Hamas War

Showing posts with label France. Show all posts
Showing posts with label France. Show all posts

Monday, March 26, 2018

Bolton, Groan, Keep Him Out of Israel

I know that many people on the Right here in Israel are happy that Ambassador John Bolton was appointed National Security Advisor by US President Donald Trump, but I'm not. Less than a year ago I heard Bolton speak, and I was even less than unimpressed.
Ambassador Bolton’s “3 State” Peace Proposal, Nonsensical
Ambassador Bolton addressing the Ingeborg Rennert Center's Guardian of Zion Award dinner, May, 2017

In all honesty, Bolton's grasp of the situation here in Israel vis-à-vis our Arab enemies showed real ignorance and as much unrealistic dreaming as the Loony Left.

Let me make it clear that there is chance of true Peace until the Arabs want it, and that seems very far away. When I say "far away," I mean a century or more. Redrawing borders or inventing new countries will not "solve the problem" or pacify the Arab terrorists.

Israel's problem/enemy is with terrorists, terrorist culture and mentality. Arabs, with the full support of the United Nations, European Union and innumerable NGOs, are still educating their youth to idealize terror, murder and death. And this isn't only here in the Middle East. Look at what has been happening in other countries, like France.

To be honest, I'm not at all optimistic.

Good Luck World!

Thursday, April 27, 2017

Le Pen, Shechita and French Jewry

Quite a number of countries around the world have banned shechita, the Jewish way of killing animals for human consumption. They claim "humanitarian" reasons, but each of them permits hunting, which is the cruelest occupation imaginable. They call it a "sport." Not only are the animals "taken by surprise," but frequently the hunter does not succeed in a quick kill, and the wounded animal suffers terribly. There's nothing more inhumane than that, especially when in many, or most, cases the animal isn't even needed for food. This is sport, remember. Sometimes the animal is left to die or its skin/fur is used or the head is stuffed and displayed to show the prowess of the hunter, etc.

Shechita on the other hand is a very controlled ritual which not only requires training to teach the shochet, slaughterer, exactly where to cut and how quickly so the animal won't suffer a slow painful death. Also the knife has to be extremely sharp to facilitate a painless kill.

kosher chicken prepared for baking
It's interesting that unlike the antisemitic hypocrites in other countries, Marine Le Pen, French National Front (FN) political party leader has asked French Jewry to sacrifice easily available kosher food to try to squeeze Muslims out of France. Her proposal is based on two fallacies:

  • the millions of Muslims in France would emigrate if they couldn't easily get halal slaughtered (or kosher shechita which they accept) meat
  • French Jewry consider making life difficult for Muslims more important than local kosher slaughter
I think Le Pen's wrong on both accounts. 
  • France's Muslim population would find ways to keep themselves well fed on properly slaughtered meat and poultry.
  • French Jewry doesn't trust Le Pen, whom they see as antisemitic, and also has no desire to have to import kosher meat and poultry. Also the Jewish population is shrinking, since they dono't see a future in terror-plagued France. 
I agree with the pundits that Le Pen hasn't a chance to win.
She has said during the current campaign that she would ban the wearing of kippahs in public in France in order to facilitate a ban on Muslim clothes. She has also said that she would make it illegal for French citizens to have an Israeli passport.
Le Pen has called on French Jews to make these “sacrifices” to curb radical Islam and has promised to be French Jewry’s “shield” against Islam.
French Jewish leaders have called Le Pen a “candidate of hate” and urged voters to support the leading candidate, centrist Emmanuel Macron, to keep Le Pen from winning. He won the first round with 23.7 percent of the vote. Polls from Tuesday predict he would win the second round by more than 20 points. Jerusalem Post

Saturday, August 27, 2016

Burkini? Big Deal! You Don't Have to Be Muslim!!


I couldn't find a head to toe picture of me in my bathing suit, but as you can probably guess from this selfie here, it's more burkini than any classic tank, blouson, skirted, one or two-piece held up by skinny straps. Actually I do wear a two piece bathingsuit, but the top has a high neck, and the sleeves go past my elbow. Most of the time I wear it with a swim-skirt past my knees, that has sewn in shorts. The running joke is that I'm dressed up for a fancy outing. It really doesn't look like a bathing suit. And I guess you may be surprised that I wear it to female only swimming time in our local pool.

