Sara Miller – Opinion: Independence Day: I Am a Zionist and I Am Proud
HAARETZ: "I'll give you six months," said a close relative the day before I packed my life into two rucksacks and schlepped them 2,000 miles from Britain. A decade on, I'm still here, and proud to be an olah vatika (veteran immigrant).
Even within Israel the concept of Aliyah for Zionism's sake is often an alien one. Young Israelis in particular cannot understand why someone from an evidently prosperous country, with a culture-rich and progressive society and which is relatively terrorism free, would choose to throw it all over, leave their family and friends and move to a country so riddled with internal problems and violence.
My motivation can be summed up in one word. Zionism. In recent decades Zionism has become a dirty word in the world. It has been used as an insulting and disrespectful collective noun for the Jewish people, shorthand for the State of Israel within the context of its conflict with the Palestinians and even a synonym for the settlement movement.
It is time to reclaim the word as an expression of pride. Zionism is what has driven and will drive past, present and future Jews around the world to move to a miniscule spot of land in a war-torn region. >>> By Sara Miller | Tuesday, April 28, 2009
Monday, April 20, 2009
Britain and EU Diplomats Walk Out as Mahmoud Ahmadinejad Calls Israel 'Racist'
THE TELEGRAPH: Britain and other European Union countries have walked out of a United Nations conference after Iran's president attacked Israel as the "most cruel and racist regime".
A protester with a wig is led away by UN security as he tried to interrupt the speech of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, at the UN Racism conference. Photo courtesy of The Telegraph
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad smiled as European diplomats left in protest over his opening address to a controversial UN summit to fight racism.
President Ahmadinejad, speaking as Israelis prepares to commemorate the Holocaust on Tuesday, described Jews and Israel's creation as the "ugly face" of a Western conspiracy.
"They sent migrants from Europe, the United States in order to establish a racist government in the occupied Palestine," he said.
"The word Zionism personifies racism that falsely resorts to religion and abuses religious sentiments to hide their hatred and ugly faces."
EU diplomats launched a walk out when Mr Ahmadinejad claimed that the "pretext of Jewish suffering", a reference to the Holocaust, had been used to create Israel.
The United States, Israel, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, Canada, Australia and New Zealand boycotted the conference because of fears that Mr Ahmadinejad would use the event to equate Zionism with racism.
British and other EU officials had attended the conference but walked out after Iran's leader launched into an attack on Western support Israel's "totally racist" policy in Gaza. >>> By Bruno Waterfield | Monday, April 20, 2009
TELEGRAPH BLOGS – Nile Gardiner: Durban II: Gordon Brown's Cowardly Decision Not to Boycott
It is rare when continental European partners such as Germany show a bit of backbone on the world stage. This weekend, Angela Merkel joined the leaders of the United States, Israel, Australia, Italy and Holland in boycotting the Durban Review Conference in Geneva. In contrast, Gordon Brown's government has decided to participate, even though the event is being graced by the presence of Iranian despot Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who believes in wiping a fellow UN member off the face of the earth. The whole farce is organized by a steering committee led by major human rights violators such as Libya, Russia, Cuba and Iran. Comment here >>> Nile Gardiner | Monday, April 20, 2009
BBC: Walkout at Iran Leader's Speech
Diplomats have walked out of a speech by the Iranian president at a UN anti-racism conference after he described Israel as a "racist government".
Two protesters, wearing coloured wigs, disrupted the beginning of the speech by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad - followed by the Western walkout.
Others enthusiastically clapped as Mr Ahmadinejad continued his address.
France said it was a "hate speech". A number of other Western countries have boycotted the conference altogether.
The walkout is a public relations disaster for the United Nations, which had hoped the conference would be a shining example of what the UN is supposed to do best - uniting to combat injustice in the world, says the BBC's Imogen Foulkes in Geneva. >>> | Monday, April 20, 2009
THE WALL STREET JOURNAL: Iran's President Slams Israel, Prompts Walkouts
GENEVA -- Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad described the Holocaust as a "pretext" for aggression against Palestinians, prompting European diplomats to walk out of a speech disrupted by jeering protesters in rainbow wigs tossing red clown noses at the hardline leader.
Mr. Ahmadinejad was the first government official to take the floor at a U.N. racism conference opening on the eve of Israel's Holocaust Memorial Day. Two protesters in clown costumes tossed soft red objects at Mr. Ahmadinejad as he recited a Muslim prayer to begin his speech.
A Jewish student group from France later took credit for causing the disturbance, saying members threw clown noses to "symbolize the mascarade that this conference represents."
Mr. Ahmadinejad restarted his talk and delivered a speech that lasted more than a half-hour, saying the United States and Europe had helped establish Israel after World War II and victimize Palestinians "under the pretext of Jewish suffering."
