I have written many times on this blog that I do not ascend the Temple Mount because my rabbis here in Israel have ruled that it is forbidden to do so until there is a sacrificed red heifer's ashes that can make us pure from the impurity of coming into contact with the dead (yes, that's the reason).
However, others do ascend to certain parts of the Mount, and this morning, two Jews had the audacity to prostrate themselves before God on the Mount in order to fulfill the command to bow before God on the Temple grounds on the three holidays (Pesach, Shavuot and Succot). Watch what happens.
Let's go to the videotape.
Can you imagine any other country in the world where everyone but the majority would have freedom of worship?
This is what passes for 'freedom of speech' on American college campuses
A Jewish student at the University of Michigan is the subject of an 'ethics probe' after confronting anti-Israel protesters on campus last month.
“My actions came from my own place of hurt and that of a sizable
portion of my constituency’s,” said Jesse Arm, a University of Michigan
sophomore and Central Student Government (CSG) representative. “I am
saddened that my fitness for office has been called into question by
virtue of my opposition to a purposefully inflammatory protest.
“To suggest that I am not suited to be a member of Michigan’s Central
Student Government because of my public opposition to Students Allied
for Freedom and Equality’s protest on the Diag [quad] would be to
undermine the core principles of democracy and pluralism on which our
nation was founded and our University rooted.”
Last month, Arm confronted fellow protesting students who
assembled an anti-Israel display on campus. The demonstration took
place on Nov. 19, the day that 18-year-old American student Ezra
Schwartz was killed in a Palestinian terrorist attack in Israel.
The altercation between Arm and the demonstrators was caught on video
and resulted in SAFE, the group responsible for the display, calling on
the student government’s ethics committee to dismiss Arm. During a CSG meeting on Tuesday, a number of university students and former student government representatives spoke in defense of Arm.
Speaking to The Algemeiner about the confrontation on
campus, Arm said he questioned the anti-Israel demonstrators about the
taste, timing, and appropriateness of their display in light of the
recent terror attacks taking place around the world, particularly in
Israel. He said he felt a connection to Schwartz, who was killed the
same day demonstrators put up the anti-Israel display.
“That American student was a contemporary of mine from my community
with whom I shared many mutual friends,” Arm said. “He was abroad on a
gap year program that I seriously considered attending before eventually
electing to enroll at Michigan. His story was my story.”
Read the whole thing. This is not the first time Arm has taken a principled stand on an important issue. I would not be surprised to see him studying in yeshiva here in Israel as part of a Junior (or post-graduate) year abroad. In the meantime, American college campuses have a lot to learn about what freedom of speech really means. But then, you knew that.
American Orthodox Jews fearful of 'gay marriage' decision
Maybe this will be an impetus for American Orthodox Jews to make aliya. There's some real fear going around about the future implications of last week's US Supreme Court decision forcing the states to allow 'gay marriage' and how that might impact Orthodox Jewish institutions.
[T]he Orthodox Jewish community has a different view. This was voiced
by, among others, the Orthodox Union and the Agudath Israel of America.
The latter, in a statement Friday, warned
that its members faced “moral opprobrium” and were in danger of
“tangible negative consequences” if “they refuse to transgress their
beliefs.”
To judge by recent events, they are understating the
case. The whole campaign for same sex marriage, however high-minded its
ideals and however real — and all too often violent — the injustices
endured by same-sex couples, has been levied at the expense of religious
Jews and Christians. The U.S. Supreme Court majority knows that full
well. But it dodged the issue, with Justice Anthony Kennedy, author of
the majority opinion, giving the fears of religious Americans less than a
paragraph.
Kennedy emphasized
that “religions, and those who adhere to religious doctrines, may
continue to advocate with utmost, sincere conviction that, by divine
precepts, same-sex marriage should not be condoned.” He noted that the
First Amendment, part of the Constitution’s Bill of Rights, “ensures
that religious organizations and persons are given proper protection as
they seek to teach the principles that are so fulfilling and so central
to their lives and faiths, and to their own deep aspirations to continue
the family structure they have long revered.”
That was a reference to the free speech part of the
First Amendment. But it was startling — shocking even — that the
majority gave no mention at all of the Constitution’s second principle
of religious protection, the right to the “free exercise” of religion.
That is where the battle lines are being drawn by liberal and left-wing
factions in America seeking to force religious individuals to embrace
same-sex marriage.
