Rather than be outraged at the terrorism being committed by IS, a group of prominent British Muslims instead are getting worked up over what IS choose to call themselves:
So just to clarify:
Obama and Cameron would like us to believe that Islamic State has nothing to do *with* Islam. Right……
Only problem is, IS happens to disagree and cites the Quran and Islamic theology to support their beheadings, rapes, murders, and general rampage.
Now – which party do we think knows more about Islam: Obama and Cameron, or IS?
What Is The BBC Hiding?
Have you heard of the Balen Report?
Some years ago, amidst accusations of anti Israel bias, the BBC arranged for a senior journalist, Malcolm Balen, to prepare a report. The aim was to discover whether there truly was an anti Israel slant to the news.
And so the report was duly prepared.
But the BBC then refused to release it.
And they kept on refusing – even when a solicitor took them to court over it. In fact, the BBC spent in the region of £300,000 to fight the publication of this document.
To this day, there are calls for the Balen Report to be released.
So, how about we intensify those demands….?
If we can show the general public that the BBC cannot be trusted to report fairly on Israel, we will have achieved something really vital.
STEP 1 – read up a bit about the Balen Report:
http://www.standard.co.uk/news/the-secret-report-at-heart-of-bbcs-gaza-paranoia-6870301.html
STEP 2 – start posting and tweeting about it. Spread the word. Get everyone you can to start bombarding the BBC and the media in general with questions about WHY the BBC refuses to release this report.
WHAT IS THE BBC HIDING….?
From Mecca To Medina: Muslims And Their Feelings
This was written several years ago, but I would suggest it remains relevant today:
Next time someone tries to hoodwink you into believing that Islam ‘respects all faiths’, ask them about Mecca and Medina. Specifically, ask them why the two holiest Muslim cities are off limits to all non Muslims.
Yep, that’s right. Mecca and Medina are no go areas unless you’re a Quran-brandishing member of the ‘religion of peace’. And there are no exceptions, no apologies and certainly no concern over whether this might be a tad hypocritical.
In fact, just to make it clear to any naughty infidels who may try and sneak into Mecca, the Saudi authorities have put up these helpful signs:
Now let’s compare what happens in Jerusalem, the capital of Israel. This is the holiest Jewish city. And where the second temple once stood, there now remains a solitary wall; the Kotel, or ‘Wailing Wall’, where Jews come to pray. Non Jews are also welcome there, and perfectly at liberty to visit the Kotel and pray there, should they desire.
And then there is the Al Aqsa Mosque – slapbang where the Jewish temple used to stand.
From what you read in the international media, you’d never know that Israel – being democratic to a fault -has given control of this vital area to the Muslims.
So even as Muslims across the globe support, sponsor and carry out terrorism against the Jewish state, it is the Muslim Waqf, part of the Palestinian Authority, which has jurisdiction over the Temple Mount area.
And what happens when any non Muslim daresto go there…?
Ask Israeli cabinet Minister Yitzhak Aharonovitch.Today he paid a visit to the Temple Mount. Result? Total hysteria and threats of violence from Palestinian Muslims. Aharonovitch spent a mere ninety minutes in the area, and was there purely to check police deployments in this volatile area of Jerusalem.
Aharonovitch’s spokesman Tal Harel said:
“The intention of the visit was to see how the police would deploy in case of an emergency.We went everywhere. We were accompanied by the Waqf, who were fully aware of our presence, and this was planned in coordination with them well ahead of the visit.”
Nine years ago, of course, a similar visit by Ariel Sharon triggered a bloody and protracted ‘intifada’ by the Palestinians.
. I mean, just think about it: a Jewish Israeli has the sheer chutzpah to visit a holy Jewish area in Israel, the Jewish homeland! Whatevernext?!
And these are far from being isolated events. Back in 2005, on Yom Yerushalayim (Jerusalem Day), a small Jewish group ascended the Temple Mount only to be attacked by a mob of Palestinian Muslims, who emerged from the Al Aqsa Mosque. The police had to be called, so intense was the violence directed at the Jews.
But Jerusalem was a holy place for Jews before Islam even existed, I hear the historians among you cry indignantly!
