Yes, Clearly It's All About the Terrorism

Israel apologists will tell you that every action taken by Israeli forces against the Palestinians is absolutely necessary to defend Israel against terrorism. So, sexually harrassing a bound Palestinian woman is how you defeat terrorists? Who knew.



(from Permission to Narrate)

Behind the Blockade

I am quite busy at work, so I thought you should see what life is like behind the blockade in Gaza. There is a reason people are trying so hard to break the blockade.

According to the World Health Organization: (emphasis mine)

72% of the children and 42% of pregnant women suffer from anemia while 30% of children under 5 suffer from stunted growth which is most likely attributed to malnutrition. Over 80% of the population are reported to be food insecure (cannot afford a balanced meal) compared to 63% in 2006. Out of 9000 commodities (including food items) that were entering Gaza over two years ago, only 20 are ‘permitted’ today further exasperating an already catastrophic situation. 50 trucks a day are now allowed to enter Gaza compared to 200/300 per day. Malnutrition, needless to say, is increasing. The situation will certainly continue to deteriorate with Gaza experiencing a 24% electricity deficit coupled with rolling blackouts leaving children in the dark as long as 12 hours per day. Hospitals have reduced their services to only urgent care patients as their fuel supplies run dangerously low. Returning from Gaza, a member of the European Parliament stated, ". . .it is the civilians who suffer from the siege. Seeing the tiny premature babies in their incubators in Shifa Hospital brought that message home. Israel has been cutting electricity supplies to Gaza. If the generator this hospital was now dependent on was to break down, the 30 babies would die within half an hour."

No matter how many terrorists lurk in Gaza, none of them are under 5 years old, but that's who's being punished. I wonder how many of us, if faced with watching our children starve, would find pacifism so appealing.

They Need Clean Water

Is this how you would want your children to grow up?

The people of Gaza, a full half of them children under the age of 15, are without adequate clean water, food, electricity, homes, medicine and well, everything. Children, people. Write me all the polemics you wish about terrorists, but children are not terrorists. The babies dying in Gaza because there is no sewage treatment and the aquifer is being poisoned are not terrorists. They are babies. And the same people that shout and cry when a collection of cells is aborted think this is just fine. Seriously, fuck you all. And stop calling yourselves prolife until you can bring youself to care about Palestine's children.





Today, 1,400 activists from from over 42 countries will march on the wall in Gaza to protest the inhumane, cruel treatment of the Gazans. I felt nauseated when I read this. I fear for them. I really don't think all 1,400 of them are walking out of there.





And I wish I could be there. I wish I could do something for all those people- and that's what they are, people- suffering under conditions I cannot imagine. You take away my coffee and I'm a wreck, I can't imagine drinking sewage water. I wish I could make everyone listen when I say that we cannot treat children this way and expect anything good in the future.





All I can do is write this post and hope that you will think on it. Think on the fact that each American taxpayer gives about $400 a year to Israel, so if you live in the US, you helped build that wall. You and I helped create this horrendous situation.





I am paying to ensure that children drink sewage.





So are you.

Pretty Darn Accurate

Islam Doesn't Hold the Patent on Crazy

jewish, judaism, murder, israel,
Unless you consider killing nonJewish babies normal behavior.

Just weeks after the arrest of alleged Jewish terrorist, Yaakov Teitel, a West Bank rabbi on Monday released a book giving Jews permission to kill Gentiles who threaten Israel.

Rabbi Yitzhak Shapiro, who heads the Od Yosef Chai Yeshiva in the Yitzhar settlement, wrote in his book “The King’s Torah” that even babies and children can be killed if they pose a threat to the nation.

Shapiro based the majority of his teachings on passages quoted from the Bible, to which he adds his opinions and beliefs.

“It is permissable to kill the Righteous among Nations even if they are not responsible for the threatening situation,” he wrote, adding: “If we kill a Gentile who has sinned or has violated one of the seven commandments - because we care about the commandments - there is nothing wrong with the murder.”

Several prominent rabbis, including Rabbi Yithak Ginzburg and Rabbi Yaakov Yosef, have recommended the book to their students and followers.

That's not going to end well.

The Controversy, I Has It

war mongering, iran, israel, nuclear, weapons,

I know some people are just going to explode when I say this, but I'm really get sick of all this "bomb Iran before they bomb everyone" bullshit.



