Monday 13 July 2009
PATTONS SPEECH
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"Men, this stuff that some sources sling around about America wanting out of this war, not wanting to fight, is a crock of bullshit. Americans love to fight, traditionally. All real Americans love the sting and clash of battle. You are here today for three reasons. First, because you are here to defend your homes and your loved ones. Second, you are here for your own self respect, because you would not want to be anywhere else. Third, you are here because you are real men and all real men like to fight.
When you, here, everyone of you, were kids, you all admired the champion marble player, the fastest runner, the toughest boxer, the big league ball players, and the All-American football players. Americans love a winner. Americans will not tolerate a loser. Americans despise cowards. Americans play to win all of the time. I wouldn't give a hoot in hell for a man who lost and laughed. That's why Americans have never lost nor will ever lose a war; for the very idea of losing is hateful to an American."
The General paused and looked over the crowd. "You are not all going to die," he said slowly. "Only two percent of you right here today would die in a major battle. Death must not be feared. Death, in time, comes to all men. Yes, every man is scared in his first battle. If he says he's not, he's a liar. Some men are cowards but they fight the same as the brave men or they get the hell slammed out of them watching men fight who are just as scared as they are. The real hero is the man who fights even though he is scared. Some men get over their fright in a minute under fire. For some, it takes an hour. For some, it takes days. But a real man will never let his fear of death overpower his honor, his sense of duty to his country, and his innate manhood. Battle is the most magnificent competition in which a human being can indulge. It brings out all that is best and it removes all that is base. Americans pride themselves on being He Men and they ARE He Men. Remember that the enemy is just as frightened as you are, and probably more so. They are not supermen."
"All through your Army careers, you men have bitched about what you call "chicken shit drilling". That, like everything else in this Army, has a definite purpose. That purpose is alertness. Alertness must be bred into every soldier. I don't give a fuck for a man who's not always on his toes. You men are veterans or you wouldn't be here. You are ready for what's to come. A man must be alert at all times if he expects to stay alive. If you're not alert, sometime, a German son-of-an-asshole-bitch is going to sneak up behind you and beat you to death with a sockful of shit!" The men roared in agreement.
When you, here, everyone of you, were kids, you all admired the champion marble player, the fastest runner, the toughest boxer, the big league ball players, and the All-American football players. Americans love a winner. Americans will not tolerate a loser. Americans despise cowards. Americans play to win all of the time. I wouldn't give a hoot in hell for a man who lost and laughed. That's why Americans have never lost nor will ever lose a war; for the very idea of losing is hateful to an American."
The General paused and looked over the crowd. "You are not all going to die," he said slowly. "Only two percent of you right here today would die in a major battle. Death must not be feared. Death, in time, comes to all men. Yes, every man is scared in his first battle. If he says he's not, he's a liar. Some men are cowards but they fight the same as the brave men or they get the hell slammed out of them watching men fight who are just as scared as they are. The real hero is the man who fights even though he is scared. Some men get over their fright in a minute under fire. For some, it takes an hour. For some, it takes days. But a real man will never let his fear of death overpower his honor, his sense of duty to his country, and his innate manhood. Battle is the most magnificent competition in which a human being can indulge. It brings out all that is best and it removes all that is base. Americans pride themselves on being He Men and they ARE He Men. Remember that the enemy is just as frightened as you are, and probably more so. They are not supermen."
"All through your Army careers, you men have bitched about what you call "chicken shit drilling". That, like everything else in this Army, has a definite purpose. That purpose is alertness. Alertness must be bred into every soldier. I don't give a fuck for a man who's not always on his toes. You men are veterans or you wouldn't be here. You are ready for what's to come. A man must be alert at all times if he expects to stay alive. If you're not alert, sometime, a German son-of-an-asshole-bitch is going to sneak up behind you and beat you to death with a sockful of shit!" The men roared in agreement.
