Evil Penevil

The saving grace of American tourists in the eyes of locals is their tendency to tip well. That annoys some other tourists, but in general, American tourists are well-behaved in Thailand. Our bad-boy young men can seldom afford to travel very far abroad. Few of them have passports. You may see them in Canada, Mexico or on one of the Caribbean islands, but they usually stick to vacation spots in the U.S.

I'm a bit surprised that posters on AN would be so familiar with spoken Hebrew. Only the 7.2 million Jews in Israel use Hebrew on a daily basis and not all of them have it as their native language. Where would you have heard spoken Hebrew outside of Israel? In Pai maybe? I also doubt many people would be able to peg a tourist from Israel solely on the basis of his or her accent when speaking English. Again, it's a matter of opportunity. During the nine years I lived in Thailand I only encountered Israeli tourists a handful of times and none of those tourists had a give-away accent when speaking English. No, I don't. I would urge them not to speak Hebrew in hearing range of others and to use English if they were.

I know there's a big difference between Hebrew and Arabic, just like there's a big difference between Thai and Cambodian or between Japanese and Korean. That doesn't change the fact that many people can't distinguish between them. The question was whether you can distinguish between Hebrew and Arabic if you hear Hebrew spoken on the street or see it on a bag. BTW, the word "Semitic" or "Semite" is considered obsolete when referring to race or ethnicity. There are Semitic languages but no Semitic people in modern times. https://www.ajc.org/translatehate/Semite Also, Israelis must feel very safe in Thailand if they are openly speaking Hebrew in front of strangers. The standard advice from the National Security Council and the Foreign Ministry of Israel for decades has been for Israelis traveling abroad not to call attention to themselves. Every Israeli is a target for terrorists. https://www.gov.il/en/pages/national-security-council-passover-travel-warnings-28-mar-2024 .

Can you distinguish between spoken Hebrew and spoken Arabic? Or tell the difference between written Hebrew and Arabic? On several occasions I know of, Israelis were mistaken for Arabs because people (Thai and farang) thought they were speaking Arabic. I guess in the mind of an antisemite, it would be easy to twist things round the other way and mistake Arabs for Israelis.

He was groping her, most likely trying to touch her tits. A female moto driver I knew in Pattaya said touch-the-tits moves were quite common and that was one reason few women wanted to be moto drivers. According to the Thaiger article (my bold text): "Although the exact location was unclear, the passenger persistently attempted to grope her. Feeling increasingly unsafe, she decided to head towards the police station. "Despite her efforts to dissuade him by stressing the importance of respecting women and transport riders, the harassment continued." https://thethaiger.com/news/bangkok/iranian-man-arrested-at-bangkok-airport-over-indecent-act-charges The "hand-on-shoulder" move came when the Iranian was trying to buy her off so she wouldn't go to the police.

Here's the long version of my post above. Official statistics don't exist on the number of Israelis with dual citizenship, but one expert group estimated in 2019 "about 10% of the country's population has dual citizenship." https://www.dualcitizenshipreport.org/dual-citizenship/israel/ A 2018 paper in an academic journal stated roughly 344,000 Israelis held dual citizenship with an E.U. country. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1111/imre.12017 An article in The Times of Israel said about 200,000 Israelis also hold citizenship in the U.S. https://www.timesofisrael.com/a-nightmare-us-passport-crunch-for-dual-citizens-in-israel-among-most-severe/ That figure includes U.S. Jews who emigrated to Israel and Israelis who acquired U.S. citizenship. Bottom line: Only a small minority of Israel's 7.2 million Jewish citizens have dual citizenship and hold two passports. A myth that habitually makes the rounds on social media claims all Jews automatically become Israeli citizens. In fact, Jews from any country have to meet the stipulations of the Israeli Law of Return and live in Israel for a certain period of time to acquire Israeli citizenship. Children born outside Israel to an Israeli parent, however, are considered Israeli citizens from birth. No official statistics are published on the ethnic background of Israeli Jews, but an academic study in 2015 indicated the following breakdown: Mizrahi, 44.9%; Ashkenazi, 31.8%; USSR, 12.4%; Mixed, 7.9%; Ethiopian, 3.0%. The "U.S.S.R." category included citizens of the former Soviet Union who, due to their ancestry, qualified for immigration to Israel under the Law of Return but had never practiced the Jewish religion or observed customs such as circumcision. These highly secular Jews often didn't a Jewish lifestyle after arrival in Israel and were considered "Jews without religion." DNA studies have confirmed modern Jewish populations across the globe have a shared ancestry in the Middle East. The population genetics of the Jewish people. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC3543766/ Ultimately, Jews are descendants of the Hebrew and Israelite peoples who lived in Biblical times in the area which became the state of Israel. Bottom line: Today's Jews are of are of Middle Eastern heritage and have strong historical ties to Israel. That depends on what definition is used for "many" and "Zionist." How many is "many?" What is a Zionist? Until we have a clear definition of those two words, it's impossible to say whether many or few Israelis are not Zionist. There's also a huge difference between not supporting Zionism and actively opposing Zionism. Israeli Jews can vehemently disagree with the policies of the Netanyahu government but still support Israel as the homeland of the world's Jews. Generally speaking, the Jewish religious and secular groups which self-identify as anti-Zionist are located outside Israel.

