Dreams Into Lightning 2

Rubik Rosenthal: Israel's Identity is European

Rubik Rosenthal at Ma'ariv, translated by Al-Monitor:

America is engrained in new Israel’s culture, in technology and economy, and in some of the new world’s art forms, like cinema, television and music. Europe, on the other hand, is in new Israel’s DNA. Zionism is a European movement, and the terms we use in our cultural and political discourse are European. Our distant and recent history are European. The waves of migrants to Israel from countries in the east were supposed to change this alignment, but this did not happen. The Arab states are considered political and military enemies, and there is no way to visit them. They did not create a real alternative to Europe’s cultural hegemony and this remains true to this day. ...

Remarks: I'm wondering how many Israelis would agree with Rosenthal's assessment, and how many would dispute it. I'll follow up if I find any reactions or responses to the article.

Morning Report: 2012-05-24

African unrest in Tel Aviv. Demonstrations Reuters: 'Fleeing poverty, fighting and authoritarian rule, some 60,000 Africans have crossed illegally into Israel through the relatively porous desert border with Egypt in recent years. That has jarred the Jewish state, with its already ethnically fraught citizen population of 7.8 million. Some Israelis warn of a gathering demographic and economic crisis while others say a country born after the Holocaust has a special responsibility to offer foreigners sanctuary. Tel Aviv Mayor Ron Huldai said some 15 percent of city residents were "illegal foreign workers" and the number was growing. Interior Ministry data show 82 percent of the African migrants are men, 15 percent women and the rest children. ...' Arutz Sheva:

Over 1,000 people took part Wednesday evening in a protest against Israel's growing illegal immigrant population. The protesters called on the government to send the infiltrators back to their countries of origin.

MK Danny Danon (Likud), who heads the Knesset Lobby to Prevent Infiltration, addressed the protesters and said: "The terrible situation that has formed here has only one solution and we need to talk about it and we must not be ashamed: expel them now!"

"The state of Israel is at war with an enemy state that has formed within Israel and has its capital in southern Tel Aviv," he stated.

Protesters who live in the working class neighborhoods that are flooded by the illegal immigrants spoke of harassment and physical attacks that have become a daily occurrence. Several cases of sexual assaults against Jewish women have been reported in recent months. ...

The protest in Tel Aviv against migrants led to 12 arrests; the suspects were released on bail. The Tel Aviv Magistrate's Court has extended the remand of a man suspected of recruiting teens and giving them weapons to target Africans during the recent demonstrations. Two protesters were arrested for an attempted attack on a foreign worker. Yitzhak Halevi, mayor of the border city of Eilat, called for immigration enforcement:

He called on the government to implement the decisions it has already made to deal with the matter.

Halevi said the security fence on the Egyptian border needs to be completed within a short time, and that the government needed to expedite the construction of a detention center for illegal aliens. He also called on the government to fine those who employe illegal aliens. ...

Prime Minister Netanyahu condemned the violence, adding: 'The migrant problem must be solved and we will solve it. We will complete the construction of the fence within a few months and soon we will begin sending the migrants back to their countries of origin.'

Mladic trial to resume. Reuters: 'The genocide trial of Bosnian Serb general Ratko Mladic is set to resume at the Yugoslavia war crimes tribunal on June 25 four weeks later than initially planned, The Hague-based court said on Thursday. Mladic, who was arrested in Serbia in May 2011 after 16 years on the run, is accused of genocide for his role in the siege of the Bosnian capital Sarajevo and for orchestrating the killing of 8,000 Muslim men and boys in Srebrenica in 1995; Europe's worst massacre since World War Two. ...'

ICC clears way to try four Kenyans for violence. Reuters: 'The International Criminal Court on Thursday cleared the way for the trial of four Kenyans accused of being behind the violence which erupted after the country's elections in December 2007. The four men, who include Uhuru Kenyatta, a former presidential hopeful and the son of Kenya's founding president, have denied the charges and claimed the court did not have the right to try them. More than 1,220 people died in the post-election violence. ...'

More on south Tel Aviv. For my pictures of Allenby Street in southern Tel Aviv, see here, here, and here.

Eurabia

Andrew Bostom:

Serendipitously, perhaps, in the midst of Geert Wilders’ visit to the U.S., warning of the consequences of Europe’s ongoing Islamization, today I came across a State Department memo from the U.S. embassy in Madrid, dated September 19, 1974 (1974 Madrid 05880), declassified June 30, 2005. This document reveals that the U.S. was fully aware of the advent of “Eurabia,” precisely as self-characterized in an official European socio-political journal bearing the title Eurabia.

Eurabia was the title of a journal published in the mid-1970s by the European Committee for the Coordination of Friendship Associations with the Arab World. ...

Go read the rest.

Geert Wilders: Speech at Gatestone Institute, New York

Geert Wilders:

It is great to be in America, the beacon of liberty, the land of the free, the land where people are still allowed to speak freely. I know what I am talking about. I was acquitted after a legal ordeal that lasted almost 3 years. I had been brought to court for criticizing Islam.

Though at the end of the day I was acquitted, the court case had been a disgrace. It was a time-, money- and energy-consuming nightmare. This charade that happened in the Netherlands for the last few years could not have happened in your great country, where the First Amendment guarantees people the freedom to express their opinions.

The first Amendment is what we need in the Netherlands and Europe.

