YNetNews: Our speech at the UN

Original Link

Assaf Wohl presents Gaza operation speech he wrote for our United Nations ambassador

By Assaf Wohl

Members of the United Nations,

Democracies, dictatorships, republics, and the honorable secretary-general:

Within a few hours, media outlets in your countries shall present horrific photos of blood, fire, and rubble from the Gaza Strip. The Palestinians will be screaming, in front of the cameras, about the massacre undertaken by the State of Israel. Initially, you may show understanding for our operations in the Strip, yet once the photos of wounded civilians reach you, you shall press us, as is your custom, to stop defending ourselves.

The first signs of this phenomenon can already be seen. Calls to “end the violence” from across the world are being heard loud and clear – yet they are only being heard now, after years of violence, and after Israel finally decided to respond. The European Union already rushed to declare that it condemns Israel’s “disproportional use of force.” Several news networks have brought together panels whose members are scrutinizing the law books at this very moment in order to ascertain whether the Jewish State violated some international law.

I do not intend to deal with the question of where were these condemners and critics for the past seven years, when Hamas’ murderers set the timers of their rockets to coincidence with the end of the school day in Israel, because of a declared aim to kill as many children as possible. The question we should be discussing at this time is as follows: Why do the countries of the world and global media outlets obsessively engage in strict criticism that is only directed at Israel? After all, there is not even one country out there that is required to adhere to the moral criteria which the world demands of us – of us of all people, the ones who as opposed to the rest of the world face threats of extermination.

Our Arab neighbors are well familiar with this double standard vulnerability. On their part, they are not bound by any kind of moral code. And so, they learned to exploit the international strictness towards Israel. A long time ago, they already understood that they cannot face the State of Israel on the battlefield. Indeed, when it comes to photographs and videos, they boast uniforms and weapons, yet once the fighting gets underway, they are quick to take off their uniforms and assimilate among women and children used as human shields.

They also make sure to place their arms depots in hospital basements and to fire rockets at population centers out of schoolyards. Their great hope is to elicit an Israeli response that would unintentionally hurt a few children. Once that happens, they will wave their bodies before the cameras and cry out to the world for help. This was the case in Lebanon, and this may happen tomorrow in the Gaza Strip.

Easing Europe’s conscience
The states demanding that Israel adhere to certain moral standards do not even dream of asking the same of her enemies. After all, we are dealing with theocracies and dictatorships, where homosexuals are publicly hanged, where women are regularly stoned for undermining their “family’s honor,” and where children suspected of theft have their arms severed. What do these states have to do with the value of human life? We should therefore ask representatives of global opinion: Be honest with yourselves - Do the lives of humans being butchered daily in Iraq, Afghanistan and Darfur arouse you into similar action? Reality indicates this is not the case.

My answer to the question regarding the obsessive preoccupation with the actions of the Jews is purely sociological. Many of you, the shapers of public opinion, and mostly the Europeans amongst you, are interested in easing your conscience: If only can only show that the Israelis-Jews are not so moral or innocent, perhaps they deserve everything you did to them before they were able to establish their state? After all, here they are, occupying and butchering the poor Palestinians; they are certainly no better than us!

To that end, you are willing to help out the lowliest terrorists. Therefore, you bought into their slanderous Mohammed al-Dura tale, and therefore you will rush to buy into various blood libels in the coming days. Those who launch missiles and mortar shells into kindergartens know that they will always enjoy a protective umbrella from you. They draw their self-confidence from the intolerable ease with which they enlist your public opinion in their favor.

Therefore, you would do well to think twice before you move to stop the punishment they lawfully deserve. After all, you are the only lifesaver that can spare this radical terror group the measure of justice hovering above it.

IAF strike on underground Qassam rocket launching site

From Internet Haganah:

Note the abortive flight of a rocket after the strike.

LGF: Flying Pig Alert: Egypt Blames HAMAS

From LGF:

As Israeli forces prepare to enter Gaza on land, and warplanes continue to attack Hamas targets from the air, the Foreign Minister of Egypt is blaming ... Hamas?

Representative from Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood being hosted by UCI Academic Divisions

Hat Tip: An alert member of the UCI Faculty Family

The UCI History Department, MESSI, and two UCI research centers are bringing to campus a representative from the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood.

