Here is Peter Myers'newsletter which he sent on 31 dec.
Deborah Lipstadt says Presidential candidates' competing for Jewish
Funding "embarrassing"
(1) James Petras' 2012 Calendar: Economic Depression & more Wars for
Israel ahead
(2) Brother Nathanael, who grew up Jewish, says Jews Run America - and
names them
(3) Happy Sylvester: New Year's Eve in Israel
(4) Jews-only roads. But no signs, lest antisemites take photos & say
that Apartheid exists here
(5) How I became a 'terrorist' - deputy mayor of Doha municipality, near
Bethlehem
(6) Israeli settlers raid Palestinian village AND Israeli military base
(7) Thomas Friedman, under attack for saying Lobby "bought" Congress,
now says "engineered" (was NYT advertising at risk?)
(8) Obama is "jammed up with Jews all around him" - Jewish comedian
Jackie Mason
(9) Deborah Lipstadt says Republican candidates' fawning support for
Israel "embarrassing", "made me cringe"
(10) Lipstadt: If you get the Lobby's kosher seal of approval,
Evangelicals will vote for you
(1) James Petras' 2012 Calendar: Economic Depression & more Wars for
Israel ahead
http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=28349
Unrelenting Global Economic Crisis: A Doomsday View of 2012
The economic, political and social outlook for 2012 is profoundly negative
by Prof. James Petras
Global Research, December 25, 2011
Introduction
The economic, political and social outlook for 2012 is profoundly
negative. The almost universal consensus, even among mainstream orthodox
economists is pessimistic regarding the world economy. Although, even
here, their predictions understate the scope and depth of the crises,
there are powerful reasons to believe that beginning in 2012, we are
heading toward a steeper decline than what was experienced during the
Great Recession of 2008 – 2009. With fewer resources, greater debt and
increasing popular resistance to shouldering the burden of saving the
capitalist system, the governments cannot bail out the system.
Many of the major institutions and economic relations which were cause
and consequence of world and regional capitalist expansion over the past
three decades are in the process of disintegration and disarray. The
previous economic engines of global expansion, the US and the European
Union, have exhausted their potentialities and are in open decline. The
new centers of growth, China, India, Brazil, Russia, which for a 'short
decade' provided a new impetus for world growth have run their course
and are de-accelerating rapidly and will continue to do so throughout
the new year.
The Collapse of the European Union
Specifically, the crises wracked European Union will break up and the de
facto multi-tiered structure will turn into a series of
bilateral/multi-lateral trade and investment agreements. Germany ,
France , the Low and Nordic countries will attempt to weather the
downturn. England - namely the City of London, in splendid isolation,
will sink into negative growth, its financiers scrambling to find new
speculative opportunities among the Gulf petrol-states and other
'niches'. Eastern and Central Europe, particularly Poland and the Czech
Republic , will deepen their ties to Germany but will suffer the
consequences of the general decline of world markets. Southern Europe (
Greece , Spain , Portugal and Italy ) will enter into a deep depression
as the massive debt payments fueled by savage assaults on wages and
social benefits will severely reduce consumer demand.
Depression level unemployment and under-employment running to one-third
of the labor force will detonate year-long social conflicts,
intensifying into popular uprisings. Eventually a break-up of the
European Union is almost inevitable. The euro as a currency of choice
will be replaced by or return to national issues accompanied by
devaluations and protectionism. Nationalism will be the order of the
day. Banks in Germany , France and Switzerland will suffer huge losses
on their loans to the South. Major bailouts will become necessary,
polarizing German and French societies, between the tax-paying
majorities and the bankers. Trade union militancy and rightwing pseudo
'populism' (neo-fascism) will intensify the class and national struggles
A depressed, fragmented and polarized Europe will be less likely to join
in any Zionist inspired US-Israeli military adventure against Iran (or
even Syria ). Crises ridden Europe will oppose Washington 's
confrontationalist approach to Russia and China .
The US : The Recession Returns with a Vengeance
The US economy will suffer the consequences of its ballooning fiscal
deficit and will not be able to spend its way out of the world recession
of 2012. Nor can it count on 'exporting' its way out of negative growth
by turning to previously dynamic Asia, as China, India and the rest of
Asia are losing economic steam. China will grow far below its 9% moving
average. India will decline from 8% to 5% or lower. Moreover, the Obama
regime's military policy of 'encirclement', its economic policy of
exclusion and protectionism will preclude any new stimulus from China .
Militarism Exacerbates the Economic Downturn
The US and England will be the biggest losers from the Iraqi post war
economic reconstruction. Of $186 billion dollars in infrastructure
projects, US and UK corporations will gain less than 5% (Financial
Times, 12/16/11, p 1 and 3). A similar outcome is likely in Libya and
elsewhere. US imperial militarism destroys an adversary, plunging into
debt to do so, and non-belligerents reap the lucrative post-war economic
reconstruction contracts.
The US economy will fall into recession in 2012 and the "jobless
recovery of 2011" will be replaced by a steep increase of unemployment
in 2012. In fact, the entire labor force will shrink as people losing
their unemployment benefits will fail to register.
Labor exploitation ("productivity") will intensify as capitalists force
workers to produce more, for less pay, thus widening the income gap
between wages and profits.
The economic downturn and growth of unemployment will be accompanied by
savage cuts in social programs to subsidize financially troubled banks
and industries. The debates among the parties will be over how large the
cuts to workers and retirees will be to secure the 'confidence' of the
bondholders. Faced with equally limited political choices, the
electorate will react by voting out incumbents, abstaining and via
spontaneous and organized mass movements, such as the "occupy Wall
Street" protest. Dissatisfaction, hostility and frustration will pervade
the culture. Democratic Party demagogues will scapegoat China ; the
Republican Party demagogues will blame the immigrants. Both will
fulminate against "the Islamo-fascists" and especially against Iran .
New Wars in the Midst of Crises: Zionists Pull the Trigger
The '52 Presidents of the Major American Jewish Organizations' and their
"Israel First" followers in the US Congress, State Department, Treasury
and the Pentagon will push for war with Iran . If they are successful it
will result in a regional conflagration and world depression. Given the
extremist Israeli regime's success in securing blind obedience to its
war policies from the US Congress and White House, any doubts about the
real possibility of a major catastrophic outcome can be set aside.
China: Compensatory Mechanisms in 2012
China will face the global recession of 2012 with several possibilities
of ameliorating its impact. Beijing can shift toward producing goods and
services for the 700 million domestic consumers currently out of the
economic loop. By increasing wages, social services and environmental
safety, China can compensate for the loss of overseas markets. China 's
economic growth, which is largely dependent on real estate speculation,
will be adversely affected when the bubble is burst. A sharp downturn
will result, leading to job losses, municipal bankruptcies and increased
social and class conflicts. This can result in either greater repression
or gradual democratization. The outcome will profoundly affect China 's
market - state relations. The economic crisis will likely strengthen
state control over the market.
