Exercising my Free Speech

My free speech is accomplished through this blog among other ways. I haven't been blogging lately, but with free speech being muddled I figure its time for me to use mine.
Whats this all about?
"Holocaust deniers to speak at Oxford"

Irving and BNP people are (maybe) going to be speaking. Now I am for free speech, very much so, but that doesn't mean I am for giving wacky and damaging views a honoured place. Sometimes I wish people would take on the debate a bit and show how exactly the Holocaust deniers, the 9/11 wackos, and Rabin assassination wackos are lying, but a debate society is not the place for that.

Oxford University's students associated condemned the idea as well several Muslim students' organizations who object to Griffin's policies and the Jewish student body

I was thinking, wouldn't this be a wonderful issue for activists from both the Jewish and Islamic communities to work together on. I did a bit of searching, and this was the best I could find

Hopefully this won't be relevant because the event will be canceled but here it is

Join the protest against Griffin & Irving this Monday 26th November - Oxford Union is no place for fascism meet at 7pm, outside the Oxford Union, St. Michael Street, Oxford, OX1 3JB

Unite Against Fascism is a broad based national campaign aimed at stopping the BNP, which brings together Black, Jewish, Muslim communities and other faith representatives, Lesbian and Gay activists, trade unionists and MPs into an alliance with all those who are threatened by and oppose fascism.

I don't know how true they keep to that but it sounds cool. But if only we could get the right-wing elements of both communities working together.

While looking around I saw this good quote by Trevor Phillips, the head of the Equality and Human Rights Commission:

"People have died for freedom of speech, they didn't fight and die for it so it could be used as a silly parlour game. Nobody needs to invite these people to deny the holocaust. The issues are too serious. I would say to the Oxford Union -- think again. If this goes ahead I hope the Oxford students will turn their backs on this shabby exhibition."

Of course the article calls Irving, a self-taught historian. Shame on the BBC for that. So that led me to look up Deborah Lipstadt's take on this. It turns out she has a good blog.

Some other recommended recent posts from that blog
Rwanda: A new form of genocide denial
Egyptian cleric preaches antisemitism to children
Armenian University gives award to Ahmadinejad: A double standard???

and back on topic
Oxford Union: Muddled reasoning

Another thing I found while researching is that the pathetic BNP can't spell in the headlines of their press releases.


and while on the subject of free speech, yes it is related in more than one way
November 25 letters to the editor of jpost:

"Personal kosher playground

Sir, - Dr. Haim Katz misses the point entirely when he compares the ownership of Park Avenue apartments by wealthy Europeans to the feeding frenzy of Diaspora Orthodox Jews on the epicenter of Jerusalem ("Priced out of the market," Business & Finance, November 22).

In Jerusalem, virtually every major real estate development in the city's center is exclusively intended for absentee owners. There is no such parallel in New York. And, yes, there is a domino effect, whereby small shop-owners and providers of basic services are either priced out of the market or bereft of a livelihood, displaced by overpriced boutiques that peck at the eyes of a population surviving on overdrafts.

The malaise, however, goes far deeper. There is a phenomenon today whereby a certain segment of American Jewry looks at Jerusalem as its personal kosher playground. Here they can drop in when convenient; enjoy overpriced restaurants; make fancy kiddushes in their rarely-used million-dollar homes in order to show off their real estate swag; and then go home to Lawrence or Englewood without ever making any real investment in Israel, the kind of investment that involves genuine risk and commitment.

The children of such people come to Jerusalem for a year or two after high school. An entire industry of overpriced, underperforming "yeshivot" caters to their whims without imparting even minimal appreciation of Israel in terms of familiarity with the land, let alone recognition of the fact that their Israeli counterparts are in uniform defending their country, at times giving their lives for it. Instead, these unsupervised boys and girls often disport themselves with a sense of entitlement that is nothing short of galling.

The message this conveys to young Israelis goes far beyond "Abandon ye all hope of living in your own city." The message is that a galut Jew and his children can exercise an ownership attitude which requires no real commitment, and that easy money buys American 18- and 19-year-olds the right to flash their lavish allowances, behave inexcusably in the city's streets and cafes, and look at the soldiers who defend their "Disneyland" as if they were invisible.

