AL JAZEERA CAN'T LIE STRAIGHT IN BED

Just in case you had any doubts about the credibility of Al Jazeera, here’s the latest lie this craven excuse for a news outlet is pushing - Mubarak’s planning exile to Tel Aviv.

According to sources in the Egyptian Embassy in Tel Aviv, Israel is making preparations to welcome Hosni Mubarak into exile after Saudi Arabia rejected overtures.

These are the lying bastards who are currently sharing a bed with Der Guardian which has links with Fairfax in Australia.

Nice friends if you can get them

She can certainly act but boy, does Vanessa Redgrave have some nice friends?

Anti Semitism's Victims

Here's a brilliant article by Nick Cohen in the Jewish Chronicle - Tunisia, and our black and white mentality.

This newspaper normally looks at how the Jew-obsession of journalists and politicians topples over into antisemitism, and worries about the consequences for Israel and the diaspora. As the case of Tunisia shows, the consequences for Arabs, Berbers and Kurds are worth thinking about, too. Antisemitism is unique among religious hatreds. It is a racist conspiracy theory fashioned for the needs of messianic and brutal rulers, as dictators from the Tsars to the Islamists via the Nazis have shown. Many other alleged religious "hatreds" are not hatreds in the true sense. If I criticise Islamic, Orthodox Jewish or Catholic attitudes towards women, for instance, and I'm accused of being a bigot, I shrug and say it is not bigoted to oppose bigotry.

By contrast, the antisemitic conspiracy theories the Middle East took from fascist Europe, and the immigrant Muslim far right is now pumping back home again, have nothing to do with the religious practices of Jews. I do not have to tell readers that a cabal of bankers and revolutionaries do not seek world domination and that the "Israel Lobby" did not gull Yankee goys into fighting the Iraq war.

Antisemitism's first victims are not always Jews either. In the Middle East, dictators use antisemitic discourse to tell their wretched populations that Jewish conspiracies cause their countries' ills, and insist that on no account should they demand democracy and human rights because these are Jewish frauds: facades behind which the secret rulers of the world jerk the strings of power.

By the way, Cohen is not Jewish.

FRUITCAKES

According to Wikipedia, "the Jaffa orange, also Shamouti orange, is a sweet, almost seedless orange variety. Originally developed in Palestine in the mid-19th century, it takes its name from the city of Jaffa where it was first produced for export. It became a primary citrus export of the State of Israel following its establishment in 1948.

One of three main varieties of oranges grown in the Middle East, the Jaffa orange is also cultivated in Cyprus, Iraq, Lebanon, Syria and Turkey. At one time the cooperation in growing and exporting these oranges was seen as a symbol of positive Arab-Jewish relations."

The Jaffa orange is also grown in Spain, South Africa and a dozen other countries but the boofheads who work the racist BDS have gone loopy over the labelling of the oranges and are boycotting them all. They even have the NSW government's knickers in a knot over the issue - NSW government warns Coles over imported fruit labels and no doubt, the councillors at Marrickville are all over ever Coles Supermarket in their municipality ensuring that no Jaffas at all are sold on their patch.

Here's a hint for Fiona Byrne and friends on how to differentiate between a Jewish Jaffa Orange and the other types - the Jewish ones have a stem that appears to be circumcised.

And on a serious note, French philosopher Bernard Henri-Levy addresses the matter of BDS here. If the good councillors of Marrickville can get their noses away from the local orange produce they would do well to pay attention to what the man says.

ANYONE NOTICE?

Lebanon is now occupied by Iran through its proxy Hizbullah and the Iranians are still hanging people in the streets.

THE END OF LABOR: THE END OF PEACE?

Noted Israeli historian Benny Morris writes of the end of the Israeli Labor Party in the wake of Ehud Barak's decision to leave the party along with four other former Labor Knesset members - The Fruit of Israel's Labor.

But there can be no serious argument about what transpired in July and December 2000, when Arafat sequentially rejected comprehensive Israeli and Israeli-American proposals for a two-state solution which would have given the Palestinians ("the Clinton Parameters") sovereignty and independence in 95% of the West Bank, all of the Gaza Strip, and half of Jerusalem (including half or three-quarters of the Old City). And there can be no serious argument either about Abbas's rejection of the similar, perhaps even slightly better deal, offered by Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert in 2008. (Indeed, these rejections of a two-state solution were already a tradition set in stone: The Palestinians' leaders had rejected two-state compromises in 1937 (the Peel proposals), 1947 (the UN General Assembly partition resolution) and (implicitly) in 1978 (when Arafat rejected the Sadat-Begin Camp David agreement, which provided for "autonomy" in the Palestinan territories).

In the first decade of the third millenium, the Palestinians—Arafat and Abbas (and, needless to say, the fundamentalist anti-Semitic Hamas)—had, again, rejected not so much a set of proposals as an idea, a principle, the two-state solution. They wanted all of Palestine, and not an inch for the Jews.

And it was this rejection that destroyed the Israel Labor Party ...

Morris concludes:

In the coming years, the Palestinians (and, no doubt, the Israelis too) will pay, and pay big, for the Palestinians' unwillingness to share Palestine.

The Age and The Guardian kick an own goal over Palestine Papers

Predictably, the Melbourne Age has gone overboard in its coverage of the papers written by Palestinian sources about the peace process and leaked by Al Jazeera and the Guardian in an attempt to embarrass both Israel and the Palestine Authority and to strengthen Hamas. I can see three articles on today's on line edition - all of them emphasising the weakness of the Palestinian position and painting Israel in the light of an oppressor.

