8/28/04
Weekend news roundup
A loving Jew-hater: Mikis Theodorakis expands
on the anti-Jewish sentiments we covered
last year. But he insists he loves Jews, it's just that they
control world finance, America, and oh, yeah, concert venues that won't
let him play anymore. More on this later. (Hat tip: Alex B.)
Business as usual: Arafat is refusing
to make the demanded reforms in the PA. Color me unsurprised.
Arafat stonewalled his detractors once again Wednesday
in the latest confrontation over administrative reforms.
Refusing to sign presidential decrees needed for restructuring
his administration, Arafat instead pledged to take the necessary steps
in a letter to the parliament, and the lawmakers approved it, 31-12.
The recommendations included forming a viable government
capable of fighting corruption more effectively and restoring law and
order. It also called on Arafat to follow through on promises made in
a speech last week to crack down on graft.
What? Crack down on graft? But then how can he support his wife and child
in the manner to which they are accustomed?
Germans and Belgians help Israelis find sucide
bombers: Okay, so they're German
and Belgian Shepherds.
JERUSALEM (AFP) - Sniffer dogs were put into service
on public buses in Jerusalem for the first time in a bid to thwart suicide
bombers, officials said.
[...] "The association Pups for Peace, financed
by gifts from the Jewish diaspora has specially trained these dogs for
five months and they are to be used in other towns," the official,
Roni Latan, told AFP.
The dogs are German Shepherds, Belgian Shepherds and
Labradors, chosen for their hunting instincts, he said.
Have fun, Harrison. I know
what your take on this story will be.
Egypt breaks the peace treaty, again: Egypt
is facilitating arms smuggling across the Gaza border.
According to a summary of his comments, leaked by a
person present in the meeting, Ya'alon charged that if the Egyptians
wanted the Palestinians to have Katyusha rockets capable of hitting
Ashkelon, they would facilitate that as well.
Ya'alon added that Egypt knew exactly which arms
were being smuggled, and could halt the smuggling of rocket-propelled
grenades into Gaza.
Look for fierce denials from Egypt and officials calling Ya'alon a liar.
Arab double-standard time: Remember the
fuss over Israel refusing to allow citizenship to pals who marry into
families? Well, three
Arab nations are doing the same thing, and nobody seems to give a
damn.
All of a sudden, in the month of July, word came from
the Egyptian Parliament: Egyptian mothers who have children whose fathers
are not Egyptian will not be able to pass down their Egyptian citizenship
to their children. No one in Egypt will admit this outright, but the
discussions in Israel about the Citizenship Law have had a direct effect
on the timing of the passage of this law in Egypt.
"In our parliament here they realized that it
is impossible to condemn Israel - to call it racist and to compare it
to the Nazi regime, at worst, or to the apartheid regime, at best -
when the same vermin is alive and kicking here," says an Egyptian
lawyer who is also a human rights activist.
Up until July, the Egyptian "vermin" was
called the 1976 Citizenship Law 26. According to this legislation, Egyptian
women married to non-Egyptian men are not entitled to extend their citizenship
rights to their children even if the husband is absent, dead or unknown.
Children, under the law, acquire their citizenship from their father
and if his citizenship is unknown, because the father's own identity
is unknown, the mother and the children have a problem. Quite a big
one.
In Egypt, the constitution does make a woman's rights
equal to those of a man in principle, but actual realization of that
equality is light years away. In the matter of citizenship, for example,
the children of an Egyptian woman who are born to a non-Egyptian father
are considered aliens and are treated according to the same policies
that are applied to foreigners.
What? You mean the Arab nations discriminate against women? Say
it isn't so!
These offspring are, for example, not entitled to discounts
on education fees and are required to pay full tuition in foreign currency.
They are accepted in faculties of medicine and engineering only after
the quota for Egyptians has been filled - that is, almost never. Children
with non-Egyptian fathers and children of foreigners are entitled to
work in government jobs only if they are citizens of a country that
allows Egyptians to work in government jobs there. As for jobs in private
companies, under Egyptian law, the proportion of foreigners in the work
force is allowed to be no greater than 10 percent of all the workers
in those companies. Thus, even if a young person was born in Egypt,
has lived there all his life, has served in the military and has fulfilled
all his obligations, he is still considered a foreigner under the old
law.
