True Respect for Democracy

by Steven Shamrak.

Maybe because I was born and raised in dictatorial Communist country, like the former Soviet Union, I feel a special admiration and respect for the ideals of democracy that are practiced in the USA and, to a degree, in Israel. I have the same respect for the executive offices of the President and the PM. Unfortunately, the people who are elected to these offices quite often do not reach the level of integrity these positions demand! 

Every day of my life I used to live surrounded by political propaganda in a country where brainwashing of the population was the principal survival preoccupation of the government. Every member of Soviet society was an active or silent participant of this dehumanisation machinery which affected 270 million people.

Therefore, I am able to see and feel with heightened sensitivity the abuse of the power, manipulation of the public and enormous level of corruption that are being perpetrated by unscrupulous officials, who are only serving the self- and special-interest groups which put them in the office of power in the United States, Europe and Israel! Fortunately, Muslim and Arab states have not reached a level of such hideous sophistication.

It is my high level of respect for democracy that compels me to speak out and expose corruption. Democracy demands free expression of opinion and accountability of the leadership. It was practiced freely during the early days of the French revolution and even during the Russian revolution in 1917, but was lost because the public allowed self-serving opportunists to take over their lives!

It is a moral duty of any self-respecting person, especially those living in a democratic society and who cherish its values (where they are not at the risk of losing their life and the right of freedom of speech is supported, so far, by actionable laws) to speak out and defend their rights and keep politicians accountable for their hypocrisy and corruption. Capitulation to the abuse of power and corruption results in a high level of apathy and feeling of personal insignificance among the public. It ultimately destroys democracy!

True democracy not only requires freedom of expression and accountability, it needs them for self-preservation! Silence, apathy and false political correctness are disrespectful and mortally dangerous to democracy!

Food for Thought by Steven Shamrak

Please compare two headlines:

1. Military: Israeli killed in West Bank attack

2. Syrian rebels killed or kidnapped hundreds of civilians

Who killed an Israeli? The headlines were published by the same day (11.10.2013), the same news provider (foxnews.com), but had distinctly different headline descriptions (priming) of similar crimes. Most people read headlines only! Media organizations are deliberately downplaying the terror Jews endure from the hands of so-called Palestinians, but viciously attack and smear Israel for trying to combat their terror-infested enemy population!

Is Czech Republic the only Decent Country in the World?

The official Czech news agency CTK quoted Czech president Milos Zeman as saying that he might move the Czech embassy to Israel to Jerusalem from Tel Aviv. The Cairo-based Arab League has condemned remarks by the Czech president about moving his country's embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, calling them a violation of Palestinian (fictitious) rights and international resolutions. (Enemies of Israel are prompt to squash any attempts, even rumors, of recognition of Israel’s rights!)

Western Made Muslim Democracy in Action

Iraq has executed 42 prisoners convicted of terrorism-related charges in two days. All 42 executed, including a woman, over the past two days were Iraqis convicted of "terrorist crimes, killing dozens of innocents in addition to other crimes aimed at destabilising the country, causing chaos and spreading horror". The latest executions bring the number of people who have been put to death in Iraq this year to at least 132, compared to 129 executions in all of 2012. (Israel is still does not have a death penalty law for terrorism.)

Obama is Already Planning Lifting Sanctions

President Barack Obama has notified Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu that the partial and gradual lifting of sanctions against Iran will soon begin. (Negotiation with Iran has not started yet and no agreement is reached, but Obama and EU are in a rush to drop the sanctions already)

Iranian Enriched Uranium

Iran has more enriched uranium than it needs (for the creation of a nuclear bomb) and plans to use that as a bargaining chip at nuclear talks in Geneva next week, said Iranian Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani. The 20 percent-enriched uranium is much closer to weapons-grade material than the level needed for energy-producing nuclear reactors. He said Iran produced the enriched uranium itself because the UN's International Atomic Energy Agency would not provide it. Following the publication of the interview, the Iranian parliament's public relations department denied the portion of Larijani's comments related to an excess of uranium. (Does oil/gas rich Iran need nuclear energy? Did Iran ask IAEA to supply uranium for nuclear reactors? But threats to destroy Israel were made!)

Peace Talks Only Bring Terror

Israeli politicians have condemned the recent murder of YaYa (Shraya) Opher by PA Arabs in the Jordan Valley community of Brosh, and have called on the Prime Minister to cease all negotiations with the PA. "Unfortunately, it has been proven, again, that negotiations only push quiet and tranquillity away and increase terror. The government of Israel should not continue to close its eyes in the face of the wave of recent attacks and against the deception of the Palestinian Authority's incitement," said Avi Ro'eh, Yesha Council Chairman.

Syrian ‘Rebels’ Massacre Civilians - No ‘Outrage’!

