Google Earth and the Campaign to Wipe Israel Off the Virtual Map

From the Institute for Contemporary Affairs/Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs:

Virtual Israel, as represented by Google Earth, is littered with orange dots, many of which claim to represent "Palestinian localities evacuated and destroyed after the 1948 Arab-Israeli war."

Thus, Israel is depicted as a state born out of colonial conquest rather than the return of a people from exile.

Each dot links to the "Palestine Remembered" site, where further information advancing this narrative can be obtained.

Many of the claims staked out in Google Earth present misinformation, and sites known to be ruins in 1946 are claimed to be villages destroyed in 1948. Arab villages which still exist today are listed as sites of destruction.

The Google Earth initiative is not only creating a virtual Palestine, it is creating a falsification of history. The concept of "replacement geography" replaces the historical connection of one people to the land with a connection between another people and the land.

The inclusion of virtual Palestine, superimposed on Israel in the core layer of Google Earth, is an example of replacement geography advanced by technology.

Those wishing to explore Israel in Google Earth are immediately taken to a politically motivated narrative unrelated to their quest. Google should remove the narrative and treat Israel as it treats every other country on the globe.

The core layer of Google Earth should be ideology free and not serve as a platform for indoctrination or a campaign to wipe Israel off the virtual map.

French screen icon Bardot fined for anti-Muslim remarks

God Bless Brigitte Bardot for speaking the truth. If only Democrats had the same backbone as she does. From Breitbart:

Brigitte Bardot received a 15,000-euro (23,000 dollar) fine on Tuesday for inciting hatred against Muslims.

In December 2006, the film star-turned-animal rights activist wrote a letter to France's then interior minister, current President Nicolas Sarkozy, arguing that Muslims should stun animals before slaughtering them during the Aid al-Kabir holiday.

She outraged anti-racist groups by saying: "I've had enough of being led by the nose by this whole population which is destroying us, (and) destroying our country by imposing their ways."

Bardot, now 73 and suffering from arthritis, was absent from Tuesday's court hearing in Paris. She wrote to the court saying: "I'm sickened by how (these organisations) are harassing me."

She added: "I will not shut up until stunning is carried out" on animals before their ritual slaughter.

Bardot already has four convictions on similar charges. In 2004 she was fined 5,000 euros for inciting racial hatred in her book "Un Cri Dans le Silence" (A Cry in the Silence).

France is home to Europe's largest Muslim community, estimated at five million people.

You may purchase Un Cri Dans le Silence" (A Cry in the Silence) from Amazon, here.

Al-Dura Trial: Karsenty Wins in Paris

The truth emerges about Palestinianism, Palestiniasts, Pallywood and the al-Dura hoax. Via HonestReporting. com:

The iconic images of Mohammad al-Dura's alleged death in Gaza inflamed Palestinian sentiment and provoked terrible bloodshed. Despite the evidence that Israel was not responsible for firing the bullets that hit al-Dura, and doubts as to the credibility of the footage taken from the scene, this libel has continued to prevail.

HonestReporting has brought you the news directly from the trial of Philippe Karsenty, who accused France 2 and its reporter Charles Enderlin of knowingly broadcasting doctored footage of the al-Dura incident.

To recall, France 2 successfully sued Karsenty who then appealed against the verdict. At the appeal trial, some of the raw footage taken during that fateful day in Gaza was aired to a packed courtroom that witnessed numerous examples of "Pallywood" staging of events. France 2, however, only made available some 18 out of 27 minutes of footage that apparently exists.

Evidently, these scenes and the unreliability of France 2's cameraman Talal Abu Rahma has convinced the French appeals judge. Philippe Karsenty has won the appeal against his libel conviction.

Media commentator Tom Gross, who has previously reviewed (see our exclusive video) the al-Dura affair for HonestReporting, said in response to the verdict:

Today's ruling shows there are serious doubts about France 2's version of events, and that the entire world press - including the American TV networks - were irresponsible in being so quick to take at face value the claims of a local Palestinian cameraman working for France 2, a cameraman who has admitted his partisanship.

Karsenty said in a statement released after his victory:

The al-Dura lie is an assault on our ability to think, to criticize, to evaluate, and finally to reject information - especially the right to reject information on which we base our most cherished assumptions. One of Europe's most cherished assumptions is that Israel is a vicious Nazi-like entity that deliberately murders Palestinian Arab children. Moreover, polls conducted in Europe have identified Israel as the greatest threat to world peace, greater than Iran and North Korea, Pakistan and Syria. The al-Dura hoax is one of the pillars on which these assumptions rely.

