-
-
- Resume builders: Be a broken record on Iran, cheer authoritarians … 1
- UN Committee: Israeli system ‘tantamount to apartheid’ 0
- Slater on Beinart 0
- And we live on… 0
- US official — we went to Israel first 3
- Israel lobby’s favorite senator tries to erase Palestinian refugee status … 23
- Israel takes 30 dunams of land near Salfit ‘for security … 4
- Aaron David Miller: After a short ‘peace process,’ look … 38
-
- BDS victory: South Africa strips Ahava’s ‘made in Israel’ label 713
- Video: Israeli mob demands all African refugees be deported from … 475
- Day after pogroms, Likud MK calls for internment camp for … 427
- Neverending Nakba: Israel breaks lull, attacks Gazan farmers 413
- ‘This is not fair play’: Mahmoud Sarsak’s family demands his … 389
- March of the Flags 345
- Neocons in Washington Post: Military strike on Iran would ‘calm … 323
- Nabi Saleh’s Bassem Tamimi convicted by Israeli courts based on … 293
-
- The Messiah’s Donkey: Settlers fire on Palestinian villagers as the … 235
- Aharon Appelfeld’s rage at the German language (and Arendt’s need … 156
- US to differentiate between ‘personally displaced’ Palestinian refugees and their … 129
- March of the Flags 127
- Affirming a Judaism and Jewish identity without Zionism 110
- Feeling the hate in Long Island 97
- Israeli judge to issue verdict in Rachel Corrie case 94
- WaPo’s Walter Pincus says US is ‘going above and beyond … 87
-
Recent Comments
click link to see last 100 comments- Resume builders: Be a broken record on Iran, cheer authoritarians in Gulf (1)
- Annie Robbins: Having recognized its weakness, the US knows that it will be the UN that takes the lead in Syria and...
- Did Israeli Eurovision contestant watch too much Juliano Mer Khamis? (54)
- Annie Robbins: GL, urban dictionary has PEP, just no explanation of progressive except for palestine....
- German Lefty: Annie, it looks like you got infected with the Eurovision virus. Great. The more fans, the better. The...
- US official — we went to Israel first (3)
- traintosiberia: OMG! Why I don”t have that Stockholm Syndrome yet! How long do I have to feign that I have it.
- Annie Robbins: a U.S. official…asked to remain anonymous owing to the sensitive nature of the issue. sensitive?...
- Carllarc: proof of ‘Israel firsters’, for sure
- Israel lobby’s favorite senator tries to erase Palestinian refugee status for millions (23)
- piotr: How many Jews who made aliya were actual refugees from Roman persecution? Thus the “Jew who taunted...
- Affirming a Judaism and Jewish identity without Zionism (113)
- yourstruly: what was that sound? the special relationship breaking down and the loud and sustained chorus that...
- MHughes976: I’m still a bit uncertain about what R.Brian means by ‘Zionism’: what proposition did...
- yourstruly: given, that the israel’s brutal occupation of palestine is why much of the arab/islamic world hates...
- Resume builders: Be a broken record on Iran, cheer authoritarians in Gulf (1)
Our Writers
- Philip Weiss
- Adam Horowitz
- Kate
- Today in Palestine
- Annie Robbins
- Pamela Olson
- Eleanor Kilroy
- Alex Kane
Blogroll
The War of Ideas in the Middle East
Syria lashed out at Israel for the bloodshed, warning it would bear full responsibility for its "criminal" actions, while Lebanon filed a complaint to the United Nations, urging it "to make the Jewish state halt its aggression and provocation," Lebanon's official NNA news agency reported.
Israel protecting itself from screaming hordes trying to break through the Israeli border and Israel is considered the aggressor!
Claiming UN Resolution 194 substantiates that Palestinian refugees have a ROR or shall be compensated, it is important to note that the Arab States: Egypt, Iraq, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Syria, and Yemen voted against Resolution 194. Israel was not even mentioned in the resolution.