In recent months, Americans have been reading about a
Christian baker who has been the subject of an enforcement action in
Colorado for declining to bake a cake for a same-sex wedding,
a husband-and-wife clerical team that reportedly may have to close
their for-profit wedding chapel because they won’t hold same-sex
nuptials in it, and a New York family that is tangled in a legal
proceeding for refusing to rent out their home for a same-sex wedding
reception. A Catholic adoption agency that would not work with same-sex
couples has been forced out of its charitable work.
“In all likelihood, many of these rear-guard actions
against marriage equality will soon fall of their own weight,” Jeffrey
Toobin, who covers the Constitution for the New Yorker, wrote
after the Supreme Court spoke. “Like so many of their fellow-Americans,
wedding photographers and the like will make their peace with the new
rules that guarantee their neighbors an equal chance at happiness.
(Besides, they need the business.)” Maybe, but I’m not so sure things
will go as smoothly as he imagines in the Orthodox Jewish world.
“The issue here is not whether all human beings are
created in the Divine Image, or whether they have inherent human
dignity. Of course they are, of course they do,” the Agudah said in a
statement after Obergefell vs. Hodges was handed down. But it went on to
assert that “the truths of Torah are eternal, and stand as our beacon
even in the face of shifting social mores.” At some point this is going
to come to a head in a way that will test George Washington’s promise to
the Jews to a degree that we haven’t yet seen.
I'll shut the comments on this post if I have to, but I can tell you that I would not want my children taught by someone who is openly gay. No way. I want my children to be able to look up at their teachers as religious role models. Then again, since I live in Israel, it's unlikely that any of my children's schools (except for the children in university, which is a different category) could be forced to hire gay teachers.
It's come to this: Belfast pastor faces prison for 'defaming Islam'
A 78-year old Belfast pastor is facing prison time for 'defaming Islam.'
James McConnell, 78, is facing up to six months in prison for
delivering a sermon in which he described Islam as "heathen" and
"satanic." The message was streamed live on the Internet, and a Muslim
group called the police to complain.
According to Northern Ireland's Public Prosecution Service (PPS), McConnell violated
the 2003 Communications Act by "sending, or causing to be sent, by
means of a public electronic communications network, a message or other
matter that was grossly offensive."
Observers say that McConnell's prosecution is one of a growing number of examples in which British authorities — who routinely ignore incendiary speech by Muslim extremists — are using hate speech laws to silence Christians.
McConnell, who turned down an offer to avoid a trial, says the issue
of Christians being singled out for persecution in Britain must be
confronted, and that he intends to turn his case into a milestone trial
"in defense of freedom of speech and freedom of religion."
...
"The God who we worship and serve this evening is not
Allah. The Muslim God, Allah, is a heathen deity. Allah is a cruel
deity. Allah is a demon deity. A deity that this foolish government of
ours ... pays homage to, and subscribes financial inducements to curry
their favor to keep them happy....
"While in Muslim lands Christians are persecuted for their faith;
their homes burned, their churches destroyed, and hundreds of them
literally have given their lives for Christ in martyrdom. A lovely young
[Sudanese] woman by the name of Miriam, 27 years-of-age, because she
has accepted Christ as her Savior, will be flogged publicly and hanged
publicly. These fanatical worshippers are worshippers of the god called
Allah. Ladies and gentlemen, that is a fact and it cannot be denied and
it cannot be refuted.
"I know the time will come in this land ... and in this nation to say
such things will be an offense to the law. It would be reckoned
erroneous, unpatriotic. But I am in good company, the company of
[Protestant Reformers] Luther and Knox and Calvin and Tyndale and
Latimer and Cranmer and Wesley and Spurgeon and such like him.
"The Muslim religion was created many hundreds of years after Christ.
Mohammed, was born in 570. But Muslims believe that Islam is the true
religion, dating back to Adam, and that the biblical Patriarchs were all
Muslims, including Noah and Abraham and Moses, and even our Lord Jesus
Christ.
"To judge by some of what I have heard in the past few months, you
would think that Islam was little more than a variation of Christianity
and Judaism. Not so. Islam's ideas about God, about humanity, about
salvation are vastly different from the teachings of the Holy
Scriptures. Islam is heathen. Islam is satanic. Islam is a doctrine
spawned in Hell."
McConnell's comments about Islam comprised less than ten minutes of a 35-minute sermon that focused on Christian theology.
Some day, historians will marvel at the way Western society destroyed itself. Or maybe they won't. By then, the Caliphate may not look kindly on such 'nostalgia' and history will have become too politically correct to discuss it.
