Seraphic Secret

April 10, 2008

Eat, Drink, Die

Grill Express Restaurant

Palestinian restaurant workers planned to serve, gee, what a shock, dishes laced with poison to Jewish patrons.

Here's another stunner. The terrorists are aligned with Fatah, the very group with whom Prime Minister Olmert is negotiating.

Yup, Olmert and Livni are propping up a genocidal Arab regime who are no different than Hamas.

Oh, wait, I'm sorry. Mahmoud Abbas does wear nice suits. They are made in London by the best bespoke tailors. In fact, the very tailors who cut the suits for the corrupt Columbia Professor Edward Said, who also looted money from Fatah for his sartorial pleasure.

Look, they're all a bunch of corrupt bums who have no interest in building a state, only in destroying a state—Israel—and, naturally, these Palestinian, ahem, leaders, steal as much money as possible.

That's our American tax dollars at work.

And EU currency being used to plot terror attacks in the heart of London.

In the meantime, Jew-killing is the name of the game, the more gruesome the better.

Y'know, when terrorists plan on killing Jews and the Prime Minister of the Jewish state rewards the terrorist entity with er, peace talks, it only encourages further terrorist attacks.

It's called positive reinforcement.

The thwarting of an alarming terror plot was cleared for publication on Thursday, almost three weeks after a joint Shin Bet and police operation led to the arrest of two Palestinian employees of the 'Grill Express' restaurant in Ramat Gan.

The men, Eihab Abu Rial and Anas Salum, both 21-year-old residents of the West Bank city of Nablus, had planned to lace dishes served at the establishment with a powerful toxin without odor or taste, in the hopes of killing as many patrons as possible.

The two did not have working permits and were residing in Israel illegally. While in Nablus, they had been recruited to the al-Aqsa Martyr's Bridges, the military wing of Fatah, under the guidance and funding of Hizbullah.

The men were arrested by police investigators following information obtained by the Shin Bet, several short days before they planned to carry out the attack.

In their questioning the men told interrogators they were to receive the poison from two operatives in the Balata refugee camp in Nablus – Husseini Salag and Hani Quabi – who are still wanted by security forces.

The white substance is virtually undetectable and affects its victims approximately four hours after being ingested.

Click here for the complete story.

Posted by Robert J. Avrech at 02:23 PM | Comments (0)

Anti-Semitic Obama Supporter Attacks Jewish Philanthropist

Daphna Ziman

Daphna Ziman is a Jewish philanthropist in Los Angles. Her work with the African American community is well known. Last night, she was supposed to be honored. Instead she was subjected to a vicious Jew-hating diatribe by a supporter of Barack Obama. It's no secret: the black community is riddled with Jew-hatred. And with so many apologists for Jeremiah Wright on the left and in the Jewish community, well, Jew-hatred has found a comfortable home not just in the black community but in the Democratic party.

by Daphna Ziman

April 8, 2008

Hi,

I have to tell you of an experience I had last night that was so anti-Semitic and frightening:

Last night I was honored by Kappa Alpha Psi fraternity, for my work with Children Uniting nations with African American children who are living out of home care. I have dedicated my life to saving these children from abuse, neglect and a life of crime. We created 'adoption day' and "Day of the Child" determined to recruit caring adults to be mentors and life savers for our at risk children in the inner cities.

The Mayor was present and City Council member Bernard Parks, assemblyman Mike Davis, Senator Mark Ridely Thomas etc. I was introduced as a children advocate and a leader in the Jewish community. I began my speech by talking about how I woke up in the morning and listened to Hillary Clinton's speech, in the spirit of Dr. King from Memphis, that moved me so deeply. I expressed to the crowd how grateful I was to listen to Sen. McCain apologize to the community for mistakes he has made in the past. I acknowledged Sen. Obama's speech from the campaign trail about Dr. King's mentorship.

After I spoke and thanked the fraternity and their members, Rev. Eric Lee, pres. and CEO of Southern Christian Leadership Conference of greater Los Angeles, was introduced as the key note speaker.

He began his speech by thanking Jesus for Obama, who is going to be the leader of the world. He continued by referring to other leaders Like Dr. King, being that this was the moment of celebrating Dr. King's spirit on the anniversary of his death, and Malcolm X.

It was right after the mention of Malcolm X that he looked right at me and started talking about the African American children who are suffering because of the “JEWS” that have featured them as rapists and murderers. He spoke of a Jewish Rabbi, and then corrected himself to say "What other kind of Rabbis are there, but “JEWS”. He told how this Rabbi came to him to say that he would like to bring the AA community and the Jewish community together. “NO, NO, NO,!!!!” he shouted into the crowd, we are not going to come together. “The Jews have made money on us in the music business and we are the entertainers, and they are economically enslaving us.”

He continued as to how now the salvation has come and the gates have open for African Americans to come together behind Barack Obama, because now is the time to show them (meaning the Jews).

He continued to speak about “White supremacy” vs. the talents and visionaries in the core of African Americans. He demeaned being given freedom, by saying “To what?” to a country that kills women and children.

I could no longer be polite and sit in front of the crowd, so I walked out.

