I've said this before, and it bears repeating: Anywhere violent criminals are incarcerated should have gourmet chefs and inmates should be consuming a minimum of 4000 high-fat calories a day, preferably 6000. No one should leave prison without heart disease, diabetes, and/or a fifty inch waist. No one three hundred pounds or larger can hump a weapon all day unless it's a fork or maybe a needle. (Important safety tip: Don't stand too close!) Cake, pie, and ice cream should be a part of every meal to include breakfast and at least two snacks a day.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/10/2024 00:00 ||
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The Kaduna State Government has denied a media report that it hired a private negotiator for the release of over 200 students kidnapped in the Kuriga community, Chikun Local Government of the state last Thursday.
Muhammad Lawal Shehu, the Chief Press Secretary to Kaduna State Governor Uba Sani, revealed this in a statement on Saturday, adding that the government had no plans to participate in any negotiations.
The statement reads: "We wish to state categorically that the Kaduna State Government did not hire any private negotiator, neither are we contemplating make such a move.
"The Kaduna State government has a clear policy on non-negotiation with terrorists, bandidos and other criminal elements."
"We urge members of the press to be cautious in the way they craft and publicise their stories on security in order not to jeopardise the efforts of government and security agencies in degrading criminal elements laying siege to our communities."
Recall how bandidosbully boyz kidnapped approximately 287 students and teachers from the Government Secondary School and the LEA Primary School in Kuriga, Kaduna State, causing nationwide anger.
According to reports, the bandidos raided the Kuriga area of Kaduna State's Chikun Local Government Area, firing at their victims before abducting students and instructors from both schools.
[IsraelTimes] The streets of central London are "a no-go zone for Jews every weekend" because of anti-Israel, pro-Paleostinian rallies, UK counterterrorism commissioner Robin Simcox writes in The Telegraph.
Describing "skyrocketing" antisemitism in the UK since war erupted in Gazoo ...Hellhole adjunct to Israel and Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, inhabited by Gazooks. The place was acquired in the wake of the 1967 War and then presented to Paleostinian control in 2006 by Ariel Sharon, who had entered his dotage. It is currently ruled with an iron fist by Hamas with about the living conditions you'd expect. It periodically attacks the Hated Zionist Entity whenever Iran needs a ruckus created or the hard boyz get bored, getting thumped by the IDF in return. The ruling turbans then wave the bloody shirt and holler loudly about oppression and disproportionate response... on October 7, Simcoz says, "Inflammatory and borderline criminal rhetoric widely shared on social media. A sense that the terrorism threat is rising. Protests becoming ever more vociferous, with "from the river to the sea" beamed onto the side of Big Ben during a vote on Gaza. MPs more fearful for their safety than ever."
He applauds his government’s efforts to tackle extremism on British soil and urges them to also target "the activities of those groups who propagate bully boy narratives but who lurk just below the terrorism threshold," mentioning religious and educational institutions.
Responding to Simcox’s article, the head of UK Jewish security group CST tells Britannia’s Radio 4 that he — along with other London Jews — avoids going into the center of the city for fear of violent mostly peaceful incidents surrounding anti-Israel, pro-Paleostinian protests in the area.
"I don’t go into town when there’s these demonstrations," CST chief executive Mark Gardner was quoted by the UK Jewish News as saying.
#6
muslims have no business living in a civilized nation. a muslim is defined by their subjection to sharia law.sharia holds that female opinion is worth less than male.
uncivilized
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.
[Regnum] The United States is planning to send Marines to Haiti due to the deteriorating security situation in the country, Marine Corps Times reported on March 9.
“Deploying a Marine counterterrorism team platoon is one option the Defense Department has if the State Department requests security support at the U.S. Embassy in Port-au-Prince,” the article said.
That sounds a good deal less certain than planning.
The publication recalled that the American Embassy in Haiti called on its fellow citizens to leave the country at the first opportunity. A State Department spokesperson told Fox News that the department has asked Marines to deploy a team to Haiti and is monitoring the situation to take steps “if circumstances warrant.”
Due to armed unrest in the Haitian capital Port-au-Prince at the end of February, the country's Prime Minister Ariel Henry was unable to return to his homeland from Kenya, where he coordinated the details of the deployment of foreign armed forces to fight bandits who said they intended to prevent his return to the management. A state of emergency has been declared in Haiti.
Earlier, IA Regnum reported that gangs in Haiti attempted to seize the Port-au-Prince airport. The attack occurred after a curfew was announced and turned out to be the largest attack in the country's history. The gangs also attacked the main prison of the capital and released the prisoners they were holding. Armed criminals in the struggle for the redistribution of spheres of influence paralyzed life in the capital of Haiti and began to consolidate in other regions of the country.
#1
Are we "sending the Marines" sending the Marines or are we just upgrading embassy security in a country currently undergoing turmoil?
(by 'currently', we mean for the last umpteen decades)
#6
^This. Let the FFL handle it. Hell, maybe they can do some recruiting while they are there. "Knows how to use a gun, speaks French, needs to leave their past behind..."
[IsraelTimes] The Jewish interim CEO of a prestigious arts center in the Socialist paradise of San Francisco ...where God struck dead Anton LaVey, home of the Sydney Ducks, ruled by Vigilance Committee from 1859 through 1867, reliably and volubly Democrat since 1964... is resigning from her position, calling her decision "a direct result" of antisemitism that she has experienced in the wake of a protest by pro-Paleostinian artists exhibiting.
