#you cheer on Hamas you cheer on ISIS

[lordadmiralfarsight]

Why is Leftblr plagued by political Karens ?

And no, I can't think of any other way to refer to so, so, so many of you who gleefully cheer for Hamas, deny or justify their crimes, apply a double standard against Israel (always in favour of the terrorist organisation, always), and so on and so forth.

Make no mistake, what Israel is doing in Gaza is horrible (though I would argue there's little alternative considering Hamas' goals and behaviour so far), and it's getting especially awful and violent in the West Bank, with too little oversight and far too much political complicity from the current Israeli government.

But what I'm talking about, in your behaviour, is in direct relation to the 7/10 attack, not what's happening in the West Bank.

You don't look at their ideology. Do you know what the ideology of Hamas is ? It's the same as Al Qaeda, the same as ISIS, the same as Boko Haram. It's violent, totalitarian islamism. It is intolerant and hateful, it wants to kill all who do not fit its mold. They openly - OPENLY - said they wanted to take over the world, and that once they were done with the Jews (the Jews, not the Israeli, the JEWS) it would be the Christians' turns. Does that sound like someone you want to cheer on ? Does that sound tolerant and acceptant ?

For me, as a French, all Hamas is, is another form of the monsters that killed hundreds in the Bataclan. That sent a truck through the crowd in Nice on the Promenade des Anglais. That murdered and took hostages in the Hyper Kasher.

It's the same cruelty and hate, the same interpretation of Islam that pushed Mohammed Merah to murder children in school in 2012. Because those kids were Jewish.

And all I can think, when I watch how you react ... how you cheer on Hamas ... is that it isn't the acts that bother you. It's whether it has the right stickers, the right buzzwords associated to it.

You're like a Karen, ranting and throwing a tantrum, because the mangos don't have the little organic sticker.

It's not an organix, marx-fed terror attack, so you don't like it. But the one in Israel, oh this one, it has the sticker, you're sure of it. You put it there yourself, because it is much, much more socially acceptable, in your little social circle of murderous, bloodthirsty political Karens to stamp your little Revolution-certified sticker on that particular terror attack.

But it's the same ideology, Karen. The mangos are identical. The murders are the same. The only real difference is the numbers.

And you can go "But IDF in Gaza D:" all you want. All I hear, is that you're willing to support ISIS, Al Qaeda and Boko Haram, so long as they put the right stickers on their murders.

You don't need to cheer for the monsters. You don't need to cheer for ISIS under a different flag.

You can criticize Israel without being antisemitic, as you keep saying. Maybe you should start doing that.

[germiyahu]

I would like to politely request that if you find yourself not understanding the point of my posts, don't engage with them. Don't embarrass yourself.

Because I certainly don't want to have to point out the irony of a person reacting to my (long winded) wry post about how uninformed uninterested Americans project and misinterpret the motivations, on a societal level, of Israelis and Palestinians... in a way that completely confirms that. You don't understand Zionism, point blank. You have not done your research, you do not understand why Jews for their entire history have yearned to return to Eretz Yisrael, and so you lie about that history, or you uncritically regurgitate other people's lies that you've heard about it.

You don't expect better of Muslims either, and there's a reason I only mentioned how people like you interpret this conflict to be about Jews vs Muslims, so do not pretend you care about the maybe 10% of Palestinians who are Christians. I note that the antizionist crowd routinely erases Bedouins, Druze, Samaritans, Circassians, Christian and Muslim Arabs who choose an Israeli identity over a Palestinian one. Not a single antizionist can mention the actual diversity of Israeli society without acting like their teeth are being pulled. So spare me.

My post was a (long winded and wry) assessment of what I have seen and what I think the general slacktivist Left conceive of Israel and Palestine. That it's a conflict between enlightened secular Christian-Lite white people who should know better, who should be over things like wanting a return to Zion... and what you see as noble savage barbaric Muslims who at least live a good honest non capitalist life, and we as the West owe them whatever they want because the War on Terror was horrific, yes.

But in the process you 1) erase the Jewish heritage and connection to their indigenous homeland, and replaces every single motivation for Zionism as racist imperialist bloodthirsty greed. Have fun gaslighting all of us as to how that's not blood libel. And you 2) excuse suicide bombing, targeting civilians, stabbing and driving over random people, mass shootings, war rape, hostage taking, torture, making fun little games out of torture... you'll excuse everything Hamas and their allied groups do in the name of "resistance," not just because you dehumanize Jews, but because I believe you really don't think Muslims are capable of being better than that. And because yeah, they're attacking Jews, who you view as privileged and annoying and the root of all problems in the world, so that's another reason not to expect better of them.

It ignores that there are tens of millions of Muslims who care about democracy, human rights, coexistence, peace... a lot of them are Palestinians. But you don't listen to them, you don't let them take the lead in their own liberation movement. You cheer on fascists because that's what a Muslim is in your head. Hezbollah, Al-Qaeda, ISIS, Hamas, now the Houthis: masked insurgents who have no regard for the sanctity of human life, no regard for their own people, sadistic manchildren who are only interested in enriching themselves and causing pain in the world, thinly scaffolded with the most cruel interpretations of a religion that a billion people follow. The only difference between you and your conservative racist parents is that you think the terrorists are the good guys now.

But thanks for stopping by :)

[eretzyisrael]

by Meghan Blonder

The head of the New York City public school system testified to Congress that he recognizes the "urgency of addressing" and "rooting out" anti-Semitism. Just weeks prior, he held an event alongside an anti-Semitic Democratic fundraiser who has promoted Holocaust denial and runs a pro-Hamas Facebook group.

Chancellor David Banks testified before the House Education and Workforce Committee on Wednesday to address the New York City public school system's response to rising anti-Semitism. He told the committee that his schools are "focused" on being a "candle in the darkness" in the fight against Jew hatred.