The fact that plural wording also is used – “governments or authorities” – suggests that, contrary to Arab claims, the burden of compensation does not fall solely upon one side of the conflict. Because seven Arab armies invaded Israel, Israel was not responsible for creating the refugee problem.
When hundreds of thousands of Arab Jews, under threat of death, attack and other forms of persecution, were forced to flee Arab countries, Israel absorbed the overwhelming majority of them into the then-fledgling nation.
To sum up, ROR is LOL.
Palestinian prime minister Salam Fayyad would agree with much of what Akiva Tor has said. Fayyad said that the Palestinians may have "lost the argument" on the international stage for an independent state. He said the Palestinians had failed to galvanize a distracted world behind their cause. Arab unrest, the U.S. presidential elections and financial crises in Europe had combined to knock the Palestinian issue off the global agenda.
Fayyad said Palestinians must get their own house in order before they could hope for independence and he called for elections that have long been delayed. "A basic right of our people is being violated. The right of being able to choose our leadership," he said. Fayyad added that he was convinced that independence would be achieved within ten years.
Refer link to chicagotribune.com
Netanyahu's action was also referred to as the "move of a super-statesman" by Hanan Crystal on Israel Radio.
Given the Israeli elections are such fractious, divisive affairs this maneuver should be viewed as a good one as it promises a diminution of the power of Shas and a more centrist policy position for the current government.
@seanmcbride: Why all the questions? Are you having trouble stereotyping me?
Try taking the points I made on face value for a change instead of looking to find a way to label or demean the person.
I have observed people here psychoanalyse, dispute, argue, repudiate, ignore, debate, refute and dismiss insinuations of anti-semitism and any entitlement Jews have to fight it and be supported in their efforts to do so.
What about the person then who is labelled as Islamophobic? It can be said he is perfectly entitled to use the same set of justifications that are trumped up by the non antisemitic 'antisemite'.
Actually he has an extra defence to draw upon. Being Islamophobic only means having a 'fear of Islam' which, because of the actions and behaviors of many Muslims, is perfectly rational and is a far cry from being any kind of pathology.
I reckon the term Islamophobic is used too readily to attack those who are genuinely concerned about the advent of Islam, and who have something fair and reasonable to express that is not anti-Muslim.
It is undeniably antisemitic to blame Jews for fostering antisemitism.
And please let's use the unhyphenated form of the term as it will help us get rid of this stupid assertion that all Semites are the brunt of this scourge.
The significance of antisemitism is constantly demeaned on MW.
When a form of hatred becomes so commonplace it is easy for us to be underwhelmed when yet another antisemite pokes his head out of the woodwork.
You can Watch the film "Israel Inside: How a Small Nation Makes a Big Difference" to see for yourself what it is on about.
The film is available online for free from May 14-18 at link to theisraelproject.org
You even have a chance to win a flight to Israel on El-Al where you will have the opportunity to demonstrate against Israel to your heart's content.
Why the desperate need to denigrate Einstein's association with Zionism? Why is this so important to people like Shirazi?
It comes from an insidious, desperate need to delegitimize an icon of Zionism, imagining that by doing so the structure can be made to collapse. Albert Einstein speaks here declining the offer of Presidency of Israel:
"I am deeply moved by the offer from our State of Israel [to serve as President], and at once saddened and ashamed that I cannot accept it. All my life I have dealt with objective matters, hence I lack both the natural aptitude and the experience to deal properly with people and to exercise official functions. For these reasons alone I should be unsuited to fulfill the duties of that high office, even if advancing age was not making increasing inroads on my strength. I am the more distressed over these circumstances because my relationship to the Jewish people has become my strongest human bond, ever since I became fully aware of our precarious situation among the nations of the world."
Are these the words of someone who is disenchanted with the idea of a Jewish state or the concept of Zionism?
