QUOTE OF THE YEAR

This one comes from Columnist Burt Prelutsky who wrote it last year but it's even more prescient now:

"Surely something must be terribly wrong with a man who seems to be far more concerned with a Jew building a house in Israel than with Muslims building a nuclear bomb in Iran."

OBAMA AND THE SACRIFICE OF ISAAC

Brilliant work from Yaakov Kirschen in Dry Bones.

GO FIGURE?

Whoever puts together the headlines for Melbourne Herald Sun articles simply has no idea - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu defends Gaza settlements

Today's Kapo

Some years ago, a young Jewish boy in a community in these parts celebrated his barmitzvah. There was some disquiet among those invited because the youngster's grandfather was known to be a kapo - a Jew who during the Holocaust had done the bidding of the Nazis in the concentration camps. Some did it out of cruelty, others for self-presevation. Whatever the case, in many instances the kapos became more hated among Jews than the Nazis. In the event, several guests at the barmitzvah refused to attend rather than to be in the same place as a kapo.

The news from South Africa is that Sir Richard Goldstone who led the unbalanced UN mission to investigate Israel's Operation Cast Lead against Hamas in 2008-9 is now regarded as today's kapo - Goldstone pressured into not attending grandson’s bar mitzvah

A Dangerous Silence By Edward I. Koch

Former NY mayor Ed Koch laments about a dangerous silence:

The Karzai administration, which operates a corrupt and opium-producing state, refuses to change its corrupt ways – the president’s own brother is believed by many to run the drug traffic taking place in Afghanistan – and shows the utmost contempt for the U.S. is being hailed by the Obama administration as an ally and publicly treated with dignity. Karzai recently even threatened to join the Taliban if we don’t stop making demands on him. Nevertheless, Karzai is receiving a gracious thank-you letter from President Obama. The New York Times of April 10th reported, “…that Mr. Obama had sent Mr. Karzai a thank-you note expressing gratitude to the Afghan leader for dinner in Kabul. ‘It was a respectful letter,’ General Jones said.”

On the other hand, our closest ally – the one with the special relationship with the U.S., has been demeaned and slandered, held responsible by the administration for our problems in Afghanistan and Iraq and elsewhere in the Middle East. The plan I suspect is to so weaken the resolve of the Jewish state and its leaders that it will be much easier to impose on Israel an American plan to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, leaving Israel’s needs for security and defensible borders in the lurch.

More fence mending

Writing in The Australian, David Ignatius of the Washington Writers Group informs that Barack Obama is "seriously considering" proposing a US peace plan to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, according to two top administration officials" - Obama's latest Middle East peace plan a case of back to the future.

In other words, Obama is seeking to impose a solution to the conflict on the Israelis and Palestinians (or more particularly, some Palestinians).

Good luck with that - it's an impossible dream as long as you have Hamas threatening to destroy Israel and the PA refusing to recognise Israel as a Jewish State and inciting its population through its media and the pulpit.

Ignatius quotes an official with saying that "(W)e want to get the debate away from settlements and East Jerusalem and take it to a 30,000ft level that can involve Jordan, Syria and other countries in the region".

Really?

US mending fences

You get the feeling that the United States is slowly coming to the realisation that its policy of appeasing enemies while giving out backhanders to friends isn't exactly working and the time has come to start mending fences.

How else can one interpret praise being heaped on Israel by, of all people, a Senior State Department Official - Sanctions Delay Damages Credibility.

The problem now is that nobody on either side really trusts Barack Obama any more.

A case of Israeli aggression missed by the Age!

The Israellycool blog has recently noted an instance of disproportionate Israeli aggression that has been missed by most of the world's media - Yet More Israeli “Aggression”, “Disproportionate Force” and “Killing”

What an outrage!

If this news gets back to the editors of the Age, there will surely be questions asked of its Middle East correspondent.

Understanding the Brits

It's getting harder and harder to understand the willingness of certain sections of the British public to accept some of the blatant lies disseminated in the media and elsewhere about Israel and its conflict with the Arabs.

Perhaps this article about a group of Britons might shed some light on the situation - Sheep targeted by aliens say Animal Pathology Field Unit ?

VISITORS from another world are performing alien experiments on sheep in "frightening attacks", witnessed by UFO experts.

