Am I doing something Right?

I must say I am very pleased that my blog has been nominated "Progressive Blog of the Week" by American Samizdat. I noticed I was getting a few hits from amsam.org. At round about the same time (ie this week), a tracker told me that I was getting lots of hits, in fact most of my referrer hits, from the Sensual Liberation Army, which is a porn blog. Then I noticed a couple of hits from a news and porn aggregator called Web Nymph. Porn and news? Yup, that's what it is.

Bush's Kafkaesque Orwellianisms

Somewhere in the United States government is the person who came up with the idea of fusing the wail of an infant with the incessant meow from a cat food commercial so as to torment detainees at Guantanamo. Detainees were also subjected to popular songs by the likes of Eminem and Rage Against the Machine. What Liberace would have done to an observant Muslim, I can only imagine, but it is a mad genius who realized that ordinary American culture can, with repeated exposure, be nearly lethal. God help us all.

Here's a guy, Richard Cohen, writing in the Daily Camera (would you believe?) about how, when George W.Bush abuses the language, he doesn't just do it accidentally. For example,

calling suicidal terrorists "cowards," naming a constriction of civil liberties the Patriot Act and, of course, wringing all meaning from the word "torture."

And here's how he closes:

The Bush administration has fused Orwell with Kafka in the same way someone fused the cry of an infant with that of a cat from the Meow Mix television commercial. The upshot is Gonzales, ticketed maybe for the Supreme Court because he winked at torture and yessed the president. He's Kafka's man, Orwell's boy and Bush's pussycat. Know him for his roar.

Meow.

Exit strategy

"Sir: There is currently a lot of discussion and debate in the media about the similarity between the war in Vietnam, and the war in Iraq. This is of course utter nonsense. George Bush had a plan to get out of Vietnam...

RAY HEWITT
Bracknell, Berkshire"

Refusenik movement

My refusenik banner just moved. It moved from 1,391 to 1,392. I clicked the banner to find out more and couldn't find who the latest refuser was. So I clicked on another button and found the article linked above. It discusses a speech by the Jewish philosopher, Yesha’ayahu Leibowitz. He is credited with coining the term "Judeo-Nazi" to describe the ideology gripping Israel in the wake of the 1967 war. In this speech, he again raises the comparison of Israel with the Nazis, this time referring to the physical. courage of some German soldiers in WWII, in spite of the morally repugnant cause they were serving. The courage being lauded in this article, by Daphna Baram, is that of those who have the courage to refuse to serve morally repugnant causes.

Anti-semitism report out

There was so much fanfare for the US State Department's proposed "Global anti-semitism report" that when it came out it was such a damp squib no-one (bar some real die hard specialists) seemed to notice. This appeared on The Arabist Network on Wednesday 5/1/2005. The Arabist is opposed to

[s]ingling out anti-Semitism as a special form of racism.......if only because it dissociates it from racism and makes it something "special" — something that will fuel the arguments of the anti-Semites. Highlighting anti-Semitism like this also exaggerates the phenomenon. In the case of the Arab world, where anti-Semitism is admittedly rife and occasionally gets violent, as it did in Morocco in 2003 or in Tunisia in 2002, it will compound a common misperception that anti-Semitism is the biggest form of discrimination taking place.

The same site then goes on to relate the various discriminations going on within Egypt that don't receive special attention from the US State Department.

Alliance & Leicester blank

Lord Gilmour, Victoria Brittain and Jeremy Corbyn are less than happy about the Palestine Solidarity Campaign being blanked by the Alliance and Leicester.

A&L owes Palestinian campaign group an explanation for closing bank account
By Victoria Brittain, Jeremy Corbyn and Ian Gilmour
Published: January 8 2005 02:00 | Last updated: January 8 2005 02:00

From Lord Gilmour of Craigmillar, Victoria Brittain and Jeremy Corbyn MP.

Sir, We are patrons of the Palestine Solidarity Campaign, a voluntary organisation established in 1982 to seek justice for the Palestinians. Since 1996 we have held a bank account with the Alliance & Leicester Commercial Bank. Our account has always been in credit and we have never had any query or complaint from the bank concerning its conduct or our business.

In July 2004 we received a letter out of the blue from the bank giving us 30 days' notice to close the account. The only reason offered was that the bank was "no longer able to provide banking facilities to certain clubs and societies". We wrote back protesting, asking for an explanation for this abrupt action and for the bank to let us know which other clubs and societies had been treated similarly.

We claimed nearly £4,000 compensation of which half represented the out-of-pocket expenses for notifying our members and subscribers (some 2,750), stationery, printing and postage. The bank replied: "On this occasion we reserve our right not to disclose our reasons." It declined to comment on the status of other people's accounts and refused any compensation. The only concession was to extend our notice period from 30 to 60 days.

