Bloodthirsty Liberal

There’s never a B-52 around when you need one:

Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh and senior official Khaled Mashaal met Sudanese President Omar Bashir in Khartoum Thursday, taking turns warning the Sudanese president of Israel’s stepped-up efforts to “Judaize Jerusalem” and asking for financial support, Lebanese news outlet Elnashra reported.

According to Elnashra, Mashaal spoke gravely about the “Judaization of Jerusalem,” which has been a common theme of Haniyeh’s during his tour of Arab nations that began this last week in Egypt.

Well, what else are a bunch of accused genocidal maniacs going to talk about, fruitcake recipes?

BTW, it appears less likely than ever that Israel’s friendship with South Sudan is a coincidence.

Israel making friends in the neighborhood:

South Sudanese President Salva Kiir arrived in Israel overnight Tuesday for a 24-hour visit during which he is scheduled to meet with President Shimon Peres, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Defense Minister Ehud Barak and Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman.

Officials said the Israeli leaders will discuss with Kiir possible solutions to the overflow of illegal immigrants from Sudan and will ask that he assist in the absorption of Sudanese nationals Israel will fly back to the new African country.

…

Knesset Member Danny Danon (Likud), who heads the Committee for Immigration, Absorption and Diaspora Affairs, will accompany the South Sudanese leader during his visit. “I visited South Sudan in August and got the impression that they were very interested in Israeli assistance on issues such as the military and welfare, and development in general,” said the lawmaker.

“During my visit I discussed the illegal immigration problem with (Kiir), and he is aware of it,” Danon said.

The Foreign Ministry has recently unveiled a plan to provide illegal African immigrants with professional training that would ease their return to their home countries. Israeli officials are expected to ask Kiir to launch a similar project that would encourage Sudanese nationals who reside in Israel illegally to return to their homeland.

I don’t want to pick on Egypt too much (see below), but they solve their illegal immigration problem by just shooting ‘em. In the back.

As Rebecca Black sings, “It’s Friday, Friday, gotta get down on Friday.”

Following are excerpts from Egyptian cleric Muhammad Hassan on Al-Rahma on November 28, 2011:

The Jews are expert in the globalization of false allegations. They spread false allegations, and then these allegations are repeated time and again by the media, which is owned by the Jews in the US and elsewhere. They give these allegations a specific direction in an extremely professional method in the media. After a few years, these allegations become fact in people’s minds.

[...]

Allah will not allow the slayers of the prophets to live in Jerusalem forever. Allah, who made Jerusalem the abode of the prophets, will not allow it to remain the abode of their slayers forever.

Yeah, I think maybe He will.

Meanwhile, just next door:

Following are excerpts from a Gaza Friday sermon, which aired on Hamas Al-Aqsa TV on December 2, 2011:

Preacher: Our banner is “There is no god but Allah,” our slogan is “Allah Akbar,” our mantle is “Death to the Jews and to America.”

[…]

The Prophet said: “Judgment Day will not come until you fight the Jews – you to the east of the river, and they to its west. Then the stones and the trees will say: Oh Muslim, oh servant of Allah, there is a Jew behind me, come and kill him.”

They won’t say: “oh Westernized Muslim…” They won’t say: “oh Muslim who does not know his religion…” They will say: “oh Muslim, oh servant of Allah, there is a Jew behind me, come and kill him.” Soon you will hear the stones and trees crying “Allah Akbar,” saying: “oh Muslim, oh servant of Allah, there is a Jew behind me, come and kill him.”

What about the settlements? Will they too cry out to the FoAs (Friends of Allah) “Oh Muslim, there is a family of Jews living within me. Come and slay them.” Oh wait, they already have. How could I forget the Fogels in Itamar?

But some of your Egyptians are really wiggy:

Following are excerpts from an interview with Egyptian presidential candidate Tawfiq Okasha, the owner of Al-Faraeen TV, which aired on November 13, 2011:

There is no such thing as a “Sudanese.” I, Tawfiq Okasha, do not recognize the state of Sudan. There you go. I’ve said it live on TV. I do not recognize the state of Sudan. I do not recognize the Sudanese president or the Sudanese regime. Full stop!