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PATTONS SPEECH
Israel Matzav: Obama is letting Hamas become like the Taliban and al-Qaeda
Obama is letting Hamas become like the Taliban and al-Qaeda
'Palestinian' journalist Khaled Abu Toameh explains how the Obama administration is getting things all wrong in the Middle East and allowing Hamas to become like the Taliban and al-Qaeda. Israel Matzav: Obama is letting Hamas become like the Taliban and al-QaedaThanks to the Obama Administration's new strategy regarding the Middle East, the entire world now seems to be obsessed with the issue of the settlements as if they were just now being established.
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Israel Matzav: How the media chooses 'Israeli supporters' who are far left of the mainstream
How the media chooses 'Israeli supporters' who are far left of the mainstream
While this is a Russian network and not an American or European one, it's still English-language media and it's a seemingly unbiased report.
Let's go to the videotape and then you can let me know what you think of the person they chose to represent Israel's interests and I can tell you a bit about him (note the 'even Rahm Emanuel comment, as if Rahm Emanuel isn't willing to sell his birthright to get ahead).
Let's go to the videotape and then you can let me know what you think of the person they chose to represent Israel's interests and I can tell you a bit about him (note the 'even Rahm Emanuel comment, as if Rahm Emanuel isn't willing to sell his birthright to get ahead).
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Israel Matzav: How the media chooses 'Israeli supporters' who are far left of the mainstream
Israel Matzav: UK imposes partial arms embargo on Israel
UK imposes partial arms embargo on Israel
It's not as bad as it could have been, but it's still a very bad precedent. Britain has imposed a partial arms embargo on Israel because of its use of British weapons and ammunition in Operation Cast Lead. The embargo followed a government review of all British defense exports to Israel, which was announced three months ago. In total, the telegram said, Britain reviewed 182 licenses for arms exports to Israel, including 35 for exports to the Israel Navy. But it ultimately decided to cancel only five licenses, all relating to the Sa'ar 4.5 ships [pictured. CiJ]. The licenses in question apparently cover spare parts for the ship's guns.
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Israel Matzav: UK imposes partial arms embargo on Israel
Israel Matzav: Israel rejects Solana call for imposed 'peace'
Israel rejects Solana call for imposed 'peace'
Israel has rejected as 'dangerous' a call made on Saturday by EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana for the United Nations to impose terms of 'peace' on Israel if it does not succeed in reaching an agreement with the 'Palestinians' by a date determined by the UN. Israel Matzav: Israel rejects Solana call for imposed 'peace'"Resolutions 242 and 338 of the United Nations, the roadmap [peace plan] and agreements between Israel and the Palestinians all cautiously determine that the solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict will only be reached through negotiations by the sides," the [foreign] ministry said in a statement.
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Israel Matzav: The more things change, the more they stay the same - Part 2
The more things change, the more they stay the same - Part 2
On Friday, I posted a 50-year old video of an interview with then-Israeli ambassador to the US and the UN Abba Eban. I titled the post The more things change, the more they stay the same, because the charges Eban was being called to answer were so remarkably similar to the charges made against Israel today.
This post is also entitled The more things change, the more they stay the same, but this time we are going to look at the flip side. We are going to look at how little the aims of the PLO and Fatah have changed over the last sixty years.
The video you are about to watch is the first part in a six-part series on al-Jazzeera about the history of Fatah and the PLO. The first thing I want you to notice is the date of the PLO's founding, which happened before the 1967 war. That ought to be enough to prove to you that the PLO's goals - which have never been changed - are to destroy the Jewish state of Israel and not just to create a 'Palestinian' state.
This post is also entitled The more things change, the more they stay the same, but this time we are going to look at the flip side. We are going to look at how little the aims of the PLO and Fatah have changed over the last sixty years.
The video you are about to watch is the first part in a six-part series on al-Jazzeera about the history of Fatah and the PLO. The first thing I want you to notice is the date of the PLO's founding, which happened before the 1967 war. That ought to be enough to prove to you that the PLO's goals - which have never been changed - are to destroy the Jewish state of Israel and not just to create a 'Palestinian' state.
