NOVANEWS
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Who’s creating instability in Southern Lebanon, and why?
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‘WaPo’ says Block could be casualty of ‘anti-Semites’ accusation
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Can I dare?
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Israeli army excuses on death of Mustafa Tamimi don’t hold up
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Lowe’s faces boycott after pulling ads from ‘TLC’ show on Muslims
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Let’s say you got to ask Israel’s president 8 questions– what would they be?
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‘Hadeel is gone, and her brother Ahmed lost his sight’ –Rafeef Ziadiah
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‘Ha’aretz’: Hundreds of pro-Palestinian activists storm ‘Jewish supermarket’!
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Obama ad attacks Romney, Gingrich and Perry for wanting to cut aid to Israel
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Gingrich has opened an important door
Who’s creating instability in Southern Lebanon, and why?
Dec 12, 2011
Annie Robbins
United Nations and emergency personnel gather at the site of a
roadside bomb attack on a U.N. peacekeepers’ vehicle in
Lebanon last Friday (Photo: AP/Mohammed Zaatari)
A suspicious incident happened near the border of Lebanon and Israel late last night, possibly connected to a recent bombing in Lebanon. Let’s look at the report and circumstances surrounding the incident and see if they shed light on what’s going on in the region.
It seems that a Katyusha rocket was launched from Wadi al-Qaissiya in Lebanon and crashed thru the roof of a house in Houla, also in Lebanon, wounding Naseera Ali Abbasher seriously as she lay in bed next to her child, who was not wounded.
This news is sweeping the MSM framed as“Rocket Fired From Lebanon at Israel Falls Short” . “Officials” (anonymous) inform us it was headed towards Israel. Afterwards, Israeli warplanes were seeing flying over southern and eastern Lebanon and “hovering in circles over the capital”according to Beirut’s Daily Star. No one has taken any responsibility for the attack but Hezbollah will issue a statement once the probe has been completed. The military is also conducting an investigation.
By this morning MSNBC, WAPO, Time, ABC, CNN and countless other news sources from little local papers in Nevada to the Taiwan News were reporting this story. So what’s this all about, and what’s so special about this attack to warrant this kind of attention? According to UNIFIL Force Commander Maj. Gen. Alberto Asarta, it is the third serious incident involving security breaches south of the Litani River in a period of two weeks.
WAPO:
It follows rising concerns that conflict in next-door Syria may spill into its neighbor, where Lebanese are deeply divided between supporters and opponents of the Syrian regime. Lebanese see regional powers including Syria as having sponsored violence in their country in the past, to send messages to each other or to settle accounts.
The Lebanese are divided between supporters of al-Assad so they initiate an attack against Israel? Something’s not quite adding up for me on this narrative. Syria’s been accused of sponsoring terror in Lebanon before– when other regional powers were likely behind the destabilization.
Let’s back up a few days and look at what happened in southern Lebanon before this rocket attack on Naseera Ali Abbas’s home last night.
The above photo is of the roadside bomb attack on U.N. peacekeepers in Lebanon last Friday. It wasn’t big news here, although it was the third bombing this year targeting UNIFIL and it wounded five French soldiers and one Lebanese bystander. This attack was referenced in today’s AP article–sans mentioning Hezbollah condemned Friday’s bombing as well as that it put out a statement stressing ‘that such acts of violence “target Lebanon’s security and the stability of its south in particular.”‘
Reuter’s reports today:
France says it believes Syria was behind an attack on U.N. peacekeepers in south Lebanon. While Paris has no proof, Damascus has plenty of armed supporters who might try to destabilize Lebanon to divert attention from its own turmoil.
Syria and Hezbollah both denied the charge on Monday, but Syria’s Lebanese opponents have accused Damascus of trying to stir up trouble through proxies who also include Palestinian groups in refugee camps and pro-Syrian political groups.
Analysts said the French accusation was part of an escalating showdown between Western powers demanding President Bashar al-Assad halt the violence in his country, and Syria and its allies, including Iran and Hezbollah.
Syria’s Lebanese opponents, hmm. That sounds awfully familiar. I can think of a few more of Syria’s opponents who might be interested in stirring up crap in Lebanon, weakening Hezzbollah and blaming Syria. I wonder how our intel is fairing now that the Lebanese government (which now includes Hezbollah in case anyone forgot) has routed so many of Israel’s spies out of Lebanon? Tsk Tsk.
