Le Figaro reported that, ahead of French President Nicolas Sarkozy’s visit to Algeria next week, Mohamed Cherif Abbès, War Veterans Minister, had attributed Mr. Sarkozy’s rise to power to the "Jewish lobby". As evidence of this, Mr Abbès referred to the appointment of Bernard Kouchner as Foreign Minister and underlined his Jewish "origins": "Why did Bernard Kouchner, a man of the Left, decide to change sides and join the government ? His move was not guided by personal convictions. It was the result of a movement that reflects the aims of the real architects of Sarkozy’s rise to power, the Jewish lobby that has a monopoly on French industry." Mr. Abbas also hinted at President Sarkozy's "origins" - an explicit reference to his maternal grandfather who was Jewish: "You are aware of the roots of the French president and of those who brought him to power". He further added that, during the French electoral campaign, the Israeli authorities had issued a stamp bearing Sarkozy’s portrait. There is nothing new about this. Last year, when a member of the Socialist party visited Algiers, the issue of the party’s infiltration (noyautage) by Jews was raised privately … |
Thursday, 29 November 2007
Algerian Minister attributes Sarkozy's rise to power to the "Jewish lobby"
Tuesday, 27 November 2007
Annapolis: Hope or scepticism for Israel-Palestine?" by Harry Hagopian - illustrated with Abbas and Olmert naked cartoon by Ben Heine
Ben Heine's comment (so that no one misses the subtle message): "The drawing shows Mahmoud Abbas (left), President of the Palestinian National Authority and Ehud Olmert (right), Prime Minister of Israel, in very tough peace negotiations..."
Ben Heine’s website carries, with the author’s permission, an article "Annapolis: Hope or scepticism for Israel-Palestine?" by Harry Hagopian, "Ecumenical, Legal & Political Consultant to the Armenian Church in the UK. Former Executive Director of the Middle East Council of Churches and a recognised regional expert, Dr Hagopian is a coordinator of the Holy Land Christian Ecumenical Foundation (HCEF) and a lobbyist for recognition of the Armenian genocide."
A cartoon by Ben Heine illustrates Dr Hagopian's article. Its vulgar sexual connotations and explicit hate message are utterly revolting. Suffice it to say that Ben Heine (the only Belgian who took part in the infamous 2006 Tehran Holocaust cartoon contest) is highly appreciated by the far-right, conspirationist Canadian website Zionofascism which purports to expose "Zionofascism in Canada and the World". It features Heine’s portrait by Carlos Latuff depicted as James Bond fighting the Zionist Gang. The site’s "Top Clicks" are: Quotations from President Ahmadinejad of Iran; La fin de Sion (est proche) (The end of Zion is nigh); ZioPedia; and Ben Heine.
Monday, 26 November 2007
"Anti-Semitism may be a good starter but it is a bad finisher", Winston Churchill (1932)
Arthur Herman reviews Churchill and the Jews by Martin Gilbert in the WSJ:
"A student of history, Churchill came to feel that Judaism was the bedrock of traditional Western moral and political principles - and Churchill was of a generation that preferred to talk about principles instead of "values." For Europeans to turn against the Jew, he argued, was for them to strike at their own roots and reject an essential part of their civilization - "that corporate strength, that personal and special driving power" that Jews had brought for hundreds of years to Europe's arts, sciences and institutions.
To deny Jews a national homeland was therefore an act of ingratitude. Churchill became a keen backer of the Balfour Declaration of 1917, which broached the idea of creating a Jewish homeland in Palestine. As a friend to Zionist leader Chaim Weizman, and as colonial secretary after World War I, Churchill made establishing such a homeland a matter of urgency. "The hope of your race for so many centuries will be gradually realized here," Churchill told a Jewish audience in Jerusalem during his visit in March 1921, "not only for your own good, but for the good of all the world." …
Churchill was to be disappointed by the results of his Middle Eastern efforts, as Arabs hunted down and murdered Jewish settlers by the hundreds in the 1920s and 1930s - just at the time when Adolf Hitler was building his own regime around the persecution of the Jews in Germany. As early as 1930 Churchill realized that the Nazis' anti-Jewish policies carried the stench of an ancient evil. "Tell your boss from me," he said to a Hitler acquaintance in the late summer of 1932, as the Nazi Party was on the verge of power, "that anti-Semitism may be a good starter but it is a bad finisher." …
Today the existence of Israel is apparently something to be regretted, even deplored, not only in Arab capitals but in European ones and on American university campuses. Paradoxically, such feelings intensified after 9/11, an event that should have made us all aware of who the friends of Western civilization really are - and who its enemies. Martin Gilbert's book reminds us that anti-Semitism is the dark turn of the modern mind against itself, and a form of cultural patricide."
Arthur L. Herman's "Gandhi & Churchill" will be published by Bantam in April.
Surrender is Not an Option, by John Bolton
"Bolton includes a lengthy, hour-by-hour, description of the process at the State Department and the UN by which Resolution 1701 was adopted last summer, ending the Second Lebanon War. He makes it clear it was - to be diplomatic - not a stellar performance by the State Department. Ultimately, he writes, the resolution left a situation in which "it became increasingly clear that there was not going to be another resolution to disarm Hezbollah, that the arms embargo was not being enforced, that Hezbollah was rearming, and that "enhanced UNIFIL" looked and acted much like the existing, ineffective UNIFIL."
