Deadly Antisemitism in the USA, Pittsburgh Prayers

11 killed in Pennsylvania synagogue shooting

8 killed in Pennsylvania synagogue shooting

SHOOTING AT PITTSBURGH SYNAGOGUE KILLS EIGHT

At least four reported dead, 12 injured in shooting at Pittsburgh synagogue

Pray for the injured Jews and police.

The United States isn't immune from antisemitism and certainly not from violence. Jews who think they are safe are sadly mistaken.

My husband and I made aliyah as a newlywed couple almost half a century ago. It was the smartest thing we ever did.

Today's numbers show that the largest Jewish community is here in Israel. Between immigration, diaspora assimilation and the fact that Israel has the highest birth rate of any developed country in the world, our Jewish population is growing quickly.

In 1970, when we boarded that large ship to Israel, we entered a country that had a much lower standard of living than the one we had left. And even three years after the legendary, miraculous Six Days War victory, the future of the young country was still uncertain.

I always felt secure here in Israel and had no real worries about the physical security of American Jewry. Things have changed. Now Israel has advanced in every way, and the United States is in trouble.

Israel is the Home for all Jews. Join us.

PA's Abbas Slathered in Teflon

I headlined this post with "PA's Abbas slathered in Teflon," because too many people are being unrealistically optimistic that Mahmoud Abbas's recent rant will finally show the world how unsuited the Arab dictator is to "make peace" with Israel. I hate to rain on the parade, but most people who worship the "two state solution" as a utopian ideal, a "solution" to the violence between Israel and Arabs, are too enslaved by their ideology to open their mind to the facts.

The fact is that inventing another Arab country and putting it between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River, in the heartland of Israel and Jewish History will only cause a terrible catastrophic war. At best, the State of Israel would survive, but if that doesn't happen-the worst case scenario, the Middle East will explode in horrendous violence affecting the entire world, Gd forbid.

It doesn't surprise me that international leaders, media and diplomats are addicted to the fiction that Israel has a "peace partner" in Mahmoud Abbas and his Fatah. Less than a century ago, nobody took Hitler seriously either. The truth is because they didn't care. As long as Hitler concentrated on ridding his country of Jews, they didn't mind. You know that's the truth. And in the early days of Hitler, loyal German secular Jews were certain they would be immune. The Holocaust began with small, almost painless steps.

Besides rare brave idealistic individuals, the Jews of Europe had no help in escaping the Nazi's plans. Today things are worse.

The totalitarian Leftist media is making any pro-Israel and pro-truth about Abbas/Palestine, sic, into forbidden obscenities. Universities are refusing or disinviting speakers who represent the right for Jews to live in an independent and secure Jewish country. This takes place in the United States along with Britain, Europe etc.

It is of the utmost importance for us to recognize that logic and facts won't get through to most people. They are too attached to their dangerous unrealistic dreams. We have to try to make them see the truth and recognize that they are encouraging and supporting the destruction of the State of Israel and World War Three.

Distorting Headlines

From these outrageous and totally inaccurate headlines, you'd think that USA's Vice President Pence and the State of Israel cause all the problems here:

WorldGood Morning America4 Palestinians dead, hundreds injured in clashes ahead of Mike Pence's visit

WorldThe TelegraphMan dies after attacking Israeli troops with a knife in deadly clashes over Trump's Jerusalem decision

But the truth is very simple. It's really because of the Leftists, the journalists and the NGOs which egg on the Arabs to riot and attack Israelis. There's a very simple price to the violence. The IDF and Israeli Police have to stop them from murdering innocent Jews/Israelis.

The journalists/media love the violence, since it makes for nice eye-catching pictures and headlines. Their aim is the total destruction of the State of Israel, although then the violence will move to other countries. But they don't care.

