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The Amir Taheri Story

Amir Taheri is one of the strangest ingredients in America's media soup. There may not be anyone else who simply makes things up as regularly as he does, with so few consequences.

If you're already familiar with Taheri's accomplishments, you might want to skip to #5 below, which details his latest misdeeds. Otherwise, start at the beginning.

1. Taheri, who was once editor of a strongly pro-Shah Iranian newspaper during the seventies, left the country after the revolution. Strongly opposed to Iran's current government, he wrote a 1989 book called Nest of Spies: America's Journey to Disaster in Iran. Shaul Bakhash, a specialist in mideast history at George Mason University, reviewed the book for the New Republic and discovered important sections had been fabricated.

2. In 2006, Taheri claimed the Iranian parliament had passed a law requiring Jews and other minorities to wear special badges in public. The story was picked up all over the world, most prominently by the New York Post, the Drudge Report, and Canada's National Post. It turned out to be false.

3. Elena Benador, PR agent for Taheri (as well as Victor Davis Hanson, Charles Krauthammer, Michael Ledeen, Laurie Mylroie, Richard Perle, and James Woolsey) defended Taheri. Benador explained that, when it comes to Iran, accuracy is "a luxury...As much as being accurate is important, in the end it's important to side with what's right. What's wrong is siding with the terrorists."

4. Six days after the Iran story was retracted, Taheri met with George Bush at the White House as part of a group of "Iraq experts."

5. Norman Podhoretz, soon to become a senior foreign policy adviser to Rudy Giuliani's presidential campaign, wrote an article earlier this year called "The Case for Bombing Iran." To argue a nuclear-armed Iran could not be deterred, Podhoretz quoted the Ayatollah Khomeini:

We do not worship Iran, we worship Allah. For patriotism is another name for paganism. I say let this land [Iran] burn. I say let this land go up in smoke, provided Islam emerges triumphant in the rest of the world.

Podhoretz later used the quote on the Lehrer Newshour, as did Michael Ledeen in National Review.

6. Shaul Bakhash (see #1 above) was surprised by the quote, never having encountered it before and finding it out of character for Khomeini. The furthest back the quote could be traced was a book by Amir Taheri.

7. As reported by the Economist, Bakhash recently wrote for a private newsletter that no one can find the book Taheri claimed as his source in the Library of Congress or a search of Farsi works in libraries worldwide. The statement itself can't be found in databases and published collections of Khomeini statements and speeches.

Will Taheri explain what's going on? Will Podhoretz, or Ledeen, retract the quote? Will PBS tell their audience one of their guests said something completely bogus? I hope to have more information on all these questions soon.






Comments

Gee, so-called "experts" making up stories about the Middle East? Next thing you know, they'll start accusing Israel of creating "Jews-only" roads.

Posted by: Nasty Settler on 11/19/07 at 4:19 AM  Respond

Mr. Taheri would be perfect for Fox News, make things up and throw them out hoping they will stick.

Posted by: Maroof on 11/19/07 at 6:03 AM  Respond

Israel promotes NOT a vision of a inclusive "multi-cultural," "multi-ethnic" society (like we do in America) for Israel, but instead a racist exclusionary "Jewish state." It is racist because a Jew is defined as coming from a Jewish mother(genes). That state is openly dedicated to the advancement of the Jewish religion, culture, and even the genetic preservation of the Jewish people. Israel's Parliament has passed a law preventing Palestinians who marry Israelis from living in Israel. The move was denounced by international human rights organizations as racist, undemocratic and discriminatory. Israel uses racial profiling. Israel values Judaism above other religions. Israel should seek to be welcoming and inclusive and respect all religions, or even those with no religion.
Israeli ethnocentric, chauvinism and xenophobic values are just too extreme. Israel does not share American values and let us therefore not share American taxpayer money with them. Israel needs to advance to the 21st century in its values. The days of racism should be a thing of the past. Israeli society is where America's society was 100 years ago. Israel can do better. Let us have that as our goal to advance Israel to the 21st century in the field of civil rights.

