The Zionist Conspiracy |
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A clandestine undertaking on behalf of Israel, the Jets and the Jews. 
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Wednesday, November 24, 2004
Barghouti and Yad Vashem Today's Jerusalem Post and Haaretz both published excellent editorials in today's paper. The Jerusalem Post's editorial line has become somewhat more leftist since David Horovitz became editor-in-chief, but that didn't stop them from strongly objecting to a release of Fatah terrorist leader Marwan Barghouti. Their editorial states, in part: "[Barghouti] seems to have captured the imagination of some Palestinian, American, and even Israeli opinion makers... "If there is anyone more responsible than Yasser Arafat for the needless terror war that has cost thousands of Israelis and Palestinians their lives, it is Barghouti, who proudly claims to be that war's architect... "To some, all of this is a non sequitur, since it is not up to Israel, after all, to choose a new Palestinian leader. If a majority of Palestinians want Barghouti to lead them, why should Israelis, particularly those who believe in democracy, stand in the way? Why should Israel insist on keeping him in jail? "The reason is a matter of both national dignity and the rule of law... "It is ironic that many of the people who say we should not choose Palestinian leaders are ready to anoint Barghouti as the only legitimate leader, especially when that 'legitimacy' is based mainly on slaughtering Israelis. Should our highest aspiration for the post-Arafat era be someone who tried to out-Arafat Arafat?" Haaretz's editorial concerns the new database on the Yad Vashem website which has posted the names of, and information about, 3,000,000 of the Jews who were murdered in the Holocaust. In part, Haaretz editorialized: "It is very difficult to digest the scope of the horror of the Holocaust. How can one grasp the murder of six million Jews whose only crime was that they were Jews? But perhaps now, through the Internet, it will be possible to look at the picture of innocent Leah of the house of First, hugging her two children, Shifra and Salek, who died in Warsaw, or at Heinrich and Margarete Yaacobi of Berlin, who died in Theresienstadt, and from their life stories, the visitors can begin to build a broader picture. "Beyond the unfathomable tragedy in the destruction of six million people, a tour of the Pages of Testimony also reveals how great the loss was to the Jewish people, and not merely the numerical loss. So many many scientists, rabbis, artists, intellectuals and public servants, people who fulfilled their potential and people who only partially did so, whose lives were ended instantly and whose contributions to the Jewish people and the state of Israel can only be guessed at... "When we visit the Yad Vashem web site and look at the faces of the dead, it is not a one-way view. Those people, who could have been with us and part of us now, look back at us, and with questing eyes." While not intended, the Haaretz editorial is further reason for why Barghouti must not be released. The murder of many Jews (and a Greek Orthodox monk) by Barghouti is also an unfathomable tragedy to the Jewish people. Some of the victims fulfilled their potential and some of them only partially did so. All of their lives were ended instantly and their contributions to the Jewish people and the state of Israel can only be guessed at. Releasing their murderer is the ultimate indignity to both them and us. Jewish Press Column My column in this week's Jewish Press is online and also appears below. The piece argues that the exit polls did not accurately estimate the Jewish vote in the presidential election, and contains raw data that did not appear in my prior posts (here and here) on the topic. The Jewish Vote: Don’t Believe The Exit Polls The election day exit poll results have been reported as factual throughout the general and Jewish media. If they are to be believed, President Bush received no more than 25 percent of the Jewish vote. It is reasonable to be concerned that in light of these polls, President Bush will be less supportive of Israel in his second term, concluding that former Secretary of State James Baker was right when he used a vulgarity in dismissing Jewish interests relating to Israel because “they don't vote for us anyway.” But while John Kerry captured a large majority of the Jewish vote, there is evidence that the exit polls have underestimated Jewish support for Bush. In the 2000 election, the exit polls predicted victory for Al Gore. This year, they projected that Kerry would win the popular vote and both Ohio and Florida. Obviously, these polls are very flawed. The exit polls got the election results wrong in a very large sample of thousands of voters. In the case of the Jewish vote, the exit polls sample a tiny number of people who happen to be Jewish. Almost none of these polls specifically poll only Jews and as a result, the number of Jews polled is so small as to be statistically meaningless. As an example, CNN’s exit poll is based on a fairly large overall nationwide sample of 13,660 voters. Of these 13,660, only 3 percent, or 410 people in all 50 states, are Jewish. According to CNN, 25 percent of these 410 Jews, or 102 people, voted for Bush. Relying on a nationwide sample of 410 Jews is unreliable enough. To take a sample of 410 Jews and proclaim that who these 410 voted for means anything is absurd, especially since these 410 people just happened to be Jewish. Again, CNN did not specifically conduct a poll of Jews. It conducted a poll of American voters, 3 percent of whom told the pollsters that they were Jewish. When the focus is on specific states, the extent of the exit polls’ unreliability becomes even clearer. In New York, where 6,868,000 people voted, CNN’s exit poll concluded that 8 percent of voters, or 549,000 people, were Jewish. CNN's exit poll claims that only 18 percent of Jews - or 98,900 Jews - voted for Bush in all of New York State. The CNN exit poll came to this conclusion after questioning 1452 people in all of New York State. 