Here is Bolton’s conclusion, near the end of the book, regarding U.S. policy and Israel:
"Because of its location, Israel experiences the terrorist threat almost daily, facing Hamas, Hezbollah, and other Islamic terrorist groups, not to mention being within range of Iranian missiles. Hamas has now seized control of the Gaza Strip, fracturing the Palestinian Authority, leaving the "former terrorists" of Fatah now in control of the West Bank; Hezbollah is close to overthrowing Lebanon’s democratic government; and Syria is increasingly under Iran’s control. Given this reality, there is no rationale for the United States to pressure Israel into "peace agreements" with its remaining Arab neighbors, or to believe that "dialogue" on such issues will have any material effect on the Middle East’s numerous other conflicts. . . . Of course, Israel’s own government for its own reasons may decide to make concessions in various negotiations, and bear the consequences, but the United States has no interest in precipitating such decisions."
Last week, Bolton was the keynote speaker at a dinner of the Lincoln Club. Just before the dinner, he graciously agreed to answer a question from JCI about Secretary Rice’s current diplomatic effort:
JCI: I’m speaking with Ambassador John Bolton; it’s October 30, 2007. Ambassador Bolton, I’d like to ask you if you think Condoleezza Rice will be successful in convening a peace conference in Annapolis, who might attend, what the outcome will be.
AMBASSADOR BOLTON: I think the odds are that the conference will take place, but I am very skeptical that a positive outcome is possible. The circumstances in the region are just not conducive to progress, particularly on the Palestinian side, where there is no effective Palestinian Authority, no effective entity that can carry out commitments that might be made. And the risk is not simply that the conference will fail, but that a failed conference will leave us in a worse situation in the region.
In a later conversation, Bolton indicated the two-state solution has run its course, and that any future solution will more likely be a three-state one involving the participation of Egypt and Jordan."
Saturday, 24 November 2007
A spate of anti-Semitic acts in Paris 10th arrondissement
The CRIF (Conseil Représentatif des Institutions Juives de France) reports that Le Parisien carried an article on a spate of anti-Semitic acts perpetraded recently in the 10th arrondissement of Paris. The Jewish community is both worried and exasperated. On Sunday 18 November a 15-year old boy, wearing a kippa, was beaten up by three boys when leaving home. On Saturday 17 November two 10- year olds were verbally abused and punched by a boy the same age in the Vellefaux school playground. The Jewish community held a spontaneous demonstration on Tuesday 20 November. One mother complained: "The insults are only one aspect of the violence. Youngsters threaten to burn our buildings and shout: "This is Palestine. Go home". It is hell to put up with this on a daily basis." The newspaper also referred to the murder in 2003 of a young man, Sébastien Sellam. The alleged murdered, Adel, was a neighbour and a friend. After slitting his victim’s throat and mutilating his face, Adel went home and declared: "I have killed a Jew! I will go to heaven!" |
Thursday, 22 November 2007
Judeosphere rates the Realists
Judeosphere offers a sampling of the only too human fallibility of John Mearsheimer's and a few other Realists' predictions: "During the last few months, I've seen a number of editorials demanding that pundits be held accountable for their "complicity" in making the case for war in Iraq. Writing in the National Interest, Justin Logan offers what he considers to be a practical solution: Thanks to news cycles and short attention spans, pundits get away with murder. Columnists and talking heads can issue endless prognostications about what Iraq will look like in another six months, and because nobody’s going to remember to follow up six months on, it doesn’t matter whether they were right.Well now, that's interesting. What's also interesting is that Justin Logan is an analyst at the Cato Institute, which is affiliated with the Coalition for a Realistic Foreign Policy. John Mearsheimer and Stephen Walt are among the Coalition's founding members. So, I find myself wondering: How would the venerable foreign policy realists fare in this proposed predictions database? Here's a sampling: John Mearsheimer: An academic with such a wretched track record, that if he had been a royal astrologer he would have been beheaded. His 1990 opus [pdf] for the Atlantic Monthly, "Why We Will Soon Miss the Cold War," confidently predicted that the decline of the Soviet Union would usher in a new arms race in Europe, with nations--especially Germany--rushing to build nuclear weapons. In a 1991 NYT editorial [pdf], he made the case for the First Gulf War, predicting that "a quick victory will reduce losses on both sides." (Iraqi casualties: 40,000 dead troops and more than 140,000 dead civilians.) In 1993, he declared [pdf] that a Ukrainian nuclear deterrent was "inevitable", since the country would never return its nuclear warheads to Russia. (In 1995, Ukraine returned all of Russia's nuclear weapons.) Then, in 1998, he said [pdf] the Kosovo peace agreement was "doomed" to fail because "neither the Albanians nor the Serbs are likely to stick to it." (One year later, Milosevic agreed to withdraw troops from Kosovo, and the Kosovo Liberation Army agreed to disarm.) Leon Hadar: His famous 1992 essay, "The Green Peril," declared that fundamentalist Islamic movements posed no threat to the West. (Hey, how did that turn out?) Ted Galen Carpenter, Vice President for Defense and Foreign Policy Studies at the Cato Institute: A man who has predicted war so many times it's a wonder that we haven't been bombed back into the Bronze Age. In the last eight years he's warned of a forthcoming war with China; a forthcoming Turkish war against Greece; a Marxist/narcotrafficking takeover of Colombia; and war with North Korea. Steven Clemons, Senior Fellow at the New America Foundation: In 1998, he predicted an "economic tsunami" would soon strike Japan, and then engulf America and the entire global economy. (Ahhh! Run away! Run away!) And there, my friends, are the "realist" pundits. By all means, let's add them to the "predictions database," so everyone can see firsthand their true market value." |
Tuesday, 20 November 2007
Simon Deng tells Bishop Desmond Tutu that Israel is not an apartheid Stat
"Disappearance of Bishop Tutu
Late last month, I went to hear Bishop Desmond Tutu speak at Boston’s Old South Church at a conference on "Israel Apartheid." Tutu is a well respected man of God. He brought reconciliation between blacks and whites in South Africa. That he would lead a conference that damns the Jewish state is very disturbing to me.
