Hillary Clinton laughing as she justifies the murder of Gaddafi: "We Came, We Saw, He Died"

I was no fan of the Libyan despot Gaddafi but is this the reaction to an extra judicial killing of someone that you want from the woman who wants to be the next president of the USA?

At UN, Pakistan Praises Saudi Arabia for Protecting “Women’s Rights” | FrontPage Magazine

'As the UN Human Rights Council scrutinized Saudi Arabia's domestic rights record this morning… out of 95 countries who took the floor, 82 praised Saudi Arabia.

Hillel Neuer, executive director of the Geneva-based human rights group UN Watch, said the country is poised to win a seat on the Human Rights Council.

"A country whose legal system routinely lashes women rape victims rather than punish the perpetrators should not have been praised effusively by members of the UN's top human rights body," said Neuer. "Instead the world should have addressed the Saudi regime's use of cruel, inhuman and degrading punishments, such as flogging, amputations and eye-gouging."'

More here http://frontpagemag.com/2013/dgreenfield/at-un-pakistan-praises-saudi-arabia-for-protecting-womens-rights

Here's what some United Nations' member states said about Saudi Arabia and human rights:

Afghanistan: “We commend Saudia Arabia as they continue to enhance the protection and promotion of human rights…”
 

Somalia: “Saudi Arabia maintains a high priority for protection and promotion of human rights…”

Libya: “Saudi Arabia continues to strengthen human rights and promote them and this deserves our appreciation…”

Mauritania, VP of the UNHRC (and a country that practices slavery): “We commend Saudi Arabia for always seeking to strengthen human rights…We commend Saudi Arabia in terms of the progress on guaranteeing fundamental rights and freedoms, socioeconomic progress, participation of women at all levels and participation in society.

China: “We appreciate efforts made to protect the rights of children and to have dialogues of religious tolerance…”

Pakistan: Commended “laudable steps taken by Saudi Arabia to promote and protect the rights of children and women…”

So according to China, Saudi Arabia which arrests Christians for praying, practises religious tolerance.

So according to Afghanistan, Libya, Somalia, and the slavers of Mauritania, the Saudis excel at human rights.

So according to Pakistan, a country where raping women is endemic, Saudi Arabia, which won’t let women drive or leave the house, is also breaking new ground in protecting women’s rights.

Satire is dead, what other conclusion is there.

The Benghazi hearings

What happened in Benghazi is becoming more clear every day and it reflects terribly upon Barack Obama's administration. For this reason the BBC are desperately trying to minimise their coverage of this story., When was the last time you heard a detailed report on the BBC News? The BBC's US & Canada news page currently looks like this

Do you see the report hiding as the seventh most important story?

And when you read that report what do you learn?

'Official talking points about an attack on the US mission in Benghazi, Libya, were edited by the state department to remove references to terrorism, a US television network has reported.

The revelation by ABC News contradicts earlier White House comments that the memo was mostly developed by the CIA.

...

The controversy stems in large part from an appearance on Sunday chat shows soon after the attacks by Susan Rice, the US Ambassador to the UN, who said the attack had grown out of an anti-US protest.

Other officials have said they knew at the time it was an organised, armed assault, possibly by an Islamist militant group.

According to ABC News, as the dust settled in Libya the state department offered input on the talking points memo to be distributed to Congress and to Ms Rice.

The state department wanted to remove a reference to earlier CIA warnings about terror threats in Benghazi and excise the mention of Ansar al-Sharia, a group linked to al-Qaeda, ABC News reported.

State department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said in an email to intelligence and White House officials obtained by the ABC that the reference should be dropped because it "could be abused by members [of Congress] to beat up the state department for not paying attention to warnings", the network reports.

In November, White House press secretary Jay Carney said the information given to the public in the wake of the attack had been supplied by the intelligence community.

He said at the time: "The White House and the state department have made clear that the single adjustment that was made to those talking points by either of those two institutions were changing the word 'consulate' to 'diplomatic facility' because 'consulate' was inaccurate."

On Wednesday, a US diplomat in Libya during the attacks gave the first public account of the incident, in a Congressional hearing.

Gregory Hicks, deputy chief of mission in Tripoli, expressed frustration with the lack of military response to the incident, telling lawmakers he believed a second attack would have been deterred by a swift reaction.

The Pentagon has said it could not have done anything to assist the besieged Americans.

And Mr Hicks criticised an official review of the attack, saying it focused too much on low-ranking officials.

That probe, led by former Deputy Secretary of State Thomas Pickering and Adm Mike Mullen, singled out the diplomatic security and near eastern affairs bureaus for criticism.
It said "systemic failures and leadership and management deficiencies at senior levels" in those teams led to a "security posture that was inadequate for Benghazi and grossly inadequate to deal with the attack that took place".

In congressional hearings in January, then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton took responsibility for the security failures at the compound.

Some analysts say that Mrs Clinton, who has been cited as a possible Democratic presidential candidate in 2016, could be haunted by the incident if she chooses to run.'

That last line helps to explain why the BBC are minimising coverage of this story, they want to protect Hillary Clinton from too much negative publicity. Just as they minimised negative coverage at the tome of the Benghazi attack in order to reduce damage to Barack Obama's re-election campaign.

Be under no illusion that the BBC is an unbiased news organisation it is a campaigning body.


Meanwhile elsewhere in the media, here's Judge Jeanine Pirro letting rip at Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton and letting everybody know what really happened.

Elsewhere HotAir report what David Petraeus had to say at the time of the attacks. He was then the Director of the CIA but was forced to resign in a personal scandal shortly thereafter.


This is a major news story but the BBC will continue to minimise coverage of it as they consider supporting Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton and the US Democratic Party more important than reporting the truth.

What really happened in Benghazi and do the State Department memos hold the answers?

If you rely upon the BBC for your news then this sory will mean next to nothing as the Obama-loving BBC just don't cover this story.

So read this from Fox News and then this link to some MSNBC coverage. When even MSNBC are asking questions of the Obamamessiah's administration's story then you know something's up.

