CIF Watch
CIF watch, a site dedicated to monitoring and exposing antisemitism on the Guardian’s newspaper’s ‘Comment is Free’ blog, has a guest post by me up today. Check it out!
Damn computers.
Been having serioues computer issues, all should be sorted out in next few days, in the meantime, these girls know what I mean.
I’m back
I haven’t been around much for the past couple of months mainly do to real life issues getting in the way of me writing.
As the Jewish New Year kicks in, and reflections are a plenty, its time for me to get things up and running again, which I will do after Yom Kippur.
In the meantime may I wish you all a Gamar Chatima Tova.
Another Russian defeat. . . .
I’m not really a sports fan, with the exception of Formula 1, but a couple of weeks ago Israeli tennis player Dudi Sela caught my attention during Wimbledon, although if truth be told it was really his compatriot Shahar Peer who I had expected to be carrying the flag through to the second week in SW19.
Whilst Sela did rather well to get through to the last 16, as opposed to Peer who crashed out in the second round, it would seem that we would have to wait a few more weeks to see Israeli tennis stars do rather well at their sport.
This weekend in addition to welcoming some 7000 athletes for the 18th Maccabiah Games, the worlds third largest sporting event that takes place in Israel every 4 years, Israel was welcoming Russian tennis players who were due to play Israel in the quarter-finals of the Davis Cup.
Marat Safin, a Wimbledon semi-finalist from 2008, on arriving in Israel spoke with some journalists and said:
“With all due respect, Israel was lucky to get to the quarter-finals.”
How I bet he wishes he could go back a few days and take those words back in light of the thrashing Russia took at the hands of the Israeli team.
During the Davis cup, five matches are played; 2 singles followed by a doubles then two more singles.
With only three games complete, Israel is leading 3-0 thus making the final two matches, well, pointless.
Congratulations to the team made up of Sela, Harel Levy, Andy Ram, and Jonathan Erlich, who now move on to the semi-final in September against either Spain or Germany.
Free Gaza returnees arrive at Heathrow – Press TV miss out on the images!
This afternoon I had the pleasure of going to Heathrow Airport to collect a couple of friends who were arriving home having spent a few days in Tel Aviv at a wedding.
I say pleasure because I always enjoy visiting airports, both here in the UK and Israel. I often like sitting in the arrivals lounge with a coffee and my ipod listening to the latest set by one of my favourite house DJ’s whilst I wait for whomever I am meeting.
This afternoon however the ipod stayed in the bag, for today was the day that 6 British citizens who participated in the latest publicity stunt by the Free Gaza organisation arrived back in the UK.
Free Gaza (background can be found here) isn’t an organisation I take seriously. They have shown time and time again that they have no interest in aiding Gazans – their sole purpose is to put on stunts that they know will lead to confrontation with the IDF and Israeli authorities.
Its because of one of those stunts that led to six Brits being deported today from Ben Gurion airport on EL AL flight LY 315 to Heathrow and to me being at the airport to watch their supporters fly Palestinians flags in a British Airport.
Still being new to this blogging lark I never realised that I would require a recorder and camera on a personal trip, but I managed to capture a couple of shots on my phone of some of those waiting for the brave comrades from FG – quality awful, sorry – some thoughts and comments after the pics!
The group waiting in terminal one probably was no more than a dozen or so people. Surrounding them were probably 6 or 7 armed police. This group was not out to make trouble, but as we have previously seen in London during the Anti Israel demonstration earlier this year (see my comments at 10:58 am here) waving a flag can be deemed by the police as a provocation and seeing as there were plenty of Israelis and Jews waiting for friends and family from Israel I assumed this to be the case.
The group was pretty much harmless. They interacted with the police in polite manner and even tried to engage some of them in debate.
But the real show happened a bit later and involved a man with a camera (pic below), who about ten minutes before I had been chatting to. He was a cameraman for Press TV, the Iranian states propaganda tool, and we discussed the Free Gaza crew and he told me that he was here to shot some coverage of the returnees.
