Opuscula Media giants invited To assign reporters To Hamas target areas

THIS IS A SPECIAL INVITATION to reporters and photographers employed by The Major Media Outlets, e.g.,

ABC

BBC

CBS

CNN

LA Times

MSNBC

NY Times

The Guardian

Washington Post

to name but a few of the purveyors of half truths and outright lies to come to Israel and set up shop close to the Gaza border.

 

If that is too close for comfort, let them rent quarters in Ashkelon, Ashdod, Holon, even Tel Aviv.

I might even be willing to let a reporter stay in our guest room in Yavne, but he — or she — will not have safe room privileges.

The reporter then can get a feel for what Israelis already know.

The sirens.

The booms.

The falling debris if the Iron Dome takes out a missile, or the explosion as a missile hits if the Iron Dome somehow misses its target.

The terrified children and pets.

The traumatized adults.

The reporter can sit on the balcony and watch for unguided missiles from Gaza.

Perhaps the reporter’s credentials and PRESS vest will offer all needed protection.

An aside.

When I was in elementary school, we had bomb drills because “The Russians are coming” with atomic weapons.

In Indiana, we raced — I tumbled — down flights of stairs to the basement.

In Florida, we hid under our desks, as if THAT would do any good.

We built and stocked bomb shelters where we could.

Later, in Israel I learned that my new pals from the Ukraine were doing basically the same thing because “The Americans are coming.”

In America I was a reporter and editor. When something happened, good or bad, I had to be in the thick of things. Foolish? Perhaps.

But I reported from “Ground Zero.”

That’s all I am asking of the reporters and photographers covering Gaza’s terror attacks.

Censorship

It is my understanding that reporters and photographers in Gaza have their work heavily censored. If they displease the powers that be, they will be prevented from transmitting their copy to “the world.”

I have no doubt that Israeli censors can be as severe, but Israel is not known for abusing media people, even those biased against Israel.

Moreover, a reporter or photographer can trot his or her stuff to an embassy or consulate representing the employer’s country and file from there.

Few countries have a diplomatic presence in Gaza.

Hamas and “friends” have reporters who see Hamas (and Islamic Jihad and …) in action.

They might even see missiles being removed from UN schools and hospitals and fired from heavily populated civilian areas.

They might even report on these things assuming they get out of Gaza with their stories and photos and assuming they won’t have to go back into Gaza.

It is bad enough when people who never have BEEN to Israel repeat lies about the country, but when reporters and photographers fail to report accurately what is transpiring — they may as well be on Hamas’ payroll.

Some reporters and photographers try to be fair, but editorial boards often demand that material be slanted to suit management’s political point of view.

Hitler (left) and Goebbels (right): infamous liars

 

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PLAGIARISM is the act of appropriating the literary composition of another, or parts or passages of his writings, or the ideas or language of the same, and passing them off as the product of one’s own mind.

Truth is an absolute defense to defamation. Defamation is a false statement of fact. If the statement was accurate, then by definition it wasn’t defamatory.

Web sites (URLs) beginning https://tinyurl.com/ are generated by the free Tiny URL utility and reduce lengthy URLs to manageable size.

 

 

 

 

Comment on Media invitation

Opuscula Not anti-Semite’s Public posts belie Truth she would hide

‘I’m a victim of online hate, I’m not anti-Semitic’ complains Anuradha Mittal, the chair of Ben & Jerry’s board of directors.

Apparently her desire to have Ben & Jerry’s boycott Israel — watered down by Ben & Jerry’s corporate owner, England’s Unilever to “just” the Jewish settlements across the so-called “green line” has brought a plethora of uncomplimentary comments, ergo the whine: “‘I’m a victim of online hate.”

 

THE PROBLEM MS. MITTAL FACES is that there is an abundance of evidence that she is, indeed, either anti-Semitic or anti-Israel, if one is to split hairs. Or, to take a positive spin on her position, she is an ignorant booster of the PLO/PFLP and Hamas.

According to an article in Israel National News (https://tinyurl.com/7n9se3kp) — obviously a biased, untrustworthy source — citing Stop Anti-Semitism, Mittal has racked up no less than 100 tweets in recent years specifically criticizing Israel, including one which referred to the birth of the country as a “catastrophe.”

The Israeli source notes that During May 2021’s Operation Guardian of the Walls, Mittal responded to a statement by President Joe Biden which said Israel had the right to defend itself.

“Defend itself against what? Stop condoning war crimes and apartheid,” she wrote.

It is blatantly obvious that Ms. Mittal knows nothing about war crimes or apartheid.

Never mind that the war crimes were committed by Hamas firing missiles at Israeli civilians — and managing to indiscriminately kill both non-combatant Arabs and Jews without declaring war on Israel — both prohibited by international conventions. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_crime)

As far apartheid, it does not exist in Israel. There is zero government support or approval of discrimination due to religion, race, or sex, a requirement for apartheid by any definition. There is personal prejudice against this group or that group, but it is just that, “personal.” It is neither sanctioned nor condoned by the government.

There are jobs that Muslims (vs. Arabs in general) have limited opportunities. Such jobs typically involve national security. On the other hand, non-Muslim Arabs have found work everywhere in Israel since its founding.

Last week, Mittal told NBC News that Ben & Jerry’s had planned a full-blown boycott of Israel, but their parent company, Unilever, intervened and changed the statement at the last minute to read that their products would still be available in Israel “proper.”

She insinuated that Unilever’s business decision to continue operating in Israel, despite Ben & Jerry’s objections, was inherently racist and sexist.

“I can’t stop thinking that this is what happens when you have a board with all women and people of color who have been pushing to do the right thing,” she said.

DOES NOT COMPUTE

Ben & Jerry’s board is “all women and people of color.” The way she phrased her words, it appears that “this is what happens when you have a board with all women and people of color who have been pushing to do the right thing,” that the “right thing” to do is NOT boycott Israel.

I understand she is pillorying the English company’s management for preventing her from a total boycott of the Israeli Ben & Jerry’s franchise with her convoluted sentence.

Unilever might have been spared conflict with the governments of several U.S. states as well as the federal government; it could have had all Unilever products banned in certain states had Ms. Mittal succeeded in her ignorance.

AS IT HAPPENS, The Israeli Ben & Jerry’s franchise promises to continue selling to all markets (her action may have voided the franchise contract in any case), and Israel has an abundance of local ice cream manufacturers and also imports ice creams — there is no shortage of ice cream in Israel. (There are some Israelis who prefer another local brand, claiming it is better than Ben & Jerry’s.)

I understand the “democratic” PLO/PFLP — which has not had an election for the top job in 15 years! — and its leftist sycophants appealed to Ms. Mittal to initiate the boycott.

Question for Ms. Mittal

When was the last time you were in Israel? Were you ever in a PLO/PFLP or Hamas-controlled community?

Is there any reason Ben & Jerry’s, with help from its owner-du-jour, cannot help the “Palestinians” set up their own Ben & Jerry’s franchise.

The Israeli franchise employs about 160 people — how many are Arabs, how many are Jews — and it buys raw materials from local farmers.

Rather than illegally boycott a franchise that turns a profit for Unilever, set up a “Palestinian”-owned franchise in territory-controlled by the PLO/PFLP or Hamas; put “Palestinians” to work; support “Palestinian” dairy farmers.

But understand, that in the PLO/PFLP or Hamas territories, there IS apartheid. A Jew enters these area at the risk of his or her life. A Jew cannot buy land in either territory. A Jew cannot work at any job in the territory and most assuredly cannot hold a government or elected position.

NOW THAT’S APARTHEID

How do I know this.

I have eyes to see and ears to hear.

I am an U.S. citizen by birth. I also am an Israeli who returned after a 42-year stint in the States.

I live in Israel.

I have been hospitalized in Israel where I was attended by Jewish and Muslim doctors, nurses, technicians, and aides.

I shop at markets that employ Jews and Muslims — at equal pay for equal work.

In other words, unlike Ms. Mittal, I have first hand knowledge of life in Israel.

