Shoah Week on PBS: More Holocaust Television Broadcasting
JTA
The Public Broadcasting Service will offer U.S. television viewers a concentrated history lesson during Holocaust Remembrance Week, with seven films and documentaries on Jewish death and defiance in the past and on the genocides of the present. Four main films will be aired in prime time by 365 member stations, starting April 11 with a broadcast of the British version of "The Diary of Anne Frank" at 9 p.m., sponsored in part by the Jewish Federations of North America.
Holocaust Remembrance: What's Behind the Campaign?
Mark Weber
... Holocaust remembrance is not, as its supporters claim, a noble effort motivated by sincere concern for humanity. Instead, this relentless campaign is an expression of Jewish-Zionist power, and is designed to further Jewish-Zionist interests ... Jewish death and suffering do not deserve to be venerated more than the death and suffering of non-Jews. The Holocaust remembrance campaign deserves scorn, not support, because it is a one-sided effort that serves narrow Jewish and Israeli interests and bolsters Jewish-Zionist power.
Israel's Deadly Cluster Bomb Legacy Still Lurks In Lebanon
AFP
... Israel left a deadly legacy: the United Nations estimates that Israeli jets dropped more than four million cluster bombs in southern Lebanon in the summer battles. Ninety percent of the bombs were dropped in the final 72 hours before the ceasefire after Resolution 1701 was adopted, the United Nations says. Around 40 percent of the munitions failed to detonate on impact, rendering them de facto anti personnel mines. The munitions have killed 46 and maimed over 300 civilians since 2006, according to Lebanese army and UN figures.
Historical Myth Justifies Israel's Golan Heights Occupation
Institute for Historical Review
For decades Israel has cited vital security concerns to justify its seizure of the Golan Heights. Israelis have claimed that from 1948 to June 1967, Syrian military forces repeatedly used the Heights to shell Jewish settlements and installations below. These artillery bombardments, in the widely accepted Israeli and American view, justified Israel's conquest of the Heights in 1967, and its occupation ever since. Actually, Israel's seizure and occupation of this territory is based on a historical lie. This was frankly acknowledged by Israel General and cabinet minister Moshe Dayan in an interview given in 1976, but which was not made public until April 1997. Dayan, who died in 1981, was a key organizer of Israel's victory in the June 1967 Israel-Arab war.
Hitler's `Mein Kampf' Banned in Russia
Daily Mail (Britain)
Russia banned Adolf Hitler's book Mein Kampf today in an attempt to combat the growing number of Nazi-sympathisers in the country. The 1925 diatribe, which outlines the former German dictator's vision of racial supremacy, has been championed by far-Right groups despite anti-Russian tracts. Now, joining Germany, where the book has been illegal since the country's defeat in World War II, Russian prosecutors have defined it as 'extremist' and outlawed it.
Hitler as 'Enlightenment Intellectual'
Mark Weber
A specter is haunting the world -- the specter of Hitlerism. That, in short, is the stern warning of this provocative book, Hitler as Philosophe: Remnants of the Enlightenment in National Socialism, by Lawrence Birken... In spite of decades of vehement vilification, says author Birken, Hitler's views have enduring and dangerous appeal -- not because they are bizarre and alien, but precisely because they are rational and well grounded in Western thought.
Good-Bye: Truth Has Fallen and Has Taken Liberty With It
Paul Craig Roberts
... For years I was a mainstay at the Washington Times, producing credibility for the Moony newspaper as a Business Week columnist, former Wall Street Journal editor, and former Assistant Secretary of the U.S. Treasury. But when I began criticizing Bush's wars of aggression, the order came down to Mary Lou Forbes to cancel my column. The American media does not serve the truth. It serves the government and the interest groups that empower the government ... The militarism of the U.S. and Israeli states, and Wall Street and corporate greed, will now run their course. As the pen is censored and its might extinguished, I am signing off.
When It Comes to Innovation, Is America Becoming a Third World Country?
Arianna Huffington
... Once upon a time, the United States was the world's dominant innovator -- partly because we didn't have much competition. As a result of the destruction wreaked by WWII, the massive migration of brainpower to the U.S. caused by the war, and huge amounts of government spending, America had the innovation playing field largely to itself. None of these factors exist as we enter the second decade of the 21st century ... Adding to the problem is the sense that America's best days may be behind us. Many economists and historians are warning that our current economic downturn has created a new normal. That the country will never be the same.
The Disemboweling of America
Patrick J. Buchanan
... The last decade was the first in history where government employed more workers than manufacturing, a stunning development to those of us who remember an America where nearly one-third of the U.S. labor force was producing almost all of our goods and much of the world's, as well ... No nation rose to world power on free trade. From Britain after 1860 to America after 1960, free trade has been the policy of powers that put consumption before production and today before tomorrow. Nations rise on economic nationalism; they descend on free trade.
