CBS '60 Minutes' 2011 - Julian Assange - Transcript of Interview - Questions PLANTED by US Government

ꕤ Article SOURCE http://www.cbsnews.com/news/julian-assange-the-man-behind-wikileaks-26-01-2011/7/ E-mail released by US Govt Note 60 Minutes confirms they raised "a number of questions and concerns" that the US Govt planted with them. Ooop ... there goes the credibility of mainstream 'journalism' and mainstream media. CBS News Transcript (from CBS News Site) http://www.cbsnews.com/news/julian-assange-the-man-behind-wikileaks-26-01-2011/7/ 2011 Jan 26 CBSNews Julian Assange, The Man Behind WikiLeaks Segment: Julian Assange, Part 1 Talks To Steve Kroft About The U.S. Attempt To Indict Him And The Criticism Aimed At Him For Publishing Just a few months ago, most people had never heard of a Web site called WikiLeaks, or of its mysterious and eccentric founder, Julian Assange. But in that short period of time both have managed to rattle the worlds of journalism, diplomacy, and national security. WikiLeaks, which solicits and publishes secrets and suppressed material from whistleblowers around the world, has been under cyber attack from governments that want to shut it down. And Assange is currently under legal attack from the U.S. government which would like to charge him with espionage for publishing volumes of classified material from the Pentagon and the State Department. "60 Minutes" and correspondent Steve Kroft spent two days with him in Great Britain where he is under house arrest, while fighting extradition to Sweden for questioning in two sexual assault cases, which he's called part of a smear campaign against him. In his most extensive television interview to date, Assange talked to us about his work, his vision and the prospects of facing criminal charges in the United States. Steve Kroft: You've been called a lot of names. You've been characterized as a hero and as a villain. A martyr. Terrorist. Julian Assange: I'm not yet a martyr. Kroft: Right. Assange: Let's keep it that way. For now, Assange is holed up on [this] bucolic 600-acre English estate with an ankle bracelet, a 10 p.m. curfew, and a slow Internet connection. He declined to talk to us about the allegations in Sweden, on the advice of his attorney. He has not been charged and proclaims his innocence. Kroft: Well, I suppose if you have to be under house arrest, there could be worse places. Assange: Well it's a gilded cage. It's still a cage. But when you are forced to stay somewhere against your will, it does become something that you want to leave. Kroft: It's a radical departure from the lifestyle that the peripatetic Internet muckraker is used to - bounding from city to city, country to country, and regularly changing his cell phones, hair styles and general appearance, he says, to elude surveillance and avoid being killed, kidnapped or arrested. And there are reasons for his paranoia: in the last four years, WikiLeaks has released information that played some role in deciding the 2007 election in Kenya, and fueling the anger that recently brought down the government in Tunisia. It has also divulged the membership rolls of a neo Nazi organization in Great Britain, and secret documents from the Church of Scientology. And that was before Assange began publishing U.S. secrets, provoking what he calls threatening statements from people close to power. Kroft: What statements are you referring to? Assange: The statements by the Vice President Biden saying, for instance that I was a high-tech terrorist. Sarah Palin calling to our organization to be dealt with like the Taliban, and be hunted down. There's calls either for my assassination or the assassination of my staff or for us to be kidnapped and renditioned back to the United States to be executed. Kroft: Well as you know, we have a First Amendment and people can say whatever they want, including politicians. I don't think that many people in the United States took seriously the idea that you were a terrorist. Assange: I would like to believe that. On the other hand the incitements to murder are a serious issue. And unfortunately there is a portion of the population that will believe in them and may carry them out. Kroft:  If nothing else, WikiLeaks is the latest demonstration that a small group of people with a powerful idea can harness technology and affect large institutions. In WikiLeaks' case it was the idea to aggregate state and corporate secrets by setting up an online electronic drop box where whistleblowers around the world could anonymously upload sensitive and suppressed information. The secrets are stored on servers around the world, beyond the reach of governments or law enforcement, then released worldwide on the Internet. Assange: The U.S. does not have the technology to take the site down Kroft: Because? Assange: Just the way our technology is constructed, the way the Internet is constructed. It's quite hard to stop things reappearing. So, we've had attacks on particular domain names. Little pieces of infrastructure knocked out. But we now have some 2,000 fully independent in every way Web sites, where we're publishing around the world. Kroft: WikiLeaks first caught the attention of most Americans last April when it released a video which shows a U.S. Apache helicopter crew in Iraq opening fire on a group of suspected insurgents who were standing on a street corner in Baghdad. Some of the men were armed, but two of them were journalists from Reuters. At least a dozen people were killed in the attack, some of them innocent civilians. Then last July, WikiLeaks released 76,000 classified field reports of U.S. operations in Afghanistan that provided a chaotic and bleak ground level view of the war. In October there were another 400,000 classified documents released from Iraq showing that civilian casualties there were much higher than the Pentagon had claimed; and finally in November, thousands of State Department cables that lifted the veil on highly sensitive back room diplomacy. The documents revealed that Arab leaders were lobbying the U.S. to attack Iran, and that the State Department had been secretly collecting intelligence on leaders at the United Nations. It triggered outcries that Assange was a political actor trying to damage the U.S. government. [Plant] Kroft: Are you a subversive? Assange: I'm sure there are certain views amongst Hillary Clinton and her lot that we are subverting their authority. But you're right, we are subverting illegitimate authority. The question is whether the authority is legitimate or whether it is illegitimate. Kroft: Do you consider the U.S. State Department a legitimate authority? Assange: It's legitimate insofar as its actions are legitimate. It has actions that are not legitimate. [Plant?] Kroft: And you've gone after the ones that you think are illegitimate? Assange: We don't go after. That's a bit of a misconception. We don't go after a particular country. We don't go after a particular organizational group. We just stick to our promise of publishing the material that is likely to have a significant impact. Kroft: To increase the impact of the U.S. documents, Assange decided to share them with some of the leading news organizations in the world, including The New York Times - a relationship that grew testy when Assange published the first set of war logs without removing the names of Afghans who were cooperating with U.S. forces. Kroft: The most persistent criticism from within the press has been that you have behaved recklessly from time to time. And the example that they cite is the fact that you've decided to release Afghan documents without redacting the names of people who had provided intelligence to the U.S. government. Assange: There's no evidence, or any credible allegation, or even any allegation from an official body that we have caused any individual at any time to come to harm in the past four years. Kroft: The Pentagon