As usual most of the world shows such a blatant double standard with respect to Israel and frankly, everyone else that we tend not to even notice it and on occasion, like Hitler’s ‘big lie’ tend to think there must be something to it for so many to buy into it. In a way I suppose there is. Oil money and fear of terrorism by immigrants to western nations. But here are a few links which offer some clear as day thought on the matter. Of course, when the UN passed a resolution against Israel as the worlds worst actor in terms of women’s rights it was so laughable that most ignored it. But now we are down to the existential.

First, from www.thereligionofpeace.com 9 questions that should be answered before anyone can criticize the Israeli actions in Gaza. I could add quite a few myself but this is a nice list.

Next an op ed from the National Post on same subject. Pithy and spot on. It’s not that this is profound or hugely insightful. It’s that a Canadian national newspaper has the courage to make a clear moral stand. I wonder if we could find this in a British major paper or any other European one. It is worth reading even if most of us already know these facts.

As an aside,
there was an attack on an American Jewish center. I doubt this will be an isolated event. Look for more in Montreal.

Meanwhile the religion of peace advances it’s cause for world domination while nobody much notices.

The Swat Valley in Pakistan has been pretty much taken over by Taliban/Al Queda. A close look at a map and some thinking about US Canadian operations in Afghanistan plus rapidly rising tensions between nuclear neighbors Pakistan and India will show why this story deserves attention. Pakistan is losing a lot of territory to the Islamists. They are moving troops away from the allied areas and re enforcing borders with India. This creates opportunity for Islamist expansion on that front. I recently spent close to a hundred dollars I really do not have to buy a decent world map. It may have been the worlds first sub prime map loan actually. Who knew in high school physical geography would actually matter.

Also Stratfor reports more deadly mortar attacks by Islamist forces in Somalia killing ten people today alone. The amusingly named MILF continues to attack bomb and spread hatred and fear in the Philippines and the western media either ignores it or claims its a separatist group. It is not. It is a group of Islamic supremacy.

This article about Russia’s approach to Islam is quite good as well. It explains the little known use by Russia of Islamic proxy’s. The US likely did this as well during the cold war. Chechen’s where most likely funded by the US to annoy and distract resources of the Soviets during the cold war and we all know about Afghanistan and the Mujahadeen proxies for the US. However what should be evident by now to all of us is that this backfires. Not just sometimes but all the time to most of the world. Even Pakistan and Iran have used Islam as the tie that binds disparate tribes to try and create a national identity. We see how well that works in both places. Well, I suppose in a way you can say it does.

Here is an article albeit an older one from Jeff Jacoby at the Boston Globe on UN hypocrisy with respect to Israel. Lots of links as well and a good read. Perhaps the fact that this was written before even rumors of a retaliatory strike on Gaza makes it more meaningful.

This to paraphrase Dr. Wafa Sultan, is not a war of civilizations. Civilizations compete. This is a war of civilization against barbarism.

James Cohen for Girl on the right.

This is a more difficult post to write than the last one. This one means a wake up for me and many others who so far have managed to treat world events as academic. The realm of debate and moral and ethical games.

Israel has retaliated against Gaza by air strikes against military targets and limiting civilian damage to the best of its capabilities. Many posts will argue the rights and wrongs of it so no need for more of that here. I’m sure the vast vast majority have already made up their minds as to who is right and wrong and why.

I am writing on another aspect. Strategy and outcome.

So far, Islamist forces world wide (and Gaza is no exception) have overwhelmingly chosen to go after the softest targets possible and the ones which would garner the most outrage and horror. It is not at all unusual for example, for a Palestinian receiving free and excellent medical care in Israel to return to the hospital wrapped in explosives with hopes of murdering the very doctors nurses and destruction of the facilities which had treated her. We also have seen attacks going back decades in Argentina, France, and recently Bombay targeting Jews with no strategic value whatsoever but because they are Jews. More recently, The UK, Germany Scandinavia and frankly much of Europe where Muslims are moving in large numbers in the past year has seen anti semitic violent attacks grow.

