scaramouche

Saturday, 28 February 2009

New truths: I happened to catch some of 1776, the musical about events surrounding the composition of The Declaration of Independence, on TV yesterday. It’s the one where William Daniels—who went on to be the voice of David Hasselhoff's car on Knight Rider and a snarky physician on St. Elsewhere—plays feisty but prim Bostonian, John Adams, and Ken Howard–remember him from The White Shadow?—plays randy Virginian Thomas Jefferson. Young Tom can’t seem to tear himself away from his kittenish wife, played by Gwyneth Paltrow’s mom, long enough to buckle down (and up) and write that astonishing doc. I mention this, a flurry of somewhat obscure pop cult references, by way of introducing a new Declaration of Independence—not from the country that was imposing “taxation without representation,” but from the president who has visions of turning America into a facsimile of, say, Sweden. It’s from the FOX News site:

Because creeping socialism is threatening the country it is time for an updated Declaration of Independence—from Obamaism. I offer the following (adapted from our Founding Fathers’ language) and I invite additions or amendments from readers:

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that because all men and women are endowed with the rights of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness those rights shall not be usurped by President Obama, who is trying to reshape our economy and way of life to one of Big Government, by Big Government and for Big Government.

Governments derive their powers from the consent of the governed, but we, the people, are having no voice as President Obama and Democrats ram legislation through Congress (brooking no dissent from Republicans) to spend an initial $3.6-trillion. The result would be a “stimulus” largely made up of pork spending, special interest giveaways that will benefit unions, lawyers and radical groups like ACORN and “shovel-ready” make-work projects that are not ready to start this year and are just shoveling—well, use your imagination. Furthermore, $3.6-trillion is a low-ball figure. It is really $7.4-trillion: $1-trillion in new entitlements, $1.4-trillion in new taxes and $5-trillion in new debt—so far.

Using our powers of free speech now and the power of our votes in the next elections, we the people shall protest against President Obama’s attempts to nationalize health care, which would make it bureaucrat-driven rather than patient-driven; to dumb down education by turning it into a system of social promotion rather than learning promotion; to weaken our national defense by gutting the military and enabling terrorists to game our legal system; and to otherwise take power from the people and give it to Big Government by using activist judges to impose reforms that would never pass if subjected to votes…

Give it to The Man! Power to the people! Free speech for you and me! Jihad is bad for children and other living things! Save the whales!

Hey, nothing wrong with wanting to save some whales while we're at it, is there?

Posted by: scaramouche at 21:31 | link | comments

Win one, lose one: Marty Peretz thinks Obama timed the announcement about Durban II to coincide with—and to offset any outrage over—his appointing a Wahhabi aficionado to be the gatekeeper of his intelligence:

I have an instinct that the finale for Geneva was hastened by the [Charles] Freeman disaster about which I wrote thrice yesterday. No one can explain what the president sees in him that would allow such a crude propagandist and bigot to be judge of what intelligence information the president sees and what he does not. The intelligence machinery of the country has been under suspicion for years because of ignorance or bureaucratic conflicts. Add now the fact that Freeman loves the Chinese dictatorship and that he is a shill for the king of Saudi Arabia. Oh yes, and he clearly despises friends of Israel, Jewish or not.

Swell. Just. Swell.

Update: If you want to get a sense of the man, here's a link to a page with some of his speeches. I suppose we shouldn't find it too worrisome that many of them are also available in Arabic.

Posted by: scaramouche at 20:49 | link | comments (1)

Don't be stupid, be a smartie; come and join the Hamas party: I bet when Mel Brooks first wrote his delightfully demented screenplay for The Producers he never expected to see Nazi-style Judenhass revive in his lifetime. But, whadya know, here it is again, and now it's...

Springtime for Hitler and universities.

Jew-hate’s renewed hate again!

They’re making up some awful stuff

And Is-ra-el they want to snuff.

Springtime for Hitler and universities.

Juden verboten ‘round here.

Watch out, "Zionists"

Your end draws near.

Springtime for Hitler and universities…

Posted by: scaramouche at 20:16 | link | comments

Gettin’ hitched: President Hopeychanger is seeking an “engagement” with Syria and Iran. From JTA:

WASHINGTON (JTA) -- The United States will pursue "sustained engagement" with Syria and Iran, President Barack Obama said.

Obama on Friday outlined his plans for a phased withdrawal from Iraq in a speech at Camp Lejeune, a U.S. Marines base in North Carolina.

"The future of Iraq is inseparable from the future of the broader Middle East, so we must work with our friends and partners to establish a new framework that advances Iraq’s security and the region's," Obama said. "It is time for Iraq to be a full partner in a regional dialogue, and for Iraq’s neighbors to establish productive and normalized relations with Iraq. And going forward, the United States will pursue principled and sustained engagement with all of the nations in the region, and that will include Iran and Syria. "

Dennis Ross, newly appointed to a senior State Department position, is reportedly shaping plans to reach out to Iran in a bid to have it stand down from its suspected nuclear weapons program.

Israeli officials say they are not opposed to immediate engagement with Iran. "We appreciate the review" of Iran policy "the administration is doing," Sallai Meridor, the Israeli ambassador to Washington, said this week at an Israel Project luncheon. "We know they are taking the issue seriously."

Jeffrey Feltman, an acting assistant secretary at the State Department, met Thursday with Imad Moustapha, Syria's ambassador to Washingon, the most senior meeting the envoy has had with U.S. officials in five years.

A senior State Department official described the meeting as "substantive" and "constructive" although serious issues remain, including Syria's backing for terrorism and its weapons development.

It seems obvious that in this “engagement,” the U.S. is the besotted bride-to-be, destined to be left at the altar by her brutal, abusive affianced.

Before Obama rushes into any “engagement” I’d advise him to watch this. It’s the best proof of the statement “marry in haste, repent at leisure” I’ve ever seen.

Posted by: scaramouche at 17:06 | link | comments

Bum steer: The latest American proclivity to be slammed by eco-fear-mongers--fluffy soft toilet tissue. The eco-warriors claim that paper that's easy on the arse is even harder on the enviroment than the Hummer.

Bummer.

Posted by: scaramouche at 16:13 | link | comments

Hating Jews on the public dime: The Globe and Mail’s Margaret Wente does a thrilling take-down of the Canadian Arab Federation—in the news of late for calling Immigration Minister Jason Kenney a “whore”—and the absurdity of using taxpayer funds to keep it afloat and a-ragin’:

…With a budget of more than $1-million a year, the Canadian Arab Federation depends heavily for its existence on taxpayers' money. It claims this funding is used entirely for programs that help newcomers adjust to Canadian society, and to fight racism and Islamophobia. "Our activity as an advocacy group has nothing to do with our political activity," Mr. Boudjenane says.

But the CAF's website tells another story. The home page urges people to join protests against the "massacre on Gaza." It links to dozens of anti-Israel articles, and gives prominent play to the winners of a recent essay contest on "the ethnic cleansing of Palestine." The website was developed with a grant of $60,000 from the federal Department of Heritage.

The CAF is a prominent sponsor of anti-Israel demonstrations, which feature people waving Hamas and Hezbollah flags, and people calling for the state of Israel to be wiped off the planet. One video shows a woman pointing toward the camera and declaring: "Jewish child, you're going to f------ die. Hamas is coming for you."

Although the CAF purports to speak for the community, it doesn't care for Muslims who don't share its views. Ali Mallah, the vice-president for Ontario, has repeatedly referred to members of the Muslim Canadian Congress, a moderate group, as "house Negroes."

Free speech can be ugly. That's democracy. The question is not whether the CAF should be able to say whatever it wants. The question is whether the rest of us should be paying for it…

And the answer to that question is: Not on your life, sister!

Posted by: scaramouche at 15:26 | link | comments

The CIC and Judenhass: In conversation with Al-Arabiya, the head of the Canadian Islamic Congress, Dr. Wahida Valiante, explains her organization’s stance on the issue of “anti-Semitism”:

Al-Arabiya: As president of CIC how do you see the future of Arab-Muslim groups in Canada? Is public opinion increasingly against Muslim-Arab groups because of accusations of "anti-Semitism"?

Mrs. Valiante: The CIC rejects anti-Semitism outright. We do, however, reserve the right to legitimate criticism of Israel’s abject failure in its treatment of the Palestinians. Those who trot out the old canard of "anti- Semitism" to stifle legitimate criticism against Israeli policies towards the Palestinians -- and specifically its recent actions in Gaza -- are being intellectually dishonest and are simply trying to squelch discussion. They also do a great disservice to identifying and preventing real anti- Semitism. Canadians consistently show a great propensity for seeing through such hollow accusations of anti-Semitism.

This from the chick who heads up an outfit which has:

· Condemned the power of “the influential pro-Israel Jewish lobby” in Canada and the U.S.;

· Called for Canada to de-list Hamas and Hezbollah—jihadist groups whose raison d’etre is the annihilation of the world’s only Jewish state--as terrorist organizations;

· Co-sponsored an essay contest for High Schoolers on the topic of Israel’s “ethnic cleansing” of Palestinians; the CIC continues to spread lies about Israel practising “apartheid”—a patent and pathetic falsehood.

Wahida’s predecessor, you’ll recall, once told a TV audience that every Israeli adult was fair game for suicide bombers, later recanting when the controversy blew up in his face (sans semtex, of course). On her own, the lovely and charming Wahida has written that:

· "pro-Israeli Zionists... promote fear of Islam and Muslims through propaganda, and by playing manipulative mind- games on unsuspecting, decent mainstream Canadian and Americans” and that ”…Fascism and Zionism achieved their objectives through fear."

· Daniel Pipes, a well-know and vocal critic of Islamic extremism, "is a follower of Hitler ", "uses the tactics of Hitler" and "wants to ethnically cleanse America of its Muslim presence." She later apologized, but only after Pipes filed suit for libel.

· The idea of Jews being “the Chosen People” is inherently “racist” and the root of all subsequent global “racism”: “Unfortunately, the Jewish idea of being "chosen" not only institutionalized racism, but also set a terrible precedent for human history in general, where racial superiority claims became the norm, the divisive standard by which all others, those not like us were to be judged and treated.”

Ms. Valiante and her organization may claim to reject Jew-hate outright, but they sure have a funny way of demonstrating that rejection—and, as always, actions speak louder than words.

Posted by: scaramouche at 14:42 | link | comments

The plot sickens:The egregious Judenhass was only one of the reasons the U.S. has decided to give Durban II a pass. Apparently, the other deal-breaker was a resolution prohibiting the "defamation" of religion. Thus is revealed the OIC's two-pronged approach for acquiring power. The first prong: criminalize the Jewish state such that its existence can no longer be countenanced, not only by Islam but by the entire world (the prelude to disestablishing the rule of man's law in Dar al Harb in order that Allah's law can replace it). The second prong: bamboozle the foolish infidels into swallowing a fundamental tenet of sharia--i.e. no sass back about the (one true) faith--using the pretext that self-censorship is "anti-racist."

Thankfully, the U.S. didn't go for it--this time, anyway.

Update: "U.S. boycotts racism conference, Israel happy" And, it goes without saying, Islam Online unhappy.

Posted by: scaramouche at 13:11 | link | comments

Friday, 27 February 2009

Flying pig moment: The U.S. will not be attending that vile hate-fest, Durban II, after all. Apparently, the agenda was too overtly antisemitic for even a hopey-changey President to be party to. That being said, I will give credit where it's due and applaud Obama for having the guts to, in effect, tell the UN's repellent cabal of Jew-haters to take a hike. (h/t SL).

Update: Talk about your mixed messages. Chas W. Freeman, a friend of the Wahhabis and no friend of Israel's, has been confirmed as the head of the National Intelligence Council.

Update: Howls of outrage about the Durban boycott from CAIR, the CAF, the CIC and other Islamist outfits in five, four, three...

Update: My latest Durban II poem:

Durban II

Can go screw.

Okay, so it's not exactly Audenesque, but what it lacks in beauty it makes up for in
brevity.

Posted by: scaramouche at 21:49 | link | comments

Cultural Judenhass—a review: The Nazis had Jew Suss, a compelling piece of cinematic dreck—“the most successful anti-Semitic film the Nazis ever made.” The Syrians had The Diaspora, a 30 part TV series which purports to show the history of Zionism; that one followed hard on the heels of Egyptian TV’s Horseman Without a Horse, a riveting 41-part romp inspired in no small part by The Protocols of the Elders of Zion. And Hamas had Farfour, Nahoul, and… what the heck was the other one called?—those Sesame-Street-in-the Twilight-Zone critters who indoctrinated Palestinian moppets in malice and martyrdom.

And the Brits? Well, the Brits had The Merchant of Venice—which, for obvious reasons, was Hitler’s favourite Shakespearean play. And, more recently, that vile piece of anti-Israel agit-prop, My Name is Rachel Corrie. And now, as Carol Gould of pajamas media writes, there’s a new piece of Judenhass slaying them in the aisles:

During the recent Gaza conflict and in its aftermath, it has been open season on Israel across the globe. From a synagogue in Caracas to a Jewish member of my local community in London being set upon by anti-Semitic thugs, there has been a wave of anti-Jewish sentiment that goes beyond criticism of Israel’s military incursions. From the journalist Richard “I don’t read letters from people with Jewish-sounding names” Ingrams to Robert “Israel’s fifty years of shame” Fisk to Bruce “Israel, the serpent in the garden of Eden” Anderson, the Zionist enterprise has been the focus of considerable venom of late. In recent days Ingrams has predicted the demise of the Jewish state and Anderson has prognosticated in similar vein with the obligatory “ethnic cleansing” accusation against those pesky Jews occupying Arab lands.

Caryl Churchill’s Seven Jewish Children is described by the Royal Court Theatre as a “play for Gaza” and a “history of Israel.” The playwright herself, a patron of the Palestine Solidarity Campaign, has told the world, “Israel has done lots of terrible things in the past, but what happened in Gaza seemed particularly extreme.”

My esteemed colleague John Nathan in the Jewish Chronicle says this: “For the first time in my career as a critic, I am moved to say about a work at a major production house that this is an anti-Semitic play.” He is right…

Can’t wait till it hits my town—maybe to coincide with next year’s annual campus Jew-bash?

Posted by: scaramouche at 21:15 | link | comments

Cold wind blowing in (on a broomstick) from Turtle Bay: What happened to Hillary Clinton? She used to be so eager to listen to Jewish views and express unwavering support for Israel—especially when she was seeking Jewish votes, for the Senate and then the presidency. Now, however, American Jews are noticing a far chillier Hil. From CBS News:

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton speaks to members and guests of the Asia Society Feb. 13, 2009, in New York City. Secretary Clinton's speech was made ahead of her first official trip to the East Asian countries.

In a swift about face from her views as New York's senator, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is now hammering Israel over its treatment of Palestinians in Gaza.

As First Lady, Clinton raised eyebrows when she kissed Suha Arafat.

Since she was then seeking a Senate seat the resulting brouhaha caused her to "re-think" her positions.

"I'm a very strong supporter of Israel," Clinton said back in February 2000.

On Thursday, as Secretary of State she had yet another about face in the form of angry messages demanding Israel speed up aid to Gaza. Jewish leaders are furious.

"I am very surprised, frankly, at this statement from the United States government and from the secretary of state," said Mortimer Zuckerman, publisher of the New York Daily News and member of the NYC Jewish Community Relations Council.

"I liked her a lot more as a senator from New York," Assemblyman Dov Hikind, D-Brooklyn, said. "Now, I wonder as I used to wonder who the real Hillary Clinton is."

Clinton's decision to hammer Israel comes as the Clintons and President Barack Obama are planning to give the Palestinians $900 million toward the rebuilding of Gaza in the wake of the Israeli offensive that was sparked by Hamas rocket fire.

"We are working across the government to see what our approach will be," Clinton said. ..

Thanks, Hil.

Wha’ happened to Hillary? Isn’t it obvious? It’s what happens to just about every individual who becomes Secretary of State: she was Turtle Bay'd.

There’s one good thing about Hillary giving in to expedience, though. It shows that all that stuff about a sinister, all-powerful “Israel/Jewish lobby” is a complete crock.

Posted by: scaramouche at 18:17 | link | comments

The un-friendly ghost state: The reason Canadian soldiers are in Afghanistan, we’ve been told, is because we want to preserve freedom and prevent those baddies the Taliban from retaking control. All well and good (although one might question the wisdom of Westerners fighting on behalf of a country whose constitution is grounded in sharia). However, while we’ve been fighting, the Taliban have managed to set up their own “ghost state”. In the New York Daily News, Ralph Peters tells us about this all-too-real apparition:

PAKISTAN'S bloodied Northwest Frontier Province is getting a new name: Pakhtunkhwa, or "Land of the Pashtun" tribesmen. A key demand of Taliban radicals, the new title isn't an end, but a beginning.

Obsessed with the "integrity" of dysfunctional, artificial borders, US policy-makers struggle to come to grips with the Taliban, an overwhelmingly Pashtun organization. For its part, the Taliban functions as the shadow government of a ghost state sprawling across huge stretches of Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Pakhtunkhwa already exists in fact, if not in the UN General Assembly. The writs of the governments in Islamabad and Kabul run up to the international border on our maps, but not in reality. We play along with the fantasy.

Census numbers are flimsy, but up to 42 million Pashtuns (or Pakhtuns or Pathans) live in the region, with perhaps 13 million in Afghanistan and double that number in Pakistan. That would make Greater Pakhtunkhwa a middle-weight nation, population-wise.

United by old blood and various dialects of Pashto, the Pashtuns are a collection of five-dozen major tribes that long have functioned as a primitive state, governed by tribal councils amid hundreds of sub-tribes. Although briefly united at a few junctures in history, their primary goal has been the defense of local territory against outsiders, not central administration.

Now the Pashtuns, as manifested by the Taliban, seek an authentic state governed by Sharia law. It isn't good news for us, for women, or for the feeble states of Afghanistan and Pakistan. But how much of our blood and treasure is it worth to keep those wretched states on life support, while denying the vigor of a ghost state fighting to become flesh?

A Pakhtunkhwa that includes all of the Pashtuns would be culturally abhorrent. But it may be inevitable. Are we fighting forces our measures can't defeat?...

Good question, one I wish I could answer.

Posted by: scaramouche at 15:58 | link | comments

Been there, done that: In an interview on the Z-word site, Paul Berman (author of the must-read Terror and Liberalism) explains the protean beast that is Judenhass, a creature that in our time has manifested itself as the overwhelming desire to “right” the great wrong and continuing affront of Israel’s existence (my bolds):

…In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, people with advanced ideas began to look on Christian hatred of the Jews as a retrograde prejudice - and the advanced thinkers embraced, instead, the pseudo-science of racism. They no longer hated the Jews on religious grounds - they hated the Jews on racial grounds. The word "racism" originally applied to hatred of the Jews. Racial hatred seemed up to date. Today, however, racism itself has come to seem like a retrograde prejudice. And so, people with advanced opinions hate the Jews on anti-racist grounds, and they regard the Jews as the world's leading racists.

And so forth. The unstated assumption is always the same. To wit: the universal system for man's happiness has already arrived (namely, Christianity, or else Enlightenment anti-Christianity; the Westphalian state system, or else the post-modern system of international institutions; racial theory, or else the anti-racist doctrine in a certain interpretation). And the universal system for man's happiness would right now have achieved perfection - were it not for the Jews. The Jews are always standing in the way. The higher one's opinion of oneself, the more one detests the Jews.

The political left has always been of two minds on these matters. An opposition to anti-Semitism (and to all kinds of bigotry) did use to be one of the pillars of the modern left. But the left has always rested on more than one pillar, and some of those pillars are a little wobbly. And there is the left-wing conceit that, today at last, the system for universal justice and happiness has been discovered, and should be embraced by all advanced thinkers. The cosmopolitan abolition of states, let us say. And here are the Jews resisting it. In short, nothing leads more quickly to a disdain for the Jews than a feeling of smug loftiness.

To be sure, lofty disdain comes in different versions. In its respectable version, lofty disdain right now adopts a position of long-faced sadness over Israel for being such a reprehensible place, for existing at a moment when states ought to fade away, for being racist, for perpetuating religion, for being an example of European imperialism, and so forth. One shakes one's head in sorrowful regret that the Israelis are the way they are.

But the disdain takes another shape, too, which is cruder, though it follows more or less from the first version. In the cruder version, the Jews are not just regrettable for being retrograde. Much worse: the Jews have done something really terrible. By forming their state and standing by it, they have set out actively to oppose the principle of universal justice and happiness - the principle that decrees that a people like the Jews should not have a state.

So, yes, the comparisons to apartheid - or, more radically and these days more typically, to the Nazis. The comparison to the Nazis began to emerge in the 1970s in Western Europe and also in the Arab world, and by now it is pretty much everywhere you look.

It's a remarkable comparison in all kinds of ways, but I'll point out just one aspect. The Nazis are generally regarded as the worst, most evil political movement in all of history - a political movement that not only committed crimes but stood for the principle of crime. By comparing Israel to the Nazis, people mean to suggest that Israel is likewise one of the worst, most evil political institutions that could possibly exist. The accusation is cosmically huge. And the cosmically huge accusation makes perfect sense - if you keep in mind the venerable idea that the Jews stand in the way of mankind's achievement of a perfected system of universal justice and happiness…

Which brings me back to the conclusion I arrived at after years of studying and trying to understand the phenomenon of Judenhass. It is this: The world has yet to—and, indeed, will likely never—come to terms with fact of the Jewish people.

Posted by: scaramouche at 15:26 | link | comments

Effective deterrence: Remember the joke about the nickname they give first-time offenders in Saudi Arabia (i.e. Lefty)? Well, the same applies for first-timers in Ayatollahville. Here’s MEMRI’S translation of an interview, shown on Hezbollah TV, in which Iran’s attorney-general, outlines the penalties required by sharia that involve sharp blades and/or flayed flesh:

Qorban 'Ali Najaf-Abadi: "Chopping off the hands of thieves is very rare. Cases of qisas [executions in retaliation for murder] are more common. Qisas is the individual prerogative of the victim's family, and the government does not intervene in this matter.

"One of the issues protested by the West is the qisas. They confuse qisas with the death penalty. The qisas is not up to the government. It is the prerogative of the victim's family. For example, if a person is killed, and the [killer's] father requests it, we may ask the victim's family to absolve... Excuse me, the family of... This is within my authority, but we have no right to pressure them. It is up to the family whose member was killed - sometime with extreme brutality.

"The world should know that in the Islamic Republic of Iran, the qisas is the prerogative of the victim's family. It is not the prerogative or business of the government, and therefore the government cannot revoke it or refrain from carrying it out. It is different with regard to the death penalty. Qisas, as I said, is the prerogative of individuals, and when a person is killed in a qisas execution, it is not called a 'death penalty.' When it comes to the death penalty - we have judges, and the courts issue a verdict according to the shari'a." [...]

"Islam Wants to Abolish the Lack of Financial and Economic Safety, And Therefore It Orders The Chopping Off Of Hands..."

"As for chopping off hands - these sentences are meant as a deterrent. Islam wants to abolish the lack of financial and economic safety, and therefore it orders the chopping off of hands. This prevents the thief form stealing again. We should not have mercy on someone who steals repeatedly.

[...]

"This punishment is better than prisons, with all their negative effects, especially when prisons like Guantanamo and Abu Ghuraib are concerned. The [Americans] who committed all those crimes in Guantanamo - how come nobody takes a look at their barbaric deeds? This torture is hundreds of times worse than the chopping off of hands. How come they do not face trial? It is not that we want to chop off hands, but we don't say that we won't. If necessary, we will chop off the hands of thieves, just like we carry out death penalties." [...]

"These Islamic Punishments Are Meant to Warn and Punish... They Are Better Than" Prison

"Imprisonment and the divine punishments are two different things. We have, unfortunately, adopted prisons from the West. Sometimes prisons do not yield positive results. Quite the opposite. It is not desirable to impose prison sentences. There is no such thing in Islam.

"Take, for example, the punishment of flogging. Since this punishment ruins a person's reputation, it has a positive effect in terms of deterrence. These Islamic punishments are meant to warn and punish, not to torture. They are better than sentencing a person to years in prison, especially considering the corruption and all the bad things he learns there. In prison, a person learns new crimes. We see this happening all over the world."

He has a point. Why, in some prisons, inmates are being persuaded to take up the cause of jihad. Perhaps Western jurisdictions should take a page from Islamic jurisprudence, administer a good flogging, and sent the blighter on his way before some jail-house imam can get to him.

Posted by: scaramouche at 14:13 | link | comments

Internal discord: Jews aren't the only ones who have their share of disagreements (with the likes of Naomi Klein et al going to bat for Israel's enemies). Here's a youtube video in which a very all-American-looking young Muslim rebukes those of his faith who are reluctant to take up the cause of jihad.

Posted by: scaramouche at 13:54 | link | comments

Mail call: This letter to the editor appears in the Toronto Star:

More and more Jewish Canadians are becoming aware that Israel has committed crimes of apartheid and racism against the Palestinian people. Unlike the Tories, some of us are "intolerant" of those crimes.

But, Multiculturalism Minister Jason Kenney crosses the line when he says that "the Jewish people should have their own country." For Jewish Canadians, Canada is our own country. Mr. Kenny's attempts to marginalize Jews has sordid antecedents.

In a free and democratic society, we have the right to peacefully denounce Israel's crimes and to show solidarity with the oppressed Palestinians. So do members of CUPE.

Haim Ben-Yehuda, Toronto

My response:

If, as Haim Ben-Yehuda writes, “more and more Jewish Canadians are becoming aware that Israel has committed crimes of apartheid and racism against the Palestinian people” it is not because these “crimes” have actually been committed. It is because of a concerted effort, international in scope, to falsely brand Israel a “racist, apartheid state” akin to South Africa so that the world can feel justified in calling for its destruction.

Such a tactic should be familiar to everyone--and certainly to every Jew--who knows anything about history. It is called “the Big Lie,” the propaganda technique adopted by Joseph Goebbels. Goebbels knew that if you repeated the same falsehood over and over again--in his case, that the Jewish people posed an existential threat to mankind--soon enough people would come to believe the lie, and the truth would become irrelevant.

How grimly ironic--and how immensely tragic--that so many Jews have themselves been taken in by the falsehoods being purveyed about the Jewish homeland.

Posted by: scaramouche at 11:40 | link | comments

Thursday, 26 February 2009

Rebicks and Kuertis and Kleins, oh my: In a comment piece in the National Post, the head of the Canadian Arab Federation, who claims to be an ardent “free speecher” (though not, of course, when it comes to the issue of “defaming” Islam) tries to bolster his case against Israel by mentioning several high-profile anti-Zionist Jews:

CAF rejects the accusation that support for the Palestinian people and criticism of the state of Israel is “anti-Semitic.” As Arab-Canadians, we have every right to engage in debates that affect the Arab world. We should not have to fear retaliation from our own government for holding views with which it may disagree. During Israel’s war on Gaza, CAF was joined by many Canadians who were critical of Israel’s actions, including distinguished Jewish Canadians such as Dr. Anton Kuerti, Dr. Ursula Franklin, Judy Rebick and Naomi Klein. CAF enjoys widespread support beyond the Arab community, including from Jewish allies like these. And we thank them for their support.

In fact, all the silly man has succeeded in doing is to highlight the enduring bond between Leftists and Islamists, each of whom has his/her reasons for wanting to see the demise of the Jewish state.

In another Post commentary, an Israeli who teaches at Wilfred Laurier University handily demolishes the Islamist/Leftist intelligentsia’s Big Lie.

Posted by: scaramouche at 22:11 | link | comments

Moot court in Ayatollahville: The nation that denies the Holocaust as a matter of national policy in order to promote the termination of Jewish sovereignty in Israel (the raison d’etre of Durban II, an event it is helping organize) is planning to put the Zionist entity in the dock a la Nuremburg. From the Tehran Times:

TEHRAN – Iran will soon host a “symbolic trial” for Israel’s war crimes which will pave the way for an official trial, Community for Supporting Palestinian People secretary general said on Sunday.

Iran is not the only country that intends to hold such trial and this movement has caused “consternation” in Israel, Ali Akbar Mohtashamipour told reporters in a press meeting in Tehran.

Iran's Chief Prosecutor Ayatollah Qorban-Ali Dori-Najafabadi will be in charge of the symbolic trial, he added.

He also said parliament speakers from 15 Muslim and non-Muslim countries have accepted Tehran’s invitation to attend a 2-day international conference in support of Gaza people which will begin on March 4.

Iran’s Majlis speaker Ali Larijani will chair the March conference.

The conference will condemn Tel Aviv’s war crimes and seek arrest of the Zionist criminals, Mohtashamipour added.

Parliamentary committees from 30 countries will also attend the conference, he added.

Members of the Organization of Islamic Countries (OIC), the Arab League, and the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) have also been invited, he pointed out.

He stated that another purpose of the upcoming conference in Tehran is to collect evidence of Israel’s crimes from all parts of the world.

It’s a good thing for these tossers that they have lots of oil (and coming soon, a nuke or two). Otherwise, no one would pay them the least bit of mind.

Posted by: scaramouche at 21:53 | link | comments (2)

Bad for the Jews: Who’s bad for them? First, President “Shufflin’ Off to Durban II” Obama (his Jewish Chief of Staff notwithstanding). Second, President Shufflin’s pick to head up the National Intelligence Council, a dude who’s in the pocket of those wily Wahhabis. From Israel News:

Charles Freeman, Obama's reported pick for chairman of the National Intelligence Council, talked business with the Bin Laden family even after September 11. He is also president of the MEPC, an Arab lobby group, and accepted a donation of a million dollars from the king of Saudi Arabia, stating that he was glad the Saudis are doing public relations.

Amid the criticism that has already emerged about President Obama's reported pick for the powerful position of chairman of the National Intelligence Council, there is a yet unmentioned problem that is likely cause even bigger troubles: He had business ties to the bin Laden family after 9/11.

Charles "Chas" Freeman, a former U.S. ambassador to Saudi Arabia, had business connections with the bin Laden family and their Saudi Bin Ladin Group, a multi-billion dollar construction conglomerate founded by the father of Osama bin Laden. As chairman of Projects International, Inc., a company that develops international business deals, Mr. Freeman asserted in an interview with the Associated Press less than a month after September 11 that he was still "discussing proposals with the Bin Laden Group—and that won't change."

In an interview, Freeman contested the notion that international companies who had business with the bin Laden family should be "running for public relations cover", noting that bin Laden was still "a very honored name in the kingdom [of Saudi Arabia] despite its family tie to the Al-Qaeda leader." (Freeman wasn't immediately available for comment.)

Mr. Freeman frequently maintained that the larger bin Laden family was closely aligned with American interests. Contrary to the notion that the family was still supporting and even funding Osama bin Laden, the bin Laden family and its business conglomerate were part of the "establishment that Osama's trying to overthrow," as Mr. Freeman told The Wall Street Journal in a separate interview less than two weeks after September 11.

However, The Journal also noted that Freeman's connections with the bin Laden family went beyond business: Freeman's Middle East Policy Council (MEPC), a think tank dedicated to Mideast issues, was receiving "tens of thousand of dollars a year from the bin Laden family" at that time. Since the rumors of his appointment broke, Freeman has been criticized because the pro-Saudi MEPC also accepted donations in the millions of dollars from the Saudi royal family.

Subsequent investigation by U.S. intelligence agencies and journalists of bin Laden family ties to Al-Qaeda and Osama bin Laden raised questions about the authenticity of the family's claim of financial and emotional distance from the world's most wanted terror leader. A number of experts like Vincent Cannistro, a former CIA counter-terrorism specialist, assert that while some members of the bin Laden family have disowned Osama bin Laden in a complete sense, other factions have not. Carmen bin Laden, a sister-in-law of Osama, told Der Spiegel that " (the) Bin Ladens never disowned Osama; in this family, a brother remains a brother, no matter what he has done."

