Thursday, September 27, 2007

A NASTY PIECE OF WORK

Here's an insight into how the mutant strain of anti-semitism operates in attempts to stain the State of Israel. This is from the selection of letters in today's Sydney Morning Herald on Ahmadinejad's public appearances in the United States -

Axis of egregiousness
The news coverage of the public reaction to the address given by Iranian President Ahmadinejad at Columbia University appears to prove two things. Fear based upon fundamentalism can generate hatred even among peoples from the most educated, wealthy and secular state on earth, and the citizens of Iran, like their compatriots in the US, have the ability to elect an absolute idiot as their leader.
B. Bates Caringbah

Is Mahmoud Ahmadinejad creating a sequel to Borat and not telling anyone?
Bruce Johnson Turramurra

And the Comical Ali award goes to - wait! It's a tie between Mahmoud Ahmadinejad for "no gays in Iran" and Malcolm Turnbull for "when voters consider the issue of climate change, they will support us".
Carl Sparre Eastwood

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad says Iran has no homosexuals. Don't laugh. When I was hairdressing in Double Bay a few years ago one of my clients, a well-known fashionable Jewish socialite, made the same claim about Israel. Somehow her hairstyle that day didn't turn out the way she wanted.
Max Fischer Scarborough

Let's assume for a moment that Max Fischer of Scarborough really exists and that he's really telling the truth about that so-called "well-known fashionable Jewish socialite". What is Max trying to achieve by retelling this story? Is he attempting to draw a comparison between some ignorant dipstick and the President of a powerful oil rich nation who stands accused of holocaust denial, threatening genocide and violently oppressing his political opponents and minorities within his own country? Come now Max!

Whatever the case, he makes such a poor fist of a weak propaganda effort that readers of the SMH would see through that garbage.

For the record, gay people are treated far better in Israel than by any of its neighbours including Palestine under Hamas which generally gets a good run from Fairfax and its reporters. In Israel, gays may not have the approval of religious elements within its society in much the same way as in most western societies but they are generally treated well and gay bars are an accepted part of the night life in the big cities. Recent gay marches have received support of the Israeli police and many Palestinian gays seek safe haven inside Israel from the oppression of the Moslem fundamentalist groups in Gaza and the West.

Max might have given his socialite customer a bad hair day but his letter writing shows him to be an even nastier piece of work.

Wednesday, September 26, 2007

PLAYING IT SMARTLY

Former U.S. Ambassador Dennis Ross has written a piece in The New Republic entitled WHAT ISRAEL GAINED BY BOMBING SYRIA.

In it he argues that the Israelis played it smartly by not talking about its recent military strike against a target in northern Syria.

"In fact, had Israel taken credit for the raid, Arab states would have felt duty-bound to condemn it, Israel's resort to force, and its unilateral effort to impose its will once again."

Also smart in that it saved the Israelis some bad press from the usual suspects who normally go into critical overdrive on such news but this time they have no idea how to respond!

Tuesday, September 25, 2007

FREE SPEECH FOR SLEAZY HYPOCRITES


David Horovitz, writing in the Jerusalem Post, exposes the hypocrisy of Iran's Prime Minister Ahmedinejad who this week rode into New York's Columbia University on the magic carpet of free speech when all along he was the man responsible for purging awkward academics from his country's universities, closing down troublesome newspapers, and jailing a range of journalists, intellectuals and other critics.

As always, Horovitz is an excellent read - BIG LIES AND PERNICIOUS TRUTHS

Monday, September 24, 2007

UP TO THEIR ARMPITS

The Australian’s Abraham Rabinovich reports from Jerusalem that Israeli commandos seized nuclear material of North Korean origin during its daring raid on a secret military site in Syria early this month. The Israelis followed that up by bombing the site - ISRAELIS GRAB NUKE MATERIAL.

This breaking of a news story of such major importance to the world should have received a far greater response from the major media organisations. Perhaps they simply don't believe that North Korea, Syria and Iran could possibly be up to their armpits in such a messy situation?

