Showing posts with label Israel. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Israel. Show all posts

Saturday, May 22, 2010

A Muslim Jew-hater and supporter of genocide


"A Muslim Jew-hater and supporter of genocide is flushed out by David Horowitz at a speech during "Israel Apartheid Week at the University of California San Diego. Horowitz was hosted by Young Americans for Freedom."
On May 10, 2010, Jumanah Albahri, an ex-officer of the Muslim Student Association (MSA) at the University of California-San Diego (UCSD), admitted during an event put on by Young Americans for Freedom and featuring David Horowitz as a speaker, that she supported a second Holocaust. During the exchange, Albahri also refused to condemn Hamas as a genocidal organization.
I let this video of David Horowitz answering a Muslim student speak for itself.



Is it time for clear thinking yet? How long before the liberal-leftists wake up? Could Islamic Terrorism be any clearer? Yet the current administration in the US refuses to name it.

Visit the Horowitz Freedom Center Website.

Wednesday, April 14, 2010

Incisive Letter to Obama from World Jewish Congress

President of the WJC (World Jewish Congress) Ronald S. Lauder, urges President Obama to change his stance on Israel in an open letter to US President Barack Obama, which will be published in the WSJ (Wall Street Journal) and the Washington Post tomorrow (Thursday April 15, 2101)

WJC President Ronald S. Lauder writes that Jews around the world are concerned about “the dramatic deterioration of diplomatic relations between the United States and Israel” in recent months.

It is clear that the policy of the current administration has resulted in a drastic worsening of the situation in the Middle-East and the chances of peace between Israel and Palestinians are far worse than before Obama came to office.

Iran seeks to develop nuclear weapons with the stated intention of destroying Israel, yet Obama's greatest concern is the building of homes for Jews in a Jewish area of Jerusalem; a city inhabited by Jews continuously for thousands of years.

The WJC letter will be published as a paid advertisement so I post it here in its entirety.


15 April 2010
Dear President Obama:

I write today as a proud American and a proud Jew.

Jews around the world are concerned today. We are concerned about the nuclear ambitions of an Iranian regime that brags about its genocidal intentions against Israel. We are concerned that the Jewish state is being isolated and delegitimized.

Mr. President, we are concerned about the dramatic deterioration of diplomatic relations between the United States and Israel.

The Israeli housing bureaucracy made a poorly timed announcement and your Administration branded it an “insult.” This diplomatic faux pas was over the fourth stage of a seven stage planning permission process – a plan to build homes years from now in a Jewish area of Jerusalem that under any peace agreement would remain an integral part of Israel.

Our concern grows to alarm as we consider some disturbing questions. Why does the thrust of this Administration’s Middle East rhetoric seem to blame Israel for the lack of movement on peace talks? After all, it is the Palestinians, not Israel, who refuse to negotiate.

Israel has made unprecedented concessions. It has enacted the most far reaching West Bank settlement moratorium in Israeli history.

Israel has publicly declared support for a two-state solution. Conversely, many Palestinians continue their refusal to even acknowledge Israel’s right to exist.

The conflict’s root cause has always been the Palestinian refusal to accept Israel as the nation state of the Jewish people. Every American President who has tried to broker a peace agreement has collided with that Palestinian intransigence, sooner or later. Recall President Clinton’s anguish when his peace proposals were bluntly rejected by the Palestinians in 2000. Settlements were not the key issue then.

They are not the key issue now.

Another important question is this: what is the Administration’s position on Israel’s borders in any final status agreement? Ambiguity on this matter has provoked a wave of rumors and anxiety. Can it be true that America is no longer committed to a final status agreement that provides defensible borders for Israel? Is a new course being charted that would leave Israel with the indefensible borders that invited invasion prior to 1967?

There are significant moves from the Palestinian side to use those indefensible borders as the basis for a future unilateral declaration of independence. How would the United States respond to such a reckless course of action?

And what are America’s strategic ambitions in the broader Middle East? The Administration’s desire to improve relations with the Muslim world is well known. But is friction with Israel part of this new strategy? Is it assumed worsening relations with Israel can improve relations with Muslims? History is clear on the matter: appeasement does not work. It can achieve the opposite of what is intended.

And what about the most dangerous player in the region? Shouldn’t the United States remain focused on the single biggest threat that confronts the world today? That threat is a nuclear armed Iran. Israel is not only America’s closest ally in the Middle East, it is the one most committed to this Administration’s declared aim of ensuring Iran does not get nuclear weapons.

Mr. President, we embrace your sincerity in your quest to seek a lasting peace. But we urge you to take into consideration the concerns expressed above. Our great country and the tiny State of Israel have long shared the core values of freedom and democracy. It is a bond much treasured by the Jewish people. In that spirit I submit, most respectfully, that it is time to end our public feud with Israel and to confront the real challenges that we face together.