Posted by: Rachael on 11/19/07 at 12:28 PM  Respond

So, it comes down to the ongoing feud. I don't mean to belittle the feud itself, but I'm trying to put it in some sort of context. Hatfield vs. McCoy would be too small, but any way you look at it, this is simply one group of people hating another.

The result? They actually are condoning lying. Anything to make a point. Anything to score another supporter for their side. Lying is ok. Just be sure you're not on the wrong side.

Would it be possible for the world just to ignore this feud for a while? Would they work it out for themselves if they no longer got special attention, arms, money, sympathy, and media exposure? What if the most we ever did was roll our eyes when we heard "news" of the feud? But then I think of the children and the bombs. There's no easy solution, but everything we've tried so far has only fanned the fires. I say we have nothing left but to ignore it. After all, at this point we're just getting lies from all sides, anyway. Why waste our time with lies and the lying liars who tell them?

Yes... the children. But what have we done for them so far? Only made things worse.

Shooshie


Posted by: Shooshie on 11/19/07 at 1:20 PM  Respond

He's just another "Curve ball," also known as Ahmad Chalabi.

Posted by: seachel on 11/19/07 at 5:06 PM  Respond

Well, Taheri hangs around, as the article atates, with the folks at the PR firm Benador Associates, who also employ one Arnaud de Borchgrave, who's also guilty of just making stuff up.

No wonder this American administration has failed in everything that they have done in the past seven years (noteworthy,foreign policy), they have advisors like Mr. Taheri.

Posted by: karam Adibifar on 11/20/07 at 8:44 AM  Respond

There are a fair number of people like Mr. Taheri, especially in the Iranian American community in LA who will do or say just about anything to revive their own version of the 'good ole days' under the Shah when they enjoyed a privileged status and basically did whatever they damned well pleased in Iran.

While I personally despise the current government of the mullahs in Iran, the last thing I would want is for jerks like Taheri and his 'benevolent' supporters in the American nutjob right wing to 'liberate' my mother country.

What a choice... mullahs or a regime handpicked by such lovely and kind people as Cheney, Podhoretz, and Ledeen (Bush is too stupid to even be named!). No doubt they all have the best interests of the people of Iran at heart!

My heart goes out to my people in Iran. God (or whatever supernatuarl power there is if any) help them!

Posted by: Dara on 11/20/07 at 12:37 PM  Respond

Since when Shaul Bakhash
has become an honest judge!!
He is a supporter of MULLAHS'REGIME IN IRAN. For years he marketed MULLAH KHATAMI!! Look at the second part of the following Video from Charlie Rose interview.
http://www.charlierose.com/shows/1998/07/23/1/a-discussion-about-iran

MULLAH KHATAMI reduced women to slaves, to commodities, just to please men. it is disgusting to see, everywhere in current I.R., 16 year old girls with 70+ years old men, used and abused , purchased
with a lunch at a CheloKababi for 4000 tomans (4 Dollars), or with an earrings of 10,000 tomans (10
dollars)! It is disgusting to see Tehran as the
Cosmetic Surgery Capital of the world to PLEASE MEN.It
is disgusting to see so many men with so many wives.
It is disgusting to see so many businessmen with many
households in Iran AND ABROAD WHILE THEIR WIVES IN
IRAN COULD NOT GET PERMISSION TO TRAVEL ABROAD. It is disgusting to see female university students, women of all ages, single and married, throw themselves at any
male monkey coming from abroad. MULLAHS destroyed the Family Structure so dear to all of us 30 years ago. The list goes on. May God open your eyes and give you VISION.

Ahmadinejad, MULLAH Khatami, Mullah Khamenei, Mullah
Rafsanjani, Mullah...... are all members of the same
Regime, the so-called Islamic Republic. For the
survival of this Regime, sometimes it is decided by
the khebregan to have Ahmadinejad, sometimes Mullah
Khatami, sometimes someone else...

Mullah Khatami, a crafted Mullah ,deceived IRAN & the world by promises, while
travelling to Lebanon, arming the Militia, he invited intellectuals & investment from abroad....fooling the
world for the SURVIVAL OF THE REGIME. It is so sad to
see the world's approval of this devil and his evil agenda! time
after time. POOR IRANIAN NATION IN THEIR GAME OF
SURVIVAL.

