What is going on with the Israeli left and rape???

First was the article below about the research paper, written by a graduate student named Tal Nitzan, that tried to paint the Israeli military as "racists" because they didn't rape the women of the enemy.

Now comes this stunning story from the Holy Land:

Haaretz Editor Asked US Secretary of State to "Rape" Israel
Unfortunately, the headline is not a joke.

Shameful, stunning, horrible, disgusting...words I can't say in print reflect my feelings about the article, the person it's about and the entire left-wing surrender monkeys who moral equate self-defense and murder. From where I come from, they used to call that sedition. Unfortunately, in the new world order of left-wing extremism, what used to be traitorous is now respected and accepted.

Is it any wonder why the world is so screwed up?

This just makes me sick. And it should make you angry as well. It's about time we stopped sitting on our asses and letting these half-brained morons set policy for us all. I truly believe the extreme liberalism of the 21st century can and will be the undoing - not just of Israel - but of America as well.

And it's already started.

File this one under "Israel's demise from within."

In an article published by Arutz Sheva, the Hebrew University in Jerusalem awarded a prize to a graduate student for an essay in which the she claims that Israel is abusing and oppressing Palestinians.

While that isn't surprising, considering that Hebrew U. is left-wing, liberal and anti-Zionist, what IS shocking is the reason touted by the paper:

The proof is that Israel's military is not raping Arab women.

That's right. This so-called "researcher" deduced that since the IDF has refrained from sexually assaulting the women of the enemy, they must be racists.

The research paper, written by a graduate student named Tal Nitzan, has now been published by the Hebrew University's "Shaine Center," at the enthusiastic recommendation of a Hebrew University professors' committee headed by Dr. Zali Gurevitch.

The author suggests that Arab women are not raped by the military because of a feeling of ethnic superiority. Unlike in many other wars and conflicts where subjugation is - I suppose - the norm, Nitzan can only assume that there isn't any of the normal "spoils" of war because the Arabs are racially inferior, and therefore undesirable.

It pains me to no end that someone who lives in the land of our forefathers, a place of great holiness and a country that - time after time - has done everything it can (often at a major loss of Jewish life) to avoid innocent casualties on both sides of the war, would be so shallow and have such twisted logic.

It apparently never occurred to her that the Israeli military believes in answering to a higher authority than savages. Clearly - and I fault not only her parents, but the entire education system in Israel who no longer teach of common sense, but of moral equivalency between those who worship life and those who worship death - she has not learned of the term "Torah values."

I fear for her children and also all the others whose lives are being led to slaughter by the left-wing, defeatist attitudes of Israeli academia. To even consider this thesis as anything short of an insane rant by a truly deranged mind is problematic of the entire academic field.

Unfortunately, in the world of academia - both in Israel and in America - it's become all to often the norm. The saying goes, "A mind is a terrible thing to waste." Unfortunately, too many minds are being sacrificed at the alter of liberalism.

Sometimes in the night I feel it
Near as my next breath and yet untouchable
Silently the past comes stealing like the taste of some forbidden sweet
Along the walls in shadowed rafters
Moving like a thought through haunted atmospheres
Muted cries and echoed laughter
Banished dreams that never sank in sleep
Lost in love and found in reason
Questions that the mind can find no answers for
Ghostly eyes conspire treason as they gather just outside the door
And every ghost that calls upon us brings another measure in the mystery
Death is there to keep us honest and constantly remind us we are free

Down the ancient corridors, through the gates of time
Run the ghosts of days that we've left behind
Down the ancient corridors, through the gates of time
Run the ghosts of dreams that we left behind

Sometimes in the night I feel it
Near as my next breath and yet untouchable
Silently the past comes stealing like the taste of some forbidden sweet
And every ghost that calls upon us brings another measure in the mystery
Death is there to keep us honest and constantly remind us we are free
Down the ancient corridors and through the gates of time
Run the ghosts of days that we've left behind
Down the ancient corridors and through the gates of time
Run the ghosts of dreams that we left behind

Goodbye dear friend. May the trail rise up to meet you as you journey ever on...

Long road for the Eagles

It is impossible to listen to any music by Don Henley without looking for the political. From his earliest solo work, the masterful I Can’t Stand Still, which featured the blistering Them and Us, through each of his subsequent recordings. Furthermore, it is equally impossible to listen to anything written by Glenn Frey’s solo career without picturing flamingos, art deco clothes and Miami Vice.

