Shiloh, "Just an Archeological Expedition"

Yesterday afternoon while enjoying the annual opportunity to be an "Archaeologist for the day" at Shiloh Hakeduma, Tel Shiloh, I got a kick out of the magnificent irony in it all.

Thirty-nine and a half, 39 1/2 years ago, in the cold wet winter, Shevat, February, 1978, the seven very young families and a few bachelors who were the first Jews to move to Shiloh in thousands of years were labeled "an archeological expedition." The Prime Minister of the time, Menachem Begin, insisted to American President Jimmy Carter that the people who were in Shiloh were just a group of professional archaeologists who were camping out there while they dug, since traveling was complicated. That's what Begin had been told, and it made sense to him, so he had no problems telling that story to Carter.

Journalists who came to write about the historic archeological activity in Shiloh saw young mothers hanging laundry. If anyone was "digging," they were the toddlers playing in the dirt. The truth was quickly revealed that Shiloh was a "settlement" and a town for Jews, like in days of old. Carter was furious!

Yesterday three generations of Shilonians, some from those original seven pioneering families, happily dug for ancient artifacts and rinsed and scrubbed what had already been found.

Professional archeologists and volunteers come from all over the world to work at the Tel Shiloh digs. The Shiloh Hakeduma, Tel Shiloh, archaeological site is officially recognized. Recent discoveries confirm the Biblical narrative. Keeping up with the discoveries is very exciting. And at least once a year we ordinary Shiloh citizens are invited to try our hand as archaeologists, too.

The volunteer dig also included a short tour and explanations of recent discoveries and developments.

We who live in Shiloh are aware that during Biblical times and after, people lived  in this entire area, including nearby mountain tops, so that if we find anything that could be an ancient artifact we should contact one of the archeologists. There may not have been archeologists living here in early 1978, but today we certainly are an "Archeological Expedition."

Stirring Trouble Here in Israel

Two types of poison are at present stirring trouble here in Israel.

One is our old nemesis, Jimmy Carter, who should have stuck with peanuts instead of the United States Presidency. He and Obama read the same script, both loving the P.A.'s Abbas and hating Israel. Carter was bad enough as president, but the minute he didn't have to please anyone but his true supporters, the faux smile was erased when he dealt with any Israeli who had the gumption to support our precious country.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas (R) shakes hands with former US president Jimmy Carter during their meeting in the West Bank city of Ramallah. (photo credit:REUTERS)

The former US president urged European countries to take a more constructive role in pushing for a two-state solution.
“The end of occupation and settlement expansion that a two-state outcome implies is, in our view, the best guarantee of Israel’s future security and acceptance by its neighbors,” he said. “To help achieve this goal, we feel it is high time that the countries of Europe take a more proactive role, underpinned by a serious financial commitment to assist in Gaza’s reconstruction.”
The Elders issued a statement saying that “the situation in Gaza is unsustainable and intolerable.”
“A complete paradigm shift is essential,” the statement said.
“The shift demands the lifting of the siege. It also requires an end to Israel’s policy of separating the West Bank and Gaza.” (Jerusalem Post)

If only Carter was correct in his claims that Netanyahu opposes a Palestinian State. Besides that one line, taken out of context just before the recent elections, Bibi has been saying for years that he is in favor of the "two state solution." What he said  before the elections was that there wouldn't be a Palestinian state unless the Arabs agree to certain conditions, such as recognizing Israel's rights as a Jewish state. That proviso is/was ignored by the headline writers and simplistic antisemites like Carter. Unfortunately too many Israelis never read past the headlines and gave the Likud their votes.

Two is (are) the instigators of the very violent demonstrations by Ethiopian Jews here in Israel.

Hundreds of Israeli-Ethiopians clash with police in a protest in Jerusalem against police brutality and alleged racism.

Photo Credit: Flash 90

My gut tells me that the NIF New Israel Fund is behind it. The tension is definitely caused by the NIF which mentors the NGOs that lobby/pressure Israel to allow all of the illegal Africans to stay here as if we're supposed to be refuge (dumping ground) for any foreigner who wants a good safe life. The United States Government jails and deports anyone who tries to get in, though Obama has now loosened the gates for illegals but not for those who are trying to do it all legally and have gotten messed up by the system.

