Tablet Magazine's Tone-Deaf Recipe Suggestion for Hanukkah

Tablet Magazine tells us how to "put a Syrian spin" on our Hanukkah feast.
 
Seriously?
 
Given that the festival is about how Syrian-Greek authorities defiled our Temple, and how the rebel Maccabees defied them and experienced the miracle we Jews still celebrate, isn't putting "a Syrian spin" on our Hanukkah feast rather like putting "an Egyptian spin" on the Passover seder?
 
Okay, okay: I know that those old-time Syrians and Egyptians have nothing to do with the peoples who inhabit those places today. And, yes, I get that the current grim situation vis-à-vis Syrian refugees can certainly make some Jews want to feel all humanitarian and virtuous-like by putting "a Syrian spin" on things.
 
But it's not as if today's Syrians--or for that matter today's Egyptians--like Jews, and especially the Jews of Israel, any better in our time than they did way back when.

Update: This year I wouldn't want to put "a French spin" on the feast either. (Hat tip: MW)

Greenhouse Glass Emissions

This letter to the editor appears in the National Post:

Apportioning blame

Re: Palestinian Problems, letter to the editor, Nov. 28. 

It’s convenient to blame all Palestinians for the actions of Hamas. However, Israeli prime minister Ariel Sharon withdrew settlers from Gaza because they were exercising colonialist prerogatives, such as diverting water for their own use and using the Israeli Defense Forces to close major roads so buses could carry their kids to school or the beach, while Palestinians endured long delays to carry on their own business. When Sharon ordered the settlers out, many destroyed their own greenhouses rather than give them to Palestinians. 

Israel had been closing the borders since the 1990s for lengthy periods after suicide attacks, despite the fact Yasser Arafat had already cracked down on terrorists. This collective punishment turned Palestinian opinion, which was originally against Hamas, into resentment of Israel for destroying the Gazan economy. Israel continues to refuse to give up land retained in violation of the Geneva Convention. This will ensure Palestinians who want to improve their lot continue to suffer, while Israelis continue to be blind to their privileged position and their abuse of power.
John Kneeland, Hamilton, Ont.

My response:

I don't know which history books letter-writer John Kneeland has been reading; clearly, they've been written by those, like him, who are heavily invested in the Palestinian "narrative," and whose take-away from Israel's departure from Gaza is to deplore the handful of Israeli "settlers" (the narrative's designated bad guys) who supposedly "destroyed their own greenhouses rather than give them to Palestinians." 

History records the truth of this sad episode: that, when Israel withdrew from Gaza on it own accord, it willingly left the Palestinians an entire produce industry housed in dozens of greenhouses. Instead of accepting this gift in the spirit with which it was offered, and using it to feed its own people, the Palestinians  gleefully--and hatefully--smashed every last structure until nothing remained but shards and dirt.

 

Mr. Kneeland and other fans of the Palestinian narrative should--but undoubtedly won't--look at it like this: the greenhouses are a metaphor--a stand-in--for Israel. And the Palestinians, who reject the very idea of a Jewish state because they believe all the land in the region belongs in perpetuity to Muslims, did to these structures what, given half the chance, they would do to Israel itself.

The Plot Thickens/Sickens

Russia says it has proof that our "ally" and fellow NATO member Turkey has been lapping up oodles of ISIS oil.

Barbies for Boys?

Yup.

I know how my son, when younger, would have "played" with Barbies. He would have taken them apart and built a fort a la Lincoln Logs with their arms and legs.

The UN Green Climate Fund: From Those Wonderful Folks Who Brought You the Oil-for-Food Scam

Remember the UN's oil-for-food scam? That deplorable and yet hilarious morass of deception and double-dealing that the dogged (think pit bull) Claudia Rosett kept digging into while most in the mainstream media purposefully ignored it?

I hadn't thought about the scandal for some time, but it popped right back into my head upon reading this by Lorne Gunter in the Toronto Sun:

Starting this year, the world's developed nations (Canada included) will begin pumping billions into the UN's Green Climate fund. By 2020, it will be tens of billions dollars annually, all for UN bureaucrats to dole out. You can bet it will be largely ineffective and corrupt.

You read it here first: I predict that the corruption, malfeasance and flimflammery engendered by the UN's Green Climate fund is going to make the UN's oil-for-food scam look like chump change.

Phyllis Chesler on the Slow Suicide of Women's Studies

She writes that the suicide is occurring as feminists, being leftist ideologues for whom facts are irrelevant, ignore Muslim violence against women focus exclusively and obsessively on Israel's non-existent crimes.