The entire phenomenon of such tourism needs to be more closely examined. The so-called yeshivot should be scrutinized. Standards should be set for what they teach and what values they impart. And the nouveaux-riche parents should be taxed for their assets here to the extent that they feel the pain a bit, too.

And, yes, through proper legislation, they should know that these taxes are being used to build affordable housing for those to whom Jerusalem is not merely a place to visit - housing alongside theirs, not in remote peripheries. (I live in the US, but my son is a soldier in the IDF.)

JJ GROSS
Riverdale, New York

Thats all for now

Celebrating the Hamas takeover of Gaza?

I have had trouble posting lately, so there are many things that I have wanted to write about hat I haven't got a chance to, because it won't save my drafts. I have lost interesting posts that I have put a lot of effort into, so now I write it all in Gmail.

I have gotten a bit tired of the "More power = More responsibility = More accountability" reasoning. This reasoning was among the lines of thought that gave me hope that the disengagement might produce something. In the sense that if Israel was gone they might actually try to fix the real problems, which really have nothing to do with occupation.

I said the same thing when Hamas won the elections; maybe now the world will realize what Palestinian "nationalism" is all about. It didn't happen, because the world chose to shut its eyes.

The reasoning is true in the sense that people try to fill their roles. So, if someone is thinking of themselves as a student/chanich they will try to find loopholes in the rules and be disruptive. While if they suddenly are put in charge of a group, they will try to establish order and think of themselves as a part of the solution and not the problem.

So why am I "celebrating" the Hamas takeover of Gaza?

Its very simple. No its not that I am glad that Palestinians are killing each other, that's actually a pretty sad result of the depravity of their society. So why is it? Because the West Bank and Gaza are now separate. Gaza will unfortunately become a backwards taliban/Iran mixture of Islamic religious extremism. While the West Bank will gravitate towards modern more secular palestinian Arab nationalism. Neither is a great enemy for Israel to be up against. It was also easier for Israel to combat a divided Palestinian population through the old "divide and conquer". So what is it that we are gaining from this (lest anyone think that Fatah aren't also crazy) ? The concept that maybe we can have a tri-state solution. Its not quite Rav Yoel Bin-nun's idea of Egypt taking Gaza and Jordan taking the West Bank, but its a step in the right direction. With no need for territorial continuity we really may be able to achieve some sort of permanent borders. In fact, Hamas understands that this separation of the West Bank and Gaza can hurt the Palestinian ideal of taking over all of Israel through stages or otherwise. I happen not to think that Egypt and Gaza reclaiming the lands that they had until '67 is a realistic idea. I much prefer we break up the Palestinian extreme nationalism and let them focus on the land they currently occupy rather than carving up Israel for the needless desire for a contiguous state, when two separate sates would do equally well. The only question remains is if and how to transfer people from Gaza to the West Bank and vice versa who want to live in the other Palestinian state.

The Zionist Boycott - of Coca-Cola?

If fighting the Illegal Arab boycott and all the other anti-Israel boycotts weren't enough, enter the Zionist boycott of Soft Drinks. The ZOA decided to fight fire with fire and start its own boycott of Coca Cola.

Wait a second

Coke vs Pepsi. Did you know that from 1966, Coca Cola has been a firm supporter of commerce with Israel? Coca Cola has refused to follow the Arab boycott for decades. Pepsi followed the boycott and didn’t begin trade with Israel until 1992. Coca Cola not only sells its soda in Israel, it built and currently operates a plant there as well. The next time you are looking for a cool taste to simmer down the summer, remember – Coke is it! - http://www.25waystohelpisrael.com/pages/t1.asp?PID=3001

This also goes against the grain of most Jewish and Zionist organizations who are very hesitant to get involved in boycotts, even the very careful one about Darfur.

It seems like the ZOA have a point though

ZOA: "Don't Buy Coca-Cola"

New York — The Zionist Organization of America (ZOA) condemns the Coca-Cola Company ("Coca-Cola" or the "Company") for occupying and using certain property in Egypt, all the while knowing that the property was stolen by the Egyptian government from its Jewish owners, the Bigio family. This participation in anti-Semitic and immoral conduct is made even more egregious by how boldly and self-righteously Coca-Cola describes itself.