In a resignation letter posted on LinkedIn yesterday, Sara Fenske Bahat writes, "While this was long in the cards, in the last few weeks the climate around Israel-Paleostine in the Bay Area became untenable."
The controversy at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, which has drawn criticism from local officials, is the latest in turmoil roiling the arts and culture world since the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas ...the braying voice of Islamic Resistance®,... war. Across the country, pro-Paleostinian, anti-Israel creatives have taken to increasingly aggressive tactics in their efforts to protest what they characterize as inappropriate support for Israel by institutions with which they are associated.
"The vitriolic and antisemitic backlash directed at me personally since that night nearly three weeks ago has made being here intolerable," Bahat writes. "I no longer feel safe in our own space, including due to the actions of some of our own employees."
This seems backward. Should not the Jew-hating employees have been fired instead for cause?
[GEO.TV] Same old crap, same old crooks.Pakistain Peoples Party (PPP) Co-chairman >Asif Ali Ten Percent Zardari ...former president of Pakistain, husband of the late Benazir Bhutto, who has been singularly lacking in curiosity about who done her in... , the joint candidate of the ruling mob alliance, was elected as the country’s president for the second time after he defeated PTI-backed Sunni Ittehad Council ...an Islamist(aren't they all in Pakistain?) political party which claims to represent the Barelvi school of Sunni Islam. Member parties of the Sunni Ittehad Council includes the Aalmi Tanzeem Ahle Sunnat of Pir Afzal Qadri (of Gujrat) and Jamiat Ulema e Pakistan - Sawad e Azam of Sayyid Mahfooz Shah Sahib Mashadi... (SIC) nominee Mahmood Khan Achakzai with a huge margin.
Zardari Saturday secured 411 electoral votes in parliament and all four provincial assemblies with the backing of allied parties — mainly Pakistain Moslem League-Nawaz (PML-N) and the Muttahida Qaumi Movement ...English: United National Movement, generally known as MQM, is the 3rd largest political party and the largest secular political party in Pakistain with particular strength in Sindh. From 1992 to 1999, the MQM was the target of the Pak Army's Operation Cleanup leaving thousands of urdu speaking civilians dead... -Pakistain (MQM-P).
Ackakzai bagged 181 votes as he was only able to secure the majority of votes in the PTI-backed SIC-dominated Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Assembly.
Prominent politicians who cast ballots in the National Assembly include former premier Nawaz Sharif ...served two three non-consecutive terms as prime minister, heads the Pakistain Moslem League (Nawaz). Noted for his spectacular corruption, the 1998 Pak nuclear test, border war with India, and for being tossed by General Musharraf, then by the courts... , Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, Zardari, MQM-P’s Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui, Farooq Sattar. PTI leaders Barrister Gohar Ali Khan, Asad Qaiser, and Achakzai among others also voted in the presidential election.
To ensure democratic traditions, Zardari also met his rival candidate Achakzai in the House.
Chief Justice of Pakistain (CJP) Qazi Faez Isa will administer an oath to President-elect Zardari at 4pm today (Sunday) at the President House.
As many as 381 politicians out of 398 cast ballots in both houses of parliament, while 17 politicians belonging to Jamaat Ulema-e-Islam ...the political wing of the Pak Taliban... -Fazl (JUI-F), Jamat-e-Islami (JI), PTI, and Grand Democratic Alliance (GDA) did not cast vote in the presidential election due to different reasons.
The JUI-F,JI and GDA had announced a boycott of the presidential elections, while PTI senators — Shibli Faraz, Ijaz Chaudhry and Azam Swati — also did not participate in the voting.
Likewise, in the three provincial assemblies — Sindh, Balochistan ...the Pak province bordering Kandahar and Uruzgun provinces in Afghanistan and Sistan Baluchistan in Iran. Its native Baloch propulation is being displaced by Pashtuns and Punjabis and they aren't happy about it... , and KP — Zardari obtained a majority of votes while Ackakzai was only able to win the majority vote in the KP Assembly.
Most of you are not familiar with Israel's Haredi (ultra-orthodox) problem.
In a nutshell, the ones in Israel managed to leverage their voting power into living at the expense of the state. Formally, they are all lifelong Talmudic schoolars (even the ones who has schoolastic ability of birdshit). And they all have 12 children who'll become Talmudic Schoolars & voters. Yes, I don't like them - why do you ask?
[Jpost] Rabbi Yitzhak Yosef, the Chief Rabbi of Israel, has sparked controversy with his recent remarks on the compulsory drafting of haredim into the Israel Defense Forces (IDF). During his weekly lesson in Jerusalem on Saturday night, Yosef declared, "If they force us to join the army, we will all move abroad," signaling a potential mass departure that could shake the very foundations of the state. Don't let the door hit you on the ass!
Emphasizing the critical role of Torah study in Israel's success and survival, Yosef argued, "The yeshivas and kollels are what hold up the world. The state exists on Torah study, and without the Torah, there would have been no success for the army." The ultra-orthodox abroad have to work for a living.
Posted by: Grom the Reflective ||
03/10/2024 08:34 ||
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#1
In 2022, the Haredi population numbered around 1,280,000, up from 750,000 in 2009, and constituting 13.3% of Israel's total population. According to Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS) forecasts, its relative size is expected to reach 16% in 2030, and it will number two million people in 2033.
