Peres--Senile?

This morning on Israeli radio, in English, Peres was interviewed about what it was like here
Peres said that all of Israel watched it on television, then went out in the streets to dance.

Television in 1947?

Israel had no television broadcasts until 1967, and twenty years earlier, even in America, televisions were rare.

Radio was the medium at the time.

AFSI, TV Appearance

A few weeks ago, an AFSI delegation visited me in Shiloh. They recorded the talks for their TV show. Here are the broadcast details:

It'll be shown in Manhattan on Monday evening, Dec. 3,at 7 PM on Ch. 57 Time Warner and Channel 84 RCN.

Nebich! Should We Laugh or Cry?

Livni to Arabs at summit: Stop treating me like a pariah
"Why will no one shake my hand?" FM asks delegates.

Did she really think the world would like her for her enthusiastic disloyalty to her own country and heritage? Now, not only won't they like her, they won't respect her either!

Rice says childhood in segregated South helps her understand both Israel, Palestinians.

She's just another black turning her back on (more accurately stabbing the backs of) the people who helped hers the most.

Olmert to Haaretz: Two-state solution, or Israel is finished--

Of course, anyone not blinded by the flashbulbs of fame knows that with a terror state in her heart and center, Israel will be finished!

Is This What We Had Prayed For?

Ehud Olmerde stands proudly announcing that he's giving the Arabs our Historical Homeland to establish the 23rd Arab State.

Is that what Jews have been praying for all these thousands of years?

Is that the "Hatikvah," the Hope that has sustained us while our numerous enemies have vanished as Peoples off the face of the earth?

Please read this from The Women In Green's, Ruth Matar's Letter, which is not on the site as I write this.

Letter from Ruth Matar (Women in Green) Jerusalem
Thursday, November 29, 2007

Dear Friends,

Israel’s Military General Staff declares: “AS BAD AS ANNAPOLIS SEEMS, THE TRUTH IS A THOUSAND TIMES WORSE”. This was the headline in last Friday’s Makor Rishon, a popular Hebrew Newspaper.

Nonetheless, Israel’s Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, Foreign Minister Tzippi Livni and Defense Minister Ehud Barak accepted the invitation to the conference in Annapolis, Maryland. They attend knowing full well that the purpose of this conference is to divide the Jewish State and Jerusalem, and to force Israel to relinquish the Biblical Heartland, Judea and Samaria, and many holy religious sites.

All this, with Jerusalem being placed on high alert on Sunday, with roadblocks and checkpoints set up at the various entrances to the city, after intelligence reports indicated that two terrorists were on their way to the capital to carry out a mass attack.

In Hebron, a young Palestinian armed with a knife was caught at the Tomb of the Patriarchs planning to stab the first Jew he could find.

And in the 72 hours prior to the Annapolis conference, Palestinian terrorists in Gaza fired six Kassam rockets and over a dozen mortar shells at Israeli towns and cities throughout the Negev.

All we will get in return is, of course, more terror!

I ask you:

IS IT TREASON WHEN THE PRIME MINISTER OF A NATION AGREES TO ATTEND A CONFERENCE WHERE THE MAIN AGENDA CLEARLY IS THE DISMEMBERMENT OF HIS OWN COUNTRY?

For your information:

THE DEFINITION OF TREASON ACCORDING TO ISRAELI LAW:

In article B. of the penal code, entitled: “Treason”, clause 97 is entitled:

“Harming the sovereignty of the country or its wholeness”.

From clause 97:

(a) Any person who committed an act with the intention of harming the sovereignty of the country, an act which may cause harm to the sovereignty of the country, shall be sentenced to death or life in prison.

(b) Any person who intentionally allowed any part of land to be removed from the sovereignty of the country or added to the sovereignty of another country, an act which will bring to that, shall be sentenced to death or life in prison.

* * *

Dear friends, I pose this question to you in a purely hypothetical fashion, and leave it for you to think about.

IS PRIME MINISTER OLMERT AND CO. COMMITTING TREASON?

I stress that this question is purely hypothetical, as I am 78 years old, and do not relish the thought of spending any more time in jail. The food in the Jerusalem Russian Compound jail is dreadful, the bedding literally smells and the sanitary facilities consist of a hole in the floor!

BEEN THERE, DONE THAT!

The following two articles by Michael Freund and Emanuel Winston are a must-read.
Olmert in Peaceland and "PIMPING FOR PEACE"

Different, Though Totally Halachik Funeral

Hat tip IMRA


A recent poll shows that 62% of Israelis want a Jewish funeral, with the "traditional Chevra Kadisha."

"A joint poll conducted by Ynet and the Gesher foundation, found that 62% of Israelis would like to be buried in a religious ceremony, and, moreover, 51% of Israelis believe that the traditional Jewish funeral should not be altered."

Within Halacha, Jewish Law, there is a lot more room for innovation than most people would think.
It's just that in the cities, the Chevra Kadisha, burial societies, are Chareidi. Here in Shiloh, at the funerals conducted in our cemetery, the families have a lot of say as how the funerals will be conducted.

Females speak at the grave, wives, daughters, granddaughters, sisters... They aren't shunted aside.

"Forty three percent of secular Jews see no need to alter the traditional service, and an additional 9% would simply like to add additional readings and poems to the more time-honored prayers."

At our funerals there is a lot more to the ceremony than just the prayers.

"Who would Israelis like to preside over their funerals? On this issue, too, Israelis appear to be mostly in keeping with tradition. Thirty-six percent of Israelis would like to leave this task to the traditional Chevra Kadisha. Twenty-two percent of Israelis would like to designate this task to a close family member or friend; whereas an additional 19% would like to train Rabbis to help grieving families connect with a sense of Jewish identity and tradition. Whereas secular Jews would prefer to be buried by a family member of friend (34%), religious Jews, not surprisingly, would leave this task to the Chevra Kadisha."

Our neighbors and friends, of all professions, are in the local Chevra Kadisha.

Hope on the Right

True, it does seem rather incomprehensible that there isn't a strong unified Israeli dissident movement on the right of the political spectrum.

After all we've been through , it's hard to remember when we had a strong right wing. Actually, we thought we did when Sharon was elected. Then he gave us the shock of our lives, Disengagement. Thinking back, in 1977, when Menachem Begin was elected, people also expected a strong right wing government...

