Agents of Hizbullah and Iran’s Revolutionary Guard have deployed special forces in Venezuela intended to kidnap Jewish businessmen and smuggle them to Lebanon, Israel Radio reported Thursday. An expert on counter-terrorism warned in an interview with The Los Angeles Times that Iranian-backed agents have managed to recruit collaborators among Venezuelan citizens living in the capital Caracas. The collaborators are supposed to observe traffic at the Caracas airport and around it in order to collect information on Jewish travelers there. Hizbullah has strengthened its grasp of Venezuela following the warm relationship that grew between Venezuela and Iran. Experts quoted by the Times warned that Venezuela might become a base out of which Hizbullah could carry out terror attacks.

Well, gentle reader, do not worry! They are only coming for dem Jooz. Those people, after all, are wealthy and they are known nuisances. Hugo Chávez, the Bolivarian Socialist, that malodorous piece of Devil’s excreta has deep ties with Hizbullah. Not only did he allow them to open a regional office in his capital, but his former ambassador to Lebanon collected funds for Nasrallah’s boys. Chávez friendship with every despot and America hater is well documented; he uses his country’s oil wealth not for the benefit of the poor - who put him in power - but to subvert other Latin American countries and put his own puppets in.

For the rest of this post go to: Freedom’s Cost

When it comes to hat’n dem Jooz and sucking their blood, these guys give new meaning to the Yiddish word chutzpah (unparalleled gall)

Gazan Arabs Seek Compensation for Dismissal From Gush Katif Jobs

(IsraelNN.com) Gazan Arabs who were employed by Israeli farmers in Gush Katif until the 2005 eviction of Jews from the region are seeking ways to sue their former employers for “wrongful dismissal” and other employee benefits.

Read the rest on: Freedoms Cost

Although the situation in Iraq has improved tremendously in the last year or so due to the surge, not everyone has been able to benefit from it. In fact, the situation has become worse for quite some Iraqis… namely; Jews. Where there were 130,000 Jews living in Iraq’s capital, Baghdad, 50 years ago, there are now fewer than 10 left. (more…)

There has been rumbling here and there during the primary season that should Barack Obama get the nomination, there could be a massive exodus of Jewish voters to McCain. The assuption appeared to be that

1. Jews only care about Israel, no other topic interests them.

2. Your level of being pro-Israel can only be counted by your willingness to bomb Iran and/or Palestinians.

Your guess of where they got this brilliant analysis is as good as mine, but according to Gallup, that disastrous loss of an incredibly loyal constituency is not supported by polling data.

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Although I have no problem whatsoever with the fact that Mr Livingstone will stop being the mayor of London, I am not happy at all. First of all, I have no idea who that Boris guy really is, I mainly know him as some sort of clown ( his hair reminds me somehow of a Dutch clown/parliamentarian/cineast ). What really bothers me, though, is the fact that ‘Red Ken’ now will have a lot of spare time, and many retired politicians and other public figures who have both an obsession with Israel ( or Jews ) and too much time on their hands have turned their obsession into an annoying hobby. Anyway, congratulations Mr Johnson, and good luck to all Londoners with their new mayor.

In Holland, these days you will hear and read comments about Israel and the Jews that - unless my memory deceives me - you did not hear and read ten, fifteen years ago. I do not know if what is behind that is anti-Semitism ( old or new, indigenous or ‘imported’ ), anti-Zionism, an anonymity ( provided by the internet ) that did not exist or was not very common yet in the 1990s, the effect of 9/11 and Islamist terror, a false sense of solidarity with the Palestinians or a combination of all that. Still, in the Dutch online media which offer the possibility of providing feedback you will almost always encounter anti-Jewish verbal violence whenever a subject comes up that involves Israel or the Jews.

