The Vicious Babushka

IDF Nahal Haredi Brigade Celebrates 10th Anniversary

 

Netzah Yehuda, the IDF's haredi battalion, celebrated its 10th anniversary this week with a celebration at Hebrew University's Mount Scopus campus. Current and former soldiers of the battalion attended, as did Deputy Defense Minister Matan Vilna'i.

The battalion, better known as Nahal Haredi, was founded in 1999 as a test program, aimed at providing a framework to integrate into the IDF and ultimately into the work force.

Strict religious standards are an integral part of the Nahal Haredi framework. There are no women bases, the food is glatt kosher, and time is allowed for prayer and Torah study.

Netzah Yehuda soldiers are expected to perform at least two years of combat service, after which they can spend a year learning a trade or studying for matriculation exams.

A common theme sounded by the speakers at Monday's ceremony was the skepticism with which the project was initially greeted and the tremendous progress that has been made in 10 short years.

Over 2,500 soldiers have passed through the Nahal Haredi program and the sight of bearded men with payot in uniform is no longer the shocking sight it once was in insular haredi enclaves.

There were fears that during the ceremony, soldiers from the battalion would attempt to fly banners protesting the eviction of Jews from settlements in Judea and Samaria. Such protests have been made by troops from both the Shimshon and Nachshon battalions, both of which, like Netzah Yehuda, belong to the Kfir Brigade.

There were no such disturbances during the event. Contrary to media reports, this reporter saw no evidence of the unit's officers making soldiers lift their shirts as they entered the hall, to check for hidden signs.

Read more at Jerusalem Post.

Doofus of the Day: Sandusky City Manager Sacked For Lame, Recycled Racist Remarks

 

 City commissioners on Wednesday placed Sandusky city manager Matt Kline on paid administrative leave pending the outcome of an investigation by the city law director.

Kline was escorted from city hall at about 10 a.m. by a Sandusky police officer and at least two city commissioners who took his keys to the building, commissioner Dan Kaman said.

Kline has been placed on leave for "conduct unbecoming a public official," said Don Icsman, the city's law director.

Commissioners called an emergency meeting at 6 p.m. and went immediately to executive session to discuss pending litigation. Returning to open session, they voted unanimously to place Kline on leave until Icsman completes an investigation.

Triggering the action was a Nov. 12 letter from the Marina District developer's attorney addressed to the city's law firm.

Timothy Miller is representing John Eymann, the developer fighting to reclaim a $100,000 deposit he made with the city in connection to the failed development of the Marina District.

The letter demands the city return Eymann's "good faith deposit," lest Eymann drag the issue into court.

The $100,000 deposit has been the focus of much contention in recent months. City commissioners and Icsman have not decided whether they'll return the money to Eymann or keep it to offset the city's planning and legal fees associated with the project.

Miller's letter also contains a two-page transcript from a recording of an Oct. 20 phone conversation that allegedly occurred between Eymann, Kline and Scott Schell, Sandusky's economic development specialist.

Throughout the conversation, Schell and Kline repeatedly say there was always an understanding that the money would be returned to Eymann.

"John ... we do not want to hold onto your money," Schell says. "But it's just like we need to figure out how to get it back to you."

Kline adds that city commissioners would have to approve a motion that would let the contract expire, though the motion would also have to include "giving back or returning the $100,000."

Schell and Kline then talk about the logistics of the proposed ordinance, and discuss changing the agreement to reflect the "good faith deposit."

When Schell says there were "other things we were trying to tie up," Kline delivers a bombshell.

"Ya ... like having to hire so many crippled black Jewish people," Kline says, according to the transcript.

Schell laughs.

Read more at Sandusky Register. 

And it's lame and not even original. James Watt (Secretary of the Interior during the Reagan administration) said it over 20 years ago.

Festival of Mass Animal Sacrifice in Nepal. PETA is Nowhere to be Seen

BARIYAPUR, Nepal – The ceremony began with prayers in a temple by tens of thousands of Hindus before dawn Tuesday. Then it shifted to a nearby corral, where in the cold morning mist, scores of butchers wielding curved swords began slaughtering buffalo calves by hacking off their heads.