8 percent of these 1452 people were Jewish. This comes to a grand total of 116 Jews questioned by the CNN poll, of whom 21 voted for Bush. Taking seriously a poll of 116 people is silly. Nobody knows what areas within the state these 116 people were from. CNN’s poll did not reach all or even many New York State voting stations, and there is no reason to think CNN polled in any of the Orthodox neighborhoods. In New Jersey, CNN’s exit poll queried 1520 people, 7 percent of whom - or 106 - are Jewish. Of those 106 Jewish people, 24 percent voted for Bush. There are quite a few observant Jews in New Jersey, but considering that only 106 Jews were questioned in the entire state, it’s doubtful that the CNN poll ever made it to any of their neighborhoods. The actual vote in several New York and New Jersey counties is revealing. For example, Bush won a majority in Rockland County, with more than 60,000 voters, 12,000 more than four years ago, when Al Gore prevailed there by 17 points. Not coincidentally, Rockland County includes Monsey and Spring Valley. But it is likely that CNN’s poll did not question even one voter in those areas. The Bergen Record reported that “election results from Bergen County show a striking change in the voting patterns within Orthodox neighborhoods. In the district near the Englewood synagogue [of Congregation Ahavath Torah, led by Rabbi Shmuel Goldin], about 45 percent of voters went for Bush, as opposed to 21 percent in 2000. A similar shift occurred in heavily Orthodox neighborhoods in Teaneck, including one where Bush captured 62 percent of the vote after garnering just 14 percent in 2000.” The Orthodox shift toward Bush in Bergen County was a major contributor to Bush’s garnering 26,000 more votes there than in 2000 and closing the gap from 14 points to 4 points. Similarly, Ocean County went for Bush by a 60-39 percent margin, after Gore won a majority in 2000. The town of Lakewood is located in Ocean County. Various estimates suggest that approximately 60 to 70 percent of Orthodox Jews voted for Bush. Perhaps even stronger than Orthodox Jews in their support for Bush were Russian Jewish voters. An American Jewish Committee election day survey showed that 75 percent of Russian Jews in New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania voted for Bush. Russian Jews represent a not insignificant percentage of the Jewish population in the Northeast, and most are non-Orthodox. While together the Orthodox and the Russians still amount to a minority of the overall Jewish electorate, both groups live in a relatively small number of neighborhoods and were likely disproportionately missed by the pollsters. In a sample of just a few hundred people, which to begin with is statistically inconsequential, failing to adequately poll the observant and the Russians would result in a significant error in the poll estimates. It is likely that the exit polls are off by five points or more. To the extent that there is media coverage of how Jews vote in the presidential election, in the future there should be election day polls taken specifically of Jewish voters. One pollster, Frank Luntz, conducted such a poll this year on a limited scale, in Ohio and Florida only. While polls of Jews would contain flaws, they would be an improvement from tallies based upon exit polls of 13,660 Americans, 13,250 of whom are not Jewish. Tuesday, November 23, 2004
Nitsana Darshan-Leitner IMRA today posts a press release from Shurat Hadin/Israel Law Center. Shurat Hadin identifies its head, Nitsana Darshan-Leitner, as "Israel's leading activist attorney" and says that at an upcoming U.S. speaking tour, Ms. Darshan-Leitner "will provide updates and analysis on the lawsuits Shurat Hadin has filed in the Israeli and American courts against Iran, Hamas, Syria, the Islamic Jihad, the PLO, the Islamic charities and the European Union on behalf of the terror victims." Among the places Ms. Darshan-Leitner will be speaking are Young Israel of Woodmere in Long Island, Congregation Beth Jacob in Los Angeles, and shuls in White Plains and Florida. According to Shurat Hadin's website, the organization "assist[s] the hundreds of Israeli victim’s of Arafat’s violence to finally fight back against the Palestinian terrorist groups and their financial patrons." I used to admire Shurat Hadin. However, around March of this year, I received an e-mail from an 81 year old man who was seriously wounded in a PLO terror attack. His son was killed. He asked me whether he had any legal options. I responded with my thoughts, and suggested that he contact Shurat Hadin. He informed me that he initially had corresponded with them, but that for months they had been completely ignoring his e-mails, perhaps because they had concluded that he did not have any legal options (it appeared that his time to commence a new action may have lapsed). Why, he asked, wouldn't they at least let him know if there was no legal recourse, rather than leave him hanging? I sent a detailed e-mail to Shurat Hadin, reminding them about this man's inquiry and politely asked that they respond to me or to him, even with a curt statement that nothing could be done. When they failed to respond, I sent a follow-up e-mail a few weeks later. Again, no response of any kind from Shurat Hadin. Later, through a friend at ZOA, I was able to put the man victimized by the PLO in touch with Susan Tuchman, Director of the ZOA's Center for Law and Justice. While I don't know whether ZOA was able to help him from a legal standpoint, my understanding is that they reviewed his case and answered his inquiries. In other words, they treated him with decency. Traveling around the world promoting and raising money for Shurat Hadin is surely time consuming, but would it have been too much for Nitsana Darshan-Leitner - whose organization's mandate is supposedly to "assist the hundreds of Israeli victim’s of Arafat’s violence to finally fight back against the Palestinian terrorist groups and their financial patrons" - to answer the e-mails of a victim of Yasser Arafat? Jewish Press Columns I've been getting a lot of feedback from my column in last week's Jewish Press, far more than usual. I certainly appreciate all the kind words. Perhaps my prior pieces have been too analytical and nuanced for some JP readers; that's what several people (outside the paper) have indicated to me. If nothing else, I hope people who find my columns to be too complex will be more reticent in offering their opinions about Israel's problems, which also are complex. Sunday, November 21, 2004
