Following on the rock-throwing attack earlier today, the Arabs, emboldened by sympathetic media reports, now have set fires near Havat-Gilad.
^
Friday, October 15, 2010
Two Jews Attacked With Stones At Elon Moreh
Just sent to me:
Two Jews, surveying the eruv around Elon Moreh were attacked by dozens of Arabs and their anarchist supporters who threw stones at them.
Fleeing, they alerted the IDF and the intervention squad and only after they themselves were stoned in turn by the Arabs and leftists and so required to shoot in the air, the Arab and leftists halted their violence.
Reported by Yossi Dagan Samaria Council spokesperson.
Two Jews, surveying the eruv around Elon Moreh were attacked by dozens of Arabs and their anarchist supporters who threw stones at them.
Fleeing, they alerted the IDF and the intervention squad and only after they themselves were stoned in turn by the Arabs and leftists and so required to shoot in the air, the Arab and leftists halted their violence.
Reported by Yossi Dagan Samaria Council spokesperson.
Finally, A Headline That Doesn't Upset Me
The Reuters story headline from Ramallah:
From the story:
^
Dismay, disillusionment prevail
in Palestinian camp
in Palestinian camp
From the story:
...In a series of interviews this week with leading Palestinian officials, a sense of pessimism prevailed, coupled with deep disappointment at the United States' handling of the situation.
"If the United States cannot bring about another small freeze in the settlements, how can we guarantee they will help us solve the big problems?" said Yasser Abed Rabbo, a member of President Mahmoud Abbas's core negotiating team.
..."Once again they are promising Israel everything in return for tiny, miniscule steps to reduce some of its violations," said Hanan Ashrawi, a veteran politician and member of the Palestine Liberation Organisation executive committee.
"They are destroying the most moderate Palestinian leadership for the sake of rescuing the most extremist, hardline, rightwing (Israeli) government," she said.
..."If Washington is not in a position to put pressure on Israel, then the dynamics should change," he said, cautioning that ordinary Palestinians were fed up with years of failure. The mood of the average Palestinian is one of disgust...
^
Sternhell's Hell
The Hebrew University's far-left professor is at it again.
Ze'ev Sternhell writes:-
Equal?
In his take on the new amendment to the Citizenship Law (loyalty oath), he presumes
So, Sternhell thinks the Arabs have equal rights and moreover, thinks 'rightists' think that way as well. Now, not only is that quite simply wrong, a complete misrepresentation, but it is hubris for him to assume that. Not that smart, professor.
Arabs have full rights in the state of Israel, as my mentor, Professor Israel Eldad wrote, but no rights to the state or, in his original Hebrew, the Land of Israel. Citizens are equal before the law, which, by the way, is a two-way street. If indeed, due to history and religion, the Arabs cannot be loyal to the Jewish and democratic state of Israel, well, no citizenship. Residency rights, fine. Police protection as well. But that should require taxes paid, at the least, if not national volunteer service.
As if we don't have enough trouble, Sternhell creates his own hell for us in Israel.
- - -
Ze'ev Sternhell writes:-
In the right's view, Negotiations on partitioning the land are an existential danger because they recognize the Palestinians' equal rights, and thereby undermine the Jews' unique status in Eretz Israel.
Equal?
In his take on the new amendment to the Citizenship Law (loyalty oath), he presumes
...to prepare hearts and minds for exclusive Jewish control of the population of the entire land, it is necessary to cling to the principle that what really matters in the lives of human beings is not what unites them, but rather what separates them. And what separates people more than history and religion?
So, Sternhell thinks the Arabs have equal rights and moreover, thinks 'rightists' think that way as well. Now, not only is that quite simply wrong, a complete misrepresentation, but it is hubris for him to assume that. Not that smart, professor.
Arabs have full rights in the state of Israel, as my mentor, Professor Israel Eldad wrote, but no rights to the state or, in his original Hebrew, the Land of Israel. Citizens are equal before the law, which, by the way, is a two-way street. If indeed, due to history and religion, the Arabs cannot be loyal to the Jewish and democratic state of Israel, well, no citizenship. Residency rights, fine. Police protection as well. But that should require taxes paid, at the least, if not national volunteer service.
As if we don't have enough trouble, Sternhell creates his own hell for us in Israel.
- - -
Can The Minister Convince the Prime Minister?
Minister Benny Begin asserts:
And continues:
But will he convince the Prime Minister of this?
The assumption that Israeli willingness for far-reaching concessions suffices to bring peace to Israel has been proven false twice in the past decade.
And continues:
Two Israeli prime ministers, from different parties, in 2000 and in 2008, offered far-reaching concessions to the leaders of the Palestine Liberation Organization, which rejected their offers. So to dispel the harsh impression left by the string of failures that has followed the Oslo concessions, the professional peace processors offered localized excuses: Just give them another round of concessions, and everything will be fine.
But will he convince the Prime Minister of this?
...the logical conclusion to be drawn from the negotiating failures of the past 17 years is in fact the reverse: As long as the PLO persists in its extreme positions, as long as it does not renounce the Fatah platform - which was updated at the organization's sixth convention in Bethlehem in August 2009 and once again reiterated its permanent aim of "destroying the Zionist entity and liberating Palestine" - no Israeli government, from either the right or the left, will be able to achieve a peace agreement.
Oren's Op-ed Responded To
The the letters published in the NYTimes on Amb. Michael Oren's op-ed
and mine they didn't publish:
^
and mine they didn't publish:
Israel's Ambassador to the United States, Michael Oren, slightly misquotes a section of the League of Mandate decision that is the international legal basis for the establishment of the Jewish state ("An End to Israel's Invisibility", Oct. 13). According to Oren, "the League of Nations cited the 'historical connection of the Jewish people' to that country as 'the grounds for reconstituting their national home'." A close reading of the document reveals that the exact language is as follows: "recognition has thereby been given to the historical connection of the Jewish people with Palestine and to the grounds for reconstituting their national home in that country". Whereas Oren's version is that the "historical connection" is the "grounds" for the reconstitution of the Jewish national home, the text states that there are two foundational elements: (a) an historical connection and (b) grounds.
I would suggest that the term "grounds" should be interpreted as recognizing that the Jewish people are not solely a religious group or an ethnic community but a people, with a distinct national culture, language and a national territory. Not every historical connection justifies a distinct national reality. Moreover, these "grounds" were highlighted so to offset claims not only by Jews who denied any nationalist character to the Jewish people (we know the Balfour Declaration was opposed by assimilationist British Jews and others) but, naturally, by anti-Semites. The anathema to which leaders of the Palestinian Authority treat the demand of Israel to be recognized as the Jewish state indicates that there are grounds to believe that no peace will ever be possible in any geographical configuration. Indeed, the implication is that it is the state of Israel itself which is still "disputed territory" in Arab eyes.
^
Robert Murdoch Quotes Jabotinsky
The mention from The "Antisemitism of Men", a chapter from The War and the Jew, 1940:
(the whole chapter is here) and Huff-Watch)
on which the NYSun there comments:
The whole speech (from here):
- - -
P.S.
Conrad Black also weighs in.
(Kippah tip: SoccerDad and Huff-Watch)
^
Ladies and gentlemen, back in 1937, a man named Vladimir Jabotinsky urged Britain to open up an escape route for Jews fleeing Europe. Only a Jewish homeland, he said, could protect European Jews from the coming calamity. In prophetic words, he described the problem this way: "It is not the anti-Semitism of men," he said. "It is, above all, the anti-Semitism of things, the inherent xenophobia of the body social or the body economic under which we suffer."
(the whole chapter is here) and Huff-Watch)
on which the NYSun there comments:
The most significant part of Mr. Murdoch’s speech, by our lights, came toward the end, when the man who owns the biggest newspaper in Britain reached down deep and spoke of the testimony presented to a British commission back in 1937 by the Zionist leader Vladimir Jabotinsky, who urged Britain to open up what Mr. Murdoch called “an escape route for Jews fleeing Europe.” He quoted Jabotinsky, who went on to write a famous book called “The Jewish War Front” and emerged as one of the Founding Fathers of Israel, as saying that only a Jewish homeland could protect European Jews from the coming calamity. Then, calling Jabotinsky’s words “prophetic,” he quoted one his most famous formulations: “It is not the anti-Semitism of men. It is, above all, the anti-Semitism of things, the inherent xenophobia of the body social or the body economic under which we suffer.”
The whole speech (from here):
You [the ADL] were founded a century ago against the backdrop of something we cannot imagine in America today: the conviction and then lynching of an innocent Jew. In the century since then, you have fought anti-Semitism wherever you have found it. You have championed equal treatment for all races and creeds. And you have held America to her founding promise. So successful have you been, a few years ago some people were beginning to say, "maybe we don't need an ADL anymore." That is a much harder argument to make these days. Now, there's not a single person in this room who needs a lecture on the evil of anti-Semitism. My own perspective is simple: We live in a world where there is an ongoing war against the Jews. For the first decades after Israel's founding, this war was conventional in nature. The goal was straightforward: to use military force to overrun Israel. Well before the Berlin Wall came down, that approach had clearly failed.
Then came phase two: terrorism. Terrorists targeted Israelis both home and abroad - from the massacre of Israeli athletes at Munich to the second intifada. The terrorists continue to target Jews across the world. But they have not succeeded in bringing down the Israeli government - and they have not weakened Israeli resolve.
Now the war has entered a new phase. This is the soft war that seeks to isolate Israel by delegitimizing it. The battleground is everywhere: the media ... multinational organizations ... NGOs. In this war, the aim is to make Israel a pariah.
The result is the curious situation we have today: Israel becomes increasingly ostracized, while Iran - a nation that has made no secret of wishing Israel's destruction - pursues nuclear weapons loudly, proudly, and without apparent fear of rebuke.
For me, this ongoing war is a fairly obvious fact of life. Every day, the citizens of the Jewish homeland defend themselves against armies of terrorists whose maps spell out the goal they have in mind: a Middle East without Israel. In Europe, Jewish populations increasingly find themselves targeted by people who share that goal. And in the United States, I fear that our foreign policy sometimes emboldens these extremists.
Tonight I'd like to speak about two things that worry me most. First is the disturbing new home that anti-Semitism has found in polite society - especially in Europe. Second is how violence and extremism are encouraged when the world sees Israel's greatest ally distancing herself from the Jewish state.
