Tag Archives: Jerusalem Post

Netanyahu: Israel Won’t Apologize to Turkey (Update)

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Though Turkish government officials have, for months, been calling for Israel to apologize for their involvement in a May 31 military raid that left nine Turkish activists dead, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has ruled out the possibility, according to new reports (See here, here and here) this afternoon.

Such a stance should not surprise anyone, especially when one considers that even Turkish citizens living in Israel protested against their own government’s involvement in the so-called “aid flotilla” incident which seemed to be aimed at stirring tensions in the Gaza Strip.

A Bob McCarty Writes stringer captured exclusive video footage (above) as well as still images (below) showing Turkish citizens protesting outside the Turkish Embassy in Tel Aviv immediately following the incident.

UPDATE 12/28/10 at 9:02 a.m. Central: My stringer in Tel Aviv sent me photos (see one below) of a new protest that took place outside the Turkish Embassy yesterday.  According to the Jerusalem Post, some 800 employees of a Turkish construction company operating in Israel are upset with their government, fearful that a failure to renew a trade agreement between Israel and Turkey will cost them their jobs.

EDITOR’S NOTE: If you enjoy this blog and want to help keep stories like the one above coming, you can show your support by using the “Support Bob” tool at right. Thanks in advance for your support! Have a wonderful 2011!

Jerusalem Post Publishes ‘Must-Read’ Editorial

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Amidst serious post-election turmoil in Iran, President Barack Obama has been quoted during the last 24 hours as saying that the United States respects that country’s sovereignty.  It’s too bad he doesn’t care as much for the people of Israel.

Time for a new ally?

One person who has taken notice of President Obama’s apparent “cold shoulder” toward the Jewish State is Leon De Winter.  In an opinion piece published in the Jerusalem Post yesterday, the Dutch writer asks and answers a question about Israel’s relationship with the United States that should never have to be asked: Time for a new ally?

Published 10 days after President Obama delivered his historic speech to the Muslim world from Cairo, De Winter’s must-read piece begins this way:

US President Barack Obama’s Cairo speech was a historic event in many aspects. First of all it was remarkable that a Western leader felt legitimized to talk about Islamic truths, as if he were a Muslim theologian. Secondly, he approached the Israeli-Palestinian conflict even-handedly, as if the Jewish right to Israel and the Arab resistance to it have the same moral weight.

It ends this way:

Obama’s loyalties, and those of the majority of liberal American Jewry, don’t lie with Israel. So Israel needs to shop for another ally. In his offices in the Kremlin, Putin will receive its leaders with open arms, dark bread, marinated herring and some bottles of Stoli.

Stand with IsraelIn between, the piece is full of insightful commentary about President Obama deciding to “leave Israel in the cold, or better in the heat of a nuclear explosion,” about America now acting “as even-handedly to Israel as the European Union” and about liberal American Jewry arriving “at a historic point:  Just like Obama, it gave up on Israel.”

EDITOR’S NOTE: If you support Israel, read the rest of De Winter’s piece here, then share this post with others. Thanks in advance!

Morning Headlines: Stimulus, Mascots, Spy Gear

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Today’s headlines “weigh in” on the so-called “Economic Stimulus Package,” offer news about the unveiling a new professional sports team’s mascot and provide a glimpse of a piece of James Bond-style spy gadget that reminds me of a toy my boys played with when they were younger:

  • Dave Foulk reveals that he had ran the calculations necessary to answer the question, “How much does the stimulus weigh?”  It turns out that 787-billion one-dollar bills, combined, weigh 86,759 tons — the equivalent of an Iowa-class battleship!
  • NewsOK.com ran a story about last night’s unveiling of “Rumble the Bison” as the mascot for the National Basketball Association’s newest team, the Oklahoma City Thunder.  I’m not yet willing to say it was a bad choice; however, I think I have the right — as a native Oklahoman — to at least raise a question about the selection.  Take a look at the photo (right) and tell me whether or not you think he looks like: (A) A Wookiee with horns and a uniform; (B) The Sasquatch from Jack Links’ “Messin’ With Sasquatch” commercials with horns and a uniform; or (C) Former American Idol contestant Bo Bice with horns and a uniform.
  • Finally, a Jerusalem Post article reports that the Israeli Defense Force is employing several gadgets not unlike those that have appeared in films featuring the famous fictional British spy, James Bond.  One of the gadgets, known as the EyeDrive, reminds me of a toy my sons played with a few years back.  Take a look at the photos below and let me know if you see any resemblance (Note: The toy appears on the left.).

