Hello, everybody.
This is my regular Friday Blog.
A shout out to Michele, Toby, Mary Kate, Mary Ann, Michael, Nicky,Ashley, Logan,Dylan and All of You!

The U.N. record vis a vis Israel has been shameful.

The U.N.'s Record Vis A Vis Israel

Prior to the Madrid Conference, of '91, the office of Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir commissioned Shai Ben-Tekoa to do a statistical analysis of U.N. voting vis a vis Israel. The following is a summary of Mr. Ben-Tekoa's research.
Summary
Security Council:
175 Total Resolutions74 Neutral 4 Against the perceived interests of an Arab state or body97 Against Israel
General Assembly:
Cumulative Number of Votes cast with/for Israel: 7,938.Cumulative Number of Votes cast against Israel: 55,642.
Detail
SECURITY COUNCIL:
1946-89
Frequency:
Since the Council first convened in 1946, at least one Arab state sat on it in 39 of the body's first 43 years. Israel never sat on the Council. From December 1947, when the ?Palestine Question? first appeared on its agenda, to 1989, the Council held 2,682 meetings of which 747 (26%) were devoted to the Arab-Israeli conflict. During this period, the Council passed 605 resolutions of which 175 (29%) concerned this conflict.
Balance or Tilt:
Of these 175, 74 (42%) may be labeled neutral or balanced. Of the remaining 101, 4 (4%) criticized or opposed the actions, or judged against, the perceived interests of an Arab state or body.Ninety-seven resolutions (96%) were critical, or opposed the actions, or judged against the perceived interests of Israel. The last time a resolution passed the Security Council whose major thrust criticized Arab actions was on September 1, 1949.
Requests:
Between 1947 and 1989, the Council "called upon," "demanded," "requested" etc. Israel to "comply," "desist," "refrain" etc. 123 times. An Arab state, states or body was "called upon" "ordered" "requested" 65 times, or 47% less.
Specificity:
In these requests, Israel was explicitly named 105 times. References to Arab states were usually implicit, as in "...the parties concerned". An Arab state was identified by name 12 times.
Expressions:
The Council expressed its "concern," "grave concern," "regret," "deep regrets," "shock" etc. about Israeli actions 31 times. Regarding Arab actions, the Council never expressed negative sentiments.
Condemnations:
The Council "condemned, "censured," "deplored," "strongly deplored" etc. Israel 49 times. The Council never "condemned," "censured," "deplored" etc. the Arabs.
Warnings:
The Council "warned," "solemnly warned" etc. Israel 7 times. The Council never warned the Arabs.The above data concern the entire post-war period until 1989, but by isolating the period June 1967-1989, the numbers rise into even starker relief.
1967-89
Frequency:
The Council held 1,517 meetings. Of these 459 (30%) were devoted to the Arab-Israeli conflict.402 resolutions were passed. Of these, 131 (33%) concerned the Arab-Israeli conflict.
Balance or Tilt of U.N. resolutions:
Neutral, Of these 131, 43 (33%) were neutral. Of the remaining 88, all (100%) criticized or opposed the actions, or judged against the interests of Israel. 0 resolutions criticized or opposed the actions, or judged against the perceived interests of an Arab state or body, or the PLO (founded by the Arab League in 1964).
Requests:
The Council "called upon," "demanded," "ordered" etc. Israel to "comply," "desist," "refrain" 83 times. The Council "called upon," "requested" etc. an Arab state 29 times, 65% less. The Council never "demanded," "ordered" etc. the PLO to do or stop doing anything.
Expressions:
The Council expressed its "concern," "grave concern," "deep regrets." "shock" etc. regarding Israel"s actions 28 times. The Council never expressed negative sentiments regarding either any Arab state or the PLO.
Condemnations:
The Council "condemned," "censured," "deplored" Israel 43 times. No Arab state or group was ever condemned.
THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY:
The labor of the Assembly, the larger if less potent U.N. chamber, on the other hand, makes the above numbers testimony to the power and moderating influence of the United States in the Security Council, whose numbers now, by contrast, will seem in retrospect only mildly anti-Israel.
1947-89
Number of Resolutions or Resolution Parts Voted On : 690
Balance or Tilt: Of these, 205 (30%) were neutral. Of these, 64 (9%) were adopted without a vote, without objection or by consensus. 18 (3%) were adopted unanimously. Thus the adjusted number of balanced resolutions: 123 (18%)
Resolutions against Israel"s desires: 429 (62%)
Resolutions against Arab desires: 56 (8%).
Of the 56 votes not to the Arabs" liking, 49 concerned the establishment or financing of peace-keeping forces. Of the remaining 7, one concerned inviting the Jewish Agency for Palestine to address the General Assembly (May 1947); 1 concerned the Partition Plan (November 1947); 1 concerned establishing a trusteeship for Jerusalem; 3 concerned refugees (1948); 1 protested admitting Israel as a member to the UN. Discounting the 49 votes concerning peace-keeping forces, the last anti-Arab vote of the General Assembly was in May 1949.
Requests:
The Arabs were "called upon" to "comply," "desist," "refrain" etc. 4 times. Israel was "demanded," "ordered" etc. to do General Assembly bidding 305 times.
Expressions:
The Assembly expressed its "concern," "grave concern," "anxiety" etc. about Israeli policies or actions 179 times. The General Assembly expressed itself in similar terms about Arab policies or actions 0 times.
Condemnations:
Israel was "condemned," "vigorously condemned," "strongly condemned," "deplored," "strongly deplored", "censured," "denounced" by the General Assembly 321 times. The Arabs were condemned 0 times.
Cumulative Number of Votes cast with/for Israel: 7,938.
Cumulative Number of Votes cast against Israel: 55,642.
Arutz 7