Destructive Self-Hatred Two adjoining columns in the latest issue of the Jewish Press express deplorable hatred toward Prime Minister Sharon. The first, by Emanuel Winston, states: "It seems that Sharon is allying himself with forces seemingly as wicked as those who once inhabited Sodom. I do not think, however, that an angel will save Sharon from the wrath of G-d." The second piece, by Paul Eidelberg, offers anti-Sharon vitriol from another angle. In a mock letter to Likud members, Eidelberg writes: "You have a monster at the head of your party, who is bringing the State of Israel to the brink... There is no honor, there is no courage, among Jews whose leader is Ariel Sharon." There are plenty of legitimate ways to strongly criticize Sharon, who is sincere but wrong, as well as the insincere politicians who will support anything so long as it furthers their political careers. The language used by Winston and Eidelberg are not even close to being legitimate. Nine years after the murder of Prime Minister Rabin, nearly 2000 years after the destruction of the Second Temple, and more than 2500 years after the murder of Gedaliah, the lessons of those national disasters remain lost on the dangerous extremists among us. Overbearing Rabbis The singles' column in the Jewish Press is in the midst of a silly discussion of whether or not single men should hold open their car doors for their dates. One writer, a yeshiva student, writes that they should and rejects the notion that halacha somehow prohibits this, writing: "My rav showed me how to open a door with the boy in front." (italics added) Am I the only one who finds it absurd that this guy's rabbi is showing him how to open a car door on dates? We have gotten to the point where many rabbis insist on turning every issue, no matter how trivial it appears to an ignoramus like me, into one that is a complex question of Jewish law. The result is unfortunate. On one hand, there are a growing number of yeshivish people who simply cannot make any decision at all without first consulting with a rabbi. On the other hand, many people - even on the Orthodox right - take hardly anything the rabbis say seriously. Banning the Internet didn't work, banning Making Of A Godol turned the book into a hot item, and objections by some charedi rabbis to the 2002 pro-Israel rally in Washington was met by a massive frum turnout and open expressions of anger at the stridency of Agudah's rabbinical leadership. It's time for the rabbis to take a step back, especially when the issue is not at all related to halacha. Otherwise we will be left with a large number of mindless followers and a larger number of cynical scoffers. Friday, November 19, 2004
Marty Peretz on Europe In the November 29, 2004 issue of The New Republic (registration may be required), Martin Peretz writes: Why can't the Europeans--including even the Chechen-traumatized Russians and the newly traumatized Dutch--call Arafat what he was: Osama bin Laden's ideological mentor and the mentor of virtually all the world's prominent terrorists? In my mind, it's rather simple: Arafat, from the 1972 Munich massacre through three decades of random murder of Israeli civilians, killed mostly Jews. And Jews are always guilty of something. Protocols It's been a while since Protocols has been the collaborative site of five young observant Jews that was formed in December 2002 and quickly became the leading Orthodox blog. Things obviously changed after Steven Weiss left for the Forward; Luke Ford's post announcing its impending official end isn't really that surprising. Of course, Luke and Steven will likely remain on the blogosphere, as will several other ex-Protocols elders. It is no secret that the old Protocols used to bash the Jewish Press; a weekly feature was the Jewish Press Stupid Letter of the Week. When I briefly commenced a Jewish Press Stupid Column of the Week (it was almost immediately expanded to cover the Forward and the Jewish Week too), Protocols was kind enough to link to it. One of my favorite Protocols comments was a response by Don Miller, who wrote on November 13, 2003: "Joe Schick is as blissfuly ignorant a chucklehead as are the elders, and equally arrogant to boot... [he is an] obviously unlettered twerp." Shortly thereafter, Jason Maoz contacted me and I began writing in the Jewish Press. My fourth column, criticizing a prior column in the JP by Steven Plaut, was adapted from a Stupid Column of the Week post. The Rat Advertises In The Jewish Press This week's Jewish Press includes an advertisement for New Jersey Nets "Jewish Family Night." The event is apparently taking place for tomorrow night's loss, er, game, against the Washington Wizards. According to the ad, tickets are being sold for about half price. That's about double what they go for on the eBay/craigslist market. If you cannot resist the urge to go to a Nets game, at least take already purchased tickets off the hands of a victim of The Rat. Don't give The Rat a new source of revenue for his evil empire. Thursday, November 18, 2004
Jewish Extremists When a Torah scholar - a man in his nineties - came recently to this country, his visit triggered a barrage of hate-filled pamphlets, his apparent sin being that he is tolerant on certain religious and ideological issues. When he spoke at a large gathering in Borough Park, buses from Williamsburg brought hecklers who attempted to disrupt his speech. These were not isolated incidents but part of a pattern that has been allowed to fester because it is considered inappropriate for the Orthodox to criticize other Orthodox. Wednesday, November 17, 2004
Jewish Press Column My column in this week's Jewish Press is now online. I expect to have another column in the Jewish Press, about exit polls and the Jewish vote, in next week's issue. Tuesday, November 16, 2004