No, I'm not some sort of overmodest repressed nut-case. And I'm not Muslim.

  • I'm a religious Jew who adheres to the Jews Laws of Modesty, and wearing this sort of bathing suit, swimsuit as some call them now, means that I can walk around in public, from house to pool without a robe or having to change my clothes/cover up.
  • Another reason is health. I'm high risk for skin cancer, and besides slathering sunscreen on my neck, face etc, the shirt covers me well.
  • When I swim in our outdoor pool at night, I wear my swimming shorts and a top like this. At night the covering protects me from the cool breezes which used to make night swimming just too uncomfortable. At night I wear a heavy robe to go to and from my house and pool to both cover up and keep warm.
  • The "modest swimsuit" also makes it possible to swim when there's a male lifeguard and the rare occasion when I am at a "mixed swim." The special swimsuit fabrics provide more modest cover up and better protection from the sun, than a wet T-shirt.
Honestly, I don't see how wearing modest swimwear could be considered a security, moral or cultural problem. On this I'm with the Muslims!! The French are nuts!!

Friday, July 15, 2016

TERROR in France Yet Again

I had completely different blogging plans for this morning, but the news that greeted me changed it all.

Yes, there was yet another TERROR ATTACK in France. I'm capitalizing it, because the news agencies and mainstream newspapers are inexplicably putting quotation marks around the word "terror," "terrorist."
Truck 'terrorist' kills 80 in Nice Bastille Day crowd
A "terrorist" gunman killed 80 people and wounded scores when he drove a heavy truck at high speed into a crowd watching Bastille Day fireworks in the French Riviera city of Nice late on Thursday, officials said. (Reuters)
This TERRORIST ramming dwarfs all those we've suffered.

PHOTOPQR/NICE MATIN/MAXPPP/Newscom.com
French police forces and forensic officers stand next to a truck July 15, 2016 that ran into a crowd celebrating the Bastille Day national holiday on the Promenade des Anglais killing at least 60 people in Nice, France, July 14.. (photo credit:REUTERS) Jerusalem Post
Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve said 80 people died and 18 were in a critical condition, with many more also wounded. 
Counter-terrorist investigators were seeking to identify the driver, who a local government official said opened fire before police shot him dead. The official said weapons and grenades were found inside the 25-tonne, unmarked articulated truck.
Officials said hundreds were hurt as the driver wove along the seafront, knocking them down "like skittles."
The attack, which came eight months and a day after Islamic State gunmen and suicide bombers struck the French capital on a festive Friday evening, seemed so far to be the work of a lone assailant. Newspaper Nice-Matin quoted unidentified sources as saying the driver was a 31-year-old local of Tunisian origin. (JPost)
No doubt that the numbers may climb, since some of the severely injured may not survive, and some who survive will be affected, even seriously handicapped the rest of their lives.

The world is changing for sure; it is getting much more dangerous. Fact is that a very high percentage of terrorists are Muslim and many of them are Arab, too. I'm talking just plain numbers. And western, once relatively safe, countries all over Europe and the United States, too, are welcoming lots of Arab Muslims from countries like Syria. That is in addition to the illegals sneaking in.

It's harder for an ordinary Jewish Israeli twenty-something to get a tourist visa to visit the United States than it is for a Syrian Muslim to be accepted as a future USA citizen.
US will welcome target of 10,000 Syria refugees, says Kerry
And we've all read those articles about European countries, especially in Germany where Muslim refugees have taken over, changing the demography, norms a safety of what once were safe, sleepy villages.

To be perfectly honest, I feel safest here in Israel, and when I have to travel to the states I feel more secure about paying more for a direct flight, rather than changing planes in a European airport.

Friday, June 3, 2016

Paris Palestine Peace, sic, Con: Disaster in the Making

Consider all that is happening in the world, ISIS, zika, pollution, AIDS, etcetera...  Consider the tens of thousands or more innocent people being killed all over, and then consider the relative quiet and safety here in Israel, my corner of the middle east, and you really should wonder why has France put together a so-called "Peace Conference" for today? Aren't there more serious and important issues in the world than What is happening in Israel?

