Spot the faulty premise.
American Thinker Blog
(Scott)
Melanie Phillips is the prominent British journalist and author, most recently, of The World Turned Upside Down. Her Londonistan is not to be missed. The Spectator (UK) hosts her blog.
Last week Phillips discussed the difficulties of holding rational discourse about Israel in a January 8, 2011, interview on Israeli television. I first saw the video over at My Pet Jawa, but the invaluable Daily Alert also posted a link to it. Among other things, the interviewer asks Phillips about Israel’s “hasbara,” i.e., its public diplomacy, and seems to be shocked by Phillips’s description of it as pathetically inept.
The organs of the mainstream Israeli media are just as bad as those of the United States. Phillips cites the Israeli newspaper Haaretz as representative of the problem Israel faces, to the horror of the interviewer. Phillips’s interviewer seems to embody the conventional wisdom conveyed in the Israeli media. I think he shows us what Bob Schieffer would be doing if he were holding down the fort on Israeli television.
Who is this guy? Phillips’s interviewer is Ya’akov Ahimeir. He the current affairs editor on Israel (public) TV Channel 1′s Saturday night foreign news and culture magazine show Ro’im Olam (Seeing the World). Kudos to Mr. Ahimeir for having Phillips on and letting her have her say.
A few crib notes for the uninitiated..
The ‘former Iranian citizen’ pictured in the story about the so called ‘spy ring’ is Israeli politician Shaul Mofaz, who attempted to tale over the Kadima Party from Tzipi Livni( an ex-Mossad agent) and was slapped down.
The vulture was actually arrested by Saudi security forces as an Israeli ‘spy’ – no joke!
Dov Weinglass was/is ex-PM Olmert’s attorney during his corruption trial, which is where the joke about Weinglass’s relationship with the devil being ‘protected by attorney-client privilege’ comes from.
What Jamil and Awad in their skit are talking about is a Knesset bill that would investigate Israeli NGO’s (non-governmental organizations)and ban them from receiving foreign financial support(Many of Israel’s frankly seditious Leftist NGO’s are funded by the EU).
Finally, the last shot in the horror movie trailer ‘Peace IV’ is a picture of Israelis murdered by Palestinian terrorists during the Oslo ‘peace process’.
Enjoy!
And remember – I had the story first!
| The Colbert Report | Mon – Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c | |||
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Stephen Colbert last night said the Israeli vulture captured in Saudi Arabia on spying allegations proves that “Jews control the animal kingdom.”
“Sure it may sound farfetched, but we already know Jews can fly,” Colbert said. “How did that fiddler get on the roof?”
[TPM SLIDESHOW: Sanest Of The Sane? Top 25 Signs From The Stewart/Colbert Rally]
An Israeli vulture spy could collect all sorts of sensitive information, Colbert said, so he was shocked to learn that a Saudia Arabian prince had cleared the vulture of spying allegations.
“He must have a great lawyer,” Colbert said.
Watch:
| The Colbert Report | Mon – Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c | |||
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One of the central issues in the Palestinian-Israeli “peace process” is the future of Jerusalem. To all those supporters of the Palestinian cause, who believe that Israel is some oppressive occupying force, consider the shocking results from a survey conducted for the Council on Foreign Relations:
“A public opinion poll carried out by American Pechter Middle East Polls for the Council on Foreign Relations together with the head of the Palestinian Center for Public Opinion, Dr. Nabil Kukali, showed that if Jerusalem were divided as part of a peace agreement between Israel and the Palestinians, east Jerusalem Arabs would prefer to live under Israeli sovereignty.
The poll, which comprised the residents of east Jerusalem’s 19 Arab neighborhoods, also pointed out that their opposition to Jerusalem’s division is so intense that they would rather move to a new home within Israel’s borders rather than live under the authority of a Palestinian state.”
Kinda, sorta, undermines the argument that Israel needs to soften its position on these issues, don’t you think? And if the Obama Administration continues to press Israel on these issues, one can only wonder, why are they pushing this agenda? It’s certainly not for those non-Jews who live in the area.
I called these poll results “shocking,” but they really should not be. Wouldn’t anyone prefer to live under a democratic western oriented government rather than one run by thugs?
R65 — the Griffon vultures arrested last week on suspicion of spying for Israel because of the Hebrew lettering on its GPS tag — will soon be released according to Saudi Prince Bandar bin Saud al-Saud:
"These systems are fitted to birds and animals, including marine
animals. Most countries use these system, including Saudi Arabia," Saud
told Saudi media on Sunday, according to Emirates 24/7. "We have taken
delivery of this bird, but we will set it free again after we [have]
verified its systems."Saud insisted he wasn’t defending Israel, but called for calm.
"Some of the Saudi journalists rushed in carrying the news of
this bird for the sake of getting a scoop without checking the
information," he said. "They should have asked the competent
authorities about the bird before publishing such news."
