Shut down UNRWA! part 1

This is a call to action, and you won't find a lot of those in this blog. It's time to raise awareness around the world to the nature of this organization and its actions. It's time everybody knew the difference between what this body claims to do and what it actually does.

It has nothing to do with your political persuasion. Whether you're 'left' or 'right', pro-Israeli or pro-Palestinian, pro-Two-State-Solution or pro-One-State-Solution.

It's time for everyone to unite and call to shut down UNRWA!

Make no mistake, this call is not only because of the recent developments. It's not only because of the suspicion that the Hamas mortar that killed a 4-year-old boy on Friday, was fired from an UNRWA school. It's not only because of the fact that terror rockets were found on three different occasions in UNRWA schools in Gaza. It's not only because UNRWA returned the missiles to the "local authorities" - i.e. Hamas terrorists on at least one of the occasions. Make no mistake, these developments are horrific, and could certainly be enough to make such a call, or at least a call to launch a serious investigation into UNRWA and its conduct. But the reasons to shut down this corrupt facility go way deeper than that.

UNRWA - United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, or as their logo states in short, the UN Agency for Palestine Refugees, and The UNHCR - The United Nations High Comissioner for Refugees, or as their logo states in short, The UN Refugee Agency, were created roughly at the same time and, you'd think, for the same reasons.

Notice any difference?

The difference, however, is not only in the logo and the tagline. Lets see what the agencies tell us about themselves in their own websites!

UNHCR mandate: "The agency is mandated to lead and co-ordinate international action to protect refugees and resolve refugee problems worldwide."

UNRWA mandate: "We provide assistance and protection for some 5 million registered Palestine refugees to help them achieve their full potential in human development."

UNHCR statement of purpose: "Its primary purpose is to safeguard the rights and well-being of refugees. It strives to ensure that everyone can exercise the right to seek asylum and find safe refuge in another State, with the option to return home voluntarily, integrate locally or to resettle in a third country."

UNRWA statement of purpose: "The Agency’s services encompass education, health care, relief and social services, camp infrastructure and improvement, microfinance and emergency assistance, including in times of armed conflict."

UNHCR defines refugees through the legislation of the 1951 Geneva Refugee Convention: "a refugee is a person who is outside his or her country of nationality or habitual residence; has a well-founded fear of being persecuted because of his or her race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion; and is unable or unwilling to avail him — or herself of the protection of that country, or to return there, for fear of persecution." They also add that: "A person may no longer be a refugee when the basis for his or her refugee status ceases to exist. This may occur when, for example, refugees voluntary repatriate to their home countries once the situation there permits such return. It may also occur when refugees integrate or become naturalized in their host countries and stay permanently."

UNRWA has its own, unique definition, as it proudly states: "UNRWA is unique in terms of its long-standing commitment to one group of refugees. It has contributed to the welfare and human development of four generations of Palestine refugees, defined as “persons whose normal place of residence was Palestine during the period 1 June 1946 to 15 May 1948, and who lost both home and means of livelihood as a result of the 1948 conflict.” The descendants of Palestine refugee males, including legally adopted children, are also eligible for registration."

UNHCR in figures: Around 8,600 employees, dealing with some 34 million refugees worldwide.

UNRWA in figures: More than 30,000 employees, only some 200 of them are not "Palestinian refugees" themselves, dealing with some 5 million "Palestine refugees".

UNHCR achievements: "In more than six decades, the agency has helped tens of millions of people restart their lives."

UNRWA achievements: "When the Agency began operations in 1950, it was responding to the needs of about 750,000 Palestine refugees. Today, some 5 million Palestine refugees are eligible for UNRWA services."

UNHCR (left) and UNRWA. More than a cosmetic difference.

Got it?

There are two kinds of refugees in the world: "Palestine refugees" and all other refugees. One agency is busy resettling refugees, another simply "takes care of them". One agency solves refugee problems, another perpetuates them. 

One group of refugees are the immediate individuals in need, another group passes their "refugee status" on to their children, grand children and grand-grand children. One group of refugees has to prove it was driven outside of their country of nationality or habitual residence, another has only to prove they resided in British Palestine for two years before the war (sorry, "indigenous Palestinian people" enthusiasts!). One group of refugees is dependant on objective criteria, another group is not dependant on anyhting at all. For example, it can have multi-millionaire "refugees", "refugees" who are already citizens of third countries, etc. One group seeks to get rid of its refugee status, another group seeks to join in by all means.

Unbelievable? Mind-blowing? Disturbing? Sickening? All of the above?

You're goddamn right!

After all it's not every day you get undeniable proof  of UN's double standards, hypocrisy, basic disregard of its own legislation and of any human decency whatsoever in its regard to the Israeli-Arab conflict directly from the horse's mouth!

So how did it ever come to this? How was UNRWA established? Why did "about 750,000 Palestine refugees" (a figure totally disproven) need a unique agency, with unique criteria all for themselves in a sea of tens of millions of refugees just like them?

When the attack of five Arab armies on the newly reborn state of Israel, with the stated purpose of "driving the Jews into the sea", surprisingly failed, some 609,071 Arab residents of British Palestine became refugees. Some were driven out by the winners, most escaped voluntarily, guided by the Arab promise of a quick triumph, after which they could return home, despite the Jewish leadership pleading them to stay and live side by side. Arab leadership insisted they leave, and after they've lost - surprise, surprise! - no place was found for them in the neighboring Arab countries. Instead of incorporating them in their countries they came up with the "Right of Return" for the Arab refugees of Palestine, which is in fact a Demand of Return, because no such "right" actually exists in international practice, no such precedent ever took place, no group of refugees nowhere in the world was ever eligible for such a "right".