The State of Israel is not an apartheid state. I know because I write this from Jerusalem where I have seen Arab mothers peacefully strolling with their families – even though I also drove on Israeli roads protected by walls and fences from Arab bullets and stones. I know Arabs go to Israeli schools, and get the best medical care in the world. I know they vote and have elected representatives to the Israeli Parliament. I see street signs in Arabic, an official language here. None of this was true for blacks under Apartheid in Tutu’s South Africa. …
Bishop Tutu, I see black Jews walking down the street here in Jerusalem. Black like us, free and proud. …
Yes, the Palestinians are inconvenienced at checkpoints. But why, Bishop Tutu, do you care more about that inconvenience than about Jewish lives?
Bishop, when you used to dance for Mandela’s freedom, we Africans – all over Africa – joined in. Our support was key in your freedom. But when children in Burundi and Kinshasa, all the way to Liberia and Sierra Leone, and in particular in Sudan, cried and called for rescue, you heard but chose to be silent.
Today, black children are enslaved in Sudan, the last place in the continent of Africa where humans are owned by other humans – I was part of the movement to stop slavery in Mauritania, which just now abolished the practice. But you were not with us, Bishop Tutu.
So where is Desmond Tutu when my people call out for freedom? Slaughter and genocide and slavery are lashing Africans right now. Where are you for Sudan, Bishop Tutu? You are busy attacking the Jewish state. Why?"
Monday, 19 November 2007
ADL survey: Americans see Israel as ally
From The Jerusalem Post "A large percentage of Americans continue to support the State of Israel, especially in relation to the Palestinians and the "war on terror," according to a survey released Sunday by the Anti-Defamation League (ADL). The survey reveals that a large majority of Americans, 65%, see Israel as an important ally. A 2005 ADL poll showed nearly identical numbers of Americans with this view, indicating that American support for Israel has stayed strong and relatively constant over the last few years. This support comes despite the common belief that America's friendship with Israel makes the US a bigger target for terrorists. Though 65% of respondents expressed this conviction, 57% said that the US should continue to give Israel its support. Americans remain much more sympathetic to Israel than to the Palestinian people, the survey says. Forty-five percent of respondents said that they sympathize more with the Israeli people, compared to 16% who said they sympathize with the Palestinians. This sympathy toward Israel has increased only slightly over the last few years. Two years ago a similar poll showed 42% of Americans being sympathetic toward Israel, and 13% sympathetic toward the Palestinians, and a 2003 poll revealed that 40% of Americans had sympathy for Israel and 15% had sympathy for its Palestinian neighbors. … "These findings are reassuring, not only because of continuing strong support for Israel, but because Americans understand that without a major Palestinian effort to deal with terrorism, there can be no viable Palestinian state," said ADL National Director Abraham Foxman." |
Sunday, 18 November 2007
What they say: Chirac, Dawkins, Jones, Alderton
President Jacques Chirac at the Anglo-French Summit in Le Touquet, February 2003:
"On the middle East, Chirac was sceptical that the Americans would do anything, said power was not in Washington but in the Jewish population of New-York."
The Blair Years, Alastair Campbell, Hutchinson, 2007 (page 662)
Richard Dawkins, The Guardian:
"When you think about how fantastically successful the Jewish lobby has been, though, in fact, they are less numerous I am told - religious Jews anyway - than atheists and [yet they] more or less monopolise American foreign policy as far as many people can see. So if atheists could achieve a small fraction of that influence, the world would be a better place."
Life of Brian director Terry Jones talks to Marc Lee about the scene he cut from the legendary Python film, The Daily Telegraph:
"A new DVD edition of the film includes the deleted "Otto" scene, which features a radical, first-century Jewish revolutionary who has the same dreams as the young Adolf Hitler. Otto sports a toothbrush moustache, and, in case we still haven't got the message, his disciples all wear a symbol that combines the Star of David with a swastika. These are "Nazi Jews".
Jones insists he didn't make the cut to avoid giving offence.
"It was a very funny scene," he says, "but it wasn't relevant; it wasn't part of the story. When I took it out, the film just flowed so much better."
He regretted having to cut the scene at the time and regrets it even more so now.
"I think what it addressed is extremely relevant today," he says, "with what's going on in Israel. Eric [who wrote the scene] put his finger on something; it was quite prophetic.""
Leaked e-mail pitches Prince Charles into heart of row over royal visit to Israel, The Times:
"Internal e-mails between two of the Prince's closest aides make clear that there was "no chance ever" of Clarence House accepting an invitation to visit Jerusalem. The e-mails, published in The Jewish Chronicle today, also disclose a fear that Israel would want the Prince "to help burnish its international image." …
The initial response from Sir Michael was enthusiastic. In an e-mail to Mr Heifetz and copied to his deputy, he says: "The invitation to Israel is hugely appreciated and Clive and I would love to come."
However, by the time that Mr Alderton responded to Sir Michael six days later, the ardour had cooled. Mr Alderton wrote: "Safe to assume that there is no chance of this visit ever actually happening? Acceptance would make it hard to avoid the many ways in which Israel would want HRH to help burnish its international image."
Friday, 16 November 2007
Israel: The sand and the soldier, Serge Gainsbourg (1967)
The sand and the soldier
I will. I will defend the sand of Israel,
The land of Israel, the children of Israel,
I am ready to die for the sand of Israel,
The land of Israel, the children of Israel,
I will defend against any enemy
The sand and the land I was promised.
I will defend the sand of Israel,
The cities of Israel, the land of Israel,
I am ready to die for the sand of Israel,
The cities of Israel, the land of Israel.
All the Goliaths who come from the pyramids,
Will retreat before the star of David.
I will defend the sand of Israel,
The land of Israel, the children of Israel,
I am ready to die for the sand of Israel,
The land of Israel, the children of Israel.
I am ready to die for the sand of Israel,
The land of Israel, the children of Israel.
