Friday cartoon

Today is Friday. It's time for a cartoon.

Earlier this week, a man in Fresno, California set out to kill as many white people as he could ("Suspect in custody after three people shot dead, Fresno police say", cbsnews, April 18, 2017). The suspect, Kori Ali Muhammad (sic) has admitted to the shootings (ibid).

But as news outlets spread the word of this incident on their websites, one stood out--the Associated Press (AP). It didn't report, as other had, that, just before shooting, Mr Muhammad had shouted, 'allahu akbar'. 

Yes, the Fresno police chief had told reporters that Mr  Muhammad had used the exact words, 'allhu akbar (Caleb Parke, " 'allahu akbar' vs 'god is great': the AP cover-up on recent Fresno attack and why words matter", bcnnews, April 19, 2017). But the AP had reported him as saying, 'god is Great!'--an inaccurate English translation of allahu akbar (ibid).

Some point out that there's a significant difference between god-is-great vs allahu-akbar, especially when it's used in front of a Catholic Charities facility moments before the one using those words starts killing people (ibid).

allahu akbar doesn't simply mean, 'god is great', it means allah is greater (ibid). It's an assertion of religious supremacy used in many circumstances, but almost always shouted before one, essentially, kills for Islam. Reporting that a killer like this said, 'god is great' does not capture the Supremacist intent of the words.

Besides, no one in the world would claim, 'god is great' is a traditional war cry. Most everyone who reads, however, knows that allahu akbar is a war cry, typically used in a 'war' moment when one's intent is to murder. The AP not only did a disservice to its followers. It completely misrepresented the nature of the shooting. It misled the reader. It turned a news moment into a fake news moment.

Our cartoon today shows how Leftist progressives choose to read the words, 'allahu akbar':

from: ronbosoldier.blogspot, no date

I suggest that the picture speaks for itself. When one shouts 'allahu akbar', one is not looking for excuses. We shouldn't give him any.

When Mr Muhammad used these words (above), he was professing also a murderous intent. No one should ever make excuses for murder, especially murder in the name of a religion--and most especially murder in the name of what we are told is 'the religion of peace'. 

Fake news round-up from Israel

Today is fake news day. It’s the one chance you have each week to read news knowing that what you read really is fake.

This week’s edition looks exclusively at that gospel of truth, Aljazeera news. Here are some recent headlines from that Sourcepool.  Take a look:

-Nadim Nashif, “Facebook vs Palestine: Implicit support for oppression”, April 16, 2017. This op-ed essay explored how Facebook has become complicit with the crimes of the oppressor Israel.  Shockingly, Facebook cooperates with Israeli authorities. It believes Israel's lies when Israel says it has found 'incitement' on 'Palestinian' Facebook pages. Because of this criminal cooperation, 'Palestinians’ are routinely arrested by Israeli security forces. 

Of course, Israelis also commit acts of 'incitement' on Facebook. In 2016, for example, Israelis posted more than 675,000 inflammatory posts themselves. But no Israelis were arrested.  Can you imagine that?

The writer failed to state how many inflammatory posts came from ‘Palestinians’. But then, he didn't need to note that number because 'Palestinians' weren't the bad guys to this essayist. Facebook was.

--

-“Israeli soldier killed in 'car attack' near Ramallah”, April 6, 2017. This news story apparently didn’t report news—just  ‘alleged’ news.  For example, in this alleged story, 23-year-old Ahmad Moussa Hamed allegedly drove his car into an alleged concrete barrier, behind which stood two Israeli soldiers, allegedly on duty. The car allegedly rammed into the two soldiers. One soldier was allegedly killed. The other soldier was, allegedly, lightly injured. The driver was allegedly shot, but not allegedly killed.
---

--Shaeen Nassar, “Zionism's problem with intersectionality”, April 6, 2017. This opinion piece told us there was an 'organic' connection between all peoples of color. All such people--including 'Palestinians'--suffer from Apartheid. They experience ethnic cleansing, racial hate and race-based oppression. Because of such shared experiences, all people of color are just like 'Palestinians’.

The essayist talks about 'intersectionality'. But he never gets around to defining what that is. He simply states that intersectionality unites all oppressed people. Through intersectionality, he says, these oppressed groups can share “racial subjugations, humiliation, and exploitation” which is, the essayist seems to assume, exactly what people of color everywhere want to do every day, all day.

