My musings, reflections on life here in Shiloh, Israel. Original, personal, spiritual and political. Peace, security and Israeli sovereignty. While not a "group blog," Shiloh Musings includes the voices of other Jews in The Land of Israel.
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Well, the unexpected revelation that Kerry threatened that Israel could become an “apartheid state,” if it didn’t continue the “peace process,” certainly had the Secretary of State and his office jumping yesterday.
Firstly we have Kerry's Spokeswoman, Jen Psaki, who had trouble explaining his 'apartheid' comments, and stumbled when asked about Kerry’s remarks that Israel risks becoming an "apartheid state".
Kerry himself apologized, well…sort of. He said, “Israel is a vibrant democracy and I do not believe, nor have I ever stated, publicly or privately, that Israel is an apartheid state or that it intends to become one.”
But if you compare that with what he said Friday: "A two-state solution will be clearly underscored as the only real alternative. Because a unitary State winds up either being an apartheid state with second-class citizens--or it ends up being a State that destroys the capacity of Israel to be a Jewish State," one wonders what kind of apology it was.
Two brave and brilliant women have eloquently reacted to Kerry’s remarks: Anne Bayefsky, who wrote, inter alia, “So when Secretary of State John Kerry suggested on April 25, 2014 just prior to Yom Hashoah, that Israel is on the verge of becoming an "apartheid state," it was more than a libel. It was dangerous… Kerry’s remarks, therefore, have to be put in a larger context. On April 7, 2014, the Obama administration decided for the first time to participate in the implementation of the Durban Declaration (that supposedly “Zionism is racism”).
And Paula Stern, who points out the distinctions between the Israeli and Arab treatments of their citizens: “What was missing, other than any iota of logic, in Kerry's words was the balance. Always, forever, the balance. What of the Arabs? What about this dream of a Palestinian state? Have you no concern about what type of a state, a Hamas-Fatah alliance would bring to the Middle East, John? None? Any?”
And as I mentioned earlier, James Taranto didn’t disappoint us. In fact, he dedicated almost all of his column last night to Kerry: “This begins to look like a protection racket. Kerry warned the Israelis that if they don't accede to his demands, other countries will take action to stigmatize Israel. Last week, in a closed-door meeting with leaders from other countries, he invoked a slur that Israel's enemies have employed for decades to stigmatize the Jewish State. If he was making a threat in February, he was attempting to carry it out last week.”
And finally, perhaps the best understanding of the so-called peace process I've ever read, by Daniel Greenfield: "Like so many other big lies, the big peace lie has become too big to fail. If politicians from around the world and across the political spectrum were to admit that they trusted a terrorist group to reform only to see the whole thing blow up in their faces, they would look like idiots."
(I strongly suggest that you read the articles linked above, not just my excerpts!)
The title may be confusing for some. The Jewish Year as most know starts at the end of the summer on Rosh Hashannah, the first of the Month of Tishrei, but when counting the year by month, we begin with Nissan, the month of Miracles and spring. That's why Iyyar is the second month. My friends and I will be meeting at Shiloh Hakeduma, Tel Shiloh tomorrow for our monthly prayers. There are two days to this Rosh Chodesh, which happens a few times during the year, and I chose the second for our Women's Prayers.
Women's Prayers at Tel Shiloh Rosh Chodesh Iyar
Thursday, May 1, 2014, 1st of Iyar 5774, 8:30 amTour of Tel Shiloh & Dvar Torah, Short Torah LessonPlease come and invite family, friends and neighbors תפילת נשים ראש חודש אייר בתל שילהיום ה' 1-5 א' אייר תשע"ד 8:30יהיה דבר תורה קצר וסיור בתל כדאי לבוא ולהזמין חברות, משפחה ושכנותMark your calendar, and join us. You're welcome to join our facebook page. Tel Shiloh is open to visitors daily. Tours can be arranged through the Shiloh HaKeduma, Ancient Shiloh office. Email visit@telshilo.org.il or phone 02-994-4019.
Iyyar is an amazing month, full of contrasts. First of all, the entire month is in the restricted Sefira period, the forty-nine days we count from Passover until Shavuot, seven weeks times seven.
During the period of Sefirat Ha'omer, we refrain from certain forms of festivity as an expression of mourning for the tragic deaths of Rabbi Akiva 24,000 disciples, which occurred during these weeks. The Shulhan Aruch mentions that we do not conduct weddings, or cut our hair during this period. The Magen Avraham (commentary to the Shulhan Aruch by Rabbi Avraham Gombiner, Poland, 1637-1683) further adds the prohibition of listening to music...Sefirat Ha'omer, by contrast, is actually a very auspicious time. So much so, that the Ramban, in his Torah commentary (Parashat Emor), speaks of these weeks as *a kind of "Hol Ha'mo'ed" in between the two festivals of Pesah and Shavuot.