It is NOT the canard Ms. Mittal would have other ignorant people believe.

Who she is parroting is known only to her and her like-minded ignoramuses.

Three parrots – do they “parrot” each other?

 

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PLAGIARISM is the act of appropriating the literary composition of another, or parts or passages of his writings, or the ideas or language of the same, and passing them off as the product of one’s own mind.

Truth is an absolute defense to defamation. Defamation is a false statement of fact. If the statement was accurate, then by definition it wasn’t defamatory.

Web sites (URLs) beginning https://tinyurl.com/ are generated by the free Tiny URL utility and reduce lengthy URLs to manageable size.

 

 

 

 

Comment on Not anti-Semite

Opuscula Before accusing, Personally check Facts you espouse

IT IS BEYOND MY KEN how people parrot “facts” that are indeed lies.

Israel is an “apartheid state.”

Israel oppresses Arabs.

Israel is racist.

Those canards are, in two words, BOVINE EXCREMENT

Bovine Excrement meter from WWW

QUICK QUESTION

Have any of the people making these claims ever BEEN to Israel. Do any of these people have first hand knowledge of life in Israel?

HONESTY IN BLOGGING: I live in Yavne, Israel, within range of Hamas’ missiles targeting civilian sites.

I am being treated at a Tel Aviv hospital because my family doctor feared to send me to Ashdod, south of Yavne, because of Hamas’ missiles.

I have been confined to a roughly 10*12 “safe room” with three other adults, three children, and a large dog because of Hamas’ rockets.

Apartheid

First, define “apartheid.”

Wikipedia does this at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apartheid

Britannica defines it at https://www.britannica.com/topic/apartheid

Merriam-Webster lists it at https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/apartheid

Collins Dictionary explains it at https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/apartheid

Dictionary.com offers a succinct definition at https://www.dictionary.com/browse/apartheid:

(in the Republic of South Africa) a rigid former policy of segregating and economically and politically oppressing the nonwhite population.
any system or practice that separates people according to color, ethnicity, caste, etc.

All definitions basically are the same; some offer more commentary, but the “bottom line” is segregation and economic restrictions.

APARTHEID DOES NOT EXIST IN ISRAEL

True, there are predominately Jewish neighborhoods.

Likewise, there are predominately Muslim neighborhoods.

There also are — fewer now following recent riots — mixed neighborhoods. (https://tinyurl.com/wvvt2kcp)

By law, any Israeli citizen — Arab (Druze, Muslim, etc.), Jew, and “other” — can live any place he or she can afford.

Most people tend to prefer living close to people of similar background; that’s human nature. Call it “natural” social apartheid.

Economic apartheid

There IS economic apartheid in Israel.

Muslims rarely are found in positions where national security is an issue.

Rarely, but not absolutely.

Arabs — whenever “Arab” appears on this blog, the word refers to Arabs regardless of their religion, or lack of it — are everywhere:

Courts


Knesset


Medicine,


Military


Municipal governments


Police


Universities and schools

There are NO Arab-free occupations (except perhaps the rabbinate).

There ARE some “Muslim-free” occupations when national security is concerned.

Communists once were banned from employment by the U.S. government. Communists once also were banned from Congress. Apartheid? Or common sense?

I recently spent far too many days in an Israeli hospital.

I was checked by Jewish and Muslim doctors.

I was “observed” by Jewish and Muslim medical students trailing their professor on rounds.

I had blood drawn (repeatedly) by Jewish and Muslim technicians.

Jewish and Muslim nurses attended to my care.

Jewish and Muslim aides were a constant.

I shared space with an Arab.

What was absent was animosity, at least as far as patient care was concerned.

In other words, no apartheid at the hospital (or the associated university).

 

Occupation

When your country is repeatedly attacked by your neighbors, you try to keep the neighbor at bay.

The so-called West Bank was captured by Jordan in 1948.

1947 Partition and 1948 Arab aggression map(https://tinyurl.com/mfr8umvy)

The so-called West Bank was reclaimed from Jordan after the 1967 (6-Day) war in which Israeli implored Jordan not to enter.

Before and after 1967 (6-Day) War (BBC @ https://tinyurl.com/u7ye8s)

Even after defeating the invading Arab armies (again) and gaining control of Israel’s historic capital (Jerusalem), Israel allowed the Muslim Waqf to maintain jurisdiction over Judaism’s holiest site — only Number 3 to Muslims — making the Temple Mount a place Jews cannot pray.

Talk about apartheid!

Check points

What is the purpose of border check points?

According to Wikipedia (https://tinyurl.com/34vr9m62), A border checkpoint is a place, generally between two countries, where travelers or goods are inspected. Authorization often is required to enter a country through its borders. ... To prevent entrance of goods that are illegal or subject to restriction, or to collect tariffs.

Arabs from the PLO/PFLP and Hamas occupied territories are obliged to go through check points to enter Israel.

(Israelis enter these areas at the risk of their lives. Now THAT’s apartheid.)

Arabs from Hamas-controlled Gaza also must pass through an Egyptian check point — when the border portal is open.

U.S. citizens visiting Canada are required to pass Canadian border security inspection. On their return, U.S. citizens (now) need to provide a U.S. passport and a declaration statement.

Only illegal aliens crossing the U.S. southern border are exempt from these onerous inconveniences.

Residents of both PLO/PFLP and Hamas have been known to sneak weapons into Israel to murder Israelis — Arabs, Jews, and “others.” Most security-conscious people would consider a border check point a wise endeavor.

Despite the fact that too many people from the PLO/PFLP and Hamas-controlled areas have tried, and sometimes succeeded, to murder Israels, their masters complain about the inconvenience.

Racism

Is there racism in Israel?

Yes.

Although they have been in Israel since King David, the swarthy Israeli is looked down on by Euro-Jews, recent arrivals (c 1890).

These is the same culture that brought racism to the U.S.

The U.S. inherited racism from the English who not only are racists but classists (snobs) as well.

It might be considered “fair” since the first Jews in North America were Spanish-Portuguese (Sefardi). The Sefardim were less than welcoming when the German Jews arrived. (The Germans then snubbed Jews who came later.)

Israel is a nation of color.

White as snow to black as night.

There are no restrictions on where any Jew (or Arab citizen, for that matter) may reside, but as noted above, people tend to prefer to live with others of a like mind.

Likewise, there are no restrictions regarding employment.

There is a requirement for a university degree to get any good paying job in Israel; no paper, no prestigious job. It’s not what you know but what piece of paper you have. (Another left over from the English.)

The Ethiopians are the newest immigrants. As the “new kid on the block,” and lacking higher education, they currently are working mostly as unskilled labor.

BUT, they are gaining education and as others before them, they too will move up.

It’s not “racism,” it’s “paper-ism.”

 

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PLAGIARISM is the act of appropriating the literary composition of another, or parts or passages of his writings, or the ideas or language of the same, and passing them off as the product of one’s own mind.

Truth is an absolute defense to defamation. Defamation is a false statement of fact. If the statement was accurate, then by definition it wasn’t defamatory.

Web sites (URLs) beginning https://tinyurl.com/ are generated by the free Tiny URL utility and reduce lengthy URLs to manageable size.

 

 

 

 

Comment on Check facts

Opuscula Is Biden killing Abraham accords To spite Trump ?

WHILE “APPEARANCES CAN BE DECEIVING,” it appears that the Biden – Harris Emhoff administration is doing its best to dismantle the Abraham Accords.

 

IN ORDER TO GET some of Israel’s political foes to the table, former president Trump offered the Arabs a carrot salad they couldn’t refuse.

Carrot & stick cartoon by Berger & Wyse (https://tinyurl.com/33fwu25z)

Along comes Biden & Friends and suddenly

(a) the Abraham Accords carrots “disappear”

(b) The sticks the PLO/PFLP and Hamas feared are replaced by America’s open wallet

(c) Iran is free to develop a nuclear arsenal to use against Israel, the U.S., and Iran’s Muslim neighbors

(d) China is given free access to American technology

 

QUICK What is the difference between the U.S. giving money to Israel and giving money to terrorists?