House Benghazi Report Raises New Questions - US News & World Report

' Reductions of security levels prior to the attacks in Benghazi were approved at the highest levels of the State Department, up to and including Secretary Clinton. This fact contradicts her testimony before the House Foreign Affairs Committee on January 23, 2013.

In the days following the attacks, White House and senior State Department officials altered accurate talking points drafted by the Intelligence Community in order to protect the State Department.

Contrary to Administration rhetoric, the talking points were not edited to protect classified information.

Concern for classified information is never mentioned in email traffic among senior administration officials.

All of this seems to conflict with what the Obama Administration told the American public in the thick of the president's ultimately successful re-election campaign.'

More here http://mobile.usnews.com/opinion/blogs/peter-roff/2013/04/23/congressional-report-on-benghazi-damns-obama-administration

Isn't Libya a nice place now!

Do you see the special attention paid to the Jewish soldier's grave stone?

The scary thing is how many Muslims in Western countries would do the same if they thought that they could get away with it.

I don't usually subscribe to conspiracy theories, but...

Politico reports that:

'The State Department said Saturday that Secretary of State Hillary Clinton fainted and suffered a concussion, but did not specify when that happened or the circumstances surrounding the incident.
She will not testify this week before House and Senate committees about the Sept. 11 attacks on Benghazi as scheduled, congressional sources said.'

Hmm, convenient?

If you like conspiracy theories then Politics & Finance have a doozy ...

Why so coy Jack Straw?

The British media is reporting that Abdel Hakim Belhadj is alleging that the then Foreign Secretary Jack Straw allowed his rendition to Libya to happen. Jack Straw is refusing to comment.

Remember that last year Last year Jack Straw denied any knowledge of any such the operation:

'The position of successive foreign secretaries, including me, is that we were opposed to unlawful rendition, opposed to torture or similar methods, and not only did we not agree with it, we were not complicit in it, nor did we turn a blind eye to it.'

More recently Jack Straw admitted that he signed off on the decision to capture Abdel Hakim Belhadj and hand him over to Colonel Gaddafi's Libyan regime. Oddly Jack Straw only remembered this once the Foreign Office had shown Jack Straw his signature authorising them to arrange the abduction in 2004.

Why did Jack Straw sign that document? Did the Labour British government collude in rendition and torture contrary to their vehement denials as recently as last year? What is the truth behind the relationship between senior Labour ministers and the Libyan regime of Colonel Gaddafi?Do any other former Labour ministers have questions to answer in this regard: Tony Blair, Peter Mandelson etc.?

Libyans and Africans

One of the leser told stories is that of the history of Arab slave traders and their African slaves. Whilst the West has put the vileness that was slavery behind it along with overt racism, much of the Arab world has not. Here's an example from Libya...

'A shocking video has appeared on the Internet showing Libyan rebels torturing a group of black Africans. People with their hands bound are shown being locked in a zoo-like cage and forced to eat the old Libyan flag. ­"Eat the flag, you dog. Patience you dog, patience. God is Great," screams a voice off-camera.'

Yet another reason to despair of the United Nations

I get very sick of the way the liberal media laud praise on the United Nations as being some sort of arbiter of right and wrong, some sort of defender of peace and liberty. This United Nations Human Rights Council report on human rights in Libya, pre the revolution, includes the following quotations:

'Iran noted that the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya had implemented a number of international human rights instruments and had cooperated with relevant treaty bodies. It noted with appreciation the establishment of the National Human Rights Committee as an independent national human rights institution, and the provision of an enabling environment for non-governmental organizations.

Algeria noted the efforts of the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya to promote human rights, which reflected the country’s commitment to complying with Human Rights Council resolutions and cooperating with the international community. Algeria welcomed the national institutional framework that had been set up, in particular the National Human Rights Committee. It noted that the country had made some progress in the area of education, as well as social and economic progress since the lifting of economic sanctions.

Qatar praised the legal framework for the protection of human rights and freedoms, including, inter alia, its criminal code and criminal procedure law, which provided legal guarantees for the implementation of those rights. Qatar expressed appreciation for the improvements made in the areas of education and health care, the rights of women, children and the elderly, and the situation of people with special needs.

Sudan noted the country’s positive experience in achieving a high school enrolment rate and improvements in the education of women.

The Syrian Arab Republic praised the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya for its serious commitment to and interaction with the Human Rights Council and its mechanisms. It commended the country for its democratic regime based on promoting the people’s authority through the holding of public conferences, which enhanced development and respect for human rights, while respecting cultural and religions traditions.

North Korea praised the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya for its achievements in the protection of human rights, especially in the field of economic and social rights, including income augmentation, social care, a free education system, increased delivery of health-care services, care for people with disabilities, and efforts to empower women. It noted the functioning of the constitutional and legislative framework and national entities.

Bahrain noted that the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya had adopted various policies aimed at improving human rights, in particular the right to education and the rights of persons with disabilities. Bahrain commended the free education system and praised programmes such as electronic examinations and teacher training. It commended the country for its efforts regarding persons with disabilities, particularly all the services and rehabilitation programmes provided.

Palestine commended the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya for the consultations held with civil society in the preparation of the national report, which demonstrated its commitment to the improved enjoyment of human rights. Palestine praised the country for the Great Green Document on Human Rights. It noted the establishment of the national independent institution entrusted with promoting and protecting human rights, which had many of the competencies set out in the Paris Principles. It also noted the interaction of the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya with human rights mechanisms.

Iraq commended the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya for being a party to most international and regional human rights instruments, which took precedence over its national legislation. It welcomed the efforts to present a comprehensive overview of the human rights situation in the country based on the unity among democracy, development and human rights. It also commended the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya for its cooperation with the international community.

Saudi Arabia commended the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya’s achievements in its constitutional, legislative and institutional frameworks, which showed the importance that the country attached to human rights, and for the fact that international treaties took precedence over its national legislation. It noted that the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya had become party to many human rights conventions and had equipped itself with a number of institutions, national, governmental and non-governmental, tasked with promoting and protecting human rights.

Tunisia welcomed [Libya’s] national report, as well as the efforts of the National Committee, such as the website created to gather contributions. Tunisia noted progress made by the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya, such as the adoption of the Great Green Charter, which was very comprehensive and enshrined fundamental freedoms and rights as enshrined in international human rights instruments.

