New York and Jewish terrorist groups.

As I noted at my other Blog yesterday there was a story from Kentucky last month that "The Presbyterian Church (USA) has stepped up security at its headquarters and advised its churches to be on alert after receiving a letter threatening arson attacks on its churches because of its policies in the Middle East. The handwritten letter was received Wednesday at the church's Louisville headquarters, Jerry L. Van Marter, director of the Presbyterian news service, said Saturday. It had no return address, but it was postmarked from Queens, NY, Van Marter said."

The letter threatened to set churches on fire while people were inside in retaliation for "anti-Israel and anti-Jewish attitudes," meaning the Presbyterian Church (USA) deciding to divest from Israel noting that, "divestment is one of the strategies that U.S. churches used in the 1970s and 80s in a successful campaign to end apartheid in South Africa. "

I found it interesting that the threats were coming from Queens NY, and remembered that the Jewish terrorist group the JDL (The Jewish Defense League) , back in the eighties in Coney Island, was intimidating and threatening minorities out of their apartment buildings then moving in, much like settler groups have done in East Jerusalem over the years.

What is the JDL up to these days? Back on Dec. 12 2001 federal officials arrested JDL chairman Irving David Rubin, 56, and member Earl Leslie Krugel, 59, for allegedly plotting to blow up a major Los Angeles mosque, the office of Republican Rep. Darrell Issa, who is of Lebanese descent, and the Los Angeles offices of the Muslim Public Affairs Council, a Muslim advocacy group.

As reported by The Jewish Week at the time chairman of the JDL chapter in Chicago Zvi Ben said the, “JDL decries the efforts of Muslims who de facto admit they are responsible for the attacks of 9-11 by establishing a moral equivalency between the allegations against [Rubin and Krugel] and the Islamic murderers who attacked the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.”

Naturally, its all a big plot by Muslim groups.

It turned out the Justice Dept. didn't think so and in 2003 Earl Leslie Krugel pled guilty "to two federal charges related to two criminal conspiracies to manufacture and detonate bombs at a mosque and a field office of United States Congressman Darrell Issa of California." and Rubin killed himself while awaiting trial.

This is not to say the JDL isn't still around. It turns out that Michael Moore is an anti-Semite according to their web site:

"Those considering seeing Fahrenheit 9/11, the latest leftist pseudo-documentary from traducer Michael Moore, now have another reason to save their entertainment dollars. In addition to being anti-American, Moore is a Jew-hating Arabist, aligned with forces that pray for the destruction of the Jewish state. Moore was in attendance at last November’s Muslim Public Affairs Council (MPAC) Media Award event, at which he received MPAC's "Award for Courage and Conscience" (read as award for unamericanism).

In his acceptance speech, Moore reportedly condoned Arab violence against Israel and berated it over the demise of Rachel Corrie, a terrorist-phile whose moronic indiscretion resulted in a loss in a match against a bulldozer: [Actually, she was run over twice and was in clear sight of the driver. See my Blog Nov. 26]]

From Moore's irrational zealousness for gun control, to his advocacy of Arab terror, one may infer the following: Moore wishes to disposses law abiding Americans of their constitutionally enshrined right to bear arms. At the same time, though, he supports the aim of Arab terrorists to utilize automatic weaponry, bombs and other armaments in their bid to annihalate Israel."

Wow, being anti- gun is anti-Semitic.

The New York connection to these groups is pretty clear. This year the New York Daily News had this report on fund raising by these radical groups:

"Violence-spewing Jewish radicals are raising big bucks in New York even though they're tied to groups identified by the U.S. as terror organizations.

In one money-raising appeal uncovered by The Daily News, a banned group directs donors to a Borough Park, Brooklyn, address and 718 phone number.

In Israel, Kahane Chai and other radical groups on the U.S. list are under increased scrutiny after the Shin Bet spy agency warned that extremists have put Prime Minister Ariel Sharon in their cross hairs and may blow up the Al Aqsa Mosque, holy to Muslims worldwide, on Jerusalem's Temple Mount.

Among the pro-settler Jews raising thousands in New York is David Haivri, who has long ties to the movement founded by Meir Kahane, the radical Brooklyn-born rabbi slain by an Egyptian Islamist in New York in 1990.

But Haivri has long been affiliated with Kahane Chai and the Yeshiva of the Jewish Idea, two banned groups. The two groups, and about 50 others, are aliases for Kahane Chai, the Treasury Department says."

The web site for Kahane Chai complains:

"The recent designation of Kahane.org and other Kahane sites as Foreign Terrorist organizations by the U.S. State Department is another one-sided, anti-Jewish, decree passed by the blatantly anti-Israel State Dept.

This recent designation will definitely go down in history as one of the most irrational and obscene decisions ever carried out by the U.S. government."

I'm so sure.

Terrorism Q&A says groups like Kahane Chai and Kach "grew out of the anti-Arab teachings of Rabbi Meir Kahane, an American-born extremist who founded and led Kach (its name means “thus” in Hebrew) until he was assassinated in New York in 1990. Israel outlawed Kach and its offshoot Kahane Chai (Kahane Lives) in 1994, a month after a Kach supporter shot and killed 29 Muslim worshipers at a West Bank mosque.