Both those statements are false. When antisemitic tendencies cloud people's minds, they fall victim to all sorts of untrue claims. The short answer is only a small minority of Israelis have dual citizenship and two passports, while the largest ethnic group in Israel (about 45%) consists of Mizrahi Jews whose ancestors came from the Middle East, i.e. North Africa and parts of Asia, including Israel itself. Only one-in-three Israeli Jews, or about 32%, are of Ashkenazi (European) background. The ancestors of Ashkenazi Jews had been driven out of the Middle East in various waves, beginning with the Roman conquest of Judea. One other fact needs to be mentioned. Nearly 80% of Israeli Jews (four out of five) are Sabra, i.e., were born in Israel. If Israel ceased to exist and its citizens driven away, the Sabra would have no where to go, That's why they fight so hard to preserve a homeland for the world's Jews. Never again is today. For those of you who get scared off by long posts, I'll put the details for the above, with links to sources, in a separate follow-up post.

The notion of a "large Israeli Jewish population" in Pai is based on false Facebook posts that claimed 30,000 Israelis had settled there. From The Nation on Feb. 18: No Israeli ‘Promised Land’ in Pai: Tourist police refute social media claims https://www.nationthailand.com/news/tourism/40046434 The article stated: "On Tuesday, Pol Lt Col Suwit Boonyaphen, an inspector of Mae Hong Son tourist police, refuted widely shared Facebook posts alleging that around 30,000 Jewish people had settled in Pai and built a Jewish synagogue. "He clarified that the reported figure of 30,000 Israeli tourists refers to the total number of Israeli visitors over the past year, not a permanent settlement. On average, only 83 to 84 Israeli tourists visit Pai each day." However, the 83 to 84 Israeli tourists per day is also misleading. If you divide 30,000 by 12 (months), you get 2,500 visitors per month. Divide that by 30 and you get 83.33 visitors per day. But, and it's a big , that would mean 30,000 Israeli tourists had spent one night each in Pai, which is unlikely. It's more likely they spent multiple days in Pai. Moreover, the 30,000 figure is also shaky, as it allows for double-counting of tourists who visit Pai on more than one occasion. For example, if an Israeli tourist stayed in Pai for three days, went to Chiang Rai for three days and then returned to Pai for two days, that would show up as two Israeli tourists in the visitor figures. When the figures are adjusted properly, it's likely there are on average about200 Israeli tourists per day in Pai, which isn't an overwhelming number. Unfortunately, some Thais and farang have fallen for antisemitic nonsense. Whether that is the result of ignorance or ill-will is hard to know, but I would guess it's mostly ignorance.

ALL of Thailand is Buddhist, in that 94% of the population follows Buddhism. Are you suggesting non-Buddhists should give up practicing their religions when on a tourist trip to Thailand? Thai law allows for freedom of religion. Have you ever been to Pai? The super-loud bars, nightclubs, cafes and even some guesthouses fail to "blend in" with Buddhist culture to a far greater degree than the Chabad House. And how well do the farang, Indian and Chinese tourists "blend in" when they visit Pattaya, Phuket, Bangkok or anywhere else in Thailand? At least some of them "stick out" a lot more than Jews who visit the Chabad House in Pai. It seems you are being unfairly discriminatory against Jews, but hey, that's what antisemitism is all about.

It's not a question of nationality but of religious identity. Chabad Houses are open to Jews of any nationality and about 5,000 of them are located in 100 different countries. You have to keep in mind there are only 15.7 million Jews in the world, with 7.2 million in Israel and 5.7 million in the U.S. That leaves the remaining 2.8 million spread pretty thin. In many countries and cities, the Jewish population isn't large enough to support dedicated synagogues or commercial outlets for kosher food. Chabad Houses are therefore needed in these areas to enable Jews, especially observant Jews, to worship and follow a Jewish lifestyle. The Chabad movement arose in the 1960s as travel to distant places became more affordable and popular. There are also Chabad Houses to assist Jewish students on or near university campuses. For those of you who like statistics, the world's 17.2 million Jews make up only 0.2% of the 8 billion total population. That compares with 2.4 billion Christians, 2,0 billion Muslims, 1.2 billion Hindus and 500 million Buddhists. With 60 million adherents worldwide, Voodoo has more than three times the number of followers as Judaism. Claims of Jewish influence or "dominance" are, shall we say, exaggerated. The incident with the misbehaving young Israeli men has taken a very nasty twist due to classic antisemitism. If young Irish or Italian men caused a ruckus, Thai authorities wouldn't respond by checking the immigration status of foreigners attending a Catholic church. Same-same with Scottish or Scandinavian young men and a Protestant church or young Indians and a Hindu temple. That would be unthinkable. But because some residents of Thailand, both foreigners and Thai, are infected with antisemitism, false Internet rumors of an attempted Jewish "takeover" of Pai gained force and led to a "raid" on the Chabad House. It's sad that sort of mentality and suspicion of Jews is still rearing its ugly head today.

