Pilar Rahola

http://portalofideas.blogspot.com/2009/01/pilar-rahola.html ^

[ventanax5]

Why don’t we see demonstrations against Islamic dictatorships in London, Paris, Barcelona? Or demonstrations against the Burmese dictatorship? Why aren’t there demonstrations against the enslavement of millions of women who live without any legal protection? Why aren’t there demonstrations against the use of children as human bombs where there is conflict with Islam? Why has there been no leadership in support of the victims of Islamic dictatorship in Sudan? Why is there never any outrage against the acts of terrorism committed against Israel? Why is there no outcry by the European left against Islamic fanaticism? Why don’t they defend Israel’s right to exist? Why confuse support of the Palestinian cause with the defense of Palestinian terrorism? An finally, the million dollar question:Why is the left in Europe and around the world obsessed with the two most solid democracies, the United States and Israel, and not with the worst dictatorships on the planet? The two most solid democracies, who have suffered the bloodiest attacks of terrorism, and the left doesn’t care.

[ventanax5]

Why don’t we see demonstrations against Islamic dictatorships in London, Paris, Barcelona? Or demonstrations against the Burmese dictatorship? Why aren’t there demonstrations against the enslavement of millions of women who live without any legal protection? Why aren’t there demonstrations against the use of children as human bombs where there is conflict with Islam? Why has there been no leadership in support of the victims of Islamic dictatorship in Sudan? Why is there never any outrage against the acts of terrorism committed against Israel? Why is there no outcry by the European left against Islamic fanaticism? Why don’t they defend Israel’s right to exist? Why confuse support of the Palestinian cause with the defense of Palestinian terrorism? An finally, the million dollar question:Why is the left in Europe and around the world obsessed with the two most solid democracies, the United States and Israel, and not with the worst dictatorships on the planet? The two most solid democracies, who have suffered the bloodiest attacks of terrorism, and the left doesn’t care.

[TribalPrincess2U]

Damn good logical questions.

It’s easier to be evil?
It’s easier to not be accountable?
It’s easier to cowl then fight for good?

We’re slowly but surely being taken over by procreators. Here there seems to be a love of abortion, thus we will be out numbered soon? Could be wrong but IMHO Islam is a big part of it.

http://transsylvaniaphoenix.blogspot.com/2009/01/what-islam-is-not.html

I don’t have any answers.

[hosepipe]

[ Why is the left in Europe and around the world obsessed with the two most solid democracies, the United States and Israel, and not with the worst dictatorships on the planet? ]

The United States is NOT a democracy.. it is a REPUBLIC..
Many idiots don't know the difference..

A democracy.. ANY democracy is ruled by MOB RULE... by mobsters.. always..
No democracy ever invented is or was democratic..
Democracy is run by MOB(s).. not by law..

[hosepipe]

[ Why is the left in Europe and around the world obsessed with the two most solid democracies, the United States and Israel, and not with the worst dictatorships on the planet? ]

The United States is NOT a democracy.. it is a REPUBLIC..
Many idiots don't know the difference..

A democracy.. ANY democracy is ruled by MOB RULE... by mobsters.. always..
No democracy ever invented is or was democratic..
Democracy is run by MOB(s).. not by law..

[antidemoncrat]

Because democratic governments generally don’t walk into your office and blow your brains out for critizing them. The left can also be characterized as “Hard on fetuses....soft of terrorists” (Paraphrase of bumper sticker)

[marron]

Thanks for posting, thanks for introducing me to Pilar Rahola.

I’m listening to her speech on page one of her website and she is impressive.

[ventanax5]

Why don’t we see demonstrations against Islamic dictatorships in London, Paris, Barcelona? Or demonstrations against the Burmese dictatorship? Why aren’t there demonstrations against the enslavement of millions of women who live without any legal protection? Why aren’t there demonstrations against the use of children as human bombs where there is conflict with Islam? Why has there been no leadership in support of the victims of Islamic dictatorship in Sudan? Why is there never any outrage against the acts of terrorism committed against Israel? Why is there no outcry by the European left against Islamic fanaticism? Why don’t they defend Israel’s right to exist? Why confuse support of the Palestinian cause with the defense of Palestinian terrorism? An finally, the million dollar question:Why is the left in Europe and around the world obsessed with the two most solid democracies, the United States and Israel, and not with the worst dictatorships on the planet? The two most solid democracies, who have suffered the bloodiest attacks of terrorism, and the left doesn’t care.

