Migron, Still Counting

Migron is/was a quiet community in a great location, just off Highway 60, north of Sha'ar Binyamin and the turnoff to Psagot, Kochav Yaakov and Tel Tzion, across from the southern end of the Alon Road. It's not far from Jerusalem, and many young families were living there in temporary homes. But instead of building permanent homes, a nuisance case was brought by Peace Now, the anti-Jewish settlement group claiming to represent "true Arab owners*," and the Israeli Lefit courts ordered Migron to be destroyed and moved.

In compensation, the government promised that the residents would get a new totally approved location, and while waiting they would be set up in state of the art caravillot (temporary prefabricated homes) nearby. This "temporary" setup has been going on for quite a few years already. The community set up a large electric sign, which you can see below. It shows the amount of days Migron has been waiting for a new location and permanent homes.

Yesterday when I passed by the number had reached 2,142 days exiled and waiting. That is why so many of us do not consider the present Israeli Government coalition to be Right, pro-Jewish rights/settlement. The truth is that we have no one to vote for. The most reliably pro-Jewish rights/settlement party is Jewish Home, but the coalition agreement/conditions really ties the hands of the more dedicated Knesset Members. Bibi sure knows how to write a very tight contract, and nothing can be done effectively by a party out of the coalition.

The real problem is that the Israeli High Court makes policy according to the judges' ideology and doesn't decide according to law. Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked, Jewish Home, is trying hard to change this, but it isn't easy and will take a long time.

*The so-called owners had been offered land by Jordan on the condition that within a certain period of time they developed it. But prior to the 1967 Six Days War, when Jordan was illegally occupying land west of the Jordan River until the Israeli border, they did nothing to make the areas habitable. Nobody was interested in living or investing here. The "gifts of land" were considered worthless. All of the modern infrastructure, electricity, water, sewer, telephone etc have been built by Israel, post Six Days War.

The Radical Jewish Left and The 1967 Six Days War

There are too many, OK even one would be bad, radical Leftist Jewish groups calling themselves "pro-Israel" while their policies support the delegitimization and dismantling of the State of Israel.

Here in Israel there's "Peace Now," as if "peace" is s commodity that one can just buy for a price. And there are those women's groups that harass soldiers who are too polite or confused to arrest them.

Internationally there's BDS, as insidious as a group can be, trying to attack Israel's economy, even though many, or most for sure, of the businesses they target employ the very same Arabs they claim to support.

And there's J Street, the darling of the American Left, like Obama, the Clintons etc.

American Protesters' Cause Isn't Clear to Israel

It used to be that American pro-Israel Jewry, Right, Left and Center, could unite around groups like AIPAC, but the anti-Israel element in American Jewish society has been getting bolder. They're beginning to remove their "pro-Israel" disguises and revealing their essence, allowing the world to see the truth. They are pro-Arab, pro-Palestine and do not accept the legitimacy of the State of Israel and Zionism.

It's now a half a century since the 1967 Six Days War, which was a war for the very survival of the State of Israel. Today it's only my generation and older who remember the war and the tension and threats that led to it.

The State of Israel had to fight for its life, its very existence, and we had absolutely no allies.

• Egypt, Syria, Iraq and Jordan allied against Israel under the leadership of Abdel Nasser of Egypt. 
• Nasser demanded that the United Nations remove its peacekeeping forces from the Suez Canal, and the UN complied.
• Nasser announced that he was going to destroy the State of Israel, pushing it into the sea.
• And the world was silent. 

Not only was the world silent, no condemnations of Nasser, but you could feel them sitting comfortably waiting to see how long it would take for Israel to be defeated. At the time, Israel was a very poor, rather backwards country with a brain-drain population loss. And the popular joke was:

"Would the last person to leave, please turn off the lights at Lod Airport."

It was just over twenty years since the end of World War Two, and it was easy to see that little had changed since that same "world" had ignored the murder of six million Jews by the Nazis and had done nothing to stop it. 

The totally miraculous result of the Six Days War shocked Israelis as much as it shocked and horrified those who had been secretly hoping that Nasser would succeed. I have no delusions. I remember it all so well. The pro-Soviet Israeli Left had more power and influence in Israeli society than people like to admit. That's why there wasn't immediate annexation and settlement of the Land we so miraculously liberated.