Russia Faces the Crises
Russia 's election of President Putin will lead to less collaboration in
backing US promoted uprisings and sanctions against Russian allies and
trading partners. Putin will turn toward greater ties with China and
will benefit from the break-up of the EU and the weakening of NATO.
The western media backed opposition will use its financial clout to
erode Putin's image and encourage investment boycotts though they will
lose the Presidential elections by a big margin. The world recession
will weaken the Russian economy and will force it to choose between
greater public ownership or greater dependency on state funds to bail
out prominent oligarchs.
The Transition 2011 – 2012: From Regional Stagnation and Recession to
World Crises
The year 2011 laid the groundwork for the breakdown of the European
Union. The crises began with the demise of the Euro, stagnation in the
US and the outbreak of mass protests against the obscene inequalities on
a world scale. The events of 2011 were a dress rehearsal for a new year
of full scale trade wars between major powers, sharpening
inter-imperialist struggles and the likelihood of popular rebellions
turning into revolutions. Moreover, the escalation of Zionist
orchestrated war fever against Iran in 2011 promises the biggest
regional war since the US-Indo-Chinese conflict. The electoral campaigns
and outcomes of Presidential elections in the US , Russia and France
will deepen the global conflicts and economic crises.
During 2011 the Obama regime announced a policy of military
confrontation with Russia and China and policies designed to undermine
and degrade China 's rise as a world economic power. In the face of a
deepening economic recession and with the decline of overseas markets,
especially in Europe , a major trade war will unfold. Washington will
aggressively pursue policies limiting Chinese exports and investments.
The White House will escalate its efforts to disrupt China 's trade and
investments in Asia, Africa and elsewhere. We can expect greater US
efforts to exploit China 's internal ethnic and popular conflicts and to
increase its military presence off China 's coastline. A major
provocation or fabricated incident in this context is not to be
excluded. The result in 2012 could lead to rabid chauvinist calls for a
costly new 'Cold War'. Obama has provided the framework and
justification for a large-scale, long-term confrontation with China .
This will be seen as a desperate effort to prop up US influence and
strategic positions in Asia . The US military "quadrangle of power" –
US-Japan-Australia-South Korea – with satellite support from the
Philippines , will pit China 's market ties against Washington 's
military build-up.
Europe: Deeper Austerity and Intensified Class Struggle
The austerity programs imposed in Europe, from England to Latvia to
southern Europe will really take hold in 2012. Massive public sector
firings and reduced private sector salaries and job opportunities will
lead to a year of permanent class warfare and regime challenges. The
'austerity policies' in the South, will be accompanied by debt defaults
resulting in bank failures in France and Germany . England 's financial
ruling class, isolated from Europe, but dominant in England , will
insist that the Conservatives 'repress' labor and popular unrest. A new
tough neo-Thatcherite style of autocratic rule will emerge; the
Labor-trade union opposition will issue empty protests and tighten the
leash on the rebellious populace. In a word, the regressive
socio-economic policies put in place in 2011 have set the stage for new
police-state regimes and more acute and possibly bloody confrontations
with workers and unemployed youth with no future.
The Coming Wars that Ends America "As We Know It"
Within the US , Obama has laid the groundwork for a new and bigger war
in the Middle East by relocating troops from Iraq and Afghanistan and
concentrating them against Iran . To undermine Iran , Washington is
expanding clandestine military and civilian operations against Iranian
allies in Syria , Pakistan , Venezuela and China . The key to the US and
Israeli bellicose strategy toward Iran is a series of wars in
neighboring states, world- wide economic sanctions, cyber-attacks aimed
at disabling vital industries and clandestine terrorist assassinations
of scientists and military officials. The entire push, planning and
execution of the US policies leading up to war with Iran can be
empirically and without a doubt attributed to the Zionist power
configuration occupying strategic positions in the US Administration,
mass media and 'civil society'.
A systematic analysis of American policymakers designing and
implementing economic sanctions policy in Congress finds prominent roles
for such mega-Zionists (Israel-Firsters) as Ileana Ros-Lehtinen and
Howard Berman; in the White House, Dennis Ross in the White House,
Jeffrey Feltman in the State Department, and Stuart Levy, and his
replacement David Cohen, in the Treasury. The White House is totally
beholden to Zionist fund raisers and takes its cue from the '52
Presidents of the Major American Jewish Organization. The
Israeli-Zionist strategy is to encircle Iran , weaken it economically
and attack its military. The Iraq invasion was the US 's first war for
Israel ; the Libyan war the second; the current proxy war against Syria
is the third. These wars have destroyed Israel 's adversaries or are in
the process of doing so.
During 2011, economic sanctions, which were designed to create domestic
discontent in Iran , were the principle weapon of choice. The global
sanctions campaign engaged the entire energies of the major
Jewish-Zionist lobbies. They have faced no opposition from the mass
media, Congress or the White Office. The Zionist Power Configuration
(ZPC) has been virtually exempt from criticism by any of the
progressive, leftist and socialist journals, movements or grouplets –
with a few notable exceptions. The past year's re-positioning of US
troops from Iraq to the borders of Iran , the sanctions and the rising
Big Push from Israel 's Fifth Column in the US means expanded war in the
Middle East . This likely means a "surprise" aerial and maritime missile
attack by US forces. This will be based on a concocted pretext of an
"imminent nuclear attack" concocted by Israeli Mossad and faithfully
transmitted by the ZPC to their lackeys US Congress and White House for
consumption and transmission to the world. It will be a destructive,
bloody, prolonged war for Israel ; the US will bear the direct military
cost by itself and the rest of the world will pay a dear economic price.
The Zionist-promoted US war will convert the recession of early 2012
into a major depression by the end of the year and probably provoke mass
upheavals.
Conclusion
All indications point to 2012 being a turning point year of unrelenting
economic crisis spreading outward from Europe and the US to Asia and its
dependencies in Africa and Latin America . The crisis will be truly
global. Inter-imperial confrontations and colonial wars will undermine
any efforts to ameliorate this crisis. In response, mass movements will
emerge moving over time from protests and rebellions, and hopefully to
social revolutions and political power.
James Petras is a frequent contributor to Global Research. Global
Research Articles by James Petras
(2) Brother Nathanael, who grew up Jewish, says Jews Run America - and
names them
Date: Wed, 28 Dec 2011 22:14:02 -0800 (PST) From: Brother Nathaniel
<bronathaniel@yahoo.com>
Do Jews Rule America?
