Terrorists Blast Through Obama's Sang Froid Once Again

In yet another display of his flawless timing, no sooner had Barack Obama assured Americans that, pace Donald Trump's speech last night, there was nothing to fear but fear itself,  news was breaking of an apparent terrorist incident unfolding at the softest of targets--a large shopping mall in Munich, Germany.

CNN is reporting that the shooting began at a McDonald's.

It is interesting to note that the mall is across the street from the stadium built for the Munich Olympics, the 1972 games that are infamous for the terrorist incident which took the lives of 11 Israeli athletes.

The Germans, like the French, used to be under the impression that the jihad against the Jewish state was different than the jihad being waged against the rest of the infidel world (if, indeed, they bothered to acknowledge the reality of the global jihad at all). They are now learning to their horror that that couldn't be farther from the truth and that, in a very real sense, all infidels--and, certainly, all Europeans--are now Israelis.

Now That He's In Hot Water, Publisher of London, Ontario Arabic Magazine Tries to Distance Himself From Holocaust-Denying Editorial In, Um, His Own Rag

Of course, the feat is much easier said than done (my bolds):

Condemnation is raining down on an Arabic magazine in London after it published a column questioning the Holocaust, the Nazi murder of six million Jews during the Second World War. 

But while the London police hate crime unit is investigating, and a national Jewish group urged Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne’s government — an advertiser in the publication — to distance itself from the monthly Al Saraha, its publisher says he was unaware of the facts and apologizes to Jewish people. 

“I didn’t mean to reject something that happened historically,” Abdul Haidi Shala, speaking in Arabic translated into English, told The London Free Press on Thursday. 

“I was curious to know why Hitler killed Jews during the Holocaust, so I read through his article and I found information,” the publisher said. 

“I don’t know. History knows,” he said. “I believe in the correct history. If someone told me the correct history was 10 million or 20 million people died, then I’ll believe it as long as it’s correct history.”...

Shala, the magazine’s owner and general manager, said he didn’t know that the facts in the piece, which he said was written by an Egyptian journalist for another publication, were incorrect.

Epic fail, dude!

Update: The non-fact-checking publisher doesn't acquit himself any better when interviewed by the CBC:

The magazine's publisher Abdul Hadi Shala said he meant no harm when he selected the article, which was first published in an Egyptian newspaper. He maintains he does not share the editorial stance of the author. 

"The opinion here is the writer only, not my opinion," he told CBC News.

Riiiiight!

A crucial point to make here: the Ontario government, which had previously advertised in this publication, including in the issue in which this Holocaust editorial (one which, BTW, is fully in line with Arab/Muslim consensus on the subject) appeared, is now saying all the right things:

Angry reaction came from across the province Thursday, including from Ontario Deputy Premier Deb Matthews. 

"I want to condemn, in the strongest possible terms, the statements in the Al-Saraha article," she said. "Statements like these, filled with hatred, prejudice and lies, have no place in our society." 

Matthews says, neither she nor the premier knew the article would be published when they bought advertising space in the magazine. Matthews says the advertising will stop.

 That's swell, Deb. As is this info:

Until yesterday, the City of  London's immigration portal linked to the digital edition of the magazine, but the link has been removed.

Wouldn't it be even better, though, if both these governments could get an Arabic speaker (Jonathan Halevi, perhaps?) to vet such publications before having any dealings with them?

Me Being Facetious

There's an article in the National Post about the high "cost of schmoozing." It details some of the expenses that accrue when federal or provincial elected officials get together, including the fact that "190 MPs charged the House of Commons for Tim Hortons in fiscal 2016, to the tune of almost $14,000."

What's the big deal?  After all, isn't all the "wining, dining and Tim Hortons," like Justin Trudeau's new Canada Child Benefit Income Redistribution scheme (which is expected to cost already over-burdened taxpayers a whopping $22.4 billion), really just a way to "stimulate the economy"?