(Reuters) - A demonstration by Israeli Jews of Ethiopian origin against police brutality turned violent on Thursday, with police using water canon to keep angry crowds away from the prime minister's residence.
At least 13 people were injured and two police officers and five protesters were taken to hospital, the Magen David Adom ambulance service said.
Police fired bursts of foul smelling water from a water canon and used stun grenades to disperse the demonstrators, who threw stones and bottles at scores of police officers on hand.

Ohel Shiloh Elementary School

In my neck of the woods, Benjamin-Samaria, the Jewish immigrants olim from Ethiopia are gradually integrating into Israeli society just like any new group as their Hebrew language and education improve. Personally I think things would speed up if they'd officially adopt standard Hebrew names which would make it easier for people to relate to them. My husband and I legally changed our names within a few years of making aliyah, moving to Israel. It doesn't matter what family and old friends call me, but I think that having an easy to pronounce very Israeli name, Batya Medad, is a plus, rather than the difficult for Israelis to pronounce "Beth Winkelman."

The aim of the extreme Left NIF is to stir dissent, incite against the government. They do have some positive groups they mentor, but that's just window-dressing.

In the meantime, we're all waiting to see if Netanyahu can put together a viable, stable coalition, or we're probably off to new elections in a short time.

Shavua Tov

May This Truly be a Good Week for All!

Many Recent Terror Victims USA Citizens, But Obama Condemns Construction

Even though many, if not most, of the recent victims of Arab terror attacks have been American citizens, the United States Government hasn't hushed their condemnation of building homes for Jews in Jerusalem. I'd say that the American Government's reactions to Arab terrorism shows a disproportionate sympathy with Arabs over Jewish life, freedom, religious rights etc.

According to Reuters, State Department spokesman Jeff Rathke stressed Washington's "clear and consistent opposition to construction activity in East Jerusalem."
"During this sensitive time in Jerusalem, we would see such activity as inconsistent with the goal of lower tensions and seeking a path toward peace," he added. (Arutz 7)

What reactions to this have there been in the USA?

A photo I took in Har Chomah a couple of years ago

A photo I took in Har Chomah a couple of years ago

Any normal country would be more concerned about condemning the terrorists who murdered its citizens but not the United States Government. It's totally focused on blaming Israel in a classic case of "blaming the victim."

The United States isn't a "normal" country. Its President, Barack Hussein Obama has made it clear that his aim in life is to facilitate the establishment of a Palestinian State in the Land of Israel, in the land that Israel liberated in the 1967 Six Days War.

Phantom Nation: Inventing the 
"Palestinians" as the Obstacle to Peace

Obama is fixated on the lie that there had been a State of Palestine sic which Israel took over/attacked and now occupies. The fact this this has absolutely no historic basis doesn't bother him one iota. Read Sha'i Ben Tekoa's Phantom Nation: Inventing the "Palestinians" as the Obstacle to Peace.  No doubt that once he's the "former president" he'll join with the unabashedly anti-Israel Jimmy Carter to work with and support the Arab terrorists who are trying to destroy the State of Israel.

Even though I was born in the United States and do have American citizenship and passport, I've lived in Israel since 1970 and do not see myself as an American citizen in terms of having the right to protest directly to the USA government. So I ask those of you who do have active American citizenship, meaning that you live and work and vote in the US, to protest to your Senators and Congressmen and your president about their policy which excuses murder of Jews and condemns building.

And don't forget that Jonathan Pollard is still jailed, thirty years, as the only condemned spy for an ally, while enemy spies have been released.

No justice for Jews in America!

Keep Hillary Clinton Out of The White House, Another Jimmy Carter and Worse

There are two reasons I'd give Americans not to support Hillary Clinton's bid for the Presidency of the United States:

• her aim to be the first female president
• her pro-Arab anti-Israel policies

I consider voting for a woman, just because she's a woman as being highly sexist and extremely demeaning for women in general. It's saying that there can't be a qualified woman, so just to get a woman in as President of the USA you must ignore her qualifications and platform and just go for the DNA. That's the same basic philosophy many people used to back or excuse their voting for Obama. "It's time for America to have a black president." And I have no doubt that the slogan, "It's time for America to have a female president" will be the main mantra of the cause, oops campaign. 

