Friday, September 29, 2017
Not Exactly a Shockeroo
Guess what? Despite assurances to the contrary, textbooks used in UNRWA schools contrain more Israel/Jew-hate, not less.
Not that that's likely to have any impact on the Trudeau government's funding of this eliminationist body.
Nor did it affect the Run for UNRWA in Ottawa last week. (If anything, the textbook news would have provided added incentive to support the fundraiser.)
Not that that's likely to have any impact on the Trudeau government's funding of this eliminationist body.
Nor did it affect the Run for UNRWA in Ottawa last week. (If anything, the textbook news would have provided added incentive to support the fundraiser.)
Wednesday, September 27, 2017
An Open Letter (and an Awesome Rebuttal) to Ta-Nehisi Coates
Coates believes that white racism is an immovable force that prevents American Blacks from achieving the American Dream. Writing on the Commentary site, Jason D. Hill rebuts Coates's angry twaddle by referring to Hill's own experience as an immigrant from Jamaica. He also points to the example of another people who, though once enslaved and frequently reviled, managed to succeed:
Just a hunch, mind you.
I do not believe you intend to mislead your son [to whom Coates's book is addressed], but in imparting this credo, you have potentially paralyzed him, unless he reappraises your philosophy and rejects it. In your misreading of America, you’ve communicated precisely why many blacks in this country have been alienated from their own agency and emancipatory capabilities. The most beleaguered people on the planet, the Jews, who have faced persecution since their birth as a people, are a living refutation of your claim. When they labored in slavery in Egypt, clamored in Palestine, made magnificent contributions to human civilization in European capitals, sojourned in Africa and Asia, and founded the modern State of Israel, no one gave these heroic people an affirmative-action plan to work anywhere. In spite of vitriol and invidious comparisons to vermin and pigs, and despite being subjected to countless pogroms and mandated ghettos, they thrived and flourished because not for one moment did they ever believe that their struggle for liberation lay in any hands other than their own.Something tells me that Coates will failed to be swayed by such an argument.
Just a hunch, mind you.
NYT Obit of Muslim Brotherhood Sanitizes the Man's Career, Beliefs
A Muslim Brotherhood bigwig died the other day. Here's the obituary that appeared in the New York Times:
Mohammed Mahdi Akef, a former leader of Egypt’s outlawed Muslim Brotherhood who had been detained since 2013, died on Friday in Cairo. He was 89.
Talaat Fahmy, a Brotherhood spokesman, said the cause was complications of cancer and other health issues. He said that Mr. Akef’s family had requested that he be released from custody because of his health, but that the request was declined by an Egyptian court.
Mr. Akef, who headed the Muslim Brotherhood from 2004 to 2010, was among hundreds of members arrested after the Egyptian military’s 2013 ouster of President Mohammed Morsi, a member of the Brotherhood.
Mr. Akef was initially convicted on charges of inciting violence and disturbing general security and was sentenced to life imprisonment. The verdict was overturned on appeal, and he was facing a retrial.
The Muslim Brotherhood rose to power in elections after the 2011 uprising that ousted President Hosni Mubarak. But the military toppled the group after widespread protests against it.
Mr. Akef, a physical education teacher, was born in 1928 and joined the Muslim Brotherhood in 1940. He was later part of its armed wing, known as the Special Apparatus, which carried out a series of assassinations and attacks in response to the British occupation of Egypt.
The group was accused of a failed assassination attempt against President Gamal Abdel Nasser, setting the stage for a heavy crackdown. Mr. Akef was imprisoned from 1954 until 1974.
After his release, Nasser’s successor, Anwar el-Sadat, embraced the Muslim Brotherhood and Mr. Akef was appointed to a government post.
As relations between Egyptian leaders and the Brotherhood fluctuated, Mr. Akef rose through the group’s ranks, eventually ascending to its top post in 2004. A year later, the Brotherhood participated in the country’s parliamentary elections, winning 20 percent of the seats.
A physical education teacher? A man who fought against the British occupation of Egypt? Someone appointed to a government post by Anwar Sadat?After Mr. Mubarak’s ouster, the group won all of Egypt’s elections, parliamentary and presidential, giving it a rare moment of triumph that quickly ended when Mr. Morsi was forced out of office...
Wow, he sounds like a pretty terrific dude, no?
Well, no. Not if you consider some career highlights that, go figure, the Times omitted. Stuff like this, for example:
- Akef got in on the ground floor, and was a leader of, the Muslim Brotherhood, an organization dedicated to the sharia-zation of the planet and the outfit that continues to inspire the likes of Al Qaeda and ISIS;
- in the mid-1970s, this hardened Islamist "moved to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia to work as an advisor for the World Assembly of Muslim Youth and was in charge of its camps and conferences. He took part in organizing the biggest camps for the Muslim youth on the world arena; in Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Malaysia, Bangladesh, Turkey, Australia, Mali, Kenya, Cyprus, Germany, Britain and America"; and that
- in 2005 "he denounced what he called "the myth of the Holocaust" in defending Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's denial of the Holocaust, and accused the United States of attacking anyone who raised questions about the Holocaust."