I'll have more to say about the elections in the days ahead, but for
now let me offer a whole-hearted good riddance to Ed Miliband, the now
departed Labour leader who, in a desperate last-minute pander, offered
to "outlaw Islamophobia".
That was the British political establishment's contribution to a rough
couple of weeks for free speech, culminating in the attempted mass
murder in Garland, Texas.
That's what it was, by the way - although you might have difficulty telling that from the news coverage. The Washington Post offered the celebrated headline "Event Organizer Offers No Apology After Thwarted Attack In Texas", while the Associated Press went with "Pamela Geller says she has no regrets about Prophet Muhammad cartoon contest that ended in 2 deaths".
The media "narrative" of the last week is that some Zionist temptress
was walking down the street in Garland in a too short skirt and hoisted
it to reveal her Mohammed thong - oops, my apologies, her Prophet
Mohammed thong (PBUH) - and thereby inflamed two otherwise law-abiding
ISIS supporters peacefully minding their own business.
It'll be a long time before you see "Washington Post Offers No
Apology for Attacking Target of Thwarted Attack" or "AP Says It Has No
Regrets After Blaming The Victim". The respectable class in the American
media share the same goal as the Islamic fanatics: They want to silence
Pam Geller. To be sure, they have a mild disagreement about the means
to that end - although even then you get the feeling, as with Garry
Trudeau and those dozens of PEN novelists' reaction to Charlie Hebdo,
that the "narrative" wouldn't change very much if the jihad boys had
got luckier and Pam, Geert Wilders, Robert Spencer and a dozen others
were all piled up in the Garland morgue.
If the American press were not so lazy and parochial, they would
understand that this was the third Islamic attack on free speech this
year - first, Charlie Hebdo in Paris; second, the Lars Vilks event in Copenhagen; and now Texas. The difference in the corpse count is easily explained by a look at the video of the Paris gunmen, or the bullet holes they put in the police car.
The French and Texan attackers supposedly had the same kind of weapons,
although one should always treat American media reports with a high
degree of skepticism when it comes to early identification of "assault
weapons" and "AK47s". Nonetheless, from this reconstruction,
it seems clear that the key distinction between the two attacks is that
in Paris they knew how to use their firepower and in Garland they
didn't. So a very cool 60-year-old local cop with nothing but his
service pistol advanced under fire and took down two guys whose heavier
firepower managed only to put a bullet in an unarmed security guard's
foot.
The Charlie Hebdo killers had received effective training
overseas - as thousands of ISIS recruits with western passports are
getting right now. What if the Garland gunmen had been as good as the
Paris gunmen? Surely that would be a more interesting question for the
somnolent American media than whether some lippy Jewess was asking for
it.
...
In Copenhagen, in Paris, in Garland, what's more important than the
cartoons and the attacks is the reaction of all the polite, respectable
people in society, which for a decade now has told those who do not
accept the messy, fractious liberties of free peoples that we don't
really believe in them, either, and we're happy to give them up -
quietly, furtively, incrementally, remorselessly - in hopes of a quiet
life. Because a small Danish newspaper found itself abandoned and alone,
Charlie Hebdo jumped in to support them. Because the Charlie Hebdo
artists and writers died abandoned and alone, Pamela Geller jumped in
to support them. By refusing to share the risk, we are increasing the
risk. It's not Pamela Geller who emboldens Islamic fanatics, it's all
the nice types - the ones Salman Rushdie calls the But Brigade. You've
heard them a zillion times this last week: "Of course, I'm personally,
passionately, absolutely committed to free speech. But..."
And the minute you hear the "but", none of the build-up to it
matters. A couple of days before Garland, Canadian Liberal MP (and
former Justice Minister) Irwin Cotler announced his plan to restore
Section 13 - the "hate speech" law under which Maclean's and I
were dragged before the Canadian "Human Rights" Commission and which, as
a result of my case, was repealed by the Parliament of Canada. At the
time Mr Cotler was fairly torn on the issue. We talked about it briefly
at a free-speech event in Ottawa at which he chanced to be present, and
he made vaguely supportive murmurings - as he did when we ran into each
other a couple of years later in Boston. Mr Cotler is Jewish and, even
as European "hate" laws prove utterly useless against the metastasizing
open Jew-hate on the Continent, he thinks we should give 'em one more
try. He's more sophisticated than your average But boy, so he uses a three-syllable word.
