Buying Iranian Votes With – Israeli Oranges?

Yes, it really happened. Over at NRO's The Corner, Michael Ledeen writes about the Iranian mullahcracy's incredible incompetence in Maybe There's Hope:

If Iran really had advanced weapons, the mullahs wouldn't have to photoshop them all the time, as they do. Most claims by the Islamic Republic have to be heavily discounted to peel off the layers of braggadocio and fantasy, before you get close to the truth. They are true idealists, in the Hegelian sense: They think the idea is more important than the thing itself. So it's no surprise that they make a mess of things. Most everything. Because, you see, they say that everything is great, so don't bother them with real pictures.

The most recent example of the seemingly limitless capacity of Iranian leaders to mess things up comes from Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. He held a campaign rally and offered attendees free oranges. Food being in somewhat short supply these days, lots of folks showed up. And they really did get oranges. Zionist oranges. Jaffa oranges from the land of the little satan. Yes, Ahmadinejad bought Israeli oranges and handed them out to the faithful.

You really cannot invent these people. Not that you'd want to. Ahem.

Ledeen links to this excellent blog with an uncommonly long name, For a democratic secular Iran. For peace and prosperity in the Middle East. Its author is an Iranian expatriate, Azarmehr, who lives in the United Kingdom while working to free his country from the grip pf the grim, humorless ayatollahs.

The Virus of Anti-Semitism

For a disturbing, depressing, but deadly accurate discussion of anti-Semitism in its latest guise, read Phyllis Chesler's op-ed Our Eternal Struggle, first published in The Jewish Press, then reprinted in Pajamas Media's Chesler Chronicles. Here's a snippet:

Who would ever have dreamed that Israel would be condemned for trying to defend its civilians? Or that Israel would reap hatred for exercising restraint in its treatment of Palestinian civilians? Or that Israel's terrorist enemies would be praised for hiding behind their own women and children or would themselves be counted as civilians (even as they fire rockets at Israel) because they craftily choose to dress as such?

Who would ever have imagined that such Big Lies would be championed by western intellectuals, academics, journalists, students - not a few of them Jews and even Israelis?

Orwell would laugh. Or cry.

Judging by the amount and vitriolic nature of the hate mail the piece has been generating, it has apparently struck a nerve among the Jew-haters (or "anti-Zionists," as they now prefer to style themselves). To find out why, go read the rest of it.

A Japanese View of the Palestinians

This short piece is outstanding. Here's part of it:

If you are so sure that " Palestine , the country, goes back through most of recorded history," I expect you to be able to answer a few basic questions about that country of Palestine :

1. When was it founded and by whom?
2. What were its borders?
3. What was its capital?
4. What were its major cities?
5. What constituted the basis of its economy?
6. What was its form of government?
7. Can you name at least one Palestinian leader before Arafat?
8. Was Palestine ever recognized by a country whose existence, at that time or now, leaves no room for interpretation?
9. What was the language of the country of Palestine ?
10. What was the prevalent religion of the country of Palestine ?
11. What was the name of its currency? Choose any date in history and tell what was the approximate exchange rate of the Palestinian monetary unit against the US dollar, German mark, GB pound, Japanese yen, or Chinese yuan on that date.
12. And, finally, since there is no such country today, what caused its demise and when did it occur?

Read the whole thing.

Hat tip: al-Rassooli