Israellycool

BYE BYE BLOGGER Ok, that does it for me on here. I have moved to Moveable Type (finally). The new URL is: http://www.gravett.org/Israellycool/ Please bookmark my new site and let everyone know that I have moved.

CONSUMED BY HATRED More insight into the minds of our enemies. A troll by the name of Osama has posted this response to my post on terrorist Kuntar : Of course not, who the f*ck are Einat, Yael and Danny Haran? And why should she care? They were only colateral damage. Unless they were nazi pigs like most of you. Eat sh*t. Those who live by the sword shall die by the sword. Can you imagine being so consumed by hatred that reading about how a young girl's skull was crushed by a terrorist elicits the above response? It is people like this that have taken the world hostage.

GO AUSSIE, GO! Now for some good news - at least to those Australians out there. Australia are through to the Rugby World Cup final. We defeated the fancied All-Blacks , adding even more misery to the people of New Zealand. They will always have Lord of the Rings at least. For my American readers, Rugby is kind of like American football, but without the padding. Want to know more? Read here . Australia's opponent in the final will either be France or England. On one hand, it would be great if England would annihilate the French. On the other hand, it may be more fun if Australia does it.

WE ARE ALL UNDER ATTACK On Sundays, I am always a little behind on the weekend news due to my observance of the Jewish Sabbath, which lasts from Friday night until Saturday night. For the Jews of Turkey, their Sabbath observance had more dire ramifications . I have so much anger, despair, sadness, frustration as a result of attacks like this, that it actually inhibits my ability to write about them. But I will try nonetheless... This attack demonstrates to me a number of things: 1. No Jew around the world is safe. We are all targets because we are Jews. Even the secular Jewish appeasers of terrorism, who actually support the PLO Arabs and their ilk, are targets. Mind you, since they probably do not go to synagogue often, they are at less risk. 2. The Muslims, who are constantly asking for sensitivity towards their holy days and periods (such as Ramadan) display no such sensitivity towards our holy days. Rather, they exploit them as an opportunity to kill and maim as...

INSPECTOR GADGET? Here is a picture of Presidential Envoy to Iraq, Paul Bremer, taken from the Al-Crapeeza website . Is it just me, or does the position of the black microphone in the foreground make him look like Inspector Gadget?

TOMMY HITS BACK AT GREEK COMPOSER Israeli Justice Minister Yosef "Tommy" Lapid has compared anti-Semitic Greek composer Mikis Theodorakis (otherwise known as "Theo-dork") to Hitler . In response, Theo-dork compared Lapid to Archie Bunker . Ok, not really, but you have to admit it is quite a likeness.

THOSE ZIONISTS SURE GET AROUND According to the Media Line , the Egyptian-based Middle East News Agency have reported that an office belonging to the Mossad was bombed in the Iraqi town Kirkouk on Monday night. The number of dead and wounded in Monday night's bombing is still not final, according to the Egyptian-based Middle East News Agency, but they included "Mossad people" and a number of local Kurds, who were reported as collaborating with the Israeli agents. The injured were rushed to a nearby American military base in Kirkouk and some were transferred to a hospital in Mous'ul. Local Kurds and American soldiers rushed to the building immediately after the explosion and attempted to hide anything that may reveal the "true" nature of the so-called Mossad office, MENA reported. How convenient that all evidence of the Mossad was removed by Kurdish collaborators and US soldiers before any of these claims could be verified. Sounds to me like the Muslim...

MICHAEL JORDAN AND THE PLO ARABS REVISTED (OR HOW TO RECOGNIZE A HOAX) Reader Harry explains why the Michael Jordan story I blogged about yesterday was never mentioned by the main media - it was a hoax! This story sounds like hogwash. This quote from the ADL is absurd: Myrna Shinbaum, public relations director for the Jewish Anti-Defamation League, said that Jordan was "obviously anti-Semitic" and vowed that any celebrity who came out in support of the Palestinian cause would be "utterly closed off from public life forever." A search on ADL's site proves it: http://www.adl.org/rumors/jordan.asp?&&MSHiC=1252&L=10&W=jordan+JORDANS+michael+MICHAELS+JORDANA+&Pre=%3CFONT+STYLE%3D%22color%3A+%23000000%3B+background%2Dcolor%3A+%23FFFF00%22%3E&Post=%3C%2FFONT%3E Michael Jordan Target of Bogus Internet Report Posted: October 3, 2002 A recent "news item" posted on several Web sites and circulated via e-mail alleges ...

