Tag Archives: Israel

Also in Media – IAF conducts drill with UAE, Pakistan – Israel Military News | JerusalemOnline

01 Thursday Sep 2016

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It was revealed today (Thursday) that for the first time, pilots from the Israeli Air Force participated in a training exercise with military pilots from Pakistan and the UAE. The joint-drill was conducted during Exercise Red Flag that ended last week in Nevada, US. Fighter aircraft from the US and Spain also participated in the drill. Exercise Red Flag is a unique training drill during which air forces from all over the world work together in several types of missions.

Continue reading:

IAF conducts drill with UAE, Pakistan – Israel Military News | JerusalemOnline

9/1/2016

Also in Media – Barry Shaw – “The Death of Progressivism and Israel”

27 Saturday Aug 2016

Posted by in 21st Century Feudal, Also in Media, Anti-Semitism, Israel

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In my book “Fighting Hamas, BDs and Anti-Semitism” I detail the discovery of a new strain of anti-Semitism that I noticed in Europe, namely the urge by haters to drive a wedge between the local Jew and the Jewish State.

I wrote of several examples of the modern form of Jew hatred in the section entitled “The Malmo Symptom.”

I named it that to reflect the experience suffered by the local Jews of Malmo when their mayor, Ilmar Reepalu, insisted that they must “denounce Israeli violations against the civilian population in Gaza. Instead, it decides to hold a (pro-Israel) demonstration in the Grand Square, which could send “the wrong signal.”

This veiled threat that his Jews must toe his anti-Israel line, at a time when Israeli civilians (some related to the Malmo Jews) were being targeted by intense Hamas rocket bombardments from Gaza, is shockingly revealing.

Read the rest of the story –  Barry Shaw – The Death of Progressivism and Israel – 8/27/2016

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Also in Media – “Israel’s Next Hezbollah War” – Philos Project – 8-12-2016

17 Wednesday Aug 2016

Posted by in 21st Century Feudal, Also in Media, Israel, Lebanon, Middle East

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Shaharabani said that the July 2006 Lebanon War “was the longest Israel had experienced since its War of Independence in 1948,” but any future clash with Hezbollah will make those destructive 34 days pale by comparison. According to his FDD coauthors, the Israeli government estimates that Hezbollah has approximately 150,000 rockets today as opposed to the mere 14,000 it possessed prior to the 2006 conflict. Writing for the Weekly Standard, Vanderbilt University law professor Willy Stern said that this gives Hezbollah a “bigger arsenal than all NATO countries – except the United States – combined.”

Source: Israel’s Next Hezbollah War – Philos Project

Truth Telling about Israel by Think Tank EMET

27 Monday Jun 2016

Posted by in 21st Century Feudal, Anti-Semitism, Conflict - Culture - Language - Psychology, Israel, Middle East, Syndicate Red Brown Green

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Dershowitz focused on largely unsuccessful efforts to promote Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) against Israel among American universities, campaigns that nonetheless helped “mis-educate a generation of future leaders.” BDS leaders admitted to wanting “to destroy Israel as the nation state of the Jewish people” contrary to rhetoric of pressuring Israel to conclude a peace settlement with Palestinians. Simultaneously the “very anti-peace” BDS movement “sends an erroneous message to the Palestinian street and the Palestinian leaders that says you don’t have to compromise…we will get you your state through extortion.”

Read more: Family Security Matters – 6/23/2016

Zionism – Wistrich on Herzl – Excerpt from an Essay

10 Friday Jun 2016

Posted by in Conflict - Culture - Language - Psychology, Israel, Political Psychology

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According to the account which he gave to the Hebrew writer, Reuben Brainin, less than a year before his death, Herzl was attracted to the Messiah legends of the Jews from early adolescence. At the age of twelve, he had a “wonderful dream,” which he recounted as follows:

The King-Messiah came, a glorious and majestic old man, took me in his arms and swept off with me on the wings of the wind. On one of the shining clouds we encountered the figure of Moses. The features were familiar to me out of my childhood in the statue by Michelangelo. The Messiah called to Moses: “It is for this child that I have prayed!” And to me he said: “Go and declare to the Jews that I shall come soon and perform great wonders and great deeds for my people and for the whole world!” 19

Shortly after this dream Herzl read a popular science book which presented electricity as the new King-Messiah which would liberate the nations and all mankind from servitude. At first he was indignant but then he began to wonder if electricity might not be the promised redeemer and decided to become an engineer—a childhood ambition which he never fulfilled. What is striking in this dream is the strong identification with Moses, with the Exodus from Egypt and technological advances that could totally transform the lives of humanity. It is precisely such a fusion of tradition and modernity, the idea of a new Jewish exodus and the Promethean redemption of mankind through the Zionist enterprise, that provided the élan vital of Herzl’s project.

Wistrich, Robert S.  “Theodore Herzl Between Messianism and Politics”.  PDF. Page 25. Essay republished online at Goodnewsto blog, n.d.

Such essays are passed to BackChannels along with the day’s feed in news.  Although so much reading online makes for a fragmented educational and informational experience, the fragments, when they are true — valid and reliable — do come together in three-dimensional mosaic.  The Torah, commentaries, histories far and near, and current events test each sentence.

