Ahmadinejad Makes Annual Trip To UN General Assembly; Anti-Gay, Anti-Israel Comments Ensue

There's no surprises here. Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad hates Israel's very existence and doesn't think any better of gays or lesbians. He lets those views air once again in an interview given before he speaks at the United Nations expect that they will be part and parcel of his rants tomorrow when he speaks at the UN General Assembly (which will likely be marked by Israel, the US and other countries walking out on his rants).

During a taped interview with Piers Morgan broadcast Monday night on CNN, Ahmadinejad responded candidly to Morgan's questioning about a statement the Iranian leader once made that Israel should be "wiped off the map."

Speaking through a translator, Ahmadinejad said:
If a group comes and occupies the United States of America, destroys homes while women and children are in those homes, incarcerate the youth of America, impose five different wars on many neighbors, and always threaten others, what would you do? What would you say? Would you help it? ... Or would you help the people of the United States?

So when we say "to be wiped," we say for occupation to be wiped off from this world. For war-seeking to (be) wiped off and eradicated, the killing of women and children to be eradicated. And we propose the way. We propose the path. The path is to recognize the right of the Palestinians to self-governance.

Ahmadinejad also did not fully acknowledge the Holocaust, saying to Morgan, "Whatever event has taken place throughout history, or hasn't taken place, I cannot judge that. Why should I judge that? I say researchers and scholars must be free to conduct research and analysis about any historical event."

That he's going to claim that Israel's existence is an abomination and is an illegitimate state isn't news. He's been doing this routine for years. Ahmadinejad's also been deep in Holocaust denial for years as well.

That he's doing it in a speech scheduled for Yom Kippur, Judaism's holiest day, is. Who put together that schedule?

Second Suspect in Bergen County Synagogue Attacks Plotted To Murder Local Officials

A second suspect in a string of anti Semitic attacks across Bergen County, Aakash Dalal, has been charged in relation to a plot to kill local officials, including the Bergen County prosecutor in the original case.

A man accused of trying to firebomb New Jersey synagogues is expected to be in court Friday to face new charges that he allegedly plotted to kill an assistant Bergen County prosecutor working on the case.

Aakash Dalal, 20, is charged with conspiring to kill Assistant Prosecutor Martin Delaney.

Since May, the FBI has been investigating Dalal after learning that he wanted to get a gun and kill Delaney once he was released from jail, officials said.

On Wednesday, investigators executed a search warrant on Dalal’s cell and found evidence of the plot, prosecutors said. They also found a list of “enemies” the suspect kept that included Bergen County Prosecutor John Molinelli, according to authorities.

Dalal was due to be released from the Bergen County Jail this week after posting $1 million bail.

Dalal was charged in a attacks along with Anthony Graziano including an attack on a Rutherford congregation and its rabbi, who lived in the building. Prosecutors consider Dalal to be the teacher, with Graziano in the role of student.

The judge increased the bail on Dalal to $3 million from $1 million in light of the new charges. That's after an appellate court had reduced the bail from $2.5 million, believing that the original bail amount was excessive.

Prosecutors have said Dalal encouraged and advised Graziano, who is accused of firebombing a Rutherford synagogue and setting fire to a Paramus synagogue in January. Dalal and Graziano also have been accused of spray-painting anti-Semitic graffiti at synagogues in Hackensack and Maywood in December.

The most serious attack came on Jan. 11, when Graziano allegedly hurled several Molotov cocktails into the living quarters of a Rutherford synagogue where a rabbi, his wife and five children were sleeping. The rabbi suffered burns on his hand, but no one else was injured.

Neturei Karta Behind Anti-Semitic Vandalism At Yad Vashem

Israeli authorities have arrested four people in connection with anti-Semitic graffiti scrawled at Yad Vashem and other locations around Israel. The four people arrested are members of Neturei Karta, which refuses to recognize the state of Israel and often sides with the likes of Ahmadinejad and other anti-Israel types worldwide.

Four suspects from Jerusalem, Bnei Brak and Ashdod are under arrest on suspicion of spray-painting hate slogans on the Yad Vashem Holocaust museum, Ammunition Hill and other landmark monuments over the last couple months, police announced Tuesday morning.

The arrests were carried out by the elite central unit of the Judea and Samaria district. Police searched the homes of suspects and seized large amounts of texts condemning Zionism, Israel, and PLO flags, as well as paint. Texts suspected to be incitement to hatred were also found on computers.

The suspects confessed to spray painting the graffiti at Yad Vashem, which shocked the country and deeply upset Holocaust survivors. They also confessed to spray painting graffiti at Ammunition Hill on Remembrance Day as well as vandalizing memorials throughout the Jordan Valley.