1. Israel is an ally, not a terrorist; just ask the U.S. State Department, no friend of Israel.

2. Israel is obliged to “Buy American” — to spend U.S. dollars to prop up the U.S. defense industry; a gift with not just a “string,” but a “hawser.”¹

3. The PLO/PFLP and Hamas use the NON-REFUNDABLE dollars to teach hate, to buy war materiel from Iran , China, and Russia — the U.S. enjoys zero ROI.

 

Basically, Biden & Friends are busy UNDOING everything positive that Trump accomplished.

Biden’s master had a problem with former Israeli prime minister Netanyahu. Netanyahu is gone (but Biden’s master remains coaching from the wings.)

Perhaps Biden’s plan is to encourage Iran’s bomb building and convince the PLO/PFLP, Hamas, and Hezbollah that Trump was just a bad dream; they can go back to doing what their charters demand: the destruction of Israel — with America’s blessing.

Since Israel primarily uses Made in America weapons, the U.S. military-industrial complex will have a live proving ground for its products. No Americans soldiers will be put in the line of fire. A win-win for Washington.

With the U.S. Congress controlled by “woke” Democrats, Biden’s folly goes unchecked.

Trump may have been a bull in a china shop and his tweets were often embarrassing to those who supported him, but he DID accomplish a great deal toward world peace; he did restore the U.S. to a position of strength.

Biden is destroying everything Trump accomplished; he is trying to make 2016-2020 “disappear” as if they never happened.

 

THE QUESTION Will the Abraham Accords survive Biden, Harris-Emhoff, and the sycophants surrounding them.

 

Maybe The Shadow knows (right).

Time (the magazine) won’t tell.

 

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Sources 1. Hawser: https://pekasis.com/en/jetty-topside/mooring-hawser/

 

 

 

PLAGIARISM is the act of appropriating the literary composition of another, or parts or passages of his writings, or the ideas or language of the same, and passing them off as the product of one’s own mind.

Truth is an absolute defense to defamation. Defamation is a false statement of fact. If the statement was accurate, then by definition it wasn’t defamatory.

Web sites (URLs) beginning https://tinyurl.com/ are generated by the free Tiny URL utility and reduce lengthy URLs to manageable size.

 

 

 

 

Comment on Biden erasing Abraham Accords

Opuscula There is A difference

WHEN I WAS A KID, from six years old to teen years, I went to summer camps.

As a six year old, I learned to ride (and care for) horses and shoot a single-shot .22 rifle.

Later, as a teen member of Civil Air Patrol’s (CAP’s) Miami Composite Squadron 2, I went to camp at Eglin AFB in Florida’s panhandle.

 

AT THE “DUDE RANCH”, our weapons of choice were cap pistols and the “enemy” varied — sometimes “bad guys” (e.g., the Daltons), sometimes guys in the next tent. While “Cowboys and Indians” were popular on radio and tv, I don’t recall — 70-plus years later — that indians ever were the enemy. It would have been more likely that the “enemy” would be Germans or Japanese; this was c 1948 and World War Two was not far removed.

Gatling guns and M-1s

At Elgin AFB, we heard 10-second bursts of “Gatling” guns (currently the GAU-19/B .50 caliber Gatling – see video at https://tinyurl.com/3kaubs43) being test fired on Air Force F-104 fighters.

I vaguely recall firing an M-1 Garand rifle, but any fire arms training was limited and only in passing. We were not trained to be combat soldiers.

As a CAP cadet we wore military style uniforms, but we studied flying-related subjects: weather, navigation, search-and-rescue functions, and two-way radio operation among others. CAP in many ways is similar to Junior Reserve Officers Training Corps, or JROTC. No bayonet drills, no bomb making, but lots of close order marching.

Later, as a 17-year-old enlistee in the Air Force, I fired an M-1 Carbine that had more cosmoline than bullets — the Air Force is not famous for maintaining training rifles.

Bottom line: We were not trained to be soldiers and certainly not shahids (martyrs). We were more likely to hear Gen. Geo. Patton’s famous admonition:

No dumb bastard ever won a war by going out and dying for his country. He won it by making some other dumb bastard die for his country.” (https://tinyurl.com/55vaadxc)

than to be encouraged to go gung ho into an unknown situation.

We were not trained as children and teens to volunteer to die for flag or apple pie.

We were trained in schools, from first grade to graduation, to protect ourselves from the “Russians” who were coming. Hiding in a school basement or under a desk (a totally useless exercise in a nuclear attack) were regular drills.

Later I got to know some contemporaries from the Ukraine. We shared stories that turned out to be basically the same; the only thing that changed was the name of the attacking nation: in the U.S., “the Russians are coming”; in the Ukraine, “the Americans are coming.” It seems most “Russians” wanted to avoid war as much as most Americans.

I probably got more actual survival training in the Cub and Boy Scouts (back when the Boy Scouts were for boys).

Not being trained to die for the flag is not the same as being trained as pacifists. There never was a suggestion that we should dodge the draft (although may of my generation did, some due to conscientious beliefs, and some for other reasons).

In Israel

I have three grandchildren, ages 10 and 6 (twin boys).

None are playing soldier, alhough all know they may have to do their time with the military. Their father did his time, as do most Israelis, male and female.

Despite being forced to repeatedly run to a safe room as mortars were fired from Gaza, the children are not playing “Israelis and Gazans.” Armed with water guns, the victims are brother and sister.

When they go to summer camp, they learn thngs children need to know — how to swim being a primary lesson. Singing and dancing are a big part of camp life, be it day camp or overnight camp.

Learning to die for country is not part of the curriculum.

Golda Meyer (nee Goldie Mabovitch, later Myerson) is famously quoted saying: “Peace will come when the Arabs will love their children more than they hate us.”

Golda Meyer quote

Given what the world knows — albeit hates to admit — Hamas, Islamic Jihad, Hezbollah, and other Iranian proxies apparently are not ready to love their own children, instead teaching them to hate Israel and Jews and preparing them to be shadids — martyrs for a senseless cause.

The PLO/PFLP has numerous times been offered — and refused — opportunities to have another “Palestinian” state. (Jordan is, according to the 1947 partition plan, the “real” Palestinian state and the majority of its population are people who claim to be Palestinians.)

The United Nations, in the form of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East a/k/a UNRWA , allows its facilities to be used to promote hate against Israel and Jews in general.

UNRWA buildings have been used as missile launch sites and UNRWA schools are used as storage areas for war materiel.

UNRWA summer camps are run by Hamas and Islamic Jihad to train children to murder Israelis. (https://tinyurl.com/fnvxsy66)

Editorial cartoon by Yaakov Kirschen (https://tinyurl.com/mczb7b2v)

This training is on-going and blatant.

It is not like summer camp in any democracy.

It IS a summer camp that trains children to sacrifice their lives (while their masters hide safely far from the conflict).

It IS a summer camp that trains children to murder others.

It assures that another generation will be raised to hate, will be prepared to die for a senseless cause, a cause that could have been resolved peacefully in 1948.

And the UN looks the other way.

 

 

 

PLAGIARISM is the act of appropriating the literary composition of another, or parts or passages of his writings, or the ideas or language of the same, and passing them off as the product of one’s own mind.

Truth is an absolute defense to defamation. Defamation is a false statement of fact. If the statement was accurate, then by definition it wasn’t defamatory.

Web sites (URLs) beginning https://tinyurl.com/ are generated by the free Tiny URL utility and reduce lengthy URLs to manageable size.

 

 

 

 

Comment on Difference

Opuscula FRUSTRATING

IT MUST BE FRUSTRATING for groups such as Honest Reporting and CAMERA to constantly read/see that Israel

✡ Is apartheid
✡ Kills children
✡ Fails to provide “Palestinians” medical care
✡ Maintains "humiliating" checkpoints at borders

and a multitude of other canards.

 

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Late addition — cannibalism?

