Stephen Lendman

The Golani Unit: Israels Finest Psychopaths...

On February 28, 1948, David Ben-Gurion formed Golani to help ethnically cleanse Palestine during Israel's War of Independence.

Ariel Sharon was one of its first commanders. Earlier he was a notorious Hagana terror gang one and Alexandroni death squad head. In 1953, he established the infamous Unit 101.

It included lawless cutthroats responsible for numerous massacres. Sharon's entire career was bloodstained. Many other Israeli commanders matched him. Their careers often included Golani service.

It's a ruthless killing machine. In 1947-48, it participated in displacing about 800,000 Palestinians, massacring many others, committing numerous atrocities, and destroying 531 villages and 11 urban neighborhoods in cities like Tel-Aviv, Haifa and Jerusalem.

Its initial mission was systematic crimes of war and against humanity. Decades of cold-blooded murder, rape, torture, and genocidal slaughter followed. They're also cowards. They terrorize defenseless civilians, including women and children. Brutes excel in this type violence. It exposes their dark side. They avoid fair fights.

Golani attracts the most criminal elements in Israeli society. According to an unidentified soldier:

They include "psychopaths, the poor, orphans, Israelis who live in small towns, immigrants, illiterates, people with mental problems, drug and alcohol abusers, and people with criminal records."

Sharon was a quintessential member. Later commanders were similar. Some rose to high IDF posts. Former IDF head General Gabi Ashkenazi served with Golani in 1972 and during Israel's 1973 Yom Kippur War.

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Charles E. Carlson

Six men, one woman and one excited teenager challenged the leadership of McLean Bible Church on Sunday, March 4, in the affluent suburb of Mclean, Virginia. The church claims over 13,000 regular attendees at three consecutive services. Its website lists a staff of 74, each of whom received two letters in advance of our visit. Attendees park in a two-story concrete garage that holds over 1500 cars; four off-duty policemen direct traffic.

Our vigils are organized, but in no way resemble mass demonstrations. Rather, like Jesus at the Temple of Herod, we go alone or with a few friends, with a firm message. We were large enough in number at McLean to display a uniform message of peace to everyone who gave us one glance. Many try not to look, but few can force themselves not to read the large display messages out of the corner of their eye:

JESUS DEMANDS THAT YOU SEEK PEACE.  WHY ARE YOU NOT DOING SO?

We do not expect many people to stop and thank us for being there, but a few did. One told us that in Pastor Solomon’s message to his huge audiences, he said of us, ”They are wrong, we are not in favor of war on Iran....we do not support all of Israel's acts.” Two members, one of whom was with our vigil, told us the church has many wonderful people, but they are prompted to support wars. One said, "I have heard the full auditorium cheer when someone talks about the need for war against Iran."

Like most "Messianic Christians" (former Jews), Lon Solomon plays at being both a Jew and a Christian. He mixes a dash of Talmudic Judaism into his "Christian" sermons, references to The Book of Esther, for example. It is not coincidental that, as reported in The Atlantic, Israeli President Benjamin Netanyahu presented U.S. President Obama with a copy of The Book of Esther, a reminder to the President that, according to Hebrew legend, the Persians (today, Iranians) were massacred by the Israelites (called jews in The Book of Esther), a massacre that is celebrated as the festival of "Purim" at this time of year. But Purim is a feast that celebrates the murder of innocents found in a book (Esther) that does not mention God. What would Jesus say to that?

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Stephen Lendman

Marty Peretz (Photo: Salon.com)

Major media scoundrel reports, commentaries, and editorials distort, misreport, censor, and suppress. Truth and full disclosure lose out. Readers and viewers deserving better are cheated.

The New Republic's (TNR) owner and former editor-in-chief Martin Peretz ranks with the worst. His columns exclude journalism the way it should be.

He's unabashedly pro-Israel, pro-war, and ideologically extreme on all issues mattering most. In December 2010, New York Magazine contributor Benjamin Wallace-Wells called him "a born belligerent (with) an extraordinary capacity for anger."

American Prospect contributor Eric Alterman said he "spread the virus of liberal self-hatred....(D)uring his reign (as TNR editor-in-chief, he's) done lasting damage to the cause of American liberalism."

"By turning TNR into a kind of ideological police dog, (he) tarr(ed) anyone who disagreed (with him) as irresponsible and untrustworthy." He did it based on (a) narrow and ideosyncratic....Israel-centric neoconservatism."

On Peretz's watch, no TNR editorial ever criticized Israel. Its interests alone matter. "Support for Israel," he said, is "deep down, an expression of America's best view of itself." He suggested Israel's worst crimes are justifiable, when, in fact, they violate fundamental international laws and norms.

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