A short column like this doesn’t allow me to engage in the reasons for 2000 years of antisemitism. And even if it did, we might never figure it out. But it does allow me to dwell on a question that is nearly as important. Whatever the reason for antisemitism, why are we Jews so bad at fighting it?
The answer is simple. Jews prefer to be loved rather than feared. No, that doesn’t go far enough. They are desperate to be loved. And all desperation betrays weakness and is easily detected by our enemies.
#6
a) not really anywhere to go except maybe the US
b) they are currently out breeding the other Israelis and Israel will be a ultra-religious nation in 50-70 years. If they aren't willing to fight, they will be overrun.
Israel is gonna have some interesting times in the future.
#8
"Desperate to be loved" sounds like Republican politicians who will betray their voters and their country at the drop of a hat for some phoney love from the media.
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
03/10/2024 16:28 Comments ||
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A levy from... oy, Kiryas Joel! "Tsvey rebbes forever!"
"They're... loyal."
The unit deploys.
"Get 'em, Teitelbaums' boys!"
[dancing mascot: a bloodthirsty royal]
[IsraelTimes] Uptick attributed to a desire to know the enemy and communicate with neighbors; in-person adult classes reportedly less popular
Immediately after the October 7 Hamas ...the braying voice of Islamic Resistance®,... onslaught in southern Israel, Gilad Sevitt, founder and professional director of Madrasa, a free online platform for Israelis to learn Arabic, saw registration numbers for the website plummet.
The Madrasa staff briefly feared that given the circumstances, Jewish Israelis would not want to continue to learn Arabic. However, man does not live by words alone, despite the fact that sometimes he has to eat them... "after the initial shock of a few days, we saw double and triple the number of new students," Sevitt told The Times of Israel.
"Before October 7, we had 50 Israelis every day registering to learn on the website, which is a lot. But there was a huge leap after, it was amazing to see," he said.
This growing interest in speaking and understanding Arabic shows that "the diverse motivations in learning Arabic became intensified" because of the war, Sevitt said.
These motivations run the gamut, he said, noting that he has access to real-time data on users’ reasons for deciding to learn Arabic because they fill out a questionnaire when signing up to the website.
"Fear became very central," he admitted, but added that many want to learn "because we have to start communicating better with the Arabic world, with Arab Israelis and Paleostinians, or the 24 Arabic-speaking countries around us."
A "return to their roots" for Jewish Israelis whose family origins lie in Arabic-speaking countries is also a central motivation for many, he said. "The Arabic language and culture, for the Jews, was set aside. We had to differentiate ourselves to create the ’New Israeli.’"
Many people who had thought about learning Arabic before October 7 suddenly said "now’s the time," he added.
Madrasa, a nonprofit organization that provides online lessons at no charge, is one of several internet platforms offering spoken Arabic in Israel. Madrasa now has some 150,000 registered users. The field has grown considerably in the last several years, something that Sevitt takes partial credit for.
Sevitt had learned Arabic in high school and in the army, taking traditional classes that focused on classical, literary Arabic. That’s distinct from spoken colloquial Arabic, which can vary considerably from region to region.
"To my surprise, even after nine years in the system, I wasn’t able to communicate" easily with people in the street, he recalled.
After working to improve his spoken Arabic, "I saw how it changed my life, as a Jewish Israeli in Jerusalem," he said.
One day, after a childhood friend was amazed at Sevitt’s ease in communicating with Paleostinians in Jerusalem’s Old City and wanted to be able to do the same, they checked online to find web-based options for Israelis to learn spoken Arabic. There weren’t any, and so the idea for Madrasa was born.
"My friends and I published the first videos in 2014 and we received hundreds of comments. It started as a basic website, and then it became a nonprofit organization and website to teach Israelis Arabic. The rest is history," he said.
Looking at the Arabic language "from a military or scholarly perspective only," as the Israeli education system has traditionally done, "is a mistake," he said.
"Learning a language also changes how you think and how you see the people who speak it. It’s not only a tool for knowing your enemy," Sevitt asserted.
FROM IDF INTELLIGENCE TO TECH ACTIVISTS
Coming from a military background can actually increase awareness of the place the Arabic language can play in Israeli society, as is the case with the founders of Fanan Ledaber Aravit ("Fun to Speak Arabic), another popular online platform for learning the language.
Fanan, which is slang for "enjoyment" or "chilling," was started in 2020 by a group who had served together in IDF intelligence and, as a result of their experiences, collectively felt it was important for more Israelis to be able to understand Arabic, explained Liad, one of the founders, who did not want to give his last name due to security concerns.
"From the beginning, we wanted to teach people to speak at an advanced level," he said, speaking to The Times of Israel by phone while on reserve duty. "Today, around 20-25 percent of the population are Arabs, but only around 4-5% of the non-Arab population can speak Arabic. It can’t continue like that."
Fanan has also seen a dramatic uptick in users. "With this war, interest has grown quite a bit," Liad said, noting that after a drop off post-October 7, "by December there was a huge increase" and registration had increased fourfold.
A lot of their users are career-oriented people "who think like us, who want to speak to others to build a better society, or want to become an officer and so need to learn Arabic, or want to learn the language of the enemy," he said.