And then, to the concept of freedom. In every pro Palestinian European forum I hear the left yelling with fervor: “We want freedom for the people!” Not true. They are never concerned with freedom for the people of Syria or Yemen or Iran or Sudan, or other such nations. And they are never preoccupied when Hammas destroys freedom for the Palestinians. They are only concerned with using the concept of Palestinian freedom as a weapon against Israeli freedom. The resulting consequence of these ideological pathologies is the manipulation of the press.

The international press does major damage when reporting on the question of the Israeli-Palestinian issue. On this topic they don’t inform, they propagandize. When reporting about Israel the majority of journalists forget the reporter code of ethics. And so, any Israeli act of self-defense becomes a massacre, and any confrontation, genocide. So many stupid things have been written about Israel, that there aren’t any accusations left to level against her. At the same time, this press never discusses Syrian and Iranian interference in propagating violence against Israel; the indoctrination of children and the corruption of the Palestinians. And when reporting about victims, every Palestinian casualty is reported as tragedy and every Israeli victim is camouflaged, hidden or reported about with disdain.

And let me add on the topic of the Spanish left. Many are the examples that illustrate the anti-Americanism and anti-Israeli sentiments that define the Spanish left. For example, one of the leftist parties in Spain has just expelled one of its members for creating a pro-Israel website. I quote from the expulsion document: “Our friends are the people of Iran, Libya and Venezuela, oppressed by imperialism, and not a Nazi state like Israel.”

In another example, the socialist mayor of Campozuelos changed Shoah Day, commemorating the victims of the Holocaust, with Palestinian Nabka Day, which mourns the establishment of the State of Israel, thus showing contempt for the six million European Jews murdered in the Holocaust. Or in my native city of Barcelona, the city council decided to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the creation of the State of Israel, by having a week of solidarity with the Palestinian people. Thus, they invited Leila Khaled, a noted terrorist from the 70’s and current leader of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, a terrorist organization so described by the European Union, which promotes the use of bombs against Israel. And so on and so on.

This politically correct way of thinking has even polluted the speeches of president Zapatero. His foreign policy falls within the lunatic left, and on issues of the Middle East he is unequivocally pro Arab. I can assure you that in private, Zapatero places on Israel the blame for the conflict in the Middle East, and the policies of foreign minister Moratinos reflect this. The fact that Zapatero chose to wear a kafiah in the midst of the Lebanon conflict is no coincidence; it’s a symbol.

Spain has suffered the worst terrorist attack in Europe and it is in the crosshairs of every Islamic terrorist organization. As I wrote before, they kill us will cell phones hooked to satellites connected to the Middle Ages. An yet the Spanish left is the most anti Israeli in the world.

And then it says it is anti Israeli because of solidarity. This is the madness I want to denounce in this conference.

Conclusion:

I am not Jewish. Ideologically I am left and by profession a journalist. Why am I not as anti Israeli as my colleagues? Because as a non-Jew I have the historical responsibility to fight against Jewish hatred and currently against the hatred for their historic homeland, Israel. To fight against anti-Semitism is not the duty of the Jews, it is the duty of the non-Jews.

As a journalist it is my duty to search for the truth beyond prejudice, lies and manipulations. The truth about Israel is not told. As a person from the left who loves progress, I am obligated to defend liberty, culture, civic education for children, coexistence and the laws that the Tablets of the Covenant made into universal principles. Principles that Islamic fundamentalism systematically destroys. That is to say that as a non-Jew, journalist and lefty I have a triple moral duty with Israel, because if Israel is destroyed, liberty, modernity and culture will be destroyed too.

The struggle of Israel, even if the world doesn’t want to accept it, is the struggle of the world

[Liberty Wins]

Mob rule is what we will have if the libs ever eliminate the electoral college and substitute the popular vote.

[livius]

Thanks for the ping. A very interesting article by a very interesting person.

[LiteKeeper]

read later

[Tolik]

From the blog: Portal of Ideas ( http://portalofideas.blogspot.com/2009/01/pilar-rahola.html)

Pilar Rahola is a Spanish politician, journalist and activist. She is a passionate defender of the United States and Israel and an indefatigable fighter against anti-Semitism. All these despite being ideologically from the left. Her articles are published in Spain and throughout some of the most important newspapers in Latin America. She is the recipient of major awards by Jewish organizations.

I came across this speech and felt that it was worthwhile placing it in my blog. I translated it and assume full responsibility for any errors. If you want to visit her blog, you can do so by clicking here: Pilar Rahola. Some of her articles translated into English.
 

Pilar Rahola Nailed It!
Moral Clarity BUMP !

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[GOPJ]

Thanks for the ping.

