13 aug 2013
(L. to R.): Avi Mayer, Brian Thomas and Barak Raz, the three hasbarateers.
by Richard Silverstein
David Lange and his Israellycool partner in crime, Brian Thomas, have been cooking with gas lately. Not content merely to shill for Israel, they’ve outdone themselves in a few recent heroic acts of service to the “Jewish fatherland.”
Thomas recently tweeted that the IDF should’ve killed a 17-year-old Palestinian boy who the NYT’s Jodi Rudoren portrayed as someone who threw stones to resist Israeli Occupation:
“I am pissed off that he’s being arrested by soldiers in the middle of the night for the umpteenth time. Because he should have been shot and killed already.”
But we’re not surprised because in January 2012, he tweeted that I should be killed:
Is there a way to excommunicate a Jew…Does it involve firearms?
by Richard Silverstein
David Lange and his Israellycool partner in crime, Brian Thomas, have been cooking with gas lately. Not content merely to shill for Israel, they’ve outdone themselves in a few recent heroic acts of service to the “Jewish fatherland.”
Thomas recently tweeted that the IDF should’ve killed a 17-year-old Palestinian boy who the NYT’s Jodi Rudoren portrayed as someone who threw stones to resist Israeli Occupation:
“I am pissed off that he’s being arrested by soldiers in the middle of the night for the umpteenth time. Because he should have been shot and killed already.”
But we’re not surprised because in January 2012, he tweeted that I should be killed:
Is there a way to excommunicate a Jew…Does it involve firearms?
Ironically, Twitter has taken recent urgent action to protect British women who received Twitter death threats by suspending accounts of the knuckleheads who posted them. The UK police have also launched investigations of some of the perpetrators.
Twitter, however, doesn’t find that homicidal discourse by pro-Israel advocates merits the same level of concern. It refused to take any action against Thomas when he threatened me, and will no doubt refuse to take action for his death-wish tweet concerning the Palestinian boy.
What’s interesting about Abunimah’s post is that he’s found a photo of three pro-Israel chums, Brian Thomas, Avi Mayer, chief social media flack for the Jewish Agency and Barak Raz, one of the IDF’s major social media flacks. Frankly, I can’t figure out what Mayer does for his pay except shill for the bloated, mismanaged JA and its political boss, Natan Sharansky. Raz’s job I understand better: the IDF is one of the most lethal armies in the world and it sure needs the sort of flackery that Raz offers.
Twitter, however, doesn’t find that homicidal discourse by pro-Israel advocates merits the same level of concern. It refused to take any action against Thomas when he threatened me, and will no doubt refuse to take action for his death-wish tweet concerning the Palestinian boy.
What’s interesting about Abunimah’s post is that he’s found a photo of three pro-Israel chums, Brian Thomas, Avi Mayer, chief social media flack for the Jewish Agency and Barak Raz, one of the IDF’s major social media flacks. Frankly, I can’t figure out what Mayer does for his pay except shill for the bloated, mismanaged JA and its political boss, Natan Sharansky. Raz’s job I understand better: the IDF is one of the most lethal armies in the world and it sure needs the sort of flackery that Raz offers.
Alicia Keys with Thank Israeli Soldiers’ Rachel Greenberg
But placing the three of them together indicates a level of social intimacy few were aware of previously. It makes perfect sense because while Mayer and Raz possess a bit more polish than the salivating, uncouth Thomas, they’re extensions of him. They are the smiling face of Likudism and the national security state, while Thomas is the ugly, racist, homicidal dark side. One wonders whether either Mayer or Raz feel any sense of shame or embarrassment for being associated with Thomas’ vileness; or whether they’ve expressed any disapproval of him.
Last September, when another pro-Israel cyberwarrior, Semion Kras, hacked and defaced my site, Thomas wrote proudly that he’d sought out Kras and doubtless drank a few beers to celebrate this act of sophomoric pro-Israelism. That makes Thomas an aider and abettor of Israeli cyber-war. Not exactly the sort of cyber-warfare that Raz promotes from his perch as IDF spokes-flack. But close enough. A nod is as good as a wink for the hasbarafia.
Now for Thomas’ partner in crime: Alex Kane exposed the lies Lange spun concerning Alicia Keys’ recent BDS-busting appearance in Israel. Keys wasn’t satisfied merely with performing in Israel. She allowed herself to be co-opted by the Israel advocacy machine. She met Rachel Greenberg, who’s affiliated with Thank Israeli Soldiers, a pro-military NGO. Greenberg got a photo of herself escorting Keys on a guided tour of the group’s Jerusalem office, located in the home of a prominent Republican American-Jewish couple in Occupied East Jerusalem.
Lange was so pleased to be able to trumpet this example of co-opting an international celebrity on behalf of the IDF that he plastered the news (and photo) all over his blog:
“I have it on good authority that the photo was taken in the old city of Jerusalem, at the Thank Israeli Soldiers office, a group that mostly sends care packages to, and hosts Shabbat meals for, IDF soldiers,” reported “Aussie Dave.”
You won’t be able to find the post at his blog because he deleted it. Apparently, either Greenberg or more likely Thank Israeli Soldiers (or perhaps the PM himself) was pissed that Keys might be placed in an embarrassing predicament having, in effect, semi-publicly endorsed an army that kills Palestinians regularly. The hasbara machine went into overdrive, and in no time Lange was back-pedalling from his previous story.
At first, he confirmed the photo’s authenticity, but explained he was asked to remove it (presumably to protect Keys’ reputation and the chance that the hasbara apparatus might be able to exploit her fame at some later date):
“It was from Facebook and was genuine. I can’t go into details as to why I was asked to take it down, but I acceded to the request once I realize there was an issue.”
This comment too disappeared. The next thing we know, Lange is claiming the photo was not authentic and that this was why he deleted the post:
“I was led to believe she visited there and then my source was told this was not the case. So I could not leave my post up… What I can tell you is I was under no pressure to pull it, not from Alicia Keys nor anyone connected with her. As much as I would have loved it to be true, once I was told my initial info was wrong, I had to pull the post for credibility’s sake.”
Don’t ya just love it when an inveterate liar tells you he did something commendable in order to protect his good name and reputation? Alex Kane was too polite to say so in his post, but I’ll say it here: Lange is a liar. Perhaps Lange lied to protect Rachel Greenberg and her job. So it’s not a lie out of a malignant motive. But it’s a lie nonetheless. He’s not the only liar here. The NGO staffer who told Alex Kane Keys hadn’t been to the office likely lied too. They’re all tied up in a knot of lies. Isn’t that just like the hasbara machine in general?
Do you remember the time Lange discovered a “David Silverstein” from Seattle was prosecuted for welfare scam? Lange trumpeted that news too on his site, based on his review of personal photos online which show that I have a relative named “David.” From there it was only a hop, skip and a jump to claiming my brother was the same David Silverstein. Only problem is he got it wrong, dead-wrong. I have no brother named David. Neither have I or anyone in my family been accused of any crime including welfare fraud. Tant pis for poor Duvidel. He’ll have to continue his crawl through the sewers till he finds something more suitable.
Returning to Keys’ visit with the troops, her management released a statement which, when read carefully, doesn’t deny that Keys’ was in the NGO’s office though it appears to (unfortunately Kane didn’t notice the nuance when he wrote his post):
“There was no planned visit with any group Israeli or Palestinian.”
The key here is “planned visit.” It’s entirely possible that Keys met Greenberg in the run-up to her concert, that Greenberg invited her spontaneously to visit to cheer the troops, and Keys did so in an unplanned manner. As far as I’m concerned, this is a non-denial denial from Keys’ folks.
Lange and Thomas are the vanguard of the Israeli propaganda machine. They’re cheap knock-off representations of hasbara, but they’ll do.
Yesterday, Haaretz publicized another disgusting iteration of the hasbara apparatus. This one concerned Danny Seaman, whose prior claim to fame was working in the government press office, where he bullied foreign journalists who didn’t toe the party line. He threatened not to renew their work permits.
After failing to enter Knesset on the Likud party list, Seaman’s been rewarded by Bibi with a seat in the prime minister’s office. Seaman will direct a new social media initiative which will partner with the Israeli university student union. He will recruit student leaders at each of Israel’s seven universities. They in turn will recruit a cadre of Israel advocates who will monitor online sites and post paid propaganda on Israel’s behalf. The kicker is that these hasbara flacks will not identity themselves as being associated with this project nor will they admit they are being paid to flack for Israel.
The seven student leaders will receive full scholarships to be paid from a $750,000 fund the prime minister is setting aside for this purpose. Let’s hear it for debasing Israeli academia by co-opting it on behalf of the propaganda apparatus. Not to mention that this will be music to the ears of those supporting BDS and academic boycott. Once Israel’s universities become part of the government’s nationalist agenda it becomes that much easier to label them political tools rather than legitimate and independent in their pursuit of knowledge.
There are several important elements in this development. First, it signals the further corruption of online discourse regarding the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Instead of championing Israel’s cause in the online world as the government believes it is doing, it’s generating disgust among those who populate that world.
Frankly, I will warn the pro-Israel commenters who publish here that henceforth I will consider all of them either paid shills or potential paid shills for Israel’s Likudist government. If you’re disturbed by the short-shrift and disrespect I accord you, you don’t have to go far to look for the reason. Your own prime minister. He’s the one who’s made you all suspect. Take it up with Bibi and his hasbarafioso, Danny Seaman.
The second element that’s important is that Israel is displaying its desperation in believing that such a propaganda operation will have any material positive impact on Israel’s status in the world. In fact, this will further lower Israel’s status. Instead of investing its energy in pursuing peace, Israel provokes a propaganda war in the social media outlets. It’s a sad, sordid thing.
The final element that is important to note is that the Israeli government is increasingly co-opting willing NGOs to become semi-official extensions of the government itself in its propaganda wars. Groups like Im Tirzu, StandWithUs, The Israel Project, MEMRI, NGO Monitor, and now the Israel Student Union have lost their standing (if they ever had one) as independent groups. They are cogs in the machine and fighting a dirty war.
Of course, it would be helpful to find a smoking gun indicating the government funded the groups directly. But there are more than enough far-right Jewish donors to substitute for official government funding. Besides, the government, while not sophisticated, is slick enough to understand the damage that could be done by directly funding such groups (not to mention that they’d have to register as foreign agents here in the U.S.).
But placing the three of them together indicates a level of social intimacy few were aware of previously. It makes perfect sense because while Mayer and Raz possess a bit more polish than the salivating, uncouth Thomas, they’re extensions of him. They are the smiling face of Likudism and the national security state, while Thomas is the ugly, racist, homicidal dark side. One wonders whether either Mayer or Raz feel any sense of shame or embarrassment for being associated with Thomas’ vileness; or whether they’ve expressed any disapproval of him.
Last September, when another pro-Israel cyberwarrior, Semion Kras, hacked and defaced my site, Thomas wrote proudly that he’d sought out Kras and doubtless drank a few beers to celebrate this act of sophomoric pro-Israelism. That makes Thomas an aider and abettor of Israeli cyber-war. Not exactly the sort of cyber-warfare that Raz promotes from his perch as IDF spokes-flack. But close enough. A nod is as good as a wink for the hasbarafia.
Now for Thomas’ partner in crime: Alex Kane exposed the lies Lange spun concerning Alicia Keys’ recent BDS-busting appearance in Israel. Keys wasn’t satisfied merely with performing in Israel. She allowed herself to be co-opted by the Israel advocacy machine. She met Rachel Greenberg, who’s affiliated with Thank Israeli Soldiers, a pro-military NGO. Greenberg got a photo of herself escorting Keys on a guided tour of the group’s Jerusalem office, located in the home of a prominent Republican American-Jewish couple in Occupied East Jerusalem.
Lange was so pleased to be able to trumpet this example of co-opting an international celebrity on behalf of the IDF that he plastered the news (and photo) all over his blog:
“I have it on good authority that the photo was taken in the old city of Jerusalem, at the Thank Israeli Soldiers office, a group that mostly sends care packages to, and hosts Shabbat meals for, IDF soldiers,” reported “Aussie Dave.”
