"Dear pro-Israel bloggers: Are you guys getting any beer from the Mossad ?"

"Look, I just want to know if you guys are receiving any booze. Like the newspapers tell us the Swedish cops do. Does, like, the Mossad do a milkman route and drop by every morning and leave a bottle of Gin on your doorstep or something. I don’t know. Maybe they fly the booze to your bedroom window by carrier pigeon or perhaps they call you up in the dead of night and go, “ok, meet me by the old oak behind the cemetery, I’ve got some beer for you“. I don’t know."

Received this from Christian Tau of Norway, Israel and the Jews (NIJ).  In turn, we put the question to other bloggers.  Are you getting any booze from the Mossad ?  If not, should we go on strike ?

After learning about how Israel is bribing Swedish policemen with “hundreds of bottles” of alcohol, some of us here at NIJ are a bit upset. Here is a letter we have written to our colleagues in Sweden and Spain and Belgium.

Dear Spain-Israel-and the Jews, Sweden-Israel-and the Jews and La Belgique francophone, Israël et les Juifs

Are you guys getting any alcohol?

The reasons I am asking is that Swedish and Norwegian newspapers are writing about how the Israeli embassy in Sweden is bribing Swedish policemen with “hundreds of bottles” of booze. The source for this story is anonymous. But Swedish Aftonbladet insists that their anonymous source has thorough knowledge of the matter.

I know, it does not sound very credible. In fact, it sounds like something a desperate blogger would make up in lack of a proper story. But Aftonbladet, Aftenposten, radio channel P4 and Dagbladet are proper media channels. Anders Johansson, Karin Östman, Anbjørg Bakken, Harald Nygård Kvam and Marie Melgård are educated journalists writing proper stories on well-researched issues. These guys are professionals. They’ve got editors and checks and balances, all in order to provide their readers with quality product. So if they say their anonymous source has thorough knowledge of how Swedish cops are being bribed with beer, perhaps we should give them the benefit of doubt. I mean, NUPI researcher Helge Lurås says what’s going on in Sweden might very well be happening right here in Oslo. And NUPI’s got some shrewd minds, those guys are SMART.

Exhibition at Paris Museum of Modern Art: parallel between Nazi camp/Gaza Strip

"Seen from Europe, it is not because the frightening reality of the Nazi concentration camps began on the soil of our continent ["our continent" is Europe where six million Jews were industrially exterminated, of which 1.5 million children], that we can now accept the reality of what has become in 60 years, with the radicalization of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, a genuine Palestinian internment camp at the gates of Israel." (Edouard Carmignac) 

"To journalists outraged by the infamous parallel Nazi camp / Gaza Strip Carmignac Gestion protested without arguing or convincing."
 
Honest Reporting report on Kai Wiedenhöfer: Getty Images Awards Photo Bias
 
Source: Véronique Chemla (« Gaza 2010 » de Kai Wiedenhöfer)

The prestigious museum of Modern Art of Paris is showing an exhibition by German photographer Kai Wiedenhöfer entitled "Gaza 2010".  Kai Wiedenhöfer, a photographer with Lookat Photos in Switzerland, was awarded  the first ever the "Carmignac Gestion Photojournalism Prize".  The Prize was created in 2009 by the Luxembourg/French fund manager Carmignac Gestion and the first theme was Gaza after the Lead Cast operation.  Vivienne Walt, of Time Magazine, was a member of the jury.  The prize comprises EURO 50,000 for further work on Gaza, an exhibition, a book, published by Steidl Publishers (from the U.K. [1]- making it a truly pan-European enterprise) and a deluxe catalogue The Book of the Destruction Gaza – One Year After the 2009 War offered to journalists at the exhibition opening together with … a 20-page summury of the Goldstone report in French.  And lots of exposure.

French journalist Véronique Chemla has made an harrowing account of the exhibition. 

The head of the Carmignac fund, Edouard Carmignac, explained the reasons behind the choice (unauthorised translation):

"It is unacceptable for the victims of one of the most terrible tragedies of the century to remain virtually forgotten and abandoned by all.

