Once Respected French Monthly Descends to the Level of Propaganda Rag

Radio Paris ment, Radio Paris est allemand.
[Slogan of the Free French during WW2 -- Paris Radio lies,
Paris Radio is German--rhymes in French]

Anti-Zionism is the anti-imperialism of fools

Once upon a time when reason was more prevalent in the world than nowadays, Le Monde Diplomatique provided intelligent commentary and important facts about contemporary events, going into depth about various subjects. However, over the years Mondiplo --said to be linked to the French foreign ministry-- became more and more the captive and the vehicle of simplistic slogans about the "Third World", "palestine liberation" and such. Now it takes an outrageously simplistic anti-Israel stance, at the cost of making itself ridiculous. As the Free French and the French Resistance used to say during the German occupation of France, Paris Radio lies, Paris Radio is German [Radio Paris ment, Radio Paris est allemand -- rhyming in French] we may say today: Mondiplo Lies, Mondiplo resembles Nazi propaganda.

Is that unfair? Consider a headline in Le Monde Diplomatique [English ed. translated from the French--February 2007]: "Jerusalem's Apartheid Tramway." This headline is used although nothing in the article justifies it. Now, more than four years after the agitprop article appeared, the tram has begun service and Jews and Arabs are riding the tram in the same cars. And the tram stops in Arab neighborhoods, Beyt Hanina and Shu`afat [two stops] as well as near Damascus Gate where it can serve both Jews and Arabs. Indeed, Arabs ride the tram and wait at the stops in Arab neighborhoods. I rode the tram southbound yesterday and stood next to an Arab woman and her two daughters. They got on in Shu`afat neighborhood and were standing next to me. Interestingly, they were not wearing head coverings. The mother was relaxed but the older, teenaged daughter --dressed in tight pants and with painted fingernails-- was looking around in a very suspicious way, maybe to see if we had horns. Since the tram was air-conditioned, I didn't mind standing.

How do the mendacious journalists for LeMondeDiplomatique [English ed.] get to defining the tram as an "apartheid tramway"?? Their reasoning is strikingly flawed. They quote an Israeli official spokesman as saying that: "the tram must serve the Jewish quarters (Israel’s politically correct term for settlements) such as Pisgat Ze’ev, as well as Arab quarters like Shu’fat." They do not deny that Arabs would be allowed to ride the tram but speculate if Arabs will be able to afford to travel on it. Then they insinuate apartheid or what used to be called jimcrow in America: "How will the settlers react to seeing Arabs travelling on the tram? One person we spoke to wondered whether there should be separate carriages for Arabs and Israelis." This is all speculation at best, contradicting the pains taken by the Israeli spokesman to explain the intention to make the tram available to all. Yet the Mondiplo authors insinuate the possbility of apartheid. Nevertheless, despite having no real grounds to claim "apartheid" they still entitle the article: "Jerusalem's Apartheid Tramway." This brings LeMonde Diplo close to the level of pre-WW2 Nazi anti-Jewish propaganda. Maybe not quite there. But on the way.

So here was another lie about "apartheid" in Israel that turns out to be totally false. Further, some anti-Israel group in France sued French firms involved in the tram project. Supporters of the suit throw around slogans and pejoratives like: apartheid, illegal, "occupied" territory, international law, "judaizing" Jerusalem [which has had a Jewish majority since 1853 or earlier] and other usual epithets. Here is a video in French from France24 in which Arabs interviewed claim that it would be of no use to them, because --inter alia-- there would be no stops in Arab neighborhoods [ici&ici][I originally saw this story on France24 in English but cannot find the English], which is false, as we have seen.

Another lying slogan thrown around in the context of the tram claims that Jewish neighborhoods in "east Jerusalem" were built on "stolen land." The stolen land argument is also false since Jews began to purchase much real estate in and around Jerusalem in the late Ottoman period --from the 1860s to 1914-- when it became possible for Jews to purchase real estate. This "stolen land" claim is a big lie but a separate issue. Suffice it to say that Neveh Ya`aqov and much of Pisgat Ze'ev --served by the tram, among other areas -- were built on land belonging to the pre-1948 agricultural village of Neveh Ya`aqov [founded 1924].

