The petition to arrest Israel's Ehud Barak is merely another useless distraction from real issues concerning the stability of the Middle East. The petition follows the trumped up charges of the Goldstone Report, which suggested Israel was wrong to respond to Palestinian rocket fire in December 2008/January 2009. Judge Goldstone is the same individual that indicted a fictional character in the 1990s from a Serbian folktale. His reports — both past and present — suggest bias and conjecture.
The court sided with arguments submitted by the British Foreign Ministry, which stated that the defense minister was a state guest, and therefore was not subject to such lawsuit.
Earlier, it was reported that the court postponed the hearing to an unspecified date, but proceedings began less than two hours later.
In the first case of its kind since the publication of the Goldstone Report, a group of Palestinians had appealed to the court seeking Barak's arrest.
Despite the petition, Barak decided not to change his plans for his UK visit, with his bureau releasing a statement saying: "No arrest warrant has been issued, and in any event, he has immunity due to his being a minister in the government."
One has to wonder why petitions for arrest warrants haven't been made for real terrorists like Abu Mazen, Muammar Gaddafi and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. If one were to issue warrants for arrest in Gaza for war crimes, a sizable amount of the population would be in big trouble for utilizing the civilian population as shields and civilian residences as launching ground for rockets against the Israeli population.
Plenty of religious and cultural practices have no place in today's modern society. Child marriage is a regular practice in much of North Africa and part of the Middle East, and violates children in one of the worst possible ways by depriving them of their ability to simply be children. It is permitted under Islamic law — or sharia law — and practiced by some cultures in Africa, the Middle East and Asia.
Here's a brief excerpt from CNN dated from earlier this month:
A 12-year-old Yemeni girl, who was forced into marriage, died during a painful childbirth that also killed her baby, a children's rights group said Monday.
Fawziya Ammodi struggled for three days in labor, before dying of severe bleeding at a hospital on Friday, said the Seyaj Organization for the Protection of Children.
"Although the cause of her death was lack of medical care, the real case was the lack of education in Yemen and the fact that child marriages keep happening," said Seyaj President Ahmed al-Qureshi.
Born into an impoverished family in Hodeidah, Fawziya was forced to drop out of school and married off to a 24-year-old man last year, al-Qureshi said.
Child brides are commonplace in Yemen, especially in the Red Sea Coast where tribal customs hold sway. Hodeidah is the fourth largest city in Yemen and an important port.
More than half of all young Yemeni girls are married off before the age of 18 -- many times to older men, some with more than one wife, a study by Sanaa University found....
Dr Suheir Assady was appointed to head the Nephrology Department in Haifa's Rambam Hospital.
Israel 21C notes that the staff is completely integrated at the prestigious hospital.
Dr. Assady commented: "At Rambam we can be very proud that 16 [women] hold very good positions ... a lot of residents and doctors are women - 30% so I am in a good league."
Here's a bit of astounding information about the guy the UN appointed to investigate Israel's Operation Cast Lead. His past investigations were apparently filled with conjecture and deep holes, and indictments of fictional characters from folklore.
Judge Richard Goldstone, whose recent United Nations Human Rights Council investigation purported to find evidence of Israeli war crimes in Gaza, once indicted a fictional Serbian character and a dead man for war crimes as well. As in Gaza, those indictments were also allegedly based on "eyewitness testimony."
Goldstone headed the Office of the Prosecutor for the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY), established by the United Nations in 1993. In 1995, one year into his term as chief ICTY prosecutor, Goldstone presented an indictment of several Serbs for war crimes and crimes against humanity. As brought to light in the weekend edition of the Hebrew-language Makor Rishon newspaper, among those indicted was a man identified as "Gruban".
Gruban, later identified more fully as Gruban from Bijelo Polje, was charged with viciously raping Muslim prisoners in what was identified by the prosecution as essentially a Serbian concentration camp. His crimes were given weight by an anonymous individual identified only as "Witness F", who claimed to have suffered at the hands of the notorious war criminal.
As described by Makor Rishon, "Within just a few months, the black silhouette of 'Gruban' was plastered on a poster of the most wanted war criminals in Bosnia." At the time, Makor Rishon noted, the American newspaper The Boston Globe published an article wondering why the poster of "Gruban" stated that his description, father's name, location and age were all listed as "unknown".
