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Sunday, November 28, 2010

Gay Adoption-One Rabbi's Take On It

Rabbi Shmuley Boteach has written a very thoughtful article on gay and lesbian couples adopting children.  It really is giving this Orthodox Jew food for thought.
It is below in its entirety.  The original article is here.


The Morality of Gay Adoption

By SHMULEY BOTEACH
11/27/2010 22:18

Leaving orphans to drown without love is deeply immoral, but to stop others from rescuing them is an abomination.

  On December 14, Rosie O’Donnell and I will be conducting a public conversation in New Jersey about families and kids, the celebrity culture and the effects of fame, balancing work and career, and learning how to inspire our children.

It’s a subject Rosie is eminently qualified to address. This is, after all, the woman who walked away from one of television’s most successful programs and tens of millions dollars per year to raise her children. It will be followed by a fund-raiser for Turn Friday Night into Family Night – our national campaign to create weekly family dinners so that children are prioritized in the lives of their parents.


When I told a religious friend about being inspired by Rosie’s adoption of four children, he said to me: “How sad that these kids are never going to have a father.” Lost on him was the irony that without Rosie they wouldn’t have a mother either.

Now, Rosie has a media microphone and can fend for herself. But I think about all the other gay adoptive parents who are under assault as being ill-equipped to adopt. We’ve heard all the arguments: gay parents who adopt will make their children gay (offensive and stupid); every child deserves a mother and a father (I addressed this above); being gay is an abomination, to which I would respond that leaving a child to grow up in an orphanage where nobody wants him might be an even greater act of sacrilege.

TO MY fellow straight people I offer the following challenge. You have every right to oppose gay marriage; it’s a free country. We don’t suppress opinions.

But aren’t you under a moral obligation to adopt the children in their stead? Surely leaving kids to drown without love is deeply immoral. But to stop others from rescuing them is an abomination.

I am the father of nine children, thank God. I have at times discussed with my wife the possibility of adopting a child. Every child is a child of God. But my conversations have never gone past that, conversations.

I stand in awe of all those who actually do it. In my religion, there is no higher mitzva than raising a child without parents as your own. This is God’s child, and really He should have made provisions for him. But the Creator chooses, for reasons unknown to us, to hide behind the veil of Nature, and it is we humans who must fill in the seemingly empty spaces. Those who adopt are society’s and religion’s greatest heroes.

We all agree that every orphaned child is of infinite value. Some of us, however, pay mere lip service to the ideal. Others dress, feed and hug these children every day. They wake up in the middle of the night and nurse crying babies back to sleep.

They hug troubled teens and counsel them through life’s disappointments. They go to work every day to pay for college and weddings. Gay or straight, they make us all look small by comparison. And it would seem to me that it takes one heck of a lot of chutzpa to tell gay men or women not to adopt when we refuse to do so ourselves.

The same rule would apply to those who insist on ‘don’t ask, don’t tell.’ Oppose gays in the military.

It’s your right. You believe it compromises military morale and combat readiness. I get it.

But surely you’re going to sign up yourself, right? You’re not just going to deny a gay man or woman the right to fight terrorists who want to blow up innocent children and then spend your nights as a couch potato watching football. Surely you’re not going to prevent gays from protecting democracy and then run off to find a new 3D HD TV. Someone’s got to sacrifice for this country. And if you want to prevent gays from doing so, you have to grab a rifle and dodge the bullets yourself.

A FEW years ago on my radio show I interviewed two gay men who were in court fighting the government of Florida – my home state, where gay adoption is prohibited – to adopt a five-year-old African-American child who was mentally handicapped.

They had been picking the boy up from an orphanage every Sunday for about a year. One of the men said, “Nobody wants him. But we want him.”

I choked up. The show went to dead air. I could not speak or respond. “Nobody wants him. But we want him.” Here was a child whose skin color, for some, was all wrong and whose intelligence did not always match up. But to these two men the boy was perfect.