For a very suitable Chanukah reminder... We have never had true allies, not in modern times, nor ancient times. A favorite phrase used by American leaders that they'll "stand by us" is totally useless, because all they promise to do is to "stand still" while Israel is being attacked. Then they plan on picking up the pieces and taking over. That is what Nixon and Kissinger had planned in 1973 during the Yom Kippur War. They tried to conduct it by "advising" both Israel and Egypt simultaneously. American troops had been waiting on standby in Europe for weeks/months ready to move in. We don't need "friends" like that. Only when Arik Sharon took over the southern front and ignored American instructions did Israel defeat Egypt and end the war.

Chanukah is a reminder that a small Israel only needs Gd as an ally.

Chag Urim SameachMay We have an Enlightened Holiday 

What is Happening to The USA? Anger, Hate, Murder

Another awful "inexplicable" so far mass murder attack in the United States.

Gunman storms small-town Texas church, killing at least 26
SUTHERLAND SPRINGS, Texas (Reuters) - A gunman with an assault rifle stormed a church in rural Texas on Sunday, killing at least 26 worshippers and wounding 20 others in a rampage to be notched into a litany of mass shootings that have plagued the United States in recent years.

At least 26 killed in mass shooting at Texas church
At least 26 people were killed and 20 wounded in Texas after a gunman dressed in tactical gear opened fire at a church outside San Antonio on Sunday, investigators confirmed.
Multiple sources speaking to Fox News identified the gunman as 26-year-old Devin Patrick Kelley. The mass shooting unfolded around 11:30 a.m. at First Baptist Church of Sutherland Springs, which is about 30 miles southeast of San Antonio.
Investigators said at a news conference Sunday evening that the victims ranged in age from 5 to 72 years old. One official said about 20 people were hospitalized with injuries ranging from minor to "very severe."

American society is deteriorating for sure. The violence began long before Donald Trump was elected president, so don't blame him.

I'm glad I live far away in Israel. With all the problems here, we don't see people violently turning on society like you get in the states.

Grateful to be Living in Israel as World Falls Apart

When my husband and I made aliyah to Israel soon after our 1970 wedding it was considered a rare, incomprehensible and dangerous thing to do. There was an enormous difference between the two countries in what was then considered "quality of life." In those days those criteria were of modern conveniences, technology and toiletpaper.

Less than a half a century ago, Israel was more Third World than modern. Today we have everything one needs here in Israel. Today not only is technology in Israel topnotch, but the healthcare system among the best in the world and smoking is now prohibited in most public places. And as an added bonus, at "end of season sales," prices are slashed by 70% in many stores. This is not the Israel we moved to in 1970. Today it's not just much better than before, but it's a lot better than the United States of America.

The political and security situations in Israel are also better here. I know that the headlines give the impression that security is better in the states, but it's not really true when you calculate murder and violent crime in the USA. Israel is actually one of the safest places in the world.

And while many olim, immigrants to Israel find the political system too confusing, different or just plain strange, compared to the chaos and rioting in other countries, I'd say that Israel is most civilized.

Europe is undergoing a rapid metamorphose from white-Cristian to Islamic of all colors and backgrounds. It's a combination of non-replacement native European birthrates and the migration, legal and illegal of Arabs and Africans. The governments have welcomed them due to the lack of workers, but recently the extreme cultural differences, preponderance of males and subsequent violence have changed Europe for the worse.

In the United States the unprecedented riots by groups like "not my president" have crossed boundaries like never before. Never before has there been such massive and violent "sore-loser" protests in America. Having been born, raised and educated in the USA, I had always been taught that in democracy, you sometimes lose and then must accept the results. It's a sign of a fascist unstable government wehn people take to the streets the way they have been since last Novemenber. Democratic leaders, like Hillary Clinton, failed democracy when she called Trump supporters "deplorables." And Obama should have immediately ordered everyone home and threatened the protestors with arrest.

Donald Trump's far from perfect, but he should have been helped and supported, rather than being condemned for every breath. So, now he's feeling paranoid. Who wouldn't be when attacked the way he has been.

I am so thankful to be in Israel. Even with the attacks here on Bibi and Sara Netanyahu the political situation is more placid.

True, no place is 100% perfect, but I'm perfectly happy living in Israel.