Also, if we take into consideration some 800,000 Jewish refugees (around 200,000 more than the Arab ones) who were expelled from their (actual) ancestral homes in their Arab countries, following the Arab defeat in the War of Independence, who were incorporated in Israel as equal citizens, we get a simple population exchange. Yes, a sad practice. Yes, losing a home is always tragic. But, sadly, a common practice in the post WWII world, with more than 50 million people undergoing population exchange, as many new nation states were created. But, instead of acknowledging all this, the creation of UNRWA was pedalled. And voila! Whatever good and honest intention there might have been to the (initially temporary body) in the beginning, is long gone more than 60 years later.

Today there are roughly 8 times more people dependant on UNRWA than in 1950. 8 times more people still live in misery and want, unaccepted by their fellow Arab countries, unintegrated in their fellow Arab societies, living in conditions of true Apartheid (unlike the made-up, non-existent Israeli one). No one ever, in more then 60 years, lost his eligibility for UNRWA aid. The UNRWA register is filled with deceased individuals, "refugees" who in the meantime recieved citizenship elsewhere, grand children of refugees Why? To serve a weapon against the Jewish state, a means to vilify Israel at the cynical expense of their fellow Arabs. Since the original mandate (dealing with 1949 refugees) is no longer relevant in any way, UNRWA's mandate has developed and became more and more abstract to incorporate more and more fields, and employ more and more people. Now, this monster of corruption exists simply to keep existing and provide paychecks to its vast staff from the international community donations. 

When you try to sit down and look at the current events, and try to figure out why no solution seems to work, you have to go back to the beginning. And UNRWA was there at the biginning, part of the original sin, that perpetuates the conflict and the "Palestine refugee" status. UNRWA is nothing but an obstacle to peace. 

So, if you're pro-Palestinian, if you believe Palestinian refugees deserve the same human rights as everyone else on the planet, you must spread the word of the real nature of UNRWA. Talk about UNRWA, post about UNRWA, share information about UNRWA, use hashtag #ShutDownUNRWA on social media.

If you're ever serious about peace in the Middle East in our times, if you're ever serious about solving the Israeli-Arab conflict - UNRWA must go!

And just in case you're thinking, "sure, UNRWA perpetuates the problem, but it's also a legit, objective, non-aligned, humanitarian organization", then stay tuned for more coming up soon, as we'll explore some of UNRWA's recent activities and "achievements"!

Keep using those brains!

Tweet

History as farce

In 2002 Israel had to stop the, so called, "Second Intifada" - a bloody, terror war, waged against all Israelis by suicidal Arab terrorists. Israel launched operation Defensive Shield in the Arab towns and cities of Judea and Samaria. The operation along with the construction of the Security Barrier were eventually successful. Suicide bombings were practically entirely stopped. During the operation a tough battle took place in the, so called, "refugee camp" - really, a town just like any other, of Jenin. The Arabs made a huge international media uproar, claiming a "genocidal massacre" took place in the town, with the IDF "slaughtering" some 500 unarmed people. A propaganda "documentary" was even made by a prominent, successful Israeli Arab actor Mohammad Bakri, and naturally became a hit in film festivals.

The UN took the cries of the "oppressed, occupied Palestinians" very seriously and launched an investigation. The results? The claims of "massacre" turned out to be "slightly" exaggerated; 52 Arabs, not 500, were killed, most of them gunmen. Israel lost 23 soldiers in that battle, if anyone cares.

In 2008 Israel had to stop an increasing barrage of rockets, fired at Israeli civilian population from the Gaza strip. Israel launched operation Cast Lead to block the terrorist shelling on its villages, towns and cities. With the highest death toll since The Six Day War, the media uproar was higher than ever. Yet another UN Fact Finding mission was erected. Its conclusions, known as The Goldstone Report, were an absolute PR catastrophe for Israel, suggesting both parties might be guilty of War Crimes and Crimes Against Humanity.

Alas, to the dismay of the Antisemites all over the world, Judge Richard Goldstone publicly retracted his report two years later, especially those parts vilifying Israel.

And now it's 2014, and it's rockets from Gaza again, this time with terror tunnels, and it's operation Protective Edge. It's seems the operation is already practically over, but the death toll is alredy higher than that of Cast Lead. The Arabs with the omnipresent help of the bleeding hearts both from Israel and outside of it, are already drafting their statements, collecting their "evidence" and preparing the ground busily for their next day in court.

More than 1,800 Gazans were killed by the time I was typing these lines. Leading news outlets from all over the world claim that more than 80% of these victims are civilians, which immediately paints Israel as a bloodthirsty, trigger-happy monster in the eyes of the everyman. The world media is quick to take the word of official Gazan bodies on the matter, bodies with fancy, important-sounding names like "The Gaza Health Ministry" and "Gazan police". Both of these bodies are under the jurisdiction of... You got it! Hamas!

Your local media is cheerfuly citing Hamas as a credible sourse! Terror group Hamas, in case you were wondering, isn't exactly known for its truthfullness and honesty.

"The Independent" is independent from objectivity.

Now, lets play along for a second with the "official" data from Gaza, and assume it is actually accurate.

First of all, even with the ratios presented by Hamas, Israel would do better than the apparent norm of warfare.

Now, if indeed the goal of Israel was to "slaughter as many Gazans" as the Arab-leftist coalition tries to convince you, then the IDF, with its advanced weapons and powerful building-destroying missiles is not doing a very good job at all, is it? With the operation continuing for almost a month now, Israel's weapons in densely populated areas (and we've all heard the shameless "Gaza - the most densely populated city in the world lie"!), could achieve this amount in less than a day. In fact, the numbers presented by Gaza unwittingly prove Israel's restraint and care for civilian life. Don't get me wrong, every civilian casualty is a tragedy, and every Israeli would agree with me. But, here you have a country that's breaking world records in the extremes it takes to prevent the loss of civilian life, against an enemy that deliberately uses civilians as human shields, that considers every civilian death a victory to parade in front of the cameras.