Venezuela acknowledged the efforts of the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya to promote economic, social and cultural rights, especially those of children. It highlighted progress achieved in ensuring free and compulsory education.

Jordan welcomed the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya’s achievements in the promotion and protection of human rights, including the establishment of institutions, particularly in the judiciary system. Jordan praised progress in the fields of health, education and labour, as well as the increased attention to the rights of women. Jordan noted the participation of women in public life, including decision-making, and emphasized the fact that women held one third of all judicial posts.

Cuba commended the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya for the progress made in the achievement of one of the Millennium Development Goals, namely, universal primary education. It noted that the country had also made a firm commitment to providing health care.

Oman commended the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya for its diligent efforts in the field of human rights and for making them its priority. It referred to the legal framework for the protection of human rights, and its clear commitment in that regard, which was reflected in the ratification of most human rights instruments, and its cooperation with United Nations mechanisms. The country’s report focused on both achievements and challenges, which demonstrated its sincerity in addressing human rights issues.

Egypt commended the Libyan Arab Jamahiriyaorganizations in combating human trafficking and corruption, and the improvement made in the conditions related to illegal migration.

Malta fully recognized the difficulties faced by the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya and welcomed the action taken at the national, bilateral and regional levels to suppress the illegal activities that gave rise to migration. Malta welcomed the cooperation of the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya with the International Organization for Migration.

Bangladesh referred to the progress made in the enjoyment of economic and social rights, including in the areas of education, health care, poverty reduction and social welfare. Bangladesh noted with appreciation the measures taken to promote transparency.

Malaysia commended the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya for being party to a significant number of international and regional human rights instruments.

Morocco welcomed the achievements in promoting social protection, especially for women, children and persons with special needs. It welcomed the efforts to protect the rights of children. It welcomed the establishment of a national committee for the protection of persons with special needs. Morocco also praised the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya for its promotion of human rights education, particularly for security personnel.

Pakistan praised the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya for measures taken both in terms of legislation and in practice, noting with appreciation that it was a party to most of the core human rights treaties. Pakistan praised the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya’s commitment to human rights, in particular the right to health, education and food, even when the country had faced sanctions in the 1990s. Pakistan was encouraged by efforts to address the root causes of illegal migration, and noted the good practice of settling political disputes and developing infrastructure in source countries.

Mexico thanked the delegation for the presentation of the national report and the answers that it had provided. It expressed appreciation for the political will of the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya to address the human rights challenges facing it. Mexico hoped that the universal periodic review of the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya would make a positive contribution to national efforts to overcome challenges to guaranteeing the full enjoyment of human rights.

Myanmar commended the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya for its economic and social progress, and recognized efforts in domestic legislation aimed at guaranteeing equal rights. Myanmar noted that the country had acceded to many international human rights instruments and established a national Human Rights Committee. Myanmar praised efforts to realize basic education for all and a free health-care system.

Viet Nam congratulated the delegation on the quality of the national report. It noted with satisfaction the commitment of the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya to the protection and promotion of the human rights of its people, particularly the country’s accession to the main international human rights conventions. It welcomed achievements made in the exercise of human rights.

Thailand welcomed the national report, which presented both progress and challenges. Thailand highlighted efforts made with regard to education, persons with special needs and vulnerable groups.

Brazil noted the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya’s economic and social progress and acknowledged the promotion of the rights of persons with disabilities, the free health care and the high enrolment in primary education. Brazil noted the successful cooperation with international organizations in areas such as migrant rights, judicial reform and the fight against corruption.

Kuwait expressed appreciation for the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya’s initiative to improve per capita income and to ensure social justice and the fair distribution of wealth. It praised the measures taken with regard to low-income families. Kuwait called upon the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya to continue its efforts to integrate people with disabilities into society while recognizing their positive role.'

The comments from Libya's fellow Arab and other Muslim countries is, whilst despicable,  perhaps not surprising and the comments from Cuba & Venezuela are predictable coming from such unpleasant anti-democratic regimes.I understand Malta's comments being as they are suffering a near invasion of people fleeing North Africa for Europe. However Thailand, Brazil and the rest really should look to their moral compasses before praising the human rights record of a country such as Colonel Gaddafi's Libya.

Disgusting, especially as the most of the above countries frequently criticise the only democratic, pluralist country in the Middle East or North Africa, Israel.


Thanks to UN Watch  for the spot.

'LSE criticised for links with Gaddafi regime in Libya'

The BBC report that:

'The London School of Economics has been heavily criticised for a "chapter of failures" in its links with the Gaddafi regime in Libya.

A report by former Lord Chief Justice Lord Woolf says mistakes and errors of judgement damaged the LSE's reputation.

The school's director, Sir Howard Davies, resigned in March over a £1.5m gift from a foundation led by Colonel Gaddafi's son Saif, a former student.

The LSE says it accepts all Lord Woolf's recommendations.'

Will there be a government sponsored enquiry into the links between senior British politicians and Saif Gaddafi? Maybe it could start by looking at the dealings, both personal and business, of Peter Mandelson and Tony Blair.

Will Saif Gaddafi spill the beans?

If Saif Gaddafi ever goes on trial I wonder if he will shed some light on the business relationships he is reputed to have had with Tony Blair, Peter Mandelson and others. Alex Masterley has his own question:

'One of the more interesting asects of the upcoming trial of Saif-al Islam Gaddhaffi will be if we find out whether in 2006 former Prime Minister Blair became an adviser to the Libyan Investment Authority, a £40 billion fund established by the Gaddafis. '

Interesting...

"When I was aiding the revolution, being Jewish was just fine with them. Suddenly they wanted me to discard my Jewish identity?"

This is the text of an article that I read earlier today and sums so much of how Jews are viewed in so much of the Muslim world. It is sad but true that many Muslims in the Middle East and beyond do not hate Jews because of Israel but rather hate Israel because it is Jewish.

Do find the time to read the whole of this piece, I found it very moving....