I believe their love for him was also perfect, and I believe that God loves these men for their dedication to this child, irrespective of how we view the morality of their relationship.

I am Orthodox; Judaism and the Bible have been the center of my life for all my 44 years. But if religion has not taught me to respect all men and women who adopt an unloved orphan and to be inspired by their example, then it has failed to bring out my humanity or change my heart.

That some would prefer that unwanted children remain in orphanages rather than in warm and welcoming homes is a sad commentary on the selfappointed morality police of our time.



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I'm So Proud!


Over the weekend, several friends alerted me by email and in person (one of them while I was walking on the way to shul, actually) that my daughter's company was featured in a photo in our local newspaper.

As I've said before, Baby K'tan is one of the best baby carriers on the market.  I am so proud!!

Here is a reproduction below:

Holiday shopping campaign is locally honed
By Margaret Jackson
The Denver Post
Posted: 11/27/2010 01:00:00 AM MST


Real Baby general manager Annie Mullens, left, talks with Elisabeth Levy about the proper fit for a Baby K'Tan carrier. Levy, holding a 1-week- old girl whom she is in the process of adopting, was shopping in Denver's Highlands Square district on Friday. (Andy Cross, The Denver Post )
 
Black Friday shoppers were waiting outside The Chocolate Therapist in downtown Littleton when Windsor Kilian opened the shop at 6 a.m. They had already been out for hours, hunting down the best deals at national retailers that opened even earlier. By 6 a.m. most were finished and looking for a good cup of hot coffee...

(If you are interested you may read the entire article here.)
(And please, if you know anyone who is pregnant or has a baby and is looking for a baby carrier--send them to the Baby K'tan Web site.  I thank you!)



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The Latest Jewish Blog Carnival is LIVE

Yes, that famous Jewish Blog Carnival, Haveil Havalim #293 the-post-Thanksgiving-pre-Chanukah Edition is now up and running at Homeshuling.

Go, read it.  After all, what else have you got to do?

(Um, me? All I have to do is write up my copious notes for my preschool kids' developmental milestones for their portfolios and  read and organize my staff meeting notes and my curricula for the next two weeks. Think I'll read Haveil Havalim...)



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Whaddaya Do? Become a Jew!

Not to give this story a bad rap (oy), but rapper Shyne has now publicly embraced his Jewish heritage, has undergone a symbolic conversion in Israel (he already was an Ethiopian Jew) and is now an Orthodox Jew, readying his return to rapping.




A significant statement he made explaining his choice to lead an Orthodox Jewish life:

“What are the laws?” he said, explaining his decision to adhere to the Orthodox level of observance. “I want to know the laws. I don’t want to know the leniencies. I never look for the leniencies because of all of the terrible things I’ve done in my life, all of the mistakes I’ve made.”
I can't wait to hear his next rap song.  Is it time for Matisyahu to move over...?!

*Copyright alert: No infringement of any text or graphic copyright is ever intended on this blog. If you own the copyright to any original image or document used for the creation of the graphics or information on this site, please contact the blog administrator with all pertinent info so that proper credit can be given. If you wish to have it removed from the site, just say the word; it shall be, ASAP.



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Amish Ask Jews for Forgiveness: at the Kotel (Western Wall)

This is amazing.  Representatives of the U. S. and Swiss Amish communities actually violated their own principles of avoiding modern technology and transportation to fly to Israel and visit the Kotel (meaning "the Wall," in Hebrew).

The sole purpose of this visit was to ask forgiveness from the Jewish people, for not speaking up against the Sho'ah (Holocaust) during the Nazi attempt to exterminate the Jews.

According to an announcement issued by the office of Rabbi of the Western Wall and Holy Sites Shmuel Rabinovitch, with whom the group met, the Amish delegates saw a great importance in coming to Israel and expressing their contrition, as well as declaring their unreserved support of the Jewish people and the State of Israel.
 The Amish then promised to publicly pledge support of Israel and the Jews in the future, especially in light of the existential threats towards Israel by Iran's Ahmadinejad.