Shidduch Dating At The Meadowlands A peculiar yet common practice of some young, single Orthodox Jewish males - generally on the right - is to take their dates to a hotel lounge. In 1996, my class of summer associates at a large law firm was taken to the Marriott Marquis in midtown Manhattan for dinner. The Marriott Marquis was a popular lounge for the discerning frum single and after witnessing the phenomenon, I was sure never to go on a date at a hotel lounge. Even after I was married, I could not accede to my wife's request to have a drink at the lounge of the Bellagio in Las Vegas. Hotel lounges do, however, provide a quiet place for people to privately talk without violating the Jewish laws relating to yichud. For most of the 1990's, another opportune public locale for quiet chats was weeknight New Jersey Nets home games. Often an entire row and most of a section could be secured for the modest price of two tickets. If one's date was uninteresting, a mediocre basketball game was more enjoyable and less exhausting than trying to go hours without ordering a second drink. All this changed three years ago, when the Nets suddenly became one of the NBA's elite teams and played perhaps the most exciting basketball in the league. Even though Continental Airlines Arena wasn't usually filled, it had become full of life, noisy and the game provided too much of a distraction to those trying to have a serious discussion. Not only that, ticket prices more than doubled. Alas, the golden age of the Nets is gone, thanks to owner Bruce (The Rat) Ratner, whose malicious dismantling of the team is one of the more disgraceful acts in sports history. Not only are the Nets 2-5, but they are boring. The only interesting aspect of the team is the clear demand by Alonzo Mourning, and the slightly more subtle demand of Jason Kidd, to be bought out or traded as soon as possible. Once again, the Meadowlands is dead quiet during Nets games, the main noise being the clang of missed Nets foul shots. Furthermore, The Rat is now running a promotion in which tickets are being sold for low prices. It is also not difficult to obtain seats for very little on eBay and craigslist. It is quite possible that young people - even those who are observant Jews - might be lured into temptation by their evil inclination, and, heaven forbid, go on a date to a Nets game. It is therefore necessary to make absolutely clear that as long as The Rat owns the team, it is simply not appropriate to go to any games. Even if tickets are free, one would be giving money to The Rat by parking in the complex. Even if one takes a bus, he or she would probably get thirsty and buy a drink. The only time it might, arguably, be permissible to go to a Nets home game is on a religious fast day if one were to take the bus. Even then, lest an uninformed observer form an erroneous impression that attendance is generally acceptable, it is preferable to be strict and avoid going to the game. Where Have All The Comments Gone? Admittedly this blog hasn't gotten a massive amount of comments, but now it appears that Haloscan has lost or deleted many, if not most, of the comments posted by readers. It appears that all comments posted prior to July 14 are gone. Presumably, Haloscan only retains comments for a few months, or only retains a set number of comments. Either way, this is not good. I actually needed the comments to my June 30 post about Commonweal Magazine for a new post I was set to write. A number of other posts from June and July of this year resulted in a number of comments, but those are gone too. If anyone has any idea why Haloscan does this, or if the comments can somehow be retrieved, please let me know. Monday, November 15, 2004
A Jets Disgrace Even after one of the worst coaching performances in sports history, the media continues its love affair with Jets head coach Herm Edwards. Even Mike Vaccaro, who in today's New York Post blames the Jets coaches for yesterday's meltdown, puts the blame on offensive coordinator Paul Hackett. Of Edwards, he writes: "Edwards is still at that stage of his career where he is only as good as the men around him." Please. Edwards is in his fourth year as an NFL coach. Pete Caroll, now the head coach at USC, was fired after just one year as Jets head coach in 1994. Just how long does Edwards get a pass for the incompetence of his assistants - who he handpicked - and for his awful game management. Of course, Hackett continues to be a disaster. The Jets dominated the first half, having no difficulty moving the ball against a Baltimore Ravens defense that seemed mighty overrated. Hackett's decision to have Lamont Jordan throw an option pass with the Jets up 14-0 and holding the ball at the Baltimore 17 was one of the worst in football history. But while it turned the momentum in Baltimore's favor, it did not alone cost the Jets the game. What did cost the game is that after that interception, instead of continuing their successful game plan, Hackett reverted to his ultra-conservative, predictable offense. Almost every down was a run. Quincy Carter was only allowed to pass in obvious passing situations, so the Ravens made sure to blitz him every time. And for some reason, Hackett kept Carter in the pocket, even though Carter is a mobile quarterback who can improvise well while rolling out. Only when Baltimore took a 17-14 lead did the Jets open up their offense, for most of one drive. After moving the ball to the Ravens 17 at the two minute warning, the Jets had all three of their time-outs. While a winning touchdown was not guaranteed, there was no reason to think that the Jets could possibly run out of time. Surely they would have a chance to win it. Somehow they did run out of time, using the full play clock almost every play. With 55 seconds left, the Jets had first and goal at Baltimore's 4 yard line. Plenty of time for three plays, but again the Jets botched things. The Jets had reverted to their usual fearful style of offense, and settled for a tying field goal. The Jets won the overtime coin toss, but continued their predictable play-calling of runs of first and second down and passing on third and long. On both of their overtime drives, they failed to get a first down. The Jets defense played a decent game, but defensive coordinator Donnie Henderson apparently is suffering from at least a mild case of Hackettitis. When the Jets pressured Ravens QB Kyle Boller, he was ineffective. Yet on a number of key plays, especially 3rd and longs, the Jets dropped into a zone defense and allowed Boller time to complete a first down pass. The Ravens two touchdowns were scored on 4th and 8 and on 3rd and 11. On neither play did the Jets blitz. The failure to blitz Boller follows similar failures to blitz Bills QB Drew Bledsoe last week and Patriots QB Tom Brady three weeks ago. The Jets lost both of those games too. The Jets are still 6-3, but poor coaching decisions almost cost them home games against the Bills and the 49ers. With Chad Pennington out and a difficult schedule ahead, especially over the season's last four games - against the Steelers, Seahawks, Patriots and Rams - the Jets appear on the verge of failing to make the playoffs after a 5-0 start. For all the misery of being a Jets fan, perhaps I'm a masochist for schlepping by bus, train and bus from Queens, and then back, to pay to watch this team humiliate themselves season after season. Either way, complaining is the birthright of a Jets fan no less than is misery, and it looks like we'll be doing so for years to come. Saturday, November 13, 2004
