Eretz Israel is our unforgettable historic homeland...The Jews who will it shall achieve their State...And whatever we attempt there for our own benefit will redound mightily and beneficially to the good of all mankind.(Theodor Herzl, DerJudenstaat, 1896)
We offer peace and amity to all the neighbouring states and their peoples, and invite them to cooperate with the independent Jewish nation for the common good of all. The State of Israel is ready to contribute its full share to the peaceful progress and development of the Middle East.(From Proclamation of the State of Israel, 5 Iyar 5708; 14 May 1948) With a liberal democratic political system operating under the rule of law, a flourishing market economy producing technological innovation to the benefit of the wider world, and a population as educated and cultured as anywhere in Europe or North America, Israel is a normal Western country with a right to be treated as such in the community of nations.... For the global jihad, Israel may be the first objective. But it will not be the last.(Friends of Israel Initiative)
Showing posts with label Muslim antisemitism. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Muslim antisemitism. Show all posts
Facebook group "Christian Friends of Palestine," rather like "Christians United for Peace," are inveterate foes of the Jewish State, and posting over the top canards about Israel (and da Joos) is not unusual for them.
A couple of recent tasters:
But this latest example of their malice must surely take the cake!
"If Jews all gather in Israel, it will save us the trouble of going after them worldwide", Hezbollah’s Hassan Nasrallah once said.
“We are not fighting so that you will offer us something”, his colleague Hussein Massawi is on record as stating. “We are fighting to eliminate you.”
Similarly, the late (assassinated) Sheikh Ahmed Yassin of Hamas remarked : "Make no mistake, there will be no peace as long as there is a Zionist-Jewish state. Our holy goal is to liberate all of Palestine, and if the Jews do not go, they will die. All of Palestine is Islamic land – every inch."
As I posted recently (“Still Crazy After All These Years” and “Recognition for Peace? Or Recognition for Jihad?”) there are indications that the eradication of Israel is the Palestinians’ true endgame – the achievement of their own state being seen by what would appear to be a majority of Palestinians polled to be but a stepping stone on the way to a one-state solution entailing their sovereignty over what is now Israel, and the consequent emergence of yet another Arab, Muslim state in the region. Bye, bye Israel.
Khaybar Khaybar ya yahud, jaish Mohammed saya'ud (“Jews, remember Khaybar, the army of Mohammed is returning”) chanted some members of the Gaza-bound IHH flotilla that set out from Cyprus last May. They were referring to the slaughter during the seventh century of Jewish residents of a town in what is today Saudi Arabia, and the significance of their words were not lost on Israeli leaders.
“The fact that participants on the flotilla would chant such things shows the true nature of some of the participants and its true motivation,” observed Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon. "This amply demonstrates that many are not against a particular policy of the Israeli government, but have very real and dangerous hatred for Jews and the Jewish state.”
Beerooch, beedam, neefdeek ya Falastin (“With spirit, with blood we will free you, O Palestine”) is one of the confrontational slogans yelled by Islamists at anti-Israel rallies in the West.
And here’s a longer vow that’s yelled, as at a noisy and noisome demo in 2006 outside the Israeli Consulate in San Francisco:
Falastin beladna! Wel Yahud kelabna! Falastin beladna! Wel Yahud kelabna! Falastin beladna! Wel Yahud kelabna!
(Palestine is our land!
And the Jews are our dogs!
Palestine is our land!
And the Jews are our dogs!
Palestine is our country!
And the Jews are our dogs!)
And for non-Arabic speakers and non-Islamists there’s this, since – it’s been screeched often enough on the streets of Londonistan – “We are all Hezbollah Now”:
"Black, red, green, white!
Black, red, green, white!
We support Hezbollah's fight!
We support Hezbollah's fight!
We support Hezbollah's fight!
We support Hezbollah's fight!
And here’s a commonly repeated taunt, heard increasingly; there’s no disguising its meaning:
Palestine will be free, from the river to the sea!
