B'nai B'rith Anti-Defamation Commission Inc.


Date:14 Apr 2008 Vol: 6.09	ADC News Digest is a weekly newsletter published by B'nai B'rith Anti-Defamation Commission (ADC) and distributed electronically The ADC News Digest presents a sample of articles selected from Australian and international outlets using both mainstream media and citizen journalism sources. See www.antidef.org.au for up to date news from the ADC. The topics have been classified to illustrate social trends, opinions and minority views. These articles do not necessarily reflect the views of ADC.
	You can see more articles under the heading category by clicking the blue underlined heading on the left. You can see additional text and a link to the original article by clicking the blue underlined title in the right column. All readers are welcome to comment by selecting the “Comments” link at the bottom of each article between the posted date and the email icon.
Holocaust	12 Apr 2008, Andra Jackson, A war hero's greatest fear: a simple knock on the door, The Age (Aust), IN THE dark days of World War II, a knock on the door of his home in Rijswijk was what young Dutchman Kees Hos came to fear most. To all intents and purposes, the newly married Mr Hos, in his early 20s, was a lecturer in fine art in The Hague. But he was leading a double life, operating behind closed doors in Holland's Resistance during the Nazi occupation . Hidden inside his home were Jewish people, some from his circle of friends. Many of those sheltering there were children. Some lived in his house for up to three years, constantly in danger of being betrayed by a careless visitor or discovered by a visit from German police. "We were always watching when we opened the door," Mr Hos, now 92, recalled this week after speaking to Essendon Catholic schoolchildren about his role in helping Jews escape the Nazis. "If we didn't know who it was, the Jewish people in the house went into hiding. There was always quite a kerfuffle."
Media	11 Apr 2008, Richard Kerbaj, Facebook terror threat in Australia, The Australian, COUNTER-TERRORISM agents have launched an investigation into a multi-national terror threat made against an Australian using internet social networking Most-Networked-Executives website Facebook The-New-Faces-at-Facebook . The first investigation of its kind was prompted by a death threat emanating from the Middle East against a Jewish woman and her family from an alleged member of the Iranian-backed terror outfit Hezbollah. The woman received the death threat from the self-proclaimed terrorist through the website after she declined the man's online "friendship request". The Weekend Australian understands the man - who described himself as Ibrahim Dirani and a member of a Lebanon-based Facebook group - was banned by the network after police launched their investigation this week. The victim - who lives in Melbourne and is a member of an Israeli-based Facebook group - told police the alleged Lebanon-based Hezbollah operative promised to kill her and her family. According to police documents, the man wrote: "I am Hezbollah and I am going to kill you and all of your family - promise you." The investigation comes as security agencies question their ability to address serious online threats made against Australian citizens by foreign culprits. "The international nature of the website makes it very hard for agencies to ... physically track down those involved," a security source said.
	08 Apr 2008, Larry Dignan, Why Blogging will Kill you, ZD net (US), I read the New York Times’ take on how the stress of blogging and how it can kill you with great interest: I was interviewed for it. But I pretty much knew I wouldn’t make the final story as my take was different than Matt Richtel’s. Now this isn’t Matt’s fault by any means: He was up front about the premise of his story: The stress of blogging can kill you. The story was straightforward “three makes a trend” journalism. Journalists joke that three of anything makes a trend. If you get three examples of anything you instantly have a story and a premise for an analysis. That’s what the editors want. And oh yeah it has to fit in a designated space. Double bonus if it tops Techmeme. When I talked to Matt the theme of the story was clear, but I had doubts about the premise. I played devil’s advocate and outlined my day, which didn’t exactly dovetail with the primary example of the guy who is in his Brooklyn studio blogging until he passes out at his computer. If that person weren’t blogging my guess is he’d pass out playing Xbox or something else. And that brings me to my point with Matt. Yes, blogging is stressful. Yes, it can be insane. But is it any worse than being a corporate lawyer? How many of those folks dropped in the last six months? How about mortgage brokers? Hedge fund traders? FBI agents? Any job where you gnash your teeth together?
	08 Apr 2008, Professor Douglas Kirsner, Reforming the ABC, ABC (Australia), This noticeably homogenous class of inner city, tertiary educated social professionals, often referred to as the ‘chattering classes’, has an identity that developed together with mass tertiary education. While the old left emphasized economic reforms to help the working class, the new class focused on issues such as refugees, multiculturalism, reconciliation, civil liberties, etc. This new class of social professionals includes teachers, academics, public servants and welfare workers who adopt distinct ideological positions and values that serve as social markers for the new class. The 'knowledge-class', which includes ABC journalists, is an important segment within the new educated class who have more distinct values that increasingly set them apart from business and the general community. I mention this not because I think that the ABC has no diversity at all, but because it’s a trend embedded within the institutional culture that will take another ‘long march’ to reverse, this time in the opposite direction towards the centre. It’s a march that has begun from the top but needs to infuse its way to the bottom.
