Comment of the Day

The Huffington Post covered a story about Facebook allowing Holocaust denial pages to stay up, despite the requests of survivors to take them down. Most of the thread was arguing about whether or not free speech applied, and deleted comments indicate that Holocaust deniers did eventually show up. Others claimed that "research" of the Holocaust should be allowed, skating the line admirably. Others were not deniers, but still pretty ignorant:

The original link.

Helen Thomas' Comment of the Day

Relatively tame for the HP, just calling for ethnically cleansing millions of people from an entire region (but remember, doing that to Arabs is "a crime against humanity):

The original link.

News the HP Doesn't Cover: Samir Kuntar Injured

In a case of almost got 'em:

The website 'Lebanon Files' reported Saturday that residents of a Hezbollah stronghold in southern Beirut say Samir Kuntar, a terrorist released by Israel three years ago, was injured in a blast in one of the buildings.

The marginal website has conceded that the report could not be confirmed and is based on rumors in the suburb of Dahiya.

In addition, the report cites witnesses as saying that a dead body has been found on location. A Hezbollah source told the site that the blast was a gas tank explosion.

According to the Lebanese paper al-Nahar, the explosion occurred Friday evening in southern Beirut. Sources told the paper it was not a result of a gas tank explosion but rather "an explosive device or hand grenade".
Hezbollah was quick to close off the area, the report adds. The blast apparently occurred on the tenth floor of a building near the group's central mosque. 

No way the Huffington Post covers this story, as they would prefer their readership not have any idea Kuntar exists, what he has done, or how popular he is among the Palestinian Arabs. 

The World of the Anti-Zionists

I have long held the suspicion that anti-Zionists don't live in the same world as we do. You see, many of them have simply gone beyond believing the Palestinian narrative, which would be understandable. But they have come to the point that what they perceive as reality is simply whatever they want to, rather than what is real. It takes anti-Zionist tunnel vision to the next level, not only do no other nations besides America/Israel/Palestinians matter, they might as well not even exist. And once they have gotten to that point, then anything goes. They still believe that the IDF cruelly massacred unarmed civilians on the Mavi Marmara, even after the entire world saw the videos proving the exact opposite. They still believe that there was a massacre at Jenin in 2002 and that Mohammad Al-Dura was killed by Israeli soldiers. And of course in their world "The Lobby" really does control America with an iron fist. They will side with anyone against Israel: Assad, Ahmadinejad, Ghaddafi, though they might draw a limit at the Nazis. Because they truly do live in a black and white world, where whatever is "real" is simply what they want to be real. I will demonstrate this with three posts all from the same thread.

I find it difficult to believe that anyone possessing both intelligence and knowledge about the situation in Gaza truly believes that Israel is "exterminating" the Palestinians. Consider further this poster's implication that Israel is trying really, really hard and failing, this comment would be laughable if it wasn't so hateful. The same ten people who favorited this comment would probably also favorite a comment that says this:

"Israel is the fourth strongest army in the world and the Palestinians only have rocks. The Palestinians are completely at Israel's mercy, and yet you expect them to make a change for peace? How absurd!"

They will believe simultaneously that the Palestinians are helpless before Israel and that Israel is trying to wipe out the Palestinians, even though it is clear that neither is true and cannot be true, because otherwise there wouldn't be any Palestinians left. And of course you can present them with entire libraries full of facts proving them wrong and they wouldn't listen to any of it. I think what happened instead is that these posters saw a comment that said something they liked, i.e. something that fit their narrative, and fav'd it without thinking much about what it actually said. Actually I hope that's the case. Let's move on to the next comment. This one has been shortened so I can just get the bits I wanted to talk about:

So again, this poster might simply be a moron and not have any idea what he's talking about, but somehow I doubt it. What's more likely is that he learned a talking point, copied it and wrote it down, and then published it without thinking much about what it said. And then five other people favorited it again without thinking either. But again, just stop and look: If the Arabs conquered 'that land' in the 7th century, then they obviously aren't the indigenous people. And we know that Jews have been living there for longer, even from reading the Huffington Post. This post is merely another classic example of cognitive dissonance: The Arabs conquered the land in an imperialist invasion...and they are also the indigenous people. Amazing, but in the anti-Zionists' world, a very common attitude. And for our final example of cognitive dissonance, check this out:

This poster is new, so he may simply not know what he's talking about. But I find it amazing how people can believe that Israel is both destined to be wiped out by the Palestinian "demographic bomb" and that Israel is committing genocide at the same time. Two different propaganda points that sound good but when you put them together make no sense. Let's not forget also that this poster seems to think that Israel is fighting Israeli Arabs who are also Palestinians, because they pose a threat to the "Jewish state?" Might not want to think about this one too much, don't want to get sucked into the world of the anti-Zionist as well.

Gwyneth Paltrow, Judaism, and the HuffPo

A story appeared in the Huffington Post about how the actress Gwyneth Paltrow has decided to raise her children Jewish. Not particularly exciting, the usual kind of tabloid celebrity stuff that we always see. And just like we also often see on the Huffington Post, what followed were hundreds of comments attacking Paltrow for that decision. Not to raise her kids Jews, but to raise them with any religion at all. Israel and the Palestinians were only brought up once, and comments about Judaism were generally okay. There were, of course, some exceptions:

Yes, because a highly successful actress and her children need to be Jewish in order to succeed. There were more comments like these but I didn't include them because the poster obviously wasn't serious. These were.

Comment of the Day

Context may or may not help.

Free Middle Easts' New Video

Good stuff as always:

Religious-Based Comments of the Day

Isn't it nice when the wacko fringe left and the wacko fringe right come together for a common cause?

