4 Innocent Jews Murdered by Arab Terrorists, Just Like When Rachella Druk Was Murdered

My neighbor, Rachella Druk, mother of seven, was murdered on the eve of the Madrid Conference on her way to a demonstration to strengthen then Prime Minister Yitzchak Shamir.  The bus was shot at by Arab terrorists murdering Rachella, the driver, Yitzchak Rofeh and wounding a number of children.  Shamir should have packed his bags and returned home explaining:

אין עם מי לדבר  Ain im mi lidaber.  There's nobody to talk to.  

That means that the talks are pointless.  If the Arabs wanted peace they wouldn't be murdering Jews.

Here we are again, deja vu.  Four Jews were just murdered by Arab terrorists while Israel's present Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu is preparing to negotiate with the same Arabs.


Bibi, please come home!!

אין עם מי לדבר  Ain im mi lidaber.  There's nobody to talk to. 

That means that the talks are pointless.  If the Arabs wanted peace they wouldn't be murdering Jews.

Tuvia Thanks His Rescuer

EXCLUSIVE VIDEO: Tuvia Grossman Meets The Soldier Who Saved His Life

From: HonestReportingVideo

In 2000, the media published a photo of Tuvia Grossman, a Jewish student from Chicago -- bloodied and battered -- crouching beneath a club-wielding Israeli policeman. The caption identified him as a Palestinian victim of Israeli brutality -- with the clear implication that the Israeli soldier was the one who beat him. In fact, the policeman saved his life.

Now, ten years on, HonestReporting has reunited Tuvia and his rescuer for the first time since those terrible events. Watch the video to witness their dramatic reunion.

Insane, Dangerously Insane

As I wrote earlier, Abbas is not planning on negotiating peace, real or fake.  His agenda is banishing us Jews from our homeland.  The world is supporting a Pseudostinian aka palestinian sic state.  They have it all prepared and what's good for us doesn't count.

Israel's Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu will spin and spin to decive us.  Spinning?  Isn't that what Rabin told us to do, "spin like propellers" if we didn't like his poorly thought out Oslo Plan?

We only have one Land, and I don't know how many mistakes G-d will allow us.

Rosh Chodesh Tishrei is Rosh Hashannah, So...

Yes, in just a few days we'll be entering the next year according to the Jewish Calendar. 

When the night sky just shows stars and barely a sliver of moon, it'll herald the beginning of the next year, Rosh Hashannah, not Rosh Chodesh Tishrei.

For that reason, I'm not calling for women's prayers at Tel Shiloh.

Instead I recommend that you plan on coming to Tel Shiloh for the Succot festivities which will be that Monday and Tuesday. 

I'll post more information when I have it.

Abbas Isn't Negotiating for Peace

The "PA" whatever you want to call him,  Mahmoud Abbas, was just on the IBA and said very clearly that he's going to U.S. President Obama in Washington DC to "negotiate the end of the occupation."  Peace isn't on the menu.

Read his lips.

Abbas, in a televised speech on Sunday night, expressed hope that the Palestinians would find a partner in Israel “that would be capable of making major and responsible decisions to end the occupation and ensure real security for both Israelis and Palestinians.”

...

Abbas noted that the Quartet statement had “stressed the need to end the occupation that began in 1967, including that of east Jerusalem.” (complete article)

Bible Learning/Study

Two years ago I treated myself to a fantastic course at Matan.  It was a Bible study and touring course.  Each month there would be two shiurim (classes) about one of the prophets and his time and a tour of the places he lived and prophesied in.  Last year, because my very elderly father was living with us, I couldn't sign up for any course, since leaving home was complicated.  He couldn't be left alone.

This year I've promised myself that, besides finding and working at some sort of part-time job, I'll again study at Matan.  Now I've been going to their Elul Program and plan on dedicating one morning a week to classes, but in addition, I want to sign up for their interactive internet Bible study course called "Al haPerek."  It's totally new and will be bilingual, the same material and questions in both Hebrew and English.  It's designed as a home study program for those who can't get out, live far from Jerusalem, even abroad and can study "alone."  But it's also suitable for small chevruta (partner) studying or in small or even large groups.

Yesterday after my Elul classes in Matan I spoke to founder Malke Bina about how Matan is taking advantage of the internet to make it easier for women to study.  That's how this new Al haPerek course was conceived.  So, I have this idea, and maybe some of you wherever you are want to do it with me.  We can be email/phone/f2f study partners.  If you register for the course and want to study with me like that please let me know and indicate it when registering.

I find this very exciting!

The "PC" Havel Havelim

Izgad, this week's Havel Havelim host introduces the edition by saying that he didn't include posts he found too extreme, whether right or left.  Considering that Havel Havelim is written by very involved and opinionated Jews, I really wondered if he'd find many sufficiently bland, or PC, posts.  And I was also in suspense over whether he'd include anything of mine.  Unless I just didn't notice, there's only one of mine.  No big deal.


As one of the veteran jbloggers and Havel Havelim hosts and readers, I must admit that I enjoy seeing all those "simple tirades from either the left or right"  all crowded together in one family-like format.  That's what makes HH such a success.

