The Ice Cream Straw Man Cometh

The bad news in Israel keeps piling up. Religious tensions, Iran’s nuclear program and regional instability are all worrying enough – but now Häagen-Dazs ice cream in Israel is under threat, and may become a rarity on supermarket shelves.

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I don't really care about the article. Sure, I like Haagen Dazs, but not enough to cough up a car payment for a pint. Besides, I like homemade much better.

It's the mindlessness and vitriol of the commenting on this article that is simply astounding.

There's the dairyman who can't tell the difference between milks. Here's a hint, dairyman: only kosher milks coagulate into cheese. Oh yeah, and exactly how cost-effective is it to raise pigs on a dairy farm? Or do you think they would do it just to piss off the Jews?

There's the people who criticize the Rabbinate for not commenting on the Beit Shemesh, who can't do a simple Google search to find their condemnations from rabbinical organizations all over the world, including the Chief Rabbinate of Israel. This article is about ice cream. Go bang that drum somewhere else. And what about the reprisal attack in Ashkelon by a group of Ethiopian men? Did he deserve to get pummeled any more than the girl deserved to be spit on? Where's your outrage now, you sanctimonious assholes!

Then there's the kosher tax people. Really, that's about as anti-Semitic a comment as anything written in the Protocols of the Elders of Zion. I'm sure companies with lawyers, financiers and accountants much smarter than all of you would have figured out long ago whether paying a "kosher tax" for 1/10 of 1% of the population of the planet was really worth the cost. Or do you really believe that the Evil Joooz control the world?

Organized kashruth is about maintaining standards, and if you want to continue eating Haagen Dazs based on the OU's hashgacha, go right ahead; no one is infringing on your right to keep your own kashruth standards. Go ahead and eat your ice cream after shtupping your neighbor's wife in the back seat of your car on a Friday night. Have fun. The Chief Rabbinate is simply not willing to extend its supervision to stores that stock an item that relies on a kulah when it doesn't have to. Hey here's a thought Haagen Dazs people: open up a manufacturing facility here in Israel! OMG! Revolutionary! I mean, only Ben & Jerry's and Nestle's thought of it first, but you could, like, lower your costs of shipping and make even more money!

Funny, when it comes to meat I don't hear anyone complaining that the Rabbinate is more meikil about nikkur than R. Feinstein was. Hypocrites.

Settler Violence

What an offensive and demeaning term. It's offensive when I read it from liberals, and it's worse when I read it being used by citizens of Yehuda and Shomron. A "settler" is at once both Israeli and Jew, and neither, spat from the lips of the menage-a-tois of leftist politico, academic and journalistic pseudo-cognoscenti. It is a depersonalizing and polarizing epithet used to brand a fictitious group of people that do not share a homogeneous political ideology, religious creed, ethnicity or social status, to round them up and condemn them in one neat little package.

Let me clue you in: there is no difference between a citizen living in Ariel or Ashkelon, Talpiot or Tel Aviv. I know "settlers" who are members of Knesset, doctors, lawyers, professors, journalists, teachers, shopkeepers, entrepreneurs and mechanics. Settlers who are charedi, chardal, and chiloni, frum from birth, baalei teshuva and converts. They are co-workers, friends, and relatives. And yes, they are leftists, centrists, and rightists. So the attempt to use the term to conjure up a single image of some uncouth religious zealot is a failure. You can stop now; you're only embarrassing yourselves.

It is disingenuous for the government to turn around and implement policies against the very same people they subsidized and offered incentives to develop their homes, businesses and land for thirty of the last forty years. To do so and then expect them not to react while their Arab neighbors act with impunity is just plain fucking stupid. After all, the people have been in these areas for forty years; the government has been in power less than four. The people will continue to be in these areas long after the government has changed hands.

Civil disobedience is not non-violent resistance (though the latter is a type of the former), but there is a significant difference between it and rioting. In the case of the people in last week's confrontation, the aim/goal/purpose was to establish a new residence; they did not go simply to confront the army. It wasn't a pretense to attack soldiers or vandalize the base. By contrast, the ongoing Bi'lin Riots goal is only to violently confront the police and army. There is no constructive purpose in their actions, or even pretense of purpose.