"At New York City Public Schools, we are focused on our charge to fight hate and foster inclusion through safety, engagement, and education," Banks said. "We’re working hard and we have a long way to go. There’s always more to do. I hope in New York we can be a candle in the darkness."

Less than a month before, on April 11, Banks and New York elected officials held an Arab American Heritage celebration which featured anti-Semitic Democratic fundraiser Maher Abdel-qader, who has promoted Holocaust denial and online content that describes Jews as "Satanic." Banks posed for a photo with Abdel-qader, who also is the founder and administrator of a Facebook group called "Palestinian American Congress" where members have posted anti-Semitic content and cheered Hamas terrorists.

In 2018, Abdel-qader shared a video that said Ashkenazi Jews are "not true Jews," accused Israeli Jews of "identity theft," and cast doubt on the validity of the Holocaust. "The Jews in Israel are not true Jews, they are Khazars Ashkenazi Jews, identity theft," the video said alongside a photo of a Jewish man wearing a ski mask to cover his face. "Research the truth about the Holocaust, and you’ll definitely start to question what you thought you knew," the video’s narrator says. In another post, Abdel-qader compared Israel to ISIS and accused the Jewish state of running "concentration camps."

In a 2017 post that echoed an anti-Semitic trope of Jews controlling the government, Abdel-qader claimed Sen. Ben Cardin (D., Md.) was a "foreign agent."

"Our US Congress is full of ass-kissing Israeli defenders. A few of them are actually unregistered foreign agents. Ben Cardin is one of them. He is convincing the rest of the lowlifes in Congress to throw away our rights to free speech, and kowtow to the illegal so-called 'state' of 'Israel,'" Abdel-qader said.

In the days after Hamas's Oct. 7 attack on Israel, members of Abdel-qader's Facebook group cheered the terrorist group's fighters.

An Oct. 12, 2024, post in Abdel-qader’s Facebook group read, "We don't want to throw you in the sea ... we want you to ride it back from where you came," accompanied by a photo of a Hamas terrorist with an elderly Israeli hostage. Another post commended the "achievements" of "resistance" fighters after they killed Israeli soldiers.

NYC Public Schools posted a photo online of Banks speaking at the event, with the caption: "Today we hosted our inaugural Arab American Heritage Month celebration!"

The revelation comes as other Democratic members of Congress also embraced Abdel-qader around the same time. "Squad" members Jamaal Bowman (D., N.Y.), Cori Bush (D., Mo.), Summer Lee (D., Pa.), Ilhan Omar (D., Minn.), and Rashida Tlaib (D., Mich.)—many of whom face a pro-Israel primary challenger—embraced Abdel-qader at an April 18 Washington, D.C., event.

Abdel-qader served as Tlaib’s finance committee chair during her first congressional bid in 2018 and has donated thousands of dollars to her campaign. Tlaib repeatedly thanked him for his help multiple times during her 2018 campaign. In November, he advertised a fundraiser for Lee and Tlaib, saying the "Squad" members "wholeheartedly" support the "just cause for Palestine."

In one photo from the event, Abdel-qader stands front and center displaying a special document, flanked by Banks and other leaders.

The celebration included a "showcase" of Arabic cuisine, music, handmade artistry, and cultural exhibits. The event also "honored" Abdel-qader and a Palestinian New York City police officer who spoke about the importance of the "Palestinian cause" for their "coordination and contributions to making the event both unique and enlightening," Arab America reported. Banks "commended their hard work and leadership,"according to the report. Abdel-qader was listed as a contributor to the article.

A New York City Department of Education spokesman distanced Banks from Abdel-qader.

"At our Arab American Heritage event we had only two honorary speakers: NYPD captain Filastine Srour and New York state assemblyman Nader Sayegh. We did not invite this individual to our event, nor was he honored, and the chancellor neither knows this man nor endorses his views," the spokesman told the Washington Free Beacon. Abdel-qader did not return a request for comment.

Banks during his testimony indicated that both Jewish and Muslim students have experienced hardship since the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas, and the school system is working to accommodate both groups.

"Our classrooms are not insulated from the global stage. Since October 7, our students and staff—Jewish and Muslim, Israeli and Palestinian—have suffered immensely," Banks said.

[the-garbanzo-annex-jr]

So stop your despicable whining. You are a disgrace and a shame to Jews like my friends and me who, for two thousand years, never had life as good and as privileged as you have it. They were getting butchered in Kiev and Odessa in their meager hamlets. They were burned at the stake during the Inquisition. The Crusaders broke into their homes and treated them as Hamas-ISIS does. And you are whining that 32 Muslim and Indonesian and Pakistani and Black Student groups sign a statement hating Israel and loving Hamas-ISIS? That is what they are. Grow up. They cheer the subhumans who cut off limbs, beheaded, and burned even children and babies. The Left distinguishes between bad rape and good rape. Hamas-ISIS is good Woke rape. Rape women who want peace. #MeToo. So, O Jews of campuses, stop whining. If they chant “From the River to the Sea, Palestine Will Be Free!” then gather a hundred of you and chant “From the River to the Sea, Yis-Ra-El Will Be Free!” If they chant for a “Palestine” that is a fraud because there are no “Palestinians.” But then you chant for Israel. Chant for Israel. And really get them angry by singing “G-d Bless America.” (READ MORE: Patiently Waiting for Israel’s Ground Invasion to Crush Hamas) As Woke leftists, you have been taught to whine, to seek safe spaces, to cringe at microaggressions. But whining will do no good. It never does. Get out there and affirm you are Jews. Affirm Israel’s right to live, even if it must kill 100,000 Gazans as collateral damage to exterminating Hamas-ISIS. Accept that the DEI Woke have no room for you. Stop waiting to be saved by off-campus organizations. You have to save yourselves, for G-d’s sakes! Christians will respect you for it. Many will join you. You don’t have to let a handful of foreign students — who do not even belong in America — along with a bunch of Jewish self-hating apostates, beat you down. There are more of you than them. Stop marching to the showers like lambs. This is not Auschwitz; it’s Harvard Yard. Stop whining. Fight back.