On the 18th of Iyyar is Lag B'Omer, meaning the 33rd of the Omer period. It's a day of celebration. And since 1948 there have been other days of celebration, Yom Ha'atzma'ut, Israeli Independence Day and Yom Yerushalayim, Jerusalem Day since Israel's victory during the 1967 Six Days War.
Not only was the 1967 Six Days War a miracle of survival for the young and weak (by human standards) Jewish State, but the miraculous, meaning G-d facilitated, victory brought us the liberation of our Biblical, historic Homeland, Judea, Samaria plus the Golan, Jordan Valley and the Sinai.
It's very clear that this victory and its resulting border changes was all of G-d's planning, because the IDF had only aimed to "keep status quo." The Eshkol Labor secular Leftist Party Government had sent messages to Jordanian King Hussein begging him not to join Egypt and Syria in the attack on Israel. For weeks leading up to the war, Egypt's Nasser had been publicly threatening to destroy the State of Israel and sweep it into the sea. He ordered the United Nations Peace Keeping Forces to abandon ship, which they promptly did.
No country, that's right no country came to Israel's aid. The world just watched and waited to see the young Jewish State destroyed, but G-d had other plans.
Considering that the 5th of Iyyar is Israeli Independence Day, and the 28th of Iyyar is Jerusalem Day, both between Passover which celebrates our Biblical exodus from slavery to Pharaoh in Egypt and Shavuot the Holiday celebrating G-d's giving us the Torah, the foundation of Judaism, I'd say that supports the idea that the Omer period is "*a kind of "Hol Ha'mo'ed" in between the two festivals of Pesah and Shavuot."
This should all be another reminder to us that we're not in charge. G-d is, and we should praise and thank G-d at all opportunities and occasions. Yes, that includes saying Hallel with a blessing on Israeli Independence Day.
Shiloh is among the Biblical sites liberated in the 1967 Six Days War
What are the ideas expressed in Hallel? The Gemara (the Rabbinic debates on the Mishnah) tells us that Hallel includes five major themes (Pesachim 118a)1. The Exodus from Egypt2. The splitting of the Red Sea3. The giving of the Torah4. The revival of the dead5. The difficulties preceding the Messianic Age In other words, Hallel deals with all of Jewish history from the birth of our nation to the establishment of the Messianic Era. In Hallel we express our joy at past miracles and our faith in future miracles.http://www.myjewishlearning.com/texts/Liturgy_and_Prayers/Siddur_Prayer_Book/Shabbat_and_Holiday_Prayers/Hallel.shtml
In one more week we'll all be celebrating Israeli Independence Day! Sixty-six 66 years since David Ben-Gurion took on the world and declared that enough was enough. The Jewish State, aka the State of Israel was declared!
The odds were completely against us, and the world sat by watching, expecting to see a simple bloody rout. There was no way that a bunch of poor Jewish farmers, beggars and undernourished survivors of Hitler's concentration camps could defeat the Arabs who had the de facto backing of Great Britain and other countries.
Juara Haganah Museum
Ben-Gurion didn't even have a united Jewish army to fight with him. Actually, that was mostly his fault. He was so against the Etzel and Lechi during the latter years of the British Mandate that he even cooperated with the British by informing against them in a period known as the sezon, The Hunting Season. He continued with his extreme hatred of those Jews who didn't support him politically by tricking the Etzel, led by Menachem Begin, and attacking the Altalena which resulting in the death of Jewish patriots and the destruction of valuable weapons which had been brought to liberate Jerusalem from the Arabs.
It wasn't only the Revisionists, Jabotinsky followers, members of Etzel and Lechi that Ben-Gurion tried to defeat, he also did everything he could to brainwash, deprogram religious North-African Jews from strictly observing Judaism. Children were sent to secular boarding schools to be "educated" and turned into Leftist, secular Israelis aka modern Jews.
Honestly, when I began this post, I didn't plan on rehashing the terrible side of early Israeli history. But in order to understand today's State of Israel we must remember the awful, disgraceful side, too.
When we wonder why the Israeli Left, and even Center, are so rabidly anti-Jewish Life in Judea and Samaria, and we wonder why Shabbak, Israel's "secret police" can be so cruel to fellow Jews instead of concentrating on our real enemies, and we wonder how the Israeli Judicial System can judge Patriotic Jews so unfairly, we just have to think of David Ben-Gurion.