Hamas will ‘retaliate’ (I put retaliate of course in quotes as the Israeli action was in fact retaliation for over 800 rockets fired at Israeli civilians over the past few years most of which was during an agreed ‘cease fire’) as will Hizbolah, Al Queda/Taliban and any number of Islamic groups which as usual will create a new name for themselves for each attack by targeting easy to access unsuspecting targets of Jews. It could as easily be Ottawa as Bombay or Pembrook Ontario as London England or Ipswich Mass. as easily as Madrid Spain. The only thing these attacks will have in common, will be that it is against Jewish people.

If you live as a Jew in most western nations, it is against the law to arm yourself. not just for jews of course but for all. The police or more likely politicians would prefer you get killed cleanly and quickly then get the police and ambulance to the scene so City councils can show how efficient they are. Outside of small pockets of the USA where there is still some sense of individual right to life and self defense this is the norm. However given the history of Islamic terrorist movements and the ascendancy of same, the moral relativism of the modern left who dominate the civil service of most western nations and the consequent ethical ambiguousness which has made terrorists the victims and victims the aggressors, Jewish people may want to start thinking about their own security. Predicting the future at some levels is imposable. At others is as easy as looking at the past.

Let’s have a look at what the official reaction has been from various bodies in order to better understand how officialdom may react to the deaths of Jews by Muslim attackers in their own cities and nations.

Here I borrow heavily from the excellent site, The Gates of Vienna…

Spokesman For Ban Ki-Moon, UN Secretary General

“The secretary general is deeply alarmed by today’s heavy violence and bloodshed in Gaza, and the continuation of violence in southern Israel.

“[He] appeals for an immediate halt to all violence [and reiterates] previous calls for humanitarian supplies to be allowed into Gaza to aid the distressed civilian population.”

Gordon Johndroe, White House Spokesman

“Hamas’ continued rocket attacks into Israel must cease if the violence is to stop. Hamas must end its terrorist activities if it wishes to play a role in the future of the Palestinian people.

“The United States urges Israel to avoid civilian casualties as it targets Hamas in Gaza.”

Spokesman For Javier Solana, EU Foreign Policy Chief

“We are very concerned at the events in Gaza. We call for an immediate ceasefire and urge everybody to exert maximum restraint.”

British Foreign Office Statement

“The only way to achieve lasting peace in Gaza is through peaceful means. Whilst we understand the Israeli government’s obligation to protect its population we urge maximum restraint to avoid further civilian casualties.

“We also call on militants in the Gaza Strip to immediately cease all rocket attacks on Israel.”

Russian Foreign Ministry Statement

“Moscow considers it necessary to stop large-scale military action against Gaza, which has already led to major casualties and suffering among the civilian Palestinian population.

“At the same time, we call on the Hamas leadership to stop shelling Israeli territory.”

Amr Moussa, Arab League Secretary General

“We are facing a continuing spectacle which has been carefully planned. So we have to expect that there will be many casualties. We face a major humanitarian catastrophe.”

Syrian Foreign Ministry Statement

“Syria is following with great anxiety the barbaric Israeli aggression against the Palestinian people in Gaza… a horrific crime and terrorist act.

[…]

“Syria as president of the Arab League calls on Arab leaders to hold an emergency summit to assess the dangerous situation in Gaza.”

Hasan Qashqavi, Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman

“Iran strongly condemns the Zionist regime’s wide-ranging attacks against the civilians in Gaza.

“The raids against innocent people are unforgivable and unacceptable.”

And the most useless and mealy-mouthed reaction of all comes from — surprise! — the Vatican:

Rev Federico Lombardi, Vatican Spokesman

“Hamas is a prisoner to a logic of hate, Israel to a logic of faith in force as the best response to hate.

“One must continue to search for a different way out, even if that may seem impossible.”

So from this we get a fairly clear idea how our leaders will react to terrorist attacks against Jewish targets. A few words careful not to offend Islamic terrorists. Hence the responsibility ends where it should begin. In the hands of each individual Jewish person to decide how exactly they should protect themselves. The state will not be able to do it nor has the will.

Perhaps the radical sounding words of the founder of the JDL, Rabbi Meir David Kahane don’t sound so radical now. “Every Jew a .22″.