When Americans think of anti-Semitism, we tend to think of the vulgar caricatures and attacks of the first part of the 20th century.
Today it seems that the most virulent strains come from the left. Often this new anti-Semitism dresses itself up as legitimate disagreement with Israel.
Back in 2002 the president of Harvard, Larry Summers, put it this way: "Where anti-Semitism and views that are profoundly anti-Israeli have traditionally been the primary preserve of poorly educated right-wing populists, profoundly anti-Israel views are increasingly finding support in progressive intellectual communities. Serious and thoughtful people are advocating and taking actions that are anti-Semitic in their effect if not their intent."
Mr. Summers was speaking mostly about our university campuses. Like me, however, he was also struck by alarming developments in Europe.
Far from being dismissed out of hand, anti-Semitism today enjoys support at both the highest and lowest reaches of European society - from its most elite politicians to its largely Muslim ghettoes. European Jews find themselves caught in this pincer.
We saw a recent outbreak when a European Commissioner trade minister declared that peace in the Middle East is impossible because of the Jewish lobby in America. Here's how he put it: "There is indeed a belief--it's difficult to describe it otherwise--among most Jews that they are right. And it's not so much whether these are religious Jews or not. Lay Jews also share the same belief that they are right. So it is not easy to have, even with moderate Jews, a rational discussion about what is actually happening in the Middle East."
This minister did not suggest the problem was any specific Israeli policy. The problem, as he defined it, is the nature of the Jews. Adding to the absurdity, this man then responded to his critics this way: Anti-Semitism, he asserted, "has no place in today's world and is fundamentally against our European values."
Of course, he has kept his job.
Unfortunately, we see examples like this one all across Europe. Sweden, for example, has long been a synonym for liberal tolerance. Yet in one of Sweden's largest cities, Jews report increasing examples of harassment. When an Israeli tennis team visited for a competition, it was greeted with riots. So how did the mayor respond? By equating Zionism with anti-Semitism - and suggesting that Swedish Jews would be safer in his town if they distanced themselves from Israeli actions in Gaza.
You don't have to look far for other danger signs:
The Norwegian government forbids a Norwegian-based, German shipbuilder from using its waters to test a submarine being built for the Israeli navy.
Britain and Spain are boycotting an OECD tourism meeting in Jerusalem.
In the Netherlands, police report a 50% increase in the number of anti-Semitic incidents.
Maybe we shouldn't be surprised by these things. According to one infamous European poll a few years back, Europeans listed Israel ahead of Iran and North Korea as the greatest threat to world peace.
In Europe today, some of the most egregious attacks on Jewish people, Jewish symbols, and Jewish houses of worship have come from the Muslim population.
Unfortunately, far from making clear that such behavior will not be tolerated, too often the official response is what we've seen from the Swedish mayor - who suggested Jews and Israel were partly to blame themselves.
When Europe's political leaders do not stand up to the thugs, they lend credence to the idea that Israel is the source of all the world's problems - and they guarantee more ugliness. If that is not anti-Semitism, I don't know what is.
That brings me to my second point: the importance of good relations between Israel and the United States. Some believe that if America wants to gain credibility in the Muslim world and advance the cause of peace, Washington needs to put some distance between itself and Israel. My view is the opposite. Far from making peace more possible, we are making hostilities more certain. Far from making things better for the Palestinian people, sour relations between the United States and Israel guarantees that ordinary Palestinians will continue to suffer.
The peace we all want will come when Israel feels secure - not when Washington feels distant.
Right now we have war. There are many people waging this war. Some blow up cafes. Some fire rockets into civilian areas. Some are pursuing nuclear arms. Some are fighting the soft war, through international boycotts and resolutions condemning Israel. All these people are watching the U.S.-Israeli relationship closely.
In this regard, I was pleased to hear the State Department's spokesman clarify America's position yesterday. He said that the United States recognizes "the special nature of the Israeli state. It is a state for the Jewish people." This is an important message to send to the Middle East. When people see, for example, a Jewish prime minister treated badly by an American president, they see a more isolated Jewish state. That only encourages those who favor the gun over those who favor negotiation.
Ladies and gentlemen, back in 1937, a man named Vladimir Jabotinsky urged Britain to open up an escape route for Jews fleeing Europe. Only a Jewish homeland, he said, could protect European Jews from the coming calamity. In prophetic words, he described the problem this way: "It is not the anti-Semitism of men," he said. "It is, above all, the anti-Semitism of things, the inherent xenophobia of the body social or the body economic under which we suffer."
The world of 2010 is not the world of the 1930s. The threats Jews face today are different. But these threats are real. These threats are soaked in an ugly language familiar to anyone old enough to remember World War II. And these threats cannot be addressed until we see them for what they are: part of an ongoing war against the Jews.
- - -
P.S.
Conrad Black also weighs in.
(Kippah tip: SoccerDad and Huff-Watch)
^
Academic Anti-Israel Mobilization
Two academics claim:-
Based on this, they further claim:-
From that, they continue:
And then it is another step for them to conclude:
The authors are Nancy Kanwisher, professor of neuroscience at MIT and Anat Biletzki, professor of philosophy at Tel Aviv University and Quinnipiac University. Biletzki is a far-out leftist post-Zionist activist. She supported Azmi Bishara, suspected spy and Arab nationalist. Israel Academic Monitor provides a lot of background (start here).
Nancy pinch-hits for Hamas.
But who needs that?
Simple knowledge of Jewish history will inform you that even Jabotinsky backed off from transfer, at least until 1939,
but it didn't help: the Arabs defined their anti-Zionist struggle as inherently violent.
Let's not forget the PLO Covenant:
in addition to all we know of pre-state terror as well as the Jewish method - buying land.
Again, academic mobilized ideological anti-Israel political garbage masquerading as science.
- - -
Check here
and here
and here.
- - -
Most Israelis see Palestinians as inherently, fundamentally, uncontingently hostile, wishing only to “throw us into the sea.’’ Similarly, Palestinians see Israel as unshakably determined to expel them from their land.
Based on this, they further claim:-
We found that the violence on each side is not arbitrary. Instead, a few days after Palestinians kill Israelis, Israel retaliates by killing Palestinians, and in the few days after Israel kills Palestinians, the number of rockets fired into Israel increases. Thus, both Palestinians and Israelis are more likely to attack after they themselves have been attacked.
From that, they continue:
These findings refute the common view that because the conflict results from the immutably hostile character of the foe, there is nothing either side can do to stop it. Our data suggest that the conflict is not the inevitable result of the fundamentally violent character of either Israelis or Palestinians. Instead, the violence of each side is at least in part contingent on the behavior of the other side.
And then it is another step for them to conclude:
Even Israelis who lament the occupation of Palestinian lands often argue that it is necessary for Israeli security, a view that is reinforced by the Israeli perception of Palestinian violence as inevitable. But our finding that Palestinian violence arises in response to Israel’s behavior suggests instead that ending the occupation of Palestinian land is not a painful concession that Israel should make in exchange for something else, but a step that is in Israel’s own narrow self interest.
The authors are Nancy Kanwisher, professor of neuroscience at MIT and Anat Biletzki, professor of philosophy at Tel Aviv University and Quinnipiac University. Biletzki is a far-out leftist post-Zionist activist. She supported Azmi Bishara, suspected spy and Arab nationalist. Israel Academic Monitor provides a lot of background (start here).
Nancy pinch-hits for Hamas.
But who needs that?
Simple knowledge of Jewish history will inform you that even Jabotinsky backed off from transfer, at least until 1939,
I am reputed to be an enemy of the Arabs, who wants to have them ejected from Palestine, and so forth. It is not true. Emotionally, my attitude to the Arabs is the same as to all other nations – polite indifference. Politically, my attitude is determined by two principles. First of all, I consider it utterly impossible to eject the Arabs from Palestine. There will always be two nations in Palestine – which is good enough for me, provided the Jews become the majority. And secondly, I belong to the group that once drew up the Helsingfors Programme , the programme of national rights for all nationalities living in the same State. In drawing up that programme, we had in mind not only the Jews, but all nations everywhere, and its basis is equality of rights.
but it didn't help: the Arabs defined their anti-Zionist struggle as inherently violent.
Let's not forget the PLO Covenant:
Article 9: Armed struggle is the only way to liberate Palestine. This it is the overall strategy, not merely a tactical phase. The Palestinian Arab people assert their absolute determination and firm resolution to continue their armed struggle and to work for an armed popular revolution for the liberation of their country and their return to it. They also assert their right to normal life in Palestine and to exercise their right to self-determination and sovereignty over it.
Article 10: Commando action constitutes the nucleus of the Palestinian popular liberation war. This requires its escalation, comprehensiveness, and the mobilization of all the Palestinian popular and educational efforts and their organization and involvement in the armed Palestinian revolution.
in addition to all we know of pre-state terror as well as the Jewish method - buying land.
Again, academic mobilized ideological anti-Israel political garbage masquerading as science.
- - -
Check here
and here
and here.
- - -
Thursday, October 14, 2010
A Dialogue - Of Sorts
Received:
Shalom to Israeli Academia Monitor,
Here are some comments in response to your recent post titled: "Oren Yiftachel's involvement in the new boycott attempt of South African academics against Ben-Gurion University":
1. I appreciate the generous publicity you have given my articles. As you know, they draw on rigorous research published in leading academic journals, and indeed expose a problematic reality where human rights are regularly abused in Israel/Palestine. This research is conducted in the name of the (universal, academic and Jewish) values of truth and justice.
2. 'Truth' however appears somewhat problematic your own post. I regret that you continue to spread misinformation. For example, contrary to what you wrote, I have had nothing to do with the current moves of Johannesburg University to end ties with Ben-Gurion University, of which I am a proud faculty member.
3. Further, your sloppy standards caused you to misquote part of my work. Because you (surprisingly?) relied on al-Ahram instead of going to the widely available original, your post wrongly accredited to me a statement:
"It was expected Israeli behavior and an extension of Zionist policy that believes in the annihilation of the Palestinian people, and erasing their history and existence. It ignores the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people, which they are entitled to, and not out of Israeli charity. [...]"
The original article however states the following, in English and Hebrew:
"… we can also see it as the continuation of the Israeli territorial project which has adopted a consistent and cruel goal - the erasure of Palestinian time, that is, the full recent history of this land. This erasure … With this destruction comes the annihilation of political powers, those existing by right, and not as a result of some Israeli 'generosity'."