Members of the fraternity ran after me as did my staff, I was not able to contain my tears and I cried. I cried for me and my family, who have tried so hard to help the African American community, because we adopted children from the same realities and wanted to give back to other children and people. We have been completely color blind, for us it was only helping those children in need.

From Stand With Us.

Hat Tip: Seraphic Friend, Aliza Zibkoff

And here's Roger Simon interviewing Daphna Ziman for Pajamas Media. This is worth watching for Ms. Ziman is utterly authentic, completely believable and shocked by the vicious Jew-hatred that was unleashed at her and the Jewish people. She's a Jewish liberal who's been mugged by reality.

Posted by Robert J. Avrech at 12:17 PM | Comments (24)

April 09, 2008

To Destroy Gaza

Hamas marches in Gaza reminding citizens of their duty to kill Jews.

Two Jews, Oleg Lipson 37, and Lev Cerniak 55, were murdered by Palestinian terrorists in Nahal Oz.

What were these Jews doing?

What was their crime?

They were providing fuel to the citizens of Gaza.

Who were the terrorists who committed this deed?

Three terror groups claim responsibility: Islamic Jihad, the Popular Resistance Committees and Fatah's Mujahideen Brigades.

Fatah, by the way, for those who are slow on the uptake, is the, ahem, moderate terrorist group with whom PM Olmert is negotiating, in fact, secretly negotiating, and gee, on a fast-track to divide Jerusalem and G-d knows what else he and Foreign (very foreign) Minister Livni have given away to this genocidal organization.

Seraphic Secret has long maintained that supplying energy to those who have vowed to wipe Israel off the face of the earth is suicidal.

The choice is clear: it's either the citizens of Israel or the citizens of Gaza.

I choose the citizens of Israel.

The barbarians in Gaza have made the choice for me.

And by the way, so have the savages in the U.N.

If the government of Israel does not act, it's time to replace this odious government.

Now, with this murderous attack, the terrorists have brought home the terrible paradox of supplying energy to those who have vowed to murder every Jew on the face of the earth.

Pin-point assassinations make for nice headlines and are blah, blah, blah, morally defensible, but in the long run they do not win wars, nor do they maintain any form of deterrence.

Until the civilian population of Gaza is brought to its knees, until Gaza is turned into a vast parking lot Israel will become one huge S'derot.

Posted by Robert J. Avrech at 03:27 PM | Comments (2)

Michael Monsoor, Medal of Honor Winner: Never Forget

Petty Officer 2nd Class Michael A. Monsoor.

Let us turn from the vile Jimmy Carter to a great American hero, Michael A. Monsoor.

President Bush on Tuesday awarded the nation's highest military tribute to a Navy SEAL who was killed when he threw himself on a grenade in Iraq to save his comrades.

The president, blinking back tears, recognized the bravery of Michael A. Monsoor, who was part of a sniper team in Ramadi when he died on Sept. 29, 2006. Bush presented the medal to Monsoor's parents, Sally and George Monsoor, before about 250 guests, including some of his fellow soldiers, in an East Room ceremony.

The emotional ceremony came as the top U.S. general and diplomat in Iraq opened two days of congressional testimony on the status of the war, now in its sixth year. Monsoor was the third Medal of Honor winner from the Iraq war.

"Petty Officer Monsoor distinguished himself by extraordinary heroism on Sept. 29, 2006," press secretary Dana Perino told reporters during a briefing aboard Air Force One as Bush headed to Europe for a NATO summit.

Monsoor was part of a sniper security team in Ramadi with three other SEALs and eight Iraqi soldiers, according to a Navy account. An insurgent fighter threw the grenade, which struck Monsoor in the chest before falling in front of him.

Monsoor then threw himself on the grenade, according to a SEAL who spoke to The Associated Press in 2006 on condition of anonymity because his work requires his identity to remain secret.

To read the complete story, please click here.

Posted by Robert J. Avrech at 12:00 PM | Comments (6)

Carter to Hug Hamas

It comes as no surprise that Former President Jimmy Carter is planning to travel to Syria to meet with senior Hamas leader Khalid Mash'al, probably on April 18.

Carter, best friend to dictators everywhere, will achieve two important benchmarks with this meeting.

1. He will bestow legitimacy on a Jew-hating and genocidal organization.
2. This visit will increase petro donations to the Carter library.

It should be kept in mind that the Hamas covenant calls for the annihilation of the state of Israel. Major parts of the charter are based on the Protocols of the Elders of Zion. It also calls for a caliphite to rule the world.

I suppose Carter expects to moderate Mash'al's “militant” views. Or maybe they'll just sit around discussing the vast Jewish lobby that controls American foreign policy.

Khalid Mash'al has been on Israel's hit list for many years. He's the definition of a terrorist, a war criminal. Former President Jimmy Carter not only enables Jew-haters and terrorists, he props ups tyrannies that would murder every Jew on the face of the earth.

It's interesting to note the similarities between Barack Obama and Jimmy Carter. Both advocate talking to our enemies without preconditions. Just the other day, Barack Obama, sounding like a replay of Carter, called for a “diplomatic surge that includes Iran.”

In truth, Iran becomes more dangerous every single day.