There is the So-called Islamic Regime of MULLAHS
ruling IRAN, along with its MARKETING establishment at
home, and particularly abroad, with vast Petro-dollar
revenue, which they spend where, how, for whom they
want. And, there is the NATION of IRAN which lives in
POVERTY and tries hard to endure the IMPOSED ECONOMICS
SANCTIONS, has no energy left, BUT STRUGGLING TO
SURVIVE. You can see present IRAN in THIS
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S2ZvMKcR5C4 OR THIS
http://www.youtube.com/watchv=1_2n_tgBzVk And, Iran ,
what it used to be under the Shah in THIS
http://www.payvand.com/news/03/may/1134.html

Posted by: IRAN on 11/20/07 at 2:52 PM  Respond

Iran, you certainly are a negative thinker. You should lighted up a bit and go out and have fun with the other Persian girls. In the Islamic Republic today, many people can still have fun and do. Admittedly, those that have the money live well and those that do not have the money do not, just like in America. The government of the Islamic Republic is as diverse as the American government. The President of the Islamic Republic has very little real power, certainly no line of command over the regular armed forces(e.g. rockets that could hit Israel), that is in the control of another. With Ayatollah Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani the Chairman of the Assembly of Experts, things will improve. You will see.

Posted by: Noushin Coas on 11/20/07 at 4:19 PM  Respond

US was much smarter 50 Years ago. Then,
DANGEROUS REGIMES were removed without HURTING the NATIONS in the process.

There is the So-called Islamic Regime of MULLAHS
ruling IRAN, along with its MARKETING establishment at
home, and particularly abroad, with vast Petro-dollar revenue, which they spend where, how, for whom they want. And, there is the NATION of IRAN which lives in
POVERTY and tries hard to endure the IMPOSED ECONOMICS
SANCTIONS, has no energy left, BUT STRUGGLING TO
SURVIVE. You can see present IRAN in THIS
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S2ZvMKcR5C4 OR THIS
http://www.youtube.com/watchv=1_2n_tgBzVk And, Iran ,
what it used to be under the Shah in THIS
http://www.payvand.com/news/03/may/1134.html

HOWEVER, WAR ON IRAN/IRANIANS IS NOT THE SOLUTION. US was much smarter 50 Years ago. Then,
DANGEROUS REGIMES were removed without HURTING the NATIONS in the process.

Posted by: IRAN, IRAN, IRAN on 11/20/07 at 4:41 PM  Respond

Iran, you are a perfect example of the irrational mindset that afflicts the so called opposition outside Iran. Who cares about the reality on the ground? Who cares about the real challenges we face as a society, country and a civilization? You have your story and you're sticking by it. Nations were not hurt in the process? So 26 years of police state, tortures, brutal suppression of dissident voices, systematic dismantling of the democratic process in Iran and the eventual bloody backlash was nothing? If you view Iran's destiny and Iranians rights with such contempt and insignificance, why do you even bother with it?

Posted by: Koloft on 11/20/07 at 6:49 PM  Respond

Shame on Taheri and Podhortez. I actually watched the latter's interview in PBS a few weeks ago, where he brought up that so called "quote" from Khomeini. I was very surprised by that, since I grew up there and followed politics in Iran pretty closely, I had never heard such a thing. I even remember Khomeini insisting on calling Persian gulf, "Persian" and being opposed to it being called simply the Gulf, Arabian Gulf, or Islamic Gulf. Similar position he had on calling the river between Iran and Iraq, Aravand Roud, and not Shat Alarb, as Arabs and Iraqis would like to call it. These showed, despite his many flaws and in some cases evil doings, he was not as unpatriotic, as these guys trying to portray him.

Posted by: FN on 11/20/07 at 9:51 PM  Respond

Now we've got Rudy making up stats about Britain's 'socialized medicine' record AND his Iran guru, Podhoretz spouting fabricated quotes fr. Khomeini...beautiful. Maybe Rudy's entire campaign will be fabricated, who knows?