The physical confrontations we are now witnessing are the outgrowth of the frustration against a completely arbitrary and increasingly hostile military junta in Yehuda and Shomron, which is completely anachronistic in 2011. Post American Civil-War Reconstruction lasted only 12 years; why is it now forty years later and Israeli citizens are living under military rule of law?

It's not my place to condemn or condone violence; I cannot be blamed for the actions of others any more than others can be blamed for mine. But the continuous threats, renegations of promises, evictions and administrative detentions has escalated the brinkmanship between the government of Israel and its people to the point where the citizens are able to justify a more hostile responses against the agents of the Government because they feel increasingly like they are being backed into a corner. "Violence is the last refuge of the incompetent" is not some great philosophical idea; it is just a line from a science fiction novel.

For years now I have come to expect nothing fair or balanced from the Mainstream Media. But the hypocrisy when journalists decry "settler violence" as a unique, somehow worse form of violence than the continuously unreported "leftist violence" against the IDF is physically nauseating, and smacks of incitement.

Hillary's Slip is Showing

We all know that it's common for diplomats and reports of governmental activities are generally referred to by their respective country's capital cities. The NY Times reported yesterday that Secretary of State Clinton said:

“The only way of getting a lasting solution is through direct negotiations between the parties, and the route to that lies in Jerusalem and Ramallah, not in New York.”

Well, now, isn't this something? There is a law on the books to move the embassy to Jerusalem, a purty new consulate building in not the Arab part of Jerusalem while the embassy is still in Tel Aviv, a case going to SCOTUS about listing 'Jerusalem, Israel' on US passports... how does she keep it all straight in her head?

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Having It Both Ways

We're all too familiar with the double standard the press revels in when it comes to Israel. No less familiar and no less significant is the license they take in accusing Israel of anything that suits their fancy and their narrative, without any adherence to fact, logic or even reason. Yesterday's Financial Times reported on the growth of the protest phenomenon in Israel. They note:

His coalition government is deeply dependent on the support of lawmakers from pro-settler and ultra-Orthodox parties. Discord on the streets is bad enough for the prime minister. Conflict and strife inside Mr Netanyahu’s unwieldy coalition may be even worse.

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While just the other week, Peace Now (of all places) reported, also on the protests:

“The protests in the streets are actually making [the coalition] more stable and the ones who could give Netanyahu problems are not interested in bringing down this government,” [Prof. Shmuel] Sandler told The Media Line. “Also, March is a long way off. Netanyahu will likely come to an arrangement with the settlers, maybe give them other land, and he’ll take it (Migron) down.”

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So it's an unwieldy but more stable coalition. Damned if we do, damned if we don't. Our protests don't involve tanks or riots, but the press doesn't feel the need to report on that, in light of what's going on in "civilized" countries like England or Syria.

Only in Israel.

It's Everyone Else's Fault

Just stumbled across this jewel of a rant from the Guardian. I have no expectations that opinion pieces should be any less biased than actual news articles, but it would be nice to cite at least one source, instance or even anecdote to prove your point. And then there are the dizzying inaccuracies. For instance:

Half of the Palestinian population at the time were displaced from their homes.

Where did you get that number? Oh wait:

As if the forced dispossession from 78% of their homeland was not enough,

So which is it, half, or 78%?

Another:

Israel had planned for that occupation long before the war.

Yes, we planned to be cut off from the Straits of Hormuz, then invaded by Egypt, Syria and Jordan.

This is my favorite:

Year after year the Palestinian leadership offered concession after concession, trying to reach an equitable resolution to their dispossession and military occupation.

Please, please give me one.single.instance of a concession. Arafat at Camp David with Barak? Anything?

Past procrastination has only created irreparable damage on the ground invoking a dire need for an end game, not yet another starting point.

I agree, but I'm not exactly in agreement with him, knowwhatimean?

Thus spake the prophet:

This new shift will see Palestinians dropping their desire for independent statehood in a fraction of their historic homeland and instead will find them, within a genuinely representative political structure, articulating their desire for self-determination within their historic homeland, even if that homeland today is called Israel.

