Thursday, August 9, 2012

Trial Nears Verdict in LA Hotel 'anti-Semitism' Case

Mike L.

Muslim owner of Shangri-La says that the participants in a pro-Israeli event were trespassing; plaintiffs hope for guilty verdict.

The trial of a hotel owner in Santa Monica accused of discriminating against organizers of a Friends of the Israel Defense Forces event is nearing a verdict.

When I first learned of this case I was too quick to assume the worst and was rightly called out for that by someone who I suspect works for the Hotel Shangri-la.

I did, after all, call over there and left my name and the name of this blog.

For the moment the only fair thing to do is wait for the formal verdict from the jury.

It might very well be that Tamie Adaya is entirely innocent and she should be given the benefit of the doubt until proven otherwise.

23 comments:

  1. I sure hope our friend from there will stop by and apologize to you and all of us if the verdict turns out to be guilty. I won't hold my breath, though.

    And btw, "trespassing?" Now, I don't know how their establishment is set up, but I know for a fact, that in every hotel I've ever been in (not to mention a fancy resort like hers which holds events like this, and which I'm sure has an army of security guards), it's pretty damned hard to 'sneak' a large group of people into a pool without somebody knowing about it. So yeah, I'm not sure how 'trespassing' to such an extent could ever possibly happen, even if the group did not 'have a permit.'

    Oh, and also. Even if they were 'trespassing,' that does not excuse the use of hate speech does it?

    And that is all I have to say, as The Abacus of Awesome, and The Mad Matador of Metaphor. With apologies to Mr. Keith Murray for the latter. ;)

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    1. The more I think on it, the more I hope that I was totally wrong in this case.

      I want Tamie Adaya to be entirely innocent. That is, I very much hope that the jury brings a verdict in her favor, going on the assumption that such a verdict would be an honest vindication.

      The reason for that is because she comes entirely out of a secular and modern milieu. She may be a wealthy diva, but "wealthy diva" is not a category of human being that worries me much.

      :O)

      If she comes out of an Islamic background then she represents Islamic modernity and should be supported.

      So, yeah, I will be feeling pretty good if she is found innocent, simply because I hope that she is.

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    2. I would like to believe so, too. However, as the article mentions, her filing (and subsequent withdrawal) of a SLAPP, does not bode well for that being the case.

      Anyway, let's keep an eye on it!

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    3. If I may butt in...

      :)

      I don't think there's a problem with 'wanting' things to be a certain way. The real problem, imo, is with those who, once something is made absolutely clear, continue to insist that... maybe eventually possibly one day... things will turn out our way.

      Maybe eventually possibly.

      I've long since given up on that, and I'm pretty sure Mike has, too.

      I want her to be innocent in the same way Mike does. I want to hope that regular, random Los Angelenos of her background aren't indistinguishable from Hamasniks, either.

      I want to believe that. I truly do.

      But when they prove they aren't, well then it's clear that it's time for us to fight them. And I'm pretty sure Mike has no problem with this, either. ;)

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    4. I also have a question why coming out of an Islamic background and representing Islamic modernity should matter.

      If she said the words, it shows the extent Jew hatred permeates the Arab world.

      The rest of her alleged conduct represents bad faith in any case.

      Not to mention that, now, it has a larger dimension in the greater struggle.

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    5. Well, the fact that she is a modern, secular individual matters because our only hope of eventually relieving ourselves of Islamic hatred toward Jews is through modernity.

      Islam is infused with theological Jew hatred. It's embedded in the Koran and in the hadiths, which is why the Arab world is absolutely infused with the most vicious racism imaginable.

      Heck, the Arab world makes the Jim Crow south look absolutely enlightened. All the polling shows an outright contempt for the Jewish people throughout the Muslim world.

      {We're allowed to acknowledge that, right? I mean, since Jews are the victims of majoritarian hatred in that part of the world, we are allowed to mention it?}

      But Tamie Adaya does not come out of political Islam. She comes from the American economic elite who, one would hope, would not be particularly racist against Jews.

      .
      .
      .

      Why do I suddenly feel like a very naive person?

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    6. "Trespassing" in the legal sense. Obviously, the security were well aware of their presence. From what I've gathered, the hotel still did accomodate them and gave the event goers pool access, despite not having that contract to hold the event.

      The fact that this still went to trial due to hearsay from ONE discredible "witness" (who didn't even show up to trial, by the way... reports say they had to take his written deposition as testimony).

      All in all, it just seemed too fishy. Especialy since all the plaintiffs are "well to do" (according to so many sources) and hadn't even seeked formal treatment for their "distress", yet are seeking about $3 million dollars out of this trial?

      Really a bit much to see this whole discrimination thing as anything but a smoke screen for them to extort money!