Russia and Poland Remember Katyn Massacre
BBC News
The Russian and Polish prime ministers have together marked the 1940 Katyn massacre of 22,000 Polish troops, in an unprecedented move. Russia's Vladimir Putin had invited Poland's Donald Tusk to the ceremony commemorating the massacre. The Soviet secret police was responsible, but for half a century the Soviet Union blamed it on the Nazis. Both leaders spoke of reconciliation at Wednesday's ceremony, though their statements appeared qualified. "A lie was told for decades, but we cannot blame the Russian people for it," said Mr Putin.
Hungarians Not Happy With Democracy
Pew Global Attitudes Project
With Parliamentary elections approaching, Hungarians are in a funk. Nearly unanimously, they say the economy is in bad shape, and a stunning 72% say most Hungarians are actually worse off now economically than they were under communism. But Hungary's malaise is not all about economics -- most are frustrated with politics too. Overwhelmingly, Hungarians are dissatisfied with the way democracy is working and discontent with political elites, with about three-in-four saying political corruption is a major problem.
Israel is `Main Threat to Peace,' Says Turkish Prime Minister
BBC News
Turkey's Prime Minister has described Israel as the "main threat to peace" in the Middle East. Recep Tayyip Erdogan was speaking during a visit to Paris. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu responded saying he regretted Turkey's "repeated attacks" on Israel. Relations between the two countries have been worsening since the Israeli incursion into the Gaza Strip in 2009, made worse by a recent diplomatic row. Mr Erdogan was speaking to journalists before meeting the French President Nicolas Sarkozy. "It is Israel that is the main threat to regional peace," he said. "If a country uses disproportionate force, in Palestine, in Gaza, uses phosphorus bombs we are not going to say 'well done.'"
On the Road To Canossa: Netanyahu and Obama
Uri Avnery
... This sheds light on a tried and tested Zionist method. When an unofficial consensus about the division of the land between Israel and Palestine is reached, the Israeli government says: OK, now that there is agreement about the land we are getting, let's talk about the rest of the land. Mine is mine, now let's negotiate about what is yours. The existing Jewish neighborhoods are ours already. There we are free to build without limitation. It remains only to decide upon the Arab neighborhoods, where we also intend to build ... That is not just a "crisis" anymore. It is something really momentous: a basic change in the policy of the US. The American ship in the Middle East is making a large turn, and this is taking a long time.
The `Jewish Soap' Fable
Mark Weber
One of the most lurid and slanderous Holocaust claims is the story that the Germans manufactured soap from the bodies of their victims. Although a similar charge during the First World War was exposed as a hoax almost immediately afterwards, it was nevertheless revived and widely believed during the Second. More important, this accusation was "proved" at the main Nuremberg trial of 1945-1946, and has been authoritatively endorsed by numerous historians in the decades since. In recent years, though, as part of a broad retreat from the most obviously untenable aspects of the "orthodox" extermination story, Holocaust historians have grudgingly conceded that the human soap tale is a wartime propaganda lie.
Entitlement Rip-Offs: Social Security and Medicare
John Stossel
... It wasn't the biggest [Ponzi scheme]. Social Security and Medicare are much bigger ones. These are trillion-dollar scams. Medicare has a $36 trillion unfunded liability. Social Security's is $8 trillion. There's no money to keep those promises. But Congress isn't investigating this scam. Congress runs it. That FICA money you thought government had saved for your retirement is gone. There's nothing left but IOUs backed by nothing. Your money was spent not only on current retirees but on wars, welfare, corporate bailouts, earmarks and all the other stuff Congress wants. For years, this was possible because the FICA tax brought in surpluses that allowed government to pay retirees more than they contributed and still help buy those other things.
California Public Pensions Underfunded by $500 Billion, Study Shows
The Associated Press
California's public pension funds are underfunded by as much as $500 billion, according to a Stanford University study that was commissioned by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and released Monday. The shortfall could create a major financial crisis for the state. And California is not alone: States around the country are facing massive shortfalls in their pension and retiree health care obligations. The estimated California shortfall applies to the retirement systems for its state and local government workers, teachers and University of California employees - about 2.6 million retirees.
Behind the Massive Underfunding of California Public Pensions
Los Angeles Times
The state of California's real unfunded pension debt clocks in at more than $500 billion, nearly eight times greater than officially reported ... To put that number in perspective, it's almost seven times greater than all the outstanding voter-approved state general obligation bonds in California ... For decades -- and without voter consent -- state leaders have been issuing billions of dollars of debt in the form of unfunded pension and healthcare promises, then gaming accounting rules in order to understate the size of those promises ... In California's case, past pension underfunding means reduced funding of current programs. This explains why pension costs rose 2,000% from 1999 to 2009, while state funding for higher education declined over the same period.