So in other words, they're second-class citizens. Hm. I sense a double
standard here.
If the problem of Egyptian children born to non-Egyptian
fathers is about to solved for the most part, this is not the case in
Jordan, Kuwait and most of the other Arab states. In Jordan, for example,
Wafa Zidan, a Jordanian citizen who married a Palestinian man from Gaza,
has been waiting for three years to obtain citizenship for her young
son. As under the old Egyptian law, in Jordan, too, Jordanian mothers
cannot extend their citizenship to their children, and the children
continue to hold their father's citizenship even if nothing is known
of his whereabouts. Jordan granted citizenship to Palestinian inhabitants
of the West Bank, but not to Palestinians living in the Gaza Strip or
those who arrived in Jordan through other countries.
Now Jordan is insisting that additional Palestinians
will not receive Palestinian citizenship. The law in Jordan stipulates
that only a Jordanian man can help confer citizenship on his spouse.
If she is an Arab (non-Jordanian), she will receive citizenship after
three years, and if she is not an Arab, she will become a citizen through
marriage after five years. The opposite does not apply: A woman cannot
pass on her citizenship to a foreign man, and hence not to her children.
According to Jordanian government sources, there is no chance that this
situation will change in the near future despite Queen Rania's efforts
in the area of the status of women.
"We cannot allow ourselves to add more Palestinian
citizens to the kingdom," said a Jordanian government official.
"If we do that, tomorrow Gaza will empty of its inhabitants and
all of them will want to become Jordanian citizens through marrying
Jordanian women."
Not to mention the West Bank. And then what club would you have to hold
over Israel? But wait, the hypocrisy gets even bigger.
"Each of the Arab countries has excellent excuses
for not granting citizenship to Arab residents, never mind foreigners,"
says an Egyptian sociologist who teaches at Cairo University.
"Jordan has a Palestinian problem, Kuwait has
an Iraqi problem, Egypt has a problem with anyone who isn't Egyptian,
and Lebanon has a problem of the demographic balance between the ethnic
groups so that if it gives citizenship to a Sunni, it has to give citizenship
to a Christian or a Shi'ite. The beautiful slogans about Arab unity
smash on the rock of citizenship. The Arabic language and the religion
of Islam have not been enough to produce a common identity ever since
the Arab nation-states were created. The interesting thing is that it
is the radical religious organizations, the ones that presumably should
be supporting the elimination of the secular national and civil frameworks,
that are the ones who are objecting to changing the citizenship laws.
But with them, it is because of their aspiration to preserve the inferior
status of women."
So it's okay for Arabs to worry about a demographic bomb, but not for
Israel. Check.
Proof of Jews: Archeologists have unearthed
a Jewish village that existed more
than 2,000 years ago. They also unearthed a palestinian village that
is more than 5,000 years old. Whoops, my bad, it's a Canaanite village.
The rural Jewish town uncovered at the site existed
from about 100 BCE to 135 CE, until the Bar Kochba revolt, said archeologist
Dr. David Amit. Several hundred people are estimated to have lived there,
perhaps the extended members of five to eight families. Excavations
at the ancient village have uncovered a 2,000-year-old street, Jewish
coins from the time of the rebellion, and wine presses, as well as a
mikve (Jewish spiritual bath). The mikve, which is still visible, was
turned into a regular water well by pagans who lived at the 50-dunam
village for several generations after the Jews vacated the area.
They found a note, too. It said, "Would the last Jew to leave please
blow out the lamp?"
And on the international terrorism front:
Russia finds traces
of explosives on the two planes that crashed on Tuesday. Hands up,
those of you who are surprised. Anyone? Anyone? Bueller?
Yemen convicted
15 men on terrorism charges. The men, of course, proclaim their innocence.
Another
oil well's been blown in Iraq. This war is far from over.
And that's enough news for now.
Postcript: Yes, I know all about the accused
Israeli spy case. I'm waiting to read more information about it, and
hoping it isn't true. Because as it stands now, it's perfect fodder for
the Grand Zionist Conspiracy theorists. Mikey and Justin are having a
field day, I'm sure. permalink
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8/27/04
The dog ate my blog
I had an excuse for yesterday. I was at Busch Gardens and Water Country.