Marwan Barghouti Whether out of ignorance or malice, many - particularly over the last week - have called on Israel to release Fatah terrorist leader Marwan Barghouti from prison. Barghouti is serving a life sentence for ordering the murder of scores of Israelis. The argument for releasing Barghouti is that he is a moderate who favors a peaceful solution. Putting aside that Barghouti is a mass murderer - which only excludes those who murder people who are not Jewish from being deemed a moderate - he has long taken extremist positions and insisted on violence instead of negotiation. The idea that he wants peace is sheer idiocy. For example, Barghouti told the Jerusalem Post on December 6, 2000 that, "We oppose any return to the negotiations, because now it has become clear that there is no way to make an agreement with the government of Barak... we have asked everybody to accelerate the intifada, instead." But wasn't Barghouti a supporter of the Clinton Plan, which would have given Palestinians half of Jerusalem, all of Gaza and virtually all of Judea and Samaria? Actually, no, Barghouti opposed the Clinton Plan. "We can't sign this kind of agreement," he said. "The intifada will continue, and will be escalated in the next few weeks." Barghouti stated that he was opposed to any deal that did not include the right of return for all refugees to Israel. Even in 1999, shortly after Ehud Barak defeated Binyamin Netanyahu, Barghouti called for the Palestinians to use violence. With Arafat dead and the Palestinian terror campaign severely weakened by the liquidation of most of Hamas' leadership, why anyone would want Barghouti to be given a position of influence is beyond me. If he were not in prison today, Barghouti would doubtlessly lead a resurgence of violence to ensure that no steps toward negotiation result from Arafat's death. Anyone interested in Middle East peace should demand that Marwan Barghouti serve his life sentence. Friday, November 12, 2004
Israel's PR Last night, I struggled to understand Likud Knesset member Yuval Steinmetz as he was interviewed on a panel on one of the evening news shows - I can't remember if it was on CNN or MSNBC. Steinmetz is an intelligent man of ideas, but his English is heavily accented. Had he spoken in Hebrew, I would have understood much more of what he said. I'm not sure that non-Jewish American viewers would have understood less. Also yesterday, former Israeli Ambassador to the UN Dore Gold was on the Fox morning show and later on Lou Dobbs' CNN program. Gold, as usual, was fantastic. He made aliyah from Connecticut, so English is no problem for him. He was appearing to promote his new book about the damage the UN has caused prospects for real peace in the Middle East. He is not an official spokesman for the Israeli government. It is simply inexcusable for Israel to keep putting those who can't speak English on American and British news programs. Binyamin Netanyahu's skills have been completely wasted because Ariel Sharon doesn't trust him. So instead we get Steinmetz and Foreign Minister Sylvan Shalom, who also has a heavy accent, though not quite as heavy as Steinmetz's. Jimmy Carter and Violence In today's New York Times, Jimmy Carter writes that following the 1993 Oslo Accords, there was an "absence of serious violence by either side" until the assassination of Yitzhak Rabin in 1995. Apparently Carter doesn't consider the scores of suicide bombings, shootings and stabbings by Hamas and Islamic Jihad between 1993 and 1995 to be "serious violence." After all, those events only caused the murder of a few hundred Jews, including a number of Americans, such as Alisa Flatow of New Jersey, a Brandeis student who was murdered in an April 1995 bus bombing. Wednesday, November 10, 2004
Too Late For Too Many It is 11 P.M. in New York. Yasser Arafat has just been pronounced dead. Baruch dayan emes, blessed be the true judge. That phrase is easy to say tonight. Yet Arafat's demise was most untimely. It came much too late. It is 36 years too late for those who were murdered and maimed in Machaneh Yehuda in 1968. For the children on the schoolbus in Avivim in 1970, it is 34 years too late. Arafat passed away 32 years too late for the dozens murdered inside Lod airport in 1972, and for the Israeli athletes who were murdered three months later. Arafat lived 30 more years after murdering 18 people in Kiryat Shemona, and 27 more - mostly school children - in Maalot the next month. Those killed in the Zion Square suicide bombing on July 4, 1975 are not here for the news that Arafat is gone. I have exchanged e-mails with a victim of Arafat's murder of 36 people on the Haifa-Tel Aviv road on March 11, 1978. This now elderly man was severely wounded, his son was murdered. It is 19 years too late for Leon Klinghoffer, a passenger on the Achille Lauro ship en route to Israel. It is too late for all the victims of Arafat's deception following Oslo. For Yosef Tabeja, a border policeman who was on joint patrol with a Palestinian Authority cop who shot him to death in September 2000, and for Yosef Avrahami and Vadim Novesche who were mutilated to death by a crazed mob in Ramallah after making a wrong turn in October 2000, it's four years too late. So it is for Hillel Lieberman, who was murdered trying to save Joseph's Tomb from destruction. For the victims of the 2000 Gush Katif bombing, including the Cohen family, in which three children lost limbs, it is far too late. Arye Hershkowitz of Ofra was 55 when he was murdered a few miles away from Arafat's Ramallah compound on January 29, 2001. His son Assaf was 30 when he was murdered nearby on May 1, 2001. Dr. Shmuel Gillis devoted his life to saving the lives of those stricken with cancer, including