European Rescue Mechanism Loses AAA Rating | ZeroHedge

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2012-11-30/european-rescue-mechanism-loses-aaa-rating
Hmmm, and who will rescue the rescue mechanism?

Bill Maher makes sense

What I find so ironic is that after World War II, everybody said, 'I don't understand the Jews. How could they have just gone to their slaughter like that?' OK, and then when they fight back: 'I don't understand the Jews. Why can't they just go to their slaughter?' It's like, 'You know what? We did that once. It's not gonna happen again. You're just gonna have to get used to the fact that Jews now defend themselves -- and by the way, defend themselves better. I mean, this is a country, after all, that is surrounded by far greater numbers than their own [and] they are like two generations ahead in the military technology they have.
More here - http://www.jewishjournal.com/hollywoodjew/item/bill_maher_on_israel_uncut_and_uncensored

I wear their sandals but don't look like any of their models - A Friday Night Rule 5 Post - NSFW

Reef

Those peace-loving Hamas guys

Video from by the Al-Qassam Brigades (Hamas military wing), addressing Israelis: "From the Palestinian people to the Zionists: We've missed the suicide attacks. Expect us soon at bus stations and in cafés." [Al-Aqsa TV (Hamas), Nov. 18, 2012]

Delightful but don't forget that they really do just want peace and a two state solution; the BBC say so, so it must be true!

Hamas threatening Israeli civilians

"From the Al-Qassam Brigades to the Zionists: Don't go to sleep because we may get you in your sleep." [Al-Aqsa TV (Hamas), Nov. 18, 2012]

But it's OK, the BBC kept telling us that Hamas were only firing homemade rockets and weren't trying to kill civilians.

Martin Plaut opines

Martin Plaut thinks Tories are 'lower than vermin', I think he might have a problem with Israel as well. Is he the ideal BBC journalist?

Fortunately for Martin Plaut he was able to tweet later this

Phew, what a relief for Martin Plaut.

It's not just the BBC

Comedy Central link "You're watching the Comedy Central, the channel that is to making you laugh what bankers are to ruining the economy".

WHAT ABOUT GORDON BROWN AND ED BALLS?

The United Nations has an unhealthy fixation on Israel

UN Watch reports that:

'According to a comprehensive UN Watch study of all U.N. General Assembly draft resolutions of its current 67th session, counting the one just approved today,  the world body plans to adopt a total of 21 resolutions singling out Israel for criticism in one form or another (see draft texts below) — and 4 resolutions for the rest of the world combined.
 
The four are: one on Syria, a regime that has murdered 40,000 of its own people, and one each on Iran, North Korea and Burma, whose government was largely praised in the U.N. text.

There will be no UNGA resolutions at all on China, Cuba, Belarus, Zimbabwe, Russia, Sudan, Venezuela, Pakistan — and all the rest.'

The United Nations is not about right and wrong, it is about how many friends and allies you have. There are 56 members of the Organization of the Islamic Conference, pledged to promote Muslim solidarity in economic, social, and political affairs. They usually vote as a bloc, that's 56 out of 193 UN member states. Add in oil reliant African countries, South & Central American socialist paradises and sundry rogue regimes and you can see why OIC members are only rarely criticised, and then only when they have done something truly abhorrent. 

Hatred of Israel, and for many that does mean hatred of Jews, is something that can unite the United Nations. Shame it's at the expense of the only democratic, multicultural state in the Middle East though!

Elder of Ziyon: "Historic Palestine"

http://elderofziyon.blogspot.co.uk/2010/01/historic-palestine.html?m=1

55 years ago today & why PA trying their best today.

http://m.youtube.com/#/watch?v=TGLgIeZVtno&desktop_uri=%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DTGLgIeZVtno&gl=GB

Gold Falls Just 1.3% Despite Massive, Odd 3.5 Million Ounce Sell Orders | ZeroHedge

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2012-11-29/gold-falls-just-13-despite-massive-odd-35-million-ounce-sell-orders

Over 66 million views?

Cute yes, but 66 million views for a surprised kitten?

'Jews corrupting Muslims with porn' | The Times of Israel

Jews are to blame for everything...
http://www.timesofisrael.com/internet-porn-jewish-ploy-to-corrupt-muslims/

William Hague - deluded or worse?

In today's House of Commons address, William Hague made a rather strange assertion, he said:

'Nevertheless, President Abbas has decided to press ahead—a decision we must respect. No one should be in any doubt that he is a courageous man of peace. Our central objective remains that of ensuring a rapid return to credible negotiations in order to secure a two-state solution. This is the guiding principle that will determine the way in which we will vote on any resolution at any time.'

President Abbas a 'courageous man of peace', ''secure a two-state solution'. Here's his Head of Foreign Relations, Nabil Shaath, from July 2011

"a formula that is unacceptable to us.. two states for two peoples... We will be a state for one people...The story of "two states for two peoples" means that there will be a Jewish people over there and a Palestinian people here. We will never accept this – not as part of the French initiative and not as part of the American initiative. We will not sacrifice the 1.5 million Palestinians with Israeli citizenship who live within the 1948 borders, and we will never agree to a clause preventing the Palestinian refugees from returning to their country..."

That's just his Head of Foreign Relations, William Hague said that Mahmoud Abbas was a courageous man of peace, do I hear anyone making that claim? Here's Mahmoud Abbas, from October 23, 2011:

"I've said it before, and I'll say it again: I will never recognize the Jewishness of the state, or a "Jewish state."