But Barack Obama, like all donkey appeasers, figures that just making nice to jihadist Jew-haters will, y'know, charm them into being good neighbors. As if that's ever happened. Hey, Obama's Pastor certainly never moderated his views on Jews or Israel. Not in 20 years. But then, as far as we know, Obama never even tried to talk some sense into his good Pastor. Nope, Barack Obama just sat there for 20-years, with his wife and children, nodded his head and responded, “Amen brother.”

I will say it right now: Jews who vote for Obama are either suicidal, stupid, or hey, delusional, which is pretty much the definition of a Jewish Democrat these days.

With all due respect.

Anywhoo.

This notion of Iran as a partner to stabilize Iraq is not merely gullible, but dangerous. Persia seeks hegemony over that region of the world. Persia, from 1980 to 1988 fought a bloody war with Iraq in which a million men were slaughtered. Now Persia sees her chance to annihilate her blood enemy and absorb that country as a province, and snatch Iraq's vast oil fields as a grand prize.

Obama, when speaking to General David Patraeus, sounded not just like an appeaser and a defeatist, but quite frankly, he was way over his head.

Never forget that Jimmy Carter lost Iran. Never forget that Jimmy Carter helped usher in the Islamic Republic of Iran.

It appears that Barack Obama is determined to lose Iraq and perhaps throw Israel into the bargain.

It's quite clear that Barack Obama is a replay of Jimmy Carter.

Oh, and guess which Democratic candidate Carter is backing in the primaries?

Duh?

And this from the Republican Jewish Coalition:

The Republican Jewish Coalition (RJC) today called on Sens. Hillary Clinton, John McCain and Barack Obama to speak out in opposition to former President Jimmy Carter's possible plans to visit with Hamas terror chief Khaled Meshal in Syria. As reported by FOX News, the Arabic-language newspaper Al-Hayat reported Tuesday that Carter is planning a trip to Syria in mid-April and will be meeting with Meshal.

"It is unacceptable that a former American president would choose to dignify and legitimize Hamas leader Khaled Meshal with a visit. Hamas is a designated terrorist organization that denies Israel's right to exist, kidnaps Israeli soldiers, fires rockets on Israeli towns, is responsible for the deaths of American citizens and celebrated in the streets of Gaza after the September 11 terrorist attacks. Meshal has even called Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad 'courageous' for denying the Holocaust," said RJC Executive Director Matt Brooks.

"As presidential contenders who have pledged to protect America and stand with our ally, Israel, we urge Senators Clinton, McCain and Obama to speak out forcefully against former President Carter's possible meeting with Khaled Meshal and to ask him not to have this meeting," said Brooks.

Flash Video: Jimmy Carter's War Against the Jews

Posted by Robert J. Avrech at 09:54 AM | Comments (11)

April 08, 2008

Al Qaeda on Iraq

Ayman al Zawahiri, al Qaedas’s second in command.

I've just been listening to Barack Obama question General Petraeus about Iraq. Obama says that if America were to withdraw from Iraq, things might get “messy.”

Really?

I would think that the word genocidal would be more appropriate.

The contrast between Obama and General David Patraeus is stark. General Patraeus has spent his entire adult life honorably serving and defending this country. Barack Obama is the slick creature of George Soros and his vile moveon.org and their legion of Jew-haters.

Let's keep in mind that Barack Obama has been in the Senate less time than the five-and-a-half years John McCain was imprisoned in the Hanoi Hilton being tortured by the North Viet Namese Communists.

The thought of Barack Obama as Commander-in-Chief of General David Patraeus and men of his ilk is, to say the least, frightening.

But listen, don't take my word for how disastrous an American withdrawal from Iraq would be, let's hear from the jihadists themselves—who are salivating at the idea of an American surrender.

No wonder the Arabs in Gaza are all for Obama.

This from that fine blogger Wolf Howling.

Ayman al Zawahiri is al Qaedas’s second in command. He gave an interview to al Sahab in December, 2007, and, most recently, answered written questions in a kind of jihadi talk radio show. Both provide a wealth of information and insight into the mind of a man who is in equal measure a religious fanatic and psychopath.

I've been going through Zawahiri's most recent communiques as time has allowed over the past week. They are worthwhile for spelling out the goals and intentions of al Qaeda, as well as for giving a window into the logic of a true Salafist:

1. Iraq remains al Qaeda’s central front:

As-Sahab: And what is the most important field in which this Mujahid vanguard is wrestling with the enemies of Islam?

Zawahiri: Iraq is the most important of these fields.

2. One of the points I have repeatedly made is that pulling out of Iraq would have dire long term consequences for our ability to conduct foreign policy and gather allies, particularly among nations threatened by radicals. Zawahiri thinks so too. He fully expects the U.S. to retreat from Iraq, repeatedly referring to Vietnam. He later explains that he forsees al Qaeda reasserting itself after America leaves Iraq and that the Anbar Awakening cannot keep al Qaeda out of Iraq without American support:

Zawahiri: And I also call on all Muslims to stop supporting the armed groups which have cooperated with the Americans against the Muslims and mujahideen. And I warn those individuals from among the armed factions who have been involved in cooperating with the occupation against the mujahideen that history is recording everything, and that they will lose both their religion and life, and that the Americans will soon be departing - Allah permitting - and won't keep defending them forever. And let them look at the fate of America's agents in Vietnam and the fate of the Shah of Iran, and intelligent is he who learns from other's mistakes.