For verification see:
http://www.ynet.co.il/articles/0,7340,L-3652051,00.html
http://greenwomansdream.blogspot.com/2009/02/gaza.html
I expect that, as before, you retract your inaccurate comments and apologize to your readers about the misinformation.
Mo'adim Lesimcha,
Prof. Oren Yiftachel
Ben-Gurion University
----------
Dear Prof. Yiftachel,
1. First, we should thank you and your colleagues for making IAM a valuable source of information to be used in future research.
2. As long as you do not make us aware of your official request from Al Ahram to correct their report we cannot accept your denial. In addition, we provided two more examples of your work, but you chose to ignore them.
3. Below you will find extracts from extensive research done by The Institute for Zionist Strategies. I have only picked the parts dealing with you, a prominent and influential post-Zionist within the Israeli academic Community. To sum it up, you claim that Israel is not a democracy and is engaging in "creeping apartheid." Such fallacies serve as a basis for people to boycott Israel.
4. I note that this past April you went to the University of Johannesburg to lecture on "creeping apartheid," together with Ali Abunimah, who is a BDS supporter and the co-founder of electronicintifada.com. Don't you understand that speaking in South Africa on alleged Israeli "creeping apartheid" you provide fuel for those who then attempt to boycott your own university? I have searched everywhere to see whether you published something which opposes BDS, and I failed to find anything. Have you written a letter to the proponents of the boycott in Johannesburg urging them not do so? If you can refer me to such a publication, I would be only too happy to publish it.
Yours sincerely,
Dr. Mordechai Kedar IAM Chairman.
Shalom to Israeli Academia Monitor,
Here are some comments in response to your recent post titled: "Oren Yiftachel's involvement in the new boycott attempt of South African academics against Ben-Gurion University":
1. I appreciate the generous publicity you have given my articles. As you know, they draw on rigorous research published in leading academic journals, and indeed expose a problematic reality where human rights are regularly abused in Israel/Palestine. This research is conducted in the name of the (universal, academic and Jewish) values of truth and justice.
2. 'Truth' however appears somewhat problematic your own post. I regret that you continue to spread misinformation. For example, contrary to what you wrote, I have had nothing to do with the current moves of Johannesburg University to end ties with Ben-Gurion University, of which I am a proud faculty member.
3. Further, your sloppy standards caused you to misquote part of my work. Because you (surprisingly?) relied on al-Ahram instead of going to the widely available original, your post wrongly accredited to me a statement:
"It was expected Israeli behavior and an extension of Zionist policy that believes in the annihilation of the Palestinian people, and erasing their history and existence. It ignores the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people, which they are entitled to, and not out of Israeli charity. [...]"
The original article however states the following, in English and Hebrew:
"… we can also see it as the continuation of the Israeli territorial project which has adopted a consistent and cruel goal - the erasure of Palestinian time, that is, the full recent history of this land. This erasure … With this destruction comes the annihilation of political powers, those existing by right, and not as a result of some Israeli 'generosity'."
For verification see:
http://www.ynet.co.il/articles/0,7340,L-3652051,00.html
http://greenwomansdream.blogspot.com/2009/02/gaza.html
I expect that, as before, you retract your inaccurate comments and apologize to your readers about the misinformation.
Mo'adim Lesimcha,
Prof. Oren Yiftachel
Ben-Gurion University
----------
Dear Prof. Yiftachel,
1. First, we should thank you and your colleagues for making IAM a valuable source of information to be used in future research.
2. As long as you do not make us aware of your official request from Al Ahram to correct their report we cannot accept your denial. In addition, we provided two more examples of your work, but you chose to ignore them.
3. Below you will find extracts from extensive research done by The Institute for Zionist Strategies. I have only picked the parts dealing with you, a prominent and influential post-Zionist within the Israeli academic Community. To sum it up, you claim that Israel is not a democracy and is engaging in "creeping apartheid." Such fallacies serve as a basis for people to boycott Israel.
4. I note that this past April you went to the University of Johannesburg to lecture on "creeping apartheid," together with Ali Abunimah, who is a BDS supporter and the co-founder of electronicintifada.com. Don't you understand that speaking in South Africa on alleged Israeli "creeping apartheid" you provide fuel for those who then attempt to boycott your own university? I have searched everywhere to see whether you published something which opposes BDS, and I failed to find anything. Have you written a letter to the proponents of the boycott in Johannesburg urging them not do so? If you can refer me to such a publication, I would be only too happy to publish it.
Yours sincerely,
Dr. Mordechai Kedar IAM Chairman.
An Obama Peretz Put-down
Marty Peretz:
And he continues:
Don't you just love it?
-
Notice how President Obama has ensnarled the always precarious peace process with his fixation on one house here, ten houses there in this and that Jewish settlement.
And he continues:
Look: the president is not smart on foreign policy, not smart at all. Why doesn’t he just stick to domestic matters on which his wisdom may, at least, be debatable.
Don't you just love it?
-
And They Complain About "Fanatical, Religious Settlers"
They ought to check into this in Georgia:
That's Shiloh in the US.
Not my Shiloh in Israel.
Doesn't seem too outlandish in either place.
.
‘Hallowed’ youth worship service to be held Oct. 31 at Third Shiloh
Transforming Life Ministries will sponsor its eighth annual “Hallowed Be Thy Name” youth worship service on October 31 at 4 p.m. at the Third Shiloh Center. Presentations from youth will cover substance abuse prevention, red ribbon week, a finale event, and much more.
That's Shiloh in the US.
Not my Shiloh in Israel.
Doesn't seem too outlandish in either place.
.
So, Who Is The Guilty Party?
A description of the current situation by Mustafa Barghouthi, a member of the Palestinian Legislative:-
And who is responsible?
Could it be occasional Arab terror?
Perhaps an inherent Arab inabaility to get their act together?
Maybe even an unwillingness to make peace that would allow Israel to exist?
Nope.
He claims:
Unbelievable that this op-ed was accepted for publication.
.
...[an] Israeli “partner” now also boasts a general public that has shifted dramatically to the right, and to which an apartheid system for Palestinians has become an acceptable norm.
On the other side is the Palestinian Authority — one that paradoxically holds little real authority, and exists as a sort of fiefdom within the Israeli matrix of control. Further debilitating the P.A. is a protracted internal Palestinian division, total dependence on foreign aid and a decline of democracy and human rights. Finally, the Palestinian Authority is constantly pressured to provide security for its occupier while failing to provide any protection whatsoever to its own people from that same occupier.
And who is responsible?
Could it be occasional Arab terror?
Perhaps an inherent Arab inabaility to get their act together?
Maybe even an unwillingness to make peace that would allow Israel to exist?
Nope.
He claims:
How did we get here? The answer, in large part, has to do with the continued and unabated construction of settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem in the 17 years since the Oslo agreement.
In this time, the number of settlers has increased by 300 percent and the number of settlements doubled...About 60 percent of the West Bank and 80 percent of water resources have been consumed...
We have reached, and probably surpassed, that critical point at which any more settlements mean the death of the two-state solution.
Unbelievable that this op-ed was accepted for publication.
.
Now We Have "Burkha Rage"
Reported:
Oh, oh.
.
'Burka rage' teacher faces jail in France after ripping off Muslim woman's face veil
A retired teacher is facing three years in prison for ripping off a Muslim’s face veil in the world’s first known case of ‘burka rage’. The 63-year-old woman, so far only referred to by her first name Marlene, appeared before the Paris Correctional Court to defend her attack on Shaika, 26, who originally comes from the United Arab Emirates.
The happened in February when both women were out shopping in an upmarket suburb of the French capital, with Marlene claiming: ‘For me the wearing of the veil is an aggressive act, there is no burka in my country.’
The case comes at an extremely sensitive time as France has just banned the burka and the niqab following an impassioned public debate more than two years.
Marlene, who is accused of aggravated violence, is said to have ‘lost control’ when she saw Shaika choosing furniture in a department store.
‘I knew I would crack one day,’ said Marlene. ‘This whole saga of the burka was really getting to me.’
Speaking in English to her victim, Marlene, who has taught in Morocco and Saudi Arabia, said: ‘I told her to take off the veil she had on her face. I grabbed and pulled it. ‘To me wearing a full veil is an attack on being a woman. As a woman, I felt attacked.’
Oh, oh.
.
Another Reason To Come On Out to YESHA
It's cheaper.
Read:
P.S.
Watch this.
- - -
Read:
Israel, despite perennial fears of war, has emerged as one of the hottest - and least likely - property markets in the world: Since real estate collapsed around the globe in 2008, at least one industry watchdog lists it as the fastest-rising property market on earth.
...In the span of months, the central bank has raised interest rates several times and the government is rallying to build new units in this land-strapped country.
"The housing market has set off enough crises, and we're not going to let that happen in Israel," Bank of Israel Governor Stanley Fischer said earlier this month in announcing his sixth rate hike in just over a year.
According to Global Property Guide, a trade magazine that monitors the housing market, Israeli housing prices in the second quarter of 2010 rose sixth-fastest in a ranking of 36 countries...For Israel, where high-tech and science are booming businesses, the property price spike is the latest claim to fame. But it's one officials aren't boasting about, given ample evidence of how an imploding bubble can shatter decades of economic growth.
P.S.
Watch this.
- - -
Understatement of the Week
^
Sent to me:
Maen Rashid Areikat, Palestine Liberation Organization representative to the United States, was interviewed by USA TODAY's Editorial Board. Check this:-
We did that???
- - -
(Kippah tip: BT)
Sent to me:
Maen Rashid Areikat, Palestine Liberation Organization representative to the United States, was interviewed by USA TODAY's Editorial Board. Check this:-
Question: What is the status of the talks?
Answer: We are doing our best to try to salvage this process. It is unfortunate that the Israelis have managed to succeed in distracting all the attention from the overall picture to the issue of the settlements.
We did that???
- - -
(Kippah tip: BT)
To Ascend
Tuesday night I attended an assembly to encourage ascent to ther Temple Mount.
Here's MK Tzipi Hotoveli:
Here's a video I found, as well, with additional photographs.
The truth is that it wasn't well attended. Last year, it was packed out.
. . .
Here's MK Tzipi Hotoveli:
Here's a video I found, as well, with additional photographs.
The truth is that it wasn't well attended. Last year, it was packed out.
. . .