Seen from Europe, it is not because the frightening reality of the Nazi concentration camps began on the soil of our continent, that we can now accept the reality of what has become in 60 years, with the radicalization of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, a genuine Palestinian internment camp at the gates of Israel.

Vienna: 38% of Muslim youth think Hitler did a lot of good

Whereas 'only' 21.3% of Far Right youth agree that 'Hitler had done a lot of good for the people', appallingly  37.9% of Turkish and Arab youth agree with the statement.

Source: Islam in Europe (Vienna: 38% of Muslim youth think Hitler did a lot of good)

The Austrian Institute for Youth Culture Research recently polled 400 youth (16-19 years old) in Vienna on politics, antisemitism, sexuality and ring-wing radicalism. In addition they polled 80 Turkish and Arab youth.

They found the following:

* 37.9% of Turkish and Arab youth (14% of all youth) agree that 'Hitler had done a lot of good for the people'. 17.6% of all immigrants agree, as do 21.3% of Freedom Party (FPÖ) youth. More than 70% of all youth disagreed.

* 45% of Turkish and Arabic youth (15% of all youth) say that 'Jews have too much influence on international finance'.

* 35% of Turkish and Arab youth (22% of all youth) said homosexuality was 'an unnatural way of life'.

Henri Dunant, ’first Christian Zionist’, honored at international commemoration event in Geneva

"Already in 1866, 30 years before the first Zionist Congress, Dunant [founder of the International Red Cross] had proposed a repopulation of Palestine by Jews. As a personal friend of Theodore Herzl he was one of only a few non-Jews to attend the First Zionist Congress in Basel in 1897. He was once referred to by Herzl as a ’Christian Zionist’, this being the first time the term was ever used. [...] "The values of Henry Dunant were the values of most Christian social reformers for the last 300 years, from William Wilberforce, 100 years before Dunant, to Martin Luther King 100 years after him. These great men of faith and social justice had a deep understanding of the struggles of the Jewish people and supported their right to self-determination," Sandell explained. The event clearly illustrated the fact that while the modern state of Israel currently faces a vicious NGO campaign of delegitimization and dehumanization the social pioneers who founded their movements were mostly warm friends of Israel."

Source: European Coalition for Israel

Geneva, 1 November, 2010 - The remarkable life of International Red Cross founder and first recipient of the Nobel Peace Price, HenryDunant was honored on Saturday at a private ceremony in Geneva in the presence of descendants of the Dunant family and the US Ambassador to the United Nations, Betty E. King. Saturday marked the 100th anniversary of the death of Henry Dunant.

Though most people remember Henry Dunant primarily as the founder of the International Red Cross very few know the man behind the vision.

"Henri Dunant was a man of faith who already at the age of twenty had committed his life to be more effective in Christian charity, heat up lukewarm believers and to convert those who had not met God," European Coalition for Israel Director Tomas Sandell said at the event quoting the Henry Dunant Society.

"This is a side of his life that documentaries seldom talk about but which helps explain his life and vision. Henry Dunant was a Christian activist (he helped found the World Alliance of YMCA in 1855), and a fervent believer in the restoration of the Jewish people to their ancient homeland of Palestine. Already in 1866, 30 years before the first Zionist Congress, Dunant had proposed a repopulation of Palestine by Jews. As a personal friend of Theodore Herzl he was one of only a few non-Jews to attend the First Zionist Congress in Basel in 1897. He was once referred to by Herzl as a ’Christian Zionist’, this being the first time the term was ever used.

"Henry Dunant understood already in 1866 what it took others another 80 years to grasp, namely that the Jewish people were entitled to live in their own ancient homeland of Palestine, side by side and in peace with their Arab neighbours. Just imagine how many lives could have been spared if also this life vision would have come to pass during his lifetime," Sandell concluded in his speech.