Courageous? Man of peace? Do remember that for many years the PLO promoted a "stages plan" that would first create a Palestinian state on the 1949 - 1967 armistice lines, and then work from that position to destroy Israel. Indeed senior Fatah official Abbas Zaki recently stated that this remains the goal for Fatah as well, but that "you can't say it to the world. You can say it to yourself."... Also remember Mahmoud Abbas's statement that:

"I will never allow a single Israeli to live among us on Palestinian land,"

Also remember what I blogged back in 2010: Israel National News has some recent quotes from Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas that shows he's just as opposed to the continued existence of Israel as Hamas:

'Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas told Arab leaders that the PA is ready to wage war on Israel if the rest of the Arab world does, according to the PA daily Al-Hayat al-Jadida as translated by Palestinian Media Watch. “If you want war, and if all of you will fight Israel, we are in favor. But the Palestinians will not fight alone because they don't have the ability to do it,” Abbas quoted himself as having said at the March Arab League Summit in Libya. ... Abbas quoted his own statements to the Arab League while in a meeting with the PA's ambassador to Jordan. The statements were used in explanation of his opposition to the approach taken by Hamas. Hamas pushes for “resistance” - a buzz word used by Arabs to refer to terrorism – and refusal to negotiate with Israel. "What we hear from everyone is that the basis is negotiations. At a time that the entire world agrees about this... We are unable to confront Israel militarily,” Abbas told the PA envoy. Abbas, who is serving as head of the PA after unilaterally extending his term in office, has made several statements in recent years that have raised concerns as to his true intentions. In 2008, as Israel and the PA engaged in peace talks, Abbas told a Jordanian paper that he opposed terrorism “at present” but that “things may change.” In March 2010, the PA held a ceremony naming a main square in Ramallah for a terrorist who led a cell that murdered 37 Israelis. In June, a broadcast on official PA television referred to Jews as “our enemies” and to the entire state of Israel as “Palestine.” Earlier this week, Abbas eulogized terrorist Abu Daoud, the mastermind of the 1972 Munich Olympics massacre, calling him “one of the leading figures in Fatah.”Israel has officially referred to Abbas a "moderate" leader, as opposed to the leadership of Hamas, whose charter calls clearly for destroying Israel. (IsraelNationalNews.com)'

The Palestinian Authority a 'partner for peace'? Mahmoud Abbas a 'corageous man of peace'? Of course Mahmoud Abbas follows another man of peace as leader of Fatah, Yasser Arafat. Here's Yasser in his own words from 1980:

"Peace for us means the destruction of Israel. We are preparing for an all-out war, a war which will last for generations." "Peace for us means the destruction of Israel." "We plan to eliminate the state of Israel and establish a purely Palestinian state. We will make life unbearable for Jews by psychological warfare and population explosion. . . . We Palestinians will take over everything, including all of Jerusalem." "The victory march will continue until the Palestinian flag flies in Jerusalem and in all of Palestine."

Fairly clear? Here's the same Yasser Arafat on the same day that he signed the Declaration of Principles on the White House lawn in 1993, explaining his actions on Jordan TV:

"Since we cannot defeat Israel in war, we do this in stages. We take any and every territory that we can of Palestine, and establish a sovereignty there, and we use it as a springboard to take more. When the time comes, we can get the Arab nations to join us for the final blow against Israel."

Pretty clear? The west listens to and believes what Mahmoud Abbas says about wanting a two state solution and a return to 1967 borders because that fits in with their world view of an evil Jewish state stealing land from poor Palestinians. The truth is some way from this narrative but the western media, especially the BBC, and the British Foreign Office just don't care; facts will not be allowed to intrude into their decided narrative.

The 'apartheid state' of Israel - for @DD1958

Poor PLEB Donovan, spreading lies about Israel being an apartheid state. Here's some pictures to disprove him, courtesy of The Real Jerusalem Streets

Israeli apartheid supporters might find it shocking that in Jerusalem,

 Israeli soldiers walk on the same streets as Arab girls,

  by the Walls of the Old City near the Jaffa Gate

and in the city center. Often they seem to not even notice one another.

The 'apartheid state' of Israel - for @DD1958

I am sick of people claiming that Israel is an 'apartheid state' and I have blogged about this lie over and over again, take a look at this lengthy post.


On Twitter @DD1958 keeps repeating this slur over and over again, maybe he finds the repetition in some way comforting.

Elder of Ziyon has produced some posters that make the point rather well and since he has given me permission to reproduce them, here they are for people who need to be made aware of the truth...

Still feel willing and able to call Israel an 'apartheid state'? Don't you care about facts?

Here are some examples of what comes/would come closer to apartheid in the Middle East...

Israel is not an apartheid state, listen to those who know what apartheid is/was and look at the facts. Israel is the only democratic, multi-cultural country in the Middle East.

Free speech - University of Derby style

From This Is Debyshire on 10 November 2012:

'THE University of Derby's Students' Union has banned one of the candidates vying to be voted in as the county's first Police and Crime Commissioner.

The organisation told David Gale yesterday morning that he would not be welcomed at a Q&A session for candidates, which took place at 2pm in the afternoon.

In a series of e-mails sent to Mr Gale by the union, he was told he would not be allowed to attend because it had "a no platform policy for UKIP", of which Mr Gale is a member.

The event saw the other three candidates, Rod Hutton, Simon Spencer and Alan Charles, discuss crime matters with students.

The students' union said it had originally invited Mr Gale to speak but he said he may not be able to attend due to other commitments.

Then, yesterday morning, he was sent a policy document which said: "The University of Derby Students' Union standing orders state clearly in that any member of the union may complain to the union president about an individual(s) who they believe to be a member of a group with racist, fascist or extremist views.

"We received several student complaints around UKIP policies on immigration that included repealing the 1998 Human Rights Act and withdraw from the European Convention on Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms.

"The decision was taken by the Students' Union executive to place UKIP on our no platform list in line with our values and legal documentation.

"We at the University of Derby Students' Union are proud supporters of No Platform and we uphold the rights of our students to feel safe while studying on campus.

"Part of this is us refusing to share a platform with groups holding extremist views."

Mr Gale did not want to comment directly about the matter but the decision brought wrath from the head of UKIP nationally.

Nigel Farage MEP said: "It is absurd that this student union feels it has the right to ban a serious national political party from its discussions.