It's really nice to have a friend.  Now we have two: Canada, and the Amish. Not sure about the U.S. though...



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Friday, November 26, 2010

History You Need To Know: the Vote for the Jewish State

I posted the first video in this series by Toldot Yisrael on my post of Sept. 6th.  Now (hat tip Daled Amos, who saw it at The Muqata), here is the second.

I've already wiped my tears.



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U. S. Airport Security is...Ridiculous. And Useless.

Here we go again.  The new TSA airport security regs are now in place.  Now, we can look forward to little old ladies in wheel chairs and children over twelve being scanned in a very revealing manner, or if they refuse, going through very personal pat-downs.  Is this necessary? Is it effective? Not really, on both counts.  These methods are for the people who are afraid.  Not of terrorists, but of political correctness, i.e., that which is called racial profiling.  This fear in the end, could kill us.

Funny, Israel, subject to more terror threats than most other countries and surrounded by enemies who have publicly called for her destruction, doesn't do that.  And their security is pretty thorough, thank G-d.  Their international airport, Ben-Gurion, is considered one of the most secure airports in the world (hat tip The Israel Situation).

What do we learn from this? That Israel is smart. That it faces reality and doesn't hide it's head in the sand.  Israeli security has determined that most, if not all of the terrorists they have to watch out for, are Muslim.  Facts are facts.  How can we protect ourselves from the enemy, if we are afraid to name the enemy?  The answer is, we can't.

Our methods smack of knee-jerk reactions: after a would-be terrorist tries to set off a bomb in his shoe, we order everyone to remove their shoes (Israel doesn't do this).  Another terrorist tries to put a bomb in his underwear, we scan everyone (Israel doesn't do this).  A third tries to bring a bomb in a gel pack, no one is allowed to bring in more than 3 ounces of any liquids or gels (Israel doesn't do this).  

Barry Rubin says it perfectly, on his blog The Rubin Report (hat tip, Daled Amos). We think that we are stepping up our security measures and keeping ourselves safe.  But we are not.

 No doubt, the U.S. government will claim that it has achieved the goal of keeping terrorists out of airports. But this is misleading. The TSA has literally never caught a terrorist at an airport. And why go through an airport nowadays with any reasonable level of security when you can look for relatively unguarded targets? That’s what terrorists do.
What is the strategy of a smart warrior? Get his enemy to send all of his troops to guard someplace and then hit at a weak point somewhere else.
 We are wasting our time.  And the terrorists will change their methods, watching our knee-jerk reactions.  Barry Rubin writes (the bold is his):
That’s why the Underpants Bomber and the Shoe Bomber and also the Times Square Bomber, and yes even the Fort Hood shooter, and others were not caught by the security system. It was too busy paying for people to pat down or x-ray Americans randomly.
Listen to this clip from Meet The Press about the new screening measures. Pay special attention to congressman-elect Allen West, when he states that we did not take the opportunity to meet with Israel and gain their knowledge on airport security.  He is absolutely correct in his assessment.



We need to be smart.  We can be smart, by rethinking our airport security methods.  By profiling the people likely to be terrorists, and not wasting our time on the Chinese lady or the Jewish grandmother.

And we need to do this very, very soon.  Before the terrorists outsmart us.



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Thursday, November 25, 2010

Happy Thanksgiving Everybody!

My children, wherever they now live, all had a Thanksgiving dinner together with family.  We, the parents--are the only ones in the family who had no family to have Thanksgiving dinner with, several consecutive years now.

Instead, we were together with good friends for the third year in a row (which makes it a chazakah)--from now on as long as we're here, unless there are special circumstances, we will have Thanksgiving dinner with them.  Even if, say, our kids come back here for a visit at this time next year, we will all be together--family, and our friends.