The website charges for lessons "but it’s pretty low for the field. From the beginning, we wanted to enable as many as possible to learn Arabic," Liad said, and noted that the website is a self-supporting side project for the founders.
IN-PERSON GROUPS SHRINK
While online lessons received a boost in popularity during the war, in-person Arabic classes for adults, which are available throughout Israel from a myriad of organizations, companies and private individuals, seem to have experienced a decline in students.
"We now have 30% fewer students," confirmed Amos Avidov, head of Diwaan, a private Arabic language school in Tel Aviv founded 25 years ago that focuses on in-person group classes.
The drop-off is in new students and not as much for returning students, he noted, attributing the change to a combination of fatigue, media overload and general stress. "Because of the situation, they aren’t in the mood. How much time can people invest?"
Right now, many people are "connected to the TV too much" and can’t "learn a language, focus, or make an effort," he said.
Diwaan does have an internet track that offers pre-recorded video lessons, which has seen "about 25% more students," Avidov noted. However, man does not live by words alone, despite the fact that sometimes he has to eat them... he said, video-based lessons "aren’t like learning with a real teacher."
The company also sells an interactive Hebrew-Arabic dictionary app for smartphones, which he said has become popular with soldiers serving in Gazoo ...Hellhole adjunct to Israel and Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, inhabited by Gazooks. The place was acquired in the wake of the 1967 War and then presented to Paleostinian control in 2006 by Ariel Sharon, who had entered his dotage. It is currently ruled with an iron fist by Hamas with about the living conditions you'd expect. It periodically attacks the Hated Zionist Entity whenever Iran needs a ruckus created or the hard boyz get bored, getting thumped by the IDF in return. The ruling turbans then wave the bloody shirt and holler loudly about oppression and disproportionate response... In the capital, the Jerusalem Inter-Cultural Center (JICC), a nonprofit community organization, began teaching spoken Arabic classes in 2006. Their in-person classes run from September to June in small groups, "so people who started the course began in September and we don’t accept new students after," explained director Daniel Hasson, meaning that potential students after October 7 wouldn’t have been able to register.
However, man does not live by words alone, despite the fact that sometimes he has to eat them... "after the war began we had quite a lot of people in reserve duty who had to leave, and a few [others] disappeared... later we got emails saying they couldn’t carry on, and so we just gave them refunds," he said.
In recent years there "absolutely has been a growth in learning Arabic," Hasson added. "There is a revival. I think people are realizing there is a value in communicating, and a lot of the students told us that they had extra motivation once the war began."
The stereotypes about Jewish Israelis who want to learn Arabic — that they are either hard-core leftists or want to work for the various security services — are not totally accurate, Hasson noted, as did the other educators interviewed for this article.
The students at the JICC "run the full gamut," he insisted, including "psychiatric professionals, doctors, nurses, municipal employees and academics," as well as Israelis who live in ideological communities in East Jerusalem neighborhoods "who want to speak with their neighbors."
Learning Arabic "is not that difficult if you speak Hebrew, and the way our courses are taught is built on a lot of material that people already have," Hasson said.
Despite this, "in general there is little incentive for mainstream Jewish residents to learn Arabic. They might either need it for their profession or they want to communicate, but there has to be an awakening inside."
Conservatives are just liberals who’ve been mugged by reality, ‘tis said. Not true in all cases, but often enought. I fall into that category, though previously I was the common case of professing liberal values while living a conservative lifestyle — because the lifestyle is what leads to success. After 9/11 I came to realize that those luxury liberal beliefs are truly harmful for all but the upper middle class and above.
[IsraelTimes] Civilians who followed Hamas into Israel to loot and vandalize communities on October 7 showed their true faces, says one Nir Oz survivor who no longer sees conciliation as possible
The fact that the Hamas ...the braying voice of Islamic Resistance®,... turbans who invaded her kibbutz on October 7 wanted to murder everyone there came as no surprise to Irit Lahav, a peace activist from Nir Oz, where one in four residents were killed or kidnapped. Even before the massacre, Lahav had entertained no illusions about Hamas. Like many other kibbutzniks and moshav residents with dovish attitudes near the border with Gazoo ...Hellhole adjunct to Israel and Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, inhabited by Gazooks. The place was acquired in the wake of the 1967 War and then presented to Paleostinian control in 2006 by Ariel Sharon, who had entered his dotage. It is currently ruled with an iron fist by Hamas with about the living conditions you'd expect. It periodically attacks the Hated Zionist Entity whenever Iran needs a ruckus created or the hard boyz get bored, getting thumped by the IDF in return. The ruling turbans then wave the bloody shirt and holler loudly about oppression and disproportionate response... , she had seen how the group deliberately targeted civilians, including by firing rockets into residential areas at specific times to increase loss of life. Yet she had always believed that Hamas’s actions were distinct from and unrepresentative of the wishes of the silent majority of Paleostinian civil society — ordinary and decent people whom she imagined were concerned primarily with providing for their children and improving their own lives under difficult circumstances.
That belief was shattered on October 7, by what she says were "hundreds of civilians, including women and kiddies, who followed" behind the terrorists, invading Israeli communities to celebrate and join in the pillaging, vandalization and destruction of Israeli communities.
"This wasn’t something I had factored in," said Lahav.
In the wake of October 7, Lahav and other Israelis who had supported and campaigned for territorial compromises with the Paleostinians as a pathway to peace now say they are being forced to reconsider their views.
