Israel approves new West Bank settlements after attack

[News_Editor]

Israel approves new West Bank settlements after attack

2011-03-13 21:49:57 GMT+7 (ICT)

JERUSALEM (BNO NEWS) -- Israel approved late Saturday the construction of hundreds of new apartments in the West Bank after a family of five were stabbed to death in their settlement home, the Jerusalem Post reported.

The ministerial team for settlements approved new apartments in the settlements of Ma'ale Adumim, Ariel, Kirya Sefer and in Gush Etzion. Sources in the Prime Minister's Office told Israel Radio that the plan deals with measured building inside existing settlement blocs.

Isareli Interior Minister Eli Yishai on Sunday responded to the government's decision saying that the number should have been at least 1,000 new housing units for each person murdered.

"After this terrible and shocking murder, nothing will comfort the families," Yishai said. "The [Palestinian] Authority is raising a generation of murderers."

The Palestinian Authority called the approval "wrong and unacceptable." Nabil Abu Rudaineh, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas' spokesman, said that the atmosphere in which such a decision is made does not help, but only creates problems.

Chairman of the Council of Jewish Communities in Judea and Samaria Danny Dayan criticized the government's decision to approve the building permits, saying that it shouldn't have happened only after the attack.

"This unfortunately is only the first time since the formation of the second Netanyahu government that new housing has been approved and it's a pity that parents and their children needed to be murdered for it to do so," he said, as cited by the Jerusalem Post.

"The government should approve additional construction and of course, should finally approve the master plan for Itamar and the building of a new neighborhood in the name of those murdered," Dayan added.

Five Israeli settlers were stabbed to death in the Itamar settlement near the West Bank city of Nablus after midnight on Saturday. The victims included a 3-year-old and a one-month-old baby. The al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, the armed wing of the Palestinian Fatah movement, claimed responsibility for the attack. It said "this heroic operation" is part of the "natural response to the massacres of the fascist occupation against our people in the West Bank and Gaza Strip."

According to Palestine News Network, around 300 armed Israeli settlers backed by Israeli soldiers attacked on Saturday night the village of Beit Omer following the incident. Two civilians were injured.

Many international observers object to the expansion of Israeli settlements in the West Bank. On February 18, the UN Security Council held a vote on a resolution to condemn Israeli settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem area. Fourteen Security Council members voted in favor of the resolution but the U.S. voted against it and thus vetoed the resolution due to being one of the five permanent council members.

Palestine demanded a stop to settlement construction in the disputed East Jerusalem and West Bank area as a key element for continuing peace talks with Israel. The Jewish country, however, continued construction despite the condemnation from the international community.

-- © BNO News All rights reserved 2011-03-13

[bangkokeddy]

Isareli Interior Minister Eli Yishai on Sunday responded to the government's decision saying that the number should have been at least 1,000 new housing units for each person murdered.

Why only 1000?

[EnSvenskTiger]

The timing of this is is suspicious to say the least and might cast a new light on events.

Tiger

[Ulysses G.]

Israel has never needed an excuse to build there, so vote no on the latest Conspiracy Theory.

[Steely Dan]

They were going to build regardless there is no mystery there. I read Israeli government announcements as an attempt to placate their own public oppinion, which makes a refreshing change to whipping up an atmosphere of hatred and organizing lynch mobs, which would have been the result had the boot been on the other foot.

[bangkokeddy]

... despite the condemnation from the international community.

[EnSvenskTiger]

There is no doubt in my mind either that this was planned a long time a ago. The problem was the international condemnation. Now taken care off!

Tiger

[Ulysses G.]

Yeah, sure.

[LaoPo]

It wasn't just me*, concluding in the now closed topic (see below), that it was a very unwise and extremely hasty (within 24 hours) decision by the Israeli government to build 500 more houses on the occupied West Bank in retaliation of the murders....

A responsible government would calm, not escalate

A single cell of murderers has come and changed the trend of Netanyahu and Barak's actions to a toughening of positions and the decision to build 500 new housing units in the settlements.

Haaretz Editorial

The despicable murder of five members of the Fogel family on Saturday is a crime against every human being. But the atrocity in Itamar is not only a criminal act. It was committed in a diplomatic and security context, and we have to examine its background and consequences. Not, heaven forbid, to justify what cannot be justified or grant absolution. Instead, we have to study the complex situation that makes Israel responsible for preventing an escalation that could result in many new victims.

