Zapatero wearing the kaffiyah (Photo: AP)
Posted on 07/20/2006 8:09:47 AM PDT by Nachum
Spanish Jews knew there were hard times ahead. Prime Minister Zapatero has not disappointed them
Keen on populist tirades against the United States "Dickhead Bush" and "Ketchup Queen Kerry", his whole campaign did not bring much attention until the moment Al-Qaeda decided to blow up Madrid trains, killing almost 200 people and bringing to an end Spain's membership of the West.
From that moment on, everybody knew nothing would be the same, and Spanish Jews knew there were hard times ahead. Prime Minister Zapatero has not disappointed them.
'Understand Nazis'
Although many experts had foretold of the imminent disappearing of European Jews, nobody expected such a virulent explosion of anti-Semitism in Spain, not even under a Leftist government.
The first signal came on Monday, 5 December, when during a dinner with the Benarroch family, Zapatero and wife began claiming what Vidal Quadras, member of the European Parliament, described on the radio as "a tirade of anti-Zionism and anti-Semitism".
By the moment the Benarroch couple had left the table to express their regrets, Zapatero was explaining his lack of surprise about the Holocaust: according to the people present, Zapatero claimed to understand the Nazis.
What about Hizbullah?
Closing Hizbullah TV was another mission impossible for the man who understands the Nazis. It took more than a year to definitely close the channel connection to the Hispasat satellite, siphoning Latin America with more than a year of hate and Islamist propaganda.
In a country with the most anti-Catholic government in its whole history but with a multicultural obsession for Islam, A-Manar TV was part of the 'freedom of press.'
The recent clashes with Hizbullah, however, have promoted the longest and hardest diatribes against Israel, forcing Zapatero to loose a cover for what it was long known in Spanish politics: His hate towards Israel, Jews and Zionism.
In the third day of such rants, before a gathering of the Socialist Youth Movement and a day before a demonstration against Israel, Zapatero showed at last his true colours: At the closing of the meeting he let the teenagers take pictures of him wearing a Palestinian kaffiyah.
Although according to Zapatero, Hizbullah and Israel are the same thing, he offers no words of condemnation for the Party of Allah, spending 100 percent of the time explaining, in a rather twisted way, that Israel should let Hizbullah kill Israelis.
Much of the theory belongs to controversial Spanish FM Miguel Angel Moratinos. EU envoy to the Middle East before and sinking in rumours of links to Hamas long before he left, Moratinos arrived to the foreign ministry cleaning the Elcano Institute up, firing the most prestigious experts and bringing in a group of friends of the oppression theory.
Since then, amid support for Castro and Chavez and mysterious support to Bolivia in order to bring Evo Morales to power, the Spanish FM has proved he has nothing to envy in terms of anti-Americanism, but nobody ever expected an explosion of anti-Semitism in Spain this big. It seems once more that the Jews are the canary in the mine, and the United States should take note.
Jews pay the price
The commotion caused in the Spanish Jewish community seems to be huge, especially taking in count that after some months of anxiety after his election, some Jews were feeling somewhat safe in Spain. Not anymore.
Some people were trying to alert the international community about what was boiling in Spain, but neither the OSCE nor the EUMC ever listened, preferring contacts with anti-Israeli NGOs based on the idea that anti-Semitism has to do with Arabs. Now the Spanish Jews are to pay the price for the international community's inaction, once more.
If the United States does not want to see the American embassy in Madrid full of Jews fleeing Spain, President Bush will do well in isolating Spain in the international arena while pressing, and asking European members to press, the new Socialist government of Spain. The American Rep's belonging to Moratino's Caucus of Friends of Spain should be reminded its elections time too.
The Sepharad story is clearly over, but nobody expected it would be by accident. If you are thinking about visiting Spain, think it twice. You may not leave easily.
I wonder. Were you ever in Franco's Spain? I was there in 62 and again in 69. There were secret police behind every bush, and there were no cars. Wonderful wide boulevards in Madrid were nearly empty. Everyone was scared to speak and stayed home. Not great, at all. Totalitarianism may seem okay from afar, but it is not.
Good catch!!!
Happy to help.
Well, he also hates Catholics and is making life miserable for them there - and since the majority of Spain is at least technically Catholic, the Jews have a lot of company, for once.
You've probably read about his "Alianza de Civilizaciones," which of course was really ZP gushing over Islam. ZP is thought to be an active Freemason and like many European Freemasons, loves Marxists and Muslims and has a deep hatred of Judeo Christian culture and things like freedom. He's a stupid, bigoted man who got into power by accident and the entire country is suffering.
Basically, Zapatero hates the West, and to him, Jews represent the West. And he's getting less subtle about this every day.