By Brother Nathanael Kapner, Copyright 2011
http://www.realzionistnews.com/?p=685
FOR THE FIRST TIME in modern history, a people whose identity is bound
up with its race and religion have full control of every aspect of a
nation's infrastructure.
That people whose race and religion are intrinsic to their individuation
proudly call themselves "JEWS," yet they resent others calling them
such. And that nation brought under JEWISH SUBJUGATION is America.
There are many "famous" Internet publicists who fancy themselves as
"investigative reporters" yet are frightened by those in power to use
the "JEW" word.
Alex Jones, for instance, dependson Jewish advertisers and Jewish radio
moguls for his livelihood. Many are of the opinion that Alex Jones (like
most media personalities), is OWNED by the Jews.
Gerald Celente, Lew Rockwell, Mike Adams of Natural News (Adams now
co-hosts with Alex Jones), Max Keiser, and Paul Craig Roberts, also have
a "fear of the Jews" syndrome sunk deep into the marrow of their bones
and message.
But this reporter who grew up as a Jew does not fear those who crucified
Jesus Christ and CONTINUE to crucify Him and wreak haBrother Nathanael
"who grew up as a Jew" says Jews Rule America
Date: Wed, 28 Dec 2011 22:14:02 -0800 (PST) From: Brother Nathaniel
<bronathaniel@yahoo.com>
Do Jews Rule America? @
http://www.realzionistnews.com/?p=685
By Brother Nathanael Kapner, Copyright 2011
FOR THE FIRST TIME in modern history, a people whose identity is bound
up with its race and religion have full control of every aspect of a
nation's infrastructure.
That people whose race and religion are intrinsic to their individuation
proudly call themselves "JEWS," yet they resent others calling them
such. And that nation brought under JEWISH SUBJUGATION is America.
There are many "famous" Internet publicists who fancy themselves as
"investigative reporters" yet are frightened by those in power to use
the "JEW" word.
Alex Jones, for instance, depends on Jewish advertisers and Jewish radio
moguls for his livelihood. Many are of the opinion that Alex Jones (like
most media personalities), is OWNED by the Jews.
Gerald Celente, Lew Rockwell, Mike Adams of Natural News (Adams now
co-hosts with Alex Jones), Max Keiser, and Paul Craig Roberts, also have
a "fear of the Jews" syndrome sunk deep into the marrow of their bones
and message.
But this reporter who grew up as a Jew does not fear those who crucified
Jesus Christ and CONTINUE to crucify Him and wreak havoc upon all that
is good and ethical in our former Christian society.
THE BANKSTERS ARE JEWS
A JEW BY THE NAME of Mayer Amschel Rothschild said at the outset of the
19th Century, "Give me control of a nation's money and I care not who
makes its laws."
This boast finds its fulfillment with the Federal Reserve Bank which in
spite of what most Americans perceive through Jewish brainwashing is NOT
"Federal" NOR has any "Reserves."
The Fed is a private consortium of banks whose principal holders are the
Jewish heads of the Rothschild Dynasty, Goldman Sachs, and JP Morgan Chase.
The Chairman of the Fed's Board of Governors is the Jew, Ben Shalom
Bernanke, who is a protege of his Jewish master, Alan Greenspan, who
STILL wields considerable influence at America's Central Bank.
Vice Chairman of the Fed is Janet Yellen whose JEWISH husband, George
Akerlof, is a consultant to the Federal Reserve as well as to Barclays
for which he invented "paper" Gold and algorithms for rigging currency
markets.
The third ranking member of the Board of Governors of the Fed is the
JEW, Sarah Bloom Raskin, hailed by Jewish bankers in their celebration
over her appointment in 2010.
Soon to join his co-religionists at the Fed, is the JEW, Jeremy Stein,
an "economist" of the former Presbyterian Seminary, (now a Yeshiva),
Harvard University, and "treasurer" of the Obama administration. Obama
was given Stein's name this week by his Jewish masters to nominate to
the Board of Governors.
Holding powerful seats on the Board of Directors of the New York Fed,
(where "money" is disbursed to those WHOM THE JEWS CHOOSE), are the
JEWS, Jamie Dimon, CEO of JP Morgan Chase (Dimon is NOT a "Greek."
Dimon's parentage were heirs of Smyrna's Jewish banking moguls) and
James Tisch, the owner of Loews Department Stores who also serves on the
powerful Council on Foreign Relations as well as tons of
JEWISH-DICTATORSHIPS.
The privately-owned Jewish Federal Reserve Bank prints and loans money
AT INTEREST to the US government. Only Ron Paul contends that the US
government HAS THE RIGHT to print its own money SANS INTEREST.
Thus, with his 2012 campaign platform to END THE FED and CUT OFF funding
to Israel, Ron Paul stands a good chance of being assassinated.
The Jewish gouging continues, enlarging America's DEBT to the Jewish
bankers. Sadly, the US Military is in the thrall of the Jews, since its
funding for its wars and salaries is dependent on the printing presses
of the Jewish-owned Federal Reserve.
JUSTICE BY THE THROAT
BEGINNING WITH THE SUPREME COURT, three Jews, Ruth Bader Ginsburg,
Stephen Breyer, and the alleged lesbian, Elena Kagan, serve on the
highest bench of the country.
Pat Buchanan was the first to point out that Jewry which "makes up less
than 2%" of the population have a disproportionate "33% representation"
on the Supreme Court.
Of course, the powerful Jewish Lobby, the Anti Defamation League (ADL),
which drafts domestic legislation for its Jewish-bought politicians on
Capitol Hill, smeared the honorable Pat Buchanan as an "ANTI SEMITE"
(aren't we sick and tired of these wretched Jews by now?), for his
criticism of Jewish overload at the Supreme Court.
The Jewish ADL with its training of local police forces, has infiltrated
America's law enforcement arm of America's justice infrastructure. (The
"GOYS" at your local police are in JEWRY's hands.)
And recent appointments to US District Courts have been the Talmudic
(anti-Christ) JEW, Karen Chaya Friedman, whose "training" included a day
at the National Holocaust Museum, and Nina Gershon, who recently ruled
in behalf of her fellow Jew, George Soros, restoring ALL federal funding
of the billionaire's ACORN lobby group. (Jews take care of their own.)
JEWS RULE AMERICA
AMERICA'S PROPAGANDA MACHINE is fully in Jewish hands.
CBS is owned by Murray Rothstein, who passes himself off as a
blue-blooded Gentile with the name, Sumner Redstone.