You won’t be able to find the post at his blog because he deleted it. Apparently, either Greenberg or more likely Thank Israeli Soldiers (or perhaps the PM himself) was pissed that Keys might be placed in an embarrassing predicament having, in effect, semi-publicly endorsed an army that kills Palestinians regularly. The hasbara machine went into overdrive, and in no time Lange was back-pedalling from his previous story.
At first, he confirmed the photo’s authenticity, but explained he was asked to remove it (presumably to protect Keys’ reputation and the chance that the hasbara apparatus might be able to exploit her fame at some later date):
“It was from Facebook and was genuine. I can’t go into details as to why I was asked to take it down, but I acceded to the request once I realize there was an issue.”
This comment too disappeared. The next thing we know, Lange is claiming the photo was not authentic and that this was why he deleted the post:
“I was led to believe she visited there and then my source was told this was not the case. So I could not leave my post up… What I can tell you is I was under no pressure to pull it, not from Alicia Keys nor anyone connected with her. As much as I would have loved it to be true, once I was told my initial info was wrong, I had to pull the post for credibility’s sake.”
Don’t ya just love it when an inveterate liar tells you he did something commendable in order to protect his good name and reputation? Alex Kane was too polite to say so in his post, but I’ll say it here: Lange is a liar. Perhaps Lange lied to protect Rachel Greenberg and her job. So it’s not a lie out of a malignant motive. But it’s a lie nonetheless. He’s not the only liar here. The NGO staffer who told Alex Kane Keys hadn’t been to the office likely lied too. They’re all tied up in a knot of lies. Isn’t that just like the hasbara machine in general?
Do you remember the time Lange discovered a “David Silverstein” from Seattle was prosecuted for welfare scam? Lange trumpeted that news too on his site, based on his review of personal photos online which show that I have a relative named “David.” From there it was only a hop, skip and a jump to claiming my brother was the same David Silverstein. Only problem is he got it wrong, dead-wrong. I have no brother named David. Neither have I or anyone in my family been accused of any crime including welfare fraud. Tant pis for poor Duvidel. He’ll have to continue his crawl through the sewers till he finds something more suitable.
Returning to Keys’ visit with the troops, her management released a statement which, when read carefully, doesn’t deny that Keys’ was in the NGO’s office though it appears to (unfortunately Kane didn’t notice the nuance when he wrote his post):
“There was no planned visit with any group Israeli or Palestinian.”
The key here is “planned visit.” It’s entirely possible that Keys met Greenberg in the run-up to her concert, that Greenberg invited her spontaneously to visit to cheer the troops, and Keys did so in an unplanned manner. As far as I’m concerned, this is a non-denial denial from Keys’ folks.
Lange and Thomas are the vanguard of the Israeli propaganda machine. They’re cheap knock-off representations of hasbara, but they’ll do.
Yesterday, Haaretz publicized another disgusting iteration of the hasbara apparatus. This one concerned Danny Seaman, whose prior claim to fame was working in the government press office, where he bullied foreign journalists who didn’t toe the party line. He threatened not to renew their work permits.
After failing to enter Knesset on the Likud party list, Seaman’s been rewarded by Bibi with a seat in the prime minister’s office. Seaman will direct a new social media initiative which will partner with the Israeli university student union. He will recruit student leaders at each of Israel’s seven universities. They in turn will recruit a cadre of Israel advocates who will monitor online sites and post paid propaganda on Israel’s behalf. The kicker is that these hasbara flacks will not identity themselves as being associated with this project nor will they admit they are being paid to flack for Israel.
The seven student leaders will receive full scholarships to be paid from a $750,000 fund the prime minister is setting aside for this purpose. Let’s hear it for debasing Israeli academia by co-opting it on behalf of the propaganda apparatus. Not to mention that this will be music to the ears of those supporting BDS and academic boycott. Once Israel’s universities become part of the government’s nationalist agenda it becomes that much easier to label them political tools rather than legitimate and independent in their pursuit of knowledge.
There are several important elements in this development. First, it signals the further corruption of online discourse regarding the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Instead of championing Israel’s cause in the online world as the government believes it is doing, it’s generating disgust among those who populate that world.
Frankly, I will warn the pro-Israel commenters who publish here that henceforth I will consider all of them either paid shills or potential paid shills for Israel’s Likudist government. If you’re disturbed by the short-shrift and disrespect I accord you, you don’t have to go far to look for the reason. Your own prime minister. He’s the one who’s made you all suspect. Take it up with Bibi and his hasbarafioso, Danny Seaman.
The second element that’s important is that Israel is displaying its desperation in believing that such a propaganda operation will have any material positive impact on Israel’s status in the world. In fact, this will further lower Israel’s status. Instead of investing its energy in pursuing peace, Israel provokes a propaganda war in the social media outlets. It’s a sad, sordid thing.
The final element that is important to note is that the Israeli government is increasingly co-opting willing NGOs to become semi-official extensions of the government itself in its propaganda wars. Groups like Im Tirzu, StandWithUs, The Israel Project, MEMRI, NGO Monitor, and now the Israel Student Union have lost their standing (if they ever had one) as independent groups. They are cogs in the machine and fighting a dirty war.
Of course, it would be helpful to find a smoking gun indicating the government funded the groups directly. But there are more than enough far-right Jewish donors to substitute for official government funding. Besides, the government, while not sophisticated, is slick enough to understand the damage that could be done by directly funding such groups (not to mention that they’d have to register as foreign agents here in the U.S.).
Daniel Seaman, expected to head Israel's interactive media unit
Facebook messages posted by Daniel Seaman, who will head Israel’s public diplomacy efforts, raise serious doubts about his sense of judgment.
Daniel Seaman, the outgoing deputy-director general of the Public Diplomacy and Diaspora Affairs Ministry, which is being closed, is a highly controversial figure in those parts of government in constant contact with foreign media. An active member of the Likud party, Seaman once ran as a candidate in the party primaries. He previously served as head of the Government Press Office and gained a reputation for his confrontations with foreign correspondents and for the complaints they lodged against him.
The staff of the Public Diplomacy Ministry is being integrated into the national public diplomacy unit in the Prime Minister’s Office.
Seaman is expected to assume a new senior position as head of the interactive media unit, which will be part of the national public diplomacy unit. One of the projects of the new interactive media unit, which will be in charge of coordinating the public diplomacy efforts of the Prime Minister’s Office on the Internet and the social networks, such as Facebook and Twitter, will be the launching of “covert units” within Israel’s seven universities that will engage in online public diplomacy, as reported on Tuesday in Haaretz.
Messages Seaman has posted on his Facebook page raise serious doubts as to the degree to which good judgment is exercised by someone who is slated to be the chief official in the Prime Minister’s Office responsible for Israel’s public diplomacy efforts on the various social networks on the Internet. A series of messages that he has posted over the past few months include abusive, even racist, statements directed against Muslims in general and senior Palestinian leaders in particular, as well as against countries that are thought to be Israel’s allies.
For instance, on August 8, two days after the memorial day marking the World War Two atomic bombing of Hiroshima, which killed over 100,000 civilians, Seaman posted: “I am sick of the Japanese, ‘Human Rights’ and ‘Peace’ groups the world over holding their annual self righteous commemorations for the Hiroshima and Nagasaki victims. Hiroshima and Nagasaki were the consequence of Japanese aggression. You reap what you sow.
“Instead, they should be commemorating the estimated 50 million Chinese, Korean, Filipino, Malay, Vietnamese, Cambodian, Indonesian, Burmese and other victims of Japanese imperial aggression and genocide. Not to mention nearly 120,000 Allied military casualties who fought to defeat the genocidal Japanese. These are who deserve to be and should be remembered this week.”
On July 16, a few days after the European Union decided to include Hezbollah’s military wing in its list of terror organizations, Seaman’s Facebook page presented these statements: “The EU found an unequivocal voice when it comes to Israel, but still can’t declare the Hezbollah a terrorist entity. Ironically, while Europeans try to define our ancestral borders, the Muslims are redefining theirs.”
A few days later, on July 22, after Hezbollah’s military wing had been added to the EU’s list of terror organizations, Seaman claimed that the EU’s decision was not enough and was rather abusive: “The term ‘half-assed’ is used to refer to something being sloppy or partially completed. For example… The EU decision to only put the Hezbollah military wing on the terror list and not ban the political wing headed by the same Nasralah [Hezbollah leader Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah] as well, is half-assed.”
Soon after the Muslim holy month of Ramadan began, Seaman demonstrated a remarkable degree of questionable creativity of a racist nature when he wrote on his Facebook page on July 9: “Does the commencement of the fast of the Ramadan mean that Muslims will stop eating each other during the daytime?”
Although he is a civil servant, Seaman saw no problem with cynically attacking President Shimon Peres in connection with the recent celebrations of the latter’s 90th birthday. On June 18, Seaman posted this message on his Facebook page: “Question for Peres, Clinton and Blair – how many ‘victims of peace’ never celebrated their 10th birthday?”
On May 26, chief Palestinian negotiator Dr. Saeb Erekat was the target of a particularly vicious attack launched by Seaman, who posted: “Erekat, said his side would only agree to renew peace talks if Israel ceased all settlement activity and openly declared that a future state of Palestine would be created on the 1967 lines adding that this should not be viewed as a precondition to talks but rather as an Israeli duty. Is there a diplomatic way of saying ‘Go F*^& yourself’?”
A few days earlier, on May 15, Simon sent an insulting message to all Palestinians from his Facebook page: “The Palestinians commemorated the Naqba with a 65 second siren in Ramallah. That’s not nearly enough time to stop and pause to think about how stupid they are.”
Seaman’s use of coarse language and curses is a fairly frequent feature on his Facebook page; for instance, on May 10, in response to the report compiled by the Church of Scotland that claimed that the Jews have no special right to Palestine, he wrote: “The Church of Scotland? The Calvinist, Presbytarian [sic] Church of Scotland? Why do you think we give a flyin F*^& what you have to say?”
These are a few, particularly abusive messages Seaman has posted on his Facebook page. In many others, he has expressed his rightist political views, has come out against the disengagement from Gaza and the dismantling of the Gush Katif bloc settlements, has crudely attacked international media players such as The Guardian or Israeli media such as Haaretz and has personally clashed swords (figuratively speaking, of course) with journalists such as Channel 2’s Arad Nir and former Haaretz editor-in-chief Hanoch Marmari.
Facebook messages posted by Daniel Seaman, who will head Israel’s public diplomacy efforts, raise serious doubts about his sense of judgment.
Daniel Seaman, the outgoing deputy-director general of the Public Diplomacy and Diaspora Affairs Ministry, which is being closed, is a highly controversial figure in those parts of government in constant contact with foreign media. An active member of the Likud party, Seaman once ran as a candidate in the party primaries. He previously served as head of the Government Press Office and gained a reputation for his confrontations with foreign correspondents and for the complaints they lodged against him.
The staff of the Public Diplomacy Ministry is being integrated into the national public diplomacy unit in the Prime Minister’s Office.
Seaman is expected to assume a new senior position as head of the interactive media unit, which will be part of the national public diplomacy unit. One of the projects of the new interactive media unit, which will be in charge of coordinating the public diplomacy efforts of the Prime Minister’s Office on the Internet and the social networks, such as Facebook and Twitter, will be the launching of “covert units” within Israel’s seven universities that will engage in online public diplomacy, as reported on Tuesday in Haaretz.
Messages Seaman has posted on his Facebook page raise serious doubts as to the degree to which good judgment is exercised by someone who is slated to be the chief official in the Prime Minister’s Office responsible for Israel’s public diplomacy efforts on the various social networks on the Internet. A series of messages that he has posted over the past few months include abusive, even racist, statements directed against Muslims in general and senior Palestinian leaders in particular, as well as against countries that are thought to be Israel’s allies.
