Cyber Attack, Google and the Georgian War

In the new web 2.0 era, preparation for physical warfare is preceded by cyberattattacks and by cyberdefence.

Here is the Georgian’s war cyberdefence ‘provided’ by Google, (from InformationAge)

…”Yesterday, it emerged that the company had removed details of all roads, towns and cities in Georgia from its Google Maps online mapping service, as well as from the maps of neighbouring countries Azerbaijan and Armenia. According to the Azerbaijan Press Agency, the relevant maps went blank as soon as fighting broke out. However, satellite information was still available earlier today.

Several observers highlighted the fact that Google co-founder Sergey Brin is Moscow-born.

Meanwhile, Google is involuntarily providing cyber-refuge to Georgian web sites that have been disrupted by Russian hackers. Georgian news site Civil.ge (now restored) relocated to a domain on Google’s Blogger blogging infrastructure after a cyber-attack, reportedly originating in Russia, took the web site down.

Even Georgia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs is using the Blogger infrastructure to disseminate information:see here “…… For the full article see here. For the map see here.

As for the Cyberattacks, the NYT published yesterday (August 12, 2008) that …

….”Weeks before bombs started falling on Georgia, a security researcher in suburban Massachusetts was watching an attack against the country in cyberspace.”…

An image from the Web site of the Georgian Parliament after it had been defaced showing Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili together with leaders of the Nazi regime

Jose Nazario of Arbor Networks in Lexington noticed a stream of data directed at Georgian government sites containing the message: “win+love+in+Rusia.”

Other Internet experts in the United States said the attacks against Georgia’s Internet infrastructure began as early as July 20, with coordinated barrages of millions of requests — known as distributed denial of service, or D.D.O.S., attacks — that overloaded and effectively shut down Georgian servers.

Researchers at Shadowserver, a volunteer group that tracks malicious network activity, reported that the Web site of the Georgian president, Mikheil Saakashvili, had been rendered inoperable for 24 hours by multiple D.D.O.S. attacks. They said the command and control server that directed the attack was based in the United States and had come online several weeks before it began the assault.

As it turns out, the July attack may have been a dress rehearsal for an all-out cyberwar once the shooting started between Georgia and Georgia. According to Internet technical experts, it was the first time a known cyberattack had coincided with a shooting war. See here the full article.

So, perhaps the Holy Grail of anticipating an imminent war, is to monitor unusual Internet activity on the globe, before there is any real troops displacement

Russian soldiers on top of an APC pass by a burning house on the way to Tskhinvali, capital of Georgian

The Talkback Syndrome and the Jerusalem Bulldozer Attack

After the bulldozer terrorists attack in Jerusalem on Thursday July 22, I published on NowPublic.com an article named “The Jerusalem syndrome :bulldozer runs wild in Jerusalem”.

The article was pure news not yet colored by personal opinion, and was immediately followed by updates from witnesses who almost get wounded or killed or where under heavy stress due to the murderous event they eye witnessed.

The point for republishing here hot news from 4 days ago is what I call te biased talkback syndrome of some commentators. No matter what you are writing about, those armchair commentators live in a world without causes, they sniff only effects and instill their so ‘called impartial views’ for the Palestinian side.

I would almost say that they don’t need the news any blank page of news will do the job,for the full article and his 36 comments see here: NowPublic

Here is an excerpt from the original article . After the article come the relevant comments, with poor or no relevance to the news.They are in bold letters. My own replies are in italic.

Source: ynetnews.com

The police on Tuesday morning reported of shots heard on Jerusalem’s King David Street after a bulldozer began running wild in the area.The police reported that the terrorist was shot dead and two people were injured.At around 2 pm, eyewitnesses reported seeing a bulldozer driver running wild in the city and overturning cars. Large rescue forces were dispatched to the area.

Dina, who works near the scene of the incident, told Ynet, “There are a lot of ambulances and police cars here. We heard three or four shots fired at the bulldozer driver.

At the beginning of the month, three people were murdered when an east Jerusalem terrorist travelling on a bulldozer, crashed into cars and buses in central Jerusalem.

Arik Blum, the manager of a nearby restaurant, added, “He overturned two vehicles. This bulldozer was smaller than the one used to carry out the attack at the beginning of the month. The bulldozer’s window is full of bullets.”

Here are the relevant comments and replies:

Heritage at 09:37 on July 22nd, 2008

“Every industrial tool has become possible instrument of terrorism.” This statement rings very true.