Here's a pix of a flyer in Arabic distributed by the CitiPas [OR City Pass] company that operates the tram for the purpose of attracting Arab riders.

Note the diagram of the tram's route. The three tram stops encircled in blue ink on the diagram are in Arab neighborhoods [Beyt Hanina and Shu`afat (two stops in Shu`afat)].

Will Mondiplo admit its gross misuse of the apartheid label?

Spain drove the Jews out of Spain, now Spain's socialist govt wants to drive the people of Israel out of the Land of Israel

UPDATING 8-22-2011 at bottom

Anti-Zionism is the anti-imperialism of fools

More than 500 years ago, Spain didn't want the Jews in their country. Now it turns out that the Socialist govt of Spain doesn't want the Jews in their own country, in the Jews' country. That is, in Israel.

Guysen reports the statement of the Spanish foreign minister, one Trinidad Jiménez.

Ms Trinidad Jiménez, foreign minister of Spain,

expressed the wish that the meeting of European Union foreign affairs ministers, scheduled for next week, will move ahead the recognition of a Palestinian state. In an interview with the newspaper El Pais, she stated: "There is a feeling that now is the moment to do something, to give the Palestinians the hope that a state can become reality. We must give them a signal, for if we don't do so, that might generate great frustration among the Palestinians."

Espagne : il est temps de donner l'espoir d'un pays aux Palestiniens
La ministre espagnole des Affaires étrangères Trinidad Jimenez a fait le voeu que la réunion des ministres des Affaires étrangères de l'Union européenne, prévue la semaine prochaine fera progresser la reconnaissance d'un Etat palestinien. Dans une interview au journal El Païs, elle a affirmé : ''Il y a le sentiment que c'est le moment maintenant de faire quelque chose, de donner aux Palestiniens l'espoir qu'un Etat puisse devenir réalité. Nous devons leur donner un signal, car si nous ne le faisons pas, cela pourrait générer une grande frustration chez les Palestiniens''.
[Guysen News 8-21-2011]

So the EU and PLO/PA [here called "palestinians"] don't have to honor signed agreements with Israel. The EU doesn't have to respect its own "Quartet" guidelines for a settlement. The Jews don't deserve hope. The Jews don't deserve respect for their lives --note that this statement comes after murderous onslaughts by Arab/Muslim terrorists on Israel. International law regarding the conditions for determining that a state exists and that it deserves to be recognized as such are of no importance as the 21st century descendants of those who drove Jews out of Spain in 1492 repeat their ancestors' cruelty, this time not against Jews in Spain but against Jews in their own historic homeland. But the poor "palestinians", a people unknown to history, first appearing in the 1960s as a psychological warfare/cognitive warfare concept, have rights that the Jews, descended from ancient Israel, do not have. Maybe next week Madame Trinidad will tell us that the Jews ought to be punished for crucifying Jesus.
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8-21-2011 German Press Agency [Deutsche Presse Agentur - DPA] also reports on the Spanish FM's statement, although mistakenly identifying her as a male. A person of any gender that you can imagine can be deadly and dangerous in the office of foreign minister.
8-22-2011 UPDATING -- The Spanish ambassador to Israel was summoned to the Israeli foreign ministry today for an explanation of Madame Jiménez's simplistic concern over not causing "frustration" to those Arabs now fashionably identified as "palestinians." The ambassador is said to have explained that his minister was not understood [Israel Radio in French & in El Pais in Spanish].
The original interview in El Pais & a report in Spanish of the Spanish FM's silly or disingenuous remarks about "hope" for Arabs, not for Jews [aqui & in El Pais aqui]. This is a way for the Eurohypocrites to encourage the Arabs to make war on Israel and slaughter our civilians. The British are veteran practitioners of these warmongering tricks and it seems that Spanish diplomats have learned them too.