Click here for a selection of quotations from the leadership of the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood showing their support for violence.

Original Link from UCI School of Social Sciences

Title:	Religion and Democracy in the Middle East
Office:	International Studies
Event Date:	10/8/2008 - 10/8/2008
Details:	The Department of History, Middle East Studies Student Initiative (MESSI), Center for Research on International and Global Studies (RIGS), and Center for Global Peace and Conflict Studies (CGPACS) present: "Religion and Democracy in the Middle East: A New Generation of the Muslim Brotherhood Takes the Stage" with Ibrahim El Houdaiby, leading young member of the Muslim Brotherhood, Cairo Wednesday, October 8, 2008, 1:00-2:30 p.m. Humanities Instructional Building, Room 135 El Houdaiby will discuss the history and current positions of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt, the situation of democracy in Egypt today, the rise of a new generation of secular and religious cyber-activists, the challenges and successes they've encountered in struggling for democracy, and the role of U.S. policy in furthering or stifling democracy in the Middle East. Ibrahim El Houdaiby is a leader of the emerging generation of political and social activists associated with the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood, the oldest religiously-founded group of its kind in the Middle East. He is a board member of ikhwanweb.com, the Muslim Brotherhood's Official English Website. A graduate of the American University in Cairo, he holds a B.A. in political economy, and is currently working towards an MA in Islamic Studies at the High Institute of Islamic Studies in Cairo. He is a freelance columnist and researcher, with published articles and research papers in Arabic and English periodicals and journals. His Arabic works were published on IslamOnline.net, IkhwanOnline.com, Weghaat Nazar Monthly, Contemporary Muslim Quarterly, Al Badeel Newspaper and Al Dostoor Newspaper. His English works were published in th Guardian, Daily News Egypt, Jewish Daily Forward, World Politics Review, CommonGroundNews.org, Conflics Forum and CEPS. This event is free and open to the public. For further information, please contact Mark LeVine, 949.824.8304.

A selection of quotes from the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood leadership showing support for violence

This is a selection of quotes - I will be adding more as time permits.

From MEMRI (Middle East Media Research Institute):

Leader of the Muslim Brotherhood Sheik Mahdi Akef: We Are Ready to Send 10,000 Men to Palestine, But It Is the Egyptian Government that Should Arm Them

Video Clip

Following are excerpts from an interview with Sheik Muhammad Mahdi 'Akef, Leader of the Muslim Brotherhood, which aired on Al-Hiwar TV on November 30, 2007.

Interviewer: During the Israeli aggression against Lebanon, you said that the Muslim Brotherhood was prepared to arm ten thousand young men, and to send them to Lebanon in order to support the resistance. Does this apply to Palestine too?

'Akef: This applies to any country under occupation. One of the principles of the Muslim Brotherhood is to rid the Arab and Islamic nation of any foreign rule. The Muslim Brotherhood must support all the forces of resistance in the Arab and Islamic world.

Interviewer: From where will they get the weapons?

'Akef: I don't know. I was talking about men, not weapons. I said we would recruit ten thousand men...

Interviewer: Armed men...

'Akef: No, you added the word "armed." The government must arm these people. When I fought in Palestine, the government knew about it. The government trained and armed us. As you know well, the military commanders worked with the Muslim Brotherhood. When we fought the English in 1951 in the [Suez] Canal, the government knew about it. We would undergo weapons training within [Al-Azhar] University.

Leader of Muslim Brotherhood Mahdi 'Akef: Arab and Islamic Countries Should Obtain Nuclear Technology "For Military Purposes"

Video Clip

Following are excerpts from an interview with Muhammad Mahdi 'Akef, Head of the Muslim Brotherhood, which aired on Al-Alam TV on May 14, 2006.

Muhammad Mahdi 'Akef: The Western world - American and Europe - is not fighting Egypt but Islam. They do not want Islam to survive. Therefore, whoever protects Islam is fought against.

The Arab and Islamic countries suffer from severe backwardness, and the Western world wants to make them even more backward. It does not want these countries to progress at all.

[...]

The Muslims are required to remain backward in all fields, not only the nuclear field. All fields of advanced modern technology are closed to the Arabs and Muslims - let alone the nuclear field.