For instance, on August 8, two days after the memorial day marking the World War Two atomic bombing of Hiroshima, which killed over 100,000 civilians, Seaman posted: “I am sick of the Japanese, ‘Human Rights’ and ‘Peace’ groups the world over holding their annual self righteous commemorations for the Hiroshima and Nagasaki victims. Hiroshima and Nagasaki were the consequence of Japanese aggression. You reap what you sow.
“Instead, they should be commemorating the estimated 50 million Chinese, Korean, Filipino, Malay, Vietnamese, Cambodian, Indonesian, Burmese and other victims of Japanese imperial aggression and genocide. Not to mention nearly 120,000 Allied military casualties who fought to defeat the genocidal Japanese. These are who deserve to be and should be remembered this week.”
On July 16, a few days after the European Union decided to include Hezbollah’s military wing in its list of terror organizations, Seaman’s Facebook page presented these statements: “The EU found an unequivocal voice when it comes to Israel, but still can’t declare the Hezbollah a terrorist entity. Ironically, while Europeans try to define our ancestral borders, the Muslims are redefining theirs.”
A few days later, on July 22, after Hezbollah’s military wing had been added to the EU’s list of terror organizations, Seaman claimed that the EU’s decision was not enough and was rather abusive: “The term ‘half-assed’ is used to refer to something being sloppy or partially completed. For example… The EU decision to only put the Hezbollah military wing on the terror list and not ban the political wing headed by the same Nasralah [Hezbollah leader Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah] as well, is half-assed.”
Soon after the Muslim holy month of Ramadan began, Seaman demonstrated a remarkable degree of questionable creativity of a racist nature when he wrote on his Facebook page on July 9: “Does the commencement of the fast of the Ramadan mean that Muslims will stop eating each other during the daytime?”
Although he is a civil servant, Seaman saw no problem with cynically attacking President Shimon Peres in connection with the recent celebrations of the latter’s 90th birthday. On June 18, Seaman posted this message on his Facebook page: “Question for Peres, Clinton and Blair – how many ‘victims of peace’ never celebrated their 10th birthday?”
On May 26, chief Palestinian negotiator Dr. Saeb Erekat was the target of a particularly vicious attack launched by Seaman, who posted: “Erekat, said his side would only agree to renew peace talks if Israel ceased all settlement activity and openly declared that a future state of Palestine would be created on the 1967 lines adding that this should not be viewed as a precondition to talks but rather as an Israeli duty. Is there a diplomatic way of saying ‘Go F*^& yourself’?”
A few days earlier, on May 15, Simon sent an insulting message to all Palestinians from his Facebook page: “The Palestinians commemorated the Naqba with a 65 second siren in Ramallah. That’s not nearly enough time to stop and pause to think about how stupid they are.”
Seaman’s use of coarse language and curses is a fairly frequent feature on his Facebook page; for instance, on May 10, in response to the report compiled by the Church of Scotland that claimed that the Jews have no special right to Palestine, he wrote: “The Church of Scotland? The Calvinist, Presbytarian [sic] Church of Scotland? Why do you think we give a flyin F*^& what you have to say?”
These are a few, particularly abusive messages Seaman has posted on his Facebook page. In many others, he has expressed his rightist political views, has come out against the disengagement from Gaza and the dismantling of the Gush Katif bloc settlements, has crudely attacked international media players such as The Guardian or Israeli media such as Haaretz and has personally clashed swords (figuratively speaking, of course) with journalists such as Channel 2’s Arad Nir and former Haaretz editor-in-chief Hanoch Marmari.
The brother of Israeli entertainer Dudu Topaz agreed to a cash settlement in a lawsuit against a police forensic institute that removed Topaz’s heart during an autopsy after he committed suicide in prison, and then stored the organ.
The state agreed to pay Mickey Goldenberg NIS 300,000 ($84,550) in compensation for the incident, which took place at the Abu Kabir Forensic Institute, Yedioth Ahronoth reported on Tuesday.
Last May Goldenberg sued the institute and its former director Yehuda Hiss for NIS 2.5 million ($704,000) over the wrongful removal of his brother’s organ without the family’s knowledge.
In its defense statement the institute claimed it was an innocent mistake and that its actions were “impeccable.”
In March 2012 the state was forced to pay out NIS 3 million ($845,000) in compensation to the families of soldiers whose bodies were mishandled at Abu Kabir.
The families sued the state after they discovered that the institute had saved tissue and organs from the soldiers, as well as other individuals, after unauthorized autopsies.
The report noted that in his lawsuit Goldenberg stated that he would donate all of the money he receives to a charity organization that helps disabled people.
In January, investigations revealed that the institute, under the leadership Hiss, kept more than 8,000 body parts in storage.
Hiss had already admitted in 2005 that the institute had harvested heart valves, skin, and bones from the bodies, but said that the practice no longer took place.
Following the revelations in January, the Knesset held hearings on guidelines for handling dead bodies.
According to the Yedioth Ahronoth report, some of the labels on containers holding the body parts were too faded to allow the identification of their origin. Thousands of the organs have since been buried, including Topaz’s heart, which was interred in his grave.
The state agreed to pay Mickey Goldenberg NIS 300,000 ($84,550) in compensation for the incident, which took place at the Abu Kabir Forensic Institute, Yedioth Ahronoth reported on Tuesday.
Last May Goldenberg sued the institute and its former director Yehuda Hiss for NIS 2.5 million ($704,000) over the wrongful removal of his brother’s organ without the family’s knowledge.
In its defense statement the institute claimed it was an innocent mistake and that its actions were “impeccable.”
In March 2012 the state was forced to pay out NIS 3 million ($845,000) in compensation to the families of soldiers whose bodies were mishandled at Abu Kabir.
The families sued the state after they discovered that the institute had saved tissue and organs from the soldiers, as well as other individuals, after unauthorized autopsies.
The report noted that in his lawsuit Goldenberg stated that he would donate all of the money he receives to a charity organization that helps disabled people.
In January, investigations revealed that the institute, under the leadership Hiss, kept more than 8,000 body parts in storage.
Hiss had already admitted in 2005 that the institute had harvested heart valves, skin, and bones from the bodies, but said that the practice no longer took place.
Following the revelations in January, the Knesset held hearings on guidelines for handling dead bodies.
According to the Yedioth Ahronoth report, some of the labels on containers holding the body parts were too faded to allow the identification of their origin. Thousands of the organs have since been buried, including Topaz’s heart, which was interred in his grave.
Opponents of Egypt's ousted president, Mohamed Morsi, burn the office of Freedom and Justice Party in Alexandria on July 26, 2013
The United States is engineering the ongoing civil wars across the Middle East to assist the Israeli regime in implementing its scenario of the Greater Israel stretching from the Nile to the Euphrates, a political analyst says.
“Why does the US feel the need to destroy Middle Eastern countries? Ironically, it isn’t even about US interests. It’s about Israel’s ‘Oded Yinon plan’ to annihilate Israel’s neighbors and seize all the land between the Nile and the Euphrates for Greater Israel,” Kevin Barrett wrote in a article for the Press TV website.
He laid the blame on Washington for the ongoing conflicts in Iraq, Syria and Egypt.
“Instead of simply murdering anti-government activists to prop up an American-owned puppet dictator, the US now sponsors death squads on both sides of the political-religious divide. The purpose: Create a civil war to weaken the targeted nation,” he pointed out.
Regarding the appointment of Robert Ford, who is known to be the organizer of death squads in Iraq and Syria, as the next US ambassador to Egypt, Barrett said: “Ford’s appointment sends a clear message: US policymakers want to destroy Egypt in the same way they have destroyed Iraq and Syria - by using death squads and false-flag terror to incite civil war.”
Barrett noted that between 2004 and 2006, Ford was a key figure in creating US-sponsored al-Qaeda death squad units to “brutally and indiscriminately” attack Shia victims “in the hope that it would alienate the larger Sunni community and lead to sectarian civil war.”
“In 2011, Ford was made Ambassador to Syria - and suddenly a wave of violence created the same kind of civil war that still rages in Iraq,” the article read.
Barrett said Ford’s death squads in Syria comprise well-trained professional killers who disguise themselves as the Syrian army soldiers and fire from rooftop at people demonstrating against the policies of President Bashar al-Assad.
Other death squad members were stationed at different rooftops and fired at the Syrian security forces, creating the impression that they were anti-government demonstrators, the analyst wrote.
Barrett predicted that Ford will pursue a similar scenario in Egypt. “They will then encourage the Egyptian junta to arrest, torture, and murder even more peaceful protestors than it already has.”
Egypt has plunged into unrelenting unrest since July 3, when the country's powerful army removed former president Mohamed Morsi from office and declared chief Justice of Egypt’s Supreme Constitutional Court, Adly Mansour, as the interim president.
Morsi supporters led by Muslim Brotherhood have condemned the move as “a military coup” and vowed to continue their street rallies against the interim government.
Barret argued that the only way to avert this “impending genocide” is that “all Middle Eastern people, regardless of religion or nationality, must unite and resist the Zionist-sponsored destruction of their lands.”
The United States is engineering the ongoing civil wars across the Middle East to assist the Israeli regime in implementing its scenario of the Greater Israel stretching from the Nile to the Euphrates, a political analyst says.
“Why does the US feel the need to destroy Middle Eastern countries? Ironically, it isn’t even about US interests. It’s about Israel’s ‘Oded Yinon plan’ to annihilate Israel’s neighbors and seize all the land between the Nile and the Euphrates for Greater Israel,” Kevin Barrett wrote in a article for the Press TV website.
He laid the blame on Washington for the ongoing conflicts in Iraq, Syria and Egypt.
“Instead of simply murdering anti-government activists to prop up an American-owned puppet dictator, the US now sponsors death squads on both sides of the political-religious divide. The purpose: Create a civil war to weaken the targeted nation,” he pointed out.
Regarding the appointment of Robert Ford, who is known to be the organizer of death squads in Iraq and Syria, as the next US ambassador to Egypt, Barrett said: “Ford’s appointment sends a clear message: US policymakers want to destroy Egypt in the same way they have destroyed Iraq and Syria - by using death squads and false-flag terror to incite civil war.”
Barrett noted that between 2004 and 2006, Ford was a key figure in creating US-sponsored al-Qaeda death squad units to “brutally and indiscriminately” attack Shia victims “in the hope that it would alienate the larger Sunni community and lead to sectarian civil war.”
“In 2011, Ford was made Ambassador to Syria - and suddenly a wave of violence created the same kind of civil war that still rages in Iraq,” the article read.
Barrett said Ford’s death squads in Syria comprise well-trained professional killers who disguise themselves as the Syrian army soldiers and fire from rooftop at people demonstrating against the policies of President Bashar al-Assad.
Other death squad members were stationed at different rooftops and fired at the Syrian security forces, creating the impression that they were anti-government demonstrators, the analyst wrote.
Barrett predicted that Ford will pursue a similar scenario in Egypt. “They will then encourage the Egyptian junta to arrest, torture, and murder even more peaceful protestors than it already has.”
Egypt has plunged into unrelenting unrest since July 3, when the country's powerful army removed former president Mohamed Morsi from office and declared chief Justice of Egypt’s Supreme Constitutional Court, Adly Mansour, as the interim president.
Morsi supporters led by Muslim Brotherhood have condemned the move as “a military coup” and vowed to continue their street rallies against the interim government.
Barret argued that the only way to avert this “impending genocide” is that “all Middle Eastern people, regardless of religion or nationality, must unite and resist the Zionist-sponsored destruction of their lands.”
Factory worker entrenched, threatens suicide after being fired
A worker at Galilee's Phoenicia factory climbed on top of a chimney on the site and threatens to jump off of it after receiving a letter of dismissal. Police negotiations team is making its way to the scene.
A worker at Galilee's Phoenicia factory climbed on top of a chimney on the site and threatens to jump off of it after receiving a letter of dismissal. Police negotiations team is making its way to the scene.