BTW, the definitive journalism on the Iranian yellow star hoax was written by Larry Cohler Esses in Jewish Week & the Nation. Links to both articles are in my blog post linked to this comment.

I believe that Amir Taheri may have been working for the National Information and Security Organization(aka Savak) and the CIA during the Shah's time. That shows you where he is coming from. The Shah was a bloody dictator, and U.S. puppet. Don't believe a word he says. He has the heart of prostitue.

Posted by: Hashemi on 11/21/07 at 7:10 AM  Respond

30 years ago, everything was free, except communism in Iran. Iran was well respected worldwide.
Today, MULLAHS intervene and control washrooms! WHICH ONE IS DICTATORSHIP!!
You can see present IRAN in THIS
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S2ZvMKcR5C4 OR THIS
http://www.youtube.com/watchv=1_2n_tgBzVk And, Iran ,
what it used to be under the Shah in THIS
http://www.payvand.com/news/03/may/1134.html
There is the So-called Islamic Regime of MULLAHS
ruling IRAN, along with its MARKETING establishment at
home, and particularly abroad, with vast Petro-dollar revenue, which they spend where, how, for whom they want. And, there is the NATION of IRAN which lives in
POVERTY and tries hard to endure the IMPOSED ECONOMICS
SANCTIONS, has no energy left, BUT STRUGGLING TO
SURVIVE.

Posted by: IRAN. IRAN,IRANIANS on 11/21/07 at 11:13 AM  Respond

ELABORATION:
30 years ago, everything was free, except communism in Iran. Iran was well respected worldwide.
Today, MULLAHS intervene and CONTROL EVERY ASPECTS OF LIFE......including bedrooms and washrooms! WHICH ONE IS DICTATORSHIP!!

Posted by: KHANOOM on 11/21/07 at 11:17 AM  Respond

Can I assume you're a Jew Rachel? Poor thing. You don't know a thing about Israel or the Jewish people. How can a Jewish 'racist' country have Arab Members of the Knesset? How can a Jewish 'racist' country have Arab doctors working side by side with Jewish doctors taking care of both Jews and Muslims and Christians? This was our land 2,000 years ago and we have never totally left it. If the Romans hadn't expelled the Jews from Judea, the Muslims would never have totally conquered the Middle East and there would never have developed a phony people called the 'palestinians!'

Posted by: Chaya on 11/21/07 at 11:58 AM  Respond

Chaya, the World Council of Churches has urged its 347 member denominations to give "serious consideration" to pulling investments out of Israel in protest of what it sees as mistreatment of Palestinians. The WCC statement recalls its backing of an economic boycott of South Africa during the antiapartheid movement of the 1970s and '80s. Say no to racism, say no to apartheid. Free Palistine.

Posted by: George on 11/21/07 at 12:13 PM  Respond

Israel has been criticized for "discrimination in personal and civil status matters against non-Orthodox Jews.” Israel only recognizes Orthodox Rabbis for the purpose of marrying couples, not allowing Reform or Conservative Rabbis to perform the ceremony
In 2003, the Knesset made an amendment to the Nationality and Entry into Israel law which prohibited Palestinian married to Israelis from gaining Israeli citizenship or residency. Critics argue that the law is racist because it is targeted at Israeli Arabs who are far more likely to have Palestinian spouses than other Israelis. The United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination unanimously approved a resolution saying that the Israeli law violated an international human rights treaty against racism. The Association for Civil Rights in Israel filed a petition to have the law struck down but it was upheld by a High Court decision in 2006. In June 2006, the United States Department of State issued a report which stated that "the Government of Israel does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking and has failed to show efforts to address conditions of involuntary servitude allegedly facing thousands of foreign migrant workers. Israel has been criticized for its policies and enforcement of laws on sex trafficking. Women from the former Soviet Republics are brought into the country by criminal elements for forced labor in the sex industry. Amnesty International cites hardships placed on women in the Occupied Territories by the State of Israel


Posted by: Rachael on 11/21/07 at 12:20 PM  Respond

There is no such thing as a 'palestinian' people. Never existed! The only people for whom the Land of Israel (Eretz Yisrael) is holy is the Jewish people who have been residing in this land for the past 5,000 years!