"I used to think Paleostinians were good people, like you and me. That Hamas were thugs who got in the way of the population’s desire for a good life: a pretty home, a good car, a good job, a nice yard; good schools for the children." Lahav said from the temporary home she shares with her daughter Lotus, a new three-bedroom apartment on the fifth floor of a residential project in Kiryat Gat where many Nir Oz survivors have relocated to.
"After October 7, I realized I was wrong. Just as the Israeli government represents Israelis, Hamas represents the people of Gaza."
Lahav, a travel agent who used to belong to a group of volunteers who would drive Paleostinians in need of medical treatment from Gaza to hospitals in Israel, now believes that "all of the people of Gaza, all of them, hate us to a degree where they would murder babies and pillage our property with zero compunction."
The Road to Recovery, an Israeli nongovernmental organization that helps Paleostinians reach medical treatment in Israel, remains operational, although its volunteers have brought patients only from the West Bank since October 7 because Israel is not issuing entry permits from Gaza. "It’s not simple, but I want to keep feeling human," Yael Noi, the nonprofit’s director, told (Hebrew) Channel 12 in December.
’REASSESSING MATTERS’
In Kibbutz Gvulot, situated about 13 kilometers (8 miles) from the border with Gaza, Bella Haim, a Holocaust survivor whose grandson Yotam Haim was kidnapped to Gaza and later killed there accidentally by Israeli troops, is also "reassessing matters," she said during a talk last month with delegates of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations.
"I used to go to so many demonstrations for peace and coexistence. And now I’m at a crossroads when it comes to my beliefs. October 7 changed everything and I’m searching for the right path," she said.
In Kibbutz Kfar Aza, where turbans killed over 60 people, a doormat outside Shahar Shnorman’s home is still emblazoned with the Arabic-language words for "welcome."
The longtime peace activist, one of only three residents now living in the evacuated community, thinks Gazooks should be allowed to return to the homes they fled when Israel launched its still-ongoing military campaign to topple Hamas in Gaza. He doesn’t want the small enclave’s living space eaten by a buffer zone and opposes an Israeli reoccupation.
Shnorman still believes a diplomatic solution to the conflict is possible, but no longer thinks the time is ripe and he backs Israel’s military campaign, he said. Once it ends, he believes Israel should adopt a policy of meting out a harsh response to any infraction of the "firm border" he would like to see between Israel and the Paleostinian territory.
Outside the Gaza border region, some in the cultural elite, which generally trends left, are grappling with similar dilemmas.
Earlier this month, Idan Raichel, one of the country’s most prominent musicians and a vocal proponent of Arab-Jewish coexistence, told the Yedioth Ahronoth daily in an interview that "the war has made it impossible not to shift rightward. Even for leftists." He cited "the turbans who went into children’s bedrooms, a space of innocence; the rapes, the torture, the abductions."
Ivri Lider, another prominent musician and gay rights advocate, has said since the war broke out that he could no longer have written the lyrics "an enemy may actually be a friend," which appear in one of his songs.
October 7, he told the Walla news outlet, "makes it very difficult to have the basic desire for dialogue, rapprochement and coexistence in mutual dignity."
Singer Achinoam Nini, who goes by Noa abroad, disputed Raichel’s assertions on Facebook. Nini, a left-wing activist who in the past attributed (Hebrew) Paleostinian terrorist attacks to alleged racism by Israel, argued that one can feel pain as an Israeli "and at the same time cry for the many innocents on the other side and reach out to help them," she wrote. "Do not sentence millions of people, condemning them to death with a wave of your hand, even when your eyes are flooded with tears every day every hour."
A REDUCED VISION OF COEXISTENCE
Lahav, like many other Israelis, is still figuring out what her changed worldview means for her convictions, she said in her Kiryat Gat apartment. Its sunny areas were occupied by her favorite plants from her yard in Nir Oz, which she salvaged and is nursing back to health after weeks of neglect following the surviving residents’ hurried evacuation on October 7. On the wall hung an ornate Tibetan tapestry that the Dalai Lama gave her when she was living in his Buddhist temple in Dharamsala, India.
Hiding in the sheltered area of her home with her daughter, some five months earlier, Lahav had heard young boys from Gaza looting their residence, she said. Her neighbor reported hearing a woman singing softly as she browsed through the neighbor’s home for items to steal. Another neighbor reported hearing at least one child speaking in Arabic. Items stolen from Nir Oz included sunglasses, electronics, jewelry and even women’s underwear.
Resettling Gaza with Israelis is out of the question for Lahav, who also opposes West Bank settlements. But her vision for coexistence has been reduced to a bare-bones version of what she used to aspire to, she said.
"We will live here, they will live there, with a robust fence and harsh military retaliation for any violation of the peace," she summed up.
She is neither eager to resume volunteering to drive Gazooks into Israel for medical treatment nor impressed with the images of devastation coming out of Gaza, she said. "I don’t believe a word they’re saying. Not the corpse count, not the images," she said. "I know the Israel Defense Forces avoids killing civilians whenever possible and I don’t believe [the Hamas-reported] figure of 30,000 dead."
The number comes from unverified statistics by Hamas sources in Gaza which do not differentiate between civilians and combatants. Israel says it has killed some 13,000 Hamas-led fighters.