I went on this
ride. It's called "Rampage." I think it should be called,
"Death Wish." The angle of the ride is somewhere between 45
and 90 degrees, and the only way I managed to summon the courage was because
Sorena didn't back off, either. But I closed my eyes at the top of the
slide before they hit the switch that dumped me down it.
I cannot believe I actually went on that thing. 75 feet high, and it
really did feel like you were going straight down. I didn't open my eyes
until I was near the bottom.
Just about every muscle in my body aches today. When one goes to a water
park, one should probably have gone swimming at least once in the past
few months. Otherwise, one wishes for much Advil.
On the other hand, the wave pool was a hoot. So were the other rides.
I will have link-filled, news-filled posts later on, but I've got business
to take care of, including getting a new pair of glasses today. Bifocals.
Sigh. I'm not getting older, but my eyes are. permalink
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8/25/04
On Second Thought
Who's talking now: I would just like to
point out that after weeks of few, if any comments on my posts, the one
on my experiment with poison ivy has drawn, er, a rash of them. (Yes,
I did have to say that.) It's the most I've gotten since another
silly post months ago. By the way, the numbers seem to be broken. Haloscan
is a little off today.
Dream, dream, dream, dream, dream: Two nights
ago, I dreamed that I moved to an apartment in Bloomfield, NJ, a block
or two away from where I used to live. But I didn't get to spend much
time there, because I was sentence to thirty days in jail for not paying
my taxes, or something like that. But the jail was extremely minimum-security,
and you could leave it for hours at a time so long as you got permission
and came back to sleep every night. I woke up extremely puzzled and unable
to figure out exactly where that came from.
Well. Last night, I continued the same damned dream, something I almost
never do. I was still in jail, and for some reason thought I needed to
move out of my apartment, so I got my mother to hire a storage place and
take care of it for me. Only she didn't get all my stuff, and I had to
get there before a certain date (and oh, man, I just realized I have to
return my videos to Blockbuster this morningplease tell me that
wasn't the reason), and Tig and Gracie were there, and it was just a total
mess. And I interrupted David Letterman's softball game.
Now this post sounds more like Michele
than me. I must be channeling her, because she's taking a hiatus. Hiatus.
You said hiatus. Huh. Huh. Ohmigod, I am channeling her.
Spider, spider: There's a spider by my thermostat,
and I'm debating whether or not to kill it. If it bites me when I change
the AC (I turn it down during the day and up at night, as I sleep upstairs
and work downstairs), then yes, I'll kill it. But as of now, it's earned
the right to live. Of course, I don't even know if it's the biting kind.
I don't think I've ever had a spider bite, either. No poison ivy, no spider
bite, and only one bee sting in my life. Oh, nohere it comes again:
HA-ha.
The Believer: I watched The
Believer last night. I thought I would hate it. I didn't. I found
it extremely thought-provoking and well-done. Ryan Gosling is definitely
one of the best new actors to come along in some time. More on this film
later, but I highly recommend it, especially if you're Jewish. I think
it deals quite well with the issue of Jewish self-hatred. More on this
later. permalink
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Wednesday's news
Meet the new guard: The palestinian
civil war continues.
GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip (AP) - Gunmen opened fire at
a convoy carrying the deputy Palestinian intelligence chief on Wednesday,
seriously wounding him in the chest and killing two bodyguards, Palestinian
officials said.
The shooting was the latest unrest in Gaza, which has
seen a wave of kidnappings, protests and other violence over the past
month.
[...] Palestinian hospital officials said two bodyguards
were killed in the shooting, and two others were wounded. Officials
said that Abu Rajab would be transferred to an Israeli hospital with
better facilities.
There was no immediate word on who carried out the
shooting. Security officials said they had opened an investigation.
Rajab, who keeps a low public profile, is an old ally
of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat. Most recently, he had been in charge
of security for Palestinian diplomatic missions abroad, officials said.
Guess he'd better tighten up security at home, then. Perhaps it's because
of stories
like this one:
Residents of Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip
said on Sunday that they had managed to thwart an attempt by senior
Palestinian Authority officials to lay their hands unlawfully on publicly
owned land.
