Leftist Litter-ature

'Occupation will destroy Third Temple'

Notice posted around Jerusalem by Peace Now on eve of annual day of mourning destruction of First, Second Temple says continuation of settlement construction will lead to end of Zionist enterprise.

Source

The irony, and the punchline is that true Zionist settlers don't consider modern Zionism, the current State of Israel to be the "Third Temple." What is being mangled here is a quote attributed to Moshe Dayan during the darkest days of the Yom Kippur War. He said, "This is the end of the Third Temple."

What we have today isn't perfect. But that's why G-d invented Tikkun Olam.

Throw Congressman Ackerman under the bus

Why is it so difficult for Jews to be Jewish? Congressman Ackerman illustrates in this simpering monologue where he can't find the reason why we all can't just get along.

My response to the honorable congressman:

I read with no small amount of disgust your comments equivocating Jewish citizens of Israel with terrorist thugs. Your comments came at a particularly bad time, as the Israeli people have decidedly shifted to the right politically. It only underscores the complete disconnect between Jews in America and the Land of their forefathers.

Though I detest the appellation, for illustrative purposes I am what you would call a settler. I live twenty minutes south of Jerusalem on a "hilltop" called Neve Daniel. As the highest vantage point in the region between Chevron and Yerushalayim, it is very likely that Avraham stood on this very hill when he "saw the place [where he would offer Isaac as a sacrifice] from afar." One might like to believe that I displaced a poor Arab family from their ancient homestead and stole their orange groves with my own hands, but the truth is this was a barren hilltop throughout the Jordanian Occupation from 1949-1967.

I don't know the last time you were at a Jewish wedding, but when we recite the blessings under the chuppah, the last bracha recited for thousands of years states, "May there soon be heard, Lord our G-d, in the cities of Judea and in the streets of Jerusalem, the sound of joy and the sound of celebration." Chevron, Neve Daniel and others are those cities in Judea that we hope to repopulate when we bless our family and friends at a wedding. Who do you think you are to question that enterprise? Bear in mind that there are tens of thousands of us here, many more than were sacrificed in Gush Katif, the next time you hear that bracha.

You made the statement, "I don’t know what to do about that. I don’t know how you make peace with half of a want-to-be country. I don’t know how you sign an agreement with an entity whose legal, political and administrative bona fides are all in question." Why are these questions so hard for a Jew to answer? I can't even see why these questions are hard for a human to answer! You don't make peace with an implacable enemy. You defeat them. Utterly. Without pause, without question. They want to destroy the Jewish State. They make no moral equivalences, neither should we.

It's an embarrassment to see that even our vaunted Jewish congressman sees fit to throw his lot in with those who would deny Jews a Jewish homeland. That you said you weren't trying to draw a moral equivalence only makes your comments all the more repugnant. Did you sell out to show party loyalty? I hope it was worth it.

Since this letter has no fawning approbations of your nauseating comments, I expect no reply.

A proud Jew, Settler, and Republican,

Write to him at Write Your Representative and use 11361 as your zip code.

Without Access to Gaza, CNN's Reporting was Almost Fair

CNN brings us this little gem of an article:

Among the more unbelievable propaganda,

Louay Shabana, head of the agency, said more than 22,000 buildings were damaged or destroyed. Shabana put the economic destruction at more than $1.9 billion.

Twenty-two thousand buildings. Thousand. Israel killed 1,300 people, wounded 5,400 more, but damaged or destroyed almost three times that number of buildings. Talk about disproportionate. It seems Louay has a disproportionate sense of what 'damage' means. Or thousand, for that matter.

Gaza's gross domestic product was slashed by 85 percent during the 22 days of war, and it could take a year for the economy to recover, the agency said in a preliminary report.

I'm astounded by his fauxtistics and would be delighted to know where he gets his numbers from. Last I checked, GDP statistics included the West Bank, which considering Israel hasn't cut them off is, you know, the productive side of the PA. So estimates like this would be little more than, you know, made up.