They are the spiritual, political, immoral heirs of David Ben-Gurion.
What's the great irony here in Israel sixty-six years later? The descendants of Ben-Gurion and his followers are less interested in Israel than the descendants of those he tried so hard to destroy.
Considering all of the civil war, a battle for Jewish souls going on during the War for Israeli Independence and the early years of the state, it's even more amazing that G-d allowed the state to survive and thrive.
We wouldn't have a State of Israel if G-d hadn't supported us. There's no rational way to describe our victories in 1948, 1967 and 1973.
That's why it is so important to thank G-d with Prayers including the Hallel on Israeli Independence Day!
Israeli Independence Day Prayers in the Mishkan Tabernacle Synagogue, Shiloh
Yes, we still have a long way to go, but we won't succeed without the Help of the Almighty!
Anyone who has read Wall St. Journal blogger James Taranto’s “Best of the Web Today” column for any serious amount of time, knows that John Kerry has no substance to him. Indeed, one of the several public figures and organizations that Taranto criticizes and lampoons regularly, is the current Secretary of State and former Senator John Kerry – who is often described as "the haughty, French-looking Massachusetts Democrat who by the way served in Vietnam."
The Vietnam reference is to what he considers John Kerry’s ceaseless invocations of his service in Vietnam, leading Taranto to equally ceaseless descriptions of Kerry as the “haughty, French-looking Democrat, who by the way served in Vietnam.” Many claim that Taranto more or less single-handedly transmuted the Kerry-looking-French meme from an inside Republican joke into a staple of late-night comedy routines.
This is sometimes followed by the number of days since Kerry promised to release his medical records, driving home the point that this was never done.
Another favorite quote from Kerry that Taranto constantly refers to is: "They gave me a hat," Mr. Kerry says. "I have the hat to this day," he declares, rising to pull it from his briefcase. "I have the hat." (This Kerry also said in reference to his Vietnam service).
But lately, Mr. Kerry has continued his obsessive-compulsive-delusional drive to obtain a “peace agreement” between the so-called “palestinians” and Israel. Every few weeks, so it appears, when things don’t quite “go his way,” he issues a new threat against Israel. Last November, Kerry threatened that Israel would face a "Third Intifada" - or violent uprising - if talks did not end with a "Palestinian state" in Judea and Samaria. And in February, he threatened Israel with a boycott if peace talks fail. The remarks were condemned by many Israeli officials.
But now, he has outdone himself, and lost all credibility as being any kind of friend of Israel’s. Adopting the language of Israel’s enemies, he stated that if the talks fail, Israel could become “an apartheid state.”
Well, let me tell you something Mr. Kerry about the United States you represent, in regards to your latest threat. The “founding fathers” all owned slaves, and it wasn’t till close to a century later that the slaves in the US gained their freedom. But this apartheid policy continued in many areas of the US for another century! Yes, the Civil War ended in 1865, but 25 years later, after 1890, the system of disenfranchisement, and second class citizenship degraded the citizenship rights of African Americans, especially in the South. There were three main aspects: racial segregation, voter suppression or disfranchisement in the southern states, and private acts of violence and mass racial violence aimed at African Americans, unhindered or encouraged by government authorities. The African-American Civil Rights Movement continued through 1968, when the Fair Housing Act banned discrimination in the sale or rental of housing. Now who’s an apartheid state???
In the words of Dr. Reuven Berko,
Those who define us as an "apartheid state" find it difficult to understand how Israel risked some of its best and brightest to fly our dark-skinned brothers here from Ethiopia. The rich range of "colors" in the Jewish society is used by Arab racists to attack Israel. They claim that Jews from Russia and Ethiopia have nothing in common, and therefore aren't real Jews. The trials of converting to Judaism and the hardships of Judaism are hard to explain to those for whom religious conversion is a short procedure.
What is the "apartheid" Israeli state? It is a state in which an Arab Supreme Court justice put a Jewish president who broke the law in prison. It is a state that did not implement "racist" separation on buses, in cafes, or in hotels, allowing Palestinian terrorists to blow up the Jewish "racists." So Israel's "apartheid crime" was in building the "racist separation wall" that kept Palestinian suicide bombers from expressing "opposition."
The "apartheid" Israeli state gave citizenship to Jewish refugees from Arab countries and to the Arab minority that remained in its borders. The "apartheid" state turned temporary quarters for refugees into Israeli cities, while accommodations for Palestinians without citizenship in the territories and in Arab cities remain refugee camps.