On May 26, Dr. Fidaa Wishah wrote a post saying, “We will uncover your thirst to kill our Palestinian children. … We sense your fear. The fear of your collapse. A state based on atrocity, inhumanity, racism and cannibalism never last long! Hey #israel … your end is coming sooner than you think.” (https://tinyurl.com/ydttj59k/)

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HONEST REPORTING (https://honestreporting.com/) and the Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting in America, a/k/a CAMERA (https://www.camera.org/) have full time jobs for full-time staffs to read publications from all corners and to watch videos from around the world, all for one purpose: to identify and publicize errors and outright lies about Israel.

I live in Yavne, a community south of Tel Aviv and north of Gaza.

Being a geezer — I’m only 78 years old — with some medical issues, I have spent far too many days in Israeli hospitals.

I mention that because the doctors, nurses, and aides are a mix of Jews and Arabs, some Muslims, some not. There are Jews who report to Arabs and Arabs who report to Jews.

Cleaning crews generally are new immigrant Ethiopian Jews who came to Israel sans education. They are getting educated and they are, to borrow a line from The Jefferson’s tv program, “movin’ on up.”

 

In the beginning

There have been Arabs — again, Muslim and non-Muslim — in Israel’s parliament (Knesset) since 1948 !

There is an Arab party (Ra’am ) whose leaders promote destruction of Israel in the government. What other country would be so stupid to permit people who are sworn to the state’s destruction to sit in the government. Would the U.S. have allowed Communists to even run for congress back in the days of the “Cold War”? Admittedly there were pro-nazis in high positions during Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s reign, but to the best of my limited knowledge, no one in congress was a nazi sympathizer. Granted, today’s congress has its share of members who support anti-American causes and America’s sworn enemies, but so far they have not called for America’s destruction or an end to its democracy.

 

Ubiquitous

In Israel, Arabs — Muslims and non-Muslims — are ubiquitous: on the courts, including the highest court, in the national police, in almost every ministry (government department), in schools through university, in medicine, even in the military. There are newspapers in Arabic (as well as Yiddish, English, and a host of other languages.)

All Israeli citizens have the vote.

Arabs can live wherever they can afford to buy. (Buying a small apartment in Israel is nearly two times more expensive than buying a 3/2 private residence on a quarter-acre in most U.S. communities. (Personal experience.)

In Israel, Arabs and non-Arabs ride the same buses. (There once was an Arab-owned bus service between Haifa and Nazareth [Natzeret] — I rode it c 1977 — apparently it is no more.

There ARE buses where Arabs (from the PLO/PFLP-controlled areas) ride to jobs in Israel.

Keep in mind that some Arabs have been known to (try to) blow up buses with their passengers and to ride a bus to a town to murder civilians. (https://tinyurl.com/kvwcp24k)

So much for the “apartheid” claim.

 

ON THE OTHER HAND, there IS apartheid in Gaza and in the PLO/PFLP-controlled areas.

A Jew cannot freely go into either area. An Arab citizen faces a death sentence if he sells property to a Jew.

 

War Crimes

The PLO/PFLP, Hamas, and leftists worldwide have convinced the International Criminal Court (ICC) that Israel has committed either/both war crimes or crimes against humanity.

For what constitutes a “war crime” see The Washington Post (https://tinyurl.com/exrsj674).

Hamas, and Hezbollah in Lebanon/Syria commit war crimes and crimes against humanity. Samples include: (https://tinyurl.com/yc24haa2)

☠ Attack directed against any civilian population (missiles from Gaza and Lebanon/Syria)
☠ Attack prior to declaration of war
☠ Send civilians, including young children to the border with Israel while Hamas and Islamic Jihad “soldiers” stand behind the human shields
☠ Send civilians, including young children, to protect launch sites
☠ Use civilian buildings (e.g., AP and Al Jazeera offices) as command centers
☠ Use of non-military facilities (e.g., schools, hospitals, mosques) to store war materiel

 

Photo propaganda

The “world” is inundated with images of child causalities of war thanks to both “professional” (e.g., newspapers, tv) and “social” media.

Unfortunately, many times the images were not made (https://tinyurl.com/h2xx2aw2)

When claimed
Where claimed

The media, “professional” and “social,” have been duped again and again, largely because editors/bloggers are too lazy, or as they will claim, too busy, to check available sources.

 

Logical Indian discovers fake (https://tinyurl.com/hpp256kz)

One that checked The Logical Indian (https://tinyurl.com/hpp256kz) did a Google reverse image search of the viral image and found the same image was uploaded by a Quora user Lin Xieyi on April 2, 2020, with a caption, "J-10C". In this image, Soumya is not embossed on the fighter jet.

The same image also was published by the Chinese website Gushiciku.cn. The image is captioned as, "As the J-10C adopts new standards, its craftsmanship is also the best besides the J-20 stealth fighter; this point can be experienced in detail from the J-10B that has been publicly displayed many times." The aircraft belongs to the Chinese air force.

 

The same effort should apply to reporters’ copy, with one caveat: In some locations (e.g., Gaza), outgoing news (allegedly) is censored. Reporters who report stories less than favorable to Hamas, et al, soon find themselves (a) unable to transmit copy to their bosses and/or (b) persona non grata.

 

Borders

Pity the poor “Palestinian” who has to traverse an Israeli check point to come to/return from work In Israel.

According to a news reports,

Hundreds of Palestinians staged demonstrations at the entrance to the Erez border (Gaza) crossing into Israel yesterday to denounce severe security measures imposed by the Israeli authorities, witnesses said. (https://tinyurl.com/64raks56)
Construction of a new pedestrian terminal on the Palestinian (PLO/PFLP area) side of the crossing has worsened the conditions for Palestinians, who must use temporarily use a narrow passage in which thousands push and shove each other. The construction of the new pedestrian passage which has harmed the flow of traffic at the crossing was initiated by the Palestinian Civil Administration. (https://tinyurl.com/2jcmyun3)

Consider, Hamas and other Gaza-based terror organizations use ambulances and other “non-threatening” vehicles to sneak armed men and women into Israel to murder civilians. Would any country that tries to protect its citizens allow everyone to freely enter?

Note it is not Israel that delays entry from the PLO/PFLP areas but the PLO/PFLP.

An Israeli bus company provides transportation from the border crossing to major transfer points in Israel for the “Palestinians” who come to Israel for jobs and better compensation.

What is the problem with border checkpoints?

The United States has border checkpoints with Canada and Mexico. Americans are obliged to go through passport checks after visiting a neighboring country (e.g., Jamaica, Bermuda, Belize) or even taking a cruise.

The inconvenience of border checks is a fact of life any time any national border is crossed.

Why should the “Palestinians” — especially with their penchant to (try to) murder Israelis — be given a free pass?

Beyond documentation control, there also is (again/still) concerns about the Chinese virus.

 

Top: U.S. border with Canada (left) and Mexico (Right)
Bottom: Israel border with PLO/PFLP (left) and Gaza (right)

 

Health & Oslo

The media claims that

Israel is responsible for the health and welfare of the “Palestinians”
Israel refused to give “Palestinians” some of the Pfizer vaccines
Israel was willing to give the “Palestinians” outdated vaccines

False, false, and false again.

The ”Palestinians” insisted they would take care of their own and they made this part of the so-called “Oslo accord,” and “accord” that was broken almost before the signatures were dry. Is is not, by “Palestinian” fiat, Israel’s responsibility to provide care for “Palestinians.”

However, “Palestinians, especially well-connected “Palestinians,” have access to Israeli medical care. When allowed by “Palestinian” authorities, all “Palestinians” have access to the same medical care as Israeli citizens.

It might be noted that Qatar sent not one but two jumbo jets loaded with medical supplies to the PLO/PFLP.

Both planeloads were rejected by the PLO/PFLP authorities since the Qatari planes landed at Lod, Israel’s major international airport. “Palestine” lacks an airport capable of accommodating jumbo jets.

"Palestinians" rejected Israel's offer of Pfizer vaccine that was nearing expiration.

Later, when other countries contacted Israel for its surplus vaccine, the PLO/PFLP had a change of heart and decided to accept the vaccine.

