News the HP Doesn't Cover: Jewish Gravestones Defaced in Hungary

The headline says it all. Ynet covered the defacement of Jewish graves in Hungary:

"Police in Hungary say three teenagers have admitted vandalizing 75 gravestones in a Jewish cemetery.

Police spokesman Gabor Biro has told state news wire MTI the 14- and 15-year-old youths knocked down the marble and sandstone memorials on January 23 in a spontaneous show of strength to each other.

Biro said Saturday the damage at the Jewish cemetery in the western town of Marcali is estimated at 1.5 million forints ($7,500)."

While it doesn't seem to be maliciously intended, it is interesting they defaced a Jewish cemetery in particular.

Example of a Post: One State Edition

On Mya Guarnieri's blog post, which I wrote about earlier today, I called her out on her support of the one state solution. Noted Israel hater "Nwo2012" responded with this post, which I'd like to discuss in some depth.

Nwo here describes the establishment of a one state solution as "democracy". There are two possible responses to this post, and I will write them out in list order for readability.

1. This is not a question of "democracy". Democracy is a method of governing an existing state, not a way to create peace between two warring nations. Nwo claims Israel is not a democracy because it doesn't allow Palestinians to vote in Israeli elections. This makes as much sense as claiming the US isn't a democracy because it doesn't allow Mexicans to vote in US elections.
2. This post is hypocritical in two ways. First is the criticism of "ethnocracies" even while the Palestinians make it completely clear that their state will be a Muslim Arab state. Second is the holding up of democracy as some great thing, while ignoring that Palestinian society lives under two dictators, Abbas and Hamas.

I just wanted to highlight this post as the kind of arguments you might face when you criticize the one state solution. Double standards, hypocrisy, and nonsensical definitions of democracy.

HP Blogger Calls for Destruction of Israel, Throws Insults

Our friends over at CiFWatch have had to deal with Mya "Sue Happy" Guarnieri for the past few months, so Zach and I were hoping we had seen the last of her on the Huffington Post. Sadly, that was not the case, as she has recently posted an op ed entitled The Palestine Papers Might Help the PA Create a Palestinian State. Let's dissect it, shall we?

Guarnieri sums up what the PPs are, and then offers three possible outcomes from them. They are (I'll abbreviate but go back and read her article if you think I might be misrepresenting them): "the peace process collapsed a long time ago," "Hamas will never be able to take over the West Bank because the PA and Israel will crush them," and "The PA is really weak and would never go to war with Israel." These are her opinions, and I could respond to each of them, but what she says next is really the interesting part.

We're Joining Up with TJNP

Exciting news for us here at Huffington Post Monitor, as we've joined the blogger stable over at the Jewish News Place. "TJNP" is actually somewhat similar to the Huffington Post, in that it takes content from a variety of sources and pulls them all together. It has articles on a wide range of Jewish subjects, including Zionist issues, and we are pumped to be part of this great project.

We will publish two articles a week from our blog on there, so look for us on TJNP!

Comment of the Day

Be sure to note the number of favorites:

Interesting how the original comment was not deleted but its responses were.

The original link.

A Couple of Updates

Hey everyone I have a couple of news items to share. First of all I am now in Israel and staying in Tel Aviv, and it will be a couple more days until I get settled.

Second, round two of Israellycool's Pro Israel Blog Off has begun, pitting us against Divestthis and CifWatch. Perhaps Matt could paste in the link when he gets the chance? Until then just got to the link in the sidebar to cast the vote for whomever you would like.

UPDATE: Here's the link to Round 2 of the Pro-Israel BlogOff.

That's all for now.

HPW User Profile Update: TechieFreak

The HP user "TechieFreak", no doubt due to the numerous anti-Semitic comments he left on the Google Holocaust archive thread, which we documented below, has been banned. There is no doubt in my mind that he deserved it, but I also have little doubt he will return under a new name. Still, a small win is still a win.

HP Bias: Weekend Edition

On the front page of the Huffington Post I found this headline, linking to a story in the "College" section?

Wow, is this true? Someone was fired for liking the Palestinians too much! How terrible?

Except, of course, that wasn't really what happened. It's a story we have all probably heard before: A grad student wanted to teach a very one-sided class portraying the Israelis as evil and greedy aggressors and the Palestinians as noble freedom fighters, some local people complain about it, the college fires the student and claim that it wasn't because of politics, the student complains they are "silencing" him and revoking his "academic freedom," his supporters claim that this only proves more that Jews control America, etc etc.

If you read the article you will find that many of his critics thought that he was slanted and one blogger even called him "an overt supporter of terrorism," though the Huffington Post portrayed it as a he-said, she-said kind of an issue. Here's what he wrote that didn't make it into the article, according to his accusers.

"'My heart aches for Gaza: for the fresh sea air and the desert breeze, for the sweet smell of orange groves and the bitterness of unripe pomelo, for the hospitality offered by those who have lost everything but their lives, for my friends suffering indescribable horrors and for the indomitable spirit of a people who refuse to be extinguished in spite of it all. As I catch my flight out of the region, I am acutely conscious of the fact that Israel has scored a minor success by preventing me from entering Gaza. I could not wait there indefinitely. But I know that there are many other ways to fight Israeli oppression. And through it all, Gaza will endure.'

"Demonstrated personal support for Palestine and Palestinians only, for example: Mr. Petersen wrote the boxed comment below on a blog called “Noticeable Changes: flow like summersaults: the liberation of palestine” 12 which features the running quote, “Remember the solidarity shown to Palestine here and everywhere... and remember also that there is a cause to which many people have committed themselves, difficulties and terrible obstacles notwithstanding. Why? Because it is a just cause, a noble ideal, a moral quest for equality and human rights." --Edward W. Said (1935-2003)”"

 Here's another selection from a letter calling for his dismissal:

"Of great concern to me is one of Mr. Petersen-Overton’s papers entitled Inventing the Martyr: Martyrdom as Palestinian National Signifier, which endeavors to justify and condone Palestinian suicide bombings as a means of “struggle and sacrifice” (p. 3) against “Israeli occupation” (p. 2). Mr. Peterson-Overton writes, “Although the martyr has come to define not only innocent non-participants killed in the crossfire, but also those who die voluntarily [emphasis his] for the nation as a human bomb, both are equally honored by virtue of their death alone—a phenomenon that speaks volumes about the symbolic importance of martyrdom in Palestine” (p. 19). 
He further states, “I believe the act of martyrdom has become an incredibly powerful national signifier. . . .I argue in this final section that martyrdom in Palestine is viewed as yet another conscious and unequivocal form of sacrifice for the nation” (p. 19). In short, Mr. Peterson-Overton romanticizes the notion of suicide bombings and the bombers themselves, and undermines the only democracy in the Middle East."