On the one hand, Fischer is pretty harsh. On the other hand, as we've seen, nobody is going to stand up for Jewish students. They only have themselves. Even psychotic, Jew-hating bullies respect strength.

By they way, there is more to the article. And Fischer is just as harsh.

[brushed-gecko]

my friend wrote a message to a youtuber she likes after seeing her comments regarding the recent war between israel and hamas, explaining why supporting hamas is wrong. i wanted to share it with you all so as many people as possible see it.

"Hi, my name is Hila, I live in Israel, and for the past few years I've followed your content and loved watching your videos. Your content has cheered me up in difficult times, which is why it's important for me to write this message. I have been debating whether or not to write this to you for some days now, so I hope you take the time to read it.

I want to start off by saying something that sadly isn't as obvious as it should be these days- I am against the killing of innocent men, women and children in Gaza. I am against most actions that my own government, which I did not vote for, has taken in the past years toward Palestinians. I believe that while the Israel-Palestine conflict is an extremely complex one, it can and must be solved peacefully and with as little loss of life possible.

The problem right now is that Hamas, the terrorist organization that started the war that is happening in my country now, has nothing to do with the Israeli Palestine conflict.

I want to explain this further with the next few very important points.

The first, is the way Hamas treats Palestinians and the Gaza strip, and while I assure you that the facts I'm stating here are true and proven, I urge you to read for yourself upon these issues. Throughout the years, all the donations sent to Gaza for humanitarian purposes, food and medicine, has been taken by Hamas and used to fund weapons.

Every time Hamas fires rockets at Israel, around 15 percent of them land inside Gaza, killing people who live there.

Hamas place their rocket launchers inside schools and hospitals, and surround them with children, so that if the launchers are attacked it will result in the death of children and injured innocent people.

These facts have created the saying known in the middle east- most countries use rockets to protect their citizens, Hamas uses it's citizens to protect their rockets.

The second point, is that because Hamas is a terror organization, they have never been involved in any discussion about the conflict, and as they stated many times that are only interested in the killing of the Jewish people, they can never be involved in these discussions.

The third point is that even in the eyes of countries and activists who are pro Palestine, Hamas has crossed a moral line. They are the same as ISIS, they are the same as the people who are responsible for the bombing in Manchester and the same as the people responsible for 9/11.

They are not an activist group who fight for the freedom of Palestine, they are murders and war criminals who use Gaza and it's innocent citizens as a base and cannon fodder.

I would like for you to know some of the things that Israel is doing right now.

In the IDF there is a protocol for bombing a building in Gaza called "Knock on Door". It means that as soon as a building is targeted, the IDF sends a message to evacuate the building and it's surrounding, as to minimize the loss of life.

Right now, as Israel is in an all out war with Hamas, the IDF has sent out a public announcement in all possible platforms to Gaza to evacuate the area which will be bombed 24 hours before the attack.

While we know that this is war and loss of life is inevitable, the IDF is doing the most it can to minimize Palestinian casualties, while Hamas is telling citizens not to evacuate, and use their own people, who they claim to fight for, as a human shield.

I don't know if you are aware of exactly what Hamas is doing in Israel right now, and I hope for your sake that you have not seen some of the terrible photos and videos that I have seen, but I must tell you what supporting Hamas means right now. It means supporting the killing of families in their homes, lighting houses on fire so the family hiding inside will have to run outside so they can be shot, the killing of children in front of their parents and the killing of parents in front of their children. It means supporting the massacre of people in a music festival. It means supporting the raping and kidnapping of around 130 men, women and children, and the literal beheading of 40 innocent civilians, some children younger than 5 years old. It means supporting the holding of entire families and children hostage. It means supporting sending a mother a video of her son being slaughtered through a message from his own phone which they have. It means supporting the killing of more than 1,300 people.

It means supporting pure evil. Even Palestinians and social activists are saying that this is not what they want, you do not fight for freedom with the blood of innocent people on both sides.

Almost all Israeli citizens, myself included, are extremely aware of the problematic way our country has treated innocent people, but if after reading all I have written here you can still say that you support Hamas, I suggest that you take a look into your own moral values.

One last thing, more than half of Israelis and Jewish people are brown and black."

[meyhew]

Don’t equate Hamas with Palestine. Hamas also oppress Palestinians

well i didn't. and i know for sure you are not palestinian and are simply parroting back what you've been fed by the media but my friend is palestinian and i asked her for clarification on what hamas actually does and its influence over the region:

Yeah Hamas basically “controls” (I say that v lightly, because control isn’t the right word really) Gaza. Hamas influence outside of the Gazan strip are mostly other members of Hamas who provide aid from the outside (like from the West Bank). I think asking how Hamas itself influences Gaza is not the right question, because once Hamas came into power in 2007, Israel and Egypt both closed their borders and started the blockade against the Gazan people. So really, it’s not Hamas who influences the region but Israel (of course). But really, they don’t influence daily life at all. They are not like the Taliban who impose their rule and ideology on the population. Hamas is irrelevant in daily life and only come about in situations as such. Hamas is a militant group that is not exactly 1:1 representative of the Palestinian cause and resistance and most Arabs will agree with this. But their only drive is the Palestinian resistance. At the same time the Palestinian ‘government’ (I think in English it’s the Palestinian Authority, has “power” in the West Bank but they are known among Palestinians to be bootlickers) is not representative of the cause either and have never done anything to help it. It’s also important to remember that Hamas is not nearly as barbaric as they are being made out to be. They do not decapitate babies, rape women, or kill children and there is proof that shows this. They follow a Muslim ideology at the end of the day, and during war they follow the rules of the Quran and Prophet Mohamed PBUH and not the extreme Muslim ideology that ISIS or the Taliban follows. All in all Hamas are a mere product of the 75 years of oppression and ethnic cleansing Palestinians have endured. Their actions help awaken the cause. When Arabs cheer and propagate what’s happening they are cheering the Palestinian cause and most dont care about Hamas specifically.