Palestine will be free, from the river to the sea!
According to a study released early in December by the Meir Amit Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center, the International Solidarity Movement (ISM), in its assault on Israel’s very right to exist, supports terrorism.
An ISM activist alerting terrorists to an IDF position
‘The study says that ISM, originally a network of anti-Israeli activists founded by a group of young, extreme leftist Americans, attracted to it leftist Arab activists and several extreme leftist pro-Arab Israelis. Later, the organization also recruited volunteers from various Western countries, some of them Jews, on a platform of hostility to Israel and its policies towards Palestinian Authority Arabs.
The study’s findings strengthen statements made last October by Dafka investigative reporter Lee Kaplan to Israel National News. In relation to ISM’s activities outside of PA-controlled territories, Kaplan had said that the U.S. government is turning “a blind eye” to ISM’s illegal activities. He added that the U.S. government “is the reason the flotillas are allowed to survive and grow.”
The ISM, stressed Kaplan, was put together by the Arab communist and terror-linked PLFP group which is “allied with communist anarchists ... and now with Hamas ... to promote the destruction of the State of Israel. They are doing a great job. I believe they pose a greater threat than the armed terrorists do.”
....Between 2001 and 2005, ISM volunteers waged activities in Judea, Samaria and the Gaza Strip. These activities were not limited to simply helping the Arab population of these areas, but rather included the hindering of IDF operational activities. These included participating in Arab protest demonstrations and rallies, serving as human shields for terrorist operatives wanted by the Israeli security forces, locating themselves near IDF roadblocks throughout Judea and Samaria, providing terrorist operatives and their families with financial, logistic and moral support, hindering the razing and sealing of houses of suicide bombers, and holding protests along the security fence from Jenin to Jerusalem.
The study details two of what the organization considers its peak activities according to its website: the first is sending activists to serve as human shields at the entrances to the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem, and the second is doing the same thing, this time in former PA President Yasser Arafat’s headquarters in Ramallah in April 2002 (during Israel's anti-terrorist Operation Defensive Shield, which was carried out following a series of deadly suicide bombings carried out by Arab terrorists).
.... After the second intifada senior ISM activists moved the center of their operations to the Gaza Strip, where Hamas was gaining a foothold before violently taking over it in June 2007. Four senior American ISM activists played a key role in founding an international pro-Hamas umbrella organization called the Free Gaza Movement, which sends ships to the Gaza Strip for the stated purpose of “breaking the siege,” but in fact aims to strengthen Hamas administration and intensify the delegitimization of Israel.
According to the study, senior ISM figures have devoted their time and energy to promoting FGM flotillas to the Gaza Strip since 2008, the highlight of this project being the IHH-organized flotilla to the Gaza Strip last May. In addition to its involvement in the flotillas, the ISM has also been active in two main fields: sending volunteers to protest demonstrations at focal points of Arab-Israeli friction such as Bila’in [sic; Bil’in]. These activities are held in conjunction with local Arab popular committees and sponsored by the Palestinian Authority.
The group also takes part in anti-Israeli activities in the United States and European and other countries worldwide, which include calls for boycotting Israel and its products and protests against its policies toward PA Arabs. During these protests, Israel is repeatedly represented as racist, oppressive and employing an apartheid policy. The study also says that these anti-Israeli activities go far beyond demonstrations in various cities and agitation on campuses, but also make use of visual and digital media, the Internet, and books and plays to engage in anti-Israeli hate propaganda.’
All this is reinforced by a new report, “Mapping Delegitimization”, by Ehud Rosen of the Jerusalem Centre for Public Affairs. It examines the nefarious alliance between those unlikely but equally repellent birds of a feather, the hardline Leftists such as the Socialist Workers’ Party (SWP) and Islamic fundamentalists and militant groups including the Muslim Association of Britain (MAB), who despite their differences regarding women, gays, and so forth, are dancing beak to beak owing to their shared commitment to destroying Israel and bringing down the West.
