Wednesday, March 10, 2010

Five Foot In The Holy Land

The Canadian Israel Committee (CIC) has, in its wisdom, chosen to send Kathy Shaidle (Five Foot), husband Arnie, and Kate from SDA off to Israel to...I don't know quite what--wander around and be terribly zealous, I suppose. Arnie describes their arrival:

We arrived in Tel Aviv at 6pm after a 12 hour direct flight & met up with our guide Uri and our Mossad controller, from there we drove straight to Jerusalem, checked in to the hotel and on to dinner where we met with Yossi Klein Halevi of the Adelson Institute for Strategic Studies.

Later, when asked to say a few words, Kathy noted that:

[Sikhs are b]ackward foreigners [who] shit on hand that feeds them...Unable to invent their own iconic product due to too much time spent worshipping monkeys and cows, setting women on fire and obsessing over imperceptible differences in each other's skin colour..."

And when asked about South African Apartheid, she responded: Was it all bad?

Hubby Arnie noted wittily that "Our culture is better that their culture.", and Kate quietly contemplated the "Muslim Problem".

The CIC must be so proud.

Welcome crazy people from SDA! Update here!

58 comments:

Dr.Dawg said...

Great hed!

wv="rante"

Marky Mark said...

This is all very depressing, especially when, from my point of view, you factor in that I suspect most progressive bloggers would have refused such an invitation to visit an "apartheid state" and check things out for themselves.

bigcitylib said...

Dawg was going to go last year.

Marky Mark said...

Well I recall him writing about that, so the good news is they invite more than one perspective, but I think he declined, no?

Dr.Dawg said...

http://drdawgsblawg.blogspot.com/2009/02/nightmare-on-bialik-street.html

Unknown said...

It will be nice to see the perspective of women for a change.

This is a great day for women everywhere.

winnifred martin said...

Seems to me that material I have seen a while back from 5 feet of fury showed quite clearly that she may be a racist. Is this the same person being funded by the Canadian Israel Committee for this trip?

bigcitylib said...

Winnifred. The material I am quoting is just a small sample. Click on stuff about Sikhs for a bit more. And, yeah, racist is a term that would fit.

Ti-Guy said...

So creepy. So very, very creepy.

bigcitylib said...

And yeah, I am 99% sure the CIC is picking up the tab.

Gene Rayburn said...

"So creepy. So very, very creepy."

and that's just Wayne's cologne.

winnifred martin said...

And do you believe that the Canadian Israel Committee had prior knowledge of her racism? Its just hard to believe that the Jewish Congress would support such a person. Something has to be wrong here.

double nickel said...

and that's just Wayne's cologne

An Aqua Velva man to be sure :)

Unknown said...

It is the sexism that smells here, not my cologne.

I don't see any racism in their comments just an ideological disagreement.

Dr.Dawg said...

BCL: You can be 100% certain.

PeBo said...

"Great Hed!" (said Dr Dawg)


Who? Kathy? Nice to know she good at something other than being offensive.

buckets said...

the Canadian Israel Committee had prior knowledge of her racism?

Apparently Warren Kinsella tried to warn them (see the
leaked email of last March at Shaidle's husband's blog

Marky Mark said...

If it is true that the Palestinians aren't responsible for electing Hamas and Israel is to blame....then it is equally true that the CIC isn't responsible for inviting a subset of those that they invited--they take their friends as they find them and these days it is primarily (if not exclusively) rightwing bloggers who are the ones dismissing the notion that Israel is per se an apartheid state.

Practically speaking it sounds like they shouldn't send anyone because leftwing bloggers will refuse their invitation as part of BDS and some rightwing bloggers, while pro-Israel, are racists.

Ti-Guy said...

Apparently Warren Kinsella tried to warn them (see the
leaked email of last March at Shaidle's husband's blog)


Quite the bastion of professionalism that gang is.

...or should I say cabal?

Ti-Guy said...

they take their friends as they find them and these days it is primarily (if not exclusively) rightwing bloggers who are the ones dismissing the notion that Israel is per se an apartheid state.

Well, one of them seems to be arguing that even if it were an apartheid state, how bad would that be?

winnifred martin said...

I clicked again BCL on the original story to get more info and it seems that Blazingcatfur has now removed his first post. What in heavens name is going on here?

Yariv said...

I simply do not accept these bloggers at their word. I do not see anything on the BCF site that suggests anything nefarious. We shouldn't jump to conclusions.

Unknown said...

All the links are working for me, winnifred.

Ti-Guy said...

and it seems that Blazingcatfur has now removed his first post.