For second day, haredim clash with security guards in disputed construction site
Second day of rioting brings some 200 haredim to a construction site in Beit Shemesh Tuesday, where they claim construction work rests on ancient tombs. A handful of protesters broke into the site but were replled by security guards. The two sides then began throwing rocks at each other.
When a fire broke out in the vicinity of the disputed site, some of the protesters stepped away from the entrance to the area.
Second day of rioting brings some 200 haredim to a construction site in Beit Shemesh Tuesday, where they claim construction work rests on ancient tombs. A handful of protesters broke into the site but were replled by security guards. The two sides then began throwing rocks at each other.
When a fire broke out in the vicinity of the disputed site, some of the protesters stepped away from the entrance to the area.
Ephraim Cohen, one of the protesters, claimed that the tumult began when one of the security guards came out of the construction site with a tractor, "and almost ran over one of the demonstrators," according to him.
He further said: "I was pushed and I fell to the ground, and broke my glasses. I'm a Cohen so I cannot enter a site that has graves, that is why I protest from outside the site, but there was no provocation on our part. We will stay here and protest as long as they keep working in that place and digging up."
Police forces arrived at the scene, and security guards are attempting to prevent demonstrators from entering and spreading around the site.
He further said: "I was pushed and I fell to the ground, and broke my glasses. I'm a Cohen so I cannot enter a site that has graves, that is why I protest from outside the site, but there was no provocation on our part. We will stay here and protest as long as they keep working in that place and digging up."
Police forces arrived at the scene, and security guards are attempting to prevent demonstrators from entering and spreading around the site.
12 aug 2013
General Martin Dempsey lands in Israel
Chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff Martin Dempsey landed at Ben Gurion Airport as part of a visit in which the general will be a guest of IDF Chief of Staff Benny Gantz. During the visit, Dempsey will meet with senior IDF officers, and will discuss the strengthening of military cooperation between the two armies and other security issues. Dempsey will also meet with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon
Chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff Martin Dempsey landed at Ben Gurion Airport as part of a visit in which the general will be a guest of IDF Chief of Staff Benny Gantz. During the visit, Dempsey will meet with senior IDF officers, and will discuss the strengthening of military cooperation between the two armies and other security issues. Dempsey will also meet with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon
Photo of Israeli landscape with separation wall in background at Ben-Gurion Airport
The very first thing visitors to Israel see when they walk through Ben-Gurion International Airport’s arrivals hall is an illuminated, panoramic landscape photo showing an area where the West Bank meets Israel. Right smack dab in the middle of it is none other than Israel’s separation barrier.
It is as if Israel is proudly saying to its visitors: Welcome to the land of milk and honey, segregation and oppression. As if the wall/fence/barrier has become such an integral part of the landscape that whoever installed this lovely photo montage didn’t even notice.
Or maybe they forgot to photoshop it out and it’s a major oversight (that somebody made a real f–k up)?
Either way, this is mind-boggling – and it certainly takes Israeli hasbara (state PR) to a whole new level. Could it be Israel has reached a point where it is so sure of its own policies that parading around a photo of the ugly separation barrier is totally normal? Considering the way it has been parading around new settlement construction during peace talks, I wouldn’t be surprised.
The photo was uploaded to Facebook Monday morning by Hagit Ofran, settlement director of Peace Now, and published here with her permission.
The very first thing visitors to Israel see when they walk through Ben-Gurion International Airport’s arrivals hall is an illuminated, panoramic landscape photo showing an area where the West Bank meets Israel. Right smack dab in the middle of it is none other than Israel’s separation barrier.
It is as if Israel is proudly saying to its visitors: Welcome to the land of milk and honey, segregation and oppression. As if the wall/fence/barrier has become such an integral part of the landscape that whoever installed this lovely photo montage didn’t even notice.
Or maybe they forgot to photoshop it out and it’s a major oversight (that somebody made a real f–k up)?
Either way, this is mind-boggling – and it certainly takes Israeli hasbara (state PR) to a whole new level. Could it be Israel has reached a point where it is so sure of its own policies that parading around a photo of the ugly separation barrier is totally normal? Considering the way it has been parading around new settlement construction during peace talks, I wouldn’t be surprised.
The photo was uploaded to Facebook Monday morning by Hagit Ofran, settlement director of Peace Now, and published here with her permission.
EU plans to restrict funding of Israeli bodies connected to East Jerusalem, the West Bank, and Golan Heights. The state of Israel refuses to sign any future agreements acknowledging that Israel lacks sovereignty of regions beyond the ’67 borders.
The new EU guidelines restrict funding and financial investment, including grants, stipends, scholarships, and prizes to Israeli bodies with direct or indirect connection to the continued occupation of Palestinian territories. The guidelines also require any agreement signed between the EU and Israel to contain a clause stating that settlements in East Jerusalem, the West Bank, and Golan Heights are not considered a part of the State of Israel. The restrictions will take effect on January,1 2014.
Haaretz reported that a diplomatic source present at the Thursday meeting in Tel Aviv stated that Israel would not be able to sign agreements with the EU, and that they “will request additional clarifications from the EU in order to better understand the significance of the guidelines.”
Israel’s Wednesday meeting with EU representatives will go on as planned. Israel hopes to make clear at the start and end of the meeting that it will sign the present accord on the condition that the EU change the wording of the guidelines, specifically that regarding settlements.
Following the 1967 Six-Day War Israel defines East Jerusalem and most of the Golan Heights as falling within its sovereign borders. Although the West Bank is Palestinian territory more than 60 percent of the area is controlled by Israel.
In 2010 peace negotiations between Israel and Palestine fell apart due to Israel’s continued expansion of settlements. Israel’s present day expansion of settlement and denial of ’67 borders continue to indicate to many that Israel is not serious about the current peace negotiations.
The new EU guidelines restrict funding and financial investment, including grants, stipends, scholarships, and prizes to Israeli bodies with direct or indirect connection to the continued occupation of Palestinian territories. The guidelines also require any agreement signed between the EU and Israel to contain a clause stating that settlements in East Jerusalem, the West Bank, and Golan Heights are not considered a part of the State of Israel. The restrictions will take effect on January,1 2014.
Haaretz reported that a diplomatic source present at the Thursday meeting in Tel Aviv stated that Israel would not be able to sign agreements with the EU, and that they “will request additional clarifications from the EU in order to better understand the significance of the guidelines.”
Israel’s Wednesday meeting with EU representatives will go on as planned. Israel hopes to make clear at the start and end of the meeting that it will sign the present accord on the condition that the EU change the wording of the guidelines, specifically that regarding settlements.
Following the 1967 Six-Day War Israel defines East Jerusalem and most of the Golan Heights as falling within its sovereign borders. Although the West Bank is Palestinian territory more than 60 percent of the area is controlled by Israel.
In 2010 peace negotiations between Israel and Palestine fell apart due to Israel’s continued expansion of settlements. Israel’s present day expansion of settlement and denial of ’67 borders continue to indicate to many that Israel is not serious about the current peace negotiations.
Unknown assailant raped woman aged about 60 at knife point three weeks ago; still at large
A woman thought to be 60 was raped by an intruder who broke into her apartment in central Tel Aviv three weeks ago, it has been cleared for publication.
The assault took place on July 24 at 5 am when the suspect broke into the woman's apartment and raped her at knife point. He then fled the scene taking with him the woman's purse and mobile phone. The details of the case are under a gag order.
Police initially arrested two suspects linked to the cell phone but released them several days later. The investigation is ongoing and the rapist is still at large.
It remains unclear whether the assailant broke into the apartment with the intent to rob the woman or assault her. Police issued a comprehensive gag order on the case which has twice been extended. A similar assault occurred last month when a disabled woman was raped at her Tel Aviv home by a burglar. Police arrested Brehan Atkelta, a 24-year-old Eritrean migrant, who confessed to the charges, several days later.
A woman thought to be 60 was raped by an intruder who broke into her apartment in central Tel Aviv three weeks ago, it has been cleared for publication.
The assault took place on July 24 at 5 am when the suspect broke into the woman's apartment and raped her at knife point. He then fled the scene taking with him the woman's purse and mobile phone. The details of the case are under a gag order.
Police initially arrested two suspects linked to the cell phone but released them several days later. The investigation is ongoing and the rapist is still at large.
It remains unclear whether the assailant broke into the apartment with the intent to rob the woman or assault her. Police issued a comprehensive gag order on the case which has twice been extended. A similar assault occurred last month when a disabled woman was raped at her Tel Aviv home by a burglar. Police arrested Brehan Atkelta, a 24-year-old Eritrean migrant, who confessed to the charges, several days later.
Toddler's mother at scene of incident
Boy found without pulse in vehicle in Beersheba, dies after prolonged resuscitation efforts. Police investigate possibility child climbed into car on his own, locked himself inside
A 3-year-old toddler died Sunday after apparently climbing into in a hot vehicle and locking himself in it. The car belongs to a woman who works in Beersheba, near the location where the car was found, while 34 degrees Celsius (93.2 Fahrenheit) were measured Sunday in the city.
It is unclear how long the child was inside the car, yet by the time he was found by the vehicle's owner, who called Magen David Adom emergency services, the toddler no longer had a pulse. He was taken to the Soroka University Medical Center in Beersheba with his mother, however resuscitation attempts were unsuccessful.
MDA Negev Region Director Itzik Alfasi told Ynet: "We received a call about a boy in a car without a pulse and not breathing. Two ambulances rushed to the scene and found a 3-year-old without a pulse, not breathing, and in a very severe condition. He was evacuated with continuous resuscitation efforts." One of the paramedics told Ynet: "The baby was found without a pulse and was not breathing. Throughout the resuscitation attempts, his family members stood nearby."
Police investigators on site were examining the vehicle and collecting testimonies from nearby houses in order to understand how the toddler entered the car. According to the car's owner, the central locking of the vehicle was not activated, and the doors were probably unlocked.
The toddler's parents, 25 and 27, are still at the Soroka University Medical Center and will be questioned by the police. Preliminary investigation revealed that the car's rear door was unlocked, and the toddler somehow climbed inside. The police will investigate whether the toddler entered the vehicle on his own or whether other people were at the scene. After climbing into the car, the toddler was locked inside, and was unable to come out.
Initial investigation further revealed that the toddler was under his mother's supervision, but for unknown circumstances, reached the car without her knowledge.
The father was at work at the time of the incident and received the bad news later on. The toddler was the only child of the couple, who made aliyah from Ethiopia about a year ago.
During the recent summer months, three babies died after being left in cars. In mid-July, a 2-year-old toddler was left in a car in the village of Dolev and a day earlier another 5-months-old baby was left in a car in the village of Shilo. In the beginning of July, a 9-months-old baby died after being left in a car in Ramat Gan. Last week, a similar event ended miraculously well. A Nazareth city commissioner prevented a disaster after spotting two babies locked in a car in the city. The parking meter showed that the babies were locked in the car for nearly 30 minutes. Fortunately, the two were unharmed and were taken to Haemek Medical Center in Afula.
Boy found without pulse in vehicle in Beersheba, dies after prolonged resuscitation efforts. Police investigate possibility child climbed into car on his own, locked himself inside
A 3-year-old toddler died Sunday after apparently climbing into in a hot vehicle and locking himself in it. The car belongs to a woman who works in Beersheba, near the location where the car was found, while 34 degrees Celsius (93.2 Fahrenheit) were measured Sunday in the city.
It is unclear how long the child was inside the car, yet by the time he was found by the vehicle's owner, who called Magen David Adom emergency services, the toddler no longer had a pulse. He was taken to the Soroka University Medical Center in Beersheba with his mother, however resuscitation attempts were unsuccessful.
MDA Negev Region Director Itzik Alfasi told Ynet: "We received a call about a boy in a car without a pulse and not breathing. Two ambulances rushed to the scene and found a 3-year-old without a pulse, not breathing, and in a very severe condition. He was evacuated with continuous resuscitation efforts." One of the paramedics told Ynet: "The baby was found without a pulse and was not breathing. Throughout the resuscitation attempts, his family members stood nearby."