This report from Vashti Kenway is representative of a very small number of people who are classified as extremists and members of the loony left. They have no traction in the general community in Melbourne, Australia. Even the Greens party, from whose ranks there were previously a few who gave the BDS campaign support, have dumped BDS completely from their platform, so there is unanimous opposition to BDS in all strata of the government in Australia. Refer link to jewishnews.net.au
This is one side of the story and is the usual sort of talk from protesters who have ‘crossed the line’ and wonder why their goading of police officers stirred up trouble.
This statement is a misrepresentation of the situation. The protesters entered shopping centre precincts which admit the public but are not public places as such. The shopping centre administration are perfectly entitled to restrict public disturbances that affect the passage of customers going about their own business in the building complex.
Here we have the typical remarks from those who come from the extreme Left and are defending their defunct political ideology, accusing police at every opportunity of being fascists.
The link between the Max Brenner business and the IDF is so remote and tenuous as to have been considered laughable by the mainstream media. This focus on a business whose parent company has provided ‘care packages’ to IDF soldiers, ignoring the fact that the Strauss corporation also supports other minority groups and organisations in Israeli society, has meant the BDS campaign here has totally lacked credibility.
The organised fascist movement clambered on board this issue and neo-Nazis and Zionists suddenly found themselves on the same side of the fence opposing the BDS. However there has been no official endorsement from the Jewish community of right wing organisations like The Australian Defence League and Australian Protectionist Party. These organisations try to align with the Jewish community because they see that as a way to legitimise themselves and another way to spread their messages of hate.
To say this is completely untrue. For a time there was an effort to counter the BDS protests by having “drink ins” but that was only a short term tactic and very effective as the BDS movement in Australia has been reduced to an disorganised rabble.
The fiasco of the BDS here became very evident recently when there was a plan being hatched to protest outside an ultra-orthodox Melbourne synagogue because one of the members has connections with settlers in Hebron. This was ultimately called off when the organisers must have realised that their misguided efforts would only alienate people even further.
@pamela: what is irrefutable is that the security fence was built originally and primarily to stem the tide of terrorism and suicide bombings. Since it was built its existence has been bandied around for various political purposes. To claim the fence was built to steal Palestinian land is pure propaganda.
You can conjecture all you want as to what factors are keeping the number of terrorist episodes right down to almost zero today.
The fact is that Hamas, in general, has stopped engaging in these kinds of terror activities for the time being. Hamas are intending to introduce Hebrew as a language in their schools. Maybe they are planning long term for their terrorism to get 'cleverer'.
@Pamela: This business about the wall not stopping terrorism, but rather Hamas having made a 'judicious' decision to stop it as being the reason for the huge drop off in suicide bombings, is chicken and the egg stuff.
No doubt the existence of the barrier makes it virtually impossible for terrorists to smuggle themselves into Israel. Hamas are aware of this and would therefore have seen the need to change their strategy accordingly.
The stopping of reward payments to the families of suicide bombers would have certainly influenced potential recruits to change their minds.
On the Jewish side there is this open-minded plurality and acceptance of different views and opinions so sites like Mondoweiss can flourish.
On the Arab side the situation is not analagous, with there being no open forum for discussion and consideration of opposing viewpoints. Rather it is a closed shop, where the threat to anyone straying from the Arab tribe's party line is liable to the severest punishment.
Granted that Oren shaped up poorly in this interview and certainly his minders need to take heed.
Nevertheless that does not disguise the fact that the program was a one-sided hatchet job. Has CBS ever bothered to report on the real exodus today of Christians from Arab lands?
The interviewer gave one of their main experts, the noted anti-semite Lutheran Pastor Mitri Raheb, the opportunity to get off the hook and escape criticism that he deserves.
Raheb pushes the anti-semitic ruse that Ashkenazi Jews are not real Jews but descendants of the Khazars..