Freeman's appointment for the top intelligence post, which would task Freeman with creating and occasionally directly presenting President Obama with national intelligence estimates, has also sparked a firestorm among groups supportive of Israel who have accused him of bias. Freeman's MEPC was one of the loudest supporters of the Israel Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy written by Stephen Walt and John Mearshimer, which was criticized by scholars for the paper's factual errors and shoddy scholarship…

Here’s a quote from the horse’s ass’s mouth:

In retrospect, Al Qaeda has played us with the finesse of a matador exhausting a great bull by guiding it into unproductive lunges at the void behind his cape. By invading Iraq, we transformed an intervention in Afghanistan most Muslims had supported into what looks to them like a wider war against Islam. We destroyed the Iraqi state and catalyzed anarchy, sectarian violence, terrorism, and civil war in that country. Meanwhile, we embraced Israel’s enemies as our own; they responded by equating Americans with Israelis as their enemies. We abandoned the role of Middle East peacemaker to back Israel’s efforts to pacify its captive and increasingly ghettoized Arab populations. We wring our hands while sitting on them as the Jewish state continues to seize ever more Arab land for its colonists. This has convinced most Palestinians that Israel cannot be appeased and is persuading increasing numbers of them that a two-state solution is infeasible.

Oh, man. Obama may as well tap Reverend Wright or that old Jew-hating gasbag Jimminy Carter for the post.

Posted by: scaramouche at 20:30 | link | comments

Thinking big in desperate times: The world economy may be in a downward spiral, but there’s one place on Earth where things are all systems go—the Magic Wahhabi Kingdom. Arab News has word of a massive project currently in the works:

JEDDAH: Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah has given instructions to transform the Obhur Corniche into a cultural and tourist center. Spread over 140,000 square meters, the site will be developed into a permanent center for festivities. It will also include a heritage village, an open stage and a site for fireworks.

Sami Nawar, head of tourism and culture at Jeddah municipality, said the site had previously been used to stage a major exhibition of mega-projects in Makkah province and was opened by King Abdullah last year.

“This site will be converted into a permanent center for festivals,” he said. “It will be similar to the King Abdul Aziz Cultural Center in Abrug Al-Righama. The only difference is that it will be located on the sea front, north of Golden Sands beach,” he pointed out.

Nawar said the municipality had already prepared preliminary designs for the multibillion-riyal project, which was presented to Prince Miteb, minister of municipal and rural affairs, when he visited the municipality recently.

“We’ll conduct further studies before finalizing the designs,” Nawar said, adding that tenders would be called within six months from engineering offices to study the project before awarding the project to a specialized company for implementation.

He said the site would be a window to the sea and would be away from traffic. “There is a proposal to establish an open-air auditorium that can accommodate 10,000 people.” The project will also include a closed-door theater and a gallery for people to watch marine sports and activities, he said.

“This area will become a permanent place for festivities and public recreation. It will also be used to hold public awareness programs in accordance with our culture and traditions,” he said. There will be a vast expanse of greenery where people can rest. A hotel will also be constructed in the area and its revenues will be used for maintaining the center.

Nawar refused to give the estimated cost of the project. However, he said it would be huge…

This totalitarian self-aggrandizement project brought to you by a cruel quirk of geology. (Begging the question: If the Jews are God’s Chosen, why’d he have to go and put all the oil in Arab lands?)

Posted by: scaramouche at 20:06 | link | comments

Utopian dreams: In recent days we have seen an angry mob of Jew-haters, thousands strong, screaming “Death to the Jews” in downtown Toronto. But according to an “expert” on the subject of Utopia (heh), Canada’s version of multiculturalism is going swimmingly. From the Mississauga News:

When it comes to multiculturalism, Canada isn't “sleepwalking to Armageddon,” says renowned author and pollster Michael Adams.

Adams, president of Environics, one of Canada's leading marketing and social survey research consultancies, was the keynote speaker today at a Peel Newcomer Strategy Group event at the Living Arts Centre.

Through a series of slides, Adams compared Canada's triumph with multiculturalism to the situation in other countries that accept large numbers of immigrants, including the U.S, France, United Kingdom and Australia.

“All the evidence I see – both public opinion and surveying immigrants – tells me it's working (in Canada),” Adams told representatives from various social services agencies in Peel. “It's not perfect, but we're on a good path. We're heading to successful integration and that's the continuing story of Canadian history.”

The author also discussed conclusions from a 2007 survey of 500 Muslims in Canada, in which they were asked questions related to jihad, hijab and Islam, among other topics.

Adams said he was compelled to do a study on Muslims in Canada because history shows there has always been a new group of immigrants that Canadians have perceived as completely different from themselves.

“The reason I happened to focus on Muslims is, while doing a research on the middle of the first decade of the 21st century I realized ‘the other’ in western societies are Muslims,” Adams said. “I wanted to go beyond the stereotypes and anecdotes and screaming headlines to find what is it like to be a Muslim in Canada.”

Adams said he discovered Muslims in Canada wanted to retain their religion as well as become good Canadians, and that, to him, is the definition of multiculturalism.

Much of Adams' presentation was drawn from his book, Unlikely Utopia: The Surprising Triumph of Canadian Multiculturalism.

One person who is dubious about Adams’ claims is Farzan Hassan, president of the Mississauga-based Muslim Canadian Congress. She says multiculturalism allows the abuse of Muslim women to fly under society’s radar:

“When subgroups within subcultures are marginalized because of certain practices such as polygamy, wife battery or women not having same opportunities as men, as prevalent in some cultures, you cannot endorse multiculturalism,” said Hassan. “I feel religious freedom is fine only to the point that they don't trample upon the human rights of marginalized groups.”

But an infidelle is looking forward to the new world order:

Shelley White, CEO of United Way of Peel, said when it comes to immigration and multiculturalism, it's not yet Utopia in Peel, but she hopes that will eventually be the case.

God forbid. Anyone wishing for Utopia needs to have his/her head examined.

Another Muslim who’s less than sanguine about Adams’ good news: Tarek Fatah. In a review of Adams’ book he writes (my bolds),

Michael Adams clearly comes out in this book as a friend of Muslims, as someone who cares for and is willing to go to bat for them. However, sometimes a true friend is one who has the courage to say “You have a problem.” Adams fails in that test of true friendship. Not only does he try to cover up a major problem facing the Muslim communities—the influence of jihadi literature and theology on their sons and daughters—but the survey itself was tainted in the questions it failed to ask and the way it was conducted. Environics admits that it hired extra Muslim staff to ask the questions. There was no need for augmenting the questioners with Muslim staff. As a statistician, I know that a survey needs to be done with absolutely no chance of respondents being coached. There is no evidence that this happened in this case, but there is also no explanation why additional Muslims were hired to ask questions.

I believe that’s what’s known in the polling biz as “lying with statistics.”

Posted by: scaramouche at 13:48 | link | comments

Big Lie cry baby: Israeli Apartheid Week, now in its fifth wacky year, has ‘sploded world-wide, but one of the most active of activists in the Big Lie campaign against Israel at the University of Toronto (where the hate-fest got its start) is outraged—outraged! —at how university administrators are favouring Jewish interests on campus. Her gripe: due to a technicality, the Big Liars will have to hold their hate-fest at an off-campus venue this year, and, to add insult to injury, the campus is offering space for an anti-Big Lie Conference. Major bummer, eh? The Canadian Arab Federation, naturally, is delighted to provide space for the activist’s kvetching. You can plough through her entire hissy fit if you want (warning: it makes for an eye-glazing read). Otherwise, skip to the chase—her wrap up:

…One has to wonder if the pro-Israel groups would get the same treatment from UofT. It seems that not only does UofT help pro-Israel groups in suppressing Palestinian activism, but it also directly sponsors pro-Israel activities. UofT is one of the sponsors of a conference titled "Emerging Trends in Anti-Semitism and Campus Discourse," which is scheduled to take place in March 2009. The conference is the launching conference for an organization called "The Canadian Academic Friends of Israel," or CAFI.

According to CAFI's website, CAFI is "an organization of individuals from Canadian post-secondary institutions who support Israel as a Jewish and democratic state, and who wish to protect civil and scholarly discourse as it pertains to the state of Israel on university and college campuses across Canada."

CAFI also shares offices with the Canada Israel Committee and the Canadian Council for Israel and Jewish Advocay (CIJA). It even shares the same phone number and staff person with the latter. Essentially, it is an organization whose sole purpose is to further support the Israeli state and its apartheid policies, and UofT is one of the sponsors of its launching conference. Although this conference is supposedly an academic conference and its organizers claim that it is an inclusive, interdisciplinary event, it is doubtful whether it will include the voices of academics who challenge the policies of the state of Israel. In fact, the organizers of the academic conference were so "inclusive," that they did not issue a call for papers. UofT's sponsorship of this conference, as well as their continued repression of Pro-Palestinian activism on campus, shows the mode of thinking prevailing at Canadian universities: if it is pro-Israel, embrace it, if it is pro- Palestinian, silence it.

We know that university Presidents across Canada have jumped on the opportunity to unilaterally condemn the debate of the merits of an Academic Boycott against Israeli Institutions that support apartheid policies (as called for by over 171 Palestinian Civil Society organizations in the 2005 Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions appeal to the International community). This past summer, UofT's President David Naylor, along with many other Canadian University Presidents, visited Israel, touring Israeli Universities, to further show their direct support for Israel. Yet these same Presidents have been strikingly silent about the denial of the basic right to education for Palestinian students who are living under Israeli occupation.

Moving forward, the following questions still remain: will Canadian universities conspire with pro-Israel groups to shut down Israeli Apartheid Week in 2009? Are they going to continue silence any voice of support for the Palestinian people on campus? Or, are university administrations finally going to listen to the voices of Palestinian and Pro-Palestine students who are demanding an end to the unequivocal support of Israeli apartheid on Canadian campuses?

Four—count ‘em—four years of hosting an annual week-long hate soiree, and this chick has the audacity to assert that U of T is pro-Israel? The charge would be comical if it weren’t so insane. But then, that’s what Judenhass does to "one"—messes up your brain, turns it to mush, makes you a ‘droid for the annihilationist agenda.

I suppose it would never occur to this “activist” that, in purveying these despicable lies and calling for the world to separate itself from the world’s only Jewish state (which amounts to apartheid on a global scale), she’s far more like an apartheid-era South African bigot than Israel is or will ever be.

Posted by: scaramouche at 12:49 | link | comments (1)

Wednesday, 25 February 2009

Jewish “shame”: The Islamic madness re Israel I can kind of understand: It’s part and parcel of their religious doctrines which make it all but impossible for them to countenance a situation wherein damnable dhimmis would be sovereign over Muslims, Allah’s chosen. It’s the Jewish madness—for example, this, in Islam Online—I continue to find so confounding:

PARIS — feeling stained by Israeli crimes against the civilian population of the bombed-out Gaza Strip, two prominent French-American Jews are demanding the removal of their relatives names from Israel's famous Holocaust memorial.

"We ask that our grandmother’s name be removed from the wall at Yad Vashem," Michael Neumann and his brother Osha wrote to Israeli President Shimon Peres, also director of Yad Vashem museum.

In their letter, a copy of which was obtained by IslamOnline.net, the brothers ask for the name of Gertrud Neumann to be erased from the memorial of Jewish victims in WWII.

"Our grandmother was a victim of that very ideal of ethnic sovereignty in whose cause Israel has shed so much blood for so long," they stressed.

"In life, our grandmother suffered enough. Stop making her a party to this horror in her death," added the brothers, who hold French, American and Canadian nationalities.

"Please take this as an expression of disgust and contempt for your state and all it represents."

The brothers are following the example of Jean-Moise Braitberg, a French novelist who also wrote to Peres asking that the name of his grandfather, Moshe Braitberg, and other members of his family be removed from the Yad Vashem memorial.

He insisted that the names of his relatives must not become part of justifying the Israeli cruelty against Palestinians.

Israel's 22-day onslaught on the densely-populated Gaza enclave killed more than 1,350 people, half of them women and children, and injured thousands more.

Some 21,100 homes, 1,500 factories, 25 mosques, 31 government buildings and scores of schools across Gaza were destroyed by the air, sea and ground attacks.

Shame

In their letter, the Neumanns link their request to the burden Israel's crimes has placed on Jews and humanity at large. "Our complicity was despicable," Michael, a professor of philosophy at a Canadian university, wrote.

"I do not believe that the Jewish people, in whose name you have committed so many crimes with such outrageous complacency, can ever rid itself of the shame you have brought upon us."

Michael -- the author of many books including "The Case Against Israel" and "What is Anti-Semitism" – insists that Nazi propaganda, for all its calumnies, never disgraced and corrupted the Jews but Israel did.

"You blacken our names not only by your acts, but by the lies, the coy evasions, the smirking arrogance and the infantile self-righteousness with which you embroider our history."

Osha, an artist and civil rights lawyer, believes that Israel actions have made the word Jew synonym to "fascist".

"Israel long ago woke me from my dogmatic slumber about the immutable relationship of Jews to Fascists. It has engineered a merger between the image of Jewish torturers and war criminals and that of emaciated concentration camp victims," he wrote.

"I find this merger obscene. I want no part of it."

I find his utterances obscene, and want no part of them. As well, they are ignorant, insulting and completely untrue—not unlike the Big Lies the Nazis used to shovel about “the Jews.” Today, of course, such lies are purveyed by lefty academics, whose calumnies would curl the hair in Joe Goebbels’ nose. My only consolation upon reading this bilge is that there are lots of pro-Zionist Christians who help make up for these usefully imbecilic Jews.

Thank God for them.

Posted by: scaramouche at 19:36 | link | comments (6)

God coming to White House in April: Oops! How dyslexic of me. I meant to type "Dog coming to the White House in April."

As we know, "God" is already there.

Posted by: scaramouche at 19:07 | link | comments

Not a nickel, not a shekel, not a brass farthing: The Ceeb has its hand out, and is begging Stephen Harper to bail it out, reports the Toronto Star:

Faced with a $65 million advertising shortfall, the CBC is reaching out to Ottawa for bridge financing, an unprecedented request of a Conservative government that has historically had a cool relationship with the public broadcaster.

"The revenues fell off a cliff. ... I have not seen a slide that precipitous and that deep in my entire life," Richard Stursberg, executive vice-president for English services, told employees yesterday.

"We have not been able to bail the boat as quickly as the water is coming in over the gunwales."

The public broadcaster says it has used surpluses from other divisions and money in reserve to narrow the budget shortfall to $12 million during the current fiscal year, which ends March 31, but ad revenues are forecast to continue to plummet in the coming year.

Stursberg, who confirmed the move at the monthly town hall meeting yesterday, conceded he did not know what type of reception he would receive from the Conservatives, who, while in opposition, were often overtly hostile to the CBC.

"We don't know how receptive the government will be to the request," he said.

A spokesperson for Heritage Minister James Moore said he was already in discussions with the CBC and indicated the door was open to help the corporation.

"In these difficult economic times all broadcasters, including the CBC, are facing challenges, and he is open to working with everyone in a way that will serve all Canadians," Deirdre McCracken told the Star.

Stursberg did not specify the amount of the bridge loan the CBC is seeking from the government or from a private bank.

"The money ... is not a handout. ... It would be paid back," he said.

Advertising revenues in the corporation's English-language TV operations went into decline last summer.

Canada's private TV networks, CTV and Canwest Global, are also in crisis because of falling ad revenues, exacerbated by the recession.

Just how much the CBC needs to survive is a matter of conjecture…

My conjecture: however much it needs, it’s too much.

My tongue-in-cheeky letter:

Asking the government for a $65 million bailout during these dire economic times is likely to be a tough sell for the CBC. Especially since tax-payers already pony up about $1 billion dollars each year to our national broadcaster. However, I think I know where the CBC could getthe extra cash.

Since several high-profile CBCemployees have found gainful employment with Arab TV station al Jazeera (including Avi Lewis and former CBC head Tony Burman, who has been lobbying aggressively for the CRTC to allow his new bosses to beam their signal into Canada), why not hit up the station’s owner, the Emir of Qatar, for the money?

I hear he has plenty of disposable wealth.

You could even say that, for him, the amount in question would be “Emir pittance”. (Sorry, couldn’t resist.)

Posted by: scaramouche at 19:03 | link | comments

Par-tay: The Obama administration is weighing the evidence, and considering its options, and probably even making a list and checking it twice before decided whether or not to join the upcoming Judenhass Mardi Gras in Geneva. Ron Radosh is fairly certain, however, that the decision has been made and the U.S. will be there—with beads on:

…The most recent American press release from the State Department says that the US has not made up its mind whether or not to participate in Durban II, and will decide after evaluating the work done in the past week. They claim that their current efforts are simply part of a “fact-finding” mission.”

I don’t know what facts the US delegates are looking for. They met in the planning sessions for four days. They found that Holocaust denial would not be condemned; that Israel alone would be singled out for racism; that Western states would be accused of Islamophobia, and that free speech would be criticized—such as that which led to the attacks on Geert Wilders for his criticisms of radical Islam.

There is only one thing that is clear. The United States is getting ready to participate in Durban II, and its current stance is already giving the forthcoming meeting legitimacy. The White House should be flooded with demands that our country immediately announce that it will not attend, and say that Durban II, like the original meeting, has no legitimacy or moral standing. If it does not, I’m afraid that [Anne] Bayefsky’s conclusion, that “the foreign policy of engagement amounts to a new willingness to sacrifice Israel and an indeterminate number of American values for the sake of a warm welcome from the enemies of freedom,” is all too true.

Update: This seems like a good opportunity to reprise my Duban II party animal
poem:

Durban II is on the horizon.

The point of it is hardly surprisin’.

Supposedly, an examination of world racism.

The full gamut.

The whole enchilada.

In reality, a fiesta of antisemitism,

With Israel as the piñata.

Posted by: scaramouche at 14:35 | link | comments

Quote of the day: It was expressed by David Rothkopf on the Foreign Policy site:

The Obama administration convening Monday's fiscal responsibility summit is a little like Octo-mom running a family planning summit the day after she got home from the maternity ward. I don't doubt their sincerity or the urgent need for the discussion, but perhaps they ought to have thought about these issues beforehand.

Or maybe like Mahmoud Ahmadinejad convening an anti-Holocaust denial conference after unloading the Big One on Tel Aviv?

Posted by: scaramouche at 14:20 | link | comments

Dumb in the NYT: Someone else—Richard Z. Chesnoff—has taken note of Richard Cohen’s astonishingly wrong-headed assertions about Jews in Iran. From JWR:

Ever notice how often the reputedly astute prove amazingly naive if not downright dumb? Take the New York Times' much lauded op-ed columnist Roger Cohen.

In a long rambling piece datelined Esfahan, Iran, wandering analyst Cohen recently told his global readers that the remnant of Iran's once thriving Jewish community is doing just fine — in fact, it's actually living the life of Reza side by side with Islamists, enjoying freedom of worship, business and family life and just dying to join other patriotic Iranians in angry anti-Israel street demonstrations.

To back up his contentions, Mr Cohen quotes that esteemed expert Morris Motamed, the man who once served as the mullah endorsed Jewish stooge in Tehran's rubber stamp parliament.

It all reminded me of my 1990 Baghdad visit to the remnant of Iraqi Jewry — a Diaspora community older and once larger than even Iran's. Like most Iranian Jews, the vast majority of Iraq's 150,000 Musawi or ""Mosaics" wisely fled for Israel and the West in the early 1950s. Of course, they had to leave behind everything they owned. By the time I visited Baghdad, there were less than 300 Jews left in a city where Jews once comprised 25% of the urban population. These Jews also prayed in their synagogue on the Sabbath where their community president told me with great flourish (while Saddam Hussein's omnipresent agents listened to every word) that he and his fellow worshippers were "proud to be both faithful Jews and loyal Iraqi patriots".

The truth was very different — as it is in Iran where the Jewish community is under constant surveillance, where teaching Hebrew is prohibited, where Jewish women are forced to follow the same modesty laws their Muslim sisters do, where Jews are barred from certain jobs and some imprisoned or hung on trumped up charges of contact with "Zionists".

Another journalistic sin of Mr Cohen's piece was his insistence to use Iran's supposed tolerant treatment of its remaining Jews as an excuse to take another of his nasty jabs at Israel. After all, Cohen tells us, perhaps Iran's threats to destroy the Jewish state are merely a "provocation to focus people on Israel's bomb, its 41 year occupation of the West Bank, its Hamas denial, its repetitive use of overwhelming force."

He then goes on to ignore the hard fact that Iran is behind Hamas as well as Hezbollah and most of the terrorism that currently confronts Israel , the very terrorism that frequently obliges Jerusalem to invoke its "overwhelming force".

Mr. Cohen also attacks "some American Jewish circles" for their "misleading and dangerous...'Mad Mullah' caricature of Iran".

In other words we really shouldn't worry about Iran's race to obtain a nuclear weapon — even though such a weapon would not only threaten Israel, but the rest of the world including the United States.

And as if to underscore its increasingly perverted sense of journalistic balance, today's NY Times runs a second Iran focused op-ed piece alongside that of Cohen's. This one by Iranian born journalist Ali Reza Esraghi is oddly entitled "Our Friend in Tehran" and urges President Barack Obama to stop wasting time and "seize the opportunity to shake the Iranian President (Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's) outstretched hand".

Lord protect us from the reputedly astute!

Amen to that, brother. The problem, as I see it, is that the reputedly astute have heads that have been filled to capacity with leftist malarkey. As a result, they often have a hard time recognizing—much less coming to terms with—the truth.

Posted by: scaramouche at 14:11 | link | comments

Angry tranny at “sexist” gym: The owner of a St. Catharines gym, through no fault of his own, has found himself ensnared in our province’s gloriously self-important and famously deranged “human rights” apparatus. From Canoe:

TORONTO - The owner of a St. Catharines, Ont., fitness club faces a mediation hearing Wednesday for allegedly denying a pre-operation transsexual access to the women's only areas of his gym.

The transsexual - now a woman, but a man at the time of the incident two years ago - is taking the case to the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario, John Fulton said Tuesday.

Fulton said it all started when he decided to open a women's only section at his fitness club.

"I ran a big ad in the paper and I got one call - it's from a guy," Fulton said. "I figured it was some guy wanting the special low rate."

A few days later, a woman came in, filled out all the paperwork and "just before she signed she said 'I want to be honest with you, I'm a guy,"' Fulton said.

Fulton said he wasn't sure what to do because his female clients might not be comfortable with a man in their changing room.

"To me it was not a big deal, I just don't know how my women would feel about having a guy showering with them." he said. "He still hadn't had his operation yet."

Fulton said he told the person he had to check how to handle the situation and make sure he wouldn't get sued by his female clients.

"Within the day, I was getting calls and members coming in and threatening to quit if I let this guy join," Fulton said.

Fulton said he called Human Rights and was told he had to let the man use the women's facilities.

But he said he couldn't get an answer on what his rights and the rights of his female clients are.

Then he got a letter from a lawyer asking for money and an apology, Fulton said.

"I never said no," said Fulton, "I was still looking into it."

The person has since had a sex change operation and she's now living in Ottawa, Fulton said.

Fulton said he hopes to use a section of the law dealing public decency in his defence at the hearing.

I don’t know what the big problemo is. Why can’t Ontario fitness establishments have three distinct sections—His, Hers, and Others? J

Posted by: scaramouche at 13:49 | link | comments

Plan One From the Inner Beltway: A witty Steyn correspondent on NRO's the Corner compares Obama’s “Community-Organizer-in-Chief” spiel yesterday to a famously bad movie:

I haven't heard dialogue that leaden since Edward D. Wood was producing, directing and writing his classic films. Plan Nine From Chicago. All Obama needs is a silk body suit, a tin foil helmet and a shower hat that's supposed to be a ray gun.

Steyn opines: “It'd be funny if the shower head wasn't shooting trillion-dollar bills . . .” Oh, heck, I think it’s funny even with the trillion-dollar bills. In a smiling-though-the apocalypse kind of way, of course.

Posted by: scaramouche at 13:31 | link | comments (1)

The only good Zionist is a dead Zionist?: Natan Sharansky crystallizes the "choice" facing Israel: "Live and be hated, or die and be loved."

I think his statement is only half correct. This time around (post-Holocaust, Part II) the world will likely celebrate the demise of millions of Jews (Israel being an evil colonialist occupational state and all) and won't even bother wallowing in their crocodile tears as they erect hollow monuments to Jewish victims.

Posted by: scaramouche at 12:48 | link | comments

Tuesday, 24 February 2009

This just in: There's to be no Israeli Apartheid Week this year at the University of Toronto, the place where it all started five years ago. The university says IAW organizers failed to complete the paperwork properly, but the "justice for Gaza" types (who are whinging, ranting and crying "foul" e'en as we speak) think that's a bunch of hooey. They say the university was just looking for an excuse to shut down the festivities (and who knows, they may be right). In any case, this is very good news—and a step in the right direction.

Update: I stand corrected. Apparently, U of T has not cancelled the event, but, due to the paperwork technicality, it will occur off campus, at a nearby lefty church.

Fine with me. I've long said that the problem with having these hatefests take place at august universities is that it lends them a credibility they don't deserve and wouldn't otherwise have were they held at, say, the local bowling alley. (Bowling for Jew-hate? Hey, it could work.)

Posted by: scaramouche at 23:31 | link | comments

Live from the Kennedy Centre: It seems things really have changed in Washington. For instance, instead of waging a “war on terror,” there’s been an effort to reach out and embrace Arabs and their “culture.” From AP:

WASHINGTON (AP) - Lebanese dancers, a Shakespeare production from Kuwait portraying Saddam Hussein as "Richard III" and incredible wedding dresses from the Arab world are showcased in an unprecedented arts festival opening at the Kennedy Center.

The $10 million, three-week festival, "Arabesque: Arts of the Arab World," began Monday. It will feature 800 artists from 22 different countries including Iraq, Lebanon, Egypt, Somalia and Sudan. Organizers say that makes it the largest presentation of Arab arts ever in the United States.

The hundreds of visual and performing artists, hailing from well-established theaters and more isolated places, "are excited that America is going to take their cultural work seriously," said Michael Kaiser, president of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. The goal, he said, is "to get to understand Arabs as people, as opposed to Arabs as political entities."

A 120-member children's choir from Syria struck Kaiser during some of his travels as the perfect fit for a U.S. audience, which may hold negative political images about Syria.

"When you see beautiful little children singing," he said, "it's very hard to think of those children as being evil."

Tickets are in high demand, with some performances selling out quickly. Some people have posted messages online saying they're willing to pay any price for certain shows. The festival's exhibits, though, are free, as well as many other performance each day. The events run through March 15.

Mimi Hassanein, of Brinklow, Md., called her friend at 7 a.m. Monday to drive the hour to Washington to be one of the first to see "Arabesque."

"I moved to the United States from Egypt 40 years ago," Hassanein said. "It's really exciting to see this is coming here. It's wonderful."

One of the hottest-selling tickets is a production from the only professional theater group in the Palestinian territories, the Al-Kasaba Theatre in Ramallah. "Alive from Palestine: Stories Under Occupation," a play that sparked controversy for its portrayal of Israelis in 2002 when it was presented at Yale University, features characters emerging from a pile of newspapers to tell their stories.

"The message of the play itself is that we are people like anybody else in the whole world," said George Ibrahim, the theater's artistic director. "We don't like to be a number of injured and dead people. ... We are just artists saying to the American people, please see our side."

Kennedy Center officials, who staged similar festivals focused on China and Japan in recent years, said they heard some complaints about including the Palestinian group but maintain it will promote dialogue…

“Dialogue”. Riiight.

Sorry I can’t attend, but I’ll be too busy drinking wine, singing “Hatikvah” and taking my big, black dog for a walk.

Update: Am I the only one wondering who's paying for this shindig, and if the behind-the-scenes backer happens to be the oily royal who hails from the same Arab nation as Mo Atta and most of the 9/11 attackers?

Posted by: scaramouche at 22:08 | link | comments

Durban II “anti-racists” to “adjudicate” the Holocaust: It’s looking more and more like the hopeychangey President---the choice of the vast majority of American Jews—will give his thumbs up to U.S. participation in the second international gangbang of the Jewish state, Durban II. This even though one of the items up for discussion at the UN conference is the veracity (or, to be more accurate, the falsity) of the Holocaust. While most of us know for certain—as certain as we are, say, that the Earth is round and orbits the sun—that the Holocaust is a grim historical fact, some of the “anti-racists” organizing the conference—I’m pretty sure you can guess which ones—are convinced that the whole thing is a Jewish confabulation. By drastically inflating the number of Jewish deaths, so the “thinking” goes, Jews were able to play on the worlds’ sympathy, and bamboozle it into granting them land that “rightfully” belongs now and for all time to the Palestinians. These “anti-racists” (who, in fact, are actually huge bigots themselves) are hoping to use the purported fiction of the first Holocaust against the world’s only Jewish state as a way to delegitimize it, and thereby justify a second Holocaust (which, I suppose, they would consider to be a first). Ingenious yet diabolical, no?

For any civilized nation, let alone the U.S., to agree to participate in this wicked theatre of the absurd defies understanding, and is contemptible beyond words.

Posted by: scaramouche at 21:42 | link | comments

He’s here, he’s clear, get used to it: Phyllis Chesler greats Geert the Great, who is visiting New York (my bolds):

…As I listened to Wilders’ speak, I wondered whether this time, the hero’s story will have a happy ending, or whether he will be delivered up to the jihadists , one way or the other, by dhimmi westerners who view what Wilders says about Islamic violence and hatred as “hate speech,” but who refuse to consider words uttered by Muslims in mosques, Islamic schools, and on the streets of Holland, such as “Kill the Jews,” “Stone the gays,” “Enslave all the women,” “Behead them all,” as hate speech.

MP Wilders embodies our Orwellian moment in history. Like Oriana Fallaci who, for years, had also been sued in several European countries for telling the truth about Islam and about Muslim immigration to Europe; like Salman Rushdie, who was forced to live in hiding and under police protection for years because of an Islamic fatwa against his life; like Ayaan Hirsi Ali, who has required round-the-clock protection due to Islamic death threats as well–Wilders has taken the same battle to a new level. (What is wrong with Holland? Theodore Van Gogh is dead, butchered by an unrepentant Islamist who insists that were he not in jail that he’d do the exact same thing. You can see him on camera inFitna.)

Wilders is not in hiding. He has not been exiled from, nor has he exiled himself from his native country. He is endangered, but he is also fighting back in some new ways.

Wilders has been sued in Holland for “hate speech.” He has also been characterized as an anti-immigration “racist,” as if anyone who dares question the Islamification of Europe and what it means for Western democracy is, by definition, a “right-wing” maniac as opposed to a civil libertarian and freedom-fighter.

Wilders hopes to introduce a version of the American First Amendment in Europe, (they have nothing like this), and to abolish the hate speech codes which, United Nations style, are only meant to silence those who criticize Islamist violence, including terrorism, and intolerance; it is not supposed to stop the Muslim violence or hatred or the left support for it.

Wilders made a brief film, Fitna. I’ve posted it at my blog several times. He has been absolutely unable to find a distributor for this film. “They are too afraid.”

We all watched it together again. This was the first time I’ve seen it on a big screen and it has real power. You may watch it HERE. The film is great, awe-inspiring.

Interspersed with lyrically chanted passages from the Qu’ran, we see familiar scenes of Islamic terrorist carnage in New York, Madrid, London. Bloody body parts are strewn everywhere, buses and cars are burned and twisted, we hear a frantic call to 911 from the Twin Towers. Then, after more Qu’ranic passages are chanted, we see a mullah or imam preaching fiery hatred: “We will rule the world, we will defeat and take over the world.” We see a Dutch Muslim explain that yes, if his mother or his sister have forbidden sex that he will kill them.” We see a young Arab girl, no more than three or four years old, explain that “Jews are descended from pigs and apes.”

The scenes of carnage are accompanied by the grave and beautiful music of Tchaikovsky’s “Arab Dance.”