This afternoon the Daily Star writes about some disinformation in the local press:
The Lebanese Army Monday denied reports that soldiers clashed with Israeli troops along the Lebanon-Israel border.
“We categorically deny these allegations,” a senior army source told The Daily Star.
He was commenting on some local media reports that said clashes took place Monday between the Lebanese and Israeli armies in the border town of Taibeh in the Marjayoun region.
UNIFIL Force Commander Maj. Gen. Alberto Asarta:
“These instances show that despite all our efforts there continue to be weapons and hostile armed elements ready to use them within our area of operations…”
“There is clearly a need for further enhancing security control in the area. Recent efforts by certain elements have been directed at destabilizing the area and we simply cannot allow such acts of violence that endanger the safety of the local population and the security of southern Lebanon.”
So… Is Lebanon next? Are these the new Lebanese ‘birthpangs’ ? Are we beginning to see a serious attempt to knock out Lebanon, get a civil war going with a little help from their ‘friends’? Or was the bombing of the French UNIFIL soldiers related to that missing Israeli drone French United Nations peacekeepers picked up on their radar screen last month before it vanished.
The timing is auspicious. Probably just a coincidence. However, the AP report that flooded the msm this morning, mentioned it was not clear if Israel’s flyovers were related to the rocket attack on Naseera Ali Abbas’s home. So maybe they weren’t, maybe the Israelis were just out looking for their missing drone.
A lot can change in a week can’t it?
Naseera Ali Abbas, 55, who was wounded when a rocket penetrated the ceiling of her house and landed in her bedroom, lies in hospital in the southern village of Mays al-Jabal, Lebanon, Monday, Dec. 12, 2011. (Mohammed Zaatari/The Daily Star)
‘WaPo’ says Block could be casualty of ‘anti-Semites’ accusation
Dec 12, 2011
Philip Weiss
Josh Block
The Washington Post is reporting that two “top” thinktanks in Washington (whatever top means!) may cut ties with former AIPAC spokesperson Josh Block following Justin Elliott’s storyshowing that Block had tried to bring down critics of Israel at the Center for American Progress by calling them anti-Semites in an email circulated privately to rightwing journalists.
The Shakespeare phrase, “hoist on his own petard,” has never had such a perfect application….
This is a big story with big ramifications about what can and can’t be talked about in Washington. Two interpretations from smart friends in the news biz:
If, in fact, the Truman National Security Project (with a heavyweight foreign policy board/advisory council) and Progressive Policy Institute get rid of Josh Block, or even require him to provide a true public apology for anti-semitic smear tactics, it could (will?) signal a significant change in the debate over Israel: And it is this: Unsubstantiated charges and innuendos of anti-semitism in discussions about Israel for the purpose of shutting down debate, smearing opposing views, etc. are no longer tolerated, and a price will be exacted. This could be the flare in the night sky that gets everyone’s attention.
Hopefully this will be begin to reverse a trend of many decades when unproven accusations and innuendos of anti-semitism against journalists, politicians and academics resulted in loss of jobs, damaged reputations and shunning by friends.
Andrew Sullivan also wrote about Josh Block on his blog today. Blacklisting Netanyahu’s critics. Sullivan has come a long, long way from his days as a Marty Peretz admirer.
A second smart friend:
This whole incident, along with the WSJ op-ed attempting to parlay the Center for American Progress’s hospitality to criticism of Israel into donations from the few wealthy Jews who care enough about Israel, lay bare that (now) four tropes about the lobby, which we’ve been told never to discuss, are actually true:
– The lobby smears critics as anti-Semites to silence them. (via Josh Block in Ben Smith’s pages [story that led to the Justin Elliott revelation])
– The lobby is a loosely affiliated network that can coordinate and organize (via Josh Block’s email disclosed in Elliott’s piece)
– The lobby wants war with Iran (via Josh Block in re: the criticism that Center for American Progress is too easy on Iran; when even the Washington Post ombudsman says the solid evidence does not prove Iran has a nuke weapons program — Anti-Semites?)
– The lobby uses its political weight, not from the masses of American Jews, who are liberal, and care about many issues, including, yes, Israel, but through a small class of the wealthiest donors (via WSJ’s play)
Can I dare?
Dec 12, 2011
Eyad Sarraj
The wreckage of a car targeted in an Israeli airstrike in Gaza City, Thursday, Dec. 8, 2011
(Photo: AP)
December 9, 2011
Yesterday, my six year old son Ali went to his swimming hour after school in Wafa hospital for the elderly in the eastern part of the town. It contains the only heated and covered swimming pool in Gaza.
