Submitted Comments RSS Feed Comments by Alex Khazanovich
Posted in: Boosting Jewish populations in Arab neighborhoods stokes tensions
I am not surprised by this article, which is another example of Kraftwerk (I used to like the band, it's Dina Kraft's viewpoint, disguised as "reporting" that I despise). The areas of "West Bank" are indeed known as Judea and Samaria to the Jews. Anyone would know that "Judean hills" are indeed the hills of Judea, which those who want to deny the Judeo-Christian tradition, now call "West Bank". Mr Evans, please remember the maxim of Goebbels and Stalin - if one repeats a lie often enough, people start to believe it. I am not sure if you are one of those duped in believing it, or one of those willful liers, purposefully spreading it. If I had to guess, I would think it is the latter, judging by the close-mindedness of your posts here. If I am mistaken, please forgive me; however, I would suggest that you check your sources. Many of the "facts" that you quote are patent lies. In fact, the first major controversy involving Wikipedia was when the Middle-East-related posts were hijacked by the Islamists and many untruths that the Arab propaganda has been perpetuating in their textbooks have found their way into what used to be a definitive, if voluntary research tool. It is for that reason that today Wikipedia is not considered a reputable source - because it is not verified, and can be untrue (and in this particular case is). Phil, you are not entirely correct - I must agree with Mr Evans here, that there are many Jews in the US who are very comfortable feeling American, so comfortable, in fact, that they forget about being Jews, waiting for an anti-semitic incident to remind them. They hide behind their Jewish parentage, though do nothing that makes one Jewish (like following the laws of Halacha) - e.g. "for my Bat Mitzvah I have performed a mitzva project by volunteering in the animal shelter on Saturdays". I am afraid that an average American Jew feels more empathy for a dog, than for a fellow Jew, which gives rise to the likes of Mrs Axelrod and Emanuel, and the bozos of J-street. There are plenty of those in Israel, like B'tzelem and Shalom Ahshav (whose one-time leader once told me that he considered Israel responsible for the PLO massacre of Jewish children on the bus in Maalot) or the anti-semitic Jew who got elected into the palestiinian parliament. Oh, isn't his name "David Evans"?
Posted in: The organ harvesting controversy: Did Sweden fumble or Israel overreact?
Don't know about others, but my indignation was not with the few anti-semites managing Aftonbladet, but with their foreign ministry's retracting the statement by the Sweden's ambassador to Israel. To me that was an indication that the majority of the country's population, which is represented by the sitting government, shares in these anti-semitic attitudes, and that blood libel is indeed alive and well in Sweden. When Swedish individuals had posted Mohamed-themed cartoons, which moslems deemed offencive, the government of Sweden saw fit to intervene and stop their publication and shut down the hosting web site. However, when it comes to offending the Jews, they are hiding behind the "freedom of speech", and are refusing to not only stop this crap, but even to condemn it. Or maybe the real problem is with us Jews that we do not speak with one voice, as some of us take offence the legitimate and very necessary actions of the Israelis to defend themselves from the attacks from its neighbors but none at being portrayed as blood-thirsty organ snatchers than at .
Posted in: Everybody needs to calm down (You too, Dems)
Rush Limbaugh may have gone a little too far in calling Dems Nazis. There is no similarity between the Left and totalitarian regimes of the world. Just look at what they have done in the 6 months since taking control of the elected branches of the US gov't: Domestic policies: - expand gov't control of the economy (with the bailouts of the automakers), - stifle free speech (in calling for "the fairness doctrine"), - push through the major, nation-altering legislations without the national debate (think healthcare, environmental "cap and trade"), -elevate status of the disenfranchised proletariat (by promoting organizations like ACORN, and appeasing trade unions), -trying to curtail individuals' gun ownership. Foreign policies: - Dissociate the US from our traditional allies like Colombia and make nice with the Socialists in Venezuela, Bolivia and Cuba; - travel around Europe and apologize for the supposed wrongs that the US has done, according to the European Communists, -blamed Zionist Israel (settlements, occupation, defending itself) against Peaceful Palestinians, -extended diplomatic olive branch to the dictatorial regimes of Iran and Syria. Hmm, maybe he is not that far off the mark in arguing that many left-leaning democrats are Socialists, perhaps not the National Socialists (aka Nazis) in Germany, but definitely up there with the Communist counterparts of the former USSR. The funny thing is - the latter have finally realized that what they had was a corrupt, bad system, while the Americans are choosing to try it on us. No wonder our educational system is rated so poorly. Oh, and by the way, I hear the persistent rumor that our esteemed president has approved some $20 Million USD to bring to the US and resettle the Palestinians who could not live under Fatah rule because they support Hamas. This isn't true, is it? That's change you can believe in.
