Labels: corruption, Ehud K. Olmert, Jerusalem Post
posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 1:54 PM
2 comments
The conservative British-based news and opinion website—The Commentator—first drew attention to the disruption on Tuesday in a report headlined: Has Saudi Arabia blocked the Jerusalem Post? The article wrote a “A lecturer from Saudi Arabia has claimed that the country is blocking access to the Jerusalem Post website.”Haaretz is a much more appropriate newspaper for the Saudi government anyway.... They agree on so much....
The prominent Saudi blogger and journalist Ahmed Al Omran confirmed on his Twitter feed that the Post website “is blocked,” whilst Haaretz and Ynet are both accessible.
The writer of the Commentator article Ahmed Abdel-Raheem is an Egyptian artist and a PhD student who works as a lecturer at Al-Lith College for Girls, Um Al-Qura University, Saudi Arabia, according to his byline on the website of the Commentator.
He wrote, "Over the past week I have tried to access the website of the newspaper the Jerusalem Post, but every time I click the link of the paper, I have received the message: 'Sorry, the requested page is unavailable.'"
It remains unclear why the Saudi government banned access to the Post’s website. Sara Miller, the managing Editor of Jpost.com, said: “Since the start of May, there has been an almost 100-percent drop in the number of visits to jpost.com from Saudi Arabia.
Up until April 30, we were getting hundreds of visits from Saudi Arabia every day, and now it is less than 10. There is clearly a demand for news from the Jerusalem Post, and it is a shame that the Saudi regime is proving yet again that it is determined to stifle freedom of thought and expression among its own population.”
Labels: Haaretz, Jerusalem Post, our friends the Saudis
posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 8:57 PM
0 comments
Given the documented leftward drift of the Jerusalem Post under Steve Linde, it's not surprising that the paper attacked Prime Minister Netanyahu on Iran on the very day that he buried his father. Two seasoned military commanders and counterterrorism experts with impeccable credentials, privy to Israel’s most guarded secrets, have taken upon themselves to fight the predominant narrative put forward by the government vis-à-vis Iran and the Palestinians.Actually, it's far more likely that two people who stayed out of the limelight for years are seeking to get their names in the media for political gain. How many of you - especially outside of Israel - had ever heard of either of them before they started attacking Netanyahu?
Both Dagan and Diskin, like any other serious leader interested in having an impact, are political animals. They understand the impact of their words. But it would be disingenuous to blame these two of acting solely in the name of narrow interests considering that during the long years in which they held their respective official positions, Diskin and Dagan remained out of the limelight and devoted themselves exclusively to defending their country.
With their long years of service behind them, the two apparently feel morally impelled to speak out against what they perceive to be existential dangers.
BUT PERHAPS the most distasteful and undemocratic response to Diskin’s and Dagan’s outspokenness has been a legislative initiative that, if passed, would severely restrict the open debate and criticism that characterizes Israeli political discourse.Funny, but I don't see any public debate in Iran over whether or how far to go in developing nuclear weapons. I don't recall any public debate in the US over whether and how to kill Bin Laden. And although I wasn't around then, I don't recall reading about any public debate in the US over whether to use nuclear weapons on Japan until after the bombers had already dropped their loads on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Some decisions can only be taken in secret.
Dubbed the “Dagan Law,” the legislative initiative would prevent former security officials from making public comments on matters related to their field of expertise without authorization from the Defense Ministry. First drafted last year, the bill has garnered new interest in the aftermath of Diskin’s comments. MKs such as Miri Regev (Kadima), who drafted the original bill, and Danny Danon (Likud), among others, are pushing to get the Dagan Law passed. They claim to be out to defend Israel from the potential danger caused by irresponsible comments made by the likes of Dagan and Diskin.
But in actuality, stifling the free exchange of ideas and criticism among those most qualified to express these ideas and criticism is the real danger to Israel’s security.
Labels: Binyamin Netanyahu, Jerusalem Post, Meir Dagan, Yuval Diskin
posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 11:53 AM
2 comments
Because I was traveling, I missed this on Wednesday, but they actually quoted me.Labels: blogosphere, Jerusalem Post
posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 2:29 AM
3 comments
The United Nations accused Israel of violating the human rights of 'Palestinian' children in Gaza and the West Bank, and contended that the Jewish State was not acting to prevent settler violence against Palestinians.[Richard] Falk faced calls that he resign in July after he posted on his personal blog a cartoon of a dog with a kippah urinating on a statue of Lady Justice, and alleged that arrest warrants issued by the International Criminal Court against Muammar Gaddafi were politically motivated.But there's so much more that they didn't tell you about Richard Falk. At first, he denied posting that cartoon. He's a 9/11 truther (and been condemned for it by Ban Ki-Moon). He's been barred from entering Israel, which he has compared to Nazis. He doesn't work for the United Nations, but for its 'Human Rights Council' - a body whose vehement obsession with Israel is well documented.
