Iran sabre rattles over Gaza blockade.

The threat was made today by an aide to Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.  The threat is being treating as serious as information is tightly controlled in Iran; any word to the press from an aide within Iran’s leadership circle can be construed as the word of the religious leaders in Iran.

Tensions have been high since nine activists were killed during an Israeli raid on an aid ship that was attempting to break through Israel’s Gaza blockade.

Khamenei’s aide, Hojjatoleslam Ali Shirazi, said that Iran is “are prepared to escort the peace and freedom convoys that carry humanitarian assistance for the defenceless and oppressed people of Gaza with all their strength.”  The use of the word “strength” is seen as a thinly veiled threat and meant to say that Iran is prepared to use force against Israel’s navy.

Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has consistently defended Israel’s right to use force in order to defend the blockade.  Thousand’s of rockets have been fired at Israeli towns in recent years.  The goal of the blockade is presumably to weaken or foster the internal destruction of Gaza’s Hamas led government.

Iran has called for a UN condemnation of Israel over its treatment of Gaza and the flotilla incident last week.

At the heart of this antipathy toward Israel is anti-Semitism.

After today’s tragic and bungled raid of a Turkish ship headed for the Gaza strip on a humanitarian mission, the world is alight with a new round of Israel hatred.  Now Israel may be at fault here.  The facts will bear that out or not over the coming days.  We all mourn the loss of life here.  But by and large, Israel has already been tried and convicted.  Just like the Jews in Germany in the 1930′s, the Jews in Israel are persecuted without trial.  This time in the world press, and if the Iranian President has his way, much like the Germans did in World War II.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said today that “the inhuman action of the Zionist regime” would bring the “sinister and fake regime closer than ever to its end.”  Mr. Ahmadinejad wasn’t referring to the reign of Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu, but to Israel herself.

Anti-Israel, read anti-Jewish, rallies were held across the world including in western cities like Paris and Los Angeles.  “The Jews must pay,”  is what the rallies are really saying.

Over at the Huffington Post, the home base of the American left,  comments against the Jewish state ran 5-to-1.  Comments ranged from “Quite frankly, Israel needs to be put in their place” to “Israel is engaging in acts of blatant terrorism on civilian targets,” to “Our relationship with Israel undermines all attempts for us to have good relations with Muslim nations.”  The American left wouldn’t even admit that the Ft. Hood shooter was influenced in any way by his religion until weeks after his act of jihad influenced killing spree.  Yet, the verdict that Israel committed a “blatant” act of terrorism is clear just hours after the raid took place.

Can anyone honestly say that Hamas and the Palestinians are true partners in peace and that Israel is solely holding up the peace process?  Most people know that both sides have internal roadblocks that prohibit them from pursuing a genuine peace.  Only Israel pays a price for this.  Hamas, for the most part, gets a pass.

“If it wasn’t for those pesky Jews we’d have peace in the world” seems to be the new mantra of many across the world.

The image of Palestinians as the minority and victim is a convenient and useful one for anti-Semites worldwide. Muslims have the biggest beef with Jews and Israel.  The truth is, some of the Arab states hate Israel simply because it exists. The fact that the West plopped a Jewish state on their turf enrages many Muslims in the Middle East.

Make no mistake, the anti-Israel, and read again, anti-Jewish forces around the world are hoping to create a climate where the world will accept an Iranian attack on the Jewish state.  The United States won’t permit that to happen.  President Obama is not the biggest friend of Israel, however his commitment to defending her would be absolute in the case of an Iranian attack.

Keep this in mind,  since it is not publicized enough.  There are roughly 13 million Jews in the world and over 1.5 billion Muslims.  Who is really the underdog here?  Israeli bashing is really Jew- bashing.  Hitler would be proud of the political climate vis-a-vis the Sons of Abraham these days.

The poor in Haiti will continue to suffer. Above a man collects dried mud cookies to sell in Cite Soleil in Port-au-Prince.

The promised land for Haitians looking for escape is not the nearby Dominican Republic or Cuba,  but 700 miles away, in the United States.   Illegally or legally, they mostly come to Florida, Miami in particular.    On Lincoln Boulevard in South Beach Miami, a can of Coke  can cost you north of $10.00.   As you sip the Coke, please consider that a fellow human being  700 miles may be eating dirt to survive.   I know I do.

Not to knock the tremendous Haiti relief efforts, but did an earthquake that killed 200,000-plus people have to happen to get us to really address their chronic situation?  Perhaps so.  God works in mysterious ways.

Many people have a lot of criticism of the Catholic church. But the simple fact remains, no organization in the entire world does more for the poor with regard to education, providing nourishment, building shelter, giving hospital care, etc than the Catholics. It is, by far, the largest non-profit organization in the world.  If you do not believe me, google it.

For years, the church has been helping the poor in Haiti on a quiet, steady basis while Western governments trumpet yearly announcements of  funds heading to Haiti, funds which have been grabbed by many sticky fingers before ever reaching those in need.

Last year I was fortunate enough to see Catholic outreach in Port au Prince. Mother Teresa’s nuns, the Missionaries of Charity, have around ten houses that provide aid to the poor in Haiti. In one of these homes, the good sisters take in malnourished children and care for them until they are strong enough to live with their families again. This work is performed without fanfare and has been going on for years, as it will for years to come.

I read one week after the Haiti earthquake took place,  a cruise ship docked 60 miles away from Port au Prince and the people were jet skiing and having a grand old time.   News like this that should sicken us.  Okay, you say.  Some countries “have” and some simply “do not have”.   Maybe that’s fine with you.  Maybe you have “charity fatigue” and can give no more.

Mother Teresa has an answer for that: “If you can not feed one hundred people, feed one”.

Well? Am I my brother’s keeper? I pose the question.   If a category 7 earthquake killed 200,000 Americans along the Carolina coast, how would it feel if vacationers on a cruise ship anchored offshore jet skied for the day before they cruised on?   Are you on that jet ski as the world’s poor eat dirt?

To learn more about giving, visit Immaculate Heart Missions – NYC .  By the way,   Mother Teresa is set to be honored with a postage stamp this year, and a group opposing it on church vs. state grounds has of course sprung up.    To that I say what St. Francis said:

Start by doing what’s necessary, then what’s possible, and suddenly you’re doing the impossible.

The list is not credited to a specific source, and it isn’t clear where it came from.  Unrest has been growing in the Persian Gulf nation since Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was reelected in 2009, in what many observers see as a tainted election.  The list, if accurate, is likely to lead to further unrest as the mostly unelected leadership in Iran, at least in terms of raw power, acquired their authority via religious decree.

Religious leader in Iran, Ahmad Jannati, reportedly holds $1 billion overseas.

Among those of note on the list are Mohammad-Hossein Saffar-Harandi, the former Minister of Culture and Islamic Guidance in Iran, who reportedly has over $58 Million is overseas holdings and Gholam-Ali Haddad-Adel the former chairman of the Iranian Parliament who is also reported to have $58 million in overseas accounts.  Those figures are small when compared with others on the list, like the reputed $500 million-plus held overseas by Iran’s Armed Forces Chief of Staff Hassan Firouzabadi, and the nearly $1 billion held in the name of Guardian Council member Ahmad Jannati.  The Guardian Council acts as a clearing house for legislation, candidate selection, and religious edicts in Iran.

The list of 67 officials, with cumulative billions in overseas holdings, was posted by a user named “MDSTV” on iReport on December 29th of last year.  Conservative radio host John Batchelor highlighted the list on his WABC radio show Sunday night.

On September 27, Chavez and his Brazilian counterpart Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva met at the hotel,  along with more than 30 leaders from South America and Africa for a summit about regional trade issues, particularly the petrochemical market.  At one point during the meetings Mr. Chavez mused that the government could nationalize the hotel.

This is not the first time a Hilton has been seized by Mr. Chavez’s government.  In 2005 the Hilton in Caracas was seized and rebranded the Hotel Alba.  It has become the hotel of choice for visiting Chavistas from around the world.  A search of popular consumer travel site Tripadvisor for reviews of Hotel Alba brought up lukewarm comments, warnings about faded décor, the need for caution in the hotel’s dangerous neighborhood, and its overpriced rates.

Karla Visconti, a Hilton spokesman, said the company “is evaluating how the Venezuelan government’s action affects its interest in this [Margarita Island] hotel.”

The trend in worldwide hotel chains for a decade or more has been toward complicated brand name leaseback and management agreements, with time limits, rather than outright ownership.   Hilton let go its concession on the Hotel Alba when it expired in 2007.

Hosein-Ali Montazeri to speak out against President Ahmadinejad

Montazeri, a key figure in the Islamic revolution of 1979 that led to the disposition of the Shah and installed Iran’s current theocratic leadership, was once first in line to the “throne” of Iran behind deceased spiritual leader, Ayatollah Khomeini.  Montazeri was effectively demoted in 1989 over public comments deemed anti-regime.  In 1997 he was placed under house arrest for speaking out too forcefully against Iran’s ruling cabal.

Montazeri has been highly critical of the regime’s actions after the 2009 presidential election.  Referring to the recent anti-protest crackdowns as “military rule,” and not the “rule of the jurisprudent.”

Although Ayatollah Montazeri no longer holds official power within Iran’s leadership, his purported call for action directly to other clerics is rare.