 

Audience

Honest Reporting (ibid.) does a considerable amount of Arabic translations.

This is interesting because what is said in Arabic for local consumption often is drastically different in translation.

Bottom line: Propaganda, a/k/a Public Relations or, in Hebrew, Hasbara, is tailored to the audience.

It pays to know what really was said to the locals; is it closer to the truth? (Usually.)

 

---

 

 

PLAGIARISM is the act of appropriating the literary composition of another, or parts or passages of his writings, or the ideas or language of the same, and passing them off as the product of one’s own mind.

Truth is an absolute defense to defamation. Defamation is a false statement of fact. If the statement was accurate, then by definition it wasn’t defamatory.

Web sites (URLs) beginning https://tinyurl.com/ are generated by the free Tiny URL utility and reduce lengthy URLs to manageable size.

 

Comment on FRUSTRATING

Enterprise Risk Management Israel data + Google cloud = STUPIDITY

ISRAEL JUST MADE A DEAL WITH Amazon and Google to store all ministries data in a “cloud.” ^{1, 2, 3}

As an Enterprise Risk Management practitioner I am against commercial “cloud” storage, especially when the”cloud” is owned by someone else. The data in the cloud is at risk: the vendor could fail, the vendor’s security may be lax; the vendor may simply hold the data for ransom.

The REAL concern for this scrivener about Israel using any commercial “cloud” — but especially Google’s — is the number of anti-Israel employees at all levels at Google ^{4, 5, 6} — who might use their access to share Israel's data with others of their ilk?

 

ACCORDING TO NEWS stories,

Israel has selected Amazon Web Services and Google Cloud as the winners of a $1 billion-plus project to deliver a public cloud infrastructure for the country’s government ministries and defense forces.

AWS and Google edged out IBM, Microsoft and Oracle in the bidding for the “Project Nimbus” contract and will develop cloud data center sites within Israel under an initial 4 billion-shekel investment -- the equivalent of $1.22 billion, Reuters reported today, citing an announcement from Israel’s finance ministry. The cloud sites will keep the government and military data within Israel’s borders to adhere to strict data security regulations, the report said. ¹

Anti-Semite heads Diversity team

Google is the company that named Kamau Bobb, global lead for diversity strategy and research in 2018. Apparently Google failed to google it’s employee.

Bobb wrote in a now-deleted 2007 blog post that if he were Jewish, he “would be concerned about my insatiable appetite for war and killing in defense of myself,” and referred to Jews’ “increasing insensitivity to the suffering (of) others.”⁷

According to a Google puff piece,

"These writings are unquestionably hurtful. The author acknowledges this and has apologised. He will no longer be part of our diversity team... and will focus on his Stem [science, technology, engineering and maths] work.” ⁸

Secure data regs?

Amazon and Google are to “adhere to strict data security regulations.”

If U.S. government data on U.S. government computers can be hacked, imagine how easy it will be for someone from inside Google (or Amazon) to access Israeli data in the “cloud.”

Right: Al Capp's Joe Bfstplk and his cloud

Data security regulations are, as Napoleon is alleged to have said about treaties, “just a piece of paper.”

Who is going to enforce the regulations? Who will assure that the BDSers inside Google — and if news reports are true, there are several hundred BDSers at Google HQ alone ^{4, 5, 6} — abide by Israel's "strict data security regulations?”

Is anyone foolish enough to think that even in Israel there are no anti-Israel Jews (and non-Jews)?

Is Israel so technologically backward that it must job out “cloud” services to vendors over which it has little or no “absolute” control?

Once data is in the “cloud,” the data’s owner no longer has control of the data and who accesses the data, regardless of “ strict data security regulations”.

”Civilian” data also at risk

All Israeli adult citizens have a national ID number, similar to Social Security in the United States.

Almost everything an Israeli citizen does — buy a home, a car, get a loan, see a doctor, go to the hospital, go to school — is linked to that ID number.

Not only does the number identify an individual, it also identifies members of the person’s family: spouse, children.

How can I trust anyone with my data? I don’t.

Why should Israel trust anyone with its general information, let alone military secrets.

There are enough Israeli — Jewish and non-Jewish — “Kim” Philby’s ⁹ who gladly will steal and share state (and personal) secrets for money or belief that making it easier to access by renting space from Google, in particular, borders not only on “foolish,” but, IMO, “unmitigated stupidity.”

Call me paranoid, but as an Enterprise Risk Management practitioner, I don’t trust “clouds.” If I cannot control access to my data, that data won’t be mine for long.

Final thought We all learned in elementary school that clouds are water vapor. Water is sent heavenward by heat (evaporation). What goes up, must come down. Where is goes up and where it comes down may be distant from one another.

Likewise data to the cloud.

I send data to the cloud and someone else — perhaps someone who should not have access to my data — beings it down.

A cloud is permeable; it leaks.

That’s not a good thing for secrets.

---

Sources

1. CRN: https://tinyurl.com/b2z4ceey **

2. Globes: https://tinyurl.com/9jjakx

3. Cloudtech: https://tinyurl.com/3sv46fwp

4. The Verge: https://tinyurl.com/yye35ss5

5. Israel HaYom: https://tinyurl.com/pcrxmu8k

6. DCD: https://tinyurl.com/34dwcud3

7. Forbes: https://tinyurl.com/vfs3cs

8. BBC: https://tinyurl.com/74xzp9et

9. "Kim" Philby: https://tinyurl.com/53r2wajh

 

 

 

 

 

PLAGIARISM is the act of appropriating the literary composition of another, or parts or passages of his writings, or the ideas or language of the same, and passing them off as the product of one’s own mind.

Truth is an absolute defense to defamation. Defamation is a false statement of fact. If the statement was accurate, then by definition it wasn’t defamatory.

Web sites (URLs) beginning https://tinyurl.com/ are generated by the free Tiny URL utility and reduce lengthy URLs to manageable size.

 

Comment on Cloud

Opuscula Return to Sender: How to stop missiles Fired from Gaza

ISRAEL IS — NOT “AGAIN,” BUT “STILL” — BEING ATTACKED BY MISSILES FROM GAZA.

The U.S. and leftists around the world blame Israel for the attacks.

The first shots were fired from Gaza. Missiles fall indiscriminately on children, old people, and people in their homes.

Israel retaliates by leveling Hamas sites; Hamas just changes venues and continues the attack.

Israel could, and in my opinion should, end the attacks by giving back to Gaza what Gaza sends to Israel.

 

Hamas rocket strikes Israel (MAHMUD HAMS | Credit: AFP )

 

TIT FOR TAT

I believe the only way to stop the indiscriminate attacks on Israel is for Israel to fire rockets indiscriminately back into Gaza.

During World War 2, all the warring parties bombed civilian targets. Dresden, London, and Nagasaki quickly come to mind. (The Japanese sent fire balloons over the U.S. west coast causing minor physical damage; psychological damage was something else.)

While there are those who live well in Gaza, shopping in super-malls for ISRAELI-MADE goods (!), most Gazans are reportedly poor and lack what most Americans and Europeans consider “basic necessities.”

I have not been to Gaza and rely only on reports — some pro, some con.

Hamas allegedly rules Gaza with an iron hand and is pressured by other anti-Israel Islamic groups, e.g., Islamic Jihad and Islamic Brotherhood, to maintain control over the strip.

For all the claimed oppression of the people, they have not been pushed far enough to revolt.

So far, all Israeli attacks on Gaza have been precisely targeted and limited to Hamas sites and leaders.

Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Poland

After WW2, Russia, then the now former USSR, took control of many Eastern European countries, including Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Poland. The Russians installed Communist dictators to rule the countries.

The USSR ruled with a heavy hand, much as Hamas etc. does today in Gaza.

Eventually, these and other Warsaw Pact countries forced the Russians out, often by successful partisan attacks. (The Russians would call these people “terrorists.” Perspective.)

Russia’s presence was almost over whelming, but the people prevailed.

Granted, there was a cost. Some partisans were injured; some died.

But the Russians were sent packing and the people had control of their countries.