This song was presented by Serge Gainsbourg to the State of Israel. It was composed in June 1967 during the Six-Day war.
On You Tube
Six-Day War-1967 Third Arab Israeli War
Translated by Philosemite
Thursday, 15 November 2007
Walt and Mearsheimer's "The Israel Lobby" - footnote No. 1,399
The manifesto Why the "special relationship" between Germany and Israel has to be reconsidered recycles the usual anti-Jewish tropes and is illustrated by an Iranian cartoonist Jaber Asadi. The cartoon depicts a brutish and heavily armed Israeli soldier who does not look at his victims (not enemies of course) and who cowardly hides behind a tombstone marked "Holocaust". Got it? To be associated with such a blatantly anti-Semitic cartoon did not seem to trouble in the least either the "peace activists" or Walt and Mearsheimer. A proper look at the other 1,389 footnotes might reveal a few more surprises of the kind.
For those who are unfamiliar with Tlaxcala here is a small sample of the scholarly stuff to be found on the site:
By Khalid Amayreh: Israel: perpetual criminal, perpetual liar; Israel’s silent holocaust against the Palestinians; Grand-Children of the Holocaust turning Gaza into another Ghetto Warsaw.
By Fausto Giudice and Ben Heine An oblivion repaired, A motto for Israel, discussed here and here.
Tuesday, 13 November 2007
For President Sarkozy the creation of Israel is one of the "miracles" of the 20th century
"French President Nicolas Sarkozy was honored today [7 Nov.] by the American Jewish Committee with the global advocacy organization’s prestigious Light Unto the Nations Award.
"Above all, we honor President Sarkozy’s conviction, conscience, and courage - qualities that are in short supply in a world desperately in need of all three," said AJC Executive Director David A. Harris.
The AJC award pays tribute to outstanding statesmanship.
"President Nicolas Sarkozy is a man of passion," said Harris. "It is his passion, combined with his conviction, conscience, and courage, that has quickly elevated him to a place of exceptional prominence and respect on the global stage."
Richard J. Sideman, AJC National President, opening the meeting and award ceremony, saluted President Sarkozy’s "unparalleled vigor and uncommon principle," and spoke of the common challenges and threats facing the "sister democracies" of the United States, France and Israel. …
"Anti-Semitism must be attacked head on," declared President Sarkozy. "Once you try to explain anti-Semitism, you are rationalizing anti-Semitism."
He said anti-Semitism is a reality that must be acknowledged, not denied. "We cannot fight against what is denied," he said. "Unless you agree on a diagnosis, you cannot find the remedy."
President Sarkozy described himself as a committed friend of Israel who regards the very creation of the state as one of the "miracles" of the twentieth century. ...
"He is steadfast in his opposition to anti-Semitism," said Harris, recalling President Sarkozy’s words at a 2004 AJC luncheon in Washington, when he declared: "I consider any insult against Jews an insult against France.""
Monday, 12 November 2007
Cross-eyed Europe. The Protocols of the Sages of Information, by Pilar Rahola (2003)
"The present anti-Semitic edifice is built on two equally powerful pillars. One has to do with the culture of the hatred and prejudice that marks us as a people. However, the other pillar is absolutely necessary for those prejudices to take wing and fly: the informative lie. And "lie", nowadays, is a verb conjugated with equal enthusiasm by journalists and intellectuals, to such a degree that the truth about Israel and the Arab-Israeli conflict is being superseded by a parallel truth, based on the distortion and falsification of history. Here, too, there is nothing new, inasmuch as historical and contemporary anti-Semitism have to do with lying. I will put in the harsh terms merited by the accusation: Europe - erudite, intellectual, media-minded; the Europe that reports daily on the Middle East and which is responsible for the voraciously anti-Israel cast of opinion, is rewriting a new version of the Protocols of the Elders of Zion. The secret agents of czarism have replaced by modern-day journalists; the ancient peril of a Jewish plot is now being couched as a Yankee-Israeli plot; the evil Jew of yesteryear is the same evil Jew he always was, except that now his plot is situated on Wall Street and he has an army. I shall never cease to be amazed and horrified by the force of old iniquities. The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) put it this way in a study it conducted among adults in five European countries: it is alarming to find in this post-Holocaust and post-September-11th world that one out of five persons believes in the old slanders. In Spain, for instance, some 70% believe in the concept of a Jewish financial lobby, as lobby that, naturally, pulls the world’s strings. Thus, in the beginning of time, we had Christian texts converting the Jewish people into God killers. I believe that somewhere there is a wretch who wants to make a movie out of it… In 1903, we had the Protocols garbed by the Russian extreme right, who contributed to instigating the pogroms that devastated that country until 1914, with the slaughter of 60,000 Jews in the civil war between the whites and the reds. In 1920, we had Henry Ford and frenzied international Jew. And in vanquished and convulsed Germany, well nourished on the Protocols, Hitler wrote his Mein Kampf and Rosenberg and Goebbels saw to the propagation of hatred and, therefore, the legitimization of persecution. The outcome is well known.
Today, the same Europe which gave rise to everything - hatred, persecution and extermination, is now giving birth to a new narrative whose stigmas are distant and the distortion of which is equally inconsiderate and whose consequences, in any event, will never be good. This is my explicit accusation: the journalistic and intellectual world, fundamentally composed of leftists, has written new highly influential Protocols, with devastating consequences. Day by day, with every news item, with every declaration, we don’t have the odd ferocious book; today, we have a library full of them. Like their forebears, the Protocols of the Sages of Information are fake, criminal and false. Israel is the target. The reason - there are many, most of which are ignoble. The justification is Sharon. The excuse - anti-Zionism. The weapon - prestige. The propagator - thousands of media. The ally - Arafat. The result - anti-Semitism."