A UFO group says it has witnessed sheep on the England/Wales border being hit by strange objects in the sky with victims having had their brain and internal organs removed, The Sun newspaper reports.

An Easter Message

OLD NEWS ...

Now about those forged British Passports - OLD NEWS

Muslim convert Dhiren Barot was among 10,000 terrorists and fraudsters who managed to slip through Home Office security checks to secure a travel document every year.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-443441/Bin-Ladens-general-given-NINE-British-passports.html#ixzz0ju50oZtC

Palestinian journalists in trouble ... from Hamas and Fatah

The Jerusalem Post reports that "Palestinian journalists who last week met with their Israeli colleagues and an IDF spokesman in Tel Aviv have come under fire from both Hamas and Fatah." - Palestinian reporters urged to 'repent' . The journalists are facing expulsion from the Fatah-controlled Palestinian Journalists Syndicate on charges of "promoting normalization with Israel."

Strangely enough, that's what the Palestine Authority, controlled by Fatah, is supposed to be doing if the Barack Obama inspired proximity talks ever get under way.

And it's interesting to note that the memberships of the various official and semi official groups of Palestinian journalists that are proposing to punish the "offenders" including the quaintly named "Democratic Press Association" are the same journalists who provided much of the information which the foreign news media relied upon for its news from the region during Operation Cast Lead. This suggests that was was relied upon was not particularly reliable.

But what the heck. As long as it's cricitcal of the Israelis, it serves the agendas of many in the news media.

Don't therefore, hold your breath waiting to read some words of support for Gazan reporters Lana Shaheen, Mueen al-Hilu and Abdel Salam Abu Askar from the likes of Jason Koutsoukis.

ISRAEL AND ITS PSYCHOPATHIC ENEMIES

Chechen terrorists murder more than 30 Russian civilians and The Independent newspaper has no qualms about calling them "terrorists" whereas those nice killers in Hamas and Fatah are merely "miltants". Here's an op ed article from Shaun Walker asking was the motive for Moscow attacks revenge?

It has been several years since the Russian capital was last hit by a major terrorist attack, but yesterday's events recall the early years of Vladimir Putin's presidency, when Chechen terrorists struck at trains, planes and even a theatre in the city. They suggest that a decade after Mr Putin's promise to track down terrorists and "waste them in the outhouse", the Caucasus insurgency still has the ability to strike at the heart of Russia.

But hey, does anyone really give a continental whether Putin wastes Chechens in the outhouse, roasts them for dinner or whatever?

Not some of the psychopaths who read The Independent and comment on issues such as these. Catch the comments below the article and you'll notice that two of the first three comments came from lamebrains who took the opportunity to attack the little Satan, Israel (along with the Big Satan who's not looking so Satanical lately since Obama took some low shots at the little devil). The first brings Israel into the equation, the second and third do so viciously (and stupidly). A pox on them!

But the psychopaths aren't restricted to the likes of davereed2, thetwitchyone and yasmineat. I saw others discussing Israel on BBC's Dateline London, a worthless discussion programme compered by Gavin Esler in which "foreign correspondents currently posted to London are supposed to look at events in the UK through outsiders' eyes, and at how the issues of the week are being tackled around the world."

What absolute rubbish.

The programme was an excuse for the host and three of his four panellists to beat up on Israel and the poor Israeli journalist had to sit through a welter of accusations (most of them baseless) about his country and including some of the most vile, and pompous chest beating hypocrisy about the alleged use of passports (of course it wasn't "alleged", it was a sure thing), Israel's tranished image and Obama. The so-called "journalists" got most things wrong such a journalist who writes about China which country has been brutalising occupied Tibet and settled millions of Chines quietly in that country in the world's longest running occupation. She should know better but came out with a doozy about Israeli soldiers killing a 15 year old Palestinian as if this practice was public policy. No more detail than that and there was no balance in her "story".

By the time these bloodsuckers finished their sickening venting against the Jewish State I was almost convinced it was a rehearsal for an April Fool’s joke rather than a serious programme about politics. But it's no joke - that's the state of Britain these days.

Exposing Idiots

A reader of the Australian, Michael Kellock, should be congratulated for his early nomination of Adrian Jackson of Middle Park, Victoria for the title of Idiot of the Year:

It's early days, but allow me to nominate Adrian Jackson's letter (Letters, 27-28/3) proposing that the AFP, the ADF and ASIS raid and search the Israeli embassy for forgery equipment as the loopiest letter of the year.

