Tuesday, November 3, 2009
Friday, October 30, 2009
Israeli book tries to deligitimize israel
One arguments in the arsenal to deligitimize Israel is to undermine the Zionist argument that the Jews right to that land is the best claim of any people to any land in history. The Arabs challenge that, arguing that modern Israel was created by European colonialists who have no ties to the land. Obama aided that view in his Cairo speech, saying Israel’s justification is the Holocaust, which Arabs deny occurred.
(JWR June 9 2009 Obama's stunning offense to Israel and the Jewish people By Anne Bayefsky President yet again makes his intentions clear http://www.JewishWorldReview.com | President Obama's Cairo speech was nothing short of an earthquake — a distortion of history, an insult to the Jewish people, and an abandonment of very real human-rights victims in the Arab and Muslim worlds. It is not surprising that Arabs and Muslims in a position to speak were enthusiastic. It is more surprising that American commentators are praising the speech for its political craftiness, rather than decrying its treachery of historic proportions. Obama equated the Holocaust to Palestinian "dislocation." In his words: "The Jewish people were persecuted. …anti-Semitism …culminated in an unprecedented Holocaust…. Six million Jews were killed…. On the other hand, it is also undeniable that the Palestinian people — Muslims and Christians — have suffered in pursuit of a homeland." This parallelism amounts to the fictitious Arab narrative that the deliberate mass murder of six million Jews for the crime of being Jewish is analogous to a Jewish-driven violation of Palestinian rights.
Some Left Wing Israeli Jews try and undermine Zionism similarly.
See today’s Oct 30 2009 Wall Street Journal Book Review Israel is the Where Do Jews Come From?
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703746604574464023091024180.html
By EVAN R. GOLDSTEIN
This much is known: In the mid-eighth century, the ruling elite of the Khazars, a Turkic tribe in Eurasia, converted to Judaism. Did the Khazar converts to Judaism remain Jews, and, if so, what became of them? Enter Shlomo Sand. In a new book, "The Invention of the Jewish People," the Tel Aviv University professor of history argues that large numbers of Khazar Jews migrated westward into Ukraine, Poland and Lithuania, where they played a decisive role in the establishment of Eastern European Jewry. The implications are far-reaching: If the bulk of Eastern European Jews are the descendents of Khazars—not the ancient Israelites—then most Jews have no ancestral links to Palestine. Put differently: If most Jews are not Semites, then what justification is there for a Jewish state in the Middle East? By attempting to demonstrate the Khazar origins of Eastern European Jewry, Mr. Sand—a self-described post-Zionist who believes that Israel needs to shed its Jewish identity to become a democracy—aims to undermine the idea of a Jewish state."The Invention of the Jewish People" is being translated into a dozen languages. Mr. Sand is delivering lectures this month in Los Angeles, Berkeley, New York and elsewhere.
""A few Jews in Eastern Europe presumably came from the Khazar kingdom, but nobody can responsibly claim that most of them are the descendents of Khazars," says Israel Bartal, a professor of history at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. According to Peter B. Golden, a professor of history at Rutgers University, the Khazars are likely one of a number of strains that shaped the Jewish population in Eastern Europe. But, he stresses, DNA studies have confirmed that the Middle Eastern strain is predominant.
Members of Stormfront, a self-described "white nationalist" Internet community, have predictably reacted to Mr. Sand's book with glee. Sands is worried about how the The Khazar theory, he knew, was an article of faith among anti-Semites and anti-Israel Arab politicians. I asked Sands how the forthcoming Arabic translation might be received in the Muslim world, where, he says, anti-Semitism is growing. I ask if the confident tenor of his book might exacerbate the problem. He falls quiet for a moment. "Maybe my tone was too affirmative on the question of the Khazars," he reluctantly concedes. "If I were to write it today I would be much more careful." Such an admission, however, is unlikely to sway the sinister conspiracists who find the Khazar theory a useful invention. —Mr. Goldstein is a staff editor at the Chronicle of Higher Education.