Yours sincerely,
Ronald S. Lauder
President
World Jewish Congress

Visit the World Jewish Congress.

Consider to sign the Sign the WJC Pledge of Support for Israel.

Gurth Whitaker
Calgary, Alberta

Thursday, December 24, 2009

Israel's Netanyahu's Christmas and Civil New Year Greetings

I am grateful that there is one country in the Middle East where Jews, Christians and Muslims can "act in accordance with their beliefs and according to the dictates of their consciences." So I publish Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's Christmas greetings in its entirety below.

Christian's are at best second class citizen's, and frequently face persecution across all Middle East countries except Israel. The examples are numerous and freely available for those who care to look to the truth, here are two that were posted at Lux et Veritas; these happen to be about Egypt but the situation is the same or worse in other Muslim countries (sometimes Sunni against Shia and Shia against Sunni).
Anti-Semitism in Egypt;
and the plight of Coptic Christians: Egypt's Coptic Christians call for general strike on September 11 to protest persecution

Gurth Whitaker
Calgary AB

Prime Minister Netanyahu's 
Christmas and Civil New Year Greetings

"Today Christmas Eve, I would like to wish Israel's Christian citizens a Merry Christmas.

Since its founding, the State of Israel has granted freedom of worship to its citizens – Jews, Christians and Muslims act in accordance with their beliefs and according to the dictates of their consciences. We must preserve the delicate fabric that has been created among the people of the various faiths and continue to develop the religious tolerance that exists between us all.

Ahead of the civil New Year, I would like to wish Christians in Israel, the Middle East and throughout the entire world – a good and prosperous year. May it be that in the coming year that we will take another step toward coexistence in Israel and that together we will advance the economy, education and tourism in our country.

Since its inception, my Government has worked to advance the peace process with our Palestinian neighbors. In the coming year as well, we will continue to advance efforts to achieve a lasting peace in our region."

PM Netanyahu's greetings are from the Prime Minister's Office of Israel.

Saturday, November 28, 2009

Misguided Anti-Israel Protest at Mountain Equipment Co-op stores

According to the Calgary Herald today (Saturday November 28), it's time to
Ignore boycott, it's time to BUYcott Israel
With the Aryan Guard in Calgary disbanding, it's good riddance to one bunch of anti-Semites.
Now, if only another bunch would disperse, as well. The misguided members of this particular group plan to picket at Mountain Equipment Co-op (MEC) stores today to protest the retailer's selling of Israeli-made products.
MEC management should ignore them and continue selling made-in-Israel goods.
I went over there to see what was going on and to buy something made in Israel.

There were a few picketers handing out leaflets condemning Israel, quite polite and peaceful in their behaviour, but I find their message odious. They slander MEC with their headline in their pamphlet: "Tell MEC to stop supporting Israel's was crimes". There were a few of the obligatory Yassar Arrafat scarves - quite the fashion statement on campus these days.



Of course there has to be the stupid naming of Israel as an apartheid state; they quote the egregiously misleading Goldstone report, as well as the warped opinion of the US' worst president, that big embarrassment to the United States - Jimmy Carter.

More from the Herald - this excellent comment:
Anyone who wants to boycott merchandise made in a democracy because of the despicable belief that this democracy has no right to defend itself against attacks by terrorists determined to wipe it out should be dismissed with the contempt merited.
Israel is the only country in the world that suffers condemnation for fighting back when attacked--and that bespeaks loudly of anti-Semitism, for no other reason is discernible.
One useful aspect of their pamphlet is they list the names of  brands of goods at MEC which are made in Israel; this made it easier for me to find items to purchase that are from Israel.
Thanks to the protesters for their pamphlet with the comprehensive list of goods made in  Israeli to buy when you visit at MEC.
But you can get a list here without soiling your hands taking their grubby little pamphlet.

I mentioned to every shop assistant that I talked to that I was looking for items made in Israel and they all seemed pleased.

The lady at the check out gave me an encouraging word for my support and her antipathy towards the protesters and invited me to return tomorrow (Sunday) for the pro-Israel demonstration. When she saw my Israel flag she asked me if I was Jewish, and when I said not but just a supporter of Israel she gave me an encouraging: "good for you."

The report I got from Toronto is that the pro-Israel people were more in evidence in Toronto than the pro-Hamas brigade, supported by the pictures ...


A short while ago we had the odious Sid Ryan of CUPE trying to initiate a boycott of Israeli academics, and this is the same kind of besmirching of Israel.

