So I just realised that yesterday's article was yesterday's news, ie it was more than 6 months old. Still. I wonder now that Hitchens has had some 6 months to think about it -- he finally came up with the 'apology' demanded by Cole for this article at Slate?
I doubt it very much.
and, if the issue of Ahmadinejad and his true intentions toward Israel should come up, that Hitchens article at Slate is a must-read: http://www.slate.com/id/2140947/fr/rss
If you have a fast connection, this is a must-see, David Zucker's Iraq Study Group ad: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-w77sLtz754
Friday, December 29, 2006
Wednesday, December 27, 2006
What did Ahmadinejad really say about Israel?
This from Juan Cole's site, where he is apparently having a tiff with Christopher Hitchens:
...I object to the characterization of Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as having "threatened to wipe Israel off the map." -- Juan Cole
see also: This article in Wiki
This article from AlJazeera: says:
Ahmadinejad: Wipe Israel off map
{I myself assume that AlJazeera would tell it like it is--J}
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has openly called for Israel to be wiped off the map.
Ahmadinejad addressed students at a conference
"The establishment of the Zionist regime was a move by the world oppressor against the Islamic world," the president told a conference in Tehran on Wednesday, entitled The World without Zionism.
"The skirmishes in the occupied land are part of a war of destiny. The outcome of hundreds of years of war will be defined in Palestinian land," he said.
"As the Imam said, Israel must be wiped off the map," said Ahmadinejad, referring to Iran's revolutionary leader Ayat Allah Khomeini.
His comments were the first time in years that such a high-ranking Iranian official has called for Israel's eradication, even though such slogans are still regularly used at government rallies.
Call for unity
Addressing about 4000 students gathered in an Interior Ministry conference hall, Ahmadinejad also called for Palestinian unity, resistance and a point "where the annihilation of the Zionist regime will come".
Khatami was in favour of 'dialogue among civilisations'
"The Islamic umma (community) will not allow its historic enemy to live in its heartland," he said in the fiery speech that centred on a "historic war between the oppressor and the world of Islam".
The term "oppressor" is used by the clerical government to refer to the United States.
"We should not settle for a piece of land," he said of Israel's pullout from the Gaza Strip.
"Anyone who signs a treaty which recognises the entity of Israel means he has signed the surrender of the Muslim world," Ahmadinejad said.
"Any leaders in the Islamic umma who recognise Israel face the wrath of their own people."
Cole says: "Ahmadinejad was not making a threat, he was quoting a saying of Khomeini and urging that pro-Palestinian activists in Iran not give up hope-- that the occupation of Jerusalem was no more a continued inevitability than had been the hegemony of the Shah's government."
...I object to the characterization of Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as having "threatened to wipe Israel off the map." -- Juan Cole
see also: This article in Wiki
This article from AlJazeera: says:
Ahmadinejad: Wipe Israel off map
{I myself assume that AlJazeera would tell it like it is--J}
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has openly called for Israel to be wiped off the map.
Ahmadinejad addressed students at a conference
"The establishment of the Zionist regime was a move by the world oppressor against the Islamic world," the president told a conference in Tehran on Wednesday, entitled The World without Zionism.
"The skirmishes in the occupied land are part of a war of destiny. The outcome of hundreds of years of war will be defined in Palestinian land," he said.
"As the Imam said, Israel must be wiped off the map," said Ahmadinejad, referring to Iran's revolutionary leader Ayat Allah Khomeini.
His comments were the first time in years that such a high-ranking Iranian official has called for Israel's eradication, even though such slogans are still regularly used at government rallies.
Call for unity
Addressing about 4000 students gathered in an Interior Ministry conference hall, Ahmadinejad also called for Palestinian unity, resistance and a point "where the annihilation of the Zionist regime will come".
Khatami was in favour of 'dialogue among civilisations'
"The Islamic umma (community) will not allow its historic enemy to live in its heartland," he said in the fiery speech that centred on a "historic war between the oppressor and the world of Islam".
The term "oppressor" is used by the clerical government to refer to the United States.
"We should not settle for a piece of land," he said of Israel's pullout from the Gaza Strip.