Over two days, 200,000 buffaloes, goats, chickens and pigeons will be killed as part of a blood-soaked festival held every five years to honor Gadhimai, a Hindu goddess of power.

While cows are sacred and protected by law in Nepal, animal sacrifice has a long history in this overwhelmingly Hindu country and parts of neighboring India. The Bariyapur festival has become so big, in part, because such ceremonies have been banned in many areas in the neighboring Indian state of Bihar.

And while it is criticized by animal-rights protesters, the festival is defended as a centuries-old tradition.

Many Nepalis believe that sacrifices in Gadhimai's honor will bring them prosperity. They also believe that by eating the meat, which is taken back to their villages and consumed during feasts, they will be protected from evil.

Taranath Gautam, the top government official in the area, estimated that more than 200,000 people had come for the ceremony in Bariyapur, some 100 kilometers (60 miles) from Katmandu. Some brought their own animals to sacrifice.

"I am here with my mother who had promised the goddess she would sacrifice a goat. It was her wish and promise and I am glad we were able to fulfill it," said Pramod Das, a farmer from the nearby village of Sarlahi. "I believe now my mother's wishes will come true."

Animal rights groups don't have much power in Nepal, but they have staged repeated protests in recent weeks. Local news reports say some activists set up stands in towns on the way to the Bariyapur temple, offering Hindu pilgrims coconuts and other fruits to sacrifice instead of animals.

There was no sign of them Tuesday.

Read more at Associated Press.

I'm sure that PETA neglected this mass animal slaughter in Nepal because they are so busy organizing their worldwide protests for the upcoming mass animal slaughter of Eid Al Adha.
 

JTA Freaks Out Over Obama Hanukkah Party Downsize

Op-Ed: Obama must beware of the Chanukah snub

November 23, 2009

WASHINGTON (JTA) -- Officials in the Obama administration have decided that they will be cutting the guest list in half for this year’s Chanukah party at the White House.

The Jerusalem Post, which first reported this development, suggested that this will be politically harder for Obama the Democrat than it would have been for Bush the Republican.

As one of President Bush’s advisers for many of his Chanukah parties, I can assure you that it would not have been easy in the previous White House, either.

During the Bush years, Jewish staffers were inundated by people who wanted to be invited to Bush’s Chanukah soirees. Karl Rove once proclaimed at a West Wing meeting about the upcoming holiday parties that invites to the White House Chanukah party were officially the toughest ticket in town.

Bush’s first Chanukah party, in 2001, gained national attention as the first one ever thrown in the White House residence. Each year, Bush continued the tradition, adding various refinements along the way.

The first year, the children of a White House staffer lit the Chanukah menorah in a ceremony kicking off the party. In subsequent years, Bush selected as candle lighters children of Jewish men and women in uniform, the father of slain Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl and -- in a joint ceremony to acknowledge Israel’s 60th birthday -- the grandsons of Harry Truman, the president who first recognized the new nation of Israel, and of David Ben-Gurion, Israel’s first prime minister.

Another refinement was the introduction of kosher food. The party was not kosher at first, as kosher food is significantly more expensive than non-kosher food -- 33 percent more, according to an estimate in The Jerusalem Post. Initially the White House did have a table with kosher food for guests who kept the dietary laws, but this led to confusion over which offerings were kosher and which were not. One year, due to a labeling mishap, some observant Jews accidentally ate from the non-kosher tables, leading to high-decibel complaints directed at the prim and proper White House ushers. [Oh noes!] From then on, Mrs. Bush decreed that the parties would be completely kosher, regardless of the expense.

Read more at JTA.org.

What a crisis! What pissed off JTA more than anything else was the kosher food on the menu. The horror of Jews actually requesting to keep kosher! I seem to recall several years ago that the Kremlin koshered one of its kitchens for a state visit from the former President of Israel, Moshe Katsav.

Florida Middle School Students Suspended for "Kick A Jew" Day

NAPLES — Ten North Naples Middle School students were suspended last week after district officials said they circulated an e-mail to classmates about kicking Jewish people.