Israel complains to Spain over FM's comment on a Palestinian state [Israel Radio web site]

"The Foreign Ministry in Jerusalem has voiced its objection to comments made by Spain's foreign minister that Madrid has decided to recognize a Palestinian state in ...The Foreign Ministry in Jerusalem has voiced its objection to comments made by Spain's foreign minister that Madrid has decided to recognize a Palestinian state in order to allow the Palestinian people to realize their dream.
"The Spanish ambassador to Israel was summoned to the Foreign Ministry, where he was told by Deputy Director General for European Affairs, Naor Gilon, that the comments by the foreign minister were disappointing and surprising.
"The Spanish ambassador is said to have replied that the comments, in a Spanish newspaper interview, were not understood correctly, and that Spain has not yet decided how to vote when the United Naitons is expected to vote on a Palestinian state.
"The ambassador to Israel said that Spain would support such a resolution if it also stressed the need to return to the negotiating table and to ensure that Israel's security would be preserved in any agreement ."

Note Spain's disingenuous hypocrisy. Instead of telling the PLO/PA to negotiate for a state with Israel, it tells Israel and that the PLO/PA should negotiate after it is no longer necessary for them to negotiate in order to obtain a state. Recall that today's Socialist Spanish govt follows the same pro-Arab policy as Spain's fascist govt under Francisco Franco.

The Good Life in Gaza -- The Dolce Vita in the World's Largest Prison

UPDATED at bottom 8-21&23-&10-20-2011

What most of the MSM won't tell you. The rich in Gaza live the Dolce Vita. Here is a recent report from Il Sole-24 Ore, an Italian business/financial daily . Close observers of matters in and concerning Gaza have been aware for a few years now that those with money in Gaza have places to spend it, what with a new shopping center, gourmet restaurants, chic hotels, including the newly opened Al-Mashtal, as described by Francesca Marretta. Meanwhile, other reports have shown the abundant supply of food in Gaza for those who may not have the means to enjoy Roots, the local gourmet restaurant, or other bourgeois locations for mundane pleasures.

Here is Francesca Marretta's report in partial translation:

Five Menus, Fitness Room, and Pool for Men Only: Even in Gaza, It's la Dolce Vita on Ramadan Evenings
"With five menus . . . and as many dining halls, even the most refined palates find satisfaction. If the fish carpaccio as antipasto . . . is suited for those who want to keep their figures, those inclined to the sin of gluttony can choose Pizza Mamma Anna with shrimp, tomato, turkey salami and olives or the Don Nabil [= Arab name] with tomato, mozzarella, olives, anchovies, basilicum and olive oil. For eat and run, but still in slow food style, it is advisable to consult the sandwich menu, decidedly cheap when compared with the opulence of the place.
The air conditioning "a go go" is deceptive as is the marble flooring, the oak furniture, the multilevel pool faced by the terrace. It's hard to believe you're in Gaza, a place where 70% of the population officially lives below the poverty line [but poverty is much worse in Egypt--Eliyahu]. . . .
The structure was finished in 2006 when the management was in the hands of Movenpick which, however, left Gaza when Hamas took over in 2007. . . .

In these Ramadan evenings, the al-Mashtal's restaurants are thronged with customers who arrive at the chic night club to celebrate the iftar.. . . The hotel building is owned by the Palestinian Padico, a consortium also supported by capital from the Persian Gulf. Padico is headed by the Nablus magnate and suitable candidate for prime minister of the PA, Munib al-Masri.
. . . The Western customer not used to the usages and customs of Hamas' Gaza might be misled by the elegant long-stemmed goblets placed on the tables. It is useless to ask for the wine menu. No palestinian law blocks the consumption of alcohol. But the Islamist govt of Gaza does not allow it, not even for foreigners.