About five minutes after I took this picture, the police stopped this man. Their intervention coincided with the arrival of the 6 deportees.
Their first question to him was whether he had permission from BAA (British Airport Authority) to film in the terminal, he claimed to be press covering a story. He told them that he had no authorisation from anyone to shot in the terminal, but claimed to have received a press release from the Free Gaza organisation and was sent out to shot some footage. Eventually he was joined by a woman dressed as any proud woman would dress if their pay packet came from theocratic thugs in Tehran.
After some ten minutes the police confiscated the data cards and issued a report.
Bit of a wasted afternoon for the Press TV contingent I think, but I guess when your own regime confiscates camera film, disallows photographing sensitive security areas, cuts of all mobile communication, they should be grateful that all they got was a police report – the joys of living in a democracy!
As for my friends, they finally got out of the terminal at about 15:10 tired and craggy and desperate to get to see their kids!
I love airports!
A Jewish State is racist claim Islamic countries.
A few days on after Netenyahu’s speech it would seem that one of the biggest bones of contention in the Arab world is Israeli demands that it is recognised as a Jewish State.
You would think that this isn’t really a contentious issue considering as everyone the world over knows it to be so. Even good old British institutions like the BBC often refer to Israel as the Jewish state. So what’s the problem?
It would seem, that by recognising Israel as a Jewish State that this would have huge implications on the Palestinians main demand of the right of return for those Arabs who fled their homes, for whatever reason, in 1948.
The basic demands of the Palestinians are these:
1. They want their own Palestinian State – on the record in Judea and Sameria and the Gaza Strip (although anyone who follows these issues know that they really want all of Israel.)
2. That those refugees from 1948, as well as countless generations of their offspring’s, should have the right to return to pre-1948 ‘homes’ – thus ensuring not just a Palestinian State in Judea, Sameria and Gaza (not forgetting Jordan) but also a huge Palestinian population in Israel proper thus creating if you like three Palestinian territories.
While Arab leaders have been bitching about Israel being a Jewish state – claiming that its racist – none of them seem to have problems with Islamic states.
Oh the hypocrisy.
Elder of Ziyon, a long time blogger, has re-posted an article of his that looks directly at this hypocrisy. I post it in full below with thanks to him.
Hypocrisy, thy name is Arab (repost)
If you define “Jewish” in purely religious terms, that would mean that any state that defines itself as “Islamic” is, by definition, equally guilty of this discrimination. If you define “Jewish” in ethnic or national terms, then any state that defines itself as “Arab” would be equally guilty of the racism that Israel is being accused of.
Time to check out the official hypocrisy of Israel’s critics, and note the deafening silence towards this supposed Arab and Islamic racism:
Article 1
The Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan is an independent sovereign Arab State. It is indivisible and inalienable and no part of it may be ceded. The people of Jordan form a part of the Arab Nation, and its system of government is parliamentary with a hereditary monarchy.
Article 2
Islam is the religion of the State and Arabic is its official language.Art.1 The Arab Republic of Egypt is a democratic state based on citizenship. The Egyptian people are part of the Arab nation and work for the realization of its comprehensive unity.
Art.2 Islam is the religion of the state and Arabic its official language. Principles of Islamic law ( Shari’a) are the principal source of legislation.
Article 1 [Principles]
Libya is an Arab, democratic, and free republic in which sovereignty is vested in the people. The Libyan people are part of the Arab nation. Their goal is total Arab unity. The Libyan territory is a part of Africa. The name of the country is the Libyan Arab Republic.Article 2 [State Religion, Language]
Islam is the religion of the State and Arabic is its official Language. The state protects religious freedom in accordance with established customs.Preamble
The Kingdom of Morocco, a Muslim Sovereign State whose official language is Arabic, constitutes a part of the Great Arab Maghreb.
Article 6 [State Religion]
Islam is the religion of the State which guarantees to all freedom of worship.