It's certainly not L'shem Shamayim,  for the Sake of Heaven, truly good intentions. Of that I have no doubt at all. This is just another attempt to destroy the State of Israel and replace it with a new Arab terror state, which they want to call "Palestine." In all honesty, they aren't even trying hard to mask their intentions.
France says Israeli settlements main ‘threat’ to two-state solution, ahead of peace summit
French Foreign Ministry ignores Palestinian actions in brief document released ahead of Friday's conference in Paris.
The brief document put out by the French Foreign Ministry to explain the French initiative and the one-day Mideast summit to be held in Paris on Friday said the two-state solution was under increased threat, “particularly with regard to continued settlement activities.”
Citing the suicide bombings, the rockets from Gaza, and the current wave of knife attacks, Gold said that “to ignore this recent history and focus on Israeli settlements is to completely distort what is going on in the Middle East.”
The document did not include a word regarding any Palestinian culpability for the current diplomatic logjam. It also seemed to seek to revitalize the notion, which lost much of its currency following the Arab Spring, that the Israeli-Palestinian conflict was at the core of instability in the Middle East. (Jerusalem Post)
It's time for Jews all over the world, the State of Israel and any other who is open to seeing the truth to realize that France has a pro-terror against Israel agenda. Read one of the latest from the Palestinian Media Watch:

Following PMW reports, the US, the EU, Norway,
and other donors
stopped funding the PA general budget 
because the PA pays salaries to terrorists, 
yet France continues to fund the PA's general budget



Is this an attempt by the French to buy off the Arab terrorists and offer them Israel as a bribe?

Monday, January 11, 2016

Does Sarkozy Know History???

I was totally dumbfounded by  Sarkozy's statement:
Sarkozy: We didn't fight the Nazis for Jews to flee France
I had thought that everyone with half a brain and minimal history knowledge knows that France capitulated to the Nazis. The Vichy Government was a moral and military disgrace. Nu, have there been any reactions to his statement?

Wednesday, November 18, 2015

Israel's One-Sided Love Affair with the World

The Shomron regional council organized a very clever "solidarity with France" campaign, which was also a dig at France's foreign policy.
Watch: 'Settlers stand with France'
"Settlers stand with France"
Samaria Residents' Committee
 A group of activists from the Samaria Residents' Committee - an organization which campaigns for the rights of Jews in Samaria - handed out French flags labeled in French "Settlers stand with France" to motorists and pedestrians alike....
But underneath the message of solidarity emblazoned on the flag is another message of sorts: a label informing that they were produced "Product of Judea and Samaria." (Arutz 7)
According to reports, the French media has been ignoring the various solidarity acts in Israel when they report on how the world is reacting to Friday night's terror attacks.

And on Sunday I heard the television reporters acting very troubled and confused when they discussed how while Israel is still constantly reporting on the terror attacks, the French media has gone back to business as usual with the regular programming.

When will we in Israel recognize that our love is not returned. We have no reliable allies!!

Sunday, June 28, 2015

Why The Sudden Increase in Terror Attacks? Islam's Ramadan, Of Course!

On Friday, before Shabbat we were watching the world news on television, and all they talked about was the sudden sic inexplicable sic outbreak of terrorism and violence by muslims all over the world. With straight faces, the commentators insisted there was nothing to tie the beheading in France with the terror attack in Tunisia with the massacre in Syria and the mosque bombed in Kuwait. Either they were really stupid or great actors.

Police officers control the crowd (rear) while surrounding a man (front C) suspected to be involved in opening fire on a beachside hotel in Sousse, Tunisia, as a woman reacts(R), June 26, 2015. At least 27 people, including foreign tourists, were killed when at least one gunman opened fire on a Tunisian beachside hotel in the popular resort of Sousse on Friday. REUTERS/Amine Ben Aziza
Reuters / Friday, June 26, 2015 Bodies of tourists shot dead by a gunman lie near a beachside hotel in Sousse, Tunisia June 26, 2015. REUTERS/Amine Ben Aziza
Reuters / Friday, June 26, 2015 French crime scene investigators, Gendarmes and rescue forces are seen at work next to a black plastic sheet outside a gas company site at the industrial area of Saint-Quentin-Fallavier, near Lyon, France, June 26, 2015. A decapitated head covered in Arabic writing was found at a a site belonged to Air Products, a U.S.-based industrial gases technology company, in southeast France on Friday, police sources and French media said, after two assailants rammed a car into the premises, exploding gas containers. REUTERS/Emmanuel Foudrot

State Department: No Evidence Three Attacks Were Related
In my mind the reason was so obvious, because there's more tension here in Israel, too. It's Ramadan! 