Not just 'not all it was cracked up to be,' but an out-and-out fake
In a post on Sunday, I referred to the 'Muslim peace ring' around an Oslo synagogue as 'not all it was cracked up to be.' In fact, it was even less than that. It turns out that the whole thing was an out-and-out fake. The 'peace ring' had about 20 Muslims, while the funeral for the Copenhagen terrorist drew 500 Muslims (Hat Tip: Jack W).
According to a local eyewitness, only about 20
or so Muslims formed the “ring of peace” around the Oslo synagogue. In
fact, pictures from multiple angles show that there wasn’t enough people
to form a ring, so the locals instead formed a horizontal line in front
of the synagogue.
A local news outlet explained how the media got to its “1,300
Muslims” number. “According to police, there were 1300 persons present
in the event. Very many of them ethnic Norwegians,” read a translated report from Osloby.no.
Demonstrators also reportedly chanted, “No to anti-Semitism, no to Islamophobia,” conflating criticism of Islam and hatred of Jews.
Photos pulled off of social media appear to corroborate the narrative that only twenty or so people formed the “peace ring.”
Multiple news outlets, including wire services for hundreds of news
sites, ran with the false narrative that 1,000 or more people–sometimes
all of them Muslim–formed the ring of peace outside of the Oslo
synagogue.
Today was the funeral for the alleged shooter, and police told the
BBC that between 600 and 700 attended. DR reports (as translated by
Google):
Several hundred people — many of them young men dressed
in big down jackets and with their faces covered — on Friday afternoon
in light rain collected at a grave at the Muslim cemetery in Brondby.
Up to half of the attendees, who were all men, had masked their faces
with jackets or scarves. More directed their index fingers toward the
sky, while others beat their chests with a clenched fist. Most were
silent.
The gunman, named by Danish media as Omar
Abdel Hamid El-Hussein, was well known to police for violence, weapons
violations and his membership in a gang. Reuters could not confirm his
identity and police declined to comment.
Police
records show a man named El-Hussein was convicted of stabbing a man in
the leg on a Copenhagen train in 2013 and Danish media said he was
released from prison in January.
"He
was 'normal' religious, nothing unusual, he didn't go to mosque any
more than the average Muslim," El-Hussein's father told TV2.
He
was an avid kick boxer in his younger years and was often known by the
nickname "Captain Hussein" but members of his club said he has not been
there for years.
"He was a good
student," Peter Zinckernagel, El-Hussein's principal at the VUC Hvidovre
school near Copenhagen told Reuters. El-Hussein attended the school
until the end of 2013, when he was arrested for the train stabbing.
National
news broadcaster TV2 said El-Hussein's parents were Palestinian
refugees who came to Denmark after living in a Jordanian refugee camp
for several years.
TV2 obtained a psychiatric assessment of
El-Hussein conducted in connection with the assault case for which he
was imprisoned in which he told psychologists he had a happy childhood
and good relations with his parents and a younger brother. However, he
did not graduate from school, was unable to get into a university and
later was homeless.
Citing two
unnamed friends, Politiken daily newspaper said the man was passionate
in discussions about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and had a short
fuse. They expressed shock that he should launch such attacks, however.
That ought to encourage Western countries to take in 'Palestinian refugees.' /sarc
The Copenhagen terrorist has been identified as Omar Abdel Hamid el-Hussein (big picture above). I'm sure you're all shocked. The two smaller pictures above are Dan Uzan, top, the volunteer security guard who was murdered outside the Copenhagen synagogue and Finn Norgaard, bottom, who was murdered at the freedom of speech event earlier in the day on Saturday. The police actually had el-Hussein in their grasp - he was released from prison just two weeks ago.
The dead suspect, named on Sunday night as Omar el-Hussein, had reportedly
been released from prison two weeks ago after serving a two-year sentence
for grievous bodily harm.
In a rampage with parallels to the Charlie Hebdo attacks in Paris five weeks
earlier, the 22-year-old Danish-born assailant fired around 40 shots at a
free speech debate in an arts café on Saturday afternoon, killing a
55-year-old documentary filmmaker, Finn Norgaard.
After fleeing in a stolen car, the gunman went on to target a girl's bat
mitzvah party at Copenhagen's main synagogue at one o'clock on Sunday
morning, shooting dead Dan Uzan, 37, an economist at the Danish
treasury, who was acting as a volunteer security guard.
...