The truth is that the papers, which speak from the Palestinian perspective, demonstrate what we've known all along and that is that the Israelis have consistently stridently thrown themselves into the quest for peace.

In fact, Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat is quoted in the papers as saying:

"Israelis want the two state solution but they don’t trust. They want it more than you think, sometimes more than Palestinians."

Of course, Erekat is now denying all and the Guardian ignored his statement in its haste to show the Israelis in a bad light.

"Haste" is the operative word here because they have once again come out of the blocks quickly, without thinking and leaving some large questions unanswered.

In ignoring the Israeli position, they have forgotten to ask why was no deal ever consummated?

Will the Age even try to look for the answer? Perhaps it might want to achieve some balance in its coverage and start looking elsewhere, other than the Guardian's slanted coverage on Israel? How about this Jerusalem Post article - Obama Spokesman: Verbal PA Agreement was Reached. A spokesman for former-prime minister Ehud Olmert confirms that the parties were close to an agreement.

He said that a verbal agreement had been reached and specific maps were discussed, however "I still do not understand why the Palestinians did not sign at the end of the day."

There are many other questions. Why the charade post Olmert about no negotiations when a settlement freeze was agreed upon by Netanyahu and why, when it expired did Mahmoud Abbas insist on "no settlement freeze – no deal" if, as is claimed that a deal was on the cards and the Palestinians had conceded on settlements?

I believe Saeb Erekat is a liar but at least he is right when he states that Al Jazeera has declared war on the Palestinian people. The release of these papers and their treatment by the Guardian and its proxies around the world will only serve the cause of the violent and rejectionist elements in the region.

In trying to paint the Israelis as intransigent, the Guardian and the Age have proven the opposite and, at the same time, they have shot themselves in the foot and the Palestinian people in the heart.

FAIRFAX HAS A SENSE OF HUMOUR

Weapons used by the peace loving "activists" who sailed on the Mavi Marmara in May 2010.

Jason Koutsoukis speculates today on speculation about the Turkel Report into Israel's interception of the Free Gaza flotilla which he describes as "botched" - Report tipped to clear Israelis on flotilla raid.

Actually, part of the report has now issued and what it does demonstrate is that what was "botched" was the attempt by some in the media (including Fairfax) to sheet home the blame on Israel for the deaths of nine Turkish citizens who also happened to be members of a faux humanitarian group, the IHH which is actually a terrorist group funded by the Turkish government.

The problem for the blame Israel crew was always the vision of what happened. It simply didn't tally with the lies told to reporters by the activists supporting the IHH and other flotilla hangers on. Lies that bore little examination by those who related them back to their public and that were not followed up by some simple fact checking that would have proved them untrue.

The joke is in this paragraph:-

Eight months after the fatal raid on the flotilla, that included hundreds of international protesters, politicians and observers including Fairfax journalists Paul McGeough and Kate Geraghty, the report is expected to rule that Israel Defence Force troops acted properly.

McGeough was no more an observer of the fatal events that occurred on the Mavi Marmara than you or I were. He was ostensibly an impartial but his record of support for the Palestinian cause is well known and suggests otherwise. His reports relied on versions of the events by partisan supporters of the aims of the flotilla which were to embarrass the Jewish State and not bring aid to Gaza or even break Israel's blockade.

The first part of the Turkel Commission report is available online here. It exonerates Israel and is supported by two impartial observers - people more known for their impartiality than the supposedly balanced Fairfax crowd.

And here is a story about some of flotilla facts that were airbrushed out of existence by Fairfax writers - Soldier on 'Marmara': 'I thought I was going to die'. It has to be stressed that virtually from the beginning the soldiers version was confirmed by vision from the decks of the Mavi Marmara which contradicted the so-called eye witness reports that are now known to be as worthless as the paper they were printed on.

HE SAILED ON THE MAVI MARMARA

Some of the "eyewitnesses" on board the Mavi Marmara gave some colourful accounts of what happened in late May last year when IDF soldiers boarded the ship to enforce the blockade of Hamas-controlled Gaza. Most of their accounts looked ridiculous from the time the Israelis made public the visual evidence of what took place on board and by the time the ship's captain told his story and relatives of IHH jihadists came clean as to the intention of some of the martyrs we were left in no doubt as to who was telling the truth and who was lying.

You would have to be sceptical of "eyewitness" stories from those who gathered together on this flotilla for anti-Israel purposes with pipes, slingshots and knives in readiness for bloodshed against their sworn enemies.

Here's a You Tube discussion involving the repulsive Kenneth O’Keefe who is one of the terror enablers and who shows his true colours - especially late in the segment:

IT WASN'T THE BUTLER AND IT WASN'T THE ISRAELIS

IDF: Bil'in protester died of medical malpractice.

It's almost two weeks since the IDF's commander in the West Bank, Brigadier-General Nitzan Allon issued the following statement to the media -

There is no chance that the gas caused her death. Using tear gas in the way it was used in such an open area, and given the distance where she at which she was standing from the demonstration, there is no chance that her death was caused by the gas," Allon said, adding "today, there is no difference between our understanding of the events and that of the Palestinian (National) Authority's officials.

We have still yet to see a refutation of that comment from the PA.