But of course, I recommend taking a look, visiting the posts etc.  We're all family, nu?

"Hachnasat Orchim," Welcoming Guests

Considering the beautiful story on the Arutz 7 site, it's time to tell you my story for the Playback improv group. 


Arutz 7 wrote about the results of a car accident just north of Jerusalem Friday afternoon.  It held up traffic so seriously that many people didn't make it to their destinations before Shabbat.  They had to abandon their cars and hike a few miles to the nearest Jewish community, which was Adam.  Some, who were probably on their way to Psagot and Kochav Yaakov (much further) walked all the way there.  In Adam, residents quickly mobilized to arrange beds and Shabbat meals for their unexpected guests, and the security forces contacted the security forces in all the communities people didn't arrive in to let everyone know that their family and/or guests were perfectly safe and fine.


The story I told for playback was from our very first months in Shiloh.  It happened during Succot, either Shabbat or a Holiday Eve when we were eating the festive meal in our succah.  My in-laws were visiting.  They came to meet their new infant grandson and see our new home.  We had just moved to Shiloh about a month earlier.  To put it mildly, they weren't very impressed by the rough, unfinished (even primitive) living conditions.  Electricity was from an unreliable generator, water was trucked in, streets were recently bull-dozed and still unpaved.


There were no nearby Jewish communities, and the Arab villages were extremely small and even less modernized than Shiloh.  None of this bothered us.


In the middle of the meal, people approached the succah.  It was a neighbor with some strangers, yes, real strangers.  The strangers were Swiss tourist hikers who wanted to see Shiloh.  They had taken an Arab bus which let them off in some village and then judged from their maps and compass that Shiloh must be where there was a bit of light.  They trudged through to dry wilderness and up the mountain until they arrived at my neighbors' succah.  They had trouble communicating in their school English, learned in Switzerland and Israel, so the neighbors decided that we would certainly understand each other much better.  In they came to the succah, and we invited them to eat and camp out.


My in-laws found it horrifying, but for us it was just another lesson on life in a yishuv.

The Voice Of The Shofar

Here are some pre-Rosh Hashanah thoughts based on the "shiur nashim," Women's Torah Class this Shabbat afternoon.  It was given by a young, talented neighbor.  It's not the first time she gave us a talk, and I hope she will be willing to come again.

We were asked what the specific mitzvah for Rosh Hashannah is.  It's listening to the shofar, not blowing the shofar.  That contrasts to Purim's kri'at megilah, reading the Megillat Ester.

What does the kol shofar, sound of the shofar do to us?

One of the regular participants in our classes is a music teacher, and she said that in music therapy each instrument is considered as being able to influence, affect a certain specific part of the body.  If that's the case, and I have no doubt that she's correct, then it must be that the sound of the shofar affects our soul, our spiritual side.

Let your body absorb the voice of the shofar on Rosh Hashannah.  Take it slowly....

Gmar Chatima Tovah

Gilad Shalit's Family, Barking Up The Wrong Tree

This morning the radio was on at the Shiloh Swimming Pool.  Every little while I could hear the announcement by Aviva Shalit, Gilad's mother, reminding us that tomorrow will be Gilad's fifth birthday in captivity.  She then invites us all to protest after Shabbat.  So far, so good, but then she announces that the protest's slogan is that Israel's Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu must free Gilad.

Duh!?!  Did I miss something here?  Is Bibi Netanyahu holding Gilad prisoner?  No, well, if that's the case how does she expect the Prime Minister to free her son?

Bibi wasn't even Prime Minister when Gilad Shalit was captured.  There's something very fokokt in the Shalit family's tactics and logic.

Didn't Hamas kidnap Gilad Shalit?  Yes, it did.  So the focus of the demonstrations must be on the agencies, organizations, countries etc that represent Hamas.  There should be a constant vigil against the International Red Cross, European Union and the United Nations for their laxity and hypocrisy in not demanding to visit and assist Gilad Shalit in returning home.

It's obvious that the Shalit family is mixing their own anti-Likud politics in with their personal pain.  They are wasting precious time by fudging the issues here.  They should be working with the government to pressure those who support Hamas to return Gilad home.

For the Future

"... for the Future" is a phrase repeated by Jeff Bridges  a number of times in one of my favorite movies, Seabiscuit.

For the future of the Jewish People we need communities like Shiloh to grow and prosper.

Developing Shiloh is the antidote for the punishment of exile. 

Living Torah lives in New York, California, London, Paris or any other חוץ לארץ chutz l'aretz, out of the Holyland location is certainly better than assimilation into non-Jewish society, but it's not the ideal Jewish Life.  It's a reflection or like a "dress rehearsal" for the life to be lived here in the Land G-d has shown us.

We Jews have our own Land; we don't have to be guests in a different one.  Remember how welcomed Jacob and his family, our forefathers, the twelve tribes were by Pharaoh in Egypt.  The result was that we became slaves to pharaoh in Egypt.

Come home!

