Author: miscellany101

Somalia-Somalis trying to stay out of the bullseye


There’s been a lot written about Somalia, Muslims, piracy, and terrorism and most likely most of it like all the rest of the news on those subjects  is hyperbole.  In order to combat even that, however, a group of Somalis in Washington state came out in strong denouncement of piracy and terrorism.

“We, the Somali-Americans in Washington State, are denouncing our youth to participate in any kind of violence here and back home. We see this as an opportunity to clarify our perspective, as a community and United States citizens, and we (are denouncing) the piracy act in Somali shores.”

I applaud their unequivocal stand on the issues at hand which affect their community, even though they like most other Americans are not as informed about them as we should be.  In typical western arrogance we have ascribed bad motives to a group of people who take over ships on the high seas, even though  the idea based on what we know about Somalia is rather preposterous, and we never once considered that perhaps these people are acting in the best interests of their country with noble intentions.  So it is that a reporter raises that possibility by suggesting these “pirates” are themselves trying to stop illegal activity on the part of shippers in Somali waters.  It seems the international community has taken advantage of the absence of a controlling legal authority in Somalia and decided to dump its waste, toxic, nuclear and otherwise  in Somali waters, wrecking havoc on fishing for Somalis and endangering the lives of Somalis.

As soon as the government was gone, mysterious European ships started appearing off the coast of Somalia, dumping vast barrels into the ocean. The coastal population began to sicken. At first they suffered strange rashes, nausea and malformed babies. Then, after the 2005 tsunami, hundreds of the dumped and leaking barrels washed up on shore. People began to suffer from radiation sickness, and more than 300 died. Ahmedou Ould-Abdallah, the UN envoy to Somalia, tells me: “Somebody is dumping nuclear material here. There is also lead, and heavy metals such as cadmium and mercury – you name it.” Much of it can be traced back to European hospitals and factories, who seem to be passing it on to the Italian mafia to”dispose” of cheaply.

It’s really the typical imperial trick of using or abusing the natural resources of a hapless nation state and then waging war on that country when it decides to mount even a minimal protest  at being raped and plundered.  Which is why we see this sudden interest in east Africa and the presence of a couple dozen Taliban/al-Qaida types infiltrating the area and causing widespread panic and concern in the halls of this once great republic, America; justification for intervention when all that is needed is adherence to the rule of law. Then there’s this:

At the same time, other European ships have been looting Somalia’s seas of their greatest resource: seafood. We have destroyed our own fish stocks by overexploitation – and now we have moved on to theirs. More than $300m-worth of tuna, shrimp, and lobster are being stolen every year by illegal trawlers. The local fishermen are now starving. Mohammed Hussein, a fisherman in the town of Marka 100km south of Mogadishu, told Reuters: “If nothing is done, there soon won’t be much fish left in our coastal waters.”

In the past, American heroes would wax poetic about the importance of liberty and how insignificant death is in comparison, but such sentiments are not allowed for an agrarian society whose only importance, it seems, to imperial designs is as either an international garbage dump or a source for fish. Instead of taking advantage of a lawless vacuum, western powers should start negotiating with the government, any government is better than no government, to define territorial integrity and fishing/dumping rights off the Somali coast.  We know however why they don’t do that; caught up in the grips of Islamophobia and unable to seat a government to their liking, western powers are pillaging the coast of Somali for every industrial advantage available to them and labelling any resistance to this policy piracy.  Change anyone?

Another in your face moment, brought to you by the Likudiniks


The Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin  Netanyahu visited the US this week amid all sorts of speculation surrounding the US/Israeli “special relationship”.  One thing is certain, despite all the talk of “change” coming to Washington, Israel still runs the show when it comes to US foreign policy, and especially policy regarding the Middle East.  Casting all doubts whether the current Israeli government is for a two state solution, which Obama has said he favors, Netanyahu’s visit came on the eve of the announcement Israel was going to expand settlements in the West Bank which goes to show you a US president can say whatever he wants but it has no basis in reality as far as Israel is concerned.  Take that, Obama!!