In other words, law and order.

He softens the blow at the end, after ranting about Israel's colonial criminality:

Now, the sooner Palestinians and Israelis realise that our destiny is to live together as equals, the sooner we can begin to rehabilitate our communities and build a single society whose citizens are all equal under law and equal as human beings.

It is your desssssstiny...

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Ashkelon Under Attack

Hamas has carried out its threat to continue to attack Israelis with rockets and mortar shells, and shortly after midnight fired a Kassam missile that exploded in a southern Ashkelon industrial area near a large electric power plant that serves Gaza as well as southern Israel.

Terrorists also fired at least two mortar shells on farm areas in the Eshkol region. No injuries or damage was reported.

Remind me again which part of the "occupied territories" Ashkelon is in again?

Also, remind me which other country would tolerate this bullshit of indiscriminate rocket fire into their civilian population centers?

Is the excuse that their rockets suck and (almost) never hurt anyone or damage anything starting to ring a little hollow, or are we still waiting for them to get lucky and hit a gan or bus of old ladies before we really get mad?

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Now the Zionists are building Elevators!!!

This just in from the Palestinian Ministry of Outrage:

The Al Aqsa Foundation also claimed in a statement that the area in front of the wall could be used as a base from which to attack the mosque compound. Moreover, it said the project was intended to prevent Muslim worshipers from reaching the mosque, while increasing the presence of Jews in the area.

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When rabbis write books of Torah, they get called in and threatened with being charged with incitement. When the Al Aqsa Foundation a terrorism-sponsoring organization openly calls for protests (aka riots) against a handicapped-access elevator from the Jewish Quarter to the Kotel Plaza, not a single word is spoken.

Moral equivalence indeed.

T-Shirt: We're Still Here

We're Still Here
Dated from the year Joshua entered Eretz Yisrael and claimed it for God and Israel. For thousands of years invaders, dictators, usurpers and leftists have tried to deny our claim on this land, and have done everything to uproot us. Let everyone know that no matter how much they try to get rid of us, we're still here.

http://www.cafepress.com/hwa_stillhere

Lebanon and On

What a mess in Lebanon. A little tree-trimming by the IDF turns into a cross-border firefight. We lose a commander (HY"D) and another officer is badly hurt. We kill a couple of soldiers and a journalist (no great loss there) in retaliation.

With the UN being unusually cooperative by officially confirming that UNIFIL had a) been notified of the tree clearing and b) had reported it to Lebanon, it really deals Israel the hand it needs to blow this into a full out diplomatic coup for Israel. All the pieces are in place to really cement Israel in place as the injured party, and get some valuable political capital it needs to deal with the ongoing worldwide Israel-bashing.

So here's an appropriate response. It's a little expensive, but definitely worth it in the long run:

1. Start massing troops on the border. The whole deal. Tanks, ammo, firebases, airbases. Make it a very public, very loud mobilization. 200,000 soldiers to start, minimum. Keep it going for two weeks. Make it look like we're heading all the way up to Tripoli.
   
2. Set Lieberman loose. Let him start a 'round the world tour of how Israel is going to kick the shit out of Hizbullah once and for all, and teach the Lebanese army a lesson they won't soon forget.
3. Get Ambassador Shalev to start making noise in the UN about Security Council sanctions. 45-minute tirade from the GA floor. Spit in the Saudi ambassador's face.
   
4. Fire Barak; this is his mess in the first place(Well okay, that won't happen but a boy can dream, can't he?).
5. When the UN, US, UK, all start clamoring for "restraint," Netanyahu wades into the thick of it and says, "Okay, I'll call off the war on the conditions that you:"
   
   1. Add Lebanon to the lists of US State Sponsors of Terror.
   2. UN Sanction of Lebanon in the UNSC for firing the first shot.
   3. Don't even flinch in September when the freeze is off. Not a peep, not a rolled eye.
   4. Trot out the old line "Israel has a right to defend itself" and play it like a broken record until everyone's saying it. (I'd love to hear that from Hillary's lips.)