A diplomatic stagnation marks relations between Israel and the Palestinian Authority. Both sides have contributed to this, as has the ineffectiveness of the U.S. administration under President Barack Obama. Two years after his administration and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government took over, there has been no progress on the formula that ostensibly everyone agrees on: the establishment of a Palestinian state alongside Israel.

From: http://www.haaretz.c...calate-1.349046

* http://www.thaivisa....ost__p__4279117

LaoPo

Edited March 14, 2011 by webfact
reduced to "fair use" //Admin

[LaoPo]

from the Haaretz link* in the last post:

"The diplomatic vacuum is enabling extremist elements on both sides - terror organizations (and individuals acting alone ) on the one side and settlers ravenous for more territory and a price tag on the other - to take the initiative and dictate events instead of the leaders.

In recent weeks, under pressure from visitors from Washington, Berlin and other foreign capitals, Netanyahu seems to be signaling he intends to unveil a more moderate policy in about two months. Moreover, he and his partner, Defense Minister Ehud Barak, have explained that the moderation will not be a favor to the Palestinians, but rather what Israel needs. They have also promised to evacuate settlements built on privately owned land stolen from Palestinians. For a moment it appeared that the government, to develop a moderate image, was heading for a clash with the settlers."

It is all so bizarre that it almost looks like the Israeli Government was waiting for an excuse - the gruesome murders- to increase the construction and building of more houses, instead following the promised and expected more moderate policy, so needed to install an opening for the Peace process.

But no, and like the Haaretz correctly wrote:

"A responsible government would act now to calm and not to escalate, to pursue a diplomatic solution and not a belligerent confrontation.

But in Jerusalem we don't have a government like that"......

* http://www.haaretz.c...calate-1.349046

LaoPo

[bangkokeddy]

US 'deeply concerned' by new settlement construction

By JPOST.COM STAFF

03/14/2011 09:48

Embassy in Tel Aviv issues statement that expresses settlements as "illegitimate and running counter to efforts to resume direct negotiations."

Talkbacks (19)

The US expressed that it was "deeply concerned" by the government's plans to build hundreds of new housing units in the West Bank settlements of Ma'ale Adumim, Ariel, Kiryat Sefer, and Gush Ezion, the Associated Press reported Monday.

The US embassy in Tel Aviv issued a statement saying: "We're deeply concerned by continuing Israeli actions on settlements in the West Bank."

...

http://www.jpost.com/DiplomacyAndPolitics/Article.aspx?id=212046

[Steely Dan]

I would actually agree with the editorial that to be seen to escalate matters is not wise though I also think it worth pointing out that the building sanctioned is within the boundaries of existing settlements and not any newly claimed land. I also think it worth noting that this week is annual Israel apparteid week in which all Israel's enemies will do their level best to create as bigger shit storm as possible.

Finally and most tellingly Israel has thus far managed to keep a low profile with respect to the ongoing unrest within the Arab world and it's Irans hope and the internet jihadist's wet dream to get Israel to be a focal point for Arab hostility in the hope of starting a war. Israel should be careful not to take the bait.

[bangkokeddy]

Breaking News: Sources: Thai workers rounded up in Itamar for questioning

http://www.maannews.net/eng/Default.aspx

Don't shoot at the messenger

ATM is on the website just a the red header line with no further infos behind (no link) to see.

That Thai workers are hold up for questioning doesn't mean that a new culprit is found now, but it indicates that some kind of investigations are hold and these not only in one direction.

[bangkokeddy]

Sources: Thai workers rounded up in Itamar

Published today (updated) 14/03/2011 16:34

NABLUS (Ma’an) -- Israeli forces on Monday afternoon rounded up all Thai workers employed in the Itamar settlement, site of the murder of five members of the Fogel family, and held them for questioning, informed sources told Ma'an.

Though Palestinians have been forbidden from working in the settlements of the northern West Bank, foreign workers, mostly from Thailand and the Philippines, have been contracted for labor in the area.

Sources close to some of the Thai laborers said that all of the workers had been gathered and taken for questioning in relation to the stabbing deaths of a settler family on Friday night.

...

http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=368554

...

[LaoPo]

Israel Complains Over CNN Coverage of Itamar Murders

Published: 03/14/11, 4:39 AM / Last Update: 03/14/11, 8:42 AM

by Elad Benari

Israel's Government Press Office Director, Oren Helman, sent a letter of complaint on Sunday to the management of the CNN television network and asked them to issue an apology and clarify claims the network made in a report about Friday's brutal murder of the Fogel family in Itamar.