MEC is a co-operative and therefore it's members have a voice at the annual general meeting;the UJA Federation explains:
Become a MEC member by December 19, 2009. It costs only $5 and it gives you a say in how MEC is run at the company's Annual General Meeting.
... they  posted more information on their website - take a look if you this type of protest is repugnant to you and you would like to do something tangible to counteract it.



Gurth Whitaker
Calgary

Friday, November 20, 2009

The Media Spin on Israel


When the news media takes it's reports from Hizbullah, Hamas, or PLO sources it is usually based on outright fabrications; but leftists usually lap it up anyway.

What is harder to spot are the slight distortions, the slight twists or the spin, which although not a complete fabrication nevertheless deceive us. Because it is subtle it is more effective in its deception.

We have an expectation that our media will present us information in the news in a reasonably objective and truthful manner, and we formulate our opinions based on that assumption, however when the news concerns Israel and Palestine there is often some sort of deception involved which usually presents Israel in a bad light.

On this occasion the offending newspaper is the National Post in their headline "Peace Effort Stalls After Israel OKs Settlements, Nov. 18". The NP is usually one of the more reliable sources in this regard, however they are usually swimming against the tide of the  "mainstream media" ... which would be better named the  "lame-stream media."

Seems innocent enough but the word "settlements" completely distorts the true picture. Fortunately the NP publishes a letter to put the matter straight, but the damage is done, one more damaging distortion upon which to build the case of public opinion against Israel

Mike Fegelman, executive director, HonestReporting Canada, sheds light on the matter  ... the facts show a very different picture than that presented by the spin.

Gilo is not a 'settlement'
Contrary to the headline and body of this AFP report, the majority of the Israeli neighbourhood of Gilo is built on land legally purchased by Jews prior to 1948.
In the 1948 war, Jewish lands in Gilo were captured and confiscated by the Jordanian government. From 1948-67, Jewish landowners did not relinquish ownership to their land in Gilo and when Israel recaptured the land in the Six-Day War, Gilo was built.
Although the UN considers it a "settlement," Gilo lies within Jerusalem's municipal boundaries and is geographically contiguous to surrounding Jewish neighborhoods that pre-dated the 1967 reunification of the city.
Despite being over the 1967 Green Line, Gilo is certainly not a "settlement," in the most-used sense of the word which can conjure up images of isolated enclaves in the West Bank or hilltop outposts for those without a knowledge of the region.

Gurth Whitaker
Calgary, Alberta

Tuesday, November 3, 2009

US House backs resolution condemning Goldstone report

Some sanity reigns in the US and the EU


 
Further to my post on Lux et Veritas earlier (here)

According to the JP (full report here)
The US House of Representatives overwhelmingly passed a non-binding resolution on Tuesday condemning the Goldstone Report, that accuses Israel of committing war crimes in Gaza, and calling on the Obama administration to oppose its endorsement.
...and the EU is showing some backbone too:
Meanwhile, European nations launched intense negotiations with Arab states, ahead of a UN General Assembly debate on the report. 
In an attempt to scuttle efforts by Arab states to bring the matter to the Security Council, and from there to the International Criminal Court, EU states were backing new language emphasizing accountability for crimes against humanity and calling on Israelis and Palestinians to launch investigations into war crimes. 
The Obama administration has already condemned the report, which was expected to go to the UN General Assembly on Wednesday, as unhelpful to its efforts to revive stalled Middle East peace talks.

Democratic House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer said:
"I think the UN report is unbalanced, and unfair, and inaccurate,"
Pandering to the propaganda of the Arab and Muslim states does not help move towards peace in Israel-Palestine; on the contrary it is a barrier because it gives hope to all those that support Palestinian terrorism will eventually be victorious in its stated aims to destroy Israel.

What is needed is for the message to go out to the Palestinians that there is only one outcome and that is a peaceful one - not a military victory through terrorism and destruction of Israel.

The lasting principle should be that Israel has the right to defend herself against attack.

To put it simply, there can be no peace until Israel's right to exist is recognised throughout the Arab and Muslim world.

The content of the resolution is very encouraging, clearly identifying Hamas' responsiblity; a large portion of the report is included below with some key phrases high-lighted.

