Peace partners Democratic Iran and war blighted Syria continue to dominate international news

June 19th, 2013 by Cornelius Hamelberg

I’m still experiencing major problems with the formatting etc in my blog!

Swedish News

Sweden | EuropeNews

Daily Alert !

News from Israel

United with Israel

Jerusalem Center For Public Affairs (some hot topics)

FrontP age Magazine

Middle East Forum

Israel Forum

Atlas Shrugs …

US successfully tests bunker buster bomb

Real Clear Politics

From August, 2009: Do you remember this ?

The issue of Iran going for the bomb will simply not go away unless there is the kind of transparency which will relieve the IAEA of all suspicions. As Chief Aluko usually says, and there you have it.

There’s much else happening in the world but the issue that now looms large over the apocalyptic horizon and looms even larger than than the coming of the anti-Christ ( who says that the so called Prophet Jesus did not die on the cross and therefore did not resurrect) is the possibility of some military strikes on Iranian nuclear sites with bunker-busting bombs (since Brother Obama does not want to go down in the history of infamy as the man who gave Iran the bomb) and we don’t have to speculate or be suspicious that such strikes would throw the whole wider region up into flames.

An important assessment : The Foreign Policy Impact of Iran’s Presidential Election

The separate issue of Iran going nuclear is gradually being conflated with the issue of Iran’s support for Syria and Iran’s support of Hezbollah who are also fighting for their survival, in Syria. The connections between Iran’s Shia Islam regime and Syria’s Shia Alawite regime will merge even further – as Syria which was never a part of the old Persian Empire is gradually now becoming an extension of Iran’s new Shia Islamic Empire. How does Hamas respond to all this? Hamas says that Hezbollah should leave Syria alone to fight for herself and that Hezbollah should concentrate on fighting Israel.

On this wider issue - in which Iran incorporates their staunchest ally in the region SYRIA which despite still being like Saddam’s a Baathist regime under Hafez al-Assad did not ally itself with the Butcher of Baghdad when he declared war on Iran, Jane, as always, has some intelligence of her own:

Some of Jane’s latest

Some more: Honest Reporting

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Does he have a chance?

June 18th, 2013 by Cornelius Hamelberg

Peace on earth and goodwill to all men? The Iranian president elect versus the Iranian nuclear bomb:

What are his chances?

Kamul Inter

Iranian
election results

L’heure C’est l’heure

As good a place as any to take a cue about the new Iranian President: Sweden’s Foreign Minister Carl Bildt on the new Iranian president

Those who have no insight into the al-ghaib say,”Better the devil you know than the devil you don’t know”. At least with the old devil, you knew where you had him, since the villain did not mince his words about his prayer and intention of wiping out his enemy”the Zionist entity” off the world map.

You hardly hear the former devil’s name mentioned anymore – and that means that of him it can be said, “Good riddance!”

The question that Jerusalem is asking is, “But the new Iranian president elect, unlike Ahmadinejad, a Mullah, is he in any way at all against the idea of Iran achieving a nuclear bomb?”

The answer to that question is another question: Why on earth would he or should he be against the Islamic Republic possessing a nuclear bomb or two when “the Zionist entity” itself has more than two nuclear warheads? Whatever happened to equal rights?

Well, here is some insight:

Who Brought Iran Close to a Nuclear Bomb? The Focal Point of Rowhani’s and Jalili’s Election Propaganda

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One Iran, two Syria

June 17th, 2013 by Cornelius Hamelberg

One Iran, two Syria …

Swedish News

Sweden | EuropeNews

Daily Alert !

News from Israel

United with Israel

Jerusalem Center For Public Affairs (some hot topics)

FrontP age Magazine

Middle East Forum

Israel Forum

Atlas Shrugs …

US successfully tests bunker buster bomb

Real Clear Politics

Might as well update this important snippet of history now that it’s available in an audio visual format:

BBC HARDtalk – Ivo Daalder – United States Permanent Representative to NATO (13/6/13)

Also good to have this understanding when Russia is also not happy about the prospect of the US & Friends arming the rebels to fight against Assad and military:

Moscow sets up Russian Golan brigade, warns Israel Sunnis plus al Qaeda are bigger threat than Assad

Heavy Pressure Led to Decision by Obama on Syrian Arms

There’s this joke that“In 1980 during the Iran-Iraq War, a rabbi was asked by a journalist what he thought about the war. He answered, “We wish both sides success!”

