European Union (EU) flags in front of the European Commission building in Brussels. Credit: Amio Cajander via Wikimedia Commons. Catherine Ashton’s Official Statement on Holocaust Memorial Day Doesn’t Mention Jews and More!
EU Foreign Affairs Head Baroness Catherine Ashton. Photo: WikiCommons.
A statement issued by Baroness Catherine Ashton, High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and Vice President of the Commission, in honor of Holocaust Memorial Day on Monday neglected to mention Jews, leading to criticism and confusion online.
“Today the international community remembers the victims of the Holocaust,” the EU’s top diplomat said. “We honor every one of those brutally murdered in the darkest period of European history. We also want to pay a special tribute to all those who acted with courage and sacrifice to protect their fellow citizens against persecution.”
Link to the rest of the story: Algemeiner
Europe Woos Iran as it Shuns Israel
Nobody does double standards quite like the Europeans. And if recent developments are anything to go by, they will remain the market leader in this field of human endeavor for quite some time.
Where the Middle East is concerned, there are two complementary messages coming out of the European Union at the moment. The first proclaims that Israel is a legitimate target for boycotts and divestment for as long as the “occupation” continues—and here, “occupation” principally refers to the West Bank and the eastern half of Jerusalem, feebly eliding the fact that the Palestinian leadership, through its insistence on the so-called “right of return,” regards the entire territory between the Mediterranean and the Jordan as “occupied.” As for the second message, that can be neatly summarized in a potential advertising slogan: Iran is open for business!
According to the Washington Post, Europeans are banking on a business “bonanza” with Iran, now that sanctions have been relaxed in accordance with the Iran nuclear program deal reached last November in Geneva. Both Iran’s president, Hassan Rouhani, and its Foreign Minister, Javad Zarif, rubbed shoulders with the global business and political elite at the World Economic Forum’s annual powwow in Davos. Leading French companies, among them Societe Generale, BNP Paribas and Airbus, are said to be sending executives to Tehran by the planeload. French car manufacturers like Renault and Peugeot are drooling at the thought of recovering their former, dominant positions in the Iranian automobile market. European carriers like Lufthansa and Austrian Airlines are increasing the number of weekly flights to Tehran in anticipation of growing demand. The Dutch Ambassador in Tehran, Jos Douma, even held what he ludicrously termed a “speed-date session” for companies wanting in on the Iranian gold rush.
You won’t, however, find a similar openness towards Israel within the EU.
Link to the rest of the Story: JNS.Org
A view of the Temple Mount in Jerusalem. Photo: Berthold Werner.
Poll: Majority of Americans Want Stronger Sanctions on Iran, Believe Palestinian State Would be Terror Hotbed
The National Omnibus Poll, conducted by McLaughlin Associates, surveyed 1,000 Americans, and found that the majority want tougher sanctions on Iran and believe any state run by the Palestinian Authority would become a hotbed for terror.
The questions in the survey relating to Israel and Iran were sponsored by the Zionist Organization of America, the surveying company said in a statement.
The poll found that 59% of Americans believe that the U.S. should impose stronger sanctions on Iran to pressure it to stop its nuclear program, while only 17% believe the U.S. should weaken sanctions on Iran to convince it to stop nuclear development — almost a 3.5-to-1 ratio.
Asked another way, the poll found that 51% of Americans believe that U.S. President Barack Obama has not done all he can to prevent Iran developing nuclear weapons, compared to 28% who believe that he has, almost a 2-to-1 ratio.
On Israel, the poll found that 47% of Americans believe that Israeli Jews should have the right to live in the West Bank, whereas only 14% of Americans believe only Palestinian Arabs should have the right to live there, a 3-to-1 ratio.
Link to the rest of the Story: Algemeiner
Holocaust Memorial Day shenanigans in Europe
Posted: 27 Jan 2014 08:00 AM PST
Here is the entire statement put out by the EU’s Catherine Ashton on the occasion of Holocaust Memorial Day:
Today the international community remembers the victims of the Holocaust. We honour every one of those brutally murdered in the darkest period of European history. We also want to pay a special tribute to all those who acted with courage and sacrifice to protect their fellow citizens against persecution.
On Holocaust Remembrance Day, we must keep alive the memory of this tragedy. It is an occasion to remind us all of the need to continue fighting prejudice and racism in our own time. We must remain vigilant against the dangers of hate speech and redouble our commitment to prevent any form of intolerance. The respect of human rights and diversity lies at the heart of what the European Union stands for.
Can anyone find the word that Ashton manages to avoid using?
Oh, yeah – the victims.
By generalizing the Holocaust into a vague historical example of prejudice against some unnamed groups, Ashton is trivializing it. Most cases of prejudice and racism don’t end up with the victims ashes going up chimneys. There is a reason the term “genocide” was coined – to distinguish it from ordinary racism. Ashton apparently can’t bring herself to think about that. It’s a lesson for us, the victims will be honored, the heroes are great, hate speech is bad (except for Arab hate speech against Jews, which the EU cannot criticize), rah rah rah, let’s celebrate.
This story, from Stand For Peace, is unbelievable:
Hassan Farooq is a a “senior member” of the Newham Dawah Team, an East London-based organisation which attempts to spread the message of Islam. Newham Dawah Team is part of the Islamic Education and Research Academy (iERA) Network, and its officials regularly liaise with iERA officials such as Abdurraheem Green. The iERA is an extremist Salafi group, some of whose officials have been banned from the UK. Abdurraheem Green talks of a Jewish “stench” and advocates the killing of homosexuals.
Hassan Farooq was chosen to speak at the 2013 Holocaust Memorial Day event in City Hall, in front of politicians and London officials, including Jennette Arnold AM, Mayor of London Boris Johnson and the former Chief Rabbi Jonathan Sacks.
[youtube=youtu.be/gxHrhHqRsMk&w=520&h=315]
Was Hassan Farooq a worthy speaker?
After taking a look at Farooq’s social media postings, it would seem most definitely not:
Yes, an admirer of Hitler spoke on Holocaust Memorial Day.
And there’s more.
Thanks to our Friend at “Elder of Ziyon“