[shetterry]

You literally said non-fascists don’t wish for death on those they don’t agree with, on a post where you wished death on everyone in the hospital currently being attacked by Israel. You are a hypocrite. I don’t know if you’re trying to comfort yourself, but just so you know, babies in incubators can’t just be “moved” and even if they could there have not been supplies, food water and medical supplies given to Palestinians, they have not been given what they need to evacuate because they are not SUPPOSED to evacuate because this is Genocide! The goal of Israel is to wipe out every native Palestinian family. This has never, ever been about anything else.

Yeah I didn't wish death to those that don't agree with me(you, and any Palestinian supporter)

I wished death to militants an and horrible people who use children as tools for war in which they know they lose and these children will die

No child should die because their parents believes being a martyr is more important the love life and freedom.

No child should die because their parents think death by the enemy is the highest achievement they could get in their life.

ISRAEL ISNT AT FAULT FOR PALESTINIAN PARENTAL NEGLECT.

And they have being given PLENTY OF TIME to take care of that, literally 3 weeks!!!

And babies in incubator CAN BE MOVED(with the incubator)

Within 2 days of the start in the war in Oct 7

Israel has MOVED ALL OF THEIR PATIENTS FROM BORDERING HOSPITALS AND OPENED NEW UNDERGROUND FACILITIES TO TAKE CARE OF THEM.

when israel didn't even get a HEADS UP.

So I am not being a hypocrite

You are.

Supporting death of Palestinian children as long is it by Muslims hands

Supporting their oppression as long as it being at mulim hands.

Supporting child neglect and abuse as long as it is by Muslim hands.

And also where the fuck do you get your info?

There have been hundreds of trucks of national aid getting into gaza(in any legitimate news source)

Israel itself has evacuated Palestinians and protected them FROM HAMAS TRYING TO KEEP THEM IN ACTIVE WARZONE.

That is not fucking genocide you brainwashed pricks

Go read up what is genocide

Go read up how is it like to live under hamas

Go read up how hamas uses their civllians as human shields and is PROUD OF IT

Israel is doing it's best to prevent civllians casualties but it as impossible to not kill them when a terror organization uses HOSPITALS AS CENTER OF COMMAND breaking Geneva Conventions (if you are wondering why Israel isnt commiting war crimes, it's because hamas does it first, making any civilian infrastructure as a valid military target)

Also by your belief the fight against isis in Masul(much less populated than gaza, and isis much less integrated into civllian infrastructure.

Was also genocide against arabs

So I guess 2014 wasn't the fight against isis

But it was a genocide against Arabs all around the middle east by western countries.

There is no genocide against Palestinians and saying it again and again won't make a genocide that doesn't exist to exist.

So fuck you using genocide easily and throwing the worst crime against humanity like it is a cheer team slogan

Fuck you for supporting terrorists organizations

Fuck you for supporting oppression

You don't deserve to die

You deserve to meet your heros and be educated on who you are supporting

[megashadowdragon]

Cenk RAGES At Piers Morgan

@bottlepiecemuses

youtube comments

Cenk: "Criticism of Israel isn't anti-semitic! Isreal and Jewish people aren't the same thing!" Also Cenk: [hears mild criticism of Hamas] "HOW DARE YOU SAY THAT ABOUT THE PALESTINIAN PEOPLE!?!? YOU'RE SICK!!!"

Piers is killing it lately bringing on these "new media" influencers to expose their silliness and "unsafe" thoughts they foster in their audience. Nice to see it's not always a Nick Fuentes or some other WS type character. Time for progressive YT and bread tube to get some sun light shined on their cockroach party.

There are a lot of videos of people in Gaza celebrating during Oct 7th after the attack. One video shows two women in Hamas gear with rifles cheering on Oct 7. In the next video after Israel retaliated those same 2 women are dressed in civilian clothes crying for the camera dramatically. The ugly truth nobody likes to talk about is that Hamas has A LOT of support in Gaza. That being said Israel go far out of their way to avoid civilian casualties, often putting their own soldiers and operations at risk by doing so. This whole finger wagging by the west where they repeatedly lecture Israel on human rights and rules of war is insulting to Israelis. Nobody lectured Zelinsky on human rights violations when Russia invaded Ukraine. Hamas were elected to lead and represent the people of Gaza. Their lives are Hamas’ responsibility. Hamas uses them as human shields so they can push their anti-Israeli propaganda to gullible westerners. It is wild that with all the huge pro-Palestinian protests around the world not a single one had people criticizing Hamas. Westerners who believe the bs that Hamas spews will never understand the region. Groups like Hamas, Islamic Jihad, Isis, etc are all religious groups first and foremost. A lot of the leftists think that everyone in Gaza are all liberal westerners deep inside and that all they want is peace and prosperity. That is a dangerously stupid assumption. Hamas relies on westerners and their media to buy their lies. The other day a Hamas representative compared themselves to George Floyd. They know exactly how to take advantage of dumb western liberals.Show less

I role my eyes at how many times they try to call the electors trump put forward as fake electors rather then what they were actually ( alternative electors) and try to pretend trump contesting the election which people have done before ( 1960 for example not to mention the democrats contesting the electoral college vote count in 2106 ) means he doesnt believe in democracy when the alternative electors were part of the legal process

[daniella100]

Hello blog hello!

Time for a cup of coffee, light mild, dairy free. Emphasis on light. Caffeine light. I am so blessed. Most of us are. And my heart goes out to the people at War. What was Hamas thinking? What the heck really happened? What the heck!