Rosen explains that “politicizing the Muslims in Britain is perceived as one of the SWP’s major achievements in the last few decades” and that the MAB’s twin aims are “to guide the Islamic awakening in Britain, and to raise the political awareness of the Muslims in Britain and make them more involved in the political process”. (The report, which as Melanie Phillips observes should be read by every Member of Parliament, is available here http://www.jcpa.org/text/Mapping_Delegitimization.pdf)
Green Party leader Caroline Lucas (an MP since 2010) at a rally in 2003
A variation on the “Palestine will be free” mantra, is in the video below (of a demo outside the Israeli Embassy in London last week, to mark the second anniversary of Cast Lead) screamed by a shrill-toned youth seemingly not long out of nappies (that’s diapers to you folks across the Pond). It’s taken up later by the girl in the white hijab, whose cries of “Hey ho, hey ho, Israel has to go!” are repeated by the ecstatic crowd. And note also the squalid little speech of the representative of the postal and telecommunications union, who delights in the recent report of the Tel Aviv-based Reut Institute, which identified Londonistan as
“a hub of delegitimization, even relative to other geographical locations. London's influence emanates from the city's centrality in several major arenas - including media, diplomacy, academia, non-governmental organization, and judicial - which propel its significant global weight.
The main drivers of delegitimization in the UK are leaders within what is commonly known as the Red-Green Alliance, a reference to the increasing connection between UK-based Islamists and radical-left elements. Due to several societal dynamics, these forces - the 'Reds' on the radical left and the Islamist 'Greens' - are particularly powerful in London.” (See http://%20www.reut-institute.org/Publication.aspx?PublicationId=3949)
Note in the video, too, the accompanying whoops of the crowd – the expression on the face of the grey-haired lady bearing a Palestinian flag is a sight to behold. You’ll also have the pleasure of seeing a contingent of gentlemen from Neturei Karta. And remember – this video is not over until a little after the (slim) lady sings. (Incidentally, she’s Deborah Fink, who can also be seen on a YouTube video singing traditional Christmas carols with Israel-demonising new lyrics.)
“In the next year step up your work!”, the trade unionist in the video exhorts his cheering audience of Israel-haters, telling them all to join the Palestine Solidarity Campaign.
And in this coming year we who love and admire Israel – we who know that Israel’s cause is the cause of all free peoples everywhere, and that if Israel falls, we shall be next in line for the jihadists – must step up our work. A ruthless war of delegitimisation against Israel is being waged on all fronts. Annihilation of the Jewish State is the goal. This evil intent must not succeed.
Some years ago, an Australian Jewish academic of my acquaintance, employed at a university somewhere in what is frequently dubbed "Eurabia", returned to his homeland for a visit. During an interview with a reporter from the local Jewish newspaper he mentioned his conviction, based on the European experience, that unrestricted Muslim immigration into Australia would not bode well for Australia's Jews. Imagine his surprise when he returned to his university and found that a small group of Aussie Jews, taking umbrage at his "Islamophobia", had contacted both the head of his department and the university's vice-chancellor in an apparent effort to get him sacked. I guess that's the totalitarian hard left for you!
I'll be blogging in the very near future about the current situation in Australia, but today I want to focus on the plight of Swedish Jewry, about which perhaps not enough is known outside Scandinavia. I base most of my information on a briefing paper authored by Mikael Tossaveinen, issued by the Stephen Roth Institute for the Study of Contemporary Antisemitism and Racism at Tel Aviv University, and on the excellent blog Sweden Israel and the Jews, from which I took the accompanying photograph. The blog http://www.swedenisrael.blogspot.com/ is essential reading for anyone wishing to gain an insight into just how viciously hostile towards Israel, and ambivalent towards Jews, the Swedish left - government ministers, politicians, clergy, trades unionists, academics, journalists - has become.