First of all, Iran is populated by . . . wait for it . . . people. I don't care how tactical your strike is, you can't bomb Ahmedinejad without bombing my friend, Sara.



Secondly, there isn't overwhelming evidence Iran is even making nuclear weapons, and a lot of evidence that it is not. In fact, the Supreme Leader issued a fatwa, declaring nuclear weapons immoral. A fatwa may not mean much to you or I, but Muslims take their fatwas seriously. The IAEA denies that Iran has, or had, a program to develop nuclear weapons.



Then there is the assertion that Iran wants to nuke its neighbors. Its very close neighbors. Iran is about 1,000 miles away from Israel. That's half the distance from Pennsylvania to Nevada. I don't care how crazy Ahmedinejad is, I'm sure he understands how nuclear fallout works. Also, no matter how much Ahmedinejad hates Israel, he can't nuke Israel without also nuking the Palestinians, Syria, Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, etc. Do we really think Ahmedinejad is so crazy that he doesn't care what the results of that would be?



It's especially insane to suggest that Ahmedinejad wants to bomb Saudia Arabia's oil fields- 50 miles away. If you're going to nuke something 50 miles away, you may as well just drop the bomb on yourself, the effects would be pretty much the same.



Warmongering- even in the middle of two wars we just can't win, we still has it. I'm really sick of it.

It's Not Just Christians that Get Wacky About Marriage

israel, marriage, muslim, druze, christian,
I've written a lot about Christians in the US that feel a need to butt into other peoples' marriages.* Today, I discovered that Christians haven't cornered the market on marriage wackiness. The Israelis have, in fact, taken marriage wackiness** to a place US Christians never even dreamed of.

You see, even though 70% of Israel's Jews identify as secular, marriage between Jews is entirely in the hands of the ultraorthodox Rabinnate, who can, and do, decide who can marry and who cannot. If the Rabinnate decides that you aren't quite Jewish enough for them, or that you're marrying someone who isn't Jewish enough, you can't get married inside your own country. You have to travel to some other country to get married, which is what happens in 1 in 5 marriages in Israel. (Your marriage will be recognized once you reenter Israel.)

Israel has passed control of all matters relating to personal status – births, marriages and divorces, and deaths – to rabbis belonging to the strictest stream of Judaism, Orthodoxy.

...

Official figures show that as many as 350,000 Jews are classified by the rabbinate as having “no religion”, and are therefore unable to marry in Israel. Their only option is to wed abroad – the marriage is then recognised on their return.

...

Mr Kornfeld said the rabbis’ grip on marriage has continued even though nearly 70 per cent of Israeli Jews defined themselves as secular. Even among the religious, some regard themselves as belonging to the more moderate Reform and Conservative streams of Judaism.

...

Israel’s Muslim, Christian and Druze citizens – comprising nearly a fifth of the population – have their own separate religious authorities who are given exclusive oversight of weddings.

There's no mention of what happens to atheists, agnostics and the other "others" that must live in Israel (we're everywhere), but I'm guessing the nonreligious in Israel don't generally make a lot of noise about it. There are no provisions at all for interfaith marriages.

I'm trying to imagine this, and I really can't. I think that any religious involvement in government recognized legal statuses is inappropriate at best and should be abolished. Marriage in the US should follow the model of some European countries: all officially recognized marriages are secular, performed by a Justice of the Peace. The religious can then go have a second, religious ceremony, but that ceremony has no legal meaning. This entirely separates church and state, which is a good thing.

Israel has gone entirely in the opposite direction, ceding control of a legal ceremony to religious groups, to the point where those not pleasing to said religious group must leave the country to obtain the legal advantages of marriage. What happens to those unable to afford a trip to Europe to get married? Well, you need only look at the experiences of gay couples in the US to see that. It's not pretty.

I thought the US had ceded a little too much democracy to the Christian majority, but the supposed democracy of Israel has us beat by a mile. It's not good for anyone.



*You can search by gay marriage if you haven't read my thoughts on the subject, but for the lazy, shorter me: none of your business who gets married or how they run their marriage.

**Attending the World is a proPalestinian blog, but I did find numerous confirmations of their description of Israel's marriage laws from neutral parties.

Heart of Jenin

ahmed khatib, jenin, israel, palestine, palestinian, heart,

A Palestinian boy is killed by Israeli soldiers.

I bet you think you know the whole story now, don't you? So did I.