The D9 is the IDF’s main tool to destroy civilian homes. Israeli soldiers often give Palestinians no warning before they crash the massive vehicle through the walls of their homes. The rear blade, known as “the ripper,” tears up roads, pulling up water and sewage pipes. At least three Palestinians have been killed in recent years by the bulldozer and falling debris because they could not flee their homes in time.

Human rights organizations have documented the Israel Defense Force’s (IDF) systematic use of the D9 bulldozer in illegal demolitions throughout the West Bank and Gaza Strip. The IDF has demolished over 2,500 Palestinian homes in the Gaza Strip alone, most of them without military justification. Nearly two-thirds of those homes were in Rafah, a town and refugee camp on the southern border with Egypt. The Israeli military has used the Caterpillar bulldozer to raze over 10 percent of the town, and plans to demolish up to 20 percent more in connection with the government’s Gaza “disengagement” plan.

korzac at 15:00 on July 22nd, 2008

Your source is hrw.org headed by Kenneth Roth.

Look at “Ken Roth’s blood libel” published in the ‘Jerusalem Post’. Here are the opening lines …”A Malaysian newspaper recently published an article headlined “Israel deliberately targeting civilians, says Human Rights Watch.” Turkish newspapers ran similar items, repeating HRW’s statements that “Israel intentionally bombs civilians.” During the Lebanon War HRW’s press releases, opeds and interviews with officials were cited in hundreds of newspapers around the world, providing seeming legitimacy from a “neutral source” to the violent anti-Israel protests and calls for revenge. For HRW and executive director Kenneth Roth, Israel is a highly emotional focus, and their reports are often biased and unreliable.”…see more.

This was writen in 2006 at the time of the second Lebanon war. I suppose that hrw.org headed by Kenneth Roth, since then, has not changed his mind…So why should I believe that your today ’emotional and biased’ source is better than the Israeli source, Professor Gerald Steinberg the Political Studies Department Chair at Bar Ilan University, who write the ” “Ken Roth’s blood libel” article. His credentials are excellent..see here.

BTW, why don’t you observe what president Abbas said “and we condemn any attack against civilians from both sides [of the Israeli-Arab conflict],” . Or what Barak Obama said “The Democratic senator also said that his “thoughts and prayers go out to all who were injured, and to their families”, .

This is a war Heritage, with victims on both sides…

And a final word, if you want to know better the Arab side of human rights violation not only the ‘Israeli side’, visit ‘Emnisty International”….see here.

Heritage at 07:24 on July 24th, 2008

Why is a bulldozer a legitimate weapon for Israel and not the Palestinians?

Hi Korzac,

HRW is about as credible as they come. I understand that inside Israel they are dismissed as ’emotional and biased’. But your post and these comments are not about HRW, they are about bulldozers used as weapons against civilians.

Why is a bulldozer a legitimate weapon for Israel and not the Palestinians?

If the men in the Jerusalem bulldozer attacks are terrorists, what are the IDF forces and contractors who use them on a daily basis against civilians?

Thanks for the Amnesty International links, I’ve read many of their reports. HRW also has many reports about Palestinian human rights violations. You should check them out, perhaps you may find out why they are so respected in the rest of the world.

From Amnesty Inernational’s website:

korzac at 11:39 on July 24th, 2008

Hi heritage ,

Always good to see your comments about good causes but for the wrong points.

Here is a short story about bulldozers. Many years ago, when the Golan Heigth was Syrian, I worked with a bulldozer near the border, in plain Israeli territory, and was almost killed by Syrian snipers.. So we welded a few iron plate on the bulldozer, and see how nice, it becomes a defence bulldozer to save my life….

Well what you call a weapon is indeed a weapon in the hands of Muslim terrorist in Jerusalem. In the Israeli hands, among other tasks, if a bulldozer is needed it is for defence not for killing people…as in my case.

And see what Barack Obama has to say about defence:

“Israel should not negotiate with Hamas so long as the Islamist group poses a threat to Israeli citizens, US Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama said on Wednesday during his visit to the town of Sderot.

Obama said that if someone were firing on his home, where his two daughters were sleeping, he would do everything to stop the attacks – and that this is how he expects Israel to act as well.