 

Seriously, stuff like this is just ridiculous. Can anyone name another country on Earth that comments like this are made about?

The original link.
The original link.

New On the HP: Israel's Economy

[A blog entry by Daniel Seal. Naturally it elicited some complaints.]


When you hear the word "Israel" what do you think? Whatever your views, political, social, or religious, you're likely to have an opinion. If you're a newshound something militaristic may spring to mind: the army or ongoing peace talks; if you're a politico then you might be thinking of the politics of Benjamin Netanyahu, President Peres and the Israeli coalition. If you've a traveller then you might conjure up the white expanse of the Tel-Aviv coastline, a night-club swarming with beach-hot bodies, the orange groves of Jaffa or the ancient city of Jerusalem.

But are you thinking technology and innovation? The old adage goes that "no news is good news" and the media focus on the Middle East remains firmly anchored on geopolitical tensions. The point of this article is not to change the way you think about the peace process or broader political issues, but rather seeks to provide an alternative spotlight on Israel, one that accentuates technology, not bombs.
The emphasis on technology is particularly relevant following the UK's White Paper on economic growth published in March 2011, "encouraging a stronger partnership between British and Israeli companies to exploit the potential synergies between Israel's high levels of innovation and British strengths in design, business growth and finance". Israel is the only country mentioned by name in the paper, a clear indicator that the UK is following Israel's lead, investing in innovation as a means of driving the economy forward.

Israel is the UK's largest individual trading partner in the Near East and North Africa, with bilateral trade topping £2.83 billion in 2010, a 31% improvement on the previous year. Over 300 Israeli companies have set up in the UK, from defence manufacturers such as Elbit, to mining companies like ICL Fertilisers, and pharmaceuticals like Teva.

Israel's economy continues to grow 5% a year. Largely unaffected by the global financial crisis due to conservative banking regulation and some prudent management and economic strategy by Bank of Israel Governor Professor Stanley Fischer, the economy continues to grow, seemingly regardless of conflicts on or across its borders.

But what's most impressive about Israel's economy is the creation in less than a decade of a world-class high-tech economy. As New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman puts it, Israel has moved from underwear to software in five years. It has built its new economy on top-rate universities, astute government and a culture that rewards success and innovation. Since the country's founding Israelis are keenly aware that the future is always in question. Every moment has its strategic importance. As Mark Gerson, an American entrepreneur who has invested in Israeli start-ups puts it, "When an Israeli man wants to date a woman, he asks her out that night. When an Israeli entrepreneur has a business idea, he will start it that week".

In addition to boasting the highest density of start-ups in the world, more Israeli companies are listed on the NASDAQ exchange than companies from the whole of Europe. In 2008, per capita, venture capital investments in Israel were 2.5 times greater than in the United States and more than 30 times greater than in Europe. Comparing absolute numbers, Israel, with a population of 7.7 million people attracted close to $2 billion in venture capital, as much as the UK's 61 million population received. Israel also has more engineers per head, and sees more scientific articles published per head, than any other country in the world.

Many key players in the Middle East peace process are keen to harness Israel's innovation for political good. Speaking at a recent UK Israel Business breakfast jointly organised with the Palestine Britain Business Council, The Portland Trust and The Office of The Quartet, former Prime Minister Tony Blair and Apax founder Sir Ronald Cohen outlined their vision of shared peace for the Middle East.
The discussion focussed on how mutual economic development is a vital precursor to peace. "Security tests" in Gaza are crucial, argued Blair, but have to go hand in hand with genuine trade between Israel, the Palestinian Territories and the global economy. Peace must be based on supporting, "the process of state building from the bottom up. There is a role for business. The private sector on both sides is trying to work together even if politicians sometimes are not." Sir Ronald was keen to point out that the possibilities for future growth and business are enormous, as Palestine's GDP has been growing by 12% per year. For too long, however, "economics has been used as a weapon...Instead, it is vital that a shift in the role of economics towards being a means of peace takes place".

Investors are turning to Israel in ever greater numbers. Many technology companies, including Google, Microsoft and Intel have chosen to have their major research and development (R and D) centres there. Warren Buffett, the legendarily risk-averse investor broke his decades-long record of not buying any foreign company with the purchase of Iscar, the machine-tool company he purchased for $4.5 billion.

For investors looking to capitalise on a developed market with the yields of an emerging one, Israel is the place to be. The general feeling is "If it's good enough for Google, it's good enough for us". In the business world we have a fierce hope that where there is innovation, peace and prosperity will follow.

Comment of the Day

This comment is long but you should read the whole thing:

Who knew Hassan Nasrallah was on the Huffington Post?

The original link.

News the HP Doesn't Cover: More US-Israel Cooperation

Just another example of ongoing US-Israel (plus Australia) cooperation:

A delegation of senior police and military officials from the US and Australia will visit Israel in October to take part in a counter-terrorism program.

The group, which will include a criminal law professor, will visit the sites of 16 past terrorism attacks and hear about how the Israel Police responds to mass casualty incident, according to organizers MK International Security Consulting (ISC), an Israeli security consultancy firm. 

With the world still shell-shocked over this week's horrific attacks in Norway, law enforcement agencies are interested in benefiting from Israel's unfortunate experience in this arena," MK ISC said in a press statement on Thursday.

"Program participants will be given an exclusive look at Israel's security apparatus at major transit hubs, critical infrastructure installations, government buildings and more, as well as learning about Israeli doctrine that has proven so effective and that can be employed elsewhere," the statement added.

"There is no substitute for seeing the effects of terror with your own eyes." said MK ISC founder Marc Kahlberg, a South African-born former Israel Police detective, who was involved in organizing responses to a number of terrorist attacks in Netanya.