As with the Charlie Hebdo attackers, the head of the Danish security and
intelligence service, Jens Madsen, said on Sunday that the gunman had been
identified as a potential threat.
"He was on the radar but he was not known to have travelled to conflict
areas like Iraq or Syria," Mr Madsen said. "We cannot yet say
anything concrete about the motive ... but we are considering that he might
have been inspired by the events in Paris," he told a news conference.
Police traced the killer from CCTV footage from the arts café attack, which
showed him abandoning his getaway car, a stolen Volkswagen Polo, and taking
a taxi. They questioned the driver, and went to the address in the mainly
immigrant area of Norrebro where he had dropped off the suspect.
...
In an indication that the gunman may have had accomplices, four people were
arrested when a dozen armed police raided an internet café in central
Copenhagen. Among the four were a Pakistani and an Arab, according to Danish
media reports.
Just like the victims aren't 'random folks,' so too the terrorists aren't 'random folks.' But until the West stands up and starts acknowledging that reality, this is going to continue - and God Forbid get worse.
Leave it to Pam Geller. She's offering a $10,000 prize for the best Mohammed cartoon at a May 3 contest in Garland, Texas.
It’s time to stand up.
That’s why my organization, the human rights advocacy group the
American Freedom Defense Initiative, or AFDI, will be holding a contest
for cartoons of Muhammad, and an exhibit of Muhammad cartoons this May
in Garland, Texas. The keynote speaker will be Dutch freedom fighter and
Parliamentarian Geert Wilders – one of the very few politicians on the
international scene who dares to speak the truth about the jihad threat.
The contest will be online, with entries posted at the AFDI website.
The winning cartoon will be announced at the May 3 cartoon exhibit in
Garland. The winning cartoonist will be awarded a $10,000 prize.
The cartoon exhibit will feature images of Islam’s prophet, both
historic and contemporary, and speeches by leading voices of freedom and
internationally renowned free speech advocates. Also speaking will be
brave artists who are unbowed by violent threats and determined to stand
for the freedom of speech.
The exhibit will be held at the Curtis Culwell Center in Garland on
Sunday, May 3. This was the site of a Muslim conference denouncing
“Islamophobia” – an obscene stand for them to take after the Charlie
Hebdo massacre – and our massive Free Speech Rally outside that event.
The Muslim event was held in a hall owned by the local school district.
When asked why they allowed that event on their premises, they answered
that their hall was open to anyone who wished to rent it. So we are
renting it for our Muhammad Cartoon Exhibit.
In case that last paragraph wasn't enough of a hint for you, Garland, Texas has a Muslim population. Garland is in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, which has the fourth largest Muslim population of any metropolitan area in the United States.
As you might imagine, the 'security costs' of putting on an event like this are going to be enormous. Read the whole thing.
#RandomFolks victims of 'militant attack' at Copenhagen synagogue
A #RandomFolk was murdered last night and two others were wounded in a terror attack on a Copenhagen synagogue (Hat Tip: Memeorandum) that was eerily similar to the attack on a Paris Kosher supermarket a month ago. After the second attack in Copenhagen, the terrorist (whom the BBC insists on calling a 'gunman') was killed by police. This is from the first link.
In the second attack, a Jewish man was killed and two police officers wounded near the city's main synagogue.
Police say video surveillance suggested the same man carried
out both attacks. They do not believe any other people were involved.
"We assume that it's the same culprit behind both incidents,
and we also assume that the culprit that was shot by the police task
force... is the person behind both of these assassinations," Chief
Police Inspector Torben Molgaard Jensen told a news conference.
He said police would maintain a high presence in the city.
The BBC's Malcolm Brabant in Copenhagen says the city has been on high alert after the shootings.
Early on Sunday, police said they had been keeping an address
under observation in the district of Norrebro, waiting for the occupant
to return.
When he appeared, he noticed the officers, pulled out a gun
and opened fire, police said. They returned fire and shot him dead. The
incident happened near Norrebro train station.
Norrebro is a predominantly immigrant district of Copenhagen, about
three miles (5km) away from the synagogue where the shooting took place
just hours earlier.
A man was shot in the head, and was later confirmed to have died. Two
police officers were wounded. It was later reported that the victim, a
Jewish community member in his 30s, was guarding outside a bat mitzva
celebration at the synagogue, according to Denmark's BT newspaper. It was reported that 80 people were attending the celebration at the time.
Dan
Rosenberg Asmussen, Copenhagen Jewish community leader, said that
following the earlier attack, he had requested police presence at the
synagogue, but police did not follow through.