85% over 19 days (three weekend days. No one works on Friday) means a total loss of PA GDP of $45.6M, including the West Bank. Probably means for the whole period of the operation they lost less than a million dollars.

Also like the "preliminary report" dodge. We learned in project management class that initial estimates can vary as much as 400% in either direction. Once you establish facts, then let me know what the losses are.

About 80 percent of crops in Gaza were destroyed, according to the agency.

First of all, we all know that Hamas was taking it to the streets. Hiding in UN facilities, hiding in schools, hiding in mosques. So now Israel was bombing farms as well? Where do they get that 80% of crops, in January were destroyed? Can we please make up one story and stick to it?

Now here's the funny part. Agriculture accounts for only 8% of Gaza's GDP anyway, so 20% of 8% of $5B (as if) is $80M. How pathetic. Gush Katif produced, annually, in excess of $120M every year in tax revenues. Gaza, which is now Judenrein, with 50 times the land available to them for agriculture, produce less than what the Jews were able to produce in their little shtetls?

Ging, UNRWA's Gaza director of operations, said the bill could reach "billions of dollars."

Get out your checkbooks for the poor poor Palestinians! The world's economies are flatlining, and Ging The Merciless demands tribute to his empire!

Streets in some northern Gaza towns were flooded with sewage, and about 50 U.N. facilities were damaged, he said.

Again, what constitutes a "U.N. facility" is only limited by the imagination of the speaker. Or reader. I bet you didn't realize that means there is a UN "facility" for every 7.2 square kilometer in Gaza. Talk about a welfare state...

CNN, which provided a more accurate and balanced picture of the war when they weren't allowed into Gaza, is slowly slipping back to becoming a propaganda mouthpiece for the Palestinians, with irrational statistics and outright fabrications pouring forth like sewage in the streets.


My source.

All Options Exhausted

What else does Israel have to do? It offered land, shipped guns, signed accords, showed restraint, Disengaged, left Lebanon, sent money, sent aid, shipped fuel, supplied energy, supplied water... between 1994 and 2006 what didn't Israel try? They offered every possible incentive, crossed every conceivable line and broke taboo after taboo to try and get these people to stop.fucking.killing.us.

Killing Israelis is Hamas' raison d'être. This is who they are. Their charter is not the basis for a constitution, it's a manifesto for an ideology. We laugh that they don't call us Israelis. It's not funny. It's a calculated negation. That's why we call the non-citizen Arabs who live in Israel Palestinians - because they said it over and over until it became "right." The classic example is that Abba Eban is misquoted. He never said, "The Palestinians never miss an opportunity to miss an opportunity." Rather, he didn't say Palestinian. He said "Arab."

Israel has bent over backwards time and time and time again. Every single time the answer came back, "more."

No more.

Reaching for a Pulitzer, Grasping at Straws

The New York Times, in it's last throes of journalistic relevancy, tries to provide an edgy new catch phrase that can enter the current of online sound bites. Behold, The Gaza Boomerang:

What we’re seeing in the Middle East is the Boomerang Syndrome. Arab terrorism built support for right-wing Israeli politicians, who took harsh actions against Palestinians, who responded with more terrorism, and so on. Extremists on each side sustain the other, and the excessive Israeli ground assault in Gaza is likely to create more terrorists in the long run.

So let's see. It's not the "cycle of violence" meme anymore. New for 2009, brought to you by The New York Times, it's... the Boomerang Syndrome meme. Israel is responsible for the exploitation of aboriginal Pacific Rim cultures!

I get the whole "throw it and it always returns" metaphor that Nick - can I call ya Nick? - was going for. I have also owned a boomerang in my life, and the "making it actually come back to you without causing bodily harm" part is kind of tricky. What Nick describes in his article has a straightforward, back and forth, tit-for-tat rhythm. So we really need something that has a tendency to have an equal and opposite reaction.