That is why those who conspire against the Jihad and Mujahideen in Lebanon with American weapons, Zionist collusion and Saudi money must know that they are digging their graves with their own hands, and that the Americans and Jews will not defend them, because they are looking for those who will defend them, and whoever doubts this should remember Vietnam and look at Iraq and Afghanistan."

I expect the Jihadi influence to spread after the Americans’ exit from Iraq, and to move towards Jerusalem (with Allah’s permission). As for the militias mentioned, they have failed to eliminate the Jihad with the help of what is called the strongest power in the history of mankind, so will they succeed by themselves or with the help of Iran?

To read the entire article, please click here.

Posted by Robert J. Avrech at 04:57 PM | Comments (0)

Iraq: Persian Proxie

Iraq's future if Obama becomes President.

Caroline Glick explains why the Iraq war is the central front in the clash against Iran and Syria. It is worth noting that both Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama have staked their presidential runs on the theme that the Iraq war is wrong and they will withdraw American troops. In short, they promise to surrender—and leave Iraq a vacuum to be filled by Iran, who yearn to spread Shiite hegemony over that region of the world.

Which would, by the way, be extremely bad news for Israel.

Saudi Arabia and the other Gulf Sunni states wouldn't be thrilled either. In fact, they want to see Iran annihilated. Preferably by the Israelis.

Of course, Iran and Iraq fought a bloody 8-year war in which over a million men and Iranian boys died in World War I style trench warfare. This war continues as Iran pours arms and terrorists into Iraq in order to kill American and allied troops, destabilize the country, and to convince the American public that Iraq is a replay of the Viet Nam War.

The Democrats are the party of appeasement and defeatists. The notion of winning a war, of sticking by obligations and allies just never occurs to this party.

It matters little to Democrats that after America shamefully fled Viet Nam over 750,000 anti-Communists were murdered and a million innocents slaughtered by the Khmer Rouge Communists in Cambodia. They don't remember that Viet Nam invaded Cambodia to stop the horrific slaughter because America no longer had the will to intervene on foreign shores—even when genocide was taking place.

The Democrats have no historical memory. They have become fossilized isolationists, more concerned with so-called global warming than with confronting true evil—Islamic jihad.

The Republicans are willing to fight evil, yet they fail to explain that evil. And that failure must be corrected for it can turn fatal.

And yet, rather than make clear to Congress and to the US public that the war in Iraq is not an Iraqi war per se but a key battleground in a regional war in which Iran and Syria have combined forces on multiple fronts in a bid to defeat the US and its allies, the Bush administration obfuscates that central truth. For the past five years, key administration officials have repeated the bizarre claim that Iran and Syria share the US's interest in bringing stability to Iraq and that responsibility for ending the war rests solely on the shoulders of Iraq's government rather than on the shoulders of the foreign governments who are waging the war.

To read Caroline Glick's complete article, please click here.

Posted by Robert J. Avrech at 11:11 AM | Comments (6)

Saddam's WMD's Transferred to Syria

The pieces of the puzzle—Operation Orchard—are starting to come together.

As Seraphic Secret suggested years ago, Saddam transferred his WMD's to Syria before the American invasion.

Israel, always intently watching the volatile Syrian front, kept eyes on the WMD's and then moved into action when it became clear that the Syrians were going operational with the WMD's. Hence the brilliant IAF air strike deep into Syrian territory—Operation Orchard—Sept 6, 2007.

This preliminary report from the Jerusalem Post.

An upcoming joint US-Israel report on the September 6 IAF strike on a Syrian facility will claim that former Iraqi president Saddam Hussein transferred weapons of mass destruction to the country, Channel 2 stated Monday.

Furthermore, according to a report leaked to the TV channel, Syria has arrested 10 intelligence officials following the assassination of Hizbullah terror chief Imad Mughniyeh.

Posted by Robert J. Avrech at 12:21 AM | Comments (2)

April 07, 2008

N.Y. Radio Station Bans S'derot Ad

In Gaza, Hamas salute their enablers, the New York Times.

The liberal N.Y. Times, in their never ending war against Israel, strikes again.

WQXR Radio, a New York City station owned by The New York Times, has refused to air a 15-second radio spot by the American Jewish Committee (AJC) because of descriptions "outside our bounds of acceptability." AJC Executive Director David Harris said the spot was aired on hundreds of stations in the United States, including CBS.

The commercial stated, "Imagine you had fifteen seconds to find shelter from an incoming missile. Fifteen seconds to locate your children, help an elderly relative, assist a disabled person to find shelter. That's all the residents of Sderot and neighboring Israeli towns have. Day or night, the sirens go on. Fifteen seconds later, the missiles, fired from Hamas-controlled Gaza, hit. They could hit a home, a school, a hospital. Their aim is to kill and wound and demoralize. "

New York Times Radio president Tom Batunek explained to AJC that the spot did not make it clear that the missile attacks were taking place outside of the New York City area. He added, "The description of the missiles as arriving 'day or night' and 'daily' is also subject to challenge as being misleading, at least to the degree that reasonable people might be troubled by the absence of any acknowledgement of reciprocal Israeli military actions."