Earlier, Israel National News reporters had reported the lack of coverage and minimalization of the barbaric slaughter on CNN, BBC and even the usually objective FoxNews in an article entitled "Dead Jews, Not News".

The report by Kevin Flower, which appeared on CNN's website, was titled 'Israeli family of 5 killed in 'terror attack', military says'. The quotes around the words "terror attack" suggested that there is a doubt that the massacre in Itamar was indeed an act of terrorism.

Continues here:

http://www.israelnat...ews.aspx/142874

LaoPo

[bangkokeddy]

Reuters denies using anti-Israel rhetoric

By JONNY PAUL JERUSALEM POST CORRESPONDENT

03/14/2011 02:42

Global news agency called IDF "the Israeli occupation forces"; Honest Reporting accuses BBC of burying story of Itamar massacre.

LONDON – The global news agency Reuters has denied it used terminology associated with anti-Israel activists after it referred to the Israeli army as “the Israeli occupation forces” in a report on Saturday.

Reporting on the terrorist attack in Itamar on Friday night, in which a couple and their three children were killed by a lone terrorist, Reuters stated: “Troops from the Israeli occupation forces set up roadblocks and were searching the area around the settlement of Itamar, near the Palestinian city of Nablus, for the suspect.”

http://www.jpost.com/International/Article.aspx?id=212032

[Ulysses G.]

It is all so bizarre that it almost looks like the Israeli Government was waiting for an excuse

If so. it is too bad that they could be so certain that they would get an excellent excuse without waiting long .

[midas]

Screening of 'Miral' at the United Nations draws protests from Jewish groups

Maerz reporting from the United Nations, Sperling

" Israeli-Palestinian politics often prove polarizing at the United Nations, but rarely does the furor involve Hollywood celebrities and power brokers, a red carpet and a film screening at the world body's own headquarters in New York.

Such was the case Monday night when the U.N. played host to the U.S. premiere of director Julian Schnabel's new film "Miral," which follows a Palestinian girl's relationship with terrorism and Israel after the 1948 war for Israeli independence

After Monday's screening, broadcast journalist Dan Rather moderated a panel discussion featuring Schnabel, Jebreal, journalist Mona Eltahawy and Yonatan Shapira, co-founder of Combatants for Peace and a former captain in the Israeli Air Force Reserves, who in 2003 organized a group of pilots who refused to fly attack missions on Palestinian territories. Rabbi Irwin Kula, president of Clal, the National Jewish Center for Learning and Leadership, was also part of the conversation.

Rather flew in to New York for the event. "I thought the film was really powerful," he said. "As I understand it, the goal of the filmmakers was to create understanding, education, love and peace and this film is trying to move that conversation forward."

http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/news/tv/la-et-miral-20110315,0,7988576.story

[Jingthing]

Jewish groups, Schmewish groups. For every Jewish group protesting a controversial film about Palestinians, you'll find another Jewish group waiting on line for tickets to it. Jews are not a homogeneous entity. I look forward to seeing the film. I don't like to see any Jews fall on the side of censorship of any art, that's a bad road.

That doesn't mean there aren't mainstream media products that aren't anti-Israel or even antisemitic. A great example in my view is the recent very entertaining British Channel 4 tv historical fiction series, The Promise. The premise of The Promise is that they were bending over backwards to provide full balance, but by the end of it, and you notice all the Jews turned out to be creepy villains and the Palestinians even the suicide bombers angelic heroic victims, you feel like you've been manipulated by very sophisticated propaganda. But you should watch it anyway, but pay attention to what they are doing. But censorship, please no.

http://richardmillett.wordpress.com/2011/02/28/channel-4-is-not-promising-for-british-jews/

Edited March 15, 2011 by Jingthing

[Steely Dan]

I prefer Niall Ferguson's book 'Is the West History?' If you want a more balanced view of the only democracy in a sea of medieval barbarism.

http://www.channel4.com/programmes/civilization-is-the-west-history/4od

[bangkokeddy]

Jewish groups, Schmewish groups. For every Jewish group protesting a controversial film about Palestinians, you'll find another Jewish group waiting on line for tickets to it. Jews are not a homogeneous entity. I look forward to seeing the film. I don't like to see any Jews fall on the side of censorship of any art, that's a bad road.