To make a long story short, the problem is not that he is "too pro-Palestine," it is that he is too one-sided and too pro-terrorism. Whether or not you feel that professors with strong views on certain political issues should be allowed to teach is ultimately a separate issue, there are telling details in this story that the headline and article appear to have missed.

HPW: Google Announces Holocaust Archive

The Huffington Post, as part of Holocaust Remembrance Day, posted a news article about Google collaborating with Yad Vashem to create an online Holocaust archive. This thread was especially abusive in terms of the comments because of two factors: Holocaust cynicism and the user "TechieFreak". Most of the comments below are his, and they are terrible. Take a look, and wonder why the HP allows this user to keep posting his hatred.

Noah Efron Brings Some Sanity to the PP Discussion

Although most of the Huffington Post bloggers' stable is discussing the current rioting in Egypt and what it means for the future of that country, Noah Efron thought that he would provide his views on the Palestine Papers. He wrote that although many op-ed pieces in the Guardia, Al-Jazeera and elsewhere are painting them as showing complete Palestinian appeasement vs Israeli rejectionism, that really isn't the case:

"In fact, slogging through the documents produces the opposite impression. For one thing, the Palestinian negotiators, though they offered grave concessions about issues of consequence, did stand their ground. They insisted on Palestinian sovereignty over the sites they consider holy in Jerusalem. They insisted that the city remain Palestine's capital. They demanded that the land mass of Palestine be equal to that of the occupied territories (allowing for exchange of territories). They insisted that refugees be allowed to return to lands from which they were dislocated in 1948 and 1967. The transcripts show that Israel conceded to each of these demands, in part at least. The differences that remained between the sides were fraught -- Israel refused to cede six percent of the occupied territory, the sides disagreed about how many refugees, etc. -- but these differences were border towns on a great expanse of agreement."

His comment is free from arm-flailing dramatics, which is a nice change from what we have seen on the Huffington Post when Israel and the Palestinians are discussed. I suggest you read the whole thing.

Olmert Fires Back on 2008 Offer, HP Buries?

Former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert wrote about his attempt to make peace with the Palestinian Authority under Mahmoud Abbas, and the Huffington Post covered it. If you haven't read the story yet, you should. Olmert describes his offer to Abbas and how Abbas freely admits that he rejected the offer to the Washington Post. The offer allowed for very few refugees to "return" to Israel, but also had only 2% land swaps from the West Bank vs the 6.5% that Olmert wanted. Let's turn the microphone over to him for a minute:

Olmert said he made the offer on September 16, 2008, placing a map on the table at his official residence in Jerusalem.
Abbas "looked at me and I looked at him. He was silent," Olmert wrote.
"He said he couldn't decide immediately and needed time. I told him he was making a historic mistake."
Abbas said he wanted to consult.

'No,' I answered. "'Take the pen and sign now. You will never get a more fair or just offer. Don't hesitate. It's difficult for me, too, but we cannot opt out of an agreement. Even in another fifty years there will not be a government in Israel that will offer you what I offered.'

"I saw that he, too, was anguishing over it. Finally, he told me, 'Give me a few days. I'm no expert in maps,'" Olmert wrote.
Abbas, known as Abu Mazen, suggested a meeting the next day between Israeli and Palestinian advisers, but then postponed it, Olmert wrote. The meeting never took place. "I did not meet Abu Mazen after that. The map remained in my hands," he wrote.
The sides were closer to a deal "than at any time in the past," he wrote.
Abbas told The Washington Post in May 2009 that he didn't accept the offer because "the gaps were wide."

 Anyway, compared with the previous two articles about the Palestine Papers, this one didn't much in the way of coverage. It didn't appear on the front page at all and it was in the world section only after the big headline about the protests in Egypt. User "califlefty" considered this to be a burial, I am not sure, but whatever the reason it isn't getting as much traffic as usual. Either way, it's an interesting story.

Anti-Semitic Comment of the Day

 The HP covered a letter from a group of 400 rabbis criticized Glenn Beck for misusing the Holocaust and throwing around anti-Semitic implications. MJ Rosenberg wrote a blog post about this very issue not that long ago. I was fascinated from the moment I clicked on the article about what the HPer reaction would be. HPers hate Glenn Beck, but they also has Jews who try to control when and how people reference the Holocaust and what anti-Semitic speech is. Well, it wasn't far down the thread before I came across this nugget, by "TechieFreak":

As always, Jews and Israel are totally separate, unless you want to attack some Jews. Then you blame them for what Israel does.

The original link.

Palestine Papers Shed Light on Palestinian Society

The Huffington Post has published one of many articles written about the fallout in Palestinian society due to the Palestine Papers (hereafter abbreviated to "PPs"). The headline: Abbas Accuses Al-Jazeera of Incitement As Protests Erupt in Gaza. A wordy headline, but accurate. The body of the article covers two different reactions on the PPs, the reactions of Fatah/Abbas supporters and Hamas supporters.

Fatah supporters:
"Abbas has said he's been the victim of a smear campaign and Al-Jazeera is distorting his positions...Before the marches, [Saeb] Erekat accused Al-Jazeera of incitement and putting his life at risk. Many of the leaked documents feature Erekat." According to Mondoweiss (which cannot be accused of pro-Israel bias), "Angry crowd has appeared in front of the Al Jazeera office in Ramallah. There is some shouting but no violence
The crowd has managed to get into the office in Ramaallah. #aljazeera's staff is ok. Some walls have graffiti...The video above shows protesters breaking into al-Jazeera's offices in Ramallah earlier today. They are chanting "Al Jazeera are traitors" and 'don't film.'"