Rather changes your overall impression of the deceased, don't you think?
Tuesday, September 26, 2017
Daniel Johnson: "We Need Churchill's Vision of Liberty More Than Ever"
Hear, hear--and a crucial essay for our decidedly un-Churchillian times.
Update: Another worthwhile read in Standpoint: How we Syrians destroyed our home--with your help.
Update: Another worthwhile read in Standpoint: How we Syrians destroyed our home--with your help.
The Toronto Sun's Candice Malcom: "Stop Normalizing Sharia Law"
Sound and practical advice. Of course, that presents quite a challenge since, as Malcolm notes, the fix is in, the writing's on the wall, and it's probably only a matter of time before our totalitarian-minded "betters" in the Trudeau government and the CBC compel us to shut up and submit:
It remains to be seen how much longer one can say such things without being brought up on charges by the Justin Trudeau's thought enforcers.
After the controversial M-103 was passed in Parliament, leftist media and the Trudeau government insisted that the critics were wrong, that it’s just a motion – symbolic! – and that M-103 will have no legislative impact.
When the Heritage Committee began its hearings last week, however, critics who expressed concern over the motion were proven right.
One of the first experts to testify implied police should prosecute Canadians over social media posts that police deem offensive or incorrect. Yes, prosecute.
Orwell would be rolling in his grave.
More than just Orwellian, these official suggestions are reminiscent of theocratic tyranny. That’s not Canadian law. That’s Sharia law.
In the background of this charade, the mainstream media joined in and is doing its part to support Trudeau’s agenda.
The CBC ran a news story defending Sharia law, with a headline saying that Sharia is “not to be feared.”That's because in Ceebworld, sharia is awesome and anyone who demurs with that diktat is ipso facto a knuckle-dragging "Islamophobe."
It remains to be seen how much longer one can say such things without being brought up on charges by the Justin Trudeau's thought enforcers.
"Last Night in Sweden"...the Swedes Were Still Oblivious
Many Swedes took great umbrage back in February when Donald Trump insisted that some unspecified bad stuff had occurred "last night in Sweden." Unwilling to let the diss go answered, the Swedes struck back. The result has now been unveiled--and shipped off to Trump. It's an oversized volume of photos entitled, natch, Last Night in Sweden.
What's in it? As Bruce Bawer recounts, just about everything you would expect to see in a piece of picturesque propaganda:
What's in it? As Bruce Bawer recounts, just about everything you would expect to see in a piece of picturesque propaganda:
The book contains pictures of an ethnic Swedish man sitting on a snowmobile on a snow-covered icy river; a young guy walking around a gym practicing the tuba; a 94-year old Swedish woman in a retirement home being pushed in her wheelchair by a Somali immigrant; an octogenarian Swedish couple sitting in their home sauna in Lapland; a handicapped Algerian immigrant working out in the gym he founded; a Romani beggar woman kneeling on a city street; an elderly Swedish couple playing in their kitchen with their dog. And so on. In other words, a bunch of images showing immigrants doing things that, in one way or another, enhance life in Sweden, mixed in with a few photos of ethnic Swedes living pretty much the same way they did before the immigration tsunami started.What did they leave out? Practically everything the blinkered Swedes prefer to overlook but which Bawer, that defiant truth-teller, has the effrontery, the sheer chutzpah, to eyeball:
What won't you see in this book?
You won't see Muslim violence in Sweden's public libraries, which has increased so dramatically in the last couple of years that many librarians are looking for other jobs. You won't see a picture of the three condos in which a newly arrived Syrian immigrant's three wives and sixteen children are being put up at a total cost to Swedish taxpayers of $1.75 million. You won't see a picture of Muslim "morality police" patrolling neighborhoods and controlling women's conduct. You won't see Muslim men cutting in front of Swedish women in queues and then calling them "whores" when they protest.
You won't see a TV news crew from Australia being physically attacked by Muslims for entering a no-go zone. You won't see Muslim girls being beaten by their families for removing their hijab. You won't see Muslims setting cars on fire, and then hurling bottles and stones at the firefighters who show up to put out the blaze.
You won't see a picture of a recent event at which politicians and welfare officials met with residents of Stockholm's Järva neighborhood to address the prevalence of violence, forced marriage, compulsory hijab, and other forms of oppression within Muslim families – only to be told by the locals that they were not interested in conforming to "Swedish values." You won't see a picture of the head of the Swedish security service, Anders Thornberg, who in a TV interview the other day admitted that the number of potential perpetrators of terrorist violence in Sweden had risen immensely in recent years.
You won't see a gang of Muslim youths raping an infidel teenager. You won't see a Syrian refugee raping the fourteen-year-old daughter of the woman who took him into her house out of compassion. You won't see ten men committing a gang rape in August of last year – or their arrest, which finally took place earlier this month because it took that long for the police to fit it into their schedule. They are too busy these days investigating murders to spend much time on rapes.