THERE'S NOTHING ON THE TUBE The PLO Arab deputy minister for foreign affairs is apparently bored with television in the PLO Arab areas. They just aren't showing enough anti-Semitic propoganda these days. The Palestinian deputy minister for foreign affairs, 'Adli 'Sadiq, wrote an item for the Palestinian daily Al-Hayyat Al-Jadida on Monday criticizing the fact that all the Arab television shows and serials made for the holy month of Rama’dan are of a low artistic standard and do not deal with important current affairs. Such shows, in his opinion should dwell on issues such as the "Zionist criminal aggression, the failure of financial development, democracy, human rights or issues of violence and extremism." However, the author points out one show, the anti-Semitic Syrian production "The Diaspora", which he claims is of high quality and says that more productions like it should be made. And speaking of PLO Arab television, I let my imagina...

HOW MUCH AL-CRAPEEZA DO WE HAVE TO SWALLOW? Al-Crapeeza continue their lying and incitement. In their report on the decision by the Israeli Supreme Court to lift the ban on the film Jenin Jenin , the Jihadist media outlet state as fact the occurrence of a massacre, despite the fact that Israel has long been exonerated of this false charge. For 54 minutes, viewers are gripped by the harrowing stories retold by survivors of the massacre . Without the use of a narrator, the film pieces together the events of the massacre through the survivors' stories. Their motto should be: Don't let truth get in the way of a good lie .

"ISRAELLYCOOL" FAMILY MEMBER HELPS NAIL TWO TERRORISTS This news alert from Debka : In southern Gaza Strip, Palestinians shot and injured member of crew working on Morag security fence. He was evacuated to hospital under fire. IDF patrol opened fire on grouped of armed Palestinians stealing into Israeli Nahal Besor village cluster opposite Gaza Strip. Two intruders hit . My wife informs me that my brother-in-law was involved with that patrol. Way to go Matt! Thanks for defending all of us and please stay safe.

IT'S ALL GREEK TO ME Greek composer and cultural icon Mikis Theodorakis has jumped on the anti-Semitism bandwagon, unleashing the following vicious tirade against the Jews: "We, the Greeks, did not turn aggressive like them because we have more history. They only have Abraham and Jacob, who were shadows, while we have Pericles. Imagine what would happen in Greece if we were as aggressive as the Jews...Today it is possible to say that this small nation is the root of evil. It is full of self-importance and evil stubbornness." But we shouldn't be surprised. His website contains statements like these: "This moment I see, as does everyone who lives and breathes, the biblical destruction of Baghdad. Amid the flames that engulf the martyr city, I see the image of the USA as a civilized country being annihilated within me. I see Bush standing shoulder to shoulder with Genghis Khan, Attila and Hitler. I view Americans responsible as detestable, ruthless, cowardly m...

MICHAEL JORDAN AND THE PLO ARABS I just read about this today, although it happened a year ago. I am shocked to say the least. Basketball superstar Michael Jordan, who recently announced that he will return for a second season with the Washington Wizards, has decided to display solidarity with a variety of causes by wearing a black armband during games. After discussing his new season with the Wizards at a press conference, Jordan was asked about the significance of the black armband he had been spotted wearing. "It's in the tradition of silent but visible protest," Jordan said, "like the Tinker kids, Tommie Smith, and John Carlos." Jordan was referring to the famous Tinker v. Des Moines free-speech case in which two high school students won the right to wear black armbands in school as a protest against the Vietnam war, as well as the two Black U.S. athletes who gave the Black Power salute during the 1968 Olympics. When pressed by reporters to ex...

THE ENEMY WITHIN Following the devastating Cafe Hillel suicide bombing back in early September, I blogged about my own personal experiences with terror , whether it be knowing someone who had been killed or injured, or my own brushes with terror. Then I read this article this morning: Three Jerusalem Arabs with ties to Hamas who planned to carry out a mass poisoning at a prominent Jerusalem cafe were sentenced Tuesday to five to ten years in prison by the Jerusalem District court. The three men, whose arrests last September foiled their plans to poison Jewish diners at the city's Cafe Rimon, had confessed to the charges against them, with two of the three previously reaching a plea bargain with the prosecution. According to the sentencing handed down in court, Othman Kiania, 23, from the east Jerusalem neighborhood of Silwan, who had worked for the past three years as an assistant chef at the restaurant was sentenced to five years in prison, Moussa Nasser, 23, of J...

