Is Anti-Semitism Becoming Politically Correct?

[Anders]

More Signs of the Times:

http://www.breitbart.com/news/2006/07/31/D8J6OSR80.html

Vandals Deface Berlin's Holocaust Memorial

31 July 06

BERLIN

In a separate incident, a 42-year-old man was detained after he was seen painting a swastika on the facade of the Swiss Embassy in Berlin, police said.

Wasn't it Switzerland that recently as one of the few European nations protested against the emprisonment of the Hamas Leadership by Israel?

Interesting.

 

[Laura]

Wasn't it Switzerland that recently as one of the few European nations protested against the emprisonment of the Hamas Leadership by Israel?

Good catch. Can you find the article and post it and link?

Thanks.

 

[Anders]

Here is a link to the story: http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/story/0,,1813521,00.html

Europe's response to the siege of Gaza is shameful

The Palestinians have no partner for peace. They will only have one if Israel agrees to recognise Palestine's right to function

Jonathan Steele
Thursday July 6, 2006
The Guardian



Thank goodness for the Swiss. Alone in Europe, their government has dared to condemn what the Israelis are doing to Gaza. It is collective punishment, they say. It violates the principle of proportionality. Israel has not taken the precautions required by international law to protect civilians.

Inevitably, the bloggers are pouring out the usual irrelevancies about the role of Swiss banks during the Nazi period. But as the depository of the Geneva conventions, one of the key legal advances to emerge from the ravages of the 20th century, Switzerland has a duty to speak out.

Its statement stands in contrast to the European Union's shamefully muted voice. The Palestinians kill two soldiers and take one prisoner and, in response, power stations are blown up, sewage and water systems grind to a halt, bridges are destroyed, sonic booms terrify children day and night, and all this is inflicted on a hungry people who are under siege in what is effectively a huge open prison. The EU's response? Vague expressions of "concern" and calls for "restraint".

Is it World Cup madness? The rush for last-minute cheap summer holiday deals? Couldn't European leaders show a tenth of the courage of Israel's brilliant columnist, Gideon Levy? "It is not legitimate to cut off 750,000 people from electricity. It is not legitimate to call on 20,000 people to run from their homes and turn their towns into ghost towns. It is not legitimate to kidnap half a government and a quarter of a parliament. A state that takes such steps is no longer distinguishable from a terror organisation," he wrote this week in Haaretz.

In a two hour appearance before MPs on Tuesday, all that Tony Blair could produce was a classic fence-sitter: "I have learned enough about this situation over the years to realise that going in and condemning either side is not deeply helpful."

European impotence in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is of course an ancient problem. The disease's latest aggravation began in January after Hamas's election victory. Here was an event which was bound to have huge repercussions in Israel, on every state's relations with the Palestinian authority, on the future of political Islam throughout the Arab world, as well as on the west's image among Muslims. In short, it was a moment where the time-honoured diplomatic technique - a pause for reflection - was vital. The device is often used to cover unnecessary delay. This time there was a genuine need to analyse and consult before rushing to conclusions. There was no urgency since Israel was already refusing to negotiate with President Mahmoud Abbas.

Yet the EU promptly lined up with the US and Israel in demanding Hamas change its policies or be punished. The Quartet, a relatively recent body set up to coordinate policies between the US, the EU, Russia and the UN, became a trap, acting as an arm of the US state department for keeping other states in line. The Quartet's demands on Hamas were identical to Israel's.

Some European diplomats now regret their haste. The decision to cut aid as well as contacts with the Palestinians is seen as a mistake. Last month's French initiative to find a mechanism for resuming aid to Gaza was the Quartet's first admission of error.

Refusing contact with Hamas was equally mistaken, especially as Hamas had maintained a unilateral ceasefire for over a year (a point which Israel tries to suppress). The fact that Hamas is defined as a terrorist organisation need not have been a bar, since governments have spoken to similar movements with nationalist agendas, be it the IRA, the Tamil Tigers, or Eta. But again, thank goodness for the Swiss. As non-EU members, they keep contact with Hamas and act as intermediaries for other European governments which have trapped themselves into not doing the same.

