u.S. Marines and IDF in joint urban warfare drill

US Marines and IDF Battalion Participate in Joint Urban Warfare Exercise
24 August 2010 18:40
During a training drill at the Mala Urban Warfare Training Center (UWTC), participating soldiers work to overcome language barriers, and mutually appreciate each other through culture differences

Noa Horowitz, "Bamahane"

Under the blazing sun, the sergeant's call is heard in the middle of the desert. At the sound of his call, ten tall soldiers with impressively broad shoulders appear suddenly in their camouflage uniforms and stand in formation. After a short briefing, their commander stands in front of them at a distance of one meter exactly, and yells at the top of his lungs: "Am I clear? Go!"

The so-not-Israeli soldiers arrived in the Holy Land about a month ago, as part of their training in the US Marines. Two weeks ago, they headed south for the highlight of their visit: a conclusion exercise with the trainees of the "Flying Lion" Battalion Commander Course. Under the midday heat in the training facilities of the Ze'elim base, they begin sprinting, and suiting up quickly in military vests, acting as if they were preparing for a bold operation in Afghanistan and not for a training exercise in Israel that would start, at best, in another six hours.

Despite the fact that an all-nighter trek awaits them that evening, followed by another full day of training at the Urban Warfare Training Center (UWTC), oddly, everyone seems to be happy. The Israelis are pleased with the novel American attraction that fell on them so suddenly—these Americans seem very eager and spirited to partake in the Mala UWTC training drill.

We are the champions of charade

It is noon now. A shuttle bus drops off groups of soldiers at the meeting point – a place in the desert that seems completely random, except for the presence of a few hastily assembled black tents and water containers. While the commanders are running an on-and-off training drill, interrupted by the extreme heat, the soldiers prepare equipment for that night's exercise. The American soldiers are repeatedly called on to stand in line or in formation in front of their new commander, and they listen to him, expressionless.

"They are really disciplined", says Corporal Oren Gordan, one of the "Flying Lion" soldiers. "We were talking to them when a commander with the rank of sergeant arrived. They then asked us in a whisper if he was going to be one of our commanding sergeants and got really scared. They also don't use their commander's first name but call him 'Sir'".

Corporal Shay Cohen also noted the polite manners of the American soldiers: "If they bump into your shoulder by accident, they apologize profusely! They seem to apologize for everything!"

Lance Corporal Sean Leonardo reflects for a moment on the cultural differences between the Israeli and American soldiers, trying to understand where these differences come from. "I think it's because your army service is compulsory," he says, "everyone gets drafted, so of course they have to be easier on you because otherwise no one would want to be here."

Corporal Roland Sander believes Israeli soldiers to be disciplined as well. "They told me that in Krav Maga lessons, the discipline is crazy and they have to sit there without moving," he says, "if you sweat, you can't wipe the sweat off. It really reminded me of our basic training, so I think the level of disciplinare is very similar."  

In addition to admiring their discipline and politeness, the Israeli soldiers look longingly at the meals the Americans receive at the base—the Stars and Stripes soldiers receive meals which flew with the soldiers all the way from the United States. The Israelis can't take their eyes off of this food that is packed in sealed silver plastic bags. "They have pasta with tomato sauce inside the bag and tasty crackers, and gum at the bottom", says Corporal Gal Azilay. "They also have warm hamburgers" says Cohen, referring to the wonderful invention the Marines brought with them - a substance that warms itself when it is in contact with water and makes it possible to eat a hot meal in the field. "What, how does it become warm?" asks somebody who stands next to them, amazed. "It is something special, it is steaming, man" says Cohen enthusiastically.
The American soldiers, however, have had a hard time enjoying Israeli food.

"I brought one of them Loof (canned meat), and he looked at me like it was dog food," said Cohen. "But I brought another Marine fried Loof and he actually liked it and ate until it was finished in order to kill time before the beginning of the drill."

The American soldiers are learning Hebrew (the repertoire including: Booba (doll), Mechabel (terrorist), Ma nishma (what's up?)), and soldiers from both armies barter over items (a flashlight for a hat, a pocket knife for a weapon shoulder strap or dog-tag covering). The Marines explain that military equipment with any sort of Hebrew writing on it is of high value, like receiving a souvenir from a foreign country. And how are they able to communicate using the broken English of Israeli soldiers?