Hamas supporters:
"Thousands of cheering Hamas supporters in Gaza burned effigies of President Mahmoud Abbas and his aides Wednesday, as Al-Jazeera TV alleged that leaked documents show the Palestinian leader colluded with Israel and the U.S. against Gaza....Atallah Abu al-Suboh, a local Hamas leader, spoke to the crowd before the torching. "Those gangs [Fatah]," he said, pointing to the coffin, "are not representing the Palestinian people.""

What can we learn from the reactions from both sides?

HP Bloggers Once Again Take A Side

We have seen cases in the past where the Huffington Post bloggers speak with (almost) one voice on a particular issue, or at least skew so heavily to one side that they might as well. First it was the flotilla raid when they condemned Israel unquestioningly, and then it was on the retirement of Helen Thomas. Now it is a recent UN Security Council resolution that the Palestinians are trying to pass that once again condemn the settlements. And unsurprisingly, the Huffington Post wants President Obama to refrain from vetoing it.

First we have Steve Clemons, who co-authored a letter to Mr. Obama which was co-signed by many familiar faces. He would later cry like a baby when his co-signers were called "Israel-bashers," if you recall.

The next is by Susan Abulhawa, who if you read her bio is hardly the most objective of writers, who calls Mr. Obama's president authority and leadership ability into question. She labels the settlements as "Israel's crimes," and that Obama has been "publicly humiliated" by Netanyahu. Here's another interesting section:

"It is well known that standing up to Israel carries great political risk, including a one-term presidency, as in the case of Jimmy Carter and George Bush Senior, both of whom merely threatened or tried to withhold American tax dollars and loan guarantees for Israel to curtail its flouting of international law."

First of all, I find it intriguing that she implies that Carter and Bush didn't get reelected because they "stood up" to Israel. Not because of the Iran hostage crisis, economic issues, or any of the numerous other reasons why President's lose elections. Because of the Jews! Also, as someone who has actually studied America-Israel relations, Carter and Bush didn't threaten or withhold aid to Israel because they gave a rat's behind about international law. That's just rewriting history. They threatened Israel because they wanted Israel to do what they wanted. Though no doubt Ms. Abulhawa would declare that is the same thing.

 Moving on, last we have Robert Naiman, who we have seen before saying pretty much the same thing as the other two Huffington Post bloggers. This time Mr. Naiman tries a different tack: That letting the UN resolution pass will show the Arabs who are inclined toward the US to like us more. The only trouble, of course, is that for the first two years of his presidency Obama has been bending over backwards to appease the Arab world and it hasn't gone anywhere. Though no doubt Mr. Naiman would respond by saying that clearly he didn't bend far enough.

News the HP Doesn't Cover: Hamas Breaks Truce

IsraelNationalNews has covered the following news: two rockets were launched from the Gaza Strip Tuesday night into Israel, which has broken Hamas' promise to curb terror attacks from the Strip.

"Two Kassam missile attacks on a Negev kibbutz Tuesday evening broke Hamas’s promise to halt all terrorist attacks. No injuries or damage were reported, and the IDF has not retaliated – yet.

Two weeks ago, fearing a repeat of the three-week Operation Cast Lead counterterrorist campaign that ended in January 2009,Hamas pledged to pull the reins on it terrorists and those of rival groups who were staging daily rocket, mortar and roadside attacks on Israeli civilians and soldiers.

The Gaza area had been relatively free from aerial attacks since then, except for a couple of mortar and Kassam attacks. On the ground, terrorists have continued to try to plant roadside bombs at the Gaza security/separation fence, although the number has declined."

Because the HP's policy is to never print news that makes Hamas look bad, it is highly doubtful this news will ever be covered.

Holocaust Cynicism Comment of the Day

As I mentioned yesterday, the observe of International Holocaust Remembrance Day brought out the Holocaust cynics. Here's a gem from a user I have never seen before:

Some notable quotes:

"while I have nothing against jews specifical­­ly, I am tired of Jews "owning" the holocaust."

"if you have power, money, control and influence than you get your own internatio­­nal day."
"I hope HuffPost doesn't sensor this comment just because the word "Jew" is in."

What is rare for the Huffington Post, however, is that many users responded to this comment with less-than-positive reactions. I guess perhaps because it is in the "Religion" section.

The original link.

How Certain Huffington Posters Mark Holocaust Remembrance Day

Today is International Holocaust Remembrance Day, and the Huffington Post has published quite a few articles on the topic. The most notable is a straight-up news story about remembrances around the world, and that was where we found our old buddy "nicholasb" once again stirring up trouble:

Be sure to note the last sentence in nicholas' first paragraph where he says that, "This is a day of shame but maybe the shame is equal in those who go on acting as if this was the only shame in human history." In other words, the actions of the Jews are just as shameful as the actions of the Nazis. Welcome to the Huffington Post.

It is getting to the point where it is rare for an article about the Holocaust to be posted without Holocaust cynicism rearing its ugly head.

The original link.

Anti-Semitism in the NHL, and the HP

The Huffington Post published a story about a scrape involving anti-Semitism in the National Hockey League. According to the story, one of the players is accusing the coach of barraging him with anti-Semitic insults. Seeing as how the "Sports" section contains a different group of users than the "World," most of the comments were sympathetic to the player or generally neutral. We did see a few familiar faces reappear however. Here are a few comments that are not dependent on context:

News the HP Doesn't Cover: Hamas Bans Books

Courtesy of Elder of Ziyon, we have this report by the Palestinian Center for Human Rights about the democratically elected Palestinian government, aka Hamas, doing a bit of book censorship in the Gaza Strip.

At approximately 13:30 on Sunday, 23 January 2011, 4 persons, one of whom was wearing military uniform, who introduced themselves as members of the GIB, confiscated copies of two novels – Alaa al-Aswany's "Chicago" and Haidar Haidar's "Banquet for Seaweed" – from Ibn Khaldoun bookstore opposite to al-Azhar University in the west of Gaza City. The GIB members presented a decision issued by the Ministry of Interior in the Gaza Strip ordering confiscation of a number of novels, including the aforementioned ones. They also informed the owner of the bookstore to refer to al-Abbas police station to obtain a document proving the confiscation of the two novels. They further claimed that the two novels violate the Islamic Shari'a (Islamic Law).