many Arabs. He was murdered by Fatah terrorists on his way home from a night shift. Arafat lived more than 75 years, but Shalhevet Pass only lived 10 months. She was shot to death in Hebron in March 2001. Yossi Ish-Ran and Kobi Mandell were victims of Arafat's "peace of the brave" in May 2001. They took off a day of school and were brutally stoned to death. Yehuda Shoham was killed by a rock while riding with his parents in their car in June 2001. Yehuda was five months old. Shimon Bloomberg and his 14 year old daughter, Tzippi, were severely wounded by a shooting at their car in August 2001. Their wife and mother, Techiya, was killed along with her unborn child. Shoshana Yehudit Greenbaum, Malka Roth, Michal Raziel, Frieda Mendelsohn were murdered at Sbarro four days later. Mordechai and Tzira Schijveschuurder were also killed that awful day, along with three of their children, including their 4 year old son and 2 year old daughter. Chana Nachenberg and her 3 year old daughter survived, but Chana has not yet woken up. The 11 people, mostly children, who were murdered in a Fatah bombing at the conclusion of shabbos in March 2002 outside a shul in Meah Shearim might still be here if Arafat had left this world a couple of years earlier. Arik Krogliak, Tal Kurtzweil, Asher Marcus, and Ariel Zana were murdered in a yeshiva in Gush Katif five nights later. After shabbos, two night later, Moment Cafe was bombed and 11 were killed. Just two weeks later, 30 more were murdered on the first night of Pesach at the Park Hotel in Netanya. Marla Bennett, 24, of California and Benjamin Blutstein, 25, of Pennsylvania, were among the nine victims of the Hebrew University bombing on July 31, 2002. A few years after his family made aliyah, Ari Weiss was murdered on September 30, 2002. Six months later, Daniel Mandel, whose family also had made aliyah, was killed by terrorists. On shabbos night in December 2002, Noam Apter and three others yeshiva students in Otniel were murdered during the shabbos meal. Noam locked himself with the terrorists in the kitchen, heroically giving up his own life to save the 100 other students in the dining room. Rabbi Eli Horowitz and his wife Dina were also eating the shabbos meal, with their family, on March 7, 2003, when they were shot and killed. Zvi Goldstein danced at his son's wedding on June 19, 2003. The next morning he was shot dead. His parents, who live in Long Island, were seriously wounded. Goldie Taubenfeld and her 3 months old son, Shmuel, were visiting from New Square, New York when they and 24 others were murdered in a suicide bombing as they rode a bus back from the Kotel on August 19, 2003. If Arafat had died earlier, perhaps Naava Applebaum would have married Chanan Sand on September 10, 2003. Perhaps her father, Dr. David Applebaum, would still be heading ER at Shaarei Zedek Hospital, and maybe the Shaarei Zedek ER could have treated typical ER patients. But Naava, David and nine others were murdered at Cafe Hillel one night earlier. On Aza and Arlozorov streets in Jerusalem, Bus 19 was blown up on the morning of January 29, 2004. 11 were murdered, among them Chezi Goldberg, who had written so poignantly about the importance of feeling pain caused by Palestinian murder. Tali Hatuel was 8 months pregnant when she and her four children were murdered in Gush Katif six months ago. Nine days ago, a 16 year old suicide bomber was sent by Fatah to explode in a Tel Aviv market. 3 people were killed and dozens were wounded. May Arafat burn in hell, may the memories of his many victims be a blessing, and may there be no more victims, with G-d's help. Neturei Karta There isn't much to say about Neturei Karta, the tiny, fanatically anti-Israel group that consistently seeks media attention of its unending affection for murderers of Jews. Needless to say, these are evil people and one can only hope and pray that they will soon incur G-d's wrath. To its credit, an article in Thursday's New York Times about Arafat supporters keeping a vigil outside the hospital in France conveys the Neturei Karta's pathetic lunacy and one of its motives. The Times reports: A handful of media-savvy representatives from Neturei Karta, a sect of ultra-Orthodox, anti-Zionist Jews opposed to the existence of the Israeli state, was on hand, praying and posing for photographers. "Yasir Arafat is the person who represented the Palestinian cause," said Rabbi Yisroel Dovid Weiss, from Rockland County, N.Y. "He did it at the cost of his life, at the cost of his own health and comfort." According to a senior Israeli official, Mr. Arafat used to pay the head of the organization, Rabbi Moshe Hirsch, $30,000 a month, and documents seized at Mr. Arafat's headquarters two years ago are said to have indicated that Mr. Arafat personally authorized payments to Mr. Hirsch. More on Exit Polls and Jews Last week, I posted to dispute the exit polls indicating that no more than 25 percent of Jews voted for President Bush. Further evidence appeared in Sunday's Bergen Record. The Record reports that "election results from Bergen County show a striking change in the voting patterns within Orthodox neighborhoods. In the district near the Englewood synagogue [of Congregation Ahavath Torah], about 45 percent of voters went for Bush, as opposed to 21 percent in 2000. A similar shift occurred in heavily Orthodox neighborhoods in Teaneck, including one where Bush captured 62 percent of the vote after garnering just 14 percent in 2000." These results surely place into question CNN's exit poll for New Jersey, which claims that only 24 percent of Jews voted for Bush. Even if the Orthodox vote is small, it is larger in New Jersey than nationally, as New Jersey includes large observant communities in Englewood, Teaneck, Lakewood and Passaic. The actual vote results also disprove a comment to my post last week by Mykroft, who stated that "in the Orthodox continuum from MO to chareidi I'd assume the more chareidi the more likely to vote for Bush." Obviously, Teaneck is not a charedi community (nor is it entirely Orthodox, or Jewish, for that matter), yet Bush captured 62 percent of the vote there. Another poll countering the exit poll results was an American Jewish Committee election day survey among Russian Jews in Pennsylvania, New York and New Jersey. That survey showed the 75 percent of Russian Jews voted for Bush, with most citing Bush's strong leadership qualities as the primary basis for their vote. Russian Jews today represent a not insignificant percentage of the Jewish population in the Northeast, and most are non-Orthodox. Monday, November 08, 2004