Wilders-our-hero did not for one minute suggest that things were gloomy. For example, he and his political party are gaining in popularity in Holland. He joked that someday he may stand before us as Holland’s Prime Minister. He also said that Italy has embraced him and that he has been invited to show Fitna in the Italian Parliament. Wilders has even persuaded the Dutch Parliament to demand a review of the British deportation decision; unfortunately, the Dutch Prime Minister ignored this decision. “My own government is not in favor” of holding the British government accountable.

I will give Wilders the last words. “You cannot escape the dangers of ideologies that are out to destroy you. America might be the last man standing. And you might lose Europe as an ally…European leaders are giving in, giving up, selling out our values. We need your support.”

Posted by: scaramouche at 13:10 | link | comments (1)

Monday, 23 February 2009

Inspired hopeychangey thinking: Here's a brand spankin' new idea that's never been tried before--throw gazillions of dollars away on Gaza and the West Bank, because that's bound to fix everything.

Posted by: scaramouche at 19:50 | link | comments (2)

Gobsmacking ignorance in the New York Times: Roger Cohen writes that he’s pretty sure Iran has no intention of blowing Israel to Kingdom Come because Iranians are really nice to their own Jews:

Palestine Square, opposite a mosque called Al-Aqsa, is a synagogue where Jews of this ancient city gather at dawn. Over the entrance is a banner saying: “Congratulations on the 30th anniversary of the Islamic Revolution from the Jewish community of Esfahan.”

The Jews of Iran remove their shoes, wind leather straps around their arms to attach phylacteries and take their places. Soon the sinuous murmur of Hebrew prayer courses through the cluttered synagogue with its lovely rugs and unhappy plants. Soleiman Sedighpoor, an antiques dealer with a store full of treasures, leads the service from a podium under a chandelier.

I’d visited the bright-eyed Sedighpoor, 61, the previous day at his dusty little shop. He’d sold me, with some reluctance, a bracelet of mother-of-pearl adorned with Persian miniatures. “The father buys, the son sells,” he muttered, before inviting me to the service.

Accepting, I inquired how he felt about the chants of “Death to Israel” — “Marg bar Esraeel” — that punctuate life in Iran.

“Let them say ‘Death to Israel,’ ” he said. “I’ve been in this store 43 years and never had a problem. I’ve visited my relatives in Israel, but when I see something like the attack on Gaza, I demonstrate, too, as an Iranian.”

The Middle East is an uncomfortable neighborhood for minorities, people whose very existence rebukes warring labels of religious and national identity. Yet perhaps 25,000 Jews live on in Iran, the largest such community, along with Turkey’s, in the Muslim Middle East. There are more than a dozen synagogues in Tehran; here in Esfahan a handful caters to about 1,200 Jews, descendants of an almost 3,000-year-old community.

Over the decades since Israel’s creation in 1948, and the Islamic Revolution of 1979, the number of Iranian Jews has dwindled from about 100,000. But the exodus has been far less complete than from Arab countries, where some 800,000 Jews resided when modern Israel came into being.

In Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, Egypt and Iraq — countries where more than 485,000 Jews lived before 1948 — fewer than 2,000 remain. The Arab Jew has perished. The Persian Jew has fared better.

Of course, Israel’s unfinished cycle of wars has been with Arabs, not Persians, a fact that explains some of the discrepancy.

Still a mystery hovers over Iran’s Jews. It’s important to decide what’s more significant: the annihilationist anti-Israel ranting, the Holocaust denial and other Iranian provocations — or the fact of a Jewish community living, working and worshipping in relative tranquillity.

Perhaps I have a bias toward facts over words, but I say the reality of Iranian civility toward Jews tells us more about Iran — its sophistication and culture — than all the inflammatory rhetoric.

That may be because I’m a Jew and have seldom been treated with such consistent warmth as in Iran. Or perhaps I was impressed that the fury over Gaza, trumpeted on posters and Iranian TV, never spilled over into insults or violence toward Jews. Or perhaps it’s because I’m convinced the “Mad Mullah” caricature of Iran and likening of any compromise with it to Munich 1938 — a position popular in some American Jewish circles — is misleading and dangerous…

The mullahs are indeed mad, Roger, but as devout literalists they are far likelier to have a problem with the uppity ape ‘n’ pig Zionist entity which presumes to exist on land squared away long ago (or so it was thought) for Dar al Islam. Further, the Jews under their rule are “dhimmis”—non-uppity, non-sovereign (and certainly not sovereign over any Muslims) Jews, a subject people who know their place within an Islamic society, and know to defer to their “betters”.

That’s “dhimmi,” spelled d-h-i-m-m-i, Roger. You might want to look it up one of these days.

Update: The Jewish Virtual Library begs to differ about the purported warmth and civility:

...Despite the official distinction between "Jews," "Zionists," and "Israel," the most common accusation the Jews encounter is that of maintaining contacts with Zionists. The Jewish community does enjoy a measure of religious freedom but is faced with constant suspicion of cooperating with the Zionist state and with "imperialistic America" — both such activities are punishable by death. Jews who apply for a passport to travel abroad must do so in a special bureau and are immediately put under surveillance. The government does not generally allow all members of a family to travel abroad at the same time to prevent Jewish emigration. Again, the Jews live under the status of dhimmi, with the restrictions im posed on religious minorities. Jewish leaders fear government reprisals if they draw attention to official mistreatment of their community.

Iran's official government-controlled media often issues anti-Semitic propaganda. A prime example is the government's publishing of the Protocols of the Elders of Zion, a notorious Czarist forgery, in 1994 and 1999.2 Jews also suffer varying degrees of officially sanctioned discrimination, particularly in the areas of employment, education, and public accommodations.3

The Islamization of the country has brought about strict control over Jewish educational institutions. Before the revolution, there were some 20 Jewish schools functioning throughout the country. In recent years, most of these have been closed down. In the remaining schools, Jewish principals have been replaced by Muslims. In Teheran there are still three schools in which Jewish pupils constitute a majority. The curriculum is Islamic, and Persian is forbidden as the language of instruction for Jewish studies. Special Hebrew lessons are conducted on Fridays by the Orthodox Otzar ha-Torah organization, which is responsible for Jewish religious education. Saturday is no longer officially recognized as the Jewish sabbath, and Jewish pupils are compelled to attend school on that day. There are three synagogues in Teheran, but since 1994, there has been no rabbi in Iran, and the bet din does not function. 4

Following the overthrow of the shah and the declaration of an Islamic state in 1979, Iran severed relations with Israel. The country has subsequently supported many of the Islamic terrorist organizations that target Jews and Israelis, particularly the Lebanon-based, Hezbollah. Nevertheless, Iran's Jewish community is the largest in the Middle East outside Israel.

On the eve of Passover in 1999, 13 Jews from Shiraz and Isfahan in southern Iran were arrested and accused of spying for Israel and the United States. Those arrested include a rabbi, a ritual slaughterer and teachers. In September 2000, an Iranian appeals court upheld a decision to imprison ten of the thirteen Jews accused of spying for Israel. In the appeals court, ten of the accused were found guilty of cooperating with Israel and were given prison terms ranging from two to nine years. Three of the accused were found innocent in the first trial.5 In March 2001, one of the imprisoned Jews was released, a second was freed in January 2002, the remaining eight were set free in late October 2002. The last five apparently were released on furlough for an indefinite period, leaving them vulnerable to future arrest. Three others were reportedly pardoned by Iran's Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.6

At least 13 Jews have been executed in Iran since the Islamic revolution 19 years ago, most of them for either religious reasons or their connection to Israel. For example, in May 1998, Jewish businessman Ruhollah Kakhodah-Zadeh was hanged in prison without a public charge or legal proceeding, apparently for assisting Jews to emigrate.7

Today, Iran's Jewish population is the second largest in the Middle East, after Israel. Reports vary as to the condition and treatment of the small, tight-knit community, and the population of Iranian Jews can only be estimated due to the community’s isolation from world Jewry.

Posted by: scaramouche at 19:23 | link | comments

Judenhass karaoke: Union boss Sid “Vicious” Ryan sings a lilting melody from The Sound of Music:

Judenhass,

Judenhass:

That’s a charge I reject now.

Can’t you see

Tyranny

Israeli’s in effect now?

Making up lists of some Zionists

Zionists in Toronto.

Judenhass,

Want that Jew state gone pronto…

It’s time for him to shut his (von) Trapp, wouldn’t you say?

Posted by: scaramouche at 14:59 | link | comments

“Hate speech” laws inconsistently applied, enable sharia: So saith “far-right Islamophobe” Geert Wilders, a sentiment seconded in the American Thinker by Andrew Bostom:

Dutch Parliamentarian Geert Wilders will be in the United States this week, arriving direct from Italy where he received the Oriana Fallaci Free Speech Award.

During his acceptance speech, Wilders implored the audience in Rome to protect our most fundamental Western freedom, freedom of speech. Wilders expressed this commitment-contra the willful media distortions of his views-in this pellucid formulation:

That is why I propose the withdrawal of all hate speech legislation in Europe. I propose a European First Amendment. Freedom of speech is the keystone of our Western civilization, it is the keystone of our democracies and the keystone of our freedom. That is why freedom of speech should be extended instead of restricted. Salman Rushdie's ‘The Satanic Verses', Ayaan Hirsi Ali's and Theo van Gogh's film ‘Submission', Kurt Westergaard's cartoons and my documentary ‘Fitna' should never be banned, but should be protected. As George Orwell once said: "If liberty means anything at all, it means the right to tell people what they do not want to hear".

Earlier, while calling the Koran hate speech with specific reference to the Dutch Penal Code, Wilders was simply asking for consistent application of the Dutch law. And, like Winston Churchill (who wrote that Mein Kampf was "...the new Koran of faith and war: turgid, verbose, shapeless, but pregnant with its message"), Wilders compared the Koran to Mein Kampf, and called it hate speechaccording to the Dutch Penal Code.

Wilders' demand for consistency,recalls the Calcutta Quran Petition of the 1980s. Like his Hindu predecessors, Wilders was fed up with Muslim abuse of similar Indian laws, and simply saying if one bans hate speech, in accord with existing Dutch Law, then the Koran is hate speech. The Calcutta Quran Petition chronicled how it was the abuse of hate speech laws by Muslims seeking to impose Sharia mandates on non-Muslim majorities that was the source of the problem.

As described in the Calcutta Quran Petition, two Hindus were arrested -- under Indian penal code sections exploited by Muslims to prevent public criticism of Muhammad or other aspects of their creed -- for publishing a poster which simply cited 24 Koranic verses (see them below*), with a caption, "Why riots take place in this country." In this landmark case, the Hindus were eventually acquitted by a sober magistrate who opined,

...a close perusal of the Ayats [verses] shows that that the same are harmful and teach hatred, and are likely to create differences between Mohammedans on one hand and the remaining communities on the other.

Geert Wilders is opposed to all hate speech laws, as he stated explicitly on February 19, 2009 in Rome, and previously, here: "Everything should be possible except to issue calls for violence." It is well past time for the media-across the political spectrum-to stop their grotesque mischaracterization of Wilders' unequivocal defense of free speech. But demonizing Wilders, and imposing de facto limitations on his free speech criticism of Islam-not matter how reasonable his concerns may be-is a task for which our craven, lemming-like media elites are far better suited.

Craven; lemming-like: I couldn’t have said it better myself.

Posted by: scaramouche at 13:51 | link | comments

What Sid Ryan has in common with al Qaeda’ #2: They both have a big problem with “Zionism.” But while Sid prefers to go the “BDS” route (boycott/divest/sanction; or bully/defame/slander), the Jew-hater with the forehead prayer icky is hoping to take his Judenhass on the road. From the Jerusalem Post:

Al-Qaida's No. 2 warned Palestinians in Gaza against accepting a truce with Israel in an audio message posted on extremist Web sites, an Internet monitoring service said Monday.

Egyptian-born Ayman al-Zawahri said "Israel's Arab aides" are trying to impose a truce in Gaza to defeat the Palestinians and he called on them to be steadfast while Jewish targets are attacked around the world.

"The jihad to liberate Palestine and all the homelands of Islam mustn't cease, and if the field tightens in one place, it widens in other places, and Crusader and Jewish targets are spread all over the world," he said in a transcript of the speech provided by the US-based SITE Intelligence Group, which monitors Islamic extremist Web sites.

Al-Zawahri described ongoing negotiations for a cease-fire in the Gaza Strip as "plots and conspiracies" to defeat the Palestinians after Israel's "aircraft and artillery" failed.

Al-Zawahri said Islamic terrorists would help the Palestinians by mounting attacks everywhere, "for the entire world is our field against the targets of the Zionist Crusade."

The recording, which focused primarily on Islamic militant successes in Somalia, was the third al-Zawahri has posted this year dealing with the recent Israeli offensive in Gaza. The terror network's chief, Osama bin Laden, also issued an audio message on Gaza in January, urging Muslims to launch a jihad against Israel…

Sid’s is more of a pogrom than a jihad, but the short-term goal of both—i.e. Israel’s destruction—is the same.

Posted by: scaramouche at 13:10 | link | comments

What a shame: Waltz with Bashir, the Israeli "anti-war" flick that's a particular favourite of peace-monger Shimon Peres, did not pick up the Oscar for Best Foreign Film.

Posted by: scaramouche at 12:14 | link | comments

Coming soon to a multiplex near you: Guy Sorman, a “French philosopher” (that’s how he’s billed in the Globe and Mail) endeavours to explode the mystique surrounding Cuban thug, Che Guevara. Che has been given the full Hollywood treatment in a film that may well turn out to be this year’s Milk (much acclaimed; little seen):

PARIS — Hollywood history is often nonsensical, but filmmakers usually have the good sense not to whitewash killers and sadists. Steven Soderbergh's new film about Che Guevara, however, does that – and more.

Che the revolutionary romantic, as depicted by Benicio Del Toro in Mr. Soderbergh's film, never existed. That hero of the left, with his hippie hair and beard, an image now iconic on T-shirts and coffee mugs around the world, is a myth concocted by Fidel Castro's propagandists – something of a cross between Don Quixote and Robin Hood.

Like those tall tales, Fidel's myth of Che bears a superficial resemblance to historical facts, but the real story is far darker. Some Robin Hood probably did brutalize the rich and, to cover his tracks, give some of his loot to the poor. In medieval Spain, Quixote-like knights probably did roam the countryside, ridding it not of dragons but of the few remaining Muslims.

The same goes for the legendary Che. No teenager in rebellion against the world or his parents seems able to resist Che's alluring image. Just wearing a Che T-shirt is the shortest and cheapest way to appear to be on the right side of history.

What works for teenagers also seems to work with forever-young movie directors. In the 1960s, the Che look, with beard and beret, was at least a glib political statement. Today, it is little more than a fashion accoutrement that inspires a big-budget Hollywood epic. Are Che theme parks next?

But once there was a real Che, born Ernesto Guevara de la Serna: He is less well-known than the fictional puppet that has replaced reality. The true Che was a more significant figure than his fictional clone, for he was the incarnation of what revolution and Marxism really meant in the 20th century.

Che was no humanist. No Communist leader, indeed, ever held humanist values. Karl Marx certainly was not one. True to their movement's founding prophet, Joseph Stalin, Mao Zedong and Che held no respect for life; neither does Fidel Castro. Blood needed to be shed if a better world was to be baptized. When criticized by one of his early companions for the death of millions during the Chinese revolution, Mao observed that countless Chinese die every day, so what did it matter?

Likewise, Che could kill with a shrug. Trained as a doctor in Argentina, he chose not to save lives but to suppress them. After he seized power, Che put to death 500 “enemies” of the revolution without trial, or even much discrimination.

Fidel, no humanist himself, did his best to neutralize Che by appointing him minister for industry. As could be expected, Che applied Soviet policies to the Cubans: Agriculture was destroyed and ghost factories dotted the landscape. He did not care about Cuba's economy or its people; his purpose was to pursue revolution for its own sake, whatever it meant, like art for art's sake.

Indeed, without his ideology, Che would have been nothing more than another serial killer. Ideological sloganeering allowed him to kill in larger numbers than any serial killer could imagine, and all in the name of justice. Five centuries ago, Che probably would have been one of those priest/soldiers exterminating Latin America's natives in the name of God. In the name of history, Che, too, saw murder as a necessary tool of a noble cause.

But suppose we judge this Marxist hero by his own criteria: Did he actually transform the world? The answer is yes – but for the worse. The Communist Cuba he helped to forge is an unmitigated failure, much more impoverished and much less free than it was before its “liberation.” Despite the social reforms the left likes to trumpet about Cuba, its literacy rate was higher before Fidel came to power, and racism against the black population was less pervasive. Indeed, Cuba's leaders today are far more likely to be white than they were in Fulgencio Batista's day.

Beyond Cuba, the Che myth has inspired thousands of students and activists across Latin America to lose their lives in foolhardy guerrilla struggles. The left, inspired by the siren call of Che, chose armed struggle instead of elections. By doing so, it opened the way to military dictatorship. Latin America is not yet cured of these unintended consequences of Guevarism...

Guevara’s acclaim, I’ve often said, marks the triumph of optics over substance. Sort of like what happened with Barack Obama. (The unintended consequences of his mystique have yet to fully unfold).

My pithy letter:

Che Guevara lived fast, died young, and left a good looking corpse--or at least, a good looking poster. Had he had the misfortune to look like some of the other high-profile Communists of his era--say, like Nikita Kruschchev or Leonid Brezhnev--instead of like, well, Benicio Del Toro, trust me, no one would be walking around with his image on their t-shirt, and he would have faded into obscurity (where he rightly belongs) long ago.

Posted by: scaramouche at 12:01 | link | comments

A pox on both their houses: Amnesty International wants the UN to embargo both Israel and the Palestinians.

I suppose we should be thankful it isn't being as one-sided as, say, Sid Ryan.

Update: Hamas insists that AI's position, being balanced, is "unbalanced."

Posted by: scaramouche at 11:42 | link | comments

Sunday, 22 February 2009

Achtung!: In light of this, CUPE Ontario's despicable decision to join the international pogrom/gangbang of the Jewish state (score one for Sid Vicious and his union stormtroopers), I am posting this, an open letter which sets the thug straight about the true nature of his "boycott".

Update: The bitter irony of it all, of course, is that far too many Israeli academics, being useful idiots themselves, see the Palestinian-Israel issue through the same prism as vicious Sid, and are every bit as nasty about Israel and Zionism as he is. Did they really think their political leanings would preclude their being targeted by the Jew-haters? If so, then these smarties, quite simply, are clueless--like those assimilated German Jews before them, who thought they could curry favour with their countrymen by damning the "Ostjuden," the overty Jewish-looking and acting Jews from Poland and other East European countries who had flooded into Germany. The German Jews found out soon enough that it's only Jews who make distinctions between Jews (observant/non-observant; left/right; Zionist/anti-Zionist). To the Jew-haters, we're all the same.

Posted by: scaramouche at 23:17 | link | comments

Meanwhile back in Palestine…: Today’s fun ‘n’ games, from albawaba (not to be confused with one hit wonder Chumbawamba):

Hamas is demanding that Fatah in the West Bank release hundreds of Hamas detainees ahead of reconciliation talks later this week. According to the AP, Gaza government spokesman Taher Nunu called Sunday for the "immediate release of all political prisoners."

Fatah officials said the talks are to be held Wednesday and Thursday in Cairo.
Efforts to form a Hamas-Fatah unity government have failed in the past.

Meanwhile, five Palestinians were killed on Sunday when a tunnel used for smuggling between the Gaza Strip and Egypt collapsed on top of them, medics said. According to AFP, the victims were between the ages of 17 and 25, they said. The tunnels were thought to have collapsed after torrential downpours that hit the region over the last several days.

And, oh yeah, even though there’s a “ceasefire,” they’re still firing rockets from Gaza into Israel.

Posted by: scaramouche at 22:01 | link | comments

Chutzpah beyond compare: The Ceeb--you know, the al Jazeera with hockey that serves as the Arab TV station's farm team, and whose former employees/now Major Leaguers (Jew-boys Tony B. and Avi L.) are trying to persuade the nation's broadcasting regulators to allow the Ceeb without hockey to be beamed into Canada--isn't content with the cool $1 bill it purloins from taxpayers each year. Outrageously, in a time of recession and global economic meltdown, it wants more, more, more.

Update: Could this be the Ceeb's new theme song?

Posted by: scaramouche at 21:41 | link | comments

Splodiation in Cairo: They were targeting foreign tourists—again. From AP:

A bomb exploded Sunday in a well-known bazaar in medieval Cairo, killing a Frenchwoman and wounding at least 17 people, most of them foreign tourists, officials said.

Within an hour, the police had tracked down a second bomb and detonated it safely, an official said.

A medic on the scene said that all the wounded were taken to a nearby hospital and that the Frenchwoman died of her wounds in the intensive care unit.

The Khan el-Khalili bazaar is always filled with tourists. It was last attacked in April 2005, when a suicide bomber killed two French citizens and an American.

The blast Sunday outside a café sent panicked worshipers from the nearby Hussein mosque.

"I was praying and there was a big boom, and people started panicking and rushing out of the mosque, then the police came and sealed the main door, evacuating us out of the back," said Mohammed Abdel Azim, 56, who was inside the historic mosque. Outside, blood stained the marble paving stones...

Today it’s the kafirs, but tomorrow, if you’re insufficiently devout, or if you’re the wrong kind of devout (i.e. Sunni instead of Shia), it may well be you, Mohammed.

Posted by: scaramouche at 21:19 | link | comments

Spelling it out: My brilliant, beautiful and unbelievably sweet niece is a contestant in the CanWest national spelling competition. One of the words that may or may not make an appearance during the course of this year’s mano a mano challenge is “simulacrum”. It’s a particular favourite of mine (along with scintilla, chrysalis and serendipitous, although I’m sure those ones are too easy for these young whizzes).

Here, I’ll put it in a sentence: An EU “court” offering "compensation" to out-and-out jihadi terror-monger Abu Qatada (not to be confused with Muppet fairy-in-training Abby Cadabby) because his “human rights” were supposedly violated when the Brits finally got their act together and sent him packing back to Jordan is a “simulacrum”—and makes a mockery--of human rights.

Posted by: scaramouche at 20:51 | link | comments

Renaissance man?: In a perfect example of media besottedness, MSNBC refers to Obama's ecomomic and political efforts as "artistry."

Yeah, he's a regular Leonardo da Vinci--rolled into one.

Posted by: scaramouche at 15:47 | link | comments

Go, Kay!: The Post's Jonathan Kay pillories Iggy fart catcher and CJC main squeeze Warroom Catsella for trying to silence Kathy Shaidle--and gives a call out to my blogging amiga Blazing Cat Fur; way to go, Blazes!

Posted by: scaramouche at 15:41 | link | comments

Young, horny, and dead: Following some illicit hanky-panky in Multan, Pakistan, the two parties involved got a good talking to...before a decapitor proceded to slice off their reckless heads.

That'll teach 'em.

Posted by: scaramouche at 15:31 | link | comments

Sudan's bait and switch: The regime responsible for the Darfur genocide wants the International Criminal Court to turn from dealing with the savagery in Sudan and tackle Israel's "war crimes" in Gaza instead. From AP via the New York Times:

CAIRO (AP) -- Sudan's president is seeking Egypt's help to ''delay or halt'' the International Criminal Court from issuing an arrest warrant for his role in suppressing the Darfur rebellion, Sudan's ambassador to Cairo said Sunday.

Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir traveled to Cairo and held talks with his Egyptian counterpart about Darfur, where a six-year rebellion by ethnic Africans against the Arab-dominated government has claimed 300,000 lives.

Egypt has voiced support for the Sudanese government in the past, warning of instability in Sudan if the Hague-based ICC decides to issue an arrest warrant for al-Bashir.

''The repercussions will be dangerous on Darfur, in particular, and in Sudan in general and on the U.N.-AU peacekeeping forces,'' warned presidential spokesman Suleiman Awwad after the meeting.

Egypt cannot directly affect the decision of the ICC, but a number of countries have called on the court to delay issuing the arrest warrant for al-Bashir called for by prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo.

Awwad also said that the ICC should distance itself from ''politicization and selectivity,'' and noting that a country like Israel should be receiving a similar treatment over its killing of Palestinians during the recent assault on Gaza Strip.

Sudanese ambassador Abdel Moneim Mabrouk told The Associated Press that Egypt wasn't the only country lobbying the court to not issue the warrant.

''Egypt along with other Arab and African countries are working in the Security Council to either delay or halt it,'' he said.

Awwad, however, indicated that those efforts might not be producing much results with the Security Council.

''Talks inside the Security Council are not promising,'' he said…

Quel dommage. But you can see where the dude is coming from. After all, what's a palty 300,000 dead in Sudan (a conservative estimate; some put the figure closer to 2,000,000) compared to the immense number of Gazans killed by Jews?

Posted by: scaramouche at 15:09 | link | comments

The future belongs to Islam: You would think being hauled in front of a B.C. kangaroo court and severely admonished by Mother Superior Barbara Hall would be enough to make “Islamophobe” Mark Steyn put a sock (or a Sock Puppet) in it about our globe’s alarming demography. But noooo. Here he is bellyaching once more (and thank God for that) about Islam’s booming birth rate and the West’s increasing capitulation to angry Muslims. (Funny how the two go hand-in-hand):

In his first TV interview as president, Barack Obama told viewers of al-Arabiya TV that he wanted to restore the “same respect and partnership that America had with the Muslim world as recently as 20 or 30 years ago.” I’m not sure quite what golden age he’s looking back to there — the Beirut barracks slaughter? the embassy hostages? — but the point is, it’s very hard to turn back the clock. Because the facts on the ground change, and change remorselessly. Even in 30 years. Between 1970 and 2000, the developed world declined from just under 30 percent of the global population to just over 20 percent, while the Muslim world increased from 15 percent to 20 percent. And in 2030, it won’t even be possible to re-take that survey, because by that point half the “developed world“ will itself be Muslim: In Bradford — as in London, Amsterdam, Brussels, and almost every other western European city from Malmo to Marseilles — the principal population growth comes from Islam. Thirty years ago, in the Obama golden age, a British documentary-maker was so horrified by the “honor killing” of a teenage member of the House of Saud at the behest of her father, the king’s brother, that he made a famous TV film about it, Death Of A Princess. The furious Saudis threatened a trade boycott with Britain over this unwanted exposure. Today, we have honor killings not just in Saudi Arabia and Pakistan, but in Germany, Scandinavia, Britain, Toronto, Dallas, and Buffalo. And they barely raise an eyebrow.

Along with the demographic growth has come radicalization: It’s not just that there are more Muslims, but that, within that growing population, moderate Islam is on the decline — in Singapore, in the Balkans, in northern England — and radicalized, Arabized, Wahhabized Islam is on the rise. So we have degrees of accommodation: surrender in Islamabad, appeasement in London, acceptance in Toronto and Buffalo.

And we also have angry mobs of Jew-haters (who police can't or won't control) screaming “Jewish children gonna f**king die!” and smashing up the local Starbucks (because they think it’s a “Jewish” company).

Update: As George Jonas points out in the National Post, it isn't just the numbers; it's the amount of noise the radical minority is prepared to make (the squeaky, freaky wheel getting the grease, and all that):

It isn't silent majorities that drive things, but vocal minorities. Don't count heads; count decibels. All entities -- the United States, the Western world, the Arab street --have prevailing moods, and it's prevailing moods that define aggregates at any given time. Nuances? Those who don't see the wood for the trees love nuances, but it's the big picture that matters.

America had isolationists galore in the 1930s, but the country's defining mood was engagement, not isolation. The U. S. even had Nazi sympathizers, especially before Pearl Harbor, but what defined America wasn't Colonel Charles "Lucky" Lindbergh's infatuation with the Luftwaffe, it was Lend-Lease and the transatlantic alliance. During the same period, Germans allowed themselves to be defined by the Nazis, even though two out of three Germans voted against the Fuhrer in the last free election held in the Weimar Republic. Some nuance, two out of three -- yet with the zeitgeist coinciding with Hitler, the Nazis could still hijack Germany.

The Soviet regime that defined Russia for nearly three generations had even less support: While three Germans in 10 supported the Nazis, probably fewer than two out of 10 Russians supported the Bolshevik or "majority" Communists. But in 1917 the Bolsheviks had the decibels. They were the zeitgeist, the liveliest bucking horse for Lenin and his successors to mount for their eight seconds of historic time, until the Red Quadruped pitched the last of them in 1991.

Taking a nuanced view of Islam today makes about as much sense as taking a nuanced view of Germany under Hitler or Russia under Stalin would have made. If Islam were a musical piece, no matter how richly orchestrated, right now we'd hear no harp or flute, only crashing cymbals. The fact that Islam is a religion of peace and compassion for many, a peaceful and compassionate pilgrim, is immaterial as long as the spirit in the Arab/Muslim world is hostage to militants who regard Christians as "crusaders," and Jews as pigs and monkeys...

Posted by: scaramouche at 14:00 | link | comments

Oscar's most embarrassing night: Was it only a decade ago that then-Brat-Packer Rob Lowe got together with a helium-voiced Snow White to deliver, bar none, the most wretched, over-the-top opening number in Oscar history?

Why, yes, yes it was. And now, thanks to the magic of youtube, you can relive every horrible, overblown moment (featuring--who even remembered?--Merv Griffin, Roy Rogers and Dale Evans, Vincent Price, and the lovely Miss Dorothy Lamour).

Hugh Jackman--you have a lot to live up to tonight.

Posted by: scaramouche at 13:34 | link | comments

The goal of "soul": Toronto's hard-lefty rag NOW Magazine (free for the taking, and worth every penny) has a piece about several local singers who've gotten together to warble "soul for Gaza." The event's co-sponsor is Palestine House, a delightful "cultural" enterprise which, as you can see from the map beside its address at the bottom of its home page, considers "Palestine" to take in not only the territories of Gaza and the West Bank, but all of Israel as well.

Since I won't be attending this evening of "soul," I have decided to revamp the most soulful recording I know--Otis Redding's version of "Try a Little Tenderness." This one goes out to all the soulful folks (with a special shout out to Ontario CUPE Fuhrer, Sid "Vicious" Ryan) who are working so hard to ensure that the Palestine House map becomes a reality:

Oh, they may be weary.

Young men they do get weary (yeah, yeah)

Ragin’ and makin’ a great fuss.

But when they get weary

Try a little Judenhass (yeah, yeah).

You know they’re waiting

Just anticipating

For the right, right, right, right kind of stimulus.

But stop your waiting

Try a little Judenhass (that’s all you gotta do).

It isn’t incidental (yeah, yeah, yeah).

Is it fair Jews have this fate? (no, no, no)

But the crazed words they speak are so mental

It makes it easier, easier to hate (yeah).

Not a single one regrets it (no, no).

And Durban II abets it.

“Get rid of Israel: Discuss.”

And it’s all so easy,

All you gotta do is try, try a little Judenhass ...

Posted by: scaramouche at 12:55 | link | comments

Saturday, 21 February 2009

A fury, er, flurry of activity: Poking around on the Canadian Arab Federation website I found this, a list of the anti-Zionist organization’s activities for the months of June and July, 2007. It offers a snapshot of what this group—which currently receives public money (although perhaps not for much longer)—is all about:

RELEASED August 8, 2007

CAF Participated at a press conference in Hamilton The press conference was held on June 1st and it was held to condemn the Jewish National Fund’s fundraising event featuring Colin Powell.

CAF screened a documentary at Dalhousie University in Halifax The documentary “Jerusalem: An Occupation Set in Stone” was screened and followed by a statement about the Forty Year Anniversary of the illegal occupation and the crimes committed by Israel.

CAF spoke at a rally to commemorate 40th anniversary of Israel’s occupation The rally was held on June 10th and it opposed Israel’s illegal occupation of East Jerusalem, theWest Bank, Gaza and the Golan Heights.