Arab apartheid prompts Palestinians to kill Israelis by firing rockets from civilian homes, knowing that the Jews will enforce "separation" and not return fire on the source of the attack. Apartheid is a Western double standard that backs the Palestinians. No American would allow a member of Congress to support Osama bin Laden, but "apartheid" in Israel allows the concept of "barriers" to be warped and enables Arab Knesset members to swear allegiance to the nation while openly undermining it.
Finally, Mr. Kerry, no one in recent years yearned for peace, not only in Israel but in the entire world, than Reb Shlomo Carlebach. But when it came to our Land, here is what he had to say:
To conclude, I couldn’t say it better than this comment on of the articles about Kerry’s last threat:
“Kerry do us a favor and resign, your an embarrassment to the US, the real change needs to come from the White House - both you and Obama need to go!”
UPDATES, TUESDAY:
1. Caroline Glick, in her “Our World” column, condemns Kerry’s remarks as anti-Semitic, and goes on to say that “the only “Apartheid state” that has any chance of emerging is the Palestinian state that Kerry claims Israel’s survival depends on. The Palestinians demand that the territory that would comprise their state must be ethnically cleansed of all Jewish presence before they will agree to accept sovereign responsibility for it.
In other words, the future leaders of that state – from the PLO, Hamas and Islamic Jihad alike --- are so imbued with genocidal Jew hatred that they insist that all 650,000 Jews living in Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria must be forcibly ejected from their homes. These Jewish towns, cities and neighborhoods must all be emptied before the Palestinians whose cause Kerry so wildly champions will even agree to set up their Apartheid state.
According to the 1998 Rome Statute, Apartheid is a crime of intent, not of outcome. It is the malign intent of the Palestinians –across their political and ideological spectrum -- to found a state predicated on anti-Jewish bigotry and ethnic cleansing. In stark contrast, no potential Israeli leader or faction has any intention of basing national policies on racial subjugation in any form.”
2. While Kerry himself “backpedaled” into an “apology”: In a statement Monday evening, the Secretary of State said if he ‘could rewind the tape,’ he wouldn’t have used the word ‘apartheid’ in his warning about Israel; both Democratic and Republican Congressmen condemned him. For example, Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) took an apparent swipe at Secretary of State John Kerry, saying on Twitter that any statement comparing Israel to apartheid “is nonsensical and ridiculous;” while Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) on Monday evening said Kerry should resign from his post at the State Department.
3. It will certainly be interesting to see what James Taranto has to say about this tonight!
Holocaust Memorial Day is when Israeli and Jewish leaders make all sorts of wonderful speeches that make them all sound like strong Right wing leaders, yes, to the Right of Jabotinsky and Uri Tzvi Greenberg. No doubt there are professional speechwriters who make a killing during this season, like those who can live a full year off of their etrog sales. I know that I sound like a terrible cynic, but I'm telling the truth.
Many of you know that I don't take speeches, especially by politicians very seriously. I see it all as an act, theater. I'll never forget reading a very interesting thing that former United States President Ronald Reagan, who came to fame first as a screen actor, said about how when he entered politics people put him down because of his acting profession. But after being president for a while he realized that it would be hard or impossible to do his job as president if he hadn't had acting experience.
Photo Credit: Flash 90
Both Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and President Shimon Peres could easily have made it as professional actors. They have the charisma and presence. They can be very convincing even when you know they aren't telling the truth. The same goes for the former and disgraced PM Ehud Olmert. Yair Lapid and other Israeli politicians first made their name and fame on the TV screen.
There are many people who feel the weight and tragedy of the Holocaust daily. It may not be something they can talk about. Lorrie posted a very haunting poem from the Holocaust that says more than all of those professional speeches.
