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January 31, 2008
The War Over the War
The final chapter of The Winograd Report makes no difference whatsoever.
Olmert will not resign. Livni will not resign.
Resignation from office would imply honor, dignity—and conscience. It would also admit to shouldering responsibility for grievous errors before, during and after the Second Lebanon War.
Olmert and Company are unable to take responsibility for any failures. When Olmert launched the Second Lebanon War—with overwhelming support from the Israeli public—he announced his goals:
1. To secure the release of the Jewish soldiers kidnapped by Hizbullah.
2. To destroy Hizbullah and their rocket capabilities in Southern Lebanon.
By the end of the war neither goal was achieved. In fact, over half a million Israeli citizens were driven from their homes or were living in bomb shelters. The terror rockets continue to rain on Israeli soil, and of course, the Jewish soldiers are still in cruel captivity.
There should have been a ground invasion in the first week of the war, that's basic military doctrine, but Olmert allowed a military campaign to be fought on the cheap, from the air.
Livni's naivete in dealing with the U.S. State Department regarding a cease-fire, is simply mind boggling. And when she boasted that the UNIFIL troops on the Lebanese border was a victory for Israel, one was forced to ponder whether the woman was either a liar or bi-polar, for no Israeli politician could possibly be so clumsy with national security; no Israeli politician could possibly be so stupid as to surrender a volatile border crawling with murderous transnationational terrorists to U.N troops led by, get this, French soldiers.
Lebanon has since devolved into a Syrian shooting gallery, with one anti-Syrian figure after another being murdered. Hizbullah, backed by Syria and Iran, will hollow out Lebanon and take control within the next few months. Thus Israel will be cornered by two jihadist entities: Gaza and Lebanon.
This too is part of Olmert and Livin's shameful legacy.
But no, they will not resign.
Rockets pour into Israel from Gaza—but they will not resign.
Nor will they deal forcefully with Gaza, for they are not serious about national security. Like all appeasers, they speak not of victory, but of making concessions.
In fact, Olmert plans on talking with the Arabs about dividing Jerusalem because, well, obviously what can go wrong? Missiles launched from East Jerusalem? Snipers? Homicide bombers? The Western Wall coming under daily attack?
Unthinkable, right?
There has been enough talk with the enemy. Talking with those who plan the destruction of the Jewish State and the Jewish people is the first step in legitimizing genocide. It's time to stop negotiating our own final solution. It's time to tell the enemy that there is nothing to talk about.
You know what will happen?
They will kvetch and scream and the U.N will debate, and the apologists for terror in the N.Y. Times will write some angry articles—and then everyone will get bored and move on. Maybe to Kenya, or Congo, where genocide and ethnic cleansing are taking place, and where real refugees are suffering and dying of starvation, typhoid, and exposure.
But Olmert and Livini and their delusional enablers continue to talk and talk and with each word and sentence they give away a chunk of Israel, of the Jewish people, of Jewish history, until one day we will all wake up and the only words left will be the words of the Kaddish.
But Olmert and Livni will never resign because this is a country committing suicide at 24 frames per second. That's not slow motion.
Today's Links:
The Hillel at Tufts University welcomes a radical jihadist for "interfaith dialog." Higher education at work.
Teenage Arab Girl Strangled to Death by Her Brother in "Honor Killing." But, hey, that's their culture. And liberals want to know why we can't get along with our Arab neighbors? I'll tell you why: because a culture that accepts and condones such barbarism has nothing in common with my value system. G-d help us if we did get along with such a debased society. And of course, so-called honor killings have nothing to do with Islam. Uh-huh.
Posted by Robert J. Avrech at 09:46 AM | Comments (14)
January 30, 2008
Made in Israel
When Israel expelled 9,000 Jews from Gaza, we were assured that the Arabs would build a productive society, and the border with Israel would be peaceful, afterall, the so-called occupation of Gaza was at end.
That's what the liberal narrative promised.
Reality intruded.
Hamas told the truth. Their terror tactics drove the Jewish pioneers from Gaza, rendering another patch of land Judenrein and Islamic. Thus in the free and democratic elections of 2006, certified by non other than Jimmy Carter, the so-called Palestinian people overwhelmingly elected Hamas, for they wanted more of what Hamas achieved in Gaza, they yearned for what Hamas vows in their charter: the annihilation of the State of Israel.
Now, the grotesque scenario continues on an even greater level as the Jewish State continues to enable Gaza, the Palestinian State, an enemy entity, in its all out war (4th Generation War, to be sure, but just as fatal) against the Jewish State.
Now, the Israeli Supreme Court orders the Jewish State to supply Gaza with the power and fuel with which to launch terror attacks against Israeli citizens.
Elements of the Jewish people have now chosen the welfare of a belligerent enemy jihadist state over innocent Jewish citizens.
This is not just an infamous decision, this is intellectual collapse, this is slow motion suicide, this is, yes, murder of Jews, by Jews, through legal decisions that are profoundly immoral.
The first duty of a state is to protect its citizens. Israel is failing miserably in that duty.
The groups that sued on behalf of Gaza are a fifth column in Israel, and the Israeli Supreme Court are a chamber of leftist fools. These two groups are the best example of Lenin's dictum: The capitalists will sell us the rope with which we will use to hang them.
Here's a sickening article from a, sigh, German magazine, detailing how Qassam rockets are manufactured. The writer is clearly enamored of these murderous terrorists, something we've come to expect from the Eurotrash, Jew-hating press. But here's the point: as long as Israel continues to supply energy and fuel to Gaza, Israeli children will live and die in terror.
The vehicle finally stops at a dirt track. The Islamic Jihad rocket factory is housed in a kind of garden shed. The hut measures five meters by five meters, metal pipes with small wings lean against the wall in the corner: Half finished Qassams. There are several tightly packed garbage bags on a shelf. "TNT," says Abdul and produces a chunk. The explosive looks like lumpy sugar. A large cauldron is sitting ready on a gas cooker while bags with Hebrew writing are piled up high up against the wall. "Fertilizer for the rocket fuel," Abdul says and grins. "We get it in Israel."
To read the complete article, please click here.
Here's an invaluable Timeline of Rocket Attacks from Gaza, from The Israel Project. Clarity helps. Of course since Gaza was made Judenrein, more than 4,000 rockets have been launched from Gaza. Appeasement always invites aggression. So for those who are chomping at the bit to hand over Judea and Samaria and, of course divide Jerusalem, well: You. Are. Delusional.
Update: We assumed, incorrectly, that the Israeli Supreme court would accept the arguments of the Israeli Fifth column. We are delighted to report that the Supreme Court have rejected the arguments of these Jew-haters. But let us repeat: Seraphic Secret believes that Israel is under no obligation to supply the terrorist state of Gaza with any power or fuel whatsoever. The so-called humanitarian supply is nonsense. All material in Gaza is funneled into killing Jews.
No state can survive when she supplies the enemy with the means of her own destruction.
Update: Just noticed that Soccer Dad has also posted about this digraceful German journalist, who, what a shock, has a history of writing deeply sympathetic pieces about Arab terrorists intent on killing Jews. Old habits die hard among our Teutonic friends.
Today's Links:
Notice how the, ahem, human rights groups in Israel, are absolutely silent when Arabs murder desperate African refugees trying to get into Israel. You know why? Because they are not human rights groups. They are Jew-hating thugs, dedicated to the annihilation of the Jewish State.
Posted by Robert J. Avrech at 08:27 AM | Comments (7)
January 27, 2008
Learning From Ariel
Karen writes: The fifth anniversary of Ariel’s (A”H) petirah, is coming upon us. The word “anniversary” seems inappropriate, since it connotes celebration, a kind of renewal. The measure of time is irrelevant for me in any case.
As I’ve written countless times before, the more time passes, the deeper my pain, the more I ache for my son. There is a concept in psychology called “habituation.” It relates to the diminishment over time of the power of a stimulus to evoke a response. There is no habituation occurring in my case.
In fact, the opposite is true. Pictures and mementos have become more evocative, more upsetting, more capable of unleashing the memory of the reality that was Ariel.
An example: Ariel’s pictures are all over our house. One favorite rests on my kitchen counter. I pass it innumerable times each day. In the picture I am embracing him at the end of a visit to Ner Yisroel, his yeshiva in Baltimore.
Recently, this picture triggers a sharp pain each time I see it. I am starting to avert my eyes.
Even the habitual sight of Ariel’s image on Seraphic Secret, an image I have seen hundreds of times with immunity, now sends my stomach into somersaults. When I meet Ariel’s eyes, they are looking right at me, they are more familiar. I wonder, how could I have been so cold?
The searing emptiness is more tangible as time peels off the protective layers of my psyche. I find myself crying more, mouthing the words, “Ariel, speak to me,” “Ariel, I miss you.”
Seraphic Secret was established as a platform for memorializing Ariel, and for that reason was named after the Seraphim (angels, like the angel Ariel) who proclaim the glory of G-d as they surround the Merkavah—the heavenly chariot.
The passage is a play on words from the liturgy of the Musaf Kedusha of Shabbos, “K'sod (secret) Siach Sarfai Kodesh.” In the prayer we are imitating the angels who praise god with a chorus of sanctified secret names.
Our hope was that we could convey the essence of who Ariel was, and that he too, through some secret, hidden manner, could send messages to us that his neshama lives on, whispers that would echo his voice and subtle lights that would illumine his soul to others.
As if to answer my prayers, I was granted a new glimpse of Ariel through the eyes of a friend who just entered our lives. Each time an acquaintance relates his experience of knowing Ariel it is a reaffirmation of his life.
The story confirms that yes, Ariel did exist, yes, my perceptions of him were accurate, yes, he was so special. Hearing another person’s point of view also extends Ariel’s life for me. I can imagine these interactions, and Ariel is alive again, a fresh chapter added to my memories.
Yosef Saltzman, a former student at Ner Yisroel, is engaged to a wonderful young lady in our community. She is a family friend, and a true Baalas Chesed, charitable young woman, who has, thank G-d, met her Bashert. Yosef spontaneously composed an essay recounting his impressions of Ariel, offering his thoughts to us in his sensitivity to our yearning for news of our son.
