Criminal Zio-News Round-up (May 15-18)

[SolusInAeternum2]

Israel Demands Europe Stop Citizens From Gaza Aid Trip: Israeli Officials Warn Aid Ship Will Be Stopped (by Jason Ditz - May 17, 2010)

Naor Gilon, a high ranking member of Israel's Foreign Ministry, today announced that he had met with the ambassadors from several European states to demand that they do something to prevent their citizens from sending private aid ships to the Gaza Strip.

Gilon warned the ambassadors that Israel considered the aid "provocation" and that they would do whatever was necessary to stop the aid ships from reaching the strip.

Israel has had a blockade against most humanitarian aid reaching the Gaza Strip for years, and at times the Israeli Navy has attacked aid ships that got too near the tiny enclave.

Israel's military today lifted a "gag order" on the arrest of a Turkish citizen weeks ago whom they have accused of being a member of a humanitarian group. Shin Bet alleged that the group is plotting to send a shipload of humanitarian aid to the strip.

Israel has previously arrested people for attempting to provide aid to the strip, including a June 30 incident in which they captured former US Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney. She was charged with "illegally entering Israel" even though the boat she was on was captured by the Israeli Navy and forced to dock in Israel. The aid was seized by the government.

Palestinians mark Nakba (Al Jazeera - May 15, 2010)

[youtube:1h4wmylh]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5HHHCc8B-QY[/youtube]1h4wmylh]
Palestinians across the world are marking on Saturday the 62nd anniversary of Nakba, which means catastrophe.

In 1948, hundreds of thousands of Palestinians were displaced and many became refugees due to the formation of the state of Israel.

Mass gatherings commemorating the day of "catastrophe" in the West Bank and Gaza displayed a rare instance of unity between various political factions.

Al Jazeera's Nour Odeh reports from Beit Jala, a town in the West Bank.

Culture minister: Elvis Costello unworthy of performing in Israel(ynetnews - May 18, 2010)

Culture and Sports Minister Limor Livnat criticized singer Elvis Costello for calling off his concerts in Israel. According to the minister, "An artist boycotting his fans in Israel is unworthy of performing here."

Costello issued a statement on his official website on Monday night, in which he apologized to his fans and explained that he had decided to cancel his gigs in Israel in protest of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. (Roni Sofer)

PM named world's most influential Jew (Jerusalem Post - May 17, 2010)

The office of Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu has welcomed his selection as No. 1 in The Jerusalem Post's first annual list of "The 50 most influential Jews in the world," which is being published on Tuesday in our Shavuot supplement.

"The fact that the prime minister of the State of Israel is viewed today as being the world's most influential Jew demonstrates the historic change that Zionism has brought about in the condition of the Jewish people," the PMO said.

"A scattered, powerless people has been able to reassert its national life in its own sovereign state, in its ancestral homeland," it added. "From being mere spectators on the international stage, today the Jews control their own destiny and have returned as a people to the family of nations."

Netanyahu's office noted that when Israel was established in 1948, "only some 5% of the world's Jewish population lived in the new state. Today, Israel contains the largest Jewish community in the world."

His position at the top of the Post 50, the PMO said, was an honor that testified to "the profound transformation that has occurred in the reality of life for the Jewish people over the last 62 years."

Immediately following the prime minister at the top of the list are Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke, White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel, Google founder Sergey Brin and alternative energy pioneer Shai Agassi, founder of Better Place.

The 50 Most Influential jews in the World (Jerusalem Post - May 18, 2010)

The Jerusalem Post's first annual list of those who are shaping the future.

The story is told, in several cultural variations, of a Jewish man spotting a friend reading an Arabic newspaper. "Moshe, have you lost your mind?" he says.  

"Well, I used to read the Jewish papers, but what did I find?" Moshe replies. "Jews being persecuted, Israel being attacked, Jews disappearing through assimilation, Jews living in poverty. So I switched to an Arab newspaper. Now what do I find? Jews own the banks, Jews control the media, Jews are all rich and powerful, Jews rule the world. The news is so much better!"

In what is planned as an annual media event, The Jerusalem Post has chosen the world's leading 50 Jewish "movers and shakers" based on a range of criteria, including personal access to power, ability to exert influence and individual talent.

