my respect,
Sincerely yours,
George P. Shultz
This is an extraordinary letter because Shultz is not only a respected Republican and a strong defender of America's national security, but served in the Reagan administration with Defense Secretary Casper Weinberger,
^
Alei-Ayin Destroyed
The satellite outpost of Alei-Ayin was destroyed this morning as has been reported to me.
It is located north-east of Shiloh, behind Esh-Kodesh and opposite the old radar station post of Keida.
It is approximately located here:
A recently married young couple, the Zeevs, lived there in one stone house with another stone-structured sheep pen. They tended to 120 trees.
The work was done by the Civil Administration and the Yassam riot police unit.
P.S. Just informed that property damage to Arab vehicles was done near the entrance to Shiloh which is to be condemned as illegal, immoral and stupid.
P.P.S. Pictures:
^
It is located north-east of Shiloh, behind Esh-Kodesh and opposite the old radar station post of Keida.
It is approximately located here:
A recently married young couple, the Zeevs, lived there in one stone house with another stone-structured sheep pen. They tended to 120 trees.
The work was done by the Civil Administration and the Yassam riot police unit.
P.S. Just informed that property damage to Arab vehicles was done near the entrance to Shiloh which is to be condemned as illegal, immoral and stupid.
P.P.S. Pictures:
^
Ew, EU, Part Two
Yesterday, I blogged about the EU Heads of Mission (HoM) Statement. There I touched on the operational interventionist actions items in its conclusions section. I refered to the document as "a declaration of diplomatic war against Israel". And I provided information that could be useful for a non-violent direct action campaign.
In this post, I will deal with some of the elements in the text of the document (in italics), which can be found here. And I will do so as they appear in the document. What follows are my comments and reflections marked by Page and Paragraph.
Page 1: "Considering the developments in East Jerusalem and in particular the progressive separation of East Jerusalem from the rest of the West Bank" (Cover Note)
Given that Jerusalem's Old City was separated from Israel's citizens and essentially all Jews from across the world for 19 years with a presence of European diplomats there all that time, there's no small measure of chutzpah in this statement. Moreover, the city will not be separated from any religious pilgrim, Muslim or Christian, and has been open more than at any other time in history. Even if the Arabs of the former Mandate of Palestine territory will achieve some sort of political framework, will then Jerusalem be separated from Israel? Of course, my outlook will assure that Jerusalem will not be separated from Judea and Samaria in that all the area between the sea and the river will be under Israeli sovereignty.
Page 1: "in accordance with international law, that the acquisition of territory by force or the threat of the use of force is inadmissible". (Cover Note)
Well, if that really is an inadmissable action, there are many other places where it would be much more pressing to deal with the issues. Like the Karabakh conflict. As explained, that phrase only applies to an offensive war, not a defensive one as the 1967 war was. Further to that, "territorial change cannot properly take place as a result of the unlawful use of force. But to omit the word “unlawful” is to change the substantive content of the rule and to turn an important safeguard of legal principle into an aggressor’s charter. For if force can never be used to effect lawful territory change, then, if territory has once changed hands as a result of the unlawful use of force, the illegitimacy of the position thus established is sterilized by the prohibition upon the use of force to restore the lawful sovereign."
Page 1: "Israel has left Palestinian neighbourhoods ever more isolated". (1)
They are not isolated. There is freedom of movement. If there is isolation, it is the lot of the Jewish families who require 24-hour protection from terror attacks and armed guards to take children to school due to threats of violence. Do the HoMs protect the rights of Jewish children?
Page 2: "The interest of safeguarding the religious, historical and symbolic values of Jerusalem goes beyond the Israeli-Palestinian conflict." (2)
It surely does. There are Jewish concerns and interests. Are they on the agenda of the HoMs? Do they talk to Jews? Or are they discriminatory? Do they negate the Jews simply by rewferring to them throughout the document as "settlers"?
Page 2: "UNSC Resolution 478 in which the Security Council decided not to recognise this Basic Law and other actions that “seek to alter the character and status of Jerusalem”. The resolution also calls upon all UN Members that had established diplomatic missions in Jerusalem “to withdraw such missions from the Holy city”. (3)
Well, have they withdrawn? Or have they stayed in the eastern section only as if there are two cities? As if it is another city somehow that doesn't belong to its other half?
Page 2: "the EU will not recognise any changes to the pre-1967 borders including with regard to Jerusalem, other than those agreed by the parties" (6)
To repeat, for 19 years they did. And when Israel in 1949 declared its full sovereignty over the western section, that part not conquered and occupied illegally by the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan which then illegally annexed it, not a peep was heard.
Page 2: "In East Jerusalem 35 percent of the land has been expropriated for “state land”. Only citizens of Israel or those legally entitled to claim Israeli citizenship (i.e. Jewish) can buy property built on state land." (7)
"For state land"? It is state land. Land that does not belong to private individuals or institutions. And Arabs are Israeli citizens as well, by the way.
Page 3: "the Palestinian neighbourhoods of Silwan, Ras al-Amud, At-Tur, Wadi al-Joz and Sheikh Jarrah and contains the majority of the historical and holy sites of Jerusalem. These are Palestinian residential areas" (10)
They also were Jewish residential areas until Jews were expelled and refused their own right of return. And those Arab neighborhoods are all situated in historical Jewish neighborhoods before Romans, Crusaders, Muslims and Turks conquered them. Learn history dear diplomats.
Page 3: "cut off the territorial contiguity between the Palestinian neighbourhoods of East Jerusalem and the Old City and separate the Muslim and Christian holy places from the rest of East Jerusalem." (11)
Again, repeating worthless unfactual claims and ignoring Jewish holy places.
Page 3: "under Israeli law Palestinians are precluded from reclaiming pre-1948 property in Israel or in West Jerusalem" (12)
Those who started the war in 1947 in violation of a UN recommendation, and who for the previous three decades attempted to prevent the League of Nations decision from being realised, surely can have no claim for what they lost due to their aggression.
Page 4: "In 2008, the police headquarters of “Judea and Samaria” moved to E1" (19)
Neat that, placing the genuine historic and geographical names in quotations marks. So, for me, it will be "West Bank".
Page 4: "The use of archaeology as a politico-ideological tool in the Wadi Hilweh area just south of the Temple Mount/Haram Al-Sharif (often referred to as the “City of David” area) is a source of increasing concern." (20)
If there is any exploitation of tools, this is a prime example. A "Wadi Hilweh" supplants the true historical geography! And "referred to" as regards the City of David?
Page 5: "effectively disenfranchising Arab/Muslim claims of historic-archaeological ties to the very same place." (22)
See above. The same twisted narrative.
Page 9: "Developments at the Haram al-Sharif, or Temple Mount, are significant in several respects" (57)
In the three paragraphs dealing with the Temple Mount (the term Haram Al-Sharif always precedes the Jewish name, its original name), there is no mention of the damage and injury caused by Arabs and Muslim bodies to Jewish historical artifacts and archaelogical remains, done with the full intent of erasing any Jewish identification with the site, obliterately Jewish heritage claims. Moreover, the esteemed diplomats do not mention the restrictions the Israel governments have applied on Jewish prayer or any other specific Jewish display towards the Temple Mount. The Jewish side doesn't exist and merits no concern by these representatives of foreign governments.
This is not a comprehensive point-by-point refutation but represents the veil of ignorance, the willingness to blindly accept Arab/Muslim deceits and prevarications and the self-dissemblance they permit themselves while they degrade Jewish nationalism and historical rights.
Woe to European civilization.
^
In this post, I will deal with some of the elements in the text of the document (in italics), which can be found here. And I will do so as they appear in the document. What follows are my comments and reflections marked by Page and Paragraph.
* * *
Page 1: "Considering the developments in East Jerusalem and in particular the progressive separation of East Jerusalem from the rest of the West Bank" (Cover Note)
Given that Jerusalem's Old City was separated from Israel's citizens and essentially all Jews from across the world for 19 years with a presence of European diplomats there all that time, there's no small measure of chutzpah in this statement. Moreover, the city will not be separated from any religious pilgrim, Muslim or Christian, and has been open more than at any other time in history. Even if the Arabs of the former Mandate of Palestine territory will achieve some sort of political framework, will then Jerusalem be separated from Israel? Of course, my outlook will assure that Jerusalem will not be separated from Judea and Samaria in that all the area between the sea and the river will be under Israeli sovereignty.
Page 1: "in accordance with international law, that the acquisition of territory by force or the threat of the use of force is inadmissible". (Cover Note)
Well, if that really is an inadmissable action, there are many other places where it would be much more pressing to deal with the issues. Like the Karabakh conflict. As explained, that phrase only applies to an offensive war, not a defensive one as the 1967 war was. Further to that, "territorial change cannot properly take place as a result of the unlawful use of force. But to omit the word “unlawful” is to change the substantive content of the rule and to turn an important safeguard of legal principle into an aggressor’s charter. For if force can never be used to effect lawful territory change, then, if territory has once changed hands as a result of the unlawful use of force, the illegitimacy of the position thus established is sterilized by the prohibition upon the use of force to restore the lawful sovereign."
Page 1: "Israel has left Palestinian neighbourhoods ever more isolated". (1)
They are not isolated. There is freedom of movement. If there is isolation, it is the lot of the Jewish families who require 24-hour protection from terror attacks and armed guards to take children to school due to threats of violence. Do the HoMs protect the rights of Jewish children?