The essayist doesn't explore how intersectionality--whatever that is--could be used to make life better for oppressed people (Helen Lewis, "The uses and abuses of intersectionality", newstatesman, February 20, 2014). Instead, this essayist is more interested in using 'intersectionality' to blame 'Zionism' for all suffering and oppression--everywhere.

That's not philosophy. It's propaganda. Nevertheless, in the fake news world, this is a good piece of work. It sounds intellectual, it blames the Jews--and it leaves you feeling educated (because of the big word). 

This might be fakery at its best.
---

-Nigel Wilson, “Israeli army 'among world's child rights violators'”, April 11, 2017. This essayist uses an old Al Jazeera tool--the anecdotal--and often fake--testimony of a child (youth aged 17 and younger). According to this writer, 'Palestinian' children are shot and killed by Israeli soldiers while engaged in purely innocent activities—like strolling outside during a nearby clash between dozens of ‘youth’ stoning IDF soldiers on a patrol across a nearby dirt road. Indeed, based upon this--and other, similar--essays, one could easily conclude that strolling is a leading cause of death among 'Palestinian' children.

These anecdotes appear on Al Jazeera all the time. You've probably seen them. They go something like this: Question: tell me, what was your child doing near that wild riot against the IDF before he was killed? Answer: He was strolling. 

One learns from this story that nearly all the children killed in October, 2015 (a particularly high-casualty month for Arab youth in Israel) were killed either during a self-initiated attack against Jews, or while participating in large, wild clashes with Israeli soldiers. This writer fails to see any connection whatsoever between a child’s death and any riot-participation or knife attacks upon armed soldiers. Apparently, for this journalist—as for many others—wilfully stoning armed soldiers or openly attacking them has nothing to do with being killed. The children were killed only because IDF soldiers used an indiscriminate shoot-to-kill policy.

It’s all fakery. Here’s the real story: unfortunately, ‘Palestinian’ parents encourage their children to get themselves killed by IDF soldiers, as if that’s the greatest accomplishment a parent would want for his/her child.  Children should die so essayists like this can propagandize against Israel?  Yes, that’s it exactly.

---

That’s it for today’s fake news round-up. Come back next week. I have every expectation there’ll be more fakery to share with you.

An Arab prisoner hunger-strike, the UN--and dead Jews

Perhaps I've missed something important, but the last time I looked at the concept of 'justice', I read that one who kills another deliberately in cold blood and then gets convicted of murder in open court is one who has received 'justice''. After conviction, that justice requires the killer to suffer the consequence of his evil deed. He goes to prison. He does not go to a youth hostel.

But what happens if convicted murderers claim to be victims themselves? For example, more than 1,000 Arab terrorist prisoners in Jewish Israeli jails have recently begun a hunger strike to gain what some call their 'basic rights' (Zena Tahhan, "Palestinian prisoners launch mass hunger strike", aljazeera, April 17, 2017). In this instance, imprisoned murderers of Israeli Jews cry that Israel's jail conditions have hit such a 'new low' (ibid), initiating a mass hunger strike is the "only door they can knock on to attain their rights" (ibid).

According to Arab sources, this appears to be a dangerous situation--so dangerous that the President of the Palestinian Authority (PA), Mahmoud Abbas, has called out for international assistance to save the prisoners ("President Abbas calls on international community to save the life of striking prisoners", english.wafa.ps, April 17, 2017). The unstated message Abbas sent out was, Israeli prisons are so horrific, these men will surely die (from prison conditions and the hunger strike) if the world doesn't intervene to make sure prisoner demands are met. 

There's just one problem here. It's a lie. 

These prisoners are not as 'deprived' as Mahmoud Abbas would lead you to believe. Do you know what these prisoners want? 

Their demands reveal the lie. Here's a list of some of the more, uh, interesting demands. Remember, these are demands for what aljazeera calls, 'basic rights'. These demands are not basic at all: 

-prisoners want a second monthly 'family visit' (perhaps a euphemism for 'conjugal visit) reinstalled ("Abbas: World must intervene to save hunger-striking prisoners", timesofisrael, April 17, 2017).    

-they want academic studies and matriculation exams (to be provided free by Israel) (ibid);

-they want more TV channels to be made available in their cells (ibid);

-they want a public phone in 'security' wings--where the most violent terrorists are kept.