The Post's list of the 50 most influential Jews in the world was not designed to feed the anti-Semitic stereotype that Jews control the world.
...
Our list is headed by Israel's prime minister, Binyamin Netanyahu. Netanyahu has become well known around the world for his political dexterity and eloquence in English.
...
In his response to being chosen by The Jerusalem Post and our Internet readership around the world on jpost.com as the most influential Jew in the world, Netanyahu told our reporter, Herb Keinon: "The fact that the Prime Minister of the State of Israel is viewed as being the world's most influential Jew is a historic vindication of the miracle of Zionism."

It may be no historic accident that the leader of the most powerful nation in the world, Barack Obama, recently approved a second term for Ben Bernanke as Federal Reserve chairman, and chose Jews to be his closest advisers: Rahm Emanuel, the tough White House chief of staff, David Axelrod, his savvy political adviser and Dan Shapiro, the top Middle East expert on the National Security Council.

He also happens to be friendly with several Jewish leaders, including Alan Solow and Lee Rosenberg, who are both on our list.

Second on the list is Bernanke, the man who holds the purse strings of the richest nation on the planet and is credited with steering the US out of a severe financial crisis. :lol:  :lol:  :lol:  :lol:   He is followed by Emanuel, who arguably has the most influence on the American president – and certainly has his ear whenever he needs it.  :lol:

AS WE CELEBRATE Shavuot, when the Jewish people received the Torah on Mount Sinai from Moses, the most famous Jew in history, we can only pray that those on our list use their influence to better the world and help Israel and the Jewish people serve as a light unto the nations.
...
The world Jewish population is estimated at being 02. percent of the total populace – some 13.5 million, with just over 5.7 million in Israel, 5.6 million in the US, half a million in Russia and France, 280,000 in the UK and 200,000 in Germany.

Yet in Vanity Fair's latest list of the 100 most powerful people in the world, 51 are Jews. Ten of the 50 people on this year's Forbes' annual billionaires list are Jewish. Of the 802 Nobel prizes handed out to date, 162 have gone to Jews.
...
Four years ago, John Mearsheimer and Stephen Walt shook the Jewish world by writing a paper, The Israel Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy, on what they perceived as the exaggerated influence of the Jewish lobby.

After being named by the pair as a key member of the media wing of the Israel lobby, Mortimer Zuckerman – a former head of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations – replied sardonically: "I would just say this: The allegations of this disproportionate influence of the Jewish community remind me of the 92-year-old man sued in a paternity suit. He said he was so proud, he pleaded guilty."
...
How much influence do Jews wield in the world, and how influential are those on our list? We leave you to judge.

[oh, we will... :wave:  ]