Our daughters in the States (Toodles and Baby K'tan and family) were together with the entire mishpocheh at Tia D.'s house, with all the Aunts and Uncles and cousins and Grandma, too. They get together every year--there's a lot of family down there, in sunny hurricane land.

But what about our children living in Israel? What did they, like a lot of ex-pats, do for Thanksgiving?  Our youngest, Rambo, searched high and low for a whole turkey, which couldn't be found anywhere.  So she looked for turkey pieces, but she started looking too late--all the stores were out.

Thanksgiving morning she ran out to one more store and they, too, had sold out all their turkey pieces.  She didn't even ask for a whole turkey, thinking they wouldn't have one (in Israel there aren't too many requests for whole turkey, as you can imagine), when the meat counter man mentioned that wait, they have one whole turkey in the back, which is approximately the size of a large chicken.  He was wrong.  It was the size of three chickens, and my daughter bought it, thrilled that she finally found a turkey and a whole one at that!

One problem though. When she got back to her brother's apt. in Efrat where he--Nathaniel Bloomenstein and his lovely wife Noodles--were going to help her cook, they found it wouldn't fit in the oven. Yes, they do have smaller ovens in Israel than in the States, but turkeys can fit in them.  Here, the reason was different.  The Bloomensteins have a two-compartment oven, and they designated the small one for meat because they mainly eat dairy, so the big compartment was dairy; hence yon turkey not fitting in the small one.  So my son proceeds to carve up the turkey into its sundry parts, despite not having a clue as to how to cut up a turkey (I am not making this up. He told me this himself.).

All's well that ends well, and the turkey, the sweet potato casserole, the cranberry sauce (okay, that was maybe a little too watery, Rambo's oldest brother, Mister Arnold Mayergi--who made it--said; but it was still delicious ), and the salad made by the latter's lovely wife, Hardally Mayergi, and the pumpkin pie, and the French silk (chocolate) pie came out great.  I don't think they made pecan pie (do you know how hard it is to find dark Karo syrup in Israel? Neither do I.).

My kids all went to their baby sister's (Rambo's) apartment in Jerusalem with the cooked food in hand, or rather, in cars (her oven doesn't work, which is why she cooked it all at her brother's), and they were all three siblings there, two with their families (Rambo is the youngest, not yet married) for Thanksgiving dinner.  They had a wonderful time!

It's interesting, because in the States when the kids were growing up, we made home-made pizzas on Thanksgiving day so as not to de-emphasize Shabbat. Normally here in the U. S., Thursday night is milchig (dairy) night.   In Israel, they miss Thanksgiving (after all, they are Americans) and the family being together, so they made the fleishig (meat) dinner on the actual day.

Absence makes the heart grow fonder, as the saying goes.  Here is my Thanksgiving 2007 post, to explain our family tradition from way back.  It's interesting to think, that when we return to live in Israel and spend the day with our kids--which we will some day--will we be making a traditional Thanksgiving dinner on the day, or...pizza?!

The most ecumenical thing would be to take a family vote.  Good idea.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!


(Hat tip to my Rambo for reminding me about this video)



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Ready for Chanukah--Thanks, Chabad!

This is a very sweet and pretty upbeat Chanukah video.  It's getting me in the mood!  Can't wait for Chanukah, and yummy levivot*!  Thank you, Chabad, for your ongoing great work!



*levivot: potato pancakes, traditional for Chanukah



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Israel Continues to do Good-Despite Being a Pariah*

An alien landing somewhere on Earth and listening to the news blasting Israel would come to the conclusion that that country must be a huge land containing billions of people, which controls the world and is the cause of all evil in it.

This is the way it comes across, to hear or read about the lambasting of Israel--while countries whose regimes are truly guilty of piracy or rape, or murder and even genocide are written about, but without a hue-and-cry for de-ligitimization as is done with Israel. Cases in point include Darfur in the western Sudan, Somalia, and Indonesia, where our illustrious President just visited and towards which he gushed U. S. friendship.