During his brief visit to Sderot Obama also noted the terror attack in Jerusalem on Tuesday, Hezbollah attacks and the Iranian nuclear program, saying that all of these were genuine threats Israel faces alongside the Qassam rockets from Gaza. “

And for your …”Perhaps you may find out why thy are so respected in the rest of the world”.. So if Obama understand the Israeli situation is he not respected by the rest of the world, he the new messiah. And the Arab countries do they respect the Palestinians” for example Egypt with the blockade on her side of the Gaza Strip or Saudi with her petro-dollars is she respecting the Palestinians, and so on.

“The rest of the world’ is a slippery phrase. Are you entitled to speak for the rest of the world..I think that your “rest of the world”, in the western world, is a minority and nothing more, it is a modern arena where some armchair gladiators fights their ‘Israeli visions’, well as said in Arabic ‘Mabrouk’.

BTW. I am glad that you did discover Amnesty.org . Bring us some news from the Hamas, Palestinian human rigths violations.

A few concluding words. In general no matter what your arguments are, they are dismissed as irrelevant, mutilated and thrown away.

Sarkozy’s 2008 New Mediterranean Future

The Mediterranean 43 nations gathering under the auspices of President Sarkozy, is a well staged show.

Speaking from my own Israeli view, I dond’t feel a great enthusiasm when seeing the receptions at the Champ Elysee. The pictures are well know pictures of politicians accolades and handshaking with in the background, limousines, french soldiers in fancy uniforms and security men. Something like the G8.

Carla Bruni-Sarkozy, Bastille Day 2008

Sarkozy is trying to make his ‘grand coup’ especially with the Maghreb countries to minimise their emigration to France. As for Syria and Lebanon, old french protectorates and today in some way francophone countries, his involvement is perhaps useful but the main Israeli talks channel with Syria are via the Turkish mediators. Bashar Assad is one of the winner of this gathering, appearing together with all the other Arab countries, after a long period of isolation. But the Egyptian president Mubarak didn’t even give a look at Assad and some time later they are seen together, in a TV shot with president Sarkozy… And Syria’s Bashar Assad, two meter away from Israeli PM Olmert refuse to see PM Olmert. Libyan President Moammar Gadhafi didn’t like the whole idea and stayed home. This is a shortcut to the ‘sociology’ of this gathering.

Syrian President Bashar Assad refuse to ‘see’ Israeli PM Ehud Olmert.

In Israel we know what is the real ‘cash value’ of talks, ceasefire and signed treaties in the Middle East. With the Hamas there is a ceasefire broken every day. With Syria there are talks, but via Syria there is the gigantic rearmament of the Hezbollah. With the Hezbollah there is the prisoners swap this week, but the Israeli press predict that after the swap Hezbollah is ready to attack: according to their accounting they owe Israel a revenge for Mugniyah’s dead.

The call of President Sarkozy for a free nuclear middle east (Mediterranean is not possible: France has nuclear weapons,,) is at most not serious. The principal addressee is Iran and is not a part of the Mediterranean but her missiles and their firing range grant her a threatening participating ticket on the presidency stage.

So, the President Sarkozy’s show is a french romance a la Enrico Macias , the warm-up band, until the real world star and his band, McCain or Obama will begin their world tour show.

And after all this, I hope that deeds, not words and gala banquets, will be the output of this gathering.

PA Mahaboud Abbas, French President Sarkozy and Israeli PM Ehud Olmert, Bastille day 2008.

Albert Einstein and the new Berlin-Brandenbourg International Airport

“Yedioth Ahronot”. published yesterday (6.24.08) on his Hebrew printed edition: “Berlin considering to name it’s new international airport ‘Albert Einstein’ “.To be more precise Der Spiegel already hinted on October 18, 2007 to additional names Dietrich, Willy Brandt or von Stauffenberg? see here.

Construction of the new Airport Berlin Brandenburg International, see here, has started at Schönefeld and the new airport is scheduled for opening in 2011. It will be one on the bigest airport in Europe, and his greatness and vastness demands the name of an illustrious great men of fame, and Albert Einstein is a perfect candidate.

Photos source.

Well at a first glance, this is indeed a great honor for the Jewish people, to propose the name of Albert Einstein for the new Airport Berlin Brandenburg International, (what today is called the Schönefeld airport) ; in good accordance with the German restitution policy funded by millions of euros given to the holocaust survivors and other more discrete help for Israel’s security.