CAF attended meeting at Police Division 23 with representatives of Somali community The meeting took place on June 11th and it addressed concerns of the Somali community.

CAF was interviewed on CBC Newsworld TV. The interview took place on June 16th and it discussed the Forty Year of illegal occupation.

CAF conducted an Interview with Radio Canada International The interview on June 18th dealt with the topic of Israeli Occupation of Palestine.

CAF met with officers from Police Hate Crimes Unit The meeting on June 20th expressed concerns regarding the Fraser Institute Conference that was planned in Toronto for June 28-29.

CAF attended the American Anti-Discrimination Committee’s annual conference The conference discussed challenges faced by the Arab communities living in North America.

CAF attended the fundraiser of the Society for the Protection of Nature in Lebanon The fundraiser was held on June 28th to raise funds to support conservation of marine habitat.

CAF screened a second documentary at Dalhousie University Student Union Building On June 28th, CAF showed the CBC documentary ‘Canada Park’ on the 40th Anniversary of the destruction of the villages of Imwas, Yalu and Beit Nuba.

CAF contacted the Vancouver Straight On June 29th CAF provided a document outlining the statements by Israeli leaders about their planning and effecting the 1967 June war.

CAF attended and spoke at a banquet organized by the Somali community On June 30th the banquet took place to celebrate Somalia’s Independence Day.

CAF corresponded with CBC News On July 17th, CAF contacted CBC News regarding their interview with the Israeli Ambassador to the U.S.

CAF participated in the Third Annual Canadian Islamic Cultural Expo On July 28, the Expo took place celebrating the contributions Canadian Muslims have made towards the enrichment of Canada’s multicultural and social fabric.

That about says it all, don’t you think? This is an organization obsessed—obsessed—with Israel, and far more concerned about casting aspersions on it than in representing the interests of Canadian Arabs in our “multicultural and social fabric.”

Update: In a letter to the National Post, Bernie Farber, CEO of the CJC, expresses some concerns about the CAF’s, um, direction (in both senses of the word):

I applaud Immigration Minister Jason Kenney for his recommendation to cut federal funding to the Canadian Arab Federation (CAF).

Canadian Jewish Congress (CJC) worked with the CAF in the past on matters of mutual concern and had proper relations with current president Khaled Mouammar's predecessors -- reasonable interlocutors with whom we could respectfully agree to disagree. But Mr. Mouammar has long been singularly focused on international issues involving Jews and Israel. Under his leadership, the CAF has focused on his radical personal agenda rather than on the needs of the main-stream Arab community in Canada.

In recent years, Mr. Mouammar lobbied the Canadian government to remove Hezbollah from its list of terrorist organizations; condemned police chiefs and aboriginal leaders for travelling to Israel; and supported a complaint to the Ontario government claiming former Ontario minister Monte Kwinter was "a de facto agent of a foreign country" because he asked Ontario police chiefs to participate in a trip to Israel. He was linked by a Canadian Press story to the circulation by e-mail of a flyer during the 2006 Liberal leadership convention targeting candidate Bob Rae's wife for her involvement with CJC. During Israel's recent conflict with Hamas, the CAF, under Mr. Mouammar's leadership, circulated cartoons showing Israeli politicians bathing in and drinking the blood of Gazans.

And when Minister Kenney called on the CAF to condemn the anti-Semitism of some Canadian protesters at recent anti-Israel rallies, Mr. Mouammar referred to Mr. Kenney as a "professional whore," presumably for his support of Israel's fight against terrorism.

Clearly, there is no reason to mention the affiliation of an aspiring national political leader's wife with CJC other than to make sure people know she is a Jew. There is no reason to call a highly respected provincial politician a "de facto agent of a foreign country" that happens to be Israel other than to point out that he is a Jew. Decrying the participation of public figures with Jews in anything associated with Israel only means one thing.

Mr. Mouammar, hoist on his own petard, may try to play Mr. Kenney's decision as abuse of power by a thin-skinned politician. Nonsense. Under Mr. Mouammar's leadership, the CAF has shown poor judgment and disgraceful behaviour. It is entitled to do all of these things within the limits of the law, but not with support from the public purse.

If the CAF wants to keep receiving public monies to help new Canadians, it should reflect Canadian values, not those of a myopic leader intent on spreading his own narrow worldview.

Let’s see, according to Wikipedia, Khaled Mouammar “was elected to the post in early 2006 and “was also president in the 1970s, and again from 1980 to 1982.” That means that, along with being one of his own predecessors, so to speak, Mouammar was at the helm during the hectic summer of ’07, when all the frantic Israel-bashing activities listed above were taking place. Given that, one might have expected Mr. Farber to raise objections about the CAF’s rabid anti-Zionism waaaay before the “Kenney is a whore” brouhaha. But no doubt, having agreed to disagree for the sake of their common goals (state censorship via the HRCs; public funding for their religious schools) Bernie was more than keen to swallow his concerns.

Oh, and by the by, one of Mouammar’s other predecessors (when he wasn’t preceding himself, that is) was Raja Khouri. Mr. Khouri , as befits the former head of an honoured CHRC “stakeholder,” is currently a commissioner with the censorious Babsy Hall’s “human rights” outfit.

Update: In an e-mail I received the other day, security expert David Harris itemized some of the CAF’s more disturbing activities. You’ll note that several of them pre-date Khaled Mouammar’s term, and occurred during the time of his purportedly more "reasonable interlocuters”:

The Canadian Arab Federation (CAF):

(1) fought a major, public campaign to stop the federal government from banning Hamas and Hezbollah in Canada

(2) now lobbies hard to have those organizations removed from Canada's list of terrorist organizations

(3) gave a special, highly-publicized award to Mr. Zafar Bangash as part of its Fortieth Anniversary celebration in 2007. Bangash is the notorious founder-editor of Canada's Crescent International radical-Islamist newspaper. The paper's editorial line is that (per Stewart Bell, "Call to jihad from a Markham Strip Mall," National Post, 6 April 2002):

(a) 9/11 was a success;

(b) we need to have Iranian-style theocracy spread, worldwide (presumably, into Canada);

(c) Canada is a "fully paid-up member of the Anglo-Saxon mafia, which is responsible for most of the recorded genocides in the world" (16 Feb 1998 edition); and,

(d) the "Global Islamic Movement" must battle Western "disbelievers"

(4) sentits Vice-President, Mr. Ali Mallah (also a Vice-President of CUPE), in 2007 to a conference convened in Cairo by the radical Muslim Brotherhood and attended by important Hamas and Hezbollah leaders. The conference demanded "unconditional support of all forces of resistance … in Palestine, Iraq, and Lebanon".

(5) had CAF Vice-President Mallah complain that "we" – apparently meaning the Taliban – "have lost Afghanistan." "And God forbid, if we don't get our act together, we may lose more." (26 October 2006.)

(6) in January, distributed its (CAF) bulletin containing links to videos glorifying banned terrorist organizations such as Hezbollah and Hamas, and glorifying "martyrdom" operations targeting civilians. (16 January 2009)

(7) authorized its President, Mr. Khaled Mouammar, while speaking on behalf of CAF and the federally-funded Palestine House, to say "We have politicians who are professional whores … these are people like Peter Kent … like Jason Kenney, like Michael Ignatieff." (17 January 2009)

(8) promoted a Montreal rally at which Canada's Prime Minister was destroyed in effigy, accompanied by calls for intifada, and chants glorifying Hezbollah and jihad. (10 January 2009)

(8) maintains close connections with the Canadian Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-CAN), the Canadian chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, named as an "unindicted co-conspirator" in last year's successful Holy Land Foundation terror-financing prosecution in Texas. CAIR is funded by Saudis, and CAF and CAIR-CAN were jointly represented by the same lawyer – a former CAF President James Kafieh – at the recently-concluded Iacobucci Internal Inquiry dealing with terrorism. There, Kafieh also jointly represented the Canadian Muslim Civil Liberties Association (CMCLA), whose General Counsel was CAIR-CAN Vice Chair – and sharia-advocate – Mr. Faisal Kutty.

(9) maintains close relations with the Canadian Islamic Congress (CIC), whose past President, Dr. M. Elmasry, has said that certain civilians in the Middle East could be legitimate targets of terrorism. CAF and Palestine House have joined with CIC in various initiatives. (See 2 March 2008 youth essay competition on "Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine": http://www.canadianislamiccongress.com/action/action_alert.php?id=980.)

(10) was criticized in a news release issued by Canada's moderate Muslim Canadian Congress, which stated in response to Immigration Minister Kenney's condemnation of CAF:

The MCC demands that all future funding of CAF should be made conditional to a guarantee that the Arab organization will not behave as a mouthpiece of Hamas and Hezbollah in Canada and that it will embrace Canadian values, not those of Iran. (MCC, "MCC welcomes government move to end the funding of organizations spreading hate," Ottawa, 18 February 2009; contact: Salma Siddiqui, 613.864.4306)

Isn’t it time for Bernie (who—ouch!—seems to have been hoisted on a petard himself) to stop being so goshdarned agreeable about the disagreement, and quit trying to ingratiate himself with these and other Islamists?

Posted by: scaramouche at 15:00 | link | comments (3)

Bashir bashes Israel: In the Toronto Star, movie buff Martin Knelman talks up Waltz with Bashir, the Israeli anti-war flick that could win an Oscar Sunday night:

LOS ANGELES–Recovering from jet-lag in the swanky bar of the Beverly Wilshire Hotel, Ari Folman – writer/director of the amazing animated feature Waltz with Bashir – savours the irony.

"My film has become the darling of the Israeli establishment, even the military. When we won the Golden Globe, (Israeli president) Shimon Peres called to congratulate me."

And Bashir's supporters are pumped by the prospect that tomorrow night – when the envelope is opened revealing the winner of the Academy Award for the best foreign-language film of 2008 – Folman will be honoured with Israel's first Oscar.

Since Israel is a country of both contradictions and miracles, it does not seem to matter that Folman's brilliant and original movie – a dark cartoon about veterans of the Lebanon war of 1982 haunted by repressed memories of a massacre – is a clear anti-war declaration and a sharp critique of the Israeli government and its military operations.

Yet if Folman is close to being a national hero in Israel, he feels increasingly alienated from the prevailing climate of opinion there.

"What happened in Gaza was a violent, aggressive attack," he says. "I was in a rage about it. In my circle of friends, including many filmmakers, we all felt the same. But we represent a minority.

"Close to 85 per cent of the Israeli population supported the war.

"The country is getting really right wing ... So I guess people got what they want. They want to live by their sword."

Made on a laughably low budget of $1.7 million, Bashir is the Cinderella of the animation world compared with the multi-million-dollar productions, including Wall-E, emerging from Pixar and its Hollywood rivals.

When Sony Pictures Classics bought the U.S. rights, Folman recalls, there were some worries about how it would play in the American Jewish community, where there is less tolerance for criticism of Israeli government policy than there is in Israel.

"But it worked out very well, because they supported the film," says Folman – a tall, good-humoured and deep-voiced grizzly bear of a man who likes to spend as much time as possible at home with his three young children, and brings his wife along to awards events.

Canada, however, was another story.

Robert Lantos, who bought Canadian distribution rights, loved the film but told Folman there were important people in Canada – staunch supporters of Israel – who were deeply unhappy with it.

"So I told Lantos the film is good enough for the Israeli government, which keeps sending it all over the world and boasting about it.

"Shimon Peres said the film is all about humanity, and that it places Israel in a very human light. In that case, perhaps it might be good enough for Canadian Jews. And if not, well, so be it."…

My letter:

Isn’t Ari Folman, the director of Waltz With Bashir, the “anti-war” film that’s in contention for an Oscar, fortunate to live and work in Israel? Were he to have make a similar kind of movie, one highly critical of his own country, in, say, Saudi Arabia or Iran--or even in “moderate” Egypt--the odds are that he would now be sitting in a jail cell instead of hobnobbing with Brad and Angelina in Hollywood.

Because Israel remains a free and open democracy, however, Israelis and the rest of us are able to enjoy Folman’s artistry, even if, like me, they happen to think that his ideas about Israelis wanting “to live by their sword” (as if self-defense were a “choice” and not a necessity) are seriously misguided.

Posted by: scaramouche at 14:31 | link | comments

Who were those masked men?: Montreal city council has abruptly withdrawn a measure that would have prohibited protesters from wearing masks in public. Which means that, should they so choose, "protesters" can continue to comport themselves like this.

Posted by: scaramouche at 13:52 | link | comments

Indifference is bliss: The Toronto Sun’s Peter Worthington tries to get to the bottom of the media’s apparent indifference toward the story of the Muslim TV station-owner who decapitated his wife:

…Considering its background, the story has had remarkable little play -- a mention on CNN, a few paragraphs in various newspapers, but nothing in the way of follow-up in the mainstream American (or Canadian) media.

Nor has there been much in the way of comment, perhaps because of over-sensitivity about raising questions of Muslims and/or minorities. This is a form of reverse racism, and foolish in that it ducks what is a valid issue today.

No rational person suggests that what Muzzammil Hassan did is typical of Muslim behaviour, but the case is loaded with irony and significance.

Intellectually dedicated as he might have been to correcting false stereotypes about Muslims, it all fell apart for Hassan when it became personal. The same might have been said of his wife, who defied her culture -- and became a victim.

Erie County District Attorney Frank Sedita, ever alert to the obvious, called this "the worst form of domestic violence." In the U.S., bloggers have adopted this story more than have the media.

"Second-degree murder for decapitating your wife? What do you have to do to be charged with murder in the first degree?" asked one blogger.

"Why couldn't he just shoot his wife, like most Americans," asked Arah Trachtenberg. "I mean, decapitation? That really is more associated with Islam."

"He could claim his being arrested for decapitating his wife is just another instance of Western prejudice against Muslims," said another. "I'm sure someone is preparing a column ... with a more subtle variant on the theme."

Added another; "Now that he has beheaded his wife, I'm afraid this prominent moderate Muslim will only be feeding those negative perceptions."

And there the matter rests -- for the moment. So much for correcting false impressions of stereotypes.

Posted by: scaramouche at 13:45 | link | comments

Obama bonds with MJ: Ever on the lookout for an opportune photo op, the leader of the free world has invited the Queen’s representative in Canada—a real babe—to visit Washington for further discussions (and has failed to extend a similar invitation to the country’s “uncharismatic,” un-hot prime minister). From the Toronto Star:

OTTAWA–Governor General Michaëlle Jean discussed the plight of her native Haiti with U.S. President Barack Obama, who invited her to come to Washington – an invitation that was not extended to Prime Minister Stephen Harper.

American aides to the president who briefed the travelling White House reporters en route back to Washington Thursday said Obama and the Governor General exchanged "views about how we could be helpful to the government there in dealing with economic and social issues."

"The president made clear that this is something that he did care about and wanted to confer and get the views of others about how we could do a better job in supporting economic and social development in Haiti," said James Steinberg, deputy secretary of state.

"President Obama told (Jean) that he'd like to talk further with her on this issue," said Marthe Blouin, an aide to the Governor General.

Obama told Jean he wants to return to Canada with his family. "He told her he would like to see her again," Blouin said.

"And he said to her that he would love to see her in Washington as well."

Asked yesterday to comment on Jean's discussions with Obama, a senior Conservative government spokesperson would not say whether Jean's interventions were requested by the Prime Minister, but he was quick to say they were not unwelcome either.

"I think that Canadians looking at the Governor General walking down the red carpet with the president of the United States yesterday probably felt very proud and well represented and I don't think we have any concern around the role that the Governor General played in the meetings yesterday. I think quite the opposite. I think she was doing her duty as head of state in Canada and doing it well."

It was clear Canada's first black governor general and Obama, the first black American president, hit it off. They beamed as they strode down a red carpet together.

At one point, cameras captured Jean tossing back her head in laughter. "At that moment she was telling him that she felt it was like a love affair between him and Canadians," Blouin said later.

"He said to her that he knew that, that he'd been informed that he was very popular in Canada. Then he joked and he added, `Well, it's good to know because if things do not go well for me in the States, I know I can come to Canada.'

"That's why she was laughing so much."…

I was laughing too, but for other reasons (mostly because Obama, channelling Dubya, called Ottawa “Iowa” before correcting himself, and because the Ceeb’s coverage was so hilariously over the top in its besottedness). Needless to say, Obama’s skipping over the P.M. in this way is a huge slap in the face to him.

Posted by: scaramouche at 13:35 | link | comments

In Allah they trust: Much as I despise the Taliban and all it stands for (i.e. 7^th Century mores, including beheadings and Islamic supremacism) I’m afraid I’m with Diana West in her assessment of our chances for “victory” in Afghanistan (my bolds):

The buzzword on Afghanistan is "trust."

Having routed the Taliban, liberated millions, midwived a (Sharia-supreme) constitution, assisted in elections, propped up a government and routed the Taliban some more, all the United States needs now to win victory in Afghanistan is to win the "trust" of the Afghan people.

So, cockamamiely, wrote Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs, in a column appearing in the Washington Post just days before President Obama ordered 17,000 new troops to Afghanistan, nearly doubling the American presence there.

The president's top military adviser explained the policy this way: "We have learned, after seven years of war, that trust is the coin of the realm -- that building it takes time, losing it take mere seconds, and maintaining it may be our most important and most difficult objective."

Sorry, admiral, but if that is what we have "learned" in a war that has claimed more than 600 American lives, wounded and maimed thousands more, and cost billions of pre-bailout dollars, we are practically done for.

Why? The short answer is that in making a primary objective out of winning the "trust" of the Afghan people, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs has, by definition, abandoned all rational war policy. Indeed, he has placed the marker for American success not on the ability of U.S. forces to execute their missions, but on the emotional reaction of the average, illiterate, infidel-hostile, modernity-challenged Afghan to those missions.

"Lose the (Afghan) people's trust," Mullen writes, "and we lose the war." I wish I could say I've never heard such fatuous counsel, but the entire so-called war on terror, from start to non-finish, reverberates with this same sort of line. It tends to turn profound Islamic differences from the West into profound Western failings toward Islam. Rather than walk our nation up to the cultural chasm between Islam and the West and show us what it looks like, our leaders have, in effect, made that chasm into their own personal responsibility, something to fill in, paper over and, above all, never, ever mention…

Along with admiring her clarity of thought and expression and the logic of her analysis, I am in awe of anyone who can turn “cockamamie” into an adverb.

Posted by: scaramouche at 13:15 | link | comments

Friday, 20 February 2009

The law is an ass: Or in some cases, a sheep. From the Financial Times:

Is stealing sheep a more serious crime than beating your wife to death?” asked Khaled al-Sulaiman, a Saudi columnist writing in Arab News, citing two recent judgments.

In one case, a judge handed down a sentence of two years and 200 lashes to a man who had beaten his wife to death. In the other, a judge sentenced a pair of sheep rustlers to three years in prison and 1,000 lashes.

That Mr Sulaiman had to ask the question reflects growing frustration among Saudis at the pace of a $2bn legal reform initiative proposed by King Abdullah two years ago.

That frustration has reached the top. At the weekend, King Abdullah sacked Saleh al-Lohaidan, head of the supreme judicial council, who has opposed reforms and efforts to codify Islamic law, or Sharia. Last September, Mr Lohaidan issued a fatwa condoning the killing of television station owners who produce or air “immoral content”.

But the problems afflicting Saudi Arabia’s legal system run deeper than one individual. Although every legal system produces anomalous rulings, in most countries lawyers say they can study the reasoning or facts used in a judgment. In Saudi Arabia, where judges rule according to their understanding of Islamic texts, there is no such recourse.

Fearing that judges may be misled by human wisdom, rather than adjudicating directly from religious sources, Saudi Arabia rejects the system of precedent used in common law systems and the extensive civil codes used in civil law systems.

Instead, trial proceedings are generally closed to the public and judicial decisions are not published. Judges can even bar attorneys representing parties from the courtroom if they decide their presence is unhelpful…

How can a mere mortal such as King Abdullah presume to “reform” something that’s supposedly perfect? Doesn’t that call into question its intrinsic perfection?

Posted by: scaramouche at 21:35 | link | comments

Spot the "saviour": "In Canada Obama gets warm welcome--and tips on managing the economy."

Update: And in other "messiah" news, "Obama tells mayors to spend wisely."

Do as he says not as he does?

Update: Oops! A bit of the hopeychangey Kool-Aid appears to be wearing off. Quick, men, go whip up another batch.

Posted by: scaramouche at 21:10 | link | comments

Allah drives the bus: Syed Soharwardy, the Islamic supremacist responsible for bringing deranged Judenhass to a Calgary mall (Syed, a Hamas supporter, was “protesting” Israeli actions in Gaza), wants to bring a message of Godliness to Calgary roads. From the Globe and Mail:

CALGARY -- If this is a modern-day religious war, the only clear winner may be the coffers of public-transit systems across the country.

The cheeky and controversial advertisements dismissing the existence of God, which have been approved for placement on Calgary buses, will be countered by a pro-God message, religious groups pledge.

"We are moving forward full-speed," said Imam Syed Soharwardy, founder of the Islamic Supreme Council of Canada, who is soliciting suggestions for a slogan and has raised $5,000 to run a campaign on Calgary transit at the same time the atheist ads appear.

The Freethought Association of Canada already has more than $43,000 in its pocket in support of the group's "There's probably no God. Now stop worrying and enjoy your life" campaign.

The ads have already made the rounds in Europe, where they were a reaction to religious advertising. Now they are on buses in Toronto, and religious groups have been quick to fight back. The United Church of Canada took out newspaper ads with the message, "There's probably a God. Now stop worrying and enjoy your life."

The atheists have hit a few roadblocks in their bid to roll out the campaign nationwide. Halifax, Vancouver, Victoria, Kelowna, B.C., Ottawa and London, Ont., have all rejected the ads.

When the issue went to Ottawa's transit committee this week, city Councillor Alex Cullen tried unsuccessfully to champion the Humanist Association of Ottawa's bid to run the ads, which were turned down by OC Transpo because they "might offend."

"I didn't think the ads were offensive," he said.

He plans to raise the issue on March 11 at a full city council meeting. As far as he's concerned, the ads meet advertising standards, and refusing to run them amounts to censorship. Plus, there's an added bonus for a transit system that has recently suffered through a lengthy strike.

"I was joking with someone that we could do with the money," Mr. Cullen said.

In Calgary, nobody has actually signed a contract to place the atheist ads, but the message has been deemed acceptable under the Canadian code of advertising standards.

"We've allowed several campaigns over the years that cover many diverse subjects such as vegetarian lifestyle, dating, family planning, religion and many others, so this is just one more," said Ron Collins, a spokesman with Calgary Transit.

Mr. Soharwardy said he prefers not to see a religion on the side of a bus, but groups of all faiths, including Christians and Jews, have come to him with suggestions for ads, including "May God give peace and blessings upon you" and "God is with you."…

Oh, Syed, you taqiyah-spouting cleric. We all know there's one message you're hoping will supersede all the others: “Allahu Akbar.”

Posted by: scaramouche at 14:00 | link | comments

Oh frabjous day!: After being sidelined by trumped up charges of "Islamophobia," Mark Steyn is returning to Macleans.

Posted by: scaramouche at 13:39 | link | comments

How now Dow Jones?: Sharia "banking" may have been around since the year gimmel (or thereabouts) in the Islamic calendar, but it has only been indexed by Dow Jones for a scant ten years. (Who even knew it was being indexed at all?) Roger Kimball riffs--balefully--on this Dow Jones milestone:

That great comic Lenin once observed that the bourgeoisie was so cravenly addicted to the profit motive that its members would happily sell Communist revolutionaries the rope with which they were to be hanged.

I couldn’t help thinking of that when a friend sent me a press release from the Dow Jones News Services yesterday proudly announcing that February marked the “10th anniversary of the launch of the Dow Jones Islamic Market (DJIM) Indexes.”

That’s right folks, mighty Dow Jones, publisher of The Wall Street Journal , also hosts an index “to measure the performance of a global universe of Shari’ah-compliant investable equities.”

“Shari’ah-compliant investable equities”–let’s see, that would be entities that comply with the dictates of Sharia (we infidels can skip the apostrophe), i.e., Islamic law, i.e., the charming code that tells you how and where to go about obtaining multiple wives, what offenses merit flogging, amputation of a hand or foot, or even what another friend of mine refers to as “the full Muslim.”...

Tarek Fatah refers to sharia banking as a collossal Wahhabi scam.

Posted by: scaramouche at 13:22 | link | comments

Surfing for hate on campus: A friend e-mailed me the announcement of this year's academic pogrom, a.k.a. Israeli Apartheid Week, with "Fun Fun Fun" in the subject line. So let's blame this one on her:

Well they got Joe Goebbels Lies

And they drove ‘em to the campus hall now.

Seems when it came to Is-ra-el,

You see, they couldn’t tolerate it at all now.

And now the Judenhass is blossoming along

With their outrageous gall now.

And they’ll have fun, fun, fun

Till the UN takes the Jew state away.

Well, they're claimin' that the Juden

Want to wipe the Arabs clear off the map now.

But take a look at any atlas and you'll see

That they are all full of crap now.

But with invigoratin’ hatred flowin’

Through their veins like poisonous sap now.

And they’ll have fun, fun, fun

Till the UN takes the Jew state away.

Well, it started out in Hogtown

And it’s mushroomed all around the globe now.

And lots of Hamas lovers

Have all donned their sanctimonious robes now.

They’ll all be studyin' about how Nazi-Jews

Been killin’ Gazans in droves now.

And they’ll have fun, fun, fun,

Till the UN takes the Jew state away.

Yes, they’ll have fun, fun, fun,
Till the UN takes the Jew state away…

Posted by: scaramouche at 12:27 | link | comments

Thursday, 19 February 2009

York U “review”: The administration of York U decries the outrageous and unacceptable Judenhass being fomented by Arabs, other Muslims and Leftists on campus.

Just pulling your leg. In fact, York mucky-mucks issued this fairly tepid response, which did not acknowledge last week’s flagrant examples of antisemitism (h/t: FK):

York calls on student leaders to respect the academic needs of students

Now that classes have resumed at Canada’s third-largest University, President & Vice-Chancellor Mamdouh Shoukri has called on student leaders to respect differences and to put the academic needs of York’s 50,000 students first.

"After a long period away from the classroom and with exams fast approaching, our 50,000 students really need to be able to focus on their academic lives," said Shoukri. "Unfortunately, the return to class has been marked by student leaders in open hostility towards other student groups and mounting demonstrations which have led to the disruption of classes for many students.

"It really is time for the student leaders at the organizational and club level to consider the effects of their actions on their fellow students," added Shoukri. "Every student at York has the right to go about their activities free from intimidation or disruption to their academic lives. It is impossible to claim to both lead and impede students at the same time."

Over the weekend, York has received a number of complaints about a range of protest-related incidents in the York Student Centre and in Vari Hall, ranging from issues of student politics to the Middle East and Sri Lanka.

"We will be vigorously pursuing these complaints. Students have a right to study in an atmosphere of personal safety, mutual respect and tolerance from other students – especially student organizational and club leaders," said Rob Tiffin, York's vice-president students. "No one should feel singled out based on their political beliefs, nor should anyone have their classes disrupted, especially at this crucial time. We will be considering the actions of individuals and clubs in the recent days and will be following the processes laid out in the Student Code of Conduct."

In the fall term of 2008, the University relaxed regulations on the use of Vari Hall by student groups on an experimental basis. However, the University is once again reviewing all of its options with regard to the use of Vari Hall due to the continuing academic disruption by groups of students and others.

"We will continue to monitor the responsible use of Vari Hall and will be following through on the formal complaints at the same time," added Tiffin. "As of now, everything is under review."

Everything? What about agitators who show up year after year, take one course to qualify as a student (their tab picked up by my guess is as good as yours) strictly in order to fan the flames of hatred for Israel and sympathy for its Palestinian “victims”? What about York’s Muslim Student Association, which, like all North American MSAs, is affiliated with the Muslim Brotherhood, the Islamist outfit at the centre of the Islamic revival; the brudahs support the likes of Hezbollah and Hamas (two groups on Canada’s list of terrorist organizations)? What about Israeli Apartheid Week, that week of slander, defamation and criminalization, whose organizers seek nothing less than the dismantlement of Israel (in the name of “justice” and “human rights,” of course)?

Do you, like me, have the feeling that none of that will be tackled, but that the “aggression” of Jewish students will be equated with the anger being directed against them by pro-Gaza/anti-“apartheid” types, which will likely encourage the Jew-haters to continue, and even escalate, their reign of terror.

Posted by: scaramouche at 22:04 | link | comments

Judenhass denial: Today’s breed of Jew-hater, so quick to equate Israeli self-defence with Nazi agression, may or may not deny the Holocaust. But, as a Howard Jacobson writes in the Telegraph (as quoted in Melanie Phillips’ blog), they are in denial about the true nature of their contempt for the Jewish state:

Given the number of besieged and battered cities there have been in however many thousands of years of pitiless warfare there is only one explanation for this invocation of Warsaw before any of those – it is to wound Jews in their recent and most anguished history and to punish them with their own grief. Its aim is a sort of retrospective retribution, cancelling out all debts of guilt and sorrow. It is as though, by a reversal of the usual laws of cause and effect, Jewish actions of today prove that Jews had it coming to them yesterday.

Berating Jews with their own history, disinheriting them of pity, as though pity is negotiable or has a sell-by date, is the latest species of Holocaust denial, infinitely more subtle than the David Irving version with its clunking body counts and quibbles over gas-chamber capability and chimney sizes. Instead of saying the Holocaust didn’t happen, the modern sophisticated denier accepts the event in all its terrible enormity, only to accuse the Jews of trying to profit from it, either in the form of moral blackmail or downright territorial theft. According to this thinking, the Jews have betrayed the Holocaust and become unworthy of it, the true heirs to their suffering being the Palestinians. Thus, here and there throughout the world this year, Holocaust day was temporarily annulled or boycotted on account of Gaza, dead Jews being found guilty of the sins of live ones.

Antisemitism? Absolutely not. It is ‘criticism’ of Israel, pure and simple.

Judenhass? Absolutely. How can anyone with a shred of honesty and clarity claim that it is not?

Posted by: scaramouche at 20:36 | link | comments

Ev’rybody in the whole cell block/Was dancin’ to the jihad rock: Remember the line by the thief who, when asked why he robbed banks, explained “because that’s where the money is”? Well, that also explains why U.K. jihadis have relocated their recruitment drives from mosques to prisons—because that’s where the potential recruits are. Reuters has the skinny on the effort:

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Prisons and private homes have taken over from mosques as recruiting hubs for Islamist radicals in Europe, a shift that cannot be tackled simply by short-term government security measures, an academic said on Wednesday.

Under pressure from state surveillance and disapproval from local communities, activists who once trawled high-profile mosques for recruits increasingly use more discreet venues including makeshift prayer halls and bookshops, said Peter Neumann, a political scientist at Kings College, London. "This pattern of withdrawal from open agitation is consistent across Western Europe," said Neumann, author of "Joining al Qaeda," a report on radicalisation in Europe published by an independent British-based think-tank…

PRISON GANGS

Radical Islamist recruitment is a concern around Europe because law enforcement agencies believe several thousand young Muslims on the continent are part of networks similar to the ones that carried out suicide bombings in London that killed 52 people in 2005 and bombings in Madrid that killed 191 in 2004.

Neumann said radicalisation and recruitment within prisons was likely to worsen, noting that before 2001 no European country with the exception of France had a significant Islamist militant prisoner population. Now there were hundreds of such prisoners in Britain and Spain alone, he said.

"Recent years have seen the emergence of radical Islamic prison gangs which -- although not always overtly political in outlook -- are highly aggressive in their rhetoric," he said.

Neumann said such gangs provided inmates with a protective social network and a sense of self-esteem, the report says.