Harrowing Accounts of Torture


If you have the time and want to know to what extent the US engaged in torture, please read the article, US Torture: Voices from the Black Sites.  Although lengthy, it’s quite substantive and features accounts of torture I thought were only carried out by the “other” guys of the world not Americans.

No doubt about it! The Fix is in!!!


LiebermanWe are constantly reminded of Pope Benedict’s nefarious past with the Nazis and how that impacts life today as he visits the Middle East.  Why don’t we read in the western press about the past connections of Avigdor Lieberman with Kach, a terrorist organization on the US’ terrorist watch list and the attendant public outrage as he travels the world?  Lieberman isn’t the first Israeli politician cleaned and spruced up after an ugly and bloodthirsty past for public consumption and if you can’t remember who else in recent Israeli history shares such a distinction it is an indication of the power of the Lobby to remove their logs,  murderous politicians,  from  the eyes of the public while magnifying the specks in the public eye of others who oppose them.

Interesting insight into the Israeli national mentality


No matter what they say about nuclear weapons possessed by Iran or hostile Arab neighbors who want to drive the Jews into the sea, it’s the least of Israeli worries, just as  Saddam Hussein’s WMDs were no threat to Israel or anyone else for that matter, because they simply didn’t exist. What is interesting is reading what Israel thinks are their problems and why and the list is far more revealing than any I’ve seen to date.  Here they are in the order mentioned in this article Seven Existential Threats.

1.The Loss of Jerusalem; partly due to the absence of Zionists living in the city.

2.The Arab Demographic Threat; Israel must be 70% Zionist in order to be legitimate and Arabs are having too many children

3. Delegitimization; Israel’s sins are receiving world wide attention which is bad for it’s reputation.

4.Terrorism; we’ve heard it all before.

5. A Nuclear-Armed Iran; we’ve heard this all before too.

6.The Hemorrhaging of Sovereignty; Israel doesn’t exert its control over people under its authority.

7.Corruption;The breakdown of public morality especially among it’s leaders.

The blog, War In Context,  does a decent job dismantling some of the above notions but looking at Oren’s list, the originator of the 7 deadly threats to Israel, it appears his biggest complaint and remedy for it is the absence of Zionism and the need for more Zionism.  Not much mention of Judaism as a religion, but rather Zionism as a political movement.  One other line in his piece that brought about a chuckle was this assertion:

Israel, the Jewish State, is predicated on a decisive and stable Jewish majority of at least 70 percent. Any lower than that and Israel will have to decide between being a Jewish state and a democratic state. If it chooses democracy, then Israel as a Jewish state will cease to exist. If it remains officially Jewish, then the state will face an unprecedented level of international isolation, including sanctions, that might prove fatal.

Is he saying democracy is a threat to and not consistent with Israeli interests?  Ohh, America, are you listening?

Dick Cheney’s descent into mental illness


dick_cheneyIt’s safe to say Dick Cheney has lost his mind.  There’s so much wrong with this individual and his perception of reality that for the public good he needs to be locked up in a mental facility or jail or one of the two that houses the other.  In fact, Obama should put Cheney out of his misery and prosecute him for torture, but Obama doesn’t seem to have the heart to put the mad dog Cheney away.  Cheney’s attempt on Obama’s life should be all the catalyst the Holder led Justice Department needs to lock him up and throw away the key.  In language that was called treasonous just a few short years ago, Cheney said a sitting President of the United States was endangering the safety of America through his policies which overturned those of the Bush/Cheney era.  Such highly inflammatory comments against such a symbolic president as Obama are enough to get the crazies all hot and bothered.  It’s not enough that one sicko has already been found who felt the same thing as Cheney and sought to act on that belief, now America is faced with the specter that  other wackos duly encouraged by Cheney’s remarks may feel it an obligation to answer the call to protect the Homeland from Obama.