According to the residents, several PA officials tried
over the weekend to seize a large piece of land in the Amal neighborhood,
which is close to the settlement of Neveh Dekalim. They said the PA
had previously allocated the land for the construction of a school and
courthouse.
Eyewitnesses said scores of angry residents, armed
with clubs and chains, blocked a truck carrying construction material
as it was on its way to the disputed land. They said the truck had been
dispatched by the commander of the Khan Yunis police, Jamal Abu Hassan,
who was trying to lay his hand on the land.
But wait, there's
more!
Eight Palestinians were wounded, one seriously, in
armed clashes between rival Fatah militias in the Gaza Strip on Sunday
afternoon.
Sources in Gaza City said supporters of former PA security
minister Muhammad Dahlan exchanged gunfire with members of the National
Security Forces and Military Intelligence two bodies that are
headed by Gen. Musa Arafat, a cousin of PA Chairman Yasser Arafat.
The clashes erupted during a huge rally organized in
Gaza City in solidarity with the Palestinian prisoners' hunger strike.
Palestinian terrorist exports: Hamas is
on the jobin America. Police caught one videotaping
the Chesapeake Bay Bridge.
Several hours after the indictment was unsealed, two
off-duty police officers from Baltimore County noticed Mr. Elbarasse's
silver Nissan traveling westbound over the Chesapeake Bay Bridge, with
Mr. Elbarasse's wife videotaping the bridge, state officials said.
The officers grew suspicious when Mr. Elbarasse's wife,
whose name was not released, saw their police car and lowered the camera,
officials said. Mr. Elbarasse, driving with his two daughters in the
back, was stopped and questioned, and state officials determined that
he was on a Federal Bureau of Investigation watch list as a "person
of interest" with possible terrorist connections because of his
ties to Hamas.
Their lawyer, who is (sigh) Jewish, paints them as innocent tourists,
and lies about Hamas.
"Hamas's struggle is in Palestine,'' Mr. Cohen
said. "Hamas has never taken a position against the United States."
Really? Then this
threat against the U.S. after Yassin was killed wasn't from Hamas?
Vowing revenge in a written statement, the group said
the Israelis "did not carry out this operation without a prior
approval from the terrorist American administration." The statement
goes on to warn the United States "has to bear the consequences
of this crime."
Then he plays the race card.
Mr. Elbarasse and his family "weren't doing anything,"
Mr. Cohen said. "They're going over this beautiful bridge, and
his wife takes out a camcorder because she wants to videotape the sights.
But all of a sudden it becomes a big thing because the cops see a woman
in a hajib, in traditional garb, and it's like, 'Oh my God, she must
be a terrorist.' ''
"If the wife was blond-haired and blue-eyed, they
wouldn't have messed with her. This is straight out of central casting."
Is that true? They only stopped her because she was wearing a hijab?
Travelers are stopped and questioned almost daily in
Maryland after being spotted taping bridges, tunnels and other possible
targets, said Police Chief Gary W. McLhinney of the Maryland Transportation
Authority, the bridge operator. Chief McLhinney said Mr. Elbarasse's
appearance on the F.B.I. list, combined with the tape contents, aroused
suspicion.
"It was the nature of the videotape itself that
got everyone's attention," he said in an interview. "This
went beyond the normal tourist video. They didn't seem to be focusing
on what people normally focus on there, the water, the skyline, the
facilities on the shore. They were focused on the bridge itself."
Eat this, mullahs. Israel won her
first gold medal at the Olympics. In windsurfing. Yeah, windsurfing.
Look, effing badminton is now an Olympic sport, so no laughing
at windsurfing. Have you ever tried it? It's tough.
It's great to know that Hatikvah is going to be played at the Olympics
for the first time ever. There will be much seething by Israel-haters,
and much schadenfreude by, well, me. HA-ha.
The Russians are saying there's no sign of terrorism in last night's
twin
plane crashes. Uh-huh. Let's amend that to "Yet." Then again,
Russian authorities have never been known for their truthfulness.
All right. Time for breakfast. permalink
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8/24/04
How much is a rash worth?
Heidi and I have a years-long argument that may never be settled. I have
never gotten poison ivy in my life. She gets it fairly often. I insist
I'm immune to it. She insists I've never been exposed to it. I inform
her that I have walked in the exact same woods as the people I've been
with who got exposed to it. She informs me that it's obvious I never touched
it, or I would also have poison ivy.