Israel didn't decide on that surprise attack on the Arab air forces for a "land grab." It was the only way our smaller and weaker military forces had a chance to survive a war. It was also clear that if Nasser made military headway, more armies would join him against us, and the State of Israel wouldn't have had a chance to defeat them. Remember that we were all alone; we had no allies at all.

The State of Israel's victory in 1967 was of Biblical proportions and due to the miracles Gd performed.

וְעַל הַנִּסִּים וְעַל הַפֻּרְקָן. וְעַל הַגְּבוּרות. וְעַל הַתְּשׁוּעות וְעַל הַנִּפְלָאות וְעַל הַנֶּחָמות שֶׁעָשִׂיתָ לַאֲבותֵינוּ בַּיָּמִים הָהֵם בַּזְּמַן הַזֶּה
And [we thank You] for the miracles, for the redemption, for the mighty deeds, for the saving acts, and for the wonders which You have wrought for our ancestors in those days, at this time— (Chabad)

"The Peace," "השלום" "HaShalom" of Shimon Peres

OK, I admit that I'm an oddball. I love grammar and the subtle differences and nuances a tiny word, or as in Hebrew one simple letter, can achieve or signify.

I've been bothered by the word/term "The Peace," "השלום" "HaShalom" for as many years as I've heard it. In terms of grammar, the exact, picayune meaning to my mind, is that it is somehow different from plain ordinary generic "Peace," "שלום" "Shalom." Am I incorrect about this?

MISLEADING FOOD LABELS

In all honesty, whether Right, Left or Center, nobody opposes true "Peace," "שלום" "Shalom." Our problem is that "the peace" we're being offered is no more genuine than "Fat Free Half and Half."

Peace, which shouldn't need a modifier, adjective or a definite article, because there should be no doubt as to what it refers to.

Peace is when one is not in danger from one's enemies, because there are no enemies. 

• A "ceasefire" is not peace.
• Signing a piece of paper at a fancy ceremony does not produce peace.
• A "treaty" with those who educate their children to murder you cannot be considered a Peace Treaty.

Believing that "The Peace," "השלום" "HaShalom" of Shimon Peres is a true Peace is like those who say that it is possible to cure cancer or AIDS with the power of one's mind, positive thinking.

I trust that Gd decided on the time of Peres's death in order to have us so busy with Shabbat and the Jewish Holidays, Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, Succot and Simchat Torah that the attention on his dangerous policies and ideology will be reduced.

Shabbat Shalom

Chag Sameach

Shanah Tovah

Gmar Chatimah Tovah

and Baruch Dayan Ha'Emett

Let's "Demolish" Peace Now and Stop The Policy Anarchy in the Israeli Government

The Appease aka "Peace" Now organization is calling for the demolishing, the destruction of the Jewish Israeli "Aish Kodesh" community for defending itself against Arab attacks.

Esh Kodesh

Hillel Maeir

Tuesday’s incident took place when dozens of Jewish men were abducted and beaten in a mob attack in Kusra. The men, who were unarmed, were set upon by an Arab mob, chased down, tied up and beaten senseless.
The IDF subsequently arrived and convinced local Arab leaders to order the Jewish men released, but then proceeded to arrest the victims.
The unrest was fanned after border police destroyed Jewish vineyards using the "Disruptive Use Order," allowing the seizure of Jewish land even when no Arab claims the land. Jewish residents reported beingambushed by the Arab mob later in the day while they were walking between Esh Kodesh and Givat Hayovel in protest of the destruction.
Peace Now’s demand that the Jewish residents be punished by having their homes demolished should come as no surprise, since the head of the organization, Yariv Oppenheimer, has already expressed his esteem for the Arab mob, saying it deserves praise for not killing the Jews.

I don't see it demanding security for Jews or the arrest and punishment for Arabs who attack Jews, like in the recent attack of a Jewish woman on the Jerusalem lightrail.

She said she was speaking on her phone at the back of the carriage, which was largely empty at the time when, as the train reached the next stop in the Arab neighborhood of Shuafat "one of them gave me a really hard punch to the back of my head."

Have you heard of any Appease aka "Peace" Now members coming to the rescue of Jews who have been attacked by Arabs? WHAT IS THEIR REAL AGENDA?