Harris commented, "In other words, according to Bartunek’s logic, the only way to broadcast the plight of Sderot’s residents over the airwaves is to equate Israel’s right of self-defense with Hamas’s and Islamic Jihad’s right to strike Israel at will."

To read the entire article, please click here.

Posted by Robert J. Avrech at 02:30 PM | Comments (6)

Black Liberation Theology AKA Bigotry 101

Joshuapundit analyzes the bigotry of Barack Obama's Pastor, Jeremiah Wright. This is the theology Obama imbibed for over 20 years, and this theology is, in fact, an uncompromising racist anti-Semitism that Obama's daughters have been exposed to all their lives.

If a Republican candidate were a member of a white supremacist church for over 20 years, his career would be annihilated in hours. And properly so.

But Obama gets a pass.

In fact, Hollywood, a bastion of, ahem, progressive thought, is all for Obama. Every conversation I've had in this town confirms that Hollywood and Hollywood Jews—not really supporters of Israel as it is—just adore this pretty boy socialist whose staff is bulging with anti-Zionists.

Movements like black liberation theology reject the idea of G-d's universal nature in favor of race based superiority. The largely secular Nazis used a similar logic to co-opt the German churches with the "Aryan Christianity" movement in Nazi Germany, which claimed that Jesus was not a Jew but an Aryan Galilean, and that the Aryan race was the "chosen people".

Substitute `black' or `Afro-American' for Aryan and that is exactly where the UCC Trinity Church and Jeremiah Wright are coming from.

And this is what Obama was referring to in his March 14 speech when he said: "I knew Reverend Wright as someone who served this nation with honor as a United States Marine, as a respected biblical scholar, and as someone who taught or lectured at seminaries across the country, from Union Theological Seminary to the University of Chicago."

Interesting the way the dots connect, isn't it?

Unfortunately for Barack Obama, leftist academia is by its very nature a lot more tolerant of racism and anti-Semitism when it comes from people like Cone, Hopkins and Wright than America as a whole.

To read the rest of the aricle, please click here.

Meanwhile, as liberal Jews shill for Obama, who is no friend to Israel, but is certainly a dear friend of a rabid Jew-hater, Pastor Hagee has raised 6 million dollars for Israel.

American Evangelist John Hagee on Sunday announced donations of $6 million to a number of Israeli causes and declared that Israel must remain in control of all of Jerusalem.

Hagee, who has been in the news lately for his endorsement of US Presidential candidate John McCain and his criticism of the Catholic Church, brought hundreds of backers on a solidarity trip to Israel.

Hagee's group, Christians United for Israel, held a colorful rally at Jerusalem's convention center. The mostly American audience waved Israeli flags and cheered as Hagee joined keynote speaker Benjamin Netanyahu, the leader of Israel's hardline opposition Likud party, to insist Jerusalem remain united and under Jewish control.

''Turning part or all of Jerusalem over to the Palestinians would be tantamount to turning it over to the Taliban,'' Hagee said. Palestinians claim the eastern part of the city, captured by Israel in the 1967 Mideast war, as the capital of their future state.

Among the 16 causes Hagee supported with the contributions he announced were divided the Magen David Adom emergency service and a conference center in the West Bank Jewish settlement of Ariel.

A Hollywood friend recently objected to Hagee's involvement with Israel. My buddy observed that Hagee just wants to convert Jews. That his motivations are suspect.

My buddy, a decent guy, a Democrat who does support Israel, is not ritually observant. I told him that Hagee and I had theological differences but I welcomed his support and the support of his church. Personally, I'm never threatened by Christians. I'm secure in my religious beliefs. In fact, in the years Karen and I have been blogging here at Seraphic Secret, we've discovered a deep and abiding kinship with conservative Christians that we do not have with liberal Jews.

Update: And of course we can always count on the leadership of the Reform movement to take the exact wrong position regarding Pastor Hagee and Israel.

Eric Yoffie Excommunicates Pastor Hagee.

As if Yoffie and the Reform movement (excluding some fine individuals, many who are friends of this blog) have done a fraction as much for Israel as Hagee and his fine congregation.

As I said, I'm far more comfortable with most conservative Christians than with arch leftists like Yoffie.

Posted by Robert J. Avrech at 09:51 AM | Comments (22)

April 06, 2008

Who's Jewish Movie Star? Take 1: Answer

Lilyan Tashman 1899-1934.

Congratulations to Tamster for guessing correctly.

We will be blogging about this talented and unique Hollywood star in the near future.

Posted by Robert J. Avrech at 01:34 PM | Comments (6)

The Best of the Jewish Blogosphere #161

Haviel Havalin #161, The Pidgeon Break, is up.

Does this mean our gracious hostess sits down and watches movies that feature Walter Pidgeon?

Excellent.

Pidgeon was a durable leading man who has appeared in some of Hollywood's greatest films, and opposite Hollywood's most luminous leading ladies. Like many leading men who were not pretty boys, Pidgeon was taken for granted and never quite given his due.

Walter Pidgeon and Greer Garson in Mrs. Miniver, 1942.

We'd like to thank JTown Underground for including Seraphic Secret's The Son of Stranger Among Us, in this week's round-up.