...Maybe we're better off when the left is in power. Maybe not. Think Rabin and Oslo. But at least Rabin had some great roads built, so we wouldn't have to drive through Ramallah.

Actually, since Begin's time, things have not been that great. Great expectations and then destruction, arrests, violence....oy...

I decided to check out MK Dr. Arieh Eldad's new political grouping. OK. He's still in the National Union, but he's expected to join Hatikvah for the next elections.


Hatikvah is the Hebrew word for "hope." It's also the name of Israel's National Anthem.


Hatikvah is supposed to be a political party for all Israelis, like the old T'chiya Party of Geula Cohen, Prof. Yuval Ne'eman and Moshe Shamir. Many Israeli Right wing Nationalists aren't religious and they don't feel at home in the National Union, which has aligned itself with the National Religious Party.


Their information/protest tent is in the Rose Garden (park) across from the Prime Ministers Office in Jerusalem.

"49 Nations"

Sure easy to lose your sense of proportion in a palace oops! place like that!
It's all part of the psychological warfare oops again tactics that the Americans are using against Israel.



Stacked deck

vise

pressure cooker

steam roller

Officials from 49 nations gathered Tuesday at the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis, Md., for a one-day conference on Middle East peace. complete article

Intifada in Paris?

Israel's looking safer all the time, bli eyin haraa.

Arab-African riots against the police are getting more dangerous and more violent. They now use hunting rifles against the police. I had to read quite a bit through this New York Times article, until they mentioned that the rioters are Arab and Africans.

It's obvious that they'd be from the "immigrant suburbs." They're called "immigrant suburbs," even if the rioters are from families who've been there for a few generations. They'll never be "real" Frenchmen.



I'd rather be in Shiloh than in Paris.

Will the NYT Put this up?

Here's my comment to
Editorial
Starting From Annapolis:

November 28, 2007 10:37 am
The Bush-Rice bullying of Israel, led by Olmert, who is the least popular Israeli Prime Minister in history--averaging single-digit support--can only cause world disasters. It is a well-known fact that Olmert is to be charged with multiple corruption crimes. That's why he's willing to endanger his country.The Arab politicians are no better. The billions of dollars in support which the world has given them has disappeared, and the ordinary people are still suffering.Another point, the Arab countries have not been shy about proclaiming that their aim is the destruction of Israel. You can't make peace with people like that.

The comment is up here. You can even "vote" for it.

Democracy in Action!

We had two elections, simultaneously in Shiloh and most of Mateh Binyamin, the Benjamin Regional Council. That's the area, like a county, north of Jerusalem, from Adam in the south until Eli in the North; Kochav Hashachar and Rimmonim to the East and Mevo Choron to the West.

Shiloh, like many of the communities, used the regional election day as a good time to have local elections for "Town Council," Mazkirut.

The big elections were to elect a new "governor," Rosh Moetza. The veteran, long-time one, Pinchas Wallerstein, of Ofra, announced his retirement.

Here he is pictured toasting his successor, Avi Ro'eh, of Kochav Yaakov. picture by Yona Zoref

And here are the "unofficial" results. picture by Yona Zoref

Following are photos I took on election day, except for the one in which I appear, which Yona took.

Teaching democracy! Two ballots, because spouses armed with "Power of Attorney" can vote for the spouse.
Taking apart the election box, to make sure none of the ballots got stuck.

Counting ballots.

Election committee

Binyamin at the Head/Forefront with Avi Ro'eh. I can't resist a sunset.
Voter showing off her original "antique" Te'udat Zehut, Identity Card.

Gaga, Making Mountains Out of Sand

I don't know what's with Israeli TV journalists, but they're gaga over Annapolis. Their Left-leaning minds have gone totally out of whack. I don't think a chiropractor can fix this.

When I cam back from counting the votes, I'll blog about that bli neder tomorrow, I caught some news. These pseudo-journalists were going into great lengths about how buddy buddy Bush and Olmert looked in the pictures, and that Abbas looked like a "tag along little brother." Totally preposterous.

It's just that Olmert, the well-trained politician, knows how to use body language to show closeness and Abbas doesn't play those games. He's playing "hard to get," so he'll get more for less. He's being smart, while Olmert is acting like some cheap, desparate female willing to do anything for men who pretend they like her.

Caroline's Copying Me!

I was quickly going over my emails, when suddenly I looked again, a double-take. That headline with Caroline Glick's byline looked terribly familiar.

Caroline Glick
Is November 29 a day to celebrate?

Hadn't I written something like that?

Actually, I had:
on this blog: Friday, November 16, 2007
Is the 29th of November a Day to Celebrate?

And on my Arutz 7 blog, The Eye of the Storm,
Is the 29th of November a Day to Celebrate?
6 Kislev 5768, 11/16/2007

Nice going, Caroline. Do you need some more help?

I wonder. Would the Jerusalem Post ever ask me to write for them directly?

Real Estate Belongs to G-d

By Sylvia Mandelbaum

Real Estate belongs to G-d.
In fact if you look it up in a real estate book
it will tell you that all the land,
everything above it and everything below it,
belongs to G-d. Because G-d created the world.
And you can look that up in any official real estate book.

Can you imagine all the dirt dumped into the ocean, all the
gasoline, all the tires, and all the junk dumped into the ocean?
All that pollution. And G-d purifies it. It is a miracle.
So there are things beyond our abilities.

Peace?

I am very busy today, so let this suffice. A bissel food for thought.

What is peace?

• In a state of peace, all people can live without fear of attack, terrorism.
• In a state of peace, all people enjoy the same civil rights.
• In a state of peace, all people have the same commercial rights.
• In a state of peace, all people have the same building rights.

What is being offered to innocent Jews in Judea and Samaria?