Meanwhile, CNN talking faces discuss tear gas used to quell Tunisian riots as if it was fairy floss. CNN's Ben Wedeman, who would be scowling at the cameras in disgust if the tear gas was being used in the West Bank, thinks it's all a bit of a hoot when the tear gas is used by Arabs.

TODAY'S AGE

Letterwriter Charles Meo writes in a letter published in today's Age that there was "no obvious reason" for King George VI to support Jewish immigration to Palestine from 1936 to 1939.

Strange.

I would have thought one reason might have been to save millions of Jews fleeing for their lives from Nazi Germany would have been reasonably obvious.

TODAY'S AUSTRALIAN

Nick Dyrenfurth skewers Bob Brown's party in Greens starting to show true political colours. He has a bit to say about the Greens' debacle in Marrickville -

Particular attention should be directed towards the NSW Greens. At its December State Delegates Council, the party decided to officially support the anti-Israel boycott, sanctions and divestment movement.

The Greens-controlled Marrickville council, in Sydney's inner west, quickly moved to implement party policy by officially backing the counterproductive and potentially anti-Semitic boycott in its entirety.

The good burghers of the inner west are now compelled to boycott Israel. Will the homes of Marrickville Jews be searched for illegal products? We shall await with bated breath the council's replacement of Israeli-designed Google search engines, Intel processors and other technology. Perhaps carbon-neutral homing pigeons will be recruited to fill the communications void.

Upset Greens groupies trying to go into damage control on the comments section. One of them claims that "The Greens do not have a 'sinister agenda', their policies are clearly described in detail on their website. Greens are not 'infiltrating' local councils, they are elected."

Not true.

The BDS contravenes Greens Party policy found on the Greens website (see pdf file Australian Greens Resultion on Israel/Palestine):

The Australian Greens:

1.2 support the legitimate rights and aspirations of the Israeli people to live in peace and security in their own independent, sovereign state;

1.5 support negotiations to achieve the democratic aspirations of both peoples within an environment of mutual respect and equality;

The Australian Greens will work for:

2.6 the promotion of a culture of dialogue, harmony, peace and reconciliation between the peoples of Palestine and Israel, both in the Middle East and in Australia, fostered through educational, cultural and other institutions.

This is the exact opposite of what supporting the BDS does. The Marrickville Greens, by voting for the boycott, have voted for a policy that directly contradicts the stated Green aims as set out on their website. At the last Federal election I know of Jewish voters who were wavering as to whether to vote for the Greens and who were swayed by the Greens' policy as set out publicly on their website. They trusted what they read but now they are confused.

If the Greens cannot clarify this contradiction then they simply can't be trusted at all in the future. We know this to already be true at local level in Marrickville. If Fiona Byrne is allowed to run for a NSW State seat in Marrickville, then we can be sure this applies there as well.

It's time for Brown to show some leadership and clarify the mess that his underlings have created in Marrickville.

THE GREATEST BLOOD LIBEL

Photograph taken from an anti-Israel, pro-Hamas rally in Melbourne in 2009. The rally was attended by a Greens Party Senator.

A recent email statement attributed in a comment to J-Wire on Marrickville Council and its Israel Boycott by a Greens Party Marrickville Councillor makes this obscene, unfounded and racist statement:

"I have taken your comments on board and understand that you are part of a strong lobby group that continues to use the holocaust to justify the illegal, unjust and undemocratic actions of the Israeli government".

I don't need to describe what unspeakable horrors this statement evokes. In the first place, it is a bald-faced lie.

However, the claim that Jews use the holocaust to justify any such actions by the Israeli government is not just untrue but indeed, it's racist and a sick perversion of holocaust remembrance; a blood libel that was cuttingly exposed this week in CAMERA - Jews Accused of Using the Holocaust to Excuse Israeli Crimes

Voters in the Marrickville electorate need to take heed.

WHAT'S IN THE COFFEE THESE IDIOTS HAVE BEEN DRINKING?

The following is a BDS promotion put together by some loose screws who do not, I repeat do not, get their coffee from AROMA.

The result is ... addled brain cells. Check this out if you don't believe me.



Listen out for the comment at around 0:31/0:32.

Hat Tip/Israellycool

Meanwhile, the people of Sderot would sure love it if only they were able to boycott these products sent over by their Gazan neighbours. Strangely, I have never heard a peep from pro BDS activists about the practice adopted by their Palestinian friends of firing missiles at Israeli homes, schools and kindergartens:

Unusual Truthfulness

Saudi Poet Abd Al-Rahman Al-Shimri: Muslims Are to Blame for the Denmark Cartoon Crisis

FROM LONDON TO MARRICKVILLE

Richard Millett reports on the defeat last week of a boycott Israel motion at the London School of Economics.

If nothing else, the audio of oncologist Professor Daniel Hochhauser is worth a listen as he demolishes a venomous BDS hypocrite in John Chalcraft.

The Mayor of Marrickville and her council lackeys should also pay heed to the discourse but I somehow doubt they will. The LSE at least held a debate on the issue and those interested had the opportunity to vote for or against (or for that matter, to abstain) but the citizens of Marrickville had no such choice when their council voted to boycott without consultation, without notice or warning in the municipal newspaper or website and without the opportunity to seek an informed discussion.

We know there was no informed discussion because the Mayor admitted she wasn't "au fait" with the situation before committing the citizens of her municipality to a racist policy designed to damage the hopes of peace and reconciliation between the people of an area that has been ravaged by conflict for far too long.

(And that is saying nothing about the question whether a local government council should delve beyond local affairs into the world of international politics).