The deadliest (attack) came in February 1994, shortly after the signing of the Oslo peace accords between Israel and the PLO, when Baruch Goldstein, a Brooklyn-born doctor and Kach supporter, opened fire with a machine gun inside the Ibrahimi Mosque in Hebron. He killed 29 people and wounded dozens more before he was himself killed.

The Machteret (is) a 1980s Jewish underground terror group with links to Kach...Israeli authorities...foiled the Machteret’s plans to blow up Jerusalem’s al-Aqsa Mosque, which is built atop the contested holy site known by Muslims as the Noble Sanctuary and by Jews as the Temple Mount. Destroying the mosque, experts say, could provoke a massive Middle Eastern conflict.

A review of a book on the killing of Yizak Rabin called "Murder in the name of God" by Michael Karpin and Ina Friedman, cites the connection between groups in New York and Israel opposed to the Oslo peace accords by saying:

"For all its crudeness and stridency, the incitement against Yitzhak Rabin in Israel seemed almost subdued compared with the parallel effort in . . . the United States" (p. 131). Karpin and Friedman observe the symbiosis that developed after 1967 between the Orthodox communities of Israel and the United States.

They then describe the campaign of hatred that Orthodox circles and Jewish extremists in New York City launched against Rabin and his government. Masterminding the effort were such figures as New York State Assemblyman Dov Hikind (Kahane's former right hand in the Jewish Defense League), Rabbis Abraham Hecht and Herbert Bomzer, and businessmen Sam Domb and Jack Avital.

These individuals were themselves connected to mainstream politicians who were indebted to them, including New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani and Governor George Pataki. Meanwhile, the Orthodox lobby courted powerful members of Congress such as Jesse Helms, Benjamin Gilman, Alfonse D'Amato, and Charles Schumer, harnessing their influence in an effort to discredit the Israeli government and slow down the implementation of the Oslo agreements."

I'm sure all this is just scratching the surface on this issue, but it is important to point out terrorism isn't the sole province of Islamic groups.

Korematsu all over again.

On November 24th NPR did a story on a controversy brewing over the dententions of Japanese Americans during World War II. It appears a few folks on Bainbridge Island in Washington state, scene of the first Japanese-American relocations in the country, think maybe the rounding up of 120,000 Americans and imprisoning them wasn't such a bad idea after all.

The local school district is attempting to teach the history of the detentions but has run into opposition from a few crack pots because the premise of the lesson is that the whole thing was wrong. Apparently, there are two sides to this issue; who knew?

This is a letter I wrote to NPR's ombudsman, Jeffery Dvorkin, which I'm sure I'll never get a reply to. I'm one of those listeners he described in an interview in the Washington Post as feeling "NPR is there to reinforce their own ideas about the world." One must remember NPR is not "in the informational comfort-food business." I'll keep that in mind as they lunge toward the right while giving an entirely new meaning to the expression "polically correct."

Dear All Things Considered-

Tom Goldman's report seemed to be falling all over itself to give credence to a small, but vocal minority‚ whose view that rounding up and imprisoning some 120,000 Americans was justified. The main instigator of this push for ‚"balance‚" in the curriculum, Mary Dombrowsky, is a local republican activist, which wasn't mentioned in the report. Nor was the fact that she began this crusade after reading a book by far-right journalist Michele Malkin "In Defense of Internment." Malkin has also accused president Clinton of political pandering for his decision to award the Congressional Medal of Honor to Japanese-American soldiers. A ridiculous assertion since it is a fact Nisei soldiers who served in the 100th battalion in Europe were the most highly decorated in the Army‚Äôs history. A fact even Ronald Reagan recognized in 1988.

What most disturbed me about the piece, however, was Goldman's contention that the 1944 Korematsu case was a ‚a "reasoned legal decision" for the era. Nothing could be further from the truth. The main reason the detentions were found unjustified and wrong after Fred Korematsu's petition for a writ of error coram nobis in 1983, was because it was discovered by his lawyers that the War Department and Justice Department officials had altered and destroyed evidence regarding the loyalty of Japanese Americans, and had withheld this information from the Supreme Court. (Not mentioned in the report.)

Even during that period of time there was resistance to the detentions, in his dissent one of three dissenters to Korematsu v. United States (1944) Justice Murphy wrote: ‚"This exclusion of "all persons of Japanese ancestry, both alien and non-alien," from the Pacific Coast area on a plea of military necessity in the absence of martial law ought not to be approved. Such exclusion goes over "the very brink of constitutional power" and falls into the ugly abyss of racism."

Anti-Japanese racism in the Seattle area at the time was prevalent. It was never brought up in the report. The seemingly endless recitations of Japanese radio intercepts at ‚ Station S in the report tended to reinforce Dombrowsky's opinion that there was some reasonable doubt about the injustice of the interments based on national security grounds, not war hysteria and racism.