DESTRUCTION

EXILE

DEATH

This Week's Haftara, Portion From the Prophets

Such perfect timing, Annapolis and this:

Parshas Vayeishev Amos 2:6 - 3:8

by Rabbi Dovid Siegel

This week's haftorah sensitizes us to the severity of injustice. The prophet Amos begins by informing us of the limits of Hashem's tolerance. Hashem says, "I can be patient over the three offenses of the Jewish people, but the fourth is inexcusable. Namely, the sale of the righteous for silver and the pauper for shoes. They anticipate the dirt placed on the head of the impoverished." (2:6, 7) Amos admonishes the Jewish people here for their insensitivity towards injustice. He complains about the judges who would bend the law for nominal sums and exchange justice for an inexpensive pair of shoes. continued here

Memorial to Ido Zoldan, HaYa"D, From Yonatan Gormazano

BS"d
Some pictures from the emotional memorial to Ido Zoldan (may G-d avenge his blood) in Homesh, the city which he put so much heart in rebuilding. This is how we will remember him in his so Jewish way of building the Land with Jewish labour, together with Torah study and meticulous practice of every commandment.

The speakers included Rav Levinger from Hevron, Rav David Druckman from Habad, Rav Cohen of the newly formed Homesh Yeshiva (they study in Homesh every day since the summer), Rav Schmidt of Shave Shomron (the community which gives so much support to the renewal of Homesh), Rav Gadi Ben Zimra of Male Levona (one of the pillars of the �a Jew does not expel a Jew� campaign), and a very emotional letter from Rav Dov Lior (one of this generation�s leading sages after the passing away of R Shapira (ztz�l). Also some of his close friends, among them Yochai Ofan and Akiva, provided us with a number of stories showing Ido�s dedication and personality. May he be an inspiration to us all to continue his way, and may G-d comfort his family.



When I have time, I will put more photographs in my web album http://picasaweb.google.com/YoniGormezano.

Yoni

US Bush Encouraging Anti-Democratic Actions

I'm home tonight, not at the demonstration. I had to work, and by the time I finished I was finished, finished for the day.

I didn't want to watch the news, afraid it would be bad for my health. I've put down books, like some of the John Grisham ones, in which from the opening you could see that the great deal was really going to be hell or worse. I can't stand reading/watching how people's stupidity get them into situations they should have seen so clearly would happen.

We've just been through it here in Israel with Disengagement and the increase in Kassams, missiles shot by Arab terrorists on southern Israel.

Now Olmert, his extreme Left-wing wife and Tsippi Livne and the rest of the crew are off in Annapolis. They're not there to check out boating.

The US President Bush, his Secretary of State and their crew have put together a pressure cooker or compactor which would make the mammography machine on a male -- feel like a night in a jacuzzi.

The guest list includes Israel and all the countries which have vowed to destroy her. The US and Envoy Blair have made it clear that "they have a dream," and that dream isn't a strong independent Israel. Those cameras are flashing so, that Olmert, Livne and their advisers are already blinded by the fame.

Here in Israel, back at the ranch, tens of thousands of Israeli citizens are demonstrating against the Annapolis pow-wow. The media asked Danny Dayan, head of Moetzet YESHA, if the demonstration won't help Olmert. Olmert could tell the US President Bush that the people are against him and the "conference."

Isn't that something? Even the left-leaning Israeli media knows that the people are against the agreement Bush is forcing on Israel. That sounds pretty totalitarian anti-democratic to me. If Bush really believes in democracy, then he should respect the wishes of the Israeli public and lay off. Let him "make peace" with Cuba! He can start off by offering them Puerto Rico, the Florida Everglades and Miami, of course.

Hatikvah--The New Political Party

I was at their protest "tent." I have no time to write about it now.

Conflicting Duties

We can't always do what we want, and it's sometimes hard to live according to what we think is right.

I've been teaching, even though my union is striking. Over the years, there has been an agreement that schools in my area aren't to be closed due to strikes. We were given permission to attend rallies during teaching time. This strike, the strongest, largest and most popular high school, Ulpanat Ofra, a girls school has been playing with "partial strikes," this week total strike.

Sometimes, even I, obey rulings and work.

Now, today there's a big group prayer at the Kotel and later a large demonstration against the Annapolis Conference. I was sure we'd be told that the students would be going at least to the prayer rally, but as of now, a half hour before I have to go to work, they said that there would be classes.

Tough call.

Mitzvah Shopping

Who could have predicted it?
Two NCSY friends in the 1960's...
Then roommates in Stern...

And now one's the Shiloh Muse, yes, me, and the other is the Chabad Rebbitzin of the Crimea!
Once, all those decades ago, I asked her to do a favor, so she and another former roomate of ours painted a big banner for a Save Soviet Jewry demonstration. It said: SSSJ-- EXODUS

And now, she has asked me to do a favor:

I was wondering if you might consider doing us a huge favor? (We're totally without a sponsor, so every penny counts for us.) Would you consider posting on any of your blogs, that people can order Chanukah, & Judaica needs & many other online gifts from Chabad Crimea, specifically Chanukah items
any Judaica
Shop and Donate: Gourmet.org, Perfumania, SpaWish, Bloomingbulb, Candelmart, Canvas on Demand, Museum Store, Walmart, Fossil, Things Remembered, One Great Family, Ink4Art, Entertainment Book, Hooked on Phonics, The Wall Street Journal, VistaPrint, Marriott, Scholastic, and many more! We get donations back from them when people make purchases.

Of course if anyone is looking for a place to send "Chanukah Gelt," our school, Bais Menachem, the only full Jewish school in Crimea would benefit from any donations made here.
:-)

Thanks so much!
Leah

Leah Lipszyc, Administrator, Bais Menachem Jewish School of Simferopol, Crimea

Fantastic Film...

... the truth about Disengagement. It can be seen from Tamar Yona's blog! It lasts ten minutes. I very very rarely, if at all, watch the films and film clips sent to me. This one I did see, and I'm glad I did.

The movie shows pictures, also aerial, of Gush Katif, Neve Dekalim and more at its most beautiful. It also shows the destruction and eviction and the cruelty and the beatings afterwards at Amona. There are interviews with the refugees.

It's a powerful film, though not pleasant. But we shouldn't hide ourselves from the truth, especially when the Israeli government is planning, more and much larger destruction and forcible exile of innocent Jews.

That's what Annapolis is all about. Destroying Jewish homes and Jewish lives. Forbidding Jews from living in our historical homeland.

Egged Joins the Bolshevik Censors!