You won't see convicted Muslim rapists being punished by paying small fines and performing community service for a few days. (When they pay the fine, do they put the money in the right position and make sure it's not so wrinkly?) You won't see a Muslim youth perusing the new booklet put out by the Swedish Ministry of Youth and Civil Affairs, which explains to immigrants that Swedish culture disapproves of rape. You won't see Muslim girls being raped by relatives – a common enough event that goes unreported because the victims know that if they go to the authorities they'll be killed. You won't see a picture of the annual, highly popular BrĂ¥valla summer music festival, which will no longer be held after this year because the number of rapes occurring at the event has gotten out of hand.Silly Bruce. No one in Sweden, where the infidels are clearly suffering from the worst case of Stockholm Syndrome ever, wants to see those photos.
Sunday, September 24, 2017
"Will Pro-BDS Professors Benefit From Tel Aviv University's New Anti-BDS Fund?"
Great question.
If the answer to it is "yes," it rather defeats the purpose of having such a fund, don't you think?
If the answer to it is "yes," it rather defeats the purpose of having such a fund, don't you think?
Mahmoud Abbas Revises History in UN Speech
In a fit/feat of Soviet/Islamist-like historical revisionism, Abbas claimed that in 1917, “97 percent of the inhabitants of Palestine were Palestinians."
Actually, in 1917, there were Jews and Arabs in Palestine--with nary a "Palestinian" in sight.
"Palestinians" qua Palestinians have a much more recent vintage, i.e. the 1960s, when it served Egypt-born Yasser Arafat's political and exterminationist purposes to style himself as their leader. Thus, the salient question to ask is this: but for the fact of a sovereign Jewish state called Israel, would there even be a modern day people called "Palestinians."
Actually, in 1917, there were Jews and Arabs in Palestine--with nary a "Palestinian" in sight.
"Palestinians" qua Palestinians have a much more recent vintage, i.e. the 1960s, when it served Egypt-born Yasser Arafat's political and exterminationist purposes to style himself as their leader. Thus, the salient question to ask is this: but for the fact of a sovereign Jewish state called Israel, would there even be a modern day people called "Palestinians."
Women's Rights in Bavaria Take a Back Seat to "Asylum Seekers'" Rights
According to an article in The Local, "a rise in sex crimes in Bavaria has opened a debate about women's rights"--but, oddly enough, not about the wisdom and ramifications of Angela Merkel's "doors open" policy:
Not that The Local is prepared to address that thorny topic.
"In the first six months of 2017 the number of recorded sex crimes in Bavaria rose by 48 percent. The revelation that asylum seekers were often suspects has opened a difficult discussion in the southern state.
Last Wednesday the Bavarian interior ministry released statistics that made for sobering reading.
In the first half of 2017 some 685 sex crimes were recorded in Bavaria, a rise of 48 percent on the same period in 2016. Of these crimes, 126 had suspects who had arrived in Germany as asylum seekers.
The figures showed that sex crimes with asylum seekers as suspects jumped by 91 percent in a year. While the large majority (71 percent) of suspects were Germans, people who had come to the country seeking asylum made up 11 percent of all suspects, a figure disproportionate to their number in the population.
The statistics are for crimes against sexual self determination, which includes rape and sexual assault as well as exhibitionism, forced prostitution and the illegal distribution of pornographic material.
Writing in the SĂ¼ddeutsche Zeitung on Wednesday, journalist Ulrike Heidenreich said that women who welcomed refugees into Germany in 2015 now have a very different attitude.
“When women meet large groups of male refugees today there is always a sense of being threatened,” she writes.
“They fear that the way they dress is sending the wrong signal. That is unacceptable. The freedom to dress and move how you want is non-negotiable.”..."The freedom to dress and move how you want is non-negotiable"--funny, that's how sharia law sees it, too. Hence the problems engendered when you import thousands of young men who spit on Western concepts of "rights" in general and women's rights in particular.
Not that The Local is prepared to address that thorny topic.
Shatner Disses Justin Trudeau's Star Wars Socks Bias
Bill's on to something, I think:
The Canadian PM's choice of socks has prompted Twitter banter involving Star Wars' Luke Skywalker and Star Trek's Captain Kirk.
Justin Trudeau brazenly wore socks depicting Star Wars favourite Chewbacca at a business forum in New York City, resulting in a tweet of disapproval from the Starship Enterprise's commanding officer.
Actor William Shatner, in a nod to the "rivalry" between Star Wars and Star Trek, tweeted: "@JustinTrudeau I thought we were friends. Chewbacca socks?"Hey, at least this time they match.
Dershy on Plame
Shame on her, says Dershowitz, for retweeting "her real set of beliefs," ones that are entirely in synch with the sort of Jew-hate that animated the Nazis.
Elf on the Shelf
Mel Brooks says his style of comedy is dead, more or less. Here's why (my bolds):
As for Brooks's elf observation: it seems more apropos than even in the era of Trump, a "king" who can dish out the criticism, no problemo, but who is as thin-skinned as they come.