Furthermore the program referred to the Kairos document, which has been condemned as divisive and aiming to delegitimize the concept of a Jewish state in Israel. In December 2009, the Central Conference of American Rabbis characterized the Kairos document as supercessionist and anti-Semitic, declaring that “those who would associate themselves with this document and the religious foundation upon which it is based would be erasing years of Christian soul searching and repentance as if they had not been. We expect more from our interfaith partners."
I agree with the summary of the blogger at link to naminghisgrace.blogspot.com.au
“It is certain that Israel is causing many problems for Christians in Palestine, but it is even more certain that all the complexities of Middle East troubles, including extreme Islam, are influencing the Christian community to leave the Holy Land. Sixty Minutes allowed Raheb to turn “Christians of the Holy Land” into a propaganda piece against Israel.”
The treaty has been virtually defunct from the beginning. While tourists have flocked to Egypt from Israel this has not been reciprocated. Egypt has only been staying in the 'deal' so it can get money infusions to keep itself afloat. Isn't this gross hypocrisy given the contempt that is incessantly expressed against the US and all it stands for?
@walid, I think my remarks are not a rant. They are based on the current situation.
Egypt is clearly adopting an aggressive stance against Israel in direct contravention of the Camp David accords. In the JCPA report the way the new Egyptian parliament refers to Israel as the 'Zionist entity' reeks of the same parlance that Hamas uses all the time.
The US has already warned Egypt that their aid is at risk. Refer link to security.blogs.cnn.com
Now Egyptian authorities have denied eight U.S. NGOs their licence to operate link to rferl.org
and this even includes the Carter Center.
Hopefully the US will now wake up to the reality that Egypt is a rathole and stop wasting their money on it.
Walid, you have naively posited that with the 'fortune' Egypt will make from the gas they are no longer selling to Israel that will make up for the shortfall in US funding. Ideologically that might satisfy the Salafists, but at the end of the day everybody needs to eat.
And Straightline, technically there may not yet be a breach of the peace treaty between Egypt and Israel, but the way the Egyptians are carrying on it is just around the corner.
Egypt is suffocating in its Islamic miasma. Its economic failings are of its own making. It can ill afford to forgo the agreed monies that Israel was paying for gas into its depleted coffers
The link to the article from al-akhbar provided by Walid is very revealing.
Ethiopia is one of the poorest, driest countries in the world and the writer of the article shows no compassion at all for the people of Ethopia, selfishly suggesting that Egypt has a supreme right to the waters of the Nile.
The article claims that the peace treaty with Israel was imposed on the Egyptian people. (Maybe Egypt should just give back the Sinai to Israel).
The article suggests that any country that might support the Ethiopian proposal is the enemy of Egypt i.e USA, Israel and China.
The article seeks to blame others for Egypt's ills.
This is how nations behave when they lose their viability. They start to look at others to blame for their plight.
The next thing they do is go to war to divert attention away from the misery of their own people.
Open your eyes. On the NASDAQ Israel has more companies than any foreign country bar China
Refer link to economist.com
The Middle East could be a vibrant technology hub and the Palestinians could participate in it if they had any perspicacity.
@walid: To speak about Israel as a "parasitically freeloading country" is to speak from spite rather than fact. I just ask you to give credit where credit is due.
Israel's contribution to the world in medicine, science and technology is enormous. Read the book 'Start-up Nation: The Story of Israel's Economic Miracle' to get some perspective.
Israel makes treaties with Arab nations that at the end of the day mean nothing.
Hypocrisy and double talk is their lingua franca.
See link to jcpa.org
Israel can hardly see its way clear to make any kind of peace deal with the Palestinians now, when this kind of war-mongering is being trumpeted by a key player.
Aside from the petty wrangling here about proper processes and protocol it was appropriate for Professor Shorter to be cautioned about the misuse of his class website.
AMCHA has succeeded in bringing the case of Professor Shorter to public attention in order to get UC administrators and faculty to yank their heads out of the sand and grapple with the question of whether the UC academic freedom rules protect a professor who uses his classroom and university resources to engage in political activities, including the boycott of Israel.
