Tuesday, August 08, 2006
A Stroll in Haifa
1. I went for a stroll this evening with my kids to see the Point Zero
where a katyusha landed in Haifa. The windows in the cars near the point
of impact were blown out, as were some windows in nearby apartments.
There was some glass and clutter in the street where the rocket had
landed. Frankly, it looked a lot like Los Angeles after the Rodney King
riots, except was no doubt a lot safer.
But I must tell you that it is really getting annoying in Haifa when
annoying things fall from the sky. No, not the katyushas, I do not get
excited about those. After surveying the spot of the impact, we went over
to my in-laws and sat in their yard under some trees. And while sitting
there, an annoying bird, no doubt a secret Hezbollar, pooped on my shirt.
Will there be no end to the horrendous droppings from the air, I bellowed
in rage, looking at heaven or at least the tree branches above me. I
mean, at least after katyushas I ordinarily do not have to wash my shirt
and shampoo.
So for all you kind folks out there asking, you can see that life in Haifa
is going on well, other than the bird droppings.
2. Good riddance!
Tanya Reinhart, the pro-terror ultra-anti-Semitic linguistics professor
who was forced to resign from Tel Aviv University (she is also Chomsky's
protege), is leaving Israel for good. And I do mean for good, and for
good. In honor of the national celebration over this, she published a
vicious article denouncing Tel Aviv University in a Tel Aviv local. Alas,
it is only in Hebrew for the moment (I am trying to arrange for a
translation) and can be read at http://www.tam.co.il/4_8_2006/magazin2.htm
She claims TAU mistreated her just because she ran around the world urging
boycotts of Israel and denouncing Israel. She claims that candidates for
jobs at the University that she was promoting were turned down by the
University just
because they were jihadniks with laughable academic records. She claims
that TAU, not exactly a bastion of the Zionist Right, conspired to get
her. TAU officials just responded that the Tanya was lying as usual.
The Tanya was recently denounced by Martin Kramer in "The Moonbat has
Landed" at http://www.tam.co.il/4_8_2006/magazin2.htm. She makes little
attempt to hide her desire to see the Jews thrown in the sea and Israel
destroyed.
3. Haaretz - the Palestinian newspaper printed in Hebrew.
Even Haaretz cannot ignore the sudden change in the national temperament.
In the editorial cartoon today, one sees a Tel Aviv secularist bohemian
type, in a cafe with a pony tail, wearing a Peace Now shirt, and declaring
to his friends, "It will not end until we erase Beirut from the face of
the earth."
While the Far Left still churns out some "Peace by Surrender" columns for
Haaretz, it is amazing how many Op-Eds are being run there cheering the
fighters, endorsing the use of armed might by Israel, pooh-poohing the
reports of Lebanese civilian casualties, and otherwise demonstrating
patriotism so alien to Haaretz these past decades. (See
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/pages/LiArt.jhtml?contrassID=2&subContrassID=4&sbSubContrassID=0
)
Here is another way that you can tell that something basic has changed in
Israel.
In all previous wars, the radio filled up right away with whiny songs
about yearnings for peace. In the Lebanese campaign of 1982, the radio
even had various seditious, let's all surrender, songs. Ever since the
Yom Kippur war, a horrid, cacophonous whiny song about "You promised us
peace (but did not deliver)", which mars every Memorial Day in Israel.
Even the Oslo withdrawals had their own peace songs, including one
"Farewell to thee, oh Gaza."
Well, the current war has produced but one song so far and it is a doosie!
It is called Shir Ha-Milchama or the War Song and can be read in full in
Hebrew here:
http://stage.co.il/Stories/616267
Here is a partial translation:
But who can break a powerful people,
Not even the very worst enemy,
Can succeed against a united people.
And who can defeat those ascending the mountain,
Not even the worst enemy,
Can crush the hopes of millions.
And who will raise their hands (in surrender) in the middle of the
battlefield?
A united people, bonded together, will never capitulate!