[Billthedrill]

The simple answer is that the Left sees those conflicts only in the context of revolutionary violence. This is an intensely romantic worldview but an intellectually lazy one. These aren't, after all, oppressed classes in any Marxian sense, and what little imperialistic activity is actually taking place is taking place on their behalf by states such as Iran.

In short, the Left has identified convenient enemies and is reveling in hatred - as usual - and its adherents are willing to distort their own intellectual models in order to accommodate their emotions. Old Leftists - ones smart enough to see that nothing in this remotely approaches any vestige of class revolution - remain silent in the hope that whatever violence does take place will serve to advance the cause of socialism somehow because it's historically inevitable. That's a blind spot a mile wide.

[LearsFool]

Because democratic governments generally don’t walk into your office and blow your brains out for critizing them.

You hit the nail on the head.

America will have to toughen up if we're going to survive. Europe's petty criticisms have no force. It's allahism that we'll have to deal with. As they grows stronger and we grow wimpier, the moment of crisis will arrive.

Does America have the will to survive? It'll be an interesting question. Those of us who do are clearly in the minority - as demonstrated by recent elections. Whether our numbers will be enough when the time comes remains to be seen.

[Tolik]

The “convenient enemies” are also convenient because they are harmless to the lazy Leftists: no physical harm to them will come from clobbering of Israel or the West. But go try publish just a cartoon against a Muslim target... Everybody know the real and clear danger of doing it.

[Iris7]

Interesting piece. Miss Rahola appears to be a classical Rightist and not a Leftist at all.

[ventanax5]

By Matthew M. Hausman

Recently, indignant voices in the Jewish community have bemoaned the treatment of Israel with respect to bogus claims of war crimes in Gaza. Of course, the only war crimes committed under any interpretation of the international laws of war were those of Hamas, which for years targeted Israeli civilians for indiscriminate attack by missile and mortar, hid amongst its own civilians, placed missile launchers and weaponry inside homes, school, mosques and hospitals, and effectively used noncombatants as shields for the sole purpose of offering them as unholy sacrifices. As has been well documented, Israel went to great lengths to warn the populace when it would attack, assist those who wanted to leave and schedule a daily three-hour lull in hostilities to enable people to leave (many of whom were forcefully prevented by Hamas from doing so). And yet . . .

The nearly unprecedented sympathy for the Israeli position at the beginning of the action soon gave way to ridiculous claims by self-appointed peace advocates of massacres and genocide, which needless to say never occurred. A review of the vitriol that appeared daily in the websites of groups such as Moveon.Org, the Daily Kos, the Huffington Post and Answerla.org, shows the pervasiveness of anti-Semitism in the predictable condemnations of Israel, despite the shallow attempts by apologists to distinguish such expressions merely as “anti-Zionism,” whatever that means.

The internet is full to bursting with photos and video of supposed “peace rallies” whose participants held banners proclaiming such messages of peace as “Death to Israel” and “Jews back to the Ovens.” It is also overrun with stories of vacuous celebrities, such as Annie Lennox, condemning Israel with nary a mention that Israel had suffered daily missile attacks since ceding Gaza (even during Hamas’ supposed ceasefire), and demonstrating a clear and inexcusable ignorance of Middle East history and politics.

Interestingly, these same self-appointed “peace advocates” never condemned Russia’s war in Chechnya, despite the documented evidence of Russian atrocities, or even the United States’ strategy of carpet bombing in Afghanistan.

The disproportionate focus on Israel is pathological and has nothing whatever to do with legitimate, evenhanded criticism. Rather, it has everything to do with anti-Semitism. The problem is that the ridiculous accusations of war crimes or, in more polite circles, of Israel’s “disproportionate response,” are not limited to the “hard left” as respectable people like Alan Dershowitz have stated in print.

Rather, even more “moderate” leftists and mainstream liberals exhibit the same hoary preoccupation with Israel, sometimes using more polite language to parrot the same misguided moral relativism, and still more often simply failing or refusing to chastise left-wing hate speech masquerading as concerned criticism or political discourse. And this failure to condemn is motivated perhaps by a fear of alienating the constituencies represented by the Daily Kos, Moveon.Org, and the Huffington Post et al., which in recent years have influenced and perhaps dictated numerous aspects of Democratic Party policy.