The e-mail was circulated the evening of Wednesday, Nov. 18. It came to the attention of school officials later that week. The e-mail told students that if they saw a Jewish person on Thursday, they should kick them.

District spokesman Joe Landon said the 10 students received one day in-school suspensions, which were served on Friday. He said the parents of each student were also contacted and parent conferences were conducted.

Landon said until further notice, the school will focus the first 20 minutes of each day on character traits, beginning with respect and kindness. Homeroom teachers will speak with the students about these traits and will focus on bullying prevention, he said. Videos on the topic will be sought out and used as part of the training, he said.

Landon said the first 20 minutes of the school day is normally used for reading time and tutoring time if students need help.

NaplesNews.com

 

Meet the Israeli Glenn Beck

Israeli Leftist Talk Show Host Threatens, Blusters, Incites

Jerusalem - In an exceptionally venomous broadcast on Israel radio this morning (Sunday) following yet another Shabbos marked by demonstrations, host Natan Zehavi of 103.fm  lashed out against Jerusalem’s charedi community, saying he pledged to give NIS 1,000 “to every policeman who is called a Nazi…and gives him a big whack on the head with his billy club, and smashes in his mouth and teeth.”

The self-styled “non-conformist” radio host and writer unleashed a long, ranting diatribe full of blatant incitement to violence.

“These charedim, though they study fulltime, are quite a bunch of ninjas. They’re in good shape, and they run around throwing rocks and demonstrating. Just give them the chance and they’ll carry out a lynch against people sitting in a car,” said the 63-year-old radio personality.

“We owe thanks to the policemen that rescued the unfortunate people who found themselves in the powerful clutches of the thugs with hairs on their faces, the funny hats on their heads and the weird coats in the middle of the heat.

“But what really bugs me, is that day and night policemen in the State of Israel are constantly being called ‘Nazis.’” At this point Zehavi incongruously lumps the demonstrators with national-religious protestors in Judea and Samaria, and during the evacuation of Gaza.

“…The belittling of the Holocaust has become a symbol of certain communities,” Zehavi continued, again drawing no distinction between the charedi and the national-religious camps. “I hereby declare,” he said, raising his voice to a pitch, “that HaRav Nosson Zehavi ben HaRav Yankel Goldveitz will give an NIS 1,000 prize “to every policeman who is called a Nazi by a settler or a charedi Shabbat demonstrator, and gives him a big whack on the head with his billy club, and smashes in his mouth and teeth.” 

VIN News.

Muslim Nations Demand International Ban on "Blasphemy"

 
This cartoon may become illegal according to "International Law"

GENEVA – Islamic nations are mounting a campaign for an international treaty to protect [Islamic] religious symbols and beliefs from mockery -- essentially, a ban on blasphemy.

Documents obtained by The Associated Press show that Algeria and Pakistan have taken the lead in lobbying to bring the matter to a vote in the U.N. General Assembly.

Such a ban would face great resistance in Western nations that enshrine freedom of expression as a fundamental right.

The countries that form the 56-member Organization of the Islamic Conference are currently lobbying a Geneva-based U.N. committee to accept its plan, a first step for it to eventually be put before the General Assembly.

If that occurs, Muslim countries and their allies in the developing world would stand a decent chance of mustering the simple majority needed in the General Assembly to adopt such a treaty.

Associated Press.

Oh Noes! White House Downsizes Guest List for Annual Hanukkah Party

Apparently trying to prove that there's nothing too small and petty for some in the Jewish community to complain about, The Jerusalem Post's Hilary Krieger has a story about some anonymous Jewish leaders expressing disappointment over the fact that President Obama is planning to invite only 400 people to this year's White House Chanukah party -- instead of the 800 on the guest list for President George W. Bush's final Chanukah bash last year. The reason is primarily cost in these tough economic times:

Though several Jewish leaders expressed understanding for the economic and other reasons behind the cut, they acknowledged that it would likely help feed feelings in some quarters of the American Jewish community thatthe White House is giving them the cold shoulder.