Ah, yes, “self-esteem.” So critical to the development of one’s positive self image—and bound to be given a huge boost by an ideology that tells the young Muslim inmate, “You’re the top, you’re the Louvre Museum; you’re the top, ‘cause Islam’s supreum.” But don’t fret. The EUnuchs are trying to get their act together to tackle the new challenges—and know exactly who’s to blame for it:

European security services, trying to strike a balance between protecting citizens and preserving civil liberties, had yet to formulate a full response to the trend, Neumann said.

"Sometimes they don't know yet what to do about it. They have awareness (of the trend) but it doesn't necessarily mean they have all the right solutions," he said.

The International Commission of Jurists warned this week that Washington's "war on terror" after the September 11 attacks had eroded human rights worldwide, partly by restricting liberties.

Neumann's report, published by the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS), says social policy has a role to play in countering extremism among youths drawn to radical Islam by social problems such as racial discrimination.

And Neumann, who, although he wrote the report is apparently still clueless about Islam’s third push for world conquest and the appeal it holds for Muslim youth who want to get in on the action, thinks he knows how to tackle the challenges:

"Recruitment is not just a security problem. The challenge lies in constructing more inclusive societies in which the narratives of exclusion and grievances will not resonate."

Hey, Neumann, if you want them to stop their kvetching, why not recommend that the EU give sharia law a tumble? You can’t get any more “inclusive” than that.

Posted by: scaramouche at 19:50 | link | comments

Shake ‘n’ bake: A swooning Obama fan, as quoted in the Toronto Star, explains why she’s so besotted:

Rachel Décoste, 32, of Ottawa, who helped set up a website so people could connect with carpools and buses, said being part of the crowd is about giving back to someone she believes has already given her so much.

"The inspiration that he's given is already a gift, so I don't need more. I don't need to be caressed and catered to, get a specific speaking engagement just for me," said Décoste. "I feel like he's already given us so much and this is really just a celebration of that. If he pokes his head out of the car and waves, that will be the cherry on a cake but he's already given us the cake. We're not finished eating the cake."

We’ll be paying for the cake long after we’re finished eating it.

Update: Someone left the cake out in the rain...

Posted by: scaramouche at 18:54 | link | comments

What took you guys so long?: More than a week after an angry mob of Jew-haters, er, students concerned about "justice" for Palestinians, stormed York U's campus Jewish organization, the CJC has finally gotten around to posting this news release on its site. (The release was sent out via e-mail, quietly, to a select few a day or so after what was undoubtedly the most brazen and alarming incidence of Judenhass at York.)

I wish I could say better late than never, but, alas, I can't.

Posted by: scaramouche at 15:10 | link | comments (1)

Hey, President Obama, I want a pony!: Michelle Malkin has photos of some cheeky folks in Mesa, Arizona, who want in on the goodies train.

Posted by: scaramouche at 14:56 | link | comments

“Moderate” Jordan shows its true stripes: The Hashemite Kingdom isn’t so
“moderate” after all, writes Steven Plaut in FrontPage Magazine:

Well, no sooner do we recover from our bout of laughter over Turkey criticizing Israel for its behavior in Gaza than an even more Orwellistic event takes place. Jordan has decided to file a criminal lawsuit against Israeli officials for alleged war crimes in (Gaza). German and Arab media have been reporting that Jordanian Parliament members at the behest of their king plan to file a petition to the International Criminal Court in the Hague to prosecute Israeli officials for "war crimes" committed during Operation Cast Lead, fought against the genocidal Hamas terrorists. Israeli Internal Security Minister Dichter reacted: 'No greater hypocrisy than when the country that murdered 10,000 Palestinians deals with international crimes.'

So let us put this into perspective. Jordan itself is a pseudo-country sitting on land that properly belongs to the Jews. There is no Jordanian people at all. Jordan is a country composed of Palestinian Arabs with no political rights at all, controlled by a Bedouin ruling elite, which has hegemony over the government and army.

Jordan is as much an apartheid regime as any on earth. Official discrimination against non-Bedouin Arabs is state policy. Jews may not own land in Jordan, and tracts of land once legally purchased by Jews have been stolen from them by the Jordanian government. When Jordan controlled the Old City of Jerusalem it destroyed every single Jewish shrine there and used their stones to build latrines. It tore up gravestones from the Mount of Olives, which has been a respected cemetery for 4000 years, and used them also as building materials.

Jordan came into existence as a country when the young Winston Churchill quite literally drew its boundaries on the back of an envelope, drawn so as to accommodate two British petroleum pipelines, in land promised to the Jews under the Balfour Declaration. Instead of Wilsonian national self-determination dictating the emergence of countries, pipeline geography did in the case of Jordan.

Jordan is one of the few countries on earth still ruled by a king, and not a make-pretend ceremonial one, but rather one whose every whim must be obeyed. Moreover, the previous king of Jordan decided to show his devotion to the human rights of Palestinians by massacring tens of thousands of them in the infamous "Black September" of 1970. No one exactly knows how many Palestinian civilians were massacred by the Jordanian ruling class and army, although Yassir Arafat said it was 25,000. The Palestinian terror group "Black September," which carried out the Munich massacre and other atrocities, named itself in memory of this massacre of Palestinians by the Jordanian army. At the time, hundreds of Palestinian terrorists entered Israel and begged to be allowed to be put in Israeli prisons, rather than be returned to Jordan where they faced certain death.

Jordan does not only shoot Palestinians when they ally with Syria and try to topple the Bedouin regime there, as they did in 1970. Palestinian students in Jordan participating in demonstrations against ISRAEL have been mowed down by the Jordanian soldiers. In fact the only country in the Middle East in which students can conduct a spontaneous anti-Israel demonstration against Israel is Israel.

Amnesty International and many others speak out against human rights abuses in Jordan. The treatment of women there is about as bad as it gets anywhere and there are many "honor killings" of women. There is no freedom of the press. Torture is routinely used. One of the more ironic matters is the treatment of homosexuals. Jordanian gays, who face violent persecution, often apply for asylum in Israel.

Jordan of course has a long history of military aggression. It began with the Jordanian invasion of Western Palestine in 1948, when Jordan attempted to annex all of the territory that the UN had tried to partition into Israel and an Arab Palestinian state. Jordan, not Israel, prevented the creation of that Arab Palestinian state. Jordan illegally invaded and held East Jerusalem, including the Old City, starting in 1948 and lasting for nineteen years. It participated in the military aggressions against Israel in 1967 and 1973. The West Bank was taken from Jordan by Israel the same way that Germany lost Alsace and Lorraine, thanks to its losing its own war of aggression.

Jordan's Queen Rania this week issued a call for donations to UNRWA, the agency that funnels money into the Gaza Strip, much of it requisitioned by the Hamas and some of it used for weapons. "We are in very dire need of much more assistance and without which I think UNRWA won't be able to operate," she told a meeting of UNRWA in Amman. Rania, who quite literally has a queen's fortune, evidently donated nothing at all herself, although she earlier claimed to have donated blood to help the Gazans while Israel was attacking the terrorists.

I believe it was Mark Steyn who once noted that the reason Jordan gets such an easy
ride in the press is largely due to the hotness of its female royalty—Rania, and before
her, Noor. He suggested that if that country’s royal chicks looked more like, say,
Princess Anne, the media would likely be far less fawning.

Posted by: scaramouche at 14:34 | link | comments (1)

Don't mix them up: To help clear up any confusion--there's Abby Cadabby, Sesame Street's "fairy-in-training" whose catchphrase is "That's so magic!". And then there's radical Islamic cleric Abu Qatada, who, after years of inciting terrorism in the U.K. has finally been given the old heave-ho, and whose catchphrase is "Allahu Akbar!" And, oh yeah, only one of them has a scraggly beard and a forehead prayer stigmata.

Update: Another difference--the non-Muppet has been awarded "compensation" by European judges who claim his "human rights" have been violated.

Posted by: scaramouche at 14:02 | link | comments (1)

The Star's Lefty-Islamist axis: Harpoon Siddiqui, the Toronto Star's resident shill/apologist for the Islamist perspective, can't get enough of Naomi Klein, one half of the most loathesome far-Lefty duo in the country, if not the world. Should you have the stomach for it (cast iron; impervious to Zionhass), you can read it here. If not, feel free to skip ahead to my letter:

If Haroon Siddiqui wants to be taken seriously on the Middle East, I suggest he refrain from using Naomi Klein as an “authoritative” source of information on the subject. Ms. Klein has long been known to favour one side--the non-capitalistic, non-Israeli one--in the dispute, and her analyses are so severely skewed in favour of Israel’s enemies, including its terrorist ones, that she once lauded Hezbollah, the extremist outfit in Lebanon bought and paid for by Iran, for its “grassroots” work with Lebanese women.

Ms. Klein also chastises Israel for its “flagrant war crimes” during the recent Gaza incursion, while citing no evidence to back up her flagrant assertions, and failing to mention Hamas’s actual, tangible war crimes--doing everything in its power to ensure that civilian casualties would be maximized.

Why would Hamas do such a thing? It knew it could count on the Naomi Kleins of the world to ignore its culpability--how it essentially goaded Israel into taking action after years of firing missiles at civilian targets in Israel--and stand once again against Israel. And, predictably, the Naomi Kleins have come through.

Update: By coincidence, Ezra Levant mentions the Hezbollah angle--and the
way useful idiots (like Klein and her snookums) are serving the Islamist agenda--
in a talk he gave at Canada's War Museum:

Unlike in previous generations, the question is no longer does Canada – or indeed any Western ally – have the military might to win a war; that’s beyond dispute. The question is now can the popular culture sustain such a war in the face of even a handful of casualties? Our politicians know it; our generals know it. And our enemies certainly know it. We live in an era where terrorist groups like Hezbollah have media relations units, complete with bilingual business cards. That’s the battlefield now.

Posted by: scaramouche at 13:36 | link | comments

Is he gone yet?: The Canadian media go ga-ga for Obama, who has reserved six--count 'em, six--whole hours for a visit to the capital of America's largest trading partner.

Make sure to spare a minute to sample one of the local delicacies while you're in town, Barack.

Update: The Ceeb swoon is something to behold.

Update: Do we have to call them ObamaTails now?

Posted by: scaramouche at 13:02 | link | comments

Wednesday, 18 February 2009

They were here a minute ago: The UN reports that "unexploded bombs" are "missing in Gaza."

Posted by: scaramouche at 11:49 | link | comments (1)

Jew vs. Jew: One Jew—former Ceeb bigwig Tony Burman, currently (like other former Ceeb-ers) sucking contentedly from the teat of al-Jazeera–is whitewashing his new bosses’ record in a bid to persuade Canada’s broadcasting regulator, the CRTC, to allow the station into Canada. Another Jew, who has been known to have certain, er, issues with free speech, wants to bless and keep al-Jazeera—far away from us. The Globe and Mail details the battle:

Al Jazeera English is applying to regulators to begin broadcasting in Canada and is launching a new website to clear up "misperceptions and myths" about the Qatar-based television news network.

Already available in more than 100 countries, the English-language version of Al Jazeera is currently available in the United States on just two eastern cable TV providers and one satellite service.

Tony Burman, the former editor-in-chief of CBC News who runs the two-year-old English service from Qatar, said yesterday in an interview that "the timing is perfect" to enter Canada.

In particular, he pointed to the recent fighting in Gaza "and the inability of every network except for Al Jazeera English to cover it" to the same extent.

"I think the response by North Americans, including Canadians, to Al Jazeera English in terms of our website and our live streaming is an indication that there's a vacuum to be filled. And we think Al Jazeera is there to fill it," he added.

The network hopes to begin broadcasting in Canada and have a bureau in an as-yet-unspecified Canadian city by the fall. However, applications to the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission take time and the process includes a 30-day period for public feedback.

In 2004, the CRTC granted the Arabic-language parent version of the network permission to broadcast in Canada. But this carried many prohibitive conditions, including the stipulation that Canadian cable carriers had to keep recordings of all Al Jazeera broadcasts and ensure that no remarks in violation of Canadian hate laws would air. As a result, no Canadian cable or satellite providers picked up the network.

This time around, the Canadian Jewish Congress wants to see the CRTC impose the same kind of restrictions. "I think Al Jazeera has much to prove in terms of its legitimacy, its credibility," said Bernie Farber, chief executive officer of the congress.

Farber alleges the parent station was engaged in what he calls "hate mongering."

"It was totally unacceptable here and in probably all of North America, where there are federal guidelines for broadcasting. I'm not saying that Al Jazeera English will or will not do this. But I think, given the history of Al Jazeera, it has much to prove," he said.

Burman stressed that Al Jazeera English is a distinct network and caters to a wider global audience than the Arabic network. "It's a totally different channel. We have a different staff. We have a different priority. So much of our audience is in Europe, is in Africa, is throughout Asia and Latin America. So those are the stories we focus on.

"We have been on the air for two years. There has been not a suggestion ever of anti-Semitism, of any kind of inappropriate anti-Israeli coverage.

"Al Jazeera is a widely watched channel in Israel," he adds. "Israelis are smart enough that they've got to understand the entire Middle Eastern environment for their own security to be protected. And we expect no less from Canadians."

The network says major Canadian cable and satellite companies have informally indicated they will carry the network, pending CRTC approval. Al Jazeera has also started a site (iwantaje.ca) inviting the public to e-mail cable and satellite companies to encourage them to pick up the network.

Now, I’m in a bit of a dilemma here. While it disgusts me beyond measure that Tony Burman is pimping for the Qataris (and that his former employer has given him a platform to do so; I heard him yesterday assure Anna Maria Tremonti that “most Canadians,” who side with neither Israel nor Hamas, will find a-J extremely informative) my commitment to free expression, and my dismay at how the CJC continues to lobby against it, inclines me to say, “Al Jazeera—bring it on!”

Then again, Burman’s assertions about a-J amount to a whopping load of festering offal, and completely misrepresents what a-J is all about. Here’s a corrective, from FrontPage Magazine:

Another hostile platform that has featured the work of American contributors is Al Jazeera, the television station and satellite channel based in the small, oil-rich nation of Qatar in the Persian Gulf. Notorious for its anti-American, anti-Israel perspectives and presentations, Al Jazeera is the medium of choice for the fatwas of Osama bin Laden, Ayman al-Zawahiri and other al-Qaeda terrorists. Following 9/11, Al Jazeera aired reports that Israel’s Mossad not only had foreknowledge of the attacks, but that it also had warned Jews employed in the WTC to stay home from work that day in order escape the awful fate that awaited non-Jews. At least two of the station’s Iraqi reporters and one of its executives maintained a clandestine relationship with, and apparently worked for, Saddam Hussein’s intelligence service. And according to a November 2006 Washington Post report, Al Jazeera journalist Tayseer Allouni in 2005 was convicted in Spain of collaborating with al Qaeda, and Al Jazeera cameraman Sami al-Hajj in 2001 was arrested by U.S. forces in Afghanistan and has been detained at Guantanamo Bay ever since.

In November 2006, Al Jazeera launched a new sister station, a 24-hour English-language television channel covering news and current affairs, also headquartered in Qatar. Both Al Jazeera and Al Jazeera English are funded directly and chiefly by Sheik Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, the Emir of Qatar—an enormously wealthy man deeply committed to an Islamic agenda.

An occasional contributor to Al Jazeera (and a regular contributor to CounterPunch) is the Los Angeles-based actor-producer Ross Vachon, who derides “neo-Nazi Apartheid Israel” as “a racist sh*thole that’s forfeited its right to exist.” (These words accurately reflect the attitudes of both outlets, Al-Jazeera and Counterpunch.) In a February 2004 Al Jazeera piece, Vachon alleged that American foreign policy had been hijacked by “the growing percentage of Jews making up the American Establishment.” As described by Vachon, “the World Trade Center was a colossal monument to Jewish commerce, a mega-story tribute to what the Catholic Church once called engorgement, commodity hoarding, i.e. greed.”...

Posted by: scaramouche at 11:18 | link | comments (2)

Spare the rod and spoil the wife: Why would a seemingly “moderate” Muslim—the founder of a TV station dedicated to countering negative stereotypes about Islam—decapitate the wife who had inspired him to launch the station? Robert Spencer (in FrontPage Magazine) explains:

…Bridges TV originally declared that its intention was to “fuse American culture with the values of Islam in a healthy, family-oriented way.” However, there were indications at the outset that it might not have been as moderate as many assumed. Bridges TV from the beginning had ties to the Council on American-Islamic Relations, an unindicted co-conspirator in a Hamas terror funding case, and Islamicity.com, which retails rabid anti-Semitic literature. In 2006 Arab News reported that Hassan was trying to raise money for the network from Saudi investors.

And now comes the clearest, most harrowing indication of all that Bridges TV’s founder was not the moderate he appeared to be, but was rather a man who had imbibed deeply the traditional Islamic understanding that women are possessions of men, to be punished severely when they get out of line. Of course, this singular lesson of the beheading of Aasiya Hassan, who apparently had raised Muzzammil’s ire by filing for divorce, is the one that the mainstream media and the American Muslim community is doing its best to obscure. Immediately after the killing, Khalid J. Qazi of the Muslim Public Affairs Council (MPAC) chapter of Western New York, declared: “There is no place for domestic violence in our religion — none. Islam would 100 percent condemn it.”

Unfortunately, all too few Muslim men seem to share Qazi’s view. The Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences has determined that over ninety percent of Pakistani wives have been struck, beaten, or abused sexually — for offenses on the order of cooking an unsatisfactory meal. Others were punished for failing to give birth to a male child. Dominating their women by violence is a prerogative Muslim men cling to tenaciously. In Spring 2005, when the East African nation of Chad tried to institute a new family law that would outlaw wife beating, Muslim clerics led resistance to the measure as un-Islamic.

Why do things like this happen?

Because Islamic clerics worldwide have spoken approvingly of wife-beating…

Okay, the hitting part I get (since it’s in the Koran). But the beheading? Sorry, but unless the guy’s a psychopath—which he doesn’t appear to be—that kind of savagery is completely baffling.

Update: Mark Steyn comments on the beheading:

Spousal murder is not unusual. Beheading your wife is. If Muzzamil Hassan decapitated his as an Islamic ritual, then his entire professional life — Mister Moderate Muslim — was a lie. In other words, it would be the work of moments for even the laziest hack to work up exactly the same "hypocrisy" angle that the press stampede after when some evangelical preacher turns out to have a thing for fetching young rent boys.

Oh, Mark. You're such an "Islamophobe".

Posted by: scaramouche at 10:43 | link | comments (1)

Tuesday, 17 February 2009

Return to sender agenda: Obama, who, to great fanfare offered an apology and extended an outstretched hand to the Muslim world, has banished a bust of Winston Churchill--a gift from the Brits post-9/11 meant to symbolize their solidarity with the U.S..--from the White House. Hmmm. Whatever can it mean?

Posted by: scaramouche at 22:28 | link | comments

Time to make some noise: Laura Rosen Cohen—no silent Jewess, she; more like a tigress—slams the escalating Judenhass at York University, and the Jewstablishment’s feckless (and far too quiet) efforts to deal with it:

Last week, word broke that Jewish students were verbally accosted by anti-Israel protesters at York University. An eyewitness account of the melee, published here, described a hostage-like situation, where in Orwellian fashion, the Jewish victims of the campus intimidation were punished and asked by security to stop their event -- ostensibly for their own safety.

In response to the events, the organized Jewish community of Canada is reacting with an eerie silence. The Canadian Jewish Congress’ last press release is from January 30th protesting the reinstatement of anti-Semitic Bishop Richard Williamson. There is a January 27th release commemorating the UN’s Holocaust memorial day. Yet the anti-Semitism page has no recent updates, and no mention of York University. The Canadian Friends of Simon Wiesenthal was just slightly more pro-active, issuing a press release which, no doubt simultaneously reassured the nerve-wrecked Jewish students at York and simultaneously terrified the anti-Israel hooligans. The Jewish Federation of Greater Toronto on its web site says it wants to assure parents of Jewish students at York that they are “dealing with the atmosphere at York on several levels in order to ensure the safety of students who study there” and that they are in ongoing contact with York University President Shoukri, York University students and the media on this matter”. Wow, that’s reassuring.

More can be done, and it should be done loudly -- not in hushed whispers between Jewish presidents and executive directors of all stripes at the office of York University’s President. Where does Mayor David Miller stand on the issue? Where is Dalton McGuinty’s voice on the matter? Ontario universities are provincially funded and regulated. Universities and cities have a symbiotic relationship -- student campus populations are economic boons to any city, and university campuses have a significant economic impact on a city’s well-being. Our political leadership -- not just Jewish leaders -- should be the first ones to condemn the atmosphere of intimidation and fear in our institutes of higher education. When is the last time any of them was on a university campus or in front of the Israeli consulate in real time, watching demonstrators face real hatred, instead of getting post-facto reports from the field over coffee somewhere on Bathurst Street in Toronto?...

Hear, hear. For far too long the Jew-haters/Israel-bashers have put Jewish and other supporters of Israel on the defensive: “No,” we write in letters to the editor, “Israel is not an ‘apartheid state’; “It’s not an apartheid wall,” we add, “it’s a fence that has been very effective at keeping out jihadi terrorists.” It’s time to put the Jew-haters on the defensive; to put them on notice that we can see the bigger picture of Leftists and Islamists who have united to defame, delegitimize and criminalize Israel in order to justify its destruction.

The Jew-haters have let their masks drop and have revealed themselves for what they really are. It’s high time we call these people to account for their hatefulness.

Posted by: scaramouche at 22:09 | link | comments

Obama’s heinous betrayal: To all you naïve/delusional Jews who had hoped a certain fine-lookin’ half-Black dude would end up being the best thing for the Jewish people since sliced pastrami—boy, you must be feeling really foolish right about now. (h/t Stu)

Posted by: scaramouche at 18:58 | link | comments

“Vile” on trial: In a piece in the National Post about “the new anti-Semitism,” Liberal MP Irwin Kotler trots out a far too frequently cited quotation:

As New York Times commentator Thomas Friedman put it: "Criticizing Israel is not anti-Semitic, and saying so is vile. But singling out Israel for opprobrium and international sanctions, out of all proportion to any other party in the Middle East is anti-Semitic, and not saying so is dishonest."

I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve read that one, but each time I do, it makes me bristle. Surely even the often thick TLF can see that most of what’s going on re Israel isn’t regular “criticism”—like, say, someone observing that China isn’t always nice to Tibet. It’s shovelling “the Big Lie” for the specific purpose of criminalizing the Jewish state in order to justify its destruction.

What I find “vile” is TLF using the word “vile” in this context; it’s more than a little de trop, don’t you think?

Posted by: scaramouche at 13:03 | link | comments

Why I'm glad Obama didn't appoint a "car czar": Why? Because now we don't have to spend the next four years (at least) saying "car czar."

Posted by: scaramouche at 12:20 | link | comments

Literary censorship: A kafir novelist who wrote things deemed offensive by the P.C./Islamist crowd is paying the price for her sauciness. From the Ceeb:

British author Geraldine Bedell says her upcoming book has been banned in the United Arab Emirates, and she was dropped from a literary festival in Dubai because her novel contains references to homosexuality and was deemed critical of Islam.

Bedell, a journalist with the Observer newspaper, said she had been in talks with the organizers of the first International Festival of Literature in Dubai about launching The Gulf Between Us, which is set in the Gulf region

The festival, which runs from Feb. 26 to March 1, has attracted an international cast of authors including Canadian Margaret Atwood.

Bedell said everything changed after the manuscript for The Gulf Between Us, set for release in April, was sent to organizers. Since then, the book has been banned from sale in the United Arab Emirates.

Bedell says festival director Isobel Abulhoul wrote to her publisher, Penguin, stating: "I don't want our festival remembered for the launch of a controversial book."

'[My book] is incredibly affectionate towards the Gulf.'—Geraldine Bedell

"If we launched the book and a journalist happened to read it, then you could imagine the political fallout that would follow."

Bedell says Abulhoul said The Gulf Between Us was unacceptable because one of the characters, Sheikh Rashid, is gay. In addition, she had complained "it talks about Islam and queries what is said."

Main character is 'incredibly respectful to Islam'

Bedell, who lived in Bahrain for five years in the 1980s, said Sheikh Rashid, a minor character, "is only spoken about" and "assumed to be gay."

"Of course it does make reference to Islam because it's a Muslim country and part of it is set during Ramadan," she added. "But the narrator — a middle-aged Englishwoman — is incredibly respectful to Islam."

Bedell says the incident calls into question the entire purpose of the literary festival.

"[My book] is incredibly affectionate towards the Gulf," Bedell told the Times newspaper.

"It calls into question the whole notion of whether the Emirates and other Gulf states really want to be part of the contemporary cultural world ... You can't ban books and expect your literary festival to be taken seriously."

Jonathan Heawood, director of English PEN, a freedom of expression organization, says festivals provide "amazing opportunities for cultural exchange."

"A literary festival which bars books because of their gay or religious content is neither literary, nor a festival. I hope that the organizers will reconsider," said Heawood.

And I hope that Commissar Barbara Hall will realize that her “human rights” outfit is doing us more harm than good, and that, to protest the egregious censorship (shades of S. Rushdie), revered authoress Peggy Atwood will stay away from this oily book bash, but that’s just as unlikely to occur.

Update: Two of the festival's sponsors are from the U.K.--the British Council and Time Out magazine.

Posted by: scaramouche at 12:15 | link | comments (2)

Worst. Idea. Evah!: Some Canadian “artistes” want the Canadian Radio-Television Telecommunications Commission (the CRTC) to “regulate” the Internet. From CP:

MONTREAL — Canadians are watching more and more videos and TV shows that aren't required to have home-grown content via their computers and cellphones, but after a decade of explosive Internet growth the CRTC will review its hands-off approach to the medium.

The federal broadcast regulator will begin hearings on Tuesday in Gatineau, Que., to review its policy of allowing broadcasting content to be unregulated on the Internet and cellphones.

Predictably, there are those who want rules to ensure Canadian content on the Internet and there are others who believe home-grown content already has a presence on the Internet without the encouragement of regulations.

"If Canadians don't encourage Canadian content on the Internet, who will?" asked Ian Morrison, spokesman for the watchdog group, Friends of Canadian Broadcasting.

Traditional radio and television broadcasters are regulated and subject to Canadian content rules.

Morrison said the Internet has changed from being text-dominated since 1999 when the CRTC decided to take a hands off approach.

"So a decade has gone by and the Internet has morphed into something where as you know the audio-visual side of the Internet is ubiquitous," he said.

The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission also exempted broadcasting services that are received on cellphones and other mobile devices in 2007.

A decade ago, cellphone use wasn't widespread. Now the Canadian Wireless Telecommunications Agency says there are more than 20 million cellphone subscribers in the country.

Search engine giant Google Inc. (Nasdaq:GOOG) likes the status quo…

So do I. Otherwise the CRTC might be persuaded to “regulate” other Canadian content, for example the words of cheeky bloggers like me (and Kathy and Ezra and Wendy and Mark and…)

Posted by: scaramouche at 11:53 | link | comments

Today's unintentionally amusing headline: Americans need economic straight talk from Obama.

Straight talk? From the president who scared Congress into passing a gargantuan goodies package that will kick start nada and that Americans will be repaying for decades to come? You may as well ask Mahmoud Ahmadinejad for "straight talk" about the Holocaust.

Posted by: scaramouche at 11:25 | link | comments

Monday, 16 February 2009

Confessions of a Spendaholic: Okay. DON’T PANIC. Don’t panic. It’s only a spending bill. It’s thirteen hundred or so pieces of paper. A few zeroes. Followed by a few more zeroes. Followed by a few more zeroes. (Exactly how many oughts are there in a trillion?) I mean, just how scary can a “stimulus” package be?

My name is Nancy Pelosi, and I’m a spendaholic. But whereas that label-besotted shopaholic, Rebecca Bloomwood (played in the newly-released film by Borat’s babe, the adorable Isla—pronounced Eye-la—Fisher) squandered money she didn’t have on hideous over-the-knee suede applique’d Gucci boots and the like because it gave her such a rush, I and my confreres squander taxpayers’ money, borrowed from all and sundry, on ridiculous porkery (like Sen. Harry Reid’s transcendental levitating railroad) for your own damn good.

See the difference?

And whereas Rebecca Bloomwood—a.k.a. the Girl in the Green Scarf—had to get therapy for her addiction via a 12-Step program, we Congressional spendaholics have been given the go-ahead to mortgage your future and to keep spending and spending and spending—like a deranged Eveready Bunny on speed—until the American people turf us out, or until the nation goes bankrupt, whichever comes first.

Shop till you drop? Heck, you might say that that’s our motto. And if you have a problem with it, you’d better take it up with our fearless (or, to be more accurate, fear-mongering) leader who, you must admit, is a pretty sharp dresser himself.

Posted by: scaramouche at 22:54 | link | comments (1)

Where have all the flower-growers gone?: Perhaps the only thing worse that being a Jew in Iran is being a Bahai in Iran. Here’s a zany Tehran Times article that links the two reviled “others”:

Iran’s Prosecutor General Qorban-Ali Dorri-Najafabadi says members of the banned Bahai sect have irrefutable links with Israel.

After Tehran’s deputy prosecutor Hassan Haddad announced on Wednesday that seven members of the Bahai sect would soon be tried, U.S. State Department issued a statement to condemn the decision.

The seven Bahai followers will be tried on charges of “espionage for Israel, desecrating religious sanctities and propaganda against the Islamic Republic.”

The statement by the U.S. State Department condemned the move, saying the espionage charges were “baseless.”

“There is irrefutable evidence that adherents of the Bahai sect are in close contact with the enemies of the Iranian nation and have strong links to the Zionist regime,” Dorri-Najafabadi explained on Sunday.

The top Iranian judiciary official accused the group of gathering intelligence on Iran and involvement in espionage activities against the Islamic Republic.

“Bahai organizations are illegal and their connections to Israel and their enmity toward Islam and the Islamic system are absolutely certain and their threat against the national security is a proven fact,” added the Iranian cleric.

Followers of the Bahai sect -- founded in Iran in 1863 -- are regarded as infidels and have been persecuted both before and after the 1979 Islamic Revolution.

One of the most beautiful spots in Israel is the Bahai Centre in Haifa, whose gardens are absolutely breathtaking. That the mullahs are bent on persecuting these non-threatening flower-growers is a sign of their diabolical malevolence.

Posted by: scaramouche at 22:17 | link | comments

The real bigots: Who are the real 'racists' in the world? The Jews, who insist on their right to sovereignty in their ancient, ancestral land? Or Arabs, who refuse to allow Israelis--Zionists--to participate in international tennis tournies open to everyone save Israelis?

I'd say the answer is self-evident.

Posted by: scaramouche at 22:04 | link | comments

Bad smell: “Your pedal extremities really are obnoxious,” says Fats Waller at the end of his bluesy homage to gibungous tootsies, “Your Feet’s Too Big”. Fats' observation seems tailor-made for an aging Dutch university student who, for an entire decade, has been fighting for the “right” to foist his obnoxious feet on his “intolerant” campus-mates. From Maclean’s:

HIGHER LEARNING MUST ACCEPT STINKY FEET

After a 10-year battle, Dutch university student Teunis Tenbrook has won the right to attend lectures. A decade ago, Tenbrook was expelled from Erasmus University because of his unbearably smelly feet. Professors and students alike demanded that he not attend class owing to the smell and even the library barred him from reading there. But a court judge recently ruled: “The professors and other students will just have to hold their noses.”

Leaving aside the fact that foot odour of that duration and intensity is likely indicative of some underlying medical condition, one must conclude from the above that the Dutch are a mighty strange people. Instead of advising the chap in question to wash his feet/invest in new hosiery/buy some Odor Eaters/get a pedicure on a regular basis, they have decided that he is within his rights to compel those around him to endure his malodorousness. (One can well imagine "rights" diva Barbara Hall or one of her fellow apparatchiks arriving at a similar judgement.)

Would that Dutch authorities evinced the same tolerance for “offensive” ideas—like, say, those expressed by Ayaan Hirsi Ali and Geert Wilders—that they do for smelly feet.

Update: A lim for them:

A curious people, the Dutch.