Police investigators on site were examining the vehicle and collecting testimonies from nearby houses in order to understand how the toddler entered the car. According to the car's owner, the central locking of the vehicle was not activated, and the doors were probably unlocked.
The toddler's parents, 25 and 27, are still at the Soroka University Medical Center and will be questioned by the police. Preliminary investigation revealed that the car's rear door was unlocked, and the toddler somehow climbed inside. The police will investigate whether the toddler entered the vehicle on his own or whether other people were at the scene. After climbing into the car, the toddler was locked inside, and was unable to come out.
Initial investigation further revealed that the toddler was under his mother's supervision, but for unknown circumstances, reached the car without her knowledge.
The father was at work at the time of the incident and received the bad news later on. The toddler was the only child of the couple, who made aliyah from Ethiopia about a year ago.
During the recent summer months, three babies died after being left in cars. In mid-July, a 2-year-old toddler was left in a car in the village of Dolev and a day earlier another 5-months-old baby was left in a car in the village of Shilo. In the beginning of July, a 9-months-old baby died after being left in a car in Ramat Gan. Last week, a similar event ended miraculously well. A Nazareth city commissioner prevented a disaster after spotting two babies locked in a car in the city. The parking meter showed that the babies were locked in the car for nearly 30 minutes. Fortunately, the two were unharmed and were taken to Haemek Medical Center in Afula.
11 aug 2013
Several injured in shooting near Kuseife Junction
Several people were injured on varying degrees of severity in a shooting in the Kuseife Junction in southern Israel. Two were lightly wounded, another was moderately injured. They are currently evacuated to the Soroka University Medical Center in Beersheba after receiving treatment in a local infirmary.
Police forces are at the scene.
Several people were injured on varying degrees of severity in a shooting in the Kuseife Junction in southern Israel. Two were lightly wounded, another was moderately injured. They are currently evacuated to the Soroka University Medical Center in Beersheba after receiving treatment in a local infirmary.
Police forces are at the scene.
10 aug 2013
Mario Blejer
Mario Blejer's then wife had affair with then International Monetary Fund chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn before the leading economist's fall from grace.
Mario Blejer, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's new candidate to become Bank of Israel governor, found himself in a media storm in 2008 after it emerged his wife had had an affair with Dominique Strauss-Kahn, then head of the International Monetary Fund.
Blejer was a senior IMF official at the time, and his second wife Piroska Nagy was a subordinate of Strauss-Kahn at the Fund.
The affair received significant media coverage at the time, with allegations Nagy, a Hungarian economist, received a promotion due to her affair with the IMF chief. She was forced to leave the IMF following the affair. She had been separated from Blejer already, but their marriage dissolved only afterward.
After the affair became public, the IMF board hired a law firm to investigate.
Nagy had complained that Strauss-Kahn pursued her aggressively and said, “I was damned if I did, damned if I didn’t.”
The board concluded that Nagy was not promoted inappropriately, and while it deemed Strauss-Kahn’s behavior inappropriate, it concluded he had not abused his power.
Nagy disagreed, alleging Strauss-Kahn had used his power to push her into a relationship.
In her letter to the investigating law firm, she called Strauss-Kahn “a man with a problem that may make him ill-equipped to lead an institution where women work under his command.”
Several years later, Blejer told a journalist that he had met with Strauss-Kahn and discussed the Frenchman’s affair with his wife. Strauss-Kahn apologized and admitted that he had behaved inappropriately, Blejer said.
Strauss-Kahn stepped down as IMF chief in May 2011 after he was accused of attempting to rape a hotel staffer in New York. The affair with Nagy received renewed media attention at the time.
Strauss-Kahn is currently facing charges of pimping in his native France.
Netanyahu's two previous candidates for the post of Bank of Israel governor withdrew after media scrutiny revealed past alleged misconduct. The first choice, Jacob Frenkel, dropped his candidacy over shoplifting allegations. Next up was Leo Leiderman who after only several days declined the position amidst claims of sexual harassment.
Mario Blejer's then wife had affair with then International Monetary Fund chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn before the leading economist's fall from grace.
Mario Blejer, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's new candidate to become Bank of Israel governor, found himself in a media storm in 2008 after it emerged his wife had had an affair with Dominique Strauss-Kahn, then head of the International Monetary Fund.
Blejer was a senior IMF official at the time, and his second wife Piroska Nagy was a subordinate of Strauss-Kahn at the Fund.
The affair received significant media coverage at the time, with allegations Nagy, a Hungarian economist, received a promotion due to her affair with the IMF chief. She was forced to leave the IMF following the affair. She had been separated from Blejer already, but their marriage dissolved only afterward.
After the affair became public, the IMF board hired a law firm to investigate.
Nagy had complained that Strauss-Kahn pursued her aggressively and said, “I was damned if I did, damned if I didn’t.”
The board concluded that Nagy was not promoted inappropriately, and while it deemed Strauss-Kahn’s behavior inappropriate, it concluded he had not abused his power.
Nagy disagreed, alleging Strauss-Kahn had used his power to push her into a relationship.
In her letter to the investigating law firm, she called Strauss-Kahn “a man with a problem that may make him ill-equipped to lead an institution where women work under his command.”
Several years later, Blejer told a journalist that he had met with Strauss-Kahn and discussed the Frenchman’s affair with his wife. Strauss-Kahn apologized and admitted that he had behaved inappropriately, Blejer said.
Strauss-Kahn stepped down as IMF chief in May 2011 after he was accused of attempting to rape a hotel staffer in New York. The affair with Nagy received renewed media attention at the time.
Strauss-Kahn is currently facing charges of pimping in his native France.
Netanyahu's two previous candidates for the post of Bank of Israel governor withdrew after media scrutiny revealed past alleged misconduct. The first choice, Jacob Frenkel, dropped his candidacy over shoplifting allegations. Next up was Leo Leiderman who after only several days declined the position amidst claims of sexual harassment.
9 aug 2013
File this away under “What if this were a Muslim…?” Shimon Gapso, mayor of the Israeli city of Upper Nazareth, has recently published an article for Ha’aretz in which he lays bare his racist and extremist religious ideology. Gapso implicitly endorses a policy of ethnic cleansing, and defends his statements calling for the “Judaization” of his city.
The article is entitled “If you think I’m a racist, then Israel is a racist state.” Well, as they say, if the shoe fits… Zionist ideology is, after all, rooted in the belief that the land of Palestine must be Jewish, an ideal that could/can only be fulfilled by replacing the indigenous Arab population with a Jewish one. Israel is, as Mr. Gapso says, a racist state.
Gapso in the past has supported ethnic cleansing initiatives. He has opposed the creation of a single Arab school, Muslim cemetery, or mosque in the city. (I thought only Saudi Arabia had this problem?)
Here is Shimon Gapso’s article with my commentary inserted in between:
If you think I’m a racist, then Israel is a racist state
Upper Nazareth’s mayor answers detractors who say his reelection campaign calling for the mixed city to be ‘Jewish forever’ is racist.
by Shimon Gapso
Over the past few days, many people have been calling me a racist. Sometimes they also call me a Nazi, a bully or even Hitler. One need only look at the comments on Haaretz’s website to put me before a firing squad. What’s my crime? What act of bullying did I commit? I made a clear and unequivocal statement that Upper Nazareth was a Jewish city.
Yes, the comparison to Nazis and Hitler is acceptable here, despite what a distorted view of Godwin’s Law would claim. Extremist Zionists routinely invoke Nazi and Hitler comparisons to Arab and Muslim leaders, but God forbid anyone say that of a Zionist.
Imagine if a Texan were to say that Texas ought to remain “white forever.” This would be something only an Aryan racist would say–and nobody would think twice about likening this to the Nazis or Hitler.
One could claim that “white” is a race, while Jewish is not. This is of course the game that is always played. When convenient, Jewish is used as a race; when convenient, as a religion. But, would anyone call it anything other than extremism of the worst sort for someone to claim that Georgia should remain “Christian forever”?
Shimon Gapso continues:
Yes — I’m not afraid to say it out loud, to write it and add my signature, or declare it in front of the cameras: Upper Nazareth is a Jewish city and it’s important that it remains so. If that makes me a racist, then I’m a proud offshoot of a glorious dynasty of “racists” that started with the “Covenant of the Pieces” [that God made with Abraham, recounted in Genesis 15:1–15] and the explicitly racist promise: “To your seed I have given this land” [Genesis 15:38].
When the Jewish people were about to return to their homeland after a long journey from slavery in Egypt, where they were enslaved for racist reasons, the God of Israel told Moses how to act upon conquering the land: he must cleanse the land of its current inhabitants. “But if you do not drive out the inhabitants of the land from before you, then those of them whom you allow to remain… as I thought to do to them, so will I do to you” [Numbers 33:55–56].
God gave them an explicit warning. Yes, the racist Joshua conquered the land in a racist manner. More than 3,000 years later, the Jewish people stood bruised and bleeding on the threshold of their land, seeking once again to take possession of it from the wild tribes that had seized the land in its absence. And then, an outbreak of racism flooded the country.
We are constantly reminded by the so-called “Islam experts” (who just happen to almost always be staunch pro-Israeli hawks) that it is only Muslims who take the violent parts of their scripture literally in the modern day and age. Meanwhile, we are told that Jews and Christians don’t do this. Pseudo-scholar Robert Spencer writes on p.31 of his book The Politically Incorrect Guide to Islam (and the Crusades):
When modern-day Jews and Christians read their Bibles, they simply don’t interpret the passages cited as exhorting them to violent actions against unbelievers. This is due to the influence of centuries of interpretive traditions that have moved away from literalism regarding these passages.
In fact, I have cited studies that have shown that the majority of believers take the Bible to be literally true and the Word of God. And, here we have an Israeli mayor referring to the bloodiest parts of the Bible in order to justify a policy of ethnic cleansing. In previous articles, I have documented the Bible’s extensive justifications for ethnic cleansing, and Shimon Gapso is invoking these as a proof for a modern day policy of such.
Gapso is not a lone voice. In fact, a majority of Israelis believe in a policy of ethnic cleansing. This is not idle talk. From its very inception, the state of Israel has engaged in ethnic cleansing.
This is the height of religious extremism. It is a major problem facing the Jewish community today. We are told by the pro-Israel “Islam experts” that Muslims have a problem of religious extremism–why aren’t moderate Muslims speaking out?, we are constantly asked. But, how come we hardly ever hear these people asking why more Jewish people aren’t speaking out against Jewish extremism and supremacism in Israel?
To be clear, there are plenty of prominent Jews who are speaking out against Jewish extremism and supremacism. The reactions to Gapso’s article are a proof of this. But, just to set the record straight: the vast majority of Muslims on earth oppose the views of their religious extremists–and condemn terrorism in the name of Islam. Yet, a very large proportion of the Jewish community seems to support Zionism and, by virtue of this, end up endorsing certain racist religious views in regard to the establishment of a Jewish state in a land that was, up until the turn of the century, inhabited primarily by non-Jews.
The point here is not to demonize the Jewish community. The truth is that even though far too many Jews are Zionists, it is also a fact that the people who have done the most to stand up to extremist Zionism have in fact been Jews themselves.
The lesson to be learned here, however, is that it is unfair to single out the Muslim faith and community as the only one suffering from a religious extremism problem.
Back to Shimon Gapso’s article (with emphasis added):
The racist Theodor Herzl wrote “Der Judenstaat” (“The Jewish State,” not “The State of All Its Citizens”). Lord Balfour recommended the establishment of a national home for the Jewish people. David Ben-Gurion, Chaim Arlosoroff, Moshe Sharett and other racists established the Jewish Agency, and the racist UN decided to establish a Jewish state — in other words, a state for Jews. The racist Ben-Gurion announced the establishment of the Jewish State in the Land of Israel, and during the War of Independence even made sure to bring in hundreds of thousands of Jews and drive out hundreds of thousands of Arabs who had been living here — all to enable it to be founded with the desired racist character.