Page 2: "The interest of safeguarding the religious, historical and symbolic values of Jerusalem goes beyond the Israeli-Palestinian conflict." (2)
It surely does. There are Jewish concerns and interests. Are they on the agenda of the HoMs? Do they talk to Jews? Or are they discriminatory? Do they negate the Jews simply by rewferring to them throughout the document as "settlers"?
Page 2: "UNSC Resolution 478 in which the Security Council decided not to recognise this Basic Law and other actions that “seek to alter the character and status of Jerusalem”. The resolution also calls upon all UN Members that had established diplomatic missions in Jerusalem “to withdraw such missions from the Holy city”. (3)
Well, have they withdrawn? Or have they stayed in the eastern section only as if there are two cities? As if it is another city somehow that doesn't belong to its other half?
Page 2: "the EU will not recognise any changes to the pre-1967 borders including with regard to Jerusalem, other than those agreed by the parties" (6)
To repeat, for 19 years they did. And when Israel in 1949 declared its full sovereignty over the western section, that part not conquered and occupied illegally by the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan which then illegally annexed it, not a peep was heard.
Page 2: "In East Jerusalem 35 percent of the land has been expropriated for “state land”. Only citizens of Israel or those legally entitled to claim Israeli citizenship (i.e. Jewish) can buy property built on state land." (7)
"For state land"? It is state land. Land that does not belong to private individuals or institutions. And Arabs are Israeli citizens as well, by the way.
Page 3: "the Palestinian neighbourhoods of Silwan, Ras al-Amud, At-Tur, Wadi al-Joz and Sheikh Jarrah and contains the majority of the historical and holy sites of Jerusalem. These are Palestinian residential areas" (10)
They also were Jewish residential areas until Jews were expelled and refused their own right of return. And those Arab neighborhoods are all situated in historical Jewish neighborhoods before Romans, Crusaders, Muslims and Turks conquered them. Learn history dear diplomats.
Page 3: "cut off the territorial contiguity between the Palestinian neighbourhoods of East Jerusalem and the Old City and separate the Muslim and Christian holy places from the rest of East Jerusalem." (11)
Again, repeating worthless unfactual claims and ignoring Jewish holy places.
Page 3: "under Israeli law Palestinians are precluded from reclaiming pre-1948 property in Israel or in West Jerusalem" (12)
Those who started the war in 1947 in violation of a UN recommendation, and who for the previous three decades attempted to prevent the League of Nations decision from being realised, surely can have no claim for what they lost due to their aggression.
Page 4: "In 2008, the police headquarters of “Judea and Samaria” moved to E1" (19)
Neat that, placing the genuine historic and geographical names in quotations marks. So, for me, it will be "West Bank".
Page 4: "The use of archaeology as a politico-ideological tool in the Wadi Hilweh area just south of the Temple Mount/Haram Al-Sharif (often referred to as the “City of David” area) is a source of increasing concern." (20)
If there is any exploitation of tools, this is a prime example. A "Wadi Hilweh" supplants the true historical geography! And "referred to" as regards the City of David?
Page 5: "effectively disenfranchising Arab/Muslim claims of historic-archaeological ties to the very same place." (22)
See above. The same twisted narrative.
Page 9: "Developments at the Haram al-Sharif, or Temple Mount, are significant in several respects" (57)
In the three paragraphs dealing with the Temple Mount (the term Haram Al-Sharif always precedes the Jewish name, its original name), there is no mention of the damage and injury caused by Arabs and Muslim bodies to Jewish historical artifacts and archaelogical remains, done with the full intent of erasing any Jewish identification with the site, obliterately Jewish heritage claims. Moreover, the esteemed diplomats do not mention the restrictions the Israel governments have applied on Jewish prayer or any other specific Jewish display towards the Temple Mount. The Jewish side doesn't exist and merits no concern by these representatives of foreign governments.
This is not a comprehensive point-by-point refutation but represents the veil of ignorance, the willingness to blindly accept Arab/Muslim deceits and prevarications and the self-dissemblance they permit themselves while they degrade Jewish nationalism and historical rights.
Woe to European civilization.
^
Tuesday, January 11, 2011
Demography Threat Resources
Here.
Here (dozens of articles).
Here.
Thanks to Moshe Dann.
And you check this blog, searching for "demography" or "demographic threat".
^
Here (dozens of articles).
Here.
Thanks to Moshe Dann.
And you check this blog, searching for "demography" or "demographic threat".
^
I'm For Artists4Israel
I posted some of their work when a group came to visit and I met with one artist activist (say that fast three times).
They are Artists 4 Israel.
Now read this.
^
They are Artists 4 Israel.
Now read this.
^
Did You Read Josh Hasten's Piece On The Gov at JPost?
Revelation: I am the father of one of the owners of the greatest bar in Jerusalem, The Gov aka The Lion's Den.
Here's from Josh:
Whoo-hoo.
^
Here's from Josh:
Wild-card wonderment at Jerusalem’s HaGov
By JOSH HASTEN
It’s the NFL playoffs and Jerusalem’s only true sports bar “The Lion’s Den” is getting ready to air the day’s second wild-card game.
It’s 2:30 a.m. on a cold and blustery Saturday night in Jerusalem and while the majority of watering holes in the center of town are starting to empty out, one pub is just starting to fill up.
It’s the NFL playoffs and Jerusalem’s only true sports bar “The Lion’s Den” (or HaGov; located at the corner of Yoel Solomon and Shamai streets) is getting ready to air the day’s second wild-card game, a highly anticipated rematch between last year’s AFC Champions the Indianapolis Colts, and the AFC runner-up New York Jets.
...According to one of HaGov’s owners Yonah Mishaan, the Jets are “the most popular football team at the venue, with the strongest fan base” due to the influx of New York ex-pats living in Jerusalem, and the many Yeshiva and college students who call New York home.
Dressed in their green and white, these rabid fans surround the multiple plasma screens throughout the bar in anticipation of their contest.
While the Jets/Colts game is the featured attraction, in actuality a diverse NFL fan base of Anglos living in Israel – Hebrew speakers, tourists, and students – have already been at HaGov for several hours to watch the first game of the evening between the Seattle Seahawks and the defending Super Bowl Champion New Orleans Saints.
...As he and several other patrons exit following game one, a horde of Jets supporters quickly claim the vacated seats. It’s now almost 3:30 a.m. and the bar is pumping with chants of “J-E-T-S. Jets. Jets. Jets.”
Three hours later as the sun begins to rise, the Jets escape with their one point victory on a last second field goal.
Despite sacrificing an entire night of sleep, these adrenaline-filled fanatics pour out into Kikar Zion in festive celebration of their team’s success.
The Jets will most likely lose to New England next week, but for one long night only, their team is on top of the NFL world.
Whoo-hoo.
^
Ah, An Agent Provocateur
Doesn't this remind you of Israel's own experience with Avishai Raviv, well, except for the fact that our Left still believes in him?
Reported:
Anyone know where Avishai Raviv is today?
Reported:
Charges Dropped Against British Protesters
The unmasking of an undercover police officer who spent seven years infiltrating environmental protest groups in Britain and more than 20 other countries caused the collapse on Monday of a trial involving activists..It cast a harsh spotlight on an elite undercover unit at Scotland Yard
The protesters were accused of planning to halt power production at the plant for a week, stopping operations that would have pumped 150,000 tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere...six of the activists refused to admit to planning the break-in and were prepared to argue that the undercover officer, Mark Kennedy, had acted as an agent provocateur and had “actively encouraged participation in the action,”
...The Guardian’s account, published on the newspaper’s Web site and in its Monday editions, said that Mr. Kennedy had been assigned to infiltrate various protest groups, including environmentalist ones, beginning in 2003, when he was said to have been 33.
It said he was given a new name, Mark Stone, and equipped with a false passport and driver’s license. He also grew his hair long and sported earrings and tattoos. The paper said he traveled widely at home and abroad, chaining himself to the gates of a British nuclear power station, halting a coal train, scaling a dam in Iceland and volunteering to be one of two climbers who would chain himself to the coal conveyor belt at the Ratcliffe-on-Soar power station.
The paper said he had become a popular figure at almost every environmental protest in Britain, renowned for two things that were uncommon in those circles — providing transport for protesters, including a heavy truck for the coal station protest, and having generous amounts of money, which the paper said earned him the nickname “Flash Stone.”
...In a secretly made video released by the protesters, Mr. Kennedy expressed his remorse. “I hate myself so much, I have betrayed so many people,” he said.
Anyone know where Avishai Raviv is today?
Something To Ponder
Consider:
Source
^
The common ideology is that democratic countries are the source of all the evils of the world, which is where Wikileaks fits in, and that democracy and human rights are shams. As is traditional, all parties to the compact spew out the Jewish conspiracy theory.
Source
^
The Gift of Settlement
I was fooled by this, but only for a moment:
That was Linda Lowell, a 20-year-plus veteran of MBS and ABS research at a handful of Wall Street firms, currently principal of OffStreet Research LLC, on something called the "The BofA-GSE settlement", a Bank of America agreement with Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac on "substantially" all currently outstanding repurchase requests on loans sold by Countrywide to the government-sponsored enterprises.
^
The settlements received wide coverage...
Media enthusiasm for the settlement...
...Everyone leaves something on the table in a settlement, but a settlement removes uncertainty for stakeholders and allows both sides to get on with business...