Shabbat Shalom uMevorach

Have a peaceful and blessed Sabbath

The New Improved Israel Museum

G-d forbid you should think that I only kvetch and complain about things here.  Last week I managed to go twice to the newly expanded, renovated and refurbished Israel Museum.  Years Decades ago I was a very frequent, regular visitor to the museum.  We even had membership.  My daughters feel like they were raised there.  The two elder ones went to arts & crafts classes in the Israel Museum.  I knew every exhibit, the whole layout of the place.  I was young and all the distances and levels didn't bother me.

Well, the museum and I have aged.  I haven't had any face-lifts, botox or even dyed my hair, but the Israel Museum has been totally rejuvenated.  It's a new museum, bionic, maybe....

Last week there were thousands and thousands of visitors each day, many escaping the heat, but the museum is large enough to handle even more!

The second day I was there it was with family from abroad and a couple of my grandchildren.  They were entranced by the Judaica and Archeology.  The kids even liked the snacks bought in the snack-bar.  They got a kick out of watching the workers still painting and fixing things in the museum.  We didn't have enough time to let them join the workshops.  If we had given them the chance it would have had been harder to get them to leave.

And, no, I'm not tempted to get a face-lift.  It's fine for the Israel Museum but not for me.

Hitler May Have Lost the War, But His Judenrein Policy Lives On

Dry Bones has a brilliant, as usual, post about Hitler and Nazism.  The cartoon is minor in this one.  So read the entire post, please.

It's so totally outrageous and immoral that people all over the world, including Israel, have no problems with the demand that parts of the world including the Jewish National Homeland, the Biblical Land of Israel, be judenrein, cleansed of Jews.  That's racist.  That's immoral.  And that's part of the Nazi ideology.  Connect the dots.

Obama's Administration versus Z-Street

Hat tip AFSI

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: August 25, 2010
CONTACT: contact@zstreet.org
610.664.1184
610.664.1186

IRS SUED FOR DISCRIMINATION

AGAINST ORGANIZATIONS

THAT DON’T SHARE

ADMINISTRATION’S POSITIONS ON ISRAEL

Z STREET, a pro-Israel non-profit corporation, filed a lawsuit in federal court today charging that the IRS violated the organization’s First Amendment rights. The suit was filed after Z STREET was told by an IRS official that its application for tax-exempt status has been delayed because an IRS policy requires consideration of whether a group’s views on Israel differ from those of the current Administration.


“Not only is it patently un-American but it is also a clear violation of the First Amendment for a government agency to penalize an organization because of its political position on Israel or anything else,” said Z STREET president Lori Lowenthal Marcus, a former First Amendment lawyer. “This situation is the same as if the government denied a driver’s license to people because they were Republicans or Democrats. It goes against everything for which our country stands.”


Z STREET filed for tax-exempt status in January of this year and, despite having met all of the requirements for grant of this status, the application has been stalled. An IRS agent told Z STREET’s lawyers that the application was delayed because of a Special Israel Policy that requires more intense scrutiny of organizations which have to do with Israel, in part to determine whether they espouse positions on Israel contrary to those of the current Administration.


Z STREET is a Zionist organization that proudly supports Israel’s right to refuse to negotiate with, make concessions to, or appease terrorists. Z STREET’s positions on Israel and, in particular, on the Middle East “peace process” differ significantly from those espoused by the Obama administration.


If Z STREET had tax-exempt status, its donors would be able to deduct contributions from their taxable income. The IRS's refusal to grant tax-exempt status to Z STREET has inhibited the organization‘s fundraising efforts, and therefore impeded its ability to speak and to educate the public regarding the issues that are the focus and purpose of Z STREET.


The lawsuit, Z STREET v. Shulman, Commissioner of Internal Revenue, was filed today in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.

Evangelical crusader map conquers the Jewish world

Posted by Jewish Israel

The Christian evangelizing Jewish Voice Ministries (JVM),directed by Jonathan Bernis, has just unveiled a global crusader map with a spiritual strike capability that appears to rival any physical threat Iran can muster-up (and JVM has already struck a significant number of Jewish souls).

It’s a bit mind-blowing when you view the far-reaching missionary influence of just one evangelical organization, and the map will give you an inkling of the magnitude of the messianic invasion here in Israel.

Take a good look and absorb this very graphic depiction of what some evangelicals perceive and promote as part of “God’s plans for the Jewish people”. And if your eyes are still exclusively set on a physical threat from Persia, then Queen Esther has something to tell you...more

Let's Stop While We're Ahead

No matter how hard the media and politicians keep pushing the "negotiate with our Arab enemies" line, most Israelis do admit that it won't work.  This isn't like trying fly to the moon with paper wings, just foolish unless you count on the wings holding you up when you jump off a cliff.  If that's the case, it's suicidal.

Actually, the chances of real peace and security for Israel to be the results of a negotiated "peace treaty" with the likes of Abbas and his terrorist buddies really do compare with a safe and successful flight to the moon flapping paper wings.  Are you a believer?