The owner of Comcast is the Jew, Brian Roberts, whose NBC Universal
subsidiary finds Roberts as Chairman of the Board of Directors.
ABC is owned by the Walt Disney Company, with the Jew, (attested by the
LA Times), Robert Iger, installed as CEO in 2005 whose term was recently
extended to 2016.
Iger recently joined his co-religionist, Arthur D. Levinson, Apple's new
Chairman, (powerful Jews ALREADY HAD CONTROL of Apple before the Gentile
Steve Jobs' decease), as a leading member of the Board of Directors.
JEWS CHAIR THE HIGHEST SEATS on Capitol Hill. Heading the
Military/Security apparatus are Senator Joseph Lieberman, a Talmudic
Jew, who chairs Homeland Security, while his co-religionist, Senator
Carl Levin, heads the Senate Armed Services Committee. Levin was the
SOLE-SPONSOR of the National Defense Authorization Act, of which Section
1031 authorizes the military to imprison US citizens for life without trial.
Carl Levin's brother, Sander Levin, as ranking member, chairs the House
Ways and Means Committee which oversees taxation. Congressman Levin
works very closely with his FELLOW JEW, Douglas Shulman, the current
head of the IRS, in their Jewish enslavement of the American worker.
Eric Cantor is currently House Majority Leader, using his powerful seat
to protect his wealthy Jewish backers from a justifiable tax.
Zionist Jew, Senator Chuckie Schumer, chairs the Judiciary's
Subcommittee on Immigration and Border Security. And we wonder why White
Christian America is disappearing?
Barbara Boxer is the head of the Senate Public Works Committee, Henry
Waxman heads the Senate Commerce Committee, (overseeing FOOD
regulation), Diane Feinstein and Jane Harman co-chair the Senate and
House Intelligence Committees, Howard Berman and Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (of
Sephardic Jewish extraction) co-chair the House Foreign Affairs Committee.
DICTATING FOREIGN POLICY are the powerful Jewish Lobbies, AIPAC, the
Council on Foreign Relations, (led by the JEWS, Richard Haas and Robert
Rubin), the AEI, and the Jewish neocon 'think tank,' Project for the New
American Century.
The PNAC has reincarnated itself as the Foreign Policy Initiative, whose
head, William Kristol, dictates DC policy from his panel position on Fox
News Sunday every week.
Time does not allow for the listing of the myriad of Jews who have taken
over academia, publishing, and the education of our youth, of which
finds the Jew, Randi Weingarten, as head of the Federation of American
Teachers.
Suffice it is to say that having grown up as a Jew, America is now in
the hands of those who are dedicated to the destruction of Christian
society.
THE DANGER inherent in Jewish rule is that Jews (I grew up in Jewry) are
the MOST NEUROTIC PEOPLE walking the face of the earth. The MAJORITY OF
JEWS are ON PROSAC.
Cry for America! Our nation is now controlled by those whose sole aim is
to pursue what's "Good For The Jews" and NOT what's "Good For America!"
(3) Happy Sylvester: New Year's Eve in Israel
Date: Mon, 26 Dec 2011 09:27:05 -0800 From: "Roy Tov" <roy@roytov.com>
Jews 4: Goyim 0, New Year's Eve in Israel
Roy Tov
http://www.roytov.com/articles/shanatova.htm
Israel can claim it is a democratic state all over Western media, the UN
committees and publications, in synagogues all over the world, at
Masonic lodges, and whatever other organizations it considers as having
enough weight to be of importance. It doesn't matter. When one checks
out the banal details of evil, an image of ugly discrimination arises.
New Year's Eve is not different.
Christmas in Tel Aviv is a sad affair. New Year's Eve would be equally
sad, if it weren't due to the fact it can't be ignored. It can't be
prohibited; after all everybody would notice the current year's number
changes after that night. New calendars are issued, and given as gifts.
The New Year is everywhere. Please do not despair, the "Jewish Brain" –
as certain Israelis like to call themselves in a self congratulatory
mood – found a solution. A few days from now, Israel would celebrate the
"Sylvester."
This is no joke. New Year's Eve parties are called Sylvester in Israel.
The "Jewish Brain" was so reluctant to call the day as it should, that
it chose the Catholic Saint of the day for that purpose. Pope Sylvester
I served between January 31, 314 AD, and December 31, 335. During this
term took place the First Council of Nicaea in 325 AD. Christian bishops
were then convened by the Roman Emperor Constantine I in an attempt to
attain consensus in the church. As such, the council left a legacy
discernible even nowadays in the Church. Moreover, Emperor Constantine I
accepted the pope's Gelasian doctrine of papal supremacy, meaning that
papal auctoritas ("authority") guides imperial potestas ("power").
Hence, this pope defined Europe's political order until 1648. Recognized
as a saint, his liturgical feast is on December 31, the day of his
burial in the Catacomb of Priscilla. He is considered one of the most
important popes and was sanctified after his death. Nowadays, the State
of Israel celebrates a Catholic Saint, only in order to avoid
celebrating New Year's Eve; a definitely fine example of "Jewish Brain."
However, I am rushing ahead. What is the New Year in Israel? When does
it occur? Few would guess at first sight that such a trivial topic is at
the heart of a religious struggle. To be fair, even the Jews themselves
cannot agree on a single date. Jewish traditions recognize four "New
Year's Eve" on every year. The commonest is Rosh HaShana (literally
"Head of the Year" in Hebrew), which is celebrated the first day of the
month of Tishrei, in September or October. The Gregorian date changes
because the Hebrew calendar is lunar in nature, meaning it wobbles in
cycles of 19 years. The oddest one is Tu Bishvat (literally "15th of
Shvat"), the "The New Year of the Trees." It is said from that date
onwards, trees feed on the rains of the current year.? The other two are
celebrated in the months of Nissan and Elul, near Passover and Rosh
HaShana respectively.
Formally, civil affairs in Israel are conducted with the Hebrew
calendar. That can be seen clearly on all official documents, where the
Hebrew date is proudly stated. However, since this calendar wobbles,
everybody uses the Gregorian calendar as the main reference calendar –
including offices from the Israeli Administration. Most of the calendars
sold in Israel show the Gregorian date in large digits and the Hebrew
date in small – almost illegible - digits. Actually, most Israelis would
fail if asked to list the names of the Hebrew months in their correct
order. "Rosh HaShana is in September or October" they'll say hesitantly,
mixing the Hebrew New Year with the Gregorian dates. The more exact
answer "On Tishrei 1" seems much less clear. "When is Tishrei? Ah,
mostly in September!" In the eyes of the Israeli administration, only
Rosh HaShana is recognized as a public holiday, with all offices,
businesses and shops closed for two consecutive days.