All of the rabbinic fast days have something to do with the destruction of the Bais Hamikdosh in particular, but in a general sense, they all revolve around the connection to the meaning and purpose of life that is service of Hashem. When we reflect on the loss of the Temple and the special Divine presence, the Shechina, that left us upon its destruction, this realization is meant to propel us forward in our day-to-day efforts to become better people and come closer to Hashem. So on the day of introspection I try to find inspiration. I try to address the questions, “Who are you?” and “Where are you going?” Thoughts like these compel me to take out time to write about Ariel Avrech, zichrono livracha.
Through the grace of G-d, I recently became engaged to Deborah Abraham. She lives, with her family, in the same area the Avrechs live, and both families daven at the Young Israel of Century City. Deborah told me that her family became close to the Avrechs through the families' shared experiences. So since I feel, on some level, that I am already part of the Abraham family, by extension I also feel more deeply connected to the Avrech family. This has also driven me to think more about Ariel.
The third factor that rekindled the glowing image of Ariel within me was meeting Ariel's father at our engagement party. After having spent time in Pico for Shabbosos, I had already learned a lot about the playing field where Ariel grew up as a young boy. But in the few minutes I spoke to Ariel's father, I could already get a better appreciation of where his gentle, sensitive soul came from, as I saw the resemblance between father and son.
The fourth thing to arouse memories of Ariel in my heart was reading about him. I remember reading A Father, a Son, a Tzadik, written by Ariel's father nearly a year after Ariel's passing. I had seen this article posted on the wall in the hallway of Ner Yisroel, and I was so moved that I took it down and made a couple copies for myself before I taped it back on the wall. A few years have passed since reading that first article, and I recently noticed The Book of Ariel, a collection of moving pieces written about Ariel, in the Abraham's living room. Reading the pieces in this memorial book, like the article by Ariel's father, nearly led me to cry. So although I didn't write anything about Ariel when this holy book was put together a few years ago, I figure it's never too late to write about my own appreciation of this precious person.
Ariel left this world more than four years ago, in July 2003. At the time, I was learning in the Mir Yeshiva in Jerusalem. I had left Ner Yisroel a year earlier, in July 2002, so I didn't see Ariel's gradual decline. The last time I saw him was in yeshiva in Baltimore, and he looked and sounded the same way he always did to me.
I didn't really have any contact with Ariel since I saw him in Ner Yisroel. The last time I really felt connected to him was when I went on a special trip to the Kotel, The Western Wall, with a group of eleven other Ner Yisroel students, to daven and say Tehillim, Psalms, on behalf of our dear friend. We were all learning then at different yehsivos in Jerusalem, and we went specially, at an unusual time, because we had been told that Ariel needed our prayers so badly.
Ariel and I were never chavrusas ( study partners) or roommates. We were not in the same shiur, nor were we the same age, and we didn't even play ball together. But I still felt a special bond with Ariel. We both loved learning Torah and loved other people. We both grew up going to Modern Orthodox schools and then convinced our parents to allow us to go to yeshiva. We both learned in Ner Yisroel for four years. Ner Yisroel has boys from many different types of religious, social, and economic backgrounds, and I always liked to meet all the different types of "bochurim" in the yeshiva, so if I didn't get to know them in any other context, I would meet them in the dining room forum.
I always liked talking to Ariel, and the dining room was where we used to talk. I remember he told me how his father was involved in making movies in Hollywood, and I thought this was the coolest thing ever. I had never before met such a serious yeshiva bochur whose father worked in the movie industry. I had never met someone who on the one hand was of the highest caliber in terms of dedication, seriousness, and commitment to Torah learning and growth, but on the other hand was worldly (in a Hollywood sense), and deeply interested in literature, science, and things like cartoons.
I had heard that Ariel had some sort of illness, but I had no idea of its severity. Ariel was a regular, perfectly integrated guy. He learned, davened, and ate with everyone else. He even went to college, and I remember discussing with him the different "career paths" that he was considering. It's to his parents' credit that they treated him like everyone else and encouraged him to be completely integrated with the yeshiva's program.
Ariel was adele, (Yiddish: refined) and sensitive, but he was also assertive and had his opinions about things. He may have been slow in expressing himself, but he was quick in his thinking. Although he sometimes came across as being "slow" in his speech and general demeanor, he was truly a very smart boy. He wasn't the type who had an interest in being "cool;" he was just too mature for that. Ariel was happy with himself and with the lot that Hashem had given him.
Ariel grew up in a city in which many people are steeped in the pursuit of fame, fortune, and fantasy, probably more so than any American city, yet Ariel only wanted to be a true Torah scholar. Always serious and focused on the Torah that he loved learning, although he knew he was suffering, it didn't seem to deter him.
In his hesped, Ariel's father quoted his son as saying, “The years of illness have taught me the value of time—how precious it is. How foolish to waste even a moment.” These words have been ringing in my ears ever since I read the hesped. Ariel taught us this on a daily basis. He taught us, by example, that life has deep meaning, G-d is real, Torah is real and deserves our full effort, and every minute can be used in some way to proclaim the glory of G-d.
In her hesped, Ariel's mother made mentions of “complexities” in Ariel's personality. In a similar vein, in his hesped, Ariel's father contrasts Ariel's Torah interest with his secular interests. I think Ariel believed everything in the world is part of G-d's oneness. Hashem is One, and there are a million things in life that could distract us from our recognition of His Oneness. Ariel's emuna was such that he saw everything in the world could, and should, be used to uncover the presence of Hashem that is concealed in our world.
On the rabbinic fast days, we think about uncovering and revealing the hidden presence of Hashem. We stop to think how we can make Him a more essential part of our lives and how we can connect to the deeper meaning of life. We try to look beyond the superficialities that the society surrounding us teaches us to value.
Ariel was a person who had strong emuna in Hashem, who walked with Hashem, and yearned for His closeness. Ariel saw beyond the transient pleasures of this world. Through his serious pursuit of Torah knowledge and his diligent observance of mitzvos, he was connected to the eternal world.
There are different ways someone can teach you something. Normally, we think of a teacher as one who speaks to us and communicates verbally. Sometimes a person can teach by way of example, assuming the observer has a real interest to learn. But perhaps the deepest, most sublime way of teaching is when the memory of the person teaches. Our Rabbis say that Yosef saw the image of his father's face, and this kept him from sinning. I still have the image of Ariel etched in my mind.
When I think of Ariel and his passion for Torah life, a chord is struck in my heart. Every time I ponder the way Ariel lived his life, I am inspired to reach higher. I am inspired to focus on what's real and what's most important in life. When I stop to remember who Ariel was and the kind of life he lived, I hear his voice gently telling all of us to use every second of our short lives in a way that will enable us to live life to the fullest.
— Yosef Saltzman
Posted by Robert J. Avrech at 07:00 PM | Comments (16)
Best of the Jewish Blogosphere # 151
This edition is being sponsored by Jameel's Waffle House.
This is the first Post Soccer Dad edition, and Jack's first time out of the gate. By the way, Jack and I shared pizza together here in Los Angeles a few months ago and his thoughts are anything but random.
Anyhoo!
Jack's done a fine job of collecting the best of the Jewish blogosphere and we'd like to thank him for including Seraphic Secret's The Death of Education and Torah at Hebrew Union College.
Posted by Robert J. Avrech at 10:53 AM | Comments (4)
January 26, 2008
Kibbutz Love Story
Okay, it's definitely time for some good news, and hey, how about a real life love story from Israel.
It was a case of East meets West in the Middle East Thursday night when Shoshana Rebecca Li, a descendant of the Jewish community of Kaifeng, China, married Ami Emmanuel, a new immigrant from Florida, at Jerusalem's Great Synagogue.
"For me, to have a proper religious Jewish wedding in Israel, it is a dream come true. I am very excited," Li, 29, said prior to the ceremony.
Emmanuel, 25, said he never believed he'd marry an Asian woman until he met Li at Kibbutz Sde Eliahu's Hebrew ulpan in May.
To read the complete story, please click here.
Posted by Robert J. Avrech at 07:21 PM | Comments (3)
January 25, 2008
Know Your Enemy
The Hamas government's Covenant, Article Thirteen:
[Peace] Initiatives, and so-called peaceful solutions and international conferences, are in contradiction to the principles of the Islamic Resistance Movement. Abusing any part of Palestine is abuse directed against part of religion.
And further down:
There is no solution for the Palestinian question except through Jihad. Initiatives, proposals and international conferences are all a waste of time and vain endeavors. The Palestinian people know better than to consent to having their future, rights and fate toyed with. As in (sic) said in the honourable Hadith:
"The people of Syria are Allah's lash in His land. He wreaks His vengeance through them against whomsoever He wishes among His slaves It is unthinkable that those who are double-faced among them should prosper over the faithful. They will certainly die out of grief and desperation."
This represents the democratically elected charter of the people of Gaza.
Today's Links:
Karen and I wish all our friends a beautiful and profound miracle in Shabbat.
Blast Kills Lebanon's Anti-Terror Officer. Syria continues to murder all opposition. And Lebanon edges closer to all-out civil war.
Imam offers Prayer at Iowa Statehouse: Watch Out!
What's the worst that could happen when you release terrorists from Israeli jails as, ahem, confidence building measures? Well, they kill more Jews. That was a really hard call.
Posted by Robert J. Avrech at 09:36 AM | Comments (0)
January 24, 2008
Sinai Terrorist Alert
Immediate fall-out from the Gaza-Egyptian breach. As always, it's Israel who has to be on alert. This from Andrew Cochran at Counter Terrorism Blog:
The Israeli government has issued warnings against traveling in the Sinai Peninsula in the wake of Hamas' destruction of the Egypt-Gaza Strip border wall and the elimination of any effective border security at the Rafah crossing. "Terrorists in Sinai are working to abduct Israelis and transfer them to the Gaza Strip," warned the Prime Minister's media adviser. "The currently open border between the Gaza Strip and Sinai makes it easier for terrorists to move back and forth. Therefore, the National Security Council Counter-Terrorism Bureau recommends that Israelis avoid visit Sinai and that any Israelis currently there leave forthwith." The sight of tens of thousands of people streaming back and forth between Gaza and Egypt raises the likelihood that arms shipments and cash will be streaming to Hamas without hindrance from sympathizers in Egypt and elsewhere. It's a nightmare security scenario for counter-terrorism forces in Egypt and Israel, and for U.S. officials intent on negotiating a comprehensive peace settlement. Surely Israel will not risk further infiltration by waiting for Egypt or a third party to reassert border security there.