The outcome of the current crisis is unclear. However it ends, the moment has surely come for Europe to break from its useless policy of backing the US and Israel. The Olmert government is trying to destroy not only Hamas but Mahmoud Abbas. Like Sharon's, it wants to undermine every moderate Palestinian by showing them up as powerless. It seeks only domination, not negotiation. Whether the ultimate agenda is to starve all Palestinians into fleeing to Egypt, Jordan and even further afield, or merely to keep Gaza as a prison of the unemployed and the West Bank as a bunch of Bantustans, Israeli policy mocks every UN resolution on the conflict.

The EU should admit that the Palestinians have no partner for peace. They will only have one if Israel recognises Palestine's right to function. Statements that Israel recognises a Palestinian state's right to exist are empty as long as Olmert expands Jewish settlements and the separation wall, and refuses to spell out how that state can operate as a viable entity. Without the right to function, the right to exist is hollow.

Olmert and his Labour party allies must also come clean on the last serious Israeli peace formula, the Barak proposals which were put at Taba five years ago. The Palestinians did not accept them, but political circumstances were inauspicious - a fading Baruk government and an ill Yasser Arafat. The same proposals might be acceptable now and should be revived. If Kadima thinks of imposing or offering anything less than Taba, then Israel cannot claim to want an end to the conflict.

Finally, Israel must renounce violence, in particular the assassinations of Palestinian leaders. The number of civilians killed in these attacks this year alone far exceeds the number of Israeli victims since Hamas declared its ceasefire last year. The facts do not support the notion that Israel is "retaliating" to provocations. Last week's Palestinian attack on a military outpost followed much greater carnage by Israeli shells.

Some will argue that if the EU were to condemn Israeli actions, it would lose influence with the Israeli government. But what has this alleged influence managed to achieve since Sharon and Olmert have been in power? The record is paltry.

Governments have greater effect by being morally clear and politically firm. Condemnation and psychological isolation create "facts on the ground" which can alert electorates, if not immediately their governments. But the audience is not only in Israel. There is a global audience which expects Europe to take the right stand. Whether Israel chooses to listen should not be the decisive factor.

j.steele@guardian.co.uk

 

[Anders]

While I was searching for the link to the article above, I found another interesting bit of info from 1998, where Israels Mossad got caught redhanded in trying to wiretap an office of Hizbollah in Switzerland. The article is interesting as it also reveals other bungled Mossad attempts
The article is found here http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/60242.stm

World: Middle East

Israel apologises to Swiss over spying

The Swiss Secretary of State and the Federal Prosecutor announce announce spy arrest.

Israel has offered an apology to Switzerland over the bungled spying mission by Mossad agents in Berne last week.

The Israeli ambassador, Yitzhak Mayer, has presented a letter of apology to Swiss President Flavio Cotti.

Mr Cotti said this was a "positive first step", but a foreign ministry spokesman said "the affair remains a serious and unacceptable infringement of Swiss sovereignty."



Ex-Mossad head Danny Yatom.
The Swiss President, Flavio Cotti is now reviewing plans for a visit to Israel in May.

Swiss authorities say five alleged Mossad agents were surprised on February 19 trying to install surveillance equipment in an apartment in Berne.

The identity of Mossad's target has not been revealed.

One Israeli newspaper has suggested the building housed offices of the Lebanese-based Hizbollah, while Swiss media speculated that the radical Islamic group, Hamas, was the target.

Suspects were released

The police only became involved when the agents were spotted carrying a suitcase into the apartment building.

One of the suspected agents was arrested after questioning. The other four were released, but arrest warrants were later issued for them. The authorities now believe the Israelis have probably left the country.

The Israeli government has been highly embarrassed by the affair because of its excellent relations with Switzerland, particularly in military and intelligence areas.