Israel May Attack Iran By November, Warns Former High-Ranking Israeli Official
Newsmax
Israel will be compelled to attack Iran's nuclear weapons facilities by this November unless the U.S. and its allies enact "crippling sanctions that will undermine the regime in Tehran," former deputy defense minister Brig. Gen. Ephraim Sneh said on Wednesday in Tel Aviv ... In an Op-Ed in the Israeli left-wing daily, Haaretz, Sneh argues that Iran will probably have "a nuclear bomb or two" by 2011. "An Israeli military campaign against Iran's nuclear installations is likely to cripple that country's nuclear project for a number of years. The retaliation against Israel would be painful, but bearable."
What War with Iran Means
Patrick J. Buchanan
... As to who starts it, we know the answer. Tehran has not started a war in memory and is not going to launch a suicide attack on a superpower with thousands of nuclear weapons. As with Iraq in 2003, the war will be launched by the United States against a nation that did not attack us -- to strip it of weapons it does not have. But to Graham's point, if we are going to start this war, prudence dictates that we destroy Iran's ability to fight back. At a minimum, we would have to use air strikes and cruise missiles to hit a range of targets ... Before the War Party stampedes us into yet another war, the Senate should find out if Tehran is really on the "verge" of getting a bomb, and why deterrence, which never failed us, cannot succeed with Iran.
Journalist on the Run From Israel is Hiding in Britain
The Independent (Britain)
An Israeli journalist is in hiding in Britain, The Independent can reveal, over fears that he may face charges in the Jewish state in connection with his investigation into the killing of a Palestinian in the West Bank. Uri Blau, a reporter at Israel's liberal newspaper, Haaretz, left town three months ago for Asia and is now in London. Haaretz is understood to be negotiating the terms of his return to Israel with prosecutors, according to an Israeli source, who declined to be identified, because of the sensitivity of the situation.
Hitler's Art Academy Sketches Up For Sale
CNN
A British auction house plans to sell off newly discovered sketches done by Adolf Hitler when he was a struggling student trying desperately to get into art school. The twelve charcoal and crayon sketches cover "typical student subjects" and don't display a great deal of promise, Mullock's Auctioneers said. They include two drawings of an elderly woman thought to be Hitler's mother, as well as studies of objects, landscapes, models, and even a Roman senator. All are signed and some even have Hitler's Vienna address, Mullock's said. The sale also includes the original portfolio in which Hitler kept the sketches, which is signed and has his address, Mullock's said.
The Crisis That Wasn't
Philip Giraldi
... Lest there be any confusion about what happened, the White House said "Thou shalt not" and Bibi Netanyahu responded "I shall" with Bibi left standing at the end. AIPAC managed to get the support of nearly every congressman who mattered, including many leaders from Obama's own party ... The propaganda spewed at the current AIPAC conference makes it equally clear that Israel and its supporters are the leading advocates of an attack on Iran and their victory over Obama will only embolden them. Israel can trigger a war by bombing Iran and provoking retaliation that will draw the United States in and there is nothing Washington can do to stop that.
Obama Squeezed Between Israel and Iran
Pepe Escobar -- Asia Times
... AIPAC arm-twisted members of the US Congress to sign a letter to the White House calling for the US to bypass the United Nations Security Council and unilaterally sanction Iran . And AIPAC also urged lawmakers to pass with no comments the annual US$3 billion US aid to Israel . This means the new made-in-USA F-35 fighter jets Israel buys will be basically financed by US taxpayers. No surprises here. This is a congress that backed Israel 's assault in Gaza in late 2008 and condemned the Goldstone Report on Israeli atrocities in that conflict by a vote of 334 to 36. After all, the Democratic party depends heavily on very wealthy Jewish - and Zionist - donors for a chunk of its budget.
Israel Fears Obama Heading For Imposed Mideast Settlement
Ari Shavit -- Haaretz ( Israel )
U.S. President Barack Obama's demands during his meeting with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu last Tuesday point to an intention to impose a permanent settlement on Israel and the Palestinians in less than two years, political sources in Jerusalem say. Israeli officials view the demands that Obama made at the White House as the tip of the iceberg under which lies a dramatic change in U.S. policy toward Israel ... It is not just Obama's demands that are perceived as problematic, but also the new modus operandi of American diplomacy. The fact that the White House and State Department have been in contact with Israel 's European allies, first and foremost Germany , is seen as part of an effort to isolate Israel and put enormous political pressure on it.
Topic Of German Expulsion Still Taboo
The Record ( Canada )
It's a dark chapter in world history that many know nothing about, that others refuse to acknowledge. It concerns the expulsion of millions of Germans living in Eastern Europe after the Second World War, from such places as Czechoslovakia, Poland, Hungary, Romania, Yugoslavia and eastern areas of Germany ... While casualty estimates vary, many historians -- including Alfred de Zayas, whose books Nemesis at Potsdam and A Terrible Revenge were among the first English works to chronicle the tragedy -- believe that two million Germans died as a result. ... "If I only deal with one category of victims, and deliberately ignore the experience of other victims, I am essentially taking away the human dignity of the other," he said. "I'm essentially saying my corpses are prettier than your corpses."
