Free Gaza Movement – Looking the Other Way

Posted with permission from the author.

Bay Area News Group-East Bay
Feb. 28 letters to the editor

Looking the other way

IN LIGHT of the revolutions across the Arab world, why does the Free Gaza Movement continue to support the Hamas regime in Gaza? While Hamas confiscates homes to hide weapons tunnels, closes secular schools, and kills homosexuals and “Zionist collaborators,” FGM “peace activists” look the other way.

On Facebook, young Gazans express more hatred of Hamas than of the Israelis, knowing that criticism of Hamas can get oneself killed.

Hamas in Gaza is a division of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt. Closely allied with the Nazis during World War II, today they advocate an Islamic caliphate and genocidal jihad against the Jews.

Many fear they will hijack Egypt’s revolution to create a Taliban-style theocracy more oppressive than Mubarak’s regime.

The oppression people fear in Egypt exists today in Gaza. The Hamas charter does not call for a free Palestine; just annihilating the Zionists.

The “aid” flotillas sponsored by FGM do not bring humanitarian aid; even Hamas publicly stated that the supplies are useless. The flotillas are to enable Hamas to import more lethal weapons from Iran to attack Israel.

This is what the Free Gaza Movement represents — the same hatred and repression against which the people of Egypt revolted.

Larry Feinstein
San Carlos, CA

Oscar win highlights plight of Africans in Israel

ARON HELLER

From Associated Press

February 28, 2011 4:25 PM EST

TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — Students at the Bialik-Rogozin school in a rundown Tel Aviv neighborhood have survived genocide, war and famine. But they were all smiles on Monday after learning that a documentary about their plight had won an Academy Award.

“Strangers No More” puts a human face on Israel’s absorption of African migrants — an issue that has divided the country as the government plans to deport hundreds of children, including students at the school.

When news of the Oscar for best short documentary arrived early Monday, the school jumped into action, festooning the building with balloons and banners and hosting a visit by the mayor.

Both students and faculty said they hoped the sudden attention would persuade the government to cancel its deportation plan.

“Hopefully, thanks to the Oscar, people will see that these are children with dreams like all other children,” said vice principal Mirit Shapiro.

Israel has been grappling with how to handle an influx of migrants since they began arriving in 2005.

Tens of thousands of Africans, most from Sudan and Eritrea, have since infiltrated across Israel’s long desert border with Egypt.

Since then, Israel has become a magnet for asylum seekers and migrants desperate for jobs in the industrialized world. Many found their way to the impoverished neighborhoods of south Tel Aviv, home to Bialik-Rogozin. The area has so many migrants that Israelis have named it “little Africa.”

The government has scrambled to stop the flood of migrants by erecting a fence along the 130-mile (220-kilometer) Egyptian border and a massive detention center in the remote southern desert.

The Interior Ministry, which oversees immigration, now says it is poised to begin implementing a Cabinet decision to deport thousands of those deemed to be in the country illegally, including hundreds of children.

Some deportations of adults have already taken place, and tens of thousands of Asian workers who entered the country legally but have overstayed their visas are also marked for expulsion.

The plight of the children has especially resonated among Israelis, since the kids speak Hebrew, consider themselves Israeli and many have known no other life.

For migrant advocates, the Oscar could not have come at a more opportune moment.

“If they are good enough to represent Israel at the Oscars, they are good enough to remain part of the country,” said Yonathan Shaham of the “Israeli Children” foundation.

The movie follows the story of three children at the school: Mohammed Adam, a refugee who escaped the genocide in Sudan’s Darfur region; Johannes Mulugeta, whose first day at school is captured in the film; and Esther Aikpehae, a girl who fled South Africa with her father after her mother was killed in unclear circumstances.

Karen Goodman and Kirk Simon’s 40-minute documentary details their struggle to acclimate to life in Israel, slowly unveils their stories of hardship and interviews the dedicated teachers guiding them.

The school had a United Nations feel to it on Monday, with children dashing through the hallways and a square interior courtyard featuring the 48 flags of all the students’ countries of origin.

Aikpehae, a precocious 12-year-old girl with piercing eyes and long black hair, speaks fluent Hebrew and excels in the sixth grade. But because she has been in the country less than five years, she is among those eligible for deportation. She said her only hope was to stay in her beloved school.