If we take for granted Hamas data, then the unfortunate death of some 1,440 civilian casualties in an entire month of fighting is an astonishing, admirable, achievement of humanity on the part of the IDF.

Now, lets look at some more credible data. Until the fighting isn't completely over, we won't have fully accurate data, of course, but some agencies have already tried to name the dead. And I'm not talking about Israeli sources, don't jump! First, there's Al Jazeera, the well-known Arabic news outlet, and then there's The Palestinian Centre For Human Rights. Al Jazeera belongs to Qatar, that among other terrorist groups also funds Hamas, and the The Palestinian Centre For Human Rights... well, is just that. Not exactly "Zionist propaganda mouthpieces", are they? Now if you use the futuristic, unbelieavable, undoubtedly unavailable to any self-respecting, liberal journalist, tool of Excel, like the excellent team of CAMERA did, on the casualties names and ages presented by these bodies, you will notice a number of interesting patterns.

A graph of the male fatalities by age. The x axis is age, the y axis is the number of fatalities at the corresponding age. Graph produced by www.camera.org.

For example that fascinating jump in the number of male casualties, when they reach 17 that goes strong all the way to 39, when statistically this demographic numbers roughly 16% of the strip's population. Female casualties number less than 10% of all casualties, while they're roughly half of Gazan population. Teens under 17 and children represent about 20% of casualties. A tragedy, no doubt, but it is important to remember that in reality kids make up almost half of the population of Gaza.

Statistics on Palestinian society taken from the 'Palestinians at the end of 2013' report, 

produced by the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics. 

Now, while this analysis doesn't necessarily prove that the large chunk of young, able men of combat age are all terrorists, it certainly proves beyond a reasonable doubt Israel does NOT fire indescriminately and does NOT commit genocide. It also certainly raises way more than just a reasonable doubt on the "80% civilians" claim.

They say, history repeats itself, first as tragedy, second as farce. If The Goldstone Report was a tragedy (and for Israel, it certainly was), then this impending future International Investigation into "Israel's crimes" by all means will be a farce, and first and foremost a farce for the UN, who once again allowed itself to be fooled by the "Palestinian Cause".

If useful idiots would ever use their brains, they wouldn't have been useful idiots.

Use your brains! Don't be a useful idiot!

Tweet

Israeli military operations in Gaza: FACT vs FICTION

Yet again Israel was made to take action against the terrorist factions of Gaza. Yet again the escalation of rocket fire against Israeli civilian population became unbearable. Yet again Hamas and a variety of other Islamic terror groups have forced Israel's hand. And yet if you open the world media, you are unlikely to find these simple truths. All you're likely to find is "Israel attacking Gaza, killing civilians, murdering babies".

"Oh, no! Behold the tears of a child! The lamentations of a liberal journalist!"

What you're about to read is true and accurate. It's true and accurate now when the operation is only aerial. It'll be true and accurate whether ground forces enter or a ceasefire is achieved. It was true and accurate for operations 'Cast Lead' and 'Pillar of Defense'. It's true and accurate now for operation 'Protective Edge'. It'll be true and accurate two years from now for the next operation. Hopefully, though, two years from now it won't be needed.

Myth #1: "Israel attacked Gaza!" - BUSTED!

Even if you don't know a single thing about the Israeli-Arab conflict, or about geopolitics in general, or about the world - you can still use your brains! Ask yourself, why on Earth would a successful, prosperous, economically stable, democratic country attack a neighboring entity, unless, of course, it's provoked by it to do so?

Hamas terrorists have been firing rockets randomly at civilian Israeli population for some 10 years now. In recent years other "freedom fighting" groups like The Islamic Jihad and ISIS joined them. Their goal is killing as many Israelis (their randomly fired rockets don't distinguish between Jews and Arabs, in case you wondered), frightening all of the Israeli citizens into sitting in bomb shelters and ultimately destroying Israel. Israel TOLERATES these rocket drippings (a concept unimaginable to any other country in the world) for years and years at the expense of their own citizens' safety, who have to live in Gazan missile range (which grows with every year). This year Gazan rockets covered some 80% of Israel from Eilat in the south to Haifa in the north. Thus, the absolute majority of Israelis (and Judea and Samaria Arabs as well) have between 15 seconds to 2 minutes to get into a bomb shelter when the sirens go off. When the rocket "rain" becomes unbearable Israel has no choice but retaliate.

So, for Israel it's not about "attacking Gaza", it's about executing a counter-terrorism offensive. It's about bringing peace and quiet back to the citizens.

Diagram from The Wall Street Journal.

Myth #2: "Israel commits genocide!!!1" - BUSTED!

Israel strikes terror targets in Gaza. Rocket launch sites, arms warehouses, smuggling tunnels, weapon workshops, residences of terror leaders. The problem is all those are hidden deep within civilian population. Israel uses its top technology to make sure the strikes are as accurate and surgical as possible, and that there are as little civilian casualties as possible.

Now, last time I checked, the definition of "genocide" is a deliberate and systematic annihilation of a people. In what universe (besides that of a Haaretz reader/writer, of course) does the aforementioned constitute a "genocide"? Not to mention, "Palestinian" life quality improved and is improving constantly in every aspect under the "evil Zionist occupation" according to the World Development Indicators of the World Bank.

IDF Strike on Concealed Weapons Causes Massive Secondary Explosion

Myth #3: "Israel deliberately kills civilians, children and babies!!!!!!!1" - BUSTED!