"Anyone who signs a treaty which recognises the entity of Israel means he has signed the surrender of the Muslim world," Ahmadinejad said.
"Any leaders in the Islamic umma who recognise Israel face the wrath of their own people."
Cole says: "Ahmadinejad was not making a threat, he was quoting a saying of Khomeini and urging that pro-Palestinian activists in Iran not give up hope-- that the occupation of Jerusalem was no more a continued inevitability than had been the hegemony of the Shah's government."
NABKA is the Arabs' Fault, some Pals Acknowledge
....will they be murdered soon for 'collaboration?'
Palestinian Columnist Admits Arab Leaders Responsible For The Flight Of Arabs From Israel In 1948
December 26, 2006
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Morton A. Klein, 212-481-1500
A columnist in the Palestinian Authority’s (PA) official television paper, Al-Hayat Al-Jadida , has admitted that it was Arab leaders who were responsible for the flight of Arabs from the new State of Israel in 1948. The columnist, Mahmud Al-Habbash, recently wrote that in 1948, Palestinian Arabs left their homes willingly under the instruction of their own Arab leaders and their false promises of a prompt return. “The leaders and the elites promised us at the beginning of the 'Catastrophe' [the establishment of Israel and the creation of refugee problem] in 1948, that the duration of the exile will not be long, and that it will not last more than a few days or months, and afterwards the refugees will return to their homes, which most of them did not leave only until they put their trust in those 'Arkuvian' ['Arkuvian,' after Arkuv -- a figure from Arab tradition -- who was known for breaking his promises and for his lies] promises made by the leaders and the political elites. Afterwards, days passed, months, years and decades, and the promises were lost with the strain of the succession of events” ( Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, December 13, 2006, courtesy of Palestinian Media Watch).
PA organs like Al-Hayat Al-Jadida generally demonize Israelis and are replete with viciously anti-Semitic articles. However, this is the most recent of a number of occasions in which the truth about the 1948 refugees, which is completely contrary to the official Palestinian version which holds that Israelis deliberately expelled peaceable Palestinians, has been admitted. Another recent example appeared in the newspaper, Al-Ayyam, in which Asmaa Jabir Balasimah Um Hasan, a Palestinian Arab women who fled Israel in 1948, stated, “We heard sounds of explosions and of gunfire at the beginning of the summer in the year of the 'Catastrophe' [the establishment of Israel and the expulsion from the land in 1948]. They told us: The Jews attacked our region and it is better to evacuate the village and return, after the battle is over. And indeed there were among us [who fled Israel] those who left a fire burning under the pot, those who left their flock [of sheep] and those who left their money and gold behind, based on the assumption that we would return after a few hours.” ( Al-Ayyam newspaper, May 16, 2006, courtesy of Palestinian Media Watch).
ZOA National President Morton A. Klein said, “These admissions, like others before it, indicate not only that the official Palestinian version that Israel deliberately expelled Palestinian Arabs is simply a false propaganda claim calculated to delegitimize Israel, but that at least some Palestinian Arabs know this to be the case, even if the occasions on which they admit the truth are rare. The truth of the matter is that those responsible for the Palestinian refugee problem are those Arab leaders who insisted on going to war with Israel in an effort to abort her creation, not Israel, which fought for to preserve her existence.”
ZOA
Palestinian Columnist Admits Arab Leaders Responsible For The Flight Of Arabs From Israel In 1948
December 26, 2006
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Morton A. Klein, 212-481-1500
A columnist in the Palestinian Authority’s (PA) official television paper, Al-Hayat Al-Jadida , has admitted that it was Arab leaders who were responsible for the flight of Arabs from the new State of Israel in 1948. The columnist, Mahmud Al-Habbash, recently wrote that in 1948, Palestinian Arabs left their homes willingly under the instruction of their own Arab leaders and their false promises of a prompt return. “The leaders and the elites promised us at the beginning of the 'Catastrophe' [the establishment of Israel and the creation of refugee problem] in 1948, that the duration of the exile will not be long, and that it will not last more than a few days or months, and afterwards the refugees will return to their homes, which most of them did not leave only until they put their trust in those 'Arkuvian' ['Arkuvian,' after Arkuv -- a figure from Arab tradition -- who was known for breaking his promises and for his lies] promises made by the leaders and the political elites. Afterwards, days passed, months, years and decades, and the promises were lost with the strain of the succession of events” ( Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, December 13, 2006, courtesy of Palestinian Media Watch).