This is “the country that split away from Egypt.” I say to the people in Sudan that the right thing to do next is to reunite South Egypt [i.e. Sudan] with North Egypt. If you are patriotic, South Egypt should return to North Egypt. There should be a federal regime. There are many such regimes, made up of various provinces.

…

I swear by the Prophet Muhammad – you freemasons, you Jews, you deceivers! You freemasons! Oh, you freemasons! I am ready for you, you freemasons!

Decaf, Tawfiq, decaf! Holy baloney!

Freemasons, Jews, and deceivers—oh my!

We now present a new genocide—slaughter and inhumanity on unimaginable scales.

The hits just keep on coming:

Hundreds of rebels have been killed in Sudan’s South Kordofan state following clashes with the army, governor Ahmed Haroun has said.

He said the SPLM-North rebels were killed when the army repelled an assault on the city of Teludi.

The rebels have not commented on the claims but previously accused the army of “ethnic cleansing” in the oil-rich area.

The state borders South Sudan, which became independent in July.

“Hundreds of soldiers from the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM-North) were killed during an attack on the city of Teludi this morning,” Mr Haroun said.

Mr Haroun is indicted by the International Criminal Court for alleged war crimes in Darfur, where he was once the governor.

…

Sudan lodged a complaint with the UN Security Council in August, accusing South Sudan of backing the rebels.

The SPLM, in power in South Sudan, denies Khartoum’s claims, even though it fought alongside the northern rebels during Sudan’s decades-long civil war.

Sudan agreed to give the south independence in July, but held on to South Kordofan, Abyei and Blue Nile states.

Where’s Mia Farrow looking concerned—gaunt and concerned? It’s just not an African genocide without Mia’s pained expression. Sting? Bono? Bueller…Bueller? Anyone?

PS: Is the Symbionese Liberation Army still in one piece? Maybe they should get the band back together to help the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement.

Nah, forget it.

Who can take these factions seriously anymore? I’m sorry about the hundreds dead and all—and the rapes, maybe they need a Sudan Jobs Act to cut down on the rapes—but when I read the name Sudan People’s Liberation Movement, I have to laugh. Taking the word for how it is, I think genocide and ethnic cleansing may be cultural norms in some societies.

That doesn’t make me racist, it just makes me literate.

No, not the Apartheid State we usually report on, and not even the Apartheid State the Palestinians intend to set up (no Jews allowed—it’s official, and they can’t even fake any shame).

The Apartheid State of Egypt:

She has lived in Cairo for 12 years, a refugee from war torn Darfur in Sudan. But she says she is regularly the subject of catcalls on the streets. People often ask her if her family descends from monkeys and some other African animal. Her skin color is the brunt of jokes. Egyptians routinely express surprise that she can read and speak Arabic.

“They tell me how amazed they are that a black person can do things Egyptians can do,” the woman, who asked not to be identified, told The Media Line.

Refugees from Darfur and sub-Saharan Africa’s other strife-ridden regions have streamed into Egypt in the hope of finding safely and shelter – if not permanently, at least until they can get permission to move on. But the reception they get is often so hostile that they are anxious to leave as soon as possible.

Indeed, many of the Sudanese refugees trying to enter neighboring Israel aren’t fleeing war and oppression in their homeland but life in Egypt. It is a risky business because the refugees are unwelcome in Israel and Egyptian troops stationed on the tense border between the two countries shoot to kill.

“There’s a huge problem of racism in Egypt, which is generally denied,” Barbara Harrell-Bond, founder of Africa and Middle East Refugee Assistance (AMERA) and an experts on refugees globally, told The Media Line. “But, I think it’s getting more and more difficult to deny it, because more and more people are seeing the consequences of the lives refugees lead and the fears that they live under because of the refugees.”

So, did this come up at the recently concluded Durban Conference on… what was it again—oh yes, RACISM!

Until human rights organizations rid themselves of their antisemitism (and I mean you, Human Rights Watch, though not only you) and address racism and human right abuses where, you know, they actually occur, I think I’m going to side with the dictators. At least they’re honest about who they are. I sure as hell can’t side with the human rights scum.