In a recent interview with BBC Radio 4, comedy legend Mel Brooks was asked if he thought it would be possible for him to make classics like The Producers and Young Frankenstein for modern audiences. “Maybe Young Frankenstein, but never Blazing Saddles,” he said of his 1974 Western parody, which stars Cleavon Little as the black sheriff of a hostile, white frontier town. “Because we have become stupidly politically correct, which is the death of comedy,” explained Brooks. “It’s okay not to hurt feelings of various tribes and groups. However, it’s not good for comedy. Comedy has to walk a thin line, take risks. Comedy is the lecherous little elf whispering in the king’s ear, always telling the truth about human behavior.” That being said, Brooks knows exactly where he draws his line in the sand, comedically speaking. “I personally would never touch gas chambers or the death of children or Jews at the hands of the Nazis. Everything else is okay. Naked people? Fine. I like naked people. They’re usually the most polite.” If his rationale is correct, the inevitable Hollywood remake of Blazing Saddles will have to be a 93-minute version of the campfire scene. And honestly? Audiences will love it.What a kidder! There will be no remake of Blazing Saddles (and, frankly, who needs one when the original has stood the test of time?).
As for Brooks's elf observation: it seems more apropos than even in the era of Trump, a "king" who can dish out the criticism, no problemo, but who is as thin-skinned as they come.
Tuesday, September 19, 2017
Justin Trudeau and His Socks Make Vanity Fair's List of "Best Dressed International Men"
They're situated between Jack Schlossberg (Caroline Kennedy's kid) and a notably hosiery-less LeBron James.
JT's entry (I quote from my physical copy of the magazine since this is as far as I can seem to get in the virtual world) reads as follows:
JT's entry (I quote from my physical copy of the magazine since this is as far as I can seem to get in the virtual world) reads as follows:
Justin TRUDEAU
Surely it isn't necessary to point out that had anyone other than pretty boy Justin worn this mismatched set, it would have been pegged as either an egregious fashion faux pas, or as a strange and rather pathetic instance of arrested development.OCCUPATION: Prime minister of Canada.RESIDENCE: Ottawa.MOST NOTABLE ACCESORY OF THE YEAR: Mismatched blue and yellow R2D2 and C-3PO Star Wars socks, worn to a meeting with the Irish prime minister.
"The Emmy Awards Were Hypocritically Progressive"--Now That's Funny!
There's just no pleasing some people (for instance, the Uber-"progressive" who came up with this stuff):
That said, I do enjoy the sight of "progressives" shooting each other in the keester for supposed ideological failures.
All in all, the evening was a striking display of both cosmetic and factual diversity. Although some of the night’s big winners — in particular The Handmaid’s Tale and Big Little Lies — were overseen artistically by white guys (Bruce Miller and the team of Jean-Marc VallĂ©e and David E. Kelley, respectively), they still offered woman-centric stories that unfortunately could not have been better timed. Big Little Lies’ story of women rising up against a serial abuser resonated against President Donald Trump’s history of sexist remarks, including his notorious brag during the 2016 election that stardom made it easy to sexually assault women; and The Handmaid’s Tale — well, duh. The more harrowing parts of it could probably double as short documentaries of the inside of Vice-President Mike Pence’s mind.But these visible signs of progress and/or resistance were undercut by instances of lameness or hypocrisy. Throughout the evening, there were small and large digs at Trump and his administration. This was to be expected on a night that celebrated a politically very liberal industry during a time of Trump-fueled public displays of racism, anti-Semitism, sexism, and xenophobia, plus a documented rise in hate crimes during the presidential election year of 2016, which Trump had entered the previous summer by declaring that Mexico brought drugs, crime, and rapists into the United States.
All in all, the evening was the snoozeroo that it's always been--with or without the anti-Trump folderol.But with the conspicuous exception of Jane Fonda, Lily Tomlin, and Dolly Parton comparing Trump to their piggish boss in the 1980 hit 9 to 5, many of the jokes Sunday night lacked any discernible sharp edge...
That said, I do enjoy the sight of "progressives" shooting each other in the keester for supposed ideological failures.
Question Du Jour (Whose Answer Is Obvious)
Did a Swedish council buy apartments for a man and his three wives?
Why wouldn't it, you racist/bigot/Islamophobe, you.
Why wouldn't it, you racist/bigot/Islamophobe, you.
Monday, September 18, 2017
Islam By the Books
On the NRO site, historian and pundit David Pryce-Jones elucidates two "rival approaches to Islam" that have been captured in two recent books:
Ibn Warraq is the pseudonym of someone evidently born and brought up a Muslim but who as an adult finds that rationality means more to him than Islam. The pseudonym is all that stands between him and a death sentence for his critical writings. “Why I Am Not a Muslim” is the giveaway title of one of his books, and “Why the West is Best: A Muslim Apostate’s Defense of Liberal Democracy” is the giveaway title of another. And now he comes out with yet another book, The Islam in Islamic Terrorism, and very magisterial it is too. “A propensity to violence is embedded in the core principles of Islam,” he writes, demonstrating how this propensity repeats down the centuries and across borders. Every time and everywhere the violence is a phenomenon of the faith, not a reaction to poverty or to some wickedness supposedly imposed by outsiders and unbelievers such as, for instance, Western colonialism. Terrorists, says President Trump, are “sick and demented,” while Mrs. May calls them “cowards.” Such opinions stem from Western ways of judging conduct, and are irrelevant in this context. Jihadis are committing mass-murder and self-sacrifice in the belief that Islam demands this of them. Ibn Warraq’s courage in saying so is as admirable as his learning.