I'll never forget how around twenty plus years ago I begged our school to stop teaching Hebrew reading and writing with the "Bli Sodot" method.  Not only did it remind me of the terrible method which had been used to teach English reading and writing to my eldest when we were in England, but it required very skilled fine motor coordination beyond the level of some kids.  When seeing frustrated and miserable little kids who couldn't cut the tiny words and sounds, I called it:

"No cuttee, no readee."

The school principal replied:

"But we just invested so much money in the videos."

Well, after many parents complained about having to invest in  assessments and tutoring, they finally went back to a more traditional and successful phonics method.

As hard as it may seen today to call these negotiations all off, it'll be harder tomorrow.  There's no light at the end of this tunnel.  One just must drill up and climb out.  They say that if you discover you're walking in a mind field go back exactly the way you came.  So, whichever method they choose, it's fine with me.  Just escape!

These negotiations won't bring peace! 

AFSI Fall Mission

1751 Second Ave, New York, NY 10128
Tel: 212-828-2424; Fax: 212-828-1717; afsi@rcn.com; http://www.afsi.org/
Contact: Helen Freedman, Executive Director
August 20, 2010

YOUR INVITATION TO JOIN AMERICANS FOR A SAFE ISRAEL FOR SHABBAT CHAYE SARAH IN HEBRON -AND ANOTHER UNIQUE CHIZUK (SUPPORT) MISSION TO ISRAEL


ITINERARY FOR AFSI CHIZUK MISSION – Oct. 24 – Nov. 2, 2010


SUNDAY, OCT. 24 – Leave from Newark, NJ on 2:15 El Al flight


MONDAY, OCT. 25 – Arrive at Ben Gurion, 7 A.M – Meet our bus and driver, Ami, and give him our luggage. Those who wish to travel by bus to Ashkelon will travel with him. The rest will board the train in the airport to Ashkelon. There we will meet the bus and Ami, and drive directly to Nitzan, the caravan community of the Gush Katif expellees. The Orange Gallery will be open for shopping and Dror Vanunu, Rachel and Moshe Saperstein, and Anita Tucker will meet us and guide us on our tours of the new building for the Gush Katif communities. We will stay overnight in Ashkelon at the Holiday Inn where Israel Danziger of Mishmeret Yesha will join us.


TUESDAY, OCT. 26 – We’ll pay an early morning visit to Sderot where we’ll meet with Alon Davidi, of Ofek Chadash, Noam Bedein at the media center, and Josh Hasten and Rabbi Fendel at the Hesder Yeshiva. We’ll drive south to Nir Oz, Yevul, and the Haluzia desert where Gush Katif expellees are building new homes. Continue south to Mitzpe Ramon. Overnight at the Inn.


WEDNESDAY, OCT. 27 – Guided morning hike for those who wish to participate, through the Machtesh Ramon, Israel’s Grand Canyon. Visit IDF school, B’ad Achad. Meet with Aharon Pulver and spokesmen at their new Shomrim outpost to review the Bedouin issues. Overnight again at the Inn.


THURSDAY, OCT. 28 – We begin traveling north. Visit Sde Boker, Ben Gurion’s home in the Negev, and go on to Revivim, Yattir, and Sussya. Visit with Rabbi Moshe Hager Lau at his pre-military school, Beit Yatir. Overnight in the area.


FRIDAY, OCT. 29 – Visit the communities in the southern Hebron hills including , Adurayim, Nachliel,and Givat Gal. In Negohot, we hope to visit the Ben David family at Beit Hakerem Hill where their vineyard was destroyed recently by Arab arsonists. Arrive in Kiryat Arba – Yeshivat Nir for overnight and Shabbat Chaye Sarah. Beautiful services at the Maarat HaMachpelah or at the Yeshiva. Dinner at the Yeshiva with Rav Waldman and the Hesder Yeshiva students. Meetings after dinner with Honenu Legal Defense Forum representatives to learn about their efforts on behalf of Haim Pearlman and other Jews under Israeli arrest. Overnight at Yeshiva.


SATURDAY, OCT. 30 – SHABBAT CHAYE SARAH IN HEBRON – Morning services at the Ma’arat HaMachpela. Shabbat lunch at the Gutnick Center with Yossi Baumol and the Hebron Fund group. Afternoon tour of Hebron. Shalosh Seudot and Havdalah at the Yeshiva. Depart from Hebron after Shabbat for Jerusalem. Overnight at the King Solomon hotel.


SUNDAY, OCT. 31 – All day in Jerusalem – Visit the Temple Mount in the early morning with Rabbi Richman. Meet Arieh King back at our hotel for his unique tour of Jerusalem’s threatened areas. Mid- afternoon tour with Dan Luria of Ateret Cohanim in the Old City and Beit Yonatan, Kidmat Zion, and other areas outside the Old City. Evening meetings with Members of Knesset. Overnight at the King Solomon.


MONDAY, NOV. 1 – Leave for the Shomron where we will meet David Ha’Ivri who will guide us through a number of the critical Shomron communities. We’ll of course check on the status of the Od Yosef Chai Yeshiva in Yitzhar. We will have our farewell dinner in Petach Tikva. Departure at 9 PM for the airport for midnight and 1 AM flights back to NY. Those who are staying on will be taken back to Jerusalem.


