gdp's Comments

Commentary Magazine : The High Price of American Friendship

Tue, 29 Oct 2013 23:35:16 +0000

"More important for Israel is the fact that releasing the prisoners is really aimed at pacifying President Obama and Secretary of State John Kerry." Israel and especially Netanyahu will receive no credit for the release of this group of murderers from this administration. "Pacifying"? Appeasement by any other name is still appeasement.

Commentary Magazine : Nothing Legitimate About Anti-Semitic Slur

Mon, 28 Oct 2013 22:42:08 +0000

Howard Jacobson discussed this phenomena in a recent talk in Jerusalem: "The syllogism goes like this: Not all critics of Israel are anti-Semites. I am a critic of Israel. Therefore I am not an anti-Semite. In this way has anti-Zionism become an inviolable space. Question it and you are deemed to have cried anti-Semitism (this, whether you have or you haven’t), and since to cry anti-Semitism is a foul, no position from which it is rational to question anti-Zionism remains allowable. By the infernal logic of this magic circle, the anti-Zionist is doubly indemnified, firstly against any criticism of his position whatsoever, since the status of such criticism has been reduced to that of “tactic,” and secondly against the original accusation of anti-Semitism, which anti-Zionism cancels out. I don’t myself argue that anti-Zionism is a method for circumventing Jew-hating while indulging it, but were that to have been the intention, it could not have been better planned. Criticism of Israel functions as a sort of antiseptic bath, or mikveh — no matter how mired in the impurities of anti-Semitism you might be when you go in, you come out as fragrant as a bride awaiting her groom." http://forward.com/articles/185720/will-we-ever-b...

Commentary Magazine : What to Do With a Dead Nazi

Tue, 15 Oct 2013 22:23:46 +0000

Seems as if they weren't able to get him in the ground after all. Far Rightists showed up and fought with protesters. Cremation is apparently still an option (according to some in the Italian press). Hopefully they'll cremate him and take his ashes and dump them in the nearest sewer. http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/hun...

Commentary Magazine : What to Do With a Dead Nazi

Tue, 15 Oct 2013 17:57:11 +0000

Bishop Richard Williamson, who made headlines in 2009 when he denied that any Jews were killed in gas chambers during the Holocaust, is a member of SSPX. So he was buried today. On an encouraging note, it was not without protest: "Hundreds of people jeered as the coffin of Nazi war criminal Erich Priebke arrived Tuesday for a funeral Mass near Rome organized by a splinter Catholic group opposed to Vatican outreach to Jews...As the hearse bringing the coffin arrived outside the society's church, people in the crowd slammed their fists and umbrellas on the car and shouted "We are all anti-fascist!" and "Priebke, murderer!" http://htz.li/19EPjGf

Commentary Magazine : What to Do With a Dead Nazi

Tue, 15 Oct 2013 17:17:39 +0000

Haaretz is reporting that the antisemitic order of the Society of Saint Pius X will be burying him. Renegade Catholic priests to bury Nazi war criminal outside Rome "The funeral for Erich Priebke, a convicted Nazi war criminal who died in Rome last week, is to be held Tuesday by a renegade group of ultra-traditionalist Catholic priests in a location outside the Italian capital, Italian media said. The Vatican had forbidden the funeral to take place in Rome, where during World War II Priebke served and took part in the 1944 murder of 335 civilians at Fosse Ardeatine, Italy's worst wartime atrocity. Instead of Rome, last rites for the former SS captain will be performed in Albano Laziale, some 25 kilometers south-east of the capital, at 5 P.M. in a college run by the Society of Saint Pius X (SSPX), Corriere della Sera said on its website. However, the mayor of the town, which is next door to the papal summer residence of Castel Gandolfo, said he would at least try to stop the ceremony and would deny Priebke a place in the local cemetery. "I am very worried about public order, people are already assembling," Nicola Marini said. The SSPX was founded in 1970 to protest the reforms introduced by the Second Vatican Council, including an official repudiation of the notion that Jews were collectively to blame for Christ's death. Its members have often been associated with anti-Semitism..." http://htz.li/19EPjGf

Commentary Magazine : About That Gaza Humanitarian Crisis

Sun, 13 Oct 2013 23:36:26 +0000

Make no mistake about it- that tunnel would not have been built but for the pressure Israel received from the EU to allow building supplies to enter Gaza: Here's an Al-Monitor article from last month about the pressure Israel received from the EU: Israel Allows Construction Materials To Enter Gaza Under EU Pressure http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2013/09...

