No Negotiations forPeace

No Negotiations forPeace

Powerline analyzes the two recent editorials an Obama's Israel-policy. The one in the New York Times is hopeful and supportive, whle recongnizing there's a problem. The one on the Washington Post is more critical, and contains a crucial point:

But the administration also is guilty of missteps. Rather than pocketing Mr. Netanyahu's initial concessions -- he gave a speech on Palestinian statehood and suggested parameters for curtailing settlements accepted by previous U.S. administrations -- Mr. Obama chose to insist on an absolutist demand for a settlement "freeze." Palestinian and Arab leaders who had accepted previous compromises immediately hardened their positions; they also balked at delivering the "confidence-building" concessions to Israel that the administration seeks. Israeli public opinion, which normally leans against the settler movement, has rallied behind Mr. Netanyahu. And Israeli-Palestinian peace negotiations, which were active during the Bush administration's final year, have yet to resume.

Rather damning, if you ask me: When George Bush was President talks between Israelis and Palestinians were intense, and eventually led Ehud Olmert to make concessions his voters never authorized him to make. The Palestinians, assuming Obama would win the elections in the US, saw no need to respond to Olmert's offer. That was in September, and now we're in August. Ten months have passed, seven of them with President Obama, and there are no talks underway at all.

Powerline doesn't see how Obama can fix things:

As a far more cogent editorial in the Washington Post explains, therein lies the folly of Obama's overbearing demands regarding settlements: it put him in a position where, to be seen in Israel as an honest broker, he now must act in ways that would undermine his status with the Arabs. Had he accepted Israel's concessions on settlements and not overreached, he would not have stumbled into this dilemma.

taken from Yaacov Lozowick's Ruminations

Israel Matzav: Obama: 'F**k the Jews, they're going to vote for us anyway'

Obama: 'F**k the Jews, they're going to vote for us anyway'

On Friday, I blogged the story of the despicable Mary Robinson receiving the Medal of Freedom, America's highest civilian honor. This is from Tevi Troy in The Corner.

Robinson’s record is well known to most Jews with even a passing familiarity with the Jewish media. It cannot be a surprise that honoring Robinson in this way would be anathema to the Jewish community. In addition, I know from having worked in the White House that these selections go through extremely careful vetting of public and non-public databases to make sure that they would not embarrass the president in any way. The staff secretary’s office, which clears all paperwork that goes to the president, would also make sure that all of the relevant offices sign off on important selections before they happen. The two most important sign offs on something like the Medal of Freedom would be the chief of staff’s office, now headed by Rahm Emanuel, and the senior advisor’s office, now run by David Axelrod. For the Obama White House to have made this selection could mean one of only two possibilities: that they did not vet and clear the candidates, which suggests a level of incompetence beyond even missing tax evasions by cabinet nominees. Uncaught tax evasion does not come up on Google; Robinson’s record does. The other, more likely, possibility is that they knew and did not care.

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Israel Matzav: Obama: 'F**k the Jews, they're going to vote for us anyway'

Israel Matzav: Aren't you glad the US is pressuring Israel?

Israel Matzav: Aren't you glad the US is pressuring Israel?

Israel Matzav: Human Rights Watch reports: Israel v. Hamas and Hezbullah

Human Rights Watch reports: Israel v. Hamas and Hezbullah

Noah Pollak looks at the number of reports Human Rights Watch has issued on Israel as compared with the number it has issued on the 'Palestinians' and Hezbullah and shows very clear bias.

From 2006 to the present, Human Rights Watch’s reports on the Israeli-Arab conflict have been almost entirely devoted to condemning Israel, accusing it of human rights and international law violations, and demanding international investigations into its conduct. It has published some 87 criticisms of Israeli conduct against the Palestinians and Hezbollah, versus eight criticisms of Palestinian groups and four of Hezbollah for attacks on Israel. (It also published a small number of critiques of both Israel and Arab groups, and of intra-Palestinian fighting.)

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Israel Matzav: Human Rights Watch reports: Israel v. Hamas and Hezbullah

Israel Matzav: Only Israeli bombs can save the Iranian regime says... Roger Cohen

Israel Matzav: Only Israeli bombs can save the Iranian regime says... Roger Cohen

Israel Matzav: NBC refuses to apologize for linking Neda Soltan to the al-Dura hoax

Israel Matzav: NBC refuses to apologize for linking Neda Soltan to the al-Dura hoax

Israel Matzav: Hamas sponsors mass wedding for little girls

Hamas sponsors mass wedding for little girls

Hamas sponsored a mass wedding on Wednesday night for '450 couples.'

Hamas dignitaries including Mahmud Zahar, one of the militant group's top leaders, were on hand to congratulate 450 grooms who took part in the carefully stage-managed event.