The citizens of Marrickville are being ruled over by a bunch of thugs who have shown by their behaviour that they hold nothing but contempt for their constituents.

And speaking of thugs, this BDS groupie appears to be digging a pothole for himself that's deeper even than the Marrickville variety - Accused wants judge to face treason charge.

Colbert explains Zionist vulture story

This is not for the faint-hearted ...


Israeli Vulture Spy

The Colbert Report	Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c
http://www.colbertnation.com/
Colbert Report Full Episodes Political Humor & Satire Blog</a> Video Archive

Assisted Suicide

When the Western press gives credence to anti-Israel propaganda, as it did in recent reports about the death of Palestinian woman, Jawaher Abu Rahmah, it’s Arabs who are hurt most - Assisted Suicide by Lee Smith.

There is heated discussion in the comments section relating to the he said, she said aspects of the tear gas story (interestingly even the testimonies included on a partisan website supporting the porotest about her presence there and her medical state are conflicting) but the fact is clear that there was no autopsy on the dead woman's body, that the PA initially refused to co-operate in an investigation into the death and that only following the release of information by the PA, did the IDF's commander in the West Bank, Brigadier-General Nitzan Allon issue the following statement to the media -

There is no chance that the gas caused her death. Using tear gas in the way it was used in such an open area, and given the distance where she at which she was standing from the demonstration, there is no chance that her death was caused by the gas," Allon said, adding "today, there is no difference between our understanding of the events and that of the Palestinian (National) Authority's officials.

A week later and I have yet to see a refutation of that final comment from the PA.

Is that telling us something?

MARRICKVILLE MAULED

The decision last month of the Greens Party-controlled Marrickville Council to "boycott all goods made in Israel and any sporting, academic, government or cultural exchanges" demonstrates nothing less than the sheer ignorance of the councillors who voted in its favour. 

This You Tube interview conjures up the imagery I have in my mind of how these fools conduct themselves and demonstrates unbridled abuse of the power they were given to run the municipality when elected:- 


Federal Parliamentarian Anthony Albanese (ALP), who established the parliamentary Friends of Palestine group and was its founding secretary disapproves of the  boycott and explained why in yesterday's Australian Boycott of Israel is beyond the pale.
Philip Mendes, in a letter in the same edition of the Australian explains why any  boycott of Israelis alone is discriminatory. 

Discriminatory given that it is based on an ethnic stereotyping of all Israelis as evil, and is implicitly if not explicitly racist ("Council boycott of Israel 'self-indulgent' ", 13/1).

It is only fascists and xenophobes who classify whole peoples as inherently bad or inferior.

The experience of Britain's University and College Union, whose boycott was dropped on legal advice in September 2007, confirms that boycotts lead to a demonisation of those who support Israel's right to exist.

The key boycotters are not internationalist advocates of Israeli-Palestinian peace and reconciliation but unconditional supporters of Palestinian nationalism. They favour the dissolution of Israel and its replacement with an exclusivist ethno-religious Arab/Islamic state of Greater Palestine.

Apparently the ratepayers of Marrickville who weren't consulted aren't particularly impressed by this and countless other examples of councillors not doing properly what they were elected to do.

And this letter in today's edition of the Oz:-

JUST yesterday, I visited a Bedouin town called Rahat in southern Israel.

This town has about 50,000 residents who work hard at building a strong future for themselves. Part of this future is in education and making sure every child achieves matriculation.

Many local industries are co-owned by Jewish and Muslim Israelis.

Boycotting of goods and services from Rahat by my local council will hurt those people who live in communities such as this, who work to make sure their children can enjoy all their parents have worked for.

This action is contrary to Marrickville's well recognised and respected multicultural ethic and instead says to me, as an indigenous woman of Australia, that we are qualified and validated to pass judgment and sanction upon indigenous peoples of another country.

Lisa Jackson Pulver, Enmore, NSW

FOOTNOTE:

According to a report in the Australian Jewish News by Joshua Levi and Gareth Narunsky (24 December 2010)

"Marrickville Mayor Fiona Byrne said that while she was not au fait with the situation in the Middle East, the policy was important. 'I don’t know the full ins and outs of the situation because I’m not an expert, but I support a peaceful solution, two-states or otherwise,' Counciller Byrne said. 'Unless people start to take some action, whether economic or cultural, to put some pressure, then we can’t achieve any kind of change'"

Is this person for real?

She admits she is "not au fait with the situation" and that she doesn’t know the full ins and outs of the situation because she is not an expert and then votes to go with a boycott of a sovereign nation and its people which is designed to delegitimize and ultimately destroy that nation and she does this in the setting of a local council chamber.

Could someone please supply a straight jacket preferably not manufactured Israel so that this person can be appropriately dealt with?

SPRUNG

The International Solidarity Movement, some of whose members received a lavish six page plug from Paul McGeough in the Fairfax Good Weekend gets a good going over here from The Meir Amit Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center.

It's worth reading the piece if for no other reason than to discern how lacking in research the Walkley Award winner McGeough's propaganda piece was.

These people laughingly call themselves "peace activists" but "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."

In other words, these people shill for Hamas - the terrorist group that speaks with forked tongue and that keeps the people of Gaza firmly under the jackboot. That's the Hamas that didn't rate a mention in McGeough's epic about Gaza.

