Outcry as Muslim extremist is allowed to tour Britain to promote violence

The following is extremely interesting and troubling considering that Geert Wilders, who is a critic of Islam, was banned from the UK. Whether one agrees with Wilders, there is a difference between criticizing a religion as he does and calling for violence and terrorism. Islamic radical Ibrahim Moussawi advocates for terror.

Here is an excerpt from the UK's Daily Mail:

The Home Secretary came under fire last night for allowing a radical Lebanese propagandist with links to the extremist group Hezbollah to enter Britain for a national speaking tour.

The Conservatives urged Jacqui Smith to ban Ibrahim Moussawi from the UK, warning that he was "likely to foment extremism or promote violence".

Mr Moussawi edits Hezbollah's newspaper and is former political editor of the Iranian-backed group's television station, which is banned in many countries including France, Spain and the U.S. where its output is seen as anti-Semitic.

He was recently barred from entering Ireland, where he was due to speak at anti-war meetings.

He is scheduled to appear at an event in London tonight organised by the Stop the War Coalition, with more events planned around the country over the coming week.

Shadow Security Minister Baroness Neville-Jones attacked the Government's record of allowing radical extremists into the UK, after ministers previously ignored calls to deny Mr Moussawi entry to the UK.

She said: "The Government has the power to deny entry to people whose presence is not conducive to the public good.

"Yet in the past they have let in extremists to preach hate.

"Jacqui Smith failed to stop Ibrahim Moussawi from coming last December, despite my specific request that she do so.

"Regardless of what Moussawi actually says when he is here, it is vital that the Government always makes the security of the UK its top priority.

"That means stopping those who are likely to foment extremism or promote violence from coming here to speak. Ibrahim Moussawi should not be allowed to return to the UK."

The Stop the War Coalition website describes Mr Moussawi as "Editor of the journal Al-Intiqad in Lebanon, linked to Hezbollah."

Last night, the Home Office would not comment on Mr Moussawi's case, although sources confirmed that his visa had been approved for the trip.

Also See:
- Geert Wilders banned from UK

U.S. pulling out of Durban II conference‏

The good news is that the United States has pulled out of the Durban II conference.

The bad news is that, knowing the antisemitic and hypocritical nature of Durban I, the new presidential administration even considered participating in Durban II.


From JTA:

The Obama administration has decided to boycott the so-called Durban II conference out of concerns for anti-Semitism.

Multiple sources on a conference call with the White House on Friday told JTA that the Obama administration had opted not to attend any further preparatory meetings ahead of the planned U.N. conference against racism in Geneva in April.

The conference reprises the 2001 conference in Durban, South Africa that devolved into an anti-Jewish free-for-all. Canada and Israel have opted not to attend the conference, and some U.S. Jewish groups had been pressing the United States to do the same.

Preparations for a draft document so far have seen Iran leading a coterie of nations blocking inclusion of anything that might guarantee Jewish protections – including mention of the Holocaust – while inserting draconian language guarding Islam against "insult."

The State Department sent a delegation, including a senior staffer from the American Jewish Committee, to this month's preparatory talks. The delegation's conclusions were that the anti-Israel and anti-Western tendencies were too deeply entrenched to excise.

Now that the United States is withdrawing from the conference, European nations are expected to follow.

This conference is an organized, well-funded movement to dehumanize Israel in any way possible. The international community and world media ignore the daily attacks on Israel committed by terrorists from Gaza, the West Bank and even Arabs living within Israel who have taken it upon themselves to commit acts of violence against Israelis. At Durban I there was no mention of Palestinians harmed by fellow Palestinians or Arabs. Nor was there a mention of acts of genocide and violence carried out by Muslims against certain ethnic groups—some Muslim groups (such as Kurds) and non-Muslims (such as the Sudanese).

The only true democracy in the Middle East is demonized and attacked. Polls show that Jews are hated in the countries that the critics of Israel say the Jews should "go back to" and the international community continues to ignore the fact that more than half of all Israelis who are descended from the Jews of Middle Eastern countries were forced out.

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- Obama: US combat in Iraq to end in 2010
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Atlas felt a sense of déjà vu

The economic meltdown has caused a boom for at least one author. The Economist published the following on their site regarding Ayn Rand's "Atlas Shrugged" which was originally published in 1957:

BOOKS do not sell themselves: that is what films are for. “The Reader”, the book that inspired the Oscar-winning film, has shot up the bestseller lists. Another recent publishing success, however, has had more help from Washington, DC, than Hollywood. That book is Ayn Rand’s “Atlas Shrugged”.

Reviled in some circles and mocked in others, Rand’s 1957 novel of embattled capitalism is a favourite of libertarians and college students. Lately, though, its appeal has been growing. According to data from TitleZ, a firm that tracks bestseller rankings on Amazon, an online retailer, the book’s 30-day average Amazon rank was 127 on February 21st, well above its average over the past two years of 542. On January 13th the book’s ranking was 33, briefly besting President Barack Obama’s popular tome, “The Audacity of Hope”.

Tellingly, the spikes in the novel’s sales coincide with the news (see chart). The first jump, in September 2007, followed dramatic interest-rate cuts by central banks, and the Bank of England’s bail-out of Northern Rock, a troubled mortgage lender. The October 2007 rise happened two days after the Bush Administration announced an initiative to coax banks to assist subprime borrowers. A year later, sales of the book rose after America’s Treasury said that it would use a big chunk of the $700 billion Troubled Asset Relief Programme to buy stakes in nine large banks. Debate over Mr Obama’s stimulus plan in January gave the book another lift. And sales leapt once again when the stimulus plan passed and Mr Obama announced a new mortgage-modification plan.

Whenever governments intervene in the market, in short, readers rush to buy Rand’s book. Why? The reason is explained by the name of a recently formed group on Facebook, the world’s biggest social-networking site: “Read the news today? It’s like ‘Atlas Shrugged’ is happening in real life”. The group, and an expanding chorus of fretful bloggers, reckon that life is imitating art.

Click here to read the entire article.

Also See:
- Ayn Rand's Message to the GOP Still Relevant Today
- Dr. Yaron Brook Discusses the Growth of the Government's Power

Scientific Poll: Palestinian Authority Arabs Lead in Anti-American Sentiment

A poll was just released this week by the World Public Opinion group. The poll suggests that residents under the Palestinian Authority harbor more anti-American and pro-terror sentiment than several other Arab and Muslim countries which were also polled. The poll has a four percent margin of error.

