iainlrabbak



Fight fundamentalists' fundimg

By iainlrabbak, February 1, 2010

Members of ProZion got this letter from Anat Hoffman.

Dear Friends of IRAC,

One of the first Hebrew words immigrants to Israel learn is savlanut - patience. They'll need it; it's a word they won't easily forget. But it will take them some time longer to understand its root, sevel, as the source of all Hebrew words for suffering.

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Breaking more silence on Israeli abuses

By iainlrabbak, January 29, 2010

Breaking the Silence is an organisation of Israeli reserve combat soldiers which has compiled reports about the abuse of Palestinians in the Occupied Territories.
Its latest report focuses on the testimony of female soldiers in the occupied territories and at checkpoints.

Here is an extract:

Another female soldier's testimony, who served at the Erez checkpoint, indicates how violence was deeply rooted in the daily routine: "There was a procedure in which before you release a Palestinian back into the Strip – you take him inside the tent and beat him."

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For freedom of religion for all Jews in Israel

By iainlrabbak, January 28, 2010

In the wake of the disgraceful arrest and interrogation of Anat Hoffman and another member of the Reform Movement activist for praying at the Western Wall, please sign this petition to Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu.
It reads
To: Prime Minister of Israel Benjamin Netanyahu

Petition to
The Prime Minister of Israel
Mr. Benjamin Netanyahu

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Exposing Israel's bluff on settlements

By iainlrabbak, January 27, 2010

This is how it works: construction in East Jerusalem isn't frozen, in fact it is boosted; construction already under way—that is, the foundations of which have already been laid—isn't frozen, including more than 3,000 apartments currently being built; construction of schools, synagogues and other public buildings isn't frozen (so they build boarding schools, where each student's bedroom will be quite large and equipped with a kitchen, a lounge, and one or two "auxiliary rooms"; and exceptions are granted under special conditions.

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Israel recognises the real cause of "new antisemitism" -- itself

By iainlrabbak, January 26, 2010

An Israeli/Jewish Agency report has found that 2009 was the worst year since the Holocaust for antisemitism.

The report does recognise, however, Israel's own part in the rise.

The report found that more anti-Semitic incidents were recorded during the first three months of 2009 than during the entire previous year. Israel's Operation Cast Lead in the Gaza Strip was cited as the cause for the dramatic rise.

I suppose it is too much to ask that Israel do us no favours in future.

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The settlements are illegal. Even the Israelis know that.

By iainlrabbak, January 25, 2010

Israeli journalist and historian Gershom Gorenberg — whose history of the settlements “The Accidental Empire” is well worth reading — has recounted that in 1967, “the legal counsel of the Foreign Ministry, Theodor Meron, was asked whether international law allowed settlement in the newly conquered land.”

In a memo marked “Top Secret,” Mr. Meron wrote unequivocally, “My conclusion is that civilian settlement in the administered territories contravenes the explicit provisions of the Fourth Geneva Convention.”

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It was what?

By iainlrabbak, December 11, 2009

Dmitry Salita and it appears the JC believe that the boxer was floored in 76 seconds by alleged antisemitic abuse as he walked into the Newcastle arena.
And there was me and several thousand others who watched the fight -- if it can be called that -- thinking that it was several fantastic right-left combinations.

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A little local difficulty

By iainlrabbak, December 10, 2009

The Board of Deputies treasurer Laurence Brass has told BBC Manchester Radio that he is not just the person who looks after the purse but is able to influence and steer the direction of the board.
"I want to steer the board in a particular direction, although you might think the treasurer is the man that just looks after the purse, he does have the opportunity to influence the politicaldirection the board is taking and that is something I feel quite strongly about," Brass said.

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Representative? I don't think so

By iainlrabbak, December 9, 2009

According to a report on this website, about 60 people (their own guesstimation) turned up to demonstrate against a very silly, student-politics-like anti-Israel choir singing at St Paul's in Covent Garden (The Luvvies' Church, for those who know).
A spokesperson for the Board of Deputies said that: “Organisations such as Jews for Boycotting Israeli Goods and the International Jewish Anti-Zionist Network no more represent the authentic voice of our community than do these mutilated carols represent the true spirit of Christmas for Christians.”

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A reason for losing in 76 seconds

By iainlrabbak, December 7, 2009

As an excuse for losing a boxing bout in 76 seconds, Rabbi Dovid Lewis of Newcastle United (Championship leaders, mngr: Chris Hughton) has come with one to rival "the dog ate my homework." There was, he claims, shocking anti-Semitic abuse, and the JC website leads with it.
I'm no great fan of JustPeaceUK, but one of its supporters has hit the proverbial on the head when s/he writes:

I am beginning to think those people are right who say the amount of

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Making the point

By iainlrabbak, November 30, 2009

Jonathan Margolis in The Guardian's G2 makes the point about being Jewish in the UK today much better than a million watch sites.
For a taster:

So has being merely Jew-ish rather than a proper Jew, marrying a woman who was half-Jewish, half-Methodist, and eating non-kosher food these five decades thwarted my children's option to be Jews, and by doing so played its part in the slow decline of Britain's Jewish population? In an odd way, it hasn't entirely.

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It's called Isra-bluff

By iainlrabbak, November 26, 2009

In Israel, the alleged freeze in settlement building would be termed "Isra-bluff" (a phrase invented by that great Israeli trio, Hagashash Hachiver, to denote official lying).

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Religious Freedom in Israel…Yeah…right.

By iainlrabbak, November 18, 2009

Israel has always maintained that only it can maintain religious freedom in Jerusalem. Well, I wonder what the "Israel, right-or-wrong" and hasbara merchants would make of this little nugget from the Jerusalem Post. I always thought that arresting women for praying as they wanted was reserved for places such as Sudan, Iran and Pakistan, not "the only democracy in the Middle East".

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Beware Gerrymandering Polls

By iainlrabbak, October 29, 2009

May I be the first to suggest that a poll such as today's on the Zionist Central Council's bid to ban Physicians for Human Rights will be knobbled by those who support this censorious bunch of fascists.

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