1. Binyamin Netanyahu
Prime Minister of Israel

2. Ben Bernanke
The chairman of the US Federal Reserve.

3. Rahm Emanuel
White House chief of staff.

4. Sergey Brin
Founder of Google

5. Shai Agassi
Founder of Better Place

6. Dominique Strauss-Kahn
Head of the International Monetary Fund

7. Shimon Peres
President of Israel

8. David Axelrod
Senior White House Adviser

9. Alan Dershowitz
Law professor, Israel advocate

10. Elena Kagan
US Supreme Court nominee

11.  Alan Solow
Chairman of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations

12. Ehud Barak
Defense Minister

13. Irwin Cotler
Canadian MP, human rights activist

14. Michael Bloomberg
Mayor of New York

15. Bernard Kouchner
Foreign Minister, France

16. Gabi Ashkenazi
IDF Chief of General Staff

17. Stanley Fischer
Bank of Israel Governor

18. Avigdor Lieberman
Foreign Minister

19.  Sheldon Adelson
Entrepreneur and philanthropist

20. Dorit Beinisch
Supreme Court President

21. Natan Sharansky
Jewish Agency Chairman

22. Ruth Bader Ginsburg
US Supreme Court Justice

23.  Mark Zuckerberg
Facebook Founder

24. Moshe Kantor
ECG President

25. Michael Steinhardt
Investor and philanthropist

26. Mortimer Zuckerman
Publisher

27. Ronald Lauder
WJC President

28. Larry Ellison
Oracle founder

29. Ruth Arnon
Biochemist

30. Elie Wiesel
Writer

31. Steven Spielberg
Filmmaker

32. Rabbi Jonathan Sacks
Chief Rabbi, UK

33. Jeff Zucker
CEO of NBC Universal

34. Joseph Lieberman
US Senator

35. Eric Cantor
US Congressman

36. Lee Rosenberg
President of AIPAC

37. Richard Goldstone
International jurist

38. Thomas Friedman
Columnist

39. Haim Saban
Media magnate

40. Jeremy Ben-Ami
J Street Executive Director

41. Shari Arison
Bank of Hapoalim owner

42.  Simone Veil
French politician

43. Irving Moskowitz
US tycoon, settler supporter

44. Gill Marcus
Bank Governor, South Africa

45. Bernard-Henri Lévy
Philosopher

46. Bob Dylan
Musician

47. Roman Abramovitch
Investor, Chelsea FC owner

48. Sacha Baron Cohen
Comedian


[I judge little influence here...]

49. Lucian Freud :sick: [easy to guess the relation to Sickman Fraud without the name clue]
"Artist"


[Is this how humans/"goyim" appear through the eyes of one afflicted with the jewish psychosis?]

50. Omri Casspi
Basketball player

[One for the next edition of Jewish Sports Legends pamphlet...]

Rebranding Israel as a state headed for fascism (Haaretz - May 18, 2010)

No one knows fascism better than Israelis. They are schooled, drilled in the history, the mechanics, the horrendous potential of fascist regimes. Israelis know fascism when they see it. In others.

They might well have expected when fascism began taking root here, it would arise at a time of a national leadership of galvanizing charisma and sweeping, powerfully orchestrated modes of action.

But that would have been much too obvious to deny. And it would take denial, inertia, selective memory, a sense that things – bad as they are - can go on like this indefinitely, for fascism to be able gain its foothold in a country founded in its very blood trail.

In fact, it has taken the most dysfunctional, the most rudderless government Israel has ever known, to make moderates uncomfortably aware of the countless but largely cosmetized ways in which the right in Israel and its supporters abroad have come to plant and nurture the seeds of fascism.

Wrote Boaz Okun, the mass-circulation Yedioth Ahronot's legal affairs commentator and a retired Israeli judge, of Israel's ban on Noam Chomsky: "The decision to shut up Professor Chomsky is a decision to shut down freedom in the state of Israel.

"I'm not speaking of the stupidity of supplying ammunition to those who claim that Israel is fascist," Okun wrote, "rather, of our fear that we may actually be turning that way."

At the weekend, Israeli police riot troops waded into a thoroughly non-violent sit-in near the entrance to this East Jerusalem settlement zone, where Palestinian residents were expelled by Israeli court order, to allow their homes to be taken over by Jews.

What was curious here was not the neck-wrenching brutality of the Yasam riot police in their gunmetal gray uniforms, bristling with assault rifles, clubs, tear gas and helmets, arrayed against the demonstrators, most of of them Israeli Jews, some of them well past retirement age.

What was surprising was not the fact that several burly officers, seeing a young Reshet Bet (Israel State Radio news) reporter - his microphone clearly and unmistakably marked, interview one of the seated demonstrators - jump him and drag him away in a headlock to a police custody van.

In the end, what was peculiar was that the police seemed so entirely bewildered, so completely lacking in clear orders, left on their own to decide how to proceed in an arena of hair-trigger sensitivity. Fascism with a confused face.
...

A debacle for Israel (Haaretz - May 18, 2010)

The agreement on the transfer of Iran's enriched uranium, achieved via Turkish-Brazilian mediation, is an important victory for Iranian diplomacy and a debacle for Israeli policy. The deal reduces the chances, which were slim to begin with, of new sanctions being imposed on Iran, and makes a military strike against Iran even less feasible.

The full, precise details of the agreement are not known, and the devil is in the details. But the deal's significance is clear: a new atmosphere, at least on the face of it, of dialogue, negotiations and compromise with the ayatollahs' regime in Tehran.

Gov't rejects Iran deal as a ruse (by Jerusalem Post - May 18 2010)

The Israeli government described the latest Iranian nuclear deal as a trick designed to prevent the imposition of UN Security Council sanctions.

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu met with the "Septet" of seven key ministers on Tuesday, to discuss Israel's response to the Iranian nuclear fuel reprocessing agreement, brokered by Brazil and Turkey.
...
Under the deal Iran will ship most, but not all, of its enriched uranium to Turkey and in return receive uranium fuel rods for research, which cannot be used for weapons. In the event that the fuel rods are not delivered to Iran within a year, Turkey undertakes to return the original uranium to Iran.