It comes as a different attempt at outreach to Jews - an appearance by US President Barack Obama before the General Assembly of North American Jewish Federations last week - was cancelled so that the president could participate in a Fort Hood memorial service.

"I don't know which people will be more upset about," said one Jewish leader, comparing the disappointment of those who had expected to see Obama speak with those who wouldn't be getting an invitation to the Hanukka celebration.

Given the current climate, the Jewish official continued, "The pressure on the White House to have the right people at the Hanukka party is going to be enormous."

When asked about the decisions surrounding the guest list and its trimming, a White House spokesman responded that Obama "looks forward to celebrating Hanukka atthe White House and having many members of the Jewish American community at that event."

The article points out that Bush's first Chanukah party also had a guest list of around 400 in year one of his presidency (also amidst tough economic times), and that officials want to have room for "natural growth" of the list over the next few years. On the other hand, it notes that there are many more Jewish Democrats in Washington and the country as a whole than there are Jewish Republicans.

The Orthodox Union's Nathan Diament suggests people should find something else to whine about:

"As we know from Biblical times, we Jews are very good at complaining," [Diament] said. "People shouldn't complain. It's very nice that President Obama is having a Hanukka party.

"People can choose to gripe about the guest list or any other aspect of it, but the fact is this White House is going to continue this practice, which is a lovely thing."

JTA.org
 

Dutch Leftists Claim Israel is "Stealing" Palestinian Dead Sea Mud

Holland to probe if Ahava products made on occupied land

According to Socialist Party website, Dutch foreign minister intends to investigate whether Dead Sea cosmetic company's products sporting label 'Made in Israel' are manufactured on 'occupied' territory

It seems as though not everyone in Holland is thrilled with Ahava beauty products. In a discussion held in the Dutch parliament a few days ago, Dutch Foreign Minister Maxime Verhagen agreed to launch an investigation of the Dead Sea company's products marketed in Holland in order to ascertain whether they are manufactured in Palestinian territory held by Israel, according to the Dutch Socialist Party's website.

According to the report, Verhagen acted at the behest of Socialist Party parliament member Harry van Bommel to check whether the products exported to Holland under the Israeli flag in actuality "create revenue for the occupier."

The site claims that van Bommel explained in the discussion that "This issue stands in the way of reaching a fair, honest, and just solution to the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians."

The accusation against Ahava is that the company manufactures cosmetic products in a lab located in Mitzpe Shalem, a kibbutz on the western bank of the Dead Sea and uses minerals suspected of being Palestinian.

The company's products are exported to Holland with the stamp "Made in Israel," but, according to the Dutch socialists, the territory on which the products are manufactured does not belong to the State of Israel. The kibbutz is located on the northwest shores of the Dead Sea.

If it will be found that the Ahava products are made on occupied territory, Bommel said that he "will call for a boycott of these products" because selling them "violates international law that forbids an occupying power from selling products whose raw materials belong to the occupied nation under its name."

Read more at YNet.

The Zionist Mall has an excellent selection of Ahava products at discount prices! Babushka especially recommends the Botanic Velvet Body Wash.

172 Mumbai Terror Victims Remembered at Interfaith Memorial

Rabbi Avraham Berkowitz (2nd L) is seen with representatives from various faiths at a gathering at the Jewish cultural and religious centre Chabad House in Mumbai on November 17, 2009, during a service of remembrance for victims of last year's militant attacks in the city. Faith leaders on November 17 gathered at a Jewish religious and cultural centre in Mumbai to light candles to those who died in last year's deadly terror attacks on the city. The candles were lit after a moment of silence to remember the six people who were killed at Chabad House on November 26-29, including the respected rabbi who ran it, Gavriel Holtzberg, and his pregnant wife, Rivka. Getty Images.

MUMBAI (AFP) – Faith leaders on Tuesday gathered at a Jewish religious and cultural centre in Mumbai to light candles to those who died in last year's deadly terror attacks on the city.

The candles were lit after a moment of silence to remember the six people who were killed at Chabad House on November 26-29, including the respected rabbi who ran it, Gavriel Holtzberg, and his pregnant wife, Rivka.