There is all this plaintive preaching about academic freedoms which are not under any threat whatsoever (protected by US constitution) and an avoidance of the far bigger issue of campus anti-zionism and anti-semitism.
This is another episode in the perennial struggle over widespread campus activities that fundamentally aim to denigrate and demonize Israel, see link to mondoweiss.net
and this article link to jsantisemitism.org
which deals in particular with antisemitism at the hotbed of the University of California.
@eljay: The world cannot be explained with kindergarten reductionism. it is not just a contest between goodies and baddies. The opposition in Syria is riddled with questionable elements as it was in Libya.
Anything is better right now than allowing Assad to continue with his brutal slaughter which has been supported by the likes of Ahmadinejad and Chavez.
From link to rt.com
In a written report to the Security Council on Wednesday UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said the Syrian government had failed to send “clear signs” that they were complying with the peace plan.
"The Syrian Government has yet to fully implement its initial obligations regarding the actions and deployments of its troops, or to return them to barracks," he wrote in the letter.
@Shingo: Why do you support Assad? He should be offering to resign; this 'agreeing' with a cease-fire now after he has managed to slaughter 1000s of Syrians is a last desperate tactic to hold on to power. Do you like him because he is a good model of a rabid anti-Israel demagogue like his partner in crime Nasrallah?
I am soliciting the opinion of the Mondoweiss coterie. Would you make a deal with a Sadaam Hussein. Mubarek, Gaddafi or Ben Ali? Would you grant legitimacy to a despot who has murdered thousands of his own people?
Has anybody considered that a dialogue with Assad might be pointless?
Please Philip this is simply not true and making such exaggerations are not helpful.Arabs might be under-represented in Israel government, but that is not solely because of Israeli policies.
Arabs in Israel have equal voting rights, one of the few places in the Middle East where Arab women may vote. Arabs hold seats in the Knesset; they might hold more if
they were more willing to participate in elections.
Israeli Arabs have also held various government posts, including one who served as Israel's ambassador to Finland and the deputy mayor of Tel Aviv.
Oscar Abu Razaq was appointed Director General of the Ministry of Interior, the first Arab citizen to become chief executive of a key government ministry.
Ariel Sharon's original cabinet included the first Arab minister, Salah Tarif, a Druze who served as a minister without portfolio.
An Arab is also a Supreme Court justice.
Everybody around here is so precious about Grass who has become the latest pinup boy of the anti-Zionists. "like many Europeans, Grass has lost all shame and the disappearance of shame is the new bon ton among like-minded genteel Jew-haters".
Great article at link to sarahhonig.com
which exposes Grass as the echoer of "his fervent Nazi past, deeply rooted in his psyche".
This was not a holiday ride in the countryside. The group of Palestinian and foreign bicyclists intended to block route 90 in the Jordan valley.
Roha, you might not care about preserving your cultural identity, some people do.
Catholic monarchs Ferdinand II of Aragon and Isabella I of Castile would have agreed with your sentiments.
Apparently this information was based on a report from WAFA, the PA's official press agency
link to ynetnews.com
@mooser: You obviously don't know what it means to be Jewish. Being Jewish is a lineage that comes from having a Jewish mother. It has nothing to do with religion per se.
The primary reason for making Israel a Jewish state is to provide a haven for Jews who face persecution because they are Jews.
Ultimately and sadly Jews can never depend on the good will of whatever other country they inhabit. History has proven that.
For Annie et al:
From link to jpost.com
“In a briefing with the Egyptian media last week Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas told reporters that no Jews will be allowed to live in a future Palestinian state. He also said that while he would agree to allow NATO forces to deploy in the future Palestinian state, he would not permit any Jewish soldiers to serve in the NATO units stationed on the territory of such a state. As he put it, “I will not agree that there will be Jews among NATO forces and I will not allow even one Israeli to live amongst us on the Palestinian soil.”