Yet here is the Palestinian-appointed Grand Mufti of Jerusalem,Mohammed Hussein, insisting that today’s visit by Israeli MinisterYitzhak Aharonovitch was not coordinated in advance and, wait for it:It is these Muslim feelings that enable Muslim men in Saudi Arabia to rape women with impunity; women who are then publicly flogged and imprisoned as ‘punishment’.
Hussein said:
“He does not have the right to visit al-Aqsa because it is an Islamic site and not a Jewish site, and it could ignite violence because the visit provokes thefeelings of Muslims. It is anassault on an Islamic place.”
And there, in that one line, you have it. The sheer hypocrisy of the demands made by Muslims in nonMuslim nations. Let’s read it again, just to marvel at the utter arrogance involved:
‘
…it could ignite violencebecause the visit provokes the feelings of Muslims…’
Ah yes, Muslim feelings…
The same Muslim feelings that are ‘provoked’ by cartoons and teddy bears and piggy banks and democracy and Geert Wilders and books about Mohammed and freedom for women and alcohol and Jews and Christians and Hindus and Buddhists and Sikhs and Atheists and Gays and every single thing on the planet that does not comply with Islam!
It is these Muslim feelings that Barack Obama, the great Dhimmi in the White House, is busy bending over backwards to appease.
It is these Muslim feelings that got Dutch Politician Geert Wilders banned from Britain and also have him living in fear, under 24/7 police guard.
It is these Muslim feelings that ensure women throughout the Islamic world have about the same rights as a house plant; none, in other words.
It is these Muslim feelings that ensured the novel ‘The Jewel Of Medina’ was dropped by two publishers, after angry Muslims threatened the first one, and then firebombed the London home of the second who took it on.
It is Muslim feelings that result in Muslim terrorists stealing the lives of innocent civilians in Israel on a regular basis.
It is Muslim feelings that in 2005 brought horror to the heart of London and left corpses buried underground on burning tube trains.
It is Muslim feelings that brought down the Twin Towers in New York and that have caused another 13,459 deaths since.
Frankly, I don’t give a damn about Muslim sensibilities any more, given that in order to keep Muslims happy, the rest of us have to sacrifice every value we hold dear.
I recommend that next time the followers of Islam start burning flags, rioting, issuing fatwas, and banging on about their feelings, we tell them where to shove’em!
The Missionary Position
Something strange is happening in London.
Especially in areas with large Jewish communities. Take 14 year old Rachel, whose family lives in a north London suburb. Last month, she opened the front door to find three Orthodox Jews standing there. Greeting her warmly, they explained they were from the Beth Shalom Synagogue, and were in her area, doing ‘outreach work’.
Specifically, they wanted to learn how to make Synagogue ‘more relevant’ for teenagers.
Might Rachel spare them ten minutes of her time…?
Feeling perfectly safe, Rachel invited them in, and made some tea. And for the next forty minutes,she enjoyed a lively conversation with her fellow Jews, about religion, and life in London, and sundry other topics.
And then one of these Orthodox Jews asked Rachel what she thought about Hell. Which was kind of strange – since Rachel knew that in Jewish belief there is NO ‘hell’.
Baffled, she asked ‘Chaim’ to elaborate. Leaning forward with a look of great concern, Chaim asked Rachel if she was worried about her parents, and her six year old sister. After all, surely she didn’t want them to ’spend eternity in hell?’ Chaim then explained this was just what would happen – if Rachel’s family ‘failed to find Jesus’. So Rachel now found herself, bizarrely, with three Orthodox Jews who were preaching Christianity!
Uneasy, she asked Chaim which specific Jewish sect he represented.
‘Messianic’, came the beaming response, a ‘new group in which you can remain Jewish AND still know Jesus.’
And while this did not enlighten Rachel, her mother knew precisely what it meant when she arrived home ten minutes later and threw ‘Chaim’ and his friends out.
You see, these ‘orthodox jews’ were not Jews at all.
They were Christian missionaries.
Or, as they prefer to be known, ‘messianic jews’.
Confused? That’s what Messianics count upon.
The “messianic jewish” movement has been steadily expanding across North America over the past decade. Despite claiming to be ‘jewish’, it is a purely Christian movement.