Here are the results:

The poll was conducted in 2007 and 2008 among residents of Egypt, Indonesia, Morocco and Pakistan, and in 2008 among residents of Azerbaijan, Iran, Jordan, Turkey and Palestinian Authority-controlled areas in Judea, Samaria and Gaza. Nigerian Muslims were polled as well.

The survey also showed a slight increase in support for terrorism and attacks on US civilians in countries where the poll was conducted in both 2007 and 2008.A total of 638 PA Arabs were questioned for the poll, and the margin of error regarding their responses was four percent.

Among the findings:
A full 88 percent of PA Arabs said spreading Christianity in the Middle East was “definitely” or “probably” one of the United States' foreign policy goals, with PA residents the most likely to support this claim. Muslims in Turkey, Jordan and Pakistan were also likely to hold this belief, with between 70-80 percent of respondents in those countries answering that the spread of Christianity was “definitely” or “probably” a US goal.

Eighty-nine percent of PA respondents said the US was “definitely” or “probably” trying to control Middle East oil resources, a percent similar to that in other Muslim countries. Seventy percent said the US was “definitely” hoping to divide and weaken the Muslim world.

Over 50 percent said the US was “definitely” or “probably” interested in creating “an independent and economically viable” PA state. However, 90 percent said the US was also planning to expand Israel's borders.

Forty-nine percent said the US “purposely tries to humiliate the Islamic world.”

When asked about the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks in the US, 42 percent of PA respondents said they believed Al Qaeda or another Muslim terrorist group was behind the attacks, while 27 percent blamed the American government.

PA Arabs were the least likely to say they disapproved of all terrorist groups that attack Americans and were the most likely to express full or mixed approval for such groups. Fourteen percent of those PA Arabs surveyed fell into the former category, while 53 percent said they supported some terrorist groups that attack US citizens and 30 percent said they approve of “most or all” such groups.

Jordan was in second place in support of anti-US terror, with 20 percent of respondents saying they approve “most or all” groups that attack the US and 42 percent saying they approve of some such groups.

Sixty-seven percent of PA Arabs said they strongly approve of attacks on US troops in Iraq, and 23 percent said they somewhat approve. Only five percent reported that they “somewhat” or “strongly” disapprove. Sixty-one percent expressed strong support for attacks on US troops in the Persian Gulf; six percent disapproved.

While a much lower percentage expressed support for attacks on US civilians inside the United States, PA Muslims still led other respondents by a wide margin, with 10 percent expressing “strong approval” of such attacks, 14 percent “somewhat” approving, and 15 percent with mixed feelings.

It is crucial to recognize that the PLO predates Hamas in terms of terror activity. Fatah, a group that is under the PLO umbrella, has a constitution which is very similar to Hamas' charter. Fatah's constitution calls for the destruction of Israel and the eradication of Jewish national existence (Article 12), and for the use of terrorism as an indispensable part of the struggle for that goal (Article 19). The goals, therefore, are largely similar to those of Hamas. Consider that Yasser Arafat, who was the head of the Palestinian Authority, was the godfather of Palestinian terror.

Established in 2000, the Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades are composed of numerous West Bank militias affiliated with the late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat's secular, nationalist Fatah faction, the largest faction of the Palestinian Liberation Organization.
Both Hamas and Fatah have been responsible for coordinating vicious attacks on Israeli civilians. Both groups, since September 2000, have deliberately murdered hundreds of Israelis each and maimed thousands more in suicide bombings and hundreds of other terrorist attacks. Due to extraordinary Israeli measures of security, many attacks have been thwarted.

Also See:
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- Question: How did the troubles with Gaza begin?
- The Middle East Conflict?
- During Financial Crisis, Obama Administration Plans to Send $900 Million to Gaza

Rocket Attack Damages Houses in Sderot

Well, this is some truce.

Women traumatized in rocket attack
Arutz 7 News reports:

Gaza terrorists resumed their near-daily rocket fire on southern Israel Thursday morning with an attack on the nearby city of Sderot.

A short-range Kassam rocket exploded next to two houses in the Gaza Belt community at about 8:45 a.m., damaging both buildings and traumatizing a number of residents.

Several people were treated for severe emotional shock by Magen David Adom medics who raced to the scene following the attack. The house sustained considerable damage as a result of the rocket explosion.

The attack was the second of two that came as part of what has become a daily delivery of rocket fire aimed by Gaza terrorists at southern Israeli civilians.

The Color Red rocket alert siren blared its warning the first time at about 8:30 a.m., sending residents scrambling for shelter just 15 seconds before an explosion rocked the Sha’ar HaNegev region.

The short-range missile exploded in an open area, and no physical injuries or damage was reported.

Hamas Resumes 'Import' of Grad Missiles
Hamas has resumed smuggling long-range Grad missiles into Gaza through Egypt, according to Channel 2 television news reporter Ronnie Daniel.

Last month, the United States and a consortium of European nations vowed to stem such weapons smuggling by placing international observers on site and using advanced technology to supervise the Egyptian border, with Cairo's agreement.

Daniel reported that explosives are also entering Gaza and that the IDF's targeted air strikes on smuggling tunnels along the Philadelphi corridor along the Egyptian border has not stopped the activity. The IAF has been authorized to bomb the tunnels only in specific retaliation for rocket attacks against Israeli communities.

'Virtual Ceasefire?'
According to Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit, Gaza-based Hamas terrorists and Israel have reached a virtual ceasefire, despite the near-daily attacks, and Israel's targeted retaliations.

Aboul Gheit spoke with reporters on Wednesday following negotiations on a ceasefire and the release of Arab terrorists in exchange for the return of kidnapped IDF soldier Gilad Shalit.

Israel and Hamas have reached several ceasefire agreements over the past two years, but most of them were broken within a few days. Israel declared a unilateral ceasefire at the end of its counterterrorist Operation Cast Lead in Gaza on January 18, followed a few hours later by a similar declaration from Hamas. Nonetheless, the terrorists continued to launch rocket attacks at Israel, which Israel then responded to with targeted air strikes and occasional limited ground actions.

