Israel Matzav: Sabbath music video

Sabbath music video

The Medrash says that two angels accompany each Jewish man home from the synagogue on Friday night. There is a good angel and a bad angel. The angels come into the house and see if the house is prepared for the Sabbath. Is the table set? Are candles lit? Is there wine for the Kiddush prayer and challoth (breads) for the meal? If all of these things are there, the good angel says "may it be God's will that it should be this way next week" and the bad angel is forced to answer "Amen." But if these things are not there, the bad angel says "may it be God's will that it should be this way next week" and the good angel is forced to answer "Amen."

When we come home from the synagogue, we sing a song whose four verses welcome the angels to our home, blessing them for coming in peace, asking them to bless us, and blessing them on their departure from our homes.

This happens to be the tune we sing in our house.

Let's go to the videotape.



Shabbat Shalom everyone.

Israel Matzav: Sabbath music video

Israel Matzav: Sabbath music video

Israel Matzav: Sabbath music video

Israel Matzav: Abu Bluff throws a birthday party

Abu Bluff throws a birthday party

'Moderate' 'Palestinian' President Mahmoud Abbas Abu Mazen threw a birthday party this week for one of his favorite women: Dalal al-Mughrabi, the perpetrator of the 1978 Coastal Road Massacre in which 37 civilians, including 12 children and US citizen Gail Rubin, were murdered. Mughrabi would have been 50 years old this past week.

This week Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas once again honored the memory of the terrorist Dalal Mughrabi - this time by sponsoring a ceremony celebrating the 50th anniversary of her birth. Mughrabi led the worst terror attack in Israel's history in 1978, when she and other terrorists hijacked a bus and killed 37 civilians. Present at the ceremony were Palestinian dignitaries and a children's marching band. Earlier this year, Abbas sponsored a computer center named after Mughrabi [at US taxpayer expense. CiJ].

The PA further glorified Mughrabi on the date of her birth when the Governor of Ramallah announced the naming of the "Dalal Mughrabi Square".

An article by Fatah spokesman Jamal Nazal in the official PA daily defined the terrorist Mughrabi as "the heroine of Palestine's heroines."
[Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, Dec. 30, 2009]

The text on the giant banner carrying Mughrabi's portrait at the birthday ceremony read:
"Under the auspices of President Mahmoud Abbas
The Political and National Education Authority
Ceremony on the anniversary of the birth of the bride of the cosmos
The Shahida (Martyr) Dalal Mughrabi."

Two PA TV news broadcasts focused on the celebration:
"Under the auspices of President Mahmoud Abbas, the Political and National Education Authority held a ceremony marking the 50th anniversary of the Shahida (Martyr) Dalal Mughrabi, commander of the Coastal Operation (i.e. hijacking of bus and killing of 37 civilians)."
[PA TV (Fatah), Dec. 29, 2009]

Read the whole thing.

Abu Mazen honoring terrorists is nothing new. Unfortunately, his financial benefactors (the United States and the European Union) either don't know, don't care or are happy that he Abu Mazen honors terrorists. Take your pick.

Peace? Not in our time.

Israel Matzav: Abu Bluff throws a birthday party

Israel Matzav: San Francisco anti-Israel demonstration shouted down by new group

San Francisco anti-Israel demonstration shouted down by new group

A new pro-Israel group called the Zionist Freedom Alliance shouted down a Leftist march commemorating the anniversary of Operation Cast Lead in San Francisco this week using a very simple tactic: They didn't apologize.

[T]his week the Zionist Freedom Alliance (ZFA) of Northern California, a new factor in the Bay Area Jewish scene with a much younger membership than other pro-Israel groups, joined SFV4I and for the first time succeeded in turning the tables on the anti-Israel demonstrators. Rather than talk about Israeli democracy, the Alliance assertively pushed a message of Jewish national rights to all territory between the Mediterranean Sea and Jordan River. Caught off balance by the unapologetic and forceful Zionist message, anti-Israel activists, although employing their familiar tactic of presenting Israeli policies in a negative light, found themselves unable to challenge the assertion of Jewish rights.

ZFA’s message was not only directed against the anti-Israel protestors across the square but also against the Barack Obama administration in Washington and its pressure on Israel to freeze Jewish construction in Judea and Samaria. And while many of SFV4I’s members were visibly appreciative of the fresh and proudly Zionist message put forward by the younger ZFA activists, the organization’s leadership was initially apprehensive about working together.

“Our position is simple,” said Michael Harris of SFV4I. “We stand in support of a Jewish democratic state of Israel. We take no position on issues such as settlements, various peace proposals including final borders, et cetera, as those are for the elected government of Israel to decide... [However] some of ZFA’s positions are in direct opposition to the policies of all of the recent governments of Israel and that can confuse people who don't understand the issue very well.”

The more conservative SFV4I organizers were initially concerned that the Alliance was going to “hijack” their event and told Israel National News that they will not allow their “events [to be] taken over by those who want to push a particular political agenda.” But once it became clear how effective ZFA activists were in cowing their anti-Israel opponents while at the same time educating passersby to the justice of Jewish rights, SFV4I became more appreciative and welcoming to the new group.

Read the whole thing. There's a message here for all of us (and if anyone was there and has pictures or video, please send them).

Israel Matzav: San Francisco anti-Israel demonstration shouted down by new group

Israel Matzav: What's more important than electability?

What's more important than electability?

Adam Graham discusses the one thing that's more important for a Presidential candidate than being electable. Being able to govern. While the column deals with the current White House incumbent, it is equally applicable to any leader anywhere. In fact, it's why Prime Minister Netanyahu is far more popular and successful right now than his American counterpart.

Congressman John Conyers (D-Michigan) is expressing his frustration, saying he’s tired of “covering Obama’s can,” and has some pointed advice: “The president could take a few pages from Lyndon Johnson’s book … and start knocking heads together.”