How refreshing it is to hear some cold, hard truth about the matter: the Jewish state engaged in the systematic ethnic cleansing of “hundreds of thousands of Arabs.” This campaign–which continues in a modified form to this very day–was sustained by religious extremism. What is interesting as well is that this absolutely absurd religious idea–that God gave the Jews the land of Israel–is championed even by many secular Jews. Such is the endemic problem of this racist and extremist idea.
Gapso continues:
Since then, racially pure kibbutzim without a single Arab member and an army that protects a certain racial strain have been established, as have political parties that proudly bear racist names such as “Habayit Hayehudi” — “the Jewish home.” Even our racist national anthem ignores the existence of the Arab minority — in other words, the people Ben-Gurion did not manage to expel in the 1948 war. If not for all that “racism,” it’s doubtful we could live here, and doubtful that we could live at all.
In these times of hypocrisy and bleeding-heart sanctimoniousness, of the proliferation of flaky types who are disconnected from reality, in the relative security that causes us to forget the dangers we face, we can sit in north Tel Aviv, and cry “racism” to seem enlightened and good-hearted in our own eyes. We can be shocked at a mayor who prefers that his city, which is right next to the largest Arab city in Israel, retain a Jewish majority and not be swallowed up in the Arab area that surrounds it. There will not be a single Jew in the future Palestinian state, but that’s all right. That isn’t racism.
For the record, even Hamas has stated that in their “ideal Islamic state” Christians and Jews would be allowed to live in it.
Gapso gives this disclaimer:
Upper Nazareth is a Jewish city. Fewer than one-fifth of its inhabitants are Arab citizens, and they enjoy full municipal and national rights. Many of them are friends of mine, and I like and respect many of them.
This is of course the necessary disclaimer of “I have black friends, so I can’t possibly be racist against blacks.”
Gapso concludes:
I could wish that Jews were treated the way the Arabs of Upper Nazareth are — not only those Jews who lived in Europe of times past, but also those who live in the Arab countries of today. If that were the case, perhaps we of Upper Nazareth would have no need to be “racists.”
Herein is revealed the fundamental flaw in Zionism–and what makes the comparisons to Nazism reasonable. It was the Nazi viewpoint that Jews could not live in Europe with non-Jews that led to the Holocaust. Instead of disagreeing with this baseless argument and calling for racial and religious harmony in Europe, Zionists argued that Jews could not ever hope to live with non-Jews in safety. According to this defeatist view, Jews must segregate themselves into their own state, and that’s why Shimon Gapso has to Judaize his city (and all of Israel). The only way Jews can be safe, according to the Bible’s violent verses and bigoted modern day Zionism, is to cleanse the land of Gentiles–whoever (supposedly) worships a different god, speaks a different language, or has a different religious or ethnic background.
Martin Luther King Jr. didn’t buy into the argument that blacks could not live with whites in peace and harmony. In spite of the horrific violence levied against his people and his own person, Dr. King rejected Marcus Garvey’s “Back-to-Africa” ideology. Such an ideology–which endorses the idea that a racial or religious group must live only among its own people–is a pernicious one. It’s dangerous whether it is held by whites, blacks, Jews, Christians, or Muslims. Instead of believing this segregationist idea, we must all learn to live together.
We must also learn not to unfairly single out one religion over another. All religious traditions have their extremists. This includes Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. He is a fool whoever takes Shimon Gapso’s views and actions as being synonymous with Judaism and the Jewish community overall. Likewise, so too are those fools who take this or that extremist Muslim’s views and actions as representative of Islam or the Muslim community at large.
Danios was the Brass Crescent Award Honorary Mention for Best Writer in 2010 and the Brass Crescent Award Winner for Best Writer in 2011.
The article is entitled “If you think I’m a racist, then Israel is a racist state.” Well, as they say, if the shoe fits… Zionist ideology is, after all, rooted in the belief that the land of Palestine must be Jewish, an ideal that could/can only be fulfilled by replacing the indigenous Arab population with a Jewish one. Israel is, as Mr. Gapso says, a racist state.
Gapso in the past has supported ethnic cleansing initiatives. He has opposed the creation of a single Arab school, Muslim cemetery, or mosque in the city. (I thought only Saudi Arabia had this problem?)
Here is Shimon Gapso’s article with my commentary inserted in between:
If you think I’m a racist, then Israel is a racist state
Upper Nazareth’s mayor answers detractors who say his reelection campaign calling for the mixed city to be ‘Jewish forever’ is racist.
by Shimon Gapso
Over the past few days, many people have been calling me a racist. Sometimes they also call me a Nazi, a bully or even Hitler. One need only look at the comments on Haaretz’s website to put me before a firing squad. What’s my crime? What act of bullying did I commit? I made a clear and unequivocal statement that Upper Nazareth was a Jewish city.
Yes, the comparison to Nazis and Hitler is acceptable here, despite what a distorted view of Godwin’s Law would claim. Extremist Zionists routinely invoke Nazi and Hitler comparisons to Arab and Muslim leaders, but God forbid anyone say that of a Zionist.
Imagine if a Texan were to say that Texas ought to remain “white forever.” This would be something only an Aryan racist would say–and nobody would think twice about likening this to the Nazis or Hitler.
One could claim that “white” is a race, while Jewish is not. This is of course the game that is always played. When convenient, Jewish is used as a race; when convenient, as a religion. But, would anyone call it anything other than extremism of the worst sort for someone to claim that Georgia should remain “Christian forever”?
Shimon Gapso continues:
Yes — I’m not afraid to say it out loud, to write it and add my signature, or declare it in front of the cameras: Upper Nazareth is a Jewish city and it’s important that it remains so. If that makes me a racist, then I’m a proud offshoot of a glorious dynasty of “racists” that started with the “Covenant of the Pieces” [that God made with Abraham, recounted in Genesis 15:1–15] and the explicitly racist promise: “To your seed I have given this land” [Genesis 15:38].
When the Jewish people were about to return to their homeland after a long journey from slavery in Egypt, where they were enslaved for racist reasons, the God of Israel told Moses how to act upon conquering the land: he must cleanse the land of its current inhabitants. “But if you do not drive out the inhabitants of the land from before you, then those of them whom you allow to remain… as I thought to do to them, so will I do to you” [Numbers 33:55–56].
God gave them an explicit warning. Yes, the racist Joshua conquered the land in a racist manner. More than 3,000 years later, the Jewish people stood bruised and bleeding on the threshold of their land, seeking once again to take possession of it from the wild tribes that had seized the land in its absence. And then, an outbreak of racism flooded the country.
We are constantly reminded by the so-called “Islam experts” (who just happen to almost always be staunch pro-Israeli hawks) that it is only Muslims who take the violent parts of their scripture literally in the modern day and age. Meanwhile, we are told that Jews and Christians don’t do this. Pseudo-scholar Robert Spencer writes on p.31 of his book The Politically Incorrect Guide to Islam (and the Crusades):
When modern-day Jews and Christians read their Bibles, they simply don’t interpret the passages cited as exhorting them to violent actions against unbelievers. This is due to the influence of centuries of interpretive traditions that have moved away from literalism regarding these passages.
In fact, I have cited studies that have shown that the majority of believers take the Bible to be literally true and the Word of God. And, here we have an Israeli mayor referring to the bloodiest parts of the Bible in order to justify a policy of ethnic cleansing. In previous articles, I have documented the Bible’s extensive justifications for ethnic cleansing, and Shimon Gapso is invoking these as a proof for a modern day policy of such.
Gapso is not a lone voice. In fact, a majority of Israelis believe in a policy of ethnic cleansing. This is not idle talk. From its very inception, the state of Israel has engaged in ethnic cleansing.
This is the height of religious extremism. It is a major problem facing the Jewish community today. We are told by the pro-Israel “Islam experts” that Muslims have a problem of religious extremism–why aren’t moderate Muslims speaking out?, we are constantly asked. But, how come we hardly ever hear these people asking why more Jewish people aren’t speaking out against Jewish extremism and supremacism in Israel?
To be clear, there are plenty of prominent Jews who are speaking out against Jewish extremism and supremacism. The reactions to Gapso’s article are a proof of this. But, just to set the record straight: the vast majority of Muslims on earth oppose the views of their religious extremists–and condemn terrorism in the name of Islam. Yet, a very large proportion of the Jewish community seems to support Zionism and, by virtue of this, end up endorsing certain racist religious views in regard to the establishment of a Jewish state in a land that was, up until the turn of the century, inhabited primarily by non-Jews.
The point here is not to demonize the Jewish community. The truth is that even though far too many Jews are Zionists, it is also a fact that the people who have done the most to stand up to extremist Zionism have in fact been Jews themselves.
The lesson to be learned here, however, is that it is unfair to single out the Muslim faith and community as the only one suffering from a religious extremism problem.
Back to Shimon Gapso’s article (with emphasis added):
The racist Theodor Herzl wrote “Der Judenstaat” (“The Jewish State,” not “The State of All Its Citizens”). Lord Balfour recommended the establishment of a national home for the Jewish people. David Ben-Gurion, Chaim Arlosoroff, Moshe Sharett and other racists established the Jewish Agency, and the racist UN decided to establish a Jewish state — in other words, a state for Jews. The racist Ben-Gurion announced the establishment of the Jewish State in the Land of Israel, and during the War of Independence even made sure to bring in hundreds of thousands of Jews and drive out hundreds of thousands of Arabs who had been living here — all to enable it to be founded with the desired racist character.
How refreshing it is to hear some cold, hard truth about the matter: the Jewish state engaged in the systematic ethnic cleansing of “hundreds of thousands of Arabs.” This campaign–which continues in a modified form to this very day–was sustained by religious extremism. What is interesting as well is that this absolutely absurd religious idea–that God gave the Jews the land of Israel–is championed even by many secular Jews. Such is the endemic problem of this racist and extremist idea.
Gapso continues:
Since then, racially pure kibbutzim without a single Arab member and an army that protects a certain racial strain have been established, as have political parties that proudly bear racist names such as “Habayit Hayehudi” — “the Jewish home.” Even our racist national anthem ignores the existence of the Arab minority — in other words, the people Ben-Gurion did not manage to expel in the 1948 war. If not for all that “racism,” it’s doubtful we could live here, and doubtful that we could live at all.
In these times of hypocrisy and bleeding-heart sanctimoniousness, of the proliferation of flaky types who are disconnected from reality, in the relative security that causes us to forget the dangers we face, we can sit in north Tel Aviv, and cry “racism” to seem enlightened and good-hearted in our own eyes. We can be shocked at a mayor who prefers that his city, which is right next to the largest Arab city in Israel, retain a Jewish majority and not be swallowed up in the Arab area that surrounds it. There will not be a single Jew in the future Palestinian state, but that’s all right. That isn’t racism.
For the record, even Hamas has stated that in their “ideal Islamic state” Christians and Jews would be allowed to live in it.
Gapso gives this disclaimer:
Upper Nazareth is a Jewish city. Fewer than one-fifth of its inhabitants are Arab citizens, and they enjoy full municipal and national rights. Many of them are friends of mine, and I like and respect many of them.
This is of course the necessary disclaimer of “I have black friends, so I can’t possibly be racist against blacks.”
Gapso concludes:
I could wish that Jews were treated the way the Arabs of Upper Nazareth are — not only those Jews who lived in Europe of times past, but also those who live in the Arab countries of today. If that were the case, perhaps we of Upper Nazareth would have no need to be “racists.”
Herein is revealed the fundamental flaw in Zionism–and what makes the comparisons to Nazism reasonable. It was the Nazi viewpoint that Jews could not live in Europe with non-Jews that led to the Holocaust. Instead of disagreeing with this baseless argument and calling for racial and religious harmony in Europe, Zionists argued that Jews could not ever hope to live with non-Jews in safety. According to this defeatist view, Jews must segregate themselves into their own state, and that’s why Shimon Gapso has to Judaize his city (and all of Israel). The only way Jews can be safe, according to the Bible’s violent verses and bigoted modern day Zionism, is to cleanse the land of Gentiles–whoever (supposedly) worships a different god, speaks a different language, or has a different religious or ethnic background.