I wanted to write a cheerful blog. But this situation is effed up. Let’s send them light. I mean it. Everyone send light, imagine it going into Gaza, Israel, Egypt, Syria, the White House, Iraq, Lebanon, Israel, Palestine. Light. It’ll help. Let’s experiment with it.

Enough War.

I was going to list Obama’s war crimes, here are a few: droned a MSF Hospital in Iraq; gave CIA carte blanche to drone drone drone; multiplied the US troops occupying Afghanistan; killed Ghadafi; allowed the Uranium deal with Russia, talk about collusion eh; gave 8 Billions to The Enemy so they could finance terrorism against America and Israel- the money was owned to the Shah that was overthrown by the Revolution, the people that he paid; cranked up arms sales to rebels on Syria that spiraled out of control and became Isis; let Saudi Arabia get Yemen, a war that goes on far longer than Ukraine; sent Victoria Noland to Ukraine to wrap up the coup and choose the next President; wire taped Trump’s campaign; went after the Free Press, spied on us.

In other words F you Obama, you son of a gun.

[schraubd]

Rate That Apology, Part 9: AIPAC!

A few days ago, it emerged that AIPAC had ran some rather ... aggressive ads targeting Democrats. "The radicals in the Democratic Party," the ad text read, "are pushing their anti-Semitic and anti-Israel policies down the throats of the American people." Whoof. The ads also linked to a petition which said that "It’s critical that we protect our Israeli allies especially as they face threats from Iran, Hamas, Hezbollah ISIS and — maybe more sinister — right here in the U.S. Congress." Double whoof. When I first saw these ads, they were so out-of-character for AIPAC (which -- reputation notwithstanding -- generally tries to avoid wading into partisan frays) that I assumed they were fake. But they were not, and AIPAC has apologized for running them. So let's rate that apology, shall we? The apology is four paragraphs long, and it is interesting while it starts off pretty good, each paragraph is worse than the one which comes before it. Let's take them one at a time:

We offer our unequivocal apology to the overwhelming majority of Democrats in Congress who are rightfully offended by the inaccurate assertion that the poorly worded, inflammatory advertisement implied.

That's not bad! What I like most about this is the phrase "rightfully offended". Not "those who were offended", not "if you were offended", not "read it as offensive". The apology owns up that the ad was, objectively, offensive. It also agrees that the ad was inaccurate and inflammatory. "Poorly worded" is a bit of a hedge, but in the context of the rest of the paragraph I don't think it detracts from the message.

We appreciate the broad and reliable support that Democrats in Congress have consistently demonstrated for Israel. The bipartisan consensus that Democrats and Republicans have established on this issue forms the foundation of the U.S.-Israel relationship.

This is also generally fine. It's less "apologetic" than the first paragraph, to be sure. But had these been the only two paragraphs, I think this would have been an overall pretty decent, unequivocal apology. Alas....

The ad, which is no longer running, alluded to a genuine concern of many pro-Israel Democrats about a small but growing group, in and out of Congress, that is deliberately working to erode the bipartisan consensus on this issue and undermine the U.S.-Israel relationship.

I understand the temptation to try to explain, in one's apology, why you said the thing you're apologizing for. I'm not going to say one should never do that, but it's a high-risk proposition and it rarely pays off. Mostly, that's because it comes off as an effort to dodge responsibility and to rehabilitate what actually matters, which is the underlying cause. But here we see pitfall of a different and more ironic sort. The purpose of the ad was to express concern about the erosion of a bipartisan consensus around Israel? Well gosh golly, what do they think this ad did if not contribute to that erosion? It'd be like writing an apology for cursing out prominent entertainer and then saying you did it only to draw attention about diminishing civility in public life.

We regret that the ad's imprecise wording distorted our message and offended many who are deeply committed to this cause. We look forward to continuing our work with friends in Congress to strengthen the U.S.-Israel relationship and oppose any efforts to undermine its deep, bipartisan support.