At the same time, 3 persons wearing civilian clothes, went to al-Shorouq bookstore. They introduced themselves as members of the GIB and presented an order issued by the Ministry of Interior ordering confiscation of 3 novels: "Chicago;" "Banquet for Seaweed;" and "Forbidden Pleasure." They confiscated copies of the first two novels as the third one was not available in the bookshop. They also informed the owner of the bookstore to refer to al-Abbas police station to obtain a document proving the confiscation of the two novels.

Earlier, two persons wearing civilian clothes, who introduced themselves as members of the Internal Security Service, went to Sameer Mansour bookstore opposite to the Islamic University in Jamal Abdul Nasser Street in the west of Gaza City. They requested an employee to show them the two novels - "Chicago" and "Banquet for Seaweed." When the employee showed them copies of the two novels, they ordered him not to sell them until necessary measures are taken with regard to them.

Major Ayman al-Batniji, spokesman of the Palestinian police, told a PCHR field worker in a phone call on Monday, 24 January 2011, that he had no information about such measures, but he digressed claiming that these novels violate the Islamic Shari'a."

 So why do some liberals support the Palestinians again? I keep forgetting.

Headline Bias: Blast From the Past Edition

Adam Levick over at CifWatch sent me an example of a biased headline on the Huffington Post, unfortunately it's from 2005 but still worth sharing:

Whaat? Israel's roadsigns are only in Hebrew? How ethnocentric of them! And how are people who don't speak Hebrew supposed to get around?

Except oh wait, that isn't really what happened. You can see right there in the article that the only change is that the signs will refer to certain towns by Hebrew names instead of Arabic ones, and even then it's only because the Palestinians refuse to use the Hebrew names. That's the only part of the signs that will change, which makes the headline incredibly misleading. We'll conclude with a comment by a talkbacker that was completely sucked in by the Huffington Post's error:

New on the HP: BHL on BDS

If you only read the Israel section of the HP, you might not have read Bernard-Henri Levy's new blog post about the BDS movement. While I would prefer that the BDS movement be ignored, since even giving them negative attention only makes them stronger, it was still a good blog post. Here's an excerpt:

"First of all, because one boycotts totalitarian regimes, not democracies. One can boycott Sudan, guilty of the extermination of part of the population of Darfur. One can boycott China, guilty of massive violations of human rights in Tibet and elsewhere. One can and should boycott the Iran of Sakineh and Jafar Panahi, whose leaders have become deaf to the language of common sense and compromise. One can even imagine, as we once did with regard to the fascist generals' Argentina or Brezhnev's USSR, boycotting those Arab regimes whose citizens' freedom of expression is forbidden and punished, if necessary, in blood. One does not boycott the only society in the Middle East where Arabs read a free press, demonstrate when they wish to do so, send freely elected representatives to parliament, and enjoy their rights as citizens. Regardless of what one thinks of the policies of its government, one does not boycott the only country in the region and, beyond the region, one of the unfortunately limited number of countries in the world where voters have the power to sanction, modify, and reverse the position of said government...

 And then, lastly, there are those at the heart and, sometimes, at the origin of this campaign whose inspiration is, to say the least, not that of De Gaulle's Free French nor of those who penned the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, nor of those in favor of a just peace between the Israeli and Palestinian peoples. I submit, to whomever wishes, the declarations of Omar Barghouti, one of the movement's founders, affirming that his goal is not two States but two Palestines. And those of Ali Abunimah, co-founder of Electronic Intifada and also opposed to the two-state solution, who does not hesitate to compare Israel to Nazi Germany and this or that of its philosophers to the columnists of Der Stürmer. And the declarations of the leaders of Sabeel, this group of Palestinian Christians firmly implanted in North America who, anxious to lend the idea of "responsible investment" a "theological" basis, do not hesitate to subtly but surely reactivate the Christ-killing Jews stereotype. Not to mention some rather shady initiatives whose purpose is to mark Jewish--sorry, Israeli--merchandise with supposedly derogatory stickers intended for the attention of the vigilant French consumer."

 Great stuff. Be sure to read the rest.

Always Remember...

....that Israel and the Jews have nothing to do with each other. Unless pro-Israel users cynically try to play the anti-Semitism card. Or unless anti-Israel users try to defend anti-Semitism:

Isn't hypocrisy grand?

The original link.

Rep. Alan West on the PLO Flag

Commentary Magazine has covered a press release by Representative Alan West on the US government's hypocrisy towards the Palestinians:

"In a press release this morning, Rep. Allan West asked why the PLO is allowed to fly its flag above its Washington office but Taiwan is not.

“By allowing this flag to be flown, the United States is extending a diplomatic right that we refrain from offering to even our own allies, like Taiwan,” said West. “This action is a diplomatic slap in the face of our greatest of allies, Israel.”

The Taiwan-PLO comparison is an excellent point. As far as officially recognized states go, Taiwan is clearly further along that path than Palestine is. The U.S. has also recognized Taiwan as a country in the past.

Here are some more comparisons between Taiwan and Palestine:

• Unlike Palestine, Taiwan has been an autonomous, self-governing entity for decades.

• Unlike Palestine, Taiwan doesn’t claim that the only way it can ever be free is if it destroys the state next to it (in this case, China).

• Unlike Palestine, Taiwan has been a reliable ally of the U.S. for years.

• Unlike Palestine, the U.S. has trusted Taiwan enough to sell it extensive arms, including F-16s under President George H.W. Bush.

West is right that this is a slap in the face to Israel — but it’s also a slap in the face to Taiwan, which has no hope of being recognized any time soon. According to West’s press release, he has joined House Foreign Affairs Committee chair Ileana Ros-Lehtinen in speaking out against the PLO flag being flown. Both members of Congress are asking President Obama and the State Department to rescind the authorization given to the PLO to raise the flag."

[H/T Solomonia]

Hilarious News the HP Covers: Jew York Jets

While only tangentially related to this blog (and directly related to another great love of mine, football), the HP covered a typo in a TV broadcast of last week's AFC championship game: the 'Jew York Jets'.

"Look, we've made our share of typos, so we're not really in the business of casting aspersions on someone for making an honest mistake. And yes, the letter J is right above the letter N on the keyboard, so it could happen to anyone.
That said, when we came across this little piece of Freudian slippery over at Ted Williams Head we couldn't control ourselves."