Martin Luther King Jr. didn’t buy into the argument that blacks could not live with whites in peace and harmony. In spite of the horrific violence levied against his people and his own person, Dr. King rejected Marcus Garvey’s “Back-to-Africa” ideology. Such an ideology–which endorses the idea that a racial or religious group must live only among its own people–is a pernicious one. It’s dangerous whether it is held by whites, blacks, Jews, Christians, or Muslims. Instead of believing this segregationist idea, we must all learn to live together.
We must also learn not to unfairly single out one religion over another. All religious traditions have their extremists. This includes Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. He is a fool whoever takes Shimon Gapso’s views and actions as being synonymous with Judaism and the Jewish community overall. Likewise, so too are those fools who take this or that extremist Muslim’s views and actions as representative of Islam or the Muslim community at large.
Danios was the Brass Crescent Award Honorary Mention for Best Writer in 2010 and the Brass Crescent Award Winner for Best Writer in 2011.
The Knesset's Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee imposed a media blackout on its deliberations on Thursday especially of the situation in Egypt and Syria on the pretext that discussions included sensitive information that should not be available to the public. The spokesman of the committee, which is headed by former Israeli Foreign Minister, Avigdor Lieberman, said that the blackout was ordered because of the sensitivity of issues tabled before the meeting in which the head of the military intelligence participated.
The head of the committee said that what the Middle East is witnessing was "utterly unexpected".
Lieberman said at the start of the meeting that “No one, in Israel or the world expected the fundamental changes the Middle East is undergoing, neither can anyone forecast the nature of changes which the region might undergo in future years.”
He added that the Israeli intelligence apparatuses should differentiate between the evaluations and intelligence at this sensitive stage.
The head of the committee said that what the Middle East is witnessing was "utterly unexpected".
Lieberman said at the start of the meeting that “No one, in Israel or the world expected the fundamental changes the Middle East is undergoing, neither can anyone forecast the nature of changes which the region might undergo in future years.”
He added that the Israeli intelligence apparatuses should differentiate between the evaluations and intelligence at this sensitive stage.
Woman's body found in olive grove in Arab village in Galilee
The body of a woman in her 30s was found in an olive grove in the village of Deir al-Asad in northern Israel. Police launched an investigation into a possible murder. Officers are looking into the possibility the body is of a woman reported missing several days ago.
The body of a woman in her 30s was found in an olive grove in the village of Deir al-Asad in northern Israel. Police launched an investigation into a possible murder. Officers are looking into the possibility the body is of a woman reported missing several days ago.
The Chief of Staff of the US Air Force, Gen. Mark A. Welsh
The Chief of Staff of the US Air Force, Gen. Mark A. Welsh has ended his week-long trip to Israel which the White House requested to remain confidential.
Few details have come out of Welsh’s meetings. The news about his secret trip was, however, broken by Walla, an Israeli news agency.
The visit comes ahead of a planned trip to Israel by the Chairman of the Joints Chief of Staff, Martin Dempsey on Monday.
Reports say the main focus of Dempsey’s meetings with Israeli officials will be on Iran, Syria and Egypt.
Over the past months, Israel has conducted several aerial attacks on Syria. The regime in Tel Aviv has also threatened time and again to attack Iran’s nuclear facilities claiming that the country is seeking to make an atomic bomb, an allegation Iran has strongly rejected.
Lyndon LaRouche, an American political activist, recently warned that the continuation of Israel’s attacks on Syria would drag the US into a broader war which will end in a thermonuclear conflict with Russia.
From the beginning of the crisis in Syria, Russia has opposed any foreign military intervention in the conflict and has blocked any Western efforts at the US to adopt harsh measures against the Syrian government.
Reuters reported on Wednesday that Saudi Arabia has offered to buy billions of dollars in arms from Russia to persuade the military giant to stop backing the Syrian government. Moscow has reportedly rebuffed the offer.
The Chief of Staff of the US Air Force, Gen. Mark A. Welsh has ended his week-long trip to Israel which the White House requested to remain confidential.
Few details have come out of Welsh’s meetings. The news about his secret trip was, however, broken by Walla, an Israeli news agency.
The visit comes ahead of a planned trip to Israel by the Chairman of the Joints Chief of Staff, Martin Dempsey on Monday.
Reports say the main focus of Dempsey’s meetings with Israeli officials will be on Iran, Syria and Egypt.
Over the past months, Israel has conducted several aerial attacks on Syria. The regime in Tel Aviv has also threatened time and again to attack Iran’s nuclear facilities claiming that the country is seeking to make an atomic bomb, an allegation Iran has strongly rejected.
Lyndon LaRouche, an American political activist, recently warned that the continuation of Israel’s attacks on Syria would drag the US into a broader war which will end in a thermonuclear conflict with Russia.
From the beginning of the crisis in Syria, Russia has opposed any foreign military intervention in the conflict and has blocked any Western efforts at the US to adopt harsh measures against the Syrian government.
Reuters reported on Wednesday that Saudi Arabia has offered to buy billions of dollars in arms from Russia to persuade the military giant to stop backing the Syrian government. Moscow has reportedly rebuffed the offer.
8 aug 2013
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An analyst says Israel’s repeated pleas with the West to step up pressure on the Islamic Republic stem from Tel Aviv’s ambitions to establish a power monopoly in the region, Press TV reports.
In an exclusive interview with Press TV on Thursday, Richard Becker of the Act Now to Stop War and End Racism (ANSWER), said Israel sees Iran as “a challenge to its hegemonic aspirations.” On Tuesday and Wednesday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met with US congressional delegations where he repeated Tel Aviv’s nuclear accusations against Tehran and called for more sanctions against the Islamic Republic. |
Israelis call for “more of these really crippling and vicious economic sanctions against Iran and for other forms of pressure to be kept up on Iran really with the aim of maintaining their dominant position in the region,” Becker reiterated.
The expert further noted that Washington and Tel Aviv, as "the main base of US domination, [and] of US imperialism in the Middle East” are following the same path regarding Iran due to their common interests.
He said the US has been spearheading diplomatic, military and economic pressure on Iran to sow divisions with the ultimate aim of effecting a regime change in the Islamic Republic, and establishing a puppet government in Iran that would follow Washington's orders.
The United States, Israel, and some of their allies have repeatedly accused Iran of potentially pursuing non-civilian objectives in its nuclear energy program and have used the unfounded accusation as a pretext to impose illegal sanctions on the Islamic Republic.
Iran rejects the allegations, arguing that as a committed signatory to the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and a member of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), it has the right to use nuclear technology for peaceful purposes.
In addition, the IAEA has conducted numerous inspections of Iran’s nuclear facilities but has never found any evidence showing that Iran’s civilian nuclear program has been diverted toward military objectives.
Tel Aviv accuses Tehran of military nuclear activities while Israel is widely believed to be the only possessor of nuclear weapons in the Middle East. It reportedly maintains between 200 and 400 atomic warheads, but under its policy of so-called nuclear ambiguity, it has never denied nor confirmed its possession of the weapons of mass destruction.
Furthermore, Tel Aviv has never allowed any inspection of its nuclear facilities and continues to defy international calls to join the NPT.
The expert further noted that Washington and Tel Aviv, as "the main base of US domination, [and] of US imperialism in the Middle East” are following the same path regarding Iran due to their common interests.
He said the US has been spearheading diplomatic, military and economic pressure on Iran to sow divisions with the ultimate aim of effecting a regime change in the Islamic Republic, and establishing a puppet government in Iran that would follow Washington's orders.
The United States, Israel, and some of their allies have repeatedly accused Iran of potentially pursuing non-civilian objectives in its nuclear energy program and have used the unfounded accusation as a pretext to impose illegal sanctions on the Islamic Republic.
Iran rejects the allegations, arguing that as a committed signatory to the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and a member of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), it has the right to use nuclear technology for peaceful purposes.
In addition, the IAEA has conducted numerous inspections of Iran’s nuclear facilities but has never found any evidence showing that Iran’s civilian nuclear program has been diverted toward military objectives.
Tel Aviv accuses Tehran of military nuclear activities while Israel is widely believed to be the only possessor of nuclear weapons in the Middle East. It reportedly maintains between 200 and 400 atomic warheads, but under its policy of so-called nuclear ambiguity, it has never denied nor confirmed its possession of the weapons of mass destruction.
Furthermore, Tel Aviv has never allowed any inspection of its nuclear facilities and continues to defy international calls to join the NPT.
Several analysis are linking the resumption of the peace talks with Prime Minister Netanyahu’s desire to legitimize a strike on Iranian nuclear facilities. Some even claim that the U.S. administration is in the loop.
There were at least three articles in the Hebrew media this week speculating on the option of an Israeli strike on Iran. All pieces linked those scenarios to the peace process, and to the Wall Street Journal‘s report on reactor in Arak, which is due to become operational in the coming months and could be used for the creation of a plutonium bomb (those reports were already disputed, even in Israel)
Writing for Al-Monitor, Ben Caspit (who opposes the idea of an Israeli attack), speculates:
A week ago [July 30], after the painful decision to release more than 100 Palestinian prisoners, some of whom are “heavyweight” murderers, to resume negotiations with the Palestinians, Israel’s Defense Minister Moshe “Bogie” Ya’alon had something very interesting to say: Underlying the decision to release prisoners — he stated — “were strategic considerations, which might be revealed in the future.” (…) What will we understand in the future? In light of the intimations, the signals and the whispers, we are able to figure out the quiet deal that was cut between Israel and the United States: Israel will do whatever is necessary to start negotiations with the Palestinians, maybe even reach a type of an interim arrangement ahead of the final status arrangement. America will give Israel a green light to bomb Iran after having fully verified that the Iranians are really poised to make the final “charge” toward the bomb.
At Haaretz, Sefi Rachlevsky and Alon Ben David raised the same idea – that the real reason Netanyahu entered the peace process is his desire to legitimize an attack on the Iranian nuclear facilities. Rechlevsky is an author and doesn’t have good sources (his article is not as much of a report as an analysis of Netanyahu’s character) but Alon Ben David is a veteran military correspondent. In previous weeks others have made similar suggestions (see Ynet’s military correspondent Ron Ben-Yishai).
There is also speculation that the nature of the understanding on this issue between the American administration and Israel has changed. Former head of military intelligence Amos Yadlin told Israel’s Army Radio this week that the administration’s position has “moved from a red light to yellow.”
Reports are that the heads of Israel’s security forces remain in opposition to an attack, including Air Force commander Maj.-Gen. Amir Eshel.
There were at least three articles in the Hebrew media this week speculating on the option of an Israeli strike on Iran. All pieces linked those scenarios to the peace process, and to the Wall Street Journal‘s report on reactor in Arak, which is due to become operational in the coming months and could be used for the creation of a plutonium bomb (those reports were already disputed, even in Israel)
Writing for Al-Monitor, Ben Caspit (who opposes the idea of an Israeli attack), speculates:
A week ago [July 30], after the painful decision to release more than 100 Palestinian prisoners, some of whom are “heavyweight” murderers, to resume negotiations with the Palestinians, Israel’s Defense Minister Moshe “Bogie” Ya’alon had something very interesting to say: Underlying the decision to release prisoners — he stated — “were strategic considerations, which might be revealed in the future.” (…) What will we understand in the future? In light of the intimations, the signals and the whispers, we are able to figure out the quiet deal that was cut between Israel and the United States: Israel will do whatever is necessary to start negotiations with the Palestinians, maybe even reach a type of an interim arrangement ahead of the final status arrangement. America will give Israel a green light to bomb Iran after having fully verified that the Iranians are really poised to make the final “charge” toward the bomb.
