I guess the punishment depends upon whom you insult. I can't think of any other consistency in these punishments. Lots of punishment for insulting blacks, little or none for insulting Jews.
The two Knicks (Charlie Ward and Allan Houston) made their comments in a team locker room, while Donald Sterling made his in a private conversation with his girlfriend that she apparently recorded. Nicolas Anelka made his obscene gesture on the soccer pitch in front of thousands of people.
Don't tell me a major league sports owner has to set an example of sterling (pun unintentional and hello George Steinbrenner) character - I'll bet a lot more kids recognize Houston and Ward than recognize Sterling. And for cripes sake - Houston and Ward play in the same league that just banned Sterling.
But it's Sterling who was severely punished - a lifetime ban for a stupid remark during a private argument with his girlfriend. I see no explanation other than the fact that he insulted blacks, while Ward, Houston and Anelka all insulted Jews.
We're not worth much in the eyes of the PC police, are we?
Here's something that ought to make American Jews uncomfortable. The Black Panther party - last seen observing polling places for the Obama campaign - has issued a death threat against (and is offering a bounty for the murder of) George Zimmerman whom it calls a 'no good Jew.'
During a press conference with Palestinian Authority President
Mahmoud Abbas, Obama said young people he'd met on the trip made him
think of his own children.
"Whenever I meet these young people, whether they're Palestinian or
Israeli, I'm reminded of my own daughters, and I know what hopes and
aspirations I have for them," Obama said at the Palestinian headquarters
compound in Ramallah. "And those of us in the United States understand
that change takes time but it is also possible, because there was a time
when my daughters could not expect to have the same opportunities in
their own country as somebody else's daughters."
Obama's comments—which invoked life under Jim Crow in the U.S. or
perhaps even under slavery—seemed to give support to Palestinian
narratives that describe Arabs and Palestinians as second-class citizens
in Israel. That line of criticism deeply angers many Israelis. Some
critics of Israel go so far as to use the word apartheid, a word that
angers Israelis further.
But at stops in Jerusalem later on Thursday, Obama invoked the
history of African-Americans in the U.S. in ways far more pleasing to
Israelis and Jews generally.
During his main speech to the Israeli people, Obama noted how the
bible story of the expulsion of the Jews from Egypt and the drive to
reach the promised land animated African Americans in the U.S. for ages.
He also drew a personal connection to his own life.
"To African Americans, the story of the Exodus was perhaps the
central story, the most powerful image about emerging from the grip of
bondage to reach for liberty and human dignity -- a tale that was
carried from slavery through the Civil Rights Movement into today,"
Obama declared. "For generations, this promise helped people weather
poverty and persecution, while holding on to the hope that a better day
was on the horizon. For me, personally, growing up in far-flung parts
of the world and without firm roots, the story spoke to a yearning
within every human being for a home."
And Thursday night, Obama invoked the history of Jews who worked for
racial justice, in particular the Jewish American activists who joined
the civil rights movement in the 1960s.
"This story—from slavery to salvation, of overcoming even the most
overwhelming odds—is a message that’s inspired the world. And that
includes Jewish Americans but also African Americans, who have so often
had to deal with their own challenges, but with whom you have stood
shoulder to shoulder," Obama said at a State Dinner held at the
residence of Israeli President Shimon Peres.
"African Americans and Jewish Americans marched together at Selma and
Montgomery, with rabbis carrying the Torah as they walked. They
boarded buses for freedom rides together. They bled together. They
gave their lives together -- Jewish Americans like Andrew Goodman and
Michael Schwerner alongside African American, James Chaney," the U.S.
president said.
So which is it? And who is more clueless: Obama or Condi?
For approximately the last three years of Gilad Shalit's captivity, his family lived in a protest tent outside the Prime Minister's residence in Jerusalem. No one ever suggested forcing them out.
Shortly after the terrorists for Gilad trade, a group of Ethiopians took over the site to protest against racism. Now, the City of Jerusalem wants to expel them. The Jerusalem district court has ordered the protesters to leave, and the Supreme Court is due to rule on an appeal within a few days. The protesters have rejected a 'compromise' that would require them to be out by Sunday - before next week's Independence Day.
Aspiring Knesset member Noam Shalit realizes it would be political poison (not to mention hypocritical) for him not to oppose the evacuation, so he showed up at last week's court hearing and said that the Ethiopians should be allowed to stay.
But it should be clear to everyone why the Shalits were allowed to stay and make a public scene for three years while the Ethiopians are being forced to leave. It's not that Gilad Shalit was an IDF soldier - the Ethiopians serve in the army too. It's that in Orwellian Israel, some Jewish citizens are more equal than others. The Shalits are part of the branja. The Ethiopians, who just started to arrive here in the mid-'80's , are not.
I'm not arguing substantively that the Ethiopians are right or wrong. Only that the way that they are being treated is certainly validating their claims.
With President Obama quickly sinking in the polls, the highest ranking black member of the House of Representatives - who once shared a podium with the racist Louis Farrakhan - has pulled the race card as the source for all of President Obama's troubles (Hat Tip: Memeorandum).
House Assistant Democratic Leader Jim Clyburn, the highest-ranking African-American in Congress, on Wednesday blamed most of President Barack Obama's political problems on racism.
Clyburn, who's from South Carolina and is a close ally of the president, offered his views in response to a question about Obama's re-election prospects next year.
"I think they're improving every day," Clyburn said. "I think the president has been a good president, a great commander in chief."
...
"You know, I'm 70 years old," he said. "And I can tell you; people don't like to deal with it, but the fact of the matter is, the president's problems are in large measure because of the color of his skin."
And Obama's massively failed policies and abandonment of key allies have nothing - nothing! - to do with it. Why didn't I think of that?
America's allies in Libya: Anti-Jew and anti-Black
Once again, Pajamas Media's John Rosenthal looks at the darker side of a rebellion in the Arab World. And once again he finds not-so-subtle undertones of anti-Semitism and anti-Zionism, but this time, in Libya, he also finds racism against sub-Saharan Africans.
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