Ali must swim as often as possible by doctors orders because of what is called ‘Perth’s disease ‘ which affects his pelvis joints. So he goes to the pool every day. His doctors are confident that as long as he gets his exercise there will be a spontaneous recovery and no further specific treatment is needed. I was told that Messi, the famous football player, also had this ailment.
Suddenly we heard an explosion from afar. I was getting a little worried. Ali must have arrived to the pool, I told myself. Then Hammam, my assistant, rushed in and announced that two people were killed by an Israeli missile. He said that the attack was in the middle of ‘Omar Mokhtar,’ the main street of Gaza.
I was very worried and started to call everywhere. Ali and his coach were in the water and there was no answer. I learned the names of the people who were killed – Israel later claimed they were ‘thinking’ of attacking Israel!
It was lucky that there were no other victims in the usually busy street. Sometimes Israeli missiles are not always precisely guided. Time and time again they deliberately or mistakenly err, such as when they destroyed seventeen houses surrounding the house of the presumed target, Khalil Shihada. During the last war on Gaza there were reports that the Israeli military actually targeted civilians. And they even killed each other with friendly fire!
As if to make the point, Israeli drones or F16s launched another missile attack early this morning killing one man and injuring some seven children. While I am writing this, I heard some explosions.
Where is Israel heading? What is it trying to achieve? Is it provoking retaliation by some Palestinian fighters in order to justify a new war on Gaza? Is it trying to sabotage the reconciliation efforts of the Egyptian government that is pushing Hamas and Fatah to negotiate? Is intending to occupy the Philadelphia road running along the border that divides the Gaza Strip from Egypt in order to turn the Gaza Strip into a prison cut off from the world? Does it bomb Gaza in order to prepare for an onslaught on Iran?
And can I dare to send Ali to swim tomorrow?
Israeli army excuses on death of Mustafa Tamimi don’t hold up
Dec 12, 2011
Alex Kane
Mustafa Tamimi, a 28-year-old Palestinian from the village of Nabi Saleh, moments before he was shot by the Israeli army and killed. “Circled in red are the barrel of the gun and the projectile that hit him,” according to the Popular Struggle Coordination Committee (Photo: Haim Scwarczenberg)
The Israel Defense Forces’ spin doctors are at it again.
Haaretz reports on the Israeli military claiming that the killing of Mustafa Tamimi was an “exceptional” incident and that the soldier who fired the tear-gas canister at him “didn’t see” Tamimi “because his visual field was obscured by the gas mask he was wearing.”
Let’s take apart these claims.
The killing of Tamimi was not “exceptional”–at least not in the way that the IDF wants you to believe. What was “exceptional” about the killing was that the entire incident was caught on camera and shown to the world, and that there is little dispute about the facts (unlike in the case of Jawaher Abu Rahmah). The fact that Mustafa Tamimi is dead, though, is not “exceptional.” +972 Magazine‘s Noam Sheizaf has more on why:
Israel Defense Forces officials have told Haaretz that Tamimi’s death was “an exceptional incident.” Still, as we have reported here in the past, firing tear gas canisters at protestersfrom close range (in violation of army orders) is a common practice in the West Bank. A couple of years ago, Palestinian protester Bassam Abu-Rahmeh of Bil’in died after getting hit in the chest by a tear gas canister [video]. A year later, his sister, Jawahar, collapsed from the effect of a tear gas and later died in a Ramallah hospital.
I have seen tear gas canisters shot directly at protesters (including myself) in several demonstrations in Bil’in, in Hebron and in Nabi Saleh.
When you viciously fire tear-gas canisters like the IDF does, someone is bound to die. The IDF is lying when it implies that incidents like these don’t happen often.
There are also glaring problems with the second claim that the Israeli soldier “didn’t see” Tamimi because he was wearing a gas mask. Anne Paq, a French photographer based in Palestine, tweeted, “I am wearing gas mask all time to take pics. I can tell u, u can see if somebody is 5 meters in front of you! more lies from IOF.”
And even if the IDF’s claim were true, Haaretz notes:
The IDF’s rules of engagement prohibit the firing of tear gas grenades from a rifle pointed directly at demonstrators or from a distance of less than 40 meters away. They also stipulate that the shooter must use the rifle sight and verify that no one is in the line of fire. Central Command and the Military Police are conducting separate investigations into the incident.