The “bottom line” for the Czechs, the Hungarians, and the Poles was that they had to get rid of the Russians no matter what the cost.

They did.

It can be done. It was done.

Gazans can do the same.

Currently Gazans apparently are willing to put up with Hamas et al’s heavy-handedness, lack of electricity, lack of potable water, lack of employment.

If Israel were to do as Hamas does, and indiscriminately fire missiles into Gaza, one missile into Gaza for every missile fired from Gaza, the Gaza “man in the street” might decide it was time to rid the strip of the despots.

When the children, the seniors, and the average Gazan find themselves under attack by Israeli missiles in retaliation for missiles fired from Gaza, perhaps the people will cast out Hamas et al.

Only Gazans can end Hamas terror

The “bottom line” is that the Gazans must want peace with Israel, a permanent cease fire at a minimum.

The only way this can be accomplished is if the Gazan “man in the street” casts off Hamas’ yoke and forms a government that cares about ALL the people of Gaza, not just Islamic leadership.

It is unfortunate, but the impetus may have to come from Israeli missiles falling indiscriminately on all Gazans.

Israelis and Gazans deserve to live in peace, without fear of missiles falling on them.

---

PLAGIARISM is the act of appropriating the literary composition of another, or parts or passages of his writings, or the ideas or language of the same, and passing them off as the product of one’s own mind.

Truth is an absolute defense to defamation. Defamation is a false statement of fact. If the statement was accurate, then by definition it wasn’t defamatory.

Web sites (URLs) beginning https://tinyurl.com/ are generated by the free Tiny URL utility and reduce lengthy URLs to manageable size.

 

Comment on Return to Sender

Opuscula If life is so bad, Why remain In U.S., Israel ?

LET ME BE PERFECTLY CLEAR, I am a dual national — U.S. by birth and Israeli by “Law of return” — and I am NOT about to cancel either one.

Neither country is “perfect.” I don’t know any place that is perfect, but I notice that there are
FAR MORE PEOPLE TRYING TO ENTER THAN TRYING TO LEAVE
both the United States and Israel.

 

IF THE U.S. is so “racist,” then why do blacks stay; there are, after all, many countries that are predominately black; that have black-led governments, and that would welcome educated blacks with open arms. Or perhaps the stories I have read abut ex-pat blacks are just lies; figments of a “woke” imagination.

Muslims who want to change the character of the country — vs. those who truly want to integrate into the surrounding society — can pack their bags and go to any one of about 30 countries where more than 90% of the citizens are followers of Islam. (https://tinyurl.com/5x6ps56w) Not Islamic enough?

There are 26 predominantly Muslim countries that have anchored Islam or a specific form of it in their constitution as a state religion. (https://tinyurl.com/2v6t969s)

Muslim world (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muslim_world)

Opuscula BOYCOTT! OK for me, Not for you?

I’M A LITTLE CONFUSED OVER this “boycott” business.

 

I am both Jewish and a dual-national: U.S. by birth, Israeli by choice.

I place my hand over my heart when the Stars and Stripes go by. I did my U.S. military service back in the 60s. I am a Red, White, and Blue American.

But I also am an Israeli.

I should mention that I am old — “ancient” as my Spouse reminds me — and I am “thin skinned” in more ways than one.

My problem with boycotts

Having written that, I confess to having a problem with boycotts.

I have, from time-to-time boycotted things.

I will not buy anything from China if I can find an alternative source.

That’s a boycott.

I don’t buy from China for a number of reasons, including

• poor and dangerous products,
• alleged government oppression,
• alleged theft of others’ ideas and technologies,
• the gift of the Wuhan/Chinese/Covid pandemic

I don’t buy Ford products having been burned twice with Ford vehicles.

I am not on Facebook or Twitter and I closed my LinkedIn account when I retired. I’m not “boycotting” these platforms; I simply have no interest in them

Being honest, I admit that the above is a “partial” list of products I won’t (knowingly) buy.

These are boycotts, albeit personal boycotts.

Since I boycott products, how can I express umbrage when someone boycotts products from all or parts of Israel?

Is there a real difference between my personal boycotts — that I freely publicize — and the political Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement (BDS)?

My boycotts are personal; while I might welcome people who would divest themselves of countries and companies I boycott, and while I would privately encourage sanctions (in the form of higher tariffs), I don’t mount a soap box, raise a battle flag and yell FORWARD to willing followers.

The “B” in BDS stands for, IMO, “bullying.”

THE DIFFERENCE is that my personal boycotts are not based on lies (Israel is an apartheid state; Israel oppresses Arabs, both of which I know first hand are lies) or senseless hatred of a people. The BDSers are know nothings; 99% have zero first hand experience with Israel, Israelis, or Zionists. (There are many, mostly Jewishly ignorant as well as politically ignorant, Jews who are BDSers. )

Image at https://tinyurl.com/jtpxfnwv

You only hurt the ones you ...

The interesting things about the anti-Israel BDS movement are

• It hurts the people the BDSers claim they support
• It is a political movement that borders on the illegal
• It doesn’t seem to be working

BDSers have cost the so-called “Palestinians” jobs.

The PLO/PFLP is an economic disaster. The citizens line up to work in the horrible, apartheid Israel (think about that) where they hold all manner of employment, both trade and professional.

SodaStream employed Israelis and “Palestinians” in its plant across the “green line.”

The BDSers put an end to that, putting the “Palestinians” out of jobs that paid the same wages regardless of where the worker lived. SodaStream did not have to employ “Palestinians” and the “Palestinians” did not have to work for SodaStream.

SodaStream moved to the south and now hires Israelis.

So, did BDS help or hurt the “Palestinians”? Did its action help of hurt the “Palestinian” government?

A QUICK WORD ON APARTHEID An Israeli Arab may live anyplace in Israel. An Israeli Jew is forbidden by the “Palestinian” government and Islam, to live in “Palestine,” even though there are “progressive” Jews who would rush to live in “Palestine” were they permitted.

Israel’s parliament, the Knesset, includes Muslims who promote the destruction of Israel. That would be like having nazis in Congress during World War 2 or Communists in Congress during the Cold War era. (Soviet Premier Nikita Sergeyevich Khrushchev was angry and threatened to bury us because President Eisenhower prevented Khrushchev from visiting Disneyland in California. There also was the small matter of Francis Gary Powers and the U-2 downing over what was then the USSR.)

It could have been avoided

Had the Arabs agreed to the 1947 Partition Plan, Israel would be a sliver of a state, with Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, and Egypt as its immediate neighbors. “Palestine” as separate from Jordan did not exist.

Had the Arabs agreed to a peace agreement after 1948, they still would have Jerusalem and Jordan would own the so-called West Bank.

So far, nothing has satisfied the Arabs who insist on attacking Israel.

Jordan lost the “West Bank” to an Egyptian (Arafat).

Jordan lost Jerusalem to Israel.

(Since, both Egypt and Jordan have signed peace treaties with Israel, and while peace between them is nothing like peace between the U.S. and Canada, the treaties have held.)

Oslo divided up the West Bank into three sections. Both Israel and the” Palestinians” agreed to the agreement; the Palestinians quickly abrogated it.

PLAGIARISM is the act of appropriating the literary composition of another, or parts or passages of his writings, or the ideas or language of the same, and passing them off as the product of one’s own mind.

Truth is an absolute defense to defamation. Defamation is a false statement of fact. If the statement was accurate, then by definition it wasn’t defamatory.

Web sites (URLs) beginning https://tinyurl.com/ are generated by the free Tiny URL utility and reduce lengthy URLs to manageable size.

 

Comment on BOYCOTT

Opuscula Saudis, UAE, Bahrain Must push PLO, Hamas To negotiation table

SEVERAL MUSLIM-DOMINATED COUNTRIES, in particular Saudia Arabia, suggest they would “normalize” relations with Israel once there is a deal between Israel and the “Palestinians.”

The only problem is: self-defined “Palestinians” won’t negotiate with Israel.

 

IF SAUDI ARABIA AND OTHER Muslim-dominated countries want to enjoy the benefits of normalization with Israel, they must push, drag, or otherwise coerce the PLO/PFLP to the negotiating table.