...according to Reuters, the group issued "a notice of nonperformance"..
...do a settlement to move the matter behind us...
Further vows to fight the suits tooth-and-nail continued to issue...
...pressed it to announce a partial settlement...
...The settlements aroused much relief...Indeed the market's enthusiasm for the settlement may have exacerbated the criticism...
That was Linda Lowell, a 20-year-plus veteran of MBS and ABS research at a handful of Wall Street firms, currently principal of OffStreet Research LLC, on something called the "The BofA-GSE settlement", a Bank of America agreement with Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac on "substantially" all currently outstanding repurchase requests on loans sold by Countrywide to the government-sponsored enterprises.
^
On The ISM
Finally, a serious study.
For example:
Read it here.
^
For example:
While ISM activists do not directly participate in terrorist attacks against Israel, both in its manuals and in statements its senior figures have justified the Palestinian's armed campaign, even at the height of the Palestinian suicide bombing attacks (during the second intifada). In addition, an analysis of ISM activities on the ground showed that ISM activists sheltered a Palestinian Islamic Jihad operative involved in suicide bombing and shooting attacks, and in laying IEDs. They also hindered IDF counterterrorism activities, including the detonation of an explosives laboratory where bombs used in suicide bombing attacks were made. Moreover, in addition to activities to support the Palestinians, ISM activists participated in events which included "soft" violence where both Palestinian demonstrators and IDF security forces suffered casualties. ISM activists, fully aware of the risks involved, carried out activities in war zones where the IDF was operating against Palestinian terrorists, risking their own lives. In 2006 several ISM activists holding weapons were photographed arriving in Judea and Samaria.And this:
It has an anti-Israeli ideology: The ISM frequently represents itself as against violence and in favor of human rights, as respecting international law and UN resolutions, and as striving for a "just peace." However, an examination of its official papers and the statements made by its senior figures indicates that its orientation and ideology are anti-Israeli and anti-Zionist, adopting the Palestinians' most extreme demands. Its hostility to Israel is often based on a critical worldview of the United States and its policies, especially regarding the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq after the September 11 attacks. The ISM not only rejects the policies of every Israeli government ("the Israeli apartheid in Palestine"), but also the existence of Israel as a national homeland for the Jews. Publications and statements of ISM activists stress the implementation of the Palestinian refugees' "right of return" to Israel, reject the Oslo Accords, and make no mention of a two-state solution. However, the ISM is often somewhat vague about its basic positions, which makes it easier to find a common denominator with human rights and peace activists, including Jews, some of whom do not deny Israel's right to exist but strongly oppose its policies toward the Palestinians.
Read it here.
^
What For Stratfor?
In an author's essay (?), George Friedman, the founder and CEO of STRATFOR, and a Hungarianh-born Jew, whose children are yeshiva-educated, introducing his new book, The Next Decade: Where We've Been... And Where We're Going, touches on the Middle East and the atttitude and actions the United States should now adopt (kippah tip: CK) and he writes:
As for obsessed, I would more rightly apply that to the enemies of the United States and its ally, Israel, their economic, cultural and religious orientations (no pun), enemies who come from the darkest denizens of Islam.
As for "distancing", with the missiles being improved, 'distance', whether real or symbolical, doesn't matter. It won't help. Big and Little Satan are a fixture with the Islamic terrorists.
But Friedman does have a strong Jewish side:
And what does David Goldman there think of Friedman?
This:
P.S.
The author will be speaking on January 26 at Carnegie Council.
^
After September 11, 2001, a United States newly obsessed with terrorism became even more disoriented, losing sight of its long-term strategic principles altogether. As an alternative, it created a new but unattainable strategic goal, which was the elimination of the terrorist threat...In response to al Qaeda’s assaults, the United States slammed into the Islamic world—particularly in Afghanistan and Iraq. The goal was to demonstrate U.S. capability and reach, but these efforts were once again spoiling attacks. Their purpose was not to defeat an army and occupy a territory but merely to disrupt al Qaeda and create chaos in the Muslim world. But creating chaos is a short-term tactic, not a long-term strategy. The United States demonstrated that it is possible to destroy terrorist organizations and mitigate terrorism, but it did not achieve the goal that it had articulated, which was to eliminate the threat altogether...
Recovering from the depletions and distractions of this effort will consume the United States over the next ten years. The first step—returning to a policy of maintaining regional balances of power—must begin in the main area of current U.S. military engagement, a theater stretching from the Mediterranean to the Hindu Kush. For most of the past half century there have been three native balances of power here: the Arab-Israeli, the Indo-Pakistani, and the Iranian-Iraqi. Owing largely to recent U.S. policy, those balances are unstable or no longer exist. The Israelis are no longer constrained by their neighbors and are now trying to create a new reality on the ground...
Restoring balance to that region, and then to U.S. policy more generally, will require steps during the next decade that will be seen as controversial, to say the least. As I argue in the chapters that follow, the United States must quietly distance itself from Israel. It must strengthen (or at least put an end to weakening) Pakistan. And in the spirit of Roosevelt’s entente with the USSR during World War II, as well as Nixon’s entente with China in the 1970s, the United States will be required to make a distasteful accommodation with Iran, regardless of whether it attacks Iran’s nuclear facilities...
As for obsessed, I would more rightly apply that to the enemies of the United States and its ally, Israel, their economic, cultural and religious orientations (no pun), enemies who come from the darkest denizens of Islam.
As for "distancing", with the missiles being improved, 'distance', whether real or symbolical, doesn't matter. It won't help. Big and Little Satan are a fixture with the Islamic terrorists.
But Friedman does have a strong Jewish side:
Does being Jewish affect the way you view the world, I begin. “Being Jewish keeps things in perspective,” he says, smiling. “We lost two temples... I am keenly aware of Athens and Jerusalem..."
And what does David Goldman there think of Friedman?
This:
...George Friedman has managed to replicate the key features of the intelligence establishment on a private footing. He didn’t invent what I call McStrategy—the splintering of tasks that puts one analyst at the deep fryer, another at sandwich assembly, and a third at the cash register. But the eccentricity of the final product is easily recognizable.
P.S.
The author will be speaking on January 26 at Carnegie Council.
^
Be Useful: Blog the Boycott
From the news concerning Ytong as well as Teldor Cables who were among some 10 to 20 companies that had signed contracts with the developers of the new West Bank Palestinian city, in which they agreed not to use any settlement products in connection with work for Rawabi:-
Research, inform.
^
MK Aryeh Eldad (National Union) said, “Those who help build Rawabi have to understand that they can not also build Tel Aviv.” But MK Israel Hasson (Kadima) gave a number of passionate speeches against any legislative or judicial moves to penalize such companies, even though he himself does not support a boycott of settlement products.
“You can’t impose a diplomatic policy on the economic considerations of a company,” said Hasson.
The public has a right to campaign against that decision and even to boycott that company, but there is a difference between a public outcry and a legislative ban, Hasson said.
Separately, Diaspora Affairs Minister Yuli Edelstein said he plans to hold a meeting this week with settler leaders and members of different governmental offices to talk about the issue of Israeli companies boycotting settler goods.
“We can’t sit quietly when construction companies are working against our country for money. They have to know that who ever boycotts will end up being ostracized,” Edelstein said.
Meanwhile, the Samaria Citizens’ Committee offered NIS 500 to anyone who could identify any of the companies. It has started a list of such companies on its website, and has already posted the names of Teldor Cables and Ytong.
At the end of December, the Legal Forum for the Land of Israel asked the attorney- general and the Finance Ministry to amend the law regulating governmental tenders, so that companies boycotting settlement products would be banned from bidding for government projects.Be part of the campaign.
Research, inform.
^
Monday, January 10, 2011
Ew, EU Interventionism (Which May Backfire)
The new EU document, entitled "EU HEADS OF MISSION Cover Note" is, in some ways, a declaration of diplomatic war against Israel.
It's operative conclusions, the "action items" include these:
Without commiting myself or anyone else, I would like to point out to the EU diplomatic corps that such calls as above can become a two-edged sword (and "sword" is used without any intimidating intention; it's the idiomatic phrase). Residents of Jerusalem, or, for that matter, any Israeli as well as the Jewish resident revenants in Judea and Samaria, could view the diplomats, their missions and other elements of their presence in Jerusalem as legitimate targets for non-violent protests and demonstrations. And when I write "non-violent", I do not mean throwing rocks as is the Arab custom.
Anyone can go online, and find out all sorts of things.
Like EU assistance to the Palestinian Authority. And we heard Catherine Ashton, EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and Vice President of the Commission, announce:
The Office of the European Union Representative West Bank and Gaza Strip, UNRWA, by the way, is at
5 George Adam Smith Street, Jerusalem
Telephone: (+972 2) 541 58 88
Fax: (+972 2) 541 58 48
The hands-on unit for all this interventionism is the EU Police Mission in the Palestinian Territories which was established on November 14, 2005 as the
And we know that
The EU rationale for its interventionism.