Conyers is wrong — the president can’t. During his four years in the U.S. Senate (which he spent running for president), Obama didn’t acquire the legislative “skills” Lyndon Johnson did during ten years as a member of the Senate leadership. If the Democrats had wanted someone who would be effective moving legislation, they picked the wrong guy. They picked a solid candidate who could excite crowds and raise money. They didn’t choose someone who could make good decisions and move bills.

What’s the lesson for Republicans in 2012? Simply put, the goal of the nominating process is not to pick a good candidate; it’s to pick a good president. The problem with political folks is we tend to imagine the presidential campaign as the Super Bowl of politics, when it isn’t even opening day.

...

There are three basic questions conservatives should ask themselves:

Does the candidate have a coherent agenda that will make the country better?

Does the candidate have the necessary skills to get his agenda passed?

Does the candidate have the ability to make executive decisions?

Obama fails on all counts.

Read the whole thing.

Israel Matzav: What's more important than electability?

Israel Matzav: Norwegian foreign minister endorses anti-Israel propaganda book

Norwegian foreign minister endorses anti-Israel propaganda book

Three months ago, I reported that the Norwegian media had given a standing ovation to Drs. Mads Gilbert and Erik Fosse, who had spent Operation Cast Lead at Hamas' headquarters at Shifa Hospital in Gaza. Gilbert wrote a book about the experience, which was being promoted to the journalists (pictured with the book).

Now, the Norwegian Foreign Minister, Jonas Gahr Store, has praised the book, which accuses Israel of perpetrating a "monstrous, systematically implemented and comprehensive massacre." Israel's Deputy Foreign Minister, Danny Ayalon, is outraged.

Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon told Haaretz that the book being endorsed by Jonas Gahr Store is "outrageous and borders on incitement made up of fabrication and lies."

"It is problematic that a representative of a democratic government is praising such things," Ayalon added.

A representative of Europe's Jewish community agrees:

Dr. Moshe Kantor, president of the European Jewish Congress, said he was "deeply disappointed" by Store's endorsement of "slanted and baseless libel." "Norway, which I hope will continue to live far away from terrorism, needs to know that such statements feed and assist the terrorists," Kantor said.

But Norway's Foreign Ministry defended the book and the Foreign Minister's jacket-cover review.

"As can be recalled, journalists and reporters were not allowed into Gaza," a spokesperson for the Norwegian foreign ministry said when asked about the back-cover praises which Store wrote for the highly controversial book.

"When war rages, civilians are made mute," Store wrote, adding that Fosse and Gilbert "told of what they saw. It was not their duty, but their responsibility. When military might fences out all voices, the few which remain become extra strong and important."

Some of you might recall that Israel's agreements with the 'Palestinians' are called the Oslo accords, because the initial negotiations took place under the Norwegian foreign ministry in Oslo. I would not expect the Norwegians to be involved in any future negotiations involving Israel for a long time to come.

Israel Matzav: Norwegian foreign minister endorses anti-Israel propaganda book

Israel Matzav: More on Israel's airport security

More on Israel's airport security

David Harris adds some interesting tidbits about Israel's airport security system.

Apropos, in a similar vein, after 9/11, when, on American flights, we were being handed plastic cutlery, flights from Israel continued to use stainless steel. Israel was less concerned with the symbols of apparent security - the "Mickey-Mouse stuff," as someone called it - and more focused on what constituted its real elements.

And even after successfully passing the security line, there's more to come, right up to the plane's interior, at least if it's El Al, where air marshals are deployed on every flight.

In fact, speaking of marshals, in 2001, Richard Reid, who was later to become the notorious shoe bomber, flew on El Al. According to a CBS news report, while the Israelis didn't have enough on him at the time to keep him off the plane, they were suspicious. They examined everything before he boarded and then, for good measure, placed a marshal in the adjoining seat. If he was on a scouting mission, he got the point and looked elsewhere.

To those who have never visited Israel, this may all sound as if it requires a full day, if not a week, before the actual flight. Not true. For the average passenger, the whole process moves quickly and with a minimum of personal inconvenience.

Of course, for travelers who have multiple visas from Yemen or Pakistan in their passports, look fidgety or distracted, become unnerved after the second question, try to buy a one-way ticket at the last minute with cash, show up with no luggage for an intercontinental journey, are wearing a heavy coat in summer, or display "attitude," it's likely to be a rather different story.

And this is the key. Israel understands that you need a security system that carefully scrutinizes everyone, as you can never tell who might be involved. Recall, for instance, the case of Anne Mary Murphy, the pregnant Irishwoman who, in 1986, planned to fly on El Al from London to Tel Aviv, thinking she was to meet her fiancé's Palestinian parents. Unbeknownst to her, he placed explosives in her suitcases, plotting the mid-air destruction of the plane carrying her and their unborn child. An alert El Al agent prevented disaster.

...

It's clear, even to the casual observer, that those responsible for security at Ben-Gurion Airport (and, no less importantly, for El Al flights traveling to Israel from airports around the world) see themselves on the front lines in the country's defense. It is a job, of course, but it's much more.

Each security official understands that the safety of the traveling public depends on the alertness and judgment exercised at every step of the elaborate process. Each recognizes that all this is not an abstraction, a distant prospect, but something very immediate.

Thus, as Israel has shown, it requires ongoing training and the capacity to anticipate the terrorists' next moves. Too often, we tend to employ an "after-the-fact' strategy, otherwise known as fighting the last war. That means a permanent effort to probe the potential vulnerabilities - and plug them up fast.

Read the whole thing.

Israel Matzav: More on Israel's airport security

Israel Matzav: Bound to fail sometimes?

Bound to fail sometimes?