said that they've gone through all of these documents and they found the names of 300 people. Assange: Well, that's new public information to us. It's possible that there are 300 names in the publically released Afghan material. We don't pretend that that process is absolutely perfect. We did hold back one in five documents for extra harm minimization review and we also improved our process. So, when Iraq came around there was not even a single name in it. Kroft: I mean, there have been reports of people quoting Taliban leaders, saying that they had the names of these people and that they were going to take retribution. Assange: The Taliban is not a coherent outfit. But we don't say that it is absolutely impossible that anything we ever publish will ever result in harm. We cannot say that. [Plant?] Kroft: There's a perception on the part of some people who believe that your agenda right now is anti-American. Assange: Not at all. In fact, our founding values are those of the U.S. revolution. They are those of the people like Jefferson and Madison. And we have a number of Americans in our organization. If you're a whistleblower and you have material that is important, we will accept it, we will defend you and we will publish it. You can't turn away material simply because it comes from the United States. Kroft:  After the release of the State Department cables, Attorney General Eric Holder condemned WikiLeaks for putting national security at risk. "There's a real basis. There is a predicate for us to believe that crimes have been committed here," Holder said at a press conference. Holder announced that the Justice Department and the Pentagon were conducting a criminal investigation. They are reportedly looking at the Espionage Act of 1917 and other statutes to find a way to prosecute Assange and extradite him to the U.S. Assange: It's completely outrageous. Kroft: Are you surprised? Assange: I am surprised, actually. [LMAO ... 'forces of nature'?] Kroft: But you were screwing with the forces of nature. You have made some of the most powerful people in the world your enemies. You had to expect that they might retaliate. Assange: Oh, no. I fully expected they'll retaliate. Kroft: You took, you gathered, you stored all sorts of classified cables and documents. And then released them to the world on the Internet. They see that as a threat. Assange: They see it as highly embarrassing. I think what it's really about is keeping the illusion of control. I'm not surprised about that. I am surprised at how the sort of flagrant disregard for U.S. traditions. That is what I'm surprised about. [Oh, the hypocrisy ... wonder which Aussie gangster said that?  lol] [Plant?] Kroft: You're shocked? Someone in the Australian government said that, "Look, if you play outside the rules you can't expect to be protected by the rules." And you played outside the rules. You've played outside the United States' rules. Assange: No. We've actually played inside the rules. We didn't go out to get the material. We operated just like any U.S. publisher operates. We didn't play outside the rules. We played inside the rules. [Plant?] Kroft: There's a special set of rules in the United States for disclosing classified information. There is longstanding… Assange: There's a special set of rules for soldiers. For members of the State Department, who are disclosing classified information. There's not a special set of rules for publishers to disclose classified information. There is the First Amendment. It covers the case. And there's been no precedent that I'm aware of in the past 50 years of prosecuting a publisher for espionage. It is just not done. Those are the rules. You do not do it. Kroft: No one has accused Assange of stealing secrets. The Apache video and the classified documents were allegedly provided to WikiLeaks by Private First Class Bradley Manning, a low-level intelligence analyst in Iraq who is accused of copying them from a classified government network that a half a million people have access to. Manning is now in solitary confinement at a military prison in Virginia, facing charges that could put him away for 50 years. Kroft: You've called him as a prisoner of a conscience, correct? Assange: I've said that if the allegations against him are true then he is the foremost prisoner of conscience in the United States. There's no allegation it was done for money. There's no allegation it's done for any other reasons than a political reason. Now, I'm sorry if people in the United States don't want to believe that they are keeping a political prisoner. But in Bradley Manning's case, the allegations are that he engaged in an illegal activity for political motivations. Kroft: People in the United States think he's a traitor. Assange: That's clearly not true. Regardless of what happens to Private Manning, any prosecution of Assange will be fraught with problems because WikiLeaks wasn't alone in the publishing the classified material. The New York Times also published some of it. If the government were to try and prosecute WikiLeaks and not The New York Times, it would likely need to prove that Assange was actively involved in a conspiracy to illegally obtain the documents. Kroft: Did you encourage anyone to leak this material to you? Or have you done anything in connection with the U.S. cases in terms of encouraging an individual to provide you with material? Assange: No, never. Kroft: There are people that believe that it has everything to do with the next threat. That if they don't come after you now that what they have done is essentially endorsed small, powerful organization with access to very powerful information releasing it outside their control. And if they let you get away it, then they are encouraging… Assange: Then what? They will have to have freedom of the press? Kroft: That it's encouragement to you… Assange: And? And? Kroft: …or to some other organization? Assange: And to every other publisher. Absolutely correct. It will be encouragement to every other publisher to publish fearlessly. That's what it will encourage. [Plant?]  Kroft: To publish information much more dangerous than this information. Assange: If we're talking about creating threats to small publishers to stop them publishing, the U.S. has lost its way. It has abrogated its founding traditions. It has thrown the First Amendment in the bin. Because publishers must be free to publish. ---------------------- ꕤ ---------------------- Segment: Julian Assange, Part 2 Kroft: Assange is not your average journalist or publisher, and some have argued that he is not really a journalist at all. He is an anti-establishment ideologue with conspiratorial views. He believes large government institutions use secrecy to suppress the truth and he distrusts the mainstream media for playing along. Some people have called him an anarchist, which he denies. Assange prefers to be called a libertarian, and believes that the only people who can adequately police the system are those on the inside who are in a position to notice the abuse and blow the whistle. While most reporters pride themselves in gathering information and interpreting it for a larger audience, the WikiLeaks model is different - it prefers to take raw data, make it available and let others decide the meaning. Regardless of whether you agree with this idea or not, it beats close to the heart of the Internet, and a younger generation, and it runs through the life of Assange. Kroft: You obviously have a mistrust of authority. Where does that come from? Assange: I think it comes from experience with various types of authorities. Assange gave us an example from his childhood, a story about him and his mother Christine, who was present at one of his recent court hearings. She was a political activist who helped scientists gather information about nuclear tests conducted by the British in the Australian outback. He remembers them