TUESDAY, NOV. 2 – Early morning arrival in NY – in time to vote!


The cost of the land portion of the trip is $1650 per person double occupancy. Single occupancy is $2000. Flight arrangements are up to the individual participants.


Deposits of $800 are due by September 1 with full payment due by October 4.


Payments can be made by: check, made out to Americans For a Safe Israel, and mailed to 1751 Second Ave., New York, NY 10128; Pay Pal through the AFSI website: http://www.afsi.org/ ; Credit Card – call Helen at 212-828-2424.

That's me speaking at the AFSI Gush Katif Katif event in NY, July, 2010

Where There's Smoke, There's Fire

Two days ago, I was at the Shiloh swimming pool with the grandkids, and when we were leaving one of them pointed to the smoke east of Achiya and Shvut Rachel.  I took pictures, but I didn't think about it, too busy being a Grannie. 

Yesterday, my husband reported it, and it was also reported on Arutz 7.

It Takes Two To Tango

Obviously the Arabs don't want peace with Israel, or they wouldn't be threatening to stop/leave/not agree to "peace talks."  If they really wanted peace there would be peace and there wouldn't need to be all this pushing and pulling to get them to the negotiating table.

If the Arabs really wanted to live in peace with us, we'd be encouraged to stay in our homes and expand them.

If the Arabs really wanted to live in peace with us, we'd be encouraged to build news homes, neighborhoods and communities.

If the Arabs really wanted to live in peace with us, we'd be invited to live side-by-side with them.


Obviously, the Arabs don't want peace, they just want us dead and gone, so there's nothing to negotiate!

The Two-State Delusion by George F. Will

I consider George F. Will's "Two State Delusion" article so important, I'm copying it right here.  I don't want it to disappear which sometimes happens to news sites.

In the Mideast, a two-state delusion
Last Updated: 3:27 AM, August 23, 2010


Posted: 12:08 AM, August 23, 2010




JERUSALEM


'Twas a famous victory for diplo macy when, in 1991 in Madrid, Is raelis and Palestinians, orchestrated by America, at last engaged in direct talks. Almost a generation later, US policy seems to have succeeded in prodding the Palestinians away from their recent insistence on "proximity talks" -- in which they've talked to the Israelis through American intermediaries -- to direct negotiations. But about what?


Idle talk about a "binational state" has long since died. Even disregarding the recent fates of multinational states, binationalism is impossible if Israel is to be a Jewish state for the Jewish people. No significant Israeli constituency disagrees with Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu: "The Palestinian refugee problem will be resolved outside Israel's borders."




Rhetoric about a "two-state solution" is de rigueur. It also is delusional, given two recent searing experiences.


The only place for a Palestinian state is the West Bank, which Israel has occupied -- legally under international law -- since repelling the 1967 aggression launched from there. The West Bank remains an unallocated portion of the Palestine Mandate, the disposition of which is to be settled by negotiations. But with constructive bluntness, Michael Oren, Israel's ambassador to America, puts aside diplomatic ambiguity:


"There is no Israeli leadership that appears either willing or capable of removing 100,000 Israelis from their West Bank homes -- the minimum required to make way for a viable Palestinian state even with Israel's annexation of its three main settlement blocs. [Those blocs function as Jerusalem's suburbs.] The evacuation of a mere 8,100 Israelis from Gaza in 2005 required 55,000 IDF [Israel Defense Forces] troops -- the largest Israeli military operation since the 1973 Yom Kippur War -- and was profoundly traumatic."


Twenty-one Israeli settlements were dismantled; even the bodies of Israelis buried in Gaza were removed. After a deeply flawed 2006 election encouraged by the United States, there was in 2007 essentially a coup in Gaza by the terrorist organization Hamas. So now Israel has on its western border, 44 miles from Tel Aviv, an entity dedicated to Israel's destruction, collaborative with Iran and possessing a huge arsenal of rockets.


Rocket attacks from Gaza rose dramatically after Israel withdrew. The number of UN resolutions deploring this? Zero. The closest precedent for that bombardment was the Nazi rocket attacks on London, which were answered by the destruction of Hamburg, Dresden and other German cities. When Israel struck back at Hamas, the "international community" was theatrically appalled.


Strategic Affairs Minister Moshe Yaalon says, "Our withdrawals strengthened jihadist Islam," adding, "We have the second Islamic republic in the Middle East -- the first in Iran, the second in Gaza: Hamastan."


Israel's withdrawals include the one that strengthened the Iranian client on Israel's northern border, in southern Lebanon. Since the 2006 war provoked by Hezbollah's incessant rocketing of northern Israel, Hezbollah has rearmed and possesses up to 60,000 rockets. Today, Netanyahu says, Israel's problem is less the Israel-Lebanon border than it is the Lebanon-Syria border: Hezbollah has received from Syria -- which gets them from Iran -- Scud missiles capable of striking Jerusalem and Tel Aviv. A leader of Hezbollah says, "If all the Jews gather in Israel, it will save us the trouble of going after them worldwide."