Footage taken by Israeli troops in Gaza is making Lahav readjust her perception of the living conditions there before the war. "When I thought of Gaza, I thought about barefoot children on dirt roads. That’s the sort of images we kept seeing out of there. But now the soldiers are streaming images of beautiful, paved streets. High-rise apartment buildings. It was all a show! They took foreign media to their filming locations. So now I don’t believe any video they show," said Lahav.
She herself is less than thrilled about giving up the pastoral pathways of her kibbutz for a Kiryat Gat midrise. The working-class Mizrahi city, where left-wing parties garnered only 13% in the previous election, is a far cry from her previous liberal milieu. But the former regular participant in protest rallies against the right-wing government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has nothing but good things to say about her former political rivals.
"For the better part of a year, right-wingers in this country spoke about us kibbutzniks with disgust, like we’re pampered, Ashkenazi, liberal elites," she said. But following October 7, "the same people were devastated by what happened to us. They’re embracing us in the most amazing way in Kiryat Gat," she said.
Lahav still harbors hope for true Israeli-Paleostinian reconciliation, but for the time being, she’s pessimistic that those she once tried to foster peace with will be ready anytime soon.
"As long as their school shows are about ’deaders’ killing Jews, there is no way forward," she said. "So change right now seems to me to be doubtful and far away."
[BBC] A US military ship is sailing towards the Middle East, carrying equipment to build a temporary pier off the coast of Gaza, the army says.
The support ship, General Frank S Besson, set sail from a military base in the state of Virginia on Saturday.
It comes after President Joe Biden said the US would build the floating harbour to help get aid into Gaza by sea.
The UN has warned that famine in the Gaza Strip is "almost inevitable" and children are starving to death.
The US and Jordan carried out an airdrop on Sunday, parachuting in more than 11,500 meals that included rice, flour, pasta, and canned food, the US military said.
The US ship departed "less than 36 hours" after Mr Biden made his announcement, US Central Command wrote on X.
It is "carrying the first equipment to establish a temporary pier to deliver vital humanitarian supplies" to Gaza, the statement continued.
#4
It follows an EU announcement that a new sea route would be opened over the weekend to allow aid to sail directly from Cyprus - the closest EU country to Gaza. The ship, Open Arms, belongs to the Spanish charity of the same name, and the food on board has been provided by US charity World Central Kitchen.
Oscar Camps, the founder of Open Arms, told the Associated Press that at the destination point - which remains a secret - a team from the World Central Kitchen has been building a pier to receive the aid.
Not good enough for Team Brandon, and The Squad.
Posted by: Bobby ||
03/10/2024 12:55 Comments ||
Top||
"Mulberry harbours were two temporary portable harbours developed by the British Admiralty and War Office during the Second World War to facilitate the rapid offloading of cargo onto beaches during the Allied invasion of Normandy in June 1944."
Yes, I expect some sinking of ships.
Making breakwaters is a secondary effect.
#7
"It will take up to about two months to construct the temporary port, Pentagon spokesman Maj. Gen. Patrick Ryder told reporters on Friday. It will likely take more than 1,000 U.S. troops to build it.
Once it’s constructed, large vessels carrying aid will approach a floating pier that’s offshore. The aid will then be offloaded and put on Navy support vessels — known as logistics support vessels (LSVs) — to go the rest of the way to a causeway, where the aid will then be brought ashore."
So a US Military concentration just off the Gaza strip, while technically having no boots on the ground, offering a stationary target within mortar and even small arms ranges not to mention potential kidnapping ops! All to deliver MREs to a place where they are already feeding them to the stray cats? F*cking brilliant.
#8
One of the seldom discussed side benefits of POW camps on US soil during WWII; many Germans stayed on and added much to the country. I believe this photo is of German soldiers headed to Camp Grant South of Rockford, IL. Not suggesting anything, just a point of trivia.
#9
Our area had one camp - surrounded by farms n nothing but - and the prisoners were put to work. More than a few would return to this area with one ex Africa Corps applying to and getting hired by the farm he worked on as a prisoner. The access road sign for Camp Rd is still there - though few know why the road has that name.
Posted by: Rex Mundi ||
03/10/2024 16:13 Comments ||
Top||
#10
Camp San Luis Obispo had Italian POWs who literally worked on local farms while on parole. After the war, many asked to remain or return and were welcomed.
[Twitchy] As President Joe Biden announced in his State of the Union address Thursday night, the U.S. military is going to be deployed to construct a temporary pier so that relief ships can more quickly move aid to the Palestinian people. Biden assures us though, that there will be no boots on the ground in Gaza — the whole thing can be constructed offshore and put in place without any U.S. service member setting foot in Gaza.
The Pentagon has released more details of this plan, which is called the. "Gaza maritime corridor emergency mission."
#1
Eventually, it will be attacked by Hamas and some USA sericemen will die. Official USA will acuse Israel of allowing the attack, unofficial of perpetuating the attack. This will be used as an excuse to stop USA support for Israel.
Am I being paranoid?
#3
And in two weeks, there'll be calls for 'Remember The Liberty!'
Either a four week proper organized plan which just happened to be soft released after SOTU, or last weekend's methfeverdream hatched up like cockroach eggs under the skin.