But I feel some uneasiness about this possible nomination. Because this is more a German issue than a Jewish or Israeli issue. Einstein lived in Berlin, and in 1933 was at his apogee as a scientists and as an international celebrity. I quote, …” Einstein was elected to the Prussian Academy of Science in Berlin in 1913. When he accepted the professorship of physics at the University of Berlin in 1914, he once more assumed German citizenship. The same year, he became director of the Kaiser Wilhelm Physical Institute in Berlin. He occupied both positions until 1933.”…

And then began the great debacle, I quote , …”After the rise of NAZI in Germany, Einstein left for USA. Einstein and relatives left Europe for the United States, on December 9, 1930. In 1933, the Nazi government took his property and deprived him of his positions and citizenship.”…see here.

It is only natural that in actual Germany, Albert Einstein’s destitution under the Nirenberg decrees, the calling of the ‘The General Theory of Relativity’ and his seminal contribution to the birth of quantum mechanics ‘Jewish Physics‘, finally leading to his escape from Germany’s Third Reich in 1930, is considered as an unbearable shame.

The Times, in 2000, nominated Einstein as the ‘Person of the Century’: he was the person whose vision reshaped the view of the universe. The Times only ratified a latent choice of a vast majority of people.

All this to say: Berlin is eager to restitute to Albert Einstein his citizenship and property in the form of a grandiose entrance gate “Albert Einstein (Berliner) International Airport”. But can you bargain such a deal for the name of the new Berliner airport? Is it not better to remember him as Albert Einstein who opened the gates of our cosmos, not the gates of an airport.

G.ho.st between Ramallah and Modiin

The Israeli-Gaza truce is a sort of ‘cooperation’ between enemies. But here, for a change, is a story of a cooperation between friends. Palestinians from Ramallah and Israelis from the town of Modiin works as partners in a start up company named G.ho.st. ,(Global Hosted Operating System).

The interesting points in this story is, that when Israelis and Palestinian put away the fumes of mistrust and fear, and create a reasonable environment of normality and flowing reciprocal good feelings, then the sky is the limit. Many will objects that the West Bank is not the best place to travel and to hold meetings between the 40 members of the Israeli-Arabic team ..But Zvi Schreiber , G.ho.st.’s British-born Israeli chief executive , who initially joined with Tareq Maayah, a Palestinian businessman, to start the Ramallah office in parallel to the Modiin office in Israel, found together the solutions to ‘abolish’ the wall by a virtual connection between their respective offices.

I quote,…”[Instead,] they trade ideas across flat screen monitors, their images broadcast through a video conference hook-up that connects their two offices, one in the West Bank, the other in Israel, in the first joint technology venture of its kind between Israelis and Palestinians.”..
…”No walls,” said Rami Abdulhadi, the company’s marketing director, a Palestinian, cheerfully quoting the company’s motto, noting their product “goes through the walls of the separation wall and the desktop that is on-line.”…
….”The Palestinian office, located here and staffed by about 35 software developers, is responsible for most of the research and development. A smaller Israeli team works about 21 kilometers, or 13 miles, away in the central Israeli town of Modiin. The stretch of road between the offices is separated by checkpoints, watch towers and a barrier made mostly of chain link fence and in some areas soaring concrete walls, built by Israel with the stated goal of preventing the entry of Palestinian suicide bombers.”…
….”It’s the first time I met Palestinians of my generation face-to-face,” Rothman said of her work with G.ho.st. “It shows how on the people-to-people level you can really get things done.” The company’s budget is a relatively paltry $2.5 million. Employing Palestinians means money goes farther; salaries for Palestinian programmers are about a third of what they are in Israel.”…
…” ‘We are one team, employed by the same company and everyone has shares in the company’ he said.”…
” ‘We are doing something across cultures and across two sides of a tough conflict. I was prepared for the possibility that it might be difficult, but it hasn’t been,’ Schreiber said.”…. see here for the full article.

Zvi Schreiber.

Tareq Maayah.

Purposely I didn’t mention the details of G.ho.st, a web-based virtual computer so that users can access their desktop, files and documents from any computer with an Internet connection…. etcetera. The details are on their site here. The rarity of their achievement is that, in a time of dangerous cultural and political unrest, Israelis and Palestinians can work together on topnotch hi-tec projects.

And what after the Gaza Truce?

Until yesterday, it seems that before truce will begin, Hamas tries to show that he will have the last word. Yesterday morning IDF prevented a terror attack by the Army of Islam (an al Qaeda affiliate). In the evening ( 06.17.08, 21:25), 7 qassams where fired on Sderot, see here.