A little while ago we blogged about this poster:

which in addition to appearing on some blogs such as this one, was also plastered all over Jerusalem.

Well, apparently this is one ad you're not gonna see:




And that's because Egged has actually censored it!!! For those who can't read Hebrew, the sign says: "Olmert is Running from the Police to Annapolis," but in Hebrew, Annapolis is pronounced "Annapolice," so it actually rhymes [the word "police" is written in the Hebrew ad in English!].

Report: Egged Cancels Campaign
(IsraelNN.com) According to Yediot Acharonot, the Egged bus company recently canceled an ad campaign by "The Committee to Save the People and the Land." Committee activists said they had purchased approximately 1,000 signs saying "Olmert is Running from the Police to Annapolis," and planned to place the signs on Egged buses. The purpose of the ad was to show the absurdity of prime ministers who cover investigations against them by taking drastic political steps, they said.

Activists said the ad had been approved by a company in charge of placing ads on buses, but that Egged rejected the ad at the last minute, saying it was untrue. The group lost tens of thousands of shekels on the canceled deal, they said, and plans to sue Egged. Spokesmen for Egged have not yet responded to the group's claims.

Actually, in a later report by Ynet News, "Egged spokesman Ron Ratner told Ynet that the campaign was canceled on the grounds that it would 'divide the nation' ". (Ahem, as if Olmert, Peres and Sharon before them, haven't already "divided" the nation!)

But as Gabriela Ben-Ari of Jerusalem wrote in:
"If ANY company in Israel should know better about being blown up by some people's leftist mentality, it should be them [Egged]!"

But this probably comes as no surprise to most of us. As Arutz-7's headline informs us:

Yaalon Says Politicians Know: To Be Coddled, Go Left
Ex-IDF chief Yaalon accuses media of coddling politicians who adopt left-wing policies. Police postpone Olmert probe statement til after Annapolis.

Yes, that's right...in the same article:
A few days ago, the police took the unusual step of announcing four days in advance that this Sunday [today] they would announce whether or not they recommend indicting Olmert regarding the Bank Leumi privatization scandal. The police did not explain why they felt it necessary to inform the public in advance - nor why they wished to announce their recommendations on the day Olmert leaves for an important international summit in Annapolis.
However, due to pressure from Olmert's office and fears that the announcement would mar the Annapolis summit, the police stated on Saturday night that they would announce their recommendations this coming Thursday instead. Some pundits ventured that Olmert would not mind a "no indictment" recommendation on the eve of his departure for the U.S., and that therefore he must have received indications that the police recommendation was not in his favor.

OY, WHEN WILL THIS NIGHTMARE END???

It's Not Enough to Rally For Jerusalem

There are some demonstrations planned to "protect" Jerusalem from Olmert's willingness to sign parts of it away to the Arabs in Annapolis.

I don't support those demonstrations.

It's not because I want to give away Jerusalem. G-d forbid! I want those horrid walls destroyed and the city to be totally united. If Arabs can live in French Hill and Pisgat Zeev, then Jews should live in Beit Chanina or whatever Arab neighborhood they wish.

Those demonstrations are dangerous.

They're dangerous, because they indicate that they've given up on Judea and Samaria. They're not fighting for the preservation of our Historic Biblical Homeland. They've written us off without a fight. They accept the Arab and American demands of a juden rein Judea and Samaria. They're accepting that hundreds of thousands of Jews will be exiled and homeless.

Do they honestly believe that Jerusalem will survive surrounded by another Arab State, one conceived through murder and terrorism?

Do they honestly believe that the State of Israel will survive with such borders?

This isn't 1948, when the entire area was poverty-stricken and weapons were primitive. Only 19 years later, in 1967, the surrounding Arab countries threatened us with extinction. They bragged that they would drive us into the sea. The UN Peace-Keeping Forces fled.

The world waited and watched, expecting an Arab victory. None of them helped us.

Jews all over the world prayed.

Instead of being wiped off the face of the earth and buried at sea, Israel, tiny, weak, poor Israel was victorious. Finally we found ourselves with defensible borders. Finally we found ourselves in possession of our Biblical cities, Hebron, Beit El, Shechem, Shiloh and the Western Wall in the Old City of Jerusalem. Baruch Hashem!

The world was in awe. They recognized the great miracle.

But how did Israel react?

"We don't need it."
"Let's use it to bargain with the Arabs for peace."

In 1967 we had peace. The Arabs accepted our victory. Just the left-wing Israelis in power didn't. The media and the intellectuals weren't interested in our Biblical Homeland. The new Jew, they had invented, worshipped the legends of the kibbutz, not the Biblical History which took place in historic Judea and Samaria.

They succeeded in turning our victory and peace into a terror-filled nightmare.

The Arabs wont give us peace no matter what "gifts" they're bribed with. They'll just demand more.

The world will never fully recognize us a legitimate country with Jerusalem as our capital. But they'll add annexes to their Holocaust Museums to memorialize the State of Israel that self-mutilated, proving that Jews are cursed to wander.

G-d forbid it should all end like that. We have to fight for all of our Land, not just Jerusalem. We must never give up!

Ya'akov and Truman

The Buck Stops Here!

This week's parsha, Torah Portion of the Week, gives us a real lesson in leadership.

Ya'akov returns home after a twenty year exile. He knows he's in danger, because his powerful twin brother Esau is angry with him.

He prepares by dividing his "camp." He prepares gifts to placate his brother and he prays to G-d.

The night before the big reunion he goes off by himself.

During the night before his encounter with Esau, Yaakov finds himself alone. (This is one of the sources for the rule that a person should not go out alone at night.) from Torah Tidbits

I disagree with that conclusion. I see it as a sign of leadership. Ya'akov doesn't have a "cabinet" to help him rule. He doesn't have a parliament; he's not burdened by democracy. Ya'akov, as a true leader, knew that what it all boiled down to was that it was up to him, and he would have to take full responsibility for everything.