“We had contacted
the police after the shooting at Café Krudttønden to have them present
at the bat-mitzva, but unfortunately this happened anyway," Asmussen
told Denmark's TV 2 News, as reported in The Guardian. “I dare not think about what would have happened if (the killer) had access to the congregation."
As in the Paris attacks, an anti-Islamist cartoonist was targeted and a Jewish target was hit a short time later. The synagogue was right to request police protection. Jews should take heed.
Is Michelle silencing Barack, or is he just out on the golf course?
Danish govt has described attack as act of terrorism. UK PM has urged protection of free speech. France’s Hollande has spoken out. USA?
— David Frum (@davidfrum) February 14, 2015
Michelle won't let him speak out because it's Helle Thorning-Schmidt's country? Or maybe he just won't say anything bad about Muslims? Or maybe he's just out golfing?
Maybe she could teach her friend Barack a thing or two
Shavua tov, a good week to all of you.
Some of you might recall the sequence of pictures above from Nelson Mandela's funeral a few months ago. The lady in the pictures is Danish Prime Minister Helle Thorning-Schmidt. Tonight, a Copenhagen debate including Swedish cartoonist Lars Vilk - who has drawn cartoons of Mohammed - was attacked by 'gunmen.' But Helle Thorning-Schmidt is no foolish lady. She's calling this a terror attack.
A shooting at a free speech debate in the Danish capital, Copenhagen,
is being treated as "a terrorist attack", the Danish prime minister
says.
Helle Thorning-Schmidt said the attack was "politically motivated" and that the country was on a high state of alert.
A manhunt is underway for a suspect who targeted the event at the Krudttoennen cafe in the Oesterbro district of the city.
One person is dead in the terror attack. Three police officers were injured.
Denmark is on high alert after a gunman in
Copenhagen killed one person and injured three others at a debate on
blasphemy and free speech attended by a controversial Swedish
cartoonist.
Several dozen shots were fired at the seminar and a manhunt is now under way.
Prime Minister Helle Thorning-Schmidt described it as a "politically motivated" act of terrorism.
Cartoonist Lars Vilks, who has faced death threats over his caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad, was unhurt.
...
An audio recording, obtained exclusively by the BBC, revealed the moments leading up to the attack.
One of the speakers at the debate, which took place at a cafe
and concerned the limits of free speech, is suddenly interrupted by a
barrage of gunshots.
Eyewitness Niels Ivar Larsen, speaking to the Associated
Press news agency, said: "I heard someone firing with an automatic
weapon and someone shouting.
"Police returned fire and I hid behind the bar."
The French ambassador, Francois Zimeray, was also present during the attack.
Shortly after the shooting, a message appeared on his Twitter feed saying he was still alive.
Maybe Thorning-Schmidt could teach Obama how to say the "t" word.
Silencing dissent: Pro-Israel event canceled due to threats in...
This one is not about France or Britain or Sweden. Some of you might recall that in 2002, Binyamin Netanyahu, who was not the Prime Minister of Israel at the time, was prevented from speaking by violent 'protesters' at Concordia University in Montreal. Now, it's happened again. A pro-Israel program at Concordia has been canceled due to specific threats of violence.
CIJR and CAMERA were schedule to host Canadian MP Marc Garneau for a
talk about Canada-Israel relations. When Montreal police alerted CIJR
that there was an organized protest scheduled for outside of the event,
CIJR moved to postpone the lecture indefinitely.
According to the Concordian, those who intended to attend the lecture were informed that it was canceled via Facebook.
Bradley Martin, CAMERA Fellow and Representative for Montreal and a
student at Concordia, wrote on the event’s Facebook page at around noon
on Jan. 12 announcing the talk had been cancelled because the Montreal
Police had notified them of a violent protest was set to take place
because of this event. At around 7 p.m., Martin posted to clarify what
had happened, writing the following: “This morning, the Montreal Police
informed CIJR that their cyber division detected a planned protest of
the event. This protest was estimated to consist of about sixty
demonstrators and considered to be hostile and violent. Under the
circumstances, it was determined that the venue could not be secured
properly and the safety of attendants would be at risk. It was therefore
decided that the event would not take place as planned and be postponed
indefinitely.”
In the post, Martin spoke for both organizations and said that they
were very unhappy with the situation. “We are very disappointed and
outraged about the fact that our rights, and the rights of an elected
Member of Parliament, to freedom of speech and freedom of assembly have
been compromised,” Martin wrote.