What's Brewing in The Middle East?

Passover percolator perking companionably by the Kneidlach

In my house it's just "Turkish" coffee in the Passover percolator, but the headlines make it seem like we're more like in the "eye of the storm." Syria is close to Israel, a lot closer than it feels here in Shiloh.

In northern Israel, Shiloh is in the center of the country, I have no doubt that people are more aware of what is happening in Syria. From the press, it seems that injured Syrians are being treated in Israeli hospitals at our taxpaying expense. I wonder how much of these humanitarian acts are reported in the international media and by human rights organizations including the United Nations which spends lots of time condemning Israel for alleged violations.

Here are a few headlines:

Assad's allies say U.S. attack crosses 'red lines'
EGYPT'S SISI SAYS THREE-MONTH STATE OF EMERGENCY TO BE DECLARED
U.S. air strike gives Tillerson a boost for Moscow talks
PALM SUNDAY BOMBINGS OF EGYPTIAN COPTIC CHURCHES KILL 44

And it's not as if the rest of the world is peaceful. There have been more terror and antisemitic attacks in Europe recently.

In just a few hours, we'll be turning off all electric media and communications devices to celebrate the Passover holiday.

Chag Kasher v'Sameach to All

Have a Wonderful, Joyful Kosher Passover

Why Sacrifice Amona? Letter Sent to The Jerusalem Post

I sent this letter a couple of days ago to the Jerusalem Post. Click to see how it appeared in the paper.

Prime Minister Netanyahu:

"We intend to examine the possibility of the residents being able to remain on the mountain, and even to stay as a community."

Dejavu... our Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu is talking out of both sides of his mouth, with forked lips or whatever colorful ol' euphemism you'd like to use.
We've heard this before. Haven't we?
Peaceful rural Amona has seen more than its share of violence when a few years ago houses were destroyed by the government for phantom/fantasy Arab "landowners," sic.
Bibi and Naftali Bennett went head to head concerning Amona, and Bennett blinked. No great surprise. We have a government which the media loves to label as Right wing, but those of us who are truly Right believe in the primacy of Jewish rights to live in our Holy Land and want the State of Israel to be fully sovereign, not just playacting when campaigning for our votes.
Why does the same government that is planning to move the tax-paying, productive and patriotic Jewish families in Amona legalize Bedouin squatter encampments in southern Israel and other locations?
Why can't the Regulation Law include Amona?
The Leftist establishment here in Israel expected Disengagement to break us, but we are bitter, not brittle. We are like the grape vines that grow through cracks in cement. We've survived many enemies, Jews as well as non-Jews. As we prepare to celebrate the Chanukah Holiday, we are reminded of the Hellenists who tried to adopt Greek values and endanger the Jews who remained loyal to Gd and Judaism.
When will we ever learn?

Batya Medad, Shiloh

The government sent storm troopers to destroy homes in Amona in  2006.
A settler struggled with Israeli security officers in 2006, when the Israeli government razed nine homes in Amona. Residents are preparing for another clash with their government. Credit Oded Balilty/Associated Press

A woman and her children in Amona, a settler outpost in the West Bank. Residents are trying to head off an order that the settlement be dismantled by Dec. 25. Credit Uriel Sinai for The New York Times

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!

Who is to Blame for "Temple Mount Violence?"

Maybe I'm crazy, but I don't understand how anyone can blame Jews for the Arab violence on the Temple Mount.

For a Jew to be permitted to go up to the Temple Mount, he or she must undergo security checks almost as drastic as before taking an airplane. Not only are we checked for weapons, but all of our possessions must be inspected, bit by bit, page by page, to make sure that we don't pray to G-d according to traditional prayers.

Nu?  And then we have guards checking us very carefully, no, not to protect us, but to make sure we don't pray. Nu?

An Israeli soldier watches as foreign activists and Palestinian protesters avoid a tear gas fired by the Israeli army during a protest over tension in Jerusalem, near the West Bank village of Hizma, south-east of Ramallah November 14, 2014. REUTERS/Ammar Awad

• Arabs have stocks of weapons up on the Temple Mount. 
• Arabs aren't inspected before going up. Arabs can pray, shout and curse us. They also attack the police.

