Tahrir Square comes to Sheikh Jarrah
I'm sure you will all recall that around this time last year, CBS News reporter Lara Logan was
sexually assaulted in Tahrir Square in Cairo. Some of you may even recall that in the past, I have raised the possibility that
Rachel Corrie and other foreign pro-'Palestinian' activists who have come here to demonstrate have been sexually assaulted, and that sexual harassment claims by female activists are being
silenced for the sake of the cause. The ad above - for the Hebrew-impaired it's a crude takeoff on porno flick
Deep Throat which was issued as a protest against the deal made last week to move the revenants of Migron elsewhere in Samaria - has ticked off enough of the female activists that they're emerging from the shadows and
making their complaints public (Hat Tip:
MFS - The Other News).
This correspondence, along with other testimonies obtained by Haaretz, tells of a wider phenomenon of sexual harassment and assault of Israeli and foreign protesters in the West Bank. In the past two years, at least six incidents were recorded in the West Bank and East Jerusalem: two in Sheikh Jarrah, four more in the Mount Hebron area, in Masra, in Kfar a-Dik, and an alleged case of attempted rape in Umm Salmona, near Bethlehem, that was revealed in Haaretz.
Recently, a special forum was started by a group of women from leftist groups for the purpose of dealing and monitoring such incidents. “The objective is to learn the subject,” says one of the group’s members. “We want to develop tools and guidelines for creating an environment with fewer cases of harassment.”
...
One activist, who in the past used to frequent the protests in the West Bank but no longer participates, told Haaretz, “Two years ago we had a meeting of women who took part in the struggle against the occupation. It took place in an apartment in Jerusalem, and disturbing things were brought up. Nearly all the women that attended told of cases of harassment or discrimination. One of the women recounted how one night, in a tent set up to help Sheikh Jarrah families, someone tried to grab her. She shouted for help and Palestinians came and asked who it was so that they could ‘take care of him.’”
“A female foreign activist of the international solidarity movement that was sleeping in one of the Palestinian villages, where protests against the fence take place, said that one night someone entered her room and tried to grab her, she began to shout and one of her friends rushed to help her. Since then I don’t go to places I ‘shouldn’t’ go to alone, as a women,” she said.
...
The heated debate intensified lately after the Sheikh Jarrah Solidarity movement posted a poster on its Facebook page. The poster, protesting the deal legitimizing the outpost Migron, features a jar of Vaseline with the caption reading ‘Deep Migron,’ a pun playing on the title of the pornographic film Deep Throat (‘garon’ is Hebrew for throat). The poster angered activists, almost as much as the incidents of sexual harassment.
One activist commented on the poster in her blog: “There will be more noise, they will take down the campaign, apologize again without understanding what they did wrong. As long as we continue coming on Fridays. Damn it, solidarity isn’t just with the Arabs. I can find places where no one cares what I think or feel even without going to East Jerusalem.”
“Honestly, I don’t care what you are doing to fight the occupation and how fast you bring about peace. I just don’t care.” The poster was removed following the criticism.
Arab Muslim men are Arab Muslim men and the 'Palestinians' are not a whole lot different than
their Egyptian cousins. They're from a culture that uses and abuses women, and treats them as chattel.
Unfortunately, the political Left doesn't appear to be a whole lot better. Their men also have
problems relating to women.
Read the whole thing.
UPDATE 12:50 PMLink added to last paragraph.
This one too.
Labels: foreign activists, sexual harassment, Sheikh Jarrah
At J Street, no pro-Israel speeches to be found
At the opening of J Street's conference on Saturday night, the pro-Obama group that claims to be pro-Israel honored three guests,
none of whom had anything positive to say about Israel.
In his speech, Peter Beinart said that "Israel cannot be holy in the time of Bibi, Lieberman and Ovadia Yosef."
Sara Benninga said in her speech: “Our critics portray us as enemies of the Jewish State. But it is ironic that a country claiming to be the victim of a campaign of delegitimization, shamelessly delegitimizes sections of its own citizenry. We reject the false dichotomy between security and democracy."