Also See:
- Katyushas in North, Kassams in South
- Gaza Terrorists Fire on Netivot, Attack Soldiers Protecting Crossings
- Palestinian Terrorists Keep Firing Rockets, No International Condemnation
- More 'ceasefire' fire from Hamas
- Another Hamas Violation of the Ceasefire
- Hamas Violates Ceasefire Two More Times
- Palestinians Violate Ceasefire Yet Again
- Hamas violates ceasefire (again), UN doesn't care
- Iran Renews Efforts to Re-Supply Hamas
- Taking On Fraudulent White Phosphorus Allegations
- Scathing ‘insider’ report on UNWRA to hit Obama’s desk
- Letter to Gaza Citizen from an Israeli Soldier
- Palestinian Terrorists Fire Grad-Type Katuysha Rocket Toward Ashkelon
- Hamas threw 'medicine grenades' at IDF

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- Poll: PA Leads in Anti-American Sentiment
- Yisrael Beiteinu Wants Justice Ministry for Friedmann
- PA Wants $2.8 Billion for Gaza Aid
- US State Department Invites Syrian Ambassador
- Likud Rep. Meets with NU, Jewish Home

Ayn Rand's Message to the GOP Still Relevant Today

This is even more relevant today than when Ayn Rand explained the necessity of favoring individual rights and reason in 1961. Today we can substitute "Islamists" for "Communists."

The GOP should favor of reason and individual rights-- and move away from faith-based politics. Religion, though it should be respected as a person's right, is a private matter and the forefathers of the United States intended it to be this way.

Also See:
- Dr. Yaron Brook Discusses the Growth of the Government's Power

Muslim Leader in NY Beheads Wife, Media Ignores

Dr. Zuhdi Jasser is a Syrian-American who formed the American Islamic Forum for Democracy. He recognizes that Muslims must take a stance against all terrorism carried out in the name of the Islamic religion. Jasser also believes that Muslims need to distance themselves from violent hadiths, suras and other passages in Islamic texts. Jasser doesn't believe that violence in the Qur'an or other Islamic texts should be considered authentic.

Also See:
- Prominent Muslim Leader Beheads Wife

New Al-Aqsa TV Teddy Bear Nassur Vows to Join Military Wing of Hamas

The following is an excerpt from the Hamas children's show "Pioneers of Tomorrow," featuring the debut of a new character Nassur the teddy bear. The program aired on Al-Aqsa TV on February 13, 2009.

I was raised on television programs like "Sesame Street," "David the Gnome," and "Eureka's Castle." Arab children are indoctrinated by television programs which feature death-mongering characters. This is just the latest in an extremely sad and troubling trend.

Related Posts:
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Also See:
- Inside a Hamas meeting
- Hamas: Exploitation of Civilians as Human Shields
- Sderot Victim to U.N.: Are Human Rights for Some, But Not Others?
- Hamas militants using a mosque to store weapons, abusing civilians in Gaza
- Israeli Checkpoints: A Matter of Necessity
- Pregnant Palestinian Woman Plots to Become "Martyr"
- Palestinian Woman Sacrifices Her Son
- Indoctrination of innocent Arab kids in Gaza
- Palestinian Child Abuse
- Child Abuse
- Grooming a New Generation of Suicide Bombers

Hate Speech At San Francisco State University

Richard L. Cravatts, Ph.D., director of Boston University's Program in Publishing at the Center for Professional Education, published an article regarding hate speech at San Francisco State University.

Dr. Cravatts is currently writing a book about higher education which will be entitled "Genocidal Liberalism: The University's Jihad Against Israel."

Here is an excerpt from his article which was published on February 24, 2009 in American Thinker:

Most notorious, for example, was the Muslim student-sponsored, pro-Palestinian April 2002 demonstration that included odious flyers and posters depicting a dead Palestinian baby on a soup-can label imprinted with the words "Palestinian Children Meat, slaughtered according to Jewish rites under American license," echoing the centuries-old blood libel of European antisemitism that accused Jews of murdering Gentile children and using their blood to bake matzos -- a slander that has, not surprisingly, currently gained credence in the Arab world. Even if the perpetrators of this cruel protest consider this type of expression merely "academic free speech" and legitimate debate about Zionism, and also disingenuously claim that that there is no underlying Jew-hatred here, only debate about Israeli policies, and even if they are to be believed, might not such flyers possibly offend Jewish students on campus? Could accusing an ethnic group of infanticide possibly be construed as "intimidation" or fostering "incivility" on campus?

Not content to mount their own vile protests against Zionism, Jews, and Israel, the pro-Palestinian student groups took it upon themselves the following month to disrupt a vigil for Holocaust Remembrance Day where some 30 Jewish students who were reciting the Mourners' Kaddish -- the Jewish prayer for the dead -- were shouted down by protesters who countered with grisly prayers in memory of Palestinian suicide bombers. The pro-Palestinian counter-demonstrators, armed with whistles and bull horns, physically assaulted the Jewish students, spat on them, and screamed such charming epithets as "Too bad Hitler didn't finish the job," "Get out or we will kill you," "F**k the Jews," "Die racist pigs," and "Go back to Russia, Jews." The violence escalated to the extent that San Francisco police officers finally had to usher the Jewish students to safety off campus. "This is not civic discourse, this is not free speech," lamented Laurie Zoloth, SFSU's Director of the Program in Jewish Studies at the time of the incident, "this is the Weimar Republic with brown shirts it cannot control."

Is this merely academic debate about the Israeli/Palestinian conflict, or is something more insidious finding expression in the minds of these hate-filled students blinded by their obsession with the plight of the Left's favorite third-world victims, the Palestinians? Claims by pusillanimous college administrators that hate-filled protests against Jews and Israel are merely conversations about politics are more than disingenuous; while universities see no difficulty is making moral judgments about "hate speech" when it is aimed at groups who have achieved status as victims in a world bereft of social justice -- blacks, gays, Palestinians, illegal aliens, among them -- that same moral recognition is oddly absent when vitriolic charges of racism, imperialism, apartheid, ethnic cleansing, occupation, and genocide are carelessly lodged at Israel and its supporters in the U.S. and the West. Victim status also insulates members of those groups from criticism; only the acts and behavior of the "other," the oppressors, are subject to critique, a convenient way for SFSU's jihad-supporting student groups to justify their ideological onslaught against the Zionism and Jews.

How has this corruption of what should be legitimate academic debate come about? Irwin Cotler, a Canadian MP and former minister of justice and attorney-general, believes that this pernicious ideology has manifested itself so "that Israel is delegitimized, if not demonized, by the ascription to it of the two most scurrilous indictments of 20th-century racism -- Nazism and apartheid -- the embodiment of all evil. These very labels of Zionism and Israel as ‘racist, apartheid and Nazi' supply the criminal indictment. No further debate is required."