While we're on the subject, back in November when the subject of the flotilla was discussed in Going Down with the Ship, I referred to a question asked of Fairfax Chairman at it AGM about lack of balance in reporting on the Israel/Arab conflict:-

Q: What are you going to do to restore some balance in this area?

Roger Corbett (response):

Well sir, you are entirely entitled to your opinion which we respect, there are others who would disagree with you. Only yesterday I was speaking to the Israeli Ambassador and I invited him and he accepted the opportunity of taking an interview with one of our journalists to put the Israeli point of view if you like.


Two months later, a puff piece about the Ambassador finally saw the light of day in the Sydney Morning Herald - Treading the Halls of Power.

I'll leave it to you to judge whether this puts "the Israeli point of view" or whether it goes any way at all to respond to the preposterous Good Weekend propaganda article.

As for balance?

Certainly, there was some balance in that we were treated to a balance between the evil in a story of the liars who are the subjects covered in the Good Weekend piece and an honest man as described in the article about the Israeli Ambassador.

For that reason, I say well done Sydney Morning Herald, but why wasn't the Ambassador article included in Al Age as well?

Erasing Reality

Firebrand Italian politician Fiamma Nirenstein on
Erasing Reality: The Invention of "Peace" in the Middle East

With the Palestinians, the idea that we like to convey is that of a world in which Fatah, in opposition to Hamas, is amenable to achieving peace through a partition plan that would enable "two States for two Peoples." But this is far from reality: all the most recent statements, including those of a few days ago in which Abu Mazen declared that there would be no room in a Palestinian state for even a single Israeli, or that of his chief negotiator, Sa'eb Erekat, according to whom there would be an inevitable "return" of 7,000,000 refugees – or their grandchildren and great-grandchildren – inside the borders of Israel, which has precisely 7,000,000 inhabitants, including the Arabs; or the declared Palestinian lack of willingness to negotiate land-swaps or to recognize the existence of a Jewish State -- all these are in keeping with what is perhaps the most dramatic rejection of peace: the culture of hate and terrorism which the TV, the press and the Palestinian schools disseminate. Squares bearing the names of suicide terrorists; the Fatah congress opening with standing ovations for the suicide terrorists;, the "study" on the Palestinian Authority website of a Vice-Minister of Culture, who declares that there has never been any trace of Jews in Jerusalem; or the invention of a Palestinian Jesus persecuted by the Jews at a time when the concept of "Palestinians" did not even exist... perhaps all these truths, together with the weakness of Abu Mazen who now wields his power with substantial use of the police force while Hamas threatens him from afar, should remind us that a peaceful end of conflict with Israel might not be a priorit

And on Turkey:

Turkey, which is also the site of the upcoming meeting of the 5 + 1 group, continues to be, in the collective imagination, the country that has played the role of mediator between the West and Islam ever since the time of the revolution of Kemal Atatürk eighty years ago. The truth is that the secular revolution has been shelved to give way to an Islamist drift in which what wins is an alliance with Iran. The alliance with Syria, a country with which countless commercial and military treaties have been signed -- including Hamas, with which Turkey's Foreign Minister Davutoglu met last July -- clearly reveals the path chosen by Turkey. Its political attitude is now overtly pro-Islamic, and it has transformed its anti-Israel policy into a political flag.

Hamas is Not Only Israel’s Problem

In Hamas is Not Only Israel’s Problem Michael Totten writes about a report from an Italian NGO that refugees fleeing Eritrea and hoping to find sanctuary in Israel are being kidnapped en route in Egypt by Hamas, held for ransom, tortured, raped, and even killed for their organs.

Nice guys who have nice people in the media covering for every thing they do.

THE CONVENIENT SCAPEGOAT, ISRAEL

This quality opinion piece by David Burchell in today's Australian - THE CONVENIENT SCAPEGOAT, ISRAEL explains a great deal about the politics of Israel and the Middle East and how events in the region are presented in the media.

In all likelihood 2011 will see the apogee of Western Israel-loathing, eclipsing even the late 1960s and early 1970s, when Israel's victories over the Arab armies led to the invention of an imaginary country, the Israeli Goliath bullying the Arab David, and to the invention of an imaginary people, the saintly and unstained Palestinians, who forever lie bereft by the side of the road waiting for their Good Samaritan.

In particular, it tells us why there are so many Blank Pages of the Age.

THE WEB GETS MORE TANGLED

The left wing Israeli newspaper Ha'aretz, reports that the "IDF's commander in the West Bank, Brig. Gen. Nitzan Alon, refuted Friday the Palestinian claims that a Bil'in woman died as a result of inhaling tear gas at an anti-separation fence protest last week, saying she died of other medical complications - IDF chief in West Bank: Palestinian woman didn't die from inhaling tear gas.

"Nitzan said that over the past week, the Israel Defense Forces' initial conjecture that it was not the tear gas that had killed 36-year-old Jawaher Abu Rahmah has strengthened.

"She most probably died as a result of other complications, combined with problems in the medical care she received at the Palestinian hospital," Nitzan said.

The hospital gave her the wrong medication from complications relating to a pre-existing illness. Her own doctor said she had asthma.

The family knows it will get bubkes if it sues the Ramallah Hospital for its negligence.

The family blames Israel for tear gassing her even though she was 500 metres away from the protest.

The family now wants to sue Israel for her death.

The PA cries "war crime".

I think I know who the real criminals are.