The ceremony, on the ground floor of the bullet-scarred five-storey building in bustling Colaba Market, followed a multi-faith religious ceremony at the luxury Trident hotel, which was also stormed by gunmen.

Overall, 166 people died and more than 300 others were injured in the attacks, which were blamed on the banned, Pakistan-based Islamist group Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT).

Rabbi Avraham Berkowitz, from the ultra-Orthodox Chabad-Lubovitch movement that owns Chabad House, first read the names of all six victims and said: "We are standing here today as men and women of good will and good faith.

"We are standing united together as we all are children of God, all created in the image of God, to condemn terror and promote peace and perpetuate the life and legacy of the sacred victims."

He told dignitaries, including Israel's consul general in Mumbai, Orna Sagiv, and reporters: "We, the Jewish people, see ourselves as a light unto the nations of the world.

"We stand in solidarity and in grief and in love with all the victims that were targeted on that same night."

Berkowitz earlier told fellow leaders from the Hindu, Muslim, Christian, Sikh, Buddhist, Zoroastrian and Jain communities that they would continue the work of the Holtzbergs to promote peace and unity around the world.

Read more at AFP.

Biased Media Captions of the Day: A Tale of Two Illegal Buildings

A Palestinian woman express her anger as she stands amidst debris after Israeli municipality workers partially demolished her family house which was built without municipal permission in the Arab east Jerusalem neighborhood of Whad Kadum on November 17, 2009. Israel's interior ministry authorised the construction of 900 new housing units in annexed east Jerusalem, the ministry said, in a move bound to draw international criticism. The international community has repeatedly criticised Israel for building in occupied Palestinian lands which Israel occupied in 1967 but where the Palestinians wish to build their future state. Getty Images.

Jewish settlers salvage pieces from a structure that was destroyed by Israeli forces at the illegal outpost of Neguhot Darom near the settlement of Neguhot in the occupied West Bank on November 16, 2009. The international community considers all West Bank settlements illegal because they are built on occupied Palestinian territory, which Israel captured from Jordan in the 1967 Six-Day War. Settlements, which are home to 500,000 Israelis -- 200,000 of them in east Jerusalem -- are a major hurdle in hobbled efforts to reach an Israeli-Palestinian peace deal. Israel only considers a number of so-called outposts to be illegal because they were built without government authorisation. Getty Images.

So, Arabs can build wherever they freaking please, even inside Israel, but a "future Palestinian State" requires the ethnic cleansing of half a million Jews so that the Palestinians can enjoy a 100% Judenrein apartheid state.

An Eye From Zion: Israeli Doctors Restoring Sight to the Blind in Third World

A non-profit with zero overhead, Israel's Eye from Zion is restoring sight to hundreds of people in developing countries.

"At first, I thought I'd die." That's what an ex-Mossad (Israel's Institute for Intelligence and Special Operations) chief said about his first "operation." Yoram Hessel, now the director of Eye from Zion, wasn't talking about a secret operation for the Israel government. He was referring to sight-restoring cataract surgery that he had witnessed firsthand.

After observing about 50 cataract operations in countries such as Vietnam, China and the Muslim country of Azerbaijan, Hessel, now an international businessman with his consultancy Vintage Crown is overflowing with enthusiasm about how a relatively straightforward operation can change peoples' lives. In addition to his career in business, Hessel donates his time to Eye from Zion to restore sight to people in developing countries.

He's seen cataracts the size of buttons removed from people's eyes. "It's amazing what you get out of the eye, what they take out," he tells ISRAEL21c.

Eye from Zion grew out of the vision of Israeli businessman Nati Marcus. Since its founding about three years ago, it has grown into a core group comprising five or six influential Israelis like Hessel. With their help, through missions undertaken by dozens of Israeli doctors who donate their time and expertise, Eye from Zion has restored sight to hundreds of people.

With an industry standard tool called a Phaco machine, the Israeli eye doctors use sound waves to blast out a cataract, breaking it into pieces and then sucking it out. Most of the patients who arrive at the mobile clinic are nearly or completely blind in both eyes.