Israel Matzav: The more things change, the more they stay the same - Part 2
Israel Matzav: Abu Bluff follows in Sarkozy's footsteps
Abu Bluff follows in Sarkozy's footsteps
Two weeks ago, French President Nicolas Sarkozy called on Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu to replace Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman with the opposition leader, the pliable Tzipi Livni. Now, 'moderate' 'Palestinian' President Israel Matzav: Abu Bluff follows in Sarkozy's footsteps"Abu Mazen [Abbas] isn't exactly legitimate, hence neither is his new demand, or suggestion, to replace Lieberman with Tzipi Livni. I see such advice as a blessing. His demand to cease settlement construction is nothing more than an expression of his distress and incompetence," he told Israel Radio on Monday, noting that the lower Abu Mazen's legitimacy drops, the harsher his demands become.
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Israel Matzav: House defies Obama: Passes Iran sanctions
House defies Obama: Passes Iran sanctions
By an overwhelming vote, the US House of Representatives has added a provision to the annual foreign aid appropriation imposing limited sanctions on Iran. The measure was sponsored by Howard Berman (D-Cal.), Mark Kirk (R-Ill.) and Dan Burton (R-Ind.) and the vote in favor of it was an overwhelming 318-106. Israel Matzav: House defies Obama: Passes Iran sanctionsWhile the Senate version - likely to be approved later this month - doesn't contain the Iran sanctions language, the House vote still gives a boost in entering the compromise version which the full Congress will ultimately need to vote on, expected some time this fall.
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Israel Matzav: Syria won't set border with Lebanon
Syria won't set border with Lebanon
Do you remember how the US and 'our friends the Saudis' were 'pushing' Syria to demarcate its border with Lebanon, so that they could push Israel to give the strategic Mount Dov (Shaba Farms) area to Lebanon and thereby 'take away' Hezbullah's raison d'etre (as if that's the only reason Hezbullah exists)? Well, I'm sure you'll all be shocked - just shocked - to hear that as I predicted, the Syrians just said no.
Israel Matzav: Syria won't set border with LebanonThe Syrian representative, Bashar Ja'afari, sent a series of letters to the UN stipulating that Syria considered the defining of a future Syrian-Lebanese border, especially regarding the Shaba Farms, unfeasible until Israel withdrew from the entire area, the Israeli-Arab news Web site Al Arab reported Sunday.
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Israel Matzav: 'Democracy in action': Abu Mazen and Fayyad to stay in office until (at least) 2012
'Democracy in action': Abu Mazen and Fayyad to stay in office until (at least) 2012
Rather than risk losing another election to the Hamas terror organization, the 'good terrorists' from Fatah will likely postpone the election currently scheduled for January 2010, maybe all the way to 2012. That will leave 'moderate' 'Palestinian' President Read All at :
Israel Matzav: 'Democracy in action': Abu Mazen and Fayyad to stay in office until (at least) 2012
Israel Matzav: Obama to meet 'Jewish leaders'; UPDATE: Jewish leaders seen as 'Right-wing' excluded
Obama to meet 'Jewish leaders'; UPDATE: Jewish leaders seen as 'Right-wing' excluded
President Obama is to meet with 'Jewish leaders' at the White House on Monday amidst what's being described as 'concern' over the administration's unbalanced policy toward Israel. But no need to worry. Continuing in the finest tradition of many American rabbis, many of these 'leaders' will be more than happy to sell Israel out. Israel Matzav: Obama to meet 'Jewish leaders'; UPDATE: Jewish leaders seen as 'Right-wing' excluded"American Jews more or less agree with the president on settlements, but it's the focus on criticizing Israel that's disconcerting," said an organization leader who will be attending the meeting.
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Israel Matzav: 'Our goal has never been peace. Peace is a means; the goal is Palestine'
'Our goal has never been peace. Peace is a means; the goal is Palestine'
The PA will resume violence and terror against Israel when Fatah is "capable," and "according to what seems right," Fatah activist Kifah Radaydeh says in a PA TV interview. She states openly that peace is not a goal for Fatah:
"It has been said that we are negotiating for peace, but our goal has never been peace. Peace is a means; the goal is Palestine."