THE ARAFATS 2010 - PART TWO

The Arafats for creative writing are awarded to those who best convey the spirit of the Rais in their efforts to portray narratives of events in his region. To qualify, the work needs to be suitably sub-standard and demonstrate aspects of the former Palestinian guerrilla, Prime Minister, Nobel Peace Prize winner and mass murderer's paranoia and sick pathology.

It's been a tough gig judging the various candidates - there are many and I left out some that might have been obvious choices but, quite frankly, we've read enough of them in the Blank Pages. So, without further ado, the Arafats and the winners are:-

Second Runner Up:

Almost anything Antony Loewenstein wrote during 2010 would have qualified him because he is a serial offender of the highest order (although it has already been noted that his tasteless, over the top delusional analogy on twitter between the alleged death by tear gas of a West Bank Palestinian woman and Zyklon B demonstrates the sort of pathology required to make the grade in this tough competition and holds him in good stead for the 2011 Arafats). He gets the second runner's up gong for 2010 for this puerile, poorly written atrocity:-

Aussie “journalist” repeats “get Iran” mantra of her Zionist lobby friends

The fascination with Loewenstein is not the mere banality of the tripe he offers but the fact that he attracts such an eclectic bunch of followers including the peripatetic froth-at-the-mouth Jew baiting goofball Marilyn whose only comment is what I think is a question, "What is it that makes all these journos be so stupid about Israel." This elicits the following from an insightful "Mallee" (who is all bull):

"$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$’s Marilyn!"

Positively knee-slappingly hilarious but not as funny as this pearler from Larry:

"Are Sheridan and Shaun [irony anyone?] ’slipshod’ Carney journalists? If you ask me [which granted you are not] I’d say, not by any standard of reporting I can think of. Anyone can write opinion [I am now] but that does not make me a journalist. Is Paul McGeough a journo? In my opinion yes. Why? Because he reports [often witnesses], he investigates, he speaks to all sides of an issue. Challenge; find a story that Sheridan, Carney, Hartcher [don't start me on that hoax of a journalist] have written on a subject covered by McGeough."

Yes Larry. McGeough possibly might investigate but does he speak to all sides? Does he ever publish those parts of his investigations that are inconvenient to the cause he supports? If so, I'd like to you to point them out in any of the pap he's produced for Fairfax in recent times. But I digress, this is not about McGeough.

Loewenstein somehow allows this comment from "atomou" through to the keeper:-

Antony.

Lenore is a journalist.

Your ‘work’ is laughable undergrad rubbish. With some unpleasant ideology laced in.

Get it?

Thought not.

Loved your big ideas video.

Laughed myself onto the floor.

Amen.

Runner Up:

There has been a shitload of drivel written about the phony Free Gaza flotilla that ended in the death of nine Turkish IHH militants in May. The worst were efforts to cover up the truth and mislead the public about the fact some of the dead were in fact on a suicide mission as attested by relatives and friends and our runner up gets the nod for placing these cutthroats up there on a pedestal with Mother Theresa. It's a piece I found on Salem-news.com from an ex-US Marine Tim King who makes no secret of the fact that he's a Free Gaza groupie. His pen pictures of the IHH hoodlums who died on the Mavi Marmara makes them sound like veritable choir boys.

Reminder: send a note to Paul McGeough and ask him whether he recalls whether the lads were singing "Swing Low, Sweet Chariot" on the morning of their martyrdom.

Meet the dead of the Mavi Marmara

And the Winner is:

This piece has all the hallmarks of Arafat about it. Mendacity, spite and racism masquerading as serious journalism and comment yet, leaving readers to wonder whether or not the writer is pulling their collective legs (believe me, he's not - he's actually a certifiable Nazi):

http://www.veteranstoday.com/2010/12/21/wikileaks-is-poison-ii-deconstruction-of-the-myth/

It opens with:

Not since Zionist warmonger Barack Obama’s ‘ascension’ to the US presidency, has
there been such a hysteria in the anti-war/anti-Zionist community as there is with Julian Assange and his organization, Wikileaks. Just like Obama, whose smooth talker persona duped millions of awakened individuals, lulling them into a false sense of security with lies and trickery, Wikileaks has pulled the wool over the eyes of average people and distinguished activists and writers alike with its ‘whistleblower’ image.

And Azaziah's thesis?

Wikileaks isn’t just toxic Zionist poison, it is a full-blown US-Zionist intelligence operation.

And in the true tradition of Yasser Arafat, the rant continues with lie upon lie upon lie ...

One day after the World Trade Center was demolished with military-grade thermite explosives, mass murderer of Gaza Benjamin Netanyahu told the Zionist-owned New York Times that the 9/11 attacks were ‘very good’ for US-Israeli relations, and that they would generate immediate sympathy for the Zionist entity.

And here's a selection of the writer's paranoid ranting:

Turkey still is what it has been since the Zionist Young Turks obliterated the Ottoman Empire and exterminated 1.5 million innocent Armenians: an utter tool of Zionism.

Julian Assange wrote an editorial for The Australian, the Zionist-owned newspaper where his fellow Wikileaks board member Phillip Adams is a stalwart.

Right, and I wonder what he has to say about the Zionist death vulture?

SO ...

IF THIS IS WHAT THEY TEACH THEIR CHILDREN ...



... HOW EASY IS IT FOR SOME OF THEM TO TELL LIES?

TODAY WE ARE ALL JEWS ...

Headline in today's Australian

TERROR THREATS AGAINST COPTIC CHURCHES

Jewish schools, synagogues and community buildings all need protection as a matter of course these days. Have done for years.