I am in New York for the release of my book "Marked for Death". It explains why Islam is the largest threat to freedom which the world is currently facing. It argues why Islam is a totalitarian ideology rather than a religion. It reveals how Islam has already profoundly changed Europe in the last decades. It exposes the cultural relativism which has affected Europe so deeply that many in Europe refuse to stand for liberty and prefer to appease Islam.As you know, people who speak out like myself and I pay a steep price for speaking these truths. Apart from legal attempts to silence me, there are also the threats by radical Muslims to kill me. I have been living under permanent police protection for almost eight years now. People like me pay this price for speaking the truth about Islam. But I do not regret one word. I see it as my duty to warn the West. ...

"Men have used dubious means to promote every cause in human history ..."

" ... was every cause thus unjust?"

Morning Report: 2012-04-18

Argentina nationalizes Spanish energy firm YPF. 'The Argentine government's decision to reclaim what was once its state-owned oil company through expropriation is straining diplomatic relations with Spain, where the news was met with objections. The Spanish energy company Repsol purchased Argentina's oil and gas company, YPF, in 1999 during a period of privatization. But Argentine President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner announced this week a government plan to take YPF back through legislation that would expropriate a 51% share of the company. ...' This while Spain has been preoccupied with other distractions.

Guinea-Bisseau coup. Guinea-Bisseau is a small West African country wedged in between Senegal and Guinea. Here's The Economist's Baobab on the ongoing coup:

INTERNATIONAL experts like to tell developing countries they must focus on stuff they do well. If you have fertile soil and lots of rain, grow rice rather than strive for global high-tech leadership. Guinea-Bissau on the swampy west African coast is following that advice more closely than most. It has little chance of rivalling nearby Ivory Coast in cocoa production or beating Guinea at extracting minerals. Climate and geology conspire against it. But it has proven especially good at one thing: the nation of 2m people has seen at least four military coups in the last 14 years. They happen more regularly than elections in many neighbouring countries. No president has served a full term since its independence from Portugal in 1974....

Learning from the experience of Mali, the new bosses made it a point to capture the President early in the game. The military apparently took exception to a planned crackdown on the country's thriving cocaine-import business.

Totten on Tunisia. Beyond the New Carthage:

“I’m not getting in another car with you,” I said and began walking briskly back toward the terminal, leaving him to deal with the policeman on his own.

He didn’t argue. He even nodded at me with a respectful look on his face, respectful because he could see that I wasn't an idiot and that I chose the perfect moment to get away from him.

I'm telling you this story for a reason. Last year the Tunisian government declared a state of emergency in the wake of a rising crime wave. Five times in the last year—including a week after this incident happened—the Tunisian government extended the state of emergency. Crime is out of control, at least compared with the country's normal low level.

I’d like to tell you the crime rate is still low by international standards. Maybe it is. But somebody tried to rob me (or worse) before I even got out of the airport. ...

Read the rest at the link to find out how the rest of Tunisia - on the surface, and below the surface - differs from the "bubble" around the capital city, Tunis.

"World Championship of boundless good intentions"

Trial without limits by Ole Gjems-Onstad We are so kind here in this country, so good, so full of love, such obvious favourites in the World Championship of boundless good intentions. Where all the other countries probably would be more resolute, we are afraid to even make the slightest mistake. By not setting limits, we reduce the risk of criticism. We give megalomaniac evil the utmost reward: The nation’s new mega-celebrity. ...

Read the rest of the translation from the Norwegian at Gates of Vienna.

Rise of the Far Right in the EU

Via Meadia: 'We already have 1930s style economic problems in much of Europe; is fascism next?

If the current Hungarian government gets its way, maybe so. The government of Hungary, led by Prime Minister Viktor Orbán and his Fidesz Party, is pushing the country away from democracy and toward authoritarian nationalist rule with anti-Semitic undertones. ...'

"Ironic and Pathetic": Israeli Marchers Won't Carry Flag at Berlin Pride

Michael Lucas at Advocate:

But, astonishingly, this coming June in Berlin, we will see an example of self-loathing literally on parade. A delegation from Tel Aviv is planning to march in that city's pride events, yet this gay Israeli group doesn't have the balls to carry an Israeli flag. To avoid the jeers of Israel-bashers and anti-Semites, they've decided to leave behind flags and other symbols that would call attention to their national identity.

It's both ironic and pathetic. ...

Philippe Karsenty Wins Appeal - French Court Dismisses Charges

Israel Matzav:

Israel Radio's Paris correspondent Gil Michaeli has just reported that the French Court of Appeals has overturned the libel judgment against Phillipe Karsenty and has determined that Karsenty did not libel France 2 correspondent Charles Enderlin when he reported that the 'death' of 12-year old Mohamed Al-Dura at Netzarim in the Gaza Strip in September 2000 may have been staged, and that it was unlikely that the death was caused by IDF soldiers.

Augean Stables:

More details to follow. But word from Paris is that the court dismissed charges against Philippe Karsenty today. Now we get to see how the French (and Western) MSM handle this. It’s a stunning victory for Karsenty and loss for Enderlin and France2 who initiated this case when they didn’t have to.

In order for an appeals court to reverse a decision, they must have strong evidence to the contrary.

The fact that they did indicates that their written decision will be very critical of France2. The implications of this decision are immense. We’ll be following up in the days, weeks and months to come.

The backstory: Neo's archive of Karsenty/Enderlin/al-Durah/France2 posts.

The Belmont Club invokes l'affaire Dreyfus.