Radaydeh says that "armed struggle" has not been ruled out and will continue, depending on how "capable" the PA forces are.
"It has been said that we are negotiating for peace, but our goal has never been peace. Peace is a means; the goal is Palestine."
Radaydeh says that "armed struggle" has not been ruled out and will continue, depending on how "capable" the PA forces are.
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Israel Matzav: 'Our goal has never been peace. Peace is a means; the goal is Palestine'
Israel Matzav: Abu Mazen: 'A settlement freeze is Obama's condition, not ours, but we'll abide by it'
Abu Mazen: 'A settlement freeze is Obama's condition, not ours, but we'll abide by it'
Before Sunday's weekly cabinet meeting in Beer Sheva, Prime Minister Netanyahu invited 'moderate' 'Palestinian' President Israel Matzav: Abu Mazen: 'A settlement freeze is Obama's condition, not ours, but we'll abide by it'"Let's make peace - both diplomatic peace and economic peace," Netanyahu said at the start of a cabinet meeting in Beersheba that was held there as an act of solidarity with the Negev capital. "There is no reason why we can't meet, the Palestinian Authority president and I, anywhere in Israel, and since we are in Beersheba, I say, let's meet here.
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Obama's Got it Wrong
Obama's Got it Wrong
While I was prancing around the US last week, not reading any of my usual time-sinks, life went on. So today I saw this item by Barry Rubin which called my attention to this article from last week by Aluf Benn.
I suppose you might perhaps classify Rubin as right-of-center; not Benn, writing in Haaretz. No way. Which is why his analysis of all the things wrong with Obama's current "settlements must stop" policy is so interesting and compelling. Benn is not merely describing. He's describing and agreeing.
I suppose you might perhaps classify Rubin as right-of-center; not Benn, writing in Haaretz. No way. Which is why his analysis of all the things wrong with Obama's current "settlements must stop" policy is so interesting and compelling. Benn is not merely describing. He's describing and agreeing.
The administration's pathetic attempt to deny the existence of understandings with Israel on construction in the settlements only bolstered this impression. It was possible to blame Israel for violating its promises, or to say that the policy had changed and to explain why, but not to lie.
I'm of the camp willing to cut the Obama administration some slack on their diplomacy of winning hearts by respectful gestures. I doubt it will work, and I hope that once it doesn't they'll recognize the significance of the failure, but I don't see the harm in trying. Learning through experience is the best way there is. At the end of the day, however, the purpose of the new diplomacy is to have results. By alienating the large segment of Israeli society who are his natural allies, Obama is needlessly reducing the chances of his own success.
The purely anecdotal evidence I came across in the States last week was that it's not only Israel's Left he's alienating. A number of American Jews who voted for him told me they're uncomfortable with what he's doing. Or, as one of them said, "I wonder if Rahm Emanuel has different positions than I thought he had". Regarding America, this is purely anecdotal, at this stage. Regarding Israel, perhaps not.
The purely anecdotal evidence I came across in the States last week was that it's not only Israel's Left he's alienating. A number of American Jews who voted for him told me they're uncomfortable with what he's doing. Or, as one of them said, "I wonder if Rahm Emanuel has different positions than I thought he had". Regarding America, this is purely anecdotal, at this stage. Regarding Israel, perhaps not.
taken from Yaacov Lozowick's Ruminations
On the Determination to Succeed
On the Determination to Succeed
The top Economist correspondent to America,who writes a weekly column about the country, has gone back home. His (or her? You can never know with the Economist) final column is here. The thesis: America is somtime admirable, othertimes not. Yet it has a genius for climbing out of the bad spots and creating great things.
But there is fortunately a more solid reason for optimism. That is the country’s
taste for entrepreneurial capitalism, a taste that arrived with the first
settlers and is becoming an ever greater resource, as the global economy is
shaken by wave upon wave of disruptive technologies. America still has a genius
for incubating entrepreneurs and giving those entrepreneurs the wherewithal to
turn bright ideas into global behemoths. America’s biggest company, Wal-Mart,
was founded only in 1962; its sexiest, Google, was conceived in a Californian
dorm room at about the time that your columnist arrived on these shores. Even as
de Tocqueville despaired about the future of his half-adopted country in the
1840s and 1850s, the likes of Carnegie and Rockefeller were about to unleash the
greatest productivity miracle the world has seen. That is the America that still
promises much.