"We are champions at charades," the Israeli soldiers explain.

While mingling, the Marines tell the Israelis stories of their tours in Jerusalem and in Tel Aviv and how they got to see different sides of the Holy Land.

"From afar, it sounds like the security problems are spread over such a large landscape but when you get to Tel Aviv, everything's put into perspective. In general, Israel is so pretty. Except for this place—it looks like a sandbox. But everywhere else is."

Stop! Don't go

During the total darkness of the desert night, the "Flying Lion" Battalion begins to move towards the training grounds which resemble a Palestinian village. The Marines are currently split into two platoons, which are under the command of Israeli Company Commanders. "It was my decision, as well as the decision of the American Platoon Commander to complicate the training and be able to see if we could successfully work together," said the Battalion Commander, Lt. Col. Oren Gil.

After a nine kilometer night voyage by foot, the combat soldiers reach the outskirts of the city just as the sun is rising. They run in groups up a steep incline, crossing the only hurdle separating them from the city and surround one of the neighborhoods in the "city".

In perfect sync, they break into the first houses just as the sky begins to be lit up by fireworks mimicking mortars and bombs. The troops begin to advance in the streets, soon coming in contact with the secret ambush of staged enemy forces. The sounds of shooting rings out throughout the streets, and while the Israeli troops wearing the olive green fatigues drown out the sound of shooting with cries of "Fire! Fire! Fire!," the Americans in their camouflage fatigues do not verbally react to the gunshot sounds.

However, the Marines do not stay quiet for long. During their mock attack on the "terrorists", they let out a string of swears: "Shoot that s----!"  exclaims one of their officers, "Get f------ down, you are visible!" 

The Americans also take their fake injuries seriously. While the Israelis that are "injured" shuffle to the nearby mosque for "medical treatment", the Marines act their injuries out apocalyptically. They fall back dramatically, and wait for at least three other soldiers to drag them through the sand, while continuing to stay in character of being nearly fatally wounded. 

The language barrier quickly raised the body count. An Israeli soldier acting as an enemy takes advantage of this and shouts at his comrades, speaking in biblical Hebrew: "Cantor, for he cannot see, throw a grenade at him." The grenade quickly rolls along a central path, and one of the companies is forced to take cover in a courtyard that connects the two builds. Sadly, the commander running the drill notifies them that they have seven dead in the adjacent building and if they advance they will lose more men.

An IDF liaison officer, who speaks English and acts as a go-between the two armies, passes on the order, but the Israeli Company Commander standing on second floor of a house overlooking the courtyard speculates that he too must update the Platoon Commander of the Marines. "Don't go from this place!" he shouted excitedly in English. The Platoon Commander nods but the Company Commander wants to reinforce his point. "Stop! Don't Go!" The Marine responds to calm him down, "I'm not going anywhere, I know the plan, let me worry about my own men," with a slightly annoyed tone.

After the liaison officer intervenes, the crisis is solved, and the entire force is called to gather behind a protected area. The courtyard empties and a moment before the commander enters the hideout, he mutters something over his radio. "I don't know who the enemy is," he admits, "And I don't know who all these crazy people wandering around here are."

Pretty cool, right?

The present drill is part of a broader cooperation effort between the IDF and the U.S. Army- a cooperation that has been strengthened in recent years. "There's one other country in the world that is our ally, and that is the U.S.A," explains the head of the foreign training branch of the Ground Forces, Lt. Col. Tal Lazros. "All cooperation that has to do with imparting shared knowledge is accepted as a blessing. When the Marines, a widely esteemed unit, request that we assist them in a drill, we are happy to train with them side by side."

"It went great," declares Battalion Commander of "the Flying Lion" towards the end of the drill. "In the end, one of the most important things is to note the synergy and timing between the three companies, and the biggest fear we had was that the Marines wouldn't be able to understand us. So from this perspective, it was a very big success."