Everybody knows that during Ramadan Arab Muslim terror attacks increase, just like there's more rain on cloudy days than on sunny ones. It goes hand in hand.

Ramadan, which floats around the annual seasons, due to the peculiar rootless calendar Muslims follow, requires fasting during the day and then feasting at night. 

Before getting into the theology that many use to explain and justify terror attacks, I'd like to say that physiologically, the long fasting followed by feasting, especially when it happens late spring early summer, does cause emotional instability and impulse control problems. But you don't find followers of other religions attacking others when they fast and feast.

Have you heard any Muslim religious leaders condemning the violence and terror? I just went through a whole bunch of the biggest of the news sites to look and found zilch aka nothing! Where's that gentle Islam United States President Obama keeps talking about?
"...Islam's role in advancing justice, progress, tolerance and the dignity of all human beings." (Aug 21, 2009 U. S. President Obama's Ramadan message)
To state the truth simply, I must say that the world is in danger. I hate to sound like a scaremonger, but there are sizable amounts of Arab muslims in countries all over the world who are not trying to integrate and assimilate into their new societies. They have an agenda, and it's neither peaceful nor humanitarian. France has already experienced a few attacks, and anyone who thinks they aren't all connected is lying to him/herself.

Thursday, February 5, 2015

Antisemitism and Anti-Israel Acts/Ideology Will Only Get Worse!

I really do think that in terms of antisemitism, all over, things will only get worse. And I don't see any chance of improvement in this pre-Messianic world. Yes, very depressing. And as you know, I really don't like writing negative, depressing articles.

Pro-Palestinian Arab demonstrators protest against Israel in London
Reuters

The statistics in Europe are clear, like in Great Britain.
Report: Britain Saw Record Levels of Anti-Semitism in 2014A record number of anti-Semitic hate incidents were reported in Britain last year, fueled by the conflict in Israel and Gaza, a charity that monitors such crime reported on Thursday.
The Community Security Trust (CST), which records anti-Semitism and provides security for Britain's Jewish community, said that 1,168 anti-Semitic incidents were reported over 2014.
It was more than double the 535 incidents seen in 2013, and the highest annual total seen since CST began records in 1984. (Arutz 7)
France, no doubt, is worse.


France Terrorism
Lionel Cironneau—APSoldiers stand guard after an attacker with a knife hidden in his bag attacked three soldiers on an antiterrorism patrol in front of a Jewish community center in Nice, France, on Feb. 3, 2015


A man attacked guards at a Jewish school and an agency appealed for workers who are not Jewish
Less than a month after the Paris attacks that left 17 dead, two incidents this week have deepened anxieties among French Jews about rising anti-Semitism in France. (Time)

And the reason I say that it will only get worse is that universities all over the world, including Israel, are dominated by extreme Left ideologues who promote and sympathize with the Arabs and consider Israel an illegitimate aggressor/occupier. Read Seraphic Secret's excellent post.



And of course Dry Bones's description of the United Nations is totally correct!


Sunday, January 18, 2015

Arabs Burned the French Flag, Threw Eggs at The Canadian Foreign Minister! Has The Teflon Worn Off Yet?

For whatever incomprehensible reasons, the Israeli government is still allowing Muslims free access to the Temple Mount. The Arabs don't really go there to pray. They use it to riot. One of their latest riots included the burning of the French Flag!

Masses bear Hamas flags and Muslim doctrine at the holiest site in Judaism Sliman Khader/Flash 90
Gazan Hamas-Supporters Burn French Flag on Temple Mount
Israel lets nearly 200 Gazans protest Charlie Hebdo's cartoon after Paris massacre, fly Hamas banners on Temple Mount.
Palestinian Hamas supporters burn a US flag during a protest in Gaza City, Friday. (photo credit: AP)

Read more: From Jerusalem to Jakarta, Muslims take to the streets to protest anti-Islamic film | The Times of Israel http://www.timesofisrael.com/from-jerusalem-to-jakarta-muslims-take-to-the-streets-to-protest-anti-islamic-film/#ixzz3PCaxLS4F
Follow us: @timesofisrael on Twitter | timesofisrael on Facebook


Today there were reports that the Arabs threw eggs at the Canadian  Foreign Minister John Baird, while the P.A. Police stood by and watched.

nbcnews.com

Palestinian protesters have thrown eggs at Canadian Foreign Minister John Baird as he was visiting the West Bank city of Ramallah. (BBC)
Nu, when will the world admit that not only can't we (Israel) negotiate peace with them, but the rest of the world is also in danger?