Popular Humor

> >Current joke here in Israel:
> > A driver is stuck in a traffic jam on the Tel
> Aviv/Jerusalem highway. Nothing is moving in either
direction. Suddenly a man knocks on his window.
> >The driver rolls down his window and asks, "What
> happened, what's the hold up?"
> >- "Terrorists have kidnapped Prime Minister Olmert,
> Defense Minister Barak, and their chief of staff.
They are asking for a $100 million ransom.
> Otherwise, they are going to douse them with
> gasoline and set them on fire.
> We are going from car to car, taking up a
> collection."
> >
> >The driver asks, "On average how much is everyone
> giving?"
> >- "About a gallon."

The Pathetic Worship of FDR

With the hindsight of history and the physical distance between Israel and the United States, I see things from a very different perspective.

American Jews for generations now have been worshipping FDR and been more loyal to the Democratic Party than to Torah and Mitzvot. Bill Moyers little speech is so typical.

FDR became US President during the Depression. Just like "whatever goes up must come down," after a financial depression there will be an improvement in the financial situation. Ups and downs are normal fluctuations, especially when the down is followed by a war which jump-starts industry making lots of people rich and providing jobs for all willing to work.

FDR was president during WWII, when the United States was the leader of the Allies who defeated the Nazis. Considering that the US was never really in direct danger, being protected by geography, the US only joined the fight when it felt it had no choice. At the end of the war, the anti-Jewish Holocaust was revealed.

Defeating the Nazis to save Jews was never part of the war plan. The US would never endanger its soldiers for some Jews, but American Jews adopted the fantasy that the US went into Europe to save Jews from Nazi murder.

This fallacy is worshipped more than G-d Almighty. How pathetic and maybe it explains some of the Israeli public's acceptance of corrupt politicians and dangerous policies. Ordinary people don't look at the "fine print."

Shabbat Shalom

Annapolis—Blueprint for Disaster by Rachel Bar Yosef

Thursday, November 22, 2007

Annapolis--Blueprint for Disaster

I dread the scheduled conference in Annapolis, with its stated purpose the creation of a Palestinian state. Enormous pressure will be exerted on Israel to relinquish Judea and Samaria and several Arab neighborhoods in Jerusalem to hundreds of thousands of people who have either been exposed to hatred or have been spewing it together with calls to jihad in their schools and kindergartens, in mosques, and in the streets for a very long time. Israel will accede to the demands for the destruction of more homes, communities, and over 200,000 lives, and will pat herself on the back for her humanitarianism, vision, and devotion to the ideal of peace-just see the ends we’re prepared to go to, the risks we’re willing to take! It’s beyond my comprehension that so few see this seductive “peace” as the temptress that she is.

Who am I? I was born and spent most of my life in Chicago until I moved to Israel 35 years ago. I see the world through American and Jewish eyes. My daughter and her family were among the 9000 who were torn from their homes and communities in Gush Katif in August, 2005, and who have since been trying to rebuild their lives, some with more success and most with less. It won’t be hard to guess where my sympathies lie.

I’m repeatedly told why another signing and handshake ceremony on the White House lawn is pursued so zealously: “What alternative is there?” Blessedly, there haven’t been any lurid headlines for awhile, thanks to the vigilant Israeli army, which recently caught a bomb-carrying terrorist in routine checks in Samaria and uncovered seven tunnels dug by Hamas terrorists in the Gaza strip. Even so, we’ve all been so horrified by scenes of terror that we feel that’s the way it is everywhere in Israel, all the time. But as my brother tells me whenever he visits Israel, he's always struck by the feeling of complete security that engulfs him here. Yet the “peace”-seekers keep preaching: “Such bloodshed and destruction are unacceptable; there must be a way for implacable enemies to live in amity”. They insist, “There is nothing man cannot do if he puts his mind to it. Examples are everywhere.” They actually believe that getting the lion to sit down with the lamb will be a piece of cake.

No, it is not. It is a pie in the sky. We humans, in our hubris, are sure nothing is beyond human determination and genius. Our very own father of Zionism, Theodor Herzl, galvanized his own generation and future ones with his immortal words, “If you will it, it is not a dream!” Why can’t this be true of the pursuit of peace?

We are so very limited in the things we have control over. But the only thing we can control is how we behave and what kind of people we are. And even that’s a handful. How can we control the behavior of our bitter enemies? Even Condoleezza Rice and George Bush or a magnanimous Israeli nation only think they have control. Remember Sleeping Beauty? The King and Queen, told by the bad fairy that Aurora would prick her finger on a spindle and die, had every spinning wheel in the kingdom destroyed—all but one. So where did all the royal parents’ cleverness and power get them?

Hatred aside, I think there’s one very basic reason peace will remain elusive. For any Palestinian state to be a viable one, there must be a link between the West Bank and Gaza (the sea). I’m no engineer, but simple geometry teaches me that if the two parts of the Palestinian state are linked, the two parts of the Jewish state must be severed. Only on paper is it possible that at the meeting point of a + sign, the two lines can occupy the same point in space. It is not possible on land. And if America and the nations of the world create a Palestinian state, creating one that is not viable makes no sense.

Israel is the home of the Jewish people. It is the only home we have. I believe it is futile to try to trade parts of this land for peace--futile and morally indefensible. The best test of the Palestinians' sincerity would be their acceptance of living at peace with us as an ideal in and of itself. I believe that if peace comes, it will come as a gift, not as a contrivance. When it comes, Israel will embrace it. I wish I could feel as confident about our adversaries.

Rachel Bar Yosef

Message From Leah Crimea

Leah Crimea is an old friend of mine. She sent this and asked me to post it:
Boruch Hashem, 11 Kislev, 5768

URGENT: REQUIRING IMMEDIATE ACTION!

As you know, Israel's Prime Minister, Mr. Ehud Olmert, is actively planning to help establish – G-d forbid – a PLO state in Judah, Samaria and Gaza, with its capital in East Jerusalem. You don't need to be alerted to the dreadful danger this would constitute for every one of our Jewish brothers and sisters in the Holy Land. Such a state would be a terror base exposing all Israel to bombings and weapons of mass destruction, G-d forbid.

You can help prevent this fearsome outcome in two ways:

1) On the spiritual level: As the Lubavitcher Rebbe always emphasized at such times,Torah, tefila and tzedaka can nullify our enemies, as well as the taking other mitzvos upon ourselves.