"It is frightening that a Derby student body is so frightened of free speech and public opinion."

The public go to the polls on Thursday to vote in the county's first commissioner.

Whoever wins the race will replace the existing Police Authority and have the power to set the force budget.

Derek Clark, UKIP member of the European Parliament for Derbyshire, said: "I thought universities were supposed to welcome all points of view and support freedom and democracy? I would urge the students' union to look again at their policy as a matter of urgency."

A University of Derby Students' Union spokesman confirmed union officials had decided a platform could not be offered to a UKIP candidate because it was not felt that UKIP political views were in line with the union's values.

He added: "Having been made aware of Mr Gale's concerns regarding this policy, the UDSU will review its policies and procedures in this area, to further clarify its position."'

 The tolerance of the left never ceases to amaze me.  Likewise their absolute certainty that they are correct and any disagreement is wrong and should, if possible, be censored.

First the EDL, now UKIP. How long before right of centre Conservatives are also deemed to be out of 'line with the union's values'?

The Arctic Sea Ice melting

Thanks to No Tricks Zone for this:

When one hears or reads the reports about the Arctic sea ice, it helps to remember that satellite measurement did not begin until 1979. Thus we have data only for a period of just over 30 years. This barely suffices to fulfil the gladly used “climate definition” of a minimum period of 30 years. So we can’t avoid having a suspicious feeling, as we ask what did the sea ice do before satellite measurement began? Can we just simply skip over this and simply add the notation that we just don’t know much about it? Of course not. That would be too easy. Before the days of satellite measurement, ships travelled in the Arctic and brought back information about sea ice cover in the region.
In the following chronology, we present some of these reports. You’ll be amazed by what was observed.
1907 The New York Times reported on an Arctic heat wave. Source: Real Science.
1922 The Pittsburgh Press: “Extraordinary warmth in the Arctic during the last few years. Polar ice sheet to melt down? “Source: Real Science, The Mail.
1923 Fishermen, seal hunters and explorers report on unusually high temperatures around Spitzbergen and the East Arctic Ocean. The Daily News from Perth speculated on whether the sea ice in the Arctic Ocean would soon melt away as a result of a “radical climate change”. Source: Real Science.
1935 Russian vessel travelled over ice-free region that today was still ice-covered just before the previous ice minimum in 2007. Source: Real Science.

1938 Huge melting of Arctic sea ice. Source: WUWT.
Arctic temperatures in the 1930s were warmer and the warming rate was higher than the rate seen at the end of the 20th century. Source: The Hockeyschtick.
At the end of the 1930s, Soviet scientists noticed that for an extended time period it even had been 6°C warmer than during the Nansens ice drift, and a few degrees warmer than today. Source: Donner + Doria.
1940 According to reports, Arctic sea ice in February 1940 was a mere 2 meters thick, which was the same as the thickness of February 2012. Source: Real Science,
1947 Geophysicist Hans Ahlmann sets off the alarm: Climate change in the Arctic is so dramatic that an international agency needs to be set up to address it. Source: Real Science, the reference frame.
1958 During a voyage in the summer of 1958, American submarine ”Skate“ emerged in open water nine times – and once at the North Pole. Source: Donner + Doria.

The trouble with plebs

A tweeter who goes by the name PLEB Donovan (@DD1958) keeps stating that Israel is an 'apartheid state'. I've posted here before to show how this is a nasty lie - take a look here, here, here and here for some evidence, as opposed to hatred.

Meanwhile I spotted this in YNet:

'Anet Haskia is not the typical mom of a soldier serving in the Israel Defense Forces. A Muslim Arab, who grew up in a mixed Arab-Jewish city in the north, Haskia is breathing a little easier this week.

For Haskia, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's decision not to enter the Gaza Strip last week was "brave and right."

The mother of three children, with a 20-year-old IDF combat soldier, Haskia told Tazpit News Agency, that "many Israeli soldiers’ lives were saved thanks to that decision."

"Going into Gaza would have yielded success for the Hamas terrorists. Israel did what it had to do for the time being to stop the rocket attacks and played it smart."

Haskia who was born and raised in Akko, a mixed Arab-Jewish city in the Western Galilee in northern Israel, is openly vocal about her support for the Jewish State of Israel.

"I am proud to live in Israel," she says. "I am even prouder that both my sons have served as soldiers for this country."

"If I was living in Gaza, I would have no rights as a woman under Hamas," explained Haskia. "And you can’t expect anything different—Hamas is a terror organization, they treat people like animals with no regard to human life. They will never hold democratic elections like they do in Israel."

"I’m open about these truths," adds Haskia. "The Arab MKs in the Israeli Knesset don’t represent me. The extremist left-wing in Israel also doesn’t represent me and others in my community who share my beliefs. Those corrupt politicians just contribute to hate, incitement and lies."

"When an IDF soldier is killed in combat, not one Arab MK will stand up and offer his condolences to the bereaved family," she exclaims. "These Arab MKs enjoy democratic rights but don’t appreciate them."

Anet explains that her attitude towards the Jewish state as a member of the Arab minority country stems from the fact that she was raised in a home that "respected both Hebrew and Arabic-speakers."

"When I grew up in Akko, we had good relations between Jewish and Arab families."

"I realized early on that I wanted my children to advance in Israeli society. They studied in a private Jewish school on a kibbutz and were exposed to a different mentality. It was not an easy road, but I taught my children to always be proud of their identity and not to cry and whine like our politicians."

During Israel’s Operation Pillar of Defense, Haskia did not just sit worried over what may happen to her son—the proud mom did her share to help Israel as well. "Over 12 years, Hamas has been firing rockets at Israeli civilians and all you see are photos of Gaza in the media. Some of those photos are fakes," Haskia pointed out.

"I noticed many times in Arab media that 'Gaza' photos of bleeding civilians were actually photos from other Arab conflicts in the Middle East— Syria and Iraq for example. They were being used to incite hatred against Israel, so I started to post these fake photos and their origins on my Facebook wall."