We took our complaint to the Financial Ombudsman Service (the Ombudsman). We wrote: "We feel we have been treated with contempt by the bank and that we deserve an explanation for why this action is being taken . . . we cannot understand why a bank which claims to wish to advance good community relations should behave with such utter lack of regard towards an organisation which is committed to seeking international justice and human rights and is based on cross-faith co-operation (we have Muslim, Christian and Jewish members as well as members of no religion)".

The Ombudsman's terse response was that " . . . your complaint does not appear to be one we could deal with because it is solely about the firm's legitimate use of its commercial judgment". Although the Ombudsman said it could deal with "maladministration" and "improper discrimination", its refusal to intervene in our case shows how supine a regulatory body it is.

The Alliance & Leicester claims to be "the UK's most customer-focused financial services organisation - bar none" and that "earning and retaining the trust and confidence of our customers must be a high priority for us". In its business relationships it says it seeks "fair dealing and high standards of business integrity". These claims ring hollow when set against the experience we have suffered at the hands of the bank.

As no credible, indeed any, explanation has been offered by the bank for the manner in which we have been treated, the inevitable suspicion is that the bank has succumbed to political pressure. Be this as it may, we believe the public deserves to be enlightened on how one of the country's leading high street banks chooses to operate and on the cavalier way in which the Ombudsman interprets its remit in handling complaints.

Ian Gilmour, Victoria Brittain, Jeremy Corbyn, Palestinian Solidarity Campaign, London WC1N 3XX

Jews against Melanie Phillips

Last week I couldn't bear to read Melanie Phillips's article, headed "Vital questions of "right" and wrong", in the Jewish Chronicle, claiming that Judaism is neo-conservatism at prayer. So it's nice to see an angry response to her rantings in this week's JC. In fact seeing the response made it possible for me to read the (not so) original article without panicking about the lack of counter argument:

Like Melanie Phillips, I, too, gave a talk at Limmud on the subject of American neo-conservatives, and I would like to ask her the following questions:

What is "extremely moral" about the neo-cons' support for right-wing dictatorships in central and South America during the 1970s and 1980s for the illegal Iran-Contra affair, and for apartheid in South Africa?

What is "Jewish" about their alliance with the religious right and its project to Christianise America? And, from what Jewish sources do they derive their uncritical and unequivocal backing for the abolition of abortion?
(DR) NATHAN ABRAMS
LECTURER IN HISTORY, SCHOOL OF DIVINITY, HISTORY & PHILOSOPHY, COLLEGE OF ARTS AND SOCIAL SCIENCES, ABERDEEN.

So, according to Melanie Phillips, "neo-conservatism is a quintessentially Jewish project".
Funnily enough, I had never realised that redistributing wealth form the poor to the rich, energetically destroying the environment and refusing to accept the rule of law both at home and abroad were so integral to Judaism.
I'd always thought that rabbinic hostility to violence and oppression should lead Jews to oppose empire rather than celebrate it, and that the notion of tzedakah as justice should lead us to give to those in need rather than cut their benefits on the grounds of "encouraging enterprise".
JOSEPH FINLAY

Does Melanie Phillips really think that intelligent people can accept that the neo-cons are the "front-line" in the defence of Jewish and western values?
The novelist Sara Paretsky, writing this week in the Guardian, relates how her late grandmother escaped from the pogroms of Eastern Europe in in 1911 to settle in the USA to "come home" to freedom.
Now, as Sara Paretsky observes, opinion, in the once so-admired land of freedom, views such practices as imprisonment without trial as a necessary price to pay for protection against terrorism. This echoes the view that teh torture of Jews, Communists and others was a "necessary price" to pay for moving Germany in a better direction.
TONY HALLE

Unfortunately, none of the published letters addressed her point that secular humanism is essentially anti-Zionist, which, of course, it is. Here's Melanie:

How much worse is the situation today now that secular humanism - along with its offshoot, post-modernism - has shown that its vision of the kingdon of heaven on earth unfortunately does not include the existence of a Jewish national home.

No takers on that one.

Pink'un on Palestine

The pink'un shows itself to be pinker than the neo-con Blair on the question of Palestine.

This is from the Financial Times's. editorial for today:

Palestinian reform is only part of the equation. The heavy emphasis placed on responsible Palestinian government by leaders such as George W. Bush and Tony Blair has raised questions in Palestinian minds about their and the Sharon government's longer term intentions. Put another way, the Bush administration has put pressure only on the Palestinians - much the weaker party in the dispute - while, as the Washington-based Coalition for a Realistic Foreign Policy points out, encouraging Mr Sharon and his allies "to believe they will not need to make major concessions on the West Bank".