Gurth Whitaker
Calgary AB

The actual words of the motion passed by the House of Representatives is interesting & illuminating:

RESOLUTION
Calling on the President and the Secretary of State to oppose unequivocally any endorsement or further consideration of the `Report of the United Nations Fact Finding Mission on the Gaza Conflict’ in multilateral fora.
Whereas, on January 12, 2009, the United Nations Human Rights Council passed Resolution A/HRC/S-9/L.1, which authorized a `fact-finding mission’ regarding Israel’s conduct of Operation Cast Lead against violent militants in the Gaza Strip between December 27, 2008, and January 18, 2009;
Whereas the resolution pre-judged the outcome of its investigation, by one-sidedly mandating the `fact-finding mission’ to `investigate all violations of international human rights law and International Humanitarian Law by . . . Israel, against the Palestinian people . . . particularly in the occupied Gaza Strip, due to the current aggression’;
Whereas the mandate of the `fact-finding mission’ makes no mention of the relentless rocket and mortar attacks, which numbered in the thousands and spanned a period of eight years, by Hamas and other violent militant groups in Gaza against civilian targets in Israel, that necessitated Israel’s defensive measures;
Whereas the `fact-finding mission’ included a member who, before joining the mission, had already declared Israel guilty of committing atrocities in Operation Cast Lead by signing a public letter on January 11, 2009, published in the Sunday Times, that called Israel’s actions `war crimes’:
Whereas the mission’s flawed and biased mandate gave serious concern to many United Nations Human Rights Council Member States which refused to support it, including Bosnia and Herzegovina, Cameroon,Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, the Republic of Korea, Slovakia, Slovenia, Switzerland, Ukraine, and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland;
Whereas the mission’s flawed and biased mandate troubled many distinguished individuals who refused invitations to head the mission; Whereas, on September 15, 2009, the `United Nations Fact Finding Mission on the Gaza Conflict’ released its report;
Whereas the report repeatedly made sweeping and unsubstantiated determinations that the Israeli military had deliberately attacked civilians during Operation Cast Lead;
Whereas the authors of the report, in the body of the report itself, admit that `we did not deal with the issues . . . regarding the problems of conducting military operations in civilian areas and second-guessing decisions made by soldiers and their commanding
officers `in the fog of war.’;
Whereas in the October 16th edition of the Jewish Daily Forward, Richard Goldstone, the head of the `United Nations Fact Finding Mission on the Gaza Conflict’, is quoted as saying, with respect to the mission’s evidence-collection methods, `If this was a court of law, there would have been nothing proven.’;
Whereas the report, in effect, denied the State of Israel the right to self-defense, and never noted the fact that Israel had the right to defend its citizens from the repeated violent attacks committed against civilian targets in southern Israel by Hamas and other Foreign Terrorist Organizations operating from Gaza;
Whereas the report largely ignored the culpability of the Government of Iran and the Government of Syria, both of whom sponsor Hamas and other Foreign Terrorist Organizations;
Whereas the report usually considered public statements made by Israeli officials not to be credible, while frequently giving uncritical credence to statements taken from what it called the `Gaza authorities’, i.e. the Gaza leadership of Hamas;
Whereas, notwithstanding a great body of evidence that Hamas and other violent Islamist groups committed war crimes by using civilians and civilian institutions, such as mosques, schools, and hospitals, as shields, the report repeatedly downplayed or cast doubt upon that claim;
Whereas in one notable instance, the report stated that it did not consider the admission of a Hamas official that Hamas often `created a human shield of women, children, the elderly and the mujahideen, against [the Israeli military]‘ specifically to `constitute evidence that Hamas forced Palestinian civilians to shield military objectives against attack.’;
Whereas Hamas was able to significantly shape the findings of the investigation mission’s report by selecting and prescreening some of the witnesses and intimidating others, as the report acknowledges when it notes that `those interviewed in Gaza appeared reluctant to speak about the presence of or conduct of hostilities by the Palestinian armed groups . . . from a fear of reprisals’;
Whereas even though Israel is a vibrant democracy with a vigorous and free press, the report of the `fact-finding mission’ erroneously asserts that `actions of the Israeli government . . . have contributed significantly to a political climate in which dissent with the government and its actions . . . is not tolerated’;

See more of the House Resolution at the Washington Independent here

Tuesday, October 27, 2009

Child Warriors - A Moving Letter

On Monday the National Post (NP) published a deeply disturbing article: "Taliban Deploy Children, Military Says"
"... three separate explosions in Kandahar in the past few weeks in which as many as 12 Afghan children were blown up as they were being taught how to make or place improvised explosive devices in what one Canadian officer described as an "IED training camp."
 "IED training camp" (Improvised Explosive Devices), what an obscenity. The depths of evil that Islamic terrorists have descended to; the Taliban and Al-Qaeda in Afghanistan, Pakistan, and India; Al-Qaeda in Iraq; Hamas and Hezbollah in Gaza and Syria, the list of evil goes on.