Is it not the duty of all countries to have nuclear technology for peaceful purposes? Even if it is for military purposes... Doesn't America have this? Doesn't Israel have this? Doesn't Europe have this? Are all the countries entitled to this, except for the Arabs and Muslims? Brother, this is illogical, inconceivable, and unjustified.

From IkhwanWeb.com, the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood's official English language website:

Akef: How Can We Support Hamas

Wednesday, March 1, 2006
Hamas in the middle of a storm, how do we support it?

A Message from Mr. Mohammad Mahdi Akef – Chairman of the Muslim Brotherhood

In the name of Allah; and peace and blessings be upon His messenger and his proponents.

Resistance is the Consience of the Ummah[Editor's note: "resistance" is the Palestinian's way of stating support for attacks targeting not just the Israeli military, but also deliberately targeting innocent civilians]
Palestinian resistance is the conscience and dignity of our Ummah. It gave life to the Ummah, and revived its weak hope. It frustrated the Zionist project that targeted the heart of the Ummah, not Palestine only. It forced the whole world to recognize the Palestinian people after harshly denying their existence. As a result, the Ummah protected it; and the people supported it sincerely. Had it not been for hindrances and obstacles set up by the governments, thousands and may be millions desiring to liberate the land, freeing sanctities, and restoring rights, would have joined the Palestinian resistance, indifferent to accusations from old and new colonization countries.

From IslamOnline.net, formed by Sheik Yusuf Al-Qaradawi, the spiritual leader of the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood:

Qaradawi Criticizes Al-Azhar for Condemning Jerusalem Attacks

DOHA, Dec. 4 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - A leading Muslim religious scholar in Qatar on Tuesday criticized Sheikh Mohammad Sayyed Tantawi, the highest authority in Sunni Islam, for his condemnation of "any attack on innocent civilians," in the wake of weekend attacks that killed more than 26 Israelis.

"How can the head of Al-Azhar incriminate mujahideen [fighters] who fight against aggressors? How can he consider these aggressors as innocent civilians?" asked Sheikh Yusuf Qaradawi, quoted by Qatari newspapers.

Tantawi, Sheikh of Cairo's al-Azhar University, the oldest university in the world, said Monday that Islamic Shari'ah law, "rejects all attempts on human life, and in the name of Shari'ah we condemn all attacks on civilians, whatever the community or state responsible for such an attack."

Tantawi was referring to both Israel and the Palestinians in his statement.

"We disapprove of all whose who justify attacks against children by reasoning that the children will join the army when they grow up."

These arguments "are odious. I reject them and they are contrary to the recommendations of the prophet Mohamed," said Tantawi, who was appointed by Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak.

"Has fighting colonizers become a criminal and terrorist act for some sheikhs?" Qaradawi asked. He added that "Israeli society was completely military in its make-up and did not include any civilians."

In Israel, "men and women are soldiers," added Qaradawi. "They are all occupying soldiers."

Ynet: Miki Goldwasser: No More Gestures

Again, I sense my tribalism here.

From: http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3579077,00.html

10:21 , 08.07.08

No more gestures

Instead of releasing more prisoners, we need to get something for a change
Miki Goldwasser

On Wednesday I met with Noam Shalit, the father of abducted IDF soldier Gilad. Yet the very same day, we heard about Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas’ delusional request to our prime minister: As a goodwill gesture, Abbas asked that Israel release 150 prisoners, including Marwan Barghouti and Ahmad Saadat, the man who planned Minister Rehavam Ze’evi’s assassination.

A gesture for what? I was crying after I heard it. The grave of my son is still fresh. The pain is terrible. Yet despite this, I cannot but think all the time about Aviva Shalit, Gilad’s mother, who needs to cope with oh-so-humanitarian Israeli gestures while her own son is held in cellars of horror.

Does PM Olmert also have Aviva Shalit on his mind? I hope that our own people will make it clear to our prime minister that we cannot make any more gestures. No more. We too want gestures.

For example, we want negotiations on Gilad Shalit’s release to be accelerated. For example, we want Gilad to be handed over to the Egyptians. For example, we want Gilad to be granted the basic humanitarian right of Red Cross visits. Don’t we deserve it?