Suspect In North Jersey Synagogue Attacks Plotted Firebombing Additional Congregations

One of two suspects in a rash of attacks on synagogues around Northern New Jersey was planning another attack, against the Paramus Jewish Community Center. Having attended that congregation during the high Holy Days (Yom Kippur and Rosh Hashana) a few years back this hits home even more than most:

Synagogue firebombing suspect Anthony Graziano was planning another attack — on the Jewish Community Center of Paramus — and was stockpiling beer bottles and gasoline in woods nears the center, Bergen County Prosecutor John Molinelli said Friday.

The discovery prompted new charges of attempted aggravated arson, bias intimidation, possession of a destructive device, he said. A court appearance on those charges is scheduled for Tuesday morning at Superior Court in Hackensack.

Molinelli said investigators had seized Graziano’s two computers, which showed that the suspect had searched for information about how to make Molotov cocktails and how to burn down buildings. He added that Graziano had tried to delete the information in a way that made it difficult to retrieve, but that investigators had succeeded in reconstructing it.

Graziano, 19, was arrested Monday night and charged with trying to start a fire with gasoline at the Congregation K’hal Adath Jeshurun in Paramus on Jan. 3. The fire went out quickly, and no one was injured, authorities said.

Authorities also accused him of throwing Molotov cocktails into the residential quarters of the Congregation Beth El synagogue in Rutherford on Jan. 11. Rabbi Nosson Schuman, who was sleeping at the time, said he escaped with his wife and five children.

Meanwhile, the list of congregations that received an anti Semitic pamphlet in the mail has grown to include the Fair Lawn Jewish Center, which isn't too far from our home.

Suspect In Rutherford New Jersey Synagogue Firebombing In Custody

There will be a news conference this afternoon, but a suspect has been arrested in the firebombing of a Rutherford, New Jersey synagogue.

The Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office will hold a press conference this afternoon, a source confirmed. Rabbi Nosson Schuman told his father he would be at the press conference.

The father, Larry Schuman, said investigators came by Tuesday morning to tell the family of the arrest in the attack earlier this month.

“It was relatively fast,” he said. “It was a fantastic job. It’s not easy to find a perpetrator.”

The rabbi’s wife, Pessy Schuman, said the prosecutor’s office called this morning and that she and her husband would attend the press conference. The couple was out of town at a hotel to get away for a couple days when the call came, she said.

Joy Kurland, director of the Jewish Community Relations Council of the Jewish Federation of Northern New Jersey, said she also will be attending the press conference, and believes someone has been apprehended. She said although good news, she said temple leaders need to remain on guard.

"If that's the case we would be extremely relieved that someone has been apprehended in regard to this horrific crime committed,'' she said. "But we still need to be vigilant and live by the mantra that if you see something, say something."

The arrest comes after the prosecutor’s office released a video on Friday of a suspect leaving what appeared to be a Walmart. The prosecutor’s office did not release details of the arrest.

Video released last week showing a person of interest resulted in tips leading to the arrest. In the January 11 incident, Molotov cocktails were thrown at Congregation Beth El and one of them went through a second-floor window of the synagogue’s living quarters, where Rabbi Nosson Schuman and his wife were sleeping. While the rabbi, his wife, 5 children and the rabbi's father all escaped, Rabbi Schuman was burned on his hand as he extinguished the fire.

Prosecutors Release Video Of Man Wanted In Connection With Bergen County Shul Firebombing Attack

Prosecutors have released a video of a man wanted in connection to the January 11 firebombing of a Rutherford synagogue.

The video, from Jan. 9 surveillance footage, shows a fair-skinned man apparently between 18 and 30 years old, leaving what appears to be a Wal-Mart store with a camouflage backpack and a plastic shopping bag.

The man, who is about 5’10’’ to 6’1’’, has a thin to medium build and is wearing a red and black warm-up suit and a red skull cap. The man was also seen riding a bicycle, according to a press release.

Law enforcement officials are asking anyone with information that could lead to identification of the man to call a hotline at 201-226-5532, email tips@bcpo.net or send a text message to 551-265-5651.

It might have been helpful to know the time the man was spotted in the Walmart as well as the location of the store. Neither was provided in the Record's story. The location of the store would be key to helping jog the memory of someone who might have seen the individual since there are several locations throughout Northern New Jersey.

UPDATE:
Prosecutors have also revealed that several Jewish congregations received anti Semitic letters through the mail.

He said the letters had first-class mail stamps on them and New York City return addresses belonging to two Jewish activists.

In Hackensack, the sender created an 8-by-10-inch collage of photos of Bernie Madoff and the chairmen of Citibank, Goldman Sachs and Lehman Brothers along with two other apparent Wall Street leaders. A Beth El temple employee noticed the synagogue received the letter just after 8 a.m. Friday, said Detective Capt. Thomas Salcedo.

On the sheet of paper, Madoff’s photo was doctored to make him look like a devil, and the words “Wall St. Jews” were superimposed over the other men’s images, which were copies of magazine covers that had been shrunken to fit the page, Salcedo said.

The synagogue called police without opening it because leaders thought it was suspicious. The sheriff’s office is analyzing the letter and the business envelope it arrived in for evidence, Salcedo said.