There is really no way for Israel to lose this politically. Worst case scenario is we invade Lebanon. Again. Without two soldiers' lives in the balance, the IDF can visit some serious payback for 2006. Best case is that Israel regains its deterrent capacity. And we get to kill Hizbullies.

To the bereaved family of Lt. Col. Harari, I apologize deeply if this seems like crass opportunism. May his sacrifice not be in vain.

Turkish Overture in B-flat

Turkey working to prevent Lebanese sail to Gaza

According to Israeli officials, Ankara deems additional flotillas pointless after partial lifting of blockade on Gaza. 'Turkey wants to lower its profile, let diplomacy take its course,' official says

Officials in Jerusalem were surprised to learn that Turkey is working to prevent Lebanese ships from attempting to sail to Gaza in violation of an Israeli blockade on the Hamas-run territory, the Yedioth Ahronoth daily reported Tuesday.

Israeli officials estimate that Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu, who visited Damascus and Beirut last week, asked the Lebanese government to prevent the flotilla's departure as part of Ankara's efforts to ease tensions with Israel.

WTF? There is so much going on here... it's now Ankara, officials and the FM, not Erdogan, there's no demand of an apology from Israel, and Turkey just put the kibosh on the entire Free Gaza movement.

I'm guessing that in spite of Turkey's announcements that everything is fine and dandy, the warming relations with Greece and the multimillion dollar losses (real and potential) in revenue actually do matter to Turkey. In related news, while Israel lifted the travel advisory to Turkey, Israelis are staying away in droves. And NATO's pretty pissed that Turkey is sharing miltech with non-NATO countries.

Turkey has been described as a bridge between East and West. Right now, it's looking a little like this:

Not Even a Phone Call...

Jewish eastern Jerusalem houses gain approval

July 12, 2010

JERUSALEM (JTA) -- A Jerusalem municipal committee approved the construction of 32 homes in a Jewish neighborhood of eastern Jerusalem.

The district planning and construction committee on Monday approved the construction for Pisgat Zeev a week after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met in Washington with President Obama, who is opposed to building in eastern Jerusalem.

So, without fanfare, screaming mobs, 45-minute tirades or rip-shit anger, Israel continues to assert its sovereign right to do whatever the hell it wants in its own capital, fuckyouverymuch.

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A Turkish Bath

Get this: Turkey is again demanding an apology from Israel for killing nine morons who brought knives to a gun fight.

This isn't the first time they're demanding an apology. What part of "no" didn't they understand the first time around?

Listen, Erdogan, habibi, whatever it is you think you're going to gain out of this, you're already losing. That $2B in exports to Israel? Gone. Those tanks you want to stop Iran's expansion of the Emirate when he finally drinks the Kool Aid? Not happening. Modernizing those jets? Nuh-uh. Oh, and that $400M in chump change from the tourism industry? Israeli's are going to Greece instead. Now here's the biggie: energy, agriculture and irrigation projects estimated at $20 billion are at risk.

So, if we don't apologize for enforcing a legal blockade of our own territory, they're going to cut ties with Israel. They will no longer buy our military technology, host our tourists, sell Israel water and random consumer goods or work with us on a host of infrastructure projects. Oh and they'll piss off the US and a couple of other NATO allies in the process.

Yeah, that'll show us.

Pass the Kool-Aid.


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Lebanese Flotilla, Rhymes with 'Shatila' (UPDATED)

Sabra and Shatila, forever ingrained in every Israel-basher's memory as Israel's failure to protect avowed enemies from a little payback action from Lebanese Christians.

So now it seems some Lebanese women are going to send their own aid flotilla to the poor, poor Palestinians in Gaza who are suffering under the lash of Israel's Occupation. (But didn't they evacuate in 2005? Hey, shut up with that..)

Uh, hello? What about the Palestinians in Lebanon? You know, the ones who are still living in all those refugee camps, the ones who, two generations later, are still living off the UN? The ones that Lebanon refuses to integrate into their society, their fellow ethnic Arabs, what about them? Are you telling me that they have to sail hundreds of kilometers to find some Palestinians to fawn over? Is anyone going to call them on this?