Posted by Robert J. Avrech at 11:00 AM | Comments (2)

April 05, 2008

Charlton Heston

Charlton Heston in El Cid, 1961

And now, a moment of silence for one of the great stars of motion pictures, Charlton Heston 1923-2008.

I will be writing about this great star in the future, but for now I want to to tell you that of his films two of my absolute favorites are Major Dundee1965, and Touch of Evil, 1958, probably the last American noir movie.

Major Dundee was a troubled production with director Sam Peckinpah over budget and over schedule. The studio was going to fire Peckinpah but Heston stepped in and surrendered his salary in a deal to keep Peckinpah on board. Heston's performance as an Ahab-like Union officer pursuing murderous Apaches into Mexico with a band of Confederate POW's and drunken mercenaries is towering.

Charlton Heston as Major Dundee, 1965

Touch of Evil was directed by Orson Welles. In this brilliant film—with the greatest one-take opening sequence in film history—Heston plays a Mexican cop. It's a steely, modulated performance very different than the larger than life characters he was known for in biblical epics such as The Ten Commandments 1956, and Ben Hur, 1959

Orson Welles and Charlton Heston in Touch of Evil, 1958

Heston is the last of the great Hollywood male stars.

Our friends at Libertas have some beautiful posts about Heston.

Libertas posts an address delivered by Heston at Harvard in 1999.

Here's the opening sequence from Touch of Evil. It was shot with a Chapman Crane. It took all night to get this extremely complicated shot. The difficulties in getting everyone to hit their marks at precisely the right moments cannot be over emphasized. Originally, the studio ran the opening credits over this stunning sequence which absolutely ruined the effect that Welles was creating. Now, in a restored DVD the credits have been removed and the scene runs as originally intended. The actress playing Charlton Heston's wife is the wonderful Janet Leigh.

“I can part the Red Sea, but I can't part with you [the audience], which is why I won't exclude you from this stage in my life. For now, I'm not changing anything. I'll insist on work when I can; the doctors will insist on rest when I must. If you see a little less spring to my step, if your name fails to leap to my lips, you'll know why. And if I tell you a funny story for the second time, please laugh anyway.”

— Charlton Heston on his diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease, 2002

Posted by Robert J. Avrech at 10:50 PM | Comments (15)

April 04, 2008

Who's the Jewish Movie Star? Take 1

This Jewish movie star wishes you all a lovely and meaningful Rest in Shabbat.

Can you identify the Hollywood star?

She was born into an Orthodox family from Brooklyn. After working as a teen-age model she was featured in the Ziegfled Follies. Soon, Hollywood came calling and she was offered a series of feature roles. Her career flourished.

She appeared opposite the biggest stars of the era: Gloria Swanson, Richard Barthelmess, Helen Twelvetrees, Mabel Normand, Norma Shearer, Bing Crosby, Douglas Fairbanks Jr., Nancy Carroll, Mary Astor, Caludette Colbert, Melvyn Douglas, Franchot Tone, Robert Montgomery, Herbert Marshall, Joan Blondell, Lon Chaney, Joan Crawford, and Myrna Loy. Our actress had a lovely, contralto voice so the transition to sound was smooth for this talented actress.

Known as one of the most stylish and well-dressed women in Hollywood, our actress once repainted her living room in order to color coordinate with her outfit for a lavish Gatsbyesque party she was hosting at her Malibu beach house.

Though rich and famous, our actress never forgot her roots, and was always more than generous to Jewish charities, especially to children's hospitals.

So beloved was our actress by her Jewish fans that at her levaya, her funeral—it was strictly Orthodox, on the Lower East Side, was a massive crowd of over 10,000 hysterical fans. Also in attendance, Hollywood royalty : Mary Pickford, Sophie Tucker, Fanny Brice and Jack Benny. Eddie Cantor delivered the hesped, the eulogy.

Women fainted, and scores of mourners pushed past the police guards attempting to steal flowers and wreaths as souvenirs. Several women fell into the open grave. There were scores of injuries before the police restored order.

Answer on Sunday.

Karen and I wish all our friends a lovely and meaningful Rest in Shabbat.

Posted by Robert J. Avrech at 02:03 PM | Comments (7)

April 03, 2008

The Son of Stranger Among Us

Lee Richardson as The Rebbe in A Stranger Among Us, 1992.

“Excuse me sir, I was wondering if you would mind changing your seat?”
“Um, what's the problem?”

The flight attendant glances nervously over her shoulder. I follow her gaze to a rather beautiful young woman who just might qualify as a contestant for America's Next Top Model.

The flight attendant wants me to sit next to Heidi Klum II.

No problemo. I'm all about cooperation, and as the man says: Can't we all just get along.

“The gentleman says that he'd prefer not to sit next to a woman, so I was wondering if perhaps you'd help us out and...”

Now I see him, the Hasidic man sitting next to the Heidi Klum II. He's all scrunched up in his seat, looking at me with pleading moo-cow eyes, begging me to rescue him from this totally untznius, immodest, situation.

Here's the thing: I'm not even wearing my yarmulke.

On my head is my Seraphic Press baseball cap so I'm not out as a fellow Jew, certainly no one has a hint that I'm a sympathetic Orthodox Jew.

Okay, it's official: the Seraphic cap is, um, Seraphic.

There are worlds within worlds.