Cenk Uygur "Hates Judaism"

Jeff Dunetz (aka "YidWithLid") alerted me to a rather old blog post by Huffington Post blogger Cenk Uygur, with whom we last crossed paths here. Anyway even though his article was written in 2005 Mr. Uygur still makes some very telling remarks, including this one:

"So, let me make it clear. The original Zionist idea of retaking the holy land and making it a Jewish state was a terrible and disastrous idea. It was spurred on by their absurd religious beliefs and it has only served to make the Jewish people, let alone everyone else, far less safe. You wonder why I can’t stand Judaism."

So in one short paragraph he makes it clear that not only does he think Israel shouldn't exist but he also takes issue with the Jewish religion. How informative. Of course I would be remiss not to tell you that this is taken from a longer rant attacking religion in the Middle East, not Judaism alone. For example:

"And it is an ugly, abhorrent voice. Wiping Israel off the map would mean killing millions of innocent men, women and children. And this is Allah’s commandment? And you wonder why I can’t stand Islam....Right about now, there are many people who are thinking the familiar refrain of, “But that’s so unfair, most peace loving Muslims don’t think that way!” Really? Prove it.... The Muslims who are most likely to want the death of all the Jews are the religious ones. To deny that is to deny reality itself."

Of course, the fact that he takes issue with both Islam and Judaism doesn't cancel out his two comments, if anything they only combine to make him appear less objective. Which is why when he writes about Israel or the Palestinians or Iran (as we noted above) we question his credibility. If you want even more info, check our Jeff Dunetz's post above for the large amounts of anti-Semitism contained in Mr. Uygur's program "the Young Turks.."

Anti-Semitic Attack of the Day

If you speak in support of Israel on the Huffington Post, you are inevitably going to be attacked personally. This is just part of life on there, and for 99% of the personal attacks, Zach and I don't bother addressing them at all (this is true both on the HP itself and on this blog). However, there are some that go too far, and I have one for your viewing today.

Context: there is a pro-Israel poster on the HP named "MelissaGoldman".

I can't imagine it's a coincidence that "theRethuggery" here, who has posted numerous anti-Semitic comments before, described Melissa as "goldgrubber", referencing of course the anti-Semitic stereotype of the greedy money loving Jew. Such a comment will remain undeleted and will earn theRethuggery four favorites.

Also of note is when I called out "theRethuggery" on his hatred, notable "mere anti-Zionists" Darcha, Barefoot2626, and loyal reader Tony Andrews all came out to defend him. Other "mere anti-Zionists" replied to his post discussing various other insulting nicknames for Melissa. Very interesting that they will let numerous anti-Semitic slurs and insults go by with nary a peep, but all pile on when someone speaks up in protest.

The original link.

The PA Two-Step

If you remember, Matt and I once commented about how anti-Israel posters like to contradict themselves when they use such tactics as the terrorism two-step and the representation two-step. At this point it is the second that we are interested in. If you read the post you will see that the representation two-step applies to Hamas. When Hamas is not actively murdering Israelis, the anti-Zionists demand that they are the true representatives of the Palestinian people (because they won the elections) and therefore must be included in any negotiations with Israel. The fact that Israel will neither negotiate nor recognize Hamas, the true representatives of the Palestinians, means that they do not want peace. But then when Hamas is actively murdering Israelis, the other step comes to the foreground. Now Hamas was only elected because of economic reasons and they are fringe extremists, and Israel is being evil for mistreating the Palestinians because of the actions of Hamas.

But now with the release of the Palestine papers, the representation two-step is back, but in reverse. You see, before all this the anti-Zionists have not hesitated to tell us that Hamas is the true representatives of the Palestinians and the PA is not. This involves all kind of euphemisms: "Puppet," "stooge," "Vichy government," "collaborator," etc. A talkbacker on this blog described Abbas a "quisling." And so on and so forth. Here are some examples:

Right. We are on all on the same page there. That is until the release of the Palestine Papers! Because you see the PPs showed that the the PA, under Abbas and Erekat, supposedly were willing to make unprecedented concessions to Israel! Therefore, now that the PA looks peaceful and moderate, they are now the rightful representatives of the Palestinian people:

Whereas before the PA were a bunch of traitors, now they are a partner and how dare Israel not negotiate in completely good faith with them! Isn't that convenient? Of course, I would be remiss not to mention that a lot of Huffington Posters took the opposite approach to the PPs, i.e. that it proved that the PA was weak and definitely not the true representatives of the Palestinian people. And the dance goes around and around and around...

News the HP Doesn't Cover: Terror Cell Arrested for Luken's Murder

Hopefully you all remember Kristine Luken (or Logan), the American hiker murdered in the hills outside Jerusalem. The HP covered the story, then buried it. But will they cover this news, that Israel has arrested 13 members of a terror cell, four of whom confessed to the crime?

"Four Palestinians from villages near Hebron were indicted on Wednesday for murdering an American tourist in December in a forest near Beit Shemesh, the Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) and Jerusalem Police revealed on Wednesday. The suspects are central members of an independent terror cell in the West Bank that was responsible for two murders, two attempted murders, and at least one rape, as well as other incidents of theft and violence dating to as early as the summer of 2009....

The suspects were arrested on December 21 in a joint IDF-Shin Bet operation and during their interrogation immediately confessed to perpetrating the attack and reenacted it in the field. During their interrogation, one of the suspects, Kafah Animat, confessed to another murder last February of Neta Shorek Blatt, a Zichron Yaakov resident whose body was found next to a mosque in Beit Jamal on February 24. Police never concluded their investigation into the death of 56-year-old Blatt, though initially they were suspicious that her death was a suicide."

 Stand by for HPer outrage at the death of an American.

Ethnic Cleansing Comment of the Day

There were more by this user along the same lines, but they were deleted before I could grab them.

Do you think Helen Thomas now has an HP account?

the original link.

MJ Rosenberg Reacts To Palestine Papers

At the time I am writing this there have been two Huffington Post bloggers who have written articles in response to the recently Palestine Papers leaks (also known as Palileaks, though I don't know if that will stick). They are Omar Baddar and MJ Rosenberg, and I'm going to start with the latter because his article is more dramatic. No offense to Mr. Baddar.

