Sunday, July 20, 2014

Himmler, Hamas, Money, Anti-Semitism Outrage and History Linked Again!


So you think it is all about destroying Israel?  Yes, as long as it brings in money and dupes The West and American taxpayers.  (See 1 below.)

And then we have duplicity from our own Sec. of State! (See 1a below.)

And more to come in the coming months? (See 1b below.)
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Then a fresh breeze of reality and truth blows in from an important Lithuanian editor.  (See 2 below.)

And more from Honest Reporting (See 2a below.)
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Savannah Classical Academy, the local Charter school I am involved with, has its ribbon cutting.  (See 3 below.)
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Dick
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1)  Hamas Officials Get Rich in Gaza

Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh
Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh
Photo Credit: Wissam Nassar/FLASH90
The Gaza Strip may be renowned as one of the poorest strips of land on earth - the Strip’s per capita GDP of $3100 per annum puts Gaza in 171st place out of 226 countries, and unemployment hangs steadily around 40 percent - but the economic crunch hasn’t hit everybody in the region.

According to a report released Sunday on the Calcalist website, the Hamas government takes a standard 20 percent “tax” on goods that enter Gaza via the smuggling tunnels. Unfortunately, the government cut of the imports have failed to reach most Gazans, but a certain proportion of Gaza residents have capitalized on the opportunities over the past decade to have become multi-millionaires: The senior Hamas leadership.

According to the Calcalist, the big winner out of Hamas’ eight-year rule of Gaza is none other than Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh, a native opt the Sha’athi refugee camp and former right-hand man to Hamas founder Sheikh Ahmed Yassin.

But in contrast to most refugee families, in 2010 Haniyeh reportedly purchased a 2,500 square meter plot of land in Gaza City for $4 million. Calcalist reported that in order not to draw attention to the purchase, he registered the land in the name of his daughter, Nabil. Since then, he has continued purchasing real estate, under the names of his 13 children.

The paper also reported that there is no shortage of million-dollar villas for sale in Gaza, and no shortage of people to buy them, mostly Hamas officials. In the words of one Gaza real estate analyst, “two years ago, he (an individual with close ties to Hamas who forked up the money for a luxury villa) didn’t have enough money for a pack of cigarettes.”

Another popular “arrangement” was partnership between Hamas and Moslem Brotherhood in Egypt. Khiret a-Shater, an Egyptian businessman and senior Brotherhood official, was known to transfer millions of dollars in cash to the Hamas government, and to senior Izzadin el-Qasm officers. But some of the Hamas members preferred safer grounds for their “investments,” and so teamed with a-shater to purchase property in Egypt.

According to Dr Ahmed Karima, a senior lecturer at al-Azhar University in Cairo, Hamas has transformed from a resistance movement to a political party representing no less than 1,200 millionaires.

Other Hamas officials who have become rich since the group staged a violent coup in Gaza in 2006 include Politburo Chief Khaled Mashal, who enjoys a bank stash of $2.6 billion, much of which is stored in Qatari and Egyptian banks.

About the Author: Meir is a news writer for JewishPress.com - and he loves his job

Where does all that money Hamas has go? And what about the "humanitarian aid?" Does it go to the Gazan people? Not so much.
Free Gaza from Hamas.


1a)  Kerry Caught on Camera Criticizing Israeli Operation
By Greg Richter


Secretary of State John Kerry appeared on all five Sunday morning network news shows this week, and was caught between programs doing some behind-the-scenes work.

To make all five shows, at least some of the interviews were pre-taped with Kerry in the same studio. 

"Fox News Sunday" caught Kerry talking to a top aide by cellphone between interviews.


"It's a hell of a pinpoint operation. It's a hell of a pinpoint operation," Kerry said to the person on the phone.

"It's escalating significantly, and it just underscores the need for ceasefire," the person replied. 

"We've got to get over there," Kerry told the person on the phone, then handed the phone to someone and told that person, "Thank you, John. I think, John, we ought to go tonight. It's crazy to be sitting around."

"Fox News Sunday" host Chris Wallace played the video of the conversation to Kerry and asked him, "When you said it's a hell of a pinpoint operation, are you upset that the Israelis are going too far?"

Kerry responded, "It's very difficult in these situations," and repeated the United States' position that Israel has a right to defend itself against Hamas attacks. "I reacted, obviously, in a way that anybody does in respect to young children and civilians," he added.