You don't see the US consulting the Palestinians on anything like this, although the Palestinians would probably be able to teach several classes on inflicting mass civilian casualties and still being considered helpless victims. 

Hamas Kills Palestinians, HPers Shrug

Hamas executed two Palestinians in the Gaza Strip earlier this week, and miraculously the HP covered it. The excuse used by Hamas was that the two Palestinians were collaborating with Israel and spying. Most of the anti-Zionists on the HP didn't bother showing their faces on this thread, but those who do knew who to blame:

Note that there is no doubt in this HPer's mind that the two executed Palestinians (a father and son) were guilty of the crime they were accused of and deserved to die. And the fault, of course, is exclusively with Israel. If the collaboration was actually true, Israel is to blame not only for the Palestinians' decision to spy for them but also Hamas' decision to execute them (by hanging).

For someone who has the PLO flag as his avatar, "Nwo2012" doesn't seem to care much about Palestinians if Israel isn't the one hurting them. No surprise there.

The original link.

More Guarnieri Half-Truths

Mya "Sue Happy" Guarnieri back again with...very little new to say actually. This latest screed is about the "siege of Gaza," because apparently the last fifteen articles about it wasn't enough. Anyway what is notable about this article is how Guarnieri uses the standard issue argument technique known as "not telling the whole story." You might also know this as "lying," because it is. Let's start with a blatant one:

" Bashi remarked that the gradual closure of Gaza began in 1991, when Israel canceled the general exit permit...This was during the First Intifada... it's important to bear in mind that the First Intifada began as a non-violent uprising comprised of civil disobedience, strikes, and boycotts of Israeli goods. So, that the general exit permit was canceled during this time suggests that this early hit on Palestinian freedom of movement was not rooted in security concerns."

Right, I could see how one might come to that conclusion. Of course, basic history shows that the First Intifada began not in 1991, but in 1987. So unless Ms. Guarnieri wants us to believe that four years of intifada passed without any Palestinian violence at all (unlikely), she is yet again lying and misleading her audience when she presents her alternative theory of why the exit permit was canceled. Although her lies are never as blatant as this in the future, as I mentioned she does leave out inconvenient facts. For example:

Egypt is never mentioned. Not how it used to occupy Gaza, not how it has always had control over the Rafah crossing, not ever. For that matter, Hamas' closure of Gaza entrances, theft of aid, and other tyrannical behaviors are also not mentioned. Guarnieri is simply repeating her narrative: The only people that exist are Israeli oppressors and Palestinian victims. Don't expect her to comment on the recent hanging executions in Gaza either.

Terrorism is barely mentioned, and when it is it is white washed: Suicide bombers come in "a wave" but because not all Palestinians are suicide bombers it is still "collective punishment" for Israelis to defend themselves. Rocket fire is only brought up once, and then as only something Israelis talk about, and not a real thing. Guarnieri spends the vast majority of her article complaining about how Palestinians can no longer just walk into Israel and ___________ any more, yet offers no alternatives as to how the Israeli government should keep itself alive (besides capitulation of course).

Similarly, it is expected that Palestinian workers should come to Israel (even if they kill some Israelis in the process) and economic struggles in Gaza receives much hand wringing. And yet neither Hamas, the PLO, nor Egypt receives any of the responsibility for this problem: Only Israel. Guarnieri brings up the Erez Crossing and how Palestinian workers passing through there has dwindled, yet fails to note that this same area is the source of much terrorism from Gaza.

There is also something about flotillas but it's the usual stuff, we've all seen it before.

In the end, it's all just the usual far-left stuff from Guarnieri. Still, it's nice to see that Israel remains a democracy, as she has somehow managed to stay out of prison for her one-sided diatribes toward her own country. Weekly reminders of that is beneficial, but only to those who realize the irony in articles like this one.

Orchestra Breaks Taboo X2

Quick question: what is the most important news story coming out of Israel today? If you didn't immediately think "Israeli Chamber Orchestra Plays Wagner", sorry, but I'm afraid a position at the Huffington Post will most likely not be coming your way anytime soon.

Yes, apparently an Israeli orchestra performing works from the (famously anti-Semitic) composer Richard Wagner broke a taboo and this is such an important story the Huffington Post decided to cover it twice. Here's the two stories:

Link to the first story
Link to the second (older) story.

What is it about this story that made the HP decide to publish it twice? I guess we should be glad it's not some anti-Israel story, but still, it's very odd behavior, even for the HP.

As a side note, check out this paragraph from the first story (emphasis added by me):

On Tuesday, the Israel Chamber Orchestra played Wagner's "Siegfried Idyll," alongside the Jewish national anthem Hatikva and work by Mahler and Mendelssohn at a festival in Bayreuth, Germany -- thereby challenging a five decade-old Israeli taboo on performing music by the German-born composer.

 Oops!

Lastly, as an added bonus, here's the first comment on the thread in the first story I saw.

The original link.

Comment of the Day

The original link.

Uh Oh...Peres Criticizes Assad!

The Huffington Post, in a flurry of Israel-related posts yesterday, decided to include a story about Shimon Peres calling for Bashir Assad to resign. Naturally the Huffington Posters marched out in force to defend their guy...Assad of course. Here are some examples:

But I'm sure if you check the thread by now they are some much better posts to be found. And if this all that weren't hypocritical enough, check out a thread about Israel's reaction to the Egypt revolution. You'll probably find Huffington Posters sniping at Israel for siding with Mubarak over his people. Truly a no-win situation for Israel on the HP.