Foreign Policy-Wise, Is Trump Merely Barack Obama With Bad Hair?

Jonathan S. Tobin writes:

[Trump's] populist followers and the tame conservatives who have latched onto him because of partisan loyalties claim to despise President Obama. But the sad truth is that Trump’s vision of America is far more in tune with that of the man he wishes to replace in the White House than of Reagan or Jeanne Kirkpatrick. Trump’s supporters are gulled by his braggadocio into thinking he’s a breath of fresh air but, in fact, he is anything but. If Trump is not apologizing for what he sees as a flawed America, much like Obama, he lacks confidence in the strength and the transcendent importance of our values. Like Obama, he is also determined to withdraw from the world. He speaks of defeating ISIS but like Obama, he also makes it clear he has no intention of committing the resources to that fight.

Also highly disconcerting is Trump's admiration for such WWE champions as Vladimir Putin and Artie Erdogan, an affinity which can't help but reveal the candidate's authoritarian tendencies. (As well, high-fiving Islamist Artie for his recent triumph shows that, while Trump may not be stupid, he is shockingly, even dangerously, ignorant.)

To Canada's Orwellian Refugee Gate-Keepers, All Refugees Are Equal, But Some Refugees Are More Equal Than Others

Justin's Trudeaupian Canada lets in semi-vetted Muslim Syrian "refugees" by the thousands but insists on sending the gay, Christian grandson of Hamas's founder back from whence he came to certain death (the sharia punishment for the "crime" of gayness). Luckily, the young man was able to find refuge in the U.S.

Something very askew there, don't you think?

Hillary's Email Hanky-Panky: Comey Was OK With It; Hitler, Not So Much

Jihad Is Jihad Is Jihad

Jew-hate makes you stupid; so stupid, in fact, that it can lead you to believe that the jihadis who attack you and the ones who attack Israel are entirely different. And, as Evelyn Gordon writes re a newly released EU report on terrorism in Israel (it was written last year but had been suppressed until last week), that idiotic assumption can be deadly:

[The report concluded that] the attacks were due to “the Israeli occupation . . . and a long-standing policy of political, economic, and social marginalization of Palestinians in Jerusalem,” to “deep frustration among Palestinians over the effects of the occupation, and a lack of hope that a negotiated solution can bring it to an end.” This, the report asserted, was “the heart of the matter”; factors like rampant Palestinian incitement and widespread Islamist sentiment, if they were mentioned at all, were evidently dismissed as unimportant. 

The report’s first implication is obvious: if Palestinian attacks stem primarily from “the occupation,” there’s no reason to think anything similar could happen in Europe, which isn’t occupying anyone. Consequently, there’s also no need to learn from Israel’s methods of dealing with such attacks. . . . 

[H]ad EU diplomats understood the major role played by Palestinian incitement—for instance, the endless Internet memes urging Palestinians to stab, run over, and otherwise kill Jews, complete with detailed instructions on how to do so—they might have realized that similar propaganda put out by Islamic State, urging people to use similar techniques against Westerners, could have a similar effect.

They might also have prevented that horrific attack in Nice. But the stupid EUnuchs, those refined and superior beings, are wed to their comforting delusions about Israel (which they despise), Muslims (whom they adore, primarily for being "victims" of Western "colonialists") and the jihad (which they comprehend not at all).

Oh, Crap!

Poop café opens in Toronto

Should be a big hit with the non-anally retentive.

Jew-Hate? In a Canadian Arab Language Newspaper? I'm Shocked, Shocked, I Say!

This one, from B'nai Brith Canada, came through the transom today:

An article appearing in a monthly Arabic newspaper distributed in London, Ont. engages in virulent antisemitism, Holocaust denial and homophobia, B’nai Brith Canada has discovered. 

Al-Saraha, the newspaper that published the article, is recommended as a news outlet for new immigrants by the London and Middlesex Local Immigration Partnership, an official agency funded by the Government of Ontario. 