“It’s not like every other school,” she said in English. “There is Muslims, there is Jews and there are Christians and we all live in peace.”

The movie already appears to be making an impact, with some of Israel’s most powerful figures rallying in support of the school.

Education Minister Gideon Saar sent his congratulations, saying the school represented “education at its finest.”

And President Shimon Peres called the school to send his best wishes.

“You have brought us a double dose of happiness,” Peres said, noting the achievements of the school and the favorable depiction of Israel.

Sabine Haddad, a spokeswoman for the Interior Ministry, refused to discuss the movie.

Israel grants automatic citizenship to Jews but doesn’t have a firm policy for the migrants. The government took a step toward resolving their status by issuing a set of guidelines in August that would allow certain families to remain.

The criteria grant permanent residency visas to children of migrants if they have parents who entered the country legally, attended school, spoke Hebrew and resided in Israel for at least five years. Haddad could not provide figures on how many would qualify.

Adam, the 19-year-old Darfurian refugee featured in the film, says his dream it to study law in Israel. In Sudan, he watched his father and grandmother shot to death before his eyes. After just three years in Israel, he has graduated from high school, mastered the Hebrew language and is now studying at a post-high school seminar. His status in Israel remains uncertain, but he is optimistic.

“It’s thanks to the school,” he said. “Now I want to stay and get a university degree.”

Copied from this internet AP story: http://my.earthlink.net/article/int?guid=20110228/1ff777ce-fea6-4e56-8e21-3dcec70790fc

Boehner rips bid to regulate Internet

By Mark A. Kellner-The Washington Times12:04 a.m., Monday, February 28, 2011

NASHVILLE, Tenn. | House Speaker John A. Boehner lashed out against efforts to regulate Internet traffic before an audience of evangelical Christian media leaders and pointedly responded to President Obama by comparing the challenge of the burgeoning national debt to the Sputnik-era space race.

In a speech to religious broadcasters that received a sustained ovation at his conclusion, he said free expression is under attack by a power structure in Washington populated with regulators who have never set foot inside a radio station or a television studio.

“We see this threat in how the FCC is creeping further into the free market by trying to regulate the Internet,” Mr. Boehner said.

“The last thing we need, in my view, is the FCC serving as Internet traffic controller, and potentially running roughshod over local broadcasters who have been serving their communities with free content for decades,” he said to loud applause from members of the National Religious Broadcasters, a trade group holding its annual convention here.

via Boehner rips bid to regulate Internet – Washington Times.

Insanity in California Budgeting

This is an astonishing abridged version of a report from the Los Angeles Times in italics. I have bolded some extraordinary facts.

After a 10-year borrowing binge, the upcoming budget is expected to spend more on debt than public universities or state parks. Next year’s repayments — $7.65 billion — could make up a quarter of the deficit.

Voters have approved borrowing in the last 10 years for such causes as stem-cell research ($3 billion), high-speed rail ($10 billion), and parks, water and the environment ($14 billion). They even took on $15 billion in debt to paper over a deficit that Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said would never reemerge — something economists have scolded the state for doing. California pays a premium for its loans. Taxpayers must fork over roughly $2 for every $1 borrowed — about 20% more than top-rated states, said Matt Fabian, an analyst at Municipal Market Advisors, a bond research firm.

Because of its rock-bottom credit rating, California pays a premium for its loans. Taxpayers must fork over roughly $2 for every $1 borrowed — about 20% more than top-rated states, said Matt Fabian, an analyst at Municipal Market Advisors, a bond research firm.

Amazingly Legislators have already placed an $11-billion water bond on the 2012 ballot. Nearly $1 billion in earmarks for such items as bike paths, museums, visitor centers and tree planting in key legislators’ districts were inserted to grease its passage.

Back in 2000 — in the heady days of surpluses — lawmakers placed a then-record $2.1-billion parks bond on the ballot rather than spend from the general fund to acquire undeveloped land and spruce up existing parks.Among the projects the borrowing funded were a bowling alley in Stockton, a bee colony and otter pond in San Mateo, and a dinosaur plaza in Santa Ana, complete with a giant replica Tyrannosaurus rex. About $1.2 million went to buff up a bear exhibit at the Folsom City Zoo Sanctuary near Sacramento. Caves were retrofitted with heated concrete because the cold “gets a little tough on the bones of the animals as they age,” said Robert Goss, the city’s parks and recreation director.