Pennington Injured More bad news for the Jets. QB Chad Pennington is out two to four weeks with a shoulder injury. Pennington foolishly continued running even after picking up a first down and as a result, was hit hard, injured, and fumbled the ball. Quincy Carter takes over at quarterback. Back in August, I posted: "If Pennington suffers a serious injury like he did last year, the Jets are likely doomed. But if Pennington misses 2 or 3 games with an ankle sprain or a separated shoulder, Carter might be able to put up enough points to win a game or two and keep the Jets in contention." Sunday, November 07, 2004
Awful Coaching Today's Jets debacle has just mercifully ended. The Jets coaching was horrific today. Right off the bat, Herm Edwards blew it by electing to kick off after winning the coin toss. As a result, Buffalo got the ball first in both the first and second half, and the Bills scored a touchdown to open the 3rd quarter. Worse, Paul Hackett's offensive playcalling was predictable and conservative in the second half. In the first half, Chad Pennington was 7-11 for 141 yards, with six of the seven completions to wide receivers. Despite the mediocre play of the Bills' secondary, the Jets responded by running almost every down in the 3rd quarter and early in the 4th quarter, with Pennington failing to complete a pass in five consecutive offensive drives (he only attempted four) and not completing any passes in the second half before leaving the game with an injured shoulder. The game also exposed the fact that the Jets are neither very good nor very mature. Pennington is not being allowed to throw downfield. The defense is erratic. They have had an easy schedule and took advantage of that schedule until today, but their schedule in the second half of the season will be much more difficult. Rather than compete with the Patriots for the AFC East title, the Jets will likely struggle even to make the playoffs as a wild card, despite their 6-1 start. Last time the Jets started 6-1, in 2000, they finished 9-7 and did not make the playoffs. Friday, November 05, 2004
Mark Burnett and Israel Mark Burnett, creator of Survivor and The Apprentice, is apparently not a fan of Israel. In an interview with Haaretz, Burnett is asked whether Survivor might film in a desert in the Middle East. Instead of being diplomatic, Burnett responded: "No. The whole region is not conducive. Certainly not Israel with the settlements and the problems with the government now." Still Dead Haaretz reports that according to a French hospital spokesman, Yasser Arafat "has not gotten worse." This reminds me of the classic 1975 Saturday Night Live news segment. Spanish dictator Francisco Franco had been gravely ill for weeks. After he died, for the next several SNL episodes, Chevy Chase reported: "This breaking news just in, Generalíssimo Francisco Franco is still dead!" Wednesday, November 03, 2004
Exit Polls and the Jewish Vote According to exit polls, President Bush received only between 22 and 25 percent of the Jewish vote. Miriam Shaviv asks whether Republican support for Israel might change as a result. I too am concerned. The Republicans might conclude that former Secretary of State James Baker was right to say, "F*** the Jews, they don't vote for us anyway." Yet I am sure that the exit polls are wrong. Under any standard, they are completely unreliable. After completely failing in the 2000 election, yesterday's exit polls projected that Kerry would win the popular vote, Ohio and Florida. So certainly these polls are very flawed. The exit polls got it wrong in a very large sample. In the case of the Jewish vote, however, the exit polls sample an extremely tiny number of people - too tiny to be statistically consequential. As an example, CNN's exit poll is based on an overall nationwide sample of 13,660 voters. Of these 13,660, only 3 percent, or 410 people, are Jewish. According to CNN, 25 percent of these 410 people, or 102 people, voted for Bush. Relying on a nationwide sample of 410 Jews is unreliable enough. To take a sample of 410 Jews and proclaim that who these 410 voted for means anything is absurd, especially since these 410 people just happened to be Jewish. It's not as though CNN specifically conducted a poll only of Jews. It gets worse when one focuses on specific states. Let's take New York, where in the actual vote, 6,868,000 people voted. According to CNN's exit poll results for New York, 8 percent of New York State voters, or 549,000 people, were Jewish. CNN's exit poll claims that only 18 percent of Jews - or 98,900 Jews - voted for Bush in all of New York State. CNN questioned 1452 people for the New York exit poll. 8 percent were Jewish. In other words, CNN only questioned 116 Jews. Of these 116, 21 voted for Bush. Putting aside for now that with heavily Orthodox neighborhoods like Boro Park, Flatbush, Monsey, the Five Towns, Monsey and Kew Gardens Hills, Bush had to have gotten more than 98,900 Jewish votes in New York State, why the heck would anyone pay any attention at all to a sample of a grand total of 116 people? Nobody knows what neighborhoods within the state these 116 people were from. There is no reason to think CNN polled the Orthodox neighborhoods - after all, this was not intended as a poll of the Jewish vote, but of the collective vote in New York State. There are results for each New York State county, but I don't think there are results within the districts of each county in New York. But if those results become available, I think they will show that Bush did far better in Orthodox enclaves than elsewhere within each such county. In others, in the districts containing Boro Park and Flatbush, Bush will have done much better than in the rest of Kings County. (Thursday's Haaretz has a report from the polling station in Boro Park at which I am registered to vote. It's a block away from the house I grew up in and where my parents have lived for 38 years.) As it is, some county results are revealing. For example, in Rockland County, Bush won a majority, with over 60,000 votes. Not coincidentally, Rockland County includes Monsey and Spring Valley. But let's not stop in New York. Instead, let's head to Florida, where CNN's exit poll queried 2862 voters. 