Cheney’s other gaffe was to elevate the status of a draft dodger and entertainer over that of a retired Army  general and civil servant who served his country honorably in both capacities.  Questioning Colin Powell’s commitment to party politics, especially after Powell’s shameful display he made at the UN in defense of the Bush push to war with Iraq is disgusting.  I guess Cheney forgot how Powell made him, Cheney, look good during the first Gulf war when as Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, Powell decimated Saddam Hussein’s army and country while showcasing a strong and powerful American military to the world under Cheney’s leadership.  Only Cheney, and his selection of neocons are to blame for the lackluster US military that now still sits in Iraq because of bad planning and inept leadership, which Powell on the other hand had nothing to do with.

The only way to legitimately  shut Cheney up is to prosecute him for the crimes of torture, a prosecution that would certainly lead to a conviction with all the evidence so far compiled against him.  Doing so would preoccupy Cheney with his own defense and tone down the  rhetoric and free time he seems to enjoy with nothing else constructive to do than take pot shots at Obama.  I am increasingly amazed at the impotence of the Obama administration at threats from hostile politicians at home and abroad.  As long as he is careless there is a lot more at stake than just his political reputation or reelection.  Cheney is one such threat, and he needs to be put out of his misery for his own sake and for the sake of the country.  Mr. Obama….are you listening?

The Joke called Somali pirates


It simply doesn’t exist,but because it stirs up images of a recent past, the US conflict in Somali in the ’90s and an even more distant past America is bound to get involved in east Africa again.  It doesn’t matter that only one percent of shipping through the Gulf of Aden is affected, and I’d venture to say with a few well armed and trained Blackwater mercs on board the numbers would be even fewer, or that despite the media characterization these “pirates” are manning wooden motorboats and carrying small arms,  the US and some within government are determined to re-invade Somalia because the problem of pirates must be addressed on shore….there is a “shore dimension” a nicely worded way of saying American forces must be on the ground in Somalia.  I don’t understand this fascination America has with Somalia.  We encouraged Ethiopia to go to war and invade Somalia and are threatening to do the same ourselves because of motorboats and two to three dozen hard core jihadists who have arrived in  Somalia from the mountains of Pakistan/Afghanistan.  (have they really?) Add to that the Hezbollah forces Israel  “says” are in east Africa and you have the potential for east Africa becoming the most dangerous region in the world, certainly worthy of more American blood and largesse, a la Iraq, and the mother of all misdirection plays.   Remember how we were fighting them there in Iraq so we wouldn’t have to fight them here in America?  That same kind of simplistic language was used to fuel anti-communist hysteria in the ’50s and ’60s.   Some of the greatest fraud known to man was taking place from the coffers of the once rich and powerful America, during the Iraq debacle, reducing the US to a debtor country teetering on the brink of financial ruin.  This kind of rhetoric of Somali pirates who need to be dealt with by American forces,  should no longer find an audience in America but it still does and we are the worse for it. It’s somewhat ironic the same images are plaguing a Democratic president, Obama,  who has been compared to another Democratic president, Kenneday,  who gave in to the impulses for war in a foreign land, Vietnam, that was no threat to American intersts where a large number of Americans died.  My solution to Somali pirates is the same as it would be for any thug on the street.  Let those who ply their trade on the water arm themselves and be prepared to defend their cargo. If its worth profitting from its worth defending, absent the US Navy.  Blackwater could use a contract or two.

Egypt finally has the courage to ‘say the right thing’