The shock is that we keep re-electing the same people to our legislature.

These are pro Israel Companies** Please Support Them

***’ Israel ‘s’ country prefix is ‘729’ on bar codes. You will typically only see it on imported foods and not the products listed below… as many of the companies below are American companies that financially support ‘ Israel .’***

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1. The Chairman and CEO of STARBUCKS, Howard Schultz, is an active Zionist. In 1998 he was honored by the Jerusalem Fund of Aish HaTorah with ‘The Israel 50th Anniversary Friend of Zion Tribute Award’ for his services to the Zionist state in ‘playing a key role in promoting close alliance between the United States and Israel ‘. At a time when other businesses were desperately pulling out of Israel, Starbucks decided to help Israel ‘s floundering economy and invest in Israel. It has been revealed that Starbucks still continues to support Israel by sponsoring fund-raisers for Israel .

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2. THE LIMITED STORES, Express, Lerner New York, VICTORIA’S SECRET and BATH & BODY WORKS: The Limited, Inc. was founded by Leslie H. Wexner in 1963 in Columbus, Ohio. Includes: THE LIMITED STORES, Express, Lerner New York , VICTORIAS SECRET and BATH & BODY WORKS, and employs over 115,000 people. Its founder, president and CEO Les Wexner is a Zionist. He is on the board of directors of Emet, the Pro-Israel Media ‘War Room’ whose function is to ensure that all media in the US stays biased in favor of Israel. In 1984, Les Wexner who is one of the world’s 200 wealthiest people created the Wexner Foundation.

Its mission statement is ‘strengthening Jewish Leadership in North America and Israel.’ One of the programs the Foundation runs is the Wexner Israel Fellowship Program which annually brings up to ten Israeli have participated thus far. The Wexner Foundation sponsors ‘Birthright Israel ‘ – a program that pays for young American Jews to take free indoctrination trips to Israel. It is also a long-standing supporter of Hillel – the bastion of Zionism on campus.

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3. THE HOME DEPOT: Its founder and co-chairman of the Board is an active Zionist. He created the board of directors of Emet, the Pro-Israel Media ‘War Room’ whose function is to ensure that all media in the US stays biased in favor of Israel .

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4. DISNEY: Walt Disney’s Millennium exhibition at the Epcot Centre in Florida depicts Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. Of the 8 million dollars it cost to set up the exhibition, Israel contributed 1.8 million and worked with Disney to develop its content.

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5. AOL/TIME WARNER: AOL ALLOCATES 30% OF ITS INVESTMENT PORTFOLIO IN ISRAEL . (Can you believe it?!) The buy up of Israeli company Mirabilis, creators of ICQ (internet chat program), for $287m in 1998 forms part of AOLs investment in Israel .

In 1998, Mr. Ted Leonsis, CEO of AOL studios (a business unit of AOL) received the Jubilee Award by the Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu. This is the highest tribute ever awarded by the ‘State of Israel in recognition of those individuals and organizations that through their investments and trade relationships have done the most to strengthen the Israeli economy.

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6. COCA COLA: From 1966 onward Coca-Cola has been a staunch supporter of Israel. In 1997 the Government of Israel Economic Mission honored Coca-Cola at the Israel Trade Award Dinner for its continued support of Israel for the last 30 years and for refusing to abide by the Arab League boycott of Israel. In contrast Pepsi abided by the Arab League boycott of Israel which ended in May 1991, after 1992 Pepsi is also trading in Israel.

In 2001 the Coca-Cola World Headquarters hosted and was the main sponsor of the American-Israel Chamber of Commerce Awards Gala. It has been revealed that Coca-Cola Israel sponsors training programs for its workers on subjects including the Israeli-Arab conflict. The course content is created by a company funded by the Jewish Agency and the Israeli government. In July 2002, it has been announced that Coca-Cola is to build a new plant at Kiryat Gat.

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7. ESTEE LAUDER: Estee Lauder’s chairman, Ronald Lauder, also one time chairman of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, is the current president of the Jewish National Fund (JNF) – Ronald Lauder is an ardent Zionist.