Failed operations

Mossad was once one of the most feared and respected intelligence agencies, but its reputation has recently suffered after a series of failed operations.



Khalid Meshal was the target of a failed assassination attempt.
Its head, Danny Yatom, resigned on Monday, the day after the Swiss government lodged its first protest with the Israeli ambassador.

In September 1997, the intelligence services bungled an attempt to kill Hamas leader Khalid Meshal in Jordan.

An Israeli inquiry described the poisoning attempt as "amateurish", and it severely strained relations between Israel and Jordan.

In December Yehuda Gil, a former Mossad official, was arrested for falsifying Syrian intelligence reports over a period of years, exaggerating its aggressive intentions and pocketing money meant for informers. He is currently on trial.

So it appears that the relationship between Israel and Switzerland is not an easy one.

That the Israeli inquiry in the assassination attempt descriped the poisoining attempt as "Amateurish", show that they are not really that concerned about the act of what they have done, but instead wished that they had done the 'job' more professionally. True psychopathy!

Anders

 

[ArdVan]

Wasn't it Switzerland that recently as one of the few European nations protested against the emprisonment of the Hamas Leadership by Israel?

Good catch. Can you find the article and post it and link?

http://www.swissinfo.org/eng/swissinfo.html?siteSect=104&sid=6910620&cKey=1153489214000

Switzerland, like many other countries, has admitted that Israel can conduct a military operation to recover its men held in southern Lebanon. But the government says the Israelis have gone way too far.

"The problem is that these operations are striking civilians, and destroying civilian infrastructures," Calmy-Rey told swissinfo. "These operations are disproportionate compared with their aims.

"Some governments have learnt nothing since the invasion of Iraq," she added.

For the Swiss, both sides in the conflict should only attack military targets, respecting humanitarian law set down in the Geneva Conventions of which Switzerland is the depositary state.

"We have reminded the belligerents a number of times that humanitarian law should be applied," said Paul Seger, head of the foreign ministry's international law directorate. "We are still neutral, since we are not taking sides with either party but defending the law."

Calmy-Rey has said in here speech for the 1. August today (it's like the 4. July ID for the USA):

Calmy-Rey said: (Adressing the idea that a neutral Switzerland should remain silent regarding the attacks from Israel)

[...] To remain silent, when innocent civilians are the target of indiscriminate military actions, or not to rise against terror, doesn't adopt a neutral position. He accepts it. [...] To remain silent, does not adopt a neutral position. On the contrary, to remain silent means in this context to to take sides.[...]

If it will be translated you may find it here later:

http://www.calmy-rey.admin.ch/e/multimedia/speeches.aspx

 

[Laura]

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3285519,00.html

Rome: Jewish shops defaced with swastikas

2 August 06
Associated Press

About 20 shops owned by Jews vandalized in apparent neo-fascist attack linked to fighting in Middle East. Flyers signed by group calling itself Armed Revolutionary Fascists left at the shops denouncing 'Zionist economy,' including pro-Hizbullah slogans

Jewish shops across Rome were vandalized and defaced with swastikas in an apparent neo-fascist attack linked to fighting in the Middle East, officials said Wednesday.

Owners of about 20 shops in the center and outskirts of the Italian capital reached their workplace Tuesday morning to find door locks filled with glue, shutters nailed closed and swastikas defacing nearby walls, said Riccardo Pacifici, a spokesman for Rome's Jewish Community.

Although not all the shops targeted were owned by Jews, the raid was apparently conducted in reaction to hostilities between Israel and Hizbullah, Pacifici said.

Flyers signed by a group calling itself Armed Revolutionary Fascists were left at the shops denouncing "the Zionist economy" and including pro-Hizbullah slogans, Pacifici said.

"There are still anti-Semites in Italy," Pacifici said. He told The Associated Press that Italian Jewish organizations have been flooded with dozens of e-mails blaming Jews for violence in the Middle East.

Rome Mayor Walter Veltroni condemned the vandalism.