The flight attendant practically plants one on me when I agree to switch seats. I feel like reassuring her that our Hasidic friend is harmless. He will not riot, will not set cars on fire, will not denounce American Airlines as a Jew-hating corporation. If he does not get his way—he'll cope. In short: he's Jewish not Muslim.

Heidi Klum II brushes past me and breathes: “Thanks much.”

Wow, totally Tyra ready, for not only is she beautiful but gramatically challenged.

My Hasidic friend looks up at me, smiles and says: “Thank you. You are very kind. You see—”

I cannot resist the moment. I'm totally Clark Kent revealing his identity as Superman.

“I understand, tznius.”

Mia Sara as the modest Hasidic Leah in A Stranger Among Us,
screenplay by yours truly.

A huge smile lights up my Hasidic friend's face.

After take-off, we exchange names, play a bit of Jewish geography, determine that we are not related—amazing—and then David (not his real name) asks me what I do for a living.

“I'm a writer.”

“You write, what, novels, newspaper stories, technical manuals of some sort?”

“Movies.” I confess, barely a whisper.

“Hollywood movies?” I think David now wishes he was sitting with Heidi Klum II.

I nod. Just once, hoping to skate past this rather inconvenient profession.

David narrows his hazel eyes. Thoughtfully twirls his thick, slinky peyes.

At this point I expect The Lecture. How can an Orthodox Jew, in good conscience, write such dreck, waste, be involved in spreading such notorious ideas and images.

“I was in a movie,” David dead-pans.

“Something from work, an industrial film?”

“No, no. A big Hollywood movie. I was an extra.”

"Shut-up.”

“I wouldn't tell just anybody.”

"Your secret's safe with me. What film?”

“It's called A Stranger Among Us. Have you ever heard of it?”

As I said: There are worlds within worlds.

“I wrote and produced A Stranger Among Us.”

David does a silent movie double take. He's like a Hasidic Harold Lloyd.

“No.”

“Yes.”

I could say “no” again and David could say “yes” but sheesh, that's a complete waste of precious dialog.

Eric Thal as Ariel and Melanie Griffith as Emily Eden, A Stranger Among Us.

“You know, we met on the set. I heard that the writer was a frum Jew and I just couldn't believe it and I asked around and I came over to you and thanked you for providing kosher food for all the Hasidic extras and you were very nice and asked me if were were being treated properly by the assistant directors.”

I shrug, I have absolutely no recollection.

David explains: “That time in my life was very difficult. Finances and bills, we didn't know how we were going to pay the rent that month, that's how bad it was. And then I heard about this Hollywood movie that needed extras and was paying good money for real Hasidim. But you can imagine what the community thought about such a thing. But my wife said, do it, no one will know, we need the money. And do you know how many other Hasidim had the exact same idea? We all met in the casting office and we all were so ashamed to look at each other, but in the end, the money was too good, and we were treated well and all the halachos were followed by production people, so we knew that somebody important knew what was what.”

”Did you ever see the finished film?”

"Yes, my wife and I rented it and watched it on a monitor after it came out on video.”

There's a long, awkward pause. I know what comes next. I've heard it before.

“I have to tell you that when, what was the boy's name, the Rebbe's son?”

“Ariel. The actor was Eric Thal.

“Ariel, right. I have to tell you, and no disrespect intended, but when he kisses the girl, what's the actress?”

“Melanie Griffith.”

“When Ariel kisses the Melanie Griffith woman, I did not think this was necessary. Did you have to do that?”

“Yup. It adds conflict. It's forbidden romance. Classic stuff. And look, in the end, Ariel marries the Rebbe's daughter, who is played by Rena Sofer, the great, great, great, great grand daughter of the Chatam Sofer.”

“Really? Really and truly? Amazing. I only saw her from afar, but oy, such an eidel kallah. And the chuppah, that was authentic and beautiful, the singing and everything. It was all fine except for the kiss. Oh, and when Ariel explains to her about the Kabbalah and sex. That would never happen.”

“I know. That was just a bit of screwball comedy. I was playing it like Cary Grant and Irene Dunne.”

David has no idea what I'm talking about.

“It's true, the scene is highly unlikely in real life, but this is a movie and motion pictures are exactly like real life—except I rewrite the boring parts.”

After we land, and as we step off the plane, David says: “Twice you have helped me, all those years ago when you gave me the job on your movie and now when you sat next to me. I wish there was something I could do for you.”

“There is.”

This Shabbos, in a Hasidic shtibl, synagogue, my Hasidic friend will make a b'racha, a blessing, over our new granddaughter, Maayan Ariel.

Eric Thal embraces Mia Sara, A Stranger Among Us, 1992

For a nice companion piece to this story, see Seraphic Secret's amazing encounter in a Apple Store: Shut-up! Shut-up! Shut-up!

Posted by Robert J. Avrech at 10:11 AM | Comments (56)

April 02, 2008

Why A Terrorist Strategy

Typical picnic and bar-b-cue for the peace-loving citizens of Gaza.

Professor Barry Rubin explains why Arab/Muslims use terrorism as a political tactic to brutalize, neutralize and then hollow out national states.