. . . Beyond the quiet guaranteed by the absence of hotel guests, a stay at the al-Mashtal, located at Soudania, presents several advantages compared with other chic hotels in Gaza, such as the Aldeira that faces the boardwalk [OR seaside promenade] at Rimal or the very new and elegant al-Matal, near the archeological museum. At equal prices, the five star managed by Spaniards [ArcMed Group], besides super-sized beds, has a fitness room with a tread mill, exercise bike, and weights. Schedule for men: 1100 h to 1300 h and 1700 to 2100. For women: 900 to 1100 and 1300 to 1700.

The sauna and Turkish bath are rigorously separate too.. . . In the summer heat, barely alleviated by a sea breeze, the hotel's strong point appears to be the multilevel pool, surrounded by palm trees, lounge chairs, and small tables. It is no use to ask for the schedule that assigns access for men and for women. Bathing and lounging in the sun are permitted only to gentlemen. Ladies may dip only if they are below the age of twelve.
---by Francesca Marretta, in Il Sole-24 Ore, 14 August 2011--

In another article, Francesca Marretta points out that

In Gaza, food is not lacking but liberty is. Not only because of the closure of borders imposed by Israel as well as by Egypt. The Palestinians of the Strip live under the magnifying glass of Hamas. In order to leave the Strip not only is a permit needed from Israel or from Egypt, but from the Islamic government too. . . . Food items of all kinds are coming into Gaza. [Il Sole-24 Ore, 14 August 2011]

A Gaza non manca il cibo, ma la libertà. Non solo per effetto della chiusura dei confini imposto da Israele, come dall'Egitto. I palestinesi della Striscia vivono sotto la lente d'ingrandimento di Hamas. Per lasciare la Striscia non serve solo il permesso israeliano o quello del Cairo, ma anche quello del governo islamico. . . . A Gaza entrano beni alimentari di ogni genere. [Il Sole-24 Ore, 14 Agosto 2011]

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8-21-2011 New York Times report confirms Francesca Marretta's picture of tight Hamas control over the lives of Gazans [here]
8-23-2011 Even the US-based Associated Press has noticed middle class prosperity in Gaza, in an article picked up by HaArets, believe it or not [here]. But workers in Gaza are often paid very low wages by their employers, fellow Muslim Arabs. "Many employed Gazans are paid miserly wages, keeping them struggling. They include the seamstress Nisrine, who is paid 5 dollars a day, money that her family keeps. Baker Sami Awad, 27, earns 9 dollars a day to support his five siblings and his sister's two children."
10-20-2011 The al-Mashtal Hotel had the dishonor of hosting terrorist mass murderers released in the trade for Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit, who was held by Hamas for more than five years under illegal and cruel conditions in violation of international law.
A pix of the pool at the al-Mashtal.
An AP article on the al-Mashtal avoids mentioning the many prosperous Arabs who do patronize the hotel, as Francesca Marretta described.
6-28-2017
Hunter Stuart, an originally pro-PLO, pro-Arab, anti-Israel reporter, who let reality change his mind about the Middle East situation. Stuart deserves credit since most journalists do not let reality change their minds [here]:

When I visited the Gaza Strip a few months later, I again saw the difference between how journalists portray a place and reality. Reading about Gaza in the news, you’d think the whole place was rubble, that it looks more or less like Homs or Aleppo. In fact Gaza is no different in appearance from anywhere else in the Arab World. During eight days in the Strip, I didn’t see a single war-damaged building until I specifically asked my fixer to show me one. In response, she drove me to Shujaya, a neighborhood of Gaza City that’s a known Hamas stronghold and is still visibly damaged from the 2014 war.

Was the destruction in Shujaya shocking? Yes. But it was very localized, and not at all indicative of the rest of Gaza. The rest of Gaza is not so different from many developing countries: people are poor but they manage to provide for themselves, and even to dress well and be happy most of the time. Actually, there are parts of the Strip that are quite nice. I went out to eat at restaurants where the tables are made from marble and the waiters wear vests and ties. I saw huge villas on the beach that wouldn’t be out of place in Malibu, and – right across the street from those villas – I visited a new, $4 million mosque.