You may recall that about a year ago a leftwing Swedish newspaper, Aftonbladet, shamefully published an article which alleged that the IDF was killing Palestinians and harvesting their organs; the article, whose title translated into English was "They plunder the organs of our sons", was essentially the medieval blood libel wrapped in a modern cloak. Its author, an extreme radical and anti-Zionist propagandist, was duplicitously described by the paper as a "journalist". In that same year, there was a dramatic increase - up 57% on 2008 - of antisemitic incidents in Sweden, although it's well-known that many incidents go unreported, so that this is only the tip of the iceberg.
It's also well-known - despite the attempts, some of them farcical, of the mainly oh-so-politically-correct Swedish press to disguise the fact - that most antisemitic incidents are overwhelmingly the work of members of the large Muslim community that has grown in Sweden over the past generation, especially in the southern city of Malmo (total population perhaps as high as 300,000), where a fifth of inhabitants are Muslim. In 2007, for Sweden's National Day, 6 June, marked each year as an official holiday, it was decided by officialdom - in a nod to Muslim numbers - to hold celebrations at the mosque. Hence this photo of ethnic Swedes in their national costume performing traditional Swedish folk dances in a bemusedly incongruous setting.
Hence, too, the frequent use of Arabic rather than Swedish music that has come to mark the day.
As in certain other European cities, the Jews of Malmo, whose community was founded in the late nineteenth-century, feel intimidated by this large - and aggressive - Muslim presence. With good reason, for physical threats and sometimes actual violence lie in wait for those sufficiently courageous - or foolhardy, depending on your viewpoint - to appear in public wearing kippot or other symbols of Jewishness. The local Chabad rabbi, easily identifiable, has been victimised innumerable times - there was even an attempt to run him over.
During Operation Cast Lead, the tiny Jewish community, less than 800-strong (its numbers have since fallen further owing to emigration), held a "peace rally" in Malmo's main public square. Despite that description of the event they were surrounded by a surging hate-filled mob of Muslims and ethnic Swedish leftists. This mob clashed with police and hurled bottles and firecrackers at the Jews, who were eventually, for their safety, shunted into an alley by police. Not long afterwards, two Israeli tennis players in Malmo for the Davis Cup were forced into playing their match in private - with no spectators - as a mob of the same elements, similarly armed with missiles, attempted to storm police barricades and invade the court. One of them, Andy Ram, described the experience to the Israeli newspaper Haaretz as "distressing and disgusting ... the first time I have come across such a demonstration and felt the hatred towards Israelis".
The attitude of Malmo's Social Democratic mayor, Ilmar Reepalu, to the plight of his city's Jews has been exceedingly obnoxious - and instructive, reflecting as it does the attitude of so much of the political left (and not only in Sweden) towards Jews and Israel. Reluctant to implicate the Muslim community, he has attempted to shift the blame to right-wingers, and has also dismissively stated with regard to the flight of Jews out of Malmo owing to the intolerable situation there that if the city's Jews choose to settle in Israel, that's not Malmo's concern. A reporter, whose paper had run a series of articles on the threats, "Hitler" taunts, and harassment experienced by Malmo's Jews from members of the Muslim community, asked Reepalu for a statement. Far from condemning the Muslim behaviour in unequivocal terms and expressing sympathy for the Jews, Reepalu declared "We accept neither Zionism nor antisemitism", describing them both as unacceptable supremacist ideologies, and observed that the Jews had brought their troubles on themselves by supporting Israel and that it was incumbent upon them to prevent antisemitism by distancing themselves from Israel. Subsequently, he claimed to have been misrepresented by the reporter - but the reporter had wisely taped his words - so he claimed to have been set up by the "Israeli lobby" instead.
Predictably, therefore - yet of course no less outrageously for that - when, very recently, following a bomb threat, the Malmo synagogue (a beautiful Moorish structure dating to 1903) was attacked by an explosive device that blew out windows, Reepalu refused to comment.