Commentary Magazine : Obama Blunders Again on Egypt

Wed, 9 Oct 2013 22:32:15 +0000

A few days ago, Michael Rubin wrote the following: "The Obama doctrine is a doctrine of betrayal. Just ask Georgia, Israel, Taiwan, South Korea, Honduras, Poland, and every Gulf Arab ally." I added the Czech Republic to the list. We can now add Egypt.

Commentary Magazine : Evict Obama's Mother-in-Law from White House

Mon, 7 Oct 2013 15:54:15 +0000

Keep the mother- evict Barack and Michele.

Commentary Magazine : For Our Arab Allies, It’s “East of Suez” All Over Again

Thu, 3 Oct 2013 22:44:08 +0000

Another country to add to list of countries that Obama has screwed: Czech Republic "The Czech Republic announced Wednesday that it was withdrawing from plans to participate in the United States missile defense program out of frustration at its diminished role in the system, which was conceived as a deterrent against a potential threat from Iran..." http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/16/world/europe/16...

Commentary Magazine : NYT's Anti-Bibi Editorial Not Aging Well

Thu, 3 Oct 2013 18:13:08 +0000

One correction. You wrote, "...the leftist media’s obsession with the idea that Netanyahu is ever meddling where the New York Times thinks he doesn't belong, namely American politics." Actually, the NYT doesn't think the Israel belongs anywhere, but especially not in the Middle East. The mere existence of the Jewish State, with a right of self-defense, is not something the Sulzberger family and their hired quisling Andrew Rosenthal will ever accept.

Commentary Magazine : The Big Problem in Jerusalem Isn’t the Jews

Sun, 22 Sep 2013 22:14:17 +0000

Jodi Rudoren's historical background is also interesting for what it doesn't include. Example: "The 37-acre site is perhaps the most religiously contested place on earth. Jews revere it as the home of the First and Second Temples 2,000 years ago. For Muslims, who call the site the Noble Sanctuary, it is the world’s third holiest spot, from which Muhammad is believed to have ascended to heaven." Note: Jodi Rudoren does not say that the Temple Mount is THE holiest site in Judaism. However, we are informed that "Noble Sanctuary" is the "world's third holiest spot". She refuses to identify the holiest site in Judaism ( she probably actually doesn't know that ) while elevating the Noble Sancturay to the "world's" third holiest spot. She also doesn't inform her readers that never once did Muhammad ever set foot in Jerusalem and that Jerusalem is never once mention in the Koran. The "third" holiest claim is based purely on a dream sequence. Rudoren thus privileges the Muslim claim of the area over the Jewish claim. Rudoren historical background also includes this informational tidbit: "Temple Mount in Jerusalem’s Old City, a sacred site controlled for centuries by Muslims..." As long as Rudoren was giving a history lesson, she could have included some more relevant recent history: Between 1948–67, no Jew was allowed to pray at the Western Wall, "a sacred site controlled for centuries by Muslims..."

Commentary Magazine : Will Bibi Trade Iran for Palestine?

Wed, 18 Sep 2013 23:11:34 +0000

Another reason to be skeptical of this story is where it appeared, Al- Monitor. Al-Monitor is essentially a PR website for the Iranian regime. Reporters such as Barbara Slavin and Laura Rozen consistently parrot the Iranian regime's propaganda line. Lee Smith did a good job in exposing the links between Al-Monitor and Iranian -backed regimes in Lebanon and elsewhere: http://www.tabletmag.com/jewish-news-and-politics... Also see the Iranian-American Forum's piece on Al-Monitor: http://iraniansforum.com/lobby/index.php/other-or...