Are dreams such as that of the “King-Messiah” poppycock?

Having attained and age in which cynicism and skepticism greet sentimentality too often, the BackChannels editor might say, “Probably so”, but let’s see where it goes.  However, the sentence, “It is precisely such a fusion of tradition and modernity, the idea of a new Jewish exodus and the Promethean redemption of mankind through the Zionist enterprise, that provided the élan vital of Herzl’s project” has its weight supported by Israel’s exuberant contributions to the world in the creation and manufacturing of the broadest spectrum of new and continuously improved technologies.

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Tel Aviv terror attack shatters five myths — JNS.org

10 Friday Jun 2016

Posted by in Conflict - Culture - Language - Psychology

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The June 8 terrorist massacre in Tel Aviv exposed all five of the major myths that cloud discussions of Israel and the Palestinians.

Myth #1: “The problem is the settlements”

This was not a massacre of “settlers.” The attack did not take place in some disputed territory. Nobody can claim that the victims “provoked” the violence by living in some predominantly Arab area. These were people drinking coffee in the heart of Tel Aviv . . . .

Source for Continued Reading: Tel Aviv terror attack shatters five myths — JNS.org

Loosely related on BackChannels: Quote – Manipulation – About the PLO Leader – Pacepa and Rychlak (2013)

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FTAC – “Everyone Knows” (About the Jews)

06 Wednesday Apr 2016

Posted by in Anti-Semitism, Conflict - Culture - Language - Psychology, FTAC - From The Awesome Conversation

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PROPAGANDA ALERT!

“Everyone knows that American Jews and Israel are drifting apart . . .”

Everyone does “not know” because it isn’t the truth.

I am an American of Jewish descent.

I don’t speak Hebrew, but I belong to a synagogue. While I am as interested in being an American without a hyphenate, and in the United States of America, that is possible, I am not only comfortable being Jewish but democratic, humanist, liberal, and pro-Zionist.

The propaganda that starts with an assumptive phrase, “Everyone knows” often goes on to “about the Jews”. Most American Jews well know the history of the invocation of such phrases and the persecution of the Jewish People that continues apace without regard to possession of the Hebrew language or religious passion (Hitler, I believe, set the mark for “genocide” for one-fifth “Jewish blood”).

I don’t really want to take on the genetics crowd, but Jewishness, believing (in God) “ethical monotheism” and appreciation of cultural customs and holidays and rituals appear all over the world, from Cuba to the Asian subcontinent (include China and Africa . . . everywhere) through the Jews. Regardless of real race — talk about “rainbow coalition” — the vast majority of Jews recognize the significance, promise fulfilled, and powerful function of the possession of a real spiritual — and functional and functioning — homeland. Our culture — our way, our ethics, morality, our arguments . . . in fact: no Moses — no Muhammad — knows the land from whence it came, and in that most all share.

Ask a Baloch, a Kurd, a Pashtun (“B’ni Israel”) about his relationship with the Land of The People.

The response may be no different for the Hebrew People and Jewish People of the global diaspora. We know the land from whence we’ve come — and we know what we have had to overcome to get there. We are not drifting from that land: we are drifting the world closer to it.

Never mind the forum — the source of irritation:

http://mosaicmagazine.com/essay/2016/04/if-american-jews-and-israel-are-drifting-apart-whats-the-reason/ (4/4/2016 – a progressive book review by Elliot Abrams, no less).

So Jews argue (and the cliche goes: “two Jews, three opinions”).

Call what we do intellectual freedom combined with the ambition to learn and explore ethics, law, and psychology and much else without limits.

We’re not drifting apart: we’re drifting more together, and not only the Jews, but with the same “mixed multitude” that Moses led out of Egypt.

As regards the business of establishing a “Palestinian state” — and BackChannels’ editor endorses a two-state solution or, if unachievable, suzerainty — resides with the creaking old absolute-power enthusiasts: the PLO / PA and Hamas, both apparently incapable of change (on this blog, have a look at “Why the Jews“) and chained themselves (by money most of all) to the Moscow-Tehran axis, post-Soviet, neo-feudal, and relentlessly piratical, both of them.

The opener, “PROPAGANDA ALERT” may have ironic meaning for some (bigots), but it refers to the tack taken in the first paragraph of the Abrams review and might apply to liberal gloss throughout lauds the excessive criticism of Israel as programmatic in “saving Israel” (from those blasted far right wingers) while barely touching on the perfidy of the Jewish State’s sworn enemies –and not the Palestinians but the Palestinian leadership.

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FTAC – 24 Years – A Long Time Not Gone

05 Thursday Nov 2015

Posted by in 21st Century Feudal, FTAC - From The Awesome Conversation, Journalism, Philology, Syndicate Red Brown Green

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In response to reading only the headline, “Saudis refuse soccer match with Palestinians in Judea-Samaria” (November 4, 2015).