Haskia, however, has political ambitions as well. "I want to be part of Israeli politics some day and make a change by representing my people politically. There are many people who are too scared to speak up, who love Israel like I do and have done well here. They want a future where their children will not fall to hatred and incitement, but overcome that. I want to be their voice," she concludes. '

A Muslim Arab with a son in the IDF. A Muslim Arab who talks of Muslim Arab MKs. But to @DD1958, Israel is still an apartheid state.

The legal case for Israel - If you watch only one video today, watch this one.

An absolutely fascinating piece of video where Professor Eugene Kontorovich first explains which bodies can make international laws and which can't and how that affects the status of Israel. More fascinating is the part from around 7 minutes in where there is a history lesson that the BBC and others would do well to watch and learn from.

Did you see the Armistice Agreement between Israel and Jordan from 1949 (at 22:38)?

'the Armistics Demarkation line is not to be construed in any sense as a political or territorial boundary, and is delineated without prejudice to rights, claims, of either Party to the Armistice as regards ultimate of the Palestine question...'

Amy Farrah Fowler before she was Amy Farrah Fowler

Before Mayim Bialik was Dr Amy Farrah Bialik she was Blossom, and she wasn't a Geek.

"You broke the eleventh commandment - Thou shalt not geek"

More importantly, it's just not funny anymore

It is being reported that Angus T Jones, Jake, on Two and a Half Men has described the show as "filth", while urging viewers not to watch it. He made a YouTube video

"I'm on Two and a Half Men and I don't want to be on it. Please stop watching it... Please stop filling your head with filth. Please. It's, you know, people say it's just entertainment."

More importantly, it's just not funny anymore.

Interestingly that's two stars of Two and a Half Men who have dissed the programme whilst still appearing on it. First Charlie Sheen and now Angus T. Jones; most peculiar.

BBC Middle East news priorities

If Israel had breached the ceasefire / hudna then the BBC would headline the news but as it was a Palestinian attack, not a word. Israel National News reports that:

'Soldiers killed a suspected Gaza terrorist early Monday after he broke into a Jewish home and stabbed a girl before fleeing.

The IDF discovered a hole in the nearby Gaza security fence, and footprints from the area matched the shoes of the intruder, who had escaped to the Moshav Sde Avraham's greenhouses after he tried to kill the girl.

Soldiers caught up with him and tried to arrest him, and then shot and killed him when he tried to escape.

The wounded girl is in fair condition. She was stabbed in her family’s home in Moshav Sde Avraham, originally named Yesodot HaDarom. It is a southern community adjacent to Gaza and was founded in 1982 by victims of the expulsion from the Yamit communities in Sinai that was part of the Egyptian-Israeli Peace Treaty in 1979.'

As of 10:32 on Tuesday 27th November I can't find a word about this attack on the BBC News website's Middle East  news section.

The BBC aren't even pretending to be unbiased when it comes to coverage of the Middle East.

BBC Sports Personality of the Year 2012 shortlist

It's been a bumper year for sports and here's the BBC  Sports Personality of the Year 2012 shortlist:

Jessica Ennis - Olympic Heptathlon gold medallist

Mo Farah - Olympic 5000m and 10000m double gold medallist

Bradley Wiggins - First British winner of the Tour De France and Olympic Time Trial gold medallist

Sir Chris Hoy - Double Olympic cycling gold medallist for the team sprint and men's keirin

Andy Murray - Olympic tennis singles gold medallist, and first British winner of a major tennis title, the US Open

Rory McIlroy - Winner of the golf US PGA title, played in Europe's winning Ryder Cup team and won the season-ending World Tour Championship

Katherine Grainger - Finally winning an Olympic rowing gold medal in the the women's double sculls

Nicola Adams - Boxing gold medallist

Ben Ainslie - Won hist fourth straight Olympic gold medal, he's also won a silver

Sarah Storey - Four cycling gold medals in the Paralympics

Ellie Simmonds - Two swimming gold medals in the Paralympics

David Weir - Four wheelchair athletics gold medals in the Paralympics

I'd like to see Jessica Ennis, Mo Farah or Sir Chris Hoy win the award, although I do have a soft spot for Kath Grainger.

Who are the Palestinians?

I've queried the reality of the Palestinian people before, and received grief as a result. Here's what Hamas Minister of the Interior and of National Security, Fathi Hammad, admitted on Al-Hekma TV (Egypt) on March 23, 2012




So the Arabs who now claim to be natives of the Holy Land have migrated to Palestine and invaded the land after 1917, from neighbouring Arab countries, predominantly from areas now known as Egypt, Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, and Iraq.

Remember that as I have reminded you before: In March 1977, Zahir Muhsein, an executive member of the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO), said in an interview to the Dutch newspaper Trouw: "The 'Palestinian people' does not exist. The creation of a Palestinian state is only a means for continuing our struggle against the state of Israel."

The perils of Voicemail

Amy Dempsey recorded live in Toronto, Canada on September 12th, 2012 at a live Raconteurs event. It's just a good story.

Labour's immigration myths

' The myth peddled by Blair's acolytes – that high levels of immigration generated significant economic benefits for the existing UK population – was demolished in 2008 by a House of Lords select committee. It concluded: "We do not support the general claims that net immigration is indispensable to fill labour and skills shortages. Such claims are analytically weak and provide insufficient reason for promoting net immigration." Reinforcing this point, the government's Migration Advisory Committee recently confirmed that immigrants do "displace" some British workers – ie, take their jobs, most likely those at the bottom end of the pay ladder.'
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/tony-blair/9702416/Del-Boy-Blair-peddles-immigration-myths.html

"Why do we keep pretending that they (Hamas) want something else?"