Anyway, Mr. Rosenberg reacts the way we have come to expect: The papers prove what he has known to be true all along; that the Palestinians are kind and peaceful and Israel doesn't want peace even half as much as they want all the land. As others have pointed out, the documents cover so much and the people involved say such a variety of things that they can be interpreted any way one wishes. And as the link above explains, Mr. Rosenberg isn't quite correct when he says that, "the Palestinian Authority went well beyond the Palestinian consensus on every key issue: borders, Jerusalem, settlements, refugees," or that, "nothing less than a complete Palestinian surrender to Israel's right to every last inch of historic Palestine will ever be acceptable." Both Israel and the PA have long known that the Jewish neighborhoods in East Jerusalem will go Israel and that the right of return isn't happening. But overblown rhetoric is to be expected from any Huffington Post blogger, so I can't say I'm surprised.

We can go around and around with what exactly the documents mean, but I am not all that interested in that discussion. Because Mr. Rosenberg again does what he always does; he uses the current issue of the day as a springboard with which to write about his favorite topic: "The Israel Lobby." Check out this gem (emphasis mine):

"As for Americans, we learn, as if we didn't know, that due to the pressure of AIPAC, we simply lie about the whole conflict. We pretend that the Palestinians still need to make concessions for peace when we know full well that there are none left to make."

One would think that in order to make this kind of statement an author would need some kind of proof that it was true. I mean, I didn't see anything in the Palestine Papers about AIPAC or anything else, unless maybe Mr. Rosenberg has access to information that I can't see. What's far more likely is that Mr. Rosenberg is thinking like a conspiracy theorist: When he sees something he can't explain, he blames the conspiracy. Even to the point of simply making things up:

"No matter what the provocation... we are silent UNLESS we can enthusiastically endorse Israel's position. We are not an honest broker. We are no broker at all."

 Is this true? I know! Let us ask Omar Baddar, Mr. Rosenberg's fellow Huffington Post blogger!

"The American stated position (though not policy) has been quite good, sharply critical of Israel's policies in the Occupied Territories. In the words of Hillary Clinton:

The position of the United States on settlements has not changed and will not change. Like every American administration for decades, we do not accept the legitimacy of continued settlement activity. We believe their continued expansion is corrosive not only to peace efforts and two-state solution, but to Israel's future itself."

 Hm. I see. Let us also not forget the Biden-settlements fiasco and backdoorgate with Netanyahu. It appears that once again reality is simply not anti-Israel enough for Mr. Rosenberg. Let's conclude with yet another claim by him of AIPAC-control:

"Why do we do it? The same reason we don't ban assault weapons. A lobby (only in this case, the lobby of a foreign government) is dictating our policies with no regard for the greater American good."

He concludes with hoping that the Palestinians will attain statehood and that there will be peace, with which I take no issue.

HPW User Profile: TechieFreak

We have a record setter to share today: TechieFreak is in my opinion the most anti-Semitic user I have ever profiled on the Huffington Post. In fact his comments are so extreme that they often are deleted, so in the list to come if you click on the links you will find that many are gone. Here's an example. Anyway, the freak has been active since December and has been making aggressive comments ever since. Less of them are actually directed at Jews, there is far more hatred directed towards Americans. In fact TechieFreak fits the profile we have come to find among anti-Semites on the Huffington Post: A European or an American that lives in Europe, hates both Americans and Jews. In the process he has racked up almost 70 fans.

If you still think there is no anti-Semitism on the Huffington Post, if you still think there is only "legitimate criticism" of Israel, please read these comments in their entirety.

Link   
“ziobanksters who are now driving around in armored cars. But that won't stop us, we will nail them.”                                               
Link
“Bingo. anyone with half a brain can see that.
Screw Israel., the day its vaporized is the day the whole planet rejoices.”   
                         
Link                   
“Yes, Karmic retribution.
Seems like they are hellbent on inviting another HC.
Next time their beloved 6 million figure which they pulled out of their rearend might come true.
That figure has since been debunked also.
Poetic Justice that will be.”                                                
 
Link
“over 60 million were killed by theJews that ran Russia for decades.They also were instrument­al in the Bolshevik Revolution”    

We Care! (Redux)

We care a lot about civilian casualties!

As long as Israel's the one causing them.

Note the number of comments on each thread. Here's another one. Be sure to note the time (it had been up for at least an hour when I screengrabbed it) and number of comments:

Contrast with this thread.

Comment of the Day

The original link.

PA Recognizes Israel? Not Really

The Huffington Post has spun a revelation contained in the Palestine Papers to make the Palestinian Authority look better than they are. Admittedly, they are merely parroting what the Guardian is publishing but even so that is no excuse. Anyway, here's the headline in today's "World" section:

Wow! The PA accepted Israel a Jewish state? That is one of the major issues that has divided the two sides for so long, and a breakthrough there would mean a huge change in the status quo!

Oh wait, they didn't. Here's what the Guardian actually said:

"But behind closed doors in November 2007, Erekat told Tzipi Livni, the then Israeli foreign minister and now opposition leader: "If you want to call your state the Jewish state of Israel you can call it what you want," comparing it to Iran and Saudi Arabia's definition of themselves as Islamic or Arab."

That's it? Excuse me if I sound like a curmudgeon, but that doesn't sound like recognition to me. It sounds like Erekat is saying, "do whatever you want, I could give a crap."  In fact it isn't all the different from what Mahmoud Abbas said just a few months ago when he said: "Israel can call itself whatever it wants. We don't have to recognize those definitions."
  
We've been over how important recognition is. Until the Palestinian leaders declare that they recognize Israel as a state (publicly!) than their people won't get the message and the step toward peace really isn't made. Shame on the Guardian for making something out of nothing, and shame on the Huffington Post for mindlessly repeating it.

News the HP Doesn't Cover: Gaza-Based Al Qaida Group

The Jerusalem Post reports that the Egyptian government is accusing an Al Qaida group based out of the Gaza Strip of all places of committing the Coptic church bombing earlier this month.

" An al-Qaida-linked group in Gaza was behind the New Year's Day suicide bombing that killed 21 Christians and wounded about a hundred outside a church in the Mediterranean port city of Alexandria, the country's interior minister announced Sunday.