...

You are right, Jews are not a homogeneous entity and so are the Arabs (and they love children as you can see in the movie).

But that aren't some random Jewish groups but big names, AJC and ADL, with influence and those who do hard PR work to frame any criticism of Israel as the new antisemitism.

Furthermore it was also Israel itself that demanded to cancel the screening of the movie. Israel’s Representative to the UN complained also the General Assembly is already excessively and obsessively preoccupied with the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4041776,00.html

[Ulysses G.]

and those who do hard PR work to frame any criticism of Israel as the new antisemitism.

As we have seen repeatedly on this very forum, that is exactly what is motivating many Israel-bashers and can not be discounted even though it does not include every critic of Israel.

[Jingthing]

Furthermore it was also Israel itself that demanded to cancel the screening of the movie. Israel’s Representative to the UN complained also the General Assembly is already excessively and obsessively preoccupied with the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Careful there. The Israeli government does not represent global Jewry. They are not the same thing. I still think you are trying to generalize way too much about how all Jews think. That isn't possible except for one thing. That one thing that it is demonstrable is that the vast majority of global Jews support the right of Israel to exist as a Jewish state with some borders. Not the same thing as being represented by the current Israeli government. Non Israeli Jews aren't Israelis.

I also found your comments about AJC and ADL very distorted. Find me one time where they say ANY criticism of Israel always equals antisemitism?

This is relevant to your point of view --

Europe

The European Monitoring Centre on Racism and Xenophobia (EUMC) (superseded in 2007 by the Fundamental Rights Agency) noted an upswing in antisemitic incidents in France, Germany, the United Kingdom, Belgium, and The Netherlands between July 2003 and December 2004.[38] In September 2004, the European Commission against Racism and Intolerance, a part of the Council of Europe, called on its member nations to ensure that anti-racist criminal law covers antisemitism, and in 2005, the EUMC offered a definition of antisemitism to enable a standard definition to be used for data collection:[39] "Antisemitism is a certain perception of Jews, which may be expressed as hatred towards Jews. Rhetorical and physical manifestations of antisemitism are directed towards Jews and non-Jewish individuals and/or their property, towards Jewish community institutions and religious facilities." The paper included some examples:

* Denying the Jewish people the right to self-determination, e.g. by claiming that the existence of a state of Israel is a racist endeavor;

* Applying double standards by requiring of Israel a behavior not expected or demanded of any other democratic nation;

* Using the symbols and images associated with classic anti-Semitism (e.g. claims of Jews killing Jesus or blood libel) to characterize Israel or Israelis;

* Drawing comparisons of contemporary Israeli policy to that of the Nazis;

* Holding Jews collectively responsible for actions of the State of Israel.[40][41]

The EUMC added that criticism of Israel cannot be regarded as antisemitism so long as it is "similar to that leveled against any other country.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_antisemitism

Edited March 15, 2011 by Jingthing

[bangkokeddy]

I prefer Niall Ferguson's book 'Is the West History?' If you want a more balanced view of the only democracy in a sea of medieval barbarism.

http://www.channel4.com/programmes/civilization-is-the-west-history/4od

I could not watch the 'book'. channel 4 doesn't start to play in my area

A book about a master race and all others are barbarians and subhumans? Sounds very balanced.

[Jingthing]

I prefer Niall Ferguson's book 'Is the West History?' If you want a more balanced view of the only democracy in a sea of medieval barbarism.

http://www.channel4.com/programmes/civilization-is-the-west-history/4od

I could not watch the 'book'. channel 4 doesn't start to play in my area

A book about a master race and all others are barbarians and subhumans? Sounds very balanced.

There you go again. Master race, huh? I am sorry, but I think you are revealing yourself.

Back to the film issue, I think any film deserves to be seen by its audience. I don't have an opinion about UN showing partly because I don't know what the UN policy is on showing films. I usually don't think of them as a film festival venue. But in any case, even if the film is biased, it's out there, people can see it, and if there is stuff in the content that is unfairly biased, people can and will broadcast that. Like the series The Promise.