being stopped late one night and questioned by authorities, one of whom said: Assange: Look lady, you're out at two o'clock in the morning with this child…it could be suggested that you're an unfit mother. I suggest you stay out of politics. And which she did for the next ten years in order to make sure nothing happened to me. So that's a very early abuse of power and the secrecy that I saw in my life. His was an unconventional and sometimes tumultuous childhood in which he was frequently uprooted and moved around the countryside. He attended 37 different schools. Kroft: So you've always been a little bit of an outsider? Assange: I've certainly, when I was a child, going from one school to another, you are the outsider to begin with and you have to find your way in. But in most of the places where I stayed long enough, I did find my way in. One of the first places Assange found his way into was populated by teenagers and computers. And he knew how to program them before most people had them. Kroft: You got involved with computers pretty early? With hacking? Assange: Well, I first became involved with computers when I was 13 or so. And I was unusually adept and I saw a sort of intellectual opportunity understanding how to program, understanding how these complex machines work. And that was part of a social culture in cracking codes to prove that you could do it. And this is something that is very actually normal and healthy amongst young men. You see it in skateboarders competing to show that they are capable in learning the best tricks. Kroft: And your tricks were like breaking into computers at the Department of Defense and Los Alamos National Laboratory, NASA and NORTEL, some Canadian banks. Assange: Yeah. All that happened. Kroft:  At age 20, Assange was arrested by the Australian Federal Police and eventually pled guilty to multiple counts of computer hacking. He managed to get off with no jail time because the judge concluded Assange hadn't stolen any information or done any damage. [PLANT?] Kroft: Is that still one of your skills? Assange: Not really. Unfortunately, I've been sort of, you know, promoted up into management, so I don't get to do that so much. But I know the terrain which means I know what is possible. I mean, Bill Gates could program but he certainly doesn't program anymore. But he knows what is possible for other people to do. Kroft:  Except that Assange is not Bill Gates and WikiLeaks is not Microsoft. The shoestring operation that created all the havoc has no permanent offices and is headquartered wherever Assange happens to be. WikiLeaks is a small non-profit organization with a handful of anonymous employees, a secret cadre of international programmers, and a legion of worldwide volunteers. Its finances are administered by the Wau Holland Foundation based in Berlin and named after a famous hacker. According to the ledgers, WikiLeaks took in $1.3 million last year in donations, with expenses of about $500,000. Kroft: For somebody who abhors secrets, you run a pretty secret organization. Assange: That's not true. What we want is transparent government, not transparent people. We are an organization who one of our primary goals is to keep certain things secret to keep the identity of our sources secret so secrecy is an inherent part of our operation. Kroft: The State Department would make the same argument. They have…doing very sensitive work that they're trying to make peace and negotiate situations around the world. Very delicately. It's very important that they do this in secrecy. What's the difference? Assange: We don't say that the State Department should have no secrets. That's not what we're saying. Rather, we say that if there are people in the State Department who say that there is some abuse going on, and there's not a proper mechanism for internal accountability and external accountability, they must have a conduit to get that out to the public. And we are the conduit. Kroft:  Given all the attention that Assange has received, we were curious about how he thought he was being perceived in the United States. He told us that he hasn't had the time to give it much thought. Kroft: Do you want me to give you my characterization of what I think people think? Assange: Sure. Kroft: Mysterious. Little weird. A cult-like figure. Little paranoid. Assange: Well, you're repeating all the ad hominem attacks by our critics. My role when I do something like speak about that we have discovered the deaths of 109,000 individual people in Iraq, 15,000 civilian casualties never before reported anywhere, that's a very serious role. That is not a role where I can engage in humor. So I'm not used to performing under the spotlight. And I am learning this as time's going by. Kroft: You have shown a fair amount of contempt for the mainstream press over the years. Why did you decide to as you used, the word "partner" with them, in some of these most recent releases? Assange: We're a small organization. We're in a position, say, with Cablegate, where we have 3,000 volumes of material that are very important to get out to the public in a responsible manner that have the potential for great change - for example, this recent revolution in Tunisia. It is logistically impossible, so instead our organization delegates its excess source material to other journalists, who will have more impact. Who will do a better job. [Plant?]  Kroft: There is an element of the press, most of the mainstream press, nobody wants to see you prosecuted, because it could affect the way that they do their business. But there's also a feeling within the community that you're not one of them, that you play a different game. Assange: We do play a different game. And I hope we're a new way. [Plant?]  Kroft: The point that they're making I think is that you're not -- you're -- you're a publisher, but you're also an activist. Assange: Wait, whoa. We're a particular type of activist. In the U.S. context, there seems to be communist activists or something, so it's a… Kroft: Right. Agitator. Assange: It's a dirty word in the U.S. Kroft: It's a dirty word. And people think that what you're trying to do is to sabotage the workings of government. [Plant?]  Assange: No. We're not that type of activists. We are free press activists. It's not about saving the whales. It's about giving people the information they need to support whaling or not support whaling. Why? That is the raw ingredients that is needed to make a just and civil society. And without that you're just sailing in the dark. Kroft:   There have been clear signs that Assange - under the threat of possible indictment by the Justice Department - has moderated some of his views. Before releasing the last two batches of classified documents, Assange and his lawyers contacted both the Pentagon and the State Department offering to explore ways to minimize potential harm. In both cases their offer was rebuffed. Assange acknowledged that his fundraising has been hurt by the decision of PayPal, MasterCard, Visa and Bank of America to cease handling donations. But he dismissed reports that WikiLeaks is wracked by internal dissention and mass defections. Assange: We're talking about Daniel Domscheit-Berg, who was a German spokesman, had a limited role in the organization. We had to suspend him some five months ago. Kroft: Describes you as being authoritarian, secretive, punitive. Assange: I'm the boss that suspended him, that's correct. Kroft: You don't care to elaborate? Assange: I think I just did. Kroft: You said you have this package of very damaging documents, sort of a poison pill, that's going to be released if anything bad happens to you. Assange: No, that's not at all true. That's some kind of media hype. What we do have is a system whereby we distribute encrypted backups of things we have yet to publish. There are backups distributed amongst many, many people, 100,000 people and that all we need to do is give them an encrypted key and they will be able to continue on. [Plant?]   