Shamrak's Insights

The Pope's Visit - Persistence of Bigotry

Although the pontiff has denounced anti-Semitism and said the Holocaust should never be forgotten, he failed to ask forgiveness for the Holocaust at the Yad Vashem memorial to the victims of the Nazi genocide. Parliamentary Speaker Reuven Rivlen was equally critical, saying he did not attend the Yad Vashem ceremony "just to hear historic descriptions or the fact that the Holocaust took place. I came as a Jew wishing to hear a request for forgiveness from those who caused our tragedy, and these include the Germans and the Church, but regretfully, I heard nothing of this." "All you had to do was to express regret. That's all we wanted to hear," wrote a columnist Hanoch Daum.

It was expected that the first visit by Pope Benedict would ease Jewish anger over Pope's decision in January to overturn the excommunication of a Holocaust-denying bishop. Jewish leaders are upset at the speech's failure to mention the toll of Jews in the Holocaust. The Pope referred to "millions" rather than six million and used the word "killed" rather than murdered. A Yad Vashem official, Avner Shalev, said "this is certainly no historical landmark".

Israeli historian Tom Segev wrote: "There is nothing easier than expressing real horror when talking about the Holocaust than identifying with its suffering, pain and grief. If that is not done, it is a sign there was a deliberate decision not to do so." (But from the moment Pope Benedict stepped onto Jewish soil his message was quite deliberate and disrespectful toward Israel, calling for the creation of a new state on Jewish land for the fake nation: "both peoples may live in peace in a homeland of their own". Later, he failed to condemn or confess the criminal silence and complicity of the Church and Christians in Holocaust!)

Enemies Must Leave Israel. 69% Arab citizens of Israel reject the country's right to exist as a Jewish state and nearly half reject Israel's right to any independence whatsoever. As many as 40.5 percent of Israeli Arab believe that the Holocaust never happened.

Coverage from Iran. Pope Benedict, who went to the West Bank on Wednesday, said a mini Palestinian state could be set up on a small part of the Zionist-usurped land of Palestine. He also issued a vague call for an end to Israel's embargo on the Gaza Strip. In Bethlehem, the leader of the catholic sect of Christianity met the self-styled President of the so-called Self-Rule Authority , Mahmoud Abbas. The Pope did not bother to meet any representatives of the popularly elected Hamas-run government. (and some people criticize me for being 'tough' with words :)

Obama-Netanyahu Meeting. Netanyahu said: "We don't want to govern the Palestinians. We want them to govern themselves". Obama called for a "two-state solution" - I also support the two-state solution, but not on Jewish land, it is called: Sinai Option: Road to Permanent Peace!

Quote of the Week: "There is a belief in some quarters that if only you can resolve the problems between Israel and Palestine, all the other problems in the Middle East, in a domino-like fashion, will fall into place. That is absolute nonsense." - Liam Fox, Member of UK Parliament, Shadow Secretary of State for Defence - Surprisingly, someone is honest in the British political establishment!

International Bigots are Pressuring Israel. Upgrading Israel's relations with the European Union is dependent upon the peace process with the Palestinian Authority and implementing the two-state solution, said EU envoy to Israel Ramiro Cibrian-Uzal. U.S. Vice-President Joe Biden said that Israel should back a two-state peace agreement and stop constructing new settlements in Yehuda and Samaria.

Syria is in a 'Peace' Game. 1) Syria has continued to transfer advanced weaponry to the Hizbullah terrorist group, even while working with the United States to improve relations. Syria seeks to raise Hizbullah's strength and capabilities to a level beyond what it had prior to the Second Lebanon War in July 2006. Such capabilities would enable Hizbullah to force a second front on Israel in case of a regional conflagration. 2) Israel must commit to returning the Golan Heights before Syria is willing to resume indirect peace negotiations brokered by Turkey, Syria's new ambassador to Turkey Nadil Kabalan announced. (Israel's response must be "Syria must end sponsoring terrorism and recognise the Jewish State, Eretz-Israel, in its entirety then we talk.") 3) Syrian President Bashar Assad believes that the peace of the Golan Heights is a condition for peace talks between his country and Israel, but at the same time does not foresee such negotiations happening in the near future. (Good! Let's postpone talks with Syria until "pigs fly".)