A Forgotten Genocide: Germans in Postwar Central Europe
Tom Sunic - Institute for Historical Review - Audio
Dr. Sunic provides an overview of the brutal "ethnic cleansing" of Germans in the aftermath of World War Two, in which some twelve million people, mostly women, children and elderly, were forcibly expelled from centuries-old homelands in eastern and central Europe. Of these, some two million were killed or otherwise perished. In this address at an IHR meeting, March 6, 2010, the European-American scholar contrasts the way in which this massive genocide is all but ignored in the US media, whereas Jewish "victimology" has become a central feature of our society's "civic religion."
Making Political Writing Into An Art: George Orwell
Jean-Christophe Peuch -- Radio Free Europe
... It was during this period that Orwell developed the taste for the simple, bohemian lifestyle that marked the rest of his years. It was also the time that spawned his deep political commitment. The former British colonial policemen had already nurtured a profound distaste for any form of imperialism, but had not yet begun to think of himself as a socialist ... While Orwell was polishing "1984" on the Scottish island of Jura , he became ill and was diagnosed with tuberculosis. He died in a London hospital on 21 January 1950, at the age of 46. In the words of his biographer, Orwell has marked his place in the history of literature as a man who succeeded in "making political writing into an art." But for him, politics and literature were equally important.
New Head of AIPAC is Former Obama Aide
Israel National News
Lee "Rosy" Rosenberg, a jazz recording industry veteran capitalist who accompanied U.S. President Barack Obama on his campaign trip to Israel two years ago, takes over on Sunday as the new president of American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC). Rosenberg also served on the president's national campaign finance committee. The new AIPAC president hails from Chicago , the home state of President Obama, and also is on first-name terms with White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel and David Axelrod, President Obama's senior advisor.
Judea Declares War On Obama
Gilad Atzmon
... Jewish lobbies certainly do not hold back when it comes to pressuring states, world leaders and even super powers. AIPAC's behavior last week reminded me of the Jewish declaration of war against Nazi Germany in 1933. Not many people are aware that in March 1933, before Hitler became the undisputed leader of Germany and began restricting the rights of German Jews, the American Jewish Congress announced a massive protest at Madison Square Gardens and called for an American boycott of German goods ... Jewish texts tend to glaze over the fact that Hitler's March 28, 1933, order calling for a boycott against Jewish stores and goods was an escalation in direct response to the declaration of war on Germany by the worldwide Jewish leadership.
Pentagon Wants $33 Billion More For War in Afghanistan
The Christian Science Monitor
The Pentagon wants $33 billion in additional funding to pay for the war in Afghanistan this year and train the Afghan military, but members of Congress want to make sure they're not writing a blank check. Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton appeared before Senate appropriators to defend the war supplemental, which is on top of the $708 billion baseline budget submitted to Congress in February. Most of the war supplemental - a separate account used to pay for war costs - will pay for Afghanistan operations.
Afghan War Will Be Won With Talks, Not Troops
Eric Margolis
... The bloody Afghan conflict can only be ended by genuine peace negotiations and withdrawal of all foreign troops. U.S. commanders in Afghanistan admit they have lost the military initiative. The resistance is steadily gaining ground. Increasing U.S. and allied troops to 150,000 won't be enough to defeat Taliban. By year end, U.S. and NATO forces will only equal the number of Soviet forces committed to Afghanistan in the 1980s. Meanwhile Pakistan , without whose co-operation the U.S. cannot wage war in Afghanistan , is in turmoil.
Helen Thomas' Unanswered Question for Obama
Real News Network
In this interview with Helen Thomas, longest-serving member of the White House Press Corps, Paul Jay asks her about her first question for President Obama. The question, asking Obama to name all the countries in the Middle-East that have nuclear weapons, was avoided by the President, who claimed to not want to "speculate". Thomas claims that knowledge of Israeli nukes is very public in Washington , DC , and Obama's answer shows a lack of credibility. She explains the importance of this question for U.S. policy in the region.
North Korea on the Edge
B.R. Myers -- The Wall Street Journal
... The regime seems increasingly unlikely to last out the decade, even if the planned hand-off of power to the Dear Leader's son Kim Jong Eun goes off without a hitch. The economy is only part of the problem ... Such misery prevailed in the mid-1990s too, but at least then the regime admitted an economic crisis, even as it mostly blamed the Yankees. Now it talks of a country transforming itself from one year to the next. No dictatorship can afford to lie so stupidly to its people, or to raise public expectations that will be dashed in a matter of months ... The possibility of a violent, potentially apocalyptic regime collapse in North Korea within the decade is one that all countries with an interest in the region should keep in mind.
Row Over Plan By Jewish Shop Owner to Sell Holocaust `Human Soap'
The Gazette ( Canada )
A vendor's claim that soap for sale in his Montreal trinket shop is made from the corpses of Second World War victims was greeted yesterday with both outrage and ridicule. But Montreal police said they are investigating after B'nai Brith League for Human Rights lodged a complaint under a Criminal Code ban on violating human remains. The story surfaced after a CBC radio reporter disclosed that a curio shop on St. Laurent Blvd. was selling a bar of soap allegedly made from the fat of Holocaust victims. The light brown bar was inscribed with a swastika and enclosed in a glass case with a card that said it was from Poland ... There is no evidence the Germans ever made soap out of human flesh, most Holocaust experts today agree.