ANTI-SEMITISM FROM A NON-JEW'S PERSPECTIVE US Navy Retiree John Rudolph has a few things to say about the beast known as anti-Semitism from the perspective of a non-Jewish person. Being a non-Jew, or Gentile, I have been making some observations lately over the past few months, and have observed something terribly odd. I go into the news groups in Yahoo!, and all I see are Jews being blamed for nearly everything that is wrong on the planet. Jews are being accused of running the media and telling us only what they want to hear. Jews are being blamed of the situation over in the Middle East, even though Israel takes up only 0.01% of the total land mass of the Middle East. Jews are being blamed for just about everything - and it is getting worse. Charlottesville, Virginia, is the most liberal leftist town in the state. Thanks to the University of Virginia population, with its pious, overbearing professors and staff that feel they are smarter than thou, it's common ...

QUOTE OF THE DAY "You would have to note that it was only (lately) that Osama bin Laden and the al-Qaeda leadership could even find it in themselves to mention the word Palestinian. So I reject the notion that a solution to the Arab-Israeli conflict, overwhelmingly important as it is, would stop the terrorism that has been directed against the United States, Western interests and the kingdom of Saudi Arabia." - US Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage speaking to reporters after talks in Cairo with Arab League Secretary General Amr Mussa.

FAINE-ING THE TRUTH Jon Faine, a Jewish journalist at The Age, gushes with praise for Al-Crapeeza after being fed the usual lies about "uncensored media", "freedom of expression" and "an exchange of ideas" by the curiously named Jihad Ballout . And how about this for a lie: "Any Jews working here?" I asked, and was told that if I wanted to apply, and spoke Arabic, and was interested in quality journalism, I would be welcome. If Faine had done his research before this embarassing piece of "journalism", he may have uncovered the Al-Crapeeza that we know and loathe. The Al-Crapeeza that constantly demonizes the US, Israel and the Jews, while labelling terrorists as "resistance fighters" Update: Not to mention this (courtesy of LGF ): AL-JAZEERA CORRESPONDENT SATTAR KARIN ADMITTED THAT HIS OFFICE IN THE MAHMOUDIYA, BABIL PROVINCE OF IRAQ HAS BEEN USED TO COORDINATE ATTACKS AGAINST COALITION FORCES. TWO SYRIAN NATIO...

PRIZE AND PREJUDICE Padraic McGuinness has written an interesting op-ed in the Sydney Morning Herald in which he blasts the Sydney Peace Prize, but claims that Jewish leaders should have just ignored the whole thing. Peace prizes are getting sillier every day. It used to be there was a fairly simple path to obtaining a Nobel Peace Prize, which involved murdering as many people as possible and then promising to stop. With some awareness of the absurdity of this, the Nobel committee in Norway, which awards the prize, began to share the award between the leaders of two sides involved in a conflict who promised to make peace. Thus 30 years ago the prize was awarded jointly to Henry Kissinger of the United States and Le Duc Tho of North Vietnam for their joint efforts at making peace in Vietnam. While I am unconvinced by the case made by the journalist Christopher Hitchens who claims Kissinger should be tried as a war criminal, he did not have clean hands. Nor did Le, certainly a mu...

DEMOCRACY AT WORK Israel is by no means a "perfect" democracy in the sense of equal rights for all citizens. There are a number of reasons for this situation, some stemming from the reality of the situation on the ground (e.g. it is unsafe to make military service mandatory for Israeli Arabs due to their divided loyalties) and some stemming from the fact that Israel is a Jewish state (e.g. immigrant rights for Jews and offspring of Jews to encourage Jewish immigration). I plan to blog on this topic at some later stage. However, right now, I want to point out this news story that highlights the indisputable fact that Israel is a democracy nonetheless. The Supreme Court ruled this morning, unanimously, that the film "Jenin, Jenin" - which contains "testimony" by Arab residents of Jenin regarding alleged Israeli atrocities - may be screened in Israel. The Court thus overruled a decision by the Censorship Council, and stated that the original decision to...