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O no, I’m pretty sure that Palestinians don’t hate Jews but Zionists. Look, for instance, at this: “Jews are a people who cannot be trusted,” Imam Yousif al-Zahar of Hamas told the faithful. “They have been traitors to all agreements — go back to history. Their fate is their vanishing. Look what they are doing to us.” (more…)

A leading Rabbi in Germany has condemned Pope Benedict’s Good Friday Prayer, saying that the prayer “is insulting to Jews.” According to Rabbi Walter Homolka, the Catholic Church has a Jewish problem; the prayer is just one of its manifestations. (more…)

A fascinating article appeared over at the Telegraph about an Orthodox Jew Reva Mann. She was born in an orthodox home; her father was a rabbi. She was raised according to Orthodox Judaism’s strict rules, but rebelled. She lost her virginity when she was 15 years old, in the synagogue, after which she shouted “Hallelujah” from the bima (pulpit).” When she found a non-Jewish boyfriend, her father had had enough and kicked her out of his house. (more…)

A reader e-mailed me the following fascinating article at the Jerusalem Post. The subject of the article is the treatment of Jews throughout Islamic history and how Muslim attitudes towards Jews have changed in the 20th century.

The overall point is that for a long time, Jews were treated much better in the Islamic world than they were in Christian Europe. Yes, Jews and Christians were second class citizens, and yes, they had to recognize the authority of Islam, but they were a ‘protected people’ “who enjoyed security of life and property, religious freedom, freedom from forced conversion, communal autonomy, and equality in the marketplace.” (more…)

Wow. That’s anti-Semitic alright.

The more I read opinions from far-leftists on the Middle East, and especially on the Israel-Palestine conflict, the more convinced I grow that the far-left has serious Antisemitism issues.

Some posters at Daily Kos seem to agree and - rightfully - waste no time distancing themselves from My Left Wing.

I never read anything like that, except for in Nazi propaganda (from before and during World War II).

The NY Post reported a very cool story today:

Brooklyn man whose “Happy Hanukkah” greeting landed him in the hospital said he was saved from a gang of Jew-bashing goons aboard a packed Q train by a total stranger - a modest Muslim from Bangladesh.

Walter Adler was touched that Hassan Askari jumped to his aid while a group of thugs allegedly pummeled and taunted him and his three friends.

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I have to say that I was pleasantly pleased after having read Diane Ackerman’s latest non-fiction book, The Zookeeper’s Wife. This is my first time reading anything of hers, and I was also surprised to find that she has talent as a poet. I say ‘surprised’ because more often than not, those who claim to have written poetry really don’t succeed at it very much at all, but Ackerman, who has a nature bent to her work, possesses both literary quality and a good sense of historical and scientific background, which makes this book work. The story is about a Polish married couple named Jan and Antonia Zabinski who also run the zoo in Warsaw. Set during World War II, what we get is not just a war story of Jews hiding in the zoo from the Nazis, but also we are shown how the animals were affected during this period. (more…)

I just finished reading Diane Ackerman’s The Zookeeper’s Wife that talks about a Polish couple who hides Jews in their Warsaw Zoo during the war. It’s non-fiction, and I’ll have a review up soon enough.

Tonight is the Ken Burns documentary–The War, which I plan on watching. Anyway, going back to the subject line, one of the things she spoke about in the book was an anti-Semitic children’s book called The Poison Mushroom. I remember seeing this book behind glass at the Holocaust Museum. The front image is that of a mushroom with a face on it with an overly large nose. In the book, the German children are all drawn cute and blond, while the Jews are ugly, have mean faces and huge noses. (more…)

It’s the same everywhere, isn’t it?

The above “personnel advertisement” is imaginary. But it sums up the mood in Ankara, as parties rush to recruit candidates that will burnish and balance their images at home and abroad. The search is on for so-called “vitrin” candidates, a Turkish word for “window front” that might as well translate as “showcase.”

As general elections approach, virtually all political parties launched the hunt for new faces to promote themselves, signing up — or trying to sign up — former ambassadors, military officers, businessmen, football players and even wrestlers. And now, minority groups.

The Turkish Daily News has learned that a Turkish citizen of Armenian origins, Kagem Karabetyan, is being mentioned as a candidate, most likely for the traditionalist Justice and Development Party (AKP), known for its roots in political Islam. Karabetyan apparently wants to run for election but is still awaiting a formal invitation. With or without Karabetyan, the AKP is expected to have a Christian candidate on its lists, but his name is not expected to be on the top of the list, reducing the likelihood of ultimate election.