The problem for NATO forces in tracking down the serial rapist was that Gruban from Bijelo Polje, also known as Gruban Malic, is a fictional character from Hero on a Donkey, a famous Serbian novel about World War II by Miodrag Bulatovic.
The Gruban hoax was the result of a conversation in a Bosnian cafe between Yugoslavian war correspondent Nebojsa Jevric and an American journalist desperate to see a "real war criminal", according to Makor Rishon....
This just gets better and better. It's wasn't merely conjecture that motivated Goldstone to draft reports denoting alleged war crimes, but also fictional characters from fables.
If Goldstone considers Israel's actions in Gaza in response to continual Hamas fire to be war crimes, what is his position on the acts committed during WWII which lead to civilian casualties by the Allies? Does Goldstone believe that there are grounds to try Winston Churchill, Franklin Roosevelt, George Marshall, Omar Bradley, Dwight Eisenhower, Curtis Lemay and Air Marshall Harris for war crimes?
Most media stations make it impossible to hear Gaddafi's speech in Arabic because of voice-over. For those of us who understand Arabic, even if only a little, it is clear that Gaddafi has an enormous ego and often speaks incoherently. I cannot help but sympathize with the Libyan translator.
During the venomous 95-minute speech of Libyan dictator Muammar al-Gaddafi at the UN, his personal interpreter struggled to live up to the expectations and simply gave up after he got lost in translation.
Gaddafi’s interpreter was so frustrated after 75 minutes of translation that he shouted “just can’t take it any more”, into the live microphone in Arabic, following which the UN’s Arabic section chief Rasha Ajalyaqeen had to take over the proceedings and translate the final 20 minutes of the dictator’s speech.
“His interpreter just collapsed, this is the first time I have seen this in 25 years,” the New York Post quoted another UN Arabic interpreter, as saying. Gaddafi had bought in his own interpreters from Tripoli for the speech rather than use one of the 25 Arabic translators supplied by the UN, as he reasoned that he would be speaking a special dialect.
Rather than focusing our energy on Gaddafi, a former terrorist, it's a better use of our time to listen to Benjamin Netanyahu's address to the United Nations. Prime Minister Netanyahu is a master orator. His speech is among the best I have ever heard given at a United Nations meeting.
Over the past few days the media has been reporting about an Afghan immigrant terror suspect. According to U.S. prosecutors 24-year-old Najibullah Zazi (pictured, left) planned to orchestrate a massive attack in New York City on the eighth anniversary of 9/11, but law enforcement foiled the plot.
Zazi's federal indictment notes that he was trained by al-Qaeda in Pakistan. He also purchased large quantities of hydrogen peroxide and nail-polish remover at supply stores to create bombs that would possibly detonate on New York City public transit.
A senior U.S. official has confirmed that a government plane was carrying Zazi to New York City. The U.S. Marshals Service plane left the privately run Centennial Airport south of Denver at 12:05 p.m., little more than an hour after U.S. Magistrate Judge Craig Shaffer ordered the transfer.
Zazi worked as a Denver airport shuttle driver, but had recently traveled to New York City — specifically Queens — where investigators say he purchased materials for making explosives in what they believe was to be a copycat attack of the subway bombings in London and Madrid.
Also Friday reports surfaced that authorities have identified as many as 12 associates they believe were working on the alleged terror plan with Zazi, according to WCBS 880 Radio.
Currently, two other people have been arrested in the case, also for lying to the government.
Zazi's father, 53-year-old Mohammed Wali Zazi, and New York City imam Ahmad Wais Afzali, 37, are out on bail but being monitored with electronic ankle bracelets.
Meanwhile other terror cases have surfaced over the last few weeks. There is no indication that any of the following cases are related to Najibullah Zazi's alleged plot:
- In Dallas, Texas, FBI detained a Jordanian man on Thursday who allegedly attempted to blow up a skyscraper. Federal prosecutors say that Hosam Maher Husein Smadi vowed to wage violent jihad against the U.S. A fake bomb was supplied by undercover agents who had been tracking the Jordanian man.
- In Chicago, Illinois, a convert to Islam calling himself "Talib Islam" parked a van loaded with what he thought were bombs in front of a federal building. The bombs were also supplied by undercover agents who were aware of what Talib Islam (aka Michael Finton) was planning.