MORE PLO ARAB INCITEMENT AGAINST JEWS Palestinian Media Watch draws our attention to this cartoon in official Palestinian daily, Al Hayat Al Jadida, which illustrates Jews as "strangling the world." The text on the scroll reads "The European Poll." I challenge the haters of Israel (who always accuse her of being racist) to find anything from an official Israeli publication which incites against Muslims like this incites against Jews.

WHAT IS WRONG WITH THIS PICTURE? The answer can be found here .

KILLING THE INFIDELS I don't know about you, but it struck me as odd that al Qaeda would deliberately target Muslims in its terror campaign. But according to Debka , Muslims were indeed not targeted: Al Qaeda's targeting of Muhaya and its Arab population at first puzzled Saudi and foreign counter-terror authorities - until it was realized that many of the casualties were Lebanese Christians and the assailants Lebanese Muslims. The terrorist network had very pointedly opted to sow death inside a focus of Christian habitation in the Muslim kingdom on the Muslim feast of Ramadan. That makes sense. But why during Ramadan? ..one of the heads of the authoritative Al Azhar university of Cairo issued a new fatwa stating that those fighting the holy war, the jihad, are permitted to break the sacred fast of Ramadan and eat during the day. This edict sanctifies Islamic suicide terrorism and raises it to a degree of holiness above that of Ramadan. Debka also reveals the orgins of the ...

REACTIONS TO SAUDI BOMBING It is interesting to see how Muslim nations and organizations have reacted to the suicide bombing in Saudi Arabia. Here are some examples : Arab League: Condemned "these criminal terrorist acts which aim only at shaking the stability, planning evil, scaring and killing innocent people with disregard to any religion or belief and without any respect to the holy month of Ramadan." Gulf Cooperation Council: Condemned "the cowardly act that targeted innocent civilian lives...members states of the GCC reject terrorist acts in all their forms and origins." Iran: "Killing of innocent women and children in the fasting month of Ramadan runs counter to the Islamic values and the human ethics...The secretary-general expresses full support of the Arab League to the people and the leadership of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in its efforts to combat this evil terrorism which is only based on ill and wrong ideas that have no connectio...

QUOTE OF THE DAY "This US administration is unreliable and unrealistic and does not deal with the Arabs and their aspirations with the minimum level of respect..this requires a unified Arab position to mobilize all energies and capabilities to face the American aggression..The American Administration is a right-wing fascist administration, the Zionist right controls it and it's maneuvered by a group of right-wing fascists who are repelled by the word 'Arab'; this revulsion and fright runs from Dick Cheney to Wolfowitz." - Jibril Rajoub , showing PLO Arab love for America.

ISRAEL'S EXISTENCE AGAINST IRAN'S NATIONAL INTERESTS Israeli blog An Unsealed Room has drawn my attention to this story from the aptly named IranMania news. "Existence of Israel contrary to Iranian interests" The mere existence of Israel is contrary to Tehrans national interests, press reports said Monday, quoting former Iranian foreign minister Ali Akbar Velayati, now a top advisor to Iran's supreme leader. Yep, that little ol' atomic energy program in Iran is for "civil" purposes.... Update: There is a positive spin to this story. If Iran say that they see Israel's existence as contrary to their interests, then they are implicitly recognizing Israel's existence!

MICHAEL J. FOX CHOOSES ISRAELI DOCTOR Israel21C reports that an Israeli neurologist has been chosen by Michael J. Fox to join ten leading Parkinson's scientists from around the world to be on the advisory board of the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Research. I am just waiting for groups like the International Solidarity Movement to urge Michael J. Fox to reconsider hiring a doctor of the "occupation forces". In the meantime, these groups will continue their "important" work, such as disrupting an Israeli ballet performance and ensuring that Israel's football team loses matches .

PORTRAIT OF A MONSTER Someone else who is very aptly named is Samir Kuntar. In order to keep this a PG-rated site, I will not elaborate on this except to allow Smadar Haran's words do the talking: Abu Abbas, the former head of a Palestinian terrorist group who was captured in Iraq on April 15, is infamous for masterminding the 1985 hijacking of the Italian cruise ship Achille Lauro. But there are probably few who remember why Abbas's terrorists held the ship and its 400-plus passengers hostage for two days. It was to gain the release of a Lebanese terrorist named Samir Kuntar, who is locked up in an Israeli prison for life. Kuntar's name is all but unknown to the world. But I know it well. Because almost a quarter of a century ago, Kuntar murdered my family. It was a murder of unimaginable cruelty, crueler even than the murder of Leon Klinghoffer, the American tourist who was shot on the Achille Lauro and dumped overboard in his wheelchair. Kuntar's mission a...