My Response:
1. Genetics show the link between modern Israelis and ancient near east.
From todays Prepared for the
Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations
by the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs DAILY ALERT
Scientist Solves Jewish Genealogy Riddles - Peter Goodspeed
Dr. Karl Skorecki works on the cutting edge of molecular science, revolutionizing medicine through genetics and the use of stem cells to test anti-cancer therapies. As a sideline, he has become world famous for applying genetics to genealogy and transforming history. He has found evidence to support traditional claims that modern-day Jewish priests, Cohanim, are descended from a single common male ancestor - biblically said to be Aaron, the older brother of Moses. He has also found that 40% of Ashkenazi Jews can trace their descent to four "founding mothers" who lived in Europe 1,000 years ago, and evidence that all Jewish communities share a common paternal origin in the Near East.
He is now director of the Rappaport Family Institute for Research in Medical Sciences and a researcher at the Rambam-Technion University Medical Center in Haifa. (National Post-Canada)
2. Genetics is a Nazi argument anyway. Even if all Jews are descended from Khazar converts, which they don’t, they are part of the covenant of God promising the land to the Jews Genesis 12. Only way to deny that is deny the Bible.
3. How does this challenge the Arab Jews who lived in Babylonian empire since 586 BCE and now make up huge part of Israel population?
4. What do the anti-Zionists think happened to the Jews taken as slaves to Rome from Judea?
5. No nation has a better claim than Israel does for any land.
Moslems took their land by force from 8th century on. Americans stole USA from Natives. Etc Jews have rights from Bible, history, UN. Etc.
(JWR June 9 2009 Obama's stunning offense to Israel and the Jewish people By Anne Bayefsky President yet again makes his intentions clear http://www.JewishWorldReview.com | President Obama's Cairo speech was nothing short of an earthquake — a distortion of history, an insult to the Jewish people, and an abandonment of very real human-rights victims in the Arab and Muslim worlds. It is not surprising that Arabs and Muslims in a position to speak were enthusiastic. It is more surprising that American commentators are praising the speech for its political craftiness, rather than decrying its treachery of historic proportions. Obama equated the Holocaust to Palestinian "dislocation." In his words: "The Jewish people were persecuted. …anti-Semitism …culminated in an unprecedented Holocaust…. Six million Jews were killed…. On the other hand, it is also undeniable that the Palestinian people — Muslims and Christians — have suffered in pursuit of a homeland." This parallelism amounts to the fictitious Arab narrative that the deliberate mass murder of six million Jews for the crime of being Jewish is analogous to a Jewish-driven violation of Palestinian rights.
Some Left Wing Israeli Jews try and undermine Zionism similarly.
See today’s Oct 30 2009 Wall Street Journal Book Review Israel is the Where Do Jews Come From?
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703746604574464023091024180.html
By EVAN R. GOLDSTEIN
This much is known: In the mid-eighth century, the ruling elite of the Khazars, a Turkic tribe in Eurasia, converted to Judaism. Did the Khazar converts to Judaism remain Jews, and, if so, what became of them? Enter Shlomo Sand. In a new book, "The Invention of the Jewish People," the Tel Aviv University professor of history argues that large numbers of Khazar Jews migrated westward into Ukraine, Poland and Lithuania, where they played a decisive role in the establishment of Eastern European Jewry. The implications are far-reaching: If the bulk of Eastern European Jews are the descendents of Khazars—not the ancient Israelites—then most Jews have no ancestral links to Palestine. Put differently: If most Jews are not Semites, then what justification is there for a Jewish state in the Middle East? By attempting to demonstrate the Khazar origins of Eastern European Jewry, Mr. Sand—a self-described post-Zionist who believes that Israel needs to shed its Jewish identity to become a democracy—aims to undermine the idea of a Jewish state."The Invention of the Jewish People" is being translated into a dozen languages. Mr. Sand is delivering lectures this month in Los Angeles, Berkeley, New York and elsewhere.