Pat Condell speaks the truth about Hamas. The truth is so obvious that I do wonder how screwed up so many Western journalists must be in order to see Hamas as the good guys. Can these journalists not read, have they not read Hamas's Charter, can they not see the videos all over the internet of Hamas leaders calling for the destruction of Israel and the killing of Jews? What makes these journalist think that they know the real truth of the matter? Here's the 13th Article of Hamas's Charter (my emphasis):

'Article Thirteen: Peaceful Solutions, [Peace] Initiatives and International Conferences [Peace] initiatives, the so-called peaceful solutions, and the international conferences to resolve the Palestinian problem, are all contrary to the beliefs of the Islamic Resistance Movement. For renouncing any part of Palestine means renouncing part of the religion; the nationalism of the Islamic Resistance Movement is part of its faith, the movement educates its members to adhere to its principles and to raise the banner of Allah over their homeland as they fight their Jihad: “Allah is the all-powerful, but most people are not aware.” From time to time a clamoring is voiced, to hold an International Conference in search for a solution to the problem. Some accept the idea, others reject it, for one reason or another, demanding the implementation of this or that condition, as a prerequisite for agreeing to convene the Conference or for participating in it. But the Islamic Resistance Movement, which is aware of the [prospective] parties to this conference, and of their past and present positions towards the problems of the Muslims, does not believe that those conferences are capable of responding to demands, or of restoring rights or doing justice to the oppressed. Those conferences are no more than a means to appoint the nonbelievers as arbitrators in the lands of Islam. Since when did the Unbelievers do justice to the Believers? “And the Jews will not be pleased with thee, nor will the Christians, till thou follow their creed. Say: Lo! the guidance of Allah [himself] is the Guidance. And if you should follow their desires after the knowledge which has come unto thee, then you would have from Allah no protecting friend nor helper.” Sura 2 (the Cow), verse 120 There is no solution to the Palestinian problem except by Jihad. The initiatives, proposals and International Conferences are but a waste of time, an exercise in futility. The Palestinian people are too noble to have their future, their right and their destiny submitted to a vain game. As the hadith has it: “The people of Syria are Allah’s whip on this land; He takes revenge by their intermediary from whoever he wished among his worshipers. The Hypocrites among them are forbidden from vanquishing the true believers, and they will die in anxiety and sorrow.” (Told by Tabarani, who is traceable in ascending order of traditionaries to Muhammad, and by Ahmed whose chain of transmission is incomplete. But it is bound to be a true hadith, for both story tellers are reliable. Allah knows best.)'

'Yes but the Hamas Charter is not what they believe now', I am told by pro-Palestinian activists. 'Really they want peace', I am informed. Here's an Hamas imam preaching last year:

"Oh Allah, loosen your power and strength on the Jews... Please Allah, kill them all and don't leave any of them alive... Please Allah, get rid of the Jews"

But it's not just Jews that Hamas want to kill. Here's a piece shown on Hamas's TV station in December 2010

"Allah, oh our Lord, vanquish your enemies, enemies of the religion (Islam) in all places. Allah, strike the Jews and their sympathizers, the Christians and their supporters, the Communsists and their adherents. Allah, count them and kill them to the last one, and don't leave even one."

Here's Dr. Walid Al-Rashudi, head of the Department of Islamic Studies at Saud University in Saudi Arabia, in a speech from 2009 broadcast on Hamas TV.

"You don't treat the Jews as enemies because they are only human beings who eat and drink, No! We treat them as enemies because they are the enemy of Allah and the prophets, they are murderers of prophets, falsifiers of divine revelation, they are treacherous betrayers, therefore we treat them as enemies... Allah! Allah, count the Jews and kill them to the last one and don't leave even one."

Here's a music video from last week produced by Hamas's Al-Qassam Brigades

"We are the [Al-Qassam] Brigades Brigades - we kidnap soldiers Brigades - we kill Jews Brigades - we watch the borders Brigades - we are not afraid of death Brigades - gear up your weapon Gear up, gear up Destroy the usurper's dens and set fire to the oppressors Through training and preparations, you roar, oh lion of Qassam It's in your hands to get [our] country back and then we will raise the banner of Islam." Hebrew texts on screen addressing Israelis: "Your body parts are scattered everywhere." "The cemeteries await you."

Do you still think Hamas want peace?

The cellular telephone revolution - 1980s Motorola promotional film

A 30 ounce mobile telephone! Now people worry about whether a phone is too heavy at 160 grammes.

Daled Amos: Did Abbas Give The Order For Israel's Operation Pillar?

http://daledamos.blogspot.co.uk/2012/11/did-abbas-give-order-for-israels.html?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter&m=1

The truth about Hamas

Satirical but this with more than a grain of truth.

A Middle East hospital bombed, 15 people killed and the BBC don't report it

On Thursday 22 November, at least 15 people were killed when Syrian government forces bombed an Aleppo hospital, rebel forces have said. The rebels claimed that 40 people may have been trapped in the ruined building, whilst the dead included at least two children and two hospital employees.

Meanwhile, the Syrian Network for Human Rights reported government forces had killed 17 people Wednesday in the Damascus suburbs.


Terrible loss of life and the hospital being bombed is a truly horrific story, yet not a word can I find on the BBC about the news. Indeed the last story to mention Aleppo is this one from October entitled 'Aleppo: Treating trauma on the front line. The BBC's Ian Pannell visits a hospital in Aleppo overwhelmed with trauma victims of Syria's civil war, where doctors work under fire to keep people alive.' I wonder if it was the same hospital?

What is most revealing is this. If this had been a Gazan hospital hit by Israel, can you imagine the amount of coverage the story would have received on the BBC. It seems that on the BBC Israel kills Palestinians is headline news, whilst Muslim Arab dictator kills other Muslims is not even worthy of coverage. Is this because a) the BBC are not interested in Muslim on Muslim violence, b) the BBC still think fondly of Syria's President Assad as someone who stood up to Israel, c) the BBC's hatred for Israel means that their news coverage is skewed? Of course more than one of the above options could be true.