Posted in: Rabbis start fast for Gaza
These guys are idiots - why make it "water-only"? Is it how they mark Yom Kippur and Tisha B'Av too? They must feel really strongly about this. I think it's time to stop half-hearted "fasting", and fast for real, no food, no water, no time limit - as long as it takes. They should also enunciate the goals of this fast more clearly - allow more weapons for Gaza, which are capable to reach not just Sderot, Ashkelon, Beer Sheva, but the rest of israel, too - Tel Aviv, Haifa - all of it. And while they are at it, they should also declare their support for iran's building of a nuclear bomb - once they can get a bomb like that to Hamas, it will make their goal of wiping out israel so much easier to achieve. Of course, they are doing it as great experts on Jewish tradition and the Halachic law and we should all follow Reform and Reconstructionsts' lead in practicing Judaism. No more of that Orthodox crap, not eating pork, not driving on Shabbat, not marrying outside of Jewish faith - these are the REAL Jews, real spokespeople for all the practitioners of Jewish faith. Heck, I'd love to sing more accolades to these guys but got to run - it's alsmost candle-lighting time.
Posted in: Jewish groups hail energy legislation passage
These groups do not speak for me, neither on the issues of foreigh affairs, relations with israel, nor internal policies. This bill is a bad bad idea, and the fact that they repeat Obama's statements verbatim is a tell-tale sign of whose agenda they are pushing. The leftist, communist ideas have discredited themselves throughout most of the world. Sadly, it is once again the Jews that are fostering them in the US. It is high time for the religious leadershim, including "rabbi" Saperstein, to remind the community (and themselves) that what makes us Jewish is not following the feel-good liberal ideas, which justified in the religious quotes, often taken out of context, but doing the Mitzvot of the Torah. it is the religious observance that has preserved the Jews for thousands of years, and not eating bagels and lox, and promoting the ideas of Trotsky and Marx. In fact, during the recent visit to Yad Vashem, I have noticed an interesting display panel, stating that the rise of anti-Semitism in Europe has directly followed the assimilation of the Jews there, and their departure from the Jewish communal issues and greater involveminent in the political affairs and governments in their respective countries.
Posted in: Lieberman: U.S. settlement demand a 'mistake'
I, too, think that the West must show more support to the Iranian protesteres, not because of what Ahmadinejad may be thinking, but because it is the right thing to do. I also think the growth of the Jewish population in the Arab-occupied Judea and Shomron should continue. If there is ever a peace agreement resulting in having 2 states, there will likely be Arabs in the Jewish state. No reason there should not be Jews in the Arab state - or "ethnically pure state" only applies against the Jews? Isn't that predjudice?
Posted in: Israel wrestles with settler challenge
The same way as the leftists tried to label all of the opponents of Obama (including Hillary Clinton at one time) as racists, now Ari tries to liken those who disagree with his leftist anti-Israeli point of view, to Hamas, and call those who don't support his anti-Israeli agenda as "not normal". I, for one, am happy that there are still plenty of those people whom Ari does not deem "normal" - had we left the stewardship of the land of israel to him and his ilk, it would have been pawned off to the highest bidder by now (tho Ari himself would feel very good about, at least until the reality of the situation hit him over the head).
Posted in: The view from a West Bank hilltop
Another example of the leftist, pro-Palestinian biased reporting. The "facts" of the altercation mentioned above make me ask some questions: "reportedly set fire to the nearby fields and groves owned by Palestinians" - reported by whom? the Palestinians - that's a trustworthy, objective source, worthy of quoting by serious journalists, just recall Mohammed Dura, and the "massacre of Jenin"; writing "they said it was set by local Palestinians..." seems to call into question the verasity of the fact that there was a fire, that the settlers had battled. Another questions comes to mind: aren't the same people who are quick to label the outposts "illegal", the same ones who will fight tooth and naild to call the illegal immigrants here in the US "undocumented"? Other than trying to smear the settlers, the article gives some sketchy facts about their life, but the few bits of information that come across paint the picture that the people living in Havat Gilad are motivated people, whose answer to Arab violence and murder is to settle unclaimed lands in Judah and Shomron, the territories occupied by the Arabs, though the proper standard of reporting would require that the author specify one or another (and not "West Bank"). Their life is tough, having to worry about everyday necessities, like water and electricity, but the dedicated Jews keep their spirits high. The fact that they are able to have wheat fields without impinging on the Arab agriculture tells me that there is enough land for them, and they the Arabs want them kicked out of spite, rather than of existential necessity (e.g. not having enough room). Interestingly enough, even reading this biased article, I see the picture of the settlers as non-violent people, who show their disagreement with the Israeli government, which has broken numerous promises and betrayed the trust of the voters, (and all the Jews) a number of times, in the mostly civil forms, more like Gandhi than Abbas. It is regrettable that all these facts come through BETWEEN the lines, rather than in the prose of the article. Reporting like this is not conducive for furthering one's understanding of the situation in Havat Gilad, nor for bringing about peace (as evidenced by some of the comments above).