At Haaretz, Sefi Rachlevsky and Alon Ben David raised the same idea – that the real reason Netanyahu entered the peace process is his desire to legitimize an attack on the Iranian nuclear facilities. Rechlevsky is an author and doesn’t have good sources (his article is not as much of a report as an analysis of Netanyahu’s character) but Alon Ben David is a veteran military correspondent. In previous weeks others have made similar suggestions (see Ynet’s military correspondent Ron Ben-Yishai).
There is also speculation that the nature of the understanding on this issue between the American administration and Israel has changed. Former head of military intelligence Amos Yadlin told Israel’s Army Radio this week that the administration’s position has “moved from a red light to yellow.”
Reports are that the heads of Israel’s security forces remain in opposition to an attack, including Air Force commander Maj.-Gen. Amir Eshel.
The attacked soldier
Uniformed soldier attacked in haredi neighborhood later escorted unharmed by police. Noon, secular youth punches haredi in bus
Haredi youngsters in the Beit Yisrael neighborhood in Jerusalem lobbed on Thursday various trash at a religious soldier, who took refuge from his assailants at a relative's home in the vicinity.
Police are combing the area for the suspects. In similar cases no arrests were made. Also on Thursday, a haredi man was attacked by a young secular man, allegedly after asking a woman to move to the back of a bus.
According to the police, the religious soldier arrived at the neighborhood to meet relatives, when several haredi youngsters gathered around him and began to curse at him. The incident quickly deteriorated into violence, when the group started tossing various items at the uniformed soldier.
"There were many people there," the soldier recounted to Ynet. "They threw stuff at me, cartons, vegetables. I saw it wouldn't stop so I just called the police."
He said that when the police arrived "they all ran to their holes." The soldier said he felt humiliated: "I go back to the northern border, guard so people will not enter and harm anyone – no matter who you are, haredi, secular, religious, Jew, Arab, and this is what you get – so there's a hard feeling."
The soldier said the incident will not deter him from wearing his uniform in the area. "I'm not scared," he stressed. "This is Jerusalem, my capital just as it is there's. I'm really not going to stop walking around it."
Violent incidents against uniformed soldiers have recently spiked in haredi neighborhood in Jerusalem, against the background of haredi draft legislation.
Last month two assault cases occurred, in one of which a crowd attacked a soldier in Mea Shearim, chasing him to a nearby building until the arrival of police.
Meanwhile, police are still searching for the secular youth who attacked a haredi man in a 54 line bus in the city. According to suspicions, the youth punched the haredi in the face and pulled his beard before fleeing the scene.
The incident followed the haredi's demand of a woman to move to the back of the bus. The haredi has filed a complaint against the youth with the police.
The 54 line passes in the Kanfei Nesharim street in the Givat Shaul neighborhood, and is not considered a 'haredi' line.
Uniformed soldier attacked in haredi neighborhood later escorted unharmed by police. Noon, secular youth punches haredi in bus
Haredi youngsters in the Beit Yisrael neighborhood in Jerusalem lobbed on Thursday various trash at a religious soldier, who took refuge from his assailants at a relative's home in the vicinity.
Police are combing the area for the suspects. In similar cases no arrests were made. Also on Thursday, a haredi man was attacked by a young secular man, allegedly after asking a woman to move to the back of a bus.
According to the police, the religious soldier arrived at the neighborhood to meet relatives, when several haredi youngsters gathered around him and began to curse at him. The incident quickly deteriorated into violence, when the group started tossing various items at the uniformed soldier.
"There were many people there," the soldier recounted to Ynet. "They threw stuff at me, cartons, vegetables. I saw it wouldn't stop so I just called the police."
He said that when the police arrived "they all ran to their holes." The soldier said he felt humiliated: "I go back to the northern border, guard so people will not enter and harm anyone – no matter who you are, haredi, secular, religious, Jew, Arab, and this is what you get – so there's a hard feeling."
The soldier said the incident will not deter him from wearing his uniform in the area. "I'm not scared," he stressed. "This is Jerusalem, my capital just as it is there's. I'm really not going to stop walking around it."
Violent incidents against uniformed soldiers have recently spiked in haredi neighborhood in Jerusalem, against the background of haredi draft legislation.
Last month two assault cases occurred, in one of which a crowd attacked a soldier in Mea Shearim, chasing him to a nearby building until the arrival of police.
Meanwhile, police are still searching for the secular youth who attacked a haredi man in a 54 line bus in the city. According to suspicions, the youth punched the haredi in the face and pulled his beard before fleeing the scene.
The incident followed the haredi's demand of a woman to move to the back of the bus. The haredi has filed a complaint against the youth with the police.
The 54 line passes in the Kanfei Nesharim street in the Givat Shaul neighborhood, and is not considered a 'haredi' line.
J'lem: Haredi demands woman move to back of bus, punched in face
A secular woman boarded a bus in a Jerusalem street and sat at the front. A haredi man approached her, and demanded she move to the back of the bus.
A secular man on the bus punched the haredi and escaped. The haredi did not require medical attention, and the bus continued.
A secular woman boarded a bus in a Jerusalem street and sat at the front. A haredi man approached her, and demanded she move to the back of the bus.
A secular man on the bus punched the haredi and escaped. The haredi did not require medical attention, and the bus continued.
Tel Mond residents told to boil drinking water
The Health Ministry has issued an advisory for residents of Tel Mond instructing them to boil tap water before drinking after a scheduled check found bacteria in the water.
The Health Ministry has issued an advisory for residents of Tel Mond instructing them to boil tap water before drinking after a scheduled check found bacteria in the water.
The Palestinian Christian Initiative (Kairos Palestine) issued a statement strongly denouncing the Israel attempts to recruit Arab Palestinian Christians, in historic Palestine to the Israeli military that occupies their people.
The statement came in response to the Israeli decision to form a joint committee of Palestinian Christians, and the Israeli government of Benjamin Netanyahu, with the aim to encourage and act on recurring young Arab Christians in the Israeli army.
Kairos stated that the officials who are encouraging enlistment in the occupation army are conducting provocative actions that harm Christian Churches, national interests and the Christians themselves.
“Those who call for recruiting Christians to the occupation army do not represent us, do not represent our Churches, and do not represent the Christians”, Kairos said, “It seems that some of those who have been deceived chose a wrong path that does not serve our interests and faith as Arab Christians”.
It added that trying to recruit the Christians is immoral, and harms the Palestinian Christian identity in the Holy Land.
“We need to be united, we need to protect our national identity, only our Arab, Palestinian, identity will be able to protect us, and protect our interests”, Kairos said, “Our choice will not be sectarian, but will only be national unity between all Palestinians regardless of their beliefs and faith”.
The statement came after Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, ordered the formation of a committee to recruit Arab Palestinian Christians in the country to the Israeli military.
The decision was made after Netanyahu held a meeting on Monday with Father Jubrael Naddaf, known for his stances encouraging enlistment in the Israeli military despite massive objections the Palestinian Christian community in the country.
When Kairos Palestine was established in December of 2009, it published its mission statement calling for people, justice and equality, expressed it rejection to the Israeli occupation, all sorts of apartheid in the world, and called for justice and equality.
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This document (Kairos) is the Christian Palestinians’ word to the world about what is happening in Palestine. It is written at this time when we wanted to see the Glory of the grace of God in this land and in the sufferings of its people. In this spirit the document requests the international community to stand by the Palestinian people who have faced oppression, displacement, suffering and clear apartheid for more than six decades.
The suffering continues while the international community silently looks on at the occupying State, Israel. Our word is a cry of hope, with love, prayer and faith in God. We address it first of all to ourselves and then to all the churches and Christians in the world, asking them to stand against injustice and apartheid, urging them to work for a just peace in our region, calling on them to revisit theologies that justify crimes perpetrated against our people and the dispossession of the land.
In this historic document, we Palestinian Christians declare that the military occupation of our land is a sin against God and humanity, and that any theology that legitimizes the occupation is far from Christian teachings because true Christian theology is a theology of love and solidarity with the oppressed, a call to justice and equality among peoples.
This document did not come about spontaneously, and it is not the result of a coincidence. It is not a theoretical theological study or a policy paper, but is rather a document of faith and work. Its importance stems from the sincere expression of the concerns of the people and their view of this moment in history we are living through.
It seeks to be prophetic in addressing things as they are without equivocation and with boldness, in addition it puts forward ending the Israeli occupation of Palestinian land and all forms of discrimination as the solution that will lead to a just and lasting peace.
The document also demands that all peoples, political leaders and decision-makers put pressure on Israel and take legal measures in order to oblige its government to put an end to its oppression and disregard for the international law. The document also holds a clear position that non-violent resistance to this injustice is a right and duty for all Palestinians including Christians.
The initiators of this document have been working on it for more than a year, in prayer and discussion, guided by their faith in God and their love for their people, accepting advice from many friends: Palestinians, Arabs and those from the wider international community. We are grateful to our friends for their solidarity with us.
The statement came in response to the Israeli decision to form a joint committee of Palestinian Christians, and the Israeli government of Benjamin Netanyahu, with the aim to encourage and act on recurring young Arab Christians in the Israeli army.
Kairos stated that the officials who are encouraging enlistment in the occupation army are conducting provocative actions that harm Christian Churches, national interests and the Christians themselves.
“Those who call for recruiting Christians to the occupation army do not represent us, do not represent our Churches, and do not represent the Christians”, Kairos said, “It seems that some of those who have been deceived chose a wrong path that does not serve our interests and faith as Arab Christians”.
It added that trying to recruit the Christians is immoral, and harms the Palestinian Christian identity in the Holy Land.
“We need to be united, we need to protect our national identity, only our Arab, Palestinian, identity will be able to protect us, and protect our interests”, Kairos said, “Our choice will not be sectarian, but will only be national unity between all Palestinians regardless of their beliefs and faith”.
The statement came after Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, ordered the formation of a committee to recruit Arab Palestinian Christians in the country to the Israeli military.
The decision was made after Netanyahu held a meeting on Monday with Father Jubrael Naddaf, known for his stances encouraging enlistment in the Israeli military despite massive objections the Palestinian Christian community in the country.
When Kairos Palestine was established in December of 2009, it published its mission statement calling for people, justice and equality, expressed it rejection to the Israeli occupation, all sorts of apartheid in the world, and called for justice and equality.
--- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---
This document (Kairos) is the Christian Palestinians’ word to the world about what is happening in Palestine. It is written at this time when we wanted to see the Glory of the grace of God in this land and in the sufferings of its people. In this spirit the document requests the international community to stand by the Palestinian people who have faced oppression, displacement, suffering and clear apartheid for more than six decades.
The suffering continues while the international community silently looks on at the occupying State, Israel. Our word is a cry of hope, with love, prayer and faith in God. We address it first of all to ourselves and then to all the churches and Christians in the world, asking them to stand against injustice and apartheid, urging them to work for a just peace in our region, calling on them to revisit theologies that justify crimes perpetrated against our people and the dispossession of the land.
In this historic document, we Palestinian Christians declare that the military occupation of our land is a sin against God and humanity, and that any theology that legitimizes the occupation is far from Christian teachings because true Christian theology is a theology of love and solidarity with the oppressed, a call to justice and equality among peoples.
This document did not come about spontaneously, and it is not the result of a coincidence. It is not a theoretical theological study or a policy paper, but is rather a document of faith and work. Its importance stems from the sincere expression of the concerns of the people and their view of this moment in history we are living through.
It seeks to be prophetic in addressing things as they are without equivocation and with boldness, in addition it puts forward ending the Israeli occupation of Palestinian land and all forms of discrimination as the solution that will lead to a just and lasting peace.
The document also demands that all peoples, political leaders and decision-makers put pressure on Israel and take legal measures in order to oblige its government to put an end to its oppression and disregard for the international law. The document also holds a clear position that non-violent resistance to this injustice is a right and duty for all Palestinians including Christians.
The initiators of this document have been working on it for more than a year, in prayer and discussion, guided by their faith in God and their love for their people, accepting advice from many friends: Palestinians, Arabs and those from the wider international community. We are grateful to our friends for their solidarity with us.