Almost a martyr
By Eliezer Schulman and Michal Ish-Shalom

Dr. David Gerbi in the Libyan synagogue which he almost lost his life

Dr. David Gerbi, a Libyan-born, observant psychologist living in Italy, spent the summer in a Libyan rebel encampment, joining the revolutionary forces and providing them psychiatric care. But their gratitude didn't last for long. He was nearly lynched and then booted out of the country when he tried to clean up a desecrated synagogue that hadn't seen a Jew since Muammar Gaddafi took over the country 42 years ago.

Dr. Gerbi, international director of the World Organization of Libyan Jews, was the first Jew to cast his lot with the Libyan rebels when he joined the Benghazi Psychiatric Hospital staff to teach the techniques of healing post-traumatic stress disorder among the fighters. Throughout the summer, Dr. Gerbi, holed up with the revolutionaries, assisted rebel leaders in formulating strategies and restoring unity within their ranks when internal conflicts arose.

After Gaddafi was ousted, the interim government, the National Transitional Council, talked about giving him a position in the soon-to-be-formed parliament, as an official voice for religious tolerance in a country run by an extremist despot for four decades.

Although the new Libya is struggling for a more democratic identity, Gaddafi's 42-year rule succeeded in brainwashing the public with virulent anti-Semitism, propagating the myth that the Jews absconded with the country's wealth to Israel — when in reality Gaddafi had kicked out all the Jews who remained after the Arab riots of the 1960s. He then confiscated all Jewish property, worth about $500 million, adding it to his private fortune estimated at $200 billion, which he amassed by embezzling Libya's wealth.

While Gerbi waited for a new government to take shape, he decided to spend the High Holidays in Libya. For Rosh Hashanah, he traveled to Tripoli along with the rebels, where he was to deliver letters from the World Organization of Libyan Jews to Mustafa Abdul Jalil, leader of the revolution and president of the interim government. At that point, he was being treated as a future member of parliament.
But a man like David Gerbi is not one to idle away his precious days in the newly freed country of Libya. Gerbi sought to become the first Jew to pray in the abandoned, decaying Dar Bishi synagogue in Tripoli, where his forebears had prayed. That simple act of devotion proved that undoing Gaddafi's work would not be simple after all.

When Dr. Gerbi peered into the interior of the synagogue, he was confronted by a horrifying sight. The entrance was blocked by a brick wall, and the house of prayer that had displayed its glory before the expulsion of Libya's Jews had turned into a den of iniquity, a place desecrated by society's degenerates. Piles of refuse were strewn throughout the sanctuary.

"When I entered the shul, the first words that came out were charam kabir — a grave offense. I could not tolerate that G0d's Name had been defaced in such a way," Dr. Gerbi told Mishpacha on his return to Rome.

Dr. Gerbi activated the connections that he had amassed in the previous months, including four sheikhs, to clean out the synagogue. "I spoke with the police force and with members of the army who knew me. We were all friendly after all the time I had spent in the area. They permitted me to clean out the shul and to pray there."
The only way to remove the accumulated trash was to demolish the wall that blocked the synagogue's doorway. "I bought equipment for ten people to work together — brooms, hammers, work tools, and cleaning supplies." In the meantime, a team of photographers and journalists stood by as Gerbi brandished his sledgehammer and struck the wall repeatedly. Perspiration streamed from his brow; the job wasn't easy. At one point, Gerbi even burst into tears and promised that he would not allow himself to be broken until he entered the shul and carried out his mission.

It was now less than a week before the holiest day of the Jewish calendar, Yom Kippue. Dr. Gerbi had set a goal of rendering the synagogue usable by the end of the week. He recruited a team of six additional men and paid them each 4,000 dinars. He also brought his own Book of Psalms and a sign inscribed with the phrase "Shivisi Hashem l'negdi tamid -- I place the Divine before always, that is traditionally mounted in many synagogues.

Gerbi spoke with Sheikh Jamal, one of the most influential religious figures in the new Libya. The sheikh agreed to the shul's restoration and agreed to accompany Gerbi on his visit to the cleaned-up shul.

GOING FOR BLOOD

The day before Yom Kippur, Gerbi entered the synagogue and lit three traditional lanterns. While he was in the middle of a silent prayer, "a group of Libyans ran inside and told me armed men were coming and planning to stab me to death," he recounts. "I was standing there and praying, and I said, 'I am not leaving. First I want to say Psalms.' That actually kept my fear level down. Meanwhile, the sheikh arrived, agitated; I was praying and he was panicking. He urged me to leave, and said that he wanted all the journalists to leave the shul. Then chaos began.

"I said, 'Just a few more pages and I'm done. Then I'll leave calmly. If G0d wants me to die within the sanctity of a shul, I am prepared for that, but I will not disgrace G0d's Name. I am trying to sanctify His name here.' In the meantime, people advised me to escape through the back door. For my part, I said, 'I'm going to leave through the front door, as is appropriate, with self-respect — because I am not acting only out of respect for myself, but out of respect for all Jews. I will honor the Jewish People this way. This is a shul, and I will not demonstrate disrespect for the Jewish Nation.' The sheikh then said I could leave through the front. I said, 'Come, let us go out together,' but even he suddenly grew afraid and ran out the back door."

Gerbi was driven by the desire to prove that a change had taken place in Libya, that the revolution he had assisted had not been in vain, that Gaddafi's rule had ended from the Jewish perspective as well. In an interview with a CNN correspondent after the event, Gerbi explained that if Libya were to undergo a democratization process, it had to include the recognition that Jews had lived and thrived in Libya for 2,300 years before they were evicted, a fact that Libyans who had grown up after the Jewish expulsion could not swallow.

"In the Arab countries," Gerbi says, "the Jews have always fled from the Arabs." That is the situation he wants to change. "I wanted to show that this time the Jews are not afraid. That's why I walked around with a black yarmulke on my head and with my tzitzis (ritual fringes) blowing in the wind. The Psalms I recited helped me feel my faith in G0d in the midst of the pogrom that was developing around me."
When Gerbi finally emerged from the synagogue, the security personnel who were protecting the journalists were waiting for him. He then broke down in a torrent of tears. "Why was it necessary to hate the Jews? What was my crime in wanting to daven [pray] in a shul and to clean it? I couldn't understand or accept what had happened," Gerbi relates bitterly.

