Jewish Russian Telegraph

Harvey Silverglate: University of Delaware Ahead of Putin's Russia In Its Assault on Freedom

Harvey Silverglate:

Forbes.com:

Hooliganism in Moscow, Bullying in Delaware: A Rose by Any Other Name

The American commentariat has been having a field day – and rightfully so – berating the Putin government of the post-Soviet Russian nation for clumsily invoking that old Soviet favorite: the “hooliganism” statute. (After all, it was Soviet dictator Josef Stalin’s secret police chief, Lavrenti Beria, who boasted “Show me the man, and I’ll find you the crime.” Hooliganism indeed has a considerable pedigree in that beleaguered land.)

To briefly recap, for those who may have been asleep these past few weeks: Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, Maria Alyokhina and Yekaterina Samutsevich, three members of “Pussy Riot,” an all-female politically-oriented Russian punk collective, were jailed in March 2012 after staging a flash mob-style performance in Russia’s Cathedral of Christ the Savior. The young women entered the church in neon-colored balaclavas and sang a “punk prayer” titled “Hail Mary, Putin Run!” for 30 seconds before church authorities intervened. At their recent trial, the predictable verdict was announced: the judge sentenced Tolokonnikova, Alyokhina and Samutsevich to two years in a penal colony for “hooliganism motivated by religious hatred.” The young women have been imprisoned since their arrest, time which will count toward the two-year sentence.

he reaction in the American press was immediate: Victor Erofeyev scoldedPutin’s Russia in The New York Times, “Instead of a dialogue with enlightened citizens, the Kremlin offers fear. Russia refuses to be a modern civilized country.” And Cathy Young wrote for the Boston Globe: “Thirty years later in Russia, communism is gone, and God is back — and freedom is squelched in his name, too.” American academics were not far behind the press in theircondemnation of Putin’s transparent use of the notoriously vague hooliganism statute to suppress domestic criticism of his increasingly authoritarian rule. By now, just about everyone—including the US State Department (and Madonna)—has scorned Russia for its actions.

But back here in the States, the University of Delaware has begun using an equally vague handle – denominated a “disruptive conduct” code – to abolish what is increasingly becoming the American analogy to Russia’s “hooliganism,” namely “bullying” or “harassment.” [Read more]

posted by: jrtelegraph

Bill Kristol to President Obama: How Come Rabbis for Obama Include Extreme Group of anti-Israel Activists?

Emergency Committee for Israel:

Letter from ECI Chairman William Kristol to President Obama

Thursday, August 23, 2012

Today ECI released a letter to President Obama on the inclusion of numerous anti-Israel figures in his campaign’s “Rabbis for Obama” group.

Dear Mr. President:

This week, your campaign launched a group called “Rabbis for Obama.” The “Rabbis for Obama,” your campaign says, are “committed to re-electing” you due to your “policy agenda that represents the values of the overwhelming majority of the American Jewish community” and your “deep commitment to the security of the state of Israel.”

Though we have differed with you on many policy matters, we at the Emergency Committee for Israel have taken you at your word as to your basic commitment to Israel’s security. Thus it was particularly shocking to see that your campaign had recruited, and was touting the support of, rabbis who have no commitment to Israel’s security, and whose values are representative of a small and extreme group of anti-Israel activists – and certainly not of the pro-Israel community.

“Rabbis for Obama” includes many leaders of the Boycott, Divest, and Sanction (BDS) Movement, a movement inimical to Israel’s well-being. It includes founders of the pro-Hamas “Fast for Gaza” initiative. It even includes one person who was pleased to dine with Iranian President Ahmadinejad in 2008 and another who says the United States and Israel bring terrorism on themselves. Several members of “Rabbis for Obama” are officials of Jewish Voice for Peace, a radical group that the Anti-Defamation League featured in its list of the “Top 10 Anti-Israel Groups in America.”

Far from demonstrating a “deep commitment to the security of the state of Israel,” these figures have demonstrated a deep hostility to the state of Israel and a deep commitment to demonizing the Jewish state and undermining the U.S.-Israel alliance. We are sure that you will be distressed to discover that your own campaign has included so many of them on the list of “Rabbis for Obama.” We cannot imagine their endorsements are ones you welcome.