From a speech delivered at the International Keren Hayesod Conference, 25.11.2003.
Pilar Rahola comes from a republican and anti-fascist family. She is a Catalan writer, journalist and former parliamentarian of the republican left.
Also by Pilar Rahola.
Ben Heine - another victim of the Zionist Lobby
"Attention Zionists at Work !!!
I didn't grok that Flicker could be used as a ersatz blog: just upload a picture and start carping around it. But here is an unexciting, albeit pitiful, wail from Ben Heine, he of the Iranian Holocaust cartoon competition fame.
Another Victim of the Zionist Lobby
No more and no less. Ehehe....
To put things straight, dear Ben: a cockroach squashed by a bulldozer can call itself a victim of industrial revolution with more reasons than you can call yourself a victim of this or any other lobby. A fart in a hurricane would be more apt as a description of your miserable life story...
In fact, all operatives of the Elders' field units are under strict order to keep a safe distance.
It is the smell, you know."
Cross-posted at yourish.com under the appropriate label: Israel Derangement Syndrome!
Sunday, 11 November 2007
It's Time To Acknowledge Philosemitism, by Hilary Rubinstein
"The Anglo-Saxon, more than any other race, wants to sympathise with the Jews. . . no doubt we understand the Jew better than can those to whom the Old Testament is not familiar from infancy. To the foreigner the word Jew is a hissing in the street; to us the word suggests Solomon and Moses, and a thousand cradle stories. So often have we used their names for our own children that they seem now to be our fathers, especially our Puritan forefathers. . . Towards such a people one has a feeling almost of awe. . ."
England, as he saw, was fundamentally different from the European Continent in its attitude towards Jews. Between their expulsion by Edward I in 1290 and their official readmission by Cromwell in 1656, the country had experienced a Protestant Reformation that engendered manifestations of philosemitism.
With the Reformation, Henry VIII ordered a vernacular translation of the Bible to be placed inside every church in his realm, and the Bible especially with the publication in 1611 of the beautiful King James version - began to assume the role that scientist Thomas Huxley, himself a supporter of Jewry, characterised as "the national epic of Britain", so closely did Britons identify with the scriptural story of Israel. Thus could a nineteenth-century Anglo-Jewish scholar, who had migrated from Central Europe, marvel at "the generosity [and] liberality . . . of a nation whose chief model is the Bible".
Such was the impact of the Bible that even the humblest Jewish pedlar was often esteemed as the descendant of patriarchs and prophets. "Whenever I met a Jewish old clo' man, I could not forebear from taking my hat off to him», one Anglican priest and fervent philosemite recalled of his boyhood in Victorian London. "What an honour to be permitted to minister in any way to the seed of Abraham, God's chosen ones!" enthused a gentile contributor to a relief fund for Palestinian Jewry in 1854. Countless Britons identified with the biblical Israelites against Pharoah and Haman, and, by extension, with the contemporary descendants of the Israelites against their modern tormentors. "When I think of the persecution of the Jews", declared an Anglican bishop and unswerving friend of Jewry in 1935, "I wish that we would draw the sword and fight for God's people." Repeatedly, Christian philosemites, clerical and lay, made similar statements.
Jews and non-Jews alike should be more aware that in Britain, the United States, Australia and elsewhere in the English-speaking world, mass demonstrations on behalf of Jews under Nazism were mounted by distinguished public figures, religious and secular. If this fact was more generally known, the enduring canard of the "bystanders" might begin to be eroded and if only more people were aware of the similar rallies and public meetings held during other periods of crisis to protest injustice to Jews, the perception of an almost universally normative historical legacy of antisemitism would begin to be challenged.
Let there be no mistaking the fact that from the Damascus Affair of 1840 onwards, through the Mortara Affair of 1858-59, the May Laws of 1881 in Russia and subsequent pogroms, the Kishinev massacre of 1903, the Dreyfus Affair of 1894-1906, and the Beilis Affair of 1911-13, in Britain and other English-speaking lands, gentiles protested in their hundreds, and opinion-makers, ranging from politicians to prelates, spearheaded the cause.
Among those who demonstrated on behalf of oppressed Jews were active fishers for Jewish souls, such as the Anglican bishop who, notoriously, instituted a fund for the conversion of London's immigrant Jews, and members of the Evangelical Alliance (who included two prominent Sydney protesters against the pogroms, Archbishop Saumarez Smith and Canon Archdall). However, most committed Christian philosemites had no conversionist agenda. Indeed, some of Jewry's most devoted Christian allies were insistent that Judaism offered an alternative path to redemption.
The leading pioneer of this outlook was Charlotte Elizabeth Tonna, the remarkable editor of both the Protestant Magazine and the Christian Lady's Magazine, who strenuously campaigned for justice for Jews and organised a petition by British elite figures, all practising Christians, to Tsar Nicholas during his private visit to London in 1844, deploring his treatment of Jews.
Sadly, Jews in general seem unaware of the generous tradition of philosemitism in the English-speaking world, of which there were four, often overlapping, strands: Christian, liberal, conservative and Zionist.
Driven by the tendency of chroniclers and commentators to emphasise the dolorous aspects of Jewish history and highlight gentiles' misdeeds, there has been a woeful neglect of our friends. Much publicity in the local Jewish press greeted a recent discovery that in 1938, representatives of an aboriginal organisation had delivered a petition to the German consul in Melbourne protesting Nazi antisemitism, and a plaque in their honour was unveiled in the Holocaust Museum. Certainly, there is something deeply moving about the image of one oppressed people speaking out on behalf of another. The impression conveyed is that the aborigines' initiative had been the only one of its kind, and that white Australians made few or no attempts to alleviate the plight of European Jewry. Where, for instance, is the plaque to honour Critchley Parker, the young Melbourne man who lost his life in the Jewish cause?