Oh how far we've fallen from the first paragraph. At the start, "poor wording" was contextualized in language that straightforwardly accepted responsibility. Here, it stands alone, suggesting that the only problem with the advertisement was in its choice in rhetoric and that it was expressing an important point poorly. Nooope. The advertisement called Democrats antisemites who were ramming anti-Israel politics down the throats of the American people in a fashion potentially more sinister than ISIS. We're a well ways past the point of poor wording here. AIPAC needs to actually reckon with what it did here, and why it was wrong. If the beginning of the apology seemed to gesture in that direction, it's gone by the end. I'll add one more note. For the most part in this series we've rated the apology of individuals, not organizations. And there are certain additional elements of an institutional apology that don't make a lot of sense for an individual. An individual can't "discipline" or "fire" the person responsible, nor can they really implement processes to "guard against this happening again". But an institution can, and maybe should be expected to. I don't think AIPAC has said anything on either of these fronts -- who was responsible, what actions (if any) were taken to discipline them, and what guardrails have been put up to ensure we don't see a repeat. That's worrisome, and knocks them down a grade. In general, my view of AIPAC differs substantially from the conventional wisdom. The latter sees AIPAC as this titan of Washington politics that brutally crushes even the slightest deviation from Likudnik policy. I see AIPAC as a paper tiger that generally seeks to cultivate relationships more than enforce dogma and has largely struggled to flex any concrete muscle in circumstances where there is significant political energy pushing against it. This truth is masked because for many years there rarely was any political energy pushing against -- but you see it in the case of, e.g., the Iran Deal, where AIPAC really did go all out to sink it and made pretty much zero headway. The problem AIPAC is running into is twofold. First, it wants to be bipartisan in an era of increased polarization. And second, it has a staff which I suspect actually is mostly left-of-center paired with a donor base that is increasingly right-wing. As much as folks like me see AIPAC as engaging in partisan attacks against Democrats (for all its talk about how it "supports a two-state solution", one never sees it drop $40 million to attack Republicans for abandoning it), it's also under a lot of pressure from its right flank which wants to see it really take the gloves off and explicitly come out as an anti-Democratic actor. They are tired of what they see as AIPAC coddling Democrats and want it to announce what they already know: Democrats are the anti-Israel party. These ads almost certainly came either from actors within AIPAC who agree with that sentiment, or as a result of pressure from external donors who are pushing that narrative. Hyperpolarization cuts both ways: Republicans, too, have little use for even a politically-friendly organization if it continues to gesture at straddling the middle. They don't want earnest efforts at cultivating bipartisanship; they want an attack dog. AIPAC isn't paying me for advice, but I'll offer some anyway: this would be a very short-sighted strategy. It's not just because explicitly aligning with the right would be perhaps a boon for the Republican Party but a disaster for pro-Israel politics. It's also that the right-wing actors AIPAC would embolden are ones whom AIPAC has surprisingly little influence over. Even as its reputation has drifted right-ward over the past few years, AIPAC has progressively lost influence among Republican elected officials who prefer to take their cues from more explicitly partisan outlets like ZOA or CUFI. AIPAC might rule the roost of "bipartisan" Israel talk, but it's hard to see what their niche is as just one explicitly right-wing group among many. For better or for worse, though, I doubt AIPAC is going to be able to right ship. It's just too big, and archaic, and creaky, and doesn't have the institutional adroitness to adjust to the new era its finding itself in. Unfortunately for people like me, these sorts of transitions are difficult, and there will be adjustment pains. Is it fun watching AIPAC get used as a punching bag, accused of forming an "unholy alliance" with Islamophobes and White Nationalists while prominent Democratic candidates nod along? Not for me -- but then again, perhaps AIPAC should have thought of that before handing out money to Frank Gaffney or putting Adam Milstein on its national board. More broadly, to the extent the pro-Israel movement aligns itself with Trump, that ipso facto represents allying with an Islamophobe and White Nationalist of the highest order. The sad truth is that AIPAC is mostly reaping what it has sown here. We can wince at intemperate rhetoric all we want, but the fact is the claim that AIPAC has aligned itself with -- has supported and is supported by -- at least some Islamophobes and White Nationalists is just as strong as the case that Bernie Sanders has aligned himself with antisemites, and the folks getting themselves up in high dudgeon over Elizabeth Warren not rushing to AIPAC's defense hardly would blink at similar accusations being leveled at Sanders (the idea that, if a rally-goer prefaced a question by saying Sanders is "forming an alliance with antisemites and Communists", Donald Trump would do anything but cheer him on is almost as fanciful as the idea that the national media would view it as an unspeakable slander if Trump did nothing more than ignore it). Anyway, I've digressed a bit from rating that apology. So: A good start is undermined, albeit not wholly erased, by a mediocre ending. 5.5/10 via The Debate Link https://ift.tt/2Sbr3us

[keramalusundeep]

THE SUICIDE OF HELL

He sets out with a prayer on his lips. Wired and beefed with bombs from head to the bone on his hips. There is no going back. The clock ticks on. He doesn’t need his specs on. Because by five, from one, two, three, and four, he’d be gone along with you in the vacation of your yawn.

He is not crippled by disease, society, upbringing, or education. He is just him. Sacked and hacked under a radical whim. Time is precious. The last moments are vicious. Biologically his ticker is alive. Spiritually he is dead. Because, only the dead can kill. And only the killed can be dead.

He is happy. The heaven is mapped in his favour. With the odour of the most beautiful untouched, virgin angels.

He has reached the destination. The nation from where he officially departs. The reaction in which his victims are casually censored in the aftermath graphic footage clip arts. Bodies are assembled in a scramble like broken eggs in a challenging scrabble. The curse is blessed.

THE LEGACY OF SUICIDE BOMBING

War is poetry for geopolitics. Most often it is a mystery who the poet is. It is always “poets”. War encourages the most collaborative commerce.

People are always unhappy with the existing government. Change becomes the staple food of the bourgeois. Their manifesto is smeared with the throbbing young blood of promise. Vibrant and striking. One that appears and feels better than that is today. It has to be. But if you just unwrap their juicy roll of delicious hope, all you’d see is an old fry dipped in new oil. Revolutions are baptised as the ‘Morning Sun’. Martyrs are autopsied as the ‘Memorial Sons’.

In 1869, the famous anarchist, Mikhail Bakunin, and Sergi Nechayev, both Russians, published a book called ‘Catechism of a Revolutionist’. A passage from the book reads, “The Revolutionist is a doomed man. He has no private interests, no affairs, sentiments, ties, property nor even a name of his own. His entire being is devoured by one purpose, one thought, one passion – the revolution. Heart and soul, not merely by word but by deed, he has severed every link with the social order and with the entire civilized world; with the laws, good manners, conventions, and morality of that world. He is its merciless enemy and continues to inhabit it with only one purpose – to destroy it.”

The book had a great impact around its epicentre. From the aftershocks, seven years later, in 1876, a group was created. It was called Land and Liberty. In this group, a considerable chunk voted for the system of state to go to the dogs. Then, hand over the land of Russia to its peasants. A reality that Mikhail Bakunin had been counting his beads for.

Three years from the inception of Land and Liberty, the group broke into two factions. One that had a sweet tooth for terror. The other that was diabetic to terror. The terror group went on to become The People’s Will, the Russian left-wing revolutionary organisation.

So the group built some muscle. And in 1881, Ignacy Hryniewiecki from The People’s Will was appointed to assassinate Alexander II. Not just in any manner. But with a human touch. When Hryniewiecki flung the bomb at the Tsar, he was too close to the explosion himself. The effect of the bomb along with tearing the Tsar apart, injures, wounds, and kills Hryniewiecki. Right this moment, the bomb conceives a new testosterone. It scribbles a ripple in the mystical ocean of its renaissance, spelling an endless and relentless wave of suicide bombing in an orgy of trance.