Have a Gansett! (Local reference)

Following are excerpts from an interview with Muhammad Abbas, Egyptian author and journalist, which aired on Al-Hekma TV on September 4, 2011:

If the Egyptian army were capable of wiping Israel out, I wish it would.

…

Oh army, do what you can. If you are capable of killing 70 of them in retaliation for each of our martyrs – do so. I demand that the army do its best, but it should not go too far, so that they do not destroy us. Remember the defeat of 1967.

[…]

I wish we had the ability to take revenge. If we do, we should destroy them completely, and not leave a single one of them alive. Anyone who immigrated to Israel without the legal authorization of the Muslims must return to his country or be annihilated. “And the stone shall say: There is a Jew behind me”… But I fear that our enthusiasm might be detrimental to us. I have been against Israel all the way, and I am certain that it will come to an end. Indeed, it will. If you tell me that 10 million Egyptians will be martyred in return for the destruction of Israel – I am all for it.

How about showing us how it’s done, Mo? We all gotta go sometime, so it might as well be as a martyr, right?

But don’t you just love that sniveling, cowardly exhortation to the army to do its best to wipe out the Jews, yet not go too far lest they get spanked again? What a human pant-stain.

Surely, there are more friendly types in the area:

Following are excerpts on a report on a delegation of Sudanese Islamists visiting Gaza, which aired on Al-Aqsa TV on August 26, 2011:

The way to achieve change is through fighting, through Jihad. There is no other way. Today, on Jerusalem Day, we saw the banners of the various mujahideen factions raised… You could see these banners raised by the men, whose cries ripped through the skies: “The Koran is our constitution, the Prophet Muhammad is our master, Jihad is our path, and death for the sake of Allah is our loftiest aspiration.” I wish I could have kissed all these banners.

[…]

We’ve come here [Gaza], along with the mujahid Hajj Majed, commander of the mujahideen in Sudan. He has come from Kurdufan, along with 5,000 mujahideen, in order to fight the enemy who incited against us – the Jews. Allah willing, we will be victorious.

You might want to check with the boys back home. Almost all the migrants
who come to Israel to look for work are Sudanese.

But crikey, is there anyone over there who doesn’t hate Jews?

Following are excerpts from an interview with former Turkish MP Mustafa Eyiceo?lu, which aired on Palestine Today TV, which aired on September 5, 2011:

[T]he freezing of all the military agreements constitutes a major blow to the Zionist government, because it has been well known throughout history that a Jew would rather die than lose any money.

That was a rhetorical question.

I don’t know which to say: that was fast; or what took you so long?

At least 500 people have been killed in ethnic clashes in the eastern state of Jonglei, according to the South Sudanese authorities.

A senior official told the BBC hundreds of people had been wounded and more than 200 abducted, mainly children.

The clashes took place on Thursday when members of the Murle group are said to have attacked the majority Lou Nuer, stealing nearly 40,000 cattle.

Jonglei is one of the newly-independent country’s least safe areas.

The fighting took place, according to several sources including the state governor, when young Murle men attacked several locations inhabited by the Lou Nuer in and around the town of Pieri. Much of the town has apparently been burnt down.

The Murle were apparently seeking revenge for a recent attack by the Lou Nuer.

The state’s minister for law enforcement, Gabriel Duot Lam, also said an estimated 38,000 cows had been stolen by the Murle.

Rustlers, huh? You know how we handle rustlers in these parts.

Hasn’t it been just weeks since South Sudan won its independence? And already the Murle are at the throats of the Lou Nuer. I am going to have to bite my tongue to avoid saying something patronizing at best, and something worse at worst. For now, I’ll just remind the Murle (if that’s whom I mean) that in the 21st century gentlemen do not steal each other’s cattle, massacre 500 of their adversaries, and abscond with 200 of their children.

Where do you think you live, Somalia? Please!

Israel and South Sudan!

Why, what did you think?

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu on Sunday announced Israel’s recognition of South Sudan, which declared its independence on Saturday.

“Yesterday, a new state was born, South Sudan. I hereby announce that Israel recognizes the Republic of South Sudan,” Netanyahu said during the opening of the weekly cabinet meeting in Jerusalem. “We wish it success. This is a peace-seeking country and we would be pleased to cooperate with it in order to ensure its development and its prosperity.”