- In North Carolina two men were charged in August with plotting terror attacks overseas and on the U.S. Marine Corps base in Quantico, Virginia.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addressed the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in New York yesterday. He condemned the appearance of Iran's Ahmadinedjad and called the recent UN's Goldstone Report, which harshly criticized Israel for responding to Palestinian-Arab attacks on Southern Israel, a "travesty." Netanyahu noted that during WWII, Great Britain responded when rockets were being launched at the British civilian population. During his address the Israeli Prime Minister explained that Iran is the embodiment of Islamic fundamentalism.
Here is part 1 of 4 from the prime minister's address:
Here is a link to part 2 of 2 of my special interview with Elan Journo.
Journo is a resident fellow at the Ayn Rand Center for Individual Rights. His new book, “Winning the Unwinnable War: America's Self-Crippled Response to Islamic Totalitarianism,” is set to be released in October.
Journo argues that the United States is involved in a conflict against Islamic Totalitarianism which our military is not permitted to fight, but only to react.
The arguments Elan makes during the interview can also be found in more detail in his book. You can pre-order it on Amazon.
On Sunday Israel Air Force (IAF) officer Lt. Assaf Ramon (pictured, left), 20, was killed after the F-16 he was piloting crashed into the southern Hebron hills.
Asaf Ramon is the son of Israeli astronaut Ilan Ramon (pictured, right) who died in the 2003 Columbia mission disaster. Following his father's untimely death, Ramon said that he planned to follow in his father's footsteps. After his enlistment in the IDF, Asaf successfully passed the IAF's examinations for the esteemed pilot's course.
It is impossible to be immune to the pain of the Ramon family. Asaf Ramon and his father were the best of men.
Here are some details regarding this tragic incident from the Associated Press:
The son of an Israeli astronaut who died in the space shuttle Columbia disaster six years ago was killed Sunday when his F-16 warplane crashed on a routine training flight, the Israeli military said.
The military identified the dead pilot as Capt. Asaf Ramon, son of Ilan Ramon, Israel's first and only astronaut. One of seven crew members killed when the Columbia exploded as it re-entered the atmosphere in 2003, Ilan Ramon is seen as a national hero in Israel, and radio and TV stations broke into their broadcasts Sunday to report the news of his son's death.
The crash elicited emotional responses from Israeli leaders. The military chief of staff, Lt. Gen. Gabi Ashkenazi, arrived at the family's home along with the air force commander after news of the crash was made public, and the country's defense minister, Ehud Barak, said he was "heartbroken."
"It is a sad and painful day," Barak told reporters.
Ramon's fighter jet crashed south of the West Bank city of Hebron. Dan Kapach, a security officer at a nearby Israeli settlement, described a "huge explosion."
Today marks the anniversary of the heinous, gut-wrenching attacks on September 11, 2001. The Al Qaeda attacks in 2001 claimed the lives of nearly 3,000 Americans in one of the most brutal and psychotic attacks in our country’s history.
I had the opportunity to sit down for a special interview on the subject of 9/11 and the United States' war on Islamic Terror. My guest was Elan Journo, a resident fellow at the Ayn Rand Center for Individual Rights. His new book, "Winning the Unwinnable War: America's Self-Crippled Response to Islamic Totalitarianism," is set to be released in October.
Journo argues that the United States is involved in a conflict against Islamic Totalitarianism which our military is not permitted to fight, but only to react. Eight years later the U.S. is involved in two wars with no end in sight.
Click here to watch part 1 of 2 from a special interview with him. Part 2 will be released on Monday, September 14.
My heart and thoughts are with everyone impacted by the tragedy of 9/11/2001.
It's been more than a year, but perhaps Ahmet Yildiz will finally get some justice. The 26-year-old man was murdered in a so-called honor killing by his father.
In Islamic societies honor killings usually claim the life of a female. The practice supposedly restores the social and political standing of a family or community when it is believed that the victim has violated traditional behavioral expectations prescribed by Islamic law. Homosexual men and women have also been targeted for honor killings, particularly in places like Baghdad in the Shi’ite district during the last few months.
A Turkish father accused of murdering his homosexual son in a so-called 'honour killing' went on trial in the Uskudar municipality of Istanbul Tuesday.
Yahya Yildiz, 49 - who is on the run and is being tried in absentia - is accused of shooting his 26-year-old son Ahmet in June 2008 after the latter told him about his relationship with a man from Cologne in Germany.