In their latest recording, Long Road Out of Eden, Henley and Frey – the two original members of the Eagles – return to their formulaic ways in a not-so-unpleasant manner.

Don Henley, older, wiser, is clearly at a point in life where even he understands that the world exists in spite of his preaching of gloom and doom. While he still manages a swipe or to at the wastefulness and, of course, ignorance of Middle America, he does so in a much more resolved way. His line “light fading and the fog is getting thicker”, from the song Frail Grasp of the Big Picture takes us through his fears of the future, but never so close to the point of no return.

His other expertise is touching on the subject of lost love and loneliness. In the song, Waiting in the Weeds, he croons:

“I've been biding time with the crows and sparrows, while peacocks prance and strut up on the stage. If finding love is just a dance, proximity and chance, you will excuse me if I skip the masquerade.”

This is Henley at his best.

However, Henley still is a master lyricist – whether he’s filled with anger, sorrow, rage or melancholy, he can still make an epic song. On this album, that song is the title track. Instead of taking on “bubble-headed bleach blondes”, Ronald Reagan or whose fault it is that Johnny can’t read, he paints an almost searing portrait of a homesick soldier in Iraq, fighting for his life while his country feasts on barbeques and pecan pie, and its leaders are bloated with entitlement, loaded on propaganda. The song quickly leads into the instrumental track; I Dreamed There Was No War. Written by Frey, who tries to invoke the Vietnam era in it’s mournful sound.

Here also, however, instead of fighting to change America, or the world for that matter, Henley seems to have accepted what is and the fact that after 35 years in the music business, there not a damn thing he can do about it.

******************

As a member of the Eagles, Glenn Frey went from being the voice of the band’s origins (Take it Easy, Peaceful Easy Feeling) to often living in the shadow of Henley’s incredible lyrical prowess. However, Long Road is also an opportunity for Frey to regain some stature in the band. Unfortunately, by relying too much on co-songwriter Jack Tempchin, he only reaches back to the early – to mid 80’s. While that was a time of great chart success, it was a far weaker period for his songwriting. It is curious to me why, after all this time, he would once again team up with Tempchin. While the duo did ride the charts with You Belong to the City, Smuggler’s Blues and The One You Love, the rest of the CD seems to get its energy from the earlier Eagles style of country-fried rock and roll. To me, Frey and Tempchin’s songs just don’t seem to fit.

On the final track, Frey seems to understand his, and the bands relevance.

The time we shared went by so fast, just like a dream, we knew it couldn't last. But I'd do it all again, If I could, somehow. But I must be leavin' soon; it’s your world now.

******************

Of course, with all Eagles recordings, the other members have their moments to shine as well. Joe Walsh has always that more humorous touch and does a great job on his second song, Last Good Time in Town. His first track, Guilty of the Crime, an old Frankie Miller tune, will probably be a favorite live song and mixes well with the country style of the album.

The other member (since the other original member, Don Felder, was fired last year) is Timothy B. Schmitt. Schmitt may be the luckiest man in the music industry. Signed on to replace Randy Meisner after Hotel California, his sole contribution to the band was the top ten hit, I Can’t Tell You Why. Yet, since he was a band member when they took their haitus (as Henley said when they first appeared in the Hell Freezes Over Tour, “for the record, we never broke up. We just took a 14-year vacation), he continued to be a member and a contributor.

On Long Road, Schmitt does some justice on Paul Carrack’s I Don't Want To Hear Anymore, although to me, it sounds too much like a Mike+The Mechanics song (not surprising as he was with that band). However, he more than makes up for it on Do Something, which of instead of mourning the gloom and doom, seeks to lift you up from it all.

******************

The Eagles have come a long, long way from standing on a corner in Winslow, Arizona. Even with numerous personnel changes, they have always stayed with the formula that has served them so well over the years. Their harmonies have never sounded better and they still make an enjoyable recording. If you were hoping for the next Hotel California, this is not it. This isn’t another Long Run either. Instead, what you have is a glimpse of the past and a tribute to the present. There is nothing ground-shaking here and like a number of other 70’s bands who have recorded anew, this isn’t the beginning of any new chapter.

What I gained from listening to Long Road Out Of Eden is that sometimes it’s good to visit old friends – even if it’s just to say goodbye.

Best songs: Long Road Out of Eden, Waiting in the Weeds
Worst song: Fast Company

Picture of the Year!

Because nothing says Chanukah like a boneless spiral ham!

Courtesy of Nancy Kay Shapiro