Now it is time for France 2 to acknowledge that it created and is continuing to perpetuate the worst anti-Semitic libel of our era.

WHAT DOES IT MEAN?

At the time of writing, the full judgment had not been released to the media. However, Take A Pen's Endre Mozes was in the courtroom delivering firsthand accounts of proceedings to HonestReporting. Mozes spoke with some of the lawyers involved who had seen a copy of the judgment prior to its forthcoming release.
Amongst his observations and the comments from these lawyers was the court's acceptance of the argument that protagonists operating in non-democratic regimes such as the Palestinian areas are inherently less reliable and should be carefully scrutinized as should have been the case with Talal Abu Rahma.

Essentially, the court decided the level of doubt associated with the al-Dura footage warrants deep analysis. It is perfectly legitimate to question it, not libelous.

Philippe Karsenty's efforts have opened up France 2 to scrutiny and serves as an example of how the media should be held accountable for their material and the consequences of their reporting. France 2's al-Dura footage has been shown in court to be unreliable and possibly fake. Along with a number of investigations concluding that Israel was not responsible for the bullets that allegedly killed the boy, the icon that is al-Dura - the edifice upon which so much hostility has been directed at Israel, aided and abetted by a willing media - comes toppling down.

WHERE IS THE COVERAGE?

So far, despite access to Reuters and Associated Press wire reports, only Jewish and Israeli media have published the trial verdict. The mainstream media has regrettably remained silent. Is the same media that did so much to propagate the al-Dura libel without verifying the facts now too embarrassed to admit that they may have erred?

If your local media outlet has not covered this story, write to it and ask why not. While Philippe Karsenty has had his day in court, the State of Israel and all of those victims of the terror and violence fueled by images of al-Dura deserve nothing less.

Some of our own subscribers were not even in their teens in 2000 when the al-Dura case occurred and may not even remember it. Some of those who do remember have questioned why we should continue to pursue this case several years later.

We believe that, irrespective of how long it may take, the truth will emerge. Accountability and justice do not dissipate over time. HonestReporting will continue to hold the media to account and to revisit those cases where an injustice has been done.

COMING SOON - THE BIG LIES

HonestReporting will be bringing you the court's full judgment as part of a brand new interactive resource - The Big Lies. Using multimedia resources, including audio and video footage, al-Dura is but one of a number of case studies where untrue accusations have been reported as facts. This exciting resource will enable you to examine the lies, how the media presented them, and the real facts, as well as further resources to counter the next "Big Lie".

Slaughter of a Culture: Who's Next?

The following is a copy of an article, All European Life Died In Auschwitz, written by Spanish writer Sebastian Vilar Rodrigez and published in a Spanish newspaper on 21.11.2004.

I walked down the street in Barcelona , and suddenly discovered a terrible truth - Europe died in Auschwitz . We killed six million Jews and replaced them with 20 million Muslims. In Auschwitz we burned a culture, thought, creativity, talent. We destroyed the chosen people, truly chosen, because they produced great and wonderful people who changed the world.

The contribution of this people is felt in all areas of life: science, art, international trade, and above all, as the conscience of the world. These are the people we burned.

And under the pretense of tolerance, and because we wanted to prove to ourselves that we were cured of the disease of racism, we opened our gates to 20 million Muslims, who brought us stupidity and ignorance, religious extremism and lack of tolerance, crime and poverty, due to an unwillingness to work and support their families with pride.

They have blown up our trains and turned our beautiful Spanish cities into the third world, drowning in filth and crime. Shut up in the apartments they receive free from the government, they plan the murder and destruction of their naive hosts. And thus, in our misery, we have exchanged culture for fanatical hatred, creative skill for destructive skill, intelligence for backwardness and superstition.

We have exchanged the pursuit of peace of the Jews of Europe and their talent for hoping for a better future for their children, their determined clinging to life because life is holy, for those who pursue death, for people consumed by the desire for death for themselves and others, for our children and theirs.

What a terrible mistake was made by miserable Europe.