Writing in the New York Times, David Brooks says that the anti-terror measures taken by the United States since 9/11 were 'bound to fail sometimes,' and decries many of the reactions to last week's attempt by Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab to blow up a plane over the skies of southern Canada and Detroit.

There have been outraged calls for Secretary Janet Napolitano of the Department of Homeland Security to resign, as if changing the leader of the bureaucracy would fix the flaws inherent in the bureaucracy. There have been demands for systemic reform — for more protocols, more layers and more review systems.

Much of the criticism has been contemptuous and hysterical. Various experts have gathered bits of Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab’s biography. Since they can string the facts together to accurately predict the past, they thunder, the intelligence services should have been able to connect the dots to predict the future.

Dick Cheney argues that the error was caused by some ideological choice. Arlen Specter screams for more technology — full-body examining devices. “We thought that had been remedied,” said Senator Kit Bond, as if omniscience could be accomplished with legislation.

Many people seem to be in the middle of a religious crisis of faith. All the gods they believe in — technology, technocracy, centralized government control — have failed them in this instance.

In a mature nation, President Obama could go on TV and say, “Listen, we’re doing the best we can, but some terrorists are bound to get through.” But this is apparently a country that must be spoken to in childish ways.

Sorry, but I don't buy that. The initial reaction that the 'system worked' was so ridiculous as to be contemptible. That reaction should have been "the system failed. We are lucky it did not fail more severely. We will investigate why it failed and make adjustments for the future."

The next reaction was for Obama to pretend that nothing had happened for four days. That was also absurd. You're the leader. Lead. Don't send a bunch of underlings to the plate. If Obama had held a 10-minute press conference Friday night and announced that he was returning to Washington to deal with the situation sometime over the weekend, it would have calmed a lot of the storm. But he didn't. He pretended that nothing had happened.

The outrage came later. The outrage was caused by facts coming to light about this terror attack (and yes, it was a terror attack even if all those people on the plane escaped unharmed) that the government may have tried (and seemingly did try) to suppress. Those facts included Abdulmutallab being on a list not to be allowed into England, a call from his father to US government agencies warning that he was likely to undertake a terror attack (which should have set bells and whistles ringing so loudly that he should never have been allowed to fly), his apparently having boarded the plane in Amsterdam without a passport(!), and the arrest of an as yet unidentified second person from the flight.

The outrage is directed at Napolitano's rank incompetence and unsuitability for the position that she holds and at President Obama's insistence on not only removing the term 'war on terror' from Washington's lexicon, but on pretending that the war itself no longer exists. The outrage is predicated on this administration's decision that there is no longer a need to fight a war on terror, which war was prosecuted vigilantly by the Bush administration from September 11, 2001 to January 19, 2009.

Two questions for Brooks: Would your reaction have been the same if that plane had gone down and three hundred people (if not more) had been killed? Second, if the system is 'bound to fail sometimes,' why (bli ayin hara - warding off evil eyes) doesn't it happen to the Israelis? What do they know that Obama and Napolitano don't? (Hint: It's been discussed at length on this blog and elsewhere over the past week, including in the pages of the New York Times).

As one of Obama's mentors would say, the chickens came home to roost last Friday. If nothing changes, we can look to more incidents like last Friday's happening in America's skies, probably with much deadlier consequences.

Israel Matzav: Bound to fail sometimes?

Israel Matzav: 'International Criminal Court' to claim jurisdiction over Goldstone Report?

'International Criminal Court' to claim jurisdiction over Goldstone Report?

The Israel Bar Association held a session on Thursday on the Goldstone Report and many of the speakers present believe that Israel will eventually find itself before the International Criminal Court over the blood libels contained in that report.

Daniel Reisner, former head of the IDF's international section, said that in the past he had not been concerned that the International Criminal Court (ICC) would accept a Palestinian complaint against Israel because the Palestinians did not represent a state. However, during the past year ICC prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo has not ruled out the possibility of investigating a Palestinian Authority complaint against Israel after reversing his own previous opinion that he was not authorized to do so.

"Suddenly, the ICC has turned into a potential threat," warned Reisner, who was one of the architects of Israel's policy not to have the military police investigate IDF soldiers suspected of involvement in the deaths of Palestinian civilians, a policy that has been in force since the beginning of the intifada in 2000. "If that happens, it will be a turning point in Israel's position in the world."

Earlier, Major-General Avihai Mandelblitt, the military advocate-general, told the audience of lawyers that he did not see a threat from the United Nations, even though the General Assembly is due in five weeks to hear a report on the progress Israel has made in investigating the war crime allegations included in the Goldstone Report.

Mandelblitt said that the army has investigated all of these incidents and will publish its findings soon. However, the Goldstone Committee has insisted that the investigations must not be carried out by the army.

Nevertheless, Mandelblitt said he believed that as Israel published its findings, pressure from the UN would decline.

Read the whole thing. There's been talk this week about the government setting up an independent commission to investigate the allegations once the army publishes its report. It would be chaired by former Supreme Court Chief Justice Aharon Barak. I'd be more comfortable with that idea if it were chaired by his predecessor, Meir Shamgar.

If there is no commission, you can expect that the 'Palestinians' and their allies will attempt to force us into the ICC, even though we never signed the Rome Treaty. If there is such a commission, it will make it much more difficult to justify dragging Israel into the court, even if at the end of the day the commission concludes no war crimes have been committed. But the precedent set by such a commission - which could lead to new commissions each time a terror master manages to get some civilians killed alongside him - would not allow the IDF to function normally.

Unfortunately, the Obama administration has taken a short-sighted approach, with a lot of talk about the US joining the ICC.

Brigadier General Avichai Mandelblit, mentioned above, believes that the Goldstone Report is aimed at Western countries fighting terror and not at Israel.

