Editor's Note: Dr. Alex Grobman is the author of License to Murder: The Enduring Threat of the Protocols of the Elders of Zion. Here we present an introduction to this important book, available on the Kindle through Amazon.com

“There are a certain people scattered abroad and dispersed among the peoples in all the provinces of your realm. Their laws are different from those of every other people's, and they do not observe the king's laws; therefore it is not befitting the king to tolerate them." Book of Esther 3:8.

“Among themselves they [Jews} are inflexibly honest and ever ready to shew compassion, though they regard the rest of mankind with all the hatred of enemies.” Tacitus, The Histories Book V

Antisemitism existed in one form or another throughout much of human history. This study examines some historical examples of this particular strain of hate, focusing especially on the Protocols of the Elders of Zion, the most deceitful, dangerous and pernicious of the libels ever used to incite hatred and violence against the Jewish people. 

The myth of an international Jewish conspiracy to control the world as advanced in the Protocols has been exposed by historians, journalists, politicians, police and religious leaders. In November 1937, the Court of Appeals in Berne, Switzerland, concluded: “This scurrilous work contains unheard of and unjustified attacks against Jews and must without reservation be judged to be immoral literature.”¹ Read more

A couple of weeks ago there was a report in the Israeli media that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had said: "Two of Israel's enemies are the New York Times and Haaretz," or words to that effect. As I recall, the PM's office came out with a strong denial.

I do not for one moment believe that Israel's PM would like to gag the press. On the contrary, he, and all thinking Israelis, are very proud of our country's vigorous democratic freedom of the press. And yet, if PM Netanyahu did say (or think) such a thing, today's Hebrew edition of Haaretz (Thursday, Feb. 16, 2012) certainly provides food for thought.

On the front page, in the boldest and largest print on the page, the main news item concerns the trials and tribulations of a woman at Malpensa Airport in Milan when she went through security checks prior to boarding an El Al flight to Tel Aviv. Really? Does the editor of the newspaper find that the Iranian atomic threat to world peace is less important? That the dreadful events in Syria don't even rate a front page mention? Aren't even the Republican primaries in the USA important to Israelis? Apparently less so than the security concerns of El Al, and the inconvenience caused to an Arab woman. And apparently less so than the opportunity to besmirch Israel. Read more

Professor Norman Finkelstein is no friend of Israel. That's what makes this a must-watch interview. He calls the Boycott Divest Sanctions movement against Israel a dishonest, marginal cult that has no hope of swaying public opinion... and he's sick of it.

H/T Elder of Ziyon

A home connected to a synagogue is firebombed in New Jersey, apparently in an attempt to murder the rabbi and his family inside (A brilliant deduction by local law enforcement, by the way).

Question to CBS News: what the hell is "bias-related arson?"

Authorities are investigating a firebombing of a northern New Jersey home attached to a synagogue as attempted murder and bias-related arson.

If I'm biased, I may take someone's side in an argument even if they don't have a leg to stand on. I might decry the position of a political op ed. But since when does bias lead to firebombing?

I take it they meant to say "hate related", but that's not the word they chose. Why not?

Jonathan Danilowitz says there's nothing new under the sun when it comes to Arab and Western efforts to undermine the Jewish state:

In 1945, long before Israel even existed, the Arab League declared an official boycott of “Jewish products and manufactured goods” in an effort to strangle the Jewish population in the then British Mandate Palestine. http://www.enotes.com/topic/Arab_League_boycott_of_Israel  In fact, the first official boycott of Jews and Zionists by the Arabs began way back in 1922, when there were no “green lines”, no occupied territories, no settlements, no Israel. All there was was bubbling Arab racist anti-Semitism.

 

Nothing new under the sun.

Well, perhaps there is. incipient, latent anti-Semitism has since become popular for leftist radicals who love to explain: “… it’s got nothing to do with Jews or Judaism. We’re just supporting the Arabs. Some of our best friends are Jews. If only Israel blah blah blah …” Yeah, sure.

The Propagandist's Allies are really trying to get this war over with by Christmas, but it looks like it may last a bit longer yet. Soldier on, forces of good.

• Inside Occupy D.C. "Among the flags being flown by some protesters are those from the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas, the Iranian-backed Hezbollah and al Qaeda." Aw, come on.
• Too bad, terrorist. Ezra Levant on the stalled repatriation of Omar Khadr, who won't be home in time for Christmas (though to tell the truth, this jihadist in Guantanamo Bay may not actually believe in Santa Claus).
• UN holds minute silence for Kim Jong-il - video. Harry's Place notes dryly, "How often does the United Nations General Assembly hold minute silences?"
• The purposeful ambiguity of terrorists joining the PLO. "Their strategy will be to find an ambiguous enough formula that desperate Western leaders can embrace with their eyes wide shut."
• More Denial. In Egypt, excusers of the army's brutal conduct deny the authenticity or relevance video footage that catches the thugs red-handed.

Merry Christmas, Happy Chanukah and Confusion to our Enemies!

The festival of lights appears to be catching on in unexpected places.

Read more

Michael Coren demolishes the lie pushed by Syed Soharwardy that Muslims are being treated in the West just like the Jews were treated before the Holocaust.

Israel's Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Danny Ayalon explains the historical facts relating to the issue of refugees in the Israeli Palestinian conflict. The video explains the reason there are still refugees after more than six decades is because of Arab leaders' recalcitrance to accept their brethren and the United Nations which created a separate agency with unique principles and criteria. The video also highlights the issue of the Jewish refugees who were forced out of their homes in the Arab world, and were subsequently absorbed by the State of Israel.

The past twelve months have seen unpredicted political and social upheaval throughout the Middle East and North Africa and currently just about the only certainty is that there is still much more to come.

 With the cards still very much in the air and last January's confident assertions on the part of the various Middle East experts - who informed us that the two countries in which revolution would definitely not be taking place were Syria and Libya - still ringing in our ears almost as loudly as Hillary Clinton's bizarre assurance that Bashar Assad was 'a reformer', only fools would try to predict how the MENA region might look in five years' time.

What is clear, however, is that the general trend appears to be towards a rise in power on the part of religiously-motivated political elements and a deepening of the Sunni-Shia sectarian rift which has long existed in the region, alongside real cause for worry about the futures of other minorities.

In this volatile climate and with the fate of existing peace treaties between Israel and some of its Arab neighbours far from guaranteed, the Middle East Quartet (comprised of the United Nations, the European Union, Russia and the United States) is to meet next week in Jerusalem for another session of  flogging the dead horse known as 'the peace process'. Read more