Do Gazans endure some incredible hardships? You bet. Are most of them living in destroyed buildings, open to the elements, as news outlets often portray them? Absolutely not. I don’t begrudge them their marble tables or their beachside villas. Like anyone else, they want to be comfortable, to enjoy life. But I find it odd that once in awhile, foreign news organizations wouldn’t see fit to run an article about Gaza’s wealthy neighborhoods or million-dollar mosques.

Real Problems, False Answers from Demagogues & Subversives

REVISED 8-7-2011 LINK ADDED at bottom 8-8&14&15&25-2011

It has long been known that demagogues and those who would take over a state take advantage of real issues, real problems. So it was in Weimar Germany when the Nazis of the National Socialist German Workers Party took advantage of the world economic crisis at the end of the 1920s. The Nazis too blamed the tycoons of the time --often identified by them as "Jewish international bankers." Needless to say, the Nazis did not solve Germany's or the world's economic problem. Rather they brought about a war that led to the destruction of much of Germany and of many Germans, besides the tens of millions of Jews and other peoples slaughtered in the war.

The economic crisis reached America too where it became known as the Great Depression. Franklin Roosevelt came to power and improved the situation but the United States did not get out of the Depression until the war with massive, government-funded war production and massive recruitment of millions of young men into the armed forces.

Israel's housing crisis is real. The situation became noticeable and started to be talked about early this year. Israel's central bank governor, Stanley Fisher, recently said at a press conference that he had made a choice in his management of Israel's monetary situation. He said that he preferred to bring down unemployment rather than solve the housing problem, since helping one situation with the tools available to him meant hurting the other situation. Indeed, the latest unemployment stat for Israel was 5.7% which is an excellent rate compared to Western Europe and the United States. Nevertheless, housing was getting more expensive, whether for sale or for rent. Especially in the Tel Aviv metro area, called here Gush Dan. Also, food prices have been going up. This reminds us that after some 15 or 16 Euro countries joined the euro currency, the Eurozone, food and other consumer prices went up there and have not come down, although theoretically this should not have happned. People complain in Italy, France and Germany over these inexplicable price rises. In Israel, the food price rise led to the cottage cheese boycott of several weeks ago.

This seems to have given a number of oppositionist bodies funded and coordinated by the New Israel Fund [itself funded in turn by the Ford Foundation among other sources] the idea to use socio-economic issues, rather than their usual whining about the sad fate of Arab terrorists and genocide mongers, in order to bring down the govt. So an employee of an outfit funded by NIF, Dafne Leef, set up a tent in the middle of Rothschild Boulevard in a fairly fancy part of Tel Aviv.
She claimed that she could not rent an apartment at a decent price in the fancier parts of Tel Aviv. She is a poor little rich girl. But the gimmick worked and she has been joined by others throughout the country. Tents supplied courtesy of funds provided by NIF, the Qadima Party, the Hadash Party [Communists], etc.

But what are the causes of the shortage of affordable housing? First of all, the freeze in building in Judea-Samaria, which Prez Obama pressured PM Netanyahu into accepting. Insofar as the NIF supports Obama's anti-Israel, anti-Jewish policy, then the NIF and its constituent funded bodies, like Shatil, are morally complicit in the freeze and in the consequent shortage of affordable housing. Another cause is the increased immigration [`aliyah] of Jews from France and elsewhere in Europe. They are being substantially driven out by the increased Judeophobia there, the most violent and dangerous part of it coming from the large Muslim population in France [not to say that all French Muslims take part in anti-Jewish violence], encouraged by some of the "extreme Left" in France, such as Trotskyist Olivier Besancenot. The immigrants from France are often fairly prosperous and have bought up much of the expensive upscale housing, especially on Israel's coast.