Seems little offends them much.

Your feet can reek

But please don’t speak

About jihad, sharia and such.

Posted by: scaramouche at 18:30 | link | comments

Borders on idolatry: Does Obama-worship qualify as a "religion"? According to this photo, the answer's yes.

Posted by: scaramouche at 18:00 | link | comments (1)

Hot Somalis: In Canada, Somalis are fortunate enough to be mentored by Jews, part of the leftist Jewstablishment’s larger ingratiation project which, unbelievably, aims to endear Jews to Islamists. In the U.K., however, where Somalis go unmentored, they are getting up to all sorts of public mischief, as the timesonline reports:

Dozens of Islamic extremists have returned to Britain from terror training camps in Somalia, the British security services believe.

Intelligence analysts are worried that they may attempt to launch attacks in this country or use the kudos from having trained and fought in Somalia to try to attract new recruits. The issue was raised by Jonathan Evans, the head of MI5, in his first interview last month.

In the US, the outgoing head of the CIA, Michael Hayden, has said that Ethiopia's invasion of Somalia in late 2006 “catalysed” expatriate Somalis around the world.

An investigation for Channel 4 News, to be broadcast tonight, also reveals that a suicide bomber who grew up in Ealing is thought to have blown himself up in an attack in Somalia that killed more than 20 soldiers.

The incident is the first reported case involving a Somali based in Britain and will add to pressure on Scotland Yard and the Home Office to tackle the problem within the Somali community, which, at about 250,000 people, is the biggest in Europe.

“Pakistan rightly gets the most attention in terms of external threats,” a senior counter-terrorism source said. “But we believe we should focus more on the Horn of Africa and Somalia in particular.”

Two years ago Ethiopian forces occupied parts of Somalia after ousting the Union of Islamic Courts (UIC) from the capital, Mogadishu – the latest chapter in a long history of conflict between the two countries. The Ethiopians withdrew last month as part of a peace deal agreed between the Government and moderate Islamists, leaving African Union peacekeepers and Somali soldiers – although many believe that they will not be able to keep advancing extremists at bay.

The hardline Islamist militia al-Shabaab, treated as a terrorist organisation by the US, has taken advantage of Ethiopia's withdrawal to boost its control of the south. More than 16,000 people have been reported killed in the past two years of fighting.

Peter Neumann, a terrorism expert who runs the Centre for the Study of Radicalisation at King's College London, told Channel 4 News: “The numbers I hear [going from Britain to Somalia] are 50, 60 or 70, but in reality we don't know. You don't need big numbers for terrorism. Somalia will never become another Pakistan, but that does not mean it is not a threat.”

Most Somalis in Britain entered the country as asylum-seekers within the past 20 years. They include Yasin Omar and Ramzi Mohammed, two of the four men convicted of the botched bombing of the London Underground on July 21, 2005.

An audio message from Osama bin Laden last month urged Muslims to send money or go to fight themselves in Somalia. “Such references are usually a good indicator,” Dr Neumann said. “The place is seen as an opportunity, from a jihadist point of view.”…

But have no fear, my fellow Canadians. From a jihadist point of view “our” Somalis—mentored and loved as they are by the Chosen—have nothing in common with those Somalis.

Posted by: scaramouche at 12:51 | link | comments

Two solitudes, worlds apart: A friendly acquaintance of mine who I see from time to time once came up with what I thought was a great description of the chasm between right and left. It’s not, he said, that those on the other side are stupid, since, as we know, some of the most intelligent people in the world situate themselves left—and far-left—of centre. It’s that right and left “exist in alternate realities.”

Exactamundo. And if you want a good shorthand description of the nature of those two realities, look no further than a piece by David Solway in FrontPage Magazine (my bolds):

Broadly speaking, the conservative project is what is known in philosophy as an “axiological” ethic, in which the determination of the rightness of an action is contingent upon the value or goodness of that action as embodied in results, however deferred. It is concerned with consequences. The liberal ethic on the other hand is “deontological,” that is, it holds that an action may be considered right if it conforms to a prior set of values even if it does not bring as much good into the world as some alternative action may have. It is concerned with motives.

This is why “the liberal mind” seems incapable of learning from past mistakes or failed initiatives, why predictions that have not come to pass do not prevent it from making similar predictions in the future, and why Neville Chamberlains crop up in every generation. From its perspective, the hurdle to peace and understanding is the result of miscommunication.

Posted by: scaramouche at 12:26 | link | comments

Sunday, 15 February 2009

Multiculturalism, defined: Here’s the definition that appears on the Government of Canada website:

Canadian multiculturalism is fundamental to our belief that all citizens are equal. Multiculturalism ensures that all citizens can keep their identities, can take pride in their ancestry and have a sense of belonging. Acceptance gives Canadians a feeling of security and self-confidence, making them more open to, and accepting of, diverse cultures. The Canadian experience has shown that multiculturalism encourages racial and ethnic harmony and cross-cultural understanding, and discourages ghettoization, hatred, discrimination and violence.

Through multiculturalism, Canada recognizes the potential of all Canadians, encouraging them to integrate into their society and take an active part in its social, cultural, economic and political affairs.

What a load of hooey! Were the site being honest, it would define the social doctrine as follows:

Canadian multiculturalism is the bill of goods Canadians were sold by the ’68 generation of Marxists/Socialists/Leftist radicals who so despised the West and so adored the Third World that they were determined to remake Canadian society to conform to their own warped worldview. Multiculturalism is the Trojan horse that has allowed sharia—the supremacist Islamic law that’s antithetic to Western law—to insert itself into our body politic, and is ensuring that our most precious value—free speech—will presently be snuffed out completely in the name of encouraging “racial and ethnic harmony.”

Multiculturalism is a fraud and a sham that is ripping our social fabric to shreds.

Posted by: scaramouche at 15:18 | link | comments (2)

All aboard!: One of the more, ahem, imaginative projects being funded by Obama’s gargantuan “rescue” scheme is Senator Harry Reid’s amazing magic flying railroad. William Kristol has the details:

One of many highlights of the stimulus bill the Democrats just rammed through Congress is $8 billion for high-speed rail. What makes this appropriation special is that there was no money for high-speed rail in the original House legislation. The Senate bill had $2 billion. The legislation coming out of conference "compromised" on $8 billion.

How did this happen? Well, some of that $8 billion, as the Washington Post reported Friday, seems intended for "a controversial proposal for a magnetic-levitation rail line between Disneyland, in California, and Las Vegas, a project favored by Senate Majority Leader Harry M. Reid (D-Nev.). The 311-mph train could make the trip from Sin City to Tomorrowland in less than two hours, according to backers." Reid of course played a major role in putting together the final bill.

That's the kind of policymaking the new Obama administration has embraced in its signature legislative proposal: a congressional process as unseemly as ever; an emergency bill that barely addresses the emergency; a "stimulus" bill short on stimulus (is that magnetic-levitation rail line "shovel-ready"?)…

A magnetic-levitation rail line, huh? It appears that Harry and his fellow spendaholics, who reside in Fantasyland, have come off the rails.

Posted by: scaramouche at 14:30 | link | comments

Real-politik: The New Republic’s Marty Peretz, who’s still reluctant to see Obama for what he is (i.e. the un-Saviour), says that it’s Iran, and not the way Obama sees Iran (i.e. as a nation that can be reasoned with via concerted diplomat chit-chat), that must “get real”:

If Barack Obama's diplomacy with Iran succeeds--which is to say, Dennis Ross' diplomacy--the world would be a safer place. The stakes are high: the stability of Iraq, the immunity of Israel from nuclear attack, the safety of the Sunni monarchs and bureaucracies (not dreamworks but better than anything anyone can imagine now), the easing of the intensity of the Muslim wars. There is much that even an economically challenged West can do to put Iran back into the well, let's say the twentieth century. (Nothing can yet bring it to the twenty-first.)

But there has to be a deal on two fronts: the front on which Iran relates to its neighbors and the world and the front which separates the regime and the people. Dare we recall that, as difficult as the Shah's regime was, it did not traffic in human depradation on the scale and to the extent that the regime of the mullahs has, really every since 1979 when we saw Jimmy Carter at his symptomatically most craven. He and Cyrus Vance and--oh, yuk--Warren Minor Christopher, (what an apt middle name), the dead man who gave George W. Bush his presidency.

Roula Khalaf and Najmeh Bozorgmehr have written a piece in this morning's FT showing the opportunities Iran has and the madnesses that would impede the country taking them. And, surprise, surprise, Israel is an obsession of the Basij and Ahmadinejad's unwired mind. It is not of any real and concrete interest to the people.

One might point out that the Jewish people were an obsession of Adolf Hitler’s unwired mind, and of no real and concrete interest to the German people. But that didn’t stop the Holocaust from happening.

Posted by: scaramouche at 14:12 | link | comments

George’s humaniterrorism convoy: George Galloway’s Gaza “rescue” operation has run into a bit of a snag. It seems some of his operatives also happen to be, er, terrorists. (Don’t you just hate when that happens?) From the Daily Mail:

Three men arrested by counter-terrorism police on a motorway were allegedly planning to leave Britain as part of a £1million aid convoy to Gaza, which was organised by former Labour MP George Galloway.

Security sources say the men aged 26, 29 and 36 from Burnley, Lancashire, had been under surveillance for two months in an operation connected to a potential threat of terrorism in the Middle East.

Nine men were arrested initially on Friday night as they drove west in two vans on the M65 near Preston. Six were later released without charge.

One of the two vans surrounded by police vehicles bore an image of the Palestinian flag on its side. The other had signs saying Stop Killing Children, Free Palestine and From Blackburn (UK) to Gaza.

The arrests were part of an ongoing operation by specialist officers from Lancashire Constabulary, Greater Manchester Police and the North West Counter Terrorism Unit. The operation has been monitored by MI5.

The three men were being held tonight at a Lancashire police station hours after the convoy, made up of more than 100 vehicles, left London and boarded ferries from Ramsgate in Kent, to Ostend, Belgium, en route to Gaza.

The convoy included 12 ambulances and a fire engine and carried medicines, tools, clothes, blankets and shoe boxes full of children's treats.

Respect Party MP Mr Galloway, who will help drive the convoy, declined to comment on the arrests.

Ten four, Rubber Ducky. Time to shut this convoy down.

Posted by: scaramouche at 13:53 | link | comments

And after emerging from “the beast,” he’s planning to walk on water and transform the frozen Rideau Canal into ice wine: The Toronto Star, in major swoon mode, tells us what to expect when Obama graces us with his hunkiness and Godliness:

OTTAWA – When the president and the beast come to town Thursday, the scene will be right out of a Hollywood movie.

There will be a specially made limo – "the beast" – black SUVs, rooftop police snipers, U.S. Secret Service agents talking into their sleeves and bomb-sniffing dogs working overtime.

Behind barricades, thousands of adoring fans will strain to get a glimpse of Barack Obama.

Homeowners and the few businesses along the Colonel By Dr. route, which runs parallel to the Rideau Canal, will be told they can't open their doors or windows when the motorcade goes by. Unlike in the movies, the manhole covers won't be welded shut.

"He is an international superstar and a head of state who will receive the highest level of security," said a senior security source, who asked not to be identified.

Before Air Force One – a specially configured Boeing 747-200B – arrives in Ottawa, the air space will be closed. Restrictions will be in effect around the city, affecting aircraft movements in and around the Ottawa International Airport from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.

The airport will be closed from 10:15 a.m. to 10:45 a.m. and then again from 5:10 p.m. to 5:55 p.m., which hints at Obama's arrival and departure times.

During the day, there will be a no-fly radius of 12 nautical miles around Parliament Hill, with a ceiling of 12,500 feet, except for police and military aircraft, regularly scheduled commercial flights, and approved emergency or humanitarian flights.

All this for a man whose popularity around the world is enormous. Unlike the visit to Ottawa in 2004 by president George W. Bush, protesters will be few, if any bother to show up.

Ottawa police will draw on officers from as far away as London, Ont., to help out. Canada's military will provide backup in the event anything unusual occurs during the visit.

"We are well-equipped and well-positioned to handle it, that's for sure," said RCMP Supt. Brendan Heffernan. "There will be a visible heightened security presence in the city without question."

On Parliament Hill, everyone entering Centre Block, with the exception of MPs, will be required to go through metal detectors. As well, reporters who ordinarily cover Parliament will have to carry special credentials.

In a surprise move, however, members of the public are being allowed to gather on the lawn in front of the Parliament buildings.

The trick will be to see Obama as he emerges from "the beast," which was airlifted in for the event. The vehicle was specially developed by GM in Detroit based on a Cadillac chassis. It features bulletproof glass and armoured plating and is hermetically sealed to withstand chemical weapons.

At the airport, Obama will be met by Governor General Michaëlle Jean…

I’m sure the reporter didn’t mean to imply that Obama will be outfitted to withstand bombs and chemical weapons, but will have to face Michaëlle Jean sans protection, but, oddly (and comically) enough, given the juxtaposition of those two paragraphs, that’s sure how it sounds.

Posted by: scaramouche at 13:15 | link | comments

And then my head exploded: Harpoon Siddiqui (the Toronto Star's resident shill for the Islamist perspective) has a fawning interview with "Canada's star left-winger," the de-lovely and de-mented (and malign) Ms. Naomi Klein.

Posted by: scaramouche at 12:39 | link | comments

Today's unintentionally amusing (in a macabre sort of way) headline: The Toronto Star headline, placed beside a photo of an attractive, smiling, well-dressed couple, reads "Man charged in beheading." The subhead, filling in some gaps, adds that the "Founder of Buffalo TV station aimed at depicting Muslims in positive light (is) accused of killing his wife."

He's accused of slicing off her head, actually. A la a Wahhabi state executioner or an al Qaeda/Taliban operative who's kidnapped some unlucky kafir. Which, all in all, is bound to set back the "aim" of his TV station to a certain degree, wouldn't you say?

Posted by: scaramouche at 12:31 | link | comments

Roses are red/Camels are brown/Who is the bestest/Poet around?: Move over American Idol and Dancing With The Stars. There’s a new competition in town (well, not in town, exactly; in the Arab Gulf Emirate, Abu Dhabi) and it’s leaving those challenges in the dust:

Abu Dhabi , UAE February 14, 2009: With only three spots remaining in the third round, the stakes have been raised in the competition and the six poets go head to head to prove their worth in front of the five judges and the 2000-strong audience at Al Raha Beach Theatre in Abu Dhabi. The judges have been hard pressed to find any faults with all six poets, instead praising each of them for their individual poems about subjects as wide as societal woes, sadness, love and, most surprising, a sword.

But before the six could take their place on the Millions’ Poet chair and get a chance to compete for the five million Dirhams prize and the prestigious title of the Millions’ Poet, the fates of the five remaining contestants from last week were yet to be decided. After some teasing from presenter Hussein Al Amiri, Mohammed Al Fares Al Tamimi from Saudi Arabia and Hamdan Ahmad Al Muharami from the UAE were the two chosen by audiences around the Arab World to go through to the third round.

Taking part in the last episode of the second round were Zayed bin Karouz Al Murri from Qatar, Ziad Hajab bin Naheet from Saudi Arabia, Salah Al Aarjani from Kuwait, Ali Al Harthi from Saudi Arabia, Fahmi Al Tam from Yemen and Mohammed bin Tanaf Al Kaabi from the UAE.

Ziad Hajab bin Naheet’s poem, titled A Scream of Silence, moved judges and audience the most with his emotional undertones. Covering a variety of issues concerning society, the economy, politics and humanity, Ziad addresses them all with sadness for the voices that cannot be heard and the suffering a people can live through. With Emir Saoud bin Khaled Al Saoud and Emir Ameer Abdelmohsen cheering him on, the most poignant verses of his poem say:

“They speak but their words have no voice
Even without a voice, the words would disappear from the sadness
They cry blood and bleed smiles
If only the blood on their faces is hidden and laid bare
That who died and his name is alive did not die, even if he did die
And that who died, the memory of him died if it had a soul
Tell the eyes that have short arms
Hope has a door that remains open.”

Speaking so fast he leaves both audience and judges dumbfounded and exuding an aura of confidence dripping with charm, Ali Al Harthi has proven that charisma is what a poet needs to win the hearts of all. Reciting a nationalistic poem about the power of the sword, Ali moves from the past to the present, comparing the two eras with moving references to the majesty of the sword in traditional Bedouin culture. Even after all is said and done, judge Hamad Al Saeed proves that both judges and the audience can’t get enough and asks the poet to recite a poem about love off the top of his head, throwing the audience into fits of cheers at the end.

Wrapping up the show were presenters Hussein Al Amri and Laila Al Muqbali with the much-anticipated results of the judge’s votes for the poet to go through to the third round. Joining the nine already in the third round was Mohammed bin Tanaf Al Kaabi from the UAE who recited a poem about terrorism being farthest from the teachings of Islam. Now, only two spots remain to round out the final 12 poets who will compete in the third round of the competition. The remaining five poets will now go through a week of SMS voting before the final results are announced at the beginning of next week’s episode…

Sounds thrilling. And best of all—no Paula Abdul.

Posted by: scaramouche at 01:19 | link | comments

Saturday, 14 February 2009

Harassing Haruki: In another example of the intellectual jihad being against Israel, Japanese author Haruki Murakami (whose quirky novels have given me much pleasure over the years) is being pressured to turn down an Israeli book award. From YNet News:

Pro-Palestinian groups in Japan and in other countries have called on popular Japanese writer Haruki Murakami to withdraw from the Jerusalem Book Fair, during which he is set to receive the “Jerusalem Prize” from Mayor Nir Barkat next week.

In an open letter to Murakami, author of the best-selling "Norwegian Wood" and "A Wild Sheep Chase," members of the Palestine Forum Japan wrote, "We ask you to seriously reconsider the social and political significance of a world-famous author such as yourself participating in the book fair, which is fully supported by the Foreign Ministry of Israel and the City of Jerusalem, and receiving the award from the mayor of Jerusalem, when Israel has just taken more than 1300 precious lives, injured more than 5300 people, including 500 who are seriously wounded, and destroyed a tremendous number of lives in Gaza and thus committed a series of war crimes.

"What we are particularly concerned about is the purpose of the 'Jerusalem Prize', being to praise one's contribution to "individuals' freedom in society". This concept is in total contradiction of Israel's criminal acts such as massacre, collective punishment, blockade policy, construction of settlements and building of the 'separation wall' in East Jerusalem that are effectively eliminating Palestinians' freedom," the letter read.

"If you receive the prize it will contribute to a false image of Israel respecting individuals' freedom in society which will be portrayed and spread by the media."

The letter goes on to quote Richard Falk, the UN's special rapporteur on human rights in Gaza, who said there was evidence that Israel committed war crimes in Gaza.

'Vindicating Israel's apartheid policy'

According to the Palestine Forum Japan, "groups in Europe are preparing to bring the persons responsible before an international tribunal. To avoid the recurrence of this massacre, which reminded us of the Warsaw Ghetto, the international community has to acquit the moral obligation, and send the message 'do not allow, condone or forget the massacre' to defiant Israel. We regard the receipt of the Jerusalem Prize as obviously contradicting this cause."

In the letter members of the pro-Palestinian group went as far as assailing Jerusalem Mayor Barkat, saying he is "in charge of this oppression" and "contributes towards hiding and vindicating Israel's apartheid policy."

The Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel joined the Forum in its appeal to Murakami…

If Murakami balks at these Jew-haters, he will go up even higher in my estimation (and I promise to re-read The Wind-up Bird Chronicle).

Posted by: scaramouche at 22:05 | link | comments (2)

No thanks: Commemorate a historic journey to the White House with a limited edition National Post poster.

Posted by: scaramouche at 21:51 | link | comments

Surprising good news of the day: The Chinese like the Jews.

In honour of China, I think we'll go for moo shoo tonight.

Posted by: scaramouche at 21:42 | link | comments (1)

So touching: Crazy Yvonne Ridley, the Beeb reporter who “reverted” to Islam when she was kidnapped by the Taliban (can you say "Stockholm Syndrome"?), pens a “valentine” to Hamas. Yes, Hamas:

Today is Valentine’s Day, a celebration rooted in paganism until Christian leaders pegged it to the legend of a third century saint after failing miserably to stop the annual festival.

And so today millions of people of faith and no faith across the world will be exchanging cards and flowers as symbols of their love, so I suppose it was quite apt that February 14 was chosen by British MP George Galloway as the day to send a gift to the people of Palestine.

But instead of a simple card and bunch of roses, Britain’s best known politician decided his valentine for Palestine would be a show-stopper.

His journey from Big Ben to Baghdad ten years ago was a mammoth task, but nothing like Viva Palestina!, which involves more than 100 vehicles, 285 people, and a spectacular mile-long procession including fire engines, ambulances and a boat all bound from London to Gaza.

George is sending a land convoy of aid, gift-wrapped in love and solidarity, to the people of Gaza and I will be with him all the way recording the historic trip by blog.

I will be hoping to emulate the success achieved in smashing the Israeli-imposed siege by sea when I arrived in Gaza last August as a member of the Free Gaza Movement.

Today’s convoy, stretching more than one mile, will roll from central London around noon (GMT) and head for war-torn Gaza via France and Spain before winding its way across North Africa.

My daily diary will keep you informed of who is on the convoy, the human interest stories around each truck and van loaded with humanitarian aid, and our adventures on the road.

Many of you who are reading this have donated cash and aid to the convoy, and as stakeholders in Viva Palestina, it is only right you are kept informed of your investment in the future hopes of those in Gaza.

We are told there are quite a few official welcomes and receptions being planned for us on our journey, which has already been described as the largest British convoy to cross the Maghreb since the Second World War.

See you all in Gaza!...

Earth to Yvonne: Don’t you know that Valentine’s Day is strictly verboten in those parts?

Posted by: scaramouche at 21:18 | link | comments (2)

Winner and losers: Obama wins; Americans lose.

Posted by: scaramouche at 21:03 | link | comments

You've got to be freaking kidding me!: On the spur of the moment, I ducked into the local multiplex to catch a chick flick (my husband and son being otherwise engaged). Guess what was being advertised on the screen prior to the feature presentation? It was York University, site of a recent storming by campus Jew-haters whose targets—some campus Jews—had to be rescued by the city's constabulary before the angry mob could have at them. It seems touchy-feely York wants potential students to know exactly how "diverse" and "multicultural" and "accepting" it is; why, it's a veritable United Nations, where students greet each other in their native tongues. "Ola!'; Guten Tag!"; "Salaam!"; "Shalom," said individual after individual, until the entire screen was filled with, yes, a mosaic of faces from different lands, all of whom had come together in peace and harmony to study at York.

After wiping the Diet Coke off my shirt—it had come out my nose when I did I spit take at the sight of this brazen bit of marketing chicanery (the York student body may indeed have diversity of provenance, but, like other university campuses these days, diversity of thought is far from welcome)—it occurred to me that there was one greeting—one true greeting—that was not in the ad: Juden raus!

Posted by: scaramouche at 20:39 | link | comments (2)

In need of alterations: A letter in the Globe and Mail compares Stephen Harper to Vlad “The Impaler” Putin:

In Russia's Leaders Are Beggaring The Bear (Feb. 12), Aurel Braun describes Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin as "bent on making himself the one indispensable ruler," as an "impressive policy wonk" but showing "little understanding of the most fundamental political and economic issues," as having "little patience for differing views" and as tolerating "no opposition." In addition, he believes Mr. Putin has helped "foster a culture of blame and conspiracy, rather than encouraging realistic solutions."

It strikes me that these characterizations could equally be applied to Prime Minister Stephen Harper. Fortunately, we have a robust parliamentary system to keep such autocratic tendencies in check. Don't we?

I beg to differ:

Stephen Harper and Vladimir Putin “cut from the same cloth”? Oh, please. Surely a more apt comparison for Putin is with the leader to Canada’s south, who is venerated to the point of idolatry by a populace willing to swallow a humungous economic “stimulus” package that legislators had neither the time nor the inclination to wade through point by point.

Such a thing could never happen in a Harper-led Canada, where the Prime Minister is about as far from being the object of hero worship as you can get, and is still reviled in certain quarters for his supposedly terrifying “hidden agenda.”

Posted by: scaramouche at 14:42 | link | comments

A clash of holidays: Those loveable Wahhabis may want to “twin” mosques with gullible infidels’ houses of worship, but they draw the line at sharing a kafir holiday that celebrates romance. From al Reuters via the Guardian:

Saudi Arabia's religious authorities have ordered Muslims to shun the "pagan" holiday of Valentine's Day so as not to incur God's wrath, the newspaper al-Riyadh reported yesterday.

"It is a pagan Christian holiday and Muslims who believe in God and judgment day should not celebrate or acknowledge it or congratulate [people on it]. It is a duty to shun it to avoid God's anger and punishment," said an edict issued by the fatwa committee and published in the Arabic-language daily.

"There are only two holidays in Islam - Eid al-Fitr and Eid al-Adha - and any other holidays ... are inventions which Muslims are banned from."

About seven million foreigners live in Saudi Arabia, the birthplace of Islam. Many are from Asian countries where Valentine's Day is celebrated.

All together now: HAPPY VALENTINE’S DAY, KING ABDULLAH!

Posted by: scaramouche at 13:52 | link | comments

All thinking aside: An expert on the subject advises Islam Online readers (whom he refers to as “Islamists”) re the proper way to use their noggins (i.e., to not use ‘em, but to blindly accept the words of the text—some of which, helpfully, he has put in bold letters):

…When the Muslim mind investigates any issue it should be true to the letter before the thought process begins. Thus, it should decide that the ultimate end of thinking and the research process is to acquire certainties, and not the satisfaction of its own lusts. As a consequence, it would commence research while being prepared to accept any feasible conclusions, even if these conclusions were contradictory to its previous opinions. Meanwhile, it would be recollecting the Saying of Allah the Almighty {O you who believe! Stand out firmly for justice, as witnesses to Allah, even though it be against yourselves, or your parents, or your kin} (Al Nisa' 4:135) There are still two more points that should be mentioned: the first is that if the Muslim mind is separated from subjective inclinations it should not be separated from the heart, so that intention would remain purely dedicated for the sake of Allah the Almighty, and thus, its reward would not be missed. The second remark, however, is that the mind should be constantly operating, and – besides its focus on adhering to the scientific methodology in its search to avoid committing errors – it should never be discouraged from acting and reasoning because of fear of committing errors. Undoubtedly, the true religion (Islam) has removed any such restriction. Therefore, it does not punish the one who errs if he works diligently and sincerely. Rather, it has assigned a share of the reward for him in order to motivate him to work harder…

To work harder—and to submit unquestioningly: the formula for fascist indoctrination, whether in Hitler’s Germany, Stalin’s Russia, Mao’s China or the Islamists’ ummah.

Posted by: scaramouche at 13:07 | link | comments

Today’s essay question: Is it more accurate to describe The Big O’s gargantuan “stimulus” package as “socialist” or “fascist”? Discuss.

Posted by: scaramouche at 12:40 | link | comments

He may be good lookin’, but he’s no Sully: Something I caught on FOX News when I was down in Jamaica stuck with me. It was an observation re the difference between Sully Sullenberger—the pilot who, with sang froid and aplomb, gently set down a large passenger jet on the icy Hudson River, saving every life on board—and President Obama, who, in his earliest days in office, made a number of ill-considered cabinet appointments, and who foolishly subcontracted the Three Stooges of Congress—“Curly” Pelosi, “Larry” Reid and “Moe” Frank—to craft his gazillion dollar “stimulus” plan. The difference, noted the gent on FOX: Sully is competent, while Obama (a guy who, previous to holding the highest office in the land, nay, the Western world, had a C.V. as thin as a panty liner)…well, not so much.

From his regular Saturday perch, Mark Steyn remarks on Obama’s floundering:

Few pieces of political "wisdom" are more tediously recycled than a well-retailed bon mot of British Prime Minister Harold Macmillan. Asked what he feared most in the months ahead, he gave an amused Edwardian response: "Events, dear boy, events." In other words, you can plan all you want, but next month, next year some guy off the radar screen will launch a war, or there'll be an earthquake, or … something. Governments get thrown off course by "events."

It requires a perverse kind of genius for the 44th president not to have waited for a single "event" to throw him off course. Instead, he threw himself off: "Is Obama tanking already?" (Congressional Quarterly) "Has Barack Obama's presidency already failed?" (The Financial Times). Whether or not it's "already" failed or tanked, the monthly magazines still gazing out from their newsstands with their glossy inaugural covers of a smiling Barack and Michelle waltzing on the audacity of hope seem like musty historical artifacts from a lost age. The ship didn't need to hit an iceberg; it stalled halfway down the slipway. This is still the phase before "events" come into play, when an incoming president has nothing to get in the way of his judgment and executive competence. President Obama chose to nominate Tim "Indispensable" Geithner and Tom "Home, James!" Daschle, men whose enthusiasm for the size of the federal budget is in inverse proportion to their own urge to contribute to it. He chose to nominate as commerce secretary first the scandal-afflicted Bill Richardson and then the freakishly scandal-free Judd Gregg, and wound up losing both of them.

To be sure, the present state of the economy is an "event," and has blown many governments around the world off course. But again: The hideous drooling blob of toxic pustules dignified as the "stimulus" bill is something the incoming Obama had months to prepare for and oodles of bipartisan goodwill and fawning press coverage to waft him along on. Instead, he chose to outsource it to Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid, Barney Frank and the rest of the congressional pork barons. So that, too, is not an "event" but merely, like his Cabinet picks, a matter of judgment and executive competence.

Not to matter. When the going gets tough, the tough go campaigning. So, almost as if he were still running for office rather than actually running an office, the president arranges a photo-op or a town-hall meeting, where, for the moment, the hopeychangey shtick still plays…

The hopeychangey shtick may yet cover a multitude of bad choices—for now—but it can’t disguise outright (downright?) incompetence. Think of it this way: the U.S. is a jumbo jet whose engines have been incapacitated by two geese named Fannie and Freddie—and the guy trying to bring the sucker in for a landing, though a helluva good speaker, doesn’t know how to fly.

Posted by: scaramouche at 12:08 | link | comments

Friday, 13 February 2009

Off their meds: Abe Greenwald of the contentions blog unpacks the larger meaning behind Hamas using “humanitarian” medicine bottles to make grenades:

It’s hard to come up with a more potent encapsulation of the Israel-Palestinian dynamic than this:

Medicine bottles, transferred to the Gaza Strip as humanitarian aid by Israel, were used by Hamas as grenades against IDF troops during Operation Cast Lead. Pictures of the grenades were obtained exclusively by The Jerusalem Post.

The medicine bottles were manufactured by the Jerusalem Pharmaceutical Company, which is based in el-Bireh, a town adjacent to Ramallah, and the global pharmaceutical company Shire.

The medicine bottles were filled with explosives, holes were drilled in the caps, and fuses were installed. Once Hamas fighters lit the fuses, they had several seconds to throw the grenades at soldiers. The IDF also found small explosive devices that used medical syringes to hold their fuses.

What use has Hamas for antibiotics or blood thinners? Killing Jews is medicine enough, and killing oneself in the service of killing Jews constitutes a miracle cure. What do you expect when the world’s biggest welfare state is suffused with a culture in which every resource, human or otherwise, is employed in achieving the destruction of its neighbor?

Here’s the poetic kicker: “One bottle turned into a grenade originally contained a drug called Equetro, which is used by people who suffer from episodes associated with bipolar disorder.” Like the Moral Equetro that liberals throw at the inherent bi-polarity of Israeli democracy and Hamas terror; it’ll blow up in your face every time.

Well, Judenhass is a kind of mental illness, one that no Equetro or Lithium can treat.

Posted by: scaramouche at 21:26 | link | comments

Misreading Martin: In its “Friday Magazine,” the Canadian Islamic Congress posts an article that make an astounding claim:

"It's time for him to make a historical correction that will make the world and America safe for years to come. He can begin by visiting Gaza and the West Bank for the same reason Martin Luther King, Jr. gave from his jail cell: "I am in Birmingham because injustice is here."