Meanwhile, what are these failed regions and states doing to help humanity? Because Extremely-Evil-Israel-Which-Should-Not-Exist has just sent an aid shipment with a hundred thousand doses of medicine to Haiti to help alleviate the cholera epidemic which is ravaging that unfortunate country.

 That tiny Jewish homeland is also planning on sending a medical team to set up a center which will become permanent.

As a matter of fact, did you know that Israel has had an aid team in place in Haiti continuously, since the earthquake of January 2010?

The Israel Forum for International Humanitarian Aid (IsraAID) sent a team to Haiti recently to assess the impact of the cholera outbreak. IsraAID has had teams in the area since an 7.0-magnitude earthquake hit in January.
Let's review a little, shall we:

In January, shortly after the earthquake, an IDF team flew to Haiti and established a field hospital in which more than 1,100 people were treated and more than 300 surgeries performed.

 The world would do well to come to its senses and recognize Israel-the-Jewish-State for what it is: a highly civlized country which continues to display Jewish Torah values in caring for the downtrodden and oppressed, regardless of their ethnicity or religion--despite being surrounded herself by enemies who vilify and seek her destruction.

It seems appropriate here to post this video of Moshe Feiglin's answer to Mr. Obama's Cairo speech given last year, in which he sucked up to the Muslim world (in Hebrew, with English subtitles. Read them.)




Remember that Bible in which many of you believe? Those who bless Israel will be blessed.  And the opposite.

*you're intelligent. look it up.



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Satire Illustrating the Truth-Another Latma TV Beauty

For some reason, I keep posting stuff ("stuff" is such a pithy word, isn't it?) a week after it's first published.  Must be because I live in space, not time.  Just like my mother (a'h).

This Latma TV video, among other things, illustrates beautifully what the situation would be like if Israel continued the construction freeze, and shows how respectful and ecumenical these peaceniks are to the 'noble' Palestinians and their values.





(Let's face it. Geert Wilder was right: our culture is better.)



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Sunday, November 21, 2010

A Tribute to Alice

Alice Herz-Sommer is 106 years old.  She is a Holocaust survivor, and yet after all these years, bears no enmity towards those who tried to exterminate her, her family and her people. Her 107th birthday (G-d willing) is November 26th.  May we all merit, in her honor, a world of GOODNESS as opposed to the evil one we have now.  May she live to 120 (at least), healthy and happy, Amen. (hat tip Ani, my sister-in-law's sister-in-law. There's nothing like family!)



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The Difference Between the U. S. and Canada on Israel

I know this is not new and has been posted about by other bloggers, most recently where I saw it on Haveil Havalim #291.  I wasn't going to jump on the bandwagon because I thought it was thoroughly in the news, but I just saw this particular article on the subject, sent to me by my friend M in London, and decided to post it in case any of my readers had not heard.

Heard of what? That the Prime Minister of Canada, Stephen Harper, has more gumption and guts than the so-called president of the once-greatest free country in the world.  Mr. Harper is turning out to be "Israel's greatest friend in the world."

Here is a man who is not afraid of political correctness, and who has already in the past weathered negative reactions to his outspoken support of Israel.  I can't help contrasting this with Mr. Obama's wishy-washiness at best and condemnation of Israel at worst, most recently while he was visiting a certain Muslim country which was itself guilty of terrorism against its own non-Muslims.

Mr. Harper's statements were delivered at an interparliamentary conference on combating antisemitism given in Ottawa.  His statements, unpopular with the Muslim world and even with many non-Muslims, show courage and strength of character.  Here is the video of that incredibly wonderful speech.



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Haveil Havalim #292

As Jack put it (heck, might as well link him too--he's the current HH Meister), the "longest running Jewish Blog Carnival," Haveil Havalim (Vanity of Vanities) #292 - is up and running at To Kiss a Mezuzah

Even though this time, yours truly is not there, there are lots of good bloggers whose posts are, so go, have a good read!