So come on then Jeremy 'Twitter Q&A on Rosh Hashonah' Bowen, you're the BBC's Middle East Editor, why is the news that the Syrian government have bombed a hospital killing 15 people not headline news? What are your news priorities? Why is the Jewish state of Israel subject to more scrutiny and criticism than its Islamic neighbours?

World, we're sorry that more of us didn't die | Zahava Englard | Ops & Blogs | The Times of Israel

http://blogs.timesofisrael.com/world-were-sorry-that-more-of-us-didnt-die/

Harry's Place » Why Israel’s Unilateral Withdrawal From Palestinian Territory Will Deliver Neither Peace Nor Justice

http://hurryupharry.org/2012/11/25/why-israels-unilateral-withdrawal-from-palestinian-territory-will-deliver-neither-peace-nor-justice/

Truth Hurts, Doesn’t It, Jon? | Israellycool

http://www.israellycool.com/2012/11/25/truth-hurts-doesnt-it-jon
BBC's Jon Donnison again

Elder of Ziyon: Follow-up on Omar Mishrawi's death and the BBC

http://elderofziyon.blogspot.co.uk/2012/11/follow-up-on-omar-mishrawis-death-and.html?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter&utm_campaign=Feed:+blogspot/PDbq+(Elder+of+Ziyon)&m=1

Oy that's my map

I noted that traffic to my site was down and its because this blog is no longer featuring in the top images for the Google search 'Gaza map'. Oddly the same map that I featured in this article last year still appears in the Google images search but instead of this blog, it links to this blog.

To be fair Durruti's Flames is making a similar point to me regarding the map, but is that really the point?

Here's the map in question...

This map makes a similar visual point

Jeremy Bown - "‘too emotive’ and ‘veering into opinion’"

The Mail reports that:

'The BBC’s coverage of the Arab Spring has been heavily criticised – by the corporation’s bosses.Head of news Helen Boaden admitted that her journalists got carried away with events and produced ‘over-excited’ reports.

She told a BBC Trust report that in Libya, where reporters were ‘embedded’ with rebels, they may have failed to explore both sides of the story properly.

Middle East editor Jeremy Bowen was among those criticised in the study into coverage of the uprisings, which found that ‘excitement’ did sometimes ‘infect’ the reporting, which some viewers described as ‘too emotive’ and ‘veering into opinion’.'

My views on Jeremy Bowen and his anti-Israel bias are well known and have been made to Helen Boaden only recently, incidentally I am still awaiting your reply to my last email Ms Boaden.

Obama Legitimizes Morsi’s Protection Racket

http://frontpagemag.com/2012/david-goldman/obama-legitimizes-morsis-protection-racket/#.UK4W8f3Lf2g.twitter

Foster parents 'stigmatised and slandered’ for being members of Ukip - Telegraph

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/9700001/Foster-parents-stigmatised-and-slandered-for-being-members-of-Ukip.html
I wonder if Rotherham Council would take similar action against foster parents who were Islamists or communists?

Shocking BBC bias as EU summit gets underway - The Commentator

http://www.thecommentator.com/article/2109/shocking_bbc_bias_as_eu_summit_gets_underway

The one hundred and sixty seventh weekly "No shit, Sherlock" award

This one is almost worthy of a special award, so obvious is it.

According to MSN 'Sex and alcohol make you happier than kids and religion, study finds'

"No shit, Sherlock"

An excellent Twitter response

I think that answers that one. I may try and use that myself the next time somone accuses Israel of a disproportionate response to 'homemade rocket attacks'.

Hmm who would you rather have over for dinner?

Film of a protest outside the Israeli consulate in San Francisco.

Who would yourather have over for dinner the angry, obscene and frankly nasty protestors or the nice civilized workers outside the consulate? Tough choice? Not really.

I would say this was an unbelievable piece of biased interviewing, but it's the BBC so it's actually quite predictable

Earlier today I was refereed to this piece of video by some Twitterers

I blogged about it, albeit with a link somehow screwed up by my smartphone, but had no time to comment upon it.

Now I have watched the video a few more times I feel a little lost as to what to say.

Is the BBC interviewer, Mishal Husain, really suggesting that the most important issue is not the number of rockets being fired at towns in Southern Israel but how many people these rockets have killed. The fact that Israel has built bomb shelters, invested in alert systems and of course devised and built the defensive system Iron Dom, to minimise civilian deaths is ignored. The fact that were it not for these systems many more Israelis would have been killed is deemed irrelevant.

What is also ignored by this BBC reporter and others is that the Israeli body count isn’t low because Hamas is trying to minimise Israeli casualties. In fact the opposite is true, Hamas’s want to kill as many Israelis as possible. Without the defensive measures I outlined above, the Israeli body count would be much higher - would that be more acceptable to Mishal Husain?

Mishal Husain seems to believe that constantly living in fear of rockets, having 15 seconds to run for a shelter is an acceptable way to live, I disagree.

By way of contrast listen to Mishal Husain's tone, a few days ago, when she interviewed Diana Buttu, a former legal adviser to the PLO. She doesn't challenge Ms Buttu's claim that Israel is occupying Gaza. Yes she asks some simple questions that challenge the standard Palestinian position but there is no hectoring tone, none of the aggression that was in the interview with the Israeli journalist.


As my old English teacher used to request - "Compare and contrast"

Gaza one of the most densely populated places in the world?

The BBC love to tell us that Gaza, sometimes narrowed down to Gaza City,  is one of the most densely populated places in the world. The BBC slipped up today with the above graphic. So London is more densely populated than Gaza and Singapore way more densely populated than Gaza City. Do try and remember that the next time the BBC repeat that Gaza is one of the most densely populated places in the world, because the BBC will repeat that canard again soon.

An interview you must watch

I will post more about this later, work must take priority...