An Islamist writes

Azzam Tamimi in The Guardian. I often agree with Dr Tamimi's diagnosis but never his Islamist prognosis.

This weekend the Palestinians are to be given the right to elect a new leader, they say, for a change. However, if peace-making is to be resumed and if Israel is to agree to talk to the Palestinians, they can only choose Mahmoud Abbas - hence the international pressure to eliminate the popular Marwan Barghouti from the race. The fact that many Palestinians do not see Abbas as representative of their aspirations or willing to defend their rights does not matter to Israel or its western allies. Nor is it of any concern to the US and the EU that Hamas has increasingly strong support among Palestinians (as highlighted by their recent performance in municipal elections); they still will not talk to its representatives. It is fully acceptable for Israelis to elect whomever they deem fit to lead them, even a war criminal like Ariel Sharon. No Arab people are allowed the same luxury.

The shame of it!

I must confess to feeling a sense of shame that I had no idea until just now that, Riziq Ziad Musleh, a campaign worker for Mustapha Barghouti was murdered a week ago by the Israeli army. (thanks Jazzman) He was engaged in the deadly business of putting up posters for the Barghouti campaign. In fairness the mainstream media has been taken up with news of the tsunami, but they took time out to express their horror at Mahmoud Abbas's denunciation of the "Zionist enemy" when Israel murdered seven other youngsters. I have now googled the name, Riziq Ziad Musleh, and a mere 17 sites came up. All were Palestinian or campaign sites. That means that officially, the day Riziq Ziad Musleh was killed, was a day of calm in occupied Palestine.

Al-Aqsa victory

Well a victory for the Friends of Al-Aqsa anyway.

After a traumatic 2 weeks, supporters of Friends of Al-Aqsa will be pleased to hear that the Royal Bank of Scotland has apologised and withdrawn its demand to close the bank accounts of Friends of Al-Aqsa and its chairman.

This was the result of a letter-writing, emailing and blogging campaign on behalf of the "Friends" by various groups and individuals and just goes to show what a little activism can achieve.

You too can be a war criminal

but hurry, it's already oversubscribed.

Crossfire?

As reported below, the Israeli army killed seven Palestinian youngsters in a strawberry field yesterday. Most news outlets have focused on Abu Mazen's verbal response in calling Israel the "Zionist enemy". The Guardian. , via Cobal Urquhart, decided to firm up on Israel's hasty excuse for the murders. Accordiing to Urquhart, the youngsters, aged 11 to 17, were "killed in crossfire". I have looked up - "zionist enemy" "abu mazen" - on google news and many English language news sites have picked up on the story. At the time of writing this, not one, not British, not American, not Israeli, refers to "crossfire". No reporter, it seems, will stoop as low as The Guardian. in covering up for what was an Israeli massacre.

Zionists' friend denounces Zionist enemy

The Israeli army killed 7 Palestinian youngsters, aged 11 to 17, today as they picked strawberries in a field. Palestinian Authority presidential candidate, Mahmoud Abbas/Abu Mazen, Israel's favourite candidate, denounced the actions of the "Zionist enemy".

I first caught this on UK Channel 4 news and I couldn't help noticing how the reporters were more shocked at the language used by Abu Mazen than by the Israeli army killing children. But then, of course, Abu Mazen denouncing Israel is a rarity; the Israeli army killing children is a common occurrence.

We were treated to the usual excuse for the child killing:

Lieutenant Avi Levy, the area army commander, gave a guarded apology. "If we hit innocent Palestinians, I’m sorry for that," he said. "You have to remember that the (militant) groups fire from the cover of these heavily populated civilian areas."

So that's alright then....except that this "populated civilian area" was a strawberry field.

He's only joking, isn't he?

Letter to The Guardian, making light, I hope, of the rights of diaspora Jews to vote in Israeli elections.

If the Palestinian diaspora are to be allowed to vote in the Palestinian elections, which I would support (Letters, January 3), perhaps it is time we Jews in the diaspora, whom the Israeli government keeps purporting to represent, should have a vote in Israeli elections.
Michael Ellman
London

The bad news here is that I have heard rumours that the World Zionist Organisation wants to set up some kind of worldwide Jewish parliament. Let's hope that's just a joke as well.

Palestine democracy campaign

Two letters in the Guardian. highlighting the political indivisibility of the Palestinian people. One signed by Joe Bord Research fellow, Trinity College, Cambridge, Prof Musa Budeiri, Birzeit University, Palestine, Nur Masalha, University of Surrey and Martha Mundy, London School of Economics. The other by Prof Hilary Rose and Prof Steven Rose London.