Thus, New Year's Eve poses a singular problem for Israelis. It functions
as the beginning of the year, but it is not recognized as such. New
Year's Eve is seen by Israelis as the Christian New Year. Thus, Rosh
Hashana is the year's official beginning. Most people would refer to
January 1 as "New Year," but this is not the term used for the
celebrations on December 31 because that would awkwardly collide with
the celebrations in Tishrei's Rosh Hashana. ...
(4) Jews-only roads. But no signs, lest antisemites take photos & say
that Apartheid exists here
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article16075.htm
Indeed there is Apartheid in Israel
A new order issued by the GOC Central command bans the conveyance of
Palestinians in Israeli vehicles. Such a blatant violation of the right
to travel joins the long list of humans rights violations carried out by
Israel in the [Occupied] Territories.
By Shulamit Aloni
May 1, 2006
01/05/06 "Ynet "
Tranlated by Sol Salbe, an Australian editor, whose comments are in
square brackets.
Hebrew original: http://www.ynet.co.il/articles/0,7340,L-3346283,00.html
Yediot Acharonot, Israel’s largest circulating newspaper.
Jewish self-righteousness is taken for granted among ourselves to such
an extent that we fail to see what’s right in front of our eyes. It’s
simply inconceivable that the ultimate victims, the Jews, can carry out
evil deeds. Nevertheless, the state of Israel practises its own, quite
violent, form of Apartheid with the native Palestinian population.
The US Jewish Establishment’s onslaught on former President Jimmy Carter
is based on him daring to tell the truth which is known to all: through
its army, the government of Israel practises a brutal form of Apartheid
in the territory it occupies. Its army has turned every Palestinian
village and town into a fenced-in, or blocked-in, detention camp. All
this is done in order to keep an eye on the population’s movements and
to make its life difficult. Israel even imposes a total curfew whenever
the settlers, who have illegally usurped the Palestinians’ land,
celebrate their holidays or conduct their parades.
If that were not enough, the generals commanding the region frequently
issue further orders, regulations, instructions and rules (let us not
forget: they are the lords of the land). By now they have requisitioned
further lands for the purpose of constructing “Jewish only” roads.
Wonderful roads, wide roads, well-paved roads, brightly lit at night –
all that on stolen land. When a Palestinian drives on such a road, his
vehicle is confiscated and he is sent on his way.
On one occasion I witnessed such an encounter between a driver and a
soldier who was taking down the details before confiscating the vehicle
and sending its owner away. “Why?” I asked the soldier. “It’s an order –
this is a Jews-only road”, he replied. I inquired as to where was the
sign indicating this fact and instructing [other] drivers not to use it.
His answer was nothing short of amazing. “It is his responsibility to
know it, and besides, what do you want us to do, put up a sign here and
let some antisemitic reporter or journalist take a photo so he that can
show the world that Apartheid exists here?”
Indeed Apartheid does exist here. And our army is not “the most moral
army in the world” as we are told by its commanders. Sufficient to
mention that every town and every village has turned into a detention
centre and that every entry and every exit has been closed, cutting it
off from arterial traffic. If it were not enough that Palestinians are
not allowed to travel on the roads paved ‘for Jews only’, on their land,
the current GOC found it necessary to land an additional blow on the
natives in their own land with an “ingenious proposal”.
Humanitarian activists cannot transport Palestinians either
Major-General Naveh, renowned for his superior patriotism, has issued a
new order. Coming into affect on 19 January, it prohibits the conveyance
of Palestinians without a permit. The order determines that Israelis are
not allowed to transport Palestinians in an Israeli vehicle (one
registered in Israel regardless of what kind of numberplate it carries)
unless they have received explicit permission to do so. The permit
relates to both the driver and the Palestinian passenger. Of course none
of this applies to those whose labour serves the settlers. They and
their employers will naturally receive the required permits so they can
continue to serve the lords of the land, the settlers.
Did man of peace President Carter truly err in concluding that Israel is
creating Apartheid? Did he exaggerate? Don’t the US Jewish community
leaders recognise the International Convention on the Elimination of all
Forms of Racial Discrimination of 7 March 1966, to which Israel is a
signatory? Are the US Jews who launched the loud and abusive campaign
against Carter for supposedly maligning Israel’s character and its
democratic and humanist nature unfamiliar with the International
Convention on the Suppression and Punishment of the Crime of Apartheid
of 30 November 1973? Apartheid is defined therein as an international
crime that among other things includes using different legal instruments
to rule over different racial groups, thus depriving people of their
human rights. Isn’t freedom of travel one of these rights?
In the past, the US Jewish community leaders were quite familiar with
the meaning of those conventions. For some reason, however, they are
convinced that Israel is allowed to contravene them. It’s OK to kill
civilians, women and children, old people and parents with their
children, deliberately or otherwise without accepting any
responsibility. It’s permissible to rob people of their lands, destroy
their crops, and cage them up like animals in the zoo. From now on,
Israelis and International humanitarian organisations’ volunteers are
prohibited from assisting a woman in labour by taking her to the
hospital. [Israeli human rights group] Yesh Din volunteers cannot take a
robbed and beaten-up Palestinian to the police station to lodge a
complaint. (Police stations are located at the heart of the
settlements.) Is there anyone who believes that this is not Apartheid?
Jimmy Carter does not need me to defend his reputation that has been
sullied by Israelophile community officials. The trouble is that their
love of Israel distorts their judgment and blinds them from seeing
what’s in front of them. Israel is an occupying power that for 40 years
has been oppressing an indigenous people, which is entitled to a
sovereign and independent existence while living in peace with us. We
should remember that we too used very violent terror against foreign
rule because we wanted our own state. And the list of victims of terror
is quite long and extensive.
We do limit ourselves to denying the [Palestinian] people human rights.
We not only rob of them of their freedom, land and water. We apply
collective punishment to millions of people and even, in revenge-driven
frenzy, destroy the electricity supply for one and half million
civilians. Let them “sit in the darkness” and “starve”.
Employees cannot be paid their wages because Israel is holding 500
million shekels that belong to the Palestinians. And after all that we
remain “pure as the driven snow”. There are no moral blemishes on our
actions. There is no racial separation. There is no Apartheid. It’s an
invention of the enemies of Israel. Hooray for our brothers and sisters
in the US! Your devotion is very much appreciated. You have truly
removed a nasty stain from us. Now there can be an extra spring in our
step as we confidently abuse the Palestinian population, using the “most
moral army in the world”.