Only Hours After Election, America’s Test Begins

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For the most part, I find myself in agreement with the point made by Dale McFeatters in the lead paragraph of a just-published editorial for Scripps Howard News.  It reads as follows:

President-elect Barack Obama should take a moment to savor his triumph in what was truly a pivotal, history-making election. But only a moment. There’s work to do.

Why?  Because, only hours after a majority of Americans voted to elect Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) president of the United States, the test that Sen. Joe Biden (D-Del.) spoke of two weeks ago seems to have begun:

  • According to a report tonight in the Jerusalem Post, officials reported “massive” Kassam fire from Gaza early Wednesday morning, with three of the rockets landing in open areas in the western Negev, damaging several greenhouses; and
  • In another article, Israel National News reports Israeli fighter pilots and ground troops were busy in Gaza late Tuesday night for the first time since since the temporary truce with Hamas terrorists who control the region began on June 19.

How far the tensions will escalate remains to be seen.

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UPDATE 11/5/08:  Another ‘Test Administrator’ Enters the Classroom

Israeli Coverage of Obama Visit Speaks Volumes

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Israeli media coverage of Barack Obama‘s visit to Israel this week speaks volumes to anyone paying attention.

Consider, for instance, the layout of content on the Jerusalem Post web site this morning (below).

In the right column, the lead story headline, Obama: I’m here to reaffirm special US-Israel relationship, was followed by a teaser: US presidential contender praises Peres’s contribution to Israeli “miracle,” tells Abbas he will act as “constructive partner” for peace. In the left column, however, was a photo of Obama meeting with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas.

My take on the layout is that the folks at the Jerusalem Post wanted to balance the presumptive Democrat Party presidential nominee’s words as recorded in the article with his deeds as reflected in his seeming willingness to side with the Palestinians and the terror group Hamas. Wise move.

Yair Lapid executed another delicate balancing act via an opinion piece at YNET News, a screen shot of which is shown below.

Under the headline, Prepare for change, a subhead informed readers that Barack Obama won’t be lying to us, but he won’t be telling us the truth either. Repeated in the lead paragraph, that sentiment was followed by this astute observation:

He will not be lying when he says that he is concerned about us, that America is our best friend, and that he is committed to assisting us at peaceful times and in wartime as well. Yet he won’t be telling us the truth – the fact that he has other concerns, which are more urgent; he has friends that he cares about more, and other people that he needs to help in their daily struggles.

During an afternoon stop in Sderot, a community that has endured repeated Qassam rocket attacks, Obama said, “America must always stand up for Israel’s right to defend itself against those who threaten its people.”

While that statement sounds good, the words also resonate as the kind of statement a politician makes when he wants people to like him. Unfortunately, with Obama’s lack of experience in the foreign policy arena, the people of Sderot can expect many more rocket attacks in their future IF, that is, Obama wins the White House in November.

Experts Back Away from Jesus Tomb Film Claims

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I had to reach across the pond to find this item for Bob McCarty Writes. It has to do with a recent James Cameron documentary in which he claimed to have found the bones of Jesus Christ and members of His family. The headline used by the Jerusalem Post(see below) will give you a clue as to why this article by Etgar Lefkovits didn’t get nearly as much press in the USA as the film’s pre-release publicity tour:

Jesus tomb film scholars backtrack

According to the Post:

Several prominent scholars who were interviewed in a bitterly contested documentary that suggests that Jesus and his family members were buried in a nondescript ancient Jerusalem burial cave have now revised their conclusions, including the statistician who claimed that the odds were 600:1 in favor of the tomb being the family burial cave of Jesus of Nazareth, a new study on the fallout from the popular documentary shows.

It’s as true today as it was 2000-plus years ago: Jesus was crucified, His body placed in a tomb and, as He said He would, He rose from the dead after three days, leaving no bones behind. Best of all, He will return! Make sure you’re ready!