Now here is the thing. The ZOA is a Right Wing organization on the fringe of anything that people would call mainstream Zionism. They are not going to be listened to, we already know that from the UPZ controversy.

It seems they weren't content with simply using the strategy of the Arab Boycott, but they also got writing tips. Its fair enough that they want to stress how this property was stolen from the Jewish owners and they see the Palestinians making claims and getting listened to. The 1,000,000 Jews who fled Arab lands and lost everything could probably use some of the double speak that is used against Israel and instead use it for the truth.

But Come On! "occupying" isn't that a bit much?


anti-Semitic - I'll say the same old line: There is no such thing as Semitism, call it Antisemitism, not Anti-Semitism. This makes it clear that it is not a valid position; unlike Anti-abortion or Anti-Zionism, Antisemitism is not up for discussion. Also it will make it clear that it just refers to Jews, not other "Semites"



Having said that Coke has some explaining to do

For approximately 60 years beginning in the early 1900's, the Bigios owned land and factories near Cairo, Egypt. Coca-Cola leased a factory building from the Bigios for over 25 years, and the Bigios' factories provided bottle caps and other products to the Company.

In 1962, the Egyptian government forcibly stole the Bigios' property from them, without any compensation whatsoever, for one reason only: they were Jews. The Egyptian government's actions were part of a campaign of anti-Semitic discrimination and persecution that caused almost a million Jews in Arab/Islamic countries, like the Bigios, to lose their homes, properties, businesses and livelihoods.

In 1980, the Egyptian government ordered that the property be returned to the Bigios. But the occupier, a government-owned and operated entity, never returned the property.

In approximately 1993, the Egyptian government decided to privatize the entity that was occupying and using the Bigios' property. When the Bigios learned that Coca-Cola intended to bid for the entity, they contacted Coca-Cola to remind the Company of the family's right to the property. But top Coca-Cola officials cavalierly brushed aside and ignored the Bigios' legitimate pleas to be justly compensated for the loss of their property, and went ahead with the bid. Through subsidiaries, Coca-Cola purchased 42 percent of the entity occupying the Bigios' property, knowing full well of the immoral and anti-Semitic manner in which the property had been stolen from the Bigios by the Egyptian government. The Company then formed a joint venture known as the "Coca-Cola Bottling Companies of Egypt" that has been occupying, using and benefiting from the Bigios' stolen property since 1994.

The Bigios repeatedly requested that Coca-Cola compensate them for their loss, but Coca-Cola never offered them a penny. The family was thus left with no choice but to file a lawsuit to obtain justice. They sued in Egypt 12 times. All of their lawsuits were dismissed and not permitted to go forward, some in a matter of weeks. In 1997, the Bigios filed suit against Coca-Cola in a federal district court in New York. In the almost 10 years since the lawsuit was brought, Coca-Cola's lawyers have used every legal maneuver to avoid reaching the merits of the Bigios' case because the Company has no legal or moral defense for its conduct. - ZOA

Blogger rights in Egypt

I talked about Orthomom, and now a much more serius case of blogger rights is taking place in Egypt.
Its a pity because Egypt is one of the more moderate Arab nations.

An Alexandria court convicted an Egyptian blogger on Thursday for insulting both Islam and Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and sentenced him to four years in jail over his writings on the Internet.

Abdel Karim Suleiman, 22-year-old former law student is getting four years in Jail for this

He described some of the companions of the Muslim prophet Mohammad as "terrorists," and has likened Mubarak to dictatorial pharaohs who ruled ancient Egypt.

The last part is especially interesting, because it makes us think if we should relate to Egypt in at all the same way as we relate to the Biblical Egypt. Also the modern day Persia/Iran which is once again threatening to wipe out the Jews "Men, Women, and Children in one day", can we compare Iran's nuclear ambitions with Haman?

"I was hoping that he would get a harsher sentence because he presented to the world a bad image of Egypt. There are things that one should not talk about, like religion and politics. He should have got a 10-year sentence," said lawyer Nizar Habib, who attended the trial as a member of the public.

Nizar Habib, my friend, you just gave me a worse impression of Egpyt than anything this blogger my have written would give me