In addition, Professor Rubin reveals the parasitic role played by the western media as they insist on defining these murderous terrorists as “militants” or “extremists,” in their quest for objective neutrality. I think Rubin is being generous. Many in the international media, most certainly the wretched and always unreliable BBC, are just plain Jew-haters.

As we survey dozens of arch liberal newspapers and television stations we are forced to conclude that the media have surrendered all common sense when it comes to reporting on the Arab war against the Jewish people and the tiny state of Israel.

Professor Rubin's article brilliantly explores another vital issue that we write frequently about here at Seraphic Secret: the grotesque misuse of language by Islamic totalitarians. Language is twisted and deformed by the jihadists, and the perversions and definitions that are spewed by these caliphite terrorists are casually accepted and spread by the western media—all in the name of moral equivalence and multiculturalism.

The end result is the death of language, the death of meaning, and the global spread of Jew hatred disguised as politically acceptable anti-Zionism.

It is once again 1938.

Many years after September 11, despite more than 10,000 terrorist attacks by radical Islamist groups alone, there is still an amazing amount of confusion and falsehood over what should be a very simple point: What is terrorism all about?

The answer is politics and, to be specific, revolutionary politics. Most obviously, terrorism is a tactic used by political groups but, most importantly, it is a strategy. Defining who and what is "terrorist" should be neither a moral judgment nor a propaganda exercise. It is a simple use of political analysis.

There are many incomplete or misleading concepts of terrorism. Often, terrorism is conceived as evil and its perpetrators as irrational criminals. While, of course, terrorism is evil in moral terms the problem with this approach is that it feels no need to go further in understanding what is going on.

Partly as a reaction to that concept, terrorism is presented as a matter of opinion. In today's world, of course, repressing women, denying freedom, and murdering dissenters are often presented in democratic countries as a mere cultural choice, an aspect of local color. It should be remembered that when the Communist USSR made an alliance with Nazi Germany the Soviet foreign minister explained that fascism was merely a matter of taste.

Leaving all that aside, though, once the issue is defined in moral terms then it is being depoliticized. The media thinks of itself as neutral. Consequently, the English-language Western media often calls people who commit terrorist actions "militants" or "extremists." That may be a good thing since it indicates a radical and implies a violent orientation. But it only educates up to a point.

Here's what you need to know: There are arguably good reasons for having a terrorist strategy, not as a reaction to poverty or oppression but as a way to seize state power and transform societies.

Why does an ideology or movement decide that its best course is deliberately murdering the maximum number of civilians? The choice of terrorist strategy is a judgment particularly about one's goals, enemy, and constituency.

Only a despotic goal pursued by a totalitarian movement can sustain a terrorist strategy which, in turn, further reinforces an anti-democratic, intolerant orientation. A radical Islamist dictatorship in which the ruling elite's whim is rationalized as divine will is the shining hell that is the movement's utopian dream. This replaces the Marxist dictatorship of those claiming to embody the proletariat's needs with that of those pretending to interpret divine desires.

To be deserving of mass murder or even genocide, the enemy must be defined as simultaneously demonic and weak. Pure evil, so to justify its being massacred but also cowardly to explain why the revolutionaries will triumph. We have reached the point where many non-radical Muslims agree that criticizing radical Islamism is punishable by death.

Unfortunately, a large part of the West seems to be acting in a way that seems to embody the predicted weakness but that, too, is another story. More relevant here, though, is the fact that the terrorist strategist may make a tactical adjustment in the face of a tough opponent. The reason that Muslim Brotherhoods in Egypt and Jordan do not presently engage in terrorism has nothing to do with their worldview and everything to do with fear of repression. In contrast, Hamas and Hizballah--very parallel movements in every way--can go all-out because there is no government of their peers that is going to flatten them for doing so.

Especially important is the terrorist strategist's assessment of his constituents. He must believe that terrorism will be relatively popular among those he wants to win over. Terrorism appeals as a revolutionary strategy largely because the violence used against Israel, Iraq, Lebanon, and Western targets is largely cheered among Arabs. Only a minority are radical Islamists but a majority is pleased, at least at their work in nearby places. The fault lies with the fans in the stands rather than the victims in the arena.

This is the problem presented by terrorism and radical Islamism. Crazy people can be given therapy, misunderstandings can be cleared up with dialogue; honest grievances can be resolved by mutual concessions. With determined, ideologically clear, mass-based revolutionary movements you can only defeated them or surrender. Holding them off, that is preventing them from winning for a very long time until they are truly worn down, is another option. Refer here to the history of Communism.

Finally, a new twist is added, not for the folks at home but for the suckers out there. "The communists disdain to conceal their aims," wrote Karl Marx in 1848. Since then, the public relations' industry has flourished. Terrorist movements and supporters learned to feign innocence (and moderation), accusing their victims of being terrorists. With a lot of help from prestigious Western news organs they have turned the tables.

Arab leaders spoke in 1948 and 1967 of repeating the Mongol massacres and driving the Jews into the sea. This has not completely changed. Hizballah chief Hasan Nasrallah said recently, "The Zionist entity can be wiped out of existence." But there is no end of commentators around to explain that he doesn't really mean it seriously.

Instead, the sophisticated talk is of "collective punishment" and "excessive force." Even a young gentleman of the old school like Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has many saying he was misquoted about seeking to wipe Israel off the