Yes, I know they have their own problems, the Egyptians do, with their special brand of democracy and their nose planted firmly in the behind of an American foreign policy which allows for renditions of Muslims from all over the world to their bases to be tortured or disappeared, but it was all in the interest of American interests, right?  But now, they have taken a somewhat independent track by their pronouncement that Israeli nukes are a greater threat to security in the region  than Iranian ones. In my mind that’s not really saying much since at the moment Iran doesn’t have any nuclear weapons whereas Israel does, but it’s the symbolism that counts, and it’s significant for obvious reasons.  A state has taken a critical position against Israel at a time when the Jewish state refuses to accept, acknowledge or even entertain criticism of its actions.  There’s no indication the Egyptian statement will be met with anything other than typical Israeli obfuscation and bluster.Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman Yigal Palmo’s flippant ‘unless he produces evidence to support his claims’ statement is an indication of that.  Would that someone said to Palmo the same when he asserts so vividly that Iran has nuclear weapons it has threatened its neighbors with. (Let’s not forget, Iran has inspectors monitoring its nuclear program, Israel doesn’t.  Fancy that.)  And all this comes on the news that Israel had a practice run from its border to Gilbraltar in preparation for a strike against Europe…..err make that Iran.  Coming so soon after warning the European Union that it would not tolerate criticism of the new government, the flight path of Israeli warplanes practicing for a strike against a country 180 degrees in the other direction clearly is meant to send more than a few  signs.  In light of that, Egypt was right to say what it said.  The “evidence” is rather overwhelming; what’s unfortunate is Egypt lacks the moral authority to make that call; it surrendered it as did the US when it gave in to the dark side of US foreign policy and embraced torture as its rule of law.  Unencumbered by such moral indignation, Israel feels free to do whatever it pleases and is taking the world perilously close to another war of death and destruction.  Why we continue to embrace an ally who takes us down that path is anyone’s  guess.

A thumbs up appointment


daliaGlad to see it, although I don’t know what it is she’ll be doing exactly. President Obama signed an executive order setting up a new body at the White House called the “Office of Religious Partnerships” to support religious institutions and strengthen inter-faith dialogue and government ties. The advisory group, consisting of 25 religious and secular representatives, is to report to the president on the role religion can play in resolving social problems and addressing civil rights issues. Dalia Mogahed, seen here on the left, has been given a position in the advisory group.  It’s really about time. This country is made up of many different types, shapes, colors, sizes of  individuals many of them not represented enough in our government, so it’s appropriate to see a Muslim woman who at least externally, takes her religion, way of life seriously.  I look forward to seeing and hearing a Muslim describe her own religion rather than have it filtered by someone who knows it but doesn’t live it. It’s time to remove the filters that have confined social discourse and let the “objects” speak for themselves.  I hope Ms. Mogahed can live up to what is really  a daunting task.

Israel Warns EU to tone down


Warnings usually accompany threats, as in ‘if you don’t stop doing this I’m going to do something in response’, so what is Israel’s warning of consequence?

Israel warned the European Union on Thursday to tone down its criticism of the new Israeli government or risk forfeiting the bloc’s role as broker in Mideast peace efforts.

So my question is what is it Israel can threaten the European Union with? Israeli military threats against Europe have been made before and with rabid Israeli politicians now in power, the implication of Israel’s warning is probably not lost on Europeans.  Also, Israel has never accepted the EU’s role as a peace broker, the latest Gaza offensive, is proof of that when the Israelis bombed, strafed and blocked aid supplies to Palestinians in Gaza which came from Europe.  What is really at stake here is Israeli access to European markets.  The Israelis want to ply their trade of espionage, industrial, political and military and they can’t do that now as easily as they can in the US.  Evidently old habits die hard in the relations between Europeans and Jews.

Israeli Health Minister Yakov Litzman representin’….for Islam!?


Interesting the Minister of Health in Israel wants to identify with Islam and Muslims in some strange way or is that the AP talking?

The outbreak of swine flu should be renamed “Mexican” influenza in deference to Muslim and Jewish sensitivities over pork, said an Israeli health official Monday.

Deputy Health Minister Yakov Litzman said the reference to pigs is offensive to both religions and “we should call this Mexican flu and not swine flu,” he told a news conference at a hospital in central Israel.

Both Judaism and Islam consider pigs unclean and forbid the eating of pork products.

More super Muslim news


I’m going to have to get a patent on a Super Muslim logo after seeing this headline.  It rivals the OBL news that he is able to produce state of the art recordings and get them to media outlets from caves somewhere along the Pakistan/Afghan border, yet we can’t find him.

There is growing evidence that battle-hardened extremists are filtering out of safe havens along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border and into East Africa, bringing sophisticated terrorist tactics that include suicide attacks. ……So far, officials say the number of foreign fighters who have moved from southwest Asia and the Afghanistan-Pakistan border region to the Horn of Africa is small, perhaps two to three dozen.