Syrian rebels allied with Sunni Muslim fighters killed at least 190 civilians and abducted more than 200 during an offensive against pro-government villages. The New York-based Human Rights Watch (HRW) described the August 4 killings as a "war crime", and said the attacks against unarmed civilians in more than a dozen villages in the coastal province of Latakia were systematic.

Rise of Russian-Led Diplomacy?

Putin assigned Russia’s top nuclear expert, builder of Bushehr Sergei Kiriyenko, to negotiate and formulate a secret deal on Iran’s nuclear program between the White House, the Kremlin and the office of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. He heads a team of Farsi-speaking Russian nuclear experts set up in Bushehr as President Putin’s forward staff in Iran. They were given the job of hammering out the draft for a nuclear agreement, modelled on the US-Russian Syrian chemical accord. (Is it time to worry or embrace it?)

Gaza Has Enough Building Materials for Tunnels

A tunnel from Gaza into Israel was discovered by the Israeli military. The tunnel is roughly 18 meters (59 feet) underground and stretches for some 1.7 kilometers (1.06 miles). It is the third such tunnel found along the Gaza-Israel security fence in the past year. (Over 500 tons of concrete were used to build this tunnel!) Israel's military has found and destroyed the second tunnel dug from the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip into Israel. Israel blocks construction materials from Gaza after ’terror tunnel’ discovery.

Easing up on Iran is Mistake

Many US politicians are open to suspending new sanctions, but only if Tehran takes significant steps to slow its nuclear programme. At the same time, Tehran says it will not ship out uranium stockpiles as demanded by Western nations, ahead of new round of nuclear talks. Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu says easing pressure on Iran over its nuclear programme is a "historic mistake".

United to Fight Israel

Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khameini, appealed to Muslims around the world to utilize the Muslim celebration of Eid al-Adha (Holiday of the Sacrifice) to “unite against their enemies.” “The riots that are now going on in the Arab states are part of a plot by the Zionists and the Americans,” he said. (Unity, not appeasement, to fight Islamic terror is needed!)

Faking Arafat Poisoning?

Swiss experts confirmed that they had found traces of polonium on clothes (not tissues) belonging to former Palestinian Authority leader Yasser Arafat. Polonium-210, the isotope found on Arafat's belongings, has a half-life of 138 days, meaning that half of the substance decays roughly every four-and-a-half months, leading many observers to express scepticism at the possibility that Arafat was poisoned - the levels of the isotope on Arafat's belongings are far higher than what scientists would expect after nearly a decade of decay.

Israeli Cities as ‘Palestine’

Despite the ongoing peace talks between Israel and the Palestinian Authority (PA), the PA continues to teach its children that the entire land is “Palestine,” and that someday they will “return” to Israeli cities. At a rally under the auspices of the PA Minister of Culture, girls sang a song which presents various Israeli cities as part of “my country Palestine.”

Quotes of the Week:

“The Europeans have for hundreds of years been telling Jews where we could live. These areas used to be called Ghettos. Now that Jews have their own state, they want to export this idea to Israel. I guess they don't consider Israel a true state. They don't want Jews to feel at home in Europe, and they don't want them to feel independent in Israel. Yet they will do nothing about Muslims who kill and rape in European countries. Instead, they don't want law-abiding Jews. And yet they claim they are not anti-Semitic.” - Steven B. Kovner - In spite of the Islamic intense Islamic hate toward infidels, Europeans actively assist enemies, Arab states and so-called Palestinians, to destroy the Jewish state. Meanwhile, Europe doesn’t want its Jews to live as Jews, trying to ban circumcision and Kosher slaughter

Facilitators of the Holocaust

by Joel Leyden, June 15, 2013

Prime Minister of Israel Benjamin Netanyahu made the following remarks on Thursday at the dedication ceremony for the permanent pavilion at Block 27 at Auschwitz-Birkenau Concentration Camp.

"The leaders of the Allies (UK, US, France) knew about the Holocaust in real time. They understood exactly what was happening in the death camps. They were asked to act, they could have acted, and they did not. To Jews the lesson is clear. We must not be complacent in the face of threats of annihilation. We must not bury our heads in the sand or allow others to do the work for us.

From here, the place that attests to the desire to destroy us, I, the Prime Minister of Israel, the state of the Jewish People, say to all the nations of the world: The State of Israel will do whatever is necessary to prevent another Holocaust"…

Netanyahu stated that the "so-called" Iranian presidential election will "change nothing" in the Islamic republic's quest for nuclear weapons and that the regime will continue to pursue a bomb aimed at destroying Israel.

"This is a regime that is building nuclear weapons with the expressed purpose to annihilate Israel's 6 million Jews," Netanyahu said, alluding to the number of Jews killed by the Nazis during World War II. "We will not allow this to happen. We will never allow another Holocaust"…