The exercise was structured in collaboration with the U.S. Army, and the decision to train in an urban area like the Mala UWTC was always assumed. "Today almost all drills occur in urban environments," explains Lazros. "This is the norm, because this is the main problem facing most armies in the world. Once you were the only country fighting in urban environments and the rest of the world generally did not, but today there are the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan for example, and there are a lot of lessons we can learn from each other."

The Commander of the Marines in Europe, Brig. Gen Paul Brier, does not hide his enthusiasm about the Mala UWTC. "This facility is excellently built," he said. "We are used to using the facilities in California and it's great to try new facilities. Our techniques are similar, but we are learning new ways to do things."

The Mala training exercise ended with a helicopter evacuation. Four injured are carried on portable stretchers from the mosque where the injured had gathered, into a helicopter that took off after a matter of seconds. After the dust cloud cleared, it was declared that the city has been reclaimed. IDF Units have done this hundreds of times, but for the Americans, it is exciting. "The exercises here are really impressive," comments Sander. "Everything we learned here today opened my eyes. The way you clear houses is different and a lot more logical than the way we do it. Everything you do is completely different from what I'm used to."

"We came to drill and also to learn your style," adds Leonardo. "Marines are thought to be pretty cool, right? But everyone thinks you're more so. And it's true. When we train they say to us: 'Listen to what the Israelis have to say, because this is their reality every day.' And we respect you for that.

Christian Zionists may not fund Im Tirzu over university boycott threat

 

 

Im Tirtzu loses funding over boycott threat to Ben-Gurion University

U.S. based pro-Israel organization Christians United for Israel: We do not support any calls for divestment from Israel in any way.

By Natasha Mozgovaya

Im Tirtzu, the organization that threatened Ben-Gurion University with a donor boycott because of their "anti-Zionist" bias, has lost at lease one funding source over the highly publicized row.

The spokesman for Christians United for Israel (CUFI), a U.S. based pro-Israel organization run by Pastor John Hagee, hinted to Haaretz on Monday that they will no longer give money to Im Tirtzu. The potential funding cutoff will be a big change from the 100,000 dollars that CUFI donated to Im Tirtzu in 2009.

"We of course do not support any calls for divestment from Israel in any way," CUFI spokesman Ari Morgenstern said. Im Tirtzu sent a threatening letter to Ben-Gurion University president Prof. Rivka Carmi last month, saying they would persuade donors in Israel and abroad to stop funding the university if the didn't put an end to the "anti-Zionist" tilt in its politics and government department.

"We do not believe that the political positions of the few professors characterize an entire university. JHM (John Hagee Ministries) therefore is not concerned with our support for Ben-Gurion University," Morgenstern said.

CUFI defines their purpose as to provide "a national association through which every pro-Israel church, para-church organization, ministry or individual in America can speak and act with one voice in support of Israel in matters related to Biblical issues."

As a group that tries to stay out of internal Israeli politics, CUFI has been disappointed by Im Tirtzu actions earlier this year, when their campaign against New Israel Fund president, Professor Naomi Chazan, made waves in the media. The organization claimed that the majority of negative references made about the Israel Defense Forces in the Goldstone report, the United Nations commissioned report on Israel's offensive into Gaza, came from New Israel Fund sponsored organizations. The ensuing campaign they launched against NIF included posters of Chazan depicting her with a horn emerging from her forehead and labeling her Naomi Goldstone Chazan.

"Our position on "Im Tirtzu" activities was clear since this story (campaign against the NIF) first broke back in February. "Im Tirtzu" misrepresented their focus," Morgenstern said. "When they told us their mission is strictly Zionist education, we had no prior knowledge of their political actions, and we never seek to involve ourselves in Israel's internal political debates."

The Houston Jewish Federation, which has helped the Texas based CUFI decide which organizations in Israel to fund, has also publicly renounced Im Tirtzu's most recent campaign. In a letter to the liberal "Tikun Olam" blog, Jewish Federation CEO Lee Wunsch wrote: "In light of recent events and in my discussions with Pastor Hagee, he will not continue that funding as we both believe that Im Tirtzu has morphed into a quasi-political organization and neither Pastor Hagee nor the Houston Jewish Federation will fund such groups." 
 

Is Iraq going to be a future battleground??