It was founded by evangelical Christians, and it is funded 100% by evangelical Churches. In short, the Messianic movement is about as ‘jewish’ as a plate of pork chops.
It’s estimated that 95% of Messianics were never Jewish to start with.
To be clear: the Messianic movement is a very specific,evangelical Christian group. It does not represent all Christians.
Indeed, many Christian movements have publicly condemned Messianics, for the lies they tell.
But don’t dismiss Messianics as some fringe cult. While it may have started that way, Messianics are managing to convert thousands of naive young Jews every year from Judaism to Christianity.
The most aggressive and infamous Messianic group is ‘jews4jesus’, but this is just one group among many.
What is it that Messianics want?
Simple. The same thing that Christianity, as a movement, has wanted for some 2000 years. Namely, for Jews to accept Jesus as ’son of god’, as ‘messiah’ and as ’saviour’.
And when all their previous efforts to convert Jews failed, American evangelists rebranded. Now they call their Churches ’synagogues’, they address their preachers as ‘rabbi’, and they themselves are not ‘Christians’ but rather ‘messianic jews’.
Their target audience? Naive young Jews, who fall for the line that Messianics represent a ‘new jewish group which recognises Jesus.’
And right now in the UK, USA, Canada, and Australia, Messianics are doing a hell of a lot more than just knocking on the doors of Jewish homes.
For they are also very busy convincing the entire non Jewish world that they, the Messianics, are in fact the ‘real jews’.
Rachel was lucky. The approach made to her was clumsy and pretty much destined to fail. But numerous young Jewish students away from home for the first time have been lured into embracing Christianity without even realising it.
Take Jonathan. He was away at University, in his first year, studying Politics. When a fellow student, Suzanne, befriended him, he was delighted. She was obviously Jewish – she was wearing a Magen David.
After a few weeks, Suzanne invited Jonathan to go with her to ’synagogue’. Not the one that most Jewish students at that University preferred but another, ‘more friendly’ synagogue. Jonathan said yes, and didn’t give it another thought.
And the following Friday night, he was impressed by the warm reception he got at this ‘temple’. Everyone was smiling. Welcoming. The synagogue looked like every other synagogue he’d ever attended. The ‘Rabbi’ was charismatic, and gave an interesting service. The kiddush was lovely. Jonathan went home feeling great.
And so when, a few weeks later, Suzanne and some of the other members of the temple suggested to Jonathan that he take a look at a ‘wonderful Hebrew scripture’, he shrugged and figured, ‘Where’s the harm?’.
Suzanne explained that the scripture was called the ‘Brit Chadasha’.
She gave Jonathan some photocopied pages; an ‘English translation’. He glanced through them. They were fairly interesting. Prettily written. Jonathan had never been very into religion – sure, he was Jewish, but he wasn’t ‘observant’.
But Suzanne was keen to discuss the scriptures and Jonathan soon found himself enjoying their chats. When the name ‘Yeshua’ came up, Jonathan didn’t make the connection. He liked this new form of “messianic judaism”.
The problem? ‘Brit Chadasha’ is Hebrew for New Testament!
Jonathan had been studying the Christian bible without even knowing it!
All choice had been taken away from him, as he’d been convinced that he was simply following an authentic Jewish text, as part of an authentic Jewish group.
He was not now a ‘messianic jew’. He was now on his way out of Judaism – because for a Jew to affirm belief in Jesus or any other human as ‘divine’ is blasphemy.
Now of course, people switch faiths. Christians become Jews. Jews become Christians. But they do it consciously.
Jonathan was troubled once he discovered that he’d been so thoroughly hoodwinked. And when he confronted his Messianic ‘friends’, their response was to turn on him and issue dire warnings about his ‘fate’ if he now ‘rejected jesus’.
Messianics are also busy in cyberspace. In debate forums that feature religion as a topic, they are busy representing ‘judaism’ and convincing millions of well meaning non Jews that ‘real jews DO embrace Jesus!’
Fortunately in some forums there are genuine Jews who are countering this deception. Even then, they come under attack from the Messianics who accuse the Jews of ‘discrimination’.
In other words: Jews are being told they have to accept a Christian evangelical group as part OF Judaism – or be guilty of‘discrimination’!