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8. SARAH LEE. (Includes Hanes, Playtex, Leggs, Champion). This is also not to be confused with the frozen snacks company. This is in regard to the clothing giant. Sara Lee owns 30% of Israel ‘s leading textile company Delta Galil. Sara Lee is the world’s largest clothing manufacturer, this opens the worlds markets to Israel, with cloths originating in Israel and being sold around the world under one of the many famous Sara Lee brands.

In 1998, Mr. Lucien Nessim of Sara Lee Personal Products received the Jubilee Award by the Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu. This is the highest tribute ever awarded by the ‘State of Israel ‘ in recognition of those individuals and organizations, that through their investments and trade relationships, have d ne the most to strengthen the Israeli economy.

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9. FOX TELEVISION, FOX ENTERTAINMENT: The News Corporation Limited is one of the world’s largest media companies with total assets as of September 30, 2005 of approximately; US $58 billion and total annual revenues of approximately US $18 billion. News Corporation’s diversified global operations include the production and distribution of motion pictures and television programming; television, satellite and cable broadcasting; the publication of newspapers, magazines and books; the production and distribution of promotional and advertising products and services; the development of digital broadcasting. News Corporation is the world’s leading publisher of English-language newspapers with operations worldwide. The Company publishes more than 175 different newspapers, printing more than 40 million papers a week.

Murdoch’s New Corp. invests heavily in Israel. Murdoch News Corporation was one of three US companies that was lauded for their support of Israel at the America-Israel Friendship League Partners for Democracy Awards dinner (25th June 2001);Murdoch himself co-chaired the dinner. News Corp.’s digital technology company based in Jerusalem, called NDS, has grown from 20 to 600 employees in the past decade.

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10. NESTLE: The Swiss company owns 50.1% of Israeli food maker Osem Investments. In Dec. 2000, it announced it will invest millions of dollars to operate the new R&D centre in Israel. In 1998, Mr. Peter Brabeck-Letmathe on behalf of Nestle, received the Jubilee Award by the Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu. This is the highest tribute ever awarded by the ‘State of Israel ‘ in recognition of those individuals and organizations, that through their investments and trade relationships, have done the most to strengthen the Israeli economy.

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11. OVERSEAS ADVENTURE TRAVEL: Company is based in Massachusetts, is known for their many world tours and relatively cheap group travel. The company donates money to over 50 countries in which it operates in to help fund schools, food aid, etc. and averages between $5,000 and $25,000 per country.

However, Israel received a flat $1,000,000 from Overseas Adventure Travel, as it’s president is a Zionist.

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12. IBM: IBM invests heavily in Israel . IBM senior vice-president and general counsel, Lawrence Ricciardi, who noted that his company employs 1,700 people in Israel, said in an interview with the Jerusalem Post, ‘This wedge of land and the huge ideals it represents are very important to IBM.’ IBM was one of three US companies that was lauded at the America-Israel Friendship League Partners for Democracy Awards dinner ( 25th June 2001 ) hosted by Sharon. In May 2002 the Israel-America Chamber of Commerce awarded IBM the Ambassador’s Award’ in recognition of its outstanding contribution to the development of the Israeli high-tech industry and to advancing trade between the U.S.and Israel. IBM established operations in 1949 and was the first large American company with a wholly owned subsidiary in Israel, introducing computers to the country.

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13. KIMBERLY-CLARK: (Huggies, Kotex, Kleenex) In 1998, Mr. Robert P. Van der Merwe, chairman of Kimberly-Clark Europe received the Jubilee Award by the Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu. This is the highest tribute ever awarded by the ‘State of Israel ‘ in recognition of those individuals and organizations, that through their investments and trade relationships, have done the most to strengthen the Israeli econmy. Kimberly Clark Corp owns 49.9% interest in Israeli company Hogla (6/96) through America-Israel PaperMills $49.9m.

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14. RIVER ISLAND clothing chain, ISROTEL and IBROTEL HOTELS in Spain and Portugal, BRITANNIA PACIFIC PROPERTIES. (This one probably relates least to any of us) – a diversified international investment company, with headquarters in London , England . They said to be one of the largest real estate owners in the Sacramento Metropolitan area. It appears that the British based Lewis Trust Group is one of the companies developing hotels in the Aqaba Region. David Lewis, the Chairman of the company, is a prominent supporter of Israel. Mr Lewis’s activities have included the raising of money for the Jewish National Fund. He is also a member of the Israel-Britain Business Council. This organization is dedicated to the development of the Zionist State, by channelling British capital to the occupied territories for the benefit of the Zionists and the exploitation of the Palestinians.