Iraq and the Middle Eastern Cold War

By Aymenn Jawad Al-Tamimi

(From American Thinker)

With the official end of U.S. combat operations in Iraq, what bodes for Iraq's future in terms of its relations to other nations in the Middle East? One useful way to examine this question is through the lens of what Daniel Pipes describes as the present "Middle Eastern Cold War."

This new Cold War represents the current ideological division in the Middle East between the "revolutionary bloc," led chiefly by Iran, Syria, and more recently Turkey, and the "status-quo bloc," led by Saudi Arabia and Egypt. While most Sunni Arab states align themselves with the "status-quo bloc," there are notable exceptions in that Qatar and Oman back the "revolutionary bloc," while Libya simply sits on the sidelines.

The Middle Eastern Cold War has manifested itself in recent years in several ways, including the ongoing tension in Lebanon between Saad Hariri's coalition government and pro-Syrian factions like Hezb'allah, the contest between Fatah and Hamas for the Palestinian leadership, and the conflict in Yemen between Iranian-backed Shi'a Houthi rebels and the Saudi-backed central government of Ali Abdullah Saleh.

However, the most recent sign of this Cold War could well lie in Iraq as Saudi Arabia and Iran jostle for influence. With the ongoing political stalemate that has created a power vacuum, it is Saudi Arabia's hope that the current Shi'a Prime Minister Nouri Al-Maliki does not retain his position in power for fear that he will tilt Iraq towards Iran's regional bloc. Meanwhile, Iran not only wishes for him to remain as prime minister, but also hopes for Maliki's State of Law (SOA) coalition and the Sadrist Iraqi National Alliance (INA) to form the backbone of a new government, whereas the U.S. views a coalition between SOA and Iyad Allawi's Iraqiya bloc as the best option.

Indeed, on repeated occasions, Saudi officials have been open in expressing their dislike for Maliki. For instance, in May, former Saudi intelligence chief Turki Al-Faisal accused Maliki of attempting to "deny the Iraqi people their legitimately elected government," meaning that Allawi should be given the right to form a government. In addition, the Saudi government has made a series of goodwill gestures, including receiving several Iraqi politicians such as Allawi and the president of autonomous Iraqi Kurdistan Massoud Barzani on visits to Riyadh in an attempt to contain Iran's influence in the country. Winning over the latter is viewed as especially important since the Kurdish parties are reported to have extensive economic ties with Iran that date back at least two decades, above all in the smuggling of oil and other refined petroleum products to Iran.

At the same time, Saudi Arabia has been trying to take advantage of recent, tougher sanctions against Iran to expand its influence in Iraq through economic cooperation with the country. For example, in July, a Saudi airline launched the first direct flights to Iraq in almost twenty years, having been suspended in the aftermath of Saddam Hussein's invasion of Kuwait in 1991. Furthermore, Saudi food firms like Almarai have become involved in the export of foodstuffs to Iraq via Kuwait and Jordan. Simultaneously, however, Saudi Arabia is concerned that Iraq's aspiring potential to produce some 10-12 million barrels of oil a day could dislodge it from its position as a leader of the OPEC cartel. Hence, cooperation in the field of oil production is nonexistent.

Despite these measures undertaken by Saudi Arabia, Iran and the "revolutionary bloc's" influence on Iraq is all too evident. Iran has repeatedly urged the Shi'a parties in Iraq to put aside their differences and form a ruling Shi'a-led government, fearing that allowing Allawi's Iraqiya bloc to form a government will lead to a resurgence of Sunni minority rule and Baathism. Also noteworthy, besides Kurdish smuggling of petroleum to Iran, are the already close economic ties between the key players of the "revolutionary bloc" and Iraq that will likely grow in the future as Iran, Turkey, and Syria continue to restrict Iraq's water supplies through building dams on the Tigris and Euphrates and diverting water for irrigation projects. This could create future "oil for water" trade schemes. Moreover, there are the Iranian-backed "Special Groups" like the Kataib Hezb'allah that can resort to insurgent-style attacks to quash any efforts by the Sunni Arabs to exert their diminished political influence and tilt Iraq towards the "status-quo bloc."

