May 25, 2004
Madison and Rafah - Sister Cities?

The Madison, Wisconsin City Council is debating a proposal to become a "Sister City" with Rafah, Gaza Strip.

The Madison-Rafah Sister City Project appears to be a coalition of hippie-dippie "peace" activists, rabid anti-Semites, and suicidal Jews. The resolution in front of the City Council says:

the mission statement of the municipal government in Rafah reflects a democratic vision that corresponds to the values of Madison’s political leadership,
and
the communities of Madison and Rafah, despite many differences, share such common goals as developing green space, improving the environment, balancing urban growth with the preservation of farmland, and enhancing transportation networks
In fact, the municipal government in Rafah is Hamas, whose stated goals are all about killing Jews and have nothing to do with bicycle paths or mandatory recycling.

The Madison City Council will consider the proposal on Tuesday, June 1. I was born and raised in Madison, so it saddens me to see the City Council engage in this sort of idiocy. If you still live in Madison, please contact the City Council, and explain to them that endorsing the bloodthirsty Islamist Jew-killers in Rafah won't do much to improve the quality of life in Madison.

Posted by Stefan Sharkansky at May 25, 2004 10:46 AM
Comments

"Transportation networks"? Funny, I never noticed any arms-smuggling tunnels on any of my visits to Madison.

Posted by: Scott on May 25, 2004 03:02 PM

"born and raised in Madison" -- then you must know that the lunatics long ago took over the asylum. But this particular proposal is worrisome, precisely for the reaons you identify: it is intellectually corrupt and morally bankrupt, a fig leaf for anti-semitism. In that sense, it exemplifies the point made by the usually sober commentator, Barry Rubin:

Rather than easing the Middle East's madness, the West has caught the disease itself. And what's truly remarkable is that the more the region's dominant system fails and abandons reality, the stronger its ideological defenses and the more successful its export of these ideas.

Frnakly, I don't think local Jewish communities -- which collectively should be a bulwark against this sort of perniciousness -- are ready or psyhcologically equipped to deal with this trend. But we'll see. The Madison Jewish Community Council strongly opposes the project. Better hope they're effective, though either way this is a trend that will go on, and not an aberration.

Posted by: wm. tyroler on May 25, 2004 03:15 PM

Looney left liberals. Do they realize that they are supporting child sacrifice? Mass murder of civilians? The destruction of the Palestinian people by a Palestinian madman?

Posted by: Jed on May 27, 2004 07:30 AM

On the bright side, they might actually get the people in Rafah to start thinking about "eveloping green space, improving the environment, balancing urban growth with the preservation of farmland, and enhancing transportation networks".

BTW, that was a joke.

Posted by: maor on May 30, 2004 10:56 AM

Still, cities in the US used to have sister cities in Soviet Russia. The idea is to open up dialog with what is, essentially, an unrepresented nation. Oh, and they're having a book drive.

Posted by: Ellie on July 21, 2004 09:00 AM

Still, cities in the US used to have sister cities in Soviet Russia. The idea is to open up dialog with what is, essentially, an unrepresented nation. Oh, and they're having a book drive.

Posted by: Ellie on July 21, 2004 09:00 AM
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