Frankly, I think a .45 would make a lot more sense.

I have been planning this post since Wendy pointed me at the story. It has taken me all day to manage to format it my head in such a manner that I can get it down. I feel this aspect, this slice of time in terms of the events in Bombay India reveals such malice and horror, not just of deed but of agenda and thought that it requires me to once again desensitize myself beyond even what someone who writes daily on the atrocities of Muslims in the name of Islam do around the world on a daily basis.

Let’s start with what we all know. A group of well trained and well equipped Muslim terrorists from a few nations launched an operation out of Pakistan with the intention of murdering five thousand people. They fell short of that mark but that was the plan. They had prepared for this for some time in advance using a plan loosely based on a shelved one intended for use in New York called ‘Landmarks’, an Al Queada plan intended to wreak havoc and based on a design by Ramsey Yussef, the man who was the central figure of the first attack on New York’s WTC. (For more on Landmark’s, its specifics and details please click here)

We also all know that a Jewish community center was one of the targets of this operation. The idea was to kill jews. It should be noted that this building had no markings of a Jewish center. That it was far away from the other targets and that it had little or no strategic value but did require a significant percentage of the total resources available to the terrorist group to be used for this purpose. Had they not done this, and remember this was a very carefully planned and rehearsed operation, they would have inflicted a great deal more death and misery on the people of Bombay. Many of us, myself included perhaps may try and mitigate this as being some kind of act based on the existence of Israel or some kind of show of Palestinian sympathy. For a few reasons this is nonsense of course. Hatred and killing of Jews go back to Mohamed and these kinds of acts predate the existence of Israel by centuries.

What makes this so difficult to write, is the facts of how the Jews in that building where treated before they where killed. A couple of weeks ago I read an interview with the coroner who did the autopsies on these people and are the state coroners for terrorist attacks in India. From that page,

Asked specifically if he was talking of torture marks, he said: “It was apparent that most of the dead were tortured. What shocked me were the telltale signs showing clearly how the hostages were executed in cold blood,” one doctor said.

The other doctor, who had also conducted the post-mortem of the victims, said: “Of all the bodies, the Israeli victims bore the maximum torture marks. It was clear that they were killed on the 26th itself. It was obvious that they were tied up and tortured before they were killed. It was so bad that I do not want to go over the details even in my head again,” he said.

I read this at the time and kind of dismissed it. Yes there was some shock value in the idea that a seasoned coroner who routinely (that itself is unfortunate) autopsied the bodies of terror victims found this particular incident and victims too horrifying to think about or describe. He objected to discussing it as that would make him have to think of it and he wasn’t prepared to do that.

Then today a photo of the victims with some description of what had been done to them was released. a blurred out one which itself is alarming in as much as today we are all so used to seeing image of violence that would have never made mass media in say, the 1980s or before. This one was so awful that they blurred most of it out. That the Jewish victims, preselected as such with great planning and expense, had been sexually tortured mutilated and humiliated.

Whats my point? That they felt the cost of this action was justified. This wasn’t a few guys on a private plan but this WAS the official plan. This was the intended effect. No politics, no demands, no leverage or bargaining but the sheer desire to torture humiliate and kill jews in ways that would defy the healthy imagination. Below I include that fuzzy picture and a link to some of the descriptions.

I suppose at this point I should advocate for something. An appeal to gods or a demand for state action. I do think any Jew alive today who does not own or have access to a firearm is self deluded but even that won’t help much.

Mumbai Jewish center

If you can manage it, go to the link for the description of what happened to these people.

link one

Link two

James Cohen for Girl on the Right

Before I post the article it might be worth mentioning a few things as preface to those not as obsessed as I on watching groups like Taliban etc. The Taliban have had a campaign on as long as they have existed to maintain the Islamic idea that women should never be taught anything other than Koran and have in fact already blown up a large number of schools which dared teach females. As recently the Taliban issued a warning about the non playing or performing of music and shortly thereafter murdered 7 musicians, this is no idle threat. They have already murdered women who go to schools as we have seen also in Algeria and other nations under siege by Islamics or in already Islamic states. For those of you interested in the subject of women and Islam here is a truly excellent video by women who are dealing with the subject.