This is, as you have pointed out, a particularly perilous time for the people of Israel. We trust you do not want, however inadvertently, to signal in any way a lack of commitment to Israel’s security or a lack of concern for Israel’s well-being. So we look forward to your repudiation of the anti-Israel figures among the “Rabbis for Obama.” And we respectfully suggest that you have an urgent and serious conversation with whoever in your campaign thought it appropriate to trumpet their support as a way of making your case to the pro-Israel community.

Sincerely,

William Kristol [link]

posted by: jrtelegraph

Avigdor Lieberman Talks to Belzer Rebbe

Yeshiva World News:

FM Lieberman Met with Belzer Rebbe Shlita

(Tuesday, August 21st, 2012)

Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman met with the Belzer Rebbe Shlita in a clandestine meeting which took place in the past days.

The buzz in the chareidi media is about a “senior official” who met with the rebbe, which according to Ladaat.net was the foreign minister. The senior state official’s vehicle pulled into the rebbe’s parking lot out of sight of chassidim and Mr. Lieberman was ushered into the rebbe’s home under a veil of secrecy as the prime minister is seeking chareidi approval for a possible assault against Iran’s nuclear program, as seen by recent meetings with Maran HaGaon HaRav Ovadia Yosef Shlita and senior state officials.

The meeting lasted for a “number of hours” and the two were left alone for most of the time, reportedly discussing a possible attack in Iran as well as the drafting of avreichim into the IDF now that the Tal Law has expired.

MK (Yahadut HaTorah) Rav Yisrael Eichler did take part in a portion of the meeting. Eichler is the shaliach of the rebbe in Knesset. [Link]

posted by: jrtelegraph

Eugene Volokh Supports "Meaningful" Punishment to Pussy Riot Band

Eugene Volokh supports "meaningful" punishment to Pussy Riot band.

The Volokh Conspiracy:

Press accounts suggest that the prosecution and sentence were at least partly motivated by the anti-Putin message of the band; to the extent that this is so, the Russian government’s actions deserve the condemnation they’ve been getting.

At the same time, the performers’ actions strike me as a form of trespass: Though the church was open to the public at the time, it was pretty clearly open only to prayer or quiet observation, not for people to use it for their own loud musical performances. It strikes me as quite right to prosecute them for trespass, and a fairly egregious form of trespass at that: The people weren’t just (say) overstaying their welcome at a normal business establishment, but disrupting the quiet of a place that many other people were using for quiet contemplation.

I generally don’t like sentencing enhancements based on an offender’s anti-religious motivation, or on the religious nature of the institution against which the crime occurred, but even American law does often impose such enhancements. And a sentencing enhancement based on the trespass occurring at an institution being used by many people for quiet contemplation — a religious institution, a cemetery, a museum (especially a museum memorializing some solemn event), and so on — strikes me as proper.

[Read more]

posted by: jrtelegraph

Pussy Riot Prayer, And Price of Protest in Putin's Russia

 

The Moscow Times:

Pussy Riot Greets 2-Year Sentence With a Smile

20 August 2012

By Natalia Krainova and Ezekiel Pfeifer

Vladimir Filonov / MT

Maria Alyokhina showing the court’s verdict as she sits in the defendants’ cage with Yekaterina Samutsevich, center, and Nadezhda Tolokonnokova.

Sad smiles broke out on the faces of the three Pussy Riot musicians as the judge announced that each would be jailed for two years for singing a punk song at a Moscow cathedral.

In a trial widely believed to have been directed by the Kremlin, the trio — Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, 22; Maria Alyokhina, 24; and Yekaterina Samutsevich, 30 — were found guilty on Friday of taking part in an unsanctioned performance denouncing President Vladimir Putinat Christ the Savior Cathedral in February.

They were convicted of hooliganism motivated by religious hatred in a case that prompted outrage from the political opposition and supporters around the world.

"The verdict was … handed down from above," defense lawyer Mark Feigin said.

"This is Putin's decision alone," he said glumly."The verdict is a reflection of the political situation that exists in Russia. Lawlessness has become normal." [Read more]

 

Last word of the protesters:

posted by: jrtelegraph

Jews No Longer Mentioned AT Babi Yar Memorial

Arutz 7:

The Simon Wiesenthal Center together with the Russian Holocaust Center of Moscow criticized Russian authorities on Monday for their “revisionist history” regarding the Holocaust mass murder that occurred at Babi Yar in the Ukraine.

Last year, authorities removed a plaque, placed at the mass grave on the outskirts of Rostov in 2006, that identified most of the Nazi victims as Jews.