Construction Chutzpah
Look at that, the first house of the left:
Not only is construction in the Jewish communities ongoing, but someone is already adding a second floor to a new house not yet finished!
What chutzpah!
Not only is construction in the Jewish communities ongoing, but someone is already adding a second floor to a new house not yet finished!
What chutzpah!
Will Hamas Be Next?
Reported:
So, will Israel find itself being forced to confer with Hamas?
But knowing Hamas, they'd never do that, even under US pressure.
- - -
United States-led forces are permitting the movement of senior Taliban leaders to attend initial peace talks in Kabul, the clearest indication of American support for high-level discussions aimed at ending the war in Afghanistan, senior NATO and Obama administration officials said.
While the talks involve senior members of the Taliban, officials emphasized that they were preliminary, and that they could not tell how serious the insurgents — or the weak government of President Hamid Karzai — were about reaching an accord.
So, will Israel find itself being forced to confer with Hamas?
But knowing Hamas, they'd never do that, even under US pressure.
- - -
This Friday: Defending Jewish Olive Trees
There'll be a march from Kol-Tzion to Adei-Ad and olive groves this Friday, 9:30 AM.
Jewish olive trees have been attacked, destroyed, damaged.
The world, via ther media, thinks only Arabs have olive trees and only them suffer.
- - -
Why No Antipathy and Why Not Interlopers
In Why Israel Won't Abandon the Settlers, Yossi Klein Halevi suggests that while once it was the kibbutzim that produced the nation's combat elite. Now it is the West Bank settlements communities.
After touching on the issue of the HaYovel neighborhood in Eli, near my home in Shiloh, Klein writes:
He then continues and deals with the issue of Zionist identity, in a sense:
And then he comes in with the punch-line:
- - -
After touching on the issue of the HaYovel neighborhood in Eli, near my home in Shiloh, Klein writes:
Increasingly, Israel's military elite is coming from West Bank settlements and, more broadly, from within the religious Zionist community that produced the settlement movement and passionately supports it.
Perhaps 40% of combat officers are now religious Zionists (not to be confused with ultra-orthodox Haredim), nearly three times their percentage in the general population...Once it was kibbutzim, or collectivist farms, that produced the nation's combat elite. Now it is the religious Zionist community that raises its sons to sacrifice...The prominence of religious Zionists in the Israel Defense Force (IDF) explains in part why the prospect of a West Bank withdrawal is so traumatic to policy makers and to IDF commanders. If the army is sent to dismantle settlements in the West Bank—as it did in Gaza in 2005—there is the very real threat of widespread disobedience and the collapse of entire units.
He then continues and deals with the issue of Zionist identity, in a sense:
The "settler" has assumed a near demonic image around the world, but most Israelis know that only a radical fringe is responsible for uprooting Palestinian olive trees and vandalizing mosques. Most settlers are part of the mainstream. Israelis encounter them in the army, in the workplace, and in the universities...Crucially, few Israelis regard settlers as interlopers on another people's land. The political wisdom of the settlement project is intensely debated here, but only a leftwing fringe denies the historic right of Jews to live in what was the biblical heartland of Israel.
And then he comes in with the punch-line:
But given the absence of a credible Palestinian partner able to deliver a majority of his people for a compromise Israelis could live with, the public will continue to avoid a traumatic confrontation with settlers that could rupture the military and lead to civil war...if the international community wants to understand why the Israeli public doesn't share its antipathy toward the settlers or its urgency to uproot settlements, a good place to begin is with Mr. Barak's effort to legalize two houses on a West Bank hilltop.
- - -
Who Said That About Muslim Denial of the Holocaust?
Do you know who said this?
Muslims, immams (!), being taught that the Protocols of the Elders of Zion are true? In the 21st century?
That was Hannah Rosenthal.
Hannah is United States Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Anti-Semitism and her remarks were said as a Briefing Held by Congressman Keith Ellison in Washington, DC on September 22, 2010.
She was referring to her attempt to learn from Muslim religious leaders how it is that Holocaust denial can be growing in so many Muslim circles.
Read them all.
- - -
Earlier today we were at the US Holocaust Memorial Museum. We viewed the important exhibit there of the Protocols of the Elders of Zion, the 19th century forgery that claims the Jews are conspiring to take over the world. The Protocols are still being taught in several countries; one of the imams on the trip had been taught it is truth. We have all discussed how devastatingly harmful the Protocols have been and we plan to address that at a national meeting of the Islamic Society of North American (ISNA).
Muslims, immams (!), being taught that the Protocols of the Elders of Zion are true? In the 21st century?
That was Hannah Rosenthal.
Hannah is United States Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Anti-Semitism and her remarks were said as a Briefing Held by Congressman Keith Ellison in Washington, DC on September 22, 2010.
She was referring to her attempt to learn from Muslim religious leaders how it is that Holocaust denial can be growing in so many Muslim circles.
Read them all.
- - -
Wednesday, October 13, 2010
Anachronistic Terminology
From the LA Times:-
Wow, "settlements" existed 10,000 years ago?
But was it a "Jewish settlement"?
The real news, though, there:-
- - -
Reporting from Jericho, West Bank —
Imagine you turned 10,000 years old — and nobody showed up at your birthday party.
That's a bit how they're feeling in the ancient West Bank city of Jericho, believed to be one of the world's oldest continually inhabited settlements.
Wow, "settlements" existed 10,000 years ago?
But was it a "Jewish settlement"?
The real news, though, there:-
Like much in the West Bank, Jericho's birthday fete appears to have fallen victim to inadequate finances, poor organization and political infighting. City officials said they received no funds to prepare. A planning committee fell into disarray as members and chairpersons kept changing. And a publicity firm was not even hired until 10 days before the event.
"Unfortunately, we've been late in everything," sighed Jericho city spokeswoman Weaam Iriqat.
- - -
Who Are The "Inhabitants"?
Akiva Eldar writes:
Without serving as a supporter of the Camp David Accords, far from that actually, nevertheless, I would suggest to Eldar that he neverthtless has a problem.
You see, in the 1978 Camp David Accords, you'll find this section:
As anyone can read, the ethnic/national identity of the "inhabitants" is not defined leaving open, in theory, the participation of any Jew resident in the area (unlike Abbas' current position of apartheid). "All the parties" also includes Israel, which has a stake in not having Jews expelled from the territory of its their national homeland, regrdless of the political regime in place.
What would Eldar respond?
- - -
...The former head of Etzel did not heed his comrades from the underground and gave back to Egypt all the territory that Israel had conquered in June 1967.
The preamble to the Camp David Accords, signed on September 19, 1978, states that "future negotiations between Israel and any neighbor prepared to negotiate peace and security with it are necessary for the purpose of carrying out all the provisions and principles of [UN Security Council] Resolutions 242 and 338." Begin crossed the Rubicon by setting a precedent that in return for peace, normalization and security arrangements, Israel interprets these instructions and principles into a pullout from the last centimeter of territory.
Moreover, Begin promised at Camp David, in connection with a permanent settlement of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip issue, that "the solution from the negotiations must also recognize the legitimate right of the Palestinian people and their just requirements." Begin referred to "the Arabs of the Land of Israel," which President Jimmy Carter confirmed that Begin informed him Israel considers synonymous with "Palestinians" and "Palestinian people." The leader of the "national camp" did not demand and did not receive an Egyptian recognition of Israel as the state of the Jewish people...
Without serving as a supporter of the Camp David Accords, far from that actually, nevertheless, I would suggest to Eldar that he neverthtless has a problem.
You see, in the 1978 Camp David Accords, you'll find this section:
A. West Bank and Gaza
1. Egypt, Israel, Jordan and the representatives of the Palestinian people should participate in negotiations on the resolution of the Palestinian problem in all its aspects. To achieve that objective, negotiations relating to the West Bank and Gaza should proceed in three stages:
1. Egypt and Israel agree that, in order to ensure a peaceful and orderly transfer of authority, and taking into account the security concerns of all the parties, there should be transitional arrangements for the West Bank and Gaza for a period not exceeding five years. In order to provide full autonomy to the inhabitants, under these arrangements the Israeli military government and its civilian administration will be withdrawn as soon as a self-governing authority has been freely elected by the inhabitants of these areas to replace the existing military government. To negotiate the details of a transitional arrangement, Jordan will be invited to join the negotiations on the basis of this framework. These new arrangements should give due consideration both to the principle of self-government by the inhabitants of these territories and to the legitimate security concerns of the parties involved.
As anyone can read, the ethnic/national identity of the "inhabitants" is not defined leaving open, in theory, the participation of any Jew resident in the area (unlike Abbas' current position of apartheid). "All the parties" also includes Israel, which has a stake in not having Jews expelled from the territory of its their national homeland, regrdless of the political regime in place.
What would Eldar respond?
- - -
Korb, Pollard and Weinberger
Lawrence Korb was assistant secretary of defense when Jay Pollard was arrested
- -
“Based on my first-hand knowledge, I can say with confidence that the severity of Pollard’s sentence is a result of an almost visceral dislike of Israel and the special place it occupies in our foreign policy on the part of my boss at the time, Secretary of Defense Caspar Weinberger,” Korb wrote Obama two weeks ago in a letter released to the press on Tuesday.Source
“Secretary Weinberger submitted two affidavits to the court in order to convince the judge to give Pollard a harsher sentence than the one requested by the government, despite Pollard admitting guilt, plea bargaining and cooperating with the government,” he added. “The government committed to not seeking a life sentence but due to the Weinberger affidavits, the redacted version of which I have read, Mr. Pollard received a disproportionate life sentence.”
Pollard called Korb’s letter “an unprecedented breakthrough in my case” and “the golden key to my jail cell.”
Korb gave the Pollards the green light to release the letter so the key would be put squarely in Netanyahu’s hand to seek his release.
- -
Another Non-Published Letter of Mine
^
Roger Cohen declares Iran's Ahmadinejad "odious but I don’t think he’s dangerous" but asserts that Israeli and U.S. alarmism is "a dangerous pattern" ("Iran, the Paper Tiger", Oct. 12). Are these two instances of danger value-equal? Iran might have a nuclear weapon of mass destruction and is actively engaged in achieving that goal. Iran is in an aggressive mode, the U.S. and Israel are in a defensive one. Yet Cohen assumes the role of a leveller for Ahmadimejad. Perhaps Cohen is the danger?