When Muhammad Ali returned to the U.S. after the "Rumble in the Jungle" against George Foreman in the Congo in 1974, a reporter supposedly asked him what he thought of Africa. Ali is said to have answered, ""Thank God my granddaddy got on that boat!" That's probably a misquote based on something George Foreman's manager said: "Thank God our grandpappies caught that boat!" The quote in one form or another is used to illustrate the fact that African-Americans prefer to live in the U.S., even though some consider it a racist society. Source: https://quotepark.com/quotes/1761571-dinesh-dsouza-better-off-the-point-is-illustrated-by-the-great/

Is the BBC now a mouthpiece for terrorists? Earlier this week, the BBC admitted it had broadcast an hour of primetime television narrated by the son of a Hamas terrorist leader. This connection to terrorism was not initially disclosed to audiences. This is a very serious crisis for the BBC. It means that our national broadcaster distributed terrorist propaganda to the homes of licence-fee payers.

You seem to be conflating two very different occurrences: 1) a crackdown on foreigners behaving in violation of Thai law; and 2) an attempt to close down a Chabad House that functions as a synagogue and community center for Jews. I have no argument with 1) as it is the right and proper thing for Thai police to do, but 2) is pure antisemitism. Any foreigner, Israeli or otherwise, should be punished for breaking Thai law, including lifetime bans on re-entering Thailand in serious cases. That has nothing to do with closing down a Chabad House which provides positive services. It's sure as hell better for young Israeli men to be worshipping in a synagogue and eating Shabbat dinner together than getting drunk in bars. It's a real stretch to believe the Thai police are taking action against all misbehaving foreigners by trying to close a Chabad House. One has nothing to do with the other and only an antisemite would want to close a Chabad House. Conspiracy theories don't enter into it; the whole reaction against the Chabad House in Pai is down to ignorance and prejudice on the part of a few Thais. Ignorance and prejudice have been behind antisemitism for centuries.

Egyptian NHS doctor who ‘glorified’ Hamas spared deportation https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/egyptian-nhs-doctor-who-glorified-hamas-spared-deportation/ar-AA1zvUqf?ocid=winp2fptaskbarhover&cvid=d68ccab33a4547e891834c7e06e0fbfd&ei=16 "An Egyptian NHS doctor who mocked Israeli festival-goers for fleeing Hamas gunmen on Oct 7 has won a legal challenge against deportation. "An immigration tribunal judge backed Dr Mennah Elwan in her claim that James Cleverly, the home secretary at the time, was wrong to cancel her leave to remain in the UK after ruling that her presence was 'not conducive to the public good'."

I'm certainly not making anything up. The Chabad House in Pai includes space used for a synagogue and prayer rooms. Denying Jews a place to worship is the heart of antisemitism. It goes back to the destruction of Solomon's Temple in Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar II in 587 BCE. In any time period, from Biblical days to the present, people who wish ill on Jews have attempted to deny them places of worship. @khunjeff gave you an excellent answer in his post. I agree with it: To emphasize what he said, the first Chabad House opened in 1993 in Bangkok. Since then, Chabad Houses have opened in Koh Samui, Phuket, Chiang Mai and Koh Phangan as well as Pai. They have served tens of thousands of Israeli and other Jewish tourists and none has been associated with any sort of controversy, You can read more about Chabad in Thailand here: https://www.jewishthailand.com/templates/articlecco_cdo/aid/301323/jewish/Chabad-of-Thailand.htm Punishing all Jews by denying them a place of worship because the actions of a few young Jewish men is indeed naked antisemitism. I totally agree the Israelis who caused trouble in Pai should have been- and were- punished appropriately. But to hold Jews collectively responsible for the misbehavior of a few individuals is a classic signal of antisemitism.

Opposing a Chabad House is raw antisemitism. That type of antisemitism has nothing to do with anti-Zionism or the conflict in Palestine. It is pure hatred of Jews and their religion. A Chabad House provides informal social services to Jews who are ex-pats or tourists. Its activities range from psychological counseling to celebrations of religious holidays. Chabad Houses function as "safe spots" for Jews while traveling.