The current plaque, however, deletes all Jewish references, in an epitaph to "the peaceful citizens of Rostov-on-the-Don and Soviet prisoners of war."

Shimon Samuels, the Wiesenthal Center’s director of international relations, said that the “plaque's identity theft was a form of 'memoricide', twice murdering the victim - in both life and posterity."

Samuels called upon the authorities "to take the opportunity of this 70th anniversary of the greatest Holocaust massacre on Russian territory, compared with the Ukrainian Babi Yar - to promptly return the previous plaque or provide a new truthful narrative." [Read more]

posted by: jrtelegraph

American Antifascist Association of Immigrants from the Former USSR To Mitt Romney

JRT Public Service Announcement:

THANK YOU FOR SUPPORTING JUSTICE

American Antifascist Association of Immigrants from the Former USSR (AAAI)   
30 Washington St. Suite 6A
Brighton, MA 02135
Tel. 617-739-2354/e-mail: iosifll@comcast.net

August 13, 2012

Dear Mr. Romney:

The American Antifascist Association of Immigrants from the Former USSR (AAAI), whose membership includes young people, many Holocaust survivors, victims of Soviet totalitarian persecution, as well as participants in the armed struggle against Hitler's Fascism, would like to express to you our sincerest thanks for your friendly attitude toward Israel and your courageous and honest speech of July 29, 2012 in Jerusalem.  

We firmly support your thesis that all possible measures must be taken to persuade the Iranian regime to abandon its nuclear program. We completely back your statement that Israel has managed to achieve a high degree of economic success thanks to her science, technology and European culture; as distinguished from the neighboring Palestinian Authority, which relies on "a culture of dependency," having developed neither a full-fledged economy nor infrastructure.

Openly hostile terrorist education has arisen there, while Israel continues to provide Palestinians food and goods as a priority. Essentially, Israel is nourishing and healing the terrorists who want to destroy her.

In our view, The Jewish Voice for Peace's accusation that you cast The Palestinian Authority's economy in an unflattering light is both absurd and unfair. Even more ridiculous is the provocative demand of these "Lords of Political Correctness" that you apologize to the offended inhabitants of Gaza. What exactly would you apologize for? By the way, The Jewish Anti-Defamation League of the US has included this organization in its list of top ten anti-Israel organizations. 

The fact that Israel's progress in science and technology has been greater than that of all other countries in the region, not just in the Palestinian Authority, is widely recognized in the civilized world.  The standard of living of the Authority's population exceeds the living standards of most countries in the region. This fact alone gives lie to the false assertion that Israel's influence on The Authority has been exceptionally negative.

You, Mr. Romney, gave your historic speech in Jerusalem, which you recognized as Israel's capital. You did not support The Authority's claim to a state with its capital in East Jerusalem. You did not justify the expectations of the Palestinians, who have gotten used to one American administration after another refusing to recognize the 1980 Israeli law declaring Jerusalem as the "eternal and indivisible capital of Israel", while continuing to call the eastern part of the city "occupied."  

The U.S. government still has not enacted this law passed by Congress; refusing, as before, to move the U.S. embassy from Tel Aviv to the country's true capital -- Jerusalem.  You, Mr. Romney, have made it abundantly clear that this law passed by Congress will be enacted, if you are elected.  We believe you, Mr. Romney, and wish you success from the bottom of our hearts.

                            PRESIDENT                                                            VICE PRESIDENT

                           Iosif Lakhman                                                             Mikhail Khazin

posted by: jrtelegraph

Yoram Ettinger: Test of Israel's Sovereignty

Yoram Ettinger:

Yoram Ettinger“Israel Hayom”, bit.ly/OqqP7C, August 17, 2012 

Maintaining Israel’s independence of action – in face of Iran’s nuclear threat – is consistent with Israeli/Jewish history, with common sense, regional stability and with the enhancement of vital US national security interests.  On the other hand, surrendering Israel’s inalienable right of self-defense would undermine Israel’s sovereignty, erode its posture of deterrence, jeopardize its existence, fuel regional chaos and undermine US interests in the Middle East.

On June 3, 1967, President Johnson pressured Prime Minister Eshkol against preempting the pro-Soviet Egypt-Syria-Jordan military axis, which threatened the survival of moderate Arab regimes (e.g., Saudi Arabia) and Israel’s existence. Johnson advised that “Israel will not be alone unless it decides to go alone. We cannot imagine that [Israel] will make this decision." 

Johnson warned that a unilateral Israeli military preemption could trigger severe regional turmoil, transform Israel into a belligerent state, and preclude assistance by the USA.  Johnson refrained from implementing the 1957 unilateral and multilateral guarantees issued to Israel by Eisenhower.  He insisted that Israel should rely on the diplomatic-multilateral option.

Eshkol defied Johnson.  He preempted the anti-US Arab axis; devastated a clear and present danger to vital Western interests; rescued the House of Saud from the wrath of Nasser; expedited the end of the pro-Soviet Nasser regime and the rise of the pro-US Sadat regime in Egypt; dealt a major setback to Soviet interests; and demonstrated Israel’s capability to snatch the hottest chestnuts out of the fire, without a single US boot on the ground.  He transformed the image of Israel from a national security consumer (a client state) to a national security producer (a strategic ally).  

Eshkol realized that a defiant national security policy – in defense of the Jewish State - yielded a short-term political and diplomatic spat with the US, but resulted in a long-term national security upgrade and dramatically enhanced strategic respect.

From time immemorial, the Jewish People has faced powerful adversities in asserting its sovereignty over the Land of Israel, and by undertaking unilateral national security actions. Conviction-driven defiance of adversity has earned the Jewish People deep respect.

Israel’s contemporary history demonstrates that dramatic national security enhancement requires unilateral actions, in defiance of regional and global powers. [Read more]

posted by: jrtelegraph

Jews Are No Longer Mentioned At The Holocaust Site in Rostov-On-Don

algemeiner:

Hundreds of Russian Jews March for 70th Anniversary of Nazi Massacre 

AUGUST 13, 2012 3:03 PM 

Author: Algemeiner Staff

Monument to the political victims of concentration camps, Rostov-on-Don. Photo: wiki commons

Nearly 1,000 people took part in a march on Sunday in Rostov-On-Don, Russia, to mark the 70th anniversary of the murder of 27,000 people by Nazi forces in August, 1942.

Led by former chief rabbi of Israel Meir Lau and Russian Jewish Congress President Yury Kanner, who wore Star of David armbands in memory of the tens of thousands of Jews who were executed at the Zmievskaya Balka massacre in 1942, participants memorialized the single largest massacre in Russia perpetrated by Nazi forces.

“The unprecedented turnout on today’s march shows the memory of the Jewish genocide in Rostov is shared and preserved by Jews and non-Jews alike,” Kanner said.

Last year, the massacre site became an issue of controversy when local officials removed a plaque noting the murders of thousands of Jews and replaced it with one that memorializes the “peaceful citizens of Rostov-on-Don and Soviet prisoners of war”, without making mention of the Soviet Jews who were killed.  The RJC petitioned a local court to have the original plaque restored.

“The judge paused the trial and requested the written expertise of the Ministry of Culture to testify if this is the place where Jews were executed and if the Nazi’s genocide policy was conducted,” Matvey Chlenov, deputy executive director of the RJC, told The Algemeiner.  “We expect positive results from the experts appointed by the ministry of culture.”

Russian Jews march in Rostov in memory of Holocaust. [link]

posted by: jrtelegraph

Apple Asked To Remove Protocols of the Elders of Zion from iTunes

Our friends are keeping up with times. No matter how good an invention is that would figure out a way how to use against the Jews.

Arutz 7:

The Conference of European Rabbis on Tuesday called on Apple Inc. to remove an application of the Protocols of the Elders of Zion which is being offered for sale on iTunes.

Kol Yisrael radio reported that the application being sold is an Arabic version of the Protocols. The Protocols of the Elders of Zion were originally composed at the end of the 19th century by agents of the Russian secret police in an effort to cast the Jews as the cause of the revolutionary movement in Russia.

The fabrications were also used as a weapon by the perpetrators of the pogroms against the Jewish population. The Protocols claim to expose a secret Jewish conspiracy to take over the world. The writings have been debunked but continue to circulate.

Rabbi Pinchas Goldschmidt, president of the Conference of European Rabbis, was quoted by Kol Yisrael as having said the document should be accessible for purposes of study, but turning it into an available application is dangerous and has no justification.

Information Minister Yuli Edelstein was quoted as having said that just as Apple would not allow the sale of pedophilic or pornographic content, it should also prohibit the display of racist and anti-Semitic content. [Read more]

posted by: jrtelegraph