In his opening remarks, Mandelblitt charged that the true purpose of the Goldstone Report was not to attack Israel, "but against all countries fighting terrorism."

"The report is not aimed at Israel," he said. "It is aimed at the West, at any country fighting terrorism. It is meant to tie their hands and cause them to lose the wars."

This, he continued, was the main reason he opposed Goldstone's demand to conduct an independent investigation of the charges. He said that by refusing to comply, Israel was defending the West's war against terrorism.

He's mostly wrong about that. Israel is clearly the target this time, although the United States would likely be a target in the future. And while Israel may believe it is (and probably is) defending the West's war against terrorism, the current occupant of the White House doesn't believe there's a war on terror to be defended any more, and isn't going to give us any credit for defending it.

What could go wrong?

Israel Matzav: 'International Criminal Court' to claim jurisdiction over Goldstone Report?

Israel Matzav: The US wimps out on Iran

The US wimps out on Iran

December 31 has come and gone, and for those of you who were hoping for forceful action from the Obama administration on Iran, you can hurry up and wait. The 'crippling sanctions' we were promised - which weren't expected to have much effect anyway - aren't even going to be imposed.

The next step, according to Ambassador to the US Michael Oren, should be "imposing crippling sanctions" on the Teheran regime, which is in keeping with the pledge Oren said Obama made to Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu in May that the US would end the engagement phase toward Iran if it were unsuccessful by year's end.

Oren told The Jerusalem Post that "there isn't an Israeli view and an American view" on the Iranian question, but rather "one view."

However, the Obama administration is showing signs that its approach to sanctions might not be in line with the "crippling" measures that Israel is expecting. Instead, a more calibrated approach has been emerging in which the US would press for another UN Security Council resolution this month and look at targeted sanctions rather than at disrupting Iran's energy markets and other more broad-based moves.

In addition, the US has repeatedly stressed that the door to diplomatic engagement remains open, notwithstanding Obama's pledge to review the process at the end of the year.

"The United States remains committed to a diplomatic resolution to the international community's concerns regarding Iran's nuclear program," a State Department official told the Post Thursday, though he added, "Unfortunately, thus far, our efforts have been rebuffed."

He also said, "We would welcome Iran taking concrete steps to build confidence in the peaceful nature of its nuclear program," particularly by "Iranian acceptance of the IAEA's standing Teheran Research Reactor refueling proposal."

If nothing that's put on the table ever gets taken off, why shouldn't Iran continue to stall for more time to enrich?

At some point, Netanyahu is going to have to decide that enough is enough and that he's going to do something about it, or God forbid, we will all be irradiated. There's a saying in Pirkei Avoth (Ethics of the Fathers), which ought to be on Netanyahu's desk this year: "B'Makom she'ain anashim, hishtadel lihyoth ish" (In a place where there are no men, try to be a man). It is clear that there are no men trying to stop Iran. Prime Minister Netanyahu is going to have to be the one.

Israel Matzav: The US wimps out on Iran

Israel Matzav: Haaretz seethes: 'Palestinians' employed in Judea and Samaria construction

Haaretz seethes: 'Palestinians' employed in Judea and Samaria construction

Haaretz's Akiva Eldar is seething. It seems that those smart Jews in Judea and Samaria took advantage of the way that the 'settlement freeze' was written and poured foundations for houses during the period leading up to the 'freeze' going into effect. Well, what did he expect them to do?

He also complains about the number of houses being built in various cities.

For example, during the period of the construction hiatus, in Ma'aleh Adumim 476 housing units will be built, compared to cities of similar size inside Israel such as Rosh Ha'ayin, 149 units, Kiryat Bialik, 160 units, Dimona 59 units, and Or Yehuda, 12 units.

During the same period in Ariel, 146 units are scheduled for construction, compared to 21 in Beit She'an, 51 in Kiryat Tivon, and 32 in Sderot.

Ma'aleh Adumim and Ariel are across the 1949 armistice line, in 'settlement blocs' that Israel plans to keep under any future agreement, while the other localities mentioned are not. I guess more Jews want to live in Ma'aleh Adumim and Ariel than in those other places.

But the oddest complaint in Eldar's diatribe was this one.

In most of the work sites, the construction is carried out by Palestinians. Kfar Tapuah is one of the few places in the territories where the settlers insist on Jewish workers.

And if all of the towns only hired Jewish workers, you can bet that Eldar would be among the first to complain.

Israel Matzav: Haaretz seethes: 'Palestinians' employed in Judea and Samaria construction

Love of the Land: Iran's soccer team wishes Israel a happy New Year

Iran's soccer team wishes Israel a happy New Year

Elder of Ziyon
1 January 09

Posted before Shabbat

From Al Arabiya: The Iranian Football Federation accidentally sent a New Year’s greeting to its Israeli counterpart, which responded wishing “all of the good people in Iran a happy new year,” Israeli media reported late on Thursday. Mohammad Ali Ardebili, head of Iranian football union’s foreign relations, told Israel’s Army Radio he sent the letter to all football unions around the world but he did not intend to send it to the Israel Football Association. Ardebili sent the greeting letter by email and the Army Radio managed to reach him for comment by phone. "This is a greeting sent to the entire world," he said, then he inquired quickly, "Are you speaking from Israel? I can't speak to you. This is a mistake, this is a mistake."

(Read full post)

Love of the Land: Iran's soccer team wishes Israel a happy New Year

Love of the Land: After Detroit Terror Attack Fails, Diane Sawyer Profiles Israel

After Detroit Terror Attack Fails, Diane Sawyer Profiles Israel

Dr. Alex Safian
CAMERA Media Analysis
31 December 09

posted before Shabbat

Covering the failed attempt by Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab to destroy a Northwest Airlines passenger jet over Michigan, ABC's new anchor, Diane Sawyer, brought up the perennial question of Israeli airport security (World News with Diane Sawyer, December 28, 2009). While the veteran journalist allowed that Israeli security measures were "legendary," she also emphatically and falsely charged that Israel "openly, openly tried to profile the passengers. One critic called it flying while Muslim."