Many will claim it's a moral issue, because for them "putting" a woman in that highest elected office is almost a religion. They may question their priests or rabbis, but they don't question those who tout this sort of "morality." religion. Just like with Obama, whose election ignored the real issues, because people were told to vote for "hope," voting for "a woman" will no doubt mean that many people will be surprised that the Mrs. or Ms President will follow or initiate policies they totally oppose.

That brings me to my second reason not to vote for or support Hillary. She has a long history of being pro-Arab, pro-Palestinian and anti-Israel. Those who have carefully read her book Hard Choices see it there, too. The Lid's post gives a number of examples. Here's the first:

1) Occupation/Dignity “When we left the city and visited Jericho, in the West Bank, I got my first glimpse of life under occupation for Palestinians, who were denied the dignity and self-determination that Americans take for granted” (pg 302). Nothing about terrorism, such as blowing up buses with school children, nothing about the fact that during he presidency of her husband Yassir Arafat turned down a deal that would have given him about 98% of what he wanted (at least that's what Bill Clinton said).

The Wall Street Journal gave it an awful review. 

The book has been publicly available for just a few hours but already the focus has turned from whatever new revelations are in the book – very few, and the juiciest have already been picked over in the leak to Politico of its Benghazi chapter – to Mrs. Clinton’s remark to ABC that she and former President Bill Clinton were “dead broke” upon leaving the White House and struggled to pay the “mortgages for houses.”

Many of us will never forget Hillary's warm greeting to Suha Arafat. That's the image of Hillary we can't delete from our minds. This happened at a time when Israelis were suffering from Arab terrorism, which originated from Yasser Arafat's followers.

I just can't ignore the fact that there are strong similarities between Hillary's positions and Jimmy Carter's. Carter's book Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid is an absolute scandal full of distortions and lies. The United States does not need another president like him. Hasn't Obama been bad enough?

The Day Jimmy Carter Saved the Jews from Mike Evans

Posted by Jewishisrael.com

Jewishisrael is no friend of Jimmy Carter. Yet in the aftermath of this month's brouhaha over the incongruous decision by the editors of Cardoza Law School’s Journal of Conflict Resolution to honor the former president, JewishIsrael felt it timely to recount an episode also plagued with absurdity which still has serious repercussions for both Israeli and Diaspora Jewry.

In 1978, President Jimmy Carter, under pressure from the American Jewish community, intervened to save countless numbers of Jewish youth from Christian missionary Mike Evans, who was effectively working to "save" [sic] as many young Jewish souls as possible.

This report is no parody, but it is a terrible paradox, as both Evans and Carter have caused irreparable damage to Am Yisrael, but now find themselves being acclaimed by leading American Jewish and Israeli institutions. How the Jewish community got to this absurd juncture is worth exploration…more

YU Cardozo Law School, Where's the צדק Tzeddek Justice?

צדק צדק תרדוף
Tzeddek, Tzeddek Tirdofe
 Justice, justice shalt thou follow

Davka, why, how could the Yeshiva University's Cardozo Law School invite the avowed, lying anti-Semite Jimmy Carter and award him with their  International Advocate for Peace Award?

כ  צֶדֶק צֶדֶק, תִּרְדֹּף--לְמַעַן תִּחְיֶה וְיָרַשְׁתָּ אֶת-הָאָרֶץ, אֲשֶׁר-יְהוָה אֱלֹהֶיךָ נֹתֵן לָךְ.  {ס}

20 Justice, justice shalt thou follow, that thou mayest live, and inherit the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee. {S}

Deuteronomy Chapter 16 דְּבָרִים

Carter has consistently blamed Israel for everything wrong in the middle east.  Carter also takes full credit for the Menachem Begin-Anwar Sadat Sinai treaty.