Because upward of a million immigrants have come from the former Soviet Union, today a sixth of Israelis speak Russian. Russian Israelis are largely responsible for Avigdor Lieberman's being foreign minister. Yoram Peri, professor of Israeli studies at the University of Maryland, says these immigrants "don't understand how a state that can be crossed in half an hour by car would be willing to even talk about relinquishing territories to its seemingly perpetual enemies." These immigrants know that Russia's strategic depth defeated Napoleon and Hitler.


Netanyahu, who's not the most conservative member of the coalition government he heads, endorses a two-state solution but says any West Bank Palestinian state must be demilitarized and prevented from making agreements with the likes of Hezbollah and Iran. To prevent the importation of missiles and other arms, Israel would need, he says, a military presence on the West Bank's eastern border with Jordan. Otherwise, there will be a third Islamic republic, and a second one contiguous to Israel.


So, again: Negotiations about what? And with whom? georgewill@washpost.com  






Read more: http://www.nypost.com/p/news/opinion/opedcolumnists/in_the_mideast_two_state_delusion_146iVwycf4jDmTKASe2hLI#ixzz0xXkaz9PM

Counter Missionaries Unite and Launch Jewish Isaiah 53.com

Posted by Jewish Israel

In a stunning show of unity, counter-missionary professionals from across the globe, and representing a number of organizations, have joined forces to offer a creative and pro-active response to recent missionary campaigns which have been targeting the Jewish people for conversion.

Jewish Isaiah 53.com went live in the early hours of the morning and offers a direct and comprehensive response to aggressive and virulent campaigns like that launched by the missionary organization Chosen People Ministries, which targeted Jews throughout the New York area this summer.

Isaiah 53 is frequently used by Christian missionaries to try and prove to Jews that the chapter’s “suffering servant” is in reference to jesus. Those Jews identifying with their people and sensitized to Jewish history are, and always have been, impervious to this Christian theological spin. However, at present, a number of our people are spiritually floundering, and have forgotten who they are.

The launching of Jewish Isaiah 53.com is an unprecedented effort to clarify matters for those who are confused, and to educate and strengthen those who are actively trying to bring our people home to the G-d of truth.

Articles, commentaries and recordings by leading Jewish scholars, rabbis, and counselors in the counter-missionary field are featured at Jewish Isaiah 53. The currently featured professionals are (in alphabetical order):

Rabbi Eli Cohen, Rabbi Stuart Federow, Asher Norman, Rabbi Moshe Shulman, Rabbi Tovia Singer, Rabbi Michael Skobac, Penina Taylor, and Uri Yosef

Jewish Isaiah 53.com does not represent or stand for any particular organization. The site is a work in progress and many other counter-missionary professionals from a number of organizations worked behind the scenes to actualize this endeavor. Visitors to the site should look forward to future commentary and content from additional scholars.

Jewish Israel is honored to have been a part of this project from its inception and to have contributed the site’s banner.

The webmaster of the site is Moshe Verschleisser and inquiries may be sent to info@jewishisaiah53.com

We hope and pray that Jewish Isaiah 53.com will prove to be a guiding light for the lost among our people, and will serve as a beacon of truth to inquiring souls among the nations...more

If It's "difficult, but possible," It's Not Peace

True peace, and please remember that if it isn't the genuine article it doesn't count bupkes, isn't climbing Mount Everest.  I wouldn't even compare it to a marriage, since some marriages end up as hateful, dangerous hells.


Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu's statement sounds more like a desperate last minute cancer treatment:

...The achievement of a peace agreement between us and the Palestinian Authority is a difficult thing, but it is possible.


We are coming to talks from a real desire to achieve a peace agreement between the two peoples, while safeguarding Israel's national interests, foremostly security. I know that there is a considerable skepticism after 17 years having passed since the beginning of the Oslo process. It is possible to understand why this doubtfulness exists. We are seeking to surprise the critics and the skeptics, but in order to do this we need a real partner on the Palestinian side. It is possible to succeed with a hand extended in peace, but only if someone on the other likewise extends one. If we discover that we have a real partner on the Palestinian side, sincere and serious in negotiations, negotiations which will require both sides to take necessary measures, not only the Israeli side but also the Palestinian side, if we discover we have such a partner, we will be able to shortly reach a historic peace agreement between the two peoples.


This agreement will be based on three initial components: First of all, on real and sustainable security arrangements on the ground; secondly, upon recognition of Israel as the national state of the Jewish People, and this means that the solution of a problem like the demand for return will be realized in the territory of the Palestinian state; and the third component, the end to the conflict. We are discussing a peace agreement between Israel and a demilitarized Palestinian state. This state, if it should be established after this process, is due to end the conflict and not to be a façade for its continuation by other means.