And today..:.”Despite the formal announcements from Jerusalem, Gaza and Cairo announcing the ceasefire agreement will go into effect at 6:00 am on Thursday, it was the routine of incessant attacks Israel’s South awoke to on Wednesday.

With less than 24 hours to go, Palestinian terror groups opened fire at Israelis on the border and launched Qassam rockets towards the western Negev”…, see here,

I, as most people in Israel, consider the proposed 6 months truce as an interlude serving the specific interest of both sides, and afterward, if the truce will last, the Hamas will find his way to embark on a new round of belligerence.

The Israeli press confirm, from his own sources, what most of us think:

..”Less than 24 hours before going into effect, officials say truce expected to be ‘short-lived and fragile.’ Olmert’s office says issue of Gilad Shalit part of understandings. ‘We want to make the most of any opportunity to bring peace and quiet to residents of the South, but no one here is cracking open the champagne and declaring Hamas has beaten its swords into plowshares, see here.

And Gaza Hamas leader Mahmoud Zahar confirm it with his own words:

..”Speaking after another Hamas official outlined details of the truce at a news conference in Gaza City, Zahar said Hamas would not put down its weapons, because he did not believe Israel would implement the cease-fire. “We don’t trust them, but let’s see,” he said, see here.

A major cause of the Israeli disbelief derive from terrorist fractions as the al-Qiadia affiliate receiving directives from outside The Gaza Strip.

..”Despite the imminent truce, security officials said there was concern that other Palestinian terror factions such as Islamic Jihad or the Army of Islam would try to sabotage the deal by perpetrating a major attack that would force Israel to respond.” see here.

The feeling that the truce is only is only a preparatory act in the future great drama is best expressed by Vice Premier Ramon:

“I oppose the lull, because it’s another victory for radical Islam,” Ramon said. “It won in Lebanon and now it will be winning in Gaza. So why be moderate? After all, why is Hamas seeking an agreement? Because this will be its chance to represent Gaza as Hamastan state.”, see here.

Well what can be anticipated? Al the local actors take their respective place on the stage. Hamas exploit the truce for consolidating his rockets armament to threaten the whole Negev. Hezbollah restoring his grip on south Lebanon under the nose of the UN forces, and rearmed with a formidable arsenal of rockets to threaten north Israel. Syria in peace talks standby. Nuclear Iran, their acknowledged sponsor, funding and arming them, with in her sleeve the belligerent Ahmadinejad.

And Israel, I quote ..”We are giving a chance to the cease-fire, but we are preparing for action,” IDF Chief-of-Staff Lt.-Gen. Gabi Ashkenazi said during a meeting of the Knesset’s Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee.” see here.

A Jewish State in Germany as an Artwork

In the name of ART everything is possible. Ron Edelman a graduate student at an art university in Weimar, relying heavily on this axiom, proposes to launch an alternative Jewish state in Germany in the state of Thuringia with the town of Weimar as capital, about 10 km from Buchenwald, the Nazi concentration camp.

“Magav in Weimar”, Ron Edelman.

I quote from the Israeli newspaper “haaretz”,

….”Whenever someone launches an initiative towards establishing a Jewish state in addition to the one already in existence, there is invariably a ripple effect. This time, however, an even bigger stir than usual has been caused by the proposed site of the “second Israel”: Germany.”…

…”Ronen Eidelman, a journalist who espouses politically leftist views and is currently completing his masters studies at an art university in Weimar, says the movement that he heads is in fact his final academic project.”…

…” One of the motivating factors which compelled Eidelman to conceive of his idea was the famous speech delivered by Iran’s president calling for the elimination of the state of Israel and the establishment of a Jewish-run entity in an alternate location in Europe. ‘It’s clear that Ahmadinejad is an anti-Semite and Holocaust denier and not some great theoretician, but he touched upon a very exposed nerve.’A video academic work produced by the artist Yael Bartana, which depicts a Polish member of parliament calling on the Jews to return to Poland (“We miss you”), served as the tipping point for Eidelman.

‘The state of Thuringia is becoming more empty of people, the economy is not successful, and there is no immigration,” Eidelman said. “They’re hurting from the fact that there are no foreigners here. Hitler’s dream of racially pure states has proven to be a nightmare. You walk down the street and notice all the girls look alike. I’m going to convince the Germans that a Jewish state here is to their benefit.’ “ see more.