The story doesn't end the way you think it would. It doesn't end in violence and reprisals, it ends in love and sacrifice and new beginnings when the boy's family decides to donate his organs. Two years later, the boy's father journeys to visit the children whose lives were saved by his son's death: a Druze girl, a Bedouin boy and an Orthodox Jewish girl.

Heart of Jenin is an amazing documentary. You will cry, but there is hope in Ahmed Khatib’s story, and that hope is for all of us.

Children Shouldn't Pay

palestine, palestinian, israel, conflict, children,

As a general rule, I don't weigh in on the Palestine/Israel situation. It's complicated, it represents decades, if not centuries, of festering hatred, it involves religious and racist elements, passions run high on both sides . . . I'd rather debate abortion with Bill O'Reilly on national tv, naked.

However, no matter how you feel about the issue, I think you, and anyone else in the world, can agree that children shouldn't pay the price of this conflict. And they are. It's horrible.

More than 300 children were among the 1,400 Palestinians killed and many more were wounded during the 22-day Israeli offensive that ended on January 18, according to Palestinian figures.

And experts say a vast majority of the children who make up more than half of Gaza's 1.5 million population, will bear the psychological scars for years to come.

"Children here have lost joy in life. They can laugh but there is no joy. They are unable to maintain hope," says psychiatrist Eyad Sarraj, who heads the Gaza Community Mental Health Programme.

Seven-year-old Ahmed Salah al-Samuni smiles timidly as he is tossed a green plastic ball but quickly loses interest, instead digging his nails into a couch in a brightly coloured room used for psycho-social counselling sessions.

"I remember that Israelis came and ordered us out. Shells were fired," he says when asked what he remembers of the war.

"Grandmother and grandfather are dead," he says, going on to list about 10 others who died when his house was bombed. In all, 29 were killed in the attack, 18 of them from his direct family.

"I love Azza and want her back," he says of his two-and-a-half year-old sister who was among the dead.

After the attack, he lay in a pool of blood. It's only when he cried out for his mother that she realised he was still alive.

A large scar runs across his face, another along his hip. His nose is still deformed from the shrapnel wounds.

Just a few months ago he had regular fits of rage, when he'd beat his brothers and break whatever was in his path.

"He'd scream out at night: 'The Jews are coming to kill me'," his father says.

I have no answers, no comfort for a little boy who misses his dead sister, no words of wisdom to end decades of hatred and conflict. I can only say that I wish hugs could fix the world.

Fundys of All Flavors Suck

jewish, jews, israel, orthodox, sabbath, anne barker, spitting
It's not just Christian fundys that suck, Jewish fundys do, too.

I would like to note that it's fine to expect guests in your home to obey your rules, whether those rules are removing shoes, not smoking or wearing a head scarf*. Expecting a person not of your religion to obey all the rules of your religion, including rules they may not be aware of, is just insane. Spitting on them as punishment? Batshit fucking crazy.

You heard me- spitting as punishment. It happened to ABC's Anne Barker.

Suddenly the crowd turned on me, screaming in my face. Dozens of angry men began spitting on me.
Spit like rain

I found myself herded against a brick wall as they kept on spitting - on my face, my hair, my clothes, my arms.

It was like rain, coming at me from all directions - hitting my recorder, my bag, my shoes, even my glasses.

Big gobs of spit landed on me like heavy raindrops. I could even smell it as it fell on my face.

Somewhere behind me - I didn't see him - a man on a stairway either kicked me in the head or knocked something heavy against me.

I wasn't even sure why the mob was angry with me. Was it because I was a journalist? Or a woman? Because I wasn't Jewish in an Orthodox area? Was I not dressed conservatively enough?

In fact, I was later told, it was because using a tape-recorder is itself a desecration of the Shabbat even though I'm not Jewish and don't observe the Sabbath.

Unfuckingbelievable.


*I don't think women should be forced by a patriarchal culture to act, talk or dress in a manner they don't wish to. However, when a guest in someone else's home, you do as they ask, or you don't accept the invitation. In my house, you don't wear shoes. I don't care how uncomfortable not wearing shoes makes you, you won't have to pay to refinish the floors.

People Who Live in Alternate Dimensions

My name is Personal Failure, and I am a huge Trekkie. Have been since I was 5. (When I was 5, my goal in life was to be black, just like Uhura. That was probably the most awkward conversation my mother ever had to have. "But why can't I be black? You said I could be anything I wanted to be!") Just for the record, original 1960s Trek is the best. You can make fun of Shatner's acting all you want, but at least Kirk got action sequences. Patrick Stewart is a fantastic actor, but TGN was a whole lotta boring.