US envoy to the UN, Joseph M. Torsella, called on Falk to resign as did Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, chairwoman of the US House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee. The Anti-Defamation League and B’nai B’rith also weighed in, calling on Falk to step down.
Falk said that posting the cartoon “was a mistake and I regret it,” but said that he would not resign.
Labels: Israel Radio, Jerusalem Post, Richard Falk, United Nations Human Rights Council
posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 2:37 AM
1 comments
Received by email from one of my friends. It ain't over.Okay, better write....
The JPost has received hundreds of complaints about [Derfner's] firing.
Please write to Steve Linde and express a reasoned but firm and polite opinion that the JPost did right and should not back down.
This isn't a popularity contest but one of principled morality.
Would the JPost continue paying someone who wrote that Dafni Lif (the J14 leader) should be killed?
steve@jpost.com
Labels: Jerusalem Post, Larry Derfner, Palestinian terrorism
posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 1:32 AM
1 comments
In Friday's JPost, editor Steven Linde discusses the decision to fire Larry Derfner. When Derfner asked that we run the piece in the Post, we rejected it and dissociated ourselves completely from his comments, to which we object in the strongest possible terms.I'm amazed that Derfner even tried to get the Post to run that piece. At least they had the common sense not to run it.
Even though his column did not appear in the paper, we came to the conclusion that we could no longer provide a stage to someone who openly promulgates such venomous views.
Derfner later wrote an apology that we chose not to run. In it, he expresses deep regret for his blog post, saying: “My intention was to shock people into recognition, but I ended up shocking many of them into revulsion, and twisting what I wanted to say into something I didn’t and don’t mean at all.
“I regret what I wrote [last] Sunday. I apologize to everyone who was offended by it, and I apologize to my countrymen. The post is no longer on my blog; I’ve taken it down.”
The substance of Derfner’s apology itself was not convincing. He used ludicrous logic to defend his position, repeating the same obscene sentiments that made many readers sick to their stomachs in the first place.
He had meant, he said, “to shock Israelis and friends of Israel into seeing how badly we’re hurting the Palestinians by denying them independence: It’s so bad that it’s helping drive them to try to kill us.”
If you saw Oren Kessler’s article in the paper this week about the anti-Israel coverage in the Arab media following the attacks on the southern border, you may have noticed that their commentaries were not significantly different from Derfner’s.
Abdel Bari Atwan, editor-inchief of the London-based pan- Arab daily Al-Quds Al-Arabi, wrote that Israel bore direct responsibility for the terrorist attack on its soil.
“This attack put the spotlight back on the most important struggle – that for the honor of the Arab and Islamic nation,” Atwan argued. “Resistance is a legitimate right as long as land is occupied and the people and holy places are humiliated.”
Derfner’s blog later appeared on a Hamas website, giving succor to Israel’s enemies.
...
The move, I stress, had nothing to do with threats to cancel subscriptions or advertisements; it was an editorial decision taken on moral grounds. While politically independent, the Post is a quintessentially Zionist newspaper priding itself on its patriotism and credibility, as well as its balanced reporting and diverse commentaries.
We are certainly not silencing the Left, and will continue to feature columnists of all political stripes. Freedom of speech has its limits, however, and Derfner clearly overstepped them.
Labels: incitement, Jerusalem Post, Larry Derfner, Palestinian terrorism, Steve Linde
posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 11:17 AM
4 comments
The JPost locks Larry Derfner in the cage and throws away the key. Due to professional disagreements with Larry Derfner connected to his personal blog, he will no longer be working at The Jerusalem Post.Heh.
Labels: Jerusalem Post, Larry Derfner
posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 8:52 AM
1 comments
You had to know that something like this would happen. Larry’s dismissal is made all the more obscene by virtue of the light it sheds on the egregious double-standard that once-professional publication now employs in regard to conservative versus liberal opinion; I say that as someone who fondly remembers the fairly conservative op-ed editor of my own time at the Post soliciting op-ed pieces he openly disagreed with. Larry worries his post might end up on some Hamas website. This is yet to occur, and even if it does take place, it’s doubtful it would influence the decision of any young Palestinian whether to become a terrorist or not. By contrast, the writings of Jerusalem Post deputy-editor Caroline Glick were cited in the manic manifesto of Norwegian terrorist Anders Brevik in justification of the bloodbath he executed earlier this summer; unlike Derfner, Glick has yet to be shown the door.Hello? It was a business decision! By Derfner's own admission, the Post had HUNDREDS of subscription cancellations because of what Derfner wrote. A newspaper is a commercial enterprise (unlike blogs which are written by true believers who toil in anonymity for free). Is the Post supposed to lose money to give Derfner a platform to spew his noxious venom at Israelis?
Moreover, right after the Norway carnage the Jerusalem Post published an outlandish editorial suggesting the calculated, murderous rampage of a self-confessed xenophobe was an opportunity for Norway to revisit its immigration policy. The editorial was so beyond the pale the Post only put it up on the website with a disclaimer, and sparked such an outrage in Norway the newspaper had to spend another editorial on an apology; to my knowledge, all of those responsible for this serialised farce kept their jobs. Not so for Derfner.