Shulamit Aloni, the Israeli Prize laureate who once served as Minister
of Education under Yitzhak Rabin, is from Yediot Acharonot, Israel’s
largest circulating newspaper, which appeared in the Hebrew Ynet but not
in the English-language Ynetnews.
(5) How I became a 'terrorist' - deputy mayor of Doha municipality, near
Bethlehem
From: Kristoffer Larsson <krislarsson@comhem.se> Date: 26 December
2011 00:29
http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/opinion/how-i-became-a-terrorist-1.403062
December 23, 2011
How I became a 'terrorist'
At 16, entering the steel gates of the Israeli military prisons, I could
never go back to my former life. Levinger's outpost, his settler
violence, permanently changed my life.
By Abdelrahman Al Ahmar
The first time I was attacked by an Israeli settler, I was 14 years old.
I was walking to school when an armed man wearing a skullcap, standing
near some Israeli soldiers, pulled my pack off my back and threw it in
the mud. That wasn't last month, nor was it near a new outpost in
Nablus. Rather, this happened 30 years ago, on the main road running
through Bethlehem, near Deheisheh refugee camp, where I lived. The
settler was not just any alienated, disaffected man. He was, I learned
later, the father of the national religious settlement project - Rabbi
Moshe Levinger.
In those days, the settlers and the Egged buses on their way to and from
the nascent settlements in the area would drive right by the camp. Their
vehicles were often the targets of many rocks: Who among us wanted armed
Israelis using our roads? Levinger wanted to show us who was boss. At
first he would stop his car, and chase and try to attack us. He would
scream at the soldiers stationed on the road to arrest and beat the
kids. Soldiers would then fire tear gas and play cat-and-mouse with us
in the camp's alleys.
Emboldened by army support, Levinger and his fellow "pioneers" would
enter the camp and open fire randomly. Clashes would ensue. The soldiers
would then run after us and make arrests while Levinger and his friends
would return to their cars and drive home to their settlements. The
violence became a daily event.
This is what life was like for me and my friends during these years. For
Levinger and his nationalist movement, it constituted a disruption of
their commute to and from Jerusalem. To placate these champions of Zion,
the Israel Defense Forces finally erected a nine-meter-high fence,
topped with barbed-wire, around Deheisheh. The camp's thousands of
residents now had a single way in and out, and it was guarded by
soldiers, making it like living in a prison. A 7 P.M. curfew was in
place for years.
The settlers had won: They had taken over the only thoroughfare serving
Deheisheh and the entire southern West Bank, and put us Arabs in a cage.
Realizing his invincibility, the father of the settler movement - not a
fringe group of radical-right outcasts, but Levinger himself - then set
up an "outpost," a new settlement, across the road from the camp. He
brought in a mobile home and topped it with an Israeli flag, declaring
it the first settlement near Rachel's Tomb. Guarded by IDF soldiers, he
invited his pioneer friends and held loud parties into the night, while
we remained under curfew.
As is the case today in Hebron, the soldiers would put Deheisheh under
daytime curfew when the settlement was visited by like-minded
delegations. Every day brought a new nightmare - clashes, curfews, tear
gas, school closures.
Our homes were raided nightly, and we saw our friends, mothers, sisters
being attacked. With the support of the Israeli army, this man, the
beloved rabbi of the national religious settler movement, was tearing
our lives apart. We saw no end in sight, just more Israelis about to
move into our neighborhood and make our lives hell.
So a group of us kids - six of us, ages 13 to 16 - organized and fought
back the only way we knew how: with rocks and a few improvised bottles
filled with kerosene, with a wick stuck in them. We threw them at his
outpost and at the soldiers who were allowing it to wreck our childhood.
No one was hurt.
And in the middle of a freezing winter night, just a few days after we
organized, a plainclothesman from the Israeli security services, backed
by a large contingent from the army, raided our homes and took us all
away to interrogation, torture and prison. Lea Tsemel, our Israeli
attorney, pleaded with the military judge that, "they're just kids." The
judge responded by sentencing all six of us to four to six years in
prison for terrorist activities. My mother fainted in the courtroom: Her
first-born son, for whom she had waited years, was taken away from her
for good.
For good, because, at age 16, entering the steel gates of the Israeli
military prisons, I could never go back to my former life. Levinger's
outpost, his settler violence, permanently changed my life. I and my
friends were now "terrorists," and for the next 20 years, we would be
caught up in the revolving door of Israeli interrogations and
administrative detentions.
Ultimately, Levinger's outpost was dismantled by the army, which decided
it was too hard to protect against the other rock-throwing kids of
Deheisheh.
I'm 44 now - the age of the Israeli occupation - married with four
children. I am finishing my legal clerkship, on my way to becoming a
lawyer. Yet Levinger's pioneering actions - not fringe at all, but acts
of the mainstream, core settler movement - still haunt me. Where I can
move and go is restricted, as my name is still in the "computer." I'm a
security threat if I attend the birth of my child at a hospital in
Jerusalem, and am refused a visa to visit my aging mother-in-law in New
York because, according to U.S. authorities, I "have the potential to
engage in terrorist activities."
Should I have acted differently then? I suppose that if an Israeli
settler pulled my bag off my back and threw it in the mud today, I'd
probably file a complaint. Violence by either side is a major part of
the problem, not the solution.
The settlement project at its core, not on its fringes, was and remains
rotten and inherently violent. We Palestinians struggled long to stop
this project, which violates the most basic tenets of international law,
and for this, we were labeled terrorists. Today, Israeli society may be
paying the price existentially for the settlement project, but we
Palestinians have paid the price with our bodies, our lives and our futures.
Abdelrahman Al Ahmar is from Deheisheh refugee camp. Today he is the
elected deputy mayor of the Doha municipality, near Bethlehem and Deheisheh.
(6) Israeli settlers raid Palestinian village AND Israeli military base
From: "Sadanand, Nanjundiah (Physics Earth Sciences)"
<sadanand@mail.ccsu.edu> Date: Fri, 23 Dec 2011
In the West Bank, a horror story
http://www.thejerusalemfund.org/ht/display/ContentDetails/i/32293Thursday,
December 22, 2011
Palestine Center Brief No. 221 (22 December 2011)
By Yousef Munayyer
There is a famous scene in Mary Shelley's classic where Victor
Frankenstein realises that he created a monster and that this monster
might be the end of him. Such is the scene that comes to mind when
thinking about the news emerging from the occupied West Bank in recent
days. Israeli settlers, living in illegal colonies in Palestinian
territory, rioted again. This time, however, they did not go after their
usual target - Palestinian civilians - rather, they raided an Israeli
military base where they injured an Israeli soldier.