The `Jewish Soap' Fable
Mark Weber
One of the most lurid and slanderous Holocaust claims is the story that the Germans manufactured soap from the bodies of their victims. Although a similar charge during the First World War was exposed as a hoax almost immediately afterwards, it was nevertheless revived and widely believed during the Second. More important, this accusation was "proved" at the main Nuremberg trial of 1945-1946, and has been authoritatively endorsed by numerous historians in the decades since. In recent years, though, as part of a broad retreat from the most obviously untenable aspects of the "orthodox" extermination story, Holocaust historians have grudgingly conceded that the human soap tale is a wartime propaganda lie.
Most Russians Believe US Bent on World Domination
Agence France Presse
Almost three-quarters of Russians believe the United States is an "aggressor" nation hell-bent on world domination, a poll suggests. The survey by the independent Levada Center polling agency found that 73 percent of respondents agreed that the US was "an aggressor trying to take control" of all countries in the world. Only eight per cent agreed that the US was "a defender of peace, democracy and order," while 19 per cent said they were undecided. The poll's margin of error was 3.4 per cent. The poll, which surveyed 1600 people, showed Russians' attitudes to the US barely changed over the last seven years
Historians Speak Out Against Proposed Texas Social Studies Curriculum
The Washington Post
Historians criticized proposed revisions to the Texas social studies curriculum Tuesday, saying that many of the changes are historically inaccurate and that they would affect textbooks and classrooms far beyond the state's borders. The changes, which were preliminarily approved last week by the Texas board of education and are expected to be given final approval in May, will reach deeply into Texas history classrooms, defining what textbooks must include and what teachers must cover. The curriculum downplays the role of Thomas Jefferson among the founding fathers, questions the separation of church and state and says that the U.S. government was infiltrated by communists during the Cold War.
The Liberation of the Camps: Facts vs. Lies
Theodore J. O'Keefe -- Institute for Historical Review
Nothing has been more effective in establishing the authenticity of the Holocaust story in the minds of Americans than the terrible scenes US troops discovered when they entered German concentration camps at the close of World War II. At Dachau, Buchenwald, Dora, Mauthausen, and other work and detention camps, horrified US infantrymen encountered heaps of dead and dying inmates, emaciated and diseased ... But it is known today that, very soon after the liberation of the camps, American authorities were aware that the real story of the camps was quite different from the one in which they were coaching military public information officers, government spokesmen, politicians, journalists, and other mouthpieces.
US Government Denounces `New Forms' of Anti-Jewish Sentiment
Agence France Presse
The United States Thursday denounced "new forms" of anti-Semitism, saying criticism of Israel and Zionism had led to a rise of anti-Jewish sentiment around the world in 2009. "Traditional and new forms of anti-Semitism continued to arise, and a spike in such activity followed the Gaza conflict in the winter of 2008-2009," the State Department said in an annual report. "Often despite official efforts to combat the problem, societal anti-Semitism persisted across Europe, South America , and beyond and manifested itself in classic forms," it said.
China to Connect Its High Speed Rail System to Europe
Inhabitat ( New York )
China already has the most advanced and extensive high speed rail line in the world, and soon that network will be connected all the way to Europe and the UK . With initial negotiations and surveys already complete, China is now making plans to connect its high speed rail line through 17 other countries in Asia and Eastern Europe in order to connect to the existing infrastructure in the European Union. Additional rail lines will also be built into South East Asia as well as Russia , in what will likely become the largest infrastructure project in history. China hopes to complete this massive infrastructure project within ten years, which will include three major rail lines running at speeds of 320 km/hour.
Obesity: The Killer Combination of Salt, Fat And Sugar
The Guardian ( Britain )
Our favourite foods are making us fat, yet we can't resist, because eating them is changing our minds as well as bodies / ... The food industry creates dishes to hit what he called the "three points of the compass". Sugar, fat and salt make a food compelling. They stimulate neurons, cells that trigger the brain's reward system and release dopamine, a chemical that motivates our behaviour and makes us want to eat more. Many of us have what's called a "bliss point", at which we get the greatest pleasure from sugar, fat or salt. Combined in the right way, they make a product indulgent, high in "hedonic value".
French Children of World War II German Soldiers Seek German Nationality
Deutsche Welle ( Germany )
Their mothers were French, their fathers were German soldiers in Nazi-occupied France . Some 200,000 children endured scorn and often hid their father's identity. Now some have begun applying for German citizenship. More than 200,000 children fathered by German soldiers were raised by their French mothers after the Nazi occupation of France during World War II, according to Paris historian Fabrice Vergili. The author of the book "Naitre ennemi" (Born an Enemy) also estimates that 20,000 French women were hounded through streets and brutally given short haircuts by their French compatriots, who accused them of "horizontal collaboration" with the Nazis.