- -
Roger Cohen declares Iran's Ahmadinejad "odious but I don’t think he’s dangerous" but asserts that Israeli and U.S. alarmism is "a dangerous pattern" ("Iran, the Paper Tiger", Oct. 12). Are these two instances of danger value-equal? Iran might have a nuclear weapon of mass destruction and is actively engaged in achieving that goal. Iran is in an aggressive mode, the U.S. and Israel are in a defensive one. Yet Cohen assumes the role of a leveller for Ahmadimejad. Perhaps Cohen is the danger?
- -
I Stand Corrected
Mere Rhetoric was absolutely correct.
Although I had raised doubts, Danial Levy
a. expressed the view that the creation of the state of Israel, and not only the way it was created, i.e., Arab claims of a Nakba, was wrong.
b. indicated that the sole justification for the creation of Israel in 1948 was the historical moment at that time which was the result of the Holocaust.
Go here and listen to the video.
Daniel Levy represents "progressive Zionism", J Street and all the other idiocy that passes for being a self-labelled "pro-Israel" person.
Daniel is not a Zionist.
He's full of crap.
Although I had raised doubts, Danial Levy
a. expressed the view that the creation of the state of Israel, and not only the way it was created, i.e., Arab claims of a Nakba, was wrong.
b. indicated that the sole justification for the creation of Israel in 1948 was the historical moment at that time which was the result of the Holocaust.
Go here and listen to the video.
Daniel Levy represents "progressive Zionism", J Street and all the other idiocy that passes for being a self-labelled "pro-Israel" person.
Daniel is not a Zionist.
He's full of crap.
The Olive Tree Campaign Has Begun in Earnest
I just yesterday had to deal with that "poison chemical" story, and now the New Yoor Times weighs in with a big piece.
Before dealing with Kershner's hatchet job, let's see what the Int'l Red Cross thinks about the situation after last year's harvest:
I would suggest that "thousands" is not only an exaggeration but simply untrue. Nevertheless, the IRC is not concerned about "major" problems.
But the NYTimes is, or is making a major problem. They dealt with the area around Shiloh which has been in the center of this theme ("settlers destroy/burn/cut down/poison Arab olive trees" - and you rarely hear the reverse which happens often - "Arabs destroy Jewish olive tree saplings") for over 20 years now. Same Arabs even. And same old stories.
Here is the entire NYTimes' story
My comments, concise and even terse:
a) A buffalo? That I'd like to see.
b) if trees were poisoned, if, then that's stupid. the soil also would be tainted and noe trees could be grown there. why do that?
c) if she had spoken to me, I would have gotten her a reaction from Adei-Ad. As it is, there isn't balance in the story, especially and she herself writes in quite a circumspecy manner.
d) yes, land ownership is a problem. proof not only of ownership but of taxes paid, of evidence of tilling, etc. is hard to come by. the Arabs just took over and expect everyone to believe, that as conquerors and occupiers, they have more rights than the Jews to whom the land was guaranteed by international law in 1922.
e) olive trees are not only a "Palestinian emblem". Kershner could have started with the Bible and the uses of olives and olive oil for Jews for over 3000 years. that also is steadfatedness.
f) she doesn't mention the Achiyah Olive Press Factory. Too bad. They've planted over the past few years more than 5000 saplings, new, that were partially damaged by our Arab neighbors and are producing close to 10% of all Israel's olive oil. That story isn't fit for the NYTimes news department.
g) the land upon which Adei-Ad sits is the land that in 1982 was assigned to Shiloh, Greater Shiloh if you wish. The same for Givat Achiyah, Keidah, Esh-Kodesh and Shvut Rachel.
h) one more point: the villages of Turmos-Aya and Al-Mughyer have been a source of terror including murder, shootings, fire-bombs, rockthrowing, destruction of property, theft and more. Just you should know.
Same basic story appears in the Washington Post. There, at least Joel Greenberg spoke to two reps from the local Jewish revenants although unlike Kershner, who only had Rabbis for Human Rights included, he also included a statement from Yesh Din.
(Thanks to SoccerDad for the referral)
Oh, and here's the NYTimes map at that story, minus any Jewish community:
P.S.
I might be updating this if I get more info.
_____________________
UPDATE
I forgot the fire that Arabs caused recently that destroyed some 60 dunams of agricultural land.
And I have been informed that over this past weekend, some 150 kilograms of olives were stolen, presumably by Arabs, who also destroyed many branches from an olive grove owned by a Jewish supporter of Shiloh from New York.
- - -
Before dealing with Kershner's hatchet job, let's see what the Int'l Red Cross thinks about the situation after last year's harvest:
25-11-2009 Interview
Harvesting olives in the West Bank: not as simple as it sounds
In the occupied West Bank, an estimated 10 million olive trees help some 100,000 families to make ends meet. For a number of years, the harvest has been hampered by restricted access. Tom Glue, who coordinates the ICRC's economic security programme in the territory, explains.
...What can you tell us about this year's harvest?
The harvest took place without major incident, which is an improvement on previous years. The Palestinian and Israeli authorities jointly coordinated Palestinian farmers' access to restricted areas around settlements and behind the West Bank barrier. The ICRC monitored the harvest but never had to take action as it did in previous years, for example when gates leading to olive groves remained shut.
It has to be said, though, that it was marred by the fact that thousands of trees were cut down or burned earlier in the year by settlers. In addition, Palestinian farmers in some areas were required for the first time to apply for permits to enter their lands behind the barrier. About 400 such applications were made for the southern part of the West Bank and fewer than half were approved. In most cases where applications were denied, the Israeli authorities argued that the farmers did not hold valid land-ownership documents.
I would suggest that "thousands" is not only an exaggeration but simply untrue. Nevertheless, the IRC is not concerned about "major" problems.
But the NYTimes is, or is making a major problem. They dealt with the area around Shiloh which has been in the center of this theme ("settlers destroy/burn/cut down/poison Arab olive trees" - and you rarely hear the reverse which happens often - "Arabs destroy Jewish olive tree saplings") for over 20 years now. Same Arabs even. And same old stories.
Here is the entire NYTimes' story
October 12, 2010
In West Bank, Peace Symbol Now Signifies Struggle
By ISABEL KERSHNER
TURMUS AYA, West Bank — Palestinians from villages like this one in the West Bank governorate of Ramallah still remember when the olive harvest was a joyous occasion, with whole families out for days in the fall sunshine, gathering the year’s crop and picnicking under the trees.
“We considered it like a wedding,” said Hussein Said Hussein Abu Aliya, 68.
But when Mr. Abu Aliya and his family from the neighboring village of Al-Mughayer — 36 of them in all, including grandchildren — drove out to their land this week in a snaking convoy of cars and pickup trucks with others from Turmus Aya, they found scores of their trees on the rocky slopes in various stages of decay, recently poisoned, they said, by Jewish settlers from an illegal Israeli outpost on top of the hill.
Branches drooped, the once lush, silver-green leaves were turning brown and the few olives still clinging on, which should have been plump and green or purple by harvest time, were shriveled and black. Dozens of trees nearby that Mr. Abu Aliya contended were similarly poisoned with chemicals last year stood like spindly skeletons, gray and completely bare.
Religious Jewish settlers consider the West Bank, which Israel captured from Jordan in the 1967 war, as their biblical birthright. For the 2.5 million Palestinians of the West Bank, it constitutes the heartland of a future independent state. While the Americans and Palestinians wrangle with the Israeli government over continued Israeli construction in the West Bank settlements — an issue that has stalled the embryonic peace talks — the competition for control of each acre of land here is being played out day by day.
And the olive tree, an ancient symbol of peace and plenty that has also long been a Palestinian emblem of steadfastness and commitment to the land, has increasingly become a symbol of local, almost intimate, struggle and strife.
Husniya al-Araj, 60, said she was born in a cave nearby, in an orchard of olive and almond trees. But when she reached her family lands this week, she cried out in shock. She pointed to a newly plowed field in front of her that she said was part of her family property, but that seemed to have been taken over by the settlers. It was now surrounded by a shiny new barbed-wire fence and planted with young vines.
Mahmud Ahmad Hazama, a relative who takes care of the Araj family property, said the barbed-wire fence went up in July. Folded in his wallet was a handwritten record of every change and every complaint Mr. Hazama had made to the Israeli Army and police since 1995.
“They ask me for documents,” he said. “We have all of them. The last thing they asked for was a topographic map.” He said he had received no answers so far.
Micky Rosenfeld, an Israeli police spokesman, said the police were aware of the problems. Every complaint is investigated, he says, but sometimes the culprits turn out not to be settlers, and sometimes there is not enough evidence to know. In some cases, the complaints do lead to arrests of settlers, he says.
Tamar Asraf, spokeswoman for the Binyamin Council, which represents the settlers in this region, said that for the most part the olive harvest passes peacefully, but that there were Palestinians and settlers who cause damage to one another. “We condemn them both,” she said.
Mr. Hazama’s relatives, like many other families, found their olive trees intact but empty of fruit. They argued that the olives must have been stolen by settlers, though they had no proof.
In other villages to the north, like Yanoun, Jit and Imatin, olives were stolen from hundreds of trees in the past few days, according to Rabbis for Human Rights, an Israeli organization that helps Palestinians farm lands in trouble spots year-round.
This was the first time the villagers of Turmus Aya and Al-Mughayer had been able to have access to their lands in six months. To do so, they need permission and protection from the Israeli Army, for a few days for plowing in springtime and a few days for picking in the fall. In the past, unprotected visits to the land ended with many stories of attacks by extremist settlers and burned cars.
This time, soldiers were guarding the villagers from the hilltop where the outpost, Adei Ad, sits. Three soldiers in khaki uniforms were sitting under one of Mr. Abu Aliya’s trees, almost camouflaged among its iridescent leaves while mountain gazelles sprang across the hills.
Adei Ad was established in the late 1990s on state and private Palestinian land, according to Israeli records. Though it was established without any official authorization, the Israeli Ministry of Housing and Construction provided financing for some of the infrastructure.
About 30 families live in trailers at Adei Ad, which has been scheduled for removal for seven years. The settlers have now put up an “eruv,” an elevated string on poles that encircles a community and allows observant Jews to carry objects within the proscribed area on the Sabbath. Mr. Abu Aliya has no idea what the string is for, but he says it runs right through his land.
This year, the harvest was less of a celebration, and more a show of perseverance. The Palestinian Authority governor of the Ramallah district, Laila Ghannam, joined the olive pickers and ate breakfast with the mayor of Turmus Aya under a tree.
“Our presence here is proof that this is our land and we will never give it up,” she said.
Members of a new unit from the authority’s Ministry of Agriculture were also out in the fields with notebooks, documenting the villagers’ complaints and counting the poisoned trees. They took samples of wilting branches to send to an Israeli laboratory for testing in the hope that the results could be used as future evidence in an Israeli court.
Mr. Abu Aliya, who has lost about half of his 300 olive trees, made a promise. “The moment the settlers leave,” he said, “I’ll make a big celebration. I’ll slaughter a buffalo.”
My comments, concise and even terse:
a) A buffalo? That I'd like to see.
b) if trees were poisoned, if, then that's stupid. the soil also would be tainted and noe trees could be grown there. why do that?
c) if she had spoken to me, I would have gotten her a reaction from Adei-Ad. As it is, there isn't balance in the story, especially and she herself writes in quite a circumspecy manner.
d) yes, land ownership is a problem. proof not only of ownership but of taxes paid, of evidence of tilling, etc. is hard to come by. the Arabs just took over and expect everyone to believe, that as conquerors and occupiers, they have more rights than the Jews to whom the land was guaranteed by international law in 1922.
e) olive trees are not only a "Palestinian emblem". Kershner could have started with the Bible and the uses of olives and olive oil for Jews for over 3000 years. that also is steadfatedness.
f) she doesn't mention the Achiyah Olive Press Factory. Too bad. They've planted over the past few years more than 5000 saplings, new, that were partially damaged by our Arab neighbors and are producing close to 10% of all Israel's olive oil. That story isn't fit for the NYTimes news department.
g) the land upon which Adei-Ad sits is the land that in 1982 was assigned to Shiloh, Greater Shiloh if you wish. The same for Givat Achiyah, Keidah, Esh-Kodesh and Shvut Rachel.
h) one more point: the villages of Turmos-Aya and Al-Mughyer have been a source of terror including murder, shootings, fire-bombs, rockthrowing, destruction of property, theft and more. Just you should know.
Same basic story appears in the Washington Post. There, at least Joel Greenberg spoke to two reps from the local Jewish revenants although unlike Kershner, who only had Rabbis for Human Rights included, he also included a statement from Yesh Din.
(Thanks to SoccerDad for the referral)
Oh, and here's the NYTimes map at that story, minus any Jewish community:
P.S.
I might be updating this if I get more info.
_____________________
UPDATE
I forgot the fire that Arabs caused recently that destroyed some 60 dunams of agricultural land.
And I have been informed that over this past weekend, some 150 kilograms of olives were stolen, presumably by Arabs, who also destroyed many branches from an olive grove owned by a Jewish supporter of Shiloh from New York.
- - -
Tuesday, October 12, 2010
Look Who Are Guests of the US State Department
Found here:
At the arrow you can read these names:
James Zogby, President of the Arab American Institute;
Amin Tarzi, Director of Middle East Studies at the Marine Corps University; Leon Hadar, research fellow at the Cato Institute;
Jonathan Alterman, Director and senior fellow at the Middle East Program of the Center for Strategic International Studies;
and
Thomas Mattair, Executive Director of the Middle East Policy Council
Do you think this is a balanced and pluralistic list of speakers?
^
At the arrow you can read these names:
James Zogby, President of the Arab American Institute;
Amin Tarzi, Director of Middle East Studies at the Marine Corps University; Leon Hadar, research fellow at the Cato Institute;
Jonathan Alterman, Director and senior fellow at the Middle East Program of the Center for Strategic International Studies;
and
Thomas Mattair, Executive Director of the Middle East Policy Council
Do you think this is a balanced and pluralistic list of speakers?
^
Exactly Who Is Dangerous?
Read this first:-
And then ask yourselves, who really is the danger:
a) Iran
b) the U.S.
c) Israel
d) Roger Cohen
- - -
Ahmadinejad is odious but I don’t think he’s dangerous. Some people do of course find him dangerous, especially in the Israel he gratuitously insults and threatens, and yet others — many more I’d say — find it convenient to find him dangerous.
...I read with interest in a recent piece by my colleagues John Markoff and David Sanger that “in the past year Israeli estimates of when Iran will have a nuclear weapon had been extended to 2014.” Given that various Israeli leaders have predicted that Iran would have a bomb in 1999 or 2004 or just about every year since 2005, that’s a decade and a half of the non-appearing wolf at the door...Still there is a dangerous pattern here of Israeli and U.S. alarmism...
Cool heads are needed...U.S. intelligence agencies hold that Iran has not made the decision to build a bomb; any “breakout” decision would be advertised because the I.A.E.A. would be thrown out...The Islamic Republic is a study in muddle but lucid over a single goal: self-preservation.
So there’s time...
Yes, Ahmadinejad is the bogeyman from Central Casting...Iran is a paper tiger, a postmodern threat...
And then ask yourselves, who really is the danger:
a) Iran
b) the U.S.
c) Israel
d) Roger Cohen
- - -
Wall Posters
Downtown Jerusalem and the Lightrail
Jaffa Street at Zion Square looking north:
Jaffa Street at Zion Square looking south:
I'm thinking it will be very dangerous for pedestrians with no proper sidewalks or barriers.
- -
Jaffa Street at Zion Square looking south:
I'm thinking it will be very dangerous for pedestrians with no proper sidewalks or barriers.
- -
Arabs Are Upset and Angry
Here is a link to an Arab-language site, connected to Sheikh Raad Salah.
They seem to be upset and angry over a conference/assembly this evening on the theme of ascending to the Temple Mount.
By the way, it's tonight, at Heichal Shlomo hall in Jerusalem at 7 PM.
And here's a link to a Temple Mount blogweb site (in Hebrew) on the theme of ascent.
And here's the promotional ad:-
- - -
They seem to be upset and angry over a conference/assembly this evening on the theme of ascending to the Temple Mount.
By the way, it's tonight, at Heichal Shlomo hall in Jerusalem at 7 PM.
And here's a link to a Temple Mount blogweb site (in Hebrew) on the theme of ascent.
And here's the promotional ad:-
- - -
"Right" Is Not Only Right But Correct
Found here:-
And look who is upset about lies - the lying head of J Street:
- - -
Dershowitz also had a heated encounter with another [CAMERA] conference presenter, Melanie Phillips, later in the day.
The fierce critic of radical Islam and author of Londonistan outlined what she termed “a mass derangement, a complete departure from reason altogether over the issue of Israel.”
She said the trend goes beyond “conventional” explanations like anti-Semitism to being part of “a much wider repudiation of reason, particularly among people on the Left who consider themselves to be progressive,” including on issues such as global warming and the war in Iraq.
Dershowitz objected to her tying the issue of Israel to a set of stances associated with one part of the ideological spectrum, which he contended would alienate the very college students he and others hoped to reach.
“Don’t you think that the worst way to try to get young people to support Israel is to give them a litmus test on global warming?” he asked to applause. “You’re turning Israel into an extreme, rightwing-driven agenda issue, and that’s not Israel.”
Phillips countered, also to applause, that Dershowitz was in essence saying that “right-wing is a synonym for ‘don’t listen to her, don’t go there, she shouldn’t even be on the platform.’ I don’t think that’s an enlightened way to behave. I don’t think it’s helpful.”
She continued, “The suggestion that I can’t possibly influence young Jewish people to have a more sympathetic, helpful attitude towards Israel because they will be so upset by all these terrible right-wing things that I’m saying presupposes that no young person could possibly agree with me. I have to tell Professor Dershowitz, I’m sure he’ll be horrified to learn this, that a very large number of people do.”
And look who is upset about lies - the lying head of J Street:
Dershowitz enumerated several “lies” that he said campus detractors frequently used against Israel, including that it doesn’t want peace, that it is risking US soldiers’ lives in the Middle East and that it has one of the worst human rights records in the world.
“One of the lies that facilitates these lies on college campuses is that J Street is a pro-Israel organization,” he charged. “That has become a tragic, tragic lie on American campuses.”
He seized on the recent revelations that billionaire financier George Soros – whom Dershowitz described as unwilling to support pro-Israel organizations – as shedding doubt on the credibility of the organization’s claim to support Israel.
In response, J Street executive director Jeremy Ben-Ami said that he was “gravely disappointed” with Dershowitz’s “spiral of halftruths and outright lies.”
“These ad hominem attacks hardly befit a professor at Harvard Law School, but the real tragedy here is that his nonsense distracts attention from the dire choices Israel now faces and turns off a whole new generation to pro- Israel activism.”
- - -
On The Shiloh Fire
From Arutz 7:-
P.S.
Not the fire in Shiloh, Florida
...a fire...threatened to wreak irreparable damage at the site of the Biblical era temple at Shiloh. The fire was sparked by a failure in electrical cables that were in use for maintenance work on Highway 60, the major north-south highway in Judea and Samaria. The Arabs, who were working on building projects at the adjacent town of Shiloh, joined the Jewish firefighters and battled thick smoke for two hours until they were able to overcome the fire.
It reached the site of the ancient Tabernacle, which served as the temporary Temple and stood for 369 years before being destroyed...The presence of Arabs, who risk their lives by even working for Jewish employers despite new Palestinian Authority legislation outlawing the practice, demonstrated the ability of both Jews and Arab to join forces, when not threatened by terrorist groups, Shiloh residents said.
...The fire burned bushes and shrubbery, but the firefighters, aided by a single fire truck, were able to save most of the trees in the area. The blaze spread quickly because the trees were still dry from the long and hot summer.
The volunteers used rubber brooms as the flames licked their feet and blistered their hands. One Jewish firefighter said, “This amazing experience serves as a reminder that given the chance, local inhabitants can overcome major obstacles working together...
P.S.
Not the fire in Shiloh, Florida
Monday, October 11, 2010
Sometimes, A Refusal Ain't Bad
A Jewish state, a state of the Jewish people, whatever. They don't want it:-
And Erekat went further:-
Nothing to do? But of course it does.
Here's Prime Minister Netanyahu:
The Arabs can't except that.
It's not about borders.
It's not the communities in Judea and Samaria aka "settlements".
Those are just the peripheries.
"Jewish" is the essence.
- - -
Spokesman Nabil Abu Rdainah told Reuters, "The issue of the Jewishness of the state has nothing to do with the matter.”