ABC's Justice correspondent, Peirre Thomas, then weighed in, adding to the misinformation with his claim, citing unnamed experts, that Israelis "routinely profile Muslims and Arabs and they're unapologetic."

(Transcript)

DIANE SAWYER (ABC NEWS)

(Off-camera) A quick question to you, Pierre, about Israel. As we know its legendary security there for boarding airplanes and they openly, openly tried to profile the passengers. One critic called it flying while Muslim. What about that?

PIERRE THOMAS (ABC NEWS)

(Off-camera) Well, we spoke to some Israeli security officials today and they were blunt. They do routinely profile Muslims and Arabs and they're unapologetic. One private security official told me today not all Muslims all terrorists but nearly all terrorists are Muslim. The official acknowledged that this approach might make many Americans uncomfortable but said the Israelis have not had a successful attack on an airplane for more than 30 years.

DIANE SAWYER (ABC NEWS)

(Off-camera) Okay, Pierre, thanks to you. And as we know, of course, Israel has far fewer flights per day than in the US.

(Read full article plus video clip)

Love of the Land: After Detroit Terror Attack Fails, Diane Sawyer Profiles Israel

Love of the Land: The Deadly Price of Pursuing Peace

The Deadly Price of Pursuing Peace

Evelyn Gordon
Commentary Magazine
January '10

When the Oslo process began in 1993, one benefit its adherents promised was a significant improvement in Israel’s international standing. And initially, it seemed as if that promise would be kept: 37 countries soon established or renewed diplomatic relations with Israel; a peace treaty was signed with Jordan; five other Arab states opened lower-level relations.

But 16 years later, it is clear that this initial boost was illusory. Not only is Israel’s standing no better than it was prior to the famous handshake between Yitzhak Rabin and Yasir Arafat on the White House Lawn in September 1993, it has fallen to an unprecedented low. Efforts to boycott and divest from Israel are gaining strength throughout the West, among groups as diverse as British academics, Canadian labor unions, the Norwegian government’s investment fund, and American churches. Israeli military operations routinely spark huge protests worldwide, often featuring anti-Semitic slogans.

References to Israel as an apartheid state have become so commonplace that even a former president of Israel’s closest ally, the United States, had no qualms about using the term in the title of his 2007 book on Israel. European polls repeatedly deem Israel the greatest threat to world peace, greater even than such beacons of tranquility and democracy as Iran and North Korea. Courts in several European countries, including Belgium, Britain, and Spain, have seriously considered indicting Israeli officials for war crimes (though none has actually yet done so). And in October, when the United Nations Human Rights Council overwhelmingly endorsed a report that advocated hauling Israel before the International Criminal Court on war-crimes charges, even many of Jerusalem’s supposed allies refused to vote against the measure. In academic and media circles, it has even become acceptable to question Israel’s very right to exist—something never asked about any other state in the world. None of these developments was imaginable back in the days when Israel refused to talk to the Palestine Liberation Organization, had yet to withdraw from an inch of “Palestinian” land, and had not evacuated a single settlement.

Yet even today, conventional wisdom, including in Israel, continues to assert that Israel’s international standing depends on its willingness to advance the “peace process.” That invites an obvious question: if so, why has Israel’s reputation fallen so low despite its numerous concessions for peace since 1993?

(Read full article)

Love of the Land: The Deadly Price of Pursuing Peace

Love of the Land: High Court of Justice Highway Decision And Intellectual Dishonesty

High Court of Justice Highway Decision And Intellectual Dishonesty

Dr. Aaron Lerner
IMRA
Weekly Commentary
31 December 09

“We told the IDF to come up with effective security arrangements”.

That’s the excuse that the High Court of Justice justices will tell themselves when Palestinian terrorists exploit their ruling to restore access to Highway 443.

But it will just be that.

An excuse.

The narrative of the Israeli Leftists celebrating the reopening of Highway 443 to common Palestinian use is that Israel cynically justified their exercise of the right of eminent domain to build the road by noting that Palestinians would benefit from using it and then barring them from the highway.

But Israel had no intention to bar Palestinian access.

Palestinians did, in fact, use the road alongside Israelis.

And this situation could have continued to this very day.

If the Palestinians didn’t start exploiting access to 443 in order to murder Israelis.

But they did.

Let’s make this clear.

Palestinian access to 443 wasn’t limited as some form of “collective punishment”.

It was done because Israeli security services couldn’t come up with a workable, reliable, alternative that would keep Israel’s second most heavily traveled route between the Coastal Plain and Jerusalem safe for Israeli drivers.

Back to the court ruling.

Now these judges may genuinely think that Palestinian use of Highway 443 is more important than the Israeli lives that could very well be sacrificed if their ruling is implemented.

But that’s not what they said.

Instead they covered their backsides by instructing the IDF to come up with effective security arrangements.

Now the onus is on the IDF and the other security agencies to bring the problem back to the court, explaining honestly and vividly the security risks their “solutions” carry with them.

Love of the Land: High Court of Justice Highway Decision And Intellectual Dishonesty

Love of the Land: Justice in Sheikh Jarrah

Justice in Sheikh Jarrah

Right has learned to use legal system wisely to restore Jewish property

Yair Gabai
Opinion/Ynet
31 December 09

Fortunately, I have never heard of a case in which the State of Israel prevented an Arab in possession of land or a house in west Jerusalem from living in his home or legally building on his land for purely racist reasons. Recently, left-wing organizations have been seeking to impose an apartheid rule in Jerusalem. In other words, in the west each person has the right to fulfill the ownership right, while in the east – this right is only given to Arabs. In order to prevent Jews with assets in the eastern part of the city from fulfilling their ownership, they recruit foreign countries and market fabrications about "poor Arabs who have been expelled from their homes by settler thugs."