Security, recognition of the national state of the Jewish People and the end of the conflict – these are the three components that will ensure us a real and lasting peace agreement.
Jerusalem, 22 August 2009, PM Netanyahu's Remarks at the Start of the Weekly Cabinet Meeting

There are a lot of "ifs" here in Netanyahu's statement.  His proposal is built on a very "iffy" premise, that our Arab enemies will agree to a "demilitarized Palestinian state."


At present the pragmatists among us recognize that the Arab terrorists aren't "demilitarized."  They have weapons.  And the Arabs in Gaza, Lebanon, Syria, Egypt and Jordan all have weapons, missiles, rockets which can easily reach every single city in Israel. 


Mahmoud Abbas, who is supposedly our "peace partner," has his minimum start-up demands:

"...ending the Israeli occupation of all territory occupied since 1967, including East Jerusalem and the occupied Syrian Arab Golan and the remaining Lebanese territories, and the establishment of independent State of Palestine with its capital East Jerusalem..."

What sort of "lala land" does Bibi inhabit?  There will be no peace at this time, in our generation.  There's nothing to negotiate and nobody to speak to.  We (the Arabs and Israel) aren't two misbehaving siblings fighting over Lego pieces.  It's a matter of life and death.  The Arabs are prepared to kill us and destroy our country. 

This past Shabbat's weekly Torah Portion concluded with a timely reminder:

יז זָכוֹר, אֵת אֲשֶׁר-עָשָׂה לְךָ עֲמָלֵק, בַּדֶּרֶךְ, בְּצֵאתְכֶם מִמִּצְרָיִם. 17 Remember what Amalek did unto thee by the way as ye came forth out of Egypt;
יח אֲשֶׁר קָרְךָ בַּדֶּרֶךְ, וַיְזַנֵּב בְּךָ כָּל-הַנֶּחֱשָׁלִים אַחֲרֶיךָ--וְאַתָּה, עָיֵף וְיָגֵעַ; וְלֹא יָרֵא, אֱלֹהִים. 18 how he met thee by the way, and smote the hindmost of thee, all that were enfeebled in thy rear, when thou wast faint and weary; and he feared not God.
יט וְהָיָה בְּהָנִיחַ יְהוָה אֱלֹהֶיךָ לְךָ מִכָּל-אֹיְבֶיךָ מִסָּבִיב, בָּאָרֶץ אֲשֶׁר יְהוָה-אֱלֹהֶיךָ נֹתֵן לְךָ נַחֲלָה לְרִשְׁתָּהּ--תִּמְחֶה אֶת-זֵכֶר עֲמָלֵק, מִתַּחַת הַשָּׁמָיִם; לֹא, תִּשְׁכָּח. {פ} 19 Therefore it shall be, when the LORD thy God hath given thee rest from all thine enemies round about, in the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee for an inheritance to possess it, that thou shalt blot out the remembrance of Amalek from under heaven; thou shalt not forget. {P}

"Let's Make A Deal"

At this moment I'm listening to Israeli Prime Minister Bibi' Netanyahu's assistant Ron Dermer on the IBA News.  His emphasis on the importance of "making a deal" makes him sound like a used car salesman.

We don't need to "make a deal."  We need to develop our country, the State of Israel.  This isn't a computer card game with an "undo" option.

True peace won't come from "difficult decisions" and other euphemisms for Israel giving up on its heritage and security.

Be patient.  The stronger we make our country, the State of Israel, the more peacefully the Arabs will treat us until there's true peace. 

"Prior Conditions?" Israel Should Make Demands!!

Unfortunately, successive Israeli governments try to be too nice and not demand our due.  That's why we end up with egg on our face after each round of negotiations.  Successive peace sic treaties have caused horrendous deterioration in our security situation.  Long gone is the day when Israelis could safely walk and shop in Arab stores, towns etc.

Why are our politicians, media etc so desperate for a "peace agreement?"  An "agreement" isn't true PEACE.  It's just a photo op, no more and no less.  At least Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu is demanding security as a first step, though I think he should go further and elaborate on Israel's red (or call it "blue and white") lines.  It's not worth talking if the Arabs won't accept them.

One of our "blue and white" lines should quite obviously be Jerusalem.  It is the holiest site in the world for Jews and has that distinction to no other religion, race or people.  It's relatively minor in Arab history and culture.  Even Arabs recognize it and admit it.  That's one of the reasons why it shouldn't surprise everyone that Ramalla is more important to local Arabs.

Long before the modern State of Israel was established in our historic, ancient Biblical Homeland, other countries kept insisting that Jerusalem must be internationalized or divided between Jews and Arabs though there's no historic precedent or justification for  such a status.  Their interference has prevented the Arabs from accepting Israel and living in peace with us.

So, if Israel makes it clear that Jerusalem is ours, totally Jewish and Israeli and the world then objects, we can stop this whole dangerous and absurd "peace" process and negotiations.  Without the world's interference there's a chance that the Arabs will eventually, not tomorrow nor next year, but within a generation for two, decide to stop attacking and terrorizing us. 

Another necessary demand is that  Jews should be able to live and work any place and every place in the Land of Israel.  Anything less than that is blatant racism, antisemitism, discrimination against Jews!