Read more at Israel21c

Of course, Aftonbladet will claim they are stealing Palestinian eyes.
 

The Islamist and the Unbeliever

 

Drybones blog h/t Newt

Doofus of the Day: Tel Aviv University Professor Spews Anti-Semitic Propaganda

An Israeli academic has been accused of contributing to anti-Semitic discourse and incidents following his book tour in London promoting the thesis that Jews never existed as a people and the Palestinian Arabs are the true heirs of the biblical Jews.

Shlomo Sand, a professor of history at Tel Aviv University, spoke at a number of events in London last week to sell his book The Invention of the Jewish People, in which he writes that the Israelites were never exiled from the Promised Land and therefore have no right to return.

Jewish community figures questioned Sand's work and noted that no opposing view or contextualization was offered at his events.

"Sand's agenda is to sever the historic link between the Jewish people and the Land of Israel," said Jonathan Hoffman, co-chairman of the Zionist Federation of Great Britain and Ireland. "To promote that agenda his book ignores archeological and genetic evidence. At none of his three London appearances was there a historian or Jewish history expert on the platform to counter his distortions, evasions and sensationalism. The result will contribute to anti-Semitic discourse and incidents in the UK, already at a record level."

A guest on BBC Radio Four last week, Sand told presenter Andrew Marr that he compares Israel's birth to "rape"

"I'm not a Zionist. I don't define myself as an anti-Zionist... but I'm not a Zionist... I don't put into question the existence of Israel," he said. "I compare when I am speaking before Arab students the birth of the Israeli state to an act of rape. But even the son that was born of the act of rape... you have to recognize him... the existence of Israel I don't put in question today, you understand me?"

Read more at Jerusalem Post.

Of course Sand's historical kitty litter will be prominently featured on academic websites such as Stormfront, Judicial-Inc, Michael A. Hoffman and their comrades in arms.
 

Mumbai Terror Planner Pretended to be Jewish to Case Chabad House

 

Mumbai, Nov. 14: David Coleman Headley personally visited every target site of the 26/11 terror strikes last year, carrying out a recce on behalf of the Lashkar-e-Toiba, a police source said today.

Posing as a Jew, he even visited Nariman House, the Jewish Chabad centre, in July 2008.

The Mumbai police today carried out raids in Bandra, its adjoining suburb Khar and BPO hub Goregaon in search of Headley’s local acquaintances and contacts.

“He (Headley) mapped the Chhatrapati Shivaji terminus, Taj and Trident hotels and Nariman House. We are interrogating (filmmaker Mahesh Bhatt’s son) Rahul to find out when he went to Leopold Café. That he did is certain — when he did that is what we need to know,” a top officer said.

Headley had visited the Mumbai home of Rahul, who contacted police after learning of the terror suspect’s arrest by America’s Federal Burau of Investigation (FBI) last month.

The source said Headley, a Pakistani-born US national, and his associate Tahawwur Hussain Rana stayed in Hotel Outram, a seedy motel in Mumbai’s Fort area, for about a fortnight in July 2008.

Born Daood Gilani, Headley, who changed his name and passport in 2006, posed as a Jewish American during his Mumbai stay. A source close to Rahul too confirmed that Headley had claimed to be a Jew.

“It is a mystery how he got into that building (Nariman House) just posing as a Jew. We are probing if he had anybody helping him locally. The FBI seized a book called How to Pray Like a Jew from him at the time of his arrest in Chicago. He had prepared himself thoroughly to pose as a Jew,” the officer said.

Read more at Telegraph India.

 

After Mumbai Tragedy, A Spiritual Revival

Emissaries of the Chabad-Lubavitch movement are a hardy lot — part envoys, part pioneers — who agree to settle anywhere in the world where their leaders decide that Jewish communities need bolstering, whether in Anchorage or Bangkok or northern Kyrgyzstan.

Often the only Lubavitchers for miles around, they are used to being gawked at and asked to explain themselves, usually in a nice way, though not always. “How long did it take to grow that beard, dude?” is a pretty common query in the United States, they say.