Edited March 15, 2011 by Jingthing

[bangkokeddy]

Furthermore it was also Israel itself that demanded to cancel the screening of the movie. Israel’s Representative to the UN complained also the General Assembly is already excessively and obsessively preoccupied with the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Careful there. The Israeli government does not represent global Jewry. They are not the same thing. I still think you are trying to generalize way too much about how all Jews think. That isn't possible except for one thing. That one thing is that it is demonstrable is that the vast majority of global Jews support the right of Israel to exist as a Jewish state with some borders. Not the same thing as being represented by the current Israeli government. Non Israeli Jews aren't Israelis.

I also found your comments about AJC and ADL very distorted. Find me one time where they say ANY criticism of Israel always equals antisemitism?

...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_antisemitism

1.

Don't forget that there are also a couple of Jews involved in the production of the movie, but what all the the complains about is that the film is 'pro-Palestinian' as admitted by the Jewish American distributor, Harvey Weinstein and alleged "anti-israel' according those who protest.

The issue here is not about irrational sentiments and hatred against Jews, antisemitism, but about criticism of Israel.

"Screening of 'Miral' at the United Nations draws protests from pro-Israel groups" would have been a better title for that article.

2.

The question about what is 'new antisemitism' don't comes without controversy and a scholarly debate. Its good documented at the wikipedia link you provided.

AJC and ADL and how they see criticism of Israel and relate their definition of new anti-semitism to it.

AJC

All critics of Israel aren't anti-Semites

By Stanley I. Kutler | February 7, 2007

THE AMERICAN Jewish Committee has endorsed an article by Indiana University professor Alvin Rosenfeld linking "progressive" Jewish thought to a rise in anti-Semitism. The article pointedly castigates Jewish critics of Israel 's policies, and argues that such criticism questions the very right of Israel statehood. All this, Rosenfeld -- and the AJC -- insist, fuels anti-Semitism. It is a false proposition.

Abraham Joshua Heschel wrote that to be or not to be is not the question, but how to be and how not to be is the essential one. The AJC's view is that criticism of Israel is tantamount to denying Israel's right to exist, and that makes you an anti-Semite.

Anti-Semitism has many sources, but the spring of critical "progressive Jewish thought" is a mere trickle. Indeed, there are lonely voices on the left and right who question Israel's existence -- and yes, some are Jewish. A voice here, an article there, by an American Jew criticizing Israel, and the AJC trembles.

The AJC's real targets are "progressives" -- which is their shorthand for Democrats and opponents of George W. Bush's dubious adventure into Iraq. Along with its favorite stable of commentary writers, the AJC has been an ardent advocate for the Iraq war, fixed with a vision that it would bring forth a new Middle Eastern order. But the war and the vision have failed, and, ironically, at some cost to Israel's interests.

Israel's right to exist is not a serious question dividing Jews. But if Jewish criticism of the Jewish state made such Jews anti-Semites, then the world of anti-Semitism would be significantly enlarged. Criticism of the Israeli occupation puts you in the company of a significant portion of the Israel population. Those folks -- many of whom are descendants of Israel's "pioneers" -- at best are amused by such an equation. American newspapers have been critical of the occupation, with some significant ones being Jewish-owned. And this has stoked the fires of anti-Semitism?

...

http://www.boston.com/news/world/middleeast/articles/2007/02/07/all_critics_of_israel_arent_anti_semites/

Essay Linking Liberal Jews and Anti-Semitism Sparks a Furor

By PATRICIA COHEN, The New York Times

Published: January 31, 2007

The American Jewish Committee, an ardent defender of Israel, is known for speaking out against anti-Semitism, but this advocacy group has recently stirred up a bitter and emotional debate with a new target: liberal Jews.

An essay the committee features on its Web site, ajc.org, titled “ ‘Progressive’ Jewish Thought and the New Anti-Semitism,” says a number of Jews, through their speaking and writing, are feeding a rise in virulent anti-Semitism by questioning whether Israel should even exist.

...

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/31/arts/31jews.html

Edward Cohen in the Washington Post "Cheapening a Fight Against Hatred"

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/02/05/AR2007020501249.html

Independent Jewish Voices in The Guardian:

Are we all anti-semites now?

The 'new' anti-semitism doesn't necessarily involve a bigoted view of Jewish religion, Jewish people, or Jewish anything else.

...

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2007/feb/08/matthewyglesias

ADL

AMY GOODMAN: I wanted to go to this issue of criticizing organizations or people who criticize Israeli military policy, calling them "anti-Israel," and then there’s always the step beyond, "anti-Semitic." Your comment.

