RUTHFULLY YOURS

It is that not Israel is being judged by criteria different to those applied to the region’s gory tyrannies, but that it is being judged by standards different to those that the EU judges itself.

Something is rotten in the state of Denmark. – William Shakespeare, Hamlet, Act 1, Scene 4,

Israel should insist that we discriminate [against it], that we apply double standards [to it], this is because you are one of us. – Jesper Vahr, Danish ambassador to Israel, at The Jerusalem Post Diplomatic Conference on December 12

The difference between stupidity and genius is that genius has its limits. – Albert Einstein

Last Thursday, the Jerusalem Post Diplomatic Conference took place in the capital with an impressive lineup of prominent public figures – including the present and the previous presidents and the US ambassador.

The real fireworks, however, took place in the panel discussion dealing with relations between the EU and Israel.

At least 11 people were wounded Sunday when a motorist rammed his car into a number of crowds in the city of Dijon in eastern France.

The driver was arrested by police after targeting passersby at five different locations in the city, a police source said.

The driver, who authorities believe to be mentally unstable, was heard shouting “Allahu Akbar” (“God is great”) and “that he was acting for the children of Palestine,” a source close to the investigation said.

“The man, born in 1974, is apparently imbalanced and had been in a psychiatric hospital,” the source told AFP, adding that “for now his motives are still unclear.”

The source said nine people were lightly injured while two more were severely wounded.

The incident was reminiscent of a series of vehicular attacks by Palestinians in Jerusalem and the West Bank over November that left several dead and over a dozen injured.

Britain’s Prime Minister David Cameron responded to the terrorist attack in Sydney, Australia, in which two of more than 17 hostages were killed by an Islamic extremist. Referring to “lone wolf terrorists,” he said this was a reminder of danger that Britain faces. It would seem to me that we have had enough Lone Wolves to constitute a substantial wolf pack, and enough “extremists” to consider them “conventional.” How many people must die before heads of state concede that the crimes worldwide are not extreme, not unusual, and not lone wolf? This is Islamic-style warfare against the West, without the sophisticated weaponry, khaki uniforms or tanks. It is time to connect the voluminous dots between the burnings and beheadings in 624 AD and those executed today.

We so naively call them self-starters or lone wolves when daily thousands of individuals are inspired and encouraged by an imam in a mosque to be a Soldier of Allah, eagerly awaiting his turn to immerse himself in the blood of infidels. Perhaps the designation helps the West cope with the 1.3 billion Muslims who have unleashed their millions into the world. Perhaps the singular terminology keeps the West from considering war against the multitudes, or courageously declaring the Qur’an and Sharia antithetical to Western beliefs, or fear of inciting the so-called moderates to reach their full barbarous potential.

THIS IS WELCOME NEWS SINCE INDIA CURRIED FAVOR WITH ARAB TYRANTS IN THE PAST….RSK
http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/india-may-end-support-to-palestine-at-un/article6713364.ece?homepage=true

In what could amount to a tectonic shift in the country’s foreign policy, the Modi government is looking at altering India’s supporting vote for the Palestinian cause at the United Nations to one of abstention.
Two sources within the government confirmed to The Hindu that the change, which will be a fundamental departure from India’s support to the cause of a Palestinian state, was under consideration.
“Like other foreign policy issues, the Modi government is looking at India’s voting record at the United Nations on the Palestinian issue,” a government source told The Hindu. The change only needs an administrative nod, the second source said.
Despite the growing defence and diplomatic ties with Israel, the UPA government, which junked traditional ally Iran to vote with the United States at the International Atomic Energy Agency in 2005, had baulked at making any change in India’s support to the Palestinians.
Even former Prime Minister A.B. Vajpayee’s government, which invited Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon to India in 2003, did not amend India’s voting record at the U.N.
India’s stance at the U.N. has been an irritant in Indo-Israeli relations, with Tel Aviv frustrated that close bonds had not resulted in any change in the stance on Palestine.
A senior Israeli interlocutor told a visiting Indian External Affairs Minister some time ago that New Delhi treated Tel Aviv like a “mistress” – by keeping the bilateral relationship away from the public gaze. This re-examination of India’s voting stance will come as sweet music to Israeli ears just as it will raise concerns in West Asian capitals about the future course of Indian foreign policy.
http://www.timesofisrael.com/india-may-change-pro-palestinian-stance-at-un/

One definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results. By any measurement, Western policy towards United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), the internationally funded agency for Palestinian “refugees,” meets that definition. One example is the newly released 2015 State Department Framework for Cooperation Between UNRWA and the U.S.

This exercise in repetition occurred in the wake of a war that again exposed UNRWA’s unsavory and illegal activities, from being “shocked” that its schools were used to store Hamas’ rockets and rote condemnations of Israel, to its employees cheering the murder of Israelis. The framework nevertheless represents the American commitment to prolong the existence of UNRWA, established almost exactly 65 years ago.