2) On the material level: Please send NOW a clear, concise letter of protest – in firm but dignified language. The letter should a) express your outrage at even discussing and negotiating on such a plan, b) point out the dreadful danger to the lives of all Israel's citizens if such a terror-state thugocracy of murderers would be established or if Jerusalem would be partitioned, G-d forbid.

The letter, addressed to Mr. Ehud Olmert, Prime Minister of Israel, Jerusalem, should be faxed immediately to his office – fax number 972-2-654-6717 (the regular phone number of his office is 972-3-610898).

Also, please pass this on, and encourage other members of your community to do the same, sending different letters in their own words.

This should result in tens of thousands of protest letters pouring in from around the globe. This storm of protest has every chance of persuading Israel's government to change its mind and refuse to give in to international pressure.

May our determined stand on this vital issue speed the revelation of Moshiach NOW!

PS: Some interesting articles I just came across
http://www.jerusalemsummit.org/eng/hamas_at_the_window/hamas_at_the_window_eng.htm
http://www.jerusalemsummit.org/eng/mohammed.php

Take a look at our new website! www.chabadcrimea.org

Message to Lieberman

When I was waiting for a ride to get to Beit El, I saw these signs in Russian at Givat Asaf, off of the main road. I requested that someone could translate it for me. Irina did:

The sign says: "Security - no! Jerusalem - no! MK's seat - yes! Time to leave the coalition or cancel the Annapolis conference."

Thanks!

Letter to the Editor by Mark W. Walker

It is hard to celebrate Thanksgiving when you face annihilation every day. In any case, this is what I just sent to the local paper:


The Annapolis Conference:

The Gang Rape of Israel

To understand what our President and apparently the rest of the world want for “peace” in the Middle East, imagine waking up to see police, SWAT Teams, and the Army descend on your house and drag you and your family out, taking care to beat all of you. Imagine this happening to the rest of your neighborhood. Now, the forces give your house to newly-freed death-row inmates.

Imagine also that the forces burn your church or synagogue, and then dig up the graves of your loved ones and haul them away.

Of course, you seek justice, but justice turns a deaf ear.

This abomination is commonplace in Israel , courtesy of the EU, UN, and our own President; all who want to take land away from Jews and give it to the very suicide bombers we are supposed to fight! Ask grandmother and teacher Batya Medad, a resident of Shiloh . She and 100,000 other residents --equivalent to a good part of Virginia Beach-- face being dragged out and beaten for Peace, just so Bush can have his trophy before the end of his term: destroying Israel , precisely what the terrorists want.

I do not exonerate the Israeli leaders who knowingly are acting against the wishes of their people, but the pressure from Washington is clear.

Also, I can only assume that if the American Jewish response had been far more robust, none of this would have happened. Will they protest? Or will they let Israel die by signature, without even a whimper?

Mark W. Walker...

The Longer the Campaign Goes On...

... the less attractive the candidates look!

Protest With AFSI

Protest Against The Division of Jerusalem and Eretz Yisrael


AFSI has obtained a permit to demonstrate in Annapolis.



The conference has been set for November 27th.



AFSI will be providing bus service with Monsey Tours from 31st Street between 7th and 8th Ave -- leaving at 7:00 am.



We will arrive back in NYC at 8:00 pm.



Estimated travel time is 3½ hours. We will be in Annapolis for approximately 4 hrs.



The bus fare is $30.00.



Please bring your own lunch.



Please contact us:

1) to make reservations for the bus

2) if you are meeting us in Annapolis – for organizational purposes.


Americans For a Safe Israel

212 828 2424

afsi@rcn.com

MK Steinitz is Wrong!

Olmert is not like Chamberlain in Munich.

Great Britain's Chamberlain didn't give away his own country, his own land. He agreed to destroy another country, one far* from his own. Great Britain, across the Channel wasn't directly affected by the Munich Agreement. It was bad in that it strengthened the Nazis and weakened the rest of Europe.

Steinitz's sloppy reading of history is so typical of Israelis. Details are important!

*Far in terms of Israeli distances.

Steinitz didn't oppose Disengagement:

"...but the disengagement is in Israel’s national interest and will be implemented"

TOPPLE OLMERT Banner

A group called Israel White Paper had the enclosed banner professionally designed, which they are urgently appealing for all webmasters to place prominently on the homepage of their websites to combat the effects of the Annapolis Summit, which threaten to make Judea and Samaria "Judenrein." Their goal is for the banner to be placed on 40 sites before the Annapolis Summit and countless more afterwards. Please be a part of this effort. Forward this message to everyone you know who might be interested.

La La Left Land

Last night was a tough one on Israeli TV.

The best left indescribable Tsippi Livne, all gussied up looking more feminine than usual, was posed by some comfy couches and an Israeli flag. She was meandering about the Pseudistinians and Annapolis and how if they have a state, they'll be much too busy with mundane things like sewerage and they'll stop attacking us.

Huh!?

Of course, unlike when they have the rare Nationalist, Eretz Yisrael Loyalist, there was no shrill TV interviewer attacking her every utterance.

There was no one to remind her that when her government forcibly evicted innocent Jews from Gush Katif, the Gazan Pseudistinians were given the mundane responsibilities like sewage, but they still preferred to launch their ever improving kassams at us. If you remember, some rich Disengagement supporters bought the refugees' hot houses and donated them to the Arabs, so they could be productive farmers.

Nu? Do you remember what happened next? The Arabs destroyed the presents. They don't want to be farmers, not even high tech farmers. They just want to murder Jews.

The Leftists' entire political philosophy is based on hot air nitre glycerin, because if they really pull off their dream of giving the terrorists another state, G-d forbid, the entire world will explode.

It's not about Shiloh.

The Release of Arab Terrorist Prisoners

Picture credit

Believe me; I didnt' write this. I quote from here:


20.11.07 NOTIFICATION IN RESPECT TO THE RELEASE OF PALESTINIAN PRISONERS

In order to advance and strengthen the dialogue between the State Of Israel and the pragmatic elements in the Palestinian Authority headed by the President of the Palestinian Authority Abu Mazen and the legitimate government headed by Prime Minister Salim Fayad , the Government of Israel decided on November 19 ,2007 to shorten the term of imprisonment of approximately 450 Palestinian Prisoners .