At just the same time, by coincidence, Christopher de Bellaigue happens to have come out with a virtually opposite view in his new book The Islamic Enlightenment, also a giveaway title. With one foot in journalism and one foot in universities, he singles out an elite of Ottoman Turks, Persians, and Egyptians who in the past were Westernizing modernizers in one field or another. He makes out a heroic story of reform whose whole point is that Islam is open to opportunity and has no propensity to violence. It is rather bad luck that the book has been overtaken by events so cruelly...My comment:
If some key passages of Islamic holy writ command the faithful to wage jihad on the unbeliever (a holy war that is to remain in effect until such time as the infidel, in effect, cries, "Uncle!"), it should come as no surprise when some Muslims follow these instructions to the letter.
Pretending that that's not so--as the likes of Western apolgists for Islam such as Christopher de Bellaigue continue to do: now, that never fails to surprise me.
"Unaccompanied Minors" Depend on the Kindness of Strangers to Wage Jihad
Daniel Greenfield unpacks the scam and its ramifications here.
Ever Wondered Why "Koran" Became "Qu'ran"?
I know I have. Now, thanks to John Steele Gordon, all is revealed:
Koran...has been in the English language since 1725. Suddenly it began appearing as Quran, which is a transliteration of the Arabic, and even Qu’ran. What appears to English speakers as a meaningless apostrophe is actually a breath mark carried over from Arabic, which, like Hebrew, does not write out the vowels. In English we do, and so we don’t need breath marks.
What is wrong with Koran? Exactly nothing. The idea that we should use the transliterated Arabic word instead of our own word is pure political correctness deriving from the classic linguistic fallacy of conflating the word and the thing denoted by the word. The Koran is the holy book of Islam. Koran is a word in the English language.
This line of thinking gives Arabic speakers, not English speakers, control over many English words. Does that mean we have to use Arabic transliterations for such English words as sofa, admiral, and zero, which derive from Arabic? I’m pretty sure Arabic speakers would laugh at the opposite idea, that we English speakers get to determine how English-derived words in that language should be spelled in Arabic...
Friday, September 15, 2017
The Method In the Trudeau Liberals' Victimhood Madness
Toronto Sun columnist Farzana Hassan says the Trudeau government is determined to give "official sanction to a persecution complex which is already widespread, despite the fact that Muslims face no more discrimination than any other minority group."
She also says that it is supporting M-103, the so-called "anti-Islamophobia" motion, without reckoning on "many of the possible subtle and long-term repercussions."
Alas, that's where she's wrong. If the repercussions involve shutting people up re Islam/Islamism/the jihad, and, ultimately, just shutting people up, period, then the Liberals are all for it.
How better to permanently empower themselves and those who share their point of view, and effectively silence and diminish those who oppose them?
Update: One uppity infidel pens an open letter on behalf of another (who is being silenced and diminished for her opposing views).
She also says that it is supporting M-103, the so-called "anti-Islamophobia" motion, without reckoning on "many of the possible subtle and long-term repercussions."
Alas, that's where she's wrong. If the repercussions involve shutting people up re Islam/Islamism/the jihad, and, ultimately, just shutting people up, period, then the Liberals are all for it.
How better to permanently empower themselves and those who share their point of view, and effectively silence and diminish those who oppose them?
Update: One uppity infidel pens an open letter on behalf of another (who is being silenced and diminished for her opposing views).
Breaking News: Terrorist Bombing on the London Tube
Early reports say that "lots" have been injured due to an explosion and subsequent stampede.
"Free Speech" at Berkeley? Not So Much, Really
Ben Shapiro's speech went ahead as planned yesterday on the campus where, back in the day, the Free Speech Movement was born.
The question to be asked, though, is this: can it really be considered "free speech" when it requires a Trump-like "wall" to keep angry protesters away from the speaker and what's described as a "massive" police presence in order for his speech to procede?
The question to be asked, though, is this: can it really be considered "free speech" when it requires a Trump-like "wall" to keep angry protesters away from the speaker and what's described as a "massive" police presence in order for his speech to procede?
Wednesday, September 13, 2017
"Ignite Change"? Ignite a CHRC-Sponsored Intifada, More Like
Ranya El-Sharkawi "is a first generation Canadian with Palestinian roots in Gaza and Jaffa"--not my ideal candidate to represent "human rights" in this country. But, unlike yours truly, there are those who believe that she's the perfect person to, you should pardon the expression, "ignite change."
Here are the deets of what happened when Ms. El-Sharkawi used the "human rights" platform she was given to push the anti-Zionist/pro-Palestinian agenda. (They're from a B'nai Brith Canada communique that just showed up in my email; my bolds):
Not so much.
After all, the CHRC is in the victimhood biz, same as the Palestinians.