There it is, the caveat to beat all caveats.  Twenty four maybe to thirty -six people are enough to get the largest government in the world to change policy and start another war in another area of the world?!?!  I’m wondering how do they get from the mountainous regions crawling with US drone aircraft and others supposedly looking for Osama,  via the Indian Ocean teaming with US naval forces to East Africa?  Perhaps it was the battle hardened mules that took them the distance?  You simply can’t make this stuff up.  I thought we were told change was coming?  This is the same script used during the last Democratic administration that bombed a chemical weapons factory that turned out to be an aspirin plant. piratesNext, we’ll be told these guys are a threat to the interests of the US.

The steady encroachment of the American state on people’s rights


This is the second part of the previous article that was on the use of the immigration courts to essentially re-try immigrants  for a charge they might have been previously found innocent.  For such victims of American “justice” the penalty is deportation, but what happens to  Muslim American citizens?  Take a look

“Malik,” an American citizen, engineer, and Houston area community leader dedicates his spare time as an organizer for a major political party and participates in roundtable discussions with senior U.S. government officials on outreach to Muslim Americans. During a return trip home from Canada, (he was)  taken to a small, private room by an armed, federal border agent and repeatedly asked such questions as, “What is your religion?” and “What mosque do you attend?” as well as questions about the membership in (his) mosque. While (he was) answering question after question, (his) laptop and flash drives containing (his)  tax returns and other personal information, (were) searched. Business cards with Muslim names (were) removed from sight and presumably copied.

“Munir,” a well-respected Arab-American community leader from the Detroit area driving home from Connecticut with his wife and two young daughters when he passed through Canada to re-enter the U.S. at the Port Huron land crossing 40 miles north of Detroit.  He  and his wife were forcefully dragged from and thrown against their car, handcuffed, and separated from each other and their children and detained for over four hours while being aggressively interrogated. They asked to call their lawyer, but the federal agent  guarding them denied their request for counsel. Munir’s wife was  separated from their daughters for nearly 40 minutes. Although they possessed no weapons, to their colleagues, agents described Munir  as “armed and dangerous”.

Zakariya Reed, a Toledo, OH firefighter, Gulf War veteran and 20-year
veteran of the National Guard has endured extensive interrogations on over 10
occasions since 2006 after visiting family members in Ontario, Canada. CBP
agents at the Detroit Ambassador Bridge have searched him both physically
and electronically; asked questions about his political views, his financial
transactions, and his personal associations; and even challenged the basis for
his religious beliefs.

Fairuz Abdullah, a San Francisco Bay Area lawyer and civic leader was
interrogated by CBP agents upon arriving at Miami International Airport in
June 2007 after returning from vacation travel in Peru. Agents questioned Ms.
Abdullah, about her prior travels, the identities and locations of her family
members around the world, her marriage, her profession and educationalhistory. Agents at times challenged her responses and initially prevented her from re-entering the country. Federal agents denied her legal counsel, detained and moved her to immigration processing where she was aggressively approached repeatedly by federal agents, who not only addressed her in Spanish but continued to do so even after she had repeatedly identified
herself as a native English speaker.

Yasir Qadhi, a graduate student at Yale University, who has been consulted
by federal counterterrorism and State Department officials for his expertise on
extremist religious movements and ideology, has faced aggressive and
intrusive border scrutiny on several occasions since 2005 at Newark
International Airport, Houston Intercontinental Airport and the Niagara Falls
(NY) border crossing. He faces recurring questions from armed federal agents
about his religious beliefs. Agents have also copied data from his cell phone,
and interrogated him about his associates and acquaintances, the contents of
his lectures, and even the mosques in which he has prayed.

These are just some of the examples where Muslims had their right disregarded and trounced on by officials for no reason other than their religious identity. This type of racism is not uncommon in America; ours is a history replete with examples like this directed towards every group that has settled on the shores of this country. What’s sad is enlightenment, information, time and a knowledge of history have not prevented us from making the same mistakes today and that means organizations like Muslim Advocates are being formed to inform us of government’s delinquent behavior as well as help those who need help with keeping big government from its inherent brutality of individuals.   As far as Muslims and Islam in the west are concerned it doesn’t take much to arouse the suspicions of a government in the throes of Islamophobia and treacherous congressmen and women.  The latter group using the old misdirection play to keep people diligent about a non existing threat while stealing state secrets and government coffers blind.