"We are saying to the world and to America that you cannot deny us joy and happiness," Zahar told the men, all of whom were dressed in identical black suits and hailed from the nearby Jabalia refugee camp.

Each groom received a present of 500 dollars from Hamas, which said its workers had also contributed five percent of their monthly salaries to add to the wedding gift.

The 450 brides shared none of the glamour, taking seats among the audience of around 1,000 party guests: most couples had already taken part in religious ceremonies elsewhere, with more marriages planned for the next few days.

"We are presenting this wedding as a gift to our people who stood firm in the face of the siege and the war," local Hamas strongman Ibrahim Salaf said in a speech.

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Israel Matzav: Hamas sponsors mass wedding for little girls

Israel Matzav: Mona Charen on George Gilder

Mona Charen on George Gilder

Mona Charen reviews George Gilder's The Israel Test, which I am now in the process of reading myself.

Israel has only recently become a technological and economic powerhouse. It got there after a protracted dalliance with socialism that gave Israel high unemployment, anemic growth, and inflation rates that reached 1000 percent in early 1985. Three catalysts changed everything: (1) the influx of 1 million vehemently anti-socialist immigrants from the former Soviet Union; (2) the addition of a far smaller but still consequential cohort of American Jewish immigrants who had business experience and expertise; and (3) economic reforms urged by Natan Sharansky and Bibi Netanyahu. The results, Gilder writes, were “incandescent.” He cites a 2008 Deloitte & Touche survey showing that in six key areas — telecom, microchips, software, biopharmaceuticals, medical devices, and clean energy — “Israel ranked second only to the United States in technological innovation.” Israel’s high-tech research and development puts it at the center of the information revolution. Intel’s microchips, Gilder notes, might as well be tagged “Israel Inside.”

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Israel Matzav: Mona Charen on George Gilder

Israel Matzav: Replace George Mitchell with ... George W. Bush

Replace George Mitchell with ... George W. Bush

This is an interesting idea that will never happen. Shmuel Rosner suggests making former President George W. Bush President Obama's special envoy to the Middle East.

I don't think this idea is a viable one - because the parties involved wouldn't be interested. Nonetheless, it's intriguing enough idea for me to mention it. It is from Gregory Levey's article in Newsweek:

[T]here is someone who does - someone who could use a job, someone who argued straightforwardly for a Palestinian state, and yet someone who has the implicit admiration and regard of Israel. President Obama needs a new envoy to the region who can get results - and George W. Bush is his man.

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Israel Matzav: Replace George Mitchell with ... George W. Bush

Israel Matzav: Human Rights Watch goes to bat for the Islamists

Human Rights Watch goes to bat for the Islamists

The Saudi money collected by Human Rights Watch has been put to use defending Islamists, albeit not in the Middle East. In Nigeria, a member of Boko Haram, an Islamist group likened to the Taliban in Afghanistan and Pakistan, has been shot dead while trying to escape police custody. And Human Rights Watch has already indicted, tried and convicted the police (Hat Tip: Norman B).

A BBC reporter in the city was among journalists shown two films, one apparently showing Mr Yusuf making a confession; the other showing what appeared to be his body, riddled with bullets.

"Mohammed Yusuf was killed by security forces in a shootout while trying to escape," the regional police assistant inspector-general, Moses Anegbode, told Nigerian television.

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Israel Matzav: Human Rights Watch goes to bat for the Islamists

Israel Matzav: Obama makes an obscene 'gesture' to the Jews

Obama makes an obscene 'gesture' to the Jews

President Barack Hussein Obama has finally decided to make a 'gesture' to Israel and the Jews. It's pictured at top left of this post.

The gesture comes in the form of the awarding of the Medal of Freedom to one-time United Nations 'Human Rights Commissioner' and President of Ireland Mary Robinson. At Contentions, Jennifer Rubin explains who Mary Robinson is and what she symbolizes (Hat Tip: Melanie Phillips).

You may remember her role in presiding over the infamous Durban I Conference. At the time she joined Rashid Khalidi at Columbia University (no, you can’t make this up), this report summarized the objections to her hiring, given her record in overseeing the infamous Israel-bashing event.

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Israel Matzav: Obama makes an obscene 'gesture' to the Jews

Israel Matzav: Finally: Israel aims to ban foreign funding of political NGO's

Finally: Israel aims to ban foreign funding of political NGO's

Fed up with foreign governments' efforts to influence Israel's political process through NGO financing, the government has finally decided to ban foreign funding of political NGO's.

One of the questions that will have to be addressed, according to an official involved in the discussions, is what constitutes a political NGO. While it seems that there is an obvious distinction between an organization like Hadassah, which funds hospitals, and one like Breaking the Silence, which has a perceived political agenda, the distinctions would have to be spelled out in legislation.