Wednesday, January 14, 2015

"Truth, Justice and The American Way," Not Obama For Sure

Those of my generation grew up hearing the phrase:
"Truth, Justice and The American Way"
It was a pledge to lead the world in morality and justice for all.

No doubt; if Obama had been there, the P.A.'s Abbas wouldn't have had been the only one with a big grin plastered on his face.

Even the expats, like myself, rather disenchanted in today's America certainly expected to see the American President among the world leaders at the anti-terrorism rally in France. With Obama's above average physical height, he would have certainly ended up in the center, so the photos would look well-balanced. But not only didn't Obama bother showing up, he didn't even send any important figure from his administration, not his Vice President, nor his Secretary of State or even his wife.

Superman

The 21st Century United States of America isn't the country I once knew. It seems like all the old value systems have gone kaput.  There was a time, not all that long ago, when the American President would drop all plans and rush to show his horror at such brutal terrorism. Even if the only real reason he'd be going would to show that America condemns terrorism and cares about freedom and justice more than any other country.

It's clear that the United States is no longer a world leader fighting for truth and justice. The American way is back to the pre-World War Two isolationism.

Tuesday, January 13, 2015

CNN: "West Jerusalem." Where's That?

We ended up watching the quadruple funeral of the four Jewish victims of the Arab terror attack in the Parisian Kosher Supermarket on CNN. The broadcast was seriously marred by the fact that the announcer kept saying that they were in "West Jerusalem." I didn't hear or find it on the site, but I can't get it out of my ears.

There is no such place. What a disgrace to the memories of the victims, innocent French Jews who were shopping in a kosher store before the holy Sabbath.

It's a credit to the families of the dead victims of Arab Muslim terror that they came to Jerusalem to bury their loved ones in our Holy Land. They wouldn't defile them in French soil.

Photo Credit: Hillel Meir / Tazpit News Agency
Mobs of Israelis came to accompany the dead to their final resting place in Jerusalem and to try to give some comfort to the mourners. The rest of us watched on television if possible.

Hyper-Casher Funeral

We are all one people, and an attack, an Arab Muslim terrorist attack on a kosher store is also an attack on Israel. The fact that it has been widely reported that the French Government tried to keep Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu away from the anti-terror march just shows how complicit the French Government is.

Photo Credit: Kobi Gideon/GPO
There is only one Jerusalem, and it is the Eternal Capital of the Jewish Nation-People

Monday, January 12, 2015

Proof's in The Picture, France Will Only Get More Dangerous

Netanyahu and Abbas at rally.
Reuters
The simple fact that France encouraged the pro-Arab Muslim terrorist Mahmoud Abbas to attend the so-called anti-terrorism rally is proof that things will only get worse in France.  Seeing him placed in the front, along with Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu is so outrageous and hypocritical, that even I cannot find decent words to use in response.

All I can say is that the invitation and place of honor that France bestowed on the pro-terrorist Abbas is even more outrageous than its sending unarmed police to guard the Charlie Hebdo offices from terrorists.

This is all further proof that Jews and the State of Israel can rely on no human ally. Only G-d and pure faith and adherence to G-d can save us.

Saturday, January 10, 2015

Are Tourists Cancelling Their Trips to France? or Holland?

I just wonder if the American Government has sent out warnings to those American Citizens who are in France the way they do to us here in Israel warning about the dangers of terrorism?

The scene was one of terror yesterday as 19 people were held hostage, including women and children

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2903829/Saved-hiding-FREEZER-Thirty-Jewish-shoppers-avoided-taken-hostage-kosher-deli-shutting-cold-storage-huddling-stay-warm.html#ixzz3OSBXDiEK
Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook

I'm just curious whether people who are planning a trip to France get questions like:
"Aren't you scared?"
"Maybe you should pick a safer place."
Those going to Israel are frequently warned of its danger.

My late mother used to reply:
"More people die from falling in their bathrooms."

Someone I know was surprised that people asked if she was worried about her son's trip to Israel, after he finished serving in the American Army:
"No, not compared to Afghanistan."
Strangely, people didn't show as much interest or worry about him when his life was really in danger, but Israel had them terrified.