The first complains that:

Although they are an integral part of the Palestinian people, the millions of refugees in Lebanon, Syria, Jordan and the wider diaspora are not to vote in the presidential, legislative or local elections for "technical reasons".

[but see a response to this by Roland Rance]

The second complains of:

reports of the continued harassment by the Israeli Defence [sic] Force of candidates other than the west's favoured Mahmoud Abbas in the Palestinian presidential elections. These were capped by the announcement that the Ariel Sharon government was effectively going to disenfranchise the 120,000 Palestinian citizens living in Jerusalem.

Palestine banking scandal

The Royal Bank of Scotland has joined the Alliance and Leicester in victimising supporters of the Palestinian cause and, by extension, the Palestinian people.

Two British organisations set up to help the Palestinian people have had their bank accounts abruptly closed without explanation, the Guardian has learned. Neither is proscribed by the government, and both claim that their targeting is political.

The groups, Friends of Al-Aqsa (FoAA) [Royal Bank of Scotland] and the Palestine Solidarity Campaign [Alliance and Leicester], have been asked to find alternative banking arrangements, even though neither appears on watch lists held by the Home Office or the Bank of England. The head of FoAA has also had his personal and business accounts closed.....

This sabotage by the banks is proving extremely costly to the two groups:

The PSC has written to its members asking them to transfer their standing orders, but so far only half have done so.

FoAA estimates that it will cost more than £10,000 in lost subscriptions and reprinting costs.

For complaints to the Alliance and Leicester go here.

For complaints to the Royal Bank of Scotland go here.

Observe these!

The link above is to three letters in today's Observer. , two of which debunk Martin Gilbert's comparison of Churchill and Roosevelt with Blair and Bush and the other, which really caught my eye, tackles his muddying of the waters over the history of Palestine.

In his potted history of events surrounding the establishment of the state of Israel in May 1948, Martin Gilbert makes some crucial omissions.

When the UN voted to partition Palestine it awarded 55 per cent of the land to 30 per cent of the population - the Jewish population. The area to be under Jewish control was itself 50 per cent Arab. In the same month of the UN vote, November 1947, Britain declared that it was leaving Palestine. Immediately the Zionists began ethnically cleansing the Arabs from the Jewish areas and moved to secure land beyond the UN-allocated boundaries.

By the time Britain left and the Arab states mobilised, around 300,000 Palestinian Arabs were already refugees.

I agree with Martin Gilbert that there were failures of Arab leadership, not least the fact that Jordan was collaborating with Israel, but to suggest that Israel's conduct was above reproach at that time is, at best, economical with the truth.

Mark Elf
Dagenham Essex

On the same letters page there's this one expressing shock at New Labour jumping into bed with the far-right Opus Dei :

Opus-pocus

Apropos Catholic 'secret society' gains power foothold by Jamie Doward (News, last week): as a member of the Labour Party I am alarmed by the fact that our erstwhile Home Secretary saw fit to carry on a close relationship with the editor of such a Tory mouthpiece as the Spectator and that a formerly Tory millionaire is appointed to lead our general election campaign for a third term.

Nevertheless, I was shocked to read that the recently appointed Education Secretary, Ruth Kelly, is a member of, or 'even merely in touch with' such a far right organization as Opus Dei. If you think the 'far right' adjective too strong, Google Opus Dei. You will find out that it is against stem cell research, women's right to choose whether to have an abortion, and contraception, but for faith-based schools, hierarchy and unquestioning obedience to the leader of the organization. It also has a track record for politically promoting its semi-fascist aims.
Balazs L Gyorffy
Cotham Branch of Bristol West CLP

Holocaust industry investigated

The World Jewish Congress* is under investigation by the New York State attorney general, Elliot Spitzer. The investigation follows "a series of unusual money transfers of hundreds of thousands of dollars....ordered by Rabbi Israel Singer, the president of the WJC since 1985." This news comes hot on the heels of reports of an investigation into the conduct of senior officers of the Zionist lobby group, AIPAC.

*The Independent. suggests that the WJC "has been responsible for obtaining compensation and restitution for survivors of the Holocaust and has secured millions of dollars in payments from Swiss banks." Norman Finkelstein says that only the second half of that sentence is true.

Sri Lanka: Israeli aid - Yes. Israeli army - No

Some websites are claiming that Sri Lanka, in the wake of the tsunami, has rejected an offer of aid from Israel. Sri Lanka has accepted, even requested, aid from Israel. It has however refused to accept Israeli soldiers on its territory. One blog has even paraphrased Golda Meir's old chestnut about peace only being possible when "the Arabs learn to love their children more than they hate our children". I know most people don't need telling, but Sri Lanka is neither an Arab nor a predominantly Muslim country. And barring Israeli soldiers from having an official presence in a country does not amount to "hating Jews".