And information on this police unit:
EUPOL COPPS Press and Public Information Office
Land line: 02-2976677 (extension 113 or 121)
Press and Public Information Officer: 054-2666614/059-8999147
Press Information Officer: 054-3332724/059-8903123
Public Information Officer: 054-2666627/059-8950843
E-mail: press.office@eupolcopps.eu
Website: http://www.eupolcopps.eu/
You want more phone numbers? Here:-
Belgian Consulate
Tel:+972-2-5828263 Fax: +972-2-5814063
British Consulate
Tel: +972-2-5828281 Fax: +972-2-5322368
Danish Consulate
Tel: +972-2-6258083 Fax:+972-2-6247403
European Community - Delegation to the OPT
Tel: +972-2-5326341 Fax: +972-2-5326249
French Consulate
Tel: +972-2-6259481 Fax: +972-2-690032
Greek Consulate
Tel: +972-2-5619583 Fax: +972-2-5610325
Italian Consulate
Tel: +972-2-5618966 Fax: +972-2-5618944
Spanish Consulate
Tel: +972-2-5828006 Fax: +972-2-5828065
Swedish Consulate
Tel: +972-2-5828117 Fax: +972-2-5828801
More:
Belgium Consulate General Jerusalem
5, Baibars Street, Sheikh Jarrah
97200 Jerusalem
P.O.Box 19099
Consul General Gerard Cockx
+972 2 5828713
+972 2 5828263
+972 2 5814063
+972 2 5828720
Jerusalem@diplobel.fed.be
http://www.diplomatie.be/jerusalem
- - - - -
Royal Danish Representative Office in Palestinian Areas
48 Othman Ben Affan Street
P.O. Box 2444
Ramallah, via Israel
Phone: +972 2 240 2330
Fax: +972 2 240 0331
Web site: http://www.ramdk.org/
E-mail: repkon@ramdk.org
- - - - -
British Consulate-General
19 Nashashibi Street
Sheikh Jarrah Quarter
P O Box 19690
East Jerusalem 97200
Telephone
972 (02) 541 4100 - 24 hour switchboard
972 (02) 532 8459/540 0451 Development
Consul General: Mr Richard Makepeace
http://ukinjerusalem.fco.gov.uk/en/
- - - - -
Consulate General of Italy East Jerusalem
Jerusalem - Sheikh Jarrah 60, Nablus Rd.
Tel. (02) 5327447 Fax (02) 5322904
Consul General Luciano Pezzotti
- - - - -
Consulate General of Sweden
P.O. Box 297
Jerusalem 91002
Visiting address:
58 Nablus Road
Sheikh Jarrah
Phone: +972-2-646 58 60
Fax: +972-2-646 58 61
Consular affairs:
Phone: +972-2-646 58 82 (telephone hours: Mon-Thu 13.30-15.00, Fri 10.30-12.00)
Fax: +972-2-532 51 70
E-mail: generalkonsulat.jerusalem@foreign.ministry.se
- - - - -
Consulate General of Spain
Ansoáin Garraza, Consulate General
Chancellery and Residence:
Sheikh Jarrah Quarter.
5, Hativat Har’el Street
P.O.B.: 19128
91128 Jerusalem
Telephone: 02 - 535 01 00
Fax: (00972 2) 532 67 31
E-mail: cog.jerusalen@maec.es
Oficina Técnica de Cooperación AECI:
Dar al Awlad, East Jerusalem
Phones: (00972 2) 628 60 98 / 628 30 65
Fax: (00972 2) 628 60 99
E-mail: cooperac@netvision.net.il
- - - - -
Greek Consulate General in Jerusalem
Address : 31 Rachel Immenu, Katamon, Jerusalem
Tel. : (009722) 5619583, 5619584 - Fax : 5610325
Emergency tel: 00972 547852560
E-mail : grgencon.jer@mfa.gr
Consul General : Sotirios Athanasiou
- - - - -
Denmark
Jerusalem, Consulate (new Consul and Consulate)
Honorary Consul Zvi Agmon
Royal Danish Consulate
1 Agudat Sport Hapoel Rd.
Technology Park
Malcha, 3 Entry 4 fl.
Jerusalem 92149
Tlf.: (2) 560 7607
Faxnr.: (2) 563 9948
E-mail: dkcon-jerusalem-za@danishconsulate.co.il
- - - - -
French Consul général : M. Frédéric DESAGNEAUX
Adresse : 5 rue Paul Emile Botta - PO box 182 - 91001 Jérusalem
Tél : [972] (2) 629 85 00
Fax : [972] (2) 629 85 01 / 629 85 02
Internet : http://www.consulfrance-jerusalem.org/france_jerusalem/
Courriel : diplomat@france-jeru.org
- - - - -
Other diplomatic missions.
___________________
P.S.
Another observation by Elder.
It's operative conclusions, the "action items" include these:
E. Strengthen the role of the European Union
1) Enhance local coordination between Quartet actors for input into policy making and decisions.
2) Ensure EU presence when there is a risk of demolitions or evictions of Palestinian families.
3) Ensure EU presence at Israeli courts cases on house demolitions or evictions of Palestinian families.
4) Ensure EU intervention when Palestinians are arrested or intimidated by Israeli authorities for peaceful cultural, social or political activities in East Jerusalem.
5) Operationalise the EU policy on bringing high level visitors to sensitive sites (e.g. separation barrier etc).
- on logistics for high level visitors (e.g choice of hotel, change of transport East/West)
- on contacts with the Jerusalem Mayor and on refraining from meeting Israeli officials in their East Jerusalem offices (e.g. in the Israeli Ministry of Justice etc)
- on information sharing on violent settlers in East Jerusalem to assess whether to grant entry into the EU.
Without commiting myself or anyone else, I would like to point out to the EU diplomatic corps that such calls as above can become a two-edged sword (and "sword" is used without any intimidating intention; it's the idiomatic phrase). Residents of Jerusalem, or, for that matter, any Israeli as well as the Jewish resident revenants in Judea and Samaria, could view the diplomats, their missions and other elements of their presence in Jerusalem as legitimate targets for non-violent protests and demonstrations. And when I write "non-violent", I do not mean throwing rocks as is the Arab custom.
Anyone can go online, and find out all sorts of things.
Like EU assistance to the Palestinian Authority. And we heard Catherine Ashton, EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and Vice President of the Commission, announce:
I confirmed that the EU will frontload an initial financial package worth €100 million for the Occupied Palestinian Territory under the 2011 budget.
The Office of the European Union Representative West Bank and Gaza Strip, UNRWA, by the way, is at
5 George Adam Smith Street, Jerusalem
Telephone: (+972 2) 541 58 88
Fax: (+972 2) 541 58 48
The hands-on unit for all this interventionism is the EU Police Mission in the Palestinian Territories which was established on November 14, 2005 as the
EUPOL COPPS under the EU Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP). On 17 December 2010, the Council of the EU decided to extend the mission's mandate until 31 December 2011. Henrik Malmquist took office as the Head of the EUPOL COPPS mission on 1 January 2010.
And we know that
Employees of the British consulate in Jerusalem were arrested by Israeli police investigating a planned terror attack on a sports stadiumThis is dangerous.
The EU rationale for its interventionism.
And information on this police unit:
EUPOL COPPS Press and Public Information Office
Land line: 02-2976677 (extension 113 or 121)
Press and Public Information Officer: 054-2666614/059-8999147
Press Information Officer: 054-3332724/059-8903123
Public Information Officer: 054-2666627/059-8950843
E-mail: press.office@eupolcopps.eu
Website: http://www.eupolcopps.eu/
You want more phone numbers? Here:-
Belgian Consulate
Tel:+972-2-5828263 Fax: +972-2-5814063
British Consulate
Tel: +972-2-5828281 Fax: +972-2-5322368
Danish Consulate
Tel: +972-2-6258083 Fax:+972-2-6247403
European Community - Delegation to the OPT
Tel: +972-2-5326341 Fax: +972-2-5326249
French Consulate
Tel: +972-2-6259481 Fax: +972-2-690032
Greek Consulate
Tel: +972-2-5619583 Fax: +972-2-5610325
Italian Consulate
Tel: +972-2-5618966 Fax: +972-2-5618944
Spanish Consulate
Tel: +972-2-5828006 Fax: +972-2-5828065
Swedish Consulate
Tel: +972-2-5828117 Fax: +972-2-5828801
More:
Belgium Consulate General Jerusalem
5, Baibars Street, Sheikh Jarrah
97200 Jerusalem
P.O.Box 19099
Consul General Gerard Cockx
+972 2 5828713
+972 2 5828263
+972 2 5814063
+972 2 5828720
Jerusalem@diplobel.fed.be
http://www.diplomatie.be/jerusalem
- - - - -
Royal Danish Representative Office in Palestinian Areas
48 Othman Ben Affan Street
P.O. Box 2444
Ramallah, via Israel
Phone: +972 2 240 2330
Fax: +972 2 240 0331
Web site: http://www.ramdk.org/
E-mail: repkon@ramdk.org
- - - - -
British Consulate-General
19 Nashashibi Street
Sheikh Jarrah Quarter
P O Box 19690
East Jerusalem 97200
Telephone
972 (02) 541 4100 - 24 hour switchboard
972 (02) 532 8459/540 0451 Development
Consul General: Mr Richard Makepeace
http://ukinjerusalem.fco.gov.uk/en/
- - - - -
Consulate General of Italy East Jerusalem
Jerusalem - Sheikh Jarrah 60, Nablus Rd.