Lastly, in a period when building in Judea-Samaria is next to impossible, bureaucratic Israeli structures of long standing, such as the Lands Administration [minhal m'qarq`in], do their bit, as they have been doing for years, to retard building in the country inside the Green Line, keeping the supply of housing and commercial real estate down, and all this by dragging out the process of approval for building plans for years, up to seven years according to Netanyahu. The Lands Administration is in itself an entrenched special interest and protects certain special interests, the owners of existing built real estate [besides the fact that the head of the Lands Administration is among the highest paid officials in Israel, making more in 2006 than the prime minister in 2010]. When demand for RE outpaces supply, the prices of existing RE go up. It's the old, simple law of supply and demand. Netanyahu has long wanted to remedy this situation, talking about it even in his first term. In July 2009, two years ago, he was trying to pass legislation to reform the Lands Administration but something always came up to derail the final change [Globes, 5-5-2011Hebrew]. So this is something that Netanyahu has been working on for years but could not succeed in pushing through fully and finally. Various entrenched interests were opposed. Almost two weeks ago, Netanyahu pulled out at a press conference a new version of his program to reform the Lands Administration. The self-appointed leaders of the housing protests rejected his plan, claiming that it would make people rich, especially the hated but unnamed "tycoons." Yet, insofar as the Lands Administration was keeping down the housing supply by delaying approval of building plans, then the "protest" leaders were opposing a measure to increase the supply --and a larger supply would of course bring down prices. Maintaining the present system in fact enriches real estate owners, owners of existing built up real estate, because it limits the supply of new housing. So somebody is getting rich either way. If there is more building the contractors and building materials suppliers can get rich. If the Lands Administration is not reformed and Netanyahu's other plans to build homes and rental apartments do not go through then the owners of existing RE get richer.
By opposing the prime minister's proposals the self-appointed protest leaders show that they do not want a solution to the housing problem and do not want to help people.

Of course, the fact that the hard core of the protest movement does not want solutions but is more focused on bringing down Netanyahu, has not escaped many observers in Israel. Dror Eyder, writing in Yisrael HaYom [ 7-29-2011], reports on a lecture by Stanley Greenberg, a public opinion pollster and manipulator for Bill Clinton. Greenberg lectured here in Israel at a meeting of the Rubinger Forum meant to discuss reviving the Israeli "Left," and how to persuade people that there was a "palestinian partner" for peace, that the "settlements" were a "disaster" [conveniently giving the unthinking "leftist" herds somebody to hate], and that it was necessary to go back to socialist economics. Greenberg lectured about 1/2 year ago. He gave his audience "ten steps" to defeat their adversaries in Israel.

Curiously, the audience was told to read an essay by the anti-Communist Czech intellectual, Vaclav Havel, "The Power of the Powerless." Ironically, the "Left" in Israel is far from powerless and has always dominated major state institutions since independence, even under Likud govts. They dominate the police, the judiciary, the prosecutor's office, public broadcasting, etc., although some of this is changing, albeit too slowly. They once dominated the economy, exercising enormous power of people who simply wanted a job. Those who did not hold the Histadrut's red membership booklet could not get jobs controlled by the Histadrut which was probably most jobs at one time. Or would have to join in order to get the job, which was my wife's experience. Nevertheless, this membership did not protect her job. She taught for one year at a school owned by the Histadrut, an `Amal school. At the end of one year she was laid off, although a good teacher. All the new teachers were laid off at the end of one year [if they stayed more than a year they would have seniority to keep the job], except for a favored one or two who had ingratiated themselves with the principal. So the "Left" is hardly the disadvantaged or weaker party in Israel. They use their institutional control to continue to shape policy against the wishes of the majority of the people. In short, enemies of Israel at home and abroad, including the NIF, have been thinking of strategies for bringing down the govt.

So the "mass protests" are backed up by a lot of money and powerful institutions and individuals. One of the "leftists" admitted the reality, with some amount of commendable embarassment and regret. Money from the EU and the NIF [much of it originating with the Ford Foundation] is financing the "protest" movement. It is likely that the movement will keep on "protesting" whether any problems get solved or not. The money is there. And when you are paid to organize a protest, you don't drop out until your employer changes his policy.