Kroft: This wasn't intended to be a blackmail threat. Assange: Not at all. Kroft: What would trigger that encryption code being released? Assange: Anything that prevented us from our ability to publish. So not just for a second, but preventing us significantly from being able to publish. Kroft: Your imprisonment, for example. Assange: If a number of people were imprisoned or assassinated, then we would feel that we could not go on and other people would have to take over our work, and we would release those keys. Kroft: One bank, Bank of America, had its stock go down three to five percent based on a rumor, maybe it's a rumor, maybe you know more about it, that you had the contents of a five gigabyte hard drive belonging to one of its executives. Do you have a five gigabyte hard drive? Assange: I won't make any comment in relation to that upcoming publication. Kroft: You're certainly not denying it. Assange: You know, there'll be a process of elimination if we denied some and admitted others. Kroft: So it might not be Bank of America and you're just gonna let them squirm until you get ready to… Assange: I think it's great. We have all these banks squirming, thinking maybe it's them. Kroft: You seem to enjoy stirring things up. Assange: When you see abusive organizations suffer the consequences as a result of their abuse, and you see victims elevated, it's, yes, that's a very pleasurable activity to be involved in. [Plant?]   Kroft: I mean you see yourself as a check on the power of the United States and other big countries in the world. And in the process of doing that, you have now become powerful yourself. Who is the check on you? Assange: It is our sources who choose to provide us with information or not, depending on how they see our actions. It is our donors who choose to give us money or not. This organization cannot survive for even a few months without the ongoing support of the public. Produced by Howard L. Rosenberg and Tanya Simon http://www.cbsnews.com/news/julian-assange-the-man-behind-wikileaks-26-01-2011/7/ ---------------------- ꕤ ---------------------- [Plant?] ...  indicates where I think the US government planted questions are.  The transcript isn't 100%. Noticed small discrepancies between audio & text. Waiting for Pt2 to download, so I can listen to that. ꕤ

Surveillance & Intel News

ꕤ Article SOURCE surveillance | intel PETITION #Surveillance #Privacy #uspoli #law stop backdoor govt access to encrypted services - #Petition https://www.savecrypto.org/ #uspoli #surveillance #California Police fake phone tower  spy tech approved by DOJ https://www.revealnews.org/article/east-bay-cellphone-surveillance-plan-gets-attorney-generals-support/ #Berlin campaigners launch Intelexit support group for #NSA & #GCHQ to quit http://www.slate.com/blogs/future_tense/2015/09/30/intelexit_for_nsa_surveillance_self_help_group_for_intelligence_agents_started.html #France Draft Bill #Surveillance mass surveillance carte blanche Similar plans are already in place in the UK and the Netherlands. https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2015/09/france-must-reject-law-that-gives-carte-blanche-to-mass-surveillance-globally/ #military Nearly 120 soldiers from 163rd and 303rd Military Intelligence Battalions deployed to #Afghanistan http://kdhnews.com/fort_hood_herald/across_the_fort/fort-hood-military-intelligence-troops-deploy-to-afghanistan/article_42e4c9c0-66b0-11e5-8fd1-5f39ca88a06f.html #military US army #SouthKorea hoover up radio transmissions & detect underground tunnels fleet of new spy planes http://theweek.com/articles/577905/new-american-spy-planes-could-spot-kim-jong-uns-secret-tunnels ---------------------- ꕤ ---------------------- http://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/02/world/asia/kunduz-taliban-afghanistan.html?_r=0 Afghanistan Kunduz Still Held by Taliban, Locals Say, Despite Afghan Government Claims By ALISSA J. RUBIN  OCT. 1, 2015 Afghan soldiers preparing on Wednesday for a counteroffensive to try to retake the city of Kunduz from the Taliban. Credit Najim Rahim/European Pressphoto Agency KABUL, Afghanistan — Kunduz residents and provincial officials said the city remained in Taliban hands on Thursday, despite claims from the Afghan government that it had retaken the city. Kareema Sediqi, a member of the Kunduz provincial council, said that “the city is still in Taliban control,” but that Afghan security forces had advanced as far as a roundabout near the city’s entrance. Interviews with several residents suggested that the situation was fluid, with fighting continuing. Ms. Sediqi, who spoke from Kabul but was in contact with family members trapped in Kunduz, said, “The Afghan security forces are struggling against strong Taliban resistance from Taliban who are wearing A.N.A. uniforms,” referring to the Afghan National Army. It is a common Taliban tactic to obtain uniforms of the government security forces and use them to confuse their enemies. [...] But before residents had gone far from their homes, the Taliban counterattacked, wearing the uniforms of Afghan security forces, with some riding motorcycles and others driving captured Humvees and sports utility vehicles. They pushed back the Afghan forces, who remained on the city’s outskirts, according to Ms. Sediqi and some residents. [...] Saad Mukhtar, the director of public health for Kunduz, said that since the city fell, his office had recorded 49 dead and 332 wounded in local hospitals, including civilians and members of the Afghan security forces. Hundreds of civilians and members of the government forces have been holed up in the airport south of Kunduz, and reinforcements sent from other provinces have been delayed or halted by Taliban resistance in outlying areas. Residents reached in parts of Kunduz Province beyond the city said that the Taliban remained in control in the district of Chardara. That district is one of the most strategically important in the province because a road to the largest city in Afghanistan’s north, Mazar-i-Sharif, runs through it. [...] http://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/02/world/asia/kunduz-taliban-afghanistan.html?_r=0 ---------------------- ꕤ ---------------------- Pentagon Pushing to Increase Post-2016 Troop Levels in Afghanistan New Plans Aim to Give Military 'Leeway' on When to Carry Out Drawdown by Jason Ditz, September 30, 2015 Every planned drawdown of US military forces from Afghanistan seems to turn up later than announced and smaller than planned, and despite officials still sticking to the NATO narrative that the Afghan War “ended,” some 10,000 US troops remain there. Officially, the plan is for a major drawdown by the end of next year that will finally catch up with what was supposed to be a 2014 pullout. Unsurprisingly, the Pentagon is once again fighting against following through on the plans, with officials saying the “plans” they are advancing both intend to withhold the troop level reductions deeper into 2017, and to give the Pentagon more “leeway” in when and how many troops get removed from the country after 2017. Already 14 years into the occupation of Afghanistan, the continuing struggles of the Afghan military continues to drag US ground troops into combat, and many officials seem to favor just maintaining the occupation essentially forever instead of ending the war and watching the government continue to lose territory to the same insurgency they’ve been fighting throughout that war. With less and less media coverage of the Afghan War, there seems to be less political interest in seeing the troops brought home, which likely will ensure that the Pentagon proposals to keep troops there get through without too much debate. http://news.antiwar.com/2015/09/30/pentagon-pushing-to-increase-post-2016-troop-levels-in-afghanistan/ ---------------------- ꕤ ---------------------- COMMENT Thought I'd look up to see what's going on with Afghanistan, seeing the US is sending out over 100 intelligence staff. Looks like Taliban's winning? Fourteen years is such a long time to occupy a country. Surprised how sophisticated Taliban are, wearing uniforms of Afghan government troops etc. It sounds like life goes on around the fighting and bystanders get shot if they're unlucky. Don't know enough about Afghanistan to make anything of what's going on. ------- Spy planes that find tunnels is pretty cool ... & especially handy near Gaza. ------- The French are going to subject everyone to mass surveillance, which is pretty standard for countries that expose themselves to internal risks. ꕤ