This looks like the "Waziristan-ization" of Gaza to me.
Today's Links
Who said Jews are smart?
Look what they've done to Anne Frank. Appalling! H/T Judd Magilnick via LGF
Posted by Robert J. Avrech at 02:52 PM | Comments (0)
Gaza and Egypt: The Big Silence
Make no mistake about it, the bombing of the wall between Egypt and Gaza by Hamas is a major event. Hamas have, in effect, declared war on the Egyptian government. Mubarak is in a difficult position. He despises and fears Hamas and all the transnational terrorist gangs who have taken root in Gaza. Yet at the same time, he's been appeasing them, allowing arms and money to flow from Egypt into Gaza, in order to maintain the stability of his corrupt regime. Now, Hamas, as they always will, have broken the rules of the game. Mubarak cannot take control of Gaza, nor can he ignore this terrorist entity.
Gaza is the u-boat under the entire region and sooner or later it will be necessary for this genocidal state to be destroyed.
Seraphic Friend Shrink Wrapped believes that the toppling of the wall is in fact, good news:
There has been an impressive conspiracy of silence regarding one particular aspect of the situation in Hamastan (Gaza) which may be dissolving of necessity; this conspiracy reeks of hypocrisy and venality but has served the needs of the Palestinians, their Arab brethren, and the usual demonizers of Israel, which includes the UN and much of the Western press. It is a two part fiction. The first part deals with the Palestinian/Gazan relationship with Egypt. Despite the fact that every map of Palestine shows a long border between Egypt and Gaza, the MSM typically neglects to follow a simple line of logic; ie, while it may be true that the Israelis at long last had finally cut off some supplies into Gaza from Israel in response to the dramatic escalation of rocket and mortar attacks from Gaza into Southern Israel, few Diplomats or Media spokespeople were so impolite as to mention that it would be a trivial matter for Egypt to take over the task of distributing the West's largess to the suffering population of Gaza. To those who might object that Israel would not allow Egypt to do so, perhaps Condoleeza Rice could remind them that as part of the current push for a "peace process" Israel ceded the border between Gaza and Egypt to Egyptian administration. While food, fuel, medical supplies could have easily been imported through Egypt, for political reasons both Egypt and Gaza abjured such an obvious solution. Maintaining the fiction that the big, bad Israelis were starving the poor Innocent Palestinians was of more value than actually caring for th Gaza population. Further, Egypt, to all accounts, has always had a rather porous border when it came to military supplies.
The second part of the fiction is part of a larger one, Arab solidarity with the Palestinians. The Ummah has been primarily concerned with destroying Israel and Palestinian suffering and Palestinian terror has been their primary weapon.
Both of these issues have been clarified in the last 24 hours.
To read the complete article, please click here.
Today's Links:
Terrorist Attacks North and South of Jerusalem.
Pallywood: Hamas Staged Some Blackouts. Shocking, just shocking! H/T Seraphic Chaver, Kishke.
Soccer Dad argues that mainstream newspapers are now Complicit in aiding the terrorist gang Hamas.
Posted by Robert J. Avrech at 01:30 PM | Comments (6)
January 23, 2008
Wallace Reid: Hollywood Shooting Star
Wallace Reid
He was one of Hollywood's leading male stars. Young, handsome, with sex appeal and talent to burn.
But he died young, and apparently drugs were involved.
The year was 1923.
The actor's name was Wallace Reid, and he was a huge movie star—sadly now all but forgotten, and many of his films lost or just turned to dust.
Reid appeared in his first motion picture when he was 19-years-old in 1910 in Chicago. He quickly moved on to the Vitagraph Studios where he hoped to direct, but because of his incredible good looks he was quickly pushed in front of the camera.
The public, especially women, reacted favorably to Wally Reid.
Reid worked for Allan Dwan in 1913 at Universal Pictures. His career flourished and soon he had featured roles in Birth of a Nation (1915) and Intolerance (1916) both films directed by the great D.W. Griffith.
Reid became one of Hollywood's leading men and starred opposite Gloria Swanson, and Lillian Gish.
It was in the new genre of daredevil auto movies—automobiles were changing American life, and that change was reflected in motion pictures—that Wallace Reid gained his greatest popularity. Fast cars roared along narrow, winding roads; sometimes there was a race with a speeding locomotive; at other times a grueling, dust-choking cross-country rally. But always, there was a girl's heart to win at the end of the race. His adoring public worshiped this brash, but basically aw' shucks all-American speedster. Reid's auto pictures included The Roaring Road (1919), Excuse My Dust (1920) and Double Speed (1920).
Wallace Reid, Ann Little, The Roaring Road, 1919
Watching Reid's film work I've always been struck by his delicate good looks, yet at the same time there's nothing feminine about him. He's a rugged, clean cut all-American kid. It's easy to connect with Reid. You like him, don't feel threatened by his chiseled jaw and bottomless dark eyes. He's not the heavy-lidded, mannered Valentino movie star type that caused men to recoil. You sense that Wally Reid's just a regular, unpretentious guy who likes beer and football—and he won't steal your girl.
So popular had Reid become that he was dubbed: The Screen's Most Perfect Lover.
Reid tried to enlist to fight in World War I—he was in great shape and a fine marksmen—but his studio, Famous Players , exerted massive pressure on him to stay home. Instead, Reid sold Liberty Bonds and opened his fine home to veterans.
In the old days, the studios cranked out silent films on an industrial basis. It was exhausting labor. A normal day on-set was usually fourteen to sixteen hours in some of the most inhospitable locations you could possibly imagine. Those were the days before actors were pampered in deluxe trailers with highly paid handlers, agents and lawyers catering to every whim and fancy. No, this was the wild west of motion pictures, and Reid, though making very good money, was working at a soul-killing pace.
While making a film called "The Valley of the Giants" (1919), Reid was severely injured in a train accident while on-location.
Cameraman Karl Brown told film historian Kevin Brownlow what happened behind the scenes:
The picture was nearly finished, but there was no way of shooting round Wally. He just had to be there, in front of the camera. So the company, not wanting to lose the investment entirely, sent the studio doctor, with an ample supply of morphine, to the location, where he injected Wallace to the extent that he could feel no pain whatsoever and he was able to finish the picture. But afterwards he was thoroughly hooked. Normally he could have been sent to a sanitarium, to a cure, but he was altogether too good box office. There was too much more to be gotten out of Wallace Reid. So in order to keep the services of this most popular of leading men, they kept him supplied with more and more morphine.
Addicted and in need of increasingly larger doses of the drug to feed his cravings, the studio physicians fed the helpless actor with more and more morphine over the next few years.
Reid fell into a deep depression, and always fond of liquor, his intake increased. The combination of morphine and booze was deadly to Reid's body and to his spirit. The cycle was deadly: shooting one picture after another was sapping what little strength Reid possessed, and it took every ounce of energy to hide his rapidly declining physical and mental condition from his legion of fans. Of course, there was massive strain on his marriage, and what guilt he must have suffered as a father for he and his wife Dorothy had a son, Wallace Jr., and daughter, Betty, whom they had adopted when she was 3-years-old. Reid's life spiraled into a living hell.
Reid with wife Dorothy Davenport
Addiction was little understood in those days, viewed only as a moral stain to be denied and hidden. Treatments were primitive—often fatal.
In 1922 Reid was working on a film called Thirty Days. He was in bad shape, and everyone in the cast and crew were aware of Reid's problem. Some days Wally was barely able to stand up and perform when the cameras were rolling.
Henry Hathaway, assistant director on the picture, recalled to Kevin Brownlow Reid's final breakdown on-set:
He sort of fumbled about, and bumped into a chair, and then just sat down on the floor and started to cry. They put him in a chair, and he just keeled over. They sent for an ambulance and sent him to the hospital.
Wallace Reid's career was finished.
Reid's loyal wife, actress Dorothy Davenport placed Wallace in a sanitarium.
Before entering the sanitarium, Reid told director Cecil B. DeMille, “Either I'll come out cured, or I won't come out.”
On January 18, 1923, Wallace Reid died in his wife's arms. He was 31-years-old.
Wallace Reid: Silent Film Star. Some lovely photos.
Wallace Reid: Classic Films. Here's an excellent site with quite a bit of information about Reid, his career, his tragic addiction, and his lovely wife Dorothy Davenport. There are also fascinating news clips of the time covering the Reid story from Variety, The N.Y. Times, and the L.A. Herald. A heartbreaking time capsule.
Wallace Reid: IMDb. Complete Filmography.
Wallace Reid Double Feature DVD: The Roaring Road and Excuse My Dust.
The Affairs of Anatol, DVD starring Wallace Reid and Gloria Swanson, Directed by Cecil B. Demille.
Wallace Reid: The Life and Death of a Hollywood Idol, by E.J. Fleming.
Wallace Reid: His Life Story, by Bertha Westbrook Reid. This volume by Reid's mother was penned in 1924. I am clueless.
Carmel Myers: The Rabbi's Beautiful Daughter
Colleen Moore's Wedding Night
One Hairstyle, Three Memoirs: Alma Rubens, Colleen Moore, Louise Brooks
Theda Bara: The Vamp Adopts the Troops
Movie Magazines: They Don't Print 'em Like They Used To
Alma Rubens: Dope Fiend, But Not a Jewess
Wallace Reid: Hollywood Shooting Star
Olive Thomas: Hollywood's First Suicide
Mary Pickford: The Greatest Movie Star
Seraphic Secret Chats with Actress Coleen Gray about John Wayne, Howard Hawks, and Stanley Kubrick
Susan Peters: The Great Unknown and Tragic Actress
The Blond Machine Gun: Jean Harlow
Peg Entwistle & The Hollywood Sign
Brigitte Bardot & Sean Connery in Shalako—Sorta
Today's Links:
Congo: Every month 45,000 people die. Since 1998 5.4 million people have died since the war began, nearly half of the dead children younger than 5-years old. In the last year alone more than half a million refugees. True refugees living in mud, and squalor, dying of starvation and disease.
But keep talking about Israel and the so-called Palestinians.
Top EU Official speaks. Wait, is this, er, for real?
Posted by Robert J. Avrech at 12:33 AM | Comments (10)
January 22, 2008
Those Whacky Gazans
I don't know about you but I need some comic relief, and really if you examine the Israeli-Gaza situation, it is pretty nutty. The Gazans overwhelmingly voted into power Hamas, a terrorist organization whose Islamist, Jew-hating covenant explicitly calls for the elimination of the State of Israel, and of Jews everywhere.