Are You Fired Up? Are You Ready To Go?

Most American's chuckle somewhat condescendingly when they hear the smears from the hard right against Senator Obama. They assume that in the event Senator Obama becomes President the majority of the people who buy into the basic silliness of the smear campaign will be reassured when they see that, as all who have known him say, unanimously, "obama is a good man. They way he seems is the way he is. Period." It seems difficult to believe that anyone has led such a sheltered life that they have never met or somehow been associated with someone whose views were diferent from the "popular" views. So, it bears restating, the fact that a candidate has known or crossed paths with a bad person is not the sum total of that person. I have heard a lot of bad things about McCain, I'm sure you have as well. He's been called arrogant.Argumenative.Vindictive. Emotionally unstable. Disloyal. By people who have known him for many years.I f you believe that Obama is a communist or terrorist, then you also believe McCain is a liar, since he has said, "Senator Obama is a good man, a decent family man, a good American." And "You have nothing to fear from an Obama Presidency." Now have you noticed, as I have, that not a single person has come forward and said a single thing negative about Obama as a person? I mean people who know him. People who work with him in the Senate. People who worked with him in helping the poor. Jews that worked with him in his first private sector Law Firm. No one from the Harvard review. No one from the Illinois State Senate, no one from the the U.S. Senate. The reason that you don't hear negative comments about his character from people who've known him and worked with him is because, as they all say, almost to a man,And this is what McCain says as well, "This is a fine man, a decent man, a good American." For a long time now, starting with Ronald Reagan, people in dire straits in America have been told by the Republican Party, "Tough luck". When it became obvious that our country had a unique problem, i.e., women and children living in the streets, Reagan said, "They choose that lifestyle." Although I am familiar with Republican Statistics, and I am aware that America is still the wealthiest country on the planet earth, millions of Americans are suffering and struggling to survive, and have a decent life. Many Americans, and many of them inheritors, live like Arabian Princes and Princesses while children suffer in abandoned automoblies and vacant buildings. This a country where Myley Cyrus "earns" a half billion dollars in 3 years, and thousands of children brave the elements and don't get enough to eat. This is the country where Tina Fey is advanced 5 million dollars to write a book, which she will pay someone else a hundred grand to write for her, while babies and old people wait in line for hours in the heat and cold to eat donated food. The Republicans, who've been in power for eight years, say that government can't help poor people here, but we can create a jobs program in Iraq, and rebuild their country after spending billions to destroy it. For years now, the greed of the inherited class has slowly been strangling working people and poor people. Now comes a decent man, a man who has actually worked for a living, who actually cares about his fellow man. And it scares the hell out of the hard right. And so, they try, to some extent successfully, to scare the sheople. But, at least so the polls indicate, this time, the scare machine isn't working. People want a government that works for them, not just the fat cats. And the right will trot out all the commie scare garbage and anti-American swill that has worked in the past. I see homeless people everyday. They do not choose to be homeless. The vast majority of them work, hard, full time. Scare tactics don't work with them any more. They are already scared, of losing their job, of not being able to pay for gas or feed their kids. America really does need change, and Obama seems to be the agent for it. Guilt by association and name calling is not going to win this election. Decency, intelligence and compassion may. The vast majority of Jews in America support Senator Obama, and when Israelis sees that Obama is the only candidate that embraces tikkun olam, and that his love for the Jewish People and Israel is deep and that he is an honest man and true to his words, they will love him too.