Scratch a leftist, find an anti-semite.
Didn't they run that drill back in 1492?
Oh well, scratch another country off my "want to visit" list, at least until they vote out this sh!tbird Zapatero.
I can well imagine.
While one cannot approve such a thing, one can understand the Left's anti-Semitism. The Collectivists to not have solutions for anything or even acceptable tradeoffs; ergo, they need a scapegoat and the Jews as ready made scapegoats are the easiest to pick on because it has been done so often in Europe and is quite natural. It's almost like the circuses in the Roman times, except it's harm they wish upon the Jews rather than the Christians being thrown to the lions.
Incidentally, didn't big bad Francisco Franco help the Jews during WWII? He was part Jewish; a fact that was kept hidden from Hitler.
High volume. Articles on Israel can also be found by clicking on the Topic or Keyword Israel. also
2006israelwar or WOT
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Would you ever describe any democrat as a "glorious leader"? ;)
Zapatero wearing the kaffiyah (Photo: AP)
And Jennifer (or was it Gennifer?; I vaguely recall weird spelling) Flowers. And many more.
True on both points, and perfectly stated! My concerns are two:
1) Will the Spanish vote him out in '08, or continue to suffer?
2) Will the world ever forgive Spain for its perceived appeasement of radical Islam?
It's time to liberate Spain from its Communist oppressors.
Franco's regime was far more benificent than the Marxist regime it overthrew.
The other countries of the world were right. In Spain, one of Europe s most staunchly Catholic countries, large numbers of Catholics were butchered during the 1936-1939 Civil War solely for being Catholic. Unlike the martyrdoms in most parts of the world, whole sectors of the religious community were liquidated. At least 6,832 priests and religious were martyred, including 13 bishops. In the 20th century, probably no country witnessed so much bloodshed among its clergy.
http://wais.stanford.edu/Spain/spain_1civilwar21401.html
...Only the Soviet Union, then closely allied with the Spanish Republicans, and Mexico, itself perpetrating atrocities against its own church at the time, backed Republican Spain...The male religious martyred included 259 Claretians, 226 Franciscans, 204 Piarists, 176 Brothers of Mary, 165 Christian Brothers, 155 Augustinians, 132 Dominicans, and 114 Jesuits. The toll among the female orders was lower, but still shocking when we recall that these women could have had virtually nothing to do with the political struggle: 30 Daughters of Charity of St. Vincent de Paul, 26 Carmelites of Charity, 26 Adoratrices, and 20 Capuchins, along with many others."...
It's time to liberate Spain from its Communist oppressors.
Franco's regime was far more benificent than the Marxist regime it overthrew.
The other countries of the world were right. In Spain, one of Europe s most staunchly Catholic countries, large numbers of Catholics were butchered during the 1936-1939 Civil War solely for being Catholic. Unlike the martyrdoms in most parts of the world, whole sectors of the religious community were liquidated. At least 6,832 priests and religious were martyred, including 13 bishops. In the 20th century, probably no country witnessed so much bloodshed among its clergy.
http://wais.stanford.edu/Spain/spain_1civilwar21401.html
...Only the Soviet Union, then closely allied with the Spanish Republicans, and Mexico, itself perpetrating atrocities against its own church at the time, backed Republican Spain...The male religious martyred included 259 Claretians, 226 Franciscans, 204 Piarists, 176 Brothers of Mary, 165 Christian Brothers, 155 Augustinians, 132 Dominicans, and 114 Jesuits. The toll among the female orders was lower, but still shocking when we recall that these women could have had virtually nothing to do with the political struggle: 30 Daughters of Charity of St. Vincent de Paul, 26 Carmelites of Charity, 26 Adoratrices, and 20 Capuchins, along with many others."...
Not bad for Zapatero's intellectual heritage. (sarcasm)
The Francoist Fascists were far better than their immediate predecessors, the Communists.
At least the Catholic Church wasn't persecuted during the Franco years.
I don't know. One of the problems is that ZP may have fragmented Spain so much by then that voting is going to be difficult.
The PP candidate, I believe, is still going to be Mariano Rajoy, who is an intelligent and impressive man. But I'm wondering if they don't need somebody a little more flamboyant, such as Alex Vidal Quadras. He's Catalan who was a PP rep and then got mad at them - but he's a wonderful, witty and aggressive speaker, whom I have listened to with great pleasure in various "conferencias" in Madrid and Barcelona. However, he's made a lot of enemies and I don't know that he has any chance. Rajoy, while being a fine person, is a little too low key, IMHO.
As for Islam, I think we'll probably be having to rescue Spain from it at some point. The Muzzies already seem to believe that Spain is within their reach, and with ZP in charge, it may well be.
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