The BBC's definition of a ceasefire 'holding' is instructive

The BBC report in a piece headed 'Gaza crisis: Israel-Hamas ceasefire agreement holds' that:

'A ceasefire between Israel and the Islamist Hamas movement that runs the Gaza Strip appeared to be holding on Thursday.

Israel radio said some rockets had been fired from Gaza, but there was no sign of an Israeli response.'

So the ceasefire is holding because Israel hasn't responded to Hamas rockets. However the firing of Hamas rockets does not break the ceasefire!

Just as before the recent Israeli retaliation, the BBC will minimise coverage of rockets fired from Gaza at Israel, will minimise coverage of other attacks on Israelis launched by Palestinian terrorists BUT will be ready to cast the full glare of their news coverage if Israel dares to retaliate.

The BBC is institutionally anti-Israel, that much is clear.

The BBC's anti-Semitic past

Thanks to a contributor to Biased-BBC, I have found a fascinating article from The Independent. It's from 1993. The article is entitled 'Why the BBC ignored the Holocaust: Anti-Semitism in the top ranks of broadcasting and Foreign Office staff led to the news being suppressed, says Stephen Ward' and contains a huge amount of interesting material. Here are a few extracts:

'ANTI-SEMITISM in the higher ranks of the Foreign Office and the BBC during the Second World War led to a policy which suppressed news about Germany's attempt to exterminate European Jews, new research will show this week. 

...

... both Foreign Office and BBC officials held a low opinion of Jews, and believed this was shared by the public.

They deduced that saving millions of Jews would not be seen as a desirable war aim by the British. At other times they justified suppression of details of the atrocities by arguing that they would not be believed.

News reports could only be carried if, in the view of the BBC and the Foreign Office, they were well-sourced. If the sources were Jewish, they tended not to be believed.

...

The BBC accepted unquestioningly the Ministry of Information's advice that anti-Semitism was rife in Britain, and felt it was not its role to do anything. On 17 November 1943 the director-general, Robert Foot, issued a policy directive . . . 'that we should not promote ourselves or accept any propaganda in the way of talks, discussion, features with the object of trying to correct the undoubted anti-Semitic feeling which is held very largely throughout the country'.

...

At the very end of the war, Richard Dimbleby made his historic broadcasts from the concentration camp at Belsen. In the light of the BBC's wartime policy, it comes as no surprise that these broadcasts mention only in passing the Jewish identity of victims, or that Belsen's gas chambers and the sheer numbers of its dead so shocked the BBC newsroom that they refused to use Dimbleby's reports until they had seen them confirmed in newspapers.'

Shocking isn't it, but does the BBC's current attitude towards Israel have its roots in this anti-Semitic outlook?

Another matter that strikes me, and it is something that I have remarked upon before, is that the BBC's favourite left-wing 'comedians' (including Jeremy Hardy and Mark Steel) love to remind people that the Daily Mail once supported Hitler and so its views are not worthy of respect now. Since we can read that the BBC once supported the minimising of the coverage of Nazi Germay's anti-Semitism and killing of Jews, can we apply the same stricture to the BBC? If not, why not?

The one hundred and sixty sixth weekly "No shit, Sherlock" award

This week's winner is a Tweeter on my timeline:

'I'm not optimistic. I'm 100% certain that rockets will continue to be fired at Israel. Palestinian terrorists doesn't want peace. Period. -- Andreas Fagerbakke (@afagerbakke)'

Do you think? "No shit, Sherlock"

The reality of the ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas

http://edgar1981.blogspot.co.uk/2012/11/cease-fire-text.html
Only slightly satirical...

'd. The international media will apply a complete blackout on reporting of any firing by Palestinians into Israel. When Israel finally responds after the 10,000th rocket has landed the media must immediately report that Israel has broken the ceasefire.'

TEXT: Cease-fire agreement between Israel and Hamas - Israel News | Haaretz Daily Newspaper

http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/text-cease-fire-agreement-between-israel-and-hamas.premium-1.479653

The diference between a terrorist gang and a democratic country

If you don't get the context, don't worry it's probably because you get your news from an anti-Israel news agency such as the BBC.

The picture on the left is of one of the six 'collaborators' killed by Hamas in Gaza and then dragged around the streets behind motorcycles as the killers celebrated. The lady on the right is Haneenn Zoabi. Haneen Zoabi is a Member of the Israeli Parliament. She rejects the idea of Israel as a Jewish state, which she describes as "inherently racist."; her views as to whether the many Islamic states in the world are also "inherently racist" I have not been able to ascertain. Haneen Zoabi was on the fake
Gaza blockade breaking ship the the MV Mavi Marmara. Haneen Zoabi has been threatened in Israel and so the government of Israel did not kill her and have her dragged behind a motorcycle, the Israeli government did not imprison her. Instead the Israeli government assigned her two security guards for her protection.

So that's the difference between a terrorist gang and a democratic country. The former kills 'collaborators' without trial whilst Israel supplies them with security guards.

The other oddity for some will be the concept of Israel having Muslim parliamentarians, Israel being often labelled an 'apartheid state'. I have proven so many times before that Israel is not an apartheid state that it seems hardly worth mentioning it again here. However it is worth noting that Haneen Zoabi is not alone an Arab Member of the Knesset, here's a list of other current and former members.

Israeli 'settlements'

I keep hearing that Israel is expanding settlements in the West Bank, but is that the case? this blogger says no:

1. The last time a settlement was set up was in 1997. The last time an unofficial outpost was set up which then became a settlement was in 2003. Almost a decade.

2. There is no settlement activity in Area A.

3. There is very little settlement activity in Area B, though in a number of places along the edges of Area B there are some local cases of overstepping the line. Which means that for all the failure of the Oslo process, Israel is still respecting its transfer of control to the PA.

This is not to say there's no construction going on in any settlements, Of course there is, and it's the official policy of the current government. Yet the stereotypic view from afar, about how the settlers are gobbling up the West Bank and thereby preventing peace, looks a bit different when you carefully look from close up. As do many things about this conflict.