Why I support Senator Obama

With all due respect, I must express my view on the upcoming election.
There are writers on the issue of Israel that I deeply respect, and am loathe to oppose.
No doubt some are more intelligent than I am, more widely traveled, even more knowledgeable.
I have read the opposition to Senator Obama, and tried to find a position that would allow me to be in agreement with his opponents, at least with his opponents on the “right” side of the Israeli issue.
I believe that not only does Israel deserve to exist, I believe she should have kept the Sinai oilfields, I agree with the Khaniists that Arabs should be payed to leave Israel if they do not support a Jewish State.
I believe Israel should launch an all out attack on Gazan terrorist strongholds.

On the other hand, America's survival and ability to survive is important to me as well, and my belief, based on my research, is that McCain Palin would be a disaster for America.

I believe that the attacks on Obama are smears.
Recently Jesse Jackson was quoted as saying that Obama would seek retribution against Zionists.
Quoting Jackson on Senator Obama is ridiculous. He despises Senator Obama.
Jackson was quoted, and filmed, saying, "I'd like to cut his (Obama's) N*ts off."
Whoever is running the McCain campaign has been counting on the big lie and the gullibility of the voters, and polls are showing that this tactic is backfiring.
I'm not a doctor, I don't know exactly what is wrong with McCain, why he reverses wording during debates, such as when he said "Palin is a bresh of freath air", or why he can't remember what he was asked, or what he has said in the past, or his odd demeanor, but in my view, and I do have clinical experience working with gerontological populations in a diagnostic and therapeutic setting, I believe he is not well.
I think the election comes down to who do you believe, and during the last debate, with the split screen showing the facial contortions of John McCain and the calm, open expression of Obama, it typifies what most voters seem to feel, that Obama is speaking truthfully and McCain is saying what he is told. Jews have been among Obama's earliest and most ardent backers.
One longtime Jewish observer of the political scene, who did not want to be identified, said admiringly that "Jews made him. Wherever you look, there is a Jewish presence."
The Jewish community has been a particular target of e-mails declaring Obama a secret Muslim who attended a madrassa in Indonesia, took his Senate oath of office by swearing on a Quran and is aligned with Muslim terrorists.
Those allegations have been thoroughly dis proven by mainstream media and other sources.
After a stint as a community organizer, working for the poor,Obama took a job at a civil rights law firm, Davis, Miner, Barnhill & Galland, led by Judson Miner, a Jew, and a well-known Chicago civil rights attorney. Working at Miner's firm introduced Obama to many in the city's liberal community, and during his state Senate tenure, he gained other supporters, including Illinois Sen. Ira Silverstein, an Orthodox Jew who shared an office with him in Springfield. They also shared carpooling duties when both their children attended the pre-nursery at Akiba-Schechter Jewish Day School.
Silverstein continues to support Obama and said he is disturbed that "there is lot of bad information out there, a lot of miscommunication, misinformation that has been proved false" about the senator.
He said he and Obama often shared their pro-Israel feelings and that when Silverstein sponsored numerous resolutions condemning PLO bombings, Obama eagerly signed on as a co-sponsor. "I know him," he said. "People can read what they want to in the press, but I know him personally and I can testify to" his pro-Israel views. "That's different than hitting a blog," he said. "If people don't want to listen to me they don't have to, but there's a lot of hearsay out there."