For we are stronger than ever,
Grasping the hope in our own hands,
Toasting the expectations of victory.
***
Yes, folks, for the first time in two decades, there is talk in Israel not
of being sensitive to The Other and demonstrating our commitment to
sharing, but rather of Victory. The "V" word is being used in polite
company
4. Wish I could take credit for this:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1679958/posts
Historians: Warsaw Ghetto Uprising Was Overreaction
The People's Cube ^ 8/8/2006
Europe's view of the present Israeli offensive against Hezbollah as an
"overreaction" and "disproportionate use of force" is rooted in relatively
recent history, say progressive researchers. In 1943, Europe itself
suffered from a similar Jewish overreaction to some controversial German
policies, in an event known as the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising, when Zionist
radicals attacked the National Socialist German Workers Party that was
loved by the German people for its far-reaching educational and social
welfare services.
In fact, many academics who teach Peace Studies at prestigious
universities believe that it was the Zionists' "disproportionate use of
force" that had ruined hopes for peace in Europe and caused a humanitarian
crisis that could have easily be avoided if only Jews had shown restraint
and tolerance towards the democratically elected German government.
In fact, the reaction of world's media to the current Middle Eastern
crisis is almost identical to that during the 1943 Warsaw crisis when, as
modern historians claim, militant Zionists jeopardized the fragile peace
that European leaders and progressive intellectuals had been trying to
achieve by civilized means - as evidenced by the following collection of
quotes and headlines of the time:
European politicians avoid apportioning blame
BRUSSELS, April 30, 1943 -- European leaders today expressed their "acute
concern" over the intensifying conflict between Jews and the Gestapo in
Warsaw, which they fear may further deteriorate fragile peace in Europe.
Foreign ministers of the few remaining independent European powers adopted
a declaration calling for an immediate end to the hostilities. Reflecting
differing views among European nations, the document appears worded to
avoid apportioning blame. It notes the Nazi Resistance must immediately
make the operation of their gas chambers more transparent, while adding
that Jews must show "utmost restraint" and not resort to "disproportionate
action."
League of Nations anti-bias panel accuse Jews of racism
Members of a League of Nations anti-bias panel criticized Warsaw Jews on
Thursday for violating humanitarian law and racially targeting the Nazis.
Jewish Uprising Triggers Humanitarian Crisis 16 Germans dead and 85
wounded In Warsaw Slaughter
Europe's call for an end to hostilities in the Warsaw Ghetto raises
questions over how long Jews can stave off international pressure to end
their three-week offensive in Warsaw, which has claimed hundreds of lives
and created a refugee crisis. While moderate politicians are urging Jews
to exercise "restraint" in their retaliation against the Nazis, most
European leaders are denouncing Jewish retaliation as "disproportionate."
Goebbels: Jews must be held accountable for war crimes
Joseph Goebbels, a charismatic spokesman for the popular National
Socialist German Workers Party, described the aftermath of Jewish strikes
as "dramatic" and said Jewish forces had struck "very important elements
of infrastructure," demanding that perpetrators be brought to justice at a
press-conference in Berlin on Wednesday. "Jews must be held accountable
for their war crimes, terrorism, and systematic human rights violations
committed against the Aryan people," Mr. Goebbels said.
How could both sides have blundered so badly?
Miscalculations by Jews and Nazis have weakened Europe's fragile unity. A
ceasefire is needed immediately. Where is Zionist exit strategy? Jewish
hawks have started a war without any plausible objectives, any viable plan
for disengagement, or any rational assessment of costs and benefits. Are
they ready to absorb damage on the home front?