The ‘haaretz’ ‘s article also mention’s another Israeli artist Yael Bertana whose video work, “Mary Koszmary” (Nightmares), , presented at the Foksal Gallery Foundation was the trigger to Edelsman video, Yael Bertana’s wants to import 3 million of Jews to Poland and in one scene a Polish member of parliament says ” We are missing you” :

See here for the full scene.

In the Middle East, the law of improbable events becoming real events, works overtime : perhaps Ron Edelman will import a Jewish state to Goethe’s Weimar and Yael Bertana resurrect 3 million of Polish Jews, both in the name of Art..

UK ‘University and College Union’ the new UK branch of the Palestinian Boycott of Israel

Here is a short story of how the british ‘University and College Union’ (UCU), an organization of about 120.000 members, has become the UK Palestinian branch of the ‘Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural boycott campaign.’, see here

Ron Prosor,the Israeli ambassador the UK, complains in an article on the ‘Telegraph’, I quote:

..”Israel faces an intensified campaign of delegitimisation, demonisation and double standards. Britain has become a hotbed for radical anti-Israeli views and a haven for disingenuous calls for a ‘One state solution’, a euphemistic name for a movement advocating Israel’s destruction.

In 2007 members of the University and College Union (UCU) voted to sever links with Israeli universities in a move which provoked outrage from politicians and academics around the world, and prompted Jewish leaders to condemn it as a “frightening assault” on academic freedom.’..

Union leaders later dropped the proposal but last month delegates at the UCU’s annual conference passed a similar motion condemning the “humanitarian catastrophe imposed on Gaza by Israel”, which could pave the way for a boycott of Israeli educational institutions. They claim academics in Israel are “apparently complicit” with what they call the “illegal settlement” of Palestinian land and “killing of civilians, see more.

Ron Prosor speaks an open ‘diplomatic language’ . But the boycott’s concrete language are the real daily aims I found on the Palestinian boycott site:

…”Refrain from participation in any form of academic and cultural cooperation, collaboration or joint projects with Israeli institutions;

Advocate a comprehensive boycott of Israeli institutions at the national and international levels, including suspension of all forms of funding and subsidies to these institutions;

Promote divestment and disinvestment from Israel by international academic institutions;

Work toward the condemnation of Israeli policies by pressing for resolutions to be adopted by academic, professional and cultural associations and organizations;

Support Palestinian academic and cultural institutions directly without requiring them to partner with Israeli counterparts as an explicit or implicit condition for such support.”…see more.

Now as a humble vassal of the Palestinian boycott, the UCU Congress Agenda to boycott Israel is a rephrasing of the Palestinian aims:

…..”Congress notes the

1. continuation of illegal settlement, killing of civilians and the impossibility of civil life, including education;

2. humanitarian catastrophe imposed on Gaza by Israel and the EU;

3. apparent complicity of most of the Israeli academy;

4. legal attempts to prevent UCU debating boycott of Israeli academic institutions; and legal advice that such debates are lawful

Congress affirms that

5. criticism of Israel or Israeli policy are not, as such, anti-semitic;

6. pursuit and dissemination of knowledge are not uniquely immune from their moral and political consequences;

Congress resolves that

7. colleagues be asked to consider the moral and political implications of educational links with Israeli institutions, and to discuss the occupation with individuals and institutions concerned, including Israeli colleagues with whom they are collaborating;

8. UCU widely disseminate the personal testimonies of UCU and PFUUPE delegations to Palestine and the UK, respectively;

9. the testimonies will be used to promote a wide discussion by colleagues of the appropriateness of continued educational links with Israeli academic institutions;

10. UCU facilitate and encourage twinning arrangements and other direct solidarity with Palestinian institutions; see more

A commentator on the UCU boycott agenda wrote:

” [Bill posted on April 17, 2008] How can this NOT affect collective bargaining and general advocacy of academic interests in college and universities. If the UCU is increasingly known for boycotting Jews and only Jews, its officers playing the two-faced shuffle, and being a university union in name only (rather than a front for politically correct bigots), then how do people entrenched in the university as faculty and administrators and students take them seriously when its time to deal with assessment, accreditation, workload, paying the university bills without cutting the faculty raises and of course, creating an effective and free working/teaching environment?