Hussam Ayoush has compiled a pretty good list of those things Muslim should not do to avoid government scrutiny and even prosecution.  Joining the NRA and hunting are some of those all American activities that are off limits to Muslims, unless they like living under a blaring spotlight that gets switched off when the same past times are indulged by those who get the likes of George Bush and Dick Cheney elected to office.

One thing I hope these trials and tribulations do for the Muslims in America and ostensibly all of North America is make them more aware, attune and commited to combating government oppression when government strikes the next group seen as easy pickings in the high stakes game of pitting one group against the next, keeping its citizens off balance and in fear and suspicion of their neighbors while continues its blitzkreig towards power and control.  I hope Muslim Americans will come away with a greater appreciation of the struggles of their fellow Americans who preceded them and will be better in joining the fight.

The bastardization of American justice


The depths with which people with political agendas go through to promote that agenda even at the expense of the rule of law never ceases to amaze me.  One would think after the last 8 years of such criminalization of law to infringe upon the rights of American and other citizens of the world, some sort of self correction in the American legal system, as well as in the psyche of Americans, would take place and rights would be respected and recognized.  Guess again.

Local Muslim leaders and advocates on Tuesday demanded that U.S. immigration officials release Youssef Megahed, who was detained just three days after a jury acquitted him of federal explosives charges.

“This seems to be a double jeopardy. What kind of message are they sending to the jury and the honorable Judge (Steven) Merryday?” Ramzy Kilic, executive director for the Tampa chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, said of Megahed’s Monday arrest.

Dozens of immigration attorneys have offered free legal representation to the former University of South Florida student, his father said. But the Megahed family has yet to retain a lawyer to fight their son’s latest battle.

Immigration officials have charged Megahed with possessing items that could be assembled into a destructive device.

He was found not guilty on a similar charge in federal court, where public defenders represented him. Jurors acquitted him of illegal transportation of explosive materials and illegal possession of a destructive device, charges that could have each carried 10 years in prison.

Even the jurors who acquitted the defendant are up in arms of the government’s handling of this case.  Megahed is a permanent legal resident of the US, but that status allows him to be tried in immigration court if charges brought out in federal court aren’t able to stick.  The government has therefore found a way around all the acquittals many Muslim immigrants to America have received because of faulty federal prosecutions to arrest, detain and deport people who are innocent.  The burden of proof in immigration court is also not as restrictive and easier for the prosecution of such cases, so it is possible for the government to continue its WOM, read war on Muslims.  At the moment Megahed’s family doesn’t know where he is, nor have they talked to him.  Welcome to America.

Why haven’t they caught Osama bin Ladin? You ever wonder?


The idea that a man can conduct a global jihad against the most powerful country in the world from remote places in the world with just a cell phone and or a courier to take his electronic messages all over the world should now be considered  no more than a myth.  Technology exists that enables us to know the exact location of any and all cellphones, what’s being said on them and what’s being said around them!  Check out the video on the link above.

Israelis Consider American Jews First Jewish Then Israeli


At least that’s what they’ve told Rahm Emmanuel.

National Union chairman Ya’acov “Ketzele” Katz sent a letter to White House chief-of-staff Rahm Emanuel last week admonishing him not to forget his Jewish and Israeli origins.

Katz claims that in a private meeting with the unnamed leader, Emanuel said, “In the next four years, there will be a peace agreement with the Palestinians on the basis of two states for two peoples, and it does not matter to us who is the prime minister.”

In the letter, a Hebrew version of which was provided to The Jerusalem Post by Katz’s parliamentary aide, Katz wrote: “For many Israelis, this report is a cause for worry because it reveals a condescending attitude toward our prime minister and Israeli public opinion. This is an attitude that Israel does not expect from a real friend such as the US, and all the more so from an Israeli Jew who has succeeded in being appointed White House chief-of-staff.”