Today the NP published a letter in response titled "Child Warriors"; I was very moved by this letter so I am posting it in its entirety, and let it speak for itself.
The Taliban's use of children on their front lines is a tactic taken straight from the pages of the Palestinians' jihad manual. For years, Palestinian terrorist groups have used children as human shields, launched rockets at Israel from preschools in Gaza, and sent children out to do the most dangerous jobs, in the hopes that they would die and the Israelis would be labelled "baby killers."
As former Israeli prime minister Golda Meir noted:
"Peace will come when the Arabs love their children more than they hate us."
She also stated,
"We can forgive you for killing our sons. But we will never forgive you for making us kill yours".
Elana Aptowitzer, Ottawa.
It must be said that the Palestinian tactic of using their children to fight a war by indoctrinating them to become suicide bombers has been rewarded by other Arab and Muslim nations by gifts of money, praise and ideological support. Hamas & Hezbollah, are the proxies for Iran and its chief export which is hatred, and the rockets to to kill civilians.

My thanks to Mrs. Aptowitzer for her letter and bringing the quotes of Gold Meir to light, the letter can be read here.


Lux et Veritas: The Couragious Golda Meir: "The Couragious Golda Meir
A wonderful story about the courage of Golda Meir and the cowardice of Austrian Chancellor Kreisky."


Gurth Whitaker
Calgary, Alberta

Friday, October 16, 2009

A Black Day for Human Rights (2)

How they voted.

According to the Guardian UK the voting at the UN Human Rights Council  in Geneva today was as follows:

In favour (25): 
Argentina, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, China, Cuba, Djbouti, Egypt, Ghana, India, Indonesia, Jordan, Mauritius, Nicaragua, Nigeria, Pakistan, Philippines, Qatar, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, South Africa, Zambia.
Against (6):
Holland, Hungary, Italy, Slovakia, Ukraine, US.
Abstentions (11):
Belgium, Bosnia, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Gabon, Japan, Mexico, Norway, South Korea, Slovenia, Uruguay.
Did not vote (4)
Angola, Britain, France, Madagascar, Kyrgyzstan.
I am not sure what the difference is between "abstaining" and "did not vote" (let me know if you understand it); this further information from the Guardian UK sheds some light on it, but it seems an overly subtle difference to me.
Gordon Brown reportedly had a heated telephone call on Wednesday with Netanyahu, who pressed him to vote against the resolution.
Brown spoke again with Netanyahu this morning, hours before the vote, and Britain then decided not to take part at all. A Downing Street spokesman said:
"We did not participate in the vote. We were involved in discussions with Israel and the Palestinians about potentially substantive improvements in the situation on the ground and therefore asked for a delay to the vote."
The Jerusalem Post has more on the reasons for UK and France not to participate in the vote:
An unnamed British diplomat told Israel Radio that in the hours prior to the vote, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown and French President Nicolas Sarkozy had tried to get clarifications from Israel that would enable the countries to vote against the resolution.
France and Britain reportedly decided to refrain from voting after the contacts with Israel failed to produce the results they were seeking. 
Well perhaps I was too hasty with my comments of quisling for Gordon Brown; I suppose I can't blame him for the state of the UN Human Rights Council. 


Gurth Whitaker
Calgary AB

ADDENDUM, apparently they are confused over at the BBC about the difference between "abstaining" and "did not vote." I found this gem on their website:
"No, we didn't abstain - we didn't vote."
Confused? We were. Apparently, there is a key difference between the UK government abstaining and not voting when the UN Human Rights Council backed a report into the Israeli offensive in Gaza.

A Black Day for Human Rights


A Black Day for justice and truth!

A Black Day for the peace of the Middle East!

A Black Day for the whole world!


The UN Human Rights Council  in Geneva today, passed a resolution endorsing the Goldstone Commission Report by 25 votes to 6, with eleven countries abstaining.

Five states, including France and the UK, declined to vote. I hand my head in shame at the coutnry of my birthday. The spirit of Winston Churchill is not alive in this administration, but the spirit of Nevill Chamberlain is in control.
"All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing." Edmund Burke
Brown the despised Prime Minister of the UK must wear the shame, must bear the epithet 

Quisling! Traitor! Betrayer! Collaborator! Judas! Turncoat! Fifth columnist! - you Benedict Arnold!

England you did not vote;
you didn't register your vote on this sham, this farce.

You failed to vote against this collection of human-rights abusers and didn't stand firm with the only democracy in the Middle East; Israel this tiny country in the Middle East surrounded by hate-spewing, blood thirsty war-mongers who have cynically sponsored terrorism, and suicide bombers. 

"It's all about the oil stupid!"