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    7. Crucial facts of the currently approximately 90-year-history, and current reality, of the situation that Israel is in that MUST be communicated -- and which MUST BE COMPREHENDED BY JEWISH PEOPLE:

      Why Are These Facts Not Well-Known?
      http://danielbielak.blogspot.com/2012/04/why-are-these-facts-not-well-known_04.html

      Israel - A Brief Summary of the History of the Situation
      http://danielbielak.blogspot.com/2011/03/israel-brief-summary-of-history-of_17.html

      The Occupation of Israel
      http://danielbielak.blogspot.com/2012/03/occupation-of-israel.html

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    8. AGAIN:

      A video of a recent brief interview with Kasim Hafeez -- a Pakistani-British, liberal secular, truly "moderate" Muslim (non-Sharia-proponent Muslim (non-orthodox Muslim)), former anti-Jewish racist, former Jihadi-ideology-indoctrinated, now advocate for Israel:

      Muslim & Zionist! Kasim Hafeez: "Israel is the only liberal democracy in ME"
      http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PSP2_EsDmyc

      Kasim Hafeez: "I've always said that, with Israel advocacy, we're not getting the truth out there...and the deputy foreign minister's videos that he's done with Stand With Us recently are just what's needed...to tell the truth -- to get the issues of...a 'Palestinian' state has never existed...this is fact, and people don't know this..." "..and it's easily accessable, you can send a video to somebody, they can watch it, and they can find out what's really happening" "...It's very sad. It really is; because a lot of this hatred and intolerance comes from ignorance. People do not know the facts...and I would say to anybody: come to Israel. You see the rights that Muslims have. I mean, I've walked past a mosque litera- [literaly] a few hours ago, you know...and it's a beautiful thing...that Israel is truly a nation of all its citizens." "...Israel can do no right in the U.K. press. Israel always is wrong, and everything always has a very negative slant. It's become very 'black and white', where the 'Palestinians' are right, and Israel is wrong...again, it's helping poisoning people towards Israel because they're not being told the truth of the conflict. ..." "...I think there's a case of: 'if you tell the lie enough times, people accept it as being true'; and, people just don't know; and, it's so key that we get the facts out there. You know, we're sitting here in the Middle East's only liberal democracy, where there are no restriction on what people can believe. People vote for their leaders. People of all colors, all races, all backgrounds co-exist here...and, people just don't know. So, we need to get the truth out there. We have to show, especially in Europe, that this is a liberal democracy. This is the ideals that bind us together; and if we don't stand up for liberal democracy, then what are we really -- what are we standing up for?"

      Kasim Hafeez's web site:

      The Israel Campaign -- Many voices, united for Israel
      www.theisraelcampaign.org

      Kasim Hafeez's blog:

      http://www.theisraelcampaign.org/blog.html

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    9. I apologize for the harshness of my initial previous comment. I was frustrated and distressed when I wrote my initial previous comment. However, I hope that my initial previous comment, and my subsequent previous comments, may be beneficial.

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    10. Indeed, Cynthia -

      "Really a bit much to see this whole discrimination thing as anything but a smoke screen for them to extort money!"

      There go those Jews again, complaining about discrimination that soooooo obviously doesn't exist (like, duh!), just to "extort money!"

      Right?

      Nice historic trope there, btw...

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  2. "It has been a few years since I visited Beirut, but it is a city once seen never forgotten. Nestled at the crossroads between three continents and with a history that dates back over 5,000 years, it has the remnants of Ottoman, Mamluke, Abbasid, Byzantine, Roman, Persian, Phoenician and Canaanite dynasties under its downtown area."

    She's guilty.

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    1. But but but...

      Butbutbut her best friend is Jewish!

      ;)

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    2. And even if she did order "those f'ing Jews" out of 'her' pool, she was obviously only exercising her free speech rights in criticizing certain policies of the current Israeli government...

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    3. Please tell me what a "SLAPP" is. Obviously an acronym.

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    4. Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation. It's something those with significant financial resources file against opponents they feel don't have the same advantage, with the hope that they'll back down upon considering the costs of their own legal defense.

      In this case, Ms. Adaya filed a libel suit in response to those who first filed against her, clearly hoping that they'd back down and drop their case.

      However, it turned out that the organized Jewish community in this case felt there was indeed a case against her, and kept pushing, at which point Ms. Adaya dropped her attempt to intimidate them into silence.

      My prediction is this case will probably end up with her paying some money to a foundation, not admitting to anything, and then being able to pretend that she isn't what she is. Which, legally, she will be able to claim that she isn't. Although anyone with a brain will be able to tell that she is.

      If this makes any sense.

      The American court system, ladies and gentlemen!

      :)

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    5. Well, I'm sure it beats Beirut's court system. ;)

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    6. Jay, you should have stuck with Britain!

      You do have the weirdest legal system there, though no where near as weird as your electoral system !

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    7. Heh, yeah. Don't get me started on the electoral college...

      ;)

      Then again, this is the first time I've ever lived in one of the "swing states" during a presidential election, so it should be interesting to see how that goes here, once the campaigning really picks up post-Labor Day. This is also, incidentally, the first year since 2001 that I will not be canvassing (knocking on doors) for Democratic candidates as a volunteer.

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    8. Jay,

      the thing about PA is that it's a state with Philadelphia on one end, Pittsburgh on the other, and Alabama in the middle!

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    9. What's Pittsburgh? Isn't that Ohio?

      ;-P

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  3. Actually, I DON'T work for the hotel at all. I've been Googling up on this trial and you had left a link on JTA, thus I followed. And this blog again popped up on Google when I was trying to find out the verdict. So... :)

    Just wanted to clarify. Awaiting to hear this verdict too. There's so many points that kind of make it clear that she is innocent.

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    1. I want to give this woman a fair shake, Cynthia.

      I do.

      Maybe once we get the jury's word you will expand on your interest in this case.

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