Posted by: Chaya on 11/22/07 at 11:07 AM  Respond

Chaya, your views represent the views of the racist religious nuts, not the majority of Israelis. You are probably a dirt farmer. What a wacko. Standing in a garage and saying you are a car, does not change reality.

Posted by: Josh S. on 11/22/07 at 12:54 PM  Respond

From an African human rights activist:

Disappearance of Bishop Tutu
By Simon Deng
Friday November 16, 2007
Late last month, I went to hear Bishop Desmond Tutu speak at Boston's Old South Church at a conference on "Israel Apartheid." Tutu is a well respected man of God. He brought reconciliation between blacks and whites in South Africa. That he would lead a conference that damns the Jewish state is very disturbing to me.
The State of Israel is not an apartheid state. I know because I write this from Jerusalem where I have seen Arab mothers peacefully strolling with their families even though I also drove on Israeli roads protected by walls and fences from Arab bullets and stones. I know Arabs go to Israeli schools, and get the best medical care in the world. I know they vote and have elected representatives to the Israeli Parliament. I see street signs in Arabic, an official language here. None of this was true for blacks under Apartheid in Tutu's South Africa.
I also know countries that do deserve the apartheid label: My country, Sudan, is on the top of the list, but so are Iran, Saudi Arabia and Egypt. What has happened to my people in Sudan is a thousand times worse than Apartheid in South Africa. And no matter how the Palestinians suffer, they suffer nothing compared to my people. Nothing. And most of the suffering is the fault of their leaders. Bishop Tutu, I see black Jews walking down the street here in Jerusalem. Black like us, free and proud.
Tutu said Israeli checkpoints are a nightmare. But checkpoints are there because Palestinians are sent into Israel to blow up and kill innocent women and children. Tutu wants checkpoints removed. Do you not have doors in your home, Bishop? Does that make your house an apartheid house? If someone, Heaven forbid, tried to enter with a bomb, we would want you to have security people "humiliating"ť your guests with searches, and we would not call you racist for doing so. We all go through checkpoints at every airport. Are the airlines being racist? No.
Yes, the Palestinians are inconvenienced at checkpoints. But why, Bishop Tutu, do you care more about that inconvenience than about Jewish lives?
Bishop, when you used to dance for Mandela's freedom, we Africans all over Africa joined in. Our support was key in your freedom. But when children in Burundi and Kinshasa, all the way to Liberia and Sierra Leone, and in particular in Sudan, cried and called for rescue, you heard but chose to be silent.
Today, black children are enslaved in Sudan, the last place in the continent of Africa where humans are owned by other humans. I was part of the movement to stop slavery in Mauritania, which just now abolished the practice. But you were not with us, Bishop Tutu.
So where is Desmond Tutu when my people call out for freedom? Slaughter and genocide and slavery are lashing Africans right now. Where are you for Sudan, Bishop Tutu? You are busy attacking the Jewish state. Why?

Simon Deng, a native of the Shiluk Kingdom in southern Sudan, is an escaped jihad slave and a leading human rights activist.

Posted by: Chaya on 11/23/07 at 2:31 AM  Respond

3/28/01 Nelson Mandela Nobel Peace Prize letter)“If you follow the polls in Israel for the last 30 or 40 years, you clearly find a vulgar racism that includes a third of the population who openly declare themselves to be racist. This racism is of the nature of "I hate Arabs" and "I wish Arabs would be dead". If you also follow the judicial system in Israel you will see there is discrimination against Palestinians, and if you further consider the 1967 occupied territories you will find there are already two judicial systems in operation that represent two different approaches to human life: one for Palestinian life and the other for Jewish life. Additionally there are two different approaches to property and to land. Palestinian property is not recognised as private property because it can be confiscated. Palestinians are not struggling for a "state" but for freedom, liberation and equality, just like we were struggling for freedom in South Africa. Israel's racial discrimination is daily life of most Palestinians. Since Israel is a Jewish state, Israeli Jews are able to accrue special rights which non-Jews cannot do. Israel has deprived millions of Palestinians of their liberty and property. It has perpetuated a system of gross racial discrimination and inequality. It has systematically incarcerated and tortured thousands of Palestinians, contrary to the rules of international law. It has, in particular, waged a war against a civilian population, in particular children.”