Given this false sense of moral superiority by the libelous framing of Israel as the singularly most evil nation on earth, its campus enemies at SFSU and elsewhere feel free to speak against it in the most destructive and hurtful way possible. At the same time, pro-Israel, anti-terrorism voices are marginalized, disregarded, shouted down, or, as in the case of the College Republicans most recently, denounced as hate speech, unworthy of being part of an ongoing, vigorous debate, and deserving only of being punished and silenced by those who want only one side of the debate to be heard in what should be a vigorous, thoughtful debate in the ‘marketplace of ideas.'

Dr. Cravatt's article can be read here in its entirety.

Memorial for Mercaz HaRav Yeshiva Victims

The victims of the terror attack on Mercaz HaRav were Yonatan Yitzchak Eldar, Ro'i Aharon Roth, Neria Cohen, Avraham David Moses, Segev Pniel Avichayil, Doron Mahareta, Yonadav Hirschfeld, and Yochai Lifschitz.
Child Kisses Torah at Mercaz HaRav memorial. Israel News Photo: Yehuda Boltshauser
Arutz 7 has live updates:

The families of each of the victims will accept one of the scrolls, all of which were commissioned by a single anonymous donor. The ceremony includes the writing by the families of the final letters of each of the scrolls.

The memorial occasion will marks the worldwide conclusion of the study of the 2,700-page Babylonian Talmud, sponsored by B'Lev Echad (With One Heart) and Mercaz HaRav. Over the course of this past year, those who wished to study a two-sided page of the religious-legal tome, or several of them, in memory of the slain students signed up via an Internet site designated for the purpose, specifying the pages they planned to study. The entire Talmud was completed more than three times.

"For 80 years Mercaz HaRav Yeshiva has been spreading the light of Torah and unity among all sectors of the People of Israel, in Israel and abroad,” the world-renowned yeshiva said in a statement. “Following the path of our master-teacher Rabbi Kook, of blessed memory, thousands of its graduates have integrated into all aspects of Israeli communal life, and serve today as the spiritual and moral vanguard of the State of Israel.

"One year ago, foxes entered our holy precinct in order to silence the voice of the redemptive Torah reverberating in Israel. Eight of our students, from Mercaz HaRav and from the Yeshiva High School, boys and young men who were laboring in the tents of Torah, paid with their lives for it, and went up to Heaven with a single, clear message: 'Only be strong and very courageous to observe [and] do according to all the laws which Moses My servant commanded you... for then you shall make your way successfully...." (Joshua 1:7, 8)

Visit http://www.mercazharav.org/

Divestment Campaigns Illogical, Fallacious

I have never seen Muslims take to the streets in protest of injustices in the Arab world by fellow Muslims. There was no condemnation by Muslims in America and the UK regarding their Arab-Muslim brothers who have committed genocide against the Africans in Darfur. When Lebanon indiscriminately bombed a Palestinian refugee camp in 2008, Muslims didn't take to the streets. Neither did American Muslims protest the actions of Egyptian soldiers who have shot at Palestinians attempting to cross from Gaza into Egypt. I certainly did not see a single protest condemning acts of aggression and genocide against Kurds by Turkey and Iraq.

I did see a lot of despicable protests when Israel, a sovereign nation, went into Gaza in late December 2008 to stop terror attacks against the civilian population in southern Israel. Article 51 of the United Nations Charter reserves to every nation the right to engage in self-defense against armed attacks. Hamas' acts of terror left Israel with no choice but to take stronger measures to defend its citizens. During rallies I heard Muslims telling Jews that they should be "used as fossil fuel" and I was told to go back to Poland. I am not from Poland and neither is my family (we are indigenous Middle Eastern Jews who were made refugees from countries like Iraq and Syria due to Islamic aggression).

These same Muslims who shouted antisemitic obscenities are now calling for divestment from Israel on various American college campuses.

Despite the best efforts of antisemitic and anti-Israel activists, including some gains among church groups, divestment campaign in the U.S. have been largely unsuccessful. Regardless, divestment campaigns needs to be condemned as they are largely illogical and spread lies.

Israel accepted the notion of a Palestinian state back in 1948 when even the Arabs did not wish for it. Israel uprooted Jewish settlements and gave land to Egypt and Jordan in return for peace treaties. Under the Oslo Accords Israel granted Palestinian autonomy and received non-stop terror in return.

The real reason for the lack of peace has nothing to do with fraudulent charges of human rights violations against the Jewish state where the rights of all citizens, regardless of nationality or religion, are protected. In the struggle to defeat Israel, those that do not hesitate to use terror as a weapon certainly have no difficulty in distorting the truth, even it is in the form of a divestment petition on a university campus.

Here are some advertisements that were in the New York Times in 2007 which point out the hypocrisy of divestment and boycott campaigns in the UK:

During Financial Crisis, Obama Administration Plans to Send $900 Million to Gaza

The United States is in the midst of a serious financial crisis that will get a lot worse before it gets better. Unfortunately, the Obama administration is handing over nearly $1 billion to the Hamas-riddled United Nations Relief and Works Agency. It is supposed to be used for humanitarian purposes. However, there is no guarantee that the Hamas "government" will not spend this money on bombs, weapons, and ammunition. Billions of dollars have been allocated to Palestinians and instead of building a decent society for Arabs in Gaza, Palestinians continue to engage in terrorist activities. Hamas and other terrorist groups in Gaza (and the West Bank) have used billions of dollars meant for positive purposes to finance terror.

Related Posts:
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- Scathing ‘insider’ report on UNWRA to hit Obama’s desk
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News:
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Video:
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Birthright Israel Registration Now Open

For those who have not been on an organized trip to Israel and are between the age of 18 to 26, a trip with Taglit-Birthright this summer may be something you would like to consider. I went to Israel on a Birthright trip in 2005 and had an amazing time. I wish I could go again.
Groups like Chabad, Aish HaTorah and StandWithUs offer special trips that focus on learning/hasbara or the Jewish faith.

This is a FREE ten day trip made possible by the Taglit-Birthright Israel Foundation for young Jewish adults 18-26. Individuals can sign up at www.birthrightisrael.com.

Major Electric Car Agreement Signed by 19 Israeli Companies

Through Shai Agassi's innovative "Better Place," Israel will become the first country to mass produce electric cars. Since Israel is bereft of petrol, this is a practical idea to reduce dependency on oil exports from countries that use petrol dollars to promote terror. 19 Israeli companies just signed a major electric car agreement.

