Moroccan artist uses MeToo label for more valid purposes

France 24 tells of a lady artist from Morocco who's using the #MeToo movement hashtag for promoting comics with more sincere purposes than what US counterparts have been to date, although the channel covering this - wouldn't you know it - omits a certain Religion of Peace from the narrative:

Young Moroccan cartoonist Zainab Fasiki draws on a whiteboard in a Casablanca studio where she is holding a workshop that mixes art with a homegrown illustrated #MeToo campaign.

"We are here to change this rape culture, which says the victim deserves what they get while the criminal is innocent," says Fasiki, 26, her eyes flashing with indignation.

A dozen students and professionals have joined forces with Fasiki, a pioneer in comics and illustration in Morocco, in response to a web series titled #TaAnaMeToo that depicts women's real-life ordeals.

As part of the series -- "Ta ana" means "Me Too" in Moroccan Arabic dialect -- she illustrated the harrowing testimony of a 22-year-old woman who for years was raped by her brother, to the indifference of her parents.

Unlike in the broader #MeToo movement, the Moroccan women who have agreed to share their stories for the campaign have preferred to remain anonymous.

Series producer Youssef Ziraoui says rape victims in Morocco not only have to deal with a sense of "shame" and the risk of being cast out by their families, but can face charges for sex before marriage under Moroccan law if they go to the police.

But why no mention of the Religion of Peace, and how the verses in the Koran influence this kind of behavior? Do they really expect to change anything if there's no knowledge to ensure defense? The sad part of this news, much like the TV station's own political correctness, is that "codes of silence" on ideology are what make it difficult to cease rape culture in an Islamic country, if nobody's willing to acknowledge the belief systems that led to this. In fact, is anybody in the US backing the MeToo campaign even willing to acknowledge news like this from north Africa? Probably not, because unlike what's happening now in the US, where half the allegations made against certain individuals have been false or exaggerated, the cases involving Islam have a lot more validity.

I think the webcomic series the Moroccan artist came up with is a good idea in itself, but if she hasn't acknowledged Islam's indoctrination leading to such culture, then it's bound to be more of a failure. Evil acts don't just simply come out of nowhere; they have to stem not just from bad education but also from bad ideologies. And that's why, while this Moroccan artist's work makes better use of the MeToo label, it'll still fall way short of its intended goals if there's no mention of the Religion of Peace.

SJW themes appearing in Teen Titans Academy

There seem to be a few of the now common problems with identity politics turning up in the pages of the new Teen Titans Academy series, as seen in these 2 panels coming from Inside Pulse:

Let's see, we have here an apparently Muslim adherent named "Summer Zahid", and it should be noted the last name means "devout", "ascetic", "one who renounces the earth and fully devoted to allah", for example, in the Arabic language. So in other words, the writer in charge of this volume is using it as an excuse for Islamic propaganda. And then, as also seen in the 1st panel to 2nd panel, there's a mutant-like creature named Stitch who's non-binary, or "genderqueer".

And it all demonstrates a very sad comedown for a franchise that used to be considered very admirable when originally published during 1964-96, degenerating as it clearly has into a quagmire of identity politics, normalizing bad ideologies and even putting two contradictory ones in the same book while obviously pretending that's not the case. (Islam is opposed to homosexuality, and by extension to the transsexual ideology that grew out of it.) Yet another example of how current DC editor Marie Javins is little different from her predecessor, Dan DiDio, under whom much of this propaganda push first began in past years. I also noticed that the character design for Donna Troy and Starfire does seem fairly muted, especially when you consider the latter's costume, for some reason, isn't what it used to be when she first debuted in 1980. A terrible shame. It's even worse in some ways than Geoff Johns and Mike McKone's dreadful take on Teen Titans in the early 2000s.

When Israel aided Japan after the tsunami disaster of 2011

Some important history of an Israeli medical delegation's aid to a Japanese fishing village, Minamisanriku, following a horrible tsunami that occurred on March 11 of 2011:

This was the worst calamity his town has ever been hit with. Things were on the verge of despair. Roads were either blocked or just destroyed; the power grid and cellular network were down, and the water supply was disrupted. Japan's armed forces brought as much help as they could but the terrified residents who had lost their homes faced a predicament of epic proportions.

Masafumi Nishizawa, a local physician, was the only medical doctor in the city's evacuation center in the immediate aftermath. "Only after a week did more medical teams arrive, totaling 20 specialists; the problem was that all the medical facilities had been decimated. We had no equipment to examine people or to operate." The local leaders were eager for help, and this came from the other end of the earth: Israel.

An Israel Defense Forces delegation in the area some two weeks after the waves hit. It was the first foreign relief delegation to arrive at the site. The government of Japan made any foreign assistance contingent on having the teams bring their own equipment, and Israel was the only country that could meet that requirement in such short notice. The Japanese parliament also held a special session to issue the Israeli delegation members with a special permit that would allow them to treat the locals. Eventually, after passing through many hoops and dealing with many concerns – including worries over being exposed to radiation from the reactor in Fukushima that had undergone a meltdown – the delegation landed. It comprised doctors, nurses, X-ray specialists, and all the necessary equipment. They immediately began setting up a field hospital.