According to the Jerusalem Post, the Israel Foreign Ministry said in a statement today:
"The council's decision undermines efforts to safeguard human rights in accordance with international law, as well as the efforts to advance the peace process in the Middle East,"
"The decision encourages terror groups in the whole world and undermines world peace. The decision also ignores the fact that the IDF took unprecedented measures to avoid harming civilians, and [ignores] the terrorists' use of civilians as human shields."
the Post went on to say:
Although the Goldstone report also accuses Hamas of war crimes, the five-page resolution adopted in Geneva explicitly mentions only Israeli violations of international law.
Ealier today, I posted the video, of the address by British hero, Colonel Richard Kemp, addressing the UN Human Rights Council, on behalf of UN Watch.

Watch the video of Colonel Kemp's address here: Self-Defense is not a Crime of War.

Concerning the actions of the IDF (Israel Defence Force) in Gaza during Operation Cast Lead, Colonel Kemp told the U.N. Council that:
'the IDF is the Most Moral Army in History of Warfare'
Read the article in Jerusalem Post here: Israel slams UNHRC over its 'one-sided, unjust decision'


Gurth Whitaker
Calgary, AB

Self-Defense is not a Crime of War


British Hero Tells U.N. Council: 'IDF Most Moral Army in History of Warfare'
Today's emergency UN Human Rights Council debate on the Goldstone Report predictably saw a line-up of the world's worst abusers condemn democratic Israel for human rights violations.
In a heated lynch mob atmosphere, Kuwait slammed Israel for “intentional killing, intentional destruction of civilian objects, intentional scorched-earth policy,” saying Israel “embodied the Agatha Christie novel, 'Escaped with Murder'.” Pakistan said the “horrors of Israeli occupation continue to haunt the international community’s conscience.”
The Arab League said, “We must condemn Israel and force Israel to accept international legitimacy." Ahmadinejad’s Iran said “the atrocities committed against Palestinians during the aggressions on Gaza should be taken seriously” and followed up by the international community “to put an end to absolute impunity and defiance of the law.”
What the world's assembled representatives did not expect, however, was the speech that followed (see video and text below), organized by UN Watch.
We invited as our speaker a man who repeatedly put his life on the line to defend the democratic world from the murderous Saddam Hussein, Al Qaeda, and the Taleban.
The moment he began his first sentence, the room simply fell silent. Judge Goldstone, author of the biased report that prompted today's one-sided condemnation, had refused to hear Col. Kemp's testimony during his "fact-finding" hearings. But UN Watch made sure today that this hero's voice would be heard -- at the U.N., and around the world.
UN Watch Oral Statement
Delivered by Colonel Richard Kemp, 16 October 2009
UN Human Rights Council: 12th Special Session

Col. Richard Kemp on the Goldstone Report


Gurth Whitaker
Calgary, AB

Wednesday, October 14, 2009

Hezbollah Stockpiling Munitions in Homes

Hezbollah uses the homes of civilians to stockpile weapons and munitions in Southern Lebanon, in violation of the truce, and UN Resolution 1701.
"Permanent Ceasefire to Be Based on Creation Of Buffer Zone Free of Armed Personnel Other than UN, Lebanese Forces"
Thinking people are well aware that terrorist organisations such as Hezbollah (Lebanon) and Hamas (Gaza and West Bank), are no respecters of treaties or agreements, in fact they have no interested in peace, nor the welfare and rights of their citizens.

In fact quite the opposite as we saw in the war in Southern Lebanon, Hezbollah located rockets in the niddle of densely populated civilian locations. It was their express hope that civilians would be injured or killed to fuel anti-Israel hatred. Hamas followe tha same tactics in Gaza.

Now Hezbollah are stockpiling again, in preparation for another war; aided by Syria and their sponsor Ahmadinejad.

Hezbollah are stockpiling rockets to fire at civilians in Israel - and hiding them in villages. UN wake up!
The Israeli military released video footage on Tuesday it said was taken from an unmanned surveillance drone overlooking the scene shortly after the explosion. The footage was taken by an infra-red camera in black and white.

It showed frantic activity by dozens of people around the site with people loading at least one long object on a truck. The army then said two truckloads of munitions, including rockets were taken to another hiding place in a nearby village.

Tuesday, October 13, 2009

Israel is not the enemy of Palestinians

JP reports today on Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's speech at the opening of the Knesset's winter session on Monday: Netanyahu: PA must recognize Israel as Jewish state for there to be peace.
"We are willing to work hard for peace," but added that "Without recognition of Israel as the Jewish state, we simply cannot reach peace."
I have been saying for some years now:
Israel is not the enemy of the Palestinian people.
I believe that to be true to the bottom of my heart; so when I saw this same statement in Natanyahu's speech it resonated deeply within me.
"This is also the hour for leaders of the Arab states in the area to tell the truth to their people - that the State of Israel is not the enemy of Islam."
Israel is not the enemy of the Palestinian people. Who is? I offer this short list:

Saturday, October 10, 2009

Temple Mount - a tinderbox of mixed interests

It's nine years ago since Ariel Sharon visited the Temple Mount, which caused Palestinians to erupt in violent demonstrations. The second intifada was born.