Civilians die in conflicts, it's a sad reality of war. Yet, when talking about Israel, two facts must be remembered:

1. No other country ever goes to the extremes Israel goes to protect civilian population: A. Israeli Air Force drops leaflets over areas soon to be attacked with warnings in Arabic, explaining the situation and urging civilians to leave. B. IDF phones each and every apartment in a targeted building and urges them to leave. C. Israel uses "knock on roof" policy, firing a tiny mortar on a targeted roof to let all escape before the building is brought down. D. IDF aborts missions when civilians are in sight. E. Israel sends humanitarian aid to Gaza, while Gazan terrorist wage war against Israel.

Not enough? Too little? Should do more? A legitimate point of view. But if you hold it, tell me what army does more than the IDF to protect and save civilians. No? You know what, tell what other army does at least as much as the IDF! Nothing? Well, then surely you can mention an army that does at least some of the things IDF is doing! Huh?

2. Hamas and friends deliberately operate deep within civilian population and actively use their civilians as human shields: A. They encourage them to come to places that are about to be bombed. B. They locate their bases, arms storages, rocket launchers in hospitals, mosques, schools and playgrounds to make sure they're always surrounded with innocent civilians, to make sure every Israeli attack is a monstrous act in the eyes of the world. C. They specifically forbid their civilians to comply with Israeli warnings and leave a targeted location. They forbid them to save their lives and demand them to sacrifice themselves in order to smear Israel. They don't care about their own civilians. D. They refuse Israeli humanitarian aid, sent in to ease the suffering of Gazan civilians. E. They break ceasefires ushered in to allow humanitarian relief.

All admirable acts of "freedom fighters", right?

Myth #4: "But the Goldstone report proved the Israelis are bloodthirsty animals!!!!11" - BUSTED!

Richard Goldstone is a South African judge who led a fact finding mission mandated by the UNHCR to look for evidence of Human Rights violations in Gaza after the 2008 Israeli operation Cast Lead. His report stated that violations probably took place on both sides, that both sides should make their own investigations and that Israel deliberately targeted civilians. Two years later, upon learning the facts (that are stated above), he retracted his initial report, emphasizing that "civilians weren't targeted as a matter of policy", claiming that "if he had known then, what he knows now, the Goldstone report would have been a different document". Golstone then also mentioned that Israel actively investigated over 400 allegations of operational misconduct, while Hamas did no such thing within themselves.

Watch Egyptian Anti-Israeli TV host expose the true face of Hamas.

Now, how come Israel is submitted to different standards then any other country, by being submitted to International Human Rights Law, while International Criminal Law would be much more appropriate during a war, is beyond me. You see, from a Human Rights point of view any loss of civilian life is a horrendous act of monstrosity, yet Criminal Law has far better tools to distinguish between unfortunate civilian death and targetting civilians as policy. In other words this is what Criminal Law does, this is its specialty, while Human Rights Law was originally designed to deal with other issues.

What is also beyond me, is how the same person releases a libelous document against Israel, and then negates it two years later? Why, as the head of a "fact finding mission", wasn't he able to find any facts on time? If, ideed, he wasn't, why did he still produce a report? If, indeed, Israel didn't collaborate with his mission, what facts did he base his report on? Those presented by Hamas?

Good questions all, but I'm no psychologist to answer them. It is, however, interesting to know that back in the Apartheid days Goldstone was responsible for sentencing 28 black South Africans to death...

Myth #5: "During this current escalation Israel already killed hundreds, and the terrorists succeeded in killing only one, therefore Israel's acts are disproportionate!!! Israel is the real terrorist!!!11" - BUSTED!

This one is probably my favorite! No other cliché exposes both the mental and the moral bankruptcy of the radical left-Antisemite coalition better!

What is proportionate? How does this term work in your mind? Should Israel turn off its Iron Dome defense system, so hundreds of Israelis would die as well, to meet your deluded ideas of proportionality? Should Israel, perhaps, fire rockets randomly in the general direction of Gaza, to meet your liberal unicorns-and-rainbows concept of proportionality?

The truth is the concept of proportionality in International Law doesn't exactly work the way you imagine it in your fantasies. There is no notion in International Law, that forbids you from winning absolutely and decisively. There is no notion, that forbids you from being more technologically advanced than you enemy. There is no notion, that the amount of your casualties must equal that of your enemy. The concept of proportionality in International Law actually talks about making the harm if need be inflicted on civilians proportionate to the military advantage secured. Israel, as already explained, tries to secure the safety of its citizens from random rocket fire, as Professor Eugene Kontorovich, an expert on International Law from Northwestern University, explains. Listen to the interview with him if you wish a better understanding of actual legal concepts versus childish liberal dreams mixed with Antisemitic delusions.

The Palestinian envoy to the UNHRC "is not a candidate in any Palestinian elections", so his take on the legality of Hamas attacks versus the legality of the Israeli attacks might surprise you.

Myth #6: "Israel still occupies Gaza, therefore it's all the fault of Israel's occupation and oppression!!!!!11" - BUSTED AGAIN AND AGAIN!

Been there, done that, read here!

For conclusion, the eternal questions always rise:

Why nobody cares when Arabs kill hundreds of Arabs every day, but when Israel has to protect itself the world goes crazy?

Why nobody cares when terrorists deliberately fire rockets unto civilians? Why the general feel from their actions is "it's okay, it's normal, it's natural"? Why the racist double standards towards the Arab people? Why the racist "higher standards" towards Israel? Why should it hold an even higher standard, than the higher standard it already acts upon?

Food for thought.

Next time you hear baseless lies about IDF conduct, call them out!

If you hear mistakes, correct them!

If you hear how "IDF is the most moral army in the world", nod your head quietly in agreement!

And don't stop using your brains!