The houses in Simeon the Just neighborhood, which Jews entered with a court order, are located on a piece of land measuring 4.5 acres, which was purchased by the Sephardic Community Committee and the Ashkenazi Committee (Knesset Israel) in 1876. In 1936 the neighborhood included houses, synagogues and charity institutions. This land is soaked with the blood of Jews, and nearby is a monument commemorating the 78 doctors and staff members massacred on their way to Mount Scopus. From the moment the neighborhood was established, Jerusalem's Mufti Haj Amin al-Husseini began leading acts of harassment against the neighborhood's residents. Some of us may have forgotten that the mufti was the first person to issue a fatwa (death sentence) against an Arab selling land to a Jew.

Related Background Article: The Sheikh Jarrah-Shimon HaTzadik Neighborhood

Unfortunately, upon the declaration of the State's establishment in 1948, following riots, bombardments and unstoppable attacks, the Jews were forced to abandon their houses in this neighborhood, and had the Arab rioters not lost in the War of Independence they would have also cleansed Rehavia and Talbiyeh of Jews. After the War of Independence, these houses were turned over to the possession of the Jordanian in charge of the enemy's assets who rented them out to the Arab families which have been living in them up to now. The private ownership of these assets has never been expropriated, and the proceedings to return the Jewish property to its rightful owner began after the Six Day War, when the neighborhood was re-liberated by IDF forces.

(Read full article)

Attorney Yair Gabai is a Jerusalem council member

Love of the Land: Justice in Sheikh Jarrah

Love of the Land: Mohammad Bakri: ‘art’ is his shield

Mohammad Bakri: ‘art’ is his shield

FresnoZionism
fresnozionism.org
31 December 09

Filmmaker and actor Mohammad Bakri, a ‘Palestinian resident of Israel’, may be prosecuted for criminal libel for his 2002 film “Jenin, Jenin”.

You may recall that in 2002, after a horrendous wave of bombings and shootings in which hundreds of Israelis were murdered and thousands injured, Israel launched Operation Defensive Shield in the West Bank to root out the terrorists responsible for it. One of their strongholds was the city of Jenin, in Northern Samaria. According to the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in the period of 2001-2002, 57 Israelis were killed and hundreds injured by terrorists based in or directed from Jenin alone. During April 3-11, 2002, IDF soldiers fought a fierce battle in Jenin with members of Fatah’s al-Aqsa brigades, the Palestinian Islamic Jihad and Hamas.

After the first day, the fighting moved to the adjacent ‘refugee camp’, which had been heavily fortified and booby-trapped by the Palestinians. Nevertheless, in order to reduce civilian casualties as much as possible, IDF soldiers fought house-to-house instead of employing artillery and air strikes. As a result — as ultimately attested to by the UN — only 52 Palestinians were killed, almost all combatants; but 23 Israeli soldiers were lost, 13 of them in one ambush on April 9.

After the battle, Palestinian spokesmen such as Nabil Sha’ath, Hassan Abdel Rahman, Yasser Abed Rabbo and Saeb Erakat, claimed that Israel had massacred hundreds of Palestinians, burying them in mass graves or leaving their bodies to decompose under the rubble. But unlike the situation in Gaza, the Palestinians did not control access to the area, and the truth ultimately came out (although, as CAMERA notes in the link above, the fact that they had lied through their teeth didn’t seem to hurt the credibility of the Palestinian spokesmen with the international press).

(Read full article)

Related: The Road to Jenin by French director Pierre Rehov

Love of the Land: Mohammad Bakri: ‘art’ is his shield

Love of the Land: A Sense of Purpose

A Sense of Purpose

Emmanuel Navon
For the Sake of Zion
31 December 09

To end the Year 2009 on an upbeat note, I would recommend the reading of two recently published books: One State, Two States by Benny Morris, and Start-Up Nation by Dan Senor and Saul Singer –provided you read them in that order.

Morris has gone a long way since his self-appointment as a "new historian" poised to question Israel's historical narrative and "myths." In January 2004, he surprised –and shocked- many by declaring to Ari Shavit that "when the choice is between destroying or being destroyed, it's better to destroy;" that "there are circumstances in history that justify ethnic cleansing;" that it was necessary to uproot the Palestinians in 1948; that Ben-Gurion "had carried out a full expulsion –rather than a partial one- he would have stabilized the State of Israel for generations;" that "the non-completion of the transfer was a mistake;" that in circumstances which "are liable to be realized in five or ten years … acts of expulsion will be entirely reasonable. They may even be essential;" that "there is not going to be peace in the present generation;" that "we are doomed to live by the sword;" that "something like a cage has to be built" for the Palestinians; that all Israelis can do at this point is "to be vigilant, to defend the country;" and that "the Arab world as it is today is barbarian" ("Survival of the Fittest," Haaretz, 9 January 2004).

In One State, Two States, Morris shows that the Zionist movement accepted the principle of partition out of political realism from the time it was first proposed by the Peel Commission in 1937. The Palestinians, on the other hand, have systematically rejected the idea, and Arafat only deceived Israel with the Oslo Agreements to implement the "phased strategy." With the steady radicalization and islamization of Palestinian society today, Morris argues, chances of implementing the two-state solution are null.

Morris also shows, no less convincingly, that the alternatives to the two-state solution (including an Arab-dominated bi-national state) are unrealistic and undesirable (as far as Israel is concerned, at least). So there is no alternative to a solution that doesn't work. Great.