Concern? - 4 Months too Late. Last week President Barack Obama urged both sides in Sri Lanka's 25-year civil war to take measures to avert a humanitarian crisis and aid tens of thousands of people trapped in the war zone. The U.N. Security Council held its first formal session on Sri Lanka and voiced grave concern over civilian deaths in the conflict. (No 'urgency', resolutions or strong condemnation. After all, there are no Jews involved!)

There Are no Arab "Moderates." The universal goal of the Arab world is the destruction of America, Israel and Western civilization. The clever Arabs who pretend to be "moderate" when speaking to naive Christians and Jews are far more dangerous than the less clever Arabs who honestly and openly proclaim their Nazi genocidal goals. During Sadat's historic visit to Jerusalem on November 19, 1977 wearing contemptuous tie with swastikas patterned as a sign of disrespect to Jewish state and the Camp David agreement.

Another Symptomatic 'Technical Error'. British airline BMI did not identify Israel on in-flight maps on its London-Tel Aviv service. The moving maps marked Islamic holy sites but showed only the city of Haifa in Israel, identified by its Arabic name, Khefa. Israeli transport ministry Director General Gideon Sitterman, said it was "unacceptable" that Israel had been "wiped off the map".

Quote of the Week: "We are being criticized by a new flow of left-wingers (and by international anti-Semitic bigotry). Those people, instead of building Israel as a sovereign state, want to give up our interests and national assets for totally foreign ideas." - Foreign Minister of Israel Avidgor Lieberman.

Solar Farm in Israel. Israeli scientists have discovered a way to harvest 50 percent of the sun's radiation, compared with the standard 10 percent. The technology has been put into use in the creation of the world's first commercial thermal-electric solar farm.

World Leaders Must Drop Slogans. Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman kicked off a four-nation European tour by saying, "This government does not intend to produce slogans and pompous declarations but concrete results." the "main problem" in the Middle East is "Iran, which is going nuclear and is a destabilizing factor for the region and the entire world." The 'Palestinian' issue is "deadlocked" despite the best efforts of a series of dovish Israeli governments. "Israel has proved its good intentions, our desire for peace."

Iran Must be Stopped. The world's intelligence agencies and defence experts are quietly acknowledging that North Korea has become a full nuclear power, with the capacity to wipe out entire cities in Japan and South Korea. North Korea has miniaturised nuclear warheads to the extent they can be launched on medium-range missiles. "North Korea has nuclear weapons, which is a matter of fact," IAEA head Mohamed ElBaradei said. ( This international failure is a direct result of ineffective negotiations, unenforceable economic sanctions and empty threats which are now being used against Iran with the same results!)

Do it, but not in Israel. Deputy (MK) Alex Miller from the Israel Beitenou Party, for people of Soviet Union origin, has submitted a draft law that would outlaw the celebration of the Naqba by Israeli Arabs. It would be punishable by up to three years in jail. "Those who want to support our enemies will do so from Gaza" (Compulsory deportation with the loss of Israeli citizenship would be a better punishment.)

Anti-Semitism: Religion of Power and Greed!

by Steven Shamrak

Contrary to common belief, the foundation of anti-Semitism was laid not by Christianity but during the Roman empire. Prevailing discrimination against Jews started during the Roman empire because Judea and Samaria were its most rebellious provinces and considered Jews atheists as they believed in one god only.

Those who have read the New Testament closely and studied the political and religious situation in the Roman-occupied Jewish provinces of Judea and Samaria know that area was inflamed by rebellion against occupation. Religiously and politically motivated rebels, the Zealots, were the leading force of the Jewish resistance. Studying the actions of Jesus described in the Christian Bible, rather than the politically motivated commentaries of the writers, it would be easy to come to the conclusion that the Jesus' group was, most likely, part of the resistance!

...Even 60 years after Israel's declaration of independence, this plague of anti-Semitism is still prevailing and spreading. It has moved to the Muslim world and Africa. Almost 60% of all resolutions of the United Nations adopted since 1948 are against Israel. No other country is disallowed to defend itself and stop the suffering of its own people from enemy terror like Israel.

The Jewish principles of "Love", "Forgiveness" or "Repentance" of sins, which were adopted by Christianity, have never been applied by mainstream Christianity toward Jews! But greed for the wealth of others and thirst for power, in order to control and keep the general population in fear, were always the driving factors behind anti-Semitism! Even now the words of the Nazi propaganda minister, Joseph Goebbels, are still applicable to the international anti-Israel hypocrisy: "The lie can be maintained only for such time as the State can shield the people from the political, economic and/or military consequences of the lie."