If Martin Luther King, Jr. were alive today he may well have attended President Barack Obama's inauguration ceremony wearing a black-and-white checkered kafiyah and holding a sign saying, "Mr. President, stop the Gaza nightmare. No more false hopes and delayed dreams. End the Occupation NOW!"…

In fact, here’s what MLK had to say about Jews and Zionism:

When people criticize Zionists, they mean Jews. You're talking anti-Semitism.

Does that sound like a black-and-white-checkered kafiyah-wearing useful idiot to you?

Update: They have a dream:

Posted by: scaramouche at 20:40 | link | comments

The Jews of silence still silent: York University has erupted in a flurry of Judenhass and, once again, the country’s foremost Jewish advocacy organization, the CJC, is missing in action. Or is it? I have it on good authority that it sent the following e-mail to selected individuals (of whom I was not one):

As part of our efforts to support students on college and university campuses across Canada, Canadian Jewish Congress has been working in concert with several other Jewish organizations, including Hillel: The Foundation for Jewish Campus Life.

We would like to bring to your attention the press release below, from Hillel@York, central campus organization for Jewish students at York University, about recent theincidents on that campus. Jewish Students Condemn Violence on York campus February 12, 2009 Toronto, ON Hillel@York, the central campus organization for Jewish students at York University, strongly condemns the violent behavior and intimidation tactics targeting Jewish students that have taken place in the past 24 hours on campus.

For the second time in a week, Toronto police were called on campus as anti-Israel organizers isolated and threatened Jewish students. During a news conference held by a coalition of diverse students to impeach the York Federation of Students, anti-Israel organizers shut down the announcement, yelling anti-Semitic slurs and physically intimidating Jewish students. Shortly after, they barricaded Jewish students at Hilllel's lounge on campus, continuing to threaten students. Toronto police officers escorted the students out of the office to ensure their safety.

Among the slurs shouted by those barricading Hillel's office were "Die bitch, go back to Israel", "Die Jew, get the hell off campus", "F-ing Jew", "racists off campus".

Last week, police were called during a physical altercation by an anti-Israel activist.

"The climate on York's campus of aggressive intimidation, violent rhetoric and physical harassment is unacceptable", said Daniel Ferman, President of Hillel@York. "The hostile environment demonstrates contempt for all students -not only to Jewish students, who are still trying to recover from a 3 month strike and for the university itself."

- 30 -

For further information contact Hillel of Greater Toronto at: 416-913-2424.

In other words, the CJC is working behind the scenes, quietly, so as not to jeopardize all the hard work that has gone into ingratiating itself with Muslim organizations, and is forcing Jewish student organization Hillel to carry the ball in public. Has the Ceej called a news conference or issued a press release to condemn this flagrant and outrageous hatred on a campus in the same city where its head office is quartered? Don’t be silly. You can be sure, though, that if, say, Motoons were being published in a Danish newspaper, gravestones were being toppled in France, a swastika was being etched in a remote bathroom stall, or a high-ranking Catholic cleric was denying the Holocaust, the Ceej would be on it like ugly on Arafat.

Posted by: scaramouche at 14:58 | link | comments

Khawaja’s sentence: His mama may claim that he never intended to wage jihad in an urban setting, but according to a crown prosecutor, convicted terrorist Momin Khawaja “remains a grave and palpable threat to society.” The crown is asking a judge to put the former Ottawa software designer on ice for life.

Posted by: scaramouche at 14:15 | link | comments

Why Canada is screwed: At a lunchtime lecture yesterday featuring anti-sharia activists Tarek Fatah and Salim Mansur, some disturbing information came to light which calls into question Canada’s ability to remain a liberal democracy:

· According to Fatah, there are 53 jihadi training camps in North America, most in the U.S., but some in Canada. Officials know about these camps, but little, if anything, is being done about them.

· When a Muslim complains to Toronto police about death threats to a “good-looking Muslim” (Fatah’s amusing way of describing Muslims such as Mansur and himself who embrace modernism and reject sharia as the basis for state jurisprudence), the police will dispatch two burly Muslim police officers. These gentlemen will warn the complainer to button it, lest he rile up restive Muslims. Should the complainer fail to comply, he, and not those lobbing the death threats, will face arrest.

· As a matter of policy, the Toronto Star refuses to print any letters from Muslims which criticize the words of Harpoon Siddiqui, the paper’s esteemed (and feared) editorial page editor emeritus/resident shill for the Islamist perspective.

· Every major political party in Canada, including the Conservatives, is endeavouring to ingratiate itself with the country’s ever-expanding Muslim population, thereby sending the message that this community need not embrace Canadian values, but is free to retain sharia values that are antithetical to ours.

· Cluelessness, multiculturalism and Western guilt are the perfect storm which are ensuring that the cornerstone of any liberal democracy—free speech—is being wiped out.

· A liberal democracy can withstand either immigration or multiculturalism. It will inevitably collapse under the weight of both.

· When a Canadian Jew from an Arab country, fluent in Arabic, infiltrates a Toronto mosque, and reports on the flagrant Judenhass being preached from the pulpit, CSIS, Canada’s CIA, will have him report to an official who’s wearing a hijab. Naturally, she will not be particularly receptive to the type of information he discloses.

· Sharia-based financing is a lucrative fraud being perpetrated on non-Arab Muslims by those wily Wahabis, Saudi Arabia being the only place on the planet where sharia banking is prohibited. Sharia finance threatens the West because the imams who are called upon to give their thumbs up to sharia-compliant services and products—i.e. to deem them “halal”—are more often than not also involved in raising funds for the jihad.

Posted by: scaramouche at 13:27 | link | comments (9)

Not coming soon to a campus near you: Islamic Shahida Week.

Posted by: scaramouche at 12:29 | link | comments

Gag me: Obama and his Missus can't keep their hands off each other--and the press can't get enough of their egregious displays of public affection.

Get a Lincoln bedroom, you two.

Posted by: scaramouche at 12:22 | link | comments

A lim for Babs:

A bold commissar, Barbara Hall,

Is possessed of remarkable gall.

Hopes to harness repression

To suppress expression--

For the greater "good" of us all.

Posted by: scaramouche at 12:11 | link | comments

Thursday, 12 February 2009

Geert Wilders' message to craven Brits: Take your 'ban' and shove it.

Posted by: scaramouche at 13:08 | link | comments

Toronto Sun readers respond to “Barbara’s Hall of Shame”: Two Toronto Sun readers call for Babsy's bureacracy to be mothballed (the bracketed comments are the Sun editor’s, not mine):

Orwell's thought police

Re "Barbara's Hall of shame" (Christina Blizzard, Feb. 11): I agree with Mark Steyn completely. The Ontario Human Rights Commission is a version of Orwell's thought police and must be scrapped immediately. They only uphold certain "human rights" and prosecute those who are not politically correct. We do need an institution to protect our rights but not one that is politically driven.

Mark Strozyk

Mississauga

(Agreed)

More harm than good

Excellent column on a very touchy subject ("Barbara's Hall of shame," Christina Blizzard, Feb. 11). I would ban the Human Rights Commissions outright because there is no right to due process -- just to be accused means virtual bankruptcy in defending oneself for average Canadians. The person accused does not have any human rights when facing an HRC. These bodies have far more potential for harm than the minimal good they do. Valid complaints can still be judged in our regular courts under existing laws.

Grayme Anthony

Sudbury

(Kangaroo courts don't help anyone)

The only reason I continue to have faith in Canada’s future is because of “ordinary” people like Mark and Grayme who "get it" (and who are much smarter than Barbara Hall and her fellow P.C. ideologues).

Posted by: scaramouche at 12:58 | link | comments (2)

Déjà vu at York U: Don’t look now, but Toronto’s York University has morphed into a German campus circa Der Fuhrer—or a Gaza campus circa today. I just received the following desperate plea via e-mail:

To Whom It May Concern:

As students at York University Keele Campus we would like to urgently bring to your attention several appalling incidents, which took place today, February 11th 2009 on our campus.

After an attempted media conference, regarding a successful campaign of “Drop YFS”, a racial riot broke out deeming the members of “Drop YFS” racist. “Drop YFS” is a student led group with students from different backgrounds, faiths and beliefs. In addition, the Jewish students involved in “Drop YFS” belong to Hasbara at York, Hillel at York, and other Jewish groups on campus.

“Drop YFS” is a student run initiative to have the executive members of YFS (the undergraduate student government) held accountable for their inactivity during the strike. The media conference was put in place to thank the students for their 5000 signatures, and to congratulate the students for their success.

The conference was interrupted by mobs of people who broke into chants, racial slurs, and anti-Semitic threats. Students fearing for their lives at York University had to be protected and escorted out of the room by Toronto Police - as they were trapped inside this room unable to leave, afraid. The entire Jewish population of York is intimidated, and no longer feels secure on campus. The Jewish members of “Drop YFS” were solely targeted today for their religion and their political views.

There is video footage of this taking place, and we are more than willing to answer any of your questions. Please contact us:

Aaron Rosenberg

(647) 227-4404

aaron_r123@hotmail.com

Elinor Izmaylov

(416) 727-0223

elinorizmaylov@hotmail.com

Please forward this to as many people you can – the community at large must become aware that Jews on campus no longer feel safe regardless of their political views.

Enraged mobs of Jew-haters hurling threats and racial slurs? Where are our politicians? Where are the media? Where’s the Canadian Jewish Congress?

Where’s Barbara Hall?

Posted by: scaramouche at 12:13 | link | comments (4)

Barbara’s dream: Wee commissar Barbara Hall is displeased with the diversity of thought in the country and wants to put a halt to it. An editorial in the National Post takes her to task for her overweening, Soviet-style ambitions:

As if Barbara Hall's own crude, broadsword agency were not destructive enough of free speech rights, now the Chief Commissioner of the Ontario Human Rights Commission (OHRC) wants a national press council to further chill free expression in the media. And she is not looking just to curtail newspapers, talk radio and television news. Ms. Hall wants any new press council to have jurisdiction over Internet sites and blogs, too.

Of course, using the typically topsy-turvy logic of most modern rights crusaders, Ms. Hall has convinced herself that this thinly veiled censorship board would actually be the ultimate free speech defender. She seems to think the best way to preserve free speech is to limit it.

In a report to the Canadian Human Rights Commission, Ms. Hall's OHRC recommends a national media watchdog to which all publishers, webmasters and radio and television producers would be forced to belong.

The OHRC insists such a body need not "cross the line into censorship," but it is hard to see how it could avoid it. As conceived by Ms. Hall and her activist cocommissioners, a national press council would have the power to accept complaints of discrimination -- "particularly from vulnerable groups" --against any member paper, station or Web site. And while the council, at least initially, would have no power to prevent media outlets from printing, posting or broadcasting what they wished, it could force them to carry the council's decisions, including counterarguments made by complainants.

It's hard not to view these recommendations as a direct response to the OHRC's frustration with its own inability to persecute Maclean's magazine and columnist Mark Steyn for what the commission viewed as the pair's "Islamophobic" views. Last April, the OHRC was forced to drop its investigation of columns and news stories carried by Maclean's because the legislation governing the commission did not give it authority to investigate published work.

Nonetheless, Ms. Hall left no doubt that she sided with the Canadian Islamic Congress and a group of Muslim university students who felt Maclean's discriminated against their faith. Despite having held no hearing, nor hearing any testimony from the magazine or Mr. Steyn, Ms. Hall and the OHRC nonetheless felt justified in concluding that both parties engaged in journalism that was "inconsistent with the spirit" of the Ontario Human Rights Code and which did "serious harm" to Canadian society by "promoting societal intolerance" and disseminating "destructive, xenophobic opinions."…

Far more insidious and destructive, of course, is stifling dissenting opinion in the name of social harmony—and granting self-righteous nitwits like Barbara Hall the power to sit in judgement over our expression.

Posted by: scaramouche at 11:53 | link | comments

Wednesday, 11 February 2009

A day of whine and roses: The MEMRI blog has a clip of a wacky imam who’s gotten himself all worked up over...Valentine’s Day?:

In a speech, Egyptian cleric Hazem Shuman called on Muslim youth to "confront [the] Valentine virus," saying that while "everything red will become more expensive" for the holiday, "one red thing will become cheaper: the blood of Muslims. All this is the result of the sins committed by Muslim youth."

He warned, "In a few days time, a very dangerous virus will attack the body of the nation. What virus? Is it AIDS? No, something more dangerous. Something more dangerous than Ebola, which dissolves the human body, more dangerous than cholera, which killed half of Europe a few centuries ago... I have come tonight to warn all boys and girls about an extremely dangerous virus, which is about to attack the hearts of the nation’s youth, and to destroy our relations with God. We must confront this Valentine virus!"

To view this clip, visit http://www.memritv.org/clip/en/2019.htm.

No chocolate covered maraschino cherries for you, Hazem.

Posted by: scaramouche at 20:13 | link | comments

Delusions of diminutiveness: Barbara Hall presides over an outfit that claims as its mandate nothing less than the power to be the final arbiter of what can—and cannot—be read, said and thought in the province of Ontario: In other words, powers that are generally seen only in police states. And yet, when it serves her purposes—for instance, when the Toronto Sun’s Christina Blizzard demands she account for the selectiveness of her opprobrium (chastising “Islamophobe” Steyn; remaining mute about “honour” killings of Muslim girls)—she is quick to protest that she and her commission are so very small; puny, even. Why, one might even describe it as A Little Commission in Upper Canada. Writes Blizzard

…I asked Hall for her response. In a telephone interview, she made some astounding comments.

First, she said, the OHRC has two roles -- a judicial one and one that comments on issues such as the articles. So she was perfectly within her mandate.

"We said the complaint process doesn't apply here.

HARMFUL STEREOTYPES

"We find this series of articles [in Maclean's magazine] to promote stereotypes and that's harmful and we would like the media to think more about the impact on people of what they write," she said.

Well, sorry. The role of the media is to report, review, criticize, comment. If sometimes we hurt people's feelings, well, oops. This is still a semi-free society.

It was her response to Steyn's criticism of OHRC's silence on honour killings that shocked me.

"There are thousands of things that happen in the province of Ontario on a daily basis and we don't comment on all of them," she said.

But, I spluttered, women are being murdered.

"As I said, we are a small commission.

"There are many problematic things that happen in our community and we have to make choices because we can't respond to everything," Hall said.

So honour killings are merely "problematic"?

Here's a woman who's advocated for years on behalf of women's rights. She found time to crucify Steyn and Maclean's, but she's too busy to raise the issue of women who are being murdered over some hideous interpretation of "honour"?

I wouldn't go as far as Steyn in calling for an end to the OHRC. I think there is an important role for it to mediate in cases where people are refused accommodation based on the colour of their skin or where they didn't get a job based on their age or gender.

The human rights system in this province cost $17.6 million this year. The government needs to find savings in its next budget.

Cut it in half. Get back to basics -- and get out of the censorship business.

But that would only solve half the problem, Christina. I say get rid of it in toto, and put the money toward something that might actually do some good--like, say, a program to educate Ontarians about the perils of allowing sharia to insinuate itself into our body politic.

Posted by: scaramouche at 17:55 | link | comments

The Beeb up a creek, still paddling furiously: The Beeb is blatantly biased against Israel, and there’s a report out there that proves so conclusively. Unfortunately, for the past four years the Beeb has successfully stifled it—until now, that is. From the Telegraph:

A four-year battle by lawyer Steven Sugar to make the 20,000-word report about alleged anti-Israeli bias at the BBC, is now expected to become public when a final decision is made by the High Court.

The BBC has always opposed the request, made under the Freedom of Information Act, saying it was exempt from disclosing information held for the purposes of "journalism, art or literature".

The corporation said that the report was always intended as an internal review to help shape future policy on its Middle East coverage and was never intended for publication.

It comes after the BBC was criticised for not airing a two-minute video clip for the Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC) Gaza Crisis Appeal to help provide aid for the people in Palestine on the grounds of "compromising public confidence in the BBC's impartiality".

Mr Sugar initially took his complaint to the Information Commissioner, who agreed with the BBC that it should not have to disclose material relating purely to its journalism.

However, Mr Sugar appealed and won the backing of the Information Tribunal.

The BBC then took the case to the High Court, where a judge agreed that the case fell outside the scope of the Freedom of Information Act and the Court of Appeal upheld that conclusion.

However, the latest decision by the Law Lords means a final decision will be made by the High Court who will look at the other issues raised in the BBC's defence.

Malcolm Balen, a senior news editor, was commissioned in 2004 to compile the report on the BBC's Middle East reporting, which had been criticised for alleged anti-Israeli bias and pro Palestinian reporting. He examined hundreds of hours of television and radio broadcasts.

Mr Sugar issued a statement, which read: "It is sad that the BBC felt it necessary to spend hundreds of thousands of pounds of public money fighting for 3 years to try to load the system against those requesting information from it under the Freedom of Information Act.

"The BBC has finally lost its technical legal argument. The Information Tribunal's decision in my favour has been restored. I hope that the BBC will now stop the legal argument and will immediately publish the Balen report."

We shall see. But since the report was written five years ago, perhaps it’s time to do an update that includes the Beeb’s mega-skewed coverage of Gaza.

Posted by: scaramouche at 15:13 | link | comments

Isn’t that special?: Some tender-hearted ~~useful idiots~~ church folk are endeavouring to help a few Gitmo detainees find refuge in Canada. From the Toronto Star:

OTTAWA – The Canadian Council for Refugees is demanding the federal government give sanctuary to five detainees from the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay who do not face charges but could be in danger if returned home.

One of them is Maassoum Abdah Mouhammad, a Syrian Kurd who is being sponsored by a Toronto church group committed to meeting his financial and emotional needs should he be resettled in Canada.

"We do believe he faces serious risk if returned to his country and we hope we can be part of an effort to offer him hospitality and home in Canada," said Sonya Wu-Winter, a member of the congregation at Trinity St. Paul's United Church in the Bloor St. W. and Spadina Ave. area. "As a community of faith, we believe that this is part of our calling to work for justice and healing in the world."

His application for refugee status was submitted yesterday.

The other detainees include three men from the Uyghur Muslim minority in northwest China: Anwar Hassan, sponsored by a group of churches in Toronto, and two unnamed men sponsored by the Catholic Diocese of Montreal.

China has demanded no country accept any of the 17 Uyghurs who remain at Guantanamo because it deems them to be members of a terrorist organization.

Diplomatic threats from China are believed to have played a role in Canada ending negotiations to accept some of the Uyghurs in 2006 around the same time China detained Canadian Huseyin Celil.

The Anglican Diocese of Montreal is sponsoring Djamel Ameziane, an Algerian alleged to have conspired with Al Qaeda, and viewed as one of the reasons Canada could move slowly on this file.

"Immigration officials have the authority to reject sponsorship applications from individuals who threaten our national security or who are involved with terrorist groups," Alykhan Velshi, spokesperson for Immigration Minister Jason Kenney, wrote in an email yesterday.

He added he hoped the refugee council and other groups would "keep that in mind" when choosing who to sponsor…

I wouldn’t count on it.

Posted by: scaramouche at 14:07 | link | comments

Not coming soon to a campus near you—Hamas Brutality Week: “Israel is a racist, apartheid state”—that’s an out-and-out whopper of a Big Lie. “Hamas is a barbaric gang of murderous thugs”—that’s the God’s honest truth. So when can we expect the brainiacs of academe to get on board with HBW as a means to expose the savagery described in this account?

Why, when Hell freezes over, of course.

Posted by: scaramouche at 13:16 | link | comments

Goebbels with lip gloss: Joseph Goebbels (remember him?) pioneered the concept of the Big Lie in order to pave the way for a great evil: the destruction of the world’s Jews. Similarly, organizers of Israeli Apartheid Week, a campus-based hate-fest which began five years ago at our very own University of Toronto but which this year has spread like an unchecked bacillus to campuses around the world, purvey the Big Lie about Israel (that it’s racist, apartheid, Nazi, criminal) in order to pave the way for another great evil: the destruction of the Jewish state. Here’s Rafeeh Ziadah of the Coalition Against Israeli Apartheid in a trailer for last year’s academic pogrom promulgating this era’s version of the Big Lie. As she explains

Nobody would have asked a black South African to dialogue with a white South African. Nobody would have asked a black from the southern United States to dialogue with members of the KKK. Now, by that same logic, we Palestinians have nothing to dialogue about with Zionists.

Hard to argue with that “logic.” But here goes: Arabs and other Muslims (who have 57 nations of their own) are waging a jihad against the world’s only Jewish state because it’s a sovereign Jewish state and thus anathema to Islam. Unable to defeat Israel through military means, they have enlisted stupid intellectuals to help in their “struggle” against Israel—just as Hitler enlisted stupid German intellectuals to assist in his “struggle” (in German, Kampf; in Arabic, jihad) against the Juden.

And that, my friends, is the unadulterated truth.

Posted by: scaramouche at 12:01 | link | comments

Why drag Obama into it?: Fertility clinic junkie Nadya Suleman, unwed, unemployed mom to 14 young 'uns, says her latest litter of eight is God's way of telling her to stop having kids.

I guess God figured he had to take more drastic action this time, since the fact that she already had six fatherless children under the age of eight living in her folks' three bedroom house hadn't made any impression on her.

Posted by: scaramouche at 11:15 | link | comments

Tuesday, 10 February 2009

Claudia Rosett's modest proposal: Finding his fat and sassy "stimulus" package stymied by mulish politicians who insisted on actually reading the sucker, The One and Only got his act together and took it on the road. To be exact, he dropped in like a big-eared Deus ex Machina on Elkhart, Indiana. Why there? Well, it seems Elkhart is the kind of hapless, hopeless, Nowheresville that has hit the economic skids--big time; the type of place that can supposedly be jolted back to life via some Pelosi-style resuscitation. Claudia Rosett's ingenious idea: why not take a real growth industry, one replete with jobs, jobs, jobs, and move it lock, stock and unctuous diplomat to Elkhart?

Move it from its current digs in Turtle Bay, N.Y., that is.

Posted by: scaramouche at 22:17 | link | comments

Moon’s tantrum: Professor Richard Moon, the human rights lawyer who, against all odds, nixed Section 13 of Canada’s Human Rights Code, gave testimony at Queen’s Park yesterday—and he was almost as apoplectic as a Foreign Office dignitary watching a report on Gaza while riding an excercycle at his gym. The National Post’s Joseph Brean has the details:

Richard Moon, the University of Windsor law professor who last fall became a darling of right-wing free speech advocates when he recommended scrapping the federal human rights hate-speech law, on Monday lashed out at his admirers.

He accused them of launching a "smear campaign" against human rights commissions and "baseless personal attacks" against their staff.

"I urge the committee not to be taken in by these individuals. They don't care about the truth. They make stuff up," he said in a submission to an Ontario government committee reviewing the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario.

Conservative pundit Mark Steyn drew fans to hear his arguments about the trampling of "real human rights" in the name of "pseudo-rights."

But it was Prof. Moon who stole the show with an impassioned defence of human rights commissions and their staff, who he said are people of "integrity" pursuing their statutory mandate.

His criticisms, which he followed with an overview of his November report about the federal human rights hate speech law, vexed the Progressive Conservative MPP who had invited him on the understanding he would discuss the dangers of government censorship.

"I'm very disappointed," said Lisa MacLeod (Nepean-Carleton, Ont.). "I didn't call you in to make accusations and call people liars."

Prof. Moon targeted Ezra Levant in particular, whose blog is a clearinghouse for skepticism of human rights law, and who claimed the day before Prof. Moon's report was released that it had been "redacted by Jennifer Lynch," the chief commissioner of the Canadian Human Rights Commission.

"The claim was false," Prof. Moon told the all-party panel. "I was given complete independence, and when my report was released the following day and recommended the repeal of Section 13 of the Canadian Human Rights Act, the falsity of Levant's claim was obvious. He had just made it up. He thought he knew what I would say and he sought to discredit the report in advance by attacking me and the commission rather than the arguments I might make."

In an interview, Prof. Moon said he was initially "perplexed" by his invitation, given that his expertise is not with Ontario's Human Rights Code, nor the Tribunal that adjudicates complaints.

"Why invite me? It didn't make any sense," Prof. Moon said. He initially declined, but accepted after hearing Mr. Steyn, author of a controversial book excerpt that led to three human rights hate speech complaints against Maclean's magazine, would also appear. He said he also felt obliged to publicly rebut the claims of personal malfeasance by CHRC staff, of which he found no evidence in his own research, and which are often repeated by commentators who cite him admiringly as an authority.

The invitation "made me realize that there is serious interest, and maybe this smear campaign against the commissions generally has taken hold to some extent. Why else invite me?"…

What’s behind this outburst? I suspect that Moon figures he’s in the doghouse with the human rights types—his landsmen—for doing dirt to their beloved Section 13. This is his way of saying that just because he agrees with Ezra, Mark and other “right-wingers” on this one issue, that doesn’t mean he’s gone over to the, er, dark side. No siree, Barb. He’s still the same old HRC-loving guy he was before he was commissioned to write the report that turned out to be such a disappointment to his fellows.

Posted by: scaramouche at 18:35 | link | comments

Hairy terror sets the terms for American acquiescence: Speaking on the occasion of the 30^th anniversary of Iran’s glorious revolution (the Khomeini version of hope ‘n’ change), a tiny tinpot bellows and bloviates. From the New York Times:

TEHRAN -- After the icy mutual hostility of the Bush era, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of Iran on Tuesday made a conditional offer of dialogue to the Obama administration, saying Tehran was ready for “talks based on mutual respect and in a fair atmosphere.”Skip to next paragraph

But he coupled the offer with an attack on former President Bush, calling for him to be “tried and punished” for his policies and actions in the Middle East and the Persian Gulf region.

Mr. Ahmadinejad’s remarks came in a televised address to a rally marking the 30th anniversary of the Islamic revolution in 1979 which deposed Shah Mohammed Reza Pahlavi, ended the close relationship between Washington and Tehran, and replaced it with decades of confrontation that culminated in former President Bush’s description of Iran as part of an “axis of evil.”

Since the inauguration of President Obama last month, however, Washington has sounded a more conciliatory tone, despite profound differences over Iran’s nuclear program and its support for political groups in the Middle East that the United States considers to be terrorists.

“The new U.S. administration has said that it wants change and it wants to hold talks with Iran,” President Ahmadinejad said.

“It is clear that change should be fundamental, not tactical, and our people welcome real changes,” he said. “Our nation is ready to hold talks based on mutual respect and in a fair atmosphere.”

Mr. Ahmadinejad went on to say that Iran could cooperate with the United States to uproot terrorism in the region. “The Iranian nation is the biggest victim of terrorism,” he said.

But he referred to former President Bush as one of reasons for insecurity in the region and said, “Bush and his allies should be tried and punished.”

“If you really want to uproot terrorism, let’s cooperate to find the initiators of the recent wars in the Middle East and the Persian Gulf region, try them and punish them,” he said.

His comments follow a series of overtures from Washington and seemed to move away from an earlier call by Mr. Ahmadinejad for the United States to apologize for actions in the relationship with Iran dating back 60 years…

If the current U.S. administration had any sense at all (instead of having its head up its arse re “the Muslim world”) it would tell this annoying pipsqueak to find a sharp spike and sit on it.

Posted by: scaramouche at 13:05 | link | comments

A lot more to fear than fear itself: In an effort to persuade the House to set aside worries over national bankruptcy and swallow his monstrous "stimulus" package, the president sings a pre-Depression-era number:

Dark skies

Frowning at me.

Nothing but dark skies

Do I see.

Bad times,

Ca-la-mi-ty.

Nothing but dark skies

For Pelosi 'n' me.

Never thought that I’d

Be so morose.

Where’s hope ‘n’ change?

Need a huge dose.

Playin’ on your fears

Will take me far.

(Who said that I

Was FDR? Oh)

Dark skies

Frowning at me.

Nothing but dark skies

Do I see…

Posted by: scaramouche at 12:42 | link | comments

On second thought…: An unabashed Obama fan—Leon Wieseltier of the New Republic—has some concerns about The Saviour’s modus operendi:

January 22, at 2:36 p.m., I received an email from President Barack Obama. "Friend," it began. "Thank you for being part of the most open inauguration in our nation's history." You're welcome. I do not recall any closed inaugurations, but never mind. This is the season of the benefit of the doubt. Like anybody who knows anything about the American past, I soared when the President stated his now archetypally American name; and like anybody who has tired of the haughtiness of conservatives, I relished the Chief Justice's fumble. (It was almost as if "Hussein" tripped him up.) But this presidential email makes me sour, for its content and its form. "As we begin the work of remaking America," the president wrote to me, "we must draw on the common hopes that brought us together this week." And: "I'm counting on you to keep the spirit of unity and service alive." And: "We face many challenges. But we face them as one nation." And: "Our journey is just beginning." And: "Thank you for all you do." It is all perfectly platitudinous, a Hallmark homily, but not in Obama's universe. Does the renovation of the civic sense really require such a return to literalness? I do not look to the White House for irony, but the extent to which the Obama bliss is premised upon such undisabused belief vexes me. Credulity is a poor foundation for conviction. I worry also that the Obama frame of mind sometimes slips its hope for reality into its assessment of reality: the challenge for reason is to understand that it is an island, that it is surrounded by its opposite and that therefore it may quickly reach the limit of what it can accomplish by its preferred method. If the recession and its outrages have shown anything, for example, it is that we are not one nation. Wall Street's interests are not Main Street's and Main Street's interests are not Wall Street's. (I understand that all the streets have an interest in prosperity, but there's that pastoral level of generality again.) Everything will not always go together, there will sometimes be war, and it is not divisive to say so. The correction of an injustice will favor the victims of the injustice over the perpetrators of the injustice. True believers in the free market will have to console themselves with the thought--to paraphrase Anatole France--that a rich man has as much of a right to health care as a poor man. And so I am heartened by the alacrity with which Obama has acted on a variety of partisan positions, and by his ability to conduct himself as if there is nothing partisan about them. He has a gift for making the part seem like the whole. His universal feeling about himself, the sincerity of his faith in his own globality, may serve us well, if it gives cover for the philosophical and political specificity of many of his reforms. It may also be a benevolent kind of megalomania.

He’s assuming, of course, that it would remain “benevolent”. But under current circumstances—absolute worship; absolute suspension of critical thinking by millions of true-believing worshipers—how easy would it be for a benevolent megalomaniac to slide into malevolence? That, I fear, is the real danger of Obama’s demagoguery, one which Wieseltier is loath to entertain.

Posted by: scaramouche at 12:07 | link | comments

Caught on tape: Jimmy Carter's War Against the Jews. Something you likely won't be able to watch at the new and improved Jimminy shrine in Atlanta.

Posted by: scaramouche at 11:36 | link | comments

A Steynette's blissful--and surprising--afternoon: Don't miss Girl on the Right's delightful account of her adventures yesterday. I won't give it all away, but it does include a personal appearance by Mark Steyn, followed by beverages at a local watering hole with Mark and some other Steynettes. (I am told that the ever-gracious Steyn picked up the tab.)

Sorry I missed it.

Posted by: scaramouche at 11:19 | link | comments

Monday, 09 February 2009

Divine head shot: Do you suppose that an AP photographer purposely posed Obama so that the seal of office would surround his head like a halo (reminiscent of Russian icons of Christ)? Or was it, you know, an accident?

Funny, but I can’t seem to recall any pictures of Bush that were shot in this way.

Posted by: scaramouche at 22:48 | link | comments

Celebrity metaphor: Following the Washington Post article about how singer Chris Brown, who apparently grew up in a household where his stepdad battered his mom, beat up his squeeze Rihianna, causing both to miss the Grammys, a reader left the following sage insight:

The sad reality is that the abused often takes the abuse and put that to someone else. Stories from Catholic church for one, Israelis for two and you can just keep naming names.

Riiiight! Because Israel, the bullying Chris Brown of the Middle East, cannot help but heap abuse on Hamas, the pathetic yet glam Rihanna of the region.