* This is a free translation of an article reportedly first published in a Spanish newspaper (original article in Spanish). The editor of this site could not confirm the name of the author. A variant of the name is Sebastian Villar Rodriguez. The author's name appears to be a pseudonym, apparently to avoid attack by Arabs.

Islamic Group Plans to Double Number of Mosques in Germany

Some in Germany are uncomfortable about more mosques being built

Germany's Muslim community is planning to more than double the number of mosques in the country over the next few years, according to figures released by an Islamic institute this week.

"We have recorded 184 projects to build new mosques, of which some are already under construction," Salim Abdullah, of the German Institute of Islamic Archives, told the AFP news agency this past week.

"We are talking here about buildings with a dome and a minaret, which are clearly recognizable from the outside, and not the 2,600 prayer areas housed in various buildings throughout the country," Abdullah added.

Of some 1,200 institutions used as mosques in Germany, only 159 are recognizable mosques, serving a community that numbers over 3 million. The remaining are so-called "backyard mosques," meaning they are in rooms in buildings that have other purposes or would not obviously appear to be mosques to unaware passers-by. In 2004, mosques with minarets numbered just 141.

The growth in the construction of mosques over the past two decades has made Germany one of the "best-equipped" countries in Europe for Islamic worship, Abdullah said.

German architect Paul Böhm with a model of the mosque he designed for Cologne

Plans to build one of the biggest mosques in Europe in the western German city of Cologne have been opposed by Christian leaders and far-right politicians.

The mosque is being planned by the Turkish-Islamic Union for Religious Affairs (DITIB), Germany's biggest Muslim group.

The Central Council of Ex-Muslims has also spoken out against the project. Speaking on German public radio, Mina Ahadi, chairwoman of the ex-Muslims group, argued that were already enough mosques in Germany.

"If more mosques are built, then women are put under increased pressure and even more children will be sent to school in headscarves, and become isolated," she said.

While the number of mosques is growing, the doors are slamming shut at Christian churches across the country.

In recent weeks, a church in the Neukölln neighborhood of Berlin was sold for 550,000 euros to the Muslim Association of Intercultural Centers, which plans to turn it into what it calls a "house of peace."

In future, the group says, the building will host prayer services, projects designed to promote integration, social advice services and career guidance.

Al-Qaeda Training European Recruits to Attack U.S.

From Al-Qaeda Training European Recruits to Attack U.S.:

Al-Qaeda continues to recruit Europeans for explosives training in Pakistan because Europeans can more easily enter the U.S. without a visa, Director of National Intelligence Mike McConnell said Tuesday. European al-Qaeda recruits in the border region of Pakistan are being trained to use commercially available substances to make explosives, and they may be able to carry out an attack on U.S. territory. "Purposely recruiting an operative from Europe gives them an extra edge into getting an operative, or two or three, into the country with the ability to carry out an attack that might be reminiscent of 9/11," he said.

The New Anti-Semitism

Via DailyAlert. From The New Anti-Semitism:

Hatred of Jews has reached new heights in Europe. Last year I chaired a blue-ribbon committee of British parliamentarians that examined the problem of anti-Semitism in Britain. None of us are Jewish or active in the unending debates on the Israeli-Palestinian question.

Our report showed a pattern of fear among a small number of British citizens - there are around 300,000 Jews in Britain - that is not acceptable in a modern democracy. Synagogues attacked. Jewish schoolboys jostled on public transportation. Rabbis punched and knifed. British Jews feeling compelled to raise millions to provide private security for their weddings and community events. On campuses, militant anti-Jewish students fueled by Islamist or far-left hate seeking to prevent Jewish students from expressing their opinions.

More worrisome was what we described as anti-Jewish discourse, a mood and tone whenever Jews are discussed, whether in the media, at universities, among the liberal media elite or at dinner parties of modish London. To express any support for Israel or any feeling for the right of a Jewish state to exist produces denunciation, even contempt.

To Britain's credit, the Blair administration produced a formal government response setting out tough new guidelines for the police to investigate anti-Semitic attacks and for universities to stop anti-Jewish ideology from taking root on campuses. Britain's Foreign Office has been told to protest to Arab states that allow anti-Jewish broadcasts. Tony Blair's successor, Gordon Brown, recently said in London that he stood with Israel "in bad times as well as good times," and one of the remarkable turnarounds of the new Labor leadership that governs Britain is a strong support for Israel and its commitment to combating anti-Semitism.