That prompted a walkout by some 40 diplomats from Britain and France and other European countries that had threatened to leave the conference if it descended into anti-Semitism or other rhetoric harshly critical of Israel, which marred the U.N.'s last racism gathering eight years ago in South Africa.
The United States and eight other Western countries were already boycotting the event because of concerns about its fairness. Mr. Ahmadinejad went on to accuse Israel of being the "most cruel and racist regime." >>> Associated Press | Monday, April 20, 2009
WELT ONLINE: Antirassismus-Konferenz: Der erwartete Eklat des Mahmud Ahmadinedschad
Der erste Tag der Antirassismus-Konferenz in Genf hat im Schatten mehrerer Boykotts begonnen – und ist im Eklat geendet. Als Irans Präsident Ahmadinedschad seine Rede für anti-israelische Tiraden nutzte, verließen mehrere EU-Delegierte den Raum. Die Verstimmungen gehen jedoch weit über Europa hinaus.
Wahrscheinlich hätten die Tänzer die Stimmung bessern sollen. Die südafrikanische Regierung, 2001 Gastgeberin der ersten Antirassismus-Konferenz in Durban, hatte sie nach Genf geschickt: Frauen in Saris, Männer mit Buschkronen aus Glasperlen. Sie hüpften und klatschten vor dem Podium, auf dem Ban Ki-moon saß. Doch mehr als ein müdes Lächeln konnten die Spezialisten für „interkulturelle Tanzfusion“ dem UN-Generalsekretär nicht abringen.
Die „Durban II“ genannte Konferenz begann heute im Schatten des Boykotts durch mehrere westliche Staaten – und sie endete im Eklat um die Rede des iranischen Staatspräsidenten Mahmud Ahmadinedschad. Neben Ländern wie Israel, Kanada oder den USA blieb erstmals auch Deutschland einer UN-Konferenz fern.
Ban Ki-moon kritisierte das in seiner Eröffnungsrede. „Ich bedauere zutiefst, dass einige sich entschlossen haben, beiseite zu treten“, sagte der UN-Generalsekretär. „Wir träumen davon, in eine neue Richtung zu gehen, jedoch bleiben zu viele von uns in der Vergangenheit verstrickt. Wir sprechen davon, eine neue Einheit zu finden, wie es die Zeit verlangt, aber wir bleiben schwach und gespalten.“ Gerade in Zeiten der Wirtschaftskrise, sei es wichtig gegen Rassismus zu kämpfen – in all seinen Formen, auch Antisemitismus und Islamophobie. Ahmadinedschads Eklat >>> Von Stefanie Bolzen und Elisalex Henckel | Montag, 20. April 2009
DIEPRESSE: Eklat von Ahmadinejad bei Rassismuskonferenz
Bei der Rede des iranischen Präsidenten verließen die Vertreter aller EU-Staaten, so auch Österreichs, den Saal. Ahmadinejad nützte den Auftritt in Genf erneut für seine berüchtigten antiisraelischen Tiraden.
WIEN/GENF. „Ich bin zutiefst enttäuscht.“ Diese bitteren Worte packte UN-Generalsekretär Ban Ki-moon in seine Eröffnungsrede vor der Antirassismuskonferenz in Genf. Grund für die Klage: Eine Reihe wichtiger Staaten boykottiert das UN-Treffen, das bis Freitag dauern soll. Kanada und Israel hatten schon vor Längerem klargestellt, keinesfalls teilzunehmen. Und bis Montagmorgen sagten dann auch die USA, Australien, die Niederlande, Italien, Polen und Deutschland ab.
Diese Länder fürchten, die UN-Antirassismuskonferenz könne wie schon 2001 im südafrikanischen Durban in ein antiisraelisches Spektakel abgleiten. Damals wollten eine Reihe arabischer und islamischen Staaten die Gleichsetzung von Zionismus mit Rassismus durchsetzen. Die USA und Israel verließen das Treffen.
Österreich nimmt an der Nachfolgekonferenz in Genf teil – jedoch so wie Frankreich, Großbritannien und andere EU-Staaten nur auf Beamtenebene. Es wird durch Österreichs Botschafter in Genf, Christian Strohal, vertreten sein. Für den Fall, dass die Konferenz kippen sollte, behalte man sich „entsprechende Schritte“ vor, heißt es aus dem Außenministerium auf Anfrage der „Presse“. Diese Schritte würden in Abstimmung mit den anderen teilnehmenden EU-Staaten gesetzt. >>> Wieland Schneider (Die Presse) | Montag, 20. April 2009
LE FIGARO: Nouvelle provocation d'Ahmadinejad à Genève
Le président iranien a déclaré que le gouvernement israélien était raciste, devant la conférence de l'ONU consacrée au sujet, provoquant le départ des diplomates européens et la condamnation de Ban-Ki-Moon.