Israel lynching tribunal coming to the United States in 2011 (Russell Tribunal on Palestine, Belgium)

Created in Brussels, the capital of Europe, by Pierre Galand (NGO Special Report (2004): "Pierre Galand (Belgium) Using Political NGOs to Promote Demonization & Anti-Semitism in the UN & EU"), the "kangoroo court" was launched in Belgium (where it was created and launched in Belgium and held its first session in Barcelona, will be in London in November, in South Africa mid 2011 and in the United States end 2011.  Yet another European (Belgian to be precise) contribution to Peace.

Source: Harry's Place (Amnesty, Law Society Hosts Russell Tribunal on Palestine, Alan A, October 30th 2010)

On Monday 8 November, the Amnesty Human Rights Action Centre will host a meeting on the Russell Tribunal on Palestine. That meeting will feature Ewa Jasiewicz who is billed as a “Member of UK Committee”

Ewa Jasiewicz was the spokeswoman who justified the desecration of the Warsaw Ghetto earlier this year:

The Tribunal will then hold its full session at the Law Society on 20-22 November. It will feature such luminaries as John Dugard, Ronald Kasrils, Mike Mansfield, and the conspiracy theorist and kook, Cynthia McKinney.
"I had a mother to call me because her son had a very gruesome task. Her son’s charge by the Department of Defense was to process 5,000 bodies that had received a single bullet wound to the head. And these were mostly males and her son was afraid to talk because he had signed a silence agreement. So he only complained to his mother. But the data about these individuals was entered into a Pentagon computer and then, reportedly, the bodies were dumped in the swamp in Louisiana. This is as a result of the tragedy of hurricane Katrina. Now I have verification from insiders who wish to remain anonymous at the Red Cross that this is true."
________
Jonathan Hoffman : Please protest (especially if you are a lawyer) to the Law Society about them letting their rooms for this Kangaroo Court:
http://www.lawsociety.org.uk/contactus.law#contactform

- Irish Nobel laureate to 'examine' Israel war crimes in London soon
Raising funds in Belgium for the London session:
- Anti-Israel "Russell tribunal" coming to London from ... Belgium
- Bertrand Russell Peace Foundation Betrays Bertrand Russell

Cartoon above: Israel embassy in Spain

Belgian boycott Israel "success story"

Perseverance pays.  After two years of unrelenting efforts 78 NGOs (repeat 78 NGOs after a two-year campaign - since November 2008) have scored a major success against Israel. 

Belgian newspaper Le Soir - a great promoter of Israel boycotts and punishments - reports that 15 account holders with the Belgian-French Dexia Bank had closed down their accounts in protest at Dexia's operations in the West Bank "colonies" ("settlements" in French with a nasty connotation). 

Fifteen customers is a remarkable number considering that Dexia, being a major European bank, probably has hundreds of thousands or even millions of customers.  But as the Quebec-Israel Committee rightly points out : "Since its launch in Quebec, the BDS campaign has achieved nothing but dismal failures ; failures which it amazingly claims as successes, thanks to an absurd rhetoric that only seem to fool its own followers". Hopefully Le Soir readers will not be fooled either !

The anti-Israel militants are anti-US too.

For more details see: Presse belge: les Belges "réussissent" une opération de boycott contre Israël

AFP: same article - different titles in French and in English

Background: Jewish town to sue French news agency AFP for libel

AFP (Agence France Press) had the same article in French and English, but with different titles.

English title:
"Settlers deny ruining Palestinian olive grove with sewage" 

French title conveying a  much more negative message :
"Thousands of olive trees infected [i.e. poisoned ?] by sewage from a colony [the French always use the word "colony" in preference to "implantations"] in the West Bank"
"Des milliers d'oliviers infectés par les égouts d'une colonie en Cisjordanie"

A reader indicated that the first version of APF's article in French (as relayed by Belgian newspaper Le Soir) carried the same title but did not report the settlers' ["colonialists'"] version : "The community of Elon Moreh has a very sophisticated sewage system which cost hundreds of thousands of shekels. The water is purified and reused within the community for our own agriculture," said David HaIvri, blaming "neighbouring Arab communities" for the flood."