Posted by: Josh S. on 11/23/07 at 7:43 AM  Respond

A kinship of genocide
By Bradley Burston

They came with no notice. We knew nothing about them. Only that they were refugees from the worst place on earth. And that if we did not offer them a place to hide, police would come and take them to a holding area in the desert, close to the point from which they could be deported, back to the Sinai which they'd taken great pains to cross, then perhaps back to the Sudan which they'd fled for their lives.
We were a good place to hide: an Israeli village even Israelis have never heard of, close enough to Jerusalem to transport them with relative ease and safety, shielded from public view by mountains and a single access road poorly marked, with a nursery school building lying vacant for the summer.
There was something else, as well. The village is home to many whose parents were Holocaust survivors, people who know something about helping others hide from genocide.
There were 20 Sundanese, mostly young couples, some of them with infants and small children. They came with little more than clothes. Arabic speakers, they knew no Hebrew and no English, and had grown to be suspicious of anyone who spoke Arabic.
The government could not decide what to do with the Sudanese who looked to Israel to shelter them. This government, which has made inertia its watchword, lost no time in adding refugee Sudanese to the mountain of issues on which it has decided not to decide.
For the Sudanese, indecision was not an option. Murderous gangs had rendered lethal their home in Sudan. Egypt, which had agreed to take in refugees, gunned down dozens of them, many of them children, when they held a demonstration at a UN office in Cairo two years ago. The long crossing of the Sinai was the way out. But when the refugees reached the border of Israel, the army did not know what to do with them. The refugees were taken to city centers, where city governments did not know what to do with them.
The government, unable to choose between embracing them as kin in the extended family of genocide survivors, or, as strangers in a suspicious land, spitting them back into the desert, opted for a non-policy that combined insensitivity and waste. Police round-ups combed city parks for the Sudanese camping there. They were taken to a "residential facility" located near Ketziot prison neat Sinai. In an alternative to finding them housing in Israel, the government would spend NIS 10 million on the facility.
In the village, meanwhile, volunteers, some of them residents, aided by students from elsewhere, came forward to help the refugees lead something of a more normal life. They were invited into homes to take showers. They were invited to use telephones, getting in touch with worried relatives in Sudan and elsewhere for the first time in weeks.
One day, the residents noticed a large Israeli flag flying from the roof of the nursery school where the refugees were living. No one knew who in the village had put it there. A debate developed over the flag. Some residents objected, saying that we should not give the refugees the impression that the government was helping them. One of the students, an anarchist, took umbrage on ideological grounds.
Later, we learned that it was the refugees who put up the flag.
In the end, we learned much more from the refugees that lived with us for a short span of weeks this past summer. We learned that if they are allowed to remain in Israel, they will enrich this nation with their dignity and their diligence. Their children will enliven this country with their good humor and intelligence and open curiosity.
For the present, the United Nations has granted the families protection from arrest and detention. But only a small fraction of the hundreds of Sudanese refugees in Israel have received UN documents. The others must watch their backs, for police raids that could result in deportation.
There was a time when the leaders of this country deserved the name. But our expectations have sunk so low as to reinforce their inaction.
It now seems all but inconceivable that Menachem Begin's first official acts as prime minister was to take in 66 Vietnamese refugees who had found shelter on an Israeli ship after their makeshift had begun to sink. Over the next two years, hundreds more were granted permanent residency and resettled in Israel.
There was a time when Begin was Olmert's role model. Perhaps that time should be now.
===================
If you want to know about an apartheid country, check out Saudi Arabia!!

Posted by: Chaya on 11/24/07 at 8:27 AM  Respond

Look at the biggest Jewish right wing nut, Moses. He had a policy of genocide to steal the land from the original inhabitants. (Moses's policy for genocide is all in the Bible, but wasn't he an Egyptian and married to a Black woman? ) Modern day Zionists base their right to the land on this ancient Hitler. What goes around comes around. We live in the 21st Century. Say no to Zionism, say no to racism.