PA organs like Al-Hayat Al-Jadida generally demonize Israelis and are replete with viciously anti-Semitic articles. However, this is the most recent of a number of occasions in which the truth about the 1948 refugees, which is completely contrary to the official Palestinian version which holds that Israelis deliberately expelled peaceable Palestinians, has been admitted. Another recent example appeared in the newspaper, Al-Ayyam, in which Asmaa Jabir Balasimah Um Hasan, a Palestinian Arab women who fled Israel in 1948, stated, “We heard sounds of explosions and of gunfire at the beginning of the summer in the year of the 'Catastrophe' [the establishment of Israel and the expulsion from the land in 1948]. They told us: The Jews attacked our region and it is better to evacuate the village and return, after the battle is over. And indeed there were among us [who fled Israel] those who left a fire burning under the pot, those who left their flock [of sheep] and those who left their money and gold behind, based on the assumption that we would return after a few hours.” ( Al-Ayyam newspaper, May 16, 2006, courtesy of Palestinian Media Watch).
ZOA National President Morton A. Klein said, “These admissions, like others before it, indicate not only that the official Palestinian version that Israel deliberately expelled Palestinian Arabs is simply a false propaganda claim calculated to delegitimize Israel, but that at least some Palestinian Arabs know this to be the case, even if the occasions on which they admit the truth are rare. The truth of the matter is that those responsible for the Palestinian refugee problem are those Arab leaders who insisted on going to war with Israel in an effort to abort her creation, not Israel, which fought for to preserve her existence.”
ZOA
Wednesday, December 20, 2006
Jimmy plays fast and loose with the truth
From a recent interview with Jimmy Carter regarding his new anti-Israel screed.
SPIEGEL: You also mentioned the hatred for the United States throughout the Arab world which has ensued as a result of the invasion of Iraq. Given this circumstance, does it come as any surprise that Washington's call for democracy in the Middle East has been discredited?
Carter: No, as a matter of fact, the concerns I exposed have gotten even worse now with the United States supporting and encouraging Israel in its unjustified attack on Lebanon.
SPIEGEL: But wasn't Israel the first to get attacked?
Carter: I don't think that Israel has any legal or moral justification for their massive bombing of the entire nation of Lebanon. What happened is that Israel is holding almost 10,000 prisoners, so when the militants in Lebanon or in Gaza take one or two soldiers, Israel looks upon this as a justification for an attack on the civilian population of Lebanon and Gaza. I do not think that's justified, no.
Spiegel Interview with Jimmah here
*********************************************
Is the "10,000 prisoners" true or false ??
From WIKI:
Lebanese prisoners in Israel
There are according to Hezbollah's list (see below) currently FOUR known Lebanese citizens in Israeli prisons. Hezbollah has demanded the release of these prisoners as as condition for releasing Israeli reservists Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev, captured in the raid which sparked the 2006 Israel-Lebanon conflict. Israel admits to holding just three Lebanese prisoners.[1]
1. Samir Kuntar is serving four life sentences for murder for a 1979 attack on a civilian apartment block in Nahariya, Israel.
2. Nissim Nasser is an Israeli of Lebanese descent who was arrested in 2002 for spying for Hezbollah.[1]
3. Yehia Skaff is accused of participating in the 1978 Coastal Road massacre. Israel has not confirmed that it is holding Skaff, but according to Hezbollah, several former Lebanese detainees claim to have seen him in prison.
4.Ali Faratan is a fisherman.[1] Hezbollah gave no reason for his alleged detention. FROM WIKI
Reading on in Wiki one learns that, though the accuracy of these numbers is disputed, the Lebanese Permanent Representative to the UN claims there are 12 others, and there are a possible 12 more.
Carter's 10,000 Lebanese prisoners has been diminished to Hezbollah's 4, Lebanon's Permanent Representative's 12 and an assortment of uncatergorized 12, for a total of 28.