Update: Back in 2014, Canada's then-Prime Minister Stephen Harper gave at Israel's Knesset in which he exposed the antics of Ms. El-Sharkawi and her pernicious ilk. Here's what he said:
Here are the deets of what happened when Ms. El-Sharkawi used the "human rights" platform she was given to push the anti-Zionist/pro-Palestinian agenda. (They're from a B'nai Brith Canada communique that just showed up in my email; my bolds):
On Aug. 22, as part of the Ignite Change 2017 conference organized by the John Humphrey Centre for Peace and Human Rights at MacEwan University, John Humphrey board member Ranya El-Sharkawi launched into a 40-minute diatribe against the Jewish State. The Ignite Change website lists the City of Edmonton, the Province of Alberta and the Canadian Human Rights Commission (CHRC) as sponsors.
El-Sharkawi strongly endorsed the anti-Israel boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) movement in her speech, even though the discrimination promoted by BDS violates Section 3 of the Alberta Human Rights Act. She went on to say that "the whole concept of antisemitism is problematic," arguing that Arabs cannot possibly be antisemitic since they would be going "against [their] own ethnicity."
Other bizarre statements by El-Sharkawi included a claim that foreign volunteers "do not have the right to dictate how Palestinians resist, whether it's violent or non-violent," in reference to ongoing Palestinian terrorism. She concluded her speech by recommending that listeners rely on the materials of Miko Peled, an extremist so toxic that even pro-Palestinian student groups have sought to distance themselves from his blatant antisemitism.
"The complete failure by both Premier Rachel Notley and Mayor Don Iveson to speak out is shameful," said Michael Mostyn, Chief Executive Officer of B'nai Brith Canada. "Public dollars should not be wasted on propaganda that is both blatantly false and contrary to provincial law. Both the City and the Province owe the Alberta Jewish community an apology.
Baffling?"However, it is the complicity of the CHRC in this travesty that is most baffling. Last year was the worst on record for antisemitism in Canada, and the CHRC is supposed to be combating the phenomenon, not fanning the flames by funding events where the very problem of antisemitism is denied."...
Not so much.
After all, the CHRC is in the victimhood biz, same as the Palestinians.
Update: Back in 2014, Canada's then-Prime Minister Stephen Harper gave at Israel's Knesset in which he exposed the antics of Ms. El-Sharkawi and her pernicious ilk. Here's what he said:
"Some civil-society leaders today call for a boycott of Israel.... Most disgracefully of all, some openly call Israel an apartheid state. Think about that. Think about the twisted logic and outright malice behind that.
"A state, based on freedom, democracy and the rule of law, that was founded so Jews can flourish as Jews, and seek shelter from the shadow of the worst racist experiment in history," he said.
"That is condemned, and that condemnation is masked in the language of anti-racism. It is nothing short of sickening."
2 Tricky Questions for 2 Prickly Women
Questions not to ask Margaret Atwood and Elisabeth Moss when they appear at Union Station this morning:
- Hey, Ms. A., what's up with your being all NIMBY about the condo they want to build in your "exclusive" neighborhood?
- Any thoughts on Scientology and the Aftermath, Elisabeth?
Today's "Allahu Akbar" Reality Check Is a Sobering One
The lesson, in brief: turns out the 9/11 attacks were the best thing to happen to Islam in our time.
How so?
Mark Steyn lays it all out for us:
Never could. Never will.
Update: Thanks to our pea-brained prime minister, you can add "sexist" to the racist/bigot/Islamophobe chain.
How so?
Mark Steyn lays it all out for us:
After 16 years of western military occupation, the Taliban control more territory in Afghanistan than at any time since the first US troops went in. On the other hand, after 16 years of accelerating Islamic immigration, Europe has more no-go zones, more sharia courts, more refugees, more covered women, more Muslim-dominated schoolhouses, more radical mosques, more female genital mutilation, more grooming and gang rape, more Muslim Brotherhood front groups, more Muslim mayors and legislators, more Muslim-funded Middle East Studies programs at universities ...and fewer churches, fewer Jews in Toulouse, fewer gays in Amsterdam, fewer unaccompanied women out after dark in German and Swedish cities, fewer historical representations of Mohammed in Continental museums, art galleries and scholarly books, fewer mixed bathing sessions at municipal swimming pools, fewer lessons on the Crusades and the Holocaust in European schools ...and less and less free speech in some of the oldest democracies on earth.
In Afghanistan, we're fighting for something not worth winning, and we're losing. In Europe, Islam is fighting for something very much winning, and they're advancing. And, according to all the official strategists in Washington and elsewhere, these two things are nothing to do with each other.Also, sixteen years on, most people are no more wised up about the jihad than they were on the day that Mo Atta and his cadre of afterlife virgin-seekers "martyred" themselves for Allah. In fact, most people are determined to remain blissfully ignorant about the core Islamic doctrine that continues to motivate jihadi antics, and don't you dare go and excavate them from their holy texts (or holy "context"), you racist/bigot/Islamophobe! If you do, you will have answer for your effrontery, for your failure to understand, in the words of the poet, that "Human kind cannot bear very much reality."
Never could. Never will.
Update: Thanks to our pea-brained prime minister, you can add "sexist" to the racist/bigot/Islamophobe chain.