Habib al-Adly said the Gaza-based Army of Islam in Gaza was behind the attack, which sparked three days of Christian rioting in Cairo and several other cities. It was the deadliest attack against Christians in Egypt in more than a decade."

I'm sure it's because those Christians are occupiers and stealing Palestinian land. Palestinians only lift up their hands in violence for very justifiable reasons.

While I am at it, here's another one. Remember that evil, evil guy Avigdor Lieberman? Well, he proposed a map of a Palestinian state the other day. Here's a summary:

"Lieberman's plan, which corresponds to the second stage of the 2003 U.S.-sponsored road map peace plan, would not involve evacuating settlements or transferring significant additional territory to the PA. Thus the new state's provisional borders would comprise mainly the parts of the West Bank known as Areas A and B. The PA currently has full control over Area A, and civilian but not security control in Area B.
Together, these areas comprise some 42 percent of the West Bank. But a bit of additional territory might be thrown in to bring the new state up to 45 or 50 percent of the West Bank."

It's hardly ground breaking but you know the Huffington Post isn't going to cover it since it undermines the image they are obviously trying to create of FM Lieberman as the antithesis of everything that is good and right.

HPW User Profile: nicholasb

After spotting some blatantly anti-Semitic comments by the user nicholasb, I thought I would take a look at his profile to see if they were isolated. They were not: Even though he has only been on the Huffington Post since December 2010 he has already racked up quite a few Jew-bashing comments, not even counting his views on Israel. He has about 20 fans.

Update: This user has been banned but has returned as nicholas b. Very creative, and apparently too clever for the Huffington Post moderators to notice.

Link
“I think it can be dangerous to generalize, but on the other hand, there's no smoke without a fire. I too have observed the too-freque­nt choice they make, based on their cultural/e­thnic/reli­gious early life or ongoing influences­. I will say that's not everybody, some really do actually try to live by a golden rule, but for the most part it's just way too frequent an attitude to the rest of the world that they act out. I steer clear whenever I see one working as a bank officer, financial advisor, real estate agent. They use knowledge and intelligen­ce to damage others and solely benefit themselves way too often.”  [Click if you need context.]

Link
“It's certainly never on your side. Lies must be a genetic predisposi­tion with you people or was that all they teach you in Talmudic school?”

Link
“He's going? Not far enough as far as I and many are concerned. Joe [Lieberman] and his equally traitorous wife Hadassah should be shipped off one-way to the State of Israel where their true loyalties lie. After they've been investigated, penalized and stripped of all assets. Good riddance to bad rubbish.”     
                                   
Link
“This is true, the Chosen Ones and their agenda come first in all considerat­ions in the Middle East. The Tunisian people have spoken against not only a dictatorsh­ip but also U.S. hegemony and manipulati­ons based on the primary concerns of its main client state in the Middle East that calls all the shots.”        

Another Anti-Semitic Comment of the Day

Dedicated AZ "barefoot" is usually too crafty to let his hatred of Israel be revealed to be hatred for Jews, but every once in a while he slips up and reveals himself. Like in this comment.

He is responding to a crack about "the religion of peace" but that's no excuse.

The original link.

The HP's Latest Pandela

Last Friday the Huffington Post posted multiple blog entries on the topic of Israel and the Palestinains. Most amazing is that they did what they had done earlier in the week about Dr. Abuelaish; two articles by two different bloggers about the greatness of the person they were writing about. Only instead of an actual person dedicated to peace and willing to criticize both sides, this time the topic was Jonathan Pollak, who works for the Popular Struggle Coordination Committee. This group has connections to the Alliance for Global Justice which in turn provides funds to Venezuela and other lovely dictatorships.

Anyway the first article is written by Mohammad Khatib, another leader of the PSCC (his first article ever) and Pollak himself, despite the fact that he is in jail for three months. Their article is full of the all the usual lies that we have come to expect from representatives of the Bi'lin protests: That the protesters are "unarmed civilians," and that the Israeli military meets them with "arrests and violence." They cite themselves as a source, which is always telling, and continue to cling to the story that Jawaher Abu Rahmah was killed by tear gas. I think this was interesting:

"However, judging from the mainstream media and Israeli military justice system's response, one would think that the rocks sometimes thrown on the margins of these protests are the deadly weapons and the soldiers the victims of the people whose land they occupy."

I don't know how Mrs. Khatib and Pollak can say that their protesters are unarmed and then concede that rock throwing does in fact take place. And no, I don't find the argument that because rocks are less dangerous than guns they "don't count" as weapons particularly convincing. The rest of the article is the usual puffing up that we have come to expect: The protesters are peaceful and innocent, the Israelis are mean and cruel, but the struggle is just and therefore will someday triumph, etc etc. On the whole I don't take much issue with the article, as the Israelis are criticized where they should be and the truth is (mostly) followed. Of course the other side of the story is not told but that's to be expected.

Our second article is by another brand new Huffington Post blogger Nadia Hijab, who is a co-direct of Al-Shabaka aka the Palestinian Policy Network. Ms. Hijab's piece is another glowing, worshipful account of how awesome Jonathan Pollak is, and for some reason she compares him with Jonathan Pollard (hardy har har). Anyway, Ms. Hijab uses such terms as "a model of courage and humility," and "a shining light," to describe Mr. Pollak, so one immediately knows where she is coming from. She also naturally waves the bloody shirts of Rachel Corrie and Abu Rahmah, and finds it necessary to make a comparison to South Africa as well. So all in all a pretty standard Huffington Post article.

In summary, I don't have too much of an issue with these articles, aside from their leniency with the truth when it comes to the "unarmed" protests and the nature of Ms. Rahmah's death. I just find it interesting how every week the Huffington Post trots out new blog posts with the latest sob story of another heroic Palestinian (or Palestinian supporter) who just wants peaceful protest but is being cruelly repressed by Israel.  It's very convenient.

Anti-Semitic Comments of the Day

The original link.

And another one:

Palestine Papers Published

The Huffington Post has been lapping up the release of a new document-dump about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. It even got front page coverage:

In short, here is what you need to know:

1. Unnamed sources leaked Palestinian documents to less-than-objective news sources Al Jazeera and the Guardian.
2. They are being published now and the Huffington Post is cross-publishing them.
3. They make the Palestinians look good and the Israelis look bad. Specifically the PA making the biggest offer they could to give East Jerusalem to Israel and Israel saying no.