“I believe in the sun even when it is not shining And I believe in love, even when there’s no one there. And I believe in God, even when he is silent. I believe through any trial, there is always a way But sometimes in this suffering and hopeless despair My heart cries for shelter, to know someone’s there But a voice rises within me, saying hold on my child, I’ll give you strength, I’ll give you hope. Just stay a little while. I believe in the sun even when it is not shining And I believe in love even when there’s no one there But I believe in God even when he is silent I believe through any trial there is always a way. May there someday be sunshine May there someday be happiness May there someday be love May there someday be peace….“ – Unknown
Wertzberger was a young boy, assigned to work detail shlepping heavy rail ties with his bony hands. When it was meal-time, he joined all the other hungry boys to go get some food and satisfy some of that hunger. While lining up for his food, the Nazi officer looked at him with disgust and said, "You dream to go to your Jerusalem? Maybe your ashes will get there via the chimneys of the concentration camp."Eventually, Wertzberger succeeding in surviving the horrors and made his way to Eretz Yisrael, where he got a job in maintenance of the Kotel. Wertzberger said, "I never looked at the watch. Every minute I wanted to give what I could. Every time I cleaned the stones of the Kotel, from where the Shechina never left, I felt that I was getting revenge on that Nazi officer. This is the most Jewish vengeance that there is." (source: Kikar)
Honestly, I lost all faith in Bibi Netanyahu when I heard him speak at the first (of only two) International Jewish Bloggers Conventions when he followed up on a fantastic historic overview of how there have always been Jews in the Land of Israel and the dangers we're facing as a nation by saying that as a politician he's a Centrist, even though it may contradict what he had just told us.
At the time he was gearing up to run again in Knesset Elections to be Prime Minister. He made it very clear that his Centrist stand was a strategy and he'd do an say whatever to be Prime Minister again. That was no lie. It was a clear admission of his ambition. That's what politics is all about. Most politicians are the same. They will do and say whatever they think will attract voters. You may call me a cynic; I call myself a pragmatist. I've been observing politics and politicians for half a century. It's the same all over the world. The person who is best at charming the voters wins.
When I was a student at Stern College for Women of Yeshiva University many years decades ago we were assigned to write a parody of a speech for a politician campaigning. I got a very high grade on it, and one line has stayed in my mind ever since:
"I want what you want."
Yes, so when I hear all of these brave speeches on Holocaust Memorial Day I groan. They are just speeches, just words. The truth is that Jewish leaders, Israeli leaders and world leaders today are no different from those in the late 1930's and early 1940's. It's sad but true. I'm not interested in listening to their empty-worded speeches, those well-crafted expensive lines filled with pathos and tears. I don't see any real leadership and the guts needed to do what's right.
Where is our modern Pinchas willing to execute the public sinners? The State of Israel doesn't even execute convicted Arab terrorists.
I once almost threw out an American consular official from our house for equating us "settlers" with Hamas terrorists, but my husband wouldn't support me on it. It was not long after the Arab terror attack on buses from Shiloh, which caused the death of my friend Rachella Druk, to the demonstration asking PM Shamir to be firm for Israel during the Madrid Conference. My husband had asked why American Jews who live in YESHA weren't invited to consular events. The official replied that they also don't invite the terrorists from Hamas. I told that official that he had a lot of nerve equating us with the murderers who killed my friend who's buried just down there, as pointed in the direction of the newly inaugurated, with Rachalla's dead body, cemetery.
old picture of Shiloh Cemetery
more recent picture of Shiloh Cemetery with Rachella Druk's grave in foreground
Well, as King Solomon wrote repeatedly in Kohelet, Ecclesiastes, "Nothing's new."
United States President Barack Hussein Obama said the same basic thing.
Speaking in the South Korean capital, Seoul, Mr Obama said that the unity deal was "unhelpful". He said the pact was "just one of a series of choices that both the Israelis and Palestinians have made that are not conducive to trying to resolve the crisis". (BBC)
As far as the United States is concerned, Israel's policies are equivalent to the Arab terrorist actions of Hamas. Almost a quarter of a century after the Arab terrorists murdered Rachella Druk, mother of seven young children, the United States Government still considers us no different than the terrorists.
But most dangerous for Israel isn't the American policy, it's the policy of the Israel Left. The Israeli Left blames Israel for the breakdown in negotiations with the Arabs for "peace."
Opposition leader MK Yitzchak Herzog (Labor) on Saturday night launched a scathing attack on Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and his coalition, blaming them for the collapse of the peace talks with the Palestinian Authority (PA). In a post on his Facebook page, Herzog called on Netanyahu to “initiate a comprehensive and courageous offer” to PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas. (Arutz 7)
Justice Minister and Chief Negotiator Tzipi Livni announced on Israel Channel 2 that she won’t be quitting the coalition, and the decision to temporarily suspend the negotiations – for now – because of the Fatah-Hamas reunification was correct. But Livni added that Abbas has made some bad choices, and repeatedly said “the door isn’t closed”, and when the time is right, no matter how long it takes, negotiations will start again, she will run them, and she will try to get Abbas to make the right choices. And even though Abbas has made the wrong choices, she will still fight to reach an arrangement and reopen the doors, and try to return to negotiations, no matter how long it takes. (Jewish Press)
Yesh Atid will leave Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s governing coalition if negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians end and there is no diplomatic process taking place, party leader Yair Lapid said in closed conversations Tuesday. Officials in Yesh Atid confirmed a Channel 10 report that past commitments Lapid made, in which he said he would remove his party from the coalition if there were no peace talks, applied to the situation that could arise in the coming days. (Jerusalem Post)
To be blunt, I'd say that Bibi should be "courageous" and cite Herzog, Livni, Lapid etc for sedition. Our greatest enemies are those from among our own people. When the Jewish People and the State of Israel are on the right track for our security and sovereignty over the entire Land of Israel, then we will enjoy peace with those around us. That's the only way!