David Gerbi's one-man act of religious sensitivity created an outburst of latent anti-Semitism. On Yom Kippur eve, the anti-Gerbi protests reached Benghazi, where a huge rally against him took place. At the same time, a massive protest was held at Tripoli Square, along with another one below the luxury Corinthia Hotel where he was staying. It was the night of Yom Kippur. For five hours, hundreds of people shouted that they wanted Gerbi to come downstairs; they wanted to seize him and kill him.

"When I was aiding the revolution, being Jewish was just fine with them. Suddenly they wanted me to discard my Jewish identity?" he says, still hurting. "I refused to give in on this point. I was born in Libya and I am Jewish. The Italian consul called and begged me, 'Come; run away. People will come to rescue you.' The hotel staff and officials from the government also came, but I insisted that I would not move from the spot, because it was Yom Kippur, and I remained there. I decided that if G0d had decreed for me to die during the 10 Days of Repentance, that was what would be. I didn't want to be a hero or a martyr," Gerbi emphasizes. "I only wanted what we deserved, our rights."

Gerbi emphasizes that he did not blindly risk his life without thinking. "I knew that if they did anything to me, the entire international community would be aware of it. The media was there. I understood that I had to leave, but I didn't want to run away. This was like the exodus from Egypt, when the Jews left in an honorable way, rather than escaping like thieves in the night. The ambassador, the government officials, and the hotel staff all begged me, 'You will be aiding the revolution if you leave.' They were afraid for the safety of the guests and the hotel workers. Ultimately, I agreed to evacuate by plane on the night before Sukkos (Tabernacles)."

Gerbi remained in his hotel room under de facto house arrest. "The protestors were waiting to pounce on me. I trusted no one, and I remained in my room. For security reasons, I switched rooms. I didn't answer the telephone, and I took various steps to mislead anyone who might be trailing me. I would take an elevator to the wrong floor and switch elevators in the middle, so that no one knew where I was. In the meantime, I was summoned to the police station; they claimed that I had entered an archaeological site without permission.

"This approach — that it's an archaeological site and therefore entry is prohibited — this came from Gaddafi," Gerbi deduces. "I said, 'All right, I'm prepared to be questioned.' They were incensed by my acquiescence. They had hoped that I would plead for my life.

"I was amazed that this hatred was spurting forth. Gaddafi had brainwashed the country to believe the Jews had fled to Israel with all of Libya's wealth. They didn't even know that any Jews had been born in Libya; they thought I had come from Israel to take over the country. That's how brainwashed they were. They asked me, 'Do you have an Israeli passport?' I said, 'No, I have an Italian passport,' and they didn't believe me. When I told them I had been born in Libya, they were shocked."

THE LONG ROAD BACK

David Gerbi hasn't given up on his mission to salvage the Libyan Jewish heritage dating back to the third century Before the Common Era, and believes that, with Gaddafi's demise, it might again be possible. When Colonel Gaddafi came to power in 1969, the Jewish community of Libya had already been decimated

David Gerbi was 12 when his family was exiled from Tripoli, and he says that the trauma of that time — which he carried into adulthood — was what actually motivated him to enter the field of psychology.

"Suddenly, after the Six Day War, the Arabs began persecuting us. As a child, I didn't understand the reason, and it took me years to get over the inner turmoil of that time," Dr. Gerbi remembers. "Libya is close to Egypt, and Nasser encouraged the murder of Jews. They took over a portion of our property and placed a dividing wall on our porch, which I could not cross.

"So the entire community fled. Many went to Israel, but my parents fled to Italy. My father had been in the gold and diamond business; he left everything behind. Two years later, when Gaddafi came to power, he confiscated all Jewish property and prohibited Jews from reentering Libya.

Dr. Gerbi made several trips back to Libya before the revolution. In 2002, he succeeded in rescuing his aunt, the last Jew remaining in Gaddafi's domain; in 2007 he was invited to Libya by Gaddafi himself, after expressing his interest in visiting the land of his birth and restoring one of the synagogues located there, but he was quickly expelled; and in 2009, he met Gaddafi.

In 2009, Dr. Gerbi accepted an invitation to meet Gaddafi in Rome to speak about improving relations between the regime and Libya's exiled Jewish community. In recent years Gaddafi held irregular talks with Libyan Jews, preferring to deal with those in Italy over those who had settled in Israel, which he would vilify in overblown tirades. He had on occasion even promised to consider returning property rights, but nothing practical ever came of those talks.

"I can still see his face in front of me," Dr. Gerbi told a Jerusalem Post reporter on his return to Rome after the synagogue debacle. "He had the eyes of a Bedouin, someone who could find water in the desert, but he could not connect with our reality."

Dr. Gerbi still has hope for a democratic Libya but says the interim government has to make a choice — either to go with the hate-filled Islamists, or to open a new page in relations with the Jews.

"It's easy to get rid of Gaddafi the person," he said, "but much more difficult to get rid of the Gaddafi within."

IN A BUNKER, BEING A JEW IS JUST FINE

With gunfire clearly audible over the telephone line, Dr. David Gerbi spoke with Mishpacha this summer from a rebel encampment outside Benghazi in eastern Libya, where he spent several months giving psychological assistance to the rebels and their families, and serving as an advisor to the revolution's National Transitional Council. Because of the sensitive nature of his position, the conversation could not be publicized until now.

Can you describe your function with the rebels?

"I, together with the staff I've trained, prepare the men for battle, give them encouragement, inculcate them with faith in the justness of their goals, and help them to avoid turning into human beasts, despite the tremendous tension on the battlefield. They are in a very delicate psychological condition, and we work hard to channel their anger and bitter feelings into the fight for justice and not into harming innocent people. We tone down the intoxication of power while developing the thirst for victory, and I consult at length with people who are close to Mustafa Abdul Jalil, the temporary leader of the revolution, in order to guarantee that the focus remains on the goal and that the message is transmitted in the appropriate way and the appropriate spirit.