Stephen Zunes is Funny

Stephen Zunes is back with another ridiculously long article which in short says that Congress supports Israel, and in doing so supports colonialism, which is bad. Notice how that didn't take me twenty-four paragraphs, Mr. Zunes. Anyway, there isn't much to say about the article as a whole, with one exception:

"Perhaps if Morocco's rulers were as white as Israel's, they would have also gotten unanimous support rather than just a simple majority."

Calling your elected representatives racist, Zunes? Classy as always. Anyway, here's the funny part:

 "Those who care about human rights, international law and the right of self-determination must withhold any financial support for the Democratic Party until Democrats end their strident opposition to such principles and limit their campaign contributions to the small number of Democrats who do.And if MoveOn, Democracy for America, and similar groups want to salvage any credibility or integrity, they must be clear that they will not endorse any member of Congress for re-election who opposes the right of self-determination by those under foreign belligerent occupation and who continues to embrace a reactionary early 20th century colonialist agenda.
If they do not, we must withhold our support for those groups as well and let them know why."

Ha ha! Yes, please do that, Huffington Posters. We know how the pride of anti-Zionists lead them to believe that "everyone" (or at least everyone of consequence) agrees with them about everything, but Zunes is in for a wake up call if he really thinks that people are going to listen to him. If anti-Zionists try to go up against Zionists on the national level, they won't have a chance. And the smart ones, ones who aren't Mr. Zunes, know that, which is why they generally try to pester others and get support that way. Even if it means lying.

In the real world, the only thing this will accomplish is that the Democrats will lose money and support. That's it. They aren't going to change their views on Israel, no matter how loudly the Huffington Posters whine. Because for every Huffington Poster, there are five constituents who support Israel and won't sell out the Democrats for people who danced on 9/11. Sometimes I even feel sorry for the anti-Zionists, because there is simply no party they can possibly vote for if they want to destroy Israel. The Democrats are pro-Israel, the Republicans are even more pro-Israel. They simply each are pro-Israel in a different way. One would think that the anti-Zionists would stick with President Obama's party, since they are more willing to criticize Israel than the Republicans. But, as we have long learned, "criticism" isn't enough for them. They want America to take the side of the Palestinians.

Incidentally, why doesn't Stephen Zunes call for pressure on the Republicans? It's probably wise for him to know his audience and how they are liberals, but there are some Republicans who are isolationist, like Ron Paul.

Some New Charts

The Huffington Post has hit some major issues regarding Israel, so I thought I would see how balanced (or not) their blogger coverage turned out to be. Let's take a look:

Boycott Law

Flotilla Interception

Palestinian Declaration of Statehood

Another Palestinian Crybaby

But this one is literal:

"Palestinian observer Riyad Mansour called on the UN to recognize a Palestinian state. It's time to end the occupation, he said before bursting into tears. Israel's Ambassador to the UN Ron Prosor warned that the Palestinian way of bypassing peace talks will lead to frustration and violence."

 Prosor also got some good shots in:

"He later addressed Mansour and asked him: "On behalf of whom will you present a resolution in September? Mr. Abbas or Hamas?" He called on the Palestinians to embrace "a road of solutions not resolutions; dialogue not monologue; and direct negotiations not unilateral declarations." Prosor continued: "There is much uncertainty about the future Palestinian government: its acceptance of the Quartet conditions, the peace process, control of its security forces, and many other questions… on these issues Israel and the international community must have clarity. For Israel, this so-called unity has only brought continued impunity for the terrorists that fire rockets into our cities." He noted that "even the most basic condition for statehood does not exist. The Palestinian Authority does not maintain effective control of all its territory nor does it hold a monopoly on the use of force." Addressing the Security Council members states, Prosor stressed: "Unilateral actions will not bring peace to our region. The Palestinian initiatives at the United Nations may be superficially attractive to some. Yet, they distract from the true path to peace. There are no shortcuts to statehood. You cannot bypass the only path to peace. The Palestinians will have to get off the bandwagon of unilateralism – and back to the hard work of direct peacemaking." 

Mansour's attitude may be how you get sympathy, but it isn't how you get respect. And especially among Arab leadership, that's just embarrassing. We'll see if the HuffPo deigns to cover this story.

News the HP Doesn't Cover: Iron Dome Keeps the Peace

No way the Huffington Post covers this news, of the Israeli Air Force declaring that Iron Dome prevented another large-scale Gaza offense a la Cast Lead. It would totally violate the narrative of the bloodthirsty Israelis who don't want peace.

Israel was able to avoid another large offensive in the Gaza Strip recently thanks to the deployment of counter-missile batteries in the south, a senior Israel Air Force officer said on Monday. Speaking at an international conference on missile defense, Col. Shahar Shohat said the Iron Dome counter-missile system provided the necessary deterrent so that the Israeli military did not have to launch a new version of Operation Cast Lead, the month-long offensive in the Gaza Strip in 2008-9.

Shohat was referring to the increased tensions in April this year after an anti-tank missile launched from the Gaza Strip hit an Israeli school bus. As a result, the Israeli Air Force bombarded numerous targets inside Gaza, and tensions began to rise to the same levels that precipitated Operation Cast Lead.

A decision was made to deploy two Iron Dome counter-missile batteries in the south. Each battery consists of a missile launcher with a tracking device that calculates whether incoming rockets will hit populated areas; if so, it fires its own missile to hit the enemy's rocket, but if the rocket is headed for open ground, it allows it to fall. The deployment was a success and the Iron Dome shot down more than 10 Grad and Kassam rockets heading for Ashkelon and Be'er Sheva.

“The enemy was frustrated and simply stopped firing,” Shohat said. “The Kassams were stopped by the system, and we achieved deterrence.”

Shohat warned that in future wars more missiles and rockets were bound to hit Israel, but told Israel Hayom, “Missile defense is not the only solution, but is just one of many tools at Israel's disposal.”