I took this picture tonight on the bus. We spent a lovely Shabbat in Efrat with family.
It's after midnight, and I got home not all that long ago. I really don't have time to write a "proper post," so I'll leave you with the reminder. The State of Israel may not be perfect. Certainly nobody I know is, including myself. The State of Israel is a Jewish State, and in many ways it's getting better and better. We must work harder and not give up.
Have a wonderful and healthy and joy-filled week. Look for the best and not the worst.
I'm a CPA's daughter, and I consider myself a simple pragmatist. I don't see myself as an unrealistic dreamer. It can be dangerous to let ideologies dominate reality. We must look carefully at what's happening. Caroline Glick got it right again when writing about the P.A. Abbas and his alliance with the terrorists in Hamas. Time for consequences
Two weeks ago, Abbas signed on to 15 international agreements that among other things require the PA to respect human rights and punish war criminals.
And this week, he signed a unity deal with two genocidal terror groups all of whose leaders are war criminals. Every leader of Hamas and Islamic Jihad, the two parties that signed the deal with the PLO, are war criminals. Under the Geneva Conventions, which Abbas signed onto just a couple of weeks ago, he is required to put them on trial, for their war crimes.
Here it is worth noting that under the Geneva Conventions, every single rocket launch from Gaza into Israeli territory is a separate war crime.
Abbas was only able to sign the Geneva Conventions on the one hand, and the unity deal with terrorist war criminals on the other, because he is utterly convinced that neither the US nor the European Union will hold him accountable for his actions. He is completely certain that neither the Americans nor the Europeans are serious about their professed commitments to upholding international law.
Abbas is sure that for both the Obama administration and the EU, maintaining support for the PLO far outweighs any concern they have for abiding by the law of nations. He believes this because he has watched them make excuses for the PLO and its leaders for the past two decades.
When it comes to the Palestinians, the Western powers are always perfectly willing to throw out their allegiance to law – international law and their domestic statutes – to continue supporting the PLO in the name of a peace process, which by now, everyone understands is entirely fictional. (continue)
A delegation of 14 Knesset members will meet in Ramallah with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas on Monday amid calls to cancel the visit due to the recent spate of terrorist attacks in the West Bank. The delegation consists of lawmakers from Labor, Meretz, Hatnua, and Shas.
I consider it treason. They should be arrested and stripped of their office and financial benefits, government salary, pensions etc. There must be consequences to such anti-Israel actions.
As many of us have been saying for years and years that there's no real difference between Hamas and Fatah, we're not surprised that they are now a united front. We're just surprised that they have admitted it.
Hamas and Fatah leaders hold their hands after announcing a reconciliation agreement Photo: REUTERS
And we're even less surprised that Fatah aka read Mahmoud Abbas has admitted that his aims and ideology are no different from the unabashed Arab Hamas terrorists based in Gaza.
"I said this morning that Abu Mazen needs to choose between peace with Israel and an agreement with Hamas, a murderous terrorist organization that calls for the destruction of the State of Israel and which both the United States and the European Union define as a terrorist organization.
This evening, as talks are still ongoing about extending the negotiations, Abu Mazen has chosen Hamas and not peace.
Whoever chooses Hamas does not want peace."
I'm hoping to hear that he's reassigning "Negotiations" Minister Tsippi Livni to Beach Cleaning or some other job that would suit her capabilities.
The reason I'm surprised that Fatah has so publicly allied itself with Fatah is that its separation had allowed foreign governments and international bodies to shtupp it with humongous amounts of money that isn't legally allowed to be given to terrorist organizations. The American Government is now in a bind, because it wants to continue supporting the P.A. which can't (shouldn't) be done if the leaders admit that they are the same as Hamas.
Washington sends about $500 million to the cash-strapped Palestinian Authority each year. Frustrated members of the U.S. Congress, who are generally strong supporters of Israel, said that money could be cut off.