Opinion	12 Apr 2008, Melanie Phillips, The new class war, The Daily Mail (UK), He attacks faith schools — one of the last remaining bastions of relatively decent educational standards and discipline — on a trumped-up charge that they are breaking the national admissions code. He has accused dozens of these schools of using banned practices such as interviewing pupils, researching their backgrounds and requesting cash contributions as a condition of entry. It now turns out that most of these breaches were technicalities that he blew up out of all proportion. The most damning charge was of ‘cash for places’ — but when that was looked at more closely, it fell apart altogether. It involved a mere seven schools in the London borough of Barnet, six of them Jewish primary schools and one Church of England. But there is not a shred of evidence that these schools have demanded cash as a condition of awarding a place, like some kind of classroom protection racket. It is a grotesque smear. The fact is that faith schools often ask parents for money to fund religious studies and other services, since the state only funds the statutory education they provide.
	08 Apr 2008, Caroline Glick, Fear of democracy, Jerusalem Post, By seeking to criminalize free speech, the resolution stands in breach of the UN's Declaration of Human Rights. Article 19 of that document states explicitly: "Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers." The Europeans' decision to abstain rather than oppose the measure seems, at first glance, rather surprising. Given that the EU member states are among the UN's most emphatic champions, it would have seemed normal for them to have opposed a resolution that undermines one of the UN's foundational documents, and indeed, one of the most basic tenets of Western civilization. But then again, given the EU's stands in recent years against freedom of expression, there really is nothing to be surprised about. The EU's current bow to intellectual thuggery is of course found in its response to the Internet release of Dutch parliamentarian Geert Wilders' film Fitna. The EU has gone out of its way to attack Wilders for daring to exercise his freedom of expression. The EU's presidency released a statement condemning the film for "inflaming hatred." Dutch Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende issued statements claiming that the film "serves no other purpose than to cause offense." Then, too, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon blasted the film as "offensively anti-Islamic." These statements follow the EU's quest to restrict freedom of speech following the 2005 publication of cartoons of Muhammed in Denmark's Jyllands Posten newspaper. They also come against the backdrop of the systematic silencing of anti-jihadist intellectuals throughout the continent. These intellectuals, such as Peter Redeker in France and Paul Cliteur in the Netherlands, are threatened into silence by European jihadists. And the governments of Europe either do nothing to defend the threatened thinkers or justify the intellectual blackmailers by sympathizing with their anger.
Diplomacy	11 Apr 2008, Annabel Crabb, Imagine, push repress for a spotless press, Sydney Morning Herald (Aust), AS A free-speech advocate, Kevin Rudd would be opposed to the cleansing of his Tibet remarks from the local reportage of his visit to China. It'll be another of those things he could well raise at some point, openly, constructively, while speaking as a friend to his friends in Beijing. He might even throw in the joke about there being no decent Chinese restaurants in Sweden. But secretly, as a top-down sort of a prime minister himself, there must be a guilty throb of excitement at the whole idea of state-controlled media. For publicity-conscious prime ministers (and which of them isn't?), repression really does take the legwork out of media management. Forget the endless round of wheedling, bullying, placating, cajoling and hand-holding that constitutes modern spin. The whiff of "How would you like your entire family to go to jail?" is so much neater and more efficient, don't you think?
	11 Apr 2008, Robert Lusetich, Chinese thwart 'Olympic terror plot', The Australian, CHINA claimed last night it had thwarted a terrorist plot to kidnap foreign athletes, tourists and journalists during the Olympic Games, hours after the torch relay will-the-flame-go-out-for-olympic-sponsors Apr-7-2008 descended into farce again in San Francisco. Police arrested 35 people linked to two plots allegedly uncovered in the vast and remote Xinjiang region in northwest China, which has a strong Muslim population of Turkic-speaking ethnic Uighurs. Chinese Ministry of Public Security spokesman Wu Heping said the plots were orchestrated by the East Turkestan Islamic Movement, which is listed by the UN and the US as a terrorist organisation.