Today the old anti-Semitism and anti-Zionism have morphed into something more dangerous. Anti-Semitism today is officially sanctioned state ideology and is being turned into a mobilizing and organizing force to recruit thousands in a new crusade to eradicate Jewishness from the region whence it came and to weaken and undermine all the humanist values of rule of law, tolerance and respect for core rights such as free expression that Jews have fought for over time.

We are at the beginning of a long intellectual and ideological struggle. It is not about Jews or Israel. It is about everything democrats have long fought for: the truth without fear, no matter one's religion or political beliefs. The new anti-Semitism threatens all of humanity. The Jew-haters must not pass.

When the Lights Went Out in Gaza

h/t Daily Alert, from When the Lights Went Out in Gaza:

Last Friday, the lights went out in Gaza because the electric bill wasn't being paid. The European Union which, for humanitarian reasons, is financing the Palestinian enclave's power supply, suddenly refused to continue the subsidy because of allegations that Gaza's government - run by the Islamist party Hamas - was about to tax electricity to bolster its armed militants. On Wednesday, the lights were coming back on in Gaza after Ismael Haniyeh, Prime Minister of Gaza's government, assured the EU that electricity funds were being properly utilized.The Palestinians living in Gaza, however, were seething - not at Haniyeh and Hamas but at Abbas, who sat out this crisis in air-conditioned comfort in the West Bank. Gazans believe he is trying to force them to rebel against Hamas and that he is doing this by breaking their backs. Sources in Ramallah said Abbas' advisers provoked the power cut by falsely warning the Europeans that Hamas was pocketing the electricity bill payments.

British Civics Class Asks, What Would Muhammad Do?

On one hand, you have some possible progression in behavior change. From British Civics Class Asks, What Would Muhammad Do?:

There is something new in Britain's mosques: a government-financed effort to teach basic citizenship issues in a special curriculum, written by a Bradford teacher, Sajid Hussain, 34, who holds a degree from Oxford. It is intended to reach students who might be vulnerable to Islamic extremism. The British government hopes that such civics classes, which use the Koran to answer questions about daily life, will replace the sometimes hard-core religious lessons taught in many mosques across the land. An estimated 100,000 school-age Muslim children attend religious classes held at mosques in Britain daily. Muslim students "understand that it's wrong to go out and commit suicide bombings," Hussain said. "But some got really confused when you put jihad next to it. Jihad has got a sacred context, so things that were unacceptable became acceptable. We had to dig down to defuse the misconception."

On the other hand, you have ongoing cultish activity with Britain Remains a Major Source of Publishing and Distribution of Hamas Incitement.

Germans protest sale of food from West Bank settlements

This post was moved to SmoothStoneBlog

EU Urges Release of BBC Gaza Reporter

From EU Urges Release of BBC Gaza Reporter:

The European Parliament Thursday added its voice to international calls for the release of BBC reporter Alan Johnston, 44, who was kidnapped in Gaza on March 12. The parliament called for the PA to "redouble its efforts to secure Mr. Johnston's speedy release...and to ensure that all attacks against journalists and other civilians are investigated thoroughly and those responsible brought to justice."

EU Aid to Continue to Bypass Palestinian Government

From EU Aid to Continue to Bypass Palestinian Government:

EU aid will bypass the Hamas-led Palestinian government until it recognizes Israel, renounces violence, and abides by interim peace deals, EU aid commissioner Louis Michel said Thursday. "As long as these criteria are not fulfilled, there will not be a change in the system, the manner, [or] the process of aid support from the European Union," he said. Palestinians had hoped the formation of a unity government between Hamas and Fatah would prompt the EU and other major donors to lift a year-old economic embargo of the PA.

Media bias: Palestinian News agency funded by Netherlands & Denmark

Read with an open eye: The Ma'an News Agency, which is infrequently quoted on Smooth Stone, reveals who funds them:

"Ma'an News Agency initiative is funded by both the Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs, www.minbuza.nl/ and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Denmark, Danish International Development Assistance (DANIDA), www.um.dk/da"

http://www.maannews.net/en/index.php?opr=Content&Do=Aboutus

Sweden is drowning in Eurabia's sewers

Sweden's state alcohol retail monopoly Systembolaget has recently decided to label wines produced in Israel's Golan Heights as made in "occupied Syrian territory" instead of as coming from Israel.