NORMAN FINKELSTEIN: Well, first of all, it has a long history. Every time Israel comes under international pressure, as it did recently because of the war crimes committed in Lebanon, it steps up the claim of anti-Semitism, and all of Israel’s critics are anti-Semitic. 1974, the ADL, the Anti-Defamation League, puts out a book called The New Anti-Semitism. 1981, the Anti-Defamation League puts out a book, The New Anti-Semitism. And then, again in 2000, Abraham Foxman and people like Phyllis Chesler, they put out these books called The New Anti-Semitism. So the use of the charge "anti-Semitism" is pretty conventional whenever Israel comes under attack, and frankly it has no content whatsoever nowadays.

If you open up, like, Phyllis Chesler’s book, The New Anti-Semitism, she says Jewish feminists are anti-Semites, NPR is anti-Semitic, BBC is anti-Semitic, Los Angeles Times is anti-Semitic, New York Times is anti-Semitic, Washington Post is anti-Semitic. Everybody is anti-Semitic. The term is devoid of any content. Anyone who ever criticizes Israel is anti-Semitic.

...

http://www.democracynow.org/2006/8/30/congressmember_weiner_gets_it_wrong_on

[Ulysses G.]

There are plenty of Jewish loons that are virulent anti-Semites. Just Google up some hate-sites and quotes from them are featured prominently.

All of this comes with free speech which is something that very few Islamic countries allow, so they all seem to agree on pretty much everything.

Irwin Cotler: The new anti-Semitism Posted: February 17, 2009, 9:00 AM by Kelly McParland Reflecting on the contemporary surge in anti-Semitism, Holocaust survivor Elie Wiesel has stated, "I have not felt the way I feel now since 1945. I feel there are reasons for us to be concerned, even afraid ... Now is the time to mobilize the efforts of all of humanity." This sentiment is what brings together parliamentarians from around the world, for the first conference of the International Parliamentary Coalition to Combat Anti-Semitism.

What we are witnessing today is a new sophisticated, virulent and even lethal anti-Semitism, reminiscent of the atmospherics of the 1930s, and without parallel since the end of the Second World War. This new anti-Jewishness found early juridical expression in the United Nations' "Zionism is Racism" resolution, but has gone beyond that. Traditional anti-Semitism is the discrimination against, denial of or assault upon the rights of Jews to live as equal members of whatever host society they inhabit. The new anti-Semitism involves discrimination against the right of the Jewish people to live as an equal member of the family of nations -- the denial of, and assault upon, the Jewish people's right even to live -- with Israel as the "collective Jew among the nations."

Read more: http://network.natio...x#ixzz1Gih3RUeh

The New Anti-Semitism

By Denis MacShane

Tuesday, September 4, 2007

Hatred of Jews has reached new heights in Europe and many points south and east of the old continent. Last year I chaired a blue-ribbon committee of British parliamentarians, including former ministers and a party leader, that examined the problem of anti-Semitism in Britain. None of us are Jewish or active in the unending debates on the Israeli-Palestinian question.

Our report showed a pattern of fear among a small number of British citizens -- there are around 300,000 Jews in Britain, of whom about a third are observant -- that is not acceptable in a modern democracy. Synagogues attacked. Jewish schoolboys jostled on public transportation. Rabbis punched and knifed. British Jews feeling compelled to raise millions to provide private security for their weddings and community events. On campuses, militant anti-Jewish students fueled by Islamist or far-left hate seeking to prevent Jewish students from expressing their opinions.

More worrisome was what we described as anti-Jewish discourse, a mood and tone whenever Jews are discussed, whether in the media, at universities, among the liberal media elite or at dinner parties of modish London. To express any support for Israel or any feeling for the right of a Jewish state to exist produces denunciation, even contempt.

http://www.washingto...0300719_pf.html

Edited March 16, 2011 by Ulysses G.

[Pakboong]

A suspect is under investigation in the murders and he is not Palestinian. He is Asian and is alleged by a neighbor of the slain family to have threatened the family after he was not paid 10,000 shekels in wages owed him for work performed.

Naturally, the only source available at this point is Palestinian and I have no interest in arguing its validity, only that the investigation is in the early stages and all handling of the matter be done in consideration of the early stages and not jump to silly conclusions that could lead to irreparable damage.