Des diplomates quittant la salle, des manifestants avec des perruques multicolores et des nez rouge de clown qui crient «raciste, raciste» (voir la vidéo), les sièges désertés des Etats-Unis, de l'Australie et des autres pays qui ont boycotté le sommet ... Lundi, l'intervention de Mahmoud Ahmadinejad devant la conférence de l'ONU sur le racisme qui s'est ouverte le jour même aura été mouvementée. Toute cette agitation n'aura pas empêché le président iranien d'accuser Israël d'être le «régime le plus cruel et le plus raciste».Il a critiqué la création de l'État hébreu après 1945. «Après la fin de la Seconde Guerre mondiale, ils (les Alliés, ndlr) ont eu recours à l'agression militaire pour priver de terres une nation entière sous le prétexte de la souffrance juive», a expliqué Ahmadinejad devant un parterre de diplomates. «Ils ont envoyé des migrants d'Europe, des Etats-Unis et du monde de l'Holocauste pour établir un gouvernement raciste en Palestine occupée», a-t-il affirmé. >>> Jérôme Bouin (lefigaro.fr) Avec AFP et AP | Lundi 20 Avril 2009
L’EXPRESS.fr: La France s'indigne du discours d'Ahmadinejad
Dans son discours à la conférence contre le racisme "Durban II", Mahmoud Ahmadinejad s'en est violemment pris à l'Etat d'Israël. La délégation française, qui avait pourtat mis en garde le président iranien, a quitté la salle et Nicolas Sarkozy condamne "ce discours de haine"..
Le discours prononcé par le président iranien constitue "un appel intolérable à la haine raciste" et "il bafoue les idéaux et les valeurs inscrites dans la Déclaration universelle des droits de l'Homme", a déclaré le président Nicolas Sarkozy dans un communiqué.
Le chef de l'Etat, "qui avait déjà rejeté des propos inacceptables tenus en d'autres circonstances par le président iranien, condamne totalement ce discours de haine, poursuit le texte. [M. Sarkozy] appelle à une réaction d'une extrême fermeté de l'Union européenne".
Bernard Kouchner a affirmé de son côté qu'"aucun compromis n'est possible" face aux déclarations anti-israéliennes du président iranien. Ce dernier a critiqué la création d'Israël après 1945, l'assimilant à un "gouvernement raciste", lors de son discours lundi devant les participants à la Conférence de l'ONU sur le racisme à Genève.
"J'ai indiqué très clairement que la France ne tolèrerait pas que quiconque prenne la Conférence en otage et s'en serve comme d'une tribune pour tenir des propos haineux, a souligné le ministre des Affaires étrangères. Je souhaite que ce geste de protestation suscite une prise de conscience au sein de la communauté internationale: la protection des droits de l'Homme et la lutte contre toutes les formes de racisme sont trop importantes pour que les nations ne s'unissent pas contre tous les discours de haine, contre tous les dévoiements". >>> Par LEXPRESS.fr | Lundi 20 Avril 2009
Friday, March 27, 2009
Iranian Leader Assures Assad of Muslim Victory
YNETNEWS: Ahmadinejad tells Syrian president that 'regional conditions are working against Israel and the US'
Assad with Ahmadinejad. Photo courtesy of YNetNews
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad told his Syrian counterpart, Bashar Assad, on Friday that Israel and the US were "weakening with God's help".
During the phone conversation quoted by Iranian news agencies Ahmadinejad said, "The strong camp of friendly countries such as Iran and Syria are on their way to victory."
According to the Iranian leader, "The regional conditions are working in favor of the Muslim countries and against the Zionist regime and its allies."
Assad said that Syria and Iran were "in the same fortress", and Ahmadinejad said the two countries should "take advantage of abilities and opportunities in a wise manner". >>> Dudi Cohen | Friday, March 27, 2009
Saturday, March 14, 2009
Bin Laden: Gaza Offensive a Holocaust
YNET NEWS: Osama Bin Laden slams Arab leaders for 'collaborating with Israel,' failing to stop Gaza op
Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden accused several Arab countries of collaborating with Israel in a new audio recording aired by al-Jazeera Saturday.
"It's clear that a number of Arab leaders have collaborated with the Zionist-crusader coalition against our people," Bin Laden said.
He also dubbed Israel's offensive in Gaza a "holocaust" and blamed Arab leaders for not doing enough to stop the fighting. He did not name any specific countries.
"The disaster in Gaza is an important historical event. It is a sudden disaster that constitutes a significant milestone. The path to al-Aqsa mosque requires true and honest leadership," he said.