"You have to remember that these rebels still do not know what democracy is. They are united by the desire to overthrow Gaddafi. The West will have to offer them assistance and guidance."

Do the people around you know that you're Jewish?

"I don't flaunt my Jewishness, but I assume that there are people around me who are aware of it. I don't hide it. When I daven (pray) with tefillin (ritual head gear) in the morning, anyone who sees me knows that I am Jewish. They also see that I don't pray with them."

How do you obtain kosher food?

"One can find fruits and vegetables everywhere. I also have a few cans of preserves. I removed the labels so that they would not know where I acquired them. I am managing. I am not hungry, but I am also not satiated."

Do the rebels know that there was once a large community in Libya?

"No. The new generation in Libya is completely ignorant of the fact that ancient Jewish communities existed here until a few decades ago and that they were forced to leave all of their property behind. I have had long conversations with many people who were surprised to hear about this."

Have there been times when you feared for your life?

"Certainly. I am not here on a pleasure trip. I am in a place where there is constant gunfire. The entrenched regime has tried, and continues to try, to crush the rebels and quash the revolution. Whatever forces of Gaddafi still remain here use every means at their disposal, including the most brutal ones. My job includes, among other things, offering psychological assistance to the people who suffered through the regime's brutal oppression."

What brings a respected psychologist and observant Jew to leave his comfortable life in Rome and travel to the battlefield in Libya, where his life might come to an end?

A long silence prevails at the other end of the line. Finally, Gerbi speaks. "It's too long to explain, but, as is the case in many of the decisions we make in our lives, there are personal emotions involved here as well. My decision to come here involved various burdens that I have been carrying since my childhood. You must recall that I am not actually on the battlefield. Most of the time I'm stationed in a hospital in Benghazi, and along with the psychiatric staff of the hospital, I help the freedom fighters heal men suffering from post-trauma who have returned from the front lines."

They say that you sit with the rebel leaders and advise them on how to ignite the enthusiasm of the fighters, how to calm the frightened residents, and how to gain their loyalty.

"Let us not exaggerate," Gerbi's smile is evident even over the crackling phone line. "It's true that I assist them, that I do my part, but I do not have a decisive influence over various processes. As a rule, Gaddafi's tyrannical regime and his family were bad for the people. The freedom fighters are providing a solution that comes from the people. That being said, there have been instances in which I was consulted regarding bringing justice to the streets of Libya, and then I expressed an opinion. There are no other psychologists, and that is where my staff and I come in. I can be of assistance here. But to paint me as one of the leaders of the rebel forces would be a gross exaggeration."

Are there Jews among the rebel soldiers?

"I have neither met nor heard of any."

How long do you intend to remain there?

The sound of gunfire interrupts our conversation, followed by a recorded message that the number is not available.

Saturday morning catchup

An apology: I have been very busy at work over the last few weeks and so posting has been reduced from normal levels. As a by-product of this work my Firefox has way too many open tabs and thus keeps crashing. In an effore to clear some tabs, here is a catchup...

1) Con Coughlin in The Telegraph explains why 'The Arab Spring is becoming an Islamist takeover' with special reference to Tunisia.


2) The Express report that 'A SOLDIER killed in Afghanistan had £433 deducted from his final pay because he had failed to complete “a full month’s” work.
Lance Corporal Jordan Bancroft, 25, was shot dead in Helmand province in August 2010. More than year later, as the Ministry of Defence finally settled his outstanding wages, £433.13 was deducted because he had died 10 days before pay day. '


3) The excellent UN Watch reports that '45 NGOs urge UN Human Rights Council’s Jean Ziegler to resign for founding “Gaddafi Human Rights Prize”' The story of the UN's dalliance with vile states is an outrage that should get more publicity.


4) The Mail reports that 'NHS writes off more than £40m in unpaid bills owed by foreign nationals'


5) Richard Littlejohn points out an inconvenient truth about those arrested at Dale Farm - 'None of those arrested lived on the site. They were full-time agitators who went to Basildon to confront the police. It was a battle of their choosing and they can have no complaints. They fought the law and the law won.

The police acted with commendable patience and restraint. Casualties were kept to a minimum. Even the demonstrator who was Tasered managed to pick himself up and melted back into the crowd, so he couldn’t have been that badly hurt.'


6) Jihad Watch
report that Underwaer bomber Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab has declared that "Participation in jihad against the United States is considered among the most virtuous of deeds in Islam and is highly encouraged in the Quran."


7) The Moose finds that his most popular post is not politics related but nipple related (Sabrina "Boys, Boys, Boys")The excellent . I feel your pain sir, just google Felicity Kendal's nipples and see whose site is at the top of the list!

The death of a tyrant

The BBC's coverage of the death of Colonel Gaddafi has been rather odd. The BBC have been forced to report that Gadaffi was a tyrant and ran a less than pleasant regime but this is at odds with their previous reporting of him as some sort of freedom fighter, standing up to the United States and the victim of Western aggression. The BBC instinctively support the United Nations, as they tend to support most supra-national bodies (although not NATO), and so I am not surprised to note that they have yet to investigate how it was that the country run by a tyrant like Gaddafi was elected to its Human Rights Council last year, to the Security Council in 2008-2009, and as General Assembly president in 2009. The BBC are also obsessively reporting the claims (almost certainly true) that Gadaffi was shot in the head after being captured and publicising the calls for an investigation. I do not remember the BBC being that bothered by calls for investigations into the numerous evils perpetrated by Gadaffi's regime, such a the murder of WPC Yvonne Fletcher, the massacre of 1,270 prisoners at Abu Salim Prison or the many other massacres carried out on Gadaffi's instructions since he started his rule of terror.

The BBC have also not been that interested in investigating Gadaffi's support for international terrorists including the IRA. On that subject it would be interesting to know if Martin McGuinness ever had any contact with Colonel Gadaffi during the period that Libya was supplying weapons to the IRA, weapons that were used to kill British soldiers and civilians.

Gadaffi was a very nasty man who ruled by the use of force and terror and was responsible for the deaths of many thousands of people including, those killed using weapons supplied by him, on British soil. Excuse me if I don't weap a tear because a Libyan decided that a bullet in the head was a reasonable way of ending his life.