First of all, from me it‘s hearty congratulations to Mullah Hassan Rouhani – hearty congratulations and not tentative congratulations, since Mullahs such as Hassan Rouhani should be encouraged. Congratulations too to Iranian Democracy such as it is with the Supreme Council of the Mullahs having the final decisions as to who is qualified to contest an Iranian presidential election and who is not (not exactly the Westminster model – or the United States White House model either). And congratulations and long live all the good people of the Revolutionary Islamic Republic of Iran. It is my dua that with the fulfillment of good & peaceful intentions Mullah Rouhani will someday take a sip at the pool of al kawthar

The world observed that there was a high voter turnout, a higher turnout than what we are used to seeing in most US presidential elections, with 72% of the Iranian electorate out to fulfill their civic responsibility in deciding their own future –although in Islam there are two futures (

Qadar

) that which is written and that which can be positively affected by giving in charity ( sadaqah) and other good deeds – so, as qadr one turned out Hassan Rouhani won and was permitted to win in a field of formidable rivals such as the Mayor of Tehran who came a miserable second with about 18% of the votes cast.

The latest breaking news about the (make no mistake about it) wily Rouhani: The Kitman & taqiyya Mullah Rohani says Iran is ready to show ‘greater transparency’ on nuclear program

The beginning of wisdom is the fear of the Almighty:

Khamenei Asks Israel Its Terms for Calling off Nuclear Strike

Syria: How times have changed: Long after the guilty Saul’s change of heart and conversion to being the apostle of the resurrected Jesus whose apparition he thought he beheld on the road to Damascus, long after Muawiyah whose headquarters was Syria , fast forwardto Eli Cohen’s fate at the hands of dada Hafez al-Assad and later – his foreign minister Farouk al-Shara holding up a wanted photo of Yitzhak Shamir – at a time when it was anathema to ever breathe the word “Israel” in any part of Syria without incurring lethal repercussions even sudden death. Fast forward to the now and the question why, when and how did the rebellion against the Basher al-Assad regime begin? Lets save time by skipping the question and answer session as the utter destruction of Syria proceeds until such a time when both sides the warring factions) are completely exhausted , the main cities reduced to rubble at which time a political arrangement will be formulated and to which the warring parties will then append their signatures to a peace treaty where it is written, “Sign here”. So, what was all the bloodshed and destruction about? Who is dying and who is being killed? Muslims.

All this could come to pass within the next two years, if we are not careful, on the one side Syria aided by their main international allies & faithful weapons suppliers Russia and Iran, on the other side, the US, the Sunnis, al-Qaeda and other rebel partners praying to Allah that the great Satan should supply them with weapons with which to wipe out other Muslims who they believe are standing in their way of making Syria a paradise on earth for its people. Probably to set up Damascus as the headquarters of the new caliphate.

If Saddam Hussein (who imposed that war on Iran) if he was still the strongman in Iraq and still kicking ass, there’s little doubt that he would be fighting side by side with the rebels, with al Qaeda and the other US allies who presently cherish the same goals and that Saddam would certainly be resorting to his chemical arsenal as he did to the Kurdish people of Halabja, this time extending his chemical warfare to burning and torturing Assad and his men, women and children…

The further destruction of Syria will only be prevented by an early political solution starting with an immediate call for a ceasefire– before both sides have competed the implosion of a once stable dictatorship and before that war spills over to the Golan and beyond, inevitably, since in essence Syria has always looked upon Palestine as but a province of Syria, and as the pals now tell us,

“All of Israel is occupied Palestine” and of course, by “all”they mean All.