The bulk of the document deals with UNRWA management. For example, there are the “15 objectives of the Medium Term Strategy” and the “Development of Strategic Response Plans for each of UNRWA’s five fields of operation through a consultative process.” The document also speaks of the “Continued implementation of ongoing management reforms, particularly in the areas of results-based management, resource mobilization, human resources, transition to and management of a new enterprise resource planning (ERP) data management system, and internal communications.”

Islamic Human Sex-Trafficking — on The Glazov Gang
Dr. Mark Durie explains why ISIS’s new sex-slave pamphlet references Islamic texts.
http://jamieglazov.com/2014/12/21/islamic-human-sex-trafficking-on-the-glazov-gang/

The so-called new Cuba policy has put Senator Rubio on front stage. He has become the face of the opposition to President Obama’s decision to change our approach to Cuba.

On the other side, there is Senator Paul, who supports President Obama’s decision.

Phillip Rucker of The Washington Post sees it as an early sign of 2016 GOP divisions:

The feud is the loudest public dispute so far between potential GOP 2016 candidates and lays bare the divergent world views of traditional hawks — including Rubio and past Republican presidents and nominees — and the emerging, younger libertarian wing represented by Paul.

For decades, Rubio’s position has been the GOP’s natural default. But Paul is testing that convention.

From Hollywood back-biting to North Korean terrorist threats against American movie-goers, the hacking-of-Sony saga by now includes so many stupefying elements that it’s hard to know where to begin. But let’s focus on President Obama’s remarks at his end-of-year press conference [1] Friday, when he criticized Sony Pictures Entertainment for canceling its planned Christmas Day nation-wide release of The Interview, the movie that incurred the wrath of Pyongyang by making fun of one of the 21st century’s most ludicrous tyrants, Kim Jong Un.

A reporter asked Obama if Sony had made a mistake in pulling the movie. Obama summarized part of the background: “Sony is a corporation. It suffered significant damage. There were threats against its employees. I am sympathetic to the concerns that they faced.”

Having staked out his ground as a sympathetic observer, he hit the punch line: “Having said all that, yes, I think they made a mistake.”

There was a flurry of pro-Palestinian-state international activity this week. It basically happened in dizzying succession in the space of one day—Wednesday.

This was also a week in which two Islamic terrorist incidents, one in Australia and one in Pakistan, got some airplay. Seemingly the fact that the leading Palestinian movement is currently Hamas, an Islamic terrorist organization, should put a damper on pro-Palestinian-state activity. But it doesn’t—in the least.

So, on Wednesday, the European Parliament voted in favor of Palestinian statehood [2], the European Union’s second-highest court voted to remove Hamas from a terrorism blacklist [3], the Geneva Convention voted that no Israeli Jews should live in the West Bank and East Jerusalem [4] (where it believes the Palestinian state should be), and Jordan, representing the Palestinians, submitted a draft resolution to the UN Security Council [5] for a total Israeli withdrawal and a Palestinian state by the end of 2017.

In each of these cases there were mitigating factors.

ISRAEL’S MEDICAL ACHIEVEMENTS

Israeli MRI detects brain damage earlier. Researchers at Israel’s Ben Gurion University’s Brain Imaging Research Center have developed a method that can detect damage to the brain much earlier than previously thought. Detection, soon after a trauma, means that the damage might still be reversible.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4597206,00.html

Generic blood pressure treatment. Israel’s Teva has launched a generic version of Exforge HCT – a popular treatment of high blood pressure. Teva’s generic products save money for patients and health services.
http://www.globes.co.il/en/article-teva-launches-generic-high-blood-pressure-treatment-1000990435

Life expectancy rises again. In Israel in 2013, men had an average life expectancy of 80.3 years while women had 83.9 – an increase of nearly five months for men and three months for women in comparison to 2012.
http://www.i24news.tv/en/news/israel/society/51887-141122-israelis-life-expectancy-shoots-up

50,000 wear Israeli remedial shoes. Israel’s AposTherapy has developed a treatment for knee and back pain using unique individually calibrated shoes. AposTherapy currently treats 50,000 patients and has just raised $15 million to help expand its business in the US market.
http://www.globes.co.il/en/article-knee-treatment-co-apostherapy-raises-15m-1000989010

New test for foreign matter in lungs. (Thanks to San Diego Jewish World) Scientists at Tel Aviv University have developed a new technique for detecting hazardous particles in the lungs. The test can be used in emergencies such as fire rescues or as a warning of high pollution levels.
http://www.sdjewishworld.com/2014/12/11/israeli-device-measures-foreign-matter-lungs/

New cancer center is a communal success. (Thanks to Stuart) The Emek Medical Center in Afula, Israel is one of many successful stories showing how ethnic groups in Israel can successfully work side by side. Jews, Muslims, Christians and Druze raised funds together for a new cancer center, via an inspiring radio campaign.
http://haifadiarist.blogspot.co.uk/2014/12/working-together-achieves-dream.html