Suddenly, the Israeli government sprang into action. An emergency
meeting of the Israeli cabinet was called. Officials - Israeli officials
- even began to use the term "terrorist" to describe the perpetrators.
Just a day earlier, Israeli settlers from the Settlement of Yitzhar
raided the Palestinian village of Asira al-Qibliya, causing damage to
property and terrifying residents. Also, in the past week alone, three
different Palestinian mosques in Ramallah, Salfit and Jerusalem suffered
arson attacks at the hands of Israeli settlers.
These sorts of attacks against Palestinians are a regular occurrence.
Arsons, stonings, destruction of property, shootings, physical attacks
and harassment are but a few of the daily occurring categories we have
kept track of in the Palestine Centre's Settler Violence database. In
2011 there have been a record number of violent settler attacks. In
fact, in each of the previous five years, settler violence has increased
from one year to the next.
Despite this undeniable fact, the Israeli government has done little to
crack down on this type of violence. The main reason why settler
violence has been able to increase, year after year, is because the
settlers continue to feel emboldened when their attacks against
Palestinian civilians go undeterred.
The Oslo Accords divided the West Bank into three geographic areas. In
Area A, in which most Palestinian urban centres fall, the Palestinian
Authority is responsible for security (although the Israelis routinely
enter Area A at will) but in Areas B and C, which comprise over 80 per
cent of the territory, it is the Israelis which are responsible for
security. This means Palestinian police are not permitted to protect
Palestinian civilians from Israeli settlers in most of the West Bank.
The problem is, of course, that the Israelis are not doing this job
either and so it should come as no surprise that 95 per cent of settler
violence occurs in Areas B and C.
Often the Israeli Army turns the other way when Israeli settlers attack
Palestinians. In some cases caught on video, Israeli soldiers stand idly
by while settlers rampage. In other cases, like the one earlier this
year in Qusra, the Israeli army intervenes to protect settlers once
they've started altercations with villagers. That is how Isam Oudeh was
killed - defending his own village - in September.
Israeli settler violence against Palestinians and the Israeli state's
failure to adequately respond to it highlight an important aspect of the
Israeli occupation's Apartheid-like policies. The Israeli Human Rights
Organisation B'Tselem documented 835 cases of Palestinian minors being
arrested for stone-throwing from 2005-2010. Of these, 99.88 per cent
were convicted in military trials. There have been hundreds of
stone-throwing attacks by Israeli settlers in 2011 alone, yet few are
ever arrested - let alone convicted - and throwing stones is among the
least of their crimes.
Last week, a 28-year-old Palestinian named Mustafa Tamimi in the village
of Nabi Saleh was protesting the continued expansion of Israeli
settlements and particularly the confiscation of land and water
resources belonging to his village. These had been taken by the
neighbouring Israeli settlement of Halamish with the support of the
Israeli military.
Tamimi was shot and killed at near point-blank range with a tear-gas
canister to the face.
For years, the Israeli military that governs the West Bank and the state
that directs it have supported deplorable policies to repress protesters
like Tamimi, who oppose settlement expansion. But the state fails to
implement policies to crack down on settlers who seek the exact
opposite, and often use violent means to achieve their objectives.
No one should be surprised. The problem of settler violence is a monster
that Israel has created, nourished and supported. Now, with attacks on
Israeli military bases, the monster may even have turned on its creator.
When will this tragic horror end?
When we realise that it is the military occupation and its underlying
policies that have brought it to life.
This article originally appeared on AlJazeera.net.
Yousef Munayyer is Executive Director of the Palestine Center.
(7) Thomas Friedman, under attack for saying Lobby "bought" Congress,
now says "engineered" (was NYT advertising at risk?)
From: ReporterNotebook <RePorterNoteBook@gmail.com> Date: 22 December
2011 11:57
http://www.jta.org/news/article/2011/12/20/3090840/friedman-sorry-for-bought-and-paid-for-jab-at-congress
Friedman responds to criticism over 'bought and paid for' jab at Congress
December 20, 2011
WASHINGTON (JTA) -- New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman said that
he should have used a more "precise term" when he wrote that
congressional ovations for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu
were "bought and paid for by the Israel lobby."
"In retrospect I probably should have used a more precise term like
'engineered' by the Israel lobby -- a term that does not suggest grand
conspiracy theories that I don't subscribe to," Friedman told The New
York Jewish Week on Tuesday.
In a column last week about what he said were concerns that American
Jews had with Israel's direction, Friedman sparked outrage when he wrote
that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu should not overly invest in
applause he garnered when he addressed Congress in May.
"That ovation was bought and paid for by the Israel lobby," Friedman wrote.
Among the rebukes was one from Michael Oren, the Israeli ambassador to
Washington.
"The term 'Israel lobby' implies the existence of a Zionist cabal
wielding inordinate economic and political power," Oren told JTA.
"Unintentionally, perhaps, Friedman has strengthened a dangerous myth."
Friedman told The Jewish Week that he stood by his overall argument that
American Jews are deeply worried about where Israel is going today.
"It would have helped people focus on my argument, which I stand by 100
percent," he said.
(8) Obama is "jammed up with Jews all around him" - Jewish comedian
Jackie Mason
Date: Thu, 22 Dec 2011 20:45:28 -0500 (EST) From: IHR News <news@ihr.org>
Jackie Mason rips Obama over Hanukkah celebration, Jewish disrespect
{NB Mason is Jewish; he was ordained as a Rabbi}
Huffington Post
First Posted: 12/19/11 07:41 PM ET Updated: 12/20/11 11:50 AM ET
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/12/19/jackie-mason-rips-obama-on-hanukkah_n_1159289.html
Comedy legend Jackie Mason ripped President Obama on Monday, saying that
the White House's Hannukah celebration earlier this month was a photo
opportunity and a fraud.
"I don't even think he knew that he was talking about something that's
Jewish. It could have been Muslim, it could have been all together a
religion he never even heard of. He doesn't know, he doesn't care. He's
strictly in there to take a picture, and the picture could have been
about anything," Mason told Aaron Klein of WABC in New York City.
The White House held the celebration on December 8th, though the Jewish
holiday begins its eight night run on December 20th. "The way I see it,
we're just extending the holiday spirit," the President said at the
event. "We're stretching it out. But we do have to be careful that your
kids don't start thinking Hanukkah lasts 20 nights instead of eight.
That will cause some problems."
Mason continued his assault on the President, saying that the event was
just a stunt to up his poll numbers with the Jewish community.
