Sunday, November 03, 2013
The Balfour betrayal: How the British Empire failed Zionism
Zionism is, at its heart, an anti-imperialist movement.How Islamists Use History to Justify Terrorism
Theodor Herzl failed in all his encounters with imperial powers – the Germans, the Ottomans, the Russians, the British – to find support for a Jewish homeland in Eretz Yisrael.
The brilliant Vladimir Jabotinsky believed that England was the key to the realization of Zionist goals – he took a gamble that failed and his followers later fought the British Empire in the pre-state underground. In the end, it was the blood, sweat and toil of Jews that built the State of Israel.
Diplomacy and legal recognition were no doubt important – and are still important today – in the reality of the State of Israel. But let us never forget that the revival of our people by Jewish men and women, many who gave their life for the cause, forged the reality of that revival in Eretz Yisrael.
The lesson we should learn is that the promises of empires and superpowers to the Jewish people often turn out to be the worst sort of perfidy.
Nonetheless, today’s accepted narratives do not come from antiquated historians or primary historical texts; they come from the Saudi-funded ivy league—Berkeley, Columbia, Cornell, Georgetown, Harvard, Princeton, etc.—all of which peddle pro-Islamic propaganda (I personally had direct experience at Georgetown), including the “freedom loving jihadis” vs. “oppressive tyrants” thesis.Ebay's sick trade in Holocaust souvenirs: Outrage over auctions of Death Camp relics
Percolating out of liberal academia to liberal mass media, the effects of this well-entrenched but false narrative have taken their toll, ultimately helping to create a disastrous U.S. foreign policy.
TV historian Simon Schama said: ‘This is absolutely beyond belief. Plainly there is no moral atrocity to which eBay will not descend to make a buck. This is an unspeakable act of moral cretinousness.’ Founded in 1995 by Pierre Omidyar, eBay’s global revenue in 2012 was £9 billion. Its first president was Canadian Jeffrey Skoll, who is from a Jewish family.Elliot Adrams: Is the US spilling its allies' secrets?
The company bans the sale of Nazi paraphernalia, but said in these cases that the items had ‘slipped through the net’.
There is a pernicious pattern here, and other examples could be cited. Add this to the National Security Agency revelations, and the United States seems to be aggressive in stealing the secrets of some close allies and aggressive in ignoring the interests of allies by conveying intelligence information to the press. The continuing leaks about what Israel has been doing are dangerous and damaging. Israel is acting where we are not, enforcing red lines when we have failed to do so, and assuming risks we have refused to take. We act as a poor ally if we repeatedly and indeed recklessly increase the risk to Israel by treating sensitive information as fodder for the press.Israel to US: Syria raid leak ‘endangers our national security’
Israel’s fury was conveyed directly to the White House, as well as during meetings and conversations between senior Israeli officials and their US counterparts in the Pentagon, the CIA and the State Department, the report said.NSA tracked Israeli drones, missiles, papers show
Israel’s shocked complaints produced no American explanation or reaction whatsoever, the report went on, which Israeli officials ascribe to embarrassment on behalf of the administration. Israel believes the leaks may be “a consequence of negligence.”
And for the first time, the papers also reveal that Israel, along with nearly every other country on the planet, has been the target of NSA spying.Israel denies spying on Americans after Snowden leak
According to the papers, thousands of which were leaked by Snowden, the NSA has tracked “high priority Israeli military targets.”
These include unmanned aerial vehicles and the Black Sparrow missile system, a ballistic missile used as target practice for the Arrow missile-defense system.
Regional Cooperation Minister Silvan Shalom said unequivocally on Israel Radio on Thursday that Israel does not spy on the US, and has not done so since the Jonathan Pollard affair in the mid-1980s.Defense minister: Hamas preparing for new violence
“As someone knowledgeable of all the details, there are crystal clear directives against any action in the US or against the US,” he said. “There is a complete ban.”
Shalom characterized any claims that Israel’s intelligence services acted against the US as a “lie and a libel.”
Days after a clash on the Gaza border left five IDF soldiers wounded, Israel’s top defense official warned that continued violence from the Strip would bring an aggressive Israeli response.Movement within Gaza Seeks to Bring Down Hamas Government
“Hamas has been deterred and therefore maintains the quiet, but is preparing itself for a renewal of violence,” Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon said on Sunday morning while visiting soldiers who were wounded late Thursday in an explosion on the Gaza border.
Iyad Abu-Rok, official spokesman of the Gaza Arab 'Tamarod' movement, expressed his confidence that the expected anti-Hamas campaign scheduled for November 11 will proceed as planned.Singing Hatikvah in Riyadh
In an interview with Al Quds Al-Arabiya this past Friday, Abu-Rok explained that the main goal of the protest, in which Gaza residents will flood city streets in a demonstration of civil disobedience, is to topple Hamas's draconian control of the regional government - a government which disgruntled Gazans claim has taken away residents' rights, committed crimes against its own people, and completely destroyed the freedom of speech by using force to crush opponents.
One deeply offensive article published by Iran’s government-backed, oft-farcical English language news outlet, Press TV, even went so far as to suggest that the two countries should merge and become “Saudi Israelia” establishing the state religion as “Zio-Wahabbism.”Khamenei: Israel, Zionists 'Illegitimate and Bastard Regime'
Of course, despite the temporary alignment of interests the Saudis are no friends of the Jewish state. Maintaining no diplomatic relations with Israel, an effective Saudi ban on Israeli goods remains in place.
Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei attacked Israel and the US in remarks on his state-backed website today (Sunday), firing at Israel's supposed "illegitimate and bastard" regime and labeling the US alliance with Israel as an alleged "indulgence."Two new 'Death to America' songs revealed in Iran ahead of major anti-U.S. protest
"The Americans have the highest indulgence toward the Zionists," Khamenei stated, "and they have to. But we don't share such indulgence[s]." Khamenei further referred to the US as a "smiling enemy" who is not to be trusted for leaving the option of a US and Israeli strike on Iran in the event of continued nuclear weapons development.
Hard-liners in Iran have unveiled two new 'Death to America' songs at the former U.S. Embassy in Tehran, hoping to keep anger high ahead of nuclear talks with Western powers.Panetta: US may have to use military force against Iran
They performed the songs on Saturday ahead of a massive planned protest Monday to mark the anniversary of the U.S. Embassy takeover in 1979.
'Death to America' was one of the main slogans of the Islamic revolution that year.
While the US has “implemented unprecedented sanctions and pressure on Iran, we may very well have to use military force to back up our policy,” Leon Panetta said on Thursday night.Reports: Syrian Opposition Meets with Arab League Chief
The former US defense secretary and CIA director made the remarks while addressing around 600 people at the Anti-Defamation League’s 100th annual meeting.
Related:
Panetta, who was receiving the ADL’s William and Naomi Gorowitz Institute Service Award, said the US needs to “maintain a healthy skepticism” when negotiating to suss out Iran’s true level of commitment to negotiations over its nuclear program.
Leaders of the Syrian Opposition met with top officials of the Arab League in Cairo yesterday (Saturday) to discuss efforts to end the Syrian Civil War, Lebanese news site The Daily Star reports.Lebanese Media: Assad 'Weak' for Not Attacking Israel
The meeting reportedly took place between members of the Syrian National Coalition and Arab League Secretary General Nalib al-Arabi, where a discussion was launched regarding a possible peace conference to end the war, which has raged since the 'Arab Spring' in 2011.
A clip from a popular Lebanese satire program on the Lebanese Broadcasting Corporation (LBC) channel, blasting Syrian President Bashar Assad for being too "weak" and "ineffective" to respond to recent Israeli air strikes on Syrian military targets, has gone viral in Arab social media circles.Exposed: Muslim Brotherhood Operatives in the U.S.
El Watan, one of Egypt’s most widely circulated and read newspapers, has published a report discussing the Muslim Brotherhood’s influence over the United States, especially in the context of inciting pro-Brotherhood policies against Egypt’s popular June 30 Revolution, which resulted in the ousting of Muhammad Morsi and the Brotherhood from power.ADL Honors Ukranian Archbishop Who Saved Jews During Holocaust
Titled (in translation), “With Names, Identities, and Roadmap… El Watan Exposes Brotherhood Cells in America,” it’s written by investigative journalist Ahmed al-Tahiri,
The Anti-Defamation League posthumously honored a Ukrainian Archbishop on Friday for his role in saving Jews during the Holocaust.Uruguayan Delegation Visiting Israel Seeks to Learn How to Become a ‘High-Tech Nation’
Metropolitan Archbishop Andrei Sheptytsky, a spiritual leader of Ukrainian Catholics who headed the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church from 1900 until his death in 1944, was honored with the ‘ADL Jan Karski Courage to Care Award’ during the ADL’s Centennial Meeting in New York City. The religious leader was recognized for his courageous efforts to protect Ukrainian Jews from extermination by supplying false identification papers and shelter from the Nazis at a time when such acts were punishable by death.
A large delegation of Uruguayan business and political leaders arrived in Israel on Friday aiming to learn how “to turn Uruguay into a a high-tech nation and exporter of technology,” Uruguayan Vice President Prof. Danilo Astori told Israel’s Globes business daily.New hope in untangling Alzheimer’s Disease
“We’ve come here to learn from you, because you’re the pioneers in this area, and you have a global reputation,” Uruguay’s vice president said.
A team of Tel Aviv University researchers have identified a specific set of molecules called microRNAs that detrimentally regulate protein levels in the brains of mice with Alzheimer’s disease and beneficially regulate protein levels in the brains of other mice living in a stimulating environment.Lockheed-Martin to open major subsidiary in Israel
“We were able to create two lists of microRNAs — those that contribute to brain performance and those that detract — depending on their levels in the brain,” says Dr. Boaz Barak, one of the authors of the study. “By targeting these molecules, we hope to move closer toward earlier detection and better treatment of Alzheimer’s disease.”
Lockheed-Martin announced earlier this year that it intended to open a facility in Israel specializing in information technology, but, according to Executive Vice President Patrick Dewar, work is to begin immediately on expanding that project into a full-fledged subsidiary of the tech defense giant, Maariv reported on Sunday.
Dewar, who is currently visiting Israel, said over the weekend that the company, in addition to building a branch for IT and cyber protection, will seek to expand cooperation with Israeli defense companies and to work in the domestic security market. (h/t Bob Knot)