The Ministerial Committee appointed by the Government of Israel, confirmed on an individual basis, . the release of 431 Palestinian prisoners whose names appear on the attached list

The Government's decision was reached following the meeting of the Coordinating Committee, headed by the Director-General of the Ministry of Justice which included representatives of all the relevant authorities connected with the matter (General Security Service , Israel Defense Force , Israel Prison Service and Ministry of Justice ) who examined the suitability of the Palestinian Prisoners to the criteria fixed by Government Decision No. 606 dating from 27 July 2003



In accordance with the decision of the Government, the list doesn't include prisoners with "blood on their hands".



It should be noted that the decision in respect to the prisoners release was conditional to the agreement of the relevant authorities and after considering any objections that were raised.


For inquires or further information please contact:
the Department of Pardons at the Ministry of Justice –
Tel : 02-6466801/2/3/4/ between 08:30-16:00.


PRISONERS LIST: לחץ כאן

SAVED!

Great News!!

Haven't you heard?

The international public protests were successful!

Here's proof that the world has a heart. The campaign to save Anne Frank's tree, the one she saw from the window of her hideout, is a success!

picture credit

It reminds me of the hysteria of the idealistic Left in Israel after they discovered that some of the Jews, who had been forcibly evicted from their homes in Gush Katif and Northern Shomron, due to the Left-supported Disengagement, had "cruelly and irresponsibly abandoned their pet dogs." Of course those very same "humanists" didn't think it cruel that the government had evicted, exiled those same innocent Jews from their homes, destroyed their businesses, farms, trees and gardens. Minor details, like the dog owners' being homeless, most temporarily housed in small no animals allowed hotel rooms didn't excuse them.

picture credit

• There were beautiful trees and gardens in the communities Olmert/Sharon and the cheering world destroyed in the name of Disengagement.
  
• There were excellent schools in the communities that Olmert/Sharon and the cheering world destroyed in the name of Disengagement.
  
• There were successful businesses in the communities Olmert/Sharon and the cheering world destroyed in the name of Disengagement.

Where were the international protests?

And now, Israeli politicians and media and the world's moral standard bearers are going blithely ahead with their plans to exile, G-d forbid! more innocent Jews, well over 100,000, from their homes totally disengaged from the dangers they will be putting the entire State of Israel.

photo by me, Batya Medad, taken in Shiloh

Instead of defending and strengthening our State of Israel, they are at the forefront of the international movement to establish an Arab terror state in our historic Homeland, in the heartland, an easy rocket-launch away from all Israeli cities.

Why doesn't anyone care? The world protested about the possible destruction of a diseased tree in Holland, once admired by an "imprisoned" Jew. Why doesn't anyone care about preserving our country? An Arab terror state which unabashedly proclaims its aim to destroy the Jewish State is bad news for the entire world. Why doesn't anyone care? Where are the protests?

Why does that tree mean more to people than all the vibrant Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria? Why do people ignore the dangers to the State of Israel?

photo by me, Batya Medad, taken in Shiloh

Why do people prefer to donate to Holocaust Memorials than the needs of live Jews? Why did they unite for Anne Frank's tree rather than to protest the uprooting of mine?

cross-posted In the Eye of the Storm

Are We Bloggers Guilty?

Has the success of blogging killed off, or severely crippled free-lance writing?

Some people are making lots of money off of the internet, but there are many of us giving our talents away for nothing.

I don't really have any control over what happens to my articles. If I'm lucky, they keep my byline.

A couple of years ago, my parents gave me a newsletter to read, from PNAI--Parents of North Americans in Israel. It was nice until an article seemed familiar. I checked the author, and I read further. Strange. It was one of my articles under a different byline. I was livid. What happened? Had the other person stolen my article? She's on my mailing list. I didn't know what to do and wouldn't be near my computer for another day.

The next morning I was a guest at a large brunch a friend was hosting. Guess who was there and sat down next to me. Yes, the writer whose name was on my article! That's what's called siyata d'shmaya, the hand of G-d. I took a deep breath to do it calmly. I told her what I had seen and asked her how it happened. She was shocked and insisted she hadn't removed my byline.

Afterwards she contacted me to say that she complained to the editor, and they were supposed to publish a correction. I have no idea if they did.

Does Olmert Have Any Red Lines?

Not even the red blood of innocent Jews affects Prime Minister Olmert!

• Olmert just continues freeing Arab terrorists.
• Olmert just continutes to endanger Israeli Jews.
• Olmert is more interested in pleasing American Bush and Rice than in protecting and preserving the state of Israel.
• Olmert wants to go to Annapolis, regardless of the price.


• Has Olmert been listening to what the Arabs are saying?

The Arabs consider Ramat Eshkol, Ramot, Gilo and all of the other post-1967 neighborhoods the same as Shiloh, Beit El, Hebron etc.

Or to put it very simply, the Arabs want this wall moved and have hundreds of thousands of Jews exiled and homeless.

Another Murdered Jew

Olmert must go...
...but not to Annapolis!

Israeli Murdered in Shooting Attack; Infiltration Foiled

Olmert, his policies, his government endanger the existence of the State of Israel.

If it's good enough for Gore...

According to this New York Times op-ed, Bush and Rice want to join Gore in the Nobel hall of fame.

That helmet won't do them much good if they visit Sderot or Ashkelon.

Are We Reaching the Magic Tipping Point?

The polls here are against Annapolis, against further withdrawals, against freeing Arab terrorists.

Olmert and the rest of the Left have been keeping their blinders tightly bound on their heads so they shouldn't be distracted. But here and there some light has been getting through. They are discovering that their Annapolis plan may be sinking.

That's good news, and it just means that we must work harder. The Israeli public isn't all that stupid. The Betar Jerusalem owner and supporters argued, instead of apologizing, when slapped with punishments for protesting Rabin-worship at a soccer match.

Don't give up!

PS Think Israel is requesting anti-Annapolis articles. Please send them to: editor@think-israel.org

Where Do We Go From Here?

By Sylvia Mandelbaum


How could we have been so deceived? Either we pull ourselves together or we fold up.

We have no party. No government. Nothing. We are nothing. We have nothing because we are nothing. We did it ourselves. We are traitors. I throw the question back at people. What do you do now all you traitors? What do you do now?