Entitled “The Question Which Everyone Ignores: Why Did Hitler Kill the Jews?,” the article begins by denying that 6-million Jews were murdered during the Holocaust, claiming instead that “Jewish propaganda managed to spread [this number] and establish it.” It continues by falsely asserting that “the Jews caused most of the economic collapses that occurred in the banks in the period between 1870 and 1920.” 

In more lurid detail, the piece asserts that “The first theatres of homosexuality appeared in Berlin in the 1920’s, and the first presentations of pornography appeared in 1880 and 1890 by the hands of Jewish authors”. It concludes by claiming that Adolf Hitler created 6-million new jobs upon his rise to power in 1933, and that this is the source of the “Jewish propaganda” figure of 6-million Jewish casualties in the Holocaust. 

“This article constitutes an obscene form of hate propaganda aimed at Canada’s Jewish community,” said Michael Mostyn, Chief Executive Officer of B’nai Brith Canada. “Its appearance in a community newspaper which hosts advertisements from local businesses and mainstream political parties is extremely worrying.” 

Al-Saraha is published by Abdul-Hadi Shala, a Palestinian from Gaza who resides in London, Ont. and operates a local art gallery. The article in question was originally published in al-Masry al-Youm, one of the largest Egyptian daily newspapers, and authored by Egyptian pundit Salah Montasser. It was then republished in the June-July issue of al-Saraha, which a local source told B’nai Brith can be found “in every Middle Eastern restaurant and every Middle Eastern grocery” in Southwestern Ontario. 

B’nai Brith Canada is in contact with the London Police Service regarding this matter.

I can all but guarantee that the London Police Service, which is no doubt deep into community outreach with that city's burgeoning Arab/Muslim population, will do bupkes (that's Yiddish for nada) about it.

What I find far more alarming than the presence of Jew-hate in an Arab newspaper (the absence of such hate would be much more shocking) is the fact that there are so many places where such hate can be distributed.

I've said it before and I'll say it again, even though it's probably one of the most "Islamophobic"--and therefore verboten--things you can say in Justin's Trudeaupia: The more Muslims there are in Canada, the worse it'll be for the Jews.

Update: But wait, it gets better (i.e. worse):

B’nai Brith has also attempted to contact Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne’s office and the members of her Liberal caucus who appeared in a full-page Ramadan Mubarak message mere pages after the antisemitic article in al-Saraha. As of 5 P.M. Thursday, B’nai Brith had received no response from the Premier’s Office. 

Sorry to Have to State the Obvious, But "Feelings" Won't Vanquish the Jihad

It started with the shocking, untimely death of Princess Diana, I think: people feeling the need to one up one another in demonstrating just how emotionally devastated they were by "their" loss, and that display being proof that they were in essence superior human beings because of their overly overwrought emotions.

Fast forward to today, and, as Bruce Thornton writes, "feelings"--which is to say the therapeutic approach to dealing with a public trauma--has, as expected, shown up in Nice, France (my bolds):

We know what is going to follow the latest terrorist murder in Nice. Shrines to the dead will instantly spring up. Conclaves of citizens will gather at sorrowful demonstrations filled with ecumenical clichés. The media will profile selected victims, wringing every ounce of pathos out of their tragedy. Twitter will be inundated with sentimental bromides and ephemeral hashtags, and politicians will give solemn and empty speeches laced with even emptier threats. 

Welcome to terror in a therapeutic age. 

What we will not read are passionate demands from most citizens of Western governments that mind-concentrating force be unleashed on those responsible for the latest slaughter of the innocents. Nor will we hear stirring speeches from our political leaders that forcefully make the moral case for war against the murderers and their enablers. 