In Maywood, Temple Beth Israel received a similar letter Thursday afternoon. The letter had about nine magazine covers shrunken to fit the page. The magazine covers depicted Jewish men in a negative manner, said Detective Mark Gillies.

And then, there's reports that someone established a WiFi account at a community center in Teaneck, New Jersey that was both racist and anti Semitic.

A bigot named their WiFi signal “F--- All Jews and N----” — and now cops are investigating.

The hateful signal I.D. popped up on the iPhone of a 28-year-old mom inside a Teaneck, N.J. recreation center, where her 3-year-old daughter was attending dance class.

The offending signal was coming from a router connected in the Richard Rodda Community Center in the the township, located 10 miles outside New York City.

More Anti-Semitic Incidents In Brooklyn Have Communities on Edge

Today two separate incidents of anti Semitic graffiti was found in Brooklyn. In addition to graffiti found in Midwood, where there have been several other incidents, including a possible insurance scam that used anti Semitic slurs to cover up torching several vehicles, several swastikas were found in Floyd Bennett Field, which is part of Gateway National Recreation Area (and would make that particular incident a federal crime).

Separately, one man is under arrest after making threatening phone calls to several women in Brooklyn using anti Semitic slurs.

Police arrested David Haddad, 56, a Chelsea building manager for leaving threatening messages on the answering machines of older women in Chelsea and in South Brooklyn.

But it was unclear Monday night whether Haddad is tied to the half dozen swastikas and a “Die Jew” that appeared on two homes, an apartment building, and a school near the intersection of Avenue L and E. 5th Street.

“This first arrest is an empowering development,” said City Councilman David Greenfield (D- Midwood). But “it seems this is happening all over the city. All at the same time. It seems this individual is responsible for a section of it.”

Cops said Haddad - who knows some of his victims - is considered a suspect for the weekend swastika spree.

But Midwood victims said they never heard of Haddad.

“I don’t know the name,” said Steven Miltz, whose E. 5th Street white garage door had “Die Jew” and three swastikas spray painted on.

These incidents are on the heels of a spate of attacks in Northern New Jersey, including one attack that is classified as an attempted murder when a firebomb was thrown at a shul/home of a rabbi. New Jersey investigators have some leads on those attacks, but so far no arrests have been made.

Northern New Jersey Wave of Anti-Semitic Attacks Has Jewish Community On Watch

A string of attacks against Jewish congregations in Northern New Jersey has communities on edge, and the most recent attack, involving a firebomb thrown at a synagogue in Rutherford that also is home to the rabbi and his family, is being treated as both a hate crime and attempted murder.

The attacks have been in Hackensack, Paramus, Rutherford, and Maywood.

In response to these attacks, law enforcement including state, county, and local police and the FBI, held a closed door meeting with rabbis and officials from more than 80 congregations across Northern New Jersey to outline security precautions and increased patrols.

Rep. Steve Rothman, D-Fair Lawn, said after a closed-door meeting in Paramus of Jewish religious and community leaders, politicians and law enforcement officials on Thursday night that most if not all of Bergen County’s police departments and the county sheriff’s office had committed to the patrols.

“We can have random but regular tours of all the houses of worship in every one of our communities,” Rothman said at a press conference after the meeting. “The major goal is to catch these perpetrators.”

The meeting, at the Jewish Federation of Northern New Jersey, was scheduled last week after a suspicious fire at a Paramus synagogue, the third bias crime against a Bergen County temple since Dec. 10. But the meeting took on new urgency Wednesday after an attack on Congregation Beth El in Rutherford in which a Molotov cocktail was thrown into the second-floor bedroom where Rabbi Nosson Schuman and his wife, Pessy, were sleeping.

The Schumans, their five children and the rabbi's father escaped without injury. Nosson Schuman said Thursday that he and his family would be under police protection for the foreseeable future.

“Usually lightning doesn’t strike twice, but sometimes it does,” he said. “Who knows the sickness of these people?”

There is also word that Fair Lawn police found anti-Semitic vandalism in a park near the Saddle Brook border.

An interfaith meeting will be held at the Rutherford congregation in solidarity with the Jewish congregation.

No arrests have been made in any of the incidents, and police don't think that the Fair Lawn incident is connected with the attacks on the Jewish congregations.

Disavowing Extremists But Accepting Their Support; Paul Continues Campaigning

Ron Paul is emblematic of what's wrong with politicians. He's on the record as espousing extremist views through a series of newsletters written in his name, with his name on the letterhead, and touted by Paul for years on end, but now that he's come in for far more scrutiny in the 2012 campaign season than he did in 2008 when these newsletters came to light, he's disavowed those newsletters and claims he didn't write them or know about them.

It's preposterous to think he didn't know the contents of these newsletters, but even granting him that, he still accepts support from the very kinds of people who espouse those kinds of conspiracies and extremist thoughts.