If you run with the devil, you may end up tied to the devil

If a Conservative government had been shown to have been closely linked personally as wll as diplomatically with a tyrant, the BBC/Guardian would have been all over the story and would have been baying for blood. It seems that the same does not apply when it is Labour who have been shown to have close links with Libya. The Mail reports that:
'... documents found in the bombed-out ruins of Tripoli show the Labour governments of Blair and Brown kowtowed grotesquely to Colonel Gaddafi and his sons.

...

They accepted information extracted from Islamic terrorist suspects in Libyan torture chambers and gave the Gaddafi regime intelligence about opponents living in Britain.

...

In addition, pass-the-sickbag stories about Blair advising Saif Gaddafi on his PhD thesis and Brown writing to the barking Colonel at Ramadan ‘to wish you and your family well in this holy month’.

The BBC/Guardian ignoring of this part of the Libya story shows them in their true, putrid, colours.

Tuesday morning catchup

The usual story, too many open Firefox tabs and not enough time

1) Lew Rockwell has analysed some of Barack Obama's scholastic work from his time at Harvard. He's not ery comlimentary:

'The response is classic Obama: patronizing, dishonest, syntactically muddled, and grammatically challenged. In the very first sentence Obama leads with his signature failing, one on full display in his earlier published work: his inability to make subject and predicate agree.

...

Although the letter is fewer than a thousand words long, Obama repeats the subject-predicate error at least two more times. In one sentence, he seemingly cannot make up his mind as to which verb option is correct so he tries both: "Approximately half of this first batch is chosen ... the other half are selected ... "

Another distinctive Obama flaw is to allow a string of words to float in space.'

2) Yahoo News reports that:

'Palestinians in Gaza have acquired anti-aircraft and anti-tank rockets from Libya during its six-month civil war, enlarging but not significantly improving their arsenal, Israeli officials said on Monday.

While the rebellion against Muammar Gaddafi has stirred concern abroad about the fate of Libya's aging chemical weapons stockpiles, Israel has no indication Hamas or other Palestinian factions have sought these, the officials said.

Instead, Israeli officials have detected an inflow of SA-7 anti-aircraft missiles and rocket-propelled grenades (RPGs), said one official, describing an overland supply route that opened up between eastern Libya -- after it fell to the rebels -- and the Gaza Strip via Egypt.'

3) MSNBC reports that many Americans are stocking up on incandescent lightbulbs in the run-up to them being phased out. I have a large stash of 60W pearl lightbulbs that should last me 10 years or so...


4) WND
are still pushing the Barack Obama birth certificate story. It's another interesting story but I am not sure how many people are listening!


5) James Cridland wonders 'How big is Murdoch’s “stranglehold” on UK news media?' There's some interesting statistics, here's a few:

'Overall reach
How much of our news does Murdoch control, then? It’s difficult to put a figure on the above; but Sky News and online are small, and his newspapers have a roughly 20% share of all the population. Only Sky News’s deal with commercial radio boosts Murdoch’s news ‘reach’ to around 60%, and there is likely to be considerable overlap between commercial radio listeners and newspaper readers. (Commercial radio’s output is also not mainly news).

Who is bigger than Murdoch?
There’s only one contender as a bigger provider of news than Rupert Murdoch… the BBC.

Newspapers
The BBC do not operate printed newspapers.

Television news
The BBC News Channel is watched, weekly, by 15% of the population.
Additionally, BBC News content is carried on BBC ONE, BBC TWO, BBC THREE and BBC FOUR. Just BBC ONE itself attracts 83% of the population each week.
BARB Jun 27 – Jul 03 2011

Radio news
The BBC owns 50 radio stations, and BBC News content is on almost all of them (only BBC Radio 4 Extra carries no news).
BBC radio is listened-to by 68% of the population each week.
RAJAR Q1 2011

Online news
The BBC’s website attracts 19.5m adults each week – 38% of the population. BBC News makes up a high percentage of BBC website traffic.
BBC Annual Report 2010/2011

Overall reach
The BBC Annual Report says it best: “across all platforms 81% of [UK] adults consumed BBC News every week”
BBC Annual Report 2010/2011

So – Murdoch media reaches around 65% of the population, and BBC News reaches 81%.

However you examine these figures, it’s clear that the influence of the BBC is considerably larger than anything Murdoch is putting out, even after a BSkyB buyout.'

6) John Phelan at The Commentator also soes't think too much of the claims re Murdoch's 'monopoly':
'The idea that Rupert Murdoch has a monopoly of British media or is even close to getting one is nonsense. According to an Ofcom report into News International’s bid for BSkyB, television accounts for seventy-three percent of the news people receive and seventy-percent of that comes from the BBC.

In internet and radio the BBC is similarly dominant. News International, by contrast, accounts for less than thirty percent of newspapers read and Sky News accounts for just six percent of television news.

...

There’s a good reason why the left might choose to regulate Murdoch rather than compete with him; they aren’t much good at it. The BBC certainly provides stiff competition but then it is funded by a compulsory levy on all TV and radio consumers whether they listen to the BBC or not, a luxury Murdoch doesn’t have.


7) Human Events reveals that 'Global Warming Link to Drowned Polar Bears Melts Under Searing Fed Probe'. It's a long article, here's an extract:

'Polar bears drowning in an Alaskan sea because the ice packs are melting—it’s the iconic image of the global warming debate.

But the validity of the science behind the image—presented as an ignoble testament to our environment in peril by Al Gore in his film An Inconvenient Truth​—is now part of a federal investigation that has the environmental community on edge.

Special agents from the Interior Department​’s inspector general's office are questioning the two government scientists about the paper they wrote on drowned polar bears, suggesting mistakes were made in the math and as to how the bears actually died, and the department is eyeing another study currently underway on bear populations.

Biologist Charles Monnett, the lead scientist on the paper, was placed on administrative leave July 18. Fellow biologist Jeffrey Gleason, who also contributed to the study, is being questioned, but has not been suspended.