At least the Melbourne Age gives it a passing mention in today's editorial on the dangers of a possible war in the region fueled mainly by Syria's involvement in the assassination of anti-Syrian leaders in Lebanon. Notwithstanding this, if fighting starts my guess is that, based on the past history of the region, it will be the Israelis who receive most of the blame.

Sunday, September 23, 2007

MAN OF PEACE

"Look out your window, baby, there's a scene you'd like to catch,
The band is playing 'Dixie,' a man got his hand outstretched.
Could be the Fuhrer
Could be the local priest.
You know sometimes
Satan comes as a man of peace."

- Bob Dylan (Man of Peace)

This song is for all of the warmongers of this world who hold themselves out as being men (and women) of peace: be they the Ahmedinijads, members of the International Solidarity movement, so-called "progressives" who act as apologists for Hamas and Hizbullah and for this fellow who was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize in 1939 - MAN OF PEACE.

Friday, September 21, 2007

MORE THAN ONE BAD ED IN THE AGE NEWSPAPER BASKET

Just when those who crave accurate and honest news reporting from their local daily newspaper are breathing sighs of relief at the imminent departure of one biased journalist, the Melbourne Age has come up with a shoddily produced one-sided piece of blatant anti-Israel propaganda from the Guardian’s Ed Pilkington that would even make Ed O’Loughlin blush - Judges block Gaza activist death case.

Pilkington's report is about a US federal appeals court ruling in favour of Catterpillar, the supplier of bulldozers used by the IDF in house demolitions to prevent the smuggling of deadly arms and munitions used by Palestinian terror groups to cause murder Israeli civilians. The case was brought by the parents of an activist of the International Solidarity Movement, Rachel Corrie who tragically died in 2003 when she placed herself in the path of a bulldozer, which was in the process of carrying out such a demolition. The ruling was made on long established constitutional grounds that the prosecution of the claim involved the court in entering the political sphere, which was beyond its power. Pilkington highlights that part of the ruling that concludes from a practical point of view that a finding in favour of the Plaintiffs case could not be made 'without implicitly questioning, and even condemning, United States foreign policy towards Israel'." By omitting the words "a Court could not find in favor of the Plaintiffs" and replacing them with "argued that the case could not go to trial" he completely distorts the decision to the point of suggesting that the judges believed the Plaintiffs' case had merit. This is not what they ruled upon.

Pilkington's bias against Israel comes out in his very simplistic description of the facts behind Corrie's death which he puts down as a foregone conclusion -

"Rachel Corrie, 23, was killed on March 16, 2003, by a 60-tonne Caterpillar D9 bulldozer in Rafah, Gaza, as she tried to prevent the home of a Palestinian pharmacist being razed. She was wearing a fluorescent orange vest and, according to witnesses, was in full view of the bulldozer operator."

Pilkington fails to mention of the fact that Corrie was a member of the terrorist supporting International Solidarity Movement which portrays itself as a "peace group" but which in fact openly states that it supports the Palestinian "armed resistance". Some peaceniks!

The witnesses who Pilkington quotes as claiming that Corrie was "in full view of the bulldozer operator" included friends and supporters of the owner of the house that was being demolished and used to smuggle weapons destined for use by suicide murderers of Israelis. Most were members of the ISM so they weren't exactly independent witnesses. While their credibility is not questioned by Pilkington, he follows the typical O'Loughlin's blank page methodology by deliberately omitting that fact that bulldozer operator denied seeing Corrie because she was not visible from his vantage point on the bulldozer or the myriad of inconsistencies and lies told by Pilkington's witnesses who even resorted to the use of doctored photographs to ensure that Corrie's death would not be in vain - i.e. that it could be used as a centrepice for their campaign against Israel.

The Stop ISM site is most instructive in providing an insight into how Rachel Corrie was used as an unwitting playtoy for this devious organisation and its cause.

And Corrie is not the only person duped by their perverted Palestinian propaganda campaign. If you're a reader of the Age you have long ago been welcomed to the club.

Thursday, September 20, 2007

HISTORY REPEATS

It was almost seventy years ago that British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain arrived in London after meeting with Nazi Chancellor Hitler waving a useless scrap of paper over his head and ranting on about "peace in our times".