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The Arab-Israel Conflict in a Nutshell

(Sigh.)
I don't see what the big problem is in understanding the so-called Arab-Israel conflict in the Middle East.  It's as plain as day for people who are not afraid to face the facts.  Unfortunately, because of politics, political correctness, fear of naming the enemy and antisemitism (which is a cleaned-up word for just plain hatred of Jews), the so-called "Middle East Conflict"  has become convoluted and is thought of as "complicated," because there are supposedly "two peoples who claim one land."

Baloney. It really isn't complicated, but rather extremely simple--and finally somebody is summing it up, in about 5:54 minutes.  Thank you, Dennis Prager (hat tip Israel Situation).



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Getting Into the...Chanukah Spirit.

It's hard to believe that Chanukah 5771 is almost here.  This is one of the times that I so miss being in Israel.  I want to be surrounded by my own people's holiday and culture.  Chanukah is a celebration of the restoration of religious freedom and the Beit Hamikdash (Holy Temple) to the Jewish people.  America--let's face it--was founded by Christians and promotes Christian holidays, which is understandable.  I am a proud American, but also a proud Jew. Being a Jew is the core of my being, and as a Jew, I have the need to be surrounded by my own heritage, customs and laws.  I can feel this so much more in a Jewish country, where my religion is the main, official one. 

Besides, there is nothing like Israeli sufganiyot (American jelly doughnuts can't hold a candle, so to speak).

Thanks to Jacob Richman for posting all his Chanukah videos.  I don't know whether this one is on his list, however.



(By the way, no offense meant to anyone, Christian or Jewish.  Just take the video with a grain of...jelly and oil.)



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Friday, November 19, 2010

Tenk Gott is Shabbes

Received this in an email from a friend. After picking myself up off the floor, I decided it was worthy of posting here, erev Shabbat.  It also reminds me a little of my grandparents, zichronam li'vracha. . .
To all, Shabbat Shalom.   



. . .And Speaking of Yiddish, a Call to a Miami Condo:


HELLO. . .        Is this the Goldberg residence?"
        "Yes, mit whom do you vish to speak?"
        "Mrs. Goldberg please."
        "Mrs. Goyeldberg is gevoren shoppink 
[Went shopping] to dem supermarket."
        "Is Mr. Goldberg there?"
        "Oy, dis time of de day? Mister Goyeldberg is voikink."
 
        "Is Thelma at home?"
        "In de school is Telma, very clever… a real chuchom 
[Smart person] "
    
        "How about Harry, is he home ?"
        "Herry's in de colletch of medicine . Soon he should be a dokter,   kaynahoreh 
[G_d willing, no evil eye].."
    
        " Ok I see. Tell me then You must be Mrs Goldberg's mother?"
        "No, poor Bubbi Goyeldberg is gone, ollivasholom 
[May she rest in peace].”
    
        "So, then  may I ask to whom I am speaking?"
    
        "Dis is Shawana, de shvartze."



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Tuesday, November 16, 2010

The Latest HH #291 is Live

Read and enjoy the latest Haveil Havalim, the Jewish Blog Carnival.  It's up and running at The Rebbetzin's Husband.



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Obama Proud of his Childhood Home, Despite its Committing Genocide

So Mr. Obama has visited the country in which he spent four years of his childhood.  And while there, he praised Indonesia and talked about how it has "changed" in the years since he was there.  He also somehow found time to condemn Israel for starting construction in Jerusalem while there.  But he apparently conveniently forgot to remember Indonesia's bloody history.  Could it be that he forgot the genocide committed by his childhood country, because he was a Muslim at the time--and the atrocities were committed against Christians and other non-Muslims??  (Hat tip to Arlene From Israel for the link to Sultan Knish's full post on this subject, excerpted here).