Samuel Eliot Morison And America's Displaced Protestant Establishment
Steve Sailer
As I've been rereading Professor Admiral Samuel Eliot Morison's three-volume Oxford History of the American People from 1964, I've been thinking about the old Protestant Establishment ... To Morison, American liberalism was invented by his ancestors, the descendants of the Puritans. As he made clear in his Oxford History, rudimentary versions of most American progressive movements, including civil rights for blacks, feminism, and the rudiments of the ideology of environmentalism. were up and running in the greater Boston area by the 1840s. In other words, American liberalism was invented by the oldest and most socially respectable hereditary elite in the country's least ethnically diverse region, and imposed from the top down.
Despite Row , U.S. and Israel Sign Massive Arms Deal
Haaretz ( Israel )
As Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was in Washington this week absorbing the full wrath of the Obama administration, the Pentagon and Israel 's defense establishment were in the process of sealing a large arms deal. According to the deal, Israel will purchase three new Hercules C-130J airplanes. The deal for the three aircrafts, designed by Lockheed Martin, is worth roughly a quarter billion dollars. Each aircraft costs $70 million. The aircrafts were manufactured specifically for Israeli needs, and include a large number of systems produced by Israel 's defense industry. The deal will be covered by American foreign assistance funds.
US Backs Israel at UN Human Rights Council
The Jerusalem Post ( Israel )
The US was the only country at the United Nations Human Rights Council to vote against all three anti-Israel resolutions, which were approved Wednesday in Geneva . It was also the only country to oppose a UNHRC resolution in support of the Palestinian right to self determination. In the last weeks America 's relationship with Israel has been strained. But in Geneva , the US took the council to task for its treatment of Israel .
Britain Expels Israeli Diplomat Over Dubai Killing
The Associated Press
Britain took the extraordinary step Tuesday of expelling an Israeli diplomat for the first time in more than 20 years, after concluding there was compelling evidence that Israel was responsible for the use of forged British passports in the plot to slay a senior Hamas operative in Dubai . British Foreign Secretary David Miliband said trust between the two countries had been badly dented, demanded formal assurances it never happen again and -- in an unusual step -- issued travel advice to U.K. citizens warning their identity details may be at risk if they visit Israel.
Britain Expels Mossad Agent Over Forged Passport Plot
The Guardian ( Britain )
Britain expelled a senior Mossad official at the Israeli embassy today after directly accusing Israel of forging British passports used by a hit squad in Dubai . The blunt allegation, coupled with parallel investigations by other European countries into possible transgressions by the Mossad, seemed certain to deepen Israel 's isolation at a critical moment.
Nationalism in Europe Today
Tom Sunic - Institute for Historical Review - Audio
People of European descent and heritage should reject imposed feelings of guilt fostered by the mainstream media, says Dr. Sunic in this thoughtful address at an IHR meeting, March 6, 2010. Tomislav Sunic, who has served as a professor of political science in the US, and as a Croatian diplomat, says that the prevailing social-political order is not as strong or as solid as it pretends to be, or as most people assume, he says, and suggests that, under the right conditions, nationalist sentiments could awaken quickly.
Himmler's SS Castle Opens to Public With Large Exhibition
Daily Mail ( Britain )
An eight million pound exhibition chronicling the empire of the SS within the Nazi state opens next month in Germany at the Renaissance castle that was once its spiritual home. Organisers of the exhibition say its principal aim is educational rather than glorifying the regime ... Wewelsburg Castle , funded by a foundation and by the North Rhine-Westphalia government, opens to visitors on April 15. It is where SS leader Heinrich Himmler brought together his senior officers. He even installed a round table, coats of arms for his SS 'knights' and pagan ceremonies exalting his movement above all other world religions.
Jewish Concerns Over `Holocaust Dilution' in Eastern Europe
The Jerusalem Post ( Israel)
A gathering of academics, Jewish activists and locals here [in Riga , Latvia ] on Sunday and Monday seeks to begin an broad, international effort to combat "the dilution of the Holocaust." Throughout Eastern Europe, from Ukraine to Lithuania, a "new historiography" has sprouted that attempts to equate the Nazi genocide of Jews with the crimes committed in their countries by the Soviet Union, according to conference attendees ... The "white-washing" of such pro-Nazi groups, together with a new focus on the suffering inflicted by the Soviet regime, "amounts to the dilution of the Holocaust," Greenberg says. "We cannot accept a historiography where there were 'many holocausts'," he adds.