Here are some quotations from a review by Mitchell Bard of his book  Palestine Peace Not Apartheid by Jimmy Carter:

It is clear from the beginning, however, that facts are of little concern to Carter who sees Israel as “the tiny vortex around which swirl the winds of hatred, intolerance, and bloodshed.” It is certainly true that Israel is subject to these winds, the question is why he blames the victim. Why doesn’t he see the Islamist rejection of a Jewish presence in the region as the problem, or the unwillingness of the Palestinians to accept a two-state solution?
Some statements are outright falsehoods, such as his unsubstantiated claim that Israel stole money sent to the Palestinians for humanitarian purposes when, in fact, Israel itself provides such funds, as does the United States and many other countries. While he presents no evidence for his assertion, he ignores reports by organizations such as the IMF, which found that Yasser Arafat stole $900 million of the international aid.

Carter is consistent in his blaming Israel for the Arabs' own mess.

As with most of Carter's recent statements about Israel and the Palestinians, instead of facts we get vignettes from recent Carter travels. And while he finds "a growing sense of concern and despair" among "increasingly desperate" Palestinians, polls do not sustain this view. The most recent survey by the leading Palestinian pollster, Khalil Shikaki (done in August, the same month Carter visited), shows "considerable improvement in public perception of personal and family security and safety in the West Bank and a noticeable decrease in public perception of the existence of corruption in [Palestinian Authority] institutions." This does not sound like despair. In fact, positive views of personal and family safety and security in the West Bank stood at 25 percent four years ago, 35 percent two years ago and 43 percent a year ago, and they have risen to 58 percent in the past year, Shikaki reports. There are other ways to measure quality of life in the West Bank: The International Monetary Fund recently stated that "macroeconomic conditions in the West Bank have improved" largely because "Israeli restrictions on internal trade and the passage of people have been relaxed significantly."

Not only are we in Israel in shock over the decision of Cardozo Law School to award Jimmy Carter, but Cardozo alumni are outraged.

A Message To Cardozo Alumni

On Wednesday, April 10, 2013, Jimmy Carter will be honored at the Benjamin N. Cardozo Law School, part of Yeshiva University, to receive the International Advocate for Peace Award from the Cardozo Journal of Conflict Resolution.
Jimmy Carter has an ignominious history of anti-Israel bigotry. He is responsible for helping to mainstream the antisemitic notion that Israel is an apartheid state with his provocatively titled book “Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid”, the publication of which prompted mass resignations from the Carter Center. He has met numerous times with leaders of the terror group Hamas whitewashing their genocidal goals and undermining US efforts to isolate Hamas. And Carter’s record of slandering Israel is so voluminous that both CAMERA and Alan Dershowitz have written books refuting his lies.

If you return to the Biblical quotation at the beginning of this post and read it to the end you'll see that we are commanded to care about true justice in order to survive and thrive in the Land G-d gave us, the Jewish People.

Justice, justice shalt thou follow, that thou mayest live, and inherit the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee.

The aim of people like Jimmy Carter, who claims to love the Bible is to deny us our G-d given rights, written clearly in the Bible to our Land.  The Yeshiva University Cardozo Law School is doing a grave injustice to the Jewish People!

The Road to Hell, Obama is the New Carter

I read Ruthie Blum's To Hell in a Handbasket over the weekend.  She's such a great writer that she made this very serious must-read modern history book read as quickly as a Michael Connelly adventure.  I just wish it was fiction, because it isn't a very pleasant story.

Ruthie doesn't waste words, or she'd have to include and frequently repeat King Solomon's refrain from Kohelet, Ecclesiastes:

וְאֵין כָּל-חָדָשׁ, תַּחַת הַשָּׁמֶשׁ
...v'ain col chadash, tachat hashemesh
and there is nothing new under the sun

Those are the words that kept on echoing in my mind as I read her book.

So Too much of Barack Hussein Obama's presidency and political ideology echoes Jimmy Carter, one of the very worst presidents in the history of the United States of America.

Dry Bones

Very few American Presidents have felt a true affinity to the State of Israel.  Jimmy Carter's hatred and antipathy have become more and more prominent over the years, especially as he rewrites history in his memoirs, crediting himself and maligning Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin.

Blum's book isn't about Carter/Obama and Israel.  To Hell in a Handbasket: Carter, Obama, and the "Arab Spring" is about Jimmy Carter's disastrous presidency and his policy concerning Iran and the frightening similarities with Barack Hussein Obama.