PA negotiator Saeb Erekat told the French news agency AFP, "This order has nothing to do with the peace process or with the obligations that Israel has not implemented. This is completely rejected.”
And Erekat went further:-
"We forcefully reject all these Israeli games," said Erekat. "The racist demands of Netanyahu cannot be tied to the request to cease building in the settlements for the purpose of establishing a state."
Nothing to do? But of course it does.
Here's Prime Minister Netanyahu:
In 1896, Herzl wrote in his book, “The Jewish State”: “The Jews who are seeking a state will have a state. Finally, we will live as free people on our own land.”...David Ben-Gurion wrote in his diary: “The state that will be established will be Jewish in its purpose, designation and objective; not a state of those Jews who reside in the country but a state for the Jews, for the Jewish People. In 1992, in the Basic Law: Human Dignity and Liberty, the Knesset determined the following: “...to establish in a Basic Law the values of the State of Israel as a Jewish and democratic state.”
Members of Knesset, the State of Israel is, therefore, both the nation-state of the Jewish people and a democratic country for all its citizens, Jews and non-Jews alike, enjoying full equal rights...The combination of these two values – a Jewish state and a democratic state – expresses the foundation of our existence and the essence of the State of Israel.
The Arabs can't except that.
It's not about borders.
It's not the communities in Judea and Samaria aka "settlements".
Those are just the peripheries.
"Jewish" is the essence.
- - -
That "Poison Spray" Story
And I didnt even know about it but Elder updated me:-
On a Friday night? The Shabbat?
Chemicals?
----------
Zionist settlers damage olive trees using chemicals
Zionist settlers destroyed tens of fruitful olive trees in Al-Mughir town, northeast of Ramallah, on Friday after spraying them with a chemical material. Local sources said that the settlers spoiled 55 olive trees using a white chemical material unknown to locals, adding that the material dries the trees and slowly kills them.
They noted that farmers could not reach the area, which is adjacent to a Zionist settlement, fearing attacks by those settlers.
In another location, Zionist settlers attacked tents pitched by shepherds in the Jordan Valley and damaged drinking water ponds for cattle, witnesses reported. They noted that the settlers infiltrated into the area under the cover of darkness on Friday night, adding that shepherds were not present at time of the attack.
On a Friday night? The Shabbat?
Chemicals?
----------
Aaron David Miller Is Getting Serious
Aaron David Miller, Jewish and former big gun at the State Department, penned an op-ed on Five Middle East Myths about Peace myths about Arab-Israeli peacemaking that cause the Obama administration's mediating role to be even more difficult. ("Middle East"? but he only deals with Israel)
and #3 is
Settlements are the main obstacle to peacemaking
and it goes like this:
Let's deconstruct that:
On the Israeli side, there is indeed no greater obstacle.
Excuse me, why should Jews residing in the area be an obstacle? Are Arabs living in Israel an obstacle?
For more than four decades, the construction of Jewish settlements in the West Bank has reshaped Israeli politics for the worse, humiliated Palestinians and made an already complex process even more complicated.
And prior to those four decades, when there were no communities or construction of same, everything was fine? There was peace. There wasn't any terror? The PLO didn't exist?
Or was there terror, first the fedayeen and then the Fatah of the PLO founded in 1964?
And why should Arabs be "humiliated"? That they tried to prevent the establishment of a Jewish National Home between 1920 and 1947? That they launched a war of extinction, there term, against the UN recommendation to establish a Jewish state between 1947-1949? That they terrorized it between 1949-1967? That they triggered the 1967 war?
And Israel's recent refusal to extend a moratorium on settlement construction has threatened to undermine the negotiations before they have a chance to get serious.
ADM, sir. The Arabs had almost 10 months to get serious. Are you serious?
Successive American administrations have not taken the settlement issue as seriously as needed. The U.S. line has always been the same: Getting to the negotiations is the only way Palestinians can address the settlement issue.
Like Jimmy Carter wasn't serious. Get serious ADM.
Even then-Secretary of State James Baker -- who took a tough line with the Israelis on settlements and occupation -- believed that negotiation was the only way to resolve this issue, saying to the Palestinians in 1991: "If you're asking that we send in the 82nd Airborne, forget it."
Ah, so ADM wants to use military force against Israel over the issue of civilian Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria? Well, yes, that would be serious.
But even if the settlement issue were resolved today, negotiations would still confront another galactic challenge: a crisis within the Palestinian national movement, with two authorities governing two discreet areas with two different security services, two different patrons and two different visions of the Palestinian future.
Gee, don't you feel sorry for this "people" who can't get their act together? ADM, with whom should Israel sit down?
The upshot of the battle between Hamas and the Palestinian Authority is that without a monopoly over the forces of violence in Palestinian society -- without one authority to silence the guns and rockets -- no agreement can be implemented.
So, maybe America sghould invade the Palestinain Authority in Judea and Samaria and the Gaza Strip?
Is ADMiller serious or plain crazy?
___________
and #3 is
Settlements are the main obstacle to peacemaking
and it goes like this:
On the Israeli side, there is indeed no greater obstacle. For more than four decades, the construction of Jewish settlements in the West Bank has reshaped Israeli politics for the worse, humiliated Palestinians and made an already complex process even more complicated. And Israel's recent refusal to extend a moratorium on settlement construction has threatened to undermine the negotiations before they have a chance to get serious.
Successive American administrations have not taken the settlement issue as seriously as needed. The U.S. line has always been the same: Getting to the negotiations is the only way Palestinians can address the settlement issue. Even then-Secretary of State James Baker -- who took a tough line with the Israelis on settlements and occupation -- believed that negotiation was the only way to resolve this issue, saying to the Palestinians in 1991: "If you're asking that we send in the 82nd Airborne, forget it."
But even if the settlement issue were resolved today, negotiations would still confront another galactic challenge: a crisis within the Palestinian national movement, with two authorities governing two discreet areas with two different security services, two different patrons and two different visions of the Palestinian future. The upshot of the battle between Hamas and the Palestinian Authority is that without a monopoly over the forces of violence in Palestinian society -- without one authority to silence the guns and rockets -- no agreement can be implemented.
Let's deconstruct that:
On the Israeli side, there is indeed no greater obstacle.
Excuse me, why should Jews residing in the area be an obstacle? Are Arabs living in Israel an obstacle?
For more than four decades, the construction of Jewish settlements in the West Bank has reshaped Israeli politics for the worse, humiliated Palestinians and made an already complex process even more complicated.
And prior to those four decades, when there were no communities or construction of same, everything was fine? There was peace. There wasn't any terror? The PLO didn't exist?
Or was there terror, first the fedayeen and then the Fatah of the PLO founded in 1964?
And why should Arabs be "humiliated"? That they tried to prevent the establishment of a Jewish National Home between 1920 and 1947? That they launched a war of extinction, there term, against the UN recommendation to establish a Jewish state between 1947-1949? That they terrorized it between 1949-1967? That they triggered the 1967 war?
And Israel's recent refusal to extend a moratorium on settlement construction has threatened to undermine the negotiations before they have a chance to get serious.
ADM, sir. The Arabs had almost 10 months to get serious. Are you serious?
Successive American administrations have not taken the settlement issue as seriously as needed. The U.S. line has always been the same: Getting to the negotiations is the only way Palestinians can address the settlement issue.
Like Jimmy Carter wasn't serious. Get serious ADM.
Even then-Secretary of State James Baker -- who took a tough line with the Israelis on settlements and occupation -- believed that negotiation was the only way to resolve this issue, saying to the Palestinians in 1991: "If you're asking that we send in the 82nd Airborne, forget it."
Ah, so ADM wants to use military force against Israel over the issue of civilian Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria? Well, yes, that would be serious.
But even if the settlement issue were resolved today, negotiations would still confront another galactic challenge: a crisis within the Palestinian national movement, with two authorities governing two discreet areas with two different security services, two different patrons and two different visions of the Palestinian future.
Gee, don't you feel sorry for this "people" who can't get their act together? ADM, with whom should Israel sit down?
The upshot of the battle between Hamas and the Palestinian Authority is that without a monopoly over the forces of violence in Palestinian society -- without one authority to silence the guns and rockets -- no agreement can be implemented.
So, maybe America sghould invade the Palestinain Authority in Judea and Samaria and the Gaza Strip?
Is ADMiller serious or plain crazy?
___________
Another "Take" On That Stonethrowing Ambush at Ir David
The video of the terrorist charging a civilian passenger vehicle with a young child inside while in the process of throwing a stone at the driver, along with five other terrorists doing the same, and getting upended, made media waves and probably even vibrations (I don't mean to be be too crude, but I am sure there were some anti-Zionists and anti-Semites who reached a level of hate orgasm on this).
Let's reframe that picture.
Think this way:
The kids were actually Jews and the person in the car was a middle-level Palestinian Authority official returning from a visit to Rawabi.
Now, to turn a phrase, do you get the picture?
Would the media get the picture? (see this)
It's not the violence, for that seems to be permitted, to be photographed, for photojournalists to stand on the side and wait along with the terrorists to get a good shot (pardon the pun).
For the term "occupation" is the turn-rod on this.
If you are "occupied", almost all is permitted. Actually all, because the world wants us to negotiate with Hamas now.
Just one frame. One take.
____
UPDATE
Haaretz can't make up its mind. "Allegedly"?:
(Kippah tip: DF)
- - -
Let's reframe that picture.
Think this way:
The kids were actually Jews and the person in the car was a middle-level Palestinian Authority official returning from a visit to Rawabi.
Now, to turn a phrase, do you get the picture?
Would the media get the picture? (see this)
It's not the violence, for that seems to be permitted, to be photographed, for photojournalists to stand on the side and wait along with the terrorists to get a good shot (pardon the pun).
For the term "occupation" is the turn-rod on this.
If you are "occupied", almost all is permitted. Actually all, because the world wants us to negotiate with Hamas now.
Just one frame. One take.
____
UPDATE
Haaretz can't make up its mind. "Allegedly"?:
(Kippah tip: DF)
- - -
Sunday, October 10, 2010
Where Is That Gate Exactly?
The UK Telegraph reports on a new gate in Jerusalem:
But Haaretz, no friend of Israel in Jerusalem, writes:
The Pals. go ballistic and also go wrong:-
Now the entire Western Wall Plaza 'belongs' to Al-Aqsa?
And what do we hear from across the Jordan River?