"We refuse to settle for anything less than a true end of occupation that is a necessary, but not sufficient, condition for realizing our goal of substantive equality and genuine democracy in Israel. We know that true friends do not reinforce your weaknesses, but bring out the best in you," she said.
"We see the same story unfolding here in the United States, where an outdated Jewish Establishment vilifies those in the Jewish community who dare to criticize Israel’s policies. This is why J Street is such a ground breaking organization, and why I am so proud to receive this honor tonight," Benninga added.
Dr. Izzeldin Abuelaish, who lost his three daughters in January 2009, and established “Daughters for life” foundation said, "I am moved and proud to be with you at this hopeful event. If only my daughters could come out of their grave and see that their blood wasn’t in vain."
"We need to live the human values. As a Muslim I swore to God and to my daughters not to rest, because I will meet them one day, and I want to bring them the gift – to bring justice. To solve our problems peacefully we have to change our course." Abuelaish said.
“Our enemies are greed, ignorance and that we don’t know each other. I truly believe that political solution of the conflicts is based on mutual recognition and two states for the two peoples." She said that one cannot be pro-Israeli without being pro-Palestinian.
After the frustrations of Oslo it is tempting to give up, said Abuelaish. "But giving up peace is not the answer. I believe in you. Have hope, have faith, but take action."
With 'friends' like this.....
George Soros is getting his money's worth.
Labels: Izzeldin Abuelaish, J Street, Peter Beinart, pro-Israel pro-peace, Sheikh Jarrah
The crime of building a house
At the end of the last post, I said that Secretary of State Clinton falling down as she boarded an airplane was a 'comeuppance.'
Here's why.
In Niger, two Frenchmen were murdered by their Islamic kidnappers. Saudi Arabia sentenced a 23 year old girl who was gang raped to a year in prison and 100 lashes. Iran arrested two dozen Christians for the crime of being well... Christians. Which of these awful things did Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and the EU's Red Baroness Ashton forcefully condemn?
The answer is none of them.
Instead they forcefully and vigorously condemned the demolition of a hotel built by a Muslim Nazi collaborator and now owned by an American-Jewish businessman who bought it in order to build an apartment complex on the spot. An apartment complex for a mere 20 families that is somehow worse than all the aforementioned murders and atrocities. So much worse that they demanded the personal intervention of the highest diplomatic officials of the United States and the European Union.
...
In her statement, Hillary Clinton said the United States is "very concerned" about the demolition of a Nazi collaborator's abandoned hotel. In a world where North Korea and Iran are racing ahead to build nuclear weapons, Russia and China are racing to outstrip the United States in weapons development and the economy is on the brink-- that is what the Obama Administration is "very concerned" about. That 20 Jewish families will be able to have homes in the capital of their own city.
Hillary Clinton chose to attack Israel from Abu Dhabi, capital of the UAE, a totalitarian regime whose own construction boom was built on slave labor imported from India. Where there are no political freedoms and where non-Muslim foreigners have few rights, if any. Where a video showed the brother of the ruler of Abu Dhabi torturing a man in ways too horrifying to describe, with the approval of the police and the judicial system over a debt. Where 42 percent of the prisoners are there for being indebted. The UAE is essentially a slave state, built on the backs of mostly non-Muslim migrant workers with no human or legal rights.
While in Abu Dhabi, Hillary Clinton might have called on its rulers to open up the system to democratic elections. She might have raised the issue of Western women who are raped in Dubai and then sentenced to jail for being raped. Or the case of Roxanne Hillier, who was sentenced to jail for just being in the same room as her male boss. It certainly would have been appropriate for Hillary Clinton to have challenged the UAE on its abusive treatment of female visitors and tourists. But none of that happened.
Instead Hillary Clinton used the platform of a barbaric skyscraper studded dictatorship to denounce the only democracy in the region. In a speech more inspired by Monty Python, than any concern for human rights, she described the demolition of a long abandoned hotel as a "disturbing development" and warned that "this move contradicts the logic of a reasonable and necessary agreement between the parties on the status of Jerusalem". Yet oddly enough, Arab construction does not contradict such an agreement, only Jewish construction does.