One of the French Jews who had hidden in the freezer in the Kosher Supermarket was interviewed on Israeli television. He said that he already had plans to bring his family on aliyah to Israel, and he was thinking of moving up the date.

And very worrying for those who think that Europe is still safe,
Pro-Israel rally scrapped in Amsterdam over security concerns
So, please, come to Israel, whether as a tourist, student or immigrant. Of course, I can't guarantee total safety, but no place can.

Shiloh Hakeduma, Tel Shiloh

Israel Museum, Jerusalem

Thursday, January 8, 2015

Charlie Hebdo Shooting- The World Doesn't Get It! Arab-Muslim Terrorism All The Same!

The reactions to the murderous shooting attack on the Charlie Hebdo editorial staff have been, at least on the surface, on target.







At about 11 a.m. on Wednesday, gunmen in black ski masks with Kalashnikov weapons stormed the offices of the newspaper Charlie Hebdo and opened fire on an editorial meeting before fleeing in one car and then hijacking and escaping in another. By the time it was over, at least 12 people were killed and another 11 injured—four critically—in the deadliest terror attack in France in recent memory. Among the dead was editor Stéphane Charbonnier, known by his pen name Charb, the revered iconoclast cartoonist who had long defended his staff’s right to free speech. (TIME)
The media has been full of moving, well-crafted reactions by international leaders, which purport to understand the seriousness of the attack.
Kerry: Slain French Cartoonists are 'Martyrs for Liberty'January 7, 2015 Masked gunmen have killed 12 people at the offices of a French satirical newspaper in Paris Wednesday morning......"Each and every American stands with you today not just in horror or in anger or in outrage for this vicious act of violence, but we stand with you in solidarity and in commitment both to the cause of confronting extremism and in the cause which the extremists fear so much and which has always united our two countries—freedom," Kerry said in his statement, which he repeated in French...
...and United States President Obama:I strongly condemn the horrific shooting at the offices of Charlie Hebdo magazine in Paris that has reportedly killed 12 people. Our thoughts and prayers are with the victims of this terrorist attack and the people of France at this difficult time. France is America's oldest ally, and has stood shoulder to shoulder with the United States in the fight against terrorists who threaten our shared security and the world. Time and again, the French people have stood up for the universal values that generations of our people have defended. France, and the great city of Paris where this outrageous attack took place, offer the world a timeless example that will endure well beyond the hateful vision of these killers. We are in touch with French officials and I have directed my Administration to provide any assistance needed to help bring these terrorists to justice.
They see it rightly as against "freedom," but that's not the whole story. The truth is that nobody sees the big picture.
murdered in bed
murdered at prayer

And davka yesterday, the day of the Charlie Hebdo terror attack by Arab Muslim terrorists, on the BBC Hardtalk show, we hear the presenter try to paint Jewish religious rights activist and assassination attempt survivor Rabbi Yehuda Glick as dangerous. Listen to Rabbi Glick's response:




The truth is that the Muslim Arab terrorists who attacked and murdered most of the Charlie Hebdo editorial staff are part of the same Muslim Arab terrorists who have been attacking Jews here in Israel. If you condemn one of their dangerous arms you must condemn them all as the same! Otherwise they will just continue and widen their murderous range.

Monday, July 14, 2014

More Antisemitic Violence in France, Time to Come Home to Israel

Today I was speaking to someone who would love to do some traveling. She mentioned a number of places she'd like to got to in Europe.
"But I'd never go to France," she added.
Historic Naval Ships Association 
Close to fifty years ago my friends and I tried to boycott France because of its government policy, especially after the the delivery of the Cherbourg boats was cancelled.
The Boats of Cherbourg was an Israeli military operation which took place on 24 December 1969, and involved the escape of five unarmed Sa'ar 3 class boats from the French port of Cherbourg. The boats had been paid for by the Israeli government but had not been delivered due to the French arms embargo in 1969. 
Today the reason that that many Jews won't go there is the Muslim violence and the antisemitism in the streets.