We have made plenty of gestures already. Sick Gazans receive medical treatment in Israel, and Israeli doctors have been saving lives in Gaza without asking whose children they are saving. The children of Hamas men have also been treated. Yet somehow we do not get any gestures.

Therefore, Mr. Olmert, I hope that you come back to your senses and realize that even goodwill gestures must secure something in exchange. And if Mahmoud Abbas cannot give us Gilad Shalit in exchange for those gestures, then make no more gestures, Mr. Olmert.

Gilad Shalit comes first; only then you can think about Mahmoud Abbas.

Miki Goldwasser is the mother of fallen IDF reserve soldier Ehud Goldwasser

Jerusalem Post: The real victims are...

Hat Tip: Israel Matzav

I am not completely sure how to respond to this.

Samuel Friedman's Salon.com April 2002 article "Going Tribal" described to a T what I was feeling at that time. Those feelings have returned to a certain degree.

That's all I'll say for now.

Elizabeth Devorah Goren-Friedman, 54, who was killed in the murderous bulldozer attack in Jerusalem on Wednesday. Photo: Reproduction

The Jerusalem Post Internet Edition

The real victims are...
Aug. 4, 2008
SETH J. FRANTZMAN , THE JERUSALEM POST

A person grows up and believes there are perpetrators and victims. He sees a person assaulted or hears about a rape or someone being abused, and he believes that in each incident there is a person who perpetrates the crime and a person who is the victim. Then one becomes more "enlightened" and learns that the victim is not as interesting as the perpetrator. The perpetrator's life story and mental state are deemed important in order to understand "why" he or she committed the crime.

Then one grows even older and wiser and comes to learn that when there is a crime, the actual victim is the perpetrator's ethnic or religious group, which will be viewed negatively because of what he did. In the end, one learns that the real victim in every crime is the wider society - particularly the group the criminal came from. This is how one grows up in modern Western society. In this world the "victims" of World War I, far from being all the soldiers or civilians killed, were the Germans because, as the aggressors, they were punished by the Versailles Treaty. The victims of the Holocaust were not the Jews who died but the Palestinians who saw the survivors sent to their homeland. The victims of the three recent acts of terrorism by Muslims from east Jerusalem are not the 11 dead and 70 wounded Jews, but the Palestinian Arabs who might lose work because of the actions of their countrymen.

I REMEMBER the first time I learned how this "true victimhood" works. I was a college student in Tucson, Arizona. Along with everyone else, on September 11 I awoke to news of the terrorist attacks. But a day later, when I began to read the local papers, I was astonished to learn that the true victims were not the 3,000 dead Americans but the nation's Muslims, because after 9/11 they would face increased scrutiny and perhaps even hate crimes.

There were soon marches in my city, not to condemn terror or support the families of the victims, but to reassure Muslims. Muslim human rights groups became wealthy off the notion that Muslims were victims.

As if to reinforce this notion, the BBC published a story on July 24 by Heather Sharp entitled "Palestinian workers fear backlash." There was no story about fears by Israelis of more bulldozer attacks; the only people who were truly victimized, it seems, were Palestinians. The story relates how Palestinian face "widespread discrimination" and how they "fear revenge attacks. They say stones were thrown at them as they worked near a right-wing neighborhood." (What exactly constitutes a "right-wing" neighborhood, according to the BBC, is not clear.)

It turns out, according to the BBC, that "in both attacks using construction vehicles, the motives of the attacker remain a mystery - local press reports suggested that the attackers had previous involvement with crime and drugs, and no links to militant groups have emerged."

There is no mention of the fact that both attacks were directed at Jews and Jews only.

ONE IS reminded of the closing scene of the film A Time to Kill (1996), when the white attorney of a black man accused of shooting three white rapists of a black girl in the American South is giving his closing statements. Realizing he cannot convince the white jury to acquit a black man, the lawyer asks them to imagine the raped girl was white.

In the case of these Jerusalem attacks one must do the same. One must ask viewers of the BBC to imagine that the drivers were settlers driving over Arab children. Then one must ask oneself, would the media claim that "settlers fear backlash"? After Timothy McVeigh bombed Oklahoma City, were we told that the real victims were right-wing militias and Christian conservatives who now feared a backlash?