If true, I don’t think it’s nonsense. The Kingdom has to assert itself against the revised Moscow-Damascus-Tehran alignment. Everyone knows that the PLO was a KGB project from the git-go and that similar politics (as with a Moscow meeting with the PFLP at this time last year) have been sustained by Putin. The Kingdom — and Kingdom Holdings — Prince al-Waleed Bin Talal have become stakeholders in the west.

The Soviet dissolved in session almost 24 years ago.

For people who think with calendars, this next year could be a doozy.

Cute, But Slow Down That Trolley!

What was reading before reading that headline:

Saudi multibillionaire Al-Waleed bin Talal has said that he would stand with Israel against the Palestinians if a new uprising was ignited, Kuwaiti media reported on Tuesday.

According to the AWD news website, bin Talal told the Kuwaiti newspaper Al-Qabas: “I will side with the Jewish nation and its democratic aspirations in case of outbreak of a Palestinian Intifada.”

https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/news/middle-east/21971-al-waleed-bin-talal-supports-israel-against-palestinians

There has been a correction — or disinformation.

You decide.

The alternative and later-breaking headline shouts, “Fabricated quotes attributed to Saudi Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal on Israel-Palestine go viral” (October 29, 2015), and here is what it says:

An article from an obscure website falsely claiming that Saudi Arabian Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal had said that he would side with the Israelis against the Palestinians, went viral on social media before the prince released a statement on Thursday roundly denying the story.

Uh oh.

And Now the Rest of the Message from “Behind the News” (Israel)

The Saudi Arabian Football Federation has announced its refusal to play a World Cup preliminary match against the Palestinian national soccer team in a stadium near Ramallah, Samaria.

In its official announcement Tuesday to FIFA, Saudi Arabia expressed concern for the safety of its players in the sensitive area of Judea-Samaria, but reports say the real reason behind the refusal is fear that playing in the area would be a recognition of the “Israeli occupation.”

“Saudis refuse soccer match with Palestinians in Judea-Samaria” (November 4, 2015).

Of course, BackChannels prefers the allegation of Prince al-Waleed Bin Talal’s gentle swing west to the strident reportage and commentary produced by east and west partisan press.

To test public attitude and sentiment on any given but not yet presented policy, one may “float a trial balloon” — put it Out There: “swings west” vs “refuses play on Israeli occupied territory!” — and ascertain the public response to each possibility.

Happens every day.

What is the distance between the private convictions of the powerful and the public perception of the same?

The Prince Online

One of the largest shareholders in Citigroup, the second-largest voting shareholder in News Corporation after the Murdoch family, and with major stakes in dozens of other Western companies, he travels the globe often wearing bespoke suits instead of the traditional Saudi thawb. Based in a country where women can’t drive or vote, he champions women’s rights and discourages his female employees, who make up 65 percent of his workforce, from wearing the veil in his offices.

http://www.vanityfair.com/news/2013/03/myth-prince-alwaleed-bin-talal-saudi – 3/21/2013.

Saudi Arabian billionaire Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal’s Kingdom Holding Co. agreed to sell its almost 30 percent stake in Saudi Research and Marketing Group at nearly double the market value.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-11-01/kingdom-holding-sells-saudi-research-stake-at-91-percent-premium – 11/2/2015.

“Not in London, not in New York, not in Dubai, right here in Saudi Arabia,” he said eagerly. “Kingdom Hotels, that will go public in Dubai and London. But Kingdom Holdings, that must go public here, that’s for sure. Because half of my investments are in Saudi Arabia.” 

Farther down the column of the same piece:

Many of Prince Alwaleed’s most visible investments have been in the West, especially in hotel properties–most recently Fairmont Hotels & Resorts , which he purchased with Colony Capital for some $3.5 billion. Kingdom Hotel Investments, which Deutsche Bank and Morgan Stanley will take public, raising at least $300 million, holds stakes in 26 hotels including such landmarks as London’s Savoy, the George V in Paris and a number of Four Seasons properties.

http://www.forbes.com/2006/02/19/prince-alwaleed-kingdom-holdings-cx_daa_0220saudidiary.html – 2/20/2006.

The world online, probably much like the one represented virtually, appears to have arrived freighted with classes and masses.  The wealthy, the few breathtakingly so, appear to battle for share of control of the world’s productive businesses and resources, and two of the qualities of high honor, dignity and integrity, attend their achievements.  The much, much, and far less wealthy may both bask in that glory as well as swim in its patronage and its “sweet words”, at times, perhaps, pandering.

Where is the Prince going?

The reader’s guess may be as good as BackChannels’ — although a writer blessed with look-up time and cursed with imagination may have a small edge in the collection of tea leaves for floating above the dark waters of an abyss of possibilities.

Back rooms and boardrooms, closed curtains and curtains lifted on theaters, few in the world, much less meandering around the web, may ever ascertain a true state of affairs in the region of the practical interests and strategies of the world’s chief controlling agents of privately-held capital or privately-controlled state capital.  Whether watching Kingdom or Kremlin — how different those two! — the (public access) watching needs must take place from somewhere far on the sidelines — down the columns and between the lines of common publications — and however magnificent the parade, one may see only one’s own small and shades-of-gray portion of the passing show.

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