How many Australian Jews today can identify Archbishop Duhig, Bishop Pilcher, and rightwing imperialist Sir James Barrett as having been among this country's staunch champions of persecuted German Jewry? Or name even a handful of the non-Jewish national figures of various political allegiances and religious denominations who supported the idea of a refuge for persecuted Jewry in the Kimberleys? Undoubtedly not very many. Few are aware of earlier Australian efforts on behalf of Jewry involving people ranging from statesmen such as Sir John Robertson to Methodist Ladies' College principal W.H.Fitchett to a group of Chinese Melbournians, and private citizens in rural areas, not least the Presbyterian pastoralist Anne Fraser Bon. It is high time that Jews reversed this blinkered attitude and acknowledged those who have been our friends. To over-concentrate upon those who have done us wrong is to skew the historic record, and it is profoundly unjust.
Dr. Hilary Rubinstein is Associate Editor of the Victorian issues of the Australian Jewish Historical Society Journal and is a former member of Temple Beth Israel and the CCJ (Vic). At present living in Wales, where she taught Modern Jewish History to religion students at the University of Lampeter, she is working on various historical projects. She is the author or co-author of several books and many articles, including Philosemitism: Admiration and Support in the English-Speaking World for Jews, 1840-1939 (London, Macmillan, 1999).
Thursday, 8 November 2007
Hannah Senesh remembered in Budapest on 63rd anniversary of her execution
"Zionist heroine Hannah Senesh was remembered in Budapest on the 63rd anniversary of her execution.
Senesh was executed by Hungarian Nazis on Nov. 7, 1944 [aged 23] after parachuting behind enemy lines during World War II and being arrested as a spy.
The memorial ceremony was organized by the Budapest Holocaust Museum and Documentation Center in the Hannah Senesh Park, named for the Budapest-born Senesh who as a young girl immigrated to Palestine and served during World War II as a British soldier, parachuting first into Italy and Yugoslavia, and then into Hungary in 1944.
Two of Senesh's Hungarian cousins took part in the ceremony, as well as Israeli Embassy First Secretary Yahel Vilan, representatives of the Budapest Holocaust Museum and members of the Hungarian Jewish community.
No Hungarian officials attended the ceremony."
Szenes was arrested at the Hungarian border, imprisoned and tortured, but she refused to reveal details of her mission, and was eventually tried and executed by firing squad. She is regarded as a national heroine in Israel, where streets are named after her and her poetry is widely known.
Wednesday, 7 November 2007
Record number of churches to commemorate Holocaust Remembrance Day
European Coalition for Israel reports:
A record number of local churches in Europe are expected to commemorate the International Holocaust Remembrance Day on Sunday 27 January 2008. The Remembrance Day, which was initiated by the European Parliament already in 2000 and supported by a declaration of the United Nations in 2005, was first introduced to church communities in Europe a year ago by the European Coalition for Israel. The Coalition brings together organizations and churches which seek to foster better relations between Europe and Israel, commemorate the Holocaust and inform about new forms of anti-Semitism.
At the main event in Brussels last year European Commissioner for Culture and Youth Jan Figel spoke about the need for the younger generations in Europe to learn about the Holocaust. This year European Parliament president Hans-Gert Pöttering is scheduled to speak at the event in Brussels where parliamentarians, diplomats and church leaders will attend. But apart from the high profile event in Brussels the organizers hope to inspire over 1000 local churches to commemorate the Holocaust day in their Sunday service on January 27. European director Jeff Fountain of Youth with a Mission explains:
"The Holocaust was a defining phase in Europe's modern history, and its commemoration remains a crucial reminder of what can happen in Europe when we stray from our Judeo-Christian foundations."
Already last year a few hundred churches participated in the campaign despite short notice. This year the organizers will ask each church to also register....“Many churches have asked for a concrete program for the Holocaust event and we will provide them with one”, says Tomas Sandell who is the main coordinator of the campaign and the founding director of European Coalition for Israel.
One of the main objectives of the campaign is to learn what the consequences are when Christians fail to speak up against the evil of our time. One particular issue which is raised in the campaign material is the need for Christians to react differently today when the Jewish nation is threatened with annihilation. The organizers hope that the campaign will teach and inspire Christians in Europe to speak up against any form of evil or genocide.
"The atrocities of the Nazis started with the Jews but it did not stop there. The same pattern can be seen today with those forces who once again wish to eliminate the Jewish people", says Sandell.
The campaign is non-political and includes churches and citizen groups from a variety of backgrounds. Many of the churches which took active part in last years campaign were of immigrant Arab origin. More information on the campaign and a registration form can be found on the website www.learnfromhistory.eu
Rua da Judiaria's 4th anniversary on the net
Cartoonist Ben Heine draws a Zionist "Myriam" (Tlaxcala blog)
Fausto Giudice, an Italian, announced on Tlaxcala (a Spanish website) that he and Ben Heine will shortly be writing a constitution for Israel based on the Decalogue. In the meantime, Ben Heine, a Belgian, has drawn a Zionist "Myriam".
A German reader of Tlaxcala expressed utter shock at the article and drawing: "It is really saddening to see the overt and disgusting anti-Semitism you are publishing on your homepage. It is a pity that right now I don't have the time and money, but I hope somebody will sue you for this article, Ulrich Becker."
"Every state has its motto, its flag, its national anthem and its Constitution. But one state does not follow this rule: Israel. Besides, what kind of political system has this State? Monarchy? Republic? No one can answer it, as even if Israel has a flag and a national anthem it has neither Constitution nor motto. It is also the only United Nations state member that has not deposited a map of its borders before the UN. ...