This just in (6/18/10 7:14AM): Lebanon Postpones Granting Rights to 1948 Refugees - Again

B'tzelem's New Math

B'tzelem reported on the conditions in the Gaza Strip, using some pretty creative numbers. Let's have a look, shall we?

At the end of 2009, 93 percent of the wells were found to be polluted with high quantities of chloride and nitrates, far in excess of the World Health Organization’s recommended levels. The water supply is defective, and thousands of residents are not even connected to the water grid.

93% of the water is polluted water, and there's no typhus epidemic? No malaria outbreak? I man, contaminating the water supply is the first rule in siege warfare, true, but where's the obvious end result to that? Right, let's move on.

The prohibition on bringing in raw materials and on exports has led to the closing of 95 percent of the factories and workshops in the area.

95% of factories are closed. So that means if there are 100 factories, only five are open. Now, according to the Palestinian Chamber of Commerce, the last statistic we have to work with is from 1998, where there were 412 carpentry workshops employing 1002 workers (2.4 workers per 'factory'). Please note that they tout Israeli training as a benefit for investment consideration. OK, now let's take a look at that percentage, shall we? There are now, supposedly, only 20ish carpentry factories still open, employing 48 people. Hmm.. does that have to do with Israel's 'siege', or does that have to do with a glut in the market, overreported numbers, and every three people counting as a 'factory'?

As a result of Israel’s policy, 98 percent of Gaza residents suffer from planned blackouts lasting up to eight or ten hours a day.

The last time there was an Israeli 'blackout' in Gaza, tens of thousands of people took to the streets with candles, and the world decried Israel's 'collective punishment'. But now, blackouts last ten hours a DAY and there's nothing in the news? Really?


Forty percent unemployment, huh? I suppose I should feel bad about it, but then I remember that the people elected these leaders.

More that 70% rely on humanitarian aid? Guess they get it in the market (note the source of the website).

It's all a numbers game.

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Hearst Corporation Magazines

If you subscribe to any of these magazines, you pay for Helen Thomas' salary:

Cosmopolitan
Country Living
Esquire
Food Network Magazine
Good Housekeeping
House Beautiful
Harper's Bazaar
Marie Claire
O, The Oprah Magazine
Popular Mechanics
Redbook
Seventeen
Town&Country
Veranda

Be honest now, do you really need the next issue of O, The Oprah Magazine cluttering the box next to the toilet?

Call the subscription desk. Ask to speak to a manager. Put them on notice that if Helen Thomas retains her position, you will be canceling your subscription within thirty days. It's as simple as that.

Goldstone's Skeletons Have Come Home to Roost

Oh, that's not the only metaphor I'm going to mangle today, readers. First, the obvious question: who the fuck does Richard Goldstone think he is? I mean, seriously, did he forget that he hung 26 black men in apartheid South Africa? Because the families of the hanged men sure as hell didn't. Did he think that those records would be lost to the ages? People who live in ivory towers...

Did it never occur to him to recuse himself from judging in a case where one of the parties is repeatedly (if not accurately) accused of apartheid policies?

Was this an axe to grind or a bone to pick? Was this just plain old stupidity, or he just plain old?

He went against Israel. Forget selling out his own people; that's God's issue to take up with him. Goldstone went up against a nation of seven million yentas, who show an amazing aptitude of circling the wagons in the face of adversity. Oh, and this is also the country that spawned, you know, The Mossad. What chance did this information have staying a secret? About a snowball's chance...

So now news gets out Richie Goldstone is a hangin' judge. When confronted with this, his response was that "he had to respect the laws of the state." Yes, we've all heard that one before. Nuremberg, wasn't it? He vas only followink orrrders. By the way, he also sentenced black men to lashes, because he was against the death penalty. Except for those twelve times. But wait, he didn't have to be a judge, did he?

So, to sum it all up, the UN commissioner tasked with identifying Israeli war crimes and Israeli crimes against humanity was, only a short while ago, responsible for the enforcement of apartheid laws, corporal punishment and capital punishment. Not only did he fail in his task at the UN, he failed to excise the ghosts of those twelve black men who were sent to their deaths by his own apartheid-stained, blood-soaked hands.