Syria turned down Peres peace offer (Jerusalem Post - May 18, 2010)

According to the clarification, Peres stressed in his message to his Syrian counterpart that "Israel does not plan to attack Syria, nor does it intend to cause an escalation [of tensions] in the North."

His message further stated that Israel was interested in peace and "prepared to immediately engage in peace talks with the Syrians." He added, however, that Jerusalem would "not allow Syria to continue to two-time Israel by demanding a withdrawal from the Golan Heights on the one hand while setting up Iranian missiles on the mountains of the North."

Peres further stated that Israel would not "enter into peace talks while being threatened," urging Damascus to cease its support of Hamas and Hizbullah's terrorist activity.

'It is a mistake to write off the option of resistance'

"We do not trust the Israelis ... we are ready for war or peace at any moment," Assad told the newspaper. "Some make the mistake of writing off the option of resistance (a term used in the Arab world to connote militant warfare, especially against Israel), and they turn into prisoners of the peace option. They should be fully prepared for both," he said.

Assad added that Syria had entered mediated negotiations with Israel in 2008 fully intending to reach a "clear and final" solution, but that it seemed resistance was necessary for achieving peace. "If you are not strong, you are not respected," Assad said. He stressed that peace was not merely a symbolic olive branch, but a tangible and very real way to sort out the balance of power in the region. He then described the positive qualities of resistance, citing his achievements in recent years - among them renewed ties with the US and the West and Syria's "rich, strong national unity" - as manifestations of Syria's success.

When asked what Syria's position would be in the event that Israel attacked Lebanon, Assad smiled and told his interviewer, "I think the Israelis want to hear the answer to this question, and I will not fulfill their wish." Threats of war, he said, were about as likely to become a reality as suggestions of peace.

Erekat: Palestinians' patience wearing thin (ynetnews - May 16, 2010)

Chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat on Sunday entreated Israel  to take advantage of US support in the negotiations and put an end to the conflict. Erekat told the Institute for National Security Studies in Tel Aviv, "My nation's patience with me is coming to an end," adding that many Palestinians had asked him to quit.
...
'Uzi Arad cancelled three times'

The chief Palestinian negotiator also noted the lack of trust between the parties. "There's no need for negotiations. There is a need for an agreement. All the alternatives are on the table. This is the moment of truth. We are all experiencing birth pangs. We need leaders ready to make sacrifices. My options are two states according to the 67 borders, with territory exchanges and security arrangements. If you've come to the conclusions that you can't offer this because you don't have anyone to rely on – I'm not afraid."

 
He also addressed the claims that Palestinians delayed negotiations and pointed an accusing finger at the head of National Security Advisor Uzi Arad, saying, "On the first day that Arad took up his post, I asked to meet him. Three times he scheduled a meeting and three times he cancelled."

 
Regarding the Netanyahu government, he said, "You tie up my hands and feet and throw me into the sea. Then you tell me I don't know how to swim. That's how the Israeli government behaves today."

 
"I negotiate with you because in my opinion, most Jews and Arabs want an agreement, and the alternative, the conflict, is too hard," he added, and emphasized that the Palestinians would not stop in their struggle for independence.

 
"In my generation, this can be achieved through negotiation," he warned. "Don't miss the opportunity... The negotiations are over. The time has come to decide. Not interim decisions, not future decisions, not past decisions. A final agreement."

Israel's Greek crisis (Haaretz - May 18, 2010)

The frugal Israeli: As Greece spirals down and the EU catches its disease, Israel's economy yet again stands out in its robustness. But instead of merely applauding, one should understand what underlies its strength.

Stanley Fischer, as the governor of the Bank of Israel who steered the country's economy through the crisis in the United States, and Benjamin Netanyahu, who navigated the economy from 2003 to 2005 as finance minister, deserve great credit for Israel's current economic strength.

But among all the reasons for that strength, I'd actually like to begin with the point that eight years ago, Israel was Greece.

