AUTHOR:G.
DATE:5/10/2003 04:38:00 PM
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BODY: An overlooked fact

Currently there are more Palestinians (not Israeli Arabs) that live inside Israel illegally or legally (by marriage to Israeli Arabs) than Israeli settlers living in the West Bank and the Gaza strip legally or in illegal outposts.

The numbers are around 200,000 - 250,000 people in each group, again, with more Palestinians than Israeli settlers.



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AUTHOR:G.
DATE:5/09/2003 11:07:00 PM
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BODY: A fight inside the Israeli radical left

Last Saturday Israeli radical leftie groups accompanied with Internationals “activists” came to show support for the people of the Palestinian village of Mas’ha. The Security Fence is going to cut them out from some of their land, though a planned passage for them to their land is planned. Anyway that’s not what I want to focus on.

I was browsing in IndyMedia Israel and learned that not everything between the local Palestinians and their eager Israeli supporters went so well. Apparently the locals had problems with the way some of the Israelis dressed.

One Israeli woman named Yasmin was asked by the Israeli organizers to cover her legs (she was wearing shorts) because that insults the Palestinian men. One of the villagers told that woman that wearing those shorts are a actually a permission for men to rape her because she “invites it”.

The Palestinians also had a problem with a dog one of the Israelis brought with him for a dog is an impure animal for Muslims.

Yasmin concludes with a few questions:

How do people who oppose oppression of any kind are willing to try and oppress me (by forcing her to cover her legs)?

How do people who care so much no to hurt other people don’t mind hurting me?

How can they cooperate with the disgusting saying that the female body is impure?

Here is the original post in Hebrew following a discussion the comments section and an opposing article here with a very live discussion.

Some of the commentators side with Yasmin some don’t.

This illustrates well the blindness of those leftie radicals. They ignore what ever they don’t like. As radical leftists they promote western values such feminism, freedom of speech, sexual rights and so on, all those things are the opposite of the Arab societies and countries they support. They are detached from reality.



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AUTHOR:G.
DATE:5/09/2003 10:06:00 PM
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BODY: IndyMedia removed from Google News

Through a new blog called “Only In Israel” we learn that Google News has removed IndyMedia from the list of resources they scan (link via LGF). Scroll down a bit (Blogger archives aren’t working) to the post with the print screen to see why kind of bullshit IndyMedia was feeding to Google News.

For obvious reasons they’re not too happy about it. See here and here.



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AUTHOR:G.
DATE:5/09/2003 09:47:00 PM
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BODY: Look what I found at IndyMedia Israel

IS THERE A "RIGHT OF RETURN"?

1) Voluntary flight: As documented by Professor Efraim Karsh, the vast majority of refugees from the 1948 war were exhorted to do so by their Arab brethren, who urged them to make way for oncoming Arab armies intent on driving the Jews into the sea. Karsh estimates that only 5 to 10 percent were actively expelled by Israelis.

2) No legal basis: As documented by Professor Ruth Lapidoth, the claim to a Palestinian refugee "right of return" lacks basis under a) general international conventions, b) major UN resolutions, and c) relevant agreements between the two parties.

3) Regional precedent: At the time of the creation of the State of Israel, a similar number of Jews were expelled and dispossessed by Arab governments. The Arab states have never made any effort to compensate these Jews, who were absorbed by Israel. Despite having tremendous resources to do so, Arab states have refused to absorb the Palestinian refugees and have often worked to ensure they remain in poverty so as to use them as a political tool against Israel.

4) Effective destruction of Israel: Even diehard Israeli peaceniks such as writer Amos Oz acknowledge that "implementing the 'right of return' means eradicating Israel... It will make the Jewish people a minor ethnic group at the mercy of Muslims, a 'protected minority,' just as fundamentalist Islam would have it"; Oz's colleague A.B. Yehoshua states that the end of the Palestinians' tragedy will come when they cease focusing on returning to their homes in Israel proper and focus instead on returning to a Palestinian homeland.

Who would have thought?!?

Update: A reader let me know that the above piece was sent in an Honest Reporting newsletter.



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AUTHOR:G.
DATE:5/08/2003 11:52:00 PM
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BODY: Who will save the Avodah?

After the Mitzna horror show the Avodah is in very poor condition. Today they were squabbling whether to appoint 80 year-old Shimon Peres as interim party chairman or to hold the election for that position as soon as possible.