Tel. (02) 5327447 Fax (02) 5322904
Consul General Luciano Pezzotti
- - - - -
Consulate General of Sweden
P.O. Box 297
Jerusalem 91002
Visiting address:
58 Nablus Road
Sheikh Jarrah
Phone: +972-2-646 58 60
Fax: +972-2-646 58 61
Consular affairs:
Phone: +972-2-646 58 82 (telephone hours: Mon-Thu 13.30-15.00, Fri 10.30-12.00)
Fax: +972-2-532 51 70
E-mail: generalkonsulat.jerusalem@foreign.ministry.se
- - - - -
Consulate General of Spain
Ansoáin Garraza, Consulate General
Chancellery and Residence:
Sheikh Jarrah Quarter.
5, Hativat Har’el Street
P.O.B.: 19128
91128 Jerusalem
Telephone: 02 - 535 01 00
Fax: (00972 2) 532 67 31
E-mail: cog.jerusalen@maec.es
Oficina Técnica de Cooperación AECI:
Dar al Awlad, East Jerusalem
Phones: (00972 2) 628 60 98 / 628 30 65
Fax: (00972 2) 628 60 99
E-mail: cooperac@netvision.net.il
- - - - -
Greek Consulate General in Jerusalem
Address : 31 Rachel Immenu, Katamon, Jerusalem
Tel. : (009722) 5619583, 5619584 - Fax : 5610325
Emergency tel: 00972 547852560
E-mail : grgencon.jer@mfa.gr
Consul General : Sotirios Athanasiou
- - - - -
Denmark
Jerusalem, Consulate (new Consul and Consulate)
Honorary Consul Zvi Agmon
Royal Danish Consulate
1 Agudat Sport Hapoel Rd.
Technology Park
Malcha, 3 Entry 4 fl.
Jerusalem 92149
Tlf.: (2) 560 7607
Faxnr.: (2) 563 9948
E-mail: dkcon-jerusalem-za@danishconsulate.co.il
- - - - -
French Consul général : M. Frédéric DESAGNEAUX
Adresse : 5 rue Paul Emile Botta - PO box 182 - 91001 Jérusalem
Tél : [972] (2) 629 85 00
Fax : [972] (2) 629 85 01 / 629 85 02
Internet : http://www.consulfrance-jerusalem.org/france_jerusalem/
Courriel : diplomat@france-jeru.org
- - - - -
Other diplomatic missions.
___________________
P.S.
Another observation by Elder.
100 Olive Saplings Uprooted Near Esh Kodesh
Reported in Hebrew that a horse was stolen from Esh Kodesh last week and that 100 olive saplings were uprooted.
Pictures there.
^
Pictures there.
^
From Sepharadi to Ashkenazi?
Found at the NYT Weddings section (kippah tip: LB);
Does this mean Janine will become Ashkenazi now?
^
Janine Sherri Zacharia and Jeremy Noah Bailenson are to be married Sunday. Rabbi Arnold B. Marans is to perform the ceremony at the Sephardic Temple in Cedarhurst, N.Y.
Ms. Zacharia, 37, will keep her name. She is the Jerusalem bureau chief for The Washington Post and reports on the Middle East. She graduated from Middlebury College.
She is a daughter of Debra S. Zacharia and Richard S. Zacharia of Melville, N.Y. The bride’s father is a vice president of the Granada Sales Corporation in New York, a maker of women’s loungewear.
Mr. Bailenson, 38, is an associate professor of communication at Stanford University and the founding director of the university’s Virtual Human Interaction Lab, which studies the impact of virtual reality and the Internet on people’s daily lives. He graduated from the University of Michigan and received his Ph.D. in cognitive science from Northwestern.
He is the son of Eleanor Antonucci of Yorktown Heights, N.Y., and Neal A. Bailenson of Mount Kisco, N.Y., and a stepson of Myrna E. Bailenson. The bridegroom’s mother, who is retired, taught at the Frank G. Lindsey Elementary School in Montrose, N.Y. His father is the president and an owner of Normandy Repairs, a company in the Bronx that services electric motors and pumps.
Does this mean Janine will become Ashkenazi now?
^
Quite Unsettling
It seems that
He has it backwards.
It is that Arabs had inserted themselves into Jerusalem, the 3000-year old capital of the Jewish nation and it was they who expelleds the last of the Jewish residents from the Old City in May 1948, refusing to allow them to return for over 19 years under an illegal Jordanian occupation.
Peace was undermined by the Mufti whose house was demolished to make way for the construction of a new residential project, one that will permit 20 families to live where just one lived previously.
That one was first the infamous Nazi-collaborator Mufti, Haj Amin El-Husseini. Then the Antonius couple. The widow, Katy, eventually taking into her bed there the British Military Commander of the Palestine Mandate, Evelyn Barker.
Isabel Kershner keeps up the propaganda (read Marty Peretz's opinion of her) by writing there:
That the Jewish residents of the area, who built their homes there beginning in the 1870s when it wasn't even a neighborhood, purchasing the land from Arabs, were evicted is missing. Somehow, these nasty verbs such as "demolished" and "evicted" never get applied to Jews. Nor "belonged".
Even "takeover", I think, is less pejorative as "illegally occupied".
And this "East Jerusalem". It only came about after the Arabs launched an aggressive war in violation of the UN recommended partition, one which the Zionist Movement accepted, and managed only to conquer half of Jerusalem, it's eastern section. The city was never an east-west or north-south reality. Only Arab violence turned that into what the Arabs wish us to believe is "Arab East Jerusalem".
Quite unsettling.
This, too:
Secretary General Ban Ki-moon of the United Nations said that “inserting settlers into Palestinian neighborhoods in Jerusalem” undermined prospects for addressing the city’s status.
He has it backwards.
It is that Arabs had inserted themselves into Jerusalem, the 3000-year old capital of the Jewish nation and it was they who expelleds the last of the Jewish residents from the Old City in May 1948, refusing to allow them to return for over 19 years under an illegal Jordanian occupation.
Peace was undermined by the Mufti whose house was demolished to make way for the construction of a new residential project, one that will permit 20 families to live where just one lived previously.
That one was first the infamous Nazi-collaborator Mufti, Haj Amin El-Husseini. Then the Antonius couple. The widow, Katy, eventually taking into her bed there the British Military Commander of the Palestine Mandate, Evelyn Barker.
Isabel Kershner keeps up the propaganda (read Marty Peretz's opinion of her) by writing there:
Although it is mostly populated by Palestinians, nationalist Jewish Israelis have moved into a number of houses there in recent years, evicting the Palestinian residents after Israeli courts ruled that the properties had belonged to Jews before the establishment of the state of Israel and the Jordanian takeover of East Jerusalem in 1948.
That the Jewish residents of the area, who built their homes there beginning in the 1870s when it wasn't even a neighborhood, purchasing the land from Arabs, were evicted is missing. Somehow, these nasty verbs such as "demolished" and "evicted" never get applied to Jews. Nor "belonged".
Even "takeover", I think, is less pejorative as "illegally occupied".
And this "East Jerusalem". It only came about after the Arabs launched an aggressive war in violation of the UN recommended partition, one which the Zionist Movement accepted, and managed only to conquer half of Jerusalem, it's eastern section. The city was never an east-west or north-south reality. Only Arab violence turned that into what the Arabs wish us to believe is "Arab East Jerusalem".
Quite unsettling.
This, too:
Secretary's Remarks: Demolition of the Shepherd's Hotel^
Sun, 09 Jan 2011 15:35:52 -0600
Demolition of the Shepherd's Hotel
Press Statement
Hillary Rodham Clinton
Secretary of StateWashington, DC
We are very concerned about the initiation of demolition of the Shepherd's Hotel in East Jerusalem. This disturbing development undermines peace efforts to achieve the two state-solution. In particular, this move contradicts the logic of a reasonable and necessary agreement between the parties on the status of Jerusalem. We believe that through good faith negotiations, the parties should mutually agree on an outcome that realizes the aspirations of both parties for Jerusalem, and safeguards its status for people around the world. Ultimately, the lack of a resolution to this conflict harms Israel, harms the Palestinians, and harms the U.S. and the international community. We will continue to press ahead with the parties to resolve the core issues, including Jerusalem, in the context of a peace agreement.
Sunday, January 09, 2011
Just Less Than Ten Minutes Is All I Ask of You
Watch and listen to Melanie Phillips, here.
On Israel, public diplomacy (Hasbara) and the battle of ideas and for the mind.
^
On Israel, public diplomacy (Hasbara) and the battle of ideas and for the mind.
^
Do You Want To Help Arabs In The Territory of the Former Mandate of Palestine?
Are you a humanitarian?
Someone who deeply cares about civil liberties, freedoms and rights?
Are you appalled by arbitrary governmental actions, lack of transparency of official procedures, police torture, insufficient legal avenues?
Are you excited by assisting the Arabs residing in the former territory of the Mandate of Palestine?
Well, go to this site (Kippah tip: MH) and learn about
Violations of Human Rights and Public Freedoms for November 2010
and
Violations of Human Rights and Public Freedoms for October 2010
and read the
Fifteenth Annual report on the Status of Human Rights in Palestine during 2009
as well as read
A Legal Review of Provisions on Torture in the Palestinain Legal System, 2009
and you can learn about the
Palestinian Independent Commission for Human Rights.
And none of it about Israel.
^
Someone who deeply cares about civil liberties, freedoms and rights?
Are you appalled by arbitrary governmental actions, lack of transparency of official procedures, police torture, insufficient legal avenues?
Are you excited by assisting the Arabs residing in the former territory of the Mandate of Palestine?