Now the third Intifada is spawned... 


In 2007, the Jerusalem Municipality and Israel Antiquities Authority began rebuilding the Mughrabi Gate, one of the main entrances to the Temple Mount, perched next to the Western Wall.

While violence was minimal, the renovation work - which was immediately suspended - drew international condemnation and a Muslim outcry.

This week, violence again broke out on the Temple Mount. The difference was that in this case, there was no purported Israeli "instigation" - no Sharon visit or renovations at the Mughrabi Gate. Instead, this time around, the violence was believed to be the result of a politically motivated campaign launched by Sheikh Raed Salah, head of the Islamic Movement's northern branch.

Monday, September 28, 2009

Remembering the Yom Kippur War

Last Saturday was the Sabbath of Sabbaths in the Jewish year, and  I turn now to the surprise attack on that day in 1973.


The attack that marked the opening of the Yom Kippur War, was launched on October 6, 1973, the Day of Atonement - Yom Kippur - the holiest day in the Jewish calendar.

Egypt and Syria, aided by nearly every other Arab country, plus a few others, opened a coordinated surprise attack against Israel.

An attack that logically should resulted in the declared intention of the attackers to utterly destroy Israel and her people.

The combined forces of the Arabs had massive numerical superiority in armaments and men, and was the equivalent of the total forces of NATO in Europe; all these forces mobilized on Israel's borders, and poised to eliminate the tiny country, and destroy her.

The IDF (Israel Defence Force) had a scant 180 tanks to face the onslaught of 1,400 Syrian tanks on the Golan Heights.

Along the Suez Canal, IDF had 436 men, with 50 artillery pieces to defend against an attack by 100,000 Egyptians, backed by 2,000 artillery pieces, and "under the shield of one of the most extensive anti-aircraft SAM missile umbrellas in the world."

Russia had been arming Arab countries for such a war, whereas the US under President Nixon had been reluctant, and consequently the IDF was badly short of ammunitions and equipment. The French and the British chose to impose an arms embargo on Israel at the very time that Israelis were fighting for their lives. This reminds me of what happened during the lead-up to the Iraqi war, when France, Russia and Germany refused to support UN resolutions. If they had supported Bush and the coalition the war may have been averted; but those three countries cared more about being friends to the Arabs, and the economic cost of losing their lucrative contracts, or oil supplies, rather than doing what is right.

It is a sombre thought that logically Israel, should have been overrun. How they turned this devastating surprise attack from defeat is fascinating. Thank God that Richard Nixon and Henry Kissinger were able to send reinforcements. But that took three weeks to arrive; the war should have been over in a few days. The streets running with the blood of Israelis as promised by the Arabs.

The attack was not limited to Syria and Egypt. At least nine Arab states, including four non-Middle Eastern nations, actively aided the Egyptian-Syrian war effort.
  • Iraq transferred a squadron of Hunter jets to Egypt, a few months before the war.
  • During the war, an Iraqi division of some 18,000 men and several hundred tanks was deployed in the central Golan and participated in the October 16 attack against Israeli positions.
  • Iraqi MiGs began operating over the Golan Heights as early as October 8, the third day of the war.
  • Besides serving as financial underwriters, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait committed men to battle. 
  • A Saudi brigade of approximately 3,000 troops was dispatched to Syria, where it participated in fighting along the approaches to Damascus. 
  • Also, violating Paris's ban on the transfer of French-made weapons, Libya sent Mirage fighters to Egypt 
  • from 1971-­1973 President Muammar Qaddafi gave Cairo more than $1 billion in aid to rearm Egypt and to pay the Soviets for weapons they delivered.
Other North African countries responded to Arab and Soviet calls to aid the front­line states.
  • Algeria sent three aircraft squadrons of fighters and bombers, an armored brigade and 150 tanks.
  • Approximately 1,000 - 2,000 Tunisian soldiers were positioned in the Nile Delta. 
  • Sudan stationed 3,500 troops in southern Egypt
  • Morocco sent three brigades to the front lines, including 2,500 men to Syria.
Last week I mentioned the historic speech by Israel's Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu Historic at the UN.

This post on the Yom Kippur War was triggered by a fascinating story on the work of Gold Meir to achieve the support from Nixon.

Yehuda Avner, who served on the personal staff of five prime ministers including Golda Meir, gives a first-hand account of this crucial episode in Israels history in Saturday's Jeruslaem Post.