State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki later issued a statement, telling The Washington Post, "Given the range of important global events we are not going to spend time litigating whether taping and playing Secretary Kerry's private conversation was consistent with acceptable protocol."

Still, Psaki said, Kerry's private comments were consistent with the public statements he made on all five shows.

"Israel has the right to defend itself including against recent tunnel attacks, but he has encouraged them to not only take steps to prevent civilian casualties, but to take steps to de-escalate and we're working together to achieve a ceasefire," Psaki said.


1b) Persian Nuclear Carpet Ride

The U.S. gets four more months to dress up concessions to Iran.


Negotiating with Tehran is often compared to haggling in a Mideast bazaar, and after Friday's decision to extend talks over the country's nuclear program we're reminded why. In exchange for essentially no concessions, the mullahs were given $2.8 billion in hard cash to keep talking for another four months.
As for Secretary of State John Kerry and his fellow Western negotiators, they seem to think they've made a down payment on the rarest carpet in Persia. You know the one: made of the finest silk, 150 years old, belonged to the Shah's brother, took a blind woman from Tabriz and her six daughters 12 years to weave, a discount just for you.
 
Such was the attitude of the senior Administration officials who briefed reporters Friday on the extension of talks. "We saw openings and progress and creative proposals that began to see a potential assurance that elements of the Iranian program could be assured as peaceful to our satisfaction," said one official. The goal for the extension is "to create the space" for a comprehensive deal.
The Administration says the sanctions relief it is offering Tehran remains minimal, and that there are complex formulas to keep Iran's production of nuclear fuel below thresholds where the mullahs could stage a "breakout" toward a bomb. Much of this relates to technical questions about uranium enrichment, oxidization, centrifuge types and other nuclear arcana that obscure the central issue: Will a final deal put a bomb out of Iran's reach, or will it give Iran the option to build one whenever it chooses?
One tell-tale sign from the briefing came in response to a question about Iran's development of ballistic missiles capable of carrying a nuclear warhead. "How we will resolve that issue, how appropriate it will be, I think remains to be seen," said one U.S. official, while acknowledging that the subject "is something we will have to address in some way."
Yet in May, Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei gave a speech calling for increased ballistic-missile production and dismissing as "stupid and idiotic" Western demands that they be curbed. Ballistic missiles are relatively ineffective as conventional weapons but essential to deliver a nuclear payload.
Then there are Iran's centrifuges, which can enrich uranium to civilian or bomb-grade levels. The West has repeatedly insisted that a nuclear deal would require Iran to slash its centrifuge numbers—some 19,000, more than half of which are currently operating—to a much lower number, perhaps 4,000 at most. Tehran has also developed a new generation of highly efficient centrifuges that can enrich uranium in ever-smaller "cascades" out of sight of U.N. inspectors.
Yet Iran has repeatedly made clear that it will not part with any of its centrifuges. "Not under any circumstances," Iranian President Hasan Rouhani told CNN's Fareed Zakaria in January, while Ayatollah Khamenei insisted this month that Iran needs to increase its capacity to 190,000. Even assuming a compromise in which Iran agrees to stick to its current numbers, that still gives it the ability to produce between two and three bombs' worth of uranium a year.
Western negotiators may think international inspectors would prevent this, but that assumes Iran departs from at least 20 years of practice and doesn't cheat on any deal it signs. The Administration has praised Iran for sticking punctiliously to the terms of the interim nuclear deal agreed last November. Yet a confidential U.N. report from earlier this year says Iran continues to breach U.N. sanctions by illicitly procuring parts it needs for ballistic missiles. So Iran is not cheating except when it is cheating.
Meantime, Iran is enjoying a modest economic recovery largely thanks to sanctions relief. A study by Roubini Global Economics and the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD) notes that Iran received $11 billion in direct sanctions relief in the first six months of the year, plus indirect benefits in market confidence and transaction costs. FDD also notes that "despite statements from President Obama and administration officials that existing sanctions would be 'vigorously' enforced, there has been a notable decrease in the number of designations" for sanctions violations in the last year.
Iran's bargaining position has in many respects become tougher since the interim nuclear deal was agreed to last November, perhaps because it senses the U.S. is desperate for a deal. The four-month extension is also telling: It kicks whatever deal emerges past the November elections but potentially in time for the lame-duck Democratic Senate to give its blessing.
The Administration was right in January when it said that six months was more than enough time to test Iran's sincerity. The main point of the extension seems to be to give the U.S. and Europe more time to dress up the concessions that Iran is demanding to continue its program while claiming it isn't
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2)
Israel is bombing Gaza? Support the Jews
By VAIDAS SALDŽIUNAS
The real question is simple: What negotiation can there be with such terrorists – and make no mistake: Hamas, that attacks Israel from Gaza with rockets, is a terrorist organization.