Jimmah was off by mere 9,972. In his assertion that Israel had no moral justification for its retaliation against Lebanon, he was forced to INVENT. I guess the truth simply does not serve the cause that Jimmah does.
Now, as nobody points out, if a simple numerical tally is beyond the peanut farmer's comprehension what about the more complex/controversial issues such as his allusion to the aparthied stain he so generously brushes Israel with?
Jimmy Carter fell into his Nobel Prize by actions precipitated by Sadat/Begin without his two peanuts' worth. It is sad that Carter is being abused by his own prejudices.
Jimmah, Jimmah, you not only lusted in your heart, but you bore false witness.
now you must bear the consequences...
Tuesday, December 19, 2006
Online Book -- Kahane
http://www.kahane.org/books/revolution.htm
ISRAEL: REVOLUTION OR REFERENDUM?
By RABBI MEIR KAHANE
Published in 1990. Rabbi Meir Kahane's last work which was published in 1990 shortly before his assassination. In this book, Rabbi Kahane outlines a blueprint of survival for Israel based on an emergency national referendum.
An important work.
fmi> http://www.kahane.org/
Thursday, December 14, 2006
New Book Reviews
MUST-READ on Jimmy Carter's New Book --
Carter's Palestine-Israel Book: It's Even Worse Than They Say - Gidon D. Remba
Carter's top 10 misrepresentations reveal systematic anti-Israel bias and a Manichean view of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict
And while we are checking out the new anti-Israel books, read a review of the forthcoming Mearsheimer and Walt screed.
More on the Carter screed tomorrow...
Carter's Palestine-Israel Book: It's Even Worse Than They Say - Gidon D. Remba
Carter's top 10 misrepresentations reveal systematic anti-Israel bias and a Manichean view of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict
A close reading of Carter's Palestine-Israel book leads to the inescapable conclusion: it's even worse than the critics say. The book is replete with major errors of fact, all systematically biased against Israel. Carter never makes a single factual error that works in Israel's favor, or against the Palestinians. He offers an abundance of misstatements and distortions that paint Israel black.
...Throughout the book Carter unfailingly shows deep sympathy for Palestinian perceptions, while displaying little understanding for Israeli attitudes or needs. The book suffers from a deep and uncritical pro-Palestinian bias that makes a mockery of Carter's pretensions to fair arbiter and peacemaker.
And while we are checking out the new anti-Israel books, read a review of the forthcoming Mearsheimer and Walt screed.
You've read the study, now you will get to read the book. Farrar, Straus and Giroux have paid $750,000 in advance for the book of the century, "The Israel Lobby." If you liked "Israel Lobby: The Study" you'll love "Israel Lobby: the book." It is sure to be accompanied by hundreds of interviews and write-ups in which the authors insist that nobody is allowed to criticize Israel. It will sell hundreds of thousands of copies to folks who insist that nobody is allowed to criticize Israel.When you've read read the book, you'll get to see the movie. Mel Gibson will produce it and star in it. It promises to be a bigger blockbuster than "The Passion." Central casting at a major studio is already searching for a character who will play the nefarious representative of the "Israel Lobby" pictured below.
Go read and enjoy
The contradiction is amazing. Why did the powerful Israeli Lobby permit Farrar Strass to publish such a book?
More on the Carter screed tomorrow...
Masjid al-Aqsa cannot be the Far Mosque, can it?
TIMELINE
958-951 BC Solomon's Temple built
587 BC Solomon's Temple destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar's Babylonian armies
37-34 BC Second Temple built (King Herod)
70 AD Second Temple destroyed by General Titus and his Roman soldiers
572 AD Muhammad born
622 AD Muhammad's "night journey" and mir'aj
632 AD Muhammad dies
638 AD Muslim jihadists conquer Jerusalem, taking it from the Byzantines
688-691 AD Dome of the Rock built by Amir Abd-ul-Malik
715 AD Masjid al-Aqsa built by the Ummayads
QUESTIONS FOR DR JAMAL BADAWI (or any other Muslim)
In light of these dates:-
What Temple did Muhammad visit, enter and pray at, before ascending to heaven?