Time passes on and there is no shortage of idiots who echo similar sentiments of appeasement today - even when rabid warmongers threaten others with annihilation. This month's idiot is one R.N. Watson of Newtown, N.S.W who penned this piece of nonsense to the Sydney Morning Herald (Published under the heading "Warmongers should be frog-marched off the stage" on 19/9/07) -

"To the French Foreign Minister, Bernard Kouchner: with respect, pull your head in, mate. We do not want war with Iran ("Prepare for war with Iran: French warning", September 18). The people are sick of people like you and their jingoist mates who shout about the bogeyman and expect us all to cringe with fear. We do not want war, not with the beautiful country of Iran, not with the poor suffering people of North Korea, not with Syria, and not with anyone else. Work your problems out peacefully or get out of the way and let another democratically elected representative of the people do it.

The time for this kind of rubbish has long passed. We're not going to fall for this kind of thing again. We know what George Bush's motives for war with Iraq were. It is plain to see that the blood on his hands is mixed with oil. We've seen the suffering that comes from allowing a warmonger his way. There is no excuse for the kind of murder that has occurred in Iraq. Human life is valuable, and not to be wasted on such material things.

The West is treating Iran like a young child might treat a cat. If the child corners the cat and pokes it with a stick, the cat will scratch the child. If the child shows the cat the respect it deserves, it will purr. The people of the world do not want there to be war with Iran.

Monsieur Kouchner, the people of France do not want war with Iran and will tell you in their passionate way. The brave people of the US will fight for their country with pride, but they are sick of being duped into sending their brave sons and daughters to die for other goals.

Monsieur Kouchner, we know what you are trying to do. Iran is far less a threat to the world than you would have us believe. Put down the stick and go and find somewhere else to rattle your sabre."

Watson fails to understand (or ignores the fact) that the rattling began long ago and that it's been Iran's racist Holocaust denying advocate of genocide Ahmedinajad who has been holding the sabre. Apparently, the letter writer doesn't mind that at all.

Watson does get some things right.

He's not blaming the Jews as many of his ilk do when dealing with this subject matter because, if it really is all about oil as he alleges, then at least he's leaving the so-called "Israel lobby" out of the equation.

He's also correct in saying that the world doesn't want war with Iran and that it is indeed, a beautiful country. Of course, so is Germany but that didn't stop the Germans from perpetrating one of history's great crimes against humanity when it murdered millions of Jews, gypsys, socialists and gays. Nor does the beauty of countries prevent senseless fools like Watson from being cheerleaders for some of the hideous, criminal philosophies and regimes that emanate from them.

Wednesday, September 19, 2007

STILL CELEBRATING AFTER ALL THESE YEARS

When Al Quaeda terrorists brought down New York's twin towers and murdered nearly 3,000 Americans in September 2001 there was much celebration among Palestinians, many of who could barely conceal their joy. At the time, the Palestine Authority did its best to suppress news of the celebrations but these days, according to the latest Palestime Media Watch BULLETIN, the celebrations continue.

The above cartoon showing Osama Bin Laden making the "V" for victory sign with two fingers in the shape of the burning Twin Towers appeared in the PA daily "Al Hayat Al Jadida", which is owned by the PA and controlled by the office of its Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas who is in the midst of negotiations for peace with the Israelis in an initiative mainly being facilitated by the United States.

Tuesday, September 18, 2007

KEEPING MUM

Speculation continues as to the objective of Israel's recent strike deep into Syrian territory at a place near its border with Turkey.

Everybody including the Israelis and the Syrians are keeping mum but according to this report from the London Times ISRAELIS 'BLEW APART SYRIAN NUCLEAR CACHE' the IDF mission managed to destroy a cache of nuclear materials from North Korea.

Israel's Prime Minister Ehud Olmert isn't saying much - other than that "the security sources and IDF [Israeli Defence Forces] soldiers are demonstrating unusual courage. We naturally cannot always show the public our cards."

The media is doing very little talking on the issue as well, preferring to keep the story of Syria being in control of WMD's from North Korea right out of the limelight.