 
Perhaps you find the headline of this article shocking. Isn’t Israel once again bombarding Gaza from the air, and
preparing for a ground invasion? Tens opeople have already died, hundreds, maybe thousands more will die, women
 and children among them, and their bodies will be carried in the streets, accompanied by the shrieks of the angry crowd
(in front of the cameras, of course).

Surely, you might be saying, the why of it is not important? That rather, the important question here is simply should we
support the genocide of innocent Palestinians? If so – congratulations.

You have outgrown that anti-Semitic T-shirt, are no longer that ethnic cepelina swearing at a rabbi for the first time.

You’ve come a long way from that intoxicated Internet commentator holding his grudge tightly in his little fist. You are a
true European now, and have hidden your open hatred toward Jews behind subtle moralizations about the “two sides”
of the conflict.

You – yes, you – who read about Palestine in some leftist pamphlet, or perhaps has even visited the West Bank. No
matter. You have strong popular support now. You wear the mask of a concerned European and talk about what Israel
cannot do, how everything should be resolved at the negotiation table. Waving your keffiyeh bravely, you attempt to
extinguish thousands of years of conflict with little red leaflets and catchy slogans such as “Free Palestine!” Only that’s
not the way to extinguish fire. On the contrary – those leaflets and scarves are fuel on the fire that will turn all your efforts
into smoke and ashes.

Hard truth be told, negotiations change nothing in the Holy Land. They merely allows delegations from around the world
to go on another round of business trips and shake some hands in front of cameras, and that’s it. Right up until the next
Palestinian terrorist attack, another “unproportional” use of force by Israel.

The term I’ve heard people use is that Israel must, from time to time, “mow the lawn” in Gaza. Cynical as it may sound
– especially if that mowing coincides with elections in Israel – it works. Gaza gets bombed every several years or so,
and then it’s back to relative calm again.

But of course it’s difficult for us, Lithuanians (and many other Europeans, truth be told) to understand why is this the
case, why don’t we see any changes.

Why are they butchering each other? Why does Israel have to bomb and Palestinians – and suffer (though that’s not
exactly the picture one gets from Palestinian- sympathetic sources)? Why can’t there be peace? The observer of social
behavior in me cannot fail to notice that if there’s one thing that unites lefties and the neo-Nazi crowd, it’s hatred for Israel.
 But you know what else I notice? The anti-Semitism in you is getting stronger. It’s taking over.

Like the inevitable belch after a large meal comes from your mouth the avalanche of “them dirty stinky Jews, they’ve
occupied land of Palestine, they can never have enough, they need more blood of innocent people – they’ll bake matza
from it.”

Do many people still actually talk like this? Oh yes.

Thousands of years of complicated history mean nothing to you. You don’t like to hear about that. Just like you don’t like
to hear about the suffering of the Jewish people (“Enough! How much longer do we have to listen to this,” you moan, with
a pained expression on your face).

Or about the UN recognizing both Israel and an Arab state in Palestine; how the Arabs refused to recognize Israel,
attacked it, failed miserably in not one but several wars and hence lost the land fair and square.

And you don’t like to hear about Palestinians themselves – an invented nation who are simply Arabs.

No, you would rather listen to some cantankerous old fart, who is as clueless about geopolitics as he is about history,
but is ready to ramble on about how Lithuania should remember it’s history and recognize Palestinian independence.

“Free Palestine!” squeals the little gang of keffiyeh- and Palestinian flag-wearing young Che Guevaristas. They are first
to dare and compare the ravings about Palestinian independence with Lithuania’s fight for freedom in 1991. We are
lucky that our diplomats had the brains to ignore those voices when there was a voting regarding Palestinian
independence in the UN.

Loreta Asanaviciute(the young girl crushed by a Soviet tank while defending the Vilnius TV tower. She and 13 other
civilians were killed by the Soviets in January 1991) didn’t blow herself up on a bus – that’s what Palestinians did.

I don’t recall “Death to Russians!” in Sajudis rallies before that. Nor do I remember Lithuanians firing rockets at
Russian cities from kindergartens or the cellar of Vilnius Cathedral, either. But that’s what Hamas does – firing rockets
from holy places and civilian areas toward Israel.