This highlights a serious fundamental flaw in the Palestinian position. How can Israel be accused of not being genuine about peace because it is still permitting expansion of settlements when the Palestinian side holds a position that is far far more threatening to any fruitful negotiations for peace?
There is this constant focus on Israel being insincere, because of its settlers, with scant attention on this racist, separationist policy that has been expressed by Abbas. Netanyahu did enforce a settlements freeze for 10 months and the Palestinians did not budge.
Initially Fayyad reluctantly accepted the task to present the latest set of demands from the Palestinian side to Israel but has now reneged. Fayyad has opposed the latest moves and recently stated in closed talks that transferring the missive to Netanyahu is worthless and is only a publicity stunt.
Despite the denials from other Palestinian representatives (cognizant of the gross hypocrisy of their position), deep down we know what a future Palestinian state is likely to be. A future secular, democratic and egalitarian Palestine is pure pie in the sky.
This topic could be retitled “The Palestinian cause has lost its meaning”.
@eljay: Abbas cannot bring himself to say that Israel is entitled to be a Jewish state, at the same time insisting that no Jew will be allowed to live in a future Palestinian state.
Because the majority of the Israeli population might like to hear it. Because it would mean that Hamas might be prepared to abrogate its charter to be rid of Israel. Also seems fair enough if the Palestinian side is shoving a raft of demands in Netanyahu's face that he ask for something in exchange.
IMHO the only possible solution would be the 2SS.
@libra: There is no mention in Abbas' letter saying Israel is entitled to be a Jewish state.
You strive for decades and decades to get rid of Israel by every means you can muster. You offer a shit deal loaded with preconditions disguised as obligations. You tell Israel that it has to release all prisoners, many of whom are cold-blooded murderers. You avoid recognition of Israel as a Jewish state. You whinge about the fact that the shoddy organization that you run has identity problems. You don’t mention whether your partner in crime Hamas is going along with the charade.
And after all this Israel is supposed to say thank you very much and relent under the threat of you summoning the full force of international law.
@Theo: are these "international mercenaries" meant to be so idealistic that they are prepared to put their lives on the line for nothing?
@Sumud: the situation was not one of whether Israel acted defensively or offensively. Israel was compelled to carry out a pre-emptive strike or face serious danger to its safety and security following serious provocations.
Both Syria and Jordan were involved, so I don't fathom the refuting of my assertion that Israel faced attacks from all sides.
UN resolution 242 was supposed to guarantee Israel "secure and recognized boundaries" but that has never happened so any other obligations under 242 are null and void.
Israel has attempted to negotiate land for peace with the Sinai and Gaza, but the disingenuousness of the Arab side makes that a very risky policy flaunt with danger.
@Shingo: You conveniently glossed over the following remark from the article from the Daily Beast.
"Agency inspectors had visited Parchin in 2005 and found nothing suspect. But the IAEA has new information about a containment vessel built at the site for explosions tests. It wants to check if explosions, done without nuclear material, could have been used to learn such things as how to make the trigger that sets off atomic bombs."
How do you know that Parchin is not involved in the Iranian nuclear program? If the Iranians had nothing to hide why would they object to UN inspectors visiting Parchin?
You claim that Iran did not deny the IAEA access to Parchin, but agreed to allow the IAEA inspectors to visit the site if the IAEA agreed to put the issue of Parchin to rest once it had inspected the place. How can any investigatory body accept that kind of a deal? You suggest it sounds reasonable - I would suggest that to somebody with a more discerning frame of mind that might sound very suspicious.
If you still need convincing go back to 2010 when there was another case of inspectors having been denied access to a series of facilities, refer link to nytimes.com
Or maybe you would like to mention the fatwa against nuclear weapons that means that Iran is forbidden to use them. Of course you are happy to believe whatever the Iranians say - if they are anti-Zionist they must be the good guys.
@sumud: Was Israel supposed to calmly give back all the territory it won in the aftermath of the 1967 war because it might have been satisfied with that arrangement in 1966 before it was attacked on all sides?