Tuesday, September 12, 2017
Sad But True: George Orwell, Who Was So Astute About Authoritarianism, Didn't "Get" Jews and/or Israel
While reading Churchill & Orwell by Thomas E. Ricks today, I came across this depressing/disappointing passage:
Update: Report reveals complex nature of antisemitism in the UK
Another more repellent thread runs through the book [Down and Out in Paris and London]--a kind of quick and casual prejudice against the Jews he encounters. In a coffee shop he sees, "In a corner by himself a Jew, muzzle down in the plate,...guiltily eating bacon." The animallike "muzzle" in that sentence is particularly disturbing. At another point he recounts a tale told by his friend Boris, a former Russian soldier, of being offered the sexual services of a Jewish girl for fifty francs by her father--"A horrible old Jew, with a red beard like Judas Iscariot." Orwell's playing with this offhand sort of anti-Semitism appears in some of his other work. It is little consolation that he is an equal opportunity bigot, as when in Down and Out he approvingly quotes the proverb "Trust a snake before a Jew and a Jews before a Greek, but don't trust an Armenian."
The fact of the matter is that Orwell was always tin eared about Jews. During World War II, Orwell would write extensively against anti-Semitism, but in the course of doing so he failed to reexamine his own writings of the previous decade. After the war, he had surprisingly little to say about the Holocaust, one of the major events of his time. He remained strongly anti-Zionist throughout his life, but that probably should be seen more in the context of his enduring distaste for nationalism rather than the anti-Semitism of some of his early writings. Even so, his friend the journalist Malcolm Muggeridge would conclude that "he was at heart strongly anti-Semitic."Sigh. Et tu, George?
Update: Report reveals complex nature of antisemitism in the UK
Sunday, September 10, 2017
Game Time for Hitler
Have you ever played "Secret Hitler"?
No?
Neither have I. And given the following info, I doubt I ever will:
No?
Neither have I. And given the following info, I doubt I ever will:
Secret Hitler is a social deduction game for 5–10 people about finding and stopping the Secret Hitler.
The majority of players are liberals. If they can learn to trust each other, they have enough votes to control the table and win the game. But some players are fascists. They will say whatever it takes to get elected, enact their agenda, and blame others for the fallout. The liberals must work together to discover the truth before the fascists install their cold-blooded leader and win the game.Of course, as Melanie Phillips points out, leftists can be fascists too (hat tip: MW). That said, there's a snowball's chance in Hades of there ever being a game called "Secret Stalin" or "Secret Mao."
No Thanks
Don't think I'll be going to this one (hat tip--EY):
The world premiere of Origins, November 9 at the Aga Khan Museum, Toronto, unites traditional indigenous songs with classical Arabic instruments. In the spirit of truth and reconciliation and to spread love, peace and harmony through the cross-cultural medium of music, Origins brings the traditional Native songs and dance of Laura Grizzlypaws and the music and song of the Canadian Arabic Orchestra together. This concert is produced and presented in association with the Native Canadian Centre of Toronto, the Arab Community Centre of Toronto, and the Aga Khan Museum.
Saturday, September 9, 2017
Thursday, September 7, 2017
Canada's Nutty NAFTA Strategy Is a Surefire Loser
Bottom line: Justin Trudeau imposed a carbon tax on Canadians and wants the Americans to do the same. The Toronto Sun's Lorrie Goldstein explains why that one's an obvious non-starter:
...Trudeau’s national carbon price -- imposed by the provinces -- is a massive tax grab on Canadians, which will have no significant impact on emissions.
The only way it’s relevant to NAFTA is that it places an added cost on our industries -- and Canadian consumers and taxpayers who ultimately pay it -- that the Americans don’t have.
Canada’s position on NAFTA is to get the Trump administration to agree to an equivalent national carbon price for the U.S., which it has never had, despite the fact the U.S. just withdrew from the Paris climate deal. Right.What a brilliant plan! I'm so glad that the really "smart" Liberals are in charge of our negotiations, aren't you?
Wednesday, September 6, 2017
D.C.'s Holocaust Museum Allows Obama-Worship to Cloud Its Better Judgment
The effort to memorialize/educated people about the Holocaust is supposed to be above politics.
That's the ideal, at least.
In the real world, however, here's how it can work: leftists in charge of Holocaust memorialization/education looks for a way to give props to an adored Democratic POTUS, even though he definitely does not deserve them. When rational people cry foul, the same leftists are forced to walk back their ill-considered politicization.
That's the ideal, at least.
In the real world, however, here's how it can work: leftists in charge of Holocaust memorialization/education looks for a way to give props to an adored Democratic POTUS, even though he definitely does not deserve them. When rational people cry foul, the same leftists are forced to walk back their ill-considered politicization.
What's Wrong With This Video?
Aside from the fact that taking infidel schoolkids to a mosque and teaching them to pray a la Muslims is more than a little problematic, it's that they've positioned the girls in front of the boys--which is not how it usually works at such places of worship.
The Gay Islamist Porn Actor Who Came In From the Cold
Not even a John le Carré could come up with this one.
Tuesday, September 5, 2017
Abie's Muslima
Mark Steyn pokes withering fun at a political poster in Rotterdam that posits a multiculti update to Abie's Irish Rose (or Bridget Loves Bernie).