Morris is a realist. He realizes that Israel is in a catch-22 type of situation. Probably because he didn't want to end his book on a bleak note, he does suggest a way out by proposing the revival of the "Jordanian option." Nice try, but it doesn't wash. Jordan doesn't want it and, as Morris himself explains at length, the Palestinians will never sign a deal that leaves a sovereign Jewish state in the equation.

Despite his unconvincing attempt to sound optimistic in the last two pages of his book, Morris makes a compelling case: There is no solution.

(Continue reading article)

Love of the Land: A Sense of Purpose

Love of the Land: Dexia Israel Denying Economic Rights to Jewish Applicants

Dexia Israel Denying Economic Rights to Jewish Applicants

Manhigut Yehudit Blog
31 December 09

In the Dec. 30th, 2009 Jerusalem Post, the following headline appeared, "Belgian bank won't lend to settlements". The Belgian bank, Dexia, has a special branch in Israel that works with municipalities. Dexia has recently decided to refuse loan requests coming into the bank from local councils in Judea and Samaria. They are arguing that the loans are too risky because if Israel agrees to abandon the Jewish heartland, they will not be able to collect on their loans. Hmmm. Does anyone else smell something not so nice here? Click here for the full story. I decided to do a wee bit of research on this and it took only one google search to find out who is behind this actuarial attack on the Jewish people -- take a guess -- you got it! Omar Barghouti: founder of the Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel (PACBI).

Now this fellow, Omar, calls himself a "Palestinian". He was actually born in Qatar and grew up in Egypt but nevermind ... he says he is a "Palestinian". From his perspective "Palestinian" is probably a "state of mind" and he really feels it in his bones. After all he is a graduate of Columbia University which Caroline Glick (also a grad) calls "Bir Zeit University on the Hudson". Omar is one of the most successful activists working to demonize and delegitimize Israel - so it is a good idea for us to get to know the enemy a bit. He is a key force behind the Belgian bank loan refusal policy.

In addition to Mr. Barghouti's efforts to generate economic attacks on Israel - more about this shortly - one of his most clever tactics was to enter Tel Aviv University as a student hoping that they would expel him. Well no such luck! Despite the seeming contradiction his study there presents to his organization's stated purpose "Academic Boycott..etc" ; and contrary to the hopes of tens of thousands who signed a petition to have him expelled (65,000 people) - he will remain. Tel Aviv University has no plans to expel him. Of course he is disappointed by this. As he explained to his fellow activists,

(Read full post)

Love of the Land: Dexia Israel Denying Economic Rights to Jewish Applicants

Love of the Land: Abbas sponsors birthday celebrations honoring terrorist Dalal Mughrabi, killer of 37

Abbas sponsors birthday celebrations honoring terrorist Dalal Mughrabi, killer of 37

The text on the giant banner carrying Mughrabi's portrait at the birthday ceremony read:
"Under the auspices of President Mahmoud Abbas
The Political and National Education Authority
Ceremony on the anniversary of the birth of the bride of the cosmos
The Shahida (Martyr) Dalal Mughrabi."

Itamar Marcus and Nan Jacques Zilberdik
Palestinian Media Watch(PMW)
31 December 09

This week Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas once again honored the memory of the terrorist Dalal Mughrabi - this time by sponsoring a ceremony celebrating the 50th anniversary of her birth. Mughrabi led the worst terror attack in Israel's history in 1978, when she and other terrorists hijacked a bus and killed 37 civilians. Present at the ceremony were Palestinian dignitaries and a children's marching band. Earlier this year, Abbas sponsored a computer center named after Mughrabi.

The PA further glorified Mughrabi on the date of her birth when the Governor of Ramallah announced the naming of the "Dalal Mughrabi Square".

An article by Fatah spokesman Jamal Nazal in the official PA daily defined the terrorist Mughrabi as "the heroine of Palestine's heroines."

[Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, Dec. 30, 2009]

(Read full report)

Love of the Land: Abbas sponsors birthday celebrations honoring terrorist Dalal Mughrabi, killer of 37

Love of the Land: Human Rights NGOs Need a Monitor

Human Rights NGOs Need a Monitor

Gerald M. Steinberg
The Forward
30 December 09

Most people prefer giving, rather than receiving, criticism. Leaders of powerful non-governmental organizations are no exception.

Human rights NGOs have long benefited from a “halo effect” that has protected them from scrutiny; reporters quote their research widely, assuming it is accurate. But in recent years, the protective coating has worn thin, and the heads of these organizations are finding themselves squirming uncomfortably in the spotlight.

Events of the past year have highlighted the vital need for accountability, transparency and informed debate on the activities of NGOs like Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International and B’Tselem. These NGOs have played a central role in charging Israel with “war crimes” and “collective punishment.” To the degree that these groups’ agendas and claims prove to be biased, unfounded or simply invented, their accusations against Israel also lose credibility.

Understandably, NGO Monitor’s research reports airing NGOs’ dirty linen often trigger intense counterattacks. There have been angry insults from HRW officials and crude accusations of “McCarthyism” from apologists for some of the groups that NGO Monitor has researched. (One such online attack was linked to prominently on the home page of the New Israel Fund.)

Then there are criticisms from more serious individuals, such as Forward columnist Yossi Alpher, author of the December 25 article “NGO Monitor Needs a Monitor.” To his credit, Alpher acknowledges the work that NGO Monitor has done exposing “the funding by European governments and reputable American philanthropies of NGOs that smear Israel with lies and classic antisemitic rhetoric.” He also affirms the validity of NGO Monitor’s complaints about Human Rights Watch. (Alpher doesn’t elaborate, but NGO Monitor has documented deep biases among the heads of HRW’s Middle East division, the dispatching of an obsessive Nazi-memorabilia collector to assess Israeli military actions and the group’s use of anti-Israel themes to raise funds in Saudi Arabia.)