The CHP: “We should encourage members of minority communities to become candidates. Greeks, Armenians and Jews should be represented in the Turkish Parliament as well. There are many people who are struggling for Turkey but we cannot reach them because of unexpected elections.”

In other words, no time to find a few good Christian candidates.

Here is my take on it: a person should not be elected, or made a candidate, because that person is a Christian, or a Muslim, or a Jew, etc. A person should be (s)elected because that person is the right person for the job. What’s relevant is whether the individual is qualified or not.

You got to love Hamas: no matter how much left-wingers say that we should Reason with Hamas, no matter how much people say that Israel and the West should negotiate with Hamas, the terrorist turned political organization keeps on showing its true colors:

The extermination of Jews is Allah’s will and is for the benefit of all humanity, according to an article in the Hamas paper, Al-Risalah. The author of the article, Kan’an Ubayd, explains that the suicide operations carried out by Hamas are being committed solely to fulfill Allah’s wishes. Furthermore, Allah demanded this action, because “the extermination of the Jews is good for the inhabitants of the worlds.”

An excerpt from the article:

“We find more than once condemnation and denunciation to the resistance operations and bombings [suicide attacks], carried out by Hamas and the Palestinian resistance branches. There is no other choice but to use restraint regarding the condemnation, the attaching of the label of terror [to “resistance”], and the assembling of conferences [for] condemnation [of the attacks]. [This] so that everyone will know, that we did this only because our lord commanded so, “I did it not of my own accord” [*] and so that people will know that the extermination of Jews is good for the inhabitants of the worlds on a land, to which Allah gave his blessing for the sake of the inhabitants of the worlds.”
[Al-Risalah, April 23, 2007]

Verbal gaffe, anyone?

A fascinating interview at Pajamas Media with Dr. Arieh Eldad, who is a member of the Knesset (Moledet Party) and an Israel Defense Forces Brigadier-General (reserves). It is the second installment of this interview, the third will follow later. I seemingly missed the first part, but better late than never.

Watch it.

Wartime Encounter is a little book (only 147 pages long) written by Harm de Blij, which tells, in the words of Peter Gould, “of a time, place and circumstance that must never be forgotten.” This time: the second world war. The place the Netherlands. The circumstances: occupied by one of the most ruthless, brutal forces / ideologues the world has ever seen; the Nazis.

De Blij was only five years old when the war started, 10 when the Germans capitulated. Before the war, the De Blij family was – in essence – one happy family. Little Harm was constantly surrounded by music (his parents were both gifted musicians), love and – in a good way – quiet. They lived in Schiedam, close to, even a suburb of, the Netherlands’ second largest city of Rotterdam.

This idyllic childhood comes to an abrupt end by the sounds of Nazi airplanes flying over, dropping bombs on Rotterdam: destroying the inner city completely – only the Church remained standing – and killing as many Dutch citizens as possible. The destruction caused the Netherlands, whose forces fought back passionately up till that time, to surrender.

Life changed instantly: the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra, in which Harm’s father played, was not to assemble for a long time to come. Some members were killed May 14. Others were not allowed to play in the orchestra any longer because they were Jews (the persecution had begun). Financial problems forced the De Blij’s to move.

De Blij describes how life changed, not just for him, but for the Dutch people as a whole: opposition was oppressed, signs of patriotism forbidden, Jews were persecuted, those who helped Jews were arrested, and, finally, one could not trust anyone outside of one’s immediate family.

With a sad undertone De Blij describes how he was not allowed to talk to anyone about family affairs. The NSB (Nationalist Socialist Union) came into existence, existing out of traitors and Nazi collaborators. Many an NSB member spied on his own neighbors. Not only did they spy themselves, they also used their children. Children have, as De Blij explains, the tendency to brag about their parents when those parents do something patriotic, say being active in the resistance. So, NSB members told their children to tell them whenever when of their classmates brags about such activities by his or her father and / or mother. As De Blij writes “many a father was taken away” because children said too much.
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