Don Black, director of the white nationalist Web site Stormfront, said in an interview that several dozen of his members were volunteering for Mr. Paul’s presidential campaign, and a site forum titled “Why is Ron Paul such a favorite here?” has no fewer than 24 pages of comments. “I understand he wins many fans because his monetary policy would hurt Jews,” read one.

Far-right groups like the Militia of Montana say they are rooting for Mr. Paul as a stalwart against government tyranny.

Mr. Paul’s surprising surge in polls is creating excitement within a part of his political base that has been behind him for decades but overshadowed by his newer fans on college campuses and in some liberal precincts who are taken with his antiwar, anti-drug-laws messages.

The white supremacists, survivalists and anti-Zionists who have rallied behind his candidacy have not exactly been warmly welcomed. “I wouldn’t be happy with that,” Mr. Paul said in an interview Friday when asked about getting help from volunteers with anti-Jewish or antiblack views.

But he did not disavow their support. “If they want to endorse me, they’re endorsing what I do or say — it has nothing to do with endorsing what they say,” said Mr. Paul, who is now running strong in Iowa for the Republican nomination.

The libertarian movement in American politics has long had two overlapping but distinct strains. One, backed to some degree by wealthy interests, is focused largely on economic freedom and dedicated to reducing taxes and regulation through smaller government. The other is more focused on personal liberty and constraints on government built into the Constitution, which at its extreme has helped fuel militant antigovernment sentiment.

Mr. Paul has operated at the nexus of the two, often espousing positions at odds with most of the Republican Party but assembling a diverse and loyal following attracted by his adherence to libertarian principles.

Mr. Paul’s calls for the end of the Federal Reserve system, a cessation of aid to Israel and all other nations and an overall diminishment of government power have natural appeal among far-right, niche political groups. Aides say that much of the support is unsolicited and that it is unfair to overlook the larger number of mainstream voters now backing him.

But a look at the trajectory of Mr. Paul’s career shows that he and his closest political allies either wittingly or unwittingly courted disaffected white voters with extreme views as they sought to forge a movement from the nether region of American politics, where the far right and the far left sometimes converge.

Paul's positions hew closely to those of extremists that want to push a gold standard, eliminate the Federal Reserve, and eliminate any and all kind of support for the State of Israel. Throwing all those positions together has brought together extremists of all stripes, including white supremacists, neo Nazis, and other kooks, and he has no problem continuing to garner support from the likes of Don Black with Stormfront.

Stormfront is a white supremacist group run by Black, who not only is a former Klansman, but was among the first to recognize the importance of the Internet in spreading his messages of hate and vitriol.

Instead of distancing himself completely from the likes of Black and his followers, Paul is riding a thin line between accepting their support and volunteer efforts and claiming that he doesn't stand or support those positions.

That just is insufficient. He must purge his group of these hate groups and their supporters, but doing so would essentially eviscerate his own limited campaigning operations since it would expose just how closely bound he is to the extremists.

Then again, his flailing and failing campaign will implode in coming weeks, and will be little more than a footnote in the campaign when all is said and done.

Video Surfaces Showing Ron Paul Touting Racist Newsletter He Now Claims He Knew Nothing About

Ron Paul's chances for being anything more than a racist footnote in history have just dropped precipitously as video has surfaced of a Ron Paul advertisement touting the very newsletters he claims he knew nothing about.

A recently surfaced video from 1995 shows the GOP presidential hopeful discussing controversial newsletters that he claimed this week he didn't even read until about 2001.

The Texas congressman has come under fire in recent days for the newsletters, called Ron Paul's Political Report, Ron Paul's Freedom Report and the Ron Paul Survival Report, which went out under his name in the late 1980s and early 1990s during his time in and out of office.

Some contained a series of racist statements, including, "We are constantly told that it is evil to be afraid of black men, it is hardly irrational."

During the 1992 Los Angeles riots, another read, "Order was only restored in L.A. when it came time for the blacks to pick up their welfare checks."

In the resurfaced C-SPAN interview, Paul — then out of office and trying to return to Congress — describes the “educational” newsletters and seems to be knowledgeable of their contents.

"It covered a lot about what was going on in Washington: financial events, especially some of the monetary events, since I had been especially interested in monetary policy, had been on the banking committee and am still very interested in that subject," said the libertarian-leaning lawmaker.

Reuters unearned a racist direct mail newsletter, in which he's predicting a race war.

So, to sum up. He first admitted that he was involved in the newsletter, but denied writing the most incendiary posts. Now, as those allegations have resurfaced in the 2012 campaign, he came to deny having anything to do with those newsletters at all, even as more information has surfaced showing not only how racist and anti-Semitic those newsletters were, but that Paul actively touted them in places like CSPAN.

Yet, there's a significant number of Republicans and libertarians who tout Paul as a panacea to all that ails the nation. If they took more than a cursory look at Paul and his policies, they'd see just how of touch with mainstream America he is, to say nothing of his racist and anti-Semitic ideologies he's proffered in the past.