And yet Israel supplies this terrorist state with fuel, electricity, medical care—even as Qassam rockets are launched from Gaza into Israel on an hourly basis.
It never occurs to anyone that Egypt can supply their beloved Muslim brothers with all of Gaza's power and medical needs.
It certainly never occurs to anyone that Gaza, the recipient of more foreign aide than any other country on the planet, should build their own electrical grid.
What, construct their own infrastructure?
Unthinkable.
No, it's much more fun watching the Jews squirm as they supply their genocidal enemies with the means of their own destruction.
Look, for all you people who are concerned about the, ahem, fate of the Palestinian people, it's time for some mature geo-political thinking. The so-called Palestinian people receive way too much attention on the world's stage; every time one of them passes wind the New York Times writes an outraged article, and Israeli leftists trip all over themselves to pick olives for some Arab farmers—hey, Kumbaya!
The last thing they want is their own state. In fact, they have no intention of declaring a state.
It would mean the end of all the absurd attention. The end of UN relief agencies. The end of welfare for generations of welfare witches. The end of all the, y'know, good times.
No, they like it like this, for they have a plan, and the plan is to destroy a state, not build a state.
Rant over.
Now to Seraphic Friend Jake Novak, whose biting humor gets to the nihilistic core of Gaza.
Jake gets to write, he's not on strike, like you-know-who.
1. Israel allowed 50 trucks full of food supplies into Gaza today. Before that, most Gazans had been forced to eat surplus explosives.
2. Palestinians say the supplies of flour and milk Israel allowed into Gaza today were "insufficient"... mostly because they can't figure out how to set them on fire.
3. The European Commission is condemning Israel's actions to stop Palestinian rocket attacks as “collective punishment"... because stopping the attacks unfairly keeps Palestinians from dancing in the streets when Jews die.
4. Israel has shut off all power to Gaza. Apparently, suicide bombers and exploding rockets are not an acceptable payment for the electric bill.
5. Hamas leaders are strongly protesting the move, especially since darkness makes it hard to continue killing people.
Today's Links
A New York Times profile of Michael Yon.
Why Arabs Suffer. Guess what, it's not because of Israel or a Jewish conspiracy. Shocking. H/T The Augean Stables.
Our friends the Saudis offer Israel Dhimmi status. Thanks sooooooo much. And, no doubt, the Israeli left will leap at the generous offer. H/T Joshuapundit.
Hamas lies about the blackout in Gaza, and Israel is made the scapegoat. What else is new?
As I said, the Egyptians really love their beloved Palestinian brothers in Gaza. How much do they love them? Click here to find out. H/T Seraphic Chaver, Kishke. We wait for all the so-called human rights groups to express their outrage.
Posted by Robert J. Avrech at 08:16 AM | Comments (8)
January 21, 2008
The Death of Education and Torah at Hebrew Union College
Seraphic Secret has many friends in many corners of the religious world. We have formed close friendships with Christians of numerous denominations.
We have also developed warm relationships with Jews who are active members of the Conservative and Reform branches of Judaism. Several of these friends are deeply concerned with the radical leftists agendas of their movements and thus lead secret lives as political Conservatives, and yes, as Torah loving Jews.
We have become particularly close to a Rabbinic Student at Hebrew Union College, the Reform movement's college for Rabbinic ordination. This student loves Torah, Judaism, is an ardent Zionist and an American patriot. But at Hebrew Union College, according to our friend, these values are sharply undermined.
To give our readers an idea of the arch leftist agenda at Hebrew Union College, here is just one of this student's letters.
Dear Robert:
With two weeks of vacation here from school, I finally sat down and tried to gather up some of my thoughts that you have so kindly indulged in our correspondence. I tried to focus on just looking at what is, in my opinion, a root problem among HUC faculty and Reform Jewish leadership — that of the confusion between “liberal politics” and “liberal religion.” It’s my hope is that there is a significant part of Reform Jewry that is more “centered”— both politically and in terms of religious sentiment — than the radical fringe left leadership that is cultivated at my current school, Hebrew Union College.
Deleting Torah from Judaism—It's Politically Correct
When I started rabbinical school I think I was somewhat aware that the leadership tended to the left — politically and academically. I certainly wasn’t aware of how much those ideological worldviews are inculcated at the school itself.
Often, it's hard to tell where the leftist ideology stops and plain old shoddy academics begins at school. I have a hunch that they are intertwined — as the lack of intellectual diversity leads to stagnation, or even a drop in the level of academic integrity.
No doubt that sounds harsh — and let me make clear that there are definitely one or two fabulous professors here. But when the assistant dean of the school gives a Rosh Hashanah sermon on how we need to "share the road" with the Palestinians, based on a revelatory bike trip in the wine country of Sonoma Valley, where she saw a road sign with the same message, albeit with a different intended audience.
And another assistant dean talks about how "the environmental cycle of the planet has sped up" (and yes, anyone that can help clarify what the “environmental cycle” is)** I really started to wonder: do my professors believe it's possible for one to be politically conservative and a Reform Jew? And has an across-the-board conflagration of leftist political ideology with Reform Judaism destroyed intellectual integrity?
Here’s another example of how it seems to me that my professors have confused liberal politics with liberal religion — and how that translates into skipping over important questions in class. In a liturgy class, we were told that we [Reform Jews] don’t say Shirat Ha-Yam [Exodus:15] during psukei d’zimrah, part of the Morning Liturgy, because “it’s very obviously not a liberal prayer.”
Well wait a minute, What about it is not “liberal,” per se, I asked.
“It’s just so obviously very violent,” he responded. I looked around at my classmates, who nodded in agreement.
I’ll have to leave aside my nitpicky grammar about how the prayer itself is not violent, though it may contain terms that describe violent action. That G-d is doing, on behalf of the Jews, I might add. I’m all in favor of that.
“The prayer is describing G-d’s immeasurable strength,” I said. “How are images of strength not liberal?”
And does that mean that “conservatism” is for violence? Just what sort of liberalism are we talking about here?
And what does that have to do with whether G-d is portrayed as a warrior who will defend His people?
I didn’t get an answer, just a moral relevance mumbling about how do we “as liberals” really want to have a prayer that gets dangerously close to jihad-type stuff?
The professor does not, of course, point out the key difference which is that in Shirat Ha-yam G-d is taking care of business, rather than in jihad, in which the terrorist is targeting civilians. It was a frustrating discussion, but I think it points out how the term “liberalism” is used and abused at school to mainly mean “things that I, as a professor, personally agree with in my imagined political world.”
As I said earlier, I don’t know for sure—but it’s certainly my hunch—that conflating one’s personal politics (and however confused those may be, considering how many of HUC’s faculty are involved with Peace Now, the radical left organization) with history, or biblical criticism, is a form of laziness that leads to intellectual collapse.
The Yom Kippur War—Sorta, Kinda, Maybe; Well, Not Really
Here are my notes, for example, from a lecture supposedly on “The Yom Kippur War and Its Aftermath.”
We learned one date: "October 1973." We also "learned" that Golda Meir was Prime Minister at the time. I cannot think of any other facts that were taught. We did not learn which countries—other than Israel— were involved. We did not learn the names of any generals, names or places of battles, etc. Here's what we did learn - I took very detailed notes—as a coping technique:
—"Every major event in history has to be put in a certain context..." so he is going to tell us HIS story in relationship to the Yom Kippur war. He got a phone call one night when he was in England...story of his aliyah to Israel... a few anecdotes about getting to Israel and it was very confusing and he thought about swimming to Cyprus (??) but he didn't know where Cyprus was (big laughs)...
—Differences between 6-Day War and Yom Kippur war. "The feeling in June '67... well Israel was still small, but it was bigger. Israel was now perceived in a vast range of realms [sic, believe it or not]. For example, people would flock down to the Wall now. With my Reform background, I feel differently about the Wall [??] but that's another story."
—He was personally very shocked in Sept 1973 because he went down and took a look at some Israeli outposts down on the Egyptian border...long story about how he was fascinated by night vision binoculars.
—Finally he gets to Oct 1973 ...talks about going down to the bomb shelter and it was full of storage junk, and long description of what the toilet facilities were like. It was a very "weird feeling" being there with his neighbors. 15 minutes.
—"The long and short of it [the Yom Kippur War ] is that it was very controversial. The map gives you one story, and I'll give you another, and you can make up your mind... 18 days just felt so much longer than the 6-day war." [??] Never actually gets around to saying anything about the map. "Chaim Herzog believes the war was a victory. But the other way to see it- which is my bias - is that the war was a tremendous disaster. We had no faith in our leadership and no moral compass... I want to say something about death. The number of Israelis killed doesn't tell us anything about the number of people killed on the other side." Long story about how his kids were in the bomb shelter with him, and two of them are officers in the army, and two of them aren't... kind of lost me on the point of that story.
Student followed up with a question — in college he took a "course on human rights, and we really talked a lot about how Israel violated human rights in the Yom Kippur War." Professor says "there are many different voices, and it's not always just one or the other."
HUC "Share" About Loss of Civil Liberties After 9-11
I think that the lack of intellectual depth is best represented by the profs’ inability to articulate themselves clearly. When telling us about a new URJ Women’s Torah Commentary, the assistant dean said it would finally give Jewish women a chance to “fix history.” We are graded on an “assessment matrix” which, we were told, will also include a way for the faculty to track and include our “spiritual growth.” URJ leadership urges us to make Reform Judaism into a “religion of meaning” (and they don’t even give credit to Michael Lerner in swiping that phrase!)
The students, of course, tend to the political lefty side as well. We had Shacharit, Morning prayer, on 9/11 and students were allowed to "share" their feelings about "their journeys" since that day six years ago. Students spoke about how their civil liberties had been taken away — "not only their civil liberties as Americans, but the civil liberties of those who aren't Americans," — their anger at actions being taken on their behalf by the government, how they still "couldn't find any meaning" in anything that had happened since that day, etc.
One student lamented how her mother couldn't accompany her to the gate at the airport anymore. The ability to engage in a little critical questioning would help here. For example — has anyone actually had their privacy invaded by wiretapping? Wouldn’t CNN report it if it happened to anyone at all? Is being escorted to the gate by your mother (at age 25) really a civil liberty? The lack of knowledge about basic American society is astonishing.