Why Jews Should Vote for Barack Obama
Letty cottin pogrebin
If you care about the well-being of Jews and Israel, by now the incessant Republican attacks on Barack Obama may have persuaded you to be wary of the Democratic candidate. Parse the poison, however, and you will see that it is nouvelle racism grafted to pure unadulterated right-wing bunk. This election’s top Swiftboating trick (the Jews for Obama Newsletter calls it “schvitz-boating”) is to make you believe Senator Obama is both a secret Muslim and in the thrall of loudmouthed Christian minister Rev. Jeremiah Wright.
Right-wing operatives make snide references to black-Jewish conflicts of the past—Louis Farrakhan, Jesse Jackson’s “Hymietown” statement, the Crown Heights riots—in a transparent attempt to associate Obama—merely because of his race—with hostile African-Americans, and to imply that he sympathizes with the enemies of the Jewish people.
Scurrilous emails link Obama to the leader of the Nation of Islam, despite the senator having expressly stated: “I decry racism and anti-Semitism and strongly condemn the anti-Semitic statements made by Minister Farrakhan.” Slash-and-burn opposition forces—including, shamefully, Senator Joseph Lieberman—want you to believe Barack Obama is “anti-Israel,” when, in fact, his record of support for the Jewish state has been attested to by such “pro-Israel” lawmakers as Senators Carl Levin, Ben Cardin, Russ Feingold, Ron Wyden, Barbara Boxer and Frank Lautenberg, and by no less a conservative voice than the New York Sun.
The attackers also hope you’ll swallow their claim that the candidate is soft on Iran, though he has declared emphatically, “I will do everything in my power—everything—to ensure that Iran does not achieve a nuclear weapon.”
Having so often been the target of rumors and disinformation, Jews ought to be suspicious of crazy and loaded accusations.
But some in our community—reportedly many senior citizens, and Jews for whom Israel is a political litmus test—have fallen for the smear and scare tactics.
I have include some comments from Jewish voters below who are not buying the failed policies of the last eight years, and don't want to see another eight years of failure by pusrsuing the same mistaken ideas.
I am a Louisiana-born religiously observant Jew who lives in Baltimore, MD, and teaches Yiddish literature at the Johns Hopkins University. I support Barack Obama’s presidential campaign without reservation and with 100% enthusiasm, and I am convinced that he provides the best hope available for all Americans to live in a prosperous and secure nation that pursues peace for itself and other nations.
I share the alarm of many signatories on this list that many American Jews, including friends and acquaintances of mine, have developed a diametrically false impression of Senator Obama because of misleading and dishonest innuendo; I think it would be a tremendous misfortune for American Jews that after having been at the forefront of so many progressive movements we as a collectivity would miss an opportunity to participate in the first important progressive coalition of the 21st century. I am confident that at the top of his agenda as president will be a renewal of engagement in the middle East peace process, withdrawal from our disastrous Iraqi adventure, and a definitive end to the genocide in Darfur.
Each of these priorities will restore America’s reputation abroad, make the middle East a better and safer place, and speak to the moral and strategic needs of Jews throughout the world.