Thrilling Israeli opponents to foreign energy dependence as well as environmentalists across the country, 19 Israeli companies have signed cooperation agreements to test the suitability of electric cars for their company fleets in the first stage of the electric car program of Israeli venture-company Better Place.

Aiming to reduce global oil dependency and provide consumers with cleaner, sustainable personal transportation, Better Place employs swappable batteries, battery charging spots and battery exchange stations, and is aiming to operate its first electric car charging network in Israel and Denmark by 2011.

Israeli companies taking part in the test project represent Israeli high tech, agriculture, pharmaceuticals, finance, food, manufacturing and telecommunications industries. Participants include Israel Corporation, Teva Pharmaceutical Industries, Pelephone Communications, Partner Communications, Matrix IT, Direct Insurance- Financial Investments, Rafael Advanced Defense Systems, Netafim, Keter Plastics, Orbotech, Jafora Tabori, Manpower Israel, SQlink, Nike Israel, and Glasshouse Technologies.

The first stage of development will include designing and installing recharging points for company parking lots and employee homes.

Better Place CEO Shai Agassi called the program "the tip of the iceberg of global demand," saying he believes there is a potential global market of 50 million cars.

Also See:
- Shai Agassi: Revolutionizing the Electric Car in Israel

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Katyushas in North, Kassams in South

Daily rocket and mortar attacks against southern residents in Israel have not ceased despite the "truce" that was announced following the Operation Cast Lead. On Saturday katuysha attacks against northern residents were also reported.

Arutz 7 reports:

Terrorists in Lebanon, meanwhile, launched a Katyusha attack on northern Israel Saturday morning, wounding three family members and sending two others into severe emtional trauma while filling their home with thick black smoke.

The rocket, which landed in the yard of the family's home in a village in the western Galilee, was retrieved by IDF personnel. The injured Israelis were evacuated to a hospital in Nahariya by Magen David Adom paramedics.

IDF soldiers responded with artillery fire aimed at the source of the attack. Lebanese Army personnel and soldiers from the United Nations International Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) subsequently identified the location of the launching pad.

Gaza terrorists struck the coastal city of Ashkelon on Saturday night at around 10:20 p.m. A medium-range rocket reached the industrial zone on the southern outskirts of the city. No one was injured and no damage was caused in the attack.

Also See:
- Gaza Terrorists Fire on Netivot, Attack Soldiers Protecting Crossings
- Palestinian Terrorists Keep Firing Rockets, No International Condemnation
- More 'ceasefire' fire from Hamas
- Another Hamas Violation of the Ceasefire
- Hamas Violates Ceasefire Two More Times
- Palestinians Violate Ceasefire Yet Again
- Hamas violates ceasefire (again), UN doesn't care
- Iran Renews Efforts to Re-Supply Hamas
- Taking On Fraudulent White Phosphorus Allegations
- Scathing ‘insider’ report on UNWRA to hit Obama’s desk
- Letter to Gaza Citizen from an Israeli Soldier
- Palestinian Terrorists Fire Grad-Type Katuysha Rocket Toward Ashkelon
- Hamas threw 'medicine grenades' at IDF

News:
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- Al Qaeda’s Rise in Yemen Prompts Jewish Immigration
- US Senator Kerry Forges Ties with Syrian President Bashar Assad
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How Sderot Voted on Israel's Election Day

As bomb shelters continue to be built throughout Sderot in preparation of future rocket attacks, Sderot residents showed up in large numbers at the voting booths last Tuesday, February 10. [1]

Interestingly enough the population in Sderot voted for the right-wing bloc in overwhelming numbers, citing that Likud and other parties like Shas and Israel Beytenu are less inclined to tolerate perpetual Palestinian terror attacks against residents in Southern Israel.

[1] YouTube

Related Posts:
- Peres Entrusts Netanyahu with Forming a Government

Also See:
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- Life in Sderot
- No end in sight
- 15 Seconds in Sderot, Israel

The Suicide Killers: 72 Virgins in Heaven

Muslim martyrs or murderers are told that they will enjoy rich sensual rewards upon reaching paradise. Pierre Rehov's "The Suicide Killers" investigates this issue. The interviews in this clip were conducted with terrorists who failed on their so-called "holy" missions and are currently sitting in prisons.

Related Posts:
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- Pregnant Palestinian Woman Plots to Become "Martyr"
- Palestinian Woman Sacrifices Her Son
- Indoctrination of innocent Arab kids in Gaza
- Palestinian Child Abuse
- Child Abuse
- Grooming a New Generation of Suicide Bombers

Also See:
- Terror in Mumbai: Terrorists sexually humiliated guests before killing them

Gaza Terrorists Fire on Netivot, Attack Soldiers Protecting Crossings

Palestinians fired a rocket from the Gaza Strip into the western Negev overnight Thursday. The rocket landed in an open area near Netivot.

On Friday morning Palestinian gunmen fired 10 mortar shells at IDF troops who were operating near the Kissufim crossing to the Gaza Strip. Earlier Thursday, four Palestinians attempted to plant a bomb along the fence but managed to flee the scene after soldiers discovered them.

Palestinian terrorists in Gaza insist on smuggling weapons via tunnels. While the international community declared a ceasefire, Hamas and other terrorist groups in Gaza continue to launch missiles and mortars into Israel daily. Hamas has also indicated that they have no desire for full, lasting peace. If a ceasefire agreement is reached it will be an opportunity for Palestinian terrorists to rearm.

Arutz 7 reports:

Gaza terrorists fired two Grad rockets at the city of Netivot on Thursday night. The rockets hit an open area. No injuries were reported in the attack.

A short time earlier, terrorists fired a short-range Kassam rocket at the western Negev town of Sderot. The rocket missed its mark, and there were no reports of injuries in the attack.

Gaza terrorists have continued firing at southern Israel despite the recent Cast Lead counterterrorism operation, which killed an estimated 800 Gaza terrorists, including many senior members of Hamas.

Hamas leaders say they are willing to hold their fire for 18 months in exchange for an end to IDF operations in Gaza and entirely opened crossings, but in the absence of a ceasefire agreement, the group continues to carry out attacks on Israeli civilians.

Egyptian-mediated talks towards a ceasefire in Gaza have run into trouble as Hamas terrorists insist that importing weapons is their right, while Israel insists that smuggling must stop during any ceasefire period. In addition, Israel insists that Hamas must release kidnapped IDF soldier Gilad Shalit, while Hamas says any deal for Shalit must be conducted separately and cannot be tied in to any truce agreement.