I've been wandering around the US for an intensive week now; tomorrow I'll make my way home,though given the distance this will take a bit. America is a rather glum place these days - though, if my anecdotal impressions have any value, it's not a terminal glumness. The people I talked to were all pessimistic in the short term but I didn't see anyone desist from making plans for the mid- and long-term. If you wish to see a society which has lost its fundamental vitality, go to Germany, or Austria, and probably many other places in Western Europe (not Poland).
This profound determination to work things through and come out intact on the other side seems to me a source of America's firm support for Israel: both sides recognize cultural commonalities, and these create affinities.
taken from Yaacov Lozowick's Ruminations
Don't Tell, So We Won't Be Bothered
Don't Tell, So We Won't Be Bothered
Look at this report, from the BBC. It's about how the Pakistanis have perhaps won this round in their war against the Taliban; then again, perhaps they haven't.
See if you can spot what the reports isn't telling us.
That's right. Not a word, not a single word, about the possibility that any civilians were harmed. True, two million of them (2,000,000) fled their homes and are still refusing to go back, preferring to live in tents than to brave living in their homes and towns; but this has nothing to do with any civilian casualties their own army might have caused. Not at all.
And in this case, the BBC is at least mentioning there was an event, even while willfully lying about its essence.The rest of your media isn't even noticing the event. After all, a foreign people in a faraway land, who can be bothered.
See if you can spot what the reports isn't telling us.
That's right. Not a word, not a single word, about the possibility that any civilians were harmed. True, two million of them (2,000,000) fled their homes and are still refusing to go back, preferring to live in tents than to brave living in their homes and towns; but this has nothing to do with any civilian casualties their own army might have caused. Not at all.
And in this case, the BBC is at least mentioning there was an event, even while willfully lying about its essence.The rest of your media isn't even noticing the event. After all, a foreign people in a faraway land, who can be bothered.
taken from Yaacov Lozowick's Ruminations
Murkier and Murkier
Murkier and Murkier
The case of the alleged AIPAC spies that eventually collapsed a few months ago was always murky and strange. Haaretz has now interviewed Larry Franklin, the Pentagon analyst who was convicted of leaking classified documents to the AIPAC staffers Steve Rosen and Keith Weissman; the story just keeps getting wierder. Franklin, a Catholic, was set up to trip the AIPAC men by feeding them a false document telling about an imminent threat to Israeli agents in Iraq; the way he tells it, this was the culmination of years of investigation which can only be decribed as antisemitic.
The case, as long as it was active, was used by many in the Walt-Mearshiemer section of the American public (and blogosphere), as an indication of the pernicity of the Israel Lobby and the danger it poses to America. If they were intellectually honest, those people, they might now want to engage in a spot of investigation in the opposite direction, and ask themselves if it's possible that antisemitism can still be a motivating force for an American federal agency - a very serios allegation, I would think.
The case, as long as it was active, was used by many in the Walt-Mearshiemer section of the American public (and blogosphere), as an indication of the pernicity of the Israel Lobby and the danger it poses to America. If they were intellectually honest, those people, they might now want to engage in a spot of investigation in the opposite direction, and ask themselves if it's possible that antisemitism can still be a motivating force for an American federal agency - a very serios allegation, I would think.
taken from Yaacov Lozowick's Ruminations
Can't Find it on the Map
Can't Find it on the Map
The admirable folks at Just Journalism have put up a spot of research comparing British media's covering of Israel's attack in Gaza and the Sri Lanken victory over the Tamil terrorists. Unsurprisingly, with the exception of the London Times, the British outlets surveyed all told their readers how horrendous the Israelis are to a far greater extent than they did about the Sri Lankens. And the sun kept on rising in the East, for that matter.
