Jennifer Rubin got this one right. If Biden’s visit proved anything, it is that diplomatic activity can be counterproductive, inflaming rather than reducing conflicts and deflecting attention from more productive activities. Consider this: is the U.S.-Israeli relationship in a worse or better shape after Biden’s visit? The answer is obvious, as should be the conclusion: sometimes it’s best if everyone stays home.
Eli Diskin, a Ramat Shlomo resident and real estate developer who was involved with the first wave of building that swept the neighborhood in the early 1990s, told The Jerusalem Post that 1,600 new housing units “wouldn’t even be enough” to deal with the overflowing population of the neighborhood.The numbers I have heard - for the record - are 22,000-23,000 people with an average of eight children per family. And then there are all the people renting storage rooms made over into small apartments.
“I don’t think it even needs to be explained,” Diskin said.
“Construction in Ramat Shlomo began in 1993, and now there are 2,200 families or roughly 16,000 people living here,” he continued.
“Each family averages between seven and eight members, and frankly, there is nowhere left for people to live. If someone gets married, if they have more kids, where are they supposed to go? They have to leave the neighborhood,” he said, adding, “And if we can’t build here, where are we supposed to build?”
Diskin’s sentiments were echoed by every other Ramat Shlomo resident who spoke to the Post on Wednesday.
“If this is not an inseparable part of Jerusalem, than what is?” asked Pini Gamliel, a shopkeeper on the neighborhood’s HaAdmor M’Lubavitch Street. “Where do they want us to put our houses?”
Nearby, at a Chabad synagogue constructed as an exact duplicate of the entrance to the hassidic movement’s famous yeshiva at 770 Eastern Parkway in Brooklyn [the red brick building that is prominent in the picture. CiJ], Mendy Hechtman told the Post that he felt American diplomats and others critical of the decision to continue building in Ramat Shlomo should come and see the neighborhood for themselves.Yes, Ramot, which is several times its size, is further out than Ramat Shlomo.
“Once you get here, you can easily see that this is simply another neighborhood in Jerusalem,” Hechtman said. “But the media makes it seem like this is some kind of far-removed settlement, when in reality it’s right next to Ramot.”
This is a fascinating theory. The power of Likud-supporting American Jews both in the Jewish community and in American politics generally has much less to do with the success of Likud’s ideology among American Jews than it does with the broad, pre-existing alignment between the ideas of the Israel lobby and general American public opinion.
Take AIPAC. From where I sit, AIPAC isn’t powerful because of the Jewish votes it can sway. Most Jews have views on Israel that are closer to the J-Street lobby vision than to the AIPAC line, and if a vote among America’s Jews decided our Israel policy the policy would be significantly to the left of where it is now. It’s not even because of the money; ‘pro-Israel’ PAC money is a drop in the vast and ever-expanding river of American campaign funding.
A group like AIPAC enjoys power and recognition not because it controls or even represents the votes of Jews. AIPAC’s power rests on gentile ideas and support; if a politician gets loudly and publicly labeled anti-Israel by AIPAC and its allies that politician will get hammered in the next election because so many American gentiles want their politicians to support the Jewish state. AIPAC works like the NRA; it is the publicly accepted voice on an issue about which the public has strong views.
Politicians don’t fear the loss of National Rifle Association PAC money nearly as much as they fear the loss of millions of pro-gun votes at the next election. This, I think is why AIPAC is so powerful. To be convincingly labeled an anti-Israel politician is the kiss of death almost everywhere in the United States — just as to be anti-gun is the kiss of death. American gentiles consider AIPAC and those affiliated with and endorsed by it to be reliable guardians of pro-Israel policy; politicians don’t want to cross a force with this kind of hold on the public.
When the Churva synagogue re-opens on Monday, one very important guest will be absent: Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu (Hat Tip: Shy Guy). Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu does not plan to attend the historic reopening of the Hurva synagogue in Jerusalem's Old City on Monday. A senior diplomat told Arutz Sheva's Hebrew news service that the PM will absent himself in order to avoid conflict with the United States or the Palestinian Authority.
The prime minister will address crowds at the Hurva ceremony by video instead. The diplomat who spoke to Arutz Sheva would not divulge the exact content of Netanyahu's address, but hinted, “we're not sure that the nationalists are going to like what he intends to say.”An official statement from the Prime Minister's Office confirmed that Netanyahu would not attend the Old City ceremony, but said his absence would be due only to time constraints. “The Prime Minister has a very full schedule these days,” the statement said.
What really is the "fact" that the radical editorial writer ignored is that Jews who believe otherwise, that the city is actually all Israel's, are perhaps 98% of all world Jewry, excluding maybe Ehud Olmert and Tzipi Livni and Rahm Emanuel. Not only that but there is a common misconception. The claim is made is that Israel unnaturally "expanded" the city when it absorbed eastern areas after 1967.
But if we review the UN recommendation of November 29, 1947 to partition the Mandate area, we will see that the borders of Jerusalem, as a corpus separatum, extend to Shuafat, past Abu Dis and to Bethlehem as well as to Motza, larger than the municipal boundaries today. So what are they talking about, these concessionists who wish to yield, surrender and kowtow?
