The Last Exile

Foreign Policy magazine has posted highlights of Freedom House’s annual report with a listing of the 20 least free countries in the world. North Korea ranks #1 and none of the big fat nasty places mentioned are a surprise per say. Well, except - I did think Somalia should rank higher than #5 and while I never thought Libya would be an easy place to live-in, I am kind of surprised to see Libya trumped a bigger hell-hole than Somalia.

Now, if I could just get my head around the idea that it is more desirable to be citizen of Somalia rather than a Libya. It just doesn’t quite pass my inner sniff test. Zimbabwe did not even make the list or rate a dishonorable mention. What’s up with that? In fact, it looks like the entirety of Central and South American is no longer deserving of a mention among the worst of the worse…which is either a cause for celebration or someone(s) possesses really poor world geography skills.

Depending on your geopolitics – China holds either one or two spots on the list. Once as Tibet (China 9), and then again, as China (12). I don’t mean to give the impression I am suddenly going soft on commies but I have real doubts China 2010 rates a place in the top 20.

While the dictators/despots of Africa earn 5 dishonorable mentions 4 FSU satellites are given rather prominent positions on the list. Is this an appropriate time to interject and just say a small prayer of thanksgiving for the fact some of my ancestors all got the hell of out Belarus (10) – alive and in one piece. Egad, would it ever suck to be me in Belarus now.

Guess who didn’t make the list or a mention? Israel, which doesn’t surprise me in the least but Israel’s omission has probably made the world’s collective mouth gasp in horror for such a glaring and obvious omission. The Saudis and the Syrians make the list, and the Saudis’ 16th spot beats the Syrian’s 17th which is probably the only time in the last 100 years that a Saudis have beaten anyone other than a slave or a woman. Again from this region, I am rather surprised to see not the slightest nod Yemen’s way. Speaking of misses, Iran does not clock in anywhere. No doubt Neda and thousands of other Iranians would probably be rather startled by that fact as well – well they would; if they weren’t already dead.

I’m posting this little bit of Euroweinie nonsense into my ‘still grateful my ancestors left the Old world file.” David Pryce-Jones:

In the course of his speech in her honour, the father of the bride then informed the audience that the European Union has passed a Gender Equality Bill. One provision of this preposterous and impudent measure is that fathers are no longer allowed to give away their daughters in the traditional church ceremony. Apparently that is to treat daughters as chattels. The whole European Union is on the point of breaking up, Greece is in flames and the Germans about to rebel, several countries in the eurozone are bankrupt beyond redemption, the euro itself has failed and soon there may be no currency for Europeans to trade in — and the giant statesmen of Brussels come up with a prohibition on fathers giving away their daughters in marriage as fathers have done in country after country, century after century.

I’m just grateful my tax dollars don’t (yet) support the Euro-bureaucrats and their big brains.

A little over a week ago I had a post up with the video of a Moldovan Priest and his parishioners going postal over a Menorah put up by the local Jewish community in the public square for Chanukah.

It is not often we – the North American descendents of Eastern Europeans – get to see first hand the classic and apparently enduring face of Christian ‘Old European’ styled anti-Semitism in action. The Moldovan Orthodox Church has come in for some heavy criticism internationally and the Moldovan government has been embarrassed publicly among the community of nations for this form of Christian fascism and has promised a clampdown of sorts. Although, I suspect the government won’t easily be re-making the Moldovian Church hierarchy into a silk purse any time soon.

Ynet News:

The Moldovan Orthodox Church on Wednesday blamed the local Jewish community for the recent rally in which a public menorah was torn down and a cross was put in its place. During the December 13th incident, dozens of people led by an Orthodox priest smashed a menorah in Moldova’s capital Chisinau, using hammers and iron bars to remove the candelabra during Hanukkah.

The 1.5 meter (5-foot)-tall ceremonial candelabrum was retrieved and reinstalled. The national government said in a statement that “hatred, intolerance and xenophobia” are unacceptable. According to a report, published Monday by the Russian Interfax news agency, the church said in a statement, “We believe that this unpleasant incident in the center of the capital could have been avoided if the menorah had been placed near a memorial for victims of the Holocaust.”

The church said it opposed the form of the protest, and that it respects “the feelings and belief of other cults that are legally registered on the territory of the Republic of Moldova, and expects a similar attitude from their side,” according to the report.

“At the same time,” the statement continued, “we think it inappropriate to put a symbol of the Jewish cult in a public place connected to the history and faith of our people, especially because Chanukah is classified by the cult books of Judaism as a ‘holiday of blessing’ that symbolizes the victory of Jews over non-Jews.”

‘Jewish cult, ‘cult books of Judaism’. Oy vey.

Modern anti-Semitism isn’t just for Muslims and it remains alive and well – in Moldova – among other places. An Orthodox Russian priest and his parishioners practice ‘inter-faith dialogue’ – circa Chanukah 2009. Ha’aretz:

Dozens of people led by an Orthodox priest smashed a menorah in Moldova’s capital, using hammers and iron bars to remove the candelabra during Hanukkah, officials said. The 1.5 meter(5-foot)-tall ceremonial candelabrum was retrieved, reinstalled and is now under police guard.