Genocide	12 Apr 2008, Parag Khanna, First rule of empire: dominate, The Age (Aust), IT IS difficult to find a Westerner who does not intuitively support the idea of a free Tibet. But would Americans ever let go of Texas or California? For China, the Anglo-Russian great game for control of central Asia was neither inconclusive nor fruitless, something that cannot be said for Russia or Britain. Indeed, China was the big winner. Boundary agreements in 1895 and 1907 gave Russia the Pamir mountains and established the Wakhan Corridor — the slender eastern tongue of Afghanistan that borders China — as a buffer to Britain. But rather than cede East Turkestan (Uighurstan) to the Russians, the British financed China's recapture of the territory, which it organised into Xinjiang (which means "New Dominions"). While West Turkestan was splintered into the hermetic Soviet Stans, China reasserted its traditional dominance over Xinjiang and Tibet, today its largest — and least stable — provinces. (Beijing has now accused the Dalai Lama of colluding with Muslim Uighur separatists in Xinjiang.) But without them, the country would be like America without all territory west of the Rockies: denied its continental majesty and status. Every backpacker who has visited Tibet and Xinjiang in the past decade knows that the Chinese empire is painfully real: the western region's going concern is undoubtedly Chinese Manifest Destiny. With the end of the civil war in 1949, China endeavoured immediately to overcome the "tyranny of terrain" and tame the interminable mountain and desert landscapes with the aim of exploiting vast natural assets, establishing penal colonies and military bases, and expand the Lebensraum for its exploding population. Both Tibet and Xinjiang have the misfortune of possessing resources China wants and of being situated on the path to resources China needs: Tibet has vast amounts of timber, uranium and gold, and the two territories constitute China's geographic gateway for trade flow outward — and energy flow inward — with Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Afghanistan and Pakistan.
	08 Apr 2008, Karen Michelmore, Ramos Horta wants truth on 1999 violence, The Australian, EAST Timor's President Jose Ramos Horta has taken aim at Indonesian military officers involved in the violence surrounding East Timor's historic 1999 vote for independence. Ramos Horta has urged the officers to "come clean" and acknowledge their actions, as a controversial truth commission prepares to hand down its findings into the violence that wracked the country. The Indonesia-East Timor Commission of Truth and Friendship (CTF) is due to hand its final report on the violence that claimed 1500 lives within weeks. It comes as Indonesian authorities prepare to release the only Indonesian jailed over the 1999 violence. Eurico Guterres, who led the notorious Aitarak militia gang that wreaked havoc in East Timor's capital Dili, could be released from his Jakarta prison within days after being acquitted following a final appeal of his case, his lawyer Mahendradatta said.
Religion	09 Apr 2008, No author cited, Muslim is spared a speeding ban so he can drive between his two wives, The Daily Mail (UK), When it comes to avoiding a ban for speeding, the courts hear every excuse in the book. But yesterday one motorist offered what must be a unique reason why he should keep his licence. Mohammed Anwar said a ban would make it difficult to commute between his two wives and fulfil his matrimonial duties. His lawyer told a Scottish court the Muslim restaurant owner has one wife in Motherwell and another in Glasgow - he is allowed up to four under his religion - and sleeps with them on alternate nights. He also needed his driving licence to run his restaurant in Falkirk, Stirlingshire. Airdrie Sheriff Court had heard that Anwar was caught driving at 64mph in a 30mph zone in Glasgow, fast enough to qualify for instant disqualification. Anwar admitted the offence, but Sheriff John C. Morris accepted his plea not to be banned and allowed him to keep his licence. Instead, he was fined £200 and given six penalty points.
	12 Apr 2008, Stan Marks, The secret to a happy life, AJN, How much has your life been influenced by what others have said or written? Over the years, I have interviewed many famous people -- Jewish and non-Jewish -- who have told me their "secrets" for a happy, rewarding or engaging life. Musician Yehudi Menuhin insisted on always extending one's awareness. He spoke of the importance of yoga in his life, which kept him so very energetic and young. He did yoga daily, which he insisted helped him to perform. He explained that one should never stop inquiring, learning, teaching and having an interest in young people. After all, the world's future was in their hands. I tried yoga with Yehudi but I decided to leave it to the master musician. He did advise me to keep at it and discover what a great difference it would add to my life -- yoga was one of the world's blessings. Isaac Stern, one of the best joke tellers I have met, said music was a key to world understanding. He said we should ensure that all the world's children would be helped to appreciate all the arts, especially music. He laughed when I asked why there were more Jewish violinists than pianists. "In a pogrom it was far easier to just pick up a violin and flee than take a piano," he explained.
	12 Apr 2008, No author cited, Kosher Pizza in NYC hits $3 a slice!!!, Frum Satire, I hopped on into to Pizza Cave on the upper west side the other day for a pre-date slice of pizza, the Jewish comfort food. I had my money all set up for two slices, and when it came time to pay I was informed that pizza had jumped to an unthinkable $3 a slice. I panicked, I had flashbacks to the days that gas went nuts on the day of Hurricane Katrina, I remember it went from $2 to like $2.75 in the manner of a few hours- I didn’t go nuts then, I just went biking. Pizza is different, it is like the modern day Jewish soul food, it replaced Herring and Chopped liver about 30 years ago and has stuck as the ultimate Jewish food, I am sure that some sects of Jews even think Pizza is a Jewish food dating back to the time of the ancient Hebrews, the thin slices in fact may even be termed the bread of affliction- with toppings- although the non gebrokts crowd probably doesn’t think so.