Since financial disaster was averted at the last moment, and in any event was diluted by dramatic events related to the country's security, most people have forgotten that in late 2002 Israel's economy was where Greece's is today. The effects of a bad economic policy in 2000-2002, the sudden and powerful eruption of the second intifada and the end of the Internet and technology bubbles combined to cause intense recession and the loss of faith among investors in Jerusalem's economic policy.

At the end of 2002, the budget deficit neared 10%. Israeli government bonds dived and returns rose to 10% and more, which is where Athens' bonds are today.

The financial crisis saved Israel.  The government was forced to institute painful welfare and pension reforms as well as cutbacks in the public sector. Together with a $10 billion loan guarantee package from Washington and a drop in the risk premium of the Middle East in general after America's invasion of Iraq, these reforms laid the foundations for three years of conservative economic management.

Israel's "Greek crisis" of 2002 stopped Israel's leaders and businessmen from joining the borrowing extravaganza that spread a few years later throughout the United States and Europe. The scars of the local crisis had not yet healed, and Israel reached 2008, when the world economy began to implode, with a balance sheet that was stronger than ever.

The Israeli character also played a role in how we weathered the global storm. The conventional wisdom is that we are all in perpetual overdraft, but in fact the personal savings rate of Israeli households is among the highest in the world. German Chancellor Angela Merkel chided that the Greeks, Spanish and Italians should learn from the German hausfrau, who knows better than to spend more than she has coming in. Actually, to borrow her metaphor, the typical Israeli housewife is even more frugal than her German counterpart. The ratio of debt to disposable income in Israeli households is 60%, compared with 72% in Germany, 110% in the United States and 112% in Britain (although in Israel, uniquely, "disposable income" includes corporate profits, which skews the figures a tad ).

Massive civil drill to test response to cyber attack on Israel (Haaretz - May 18, 2010)

For the first time ever, the annual home front exercise conducted by the Israel Defense Forces will include preparations for an electronic attack against the country. The exercise, code-named Turning Point 4, will be held from Monday to Thursday next week.

Defense officials yesterday said that the emphasis of this year's exercise will be on the response of local authorities to a military emergency. Drills will be held in 68 cities and towns that are home to 70 percent of Israel's population. The exercise is being orchestrated by the Home Front Command and the National Emergency Authority in the Defense Ministry.

The Land of Silicon and Money (Wall Street Journal - May ??, 2010)

Following 15 years of negotiations, Israel, whose per capita gross domestic product approaches $30,000 (approaching that of Germany), was invited last week to join the OECD's club of democratic, market-economy countries. After receiving what Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu termed "a seal of approval," Israel is now poised for another quantum leap in its development.

The OECD invitation will make Israel even more attractive for investors and help accelerate the country's already remarkable growth rates, which in the pre-crisis years was about 5% per annum.

Christian Aid fears for NGOs in Israel (Christian Aid - May 18, 2010)

Christian Aid fears legislation tabled in the Kesset in March will severely curtail the work of NGOs funded from outside Israel. The legislation seeks to remove the tax-exempt status of any organisation "seeking to influence public opinion in Israel".

Christian Aid said the definition of political activity in the legislation was so broad that almost any organisation could be labelled as political, forcing many NGOs to scale back their work significantly.

WSU student sent home from Israel (Freep - May 18, 2010)

Students in a Wayne State University study-abroad program designed to look at the tensions in the Middle East got a firsthand lesson during the weekend -- even before they walked out of Ben Gurion International Airport in Tel Aviv, Israel.

One of the students, U.S.-born Abeer Afana, 20, said she was interrogated by security for several hours and placed on a plane back home because her parents are from the Gaza Strip and she once held a Palestinian passport.

The U.S. State Department warns that U.S. travelers with Arab or Muslim origin may face additional questioning "or may even be denied entry into Israel."
...

Israel 2010: 42% of Jews are secular (ynetnews - May 18, 2010)

The Central Bureau of Statistics report published Sunday reveals that 8% of Israel's  Jewish population defines itself as haredi, 12% as religious, 13% as traditional-religious, 25% as traditional and 42% as secular, on a descending scale of religiosity.
...

Religious edict to expand sphere for targeting Palestinians in "Price Tag" campaign (Uruknet - May 17, 2010)

Rabbi Yitzhak Shapira, leader of the Yosef Chai Yeshiva; a religious institution in the Yitzhar settlement, has called for an expansion of the 'price tag' campaign - a settler policy of retribution against Palestinians and their property in response to government operations to evacuate settlement enclaves in the West Bank.