Human rights organisations were monitoring the start of the case after complaints were made that Turkish courts did not make enough effort to prosecute in cases where homosexuals were murdered....
When I first heard this song from the Idan Raichel Project a few years ago, I thought it was nice but I couldn't connect with Mira Awad's voice on the original track. It was my least favorite song on the brilliant album, which is filled with songs in Amharic, Hebrew and Arabic.
I had the opportunity to see the Idan Raichel Project in concert again this summer. Maya Avraham gave an amazing rendition of "Azini" ("Comfort Me" in Arabic). Her voice was very touching and I've gained a new appreciation for this track.
In Afghanistan citizens risked their lives in order to go to polling stations last month. There were reports of abuse from the Taliban.
The following excerpt is from a Reuters report demonstrating the barbarity and lack of human regard on the part of this barbaric group of religious fanatics.
Fighters ambushed Mohammad as he was walking to a polling station and cut off part of his nose and his ears.
The Taliban vowed to disrupt the Aug. 20 vote, threatening reprisals against voters and staging scores of rocket attacks and several bombings across the country on election day.
The threats and violence failed to stop the election from taking place, but they do seem to have hurt turnout in some areas, especially the Taliban heartland in the south.
Mohammad, speaking haltingly in a hospital in the capital, Kabul, described how militants stopped and searched him while he was on his way to a polling booth.
They beat him with the butt of an assault rifle after they found his voting card.
Then they took out a knife.
"I saw one reaching my nose with a knife. I asked him to stop, but it was useless," Mohammad said....
Last month a Swedish newspaper, Aftonbladet, cited freedom of the press in order to justify an article which accused IDF soldiers of harvesting Palestinian organs. The claims in the article were so horribly uncorroborated and reminiscent of an ancient Jewish blood libel, that I was not even inclined to comment on such drivel at the time.
The Swedish paper is certainly within their rights to publish any article, but this same paper didn't take to kindly to an article titled "Antisemitbladet" (a clear mockery of the name of Aftonbladet) from a rival paper in their country.
The author of the article, Donald Bostrom, connects Israel's supposed organ trafficking with the distasteful episode in New Jersey involving Jewish Americans and the alleged sales of kidneys from donors in Israel. While those involved in the illegal organ dealing in New Jersey should be prosecuted to the full extent of the law, to make a connection based on blatant prejudices and no clear evidence makes it too easy for Mr. Bostrom to be ridiculed. Organ trafficking is rampant in countries like Egypt, Pakistan, China, Colombia and the Philippines according to the World Health Organization. In July, Al Arabiya broke a story which involved a potential marriage between a Muslim man and a Filipino woman for her kidney.
The nonsense published in Aftonbladet, which is no better than a rag that publishes unsubstantiated claims based on anonymous rumors, should not be taken seriously and should be thoroughly ridiculed. This is the same paper that attacked Israel with a headline of "Crucified Arafat" during Easter of 2002. The article, which defended the godfather of Palestinian fanaticism and terror, referred to an outdated, asinine accusation that Jews crucified Jesus.
This week, El Monde, a Spanish daily paper published an article in defense of including David Irving, a Holocaust denier, as one of their experts to be interviewed in order to mark 70 years since the beginning of World War II. Irving is no more an expert on the Holocaust than Yasser Arafat was an expert on peace. It does not come as a surprise to this Israeli-American, however, that Spain would afford such undeserving respect to someone like Irving considering their blatant hostility toward Israel. For such a beautiful country, the Spanish media and many Spanish politicians have become quite ugly when it comes to maintaining objectivity and moral clarity.
Ultimately, Holocaust denial in Spanish daily papers and poorly researched blood libel articles in Swedish rags are allowed under freedom of speech and press. It is interesting to note the pronounced antagonism of these same publications and their defenders when their motivations are called into question.
I am a journalist and researcher, and have written numerous research and investigative pieces. My work has been published with several notable organizations, including CAMERA on Campus, the Jewish Policy Center, Pajamas Media, and the Investigative Project on Terror.
My interests include ethics and epistemology, history, economics, and international relations.
I graduated from the University of California, Irvine with distinguished honors, earning a Bachelor of Arts in English. Presently I am pursuing a Master's degree at USC Annenberg School for Communication & Journalism in the field of Broadcast Journalism. I can be reached at Reut AT reutrcohen DOT com.
