13. desember 2003

How being an occupying power brutalizes Israel Liran Ron Furer's book Tismonet Mahsom, Checkpoint Syndrome, has caused a big debate in Israel. The author, a former soldier, describes how he and his fellow soldiers constantly humiliated and brutalized ordinary Palestinian Arabs at checkpoints. This is what Jews either don't know or don't want to admit: that young Israeli soldiers who brutalize unarmed Palestinians (and it's usually the young army regulars who do it, not the older reservists) aren't acting out of fear, but rather the opposite – they're trying out their new power, they've got the guns and the Palestinian standing in front of them doesn't. Furer and his buddies at the checkpoint were bored, exhausted from lack of sleep, hot and in a permanently rotten mood, and they took out their frustrations on hapless Palestinians. According to the publishers, this is the first time an Israeli soldier has published a book detailing all the terrible things he did on intifada duty. But the material isn't new at all – it's nothing that hasn't surfaced in countless human-rights reports, media interviews with ex-soldiers, and conversations with Israelis about what they did and saw in the territories. Indeed, it is not at all new, and it has done nothing to aid Israel's image in the rest of the world. Such brutal treatment of innocents serves no useful purpose for Israel's security, it serves to anger Palestinians even more, and it turns the rest of the world against them (as if the PR situation was not bad enough already). It is a serious PR problem for Israel, a discipine problem for the IDF and a human rights problem for everybody. It also serves to illustrate that young soldiers are ill-equipped to deal with what is essentially police work. It is challenging enough to be a police officer trained to balance force and service. To a soldier with no such training, it is much worse, but I would still expect the IDF to do better than this after many years' experience. Whatever solutions may come up if the short run (if anyone in the IDF honestly cares) there is really only one long term solution to the problem: that somehow a Palestinian state is created on the West Bank and Gaza. If only there was a party on the Palestinian side that had the will and power to negotiate a serious solution. 6:10:26 PM    comment []  trackback []

European "peace" groups support Iraqi terrorists David's Medienkritik has the scoop on a German news programme reporting that a number of German "peace" groups are organising fundraisings for Iraqi Baathist terrorists (aka "freedom fighters").   The money will be provided to the Iraqi Patriotic Alliance (IPA) a group dedicated to carrying out attacks against US soldiers in Iraq in collaboration with Saddam loyalists. The common goal is to "liberate” the Iraqi people from the evil imperialist American occupiers. On their website these groups gush with enthusiasm about turning Iraq into another Vietnam for the USA. Via Instapundit. I have noticed the same among Norwegian leftists. These groups are not the exception or extreme fringe; it appears to be the mainstream opinion on the left. The Norwegian leftist newspaper Klassekampen (literally 'class struggle') finds a surprising amount of Norwegian dignitiaries who support the Baathists against the coalition, including our own forces who operate under a UN mandate. The highly respected artist and TV personality Erik Bye compares the terrorists to the Norwegian resistance to the nazi occupation during World War II. Law professor Ståle Eskeland agrees and says the armed resistance is a defence war, and legitimate. Members of one of Norway's largest political parties, the Socialist Left (SV), agrees with supporting the "resistance." Hallgeir Langeland, one of SV's parliamentaries, says he fully understands that when occupants steal the oil (!), the Iraqi people gets angry. "Morally I understand military resistance in Iiraq."  Representative Bjørn Jacobsen is a bit more cautious, but "on principle" he supports the resistance. To nobody's surprise, members of the communist party 'Red Alliance' (RV) also supports the Iraqi resistance. There is, however, no evidence that any Norwegian "peace" groups support the Iraqi Baathist terrorists with funds. (The Norwegian Klassekampen article is apparently unavailable for non-politburo members, but is copied here.) 4:57:48 PM    comment []  trackback []

Shaken court syndrome British prosecutors have to a large degree relied on junk science, victimising innocent parents in its zeal to protect children, according to an article in The Telegraph. Mothers have been accused of serial infanticide simply because doctors were unable to explain the deaths. Cot-deaths are still badly understood. However, as anybody who has had any extended contact with medical professionals know, it is notoriously difficult to diagnose the living and even worse so the dead. Three further diagnoses - shaken baby syndrome, Munchausen Syndrome by proxy and recovered memories - account for hundreds of other wrongful convictions of innocent parents over the last two decades. What they all have in common is that they are based on flawed opinions rather than forensic evidence. Too many doctors still embrace pseudo explanations for things they do not really understand. A combination of naive courts and medical professionals who pretend to know far more than they do keep sending hundreds, worldwide thousands, of innocent people to prison. 3:16:12 PM    comment []  trackback []

Keiko is dead The world's most famous whale, the orca Keiko from the "Free Willie" movies, is dead. After the movie successes, a foundation was formed to return the killer whale "star" to freedom, a life he was never prepared for after a lifetime in captivity. Immediately after release on Iceland, the animal set course for the Norwegian fjords, and kept contacting humans instead of other orcas. The local population and the tenders had to feed and take care of Keiko, who became a local tourist attraction. Keiko most likely died from penumonia, after showing signs of sickness from Thursday. PS: I wrote briefly about Keiko on my very first blogging day. 2:23:48 PM    comment []  trackback []

English lesson "Crown Prince gets an electronic vehicle" (Nettavisen English headline) I am quite sure that should be electric vehicle. 2:07:45 PM    comment []  trackback []

A taste for grisly entertainment Armin Meiwes, the infamous German cannibal I wrote about earlier, is negotiating with several film companies about a movie about his life and his killing and eating of another man, according to his lawyer. Reportedly, a contract could be worth millions of dollars for the cannibal. Amazing. The cannibal has found someone with as few scruples as himself. 2:09:57 AM    comment []  trackback []

Imagine no atheists, too The rock legend Robert Plant changed the lyrics of John Lennon's "Imagine" when he sang it at the Nobel Prize concert yesterday. As most of you probably remember, in Lennon's utopia there was "no religion, too." Plant changed it to say "no division, too," obviously to avoid hurting religious sensibilities. If Lennon's anti-religious message was too strong for the prize winner, they could have chosen a different song. Maybe the Barney song or something, more in line with the Nobel committee's philosophy. (From a Norwegian article on NRK) 1:07:41 AM    comment []  trackback []

From the "I wished I had written that" dept. "Just moments after former Vice President Al Gore endorsed former Vermont Governor Howard Dean for President in Harlem yesterday, the Supreme Court overturned his endorsement by a 5-4 margin." (BorowitzReport) 12:13:28 AM    comment []  trackback []

© Copyright 2004 Jan Haugland. Last update: 01.01.2004; 02:46:42.