Therefore from this proposition cartoonist Ben Heine has drawn a Zionist "Myriam". At glance everybody will recognize Delacroix’s Marianne standing up on 1830 barricades from the famous picture "Liberty guiding the people". However she is armed with a menorah, the Jewish seven branches candlestick. It is possible that her bare breasts could shock orthodox rabbis, although Zionists can be accused of anything except prudery. Evidently, this Zionist Myriam should be suspicious and keep a distance from Israel’s fallen president Moshe Katsav, a sexual harasser of women.
So we have repaired an oblivion and henceforth the state of Israel has a motto. In short we will start writing a Constitution tailored to this State, directly inspired from the the Bible’s Decalogue, the 10 Commandments transmitted to Moshe by Yehova on Mount Sinai."
Fausto Giudice and Ben Heine and their motto for Israel ... in German (Tlaxcala blog)
Every state has its motto, its flag, its national anthem and its Constitution. But one state does not follow this rule: Israel. Besides, what kind of political system has this State? Monarchy? Republic? No one can answer it, as even if Israel has a flag and a national anthem it has neither Constitution nor motto. It is also the only United Nations state member that has not deposited a map of its borders before the UN.
So wanting to repair the oblivion of the State of Israel founding fathers we propose a motto. It is in German, therefore it will easily understood by a big chunk of Israeli citizens. For those who don't understand German, here is a small explanation:
In German Liberty is Freiheit. In our proposition, it becomes Frechheit = cheek, brashness. It is the exact equivalent of the Hebrew/Yiddish word chutzpah, the fact of being insolent, brash, in a few words of being shameless. Chutzpah seems to be the main characteristic of any Zionist.
Equality is Gleichheit. In our proposition, it becomes Gleichgültigkeit = indifference. Indeed, Zionists’ other characteristic is their indifference to the fate of those who, to their eyes, are not Jewish, are either goyim (gentiles) or “self-hating Jews” (they define so any Jew who is critical with regard to Israel).
Fraternity is Brüderlichkeit. In our proposition, it becomes Unbarmherzigkeit = cruelty, derived from unbarmherzig = without compassion, pitiless. It is useless to explain this pitiless character: it is enough to contemplate the 60 year history of the Zionist state. ...
Tuesday, 6 November 2007
ADL: U.S. has much lower levels of anti-Semitism than Europe (2007)
2007 ADL survey on anti-Semitism in the U.S.
"The U.S. survey's findings help underscore the contrast between anti-Semitic attitudes held by Americans and those of Europeans polled earlier this year.
ADL surveys in 11 European countries released in May and July 2007 revealed that fully half of the Europeans surveyed believe Jews are not loyal to their country and more than one-third believe that Jews have too much power in business and finance. In Europe, the surveys revealed that a large number of Europeans believe the classical anti-Semitic canards that have persistently pursued Jews through the centuries.
"The good news is that America is different," said Mr. Foxman. "Many more Americans reject the classical anti-Semitic canards than those Europeans in the countries surveyed. These attitudes help incite and legitimize anti-Semitism, including violence against Jews in many European countries. The findings that a high percentage of respondents in Spain and Poland hold negative views of Jews are not surprising, given each country's history of animus toward Jews.""
Polls in European countries revealed the levels in some countries to be more than twice as high.
"Jews are more loyal to Israel than their own country"
U.S.: 31% (down from 33% in 2005)
France: 39% (up from 29% in 2005)
Switzerland: 44% (up from 38% in 2005)
The Netherlands: 46% (up from 36% in 2005)
Italy: 48% (down from 57% in 2005)
Hungary: 50% (up from 37% in 2005)
U.K.: 50% (up from 39% in 2005)
Germany: 51% (down from 55% in 2005)
Austria: 54% (up from 38% in 2005)
Belgium: 54% (up from 41% in 2005)
Poland: 59% (up from 52% in 2005)
Spain: 60% (up from 51% in 2005)
"Jews have too much power in the business world"
The Netherlands: 11% (down from 18% in 2005)
U.S.: 20% (up from 19% in 2005)
Germany: 21% (up from 20% in 2005)
U.K.: 22% (up from 14% in 2005)
France: 28% (up from 25% in 2005)
Belgium: 36% (up from 33% in 2005)
Austria: 37% (up from 24% in 2005)
Switzerland: 41% (up from 26% in 2005)
Italy: 42% (up from 33% in 2005)
Poland: 49% (up from 43% in 2005)
Spain: 53% (up from 45% in 2005)
Hungary: 60% (up from 55% in 2005)
"Jews have too much power in international financial markets"
The Netherlands: 14% (down from 19% in 2005)
U.S.: 18% (up from 17% in 2005)
U.K.: 21% (up from 16% in 2005)
Germany: 25% (up from 24% in 2005)
France: 28% (up from 24% in 2005)
Belgium: 40% (up from 33% in 2005)
Switzerland: 40% up 30% in 2005)
Italy: 42% (up from 32% in 2005)
Austria: 43% (up from 33% in 2005)
Poland: 54% (up from 43% in 2005)
Hungary: 61% (up from 55% in 2005)
Spain: 68% (up from 54% in 2005)
The contrast between the survey findings in the U.S. and Spain is striking!