He didn't remove it, exactly. He changed it completely. Maybe ol' KKKate didn't like having her photo up there.

I guess BCF will have to delete BCL"s comment now.

Hop to it, fatty before everyone notices your Orwellian revisions.

bigcitylib said...

Winnifred, the thing with the CIC and Shaidle and Co. has been ongoing for awhile (see some of the other links). So they really ought to know. My issue is: these guys are are EXTREMELY pro Israel, but extremely racist when it comes to anyone of swarthiness outside of Israelis (and they get extremely nasty even with Jews who aren't sufficiently pro-Istrael). Why CIC wanted these guys, knowing what they MUST know by now about them,is a mystery to me.

I disagree with Marky, because I suspect that the CIC could find conservative bloggers that are pro-Israel but otherwise simply AREN'T that crazy otherwise. There are any number of right bloggers who write about the Mid-East but don't also advocate bombing Iran or letting the Haitians rot or whatever. I'd would probably disagree heartily with them, but don't think they're just totally screwed in the head.

You could also find leftish progressive bloggers who are maybe marginally less pro-Israel but aren't that crazy either.

So again: CIC should/must have known. Why would they choose to deal with extremists is beyond me.

winnifred martin said...

BCL I understand what you are saying but Yariv makes a good point. Is it not possible that these rather distasteful people went on their own to Israel?

bigcitylib said...

Winnifred,Daqwg's saying they were definitely CIC funded, and he would know. Looks like CIC asked Impolitical too

http://impolitical.blogspot.com/2010/03/on-perks.html

..but she turned them down. So, CIC asks a number of bloggers to go to Israel and the kooks are the only ones to join up.

But why is CIC asking the kooks?

Marky Mark said...

Points well taken. How about this: since you're a blogger with an interest in the subject, and since CIC clearly respects bloggers as if they were MSM journalists, isn't this a case where you'd consider behaving like a MSM journalist and basically call CIC for an interview? You would then get their version of the facts (people here are guessing) and also could ask about the more sensitive issue that's being discussed.

bigcitylib said...

MM,

Well, I avoid phone calls, but I could certainly send them an email.

winnifred martin said...

And it seems that impolitical was asked to go on a trip in May. This is a different trip than the present one.

It wouldnt surprise me one bit if some of these folk simply don't tell the truth about the Jewish Congress sponsoring this trip.

However there are some problems. Who was the alleged "Mossad" handler in the now gone post of BCF? These trips are very expensive, BCF and her bride 5 feet are always begging online for money to pay legal fees, how do they afford such a trip as this? I don't know its all very wierd if you ask me.

bigcitylib said...

Winnifred, have emailed CIC with some of the questions you're asking (their PR guy in Toronto). Hopefully they'll response tomorrow.

The Mossad thing struck me a bit odd too. Probably be a turn-off for most people asked to go over if they were assigned a secret agent guy.

Ti-Guy said...

I imagine the real objective in sending the kooks is to keep Canadian public opinion sharply divided. That serves the hardliners extremely well, as we all know.

I doubt the CIC will admit that, though.

sharonapple88 said...

..but she turned them down. So, CIC asks a number of bloggers to go to Israel and the kooks are the only ones to join up.
The kooks are probably the only ones who had the time. What does Shaidle do? Other than begging people for money.

Got this as the second prompt when I typed Kathy Shaidle into Google --"Kathy Shaidle racist." Even Google knows.

Dr.Dawg said...

For crying out loud, Arnie was being sarcastic about the "Mossad controller." People are bring sucked in--geta grip!

Unknown said...

Dr. Dawg is right, you are going into tin foil hat mode.

Ti-Guy said...

What is Wayne doing here? Shouldn't he be tending to some lonely charolaise?

winnifred martin said...

Dr. Dawg so who then is "Sabertooth"? I think that's what he called her. That picture and the post is now gone. I checked Google for such a blog and came up with this:
http://sabertoothjournal.blogspot.com/

I doubt its the same person or at least I don't think so. You have to admit this is strange.

Gordon Underhill said...

Winnifred does ask a good question. Can anyone identify the sbretooth pic?

sharonapple88 said...

That picture and the post is now gone.

Not to Google cache. You've got to wonder why he would bothered deleting it.

Passing the tinfoil hat along, my take is that Arnie met some gal and just assumed she was part of Mossad. No trip to Israel would be complete for him without meeting a Mossad Agent. Even an imaginary Mossad agent will do.

bigcitylib said...

So, nice lady from CIC got back to me. CIC did NOT sponsor this trip--it was privately sponsored--though CIC reps met with them (as they try to do with most groups). Sabretooth was one of those reps(cute lady with glasses), which is why the post got buried later on.