Always before, the PLO/PFLP had “conditions” before it would even consider negotiations. Weak Israeli “leaders” backed by pro-Arab U.S. administrations from both parties assured the terrorists got what they wanted in exchange for quickly broken promises.

The chief PLO terrorist, Yasser Arafat, and Rabin — infamous for killing fellow Jews disembarking from the Altalena^{1, 2} — and Peres shared the Nobel Peace prize³. To be fair to Rabin, he was following orders from Ben Gurion, his boss. (Was Ben Gurion really hoping to murder Began who brought the arms and volunteers to Israel?)

Both Rabin and Peres were willing to bow to all PLO/PFLP demands to achieve a promised peace that never come to fruition until the regime in Washington strongly backed Israel.

The current chief terrorist, Abu Mazen (Mahmoud Abbas) — who “claimed Zionist agitation had been the cause of the Holocaust”⁴ — refuses any cooperation with Israel, including accepting tax money Israel collects for the PLO/PFLP because Israel withholds an amount equal to the money Abu Mazen et al pays murders of Israelis as part of the “slay for pay” plan.

Abu Mazen cares nothing for the people under the thumb of the PLO/PFLP; he even rejected two (2!) planeloads of medicine and protective clothing the UAE sent simply because the UAE plane landed at Israel’s main international airport sans Abu Mazen’s permission — as if he has any control over the activities at the airport. (The PLO/PFLP lacks an airport capable of accommodating anything more than a Piper Cub.)

According to Aljazeera⁵, In a news conference on Thursday, Mai Kaila said her country refused to receive the medical aid as the Emirati side ignored to coordinate with them.

"The UAE has not coordinated with us regarding the medical aid, and we reject to receive it without coordination," said the minister.

"We are a sovereign country, and they should have coordinated with us first."

The PLO/PFLP’s objection was that the UAE flight — with aid for the “Palestinians” — was because it seemed to be a step toward “normalization” with Israel — a process that officially happened a few months later in Washington at the Trump White House.

With intransigence shown by Abu Mazen & Friends, the leadership of countries such as Saudi Arabia will have a hard time convincing the PLO/PFLP to negotiate with Israel, especially when Israel seems to hold all the cards.

Perhaps the “Palestinians” are waiting for November to see if President Trump will be defeated by Kamala Harris Emhoff for the presidency.

Both Biden and Emhoff have talked about Harris Emhoff as president. Who really will wear the trousers in the White House if the Democrats prevail?

If Trump is returned for a second four years, the PLO/PFLP will have to re-examine its obstinacy.

Likewise, countries such as Saudia Arabia may re-examine their position vis-a-vis the “Palestinians.”

The PLO/PFLP only has two solid friends: Iran and Turkey. Granted, as long as Europe is controlled by liberals, Europeans will pay lip service to the PLO/PFLP, but little more. Meanwhile, since both Iran and Turkey want to be the center of the Muslim world, the caliphate, eventually these two may well be combatants in the next all-Muslim war.

---

Sources

1. Altalena: https://tinyurl.com/y69w4yrp

2. Altalena: https://tinyurl.com/y2ffwz3j

3. Nobel: https://tinyurl.com/y5y9efcg

4. Abu Mazen: https://tinyurl.com/y4nqreph

5. Aljazeera: https://tinyurl.com/yakqlwxj

PLAGIARISM is the act of appropriating the literary composition of another, or parts or passages of his writings, or the ideas or language of the same, and passing them off as the product of one’s own mind.

Truth is an absolute defense to defamation. Defamation is a false statement of fact. If the statement was accurate, then by definition it wasn’t defamatory.

Web sites (URLs) beginning https://tinyurl.com/ are generated by the free Tiny URL utility and reduce lengthy URLs to manageable size.

 

Comment on Negotiations

Opuscula Who’s to blame For continuing Attacks on Iran?

 

IRAN IS SUFFERING ATTACK AFTER ATTACK on its infrastructure.

The ayatollahs stopped short of blaming either the Great Satan (the U.S.) or the Little Satan (Israel), but still make noise.

Neither the U.S. nor Israel admit to either committing the strikes or having anything to do with the strikes.

 

 

IF IT IS NOT THE U.S. OR ISRAEL, could it be that the Persians finally are fed up with the ayatollahs?

The Persians turned out one despotic ruler, the Shah, and got another, the Grand Ayatollah, in return. Having succeeded once, are they about to try again?

Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei (right)

 

Not everyone is happy

According to an article in Newsweek¹,

The Iranian regime has long battled multiple militant insurgencies in different parts of the country, whether separatist groups among Kurdish, Baloch, and Arab communities or extremist religious groups like those pledging allegiance to what remains of the Islamic State organization.

Almost everyone knows about the Kurds, but the Baloch are an unknown.

Wikipedia² describes the Baloch thus:

The Baloch are an Iranian people who live mainly in the Balochistan region of the southeastern-most edge of the Iranian plateau in Pakistan, Iran, and Afghanistan. There are also diaspora communities in neighboring regions, including those in India; and having a significant diaspora in the Arabian Peninsula

Persians do not consider themselves “Arabs,” and generally look down on Arabs as lesser people.

Not mentioned in the Newsweek piece are the on-going conflict between the dominant Shi’a and a minority Sunni Muslims.

 

Foreign aid

During World War 2, the Allies provided financial and military support to “partisans” fighting the nazis.

In most cases, foreign nationals — personnel from the Allied countries — were not sent to aid the partisans. (Inserting a foreign national, particularly one native to the country fighting the nazis happened, but the most common assistance was weapons, communications gear, an intelligence, the latter a two-way street.)

Many of the occupied nations had governments in exile, safely ensconced far from the fighting; often in London.

Iran has one, perhaps two, groups claiming to be its “government in exile.”

Newsweek³

On July 13, 2019, President Donald Trump's personal lawyer, Rudi Giuliani, addressed an Iranian opposition group called the Mujahedin e-Khalq (MEK) at the group's tightly guarded encampment in rural Albania, where some 3,400 members have been preparing for the overthrow of the clerical regime in Tehran.

Calling the MEK Iran's "government-in-exile," Giuliani assured MEK members that the Trump administration regards the group as an acceptable replacement for the current regime. "It gives us confidence that if we make those efforts to overthrow that horrible regime, sooner rather than later, we will not only save lives but we will be able to entrust the transition of Iran to a very responsible group of people," the former New York City mayor told his cheering audience.

At the same time, there is a Wikipedia entry⁴ that

The National Council of Iran (NCI), officially the National Council of Iran for Free Elections, is a loosely based umbrella group of the exiled opposition to Iran's Islamic Republic government. It serves as Reza Pahlavi's government in exile in order to either reclaim the former throne, or as the new president of Iran, after overthrowing the current government.

The NCI is based in Paris, France.

The Newsweek piece³ notes that

The opposition groups remain deeply divided, which undermines their chances of ever taking power, Iran experts say. Over the years, several opposition groups have tried repeatedly to form a united front against Tehran, but their attempts have failed because of clashing histories, agendas and personalities.

President Trump apparently is not promoting a regime change in Iran; preferring to challenge the ayatollahs with sanctions. Yet, Giuliani was promoting regime change when he met with the MEK, ibid.

MEK has, according to Newsweek, a long history that dates back to the overthrow of the shah. It was behind the take-over of the U.S. embassy in Tehran; it “broke with Khomeini over his decision to release the American hostages.”

Lesson not learned? The U.S. supported the Taliban in Afghanistan against Russia. Once the Russians were kicked out of the country, the Taliban turned on the U.S. The MEK already has a bad history with the U.S., but the Pahlavi group, while friendly to the U.S. when the U.S. kept it in power, was over-thrown by the ayatollahs and the MEK. Is Iran worth America’s involvement?

Israel has a history with Iran that predates the ayatollahs.

Israeli communications gear found its way to Arab armies via Iran when the Persians sold Israeli military radios with a Made in Persia label.