Let me stress quite clearly here: Palestinian terrorists, not all Palestinians. And that’s not a formality.

Just like the term “poor Palestinian people.”

Well, I have been there in the West Bank myself and I have seen with my own eyes exactly what castles and satellite
dishes those “poor Palestinians” build in their “refugee camps.” So spare me your tears about their suffering.

But here comes some European in the ostrich pose, head deep in the sand, declaring: “Now, now, let us hear both
sides, since both sides are right in their own way.”

TO THIS I can only say: one should learn to distinguish between cases in which there’s truly evidence supporting the
“two sides” approach, and mere attempts by cowards and two-faced cronies to get their free corner to speak loudly.

I believe the time has come for Lithuania to be brave and dare to say – but without any babbling about how “we
denounce violence, but urge both sides to seek peaceful resolution at the negotiations table, no, I want our country to
 say it loudly and clearly – “We support Israel’s actions in Gaza. The only language terrorists understand is that of force.
We urge the EU to recognize this simple fact.”

This single statement would do us more good than all the rest combined.

And for once, with this bold step we’d be on the side of the righteous as well.

Not because we are stuck deep in the pockets of Jews or Americans – although that’s what some will surely accuse
us of.

No matter. Those “some” can’t live without Soviet prison terminology anyway.

No, we should express this kind of support because Israel is right to defend itself. Because Israel defends itself in
the right way. The alternative is the sand.

Stick your head in it if you wish.

Or, if you don’t like the ostrich analogy, here’s a simpler example: There you are, lying on a sandy Palanga beach,
eating your local pastry, and then suddenly – a siren! It announces a 15-second warning about the incoming rocket
barrage from neighboring Kaliningrad, where some people want to wipe you out of the face of the earth. And sure
enough, here come the Grads.

Maybe the local missile defense system will intercept them. Maybe not.

Frankly, you do not want to risk it, so you grab your whiny baby in one hand, your annoying, yappy little dog into another,
 jam your food into your mouth and run for cover, for the nearest shelter.

Or, imagine the same thing happening in Vilnius, when you are conveniently stuck in traffic jam – you hear the siren
and you run out of your car looking for cover.

Or maybe you’re in a shiny glass office building, making your way down to the parking garage along with the other
yuppies, all trying to update their Facebook status at the same time.

Sound unrealistic? Well of course it does. Lithuanians don’t get notifications about a daily dosage of rocket attacks,
and not only because the airraid sirens don’t actually work in Lithuania.

In Lithuania, an evacuation plan just isn’t something you have to know about. We who live in Europe don’t really think
about it.

But that’s what daily life in Israel is now. Just think about this for a minute and ask yourself a simple question: what
table would you like to sit at with those who would do this to you? I’m appealing to your emotions and reason here;
I’m not even going to talk about those conspiracy nuts who claim all of this is a Jewish plot, that the Jews themselves
are launching missiles at their own people. I pay no heed to those loonies – rank anti-Semitism isn’t the only thing
beyond the reach of medicine.

Again, the real question is simple: What negotiation can there be with such terrorists – and make no mistake: Hamas,
 that attacks Israel from Gaza with rockets, is a terrorist organization.

Even the EU agrees on that. The same EU that urges Israel to negotiate with them.

Hamas is launching rockets from kindergartens and mosques, using civilians as human shields and then shedding
crocodile tears for the dead children of Gaza. They know that no matter how precise the weapons of the IDF may be,
there simply is no way for Israel to avoid innocent lives being lost in a situation as complex as this.

And yet Hamas is losing. Even the former allies of Hamas – Egypt, Syria and Iran – do not sympathize with this terrorist
organization.

So please, take off your masks of concern, you two-faced liars. There’s plenty of horror staring you right in the face, the
horror of the dead children under the rubble somewhere in Gaza. Ask yourselves, why is this happening? Well of course,
some of you will say I am heartless. And you will most likely add that violence doesn’t stop violence, only breeds hatred
and a new generation of enemies with a grudge.

Nonsense, that’s what that is. I have a question for you: Do you have another suggestion for how to deal with terrorists in
short term? No, Jews, who have lived in Israel not for decades, but for thousands of years, and believe in their ownership
of this land, won’t give it up to the Arabs. They will build new settler homes, and will remain ready to live and coexist with
Arabs. But every time the Arabs attempt to kill Jews and throw them to the sea, blood will flow. Again and again. And
nothing will change there, really.