None of these so-called "peace plans" get to the nitty-gritty of true unadulterated peace.  They all require Israel to amputate entire sections of our Homeland and give it to Arab terrorists whose aim is our destruction.  The Arabs have made their ultimate plans, aims very clear.

We will only have true PEACE when we're willing to fight for it with both words and actions.

Tel Shiloh Digs, Again

When I was at Tel Shiloh for Rosh Chodesh Elul Prayers, I discovered that the young crew of archaeologist helpers were still busy digging.

And last week at the Israel Museum I found one of the giant urns which had been discovered during an earlier dig.  It's in the third section, the one about Biblical finds.  Strangely, Shiloh doesn't seem to be mentioned in the museum's narrative, explanations.  Shiloh was the capital for 369 years, quite a long time.  Actually, the narrative is the worst thing about the exhibit, the archeology section.  It's very antireligious.

Modernized Israel

For many of us who remember Jerusalem from decades back, the main post office on Jaffa Road, across from the new municipality office complex, close to the Old City, is full of memories.  It's an old building, very large and imposing.  Way back when it was the place to make phone calls to foreign countries, buy assimonim, phone tokens, aerogrammes and stamps.

A couple of weeks ago, I had to buy stamps to send birthday cards to my father for his 90th birthday and realized that the old monster of a building was the closest post office on the route I was walking.  I hadn't been inside for years.  Human nature, I guess, because I expected it to be the same as it was over thirty years ago.  Imagine my surprise!

That's the multilingual machine for getting numbers according to what you need to do in the post office.  And then you sit on the chairs, look at the screens and wait for your number to be announced.

There's all sorts of other information on the screen.  Sorry that it didn't come out clearly enough, but I was afraid that I'd be prevented from taking pictures.  Some government places, malls and stores forbid photographing. 

Israel has modernized in many ways.  My recent visits to the Interior Ministry also went pretty quickly.

PR, Rebranding. Will They Show Them the Beach?

Israel's Foreign Ministry's latest scheme to make the world love us is to "charm" the biggie bloggers and social media giants.  Are we tooth paste to be marketed like that?

Just like all the other schemes in the past, it won't work. 

• Our universities promote antizionists who are constantly publicizing our faults, imagined and real. 
• Our media is enamoured with our enemies. 
• Our politicians are too busy attacking the government, even when abroad, rather than making things better.

According to Jewish Law, the first words out of our mouths every morning when we wake up are supposed to be the מודה אני Modeh Ani, "I Thank" prayer.

• There should be scholarships donated to academics who write good things about our country, Land and People.
• The news should open and end with something that shows our country, Land and People in a good light.
• Politicians should be legally penalized for joining our enemies and criticizing the country, Land and People when abroad.

Let's start with that.  It's  a lot less expensive than the government's plan.

Strange Poll Results

Hat tip: IMRA


IMRA's headlines focused on:

US Polls: Israel Ally 60% Enemy 4%

But I think the most significant finding is:

A year from now will America's relationship with Israel be better than it is today, worse than it is today or about the same?
10% Better
34% Worse
45% About the same
12% Not sure

My question is: Why do one third of those asked think that in a year America's relationship with Israel will be worse? I consider that very worrying. It's more significant than the 60% support today.

Even Dry Bones is Stumped

I understand that not too many of you agreed with my post about Israel bombing the Iranian nuclear reactor.  I agree that it's a tough call.  So does Dry Bones.

Why Israel?

I may be dumb, because I don't understand why so many countries, commentators, politicians, media etc take it for granted that Israel is supposed to bomb Iran to stop Iran's nuclear development.  Am I the only one confused about the issue?

Israel is a small country, extremely restricted in military commercial development and purchases.  That's mostly because of its totally sick, illogical relationship with the United States.  The United States subsidizes its military industries by allocating foreign "military aid," which is no more than shopping coupons to buy American products.  I don't know how this has affected other countries, but Israel's military industries are crippled by the relationship.  We can't even sell our products to other countries without American approval, because they have American components.

So, if the United States is all that strong and mighty, let them bomb Iran.

This reminds me of when a class bully gets his "favorite" victim to something to  the teacher and gets into trouble, while the bully stands "innocently" on the sidelines.

Innocent Mistake?

Big international news has been that former female IDF soldier's facebook pictures with blindfolded Arabs in the background.

No doubt that Eden Aberjil showed foolishness and total lack of understanding.  No excuses, but...

Why the but?  So many of our Israeli politicians and media stars are no less mature and responsible.  They don't think of their words and actions as moves on a chessboard.  Yes, a chessboard.  Everything we say and do has repercussions.  It's common for Israeli politicians and media to apologize too soon, to lay blame incorrectly etc.  

They also give out too much information.  There was a time when if Arabs, whether terrorsts or enemy armies shot rockets at us, there would be no hints about where they landed, so the Arabs wouldn't be able to fine-tune their aim.  Now exact locations are broadcast for all the world to know.

Eden Aberjil is just a typical Israeli, for good or for bad, nothing to be proud of.