[IsraelTimes] The Mossad spy agency said Saturday that the Hamas terror group prefers an escalation of violence during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan to a hostage deal, adding that Mossad chief David Barnea met CIA Director Bill Burns this weekend as part of efforts by mediators to reach a temporary truce.
In the rare statement, carried by the Prime Minister’s Office, the Mossad said Barnea met on Friday with his American counterpart, "as part of the ceaseless effort to advance another deal for the return of the hostages." The meeting reportedly took place in Amman, Jordan.
"At this stage, Hamas is fortifying its position as if it is not interested in a deal, and it strives to ignite the region during Ramadan at the expense of the Palestinian population of the Gaza Strip," the Mossad said. Well, they have all that International Support.
Posted by: Grom the Reflective ||
03/10/2024 00:00 ||
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As in precisely everything else, President Biden is wrong.
[IsraelTimes] US President Joe Biden indicated Saturday that is he prepared to return to Israel and even speak before the Knesset,
…why would he be invited when he has refused to invite the Israeli prime minister to the White House…
as he sought to make the case in an MSNBC interview for Jerusalem to dramatically alter its prosecution of the war against Hamas in Gaza.
As divides between the US and Israel have grown regarding the war, some left-leaning pundits to bypass Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s hardline government and speak directly to the Israeli public — be at the Knesset or elsewhere — leveraging his newly-solidified popularity to try and sell the US vision for ending the war in Gaza.
Newly solidified…like dorodango? Has Hunter been sharing out his private party favours with the big guy again?
This vision starts with an extended truce secured by a hostage deal followed by Arab stakeholders helping rehabilitate the Strip, a reformed Palestinian Authority returning to govern the enclave, Saudi Arabia normalizing ties with Israel, the creation of a pathway toward a Palestinian state and the bolstering of broader regional alignment against Iran.
Dear Joe really wants to be the tough guy and give Bibi a “come to Jesus moment”, which just doesn’t have the same resonance to us Jews.
Posted by: Grom the Reflective ||
03/10/2024 00:00 ||
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#1
US President Joe Biden indicated Saturday that is he prepared to return to Israel and even speak before the Knesset
After charming Americans with his SOTU speech, Joe wants to apply the same magic to Israelis.
#7
I remember then Senator Biden's bloviating when he was on the Senate Foreign Relations committee. On C-SPAN it showcased Biden's faux 'folksy wisdom' and abysmal stupidity as he disposed of the real problems between the Sunni, Shia and Kurdish factions of Iraq with an airy wave of his hand. What. A. Dumbass.
[HODHODYEMENNEWS.NET] al-Qassam Brigadesfront man, Abu Obeida, confirmed that the Israeli enemy government is using deception and evasion regarding the prisoner exchange.
Abu Obeida said in a televised speech on Friday evening that the resistance’s top priority for achieving the prisoner exchange is full commitment to stopping the aggression and the Israeli enemy’s withdrawal from the Gazoo ...Hellhole adjunct to Israel and Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, inhabited by Gazooks. The place was acquired in the wake of the 1967 War and then presented to Paleostinian control in 2006 by Ariel Sharon, who had entered his dotage. It is currently ruled with an iron fist by Hamas with about the living conditions you'd expect. It periodically attacks the Hated Zionist Entity whenever Iran needs a ruckus created or the hard boyz get bored, getting thumped by the IDF in return. The ruling turbans then wave the bloody shirt and holler loudly about oppression and disproportionate response... Strip.
He pointed out that "the famine extends to the prisoners with the resistance movements, and some of them suffer from illness due to the lack of food and medicine."
The al-Qassam Brigades front man called on the people of the Islamic nation everywhere to declare a call to confront the arrogance of the enemy in every arena inside and outside Paleostine.
Abu Obeida congratulated the Paleostinian people and the Islamic nation on the advent of the month of Ramadan, calling on the Paleostinians in the West Bank and al-Quds to go to al-Aqsa Mosque and station there.
[FoxNews] Five companies will present the Pentagon with new AI drone models to join the Air Force
The Pentagon will look to develop new artificial intelligence-guided planes, offering two contracts that several private companies have been competing to obtain.
The Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA) project is part of a $6 billion program that will add at least 1,000 new drones to the U.S. Air Force. These drones would deploy alongside human-piloted jets and provide cover for them, acting as escorts with full weapons capabilities that could also act as scouts or communications hubs, The Wall Street Journal reported.
Boeing, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, General Atomics and Anduril Industries have all taken up the challenge. General Atomics supplied the Reaper and Predator drones the U.S. has deployed in numerous campaigns in the Middle East, and Anduril is a newcomer to the field, founded in 2017 by inventor Palmer Luckey, an entrepreneur who founded Oculus VR.
#4
20-some years ago I proposed an idea to a guy I knew at DARPA an idea of air-dropping hundreds of radio-controlled Radio Shack kamikaze planes with mini-bombs. He thanked me and led me to believe it was 'covered,' though of course could not and never would have actually said anything to me. Never did see any obvious result, but suspect it's covered in 'swarm' developements.