In not showing up, Netanyahu will not be taking advantage of a wonderful opportunity to say this. To remind the world of Jerusalem's place in the soul of the Jewish people, its religion, culture, literature, art and history. To recall to his listeners that not only was the Hurva Synagogue destroyed by Arabs, but another 30 or so synagogues were desecrated after 1948, and that thousands of graves on Mount of Olives were destroyed and that on the Temple Mount, the Waqf authorities are destroying and ransacking Jewish artifacts.
We, as Zionists, as Jews returning to our homeland, build. We create. They destroy.
The Defense Ministry is going to start Phase 3 of its enforcement of the 'settlement freeze' on Sunday: Mass arrests of people who violate the 'settlement freeze.' Stage 3 of the IDF’s operation, aimed at implementing the settlement freeze, is also called the “criminal stage,” since it provides for the arrest and indictment of settlers who obstruct the work of the Civil Administration for Judea and Samaria in distributing stop-work orders, as well as settlers and contractors who illegally build in the settlements.
...
Under the plan, inspectors arriving at settlements to enforce the freeze will be accompanied by large police forces, which will arrest anyone who tries to prevent the inspectors from entering the gates of the community. In addition, criminal charges will be pressed against the owners of lots where construction is taking place in violation of moratorium regulations, as well as against contractors, and possibly against regional council chiefs if they are aware of the activity.
As I'm sure many of you have heard already, Hillary Clinton is going to headline the AIPAC conference at the end of the month. Here's an interesting thought about it. Some pro-Israel organizations view Clinton as an ally against a White House they see as less friendly to Israel, and she's going to have to be careful not to let any daylight between herself and Biden.
Dubai police chief Inspector Tamim (which means naive in Hebrew) has ordered all 'spies' to leave his desert paradise. "Those spies that are currently present in the Gulf must leave the region within one week. If not, then we will cross that bridge when we come to it," Tamim reportedly said. When asked whether the spies he was talking about were holders of European passports, Tamim said "Europeans and others," but offered no further details.
A Gulf newspaper, Al-Khaleej, quoted Tamim saying foreign spies had better depart the emirate "or they will face extreme measures," according to a report from the Alarabiya.net Web site. The report does not indicate whether the police official outlined any specific measures to be taken against spies who remained after the ban takes effect.
Some foreign intelligence officials believe the people most likely to be affected by the spy ban—assuming Dubai authorities are serious about it—are "undeclared" spies—intelligence officers and informants who are supposed to be operating in the Emirates using undercover identities, rather than spies whose identities have been officially declared to the Emirates government and who therefore likely have status as accredited diplomats. The CIA declined to comment.
The Old City of Jerusalem's Churva synagogue, which was destroyed by the Jordanians in 1948, has been restored and will be rededicated on Sunday and Monday. This has given the 'Palestinians' more reasons to seethe. Naturally, the Muslims are furious at Jews daring to rebuild a synagogue in a spot that they had lived continuously for well over two thousand years. As I reported a few months ago, what really bugged them was the height of the structure, because in Islamic tradition mosques should always be the tallest buildings in the area. Since the Jewish Quarter is on a hill, the Hurva dome will be higher than the domes on the Al Aqsa mosque and Dome of the Rock.
Now, however, they have a new reason to seethe. Ever since Ha'aretz reported a (pretty much unfounded) rumor that the Vilna Gaon had predicted that the Third Temple would be built on March 16, 2010, they have been convinced that Israel has evil plans. Saraya, the Islamic Jihad newspaper, says that Hurva is being built on an Islamic neighborhood, and says that the construction of the Third Temple will commence on March 16th. The Al Aqsa Heritage Foundation says that the Hurva dedication will take place on Sunday and Monday, also to be followed by the public start of the building of the Third Temple, as well as more Jews "storming" Al Aqsa for Passover at the end of the month.
I cannot read Netanyahu's mind. But I can observe Israel's actions. They intend to occupy and colonize the entire West Bank for ever. They may allow some parceled enclaves for Palestinians, but they will maintain a big military presence on the Eastern border of West Bank, and they will sustain this with raw military power and force. I certainly cannot see any other rationale for their actions these past few years that makes any sense at all. Many Israeli politicians now use the term "apartheid" for this future.
The document has yet to be published, but the church news service revealed it regurgitates the most specious anti-Israel canards. It even puts a footnote on the phrase "the right of Israel to exist."
It reads: "The phrase 'the right of Israel to exist' is a source of pain for some members of our study committee who are in solidarity with Palestinians, who feel that the creation of the state of Israel has denied them their inalienable human rights."
How to stop Israel's sins, in the mind of the Presbyterian special committee?
The U.S. ought to employ "the strategic use of influence and the withholding of financial and military aid in order to enforce Israel's compliance with international law and peacemaking efforts." Meaning tighten the screws on an ally until it stops defending itself from terrorism.
