Pat Pulls No Punches (video)

A British Liberal rabbi, in the wake of the Toulouse atrocities, blogged:

"Inevitably, the incidents in France will stoke Islamophobia....The consequence of blaming a whole culture for the acts of deranged individuals is something we know all too well.... As Jews, we must specially tackle Islamophobia ..."

Well, yes, of course all Muslims are not to be tarred with the same brush, but what, I wonder, do the Jewish crusaders against "Islamophobia" make of this and this (watch that video in the latter link, it's most instructive!).

And strident as this bloke is, he does make some valid points, not least about the sheer hypocrisy of the "progressive" lefties and the deafening silence of the Sisterhood:

(Hat tip: reader Shirlee)

In Vienna, Far Left Demogogue Calls For Israel To Be "Smashed"

Here's Michael Pröbsting, International Secretary of the Revolutionary Communist International Tendency, on so-called "Palestine Land Day" a few days ago, calling in English for Israel to be "smashed".  But unlike other notable clowns such as Coco, he doesn't seem to be able to attract much of an audience. 

Another Communist revolutionary, young and wet-behind-the-ears Johannes Wiener, uses his native German as the vehicle to wow the little band of mainly Muslims who've gathered to hear him attack the Zionist Entity.

A Good Start On Israel From Archbishop Justin Welby

Cheers!

The new Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, who reportedly discovered only in adulthood that his paternal grandfather was Jewish, has been described as "a good friend" to Jews.

And as the Church Times, Britain's Anglican weekly, reports, he

'has said that he should have voted against a General Synod motion that endorsed the Ecumenical Accompaniment Programme in Palestine and Israel (EAPPI).

Archbishop Welby abstained on a private member's motion on Palestine and Israel that was passed by the Synod last year ( News, 29 June 2012, Synod, 13 July 2012). The Board of Deputies of British Jews objected to the motion's calling for the Synod to "affirm its support" for EAPPI. It said that EAPPI's "ecumenical accompaniers", who monitor human-rights abuses of Palestinians, had "almost no grasp of the suffering of normal Israelis".

In an interview with The Jewish News, published on Thursday of last week, Archbishop Welby, who is scheduled to visit Israel in June, said: "On reflection, I'd have voted against. I wasn't quite up to speed when I went into that vote. I think the situation in the Holy Land is so complicated . . . and I don't think the motion adequately reflected the complexity."

He said that he would have added to the motion that Israel had the right to "live in security and peace within internationally agreed borders, and the people of the region have the right to justice, peace, and security, whoever they are"....'

Read more here

Tammi Talks Tachlis (videos)

With its references to the Muslim Students' Association, Students for Justice in Palestine, and the involvement of students from countries in which judeophobia is rife, the following speech concerning antisemitism and anti-Israel activity on campus is not irrelevant to the theme of my previous post.

The speech in question was made last year at Temple Ahavath Torah by Tammi Rossman-Benjamin, who lectures in Hebrew at the University of California at Santa Cruz.

It was posted to YouTube comparatively recently.

For those who feel disinclined to listen to the entire thing, a brief taste of the speech is available below:

Needless to say, Tammi Rossman-Benjamin has been condemned by the usual suspects for delivering an islamophobic hate speech.

A recent University of California at Berkeley student senate resolution that was passed to that effect notes inter alia:

"Islamophobia is defined as the irrational fear of Islam, Muslims, or anything related to the Islamic or Arab cultures and traditions"

So I assume that anyone who deplores the repellent crimes by Arab men from Jordan, Saudi Arabia and the Gulf states against women and girls who've fled Syria and find themselves the victims of sexual  harassment and rape (see the video below for the harrowing facts) or the equally repellent crimes by Afghan men against their female "possessions," wives and daughters who are sold for less than the price of a mule (see here for the equally harrowing facts) is guilty of "Islamophobia"?

Truly, the ways of the Israel-demonising Left are hypocritical indeed.

(Hat tip: Vlad Tepes Blog)

The ADL On American Muslims For Palestine

This billboard, making the "apartheid" libel and featuring, against the background of Israel's security barrier,  the silhouette of an Israeli soldier aiming a gun at a Palestinian child, is one of those which began appearing on the first day of Pesach at twenty-five Metro North train sta­tions in suburban New York.

The ad, sponsored by the Chicago-based organisation American Muslims for Palestine (AMP), is, as the ADL states,"indica­tive of [AMP's]the organization’s con­tin­u­ing efforts to pro­mote its extreme anti-Israel views to a wider Amer­i­can audience."

For the AMP, warns the ADL (which is often perceived as too sanguine regarding the presence of Islam in Western societies),

 'is the leading organization providing anti-Zionist training and education to students and Muslim community organizations in the country. Founded in 2005, AMP promotes extreme anti-Israel views and has at times provided a platform for anti-Semitism under the guise of educating Americans about "the just cause of Palestine and the rights of self-determination."

Although the size of its membership remains unclear, the Chicago-based non-profit organization operates several chapters across the country. While its educational efforts have been primarily geared toward providing the Muslim community with inflammatory rhetoric and false accusations against Israel to promote advocacy for Palestine, AMP has also placed a heavy emphasis on supporting and helping coordinate the activity of Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP), the primary organizer of anti-Israel events on campus with dozens of chapters.