Lunch With George Will: How An Influential Journalist Twists the Truth
Mark Weber (1993)
... Will's rigid bias with regard to the Holocaust story and Israel is no secret. Even William Buckley, himself a staunch friend of Israel and Zionist interests, has taken note of what he calls Will's "perverse" partisanship with regard to these matters. With regard to the Holocaust issue, wrote the founder of National Review magazine, "Will is losing sight of rather a lot of things." Buckley took exception to a reference by Will to the " Vatican 's contemptible behavior toward the Holocaust." ... The self-righteous and almost reverential way he writes about "the Holocaust" is not merely fashionable these days, it is all but obligatory -- particularly for a successful commentator on current affairs.
Secretary Clinton Re-Affirms US Support for Israel After Row
BBC News
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has dismissed the idea that US-Israeli relations are in crisis amid a row over Jewish settlers in Arab East Jerusalem. She said the two nations had a "close, unshakeable bond" but made clear the US wanted both Israel and the Palestinians to prove their commitment to peace. Earlier, US envoy George Mitchell postponed a planned visit to Israel . Heightened tensions in Jerusalem have led to violent clashes between hundreds of Palestinians and Israeli police. Israeli police said about 60 Palestinians had been arrested and medical officials said a number of people had been injured.
German Prisoners Used in Britain After the End of World War II
BBC News
English Sporting icons don't come much bigger than Wembley Stadium but few realise that it owes some of its splendour to the labour of German prisoners of war .The news, which follows an investigation by BBC Radio 4's Document programme, may come as a shock to many England fans who view Germany as their fiercest sporting rivals ... Questions were raised in the House of Commons about why the men were still in captivity. Some argued that Britain was in breach of the Geneva Convention for not releasing the POWs as soon as fighting had finished. The government denied the charge. It claimed that the convention did not apply because no actual peace deal had been signed with Germany which had surrendered unconditionally.
Turkey Threatens to Expel 100,000 Armenians Over `Genocide' Row
The Telegraph ( Britain )
Turkey has threatened to expel 100,000 Armenians from the country in response to the US branding the First World War killings of Armenians by Ottoman Turks as "genocide". Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the Turkish prime minister, said the position of the immigrants, many of whom have lived there as refugees for a generation, was being reviewed in the wake of the row ... "There are currently 170,000 Armenians living in our country. Only 70,000 of them are Turkish citizens, but we are tolerating the remaining 100,000," said Mr Erdogan. "If necessary, I may have to tell these 100,000 to go back to their country because they are not my citizens. I don't have to keep them in my country."
Up to 25,000 Died in 1945 Dresden Firebombing, Says German Historians' Report
BBC News
Up to 25,000 people died in the Allied bombing of Dresden during World War II, fewer than often estimated, an official German report has concluded. The Dresden Historians' Commission published its report after five years of research into the February 13-15, 1945 air raid by Britain and the US . The study was aimed at ending an ongoing debate on the number of casualties in the German city.
The Dresden Holocaust
David Irving
Perspective, background and commentary on the Allied fire-bombing of Dresden , February 1945, compiled by British historian David Irving. Evidence that the death toll was much larger than the latest "official" figure of about 25,000.
Anti-Semitism In China ?: Book on Jewish Global Wealth Is Best Seller
Ynet News ( Israel )
Who's to blame for the current global financial crisis? According to a bestselling book in China , which is leading the sales charts in the country, the answer is clear: The Jews. In the eyes of most Chinese, Jewish people are considered "smart," "rich" and "good at making money." ... Estimates put sales of "Currency War" well over a million, not including hundreds of thousands of illegal copies that can also be downloaded off the net.
Brazil's President in Israel Refuses Visit to Herzl's Grave
JTA ( New York )
Brazil 's president said he would not visit the grave of Theodor Herzl during his first official visit to Israel . President Luiz Ignacio Lula da Silva, who arrived in Israel on Sunday, refused to visit Herzl's grave, which is part of the itinerary for visiting foreign officials this year in honor of the 150th anniversary of the father of Zionism. The Brazilian president is reportedly scheduled to visit the grave of Yasir Arafat during a visit to Ramallah. "It is an insult to Israel 's citizens and to Zionist communities around the world," World Zionist Organization head Hagai Merom said Monday.
Book Burning in Ukraine Stokes Controversy About History
Voice of America ( USA )
Russian nationalists in Crimea have burned Ukrainian history textbooks to protest what they say are distortions of the past by the administration of former President Viktor Yushchenko ... Dubovik says his group burned literature that promoted fascism in Ukraine , and they will continue to burn and trample it. He condemns the books, saying they separate people and destroy the mutual love between Russians and Ukrainians. Dubovik adds that perhaps even toilet paper will be made out of the books. He acknowledges the chosen method may be harsh, but thinks it is the right one.
Young Adult Americans Anxious About Future, Finances
The Associated Press
Young adults are financially anxious, worried that they can't meet their educational, housing and health care needs, according to a new poll that exposes a growing pessimism about achieving the American Dream. The poll by Harvard's Institute of Politics found that six out of ten of those surveyed worry they may not meet their current bills and obligations. Nearly half of those attending college wonder whether they will be able to afford to stay in school. And more than eight out of 10 said they expect difficulty finding a job after graduation. Fewer than half said they believe they will be better off than their parents when they reach their parents' age.