For instance, Paul's policy options include the following:

• eliminating FEMA (as though that's the reason that people build/live in areas that are flood/hurricane/quake zones?);
• eliminate the FDA (because anyone can come up with radium as a medical treatment, drug companies can and do try to get treatments approved that turn out to be more dangerous);
•  believes Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid are unconstitutional (apparently ignoring the Art 1, Sec. 8, Cl 1/18 necessary and proper for the general welfare);
• against the Americans with Disabilities Act; and
•  he's okay with Iran having a nuclear weapons.

So, not only does Paul have a shaky understanding of the US Constitution and has a domestic agenda that would put millions of Americans at risk, but has a foreign policy that even fellow Republicans find distasteful and dangerous. Burying your head in the sand about potential and actual threats to US strategic interests and our trading partners/allies, is dangerous to everyone. Isolationism has a long history in the US, but it's come to bite us in a big way, particularly in the massive drawdown of military resources before World War II; isolationism didn't keep us out of the war, but it delayed how swiftly we could respond with forces capable of taking a sustained fight to the Axis powers.

Ahmadinejad Doesn't Fail To Deliver The Crazy At UN General Assembly...AgainT

You have to hand it to Iran's Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. He certainly knows how to get his anti-Semitic trooferism on. He's nothing if not predictable in his insane rhetoric.

Last year he gave quite the rant, and the US and other delegations walked out in disgust.

Well, he reprised last year's speech, carrying on with the same themes. And the US and other delegations again walked out in disgust.

Ahmadinejad told the U.N. audience that the United States used "the mysterious September 11 incident" as a pretext for wars against Afghanistan and Iraq.

The Iranian president offered his criticism in the form of a series of questions, asking who had engaged in slavery, imposed colonialism, supported military regimes and triggered World War I, World War II, the Korean War and the Vietnam War.

'The answers are clear," Ahmadinejad said.

"By using their imperialistic media network which is under the influence of colonialism they threaten anyone who questions the Holocaust and the September 11 event with sanctions and military actions," he said.

More than a dozen diplomats from other countries, including France, left the chamber soon after the U.S. delegation departed.

Mark Kornblau, spokesman for the U.S. Mission to the United Nations, said: "Mr. Ahmadinejad had a chance to address his own people's aspirations for freedom and dignity, but instead he again turned to abhorrent anti-Semitic slurs and despicable conspiracy theories."

Ahmadinejad accused some unidentified European countries of still using the Holocaust "as the excuse to pay fine or ransom to the Zionists." He also said any question about the foundation of Zionism is condemned by the U.S. "as an unforgivable sin."

When the idea of an independent fact-finding investigation of "the hidden elements" involved in the Sept. 11 attacks was raised last year, he said, "My country and myself came under pressure and threat by the government of the United States."

Note too that Iran has no problem engaging in all kinds of chicanery to remain in power - using force to thwart opposition protesters from having a peaceful voice and exporting terrorism to all corners of the Middle East but against Israel in particular.

It has bought power and proxy armies in the form of Hizbullah and in Syria and Lebanon. Iran seeks to expand its power into Iraq, and looks to counter Saudi Arabia and other Sunni-majority countries in the region.

But it is with the United States and Israel that he doesn't hold back with his craziness. It's nothing we haven't seen before, but it's again a stark reminder of what Israel is up against and why Israel lacks a partner for peace in the Palestinians and other neighboring countries (Lebanon and Syria).

Georgia Woman Claims Responsibility For Sending Anti-Semitic Ramblings To Rep. King; State Senator Ball

A Georgia woman who professes to be a Muslim has claimed responsibility for sending a package including a pig's foot and racist and anti-Semitic ramblings to New York Congressman Peter King and New York State Senator Greg Ball, both of whom carried out hearings on Islamic extremists and terrorism.

A self-described Muslim claims she mailed a bloody pig's foot to US Rep. Peter King and a Curious George plush toy to state Sen. Greg Ball to protest their hearings on homegrown terrorism.

Curious George was created by Holocaust survivors.

"I thought the letters explain themselves," Jacquelyn Barnette of Marietta, Ga., told The Post. The woman's bizarre anti-Semitic missives -- King's arrived on April 4 -- are also rife with derogatory references to Christians and white people.

Note too that neither King nor Ball are Jewish, but this woman's deranged ramblings pretty much hit on every group other than Muslims for disparagement. Given her admission, watch for the Postal Service police, FBI and local law enforcement pay her a visit and potentially bring her up on charges of relating to making terroristic threats against public officials.

Mixed Messages of Hate Sent To Rep. Peter King's Office

Someone has their bigotry all mixed up in a melange of hate, when someone sent GOP Rep. Peter King a bloody pig’s foot and an anti-Semitic note in wake of his hearings on Muslim radicalization.

U.S. Capital Hill cops said the parcel was intercepted Monday morning at a postal facility in Landover, Maryland, during a routine screening of congressional mail that began after the 9/11 attacks and an anthrax scare.