(Read full article)

Love of the Land: Human Rights NGOs Need a Monitor

The Torah Revolution: Ali Waked's latest palliwood script effort raises eyebrows

The Torah Revolution: Ali Waked's latest palliwood script effort raises eyebrows

The Torah Revolution: Teitel is ever so popular. Here is why

The Torah Revolution: Teitel is ever so popular. Here is why

The Torah Revolution: Jew for Jesus Paul Cohen and missionary Victor Hafichuk show the true xtian hate of the Jew

The Torah Revolution: Jew for Jesus Paul Cohen and missionary Victor Hafichuk show the true xtian hate of the Jew

Elder of Ziyon: Iran's soccer team wishes Israel a happy New Year

Elder of Ziyon: Iran's soccer team wishes Israel a happy New Year

Elder of Ziyon: Fewer Arabs in Israeli prisons

Elder of Ziyon: Fewer Arabs in Israeli prisons

Elder of Ziyon: The Gazan slave trade

Elder of Ziyon: The Gazan slave trade

Elder of Ziyon: More on the 45th anniversary of Fatah terror

Elder of Ziyon: More on the 45th anniversary of Fatah terror

DoubleTapper: IDF Women

IDF Women

تنسيق-الكليات-لعام سكس نيك كس

DoubleTapper: IDF Women

29 MKs Challenge Construction Ban in Letter to PM - Politics & Gov't - Israel News - Israel National News

29 MKs Challenge Construction Ban in Letter to PM - Politics & Gov't - Israel News - Israel National News

'Grad' Rockets Fired at Netivot, No One Hurt - Defense/Middle East - Israel News - Israel National News

'Grad' Rockets Fired at Netivot, No One Hurt - Defense/Middle East - Israel News - Israel National News

MK Danon Proposes Bill: Oust MK Who Incites - Defense/Middle East - Israel News - Israel National News

MK Danon Proposes Bill: Oust MK Who Incites - Defense/Middle East - Israel News - Israel National News

San Francisco Zionists Cow Anti-Israel Protestors - Jewish World - Israel News - Israel National News

San Francisco Zionists Cow Anti-Israel Protestors - Jewish World - Israel News - Israel National News

MK Uri Ariel to Nationalist Camp: Wake Up! - Politics & Gov't - Israel News - Israel National News

MK Uri Ariel to Nationalist Camp: Wake Up! - Politics & Gov't - Israel News - Israel National News

Har Bracha Students Appeal Removal from Hesder Program - Politics & Gov't - Israel News - Israel National News

Har Bracha Students Appeal Removal from Hesder Program - Politics & Gov't - Israel News - Israel National News

Fatah: Hamas is Harming Sick Gazans for Propaganda - Defense/Middle East - Israel News - Israel National News

Fatah: Hamas is Harming Sick Gazans for Propaganda - Defense/Middle East - Israel News - Israel National News

Israel Matzav: Overnight music video

Overnight music video

Well the tune is - once again - HaMalach HaGoel, and one of the singers is Dovid Dachs who was featured in last night's video. But this video is slightly different.... Get some tissues out and we'll...

go to the videotape.



Wasn't that beautiful?

By the way, there was an ad on the front page of Thursday's JPost of a 14-month old girl with Downs' Syndrome for whom an adoptive family is being sought. Her birth parents are Orthodox Jews....

Israel Matzav: Overnight music video

Israel Matzav: Uh oh: Israel's position on Iran 'dovetails' with the US

Uh oh: Israel's position on Iran 'dovetails' with the US

Let's hope that Israel's ambassador to the US was exaggerating about how close Israel's position is to the American position when he gave this interview.

Israel’s ambassador in Washington told Reuters on Thursday that Israel and the United States were not yet discussing a possible military strike against Iran to curb its nuclear drive.

Ambassador Michael Oren also told the news agency that he was “very confident” in the Obama administration’s commitment to dissuading Iran from enriching uranium on its soil.

“Our positions on Iran completely dovetail and we have very close cooperation and communication,” he told Reuters in a telephone interview.

Israel and the United States have not ruled out a military option against Iran’s nuclear facilities if diplomatic measures fail to curb Tehran’s alleged pursuit of nuclear arms.

Asked whether Israel is facing US pressure over the issue of possible military action, Oren said that it was “not a subject of discussion”.

“It’s not a subject of conversation between us because we’re not there yet. We’re far away from that,” he told Reuters.

The problem is that it's too late for sanctions to stop Iran and Israel cannot afford to wait for Iran to go nuclear and then try to contain it. There is no way the Obama administration will ever agree to a military attack on Iran, and its doubtful that they will even agree to strong enough sanctions to have a chance of succeeding (not to mention that the Russians and the Chinese won't agree to them either).

In sum, Israel's interests here are different and more immediate than the United States' interests.

What could go wrong?

Israel Matzav: Uh oh: Israel's position on Iran 'dovetails' with the US

Israel Matzav: Deja vu all over again: Grad rocket hits Netivot

Deja vu all over again: Grad rocket hits Netivot

When I saw the reports on Twitter, I thought maybe we were celebrating a retrospective from a year ago. But then I realized that a year ago I had just signed up for Twitter, didn't really understand how it worked, and was only following @weblogawards (anyone know what happened to them?), so this one had to be in real time.

A grad-type Katyusha rocket hit Netivot on Thursday night around 9:30. This was the first rocket of that type fired from the Gaza Strip in nearly a year. One woman suffered from shock, but no damage was reported. Residents reported hearing a second explosion, but the IDF found no evidence of it. The "color red" warning system did not work.

More details here, here and here.

Israel Matzav: Deja vu all over again: Grad rocket hits Netivot