Is it worth raising this with the BBC the next time Israeli settlements are being demonised and blamed for most everything? Probably not!

So why is Israel held to a different standard? Asks Glenn Beck

One striking difference between Hamas and the Israeli Defence Force

Twitter status

Apparently my account has now been un-suspended but I still can't access it.

Updates as and when.

Twitter account suspended - please assist

It seems that overnight my Twitter account has been suspended, I presume because some pro-Palestinian (for which you can read anti-Israel and maybe anti-Semitic) people have complained about me tweeting the truth about Israel and the Palestinians. I have appealed:

'I have tried to access my twitter account this morning but have found that it has been suspended. Why has this happened? My twitter account is important to me as an adjunct to my blog. I do not spam, tweet threats, swear or anything else that should result in my account being suspended.In fact I am generally over-reasonable in dealing with tweeters who insult and swear at me.

Please could you rectify this situation for me.

Many thanks in advance.'

If anyone can assist or advise me in this matter I would be grateful. In the meantime I should be more productive at work today!

Doctor Who - The Children In need minisode and Christmas Special trailer

Irritating Clara is no Amelia Pond!

A little worrying for the BBC's Helen Boaden?

I have finally received a reply from the BBC to my query as to whether Helen Boaden was still the correct person to write to about Jeremy Bowen's recent anti-Jewish discrimination, here it is:

'NewsOnline Complaints	15:59 (3 hours ago)
to me

Dear Sir,

For the moment, the email address you have is appropriate.

Regards,

 

BBC News website

Poor Helen, hopefully she'll have time to answer the email I sent her this morning before matters change...
 

War crimes are being commited in Gaza and the world just yawns

War crimes are being commited in Gaza and the world just yawns.


Why is the world not interested? 

Is it because the war crimes are being committed by Hamas?

A graph to illustrate the causes of the Israeli attack on Gaza

Since Israel left Gaza in 2005, to help ensure peace they were told, those are the number of rockets fired at Israel from Gaza. Yes many were shot down by the Israeli Iron Dome defences, yes many landed in open countryside. But how many other countries would be expected to just let the rockets be fired at it and to be censured for responding?


Hamas have ramped up their attacks this year, partly to take attention off of Iran but mainly to try and draw Israel into reacting and so losing even more public support. Hamas have succeeded, but what choice did Israel really have?

Some cartoons that make sense of the current Israeli Hamas conflict

First, two cartoons that make the same point. However many rockets are fired at Israel by Hamas, the story is only newsworthy when Israel responds.The western news media, almost without exception, just didn't report the rocket attacks by Hamas on Israel, so when they do report the Israeli response their readers, viewers and listeners are given the distinct impression that the problem started with Israeli aggression.

The third cartoon is one that helps to explain the very unfortunate deaths of children in Gaza.

Complaining to Helen Boaden about Jeremy Bowen

Further to this blogpost I have now emailed Helen Boaden and await her response.

RE: Jeremy Bowen's choice of date to hold a Twitter Q&A

Nota Sheep notasheepmaybeagoat@googlemail.com	15:25 (0 minutes ago)
to HelenBoadenCom.

I have been referred to you by NewsOnline Complaints as I was not satisfied with their response to my complaint.

In summary:
The BBC's Middle East Editor, Jeremy Bowen, chose one of the holiest days in the Jewish calendar to hold a Q&A on the Middle East. That disenfranchised
all religious Jews and the vast majority of not particularly religious Jews.

In response to my query re this choice of date Jeremy Bowen responded via
Twitter that "the timing could be better" that he "did know it was Jewish New Year" but that it was ok because "it doesn't stop quite a few Jews using social media!".

Jeremy Bowen's choice of day for this Q&A clearly discrminated against religious (and not that religious) Jews, who would be unable to take part in the Q&A and thus created a biased debate.

Surely an unbiased BBC Middle East Editor would take care to ensure that no
interested parties would be unable to take part in the Q&A. Would Jeremy Bowen have held such a Q&A on a Friday during Ramadan?

When considering this matter, do bear in mind that Jeremy Bowen's anti-Israel
bias was confirmed by the Editorial Standards Committee of the BBC Trust who published a report into three complaints about him in April 2009. The Editorial Standards Committee upheld three complaints against Jeremy Bowen
on grounds of accuracy and impartiality.


NewsOnline Complaints initial response to my complaint was this:

' Jeremy Bowen did not "choose" this date; he is very busy and it was the earliest day he could fit this event into his schedule. He has acknowledged this in his tweets to you. However, this will not be the only such event with him, so there will be other opportunities for those who may consider they were excluded to take part.

This was not a debate but a question and answer session so there is no question in our view of it being biased.'

This answer was not satisfactory for several reasons. First the explanation of why that day was allocated is not believable or acceptable. An unbiased Middle East Editor would have Rosh  Hashonah noted in his diary and accordingly would not schedule a Q&A for that  date, regardless of whether he was free on that day.

The bare fact is that the BBC's Middle East Editor held a Q&A  session on one of the holiest days in the Jewish calendar when the vast majority of Jews would not be able to take part. This decision disenfranchised the vast majority of Jews from taking part. Jeremy Bowen  would not dream of scheduling such an event for a Friday during Ramadan and thus disenfranchising Muslims, would he?

As to the glib comment that 'this will not be the only such event with him, so there will be other opportunities for those who may consider they were excluded to take part.', I find that offensive. Should Jews be satisfied that at some unspecified future date we will be allowed to contribute to a Q&A with the BBC's Middle East Editor? Muslims and Christians every time but Jews only occasionally? Do Jews not pay the BBC licence fee? Is the BBC an institutionally anti-Semitic organisation as well as an anti-Zionist one?


I realise that you have other important matters to concern yourself with at the moment but I do feel that this matter is an important one as it addresses the matter of trust in, and the veracity of, the BBC.

Regards

NotaSheep MaybeaGoat