Michael Kellock, Foster, Vic

For those who didn't see the original, it's here:

BRITAIN is to be congratulated for expelling Israel's ambassador to London. Australia should now expel Israel's ambassador to Canberra. Further, the Israel embassy should be raided and searched by the AFP, the ADF and ASIS and any equipment used for criminal activity, like forging our passports, should be confiscated.

Adrian Jackson, Middle Park, Vic

I heard a claim that the noise of the Grand Prix can turn some people into imbeciles but Jackson's been there from before the running of the race began a little over a decade ago. He must have some other excuse.

The curse of Kerr's Cur

On Remembrance Day this year it will be 35 years since the then Governor-General of this country Sir John Kerr dealt a blow to democracy and the rule of law by dismissing the elected Labor Government of Gough Whitlam and installing Liberal Party leader Malcolm Fraser in its place.

Many believe that this was an outcome that resulted from connivance between Kerr and Fraser and that the government had been cheated of office by a conspiracy of Opposition, business and media interests.

Even after all of these years, it therefore comes as no surprise to read a Melbourne Age report that Fraser, who these days shills for terror group Hamas and maintains that Israel should talk to this organisation whose charter advocates its destruction, wants Australia to expel an Israeli diplomat because of the unproven allegation that the Mossad used fake Australian passports to assassinate Hamas arms and drugs dealer Mahmoud al-Mabhouh (yet another unsubstantiated allegation) - Fraser says expel Israeli diplomats. In doing so, the man shows his contempt for the rule of law because it is by no means certain that Israel was involved in the use of the fake passports.

And while there is no proof that Israel was implicated in the use of forged passports, Fraser and the Age are silent about the only known user of fake passports in this affair Hamas man al Mabhouh himself had five of them in when found dead in his hotel room in Dubai. No mention is made of the fact that the only arrests in connection with the affair have been of three Palestinians. Nor of the fact that Fraser's mates at Hamas are so low that they even stoop to stealing money from their own banks according to Palpress (please don't hold your breath waiting for the Age to tell that story).

But let's not allow the facts to get in the way of a good ole Israel bashing story.

Indeed, let's avoid the facts altogether and let's just bludgeon the Jewish State for standing up to Hamas would be mass murderers. That seems to be Fraser's style these days.

PUTIN'S OUTBURST DISTURBS THE WORLD

Two suicide bombers blew themselves and more than thirty innocent civilians on the Moscow Metro yesterday and Vladimir Putin has come out strongly against the terrorists. He's vowing to destroy them. Sorry, Vlad, no can do. Richard Goldstone told the world that if you try that, you're likely to have committed a war crime.

On the other hand, the Russians have done that sort of thing many times. Remember the thousands of dead in Grosny?

And do you remember how the UNHRC slammed the carnage?

Good, because I don't.

HEROINE

Picture of the Week

A WORLD VISION OF HYPOCRISY

We have seen in the past week some rank hypocrisy from world leaders over the Israel/Arab conflict. Hilary Clinton addressed the 2010 AIPAC Conference and offered up a misleading comment about the PA celebration of a Fatah murderer by blaming it on Hamas.

Now, according to this article in the Australian, donors to World Vision have financed a football field that is going to be dedicated to another Fatah mass murderer - Red faces over Fatah field *

CHARITY group World Vision Australia has been embarrassed by a plan by Palestinian authorities to name a sporting complex containing an Australian-funded soccer field in the West Bank after a former militant PLO leader.

World Vision naturally denies playing a part in the choice of name for the sporting complex but a spokeswoman gives it a tick by saying that "the aim of the soccer field is to involve young people in this region of the West Bank, who are frequently dealing with psychological trauma and stress, in soccer training and competition, and in sport generally, as a positive community activity . . . There is no other facility like it."

Sure thing but why not condemn publicly the attachment of your project to a beastly murderer instead of justifying what you've done by claiming you're a dogooder. Similar soccer fields have been used in the past for training terrorists and if the hosts chose to dedicate this one a cold blooded killer it would be better to distance yourself from the whole thing and not allow yourself to be mired in the hypocrisy and lies of Palestinian hatred.

* Another article that slipped under the Fairfax radar. Where is Jason Koutsoukis whenever such a story comes up?