Hardly a Shockeroo--Obama Ignored Warnings Re ISIS in Lead Up to '12 Presidential Election Because It Clashed With His "Narrative"

You mean he couldn't depend on Valerie Jarett or Susan Rice or Hillary Clinton to tell him the truth?

How...utterly predictable and unsurprising.

Jewish Cambridge U. Equine Prof Sane on the Subject of Israel? In a Word, Neigh

A useful idiot, Marsha Levine,
Is really, really, really, really mean.
Told a schoolgirl, "Jews are Nazis";
Palestinians their patsies.
A claim that's deranged and obscene.

For Anyone Who's Wondering What ISIS "Really" Stands For, the Zany Zion-Loathers of the Khomeinist 'Zine Have an Answer

It stands for "Israeli-Saudi-Imperialist Strategy."

Duh.

The picture on this month's Crescent cover is worth a thousand words--a thousand toxic, crackpot, Goebbels-worthy words:



But wait--there's more. In a headline which subtly references the apes-'n-pigs palaver in a certain holy book, there's an article called, "Paris, Saudi camel and the Zionist monkey!" And what a thrilling piece of Der Sturmer-esque reportage it is!:

In these countries [France and Belgium] as well as in others, Zionist influence is quite pervasive. Not only in the media but also at the official level, they exercise enormous influence in shaping government policy. It has been a longstanding policy of the Zionists to present Muslims as “the enemy” because they oppose Zionist aggression in and occupation of Palestine. While the Zionists cannot outnumber the Muslims in these countries, they target them through demonization. It is revealing that the Zionists have linked up with extremist rightwing groups in Europe. Such extremist groups also hate the Jews but for the Zionists that is fine. They also hate those Jews who stand up for truth and justice. Thus, Muslims are under attack from two sides: the extremist rightwing terrorists and Zionist thugs. 

No mention, of course, of how Muslims target Jews through, well, murder. That would clash with the Khomeinists' we're-the-victims boo-hooey.

Also in this month's issue--Zafar Bangash!

Bangash, a Khomeinist who came to Canada from Pakistan, and who's a fixture at the Ayatollah's annual Zionhass-a-palooza (a.k.a. Al Quds Day) in Toronto, has added so much to our Trudeaupian multiculti tapestry, don't you think?

Update: Bangash isn't only a local imam and a regular contributor to Crescent. He also heads up something called the Institute of Contemporary Islamic Thought (ICIT) which bills itself as "An intellectual centre of the global Islamic movement"--i.e. the Shia Khomeinists.

In a lengthy piece on the ICIT site, Bangash goes into the entire history of Islamic conquest, concluding with this "upbeat" message:

The Prophet (saws) utilized all means — ideological, social, economic, political and military — to transform the society in Arabia. We also find that he did not use institutions established by the enemy to promote Islam, nor did he resort to such means as tribalism, class interest or nationalism to mobilize people. He never compromised on principles, preferring instead to endure suffering and persecution. It was this strict adherence to principles that helped create a body of Muslims who though small in number, was strong in commitment and prepared to die for their principles. In such confrontation, forces of kufr often simply wither away. 

Muslims today will have to imbibe these lessons from the Seerah if they want to re-emerge in their natural dominant role in the world. There is no other way to transform their societies and to regain leadership of a wayward world that is so completely dominated by exploiters and oppressors. The Prophet (saws) showed the way to Madinah; we must now re-discover that path and embark on it to bring about similar change.

So there you have it. Bangash avails himself of everything Canada has to offer in order to work toward the ultimate goal of seeing us, the kufr, "simply wither away," and Islam--his form of Islam-- installed everywhere, including here in Canada.

It's a good idea to bear that (his ultimate goal) in mind the next time you hear him blither on about the poor, poor Palestinians (the pretext Khomeinists use in order to disguise and help them fulfill their ultimate goal) on Al Quds Day.

Another Seasonal Climate Change Song

To the tune of "Jingle Bells":

Climate change, climate change, climate change, they bray.
Oh, what fun it is to gin up climate change all day-ay.
Climate change, climate change, climate change, they bray.
Oh, what fun it is to gin up climate change all day.

DAESH is on the move.
The caliphate's a go.
So why are global leaders
Shov'ling global warming snow?
Apocalyptic claims,
Obama's got his pitch:
If we don't act we all will melt
Just like the Wicked Witch.

Oh, climate change, climate change, climate change, they bray.
Oh, what fun it is to gin up climate change all day-ay.
Climate change, climate change, climate change, they bray.
The scientists have cooked the books and now we have to pay!

First They Came For the Jews...

So much for "Never Again!"