An interesting footnote are the comments of Times reader, S. Ahmed of Cairo immediately below the story -

"So many comments here reflect how ignorant many are on the Middle East. Those refering to Syria as an islamic extremist country. Syria is very secular & has crushed islamic extremists in the city of Hama in a brutal way back in 1982. Those congratulating the IDF forget that its the same body that botched up big time last year & couldn't retrieve its 2 captured soldiers. What I am witnessing here is the same irrational zealous that hizbullah supporters displayed after the end of hostilities in 2006. I find it a load of hollow bravado flamed by prejudice."

Nice of Mr. Ahmed to let us know what a bunch of nice guys the Syrians and Hizbullah are and to mention the massacre at Hama when the current President's old man butchered 20,000 fellow citizens. You'll never read about such things in the local press!

Monday, September 17, 2007

SLANT AND ERROR

Labour MP Michael Danby takes Fairfax apart for exposing its readers to SLANT AND ERROR over the issue of Israel/Palestine.

I couldn't have put it better myself.

Wednesday, September 12, 2007

BOTH SIDES NOW

According to a report in this week's edition of the Ausralian Jewish News, Fairfax has appointed a new Middle East correspondent, Jason Koutsoukis, currently the Canberra correspondent for the Sunday Age.

The AJN article (no link available) quotes him as saying,

"There's two sides to every story and I think we've got to tell both sides."

The promise of fair and balanced coverage of the Israel-Palestine issue is most welcome after five years of biased one sided and ugly coverage from Koutsoukis' predecessor.

With that good news, I wish Jewish readers a happy, healthy and sweet New Year.

Tuesday, September 11, 2007

A MAJOR COMPLIMENT

Don't look now but the Melbourne Age has handed Israel a major compliment with today's revelation that Israel has arrested eight violent neo-Nazis in the town of Petah Tikva. The young men are among 1 million migrants from the former Soviet Union who came to Israel under its "Law of Return". Ed O'Loughlin reports on the calls to deport what he terms these "Israeli Nazis".

I have used the word "compliment" because I believe that it is a credit to this nation that it has acted swiftly to identify and root out the racists in its midst. Just as it did when it outlawed the racist "Kach" Party some years ago.

This is in sharp contrast to what happens elsewhere in this region. The neighbouring Palestinians, for example, have a far greater tolerance for neo-Nazi philosophies. Indeed, last year they even elected a party to government that has a racist Charter and calls on its people to destroy Israel and kill Jews. Of course, Age readers wouldn't know about that because O'Loughlin generally steers clear of covering the brutal racism of Hamas or its incitement to violence and murder even among young Palestinian toddlers watching kindergarten television shows. Such things are not even on Ed's radar.

Another neighbour of Israel is Jordan which also rarely gets a mention from O'Loughlin but which, in reality, is the true "apartheid state" of the Middle East. The Jordanians expelled all of their Jews from the country way back in 1948. They also created a citizenship law to give Palestinians citizenship - this is how Law No. 6 of 1954 on Nationality defines Palestinians to specifically exclude those Jews who previously had Palestinian nationality for those purposes -

"Any person who, not being Jewish, possessed Palestinian nationality before 15 May 1948 and was a regular resident in the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan between 20 December 1949 and 16 February 1954;"

This would make the old time Nazis proud and it really is a wonder that while O'Loughlin manages to make an article out of eight hoodlums arrested in Israel for what the entire nation agrees is unacceptable behaviour, he routinely fails to highlight the true state based racism and apartheid from the region which he is meant to be covering in an objective manner for his newspaper.

Saturday, September 08, 2007

YOU WOULDN'T READ ABOUT IT



The above photograph sums up democracy Hamas style. Haaretz Newspaper reports how the Islamic group reinforces its rule in Gaza by sending out security forces armed with rifles and clubs to beat up Fatah supporters trying to hold street prayers to protest against that movement. You wouldn't read about it in your local press, so follow the story here.

You won't see much vision of this thuggery on your screens either because Hamas security men are ordering journalists to stop filming such incidents. "One security officer told reporters, 'if a single shot is on TV, you know what will happen.' He then drew his finger across his throat."