This is certainly good news. No innocent bird — even a vulture — deserves to be held on trumped up charges. I also hope that R65′s colleague, reportedly still circling around Saudi Arabia, will stay safe.
Though given the political realities of today’s Middle East, Tel Aviv University might want to consider slightly more innocuous tags for future research subjects. Unlike Israeli gerbils, Israeli vultures do not recognize natural boundaries.
I’ve quoted before from Robert E. Belgrad, who writes about the history of Israel being accused of training animals against the Muslim world:
Technorati Tag: Mossad and Sharks.
Michael Totten has a superb post on how the IDF plays by the rules and attempts to conduct itself with morality against an enemy that has none:
An Israeli intelligence officer led me to this concealed yet sweltering viewpoint near the border fence overlooking Lebanon where Hezbollah guerrillas were busy fortifying positions for the next round of conflict, a round that will almost certainly be bloodier and more destructive for both sides than the last. A small green valley covered with Mediterranean scrub stood between us and the Party of God.
“Four years ago you could easily see Hezbollah positions and bunkers from here,” she said. “Now you can’t. Hezbollah pretends to respect United Nations Security Council Resolution 1701, but that’s just their public face. Their posts are now hidden in houses and mosques.”
A young soldier standing watch handed me a small glass of coffee with no cream or sugar. Tea is the preferred social and professional lubricant in most of the Middle East, but most Israelis and Lebanese I’ve interviewed prefer coffee.
“Do you know which houses Hezbollah is in?” I said.
“We know,” she said and nodded.
It’s easy to monitor the border area from both the Lebanese and the Israeli sides, especially for those with high-tech equipment. In some places houses are built all the way up to the fence line in each country. Some Lebanese homes are even within shouting distance of Israeli homes. Both countries are tiny. Land is scarce all around. On most days nobody shoots at anybody, and besides—not even residents of Tel Aviv and Beirut are entirely safe from the worst that can come flying at them from the other.
Hezbollah had 10,000 rockets before the war in 2006. Now it has between 40,000 and 50,000. Some are stored in warehouses. Others are hidden away a few at a time in private homes.
“What do you think about the job UNIFIL is doing?” I asked the intelligence officer. I cannot tell you her name. She never even gave me her name.
UNIFIL is the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon. It has been there since 1978 (so much for it being an “interim” force) to help the Lebanese government restore its sovereignty over the area, sovereignty that was taken away first by the Palestine Liberation Organization, then by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), and most recently by Hezbollah. UNIFIL is supposed to keep all armed personnel, including Israeli soldiers and Hezbollah fighters, out of the 12-mile buffer zone between the border and the Litani River.
“UNIFIL is trying,” she said, “but they are having a hard time. Hezbollah puts large stones on the road to block UNIFIL’s trucks, and there’s nothing UNIFIL can do about it. It’s difficult for them to enter Shia villages now.”
There’s not much visible evidence in these villages that Hezbollah is doing anything. Its fighters and officers wear no uniforms. Only rarely do they carry guns out in the open. Israeli intelligence officers can spot them regardless, and they know of literally thousands of small military positions in nearby villages and in the rural landscape surrounding the villages.
“They’re storing huge amounts of C2 explosives next to clinics, schools, and mosques,” she said. “It’s terrible that Hezbollah is doing all this in civilian areas and sabotaging the new order in Lebanon. It’s sad, not just for Israel, but also for Lebanon.”
I left her there and drove to another location on the border not far from the Israeli town of Metulla which directly faces the Lebanese town of Kfar Kila. There I met with a spokesperson for the IDF Northern Command.
“Hezbollah is choosing where the next war will be,” she said, “by placing launch sites and weapons next to mosques and clinics. They know we get in trouble if we bomb those locations. Now whenever we think of targeting places like that, an alert goes up in our system.” {…}
I’ve never been to a Hezbollah training camp, although I did ask Hezbollah officials if I could see one before they blacklisted me for “writing against the party.” They refused. Still, I’m certain they don’t have dummies representing civilians who aren’t to be touched.
The Israelis do, though. They place mannequins on the grounds dressed in the clothes of civilians and peacekeepers as well as enemy soldiers and terrorists.
Read the whole thing,and feast on Totten’s remarkable photos…one of which I put at the top of this article showing the Israeli/Lebanese border.
The Washington Post shoves aside Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat and replaces him with Adnan Husseini, “governor of Jerusalem.”
A Saudi Arabian prince has announced that a tagged Israeli vulture captured last week and accused of being a Mossad agent will be released, according to ABC News.
The bird was reportedly captured last week by Saudi officials and accused by local media of being part of a “Zionist plot” after it was discovered wearing a GPS tracker labeled Tel Aviv University.