The severed pig's foot was accompanied by a letter filled with anti-Semitic slurs.

The gory package never reached King's office, and police notified the Long Island Republican about it Monday.

"The package was discovered at a mail facility off the Hill early this morning. We have an active open investigation regarding the incident and are working with postal inspectors," said Capitol Police Sgt. Kimberly Schneider without elaborating.

The threatening mailing came after King launched a series of controversial hearings last month on the "The Extent of Radicalization in the American Muslim Community."

It was not clear if the package was mailed in response to the hearings, whichsparked protests from American-Muslims in New York and in Washington.

King, chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, has been the target of threats since he scheduled the hearing.

King is a Roman Catholic, so whoever sent the attached anti-Semitic statement was clearly confused (besides being a racist loon). Whoever was responsible has a whole lot of hate stored up.

Khadafi Loyalists Continue Attempts To Retake Opposition Controlled Towns As Body Count Rises

Mumar Khadafi's regime still thinks that it is fighting not a revolution by his countrymen fed up with his 40 year regime, but rather an al Qaeda/US/Western conspiracy to overthrow his regime and that those opposed to his regime are drug addled.

Khadafi loyalists and mercenaries are attempting to retake towns near Tripoli, but having limited success despite sending in airstrikes to support groups of loyalists on the ground.

Libyan ruler Moammar Gadhafi tried to reassert his power Wednesday in a part of the country under the control of the opposition, launching an attack on the town of al-Brega.

A CNN crew saw airplanes flying over the town, and saw one drop a bomb in the area.

Opposition members fought to maintain control of the town, which is home to a refinery and natural gas processing plant, but witnesses said the battle was ongoing. A resident said there were casualties, but the number was unclear.

Meanwhile, in another lengthy, rambling speech to supporters, Gadhafi continued to claim that there are no peaceful Libyan protests, only al Qaeda-backed efforts to tear the country apart. In the remarks, carried on state television, Gadhafi blamed the problems on former prisoners at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, who were released to Libya and then freed by Libyan authorities after they pledged to reform. He said they turned out to be members of al Qaeda sleeper cells. He insisted his country is "stopping al Qaeda from flourishing," and stopping Osama bin Laden from moving into North Africa.

Khadafi's troops are still in control of Tripoli and making an attempt to show that the fighting is extremely limited and that the opposition is few in number, but the scenes from both inside and outside the capital city tell a different tale.

The only crowds you encounter are outside bakeries or banks, where people are collecting the 500-dinar ($400; £250) state giveaway to each family.

As I drove past one branch of BNP Paribas, a long queue outside its doors, a young skinny man in civilian clothes stood tall at the back of a pick-up truck, nonchalantly holding an assault rifle.

A few metres away, scorch marks blackened the concrete road. It's where anti-government protesters burnt things when they took to the streets.

Almost every main road that has any long stretch of wall bore the remains of graffiti in red or black with anti-government or anti-Gaddafi slurs.

They have been clumsily white-washed - what you see is a horizontal line of rather transparent white paint covering them - or at least trying to.

State schools are slowly re-opening, but several teachers say they are only going to work because they have to, and no pupils are turning up.

His forces are attempting to retake other towns, and while loyalists claim success, the opposition forces have reported that they've turned the tide and retaken those same disputed towns.

Khadafi also tries to bring Israel into the matter, claiming that he's doing nothing more than what Israel has done to Gaza to root out insurgents and terrorists. He's also calling on the UN to investigate whether a conspiracy was involved in attempting to overthrow his regime to get at Libya's oil reserves.

UPDATE:
Khadafi's pal Louis Farrakhan says that Jews are pushing the US into a war in Libya.

Right. Let's just ignore that it was the Libyans who rose up to protest the regime. It was Libyans who revolted against the regime and stood united against Khadafi when Khadafi unleashed his mercenaries and military (which later defected in large numbers to the very opposition). It is Libyans who are dying for their rights and freedoms.

Anti Semitism is the refuge of scoundrels and scum. No surprise that Farrakhan is still at it.

Iranian Holocaust Denial/Anti Semitism Watch

Iran is notorious for promoting revisionist history on the Holocaust by denying its existence, and its leadership frequently pushes a rabid anti Semitic agenda.

Today is no different, and we've got a two-fer.

An Iranian website calling the Holocaust "the great lie" and depicting an alternative version of events in Jewish history in cartoon form has been launched.

The site is reportedly financed by a cultural foundation, is not government affiliated, and is based mainly on a book of cartoons first published in 2008.

The site's creators say that they intend to show the world that the Holocaust has been entirely fabricated by the Jews, who not only invented it but have used it to their advantage ever since.

The book's preface begins by saying that the its purpose is "to denounce the conspicuous lie of the planned murder of 6 million Jews during the Second World War allegedly called 'Holocaust.'"

It continues, calling the Holocaust: "The lie by which the Palestine occupier Zionists have justified their occupying of Palestine and lots of their crimes for years."

