Photo by Julia Xanthos/News

The latest front in the Arab/Israeli conflict is in the New York City subways. This is similar to the skirmish in the Seattle bus system where anti-Israel ads were pulled before they went up due to public outrage. But who can resist the smiley faces in NY. And are these kids being taught anti-Semitism in Palestinian schools funded by EU coffers. Will these kids help fire thousands of rockets into Israel with little international outcry? Will they try to sail into Gaza with arms while being protected by Turkey's navy (or so they say)? Will they enter Israeli homes at night and slaughter innocent families including sleeping children. All of this is possible because they are being taught to hate the Jew, to drive them into the sea and those who kill the Jew will be rewarded in the afterlife. They are taught that israel has no right to exist and that it was created because of a Jewish fabricated story of the Holocaust. The Jew is dehumanized and demonized in their eyes making all action taken against them justified. This week a Palestinian leader said the new Palestinian state should be Jewish-free. Sound familiar? And what's up with Palestinian leaders insisting on pre-1967 now borders when after countless wars and lost lives and treasure they could have had the same in 1948 had they accepted the two state proposals offfered by world leaders. Come on MTA and the NYC subways! These ads are patently offensive and have no place in the Metro. They are in effect "fighting words" which are not protected by the First amendment. You could not put an ad in the Metro that 9/11 was actually a CIA plot. This is bound to lead to violence and responsibility will fall on the government. And the lawyers will follow. Shalom, David Schneier

Public prayer in the streets banned in Paris/Muslim Imam fears anarchy

The Ministry of the Interior of France has banned public prayer in the streets of Paris which immediately affects 1,000 Muslims who meet at one site for prayer every Friday at 2pm. The ban may be extended to all of France including Marseille and Nice. The Minister also said that force would be used to stop such public prayers because it breaches the French understanding of separation of church and state and shocks citizens who are not Muslims. In the public arena the French expect secularism to control. The Muslims have been meeting for Friday prayers in the street for several since a large mosque closed and the local police did nothing to restrict the practice. I am told that the police will not go into areas of Paris because of fear of Muslim and gang violence against them. One resident said that she would have to call for fire department to come when she needed the police because of the lack of police response in her neighborhood. One Imam commented that there were difficulties in moving to a new place provided by the city and that Muslims were "not cattle." He also said he "fear(ed) a climate of anarchy." (Photo and quotes from 9/16/11, The Connexion, www.connexionfrance.com.) Shalom from Paris. David Schneier