THE PHILOSOPHY OF DEATH

Before World War 2 was born, the Chinese and the Japanese had a warm up in 1938, with their Battle of Taierzhuang. Here, the Chinese soldiers strapped with grenades and explosives, dove under the Japanese tanks and blew what they could with the girth of their bombs.

When it was time for the Japanese to exploit the suicide hashtag, they soared high and cornered the market. Literally. During World War 2, Kamikaze pilots were engineered to fly planes into the navel of the Allied Forces’ naval fleet. Their planes were not built to deploy bombs as they were “the bombs”. From torpedoes to missiles to bubbling fuel tanks to aircraft, the Kamikaze pilots had only one role. To use the instrument they were in or on and take it straight to the flesh of the enemy’s ships, making them bleed hard, to grief.

To the Japanese, the philosophy of death was far more supreme and coveted than defeat. According to the principles laid out in their Samurai and Bushido code, everything else came second to loyalty and honour.

The Land of the Morning Sun, South Korea, who, cradled by the U.S.A, after the split of Korea in World War 2 was not all sunshine and rainbows when it came to the roster on suicide poll. Among the developed nations, South Korea ranks #1 in suicide rate. 14,160 people committed suicide in 2012.

As South Korea was still licking its wounds from World War 2 and the Korean bifurcation, North Korea invaded South Korea on June 25, 1950. As part of a strategic military tactic, South Korean soldiers wrapped bombs around their bodies and attacked North Korean tanks.

North Korea was not shy either. Using satchel charges, North Korean suicide squads attacked American tanks in the same Korean War.

When the suicide bombing ball rolled over to Asia, LTTE grappled it hard with its jaw like a mastiff on cocaine.

LTTE didn’t spare the government, civilians, Prime Minister or their own President. They were Tigers. Wild. All they knew was to hunt and eat. In their case, detonate and inspire for a cause. Between 1980 and 2000, LTTE rocked the stage of the suicide bombing concerts.

Once the middle east understood that it was beyond just snaking exotic bellies for the connoisseurs and cheering ships of oils with the west and the rest of the velvet states, it knew it could roll the dice on its golden plate of religion.

“Jihad” becomes the dictator. Everyone else obliged to press the Quran against their foreheads out of proclaimed duty and acclaimed piety, does as the Jihad commands. As we have come to see, with so many organisations and diverse mottos – LeT, Al Qaeda, Hamas, Hezbollah, Boko Haram, and of course, ISIS, Jihad is just one person. But he comes with many tongues. Or could it be said, Jihad has many flavours, but the main ingredient remains the same?

It used to be a man’s game. But as the world is hell-bent on giving its word to extending the quality of equality, the men behind the keffiyeh, the convenient and fashionable facial burka for the man, he started inviting women. And children. To take part in the exploding arguments for their bereaved cause.

A 2011 intelligence analyst report in the U.S. army said, “Although women make up roughly 15% of the suicide bombers within groups which utilize females, they were responsible for 65% of assassinations; 20% of women who committed a suicide attack did so with the purpose of assassinating a specific individual, compared with 4% of male attackers.” The report also maintained that most of the women suicide bombers were, “grieving the loss of family members [and] seeking revenge against those they feel are responsible for the loss, unable to produce children, [and/or] dishonoured through sexual indiscretion.”

With the children it is easier. Unlike their older counterparts who are to be lured with vengeance that is turbo-charged with the tartness of political, regional, religious, and sectarian propaganda, and the promise of relentless whoring in the afterlife, all that the juvenile needs to be told is that “they” are the bad men.”

A child suicide bomber is like the icing on the cake. They are agile, effortless, and very smooth.

Invasions take up our personal space. Demanding us to change our face and base. Our surrender will include both the genders, including the one that is tender. In agreement, you are an ally to one. In disagreement, you become an enemy to another. In neutrality, you are “a threat” to world peace.

There is no such thing as the world’s most famous suicide bomber. A suicide bomber’s kid won’t come out and scream on the edge of rooftops, “I want to be like my father.” The world is not going to sing songs for suicide bombers. No successful suicide bomber will go on to tell his tale. There won’t be any fodder from the “horse’s mouth”. Just a handful who were able to target the renowned are worshipped. In their own circuits. However, they are just messengers who are impotent to issue commandments, as they are not sure what it means to be right, and what it means to be left out.

Photo by Christopher Farrugia

[eretzyisrael]

by Phyllis Chesler

The Jewish Museum in NYC refused to have me lecture there or even do a book signing. They told the employee who’d floated this idea: “No. The book is too Jewish.” He was distraught and came to see me. Gently, I told him that what they meant was that the book was not “politically correct.”

About a month later, what I said at a grassroots feminist conference held at Barnard caused a near-riot. I was lecturing on a completely different subject for a group of African-American women who loved every word I said—until an agent provocateur asked me about “the humiliation at the checkpoints.” I told her that I opposed apartheid and that Islamic countries are the largest practitioners of both gender and religious apartheid, as well as practitioners of slavery.”

The place went wild and I had to be escorted out for my safety.

I lost most of my left-wing feminist colleagues. Those who did not choose to ostracize me, insisted on fighting with me. They, too, did not believe that anti-Zionism had anything to do with antisemitism; that as good Jews or as good people, they believed in supporting the victim, not the victimizer, and Israel was always viewed as the “occupying victimizer of innocent civilians in Gaza and on the West Bank.”

To this day, those feminists who remain Marxists, (and who still talk to me), continue to tell me that I “just don’t understand, that Israel is in the wrong, that the Palestinians are innocent, that Hamas/ISIS are freedom fighters.” Some of them proudly join “Queers for Palestine” demonstrations. The sight of Jewish blood has excited them so much that they wish for more. They read Ha-aretz, The Nation, and Al-Jazeera. Their minds have been deformed by disinformation and lethal propaganda.