Obsessing over feelings and emotions is what many moderns reflexively substitute for meaningful action. Righteous anger and burning revenge of the sort that fired up Americans after the Pearl Harbor attacks are too “mean” and “hurtful,” and require a serious commitment and exorbitant risk. Displaying emotion is cheap and gratifying and offends no one. Indeed, such displays demonstrate the purveyors’ superior “we are the world” sensibilities and sensitivity. It is “conspicuous compassion,” as Alan Bloom called it, as much a status symbol as Veblen’s conspicuous consumption. It’s how people show themselves to be civilized and advanced, too sophisticated for retrograde emotions like avenging anger. That’s so Old Testament...

That's for sure. But that "turn the other cheek"/what's-so-funny-'bout-peace-love-and-understanding stuff is to this era's jihad what Bambi is to Godzilla. (I'm sure you know what that looks like):

The problem is, we live in a world of people with radically different ideas about the goods they should pursue, and who don’t give a damn about “peace, love, understanding,” or the opinions of Western infidels about their religion. Whatever their potential is for possessing and recognizing a “common humanity,” in practice this possibility remains mostly unexpressed in their traditional religious tenets. Rather, Muslim jihadists––and hundreds of millions of ordinary Muslims–– limit their compassion, sympathy, and respect for humanity to fellow Muslims, and deny them to the infidel or heretic.  

That’s why zakat, the personal obligation for Muslims to make charitable contributions, for the most part restricts that charity to other Muslims. 

The only “common humanity” pious Muslims recognize is the divine obligation for all humans to become Muslim. Their highest goods are not democracy, prosperity, leisure, and tolerance, but obedience to Allah and his laws. And millions of them view violence in the name of Allah as the divinely justified instrument for creating a world in which “all men say there is no god but Allah.”

It's awfully hard to feel any warm 'n' fuzzy John Lennonesque (or Kerryesque) vibes about that.

My Nominee for "Most Obnoxious 'Progressive' American Jew": Peter Beinart

What a putz! And here's the great Caroline Glick to confirm it:

Last Friday, Peter Beinart and a few dozen Jewish anti-Zionists had a marvelous time in Hebron.

They wore funny blue T-shirts and sang about “tikkun olam” (repairing the world) in two languages.

They pretended they were civil rights activists.

They videotaped themselves being brave. They got shown to the door by security forces after wrecking a Palestinian farmer’s grazing land while supposedly defending him.

Five dual Israeli-American citizens got arrested.

And the rest ate a late lunch.

All in all, it was a great experience.

The sight of Beinart and his comrades locking hands and singing Debbie Friedman songs in Hebron was so absurd it was funny. But there was a menacing aspect to their solipsistic showmanship.

Beinart told the JTA reporter who joined them for the protest party, “I feel like I’m seeing the emergence of a new leadership.... People will try to write these guys off as lefties that don’t have any connection to the Jewish community. But... these kids actually come from the bosom of the Jewish community.

A lot of them are affiliated.”

No doubt they are. But to what? According to JTA, “Many belong to left-wing Israel advocacy groups such as J Street and the New Israel Fund, and others to groups that more deeply divide the pro-Israel community, including Jewish Voice for Peace, which supports the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement against Israel, and IfNotNow, which holds its own sit-ins at US Jewish groups.”

In other words, they come from the marginal fringe of the American Jewish community. They represent no statistically significant demographic.

But they believe that their fringe voices should balance out the vast majority of affiliated Jews who disagree with them, simply because they like tikkun olam.

Exactly. Which leads me to conclude that, for "progressive" Jews like Pete the putz, "tikkum olam" is  Hebrew for "screw Israel."



Update: Beinart sings (to the tune of "Moon River"):

Tik' Olam,
Let's "repair" the globe
Although the task, we're told,
Is big.
We're all dreamers,
And real schemers,
And once Zion's finished
We'll all dance a jig.
Too crazy,
That is what we are.
More virtuous by far
Than thee.
We aim to bring "changes," by gum!
Even though they're dumb,
My huckleberry chum,
It's Tik' Olam for me!