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Husby revisited

June 17th, 2013 by Cornelius Hamelberg

A few contrasting views about the Husby Riots

Just now Martin Amis is on BBC Hardtalk and he’ll be talking about “dark energy”

I’ll watch the programme later tonight, at 2230hrs

There’s been so much talk, especially in the islamophobic media which in its eagerness to demonise Muslims once again, has erroneously identified the Husby riots as ”Muslim riots” – as if all the rioters and hooligans who were setting fires to cars were all shouting “Allahu Akbar!”

What is not so unexpected is that the agents of the anti-Islam propaganda have been mostly non-Muslims and the islamophobic reporting has mostly been done by people who were far away from the scene of the action, sometimes domiciled in other countries – relying on their own wishful thinking and the lurid figments of their imagination in wholly apportioning blame – all blame – on innocent Muslim youths.

On Sunday evening (Swedish time, it was still hot and sunny), I attended a Muslim teach-in in one of the rooms on the first floor of Kista träff between 1700hrs and 18.15. Kista is the station before Husby and to be sure many of the exemplary young Muslim men who attended the lecture – and they do so regularly - every Sunday at the same time – many of them come from Husby and nearby neighbourhoods. After the lecture they did their Azan and Asr prayer whilst I took the tube to a very calm Husby – no evidence that this was the war zone that the hysterical media had been talking about – no bombed out houses in sight - we have yet to witness and brace ourselves for anything on the scale of what’s going on in Turkey’s Taksim Square at the moment. Some of the prophets of doom say that such a day will surely be coming to Stockholmo, Gothenburg and Malmö – running street gun & bomb battles between irate youth and police – so we had all better adopt the Baden Powell Boy Scouts motto: Be prepared!

Once in Husby I headed straight for the main halal shop where I met a former Kurdish colleague and moved on to another food store just round the corner and that’s where I bought some broccoli – no sign of any burnt- up cars or ash and smoke or any burnt- down charred remains of cars anywhere, scarring the Husby landscape. It was smiling aslamalaikum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuhu faces, all shalom and peaceful. Cool evening breeze
circulating in the village square

There were about 120 people in the lecture room and far from any radicalising or militant Islamic preaching, the person who did the teaching spoke beautifully of the kinds of behaviour – adab - befitting anyone claiming to be a Muslim, the social responsibilities that Muslims have to themselves and to each other and to others in our law abiding Swedish society.

Here are the contrasting views:

Muslim riots in Husby

Husby
Muslim Riots

Sweden’s problem is not Islam,
multiculturalism.

With reference to multiculturalism, I have kept the company of some of the ideas put
forward by Chief Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks
and Lord Bhiku Parekh –and although
these two
gentlemen live in Merry England to a great extent what they say is also
applicable to Moder Svea…

Rethinking Multiculturalism

The future of multi-ethnic Britain

Elsewhere, one of our main problems is that some
of us continue to live in denial even
when the unhappy truth is confronting us face to face:

When Muslims kill in the name of
Islam—as in London,
as in Boston—why do the media and many Muslims try to deny it?

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Early Morning musing

June 14th, 2013 by Cornelius Hamelberg

Of late there’s been so much talk about NATO (should Sweden join? One love ? Should RUSSIA who “lacks the capability to wipe out Sweden” – should they also join NATO?

Am I crazy?

It’s up to you to decide whether I’m crazy or not crazy, after all the late Gaddafi invited Israel to join the Arab League. Well, you remember that Ronald Regan once called him a “Mad dog” when it was left up to the Californian cowboy Re-gun to decide if he himself was feeling hazy or not so hazy.

To be or not to be crazy, that’s often the question. Maybe, everybody should join NATO. World without end, A-men…

I’ve listened a lot to Anders Fogh Rasmussen mostly about Libya and Afghanistan, inevitably thinking “He’s a Scandinavian from down south Denmark” just as – pleasant surprise – listening to a finely tuned Ivo Daalder on BBC Hardtalk last night – also pleasantly aware that he was born in the Netherlands. I was impressed, and you can be too if you listen in here, sharper than a Wilkinson razor : Ivo Daalder June 13

Therefore, apart from taking the occasional dip into Foreign Affairs, I’m presently listening to more of what he has been saying elsewhere, here : Ivo Daalder

Also listened to a cautious General Wesley Clark last night, after the Shah of Iran’s son was rudely interrupted on CNN, in the Middle of his telling us what he thought of Iran’s presidential elections which are under way today – as if it’s not a foregone conclusion that nice guy Hassan Rouhani is going to win hands down – so as to present the pleasant face of the Revolution to the outside world and to give the gullible international community some false hope and – to buy the nuclear Mahdists more time – as the Revolutionary Republic hastens forward with enrichment under the guidance of their Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Khamenei – the choice is between the bomb and paradise and it looks like the Mullahs want both bomb and varginia. Let the poor young people wait; fixing the economy can come later – after the bomb and the houris in Jannah – and just in case you erroneously believe that feeble old ayatollahs should not or could not possibly be interested in the houris of paradise :They also want to dip the wick.

The Shah of Iran’s’ son was interrupted by BREAKING NEWS that the US had decided that Assad’s Syria has used Chemical weapons on his own people and that the US was therefore going to give some support to the rebels – but the breaking news fell short of giving details about the extent of that support , fearing as they do that the powerful weapons that they would like to supply could fall into wrong hands: the hands of the al-Qaeda and allies who are fighting to overthrow the Alawite regime – although at this stage we are assured that there will be “no boots on the ground” – the US support shall not go that far – at least not yet.

Such thinking is not far from Carl Bildt’s either. Mr. Bildt would like to keep our boys and girls in uniform, out of harm’s way : No Swedish boots on the ground in Syria and he’s mulling over the matter of peace-keeping Swedish boots on the ground with regard to The Golan.

Ditto his interlocutor Urban Ahlin : NO Swedish boots on the ground, s’il vous plaît och
tack så mycket…

A reassuring message before the start of this Sabbath:

Chief Rabbi: atheism has failed. Only religion can defeat the new barbarians

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This world in which we live

June 13th, 2013 by Cornelius Hamelberg

Dear Chidi,

Re – “Situations in religion here do not lend credence to supposed situations in the hereafter.“

Just a short thought:

Some people say that this world is hell.

Does Chidi expect as above, so below – the same as vis-versa? Or that terrorism will be rewarded with paradise ? Who has promised that? Given the psychological hedonism of the world in which we live, Heaven/ the Hereafter is a fascinating idea not least, the intellectual pleasure and spiritual rewards of studying the Torah at the feet of the Throne of Glory. In the summer of 1998 I got a foretaste of this at the Chabad House in Wimbledon, studying Parashat Chukat which is the Torah portion of the Red Heifer , at the round table with Rabbi Nissan Dovid Dubov.

Dante’s hell and the more prosaic Gehinnom are also fascinating ideas impacting on some believers as a deterrent to doing evil /sinful action – the Roman Catholics even have a brilliant idea called purgatory, a resting place of transition for the sinful who must suffer there before transiting to heaven above. Are you still wondering why it’s called “ the missionary position”, Chidi ?

Chapter 3 of Joyce’s “ Portrait of an Artist as a Young man” should instruct those liars who did not attend any catholic school and were consequently not choir or altar boys – or indeed paedophilia objects, as to what to expect, dear Chidi of the awakening, Chidi man of the Igbo Cultural Renaissance, early first rider of the apocalypse…

“Thou shalt not kill; but needst not strive / Officiously to keep alive” ?

In Judaism, there’s reverence for life, even pikuach nefesh.