Tweet

A barrage of rockets; A barrage of clichés

There's a heavy feeling in the air. The heaviest in a long, long time. The Arab population in Jerusalem has turned their neighborhoods into a war zone. Entire areas in the capital of Israel are now not safe for Jews. Massive violent riots and clashes with the police take place as I was typing these lines. To the best of my understanding, now with the Ramadan month in order, the Arab streets are quiet during the day and violent during the night (with them being observant believers, after all). Damage to the Light Rail infrastructure is estimated in tens of millions of shekels (while it already took the "evil Zionist occupiers" tens of millions of shekels to put the rails through, and connect the Arab neighborhoods to the heart of the Jerusalem downtown in the first place). The rail now makes only half of its usual route. Civil Israeli cars are attacked with nightfall (Ramadan, remember?) by Arabs with heavy rocks on the highways leading to the surrounded with Arab villages neigborhoods of Gilo, Har Homa, Armon Hanatziv, Pisgat Ze'ev and Neveh Ya'akov. Augmented presence of police is strongly noticed all over the city.

"Death to Israel! Death to Jews!" - Destroyed Light Rail station in East Jerusalem.

While this post was in process, the situation escalated all over the country. To stop the barrage of rockets fired at civilian population from Gaza, Israel opened Operation Protective Edge. The 300-and-something rockets fired at Israel since the beginning of 2014, are now quickly multiplied with more than a hundred daily.

If it looks like an Intifada and it smells like an intifada - it's an intifada.

Intifada, in case anyone's in the dark, though generally translated as "uprising", in reality is a war of terror. The target is civil population. The old, the women, the children - anything goes. The battleground is buses, restaurants, shopping malls - any daily environment. The goal is to disrupt everyday life, to put fear in the lives of all Jews all over Israel. Not exactly what you might hear from your local media.

This most recent "unrest on the Arab street" is generally credited to the heinous nationalistic murder of the Arab teen Mohammed Abu Khdeir (even though he stands in a long line of recent nationalistic murders of teens - Jewish teens; Shelley Dadon, Naftali Fraenkel, Gilad Shaer and Eyal Yifrach come to mind from the last 2 months alone). Mohammed has been brutally murdered by a gang of revolting, fanatic, racist Jewish teenage scum. The discovery of their guilt deeply shocked Israeli public. Their names (when they'll be known) will forever become a pariah in Israeli society. They don't represent neither the Israeli right, nor the settlement movement. No one, but their tiny, sick circle on the outskirts of the outskirts of society. 

Victims of nationalism Shelley Dadon and Mohammed Abu Khdeir. 

Who did you hear about in your news?

And yet, you can always trust the bleeding-hearts of our society and their unholy, unspoken union with the global fascist Anti-Semitism to dance on the blood of poor Mohammed, and use his tragic death as reason to lift a self righteous finger in the air, and utter a variety of tattered, irrelevant clichés with a sophisticated, all-knowing look.

Now, we've dealt already with the nonsense of "one man's terrorist is another man's freedom fighter", but your average brain-dead liberal knows no rest, so I must commit yet another post to stating the obvious.

"It's the fault of extremists on both side!" / "We are all equally to blame!" / "See, there's no difference between us!"

The truth is societies are not measured by their sickoes and extremists, but rather by their mainstream. Not by what's considered by the society to be some of the most terrible crimes committed by a tiniest of minorities, but by what's considered by a society to be perfectly mainstream, by what a society embraces. Let's make a swift comparison:

1.a. President Mahmoud Abbas pays Arab terrorists, convicted of murder, monthly salaries. The more murdered - the bigger. He celebrates the release of mass murderers as the homecoming of heroes.

1.b. PM Benjamin Netanyahu strongly and immediately condemned the murder of  Mohammed Abu Khdeir. Minister of Economy, Head of the right wing Jewish Home party, Naftali Bennett declared that Jewish terrorists must be treated the same way Arab terrorists are.

Abbas embraces freed terrorist. December, 2013. Photo: Flash 90.

2.a. Arabs celebrated in the streets the kidnapping (and subsequent murder) of Eyal, Gilad and Naftali. Candies were given out to the celebrating crowd. A social media campaign cheering the kidnapping of three Jews was launched.

2.b. None of the above, not even close, happened in Israeli society as the news of the murder of Mohammed came out.

3.a. Arabs in Gaza and Judea and Samaria glorify violence, murderers and terrorists. Streets, squares and schools are named after suicide bombers. They are revered as heroes by the public, looked up upon as role models.

3.b. None of the above, not even close, exists in Israeli society.

4.a. Terrorist and extremist organizations of all sorts run openly for elections in the "Palestinian" societies, and win by a landslide. The mainstream "Palestinian" public votes to see these people as their leadership.

4.b. Israeli current Knesset presents a wide variety of political and ideological difference, from left to center to right, but extremists are not welcomed. The farthest right wing party currently existing Otzma LeYisrael (who's leaders, Dr. Michael Ben-Ari and Lawyer Itamar Ben Gvir, were among the organizers of some of the more violent Jewish protests of recent time), which is generally regarded as the ideological heirs of Meir Kahane, didn't pass the electoral threshold needed to enter the Knesset. The extreme does not represent the views of the Israeli public.

Got the difference yet?

"An eye for an eye leaves the whole world blind!"

A lovely cliché if you have kids of kindergarten age, and you want to teach them morals, or if you're of kindergarten age yourself. In the real world, of course, this sentence works in a completely different way. "An eye for an eye" is mainly a waste of time, because if someone takes your eye out, you must take their head off, if you want to survive. Now, before you jump to blame me with racism / extremism / support of ethnic cleansing, or any other idiotic label, leftists use to help their narrow minds cope with reality, think again! Name any war from any geographical or historical point, and tell me when that wasn't the case. Good luck!