What really agitates Mrs. Dombrowsky is the connection being made between the internments and the Pariot Act. She has said, "Although, I hesitate to use such a loaded term, I firmly believe that the teaching unit in question rises to the level of propaganda." Propaganda? Who has the real agenda here? Blind obedience to the president and his policies, the Patriot Act in particular, is the real story here, which wasn't the thrust of Goldman's reporting.

It is not unreasonable to fear a repeat of history when one considers the statements of Civil Rights Commissioner Peter Kirsanow who said in July 2002, "I think we will have a return to Korematsu…not too many people will be crying in their beer if there are more detentions, more stops, more profiling. Should terrorists carry out another attack, and they come from the same ethnic group [Arabs] that attacked the World Trade Center, you can forget about civil rights.”

Jeffrey Dvorkin told the Washington Post this week, "We're not in the informational comfort-food business." NPR shouldn't be in the business of coddling the opinions of the right wing fringe and leaving certain crucial facts out of its reporting that reinforces them, either.

NPR's efforts to provide "fair and balanced" news looks more and more like moral cowardice everyday.

Dolphins Stunned in Bye Week Shocker.

As a Dolphin fan I am mortified by this story written by George Kelley from Miami.

Miami (AP)

The Miami Dolphins, already reeling amid the worst season in franchisehistory, made NFL history today by losing to the Bye Week 23-0. In the days leading to the contest, Miami coaches and players had scoffed at the notion of losing to the Bye but their confidence was shaken early. After exchanging punts on their opening drives, Bye was faced with 3rd and long deep in their own territory. A long bomb from Nobody to Nothing sailed beyond the receivers grasp, but Miami cornerback Sam Madison was flagged for holding on the play.

Enraged by the call, Madison compounded matters by grabbing the yellow flag, stuffing it down referee Ebenezer Glaucoma's throat, and storming off the field while removing his uniform. Upon reaching the sidelines, the naked Madison was comforted by lame-duck Miami coach Dave Wannstedt, who seemed unaware that the eight-year veteran was urinating on him.The embarrassing spectacle drew multiple penalties, and Bye scored easily on a one-yard plunge moments later.

Things went from bad to worse when the Dolphins (1-9) went back on offense. On first-down, Miami running-back Travis Minor burst through the line for a big gain but suddenly reversed field when he realized he had forgotten the football. Quarterback A.J. Feeley, under heavy pressure, attempted to head-butt the ball to the confused runner but it was easily picked-off and returned for a score by Bye safety Whoever.After a 15-minute delay caused by a fruitless search for Feeley's disembodied head and right leg, Miami took the ensuing kickoff and longtime QB Jay Fiedler entered the game to a chorus of boos and a cascade of plastic cups, foil wrappers, and half-eaten chicken parts.

Fiedler's first pass was errant, landing next to Mrs. Frieda McNellis in Section 144, Row 27, but the embattled quarterback was on the mark two plays later when he hit Bye linebacker Whatever squarely between the numbers. Whatever (after pausing to eat a chicken part littering the field) walked into the endzone untouched.Faced with a 21-0 deficit, Wannstedt turned to journeyman quarterback Amos "Scrappy" Lutz, acquired earlier in the day in exchange for Miami's first pick in next year's draft. On his first attempt, Lutz hit Miami guard Taylor Whitley in the back, seriously injuring the player.

As Whitley cried in pain, the rest of the Dolphins embattled line fell to the turf writhing and moaning in a display of solidarity for their fallen teammate. Seeing that the play had not yet been whistled dead, Miami FB Rob Konrad alertly scooped up the ball and ran towards the Dolphins endzone. After crossing the goalline, the fifth-year pro sat down, sobbing. Bye defensive end John Doe rushed to console the player, making the score 23-0. A teary-eyed Konrad explained later "I just wanted to be in an endzone...any endzone...one more time before I die."Sensing that the lead was secure, Bye left the stadium at the half in order to catch an earlier flight to Cleveland. Despite Bye's departure, Miami failed to cross their own 40 the remainder of the contest.

In a somber lockerroom afterwards, only Wannstedt seemed upbeat. "We had a great week of practice and I was sure our guys were ready to play," the embattled coach explained to stunned onlookers. "I warned them that Bye Week could be a trap game....I even illustrated it for them with hand puppets...but I guess they didn't listen. Maybe I need to hire a mime or play charades to get the point across. Whatever...we still have plenty of time to turn things around."

Letters to the editor.

Here's another masterpiece to the Washington Times. See my other letters...

Fallujah: A phantom victory?

I disagree with The Washington Times editorial claiming that the "tactical edge" U.S. forces have over the insurgents in Fallujah will help minimize the loss of innocent life ("The Fallujah campaign, Editorial, Tuesday). The advantage of so-called smart bombs and aerial reconnaissance is likely to be steadily degraded as fighting goes door to door. That kind of warfare plays into the hands of Abu Musab Zarqawi and his fighters. Fallujah is a free-fire zone whether the Pentagon is willing to admit it or not. In my view, bringing the "full weight of our military power to bear" on a city of 300,000 people in order to secure elections for the lucky survivors seems at best a dubious effort. Operation Phantom Fury would seem destined to deliver nothing more than a phantom victory.