What disturbs me even more is the total anarchy in the Israeli Government.  Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu has a wide variety of coalition members, and they all give out different sorts of press releases. While Housing Minister Uri Ariel claims that Israel won't destroy any Jewish community large or small, Bibi is saying the exact opposite:

Right-wing MKs received an impression from Netanyahu that he had no problem giving up uninhabited land and was ready to give up settlements that are not in blocs or nationally or strategically important. Following questioning by MKs Tzipi Hotovely and Moshe Feiglin, Netanyahu said he disagreed with them about annexation in the West Bank.
"I know there are some of you who favor annexing land together with the Palestinians, but I don't want to control 1.5-2 million Palestinians and neither do most Israelis,” he said, according to sources close to him who were in the meeting.

Honestly, I don't trust any of them!  That includes all of the so-called Right MK's in Bibi's government.  For me, they are all the same. They've been bought.  Appease Now controls our courts which have the final word on all government decisions and policies.

The current situation is very, very dangerous for the security and continued existence of the State of Israel.

The Annual Hate-Fest Has Begun

i24

Israeli Leftists who have no doubt been relieved to have a substitute for the old rallying cry of "remember Arlosoroff," have begun their annual Blame the Right for Yitzchak Rabin's Assassination celebration. They jumpstarted the yartzeit, Jewish anniversary of death with a large pep rally in Tel Aviv. 

I heard a bit of it last night on the television news.  The newscast featured Rabin's grandson illogically proclaiming that the most suitable thing to do in his grandfather's memory would be for Israel to (give in to all Arab demands and) finally "make peace."  It was clear in his words that only the Likud and the Government of Israel was guilty of perpetuating the lack of a peace treaty with the Arabs.  I have no doubt that his grandfather wouldn't agree, but it's clearer than the finest glass that Israel's extreme Left has taken over the "Rabin legacy."

I certainly didn't hear the NRP aka Bayit Yehudi leader Naftali Bennett's memorial message on the news:

"On the memorial day for the murder of Yitzhak Rabin z"l," write Bennett, "I will state the obvious (perhaps it is not obvious to everyone) – the murder is a terrible thing, which must never be repeated. It has the potential to tear apart the state of Israel. This obvious thing does not prevent me from strongly opposing 'the Oslo path.'
"I believe this path is misguided and has caused tremendous damage, sorrow and grief to the people of Israel and to thousands of families that lost their loved ones in the post-Oslo terror."
"For some years," he went on, "an equation was made, between denouncing the Rabin assassination, and supporting the Oslo path. I remember a poster that said 'we will not forget and we will not forgive,' which showed Rabin's picture and under it, Netanyahu's. In effect they were blaming Netanyahu for the murder, and saying 'we will not forgive.' I do not accept this at all."

For a message like Bennett's you need to tune into Arutz 7.  i24 didn't have it either.  They just focused on promoting Rabin's grandson:

In fact, the only family member present tonight was Rabin’s grandson, Jonathan Ben-Artzi. He ended his conciliatory speech by calling up current Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to seize the opportunity afforded to him and current political landscape and bring peace to Israel. “I’m not here to blame you for what happened that night on the square or for the events that led to his murder,” said Ben-Artzi. “My grandfather was assassinated struggling for peace and you owe it to us to accomplish that goal.”

I have no doubt that if the truth ever comes out about the assassination, it will be revealed that it wasn't planned by anyone on the Right, just like it had been discovered a long time ago that the Revisionists didn't murder Arlosoroff.  Not that the Israeli Leftists have changed corrected their history books.

Times of Israel

I find it totally preposterous that the Israeli and international Left blithely continue to blame Israel for the lack of "peace" here.  All facts, all history show the exact opposite.

• Israel has not initiated any wars with the Arabs.
• The Arab countries and terrorists are the ones who attack and threaten annihilation of Israel, not the opposite.
• Regardless to the dangers to our security, Israel continuously offers peace gestures  and concessions.
• It doesn't matter what Israel offers, the Arabs refuse and then up the ante, make much more extreme demands.

So why does the Israeli Left persist in this lie? 

Yonatan Ben-Artzi made absolutely no demands of Palestinian Authority  chairman Mahmoud Abbas nor of the new Iranian regime but instead placed the task of making pace on the shoulders of Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu. Jewish Press 

Blaming Israel is actually seditious. If the judicial system here in Israel was objective, it would be a good idea to prosecute those who blame the Government of Israel for our lack of peace.