Not to mention, the entire basic premise of this statement is simply wrong, as the brilliant writer/director Martin McDonagh explained in his excellent film "Seven Psychopaths"! :)

"I'm ashamed today!"

I'm horrified today. I'm devastated today. I'm in mourning today. But why on earth should I be ashamed? How on earth is any of this my fault? The existence of crazy, extremist scum in any society is deeply regrettable. Any society must pursue and excommunicate its extremes. But why should the entire society be personally ashamed of them? Should all Americans be personally ashamed of Ted Bundy? Should all Ukrainians be personally ashamed of Andrei Chikatilo? Should all Norwegians be personally ashamed of Anders Breivik? Of course not. Because all Americans, Ukrainians or Norwegians bear no responsibility for the actions of sick individuals.

Shame could be appropriate when the mainstream is sick. Now, I'm not a huge fan of collective guilt in any form, but when Germans tell me they're ashamed of the crimes of the Nazis in WWII (which I don't think is right, because no one is responsible for the actions of his grandfather), then that statement has some internal logic, for Nazism was mainstream in 30s' Germany. When former Muslims tell me they're ashamed of the atrocities comitted in the Muslim world (which I don't think is right, because they, as individuals, chose a different path), then that statement bares some internal sense, for an extremist Islamic regime is prevalent in a significant number of countries. Yet, when an Israeli says he's ashamed over the acts of some Israeli degenerates, then that statement bares to internal logic whatsoever. As carefully examined above, the Israeli society has no reason for shame over the acts of its degenerates. If anything, Israelis have every reason for pride.

"The occupation is to blame!"

Ah, yes, of course! "The occupation"! How can we forget "the occupation"?!

Let's all hope that this current operation will finally put an end to terrorism once and for all, and stop the endless loss of life. Yes, on both sides.

In the meantime try to avoid meaningless clichés, and don't forget to use your brains even at times of war!

Tweet

The hidden racism of Gideon Levy

Ladies and Gentlemen, please welcome The Amazing Champion of Human Rights, The Incredible Knight of Equality, The Staunch Fighter against the "regime" and, last but not least, the High Priest of the "occupation" religion - the one, the only, Mr. Gideon Levy!!!

Gideon Levy is one of the most recognised voices of Haaretz newspaper, and as such he's much more recognised outside of Israel, since Haaretz and it's flagman Levy are so keen on making easy money from sensational, slanderous anti-Israeli fabrications, nobody inside of Israel bothers to read. From  manipulating statistical data to meet his own worldview, to simply making up horror stories about the Israeli border police, Levy's lies have been revealed countless times by a variety of bodies and journalists. From his most recent pearls you have Israel "ordering" the kidnapping of the Judea and Samaria schoolboys (the Hebrew headline, in fact, states just that), all for provocation sake. Of course, nothing of the sort can be found in the actual article, because nothing of the sort ever took place. What can be found in abundance is only the typical blaming of Israel for the acts of filthy terrorists.

Israel "orders" teens kidnapping in the world of Gideon Levy.

"How come a person like that is still actually employed as a journalist?!" - you wonder? Well, all is possible in Haaretz-land! All, if you are from the radical left, that is. Haaretz publisher Amos Schoken and Levy are admitted BFFs. They think alike and create a newspaper in their own image. Journalistic integrity? Throw that in the garbage! Honest reporting? Don't make me laugh! Anything goes to serve the agenda. Anything goes to create a bigger buzz and enlarge the number of clicks. And what happens when they're caught lying with the pants down? Well, they can always film Levy mumbling a few self-righteous words about how he was "simply mistaken" with a few "neglectable facts", while still getting the "essence" right, and then label it an "apology".

Haaretz in general and Levy in specific abuse the freedom of speech to lie. They can't be legally prosecuted because they don't spread libels against a specific individual but against huge collectives (the IDF, the Israeli public), and so it's a juridical messy complication. However, sometimes freedom of speech comes back to bite the unsuspecting Levy on the behind! And, indeed, there's nothing anyone can say about Gideon Levy (or any other radical leftist, for that matter), that he didn't gleefully and complacently tell the world himself already. Let's take a look, for example, at his recent interview for the new (and rather excellent) Israeli TV channel i24News.

Note, 03:50: "We're not coming from the same place, and you can't judge us in the same tools. We've established quite a democratic state, we're far beyong this, and therefore the price we have to pay for our mistakes, for our lack of morality, for our crimes is much bigger, than a society which lives under occupation for so many years." - Levy goes on and on in his all-knowing tone - "You can't put them in the same place and judge them with the same criteria, by all means not."

Beautiful, isn't it? Our biggest "Palestinian" advocate is in fact a racist! This beautiful, little, unnoticed Freudian slip unmistakably reveals his credo. Levy's willing to go easy on the Arabs' any number of atrocities, whether in their own society or against Israel, because "you can't judge them with the same criteria". He simply won't put them to the same human standards, as he would to anyone else in the universe. He simply considers them to be wild savages, uncapable of rational, human behaviour - and thus irresponsible for their own actions! This is the only logical conclusion to this kind of line of thought. Later he adds how he doesn't "believe that the Palestinians were born to kill". What a strange phrase, isn't it? I wonder where it all comes from!

Whether Gideon Levy's a schizophrenic, wholeheartedly comitted to both of his claims at the same time, a pathological liar, actually believing his lies are true, or simply a scumbag, joyfully making a living from slandering his own country - is for the psychiatrists to decide.

Just remember to use your brains, next time you read a Gideon Levy fantasy!

Edit:

Today, July first 2014, a day after the bodies of the kidnapped and murdered teens were recovered, Levy appeared again as a member of the panel on i24news. He did not issue an apology.