Shapira's statements were made as he participated in a demonstration along side hundreds of other settlers protesting a government decision to demolish the religious institute in Yitzhar. He is quoted as saying "What we need is to implement the policy of actively levying a price; this idea did not emerge from here, from the settlements of Nablus, in vain. As such we will lie in wait for them, and we must include all regions and settlements in the policy of making Palestinians pay the price."

Barak to lawmakers: Don't present Israel as opponents of peace (Haaretz - May 18, 2010)

(Defense Minister Ehud Barak and U.S. President Barack Obama at the King David Hotel in Jerusalem, July 2008)

Defense Minister Ehud Barak on Monday urged Israeli lawmakers to refrain from taking any actions or making remarks that might present Jerusalem as opposed to the Middle East peace process, according to Israel Radio.

The defense minister told members of Knesset from his Labor Party that Israel must work to increase the mutual trust with its top ally, the United States. He stressed that the Americans have been making a noted effort to see the peace process succeed and expected Israel to reach an agreement with the Palestinians.

Barak added that the superiority of the Israel Defense Forces, considered one of the best militaries in the world, was in part to due American arms.

Gordon Duff: Can 1% Stop The Global Criminal Syndicate? (Veterans Today - May 16, 2010)

I was asked during an interview on Al Jazeera the question that every Muslim lives with every day, "How can a small country like Israel control America."  My answer was simple.  Imagine a friend comes to you screaming, "Someone stole my house!"  You ask him what happened.  His response; "I put my house up for sale, I asked $200,000 dollars.  A man came to the door and said he wanted my house.  He gave me $200,000 bucks and now I have no home."

Israel doesn't buy influence and control in America, we sold it to them.  The price tags were there, had been there forever.  Anyway, there isn't such a thing as Israel.  Yes, it is a country, like America but we don't exist either, not really, we never did.  Our Civil War proved this.  A country is like a company with a flag, a company that doesn't have to pay its workers, can even jail or kill them if it wants to.  Real countries today are owned by stockholders, we call them banks, who hire managers who work for them.

We call this "government."

This should explain why the two American political parties act the way they do.  They really don't exist.  American history classes are filled with fun days and boring days.  During the boring days, the teacher talks about monetary policies and banking.  In 1791, Alexander Hamilton set up the Central Bank of the United States.  It was controlled by England, our enemy, at least on the surface but was run by the Rothschilds.  Jefferson saw that such a bank would turn America into a criminal empire.  Jefferson favored "democracy" and Hamilton favored "conservatism" as expressed in "Federalism."
...

A Young Palestinian Looks Back to 1948 - The year his nation was erased from the map... (by Ayman T. Quader, DesertPeace - May 17, 2010)

The Palestinian Exile, also known as Al Nakba (Arabic for "The Catastrophe"), refers to the ethnic cleansing of native Palestinian peoples ... all » during the 1948 Arab-Israeli war.

From December 1947 until November 1948, Zionist forces (namely the Irgun, Lehi, Haganah terrorist gangs) expelled approximately 750, 000 indigenous Palestinians–almost 2/3 of the population–from their homes.

Hundreds of Palestinians were also murdered for refusing to leave their homes. The most notable massacre is the Deir Yassin Massacre, in which an estimated 120 Palestinian civilians were brutally murdered by an Irgun-Lehi force. Other massacres include the ones at Sahila (70-80 killed), Lod (250 killed), and Abu Shusha (70 killed). About 40 other massacres were carried out by Zionist forces in just the summer of 1948.

Not only did Zionist forces conduct massacres of Palestinian civilians, rape occured as well. According to Israeli historian Benny Morris, "In Acre four soldiers raped a girl and murdered her and her father. In Jaffa, soldiers of the Kiryati Brigade raped one girl and tried to rape several more. At Hunin, which is in the Galilee, two girls were raped and then murdered. There were one or two cases of rape at Tantura, south of Haifa. There was one case of rape at Qula, in the center of the country. At the village of Abu Shusha, near Kibbutz Gezer [in the Ramle area] there were four female prisoners, one of whom was raped a number of times. And there were other cases. Usually more than one soldier was involved. Usually there were one or two Palestinian girls. In a large proportion of the cases the event ended with murder. Because neither the victims nor the rapists liked to report these events, we have to assume that the dozen cases of rape that were reported, which I found, are not the whole story. They are just the tip of the iceberg."