Commentary Magazine : Gates and Panetta Take Obama to Task

Wed, 18 Sep 2013 21:44:54 +0000

Can't make this stuff up: While obviously not giving a damn about what Bob Gates and Leon Panetta had to say about Syria, Obama met with the one group of individuals whose advice on foreign policy he does value, the editorial staff of the New York Times. Yup, it's true. Andy Rosenthal is a presidential adviser. New York Times Editors, Columnists Met With Obama During Syria Push http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/09/18/new-york... And for those who think some of us are a little too obsessed with the influence of the NYT, read this sentence: " In April, a former adviser said the Times is the only paper Obama reads"

Commentary Magazine : Veteran Intelligence Pros for Syria's Assad

Tue, 17 Sep 2013 22:56:21 +0000

Not often that I recommend reading anything in the new New Republic but this article traces the history of the VIPS statement and is a must read: http://www.newrepublic.com/article/114676/syrias-... Another signatory of the letter is 911 truther and all around antisemite Ray McGovern. Yet another signatory is Code Pink's favorite ex-FBI agent, anti-Israel activist Coleen Rowley. Another signatory of the letter is Larry Johnson whose writings can be found on Stormfront. Should I go on? Nah, you get the picture.

Commentary Magazine : Not News: The U.S. and Israel Cooperate

Mon, 16 Sep 2013 23:00:13 +0000

It is curious that Margaret Sullivan seems to be much more responsive to answering criticism leveled by those who think the NYT is too pro-Israel than any of the criticism leveled by those who point out the NYT anti-Israel bias. Case in point: Ben Ehrenreich, an anti-Israel activist, wrote an article promoting a third intifada in the magazine section section of the NYT. He was never identified as being an anti-Israel activist. Sullivan was repeatedly asked about this blatant conflict of interest by Rob Kampeas of the JTA yet never responded. Even Haartetz, which no one can confuse as being remotely friendly toward Israel, pointed out the history of Ben Ehrenreich: http://www.haaretz.com/blogs/west-of-eden/days-be...

Commentary Magazine : Has Obama Left Israel on Its Own?

Thu, 12 Sep 2013 16:57:40 +0000

Point of fact: By backing off Syria and restraining Israel, Obama has used US power to shield the Iran-Syria-Hezbollah axis from US allies.

Commentary Magazine : Public Opinion, Obama, and Syria

Tue, 27 Aug 2013 17:49:39 +0000

This attack, should it come to pass, is not about Assad's use of poison gas, which, after all, is the second time he's used it. This attack is about Obama's shredding of US credibility in the Middle East and his attempt to salvage at least a sliver of it since Iran is still on the table. About the best that can be said about it is that it demonstrates that Obama will finally act outside of the UN framework and outside of the Russian and Chinese veto over US foreign policy that Obama had gifted to them.

Commentary Magazine : Want to Appease Iran? Demonize Israel

Mon, 26 Aug 2013 15:32:40 +0000

The New York Times is sounding more and more like Charles Lindbergh in his Des Moines speech on September 11, 1941: "But no person of honesty and vision can look on their pro-war policy here today without seeing the dangers involved in such a policy both for us and for them. Instead of agitating for war, the Jewish groups in this country should be opposing it in every possible way for they will be among the first to feel its consequences." I'd like to say that the NYT has sunk to a new low but that's not possible with an organization that supported the closure of Palestine as a refuge for Jews trying to escape Nazi Germany, for an organization that did it's best to cover-up news of the Holocaust, for an organization that financially supported the antisemite "Rabbi" Elmer Berger, and for coverage which insists on questioning the right of Jews to exercise that most basic right, the right to self-defense.

Commentary Magazine : Turkey Caucus Should Speak Out on Anti-Semitism

Sun, 25 Aug 2013 22:04:27 +0000

Also note how Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Anti-Semitism, Ira Forman hasn't said a single word about Erdogan or Turkey. http://www.state.gov/j/drl/seas/remarks/index.htm Forman was Executive Director of the National Jewish Democratic Council from January 1996 through June 2010 and was also the Jewish Outreach Director for President Obama's 2012 Reelection Campaign. He's thought to be close to the President...who, of course, is also close to Erdogan. Guess some antisemitism is acceptable if it comes from one of Obama's buddies.

Commentary Magazine : Obama’s “Red Line” a Year Later

Wed, 21 Aug 2013 17:30:40 +0000

Attention Israel and Netanyahu- don't expect Obama's phony "red line" on Iran obtaining nukes to be any different than his response to Syria crossing the "red-line" on chemical weapons.