"Not only does this action potentially derail any hope of a peace agreement between Israel and the Palestinians, it puts in jeopardy future U.S. assistance to the Palestinian Authority," Republican U.S. Representative Kay Granger, the subcommittee chairwoman, said in a statement.
Recognizing, admitting that the P.A. is really just a well-dressed front for Gazan Hamas terrorists makes the United States President Barack Hussein Obama's Middle East policy a disastrous mistake. It's based on a lie.
26 And they took the bullock which was given them, and they dressed it, and called on the name of Baal from morning even until noon, saying: 'O Baal, answer us.' But there was no voice, nor any that answered. And they danced in halting wise about the altar which was made.
27 And it came to pass at noon, that Elijah mocked them, and said: 'Cry aloud; for he is a god; either he is musing, or he is gone aside, or he is in a journey, or peradventure he sleepeth, and must be awaked.'
29 And it was so, when midday was past, that they prophesied until the time of the offering of the evening offering; but their was neither voice, nor any to answer, nor any that regarded.
It so reminded me of all of those who have been trying to convince Abbas to say the "magic words" which would force the State of Israel to release convicted terrorists and give him our precious Land in the name of their false "peace."
Abbas and his Fatah have no admitted that he and his followers have been conning the world.
Now it's up to us Israelis and Jews all over to unite and build and settle all of the Land we hold. Make it sovereign Israel! That is the only way we will enjoy true peace!!
David Ben Gurion reading the Declaration of Independence of Israel on May 14, 1948 in Tel Aviv
The State of Israel from its very inception, from those few simple words of independence and even before, has always bent dangerously over backwards to have peaceful coexistence with the Arabs who live here in our Land. Therefore, peace, true peace, isn't up to us. We've offered it on gilded platters forever. Nothing we do will bring peace to our Land.
It's the aggressor, the Arabs, who terrorize us, murder, maim Jews and undermine our national security who must change totally for there to be peace, true peace.
Speaking to a group of Israeli journalists in Ramallah, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas laid out his three conditions for continuing talks with Israel: that Israel release the fourth batch of Palestinian security prisoners, including Israeli-Arabs, and that none of them be deported; that Israel freeze all settlement construction; and that the first three months of the extended talks deal with the borders of a future Palestinian state. (Jerusalem Post)
We should be shouting out the truth!
Mahmoud Abbas does not want peace with the State of Israel!
The messages Mahmoud Abbas sends to Arabs are the ones we should be paying attention to, not his well-crafted English for foreigners and journalists. Remember that we're not going to have peaceful coexistence with his public relations team. Peace has to be with ordinary people, and the Arabs Abbas is trying to control either support Hamas or prefer that the Israeli Government stay in charge. There are very few Arabs, except those on the "take," who want to perpetuate his rule. Corruption is rampant in the P.A. under Abbas.
Abbas admits PA sent terrorists to kill Israelis
PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas:"I demand [the release of] prisoners because they are human beings, who did what we, we, ordered them to do. We - the [Palestinian] Authority. They should not be punished while we sit at one table negotiating. Besides, they spent many years in prison. How much longer? Do they have to spend all their life in prison and even die there?"
Interviewer: "How can we deal with their criteria "bloodstained hands?"
Abbas: "Such talk is illogical talk and I do not accept it. What does a bloodstained hand mean? We were fighting each other. They kill and kill. They hunt down people with planes and tanks and killed. The soldier who kills 50 or 20 persons here and there - are his hands stained with talc powder? They are stained with blood. This is war. One (i.e., Israel) ordered a soldier to kill, and I ordered my son, brother, or others, to carry out the duty of resistance (i.e., euphemism for terror). This person killed and the other person killed. So why say this person's hands are stained with blood, and [he] must be kept in prison? He is a fighter just like any other fighter. We were in a state of fighting. When a truce is reached, in any country in the world, the past is forgotten... What meaning is there to peace with the Israelis if the wanted continues to be wanted, the prisoner continues to be imprisoned, and the deportee continues to be deported? What am I worth in the eyes of the ordinary [Palestinian] citizen? The ordinary citizen will ask me: 'What did you get me? You ordered me - you are responsible for me.'" (Palestinian Media Watch)
There is only one logical thing for the State of Israel to do. Just tell the truth.
THERE'S NO WAY IN HELL THAT ABBAS IS CAPABLE OR WILLING TO "MAKE PEACE" WITH ISRAEL, SO WE ARE CUTTING OFF ALL NEGOTIATIONS AND SUPPORT FOR HIS CORRUPT ADMINISTRATION!