And Messianics are also busy hijacking Jewish festivals. At Pesach, hundreds of thousands of Messianics celebrate ‘the real passover’, in which Jesus is the ’sacrificial lamb’. They have also inserted Jesus into other sacred Jewish rituals and festivals, in a way that is offensive in the extreme.
In short: Messianics are slowly but surely taking everything that Judaism holds as sacred, and Christianising it.
And in doing so, they are twisting both Judaism and Christianity.
In America, Jews are actively addressing this new threat from Christian missionaries, and have organised some great resources, primarily in the form of ‘Jews For Judaism’, which aims to counter, specifically but not exclusively, ‘jews4jesus’.
But here in the UK, while Messianics are becoming more proactive, the Jewish community remains silent. Recently, ‘jews4jesus’ yet again took to the streets and started bombarding the public with leaflets and books in central London.
Yet not a single Jewish newspaper so much as mentioned this.
And let’s all be crystal clear: these evangelists have one basic goal: they wish to eradicate us.
Oh sure – they’ll do it with smiles, and they’ll claim to ‘love’ us, but make no mistake.
The Messianic movement aims to convert as many Jews as humanly possible, to its own peculiar, confused brand of evangelical Christianity.
Only now, Messianics are that much cleverer. And if they have to steal our very identity in order to succeed, so be it.
Perhaps the most worrying comment comes from a 30-something Jewish man who, having battled Messianics in ‘real life’ and internet forums for several years now, concludes:
‘Within another ten years, nobody out there will even understand that these Messianics are not Jewish. For some bizarre reason, the world thinks that this group within Evangelical Christianity gets to REdefine Judaism, and just accepts whatever Messianics claim. Never mind that we genuine Jews are trying desperately to counter these evangelical lies. Nobody gives a damn.’
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The Key Differences Between Judaism & Christianity
I’m often asked how similar or different these two faiths are.
So here are just some of the differences in key beliefs between Judaism and Christianity:
JUDAISM
– says that no human can ever die for the sins of others
CHRISTIANITY
– says that Jesus died for the sins of mankind
JUDAISM
– says that all humans are born pure, and innocent
CHRISTIANITY
– says that all humans are born with ‘original sin’.
JUDAISM
– says that G-d would never allow/enable a ‘virgin birth’
CHRISTIANITY
– says that Mary gave birth, though a virgin
JUDAISM
– says that no man gets a ‘second coming’
CHRISTIANITY
– says that Jesus will have a ‘second coming’
JUDAISM
– says that every human should speak directly to G-d
CHRISTIANITY
– Jesus claims in the ‘new testament’ that the ‘only way’ to G-d is via him
JUDAISM
– says G-d is one, indivisable, cannot…
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A Nice Jewish Boy
So, let’s talk about Jesus.
It’s not a topic that comes up when Jews talk. Jesus does not feature in Judaism – not at all. But as many of us are asked by our Christian friends and colleagues what we ‘really think’ about him, let’s clarify:
Jesus occupies the same place in Judaism, as Mohammed does in Christianity. In other words: you could go to every synagogue on Earth, and I guarantee, you will never hear Jesus mentioned.
Many people find this strange; after all, millions of Christians proclaim Jesus as their ‘messiah’ and ‘saviour’. Why on earth don’t Jews themselves attach any importance to this vital, most famous, and above all Jewish historical figure?
Well, let’s consider the context:
Back when Jesus was busy gallivanting around Judea, declaring himself as ‘messiah’, the Jews were living under Roman oppression. And it was rough. The Romans had…
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Israel Breathes: World Condemnation Follows
This satirical piece by Andrew Pessin was written several years ago – but is still very apt, sadly
Israel breathes; world condemnation instantaneous
Israel breathed this morning. There was a quick intake of air, and then a gentle exhalation.
World condemnation was instantaneous.
P.A. President Abbas decried the Israeli attempt to commandeer the Middle East air supply, and demanded a prompt return to the 1967 air distribution which Palestinian leaders had previously violently rejected.
Iranian President Ahmadinejad interrupted his weekly call for the destruction of Israel in order to blast the Zionist entity for its blatant oxygen grab and call for its immediate destruction.
Egyptian newspapers detailed the malicious Mossad plot to exhale germs into the air and then spread the poisoned air via high-tech windmills directly into the lungs of Muslim children.