Poll: The tide of public opinion has shifted in the direction of Gestapo
The Jews' bloody response to concentration camps has united their enemies
and divided their friends, the results of a current poll show. Atrocities
committed by the Zionist militants in Warsaw and elsewhere have appalled
Western opinion. The stature of the Gestapo grows, and the uprising has
succeeded in discrediting moderate Germans and silencing the Nazi leaders
in Berlin who were ready to start talking instead of killing.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
TOPICS: Foreign Affairs; Germany; Israel; Political Humor/Cartoons; War on
Terror
KEYWORDS: HEZBOLLAH; LEBANON; NYT; SATIRE
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
See also
http://www.thepeoplescube.com/images/NYT_Warsaw_uprising_editors.gif
5. Chamishism:
http://apnews.myway.com/article/20060807/D8JBB7PG0.html
See also http://chronwatch.com/content/contentDisplay.asp?aid=22755
6. Spinoza Spin:
THE SPIRIT OF SPINOZA HAD A BODY
Nidra Poller
Paris 31 July 2006
.The spirit of Spinoza. by Cornell West. The Boston Globe July 28, 2006
Cornell West invokes the spirit of Spinoza to sustain his argument for a
global humanitarian ceasefire in the Middle East. Enlightened by the
great philosopher.s Socratic spirit, all parties to the conflict would
choose .self-examination. over .parochial prejudice,. abandon their
harmful attitudes and actions, settle their differences, and achieve
security and justice for all.
Unfortunately diplomatic efforts to impose a ceasefire in Lebanon apply
only to the IDF, and Professor West.s philosophical ceasefire applies only
to Israel. On the philosophical level as in military matters, no one in
the jihad camp-- Hizbullah combatants, their Iranian masters, Syrian
go-betweens, and Lebanese hosts--derives the slightest value, idea, or
action from any philosophical tradition that could be connected to Baruch
Spinoza.
In a spirit of tolerance we must at least grant them the right to espouse
the jihad values they are currently applying in the field. An authentic
ideological conflict fuels the persistent violence aimed at the State of
Israel during six decades of existence. Every peace plan based on the
assumption of shared values and pragmatic solutions has failed miserably.
Let us not forget that the spirit of Spinoza lived in a body, a Jewish
body. If Spinoza lived today, he might be a professor at Haifa
University. in danger of being excommunicated from among the living by a
killer rocket fired from neighboring Lebanon. In order to survive and
elaborate brilliant philosophical thoughts he would have to seek shelter
in the midsection of his tiny homeland.but Nasrallah has promised to seek
him out and strike him dead right there.or take refuge in a bomb shelter
that might or might not resist the next attack.
Cornell West solemnly promises this .resurrected. Spinoza: .the world must
never ever permit another Holocaust against Jews.. The rigorous
philosopher might reply: it is not the world, it is Israel that will never
permit another mass slaughter of Jews. Jews are not asking the world to
make a promise that it cannot keep. And the very wording of West.s appeal
shows why.
He condemns .the ugly . subjugation of Palestinians, the plight of their
prisoners in Israeli jails . the anti-Arab bigotry. the vicious Israeli
occupation.. and decries .innocent Lebanese victims of Israeli bombs.. He
asks why we refuse to enforce UN Resolutions that .condemn occupation like
242 and 338. and not .those that call for disarming people who resist
occupation like 1559..
The irony would not be lost on a brilliant philosophical mind. A
well-intentioned professor draws up the indictment that would justify the
next extermination project and packages it as an appeal for a reasonable
approach to ending the conflict. The .barbaric suicide bombers. are simply
expressing the above grievances; Hizbullah chief Nasrallah, echoing his
mentor Ahmadinehad, plans to .resist occupation. by exterminating the
Jews; the .vicious Israeli occupation. is its very existence; and the
.plight. of Palestinian prisoners is a consequence of courageous Israeli
resistance to that evil extermination project.
Count on us. We will never allow it to happen.
7. Left blames Mel for Jihad:
http://www.frontpagemag.com/Articles/ReadArticle.asp?ID=23754
8. That OTHER Frivolous "Libel" Suit against a Zionist:
http://web.israelinsider.com/Views/9045.htm
9. War Crimes?
http://www.nrg.co.il/online/1/ART1/459/499.html
10. France and Iran:
http://www.iran-resist.org/article2436