But for three or four days a year, during the annual International Conference of Emissaries held at Chabad headquarters in Crown Heights, Brooklyn, the world of the emissary becomes a kaleidoscope of the familiar.

“Everyone here looks like me,” said Rabbi Eliezer Zalmanov, gazing amusedly Thursday night at the procession of Hasidic men — uniformly bearded, black-suited and fedora-topped — plying the sidewalk in front of a Hebrew school where the opening session of this weekend’s conference was being held. “Everyone here knows what we’re about. It’s one of the reasons you get together — to recharge, to inspire one another.”

This year’s meeting of 4,000 men living in 75 countries and 47 of the 50 states — their wives hold a separate conference in the spring — is the first time most have seen one another since a shattering event among their group. In November 2008, a married emissary couple with Brooklyn ties were killed during a terrorist attack in Mumbai, India, in which 171 people died.

It occurred just a few weeks after the husband who died, Rabbi Gavriel Holtzberg, attended the annual men’s meeting in Crown Heights. During a coordinated assault that lasted three days, the attackers seized the Chabad Center, killing Rabbi Holtzberg; his wife, Rivka; and four Jewish guests, and destroyed the building where it was housed.

Events in memory of the victims are scheduled throughout the conference this weekend. On Thursday, rabbis took turns lettering a Torah scroll that will replace the one destroyed in the attack.

But the enthusiasm of the emissaries for their mission — to restore Jewish life wherever it has dwindled, whether by attrition, or by murder — was not apparently diminished.

Rabbi Abraham Berkowitz, the emissary who went to Mumbai to rebuild the center after the attack, said there has been an outpouring of support from individuals and government officials there. “Our focus is always on restoration, on moving ahead,” he said, “so that not one day should go by during which those terrorists should prevail.”

Read more at NY Times.
 

Biased Media Caption of the Day: Abused Cat in Gaza Zoo

IN DIS PICCHUR TAKEN KATURDAI, NOV. 7, 2009, DOMESTIC KAT - AN UNLIKELY EDISHUN 2 AN ASPIRIN ZOO, IZ SEEN CLIMBIN ITZ CAGE AT TEH MARAH LAND ZOO IN EASTERN GAZA CITY. THARS LIL 2 DO 4 ENTERTAINMENT 4 GAZAS 1.4 MILLION RESIDENTS CUZ OV 2-YER ISRAELI AN EGYPTIAN BLOCKADE, AN TEH TERRITORYS ZOOS BECAME POPULAR FORM OV PAST TIEM. IN 2008 TEH MARAH ZOO WUZ FULLY FUNCSHUNIN ZOO, BUT DURIN ISRAELS JANUARY OFFENSIV, 90 PERSENT OV TEH ANIMALS DID. DUE 2 RESTRICSHUNS OV TEH ISRAELI AN EGYPTIAN BLOCKADE - NEW ANIMALS CAN NOT BE OBTAIND - UNLES THEY R TRANZPORTD THRU TEH TUNNELS. AS RESULT, THAR R NOT AS LARGE VARIETY OV ANIMALS AS BEFORE, BUT GAZANZ STILL FLOCK 2 TEH ZOO, DUE 2 TEH LACK OV SOURCEZ OV ENTERTAINMENT IN DA GAZA STRIP. AP Photo

AP Caption, blaming Israel for "forcing" Gazans to imprison cats in the zoo:

In this picture taken Saturday, Nov. 7, 2009, a domestic cat - an unlikely edition to an aspiring zoo, is seen climbing its cage at the Marah Land Zoo in eastern Gaza City. There's little to do for entertainment for Gaza's 1.4 million residents because of a two-year Israeli and Egyptian blockade, and the territory's zoos became a popular form of past time. In 2008 the Marah Zoo was a fully functioning zoo, but during Israel's January offensive, 90 percent of the animals died. Due to restrictions of the Israeli and Egyptian blockade - new animals can not be obtained - unless they are transported through the tunnels. As a result, there are not as large a variety of animals as before, but Gazans still flock to the zoo, due to the lack of sources of entertainment in the Gaza Strip.