Sorry, fellah, but that’s a metaphor that fails to work on any level.

In other Grammy news, Al(lah) Gore (who, sadly for him, has been displaced in the Heavens by Godalmighty Obama) won the award for "Best Spoken Word" album--a recitation of his enviro-doom screed An Inconvenient Truth. And the funniest thing about that is that he didn't even do the reading.

Posted by: scaramouche at 22:10 | link | comments

The Mahdi’s microphone: Sometimes a satellite is just a satellite. And sometimes, as Michael Ledeen writes in the Wall Street Journal, a satellite is the mechanism that can enable an occluded messiah to transmit his message to all mankind:

Last week Iran put its own telecommunications satellite into orbit. U.S. officials in the White House, the State Department and the Pentagon were certainly right to warn that this shows that the mullahs have now mastered the technology needed to launch intercontinental ballistic missiles. But the terror masters in Tehran believe the satellite has an even greater significance -- another step toward the return of the Shiite messiah, or Mahdi, the long-vanished 12th Imam.

Many Iranian leaders believe that the 12th Imam will return in the Last Days, which will be marked by global chaos and conflict, at the end of which Muslim believers will have conquered the infidels and the mullahs will rule the world. According to medieval Shiite texts, a message announcing the Mahdi's return will be carried to the four corners of the world so that none will be able to say he did not know that the Last Days were soon to arrive.

Eerily, the rocket that carried the telecommunications satellite into space was named "Safir" (message) and the satellite itself "Omid" (hope). In short order we can expect to hear Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad announcing the imminent return of the Mahdi. He has already described the launch as a "holy event." These believers see the launch of Omid as the fulfillment of the Mahdi prophecy.

They see other portents as well. The ancient Shiite texts forecast that the seas will turn blood red just prior to the return of the Mahdi, and lo and behold some Iranian newspapers are reporting a rapid growth of red seaweed in the Persian Gulf. To this, the believers add the economic convulsion of the West, the defeat of the hated neocons in the recent U.S. elections, the failure of the West to stop the Iranian nuclear program, and what they insist was the heroic victory of Hamas in Gaza. The mullahs are desperately trying to convince their restive citizens, and perhaps even themselves, that they are going to be saved by the ultimate miracle…

Either that or they’re going to be flattened by Israeli bombers before they get to deploy their “miraculous” nukes.

Posted by: scaramouche at 20:28 | link | comments

Rowan’s hissy fit: Melanie Phillips has the startling tale of a high-level Foreign Office official who could no longer contain his Judenhass, and allowed it to erupt in, of all places, his gym.

And now the frenzy of Jew-hatred has broken cover at the very heart of Britain’s political establishment. The Daily Mail reports that a high-ranking Foreign Office diplomat, Rowan Laxton, has been arrested after he launched into a screaming anti-Jew tirade. He apparently lost it altogether while watching TV reports of the Israeli attack on Gaza as he used an exercise bike in a gym:

Stunned staff and gym members allegedly heard him shout: ‘F**king Israelis, f**king Jews’. It is alleged he also said Israeli soldiers should be ‘wiped off the face of the earth’. His rant reportedly continued even after he was approached by other gym users.

Laxton is no minnow. He is head of the South Asia Group at the Foreign Office, a former Deputy Ambassador to Afghanistan and before that Head of Chancery in Islamabad. He is in other words a very senior diplomat. And so now we know that a very senior diplomat in the British foreign service hates the f**king Israelis and the f**king Jews with such unbridled venom that he loses control of himself altogether when watching TV reports about Israel and starts raving.

It’s enough to give an Arabist a bad name…

Indeed. If this were a Monty Python sketch, I can see John Cleese playing the role of Laxton. Tragically, the unbridled Jew-hate now barrelling across the U.K. is no laughing matter.

Posted by: scaramouche at 19:54 | link | comments (1)

Crazy about “human rights”: I’d call this par for the course in the cockeyed world of “human rights”—a bunch of religious thugs who sponsor genocidal terrorist organizations and who are delighted to mete out the most Draconian penalties of sharia (stonings, beheadings, amputations et al) slamming the Western nation that has “human rights” up the wazoo with 13, count ‘em, 13 human rights commissions a mari usqe ad mare. From the Tehran Times:

TEHRAN – The Iranian representative at the fourth session of UN Human Rights Council’s Universal Periodic Review Working Group criticized Canada for violating the rights of Muslims and other minorities in the country.

During the session in Geneva, which has been scheduled for 2 to 13 February, 16 states including Canada will have their human rights records examined.

Iran’s representative expressed concern over discrimination against the Canadianb indigenous population in employment, housing, education and health care issues.

He noted Canada’s growing discriminatory treatment of aboriginal women, migrants and Afro-Canadians in the country.

The pressure on the Muslim community in Canada has been mounting after September 11 attacks, he pointed out.

The Iranian envoy also severely criticized Ottawa for its support for Israel’s recent attacks on the Gaza Strip.

He condemned the Canadian government for voting against the UN Resolution 1860 which called for a ceasefire in the Gaza strip following three weeks of Israeli raids on the besieged territory.

Out of 47 member states, Canada was the only country that refused to sign the UN Human Rights Council resolution calling for “an immediate ceasefire in Gaza leading to a full Israeli withdrawal, unimpeded provision through Gaza of food, fuel and medical treatment, and intensified international arrangements to prevent arms and ammunition smuggling.”

“Although Canada claims to advocate human rights, it supports the Zionist regime’s crimes against Gaza civilians,” he added.

He called on Canada to end its double standard policy on human rights issues and live up to its commitments regardless of political considerations.

Demonstrating yet again that “human rights” is not about “human rights”; it’s about using the smokescreen of “human rights” to force Western nations to cede their rights, and to not put up any road blocks that could impede the ongoing jihad against the uppity dhimmi Jewish state.

Posted by: scaramouche at 19:34 | link | comments

A paucity of “protection”; an excess of censorship: Finally, some action—or at least the appearance of some action—on the Section 13 front, as reported in the Globe and Mail:

OTTAWA — The controversial section of the Canadian Human Rights Act governing hate speech comes under scrutiny today when federal politicians decide whether to debate the limits it places on freedom of expression.

Brian Storseth, a Conservative MP, has asked the Commons justice committee to review Section 13 of the act, which contains provisions that deal with hate messages. Mr. Storseth also wants the committee to review the mandate of the commission itself.

He told the committee last week that "concerns have been raised regarding the investigative techniques of the Canadian Human Rights Commission and the interpretation and application of Section 13 of the Canadian Human Rights Act."

Mr. Storseth's request echoes a similar motion brought by the Conservatives during the previous session of Parliament.

The issue of whether the commission should be permitted to investigate alleged incidents of hate speech has prompted passionate responses from those on both sides of the debate.

The federal Conservatives voted at a party convention in November to support an end to Section 13, which deals specifically with hate messages spread by telephone or the Internet. It was a decision that was roundly applauded by conservative bloggers.

In a high-profile report on the matter released in November, University of Windsor law professor Richard Moon urged the commission to get out of the business of trying to censor hate speech.

Prof. Moon argued that freedom of expression trumps overbroad minority-rights laws and that any policing of hate messages should be handled under the Criminal Code, which prohibits willfully inciting hatred.

Jennifer Lynch, the chief human-rights commissioner, has promised to consult with the public regarding possible changes to the act and report to Parliament this year.

Proponents of Section 13 argue that hate speech should remain under the umbrella of human-rights legislation. The Canadian Jewish Congress, for instance, expressed disappointment in Prof. Moon's position, saying the Jewish community knows how devastating hate propaganda can be.

Liberal MP Brian Murphy said his party is not in favour of removing Section 13 from the Canadian Human Rights Act. "It is a unique tool for people who are being discriminated against and it's an added protection," he said.

There is a perception that certain human-rights commissioners at both the federal and provincial levels have been overzealous in going after people alleged to have disseminated hate speech, he said. "That doesn't mean that the act should be thrown out."…

Au contraire, Mr. Murphy. Section 13 is dangerous in that it empowers leftist ideologues and could enable Islamists to shut down free speech and replace it with the “freedoms” available under sharia (which is what Islamists are endeavouring to do, so far with great success, at the international level). It has got to go—pronto! My letter:

The notion that hate speech provisions in the Canadian Human Rights Act provide me or any other Canadian Jew with “added protection,” as Liberal M.P. Brian Murphy calls it, was torpedoed once and for all by the recent spectacle of angry mobs of pro-Hamas protesters in several Canadian cities shouting “Death to the Jews” and other hateful epithets: Even Mr. Murphy and the heads of the Jewish organizations that continue to champion state censorship must concede that it is impossible to haul an angry mob in front of a human rights commission.

The “protests” did have one positive result, however: they exposed how threadbare and pointless this “added protection” actually is. It affords Canadian Jews a false sense of security while it deprives all Canadians of the one weapon they can depend upon to fight hate speech--free speech.

Posted by: scaramouche at 14:03 | link | comments (2)

Sunday, 08 February 2009

Speak up now or forever hold your peace: Diana West commends New York mayor Michael Bloomberg for making a statement promoting free speech—and slams the deafening silence of almost everyone else re Geert Wilders’ persecution and the rapid advance of the sharia agenda:

…The fact is, an unnaturally incurious and stony international silence has met the outrageous Dutch decision to bring a duly-elected leader before a tribunal of judges for what he has said, written and expressed about Islam -- for committing, according to postmodern parlance, "hate speech."

Such a term is postmodern, but the crime it describes is premodern, a violation, in non-Western eyes, of the medieval Islamic prohibition against any and all criticism of Islam. Thus, this trial of the 21st century will turn on the will of an advanced, secular Western state to force one of its citizens to accept a fossilized, sectarian, non-Western taboo. That this citizen is Holland's leading proponent of advanced, secular and Western liberties, starting with freedom of speech, adds a circular irony to the state's shameful action. And no one, save a handful of mainly anti-jihad writers, seems to care.

That is, not only public officials but also media are ignoring this story about the erosion of freedom of speech in the West. And that goes for America's talk radio and cable kings, some of whom are headquartered in New York City. From Rush Limbaugh to Sean Hannity to Mark Levin: Even as these men, among other broadcasters, alternately bristle and rail at the likelihood that they themselves may be targeted by First Amendment-flouting "hate-speech" controls in our brave, new Obama world, they fail not only to uphold Wilders' right to free speech, they fail to notice the threat to it.

All of which is why your statement, Mr. Mayor, in front of your Dutch visitors about the slippery slope of speech restrictions -- "Before you know it, you can no longer say what you want" -- sounded like a declaration of independence from the Sharia-serving speech codes that the West increasingly adopts to regulate expression and debate.

And that includes New York. As you may know, over at the United Nations in December, the United States (and the Netherlands, for that matter) voted against a resolution introduced on behalf of the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) to promote a Sharia-serving speech code. Then again, you may not know. There were no news stories in the local press -- Times, Post or Daily News. Is this more evidence of the pattern of Western silence on Sharia-serving speech codes generally? Hard to say.

Anyway, the resolution, which prohibits the "defamation" of religion, passed 86 to 53 with 42 abstentions. A dangerous gag on speech even in ecumenical theory, the resolution mentions only Islam, and the "defamation" it describes includes any linkage between Islam and terrorism.

It was left to the Israeli ambassador to the United Nations to point out that the resolution objects to efforts "pursued by extremist organizations and groups aimed ... at incitement to religious hatred," but omits any mention, for example, of what he called "the toxic religious incitement and indoctrination of Palestinian children, and the brutal persecution of Christians in Gaza," adding: "Where is the rejection of the Hamas Covenant which states: `No war takes place anywhere in the world without the Jews behind the scenes having a hand in it. ... Whenever they fan the flames of war, Allah will extinguish them.'"

Such rejection is nowhere. It is not "defamation of religion" the U.N. resolution prohibits, it is defamation -- read: criticism -- of Islam. As such, the resolution is an instrument of Sharia. But hardly anyone takes note…

Duly noted.

Posted by: scaramouche at 15:38 | link | comments

The Ontario Science Centre shills for Islam: Guess who invented algebra—and a whole lot more? The Ontario Science Centre tells all in a new exhibit (new to Toronto, anyway; it’s already been a big hit in Dubai) designed to ~~vastly inflate the historical record to serve a political agenda~~ educate moppets about Islam’s manifold scientific innovations. The Globe and Mail’s Kate Taylor—who sort of buys into it all, with certain minor reservations—has the scoop on this astounding display of inventiveness:

In the 12th century, a Mesopotamian known as Al-Jazari invented mechanical devices that represent history's first robots - more than 200 years before Leonardo da Vinci sketched a design for a humanoid automaton. A few decades later, Egyptian doctor and theologian Ibn Nafis described the human circulatory system, almost 400 years before English doctor William Harvey published similar work.

These are but two examples of the huge advances that Islamic civilization contributed to science and technology during a golden age usually dated from the eighth to 13th centuries. It's these achievements that are celebrated in Sultans of Science, an informative if intellectually limited exploration of the topic now showing at the Ontario Science Centre.

Happily, this is an exhibition full of fascinating facts about the history of science and technology, peopled by such intriguing characters as Piri Reis, a Turkish admiral who first depicted the Atlantic coast of the Americas on a map in 1513, and Abbas bin Firnas, of Cordoba, Spain, who strapped wings to his body to make the first recorded human flight, in the ninth century.

Divided into brief sections on optics, astronomy, flight, exploration, mathematics, medicine, architecture, mechanics and hydrology, the show contains replicas of historical manuscripts and instruments. There is also a wide assortment of interactive gizmos, including a model of an early astrolabe, water wheels that will splash the visitor as they explain early Middle Eastern systems for bringing moisture to parched fields and thirsty cities, and an exercise in optics in which the hand proves incapable of tracing a pattern reflected in a mirror.

The centrepiece is a reproduction of Al-Jazari's famous elephant clock. Comprising an Indian elephant with a Moorish castle on his back encircled by two Chinese serpents, the famous clock is presented here both as a symbol of Islam's multicultural reach and its ingenuity: The device uses a float in a water chamber hidden inside the animal's body to trigger the timekeeping mechanism.

Sadly, this is also a show that insists, quietly but emphatically, that there is some kind of cultural contest in global history, and that these guys were the winners of their day.

The problem is that this exhibition, originally created for a shopping mall in Dubai in 2006 by the themed-architecture firm MTE Studios, is not a scholarly exercise: Your first clue is its repeated use of the term "Dark Ages" to describe the state of Europe at the time. Contemporary historians now largely eschew those words. Certainly, the Islamic world was civilization's bridge between the ancient world and the Renaissance, but how exactly learning was communicated from Islam to Europe is a question largely ignored here.

Europe was hardly "stagnating in the Dark Ages," if the medical canon written by Persian doctor Ibn Sina (or Avicenna) in the 11th century was widely enough known in the West to become a standard medical text there, as the exhibit tells us. And if the organizers are going to insinuate that the English doctor Harvey plagiarized Nafis, as they do, it would help if they talked a bit about the spread of Nafis's ideas outside Islam.

At its most subjectively silly, Sultans of Science invites children to use foam blocks to build both a round Roman arch and the Islamic Ogee arch (formed by two S curves that meet in a point). It then argues the superior merits of the latter, which it judges not merely stronger but also more aesthetically pleasing.

The exhibition pushes its definition of Islam's Golden Age all the way up to the 18th century, 200 years beyond scholars' most expansionary estimates, probably because that justifies the subtitle, 1000 Years of Knowledge Rediscovered. If you think of Western equivalents, science museums would be unlikely to organize a display in which Leonardo's early designs for a flying machine and Harvey's research into the circulatory system were lumped together as evidence of Western civilization.

Although not overtly political, this prepackaged exhibit is being touted by the Ontario Science Centre as a great multicultural outreach exercise in that institution's diverse corner of the city. If such an exercise in local Islamic pride may have made some sense in Dubai (although you could only hope that the United Arab Emirates has access to more sophisticated material about ancient Arab culture than that provided here), it seems rather removed from a Canadian context. Surely, all Canadians, whatever their ethnic background, can claim the same bragging rights to the achievements of a Leonardo as to those of an Al-Jazari; these great creators are all rather far removed from us by time and geography.

Of course, some corrective is needed to add the fascinating Islamic figures to our Eurocentric cultural lexicon, but every Canadian school kid must already have at least a passing awareness of Islam's great contributions to learning: The numerals we use every day are called Arabic for a reason…

Thanks for the numerals, Ogee arch and elephant clock, Sultans, but if it’s all the same to you, I think we’ll still have to pass on the sharia.

Update: Professor Mohamed Elmasry covers the same material.

Update: From the Toronto Star article:

…When the original exhibition opened at the Ibn Battuta Mall in Dubai in 2006, he found others from around the world were asking the same questions, and so the idea for a travelling exhibit featuring the glory days of Islamic knowledge was born.

"It's about time," said Jehad Aliweiwi, a member of the Ontario Science Centre's community advisory council, who helped with marketing advice.

"Considering a lot of modern discoveries that we rely on in our daily lives came about during this era, we have a lot to learn," said Aliweiwi, the executive director of Thorncliffe Neighbourhood Office, a non-profit organization that provides services to newcomers.

While the exhibition is not political or religious in nature, its role in today's political climate cannot be dismissed, says Aliweiwi.

"There is an intense interest in anything that is Islamic, and it is inevitably politicized," he said.

"Something like this goes beyond the politics and explains to people the richness and the long tradition of education and discovery that existed in this civilization, and that we aren't always these angry people," he adds

Aliweiwi is convinced this exhibit will be educational and inspirational for the Muslim community as well.

"I am hoping some of the kids who come here will say, `This is where we were, and this is where we can go.'"

Along with this exhibition, the centre is running the IMAX documentary Journey to Mecca: In the footsteps of Ibn Battuta, a film that recounts the pilgrimage of the great traveller Battuta from Tangier to Mecca to perform the Hajj in 1325.

"Sultans of Science" runs until May 10.

A doc on a 14th Century haj--sounds riveting. It's interesting to note that most of the scientific discoveries in the exhibit date from more than a millennium ago (talk about resting on your laurels). That's not unexpected since, in its avowed rejection of the scientific method, Islam's contributions to science since the time of that elephant clock haven't exactly been cutting edge. Most recently, Muslim scientists have been working to perfect explosive apparal and helping those zany mullahs go nuclear, but my guess is that neither of those pursuits made it into the OSC show. My question: in light of the current display, when can we expect the Science Centre to highlight the innumerable contributions in science and medicine being made right now, present tense, by the nation which, per capita, is probably the most creative and innovative on the planet--Israel? Or, unlike an exhibit about Islam's Medieval science, would that be seen as too "political"?

Posted by: scaramouche at 14:11 | link | comments (7)

Unhappy carpers: The Muslim world had such high hopes for the new president, but they’ve been dashed, writes an Egyptian opiner in the New York Times, because of the U.S.’s confounding refusal to side with Muslims in their ongoing jihad against Israel (or, in the Arab P.R.-speak that resonates so effectively with the usefully idiotic, the Palestinian “resistance” to Jewish “occupation”):

…We welcomed him with almost total enthusiasm until he underwent his first real test: Gaza. Even before he officially took office, we expected him to take a stand against Israel’s war on Gaza. We still hope that he will condemn, if only with simple words, this massacre that killed more than 1,300 Palestinians, many of them civilians. (I don’t know what you call it in other languages, but in Egypt we call this a massacre.) We expected him to address the reports that the Israeli military illegally used white phosphorus against the people of Gaza. We also wanted Mr. Obama, who studied law and political science at the greatest American universities, to recognize what we see as a simple, essential truth: the right of people in an occupied territory to resist military occupation.

But Mr. Obama has been silent. So his brilliantly written Inaugural Speech did not leave a big impression on Egyptians. We had already begun to tune out. We were beginning to recognize how far the distance is between the great American values that Mr. Obama embodies, and what can actually be accomplished in a country where support for Israel seems to transcend human rights and international law.

Mr. Obama’s interview with Al Arabiya on Jan. 27 was an event that was widely portrayed in the Western news media as an olive branch to the Muslim world. But while most of my Egyptian friends knew about the interview, by then they were so frustrated by Mr. Obama’s silence that they weren’t particularly interested in watching it. I didn’t see it myself, but I went back and read the transcript. Again, his elegant words did not challenge America’s support of Israel, right or wrong, or its alliances with Arab dictators in the interest of pragmatism...

The message is clear: Unless Obama is prepared to jettison the Jewish state—firmly, finally, completely—his olive branch is destined to be rebuffed.

Posted by: scaramouche at 13:30 | link | comments (2)

Good morning, America: Charles Krauthammer recalibrates the time frame for his
nation’s great awakening:

…After Obama's miraculous 2008 presidential campaign, it was clear that at some point the magical mystery tour would have to end. The nation would rub its eyes and begin to emerge from its reverie. The hallucinatory Obama would give way to the mere mortal. The great ethical transformations promised would be seen as a fairy tale that all presidents tell -- and that this president told better than anyone.

I thought the awakening would take six months. It took two and a half weeks.

Boy, it sure didn’t take long for the bloom to leave that rose.

Posted by: scaramouche at 00:46 | link | comments

Lefties heart fascists: I have read no better explication of the clueless Left and its enduring love affair with Hamas bullies/contempt for the Jewish state than this one, by Denis MacEoin, incoming editor of Middle East Quarterly, and, as an Irishman, a sort of anti-Sid Ryan:

…For all its bluster, Hamas, like all bullies, is a coward at heart. Watch those films of Hamas gunmen dragging screaming children along with them to act as human shields, watch how they fire from behind the little ones, knowing no Israeli soldier will fire back. And even as they put their own children's lives at risk, they shout to high heaven that the Israelis are Nazis and the Jews are child-killers. This blatant pornography spreads through the Western media, and people never once ask "what does this look like from the other side," because they are addicted to the comforting news that the Yids are baby-killers as they'd always known, that they do poison wells, that no Christian child is safe come Passover. Hamas has become proficient at resurrecting the blood libel, just as its fighters use the Nazi salute, just as their predecessor in the 1930s and '40s, Haj Amin al-Husseini, conferred with Hitler about building death camps in Palestine and raised a division of SS troops in Bosnia to fight for the Reich.

We watch The Diary of Anne Frank on television, and some of us attend Holocaust Remembrance Day events, and others pay lip service to Jewish victimhood; we like our Jews emaciated and helpless under the SS boot. But the moment real Jews stand up and show themselves the stronger for all their deaths, it awakens an atavistic fear, and people recoil from them. Jews in uniform, how unseemly. Jews beating the bully, how unheard of. Jews with their own state, what upstarts.

IN MY home country of Ireland, we glamorize the great nationalist heroes who rebelled against the bullying forces of imperial Britain in the uprising of Easter Sunday 1916. In France, they venerate the heroes of the Resistance against the occupying forces of Nazi Germany. In Spain, they have not ceased to heap praise on those who fought against the forces of fascist bullies and lost. To stand up against an enemy bent on your destruction is everywhere counted an act of bravery. But not when it comes to Israel. In 1948 and 1967 and 1973 and 2006, Israel fought off overwhelming forces who made no secret of their plans for an imminent massacre of the Jews. But nobody now seems to care, no one lauds the courage the Israelis displayed, and no one praises the extraordinary restraint they showed in victory.

In a bizarre reversal of all their commitment to human rights and the struggle of men and women for independence and self-determination, the European Left has chosen again and again to side with the bullies and to condemn a small nation struggling to survive in a hostile neighborhood. It is all self-contradictory: The Left supports gay rights, yet attacks the only country in the Middle East where gay rights are enshrined in law. Hamas makes death the punishment for being gay, but "we are all Hamas now." Iran hangs gays, but it is praised as an agent of anti-imperialism, and allowed to get on with its job of stoning women and executing dissidents and members of religious minorities. If UK Premier Gordon Brown swore to wipe France from the face of the earth, he would become a pariah among nations. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad threatens to do that to Israel and is invited to speak to the UN General Assembly

Israel guarantees civil liberties to all its citizens, Jew or Arab alike, but it is dubbed "an apartheid state"; Hamas, ever the bully, kills its opponents and denies the rest the most basic rights, but we march on behalf of Hamas. The Left prefers the bully because the bully represents a finger in the face of the establishment? Almost no one on the Left has any understanding of militant Islam. Their politics is a politics of gesture, where wearing a keffiyeh is cool but understanding its symbolism is too much effort even for intellectuals.

I have personally had enough of it all. The whining double standards, the blatant lies, the way their leaders have forced Palestinians to suffer for 60 years because peace and compromise aren't in their vocabulary and because they won't settle for anything but total victory. Painful as it was, in the 1920s Ireland created a republic by compromising on the status of the North. Ireland subsequently became a prosperous country and, in due course, one of the hottest economies in the world. When the Israelis left Gaza in 2005, they left state-of-the-art greenhouses to form the basis for a thriving economy. Hamas destroyed them to the last pane of glass. Why? Because they had been Jewish greenhouses.

Posted by: scaramouche at 00:10 | link | comments

Saturday, 07 February 2009

Jimminy’s “private” sponsors: The shrine built to hagiographise the life and works of Jimminy “Cricket” Carter, Jew-hating gasbag and self-appointed conscience of the Western world, is set to undergo a major facelift, reports the Atlanta Journal-Constitution (my bolds):

The Jimmy Carter Library and Museum in Atlanta will be completely remodeled, with new exhibits created by Patrick Gallagher, known for his multimedia and interactive designs.

The work probably will begin after the new exhibit “Lincoln: The Constitution and the Civil War” closes in the spring, said Tony Clark, library spokesman. The exhibit opens today and is scheduled to run through April 26.

The makeover will be paid for by private funds, and the museum will be closed during the work, he said, though he declined to say for how long. When the museum reopens, only the Oval Office replica will remain as it is now.

“I think almost all the money has been raised,” Clark said, but he declined to put a price on the project.

Former President Carter will announce details Feb. 19. The museum gets 55,000 to 95,000 visitors a year.

Gallagher, of Maryland, is known for using modern technology to bring exhibits alive.

His firm designed exhibits at the International Spy Museum in Washington and Ocean Hall at the Smithsonian.

“Private funds,” huh? Gee, I can’t imagine who’d want to fork over the shekels to make old Jimmy look like a going concern.

Posted by: scaramouche at 21:08 | link | comments (1)

The AP grovel: A useful idiot who toils for AP lauds, of all things, news “diversity” in the mullahs’ Iran. From the Tehran Times:

TEHRAN – A senior Associated Press editor has said she was “surprised” to see the extent of news diversity in Iran.

Kathleen Carrol, the AP senior vice president, praised the rise of private news agencies and news websites in Iran. She said the increase in voices would be in the interests of people.

Carroll made the remarks in a meeting with Tehran Times and Mehr News Agency Managing Director Parviz Esmaeili on Wednesday.

Carrol and Esmaeili also discussed Iran-U.S. relations and media challenges.

Esmaeili said Tehran is seeking “dialogue” with Washington while the United States is accustomed to “monologue”.

Esmaeili said Iran and the U.S. can enter talks only if the Barack Obama administration changes “monologue into dialogue”.

The Tehran Times chief editor said Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad wrote a letter to Obama congratulating him on presidential victory and this was a “diplomatic” overture but Obama endorsed imposing more sanctions on Iran.

Esmaeili added that Iran seeks a serious change of behavior by the U.S.

Pointing to media work in Iran, Esmaeili said there is no censorship before news publication in Iran and media can act freely within a legal framework.

Esmaeili also said U.S. journalists can easily do interviews with top Iranian officials but the U.S. does not allow Iranian journalists to do so.

Carroll also said today it is very difficult to halt the spread of news…

As an AP functionary, Carrol well knows that spreading “news” is easy-peasy: spreading the truth, on the other hand, is a far trickier matter (‘specially when the lies are part of a concerted global effort to incite rage against those uppity, stiff-necked Zionists, thus creating the type of climate in which the extirpation of the Jewish state is seen as crucial—for the greater good of mankind, of course).

Posted by: scaramouche at 20:38 | link | comments

Shrinkage: Is the illusion of short term ecomomic potency worth the long term flaccidity that is now all but inevitable? Something to consider before swallowing a whopping dose of Stimulis.

Posted by: scaramouche at 20:02 | link | comments

They just hate it when you point out their Judenhass: Found this one on the Montreal Muslims News Website:

wpe27.jpg (29179 bytes)

Posted by: scaramouche at 19:45 | link | comments

No sitzfleisch: He's been on the job for--what, two whole weeks?--and he's already said to be restless. In that case, how's he--and how are we--going to get through the next 4-8 years?

Posted by: scaramouche at 15:31 | link | comments (1)

Dead wabbit: Oh, man. You go away for a few days, and another fuzzy Hamas mascot bites the dust.

Sheesh. They're dropping faster than animal parents in animated Disney films.

Posted by: scaramouche at 15:05 | link | comments

Walk softly and carry a big…tuber?: The story so far: Obama held out a hand of friendship to Iran, which was promptly spurned by a tiny, hairy zealot, who demanded an “apology” as a prerequisite for any “discussion”. Whereupon Obama’s Number Two offered this clarification re American policy (as reported by FOX News):

Biden said the U.S. will strive to act preventively to avoid having to choose between the risks of war and the dangers of inaction.

But he held out the option that the U.S. could take pre-emptive action against Iran if necessary to stop crisis before they start. The U.S., he said, will "continue to develop missile defenses to counter a growing Iranian capability, provided the technology is proven and it is cost effective."

At the same time, he said that if Tehran gives up its nuclear program and stops backing terrorists, there will be meaningful incentives.

"We will draw upon all the elements of our power -- military and diplomatic, intelligence and law enforcement, economic and cultural -- to stop crises from occurring before they are in front of us," Biden told the gathering in his 25 minute address.

In response, Iran’s parliamentary speaker, Ali Larijani, redeployed a venerable vegetable cliché:

"The old carrot and stick policy must be discarded," he said, alluding to Western threats and offers of rewards to coax Iran to give up nuclear activities the West views as threatening. "This is a golden opportunity for the United States."

Meaning, of course, “Drop the carrot and the stick, Bugs; it’s time to submit.”

Now, that’s why I’d call a conversation stopper.

Posted by: scaramouche at 14:49 | link | comments

Naked theft: You have to say one thing for the Palestinian Authority that was once lorded over by pseudo-statesman Yasser Arafat: when it purloined aid money meant for the people and siphoned it into untraceable personal bank accounts, it did so with a degree of finesse. Oh, sure, everyone knew Yasser and Co. were a bunch of crooks--how else would Merry Widow Suha be able to enjoy such a lavish lifestyle, post A-hole?--but they were sensitive to the optics of it all. They did not, for example, blatantly steal blankets and food generously donated by the UN to sell on the black market--as Hamas has been caught doing, twice.

Ah, yes, the "good old days"--when Palestinians were presided over by a kleptocrat, and Hamas was said to be too "virtuous" to steal.

Posted by: scaramouche at 14:22 | link | comments

I just flew in from Jamaica and, boy, are my arms tired: Just because I spent this past week soaking up the sun and listening to too much Bob Marley blaring over resort loudspeakers doesn't mean I failed to keep up with late-breaking events. For instance, courtesy FOX News, I am fully up to speed on the Democrats' "stimulus" package, and realize what a bloated lefty behemoth--a veritable Nancypalooza, if you will--it has turned out to be, even in its marginally scaled back form. In "homage" to this O-bominable snowjob, this unprecedented flushing of borrowed gazillions down the proverbial bog, I have revised a show tune originally sung as a come-on by a bunch of clapped out whores (which, all things considered, seems perfectly appropriate):

The minute they locked up the joint

You just knew that they were folks with convictions

As real big spenders.

"Statism’s so divine"--

Now wouldn't ya know

That they were gonna hand you that line?

So watch ‘em get right to the point:

Here’s a spending frenzy that’ll pop your cork.

Hey, big spenders--spendin’ tons to “stimulate” work…

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