More HuffPo Spinning

If you read this, I assume you read other pro-Israel blogs. And if you read pro-Israel blogs, I assume you've seen this video, by Danny Ayalon and Israel's MFA. Which is why we never posted it. Now, because there hasn't been enough red meat for the haters on the Huffington Post, the "World" editors have decided that they are going to publicize the video, but with a biased headline as window dressing:

And who exactly is "outraged" about this? Just Saeb Erekat. And his loyal followers of course. But it's pretty clear to me that this is not exactly a top-priority headline. Neither CNN nor Al Jazeera (the news sites I use to compare with the HuffPo) has it. Still, I think Israel owes the Huffington Post thanks for the free publicity.

HPW User Profile: Lydda Palestine

This user was sent to us by a reader, and does a good job at flying below the radar. What she does is find threads who have nothing at all to do with "Palestine" and then posts screaming incoherent rants about Israel, some of which we have below. She particularly has it out for Anthony Weiner, because she thinks that he's Israeli. Anyway, screaming incoherent rants against Israel fit right on the Huffington Post, so she has achieved 24 fans. Let's get to the comments.

[The following three comments are all on threads about the Norway shooting]

Link
“The Christian terrorist had direct links with Jewish Zionist Neo-Nazi terror groups as well as Christian Anti-Musli­m groups. There is direct proof of that and the Pro-Israel­i media in the USA is not showing it.”

Link
“ALL ISRAELIS ARE GOOD FOR IS CREATING TERROR THROUGH OCCUPATION
­.My condolence­s go out to every Norwegian today. Palestinia­ns understand what RADICAL RELIGIOUS TERRORISTS ARE THEY ARE OCCUPIED BY THEM MILITARILY­.
I WANT TO HEAR JOSEPH LEIBERMAN - LAUTENBERG­, PETER KING - SHUMER AND BLOOMBERG say that the new TERRORISTS TO WATCH FOR ARE CHRISTIAN EXTREMISTS FROM EUROPE.
Wonder why the Jewish Senator and Congressma­n that profess to be experts on terror have not come out?
9/11 in Noway came from a CHRISTIAN ...YOU HERE THAT YOU ISRAELI WAR CRIMINAL SUPPORTERS­.”

Link
“Mine as well. JUST IMAGINE IN 2009 - ISRAEL SLAUGHTERE
­D 600 CHILDREN IN GAZA IN 1 WEEK AND 1000 OTHERS. Palestinia­ns feel the pain Norwegians are feeling.”

[The end of Norway-related comments]

Link
“Why did Rupert Murdock's Fox Israeli News say that it was a Mulsim and not Norwegian. Hhhmmm....
­..how can the justice system allow such criminal activity to go on for so long at Fox News. Illegal Israeli Occupiers paying Fox news broadcaste­rs to lie for them and we have no homeland security from them, thats the problem.”    

Link
“Why are the PRO-ISRAEL
­I Zionists from News Corp hacking 9/11 victims families?
Why did USS Liberty victims families get attacked by the Pro-Israel­i media then?
Bernard Madoff is keeping a nice blonde wig and skirt for him.”
                                   

How Not To Defend Terrorism

If you want to find out what this guy is trying to defend, here's the link, but really it could apply to just about anything the Palestinians do:

Yeah! Yeah! It's not illegal! It's totally fine! And don't you forget it! Well...if it was illegal than it doesn't matter! Because people have to defend themselves! You're not going to forbid them from self-defense are you? And hey wait a minute, how do we know this wasn't a setup! They might not even have done it! Did you ever think of that? Well did ya?

When someone changes their story often, that's usually a sign that they are guilty. Or at least covering something up.

Barry Lando Looks Away

Our favorite no-good smuggler Barry Lando is back again, taking a break from writing about international relations and instead focusing on Europe. This article is incredible by most newspapers' standards, but unfortunately for the HuffPo it is merely average. What makes it so incredible? Let's begin:

Lando's article is titled "Mounting Anti-Semitism in Europe." One would think that's what the article is about, but nope! What were thinking? Lando says that Jews talk about anti-Semitism in Europe, but they're stupid and don't know what's really going on:

"What has long bothered me about such emails, however, is not just a misreading of the cause, but a tunnel vision on the part of many Jews -- a total disregard for those other Semites: the rampant growth of anti-Islamic and anti-Arab sentiment in France and across Europe over the past few years." [Emphasis mine]

As usual, Jews are expected to not only suffer in silence but also must stand up for other people. Even when, as in the case of Malmo, Sweden, those "other Semites" are the ones who are making Malmo a living hell for the Jews who are left there. Don't get me wrong, I don't mind Mr. Lando complaining about anti-Muslim bigotry in Europe. But it sure seems to me that he's accusing Jews of being selfish because they dare to stand up for themselves. It's not the first time we've heard complaints like this, though. They are becoming all too common on the Huffington Post.

This is the last mention of anti-Semitism in Lando's article, the rest is spent talking about people he doesn't like, which is most anti-Muslim haters (including an anti-Arab joke) but also "right-wing" bloggers. He then begins preaching at the Europeans. Truly, this article is mystifying, as Lando seamlessly switches from talking about anti-Semitism, to basically declaring that there is no anti-Semitism (or at least none of any consequence), and then gets up on his soapbox about how much Europeans hate Muslims and Arabs.

Maybe I am jumping to conclusions: Just because Lando doesn't talk about anti-Semitism in Europe doesn't mean he thinks there is none, right? Well, let's take a look at the title of the article when it was originally posted on Truthdig.com:

Anti-Semitism becomes Islamophobia, huh? I wasn't aware that hatred had a limited attendance policy. Still, I guess that's what Lando is reduced to when he decided that he was going to deny anti-Semitism. Too bad.