But Netanyahu, ironically, was able to use these protests as a lever for pushing through his own, long-desired reform of the Lands Administration. It is obvious that the housing problem has been on his mind for a long time, and up till now he could not get his program through because of the opposition of entrenched interests. Now apparently, with the unwitting and maybe unwilling help of the protest movement's self-appointed leadership, he has finally done it. This is like a jiu jitsu fighter using his enemy's strength against that enemy. If this works out, I say to him Kol haKavod, all honors to you. More power to him. Likewise, minister of interior, Eli Yishai, used the situation to approve 930 units of new housing to be built in the Har Homa neighborhood of southeast Jerusalem. Approval of these units had been held up for almost two years out of a desire not to upset Obama who is bothered by Jews having a place to live. Yishai also recently approved a project in northern Samaria in a place called Harish for 4,700 housing units. Another place where Obama doesn't want Jews to live.

For an understanding of some of Israel's basic problems, see an essay by Martin Sherman, a shrewd and knowledgeable social and political analyst. He had an excellent op ed in the JPost showing what some of the real problems are in Israel and some of their causes as well as some of the obstacles to solving them. I agree with just about everything in the article. I have often read Sherman's articles in the JPost and Nativ and elsewhere and had a long conversation with him while he worked as a high official in the Ministry of Agriculture. He is both knowledgeable and honest, as well as shrewd.

To conclude with the leadership of the "protest movment." They are great with slogans. Slogans, slogans, slogans. But they are noticeably weak on solutions. They rejected Netanyahu's proposed solutions to the housing shortage with specious arguments [see above]. But they have a slogan. A favorite slogan: Social Justice. What's wrong with this slogan? Because just about everybody agrees with it, just about everybody can claim to be for social justice. But it means different things to different people. Everybody has his own notion of what social justice is. The strict Muslim wants Muslim rule over the whole world and the non-Muslims as subjects of the Islamic state must be dhimmis, people tolerated in a state of inferiority, like Jews and Christians in the traditional Islamic state that the Muslim Brotherhood --"moderates" according to big shots in Washington-- wants to go back to. On the other hand, a Catholic priest, Father Charles Coughlin, published a weekly paper in the 1930s in America entitled Social Justice. He didn't much like Jews. But he too wanted social justice. He said so himself. But he wanted his version. Although he ranted every week on radio about "international bankers," at first more often insinuated to be Jews, later, usually asserted to be Jews, Coughlin had quiet meetings with at least one international banker who was not a Jew. And after supporting Roosevelt for election in 1933, he became openly pro-Nazi starting in 1936. So the slogan social justice [ צדק חברתי] can mean being pro-fascist. The protest organizers are cleverly using vague, empty slogans. But these do not provide a solution. They are more meant to bring people into the movement --and hopefully bring down the Netanyahu-Likud govt, from their standpoint-- than to provide real solutions to help real people.
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8-8-2011 Yoaz Hendel writes that the demonstrators on Rothchild Boulevard represent not the people of Israel but only one of several "tribes" that make up the people [here]. The protest movement, specifically "the rally last night, was created by the media of this same tribe." And, Hendel writes, the numbers were "tens of thousands," not the 300,000 claimed by various media. He too agrees that "social justice" is a matter of opinion and point of view.
8-14-2011 Sarah Honig in the JPost provides her definitions helpful for understanding the current protest movement. She takes up terms like: front organization, astroturf, useful idiot & others [here].
8-15-2011 Zalman Shoval points to the demagogic slogans like "social justice", used by organizers of the protests, as well as to the foreign funding enjoyed by some of them [here]. Shoval acknowledges the real problems that exist, as well as the Orwellian quality of the protest organizers' response to the prime minister's proposal to reform the Israel Lands Administration [or Authority].
Benny Avni belittles the notion that the tent protest movement will bring down the Netanyahu government [here]. I concur.
8-25-2011 Yaniv Moyal, a protest leader outside the circle of Daphni Leef and her charmed circle of professional/full time radicals, complains that most of the media give that group all of the attention although they are young people of little experience and arrogant, domineering disposition [here in JPost]