I bring this up because there were several Star Trek episodes involving alternate dimensions- universes like our own, but unlike in some essential way: Nazis winning WWII, everybody being violent, etc. It's a popular scifi theme, but I'm beginning to think that this not only is reality, but that we regularly interact with people from other dimensions, as evidenced by Jim Fletcher of RaptureReady.

Jim Fletcher writes a regular article for RaptureReady called Israel Watch. This is described as "God's Prophetic Clock." Reading this article, I can only surmise that Mr. Fletcher lives in an alternate dimension from our own.

God is real, He cares for us as individuals, and nothing can shake Him. We wonder, from our feeble perspectives, how God can allow such pain. We are focusing on the wrong thing, and our wrong focus comes straight from the pit. of hell!

You might never get to the Holy Land. Mecca? But I’ve been there and I’ll tell you that the truth of God’s word is everywhere. There is a garden tomb that is empty there are an awful lot of empty tombs all over the world, and it is just outside the Old City walls. still not proof to me. There is a barren hill with a rock face in the shape of a skull nearby. There's a rock face on a hill between Scranton, PA and Dover, NJ that looks just like a Native American man wearing a feathered headdress. It's really cool, and proves nothing. I’ve read about this in the Gospels. I've read lots of things in the gospels, so what?

Israeli soldiers patrol the land in Israel, it's amazing! I'd be more impressed if Israeli soldiers were patrolling the land in, say, California, just as Ezekiel’s book promised.

Ezekiel 6:5 And I will lay the dead carcases of the children of Israel before their idols; and I will scatter your bones round about your altars Isn't god so sweet! (That's probably not the verse Mr. Fletcher is referencing, but I got bored looking for it.)

Jews are everywhere, millions of them! In Israel! It's a freakin' miracle! Just as Isaiah said it would be.

Isaiah 1:8 And the daughter of Zion is left as a cottage in a vineyard, as a lodge in a garden of cucumbers, as a besieged city. Cucumbers!

New Jewish homes dot the hillsides, In Israel! Wow! And wouldn't those be the homes of Jews, not Jewish homes? I wouldn't refer to houses in Vatican City as Catholic houses. many thousands of them, just as Amos and Jeremiah said they would in the last days.

Amos 5:2 The virgin of Israel is fallen; she shall no more rise: she is forsaken upon her land; there is none to raise her up. That's probably not the verse Mr. Fletcher is thinking of. He should probably be more specific.

Jeremiah 3:9 And it came to pass through the lightness of her whoredom, that she defiled the land, and committed adultery with stones and with stocks. Land defiler and stone adulterer.

You can’t turn a corner in any city without seeing a sign proclaiming the soon coming of the Messiah really?, or have a chance conversation with a cab driver yeah cabbies in the US are pretty crazy, too, solder how does one have a conversation with solder?, politician you can't have a conversation with a republican politican in the US in which the bible isn't mentioned, businessman, or single mother married mothers don't have conversations in which something biblical is mentioned? in which something biblical is not mentioned.

United Nations vehicles and diplomats and worldwide media choke the streets of Jerusalem more so New York City, where the UN is based, and Zechariah said very long ago that the Holy City would be an obsession for the world in the last days.

Zechariah 4:7 Who art thou, O great mountain? before Zerubbabel thou shalt become a plain: and he shall bring forth the headstone thereof with shoutings, crying, Grace, grace unto it. I just enjoyed the name Zerubbabel.

Drive around and look at the lush foliage and flowers and fruits and vegetables in the land. In the desert? Israel is still in the desert, right? Sand, no rain, desert? This is what the prophets said the barren land would return to in the last days.

What do you make of all this, if it is not the work of an all-powerful, loving God? I call Israeli soldiers in Israel protecting Israelis the work of the Jewish Agency, who refounded Israel in 1948. Hey, whatever.

Can you fathom the fact that if God took care of an entire people for 2,000 years — because He promised He would — that He will fulfill His promises to you? The Jews call 2008 the year 5769. So if god has been taking care of the Jews since the beginning, he's been taking care of them for 5769 years. If he only took care of the Jews for 2000 years, then he wasn't taking care of them for 3769 years, which would go a long way toward explaining the holocaust. Jesus said in the book of Matthew that if you are tired, come to Him.