AMP seeks to delegitimize and demonize the Jewish state. Its materials are prominently featured at its events and conferences, in its publications and through materials available on its website....

AMP has its organizational roots in the Islamic Association of Palestine (IAP), an anti-Semitic group that served as the main propaganda arm for Hamas in the United States until it was dissolved in 2004. Since its creation in 2005, AMP continues to work closely with some former IAP leaders who currently hold positions as AMP board members.'

Read the ADL's comprehensive report on this menacing organisation here

Devilment In The City Of Angels (video)

On "Palestinian Land Day" in Los Angeles, a cute little girl is used as a prop yelling well-rehearsed soundbites while adults march with placards bearing blood libels likening the Israelis to the Nazis and the situation of the Palestinians to the Holocaust.

And there's the seemingly inevitable supporting cast of anti-Israel Jews, which makes this just the thing for posting on April Fool's Day.

Richard Falk Bans Free Speech (For Some), Reveals David Singer

A reminder that Falk posted this antisemitic cartoon on his blog in 2011

Here's the latest article by Sydney lawyer and international affairs analyst David Singer.  It's entitled "Palestine: UN Special Rapporteur Bans Free Speech"

Writes David Singer:

'United Nations Special Rapporteur on "the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories occupied since 1967" – Professor Richard Falk – has taken the extraordinary action to ban posts on his blog page "Citizen Pilgrimage".

This has happened to myself and at least one other person when we attempted to post comments in response to an article written by Professor Falk titled "What was wrong with Obama's speech in Jerusalem"

My detailed comment sought to point out what was right with President Obama's speech in Jerusalem. It had been published as an article on many Internet pages around the world and reproduced on the web sites of scores of others without editorial amendment.

I presented a considered and reasoned analysis of what President Obama had said. It was not couched in inflammatory or defamatory terms. It considered aspects of President Obama's speech not referred to in Professor Falk's article and came to an entirely different conclusion to the views expressed by Professor Falk.

To my amazement Professor Falk's response to my post was:

"My blog is no longer open for this sort of polemics on the Israel/Palestine conflict. There are many other more important venues to carry on these discussions."

My reply to Professor Falk – pointing out his decision amounted to the banning of free speech and requesting he reconsider his decision – went unanswered.

I subsequently sought to post an entirely different response to another contributor's comment – but it was also not published.

One person who sought to post a comment to Professor Falk's article received the following response:

"Mr. Skolnik: My blog is no longer open for this sort of polemical responses that insult either me or others who submit comments. There are many other venues for this sort of debate."

Strangely, Professor Falk had no similar qualms in publishing the following comment from one of his readers:

"I have been following events in Israel and Cyprus closely, and stand by my assertions. I find it both fascinating and terrifying that Germany is the force behind the Cypriot haircut, in which unscrupulous jewish industrialists, all of whom hold Israeli passports, are having their bank accounts seized and money transferred to Germany. Who would have predicted this turn of events, but really, once you spot the pattern, it becomes impossible to deny this jaw-dropping turn of events, and its ominous implications."

It is clear that there are many readers of Professor Falk's blog who would be grossly offended by this Jew-hating language – yet it was published.

I do not seek to silence these Jew-haters airing their views on Professor Falk's blog. Better the world should be aware such views exist and are exposed to critical comment.

My articles sometimes attract such vile and repulsive comments. Never would I seek to have them expunged. I prefer to respond to such comments or let my readers do so.

But why should a UN Rapporteur concerned with human rights seek to ban the views of others like myself and Mr Skolnik – if he allows such a vile post as this to appear as a comment on the same blog page?

Intrigued by the Professor's totally unexpected and unexplained reaction to my post – I contacted other sites where his article had been published.

One was a virulently Jew-hating web site called "Shoah – The Palestinian Holocaust" It had no problem posting the identical response that I attempted to post on Professor Falk's web page.

Another was "Ramy Abdeljabbar's Palestine and World News" – not what one would call a pro-Israel site. It published my response to Professor Falk's article without indulging in the histrionics and petulance displayed by Professor Falk.

A third site was "Transcend Media Service" – which describes itself in the following terms: 

"TRANSCEND International is an experiment in promoting peace by peaceful means throughout the world. Traditionally, institutes have been centered around a building where the people who work together meet on a regular basis. Since many people who share common interests in helping transform conflicts nonviolently and creatively are geographically scattered and cannot usually be physically together, our solution is to create an electronic network of members. This, in addition, diminishes our carbon footprints and contributes to attenuate the global warming crisis."

Professor Falk is a member of the Transcend Network.

Transcend saw nothing objectionable in posting my response to Professor Falk's article.

Professor Falk needs to understand that attempts by him to ban freedom of expression and free speech on his web site demean himself and his position as a UN Special Rapporteur.

Those in authority at the UN who repeatedly express their support for the protection of human rights must be prepared to act against one of their own by denouncing Professor Falk's actions in the strongest terms with a view to ending his crass attempt to deny the inalienable right of every human being  to speak out and be heard.

Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and members of the UN Human Rights Council – are you listening or do you endorse Professor Falk's outrageous conduct?'