New Media

As Darfur and Rwanda have undermined the international meaning of the phrase “Never Again”, does this expression still have relevance? To Israelis, it absolutely does, though the creed has a much more specific interpretation in this country and among the diaspora:

The phrase, “Never again”, can be taken to mean that we are united in opposing the genocide of any group or nation in a new Holocaust (though Darfurians rightly wonder at why the rest of the world chose not to live up to that creed). But for Jews, it has other meanings as well: never again will they put their security in the hands of those who could and often did make the choice to abandon them in their time of need. Even among those who spilled horrendous blood and treasure to defeat the Nazis, the Israelis wonder why these allies did not, for instance, bomb Auschwitz and destroy a camp where a few hundred prison workers were able to apply industrial methods to murder thousands of people per day.

The Canada-Afghanistan Solidarity Committee has released a report urging Canada to continue an active role in Afghanistan after the military mission ends next year. Committee co-founder Terry Glavin and Nasrine Gross, an Afghan-American writer at Kabul University, discuss the situation on the ground.

Can Palestinians truly develop a free marketplace of ideas without a political revolution? Will the Anti-Semitic media factories of incitement get put out of business anytime soon?

It’s not looking good on either score. From my latest Rediscovering Israel post, Palestinian Censorship, Self-Censorship and the Failure of Leadership:

If there is a solution, it may have to come from Palestinians themselves, given how awesomely counter-productive international efforts from Canada, Israel and the rest of the international community have been. Palestinian Affairs correspondent Khaled Abu Toameh is mournful on this topic. “You are funding Palestinian television, radio stations and newspapers with millions of dollars so that they can incite people to kill Jews. If anyone watches Palestinian television for just five minutes, they’ll want to go out and stab Jews immediately. Palestinians have been fed a steady stream of this hate for years and your taxpayer dollars are funding it.”

Palestinian Cleric “Explains” the “Jewish Nature” on Palestinian Authority TV

Salman Rushdie on Amnesty’s poisonous relationship with Islamofascists:

Amnesty International has done its reputation incalculable damage by allying itself with Moazzam Begg and his group Cageprisoners, and holding them up as human rights advocates. It looks very much as if Amnesty’s leadership is suffering from a kind of moral bankruptcy, and has lost the ability to distinguish right from wrong. It has greatly compounded its error by suspending the redoubtable Gita Sahgal for the crime of going public with her concerns.

Read the complete statement here.

This is why I have recently ended my monthly donations to Amnesty’s organization. I will continue to write letters in support of political prisoners and human rights, but I will not fund an organization whose executive seems to have lost its way.

H/T to Harry’s Place

Does the Iranian regime finally understand for whom the bell tolls? Forget the “poverty Olympics” for a moment. Here’s a protest that really ought to get some attention:

“What binds this movement is the demand for free elections, free media and respect for civil rights,” Karroubi said in a statement last week.

The opposition leaders say Iran’s constitution guarantees civil rights that are being violated by the nation’s rulers. If the movement goes beyond those demands, it will be “stabbing in the dark,” Mousavi said in an interview on his own Web site last week in which he emphasized respect for the constitution.

Mousavi also demanded the release of all political prisoners. The courts responded by handing down death sentences against 10 protesters, after two men were hanged last month for their alleged involvement in street clashes. On Wednesday, several people were arrested, a top police commander said, adding to the hundreds who have been detained. Just in recent weeks, at least 12 journalists and dozens of activists have been taken into custody.

These brutalities are par for the course. Now the thugs are adding insult to injury. I expect if the government of Canada tried the next particular trick up the Ayatollah’s sleeves, I personally know some people who would take the next plane to Ottawa to torch the parliament building:

On the eve of the demonstration, the Iranian government said it would permanently suspend Google’s e-mail service in the country, the Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday.

Further Reading
Iran braces for 22 Bahman
Student Activist: People concerned about blatant regime brutality