November 09, 2003

TZOROS George Soros, the billionaire currency speculator, marked a rare appearance in front of a Jewish audience by blasting Israel, accusing its policies for anti-Semitism . When asked about anti-Semitism in Europe, Soros, who is Jewish, said European anti-Semitism is the result of the policies of Israel and the United States. "There is a resurgence of anti-Semitism in Europe. The policies of the Bush administration and the Sharon administration contribute to that," Soros said. "It's not specifically anti-Semitism, but it does manifest itself in anti-Semitism as well. I'm critical of those policies." "If we change that direction, then anti-Semitism also will diminish," he said. "I can't see how one could confront it directly." Soros, who has himself been the subject of anti-Semitic comments by former Malaysian Prime Minister Mahitler , also conceded that he is partly to blame for anti-Semitism! "I'm also very conce...

November 09, 2003

AFATRAT LIVES IT UP As I have blogged about in the past , PLO Arab poverty can be attributed not only to their own terrorism but also to AFatRat's corruption. Now an investigative report by 60 Minutes confirms that AFatRat has diverted funds earmarked as aid for the PLO Arabs for his own use. I won't say "told you so"..but I guess I just did.

November 09, 2003

THOSE DAMN ZIONISTS Those Pesky Jews are at it again. Not content with trying to taking over the real world, they have now set their sights on taking over the matrix world . The most apparent Zionist hint in the movie, according to the article, is the city of Zion - the city which Morpheus, a 'goodie,' strives to reach. "This is the last city for humanity…the one place left for us on Earth," says Morpheus, played by renowned actor Lawrence Fishburne. The article claims Zion is in fact Mount Zion - the Temple Mount, the Jewish people, the Temple of God. The character of the Chosen One - Neo, played by Keanu Reeves, resembles the religious Messiah, according to the article. Hamas says Hollywood film-makers generally reflect the political mood of the United States. "Hollywood films are now turning to the extreme right, and are orchestrated by Messianic-Zionist circles in Washington." "Zion represents the Promised Land, Morpheus represents Joh...

November 08, 2003

ARE TERRORISTS POISONING OUR BABIES? During synagogue services this morning, an alarming announcement was made - Remedia's soy-based baby formula was tampered with by terrorists, and six babies had already been affected, with some of them dying. I immediately ran home and was relieved to find that we do not use this brand nor soy-based formula for our eldest child. This followed a police car with a loudspeaker driving through our neighborhood and announcing something last night. While at the time we could not discern the announcement, it was revealed that the police car was announcing this alarming development. Ha'aretz are not reporting the terrorist spin. Which begs the question: was the synagogue announcement a knee-jerk reaction to the revelation that babies had been poisoned, with no additional proof of terrorism, or did the police specify this to the synagogue officials and the neighborhood since they have real evidence? If this is indeed terrorism, can you...

ASHRAWI LASHES OUT PLO Arab Hanan Ashrawi has reacted to criticism against her selection as the recipient of this year's Sydney Peace Prize by implying that she has faced more hatred in Australia than in Israel . "I was amazed at the degree of, not just negative response, but a certain degree of hatred, which I don't find even with my discussion with Israelis," she said. "I felt that the further away people are from the situation and the conflict the more licence they give themselves to distort and to interfere negatively. I don't know why feelings are so high here." Apparently, criticizing her selection reflects hatred, rather than a legitimate, well informed opinion. Here are some reasons why I am personally against her selection as the recipient of a "peace" prize: (1) She is clearly against the peace process, as her words at the so-called World Conference Against Racism indicate: "The so-called generous offer of Barak has...