She's a nurse, you see, and she knows that there's a breakdown of who
is allergic to poison ivy, and it goes by age, and after a certain age,
she says 100% of the population is immune. I still say she's wrong, because
I've never got it. Anyway.
Her daughter caught poison ivy at camp last week, and Heidi and I got
into our usual argument, and finally I said, "You know, I'm almost
tempted to touch some poison ivy just to prove to you once and for all
that I'm immune to it." Heidi is absolutely fine with that idea.
But then I thought some more, and realized that if I'm not immune, it's
going to suck. So I said, "I don't think I can do this for nothing.
You have to pay me for it. How much you think it's worth?" And Heidi
said, "I wouldn't expose myself for any money, so it's gotta be a
lot."
She's a Calvinist. She won't pay me to expose my skin to poison ivy.
(I'm thinking a tiny patch on my lower calf so it won't spread if I do
turn out to be, ah, normal.) So we discussed throwing it open to my readers.
So. How much would you pay me to see if I'm immune to poison ivy? I just
may do it if enough people throw enough money into the kitty. Talk about
your blogosphere experiments. We can even use digital pictures to document
the whole thing.
But really, you've got to make it worth my while to risk being contaminated
by a plant. And risking Heidi being right all along. permalink
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Twofer Tuesday
Today's moment of Kitty Zen: A rare picture of Gracie and Tig together.
![Gracie and Tig, together](/images/twofer.jpg)
Feel free to make up a caption in the comments.
And folks, I'm thinking of creating Tig & Gracie greeting cards.
Seriously. I have the skill, the card stock, and the printer cartridge.
I also have Amazon and Paypal for payment. Is there an interest out there?
They could easily be personalized. For instance, the above could definitely
be a get-well card. Something like, "Omri, sorry to hear you're not
feeling well. Next time, skip the raw oysters."
Let me know in the captions or in email, and I'll put up a choice of
pictures for prospective cards. I have a zillion of 'em. Or you could
send me your own picture, and I can use that in the greeting card.
Update: Here are two screenshots of the card
I just made, the front cover
and the inside pages.
It's only a rough draft, and I already see many things I can improve.
(The second draft changed "she" to "Gracie" in the
text inside.) If you're interested, I'm serious about this. There will
be a page up soon with pictures and choices of categories. permalink
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8/23/04
Monday morning linkfest
Good works: Strengthen the Good has chosen
its first charity: One that benefits
victims of Hurricane Charley. And it's a matching fund, so every dollar
you contribute is equal to two, up to the first $100,000. Follow the link,
check out the charity for yourself, and contribute if you can. Remember
that Alan is vetting charities before asking you to contribute.
Cat pictures: It's the weekly Carnival
of the Cats. Lots of cute pictures, especially over at Mind
of Mog.
Overachiever: Judith
Weiss has her usual zillions of links. I like this one best: The
Coop is a Republican. Alice Cooper, Republican. That so does not work.
My worldview is forever broken.
I saw Coop during his "Welcome to my Nightmare" tour. I think
I would not have done so then had I known he was one of THEM. Heh.
Still mulling: Gary wants me to discuss
this
issue. I'm still thinking it over. I'm thinking he won't like my take
on it if I do write about it.
Read Imshin: She's got the skinny on many
things. Jewish
student gets beat up in France, the bullies get expelled, sue the
school, the judge awards them damages and sendds them back. What was that
about no anti-Semitism in France again? Also, read this
piece on what Arab leaders really think of Arafat. Oh, heck, just
read Imshin. permalink
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The victory of the separation
fence
In the current Newsweek International, an admission from a terrorist
that the fence
is doing its job:
Israel's near-defeat of the Palestinian resistance
has also stirred demands for reform. After 3,000 deaths (many of them
civilians) and massive destruction, many Palestinians feel exhausted,
beaten and skeptical about the logic of continuing the armed struggle.
The few active guerrillas in the West Bank admit that attacking Israeli
targets has become a near-insurmountable challenge. "The [724km
security] wall has made it almost impossible for us to conduct operations,"
says Zacaria Zubeideh, the leader of the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades in
the Jenin refugee camp.