Well, go to this site (Kippah tip: MH) and learn about
Violations of Human Rights and Public Freedoms for November 2010
and
Violations of Human Rights and Public Freedoms for October 2010
and read the
Fifteenth Annual report on the Status of Human Rights in Palestine during 2009
as well as read
A Legal Review of Provisions on Torture in the Palestinain Legal System, 2009
and you can learn about the
Palestinian Independent Commission for Human Rights.
And none of it about Israel.
^
A Defiling Booklet That Must Be Gotten Rid Of
From three weeks ago.
It is railing against a booklet distributed by the Jerusalem Municipality illustrating the uses the special property tax, called arnona, is put to.
The "Rabbis' Committee For Saving The Youth" is appalled at the various pictures that defile the souls of the children and upset that even Hareidi representatives say nothing about the breaks in the walls of preserving the Shabbat and the sanctity of Jerusalem. Parents are called to get rid of the offending booklet:
^
It is railing against a booklet distributed by the Jerusalem Municipality illustrating the uses the special property tax, called arnona, is put to.
The "Rabbis' Committee For Saving The Youth" is appalled at the various pictures that defile the souls of the children and upset that even Hareidi representatives say nothing about the breaks in the walls of preserving the Shabbat and the sanctity of Jerusalem. Parents are called to get rid of the offending booklet:
^
Harrumph for Harrop
Reported:-
Well, Israel was democratic before 1967 but did that stop the Arabs from attacking? And before any "occupation" or "settlements". What has that got to do with anything? By him, it's 'we lose if we do or lose if we don't'.
^
Former U.S. Ambassador to Israel William C. Harrop believes the ongoing dispute between the Israeli government and the Palestinians is becoming a Greek tragedy.
“The Israelis are dominated politically by their right wing, the Likud Party and the Settler Movement. They are so determined to take over and maintain control of the whole West Bank that they are, in the end, going to destroy themselves.”
Harrop will speak at the University of Charleston on Jan. 16, beginning at 6:30 p.m., in the Erma Byrd Women Artists Gallery...During his 39 years as a diplomat, Harrop also was U.S. ambassador to Guinea, Kenya and Zaire and deputy assistant secretary of state for Africa. He served in the U.S. Marine Corps during the Korean War.
Harrop, 81, believes “there is no way Jewish people in Israel can maintain all of the land between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea and also be a Jewish democracy. The Zionist dream has been to become a democratic Jewish state.”
Well, Israel was democratic before 1967 but did that stop the Arabs from attacking? And before any "occupation" or "settlements". What has that got to do with anything? By him, it's 'we lose if we do or lose if we don't'.
^
No, It Wasn't Tear Gas
Reported in the JPost this morning:
Haaretz is here.
Here is the official IDF notice.
The video clip:
So, as my friends conclude,
I left another comment at Mackey's The Lede in our ongoing discussion.
^
Jawaher Abu Rahma, the woman who Palestinians claimed was killed a week and a half ago by IDF-fired tear gas during an demonstration near Bil’in, died as a result of the medical treatment she received at a Ramallah hospital, the commander of the IDF’s Judea and Samaria Division said on Friday.
Brig.-Gen. Nitzan Alon said that the IDF’s conclusion was based on new medical documents it received from the hospital which indicated that the woman received doses of different types of medication completely unrelated to tear gas inhalation.
Haaretz is here.
Here is the official IDF notice.
The video clip:
So, as my friends conclude,
...the media articles were not sourced according to professional standards. The journalists had no way to checking the different versions, and did not write this. This is a standard problem, from Al Dura through Jenin and Goldstone -- the journalists quote Palestinian and NGO claims, without any attempt at fact checkingand
They did not even try to check the facts. They did not even try. This is not reporting, it is reprinting Palestinian press releases as fact.
I left another comment at Mackey's The Lede in our ongoing discussion.
^
So, We Get to Claim the Alps
Caught this making the Internet rounds:
*Hebrew for Enjoy your meal
^
The Arabs are so good in duping the stupid public that we should learn from them and assert that since there are enough Jews in Lugano, Switzerland, the country belongs to us.
First we claim that Hannibal was Jewish. Scholars can - and will - prove anything.
Next we claim to believe that, after beating around with the Romans in the Alps, he and his elephant jumped to heaven from the Matterhorn - if Mohamad's horse Buraq (the first) could do it from Jerusalem, so could Hannibal's elephant - much stronger and with a 10,000 ft. (and also 500 years) head start.
From here it is a no-brainer (in fact, the less the better): We claim the whole Alps region - MAINLY SWITZERLAND - as ours with Lindt choclate factory as a specially holy site.
Bete'avon.*
*Hebrew for Enjoy your meal
^
White House Chief Daley vs. Netanyahu and US Democracy
Ben Smith of Politico reminds us that:
American democracy, of a type, at work?
As for polls, please read this about support for over-the-Green-Line communities.
And this.
And one more.
But, more amazing is what Daley also said in that speech:
What?
At a on board the USS Quincy in the Great Bitter Lake of the Suez canal, President Roosevelt tried to persuade Saud to acquiesce to a plan for Jewish emigration to Palestine, but Saud was adamant in his opposition. This is what Roosevelt learned:
More:
And this is what he wrote to the King:
That King as the British recorded in their British Foreign Office, no. 371/20822 E 7201/22/31 in Elie Kedourie, Islam in the Modern World (London: Mansell, 1980), pp. 69-72:-
Benny Morris notes that Ibn Saud referred to (in Ibn Saud to Roosevelt, 30 April 1943, PRO CO 733\443\18) a
So, now, what was Daley talking about?
^
[Newly appointed White House Chief of Staff William] Bill Daley...brings his own contentious history with Netanyahu to the job.
Commerce Secretary Daley sparked a tense exchange of words in 1998, when he answered a question after a speech at the Brookings Institution by suggesting that Netanyahu -- the prime minister at the time -- was less interested in peace than his people, and that an election could fix that.
"Every poll we've seen, every poll that has been reported about the people of Israel are overwhelmingly in favor of the peace process moving forward," he said. [G]enerally governments end up reflecting their people. It may take some elections to do that but that generally happens. ...And hopefully that the people of Israel, again, who overwhelmingly are supportive of peace will make their voices heard a little louder to the political establishment."
Netanyahu fired back at the time, demanding an apology.
"I don’t know whether he said the things that he hinted at or called for changes in the Israeli government. If he said these things, they’re grave remarks which are unacceptable to us," he said. "If these things were indeed said, I expect an apology and unequivocal correction of the comments."
American democracy, of a type, at work?
As for polls, please read this about support for over-the-Green-Line communities.
And this.
And one more.
But, more amazing is what Daley also said in that speech:
Let me end on this: the first American President ever to visit the Middle East was Franklin Roosevelt. He went there fifty-five years ago in the middle of World War II to meet with Winston Churchill and to plot war strategy. What inspired the President as he was flying in that very large army plane over the little town of Bethlehem was the thought that however great the cost, peace on earth and goodwill towards men could be realized one day even in the middle of that war.
What?
At a on board the USS Quincy in the Great Bitter Lake of the Suez canal, President Roosevelt tried to persuade Saud to acquiesce to a plan for Jewish emigration to Palestine, but Saud was adamant in his opposition. This is what Roosevelt learned:
If the Jews were to be compensated for the outrages perpetrated against them, then it should be the perpetrators who carried the cost. If the United States and its allies wished to see the Jews settled on land of their own, then it should be German land that was appropriated.
When Roosevelt broached the issue of Palestine, Ibn Saud was uncompromising. Why should the Palestinians be expected to atone for the sins of the Germans? Why should the United States look to its friends rather than to its enemies to make reparations for the crimes of its enemies?
More:
FDR addressed Congress on March 1, 1945, to report on the Yalta conference and his other meetings abroad. Briefly referring to the Arab-Jewish conflict over Palestine, the president departed from his prepared text to offer this observation from his meeting with Ibn Saud, the kind of Saudi Arabia: "I learned more about the whole problem, the Moslem problem, the Jewish problem, by talking with Ibn Saud for five minutes than I could have learned in the exchange of two or three dozen letters."...When he met [Rabbi Stephen] Wise following the "five minutes with Ibn Saud" remark in March 1945, FDR began by berating the Jewish leader about the dangers of seeking Jewish statehood: "You are a minister of religion. Do you want me to encourage five or six hundred thousand Jews to die?"...Pic
...every once in a while, a president slips and says what he really thinks. FDR probably DID learn more in those five minutes than from any another source.
What Ibn Saud told him was that the Arab world would never accept a Jewish state of any size in the Holy Land. Saud also "objected violently" to proposals to create a temporary haven in Libya for Jews fleeing the Nazis. The king recommended settling all Holocaust survivors in Germany after the war. He even spurned FDR's talk of international aid to develop Arab countries; Saud feared the benefits of such development might be "inherited by the Jews," since Jewish immigrants to Palestine might be secretly planning to conquer the entire Mideast.
Roosevelt aide Harry Hopkins, reflecting on the "five minutes" remark years later, still found it difficult to understand. "[T]he only thing he learned, which all people well acquainted with the Palestine cause know," Hopkins wrote, "is that the Arabs don't want any more Jews in Palestine."
And this is what he wrote to the King:
Letter From President Roosevelt to King Ibn Saud, April 5, 1945
GREAT AND GOOD FRIEND:
I have received the communication which Your Majesty sent me under date of March 10, 1945, in which you refer to the question of Palestine and to the continuing interest of the Arabs in current developments affecting that country.