The disputed paper was published by the journal Polar Biology in 2006, and suggests that the “drowning-related deaths of polar bears may increase in the future if the observed trend of regression of pack ice and/or longer open-water periods continues.”

It galvanized the environmental movement that led to the bear’s controversial listing in 2008 as threatened, and it is now protected under the Endangered Species Act.

Although the four dead bears cited in the paper were observed from 1,500 feet during flights over the Beaufort Sea, and the carcasses were never recovered or examined, Gleason told investigators it is likely the creatures drowned in a sudden windstorm that produced 30-knot winds, not for lack of an ice pack.

“We never mentioned global warming in the paper,” Gleason told the investigators, according to the transcript.

“But it’s inferred,” responded investigator Eric May. “That’s why the world took it up as a global warming tangent.”

Gleason told investigators that reaction to his and Monnett’s paper was overblown and spun out of context.

“I think these sorts of things tend to mushroom, and the interpretation gets popularized,” Gleason said. “Something very small turns into this big snowball coming down the mountain, and that's, I think, what happened with this paper.”

Gleason concedes that the study had a major impact on the controversial listing of the bear as an endangered species because of global warming.

“As a side note, talking about my former supervisor, he actually sent me an e-mail at one point saying, ‘You’re the reason polar bears got listed,’” Gleason said.

Monnett now manages $50 million in studies as part of his duties as a wildlife biologist with the Interior Department’s Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement.

Investigators are also examining Monnet’s procurement of one of those research studies on polar bears conducted by Canada's University of Alberta, as well as the “disclosure of personal relationships and preparation of the scope of work,” according to a July 29 memo from the Interior Department's inspector general’s office.'

Do read it all, and as always it's best to 'follow the money'.

Is there anything about the UK's willingness to give anyone benefits that will ever surprise me?

From The Telegraph:

'The key suspect in the murder of WPc Yvonne Fletcher was claiming taxpayer-funded benefits at the time the policewoman was shot dead, The Daily Telegraph can disclose.

Matouk Mohammed Matouk, who is at the centre of an extradition row between Britain and Libya, took advantage of this country’s generous social security rules during two years as a student here.

The payments are disclosed in a cache of documents found by this newspaper in the wreckage of Mr Matouk’s home outside Tripoli.

The papers show that he applied for child benefit for his two daughters, Buthina and Bushra, after enrolling in an architecture course at Edinburgh’s Heriot-Watt University in 1982.

A letter from the then Department of Health and Social Security, written in June 1983, confirmed that Mr Matouk and his wife, Salma Salem, qualified for child benefit.

The couple were entitled to keep claiming the payments, which were backdated seven months from the date of the letter, until Mr Matouk was deported following WPc Fletcher’s murder in April 1984.

In total, the couple were entitled to more than £800 of child benefit — the equivalent of £2,000 today. The letter states that “child benefit is payable for Buthina and Bushra at the weekly rate of £5.85 each from and including 6/12/82”.

It has also emerged that Mr Matouk was allowed to graduate in absentia from Heriot-Watt in July 1986, more than two years after he had been thrown out of the country over his suspected involvement in WPc Fletcher’s death. '

So a foreign student comes to the UK from Libya, claims benefits for his children, works in the Libyan embassy, is accused of murdering a British Policewoman, leaves the UK using diplomatic immunity to avoid arrest and gets a degree in-absentia.

I asked, 'Is there anything about the UK's willingness to give anyone benefits that will ever surprise me?' The answer is probably not.

Who was responsible for the Lockerbie terrorist attack?

Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed Al-Megrahi was found guilty of the atrocity but suspiciously released early. Meanwhile the finger of suspicion has often been pointed at Syria, The Australian  has resurrected this story with its report that:

'ALLEGATIONS that police plotted to mislead the original inquiry into the Lockerbie bombing, resulting in a wrongful conviction, have been passed to official investigators.

The file being considered by the Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission claims that evidence gathered at the scene of the 1988 bombing of Pan Am flight 103, which killed 270 people, was lost or destroyed.

False evidence, it is alleged, was then provided to incriminate Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed al-Megrahi, the Libyan agent convicted of the atrocity at a trial in The Netherlands in 2001.

According to the file, the police investigation of Megrahi was "reverse-engineered" with evidence provided to match the thesis that he was guilty.
...
The surrender of suspects by Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi was a key element in British Prime Minister Tony Blair's dealings with Tripoli. This led to the re-establishment of diplomatic relations with Libya in 1999, after a 15-year hiatus.

The commission's report is expected to include allegations by Megrahi's defence team that crucial statements made to police by Tony Gauci, a Maltese shopkeeper who sold the Lockerbie bomber clothing which was later found wrapped around the bomb, were withheld by the prosecution.

Mr Gauci's statements are believed to have implicated Mohammed Abo Talb, a terrorist with links to the Iranian-backed Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine - General Command, one of the early suspects for the Lockerbie bombing.

The commission is also said to be in possession of a press statement, prepared by Dumfries and Galloway police in 1990, which named members of the PFLP-GC as its chief suspects but which was never released.
Talb is serving life in Sweden for bombing an airport in Denmark, but was a free man operating in Europe in 1988.
...
It adds weight to claims that it was "politically unacceptable" to pursue the PFLP-GC when the 1991 Gulf War made it necessary to maintain good relations with Iran and Syria.'

I remember Private Eye producing a special investigation report that fingered the true culprits of the Lockerbie atrocity, maybe I should dig that out... The involvement of Tony Blair and maybe Peter Mandelson in rehabilitating Libya and creating trade links with that country is something that needs investigation; to my mind something smells...

Interesting breaking news re the killer of WPC Yvonne Fletcher

I hear rumours that the Libyan rebel 'governmnet' has confirmed that they know the whereabouts of Matouk Mohammed Matouk, the man suspected of shooting WPC Yvonne Fletcher dead outside the Libyan Embassy in 1984. Will they extradite him back to the UK to finally face trial, or will they prove as obstructive, on this matter, as was Colonel Gadaffi's regime? If the latter then this should be unacceptable to UK government bearing in mind how much money UK have helping Libyan rebels defeat Gadaffi. However don't expect strong words, let alone deeds from William Hague.