Wars don't work that way.
@Shingo: After your daily dose of PressTV read link to thedailybeast.com
to see how recently Iran denied U.N inspectors access to the Parchin military test site.
One Shingoism after another; I suspect nobody believes anything you say any more.
@Shingo: That is a complete rubbish - I said nothing of the sort.
If Shingo can read past his own myopic view of the world he will see that the article from Haaretz shows how Saudi Arabia is courting Israel; it said NOTHING about Israel's responses to these questionable overtures.
Saudi Arabia's human rights abuses aside for a second, the main issue here is resolving the I/P conflict and the Saudis back in 2002 did put forward a realistic peace proposal. Naturally an initiative that has the endorsement of the Arab states has some possibilities. Even though Netanyahu has not supported it; Peres has.
@Dickerson3870: Your turgid tangentialism continues; don't you know how to stick to a discussion topic?
So it's a matter of the 'better the devil you know than the devil you don't'
I think there is a very interesting intersection here despite Shingo's brouhaha and shortsightedness.
See link to haaretz.com
Birds of a feather flock together.
I now understand all this soft peddling at Mondoweiss about Syria, because Iran is their best friend.
@Annie: Don't let your exuberance interfere with reality. At least in my part of the world not a single newspaper has reported a jot about Flytilla 2012. Plenty about renewed attacks by the Syrian army, continuing talks with Iran and the presidential race in Egypt, which is a complete charade.
@Kathleen: please spare us the sour grapes. This has nothing to do with democracy.
What a joke to suggest there is any element of 'criminalizing mere travel' involved here.
Israel is perfectly entitled to prevent entry to those people who are coming to Israel saying they want to do lovely things like plant olive trees, or dig water wells.
Let's not kid ourselves; the people coming are pro-Palestinian activists affiliated with radical organizations itching to create a show for the media.
Israel did not want this flytilla to have the same repercussions as the Gaza flotilla had and its authorities have been steadfast in ensuring that a deadly charade would not recur.
Israel ultimately is in damage control mode and this last remark by Durkay reeks of a pitiable threat that if Israel doesn't pay heed to us that the whole world will rise up against it.
Yeh yeh.
Please save us from this sob story. What is the relevance of a potential provocateur having cancer?
Israel is perfectly entitled to keep out a motley bunch of shit stirrers (known pro-Palestinian activists) who are 'dying' to embarrass it.
Many people may not like, many may not agree with it, but ultimately Israel is perfectly entitled to take whatever steps it deems necessary to prevent any trouble.
Have you ever met anyone who has been choking on a chicken bone for 64 years?
Gideon Levy from link to haaretz.com
:
"The last time, about a year ago, it ended with 127 detainees who were immediately expelled, as they deserved, and the danger was nipped in the bud."
Note the part of the quote in bold.
Are we supposed to be sorry for the contingent of provocative Israel bashers, who will now have to find something else to do with themselves on the weekend?
There is nothing constructive in this action - it is intended to intimidate and harass Israeli authorities as much as possible, cause mayhem (sic) and get the trigger happy left wing media to come barking.
@Annie: Pray tell why you flippantly suggest denial on my part. I have witnessed plenty of it emanating from your keyboard in your denial of the advent of serious anti-semitism in Europe and the denial of rampant anti-semitism across university campuses.
Actually Fred it is a new very virulent form of anti-semitism that we are witnessing. See link to fullcomment.nationalpost.com
where Kofi Annan said,
“It is hard to believe that, 60 years after the tragedy of the Holocaust, anti-Semitism is once again rearing its head. But it is clear that we are witnessing an alarming resurgence of this phenomenon in new forms and manifestations. This time, the world must not, cannot be silent.”
@Mooser: this ruse that Israel’s behaviour is responsible for anti-semitism is just anti-semitism in disguise. It is blaming the victim Israel for not kowtowing to the wishes of the Arab world who want a Jewish Israel to disappear down the plughole of history.