Isn't that convenient? That being said, I see no reason to doubt the truth of these documents. As with Wikileaks, it is hardly surprising, as Israel's government is pretty right-wing. But also as related to Wikileaks, blowing the whistle on diplomacy is a double edged sword. I'm sure the anti-Israel crowd will be happy to have more ammunition that it is really Israel who isn't willing to give up anything for peace. But what happens if Mahmoud Abbas and Saeb Erekat are dragged out of their homes by an angry mob and shot to death because they offered to give up not only Jerusalem but also the sacred right of return? How does that help anyone?

Either way, it certainly is an interesting development. We'll keep you updated if anything changes.

Update: Abbas and Erekat are denying it. Hey, who are you going to believe? Them or an unnamed source who publishes in English?

The twitter feed connected to the Huffington Post is going crazy as well. MJ Rosenberg gleefully declares that the Palestinian Authority is dead. Ben Smith of Politico says that that "this is the day the two state solution died." As with Wikileaks, I think people say what they want to see.

Update: CifWatch has pointed out that the transcripts of conversations are edited and uncorroborated with the Israelis. But of course that is how it is with all these leaked documents. What is clear is that the Guardian (and maybe the HP too, we'll see) is spinning the facts contained in the documents with all their might.

Update: Barry Rubin thinks that they are fake, seeing as how they are so convincing spun. He points out a few things:

1. At best these are alleged Palestinian notes, not documents. The only material on Israeli positions is what the PA says they are. In other words, these are PA memos, not a balanced account.

2. We don't know if these are accurate or fabricated. There is ample reason to believe they are fabricated.

3. They contradict every statement and negotiating position the PA has ever taken before, pubicly or privately.

5. All Palestinian leaders know that these concessions could never be sold to their public, the Fatah leaders, or even most of the PA itself.

6. Saeb Erakat, the chief negotiator, has already denied they are accurate, even though the story is benefitting the Palestinians

7. Do you believe that the PA was ready to turn most of east Jerusalem over to Israel?

Read the whole article for the rest?

When the Huffington Post Has Unmoderated Threads...

The true colors of the Huffington Posters are revealed:

The original link.

Anti-Semitic Comment of the Day

Fresh off the press on the new HP article about the flotilla raid commission's ruling:

Quite the plethora of anti-Semitic hate myths in this post.

Updated: Another from the same user, same thread

Anti-Zionists Always Ready to Defend Racism

Just an informative exchange on a talkback thread for this one. Check out this comment:

I pointed out that if someone were to say it that it were Arabs who did not understand nonviolence and feed on violence, he would be the first to play the race card. Completely unsurprisingly, his fellow anti-Zionists came in to defend the indefensible:

 So I suggest that at some point you try posting that the Palestinians feed off of violence and will always create it, and see how they react. Perhaps you too can expose some anti-Zionist hypocrisy.

Steve Clemons' Selective Outrage

Huffington Post blogger Steve Clemons has been one of the driving forces behind a letter sent to President Obama to encourage him to support a UN resolution condemning Israel's settlements. We know this because he wrote an article reposting it and its signers. On Friday he wrote another about the response that the letter received from other journalists, most notably Jennifer Rubin of the Washington Post. He was outraged, outraged I tell you! Because she dared to generalize the signers of the letter in this way:

"The usual crowd of Israel bashers has sent the president a letter urging him to go along with a U.N. resolution condemning Israel for its settlements (emphasis added)"

Mr. Clemons was clearly upset by this label, and if you read the article you will see that he spends the rest of his time defending himself. I'm going to selectively quote a little but feel free to check the article yourself if I left out something important:

"What does she consider makes me an Israel-basher?... I don't call those who support Netanyahu Israel-bashers even though I believe that....they are harming Israel's interests. Calling someone as Israel-basher is akin to calling them an anti-Semite or a bigot, and that can't go without response. I'm a strong believer in Israel and want a healthy and constructive relationship between Israel and the United States. I have traveled to Israel, have met people from nearly every political party in the Knesset, and love the place and people....This kind of insidious character attack is irresponsible."

Now I don't know Mr. Clemons' work that well, but I do know two things. The first is that while we have been "watching" the Huffington Post he wrote an article that implied that Senator Chuck Schumer was a traitor to America because he strongly supported Israel and criticized President Obama. Whether you would like to call it McCarthyist or anti-Semitic (because of the history of dual loyalty) that might be kind of a give away. The second thing I know that is that (to my knowledge) Mr. Clemons has not written a single pro-Israel article. If you look at his history his articles are all basically the same: Israel doesn't want peace or negotiate anything to give up for peace so America must force them into doing it. I find it ironic that now that he has been called an "Israel basher" he proclaims his great love for Israel.

But of course that's not really the point. When it comes to this discourse, I feel that "Israel basher" is one of the tamer names to call. Which brings us to the title of this post; it is quite ironic that Mr. Clemons should cry so loudly about his co-signers being called "Israel bashers" when labels of that sort are welcomed with open arms by his fellow bloggers on the Huffington Post. Would you like to see some examples? According to his fellow Huffington Post bloggers, pro-Israel people (in general or specific) are:

Alice Bach: "right-wing student informers"
Max Blumenthal: "extreme pro-settler elements"
Larry Gellman: "need villains...[they have] boxed yourself into an ideological position"
Linda Milazzo: "virulently anti-American... fanatically pro-Israeli."
Ahmed Moor: "the mongrel dogs of war"
Sharmine Narwani: "absolute brainwashed footsoldiers"
MJ Rosenberg: "Israel-firsters."
David Shasha: "Arab haters."

And those are merely a few of many, many examples, both from Huffington Post bloggers and from below the line talkbackers. Compared to these accusations being called an "Israel basher" is almost mild, especially when I have a feeling that for more than a few of the signatories that shoe would fit perfectly. Regardless, I'm not expecting Mr. Clemons to be writing any articles decrying the lack of discourse among his fellow Huffington Post bloggers, which in turn makes his claims of being the real pro-Israel writer among them somewhat dubious.

Who Are the Palestinians?

Elder of Ziyon found a good video on exactly that question: