Michele Bachmann: The (not) Jewish presidential hopeful

As with every US Presidential election, the candidates are after the Jewish vote. (The fact that they'd also quite like to capture the Christian vote, the Muslim vote, the Humanist vote and the votes of the people who believe aliens walk among us, is not the point).

Because we're not even in primary season yet, it's the many, many Republican hopefuls who are clearing their calendars to visit synagogues and community centres, hug Jewish babies and eat as much honey cake as they can stomach.

Chief among them is Michele Bachmann. But apparently, she's already ahead in the race.

Reports the New York Post:

"Mitt Romney is facing a new challenge: He's having trouble raising money from some Jewish donors who mistakenly believe one of his opponents, Michele Bachmann, is Jewish.

Some Jewish donors are telling fund-raisers for Romney, a Mormon, that while they like him, they'd rather open their wallets for the "Jewish candidate," who they don't realize is actually a Lutheran."

Really? Really?

They think she's Jewish?

Ok, she has a passably Jewish first name (not biblical, but common enough in the community - her husband is Marcus, so, likewise).

And yes, her surname has that Yiddish-sounding suffix "mann" - I myself am proof that many Jews also have that honour - and she's bolshy, pushy, and looks like she could cook Friday night dinner for 42 with three different starters and two kinds of chocolate cake to finish. Oh, and she once spent some time on a kibbutz.

But, hello?! She's also what the left wing media might kindly refer to as a kerazzeee bible basher, who talks about the strength she finds in religion on a near-daily basis and whose husband runs a gay conversion clinic. Her maiden name is Amble and she studied at Winona State University, which I'm pretty sure doesn't have an active JSoc.

Without wishing to perpetrate a stereotypical view of Americans as "never knowingly intelligent", seriously guys?

Because if you're still not sure, here's positive proof. No Jew worth their smoked salmon would pronounce chutzpah like this.

Source: http://www.thejc.com/blogs/jennifer-lipman/michele-bachmann-the-not-jewish-presidential-hopeful

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Somerset Guardian published Photos: Somerset pupils dress up as evacuees for a day

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Rampant Redbridge go top

JC MSFL DIVISION ONE
NORSTAR A 1 REDBRIDGE JEWISH CARE B 3

Two more goals from the deadly Dan Orgel helped Redbridge B leapfrog Norstar to finish the weekend top of the table.

The influential Jamie Cooper also found the net as Stirling Kay's men extended their unbeaten league run in stylish fashion in Wembley.

This really was a very good contest, with both teams being very young and determined to get the ball down and play through the midfield.

Redbridge took a early lead when Orgel fired in from 25 yards - a great strike.

After this, Norstar played some good football and were looking the better team, until Jamie Cooper beat two players and smashed a unstoppable shot into the top corner from 40 yards.

Then just before half time, RJC keeper Ollie Brooks produced a magnificent one-handed save a la Gorden Banks - going the wrong way twisted his body and some how got down to the foot of the post and finger tipped it away.

In second half, Norstar put the pressure on, and got there reward with a deflected shot from long range. They went close twice again, hitting the bar.

However, with Scott Kay and Greg Lautman, on his debut, excellent in the centre of defence, Norstar's saw lots of the ball and their best chances came from long range or from set-pieces.

Then with Redbridge down to 10 men for the last 20 minutes, they Redbridge broke away and Orgel, who had a outstanding game, beat three men and put the game out of reach.

Delighted RJC boss Stirling Kay told JC Sport: "We showed another side of our character today. We were under presure but dug in and worked for each other to get a very hard three points."

Norstar's goal came through Sam Isaacs.

Phil Peters, the Norstar manager, told JC Sport: "Looks like Sterling summed things up pretty well. We were the better team for much of the match but once again the woodwork got the better of us and we couldn't take our chances in the second half.

"Redbridge have some fabulous players and all three of their goals were special - but we gave them too much time on the ball and it wasn't until we were 2-0 down that we started playing our best football.

"We were missing a lot of players but it's frustrating to have lost playing so well, rather than our defeat to Neasden last week where we deserved it.

"Redbridge are easily the best team we've played this season but we're already looking forward to the return game and an opportunity to seek our revenge."

Source: http://www.thejc.com/sport/sport-news/59147/rampant-redbridge-go-top

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Gilad Shalit

Within hours of the news breaking that a deal has been done to secure the release of Gilad Shalit, the debate about whether it is proper to exchange hundreds of Palestinian prisoners for the sake of one Israeli soldier has re-erupted.

Israel has always held to the tenet that it will do anything and pay a very high price for its citizens, something it has demonstrated over and over again. Those who have suffered at the hands of terrorists are, understandably, unhappy about the swap: a former rabbi in the IDF has warned today that those who are being released will slide back into their old haunts and habits immediately, the better to wreak further havoc on Israel.