Folks, if THAT's not a hypocrite, I'll eat my hat.

Simon Wiesenthal's Top-10 Anti-Israel Lies

Lie No. 1: Israel was created by European guilt over the Nazi Holocaust. Why should Palestinians pay the price?

Lie No. 2: Had Israel withdrawn to its June 1967 borders, peace would have come long ago.

Lie No. 3: Israel is the main stumbling block to achieving a two-state solution.

Lie No. 4: Nuclear Israel, not Iran, is the greatest threat to peace and stability.

Lie No. 5: Israel is an apartheid state deserving of international boycott, divestment and sanctions campaigns.

Lie No. 6: Plans to build 1,600 more homes in East Jerusalem prove Israel is "Judaizing" the Holy City.

Lie No. 7: Israeli policies endanger U.S. troops in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Lie No. 8: Israeli policies are the cause of worldwide anti-Semitism.

Lie No. 9: Israel, not Hamas, is responsible for the “humanitarian catastrophe” in Gaza. Goldstone was right when he charged that Israel was guilty of war crimes against civilians.

Lie No. 10: The only hope for peace is a single, binational state eliminating the Jewish State of Israel.

If you've ever heard any of these lies, download the brochure and learn the truth.

Smoke and Mirrors: Why Gates rolled out the red carpet for Ehud Barak

The Obama Administration (have you noticed no one calls it the "White House" anymore?) has welcomed The Other Barak for some photo ops and "understandings." This isn't damage control, because that would imply that something happened in the, you know, past. This is the New Improved Obama, now with Less Vitriol:

But another reason may be that the Obama administration seems to be making a concerted effort to put to rest in particular any impression that the top U.S. military brass was in any way questioning the value of the U.S.-Israeli military and strategic relationship.

Or maybe it's that Barak shares the ideals of Obama, namely socialism and an abhorrence of settlers.

Or maybe it's to further humiliate Netanyahu, by showering love and affection on his political rival.

Or maybe...

The White House is engaged in an aggressive public relations and outreach effort to the Hill and Jewish groups to assure them of its commitment to Israel's security and to explain its policy in support of the peace process. Meantime, both Clinton and Barak are scheduled to address the American Jewish Committee annual meeting in Washington on Thursday.

...it's because Obama's advisers have finally looked at the polls and said, "Oh, shit!"

Source: Politico

Telegraph: Barack Obama’s top ten insults against Israel

1. Obama’s humiliation of Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House

2. Engaging Iran when Tehran threatens a nuclear Holocaust against Israel

3. Drawing a parallel between Jewish suffering in the Holocaust with the current plight of the Palestinians


And that's just for starters. Nile Gardiner provides chapter and verse on how the American President has been consistently trashing Israel in his already too-long tenure.

Read it all, for it is good.

Source: Telegraph.co.uk

What Passes for Journalism at Al-Jazeera

Palestinian demonstrators have hurled stones at Jewish settlers rallying for the demolition of Arab houses in occupied East Jerusalem.

So the Arabs threw stones at a rally. Not at other stone throwers, not at armed soldiers. At peaceful demonstrators.

The clashes took place on Sunday as George Mitchell, the US special envoy to the Middle East, was visiting Israeli officials in Tel Aviv for talks on restarting the peace process between Palestinians and Israelis.

Trying desperately to link the march to the visit in the hopes of another round of Piss Off the White House. I'm pretty sure the White House got a heads-up, but hey, it was worth the try, right?

Binyamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, reportedly tried but failed to ban the settlers' march.

See, this is my favorite line from this pseudo-article. It encapsulates the problems with the Arab mentality. In their mind, a leader should be strong enough to do what he wants to do. Not being able to ban a march is a sign of a weak leader. What they completely fail to realize is that free speech is a very prized and highly protected right in free countries. Netanyahu didn't try to ban the protest, he asked if it could wait. The law said no, and that it was illegal for the Prime Minister to try.

The video is just nonsense.

Source: Al Jazeera