Immigration - And Chaos Everywhere

ꕤ Article SOURCE Various, as marked WARNING:  GRAPHIC - VIDEO https://youtu.be/Kn-RBMGDozk ---------------------- ꕤ ---------------------- Watched the above video via Twitter. It was titled something like:  Muslim refugees attack mother and daughter in Germany (which proved incorrect). The video is sickening.  Shocking level of violence.  A number of people on the road got bowled over by a passing car.  Chaos. Was subsequently notified that the footage isn't from Germany and was given this link [WARNING: GRAPHIC]:  http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=617_1442119315. While it's not exactly a relief that it was in Switzerland rather than in Germany,  it is something of a relief to learn the violence was at least confined to violence between immigrant parties, rather than attack on the host community.  The LiveLeak footage indicated that it was a confrontation between Kurdish and Turkish parties, and that 4 police and a K9 were injured, in addition to the various other parties injured (and possibly killed). News article related to this: Watch: Migrant Kurds And Turks Battle On The Streets Of Switzerland by Liam Deacon12 Sep 2015 Kurds and Turks went to war on the street of Europe once again today. A group of Kurdish independence supporters leaving a rally in the Swiss town of Bern were rammed by a car allegedly driven by a supporter of Turkish nationalism. Two are thought to have died, with twenty injured. The initial rally was organised by the “Union of Turkish Democrats in Europe” against Kurdish “terrorism,” NZZ reports. Around 100 Turkish nationalists gather and were met by a counter demonstration of around 180 supporters of Kurdish independence and the prescribed group the PKK. Local News provider Watson reports that the town center was sealed off and several bridges closed. Riot police used rubber bullets and peppers spray to separate the rival groups, who were angered by the ongoing conflict between their two ethnic groups in the Middle East. The fatal attack was on a smaller, breakaway group on the edge of the rally, local media Blick reports. Videos loaded to social media show a black Mercedes accelerating into a group of Kurdish demonstrators, identifiable by their yellow PKK flags. Several people are struck and screaming is heard. A spokeswoman for Canton Police confirmed to Watson that an “incident” involving a vehicle had occurred on Saturday afternoon. The driver had been detained but disruption in the town was ongoing when the spokeswoman addressed journalists at 18:00 local time. The violence follows Thursday’s bloody clashes in Frankfurt, Germany between Kurds and Turks, which descended into a riot, and further reports of violent clashes between the two ethnic groups in Hannover today. http://www.breitbart.com/london/2015/09/12/watch-migrant-kurds-and-turks-battle-on-the-streets-of-switzerland/ Germany:   Frankfurt Turkish vs Kurdish 11.09.2015 WATCH: Migrant Turks And Kurds Battle On Frankfurt Streets, German Army Called In by Simon Kent 11 Sep 2015 At least five arrests were made in Frankfurt on Thursday night after a march by supporters of Turkish nationalism descended into bloody violence when they clashed with rival Kurd separatists. Video of the riot has emerged on the same day Germany announced it will place 4,000 soldiers on standby over the weekend to help with a new wave of up to 40,000 refugees arriving in the country. Police said The Thursday event was billed as a “solidarity march commemorating fallen Turkish soldiers”. According to  FR Online to it was organised by the “Federation of Turkish young people” which campaigns on behalf of Turkey. The fracas involved a group of around 380 participant and started at the city’s main railway station at 18.30. Soon after the Turkish supporters set off there were attacks by immigrant Kurd counter-demonstrators who used sticks, bottles and stones to attack marchers. One taxi driver reportedly had his car damaged in the brawl. Police confirmed the counter-demonstrators were of Kurdish origin and quickly withdrew. More than 40,000 people have died since the PKK (Kurdistan Workers’ Party) launched its armed campaign in 1984 calling for an independent Kurdish state within Turkey. Now immigrants from both sides of that battle are carrying their fight onto the streets of Frankfurt. Meanwhile, Germany will mobilise 4,000 soldiers in the next 48-hours to help with the entry of up to 40,000 refugees in the country, Defence Minister Ursula von der Leyen said on Friday. She told Der Spiegel that she was placing the troops on alert with the expectation they could be asked to do more than just welcome the immigrant arrivals. “The country can be sure that the Bundeswehr [German army] will be supporting” efforts to care for refugees, Von der Leyen said, adding that the army could do yet more if called upon. “We are spreading these 4,000 soldiers across the country and they will intervene if the federal states [which are responsible for the initial uptake of refugees] request it,” a Defence Ministry spokesman told The Local. “They will provide a helping hand, for example to set up a refugee camp, to help with organization, provide buses and drivers, other types of transport, medical services and equipment, anything of that kind.” Record numbers of people from the Middle East and sub-Saharan Africa continue to pour into Europe, with around 7,600 entering Macedonia in the last 12 hours. http://www.breitbart.com/london/2015/09/11/watch-migrant-turks-and-kurds-battle-on-frankfurt-streets-german-army-called-in/ Meanwhile on the other side of the world: Bendigo mosque protest: Anti-mosque and anti-racism protesters clash Date     August 29, 2015 Tom Cowie, Reporter Police deployed capsicum spray in the heart of Bendigo on Saturday afternoon as violent scuffles broke out between opposing protest groups over plans for a mosque. About 200 people gathered in the central Victorian city for a protest organised by the United Patriots Front, where they were met with equal numbers from left-wing groups including No Room For Racism and the Socialist Alternative. A huge police presence, including a mounted unit, locked down large areas of the regional city in anticipation of the groups coming together. The anti-Islam demonstration was organised as part of a vocal campaign to stop a mosque from being built in Bendigo. The Victorian Civil and Administrative Council recently dismissed an appeal against the project. Police set up a barricade around Bendigo Town Hall for the anti-mosque protest at 2pm, as the No Room For Racism group gathered outside chanting and playing music. The groups tried to clash on several occasions, including at the Hargreaves Street Mall, but were met with large police numbers. At one point, protesters came together when a flag was burned by the anti-racist demonstrators. Police used capsicum spray on the anti-Islam protesters who were trying to get across the police line. Speaking out against the mosque and Islam were several leaders from the right-wing United Patriots Front, as well as Go Back To Where You Come From star Kim Vuga. The lead objector against the