I was very struck by the comment on one website in which someone wrote that he did not know how the Shalit family would live with themselves when the next inevitable act of terrorism was committed by someone who had been released so that their son could be free. But who can judge the Shalit family in that way? Who can imagine the pain and suffering undergone by the family in the last five years? And who among us can comprehend the lonely, frightening situation of Gilad himself, never knowing if the next knock on the door was someone coming to kill him?

There is no right and wrong answer to this agony, except to be grateful that Gilad Shalit's long nightmare may indeed be coming to an end. May such a nightmare not be repeated by any other Israeli soldier.

Source: http://www.thejc.com/blogs/jenni-frazer/gilad-shalit

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South Wales Evening Post published Graphic cartoon found among indecent images of children

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Kirtland Hornets kept state title game in their sights

Kirtland's Zach Santo dives into the end zone for a touchdown as Bucyrus Wynford's Nate Brown tries to push him out in the second quarter of play in the Division V State Semifinals Friday, November 25, 2011 in Canton. Kirtland won the game 42-0. - (Joshua Gunter, The Plain Dealer)

"We've been thinking about this since our freshman year," said senior standout Christian Hauber following Kirtland's 42-0 domination of Bucyrus Wynford that put the Hornets into next Friday's Division V state championship game. "There was never a doubt in our minds that we would have a great chance to be here."

Source: http://highschoolsports.cleveland.com/news/article/196301942593665183

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Bibi the misunderstood PM

In a sense, it is only fitting that the Prime Minister of the world's most misunderstood country should himself be a much misunderstood man. Benjamin Netanyahu is routinely described as the hardest of hardliners, a man utterly opposed to conciliation, and a warmonger. The trouble is, none of these anti-Netanyahu cliches are supported by the facts.

It is not just Israel's opponents who paint him thus. Many Israelis and supporters of Israel would have us believe that he is a one-man obstacle to Middle East peace. If only he would retire from the political scene, these people seem to believe, the entire region could be instantly transformed into a harmonious idyll, envied even by Switzerland for the eternal serenity of its fluffy, universally-affectionate tribes.

Let's tackle that "warmonger" allegation first. Netanyahu, who is in his second term, is one of very few leaders in Israel's history not to have presided over a war. Not even Golda Meir, considered comparatively doveish by many around the world, could make the same claim. This, despite Netanyahu ruling during a time of intensifying threats and a series of bloodthirsty attacks from several borders. Likewise, if he is a hardliner, disinterested in peace or negotiation, then he has a mighty strange way of showing it.

During his first term, he personally negotiated with Yasir Arafat. To even meet Arafat - perhaps Israel's most bloodthirsty enemy ever - is not the act of a man disinterested in achieving peace.

But meet Arafat he did, first at the Erez checkpoint in Gaza and later in Washington DC where, against his personal instincts, he shook his hand on the White House lawn, just as Yitzhak Rabin had done. These were not empty gestures. In January 1997, Bibi handed most of Hebron to the Palestinians, and the following year he signed the Wye River peace memorandum.

When he became Prime Minister again in 2009, he continued where he had left off, making concessions, some of them nothing short of historic. He made it clear from the start that he was ready to negotiate with any Arab leader and that he endorsed a Palestinian state alongside Israel.

Within months, he was back at the White House, negotiating with a Palestinian leader - this time Mahmoud Abbas.

Netanyahu has removed many West Bank checkpoints, a move that has directly contributed to the dramatic upturn in the Palestinian economy. He also became the first Prime Minister in Israel's history to order a freeze in settlement construction.

These facts speak for themselves, yet there is no more powerful rebuttal of claims that Netanyahu is disinterested in negotiation than the welcome sight of Gilad Shalit's return to Israeli soil. The PM was teased when he was pictured smiling in the background as Gilad was reunited with his father Noam. However, it was Netanyahu's negotiations - with Hamas of all people - that took Gilad home.

He is not without faults. For instance, his acceleration of settlement construction in response to the Palestinians securing membership at UNESCO was childish and divisive. It damaged Israel's standing unnecessarily, especially among those it can least afford to lose: the unaligned voices of quiet reason, whose goodwill is invaluable when the going gets tough.

The going could get tougher than ever if Netanyahu orders military action against Iran's nuclear programme. The spectre of Iran's reprisal including swift, large-scale terror attacks in Western cities is real.

Sadly, we know that in such a scenario many would choose to blame Israel, not the terrorists. At that stage, those Israel supporters who have stood by or even co-conspired while an increasingly unfair image was constructed of Israel's current Prime Minister, might wish they had acted otherwise.

The image of a country's leader has a huge bearing on how the country itself is perceived. Look at America's international standing during George W Bush's presidency.

The facts support a fairer perception of Netanyahu. Misunderstood and rarely given credit for the painful concessions he has made, he really is Israel personified. His is a uniquely difficult job. All I am saying is, give Bibi a chance.

Source: http://www.thejc.com/comment-and-debate/comment/59128/bibi-misunderstood-pm

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