The real victims of terror are the people who die and are injured. There are no other victims. We must therefore steel ourselves against the media's ever-present attempts to turn innocent Afghan children into the "real" victims of 9/11. The real victims of 9/11 were those who died that day.

Elizabeth Goren-Friedman, 54, Jean Relevy, 68, and Batsheva Unterman, 33, were the victims of the bulldozer terror attacks in Jerusalem. They and the 50 wounded. No one else.

The writer is completing his doctorate at Hebrew University.

This article can also be read at http://www.jpost.com /servlet/Satellite?cid=1215331190732&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull

Copyright 1995- 2008 The Jerusalem Post - http://www.jpost.com/

US Dept of Ed Reopening UCI Civil Rights Complaint

Apparently the fat lady hasn't sung yet.

Read all about it at:

Red County Campus Watch

Reut R. Cohen's Blog

Praise and commentary on the UC iFest 2008

I have to praise Hillel, Jewish Federation, Anteaters for Israel, AEPi, and Epsilon Phi for putting on the 2008 UC iFest. My only participation was as a spectator for the "Israeli" Shabbas Dinner, but this video shows what they did over the past week.

Educating the students, faculty, administration, staff, and local community members with the positive facts about Israel was a great step.

The hookah smoking and nightclub partying...well...I can only chalk it up to them being from a younger generation.

On Yom HaShoah, one of the powers-that-be in the campus Jewish leadership announced that the iFest events would include educating the Jewish students on questions to ask the anti-Semites that are coming to campus. I've talked to two different individuals who regularly spend time on campus, and both said that they did not see this.

Maybe it did happen, and both of them missed the event(s). If it did, great - I look forward to seeing the results of those efforts. But if that did not happen - if the education was merely a litany of positive facts about Israel - then I must express my concerns.

Positive facts are an important part of the process of combating anti-Semitism. But the MSU's speakers work from an irrational standpoint, and the positive facts are going to only get the students so far.

So, let me offer up some suggestions for the students. Check back on these pages, as I don't have time right now to link everything.

• Myths and Facts - a most valuable resource for a lot of the schlock dished by the anti-Semites


• Film or audio record the anti-Semites, whether they're indoors or outside; you have a right to do so as UCI is a public university, and as long you are doing it quietly and peaceably, nobody is allowed to stop you. Post the video online and then post a comment with a link to the video in the latest blog post such as this one, Red County, or Reut R Cohen's.
  
  Not that they won't try; rumor has it Nida Chowdhry, the UCI MSU's Public Relations Board member, as well as some blond burly Russian guy - tried to stop people from filming Wednesday night's Norman Finkelstein event. To paraphrase (perhaps quote) Lee Kaplan of Stop the ISM, there is no such thing as a secret society on a public university (read: UCI) campus. On top of that, only a judge can legally force you to erase any recording you make; so if the police, administrators, or the MSU tell you to erase a recording you've made, politely tell them "no". If you get arrested for quietly and peaceably recording events, or if the police confiscate your camera equipment and tamper with your recordings, the lawyers will have a hayday making mincemeat of the other side.


• Know the campus policies - I'll post a compendium of applicable policies later, but for now, here's a link to the UCI implementation of the UC-wide policies and the UCI Principles of Community. We play by the rules, so there's no reason why the MSU or anybody from UCI shouldn't.


• If you experience anti-Semitism, or know someone who has, you need to report it. First, if you or someone else is injured, call 9-1-1 ASAP or get to a medical facility.
  
  Next, go here to get a list of email addresses to contact; give details such as who was there (people involved as well as bystanders), when it happened, where it happened, what happened.
  
  Also, tell a leader in Hillel immediately. I have received assurances from a prominent board member that Hillel will make sure to do whatever it takes - filing complaints, following up, contacting attorneys - if the university administration does not take your complaint seriously. If the Hillel doesn't do its job - or if it tells you to suck it up or, even worse, calls you a troublemaker - call the ZOA at 212-481-1500 and ask to speak to Susan Tuchman.
  
  In case you're wondering why I'm so suspicious of Hillel and the UCI administration, it's because of my own experiences. I'm hoping this iFest event is evidence that Hillel has changed their ways.