During Al Nakba, Palestinians were murdered, raped, and ethnically cleansed from their villages. According to Israeli historian, Ilan Pappe, "In a matter of seven months, 531 villages were destroyed and 11 urban neighborhoods emptied."

Palestinians were forced into were forced out of Palestine and into neighboring countries (i.e. Lebanon, Syria, and Jordan), where they lived in refugee camps. Many were also sent to camps in West Bank and Gaza Strip.

Most Palestinian towns were demolished and taken by the newly established Israeli government to make room for new Jewish immigrants. Old Palestinian infrastructures, as well as many ruins dating back from the Canaanites, Romans, Greeks, Crusaders, Arabs, and Ottoman Turks were completely destroyed. This signified the end of historical Palestine and the birth of modern-day Israel.

Al Nakba marked the beginning of the Palestinian refugee crisis. Al Nakba destroyed a thriving and diverse Palestinian society and scattered them into diaspora. According to the UNRWA, the number of registered Palestinian refugees today is approximately 4.5 million. These refugees are dispersed throughout the world, many of which are still living in poverty-stricken refugee camps. Today, the situation keeps worsening and thousands die from malnutrition, contaminated water, or scarce medical supply.

Israel has since refused to allow Palestinian refugees to return to their homes, and has refused to pay them compensation as required by UN Resolution 194, which was passed on December 11, 1948.

Historically, the Israeli government, Israeli schools, and Israeli historians have denied that Al Nakba has occured. However, The New Historians, a loosely-defined group of Israeli historians, have recently published information recognizing the Al Nakba tragedy and controversial views of matters concerning Israel, particularly events concerning its birth in 1948. Much of their material comes from recently declassified papers. Leading scholars in this school include Benny Morris, Ilan Pappe, Avi Shlaim, and Tom Segev. Many of their conclusions have been attacked by other scholars and Israeli historians, who continue deny Al Nakba even occurred.

[youtube:1h4wmylh]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9EAmtgfPz-k[/youtube]1h4wmylh]

Lest we forget... more child abuse and brainwashing into the jewish cult...

Never forget: Teen remembers the Holocaust (State Journal-Register - May 18, 2010)

 On Jan. 25, I left the United States to begin a semester abroad in Israel as part of the Eisendrath International Exchange. With 70 other high school students from across the country, my assignment was to study Hebrew and Jewish history in addition to taking regular high school classes.

The four-month program included a weeklong trip to Poland. When I signed up, I did not give that trip much thought.

As it turned out, that week would leave a lasting impression on me.

Sad, but furious

The purpose of the trip to Poland was to visit historical sites and learn about the Holocaust. I had studied the Holocaust before, but nothing could prepare me for seeing the evidence firsthand.

On March 22, before leaving Israel, my group heard a Holocaust survivor speak. The story was compelling and sad, but uplifting because this was a survivor. Immediately after this first story, we went to the airport to fly to Poland, where we would hear many more stories.

Our group's first stop was Tikochen, an old, prominently Jewish town. My teacher walked us around the town, explaining what Jewish life was like before the Nazis came. I was relieved that we were not seeing tragedy right off the bat. We were afraid of what our reactions would be to the horrors we knew we would be learning about.

We did not have to wait long. We were told a story of how Nazis came to Tikochen, put all the Jews in trucks and drove them 10 minutes into the nearby woods.

We then made that same drive.

As we walked through the woods, one of only two survivors of Tikochen told us what had happened right where we were standing. The Jews were forced to dig mass graves and then they were shot into them. I could not get the thought out of my head.

We reached our destination: three mass graves with fences around them. Many people in the group cried, but most were silent.

My reaction surprised me: I was furious. I could not believe how angry I was at the Nazis and at everyone who let these horrors happen. I had never encountered anger before when learning about the Holocaust, but now I wanted to punch a tree.

The only satisfaction I got was seeing the Israeli flags on all the fences. The meaning of the flags was quite simple: a Jewish state exists. I decided I would wear my yamulke, the Jewish head covering, wherever we went that week. This would symbolize that we, the Jewish people, have beaten all odds and are still here. That is our revenge.