When I got my commission, one student asked if “military people have to get re-sworn in when the regime changes.”
That would be the "Bush regime" she was talking about.
Another asked if there was a lot of tension on ships between the Navy people and the "air force people on board who fly all those planes".
The Irrelevant Relevant Sermons
We, as students, are constantly encouraged to make our sermons “relevant” and that we should feel compelled to address the “pressing issues” of our day, meaning the pressing political issues. But these are the sorts of examples that make me want to say, please don’t try and make your sermons “relevant” to American politics or situations because the chances seem high that you know little about the actual situation (see above, “environmental cycles”).
It seems to me that Hebrew Union College is simply taking its cues from the majority of academia in the U.S., replacing the true pursuit of knowledge with pandering to the P.C./multiculti gods.
A strength of Judaism has always been its commitment to rationalism, text study, and above all – learning. It would be a pity if, in Reform Judaism, we let that go in lieu of spiritual naval-gazing and preoccupation with dried-up ideological “feelings” trends of the 60’s.
**My dad's favorite example of this happened at his own shul back in Dallas—a sermon given by a newly minted HUC graduate—on how Abraham's purchase of the burial cave at Machpelah was related to Bush's "dismal failure" in the subprime mortgage housing crisis.
Posted by Robert J. Avrech at 10:25 AM | Comments (15)
January 20, 2008
Best of the Jewish Blogosphere # 150
The Post of the week is Helpless, in which My Shrapnel recalls the homicide attack in which she was injured. Essential reading.
We thank Soccer Dad for including Seraphic Secret's Barely Awake on the Radio in this week's round-up.
Today's Links
You know how Seraphic Secret has been agitating for the Olmert government to shut off the power to Gaza. Well, guess who finally took our wise advice? H/T Seraphic Chaver, Kishke, and Judd Magilnick.
Update from Naomi Ragen:
Picture this: the electric plant which supplies 70% of electricity to the Palestinians in Gaza is in Ashkelon. The Palestinians in Gaza have been shooting kassam rockets at the plant ever since the "disengagement" i.e. the abandonment of Gush Katif. Now, Palestinians are crying that they don't have enough electricity. They are complaining about Israeli sanctions against them. They are going to the U.N.
The truth is, Israel has not stopped supplying electricity to Gaza. Not only that, but Israeli electric company employees are risking their lives to do so.
Mickey Tsarfati, head of the union of electrical workers, was quoted in YNet: "It is unbelievable chutzpah for them to complain. We have not stopped supplying them with electricity for a minute. And they have not stopped logging bombs at us for a minute." Many of the workers who fix the lines to Gaza daily are residents of Sderot. It has happened more than once that bombs fell next to their homes as they were fixing the lines to supply electricity to the bombers.
Now the U.N. and the Quartet, and the Arab League are all getting demands to stop Israeli "sanctions" against the Gazans....
You tell me what other country would be supplying electricity to people who are bombing their children on a daily basis, and risking their lives to do so.
Posted by Robert J. Avrech at 10:59 AM | Comments (11)
January 19, 2008
Israel's Fifth Column
Peace Now, which has nothing to do with peace, is an organization dedicated to handing victory to the jihadist enemies of the Jewish State.
They are lavishly funded by foreign governments. And they are suspected of setting up a financial scam to mask the source of their European funding.
Well, of course they did.
The Jew-hating Europeans would not look good on the Peace Now stationary. Even these Jew-hating Jews have the minimal smarts to comprehend this little PR faux pas.
The Knesset has passed a law requiring the publication on the internet of all contributions from foreign countries to Israeli associations.
The bill, proposed by MK Uri Ariel (National Union), stipulates that the foreign donations must be announced not only to the Non-Profit Associations Registrar, as has been the case until now, but also to the public at large, via the internet.
The bill's final Knesset readings were approved on Wednesday.
The bill is designed chiefly to fight Peace Now, a far-left Israel-based organization promoting Israeli retreat to pre-1967 borders and the end of all Jewish presence in Judea and Samaria. Peace Now is largely funded by foreign governments in the European Union.
Now, these vital paragraphs:
The biggest donors were Great Britain and Norway, which are opposed to the Jewish presence in Judea and Samaria - thus that the money they give Peace Now essentially serves those governments' foreign policy interests. Given Peace Now's surveillance activities over Israeli communities and IDF military installations in Judea and Samaria, the organization is thus "in effect spying on Israel for foreign governments," Bedein reported.
The Knesset Interior Committee confirmed in 2004 that Peace Now had received 50,000 Euros from the government of Finland to conduct intelligence activities in Jewish communities in Judea, Samaria, the Golan, Gaza and Jerusalem. The Israel Penal Code for Espionage defines “photography of sensitive areas of Israel for any foreign power” as an act of espionage, punishable by ten years imprisonment.
To read the complete article, please click here.
Why aren't these people under arrest as foreign agents, as spies for hostile governments? They bring aid and comfort to the enemy in every action and deed. They are collaborators; enemies of the Jewish State, enemies of the Jewish people.
Posted by Robert J. Avrech at 07:42 PM | Comments (4)
January 18, 2008
Living Under Terror's Shadow
If you read the mainstream media, you rarely hear about those who live under constant attack by Gaza's terrorist jihadist gangs. In fact, the MSM is unnaturally focused on the, ahem, innocent civilians in Gaza; never mind that the Gazans overwhelmingly voted Hamas into power, thus discarding any pretense of innocence.
The true innocent civilians are the Israelis who are under constant bombardment, constant terrorist incursions—and the Olmert government's refusal to treat Gaza as the hostile entity it has declared itself to be.
Here is a fine story about a small Moshav that borders Gaza. It should serve as a cautionary tale for the criminal inaction of the Olmert government, and what the enemy have in store for the entire Jewish state if more concessions are made in Judea and Samaria or, G-d forbid, if Jerusalem were to be divided.
Early this week Netiv Ha’asara was in the news again—just barely, a passing mention—when a mortar shell fired from Gaza lightly damaged a house there. Netiv Ha’asara, a moshav (cooperative farming community) of 550 people, is the closest Israeli community to Gaza, a scant 100 meters from the northern border of the Strip. It was formerly one of the Sinai settlements and was reestablished at its current location in 1982 after those were torn down at the behest of Israel’s then peace partner, Egypt.
Netiv Ha’asara also flickered briefly into the news on January 4 when it was hit by eight mortars from Gaza that caused no injuries or damage. If any of the Israeli Gaza-belt communities has a substantial news presence it’s the much larger Sderot, the battered town of twenty thousand to Netiv Ha’asara’s south and west.
Netiv Ha’asara, though, is a microcosm of a nightmarish reality and an almost incomprehensible story of perseverance.
To read the complete article, please click here.
Hat Tip: Seraphic Friend, Lance Fogel
Karen and I wish all our friends a beautiful and profound miracle in Shabbat.
Today's Links
Steel Rain Hits Israel This is known as war. But Olmert and his enablers proceed on the road of appeasement. They are not a government, but a band of criminals. A government's first responsibilty is national security, to protect and defend the citizens and the borders of its country. The Olmert government is failing miserably at this duty. In fact, this dark coalition seems more interested in protecting the jihadists in Gaza, those who have vowed to eliminate Israel and the Jewish people from the face of the earth, than in protecting the Jewish State or the Jewish people. Not since King Ahab has the Jewish people been led by such an odious figure. But Ahab, according to the Talmud, at least kept a kosher kitchen. Olmert has no such distinction. He is but one of Jewish history's ugly mistakes.
From Jameel at The Muqata: Olmert Targets the Blogosphere.
Treppenwitz points out that the recent wave of arrests have been targeting those who object to Olmert's policies. Will the left, presumably passionate believers in free speech, protest these outrageous police actions? But When They Came For Me It Was Too Late.
There is nothing worse than for a parent to lose a child. Seraphic Friend Alan Busch has written a loving tribute to his late son. Here's a wonderful review of Snapshots: In Memory of Ben. To order the book click here.
From our good friends at Libertas: The Writers Guild of America Sells out to the NAACP.
Victor Davis Hanson explains why Ghandi is an idiot. H/T Judd Magilnick
Posted by Robert J. Avrech at 11:12 AM | Comments (7)
January 17, 2008
Stopping Iran
An important article in Commentary Magazine by Norman Podhoretz on why America must bomb the Iranian nuclear facilities.
Up until a fairly short time ago, scarcely anyone dissented from the assessment offered with “high confidence” by the National Intelligence Estimate [NIE] of 2005 that Iran was “determined to develop nuclear weapons.” Correlatively, no one believed the protestations of the mullahs ruling Iran that their nuclear program was designed strictly for peaceful uses.
To read the complete article, please click here.
Podhoretz does not believe that Israel will attack Iran. For the mission to succeed, he explains, the attack must be pulled of with little margin for error. Casualties for Israel could be enormous. America's military, Podhoretz writes, can operate with a much larger margin for error and sustain higher casualties. This is all theory, based on a paper written by American MIT academics. In fact, all military missions are all based on perfect models. And beside, the IAF is rather good at accomplishing the seemingly impossible. Seraphic Secret respectfully disagrees with Mr. Podhoretz. Israel has been directly threatened by Persia. Even if Israel is faced with severe IAF casualties in an attack on Persia, the alternative—a nuclear Iran—is unthinkable for Israel, for the entire region.
Posted by Robert J. Avrech at 03:50 PM | Comments (5)
Lights, Camera, Glamour!
This is the museum to visit if you're in Los Angeles, though be careful if you're modest, there are some nude photos in the exhibit.
SANTA MONICA, CA.-The California Heritage Museum is pleased to present "Lights! Camera Glamour! The Photography of George Hurrell. " As studio photographer for MGM, Warner Brothers and Columbia, Hurrell shot some of the world’s most beautiful and intriguing personalities, creating the template for the Hollywood glamour portrait. The exhibition follows his career from his arrival in Southern California as a promising young painter to his acclaim as the foremost glamour photographer of his time.
For the complete article, click here.
The California Heritage Museum is located in an 1894 Historic Landmark house, at 2612 Main Street, in Santa Monica. Hours are Wednesday through Sunday, 11:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m. General admission is $5, students and seniors are $3 and children 12 and under are free. Parking is free and handicapped facilities are available. On Sundays, the museum hosts a Farmer's Market in its parking lot. Visitors to the museum can find parking in adjacent "quarter metered" parking lots.
Today's Links:
My novel causes a blogger to detour.
Seraphic Secret has repeatedly stated that there is no difference between Fatah and Hamas except for tactics. Their strategy for the destroying Israel is exactly the same. Here's proof as the, ahem, moderate terrorist leader Mahmoud Abbas erases Israel from a map of the Middle East.
Madness! There is 7.7 biliion pledged to the PA. And 40% is going to Hamas-run Gaza. None of the money will be accounted for. It never is. And almost all the money will be spent on arms and ammunition to kill Jews. The so-called Palestinians have already received enough aid to build several functioning countries, but they have no interest in building a state, only in destroying the Jewish State.
As if we need more proof that the Olmert government is weak and ineffectual. The Hebron Killers are Not Being Pursued. No, they are being held by the PA. Which as you know means "house arrest" a euphamism for having a grand ol' time. We've seen this movie before. The killers get treated like heroes, like royalty, and they walk after the newspapers lose interest. Disgraceful. H/T Kishke.
Melanie Phillips informs us that not-so-great Britain is Slouching towards Dhimmocracy. H/T Judd Magilnick
The Writer's Guild gives a waiver to the NAACP. Just got hit by a massive migraine.
Posted by Robert J. Avrech at 12:30 PM | Comments (4)
Seraphic Secret Contest Winner
Thanks so much everyone. This was really a tough call.
The entries were on such a high caliber that we had a hard time deciding on a winner, but ultimately this extremely clever sentence by YF emerged as the clear favorite of our judges.
Ted Kennedy, a jehu if there ever was one, found his imparlibidinous relationships with his co-workers, the reason for their rampant attempts at egrote.
YF's melding of reality with a nice simple sentence structure pushed this sentence to the head of the class.
YF, please e-mail your snail-mail address to us and we'll send you the Seraphic Press™ tote bag. Congratulations!
With each contest the sentences get better and we thank all our extremely literate and creative obscure sentence builders for their amazing efforts.
Posted by Robert J. Avrech at 09:41 AM | Comments (6)
January 16, 2008
Say the Word: Contest
Okay, we haven't done this for a while. We've been sidetracked by world events: Olmert's appeasement negotiations with the Fatah terrorists, Iranian gunboats in the Straits of Hormuz, Hillary's deeply moving tears as she was about to lose another primary, and oh yes, the Writer's Guild Strike.
Sigh.
The sheer weight of world and national events is just depressing and exhausting.
But we have resolved never to stray too long from our core passion: language and its awesome power.
That's why we never tire of this verse:
Death and life lie in the power of the tongue.
—Mishlei, Proverbs 18:21.
Anyhoo.
The Contest:
If you're new to our little contest, here's the drill: we've listed three really obscure English words. Your job—if you choose to risk the assignment—is to compose one single coherent and witty sentence using all three words.
Send the sentence to our comments section.
And the best Seraphic Sentence is the winner.
The Prize:
The prize is the new Seraphic Press™ all canvas Tote Bag. Very handy for schlepping groceries, books, DVD's—or lots of ammunition. Yup, we made sure it's sturdy enough for the toughest assignments.
Sorry, no pictures yet, but take our word for it, this is a very handsome tote bag, natural canvas with dark blue trim, emblazoned with the very cool gold and blue Seraphic Press™ logo. You can even tote your Seraphic Press™ tote bag to, say, the hoo-ha, Hamptons, and the upper classes will gaze in admiration and wonder: where did that Seraphic bag come from? And: how can I acquire such a fine item?
Well, only from Seraphic Secret.
The contest ends today Wednesday, January 16, at midnight Pacific Time.
Good luck.
Udate: We apologize, there was a typo in the definition of jehu. It's a reckless driver, not drive. In any case. We'll let the submissions stand as they are, but from now on, the correct definition should be used. Thanks so much to Kishke for bringing this to our attention.
egrote
v. to feign sickness in order to avoid work
imparlibidinous
adj. pertaining to an unequal state of desire between two people
jehu
n. a reckless driver
Hat Tip: Futility Closet
Today's Links:
Y'know how the Democrats are always telling us that we need to have, ahem, universal health care, like they have in Europe. Well, try looking for a dentist in England.
Apple has unveiled a new computer, the MacBook Air. We think this puppy is going to be very popular here in in Hollywood as it's fashionably, painfully, ultra-skinny. Hence, the perfect accessory for all the anorexics in town. Here are the pros and the cons from Cult of Mac. And here's the MacBook Air Guided Tour. More information about the new computer and Apple movie downloads.
Gingy in Jerusalem attended the One Jerusalem rally in support of keeping a united Jerusalem. Here's her excellent report, complete with some lovely Divrei Torah: If I Forget Thee O' Jerusalem.
Heading into combat? Thinking about buying some body armor for protection against steel rain? Michael Yon tells you what not to buy.
Elder of Ziyon presents: The Limits of Reliance. H/T Soccer Dad.
Posted by Robert J. Avrech at 12:02 AM | Comments (25)
January 15, 2008
Israel: Not an American Colony
Listen to this interview with former UN Ambassador Dorey Gold. The other day in my radio interview with Shalom USA, I said that the Israeli government is responsible for the recent rush to appeasement, not President Bush. Soccer Dad, who was sharing a microphone with me, told me later that he doubted the wisdom of my statement. But now, listening to Dorey Gold, Soccer Dad has come round to see that yes, it is primarily the Olmert government who is pushing for all the concessions to the Arabs, not the Americans. Seraphic Secret thanks Soccer Dad for bringing this important interview to our attention.
Too often Israelis and American Jews view Israel as a colony of America. Psychologically, this absolves Israel's leaders from their stupid and murderous decisions and safely shifts the blame to the big bad Americans.
This is a denial of responsibility, a ghetto mentality, the sign of a people who are afraid to take responsibility for their own fate—a people too timid to exercise national power.
Mere Rhetoric comments on the Dore Gold interview.
Posted by Robert J. Avrech at 03:55 PM | Comments (3)
Settlements are Legal
Seraphic Secret's position on the so-called settlements is simple: Jews have the right to live anywhere in the world—especially in Israel. Currently there are 22 Arab/Muslim countries that are more or less Judenrein. For some reason the international community finds this ethnic cleansing perfectly acceptable.
Wait, make that 23 Arab/Muslim countries, let's not forget Gaza, which was cleansed of Jews by Jews, and is now the Palestinian State, a front-line for every transnational Jew-hating jihadist gang bent on Israel's annihilation.
When Muslims claim that the presence of Jews is intolerable to their political, religious or national sensibilities, the reaction should not be appeasement, but to send in more Jewish citizens and let the jihadists know that Jews do not live at the sufferance of anyone.
It always amuses Seraphic Secret that those who become outraged at the idea of expelling Arab fifth columnists from Israel are usually the first to advocate the expulsion of Jews from, well, anywhere the Arabs have threatened violence.
We wonder what the chattering classes will advocate when the Jihadists set their sights on Tel-Aviv, Haifa, Brooklyn, Stockholm, Paris, London, Brussels, when the jihadists voice their intolerance at the Jewish presence in those cities. For after they expel the Jews, they will come for the Christians, and then the other non-Muslim minorities.
Israeli settlements in the West Bank are legal both under international law and the agreements between Israel and the Palestinians. Claims to the contrary are mere attempts to distort the law for political purposes. Yet whatever the status of the settlements, their existence should never be used to justify terrorism.
To read the complete article, please click here.
Hat Tip: Seraphic Aunt Pearlie
Today's Links:
Let's turn from the grim political news to Seraphic Friend Jameel at the Muqata for a truly joyous story: Miracle Girl, The Wedding of Rachel Sharansky.
Posted by Robert J. Avrech at 12:58 PM | Comments (11)
Slow Motion Suicide, Part II
The one and only Caroline Glick wonders how Ehud Olmert continues to defy gravity. Ms. Glick also reveals some startling and unsavory facts about the leftist media elite in Israel—not so different from their bretheren in America who would yawn in boredom if Israel were to, G-d forbid, go up in flames. Caroline Glick, who should be the Jewish State's Prime Minister, also warns about Olmert's use, well, misuse of police powers to crack down on his political opposition and stifle dissent. Pay close attention to Israel's Tom Paine.
Monday Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni opened negotiations with her Palestinian counterpart Ahmed Qurei regarding the partition of Jerusalem; the destruction of hundreds of Israeli communities in Judea, Samaria and Jerusalem; the expulsion of between a hundred thousand and half a million Israelis from their homes; the borders of Israel; and the right of immigration of millions of foreign, hostile Arabs to Israel.
To read the complete article, please click here.
Hat Tip: Seraphic Friend, Lance Fogel
Posted by Robert J. Avrech at 08:32 AM | Comments (3)
January 14, 2008
Israel: Slow Motion Suicide
Seraphic Secret believes that the concessions being offered by the Olmert government to the Arabs are not just foolish and a grave security risk for the State of Israel—especially after the ethnic cleansing of Jews from Gaza—but a direct existential threat to the Jewish State. Olmert and those who remain in this odious, self-serving coalition, are in the same appeasement mind-set that Neville Chamberlain embraced when he negotiated with Hitler and declared "Peace in our time."
You do not make deals with your enemies. You defeat them in battle. Utterly. And then perhaps there will be a chance for peace. All else is delusional fantasy.
Former IDF Chief of Staff Moshe Yaalon is also sounding the alarm.
Yaalon, currently a fellow at the Shalem Center's Institute for Strategic Studies, explains that the problems in the Middle East are not caused by the Arab-Israeli conflict, as is the common misconception, but rather something much bigger which started even before Israel existed.
At the recent Annapolis summit, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni presented a policy to divide the Land of Israel and establish a state for Israel's Arab enemies in the hopes of achieving reconciliation.
...Moshe Yaalon, former Chief of Staff of the Israel Defense Forces, demonstrates how past Israeli concessions to the Arabs were rejected by the Arabs and actually increased violence. In this address to the WZO's World Conference of Orthodox Rabbis and Community Leaders, he notes that even the so-called "moderate" Fatah party refuses to recognize Israel as a Jewish state.
To view the video, please click here.
Today's Links
Bookworm brings us some fine excerpts from Jonah Goldberg's Liberal Fascism. You can order the book here.