You can form a new government but whom do you have? You'll form a new government with traitors. What kind of people are you? Do you deserve a government? Or do you deserve to be eliminated?

What concerns me is where do we go from here?

I'm in a nursing home. What can I do in a nursing home? All I can do is write or dictate some articles. But there's much that can be done - much that can be done.

Our government, especially Haredim, are traitors to their own cause. They were given some kind of bribe because they always had their own system. What were they given that made them cave in? Were they given personally or something for their own party? But their party voted for what? For Sharon, right?

A man takes office he owes his allegiance to the country he represents. If his children are traitors - it's too bad. He owes his allegiance to the country first who he promised to represent.

The government folded up. A drastic step like that was taken to save the lives of Sharon's sons. Maybe to pay a gambling debt because they were professional gamblers. So what can you do with professional gamblers? What are you going to do against professional gamblers? There's no way that you can fight that.

The people have to fight back. The people.
If the people don't want to fight back you have no country.

As my mother used to say,
"Gontza velt is a bluff - from hinton biz aruf."
(The whole world is a bluff - from the bottom to the top.)

I respect all answers.

Very Powerful HH #141

YID With LID presents a powerful, hard-hitting Havel Havelim. He calls it the Save Israel Edition.

I highly suggest you visit and then read the posts included.

Annapolis--Logo, Invitation and "Rice" by Ellen

Ellen Horowitz, well-known writer and artist, got it right.

Is Israel Really a Jewish State? by MK Dr. Arieh Eldad, MD

IMHO, MK Dr. Arieh Eldad MD is the only Israeli politician, not only, talking sense but with a character strong enough to resist the ego trips and temptations which have been the downfall of other good men.

I suggest that you read his The Fate of Sderot is the Fate of Jerusalem, which appears on the Arutz 7 site.

And here is a translation of an article of his which appeared in the Hebrew newspaper, Ma'ariv.

Is Israel Really a Jewish State?

By Arieh Eldad

Shimon Peres, the president of Israel, was interviewed by IDF radio as he flew to Turkey, and he said, "One hundred and fifty thousand jobs for Palestinians in Judea and Samaria are more important than fifteen thousand olim [Jewish immigrants]."

Peres’ vision of a "new Middle East," which following the Oslo Accords drowned us in an ocean of blood, included the idea that economic prosperity would bring peace to the region. This idea was shot full of holes in the second intifada, but Peres has not despaired, and on his way to Turkey to proclaim his vision of a Palestinian State prospering by the side of Israel, he unhesitatingly revealed himself to be the first post-Zionist president of Israel.

Peres had recourse to a wide range of comparisons. Had he wanted to, he could have said that 150,000 jobs for Arabs are more important than 150,000 guns for the Israeli army, and this would have buttressed his position as a seeker of peace, clinging to his vision of a "new Middle East." But he chose in his comparison to undermine the foundation on which the Zionist basis for the State of Israel rests. The welfare of the Arabs is more important than Aliya to Israel; are these not the very words of the British White Paper that made the number of Jewish immigrants to Mandatory Palestine conditional on the country’s "economic ability to absorb" the immigrants, in other words, on their alleged affect on Arab employment and unemployment? At that time, didn’t the leaders of the Jewish community in Eretz Israel accuse the British of betraying Zionism?

Peres’ words reflect the policy of Olmert and his government. In the name of supposed demographics, and in order to "maintain Israel as a Jewish state," they are ready to retreat from Judea and Samaria, expel hundreds of thousands of Jews from their homes, divide Jerusalem and establish in it for the first time in history an Arab capital. If for the sake of Zionist appearances they were at least talking at the same time of the need to bring to Israel millions of Jewish olim, one might err and think that they really do care about the Jewish character of Israel. But Peres, Olmert, and Haim Ramon have already moved on. They are ready to bring into the country "no more than 100,000 Arab refugees" (what happened to the demographics they were worrying about?). Political pundits claim that Tzippi Livni and Ehud Barak are opposed to this idea. It can be safely assumed that their opposition to the entrance of refugees will evaporate as quickly as the thousand oaths they swore to Jerusalem, "the eternally reunited eternal capital of Israel forever and forever." They’re no longer Zionist, for there is no such thing as half-Zionism. He who betrays Eretz Israel and Jerusalem necessarily betrays the pillar of Zionism, Jewish aliya to Israel, and instead gives preference to Arab employment over Jewish immigration, and is ready to import Arab refugees to Israel.

The Olmert government is proud that it is the first Israeli government to have an Arab cabinet minister. Minister of Science Raleb Majadela appeared in the Knesset this week to reply to a parliamentary query of mine concerning the destruction of antiquities on Temple Mount by the Moslem Wakf. The minister of science is legally responsible for the implementation of the Antiquities Law, and the Antiquities Authority is accountable to him. And this first Arab minister, a member of Olmert’s cabinet, declared from the Knesset podium that, as far as he is concerned, the laws of the State of Israel do not apply to Temple Mount, and that if he had to choose between loyalty to his ministerial position and loyalty to Islam and his nationality, he would choose the latter. This minister who has sworn loyalty to the State of Israel and its laws has proven what many claim: that the Arabs are not loyal to the State of Israel but rather to their Arab national identity. But he need not fear for his job. Apparently he faithfully represents the face of the Israeli government, a post-Zionist government, with a prime minister ready to implement the "right of return" of Arab refugees, to abandon the demand the Arabs disarm the terrorist organizations before any Israeli withdrawal, and to ignore Hamas’ declaration that it will immediately take over any territory evacuated by Israel in Judea and Samaria. If the president of Israel, the symbol of the state, prefers Arabs to Jews, Israel’s demand that the Palestinians recognize Israel as a Jewish state is hypocritical. Why should Abu Mazen be more Zionist that Peres, more Jewish than Olmert? Abu Allah, representing Abu Mazen in the negotiations over the "central issues not being talked about," slapped the face of Israel as it runs as if possessed to Annapolis and announced that the Palestinians will never recognize Israel as a Jewish state. Undoubtedly, the government of Israel will recover easily from this slap in the face and come to the conclusion that there is no need to stand by a demand that they themselves no longer believe in.