To understand the significance of Obama's biography-- imagine that an American President who grew up in Nazi Germany on the eve of war, wrote only about his idyllic childhood running around the streets of Berlin and learning to read Mein Kampf, and then returned decades later, with no concession that a genocide had occurred here.

Not only does Obama insist on playing dumb when it comes to his adopted country's genocidal recent history, but appointed Dennis Blair as Director of National Intelligence. Back in 1999, after 200 people had been massacred in a Catholic Church, Dennis Blair was sent to ask for an end to the killing, instead he invited the Indonesian general to Hawaii and offered him American military assistance. This did not stop Blair from being confirmed, even though he had become a collaborator in genocide. Blair then brought along Chas Freeman, who claimed that China had been restrained in carrying out the Tiananmen Square Massacre. And the likes of Joe Klein and Andrew Sullivan rose to defend Freeman against any criticism.

Blair and Freeman are gone now, but this is an administration that thought both men were worthy of high positions. A nightmarish idea by any measure. Membership in the Nazi party would have disqualified just about any nominee, but giving a thumbs up to genocide and massacres in Asia makes one an honorable man.

But East Timor isn't the end of it. The same Indonesian military is still in business.

The Kopassus special forces, Indonesia's answer to the German SS, are still out and about. In 1998, Kopassus thugs gang raped hundreds of Chinese women in Jakarta. Some were burnt alive. The victims were as young as 10 years old and some were thrown into burning buildings afterward. The attackers proclaimed to their victims, "You must be raped because you are Chinese and non-Muslim."

And because of that, because the perpetrators were Muslim and the victims non-Muslim, the whole thing was quickly swept under the rug.
This is the real Jakarta, the city of Barack Hussein Obama's nostalgia. It's the ugly truth lurking behind his "exotic" biography. During his remarks with the Indonesian President, Obama got laughs when he mentioned how much Jakarta had changed since he was there. Of course one of the reasons for those changes is that the 1998 riots torched many non-Muslim businesses. The 'joke' was akin to mentioning how different Berlin looks since Kristalnacht.

In July, Robert Gates visited Jakarta, and ended a longstanding ban on US cooperation with the Kopassus forces. This was obviously not done on his own initiative. Such a radical departure from established US policy would have come from the top down. And the top is the self-proclaimed Jakarta street kid, full of nostalgia for his former adopted country. Barack Hussein Obama.
 Did our President question the Indonesian President about the atrocities committed against the Chinese women of Jakarta, or how about the Christians of East Timor? Or, what about the subjugation of the Papuans? Nope.  But he found the wherewithal to condemn Israel for...building houses.  Well, I guess it's right in line with the audacity of the president of Indonesia, to try putting pressure on Mr. Obama to hurry along a Palestinian Muslim state--"Muslim" being the key word here.  As the Sultan Knish concludes in his riveting post:

And so the killings go on, and Obama keeps on smiling, as he makes his nostalgic pilgrimage to bloody Jakarta, where he lived as a Muslim, free of the violence and terror faced by non-Muslims in that city. And the media smiles along and ignores the bloody history. Because as long as the lives of non-Muslims are considered to be worth less than that of Muslims-- the blood will continue to flow.
And this is the President of the Free World.  Oh, how the mighty have fallen.



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Sunday, November 07, 2010

No Peace for the Victims of Peace

Haven't had the time to post, but at least I can alert you to the latest Jewish Blog Carnival, Haveil Havalim #290, which is now live at Frume Sarah's blog.

And I can leave you with Latma TV's latest parody (or maybe it's not the latest, but it sure spoke to me) on that famous, well-known Israeli peace song,  Shir LaShalom (A Song to Peace).  This is the real "peace" we've had until now.  Because there is no true partner for peace: a 'partner' who refuses to even recognize Israel as a legitimate State, and who gives speeches in Arabic to its peoples promoting violence against Israelis, is not a peace partner.



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