CotD: "Get Attention and Money"

This HPer tries to keep his message ambiguous, but we know who he means:

The ironic part of this post is that it could just as easily apply to Palestinians as Jews.

The original link.

Today's Conclusion Jumping

The Huffington Post has again covered a story after there is no reason to do so: In Iran a man was shot and killed by two assailants on motorcycles. Initial reports said that he was a physics professor and a nuclear scientist, but it turns out that he was merely a student. This declaration was what the Huffington Post decided to cover. Why? Well, perhaps it was because they knew that their readership would immediately assume that the Jews did it:

But they're just stupid internet trolls, right? No one intelligent could possibly jump to a conclusion like this without any evidence, right Huffington Post blogger Atif Ahmed Choudhury?

 Guess not.

CotD: "Jews Can Murder At Will"

This one is not particularly creative, but notable for how long it's been allowed to remain on the board:

Jews, huh? Doesn't he know that you're supposed to use "Zionist" instead?

The original link.

Mythbusting: The '67 Lines

As discussions about Palestinian statehood continue to circulate, a common pro-Palestinian talking point is that the 1967 lines are no big deal. Israel says they are indefensible, but they won the 1967 war didn't they? And when they were on the '67 lines in 1973, it didn't go as well. Therefore, it's actually better for Israel to be in the '67 lines than the '73 lines. This point of view has most recently been brought up by MJ Rosenberg, but he is far from the only one to articulate it. But it has some issues, which I will list here.

1. There seems to be a consensus that Israel only won so easily in 1967 because they launched a surprise attack on Egypt. Most of the same people who use the above talking point also claim that Israel started the war for no reason except to steal Arab land (which is obviously bad). Cognitive dissonance is not a new thing, but it does show how in the mind of some people Israel really can't do anything right, except maybe lose wars.

2. Before 1967 the Arab nations may not have been actively fighting, but they felt confident enough that next time they would win a war against Israel. As their rhetoric shows, they fully expected to be fighting another war to finish what they started. The case can also be made that Israel's "expanded" lines in 1973 also provoked Egypt and Syria into fighting again, but the point is that pre-1967 Israel certainly didn't feel secure.

3. And as history shows, their feeling proves to be correct. The War of Attrition, the 1956 Suez Crisis, and innumerable cross-border fedayeen attacks were designed to make life as unbearable for Israelis as possible. Let's not forget that there was no real defense against those aforementioned fedayeen incursions. I can't imagine why Israel wouldn't want to go back to those days.

4. Israel was only able to take the West Bank and Jerusalem so easily because Jordan didn't want to fight. In fact, they've never particularly wanted to fight Israel in the entire history of those two countries. They needed to shoot some artillery at Israel because they were still in an alliance with Egypt, but it's obvious that the Hashemites held back. Now I'm sure some people would accuse Israel of aggressive land theft in that case,  but let's not forget that fedayeen attacks were also coming from Jordan, and of course Jordan's arty had given them a casus belli.

5.  The logical extension of this is that just because Jordan wasn't a particularly strong threat when it controlled the West Bank does not mean that a Palestinian state won't be. The Palestinians have proven many times only that not only are they dedicated to fighting Israel with everything they have, they are also capable of doing serious damage (even without an army). In other words, it's illogical to conclude that just because Israel could easily win a war against Jordan one time in '67 that the lines themselves are no problem.

6. As this video demonstrates, the hills in the West Bank do put Israel's major industries and population centers at risk. This cannot be denied to anyone with eyes. So even if a Palestinian state is created, terror groups like Hamas could (again) do serious damage really easily, including firing rockets at Tel Aviv. I am highly doubtful that Abbas' PA has the strong central leadership to prevent that, even if they wanted to.

So to conclude, although this talking point is fundamentally illogical right from the very start, for some reason it has picked up prominence among the usual pro-Palestinian/anti-Israel crowd. Of course, logic has never been their strong suit.

Today's Attack on an HP Blogger: Rabbi Cooper Edition

Rabbi Abraham Cooper wrote a scathing article for the Huffington Post about anti-Semitism among Malaysian political leadership. Naturally comments like this one were let through:

The link quoted by the HP is to talkbacks on Ynet. Hard to see how anonymous talkbackers on an Israeli website are Rabbi Cooper's "people", but maybe that's because I don't see the world through bigoted eyes.

The original link.

And here's another comment from the same thread:

I see the war on anti-Semitism continues.

The HuffPo's Israel Obsession Continues

Despite the horror in Norway, the continuing Arab uprisings, tensions in Korea, a train crash in China, and continuing violence in Libya, the Huffington Post still managed to dig up some stories spun to make Israel look bad. They posted not one, not two, but three stories about Israel not apologizing for the Gaza flotilla:

Amazing how the Huffington Post editors have so little to write about that they need to repeat the same story over and over again. Not even Al Jazeera did that. As for the threads themselves, they hit the usual patterns: Those who are still in denial and think that the "activists" were unarmed and defenseless, those who think that Israel doesn't have anything to apologize for, and haters who don't care what happened on the flotilla but just want to vent their anti-Israel rage. I'm sure I don't need to provide an example of one at this point, just click on any of the threads above and you'll find plenty.