The article is rather naive in its view of Arafat's willingness to reform,
but does mention that the finger of blame is no longer pointing solely
at Israel
The reform campaign has been gaining momentum. Many
Fatah members now acknowledge that Arafat's rule has been a disaster.
In one of its sternest rebukes ever, a Palestinian Legislative Council
investigation two weeks ago blamed the Palestinian leader and his associates
for "anarchy" and for "failing to take a political decision
to end it." Put together by a five-man panelincluding both
Fatah reformers and Arafat loyaliststhe report demanded an end
to Qassam rocket fire into Israel and other attacks, and the resignation
of the members of Prime Minister Ahmed Qurei's government, and called
for general elections. The panel lambasted the government for its paralysis
in dealing with the armed militants who have held the West Bank and
Gaza hostage for four years. "The main reason for the failure of
the Palestinian security forces, and their lack of action in restoring
law and order," says the report, "is the total lack of a clear
political decision and no definition of their roles."
Take that, ICJ. permalink
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The Swiftboat veterans and John
Kerry
I've been trying to decide exactly what it is about Kerry's war record
that grates on my nerves. I think this
column in NRO has finally hit upon it: The hypocrisy of an anti-war
protester, who built his nascent political career on the anti-war movement,
now trying to cash in on the respect that is given to veteransrespect
that he never gave them until he needed it in his political career.
If he believes his 1971 indictment of his country and
his fellow veterans was true, then he couldn't possibly be proud of
his Vietnam service. Who can be proud of committing war crimes of the
sort that Kerry recounted in his 1971 testimony? But if he is proud
of his service today, perhaps it is because he always knew that his
indictment in 1971 was a piece of political theater that he, an aspiring
politician, exploited merely as a "good issue." If the latter
is true, he should apologize to every veteran of that war for slandering
them to advance his political fortunes.
Let me set the background for you. I am old enough to remember Vietnam
fairly clearly. In fact, the main reason I started watching Star Trek
reruns is because the six o'clock newscasts featured war news on a daily
basis, and ended each show with a scrolling list of the names of dead
and wounded. My thirteen-year-old self found that incredibly depressing.
My older brother was getting closer and closer to draft age, and my mother
talked about sending him to Canada to live with relatives. She didn't
disparage the Vietnam war. She was afraid her child would be killed in
it, and said she was not willing to let that happen for any reason. I
don't know if it was just talk, or she would have followed through with
it, because the war ended two years before his eighteenth birthday.
I was turning into a hard-left liberal. Most of my teachers were liberal,
my family always voted Democratic, my cousin whom I most admired was a
hippie, my best friend's older brothers and sisters had all gone to Woodstock
and were into, shall we say, mind-altering pharmaceuticals. But somehow,
I never, ever disrespected the Vietnam veterans. It used to make me boil
with rage to hear about anti-war protestors spitting on returning soldiers.
I never thought it was the soldiers' faults that they'd been drafted,
and always honored the uniform. My cousin the (now ex-)hippie didn't,
either. Her first husband was a Vietnam vet. He served six months as a
Cobra pilot, when the life expectancy for Cobra pilots was one month.
He told me a little about his experiences. He was shot down twice, I think.
He was reluctant to discuss his experiences, and never claimed that he
was any kind of hero.
I have the feeling he's not going to vote for Kerry in November.
Neither am I. permalink
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8/22/04
There is no anti-Semitism in
France
A Jewish community center in Paris was burned
down last night. The police suspect arson. But there
is no anti-Semitism in France.
The fire that broke out on Saturday night in a Jewish
community center in the 11th arrondissement of Paris has left Serge
Benha m, community leader, in a state of shock.
The center, an old Sephardim synagogue attended and
financed by Jews of Greek, Turkish and Spanish origin, hands out nearly
100 free lunches every day to the needy, as well as providing shelter
during the afternoons and hosting conferences.
Benhaim, speaking to The Jerusalem Post a few hours
after the fire, expressed his fear that Don Isaac Abrabanel, as the
center is known to some, might never reopen.
French authorities suspect the fire that destroyed
the Jewish center in eastern Paris overnight Saturday was an arson.
How can that be? Anti-Semitism is not a big problem in France. Chirac
said so. He even chastised
Ariel Sharon for saying
that it was.