Thus, it is possible that Iraq will emerge as a sort of theatre of proxy warfare between Saudi Arabia and Iran in the near future. Nevertheless, it is improbable that the struggle will be prolonged, as Iran, the leader of the "revolutionary bloc," and most of the Shi'a population of Iraq share the goal of ensuring Shi'a dominance in the country, such that Iraq, under a Shi'a-led government, will likely become an auxiliary for the "revolutionary bloc." This outcome becomes much more conceivable when one considers that Iran could well have nuclear weapons in the next few years, which will make it much harder for its rivals to contain Iranian influence in Iraq.

Aymenn Jawad Al-Tamimi is an intern at Middle East Forum.

'The Desire to Shed Blood, to Smash Skulls, and to Sever Limbs for the Sake of Allah Is an Honor for the Believer'

 

MEMRI Special Dispatch|3163| August 12. 2010
Saudi Arabia/Jihad and Terrorism Studies Project

Saudi Cleric Muhammad Al-Arifi: 'The Desire to Shed Blood, to Smash Skulls,
and to Sever Limbs for the Sake of Allah Is an Honor for the Believer'

Following are excerpts from an address by Saudi cleric Muhammad Al-Arifi,
which aired on Egypt's Al-Rahma TV on July 19, 2010.
To view this clip on MEMRI TV, visit
http://www.memritv.org/clip/en/0/0/0/0/0/0/2577.htm.

Muhammad Al-Arifi: "There is no doubt that a person whom Allah enables to
sacrifice his soul, and to fight for the sake of Allah, has been graced with
a great honor. The Prophet Muhammad said that the dust of battle for the
sake of Allah and the smoke of Hell shall never meet in a man's nose. [...]
"Devotion to Jihad for the sake of Allah, and the desire to shed blood, to
smash skulls, and to sever limbs for the sake of Allah and in defense of His
religion, is, undoubtedly, an honor for the believer. [...]
"Allah said that if a man fights the infidels, the infidels will be unable
to prepare to fight [the Muslims]. By Allah, the infidel countries today –
the U.S. and its allies – dare to fight the Muslims, to rape their women and
turn them into widows, and to inflict their corruption on Islam and the
Muslims on a daily basis only because they see that the Muslims do not even
consider fighting the infidels and conquering their countries. [...]
"The Koranic verses that deal with fighting the infidels and conquering
their countries say that they should convert to Islam, pay the jizya poll
tax, or be killed. If the Muslims had implemented this, we would not have
reached the humiliation in which we find ourselves today."

For assistance, please contact MEMRI at memri@memri.org.
The Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI) is an independent,
non-profit organization that translates and analyzes the media of the Middle
East. Copies of articles and documents cited, as well as background
information, are available on request.
MEMRI holds copyrights on all translations. Materials may only be used with
proper attribution.
MEMRI
P.O. Box 27837, Washington, DC 20038-7837
Phone: (202) 955-9070
Fax: (202) 955-9077
www.memri.org

Lebanon is a country that is unable to govern itself

Lebanon is a country that is unable to govern itself
By: Elias Bejjani*

August 13/2010

http://www.10452lccc.com/elias%20english09/elias.leb13.08.10.htm
ِ

The current explosive situation in Lebanon is sad, unfortunate and very dangerous. Meanwhile, the Lebanese people are marginalized and exposed to all kinds of terrorism, oppression, poverty, persecution, foreign interferences and fear. The Lebanese government is just a shadow and a fancy tag with no actual content, backbone or teeth. It holds no power or authority and has no free say in any matter at all due to the fact that Hezbollah and Syria fully controls its decision making process.

Hezbollah, the Iranian armed proxy, controls by force, money and intimidation the whole country and is taking both its people and government hostages. Hezbollah, which is merely an Iranian army stationed in Lebanon, is dragging the country and its people as well as the whole Middle East into a state of havoc.