Now, I’m not suggesting Glick and the author of that editorial (assuming they’re not the same person) should be fired for their opinions. There are many other reasons not to retain Glick’s services. Serious complaints of her conservative column’s ultra-liberal attitude to facts should be a warning sign for any reader; her suggestions regarding the possibility of an alliance between Israel and the Vatican, instead of fickle, fickle USA, are enough to give anybody pause; and as far as embarrassing appearances outside the Jpost go, her responsibility for a “satirical” clip showing a blackface minstrel Barack Obama singing to Israel’s destruction is hard to forget.
Yet Glick’s right to express even the strangest and most obsolete of opinion from the pages of what publication would have her remains in place and should not be infringed upon. Opinion is up there to be read, to be disagreed with and to be criticised; this is the fundamental principle of op-ed pages. The Jerusalem Post has obviously sunk so low and became wedded to Glenn-Beck-type readership so tightly it now applies this principle to conservative opinion only. Pity. It used to be a newspaper once.
Labels: Anders Behring Brievik, Barry Rubin, Caroline Glick, Dimi Reider, Eilat, Jerusalem Post, Larry Derfner, Norway, Palestinian terrorism, Utoya massacre
posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 7:58 AM
1 comments
Heh.
Labels: Howard Dean, Jerusalem Post, Larry Derfner
posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 1:48 AM
3 comments
"3 days of mutual attacks"? Sounds like Haaretz with the good old 'cycle of violence' to me. And don't blame Yaakov Katz or Khaled Abu Toameh. They don't write the headlines - the editors do. Time to cancel our subscription.
Labels: cycle of violence, Israel's Hebrew Palestinian daily, Jerusalem Post
posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 11:46 AM
5 comments
I wasn't happy with last week's Editor's Notes from new editor Steve Linde. This week's were bad enough that we're going to try to cancel the subscription in the morning (we've tried canceling the home delivery several times, but every time we try to cancel they just cut the price and beg us not to and Mrs. Carl gives in). I mean, if I wanted Haaretz, I'd buy Haaretz. Sitting at Jerusalem’s Ambassador Hotel, a Palestinian official who asked not to be identified told me that September 20 was not a holy date, and he believed Malki had been misunderstood.There are many reasons for Israel to oppose this move - some of which are mentioned by Israeli officials quoted in the article (including Danny Ayalon, whom Linde tries to make look like an idiot).
“There is no date. We know something will happen in September,” he said. “The 20th of September might change. There’s only a decision to go for full membership in the UN, and this decision is being supported by the Arab League and several friends we have in the world.”
The official said the PA had not expected Israel’s “hysterical” opposition to the UN resolution, which he claimed was actually an attempt to save the two-state solution.
“We refuse to say that the two-state solution in 1967 borders is over, as many people are saying,” he said. “We don’t really understand Israel’s reaction. This resolution will not be passed if it doesn’t include ‘a Palestinian state living side by side in peace and security with the state of Israel.’ When Iran votes for this resolution, it will be voting in recognition of Israel.”
The official slammed Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon for flying across the globe to canvass support for Israel’s opposition to Palestinian statehood.
“This campaign of Mr. Ayalon going all over the world for this ‘moral minority’ is not going to bring him more than five or six votes against any resolution on Palestine,” he said. “We have 122 countries recognizing Palestine. I don’t think all of them will vote for Palestine. We believe that maybe six of them will not, basically eastern European countries, which does not mean that they will vote against.”
...
Israeli officials expressed concern that a vote in favor of a Palestinian state in the General Assembly would give the Palestinians more ammunition in their diplomatic arsenal against Israel in the international arena. As a UN member state, Palestine could, for example, pursue Israelis for war crimes at the International Criminal Court in The Hague.
One official said Israel could, moreover, not accept a Palestinian resolution that called for a return to the 1967 borders. This would put the Western Wall in Palestine rather than in Israel, he noted.
...
Palestine will soon be a reality, even if its boundaries have not been determined, and Israel doesn’t accept it. Israel is already a reality, although its final borders have not yet been set, either. What will be necessary after September is for negotiators of good faith to sit down and work out a way the two can coexist. For the sake of both.
Labels: Jerusalem Post, Palestinian state RIGHT NOW syndrome, unilateral declaration of statehood
posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 5:23 AM
2 comments
I am an Orthodox Jew - some would even call me 'ultra-Orthodox.' Born in Boston, I was a corporate and securities attorney in New York City for seven years before making aliya to Israel in 1991 (I don't look it but I really am that old :-). I have been happily married to the same woman for thirty-five years, and we have eight children (bli ayin hara) ranging in age from 13 to 33 years and nine grandchildren. Four of our children are married! Before I started blogging I was a heavy contributor on a number of email lists and ran an email list called the Matzav from 2000-2004. You can contact me at: IsraelMatzav at gmail dot com
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