Unfortunately, the disproportionate criticism of Israel in the name of “anti-Zionism” (which is just a more polite term for antisemitism) has clearly infected the mainstream, which has effectively endorsed these views either by commission or, more frequently, omission. Just read the supposedly objective reporting in European and American newspapers. Liberal pundits are quick to argue passionately that Israel must engage in dialogue with enemies whose charters call not only for her destruction, but effectively for murder or subjugation of the Jewish people. Some, such as Bill Moyers (never a friend of Israel nor one to read the history books), accuse the Jews of “genetic” tendencies to violence and genocide. It is not unexpected that Moyers and his ilk espouse such trash, but it is troubling that the mainstream liberal establishment has not identified their screeds as hate speech or cast them out as extremists.

Although I may have disagreed with William F. Buckley on a number of issues, I respected him for his successful efforts in 1992 to purge the National Review and his ideological community of anti-Semitic intellectual thuggery, as practiced by the likes of Patrick Buchanan and Joseph Sobran. Both Buchanan and Sobran regularly excoriated Israel and her supporters to such a shrill degree, that Buckley came to the conclusion that such animus directed against a single country and people could only be explained by the authors’ anti-Semitic tendencies. Bill Buckley’s efforts to purge his conservative movement of such extremism was as successful as his ideological expulsion of the John Birch society in the 1960s, and he was eulogized in print for his courageous stand by many notables, not the least of whom was the always eloquent Ed Koch.

The problem today is that there has been no similar ideological soul searching in moderate leftist or mainstream liberal circles — sadly, not even those populated by Jews. Instead, there is the constant repetition of meaningless terms, such as the mythical “cycle of violence,” which bespeaks of a moral relativism equating terrorist attacks on civilians and Arab rejectionism of Israel and all things Jewish with Israel’s responses to terrorism and her legitimate right to defend herself. Many of these people display an alarming ignorance of history when it comes to the rights of the Jewish People, their documented and continuous habitation of the Land of Israel from time immemorial, and their right to live securely within their homeland.

More troubling still is the facile use of the term neocon by these people to denigrate positions and policies that are sympathetic to the Jewish state, but which are also associated with the Iraq War.

Whether they are truly aware of its etymology, the term neocon usually refers specifically to former liberal or left-wing Jews who moved ideologically to the right on, among other things, foreign policy issues. The word neocon is used by people on the Left as a code for “Jew” the same way that the term cosmopolitan was employed in Stalinist Russia. Used today, the word has a meaning similar to Patrick Buchanan’s pet term the amen corner, which he coined and used during the first Gulf War to refer to Jews who he claimed were directing foreign policy to the detriment of the United States, and who were supposedly willing to send other peoples’ children to war to protect Israel. These allegations were preposterous and evocative of the fraudulent Protocols of the Elders of Zion, which Buckley and his fellow conservatives rejected and drove from their publications and salons.

In contrast, those in the mainstream on the left side of the political divide cannot bring themselves to ostracize people on the extreme or even moderate Left who peddle in such rhetoric. Rather than vilify offensive personalities like Jimmy Carter and Robert Malley, they show them honor and seek their counsel, and in so doing validate their dogma. Buckley clearly was not exaggerating when he referred to anti-Semitism as a growth industry on the Left; and a look at the recent Congressional vote condemning Hamas and endorsing Israel’s right to defend herself shows that the only “no” or “present” votes were by the renegade Republican Ron Paul and assorted Democrats.

It would be refreshing if the liberal body politic would unconditionally condemn hateful expressions regarding Israel and identify as hate speech that which is clearly anti-Semitic, whether in the slanted reporting one sees on outlets such as MSNBC or the BBC, or in hateful statements of “death to the Jews” displayed on placards at so-called peace rallies. Instead, we are treated to lectures that dissenting speech must be considered “in context” and cannot be judged without consideration of “legitimate” Arab grievances, and that such expressions, hateful though they may be to some, are protected under the First Amendment. This mantra-like invocation of the First Amendment, however, is merely used as a shield to avoid argument and criticism. While free speech is indeed and should always be a fundamental right in the America, so is the right to condemn hateful speech and criticize incitement. In truth, the First Amendment only guarantees that the government shall not take actions to abridge its citizens’ speech – it does not prohibit people, whether as individuals or in groups or political parties, from condemning the bigoted expressions of others. Take away the right to disagree and you truly quell dissent and the free exchange of ideas.

Unfortunately, the Left has not uttered such condemnations, mainly because it does not seem believe that such speech should be condemned, and because it apparently finds such anti-Semitic expressions perfectly acceptable. More disappointingly, the moderate liberal mainstream has failed to condemn such speech the way Buckley did in 1992, or to brand as extremists and ostracize those who spew venom that is so clearly founded in classical antisemitism. It seems that the mainstream is far more afraid of upsetting and alienating the Left than in doing what is correct and decent in a civilized society, and that, my friends, is truly scary.