The list of candidates is pathetic. A bunch of losers. There is only one man that can save this party from itself and get it up on its feet – Ehud Barak. (You just can’t imagine how glad I am the comments are down)



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AUTHOR:G.
DATE:5/08/2003 11:15:00 PM
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BODY: Bits and bob's

I celebrated Independence Day in a party in a private house and had way too much to drink. People seemed really happy celebrating, that’s in case someone thinks we’re on the brink of breaking down.

Comments are on a break till I’ll decide. Too many unwelcome commentators appeared here lately, some of them referring to themselves in third person, and I don’t like the idea of checking the comments too often to see what kind of bullshit was written there.

On other matters:

You probably already know that Salam Pax is back with the help of the missed Diane.

Just like Salam, Miranda has returned for a spring comeback.

Frequent comment writer (when they’re on) Jennifer started her own blog. Pay her a visit.

Oh, and “besha’a tova” yesterday this blog passed the 100,000 hits mark.



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AUTHOR:G.
DATE:5/06/2003 08:13:00 PM
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BODY: Happy 55th Independence Day!



David Ben Gurion, with members of his Provisional Government, reading the Declaration of Independence (you must click on this one) in the Tel Aviv museum hall. 14/05/1948

From The Declaration of the Establishment of the State of Israel:

The Land of Israel was the birthplace of the Jewish people. Here their spiritual, religious and political identity was shaped. Here they first attained to statehood, created cultural values of national and universal significance and gave to the world the eternal Book of Books.

After being forcibly exiled from their land, the people kept faith with it throughout their Dispersion and never ceased to pray and hope for their return to it and for the restoration in it of their political freedom.

Impelled by this historic and traditional attachment, Jews strove in every successive generation to re-establish themselves in their ancient homeland. In recent decades they returned in their masses. Pioneers, defiant returnees, and defenders, they made deserts bloom, revived the Hebrew language, built villages and towns, and created a thriving community controlling its own economy and culture, loving peace but knowing how to defend itself, bringing the blessings of progress to all the country's inhabitants, and aspiring towards independent nationhood.

...

Accordingly we, members of the People's Council, representatives of the Jewish Community of Eretz-Israel and of the Zionist Movement, are here assembled on the day of the termination of the British Mandate over Eretz-Israel and, by virtue of our natural and historic right and on the strength of the resolution of the United Nations General Assembly, hereby declare the establishment of a Jewish state in Eretz-Israel, to be known as the State of Israel.



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AUTHOR:G.
DATE:5/05/2003 10:56:00 PM
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BODY: Remembrance Day

Began in today’s sundown till tomorrow's sundown, Israel commemorates its fallen IDF soldiers and civilians killed in wars and terror attacks. Till today 21,541 people died in the ongoing fight for the existence of the state of Israel.

Sirens wailed tonight at 20:00 and tomorrow morning they’ll go on again for one minute of silence to remember the dead. The papers and tv stations broadcast throughout the day stories of fallen soldiers. Those individual stories carries the message of the day. Ynet has gathered a good list of Memorial websites of fallen soldiers and civilians. Here are the one with an English version for you to visit. Also read Allison's explanation on the difference between Israeli Remembrance Day to the American one and Imshin's post on the sad pilgrimage to the cemetery.

Major Eitan Belachsan, commander of the IDF Paratroopers Recon Commando, was killed in action in South Lebanon.

Major Shlomi Cohen who was killed during a battle in Kalkiliya June 2002.

Sergeant Racheli Levi was murdered on Wednesday, February 14th 2001 by a Palestinian bus driver in a terror attack near Azor .

Shiri Negari was murdered on Tuesday, June 18th 2002 by a Palestinian suicide bomber on her way to work.

Sergeant Amir Meir was killed in South Lebanon by a hizbuallah missile.

Yanay Weiss was murdered in a monstrous suicide bombing attack, on Wednesday April 30th, 1:30 AM (local time), in Mike’s Place Tel-Aviv

Sergeant First Class Nir Krichman, a Naval Commando warrior, was killed on April 22, 2002 during a fight with terrorists near Nablus.

Ronen Kachlon was murdered in the suicide bomber bus attack in Haifa on December 2nd, 2001.

First Sergeant Raz Mintz was killed near Beit El while intercepting terrorists on their way to attack.



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