raycook



First they came for the Saturday people – the Egyptian Copts and why a one-state solution in the Middle East is not possible

By raycook, January 5, 2011

We are all probably now painfully aware of the onslaught against the Christians of Iraq.

I have previously written about the harassment of the Christians of Bethlehem and the Middle East here.

Less is reported about the plight of the ancient Coptic Christian community in Egypt.

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Palestinian National Orchestra and BBC's historical illiteracy

By raycook, January 4, 2011

I had to read a BBC News article twice recently; not something I would recommend.

The subject was 'Palestinian orchestra to hold debut concert in Ramallah'.

Great. I'm all for culture and it's good to see what must be essentially a Muslim orchestra playing western music.

The article shows us orchestra members including a woman in a hijab. So far so good.

Then the jaw-dropping bit:

The first Palestinian orchestra of professional classical musicians since 1948 is due to perform its debut concert in Ramallah in the West Bank.

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BBC: English Defence League demos 'feed Islamic extremism'

By raycook, November 19, 2010

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-11787839

Only problem with this is that, however repugnant the EDL may be, does the BBC really think that protesting about something makes it worse?

Does protesting about anti-Semitism make more recruits for anti-Semitic groups?

If protesting extremism increases it, then why protest about anything?

The answer maybe 'how' those protests are made and the true motivation behind them.

But I have a sneaking suspicion that Islamist extremists don't rely on the EDL for their recruitment drives. It's actually quite the reverse.

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The true face of the EDL

By raycook, November 18, 2010

Is this what anyone should be associated with? Let alone Jews.

Watch it, then examine your conscience.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4bxzH9fxIko

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British troops and UN double standards

By raycook, November 7, 2010

The BBC reports (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-11702111)

More than 220 Iraqi civilians were subjected to "systemic abuse", including torture, by British soldiers and interrogators in Iraq, the High Court was told on Friday

Now replace 'Iraqi' with 'Palestinian' and 'British' with 'Israeli'.

Just mull that over for a while and test your reactions.

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Lawfare and the UN Human Rights Council

By raycook, November 6, 2010

Brilliant speech by Trevor S. Norwitz reported on UN Watch.

It completely demolishes the absurdity of the UNHRC, the Goldstone Report, the so-called Flotilla Inquiry and the abuse of laws designed to protect democracies from the very people that are now using those same laws to attack those democracies.

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Why I'm an ashamed Jew

By raycook, October 31, 2010

Yep, you read right.

I've had to admit it.

I can't live a lie any longer.

I'm deeply, deeply ashamed.

Ashamed of being Jewish? No way. I'm very proud to be Jewish and a member of the Jewish people.

Ashamed of Israel? Wrong again. I'm proud of Israel's achievements. I worry about its policies, sometimes; I'm concerned, sometimes about some of its actions and those of some of its citizens, but I could say the same for Britain and I'm still proud to be British.

So why am I ashamed?

I'll tell you. I'm ashamed of Jews who say they are ashamed to be Jews or Jewish.

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What lessons we should all learn from the Chilean miners

By raycook, October 14, 2010


A flame still burns

By raycook, October 6, 2010

The ‘ner tamid’, the eternal flame which burns in every synagogue signifying the eternal presence of G-d and, therefore, the eternal and abiding spirit of the Jewish people could have no more apt representative than Fiamma Nirenstein.

‘Fiamma’ means ‘flame’ in Italian and tomorrow, in Rome, she will head a demonstration entitled ‘For the Truth, for Israel’.

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Look who doesn't want two states for two peoples

By raycook, September 21, 2010

The Israel bashers here and ubiquitously in the media and around the world keep telling us it is all Israel's fault, they don't want peace, the Palestinian Authority recognised Israel years ago, Israel this and Israel that.

But one of the PA's leading lights, prime minister (no less) Salam (means peace) Fayyad has stormed out of meeting with Israeli Deputy Foreign Minister, Danny Ayalon because Mr Peace Fayyad refused to sign up to a summary of the meeting which recognises the need for two staes for two peoples.