-they want visits from both first-level and second-level relatives ("Demands of prisoners who went on hunger strike", english.wafa.ps, April 17, 2017); 

-they want transportation provided by Israel for all those visiting relatives (ibid).
  

These prisoners protest their prison conditions (timesofisrael). They claim Israel's (inhumane) prison conditions have hit a 'new low' (aljazeera)--and we assume that these demands are to be the remedy for those 'new low' conditions. 

Listen, these men aren't hostel guests on an extended stay at a Middle East hostel (a hunger-strike against some Middle East hostels might be a rational action). These prisoners are murderers. They killed with knowledge aforethought. They're now in jail. They do not express remorse. They do not offer to change their murderous ways. Many have been incentivized to kill because their families receive a  lifetime monthly benefit from the PA, based upon the 'horrorificness' of their crime. These are not civilized people.

Nevertheless, they serve prison time in what is probably the Middle East's most humane prison (see, for example, Khaled Abu Toameh, "Palestinians' fort of torture", gatestoneinstitute, January 30, 2017). One could argue that they are treated better than Hamas and Fatah would treat them for similar crimes in the PA against PA residents. 

Yet because Abbas and aljazeera claim Israeli prison conditions are, supposedly, so terrible, the world has to watch a hunger-strike. What this means is, 'Palestinians' have created another self-induced crisis--and now demand the world save them from the crisis they've created (William Jacobson, "Palestinians demand world save terrorist hunger strikers from their own hunger strike", legalinsurrection, April 18, 2017). 

These 'Palestinian' prisoners are serious: they want those extra TV channels, public phones and, yes, special satellite TV programming (english.wafa.ps, above). 

The UN worries about these prisoners. Presumably, the UN takes this hunger-strike seriously. Apparently, it's a humanitarian outrage that Israel won't provide more TV channels--and free phones--to its Arab terrorist-prisoners. 

The UN monitors 'with  concern' how these unrepentant, Israel-hating, Jew-hating killers are doing (Ben Ariel, "UN closely monitoring terror hunger strike", arutzsheva, April 19, 2017). The UN shows a lot of compassion for these Jew-killers. How nice. 

What about the Jews these killers have murdered? Where is the UN's compassion for the Jewish victims?   

The Power of HaShem in defense of Israel?

April 17, 2017 is the 7th Day of Pesach (Passover). In Israel, it will be the final Day of this Holiday. In exile, it will be simply the 7th day of Pesach; in exile, the last day of holiday will be April 18, 2017.

On April 17th this year, Jews around the world will read an excerpt from our Torah as part of the day's morning prayer service. That excerpt will be about the Biblical episode of the splitting of the Sea that occurred within the Biblical story of the Jewish Exodus (Sh'mot, 14:26-31).

I want you to consider something that appeared in a Hollywood film about that Biblical episode. The film is called, "The Ten Commandments". I want you to look at a large dark cloud that appears in the film. I will then ask you to compare that Cloud to another, more recent large, dark Cloud.   

The Hollywood film stars Charlton Heston as Moses. What you'll see in a moment is short, only 2:25 long. It's an excerpt from the movie.

This short clip shows the scene where the Sea splits for the Jewish people, Heston looks especially 'Biblical' (as Hollywood might define it). The other actors you'll see--including, briefly, Yul Brynner and Edward G Robinson--look wooden. So do the extras in the film.

The movie was made in 1956. Perhaps a 61-year old movie looks dated. Perhaps actors that long ago always look corny. 

Ignore it. The actors aren't the reason I'd like you watch that 2:25 minutes. I want you to watch what Hollywood suggests is a Biblical 'Pillar of Cloud'. The Pillar of Cloud seems to be a fictionalized version of what the Bible describes (Sh'mot, 13:21-22).  

Watch, then I'll comment: 

In this movie, that Pillar of Cloud is fiction. It's a 'special effect' from a different generation of movie-making. Last December, however, I wrote about a different Pillar of Cloud ("A storm in Israel: is it miracle or windy mirage?", tuviabrodieblog, December 7, 2016). In December, 2016, the Pillar of Could I described wasn't fiction. It was real.

As you might remember from that December essay, this modern Pillar of Cloud appeared just outside the northern border of Israel. You'll see it again in a  moment. It appeared at the Syrian side of the Israel-Syria border, at a place where the armies of Syria and Israel have been trading shots for some time. 

Watch how this modern Pillar of Cloud behaves. It's noisy. It's extremely large. Does it remind you of that Cloud in the Hollywood film? 

The video below is 0:44 in length: 

As you can see, this Pillar of Could didn't just appear at the border. It sat on the border. It shut out the Syrian side of the border. It hid what was in Syria from what was in Israel. 

It didn't enter the Israeli side of the border, where the soldiers were standing. It blocked the border. 

In its own way, it stood just outside Israel remarkably like a Biblical Pillar of Cloud. Was it Biblical in nature?

What does that modern Pillar of Cloud mean? Does it give us a hint of what the Hand of HaShem can do in the natural world to protect the Jewish nation?

Stay tuned. 

Friday cartoon

Today is part of the 7-day Pesach (Passover) holiday--in Israel. In exile, today is part of the 8-day Pesach holiday.

Today is also Friday cartoon day.  Since both Pesach and cartoons are commonly considered to be 'fun times', I thought I'd post some fun cartoons about Pesach. Please note: it would be helpful if you know the Biblical Exodus story.

Consider:





























"Directions":





"Moses as a Lifeguard":









"Passover for Dummies":

Finally:

"Aren't you Moses?" 

George W.  Bush, in an airport lobby, noticed a man in 
a long flowing white robe with a long flowing white 
beard and flowing white hair. The man had a staff in one 
hand and some stone tablets under the other arm.

George W.  approached the man and inquired, 
"Aren't you Moses?"

The man ignored George W.  and stared at the ceiling.

George W.  positioned himself more directly in the man's 
view and asked again, "Aren't you Moses?"

The man continued to peruse the ceiling.

George W.  tugged at the man's sleeve and asked once 
again, "Aren't you Moses?"

The man finally responded in an irritated voice, 
"Yes I am".

George W.  asked him why he was so uppity and the man 
replied, "The last time I spoke to a Bush I had to 
spend forty years in the desert".

- Author Unknown

(These images and musings come to you courtesy of Jacob Richman, director of the Maale Adumim Chat Room, a public service site for residents of Maale Adumim, Israel. Please note the artist/originator name associated with each image, where available).


Enjoy the rest of your Pesach holiday.

More dirt on Benjamin Netanyahu

If the world's anti-Israel press is looking for some dirt on Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, I've got it. I've got some real dirt for them.

This little tidbit of news comes to you courtesy of the website, preoccupiedterritory. Believe me, this is truly dirty stuff.

Of course, this report may be fake news. Or, it may not be fake at all. What is certain is that it's about more dirt on Benjamin Netanyahu. 

Take a look (note: I've edited this dirty little story to fit my format).

Reader discretion advised.

Please page down:

Abbas Honors Pigeon That Crapped On Netanyahu’s Motorcade

(This would have been a happy story for the Palestinian Authority, except for its unfortunate--but predictable--last sentence)

Ramallah, March 20 – Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas granted citizenship today to a rock dove that defecated on the procession of cars escorting Israeli prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu last week.

During a ceremony at the presidential compound in the Palestinian capital to pay respects to “martyrs” who died in attempting to kill Jews, Abbas also presented the pigeon with a small medal to wear around its neck as a token of the achievement, and declared that the bird would henceforth enjoy all the privileges of Palestinian citizenship.

“Pigeon, you have struck a blow for the Palestinian cause,” pronounced the president. “I hereby grant you, on behalf of the entire Palestinian people, this medal, and a diplomatic passport of the State of Palestine, to allow you passage wherever your wings take you.”

The defecation took place last Wednesday, as Netanyahu’s motorcade made its way through Jerusalem, from his official residence to the Knesset. As the procession of vehicles passed under a wire strung over Bezalel Street near Sacher Park, the two-year-old pigeon, a father of four, let loose a whitish, liquidy mass surrounding solid dark chunks. The glob of guano struck the front left fender of the lead car, and remained there for a full twenty minutes until the driver conducted his routine check of the vehicle and wiped off the offending mess...

Reporters were unable to interview the pigeon, which had been trapped, slaughtered, and eaten by Bedouin living on the outskirts of Ramallah whom the Palestinian Authority will not allow to live in any organized urban area so their plight can continue to be exploited by Palestinian propagandists to showcase the horrors of Israeli occupation. The medal was destroyed as a suspected Israeli espionage device.

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Okay, so this news flash is fake. I think. 

Let's just say this story never happened. Let's say there's an anonymous source that swears this story is fake. 

The pigeon never pooped on the Prime Minister's car. The Bedouin didn't kill the pigeon. The pigeon didn't get eaten.

Just about everything in this story looks like a fakery. There's just one possible exception to that assertion--the suspected Israeli espionage device. That might have been real. 

Nobody's saying. 

The joy of Pesach; the question of exile

On April 10, 2017, Jews around the world will sit with family and/or friends (both old and new). They will join together to celebrate the Jewish holiday of Pesach (Passover). 

This holiday marks the grand moment when, more than 3,325 years ago, the Jewish people became a nation. This very night celebrates the one singular 24-hour period (between the 14th-15th day of the Jewish month of Nissan) that HaShem, our G-d, took our Jewish ancestors from slavery to freedom.

He Redeemed us from Egypt.

On April 10, 2017, after dark (the night of the 15th of the Jewish month, Nissan), we remember that Redemption. We remember the slavery. We recall the miracles that HaShem used to take us to our freedom. 

On the night of the 15th of Nissan, we celebrate our 'seder', the ritualized meal where we tell our Pesach story of Redemption. Virtually every Jew knows this story.

This story remains powerful even today. Most surveys in Israel and America call Pesach the second most important Jewish holiday (by survey), after the Fast Day called, Yom Kippur. One might even be able to argue that, among secular, non-religious Jews, Pesach is the one 'don't miss' holiday of the year.

But as wonderful and joyous as this holiday is--and it is truly both wondrous and joyful--it nevertheless contains an ugly reminder: most Jews are still in exile. 

Yes, virtually all of us have a 'seder'. We sit, sing and eat with pleasure. We rejoice.

But the truth is, most of the world's Jews still do not live in Israel. They're frozen in exile.

We know they're 'frozen'  because they don't move. They refuse to move. They're too comfortable.  

That comfort is an illusion. It's a fakery. 

Have you seen the news? Take a look at some pre-Pesach headlines. They shout at you how 'comfortable' your exile life is: 

-"Holocaust memorial vandalized in Arta [Greece]", antisemitism.org.il,  April 9, 2017; 

-"Young Australian Greens refuse to meet with Jewish students", jewsdownunder, April 9, 2017;

-Patrick Poole, "One week, five terror attacks: beginnings of another 'summer of terror'?", pjmedia, April 8, 2017; 

-"Antisemitic voicemail left at Washington University (St Louis) library", cfca, April 8, 2017; 

-Dave Urbanski, "Jerusalem mayor says US college adds to demonization of Israel by how it treated his speech", theblaze, April 7, 2017;

-Natalie Johnson, "Homegrown Islamic extremism on the rise in United States", washingtonfreebeacon, April 7, 2017; 

-Adelle Nazarian, "Palestinian terrorist Rasmea Odeh received standing ovation at Chicago hotel where families of her victims mourned", breitbart, April 5, 2017); 

-Robert Spencer, "France: Muslim  screaming 'allahu akbar' murders Jewish woman, cops cover up terror angle", jihadwatch, April 6, 2017;

-Eli Leon, "Jewish Center in Sweden closes [for good] over anti-Semitic threats", israelhayom, April 5, 2017;

-"Study: 25% of Jewish students in UK fear anti-Semitism on campus", israelhayom, April 4, 2017; 

-Adam Kredo, "New York school [Oswego, New York] instructs kids to defend Hitler's genocide against Jews", washingtonfreebeacon, April 4, 2017; 

-Giulio Meotti, "Londonistan: 423 new mosques; 500 closed churches", gatestoneinstitue, April 2, 2017; 

-Daniel Greenfield, "Anti-Israel voices at AIPAC's [Washington, DC] Conference", frontpagemag, April 3, 2017; 

-Udi Schayat, "For Sweden, it is too late: [two Swedish Democrat leaders pen letter begging America to avoid the mistakes Sweden made with free immigration], arutzsheva, April 3, 2017.

These headlines cover the last 9 days before Pesach, April 2, 2017-April 10, 2017; that's 14 headlines in 9 days that, potentially, do not suggest a happy future for Jews outside Israel. 

These headlines are not isolated news reports that have just happened, coincidentally, in the week leading up to Pesach. They are an integral part of your year-round exile experience.  

Are you listening? Are you watching? Do you understand how fragile is your exile? 

At the Pesach seder, we are always encouraged to ask questions. If you are still in exile, ask this question at your Pesach seder: Why am I still in exile?