Posted by: Horst on 11/25/07 at 7:09 AM  Respond

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia — Saudi authorities on Sunday beheaded a citizen convicted of shooting a man in the head with an assault rifle, the Interior Ministry said.

In a statement carried by the official Saudi Press Agency, the ministry said that Ali bin Suweid Al-Domnan killed Diyab bin Ali al-Mansour following an argument in the southern city of Najran.

Saudi Arabia follows a strict interpretation of Islam under which those convicted of murder, drug trafficking, rape and armed robbery are executed in public with a sword.

Sunday’s execution brought to 136 the number of people beheaded in the kingdom this year, according to an Associated Press count. Saudi Arabia beheaded 38 people last year and 83 people in 2005.

Posted by: Chaya on 11/26/07 at 5:26 AM  Respond

Horst - LOL LOL LOL LOL
You, my 'friend' are the Nazi!!!

Posted by: Chaya on 11/26/07 at 5:27 AM  Respond

The U.S. King-Crane (1919)report stated: 90% of Palestine's inhabitants were non Jewish & did NOT want a Jewish state in Palestine.
Israeli Arab group Adalah recently proposes a new 'multi-cultural' constitution.
Arab Knesset members will be able to bring about the disqualification of bills that impinge on the rights of Arabs, and classifies the State of Israel as a "bilingual and multicultural" country rather than a Jewish state. Consider that he or she may honestly be offended by their flag having a Jewish star in it. Would not most American Jews (among others) be troubled if the U.S. flag had a Christian cross on it? Consider that he or she may honestly be offended by their national anthem referring to the land, as the land of the Jews. Consider that he or she may honestly feel discriminated against because, legal equality aside, he or she IS discriminated against. Israeli-Arabs will want full equality in Israel. Any minority citizen of any State wants no less. It sounds fair. Why do so many Israelis, Jews, and supporters of Israel look for a dark hiding place when confronted with the truth of discrimination? I think it is because Jews understand what it is to be discriminated against, and have a deep desire that discrimination against all people throughout the planet be eliminated. Discrimination against Arab-Israelis is not fair. As supporters of Israel, it is necessary to accept and admit, without nuance, that some discrimination against Arab-Israelis is 100% true. Let us not be racists and stop discrimination at home(Israel). Support the multi-cultural constitution.

Posted by: Epstein on 11/26/07 at 6:58 AM  Respond

The real history of the so-called 'palestinians'

http://www.frontpagemag.com/Articles/Read.aspx?GUID=5ADD2CD9-BDD7-4488-8D2E-77357B1CB326

Posted by: Chaya on 11/27/07 at 12:02 PM  Respond

Hear, Hear Epstein - extremely well said.

Chaya - really, who cares about the labels and 'history' (which has been noted, is always written by the 'victors') of one ethnic group or another, especially in light of what is happening TODAY????

Equality for all ethnic groups (etc.); basic human rights GUARANTEED and PROTECTED by the government - anything less is bigotry and should be called out as such.

Posted by: Joel Henderson on 11/27/07 at 12:47 PM  Respond

Egypt is a lovely place!

CAIRO, Nov 27 (Reuters) - The video-sharing Web site YouTube has suspended the account of a prominent Egyptian anti-torture activist who posted videos of what he said was brutal behaviour by some Egyptian policemen, the activist said.

Wael Abbas said close to 100 images he had sent to YouTube were no longer accessible, including clips depicting purported police brutality, voting irregularities and anti-government demonstrations. YouTube, owned by search engine giant Google Inc , did not respond to a written request for comment. A message on Abbas’s YouTube user page read: “This account is suspended.”

“They closed it (the account) and they sent me an e-mail saying that it will be suspended because there were lots of complaints about the content, especially the content of torture,” Abbas told Reuters in a telephone interview. Abbas, who won an international journalism award for his work this year, said that of the images he had posted to YouTube, 12 or 13 depicted violence in Egyptian police stations.