Nu? So why is the world blaming us Israelis, us Jews for the violence?

Why did our Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu agree to go to Amman to listen to the American Secretary of State John Kerry chastise him as if he is a wayward child?

Israel, Palestinians agree to steps to calm Jerusalem tensions, Kerry says
(Reuters) - Israel and the Palestinians have pledged to take concrete steps to calm tensions around Jerusalem's holiest site, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said on Thursday after talks in the Jordanian capital.
Violence has flared in recent weeks over the compound, revered by Muslims as Noble Sanctuary, where al-Aqsa mosque stands, and by Jews as the Temple Mount, where their biblical temples once stood.
Clashes between Israeli police and Palestinians have raised fears they could trigger a new Palestinian uprising.
All parties had agreed to "specific and practical actions that both sides can take to restore calm," said Kerry, declining to say what those actions were....

Where's the symmetry between us and the Arabs here?  We aren't attacking Arabs. We are the victims!

And why haven't there been protests about the threats to Arabs selling land to Jews?

Sultan Abu Al-'Einein, an adviser to Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas, says that Palestinians who sell land to Jews should be hung from electric poles. Image: MEMRI Screenshot

During the interview, translated by the Middle East Media and Research Institute (MEMRI,) a snarling Abu Al-’Einein praised the man who attempted to murder Israeli activist Rabbi Yehuda Glick, saying that “the way to fight the Israeli occupation is the way of the martyr Mutaz Hijazi.”
As his voice reached fever pitch, Abu Al-’Einein declared that any Palestinian “who sells even an inch of our Palestinian land must be killed in the streets and hung on an electric pole.” (Algemeiner)

Who are the aggressors here?

And on another note...
I'm glad that the Israeli Foreign Ministry conducted a session for foreign ambassadors explaining and illustrating the Arab violence on the Temple Mount. Read the report on Israel Resource Review.

More than 60 foreign ambassadors and diplomats gathered on Wednesday at the Foreign Ministry for a special briefing held by Police Commissioner Yohanan Danino and Deputy Foreign Minister Tzachi Hanegbi on the escalation of violence in Jerusalem, with a focus on the clashes that have occurred at the Temple Mount....

Palestinians sic are shown wearing plastic bags and gloves while rioting from within al-Aqsa mosque. (Photo: Israel Police)

Shavua Tov uMevorach

May you have a Good Week

Stop The Cosmetics/Fancy Words and Fight Terrorism at its Source!

If I had a dollar, or even a shekel for all the blustery speeches, threats and promises by Israeli leaders that they were going to defeat Arab terrorism or destroy the Arab terrorists if they dared to attack us yet again, I wouldn't have to work and I'd be able to retire in comfort.

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu is at it again claiming that he's going to stop the terrorism.

Netanyahu speaking after cabinet meeting GPOPrime Minister Netanyahu convened a special cabinet meeting this evening to discuss the deteriorating security situation. During the meeting he said that Israel had defeated terrorism in the past, and would do so again.... (Jerusalem Online)

Unfortunately, even his threat/promise shows the futility and fallacy of his words.

"During the meeting he said that Israel had defeated terrorism in the past, and would do so again."

He's promising a good battle, but not a victory in the war.

We need to win the war against Arab terrorism!

The Israeli public is miserable and frustrated. Last summer we were attacked, and we sent out our troops. In Israel, our troops are our sons, brothers, sisters, daughters, friends and ourselves. We were all hyped up and determined to finally destroy the Arab terrorist enemy, which is plaguing us more and more frequently.

I'll never forget the mother of a wounded soldier who when asked what message to send to her other son still fighting on the frontlines:

"Complete the Mission! Sayyem et HaMissimah! סיים את המשימה"

But what did Netanyahu's government do? It declared our military response, an "operation," not a war. It didn't aim to wipe out the terrorists, but just to get them to quiet down for awhile. And now, just a very few months later terrorism is popping out in new and different places, like a cancer that had only been cosmetically removed.