"A bunch of advisors, most of whom are Jewish anyways -- because he has
more Jews in his cabinet than Netanyahu. He's jammed up with Jews all
around him -- and they told him, if you wanna get them back, Hanukkah is
a good idea," he said. "You don't have to go any place. We'll put down
the tchotchke and you'll see a candle, you'll light it from this side,
and that's enough information for him to accumulate without a
teleprompter. So he did it in 10 minutes."
During the President's remarks at the event, he paid tribute to the
story that gave rise to the holiday.
"This Hanukkah season we remember a story so powerful that we all know
it by heart -- even us Gentiles. It's a story of right over might, of
faith over doubt," Obama said in his remarks. "It's a timeless story.
And for 2,000 years, it has given hope to Jews everywhere who are
struggling. And today, it reminds us that miracles come in all shapes
and sizes."
Mason is no stranger to controversy when it comes to the President. In
2009, he referred to Obama using the Yiddish word "schvartze," which
many believe is now an outdated racial epithet. He later said he did not
consider it derogatory, but would not apologize.
"I'm not going to defend myself. Chris Rock has told a lot more jokes
about whites than I have against blacks," he told TMZ. What about the
demeaning words blacks say about Jews? If it's a racist society, the
white people are the ones being persecuted because they have to defend
themselves."
In 2004, Mason called Islam "a murderous religion" and has been in
general an outspoken conservative on foreign policy issues.
In 2007, Mason put out this video calling Obama "a mindless man" and a
product of political hype and white guilt:
Mason also criticized Newt Gingrich during the spot, which you can
listen to by clicking here.
(9) Deborah Lipstadt says Republican candidates' fawning support for
Israel "embarrassing", "made me cringe"
Date: Thu, 22 Dec 2011 20:45:28 -0500 (EST) From: IHR News <news@ihr.org>
Top Holocaust scholar blasts 'Holocaust-abuse' by U.S., Israeli politicians
Deborah Lipstadt lambasts 'unhealthy and embarrassing' pandering of
Republican presidential candidates; says U.S. envoy Gutman's comments on
Muslim anti-Semitism were 'stupid.'
By Chemi Shalev
December 16, 2011
http://www.haaretz.com/jewish-world/top-holocaust-scholar-blasts-holocaust-abuse-by-u-s-israeli-politicians-1.401821
Renowned Holocaust historian Deborah Lipstadt says that American and
Israeli politicians who invoke the Holocaust for contemporary political
purposes are engaging in "Holocaust abuse", which is similar to
"soft-core denial" of the Holocaust.
"I think it is dangerous, just plain dangerous. It's a distortion of
what Israel is all about, what Zionism is all about," said Lipstadt, who
has just published a retrospective book "The Eichmann Trial" on the 1961
Jerusalem trial of the infamous Nazi criminal.
"When you take these terrible moments in our history, and you use it for
contemporary purposes, in order to fulfill your political objectives,
you mangle history, you trample on it," she said.
In a hard-hitting interview with Haaretz, Lipstadt also lashed out at
the "over-the-top pandering" of Republican presidential candidates,
describing their fawning support for Israel as "embarrassing" and
"unhealthy." Of last week's appearance of the top Republican candidates
at a Washington forum organized by the Republican Jewish Committee, she
said: "It was unbelievable. It made me cringe. I couldn't watch it."
"You listen to Newt Gingrich talking about the Palestinians as an
'invented people' – it's out-Aipacking AIPAC, it's out-Israeling
Israel," she said. ."There's something about it that's so discomforting.
It's not healthy. It's a distortion," she said. ...
(10) Lipstadt: If you get the Lobby's kosher seal of approval,
Evangelicals will vote for you
http://www.haaretz.com/jewish-world/full-interview-with-holocaust-historian-deborah-lipstadt-1.401823
Full Interview with Holocaust historian Deborah Lipstadt
Talking with Haaretz, prominent scholar discusses effect of Eichmann
trial of perception of the Holocaust, as well as recent comments by U.S.
envoy to Belgium Howard Gutman.
By Chemi Shalev
December 12, 2011
The Eichmann trial and Hannah Arendt
[...] "Holocaust abuse" and Jewish hysteria
Q. Let me take you up on that. You say that it's a question of degree
and that Israelis for the first time could identify with the survivors.
So, now, 50 years have gone by and I ask you to consider the possibility
that that Jews, Israelis specifically, may be taking identification with
Holocaust victims too far, and integrating this identification into
their daily lives.
Lipstadt: Yes, people say "we remember the Shoah and we won't let this
happen again." ... If anti-Semitism becomes the reason through which
your Jewish view of the world is refracted, if it becomes your prism,
then it is very unhealthy. ...
Q. But what about the political use of the Shoah?
Lipstadt: And it has also become political. It's a use and abuse of the
Shoah. It's a politicization of the Shoah. ...
You listen to Newt Gingrich talking about the Palestinians as an
"invented people" (there was a letter in the Times today saying that if
the Palestinians are an invented people, please explain what are the
Americans…). It's out-Aipacking AIPAC, it's out Israeling Israel, it
means you're against a two-state solution. Even Bibi Netanyahu is for a
two-state solution, - I don't think he really is, but he says he's for a
two-state solution.
I remember when Hillary Clinton spoke about a Palestinian state [in
1998] - the whole world went crazy. People go nuts here, they go nuts. I
have friends in the Orthodox world, in the AIPAC world, they say I'm a
leftie, and others who say I'm a rightie, because I want to call each
side out and say – you're wrong, you're overstating the case. There's no
nuance, there's no middle ground, it's taking any shade of grey and
stomping on it – and it's dangerous, for your support of Israel to
become a litmus test. It's not for the two per cent of the US population
who are Jews – they vote more, so maybe it's equivalent to 6 per cent -
it's the Evangelicals. If you get the hechsher (kosher seal of approval)
on this, you're going to get a million Evangelicals to vote with you.
{Comment (Peter M.): It's not about 2% or 6%. The "Jewish Vote" is a
euphemism for Jewish Funding. The candidates are competing for Jewish
Funding}
And it's embarrassing. As a Jew who spends a lot of time in Israel, who
could have lived in Israel if my life, you know, who happily identifies
as a Jew – when I hear that, I cringe. We're not a basket case. There's
something about it that's so discomforting, it's not healthy, it's a
distortion, This is the kind of thing that scares me: we've always been
neurotic – I mean everyone's neurotic, we just recognize it more – but
we've raised our neuroses to a level that's not healthy. We should
eschew hysteria, but we don't. Hysteria never is useful.
Someone told me that at the last AIPAC convention in May there was a
group of Israeli officers and they said afterwards that it's amazing to
see all of this support for Israel. But, they asked – what on earth are
these Jews so angry about? America is with us – what are they so angry
about? ...
No comments:
Post a Comment