Israeli Border Police come up with fishy story to explain killing three Palestinian teens

Carl Gustav rifle (from Wikipedia) Feb 4 2016

The Israeli Foreign Ministry went ballistic yesterday over a headline in CBS News about the killing of three Palestinian teenagers at the Damascus Gate in occupied East Jerusalem. CBS initially reported the story with the headline “3 Palestinians killed as daily violence grinds on.” After the Israeli government went on a campaign against the headline, igniting a Twitter storm, CBS changed the headline to “Israeli police kill 3 alleged Palestinian attackers” & later in the day to “Palestinians kill Israeli officer, wound another before being killed.” CBS has not offered an explanation for the changes but maybe they were a wee bit skeptical about the narrative coming out of the Israeli government.

Zionist media & social media are making quite a furor over this incident & because there were so many deaths, it requires investigation. The problem is, all of the information comes from Micky Rosenfeld, the foreign press spokesman for the Israeli police & the story stinks to high heaven.

As narrated by Rosenfeld: Three Palestinian teens “attracted the attention” of Israeli Border Police officers as they approached the Damascus Gate, one of the main entrances to the Old City of Jerusalem. How did they attract attention? Some reports say they were “acting suspiciously.” Were they doing cartwheels as they approached? Casting furtive glances? Carrying a Palestinian flag? Chanting against the occupation? Such details matter in a police report when you’ve just shot three teenagers to death.

Border Police officers asked the young men for identification & as one fished for his papers, the others opened fire, wounding two officers–one of whom died later in hospital. Rosenfeld said the Palestinians were carrying concealed Carl Gustav submachine guns, knives, & bombs. Some reports say the explosive devices were later found “near the site” of the incident. Some reports say the submachine guns were “makeshift Carl Gustav firearms.” What is a “makeshift” automatic weapon? A jacked-up Molotov Cocktail?

It was 59 degrees F/15 degrees C yesterday in Jerusalem. How did three young guys manage to conceal submachine guns that look like bazookas, plus knives, & bombs under their clothes? Were they wearing tents in such warm weather? Is that why they looked so suspicious?

When the young men allegedly opened fire, killing the police officer, other Israel Border Police took them out. A spokesperson for the hospital where the two wounded Border Police officers were taken said the one who survived was in moderate condition, “having received stab wounds across her body.” When exactly in the Rosenfeld scenario did that stabbing take place? Did one of the Palestinians pull out a knife & start stabbing while the other two were shooting off automatic weapons? How long did this go on before they were shot to death?

Can we just acknowledge that the story doesn’t make a lick of sense? That the Israeli police are probably lying through their ass to cover up a terrorist assault on Palestinian teens? If they aren’t lying, they’ll have to come up with a far more credible story than this one because not everyone is a Zionist ideologue willing to believe arrant baloney.

It is deeply sad that the young Israeli woman police officer was killed. But she was part of an occupying army, whether she understood that or not. Though she should never have been in East Jerusalem, may she Rest In Peace. The three murdered Palestinians, who are unnamed & who may not be returned to their families for burial, stand accused of a crime against which they cannot defend themselves because it’s the word of the occupying army against three dead teenagers.

Honor & build the economic, cultural, & academic boycott of Israel. Buy nothing with a barcode beginning 729. May all of the deceased Rest In Peace.

Photo is a Carl Gustav submachine gun. Is it really credible the young teens were hiding this under their clothes along with knives & bombs?

Van Morrison receives second British knighthood: how many does it take to make a dope?

Van Morrison (Yui Mok:PA) Feb 4 2016

Fans of Van Morrison’s music will be appalled to learn he accepted his second knighthood. He was knighted into the feudal system by Betty Windsor last year & now received a second “sir” from Charlie Windsor. How many sirs does it take to make a dope?

They’ve always said about Van the Man that it was always about the music & that he isn’t political, though he grew up in the working class unionist section of Belfast. Everybody’s got politics; even eschewing politics is a form of it which usually signifies conservatism.

It can be all about the music for Van the Man. Who ever objected to his irascible nature when he sang so gloriously? But enough with the sirs! Quite frankly, feudal titles don’t suit a rebel but only a fool.

(Photo of Morrison holding up the foolish award & his daughter Shana by Yui Mok/PA)

Shakespeare’s Hamlet at ‘the Jungle’ in Calais

Hamlet at Calais (Sarah Lee for Guardian) Feb 4 2016

Just days ago, an English judge adjudicating asylum applications said most refugees in the “Jungle” camp at Calais are not “genuine refugees” but are benefit scroungers trying to get to the UK to suck up benefits. (The judiciary around the world seems to attract a disproportionate number of halfwits.)

One of the leading UK charities providing direct service to refugees reports to the contrary. Most asylum seekers are not allowed to work & are forced to rely on state support which can be as little as £5 a day. There’s no need for a currency conversion since it’s chump change in any currency. They cannot choose where they live, are not provided rent money, & are offered mostly ‘hard to let’ rentals that others won’t live in. The majority live in poverty, poor health, & chronic hunger.

That’s why this story is so heartening: Shakespeare’s Globe theater company has been on a world tour for nearly two years, hoping to perform in every country in the world. They never planned to perform in refugee camps but have now performed in several in Jordan, Djibouti, Cameroon, & now in Calais. The artistic director said the sheer scale & tragedy of the refugee crises demanded a response. In Calais, they performed Shakespeare’s “Hamlet.” The artistic director said, “It is a great privilege to play for displaced people in Calais. As a theatre company the only gesture we can offer is this: a show that we hope speaks to the human spirit at its greatest & its darkest moments.” Other theater companies have also performed in the Calais camp, including two British groups (Shared Experience & Complicite) & a Lebanese group (Zoukak) formed after the 2006 Israeli war in Lebanon displaced millions.

Despite bitter cold, 300 refugees in the camp of nearly 6,000 attended the performance. Some of them likely understand English but for those who did not, the troupe provided program notes explaining the plot in Arabic, Farsi, Pashto, Kurdish, & French. One British news report said it was questionable they understood the symbolism of Hamlet. People with English as a first language & have read the play a dozen times usually don’t. That’s the nature of Shakespeare & really not worth mentioning.

It’s reported the opening speeches were drowned out by cheering & that the audience were engrossed throughout the drama.

After the performance, the stage was dismantled to provide material for shelters.

Art matters to the human spirit, especially “at its darkest moments,” not just because it provides dignity & hope but also entertainment & laughter. A tip of the hat to the theater companies for their generosity & solidarity.

(Photo of “Hamlet” audience at Calais by Sarah Lee for the Guardian-UK)

The circle of life among swindlers: Bernie Madoff & Elie Wiesel

There’s a TV dramatization about the swindler Bernie Madoff bilking people, including through charitable donations. Part of his spiel was reading the self-aggrandizing crap Elie Wiesel croons about not remaining silent against injustice. Ironically, Wiesel was one of the people Madoff swindled. Apparently there’s a circle of life among swindlers.

There’s no mercy for the Weasel after he published full page ads during Israel’s 2014 bombing siege in Gaza claiming Palestinians used their children as human shields though Israel was denounced by human rights groups for targeting children with bombers. To hell with the swindlers!