Related Posts:
- Palestinian Terrorists Keep Firing Rockets, No International Condemnation
- More 'ceasefire' fire from Hamas
- Another Hamas Violation of the Ceasefire
- Hamas Violates Ceasefire Two More Times
- Palestinians Violate Ceasefire Yet Again
- Hamas violates ceasefire (again), UN doesn't care
- Iran Renews Efforts to Re-Supply Hamas
- Taking On Fraudulent White Phosphorus Allegations
- Scathing ‘insider’ report on UNWRA to hit Obama’s desk
- Letter to Gaza Citizen from an Israeli Soldier
- Palestinian Terrorists Fire Grad-Type Katuysha Rocket Toward Ashkelon
- Hamas threw 'medicine grenades' at IDF

Also See:
- Hamas Stole Seven Tons of Weapons from UN in Gaza
- UNWRA: Lords of Misery
- Sderot Victim to U.N.: Are Human Rights for Some, But Not Others?
- UNWRA May Have Hired Hamas Terrorists
- UNWRA Admits Israel Did Not Attack School in Gaza
- Scathing ‘insider’ report on UNWRA to hit Obama’s desk

Peres Entrusts Netanyahu with Forming a Government

President Peres met with Likud chairman Binyamin Netanyahu at 2:15 p.m. and entrusted him with the task of forming a government. Netanyahu now has 28 days to form a coalition and could receive two additional weeks if he needs them.

Netanyahu has called on Tzipi Livni and Ehud Barak for their assistance in creating a national unity government.
Peres formally announces decision with Netanyahu beside him. Credit: Moshe Milner, GPO
The right-wing bloc proved to be victorious this year, earning more mandates than leftist and the Kadima (center) parties.

Additional information:
- Arutz 7
- Jerusalem Post

Other news:
- Gaza Terrorists Fire on Netivot
- Media Watchdog: Dutch Coverage of Israel 'Beyond Belief'
- 'Iran has enough uranium to make bomb'
- Orthodox Jew Suing US for False Arrest on Spying Charges
- Argentina Expels Holocaust Denying Bishop
- Mitchell: U.S. Won't Touch Coalition Process

Welcoming New Jewish Immigrants Home from Yemen to Israel

Ten Jews from Yemen landed in Israel as part of a Jewish Agency's special rescue and aliyah operation. Jews in Yemen are living under heavy persecution. The Jewish state is a beacon of hope for distressed Jews around the world, including the remaining Middle Eastern and North African Jews.

Yemenite Jew Simha Ben-Yisrael, back, and her children arrive at Ben Gurion airport on Thursday.
This story of rescue is extremely touching and the reception of these Jews in Israel has been incredibly heartfelt.

The Jerusalem Post has additional details:

The latest immigrants from the Yemenite community of Raida - a town fraught with tension between its Jewish and Muslim residents in recent months - the Ben-Yisraels, accompanied by another young man from their community, arrived in a special aliya operation, shrouded in secrecy, organized by the Jewish Agency and Yemenite Jewish Federation of America.

As they stepped into the arrivals hall, the Ben-Yisraels looked as if they had walked through a time warp. "Thank God, I'm happy to be here," said family patriarch Said Ben-Yisrael, clad in a felt yarmulke and long black side curls as he stood in front of his wife and seven children.

Greeted by a Yemenite rabbi who lives in Israel, Ben-Yisrael recited the "Sheheheyanu" prayer, which is said upon arriving at a particularly festive or joyous occasion. The crowd of reporters and cameramen who swarmed around the family as they entered the arrival terminal answered "Amen!"

But the transition from old-world Yemen to the modern and fast-paced Israel proved to be daunting for the family, even in their first moments on the ground.

The plane ride had been the family's first, and the shiny marble floors and bright fluorescent lights of the airport were no doubt a stark contrast to their former life in the developing Muslim country.

Ben-Yisrael's wife and young children - the girls clad in traditional Islamic clothing and the boys in suits and ties - milled around, smiling nervously as reporters attempted to speak to them in Arabic.

"We just locked up our house and left," said one of Ben-Yisrael's daughters, Esther, as she marveled at the flashing cameras and jostling news crews in front of her.

Several weeks ago, Islamic extremists threw a hand grenade into the Ben-Yisraels' courtyard, which exploded but caused no injuries. Said hurriedly took his family and went to live in the Yemeni capital city of Sana'a, before departing the country for Israel.

"I don't have much to say," Ben-Yisrael said, smiling. "We're tired, but it's good to finally be here, it's good to be home."

When the family left the airport - bound for Beit Shemesh, accompanied by a Jewish Agency team - the young children sat outside on a bench as their parents loaded luggage into a waiting taxi van.

Passersby, intrigued by the new arrivals, began to inquire about their trip.

"Can you sing a Shabbat song?" David Girafi, a cab driver from Herzliya, asked the children in Arabic. Girafi explained that his parents had immigrated from Yemen before he was born, and after witnessing the scene that unfolded at Ben Gurion Airport on Thursday, Girafi said it brought him back to the photographs that had once hung on the walls of his family's home.

"They remind me of my parents," he said, before breaking into song, as Esther, clad in her black hijab, joined him in a Yemenite rendition of "Ki Eshmarei Shabbat".

"It's very emotional," Girafi said.

More than 55,000 indigenous Yemeni Jews were secretly airlifted to Israel from 1940-1950 due to intense persecution against them. There were another 8,000 Jews in Aden who were also brought to Israel. There are approximately 300 Jews remaining in Yemen today.

Also See:
- Yemeni Jews Fearful
- Yemen: Man killed in religious hate crime
- Yemen begins transfer of Jews to Sana'a
- Yemenite Jewish Community Under Attack (Again)
- The Yemenite Jews

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- The Persecution of Jews in Syria
- The Persecution of Jews in Iraq
- Nazism and Radical Islam
- The Forgotten Refugees
- Don't Forget the Jewish Refugees from Arab Lands
- Intro to the Farhud
- The Silent Exodus of Jewish Refugees
- Islamic brutality againsts Jews under the so-called "Golden Age"
- The Persecution of Christians Under Islamo-Fascist Rule

The Israeli Sea Turtle Rescue Center

Operating under the auspices of the Israeli Nature and Parks Authority, the Sea Turtle Rescue Center helps the endangered turtles to maximize reproduction and heals their various ailments. Nearly 70% of the sanctuary's charges eventually return to the wild, and the center also serves as a hub for environmental public relations. [1]

[1] YouTube

Dr. Yaron Brook Discusses the Growth of the Government's Power

This is a clip of Dr. Yaron Brook, executive director of the Ayn Rand Center for Individual Rights. The segment is from the "Glenn Beck Program" on Fox News, Tuesday, February 17, 2009, at 2 p.m. PST.