How about the Rubberband Syndrome, or... the Yo-Yo Syndrome. The Lumberjack Syndrome. You know, for those big saws they used. Hmm, what else comes back... The Robert Downey Jr. Syndrome. Nah, I like him. The Clinton Appointee Syndrome! The Burrito Syndrome! Eh, lacks the danger element. I've got it! The Herpes Syndrome! Perfect! It's unsightly, infectious, transmitted by promiscuous relationships, you never know when it's going to flare up, it is a colossal pain in the groin, and can never be cured.* That's the Arab-Israeli conflict.

On the other hand, now that I think about it, the boomerang as a metaphor for the Arab-Israeli Conflict might make sense, but not the way Nicky described it. Like the conflict, a boomerang is controlled by one person (unilaterally), it travels on a convoluted path (or "Road Map") and always ends up where it began. Not to mention the constant threat of bodily harm.

How about this: Thousands of children in Gaza saw firsthand what happens to terrorists that incite violence against Israel, so the Israel assault in Gaza is likely to create fewer terrorists in the long run.

Yeah, reads better. Much more rational.

We can even call it the Gaza Prophylaction.


*I had to look up the symptoms. I have no personal experience with herpes.

Response on Mondoweiss

This little gem of a leftard blog is a good example of willful ignorance.

While reading through the comments section, I came across the same old tired memes, So here's the same old tired responses. Pretty soon the Internet is just going to be one big copy/paste.

My response to the Jew haters:

It's only fair to blame Hamas for engaging in the systematic destruction of Jews, even if they're not very good at it. After all, Israel has been accused of "genocide" for killing 500 out of 1.3 million people, mostly enemy combatants. Of course in your worldview, "only" 12 dead Jews is nothing to get *this* upset about. Israel should have waited until a kindergarten was devastated and scores of Israeli babies were killed first, right? What's your threshold of dead Jews?

How about the Palestinian's responsibility to run.the.other.way when they see a rocket being launched. They know that Israel is targeting the origin of the rocket/mortar launch, they know Israel has UAVs watching everything. They know Hamas' craven desire for dead civilians to elicit media sympathy.

Maybe, they take responsibility for their own destiny by revolting against the real occupying power in Gaza. Next time a rocket launcher is set up, overpower the squad, destroy the launcher, drop the rocket down a well and beat them to death. The minute I saw *that* footage on YouTube, I'd be the loudest one screaming for a cease-fire. Until then I keep reminding myself that they voted these people into power, knowing exactly what they planned to do.

How about stop blaming Israel for acting to end the more than 6500 rockets and mortars, regardless of the death and damage they cause, simply because no one should have to live like that.

As far as that picture of Palestinian child abuse is concerned, there are two versions with the same child. Same bruise on her head, same orange jacket:
http://www.daylife.com/photo/07HqgalbyofnJ/A_Palestinian_carries_a_child_into_the_Shifa_hospital

http://www.daylife.com/photo/0eToeOx9YrgMg/A_Palestinian_father_carries_his_wounded_baby_daughter

So which one is her real father? Or did they play "pass the baby" to get more media play out it?

"We won't get fooled again..."

PS I have no expectation that this post will remain on your site for very long. Already posted this response and a link back here elsewhere.

How to Abuse A Child for Propaganda and Profit

Two photos. Somewhat graphic. A child has been injured:
http://www.daylife.com/photo/07HqgalbyofnJ/A_Palestinian_carries_a_child_into_the_Shifa_hospital
Note the bruise on the child's head, the curly hair, the orange and green jacket.

http://www.daylife.com/photo/0eToeOx9YrgMg/A_Palestinian_father_carries_his_wounded_baby_daughter
Note the bruise on the child's head, the curly hair, the orange and green jacket.

Now I know a lot has been mentioned about Israel's intentional bombing of children and other nonsense, but I defy anyone, ANYONE to justify this cynical abuse of "pass the baby for the cameras" for propaganda purposes.

Hat tip to IsraellyCool.