In the middle of a busy street

That night we watched the movie "Defiance," about Jewish brothers living in Nazi-occupied Eastern Europe, on our bus while going to our next destination. Although it is supposed to be an uplifting movie of Jews living and fighting back in the woods, it took on a different meaning for me.

As I looked out the side of the bus while we drove past wooded area, I thought, Jews could have been killed right there — Jews could have been hiding for their lives right where I was looking.

I think one of the administrators of my trip summed it up best. He said, ["Poland is just one big Jewish graveyard." It is a disheartening and scary thought — around 4 million Jews were killed in Poland.

The next big stop was Majdonek, a camp that was used almost exclusively for extermination. On our way there, we drove on a busy city street. I looked out my window to the right and saw it: a death camp.

My anger instantly came back. How could these people, 70 years ago, be so close and yet do nothing?

We walked up to the entrance, which was adjacent to a well-traveled road. A couple walked with a stroller. People walked their dogs. Kids rode bikes down this street.

I was enraged. Did these people think this was a park? How could they just walk casually by without shuddering at the horrors that took place a few feet away?

The first thing we did at Majdonek was walk through the camp's gas chamber — a horrible thing to see. Right where I was standing, Jews had been crammed in naked and then gassed to death.

I felt a hatred I had never felt before. Who could do that to another person?

We then did what no Jew was able to do 70 years ago: Walk out.

After seeing a room full of shoes belonging to Jews and walking around the enormous Majdonek, we walked through the crematorium, where we were face to face with a gigantic mound of human ash. At this point, my anger had mostly subsided and I was feeling sad and remorseful. It was the first time I had physically seen everything, and it was tough.

My teacher made a comment that stuck with me. He said, "Majdonek really scares me because it's so well kept. All the buildings are so well preserved that with a flick of switch and a phone call — it is back up and running."

It had been a tough day for all of us, but there was more to come.

Auschwitz

The next day we were at Auschwitz. We spent the whole morning at Auschwitz II (more commonly known as Birkenau).

The gigantic Birkenau is where almost all the Jews went — somewhere around 1.75 million square meters and four gas chambers to Majdonek's one. But Birkenau was almost in ruin — Nazis destroyed it while trying to get rid of evidence.

We entered the camp and followed train tracks. The tracks had been extended to go right to the gas chambers, so that the Jews could get off the train and go straight to their death.

The walk from the entrance to the rubble of the gas chambers, which we learned were used 24 hours a day, seemed to take forever. I stood where more than 1 million Jews were killed, and the miserable, sad feelings rushed back.

We then walked around the rest of Birkenau, which took hours due to its size. We saw the cabins where the more physically fit Jews who did manual labor slept. We saw the crematoriums and also some memorials. It was the longest few hours of my life.

We had all experienced so much sadness during the past few days that we were ready to be done. But we all knew seeing these things was important.

Lessons learned

We flew back to Israel. When we landed around 5 a.m., I was not tired at all. I couldn't get over the fact that I had just landed back in the Jewish state of Israel. I had just taken the trip that 6 million Jews dreamed of taking — to a homeland of their own — but never got the chance.

All of a sudden, Israel and the Jewish existence were more precious. I hope to never lose that feeling. It is now my job, and our generation's job, to learn, tell the story and never forget.

I changed in those few days. I realized that you can never fully understand the Holocaust without seeing the evidence. Although a very difficult trip, I believe everyone — Jewish or not — should go. You do not have to be a Jew to feel the sadness. You just have to be human.

However, I realized that the more you know, the more you realize you cannot know everything. Although the Holocaust was the most documented event in history, so many facts and stories will never be heard. [and so many horrorcaust fables heard and "facts" imagined - that never actually were...]

The trip also brought up many questions: How could the Nazis do such a thing? How could the world just stand by and let it happen? How could the people of Poland be so close yet turn away?

I also realized that in a few years, there will be no more survivors left to tell the story. We, as a new generation, need to see and learn this history so that we will remember and never let something like the Holocaust happen again.

By taking the trip to Poland, I have walked through the footsteps of my ancestors. I have walked through a gas chamber. I have walked the railroad at Birkenau that took Jews to their deaths. I have been to mass graves in the woods.

I am a better person because of it.

A better jew.

More of a blind hater of Mankind.

[VoltaXebec]

Very good SIA :up: