15 Comments

1. 

   costin

   11 January 2009

   nu stiu israelianca… „Feţele barbarismului”?

   Dar spre contrast, iata o secventa de ieri in Trafalgar square de la un protest Pro-Israel, prima dupa saptamini de zile care care nu m-a deprimat:

   
   
   
   si o relatare de la fata locului trimisa Pamelei Geler de unul din cititorii ei:
   Atlas reader Davod was there. Here is his after actions report (yay!)

   Report from Trafalgar Square 11 Jan 2009 after the Rally for Israel Pictures and video to follow.

   I arrived a little late, about 20 mins after it had begun, to find it in full swing. Access roads were lined with police vehicles and a few mounted police. On reaching Trafalgar Square a policeman asked us whether we had come to join “the pro-Israel group or the protesters?” Being with friends who, unlike yours truly, were anxious to avoid confrontation, we moved in the direction of the rally itself. We saw, segregated to one side of the Square, the protesters, who were making their point megaphonically, and with the usual array of posters. I would say they numbered 200-300. First impressions, later confirmed, were that their diatribes were coming more from Jewish leftards than muslims.

   The rally itself, by local standards, seemed quite well attended by Israel supporters, replete with banners, most of which, I had the impression, had been supplied by the organizers. There did not seem to be the variety and quantity of creatively independent banners, posters, etc that one sees at other rallies such as in NY.

   I would estimate there were some 5,000 supporters in Trafalgar Square today, but my estimate is rough at best.

   Whatever the precise attendance, it clearly paled by comparison with what I had read about yesterday’s anti-Israel protests in the vicinity of the Israeli Embassy in Kensington, where there were said to be tens of thousands. In another marked and pleasing contrast to that event, today’s rally was without apparent violence, although there was a good deal of “enthusiasm” from both sides, especially from Jewish teenage supporters, who had showed up in force.

   The official speeches ran for about an hour, I missed most of them as, to hear well, one had to be in proximity of the stage that had been set up. I made my way into the crushing crowd there in time to hear in full the final speech, given by Chief Rabbi Sir Jonathan Sacks, who spoke passionately about how we, Israel, seek the peace and welfare not only of our own, but also of our enemies whose peace we seek more than they do for for themselves, and that this is a conflict that has been reluctantly forced upon us. For my own tastes, the Chief’s speech was lukewarm, too kumbaya, didn’t emphasize enough that we are fighting a wholly moral war, and that to not fight it, and to its conclusion, would be to abrogate our moral duty, that our first duty is to our own. Also, that the war we fight is not only for ourselves (and for the Palestinian citizenry, as he seemed to imply) but for the whole of western civilization and the world.

   Nonetheless, his words seemed to resonate with this crowd, and were followed by a Shalom song then the British and Israeli National Anthems, in all of which the crowd joined generously. As we sang G-d Save the Queen, I couldn’t help thinking how very true rings that prayer as we see the hordes that thugged their way through yesterday’s happenings and the under-readiness and limp response of the local constabulary. On the other hand, to their joint credit, today’s police and CST – the Community Security Trust, which is the local Jewish security framework which had many members on duty today – did a very good job of keeping order, and seemed to apreciate it when I said so in person to many of them standing guard in the various phalanxes they had formed.

   At the end all were asked to leave quickly and peaceably, but many, especially youngsters, tried to linger, especially to counter the protesters who appeared to be staying on. An organizer went around with a megaphone asking us to leave since, he said, the media is just looking for any excuse to portray the rally as a violent event when in fact it had been remarkably peaceful.

   To sum it up: British Jewish leadership had made a concerted effort in recent days to step up to the plate and galvanize support, with a 5-day Israel action program, culminating in today’s Rallies (London and Manchester). Clearly, there is a strong contingent of Jewish/Israeli support, but it still seems to suffer from that propensity or preference to stay under the radar screen. But considering the tsunami of anti-Semitism that has surfaced locally and worldwide, triggered by Operation Cast Lead, this just ain’t enough. Wake up Anglo Jews and supporters of Israel! Wake up before it’s too late! R(e)ally.

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2. 

   dr jones

   11 January 2009

   multumesc costin. mi-ai ridicat moralu’ :).

   Reply

3. 

   dr jones

   11 January 2009

   si totusi ce s-a intamplat la bruxell? am auzit ca 30,000 de fundamentalisti fac legea acolo…

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4. 

   dr jones

   11 January 2009

   iata ce zice haaretz:

   European Jews planning counter-protests in response to anti-Israel, anti-Semitic actions

   
   In response to anti-Semitic incidents, threats and anti-Israel protests, European Jewish communities have decided to stage support rallies for Israel and its operation in Gaza.

   Rallies will take place in several cities in Holland and Belgium, as well as Rome, London, Munich, Frankfurt, Berlin and Vienna this week. Advertisement

   At an Amsterdam demonstration last week against Israel’s actions, a Dutch legislator, the Socialist Harry van Bommel, was filmed calling for „intifada” in order to „free Palestine.”

   Dutch Jews held a pro-Israel rally in Hague on Friday. The Jewish community in Antwerp is planning a similar event today, in a park in the city’s center. Last week, 500 Jews showed up to protest outside the Iranian embassy in Brussels.

   era timpul!

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5. 

   dr jones

   11 January 2009

   si asta in timp ce presa leftista isi continua razboiul anti-Israel:

   Rights group: Israel uses incendiary bombs in Gaza
   http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/200…..E6KKRvaA8F

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6. 

   costin

   11 January 2009

   dr jones,
   F. pe scurt, in Antwer, Belgia este cea mai mare comunitate de evrei din eruopa, 20.000. In ultima perioada de cind cu evenimentele din Gaza au aparut cazuri in care evreii sint atacati, si atmosfera este foarte incarcata, oamenilor le este frica. Din cite am inteles, comunitatea evreiasca are deja un grup de voluntari civili care se ocupa cu siguranta. In Belgia singurul partid care sustine Israelul este Vlaams Belang, care este acuzat continuu de neo-nazism si genul asta de grozavenii. Presa este in intregime puternic anti-israeliana.
   La un protest din Antwerp al discriminatilor sortii impotriva masacrarii copiilor palestinieni, impotriva genocidului facut de israelieni, cu tente Obamice:

   

   Situatia in detaliu e intr-un articol la care trimitea israelianca, parca. Nu l-am citit inca in intregime.

   Haunted by ill winds of the past
   by Daniel Ben Simon
   (C) reprinted with the permission of Haaretz Daily (English)

   The second intifada has lit a fuse in Belgium and Jews feel isolated and threatened. The media castigates what they see as excessively harsh Israeli policy toward the Palestinians, and Ariel Sharon’s trial has aggravated ill feeling about Israel. Whether or not it is tinged with paranoia, fear unites Belgium’s Jews today.
   By Daniel Ben Simon

   During the last year, feelings of isolation have intensified among Belgium’s 30,000 Jews. Many fear for their lives, even though they have no objective reason to do so, and even though there is no evidence of an official state plan to harm the Jews.

   Whatever their reason, local Jews now speak about the return of anti-Semitism, and express concerns about being hurt by hatred of Jews. As in France, the second intifada uprising lit a fuse – and the fire continues to blaze because of local media coverage of what is depicted as harsh, aggressive treatment of helpless Palestinians. Jews have decided that sharp criticism in Belgium of Israel’s government has been reflected on the local level and has turned into anti-Semitic sentiment.

   As if this weren’t enough, Belgium’s legal system decided to consider prosecuting Prime Minister Ariel Sharon for genocide – an offense associated with dictators of the worst stamp. Infuriated, and also embarrassed, local Jews had to come to terms with the fact that a Belgian court in the country’s capital is charging the leader of the Jewish state with „crimes against humanity.”

   Belgian Jews feel as though ill winds of the past are once again sweeping across Europe. About 60 years after Nazi horrors victimized Jews in the country, descendants of World War II-era Jews feel as though they are once again being exploited as scapegoats. Faced with this threat, local Jews have mobilized and united. It is as though Jewish identity only flowers under dark clouds of external threats, be they real or imagined.

   „I can’t recall another period when the atmosphere in the community was so charged up,” says Pedro Weinreb, a Jewish-Belgian businessman, in a tone of unconcealed pride. A few months ago, he established a „task force” of Jews from the community, whose purpose is to forestall attacks against Jews, and to monitor any signs of anti-Semitism. He appointed an Israel Defense Forces reserves officer named Rafi Yerushalmi to head this group – Yerushalmi worked in the past as a Keren Hayesod emissary in Belgium, fell in love with the country, and remained there after his term ended.

   Soon after he took up his post with the task force, Yerushalmi launched a public relations campaign against Belgians who express what he regards as excessive criticism against Israel and its policies toward the Palestinians. Recently, he published a pamphlet which lauds Israel’s efforts in the peace process, and roundly castigates Israel’s enemies. His message is clear: Jews want peace from the moment they are born, whereas recalcitrant Arabs, especially Palestinians, incorrigibly yearn for Israel’s annihilation.

   Weinreb, a concerned Jewish activist, recently brought his business activities to a halt, and marshaled all of his resources in a full-throttle crusade to defend Israel and the local Jewish community. He is entirely convinced that Belgium’s reality warrants such full-scale action. The life of the local Jewish community, he explains, has been altered forever by the eruption of the second intifada.

   Persecution or illusion?

   Jewish mobilization in Belgium reached its peak after the Dolphinarium disco attack last June in Tel Aviv, in which 21 young Israelis, mostly immigrants from the CIS, were murdered. After the seven-day mourning period, members of the Jewish community packed a Brussels synagogue.

   „I can’t remember such activity,” explains Weinreb. „There were telephone calls from all over Belgium. Jews wanted to organize, and to act. We marched on the main street in the city, and lit candles in front of a courthouse, and held up pictures of the casualties in the attack. Then we walked to the synagogue. It was the most emotional community experience I can recall. The synagogue was packed; hundreds of people crowded together, and we all expressed solidarity with Israel.”

   Jews continued to hold meetings in Belgium after this vigil. There has been much to protest – or discuss: the Ariel Sharon trial in Brussels, the strengthening of radical Islamic movements, anti-Israel or anti-Semitic graffiti on local walls, the attack of a Belgian Jew at a train station.

   „Next to France, Belgium is the most dangerous place for Jews who look like Jews,” says Joel Rubinfeld, who runs a public relations office and joined the special task force.

   An empathetic rabbi

   To exemplify current trends of anti-Semitism, Belgian Jews invariably point to the example of Rabbi Albert Guigui. Last December, the rabbi was accosted by five Muslim men at a train station in Aderlecht. The five taunted the rabbi, calling him „a dirty Jew,” as he boarded the train. With his religious dress, beard and skullcap, Guigui, the chief rabbi of Brussels, is accustomed to drawing suspicious looks. But this incident was unusually ugly. The five came up to him while he was seated in the train, and continued to berate him. The rabbi addressed them in their tongue, Moroccan Arabic, hoping that this might bring some calm. Suddenly, one of the group kicked him, and broke his glasses. The incident aggravated fears among Jews in Belgium.

   Rabbi Guigui, a reticent man, decided against telling others about the incident. He was afraid that such disclosure would only fan tensions between Jews and Muslims in the country. Yet after local police intervened, the incident became a national news item, and even reached the Belgian parliament. Extremists in the Jewish community exploited the incident, deliberately trying to tear the fragile web of relations between Jews and Arabs. Moderates took advantage of the incident as well, using it as a springboard for dialogue initiatives with Muslims.

   Guigui joined the moderate camp. To the chagrin of many in the community, he quickly arranged meetings with Muslim leaders, trying to put an end to the bad feeling which had been created by the incident. He explains that Muslim leaders phoned him, and apologized. „They explained that the incident was not in keeping with the conciliatory spirit of immigrants from North Africa, and Muslims. The Belgians were happy about these reconciliation efforts; but there were many in the Jewish community who were angry when I met with Muslims. They told me that Arabs are terrorists.”

   For years, Rabbi Guigui has worked to bridge gaps between Jewish and Muslim communities. In meetings with Belgian officials, he has proposed ideas for reconciliation between the communities. „Members of the Jewish community want beefed-up police patrols, but I think that approach is a mistake,” he says. „What is needed is peace-oriented education, along with understanding about the other side’s needs. I know that Muslims have had a very trying year as well. It’s not easy for them to watch what’s happening to their Palestinian brothers on the television; they commiserate with them. That’s not natural?”

   For Rabbi Guigui, it has been particularly painful to watch members of the Jewish community accuse Belgium of anti-Semitism. Aiming to quiet irate, militant members of his own community, he plans to disclose to them information about the budgets and resources which Belgium’s government has allocated for Jewish education in the country’s secondary schools and universities. „No country in the world has displayed such good will and support for the religious needs of the Jewish community,” he says.

   Sympathy for religion, particularly for the Catholic church, is embedded deep in Belgium’s social infrastructure. More than in any other country in Europe, religious faith is valued in Belgium as a top priority in life. More than in any other country in Europe, religious instruction there is an obligatory part of school curricula. Almost all wedding ceremonies are officiated by religious figures; almost all funerals are religious in character. Belgian’s religious fabric has remained intact on a continent where states severed themselves from churches to avoid friction between political and religious realms.

   Dashed hopes

   Said al-Marabet was disconcerted by news of the Rabbi Guigui incident. He worried that relations between the country’s Muslim and Jewish communities would be torn asunder.

   Marabet was born in North Africa and immigrated with his family to Belgium. During the past two decades, North African immigrants have increased steadily in number in the country, and today they constitute more than 10 percent of Belgium’s population of 10 million. Inspired by memories of Jewish-Arab harmony in Morocco decades ago, Marabet says that were Israelis and Palestinians to resolve their differences, this harmony would be reborn.

   „The problems stem from what happens in your country [Israel],” he says. „People see the horrific pictures, and can’t understand why such terrible killings and destruction occur. Both of our people come from ancient, glorious civilizations. Isn’t it a shame that we’re behaving this way now?”

   Speaking at a cafe in central Brussels, Marabet, a congenial, stocky businessman, referred to worsening relations between Jews and Muslims in recent months. He was at first reluctant to meet. When our discussion began, he explained that distress experienced by Palestinians has driven the whole Muslim world to despair. In polished French, he described the atmosphere in mosques, and the incendiary language used by preachers who come from Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Algeria and Iran, and who view Jews and Israelis as the cause of Muslim woes.

   In recent weeks, Marabet worked hard to establish a Jewish-Muslim reconciliation association in Brussels. After having won the consent of leading figures in the local Jewish community for the project, he discovered that his Muslim friends opposed the initiative. „They told me that it won’t work in our community, because of Israel’s cruel policies, and because Jews in Belgium support Sharon,” he says.

   In the past, Jews were regular guests on radio programs broadcast for Belgium’s Muslim community. In recent months, however, the Muslim broadcasters have boycotted Jews, fuming about the Jewish community’s support for Israel. „The situation is terrible,” sighs Marabet. „The extremists have the upper hand on both sides.”

   The hostile media

   „It’s simply an absurd situation,” exclaims Nicholas Sommerstein, describing the plight of moderate Jews in the country. Sommerstein and others who have supported the left in Israel, and favored the establishment of a Palestinian state, now find themselves defending Sharon. They have mobilized in favor of Israel’s current government as an instinctive response to the anti-Israel broadside attacks in Belgium’s government – attacks tainted by an anti-Jewish tone.

   „We have a dilemma,” Sommerstein says, referring to Jews like himself who have felt compelled to defend Sharon in response to the not-so-veiled anti-Semitic content in media discussions of Israeli policy. Though he defends the Sharon government, Sommerstein says that he „has a feeling that Sharon exploits every opportunity to avoid making peace. I was stunned and appalled to see the houses Israel demolished in Rafah. As a Jew, I couldn’t stand seeing pictures of children and infants who don’t have a roof over the heads.”

   Sommerstein’s friends, two brothers named Joel and Dan Kotek (a professor of international relations and the editor of the main Jewish newspaper of the Belgian community), are darkly pessimistic about Belgium’s situation.

   „There’s no danger being a Jew in Europe, and I’m sure that there won’t be pogroms tomorrow,” says Joel. „But a Jewish Zionist [in Belgium] no longer feels as though he’s part of the society in which he lives. The Israel-Palestinian dispute has become a test of his loyalties. Should he express solidarity with Israel, he comes across as a supporter of a Nazi regime. There is a Christian tradition in this state which views the Palestinians as a kind of new people of Jesus. And so I’m not saying that we have anti-Semitism here – it’s a bottomless hatred of Israel.”

   Kotek’s brother, Dan, argues that only the establishment of a Palestinian state will, potentially, ease Belgian responses to Jews and Israelis. „But I have the feeling that Sharon doesn’t want this vision [a Palestinian state]. Since he’s been prime minister, our situation has only gotten worse.”

   Does Israel frighten the Jews?

   David Susskind, one of the leaders of Belgium’s Jewish community, is incensed by discussions of anti-Semitism. Though he is concerned about the spate of insults and acts of vandalism against Jews, he doesn’t view them as the sign of a genuinely dangerous trend of anti-Semitism. Susskind was infuriated and embarrassed when Deputy Foreign Minister Michael Melchior called on Jews in France to immigrate to Israel, to save themselves from anti-Semitism. He’s even ruminated about the possibility that the State of Israel might have a deliberate policy of stirring up fear among Jews in Europe, so as to encourage them to immigrate to Israel.

   „I don’t know who’s responsible for this [scare campaign] plan in the government,” he explains, „but I don’t have any doubt that somebody wants to stir unrest in France and Belgium. Who’s going to respond to Melchior’s foolish appeal? Only those who can’t find a place in life, those who can’t find a spouse or a job, those who have gone bankrupt and those who aren’t worth much. Those are the ones who say that there’s anti-Semitism.”

   Susskind recalls his boyhood days in Anderlecht, and the dread caused when the Nazis entered the city. Any comparison to the present is tendentious and wrong, he says. „Is there a single party in Belgium which has an anti-Semitic platform?” he asks. „Are there places in Belgium which are forbidden to Jews? Is there a hospital which won’t accept a Jewish patient?”

   Susskind suggests that local Jewish fears about anti-Semitic threats are overwrought. „What’s this lunacy about – have the Jews gone crazy? Anyway, why did Rabbi Guigui have to go to a neighborhood where even the police are afraid to roam around? A few punks from North Africa attack him, and the Jews accuse the Belgians of anti-Semitism.”

   After he’s finished venting his anger, Susskind expresses concerns that local Jews might succumb to exaggerated fears and cut themselves off from the surrounding society. As a Jewish leader, he has long encouraged Jews in his country not to isolate themselves. „Isolation from the surrounding society is the greatest danger posed to the Jews,” he explains. „We live in a wonderful country, and we have extraordinary rights, so why should we put up with our life being damaged?”

   Like it or not, in the past year Susskind has witnessed the fact that some of the central ideals of his life have been damaged. The cherished vision of peace between Israel and the Palestinians has been derailed, and Israel’s left is paralyzed. And his own wife absorbed some blows at a Jewish event – she was attacked by Jewish women who resent her activity on behalf of Israel’s left-wing peace camp.

   There were some bleak moments in the past year when Susskind feared that Jews have succumbed to hysteria.

   Where are the elites?

   „The New Judeophobia,” a newly published book in Paris, could heighten concerns about anti-Semitism in Europe. The author, Pierre Andre Taguieff, analyzes in alarming detail the sources of hatred of the Jews

   „Since the end of the Second World War,” he writes, „we haven’t witnessed such a rash of anti-Jewish acts, which have met with such limited intellectual and political resistance.” The author continues: „One thing is sure … At the start of the 21st century, we are discovering that Jews are once again select targets of violence. It is dangerous to identify a Jew today. Hatred of the Jews has returned to France.”

   Taguieff is a well-known historian and researcher who has published a number of works on racism, ultra-nationalism and anti-Semitism. In his new work, he excoriates French elite groups for turning a blind eye to and ignoring trends of anti-Semitism.

   „We can see clearly today in Europe, and in the Muslim countries,” he writes, „that renewed forms of anti-Semitism have taken on dimensions they haven’t had since the start of the post-Nazi period.”

   Taguieff is particularly distressed by the way elite groups in France have kept mum as disturbing ripple effects of the Israeli-Palestinian dispute have reached French soil. He finds it impossible to understand how the French elite kept quiet when Muslim demonstrators chanted „Death to Jews” in downtown Paris. Nor can he grasp how France’s leading groups have done nothing when local mosques provided a forum for vitriolic, incendiary denunciations of Israel and Jews.

   „The time has come for the political establishment and the intellectual circles to take up the cudgels against [anti-Semitic] phenomena,” the author concludes. „It’s not clear why they have kept quiet so far.”

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7. 

   costin

   11 January 2009

   apropo de a treia poza, si eu „prezervativ”, dar tocmai pe dos ca ei

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8. 

   Israelianca

   11 January 2009

   ok, am mai pus 2 poze (una cu legenda publicata in original). Ideea mea era sa-i luati un pic la misto. Uitati-va atent la pancarte.

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9. 

   bugsy

   11 January 2009

   FOTO 3: DUREX – USE THE CONDOM FOR A SAFETY WORLD!

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10. 

    costin

    11 January 2009

    in poza 2 cred ca e vorba de ONU, nu? e interesant in cite feluri sint sinucigasi. Nu este ONU caseria de unde incaseaza taxa de la infideli? De ce l-ar vrea distrus? Oh, well… la ce ma astept?

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11. 

    bugsy

    11 January 2009

    Da Costin, este ONU, dar scris UNO ptr ca arabii scriu si citesc de la dreapata la stanga.
    Deci, ONU = UNO (ma gandesc si eu, caut o explicatie)

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12. 

    costin

    11 January 2009

    Hamas Headquarters
    
    

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13. 

    Israelianca

    11 January 2009

    costin…

    vezi, te rog, si comentariul pe care i l-am lasat lui toro.

    Nici unul din voi n-a bagat de seama Chavez, presedintele Columbiei (ultima poza din post)? Doar asa, ca sa vedem cine sint jurnalistii si editorii de la AP de data asta.

    Hai sa va spun ce mi-a atras mie atentia la pozele de mai sus:
    1) raspuns la intrebarea de pe pancarta: the fact that you can’t spell.

    2) ONU, nu mai da bani la palestinieni! Da-mi mie sa-mi fac dintii!

    3) nu-i nevoie de comentarii.

    4) In buda.

    5) Hugo Chavez e presedintele Venezuelei.

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14. 

    costin

    11 January 2009

    Ba da Israelianca, am vazut ca e Chavez, ai lasat si comentariu explicativ sub poza
    Am vazut comentariu, poate intr-o zi o sa ne spui mai multe despre pozele pe care tu le salvezi inainte sa dispara si despre pozele care se dau drept ca nu sint. sub forma de articol

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15. 

    israelianca

    11 January 2009

    costin, comentariul de sub poza e legenda originala de la yahoonews.

    Reply