“Threats of violence and intimidation
tactics are not acceptable behaviors and cannot be tolerated under any
circumstances. We live in a beautiful country, where the freedom of
speech and assembly are foundational to our way of life.”
Jack Kinsler, CIJR’s National Chairman, made the decision to cancel the event and told the Concordian
that he felt the they had no choice but to cancel the event because the
call from the police happened so soon before the talk was set to
happen, and because they hadn’t organized the event themselves.
"On the very same day that 40 world leaders joined one million people
in Paris, France in a march to honor the 17 innocent victims murdered by
radical Islamists, the Montreal community was targeted by it's own
extremists," Aviva Slomich, International Director of CAMERA on Campus
told TruthRevolt. "CAMERA, along with the Canadian Institute
for Jewish Research, had scheduled months in advance Canadian Member of
Parliament Marc Garneau to speak on Canadian- Israeli Relations."
In a live interview broadcast this morning on Israel Radio Reshet Bet, Roni
Keidar, resident of Netiv HaAsara, a moshav that borders on the northern
edge of the Gaza Strip and has been subject to intensive attacks, explained
that Israel should give the Palestinians what they want.
Keidar, who is a member of Other Voice, gave as her proof that Israel
should follow her policy recommendation the fact that she engages in
dialogue with a woman in Gaza in English who also seeks peace. Keidar even
meets this woman periodically when she accompanies a relative to Israel for
monthly medical treatment.
"The two sides each have to share rather than take the position that
everything is theirs." Keidar noted.
Keidar, who was being interviewed from Eilat where she was taking a break
from the ongoing attacks on her home from Gaza, explained that while she is
free to express her views in Israel, her Palestinian friend has to keep her
views about peace and reconciliation to herself as it would be "life
threatening" for her Palestinian friend if her Palestinian friend's
neighbors were to find out her views.
The reporter declined to ask Keidar to address the disconnect between her
policy recommendation that Israel give the Palestinians what they want with
her belief that Palestinian society would murder an innocent Palestinian
only because they advocate peace and reconciliation with Israel.
And you were wondering how anyone in the Gaza envelope could be a Leftist....
In an earlier post, I reported that police were attempting to place two Jewish teenagers under arrest for putting up posters protesting the upcoming visit of Pope Francis I. Early this afternoon, a Jerusalem judge threw out the arrests.
Jerusalem Magistrates' Court Judge Shmuel Herbst rejected early
Friday afternoon a request by police to place two youths under house
arrest for seven days, distance them from Jerusalem and slap them with a
security deposit after they were caught putting up posters hostile to
Pope Francis.
The posters said, among other things, that Christianity is an
“accursed” religion that is complicit in the murder of millions of Jews,
and that its leaders dream of “annihilating the Jewish state.” It
called on the “impure” pope to “get out of our holy land” and “return
the stolen vessels of the Temple.”
Police claimed this was incitement to racism but the judge rejected
this, determining that “theological arguments and disputes between
religions have existed from time immemorial and these arguments do not
constitute a danger to the public.”
The judge added that there is a “very weak” case to be made against
the sentence that says Christians dream of annihilating the Jewish
state, but that it does not constitute racism in any case.
He ruled that the youths are allowed to protest against the pope, but
determined that they may not come within 150 meters of him.
Meanwhile, the police continue to announce administrative detention orders against known activists whom they'd like to keep out of sight while the Pope is here.
Police on Friday announced ten more nationalist activists would have
restraining orders issued against them, bringing the total to 15 ahead
of Pope Francis's visit next Sunday and Monday.
"Yesterday the head of the Jerusalem district mentioned that there
would be a further 10," police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld told AFP without giving details.
The detentions began Wednesday, when several Jewish youths were put under house arrest in a move justified by concerns they might carry out "provocative acts" during the pope's visit.
This is the Middle East's only 'democracy.' Obama could take lessons from us.
"No society, not even one that cossets the young as much as ours does,
can treat you as children forever. A central teaching of Genesis is that
knowledge is purchased at the expense of innocence. A core teaching of
the ancients is that personal dignity is obtained through habituation to
virtue. And at least one basic teaching of true liberalism is that the
essential right of free people is the right to offend, and an essential
responsibility of free people is to learn how to cope with being
offended."
Wall Street Journal (and former Jerusalem Post) editor Brett Stephens at
Haverford College Commencement. (Hat Tip: Gary P - a college classmate of mine).