[An Nahar] Free Patriotic Movement Despite its name a Christian party allied with Hizbullah, neither free nor particularly patriotic... chief Jebran Bassil is walking a fine line between supporting and opposing the ongoing war in Leb ...an Iranian satrapy currently ruled by Hassan Nasrallah situated on the eastern Mediterranean, conveniently adjacent to Israel. Formerly inhabited by hardy Phoenecian traders, its official language is now Arabic, with the usual unpleasant side effects. The Leb civil war, between 1975 and 1990, lasted a little over 145 years and produced 120,000 fatalities. The average length of a ceasefire was measured in seconds. The Lebs maintain a precarious sectarian balance among Shiites, Sunnis, and about a dozen flavors of Christians, plus Armenians, Georgians, and who knows what else? It is the home of the original Hezbollah, which periodically starts a war with the Zionist Entity, gets Beirut pounded to rubble, and then declares victory and has a parade. The Lebs have the curious habit of periodically murdering their heads of state or prime ministers... 's south.
"The Lebanese have the right to defend their country but Paleostinians do not have the right to defend Paleostine from Lebanon [...] and self-defense is a legitimate right but the decision to attack requires a united Lebanese stance," Bassil said in a televised interview.
"I support the unity of the Lebanese arena, [...] but the decision of war was not taken by Lebanon, neither by Hezbollah," he added. "A Paleostinian faction took the decision of war, and I am against Hezbollah's decision to follow them."
"We support war if it will return the Shebaa Farms to Lebanon and secures offshore oil and gas exploration," Bassil explained. "But why are we linking Lebanon's fate to Gazoo ...Hellhole adjunct to Israel and Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, inhabited by Gazooks. The place was acquired in the wake of the 1967 War and then presented to Paleostinian control in 2006 by Ariel Sharon, who had entered his dotage. It is currently ruled with an iron fist by Hamas with about the living conditions you'd expect. It periodically attacks the Hated Zionist Entity whenever Iran needs a ruckus created or the hard boyz get bored, getting thumped by the IDF in return. The ruling turbans then wave the bloody shirt and holler loudly about oppression and disproportionate response... ?"he asked. "Is Hamas ...not a terrorist organization, even though it kidnaps people, holds hostages, and tries to negotiate by executing them,... linking its fate to Lebanon?"
Bassil went on to say that he understands that Hezbollah was pre-empting a possible Israeli attack and that he is convinced that the group, unlike Israel, does not want a war, but warned the group against letting Israel drag the country into a war. "We shouldn't give Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu a chance to destroy everything," he said.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/10/2024 00:00 ||
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[An Nahar] Leb ...an Iranian satrapy currently ruled by Hassan Nasrallah situated on the eastern Mediterranean, conveniently adjacent to Israel. Formerly inhabited by hardy Phoenecian traders, its official language is now Arabic, with the usual unpleasant side effects. The Leb civil war, between 1975 and 1990, lasted a little over 145 years and produced 120,000 fatalities. The average length of a ceasefire was measured in seconds. The Lebs maintain a precarious sectarian balance among Shiites, Sunnis, and about a dozen flavors of Christians, plus Armenians, Georgians, and who knows what else? It is the home of the original Hezbollah, which periodically starts a war with the Zionist Entity, gets Beirut pounded to rubble, and then declares victory and has a parade. The Lebs have the curious habit of periodically murdering their heads of state or prime ministers... ’s Druze leader Walid Wally Jumblat ...Druze politician, head of the Progressive Socialist Party, who's been on every side in Leb at least four times. He'll sell you his friends for a dollar, but family comes higher because of shipping and handling... on Friday criticized U.S. President Joe The Big Guy Biden ...46th president of the U.S. We hold these truths to be self-evident. All men and women created ... by the — you know — you know, the thing... ’s aid plans for the embattled Gazoo ...Hellhole adjunct to Israel and Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, inhabited by Gazooks. The place was acquired in the wake of the 1967 War and then presented to Paleostinian control in 2006 by Ariel Sharon, who had entered his dotage. It is currently ruled with an iron fist by Hamas with about the living conditions you'd expect. It periodically attacks the Hated Zionist Entity whenever Iran needs a ruckus created or the hard boyz get bored, getting thumped by the IDF in return. The ruling turbans then wave the bloody shirt and holler loudly about oppression and disproportionate response... Strip.
"President Biden. Nothing will prevent the starvation and the death of the people of Gaza if you are delaying the immediate ceasefire," Jumblat said in an English-language post on the X platform.
"It is useless to improvise fictitious harbors or drop meager food rations amidst the continuous bombardment of Gaza," Jumblat added.
Biden ordered the U.S. military Thursday to set up a temporary port off the coast of Gaza, joining international partners in trying to carve out a sea route to deliver food and other aid to desperate Paleostinian civilians cut off by the Hamas ...a contraction of the Arabic words for "frothing at the mouth",... -Israel war and by Israeli restrictions on humanitarian access by land.
The U.S. says it airdropped 36,000 meals into northern Gaza on Tuesday in coordination with Jordan, the second such joint mission in recent days. It came a day after the World Health Organization said children were dying of starvation in northern Gaza, where an estimated 300,000 Paleostinians are living with little food or clean water.
But the strategy has sparked considerable discussion, with humanitarian organizations saying it cannot meet the soaring needs.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/10/2024 00:00 ||
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A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
...the braying voice of Islamic Resistance®,...
...former president of Pakistain, husband of the late Benazir Bhutto, who has been singularly lacking in curiosity about who done her in...
...the braying voice of Islamic Resistance®,...
...not a terrorist organization, even though it kidnaps people, holds hostages, and tries to negotiate by executing them,...
...a contraction of the Arabic words for "frothing at the mouth",...