I know little of what Judaism says about the Hereafter. I have not studied much about such matters, but I am slightly more familiar with the non-violent work in progress known as Tikkun Olam

Right now at the top of the mind is the news that’s just coming in, of Swedish troops to the Golan

Russia still wants to place troops on Golan

UN report says 93,000 killed in Syrian conflict

With you as the addressee, Boko Haram and the so called religion of peace is at the top of the situation agenda down there on Nigeria’s mother earth and the paradox here is that just like the al-Qaeda Jihadists, the Boko Haram people entertain great expectations and no doubt, flying without wings, would like to ascend to “the brightest heaven of invention”, to a peaceful love life in the Islamic paradise, free from all acts of wanton terrorism, and with lots of dark-eyed virgin women up there, waiting to serve all their sexual needs. Indeed, the Boko people and allies must thus be highly motivated, probably believing with all their hearts that they are also soon on the way to the paradise of the 72 virgins each, as a reward for all the iniquities they have committed down here on the planet earth. What is not yet clear is whether or not there will be equal rights / gender equality in that paradise – whether the women who wear hijab and burqa here on planet earth will also be entitled to be entertained or loved by 72 virgin men each, in the dimension called paradise, and one cannot help but wonder about the population increase up there in the infinite reality of Cleopatra’s “infinite variety”

“And on their promises of paradise

You will not hear a laugh” (The Gates of Eden)

If the pious among the Muslims claim that the impious acts of the Boko people deserve nothing but the everlasting fires of jahannam what would be the basis of their rebuttals?

A safe conclusion is that they may have chosen the wrong religion : Valhalla would have been a better destination because there,at least they can continue to fight all day, pick up their swords first thing in the morning and start fighting, start fighting “ the kuffar”

I have said my little piece, others are free to say theirs instead of bridling at the seams.

The above was a short and by no means complete thought, as in Themba Feza…

A few more items (some nauseous) about the sociology of some religious situations in the here and now, on this side of the globe:

Swedish News

Sweden | EuropeNews

“Islam versus Europe”

Egyptian scientists: 40 million Muslims living on welfare in the West

Europe’s meltdown: a cautionary tale

“What Choice Do We Have?”

Now Stockholm has caught up with Malmo ( With regard to the growth of parallel societies, a competent sociologist had better take a closer look into this phenomenon.

“So long as there is this book there will be no peace in the world” ?

The religion of peace strikes again

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Cheers to Jan Björklund !

June 13th, 2013 by Cornelius Hamelberg

Klarspråk is a Swedish expression which means clarity of expression, clear language – a Swedish virtue, devoutly to be held. Another virtue is “att prata / tala till punkt” – to talk to the point (preferably without being interrupted) and talking to the point is a special demand placed on politicians of every stripe, many of whom can be as slippery as the proverbial eel, just as lawyers are often said to be liars.

My younger brother Harold has advised me to desist from saying “ unbelievable” or “I don’t believe it” – because someone is liable to ask politely, “ You mean I’m not telling the truth?”

Like a young lady who asked the other day, “Am i a bad person?”

Cd be “You do good all day, then you do wrong all night ” ?

In Sweden just now Jan Björklund has been crowned the party leader who leads all the others when it comes to CLARITY – clarity in what he is communicating. In other words he is not guilty of shooting from both sides (the left side and the right side) of his mouth – like some of the others, and we cannot but admire the man who has survived the turmoil and turbulence of the everlasting school debates, debates about the purpose, meaning and value of education, survived the heated polemics of dissatisfaction, survived the recriminations of the pundits, the besserwisser types among both the unqualified and the qualified but weakly paid teachers, the irate parents of children who are not doing well at school, the almost eternal problem of indiscipline in schools (and nota bene that unlike John Major, Major Björklund is a former military man), survived the Marxist objections to the profit motive accounting for private schools cropping up like mushrooms (or measles) all over the country thus increasing the range of choice of course when it comes to both quality and quantity; nor should we forget that Göran Persson once held the portfolio of Minister of Education during which time all the myriads of problems in that department were not and could not be cleared up, not even with sound advisers like Eric Nilsson who talked to us once about the Social Democrat philosophy of helping the weak (with less emphasis on “the weakly paid”)

There is hardly going to be any agreement from the Green- Red opposition about Jan Björklund’s coronation – but that’s the nature of political reality – some of the other party leaders want to play Jesus but do not want to be crucified for saying the things that they say or for ambiguity or for evasiveness or for shooting from both sides of their mouths or for the way that they formulate their message, or for not fulfilling their Messianic promises or for not accomplishing the work of the Messiah. As John the Baptiser asked him (Jesus) before he (John himself) lost his head to Salome, “ Tell us clearly now, are you the Messiah ?”