Early on, at a conference at New Paltz, I had to endure an Israeli psychiatrist, one Ruchama Marton, (a woman), who believed that Israel was like a battering husband and his wife was a Palestinian. Oh, how she was cheered.

For years, I needed police protection on campuses when I spoke.

-

Jews are now engaged in an existential war for our survival, both in Israel and around the globe, including in the West. Soon, America will have to face the possibility and probability that World War 3 is upon us; that continuing to appease Iran will only lead to more danger; that Iran is behind Hamas and Hezbollah, that the Hama barbarians trained for their massacre in Iran; and that Americans have already been killed, captured, or fired upon.

Where do you stand?

[newstfionline]

Syria Proves How Dangerous Wars are as They Come to an End

By Robert Fisk, The Independent, Feb. 2, 2018

It’s easy to think the war is over. Until mortars from Ghouta swish over Damascus and explode in the old Christian area of Bab el-Touma with its grocery shops and restaurants. Six dead. Or when an army officer comes and says quite casually to you: “Remember Captain Walid? He was martyred four days ago.” I’ve always felt uneasy about the word “martyred”--about any soldier, or civilian, anywhere.

But that’s the way the man referred to Captain Walid Jabbour Khalil. He was a combat correspondent with the Syrian army. He carried a notebook, not a rifle, and he had a dangerous job.

I knew him, though not well. Last year, he was covering the war on the mountains of Qalamun high above Lebanon, a short, cheerful, moustachioed man who, I thought, was happier as an official military reporter than an infantryman.

Russian and German official combat reporters and photographers had a short life expectancy in the Second World War--their Allied opposite numbers somewhat longer--and they took their chances in battles, cruel and fair, on the side of the aggressors or the liberators. Walid Jabbour, like his colleagues, was making a record of the Syrian army’s war, as ruthless a struggle as any in the recent history of the Middle East. He was shot dead by a sniper--probably a Jabhat al-Nusra man--in the battle of Harasta in eastern Damascus. He was wearing a flak jacket. The bullet, very carefully aimed according to his colleagues, hit him just beneath the lower left side of the protective armour.

By one of those awful ironies that war regularly throws up, Jabbour and his fellow cameramen were two weeks ago making a documentary about their own work. So his death, as he scrambled through a doorway, was recorded by one of his own photographer friends. He was a Christian--how we need to note these small matters now, in a war that has plastered coloured sectarian stickers over the landscape of every Syrian map. He was 38 and married, with a young son. His commanding officer, a Damascus general, attended the funeral--he is a Muslim and it was the first Christian church service he had ever attended. He gave a speech by the coffin, he said, amazed by the music and the extraordinary vestments of the priests.

The power of the internet has invaded every war now and it’s not just Jabbour whose death shocks each family. Soldiers of the Syrian government receive more public notice than the civilians of either side--the casualty figures for the Syrian war, anywhere from 240,000 to 450,000 dead, have now reached fantastically unreliable proportions. For all we know, they may even be closer to half a million, although that is unlikely.

But every Syrian knows--and has watched over and over again--the appalling, moving images of the death of 19-year-old Fadi Zidan, a cadet in the “National Defence” militia. He had joined up in 2015 and just four days later was seized by Isis fighters in Palmyra. And there his terrible fate was recorded forever--largely unseen in the West, of course, but regarded inside Syria with all the reverence (or hatred, depending on your point of view) humans bestow upon a religious painting.

Because he was an Alawite--or a “Nusairi”, as he is called by his persecutors in the film--Isis decided that he was a heretic as well as a tank driver (impossible, since he was only four days in uniform) and a chilling, white-shrouded figure standing behind the young man sentences him to be killed “as you do to our people”. Zidan appears dressed in the orange jumpsuit of Guantanamo and Isis infamy, his feet shackled in chains, the man in white announcing that he will be driven over by a captured Syrian tank.

All that is left in the last frames of the film is a crushed, orange-coloured mass of rags on the road behind the tank, a group of Isis members screaming “Allahu Akbar!” The Serbs did the same to the Muslims of the Drina Valley. Thus, too, did Uzbek General Dostum punish his enemies in northern Afghanistan.

But how should one contemplate such barbarity? And go on accepting, in the kind of nonchalant, easy way we do in the West, as Syrian civilians are blown apart and gassed and starved? I was in a black-stone village north west of Hama last week--destroyed, of course--when a Syrian army major casually said, “My cousin was martyred here three years ago”.

Slowly, more figures emerge. In the tiny village of Arabiyah in the same countryside, around 350 of its menfolk had died in uniform--either of the Syrian army or the “National Defence” groups. The enormity of the figure is only obvious when you realise that the entire village population of men, women and children is scarcely 8,000.

What is the real cost of this war in the ranks of Bashar al-Assad’s army? I think it passed 70,000 dead some months ago. Eighty thousand, perhaps. What rewards do their families expect from such a sacrifice? There will be debts to be paid.

I have to say, however, that after a 2,000-mile tour over much of Syria, I have--for the first time in recent months--seen neither a single Hezbollah member or Iranian revolutionary guard. And since Western leaders believe Syria is swamped with Iranians, this is interesting.

I travel where I wish--apart, of course, from the small areas still held by Isis--and I’m quick to spot a Hezbollah fighter (usually because they come from Lebanon, where I live, and I know some of them). But there are plenty of Russians patrolling the desert highways, even running convoys up the main supply route from Homs to Aleppo.

Yet I cannot forget the flurry of mortars that crashed into Bab Touma a few days ago. And, after passing through literally more than 100 military checkpoints, I find Syrian soldiers a bit too over-confident right now, too ready to believe it’s almost come to an end. Wars can be most dangerous when they are close to the end.