Sunday, 4 November 2007
David Trimble's call to stand firm regarding Hamas
Reported by Jonny Paul, Jerusalem Post correspondent in London: "Comparing the Israeli-Palestinian conflict to Northern Ireland is "misleading and demonstrably false," Lord David Trimble, a 1998 Nobel Peace Laureate for his efforts to find a peaceful solution to the conflict in Northern Ireland, said last week. He spoke at the launch in Parliament of his report entitled "Misunderstanding Ulster," published by Conservative Friends of Israel. … The former leader of the Ulster Unionist Party and ex-first minister of Northern Ireland said there had been a "selective reading" of the Northern Ireland conflict that was "misleading and demonstrably false." In many cases, he said, it was more about contemporary agendas in the Middle East than serious analysis of the recent history of Northern Ireland. "Nowhere is the analogy applied more vigorously than in the case of the Israel-Palestinian conflict," Trimble said. "For those eager to inject a creative breakthrough there, the lessons from Northern Ireland are often cited as an inspiration. The foremost expression of this can be seen in the response of many to the growing status and influence of Hamas in recent years. He called on the Middle East Quartet and international community to "stand firm" regarding Hamas ahead of the Annapolis conference next month. "It is essential to recognize that Northern Ireland's peace process operated within a distinct context - and one scarcely repeated elsewhere... this narrative which has been transported - often uncritically - to the Middle East, is fundamentally misleading about the true achievements of the Northern Ireland peace process," Trimble said. "If there is one lesson to learn from Northern Ireland's experience - contrary to what is often recommended in relation to dialogue with Hamas - it is that preconditions were crucial to ending the violence in producing a settlement," he added. … He questioned whether players in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict were seeking victory or accommodation. Whereas the majority in Israel wanted "accommodation," Hamas might still be on the lookout for "victories," he said. Hamas doesn't want accommodation; rather, they have played into the hands of the most intransigent elements in the Middle East, Trimble said." |
Churchill: "It is a question of which civilisation you prefer"
"On 12 March 1937 Churchill was called to give evidence to the Palestine Royal Commission – widely known as the Peel Commission – headed by Lord Peel, a former Secretary of State for India. The purpose of its enquiries was to examine the nature of Britain’s pledge to the Jews and Arabs, and to give suggestions for the future of the Palestine Mandate. …
"Coupland* then complained that the Jewish Agency – set up in 1930 a liaison between the Jews of Palestine and the British Mandate, and headed by David Ben-Gurion – had its representatives in London "and they can speak to the Colonial Office and the Arabs feel on their side they are rather left in the cold. They have not the great engine the Jews have." Churchill replied brusquely, not hiding his preference: "It is a question of which civilisation you prefer"."
* Reginald Coupland, a distinguished historian of the Commonwealth and the Colonies
In Churchill and the Jews, (p.p. 110-119) by Martin Gilbert, Simon & Schuster (2007)
Friday, 2 November 2007
Paris: Portraits of Israeli soldiers defaced by pro-Palestinian protesters
Itzhak Rabin Parc (Paris 12ème), 19 October. The parents of the three soldiers (Gilad Shalit (abducted by Hamas on 25 June 2006), Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev (abducted by Hezbollah on 12 July 2006)) in front of their sons' portraits.
This shameful act of vandalism was carried out, and filmed, on 27 October, by 4 pro-Palestinian 'militants' who made a speech and shouted the usual slogans: "Israeli army, criminal army! Free the prisoners! No no no to occupation! Stop the slaughter of Palestinians!"
Thursday, 1 November 2007
European Union definition of anti-Semitism
European Monitoring Centre on Racism and Xenophobia (EUMC)
The purpose of this document is to provide a practical guide for identifying incidents, collecting data, and supporting the implementation and enforcement of legislation dealing with antisemitism.
Working definition: "Antisemitism is a certain perception of Jews, which may be expressed as hatred toward Jews. Rhetorical and physical manifestations of antisemitism are directed toward Jewish or non-Jewish individuals and/or their property, toward Jewish community institutions and religious facilities."
In addition, such manifestations could also target the state of Israel, conceived as a Jewish collectivity. Antisemitism frequently charges Jews with conspiring to harm humanity, and it is often used to blame Jews for "why things go wrong". It is expressed in speech, writing, visual forms and action, and employs sinister stereotypes and negative character traits.
Contemporary examples of antisemitism in public life, the media, schools, the workplace, and in the religious sphere could, taking into account the overall context, include, but are not limited to:
- Calling for, aiding, or justifying the killing or harming of Jews in the name of a radical ideology or an extremist view of religion.
- Making mendacious, dehumanizing, demonizing, or stereotypical allegations about Jews as such or the power of Jews as collective - such as, especially but not exclusively, the myth about a world Jewish conspiracy or of Jews controlling the media, economy, government or other societal institutions.
- Accusing Jews as a people of being responsible for real and imagined wrongdoing committed by a single Jewish person or group, or even for acts committed by non-Jews.
- Denying the fact, scope, mechanisms (e.g. gas chambers) or intentionality of the genocide of the Jewish people at the hands of National Socialist Germany and it supporters and accomplices during World War II (the Holocaust).
- Accusing the Jews as a people, or Israel as a state, of inventing or exaggerating the Holocaust.
- Accusing Jewish citizens of being more loyal to Israel, or to the alleged priorities of Jews worldwide, than to the interests of their own nations.
Examples of the ways in which antisemitism manifests itself with regard to the state of Israel taking into account the overall context could include:
- Denying the Jewish people their right to self-determination, e.g. by claiming that the existence of a State of Israel is a racist endeavour.
- Applying double standards by requiring of it a behaviour not expected or demanded of any other democratic nation.
- Using the symbols and images associated with classic antisemitism (e.g. claims of Jews killing Jesus or blood libel) to characterize Israel or Israelis.
- Drawing comparisons of contemporary Israeli policy to that of the Nazis.
- Holding Jews collectively responsible for actions of the state of Israel.
However, criticism of Israel similar to that levelled against any other country cannot be regarded as antisemitic.
Antisemitic acts are criminal when they are so defined by law (e.g. denial of the Holocaust or distribution of antisemitic materials in some countries).
Criminal acts are antisemitic when the targets of attacks, whether they are people or property - such as buildings, schools, places of worship and cemeteries - are selected because they are, or are perceived to be, Jewish or linked to Jews.
Antisemitic discrimination is the denial to Jews of opportunities or services available to others and is illegal in many countries.