2Abraham begat Isaac; and Isaac begat Jacob; and Jacob begat Judas and his brethren;
3And Judas begat Phares and Zara of Thamar; and Phares begat Esrom; and Esrom begat Aram;
4And Aram begat Aminadab; and Aminadab begat Naasson; and Naasson begat Salmon;
5And Salmon begat Booz of Rachab; and Booz begat Obed of Ruth; and Obed begat Jesse;
6And Jesse begat David the king; and David the king begat Solomon of her that had been the wife of Urias;
7And Solomon begat Roboam; and Roboam begat Abia; and Abia begat Asa;
8And Asa begat Josaphat; and Josaphat begat Joram; and Joram begat Ozias;
9And Ozias begat Joatham; and Joatham begat Achaz; and Achaz begat Ezekias;
10And Ezekias begat Manasses; and Manasses begat Amon; and Amon begat Josias;
11And Josias begat Jechonias and his brethren, about the time they were carried away to Babylon:
12And after they were brought to Babylon, Jechonias begat Salathiel; and Salathiel begat Zorobabel;
13And Zorobabel begat Abiud; and Abiud begat Eliakim; and Eliakim begat Azor;
14And Azor begat Sadoc; and Sadoc begat Achim; and Achim begat Eliud;
15And Eliud begat Eleazar; and Eleazar begat Matthan; and Matthan begat Jacob;

I like the begats.

Friends, this is not some esoteric, pie-in-the-sky… why the ellipses? Oh, and pie in the sky is not hyphenated. thing. It is practical and real for you today. If God did all those things with regard to Israel, unnecessary and confusing comma that I mentioned above, are you worried that He forgot what He said He’d do for you if you are beaten down and exhausted? uh-huh. sure. Hey God! If you want to do something for me, if you want me to be less beaten down and exhausted, how about curing the porphyria? That would be a great big help! Yeah, whatever, that's what I thought.

If you think God has forgotten you, you are quite mistaken. The other explanation, besides atheism, is that god is cruel fucking prick.

I know you have chronic pain. I know you can’t pay your bills. I know your husband is leaving you. But please, get this: Israel is alive. Oh, well, the Jews are all right, that solves everything! She shouldn’t be, humanly speaking. what the hell does "humanly speaking" even mean? Is he referencing "humanly possible"? Two thousand years as a desert backwater should have been her permanent fate. and you know this how? But God said no, in His own time He would return the child He loves to the place He loves.

Israel is back. The boys are back in town . . .

Your world might be cloudy and dark. It was a dark and stormy night. Frankly, I’ve been through times when everything seemed dark, and you feel so cold and alone. you or me? don't switch between first and second person, it's bad form. But predictive prophecy isn't all prophecy predictive? is there nonpredictive prophecy?, and Israel in particular, clears everything up. Show your work.
Do yourself a favor. Take your Bible and read Isaiah. Read Amos 9:15.

Amos 9:15 And I will plant them upon their land, and they shall no more be pulled up out of their land which I have given them, saith the LORD thy God. Did that make you feel better? Didn't do a damn thing for my nerve damage. (You know, weather changes make me ubercranky, don't they?)

Read Ezekiel 37. Then think carefully about where Israel is today. She is back, back where she belongs. All because of a totally dude! strong Father who is our ultimate protection. I'll take the bulletproof vest, thank you very much.

I wish I could help all of you can't, but in reality I have all the strength of a lima bean BWAHAHAHAHAHAHA. A lima bean?! I just spewed coffee all over my keyboard. I have the strength of a radish. He has the strength of a mango.. God, though, is a force that no one can reckon with. Apparently, people in alternate dimensions write entirely in cliches. It's quite unfortunate.

Remember this and I have a feeling that the skies will clear for you I will make my fortune as the antiRainmaker, getting farmers to pay me to stay away from them. and you will be able to see — really see — that if you are God’s child aren't we all god's children?, only glory awaits you glory, glory hallelujah!. We are all going forward together that being the nature of time, yes, so let us strengthen each other in the night. before or after we clear the skies?

Our God is very, very great.
My prayer for you this holiday season is that peace will come to your mind and heart.

God knows your name. He knows where you are. He'll be watching you, every move you make, every breath you take He loves you infinitely. He will sustain you.
Israel is proof of that. or not.