Read the whole thing.
Labels: Catherine Ashton, Hillary Clinton, Sheikh Jarrah, Shepherd's Hotel
Don't miss this: A virtual tour of the Shepherd's Hotel complex
The picture is that of the current owner of the Shepherd's Hotel complex, Irving Moskowitz. He's a hero in my book.
Yaakov Lozowick wandered around the area on Tuesday, and provides a
virtual tour that will bring the place to life for you.
Set aside the legal aspects of the matter, not because they aren't interesting, but because they've been set aside by all the negotiating parties for at least the past decade. When on December 24th 2000 President Clinton slowly dictated his terms for peace to a group of Israeli and Palestinian negotiators, he determined that Jerusalem would be divided along the lines of ethnic division, irrespective of which part of the town had been in which country prior to its unification under Israel in 1967; his proposed lines would have had some Jordanian areas incorporated to Israel, and some Israeli ones incorporated to Palestine. Ever since then the principle of division along the ethnic lines has been the single option discussed in all relevant forums, effectively overriding earlier discussions of history, legality, morality or what have you.
I have written repeatedly about how this practical solution is not practical, and indeed should anyone ever try to impose it, the imposition will inevitably lead to violence bloodshed and eventually back to war .... I have demonstrated this on various parts of town.... Today I suggest we have a close look at the situation on the ground at the Shepherd Hotel compound.
Read the whole thing. It's completely illustrated.
Labels: Jerusalem construction, Jerusalem is the capital of Israel, Sheikh Jarrah, Shepherd's Hotel
Construction gets underway on Shepherd's Hotel site
I'm sure that many of you recall the
Shepherd's Hotel in the Nachlat Shimon (Sheikh Jarrah) neighborhood) of Jerusalem. The hotel was formerly owned by the Mufti of Jerusalem, Haj Amin al-Husseini. The site was purchased by investor Irving Moskowitz in 1985.
On Sunday, bulldozers began to knock down the building to prepare for its replacement: A group of 20 apartments to be
populated by Jews.
The Shepherd Hotel is to be replaced by 20 apartments for Israelis. Workmen and earth-moving equipment were knocking down the structure at the site in the neighborhood of Sheikh Jarrah on Sunday.
Chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat condemned the demolition of the hotel. "As long as this government continues with settlement and acts like the demolition of the Shepherd Hotel there will no negotiations," he said.
MK Dov Henin (Hadash) also harshly criticized the demolition of the hotel, saying the move "exterminates the chance of a Palestinian capital in east Jerusalem existing side-by-side with an Israeli capital in the west."
Henin said that the building of the new Jewish neighborhood in Sheikh Jarrah was a calculated political move meant to prevent the Palestinians from making their capital in the eastern part of the city.
"Without two capitals in Jerusalem, there can be no two-state solution and we will be sentenced to eternal war," Henin added.
The land is owned by a Jew and there is no reason he should not be able to build on it for Jews.
There's a
march against the construction (it actually says that it's against the 'Judaization of east Jerusalem) scheduled for 4:00 pm on Sunday (link in Hebrew followed by English). I wonder if any Abu Rahma's will show up.
Labels: Irving Moskowitz, Jerusalem is the capital of Israel, Nachlat Shimon, Sheikh Jarrah, Shepherd's Hotel
I'm sure you will all recall that around this time last year, CBS News reporter Lara Logan was sexually assaulted in Tahrir Square in Cairo. Some of you may even recall that in the past, I have raised the possibility that Rachel Corrie and other foreign pro-'Palestinian' activists who have come here to demonstrate have been sexually assaulted, and that sexual harassment claims by female activists are being silenced for the sake of the cause. The ad above - for the Hebrew-impaired it's a crude takeoff on porno flick Deep Throat which was issued as a protest against the deal made last week to move the revenants of Migron elsewhere in Samaria - has ticked off enough of the female activists that they're emerging from the shadows and making their complaints public (Hat Tip: MFS - The Other News). 