It is worth mentioning that Hezbollah and its affiliates have planned or been linked to a lengthy series of terrorist attacks against the United States, Israel, Kuwait, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Arabian Gulf countries, Iraq, Yemen, Turkey, and other Arabic and Western targets. These attacks include: a series of kidnappings of Westerners in Lebanon, including several Americans, in the 1980s; the suicide truck bombings that killed more than two hundred U.S. Marines at their barracks in Beirut, Lebanon, in 1983; the 1985 hijacking of TWA flight 847, which featured the famous footage of the plane's pilot leaning out of the cockpit with a gun to his head; two major 1990's attacks on Jewish targets in Argentina--the 1992 bombing of the Israeli Embassy (killing 29 people) and the 1994 bombing of a Jewish community center (killing 95 people); and a July 2006 raid on a border post in northern Israel in which two Israeli soldiers were taken captive. The abductions sparked the 2006 Hezbollah-Israeli war.

It is strongly believed that Hezbollah in 2005 was behind the killing of Lebanon's PM, Rafiq Hariri with 22 others in downtown Beirut. Hezbollah's General Secretary Hassan Nasrallah has been publicly recently threatening to topple the Lebanese government by force and militarily invade Lebanese Sunni and Christian regions in case the Special Tribunal for Lebanon investigating the Hariri crime indicts any of his men.

The West and the moderate Arab countries as well as neighboring Israel have an obligation to step in and offset the balance militarily. It is not a secret that Syria that occupied Lebanon for almost 29 years with an iron fist (between 1976-2005), at least since 1990 has been viciously Syrianizing all Lebanon's institutions, especially the armed forces, media, cabinet and parliament.

In addition, it unlawfully granted Lebanese citizenship to more than half a million individuals in 1994 which had a serious negative effect on the country's very delicate demography.

In 2005 when Syria was forced to leave and end its armed occupation in accordance with UN Resolution 1559 in the aftermath of the assassination of PM Rafiq Hariri, Hezbollah, the Syrian-Iranian armed proxy, took over the job. Since then Hezbollah has been aggressively instigating an ongoing process of devouring the country and now fully controls Lebanon and all its institutions.

What is definite is that the Lebanese people alone are no longer able to reverse the Syrianization and HEZBOLLAHISATION of their country. They need Western military intervention Under the UN umbrella.

The feasible solution would be via a new UN resolution under chapter seven through which the UN troops stationed in south Lebanon (in accordance with UN Resolution 1701) will be given the upper hand not only in the southern region on the border with Israel, but all over Lebanon and specially on the Lebanese-Syrian border in a bid to stop the ongoing Syrian and Iranian massive transport of weapons and men to Hezbollah and to the other Lebanese and Palestinian armed groups. The Lebanese army needs to be put under the UN troops' command and Lebanon declared by the UN a country that is unable to govern itself. I personally have called for such a solution in one of my recent editorials.

There is no doubt that losing Lebanon to the Axis of Evil means losing the whole Middle East and gradually the toppling of all the so called moderate Arab regimes. Lebanon has been for thousands of years a pivotal crossroad for the whole Middle East and history tells us that whoever controls Lebanon will control the whole region. The question is whether the West is willing to stay idle and leave Iran and Syria to fully control Lebanon and accordingly control the whole Middle East?

In fact the moderate Arab countries, Israel and West themselves will gain greater benefit than even Lebanon and the Lebanese people by helping Lebanon to be freed from the Axis of Evil countries and organizations.

No one should fool himself and say, "let the Lebanese solve their own problems", or, "well, we tried to help them but they did not help themselves."
No, not at all, because the Lebanese regardless of all the hardships and the Stalinist Syrian occupation fought and fought bravely for peace, independence and freedom more than any other people in the Middle East.

In conclusion, leaving Lebanon to fall prey to the Middle East's Axis of Evil (Syria, Iran, Hezbollah, Hamas), will not only hurt the Lebanese people, destroy their freedom, multicultural and democratic system and enslave them, but will also destabilize the whole Middle East and threaten peace and democracy all over the world.

*Elias Bejjani
*Canadian-Lebanese Human Rights activist, journalist and political commentator
*Email phoenicia@hotmail.com
*Web sites http://www.10452lccc.com & http://www.clhrf.com
*Mailing phoenicia group http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Phoenicia/.

Kristol: Mayor Bloomberg on the Ground Zero Madrassa, "Shut Up, He Explained "

Proponents of the Muslim building claim it is not a mosque, but a Madrassah. How very appropriate! The Madrassahs of Pakistan are where the 9-11 attackers acquired their avocation.