Dr. Brook discusses the growth of the government's power and the morality of altruism that crushing the U.S. productive individuals. [1]

[1] YouTube

Solar Thermal Energy Development: BrightSource Israel

BrightSource Energy and LUZ II have created the first solar power development center in the world.

Israel Kroizer, the chief operating officer, and president of BrightSource in Israel says that when completed, it will be the world's largest solar energy project. Some 1,300 megawatts of energy will be created, with the first plant to be built in Ivanpah, California, expected to generate 286,000 megawatt-hours per year. The project will also create more jobs in the region.

"It's the biggest solar energy project ever signed," Kroizer emphasizes, and when complete it will be the largest solar energy plant in the world, he adds.

Ronald Reagan: A Time for Choosing

This is an excerpt of the 30 minute speech by Ronald Reagan supporting the Republican presidential nominee Barry Goldwater. Reagan discusses big government, high taxation, and the "war on poverty." He addresses foreign policy issues including the risk of appeasement, "peace through strength," and the Vietnam War.

This speech remains amazingly fresh as a statement of modern American conservative philosophy four decades after it was delivered. It is also something that I believe is relevant considering the fiscal programs that politicians are pushing for (including the recent bailout bill which not a single congressman or senator read).

A transcript of this speech is available here.

Peres Confesses Gaza Expulsion was a Mistake

Yitzhak Rabin and Shimon Peres brought the PLO (along with Arafat) back from Tunis to set up shop on Israel's borders. They mistakenly believed this would bring about real peace with Israel's Muslim-Arab neighbors. Gaza was turned over to Palestinians along with a large swatch of Judea and Samaria. Unfortunately, the Israeli government made the mistake of arming the killers of Jews with thousands of rifles and machine guns. It was a decision that has cost Israel more than 1,400 lives (and counting) over the ensuing years.

Ariel Sharon's Gaza disengagement plan was also ineffective. This "land for peace" formula could not work as the Palestinians did not begin building a country, but have been continuously waging war against Israel. This week President Shimon Peres admitted that the disengagement was the wrong decision.

Arutz 7 News reports:

President Shimon Peres told American Jewish leaders Wednesday that the "Disengagement" from Gaza three and a half years ago was a mistake in the way it was executed. "I was for leaving Gaza. I feel myself as one of the persons mistaken," he confessed.

"Whatever will happen in the future, we shall not repeat the mistakes we made in leaving Gaza," the President told the Conference of Major Jewish Organizations. He explained that he backed the expulsion of Jews from Gush Katif and northern Gaza because he wanted to "make sure that the State we have remains Jewish."

The expulsion has left thousands of former Gaza residents without permanent homes and without employment.

President Peres is another of many former sponsors of then-Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's Disengagement program to admit that its execution, if not the policy itself, was wrong. National Infrastructure Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer (Labor) has been one of the most prominent political leaders to admit that it should not have been carried out at all.

As Vice Prime Minister in 2005, Peres said immediately after the expulsion that "we never will return to Gaza." Since then, the IDF has been forced to enter several times to fight Hamas terrorists, and it recently led the massive three-week Operation Cast Lead counterterrorist offensive.

Since the expulsion of Jews and the withdrawal of the IDF more than three years ago, rocket attacks on southern Israel have increased, prompting President Peres to remark last year, "I did not imagine that we would leave Gaza and they would fire Kassams from there. I did not imagine that Hamas would show so strongly in the elections."

Following a Kassam attack last year that left 69 soldiers wounded, he wondered aloud to foreign diplomats, "It makes no sense why they would continue to shoot at us despite the fact that we disengaged."

Also See:
- Question: How did the troubles with Gaza begin?
- Operation Cast Lead: Background Briefing

The Urban Fish Farm of the Future

An Israeli scientist has developed a new form of fish farming. Yonatan Zohar's revolutionary technique allows for raising edible fish in urban settings.

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Palestinian Terrorists Keep Firing Rockets, No International Condemnation

On February 16 two rockets were fired into Israel which set off the "Color Red" siren in the morning as people were making their way to school and work. Smuggling of weapons has also continued.


From YNet:

Two Qassams were fired at the western Negev on Monday morning. One landed in a kibbutz in the Sdot Negev Regional Council, and the other hit an open area in the Sha'ar Hanegev Regional Council.

There were no reports of injuries, but environmental damage was caused. The kibbutz residents woke up to the sounds of the Color Red rocket alert system and to a loud explosion.

In response to the rockets, the Israel Air Force attacked a weapons smuggling tunnel on the Philadelphi route in the southern Gaza Strip in the early afternoon hours. Two additional tunnels were attacked several hours later.

The Israel Defense Forces has struck several tunnels along the route in the past few days.

IDF officials estimate that Hamas is resuming its activity at the tunnels in order to replenish the organization's weapons cache.

The secretary of the kibbutz hit by the rocket told Ynet: "This morning a rocket exploded inside the kibbutz, not far from the houses. The rocket landed in a cactus garden and caused light damage. It's a miracle there were no injuries."

He added that "since the fighting ended rockets continue to explode in our area, so we are not relying on the promised lull."

Police sappers have been alerted repeatedly to rocket landing sites in the past few weeks. According to the sappers, the Qassam that exploded in the kibbutz was a 90-millimeter rocket, and is believed to have been fired by Hamas men.

The rockets were launched as some of the children were making their way to school, and council officials said this was no coincidence. In several other incidents in the past few days, Palestinian gunmen fired rockets shortly before the schools and kindergartens opened.

Here is IDF footage from last week which shows the strikes on weapons smuggling tunnels: This aerial footage is from the Israel Air Force of strikes against Hamas smuggling tunnels and weapon manufacturing factories in the Gaza Strip on Friday, February 13, 2009. The air strikes are in response to continued Hamas rocket fire into Israel. More than 40 rockets and mortars have been launched against Israel since the holding of fire began on the 18th of January.

As the sole authority in the Gaza Strip, Hamas bears full responsibility for all terror activities originating within its area of control.