Too many people like to forget that Obama's American diplomats who had been stationed in Iran during Khomeini’s takeover were held captive for over a year.  Not to blame the victim, but she proves that the victims' employer, the United States Government, led by Jimmy Carter, was guilty of total and utter incompetence.  State Department employees, including the marines as security guards must take orders from their bosses in far-away Washington DC.  While Israeli diplomats, who had also been under serious threat, managed to safely flee Iran, the Americans consistently misread the situation and just kept on getting into hotter and hotter water, "Hell" for sure.

Blum chronicles how Carter was more concerned about his reelection campaign than the American State Department's 52 staff members whose lives were in constant danger as they were held hostage by Ayatollah Khomeini's terrorist government in Iran for 444 days.

Just like Barack Hussein Obama recently cheered on the rioters in Arab countries as if they were a refreshing spring flower of democracy, Carter accepted Khomeini as the people's will against America's loyal ally the Shah of Iran. 

Blum warns Israel about American disloyalty to its allies:

As Bernard Lewis explained to Pahlavi, the dying Shah of Iran about United States of America:

"Well, our media's posture--like our foreign policy-- is to shun any government that wants our friendship, and to placate and pursue our enemies."

That is a message we Israelis and American Jewry must internalize, like a frequently repeated mantra. In terms of classic Jewish learning, it's the simple pshat, and Ruthie Blum's book is the drash, the detailed and very deep, factual explanation.

Blum's book should be required for all diplomats, politicians, journalists, historians and academics, whether professionals or blogger pundits.  Blum should also be invited as speaker to all sorts of groups and events for groups..

Can We Blame Jimmy Carter?

Considering how anti-Israel, pro-Arab, pro-Pseudistinian, former US President Jimmy Carter is, it would be nice to be able to blame him for fatal peanuts, the cause of America's fanatic, hyper-phobic peanut allergy. Today's American schools are obsessively peanut free, and I wish the media would do the same to Carter.

More people are murdered every year by Jimmy's Arab terrorist friends than die from peanuts, but we're expected to be nice to the Arab terrorists.

Soccer Dad sent me this article about the school bus that was evacuated over a peanut. Considering that the Carter fortune is from peanuts, shouldn't we be suspicious?

When I was growing up, mid-Twentieth Century, nobody heard of a peanut allergy. Peanut butter was a staple. If you needed to take a sandwich, peanut butter and jelly was the most popular. It had a long "shelf life," didn't spoil, leak or any other negatives. Peanut butter was relatively inexpensive and an affordable and filling protein for the poor.

Also, when I was a kid, we were forced to drink milk a few times a day, and nobody talked about milk allergies or lactose intolerance. Doctors and nutritionists of the time even accused kosher families of abusing their kids, because the parents refused to give their kids a glass of milk after each meal, including meat ones.

To counteract the serious acne many of my generation suffered from, most probably because of milk/lactose problems, the dermatologists prescribed sunbaths. The peeling skin was "cleansing" according to some doctors, whose patients, today, suffer more skin cancer.

Did fatal peanut allergies exist in the 1950's? Did they exist before Jimmy Carter began producing peanut seeds? Does anyone know?

Jimmy Carter, Stick to Peanuts, Please

Former US President Jimmy Carter sees the world through distorted lenses. Yes, that's the nicest way I can describe him.

He blames Israel for everything. If you haven't seen this wonderful presentation explaining it all, please do.

It's surprising which Israeli politicians are willing (or want to see him) and which refuse the honor. So far Jimmy Carter to Meet Hamas Chief in Syria,

While Likud chairman and opposition leader Binyamin Netanyahu
said he would not meet with Carter, President Shimon Peres, Defense Minister
Ehud Barak (Labor), Minister of Industry and Trade Eli Yishai (Shas) and Member
of Knesset (MK) Avigdor Lieberman (Yisrael Beitenu) will meet with the former US
president. (complete article)

I'm sure that in the end most Israeli officials will find excuses to meet him. they're all gaga over celebrities, with a special weakness for Americans.

Shavua Tov

Have a Wonderful Week