"A day of wrath, onslaught and sacrifice"

Information is from

Friday, September 25, 2009

Israel's Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu Historic UN speech

Ahmadinejad the hate spewing illegal president, who has declared his intention to wipe Israel of the face of the map speaks at the UN

Out of the 192 Assembly members, only a few, including Argentina, Australia, Britain, Canada, Costa Rica, Denmark, France, Germany, Hungary, Israel, Italy, New Zealand, the United States - and Sweden, walked out of the chamber while he spoke, to dissociated themselves from this odious messenger of hatred and lies.

On Thursday Israel's Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu took to task the countries of the world that had sat silently and listened the day before to Holocaust-denier Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, asking them, "Have you no shame, no decency?"

To those who boycotted Ahmadinejad's speech, or left in protest, Netanyahu said, "I commend you, you stood up for moral clarity.

"But for those who stayed - I say on behalf of the Jewish people, my people and decent people everywhere - have you no shame? No decency? What a disgrace, what a mockery of the charter of the UN," he declared.

Netanyahu continued by saying that the UN had been "founded after the carnage of World War II precisely to prevent a recurrence of such events."

"Nothing has undermined that mission, impeded it more, than the systematic assault on the truth," he said.

"Yesterday the president of Iran stood at this podium spewing his latest anti-Semitic rants. Just a few days earlier, he claimed that the Holocaust is a lie.

"Last month I went to a villa in a suburb of Berlin called Wannsee," Netanyahu went on. "There, on January 20, 1942, after a hearty meal, senior Nazi officials met and decided to exterminate my people. They left detailed minutes of that meeting, and these meetings have been preserved for posterity by successive German governments."

Dramatically brandishing the document, Netanyahu said it instructed the Nazi government exactly how to carry out the extermination of the Jews.

"Is this protocol a lie?" he asked. "Is the German government, all German governments, lying?"

"The day before I was in Wannsee," Netanyahu continued, "I was given in Berlin the original construction plans for the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp.

"These plans I now hold in my hand," he said, showing the worn-out blueprints to the assembly. "They contain a signature by Heinrich Himmler, Hitler's deputy. Are these plans of the camp where one million Jews were murdered a lie, too?" he asked.

"Perhaps some of you think that this man and his odious regime threaten only the Jews," he said. "But if you think that, you are wrong, dead wrong. History has shown us time and time again that what starts with attacks on the Jews, eventually ends up engulfing many, many others."

Netanyahu said that the Iranian regime was fueled by a fundamentalism that had burst onto the world 30 years ago and "has swept across the globe with a murderous violence that knows no bounds, and the cold-blooded impartiality in the choice of its victims. It has callously slaughtered Muslims and Christians, Jews and Hindus and many others."

Netanyahu said that the struggle against this fanaticism pitted "civilization against barbarism, the 21st century against the ninth century, those who sanctify life, against those who glorify death."

"Ultimately," he said, "the past cannot triumph over the future. And our future promises magnificent bounties of hope." Ticking off some of the technological achievements of the last hundred years, Netanyahu said, "We will find an alternative to fossil fuel, and yes, we will clean up the planet. But if the most primitive fanaticism can acquire the most deadly weapons, the march of history can be reversed" for a lengthy period, he warned. "This is why the greatest threat facing the world today is the marriage between religious fanaticism and weapons of mass destruction.

"Is the UN up to that?" Netanyahu asked. "Will the international community stand up to the despotism of a government against its own people?" - a reference to the recent elections in Iran. "The jury is still out on the UN. Recent signs are not encouraging."

The prime minister then went on to slam the recently published Goldstone Report, which accused Israel of war crimes during Operation Cast Lead in the Gaza Strip in January.

"Not one UN resolution was passed condemning Hamas rocket attacks on Israel," Netanyahu said, "We heard nothing, absolutely nothing from the UN Human Rights Council."

Monday, September 7, 2009

The Couragious Golda Meir

A wonderful story about the courage of Golda Meir and the cowardice of Austrian Chancellor Kreisky.

Israel was viciously threatened even before the modern sate was born. Many have forgotten that the Mufti of Jerusalem allied the Palestinians with Hitler and supported genocide. Israel was viciously attacked at the birth of the modern state and throughout her recent history; she is surrounded at home by hatred and vitriolic lies, and abroad by left wingers and nazis. This is the context for her cowardly betrayal (yet again) by a European so-called ally.

Austria closed the only pipeline for Jews escaping from Russia, caving in to threats from Arab terrorists.


The Arab terrorists had captured and taken hostage "seven Jews ... among them a 73-year-old man, an ailing woman and a three-year-old child."