The discussion follows Post revelations that foreign governments are funding of Breaking the Silence, which last week added its voice to a number of NGOs that have issued scathing reports of the IDF's activities in Gaza during Operation Cast Lead.

Israel has already contacted the Dutch and British governments about their funding of the organization, and is expected to soon take up the matter with the Spanish government as well.

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Israel Matzav: Finally: Israel aims to ban foreign funding of political NGO's

Israel Matzav: America's pro-Arab Jerusalem policy

America's pro-Arab Jerusalem policy

Writing in the Los Angeles Times, Yisrael Medad points out that American policy on recognizing Israeli sovereignty in Jerusalem is even more biased toward the Arabs than is commonly believed.

U.S. policy toward Jerusalem has long tended toward the "denial" side of the equation. If an American living in Jerusalem gives birth to a child in either West Jerusalem or post-1967 East Jerusalem, for example, her progeny is not recognized by the U.S. as being born in Israel. The birth certificate and passport will list only a city name -- Jerusalem -- as the place of birth.

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Israel Matzav: America's pro-Arab Jerusalem policy

Israel Matzav: Progress? US briefs Israel on upcoming sanctions against Iran

Progress? US briefs Israel on upcoming sanctions against Iran

Haaretz reports that the Obama administration officials who were in Israel this past week briefed the Israeli government on proposed sanctions against Iran (Hat Tip: Save the GOP).

New sanctions would mainly aim to significantly curb Tehran's ability to import refined petroleum products. Despite its huge crude oil reserves, Iran has only limited refining capacity, so it imports large quantities of refined products such as gasoline.

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Israel Matzav: Progress? US briefs Israel on upcoming sanctions against Iran

Israel Matzav: US Consulate in Jerusalem: All 'Palestinians,' all the time

US Consulate in Jerusalem: All 'Palestinians,' all the time

Paul Mirengoff points to the home page of the US Consulate in Jerusalem, where every item on the page relates to the 'Palestinians' and none relates to Jews or Israelis. Paul calls it a fair reflection of where the Obama administration's sympathies lie and how it sees the city.

While Paul's assessment is correct, the problems with the Jerusalem consulate long precede the Obama administration. The consulate, which is located a stone's throw away from the former Mandelbaum Gate, which was the crossing point between Jordan and Israel between 1948 and 1967 (about the only thing that crossed there was the convoy to Mount Scopus that went through once every two weeks during that period), has long seen itself as the US embassy to the 'Palestinians.' It was seen that way 30 years ago when I was a yeshiva student here.

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Israel Matzav: US Consulate in Jerusalem: All 'Palestinians,' all the time

Israel Matzav: How the 'Palestinian' terror racket works

Israel Matzav: How the 'Palestinian' terror racket works

Israel Matzav: A shidduch?

Israel Matzav: A shidduch?

Israel Matzav: Israeli NGO takes battle against 'settlements' to the US

Israel Matzav: Israeli NGO takes battle against 'settlements' to the US

Israel's Report on the Gaza Operation

Israel's Report on the Gaza Operation

Israel has published a report on the Gaza Operation. It's apparently not final, since some of the IDF investigations have yet to be completed, but it deals with a whole plethora of issues, from law and international law to methods of waging war and civilian casualties.

The summary is here; the full report is here.

I intend to read it next week (164 pages), and then I'll come back and comment. I recommend other people join me in doing so. You also might want to see who in the media and blogosphere is relating to it and how.

Since I haven't read it I can't comment on its content. I do however look forward to people relating to its content in a rational way. Statements such as "this is Israeli propaganda, we know that in advance" are not helpful. If anyone reads it and can then explain why it's simply propaganda, I'm listening.

taken from Yaacov Lozowick's Ruminations

Responsibility to Protect

Responsibility to Protect

You'd think the idea that powerful nations ought to intervene to stop genocides would be a no-brainer. Of course, there's the problem that the sons (and daughters) of powerful nations need not necessarily pay with life or limb to clean up the worst messes humanity makes. That's a legitimate point. And you'd be sure to spot the danger that deciding where to intervene will always be subordinate to the politics of the matter. And of course, inevitably the malicious fools will demand intervention to stop Israel's genocide of the rapidly multiplying Palestinians.

Having said all that, however, I stand by my first statement, that stoping genocide is the right thing to do, even if it has been done only very rarely. My understanding is that it was even agreed upon at the United Nations back in the 1950s, when there was still some hope the United Nations might prove worth its electricity bills.

Apparently I was wrong. The UN is still haggling about the idea, and seems of a mind to drop it. If I follow the argument, it is that the likely candidates to stop genocide are the powerful, rich nations, while the genocidaires are often in poor, undevelped countries, and powerful-rich-vs-poor-undeveloped, poor and undeveloped always have the moral high ground. Or some such argument. Noam Chomsky is at the forefront of the people who'd prefer mass death to American actions to save lives.

Just for the record, by the way: one of the few cases I can think of where outside powers intervened to stop a genocide was in Cambodia. The Vietnamese invaded and stopped the slaughter, backed by the Chinese; most of the rest of the world condemned them for doing so. International politics can be a very strange place.

taken from Yaacov Lozowick's Ruminations

ESSER AGAROTH - Return To French Hill, part 2

Return To French Hill, part 2

Erev Shabbath Qodesh Parshath Wa'Ethhanan-"Nahamu" 5769

Here is the continuation of my story of the bomb attack I survived seven years ago.

Return To French Hill, part 1

Ensuing Aftermath
I got onto the bus in Jerusalem wearing the electric company clothes I was given that morning. More like pajamas than clothes, I did not understand the nurse's concern about my leaving the hospital in hospital clothes. I was grateful for them nonetheless.

I arrived in Ofra, getting off the bus with groceries in one hand, and a sack full of blood and guts infused clothes in the other. I walked the short distance home to my meguron (half a trailer). I had to change clothes; I needed to go to some funerals. I ended up going to only two, the ones held in Ofra for Kindergarten teacher No'a Alon hy"d and her five-year-old granddaughter Gal Eisenman hy"d (Ma'aleh Adumim). They were buried side by side.

I felt compeled to go to more funerals. I wanted to go to all seven of those who murdered. I especially wanted to go to Shmu'el Efraim Yerushalmi's hy"d funeral in Shilo. I taught school with his father Rav Avraham, and knew him well. I had to settle for a shiva' call the next week. I do not know what I was thinking. I did not have the energy to do anything, let alone travel around the country attending funerals.

That afternoon, I called my rav about my clothes. Should they be buried? Yes, he said. Call Ofra's rabbi for specific instructions. As instructed, I wrote a note on the plastic bag filled with my clothes, and left it on one of the benches at the town's cemetery, for the Hevrah Qadishah to deal with.

My friends the Levs in Ofra took care of me that weekend, to the degree that I was willing to let them. I went to the funerals with them, and then they gave me a ride back to Jerusalem that evening so that I could complete some errands which could not wait.

The next day was Friday. I went to work, but have no clue as to what I was thinking. In retrospect, I now see all of the subtle effects the trauma had on me, the effects on the quality and progression of thinking included.

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ESSER AGAROTH - Return To French Hill, part 2

Parshat Va’Etchanan: Seeing the Land

Parshat Va’Etchanan: Seeing the Land

July 31, 2009 · Filed Under Va'Etchanan, Weekly Parasha ·

Written by: Nathan Light

At the beginning of this week’s parshah, Moshe recounts before the Jewish nation how he begged Hashem (God) to allow him to enter the land of Israel (previously, God decreed that Moshe was forbidden from entering, and Moshe was trying to rescind the decree). The following verse describes how Hashem answered him:

“…Do not continue to speak to Me further about this matter. Ascend to the top of the cliff…and see [the entire land of Israel] with your eyes, for you shall not cross this Jordan [river, to enter the land]” [Deuteronomy: 3: 26-27]

If you think about it, Hashem’s reply was rather taunting. Let’s use an example to bring forth our problem: Let’s say you were fasting for a day. Your friend, who wasn’t fasting, surely knew how badly you were thirsting for food. How would you react were he to hold up a piece of pie in your face and say “Hey buddy, I know you can’t eat this right now, but I’ll let you look at it for a while”? This would certainly force your mouth to salivate and increase your desire for food greatly, and the hardest part is that you wouldn’t even be able to satisfy that craving! There couldn’t be anything more annoying and irritating than that!

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Parshat Va’Etchanan: Seeing the Land

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Sefer Chabibi Deepest Torah: VAETCHANAN: TWO TABLETS- ONE LAW

VAETCHANAN: TWO TABLETS- ONE LAW

by Rabbi Baruch Binyamin Hakohen Melman

Why were the Ten Commandments given on two tablets? Why not just one? G*d could just have easily put them all down on just one big tablet, or he could have used a slightly smaller sized font.
After all, the finger of G*d, the etzbah elokim, comes in different sizes.

The two tablets represent the two essential revolutionary ideas of Judaism. One is that how we treat our fellow members of humanity is important, too. Religion is no longer the sole business of being nice to the Deity. Up until now there were many deities, and they were all lower case. G*d is symbolically stating that ethical behavior is on par with Deity worship.

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Sefer Chabibi Deepest Torah: VAETCHANAN: TWO TABLETS- ONE LAW