In real life (as opposed to multiculti fantasies), the woman depicted in the ad is cruising for an "honour" killing, not interfaith bliss.
In real life (as opposed to multiculti fantasies), the woman depicted in the ad is cruising for an "honour" killing, not interfaith bliss.
Sunday, September 3, 2017
A Bizarre, Hyper-"Progressive" Reconsideration of "Dirty Dancing"
It's from that bastion of "social justice" bafflegab, The Guardian, of course:
When Baby dates Johnny, then gets her physician dad to tend to someone’s botched abortion, she cuts a swath through class and religion. But the girl is no heroine – she takes action not so much because social justice is consciously on her agenda, but because she can’t imagine her parents not letting her have her way.
This becomes clear when Johnny is wrongly blamed for a string of thefts. His alibi is that he was in bed with Baby on the night of the crime. The girl causes outrage by confirming this to the hotel manager. In front of her parents. At the dinner table. Put in the same position, most of us wouldn’t live long enough to examine the dessert menu, but Baby survives largely because she isdaughter to a pair of pushovers. Mum is more or less mute, while doe-eyed Dad can only stare at the lake and sob over his daughter’s defilement.
Baby proves that a sense of entitlement can breed a fearlessness that delivers results. If only Ivanka Trump would do the same. That, however, would depend on her ability to command the same influence over her dad, which is doubtful: we’re talking about a man who said he would date his little princess in a parallel universe, after all. Anyone given the name “Baby” in the Trump household would probably need to tighten her chastity belt.But wait, it gets worse:
Baby’s is the ultimate liberal story in which adolescent rebellion takes the moral lead and drives society forward. It dovetails nicely with my belief that indulgence, when pursued responsibly, makes the world go round. Nothing unites us as a species quicker than food, love, music and dance. Baby’s is the ultimate liberal story in which adolescent rebellion takes the moral lead and drives society forward.Sadly, the repetition does not drive this ridiculous drivel forward.
Teaching Sharia
That's exactly what a federally-funded indoctrination program aimed at the young and impressionable does. Begging the question, WTF?:
Parents across the U.S. have objected to a Department of Education program called “Access Islam.” The federally-funded program is directed at children from grades 5-12 and is also featured on various websites, including PBS Learning Media.
The Smithsonian also promotes the course as does the Indiana Department of Education and the United Nations.
Parents charge that the course amounts to nothing less than proselytizing about Islam in public schools. In addition, they note that the Department of Education provides no comparable study or promotion of any other religion.
A video from the course prominently features a Christian convert to Islam, who declares emotionally how he has found the true religion without any “intermediaries.”
In addition to videos, students are given worksheets to learn the Five Pillars of Islam and how to pray. Children are also expected to memorize verses from the Quran and know the meaning of those verses...
Friday, September 1, 2017
BuskerFest 2017 hosts Eid celebrations for Toronto Muslims
Supposedly, it's their way of countering "Islamophobia." Here's how NOW, Toronto's alternative/mainstream freebie weekly, explains the arrangement:
As for the "diversity is our strength" trope: I'm surprised the MuBros haven't already snapped that one up for themselves. (Actually, in a way, I suppose, they already have.)
If you want to send a message to white supremacists and xenophobes over the long weekend, consider stopping by the Toronto International BuskerFest at Woodbine Park. The 18th annual fundraiser for Epilepsy Toronto and the largest street-performers festival in North America is partnering with the Muslim Association of Canada (MAC) to host the largest Eid celebration in the GTA.
Eid al-Adha is a Muslim holiday that takes place September 1. In the past, MAC has hosted prayers and celebrations for over 15,000 people. On Friday at 10 am, prayer service will take place on the east side of Woodbine Park followed by celebrations at the festival.
"Our theme for our Eid celebrations is 'diversity is our strength,'” says Akram Abdelrahman, who leads MAC’s Toronto chapter. “The multicultural essence of Islam is reflected in this Eid festival and the makeup of Canadian society. It is an opportunity for the wider community to observe and celebrate Eid with us.”The Muslim Association of Canada, FYI, has allegedly funneled tens of millions of dollars to a Hamas-linked charity, which makes a lot of sense since it "appears to be one of the only organizations in the world that has acknowledged its ties to the Muslim Brotherhood"
As for the "diversity is our strength" trope: I'm surprised the MuBros haven't already snapped that one up for themselves. (Actually, in a way, I suppose, they already have.)
"How Do You Solve a Problem Like North Korea?"
You can blame the following on Mr. G. (who posed the question):
How do you solve a prob like North Korea?
How do you stop a freak like Kim Jon Un?
How do you kibosh nukes from North Korea?
'Cuz sanctions don't work
And something could blow real soon.
Many a thing he should have done (Bill Clinton).
And Obama, too, just kicked that can on down.
But how do you get to Kim?
And what can you do to him?
What can you do to end the Kims' renown?
Oh, how do you solve a prob like North Korea?
How do you stop those nukes from raining down?
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The hills are alive...with the sound of thermonuclear
explosions.
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