Aw, Bibi, you’ll just make people mad talking that way.

Not all people, though:

South Sudan President Salva Kiir was quoted in October as saying that he did not rule out the establishment of “good relations” with Israel, including the opening of an Israeli Embassy in Juba, the country’s capital. He was also quoted as saying that Israel “is the enemy of the Palestinians only, and not an enemy of the South.” He hinted at the time of recognition of Israel.

So, statehood can be achieved by voting for it overwhelmingly and following a civilized transition plan. Good to know.

There’ll be no living with them:

Its independence on Saturday will be celebrated in the United States by Republicans and by Democrats alike, and by Christian conservatives alongside Hollywood liberals.

All have been vocal advocates in the US for an end to war in Sudan that has taken millions of lives and resulted in accusations of genocide.

These advocates include actors Don Cheadle and George Clooney, known to some in the US as “Mr Sudan”.

You see who that is in the background, don’t you? The blurry visage of John Kerry? (Don’t bother adjusting your screens—that’s how he looks these days.)

I’m happy for South Sudan (how about a new name to go along with your new country?), but do you have to play to the already oversized egos of these people? Their lives are already unreal; do they really need to feel they can impose happy endings on real-world calamities? Anyway, I recall Hollywood getting most worked up about Darfur, which is not included in South Sudan, and which as far as I know still suffers under rule from Khartoum—even if the Janjaweed cavalry rides are in remission. Why isn’t Clooney known as Mr. Darfur? And why doesn’t somebody ask Mr. Tibet (Richard Gere) how his campaign for self-determination is going?

Another question: what war in Sudan has “taken millions of lives”? Not the Darfur conflict—which, lamentably, has cost a few hundred thousand, but a factor of 10 smaller than “millions”. Maybe one has to add up Darfur, South Sudan, the “Eastern Front”, and the border conflict with Chad to get those numbers, but who knows? Anyway, South Sudan’s independence doesn’t affect those conflicts, does it?

Last point: I wonder if the story doesn’t actually bury the lead:

In 2004, evangelical groups pressed then-President George W Bush – himself a born-again Christian – to send troops to Sudan.

The president did not go that far but he did impose tough economic sanctions on Sudan and press the Khartoum government to negotiate a peace deal with rebels in the south that was signed in 2005.

But did the lobbying and campaigning by evangelicals and Hollywood celebrities make a difference?

A member of the Bush administration, the former ambassador to Nigeria, John Campbell, thinks so.

“South Sudan captured the public’s imagination more than has happened elsewhere in Africa because Christians in Sudan used their grapevine to let Christians in America know that Muslims were persecuting them.”

American Christian evangelicals intervened against Muslim slaughter of African Christians. That’s what got this started back when Mr. Sudan was still Mr. (Danny) Ocean. I accept that his public profile helped, and I salute him for that. I’m even grateful on behalf of the South Sudanese.

But seriously?

Enoch Awejok, an official at South Sudan’s embassy in Washington, also believes the lobbying and campaigning made a difference.

“Without George Clooney and the churches, the CPA [Comprehensive Peace Agreement] would not have occurred,” he says.

“And they still have an effective role to play in resolving the outstanding issues in Sudan.”

Now, just stop that!

Another Darfur? I still don’t give a [bleep] about the old Darfur:

Soon after the Nuba Mountains region of central Sudan exploded in war two weeks ago, a patrol from the United Nations peacekeeping force was detained by Sudanese government soldiers and subjected to a mock firing squad in the soldiers’ divisional headquarters.

First the peacekeepers were lined up. Then an officer cocked his AK-47 and pointed it at them. He demanded that they leave South Kordofan state, the ancestral home of the Nuba people, and warned: “We will kill you if you come back here.”

The U.N. mission in South Kordofan is the only international protection for the Nuba people, the forgotten victims of Sudan’s 22-year civil war. South Sudan will finally earn freedom from the Khartoum regime when the South becomes independent on July 9. But the Nuba, trapped along the North-South border, will remain within Khartoum’s reach.