The Israeli human rights group B’Tselem has more on the military violating its own rules of engagement:
For several years now, B’Tselem has been warning officials that security forces’ fire tear-gas canisters directly at persons during demonstrations. The organization has demanded – both in meetings with senior military officials and by letter – that commanders clarify to soldiers serving in the field that firing tear-gas canisters directly at a person is unlawful. Tear gas is supposed to serve as a non-lethal crowd control measure, and using it as a substitute for live fire is forbidden. Therefore, firing tear-gas canisters directly at persons breaches the rules of engagement.
Such firing has resulted in serious injury and death. In April 2009, Bassem Abu-Rahmah, from the village of Bi’lin, was killed by a tear gas canister that struck him in the chest. B’Tselem knows of 13 cases in which persons were seriously injured in similar circumstances since the beginning of the second intifada. B’Tselem has also documented direct firing of canisters that did not result in injury, and has provided the Military Advocate General Corps and the commander of Judea and Samaria Brigade with video footage of such firing.
In response to B’Tselem’s demands, the then-legal advisor for Judea and Samaria, Col. Sharon Afek, replied in April 2009 that, “direct firing [of tear-gas canisters] at persons is prohibited” and that, “very soon, an explicit and broad directive will be issued that will prohibit the firing of a tear-gas canister directly at a person.” In July 2011, following further requests by B’Tselem, after the direct firing continued to occur at demonstrations, Major Uri Sagi, of the office of the legal advisor for Judea and Samaria, replied that, “following your letter, we have again clarified to the forces operating in Central Command the rules relating to firing of tear-gas canisters at persons, including the prohibition on directly firing a tear-gas canister at a person.” At meetings with B’Tselem, senior military officials claimed that such firing is forbidden and does not occur.
However, B’Tselem has since documented more cases in which security forces fired tear-gas canisters directly at persons. As far as B’Tselem knows, no soldier has been prosecuted for such firing. In the abovementioned case of Abu-Rahmah, which occurred in April 2009, a Military Police investigation was opened only in July 2010, and only after B’Tselem and Attorney Micha’el Sfard threatened to petition the High Court of Justice if an investigation were not initiated.
B’Tselem wrote to the office of the military advocate for operational matters to verify that an MPIU investigation had been opened in the case of a-Tamimi, in accordance with the new policy that the MAG Corps declared before the High Court of Justice. B’Tselem demanded that the investigation examine not only the conduct of the soldier who fired the canister, but also the responsibility of the command echelon, including the orders given to the soldier.
B’Tselem will provide all the material in its possession and will follow the case to make sure the investigation is effective and professional.
Lowe’s faces boycott after pulling ads from ‘TLC’ show on Muslims
Dec 12, 2011
Alex Kane
The home improvement chain Lowe’s has come under fierce criticism for pulling its advertisements from the TLC reality show “All-American Muslim” after a right-wing Christian group pressured the company. In response, calls for a boycott of Lowe’s have grown, andnearly 8,000 people have signed a petition (myself included) calling on other companies targeted by anti-Muslim groups to “publicly repudiate calls to stop advertising during TLC’s ‘All-American Muslim.'”
The anti-Muslim group based in Florida also claims that 65 companies have pulled ads from the show, but other companies have denied that charge.
From the Associated Press:
A decision by retail giant Lowe’s Home Improvement to pull ads from a reality show about American Muslims following protests from an evangelical Christian group has sparked criticism and calls for a boycott against the chain.
The retailer stopped advertising on TLC’s “All-American Muslim” after a conservative group known as the Florida Family Association complained, saying the program was “propaganda that riskily hides the Islamic agenda’s clear and present danger to American liberties and traditional values.”
The show premiered last month and chronicles the lives of five families from Dearborn, Mich., a Detroit suburb with a large Muslim and Arab-American population.
A state senator from Southern California said he was considering calling for a boycott.
Calling the Lowe’s decision “un-American” and “naked religious bigotry,” Sen. Ted Lieu, D-Torrance, told The Associated Press on Sunday that he would also consider legislative action if Lowe’s doesn’t apologize to Muslims and reinstate its ads. The senator sent a letter outlining his complaints to Lowe’s Chief Executive Officer Robert A. Niblock.