Immigration	11 Apr 2008, No author cited, Burmese migrants die in seafood container, The Age (Aust), AT LEAST 54 Burmese migrants suffocated in a cold storage container as they were being smuggled into Thailand to look for work, the deadliest incident in a wave of recent tragedies as people flee economic collapse in the military-ruled state. A total of 121 people had crammed in a container just six metres long and 2.2 metres wide, said Colonel Kraithong Chanthongbai, police commander in the border province of Ranong where the bodies were found. Thai police said 21 people were admitted to hospital suffering dehydration and lack of oxygen. They appeared to be recovering after receiving intravenous fluids. The airtight container was normally used to carry frozen seafood. "They were kept inside the sealed truck for hours without air because the air-conditioning system failed. Many of them pounded the sides of the truck for help," Sergeant Phuvanai Wattanasamai said.
Legal	09 Apr 2008, No author cited, Rampage exposes brazen teenage gang culture, Sydney Morning Herald (Aust), AN ARMED gang of suburban teenagers which is bringing violent American "gangsta" culture to Sydney's streets is suspected of links to a string of robberies and violent assaults. The rampage at Merrylands High School on Monday is the latest in a series of attacks in western Sydney by a gang of mostly Islander teenagers, who brazenly display guns, knives and cash on their social networking websites. Some of the five teenagers accused of the school attack gestured obscenely yesterday on their way to court to face more than 100 charges of assault and affray. Internet chatter among friends of the five accused included admiration of their show of defiance. "Hahaha did u see [him] putin his fingers up to the camera," one of them wrote on the **** website. He even wanted to join his mates in jail. "Gettin boring man i want to go in … wat can i do to get 2 weeks inside i just wanna go say hi nd see how it is in side." The Premier, Morris Iemma, told Parliament yesterday that he had asked the Attorney-General, John Hatzistergos, to investigate whether a new offence needed to be created in the wake of the Merrylands rampage to cover incidents in schools. The rampage has opened a window on a world of violence, drugs and guns grown out of a veneration of American criminal culture. The teenagers, based around Granville, are known to use gang names such as the Gee40 and the Crazy Little Coconuts, or CLC.
	12 Apr 2008, Roger Franklin, Sad, mad end to a life, Herald Sun (Aust), THERE is nothing funny about violent death, a fact that makes David McFadyen's murder a matter of considerable guilt - and not just for the 21-year-old Geelong man who was convicted on Wednesday of beating him into a comatose pulp. There is no doubt that the attack went beyond brutal; the list of McFadyen's injuries almost turns the stomach. His facial bones were pulverised by fists, feet and a barrage of head butts. Across his face was a near-perfect imprint of the sole of his attacker's sneaker. And yet, right up until the moment when killer caught up with victim on a grassy median strip beside Geelong's Eastern Beach, the events of that warm and windy Wednesday night in October, 2006, were tragedy writ as farce. McFadyen's last hours are a reckoning of improbably stupid actions. Ridiculous machismo and knuckle-dragging bogan thuggery, a petty insult avenged to bloody absurdity -- that is what this story is about. The jury took less than a day to convict baby-faced Nicholas Strain, 22, who wept when the verdict was announced.
	12 Apr 2008, Keith Moor, Police take aim at young hoons and binge drinking, Herald Sun (Aust), NINETY-FIVE per cent of police believe young people have lost respect for the law and blame binge drinking Beer-Wine-Industry-Parallels and too many late-night liquor outlets as major reasons for the problem. And almost as many Victorian officers want stun guns and semi-automatic weapons. Only 159 of the officers who completed the poll believe they command the respect of the youth. Most said there were too few frontline police to tackle the lack of respect and drinking problems. "We need to strictly enforce liquor laws and heavily target anti-social behaviour in public places," one officer said. "We need to show very clearly that society will not tolerate selfish, self-absorbed individuals who have no respect for others." … "They need to be taught to have respect . . . starting with a total zero tolerance policy for under-age drinking." Another officer said there was too much emphasis from force command to try to turn police into social workers. "Society needs people to enforce the laws made for its benefit," the officer said. "This used to be the police `force'.

	Ian Grinblat, Finance Officer Annette Gladwin, Liaison Officer Deborah Stone, research director Edna Lipson, Executive Secretary