mosque, Julie Hoskin, spoke in front of the crowd and said the majority of people in Bendigo opposed the mosque. She accused the council and "complicit media" of trying to convince residents that most people in the city supported the mosque. "We are local and we are vocal and we don't want a mosque in Bendigo," she said. Many of the anti-Islam speakers were not from Bendigo but when they asked how many people in the crowd were from the area a large amount put their hand up. Several protesters on both sides wore masks to hide their identity. The anti-Islam demonstrators carried Australian flags and protest signs, including one that said "Say no to the Islamisation of Bendigo". Another said the local council was "sacrificing Bendigo to Islam for their own greed". Controversial Bendigo Councillor Elise Chapman, who has been a vocal opponent of the mosque, was in the crowd wearing an Australian flag. United Patriots Front leader Blair Cottrell was seen washing his eyes out with water after police deployed the capsicum spray. In his speech, Mr Cottrell lashed his opponents from the anti-racist protests as "losers, renegades and traitors". The UPF have been engaged in ongoing street battles with left-wing groups, including outside State Parliament last month.  Life-long Bendigo resident Sue McConnachie attended the rally with friends to show support for the mosque, but was disappointed with the level of aggression from both sides.  "It seemed like the emphasis on the local cause was certainly weakened by the people on the front lines," Ms McConnachie said. The anti-racist group at one point played Khe Sanh by Cold Chisel, a reference to Jimmy Barnes asking right-wing group Reclaim Australia not to play his songs. The rally broke up at about 4pm. Police remained on high alert after the protest in preparation any subsequent clashes. There were no arrests. http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/bendigo-mosque-protest-antimosque-and-antiracism-protesters-clash-20150829-gjaml8.html The wide range of problems in Switzerland, Germany, France, and a number of other Western European countries that result from cross-cultural immigration are staggering. But non-European refugees and immigrants keep pouring in, thanks to the policies of neocon politicians who are (a) responsible for the chaos abroad that results in displacement and migration (b) responsible for failing to make alternate arrangements for those they have displaced. Meanwhile, the domestic bleeding hearts and demented ideologues, are all for opening borders to more chaos, as well as irreconcilable cultural and other issues (at best). I strongly sympathise with those that seek to preserve their amenities, their national heritage, and the integrity and primacy of their own cultures, be it in Europe or in the colonies. It's impossible to see solutions.  All I see is doom. ꕤ

Video - 'The Zionist Story' - Palestine | Israel

ꕤ Video SOURCE https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ufLAitMq3zI&feature=youtu.be The Zionist Story Independent film by Ronen Berelovich ---------------------- ꕤ ---------------------- Part way through watching this film. ꕤ

The Rabbi, the Donkey, the Norwegian Israeli Dictatorship Cartoon, Shas Crims, Israel, the Ayatollah & the Great Satan

ꕤ Article SOURCE https://archive.is/kxDUS & other, as marked ꕤ COPYRIGHT DISCLAIMER Copyright Disclaimer under section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for “fair use” for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, education and research. Above,  Rabbi Ovadia Yosef with Knesset members:  Eli Yishai (left) and Aryeh Deri & Ariel Atlas (right), Jerusalem 2012 Sephardi leader Yosef: Non-Jews exist to serve Jews By Marcy Oster  October 18, 2010 10:40pm   JERUSALEM (JTA) — Israeli Sephardic leader Rabbi Ovadia Yosef in his weekly Saturday night sermon said that non-Jews exist to serve Jews.  “Goyim were born only to serve us. Without that, they have no place in the world; only to serve the People of Israel,” he said during a public discussion of what kind of work non-Jews are allowed to perform on Shabbat. "Why are gentiles needed? They will work, they will plow, they will reap. We will sit like an effendi and eat," he said to some laughter. Yosef, the spiritual leader of the Shas Party and the former chief Sephardi rabbi of Israel, also said that the lives of non-Jews are protected in order to prevent financial loss to Jews. "With gentiles, it will be like any person: They need to die, but God will give them longevity. Why? Imagine that one’s donkey would die, they’d lose their money. This is his servant. That’s why he gets a long life, to work well for this Jew,” said the rabbi, who recently turned 90. An audio recording of some of the rabbi’s remarks was broadcast on Israel’s Channel 10. EXTRACT ONLY  FULL AT SOURCE http://www.jta.org/2010/10/18/news-opinion/israel-middle-east/sephardi-leader-yosef-non-jews-exist-to-serve-jews  Archive | here  'effendi' -- Ottoman Turkish title of respect Cartoon in Norwegian daily foments anti-Israel feelings, embassy diplomat says September 29, 2015 2:17pm   (JTA) — Israel has called on a Norwegian daily newspaper to apologize  for a cartoon that equates Israel with Nazi Germany and North Korea. The cartoon appeared on Sept. 24 in the daily newspaper Dagbladet. In a letter to the editor published on Tuesday,  Dan Poraz, first secretary at the Israeli Embassy in Oslo, called the cartoon “reprehensible and thoughtless.” “There is a fine line between freedom of speech and hate speech, and this cartoon crossed that line. It’s about time that editors take responsibility. An apology may be a suitable way to start,” Poraz wrote. “This is damaging because it can incite anti-Israeli bias that can lead to violent reactions,” he said. The cartoon was reproduced with the letter. The cartoon shows a woman standing in front of an organic food store holding an orange and saying: “These oranges come from Israel! You are supporting murderers!”  The next panel shows her holding a box and saying: holding a carton: “This macaroni is produced in North Korea!? How did you even get a hold of these??” The final panel shows her holding a box of frozen pizza marked with a swastika, with a “Made in Nazi Germany” label, and says: “And this pizza is from N… what kind of store is this??” Dagbladet’s editor has refused to apologize, saying Israel’s reaction is exaggerated, Ynet reported. Cartoonist Ola Lysgaard  told The Local – Norway that people missed the point of the cartoon, but did not elaborate. http://www.jta.org/2015/09/29/news-opinion/israel-middle-east/cartoon-in-norwegian-daily-foments-anti-israel-feelings-embassy-diplomat-says Reprehensible cartoon Dagbladet puts Israel in the same category as Nazi Germany and North Korea. Published on 29. September 2015, at 7:00 Dan Poraz First Secretary, Embassy of Israel Thursday 24. September published Dagbladet one reprehensible and thoughtless cartoon since it puts Israel in the same category as Nazi Germany and North Korea. A comparison with democracy Israel who fight for security for its citizens, alongside unstable and violent dictatorships. Comic Strip is also incorrect and offensive because it suggests that Israeli products are "unethical" and that by buying these supports "murderers." This is detrimental because it may incite anti-Israeli bias which can result in violent reactions. There must be a boundary between "free speech" and "hatretorikk." This publication has unfortunately crossed this border, and it is time that some editors deliberately turns its responsibilities. It may be appropriate to start with an apology. Offending Cartoon also on this Link https://archive.is/aEW0s#selection-845.1-1156.0 more info Shas Heb. acronym for 'Shomrei Sfarad'  ie.  