And now the Arab terrorism is spreading, even to pre-June, 1967 Israel aka "inside the Green Line." Last summer's attacks on Tel Aviv have now taken on another level. A soldier was stabbed there this week. And in Gush Etzion, where the Jewish residents like to comfort themselves with the idea that they are "in the consensus to remain in Israel, a young woman was murdered. And of course, no surprise, that in the Arab villages of the Galil, also "inside the Green Line," there have been attacks and riots.

news global

Heard at the Pool: Arabs Attacking Jews up North and More...

There's nothing like the talk at the local swimming pool to let me know what's really happening in Israel and the mood of  "the people."

My neighbors have family all over the country, and news reaches them which may purposely be kept out of the media. Today's media messages are that the public is strong and patient and wants to let the IDF stop the attacks against us.

The most jarring note was when a reporter asked one of the military experts if the Gazan public had begun to break, to complain to their "government."  I just choked.

"Duh?!? Do they really expect such a thing to happen?"

Honestly, I don't expect the Arabs in Gaza to act like Jews in Tel Aviv or Beersheva. Unlike previous attacks against us, when government officials called those leaving their homes weak, disloyal wimps today I heard that it's perfectly acceptable for people to take a "vacation." There were even official complaints that some border communities insisted on staying home, rather than "relocating."

Torched car in Qalansawe (Photo: Hassan Shaalan) Ynet

In another incident in Qalansawe, another vehicle with two Jewish civilian inside was attacked. The two, who were also asked whether they were Jewish, managed to escape but sustained light injuries and damage was caused to their vehicle.

But what I didn't hear on television was about the Arab and Druse attacks on Jews, the violence in northern Israel and other parts of the country which aren't from Gazan rockets. My neighbors reported that the police have been totally ineffective in protecting innocent Jews. They are afraid to take a strong stand. The Arab terrorist rocket attacks from Gaza have emboldened the worst of the anti-Israeli elements in Israeli-Arab society. It's very hard to find this information in the official media. Policy setters don't want Israeli Jews to be suspicious of Arabs.

Israeli police secure a street during clashes with Palestinian protesters (unseen) in the Arab Israeli city of Nazareth, northern Israel , July 5, 2014. (photo credit: Gil Eliyahu/Flash90)

Read more: Rash of violent attacks on Jewish targets in Jerusalem | The Times of Israel http://www.timesofisrael.com/clashes-in-jerusalem-galilee-as-protests-spread/#ixzz373LbYwmt
Follow us: @timesofisrael on Twitter | timesofisrael on Facebook 

As long as Israel tries too hard for peace and doesn't show determination to destroy Arab terrorism, the Israeli Arabs will think it's in their best interest to sympathize with the terrorists. That's for them being pragmatic. Israeli Police and Judicial should show zero tolerance for all attacks against Jews!

Pet Peeve: Jews Condemning Jews Before The Facts are In

Just a few quick words before I get some sleep.

We Jews are our worst enemies, and Israeli Jews are just too expert in taking the blame for what we haven't done. We (in general) are also too quick to think badly of other Jews.

Just because an Arab boy was found dead, burned beyond recognition after Arab terrorists murdered three Jewish Israeli boys, does not mean that Jews should be the first suspected of killing the Arab. It also isn't the time for high-minded superior-sounding words condemning all killings even the killing of Arabs.

At this point we should be concentrating on healing and making sure the world understands how violent and anti-life the Arabs can be.


A crucial section of Jerusalem's lightrail tracks have been destroyed.

The night the boys had been captured and murdered Arabs were celebrating all over the country. That was a definite sign they had been murdered and that most Arabs were glad.

This is not the time to suspect and accuse Jews of such behavior.

I doubt that there were Jews involved in killing and burning that Arab kid, and only if it is completely and undeniably proven that Jews were involved would I change my opinion about it.