Tweet

"One man's terrorist is another man's freedom fighter"? Think again!

On thursday night three Israeli teens went missing on their way back from school in Judea and Samaria. It was pretty clear from the very beginning they were kidnapped by Arab terrorists. Today it's known for a fact. Now whether it's Hamas or Fatah (under their new, whitewashed name "The Palestinian Authority"), their main bodies or some rogue factions, or indeed some completely different Islamic insanity group, is of absolutely no importance. Security importance, sure (where to look, who to press, who to arrest, etc.), but not political. Even less political importance should be given now, when the new "wonderful unity of the 'Palestinian' people" government emerged.

In the meantime the only thing more deafening then the initial world media silence was the vile Anti-Israeli framing of the incident that followed. "What? Three Israeli kids have been kidnapped by terrorists, how can they possibly present it in an Anti-Israeli light?!" - you'll probably think. Well, the leading news outlets had managed to do just that. Whether by focusing on the IDF search and the measures it has to take to try and locate the kids like the BBC did, or making sure everyone knows the teens are not just innocent, kidnapped human beings but are first of all "settlers" like The Guardian and The Independent did (regardless of your stand on the disputed Judea and Samaria territories, technically only one of the three teens lives beyond the Green Line), or unmistakably recognizing "the cause of the destabilization of the Israeli-Palestinian relations" like the NY Times did.

With such disgusting attempts to manipulate reality, I wonder when was the last time these "progressive, liberal, freedom championing" newspapers blamed rape victims for "dressing up provocatively" and "asking for it"!

The kidanpping crisis and the media's treatment of it, has brought me to analyze the cliché phrase from the headline of this post. It has turned into one of those idiotic aphorisms, that insufferable know-it-alls throw at you every now and then with a calm, smug expression of an enlightened guru. Well, guess what? They're dead wrong! Legitimate resistance fighters fight the oppressive mechanisms, i.e. the armed forces of the occupier, just like the Jewish resistance groups fought the British occupying forces at the dawn of the state of Israel. Legitimate resistance fighters don't target civillians deliberately, just like the Jewish resistance groups didn't when they fought the British armed forces for the Israeli independence. Want to be called legitimate "freedom fighters"? Be my guest, attack army bases and police stations! You'll still be my enemy, and I'll hate you, but at least when the "pro-peace" world media would call you "resistance", I wouldn't need to fight a gag reflex. Want to kidnap innocent teenagers, on their way back from school, cheer and give out candies for their abduction and start a vile, gloating celebration campaign on the social media to "honor" it? Think again! You're nothing, but a filthy, terrorist scum!

And you'll ask me: "So, you acknowledge the kidnapping of Gilad Shalit was a legitimate act of resistance?"

And I'll tell you: The act itself, if could be viewed as a stand alone act, all by itself, could be called a legitimate resistance act. Unfortunately, the Shalit abduction didn't take place in a vacuum, but in the real world. The gang who took Shalit, the Al-Qassam Brigades, is the military wing of Hamas. They are the same people who for a decade targeted Israeli civillians with missiles, and for two decades exploded Israeli buses and restaurants. If Shalit's abductors were to differ themselves from the rest of the terrorists, perform operations exclusively against the military and condemn their fellow Arabs for the attacks on civillian population - we'd have an armed resistance group. Since obviously nothing of the sort ever happened, the Shalit abduction can't be put in a vacuum, and is an act of terror. In fact, today the IDF fights nothing but terror - there are no legitimate Arab resistance groups.

Got the difference?

Good! Keep using those brains!

P.S.

The "Bring Back Our Boys" social media campaign is touching and heartwarming. However, I don't believe it to be useful. If anything it can do more harm than good. No terrorist would ever be dissuaded or convinced to bring the boys back because of the campaign. If anything, the opposite is right. They'd get reaffirmation to hold them for as long as possible, and encouragement to demand as many murderers in return for them as possible. It's hard to believe citizens of the world would be persuaded as well. After all they have such "objective and unbiased" media to inform them. So, what can a simple citizen, who wants to raise awareness to these tragic events, do? Here's an alternative. All those of you who do social media and care, share the hashtag #AbbasIsHamas. It's simple, informative and non-emotional. Hamas is recognised as a terror organization in most of the Western world, in Egypt as well. Help expose the world to the true nature of the "wonderful Palestinian unity government". Thank you!

Tweet

Israeli "occupation" of Gaza: FACT vs FICTION

In the beginning of the month we checked the accuracy of the claims that Israel is an "occupying force", and examined them closely through the rebuttal of a few prevalent myths about Judea and Samaria (the so called "West Bank"). Now, let's do the same with Gaza Strip. Let's repeat our associations exercise: what comes to mind when you hear "Gaza"? Chaos, death, destruction? All the imaginable horrors of occupation? Ruined houses, filthy, overpopulated slums, dusty clothes, muddy roads and farm animals instead of vehicles?

This is the photo of the mosque and the conference hall of the Islamic University of Gaza, located (as you can see) in the middle of the Gazan downtown. Not quite what you imagined, is it? By the way, there are 8 (eight!) universities and colleges in Gaza. Adding that to the 13 (thirteen!) academic establishments in the "West Bank" (all of the 21 were, for some reason, established after the "terrible Zionist occupation" of 1967) and you get the most educated Arab group in the entire region.

Myth #1: "Israel still occupies Gaza! ---> It's the biggest prison in the world!!" - BUSTED!