At least not until the people who call themselves Palestinians, their younger generation at least, love themselves and
their own children more than they hate the Jews. Then, maybe then there will be peace and that long since declared
two-state solution will look like something more than a pipe-dream. Until then, only war, rivers of blood and no saints
in sight – but there is a right side, and there’s nothing wrong with admitting it.

The author is the world news editor of Lietuvos Rytas, the most important Lithuanian daily newspaper.


2a)  Honest Reporting:

  • A correspondent from France 24 accuses Israel of “carpet bombing” a Palestinian neighborhood.
  • The Daily Mirror captions a photo: “Israelis eating popcorn and cheering as they watch the 
  • bombardment of Gaza residents.”
  • CNN runs a headline: “Palestinian children feeding ducks killed in Israeli airstrike.”
Extreme anti-Israel bias in the news shapes public opinion about the conflict and can ultimately limit 
Israel’s ability to protect its citizens.
It has also become a catalyst for vicious anti-Semitism.Are you surprised that violent mobs 
screaming “Death to the Jews” have been rioting in Paris and attacking Israel’s embassy in 
Istanbul? 
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3)

Classical Academy moves into new home at the old 

St. Pius X



Community members gathered at the old St. Pius X School on Saturday morning to celebrate the Classical Academy Charter School’s move into the recently renovated building.
Parents were there to support the new charter school, which they hope will provide better academic alternatives for their children.
The program will follow a classical liberal arts model with a strong civics component. Lessons will include Latin, and students will learn to read through the use of explicit phonics.
City officials gathered to encourage more new development and revitalization in the Anderson Street area and Waters Avenue Corridor, a historic neighborhood with stately but dilapidated homes and timeworn storefronts.
St. Pius X School Alumni came out to see how the campus and school history is being preserved.
And education officials came out to acknowledge the school’s efforts to raise outcomes and increase school choice for local public school families.
“We’re excited to bring this building back to life,” said School Director Benjamin Payne.
Last year, the new charter school was housed in the old Scott Learning Center building on Market Street while the St. Pius facility was being renovated. Reed Dulany, CEO of Dulany Industries, and Don Waters, a member of the State Board of Regents and CEO of Brassler Inc., formed a limited liability company, or LLC, which purchased and renovated the St. Pius campus. They will also be building an addition beside the gymnasium so the school can accommodate high school students by 2019. Classical Academy officials are leasing the property from the LLC.
Savannah Mayor Edna Jackson said the renovated facility will not only attract more development to the neighborhood, but it will also create additional opportunities for families seeking a quality, classical education for their children.
“This is a plus, plus, plus for the community,” Jackson said. “When you have this kind of school coming in with the entire community involved, it plays right into our vision for revitalizing this area.”
The Classical Academy Charter School follows the classical education model, offering a structured environment and teaching a rigorous common core curriculum with a strong foundation in the humanities, sciences and the arts.
It is a tuition-free, public charter that is open to all residents of Chatham County. It is funded primarily by the public education system but its charter allows school officials to operate autonomously under a board of parents and community members. One of the school’s major community partners is Hillsdale College, a small and ultra-conservative private school in Michigan. Because Hillsdale is a teaching college it works to solve major problems teachers face, according to College President Larry P. Arn. So they partner with eight charter schools across the nation to provide advice and assistance.
“We’ve learned that we can’t be successful with students who don’t have a lot of preparation,” Arn said. “College is hard work … We thought we could help.”
Classical Academy’s first year state test results were not strong. In fact, high percentages of students failed to meet the grade level standard in social studies, science and math in every grade level tested. Third-graders at Classical Academy had a 61.7 percent failure rate on the social studies portion of the state test, a 55.3 percent failure rate on the science portion, a 27.7 percent failure rate on the English portion and a 61.7 percent failure rate on the math portion of the test.
But Payne said they have hired a curriculum director to identify first year mistakes and make sure the curriculum is aligned with state expectations. He expects the second year outcomes to improve.
“We teach an old school curriculum here — reading, handwriting, academic basics every child should know and lessons based on our eight core virtues,” Payne said. “We don’t teach to the test but our kids and our teachers work hard every day. The kids are making tremendous progress and our scores will reflect that. We’re not worried about it.”
Roger Moss, who serves as chairman of the Classical Academy board, said the school is powerful because it has the hope and energy of so many community members behind it. He predicted continued growth and achievement for the school as they settle into their new home at St. Pius X.
“Savannah Classical Academy is living proof of what happens when the community joins forces to build not only a building, but a culture,” Moss said.
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