 

However, those who are using the mosque as a way to lash out at all Muslims are muddying the issue.

 

Ami

 

Shut Up, He Explained
Mayor Michael Bloomberg to New Yorkers.
BY William Kristol
Weely Standard
August 16, 2010, Vol. 15, No. 45

 

Last Tuesday, standing in front of the Statue of Liberty, New York mayor Michael Bloomberg spoke on the subject of the proposed mosque at Ground Zero. His remarks will be read with curiosity by future generations of Americans, who will look back in astonishment at the self-deluding pieties and self-destructive dogmas that are held onto, at once smugly and desperately, by today's liberal elites. Our liberation from those dogmas, and from those elites, is underway across the nation. But it's worth taking a look at Bloomberg's speech, if only to remind us of what we need to ascend from so our descendants can look back with curiosity at the ethos to which we did not succumb.

 

As is the way of contemporary liberals, Bloomberg spoke at a very high level of abstraction. He appealed to the principle of religious toleration, while never mentioning the actual imam who is responsible for and would control the planned Ground Zero mosque. To name Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf might invite a consideration of his background, funding, and intentions. Do Rauf and his backers believe in the principles underlying the "inspiring symbol of liberty" that greets immigrants to the United States and before which Bloomberg stood? Bloomberg didn't say. It apparently doesn't matter. Toleration means asking nothing, criticizing nothing, saying nothing, about whom or what one is tolerating. This is the Sergeant Schultz standard of toleration: I know nothing.
Click here to find out more!

 

Knowing nothing, or wishing to know nothing, about the mosque, Bloomberg took it upon himself to lecture his fellow New Yorkers on their obligation to be true to "the best part of ourselves." That part is apparently the part of us that allows at once for intellectual obfuscation and moral preening. Bloomberg never acknowledged that sane and tolerant people might object to a 15-story Islamic community center and mosque right next to Ground Zero. He could not be bothered to take seriously the reservations and objections of a clear majority of his constituents. "In fact, to cave to popular sentiment would be to hand a victory to the terrorists—and we should not stand for that." So public sentiment be damned. There's nothing to be learned from the ignorant and bigoted residents of New York.

 

Instead, Bloomberg lectured: "On September 11, 2001, thousands of first responders heroically rushed to the scene and saved tens of thousands of lives. More than 400 of those first responders did not make it out alive. In rushing into those burning buildings, not one of them asked 'What God do you pray to?' 'What beliefs do you hold?' " True, certainly true. But Bloomberg did not permit himself to ask what vision of god, what set of beliefs, inspired those who set those buildings aflame. Bloomberg said that it was our "spirit of openness and acceptance that was attacked on 9/11." But attacked by whom? Bloomberg wouldn't say.

 

In fact, he denied the propriety of asking such a question. It would have been one thing—a more defensible thing—if Bloomberg had argued that there was little that could be done legally to stop the mosque and that New Yorkers should therefore make the best of a bad situation. But that was not his message. Instead, Bloomberg came to the Statue of Liberty not simply to accept the mosque, but to praise it: "Of course, it is fair to ask the organizers of the mosque to show some special sensitivity to the situation—and in fact, their plan envisions reaching beyond their walls and building an interfaith community. By doing so, it is my hope that the mosque will help to bring our City even closer together. .  .  . I expect the community center and mosque will add to the life and vitality of the neighborhood and the entire City."

 

But have the real, existing organizers of the mosque shown much sensitivity to other New Yorkers? The answer is no—but if you're a contemporary liberal, you don't get into the actual, existing facts in order to make a judgment. You govern on the basis of what the organizers' "plan" nominally "envisions," you appeal to a hope and expectation that even Bloomberg can't really believe in. But it allows him to avoid coming to grips with what is really happening and what lies behind the popular sentiment of disgust, even revulsion.

 

The conclusion of Bloomberg's speech was odd: "Political controversies come and go, but our values and our traditions endure—and there is no neighborhood in this City that is off limits to God's love and mercy, as the religious leaders here with us can attest." Do the rest of us need Bloomberg's hand-picked religious leaders to tell us that there are no limits to God's love and mercy? We do doubt that encouraging this mosque to be built is an appropriate expression of respect for God's love and mercy for those who were killed almost nine years ago. And we would note that no expression of New Yorkers' love and gratitude for the victims of September 11 has yet been built at the site of Ground Zero during Mayor Bloomberg's tenure.