Exiled Hamas leader Khaled Meshal announced that in response to the Israeli aggression, Hamas would not…
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Dennis Miller Talks About Gaza:
Miller is a comedian who has a show called Dennis Miller Live, on HBO. He is neither Jewish nor Muslim; neither Israeli nor Arab.
He recently had the following to say about the Middle East situation:
‘A brief overview of the situation is always valuable, so as a service to all Americans who still don’t get it, I now offer you the story of the Middle East in just a few paragraphs, which is all you really need.
Here we go:
The Palestinians want their own country. There’s just one thing about that: There are no Palestinians . It’s a made up word. Israel was called Palestine for two thousand years.
Like ‘Wiccan,’ ‘Palestinian’ sounds ancient but is really a modern invention. Before the Israelis won
the land in the 1967 war, Gaza was owned by Egypt , the West Bank was owned by Jordan , and there were no ‘Palestinians.’
As soon as the…
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A Satire That Hits Home
Hats off to American Thinker for this delicious albeit dead accurate bit of satire. Read it and then share it please – email it to five people you know and ask them to do the same!
June 18, 2010
Israel breathes; world condemnation instantaneous
Andrew Pessin
-Satire-
Israel breathed this morning. There was a quick intake of air, and then a gentle exhalation.
World condemnation was instantaneous.
P.A. President Abbas decried the Israeli attempt to commandeer the Middle East air supply, and demanded a prompt return to the 1967 air distribution which Palestinian leaders had previously violently rejected.
Iranian President Ahmadinejad interrupted his weekly call for the destruction of Israel in order to blast the Zionist entity for its blatant oxygen grab and call for its immediate destruction.
Egyptian newspapers detailed the malicious Mossad plot to exhale germs into the air and then spread the poisoned air via high-tech windmills directly into the lungs of Muslim children.
Exiled Hamas leader Khaled Meshal announced that in response to the Israeli aggression, Hamas would not let the Red Cross visit captured soldier Gilad Schalit. When it was pointed out that they hadn’t allowed such visits in the four years prior to Israel’s action, he snorted, “And now you see why!”
Turkey announced it would be withdrawing its ambassador, only to retract that announcement in slight embarrassment when it realized it had already withdrawn him last week, in response to some other Israeli outrage it could no longer quite recall.
The United Nations General Assembly, after meeting for an all-night emergency session, called for another all-night emergency session. And the Security Council demanded an immediate impartial investigation, only to backtrack when it was informed that all its available staff were already tied up in ongoing impartial investigations of other Israeli actions.
Indeed, outrage at Israel’s action was heard around the globe. People everywhere exclaimed that Israel’s aggression was against international law, and then asked for a copy of the newspaper so they could see just what it was, in fact, that Israel had done this time.
Others, more intellectually-inclined, asked for some links on “international law,” curious to find out, at last, just what was this special code which apparently all non-Israelis had secretly agreed upon. And, of course, there were numerous calls for Israel’s leaders to be brought up on charges of ‘war crimes’.
Loudest of these were from regimes as diverse as China, Sudan, Saudi Arabia, and North Korea, which took time off from their busy schedules oppressing Tibetans, Darfur civilians, women and all religious minorities, and their own citizens respectively to make their pronouncements.
In fact, Israel’s action this time was so offensive that Muslim extremists actually paused from their work installing massive explosives in each others’ mosques in order to condemn Israel’s attacks on Muslim civilians.
The criticisms could even be heard within Israel itself. “How can Israel call itself a democracy,” Haaretz asked in an editorial, “while allowing its Jewish citizens to consume 75% of the air?”
Arab-Israeli MKs signed a petition demanding that the Israeli constitution, guaranteeing their right to sit in the Knesset despite their repeated calls for Israel’s destruction, should be dissolved, preferably in favor of something more totalitarian. “On this day I am ashamed to be a Jew,” proclaimed one prominent left-wing leader, a man who had repeatedly urged all peoples to be proud of their ethnic and religious identities, except for Jews.
Israel initially attempted to respond to these criticisms, but quickly realized that speaking would require it once again to inhale and thus draw upon itself further global ire.
And so, Israel stopped breathing altogether.