Comments of the Day

The Huffington Post had a story about Jewish attitudes toward Obama (again), based on a J Street poll. There was some spinning of the J Street poll, as you probably know about, but in short even though Jewish attitudes toward Obama have decreased substantially, it is still high. The thread rapidly filled with comments, most of which were thoughtful discussions about Jewish voting patterns, whether it's good that Jews are so pro-Obama, and of course whether it's good for Obama to be pro-Israel or not. But inevitably there were some that were hateful or just ignorant. This is the Huffington Post after all:

Link #1
Link #2
Link #3
Link #4

Zero-Sum Thinking of the Day

Steve Sheffrey wrote an article titled "The Most Anti-Israel President Ever?" It's a very common thing on Zionist blogs and foreign policy papers like the HuffPo to argue about whether or not President Obama is pro-Israel or not. Personally, I think it's a stupid argument, because it involves throwing labels where they really don't belong. the thread itself made for some very informative comments though. Including this one:

I'd like to know what exactly President Obama has done that "anti-Palestinian." Let me guess: He hasn't forced Israel to comply with Palestinian demands well enough. Talk about zero-sum thinking huh? Seeing as how President Obama has kept the money flowing to the Palestinians, if I were them I wouldn't complain too hard. And don't say I could say the same thing to Israel; I haven't accused Obama of being anti-Israel either.

Today's Comment Dichotomy

Time to play count-the-comments again. Take a look at the top of the "T" in the Huffington Post's "World" section:

And then all the way down the page we get this:

I see that "human rights" obsession among the HuffPosters is as strong as ever.

HPW: Israel "Not Read to Apologize"

As I mentioned on Friday, the Huffington Post did their usual selective reporting so that they could spin an article about Israel's intransigence toward Turkey. The plan of the editors worked perfectly, as hundreds of hateful comments came spiraling out of control. Here are some examples.

GohBoker
You are no better than Assad or Gaddafi, Israel. The only difference­? You are interested in ethnic cleansing.

Fritzzler
What do you expect from these animals.

GlenRastel
Big surprise. Israel still hasn't admitted they intentiona­lly sunk the USS Liberty and strafed US sailors in life rafts. Israel never does anything wrong

bradenton
Ah, Israel. Our only reason to keep spending trillions of dollars and losing American lives in the Middle East.

VanTroi
And why would anyone be surprised? I am know I am never surprised at how evil they are. They feel no sense of responsibi­lity to being decent human beings. They will never do the right thing.

Paul Simon in Israel....HuffPo?

We all know the Huffington Post has a strange obsession with artists playing and/or not playing in Israel, so do you think they will cover this story?

"It didn't matter where you sat, stood or danced at Thursday night's Paul Simon concert in Tel Aviv, the music swirled around you and swept you up. For such a large venue, there was an intimacy normally associated with club gigs, which emanated directly from the artist and extended right to the very back of the stadium, where the crowd danced, cheered and sang along just as enthusiastically as the lucky few at the very front.
"There was no warm-up act. The man himself was on stage at almost exactly 8:30, and stayed put for more than two hours. In the sweltering heat of a Tel Aviv summer's night, he energetically launched himself into song after song, pausing only to switch guitar, thank the crowd, and to make a brief, well-received prayer for peace. There was no bevy of backing dancers, just his standard combo of supremely gifted musicians from all around the world; last night Cameroon and South Africa were represented on the Tel Aviv stage."

News the HP Doesn't Cover: Palestinians Plant Fake Graves

No way the Huffington Post covers this news of an organization called the Islamic Movement's planting of fake graves in Jerusalem.

"The Israel Lands Administration claims that the Islamic Movement's northern branch, led by Sheik Raed Salah, has been planting fake tombstones in an ancient Muslim cemetery in central Jerusalem as part of a "land war" being waged by the organization against the authority.

According to the ILA, officials sent to inspect the tombstones at the Mamilla Cemetery in downtown Jerusalem were stunned to find no evidence of any graves under them. While burials have not taken place inside the cemetery for decades, senior sources at the authority claim that new gravestones have mysteriously appeared in recent years in areas where no graves were previously documented.

The authority claims it has collected documentation over an extended period of time proving that fake graves were placed at the site with the personal involvement of Sheik Raed Salah and other members of the Islamic Movement's northern branch, who came to the cemetery "to personally supervise the placing of additional fake graves and the maintenance of fake graves set up in the past."

The authority's communications consultant Tom Wagner told Israel Hayom that, "Suspicions arose in 2007 that the Islamic Movement was trying to take over the cemetery when representatives of the Muslim public, who turned out to be movement representatives requested a permit from the Jerusalem municipality to carry out maintenance work in the cemetery. The municipality approved the permit, after which workers from the Islamic Movement arrived to clean up the area of the cemetery. However, an inspection carried out at the site of the maintenance works exposed a different reality."

"We're talking about fraud on a massive scale," Israel Scoop, who heads the Department of Oversight and Supervision at the ILA, said. "Five hundred tombstones, custom-made from concrete and stones brought in from the Galilee, were placed in the graveyard at a great financial investment by dozens of workers, who instead of cleaning up the place, as their permit allows, placed a huge number of fictitious tombstones there. This is a deliberate provocation through means which create the appearance of continuing burial and activity in the cemetery, with everything that entails.""

Interesting stuff.

Boaz Yakin's Logical Fallacy

Well the Huffington Post has dug deep and managed to produce yet another anti-Israel blogger, a filmmaker named Boaz Yakin who doesn't have a bio but according to Wikipedia is America and married to an Israeli. So I guess that makes him qualified to talk about the boycott law, as he does on the HuffPo. As for the article itself, I don't mind it so much, it is simply the usual boilerplate anti-boycott stuff. There is one thing I wanted to mention somewhere in the middle of the article though:

"Let's say an influential individual -- a businessman, an artist, a politician -- publicly disagrees with the law because, in fact, ideologically he is favor of some particular boycott or another. Bang! An aggrieved party, in tandem with the government itself, can step forward and claim that by publicly stating his opposition to the law this individual is, in effect, promoting a boycott against the aggrieved party. So let's change this influential individual's motivation for a moment -- let's say he is against the law not because of a support for any particular boycott, but because he believes the law to be undemocratic. Bang! An aggrieved party, in tandem with the government, can still come forward and say -- 'Who cares what his reasons are for opposing the law? He's a prominent figure, and by openly opposing this law he is influencing those who might be outraged by such a law to actually call for a boycott!'"