 

It is likely, we believe, that civic pressure will cause the mosque to be moved elsewhere—Bloomberg's lecture notwithstanding. But if Bloomberg were to have his way, it's worth noting that he would presumably attend a dedication of Feisal Abdul Rauf's mosque at Ground Zero before he would attend a dedication of a proper memorial to those who died there.

 

Contemporary liberalism means building a mosque rather than a memorial at Ground Zero—and telling your fellow citizens to shut up about it.

 

—William Kristol

 

Canary in the Coalmine: Europe’s “Decoy Jews”

Canary in the Coalmine: Europe's "Decoy Jews"
 

By Paul Belien

 
Created 2010-06-24 10:50

 
"Decoy Jew" is a new phrase in the Netherlands. Jews are no longer safe in major Dutch cities such as Amsterdam. Since 1999, Jewish organizations in the Netherlands have been complaining that Jews who walk the Dutch streets wearing skullcaps risk verbal and physical attacks by young Muslims. Being insulted, spat at or attacked are some of the risks associated with being recognizable as a Jew in contemporary Western Europe.

 
Last week, a television broadcast showed how three Jews with skullcaps, two adolescents and an adult, were harassed within thirty minutes of being out in the streets of Amsterdam. Young Muslims spat at them, mocked them, shouted insults and made Nazi salutes. "Dirty Jew, go back to your own country," a group of Moroccan youths shouted at a young indigenous Dutch Jew. "It is rather ironic," the young man commented, adding that if one goes out in a burka one encounters less hostility than if one wears a skullcap.

 
In an effort to arrest the culprits who terrorize Jews, the Amsterdam authorities have ordered police officers to walk the streets disguised as Jews. The Dutch police already disguise officers as "decoy prostitutes, decoy gays and decoy grannies" to deter muggings and attacks on prostitutes, homosexuals and the elderly. Apparently sending out the decoys has helped reduce street crime. The "decoy Jew" has now been added to the police attributes.

 
The deployment of "decoy Jews", however, is being criticized by leftist parties such as the Dutch Greens. Evelien van Roemburg, an Amsterdam counselor of the Green Left Party, says that using a decoy by the police amounts to provoking a crime, which is itself a criminal offence under Dutch law.

 
Unfortunately, the situation in Amsterdam is not unique. Jews in other Dutch cities also regularly complain about harassment. So do Jews in neighboring countries.

 
On Monday, the Belgian newspaper De Standaard reported that large numbers of Jews are leaving Antwerp for America, Britain or Israel. Antwerp – nicknamed the "Jerusalem of the North" – is one of the major centers of Jewish culture in the Low Countries. "In London, you are not harassed if you wear a skullcap, but here you are," a young Antwerp Jew told the paper.

 
Kleinblatt, a famous Jewish Antwerp bakery, which has been handed down from father to son since 1903, will soon break with that tradition because the baker's son has emigrated to the U.S. "We no longer feel safe and welcome here," a young Jew who is leaving for Londontold De Standaard. "Muslim immigrants blame us for what is happening in Israel." Another young Jew, who is leaving for New York, says: "New York is a paradise for Jews. UnlikeBelgium, non-Jews in America are pro-Israel."

 
Ultra-orthodox Jews remain in Antwerp, but the less orthodox are leaving in droves. Even Jacques Wenger, the director of Shomre Hadas, the Jewish community center in Antwerp, is emigrating to Israel. If the current trend continues, he predicts, in fifty years' time there will be no Jews left in Antwerp except for the ultra-orthodox.

 
It is often said that the Jews are the canary in the coalmine. When the Jews feel compelled to leave, the light of freedom is being extinguished. Something is badly wrong when the police need to deploy "decoy Jews." Once again, the specter of anti-Semitism is haunting Europe. If the Europeans do not stand with the Jews, they deserve no freedom themselves and cities such as Amsterdam and Antwerp will soon be Islamic cities.