Giant Hamas bee torturing cats in Gaza zoo (2 years before the "January offensive")

 

Oh, and, Hamas killed all the zoo animals:

 

 

One Year After Mumbai Attacks, Dead Terrorists Remain on Ice

MUMBAI/NEW DELHI: Almost a year after they were killed during the terror assault on Mumbai last November, the bodies of the nine terrorists continue to remain in Mumbai's J.J. Hospital morgue. There are no claimants and the authorities are clueless on what to do with them.

They continue to remain in a room sealed with round-the-clock security and where the temperature is set at four degrees Celsius to prevent any decomposition.

The 10 gunmen killed over 170 people in a series of coordinated attacks that began Nov 26 last year. Mohammed Ajmal Amir alias Kasab, currently undergoing trial, was the only one captured alive after the strikes that targeted two luxury hotels, the city's main train station, a hospital and a Jewish centre.

After Kasab's trial started, the government, through Special Public Prosecutor Ujwal Nikam, planned on moving an application before Special Judge M.L. Tahilyani seeking direction on how to deal with the embalmed bodies of the terrorists. But that move never materialised.

The Muslim Council has flatly refused to allow the burial of the bodies of the slain terrorists in the Marine Lines Bada Qabrastan (cemetery). The council said it also sent a message to all cemeteries in India that none of the bodies should be buried on Indian soil.

The influential Muslim Jama Masjid Trust, which runs the 7.5-acre Bada Qabrastan graveyard, said it would not bury the gunmen because they were not true followers of Islam.

Some outfits had even suggested soon after the attack that the terrorists' bodies be dumped outside the premises of the Pakistan High Commission in New Delhi or thrown into the Arabian Sea.

Read more at Times of India.

I'm sure that readers of Vicious Babushka can suggest some productive use for these dead terrorists. Maybe they can get a gig singing backup for Ahmed?

Only 27 Shopping Days Until Hanukkah!

Hanukkah will be here before you know it. We urge all visitors to this blog to do their holiday shopping at the Zionist Mall. Order early to guarantee delivery from Israel before the holiday! We especially recomment the Tzuki Art Menorah shown here. It is magnificent, and a great bargain at only $149.00.

For Christmas shoppers, don't feel left out. The Zionist Mall also has an excellent selection of gorgeous Sterling Silver and Antique Roman Glass Crosses, hand-made in the Holy Land.

Every purchase that you make supports Israel, and of course this blog.

Aussie Soldiers Get a Jewish Chaplain

 

Jewish Australian soldiers will be better cared for with Rabbi Dovid Gutnick officially being inducted into the chaplaincy ranks.

Rabbi Gutnick, the rabbi of East Melbourne Hebrew Congregation, was toasted at a small function earlier this month hosted by Rabbi Ralph Genende, the senior rabbi to the Australian Defence Force (ADF) and attended by Rabbi Yossi Segelman, also an ADF chaplain.

Rabbi Gutnick is following a family tradition, with his father, Rabbi Mordechai Gutnick, having previously held the role.

Australia’s highest-ranking Jewish military officer, Major General Jeffrey Rosenfeld, paid tribute to the role chaplains play in the ADF.

Major General Rosenfeld, who has seen active service as a surgeon in Iraq, Rwanda and East Timor, Bougainville and the Solomons, said chaplains provide support and can help with soldiers’ mental health issues.

“Soldiers know they can go and speak openly to a chaplain and it will be a confidential matter,” Major General Rosenfeld said.

On a personal note, he said he had always enjoyed the company of a military chaplain, no matter which religion they belonged to.

“The doctors and the chaplains seem to form a close alliance in the unit,” he said. “We have a very responsible and very unique role in the unit and we do have some things in common as chaplains and doctors.”

In addition to ADF and Jewish community representatives, Yvonne and Felix Sher also attended the celebration for Rabbi Gutnick’s induction.

The Shers are the parents of Private Greg Sher, who was killed in action earlier this year in Afghanistan.

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