Police said they were investigating but there was no official reaction from Moldova’s Orthodox Church, which is part of the Russian Orthodox Church and counts 70 percent of Moldovans as members.

Let’s roll to the video before You Tube takes it down.

Have I mentioned lately how eternally grateful that I am for my ancestors leaving Eastern Europe decades ago?

Since this is my morning of hate I thought showcase the toxic diversity of modern anti-Semitism. The first comes via You Tube (h/tip Elder of Ziyon) and for context I will quote the introductory blurb from the site as an introduction:

On 1st December 2009, there was a pro-Israel rally outside the Palestine Solidarity Campaign ‘Christmas concert’ at Bloomsbury Central Baptist Church on Tuesday December 1st, starting at 6pm.

British Anti-Semitism

And a Merry Christmas to you John Sullivan.

The second comes from the Ukraine courtesy of Ha’aretz:

Stories appearing on several Ukrainian Web sites claim Israel has brought around some 25,000 Ukrainian children into the country over the past two years in order to harvest their organs.

The claim, which was made by a Ukrainian philosophy professor and author at a pseudo-academic conference in Kiev five days ago, is the latest expression of a wave of anti-Semitism in the country. It comes a few months after a Swedish tabloid ran an article alleging that Israel Defense Forces soldiers have killed Palestinian civilians for their organs.

Jews, Israel and anti-Semitism have become a major motif of the presidential election campaign in Ukraine, with some figures making anti-Semitic statements and others condemning them. Some candidates, including a Jew and someone whose rivals claim is Jewish, blame a third rival – Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko – for bringing anti-Semitism into the race.

“Ukraine’s political system is a parody of democracy,” Russia’s Chief Rabbi, Berel Lazar, said.

Vyacheslav Gudin told the estimated 300 attendees of the Kiev conference a detailed story about a Ukrainian man’s fruitless search for 15 children who had been adopted in Israel. The children, Gudin said, had clearly been taken by Israeli medical centers, where they were used for “spare parts.” Gudin said it was essential that all Ukrainians be made aware of the genocide Israel was perpetrating.

The conference, some of whose participants belong to a Slavic-rights movement, also featured two professors who presented a book blaming “the Zionists” for the Ukrainian famine of the 1930s as well as the country’s current condition.

Ah, yes, the old blood libel dressed up courtesy of Ukrainian academics. What in the world would we do without Ukrainian academics? And then, finally Jewish Israel points me to the more modern version of anti-Semitism which plays on the theme – we love you even as we hate you and pervert your symbols. For those not in the know – this tune uses the Israeli national anthem – the Hatikvah or The Hope to rewrite and deliver its toxic message. Here is a short English translation of the Hatikvah.

As long as in the heart, within,
A Jewish soul still yearns,
And onward, towards the ends of the east,
An eye still gazes toward Zion;

Our hope is not yet lost,
The hope of two thousand years,
To be a free people in our land,
The land of Zion and Jerusalem.

Keep those words in mind as we roll to the video produced by the Westboro Baptist Church.

I think my hate is done for the morning.

The Austrians, probably feel because they are not ‘Germans’ therefore they run no risk of being accused of systemic anti-Semitism. Although, there are a number of cultural similarities from both the past and present where indubitably the Austrians exhibit behaviour far more like their German cousins then the Austrians let on. This is just one of them. Arutz Sheva

Young female athletes from Israel’s fencing team swept top medals at a 28-nation European tournament held in Mödling, Austria last week – but faced an additional challenge when they stood on the winners’ podium to receive their medals: the organizers did not play the recording of the Israeli national anthem, and the Israeli winners had to sing the anthem on their own, a capella style. The Israeli team’s staff has no doubt that the incident was intentional.

Israel’s Dana Strelnikov, 14, won the gold medal and Alona Kamarov won the bronze at the tournament, which hosted 120 fencers aged up to 17. Both Israeli medalists hail from the northern Israeli town of Ma’alot, whose fencing club has produced many of Israel’s best young fencers. But as they stood on the podium and awaited the opening sounds of national anthem HaTikvah – they heard only silence. The girls and their trainers quickly understood what was happening and proceeded to sing the entire anthem on their own, with some scattered support from voices in the spectators’ bleachers.

The Israeli national team’s coach, Yaakov Friedman, told Arutz Sheva that the Israeli team faces constant political challenges on the international circuit. At a tournament in Göteborg, Sweden, in January this year, Israel won the silver medal and when the medalists were already on the podium the organizers informed Friedman that they do not have a recording of the Israeli anthem. The team sang the anthem without the help of the recording. It was understood by everyone, Friedman said, that the reason was Operation Cast Lead in Gaza, which had just ended.