Sephardi Guards  ultra-orthodox political party in Israel founded by Rav Ovadiah Yosef - 1984 fmr Israeli Sephardi chief rabbi  Shas spiritual leader until his death in Oct  2013 reps interests of Haredi Sephardic & Mizrahi Jews Haredi fm verb 'hared' -- 'trembles' at the word of God / awe-inspired fear ... to perform the will of God Orthodox Judaism rejection of modern secular culture Haredim regard themselves as  the most religiously authentic group of Jews [all info re Judaism & Shas source:  wikipedia] Sephardi ie Spanish or Hispanic fm.  Sepharad (Spain) Sephardi Jews The Jews of Spain Jewish ethnic division distinct community Iberian Peninsula abt. start 2nd millennium (ie -- year 1000) communities throughout Spain & Portugal   languages:  Judaeo-Spanish, sometimes called 'Ladino Oriental' (Eastern Ladino), incorporating  Hebrew & Aramaic  on expulsion from Spain 1492, dialect further influenced by:   Ottoman Turkish, Levantine Arabic, Greek, Bulgarian and Serbo-Croatian -- lands of their exile + other influences  Broadly, Sephardim refers to traditionally Eastern Jewish communities of West Asia  (adopted Sephardic liturgy, law & customs via Jewish exiles -- but no genealogical roots in the Jewish communities of Iberia) [all info re Judaism & Shas source:  wikipedia] Mizrahi = Eastern fm 'Mizrah' for 'East' {Hebrew} referred to the natives of Syria, Iraq and other Asian countries, as distinct from those of North Africa (Maghribiyyun) Mizrahi Jews Jews who trace their roots back to Muslim-majority countries incl.  descendants of Babylonian Jews from modern Iraq, Syria, Bahrain, Kuwait, Dagestan, Azerbaijan, Iran, Lebanon, Uzbekistan, Kurdistan, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Yemenite and Georgian Jews Some expand the definition of Mizrahim to Maghrebi (North Africa) and Sephardic. Before establishment of the state of Israel, Mizrahi Jews did not identify themselves as a separate ethnic subgroup. Instead, Mizrahi Jews generally characterized themselves as Sephardi, because they follow the traditions of Sephardic Judaism (with differences) The once distinct rites of the Mizrahi communities were influenced, superimposed upon or replaced by rite of the Sephardim {perceived as more prestigious}.  Even before this assimilation, the original rite of many Jewish Oriental communities was already closer to the Sephardi rite than to the Ashkenazi rite. "Sephardim" has come to mean not only "Spanish Jews" proper but "Jews of the Spanish rite", just as "Ashkenazim" is used for "Jews of the German rite", whether or not their families originate in Germany. Sephardic Jews exiled from Spain -- resettled in many Arabic-speaking countries, eg Syria and Morocco. Syria -- mostly intermarried with and assimilated into the larger established communities of Arabic-speaking Jews and Mizrahi Jews. Prevalence of the Sephardic rite among Mizrahim is partially a result of Sephardim proper joining some of Mizrahi communities following the 1492 expulsion from Sepharad (Spain and Portugal). Israel - conflation of terms "Sephardi" is used in a broad sense to include Mizrahi Jews and Maghrebi Jews as well as Sephardim proper. Sephardic rite make up more than half of Israel's Jewish population, and Mizrahi Jews proper are a major part of them. Before  mass immigration of over one million from the former Soviet Union, mostly of Ashkenazi descent: Sephardic rite followers made up over 70% of Israel's Jewish population Mizrahi Jews make up the largest ethnic group in Israel 2005 -- 61% of Israeli Jews are of Mizrahi ancestry --- Assimilation issues /  divide b/w Eastern European & Middle Eastern Jews Social integration improving, but disparities persist [all info re Judaism & Shas source:  wikipedia]  ----- Shas {political party} Chairman           Aryeh Deri Founded             1984  { 30+ years ago} Headquarters     Jerusalem  Ideology     Populism Social democracy Religious conservatism Mizrahis' interests Anti-Miscegenation (anti intermarriage) Religion:  Torah Judaism International affiliation:  World Zionist Organization stated purpose of the party is to 1)   "return the crown to the former glory" 2)   rectify what it sees as the "continued economic and social discrimination against the Sephardic population of Israel" Shas established its own government-funded education system Shas advocates a state run according to Halakha, the Jewish religious law  [comment:  this looks a lot like a Jewish 'Sharia'] Jewish religious laws derived from the Written and Oral Torah, incl. Talmudic & Rabbinic law & customs Judaism classically draws no distinction in its laws between religious and non-religious life Halakhaguides not only religious practices and beliefs, but numerous aspects of day-to-day life.  Halakha is often translated as "Jewish Law."  Halakha --  more literal translation might be "the way to behave" or "the way of walking". In diaspora {movement from homeland}, halakha served many Jewish communities as an enforceable avenue of law - both civil and religious law  Since Enlightenment, emancipation, and haskalah {Movement among European Jews, 18th & 19th Centuries (1700 & 1800s):  Jewish Enlightenment, pressing for integration into European societies & secular education}  halakha viewed as less binding in day-to-day life, as it relies on Rabbinic interpretation, as opposed to the pure, written words written in the Jewish bible. Under contemporary Israeli law, however, certain areas of Israeli family and personal status law are under the authority of the rabbinic courts and are therefore treated according to halakha. Halakha developed over generations, beginning prior 500 BC, in a constantly expanding collection of religious literature, initially consolidated in the Talmud. Talmud study / learning central text of Rabbinic Judaism body of  judicial (rabbinical) opinions, legislation, customs, and recommendations, many of them passed down over the centuries, and an assortment of ingrained behaviours, relayed to successive generations from the moment a child begins to speak.  Talmud -- the subject of intense study in yeshivas. Noahide Laws Judaism held that non-Jews (goyim) are only obliged to follow the seven Noahide Laws re:  Oral Law derived from covenant 'god' made with Noah after the flood Judaism holds Noahide laws apply to all descendants of Noah, ie, all living people Noahide laws are derived in the Talmud (Tractate Sanhedrin 57a), and are listed here: Murder is forbidden. Theft is forbidden Sexual immorality, including homosexuality, is forbidden. Eating flesh cut from a still-living animal is forbidden. Belief in and worship of, or prayer to, "idols" is forbidden. Blaspheming against God is forbidden. Society must establish a fair system of legal justice to administer law honestly. Sanhedrin -- Jewish religious council / superior court-- [all info re Judaism & Shas source:  wikipedia] Shas All that centuries old tradition & reverence of religion and law ... yet, human nature and reality are something else:  Several Shas MKs (members of Knesset (ie Israeli parliament), convicted of criminal offences that include fraud and forgery:  Aryeh Deri Rafael Pinhasi Yair Levy Ofer Hugi Yair Peretz MK Shlomo Benizri   convicted of bribery, conspiring to commit a crime and obstruction of justice -- 2008.  