No similar tactics are recommended against anyone else in the region. Not against Hamas, which fires rockets at Israeli homes and schools. Not against Iran, which pursues nukes and dreams of erasing Israel. Not against Hezbollah.
As for the manifesto by Christian Palestinians known as Kairos Palestine, the news service said the panel endorsed its "emphasis on hope, love, nonviolence and reconciliation." Saying nothing of how the manifesto ridicules the notion of Palestinian terrorism by putting quotation marks on the word. For example: "The roots of 'terrorism' are in the human injustice committed and in the evil of the occupation. These must be removed if there be a sincere intention to remove 'terrorism.'"
The alienation is also evident with regard to the central government. This is the only democratic country in the world where one-fifth of the citizens - who are declared to have equal rights, at least on paper – have no representation in the government or in "provisional and permanent institutions...." [emphasis added]
I'm amazed they took time to notice, but Human Rights Watch reports that repression has increased in Syria in the last three months, as the United States and other Western countries have expanded their outreach to the Assad dictatorship. On March 2, 2010, Military Intelligence in Aleppo stormed the apartment of Abdel Hafez Abdel Rahman, a board member of the unlicensed Kurdish human rights group MAF (“Right” in Kurdish), and detained him with another MAF board member, Nadera Abdo. Other members of the group said that the detention is tied to Abdel Rahman’s activities for the group MAF. While the security services released Abdo on March 6, Abdel Rahman remains in detention.
Security services have also detained bloggers, journalists, and writers. On December 27, 2009, State Security called in Tal al-Mallohi, 19, a secondary school student, for interrogation, reportedly for articles she wrote and distributed on her blog. A few days later, the security services confiscated her computer and detained her. A Syrian human rights activist told Human Rights Watch that she remains in detention. Human Rights Watch was unable to determine what article the security forces deemed objectionable.
On November 22, State Security detained without explanation Ma`en `Akel, a journalist at the newspaper Thawra. Syrian activists following the case said `Akel apparently was detained for investigating government corruption. Security forces finally released him on February 23 without charging him with a crime. On January 7, security forces detained another journalist, Ali Taha, and a photographer, Ali Ahmad, in the Sayyida Zaynab neighborhood of Damascus. They were released on February 7, without having been charged. Both work for the satellite TV station Rotana, which mainly focuses on social life topics.
On February 10, border police detained Ragheda Sa`id Hasan, who had been a political prisoner in the 1990s for her Communist Action Party membership, as she tried to cross into Lebanon. Three days later, unidentified individuals entered her apartment and confiscated a copy of “The New Prophets,” a manuscript in which she describes her experience as a political detainee, as well as publications issued by various Syrian opposition parties. She remains in detention.
I am always nervous around people who stridently insist that racism has disappeared in mainstream American life and only lingers on in weirdo subcultures; I feel the same way about people who say that anti-Semitism is no longer a significant feature of western culture. I am especially leery when people who loudly and implausibly assert that anti-Semitism isn’t a problem anymore make harsh and unbalanced criticisms about the world’s only Jewish state.
I'm sure you all recall the SS Moonbat, which the Israeli Navy kept away from Gaza during Operation Cast Lead. Now, ISM/Free Gaza 'organizer' Paul Larudee has a couple of new ideas. One of them involves trying to land a DC-3 in Gaza. - Break the siege of Gaza by AIR. Fly an airplane into Gaza. DC3 airplanes don't need much flat land or road to land on. Harder to divert an airplane than a boat - especially if one or more famous people are on it. Takeoff location must be kept secret.
- Break the siege of Palestine (ie Israel) by coordinating the arrival on the same day into TEL AVIV airport of more than 100 Palestinians holding US and European passports. Alert the media. Bring things to show the media such as deeds to land, keys, old family photographs. Coordinate with local lawyers skilled at delaying deportation. Fly non-Israeli airlines, which are unlikely to cooperate with Israeli security by stopping the passengers.
As the 'Palestinian' loving Europeans seethed in anger, Swedish fashion house H&M opened its first Israeli store in Tel Aviv's Azrieli Center on Thursday. The store was mobbed. Hundreds of enthusiastic shoppers waited outside the first local H&M store on Thursday, as the Swedish-owned fashion house opened their first store in Israel in Tel Aviv’s Azrieli Center.
Immediately after the count down, dozens of customers ran into the store, practically trampling two baby strollers in their rush to enter, Channel 2 reported. Passersby managed to save the babies while shoppers continued to flow into the store.
“This place looks like the site of a terror attack,” one shopper told the television station.
Meanwhile in Europe, anti-Israel organizations in Sweden, Denmark, Belgium, the UK, Austria, Canada and Ireland were planning to demonstrate on Thursday evening against H&M’s decision to open shops in Israel.
According to Army Radio, a young Jewish man named Jonathan Sanchek, organized the protests. “This protest is about H&M opening in Israel, while it continues the occupation and in settlement construction. The Goldstone Report was published recently, and we think that one cannot open a store in Israel until it starts obeying international law,” the radio station quoted him as saying.