HARD LUCK STORY OF THE DAY Talk about rotten luck ... Gordon Young and his wife Bev were planning to spend their recent $800,000 Tattslotto jackpot win on a dream tour around Australia when they were struck and killed by a car during an afternoon walk on Tuesday. The death of the recently retired couple from near Leongatha, both in their early 60s, stunned Mr Young's older brother Eric. Another brother, Keith, died from diabetes after sharing a $1 million Tattslotto win about seven years ago. "It's really a freak coincidence that Bev and Gordon died after winning the money, especially as Keith died a few years after winning $200,000," Mr Young told AAP. "I will never buy a Tattslotto ticket again because that's now two brothers who have died and I don't want to be next." Meanwhile, here in Israel, there is no bad luck involved with this mishap - just gross negligence.

LUKE ON THE OFFENSIVE Mark Hamill, the actor who played "Luke Skywalker" in Star Wars, takes a subtle jab at Jewish Hollywood personalities. "I don't mind the Hollywood caste system. I know the tenuous position I'm in on the entertainment food chain. I don't get invited to A-list affairs. Me? I'm listless," he says. "If anything, it hardens my resolve to say, 'Ah, you're wrong. I'm going to show you by doing this or that or the other." "But when you do it to my children, that makes me go berserk. And she started being excluded from this one's birthday party or that one's bat mitzvah because I'm not A-list. It really burns my hide when it comes through because they're not in show business - I am." I hope the ADL do not give him a hard time about this comment, which is clearly not anti-Semitic. Hamill is disappointed with Hollywood snobbery, and criticizes Hollywood players, Jewish and non-Jewis...

LIKE FATHER LIKE SON Muammar Gaddafi's son also has problems with the truth .

CONFUSING HEADLINE OF THE DAY Environment Ministry: Dead Sea is dying Hmm...... Of course, I blogged about this a while back, when Al-Crapeeza found it fit to blame Israel for the Dead Sea's predicament.

SNOOPING There is nothing you can get past these two: Gil and Imshin have somehow stumbled upon my experimental Moveable Type site. Is my secret safe with you both?!

MC HAMMER SPEAKS OF HIS LOVE FOR ISRAEL Check it out on the Tovia Singer Show (interview starts about 8 minutes into the show).

MORE OF THE SAME Why do we even bother? The newly-approved Palestinian Legislative Council Speaker Rafik al-Natsheh supports continued violence and said he was "encouraged" by the recent EU poll fingering Israel as the primary threat to the world. He also advocates PLO Arab non-compromise on the issues of Jerusalem and Palestinian refugees.

EXCEEDING ALL RED LINES Arutz Sheva reports that Irineos (or as I like to call him, "Urineos"), the unrecognized leader of the Greek Orthodox Church in Jerusalem and a candidate for the post of Greek Orthodox Patriarch, was caught lying to IDF soldiers and trying to smuggle in a gun to Yasser Arafat. Urineos has in the past claimed to remain impartial in the conflict. "I am not pro-Palestinian, nor pro-Israeli, nor pro-anything. I am only pro-God...There is only one viable solution in every conflict between human beings: discussion and mutual concessions." But as Arutz Sheva mentions, this is far from the truth. In the past, Irineos has offered to grant church-owned lands in Jerusalem to the PA. The church's large holdings include such properties as those on which stand the Knesset, the Prime Minister's Home and the President's Residence. Irineos has also written blatantly anti-Semitic remarks. On July 17, 2001, he wrote, "You [Arafat] are ...

DAVID BAR-ILAN DEAD Former Jerusalem Post executive editor and pioneer in exposing and combating media bias toward Israel, David Bar-Illan, has died at the age of 73. Sincere condolences to his family. He will be sorely missed.

LET'S JUST ALL KISSINGER AND MAKE UP Former U.S. secretary of state Henry Kissinger is optimistic about the chance of peace between Israel and the PLO Arabs. "There are ways to get out of the deadlock, and I am actually quite optimistic," Kissinger said in an interview with Israel Radio. "Some positions will have to be changed, especially on the Arab side, about the survival of Israel , but I think that we are at a phase where progress will be made." You mean like acknowledging Israel's existence and ceasing all attempts to wipe us off the face of the earth? Simple!

EXCITING NEWS Israellycool is about to move to Moveable Type. I am currently testing for bugs and trying to make the transition as painless as possible.