Why does Iran (and other Arab countries for that matter) promote this?

Simple. It's meant to undermine one of the rationales for Israel's very existence. Israel was founded in the aftermath of the Nazi Holocaust as a refuge from anti Semitism rampant throughout the world and took on the worst form with the Nazi genocide of more than 6 million Jews throughout Europe.

It's also why Arabs and the Palestinians continually expropriate the language of the Nazi Holocaust and claim that Israel is doing unto them what the Nazis did to Israel. They think that they can gain international sympathy and undermine Israel's sovereignty and right to exist.

The Dispicable and Loathsome Mel Gibson At It Again: UPDATE: Lies and the Liars Telling Lies?

There was a time when Gibson was known more for making great movies. Now? He's known for being a raving lunatic who spews misogynistic and vitriol filled expletives at a moment's notice. His latest utterances include a full-on anti-Semitic rant:

The anti-Semitic slur was allegedly made by Mel in reference to a high-profile Hollywood figure who is Jewish and who Mel believed had “publicly humiliated” him.

Gibson hired individuals to place this person under surveillance, Oksana told authorities.

“Oksana says Mel told her, ‘I want Jew blood on my hands,’ and said he wanted the person taken to the desert, stripped naked, knee capped and left in the heat,” a source close to one of the investigations involving Mel told RadarOnline.com exclusively.

Gibson never followed through with his threats.

This is the latest vile remark attributed to the Lethal Weapon star, who targeted African Americans and Latinos in recorded arguments with his ex-girlfriend, played exclusively on RadarOnline.com.

No one knows who Gibson is referring, but I think I know one Hollywood director and actor would love to set Gibson straight. That would be Eli Roth, a director and actor who appeared most recently in Quentin Tarantino's Inglorious Basterds as the Bear Jew who would take a baseball bat to the Nazis he comes across.

Of course, Roth thinks he has a solution for the Gibson problem, and not coincidentally, it involves a baseball bat.

UPDATE:
TMZ.com is reporting that Oksana Grigorieva, who claims to have told authorities Mel Gibson plotted to break the kneecaps of a "Hollywood figure." (which apparently was TMZ's Harvey Levin, was lying about calling the LA Sheriff's office.

UPDATE: Sheriff's Department spokesperson Steve Whitmore tells TMZ, "We categorically deny that any such information was ever given to the L.A. County Sheriff's Department."

What we've got here is a liar and an anti Semite - neither of which are looking good in all of this.

Anti-Semitism Watch In Germany

German thugs attacked a Jewish dance group at a street festival in Germany. Several in the group of thugs shouted anti-Semitic slurs with a megaphone.

A Jewish dance group was attacked with stones by a group of children and teenagers during a performance at a street festival in the Germany city of Hannover, police said Thursday. One dancer suffered a leg injury and the group then canceled their performance.

The teenagers also used a megaphone to shout anti-Semitic slurs during the Saturday afternoon attack, Hannover police spokesman Thorsten Schiewe said.

Police said the incident is under investigation and that they do not have an exact number of attackers yet. Schiewe said there were several Muslim immigrant youths among the attackers.

Two suspects, a 14-year-old and a 19-year-old, were being questioned, he said.

Alla Volodarska, whose Progressive Jewish community of Hannover group held the performance, told The Associated Press in an interview that members were still in shock.

The number of anti-Semitic attacks around the world has been on the increase in recent years, fueled in large part by anti-Israel sentiment. However, as Meryl Yourish points out, these attacks have been increasing even without any references to Israel. Also, Meryl noted that the thugs were using the old Nazi standby of "Jews out" in their chants.

Attacks against Jews doubled in 2009, and they're increasing still. The world is becoming an ever more dangerous place for Jews to live - particularly in places like Germany and Poland, let alone in the Middle East.

The anti-Israel sloganeering and rhetoric is barely cover for the real underlying truth - that these people would much rather see the Jews disappear since they aren't tolerated anywhere - let alone in the State of Israel, for which they consider to be the source of all the current wave of anti-Semitism, even as it was the very anti-Semitism that fueled the Nazi genocide of Jews in Europe that led to the founding of Israel because there was a realization that there would be no place truly safe for Jews to call home.

Helen Thomas could not be reached for comment.

Hizbullah Applauds Helen Thomas' Raving Rant

It comes as no surprise that Hizbullah applauds Helen Thomas' disgusting revisionist history rant about Israel and telling the Jews to go back to Poland and Germany as the solution for Palestine.



For that, Hizbullah salutes Helen Thomas.

Thomas engages in revisionist history. She ignores the multi-generational connection between Jews and the land of Israel - that stretches back more than 3,000 years of documented history. In fact, it ignores the reason that Jews were forced to flee Germany and Poland (and indeed all of Europe at one time or another not including the Nazi Holocaust that occurred before and during World War II or the rampant anti-Semitism that prevent Jews from resettling in much of Germany and Poland (for those Jewish refugees that survived the genocide that is)). It ignores the Jews that were forced to flee from the Arab world and the refusal of countries like the US or Britain to accept Jewish refugees - instituting quotas including during World War II that directly led to deaths of Jews seeking to flee the Holocaust.