Prince Bandar bin Saud Al Saud dismissed the accusations on Sunday: “These systems are fitted to birds and animals, including marine animals. Most countries use these system, including Saudi Arabia. We have taken delivery of this bird, but we will set it free again after we [have] verified its systems.”
“Some of the Saudi journalists rushed in carrying the news of this bird for the sake of getting a scoop without checking the information,” he continued. “They should have asked the competent authorities about the bird before publishing such news.”
A boy enters a store and overhears a conversation.
Customer to shopkeeper: “Do you see them? They’re plastering the city with advertisements about boycotting Israeli goods.”
Shopkeeper: “I can’t not bring in [Israeli products], because people ask for them.”
Customer: “Israeli products are better than the local products.”
Shopkeeper to the boy: “What do you want?”
Boy, after looking at Israeli products: “I want Israeli chips.”
He takes the chips, walks to the door, and hears gunfire. He looks around, drops the chips on the floor, returns to the shopkeeper and says: “I don’t want the Israeli product, I want the Palestinian product.”The advertisement ends by displaying the text: “Don’t prolong the occupation’s life upon our land,” with the logo of the Palestinian NGO Health Work Committees, followed by the logos of the ad’s sponsors:
The Spanish government,
the Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs
AECID (Spanish governmental humanitarian aid development),
ACSUR (a Spanish non-profit organization),
Canaan Joint Development Project for Jerusalem (Palestinian).
More unreality from the Arabs
American Thinker Blog
ED NOTE: According to the report, 70 Israeli firms operate freely in the war torn country, using proxy Arab and European companies.
According to Harith Al- Dari, Head of Iraqi Clerical Associations in Iraq, Companies associated with the Israeli Spy Agency Mossad are freely operating all over Iraq. He also says, the Israeli firms infiltrate Iraq under Arabic, English and Turkish names and concentrate in the Kurdistan region.
Syrian customs officials seized trucks loaded with Israeli goods, headed for Iraq.
Waqar Rizvi interviews, long time antiwar activist, blogger and Israeli Lobby (AIPAC) critic, James Morris from Loss Angeles, about the presence of Israeli Mossad operatives in Iraq, working actively with the Kurds in Iraq, which accoriding to James Morris was always part of Plan B, following the invasion of Iraq, and which is all about de-stabilizing Iran and Israel’s enemies in the Middle East. The bottom line is to cause ethnic strife and bring down the regimes.
Rizvi asks Morris: Did the US attack Iraq solely for Israel?
Morris responds distinctly….
Source: Presstvupload and http://America-Hijacked.com via My Catbird seat
SEE ALSO
MOSSAD BEHIND EGYPT CHURCH BLAST – by: Hassan Hanizadeh
His writings might meander, but they never fail to inform. A small sample:
God only knows how Hezbollah trains its fighters, but I have a pretty good idea what the Israelis are up to because Abe Lapson, an IDF director of combat engineering, hosted me at the urban warfare training center in the northern Negev near the border with Gaza.
They built a scale model city out there in the desert where Israeli soldiers engage in sophisticated combat exercises. They fight each other in these exercises, so it’s always a challenge. Trained Israeli soldiers are far more dangerous than any army—even Hezbollah—the modern Arab world has yet produced.
I saw the skyline of the “city” as we approached on a road through desert, and from a distance it almost looks real. Up close it’s different.
“It almost looks like a set for a video game,” I said.
Lapson chuckled and said, “But it’s real.”
I could see everything from the control tower. The buildings are smaller and farther apart on the outskirts than they are in the center, just like a real village or town in the West Bank, Gaza, or Lebanon. And I have to say they did a pretty good job with the realism. Pyrotechnic teams set off explosions. Vehicles emit different colors of smoke depending on what kind of damage they’ve supposedly taken. Walls have simulated blast holes because doors and windows are often booby-trapped, forcing soldiers to create alternate entrances.
I’ve never been to a Hezbollah training camp, although I did ask Hezbollah officials if I could see one before they blacklisted me for “writing against the party.” They refused. Still, I’m certain they don’t have dummies representing civilians who aren’t to be touched.
The Israelis do, though. They place mannequins on the grounds dressed in the clothes of civilians and peacekeepers as well as enemy soldiers and terrorists.
“The other side includes both hostiles and civilians,” Lapson said, “and the hostiles will often embed themselves among the civilians. We go over a large number of what-if scenarios. We imbue an ethical and moral backbone in all our soldiers from the very beginning, and we have humanitarian officers with our infantry troops. We take extra precautions, even when it puts our own troops in danger.”
And while he mentions that it looks like a video game, that is one great idea that someone could do – a video-game that shows the difficulty of fighting the IDF way, trying to avoid civilians while hitting terrorists pretending to be civilian. While, at the same time, worried that the rockets you are targeting don’t end up hitting your own family.