"We required that they be able to conduct tests, but we could not imagine that they would have so much equipment and be so skilled at what they do," Nishizawa recalls in a conversation with Israel Hayom. "Their expertise was amazing and they had everything up and running at record speed." Among the first patients to be admitted to the hospital was Sato's own staff, and he got an X-ray. "They were courteous, they smiled and I was very grateful to get treatment," he recalled.

The Israeli medical team also aided a lot of pregnant women:

The Israelis won over the locals with various gestures that underscored just how dedicated they were to help them. "Pregnant women faced particular duress because they lacked proper equipment. They had to travel long distances just to get checkups or for giving birth," Nishizawa says. "But the Israeli delegation had a doctor trained in delivering babies, and after he had learned of the situation he began making house calls with patients, accompanied by a local female nurse. This level of dedication and their willingness to extend a helping hand to the community was really touching for me," Nishizawa says with admiration.

This is something you may not read about in US/European press sources, which is a terrible shame, because here, you have people who care about life, yet so many anti-Israelists would rather invalidate it for the sake of their prejudices. The Japanese will always remember this fine service, and those who recognize its importance should do what they can to let other countries know about it too.

Why it would be bad for Raam to be part of a coalition

Avi Bareli makes a valid case why the Islamic-led Raam party could be bad for Israel, following last week's election:

For Likud to form a coalition with the Arab Ra'am party means that the Israeli government would consist of a political entity the aim of which is to include Israel in the Islamic caliphate and the ideology linked to the Muslim Brotherhood.

Ra'am spokespeople have expressed support for Hamas in the past, and the party is committed to settling descendants of Palestinian refugees in Israel and erode the very character of the Jewish state.

A government whose very existence depends on such a party will not take the fundamental ethos of the state into account or the main interests of its citizens.

Such a right-wing government might be a temporary event, but it will create legitimacy for a permanent alliance between most Arab Knesset members and the Left, as is the aspiration of Yesh Atid, Meretz, and the Labor Party.

The deniers of Israel will be given the status of permanent "arbitrators" between the Zionist parties, and their arbitration will always lean towards eroding the Jewish state.

It is crucial to differentiate between relying on an Islamist, anti-Israeli party and wanting to appeal to Arab Israelis out of a desire to strengthen the standing of non-Jewish citizens in the democratic Jewish state and bridge the socio-economic gap between them and the Jewish citizens.

Seeing what Raam is really like, that's why, if the Likud doesn't form a coalition with them, it'll be for the best. It's the Arab-Israelis we should seek in backing, but not delegates like Mansour Abbas, what with his repellent acts of the past, if he hasn't abandoned them.

That said, it's terrible that mindless, ungrateful politicians like Gideon Saar and Naftali Bennett led to a situation like this, and now we have a badly divided Knesset that could wind up a dire situation thanks to their efforts to undermine right-wing coalitions.

Update: while we should all be wary of Raam, this news clip is decidedly still worth taking notice of:

Mansour Abbas, the leader of the Islamist Ra’am party, intends to make a high-profile press statement in the coming days, once again pledging support for cooperation with Israel’s Jewish majority, seeking to further legitimize the option of the Arab party to be part of a ruling coalition, Channel 12 news.

However, it is unclear how such a statement would change things when Abbas has been advocating for such cooperation for months.

Many key politicians, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Yamina party leader Naftali Bennett, New Hope leader Gideon Sa’ar and Religious Zionism head Bezalel Smotrich, have in recent weeks ruled out any cooperation with Ra’am.

Presumably, he understands the benefits of maintaining good relations with the Judaist parties. But to really prove himself, Abbas would do well to prove he can jettison his more extreme positions, and that way, better trust can be forged. We'll see how this turns out.

Turkey could interfere in next year's French election

The French president, Emmanuel Macron, is warning about the possibilities:

French president Emmanuel Macron has warned that Turkey’s government, led by Islamist president Recep Tayyip Erdogan, will make attempts to interfere in next year’s presidential elections.

“Obviously, there will be attempts at interference for the next election. They’re written, and the threats are not veiled,” President Macron said in a television interview, which is part of a documentary on President Erdogan.

Macron went on to criticise Turkey for “a policy of state lies relayed by press outlets controlled by the Turkish state”, according to Le Figaro, and mentioned “some major channels controlled by Qatar”.

The French and Turkish presidents have been at odds for months over several issues, such as Macron’s crackdown on political Islamist groups in the wake of teacher Samuel Paty’s beheading by an Islamist Chechen refugee in October.

It wouldn't be the least bit shocking if Erdogan sought ways to interfere there. And that's exactly why steps should be taken to banish their embassy from France, for example. There's a serious need for an emergency situation, and it will have to be taken as soon as possible.