Deri was sent to prison time on corruption charges -- 1999. Haredi Shas Party spox: "The Haredi public is not yet open to women serving in the Knesset." [all info re Judaism & Shas source:  wikipedia] Rabbi Ovadia Yosef 2010 -- cursed the Palestinians as "evil, bitter enemies of Israel" and said that "Abu Mazen and all these evil people should perish from this world. God should strike them with a plague." PLO said Yosef's remarks were tantamount to a call for "genocide against Palestinians." had called Arabs "vipers", and called for Israel to "annihilate" them. "It is forbidden to be merciful to them. You must send missiles to them and annihilate them. They are evil and damnable." [ source:  wikipedia  |  here  ] Ayatolla Khamenei ꕤ COPYRIGHT DISCLAIMER Copyright Disclaimer under section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for “fair use” for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, education and research. Grand ayatollah Sayyid Ali Khamenei Islamic World Media Conference, Tehran in support of the Palestinian Intifada (resistance) -- 31/01/2002 EXTRACTS ONLY "... the U.S. has been the main supporter of the tyrannical and oppressive regimes in the world. It has plundered the national wealth and natural resources of other nations more covetously than any other colonial power, and it has sold the largest amount of deadly weapons compared with other arms manufacturers in the world. These are some of the reasons why most nations call the United States the Great Satan." "The United States and most of the Western countries are fully supporting the Zionist regime, which is blatantly violating the international law and conventions. Thus, these countries are showing to the world that they have no respect for the international law and conventions, and that they only seek to promote their own interests and accomplish their own objectives." "There is no doubt that the Zionist regime would not be able to survive without the economic and political support of the United States and other Western countries, whose media are constantly airing propaganda in favor of the Zionist entity in order to cover up its crimes and atrocities against the innocent and defenseless Palestinians. Therefore, the United States and other countries supporting Israel are also complicit in these crimes and atrocities." "Ever since the emergence of the cancerous tumor of Zionism in Palestine, the Western countries have been acting in collusion with the Zionist regime. In other words, Israel has been tasked with protecting the regional interests of the Western powers by posing a constant threat to the security of the Islamic countries in the region. And the Western countries, in return, have pledged to fully support this cancerous tumor. Today, it is the United States that is playing a major role in supporting the Zionist entity." EXTRACTS ONLY http://english.khamenei.ir//index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=162&Itemid=31 COMMENT This post evolved after stumbling on Rabbi Ovadia Yosef's remarks about non-Jews, which I found deeply offensive. It is particularly offensive considering the various support and protections Israel received, and continues to receive, from non-Jewish 'donkey' nations. Rabbi Ovadia Yosef was the founder of Shas political party and was chief Sephardic rabbi, and thus spiritual leader of Sephardic Israel, which is most of the population of Israel (judging by demographics particulars of Israel, above). From an outsider's point of view, Rabbi Yosef (and religious leaders such as this) are Israel's equivalent of an Ayatollah.  Likewise, Jewish religious law, which is partially incorporated by the Jewish state, appears to be the Jewish equivalent of 'sharia.'  But I guess the similarities shouldn't be surprising, when these beliefs sprang from the same Middle-Eastern peoples, who must have shared many of the same customs. If this is the mindset of a learned religious, political, and spiritual leader of Israelis (or a large portion of them),  steeped in centuries-old study, knowledge and tradition, passed down for thousands of years, it's not hard to see this statement as likely being representative of a common Jewish attitude to people outside of (what now appears to be) this multi-ethnic religious 'tribe' of sorts, that's fixated on Jewish political and religious renaissance (and dominance), in the former territory of ancient Judea. For all the knowledge, tradition and laws passed down over thousands of years, and for all the religious superiority and piety of Shas members, it's hilarious to find Shas members have been convicted of various crimes. It's quite sobering also, when you consider how religion (which, in my view, is just another form of politics) is held up, revered, protected, permitted wide influence, and, ultimately, exploited. While an Israeli spiritual leader holds such an ugly (and, in my view, unnatural view) of people not of their political/religious persuasion, Israel becoming the butt of cartoon humour in Norway, for Israel's treatment of Palestinians, is perceived and treated as 'hate speech', and apology and censorship is sought by a representative of Israel. In this topsy-turvy world, Israel (the oppressor of displaced Palestinian people) is the 'victim' of 'hate,' and political humour (and presumably rebuke of Israel's actions) -- amounting to fair political comment -- is redefined as 'hate speech.'    Meanwhile, the actions that provoked such political cartoon humour and rebuke  remain insignificant background details, as Israel raises the prospect of provocation of anti-Semitism / anti-Semitic violence (the resulting Israeli 'shield'), in an attempt to silence Israel's political critics. It amounts to demanding that everybody turn a blind eye and remain silent witnesses to Israeli abuses, while criticism of Israel's actions is redefined as 'hate speech.'  The spectre of potential anti-Semitic attack is invoked as leverage, by an aggressor (Israel) who demands silence and shifts blame for the prospect of attack (were it to occur).  Blame that Israel transfers to the bystander/witness/messenger (ie those that may speak up against what they see as Israeli injustice, oppression and violence toward a displaced people etc), while Israel deflects responsibility/blame for any undesirable responses that may possibly attach to Israel's actions (rather than attach to the mere observation or comment re those actions), as Israel is catalyst/agent of potentially provocative actions (and not the observer or critic). I'm not invested in what happens in the Middle East, so I really don't care who ultimately gains control of a small tract of land and prevails in terms of assertion of identity and ethnic/national continuity attached to land, so (I think) I can see how both sides might see the contest. But I do think that seeking to repress freedom of speech, freedom of expression and political freedom, is as detrimental to wider society and as it is self-serving for those that wish to silence others -- whoever the instigator of such censorship. As for 'hate speech,' I would consider Rabbi Ovadia Yosef's remarks about non-Jews a prime example of speech tantamount to conveying an irrational hatred of the other, but I certainly wouldn't seek to limit the right to such expression.  Rabbi Yosef versus Ayatollah is kind of funny to see. To me, these religious figures are similar and it looks like they want the same things:  the religion, religious laws, religious state, religious fanaticism ... and desire for the destruction of one another's religious state.   But the Iranian Ayatollah isn't as hateful to outsiders.   Yes, the Americans are referred to as 'the Great Satan' ... lol ... but the title is well-deserved, when you consider decades of invasions, coups (including the Iran 1953 coup), fostering domestic discord and revolutions, support of murderous dictators, arming terrorists, proxy wars, wars, carpet bombing, atomic bombing, torture, kidnap, assassinations, extra-judicial drone killings, murder of civilians, etc etc, conducted by the American Mercantile Empire all around the world. As far as I'm aware, there's been no Ayatollah pronouncement of outsiders as 'donkeys' and, basically, slaves of Iran ... so the Iranian Ayatollah doesn't seem as 'crazy' or as 'dangerous' as he's portrayed. Considering all the above, I'm inclined to back-flip and conclude that Israel having nukes is maybe a more frightening prospect than Iran having like capabilities. Sorry, Rabbi Ovadia Yosef Donkey or no donkey, I'm back to thinking Israel is the only sane place on the planet ... and Israel's 24ft concrete walls sound most appealing. Link | here ꕤ