RUTHFULLY YOURS

http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/germany-debates-the-meaning-of-anti-\
semitism-a-877414.html

Well you see where this is going…..bashing Israel is far more “respectable” than just unvarnished anti-Semitism….and Israel’s witless critics have given Germany the cudgels …..rsk

Germany and Israel A Relationship Full of Misunderstandings
By Christiane Hoffmann and Ren Pfister

How critical can one be of Israel? It is a question that Germany has been
debating since SPIEGEL ONLINE columnist Jakob Augstein was included on the
Simon Wiesenthal Center’s list of the world’s worst anti-Semites. Political
leaders in Berlin have a different answer than Germans at large.
Does Angela Merkel mistrust the very people she governs? Is she
uncomfortable with the German people?

In October 2011, the German chancellor stood onstage at the academy of the
Jewish Museum, in Berlin, next to conductor Daniel Barenboim. The
celebratory concert had concluded, and the museum’s director had just
presented Merkel with its Award for Understanding and Tolerance.

This is one of many awards the chancellor has received from Jewish
institutions over the last couple years, including the Heinz Galinski Prize
from the Jewish Community of Berlin, the American Jewish Committee’s Light
Unto the Nations Award and an honorary doctorate from Tel Aviv University.
At the Jewish Museum, Merkel spoke a few pleasant words, calling the award
both an honor and a responsibility. Then she cited a study, according to
which 60 percent of Europeans — including Germans — consider Israel the
most significant threat to world peace.

Following Merkel’s logic seems to present a conclusion that two thirds of
Germans harbor anti-Semitic sentiments. Is this really what the chancellor
believes? Or was her intention simply, as she said in her speech, to warn
against allowing anti-Semitism to increase?

Merkel’s speech provides a direct path into the minefield that is relations
between Jews and Germans, and between Germany and Israel. Of course it is
absurd to label Israel the world’s worst aggressor. But does simply making
such a statement count as anti-Semitism?

Where does objective criticism end and defamation begin? The controversy over journalist Jakob Augstein’s
columns in SPIEGEL ONLINE and elsewhere has re-ignited this debate, a storm
triggered when the Simon Wiesenthal Center in Los Angeles placed Augstein on
its list of the world’s worst anti-Semites.

http://www.israelnationalnews.com/Articles/Article.aspx/11551 The 100% Fatwa-Compliant Iranian EMP Nuclear Weapon From Mark Langfan Iran’s Supreme Religious leader has repeated his fatwa against nuclear weapons and the country’s foreign minister made much of it for foreign media. Much has been, and will be, said about that Iranian Supreme Leader Khamenei’s February 2012 informal speech to a group of […]

http://www.weeklystandard.com/print/blogs/chuck-schumer-cheap-date_696034.html In a private meeting Monday—not just any old private meeting, but a 90 minutes long private meeting!—New York senator Chuck Schumer was reassured by secretary of defense nominee Chuck Hagel that he didn’t mean the many things he’s said over the years and didn’t stand by the many votes he’s cast over the years. […]

http://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/3544/hungary-anti-semitism “Things that were unthinkable five years ago are acceptable today.” — Adam Fischer, Music Director, Austro-Hungarian Haydn Orchestra The Hungarian national football team, after fans chanted aggressively anti-Semitic abuse during a game with Israel, has been ordered to play the next World Cup qualifier in an empty stadium. The international governing body of football, […]

http://communities.washingtontimes.com/neighborhood/novelists-view-world/2013/jan/14/oscar-ban-proposed-bigelow-angers-sonys-amy-pascal/

WASHINGTON, DC, January 14, 2013 — Kudos to Sony Pictures’ Amy Pascal for snapping right back at Ed Asner and Martin Sheen for suggesting an Oscar ban against those involved in the movie “Zero Dark Thirty.”

“To punish an artist’s right of expression is abhorrent.”

Yes, abhorrent! This brings to mind John F. Kennedy’s brilliant reminder of our First Amendment:

“Democratic society, in it, the highest duty of the writer, the composer, the artist, is to remain true to himself and let the chips fall where they may.”

By virtue of Asner, Sheen and others like them, the chips have already fallen upon Kathryn Bigelow, director, and Mark Boal, screenwriter, for “Zero Dark Thirty.”

We saw this coming right here on these pages.

As noted and as reaffirmed, out First Amendment now comes with an asterisk.

Sheen acted as (West Wing left-wing) President of the United States on TV, and Asner portrayed the boss of a TV newsroom. It’s a good guess that they would be politically selective, and that they feel duty-bound to tell the Academy and the rest of us what’s in and what’s out.

http://sultanknish.blogspot.com/ There are a few things worth knowing about revolutions. Most people don’t participate in them, even if the history books often make it seem otherwise. Revolutions are thought up by small groups of people who then make it everyone’s business. Or alternately they don’t. And those are the revolutions that never happen. Most people, […]

http://www.israelhayom.com/site/newsletter_opinion.php?id=3242 An incident at a junior high school in Hod Hasharon on Friday morning catapulted the issue of societal violence to the top of the news, just below coverage of the coming Knesset elections. A teacher was attacked by the father of a student whose cell phone had been confiscated because he was talking on […]

http://frontpagemag.com/2013/ryan-mauro/no-blank-check-for-israel-march-coming-to-dc-on-january-19/ ‘No Blank Check for Israel’ March Coming to DC on January 19 The Jewish Voice for Peace, American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee and Washington Interfaith Alliance for Middle East Peace has put together a “No Blank Check for Israel” march in the nation’s capital on January 19. The promotional video boasts of the event’s Christian support, […]

http://frontpagemag.com/2013/dgreenfield/behind-the-democracy-initiative/print/ When is a conspiracy, not a conspiracy? Like the answer to Sir John Harington’s famous epigram, “Treason doth never prosper,” a conspiracy isn’t a conspiracy when it has proven to be successful. Then it’s no longer conspiracy; it’s authority. The now mostly-digital pages of the New York Times, Time, Newsweek and the Washington Post […]

http://www.nationalreview.com/blogs/print/337671 I CAN’T STAND THE BULLIES ON BOTH SIDES OF THIS DEBATE….IT POISONS THE ELECTIONS AND SHOULD BE ON THE BACK BURNER INSTEAD OF BEING A LITMUS TEST FOR IDEOLOGUES ON BOTH SIDES…..RSK Last year’s attack on the Susan G. Komen Foundation, a breast-cancer charity, for daring to make better use of its funds and […]