Posted by Robert J. Avrech at 03:52 PM | Comments (25)
Freedom of Speech? Only for the Jihadists
Seraphic Secret has long maintained that the war on terror is being fought on multiple fronts: military, propaganda, and judicial. Perhaps one of the most dangerous developments is the use by Muslims of Western courts to further the cause of jihad. In England, it has reached terrifying proportions. Canada seems to be following the same dreadful template.
Ezra Levant is a Canadian publisher who published the Danish cartoons. For that act, a Saudi cleric living in Canada made a complaint to Canada's HRC which Mr. Levant was hauled into the commission to answer. He was kind enough to videotape these proceedings and post them to the net.
For the revealing videos—it's an Orwellian world in Canada—and further links, go to Howling Wolf.
Meawnwhile, Israel seems to be sliding into a police state mentality. H/T Seraphic Friend Lance Fogel
Israel Matzav comments in-depth about the problem of free speech in Israel. And as Seraphic Secret has noted, it's only the right who are under attack. Olmert's enablers on the left are untouchable. H/T Seraphic Brother-in-Law, Rabbi David Singer.
Today's Links:
More, ahem, "humanitarian aid" for Gaza, is caught at one of those pesky check-points.
The Europeans are aware of the Iranian nuclear threat. They are not really concerned, nor encouranging to Israel's security situation. A sobering article. A Green Light for Iran.
She was shopping for Shabbos. A homicide bomber self-detonated. She survived. And now she writes. Essential reading. My Shrapnel.
Posted by Robert J. Avrech at 09:20 AM | Comments (15)
January 13, 2008
Barely Awake on the Radio
I'm awake now.
Really, if you heard the radio show I was barely conscious. Here's what happened. Last night I said to Karen: “Set the alarm so I can be sure to be up by 6:15.”
But I'm so nervous I wake up at 3 am and just, y'know lay there and wait, and work through the various problems of my latest screenplay.
Screenwriting is all about structure.
And Act Two is always the killer.
Also, you should know that I'm the one idiot in Hollywood who shows up on time for a meeting. And when I arrive five minutes early, the Dolce Gabbana clad secretaries sniff at me like I'm the biggest moron in the industry.
I can't help it. I think it comes from being Orthodox. Y'know, get up, daven at a certain time. Make Shabbos at a precise moment. In addition, and this is no small thing, being on time for a meeting just seems common courtesy.
Anywhoo.
By the time the alarm goes off and Karen tells me to get moving I'm like totally comatose. I make a huge pot of coffee, pour it down my throat. And repeat. Then trek to my office, which is twenty-feet behind Casa Avrech. The phone rings and a stern voice orders me to keep my answers short.
“Okey-doke.”
I wonder, is that short enough? Maybe I should have just said: “Okay.”
Anxiety.
Anyway, Soccer Dad and I discuss blogging and Israel—Omri was, um, not available—and though I'm half-asleep, I'm having fun and confess to the host that most of my readers would rather I write about Hollywood than politics.
Thanks so much to Soccer Dad for inviting me to participate in the interview. Here's his take on our interview.
Oh yes, Haveil Havalim #149 is up. Hosted by Life in Israel. This is the The "Vengeance upon the Nations" Edition.
Soccer Dad founded Haveil Havalim and we should all thank him for his hard work. I have often called him our national treasure. Now Soccer Dad has an important announcement regarding the future of Haveil Havalim. Click here to read what he has to say.
Posted by Robert J. Avrech at 08:55 AM | Comments (14)
January 11, 2008
Seraphic Secret Radio Roundtable
Soccer Dad has asked yours truly to take part in a bloggers round table on Sunday morning 9:30 EST. Which for me will be, oh my gosh, 6:30 in the morning.
What was I thinking?
The Show is called Shalom USA.
I'll be sharing a microphone with my blog buddy Omri Ceren of Mere Rhetoric and of course, our national treasure Soccer Dad.
Details are here.
Look for me to be the guy who's talking about the films of Preston Sturges.
Seraphic Friend Jeremayakova has a great link: To the Shores of Tripoli. In almost every northern city you'll find a Decatur Avenue. You drive past and have no idea who Steven Decature was. Check out this link and find out. And the next time you hit a Decatur Avenue, your heart will swell.
Treppenwitz worries that he's Living in a Fear Society. Well, only if you disagree with the current government.
Lost Hollywood: The film is called The Strange Love of of Molly Louvain (1932). Directed by Michael Curtiz, starring the fragile and heartbreaking Ann Dvorak and the hyper-active Lee Tracy, before the hooch got the best of him. This was not a big picture. In fact, it was a quickie programmer. But The Crowd Roars gives us an insightful view into this film—which I have not yet seen—and do check out the wonderful clips.
Karen and I wish all our friends a beautiful and profound miracle in Shabbat.
Posted by Robert J. Avrech at 12:51 PM | Comments (4)
George in Jihadland
And now, let's take a moment for some words of sanity and wisdom from the one and only Caroline Glick. Frankly, I'm exhausted. I can't wait for Shabbos. Then after Shabbos, I'm going to plant myself in the couch and watch some old Marion Davies movies. Israel seems intent on committing suicide in slow motion, how else to explain this bit of insanity?
US President George W. Bush arrived in Israel at the start of an eight-day tour of the Middle East at an interesting moment. In the lead-up to his trip, enemy forces, of both the terrorist and state variety, clarified their strategic outlook and the scope of their ambitions. Unfortunately, the president seems not to have noticed.
For the past several weeks, the leaders of the global jihad and their state sponsors in Syria and Iran have escalated their rhetorical and military attacks against Israel and the US. Osama bin Laden, his deputy Ayman al-Zawahiri and his American lackey Adam Gadahn all issued video and audio appeals on the eve of Bush's trip. Their messages were devoted mainly to the campaigns against US forces in Iraq and against Israel. Bin Laden labeled Iraqi opponents of al-Qaida in Iraq apostates and called for Iraqis to rally around his allied forces. Gadahn called for Bush's assassination. All three men called for Israel's annihilation and for the unification of the forces of global jihad.
Then there is the al-Qaida affiliate Fatah al-Islam. Fatah al-Islam is considered a creation of Syrian intelligence. It is led by Shaker al-Absi, a Palestinian and a former member of the Syrian military. Syrian intelligence dispatched Absi to Lebanon last year to launch a campaign against the Lebanese military. Under his command, Fatah al-Islam took over the Nahr el-Bared Palestinian refugee camp where it pinned down the Lebanese Army for four months before being overrun.
Despite assertions by the Lebanese military that Absi had been killed, his body was never found. This week, ahead of Bush's trip, Absi surfaced alive with a videotape attacking the Lebanese army, calling for a jihadist takeover of the Levant and announcing his allegiance to Osama bin Laden.
To read Caroline Glick's complete article, please click here.
Posted by Robert J. Avrech at 10:24 AM | Comments (0)
January 10, 2008
Bush in Ramallah
I'm really confused.
President Bush keeps telling Israel that the so-called Palestinians are genuine partners in peace. In fact, he wants to carve out a state for them, including a divided Jerusalem, because y'know, the Palis are so trust-worthy.
Okay, so President Bush hops into Ramallah to visit his precious, peace-loving buddies and his security detail is made up of 1, 500 Secret Service, backed up by Israeli Shabak, and a few crack IDF units—we're talking a sterile security zone a mile wide and a mile deep.
But here's the thing:
Not one Arab is packing. The Arabs have been deleted from Presidential security detail the way Stalin used to delete his enemies.
What about the sixteen, ahem, security services, under the Fatah umbrella? Surely the Secret Service could have tasked one or two so-called Palis to a Presidential security detail? I mean, they are partners in peace, right?
Hence, my confusion.
I mean, hey, if President Bush wants Israel to live with these peace loving Arabs, how come he doesn't trust their security services to protect his body when he's in Ramallah?
Just, y'know asking.
Posted by Robert J. Avrech at 08:51 PM | Comments (12)
CNN Reporter as Terrorist Enabler
Ben Wedeman, a "reporter" for CNN, offers to show President Bush the misery of Gaza and the West Bank. Of course, everything is Israel's fault. You see, the Arabs bear no responsibility for anything; worse they have no abilities nor resources, though they've received more foreign aid than most Third World countries. But gee, they certainly rustle up the resources to build countless terrorist infrastructures. And hey, look at 'em rush to take credit for every drop of Jewish blood that's spilled, and for every bomb that explodes in Israel.
Well, I guess they have their priorities.
Wedeman even blames the economic problems of Bethlehem on Israel. In fact, Arafat started a campaign against the Christians of Bethlehem since the signing of the Oslo Accords of 1995. The flight of Christians from Bethlehem is shattering the economy. This, according to Wedeman, is, naturally Israel's fault.
In truth, Bethlehem has gone from an 80% Christian population to less than 8% since the Palestinian Authority took over.
That fine blogger Joshua Pundit demolishes every lie about Bethlehem that's published by the mainstream media. These lies have become so routine, so widespread, they now constitute a modern day blood libel.
It's a funny thing. Wedeman complains that the Arabs are isolated because of Israel's policies, hence they suffer economically. Let us point out that they are isolated because they have demanded to be isolated. When you vow in every deed and word to destroy the State of Israel, well, don't expect to get a big fact welcome from those you threaten and murder. Not after you send wave after wave of homicide bombers. Not after generations of unrestrained terror. Not after we view Arab television which teaches Arab children the most vile Jew-hatred this world has seen since the Nazis.
Also: Gaza used to be a bit more, ahem, multi-cultural. There were 9,000 Jews living there. The Arabs found this intolerable. Jews expelled Jews. The Gazans elected Hamas, a group whose charter explicitly calls for the destruction of Israel.
Um, yeah, Gaza is isolated, and the economy is shattered. What a shock. The Arabs have no one to blame but themselves.
By the way, Israel is completely isolated in the Middle East. If you carry an Israeli passport you cannot cross any border to any neighboring Arab state. But Israel thrives economically in spite of this huge burden, in spite of this religious bigotry, in spite of this disgusting bullying.
I have a question regarding isolation: why does no one mention that Gaza also shares a border with Egypt? The Egyptian border is also sealed. How come Wedeman isn't all hot and bothered about that isolation? And gee, aren't the Egyptians anxious to help out their Muslim brothers in Gaza who are suffering so horribly. I mean, how come they don't open up the border and let the Gazans come into Egypt and find some work?
I'm just messing with your head.