The ongoing cultural violence in Arab society, honor killings, brutal murders like how they butchered quite a number of Jews in previous attacks and killed the three teenagers just three weeks ago put the odds in their direction.

Please voice your opinion in the comments and share this post if you agree, thanks.

No Place or Time is Immune From Anti-Semitism

At least here in Israel, the big news after Shabbat was the terrible antisemitic attack on a Jewish family in Australia.  The family, middle-aged parents and adult children were viciously attacked; they needed urgent medical care.  In all honesty, I was disturbed by their reactions:

''It is extremely shocking that an attack like this could happen in Australia, let alone in Bondi being such a multicultural area.''
Faktor said the families of the victims are "very upset" and cannot understand why people would want to hurt them.
"You certainly don't come to Bondi and expect that," he said. "Maybe in Germany in the 1930s and Russia in the 1970s but certainly in Sydney, Australia, Bondi you just don't expect an unprovoked attack."

I find it dangerously naive.  We shouldn't rationalize attacks like that one as needing provocation.  There is no Jewish source in the cause/source of antisemitism. If you could rationalize such attacks as being caused by "provocations," then we Jews could be considered to blame.  I can't accept that.

We Jews are not to blame for the fact that antisemites of all ilks, whether Christian, Muslim or any other religion have no moral justification for their antisemitism.  For some of them it's an ideology and for some it's theology.  And there are also those who just like to pick on people who seem weaker and easy to attack, which can make the source psychology. They can be found all over the world.

Some antisemites are subtle and sophisticated, taking their hatred out in more refined and "sneaky" ways. Others like the Australians on Friday night were honestly brutal in their physical attack on the Jewish family.

I also don't like the term used in the Sky News YouTube caption, "violent brawl." A "brawl" connotes something mutual by people who may even be acquainted or a fight after a disagreement.

brawlbrɔːl/
nounnoun: brawl; plural noun: brawls1.
a rough or noisy fight or quarrel.
"he'd got into a drunken brawl in a bar"

1. synonyms:

   fight, fist fight, skirmish, scuffle, tussle, fracas, scrimmage, fray,melee, rumpus, altercation, wrangle, clash, free-for-all, scrum,brouhaha, commotion, uproar;  fisticuffs, rough and tumble; donnybrook;  datedaffray;  informalscrap, dust-up, set-to, shindy; informalpunch-up, bust-up, ruck, bit of argy-bargy;  informalafters; informalrammy, swedge, square go;  informalrough house, brannigan; informalstoush;  rarebroil, bagarre "a drunken brawl"

From the reports, this was nothing of the sort.  The attackers chose their victims for a reason; the victims appeared Jewish. I think it's very dangerous for Jews to think they are immune or their locations aren't risky.  G-d willing when the true Moshiach takes over and rules we'll be able to destroy and banish antisemitism. In the meantime we must be prepared for it in all guises.

Strange Obama Priorities? Why Pick on Israel?

When I saw this cartoon, I knew that I just had to blog it:

Why is "making peace between Israel and the Arabs" in the Middle East so important?  How many people die from the status quo every week or everyday? 

I just checked out two international news sites to see what the headlines are in their Middle East page.

Fox News

Officials: Wave of bombings in Iraq kills 33
Syria's Muslim Brotherhood faces uphill battle
Iraqi Kurdish leader vows to defend Kurds in Syria
Bomb near park in central Iraq kills 4
Activists: 20 people killed in Syrian air raid
And finally the first mention of Israel... Sinai group says it was target of Israeli drone

CNN

 Feature story is Settlement plan casts shadow on talks
TOP MIDDLE EAST STORIES

Syrian airstrikes kill 20, group says

 Rains in Afghanistan kill 13

US to reopen all but one post closed due to al Qaeda threat

Gunmen kidnap Turkish pilots in Lebanon

Yemen: More suspected militants killed

Saudi Arabia arrests 2 on terror charges

Did U.S. alert help or hinder militants?

Iranian leader: Open to nuclear talks | Old guard back in charge?