The video linked to above contains no graphic images whatsoever. It is just a set of short speeches by various activists including the most excellent Dr. Wafa Sultan. However I find it very disturbing and difficult to watch because of the information revealed so be warned. This video about women in Afghanistan however does contain graphic images. Also I have talked with a number of soldiers who have done tours in Afghanistan and I can assure all of you what is revealed in these two videos falls far far short of the horrors done to people in general by Taliban and women in particular. Most of what was reported to me, was beyond my own imagination for cruelty.

James Cohen

Taliban threaten to kill Pakistani schoolgirls: Officials

ISLAMABAD:Taliban extremists in Pakistan’s troubled northwest Swat valley have banned girls from attending school, threatening to kill any female students, officials said Thursday.

The threat was delivered this week by local Taliban commander Shah Durran in an address carried on an illegally-run radio station in the area, local officials told AFP.

“You have until January 15 to stop sending your girls to schools. If you do not pay any heed to this warning, we will kill such girls,” one official quoted the commander as saying.

“We also warn schools not to enrol any female students; otherwise, their buildings will be blown up.”

The mountainous Swat valley was until last year a popular tourist destination featuring Pakistan’s only ski resort.

But the region has been turned into a battleground since radical cleric Maulana Fazlullah, who has links to Pakistan’s Taliban movement, launched a violent campaign for the introduction of Islamic Sharia law in the valley.

Durran said local Taliban leaders were determined not to allow girls to attend school, saying: “We want to enforce the true Sharia in the area — for this, we are fighting and laying down our lives.”

Swat residents said Taliban fighters had already destroyed scores of government-run schools, leading some to set up private schools in their homes to educate girls.

An official at the Pakistani education ministry said there are about 1,580 schools registered in Swat — once known for its top-flight schools.

But the official, Naeem Khan, said: “Already Taliban militants have destroyed 252 schools, mainly those where girls and boys were studying together.”

Education has suffered badly in Swat as a result of the ongoing fighting between Taliban-linked militants and security forces, with only a handful of schools still open in the region’s main city Mingora, Khan said.

The government had reached a deal with the rebels in May to gradually pull out troops and introduce an Islamic justice system in exchange for an end to rebel attacks, but the violence eventually resumed.

This movie is rather excellent. Please do watch the whole thing and then decide how you feel about the US Iraq mission. I tend to agree with Chris Hitchens. If for no other reason than humanitarian alone Saddam had to be removed.
Posted by James Cohen for Right Girl

Terror suspect Abu Qatada cannot be deported to Jordan because he risks not getting a fair trial, judges ruled today.

They overturned a decision by a special panel last year that the extremist cleric, who is known as Osama bin Laden’s “right-hand man” in Europe, could be sent to his home country.

The Home Office may even have to free Qatada if the Law Lords and European judges uphold the decision of the Court of Appeal and he cannot be brought to trial.

The mind reels. How is it that we have gotten to a point where we are more concerned about this man than about the entire free West?

Qatada could be placed under a control order to monitor him but this system has proved ineffective in several cases where terror suspects have gone on the run.

The Court of Appeal also upheld the panel’s blocking of the deportations of two other suspected terrorists to Libya on the grounds that they may be tortured.

The case could end up in the European Court of Human Rights leaving the British taxpayer with a bill expected to hit £500,000.

One of al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden’s sons has married a middle aged parish councillor from Cheshire after a holiday romance, it has been reported.

The new “Mrs Bin Laden“, whose father-in-law is the most wanted man in the world, is Jane Felix-Browne, a 51-year-old grandmother.

She met 27-year-old Omar Ossama bin Laden on a sunshine break in Egypt in September, according to the Times.

Her new husband is currently working as a scrap metal dealer in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, while she applies for a visa so he can visit Britain, the paper said.

Mrs Felix-Browne told the Times she had “married the son, not the father” and hoped people would not judge her harshly.

Oh my. What does one send to that nuptial? C4? An infidel on a silver platter? Curtains for the cave?

….these are the Sands of Passion.

See Part 1 here

This is part 2:

See part 3 here