In the Mödling incident, Friedman said, the organizers approached him when the winners were on the podium and told him that “we do not have a recording of the new Israeli anthem, just the old one.” Friedman informed them that to the best of his knowledge, Israel has only had one anthem – HaTikvah – since it was founded, but this did not change anything, and the team had to sing a capella again.

The concept of Jewish self-defense is obviously a completely foreign and alien concept to the Austrians.

I don’t usually post after I put the tune up for the night but I had a little free time to kill so I thought I would tackle the 3-day backlog in my reader and discovered there is a whole level of stupid which I have never really gotten around to contemplating when it comes to Europeans and what passes for their ‘right’-wing. Ha’aretz:

For some time now, spokespeople for Hungary’s extreme right have been arguing that Israel aims to “colonize” Hungary. As proof of this claim, the right often misinterprets an (unfortunate) quote by President Shimon Peres, who spoke about Israel’s investments abroad, and said that Israel was “buying out Manhattan, Poland, Hungary…”

Now these claims have escalated to the next level: A well known extreme rightist Web site, www.hunhir.hu, is now saying that Israel and American Jews are planning to transport three million Jews with dual Israeli-U.S. citizenship into Hungary over the next two years

According to the Website, the quarters designed to house the new immigrants are already being built. Every one of them will sign an agreement to stay in the country for at least ten years, after which they will automatically become the owner of an apartment in the designated quarters, the Website says.

This operation, including a guaranteed job for degree holders, is being organized by Judit Polgar, the famous Jewish Hungarian chess player who currently resides in the U.S., the Website argues. The first 1,800 immigrants, the Website goes on to say, have already arrived in Hungary, but their whereabouts have not been found, despite efforts to locate them.

Hunhir.hu can also explain their argument, saying that Hungary was chosen for this “colonization” by American Jews because it has “the best natural attributes in the world.”

I really don’t understand where these people get these ideas, and even if there was an alleged ’surplus’ of Jews; I still think Hungary is a hard sell from the Elder’s perspective…considering how it worked out the last time. Did I mention recently how eternally grateful I am that my ancestors left Europe?

At least once or twice a week I am reminded to be grateful to my ancestors for leaving ‘Old Europe” behind two generations ago. In the age of Putin and Post-Putin, the totalitarian nature of the Russian state once again rears its ugly racist clutches.

This time it is an outraged Tatar blogger who objected to the forced baptism of Tatar infants by Russian Orthodox priests and expressively against the wishes of the children’s parents. If that wasn’t outrageousness enough, Rafiz Kashapov, a blogger who posted “No to Christianity” has been found guilty of ‘provoking interethnic and inter-religious hostility (contrary to Section 1, Article 282, of the Russian Criminal Code. The Moscow Times:

Last Friday’s conviction in a Naberezhny Chelny court of a Tatar activist who had spoken out against the baptism of Tatar infants by a Russian Orthodox priest without the permission of their parents or guardians has sparked protests from the Tatar Social Center (TOTs) as well as from human and religious rights groups elsewhere.

On Friday, the court found TOTs leader Rafiz Kashapov guilty of provoking interethnic and inter-religious hostility (under Section 1 of Article 282 of the Russian Criminal Code) for his article “No to Christianization!” in which he protested the baptism of infants of Tatar nationality, a traditionally Muslim people, and gave him a suspended sentence of 18 months.

The article appeared on Kashapov’s blog shortly after a Russian Orthodox priest baptized the children on January 16th of this year without the knowledge or agreement of their parents. His article led to protests in several cities of Tatarstan, and his blog was subsequently suppressed by the authorities.

Now, following Kashapov’s conviction and protests by several rights groups, his own Tatar Social Center has issued an appeal to human rights groups, social and political organizations, and the media of Tatarstan and Russia, denouncing this action and demanding that the authorities reverse course.

Shameful, absolutely shameful.

What country would fine a rabbi be fined for praying in a synagogue? Apparently, Mother Russia has returned to her roots – Ynet News:

The circumstances surrounding the deportations and the justifications provided by the Russian authorities for such actions are particularly concerning because they are reminiscent of the glory days of institutional anti-Semitism in the country. Rabbi Eliezer Kaplun and Rabbi Chaim Friedman returned to Russia after a vacation in Israel only to be told by airport officials that their visas had been revoked without any further explanation.

Rabbi Zvi Hershcowitz was deported last week after a local court found him guilty of failing to notify police of his change of residence. Rabbi Yisroel Silberstein was convicted in court for, among other things, praying in a synagogue.

The government contends that anti-Semitism was not a factor in revoking these rabbis’ visas, but rather that the rabbis violated Russian immigration and labor laws. Russia’s Immigration Ministry maintains a list of professions permissible for foreign residents. ‘Rabbi’ is not on this list. For this reason, immigration officials refuse to issue work visas to rabbis arriving in the country. Therefore, once rabbis begin working in Jewish communities in the country, court orders are issued against them and they are deported.

File this under the more things change, the more they stay the same.