Seeing that the Qur'an mentions a journey of Muhammad's to a mosque that did not exist during his lifetime, how can Surah 17:001 possibly have it, and Muhammad, In Jerusalem???
958-951 BC Solomon's Temple built
587 BC Solomon's Temple destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar's Babylonian armies
37-34 BC Second Temple built (King Herod)
70 AD Second Temple destroyed by General Titus and his Roman soldiers
572 AD Muhammad born
622 AD Muhammad's "night journey" and mir'aj
632 AD Muhammad dies
638 AD Muslim jihadists conquer Jerusalem, taking it from the Byzantines
688-691 AD Dome of the Rock built by Amir Abd-ul-Malik
715 AD Masjid al-Aqsa built by the Ummayads
QUESTIONS FOR DR JAMAL BADAWI (or any other Muslim)
In light of these dates:-
What Temple did Muhammad visit, enter and pray at, before ascending to heaven?
Seeing that the Qur'an mentions a journey of Muhammad's to a mosque that did not exist during his lifetime, how can Surah 17:001 possibly have it, and Muhammad, In Jerusalem???
Sunday, December 10, 2006
Tuesday, December 05, 2006
Just to laugh a little
Breasts Not Bombs:
You have to see this
Chase put up some funny stuff here
You have to see this
Chase put up some funny stuff here
- including
"Muslims Demand Prayer Room In Nasa Moon Base"
& a neat spoof on the imam incident
Be sure to read the Lou Dobbs Interview.
===============
For some serious (and always straightforward) commentary from Cal Thomas, check out: The Rumsfeld Memo and Mine
Friday, December 01, 2006
Israel, Uranium, Lebanon, Fisk; Lies, Lies, and more Lies
Camera's Blog came out with this today, debunking the charge that Israel used uranium weaponry in the latest conflagration.
I had been following this since it originally began being bantered about. Fisk's 'evidence' is all garnered from the work of a Chris Busby, presumably a physicist specialising in Uranium, and a member of the Green Party.
The following 2 web pages lay out his methodology in relation to an argument with a detractor named Dan Fahey, also apparently someone with impressive letters behind his name.
breakingwinds
breakingwinds2
On the second page "breakingwinds2" [is he trying to tell us something?, lol], Busby explains his methodology and claims he found, NOT depleted uranium, but ! ENRICHED URANIUM.
We are of course waiting with bated breath for the further results, as rumours fly faster than bullets around here.
In the meantime, Fisk and others have lost no time in spreading the story, true to the old adage that a lie will get halfway around the world before the truth gets its shoes on. If you don't believe it, Google it You will even find this story! Confirmed: Israel Nuked Lebanon!
But is it true? The skeptic delves.
The first debunking article I found was this one: http://www.laka.org/info/publicaties/vu/2006-lebanon-eng.html
Press release, Amsterdam, 12th October, 2006
Depleted Uranium (DU) munitions used in Lebanon?
So, so far we have the UN, and a human rights group using scientific methods and not being able to find this enriched uranium at all!
Then the other day this:
So, now we have the UN, and a human rights group, and the National Council for Scientific Research in Lebanon and none are able to find this uranium at all! Those who claim, with Busby and the world of anti-Israel bloggers, that Israel "nuked" Lebanon have not a whit more evidence to advance their 'cause'. Meanwhile we are hoping that Mr Busby will hurry with his further evidence, or in lieu of that, acknowledge his errors in the first one, so that Mr Fisk and others can correct the record.
rotflmao
Anti-Israel agitator-cum-journalist Robert Fisk has a habit of fabricating stories about Israeli atrocities. Recently, he speculates that Israel has developed and used a "secret new uranium-based weapon" in Lebanon this summer "Mystery of Israel's Secret Uranium Bomb," Oct. 28, 2006, Fisk cites alleged results of tests on soil samples collected from bomb craters in Lebanon. These tests were conducted by Chris Busby, the British Scientific Secretary of the European Committee on Radiation Risk — a group of scientists who believe that internal radiation emitters, especially depleted uranium (DU), are the main cause of the world wide cancer "epidemic."