This:-
Inexact location reportage can cause a religious war, it seems although the Pals. penchant for propaganda over any semblance of truth is a contributory factor.
P.S.
The Telegraph reporter in Jerusalem, Adrian Blomfield, was the paper's Moscow correspondent since October 2005. Before that he was the East Africa correspondent.
- - -
Israeli plan to build a new Jerusalem gate condemned by Palestinian government
The Palestinian Authority has denounced a potentially explosive Israeli plan to build a gate in the Ottoman walls of Jerusalem's storied Old City as a provocative move that could undermine peace talks.
But Haaretz, no friend of Israel in Jerusalem, writes:
The new gate will be an entry to a tunnel that would be hewn through the rock under all the layers of the city, beginning between Zion Gate and Dung Gate, leading to a four-story parking garage under the current parking lot not far from the Western Wall.
The Pals. go ballistic and also go wrong:-
Palestinian minister of religious affairs Taleb Abu Sha'ar warned that a devastating war is likely to happen between Muslims and Jews as a result of Israel's escalating Judaization plans in occupied Jerusalem, the latest of which in Al-Buraq wall square, west of the Aqsa Mosque. In a statement on Wednesday, Abu Sha'ar said that the Israeli occupation authority (IOA) in Jerusalem declared a plan to widen and change many Palestinian places in the old city of Jerusalem, especially the opening of a new door in the wall of the old city.
Now the entire Western Wall Plaza 'belongs' to Al-Aqsa?
And what do we hear from across the Jordan River?
This:-
The Royal Jordanian Committee for Jerusalem affairs has warned of a Zionist plan aimed at gaining full geographic and demographic control of the area surrounding the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Occupied Jerusalem by displacing the Palestinian population and Judaising the identity and landmarks of the holy city. In a press statement the secretary general of the committee, Abdullah Canaan, said that the Occupation is working toward the implementation of the Judaisation policy in Jerusalem through wide scale excavations and implementation of several commercial and tourist projects...[including] tunnels and electric elevators on the land belonging to the Al-Buraq site and below it
Inexact location reportage can cause a religious war, it seems although the Pals. penchant for propaganda over any semblance of truth is a contributory factor.
P.S.
The Telegraph reporter in Jerusalem, Adrian Blomfield, was the paper's Moscow correspondent since October 2005. Before that he was the East Africa correspondent.
- - -
In His Humble Opinion
^
Amnon Avramovicz,
Channel Two Political Pundit
In the original Hebrew at 27 seconds.
- - -
Amnon Avramovicz,
Channel Two Political Pundit
"it appears to me that we can all agree that there is, in all the world, not even one two-legged being that believes the 'settlements' are good."
In the original Hebrew at 27 seconds.
- - -
The NYTimes Does Pamella Geller
.
Here.
So, shrug.
Oh, her connection to Israel is much more than just this:
But she responds:
Here.
Ms. Geller, with a coterie of allies, has helped set the tone and shape the narrative for a divisive national debate over Park51
So, shrug.
Oh, her connection to Israel is much more than just this:
During the Lebanon-Israel war later that year, Ms. Geller video-blogged from an Israeli beach, flicking water at the camera, arching her bikini-bared back provocatively and equating Palestinians with Hamas.
But she responds:
Won't Fort Lauderdale be surprised to find out that the Zionist war machine is now occupying Florida beaches? Richer still was their reference to "arching her bikini-bared back provocatively." Please. I was submerged in the water with my kids in the background. Talk about easily titillated! I never arched my back except to swim away. They've been spending too much time with the Taliban. And they fault me for equating Palestinians with Hamas. The Palestinians elected Hamas, but who cares?- - -
How Many Underaged Terrorists Are There In This Picture?
.
The video.
A while ago:
Rock Throwing in Ir David
Reported: 21:35 PM - Sep/23/10
The photographed event:
- - -
The video.
A while ago:
Rock Throwing in Ir David
Reported: 21:35 PM - Sep/23/10
The photographed event:
East Jerusalem resident David Be'eri, claiming he was ambushed by Arabs, injures 2 kids with car; "He felt his life was in danger,” Elad spokesman says.
- - -
Saturday, October 09, 2010
I Can't Understand Israel's Joy
Israel seems to be happy over this:-
But don't they realize that the Pals. have turned the tables?
Israel gave the Pals. 10 months to come to the negotiating table and froze construction in the Yesha communities. They only came after 9 months.
And now, Israel is in a time constraint of 30 days - or else.
And Mark Regev is serious?
This
should mean we should be building like crazy.
UPDATE
- - -
Israeli officials have expressed satisfaction with a decision by the Arab League to give the United States another month to save peace talks with the Palestinians from collapse. Arab foreign ministers meeting in Libya backed a Palestinian demand not to negotiate unless Israel extends a moratorium on settlement construction that expired two weeks ago. But Israel hopes that in the next month, the U.S. can hammer out a compromise.
"We are working very seriously with the United States to try to insure that the direct talks that started between us and the Palestinians continue," said Israeli spokesman Mark Regev.
But don't they realize that the Pals. have turned the tables?
Israel gave the Pals. 10 months to come to the negotiating table and froze construction in the Yesha communities. They only came after 9 months.
And now, Israel is in a time constraint of 30 days - or else.
And Mark Regev is serious?
This
under an emerging deal, Israel would extend the settlement freeze for two months in exchange for American security guarantees.
should mean we should be building like crazy.
UPDATE
Jerusalem fears pressure on PM will increase in Nov
Government officials say US pressure aimed at halting settlement construction will increase after midterm elections; Arab League's Follow-up Committee set to convene in a month to review alternatives proposed by Abbas
- - -
Providing Cover
As with Arik Ascherman, whose activities end up provoking Arabs to think that he is providing cover for them and, emboldened, they attack Jews, it is now happening in Ir David.
- - -
- - -
Getting to the Roots of the Problem
Reported:
If you're not an arborist, your should know that olive tree roots grow wider than the crown of the tree.
Here:
and deep, here:
So, cutting roots is really not only very difficult but nigh stupid. It takes too long and you can get caught quite easily.
P.S.
As for this:
Uniforms? Were those perhaps white shirts worn for the Shabbat?
- - -
Settlers ripped off branches and cut the roots of Palestinian olive trees in the West Bank village of Burin, residents said Saturday, as the yearly harvest of the important crop begins.
If you're not an arborist, your should know that olive tree roots grow wider than the crown of the tree.
Here:
[an] olive tree that will grow to be about 7 to 12 meters tall (up to 40 feet) and up to 4.7 meters (15 feet) wide.
The roots of a tree will grow BEYOND the mature crown, so if the hole is any closer then 2.5 meters (7 or 8 feet) to the building, that won't work. The more space between the mature crown of the tree and the building, the better and it is usually not recommended to plant a tree any closer to a building then 5 meters (15 feet).
and deep, here:
At the bottom a wide stump can grow sprouts even after the trunk has been cut, thus assuring the survival of the tree. The roots are fasciculate and with many surface ramifications which absorb most of the nourishment. They spread horizontally up to 2-3 times the height of the tree, and in the most fertile soils they run up to 1.5 - 2 meters (4.9 - 6.6 feet) deep.
So, cutting roots is really not only very difficult but nigh stupid. It takes too long and you can get caught quite easily.
P.S.
As for this:
Ghassan Doughlas, who holds the settlements portfolio for the northern West Bank, said 15 settlers wearing white uniforms threw stones at farmers harvesting olives
Uniforms? Were those perhaps white shirts worn for the Shabbat?
- - -
So, Now They'll Be Teaching About "Palestine" in Columbia
Reported:
Okay, I'll be concise in my reaction.
Is this to be a "no-Jews" center?
Is "Palestine" a state-to-be or a geographic territory?
If the second, who teaches about the Jews that came there, that lived there, that had stayed there for centuries, how they were treated by the majority Arab population and the various regimes - Roman, Persian, Byzantine, Arab, Crusdaer, Mameluks, Ottoman, British and Jordan?
Will there religious, cultural, agricultural, scientific, etc. accomplishments over the centuries be mentioned? The first printing press in the Middle East? Kabbalah?
And as for Columbia's Jews:
Oiy.
- - -
"Columbia launched the first-ever Center for Palestine Studies in the United States on Thursday night, and organizers said that, despite limited funds, they are pushing forward. The center, which will run out of the University’s Middle East Institute in Knox Hall, was created by a group of faculty with the goal of promoting and advancing Palestine studies in a wide range of subjects, from politics to the arts.
...The center was also created in honor of former professor Edward Said, who taught at Columbia for 40 years before his death in 2003 and is widely known for his book “Orientalism.”
...The goals of the center, which has been in discussion since late 2009, focus on the promotion of scholarship in Palestinian history, culture, arts, and literary studies. “One of the missions of the center is to inform people about the Palestinians in an academic setting,” said Bashir Abu-Manneh, an English professor at Barnard...details of its funding are not yet clear — a fact that caused concern among attendees at Thursday’s event...Rashid Khalidi, co-director of the center, said in a speech at the launch that the center has little funding thus far and is soliciting donations...Khalidi said that they are just starting to implement programs. “Our activities, that are almost all in the planning stage, include lectures, conferences, art screenings, and developing archives.”
For some students, the center is an opportunity to emphasize Palestinian studies in the classroom...
Okay, I'll be concise in my reaction.
Is this to be a "no-Jews" center?
Is "Palestine" a state-to-be or a geographic territory?
If the second, who teaches about the Jews that came there, that lived there, that had stayed there for centuries, how they were treated by the majority Arab population and the various regimes - Roman, Persian, Byzantine, Arab, Crusdaer, Mameluks, Ottoman, British and Jordan?
Will there religious, cultural, agricultural, scientific, etc. accomplishments over the centuries be mentioned? The first printing press in the Middle East? Kabbalah?
And as for Columbia's Jews:
“I think that this is a significant moment for Columbia University, if only because the lack of knowledge about Palestinians and Palestine is pervasive,” Yinon Cohen, a professor in the Institute for Israel and Jewish Studies, wrote in an email. “It is, I believe, precisely a center like this that can begin changing this reality.”
“It is so groundbreaking for the University as a whole,” said Aviva Buechler, BC ’11 and president of Columbia/Barnard Hillel. “With their mission of studying the history, culture, and politics of Palestine, I think it will really be a great experience for students to take part in.”
Oiy.
- - -
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