Arab Terrorists and Their International Enablers

Pirkei Avot, Ethics of the Fathers instructs us to learn from everyone, so I must admit that the seed to this post, the idea to call the United Nations, European , the United States and numerous international aid organizations and mistaken "idealistic" Leftist do-gooders "enablers" came from reading Harlan Coben's recent book "Shelter."  I don't know Coben's politics and hope that he doesn't have fits to discover that I'm crediting him with the idea for this post, since he used it in a totally different context.

What's an enabler?  It's someone, or in our context it could be an individual, or a family, a group, ideology, country or organization, that, although possibly unintentionally, encourages and/or makes possible the continuation of negative, dangerous, abusive, deadly or addictive behavior.

Every time somebody says they can understand the Arabs' "frustration" aka terrorism, they are acting as enablers.  They are making excuses for terrorist attacks, whether it be against individuals or nations.  I would expand this to Israeli "centrists" like Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu who believes that by improving the Arabs' financial situation, raising their standard of living, they will reject terrorism. 

"We must weave an economic peace alongside a political process," Netanyahu said. "That means that we have to strengthen the moderate parts of the Palestinian economy by handing rapid growth in those area, rapid economic growth that gives a stake for peace for the ordinary Palestinians."

The basis of this philosophy/ideology is that it's poverty that is a legitimate and understandable cause of terrorist activity.

Creating excuses for terrorism justifies it, encourages it.

The truth about Arab terrorist leaders is that they usually come from the upper classes, the most educated.  Poor people are too busy trying to earn a living and are more pragmatic.  I see the Arab customers in Sha'ar Binyamin shopping in Rami Levy and Yafiz.  They are of the lower and middle class financially and educationally.  The upper-class can afford to shop in the fancy stores of Ramalla or go to Europe, Dubai, Kuwait and the United States.

Hat tip: IMRA
For example, the "PA Finance Minister," sic, recently asked  for aid to take over and develop land under Israel's control.

Minister of Finance Nabeel Kassis asked the Ad-Hoc Liaison Committee (AHLC) meeting New York on Sunday to help the Palestinian Authority to reclaim area C of the West Bank, which is under full Israeli control.

If they do this the Ad-Hoc Liaison Committee (AHLC) is enabling the terrorists to defy international agreements and endanger Israel.  The division of the Land in Judea and Samaria was part of the 1993 Oslo Accords.   Admittedly, I totally oppose that agreement, because in the long run it's dangerous for the security and viability of the State of Israel.

Israel has suffered from Arab terrorism since before the State was even established in 1948, which obviously predates the 1967 Six Days War which resulted in the liberation by Israel of the Golan Heights (from Syria,) the Sinai (from Egypt,) the Jordan Valley, Judea, Samaria and eastern Jerusalem (all from Jordan.)  During the nineteen 19 years that Jordan controlled those areas there was a population drain from all sectors.  Jordan did nothing to develop those areas.  Since June, 1967, under Israeli rule, the areas have thrived and Arabs do whatever they can to move there.

Immediately after the war Israeli Jews could safely travel all over Judea, Samaria, Golan etc.  The local Arabs accepted their military defeat.  It was only when the Israeli Leftist politicians, "thinkers," media and various international bodies encouraged the idea that Israeli rule was just temporary that the Arabs began to rebel against it and terrorize Jews.  With every "peace agreement" our security lessened.

So simply put, Appease aka Peace Now, their international supporters and all of those supporting Arab rule here are terrorist enablers.

Does Anyone Care?

Israel just suffered its longest ever teachers strike, which closed many high schools for a couple of months. Teachers' salaries are extremely low. Considering that we teachers are expected to have university degrees, ironically, there's no way we can afford to send our own children to university. They have to work their way to cover tuition and expenses.

I presume that the university students, unable to study do to the ongoing, semester-long, strike of senior lecturers, are taking advantage of their time to earn money to cover their expenses. It looks like the semester is lost. Will the universities return all the money paid? It seems to me that nobody really cares.

Last week it was revealed, and not for the first time, that Peace Now is backed by foreigners, the same one who are working hard to establish an Arab Terror State in our Heartland. But the media is in cahoots, and all that they care about is stopping Jewish building in Jerusalem.

Show you care.