Will this increase or decrease the likelihood of terrorist actions in America, Europe and the rest of the world?

If you were a member of a family murdered in this conflict, would you be seeking revenge?

Should Tzipi Livni and Ehud Olmert, be tried for war crimes if or when this conflict comes to an end?

What will the price of oil be in 4 weeks time?

Cynic,

Arles is a beautiful little town and I may be visiting again in the next few months.

But please, don't spoil it by going there.

Arles is many times larger than St Remy and has very significant roman ruins, including an amphitheatre where they threw christians to the lions among other jolly pastimes

visit the small van gogh museum there ..... when i was there last, it was linked to an exhibition of frances bacon, who was equally nuts in his own way

the huge market in Arles is of course wonderful, if you are into that sort of thing ..... stroll down through the public gardens to get to it

then allow your minder to drive you gently back to the asylum

.

It doesn't matter if you call them Palestinians. The fact is that there have been over a million refugees dispossesed by Israel.

The impression that Iran is anti-semetic is false. Iran is anti-Israel and anti-Zionist. Iran has the biggest Jewish population after Israel and Tehran has 20 active synagogues. Jews are not discriminated against in Iran. There is a also Jewish MP in Iran. It seems likely that Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is in fact originally Jewish. After he was born the family changed its name in the 1950s when they converted to Islam. Prior to that the family had a Jewish name.

Err... looks like the Jews in Iran have been having a wonderful time, perhaps you'd like to convert and live there?

Under the Phalevi Dynasty, established in 1925, the country was secularized and oriented toward the West. This greatly benefited the Jews, who were emancipated and played an important role in the economy and in cultural life. On the eve of the Islamic Revolution in 1979, 80,000 Jews lived in Iran. In the wake of the upheaval, tens of thousands of Jews, especially the wealthy, left the country, leaving behind vast amounts of property.

The Council of the Jewish Community, which was established after World War II, is the representative body of the community. The Jews also have a representative in parliament who is obligated by law to support Iranian foreign policy and its Anti-Zionist position.

Despite the official distinction between "Jews," "Zionists," and "Israel," the most common accusation the Jews encounter is that of maintaining contacts with Zionists. The Jewish community does enjoy a measure of religious freedom but is faced with constant suspicion of cooperating with the Zionist state and with "imperialistic America" both such activities are punishable by death. Jews who apply for a passport to travel abroad must do so in a special bureau and are immediately put under surveillance. The government does not generally allow all members of a family to travel abroad at the same time to prevent Jewish emigration. Again, the Jews live under the status of dhimmi, with the restrictions im posed on religious minorities. Jewish leaders fear government reprisals if they draw attention to official mistreatment of their community.

Iran's official government-controlled media often issues anti-Semitic propaganda. A prime example is the government's publishing of the Protocols of the Elders of Zion, a notorious Czarist forgery, in 1994 and 1999. Jews also suffer varying degrees of officially sanctioned discrimination, particularly in the areas of employment, education, and public accommodations.

The Islamization of the country has brought about strict control over Jewish educational institutions. Before the revolution, there were some 20 Jewish schools functioning throughout the country. In recent years, most of these have been closed down. In the remaining schools, Jewish principals have been replaced by Muslims. In Tehran there are still three schools in which Jewish pupils constitute a majority. The curriculum is Islamic, and Persian is forbidden as the language of instruction for Jewish studies. Special Hebrew lessons are conducted on Fridays by the Orthodox Otzar ha-Torah organization, which is responsible for Jewish religious education. Saturday is no longer officially recognized as the Jewish sabbath, and Jewish pupils are compelled to attend school on that day. There are three synagogues in Tehran, but since 1994, there has been no rabbi in Iran, and the bet din does not function.

Following the overthrow of the shah and the declaration of an Islamic state in 1979, Iran severed relations with Israel. The country has subsequently supported many of the Islamic terrorist organizations that target Jews and Israelis, particularly the Lebanon-based, Hezbollah. Nevertheless, Iran's Jewish community is the largest in the Middle East outside Israel.

On the eve of Passover in 1999, 13 Jews from Shiraz and Isfahan in southern Iran were arrested and accused of spying for Israel and the United States. In September 2000, an Iranian appeals court upheld a decision to imprison ten of the thirteen Jews accused of spying for Israel. In the appeals court, ten of the accused were found guilty of cooperating with Israel and were given prison terms ranging from two to nine years. Three of the accused were found innocent in the first trial.5 In March 2001, one of the imprisoned Jews was released, a second was freed in January 2002, the remaining eight were set free in late October 2002. The last five apparently were released on furlough for an indefinite period, leaving them vulnerable to future arrest. Three others were reportedly pardoned by Iran's Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

At least 13 Jews have been executed in Iran since the Islamic revolution, most of them for either religious reasons or their connection to Israel. For example, in May 1998, Jewish businessman Ruhollah Kakhodah-Zadeh was hanged in prison without a public charge or legal proceeding, apparently for assisting Jews to emigrate.

Today, Iran's Jewish population is the second largest in the Middle East, after Israel. Reports vary as to the condition and treatment of the small, tight-knit community, and the population of Iranian Jews can only be estimated due to the communitys isolation from world Jewry.

LOL

That particular piece that you have posted originates from the American-Israeli Cooperative and is hardly unbiased. Compared to the treatment of Arabs in Israel, the Jews live in paradise in Iran.

Indeed the source is correct, but what you fail to mention is that the document is factually correct (like you I have checked using multipe sources) and disproves your own sweeping comments in a previous post. Instead you question the bias of the document and make yet another opined comment. If the Jews are living in paradise in Iran, surely you would wish to go there yourself as a Jew; after all you know a few Iranians and I'm sure you would get on just fine.

The Iranians that I know are all Jewish Iranians. Their families fled when the revolution came expecting problems. They wish they hadn't left as they abandoned businesses there. I had a Jewish Iranian girfriend many years ago and she used to come and go to Iran regularly. Her family had stayed in Iran and had no problems living there.

There is no real history of anti-semetism in the ME. It has been a European thing. This is why the Arabs are not interested in the Holocaust. They regard it as a red herring, especially as it is not the Jews they hate, but Zionists.

Cynic,

When I visited Arles and Saint-Ry, one of my "minders" had recently written a biography of V Gogh and his psychiatric problems. (Widely accepted interpretation.)

I think my minder, who was into distorted individuals, at that time may have been interested in meeting you.

Hope the weather is better there than here.

.

.

Canadian Writer, Margret Atwood.
Click on the link below!!!
http://www.haaretz.com/haaretz-authors-edition/the-shadow-over-israel-1.293653

Very interesting well written article.

Not much point in Israeli-Palestinians talks!



An Israeli former soldier, who published photos of herself with Palestinian bound and blindfolded detainees on Facebook, reportedly wrote on her page on Thursday that she would "gladly kill Arabs even slaughter them," according to Haaretz newspaper.

Eden Abergil, the 21-year-old former soldier from Asdud, also wrote that there are no rules in war and that she was not sorry for what she has done.

In response to criticism of her act she wrote: "I can't allow Arab lovers to ruin the perfect life I lead."

To emphasise her contempt for Arabs she wrote: "I am in favor of a Jewish-Zionist State," adding "I defend what has been rightfully mine for ages."

20/08/2010 - 06:12 PM

Organizers of the Lebanese humanitarian Maryam vessel have announced Thursday that the boat loaded with humanitarian aid to the besieged people in the Gaza Strip would set sail to the costal Strip on Sunday in clear defiance to the Israeli threats to block it.

oh goody gumdrops ....

hayseed - it has been truly wonderful of late to see this thread slowly dying on its feet ..... can we not allow it to have a decent burial?

i think everyone on this BB is sick to death of the totally partisan postings and pastings from extremist media sources, so time to let go and die

If you or anyone else doesn't like the thread or the posts then don't read them.

there is indeed that option, but my real objection is the paucity of balanced postings ..... you and fred and itlob and others persist in posting the most appallingly partisan pastings ..... why can you not act like an intelligent being and be more discriminating and objective?

I am just highlighting the appaling way that Israel treats the Palestinians. This is made all the worse by the fact they stole their land first.

There is currently reports that Israel and the Palestinians have agreed to resume direct negotiations. The whole process is pointless. The guy representing the Palestinians does not the support of his people. Israel are still building settlem,ents on land being stolen daily from Palestinians. Hamas are not involved in the talks. Israel is just using the talks to hide their building of more settlements and the conversion of Jerusalem into an Israeli city. It will end badly.

as i said, your postings totally lack objectivity and thought .... they merely mouth the rantings and polemic of your chosen extremist faction