""A few Jews in Eastern Europe presumably came from the Khazar kingdom, but nobody can responsibly claim that most of them are the descendents of Khazars," says Israel Bartal, a professor of history at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. According to Peter B. Golden, a professor of history at Rutgers University, the Khazars are likely one of a number of strains that shaped the Jewish population in Eastern Europe. But, he stresses, DNA studies have confirmed that the Middle Eastern strain is predominant.
Members of Stormfront, a self-described "white nationalist" Internet community, have predictably reacted to Mr. Sand's book with glee. Sands is worried about how the The Khazar theory, he knew, was an article of faith among anti-Semites and anti-Israel Arab politicians. I asked Sands how the forthcoming Arabic translation might be received in the Muslim world, where, he says, anti-Semitism is growing. I ask if the confident tenor of his book might exacerbate the problem. He falls quiet for a moment. "Maybe my tone was too affirmative on the question of the Khazars," he reluctantly concedes. "If I were to write it today I would be much more careful." Such an admission, however, is unlikely to sway the sinister conspiracists who find the Khazar theory a useful invention. —Mr. Goldstein is a staff editor at the Chronicle of Higher Education.
My Response:
1. Genetics show the link between modern Israelis and ancient near east.
From todays Prepared for the
Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations
by the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs DAILY ALERT
Scientist Solves Jewish Genealogy Riddles - Peter Goodspeed
Dr. Karl Skorecki works on the cutting edge of molecular science, revolutionizing medicine through genetics and the use of stem cells to test anti-cancer therapies. As a sideline, he has become world famous for applying genetics to genealogy and transforming history. He has found evidence to support traditional claims that modern-day Jewish priests, Cohanim, are descended from a single common male ancestor - biblically said to be Aaron, the older brother of Moses. He has also found that 40% of Ashkenazi Jews can trace their descent to four "founding mothers" who lived in Europe 1,000 years ago, and evidence that all Jewish communities share a common paternal origin in the Near East.
He is now director of the Rappaport Family Institute for Research in Medical Sciences and a researcher at the Rambam-Technion University Medical Center in Haifa. (National Post-Canada)
2. Genetics is a Nazi argument anyway. Even if all Jews are descended from Khazar converts, which they don’t, they are part of the covenant of God promising the land to the Jews Genesis 12. Only way to deny that is deny the Bible.
3. How does this challenge the Arab Jews who lived in Babylonian empire since 586 BCE and now make up huge part of Israel population?
4. What do the anti-Zionists think happened to the Jews taken as slaves to Rome from Judea?
5. No nation has a better claim than Israel does for any land.
Moslems took their land by force from 8th century on. Americans stole USA from Natives. Etc Jews have rights from Bible, history, UN. Etc.
My Alma mater and football today's WSJ
There was a time once when the University of Chicago was known for something other than economics and eggheads.
A century ago, Chicago was one of the kings of college football. Legendary coach Amos Alonzo Stagg prowled its sidelines. Seldom did Chicago even play road games. Foes came to the South Side because the paycheck was too good.
Ghosts of Gridirons Past
A glance at a handful of college football programs that dominated in earlier eras.
View Slideshow
[SB10001424052748703792304574503770150859610]
Minnesota Athletic Communications
But 70 years ago this winter, the school disbanded its football team. The stadium became the birthplace of the atomic bomb, when the first controlled nuclear chain reaction was performed under its stands in 1942. Now a library stands there, which is exactly how Robert Hutchins would've liked it. "When I am minded to take exercise," said Mr. Hutchins, the school president who led the push to ax the team, "I sit down and wait until the mood has passed."
On a few campuses across the country, ghosts now reside where packed football stadiums once stood. At these schools, the autumn Saturday experience cherished at so many other colleges—a big game against a hated rival, with a championship possibly at stake—is gone, or is a shadow of what it used to be. The reasons run the gamut from high-minded academic standards, low-minded rule-breaking, changing times and just plain bad decisions...
But even the Ivies didn't go as far to demonstrate their commitment to education as Chicago. Mr. Hutchins, the school's president from 1929 to 1951, was convinced that football had the same relation to education that "bullfighting has to agriculture."