As Brian says, these idiots are bankrupting the union financially and morally, but they are also trashing it operationally. Universities have a mandate to educate. In the battle between a psuedo academic union, misbehaving as element of the UCU wants, and administration, who do you think will come out on top in both the eyes of the law and the public?

Good Luck to Jon!” see here.

From the ‘TIMESONLINE’ (May 29, 2008) here is an additional quote…”The result will further sour relations between British academia and international scholars after a similar vote last year provoked outrage around the world. Steven Weinberg, the Nobel prize-winning physicist, cancelled his visit to Britain in protest against calls for boycotts of Israel by journalists and doctors and the UCU motion in 2007.” see here.

I can not argue with the Palesitian boycott campaign’s wisdom and the UCU their new branch in the UK , ruled by a Union Leadership from old days British Empire,. But where is the wisdom of the UCU’s 120.000 members…..”.

Young X-Men Magneto in the Holocaust

The Israeli “haaretz” newspaper is considered as the ‘newspaper for thinking people ‘. So I looked with some suspicion and disbelief at the headline “X-Men mutant survives the Holocaust in new Marvel Comics miniseries”. But if X-Men becomes Bon Ton for ‘Thinking People’, then Marvel Comics and the Holocaust is OK.

Well the bare facts are that indeed Marvel Comics create a new story, I quote… “Last week, in Philadelphia, Marvel Comics announced that Greg Pak, best known for writing such characters as Iron Man and the Incredible Hulk, would be penning a new miniseries in September called “Magneto: Testament.” see here.

‘

Quoting directly from Marvel’s site:

“This coming September, writer Pak and artist Carmine Di Giandomenico invite X-fanatics on a rare journey way back to the Master of Magnetism’s adolescent days as a mutant magnate in training. In MAGNETO: TESTAMENT, that journey weaves its way through 1930s Germany where we find pre-teen Erik Magnus Lehnsherr struggling with a unique gift as well as a ubiquitous curse around him as a young Jewish boy in the middle of the Nazi stronghold.

Not your typical tale of a Marvel character developing his extraordinary powers, this five-issue series tackles the common anxieties of a teenager with the far more severe threat of anti-Semitism supported by martial law.

“Like so many classic Marvel characters, [Magneto] has to grapple with the typical problems of any scrawny outsider: family problems, schoolyard bullies, and first crushes,” Pak explains. “But every little conflict takes on a terrifying, new dimension as the scope and inexorable advance of the Nazi menace becomes clearer.” see here.

Anyway,the ‘Magneto: Testament’ miniseries has a prestigious precursor, Art Spiegelman’s Holocaust comics, Pulitzer winning prize ‘Maus’, a standard for any creative artist approaching the subject in its comics form.

And a final word, from an unexpected site (for me), I quote this..as a ‘preview’…”Some disagreement remains among fans and perhaps among writers about whether Magneto is Jewish or Gypsy (Roma). Possibly he is both, with one of his parents being Jewish and the other being Roma. Currently opinion seems to be leaning in the direction of regarding Magneto as Jewish. Certainly the successful X-Men movie (2000) seemed to portray Magneto as Jewish, as the movie opened showing him as a youth being forced along with other Jews into a Nazi concentration camp. The first X-Men movie and its sequel, X2: X-Men United were both directed by Jewish film director Bryan Singer”….etcetera…Visit this site for a wealth of information on the religion of comics characters.

Source of pictures Marvel Comics.

German Neo-Nazis supporting Israel

Our very unique time is full of surprises, and the song by Doris Day “Que Serra, Serra” (whatever will be, will be) receive new confirmations every day.

I remember the upstir in Israel when on September 2007 the police announced the arrest of a neo-Nazi gang, all from Petah Tikva a town near Tel Aviv, see more.

And today, why to be surprised, if “Que Serra, Serra” is true then look at the neo-Nazi blog “National Sozialisten fur Israel“. Now, what’s better than to quote the neo-Nazi’s own blog under his headline “Other about us” and read the Israeli “haaretz” newspaper telling the news. I quote…the quote…”German neo-Nazis: We’re pro-Israel, condemn anti-Semitism”.

Nazis against anti-Semitism? As bizarre as that sounds, a group of Germans which calls itself “National Socialists For Israel” launched its Web site in support of Israel.

“Stop the hatred of the Jewish people,” the Web site reads. “The Jews are a healthy, strong nation.”

The organization – whose members have yet to reveal themselves to the public – claims that Israel’s right to exist is anchored in the principles of social Darwinism, the same principles which the Nazis adopted prior to the Second World War.