Coptic supporter Michelle Dalton said for many in the church, the deaths in Egypt were "just like the Bali bombing".

"They attacked innocent people going to church at Christmas," Ms Dalton said.

THE MEDIA'S TANGLED WEB

Cartoon from elderofziyon

Mark Twain observed that a "lie can get halfway around the world before the truth can even get its boots on," and in the world of Palestine Propaganda news that's true not only of the liars but of how their lies are often protected by a media willing to believe them.

Here is how the AFP dealt with the dubious death by tear gassing of Palestian woman Jawaher Abu Rahma - Israel questions tear gas death.

It seems that if someone dies and it's alleged that Israel had something to do with the death then the allegation is proven even when the hospital report says (as it did in her case) that the cause of death was "tear gas inhalation, according to the family".

Only in circumstances such as these is the word of "the family" sufficient and more binding than any coronial inquest as proof of the cause of the death. Everywhere else, this would be laughed off as insanity but the hate Israel crowd laps it up as gospel truth.

Only in circumstances such as these would the government of the area accept the story as proof that Israel had committed "war crimes" even when evidence points to the fact that the deceased was 500 metres away from the rioters involved and when there is no evidence of death from the use of the particular type of tear gas in open spaces anywhere else or at any other time in history.

Only in circumstances such as these would anybody attempt to draw the comparison between the death of this woman and the Nazi gas chambers as did one useful jew who gets trotted out by the ABC and Fairfax seemingly whenever they have the need for an expert on Jewish matters.

Surely it's time to question the sanity of this crowd. Jeffrey Goldberg, a national correspondent for The Atlantic does just that in You Know That Big Snowstorm Over Christmas? It Was the Mossad, when he concludes that "much of the region is simply divorced from reality".

And that is the only conclusion you can draw from many of the stories being spead about Israel ranging from the latest lies about the tear gas death, the Israel shark that's ruining Sinai's tourist industry, the invisible Zionist pussy that penetrated Gitmo and the vulture from Tel Aviv that's spying for Israel.

For a piece of sanity, please read Barry Rubin who explains what the Jawaher Abu Rahma is really all about in A New Palestinian Lie About Israel. Incidentally, Rubin has subsequently noted that:

Regarding the story I've written about on how the world media ran a false story of a woman at an anti-Israel demonstration dying from the tear gas fired...People who have reviewed the videotape (now publicly available) say that the demonstrators were...all men. No women present*. (I have not seen it myself but the people who have are reliable sources and it is now available for viewing.)

Not that this all matters to the anti Israel conspiracy theorists, the haters and the useful jews because the lie has already travelled around the world and the truth is starting to lace up its boots.

* I believe this means that there were no women other than "western" women. Certainly no photographic or other pictorial evidence of Abu Rahma have been produced to date.

MORE SCENES FROM GAZA UNDER SIEGE

There's a note in the visitor's book that says "McGeoebbels was here!" -



From elderofziyon

Ministry of Conspiracies - oy vey

Thanks to Latma!!!

SCENES FROM GAZA UNDER SIEGE

This is what lies waiting for the phonies on those Gaza Flotillas -



From elderofziyon

Another Lie

From elderofziyon

The Melbourne Age refers to a newly-published WikiLeak cable in which it cites an Israeli general as expecting a 'big war' Nothing new, nothing spectacular and, to the regret of some, nothing damning of the Jewish State.

Naturally, the big lie is repeated in the body of the article. The big lie is the one that says that "The Gaza war - a response to hundreds of rockets fired into Israel - killed about 1400 mainly civilian Palestinians and 13 Israelis, 10 of them soldiers. It ended on January 18, 2009."

This lie was not uncovered by someone in Israel's foreign ministry; rather its source is Hamas itself - Hamas confirms losses in Cast Lead for first time.

I guess the Age can't confirm those losses because making too much mention of would be mass murders and Hamas is a no no.

And on that note, also apparently censored by the Age is this story - read here and here.

THE STRANGE DEATH OF JAWAHER ABU RAHMA

The strange death of 36-year-old Palestinian woman Jawaher Abu Rahma who died less than 24 hours after allegedly participating in a protest against the West Bank separation fence at Bilin is creating a stir. According to Y Net News, Palestinian media reported that Palestine Authority President Mahmoud Abbas condemned the "Israeli crime which is part of a series of crimes carried out by the occupation army against our helpless nation," and Chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat(who once famously and falsely alleged that Israel had killed thousands and later reduced the figure to ... well maybe, 500 and perhaps only a dozen in the Jenin non massacre) also voiced his condemnation, calling the killing a "war crime."

But my reading of a story in yesterday's Australian (Israelis kill man carrying bottle) raised my suspicions.

Particularly, there were the contradictory statements about the medical condition Ms. Jawaher Abu Rahma. In the final paragraphs of the article we were told:

Doctors say the gas can kill on rare occasions if a victim has a pre-existing condition.

A relative, Mohammed Abu Rahmeh, said Ms Abu Rahma had suffered from asthma since she was a child. However, her parents said she was healthy and did not have asthma.

When one relative says the woman had a pre-existing condition (asthma) and the parents deny it, the matter needs looking into a little further.

Now it seems that there are numerous conflicting pieces of news about the death of this young woman whose brother was also allegedly killed in similar circumstances in 2009.

The IDF has stated that an initial examination raised doubts regarding Abu Rahma's cause of death as she initially sustained light wounds, was released from hospital and later died of her wounds in her home. Other resports say she died in hospital after never recoving from her initial wounds.