...I have given the most careful attention to the statements which you make in your letter. I am also mindful of the memorable conversation which we had not so long ago and in the course of which I had an opportunity to obtain so vivid an impression of Your Majesty's sentiments on this question.
Your Majesty will recall that on previous occasions I communicated to you the attitude of the American Government toward Palestine and made clear our desire that no decision be taken with respect to the basic situation in that country without full consultation with both Arabs and Jews. Your Majesty will also doubtless recall that during our recent conversation I assured you that I would take no action, in my capacity as Chief of the Executive Branch of this Government, which might prove hostile to the Arab people.
That King as the British recorded in their British Foreign Office, no. 371/20822 E 7201/22/31 in Elie Kedourie, Islam in the Modern World (London: Mansell, 1980), pp. 69-72:-
...founder of the dynasty, Abdul Aziz ibn Saud, for example, declared, "Our hatred for the Jews dates from God's condemnation of them for their persecution and rejection of Isa [Jesus] and their subsequent rejection of His chosen Prophet [Muhammad]," adding that "for a Muslim to kill a Jew, or for him to be killed by a Jew, ensures him an immediate entry into heaven and into the august presence of God Almighty."
Benny Morris notes that Ibn Saud referred to (in Ibn Saud to Roosevelt, 30 April 1943, PRO CO 733\443\18) a
“religious hostility…between the Moslems and the Jews from the beginning of Islam…which arose from the treacherous conduct of the Jews towards Islam and Moslems and their prophet,”
So, now, what was Daley talking about?
^
Not Sure Shot Congresswoman Jewish
The US Congresswoman, Gabrielle Giffords, who was shot, is claimed to be Jewish. As reported,
Close but no win.
May she recover fully and live a long life in good health.
And why was she shot?
^
Giffords, who has a Jewish father and a Protestant mother and said she grew up “with a mixture of my parents’ religions. After visiting Israel in 2001, I realized Judaism is a part of my life I hadn’t focused on before. I consider myself Jewish without any equivocation.”
Close but no win.
May she recover fully and live a long life in good health.
And why was she shot?
^
Saturday, January 08, 2011
Now, Why Don't We Hear An Israel Leader Saying This?
As I have posted before, Christians are a threatened and persecuted minority in the Middle East - by Muslims and few have taken up the challenge, or dared, to denounce and condemn this development.
Now, we have one and, unfortunately, it is not an Israeli leader:-
There's this by Fiamma Nirenstein:-
Despite the general trend of Christians leaving the Middle East, in Israel, the situation is different as noted five years ago:
Background and this background.
Who will save the Christians?
P.S. But Christians like this, if gui;lty, are not appreciated:
^
Now, we have one and, unfortunately, it is not an Israeli leader:-
French President Nicolas Sarkozy said Friday that Christian minorities in the Middle East are victims of "religious cleansing", following deadly attacks on churches in the region.
"We cannot accept and thereby facilitate what looks more and more like a particularly wicked programme of cleansing in the Middle East, religious cleansing," he said in an annual New Year's address to religious leaders.
There's this by Fiamma Nirenstein:-
How can we stop the slaughter of Christians in the Islamic world, how can we prevent the next massacre in Iraq, Turkey, the Philippines, Nigeria, wherever Islamic groups may be? First of all, we should start calling things by their real name: this is not ideological «religious intolerance» and the perpetrators are not random «fundamentalist groups» or «some terrorist». If we look at the map, we can find examples in many countries: massacres, expulsions, kidnapping of women, acts of vandalism on churches... It is the entire Islamist world that is battering Christians with the terrible inexorability of its hatred, but all those who – opportunistically or for fear of reprisals against Christians – have kept silent, in hopes of appeasing the aggressors, share in the responsibility. The fact that as soon as the Pope protested, calling a spade a "spade", namely calling Islam "Islam", the Mufti of Al Azhar blasted him for «interference», says a lot about the paradoxical attitude of institutional Islam: what do a few murders matter? The perpetual Roman enemy has no right to speak out.
If we ask the theologian and professor Father Peter Madros, now in the Patriarcate of Jerusalem, formerly director for many years of the Frères College in Bethlehem, where he fought the decimation of Christians without making discounts to the Israelis either, he can clearly indicate the explanation in the text of the Quran: «After pages where the text explains that harmony must reign within the People of the Book, though with the subjection of Christians and Jews who (verse 9/29) must in any case pay Jizya (the tax for non-Muslims, ed.note) unless they convert to Islam, there is another revealing verse (5/51): do not allow either Jews or Christians to rule over you».
The heart of the problem is right here: the Islamist world is determined to build a world in which the other two main faiths are held in a state of cultural, religious and political subjection. And instead, in the last seven centuries the western world has been dominanting and, in the bigoted interpretation of vast organizations and even entire countries like Iran, this amounts to a declaration of war. This is the war that Islamism now wants to win. Not everyone in that world feels that way, but bombs make a lot of noise, while good will remains silent...
Despite the general trend of Christians leaving the Middle East, in Israel, the situation is different as noted five years ago:
"In Israel they [the Christians] have a small percentage of increase, that is 1.4 pecent of increase per year, which is about the same as that of the Jews in Israel," says Daphne Tsimhoni, a professor of modern Middle East History at Technion, Israel's Institute of Technology.
Background and this background.
Who will save the Christians?
P.S. But Christians like this, if gui;lty, are not appreciated:
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — A state hearing officer is recommending that an Ohio school board fire a science teacher accused of burning the image of a cross on students' arms.
John Freshwater has been suspended from a Mount Vernon school without pay.
The school board voted to fire him in 2008, citing an internal investigation that found he had preached his Christian beliefs in class. He also was accused of using a scientific device to mark several students' arms with a cross and keeping a Bible on his desk.
^
One, Two,...Three?
Reported:
Will there be "Parent Three"? After all, you just can never know in this modern world?
^
The words “mother” and “father” will be removed from U.S. passport applications and replaced with gender neutral terminology, the State Department says.
“The words in the old form were ‘mother’ and ‘father,’” said Brenda Sprague, deputy assistant Secretary of State for Passport Services. "They are now ‘parent one’ and ‘parent two.’"
Will there be "Parent Three"? After all, you just can never know in this modern world?
^
There's That Esta Again
Ma'an reports:
I'm still trying to locate that Esta.
Maybe it's near where the Arabs in August burned down 60 dunams of Jewish-planted olive trees?
^
More than 100 small olive trees were uprooted from outside of Qasra village in the northern West Bank, with villagers saying settlers were behind the vandalism.
Palestinian official in charge of settlement watch in the north Ghassan Daghlas said villagers reported to him seeing several men wearing skullcaps who they identified as settlers, pulling out the young trees on lands belonging to one of the village residents.
Abed Ar-Razeq Daoud Abdllah Auda had planted the field three months earlier, some five dunums of lands, with olive trees. Villagers had gathered to help the farmer, whose lands abut the nearby settlement outpost known as Esta.
I'm still trying to locate that Esta.
Maybe it's near where the Arabs in August burned down 60 dunams of Jewish-planted olive trees?
^
Mr. Mackey - The Map
Robert Mackey has cast doubt as to the authenticity of a map showing the locations of both the IDF and the demonstrators at Bilin village last Friday. He posted this comment (between 16 & 17):-
You'll notice two things: (a) he casts doubt that stones were thrown first. in other words, Macjey believes that it is a possibility that the IDF soldiers, without provocation or a first-move act of violence by Arabs, simply fired off tear-gas cannisters; (b) that becuase something didn't appear at the Wed edition site, it could possibly not exist, which would be a disease of a post-Internet category similar to people believing that phones with fingerwheels never exited.
I had the map posted (here) but the date doesn't appear which, for a doubting Thomas, could be cause for suspicion (although how I could create that map by myself, I don't know).
Unfortunately, it seems I threw out the paper after scanning it. Luckily, I am also subscribed to the Hebrew edition of Haaretz (don't ask).
So, from Wednesday's edition this past week, here it is, in Hebrew:
The date, for Robert, is January 5, up there in the top left-hand corner.
Exisit.
__________
And catching up on the Shabbat mail, I have discovered that my comment went up and Mackey's response to my words as well:
(Sigh)
We continue:
So, all I do is argue?
P.S.
We keep up the dialogue.
^
Robert Mackey, Reporter, January 7th, 2011, 12:57 am
Thanks, but can you tell us where you found that on the Web and are you sure this is from Haaretz? That newspaper is in Hebrew and this is in English, and I haven't seen any reference to this chronology - stones were thrown first - in any of the reports I've read on Haaretz's English-language Web site.
You'll notice two things: (a) he casts doubt that stones were thrown first. in other words, Macjey believes that it is a possibility that the IDF soldiers, without provocation or a first-move act of violence by Arabs, simply fired off tear-gas cannisters; (b) that becuase something didn't appear at the Wed edition site, it could possibly not exist, which would be a disease of a post-Internet category similar to people believing that phones with fingerwheels never exited.
I had the map posted (here) but the date doesn't appear which, for a doubting Thomas, could be cause for suspicion (although how I could create that map by myself, I don't know).
Unfortunately, it seems I threw out the paper after scanning it. Luckily, I am also subscribed to the Hebrew edition of Haaretz (don't ask).