“Israel earned the right to live among the nations [after emerging] from unending wars,” the group writes on the site. “Israel also has a right to exist. This nation also has culture… The nation of Israel is appreciated… It is our duty, as neo-Nazis, to defend this supreme success. Not just for the German people and the European cultural sphere, but also, especially, for Israel.”

As such, “Nazis for Israel” also leveled criticism at their colleagues in the neo-Nazi National Democratic Party (NPD), calling them “politicos, cowards, and reactionaries.”

“Show us proof of a Jewish plot to dominate the world,” they wrote in a rare manifesto which was posted on their Web site.

These unusual statements on the internet compliment the group’s other public campaigns, including the dissemination of bumper stickers. One of the stickers features a picture of Reinhard Heydrich, the senior Nazi official who chaired the Wansee Conference where the Final Solution was hatched. Underneath the photo reads: “As a Nazi, I’m a Zionist.”

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Another sticker shows a photo of Israel Defense Forces soldiers during the Second Lebanon War under the heading: “2,000 years of struggling to survive – respect to those worthy of it.”

In terms of the group’s attitude towards the Holocaust, the organization says: “We must view what is referred to as ‘the Holocaust’ within the context of acts of self-defense undertaken by nations under threat.” It added, however, “that there is no justification for it.” Instead, the Nazis ought to have supported the Zionist cause, the group states.

The group claims it held its first meeting of activists in Berlin last month. It said the meeting touched on issues ranging from “solidarity with Israel, anti-Semitism, capitalism, and Islam.” see here.

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Ynet also reported the story, Here is a quote:

‘Stop spreading lies’
“The Jewish people still exist. Their national movement, supported by brave warriors has been able to form a state and expel foreign elements… For 60 year now, an army of young men and women has defended Israel against all foes,” said the site.

Further supportive messages called for the Nazi party to “stop spreading anti Semitic lies about a worldwide Jewish plot” and demanded of anti Semites to “show us proof of Jewish domination over Germany and the world.” see here.

The original neo-Nazis manifest is here in German language.

As always there are the sceptics and the believers.

Social experts following Germany’s extreme right are skeptical of the new group, with some saying it is the product of a radical Left-wing-led provocation. Others, however, believe it may be a genuine new movement.

“There have always been fringe groups within Nazism that have supported a national home for the Jewish people, but the fact that they have a positive attitude towards Israel does not make them any less anti-Semitic,” said Anita Kahana, who heads an foundation in Germany working against extreme right-groups. “Mostly, they are trying to stir an ideological provocation”, see here.

Anyway, today we have in Israel a neo-Nazi anti-Semitic gang, and in Germany a neo-Nazi pro-Israeli group condemning anti-Semitism.

…”Que Serra, Serra”…(on YouTube.)

This article was published on NowPublic.com, here are the comments. Look at my page here.

jordan at 08:34 on June 6th, 2008

good stuff: Officially the strangest story I’ve read all day… it’s early still, but I don’t anything’s gonna beat pro-Israel neo-Nazis in terms of sheer WTF-factor.

korzac at 09:17 on June 6th, 2008

….The “Israeli anti-semitic neo-Nazi gang” againts the “German neo-Nazis pro-Israeli group”,, a new league,,

ACE PRESTON at 10:14 on June 6th, 2008

good stuff:

korzac, I like this story. It’s good stuff.

korzac at 10:29 on June 6th, 2008

Ace Preston, thanks for the GS.

moonwolf at 11:33 on June 6th, 2008

I guess they realized they have more in common with Zionist Israel than they thought!

By the way, social Darwinism is a meaningless modern term, meant to somehow legitimize vicious brutal domination of others as an evolutionary Darwinian ideal. Anyone who has actually read Darwin’s works and understand the concepts knows this singularly bankrupt idea was not what he suggested as an adaptive behavior, nor one that moves evolution forward.

He would be the first to vehemently contradict such a contention.

moonwolf at 11:32 on June 6th, 2008

good stuff: korzac, I like this story. It’s good stuff.

korzac at 13:47 on June 6th, 2008

Moonwolf, perhaps do they mistakenly interpreting Zionism for their own benefits.I think that their attitude is pure pathologie. As to Social Darwinism, the subject is controversial..but I agree with you, because not always a Darwinian extrapolation is a solution to social problems.

Thanks fot the GS.

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