New Round of Foreclosures Threatens Housing Market
The Washington Post
The housing market is facing swelling ranks of homeowners who are seriously delinquent but have yet to lose their homes, and this is threatening a new wave of foreclosures that could hit just as the real estate market has begun to stabilize. About five million to seven million properties are potentially eligible for foreclosure but have not yet been repossessed and put up for sale.
Israel First?
Joe Klein - Time
The America-Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) has done a very unwise thing: It has issued a statement criticizing the Obama Administration, rather than Israel, for its reaction to the Netanyahu government's recent announcement of more illegal settlement blocks in East Jerusalem ... I can't remember another ethnic or religious lobbying group publicly siding with a foreign country against the President of the United States ... Once again, every U.S. President since Richard Nixon has called for a freeze of settlements being built in Palestinian areas, including East Jerusalem, conquered by Israel in 1967. AIPAC stands, with Israel, against every one of those Presidents.
Japan Confirms Cold War-Era Secret Pacts with US
The Associated Press
Japan confirmed Tuesday secret Cold War-era pacts with Washington that tacitly allowed nuclear warships in Japanese ports in violation of a hallowed postwar principle, effectively acknowledging that previous governments had lied about them for decades. While the move was welcomed as a step toward greater government transparency, atomic bomb survivors expressed disgust that officials kept such agreements hidden for dozens of years.
The Boer War Remembered
Mark Weber
The Anglo-Boer War of 1899-1902 was more than the first major military clash of the 20th century. Pitting as it did the might of the globe-girdling British Empire, backed by international finance, against a small pioneering nation of independent-minded farmers, ranchers and merchants in southern Africa who lived by the Bible and the rifle, its legacy continues to resonate today. The Boers' recourse to irregular warfare, and Britain's response in herding a hundred thousand women and children into concentration camps foreshadowed the horrors of guerilla warfare and mass detention of innocents that have become emblematic of the 20th century.
`Lost' Shakespeare Play is Published
BBC News
A play which was first discovered nearly 300 years ago has been credited to William Shakespeare. The work, titled Double Falsehood, was written by the playwright and another dramatist, John Fletcher. Theatre impresario Lewis Theobald presented the play in the 18th century as an adaptation of a Shakespeare play but it was dismissed as a forgery. But scholars for British Shakespeare publisher, Arden, now believe the Bard wrote large parts of the play. Researchers think the play is based on a long-lost work called Cardenio, which was itself based on Don Quixote. "I think Shakespeare's hand can be discerned in Act One, Act Two and probably the first two scenes in Act Three of the play," Professor Brean Hammond told the BBC's World Service.
Minority Babies in US To Be in Majority
The Associated Press
Minorities make up nearly half the children born in the U.S., part of a historic trend in which minorities are expected to become the U.S. majority over the next 40 years. In fact, demographers say this year could be the "tipping point" when the number of babies born to minorities outnumbers that of babies born to whites ... The numbers highlight the nation's growing racial and age divide, seen in pockets of communities across the U.S., which could heighten tensions in current policy debates from immigration reform and education to health care and Social Security.
General Petraeus Warns: Israel Is Jeopardizing US Security Interests
Democracy Now
Veteran military and foreign affairs analyst and author Mark Perry reports that CENTCOM commander General David Petraeus dispatched a team of senior military officers in January to brief Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman Admiral Michael Mullen on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Perry reports that the briefers told Mullen that "Israeli intransigence on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict was jeopardizing US standing in the region." Transcript and video.
The Rogue Nation
Philip Giraldi
...Three strikes and you're out, Mr. Obama. Your government stands for preemptive killing and missile strikes on people living in countries with which America is not at war, lets torturers and torture enablers go free, and has asserted the right to assassinate its own citizens anywhere in the world based on secret evidence. Ronald Reagan once described his vision of America as a shining city on a hill. Over the past ten years the shining city has become the ultimate rogue nation, pumped up with power and hubris in spite of the clearly visible signs of decline and moving inexorably towards a catastrophic fall.
The Poodle Gets Kicked
Patrick J. Buchanan
... Biden may feel he was played for a fool, and Americans may feel jilted, but we got what grovelers deserve. And if we wish to understand why the Arabs who once respected us now seem contemptuous of us, consider that battered-spouse response to a public slap across the face ... How can America be seen as an honest broker between Arabs and Israelis if there is "no space" between America and Israel? ... And if our policy and Israel's are one and the same, the Arab perception will be what it is today -- that America cannot stand up to Israel, even when her national interests command it. Joe's performance before he got the wet mitten across the face only underscored the point: The mighty superpower is a poodle of Israel.
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Peace.
Michael Santomauro
Editorial Director
Call anytime: 917-974-6367
ReporterNotebook@Gmail.com
Amazon's: DEBATING THE HOLOCAUST: A New Look At Both Sides by Thomas Dalton
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