A protester wearing a kaffiyeh and wrapped in a Palestinian flag raises his fist on July 13, 2014 in Paris. (AFP Photo / Kenzo Tribouillard)

A synagogue near the Bastille was under police guard on Monday after more than 100 youths chanting "Israel murderer" tried to storm the building following a march demanding an end to Israeli air strikes on Gaza.
Several thousand protesters took part in Sunday's march, some wearing facepaint in the colours of the Palestinian flag and carrying banners saying: "Stop killing children."
As the demonstration broke up, a large group headed to the Abravanel synagogue where about 150 people had gathered for a memorial service for three Israeli teenagers found murdered in the West Bank.
Neighbours said the protesters had picked up chairs from a cafe nearby and tried to break through a police barrier outside the synagogue, where worshippers remained trapped for several hours.
Six police and two members of the Jewish community were injured, and six protesters were arrested. (The Guardian)
Violence is simmering beneath the surface and periodically, more and more frequently escaping.




I wouldn't want to live there. Believe me, it's safer and more pleasant in Israel even during this war.

Monday, November 18, 2013

Israel's New Buddy, France

Photo: Koby Gideon/GPO
Yesterday afternoon/evening, when I got back from work, the Israeli news was a big special on Channel One about the visit of the French President to Israel.  It seemed to me that the crew on the screen were a bit confused and befuddled by the recent turn Israel's diplomatic status had taken.  They're much too used to fawning over everything American, and suddenly there's a new family on the block, the French.

The commentators seemed to know more about the history of French-American relations than of French-Israel.  For those of us long in the tooth, we remember that there was a time before the Americans paid much mind to Israel.  We were banned from even buying American weapons; forget about getting American shopping coupons aka "aid." That's when Israel had a better relationship with France.  We bought military weapons and supplies from them.  That is until the French joined the anti-Israel boycott after our victory in the 1967 Six Days War and reneged on a purchase contract for ships, the Cherbourg Project.
The Boats of Cherbourg was an Israeli military operation which took place on 24 December 1969, and involved the escape of five Sa'ar 3 class missile boats from the French port ofCherbourg. The boats had been paid for by the Israeli government but had not been delivered due to the French arms embargo in 1969.
French President Hollande and
PM Netanyahu in Yad Veshem
And of course, anyone with a minimum of knowledge of French History must remember the total capitulation of the French Government to the Nazis.
Vichy France, officially the French State (l'État français), was France during the regime of Marshal Philippe Pétain, during World War II, from the German victory in the Battle of France (July 1940) to the Allied liberation in August 1944.[2] Following the defeat in June 1940, President Albert Lebrun appointed Marshal Pétain aspremier. After making peace with Germany, Pétain and his government voted to reorganize the discredited Third Republic into an authoritarian regime.
But today, all of a sudden, France is Israel's best friend.  Politics does make strange bedfellows, and recent international politics certainly isn't dull.

dry bones
I consider the dangers of a nuclear Iran to be international dangers, not just Israeli.  It frightens me to hear too many world leaders acting like we're the most threatened by the Iranians.  Netanyahu did explain the dangers to the world.

Here are two quotations from PM Netanyahu sent out by his media staff:
Press conference:
"At the welcoming ceremony at Ben Gurion Airport, you said that it is better to be right and in the minority, than to be wrong with a majority. Well, I couldn’t agree with you more. The deal that is being put on the table in Geneva is not a good deal. I believe it’s a bad deal and a dangerous one. I applaud the fact that you, personally, have taken a stance to make it tougher and firmer, but I‘m concerned, gravely concerned that this deal will go through and in one stroke of the pen it will reduce the sanctions on Iran, sanctions that took years to put in place. And in return for this Iran gives practically nothing...
"It’s clear that this agreement is good only for Iran and that it’s really bad for the rest of the world. Iran’s dream deal is the world’s nightmare. So today. I believe the choice is not between a bad deal and war.After the visit to Yad Veshem: We understand exactly when somebody says that they’re out to destroy you, we've learned in our Jewish history to take them seriously. And I think from humanity’s point of view, there should be another lesson. When somebody starts by attacking the Jews, they generally don’t end there, and the fire soon catches and burns many lands.Now in Yad Vashem, I was moved by the fact that you were so visibly moved, and you said, when you came out, you said that the experience of the Holocaust places a very special responsibility on all of us. François, I want to tell you the burden it places on me, as the Prime Minister of Israel. It is my duty to prevent anyone from credibly threatening or executing another holocaust against the Jewish people. This is my obligation, but I also believe it’s our common obligation for the sake of mankind, for the sake of our common future."

This picture puts the situation very clearly.
 Hat tip: A Soldier's Mother