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15. NOKIA: Nokia have started to invest heavily in Israel. Nokia general manager Lars Wolf said in an interview with The Jerusalem Post (4 March 2001): ‘We are really focusing on Israel from all perspectives, because we have an internal project called ‘Project Israel ‘ which means we are looking at Israel from a networks perspective, from the perspective of Nokia Ventures Organization, and also from the perspective of Nokia Research Center.’ Nokia Venture Partners, a branch of Nokia Ventures Organization, launched a new $500 million fund in December 2000 and allowed that a ‘disproportionate’ amount of it would go into Israeli companies. Nokia Research Center is on

the lookout for Israeli start-ups with which it can cooperate.

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16. TIMBERLAND: (clothing, shoes, boots, jackets, etc.) Timberlands is a $1.1 billion footwear, apparel & accessories company. Its President and CEO Jeffrey Swartz is an active Zionist. In a recent ‘solidarity visit’ to Israel, where he made it clear he was speaking as the CEO of Timberland, he suggested sending 100 IDF soldiers to the US for a week as ambassadors for Israel. Although Timberland is a publicly traded company, his family holds approximately 47% of the stock and has approximately 81% of the voting power.

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17. DESERT EAGLE: Desert Eagles are the only firearms that Israel does not buy from the US or other countries. However, many of the parts of these firearms are imported from other countries and they are merely assembled in Israel . Regardless, Israel prides them as their own and it is strictly an Israeli company.

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18. CATERPILLAR: Caterpillar is a company based in Illinois that manufactures large construction equipment such as bulldozers, tractors, various demolition equipment and has a line of ‘tough guy’ clothing apparel. Caterpillar happily supplies Israel with all of its current fleet of D9 and D10 bulldozers, some of the largest armoured bulldozers in the world.

Upholding the Defense of Marriage Law

Oath of office of the President of the United States, “I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.”

Doesn’t this oath require the president to uphold all the laws and regulations that have been passed by the Congress and signed by the president that held office? If that isn’t the expectation of all of our presidents then why do we have the three parts of government? Those three are legislative, executive, and judiciary. It has been accepted practice that the judiciary branch of government, in the form of the Supreme Court, is the final authority on the legality of any law.

Does the Department of Justice Have an Obligation to Defend the Defense of Marriage Law? If you accept the above method of our system of governance then the answer must be YES!

Without a process we have no system of justice.

Elections Have Consequences

Wisconsin’s governor, Scott Walker, ran for office on a pledge to do exactly what he is doing. Wisconsin may be known as a strong liberal state but the voters had a choice. The public employees may not like the results but elections have consequences.

Wisconsin Democratic Senate members ran away en masse to Illinois so that they could stop a vote on a bill they oppose. This is not democracy. Nineteen members of that senate are Republicans and fourteen are Democrats. The results of the vote against the unions are obvious.

This is the way our system of government is supposed to work. The losers in each election must accept the fact that the majority of voters did not agree with their viewpoint. The Democrats lost.

America’s Political Values Collide with its Economic Interests

Let’s be clear about one thing. America has security and economic interests throughout the world. I wrote about this issue on February 8, 2011. Since then I have read Niall Furguson’s WANTED A GRAND STRATEGY FOR AMERICA in Newsweek and Brendan Greeley’s The Fallacy of Facebook Diplomacy in Businessweek. The two articles converge on the point that I made on February 8. The bottom line is we want economic certainty, physical security, and democracy all at the same time.

Our desires are appropriate but the people who would carry them out do not see the world through the eyes of Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, and Benjamin Franklin. Facebook calls for neat round pegs in round holes while the square pegs fit into their appropriate holes sort of like the neat way we try to manage our affairs in the West. Neither the potentates of the Middle East nor the populations of those nations see the world as Westerners.

What makes this situation all the more difficult is that Western leaders do not understand the culture of those nations. Thus we have the American government tied in knots. Unfortunately, Barack Obama has not shown himself to be a strong leader and that has resulted in no coordinated plan to address the issues.

If I was betting, I would expect that whoever ends up leading the nations of the Middle East in the future, it will not be the same as it has been over the past 40 years. America’s lack of leadership will result in a more hostile environment for American interests. If we could only figure out what our primary interests are!