The presence of top-ranking French officials throughout
the morning did nothing to appease Michael, a member of a nearby synagogue.
"Each time a Jewish tomb is desecrated or a synagogue
burned down, politicians rush to the scene, express their support to
the Jewish community and have their picture taken," he says.
"But there isn't a real political will to fight
anti-Semitism," Michael noticed.
But I don't understand. France is not
the country of the wildest anti-Semitism. The graffiti
on Notre Dame Cathedral that said "Death to the Jews" must
have been an isolated occurrence. And anyway, Chirac condemned that act
and swore to find the perpetrators.
Mayor Bertrand Delanoe and Paris Police Chief Jean-Paul
Proust both visited the site.
French President Jacques Chirac condemned the center's
destruction and said the government was "determined to find the
perpetrators of this unacceptable act so that they can be tried and
convicted with the greatest severity" that the law allows.
There, you see? The government is in action against France's small problem
with Jew-haters. I hear they're going to call Inspector Clouseau from
retirement and put him on the case.
Arab anti-Semitic propaganda is largely responsible
for what Michael describes as an increasingly uneasy climate in France.
He is not overly worried by the swastikas found on
the recovered furniture because according to him, neo-Nazi groups are
accountable only for a very small proportion of anti-Semitic actions.
"Most anti-Semitism today is bred by pro-Palestinian
propaganda, which the French government overtly allows," he says.
Don't be ridiculous. The French don't allow it. It's not like a fictional
book about a palestinian suicide bomber made
the bestseller list in France. There is no anti-Semitism in France,
Or at least, not the wildest kind. And if there is, it's the fault of
a few neo-Nazis. Or the effect of Israel on the palestinians.
There is no anti-Semitism in France. permalink
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What makes America great
This is America:
PUNTA GORDA, Fla. (AP) - Hundreds of local residents
and some from across the nation have turned out to provide a vast array
of free aid since Hurricane Charley ravaged the area on Aug. 13.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency said that as
of Friday 77,000 households had registered for disaster relief in Florida.
The Red Cross is preparing 125,000 meals a day and says an estimated
2,200 families have been housed in shelters.
But it is the unofficial aid stations that have become
a lifeline for many people.
Hurricane victims need travel only a few blocks on
some major thoroughfares before seeing hand-lettered signs offering
free water, ice, sandwiches, diapers, blankets and toiletries. Many
Good Samaritans just pull up at the first big intersection they see
to distribute their aid.
With a freezer full of food about to spoil, there was
only one thing for Nestor Tsimpedes to do after Hurricane Charley made
a shambles of his restaurant - feed people for free.
When the freezer was emptied of ham, roast beef and
turkey, he sent his employees to buy hot dogs.
"What was I going to do? I'm ruined," Tsimpedes
said, his eyes becoming moist with tears as he recounted memories of
the Greek-American kitchen where he toiled nearly every day for the
past 10 years.
"We are amazed by what we see here," said
Bruce Bagge, a retired investment executive who loaded up a pickup truck
with ice and water to take back to his neighbors.
For several days, Audrey Brooks of Fort Myers loaded
up her minivan with bags of bread, peanut butter and other supplies
and drove 25 miles to the damaged area. On Thursday, she brought 25
gallons of bleach so people could disinfect their homes, and it was
all snapped up in about 30 minutes.
"I am just doing what I can," Brooks while
her 6-year-old son Timothy napped in her car. "It's sad. It hit
in along an area where people don't have a lot anyway."
[...] Dale Creech, a construction superintendent for
Minton Construction in Palm Beach, has been delivering ice. When he
arrived the day after the storm hit, he drove a truck of ice around
until he saw someone in need. Since then, Creech and his company have
sent out several truckloads of ice.
And let's not forget Strengthen
The Good, a website that will be promoting micro-charities for people
in need while also teaching the world how to spell (and type!) "strengthen."
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Last week's blogs are archived.
Looking for the Buffy
Blogburst Index? Here's Israel
vs. the world. Here's the Blogathon.
The Superhero
Dating Ratings are here. If you're looking for something funny, try
the Hulk's
solution to the Middle East conflict, or Yasser
Arafat Secret Phone Transcripts. Iseema bin
Laden's diary is also a good bet if you've never been here before.
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