And British journalists are boycotting who?

Friday, September 07, 2007

THE AGE AND O’LOUGHLIN SHIELD HIZBULLAH

On 29 August 2007 the New York-based Human Rights Watch published a report condemning the indiscriminate firing by Hizbullah of thousands of missiles into civilian areas of northern Israel, killing at least 39 civilians during the 2006 Second Lebanon War. In its report, HRW dismissed Hizbullah’s justifications for its attacks on Israeli towns – that they were a response to indiscriminate Israeli fire into southern Lebanon and to draw Israel into a ground war – on the basis that they had no legal basis under the laws of war. The subject of the truthfulness of the assertions that Hizbullah's actions were a "response" to anything rather than part of its own murderous attack strategy was not really considered.

HRW arranged a news conference in Beirut to announce its findings, but it had to be cancelled because of threats of Hizbullah protests.

Hizbullah's anger at HRW has clearly shaken some in the news media if the reaction of the Melbourne Age and its Jerusalem correspondent, Ed O'Loughlin is any guide. Both remained silent and failed to cover its reports or the Hizbullah threats of protest and violence.

Not a single word.

O'Loughlin however, was not so reticent when it came to covering HRW's damning report on Israel's response to Hizbullah whose leader Hassan Nasrallah has stated on numerous occasions that his aim is to destroy the Jewish state and kill Jews everywhere.

The second report was released yesterday and O'Loughlin went straight into action to tell his readers that Israel 'broke laws of war' in Lebanon.

In true O'Loughlin fashion, he ignores HRW's damning earlier report on Hizbullah or the movement's threats against HRW.

Naturally, the Age article fails to give any space to the IDF’s response to the HRW report which points to countless documented examples of civilian facilities being used for military purposes - missiles in houses, mosques and schools used for storing weapons.

This is yet another instance of indiscriminate reporting on the conflict between Israel and its Arab neighbours and the airbrushing out of existence of the worst elements of the terrorist thuggery from groups like Hamas and Hizbullah. By acting as a shield for such groups, this journalist and his newspaper have reached such appallingly low levels of objectivity that their coverage is now considered by many as part of the anti-Israel propaganda industry.

For those who like to be aware of both sides, a more balanced report can be read here in Haaretz.

Thursday, September 06, 2007

AND ON A POSITIVE NOTE ...

Israel's Minister for the Interior, Meir Sheetrit announced yesterday that his country intends to grant citizenship to several hundred Darfur refugees who are currently in the country.

According to the Minister, Israel cannot ignore the refugees' fate because of the history of the Jewish people.

"Just as Israel granted citizenship to refugees from Vietnam, the same ought to be done today," the minister said in Haaretz Newspaper. He disclosed that he has been working with Prime Minister Ehud Olmert on a plan to determine, in coordination with the United Nations, a quota of refugees who would become naturalized Israeli citizens.

This is a very positive initiative and a victory for humanity. If you live in Australia however, it's unlikely you'll read about in any of your local newspapers so I thought I'd let you know about it!

Wednesday, September 05, 2007

NIGHT FOLLOWS DAY

As sure as night follows day, the Melbourne Age Jerusalem correspondent Ed O'Loughlin reappeared today.

His article was brief but so very predictable. Although he's not the one necessarily responsible for dreaming up the headlines to his stories it was always a certainty that we would see something like
ISRAEL THREATENS TO CUT OFF GAZA'S WATER heading up a news story in this newspaper.

On Monday, the children of Sderot, an Israeli town located near the border with Palestine's Gaza Strip were greeted back to school by rockets launched from Northern Gaza. Seven such missiles were fired in their direction and one struck near a day care centre in their town. There were no injuries, but 12 children were treated for shock. Following the attack, the Sderot Parents Committee decided to keep children home from all of the city's schools until further notice. Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility for the attack.

This story was not covered by the Age on Tuesday. O'Loughlin was nowhere to be seen or heard and there was no headline ringing out saying PALESTINIANS TARGET JEWISH SCHOOLCHILDREN (you needn't bother clicking; there's no link and no story!).