Posted in: Rallying for health care reform, religiously
I like the idea of having affordable, heck, free, healthcare for everyone. But it is important to recognize, and clearly state, that to date there is no country in the world that has good medicine (with care standards approaching those in the US) that is working well. Canada? Let's talk about not being able to see a specialist for months, or not being able to get to a family doctor, because there is not enough of them practicing, Russia? Where they can't get even the common medications for people without a rich uncle (like the US Gov't) donating it, or where they reuse needles for injections? Sure, I think that our system is not perfect, and should change. So let's talk about specifics, looking at a specific country as a model. And then let's analyze its system and how it would be applicable to us, and which changes, good and bad, we can expect to see after this system takes hold. Talking about "universal affordable health care" without specifics is pure demagoguery, which has gotten many unscrupulous politicians where they are today.
RSS Feed Breaking News
Updated 11/20/09 @ 11:30AM EDT
- Canada's opposition Liberal Party is crying foul after the ruling Conservatives mailed out flyers extolling themselves as stronger supporters of Israel.
- Israel arrested five Palestinian Authority intelligence officers in the West Bank.
- Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas said Israel is conducting secret negotiations with Hamas.
- Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas was welcomed Thursday in Brazil by a state governor who is Jewish.
- Prominent South African Jewish leader and philanthropist Mendel Kaplan has died at the age of 73.
- Canadian Liberals object after Conservatives say they’re stronger Israel backers
- Israel arrests five P.A. officers
- Abbas: Israel talking to Hamas
- Abbas welcomed by Jewish pol in Brazil
- South African Jewish leader Mendel Kaplan dies
- Israel will send ship to NATO anti-terror force
- Obama: New Iran sanctions coming within weeks
- What should we bring? Thanksgiving foods that travel well
- Female Orthodox scholars helping women talk about sex
- Obama half-brother has Jewish roots
- Lieberman: Fort Hood could be terror attack
- J Street confab shows generational divide on Israel
- What really happened at the Reform biennial in Toronto
- Rubashkin convicted on 86 charges
- Obama shifts to Israel’s corner, but tries not to show it
- Sniffing underwear and other high jinks in satire on intermarriage
Posted in: Boosting Jewish populations in Arab neighborhoods stokes tensions
08/27/09 03:05 PM
Fernando, clicking your profile, I have accidentally saw your prior posts, and from them I gather that you live in Europe, or at least share the Europe's pacifistic idealism. The idea of living in peace is laudable, but the peace has to be just and strong, not the kind of fragile peace that is broken by terror acts and lobbing rockets over the border. Indeed, for someone who has never been a target of a terror attack it is quite difficult to relate to those who have, and it is easy to discount it as an occasional event, an act of a deranged individual, that should not justify drastic measures like occupation and building the border fence. However, I believe that if you have not been a target of an attack attributed to the islamic rage, it is only a matter of time until you will be. Remember the train attacks in Spain, the subway attacks in London, the riots and car-burnings in France? Did any of those countries kick them out of their houses or their lands? And if you think that giving up Gaza and West Bank is going to give Israelis peace, think again - the acts of Palestinian terror have been happening many years before the 1967 war, when Israel reclaimed those territories, and they stupidly gave up Gaza, their hopes for peace were dashed in the barrages of rocket attacks, kidnappings, and other terror acts. The only kind of peace the Palestinians want is the kind when all the Jewish dwellings are gone, including those in Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, and elsewhere. This is what the Palestinian mainstream education (not some fringe like al-Qaeda or Hamas) system teaches their children in school. Now, on the subject of veracity of the Bible - if there is no Bible, then there is no Jews (or Moslems, or Christians). Why is it that in your country there is a history of persecuting the Jews?