The Egyptians hate the so-called Palestinians. They want nothing to do with them. The Egyptians know, as does every Arab state, that when the Palis infiltrate a society, that society is immediately destabilized and only the most repressive measures can keep the beast in check. No, the Egyptians pay lip service to their beloved Arab brothers. Further, the Egyptians have made it policy to allow the jihadists to build tunnels from Egypt into Gaza in order to smuggle in money and weapons. This provides a safety valve for the Egyptian leadership. The jihadists in Gaza agree not to destabilize Cairo as long as Cairo enables their war against Israel.
But, of course, all of this is too complex for, ahem, journalists, like Wedeman. Reality is far too messy. It's much easier to stick to a simple-minded narrative where Jews are bad and Arabs are passive victims. This is known by the way, as Jew-hatred.
Wedeman is a typical enabler of terror and jihadism. In his world, when Jews build a wall to keep out homicide bombers it's automatically an apartheid wall. Same for checkpoints, which are there to halt bombs and homicide bombers.
In the world according to Wedeman, Jews have no right to self-defense.
Oh, and one more thing: Wedeman is a racist. His is a typical colonial mind-set that views Arabs as simple-minded desert dwellers, too stupid to build the most basic infrastructure. No, they can't do anything because the Jooz, so smart, so powerful, foil their efforts at every turn.
Hat Tip: Seraphic Brother-in-Law, Rabbi David Singer
The Augean Stables also comments on Wedeman's article and exposes Wedeman as either a liar or an ignoramus. Really, there are no other choices.
Today's Links:
Thousands Protest in Gaza Against Vampire Bush. Okaaaay, now send these people a few billion more in aid. And oh yeah, give them their very own state. They are definitely a mature and stable society. What could possibly go wrong?
Qassam Rockets Hit Israel. Some groups send flowers to greet Presidents, others send boxes of candy, but the so-called Palestinians send Qassam rockets—nine of 'em—as a message to President Bush “that no plan will defeat the Palestinian resistance.” Okey-doke, message received. Now, we have a message for Abu Mujihad: there's a Hellfire missile with your name on it. Look around the room. You think you can trust all the dirt bags gathered around you? Dude, you are so compromised.
Rocket Attack on American School in Gaza. Another shout-out to Pressident Bush from those peace-loving Arabs in Gaza. Yup, the very people Bush and Olmert are so anxious to set up in their very own state, and heck give em half of Jerusalem. Why not, what could possibly go wrong? Oh, but wait, Bush and Olmert are talking about the other Arabs, the moderate Arabs. I dunno, we're confused, these so-called moderate Arabs also voted overwelmingly for Hamas, a democratic vote that was certified by none other than, get this, Jimmy "Jew-hater" Carter. Anyway, if Abbas doesn't represent the Arabs in Gaza, who does he represent? And really, don't the Arabs in Gaza already have a Palestinian state? I mean, let's take a look at our check list of requirements:
1. It's Judenrein.
2. It's steeped in violence.
3. So-called honor killings are routine.
4. Transnational jihadist militias zip around in Toyotas.
5. Powerful clans have carved up various neighborhoods, in order to shake down citizens for protection money.
6. There is no central government, no taxes, no infrastructure.
7. Sharia law rules. Which means that women are at the mercy of men.
8. The tiny Christian minority lives in dhimmitude and fear.
9. It's a hollowed out state ruled by thugs who justify their existence with Jew-hatred and a perpetual war against Israel.
10. All information is doled out by the ruling Hamas party. A sickening diet of Jew-hatred and martyrology.
11. They blame Israel for, well, everything.
Yup, sounds like the Palestinian state.
Posted by Robert J. Avrech at 04:50 PM | Comments (8)
U.N. Peacekeepers Working With Hizbullah
When Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni boasted that the UNIFIL troops in Southern Lebanon would assure Israel's security, Seraphic Secret was a bit skeptical. We dared suggest that U.N. troops did not have Israel's national security at heart, and in fact, we predicted a rearming of Hizbullah in Southern Lebanon and a coopting of the the UNIFIL troops by the local militias.
Guess what?
We were right.
And the situation is even worse because Israel feeds information to the see-nothing, do-nothing UNIFIL troops and lo and behold the intel gets back to Hizbullah.
Waving hand in the air. Trying to get teacher's attention for a really vital question:
Why is Tzipi Livni still Israel's Foreign Minister? Livni is guilty of encouraging the placement of foreign mercenaries on Israel's borders. Would America allow UN troops to patrol our Mexican border? Of course not. The idea is absurd. It's treason. And now the idea of UNIFIL troops in Judea and Samaria is being floated by Condi Rice.
Look, enough is enough. Israel has to tell the Arabs: there is nothing more to talk about. The borders are set. No so-called refugees are going to enter Israel. This is the final status. A unified Jerusalem is the Jewish capital of The Jewish State. You don't like it, go kvetch to the New York Times. They'll write a few angry articles, get bored and then they'll move on. Maybe to the Congo where true refugees are starving, where mass rapes are taking place, where genocide is the daily bread.
A day after two Katyusha rockets struck Shlomi in the Galilee, defense officials raised concerns Wednesday that information they were regularly passing on to UNIFIL and the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) was also making its way to Hizbullah.
To read the complete article, please click here.
Today's Links:
The Untold Story: How the iPhone Blew up the Wireless Industry. You all know how much I love my Apple Powerbook, even more my Apple stock, well, here's an in-depth story on the iPhone. Hat Tip: Seraphic Friend: Judd Magilnick
Phyllis Chesler Interviews Lionheart a British Blogger in Hiding. George Orwell's 1984 is alive and well in modern day Britain. Lionheart, whose real name is Paul... writes about the massive number of Pakistani Muslim drug dealers in his hometown of Luton who addict British youth and whose profits fuel expensive lifestyles, paramilitary organizations, suicide terrorism, and religious hate speech against Jews, Christians, and the West. Ironically, what is said in mosques and madrassas and on protest marches all over the UK is never considered to constitute a “racially” motivated hate crime. As George Orwell understood, not all pigs are equal."
Posted by Robert J. Avrech at 10:35 AM | Comments (3)
January 09, 2008
Police Silence Israeli Opposition
Israel is supposed to be a Democracy. But it seems that only far left groups are allowed to voice their political opinions in the Jewish State. All others are hastily silenced by the repressive forces of the liberal establishment.
Three people were taken into custody and their literature confiscated as they were handing it out to foreign journalists outside the Dan Panorama Hotel in Jerusalem Wednesday night. The Dan Panorama is where most of the journalists who are covering the Bush visit are lodging.
The literature in question is a booklet authored by Arlene Kushner entitled, Fatah as Moderate: A Hard Look Post-Annapolis, published by the Center for Near East Policy Research at the Beit Agron International Press Center in Jerusalem.
We find this story extremely disturbing.
Hat Tip: Seraphic Brother-in-Law, Rabbi David Singer
A superb dispatch by Rabbi Daniel Gordis on what we can learn from the Mishnah
about the true intentions of the Arabs towards the Jewish State. Hat Tip: Seraphic Friend, Ralphie.Posted by Robert J. Avrech at 02:53 PM | Comments (6)
Al Qaeda in Gaza
Gaza continues to devolve into a jihadist entity. Al Qaeda's Fatah al Islam has a firm foothold on that narrow north-south salient. Under the leadership of terrorist chief Shaker al-Abessi, his forces can be seen racing through the streets of Gaza in their min-vans. Before too long, Gaza will go the way of Afghanistan under the Taliban, a hollowed-out state run by illiterate thugs spouting sharia, running Mafia style shake downs on every street corner, and justifying their existence with the most vicious Jew-hatred since the Third Reich.
Seraphic Secret has repeatedly warned that Israel's conflict with her Arab neighbors has nothing to do with borders, nothing to do with so-called refugees. These are only fig-leafs for the true existential conflict: the intolerance of Islam for Jews in Israel, for Judaism anywhere.
The moment that the Jewish state joined hands with Islamic totalitarians and rendered Gaza Judenrein, the die was cast. It became acceptable for Muslims to dictate where Jews could and could not live.
Gaza was just the first patch of land. Next comes Judea and Samaria. Then Jerusalem. Haifa. Tel Aviv. London. Paris. Brooklyn. It's not enough that every Arab/Muslim country on the face of the earth is Judenrein, no, the planet must be Judenrein.
The expulsion of Jews by Jews from Gaza has turned that land into a forward base for the most dangerous jihadist groups operating in the jihadist empire. The residents of S'derot are living under a constant barrage of missiles. It is intolerable that Israel is not defending this town. It is disgraceful. The first duty of the state is to defend its citizens. The Olmert government is failing at this task miserably.
Let us repeat a simple but effective road to victory:
1. Turn off all power and fuel to Gaza.
2. Destroy the infrastructure of Hamas through hell-fire missiles.
3. Announce that the next missile from Gaza into Israel will be met with bombardments into the civilian population of Gaza.
Memo to the American Navy:
With all due respect, the next time you get swarmed by a bunch of Persian speedboats who announce that “You are going to explode in a few minutes.” Well, for the love of G-d, open up with those neat Gatling Guns and blow the Naval Republican Guards out of the water. This was no miscommunication, they were testing you, testing your mettle.
Guess what?
You failed.
Now they know that you're the next U.S.S. Cole.
Nice to know that military analyst Ralph Peters agrees with me completely. This link was sent to me a few minutes after I put up my post. Hat Tip: Seraphic Friend Lance Fogel
Today's Links:
The Washington Post publishes a true piece of Jew-hatred. Once again we can count on the peaceniks to emerge as the most vicious of anti-Semites. Hat Tip: About a dozen Seraphic Friends. This one was just off the charts.
My buddy Treppenwitz explains what the 67' borders really means.
Meanwhile Shrink Wrapped, who might be the best shrink in the blogosphere, explains the Muslim mindset when it comes to Jews, Israel, and Dhimmitude. A fine piece of analysis: The Ancient Scourge.
Over at Libertas, my friend Dirty Harry, who now loves Pico Kosher Deli, my fave restaurant in the universe, has just posted his Top Ten Films of 2007. Take a look, it's way different than mine.
Posted by Robert J. Avrech at 10:32 AM | Comments (8)
January 08, 2008
No-Go Zones for Non-Muslims
Seraphic Secret has warned over and over again that once it becomes acceptable to create Arab lands tha