McCain calls ouster of Egyptian president a 'coup'

Do you see any real urgency here to send United States Secretary of State John Kerry shuttling back and forth between Washington, Jerusalem and Ramallah? 

Remember that cartoon is in the International Herald Tribune aka the New York Times.  The op-eds and editorials are Leftist and pro-Democrat, but even thy are seeing Obama for what he really is and using him at the butt of jokes. 

Obama was joked about in 288 monologues on late night television, over twice as many as Weiner, who came in second with 120 jokes, according to a Center for Media and Public Affairs study on late night jokes between January 1 and June 30.
...
Five late night talk show hosts were examined for the study: Jay Leno, David Letterman, Craig Ferguson, Jimmy Fallon, and Jimmy Kimmel. Among them, Letterman was the only one to tell more jokes about Republicans (139) than Democrats (102). Fallon, on the other hand, had the highest Democrat (240) to Republican (76) joke ratio.
Here is a sample of some of jokes, provided courtesy of CMPA:

I was going to start off tonight with an Obama joke, but I don't want to get audited by the IRS, so forget that. – Leno

A lot of critics are now comparing President Obama to President Nixon. The good news for Obama? At least he's no longer being compared to President Carter. – Leno

Joe Biden said that some people buy guns because owning one feels like driving a Ferrari. At which point, Obama was like, "stop helping." – Fallon

Polls indicate that the American public actually misses George W. Bush … Let's see, two wars, an economic collapse and mortgage crisis. Ah it's hard not to be nostalgic. Those were the days! – Letterman

Read more at http://www.christianpost.com/news/late-night-comedy-now-obama-weiner-butt-of-most-2013-jokes-101588/#hFG3vTDZ2mOHLo5L.99

I guess it doesn't bother Obama all that much.  He's in his second term and according to the United States Constitution, that's his last one.  So he's having the last laugh unfortunately.

Why Was Andrew Pochter in Egypt, Not Israel?

Condolences to the family of  Andrew Pochter, who was the American killed in Egyptian riots.

I find his story very disturbing. 

Pochter’s family said he had travelled to Alexandria for the summer to teach English to 7- and 8-year-old Egyptian children and to improve his Arabic.
“He had studied in the region, loved the culture, and planned to live and work there in the pursuit of peace and understanding,” read the statement, that asked for privacy in a time of grieving.
Pochter was looking forward to beginning his junior year at Ohio’s Kenyon College and had planned to study abroad in Jordan next spring, according to the statement.

Read more: http://forward.com/articles/179563/idealistic-jewish-student-killed-in-egypt-violence/#ixzz2XdzXq9JH

What was he doing in Egypt?  Why did he feel more connected to Arab countries, rather than to Israel?  Did he really think that he, a Jewish American, could do something for "the pursuit of peace and understanding?"

Did his family support this delusion?

Did his family and friends and teachers warn him that he was going to a dangerous place?

Frequently when someone in the states says they're going to Israel, people act horrified:

"It's so dangerous!"

Now, I would like to know if Pochter received such reactions to his plans.  Of course there's no guarantee that Pochter would be alive if he had gone to Israel.  But for sure, if he had been killed here, the article about his death would include something of how his family didn't want him to come because of the supposed "dangers."

Think about it.  Where can one find more danger, in Israel or the Arab countries?  If someone is injured or hurt, where is there better medical care?  And are you disturbed by the fact that an American Jewish student is more attracted to Arab society than to Jewish Israeli society?

Am I the only one bothered by this incident and this situation in general?

Intifada in Paris?

Israel's looking safer all the time, bli eyin haraa.

Arab-African riots against the police are getting more dangerous and more violent. They now use hunting rifles against the police. I had to read quite a bit through this New York Times article, until they mentioned that the rioters are Arab and Africans.

It's obvious that they'd be from the "immigrant suburbs." They're called "immigrant suburbs," even if the rioters are from families who've been there for a few generations. They'll never be "real" Frenchmen.



I'd rather be in Shiloh than in Paris.