In fact, Jewlicious does the job for me and goes through the history lesson that Thomas seeks to rewrite. She goes through the thousands of years of history and persecution that requires Jews to flee everywhere they seek to live - ending up in Israel because they were out of options - and that Israel was their historic home all along - the place they turned their eyes to every day during prayer and on which they hoped for return all the days of their lives.

It's little wonder that Hizbullah applauds Thomas; they're two peas in a pod.

Palestinians Continue Indoctrinating the Hate

Hamas is continuing to indoctrinate kids with nothing but hatred and venom. In addition to casting the Israelis as evil child killers, they're taking to doing the same for their arch rivals, Fatah.

A pilot episode shows a toadyish Palestinian officer watching as a Jewish character machine-guns a group of West Bank children to death and drinks their blood.

"You killed our children before my eyes," the officer says meekly. "I will respond with even more peace."

The grotesque six-minute pilot was a big hit when tested on Gaza Strip viewers this month by Hamas' video mouthpiece, Al Aqsa TV, and will be expanded next month, officials in Gaza City said.
POISONING MINDS: A new Gaza TV cartoon features a giant-nosed Jewish villain slaughtering kids as a Palestinian Authority cop does nothing.
POISONING MINDS: A new Gaza TV cartoon features a giant-nosed Jewish villain slaughtering kids as a Palestinian Authority cop does nothing.

Al Aqsa TV is notorious for propaganda-filled kids' shows, such as a 2007 broadcast that showed Farfur, a Mickey Mouse-like character, vowing, "We will annihilate the Jews! I will commit martyrdom!"

In the final episode, an actor playing an Israeli agent tried to buy Farfur's land, and, when the mouse refused "to sell our lands to terrorists," he was beaten to death.

But the new Hamas series expands the hate-filled message by making monsters out of both the Israelis and the Palestinian security force, even though they have often clashed violently in the West Bank.

The pilot cartoon, called "A Special Mission," is built around Bahlul, a boot-licking police officer in the US-backed Palestinian Authority.

Hamas launched a civil war in 2007 against the authority's forces that ended with the terrorist group establishing iron control over Gaza and the authority retaining power in the West Bank.

Once again, until Israel has a partner in peace, there is no chance that there can be peace between Israel and its neighbors. Fatah and Hamas, along with the regimes that back the terror groups, continue indoctrinating kids into hatred, anti Semitism and perpetuate longstanding blood libels against Israel and its Jewish population.

That's the ugly reality that diplomats continue to ignore.

British Anti Semitism Watch

The British government continues its lawfare against Israel and Israeli officials who may happen to venture into the country.

Lawyers working with Palestinian activists are increasingly targeting senior Israeli civilian and military figures by seeking their arrest in Britain under the principle of "universal jurisdiction." This holds that alleged war criminals can be nabbed and charged anywhere, not just in a country directly involved in the crime.

Their latest target is Tzipi Livni, Israel's former foreign minister and current opposition leader, for her role during the bloody Israeli incursion into the Gaza Strip earlier this year.

She canceled her planned visit this month to London. The issuance of a warrant for her arrest, following earlier efforts to arrest Defense Minister Ehud Barak and other visitors, is curdling relations between Israel and Britain.

"It's about time for Britain to amend its law because, if this is possible, it will very severely damage the relations between the two countries," said Yehuda Blum, Israel's former ambassador to the United Nations. "The abuse and misuse of this concept of universal jurisdiction should be discontinued."

Blum, who teaches law at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, said the law was intended for use in cases with no clear jurisdiction, such as piracy in international waters, and should not be expanded for political aims.

"Why not use this against Vladimir Putin over Russia's role in Chechnya?" he said. "There is no end to it. This has caused great consternation and dismay."

Israeli officials, acting under orders from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, told the British ambassador Tuesday they expect quick action to change the law. In London, chagrined British officials said they were seeking solutions.

Do they do anything like this for terrorists from Fatah or Hamas who happen to engage in calls for Israel's destruction, exhort others to jihad or spur the ongoing violence against Israel?

After all, Operation Cast Lead was commenced but for the the thousands of rockets fired at Israel from Gaza by Hamas and Islamic Jihad. Had the rockets not been fired at Israel, Israel would not have had to engage in attacks to root out Palestinian terrorists who hid behind civilians and UN facilities, nor would they have had to close border crossings between Israel and Gaza. Terrorists have repeatedly attacked those crossings so as to induce Israel to close the facilities so that Israel can be blamed for restricting the flow of goods and services into Gaza; a thoroughly vile propaganda tactic.

Here, the Brits are willing to go after Israeli officials who were operating to protect Israeli civilians from further attacks - the thousands of rockets fired into Israel, and yet the British consider this criminal?