According to another relative's facebook page Abu Rama wasn't even at the demonstration (thanks elderofziyon)



The IDF offered to conduct a joint investigation into the woman's death but, according to the Jerusalem Post, the offer has been rejected by the Palestine Authority.

This is the same PA that is usually so eager to investigate anything Israel does but now it has something to hide?

Suspicions have been raised that Jawaher Abu Rahma's death could have been an honour killing but, thanks to the PA, we'll never know. Naturally, the PA would prefer the world to believe that her death is a direct result of occupation and the inhumane violence and brutality against the nonviolent demonstrators (for an example, see above photograph) in the West Bank and not that she might have been murdered by a family ashamed that their daughter had fallen pregnant.

TOP GEAR

Brian of London reports on the Israellycool site from time to time and his report on a recent episode of the BBC motoring show Top Gear shot is of interest.

Firstly, the hosts chose to wear burkhas for one segment causing outrage from the usual suspects.

Secondly, the words of Jeremy Clarkson to describe why the drivers didn't drive straight through Judea/Samaria to get to Bethlehem are classic:-

JC Voice Over] Sadly though, for political reasons, we’d been advised to avoid the disputed West Bank, so we were now going in completely the wrong direction yet again and I decided to make the most of it. [Direct to camera] I hope the other two don’t mind but I fancy a small deviation to go and look at the Sea of Galilee. This was a good call because getting there meant driving through the Golan Heights

.
"Disputed territory" would have the po faced BBC types with their burkas in a knot!

Of course, true motoring aficionados would know the pitfalls of travelling by motor in the disputed territories. Some years ago a Tel Aviv district court found Palestinian terrorist hero Marwan Barghouti directly responsible for the deaths of five civilians. One of the victims was a Greek Orthodox Monk from the West Bank, Georgios Tsibouktzakis, who was killed in a drive-by-shooting in June of 2001.

THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE AUSTRALIAN AND THE AGE

Compare Greg Sheridan's Discordant voices in a land without peace and Man of steel rather than flower father with anything produced by Fairfax recently.

Compare Reforming voices in the Middle East with anything you've ever seen in a Fairfax newspaper.

Read Bomb hits Egypt church at New Year's Mass, 21 dead and Tis not the season to be jolly in Iraq and ask yourself ...

THE ARAFATS 2010 - PART ONE

With twilight falling rapidly on 2010, I had the opportunity to reflect on what has been the very worst of the world’s output on Israel, the land about which so many simply love to make up or embellish stories to the point where they themselves look ridiculous and their versions of the facts bear little or no resemblance with  reality.

The Blank Pages awards for the year gone past are entitled "The Arafats". Named for the late Yassir Arafat who was well known for making up porkies about the Jewish neighbours he spent a lifetime trying to destroy as well as stealing from his own people, this year’s awards will please the delusional turkeys who are honoured with the accolades with which the name "Arafat" is associated.

I’ve not selected some of the more well known rank and file abusers of Israel. Instead, I wanted to highlight some true downhill skiers who, in the normal course, would never win anything and will truly appreciate being associated with the late Palestinian Authority Prime Minister.

First off is The Arafat for Politician of 2010 and I’ve gone for a real turkey - in fact they made him Prime Minister of a country that bears that name. According to a recently-released WikiLeaks cable, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan of the Republic of Turkey has several Swiss bank accounts but it's doubtful that he's stolen anything like the $3billion from his people as did Arafat. In May, Erdoğan connived with Turkish Jihadist group IHH to embed a bunch of cutthroats on one of the Free Gaza flotilla boats to cause mayhem and provoke violence when the IDF inevitably boarded to prevent the flotilla (which was carrying plenty of useless materials including out of date medicines) from breaching Israel's blockade of Gaza to prevent weapons from getting into the hands of the terrorists who rule the place. While the eyes of the world were focused on the flotilla, the Turks bombed and strafed the Kurds who are fighting their own separatist battles with Turkey. Erdoğan then demanded that Israel apologise for defending the lives of its soldiers who were attacked by the IHH gangsters on board their ship. A worthy winner and a true turkey is Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.

The Arafat for Fail of 2010 goes to the BDS movement in Australia, a bunch of snivelling bullies who get off by hassling young girls selling Israeli products in shopping malls. They have achieved nothing other than the disapproval of shoppers for their strong-arm tactics and their support of the terrorist solution to the conflict between Israel and the Arabs. The entire BDS movement worldwide is in a sick and sorry state. It’s been reported that some churches that were conned into joining the movement and divested themselves of Israeli stock lost out for their efforts. 

Boycotters of Caterpillar, the tractor company that was driven by the Israeli dozer driver who accidentally ran over Rachel Corrie were flummoxed when they saw Hamas using the same company’s product inside Gaza – an emphatic endorsement of their work. And while the boycotts have little impact on Israel’s economy or the businesses they seek to hurt, the Jewish state is going through an economic boom. 

And while the BDS freaks terrorise shoppers, the discovery was confirmed this week of one of the world’s largest natural gas deposits off the country’s northern shores.  Hardly a mention of this in the mainstream media but ultimately worth trillions to the Jewish State and all of its people. 

Karma!

The next installment of THE ARAFAT'S looks at the three most insidious, nasty pieces of writing about Israel and its Arab neighbours that were spewed forth in 2010. Coming up in a few day's time ...