When I read the report, I had different comments.
1. the NGOs on the ground in Sri Lanka actually did their best to report. So the media had the information and made a purposeful decision not to do much with it.
2. The comparison between Israel and Sri Lanka is only of limited use. And, as everyone knows, the numbers of civilians killed in Sri Lanka was dramatically higher than the Palestinian casualties, partially because the Sri Lanken army never even pretended it was trying not to hit civilians. (Sri Lanken civilians, by the way). (What do you mean, "not everyone knows"?)
3. While I really have no argument with the Just Journalism gang, it is worth noticing the set they chose for comaprision. What about, say, civilians being killed in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Darfur, South Sudan, refugees being towed out to sea by the Thai navy and dumped there, and other such atrocities which somehow generated less attention than the Sri Lanken case?
When I read the report, I had different comments.
1. the NGOs on the ground in Sri Lanka actually did their best to report. So the media had the information and made a purposeful decision not to do much with it.
2. The comparison between Israel and Sri Lanka is only of limited use. And, as everyone knows, the numbers of civilians killed in Sri Lanka was dramatically higher than the Palestinian casualties, partially because the Sri Lanken army never even pretended it was trying not to hit civilians. (Sri Lanken civilians, by the way). (What do you mean, "not everyone knows"?)
3. While I really have no argument with the Just Journalism gang, it is worth noticing the set they chose for comaprision. What about, say, civilians being killed in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Darfur, South Sudan, refugees being towed out to sea by the Thai navy and dumped there, and other such atrocities which somehow generated less attention than the Sri Lanken case?
taken from Yaacov Lozowick's Ruminations
Intermarriage: Great Mourning Among The Jews
Intermarriage: Great Mourning Among The Jews
21 of the Fourth Month 5769
No, the title is not a reference to the recently invented concept of mourning practices during the "Three Weeks" between the Fast of the Fourth Month (17 b'Tammuz) and the Fast of the Fifth Month (9 b'Av).
Clinton’s Top Muslim Aide to Wed Jewish Congressman
Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu, 21 Tammuz 5769/July 13, 2009
(IsraelNN.com) Brooklyn, New York Democratic Congressman Anthony Weiner will marry outside the Jewish religion to Huma Abedin, a Muslim woman who is considered one of U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s top aides, the New York Daily News reported.
The intermarriage rate in the United States is estimated to be approximately 50 percent and has been one of the strongest forces that has diluted Jewish identity and support of a strong Israel.
This report immediately brought to mind a verse from Megillath Esther. During the chanting of the this megillah on Purim, many Ashkinazim have the custom of chanting the last part of this verse using the mournful ta'amei hamiqra* (music) used to chant Eikhah (Lamentations) on the Fast of the Fifth Month, to emphasize the gravity of what is taking place at this point in the story.
Esther 4:3
...there was great mourning among the Jews, and fasting, and weeping, and wailing; and many lay in sackcloth and ashes.
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EsserAgaroth: Intermarriage: Great Mourning Among The Jews
Netanyahu's "Nazi Language"?
Netanyahu's "Nazi Language"?
Comparing Israel to the Nazis or attempting to draw false parallels with the deliberate genocide of 6 million Jews during the Holocaust is a tactic regularly deployed by anti-Israel activists despite being classified as anti-Semitism under the EU's own working definition.
Two recent incendiary headlines illustrate this point by implying that Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu has adopted "Nazi language," thus contributing to the false and insulting impression that Israelis behave like Nazis:
- Netanyahu turns to Nazi language - The Guardian
Netanyahu's "Nazi Language"?
The Joker and Personal Growth
The Joker and Personal Growth
A Streetcar Named Desire…
“In the film A Streetcar Named Desire, Blanche DuBois, sliding into insanity, is one of the greatest and most challenging roles available to an actress. In recent years, Ann Margret lost ten pounds and grew depressed and anxious playing Blanche. Jessica Lange got panic attacks.”
- National Public Radio, All Things Considered
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The Joker and Personal Growth