This action, clearly aimed to destroy the regional economy and destabilize the entire Middle East, triggered instantaneous worldwide condemnation.
Finally, A Voice Of Sanity
At a time when the most egregious lies about Israel are being devoured eagerly by most of the world, here is a voice of reason. Former Spanish Prime Minister José María Aznar, writing in The Times this week, said:
If Israel goes down, we all go down
By José María Aznar
For far too long now it has been unfashionable in Europe to speak up for Israel. In the wake of the recent incident on board a ship full of anti-Israeli activists in the Mediterranean, it is hard to think of a more unpopular cause to champion.
In an ideal world, the assault by Israeli commandos on the Mavi Marmara would not have ended up with nine dead and a score wounded. In an ideal world, the soldiers would have been peacefully welcomed on to the ship.
In an ideal world, no state, let alone a recent ally of Israel such as Turkey, would have sponsored and organised a flotilla whose sole purpose was to create an impossible situation for Israel: making it choose between giving up its security policy and the naval blockade, or risking the wrath of the world.
In our dealings with Israel, we must blow away the red mists of anger that too often cloud our judgment. A reasonable and balanced approach should encapsulate the following realities: first, the state of Israel was created by a decision of the UN.
Its legitimacy, therefore, should not be in question. Israel is a nation with deeply rooted democratic institutions. It is a dynamic and open society that has repeatedly excelled in culture, science and technology.
Second, owing to its roots, history, and values, Israel is a fully fledged Western nation. Indeed, it is a normal Western nation, but one confronted by abnormal circumstances.
Uniquely in the West, it is the only democracy whose very existence has been questioned since its inception. In the first instance, it was attacked by its neighbours using the conventional weapons of war. Then it faced terrorism culminating in wave after wave of suicide attacks. Now, at the behest of radical Islamists and their sympathisers, it faces a campaign of delegitimisation through international law and diplomacy.
Sixty-two years after its creation, Israel is still fighting for its very survival. Punished with missiles raining from north and south, threatened with destruction by an Iran aiming to acquire nuclear weapons and pressed upon by friend and foe, Israel, it seems, is never to have a moment’s peace.
For years, the focus of Western attention has understandably been on the peace process between Israelis and Palestinians. But if Israel is in danger today and the whole region is slipping towards a worryingly problematic future, it is not due to the lack of understanding between the parties on how to solve this conflict. The parameters of any prospective peace agreement are clear, however difficult it may seem for the two sides to make the final push for a settlement.
The real threats to regional stability, however, are to be found in the rise of a radical Islamism which sees Israel’s destruction as the fulfilment of its religious destiny and, simultaneously in the case of Iran, as an expression of its ambitions for regional hegemony. Both phenomena are threats that affect not only Israel, but also the wider West and the world at large.
The core of the problem lies in the ambiguous and often erroneous manner in which too many Western countries are now reacting to this situation. It is easy to blame Israel for all the evils in the Middle East.
Some even act and talk as if a new understanding with the Muslim world could be achieved if only we were prepared to sacrifice the Jewish state on the altar. This would be folly.
Israel is our first line of defence in a turbulent region that is constantly at risk of descending into chaos; a region vital to our energy security owing to our overdependence on Middle Eastern oil; a region that forms the front line in the fight against extremism. If Israel goes down, we all go down.
To defend Israel’s right to exist in peace, within secure borders, requires a degree of moral and strategic clarity that too often seems to have disappeared in Europe. The United States shows worrying signs of heading in the same direction.
The West is going through a period of confusion over the shape of the world’s future. To a great extent, this confusion is caused by a kind of masochistic self-doubt over our own identity; by the rule of political correctness; by a multiculturalism that forces us to our knees before others; and by a secularism which, irony of ironies, blinds us even when we are confronted by jihadis promoting the most fanatical incarnation of their faith.
To abandon Israel to its fate, at this moment of all moments, would merely serve to illustrate how far we have sunk and how inexorable our decline now appears.