Nothing!

The news of the resumption of large scale rocket attacks only appeared on the Age's radar when an Israeli Minister made the suggestion that if the attacks did not cease, then his country would consider cutting off the supply of electricity, water and fuel to its neighbour whose elected rulers have shown no interest in preventing the murderous activities of its citizens and are, in all likelihood, right behind these criminal acts.

Why are stories of the trauma inflicted upon Israeli schoolchildren routinely ignored and consigned to the blank pages (and for that matter we should add stories of the indoctrination of Palestinian children to hate their neighbours)?

Why do they only become news when the angle of possible Palestinian suffering as a result of a proposed Israeli response to terror activity is on the table?

Surely the powerbrokers at the Age don't really believe that their readers are only able to identify with the victimhood of one of the participants in this tragic conflict? Or are the readers themselves being subjected to an agenda aimed at ensuring that they think about it in one way and therefore it is they too who are being manipulated to become victims of a selective campaign of misinformation?

Monday, September 03, 2007

WHAT'S WRONG WITH THIS STORY?

You really have to exercise your imagination here as to the identity of the person who killed the Gaza teenager in this story:-


The story of the continuing violence in the unoccupied Gaza Strip is now really about the brutality of Hamas as it seeks to strengthen its vice like grip on the lives of its people and of the methods it uses to stifle opposition from Fatah Party which still rules in the West Bank and which is currently involved in peace negotiations with Israel.

Of course, it's not really the fault of Islamic Fundamentalist thugs from Hamas at all according to the writer. It's simply a matter of the "Gazans' desperation since Israel and Egypt sealed off their coastal territory following its June takeover by the Hamas movement."

Perhaps it's because the killing and the violence referred to in the article was instigated and carried out by this newspaper's pin up boys from Hamas that they get off so lightly. Naturally, the story would be so different if the IDF was really involved in the boy's death.

Sunday, September 02, 2007

WHY?


The above photograph was taken by Associated Press photographer Majidi Mohammed in the West Bank city of Nablus last week. The Palestinian girl holding the weapon is among members of the Al Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades militia linked to Mahmoud Abbas' ruling Fatah movement which is currently carrying on negotiations for peace with Israel.



Saturday, September 01, 2007

MARRACKVILLE MAULERS

The mayors of the West Bank city of Bethlehem and the municipality of Marrickville have signed a sister-city agreement. The week-long visit to Sydney of Bethlehem's Mayor Victor Batarseh was intended to spread goodwill but, as is often the case with officials from his part of the world, the word "goodwill" is certainly not synonymous with "peace" and "reconciliation" with neighbours.

Batarseh spent most of his time here telling fibs about Israel that would even make Joseph Goebells blush. Fibs like the one about Israel's security barrier, which he claims is intended to steal Palestinian land rather then keep out suicide attacks. Indeed, despite statistics which show a dramatic decline in Palestinian terrorist attacks since the barrier's construction, the good mayor denies that what he calls "the wall" (which for the most part it isn't) has "really, diminished the attacks inside Israel." - (ABC interview here).

At a meeting held last week at the University of Sydney, Batarseh repeated this claim and the 90-strong crowd (who, no doubt would like to be tagged as 'peaceniks') "applauded when a member of the audience called for 'the complete destruction of Israel'."

We see the same same sort of bluster in neighbouring Leichardt municipality from a "Friends of Hebron" group which is seeking to establish a twin city relationship with that West Bank city. The FOH were recently scheduled to meet with a Jewish group as part of a council brokered conciliation initiative but they stunned that group by pulling a proposal for funding joint Israeli-Palestinian peace initiatives off the agenda.

These things should not come as a surprise. Peace is not on the agenda of those seeking to establish these twinning arrangements. They might be marketed as peaceful initiatives designed to do something about the plight of the Palestinian people but instead the agenda is to encourage and promote the hatred of Israel and the Jews that the corrupt leaders of these poor people have adopted over decades and which have brought about the tragic situation in which they find themselves today. The applause of the ninety people in the crowd at Sydney University at the suggestion that Israel should be "completely destroyed" stands as testament to that fact.