5 percent - or a total of 142 - were Jewish. According to CNN, 20 percent of these 142 Jews (or 28 people) voted for Bush. Once again, did the pollsters sufficiently cover Orthodox areas like North Miami Beach and Boca Raton? I doubt it, given that CNN had to cover the entire state. New Jersey is no better. There, CNN polled 1520 people, 7 percent of whom - or 106 - are Jewish. Of those 106 Jewish people, 24 percent voted for Bush. Again, the Jewish sample is too tiny to be taken seriously, and there is no reason to think CNN even polled the towns with large Orthodox populations like Lakewood, Passaic and Teaneck. But let's take a look at Lakewood, which is located in Ocean County. Is it a complete coincidence that despite losing New Jersey by a wide margin, Ocean County went for Bush by a 60-39 percent margin? Overall, Bush picked up 143,797 votes there. So please don't take the exit poll results on Jews seriously. If more data becomes available, I will post again to demonstrate further evidence of the unreliability of the polls. Times Refuses to Concede It's now 3:34 P.M. John Kerry conceded the election a few hours ago, but the New York Times apparently won't give up. Their website reports that as of 3:32 P.M., Ohio remains undecided, with Bush leading Kerry 254-252 in the electoral vote. Fay Dicker Fay Dicker of Brooklyn has an excellent letter in today's Times, pointing out that the mother of Monday's Tel Aviv 16 year old suicide bomber condemned those who sent him but otherwise supported murdering civilians, saying that "they should have sent an adult" instead. She also notes that Palestinian prime minister Ahmed Qurei condemned the attack because they don't serve Palestinian interests, not because it is immoral. I've been seeing Dicker's letters to the editor for years, in various publications. She's obviously a very serious supporter of Israel and letters like hers are an asset to Israel's PR battle. Her efforts are very commendable. Tuesday, November 02, 2004
NHL Doesn't anybody care that the NHL lockout has no end in sight, and that the entire season might be lost? We have three professional hockey teams in the New York area, yet the absence of hockey doesn't even receive mention in the print or electronic media. While I haven't listened to WFAN in a few years, I doubt if any of their hosts aside from Steve Somers is even aware of the lockout. As bad as the Rangers have been over the last seven years, I miss them. Nets 2004-05 Preview In today's Times, Nets exec Rod Thorn says that when Bruce (the Rat) Ratner sold Kenyon Martin to Denver, that Jason Kidd would almost certainly respond by demanding to be traded was not a consideration. Obviously, all The Rat cares about is money. I'm sick of hearing defenses of The Rat. Yes, attendance is lousy. Yes, the Nets are losing money. None of this, however, is new. Ratner knew of all this when he bought the team for $300 million. He bought the Nets only because it will make him a windfall on his real estate project in Brooklyn. If he had any decency, he'd have kept the Nets competitive. The money he'd lose on the team would be far less than the money he will make on the massive real estate development. Even more pathetic is that now the Nets are paying big money to non-impact players like Jason Collins ($6 million a year) and even to Thorn, who signed an extension for $5 million a year. If saving money was imperative, why not let Collins go after his contract expires at the end of this season and keep Martin? It's obvious that the Nets didn't even have a plan for the post-Martin era. The only plan is to save money and destroy the team. If Kidd comes back and Alonzo Mourning contributes, the Nets can have a .500 season and squeak into the playoffs, but they aren't a team that can get past the first round. More likely, the Nets will win 37 or 38 games and Kidd will be traded at the trading deadline. The Rat will be rid of Kidd's contract, which of course is the main thing. I plan to stick to my decision not to attend any Nets home games. Even if I'm given free tickets (and tickets can be obtained for almost nothing on eBay and Craigs List), I'd likely get thirsty and buy a drink, thereby benefiting The Rat. So sadly, I likely have attended my last Nets game at the Meadowlands. Of course, it is okay to attend Nets road games. While I'm not a fan of the Dolans, it's certainly preferable to go to a Knicks vs. Nets game at MSG. It's also fine to support the team on the road. Just don't go to home games and inadvertently support The Rat. Monday, November 01, 2004
El Al and the OU There is some confusion about the Orthodox Union's certification of the food served on El Al flights. This past shabbos, two days ago, Rabbi Yoel Schoenfeld of the OU and assistant rabbi at Young Israel of Kew Gardens Hills, announced in shul that the OU would no longer be certifying the food on El Al flights. The reason, he said, is that El Al has at times served non-kosher food which it claimed to be kosher. According to Rabbi Schoenfeld, several months ago, during a delay in Newark, the passengers were served pizza. An observant woman was assured by flight attendants that the pizza was kosher, but it turns out it was purchased from a non-kosher pizza shop in Newark Airport. More recently, people whose flights were diverted to Budapest and Vienna when the Histadrut strike shut down Ben Gurion Airport were served with non-kosher food acquired from hotel restaurants. Again, observant passengers were assured that the food was completely kosher, with the flight attendants apparently annoyed at the mere insinuation that the food might not be kosher. Furthermore, Rabbi Schoenfeld said, El Al removes the double wrapping on food served on its flights. In yesterday's Haaretz, however, the head of the Orthodox Union's kashrut department, Rabbi Menachem Genack, yesterday denied that the OU removed its certification for the food served by El Al. Unclear from the article is whether Rabbi Genack's point is that the OU never certified El Al - and only certifies the caterer it purchases its food on flights leaving from the U.S., which it continues to certify - or that the OU still certifies El Al. Rabbi Genack's comments thus may or may not be consistent with Rabbi Schoenfeld's. | "
