November 30, 2007 | 2:10 pm

Sarah Silverman explains kabbalah [video]

Posted by Dennis Wilen

To call Sarah Silverman smart-mouthed is an understatement.  She combines potty-mouthed comedy with a sly observational wit that breaks categories and engages the belly laugh as well as tugging at the heart strings.

If this is vulgarity. give us more!

Last night she headlined a benefit show for the Arava Institute, an Israel-based research and educational center focused on generating ecological awareness and growing the next generation of Middle East leaders. 

Students from Israel, Jordan and Morocco work together on common environmental challenges in a collaborative spirit that fosters better understanding among Middle Eastern neighbors.

Sarah’s sister, Israeli resident Rabbi Susan Silverman, wrote about Sarah and Arava in a recent cover story here at JewishJournal.com. 

Arava sounds like an amazing place, and the Silverman siblings seem like amazing women!

In the safe-for-work clip above, which I shot at last night’s show, Sarah explains kabbalah to the audience.

—Dennis Wilen

November 29, 2007 | 3:39 pm

No Teddy Bears’ Picnic in Sudan for English teacher

Posted by JewishJournal.com

She was teaching them about voting and democracy, and her Sudanese pupils voted to name a Teddy Bear ‘Mohammed,’ and now teacher Gillian Gibbons is facing 15 days in jail for blasphemy.

These are the same Arab Muslims that kill and torture African Muslim citizens of their country because of race.

Where’s the Islamic court that will try those crimes?

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November 26, 2007 | 8:45 pm

Hook-nosed, bloodstained Jews out to trick peaceful Arabs at Annapolis summit

Posted by JewishJournal.com

OK, Olmert says it’s no big deal the Saudis and their pals won’t ‘shake hands’ with the Jews at the conference;  at least they won’t be trotting out shopworn stereotypes about conniving Jews hoodwinking the Arab world and the international community, right?

Or will they?

Yes they will, according to this batch of editorial cartoons from Mideast newspapers compiled by the Anti-Defamation League.

Says the ADL:

These caricatures have a basic theme: that while Israel may be attending the Annapolis meeting, Israel has no intention of making peace.  Rather, these caricatures depict Israel as using the conference in Annapolis to manipulate the Arab world and the international community to further its own belligerent agenda.  The caricatures appeared in newspapers in countries participating in the Annapolis conference, such as Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Syria, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Oman and Jordan, and in papers from Iran and those controlled by Hamas who are opposed to Arab-Israeli reconciliation.

If you love me, then thank you, if you hate me, then . . . . (Lady Sovereign)

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November 26, 2007 | 12:37 am

Dateline Pakistan: First they came for the reporters

Posted by JewishJournal.com

Meanwhile, back in Pakistan, the other old boss is back in town. 

Former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif returned from exile Sunday to an ecstatic welcome from thousands of supporters.

And in Karachi, they’re beating reporters, arresting them, releasing them, banning them.  approving them with the manic energy of paranoid speed freaks or a military/police system out of control, take your pick.

And this personal update from a friend, a Pakistani journalist who spent at week here at JewishJournal.com as a Daniel Pearl Fellow.

Shahid Shah’s blog, has the latest:

45 more journalists arrested in Pakistan

Posted by Shahid Shah at 5:44 PM

Karachi police released the all journalists they arrested yesterday 20 November during a peaceful protest outside the Karachi Press Club, however, around 45 more journalists have been arrested in Pakistan.

Today, when journalists of Quetta, Faisalabad, Peshawar and other cities of the country took out processions in solidarity with the journalists of Karachi, the police unleashed their sticks on them. Journalists in Peshawar and Faisalabad were severely beaten up. Police made around 20 arrests in Peshawar and 25 in Quetta.

In Karachi, more than 500 journalists gathered inside the Karachi Press Club and condemned police action of Tuesday. They vowed to continue their struggle till withdrawal of PEMRA (Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority) Ordinance and revival of constitution.

On the other hand, the government allowed ARY Oneworld on the cable network in the country, whereas, Geo News and all other three TV channels of three group remained off air.

This is worrisome, to say the least. 

Reporters aren’t Musharraf’s problem. 

The Taliban and Islamists are his problem.

Secular democracy is the solution.

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November 23, 2007 | 2:54 pm

Chicago’s cops have big troubles, but that doesn’t mean they can’t make videos about Jews

Posted by JewishJournal.com

The problems of the Chicago Police Department are well-known— a history of brutality and corruption and problems at the top—but, hey, that doesn’t mean they can’t make educational videos!

This one—entitled ‘Gaining A Better Understanding of Judaism Educational Video’—was uploaded to YouTube with the following description:

Department of Justice. Office of Justice Programs. Bureau of Justice Assistance. Diversity Series: Religions, Cultures and Communities (NCJ 212664). The Chicago Police Department. Producer: Chicago Police Department. usdoj.gov. Creative Commons license: Public Domain.

I guess it’s better than racially profiling Muslim neighborhoods, like the LAPD proposed, but it raises a few questions:

1. Are Chicago Jews so exotic they need a National Geographic travelog about their obscure customs?
2. Are Chicago cops so uneducated about the world around them that they need a video like this?
3. Who else got the special Chicago treatment; the Police Chaplain narrator mentions a total of three—Muslims? Sikhs? Hindus? Mormons?  What are they like?

On the other hand, maybe it was a good idea, especially after cops questioned a man davening with tefillin on a train to Chicago because they thought he might have been wearing an explosive device on his head.

Update:  The rest of these USDOJ-funded videos can be found here, covering the mysterious worlds of Sikhs, Muslims, Buddhists, Hindus, and the Eastern Orthodox. 

I love the Eastern Orthodox chanting.  Puts the Gregorians to shame! 

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November 22, 2007 | 12:51 am

Rock the vote music video, Jordanian style

Posted by JewishJournal.com

Los Angeles Times blogger Borzou Daragahi in Beirut found this fascinating YouTube hiphop video urging young Jordanians to vote in Tuesday’s elections:

Some say the election results were OK, too, with solid voter turnout (although not great) and a bigger majority for the King Abdullah-backed moderates. Others were disappointed about the lack of successful women candidates.

Cool video, to be sure, but what strikes me is that it looks so much like American hiphop videos—the gangsta baggy outfits, the poses, the gestures, even the spray-painted walls look like Los Angeles homies I see every day. 

American music pwns the world.  This is what the Islamists hate.  And, neener, neener, they lost the election.

I don’t know what what the lyrics mean, but in this case,
the medium is the message:

Jordan, like Soylent Green, is made of people, maybe even people . . . just like us.

Contrast and compare with this Israeli hiphop video by rappers Gad Elbaz and Alon de Loco:

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November 19, 2007 | 3:12 pm

FBI says hate crimes are up, but not so much

Posted by JewishJournal.com

From the Federal Bureau of Investigation:

Last Tuesday, a 22-year-old white supremacist named Gabriel Laskey was sentenced for his role in a hateful attack on Temple Beth Israel, a Jewish synagogue in Eugene, Oregon.

A few years earlier, Laskey, his brother Jacob, and two other men had thrown rocks etched with swastikas through the stained glass windows of the temple, right in the middle of religious services. You can just imagine how the peaceful worshippers felt.

It’s just one recent example of a hate crime—traditional offenses like vandalism, arson, or even murder motivated by various forms of prejudice that not only impact individuals and families but often escalate fear and tension across communities. . . .

Here’s an overview of the findings…and you can delve into the full report for many more details:

Incidents and Offenses:  A total of 7,722 incidents and 9,080 offenses were reported by participating agencies in 2006.

Offense Type:  Nationwide, 5,449 offenses were classified as crimes against persons, with intimidation (46 percent) and simple assaults (31.9 percent) accounting for most crimes. There were three murders during the year. Of the 3,593 crimes against property, the overwhelming majority (81 percent) were acts of vandalism or destruction.

Offenders:  Of the 7,330 known offenders, 58.6 percent were white and 20.6 percent were black.

Victims:  A total of 9,652 victims were identified. More than half—52.0 percent—were targeted because of their race.

Locations:  Most incidents, 31 percent, took place near or at homes and residences. Another 18 percent occurred on highways or streets.

I don’t know whether to feel relieved that the increase was so small or horrified that the rate remains high.

Blacks are still the top targets, Jews second, and gay men third, according to the FBI’s numbers, available as HTML and/or Excel.  Heh.

What kind of person throws rocks at a shul or hangs nooses on a black family’s tree?  No one I know, that’s for sure.  No one I think I know, anyhow.

It’s probably those same folks you see on Cops.

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November 15, 2007 | 9:51 pm

Don’t click on this story about a ‘circumcision accident’

Posted by JewishJournal.com

Really, you can try and find out what’s behind that provocative headline on our home page nifty JTA (Jewish Telegraphic Agency) Java [tm] news ticker, but why would you?

It’s much better if you make up your own story.

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