This cannot be allowed to happen. Motivated by the need to rebuild our own Western values, expressing deep concern about the wave of aggression against Israel, and mindful that Israel’s strength is our strength and Israel’s weakness is our weakness, I have decided to promote a new Friends of Israel initiative with the help of some prominent people, including David Trimble, Andrew Roberts, John Bolton, Alejandro Toledo (the former President of Peru), Marcello Pera (philosopher and former President of the Italian Senate), Fiamma Nirenstein (the Italian author and politician), the financier Robert Agostinelli and the Catholic intellectual George Weigel.
It is not our intention to defend any specific policy or any particular Israeli government. The sponsors of this initiative are certain to disagree at times with decisions taken by Jerusalem. We are democrats, and we believe in diversity.
What binds us, however, is our unyielding support for Israel’s right to exist and to defend itself. For Western countries to side with those who question Israel’s legitimacy, for them to play games in international bodies with Israel’s vital security issues, for them to appease those who oppose Western values rather than robustly to stand up in defence of those values, is not only a grave moral mistake, but a strategic error of the first magnitude.
Israel is a fundamental part of the West. The West is what it is thanks to its Judeo-Christian roots. If the Jewish element of those roots is upturned and Israel is lost, then we are lost too. Whether we like it or not, our fate is inextricably intertwined.
José María Aznar was prime minister of Spain between 1996 and 2004.
Prime Example Of Media Lies About Israel
Is it any wonder that so many people dislike Israel, when they are bombarded with false information about the Jewish state?
The story below, courtesy of Honest Reporting Canada, is a prime example of the strange…let’s call it carelessness which seems to permeate so much of the new coverage about Israel.
More often than not, the errors and lies are allowed to stand – below is a rare instance of one such ‘mistake’ being corrected:
CBC National Corrects Gaza Infant Mortality Rate Error
June 16, 2010
By: Mike Fegelman, Executive Director
Dear HonestReporting Canada Subscriber,
Did CBC falsely imply that Israel was responsible for the death of Gaza babies?
Respected Mideast professor and director of the Global Research in International Affairs Center (GLORIA) asked this very question regarding a June 1 CBC National report which saw Chief Correspondent, Peter Mansbridge, erroneously refer to the Gaza Strip as having “an infant mortality rate among the highest in the world.”
Writing on his blog “Rubin Reports,” Professor Rubin expounded on this misstatement:
“Here’s an example of the insanity and profound anti-Israel bias currently gripping mass media.
On June 1, Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) anchorman Peter Mansbridge stated that the Gaza Strip “has one of the world’s highest infant mortality rates” The obvious implication: it is Israel’s fault because of its sanctions.
In fact, the Gaza Strip has a lower infant mortality rate than Turkey, which has been a modern republic with full independence for about 80 years, and Iran, which enjoys the “benefits” of the kind of Islamist government which Hamas and the current Turkish government applaud.
According to the CIA World Factbook, regarded as a definitive source, the Infant Mortality Rate in the Gaza Strip is 17.71 deaths per 1000 births, about the same as Mexico and below that of Brazil, Romania, and many other countries. In neighboring Egypt, the number is 26.2, in Turkey, 24.8, and Iran, 34.7.
The kind of coverage given to living standards in the Gaza Strip seems an example of what sometimes seems a principle of Western journalism: Third World suffering is only of interest if it can be blamed on the West. Third World suffering is the world’s lead news story only if it can be blamed on Israel.”
HonestReporting Canada (HRC) communicated our concerns to senior editors at the CBC requesting that a review be conducted and that an on-air correction be issued promptly to remedy this error.
In a written response that was sent to HRC by the CBC, a senior editor said that the mistake was more than just problematic: “In an effort to give viewers a clearer picture of the Gaza Strip, the introduction to the report that night from Washington included statistics about Gaza’s area, population, unemployment and infant mortality rates. However, in one instance, we inadvertently included inaccurate information. In fact – and as Mr. Rubin pointed out – according to the CIA World Factbook, a highly regarded source for such information, Gaza is about half way in a ranking of over 200 countries or regions, (109 out of 224) with an infant mortality rate of almost 18 per thousand live births, a little over four times Israel’s. We regret the error. The Friday night (June 11) editions of The National included an on-air note offering viewers correct information.”
Ms. Hiscox stated the following: “Earlier this month we reported the Gaza Strip has an infant mortality rate among the highest in the world, but according to the CIA World Factbook, Gaza ranks 109 out of 224 regions in the world, with an infant mortality rate of almost 18 deaths per thousand live births.”