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Viva Palestina's Hamas connections

By raycook, September 20, 2010

For those of you interested in the connection between Hamas and Viva Palestina and Hamas's reach within the British Muslim community, here's a link that may be of interest:

http://www.terrorism-info.org.il/malam_multimedia/English/eng_n/html/ham...

As Hamas is a proscribed organisation, I wonder why more is not being done to expose Hamas's activities in the UK. Maybe they are imprortant advisors to the goverment on better understanding between communities and multi-culturalism.

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BBC - well, it couldn't last long

By raycook, August 18, 2010

Hurray for Panorama!!

Boo!! to Paul Wood, BBC News reporting on Eden Aberjil's disgusting Facebook images of her posing with Palestinian prisoners. (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-10997011)

Here's why:

A great many young Israeli soldiers have photograph albums quite similar to Eden Aberjil's 'The army: the best days of my life'.

The only difference is that they do not post them on Facebook.

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Panorama – Death in the Med – credit where credit is due

By raycook, August 17, 2010

When I saw that Panorama, one of the BBC’s longest running investigative programmes, was being fronted by Jane Corbin, I was not sure that Israel would get a fair hearing. The last time I saw Ms Corbin in action on this programme was to report on evictions and demolitions in Jerusalem which ultimately failed to deliver a lot of context.

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Who Do You Think You Are? Echoes of Bathurst-Norman in Edwardian Ireland

By raycook, August 3, 2010


Israel will co-operate with UN flotilla enquiry

By raycook, August 2, 2010

At last!! The Israeli government has seen sense and decided to show that it has nothing to fear from a UN enquiry which appears to be unbiased – for a change.

Israel Prime Minister, Benyamin Netanyahu, released the following today:

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu today (Monday), 2.8.10, informed UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon that Israel would participate in the panel that he is establishing in the wake of the 31.5.10 events regarding the flotilla.

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Cameron: A turkey on Turkey, ga-ga on Gaza

By raycook, July 27, 2010

British Prime Minister, David Cameron, has completely lost it. He is campaigning for Turkey's entry into the European Union and thus for placing a growing Islamist country, that has strong ties with the enemies of the West, at the heart of Europe.

All this might have been acceptable in the past when Turkey was recognised as a secular Muslim country sitting between the West and the Islamic world, a democracy with a mixed Western and Eastern culture and an honest broker between the West and Islam.

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Remember all that fuss about Israelis forging passports....

By raycook, July 2, 2010

... allegedly. Well now the Daily Mail reports (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1290611/Russian-spy-ri...):

One of the women accused of being a Russian spy in the U.S. travelled on a British passport, according to the FBI.

Tracey Lee Ann Foley, who was posing as a naturalised U.S. citizen born in Canada, is believed to have been given forged British documents by her Russian handlers.

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Hague responds to Miliband statement on Israel

By raycook, July 2, 2010

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My Friend, Dr Mengele

By raycook, June 29, 2010

Very few of us have the opportunity or good fortune in our lives to meet, let alone to know, someone who is a truly great human being. Certainly someone like me, of only modest talents, whose life and profession do not lead to encounters with politicians, media stars or the literary Illuminati, would put himself in the category of ‘ordinary person’.

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Is UNRWA getting the message at last?

By raycook, June 28, 2010

Two articles today, the first in the Jerusalem Post and the second on the BBC website cast an interesting light on the way UNRWA (United Nations Relief and Works Agency) and its chief in Gaza, John Ging, are beginning to speak out against Hamas and its affect on Gaza, rather than Israel's embargo and maritime blockade. Or are they?

During Operation Cast, Ging was scathing of Israel and its putative attacks on UN compounds and its general tactics. The term 'War Crimes' was bandied about and there was a decided lack of interest in the tactics being employed by Hamas.

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