Comment by Marc Caplan — March 2, 2008 @ 12:31 am I support Barack Obama because tikkun olam can only happen with an open hand and and open heart — not with a closed fist and a closed heart. I believe that Senator Obama has qualities of innate empathy which will allow tikkun olam to become a movement,and not just a phrase. Comment by Joan Hitlin — March 2, 2008 @ 1:03 am I resent efforts by non-jews to bait our community into opposing Obama. He is the man for the moment, for all of us.Comment by Deborah Lewis — March 1, 2008 @ 3:16 am Deborah Lewis I am an orthodox Jew and I support Barack Obama because he shows a rare wisdom among politicians, the wisdom to see not only the world as it is but also the world as it might be. Senator Obama understands that in order to overcome the scourge of organized money in Washington we must mobilize and become organized people, and that in doing so we will find to power to challenge the special interests and challenge ourselves to be better parents, better neighbors, and better citizens. Comment by Avraham Nemon Barack Obama understands that it’s how we treat our fellows that gives our lives meaning. And he acts on that understanding. My parents and grandparents would have been proud to participate in this moment and what it signifies.

Comment by Joel Menachim Shearer — March 1, 2008 @ 12:49 am We support Barack Obama for many reasons, not least of which is that he is the first candidate for president in our lifetime who talks about Tikun Olam (healing the world). He understands that true change has to come from all of us working for it. Yes We Can! Comment by Ellen and Sam Bender — March 1, 2008 @ 1:02 am he embodies peace, hope, vision and wisdom and a high neshama. that is what judaism is about.

Comment by jacqueline klein — March 1, 2008 @ 1:27 am I am a strong supporter of Senator Obama. However, I do not take for granted that all jews would necessarily agree with my personal reasons. We are a diverse community and we have different focuses. Regardless of who we choose to vote for, I do think its essential for us ALL to stand in solidarity with Senator Obama on this one big issue. We cannot remain silent in the face of this evil smear campaign. Senator Obama is being targeted in the most viscious and despicable way by both those within and outside the jewish community. Given our history, I think the jewish people in this country who recognize the manipulation and fear-mongering that is going on have a moral obligation to speak up against it. We must firmly DENOUNCE and REJECT the people and tactics that would use hate and fear to unfairly malign a good and decent man.

Comment by Donna Matorin LePard — March 1, 2008 @ 2:05 am I have to say, I’ve been shocked at the vicious campaign to defame Senator Obama. I’m not entirely sure how this “anti-israel, anti-semitic” meme was started, but it needs to end. Now. And this is a great first step, coming full circle. As Senator Obama said in the last debate, he wouldn’t be where he is today without Jewish support in the Civil Rights era. In turn, I believe he will be the best president for the American Jewish community that we have ever witnessed.

Why anyone would consider Bush/McCain to be a friend of Israel, I don't know.
Here is some vintage Bush on Israel:
THE PRESIDENT: "Good
afternoon. In recent
weeks, debate in our
country has rightly
focused on the situation
in Iraq -- yet Iraq is not
the only pivotal matter in
the Middle East. More than
five years ago, I became
the first American
President to call for the
creation of a Palestinian
state. In the Rose Garden,
I said that Palestinians
should not have to live in
poverty and occupation.
http://www.whitehouse.gov/
news/releases/2007/07/2007
0716-7.html
Bush was asked about the
settlements. He said:
"Outposts, yeah, they
ought to go."
The criticisms were a
reiteration of statements
he made that
settlements not
authorized by the Israeli
government were an
"impediment to peace".
Their removal is a key
part of the revived US
"road map".
http://www.guardian.co.uk/
world/2008/jan/09/usa.isra
elandthepalestinians
PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH:
"I've been very clear about
Israel has an obligation
under the road map. That's
no expansion of
settlements."
http://www.pbs.org/newshou
r/bb/middle_east/jan-
june05/israel_4-11.html

They have heavily armed our enemies and given billions of dollars in aid to countries who are Israel's bitterest enemies.
As for the comment that Jews favor socialism, the largest governent investment in the private sector in our nation's history was proposed by Bush.
Even the few supporters he has left have called the Bush Bailout, "Socialism".
I think the one charge that McCain has made repeatedly, and he made it twice during the last debate, is that Obama is "eloquent."
As if being inarticulate like Bush/McCain is a virtue.
Personally, I believe that being able to speak properly and communicate effectively is a good thing.
And so, apparently, do most of the electorate.