While we appreciate and commend the fact that the CBC was quick to investigate this matter and to take the appropriate action in correcting this mistake, with that said, there was no indication given about how this error had occurred and how it had gotten past the trained eyes of the CBC’s most veteran editors. Many questions still remain unanswered such as: What was the source of this original erroneous information? It certainly wasn’t the CIA World Factbook, was it Amnesty International’s (AI) error, as this CBC report attributed various statistics as being derived from AI?
Was this just gross incompetence or intentional subterfuge? And finally, since when did the Palestinians achieve statehood? Why is it that this CBC report included a graphic which referred to the West Bank and Gaza as “Palestine” instead of the Palestinian territories?
We trust that this intervention will serve as a teachable moment for the CBC’s reporters and editors who are keenly aware that their Mideast reporting is being vigilantly watched and scrutinized.
REUTERS Crops Photos Which Show ‘aid workers’ With Knives, And Injured Israelis
Hat tip to ‘hellosnackbar‘ for sending me the link to this. You can find a lot more detail on the Little Green Footballs site.
Below is one of the stories; all photos and commentary are from Little Green Footballs:
Another Cropped Reuters Photo Deletes Another Knife – And a Pool of Blood
OK, come on now. I mean, really.
One picture cropped to remove a knife might be explained as incompetence or a simple mistake.
Reuters has published this picture from the activists:
The picture is a cropped version of this photo from the IHH website (IHH is the Islamist group whose members rioted aboard the Mavi Marmara):
What did the Reuters photo editor crop out? A big knife and a big pool of blood.
UPDATE at 6/6/10 4:20:27 pm:
And it gets worse. I took the photo into Photoshop and increased the exposure to lighten the dark areas, and discovered that they didn’t just crop out the knife and blood — they also cropped out another badly injured Israeli soldier lying on the floor.
You Couldn’t Make It Up
Even given that we live in an insane world, the following story beggars belief. Apparently Yahoo! and Apple have decided that they get to decide the fate of Jerusalem.
Yep. Never mind that Jerusalem had a Jewish majority long before Islam even existed.
Never mind that Jerusalem is the Capital of Israel both legally, and morally.
Never mind that when Jordan controlled Jerusalem, it turned holy Jewish sites into horse stables.
Never mind any of that. Apparently Yahoo! and Apple feel that they – not international law, not the Israeli government, and certainly not Jews – get to determine what is part of the Jewish capital of the Jewish nation, and what is not.
Read it and weep, folks:
YAHOO! AND APPLE DIVIDE JERUSALEM ON IPHONE
by Hana Levi Julian
Internet giant Yahoo! and the Apple computer firm have apparently decided to pre-empt those pesky Israel-Palestinian Authority negotiations and divide the holy city of Jerusalem on their own.
Yahoo! — which runs the weather software application for the slick Apple iPhone — last month removed Israel’s capital city from its list of international locations from which to view weather conditions.
Instead, one must now choose between East Jerusalem or West Jerusalem in order to figure out what the weather is going to be in the city.
The latitude and longitude coordinates for both locations are exactly the same, as is the temperature and other weather details.
On the Yahoo! weather page, which is linked to The Weather Channel, one is offered two Middle East options when requesting weather information for Jerusalem – Jerusalem, Yerushalayim (IL), Jerusalem, and Palestinian Occupied Territories > West Bank, Jerusalem (PS).
Clearly Yahoo! and Apple executives have decided to recognize the Palestinian State long before direct negotiations have even been contemplated by the parties themselves, let alone conducted to determine actual borders.
Israel’s Ambassador to the United States, Michael Oren, expressed his disappointment with the fact that “Jerusalem, which has been united for 43 years, has been divided by the computer giant and the popular search engine.”
Oren sent a letter of protest to both Yahoo! CEO Carol Bartz and Apple CEO Steve Jobbs. He added that he and the rest of the Israel Embassy staff use the iPhone.
Readers may write to both to protest as well at the following emails: to Yahoo!’s Carol Bartz, care of: cc-advoc@yahoo-inc.com and to Apple’s Steve Jobbs through filling out the customer feedback form by clicking here.
A Jew With A View 