Later on he was asked “ If you are the Messiah, give us a sign!” – and his answer?

His answer

Are you the Messiah ?

I guess that’s the kind of question that is being put to Stefan Löfven. If you ask someone like Omar Mustafa, he’ll probably have his own unique answer to that question although after two terms in the wilderness or in the grave if you like, it’s the sort of question that will ultimately only be answered on election day, which thankfully is not going to be conducted on Good Friday or on the Sabbath – and the answer will be verified if the whole nation witnesses the resurrection of the Social Democrat and coalition partners on that day….

Of some relevance to all of the above, although somewhat dated:

George Orwell : The Politics of the English Language

I say “dated”, because the worldwide English Language has changed so much and since then produced the likes of Mark Steyn – and my man Ishmael Reed among many, many others….

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Today in Stockholm! His Majesty Carl XVI Gustaf will be awarding Medals to some of the Worthy !

June 12th, 2013 by Cornelius Hamelberg

Medal presentation, Royal Palace of Stockholm

Participants: King Carl XVI Gustaf, Queen Silvia

The Honours List

As we all know His Majesty & Queen Silvia ( not to mention the rest of the Royal family and most especially Princess Madeleine & her Better Half Christopher O’neill ) are all in a very good mood just now. ( Only the rest of us his poor subjects are still recovering from a slight hangover after the latest nuptial celebrations)

What a pleasant surprise! First got wind of the great event with this little announcement that today, ” Wednesday, June 12th, the former Emeritus Chief Rabbi Morton Narrowe will be receiving the Medal 12th blue ribbon from the King for ” outstanding contributions to the Jewish community in Sweden.”. Psychologist (and chairman of the Jewish Community of Stockholm and chairman of the Jewish Central Council) Lena Posner-Körösi will be awarded HM the King’s Medal 8th blue ribbon for “outstanding contributions to the Jewish community in Sweden.”

Mazel Tov!

Emeritus Chief Rabbi Morton Narrowe (an institution in himself having bar mitzvahed at least two generations, fathers, mothers and their children to whom he has said, “Remember who you are!”. He has also written an interesting autobiography and at the time of writing, he had already converted about 480 people!)

Lena Posner- Körösi - Mazel Tov!

And Karl Dyall too.( Karl was simply brilliant playing the role Sammy Davis Jnr. in From Sammy With Love . For that too Mazel Tov!

Leif Pagrotsky ! If this Social Democrat doesn’t deserve a medal, then who does? He’s a veritable walking encyclopedia of trade facts and figures ( heard him reel them off in parliamentary debates to the most precise decimal points)

The greatest performing artist among them all, of course, BARBARA HENDRICKS !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Mighty Congratulations to all of them!

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More good news:

June 11th, 2013 by Cornelius Hamelberg

In the pipeline: Bob Dylan to be awarded France’s Legion of Honour

Seen : Marika Griehsel interviewing David van Reybrouck, author of “The Congo – A History”

(The interview was conducted in English).

The Interview

I like the author, his sincerity and naturalness shines through in this interview, so I must read the book !

The conversation continues : Swedish Peace keeping troops for Mali

Diverse news:

Swedish News

Sweden | EuropeNews

Daily Alert !

News from Israel

United with Israel

Jerusalem Center For Public Affairs (some hot topics)

FrontP age Magazine

Middle East Forum

Israel Forum

Atlas Shrugs …

US successfully tests bunker buster bomb

Real Clear Politics

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some more really good news

June 9th, 2013 by Cornelius Hamelberg

First some really good news : Sure, the royal love birds – God bless them – must still be partying and living it up in the Royal Palace, but for the rest of us poor plebeians it’s mostly back to the daily grind :