The New York Times's Double Standard Re Religious Tolerance/Intolerance Really Stinks

Jonathan Tobin details it here. In brief, the Times praised the "tolerance" of a public swimming pool in Toronto providing chicks-only hours, specifically for the benefit of Muslim women who lived in the neighbourhood. However, the presence of a municipal swimming pool in a Brooklyn area with a large Orthodox Jewish population which makes a similar accommodation for Orthodox Jewish women prompts the same New York Times to detect "a strong odor of religious intrusion into a public space."

Two obvious thoughts spring to mind here. First, there is no way that the paper would ever make such an ugly comment about Muslims (nor, since smell is involved, should it).

Second, the idea that Jews have "a strong odor" is a classic anti-Semitic trope. Here's how one website unpacks it:

Since the Jews were associated so closely with the devil, they were believed to share his characteristics, notably his smell of sulfur. If Jews did not smell of it, Christians claimed they used Christians’ blood to rid themselves of it. Indeed, the belief about a unique Jewish odor was so powerful that it not only persisted throughout the ages, but also became the object of study by Nazi scientists.

Now, it could be that phrasing it this way was done in complete ignorance of "the Jewish smell" and its place in the history of Jew-hate. Even if it was, however, there is no way to read these words without getting a distinct whiff of something foul.

Update: Here's more on foeter judaicus, the Jewish smell.

A Few Deranged Selections From Local Khomeinist Z. Bangash's 'Zine

This month, Crescent International readers can choose one or more of these wackadoodle Zionhass delights:

• New Jordanian prime minister Israel's man in Amman
• Zionist Israel admits to deep involvement in Syria
• The Saudis fear Zionists so much because they fear Allah so little

Today's Dueling Limericks

This one appears in the National Post:

The PM, who often is nice,
Was not, so apologized thrice.
The House opposition
Has gauged his contrition
And reckons that it'll suffice.

Here's mine:

The PM's so-called "sunny ways"

Have proven to be just a phase.

His temper is short

And his acts don't comport

With the media's sanguine clichés.

Unintentionally Funny Immigration/Deportation Story in the Daily Mail

The Daily Mail is outraged (then again, when is it not?) that a "one-legged Albanian" who is unemployed and has tattoos up the wazoo is being allowed to remain in the U.K. while a nice, wholesome, un-tatted, "hardworking" family, all of whom have managed to hold onto all their limbs, is being deported.

Here's where the unintentional hilarity comes in. The awful place the family is being deported to is--gasp!--Canada.

How inhumane, eh?

Working Towards That "One State Solution" (Of an Israel That's No Longer a/the Jewish State)

That's what these folks are doing, even if they make it sound really heart-warming and bridge-building in a Lennonesque "Imagine" sort of way (my bolds):

Mohamad Marzouk, a social-political activist for some 20 years, has focused much of his work on the advancement of civil society in Arab communities in Israel, as well as on peace education between Jewish and Arab Israelis. 

When the oldest of his three children was ready to attend kindergarten in 2000, Marzouk was participating in a group promoting Jewish-Arab dialogue. The members decided the best way to build lasting relationships between Arab and Jewish Israelis was to create a school attended by both groups. 

After hearing about Hand in Hand Center for Jewish-Arab Education in Israel, an organization that had started two bilingual (Hebrew and Arabic) schools for Jewish and Arab Israeli children, Marzouk’s group founded a third branch of Hand in Hand in Wadi Ara. He sent his three children there. 

Marzouk, director of the community department of Hand in Hand, was one of two representatives of the organization who spoke at the First Narayever Congregation on May 30. 

The event, which drew about 50 people, was organized by JspaceCanada, First Narayever and the Jerusalem Foundation of Canada, a strategic and supporting partner of Hand in Hand. 

Marzouk’s co-presenter that evening was Rebecca Bardach, the U.S.-born director of resource development and strategy at Hand in Hand and a parent with three students at the Jerusalem branch, the largest and oldest of the six schools. 

She said that by choosing this school for their children, she and the other parents are trying to find a solution to Jewish and Arab coexistence in Israel that is equal and inclusive. 

The Hand in Hand program – it offers bilingual (Arabic and Hebrew) education for its Arab and Jewish students – celebrates all the Christian, Jewish and Islamic holidays. 

People in attendance asked how the school dealt with Yom Ha’atzmaut (Israel Independence Day) and the Nakba (the Arab word for catastrophe), which is how Israelis of Arab descent mark the day. 

“We talk about it,” Marzouk responded. “When people experience difficulty, we talk about it."

They talk about it, and then they all "Imagine" a time when the Jewish state will be replaced by a non-specific, "inclusive"  entity (because it's the fact of Jewish sovereignty that the coexistniks and their supporters have such a big problem with).

What's Missing From the Latest IAEA Report On Iran's Nuclear Compliance?

What's missing? The facts. The truth. The reality of Ayatollaville's non-compliance. How close these theocratic crazies are to nuclear blast off.

What is in it?

Considering what's been left out, does it really matter?

Miley Sings Lenny (And She's Not Half Bad)

"Jihad"--That's the Peaceful 'Struggle' to Follow God's Lead, Isn't It?"

Not exactly.

Socialism Sucks

But, unlike Bernie Sanders and the enraptured youths who adore him, you already knew that, right?

The Real "Rape Culture"

26 women report sex assaults at German music festival

I hear that next year the festival is considering this as its slogan: Come for the music; stay for gang bangs.

Tarek Fatah's "Litmus Test" for Assessing Muslim Integration in Austria

He articulated it last week at a conference at the University of Vienna:

At the university conference, a young, second-generation Austrian woman of Turkish descent asked me how one could tell if one had integrated into Austrian society or failed to do so. 

I suggested one litmus test for Austrian Muslims was relatively simple: 

“When you think of the 1683 Siege of Vienna, if you feel for the besieged inside the city walls, you have integrated. But if you cheer for the Ottomans, you have not.” 

There were a few gasps, then complete silence in the room. Later, the student came up and shook my hand. 

“Thank you,” she said to me as she and her mom beamed ear to ear.

Works for me. But what sort of test would you employ in North America, where the Siege of Vienna doesn't have the same resonance that it does in Austria?

Here's one: "When you think of the 9/11/01 attacks, do you cheer for the jihadis? If you do, you haven't integrated."