The Qatar-based Arabic satellite network did not say how it obtained the recording, and the authenticity of the tape could not be verified. >>> Roee Nahmias and AP | Saturday, March 14, 2009
LA REPUBBLICA.it: Bin Laden accusa i leader arabi "Complici di Israele contro Islam"
Nuovo messaggio audio del capo di Al Qaeda su Al Jazeera "Collaborano con l'alleanza tra crociati e sionisti"
ROMA - Osama Bin Laden torna a far sentire la sua voce. Il leader di Al Qaeda ha accusato, in un nastro audio trasmesso dalla tv al Jazeera, alcuni leader arabi di complottare con l'occidente contro i musulmani. ''E' chiaro - dice Bin Laden nella registrazione - che alcuni leader arabi sono stati complici dell'alleanza tra crociati e sionisti contro la nostra gente. Questi leader sono proprio quelli che l'America definisce moderati''. >>> | Sabato 14 Marzo 2009
BERLINER ZEITUNG: Bin Laden fordert Mord an moderaten Araber-Führern
Kairo/Washington - Der weltweit meist gesuchte Terrorist, Osama bin Laden, hat in einer neuen Audio-Botschaft zum Mord an gemäßigten arabischen Führern aufgerufen.
Iranians Lecture Foreigners on ‘Zionist Crimes’ and West’s ‘Lust for Power’
CNS NEWS: Dialogue is good and necessary, but until the Western “lust for power” is curbed, the world’s problems will remain, Iran’s leaders have told foreign visitors.
“The world will only see peace once calls for justice and the fight against oppression become an integral part of the quest for peace,” spiritual leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei told a group that included political and religious figures.
Dialogue and visits and discussions could help overcome misunderstandings but are not enough “to control and check unpleasant features of global hegemonic powers,” which pursue superiority over others by exerting economic and political pressure or intervening militarily, he said.
Referring to what he called the “heinous massacre” of Iraqis, Afghans and Palestinians, Khamenei asked whether such “painful catastrophes” occur because of misunderstandings between nations or because of world powers’ “lust for power,” the Irna news agency reported.
The visitors are in Tehran for a religious conference hosted by former president Mohammad Khatami, who runs a “dialogue among civilizations” initiative and is expected to seek another presidential term next year.
The group includes former U.N. secretary-general Kofi Annan, former Norwegian and Italian prime ministers Kjell Magne Bondevik and Romano Prodi; former presidents of Ireland and Portugal Mary Robinson and Jorge Sampai; and Episcopal Bishop of Washington John Bryson Chane. >>> By Patrick Goodenough, International Editor | October 15, 2008
Iran Refuses to Attend Paris Book Fair in Protest of Israeli Presence
IRNA: Iran would not attend Paris book fair this year in protest at France's invitation of the Zionist regime as a guest of honor in the fair, it was announced on Saturday.
The fair is to be held in the French capital from March 14-19.
Iran was a regular participant of Paris book fair each year but this time it has refused to take part in the event protesting at the presence of the Zionist regime, Deputy Minister of Culture and Islamic Guidance Ali Ali-Pour told IRNA.
On February 27, Lebanon announced a boycott of the book fair after its organizers said that 39 Israeli writers were invited to the event.
The 50-nation Islamic Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (ISECSCO), had earlier called for a boycott of the event by Islamic states.
"The crimes against humanity that Israel is perpetrating in the Palestinian territories... constitute, in themselves, a strong condemnation of Israel, making it unworthy of being welcomed as a guest of honor at an international book fair," the group said.
The Tunisian publishers' union also announced on Friday its refusal to take part in the Paris book fair.
Foreign Ministry Reacts to EU’s Statements on Iran
IRNA: Foreign Ministry spokesman Mohammad Ali Hosseini said on Tuesday that the statement issued by the rotating EU chairman on Iran's righteous stands on Zionist regime is a source of surprise and regret.
According to the Information and Press Bureau of Iran's Foreign Ministry, Hosseini said the rotating chairman of the EU has issued its statement while Iran is the target of blatant threats by various Zionist regime officials, their acts of terrorism, daily massacre of innocent Palestinians in occupied territories, bombardment of residential units by Zionist fighter planes to which the EU has failed to react. Foreign Ministry Reacts to EU’s Statements on Iran >>>
Ahmadinejad Does Not Want the Annihilation of the Jews! All He Wants Is Régime-Change! He Wants an End to Zionism!
YNET NEWS: Iranian leader’s aide says anti-Israel statements aimed at rallying Arab world around Islamic revolution’s values. ‘All Muslims want to see Zionist regime change into a Palestinian regime,’ he says.
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad does want the Jews to be annihilated but rather to change the regime in Israel,” a senior aide to the Iranian president said Friday.
On August 3, 2006 the Iranian president said that the Middle East would be better off "without the existence of the Zionist regime." He also called Israel an "illegitimate regime" with "no legal basis for its existence."