“The show is about what it’s like to be a Muslim in America, and it touches on the discrimination they sometimes face. And that kind of discrimination is exactly what’s happening here with Lowe’s,” Lieu said.
While news reports are pointing to the Florida Family Association as the organization behind the pressure campaign, anti-Muslim activists have been ginning up outrage over the show since it was announced. The Islamophobic activists who denounced the show include, you guessed it, Pamela Geller and Robert Spencer, the same people whose toxic rhetoric fueled the uproar over the Park 51 Islamic center. (Read this Center for American Progress report on Islamophobia in the U.S. for more on Geller and Spencer.)
Dawud Walid, the executive director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations’ Michigan branch, had this to say about the incident:
The attack upon the TLC reality show “All-American Muslim” by anti-Muslims bigots is but part of an ongoing cultural war with the objective of marginalizing Muslims from popular culture relevance among our nation’s status quo, baby-boomer White Christians and their children.
Among Blacks and Latinos especially in urban centers for approximately three decades, Muslims have obtained cultural relevance through hip-hop (rap music, graffiti art and breaking). From Big Daddy Kane saying “hold up the peace sign, As-Salaam Alaikum,” to Lauryn Hill rapping that “I make salaat like a Sunni” to current rap sensation Lupe Fiasco, younger people, especially those coming from marginalized communities don’t possess irrational fears about Islam and Muslims because they have been influenced culturally by Muslims. And though hip-hop music is still one of the most consumed music forms in America, much of the status quo of the society are not hip-hop connoisseurs. Hence, we don’t see the Islamophobia machine calling advertisers of the Soul Train Music awards, who have the likes of Big Daddy or calls for Best Buy to stop carrying Lupe’s “creeping shari’ah” cd’s, but we see the calls of Islamophobes to pressure advertisers such as Lowe’s to pull ads from “All-American Muslim,”a show that is not only openly Muslim but provides a picture of Muslims as everyday people, which is resonating with the status quo of America.
Here’s a taste of what outraged the anti-Muslim activists so much:
Let’s say you got to ask Israel’s president 8 questions– what would they be?
Dec 12, 2011
Philip Weiss
NPRs Guy Raz
Being a journalist and asking important people tough questions is hard. I know, I’ve been one. Especially if you’re talking to someone who’s promoting the foundational myths of a country that faces global criticism for its human rights record.
NPR host Guy Raz last night aired a long interview of Israeli president Shimon Peres, who hasa book out about his hero and former boss, David Ben-Gurion. What follows are Raz’s eight broadcast questions (presumably he asked many more). The answers were altogether predictable (including the claim, unchallenged, that we accepted Partition, but Partition created too small a territory for us).
1. Shimon Peres… sat down with us this past week to talk about the book, and I asked him why he thinks Ben-Gurion chose him.
2. You say that the most critical decision he [Ben-Gurion] made was his acceptance of partition… the concept of two states. For many people looking back today, it doesn’t seem particularly brave, but can you explain the context of why you believe that was such a crucial decision?
3. Let me ask you about Ben-Gurion personally, because you acknowledge that he could be prickly. He could be even mean to people who he loved, like his wife, even you, at times, right?
4. There was a narrative at the time before the state was created that Palestine was this empty land simply waiting to be populated. You remember that Ben-Gurion warned against pushing this idea; that in fact, he said, look, there are people living here, and we need to understand that.
5. Shimon Peres, Israel today seems to be increasingly isolated diplomatically. And in Ben-Gurion’s day, he talked about Israel being a light on two nations. I wonder what you think Ben-Gurion would make of Israel’s position in the world today. Would he be disappointed? Would he be surprised?
6. What do you think he would have made of Prime Minister Netanyahu?
7. If Ben-Gurion were still alive today, what do you think would keep him up at night about Israel?
8. Shimon Peres, one question for you. Now, you are one year older than when Ben-Gurion died. You are very vibrant. You’re engaged. You’re obviously the president of the country. What is your – what’s your secret? What’s your exercise regimen, by the way?
‘Hadeel is gone, and her brother Ahmed lost his sight’ –Rafeef Ziadiah
Dec 12, 2011
Annie Robbins
You’ve probably noticed by now I am hooked on Rafeef Ziadah. I want to write her a love letter….. words escape me. When I listen to her spoken words videos late at night images flash thru my reality (like in this video) and I revere her persistent impassioned strength …her exquisite, exclusively Palestinian, sumud.