This is what is known as the slippery slope logical fallacy. Although it is quite common for politicians and other debaters to warn that if (x) passes legislation, then (y) will inevitably follow. But the truth is that there is no evidence that a boycott law in Israel will lead to a police state, any more than there is evidence that the Patriot Act would lead to a police state in America (though their opponents used the same rhetoric).

And this is why the above paragraph is annoying: The boycott law is not a desirable law, as most of us agree. It should be criticized on its own merits. It's not like there is not enough material in the law itself to criticize. But for some reason Mr. Yakin feels like it's reasonable to conclude that the government will use twisted logic to silence everyone who disagrees with the law, just because Mr. Yakin thinks that might happen. Bang! It's stupid. There is no evidence that this will take place, and considering the extreme reaction of Israeli opponents to the law, the likelihood that such a thing will happen decreases by the day. I just find it annoying that critics of Israeli laws like Bradley Burston and Mya Guarnieri can't seem to play any card besides the slippery slope fallacy. You're in the right, most of the time! So start acting like it!

Anti-Semitic Comment of the Day

As you have probably seen, there was a blast in Oslo, Norway, that most people believe is due to Islamic terrorism. If so, it's obviously only because of Norway's cruel occupation of ...somewhere. I mean, um, Norway's invasion of...hm, okay this is harder than I thought. Anyway, the Huffington Post's dedicated moderators somehow managed to miss this classy comment:

Oh yeah. Welcome to the Huffington Post.

The Progressive Case for Israel

[By David Cairns MP of the British Labour Party. Think we'll see it on HuffPostUK?]


I want to begin by saying what this speech is not.

It's not an attempt to deflect attention from the pressing urgency of achieving an agreement to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

It's not an argument which posits that Israel is always right and should be allowed to act with impunity.
And it's not intended to diminish the need to resolve the complex issues of borders and settlements; of refugees; and of Jerusalem.

So let me begin by re-iterating the need for both sides to return to the negotiating table to make the painful and necessary compromises that will be required to end this conflict for good.
In all of the forums I have been involved with LFI, and in every meeting in which I have participated, this has been the consistent message. It has been conveyed to Israeli politicians of all parties, and every Palestinian leader of recent years.

And, if needs be, in months and years ahead, LFI will continue to focus on the need to resolve this tragic conflict, which has already claimed too many lives and caused too much grief.

But tonight I want to offer another message - not in contradiction to the first, but complementary. And the message is this: in a time of upheaval and unrest we will never find a just and lasting agreement if we forget or overlook the fact that that Israel is the only regional exemplar, not just of democracy but of social democracy. Its values are rooted in left-of-centre principles. It is a place where

• women enjoy equality;
• the LGBT community flourishes;
• the media is unfettered and critical;
• an independent judiciary protects the powerless from the powerful;
• where trade unions are well-organised and strong;
• educational excellence and scientific innovation are pursued;
• religious minorities are free to practise their creeds;
• a welfare state supports the poor and marginalised;
• and, yes, it is a fully functioning, vibrant, participatory democracy.

More Biased Moderation and Engineered Hate

I will talk about this thread is greater detail on Sunday, but to make a long story short the Israelis and the Turks have been patching things up in the fallout from the Mavi Marmara incident. After the UN determined that Israel's blockade and actions were completely legal (a story the HuffPo didn't cover), the Turks backed down from their high horse and since then the two nations have been trying to kiss and make up. One problem that has hit a snag is that the Turks want Israel to apologize for defending itself against the IHH, and Israel said no. This is the point at which the Huffington Post came swooshing in to report on the story, as soon as they had found something that would make Israel look intransigent. And sure enough, their plan worked as the Huffington Posters came charging in to preach their hate.

And if all that weren't bad enough, the biased moderation on the thread quickly became clear. Hate speech against Israel and personal attacks toward pro-Israel users were not only allowed, but comments saying Israel was in the right were the only ones deleted. Let me prove this to you. Click to zoom in:

And finally here are some comments that have remained far longer:

Maybe it's time for another HuffPo/Stormfront comparison post?

Today's HuffPo-Engineered Hate

As I briefly mentioned yesterday, it was a big day for completely inconsequential stories about Israel. One of them was the ultimate non-story (which was still published at the top of the world section) about New Zealand. You see, during the Christchurch earthquake one Israeli tourist was killed and then were accused of being a spy. John Key himself made the announcement that he were not, and that part was what the Huffington Post chose to cover. So even though this was quite literally a story about nothing, the Huffington Posters went off the rails, exactly as the Huffington Post editors must have known that they would. Quite a lot of hate remains, even though more than ten comments have been deleted so far.

Rubiconski
Izzie Spies....t­urn a stone and they are there, everywhere even in our own government­.

JoePenn
Standard practice - that's why israeli security trusts absolutely nobody and considers everyone entering the country to be a spy of some sort. Because that's what they're doing and figure every other country's doing the same.
Seen it - lived it - crooked jacka$$es.

cincinnati
that was their friends, laughing about
the WTC, And with clothes to make them
seem like Arabs, And with traces of TNT
in their van.......­.And with over 100 other
Israeli agents caught around airports..­...
And their stories made no sense.....
but we let them go ?????

SamSeven
Look it up then dimiss the fact Israel along with insiders in the CIA/FBI/No­rad let 9/11 happen.