Twitter says that it's looking into reports that its service has been blocked in Turkey since midnight (about 2.5 hours before you will see this post). From what I see in my feed, the story is true, but the block isn't very effective.
The Internet company published a message on its service on
Thursday advising users in Turkey that it was possible to send
Tweets using mobile phone text messaging.
Or as Claire Berlinski - whom I follow on Twitter - puts it:
Unsurprised to see how many people in TR are Tweeting anyway. Turks are good at working around all the dumb shit the state throws at them.
— Claire Berlinski (@ClaireBerlinski) March 20, 2014
In Beit Shemesh in a few days there's a re-election, the result of a Supreme Court appeal after a very close election last October. The election pits a Haredi candidate against a secular candidate. The election is very hotly contested, and there are posters all over the city.
The poster above pictures Yair Lapid, the national leader of the secular Yesh Atid party. It says "This man is counting on your indifference. Come together and stand up for [your] lives." (The second sentence is a verse from the Purim Megilla to be read one week from tonight in Beit Shemesh and one week from tomorrow night in Jerusalem).
The poster - which was posted on the side of a private home - has gotten the Haredi candidate's campaign manager called in for questioning by the police, even though the posters are apparently being put up by individuals and not by any official campaign. The proposed charge is 'incitement.' (Link in Hebrew).
The Yesh Atid party filed a Supreme Court appeal against the sign, and Israeli Arab judge Salim Jubran has ordered it taken down, because it exceeds the permitted size for campaign signs. Yesh Atid admitted that the sign had been posted anonymously on a private home, but Jubran ruled that he has been in many election campaigns and posting oversized posters on private homes is forbidden.
In March 2014, a resident of Jerusalem has been convicted of sexual harassment for calling a woman 'loose' (the word 'slut' - used in a different article - is not an accurate translation).
But from 1948-2014, it has been deemed free speech to call someone a parasite, a leech, a bloodsucker, an extortionist, a vicious bacteria, a cancer in the nation's heart, a milker of the public treasury, an evader and a Khomenist.
I didn't translate all of them, but those are just some of the names Haredim are called in Israel.
And if I posted this on Facebook (where I cannot control the comments), I'm sure I would have dozens of explanations as to why they deserve it.
I never thought I would have to make this kind of post about the United States. On Friday, the US Court of Appeals for the 9th circuit forced Google to take down a YouTube video trailer for the film Innocence of Muslims. The video is being taken down because of a suit by an actress who appears in the video for 5 seconds without her permission. The actress has received death threats from 'peaceful' (are there any other kind?) Muslims.
Google Inc on Friday lost its bid to keep an anti-Islamic film on its
YouTube video sharing website while it appealed a federal appeals court
order that the company said would have "devastating effects" if allowed
to stand.
Earlier this week, a panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals
voted 2-1 to reject Google's assertion that the removal of the film
"Innocence of Muslims," which sparked protests across the Muslim world,
amounted to a prior restraint of speech that violated the US
Constitution.
In a court filing on Thursday, Google argued that the video should
remain accessible to the public while it asks that a larger, 11-judge
9th Circuit panel review the issue. Google called this week's opinion
"unprecedented" and "sweeping."
However, the 9th Circuit on Friday rejected Google's request in a brief
order. Google representatives could not immediately be reached for
comment.
The plaintiff, Cindy Lee Garcia, had objected to the film after learning
that it incorporated a clip she had made for a different movie, which
had been partially dubbed and in which she appeared to be asking: "Is
your Mohammed a child molester?"
Garcia's attorney, Cris Armenta, opposed Google's request to repost the
video while the appeal proceeds. The actress received death threats as a
result of her appearance in the film.
...
In its court filing on Thursday, Google said the 9th Circuit order would produce "devastating effects" if allowed to stand.
"Minor players in everything from Hollywood films to home videos can
wrest control of those works from their creators," Google wrote, "and
service providers like YouTube will lack the ability to determine who
has a valid copyright claim."
The 9th Circuit on Friday said its order does not preclude posting a
version of "Innocence of Muslims" that does not include Garcia's
performance.
Shortly after Google learned of the 9th Circuit's takedown order, it
hired Neal Katyal, the former acting U.S. solicitor general, to advocate
for further 9th Circuit review, according to the court docket.
The case is Garcia vs. Google Inc et al., 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, No. 12-57302.
Next thing you know, it will be illegal to insult Muslims in the US. Ridiculous....
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