Katz was hinting that Emanuel should use his influence to protect Israeli interests, which, he believes, are best served by preventing the creation of a Palestinian state in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.

One has to wonder how many other Jewish Americans in government have been given the same message and acted on that message/hint/threat, that Israeli/Jewish interests supersede American interests. Perhaps that explains the current hot water Congresswomen Jane Harman finds herself in as she tried to make deals with a member of the Israeli government to influence American policy in exchange for his help in gaining her an influential position in government, the House Committee on Intelligence no less!  The Harman episode is dramatic because it reveals how the US government was keeping wiretapes on Israeli espionage in this country before 911 which representative Harman got caught up in.  Most likely other Jewish Americans used their influence to shut this aspect of wiretapping, i.e. connections between Israeli officials and the events of 911 out of the public domain and for many that is considered their job!

Jihad- Jewish style


The religion of peace is like an epitaph Islamophobes almost spit out to denigrate Islam while making a commentary on the latest news surrounding Islam and Muslims.  We hear a heckuva whole lot about jihad and Islam but not many people reveal the jihad of other religions and groups of people equally bent on destroying peoples, societies and civilizations.

The Islamic Workplace has a series of articles that outline the jihad undertaken by the Israelis against the Palestinians earlier this year, and if you didn’t know any better you’d think you were listening to what the media says is the refrain most often repeated by Muslims!!

Soldiers interviewed by the Military Institute and Breaking the Silence also allege the army’s chief rabbi used an inflammatory religious and nationalist rhetoric to encourage soldiers to see the Gaza attack as a sacred fight to expel non-Jews from Jewish land.
The rabbi’s office passed out booklets during the war that among other things urged soldiers not to show mercy to the enemy. The army’s chief rabbi, Brigadier General Avichai Ronsky, is from Itamar, a West Banks settlement with a history of right-wing activism. Former soldier Yehuda Shaul says the picture that emerges is of a chief military rabbi promoting the fight in Gaza as a holy war.
“[There is] a biblical ban on surrendering a single millimeter of it [the Land of Israel] to gentiles, though all sorts of impure distortions and foolishness of autonomy, enclaves and other national weaknesses. We will not abandon it to the hands of another nation, not a finger, not a nail of it.”
Such rhetoric is usually applied to Muslims’ justification for fighting infidels in and on the Arabian peninsula and as such is met with stern disapproval from a frightened and galvanized west.  Would that the same call to action against Israeli/Jewish extremism be sounded in the halls of US government and on the pages of prominent American publications.  It’s not difficult to see however why that is not the case!

Cable TV and terrorism


A court in New York state has sentenced a man to almost six years in prison for placing Manar television on the cable satellite  system he operated.  The prosecution alleged Manar television through Javed Iqbal 45 year old  Pakistani immigrant living in the US since  he was a teenager  ran a

“sophisticated terrorist organization in all respects,” which had used its 24-hour channel to recruit members and suicide bombers and to raise money for weapons and operations.“He was, in a very real sense, Hezbollah’s man in New York City,” Mr. Snyder (federal prosecutor, Eric Snyder)  said.

It leads me to wonder how long will it be before the government goes and tracks down the people who subscribed to Manar television to charge them with crimes as well?  I would also think, using that same logic one could make the case for increased violence in American society is due to the influence of television and therefore broadcasters are some how legally responsible?  But that argument has been rejected for many years now except when it applies to terrorist broadcasters such as Manar.  Did the government point to any one crime on America’s shores that was inspired by Manar’s broadcasts? Did they even prove or show intent that a crime was going to be perpetuated against Americans here or abroad as a result of a Manar tv program? No….they didn’t have to.  It was sufficient enough to say because the entity is deemed terrorist by the government no one has the legal right to access it.  Draconian?  You betcha.  How long will it be before other forms of information are similarly branded and made off limits to the public at the expense of imprisonment?  Stay tuned.  For now, Mr. Iqbal’s adult entertainment channels are still accessible to the viewing public so grab your popcorn and anything else you can get your hands on and enjoy, without fear.