(Reuters) - The United States has indications that a toxic chemical, probably chlorine, was used in Syria this month and is examining whether the Syrian government was responsible, the U.S. State Department said on Monday.
"We have indications of the use of a toxic industrial chemical" in the town of Kfar Zeita, State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said, referring to a rebel-held area.
Attack by Gaza on Israel:
The first 3 projectiles sic* struck uninhabited areas in the Sha'ar Hanegev Regional Council and set off sirens and caused no damage.Another two rockets were launched and caused light damage in Sderot.
In addition, the IDF reported that early Monday morning an RPG was launched toward IDF forces on the border but caused no injuries.
IDF later shot warning shots into Gaza. The shots caused no reported injuries inside Gaza.
Last week, Israel Air Force jets struck five terror targets in the Gaza Strip, following rocket attacks on southern Israel the previous night**. (Jerusalem Post)
Sderot. April 21, 2014.Photo by Eliyahu Hershkowitz Ha'aretz
Israel is one of the most benign, even nebishy (wimpy) countries in the world. Instead of destroying our enemies we politely desperately beg for peace.
The truth is that we won't have peace until we totally destroy our enemies. No "deal" or "peace" sic treaty will do the job. The Arab terrorists should be executed and not wined, dined and educated in Israeli jails until they're released to attack again!
*What's a "projectile?" It sounds rather obscene, like a tool for rape...
**According to Reuters, there had been quiet from Gaza "the first cross-border clash in several weeks..." Whom do you believe?
A bit of vocabulary. Chutzpah and nebbishkeit are antonyms.
Israelis may be known for their "chutzpah," but the truth is that we don't stand up for ourselves. We're more nebbish than chutzpadik. Simply put. As a country we're a bunch of wimps. A good example is the fact that instead of protesting the chutzpadik offense that all countries do against Israel by insisting that Jerusalem isn't our Capitol City, successive governments have accepted the insult as only true nebbichs would.
The theme of the just ended Passover Holiday is that we celebrate no longer being slaves to Pharaoh in Egypt. But by letting foreign countries place their embassies in Tel Aviv, Herzliya or any city other than Jerusalem, we're still slaves to Pharaoh. It's just that we're no longer living in Egypt.
The US Supreme Court Monday decided to hear the case of an American born in Jerusalem, once again taking up the sensitive issue of the status of the contested city, according to AFP. The justices will hear argumentsin the case in the fall before deciding on the constitutionality of a 2002 law that directs the State Department to give Israel as the country of birth in passports of Americans born in Jerusalem. At the center of the struggle between the Congress and the presidency is Menachem Zivotofsky, who was born in Jerusalem in 2002 to two American parents. His passport says "born in Jerusalem" but his parents want Israel added to the place of birth, putting them at odds with the State Department. Jerusalem is Israel's capital, but the international community repeatedly refuses to recognize it as such. In 2002, president George W. Bush signed the bill declaring Israel as Jerusalemites' nationality into law, but he added a signed statement condemning it as unacceptable interference in the president's powers to conduct foreign policy. In March 2012, the top court ruled that the Zivotofsky suit was legally admissible, without pronouncing on the underlying issue. After the case was thrown out twice - most recently, in June - the Court will decide this time whether the president alone has the authority to say who Jerusalem belongs to, in the eyes of the United States. The Obama administration argued at a hearing in November 2011 that to list Israel as the country of birth would be tantamount to recognizing Jerusalem as the capital of the country. (Arutz 7)
Too bad the Israeli Government isn't spearheading the protest law suit.
OurCrowd,
Jon Medved’s venture capital platform encouraging investment in Israel, is
hosting a Passover Breakfast at the Waldorf Astoria in Jerusalem.
Israeli
Attorney Calev Myers is scheduled as the guest speaker. Jon Medved may be
unaware that Myers is a messianic Christian leader and an active advocate for
messianic Christian rights in Israel.
It
is important that Jewish investors and leaders carefully consider the costs
involved in giving a messianic leader and activist such as Myers legitimacy,
knowing that he has an agenda to establish a serious Christian foothold in
Israel and is determined to change the nature of Judaism and the Jewish state...more
Additional news from JewishIsrael
JewishIsrael has just
established a Facebook
page. Our readership and friends should please get the word out.
Our recent report on Rabbi Riskin and Ohr Torah Stone hosting
Missionary Joel Rosenberg at Lincoln Square Synagogue is now available
in Hebrew and should be disseminated