SYDNEY PEACE PRIZE CONTROVERSY In case you had not heard, the Sydney Peace Foundation's decision to award Hanan Ashrawi this year's Sydney Peace Prize has generated a huge amount of controversy in Australia. Members of Australia's Jewish community have come out against the choice of Ashrawi, as have prominent politicians and members of the general community, including Prime Minister John Howard, Health Minister Tony Abbott , Sydney Lord Mayor Lucy Turnbull , Foreign Minister Alexander Downer and Colonel Mike Kelly , a senior adviser to the coalition forces in Iraq. However, New South Wales Premier Bob Carr supports the decision . What is more worrying than Carr's decision, though, are the sentiments expressed in this op-ed by Elisabeth Wynhausen. "Jews are the new Nazis" reads the perfectly stencilled graffiti appearing on walls across Sydney in recent months. Colin Rubenstein's response to such an offensive message is surprisingly mild. "...

MOIR OF THE SAME The Sydney Morning Herald's Alan Moir continues with his anti-Israel cartoons, this time depicting Ariel Sharon as a bull fighter, waving the red flag of "new settlements in occupied territories." This cartoon marks another in a long list of anti-Israel cartoons by Moir, including one I mentioned a few months ago, which compared the security fence to the warsaw ghetto wall (although Blogger will not allow me to find the relevant post in my archives). But what else can you expect from a cartoonist who sympathizes with terrorists like David Hicks?

HAMASS CIRCULATION As Australia moves to ban Hamas , Totally Jewish reports that a Hamas magazine is being openly distributed in England. A hate-filled Hamas magazine glorifying suicide bombing is being openly peddled on the Edgware Road and being distributed worldwide from London, TJ can reveal. The publication, Filisteen Almuslima - Muslim Palestine - which can be obtained from an NW2 PO box, regularly carries full -page posters commemorating "shaheeds", or martyrs. The September issue exalts the bomber who carried out the attack on a Jerusalem bus the previous month, killing 23 people, including many children. Praising terrorist Raid Misk as "a noble knight", it applauds his "great act of martyrdom". Each month, the issues contain pictures and praise of suicide bombers, encouragement for children to follow their example, and brutal diatribes against Israel. But unlike the Australian government, perhaps Britons see Hamas as capable of elimi...

TRUE INTENTIONS This next news story says alot about the cause of the PLO Arabs. Palestinians on Sunday marked the 86th anniversary of the Balfour Declaration by demanding an apology from Britain for promising "the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people." Palestinians throughout the West Bank and Gaza Strip marched in the streets and held rallies to condemn the role Britain played in the establishment of Israel. For decades the Palestinians and the Arab world have been marking the "notorious" anniversary of the Balfour Declaration - a reference to foreign secretary Arthur Balfour's support in 1917 for a "national home" for the Jews in Palestine - by protests and rallies. Statements issued by different Palestinian factions, organizations, and officials demanded an apology from Britain, saying it is morally and legally responsible for the creation of Israel. As I have said all along. The PLO Arabs are against...

MESSAGE TO EUROPE In the wake of the news that almost 60% of Europeans see Israel as posing the biggest threat to world peace, I have a message for Europe. Just look up in the sky....

WHY ISRAELI CHILREN LIVE IN POVERTY - THE ARAB SPIN Arab World News has run an editorial from the Lebanese paper The Daily Star which asks the question Child poverty in the Jewish state: How did it happen? , including a picture of a somber looking child. Israel's National Insurance Institute has just completed its annual study on poverty, and the results are startling. The report finds that almost one-third of Israeli children are growing up poor and that the number of under-privileged families has risen by 31,000 in the past year alone. According to the authors of the study, the Jewish state "is on the way to becoming the country with the highest poverty rate in the Western world." Could this be a sympathetic piece on Israel? This question is answered clearly in the very next paragraph. Some will reflexively blame this alarming information on the intifada and note that in both relative and absolute terms, the suffering of Palestinian children is even worse. Such arg...

QUOTE OF THE DAY Well, this quote is actually over a week old. "I came to offer solidarity with Syria in wake of the recent Israeli attack." - Israeli Arab MK Azmi Bashara, after meeting with Syrian President and terrorist sponsor Bashar Assad in Qatar on October 24. In most other countries, this is called treason.