Mr. Hutchins never would've had enough support to ax the football team in 1939, historians say, if Chicago's teams had still been the mighty Monsters of the Midway. (That nickname, now associated with the NFL's Chicago Bears, originated with Mr. Stagg's Maroons; "Midway" refers to a park that runs through campus.) Aiding Mr. Hutchins's cause was Chicago's massive decline on the field—due in part to Chicago's higher academic standards. In 1939, Chicago's final major-college season, the Maroons lost 85-0 to Michigan and 61-0 to Ohio State and Harvard.
Dropping football helped build Chicago's image as a top destination for serious-minded graduate students and faculty. Over 80 Nobel Prize winners have studied, taught or researched at Chicago. "That's part of the magic of Chicago," says Robin Lester, who wrote a book about Mr. Stagg and Chicago football. "That's their thing. It's still a serious place for kids to get an education."
Today, Chicago is once again embracing athletics as part of a larger push to invest in campus life beyond the classroom. Last week, the school celebrated the 40-year anniversary of the return of varsity football; Chicago now plays on the non-athletic-scholarship Division III level. "We're still being true to the notion that it's not in the interest of universities to create mass-entertainment spectacles," says John Boyer, dean of Chicago's undergraduate college. "I always tell people that those games in '39 were the best thing that ever happened to us."
A century ago, Chicago was one of the kings of college football. Legendary coach Amos Alonzo Stagg prowled its sidelines. Seldom did Chicago even play road games. Foes came to the South Side because the paycheck was too good.
Ghosts of Gridirons Past
A glance at a handful of college football programs that dominated in earlier eras.
View Slideshow
[SB10001424052748703792304574503770150859610]
Minnesota Athletic Communications
But 70 years ago this winter, the school disbanded its football team. The stadium became the birthplace of the atomic bomb, when the first controlled nuclear chain reaction was performed under its stands in 1942. Now a library stands there, which is exactly how Robert Hutchins would've liked it. "When I am minded to take exercise," said Mr. Hutchins, the school president who led the push to ax the team, "I sit down and wait until the mood has passed."
On a few campuses across the country, ghosts now reside where packed football stadiums once stood. At these schools, the autumn Saturday experience cherished at so many other colleges—a big game against a hated rival, with a championship possibly at stake—is gone, or is a shadow of what it used to be. The reasons run the gamut from high-minded academic standards, low-minded rule-breaking, changing times and just plain bad decisions...
But even the Ivies didn't go as far to demonstrate their commitment to education as Chicago. Mr. Hutchins, the school's president from 1929 to 1951, was convinced that football had the same relation to education that "bullfighting has to agriculture."
Mr. Hutchins never would've had enough support to ax the football team in 1939, historians say, if Chicago's teams had still been the mighty Monsters of the Midway. (That nickname, now associated with the NFL's Chicago Bears, originated with Mr. Stagg's Maroons; "Midway" refers to a park that runs through campus.) Aiding Mr. Hutchins's cause was Chicago's massive decline on the field—due in part to Chicago's higher academic standards. In 1939, Chicago's final major-college season, the Maroons lost 85-0 to Michigan and 61-0 to Ohio State and Harvard.
Dropping football helped build Chicago's image as a top destination for serious-minded graduate students and faculty. Over 80 Nobel Prize winners have studied, taught or researched at Chicago. "That's part of the magic of Chicago," says Robin Lester, who wrote a book about Mr. Stagg and Chicago football. "That's their thing. It's still a serious place for kids to get an education."
Today, Chicago is once again embracing athletics as part of a larger push to invest in campus life beyond the classroom. Last week, the school celebrated the 40-year anniversary of the return of varsity football; Chicago now plays on the non-athletic-scholarship Division III level. "We're still being true to the notion that it's not in the interest of universities to create mass-entertainment spectacles," says John Boyer, dean of Chicago's undergraduate college. "I always tell people that those games in '39 were the best thing that ever happened to us."
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