There is a very large population of ex-pat Iranians in Israel and they are active in all segments of Israeli society.

Iran and Israel seem to be — Israel refuses to acknowledge it — in a cyber war in which, if Iranian claims are true, Israel seems to have better defenses and better offenses. Iran allegedly attempted to attack Israeli water resources (and failed) and Israel allegedly attempted to interrupt operations at an Iranian port (and succeeded).

For its part, Iran has a blatant Fifth Column in Israel’s Knesset; members who support the overthrow of the Israeli state.

On the other hand, Israel’s Mossad has been known to infiltrate agents into foreign countries.

Attacks on Iran

Foxnews.com⁵ reports that

Black smoke rose as flames engulfed the Shahid Tondgooyan petrochemical plant in the Khuzestan province of Iran late Sunday afternoon.

Hours earlier, more than 500 miles away, detonations rocked the basement of an old, nondescript home in a northern pocket of Tehran. The two-story dwelling was said to have housed at least 30 gas cylinders that were used for unclear purposes.

Both incidents came fewer than two days after a string of explosions – and power outages – were reported west of Tehran in the early hours of Friday. Local reports indicated that multiple “mortar-like sounds similar to anti-aircraft missiles” were heard.

The blasts reportedly took place at an Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) missile depot.

These most recent attacks happened on the heels of multiple other mysterious explosions at sensitive sites over the course of the last three weeks – and no one is precisely sure what is going on, other than its rattling of the regime and stymieing its controversial nuclear program.

A short timeline:

June 26 at a liquid fuel production center that makes ballistic missiles in Khojir, near Parchin, southeast of the capital.

June 30, 19 people died following an explosion at a medical center in Tehran.

July 2, the Natanz uranium enrichment plant was struck by a mammoth blast

July 3, an unexplained fire erupted at a power plant in the southwest city of Shiraz, triggering a power outage in the region.

July 4 yet another explosion and inferno tore through a power plant in Ahwaz, while at the same time, a chlorine gas leak was detected at a Karoun petrochemical plant in Mahshahr, about 75 miles away.

 

Foreign or domestic?

The BBC’s Persian service reported that just after midnight on June 30, some of its journalists received an email from a group purporting to be the "Homeland Cheetahs" – comprised of anti-government, underground dissidents – claiming credit for earlier attacks. The outlet also said they were informed of the Natanz attack hours before it was documented by officials.

David Kennedy, CEO of TrustedSec and a former NSA and Marine Corps cyber-intelligence expert asks “was this a cyber-attack or physical sabotage, the answer could be 'both.' The most likely suspects are the U.S. and Israel working in tandem. Both countries have very sophisticated cyber warfare units and significant capabilities when it comes to cyber-kinetic attacks," Kennedy explained "An attack of this magnitude would require a great deal of planning and preparation, and is very complex because you are exploiting industrial control systems and air-gapped devices."

Inside, outside, neither, both. The ayatollah’s so far are avoiding the issue.

 

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Sources

1. Newsweek: https://tinyurl.com/ycn9vqlm

2. Baloch: https://tinyurl.com/yad4pvgd

3. MEK: https://tinyurl.com/yd3ujcy2

4. NCI: https://tinyurl.com/y9w4fpyq

5. Fox: https://tinyurl.com/y6wuphcm

PLAGIARISM is the act of appropriating the literary composition of another, or parts or passages of his writings, or the ideas or language of the same, and passing them off as the product of one’s own mind.

Truth is an absolute defense to defamation. Defamation is a false statement of fact. If the statement was accurate, then by definition it wasn’t defamatory.

Web sites (URLs) beginning https://tinyurl.com/ are generated by the free Tiny URL utility and reduce lengthy URLs to manageable size.

 

Comment on Attacks on Iran

Opuscula S*T*U*P*I*D !

HOW STUPID CAN LEFTISTS BE?

I think the answer is “beyond measure.”

 

THE CASUAL “DEFINITION“ of “crazy” — deranged — is, “someone repeatedly trying to do something the same way every time and always failing.”

The leftists in North America and Europe — and maybe the rest of the world, too — believe that Israel must “negotiate” with the PLO/PFLP and Hamas.

HOW CAN YOU NEGOTIATE WITH SOMEONE WHO WON’T COME TO THE TABLE? IT CANNOT BE DONE.

Forget Zoom, forget Skype, forget Google’s Duo, and don’t even consider Israeli developed WhatsApp.

Hamas’ leadership still insists its sole purpose in being is to wipe Israel off the face of the earth. Jews, Muslims, others — it makes no difference — all Israelis are destined to be swept into the sea.

The PLO/PFLP under the two-faced leadership of Abu Mazen, a/k/a Mahmoud Abbas, sends terrorists into Israel to kill whenever and whomever possible. Abu Mazen preaches “peace” to the non-Arabic-speaking world while preaching murder to those under his thumb.

The leftists claim that if Israel annexes JEWISH communities — that is, applies Israeli law — that the PLO/PFLP and Hamas will attack Israel.

THE PLO/PFLP & HAMAS ARE ATTACKING ISRAELI CIVILIANS EVERY DAY.

So what DIFFERENCE does it make; “annexation” or no “annexation,” the Muslims of the PLO, etc. are attacking Israelis — including Israeli Arabs — every day.

Abu Mazen rejected — sight unseen — Trump’s proposed peace plan that would have guaranteed him a “Palestinian” state, something he CLAIMS he wants.

Why would he reject a plan that gives him much of what he wants?

Two possible reasons.

Reason 1: Israel still would exist; he cannot have that.

Reason 2: The new state would include Gaza, and he cannot allow Hamas to rule any part of “Palestine.” He is, rightly, afraid of Hamas.

There is zero chance that Hamas would accept PLO/PFLP control, ESPECIALLY if Abu Mazen was willing to give up his “all or nothing” position.

ISRAEL IS AN APARTHEID STATE

According to the know-nothing leftists, Arabs of all varieties, are discriminated against by the Euro-Jews who once were the Jewish majority. (The Euro-Jews still largely control the political parties, but that, too, is changing.)

It IS true — less now than before, but still — that Euro-Jews discriminate against people with a dark(er) skin. But the Euro-Jews’ discrimination is against Sefardi and Mizrachi Jews as well — the Euro-Jew can’t distinguish between an Israeli Arab and an Israeli from, say, Iraq or Ethiopia. (Personal experience.)

Hue not withstanding, there ARE Israeli Arabs:

  * Serving on the Supreme court

  * Serving as Members of Knesset (parliament)

  * Reaching command ranks in the military and police

  * Teaching in Israeli universities

and the list goes on.

Israel even has Israeli Arabs in the Knesset who want to destroy Israel.

Even “The Squad” doesn’t propose to destroy the U.S. by giving aid and comfort to an enemy; they hope to destroy the U.S. by replacing democracy with leftist totalitarianism.

Claiming that Israel is an “apartheid state” uncovers the stupidity of a person who
  (a) Never has been to Israel and seen the integration

  (b) Cannot read a dictionary definition of “apartheid”

  (c) Blindly follows people to whom (a) and (b) apply

THE ISRAELI ARMY & POLICE KILL “INNOCENT” MUSLIMS

How “innocent” is a person who drives his car into a woman at a check point. (There is video showing this.)

How “innocent” are people who attack and slaughter men, women, and children in their home?

How “innocent” are people who blow up buses and restaurants?

How “innocent” is the PLO/PFLP and Hamas when they hide behind children and send bombs into Israel?

How “innocent” are governments (Hamas, PLO/PFLP) who raise their children to be martyrs?

Admittedly, there ARE mistakes, but taken as a whole, the mistakes are few and, given the constant terrorist attacks, unfortunate but understandable.

These “innocents” even angered PETA — they loaded a donkey with explosives and tried to send it into an Israeli village to blow up Jews. PETA was upset because the donkey would have died; killing innocent Jews was of no concern.

Donald’s right (https://tinyurl.com/yazfw3hy =)

 

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Sources

Geo. Carlin on stupid people (https://tinyurl.com/y74yzxzg )