CONDEMNED! Yesterday, the PA condemned the US for offering a reward of up to $5 million for people providing information about the attack on American convoy in the Gaza Strip on October 15. And why did they condemn it? Col. Rashid Abu Shabak, commander of the Palestinian Authority's Preventive Security Service in the Gaza Strip, lashed out at the US for making the offer, saying the PA was continuing its investigation into the case. "We strongly condemn this decision," he said. "This is an insulting announcement because it deals with a people whose mouth does not water in the face of financial temptations." Baloney! Their mouths not only water in the face of financial temptations, but also water when spilling the blood of innocent people. And in the case of their leader, AFatRat, his lips also shake uncontrollably. It is also interesting to note how the PA very easily condemns the US for offering the reward. But try getting them to condemn a terrorist at...

POLICY CHANGE After months of blogging, I have decided to change my policy of referring to the Arabs who claim to be "Palestinians" as "palestinians". Where possible, I shall now refer to them as "PLO Arabs." I strongly encourage all other right-wing bloggers to follow suit, since even the word "palestinian", with no capital letter, somehow aknowledges their claim that they were a distinct national group living in what was then known as Palestine. But the more I learn about the history of the time, the more I realize that the only group referred to as "Palestinians" were the Jews living there at the time. As Alan Dershowitz (by no means politically right-wing) states in his excellent book The Case for Israel : ..the small and decreasing Arab-Muslim population of the area was also a transient and migratory population, as contrasted with the more stable, if smaller, Jewish population. The myth of a stable and settled Palestin...

SYRIAN THREATS Syria is backing away from threats made against Israel by foreign minister Faruq al-Shara. The Sunday Telegraph quoted Al-Shara as saying Syria has "many cards that we have not played. Don't forget there are many Israeli settlements in the Golan. I am not exaggerating, but I am describing things as they might happen." Now Information Minister al-Hassan has clarified that the Syrian people, rather than the government, may retaliate. Al-Hassan said al-Shara had actually told the London paper that Syrian people themselves may attack Israeli settlements in the Golan Heights, a strategic border plateau seized by Israel from Syria in the 1967 Six-Day War. Thousands of Israelis have since settled in the Golan, which Israel formally annexed in 1981. "The Syrian people, after being provoked by the Israeli attack on its territory, are asking the government to retaliate," al-Hassan quoted al-Shara as telling The Sunday Telegraph. "It is di...

DEMOLITIONS BY REMOTE USA Today reports how Israel stands to use remote controlled bulldozers to demolish the houses of terrorists. The giant Caterpillar bulldozer, used by the Israeli military to destroy Palestinian homes in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, now comes with a controversial new feature: remote control. Israel says its remote-control technology will lower risks to soldiers. And proof that it is a good idea? The palestinians are already crying about it! But Palestinian Cabinet Minister Saeb Erekat warned the unmanned machines would lead to even more Palestinian deaths. "The whole idea is despicable," he said. "If an unmanned bulldozer is used, human life is in much greater danger," Erekat said. I guess Erakat does not include Israeli bulldozer drivers in his definition of human life, but does include morons who are repeatedly warned to get out of the way, yet remain standing in front of a moving bulldozer (otherwise known as the "Corrie" m...

THE INCREDIBLE SHRINKING NUMBER The IDF and the Israeli media (e.g. Jerusalem Post , Debka ) today reported that 10,000 palestinian laborers were allowed into Israel. The Associated Press initially used this figure of 10,000, but then almost immediately retracted it and used a figure of 6,000 . And how is the discrepancy explained? ..about 10,000 permits were handed out. But only 6,200 people crossed the border because of permit problems and personal issues, according to Palestinian border officials In other words, palestinian officials quote a reduced number and automatically, the Associated Press takes it as gospel, dismissing the Israeli figures. Which is not surprising - the name of the AP writer is Ibrahim Barzak. But then media outlets, including the LA times , Seattle Post Intelligencer and Scotsman Online run with this second version. I would have thought that responsible and objective journalism would dictate that both figures are quoted. It surely does not ...

ISM SUING ISRAELI GOVERNMENT ISM member Mostafa Henaway is suing the Israeli government for false arrest, emotional distress, negligence, and violation of arrest procedure. According to left-wing paper Scoop (an allusion to the fact that they write utter sh*t?), he was interrogated and accused of being a terrorist and working with terrorists, but was never formally arrested or charged. I am sure this suit will be dismissed. I think most reasonable people can see the sense in the Israeli government detaining someone of Arabic origin who works for a group dedicated to the destruction of the state of Israel, and which has a history of aiding terrorists . Besides, how can someone sue for "false arrest" but claim he was never formally arrested?