When I lived in Pattaya, vitually every pharmacy I visited had both the nicotene patches and gum, both international brands and local, generic equivalents.

Jews who are serious about keeping kosher, whether from Israel or another country, only eat in restaurants which have been certified as kosher by a rabbi or rabbinic agency. It surprises me that Israelis would ask about kosher dishes at a pizzeria in Pattaya. It's exremely difficult to obtain kosher ingredients, especially beef, in Thailand. You can't make kosher food from ingredients you buy through normal restaurant food supply channels. Moreover, it's nearly impossible for a restaurant that serves both kosher and non-kosher food to be certified kosher. The restaurant would have to have two seperate kitchens and no equipment or utensils could be shared between them. How likely is that? However, far from all Jews follow kosher strictly. There's a sliding scale for observing kosher, from "very strictly" to "not at all." It's entirely possible Israelis who aren't worried about kosher would eat in a Pattaya pizzeria, but I doubt they'd ask about kosher meals. A kosher pizzeria in Jerusalem:

This is indeed a scary situation for British Jews, especially those with dual citizenship in the U.K. and Israel. If doctors feel strongly enough about the Palestinian cause to justify the slaughter of Israeli civilians attending a music festival as "resistance," isn't there at least a risk they will also regard fatal mistreatment of Israeli or Jewish patients as resistance? Suppose an IDF reservist would seek medical care while on a visit to the U.K. Would a Palestine doctor feel it's right to administer a treatment intended to kill, rather than cure, the patient? Two Australian licensed nurses, a male originally from Afghanistan and female of Palestinian background, recently threaten to kill Israeli patient, with the male apparently bragging he had already done so. https://aseannow.com/topic/1351586-australian-nurses-suspended-over-hate-speech-antisemitic-video-as-investigation-unfolds/ Threats of harm or death on the Internet are often dismissed as harmless hyperbole because they aren't credible threats- and rightly so. However, threats by medical professionals fall into an entirely different category. Doctors and nurses are in a position to cause considerable harm to patients. At the very least, the doctors cited in the OP are guilty of hate speech, which isn't a commendable attribute for a physician.

It's not a play on words, but as you say, reality, not semantics. A home region is a geographical area, while a home country is a political entity. A person can be born and live all his or her life in North America, Southeast Asia or Western Europe. They can be correctly described as North American, Southeast Asian or Western European in terms of national origin, but they can't be citizens of any of the three regions because they aren't countries or other political entities which confer citizenship. Same-same with Palestine and Palestinians. Before 1988- go back as far in time as you want - people who were born and lived in the area today regarded as historical Palestine weren't subjects or citizens of any kingdom or country called Palestine. But you knew that already. In the later half of the 19th century and first two decades of the 20th century, they would have been subjects of the Ottoman Empire, which didn't have a nationality law until 1869. During the years of Mandatory Palestine (1920-1948), they would have been British Protected Persons but not British subjects. After the British withdrew and the Mandate for Palestine ceased to exist, the citizenship of Palestinian Arabs became complicated. Most became citizens of Jordan, some became citizens of Israel and others remained stateless. The Palestinian Authority has issued "passports" since 1995. While they are accepted by numerous countries as valid travel documents, they aren't generally regarded as proof of citizenship.

Jack off or jerk of* the beaten track?

@Centigrade32 I was responding to the use of "Palestine" in a post that has since been deleted. I wanted to emphasize Palestine had never been anyone's homeland until 1988 when the PLO declared the state of Palestine, It could have been their home region, but not their home country. To discuss the entire background of the formation of the state of Israel- who owned what land when- is clearly off topic and I won't go there. But it does give me an idea to start a thread about who owned land and lived in Palestine before 1948.

Even more idiocy from Ye- Fox TV Condemns 'Appalling' Kanye West Super Bowl Ad for Swastika Tees: 'We Regret These Commercials Aired' https://www.thewrap.com/fox-ceo-condemns-kanye-west-super-bowl-antisemitic-ad/ He could be facing criminal charges as it's illegal in the U.S. to use deceptive means to get ads on TV.

And now they are stuck with him unless public outrage is strrong enough to cause the government to rescind his Australian citizenship.

You are confusing the concept of Palestine as a geographical region with a nation state. The source you give states (I bolded the text): "Although the Arabs of Palestine had been creating and developing a Palestinian identity for about 200 years, the idea that Palestinians form a distinct people is relatively recent. The Arabs living in Palestine had never had a separate state. Until the establishment of Israel, the term Palestinian was used by Jews and foreigners to describe the inhabitants of Palestine and had only begun to be used by the Arabs themselves at the turn of the 20th century."