So, from Wednesday's edition this past week, here it is, in Hebrew:
The date, for Robert, is January 5, up there in the top left-hand corner.
Exisit.
__________
And catching up on the Shabbat mail, I have discovered that my comment went up and Mackey's response to my words as well:
27.
Yisrael Medad, Shiloh, Israel, January 7th, 20119:00 am
The map appeared in the Haaretz hardcopy edition only. There is a real world where newspapers are still printed rather than onlione editions. I also scanned it and have it in color.
Recommended by 1 Reader .
Robert Mackey, Reporter, January 7th, 2011, 9:00 am
Thanks for your effort to answer my question about the source of the graphic another reader posted a link to, though your sarcasm about print still existing is of course unnecessary when addressing someone who works at a newspaper. My question was about whether Haaretz is published in English as well as Hebrew in a print version. That was a genuine question, not an argument that required a cutting response.
Although it has become common across the Web, I would appeal to all readers to try to avoid adopting a hostile or mocking tone in their comments here..
(Sigh)
We continue:
42.Yisrael Medad, Shiloh, Israel, January 8th, 20115:33 pm
To Robert: I am sorry that my mocking tone annoyed you. I was not aware that you would assume the map was made up or that Haaretz publishes editions in two languages. Or that you would doubt Haaretz's claim that the rocks came first.
To #33: actually, as a result of the Supreme Court's decision, the security barrier is being moved and is under contruction as we write (and as stones are thrown, which means that there is no necessity for stones to be thrown), see: "Israel has begun work to reroute a section of its West Bank security barrier at Bil'in - two and a half years after the Supreme Court ordered the state to return land to Palestinian farmers, Army Radio reported on Thursday. Once completed, the newly routed fence will skirt agricultural land to hand some 700,000 square meters of arable back to the village, long the site of often violent weekly protests." (source: Haaretz - http://www.haaretz.com... from almost a year ago)
Robert Mackey, Reporter, January 8th, 2011, 5:33 pm
I'm afraid you have misunderstood what I wrote in my response to the other reader and to you. I simply did not, as you state, "assume the map was made up or that Haaretz publishes editions in two languages," or "doubt Haaretz's claim that the rocks came first." You seem to have assumed that my attempts to get the the reader who submitted the map with absolutely no explanation of where it was posted online was an indication that I was doubting that Haaretz publishes on paper in two languages (I have since learned that it does so) and assumed that by trying to establish for certain what the newspaper reported that I was actually arguing with the other reader and you. I was not. I am attempting to be accurate and to call a halt to mud-slinging and sarcasm as common features of discussions on this blog.
You are perhaps so used to reading, and writing, blog posts that are essentially arguments that you did not recognize that I was merely making an honest attempt to establish factual accuracy here. People have in the past on several occasions submitted material to this blog in comments threads that was not what they said it was. My reaction, to ask questions and request some sort of verification that this map was what the reader said it was is ordinary journalism in the pursuit of the truth, not sarcastic punditry.
So, all I do is argue?
P.S.
We keep up the dialogue.
^
Friday, January 07, 2011
The Hebrew in "Black Swan"
As Natalie Portman explains:
I thought chen meant grace.
My Hebrew dictionary has nina as meaning a female great-grandchild (in modern usage, but see Genesis 21:23 and Isaiah 14:22); or as deriving from the Hebrew word yinon which means long-enduring, everlasting (see Psalms 72:17).
Has Natalie forgotten her Hebrew?
The film's web site.
^
Natalie recalled an early script where her character was named Alexandra. ‘But she seems very much a Nina,’ Natalie said, explaining that in Hebrew, Nina means grace
I thought chen meant grace.
My Hebrew dictionary has nina as meaning a female great-grandchild (in modern usage, but see Genesis 21:23 and Isaiah 14:22); or as deriving from the Hebrew word yinon which means long-enduring, everlasting (see Psalms 72:17).
Has Natalie forgotten her Hebrew?
The film's web site.
^
Circumcision - The Slice of Life
Reuters informs us, warts and all:
Circumcision - the slice of life.
^
Researchers have documented yet another health benefit for circumcision, which can protect men against the AIDS virus, saying it can protect their wives and girlfriends from a virus that causes cervical cancer.
Wives and girlfriends of circumcised men had a 28 percent lower rate of infection over two years with the human papilloma virus or HPV, which causes warts and cervical cancer, they reported in the Lancet medical journal on Thursday.
"Our findings indicate that male circumcision should now be accepted as an efficacious intervention for reducing the prevalence and incidence of HPV infections in female partners. However, protection is only partial; the promotion of safe sex practices is also important," Dr. Maria Wawer and colleagues at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore wrote.
Circumcision - the slice of life.
^
She's Ba-a-a-ck
Reported:
From the editorial:
Maybe write to him? At: letters@fcnp.com
^
After a seven-month retirement, Helen Thomas has a new journalism gig: columnist for the Falls Church News-Press in Virginia, as the ARLnow blog in Arlington, Va., reports.
The 90-year-old retired from Hearst newspapers in June after a media uproar over controversial comments she made about Israel. That move sent shock waves through the press corps and left White House reporters scrambling to see who'd get Thomas' front-row seat in the briefing room.
So why'd the News-Press give her another chance?
Nicholas Benton, the founder, owner and editor of the News-Press, said in an editorial welcoming her back to journalism: "She is progressive, and following my more than eight hours of direct, one-on-one talks with her since the events of last June, I remain firmly convinced that she is neither bigoted, nor racist, nor anti-Semitic."
She'll write weekly on political affairs.
From the editorial:
On June 8, Ms. Thomas declared herself retired following a torrent of angry criticism reacting to a spontaneous verbal comment she made that was taped the day before. Ms. Thomas' comments were intemperate and inappropriate, as she conceded afterward. They reflected her personal anger arising from the news that Israeli commandos had boarded a ship on a humanitarian mission to Gaza and had killed over a dozen volunteers.I am not giving that editor a second chance.
Ms. Thomas' views on a variety of subjects often differ from prevailing White House or other policies and positions. One of nine children born to Lebanese-Syrian immigrant parents, she has held to opinions different from many on U.S. policy toward the Middle East since the 1940s.
But her personal views have not tainted her highly-professional work for 50 years as a White House correspondent, except perhaps to inform the kinds of questions that she's never shied away from asking.
I have known Ms. Thomas since the founding of the News-Press in 1991. She visited our offices twice to meet readers and admirers. We share an appreciation for Eleanor Roosevelt and her work on behalf of the International Declaration of the Rights of Man.
She is progressive, and following my more than eight hours of direct, one-on-one talks with her since the events of last June, I remain firmly convinced that she is neither bigoted, nor racist, nor anti-Semitic. Her remarks in June were in response to a question about Israel, not Jews, and were intended to mean that in these times, Jewish people are free to live wherever they wish, because the era of anti-Jewish persecution is ended. That was not adequately expressed because of the impromptu nature of the incident.
As one who has championed the cause of inclusion in my newspaper for 20 years, who founded the Diversity Affirmation Education Fund for the Falls Church School System, I am proud that a journalist of the stature and professionalism of Helen Thomas is relaunching her career in my newspaper. She more than deserves, and I am honored to help provide her, the proverbial "second chance."
Maybe write to him? At: letters@fcnp.com
^
Well, BBC Comes Out Fair
In the BBC report on the death of an elderly Arab man in Hebron, we leaqrn it was a mistake:
For comparison, let's try Ma'an:
And why were they in that house:
As for another aspect, demographics, I found this at the end of the report:
^
Israeli troops have shot dead a 67-year-old Palestinian man by mistake in an operation to arrest members of the Islamist militant organisation, Hamas.
For comparison, let's try Ma'an:
Hebron man executed during Israeli raid
And why were they in that house:
An IDF force raided Hebron in a bid to arrest five Hamas members released from jail Thursday by the Palestinian Authority, which gave in to their hunger strike. During the detention operation, soldiers entered an apartment on the second floor of a building in the city to arrest Wael Mahmad Said Bitar...Spokesperson's Unit said Bitar aided Shahab Natashe, who executed twin suicide bombings in the southern city of Dimona in February 2008, which left one woman killed and 10 injured. After Shahab's assassination, Bitar led suicide bombings which were thwarted. He was arrested by the Palestinian Authority's security forces in September 2008 and released Thursday.
As for another aspect, demographics, I found this at the end of the report:
Israel has occupied the West Bank since 1967, settling close to 500,000 Jews in more than 100 settlements. There are about 2.5 million Palestinians living in the West BankOf course, that 500,00 number includes Jewish residents in united Jerusalem. And the number for the Arab residents is open for ratification due to unreliability of the PA's statistics.
^
A Non-Jewish Bagel Bomb Story
The bagel Bomb duds out:-
Safe. Secure. But hungry.
^
Florida Professor Arrested for Having a "Suspicious" Bagel on a Plane
A Florida professor was arrested and removed from a plane Monday after his fellow passengers alerted crew members they thought he had a suspicious package in the overhead compartment.
That "suspicious package" turned out to be keys, a bagel with cream cheese and a hat.
Ognjen Milatovic, 35, was flying from Boston to Washington D.C. on US Airways when he was escorted off the plane for disorderly conduct following the incident.
Monday's incident is another example of other passengers essentially becoming the authority on terrorist activity on planes.
Safe. Secure. But hungry.
^
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