Motive, opportunity and cui bono fit the new suspect more so than an unknown Palestinian terrorist, I doubt that Palestine, at least the leadership, be they Hamas or whomever would think this is a great time for a major terrorist attack. Palestine has recently gotten sympathy from the international community and doing anything to conflict with that recognition would just be plain stupid. I am not saying however, that they are not capable of doing something completely stupid.

http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2bcOd87MDI46m9rUxJEpMO%2bi1s7PZME4Swq63ae3%2bFqNLQ1mYzHdix%2fLLbtr47kQXfYikZKqv4KRlRlSteS3V59uFMWf7mKk6zwjq17DqsuqHkQN44oOT39XW5RK8L6WpZqG58%3d

[Ulysses G.]

Naturally, the only source available at this point is Palestinian..

Here is one of the very similar comments on this website. I think that I will wait for a legitimate source to verify this "news".

Will the filthy zionist Abbas with the ugly mustache and ugly haircut who cant even speak correctly also be invited by the US and the zionist entity to approve their school books? Mahmoud Abbas and the PA have no shame in them, just like the arab regimes who allow "the zionist white man" to tell them they are less worthy and as such they must obey. Is it not a disgrace that an Arab who wants to visit her son in europe has to go to a million interviews and wait to be approved before she can come (if they let her) while the white european can visit the arab world by just booking a ticket! The arab world is filled with foreign spy cells especially from europe, the zionist entity and the US. Where is the arab dignity? How could we allow this? As for the killing of this settler family, what were they doing in stolen land in the first place? Secondly, this crime was clearly an internal zionist issue, and not an attack by a Palestinian.

Edited March 16, 2011 by Ulysses G.

[bangkokeddy]

I prefer Niall Ferguson's book 'Is the West History?' If you want a more balanced view of the only democracy in a sea of medieval barbarism.

http://www.channel4.com/programmes/civilization-is-the-west-history/4od

I could not watch the 'book'. channel 4 doesn't start to play in my area

A book about a master race and all others are barbarians and subhumans? Sounds very balanced.

There you go again. Master race, huh? I am sorry, but I think you are revealing yourself.

Back to the film issue, I think any film deserves to be seen by its audience. I don't have an opinion about UN showing partly because I don't know what the UN policy is on showing films. I usually don't think of them as a film festival venue. But in any case, even if the film is biased, it's out there, people can see it, and if there is stuff in the content that is unfairly biased, people can and will broadcast that. Like the series The Promise.

As i said i couldn't watch the 'book' so i don't know what it is about.

I have no clue who he means with "the only democracy " and additional i have no clue what the "sea of medieval barbarism." could be.

The medieval times weren't so barbarian at all and Claude Lévi-Strauss says: "The barbarian is the one who believes in barbary"

But to describe here some as the ONLY ONES who are the founders or bearers of culture and civilization, who are standing like a rock in the storm, are surrounded a dark sea, threatened by a flood of barbarism.

Thats is the picture, right?

It sounds like bullshit to me, outdated master race crap. Or how you would call it? The claim that it is balanced makes it even more disgusting.

For the film, for sure it will have a tendency to one side, most films are like that. What did the Palestinians said about the movie, i am sure they would also find some inaccuracy in a film directed by a Jewish kid from Brooklyn, starring an Indian actress and Dr. Julian Bashir from Star Trek:DS9.

a story about a girl who grows up in an East Jerusalem orphanage could probably challenge the famous words "when the Arabs love their children ...".

There was a panel discussion afterwards "featuring Schnabel, Jebreal, journalist Mona Eltahawy and Yonatan Shapira, co-founder of Combatants for Peace and a former captain in the Israeli Air Force Reserves, who in 2003 organized a group of pilots who refused to fly attack missions on Palestinian territories. Rabbi Irwin Kula, president of Clal, the National Jewish Center for Learning and Leadership". Looks that like an anti-semitic panel?

AJC was invited to a screening and a talk but had no interest in dialogue.

I too don't know what the UN policy is on showing films. Maybe it was a unique event, maybe just the first one of many more to come. A Catalan filmmaker shows a movie about Peruvian pan-pipe player coming of age. A Bulgarian Auteur invites Ethiopian kids to a workshop, filming a documentary about obese white kids of divorced parents living in East L.A. perfect stuff for dialogues, culture buffs and activists at a screening in the GA hall.

Maybe a Hongkong production company plans already a bio pic about Golda, the Heroine. With the Israeli over reaction they have spoiled their chance to promote such a piece of art including a panel discussion with AJC comrades.