In 2005 the Israeli government executed the "Disengagement Plan" - the unilateral withdrawal from Gaza. Israel took out all of its military, demolished all 21 of its settlements and uprooted all 8,600 of its citizens in one of the most traumatic and controversial operations in its modern history. By doing so (relinquishing 100% of the Gazan territory), Israel gave full sovereignty of the strip to the Arabs, in hope that would promote the peace process, the two-state solution and the Palestinian democracy. Instead Hamas, that quickly took control of the strip disregarding the elections, declared war on Israel and started firing missiles at Israeli civilian population (getting a 100% rise of terror in return).

Anyone still thinks the conflict is about territory? Anyone still thinks that "land for peace" is a reasonable equation?

Myth #2: "Israel holds Gaza under siege! ---> It's the biggest prison in the world!!" - BUSTED!

Israel holds an arms blockade over Gaza to fight the terrorist trafficking of weapons. Tons upon tons of food, medicine, clothing, construction materials, agricultural supplies, etc. enter Gaza through the Israeli checkpoints daily. Thousands upon thousands of Gazans enter Israel daily to work, study, get medical treatment, visit holy sites, visit relatives in Judea and Samaria, etc. For very obvious reasons (see Myth #1) it's not an "open door" policy, just like any other border with a hostile entity in the world.

Myth #3: "They're deprived of every basic need! ---> It's the biggest prison in the world!!" - BUSTED!

Watch the "miserable" Gazans' invitation to visit them at a 5 star hotel in their "biggest open air prison in the world"!

ArcMed Hotel Almashtal Gaza***** from sandra gomez on Vimeo.

Myth #4: "Gaza is the most densely populated city on Earth! ---> It's the biggest prison in the world!!" - BUSTED!

Gaza's population density moves around the 5,000 people for sq km. Sounds scary? Not in Jerusalem with their 6,400/km2, nor in Tel Aviv with their 7,500/km2. In Barcelona and Athens they laugh at Gaza with roughly 16,000/km2 each (some 3 times as much), and in Paris they don't even count Gaza with their 20,000/km2 (4 times as much). In fact, Gaza's population density is nowhere to be found in Wikipedia's list of the 50 most dense cities in the world!

The only density that comes to mind is that of the Antisemitic bigots, coming up with such easily refutable lies, only to slander and libel Israel.

Funny business, anyone?

On a brighter note, watch what happens when Gaza youth operate the cameras without the propaganda machine supervising:

For more information on Gaza's "terrible suffering under the Israeli boot" check the excellent entry in Shirlee Finn's awesome Jews Down Under blog!

In the meantime, don't forget to use those brains!

Tweet

Israeli 'occupation' of the 'West Bank': FACT vs FICTION

What are the first associations that come to mind with the word "occupation"? Martial law? Guns everywhere? Poor, oppressed population? Prison-like conditions? Penniless refugees in tents? It's very clear to those who use that libel against Israel, that these horrible images will be the first ones you'll see in your mind, when you hear of the conflict. But, how many of those actually apply to Judea and Samaria (the so called "West Bank")? And can Israel be really called an "occupier"? Let's look at the example of Jericho and decide for ourselves.

This photo was taken at the Tourist Center in Jericho, a major city in Area A. Area A is a zone in the "West Bank" fully under the jurisdiction of the Palestinian Authority, where they completely govern, police and educate themselves, as well as vote for their own officials (as often as they do in the Arab world) without Israel's participation.

Myth #1: "The Palestinians suffer from terrible "highway Apartheid", which prevents them from moving freely on their own lands, being constantly subjugated to checkpoints" - BUSTED!

All checkpoints from within areas A and B (those under the PA's control) have been removed years ago. All Arabs travel freely within the PA wherever they want. The checkpoints are located at the entrance to Israeli territory, for the same reason they're located at any other border in the world (especially one with a hostile entity).

Myth #2: "The "Palestinians" live under terrible Apartheid in horrifying conditions of "occupation", whereas the Israelis enjoy riches and luxury" - BUSTED!

The Arabs in Jericho live in a variety of the modern world's accommodations from brand new appartment buildings to luxurious private houses. Not to mention the booming tourist industry.

Myth #3: "The Israeli government treat Arabs with racism and segregation" - BUSTED!

At the entrance to Jericho (and any other Area A town), there's a big red sign telling Israeli citizens in three languages that entering is illegal and also warning them of danger to their lives. Needless to say, no such announcements are found at the entrance to any Israeli town anywhere. You see, the real Apartheid in Israel - is towards the Jews (just like in the Temple Mount)!

Myth #4: "But Israel surrounded the entire "West Bank" with a huge wall (enter any number here) miles long! It's (enter any number here) times bigger than the Berlin Wall! It's a racist wall of ethnic seperation!" - BUSTED!

Had it been a "wall of ethnic seperation" it would have failed miserably, since 1.5 million Arabs live in Israel and 400,000 Jews live in Judea and Samaria. The Security Barrier doesn't seperate ANYONE on ethnic basis. In fact, The Security Barrier is a wall for only 3% (three percent) of its length. The other 97% (ninety seven percent) is just a fence. Yes, it's not pretty, but it allowed Israel to stop entirely the wave of bloody terror attacks known as "The Second Intifada", and to save thousands of lives. 

And, finally Myth #5: "By boycotting Israeli products you help the "Palestinian" cause" - BUSTED!

"Palestinians" use Israeli products daily, boycotting them would harm the "Palestinians" first of all. Many Israeli companies (such as 'Ahava', 'SodaStream', etc.) collaborate with the PA to help bring economic prosperity to both sides. And indeed, the Arabs at the Jericho Tourist Center sell the 'Ahava' products for fantastic, absolutely over the top, dollar prices!

Any conclusions yet?

And you'll say: "okay, okay, I get it, but what about Gaza?!?"

Gaza, dear friends, deserves a post of its own! So keep in touch! And never forget to use those brains!

Shalom!

Tweet