News:
- Livni and Bibi: Rotation a Two-Headed Beast and Gov't Paralysis
- Arab Media: Hamas Will Free Shalit - For the Right Price
- Jordan Turns Against Israel in Hague
- UTJ, Likud to Sign Agreement -- Likud Coalition Numbers 50 MKs

Hamas Stole Seven Tons of Weapons from UN in Gaza

This is only one of the latest embarassing episodes for the UN. UN spokesman Richard Miron said the explosives were being stored in Gaza until a UN team of disposal experts could disarm them, but they disappeared. Here is what Arutz 7 News is reporting:

Hamas stole tons of explosives, weapons and unexploded bombs that it was guarding for the United Nations, which gathered the ordnance during Operation Cast Lead. The Hamas guard has disappeared along with the bombs and explosives.

The discovery of missing weapons, first revealed by British Broadcasting Corp. (BBC), is the latest in a number of embarrassing episodes for the U.N. and United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA). Israeli military spokesman Peter Lerner charged Hamas with "commandeering" the bombs, explosives and artillery shells.

Israel previously has proven that Hamas has used U.N. facilities to attack Israeli civilians and soldiers, and the terrorist organization has routinely stolen humanitarian aid delivered to U.N. groups.

"We are anxious to get the return of this ordnance," U.N. Jerusalem spokesman Richard Miron told the BBC. "It's clearly extremely dangerous and needs to be disposed of in a safe manner.

The U.N. has been trying to remove and neutralize the explosives but has charged Israel with delaying the work by not permitting entry of equipment and not approving an area for detonation.

However, Israel two weeks ago approved a storage site near Gaza City for three one-ton bombs and eight smaller ones which did not explode after being dropped by Israeli planes. U.N. officials stored the bombs along with several large artillery shells in the warehouse and discovered on Sunday that the weapons were missing.

Several bombs that the U.N. collected have been drowned in water and then buried in Gaza's sand.

Related Posts:
- UNWRA: Lords of Misery
- Sderot Victim to U.N.: Are Human Rights for Some, But Not Others?
- UNWRA May Have Hired Hamas Terrorists
- UNWRA Admits Israel Did Not Attack School in Gaza
- Scathing ‘insider’ report on UNWRA to hit Obama’s desk

Prominent Muslim Leader Beheads Wife

A prominent Muslim leader has turned himself in and has been charged with the murder of his wife. Muzzammil Hassan beheaded his wife, Aasiya Hassan, who asked for a divorce. Perhaps the biggest irony is that Muzzammil Hassan is the head of an Islamic television station in upstate New York which is aimed at countering Muslim stereotypes. In 2007 Hassan was given an award for his work by CAIR, the so-called moderate Islamic group which the FBI cut ties with recently. The murder of this poor woman is incredibly tragic-- and shocking.

Buffalo News has reported the following:

Police identified the victim as Aasiya Z. Hassan, 37. Detectives have charged her husband, Muzzammil Hassan, 44, with second-degree murder.

"He came to the police station at 6:20 p.m. [Thursday] and told us that she was dead," Orchard Park Police Chief Andrew Benz said late this morning.

Muzzammil Hassan told police that his wife was at his business, Bridges TV, on Thorn Avenue in the village. Officers went to that location and discovered her body.

Muzzammil Hassan is the founder and chief executive officer of Bridges TV, which he launched in 2004, amid hopes that it would help portray Muslims in a more positive light.

The killing apparently occurred some time late Thursday afternoon. Detectives still are looking for the murder weapon.

"Obviously, this is the worst form of domestic violence possible," Erie County District Attorney Frank A. Sedita III said today.

Authorities say Aasiya Hassan recently had filed for divorce from her husband.

"She had an order of protection that had him out of the home as of Friday the 6th [of February]," Benz said.

Muzzammil Hassan was arraigned before Village Justice Deborah Chimes and sent to the Erie County Holding Center.

It will be interesting to see how much attention the news media pays to this story. Political correctness will mostly trump investigative journalism in this case.

Richard Kroll, 1953 - 2009

Earlier this week I learned some sad news regarding the passing of a marvelous professor who taught at UC Irvine, my alma mater. Many things regarding my UC Irvine career still trouble me. Nonetheless there were certainly a few professors who inspired me. Richard Kroll inspired me most. He was the epitome of what a university professor should be.

A friend of mine wrote an article in Professor Kroll's honor in the New University, UC Irvine's official paper. Here is an excerpt:

Kroll genuinely wanted to raise the standard in his classroom, never failing to mix his flamboyant presentation and sense of humor with the keenest, most nuanced analysis of any professor in the department. Kroll developed his own parlance to engage students, making sure everybody knew his playfully ironic distinction between the “Crap Poets” of Oxford and the “Good Poets” of Cambridge (of course, it was just a coincidence he went to Cambridge himself). To keep things interesting, there was always the possibility that a blue ball might glance the side of your head if you started nodding off.

He backed up his bravado in the classroom by giving enormous amounts of time to any student that bothered to seek his wisdom. As he did for me, he was willing to look over a draft, word by word, six, seven or more times, giving specific, constructive criticism; he forced students to look at every aspect of their writing and improve it, even if it meant scaring the hell out of them by giving their first paper a D. That’s not to make him sound like a nitpicker — such an epithet is only reserved for lesser scholars. This was not criticism for the sake of criticism, but unusually prescient, invaluable pedagogy — a lifetime of refined skills generously heaped upon every single student he could reach.

After he was crippled by a genetic disorder, Spino-Cerebellar Ataxia, he was so thoroughly dedicated that he made light of his own impaired gait and, despite the immense pain caused by the disorder, took the time to write copious notes on students’ work, however many times they asked him to do it.

Professor Kroll, I learned more from you than others. You were the most valuable asset to the English Department at UCI. You made students work for their grades. Getting a B+ in your class was considered great (normally this was considered the highest or one of the highest grades on a paper). The first time I took your course you gave me a B+ on a paper and I worked harder. Later you confessed that my paper should have gotten an A- and you wanted me to work toward an A+ because you knew I could do better. No one has ever spent so much time during office hours painstakingly going through every sentence I've written to constructively critique my writing. Your brilliance persuaded me to take four classes with you even though I knew I'd be working twice as hard in one of your classes.

Thank you, Professor Kroll. You were so proud of me during graduation. You clearly loved your students.

As your favorite poet Alexander Pope once wrote, “now upward will he soar, and little less than Angel, would be more.”

RIP.