Abbas was a key player last year in distributing a clip of an Egyptian bus driver, his hands bound, being sodomised with a stick by a police officer — imagery that sparked an uproar in a country where rights groups say torture is commonplace.

Posted by: Chaya on 11/28/07 at 2:42 AM  Respond

Hey Joely:

Tell that to Saudi Arabia and other Islamic countries. Why don't you preach to them about bigotry where books like "The Protocols" are for sale and children are taught that non-Muslims are pigs and apes and don't deserve to live. In Israel rights are protected BY LAW!!! That is why Arabs from E. Jerusalem want to live under Israeli rule!!

Posted by: Chaya on 11/28/07 at 2:45 AM  Respond

Chaya, why the hate?

Posted by: Cindy on 11/28/07 at 7:39 AM  Respond

Chaya, what is your point?? What do your racist ramblings have to do with Amir Taheri and his ties to crazed neo-cons??

Maybe you should take your nonsense to Podhoretz or Netanyahu's blogs. You'll fit right in with other racist right-wing nutjobs there.

Posted by: Dara on 11/28/07 at 9:49 AM  Respond

Chaya is an example of the ultra-Orthodox mentality, the scourge of Israel. They hate the new Russian immigrants. They are not welcoming to the Russian immigrants and their businesses. The extremist way of life is passing away. They reject change. A great portion of the young men and women refuse to be a part of the IDF's war against third world people. Chaya's view is that of the old Israel.

Posted by: Abelman on 11/28/07 at 11:24 AM  Respond

One other point Chaya, I agree with some of your bleak comments about countries like Saudi Arabia and Egypt. But what you seem to completely miss is the fact that the US and even your beloved Israel are supporting these corrupt regimes for their own perceived short term gains. The same way they supported the former Shah of Iran and his corrupt regime.

If fundamentalist muslims are the world's #1 problem, then why did Israel play such a key role is the founding of Hamas, and the US in the creation of the Taliban??

Please, save your self-righteous crap for your fellow right wing holy rollers. You remind me of the likes of John Hagee and Pat Robertson in the lunatic Christian evangelical community.

Religious fundamentalists are basically ALL the same, whether christian, jewish or muslim. ALL of them are narrow minded and that makes them dangerous.

Posted by: Dara on 11/28/07 at 12:38 PM  Respond

Dara, the problems are the "British Hand", in Iran. The English are also the problem in Ireland.

Posted by: P. Donohue on 11/28/07 at 5:16 PM  Respond

Hashemi

Why do you insult prostitutes?

Posted by: cemmcs on 12/01/07 at 7:11 PM  Respond

Speaking of prostitutes, check this out!

http://www.angelfire.com/rebellion2/indiasucks/hindu_devdasi_sex_slavery_.htm

These poor girls have no chance of leaving!

Posted by: Chaya on 12/02/07 at 12:46 PM  Respond

Fourteen year old Palestinian killed in Gaza

Another Palestinian killed in Gaza! The Zionists are murdering Palestinians, right? Let's see:

The boy, Mahmoud al-Shaer, of Rafah, disappeared last week shortly after his father sent him to deposit several hundred dollars in a local bank.
Over the weekend, Hamas's security forces arrested Rami Khalifeh, a prominent militiaman from Rafah who has long been involved in drug trafficking and smuggling weapons across the border with Egypt. Khalifeh's younger brother was also arrested as an accomplice.
Hamas described Khalifeh as a senior officer in the former Fatah-controlled security forces in the Gaza Strip. But Fatah responded by saying that the suspect was actually a top member of Hamas's armed wing, Izaddin Kassam.
Rafah residents said the suspect was known as a member of Fatah. They added that he had served briefly as an officer in the Fatah-controlled Preventative Security Service.
Khalifeh, who has confessed to murdering the boy, led Hamas policemen to his bedroom, where he had buried the decapitated body. He said he kidnapped the boy after seducing him to accompany him to his home, where he stole the money he was carrying before murdering him.
Neighbors alerted the police after noticing a bad smell emanating from Khalifeh's home. When the Hamas security forces raided the house, they were shocked to discover the boy's headless body.

Posted by: Chaya on 12/10/07 at 3:03 AM  Respond

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