Fisk's piece reads like science fiction — and apparently it was. Experts from the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) released a statement on November 8, stating that they had found:
no evidence of penetrators or metal made of DU or other radioactive material. In addition, no DU shrapnel, or other radioactive residue was found. The analysis of all smear samples taken shows no DU, nor enriched Uranium nor higher than natural uranium content in the samples.
I had been following this since it originally began being bantered about. Fisk's 'evidence' is all garnered from the work of a Chris Busby, presumably a physicist specialising in Uranium, and a member of the Green Party.
The following 2 web pages lay out his methodology in relation to an argument with a detractor named Dan Fahey, also apparently someone with impressive letters behind his name.
breakingwinds
breakingwinds2
On the second page "breakingwinds2" [is he trying to tell us something?, lol], Busby explains his methodology and claims he found, NOT depleted uranium, but ! ENRICHED URANIUM.
Mr Busby says on the same page: "The air filter results will appear shortly. ....We still have some of this sample and are conducting further tests e.g. U-236. .....And as you will discover shortly, it is also elsewhere in the country."4. Both methods showed the presence of ENRICHED URANIUM. This was unexpected. Dan Fahey has accused us of finding what we set out to find. This is untrue. We set out to look for DU on the basis of what we knew about the radiation levels reported. We actually found EU.
5..It is now suggested that the Enriched Uranium is ‘only slightly enriched’. This is untrue. We do not know what the level of enrichment is, since we are looking at a soil sample which would have had normal uranium present. If we allow for that the enrichment ratio is about 100 which is the input mix that can be used for some nuclear reactors.
We are of course waiting with bated breath for the further results, as rumours fly faster than bullets around here.
In the meantime, Fisk and others have lost no time in spreading the story, true to the old adage that a lie will get halfway around the world before the truth gets its shoes on. If you don't believe it, Google it You will even find this story! Confirmed: Israel Nuked Lebanon!
But is it true? The skeptic delves.
The first debunking article I found was this one: http://www.laka.org/info/publicaties/vu/2006-lebanon-eng.html
Press release, Amsterdam, 12th October, 2006
Depleted Uranium (DU) munitions used in Lebanon?
In order to verify or to falsify the assertions that DU has been used, Henk van der Keur from the Laka Foundation brought a visit to Lebanon as part of a delegation from the Amsterdam based organisation Dromen, Denk, Durven, Doen (Dreaming, Thinking, to Dare, to Do), among others working on human rights issues and questions on the Middle East.
[...]
At his home Kobeissi had collected tens of samples from shrapnel and soil from more than 50 different places. None of these samples measured a higher radiation dose rate than the background radiation dose rate. The samples were measured with a calibrated geiger counter from Laka Foundation.
[...]
In short, there is no reason to believe that DU weaponry has been used by Israel during the July/August 2006 war.
So, so far we have the UN, and a human rights group using scientific methods and not being able to find this enriched uranium at all!
Then the other day this:
Lebanese Scientist: Southern Lebanon Radiation-Free
12:46 Nov 03, '06 / 12 Cheshvan 5767
(IsraelNN.com) There are no signs of radiation as a result of IDF bombing the war against Hizbullah terrorists, a Lebanese scientist has told Voice of Lebanon radio. "We stick to the fact that uranium-based munitions were not used during the recent war; we have not detected any radiation proving the presence of depleted uranium," said Mouin Hamzeh, president the National Council for Scientific Research.
Hizbullah terrorists, environmental and human rights groups have claimed that samples of bombed out craters showed high radiation levels.
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/news.php3?id=114786
And finally, while I am no nuclear scientist, there is a common-sense analysis of the issue here at the shlemazl blog, along with some excellent comments on the Fisk article.
So, now we have the UN, and a human rights group, and the National Council for Scientific Research in Lebanon and none are able to find this uranium at all! Those who claim, with Busby and the world of anti-Israel bloggers, that Israel "nuked" Lebanon have not a whit more evidence to advance their 'cause'. Meanwhile we are hoping that Mr Busby will hurry with his further evidence, or in lieu of that, acknowledge his errors in the first one, so that Mr Fisk and others can correct the record.
rotflmao
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