Will probably do an update making corrections, but I've got a cold today and feel a bit lethargic.

Jim R said...

Jealousy is so juvenile.

Jim R said...

....and nasty.

Liona Campbell said...

Been watching this more than interesting thread for the last day or so. What a tale!

Turns out that maybe CIC did not fund this junket...however someone had to since these bloggers hardly have a pot to piss in and trip like this has to cost thousands.

Bottom line; the CIC (a group until now I have had deep respect for) is making common cause with the likes of Kathy Shaidle and her husband Arnie. I have read their blogs. They are ugly rants. Sometimes racist ugly rants. Why would any Jewish group want to align themselves with such individuals. I hope this is not the new normal for the jewish community.

winnifred martin said...

I for one am not following you Marky Mark. What exactly is anti-Semitism? Nothing liona Campbell wrote was nati-Semitic so please help me understand. Thanks

Rev.Paperboy said...

Frankly, I think we owe a debt of gratitude to whoever paid them to leave Canada, even if only for a short time. I don't care how they got to Israel, I just want to know what we can do to keep them from coming back. Maybe someone should tell the authorities that Kathie doesn't look like her passport picture.

bigcitylib said...

I'll send an email to Mossad saying that she's smuggling dope.

Marky Mark said...

Because if CIC didn't send them then neither they nor the "Jewish Community" is responsible for them being there. In any event such a collective should not be held responsible for what (a subset of) these bloggers write.

jklaus said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Holly Stick said...

How does "...I hope this is not the new normal for the jewish community..." transform into a statement holding the Jewish community responsible for the assholes?

Marky, you are crying wolf where there isn't one.

Marky Mark said...

Because BCL contacted CIC and asked the question and received a clear answer--so: 1. they should be believed; and 2. CIC isn't the same as "The Jewish Community." Come on, if someone said of a Muslim org. that did something objectionable that they hope that didn't reflect on all Muslims, many would object. I see it as parallel. CIC is CIC is CIC and nothing more--plus they've weighed in.

winnifred martin said...

I kind of agree with Marky mark . There remains one thing that still bothers me, if as BCL mentions CIC had met with Shaidle et al , why would they even do that? Shaidle isn't a "neo-conservative blogger" just read some of her posts. Why would any group especially one with the reputation of the Canadian Israel Committee even want to be in the same room with her?

Jim R said...

"Why would any Jewish group want to align themselves with such individuals. I hope this is not the new normal for the jewish community."

Oh, I don't know. But let me take a wild guess. Could it be because the 'new normal' for the liberal leftist community is to sympathize with criminals and terrorist bomb throwers attacking Israel? As well as support those in Canada who march to deny Israel's right to exist?

I don't think it really takes a college degree to get a hint, but one year in college in front of a typical liberal, read that political, 'arts' professor really would help to understand where the left is coming from.....and going.

As the old saying goes, this ain't rocket science folks. The chickens...have come home...to roost, as made infamous by another old 'Joos rule the world' racist.

sharonapple88 said...

Considering they asked Dr. Dawg and Impolitical sort of puts a damper on JimR's theory that the CIC was trying to align themselves entirely on the right because of the left being too... radical.

Gerry Calderwood said...

Israel and the Jewish community is not helped by this lamebrained scheme.

Why are you all beating around the bush? At the very most the Canada Israel Committee has provided funding for two bloggers who often post racist messages against Blacks, First Nations, Sikhs, Muslims, the poor, South East Asians and yes even Jews and Jewish leadership or at the least have associated with them while in Israel. Nothing good here.

Yariv said...

Again and I reiterate, this entire thread has been conjecture nothing more. A couple coincidences and some here look for any excuse to slam pro-Israel advocats.Aren't there more important things to discuss?

sharonapple88 said...

A couple coincidences and some here look for any excuse to slam pro-Israel advocats.

No one's attacking them for being pro or against Israel. People are noting that Five Foot and her ilk aren't necessarily people you want associated even peripherally to your cause... that is unless your cause is White-power.

bigcitylib said...

If anyone is still interested, the nice lady on the El Al flight with Five Foot and co (her picture is now gone from even the google cache) was Sara Saber-Freedman, of the Montreal branch of the CIC. But it was not a CIC sponsered trip, apparently. Weird, that.

Dr.Dawg said...

But it was not a CIC sponsered trip, apparently. Weird, that.

Well, yeah. I guess I shouldn't have assumed. It sounded exactly like last year's thing, though, and CIC seems to be involved somehow. Maybe the trip was paid for by MOSSAD. At this point, I'd pretty much be open to any suggestion. :)