THIS YEAR IN JERUSALEM

Barack Obama in 2009 incanting "Next Year in Jerusalem" What's he going to say this year?

Today's Australian has a good coverage of the multiple issues involving Israel at the moment - here and here. Foreign editor Greg Sheridan superbly covers the kerfuffle over allegations of the Mossad's use of Australian passports in the totally unproven and unsubstantiated supposed hit on Hamas arms dealer and drug pusher Mahmoud al-Mabhouh and the incredible reaction of Barack Obama to the ill timed announcement by an Israeli ministry official about construction of dwelling in a Jewish neighbourhood of Jerusalem.

Sheridan exposes the fair amount of hypocrisy we are seeing in the world today. Perhaps Obama might reflect on this when he sits down at his now annual Passover seder to toast the liberation of the Jews.

Meanwhile, Mahmoud al-Mabhouh seems to have been elevated by some in Britain to sainthood. That's what happens when Palestinian Bambis confront anyone Jewish these days in the eyes of a desperate British government lagging behind at the polls and needing to pander to a population of several million Muslims and their far left rabidly antiSemitic minions.

We don't have such conditions here in Australia and, despite Kevin Rudd's fit of piqué when the passports affair first arose, he simply doesn't need to alienate the population here, many of who look upon the Israelis as being heroes for standing up to Islamist pressure tactics, lies and incitement. Most of the Western world including the US under Barack Obama is displaying a decided lack of spine in this regard.

As discussed yesterday, the outrage about Passportgate has descended to a level where certain hypocrites in the media have found the need to move to Fantasyland to support their obvious Israel bashing agendas.

Interestingly, two polls conducted in the media this week, came out decidedly in favour of Israel. Both polls were worded in such a way that they virtually implicated Israel as the guilty party in the passports scandal. Despite this, the "yes" vote for following the British lead in the ABC poll was in the low 30s - no doubt much to the chagrin of the ABC biffin who dreamt up this drivel.

PIMPS

There was a time when journalists reported the facts but that was before agenda driven propagandists took the profession into fantasyland.

Fairfax journo Paul McGeough must have delved deep into the imagination to come up with his latest effort (with Amy Goodman) – the supposedly crucial video evidence presumably withheld by Dubai's antiSemite police chief:

Well, the closed-circuit television is the key to understanding the story. And it’s quite remarkable that the Mossad seemed not to give the network of cameras around Dubai a second thought. But the team were filmed arriving individually at Dubai International Airport. The Hamas arms dealer was seen arriving. They followed him to his hotel …

But then it also becomes very chilling, because Mabhouh was in room 230, and the cameras on that level of the hotel pick up the killers going into the room, spending as long as forty-five minutes in the room. And you have to wonder why it took four would-be killers forty-five minutes to dispose of one person. And then they’re seen emerging from the room and waiting for the elevator, with two of them carrying a very—what looks like a very heavy hold-all bag.

McGeogh wouldn't have a clue really. Even if the video existed, how could he identify that these people were Mossad agents and not assassins from Mabhouh's Hamas or the opposition Fatah?

As Maurice Ostroff points out:

One of the most striking aspects was the utter failure of the much vaunted Dubai security. Strangely, all of the video clips available on the internet, show random persons at the airport, in the hotel lobby and outside the elevators. But none show incriminating shots of the culprits entering and leaving room 230, although the hotel CCTV system obviously covers the corridor and the door to his room as is patently evident from short video clips of suspects walking in the corridor past entrances to the rooms."

(Ostroff writes prolifically about Passportgate - see his open leter to David Milliband here)

Why can't McGeough tell us the names of the so-called Mossad agents? Surely, one of them must go by the name of Yossi or Uri?

On the other hand, operatives from a slick spy agency like Mossad would have noticed the CCTV cameras and it wouldn't have needed at least 27 of them to carry out the dirty deed and nor would they have been so clumsy with the passports.

So here's another scenario for your fantasyland style journalism. Maybe the Israelis didn't do it. After all, the only people arrested in respect to this are three Palestinians. Three of the assassins reportedly fled the scene via Iran - an unlikely place of refuge for the Mossad.

No, that's not McGeogh's style. No Israel bashing and it doesn't suit the agenda even if a fair and objective rendition of what's known in this case might lift the profession above the level of pimping which is where it currently wallows.

[Hat tip: Tim Blair's blog]