"Rome and Romans are against any form of anti-Semitism," Veltroni, was quoted as saying by the Corriere della Sera daily. "I hope that the authors of these actions will soon answer for them in court."

Police officials declined to comment on the investigation. Last month, swastikas were spray-painted on walls in the Old Ghetto - Rome's ancient Jewish neighborhood - while hundreds of thousands of soccer fans gathered in the nearby Circus Maximus to celebrate Italy's victory in the World Cup.

 

[Laura]

Consider the source: Fox News

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,206639,00.html

Mel Gibson: Holocaust a 'Numbers Game'

Gibson: Holocaust a 'Numbers Game'

Mel Gibson is in a lot of trouble now, but his problems began a long time ago.

Two years ago, Gibson gave an interview to former Republican speechwriter Peggy Noonan for Reader's Digest. Now the outtakes of that interview have been made available to this column.

His unpublished remarks, according to the Digest's publisher, are shocking. Gibson actually ridiculed the historically acknowledged number of Jews killed by Hitler.

Click here to read: Mel Gibson Apology Draws Mixed Reactions From Jewish Leaders

Of the Holocaust, Gibson told Noonan: "I mean when the war was over they said it was 12 million. Then it was six. Now it's four. I mean it's that kind of numbers game ..."

Gibson told Noonan he thought the Holocaust actually happened, refuting his father's belief that it didn't occur at all. But Gibson equivocated, citing a friend who'd been in the Holocaust because "he worked in a concentration camp."

The actor also said to Noonan: "The Second World War killed tens of millions of people. Some of them were Jews in concentration camps. Many people lost their lives. In the Ukraine, several million starved to death between 1932 and 1933. During the last century, 20 million people died in the Soviet Union."

Gibson also proved to be prescient in the March 2004 interview, addressing criticism then that he was anti-Semitic.

He told Noonan: "Nobody wants to have their name, you know, besmirched on the front of newspapers and people say wicked things about them and their family and call them all sorts of names, accuse them of being anti-Semitic and everything else. I mean that's not part of my design. I don't enjoy experiencing that. That's just coming from some place that I have no control over."

None of this should play well today as Disney takes a further look at their participation in Gibson's upcoming film, "Apocalypto." This column was the first to report on Monday that the family-friendly studio would back off releasing the film, since all the publicity would be about Gibson himself. Since then, countless media outlets have echoed our story.

But the reality is "Apocalypto" is now in limbo whether or not Disney wants to own up to it today or next week.

The Disney board and chief executive Robert Iger are too smart to let this go on for very long. They're not going to put $50 million to $100 million plus their reputation into a film made by an admitted alcoholic, scofflaw and apparent bigot.

My guess? "Apocalypto" is pulled off the schedule and quietly released by Gibson, at his own expense, a year from now.

My bet is that Apocalypto will be a big hit and that will be because a lot of people are THINKING what Mel Gibson said...

Wednesday, August 02, 2006
By Roger Friedman

 

[Laura]

Another example of how the hate is spreading... And Israel can blame no one but itself:

http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/local/crime/bal-fire0803,0,7129549.story?coll=bal-local-headlines

Door at Baltimore Hebrew University firebombed

By Gus G. Sentementes
Sun Reporter
Originally published August 3, 2006, 11:37 AM EDT
Baltimore police are investigating a firebombing at Baltimore Hebrew University after an employee reported a loud noise and then a fire at the base of a side door of a building in the 5800 block of Park Heights Ave. in Northwest Baltimore.

The incident occurred about 2:45 p.m. yesterday. Agent Donny Moses, a city police spokesman, said the female employee alerted maintenance workers who came and extinguished the small fire and then alerted authorities.

Moses said detectives determined the fire was started by an incendiary device, such as a Molotov cocktail, thrown at a steel door, causing no damage. It is being investigated by the department's arson unit, but has not yet been classified as a hate crime.

"At this point, there's nothing that would indicate that this is a hate crime," Moses said. "They have problems with juveniles in that area."

The spokesman said no notes or messages were left.