Carry on the fight Carry on the fight Carry on the fight… but for Hadeel.. for Hadeel give me a moment of silence, give me a moment of silence NO give me a moment of sincere resistence, sincere resistence so we can hold on to the bit of dignity we have left, so we can hold on to the bit of dignity we have left , for Hadeel.
(Rafeef Ziadah is a member of the steering committee of the Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel (PACBI), also a founding member of the Coalition Against Israeli Apartheid (CAIA) promoting the BDS campaign in the US, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand and an organizer of International Israeli Apartheid Week. Her debut CD Hadeel is dedicated to Palestinian youth.)
‘Ha’aretz’: Hundreds of pro-Palestinian activists storm ‘Jewish supermarket’!
Dec 12, 2011
Phan Nguyen
Is hummus an “Israeli good”?
There’s a phenomenon that I have at times witnessed which continues to shock me though it should not: individual Jews exploiting the fears and insecurities of other Jews in order to garner their support for an agenda that they otherwise would not be so supportive of.
Such is the case with a recent Ha’aretz report by Barak Ravid. Ravid warns his readers that
An intensive delegitimization campaign is taking place in cities across the United States—on university campuses, at malls and in front of Israel consulates.
Well sure, we’ve heard about it before. That’s the thing they call the BDS, right? But wait:
The campaign is not aimed at the settlement enterprise, or against the occupation and the humiliation of millions of Palestinians at checkpoints, but rather the campaign is against the very existence of the State of Israel, and promoting a boycott of anything that might even smell Israeli.
One example is the story of “Park Slope Food Co-op,” a Jewish supermarket located in Brooklyn, situated in one of the most “Jewish” areas in the United States. Every week, hundreds of pro-Palestinian activists assemble near the entrance, where one can purchase Israeli goods, and call for a general boycott of the store.
Truly frightening, especially since it’s so untrue. How shall we parse this?
1. The Park Slope Food Co-op is not a “Jewish supermarket.” It is a food cooperative open to everyone who joins as a working member. It is not explicitly marketed toward Jews, and there is nothing distinctly Jewish about it (as some of the Christmas-themed products currently on the shelves will attest to).
2. “Hundreds of pro-Palestinian activists” do not “assemble near the entrance” every week. Ravid is possibly referring to the one or two people who leaflet outside the Co-op every now and then.
3. Moreover these leafleters are not “call[ing] for a general boycott of the store” but instead calling for a member referendum on whether the Co-op should honor the Palestinian BDS call.
4. The Hebrew version of Ravid’s article reports the same thing but includes this additional lie:
…where one can purchase Israeli goods such as Bamba, Milky, and hummus…
I have never seen Bamba or Milky at the Co-op, and hummus is not an “Israeli good.”
So how did Ravid come up with this story? Most likely he coordinated with Yuli Edelstein, the Israeli Minister of “Information,” whom Ravid quotes in the same article. Edelstein and his entourage visited the Park Slope Food Co-op last week, along with StandWithUs regional coordinator Avi Posnick, who has been tasked with taking down the Co-op.
Richard Silverstein has the scoop on that story on his blog. (Disclosure: I assisted Richard with the story.)
Finally, Ravid claims that the BDS campaign has nothing to do with supporting human rights and equality for Palestinians. Instead, it is motivated by hatred for Israel and is “promoting a boycott of anything that might even smell Israeli.” Since his sole example turns out to be a complete fabrication, we can dismiss this argument as well.
But we should note how often this type of argument is made, and we should understand the racist assumption behind this thinking. The assumption is that those who fight for Palestinian human rights are disingenuous because Palestinians aren’t human beings and aren’t worth fighting for. Thus the only possible motivation for criticizing Israel for its treatment of Palestinians is hatred of Jews.
Both Ha’aretz and Barak Ravid owe the literate world an apology.
(h/t: R.B.)
Obama ad attacks Romney, Gingrich and Perry for wanting to cut aid to Israel
Dec 12, 2011
Philip Weiss
Justin Elliott reports at Salon:
Barack Obama’s presidential campaign has bought Facebook ads trying to, in effect, outflank from the right the Republican candidates on the issue of Israel.
The ad says:
Stand against “zeroing out” aid to Israel
Republican candidates for president Mitt Romney, Rick Perry, and Newt Gingrich all say they would cut foreign aid to Israel—and every other country—to zero. Stand up to this extreme isolationism and join the call to reject the Romney-Perry-Gingrich plan.