I have no problem with the Nuba people. Ain’t no Nuba ever called me cracker, so to speak. But dang it, what does Mia Farrow want me to do?

Remember, part of the reason Darfur was in the sights of Khartoum and the disgusting janjaweed was that South Sudan was in revolt against the rest of the country: it was a civil war. Innocent people get hurt in civil wars, but Bashir’s regime was only doing what regimes do—putting down an insurrection.

Hundreds of thousands of Nuba are already on the move, fleeing from tanks, artillery and aerial bombardment. Humanitarian access has been shut down. A week ago, U.N. peacekeepers warned of a humanitarian crisis that they are “not sufficiently prepared to counter.”

Apart from a couple of statements in the U.N. Security Council, the international community has failed to put the plight of the Nuba people on its agenda. President Obama must understand that the conflagration in South Kordofan has the potential to bring down the whole edifice built by the Comprehensive Peace Agreement. The Nuba Mountains require an immediate ceasefire with unconditional humanitarian access, followed by a robust monitoring mission on the ground and resolution of the grievances that caused conflict in the first place.

Thank God, she seems to get that the UN is less than useless. But Obama isn’t going to do her much good either. Or the Nuba people.

And while Michelle’s over there, she seems to have other things on her mind:

Just don’t fast again, Mia. You didn’t like it much last time you tried it.

China says get your own mad African killer, he’s all ours:

Chinese officials have defended a decision to invite Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir to China next week, after criticism from rights groups.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei said his government had every right to invite Mr Bashir, whom China has supported for many years.

The International Criminal Court (ICC) issued an arrest warrant for Mr Bashir for genocide and war crimes in 2009.

But Mr Hong said China was not signed up to the ICC.

“China has reserved its opinion towards the International Criminal Court lawsuit against President Omar al-Bashir,” he said.

“President Bashir has been visiting other countries on a number of occasions and has been warmly welcomed by those countries.”

Since the ICC issued its arrest warrant, Mr Bashir has visited countries including Eritrea, Egypt, Libya and Qatar – none of whom are signed up to the ICC.

So that’s China’s foreign policy: we’re no worse than Eritrea, Egypt, Libya, and Qatar. Whoop-de-doo (and, no, that’s not the name of China’s foreign minister). But then China hasn’t exactly brought morality to bear on their diplomatic relations:

Amnesty International last week urged China to arrest the Sudanese leader.

The organisation’s Catherine Baber said China would become a “safe haven for alleged perpetrators of genocide” if the country did not detain him.

The ICC has charged Mr Bashir with crimes against humanity, war crimes and genocide over alleged atrocities in Sudan’s Darfur region.

China has invested heavily in Sudan, and has frequently voiced support for Mr Bashir’s government.

Speaking of Darfur and China, I saw a different take on the ubiquitous Free Tibet bumper sticker: it said “Tibet Will Be Free”. I couldn’t decide whether that was an escalation or a retreat on the liberation of Tibet. But I’m pretty sure it will be about as effective.

Now this is a state whose independence I can get behind!

South Sudan, which is expected to declare independence in July, has shown interest in forging diplomatic and economic ties with Israel. Members of a diplomatic mission from the African country met Deputy Minister Ayoub Kara at an event in London and extended an invitation to Kara to visit Juba.

The informal meeting took place in London, at the inauguration of a new organization dedicated to the development of Nigeria.

One of the delegations present at the event was that of South Sudan, and the delegation’s head, Suleiman Alhariri, invited Kara to visit his country and “set milestones for establishment of diplomatic and economic ties between the two countries.”

After the Israeli national anthem was played and Dep. Min. Kara spoke, the speakers at the event took turns lavishing praise on the State of Israel, for its leading role in combating the terror and radicalism that endanger the free world. The speakers called for tightening relations with Israel, supporting its diplomatic stands and and protecting the safety of its citizens.

“I am not a Jew and my loyalty to the State of Israel derives from the faith in its right to exist as the state of the Jewish people in the Land of Israel,” Kara – a Druze – said in his speech. “I do not see myself under a regime or entity other than Israel, which is the sole island of sanity in the Middle East, where democracy exists for all citizens, and where citizens’ rights are respected more than in any other place.”